Evening the Score // Book One

Chapter 20

If there was one thing in the world Elena hated lately, it was talking about her knee. The press called wanting quotes, her parents called asking how she was feeling, her brother called wanting updates on her progress, her friends called, her coaches called, her teammates, AHHHHHHHHHH!

She wasn't even out of the hospital yet. The only person who seemed ok with not talking about it was Harry and that was probably because he'd seen the annoyance on her face whenever someone asked.

She would come through this. Nothing had ever gotten in Elena's way before and she wasn't about to start letting that happen now.

He pressed a kiss to her mouth,

"Gonna go check on discharge papers..."

Elena was going home today, thank God. The last three days in the hospital had been just about enough for her. She wanted her own bed, her own food, her own shower and she desperately wanted people to stop checking her pulse.

She looked down at her phone, an intense competition of Words with Friends had been going with Harry for the last five days. She was winning so far but he was only a few points away and his cocky smug attitude never let her forget it.

Only when she heard a knock did she look up from her phone. A very solemn looking Andrea stood in front of her. Her hands were shoved in the pockets of her track jacket as she kept her spot in the corner of the room.

Elena blinked a few times before setting her phone down,

"Hey."
Andrea nodded,

"Hi." Her tone was short.

Elena raised her eyebrows,

"You can come in."

Andrea and Elena hadn't spoken since their altercation in the corridor before the game. She knew Andrea had stayed with her after the injury though, talking her through it and assuring her help was on the way.

Andrea took a few steps into the room and then stopped,

"I'm not bothering you am I? I can come back la-"

"I'm fine, Andy."

Andrea nodded. She'd stayed away from the hospital for the last three days, knowing full well an army of reporters were outside clamoring for any bit of information about her hospital stay and what exactly she and Harry Styles were doing considering he hadn't been seen leaving the hospital at all. She knew Elena needed time to recuperate. And there was also the small fact of Andrea being the one who had caused the injury to begin with.

"I didn't...think you were going to turn that way, Ben." Elena felt a small sigh of relief exit her lungs when she heard Andrea call her by her nickname, "I was sure you were headed straight to the goal. I saw the other player and I thought I could beat her. I had her...I know I did." Andrea swallowed hard, "She went down though and I-I don't know what I was thinking. She went down and I went down. I couldn't stop myself. I couldn't get out of-"

"Andy...stop." Elena whispered, "It wasn't your fault."

Andrea hung her head, her voice full of emotional tears,

"It was my fault. I was out of position. I was being a jerk about the boycott. I was deliberately trying to get into your head, Ben. I've never been so sorry for something in my life."

"Andy, friends argue sometimes. You had a right to be upset."

Andrea looked up, shaking her head,

"I didn't have a right to question your integrity, Ben. I didn't. I had no right to accuse you of doing something...or not doing something because you didn't care about us." She stopped, "You've always cared about us." She finished in a whisper.