She stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, holding her coat tight around her in the slight breeze, and glanced at Luka, patiently waiting beside her as Alex sat in his team circle while the coach quickly went over the game with them before releasing them to go home, and her eyes reluctantly went back to the path that his eyes were locked on. She'd never met a man so willing and ready to love her son, and even more so, she could see in his eyes how much in love with her son he was. It almost made her jealous, but she ignored for reasons that she was unwilling to explain to even herself.

She hated how even though he had a sleepless night, she could tell just by looking at him, he still looked good – proud. She saw a look of love in his eyes, and she was amazed by the beautiful sparkle that was held in them. She was surprised that any man could look at her son like that, considering that his own father didn't even look at him that way.

She didn't understand how so many people could find him so imperfect when she saw him to be the most perfect thing on earth. But when she looked at Luka, she saw that he felt it too and it tore her apart inside to know that she was taking both, man and young man, away from that feeling. She had taken the chance away when she had chosen to never want what he wanted.

Alex's team made one last chant before the huddle broke apart and he took off in the direction of his mother and Luka. He wasn't expecting to see Luka, so he was initially left shocked at the sight of the grown man who had once been his best friend, and he was immediately more inclined to give him the first attention. It's what men do – or, at least, that's what he thought.

Luka smiled wide and pride as he pushed his fists into his hips, the creases in his skin tight from the pressure, and he hardly remembered Sam at his side. He loved her, and he had once wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer until their bodies were touching, but now it was just a distant memory. Besides, it was the time for him to see Alex – for him to love Alex.

"Hey, buddy. Excellent game," Luka smiled, pulling his hand from his hip and stretching it out to give Alex a victory pat. Alex immediately gave Luka a five, ignoring his mother without hesitation, and he became focused on him. "You're still the fastest one out there."

"Yeah," Alex shrugged, finally glancing at his mother and seeing she had his bag, "it didn't do any good though."

"Ah, you still played well."

Alex dully noted that Luka normally always said that, as though it was routine and not true, but he still blew it off with a shrug.

"You did," Sam quickly agreed when she noticed Alex's hesitation. She reached out and ruffled his hair as the three turned in unison to walk from the field with the other families – except, they weren't a family – and she nearly stopped in her step when she felt Luka's hand on her shoulder, until she noticed him grabbing Alex's bag from her by the strap. "You always do play well."

"I guess so."

Sam sighed as she watched her son take a step away from her, and she watched further on as she saw Alex and Luka begin to engage in their old banter. She reached deep into her pocket and pulled her keys out, clutching them tight in her hand as struggled a good four feet behind the two guys who had been very close with her – and, secretly, as far as she concerned, were still very close with her.

She was beginning to speak to draw Alex's attention to her, but stopped when Luka stopped and Alex rapidly turned around.

"Mom, can I go with Luka?" He almost immediately jumped in his spot, but he contained himself, surprisingly. "Please…He doesn't have to work today and he said we can play video games and eat pizza and watch movies."

"Yeah, Mom, please," Luka smiled and nodded behind her.

Sam's eyes immediately went to Luka and she almost glared at him a raised eyebrow and a cocked jaw, but her face faltered.

She hated the look that he was giving her. His bottom lip pushed out, his hand wrapped tightly around the strap of the bag, and his other hand in his pocket. She hated it, because it had gotten her every time.

"Fine," she sighed, playfully rolling her eyes. This was the step forward, wasn't it? Letting them be guys without her – letting them be without her. "Okay, Dr. Kovac, you know what to do if he misbehaves. You know…"

Sam," his spoke deep into the back of his throat, his accent seeming to grind hard against his vocal chords, and he reached out to touch her shoulder. His hand seemed to envelope her whole shoulder, and, even though it had been only a good 48 hours ago, she hadn't forgotten what it was like to feel his hands on her. "I know what to do."

"You're right, I'm sorry," she conceded under the mixture of his grasp and his gaze, and she smiled politely as her apology. She closed her eyes briefly, laughing at herself, and she brushed a loose stand of curly hair away from her face. When she opened her eyes with her hand divulged in her hair, she noticed the twitch of his hands just inches from her face as he refrained from reaching out to do it for her – it was always something he'd preferred to do for her. "Have fun. Call me around 4."

"Okay," Luka nodded as Alex did the same, and they both turned to walk away.

She stood still watching them as they disappeared into the crowd, and she sighed, slightly exasperated with herself. She walked to her car, finding herself practically forced to spend the day alone. What was she to do now?

She was tired of this. This wasn't how she imagined a break up would be. But then again, he'd always surprised her.

She imagined that a break up would be full of hatred that he would barely be able to look at her for even a moment in time. She imagined that a break up would be full of hurtful words and icy glares that would send her running straight to hell. She imagined that they'd never speak again and he'd never look at her the way he used to and that he'd never spend time with Alex.

But the break up was nothing like she imagined.

They didn't even come close to hating each other; they still loved each other.

She walked quickly to her car to get away from the crowd and from the sight of him. But the car line was backed up, and when she climbed in and started her car, she looked up to see him staring at her from the driver's seat. No longer than they had locked eyes had he broken the gaze by putting on his sunglasses, but she could still tell that he was looking at her.

She had always known.

He finally passed her, but his car even seemed reluctant to do so, and she let herself relax back into the seat. She didn't know what she was doing anymore. She loved him, they both knew it, but she knew that she just had to move on.

That's what she had to do. She had to move on; quit thinking about him.

She pulled the car into drive, and pressed her foot to the metal to take off into the relatively empty parking lot. She hated that she loved him, and she was done. But she'd never be able to turn herself off like that – once she loved him, she knew she always would.