"Is this really necessary?" Harley bounced her knee anxiously, crossing her arms. "It's only a practice."

"You got dizzy enough to almost pass out at last week's meet, Harley." Her father scolded, opening up the small case and revealing the two electrodes. "These are small and portable, you can hide them under your clothes, okay? The hospital set it up so that I can track your heart rate on my phone instead of getting one of the portables."

"Do I really need them?" She sighed, a grimace on her face as he took one of them out.

"Yes, you really do." He gestured for her to move her straps so he he could attach them in the correct places. "Alright, done."

"Can I go now?" Harley huffed, holding out her hand. He nodded and dropped the case into her palm, the girl sliding off the desk and starting towards the door.

"Make sure no one's left in the locker room, I'll be out in a minute or two." Bobby ordered, moving to check something on his computer. "Anyone late is gonna have extra conditioning."

"Got it." She nodded, slipping out of his office and closing the door behind her.

Someone was still in the locker room, his back to her as he went to change his shirt. The blonde would have snapped at him to get on the trail and get ready for a workout from hell, but the dark bruising on his back stopped her. Instead she cleared her throat loud enough for just him to hear, the boy fixing his shirt and turning around with wide eyes.

"I was late, and I just-" He stumbled over his words, his running a hand through his curly hair as his eyes filled with distraught.

"Next time be on time." Harley glanced over her shoulder before taking a deep breath and looking back at him. "That way I won't have to cover for you."

"Thank you." He gave her a grateful look and ran from the locker room, gone before her father walked out.

"Ready?" Bobby asked, locking his office door behind him and putting his whistle around his neck.

"Yeah, just hold on a second." She knelt next to her bag, searching for her bottle of ibuprofen and grabbing it. There was probably about a half bottle left, but she could get a new one. "Just have to give these back to Danny."

"Make it quick." He warned, walking out of the locker room. The blonde scanned the bags along the locker room benches, her eyes landing on the boy's she had just encountered.

Harley unzipped one of the smaller pockets and dropped them in, catching the faded name on the label before retreating after her father.

Lahey.

● ● ●

Harley had only made it halfway through practice when her dad blew his whistle, motioning for her to go sit down.

The blonde just rolled her eyes and stalked past him, walking all the way back to the locker room without a second glance.

Once she was inside the let out a frustrated groan, kicking one of the random soccer balls lying around angrily. Stopping in front of one of the mirrors she pulled her strap down, wincing as she tried to pull one of the electrodes off.

"Harley?" She stopped abruptly and fixed her top before turning around and crossing her arms.

"Hey, Jackson." Harley cleared her throat, giving him a wide smile. "What's up?

"You okay?" Jackson asked, his eyebrows creased in worry. "You seemed pretty upset."

"I'm fine." She shrugged, shaking her head. "You can uh, go back to practice. I'll see you after."

Jackson's eyes were trained on her chest, her boyfriend reaching over and pulling back the fabric of her tank top. Harley closed her eyes and took a deep breath, not wanting to see his reaction.

"They track my heart rate, so I won't-"

"I already know." His words made her eyes snap open, the girl looking at him in shock. "I pay attention, and I knew there was something wrong so I forced it out of Erica."

"Please, just don't tell anyone." She pleaded, swallowing hard. He just reached forward and carefully pulled off one of the electrodes, handing it to her before starting on the other.

"Why would I say anything?" Jackson asked, looking at her in confusion. "It's not like it's anyone's business."

Harley let out a surprised laugh, the girl pulling him closer and pressing her lips to his. He smiled against her lips and kissed her back, his hand resting comfortably on her waist.

"Whittemore! That is not what I meant when I said to check up on her!"

"Sorry, Coach."