Looking Up

-----Elle's POV

'Hey, he's at my place now- you guys are good to go!' I text to Jakub, Jamie and Andy in a group text. The three of them are going to come over once we leave so they can set up and decorate for Steve's surprise party. As I'm getting a text back from Jamie, I hear Steve yell from the living room, "Hey Eleanorrrrrrr, you ready?"

"Yes!" I yell in reply as I throw my phone into my purse. I double check myself in the mirror and smooth out the lace sleeves a bit. I'm glad I decided to buy this dress since the sleeves cover up the bruise that John gave me; for the past couple of days I've been wearing 3/4 sleeve shirts around Steve- I don't want him feeling anymore guilty than he already does. I open up my bedroom door and see him sitting on the couch with the TV switched on to Sports Net. "I'm glad you made yourself at home," I laugh and he turns around at the sound of my voice.

"You look stunning," he says as he walks over to me and then takes my hands into his.

"Thank you, you look very handsome," I smile. His navy blue suit makes me remember how good he looks dressed up- I haven't seen him in one since the time I visited him in the locker room.

"Not that I don't like seeing you in a suit, but why are we going to somewhere sooo elegant for your birthday?"

"Well, I've never really seen you in anything real fancy and I figured that this was a good time to do it," he says with a big smile, "let's get going Bambi- we've gotta meet up with Claude and Ryanne soon."

*****

Dinner is fantastic and full of laughs. I'm glad that Ryanne and I have been getting along great- I'm just hoping the rest of the wives and girlfriends showing up tonight are just as nice as she is. Before I can reach the check, Claude grabs it first, "I've got this one Elle, you can buy me dinner another time."

"Are you kidding me? At least let me pay for Steve and I's," I argue.

"Too late," he says as he gives me a wide grin and passes his credit card to the waitress, "You can buy me dinner another time." I shake my head and laugh, "Don't expect anything real nice- especially for you," I say with one eye brow raised.

Soon after, the four of us leave and to give them time to get to Steve's before us, I persuade Steve to stop real quick at the bakery. I unlock the doors and tell him to wait at the front table and face the entrance. With all of the lights out, I walk from the kitchen and over to Steve, "Turn around," I say quietly. His face lights up as soon as he sees the small cupcake in my hands with a lit candle sticking out of the top.

"Happy birthday Steve," I whisper with a smile. After he blows out the candle, he kisses me on the forehead, "thank you for such a nice birthday."

"You're welcome," I take out the candle, hand the cupcake to him, and he finishes it in two bites and I can't help but to laugh.

"Now, how does snuggling up with George, and watching movies on the couch at your place sound?" I ask as we make our way to his truck. "Sounds like a great ending to a great today," he smiles.

When we get into his truck, I quickly send a text to Jamie, "Get ready, we're on our way now- be there in 15."

As we walk up to his door, I'm hoping he doesn't expect anything- nothings worse than an expected surprise party. When Steve opens up the door, he is completely taken aback as about 35 people yell surprise. "Holy shit!" he laughs and looks at me, "did you plan all of this?"

I nod with a big smile on my face, "Yes, but of course with the help of Claude- he helped with everything. You can thank those three for the decorating," I say as I point to Jakub, Jamie, and Andy. Steve says thank you, hugs me and we head into the apartment to celebrate with everyone.

Meeting the other wives and girlfriends isn't too bad with Ryanne by my side helping me- I'm not always the best with meeting new people. "Trust me you're doing fine, Elle," Ryan laugh and rolls her eyes.

"Are you sure? I feel like I'm stumbling over my words- for God sakes I'm sweating!" I mumble to her. After meeting Sean's girlfriend, I retreat to Steve and join in on his conversation with Wayne and Raffl.

In the distance, I see some more people come into the door to join the party. Steve notices them too but starts to stumble over his words when he sees the brunette walk in after Matt and, what I'm guessing is, his girlfriend. My gaze switches in between Steve's face and the brunette a few times before I notice a worried and confused look on his face. Steve shakes himself out of the daze and continues the conversation with Wayne and Raffl, but I change my focus and scan the room for Claude's orange hair.

Once I find him, I notice that the look on his face is worry. As soon as he makes eye contact with me across the room, I excuse myself from Steve and rush discreetly to Claude and Ryanne. He must sense how uneasy I feel because he says to calm down almost right away.

"It's hard to calm down when Steve and you have the same 'oh shit' expressions on your face."

"Steve noticed her?"

"Yes- who is she? She's gorgeous- is she somebody's ex on the team?" I say quickly, and Claude bites his lip and his hesitation answers my question.

"Oh," I murmur. I look at her from the corner of my eye and sigh; her brunette hair is seemingly perfect, her legs are slim, and long, her make-up is on point and her red short dress looks like it was specifically made for her, "she must've made a deal with the devil," I say aloud.

"She's Steve's ex, Jillian," he confirms for me out loud, "But you don't need to worry, I promise. They broke up a while ago- we came back from a road trip early so he wanted to surprise her, and when he showed up at her apartment- well let's just say she wasn't exactly alone and watching tv like she said. But, trust me, you have nothing to worry about," Claude says before grabbing my hand and giving it a light squeeze.

"Thanks, I'm sorry- I don't know why I'm so shaken up," I admit.

"Let's go get you a drink then!" Ryanne chimes as she pulls me towards the kitchen where Brayden, Hartsy, and Jakub are yelling for me to come over.

-----Steve's POV

"Hey guys I'll talk to you later," I say quickly with a smile and make my way across the room to Jillian. I haven't seen her in so long, why is she even here? I look over to find Elle laughing in the kitchen with some of the guys and Ryanne- I hope she didn't see Jillian walk in.

"Hey, Jill," I manage to get out as repressed memories of her flood my mind when she turns around.
-
"Oh-hey-Steve- you're back? I thought you weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow night," Jillian flashes a fake smile and leans on her half open door in the purple robe I gave to her for her birthday.

"Yeah, I wanted to surprise you," I say as I scan her apartment behind her, looking over her messily thrown up hair. Pillows and blankets are disoriented and spread across the room. I look down at her and search her guilt ridden face. No this can't be happening.

"Hey! Who is it babe?" I hear a man's voice call out from the bedroom. I feel my heart swell and sink down to my stomach. My face gets hot and everything goes numb- "Why?" I ask in the smallest voice. Before she can explain herself, I turn and make my way down the hallway ignoring her pleads.
-

"Steve! Happy birthday!" Jillian says cheerily and gives me hug before I can step away.

"Why are you here?" I ask right away and I can tell she's hurt by it.

"Wow. Uhm. Katie told me about the party and she said it'd probably be okay if I came."

"What made you want to come? We haven't talked in months," I say sternly, looking into the blue eyes that I once admired- all they brought me now was pain.

"Well I wanted to say sorry for everything that happened. I'm sorry things ended the way they did, I was so stupid to do that to you. I've learned a lot since then- I've changed. I'm not that party girl anymore," she says sincerely and reaches for my hand but I step back. I look down at her with a loss of words. "Steve, I was thinking maybe we could possibly go out for cof-"

"Hey! Jillian! Long time, no see! Steve, Elle needs your help with the guys," G says cutting off Jillian's proposal for a date. "She does? Gotta go, bye!" I pat him on the back, quickly leave Jillian, and let out a big sigh. Seeing her and talking to her was harder than I thought it was going to be.

-
'5 Missed calls'
'2 Voicemails'
"Steve it's Jill, listen I'm sorry. I don't know why this happened. Please, let's talk about it we can work this out. Please call me back, lets -" *click*
"Steve, talk to me, I'm sorry- let me explain. I love yo-" *click*
"BULL SHIT!" I yell and hurl my phone across the room and it hits the wall with a thud.
-

When I get over to Elle and some of the guys, she can clearly see I'm still shaken up but doesn't ask why, which surprises me but I just shrug it off.

The rest of the night is fun, and filled with a ton of laughs. Jillian doesn't approach me again until the very end of the night when everyone starts to leave and go home. "My ride's leaving, so uhm, great party, it was really nice seeing you again. Hopefully I'll see you soon?" she asks just as Elle comes up to my side, wraps her right arm around my back and places her left hand just above the pocket of my pants.

"Glad you could come! I hope you enjoyed the party, I don't think we met earlier, I'm Elle!" she says with a killer smile and I see a tad bit of anger in Jillian's eyes.

"Uhm- Hi, well I'm leaving now, bye Stevie," she says just before she makes her way to the door.
As she walks away, I can hear Elle start to laugh, "Well, I don't think she wants to get coffee with you anymore." She lets go of me and heads over to the kitchen to help Jamie clean while I stand there stunned, not expecting Elle to already know what happen between Jillian and I.

"Hey, I doubt that Reader even knew about what happened with you and Jillian so I wouldn't get mad at him if I were you," G says to me as he helps me throw out some empty cups.

"Nah, I'm not mad at him or Katie. She probably didn't know I was dating Elle. It's whatever though, I just wasn't expecting it," I admit.

"Okay, good. I'm glad she didn't exactly try anything with you- or start something with Elle," G adds.

"That's what I'm afraid of- you know how catty she gets. I'm just hoping she backs off for good," Ryanne says, "she used to start so much drama with me- and I don't miss it at all."

*****

When everyone clears out, I decide I can't wait any longer to confront Elle about Jillian. "So I'm guessing Claude told you?" I ask as she is clearing away some lonely pieces of trash.

"Yeah, he did. I asked him about her after I saw your reaction to seeing her, I hope that's okay. I just wanted to know what was happening. And you don't need to talk about her, or anything- I know she's in the past. So, let's just forget about her and enjoy the last hour of your birthday," she says with a sweet smile as she walks over to me.

"That sounds perfect," I say quietly, "Besides, there's still one present I haven't unwrapped yet."

"Oh really?" she raises one eyebrow and tries to hold back a large grin.

"Yep, really," I smirk, "now, let's get you out of that dress," I say as I scoop her up into my arms bridal style and head towards the bedroom.

Notes

Hey! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I really wanted to focus on Steve's past since I haven't done that yet. Also some foreshadowing happening in this chapter as well!

Sorry that the main story hasn't been incredibly present, but I wanted to take a small break from it and establish some other things that will/might appear in later chapters- that way they don't just appear out of literally no where and I can make the story a tad more complex!

Let me know if you like the chapter/story, I love getting feedback, positive or negative, I always want to improve the story! Please comment, rate and subscribe! Thanks for reading!