"I don't think I've met anyone who has as many photographs as you, Claire." Isabelle spoke, carrying a few photo albums in her arms. As she was setting the albums down on the living room table, a photo slipped out, landing face up.

A sad smile formed on Isabelle's face as she took in the memories that photo held, knowing those were during her better days. She made herself comfortable on the floor as she held the photograph between her fingers. Her blonde hair was anything but tame that day, the Charleston wind blowing it in different directions. But nonetheless, the smile on her face in that picture was a genuine smile. Tongue pressed behind her teeth, barely there left dimple making its rare appearance and her green eyes not on display as they were closed, due to her laughing so hard from his left hand pinching her side, tickling her.

His face was turned slightly so he could look at her, not noticing that the picture was going to be taken at that exact moment. Isabelle bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to hold in a lone tear, remembering just how much he loved her. Just by looking at the picture, seeing how he was looking at her, smile wide and eyes full of love, as if she was the most beautiful creature on the planet.

But let's be honest, because at that moment, those were his exact thoughts. Just how beautiful she was and that he would do anything and everything for her happiness.

The Eastern Illinois University logo was prominent in white on the blue sweatshirt she was wearing in the photograph. The sweatshirt held the number 10 in white on the back, obviously not visible in the picture. Above the number 10, was his last name, considering the fact that he was the starting quarterback for their school football team. And the fact that it was his in the first place. But that didn't matter because she would always wear something of his, something about always having a piece of you with me.

But that didn't matter anymore. The sweatshirt was still with her though, but it was somewhere in the back of her closet, not touched since she vowed to herself that the decision she made was the right one and she wasn't going to dwell over it anymore. She spent her whole life with one goal in her mind and that was to become one of the best sports medicine doctors there ever was. And she was well on her way to her goal at only 25 years of age.

"Shit." She heard Claire's voice behind her as she turned to look at her, giving her a small smile. "I forgot that I still had that."

Isabelle shook her head. "They're beautiful memories, why throw them? Besides, we're still friends, Claire. I don't hate him and he doesn't seem to hate me."

Claire looked at her best friend with sympathy as she put the box that she was holding down and sat next to her, taking the photo and looking at it. "Remember the glares George got when he walked around in his Iowa sweatshirt the whole time during our visist?"

Isabelle let out a small laugh. "He wouldn't take it off. Something about pride or what not." She looked at Claire and smiled. "You made the right decision, you know."

"You regret yours?"

Isabelle sighed as she shook her head. "I made the right decision by pursuing my dreams. I made the wrong one by thinking I could only pursue one. I was so scared that I let it consume me and I regret that. But knowing what I know now...you made the right decision by staying with George."

Claire wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulder. "You get to be scared in life, Bella." Isabelle tensed at that nickname for just a few seconds before relaxing again. "How long has it been since you last spoke to him?"

"February. After the super bowl. I texted him, congratulating him on the win, because I couldn't get myself to talk to him right after the game. I was too busy with consoling my heartbroken father and getting ready for the shit storm of media he was about to receive from that loss."

"And who knew that a few days later, he would become the head coach of the 49ers, huh?" Claire replied, trying to lighten up the mood a bit. "And, you Ms. I-Graduated-At-The-Top-Of-My-Class. Who knew that you would be pursuing a fellowship with the same team."

Isabelle scoffed. "Yeah, because my last name is Shanahan."

"Hey." Claire spoke, narrowing her eyes at her. "Don't start. You of all people know that your father had nothing to do with it and he promised he would not interfere and he didn't. The Yorks showed you that they were looking into your file before you finished your residency program. It's not everyday they find a 25 year old doctor."

She sighed. "I know. It worked out for the best though, yeah? My family is here and my best friends are here."

"You don't have to pretend that you don't want him here, too."

Isabelle shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I did what I did back then and we decided to be friends. We love each other but we weren't going to let one or the other give up a dream. I'm just relieved that he didn't end up hating me after."

"You know that boy can never hate you. He was head over heels for you. Pretty sure he still is."

"You want to know what the worst kind of breakup is?" Isabelle asked her, not really waiting for a reply. "The one where you're both so in love with each other but life gets in the way. Because you can never really get over it. The heartbreak is still there. The 'what ifs' never seem to end in your mind. The different scenarios. The memories. I feel so pathetic because it was my decision and it was three years ago. Three damn years but yet here I am, still in love with that idiot."

"Oh, babe." Claire sighed as she hugged her.

Before she can console her, George walked in but quickly stopped as he saw the scene in front of him. "Yeah, no." He simply said. "Both of you get up. We're not doing this. Can't leave you two for a few minutes without shit turning into a cry fest." He grumbled, grabbing both of their hands and helping them up. "Pre-season is about to start and I need some fun before that happens."

"Can always count on you." Isabelle replied, smiling slightly at him.

But she meant it. Claire and George helped keep her balanced. When one helped her just...let her feelings out, the other came and would lighten up the mood immediately.

He smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

And she knew that even if her heart was still hurting, (and frankly she doesn't think it'll ever stop hurting), she would be fine because she has a good life with amazing people.

Even if it was missing the main one.

----

(September 2011)

"Thank you for doing this, Isabelle." The Dean, Dr. Randolph, spoke as she got up.

"No need, honestly." Isabelle replied, smiling. "I saw the flyer while walking around the main campus and thought I could be of help."

"Ever since we added a requirement of six credits worth of biology to quite a few degrees, students have been having a hard time since some don't really understand the concept. I know you have your own very busy schedule, with this being your first year in our medical school program. You could choose whichever hours you would like for the student you're going to tutor."

"Yeah, I completely understand." She replied to the first part of what the Dean said. "And for the hours, I can do a few hours a day about three times a week. Is that good?"

"Perfect. He's currently waiting in room three on this floor; it's just to your right. I'll let you two get acquainted and you'll be free to choose the schedule of your liking. Thank you again." She said as she gave her one last nod before walking off.

Isabelle looking for room three and quickly knocked on the door a few times before she opened it, walking in. Her eyes landed on the dark haired boy sitting down, his hazel eyes going wide for a few seconds before regaining his composure. "James?" She asked, making sure that it was him, but she already knew.

When the twenty year old imagined his tutor, he really didn't think that this would be her. He smiled as he stood up, extending his hand. "Jimmy." He corrected her.

She shook his hand, his rough fingers holding her smooth ones. But she didn't mind the roughness because they were warm. "Isabelle." They let go of each other's hands. "Sorry it took me a while to get here. I'm kind of new and I got lost."

"You're good." He spoke, giving her his signature smile.

She noticed his crooked smile, and boy was it a very beautiful smile. She cleared her throat before opening up her planner. "So, I'm guessing you weren't really a big fan of the additional biology credits requirement, huh?"

He chuckled. "Not really." He raised his hand to the back of his neck, scratching slightly. "I'm more of a math kind of guy."

"And football." She joked, raising her eyebrows.

"Someone did their research."

A slight pink tint made it's way onto her cheeks. "I did my research, yeah. But not on you." She joked, kind of shocked at her over-confidence. "I wanted to get to know the school that I was going to attend. And besides, I've been around football since I was born."

"Football family?" He asked.

She cleared her throat. "Something like that." She said, not completely lying.

She's been used before, especially by athletes, because of her father and grandfather so she wasn't going to let that happen again. She was in no means embarrassed, it was the total opposite. She was extremely proud of them but she wanted to protect herself. "I know you guys have your practice and all, so we can make the schedule based off of that. The latest I finish my classes is around seven in the evening and I need about 10 minutes from the medical campus back to the dorm—"

"You're in the medical school?" Jimmy asked, shocked.

"Um, yeah." She replied. "Why?"

"I didn't really take you to be 22 and finished with your bachelors yet."

She let out a small laugh. "No. I'm 19."

"See, I knew you weren't over 20---Wait, you're 19 and in medical school?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"What, is this some sort of interview?" She asked, trying to keep a serious face.

He looked a bit taken back. "Oh, no. I didn't mean—" He stopped when he saw her smile and laugh. "Okay, I see how it is."

"I graduated high school at 16 and got my bachelor's in biology in three year. I graduated this past May."

"Damn." He said. Jimmy was never the one to be speechless or be at a loss for words, because he was always outspoken. He had confidence and never really shied away from speaking his mind. But it was as if the cat had gotten his tongue this time.

"Back to the schedule." She said, her voice softer, as she looked back down at her planner, her cheeks red. "We can meet at either of our dorms at 7:30, whatever three days you want. I don't really have a problem and I know sometimes practices can be hard on specific days." She spoke, looking back at him, their eyes instantly locking.

He quickly averted his eyes, hoping she wouldn't have noticed his staring but quickly looked back at her as he remembered it was only them two in the room. "We can do Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for now, if that's okay. It might change depending on how our games go and the intensity of all of it."

"Yeah, sure." She replied as she looked at her watch. "Okay, I have to get going." She told him as she grabbed a post-it note from her bag, scribbling on it. "Here's my number, just text me saying its you and if anything were to come up we can work it out that way."

He nodded as he grabbed it, smiling at her. "Perfect.I guess I'll see you Thursday?" He asked, considering it was already Tuesday and they probably weren't going to start right on the same day.

She nodded as she got up. "Yup. I'll see you on Thursday, Garoppolo." She walked out of the room, closing the door and taking a second to regain her breath. She walked out of the building and was going towards her dorm when her phone chimed. She grabbed it from her bag and smiled the moment she looked at the screen.

              - Since we're on a nickname basis, I think it's only fitting if I call you Bella.

She didn't need to think twice about who sent it. She knew it was Jimmy.

She also knew that basically everyone calls him Jimmy because that's how he introduced himself to her, anyways. So was it really a nickname basis?

But she also knew that she liked the name Bella from him. She liked the fact that he gave her that nickname.

And that's when she knew that tutoring the quarterback was going to be a bit harder than she initially thought.

Because fate has a funny way of working.