Chapter Sixteen; Marc

Hey Everyone! I know it's been forever since I posted anything... I had serious writer's block. A lot has happened since I last wrote but I won't bore you with that. I hope you enjoy this new chapter, short as it may be. Hopefully I'll be writing more, on all of my stories. Go Pens! <3


Chapter Sixteen

At some point in the middle of the night Kailey awoke, just as she did at least once every night. As usual she went to look at the clock to see how much time there was until she needed to wake up. When she realized that her head hadn’t been resting on a pillow the clock and time in general was the least of her worries. Instantly the memory of inviting in Marc in to talk hit her. ‘Oh my God,’ she thought. She had fallen asleep in Marc’s arms. She had fallen asleep in the arms of a man she loved, but not the one that she was dating. If Jared found out about this-- ‘Oh God,’ she thought. What if Jared found out about this? He was already jealous of Marc even though neither Kailey nor Marc had ever expressed feelings for each other—at least not out loud.

‘What should I do?’ She thought. Marc was more comfortable than the hotel provided pillows. She looked at his sleeping form, ‘Adorable,’ was all that came to mind. He was always adorable but seeing him sleep made Kay smile. ‘It’s not like we had sex for crying out loud, we feel asleep.’ Kay rested her head back on his chest and was soon sleeping soundly again.

The loud annoying beeping of an alarm brought both Kay and Marc from their sleep. Marc reached for his phone to turn off the alarm he had set the afternoon before so that he wouldn’t forget and quickly realized the weight on his mid-section. ‘Fuck,’ he thought, or at least he thought that he had thought it.

“What was that?”

“Oh. Um, this is awkward. I’m sorry; I should have left last night.”

“Marc, calm down, it’s not like we had sex or something, we fell asleep.”

“What if Jared finds out.”

“Unless you plan on telling him he’s not going to find out.” She paused and Marc opened his mouth to speak but closed it again before saying anything. “No we’re not lying to him, but he already doesn’t trust me and if we tell him about this he’ll freak.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Kay nodded. “I have to go get ready for skate, meet you there?”

Marc went back to his room to brush his teeth, change clothes and grab his bag before heading to the arena. Kay quickly got ready, throwing on jeans and a Pens t-shirt and her hair in a bun, before leaving for the arena. She draped her skates over her shoulder, hoping that she would be able to skate. She needed to clear her head.

She arrived in the locker room before Marc and found Mike. “Yes,” Mike said before she even opened her mouth to ask her question.

“Huh?”

“You can skate,” he gestured toward the skates on her shoulder.

She quickly laced up at hit the ice. The team was trickling into the locker room, a few of the guys already there, but by the time Marc arrived Kay had already taken the ice. He scanned the room looking for the girl he had shared a bed with the night before. “Ice.”

“What?” Marc turned to find Colby behind him; he had to have been the one who said something.

Colby, as usual had a smile on his face. “You’re looking for Kay, right?” Marc didn’t have time to answer and Lloydminster native knew that he was right, who else would the French goalie have been looking for? “She’s on the ice.”

The tall brunette who had been smiling since he left her room that morning somehow managed to widen that smile. “Oh, how’d you know I was looking for her?”

“Who else would you be looking for man?” Marc shrugged. “Someone’s smiley today, what’s up?’

“Nothing.” Colby just stared, waiting for him to say more. “Spend the day with Kay yesterday, last night we talked and then I slept with her.”

Colby definitely had not expected that; the smile that been on his lips had been replaced by a shocked, questioning look. “Wait, wait, wait… you had sex with her?”

“No, why would you think that?” Marc was now the one who was shocked.

“You said you slept with her.”

“Yeah, we slept in the same bed.”

“Oh,” Colby sighed with relief.

That night the Pens lost to the Tigers and Kay said goodbye to everyone except Marc, she would be leaving in the morning and would miss the guys, even though she had only known them personally for three days. Once they were back in their hotel Marc walked Kay to her door and gave her a hug before saying goodnight.

In the morning Kay woke up and packed her things before meeting Marc in the lobby. “It was good seeing you again,” she said when he pulled her into his arms.

“You too Kay, call me when you get home so I know you made it safely.” She nodded. “Bye Kay.”

“Goodbye Marc,” she gently kissed his smooth check before leaving his arms and the hotel, before the sliding doors closed she turned to see Marc still standing there. All she could do was smile and wave.

She had had a great long weekend with Marc and she thought about that on the way home, that is until she thought about how Jared would be waiting for her when she got home.

Chapter Fifteen; Dormir

I know it's really short, but I had a few ideas and it's been a while since I posted so I thought I'd give you guys a little something.


Chapter Fifteen

The next morning Kailey was awoke by the sound of her phone, expecting it to be Jared, Kailey answered in a slightly annoyed tone. She was surprised when the accented voice on the other end said, "You okay Kailey?"

"Oh, hey Marc." Her tone changed and a smile came to her lips. "Sorry, I expected it to be Jared."

"Has it really been that bad?"

"He called during practice, the game, and then again when we got back to the hotel last night. I love him but I get a feeling that he doesn't trust me. Anyway, I'm sure there's a reason you called, right?"

"There is, I was wondering if you would want to come to practice and then just hang out?"

"Sounds good to me, I'll meet you at the arena?"

Kailey rolled out of bed and quickly got ready before making her way to the arena. She got there before Marc and started talking to some of the guys. "So Marc tells me that you play?" Colby asked.

"A little."

"You wouldn't want to skate would you?"

Kailey's face lit up, she loved skating. She loved skating almost as much as she loved Ma-- Jared. "Yeah, am I allowed?"

"If you've got skates," Mike said from the doorway.

Kailey left the locker room for her car to grab her skates from the trunk. When she closed the trunk she jumped. "Oh hey Marc." She slung her skates over her shoulder before hugging him. "I'm gonna skate with you guys."

***

After lacing up Kailey took the ice with the guys, she tried to stay out of their way as much as possible. It felt good to be back on the ice though, it had been a few weeks since she skated. The cold air whipped at her face, the smell of the ice making her feel alive. She skating around the outside of the rink, stopping to avoid being part of a check or blocking a shot.

As she passed the bench for the fifth or sixth time she was pulled from her relaxed thoughts by the sound of her phone. Just as she expected the caller id read Jared. She didn't stop skating she only slowed her speed before answering. "Hello."

"Hey baby, what are you up to?"

"Skating, you?"

"I'm between classes, I just wanted to check in with you. I'll talk to you later, kay?"

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you too Kailey, bye."

She shoved her phone back in her pocket as she passed the blue-line into the zone where Marc was in net. They made eye contact and Kailey nodded, she knew what he was asking.

***

When practice ended Kailey waited for Marc to shower and the two of them found somewhere to grab something to eat. They spent the remainder of the day together just talking, catching up on life. After having dinner together Marc walked Kailey to her room. "I'll see you tomorrow?" Marc asked.

Kailey glanced at her watch, "It's still early, you want to come in and talk for a while?"

Marc nodded, "Okay."

Kailey slid her room key and the two of them sat down next to each other on the edge of the bed. Eventually Kailey started to yawn, Marc scooted up towards the head of the bed and patted the spot next to him. "Come on."

Kailey scooted up next to him and rested her head on his chest, soon she was asleep. Marc took his and her shoes off, tossing them as quietly as he could across the room. He wrapped his arm back around her after pulling the blanket over them and fell asleep with her resting in his arms.

New Story!

Hey everyone the first chapter of my new story, Broken Promises, is up.

New Story?

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone would be interested in reading a story that had nothing at all to do with a hockey player? Please get back to me. Hopefully more of this story will be up soon as well. Love you all. GO PENS! <3

Chapter Fourteen; Ensemble de Nouveau

The entire team stood and watched the reunion, but was short lived when Coach Mike walked in yelling, 'Suit up and hit the ice,' in a thick French Canadian accent. Marc released Kailey and like the rest of the team he started to get ready.

"I'm gonna head to my hotel, I'll be back here for the game tonight," Kailey said to Marc as he walked towards the stall that was to be his for his stint in the AHL.

"Why don't you stay and watch the skate?"Colby asked. "She can stay, right coach?"

Mike nodded, Kailey agreed and went to take a seat where she waited for the team to take the ice. Just as the guys took the ice Kailey's phone rang in her pocket. '"Hey baby, what's up?"

"Just making sure you made it okay, how was the trip? Jared continued to ask question after question and Kailey answered. "I'll talk to you later okay baby? I love you."

"I love you too, bye." And she hung up before Jared could say anything else. She loved Jared, but she had a feeling that he was jealous that she had come to spend time with another man. He was just a friend; well at least that's what she had been telling people for the last few months, the truth was that she loved him. The fact that he boyfriend didn't trust her disappointed her. The reason she hung up. After placing the phone back in her pocket her frown was replaced by a smile, she couldn't wipe it from her face. She had looked up and seen Marc.

Marc smiled too, when he saw Kailey smile that is.

***

Kailey allowed the guys a few minutes after the practice ended to be able to shower. When she returned to the locker room all of the guys had at least boxers on, and since she was on a hockey team herself, this was nothing new for her. She talked to a few of the guys while she waited for Marc to be ready and when he was ready he walked her to her car.

"It really is great to see you Kay."

"You too Marc," she wrapped her arms around him. Marc opened his mouth to say something but before he could speak Kailey said, "Before you ask, yes I'm coming to the game tonight."

"How did you know I was going to say that?"

"I'll see you later Marc," she kissed his cheek before turning and getting into her car.

Marc waited until after Kailey pulled away to place his hand to his cheek. He missed the feeling of a woman's lips. Against his cheek, but especially his lips. He missed Vero. Maybe having Kailey back in his life, even if just for a little bit was good for him. Or maybe it was the exact opposite.

"You love her, don't you?"

The voice pulled him from his thoughts and he turned to see Colby. "Huh?"

"You love her." This time it wasn't a question. "You love Kailey, and I think she loves you too."

"She can't she has a boyfriend."

"Well you never denied that you loved her, I'll see you tonight buddy." He patted Marc on the back before walking to his car.

***

Having woken up early that morning to be able to get to Wilkes-Barre on time Kailey was tired when she finally arrived at her hotel room. She set an alarm on her phone so that she could wake up in time to get something to eat before meeting up with Marc before the game.

"Hello?" Kailey said when she was woken up by the sound of her phone.

"Hi Kailey, did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but it's fine. What's up Marc?" When she realized who it was she sat up in bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes as well as her bangs from her face.

"I was wondering if maybe you would want to get something to eat with me before the game, ya know, catch up?"

"Sure, do you wanna meet somewhere?"

"I was thinking that I could pick you up, if that's okay with you."

They talked a few minutes longer and after hanging up and getting ready for the game, they met downstairs in the lobby. They were staying in the same hotel. Kailey made it downstairs first and was sitting on a bench, but as soon as she saw Marc she stood and when he walked up to her she wrapped her arms around him.

A few minutes later they pulled into a parking lot across the street from the arena. "You like Cracker Barrel?" Marc questioned. The smile on Kailey's face answered for her.

After playing the peg game for a while and a quick game of checkers in which Kailey dominated their food arrived at their table. Kailey had ordered breakfast with a little bit of everything, and root beer. Marc had meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans, not a typical pre-game meal, but he needed to eat something.

***

"Good luck tonight Marc," Kailey said before placing a kiss on his cheek and leaving the locker room. Marc tried to hide his smile, he wasn't like this before he went back to Canada. Maybe it was because he had spent so much time with her. No, he knew what it was, it was because when he was in Pittsburgh, at least for most of the time he had Vero.

When Kailey made it to her seat a few rows from the ice her phone went off and the caller id read Jared. 'He can wait,' she thought and shoved her phone back in her pocket. 'He should know not to bother me during a game.'

***

The Pens won the game, Kailey enjoyed nachos, and when the game ended she made her way to the locker room. "Good game Colbs."

"Thanks, Marc should be ready soon."

Kailey nodded and sat down, waiting for her best friend. A few minutes later he sat down next to her. "Ready to get going?" Kailey nodded. "Not talking much today, something wrong?"

"Jared has called a few times today, don't think he trusts me."

"Ah, well we're gonna get some ice cream to cheer you up."

After stopping at an ice cream shop, and both enjoying a waffle cone full of chocolate chip cookie dough they headed back to the hotel. On the elevator, on the way back to their rooms Kailey's phone rang and once again, it was Jared. "Hello."

"Hey I was getting ready to go to bed and wanted to say goodnight, so goodnight."

"Night, I love you."

"I love you too." She hung up and turned to Marc, the look on her face said everything.

"Well ah this is my floor, goodnight Kay."

"Goodnight Marc," she gave him a quick hug and peck on the cheek before he got off the elevator.

When the doors closed they both whispered, "I love you."

Chapter Thirteen: En arrière dans vos bras

It's been way too long, I know. I've been busy and had no motivation to write. But I woke up this morning and wanted to write, so I sat down and wrote an entire chapter. So in honor of an almost perfect preseason and a win against the Wings today, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Comments are greatly appreciated. GO PENS!!!



Chapter Thirteen

Marc's stay in Cape Breton was definitely not a happy one, daily he thought of all that he had lost; the girl that he had been with for three and a half years and loved more than anything, his hockey career included, a group of guys that he had become great friends with, and a best friend. He talked to Kailey when he could, at least every other day. It was harder though being away from her, she was nearing the end of her senior year, school projects and her own hockey games were occupying her time, as well as time with her boyfriend, but she always made time to talk to her Canadian friend.

Marc was glad that she had Jared, he could see that they really did love each other. One good thing about being so far away from them was that he didn't have to see them together and to be hit with pains of jealousy. He missed Vero. He wished that he could hold her in his arms again, just one more time. More often than not she haunted his dreams. Night after night he awoke drenched in sweat after reliving her last seconds on earth. He still loved her and missed her presence in his life, but he wished that dreams like those would come to an end, it was hard enough to live through it once.

The end of April approached and tonight was the last chance for the Eagles to win to continue on in the playoffs they were down three games to one to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens . He had talked to Kailey that morning while she was on her way to school. She had wished him luck and said that she missed him but their call was short lived because she arrived at school.

Marc was in the locker room suited up for the game other than his mask, he was in net tonight. The game went by so fast he didn't remember most of it. All he remembered was the puck being dropped for the opening face-off and in no time the final buzzer was sounding and he was making his way to center ice for the handshake, the Eagles had lost, he was done with hockey until training camp in September.

"Marc!" His coach called down the runway after the handshake line had died down. He turned to face him, but when he tried to speak no sound left his mouth. "Get showered, GM wants to see you."

Marc nodded and headed to his stall, shed his gear as quickly as possible and headed to the showers. He let the warm water run over his body and ran his fingers through his long hair. 'I let the team down and now the GM wants to talk to me about how much I suck.' Normally he wouldn't think like this, but since January he hadn't been the most optimistic person. He snapped himself out of the negative thinking and quickly dried off and threw on his street clothes before heading toward the team offices and into the GM's.

"Have a seat," the older man behind the desk said. Marc sat down in the comfortable chair across from his boss, he was worried as to what was going to be said next. "How'd you like to play some more hockey, son?"

He had started to apologize for his poor play that night and then realized what the older man had said. "Huh?"

"Wilkes-Barre is about to start the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, since you're done here, how would you like to play a few games for them?"

Marc was stunned, to say the least, he had played horribly that night yet his boss as well an AHL team wanted him to play more. "I would love to."

"You leave Friday morning, better pack," he said with a smile.

All Marc could say was, "Thank you." Friday, it was Wednesday night, he needed to spend the entire next day packing and research Wilkes-Barre.

When he arrived home he pulled his phone from his pocket without thinking and called Kailey, like he did after every game. "Hey Marc, how'd the game go?"

"Hey Kailey, not so well, we're done for the season."

"Aw, I'm sorry. Looks like I'm down to only one team to cheer for, did I tell you, the Baby Pens are going to the second round?"

"You didn't, but I did hear from someone else. How far is Wilkes-Barre from Pittsburgh?"

"About five hours, why?"

"I'm flying in on Friday and would love to see my favorite American."

"Wait, you're going to be in Wilkes, why?"

"Playing I guess, so would you want to see me?"

"First thing tomorrow I'm conniving my mom to let me skip school, I miss you Marc!"

She sounded so excited, he was too, he really did miss her. "I miss you too Kailey. I should get some sleep so that I can pack and do some research tomorrow. I'll see you Saturday."

"Okay, bye Marc."

***

"Mom, I'm a senior and I haven't skipped school at all this year, would I be able to skip on Monday and Tuesday to go to Wilkes-Barre for the weekend?" She said too fast for her mom to say anything.

"Why do you want to go to Wilkes-Barre?"

"Marc's going to be there."

"Okay, you can go."

"But mom I haven't seen Marc in three months. Wait, did you say I can go?"

"Yes, now go to school."

Kailey practically jumped up and down, grabbed her bag from the floor and went outside to wait for the bus. On the way to school she told her friends what would be happening the next day. Jared was upset that his girl was going to drive five hours to see another man, but he hid it. He knew that even before Vero's death that Kailey and Marc were great friends, but that event had changed both of their lives.

***

Friday night Kailey packed for the weekend and went to bed, she was surprised that she was actually able to sleep. The next morning she threw her bag into the back seat of the car, set her GPS, and was off to see her best friend in Wilkes-Barre. When she arrived at the arena she saw someone getting out of their car and walking towards what she guessed was the players entrance. "Excuse me, maybe you could help me?"

The man was tall, had curly brown hair, and a big nose. He smiled, his smile was crocked, he was adorable. "What can I do for ya?" Canadian.

"I have a friend who's supposed to be getting here today to play for you guys, well I guess you guys, are you a Penguin?"

"I am, Colby Armstrong. Who's this friend?"

"Marc-Andre Fleury."

"Ah, goalie. He's supposed to be here for the skate, why don't you come inside and wait for him."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, now come on."

"Thanks, oh by the way, my name's Kailey Schwartz."

Colby smiled, he was adorable. There was no way he was that much older than her. "Oh crap, I left something in my car, be right back." A minute later Colby returned to her side with a McDonald's bag. All Kay could do was smile.

Kailey and Colby made their way to the locker room where Colby introduced her as, 'the goalie's friend'. She could tell that he was a jokester. After talking to the guys for a few minutes the door opened and in walked a tall man with dark brown hair and a huge hockey bag, someone Kailey knew and although she wouldn't admit it, loved. "Marc!"

"Kailey," he said dropping his bag to the floor. They met in the middle of the locker room and embraced in a long awaited hug. "It's good to see you."

"You too Marc."

He would never say it out loud, but it felt good to be back in her arms.

Chapter Twelve; Au Revoir

This chapter is a lot shorter than the normal ones, but I haven't updated in a while so I figured I would put something up to hold you over until I can find my writing touch again. Comments would be great... GO PENS!!!


Chapter Twelve

"You wanna hang out?" Jared has asked when Kailey sat down next to him on the bus after school.

"I would love to but Marc just called and said it's important."

Now she stood in the parking garage next to his apartment building and she was devastated; her best friend was leaving her and she didn't know for how long.

Once Marc was completely out of sight Kailey pulled her phone from her pocket and pushed two, the speed dial for Jared. It was cold out so she decided that her car would be the best place for this conversation to take place. "Hello?"

"Jare, can I come over?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I'll tell you when I get there." She didn't say good-bye or even the usual, 'I love you' before hanging up. The last few weeks had really messed her up, first seeing on of her best friends in the hospital, then that friend dying, she had been there for Marc; being strong, helping him through the hard time, but Marc had been there to help her just as much. Now this, now her best friend, the friend who she had been there for and who had been there for her was leaving. She didn't know how long he was going to be gone, and when if ever she would be able to see him again. She was sure that he would come back to the NHL, but would they still be friends? Would he remember their friendship, or just forget it, after all it had only lasted a few months.

"Kailey stop," she said out loud. Of course he would remember, the last few weeks at the very least. He had said that they would remain friends though, and she was sure that Marc would never break a promise that he had made to her, especially one like that.

She started the car and soon she found herself in front of Jared's house. She had gone there on auto-pilot because she hadn't even remembered leaving the parking garage. She took one more deep breath before turning the car off, removing the key from the ignition, releasing the seat belt, and getting out of the car. The ground was still covered in a light layer of snow and it made crunching noises under her converse as she walked up the path to the porch. The doorbell let out a rang when she pushed the button and she brushed the bottom of her shoes off on the rug in front of the door as she waited.

"Oh hello Kailey, Jared's out back," his mom said.

"Thanks." She closed the door behind her as she walked inside and made her way to the back door and walked back outside. Jared was shooting at the net that he had in the yard but when he heard the door close he dropped his stick to the ground and practically ran over to his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her.

"Tell me what happened baby," he brushed snow off the stone wall so that she could sit down.
"He's gone."

"Who?" Jared asked with concern.

"Marc, they sent him back to his junior team. That's why he called me after school. They told him at practice today, he wanted to tell me in person and say good-bye. He's gone Jare, and I don't know when I'll get to see him again." She rested her head on his shoulder and hoped that he wouldn't realized that she had started to cry.