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Allie began to spend all of her time throwing herself into her schoolwork. Luckily for her, she had a big assignment coming up. But she couldn't occupy her mind every second of every day, no matter how much she tried.

She went through the motions; eat, sleep, school. Her uncle didn't ask questions, and when she had declined an invitation to a game, he had simply raised his eyebrows but didn't push the issue further.

Tyler hadn't tried to call once. The only time she heard his name was when her uncle mentioned him in casual conversation, or when she heard it fleetingly on TV. He had sent three texts, all just asking if they could talk. She had ignored them all. It had been a week since she had last seen him; on the day he pulled out the final straw on their possible relationship.

She was hurt. She was really, truly hurt. He knew how hard it had been for her to decide to be with him, but she had chosen to in the end, based on her feelings and nothing else.

Feelings were stupid.

Allie was sitting in her room one late evening, her blankets pulled up to her waist, staring at a blank word document. She had all the research for her project; now she had to put it all into a 4-page essay. She looked up as a knock came on her door.

"Come in."

The door opened and her uncle popped his head in. "Hey."

"Hey."

He stood there in silence, and she raised her eyebrows.

"Tyler pulled me aside after practice."

Allie groaned inwardly. She tried to keep her face nonchalant. "...Okay?"

Her uncle paused, before walking over and sitting at the end of her bed. "He wanted to talk to me." When she didn't look at him, he patted her knee. "About you."

It was harder to act like you didn't care when your heart was racing a hundred miles an hour. "Oh?" she squeaked, meeting her uncles eyes briefly before looking back at her computer and pretending to be occupied.

"Allie," he said firmly. She looked up at the tone in his voice. He was staring at her with raised eyebrows. "He told me everything."

Allie let her groan out this time, falling back against her pillows. She immediately knew her cheeks had gone a violent red.

"Hey." Allie ignored him, and he moved the computer from her lap. He shook her leg, and she hesitated before sitting up miserably. She looked down, fiddling with her hands. "He asked me if I'd be okay with you two dating," Patrice went on. "Then continued to say that he doubted it would happen since he screwed up so badly, but that he just wanted to know if I would have been okay with it or not."

Allie sighed, finally looking up at him. "And?"

Her uncle looked at her for a moment, a small smile growing on his lips. "I see the way he looks at you. And I saw the way he looked when he told me he'd screwed up," he said. "He really regrets whatever he did, and is sorry."

"Yeah, he always is," Allie muttered.

Her uncle gave her a sympathetic look and shrugged. "Your decision. But I think it was a big deal, coming to me and asking." He paused. "Would you consider hearing him out?"

Allie wanted to scream. "You don't know how many times I've 'heard him out', Uncle Patrice." Her tone was bitter, and she knew her uncle could tell.

He held up his hands. "Alright, alright. Just thought I'd let you know." He patted her knee again, before standing up and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Allie sighed, closing her computer. She wasn't getting any work done tonight.

She set her computer on the night table beside her bed, pausing with her hand hovering over her cell phone. She picked it up quickly, skimming her received messages; and sent a text before she could change her mind.

I'm listening. But only since you talked to my uncle.

It took a few minutes, but her phone buzzed, and she took a deep breath.

Can we talk in person?

Allie sighed. I don't think that's a good idea.

It took even longer for the second text to come through.

I'm an idiot, A. I really am. I didn't want to know what the guys would think of me being with someone. But I realized that most of them have gfs and wives anyway, and they'd chirp me about it, but they'd get used to it. It was pride, and I have no excuse for it

Allie sucked in a breath. She was trying to think of what to reply when she received another message.

I'm sorry

She placed a hand on her forehead with a sigh. She sat there for a while, before replying.

Are you free for lunch after practice tomorrow? You talk, I'll listen.