Chapter Ten; Temps va lent

Hey guys,
I'm sad to say that this will be my last update for a while. I'm leaving next week for U.S. Air Force basic training which means that I will be unable to get to a computer for eight and a half weeks. I know this seems like forever for you guys but just think how ling it's going to be for me; waking up a four am everyday, doing countless push-ups, sit-ups, running mile after mile. The next time that I will be able to update will be once I get to technical school, but the exact that that I can update is unknown. I hope that you can all bare with me, your support is greatly appreciated and expect an update in either late January or early February.
Thank you all so much,
Miriya.

***

Chapter Ten

Game time finally came and Kailey smiled when Marc stood strong in net. The rest of team played well in front of him and they brought home a win. When the final buzzer rang Marc was shown on the screen and as he removed his helmet a slight smile could be seen on his face. This caused Kailey to smile again, still not a full smile but enough to show that she was truly happy with her best friend's accomplishment. "He's smiling V, he's smiling."

The TV was kept on after the game but just so there was some noise other than the monitors and silence. Kailey listened to the interview and even recognized the voice but none of what the man said sunk in as she again turned to Vero, searching for any sign of life.

Marc must have been the first one to shower and leave the parking lot because he returned to the dreary hospital room just after eleven o'clock. "Hey," Kailey said standing from her chair. "Good game. I saw the smile at the end." She wrapped her arms around the tall, muscular but slender goalie.

"I hoped you would," he returned the hug. "It felt good to be back out there with the guys."

"I'm glad. Well I have school and a game tomorrow so I won't be able to get here. Will you be okay til Wednesday?" She asked concern in her eyes.

"I'll be fine, some of the guys said they would stop over." He reluctantly released her from his arms. "Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks Marc, I'm gonna need it. Try to get some sleep okay?"

Marc nodded before saying, "You too."

A gentle kiss was placed on his cheek before Kailey left the room and he returned to his seat next to the bed. Taking Vero's hand in his again he kissed it and proceeded to tell her about the game. He knew that she couldn't hear him and that Kailey had probably told her what had happened throughout the game but wanted something to seem normal. Throughout the season when she had been in Canada he would call her following each game, just as he did with Kailey, and they had talked about what happened. Marc wanted that again, to be able to hear her speak, to see the gleam in her eye when he walked into the room, to hold her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her.

Kailey found her car and after clearing the windshield she just sat in the driver's seat for a moment. She could only imagine how hard this was on Marc, to have the women he loved so helpless, lifeless. There was nothing else that she could do for him, she was there at the hospital with him every chance she got, but she wished that there was something more.

These thoughts quickly brought her to her love, Jared. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket she pressed and held two. "Hello," someone said groggily on the other end.

"Hey baby, did I wake you?"

"No," he said clearing his throat. "You okay?"

"Physically yes, emotionally no. These past few days have taken such a toll on me. I know we have school tomorrow but I'm stressed and most probably won't be able to sleep anyway, can you come over?"

"Of course, are you home?"

"I'll be there soon, I'm leaving the hospital."

"I'll be waiting."

When Kailey pulled into her drive-way she found Jared waiting on the front porch. Putting her keys in her pocket she took his hand and led him to the backyard. Snow covered the concrete which would make it harder to shoot but Kailey didn't care, she needed to relieve stress and this was the only way that she could think of with her mind as clouded as it was. The wind blew, swirling snow at their feet but Kailey didn't care how cold it was.

She picked her stick up and stick handled a pink ball for a few seconds before launching it towards the net. Snow had built up on the back of the net since he hadn't used it in a few days and when the ball hit the twine a puff of snow fell to the ground. Normally this would make Kailey smile, but not tonight. After a few more slap shots, just from Kailey, Jared just stood by and watched, he felt that it was safer that way, she couldn't hold back anymore.

Tears began to fall, freezing on her cheeks but she didn't care. Jared pulled her against him and sat down on the cold, wet ground, bringing her onto his lap. Her stick fell from her hand and she buried her face in his chest. She normally wasn't an emotional person but she just couldn't hold it in anymore. Normally she would just release all of her emotions in the form of slap shots, but this was too much. The situation not only affected her directly because Vero was her friend but Marc was so hurt by this, inflicting more pain on Kailey.

"What if she doesn't wake up?" She asked finally lifting her head.

"Then Amy, you and I will be there for Marc. Right now though let's try to think happy, okay?" Kailey nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Let's get you warmed up."

Once they had made it inside and Kailey changed into her pajamas Jared instructed her to lay down on the couch. Returning to the family room he had two blankets in hand which he used to cover Kailey bringing a slight smirk to her face. She set the alarm on her cell phone for later that morning, which seemed all too soon. Jared went to lie on the other side of the large wrap-around couch but Kailey was forced to say no. "Please."

Understanding her completely he lie down next to her, wrapping his arm around her, for both protection and warmth, after all she was still chilled. Jared fell asleep before she did, but when she was finally warm and couldn't keep her eyes open any longer sleep finally overtook her.

***

As she had expected, morning came too soon. School seemed ten times longer than normal, even longer than it had the day before. Hamlet was still being discussed in English Lit, something that again she paid no attention too. In the rest of her class mid-terms were being reviewed for and she tried her hardest to pay attention, but she found herself drifting in and out. She managed to stay awake the whole day, which was something she had strived for, but she hoped that she would be able to say the same about later that night, her game.

Taking the ice for warm-ups she felt okay, the cold air helped to wake her up a bit. She was out for the opening face-off even though she had tried to convince her coach to give her less ice time. Bob had told her that the only way she would be given less ice time was if she completely sucked. Kailey didn't plan on flat out sucking but there was no way she was going to be playing at her normal pace, she was not even close to being one hundred percent.

Things started out slow, but when it came to keeping the puck in the other team's zone she was as good as ever. The physical part of her game though was not up to par. She only attempted two checks that night and both ended up with her slamming into the boards instead of the opposing players, something that rarely happened. Another time she got laid out behind her own net and that's when she really woke up. Prying herself from the ice she shook off the hit and played well for the rest of the game.

***

The rest of the week was the same, Marc sat at the hospital, Kailey went to school, hockey practice, and then the hospital. Friday morning she drove from hockey practice to school. There was no practice after school so she planned to go straight to the hospital. Classes drug on as they had all week and Kailey couldn't wait for the final bell to ring.

When it came to English Lit Kailey was paying more attention than she had for the rest of the week and was glad that she was when the teacher directed a question at her. "Ms. Schwartz."

"Yes," she said looking up from the table. She had actually been paying attention and even with all of the stress she had been keeping up with her homework to include her reading for this class.

"What is Hamlet talking about in the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy?"

"Whether or not to kill himself," Kailey said weakly.

"Very good," the teacher said, partly shocked since she had paid any attention in class all week.

After school she said good-bye to Jared and quickly made her way to the hospital. It had been a week since the accident and a long week at that. It was the first week back after Christmas break and all of the teachers at Kailey's school had begun to review for mid-terms.

"Hey," Kailey asked walking into Vero's room behind Marc. "Anything."

"No," he said without looking away form Vero. He and Kailey sat in silence until around six o'clock when out of no where the heart monitor flat lined. The sound alerted nurses and doctors, Marc and Kailey were pushed to the hallway, and the doctors did everything in their power. "Time of death, six-oh-three," a doctor said looking at the clock on the wall.

When the room was empty again Marc slowly returned, Kailey just a step behind him. He took Vero's lifeless hand in his one last time and the tears he was fighting to hold back finally spilled over. "I love you," he said barely audible. "I love you." He repeated this over and over again until he fell to his knees. Her hand slipped from his, his hair fell to his face, but he didn't care about anything at that moment, he had lost everything.

Kailey sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug, she too was crying. She knew that there was nothing she could do now to make things better, Marc had just lost the women he loved and she had lost a good friend.

Chapter Nine; Jours longs et nuits sans sommeil

Marc sat in shock, he didn’t know what to do, and he stopped breathing for a moment. He had to get to the hospital but he was in no condition to get there under his own power. Without even thinking he picked his phone back up and dialed.

“Hey Marc what’s up?”

“All I know is that Vero was in an accident and I don’t think I’m in a good state of mind to be driving right now. Can you please come pick me up?” His voice was not his usual high pitched voice; he was frantic, worried, and anything but happy.

“Oh my god sweetheart I’m on my way out the door now, I’ll be there in ten minutes tops.” The line went dead; Kailey grabbed her keys and ran to the car. As quickly as she could she started the car, pulled out of the driveway and made it to Marc’s apartment building in six minutes. He was waiting outside and quickly got into the car saying, “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” Kailey threw the car into drive and started off towards the hospital. She pulled Marc’s hand onto the gear shift to try to give him some comfort but they worry that was evident was the same on Kailey’s. They arrived at the hospital as quickly as possible, the roads were still icy as snow fell in large flakes from the sky, and Kailey didn’t want to get into an accident of her own. Marc ran into the hospital as Kailey parked the car.

He found out all that the front desk could tell him, which wasn’t much. He made his way down a long hall to her room where he was met just outside her room by a doctor who filled him in on her injuries; it was quite a long list. Soon Kay was by his side. “She’s in critical and in a coma,” Marc said, his voice cracking as the tears he was holding back finally spilled over.

“I’m so sorry,” was all Kailey could bring herself to say as she too held back tears. She pulled him into a hug and when she loosened her grip she looked up into his brown eyes that were glazed over by tears and asked, “Are you ready to see her?”

He nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket and they entered the room. The sight that awaited them was not something that either of them had every wanted to see, it was something that one would see in a movie. It looked nothing like Marc’s best friend and girlfriend. Her beautiful face was covered in scratches and deep cuts that must have come from the broken glass of the windshield Her long brown hair was pulled to one side and covered with a white bandage which was covering a spot on the side of her head that must of have been a deep cut. Her flawless body which normally sported a very ‘in’ outfit now modeled a white hospital gown along with various bandages and casts.

“Oh my god,” she said quietly. “Marc, I’m so sorry.” She hugged him again before he pulled a chair up to the bed of the women he loved. He sat down to notice that somehow, miraculously neither of her hands had been injured in the accident. He took them in his own and he couldn’t hold back anymore. Tears spilled over once again and he placed a kiss on her right hand, he rested his head on the bed and continued to cry.

Kailey placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him but she felt a tear fall to her cheek as well. She had become close with Vero since their first meeting in October and knowing how much Marc loved her only made it worse for Kailey. She looked through her tears to her friend and wished that there was something she could do to make Marc feel better. Kailey didn’t say anything until a nurse came about an hour after they had arrived. “I’m sorry honey but you’re not family so you can’t say in the room.”

Kailey nodded and placed a hand on Marc’s shoulder, “Goodnight Marc.” She made her way out into the hallway and down to the waiting room. Finding an empty row of chairs she tried to make herself comfortable. Using her hoodie as a pillow wasn’t an option, she didn’t want to take it off because the hospital was cold and it was being used as a blanket. Lying on her stomach with her arms crossed under her head she eventually fell asleep.

The next morning Kailey awoke to see that she wasn’t the only one in the waiting room and ran to her car and then the bathroom to fix herself up. She always kept a brush and deodorant in the glove compartment. Looking half way presentable she made her way to Vero’s room where Marc was still sleeping, holding Vero’s hands in his own. It was by no means a deep sleep, Kailey placed a hand on his back causing him to stir and life his head; not letting go of his beloved’s hands. “You stayed?” He tried to smile but smile expression didn’t change.

“Yeah sweetheart I stayed and I called into work to tell them that I couldn’t come in.”
“I should call coach and tell him there’s no way I can play tonight. Can you stay here til I get back?” She nodded, Marc got up out of his car, but not before placing a kiss on Vero’s hand, and left the room. “Hey coach there’s no way I can play tonight,” he went on to explain what had happened to Vero, or at least what he knew, which wasn’t much, and her condition.

“I wish you the best Marc, Salmon will play tonight. Let me know if you can play, okay?” Edzo said.

He finished talking to his coach and made his way back to the room. He and Kailey both sat in silence for most of the day, nurse and doctors came in periodically to cheek Vero’s condition, which hadn’t changed. They left at meal time only to bring the food back to the room; someone was always by her side. Marc and Kailey watched the game together that night and when it was coming to an end so were visiting hours. “I’ve gotta get going Marc, I have practice in the morning but as soon as it’s over I’ll be back here. Is there anything I can get for you?”

“Just some clothes,” he said pulling his key from his pocket and placing it in Kailey’s hand. “Thank you Kailey this really means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome sweetheart,” she looked up to the TV one last time to see the score of the Rangers four and the Penguins one. “Try to get some rest.” Marc nodded and Kailey kissed his cheek gently before leaving.

Kailey and Marc both had a hard time sleeping that night; their thoughts were only of Vero. Kailey tossed and turned until her alarm went off, she had to get up for practice. She arrived at the rink before anyone else, this was the norm and today some time on the ice alone was what she needed. Throwing her bag down in the locker room she sat at her stall and put her gear on more slowly than usual. Finally taking the ice the cold air hit her face and put some life back into her. She slowly took one lap around the ice and went to lean against the bench. “Hey baby, you look tired,” Jared said taking his mask off. He sat it on the boards and pulled her into a hug.

“I couldn’t sleep last night; I couldn’t stop thinking about her.”

“How is she? How’s Marc holding up?”

Kailey explained everything just before the coach blew his whistle and everyone met at center ice. Practice woke her up, especially the check she took from Amy along the end boards. After shedding all of her gear she went to Marc’s apartment. Seeing various things of Vero’s throughout the apartment was like a kick to the stomach for Kailey. Pulling a few outfits from Marc’s dresser as quickly as possible Kailey left the apartment. She wasn’t sure how much or what she even grabbed until she made it out to the car. A few shirts, two pairs of jeans, a couple pairs of boxers and some socks. She had no idea how long Marc would be staying at the hospital and if he were to play a game he could come back to the apartment and grab a suit for himself and get cleaned up.

When Kailey returned to the hospital Marc sat still holding Vero’s hand but watching something on TV to try to take his mind from the pain. “Hey sweetheart, here’s your stuff.”

“Thanks,” he let go of Vero’s hand to take the bag and made his way to the bathroom. His hair had started to get oily and had been sticking up all over the place but Kay felt that it was best to not say anything. She heard the water turn on and knew that he was taking a much needed shower. It wasn’t a long shower but the warm water relived Marc of some stress.

When he returned to the room he wore a new outfit but sat right back down in the chair next to the bed and took Vero’s hand in his once again. He and Kay sat mostly in silence until the end of visiting hours when once again Kailey had to leave.

“I’ve gotta get going sweetheart, I have school and hockey practice but as soon as I’m done I’ll be here. Four-thirty okay?”

“Mhm, thank you again, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

“No problem, anything for a friend. I know you have to play tomorrow; it’ll be good for you to get some fresh air and be at the rink. As usual she kissed Marc’s cheek softly before leaving.

She had trouble sleeping again that night and morning came quickly. She rolled out of bed and got ready for practice that was before school. Practice seemed like it went on forever; Kailey was tired and worried therefore she was dragging her feet the whole hour.

“Hey Kay, you okay?” Aaron, a kid in her Bio II class asked.

“Just tired.”

“Hey babe,” Jared said from behind and wrapping his arms around her. “You feeling any better than at practice this morning?”

“No, if anything I’m more tired than I was. I’m the top defenseman and I’m slacking.”

“Do you think that’s how coach sees it?” Kailey sat silently. “No,” Jared said. “He knows what’s going on and how hard it is for you. You’ll get through this and you’ll get your game back.” He kissed her cheek.

“Technically I’m not off my game since I haven’t played since this happened.” She tried to force a smile but her expression didn’t change.

“Kailey everything will be fine. Are you going to practice or straight to the hospital after school?”

“Don’t worry I’ll be at practice, I have to get myself back into the right mindset.” With that the bell rang and it was the last period of the day, English Lit. Kailey sat in class, her mind wandering from the class discussion of Hamlet to her best friend who sat at the hospital with the girl he loved. She was so helpless as she lie lifelessly in the hospital bed but Marc was there with her almost every minute of every day, hoping that she would wake up.

The bell rang to end the day and pulled Kailey from her thoughts. She was the first to arrive at practice and before she went to the locker room to suit up she grabbed her work schedule. Glancing down at the paper she saw that she wasn’t working for the next week and for the first time since she had started working there she was very grateful for this.

She geared and hit the ice before the rest of the team. She hadn’t put her helmet on and placing it down on the ice she lie down on the ice next to it, her face pressed against it an attempt to wake herself up.

When practice ended at four Kailey quickly showered and was off to the hospital. Since she had been there every day since Friday no one asked questions as she made her way to Vero’s room. Marc was ready to go when she arrived, all but his suit. “Thank you so much for sitting with her during the game. I’ll see you as soon as I can; I worked it out with the nurse so that you can stay with her until I get back.”

“Okay sweetheart have a good game. Try not to think about this okay, focus on the game.”

“No promises but I’ll try, the boys need me.” He gave Kailey a hug before leaving and held her in his arms before leaving.

Kailey sat down next to the bed, where Marc had been sitting and though she knew that she couldn’t be heard she began to talk to Vero. “Hey V, I know you can’t hear me but I want you to know that I really care about you. It hurts to see you like this, you’re one of my best friends and you don’t deserve this.

“These last few days have been so hard for Marc. He’s been here every day since the accident; I don’t think he leaves this chair. I know that he tries to hide it but he cries every day. He loves you more than anything in the world, you can see it when he so much as looks at you. He would always smile when he talked to you on the phone, even after a loss you could bring a smile to his face. I miss that smile. I promise that if you end up leaving us we will both be complete wrecks. We’ll cry for days V, I don’t want that, we both need you. If it is your time though, if God is calling you home then I will be right here for Marc, by his side, I will doing everything I can to help him though it.

“Enough of that though. He didn’t go to morning skate today but he’s playing tonight. I told him not to think about this for a while, you and me, to focus on the game. I think it’s what’s best for him. He’s been in this room for days just staring at you, crying and holding your hand as if his life depended on it, he needs something to take his mind off of it even if it is just for a few hours. He hasn’t let the hospital since you first got here Friday night; he sits by your side all day and when he manages to get some sleep at night he’s still holding your hand.

“I’m going to watch the game with you, I hope that’s okay. I just want to see how he does in his first game back. He’s supposed to be leaving for the World Junior Championship but he’s not going, he wants to be here when you wake up. And I’m going to be right here with him.”

Chapter Eight; Un pas si bonne année

Two days later the Pens weren’t so lucky and fell to the Islanders six-one at home on New Year’s Eve. Kailey spent the day watching hockey and partying with friends. When it got closer to midnight everyone gathered around the TV and counted down. “Happy New Year!” They all screamed before running outside; setting off party poppers, squirting silly string, and blowing into noise makers. “Happy New Year baby,” Jared pulled her close and kissed her.

“Happy new year,” she smiled. As much as she wanted to stay in his embrace she also wanted to enjoy her time with her friends. She kissed his cheek and went on to run around the yard and play in the snow with her friends. Just as she was getting hit with a snowball thrown by Amy her phone buzzed in her pocket. “Hello?”

“Hey Kailey, I’m about to go to bed because we have a game tomorrow, but I just wanted to say happy New Year.”

“Happy new year, I’ll be watching tomorrow,” she said with a smile just before a snowball hit the back of her head and some of the snow ran down her back. “Oh my god, cold.”

“Do I want to know?”

“We’re having a snowball fight, I’ll talk to you later, goodnight Marc.”

“Goodnight Kailey.”

At around one o’clock everyone said good-bye to Jared before he headed home and they headed inside and sat down to watch a movie. Later that morning when everyone woke up breakfast had been set out by Nikki’s mom, which all of the girls enjoyed. Kailey and Amy were going to watch the game together that night but spent most of the day before the game at Nikki’s house talking and laughing.

Half an hour before game time Kailey and Amy headed to her house to get ready for the game, getting food ready, preparing a score sheet, and turning on FSN Pittsburgh. As the minutes ticked down, game time approaching Kailey got more and more excited, she was always excited just before games. There was nothing special about this game about there had been a game the day before but Kay always looked forward to a new challenge for her team and another chance to bring home a win.

The game was hard fought but again the Pens fell short, they had been defeated three-two by the Nashville Predators. Following the game Kailey and Amy headed outside to take shots on net for a while, they had an afternoon game the next day and they hadn’t done much shooting since their practice three days earlier. An hour after they had stepped outside Kailey’s phone rang, just as she had expected it would. “Hey Marc, sorry about the loss.”

“I’ll get over it. We’re leaving for the airport now but I just wanted to call like after every other game and let you know that I will most probably be at your game tomorrow.”

“Aw Marc you don’t have to come I want you to get some sleep. But if you do come that would be great. Oh do you know if Vero would be coming?”

“I’m not sure; I’ll let you know tomorrow though. Goodnight Kailey.”

“Goodnight Marc-Andre.” After one more slap shot from the edge of the concrete that went top shelf the girls headed inside and got ready to go to bed. After she showered Kailey climbed into bed and called Jared to say goodnight. She had talked to him after the Pens game but since she hadn’t seen him that day she felt the need to call him again, to tell him she loved him, to push the feelings for Marc, no matter how weak, from her mind.

“Hello?” Jared said sleepily.

“Hey babe, did I wake you?”

“Yeah, it’s fine though, you going to bed now?”

“Mhm goodnight Jare, I’ll see you at the game. I love you.”

“I love you too, goodnight.”

The phone call made Kailey feel better and only moments after placing her phone on the bedside table and saying goodnight to Amy she was asleep. It was a restful sleep during which, as always, she dreamt of the Penguins. However she was pulled from these dreams when her alarm went off, it was game day and she had to get ready. The two girls got up, ate breakfast and took a few more shots on net before getting dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt. Throwing her under amour shirt and shorts into her bag Kailey slung it over her shoulder and grabbed her stick from behind the door. She always kept one in the car and one inside, inside was the stick she had used to score her last goal but because she was only superstitious about professional hockey she used whatever stick she picked up first from her stall first before taking the ice.

When both girls were ready they headed outside into the snow and threw their bags into the trunk. Once they got into the car Kailey opened her phone to make sure that she hadn’t missed a call from Marc, nothing. She figured that he still didn’t have an answer from her or the more she thought about it she realized that he was probably still sleeping.

Just as she was pulling into her usual spot at the rink her phone rang. “Hello?” She asked without looking at the caller id and shutting the car off.

“Hey just calling to let you know that I will be at your game today but Vero can’t make it. She says she’s sorry.”

“It’s okay, I just got to the rink so I’ll see and talk to you after the game.” She hung up and grabbed her things from the trunk before heading inside and gearing up.

Taking the ice to warm up Kailey found Marc in his normal seat and waved. After receiving a wave in return she went to the corner to stretch and take a few shots at the wall before shooting on the goalie and practicing her skating backwards. Upon returning to the locker room she finally said hi to Jared and received an awkward hug, all of the equipment seemed to get in the way. A good luck kiss was shared between the two of them before they took the ice again.

Being in the starting line-up, as always, Kailey made her way to her spot on the ice and awaited the drop of the opening face-off. The game started off quickly and remained that way for the rest of the sixty minutes. One of Kailey’s shots from the point was deflected in for the winning goal with just thirty seconds remaining in the final period.

“Great job out there,” Marc said hugging Kailey after the game. “You too guys.”

“Thanks Marc, so what was Vero up to today?”

“She was going shopping with some of the other girls; she said that if she would have known about the game before she promised she would go with them then she would have been here.”

“It’s fine, she’s going to be here for another week, there’s two more games,” she said with a smile.

Marc decided that as was tradition he would go to get something to eat with ‘the guys’. Kailey and Amy threw their bags in the back of their car before getting into Marc’s car and heading to the Eat ‘n Park down the street, this was where they usually ate their celebratory meal, which today was dinner.

On the way to the restaurant Marc called Veronique, no answer. ‘Probably trying on clothes and can’t hear her phone,’ he thought. “Hey beautiful, I just wanted to see how your day was going. I guess I’ll see you when I get home. I love you V.” He said once it had gone to voicemail.

After everyone had finished eating they made their way outside to find large flakes of fluffy snow falling from the sky. After wiping the snow from his windshield Marc drove Kailey, Amy and Jared back to the rink so that they could get their cars. Kailey kissed Jared good-bye before starting to clean off her windshield. “Be careful baby,” she said pulling away from his embrace.

“You too babe.” He got into his car and carefully left the parking lot.

Kailey hugged Marc-Andre and went back to removing snow from her car before saying. “Be careful Marc,”

"You too Kailey.” Soon both cars were no longer covered in snow and both Marc and Kailey carefully left the parking lot and headed home.

Kailey dropped Amy off at home before arriving at her own house and jumping into the shower. Marc arrived home to find the apartment empty and a note on the counter in the kitchen.

‘Petit ami,
I’m sorry that I couldn’t go with you today but I’m out with some of the girls and should be back by five o’clock. I love you Marc.
-V’

Marc looked at his watch to find that it was after six o’clock. Marc began to worry, his girlfriend was an hour later and it was practically a blizzard outside. He wasn’t usually one to worry but Vero was never late. He pulled his phone from his pocket and called Vero, three rings and no answer, four, five.

“Hello?” a voice finally said on the other end, it wasn’t Vero though.

“Who are you, are you with Vero?” he said, now he grew scared.

“My name is Mike and I’m with Veronique, I’m a paramedic. How do you know her?”

“She’s my girlfriend, what happened?” His breath caught in his throat, fear could be heard in his now shaky voice.

“She was in an accident. Her car was found on the side of the road and she had no emergency information on her so we did not know who to contact. We’re taking her to the hospital now, you can see her there.”

Stanley Cup Champions 2009

Just a little video that I made...

Yet another one shot....

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Chris Lee?

Hey guys, for those of you who don't already know I have a new one shot. It's about one of the WBS Pens, Chris Lee. I really like him and think that you guys would too. This one shot was completed in less than two days, so if it sucks that's why. I hope that you guys like it, it's called 'I Just Might Love You'

Chapter Seven; Veronique

Hey guys, I know that I've been slacking big time on this story but I've had some serious writer's block. Any way here's chapter seven, I hope that you enjoy it and as always comments are grealt appreciated.



Chapter Seven

A few months passed and Christmas was quickly approaching. Kailey had been able to take the ice again after her injury and helped her team to where they were now, preparing for a playoff fun. The Penguins on the other hand were not doing nearly as well. It was mid December and over the last month and a half; from November first, the Pens had played twenty-two games. Six of those games were wins, one tie, three overtime losses, and twelve regulation losses. Marc still held his head high, holding his team in games, for the most part, on a nightly basis. Although he stood strong his defense wasn’t much help and the offense couldn’t seem to find the net.

“Hey Kailey,” Marc said after a game a few days before Christmas, he was not in the best mood having just lost to the Atlanta Thrashers seven-four.

She had given up on telling him to call her Kay because as many times as she did he would still call her Kailey. “Yes Marc?”

“Vero’s coming in for a couple weeks after Christmas. She was going to come in before the holiday but since we’re playing in Canada she’s just going to meet me in Ottawa and come back with us.”

Kailey had been extremely upset about the loss but this brightened her spirits; even bringing a smile to her face. She had been good friends with Vero since their first meeting in October and Kailey was glad that she would get to spend time with her. “Yay! She should come to one of my games.”

“I’m sure she will,” Marc said, he was now smiling as well. He loved Vero and talking about her always made him happy.

***

A week passed and with it Christmas; it went well and Vero came to Pittsburgh with the returning team. ‘V!” Kailey said excitedly when the door of Marc’s apartment opened.
“Kailey! How have you been?” She asked throwing her arms around her.

“I’ve been good, hanging out at the rink a lot; mostly for work and games. And when I’m not there I’m with this one,” she said pointing to Marc with a smile. “Or at his games.”

“You’re coming to his game tonight, right?”

“Of course. Did Marc tell you about my game tomorrow? You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, there will be plenty of games while you’re here.”

“I would love to watch you play tomorrow, Marc are you going?” Marc was about to speak when both Kailey and Vero said, “Pretty please.”

“I’ll go if it makes you two happy.” Both girls smiled and Marc left a kiss on the top of Vero’s head, pulling her into a hug. “Okay girls, we have to go.” He ushered them out of the room and soon they arrived at the arena.

Kailey and Vero both went with Marc to the locker room and soon found their way to their seats. Except for when they were in the locker room they two girls spoke to each other continuously, after all it had been a while since they had seen each other.

When the team took the ice Kailey smiled, the pre-game skate was always one of her favorite parts. She had her camera in hand and took pictures of all of the guys around the ice, all the while she was still fully engaged in conversation with Vero.

As had been the case eight other times in the month the Pens dropped the game two-nothing to the Devils and the girls made their way to the locker room to meet up with Marc. He had played that night and as always was he disappointed about the loss. Vero being there definitely helped him and before he went to the showers he kissed her cheek and even cracked a smile.

As always Marc stayed for a while signing autographs for the loyal fans, however he didn’t say much more that ‘you’re welcome’. The short ride was silent, Kailey in the backseat and Vero up front with Marc, holding his hand, trying to make him feel better.

“Well I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Kailey said when they had made it back to the parking garage at Marc’s apartment building. They had parked next to Kailey’s car so all she had to do was step out of the passenger side door and she was a step away from her car. “You’ll get ‘em next time, don’t worry about it.”

Marc smiled weakly and pulled Kailey into a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Go spend time with your girl,” she smiled. “See you tomorrow V.”

Marc and Vero had both attended Kailey’s game; the Mustang’s won and Kailey scored her fourth goal of the season, a fluky one from the point. Following the game Marc, Vero, Kailey, Amy and Jared were going to go out to celebrate. “Are you sure that you don’t want to come?” Amy asked Rob, still holding his hand.

“Yeah it’s fine, you guys go have fun.” He kissed her gently before heading towards the parking lot.

They stood in the ‘lobby’ for a few moments more discussing where they wanted to go and finally decided on Eat ‘n Park. Once they had arrived they completely lost track of time, they had been there for at least two hours talking and laughing when Kailey glanced at her phone to see that it was eight o’clock. After saying their good-byes they went their separate ways, Marc and Vero to his apartment and Amy, Jared, and Kailey to their neighborhood.

“I’m gonna go home and get a real shower,” he said once Amy had left. “But we should do something tomorrow.”

“Okay, let me know when to be ready,” she smiled. “I love you Jared, goodnight.”

“I love you too, goodnight,” he kissed her before making his way to his house two streets over. She was glad that he lived so close, he was always there for her; whether she needed someone to stand in net while she took shots or someone to just hold her.

***

Kailey spent almost the entire next day with Jared, not talking to Marc at all, and she was glad. Kailey had work in the morning, working the front desk as kids came in for stick time. Once all of the kids had arrived Kailey and Jared pulled their skates on and took the ice for themselves, just to mess around for a little while. Once her shift was over Kailey and Jared returned to her house and pulled their winter gloves onto their hands before stepping onto the concrete slab. As they took shots on net snow steadily fell from the sky covering their playing surface in a thin blanket of white.

About an hour had passed when Kailey put her stick against her body and work to warm her hands. “Cold baby?” Jared asked.

“Just my hands,” she smiled. “We can keep playing though.”

“Let’s go for a walk.” Kailey’s face now held a confused look. “Come on.”

They rested their sticks against the house and started off down the street. Jared pulled her close, causing her to smile. Her hands were in her hoodie pocket trying to regain warmth and her head resting against his chest, this caused them to walk slower than they normally would but neither seemed to mind, they were together and that’s what mattered.

Soon they arrived at Jared’s house and he sent her to the family room to find something for them to watch while he was busy in the kitchen. After finding something on TV she got comfortable on the couch and waited for Jared to join her. When he did the room was filled with the aroma of chocolate. Before sitting down on the couch next to her Jared handed Kailey a large mug full of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows.

She took a sip and it was perfect; not too hot, not too cold. “Thanks Jar,” she smiled.

“You ready for the game tonight?”

“Did you really just ask if I was ready for hockey?” she stared blankly at her smiling boyfriend. “I am always ready for hockey. And I have a feeling that they’re gonna win tonight.”

Jared smiled and soon it was game time. As Kailey watched the game intently, yelling at the TV when her boys did something that she didn’t like or especially when the officials made a bad call or completely missed one.

Kailey was right, when the final buzzer sounded the Penguins wore smiles on their faces, they had beaten the Chicago Blackhawks one to nothing. Marc looked especially happy and Kailey expected that she would be receiving a phone call from him in about an hour.

After watching the post game interview Kailey pulled her hoodie back on and pulled her winter hat over her light brown hair. “Thanks for today, babe.”

“Anything for you, see you at practice in the morning.”

“Yep,” she smiled, no matter how early practice was she didn’t care; she was just that in love with the game. “Goodnight, I love you,” she said once they walked to the door.

“I love you too babe, goodnight.”

After a hug and a kiss Kailey stepped out into the cold dark night and caught a snowflake on her tongue before stepping off the porch. Sure enough just as she had predicted an hour after the game had ended her phone rang and the caller id read ‘Marc’.

“Hello Marc-Andre, congratulations on the shut-out,” she said, smiling ear to ear.

Chapter Six; Renoncez Jamais, Ne cédez jamais

Hey guys!!! I know that it's been forever since I posted but I was experiencing a serious case of writer's block. I have been cured and here is the newest chapter about our beloved goalie, Marc-Andre.



Chapter Six

Saturday morning Kailey was lacing up as Marc and the rest of the team was preparing to leave for Philly where they would be playing that night. “Good morning my love,” Jared said sitting down next to Kay.

“Hey,” she said, pulling her laces tight and quickly kissed him.

“One week, one week until our first game. Scrimmage!”

***

Kailey was at the point for the opening face-off one week later. Jared stood in net and ready to stop all the shots that came his way. Kay looked up to the starting line of the other team and their stood Jacob. Jacob was the six foot winger who she had fought the season before and for some reason there was still some tension between them, at least on Jacob’s end. He was just upset that he had been beaten by a girl.

The puck hit the ice and was pushed into the Mustangs’ zone as Ronnie; their top center pulled it back to the defense. Kay received the pass and passed to her defensive partner, Mark. Play moved into the Jet’s zone and Kailey held the point when the puck came back to her. She sent the puck up behind the net with a pinch and the next thing she knew she was down on the ice. “Fuck!” She thought to herself.

Play stopped and the Mustangs crowded around Kailey who was down on all fours in the offensive zone. “You alright special Kay?” The top line asked.

All she knew was that she had been checked after keeping the puck in. She wasn’t sure who had hit her, she had been blind-sided, but she had a gut feeling that it had been Jacob. She tired getting up, using the support of boards and the officials she got to her feet.

She took a stride or what was supposed to be a stride and when she put her weight on her left leg she winced in pain. “Fuck!” The two guys who were helping her off the ice looked on with concern. Kailey let her left leg glide along the ice until she got to the door. Stumbling to the locker room she sat down and was met by the trainer, or what the team called their trainer. Amy’s mom was a nurse and helped out with the team when she could.

“The first shift of the game,” Kailey said, upset with herself.

“First shift of the season,” Amy’s mom said with a laugh.

Mrs. Cooper helped Kailey remove her left skate, sock, and shin pad to reveal a badly bruised knee. “Definitely not from the check.”

Mrs. Cooper felt Kailey’s knee to find that it was out of place. By the time the first period was over Kailey’s knee was back in place and wrapped.

Jared waddled in to the locker room and over to Kailey, “You okay baby?”

“Fucked up my knee pretty bad.”

“Special Kay!” Bob said walking in to the locker room.

“I’m sorry Bob.”

“It’s not your fault; you were playing your game. When do you think you’ll be able to play again?”

“I don’t know, I’m definitely out for today but I’ll let you know.”

Bob smiled and went to talk to the rest of the team. Jared kissed her before heading out for the second period.

Kailey had twisted her ankle a few years earlier and it had been bad enough that she had needed to use crutches for a week. Luckily she still had those crutches at home and when her mom arrived with them at the rink she quickly made her way to the bleachers to watch what was left of the game.

It was worse than when she had been suspended the year before; then she knew that she wasn’t allowed to take the ice, now, today she had started the game and wasn’t allowing herself to take the ice. Following a whistle her eyes made their way from the ice to her leg that sat extended in front of her. Her Converse rested on the metal bench and her eyes made their way to the tan bandage that covered her knee causing her to sigh, that was the reason that she couldn’t take the ice anymore.

She hoped that Jacob was now over the fact that he had been beaten by a girl. Even if he wasn’t Kailey decided that it would be best to handle things maturely. As he skated past where she sat she stuck het tongue out at him, very maturely.

As the final buzzer rang the Mustangs crowded around Jared to celebrate the win. Kailey smiled but was upset that she had nothing to do with her team winning. She made her way outside and waited for Jared who was bringing her bag out, she was also his ride home. “Baby you really shouldn’t drive with your knee like that,” Jared said before getting into the car.

“I’ll be fine,” she carefully got into the car and as she extended her leg to push down on the clutch a look of pain appeared on her face. “Okay, you drive,” she said, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening her door simultaneously. Since her crutches were in the backseat she stumbled to the other side of the car were she was met by Jared whose hand was extended to help her.

“I told you, you shouldn’t drive,” he said with a smile and kissed her cheek as she was sitting down.

“Yeah, just get in.”

***

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Jared asked Sunday morning as he walked into Blade Runners with Kailey.

She was still using crutches and had let Jared drive her to the rink. AS she walked the skates that were draped over her shoulder bumped against the crutches, only making her more determined to take the ice.

She winced in pain as she pushed her foot into her skate, but went on to pull her laces tight. “Okay,” she said standing up when both of her skates were tied.

“You don’t have to skate today,” Jared said, grabbing her hand as she took her first step.

“I already had to call off work tonight and I can’t miss the game tomorrow. I need to strengthen my knee,” she paused and opened the door to the rink that was currently holding public skate. “I’m skating.”

An hour passed, Kailey had skated almost flawlessly the entire time, but an hour was where she drew the line. She leaned up against the boards with all of her weight on her right leg. She told Jared to keep skating; she was fine and just needed to rest her knee for a while. A few minutes before public skate ended Kailey and Jared abandoned the ice so that she could take her time removing her skates and replacing them with her tennis shoes.

Placing her skates back over her shoulder she started towards the parking lot, walking without her crutches. After an hour of skating and walking to the door she winced as the pain returned to her knee.

“Alright I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Jared said once they made it back to Kailey’s house.

“I’ll be at practice tomorrow morning, Bob’s counting on me.”

Just as Jared walked off the porch Kailey’s phone began to vibrate as she was stumbling into the house. Since she was on crutches she couldn’t get her phone out easily and decided to wait to pick it up. It stopped ringing though just as she made it to the couch when she could put her crutches down and pull the phone from her pocket.

“Hey it Marc. I haven’t talked to you in a couple days and just wanted to know how your game went yesterday. Well knowing you you’re probably at the rink skating. So give me a call when you can.”

His voice brought a smile to her face; she had a soft spot for men with accents. As the message ended she deleted it and went to call him back. Both Marc and Kailey had had practice for most of the preceding week and Marc along with the rest of the Guins had taken on the Detroit Red Wings the night before leaving him unavailable to talk with his best friend.

“Allo,” Marc said after two quick rings.

“Bonjour Marc,” she smiled. “Great game last night.”

“Thanks, how was your game yesterday?”

“We won but I only got to play one shift.” She went on to tell what had happened to her and how she was absolutely determined to play in the game the next day and be strong enough to be back at work on Tuesday night.

Yet another one shot.

Hey guys, I just posted a one shot that I'm very proud of and would greatly appreciate if you guys would check it out and let me know what you think.

Thank you very much.


A New Beginning

Chapter Five; Réunion

Hey guys, I know I haven't been updating much lately, but I haven't gotten any writing done on any of my three stories since school ended. I have however been working on two one shots. One is about Andrew Orpik, the brother of Penguins' defenseman Brooks Orpik. That one shot is currently posted and it would mean a great deal if you guys checked it out and commented. The other one shot is about Eric Godard and should be posted in the next few days. In the mean time please enjoy this chapter, comments are greatly appreciated.


Chapter Five

September came to an end and the Penguins won two of their pre-season games, losing their other two. The first win had come in their first game against Columbus at home, on the road the Blue Jackets took a win for themselves. The Pens second series was played against the Islanders, the Pens again won the game that was played at Mellon Arena.

AS October began the final Penguins’ roster was announced at camp. “Hello?” Kailey said excitedly after school, hoping that Marc had good news.

“Hello Kailey, we’re still on for tonight, right?”

It was Friday night and for the last few weeks the ‘group’ had been meeting for movie night. “Of course, can you tell me about camp today?”

“When I come over, okay?” he said in a tone that scared Kailey.

“Yeah sure, I’ll see you in a little bit.” Kailey was rightfully worried, she didn’t want her best friend to go back to Canada. She felt that he deserved to live his dream, to play in the NHL. They talked for a few more moments and upon hanging up Kailey thought happy thoughts while tidying up the family room a bit.

Her room was in basement so it was normally her responsibility to keep the rest of the basement clean. Most of the mess came from her two younger brothers who spent most of their time in the room adjacent to hers, but she cleaned it anyway.

Just as she was fixing the pillows on the couch there was a knock on the door, Marc she thought. Kailey quickly made her way to the door, opening it to find Nikki, Amy, Jared, and Marc. “What movie are we watching today?” Marc asked.

“Lord of the Rings, but news first,” Kailey said anxiously.

Marc remained standing, “Alright, I made the team,” he said with a smile.

“Oh my god Marc that’s great!” Kailey wrapped her arms around the tall French-Canadian, now professional goaltender. “Congrats!” Jared, Amy, and Nikki also congratulated Marc but Kailey seemed to be the most excited. “Do you know if you’re starting the opener?”

“It’s not for another week so I’m not sure, who knows Salmon or Seabass could get the start.”

Discussion ended here and the movie was started. As always Kailey and Jared shared a cushion leaving plenty of room on the large wrap-around couch for their friends. Mid-way through the long three hour movie Marc’s phone vibrated causing him to jump a little as it broke his concentration. Standing and walking to the hallway he answered the phone with a smile. “Bonjour mon cherie.”

“Bonjour, I’m sorry I missed your call, you have news?”

“Baby I made the team.”

“Marc I’m so happy for you! I’m going to come down and visit you, when’s the first game?”

“Friday, it would be great to see you, I miss you.”

*

Friday Kailey left school excited that she was attending the Penguins’ home opener that night. As she dropped her book bag to the floor he cell phone rang and she was pleased when she saw that it was Marc. Upon hearing his voice a smile came to her face, as much as she tried to push the feelings she had for him away, his accent got her every time.

“So what’s up Marc?”

“I’ve got the start tonight.”

“Oh Marc,” she said excitedly. “I’m gonna be there, I get to watch you play. Are you nervous?”

They talked a while longer until Marc got to the arena and Kailey had to get ready to go to the game. “Good luck tonight Marc, I’ll see you there.”

“Thanks, bye Kailey.”

Kailey began to get ready, pulling her jeans from the laundry pile. Along with the light wash jeans with the eagle patch on the knee she also grabbed her cameo tank top and pulled it over her head. Her white nineties jersey and Penguins’ chain were the final additions to her outfit and she grabbed her purse before going outside to wait for everyone who was going to the game with her. Amy, Chuck, Kailey’s brother, and Kailey’s dad got into the car and left for the arena.

“It feels so good to be back,” Kailey said stepping on to Mellon Arena property. She had been there in April for fan appreciation night but she really loved being at the arena. Upon finding their seats Kay and Amy sat anxiously awaiting the start of the game. During the pre-game skate they pointed Marc out and were excited to get to see him play. The lights went down causing all of the excited fans to cheer. As the players were announced and skated out from the runway the fans continued to cheer, Kailey and Amy cheered especially loudly when number twenty-nine was announced.

The game was exciting and Marc played well, stopping a penalty shot in the first period. Though he played well the team in front of him struggled and lost three to nothing. Marc was the first star of the game though and seemed to be relieved after playing his first NHL game, although it was a loss.

Shortly after the three stars were announced Kailey’s phone vibrated, he face lighting up when she thought that if could be Jared. She didn’t bother to look at the caller id and answered to find that it wasn’t Jared, but Marc and certainly wasn’t upset. “Hello Marc-Andre, good game tonight.”

“Thanks, you and Amy have to go straight home?”

“I’m not sure, I don’t know how I’ll get home if I don’t go with my dad though.”

“I’ll take you don’t worry, I want you two to meet someone.”

Kailey asked her dad if she could meet up with Marc and after filling Amy in she hugged her dad to thank him and went to the Marriott to meet Marc. The two girls had to wait a while but soon Marc walked in with a beautiful girl on his arm. She was tall and thin with an amazing figure that caused all of the remaining guys in the hotel to stare. She had a soft, beautiful face and her long, perfectly straight hair rested on her shoulders. She was perfect for Marc, she was perfect.

“Kailey, Amy, this is my girlfriend Veronique Larose. V this is Kailey and Amy, the girls I told you about.”

Veronique shook hands with both girls saying, “Nice to meet you, thank you for keeping Marc company,” in a sweet French-Canadian accent. They stayed in the lobby talking for a while until it got closer to midnight and Veronique yawned.

Marc pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek, but closer to her ear than her lips. “Go get some sleep baby, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He whispered in French.

She nodded. “It was nice meeting you two,” she said smiling sweetly and placed a kiss on Marc’s cheek before walking towards the elevator.

Marc and the two girls walked back to the arena where his car was and started off towards Kailey’s house. The conversation was about the game until Kailey decided that it was time to change the topic. “Marc, you and Veronique are so cute together.”

He smiled, “Thank you.”

The ride was soon over and after saying good-bye Kailey and Amy went inside dreading hockey practice the next day. Kailey sat down on her bed, finally calling Jared to say goodnight. It went to voicemail, obviously he was already sleeping. “Hey baby sorry I didn’t call earlier. I was at the Pens’ game and then I met Marc’s girlfriend and we hung out for a while. I’ll see you at practice. Goodnight Jay, I love you.”

One shot?

Hey guys, I just posted a one shot that I'm very proud of and would greatly appreciate if you guys would check it out and let me know what you think.

Thank you very much.

She Said Yes

Chapter Four; Arret

The first hockey practice was on a Saturday afternoon and was spent doing the basics. Introductions took place, mostly for the new players, and jersey numbers were assigned. Kailey quickly claimed number six; she didn't know why she always picked that number, she had been given it when she was about ten and just stuck with it. When practice ended she quickly went home to shower before returning to the rink for work.

Marc, who's first Penguin training camp would be starting the next day came in for one last practice. "You know if you make the team you won't be able to skate here anymore."

"I see how it is, once I'm big and famous you won't want to be friends with me anymore."

"That's not what I said, it's just when you're famous you'll get attacked the second you walk in here. I hope that when you're famous you'll still want to be friend with me. I want to be able to say that I knew you before you were famous."

"Making the NHL won't change me, I promise. Even if I can’t skate here anymore we'll still have to hang out."

Kailey smiled. Though they had only been friends for a month they had become good friends and Kailey was glad that they would remain friends. They both knew that things would be different once both of their seasons started, that they wouldn't see each other anywhere near as much, but they could still be friends and that's what mattered.

Worked ended and Kailey returned home to find Jared sitting on the swing on her front porch. "Hello my love," she said sitting down next to him and resting her head on his shoulder.

He wrapped his arm around her, her head sliding onto his chest. "Hey baby, I didn't get to talk to you much at practice, what do you think about this year's team?"

They sat on the porch discussing matters such as hockey, school, and their love for each other until midnight when Kailey yawned and decided that a goodnight's sleep was what she needed. Saying good-bye to Jared she waited at the door until he disappeared and to the blackness and could no longer be seen. She lay down and quickly slipped into sleep only to be awoken when she dreamt of Marc telling her that he had been assigned back to his junior team in Canada. 'Training camp hasn’t even started yet, he's not going anywhere,' she thought to herself before again falling asleep.

She woke the next morning and got ready to go to work. The day went as usual, sitting behind the counter until just before one when she laced up to take the ice. When the public skate had ended she quickly went home and showered before calling Marc. "Hello?"

"Hey, I just wanted to know how camp went today."

"Pretty well; I had fun, and all of the guys were pretty cool. It was only the first day though and they don't start making cuts until the end of the week."

***

The week went quickly; Kailey went to school and worked everyday with hockey practices on Monday and Wednesday before and after school. Marc went to the Mellon every morning for training camp and called Kailey every night to let her know how it went. Friday brought the first cuts and when Kailey was walking out of school her cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Bonjour Kailey, the first cuts were made today."

"She froze in her tracks, "I completely forgot that was today."

"Don't worry, so far I'm still on the team."

She could hear that he was smiling; she sighed and began to breathe again. "I haven't seen you all week, we should do something tonight." They talked for a while longer and decided that the group, Jared, Amy, Marc, Nikki, and Kailey would meet at her house for a movie night. It couldn't be too late though because Marc had training camp in the morning and would be the starting goalie at the first preseason game that night. Amy, Jared, and Kailey also had hockey practice, but that wasn't until eleven.

Kay got off the bus with Nikki and since it was still very warm out they decided to go for a quick swim. Throwing on a clean outfit Nikki crossed the street with Kay and soon Jared was coming down the stairs into the family room. Lord of the Rings was the movie of choice, the first one that is.

Everyone sat on the large wrap-around couch and enjoyed the work directed by Peter Jackson. Kailey and Jared shared one cushion while everyone else had one to themselves, but neither of them minded. The lights were out so that there was no glare on the TV but the light from the screen was just enough for Marc-Andre to be able to see Kailey when he would steal glances every few minutes. He only did so when he was sure that Jared was focused on the TV and every time that he caught himself looking at her he was forced to scold himself in his head.

'Vero,' he would think. As much as he loved his beautiful girlfriend of three years there was something about Kailey that held his attention. He was almost convinced that it was because she was relatively new to him and in a way resembled his beloved girlfriend back home. He knew that she would never have feelings for him and that he would never in a million years leave his precious Veronique.

When the movie ended Nikki and Amy said good-bye to everyone and walked out together. Jared was next to leave, pulling Kailey into a hug before he did so. "I'll see you at practice in the morning, I love you."

"I love you too, see you in morning." He kissed her lips and then her cheek before letting go of her hand and leaving for his house.

Kailey sat back down on the couch, this time next to Marc. "Hey best friend," she said with a smile.

"Hello," a smile also forming on his face. "So how's hockey been going for you?"

"Pretty well; the three new guys are catching on quickly and Amy and I are still the only girls on the team," she paused and saw the look on Marc's face. "Of course we're both okay with that. The new guys played for different teams in our league last year and know how we play, so they don't treat us weird." She said before Marc could ask.

"Good."

They talked for a while longer before both standing from the couch and walking to the drive-way. Marc pulled Kailey into a hug, holding her tightly before saying good-bye.

"Good morning," Amy said spraying snow up to Kailey's knees.

"You're rather cheery this morning."

"I'm always this happy at Saturday morning practices." She said causing Kailey to laugh. "Okay, I'm hanging out with Rob today."

"Oh, you'll have to let me know how that goes." They talked for a few more minutes before Bob took the ice and everyone gathered around him at center ice for instructions. When the Mustang's practice was stating Pens' training camp was an hour from ending. Since Marc was the starting goalie for that night his practice ended at ten and he returned "home" for a pre-game nap. That night the Pens would take on the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first of four preseason games.

Practice ended at one and Kailey would have to be back at the arena at six for her shortened shift. Throwing all of their equipment into their bags Kailey and Jared made their way to her car and then her house. "I'll see you in a bit," Kay said getting out of the car.

"Kay, meet you on the porch?"

"Yep, love you."

"I love you too," he gently kissed her lips before they went their separate ways.

Kailey put her keys in the dish by the door before going into her room to get her work clothes from the floor. Her shower was quickly finished and when she had her work clothes on and the clothes she had worn to practice were in the dirty laundry pile she went out to the porch. Only a few minutes later Jared was making his way across the street and soon he was sitting on the swing next to her. He placed a kiss on her check before asking, "So what are we going to do before you have to go to work?"

"Would you mid taking shots?" she asked with a smiled.

"All you think about is hockey," he said with a smile. "Alright, let's go take shots." He took her hand and led her to the backyard where they picked up their sticks and started firing shots at the twine. They took shots until five when Kay went inside to grab dinner before having to leave for work.

As always with a shortened shift she was assigned to restock the shelves in the store until just before seven when she laced up for public skate. More people started coming as it got closer to the start of local hockey seasons. Kailey loved seeing that people were preparing for their seasons, especially the smaller kids, but it made it so that she had to pay attention to them and not do her own thing.

Marc was just taking the ice as well; his situation was more intense though. The fans had taken their seats and awaited the drop of the puck. The opening face-off was won by the Jackets and taken up into the Pens zone, a blocker save by Marc that was soon cleared out of the zone. 'Good start,' he thought to himself. The game continued to go the Guins' way and in the end they won three to two. Following the game he showered and called Kailey before going home.

"Hello?" Kailey said walking through the front door after work.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know that the game just ended and we won," he said excitedly.

"Congrats!"

"Thanks, it was fun to play in front of a crowd again. How was work?"

She told him about work and how they wouldn't be able to see each other for most of the week because of the Pens' away game in two days, and then the second home game two days after that.

"Is that Journey?"

"Yes," Kailey said with a smile. "I love Journey. It upsets me that the people who actually know who they are only know one song." They talked about their favorite Journey songs and then just their favorite songs in general. Soon they looked at the time, almost midnight. "Oh shit, you have camp in the morning, don't you?"

"Yeah, it was good to talk to you though."

"You too, goodnight Marc."

"Goodnight Kailey."

They hung up at the same time , laid back in bed and thought the same thing; how they should not be thinking of each other but of Jared and Vero.

Meeting Young Sidney

So this is where you're going to want to kill me. *sheilds face* Sidney Crosby pulled out of the parking lot and decided that he was going to sign. We were told to get in an orderly line and that he would sign for all of us. We all got in line, I was either the third or fourth. My friend had my jersey down at the light and was trying to get Geno to sign for me, the attempt was unsuccessful. So I thought to myself, "What am I going to have him sign." I looked down at the Guins shirt I was wearing and said, "Okay he's going to sign my shirt." I got up to his car, handed him the sharpie and he signed my shirt, on the stomach of the Penguin and I'm sure you know where that falls. Yes Sidney Crosby touched me! Sorry I'm okay again. My camera which was hanging on my wrist accidently bumped his car and I apologized at least three times, he was a sweet heart and said, "Don't worry about it." I thanked him for signing my shirt at least three times. The funny thing was the whole time I was standing less than a foot from the man, when he touched me, when I touched his car, I wasn't thinking "Oh my God it's Sidney Crosby," No, I was thinking, "Wow his beard looks good in person." I know I am such a lame and probably the only female Penguins' fan who would be thinking that while that close to Sidney Patrick Crosby. After I walked away there was about a three second span that I turned into a puck bunny, jumped up and in a little kid voice said, quietly, "Sidney." Overall it was a good time.

Chapter Three ; Je t'amour.

Hey guys, I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I updated. I've just been so busy with school and hockey. But now school is almost over and I'm getting more and more time. Oh, how about our boys? Kicking some Canes ass, I must say that I enjoy it. Well now to the story... I hope that you enjoy it and comments are greatly appreciated.



Chapter Three

“So, how was hanging out with Marc yesterday?” Amy asked the next day as they laced up their skates.

“It was a lot of fun. We went all over the city, stopped at the point, ate dinner, came here, and went skating. He wants to teach me how to play goalie.”

“Didn’t Jared want to teach you?”

“Yeah, in front of the entire team. Sorry that I didn’t want to make an ass out of myself in front of all of the guys. Alright, let’s go watch like six people skate.” Kailey liked being rink guard during the summer because there were never a lot of people to worry about which meant that she got to do her own thing most of the time.

The end of the week came and soon it was time to register for hockey. Kailey would be playing for Bob again which meant that she would be on the top defensive line, playing against the other team’s top lines and inflicting pain upon star centers. Practices would be starting in mid-September, the same time as the Penguins’ training camp.

For the remainder of August Kay spent most of her time at the rink, whether it was for work or just to skate with Amy, Jared, and Marc. The last day of summer vacation came and it was spent in Kay’s backyard. The concrete slab off to the side is where the three friends stood. Jared had a pair of his old pads on in net and Kay and Amy took shots on him for over an hour. When they were done taking shots they changed into their bathing suits and crossed the street to get to their friends’ house. ‘Hey Nik!” Nik or Nikki had been friends with Kailey and Amy since they all were in fifth grade. She lived across the street from Kailey and was also like a sister.

“Hey guys,” she said from the swing in the backyard. “I take it you want to swim?”

“One more before we go back to school,” Jared said.

“You guys ready for senior year?” Nikki asked as they got into the pool.

“I guess, I’m more excited for hockey season to start,” Kailey said pulling her goggles down over her eyes.

“Ours or the Pens?” Amy asked.

“Both, I can never get enough hockey, you guys know that.”

After swimming Jared decided that he should do home so that he could get ready for school the next day. “Good-bye Jared, I love you.”

“Love you too Kay, see you tomorrow.” He kissed her before walking down the street to his house. Kailey went inside, showered, and threw a few notebooks into her book bag before sitting down in front of her computer. Looking through pictures of Jared she couldn’t help but think about Marc and just then her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey Kailey it’s Marc, I was just wondering if you work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I have to go in right after school. I’m hoping that I can be rink guard so that I can work on my skating some more.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Kailey you are an amazing skater, seriously defensemen are the best skaters. But, I wan planning on skating tomorrow too since camp starts next week.”

“Thanks and I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She hung up and tried to wipe the smile off of her face. ‘I’m not allowed to have these feelings,’ she thought. ‘I can’t get attached to him, what happens if he doesn’t make the team and has to go back to Canada?” To push these thoughts from her mind she pulled out her cell phone and held two.

“Hey baby, what’s up?”

“I know that you just went home like an hour ago, but would you want to come over and take shots for a while?”

“Sure, I’ll see you in a couple minutes.”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you too.” They hung up at the same time and Kay threw on a pair of flip flops before walking out the back door and picking up her old Easton stick. A few slap shots hit the back of the net before Jared stepped onto the concrete slab, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to spend some time with you, and just you.”

He picked up a stick and kissed her cheek, “That’s fine with me.”

They spent about an hour taking shots before saying good-bye with a hug and kiss. After Jared left Kay continued to take shots to prepare for practices that would be starting soon.

“GOOD MORNING!” Kailey’s mom said cheerfully the next morning.

“Eh,” she said still half asleep putting her lunch into her bag. “I have work after school so I’ll see you at like nine thirty.”

“Have fun.”

“Yeah sure mom, bye.” She walked outside and waited a few minutes for before the big yellow school bus pulled up. She made her way to the back of the bus where she found Jared and sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Neither said anything and just sat hand in hand for the ten minute ride to school. Upon arriving to school they received their schedules and went to the lounge to wait for the bell.

Amy, Nikki, Jared, and Kailey had most of their classes together though not all. French was Kailey’s first class of the day and she had it with Amy while Jared and Nikki had Elementary Functions. Having the same French teacher for three years the two girls knew that nothing would get done on the first day, but they would learn a lot over the course of the year.

“So glad I don’t have to take math this year,” Kailey said.

“Lucky, I have it next.”

“History, it should be fun, I have it with Nikki.”

The rest of the day went as Kailey though it would, slowly. Each class was spent with teachers explaining what would be learned over the course of the year and what supplies would be needed. The bell rang and Kailey waited for her bus, going home she changed for work.

Starting work at four Kailey had a break for dinner at six and worked in the store until quarter to seven came. “Kailey, lace up!”

She grabbed her skates from the back room and soon hit the ice. Since it was the first day back to school there were only three skaters, at least until seven-thirty.

Marc hit the ice and his eyes lit up when he saw who was rink guard. “Hello Kailey,” he said spraying snow up onto the boards.

“Marc.”

“How was school?”

“Boring,” she said with a smile. “Though work hasn’t been too exciting either.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay, you’re here now so it’s better.”

He smiled as she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her as she skated backwards. “And you think that you need to work on your skating,” he said with a smile.

“I never said that. I said that I wanted to skate, it’s like walking for me.”

They skated together until the public skate ended and as usual slowly removed their skates. After saying good-bye in the parking lot they went their separates way, both trying to push thoughts of the other from their mind.

Only being the first day of school there was no homework so when Kailey got home from the rink she showered and threw on a pair of shorts and t-shirt before sitting down in the family room. After a while she got bored of watching her bother play a video game and decided to go to her room. Just as she was entering her room her phone rang and the called id displayed ‘Jared’.
“Hello?”

“Hey baby, how was work?”

“Good, there were only four skaters and one of them was Marc.”

“That’s good, at least you had someone to talk to.” She was so glad that he saw it this way and didn’t see it as her spending time, lots of time with a very attractive foreign man.

They talked for a little longer until they both decided that it was time to go to bed. “Goodnight Kailey, I love you. See you in the morning.”

“Yep. Goodnight Jared, I love you too.”

Eric Godard?

So, I have a thing for Eric Godard now. He's such a sweet heart, off the ice, and he is adorable. I was wondering, if I write a one shot about him (I already started it) would anyone read it?

Please let me know and continue to read and comment on all of my other stories!

LETS GO PENS!!!

Chapter Two; Je veux que cette nuit dure pour toujours

I know it's been a while, but I've been busy. How bout our boys finishing off the Flyers today? It was a scary series, but I'm glad it's over. LETS GO PENS. Comments are greatly appreciated.


Chapter Two

"He told me that he was glad that he met me and that he wants us to be friends." It was the truth; she had just left out the part where they had exchanged phone numbers. Oh, and the part where they hugged and she had definitely felt something, but neither of them need to know. And there was no way that anything could happen between them; she was with Jared, whom she loved, and Marc was with Vero, the girl that he obviously loved since they had been together since they were fifteen.

"Oh that's cool," Jared said. Kailey tried to breathe a sigh of relief without being noticed. "So you think we'll have 'career' seasons?"

"I hope so," Kailey said. "Colleges are gonna be looking at us. I hope I can get into RMU and make their hockey team, if not I might try for Boston."

Jared laughed at the thought of Boston, "Baby I know you really want to play college hockey, but I really can't see you going to Boston."

"Well then I better make RMU's team," she said with a smile. Soon they pulled into Jared's driveway and Kay left the car running while she got out to say good-bye. Jared pulled her into a hug before placing a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Bye baby, I love you."

"I love you too, bye Kailey." he pressed his lips to hers, only holding them there before pulling away and walking inside. When the front door had closed Kailey walked back to her car and revved the engine before heading off to her house, two streets over.

The next morning Kailey was at work in the sports store in the local ice rink and was stocking sticks when her cell phone began to ring. For fear of dropping and/or damaging the sticks or her manager coming in she let it go to voicemail. With her lunch break only an hour away she decided that the message could wait. With sticks and skates restocked she sat down in the back from for lunch at noon.

"Hey Kailey, this is Marc-Andre. I was just wondering if you would want to hang out sometime, maybe help me to learn my way around the city. If not I understand, but either way give me a call. I'll talk to you later and hopefully see you soon."

Finishing her peanut butter sandwich she went to her contacts scrolled down to 'M' and pressed send upon getting to Marc-Andre's name. "Hello?"

"Hey Marc its Kailey, sorry I didn’t answer before, I'm at work."

"It's okay, I'm glad you called back." A smile was evident in his voice. "So I know that we only met yesterday, but would you want to hang out?"

"I would love to, are you free tonight?"

"Sure, would you want to met at the ice rink where we met yesterday?"

"Sure, I get off work at three so I'll meet you there."

"Okay, good-bye Kailey, see you in a few hours."

"Good-bye Marc." She hung up and finished her lunch while trying not to freak out. Amy walked in the door as Kay walked back into the store at twelve forty-five.

"Kailey lace up!" The manager yelled in. "You're rink guard for the public skate."

"I take it you want me to skate with you, huh?"

"Lace up." They hit the ice a few minutes before the few skaters did. There were only about five skaters so Kay and Amy hung out by the bench.

"What are your plans for tonight?"

"Showing Marc-Andre around the city."

"No you’re not."

"Yes I am, I can prove it." She pulled her phone from her pocket, calling her voicemail before handing the phone to Amy. She listened to the message carefully, blocking the skaters out. "Guys off the boards!" Kay yelled. The kids continued to sit on the boards and Kailey skated up to them. "Guys either get off the boards or you gotta go." Finally the guys got off the boards and Kay made her way back to Amy.

"I can’t believe you’re showing Marc-Andre around the city."

"I know, I'm excited! He's such a cool guy and I really want to get to know him."
"You like him, don’t you?"

"Yeah, but I'm with Jared and he's with Vero, and we're all happy. Off the bench! I get off work at three and he's meeting me here."

"Does he know you work here?"

"No, he'll find out when I walk out wearing this shirt though. I mean I've only known him for a day and he just wants to get to know people here."

Public skate went by slowly and Kailey skated skillfully most of the time. Three o'clock finally came, the ice was cleaned and Kailey placed her 'work' skates in her locker in the back room. Marc-Andre was waiting outside at three and the two girls exited the building as soon as they could.

"See you later Aims, hi Marc."

"Hello Kailey, are we going to take your car?" he asked kissing her hand.

"Sure." They made their way to the car and started off through the city. They didn’t get out of the car much when she showed him parts of Oakland and downtown. They did get out when they got to Station Square and took the incline to Mt. Washington. "Isn't the view beautiful?"

"It is, I'm really liking this city, and I can't wait to play here."

"Everyone else is excited for you to play too." As Kailey looked out at the city Marc's eyes were on her. Because she was so in love with the city a smile was upon her lips and as a slight wind came through her bangs were blown from behind her ear, causing her to be brought from her 'trance' and Marc focused on the city as she focused on him. "So do you want to get something to eat?"

"Sure." They took the incline back down to Station Square where they ate dinner at the Hard Rock Café. "So I see that you work at the ice rink?"

She looked down at the polo that displayed the logo from Blade Runners. "Yeah, I normally work in the store but sometimes I get to be rink guard and skate all day."
"Sounds like a fun job, does it pay well?"

"It's decent, I only get half of my paycheck though because half of it goes right to the ice to pay for my ice time."

"Oh, so what job did you do today?"

"Both, I was in the store when you called and then I was rink guard during the public skate." They continued to talk throughout dinner and then they decided to go to the point. "This is my favorite place in the city, other than the arena. This is where I want to be proposed to."

"It’s very pretty here," he said aloud before thinking to himself, "Just like you."

They spent a few more minutes at the fountain before walking back to the car downtown . For the ride back to Blade Runners the two continued to learn more about each other, including each other's significant other. Kay learned that Veronique was a very pretty girl, the same age as she and Marc, and grew up down the street from him. Kailey told Marc about how she met Jared when she was eight and he switched from playing deck hockey. They had always been friends but only started to have feelings for each other towards the end of the previous season.

They arrived at the rink and saw that it was only seven fifteen. "Hey public skate just started and goes til nine, would you want to come skate for a while?"
"You really love you skate, don't you?"

"I've been skating for as long as I've been able to walk, it's just natural for me."

"Let me grab my skates from my car," he said with a smile. Marc walked to his car and Kailey to the door to wait for him. "Alright, let's go."

"Hey Jay, he's with me," she said walking past the front desk to the benches where they sat to put their skates on.

"I'm glad you decided to hang out with me today, I had a lot of fun."

"I had fun too, you ready to skate?" Marc nodded and they hit the ice to find more skaters than had been there earlier that day, but dramatically less than there would be at the same time on a night in December. Since there were very few skaters there was a lot of open ice allowing Kailey to skate freely, quickly switching between skating forwards and backwards. Marc managed to keep pace with her and after twice around the rink they stopped when they came to the bench.

"You're a very talented skater," Marc said running his fingers through his hair.

"Thank you," she said simply. "You’re not too bad yourself."

He smiled. "I know you play defense but have you ever thought of playing goal?"

"Nope, Jared wanted to teach me, but I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of my team."

"Well I'll have to teach you some time. We'll make sure that no one's around so that you don't get laughed at if you end up being really bad at it." A smile came to his face.

"Sounds good."

They continued to skate until nine o'clock when the buzzer rand to signal that it was time for everyone to leave. Kailey and Marc took longer than they normally would to take their skates off, enjoying each other's company. Five minutes passed and they stood and went to the parking lot. "Goodnight Kailey, thank you again for spending the day with me."

"You're welcome, thanks for wanting to spend the day with me. Goodnight," She said as his arms wrapped around her. 'I want this night to last forever' she thought and rested her head against his chest.

Offense or Defense?

My new story, Offense or Defense? about Kris Letang is offically up!!! It starts in the 2006 season in which Letang played less than ten games. Please read and feel free to comment. Also continue to read both Staal and Le Petit Fleur. Thank you all so much for all of your support and continue to spread the word about all three stories.

Thank you!!!

Kris Letang?

Hey guys!!! I want to thank everyone for reading both Staal and Le Petit Fleur, I really appreciate it. As you may have noticed I have been really motivated to write lately, I have no idea why, but I'm not complaining about it. I know Staal and Le Petit Fleur are a lot, but I was wondering if anyone would be interested in really a Kris Letang story? I seem to be the one who writes about the guys who only have one or two stories anywhere about them. I just like to show my appreciation to those guys and what they do.

So let me know if you would be interested in reading about Kris because I started a story today.

Thanks guys, and keep reading!