Poker Face

I tried closing the door as quick as possible but it was too late. He grabbed me, pulled me into his chest and covered my mouth, yanking me out into the hall.

“Hello, beautiful. Miss me?” He whispered roughly in my ear. It was Carl, my ex-boyfriend slash stalker. He pulled me down the corridor toward the elevator, me struggling the whole time. He managed to get me over to the elevator and pushed the button. As he waited for the elevator to get to our floor I bit his hand that was covering my mouth and he pulled it away momentarily stunned. That’s when I reeled back and punched him in the face, sending him stumbling back. I took my chance and ran back towards the apartment, but I didn’t make it very far. He seized me by the waist and pulled me back again.

“SIDNEY!” I screamed desperately. The elevator doors were open and waiting for us, and he dragged me inside. Sidney strolled out into the hallway, and I breathed in to call to him again. My attempt was thwarted however when a hand came across my mouth. I tried to fight it however, and managed to get out a muffled “SID!” Sidney looked towards the elevator, and started running towards it.

“Jaime!” He exclaimed, causing the other guys to come out of the apartment to see what was going on. My attacker hastily pressed the buttons to get the doors to close, and they did so just as Sidney and Jordan reached them. They were too late however, and I heard them bang on the closed doors.

“Callie! Call the police!“ I heard, muffled behind the doors. I turned towards the other man in the elevator with me and before I could do anything he punched my jaw, sending me to the ground.

“Payback,” he said simply. He pulled my limp form up and I just clutched my face. The elevators opened and a fist came out of nowhere and connected with Carl’s face. He released me and I collapsed into Kris’s arms, who happened to be the one who punched Carl to begin with. He picked me up bridal style and pulled me out of the way, and that’s when Sidney, Geno, Jordan, and Marc descended upon Carl, completely whaling on him. I started shaking uncontrollably, so Kris tightened his grip on me.

“It’s okay,” he whispered, nuzzling his face against mine. Callie peeked through one of the doors to the stairs and rushed over to Kris and me. Soon after, the police came, breaking everything up. They knew about Carl and I, since we had many incidents. They really should’ve taken the other guys into custody too, considering the beating they gave to Carl, but since the cops knew the situation, they didn’t even consider it. It probably helped that they were the Pittsburgh freakin’ Penguins. After a little while, an officer approached me and I tightened my grip on Kris.

“Ma’am, you’re going to have to come in for questioning,” he said.

“Can’t I just do it here?” I whispered. “I don’t want to go anywhere,” I begged. I looked up at the officer and he winced. I didn’t know why, until he reached out to move my bangs away from my face. Callie, Sidney, Jordan, Evgeni and Marc all winced as well. I was guessing that I was gonna have one hell of a shiner. The officer sighed and pulled out his notepad, agreeing to just interview me here. Kris didn’t let go of me once, nor did his grip loosen. For that, I was thankful. I answered all his questions, and I barely registered the delivery man coming up to Sidney with our food. I wanted to laugh at that, but all I could feel was numb. Well, apart form the throbbing pain my body was in. The paramedics looked me over and decided I didn’t have to go to the hospital, and they gave me some pain killers.

Eventually the cops all left and Kris carried me back upstairs along with the rest of the guys. Jordan had his arm around Callie, who clung to him tightly. Kris sat in the love seat and pulled me close to him, and Callie sat down on the armrest and held my hand. Jordan grabbed a blanket and threw it over Kris and I before leading Callie to the couch. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“No problem Short Stuff,” Jordan replied. Sidney came over a few moments later with a bag of ice and set it on my face.

“How you holding up?” He asked softly. I just shrugged and he kissed my forehead. Everyone just kept looking at me and I began to feel uncomfortable. I knew they felt bad for me, but I hated being pitied.

“Maybe we should watch a movie,” Marc-Andre suggested, noticing my discomfort. I gave him a thankful smile and he winked at me. Sidney went over to his collection and started calling out movie titles, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was focused on Kris, who was absentmindedly playing with my hair whilst listening to Sid. He must’ve sensed me looking at him, because a few seconds later he glanced down at me and smiled softly. He turned his attention back on his teammates, who had picked out some action flick. Sidney set it all up while the other three guys disappeared into the kitchen.

A little while later they came back with everyone’s food and drinks. Geno came over to Kris and I with his hands full of our stuff. Kris rearranged me so I was sitting up in his arms but we could both eat comfortably. I took my food gratefully and Evgeni sat with his own stuff on the couch. Once everyone was settled in, Sidney turned off the lights and started the movie before taking his own seat. I was finding it hard to hold up my ice bag and eat at the same time, so I just gave up on eating. Kris looked down at me disapprovingly.

“You have to eat,” he whispered. I shook my head.

“Too hard,” I whispered back. The other guys were so engrossed in the movie and their own little discussions they didn’t pay any attention to Kris or I.

“Too hard?” Kris echoed with a chuckle. I just glared at him as he smiled at me. “Here,” he said, adjusting my head to that the ice pack was between my face and his neck. It left both my hands free to eat.

“Are you sure?” I asked, pulling my head up and removing the ice pack form his neck. “I don’t want to-”

“It’s fine, Jaime. I’m a hockey player. The ice doesn’t really bother me,” he insisted, putting my head back down. Wow. That made sense. I began eating my food, even though I didn’t really have an appetite. A while later everyone had finished eating and had settled down enough to completely focus on the movie.

The pain killers had really set in, and I was feeling really drowsy and out of it. I had settled into Kris’s grasp, and tried to think about anything but the events of the day. I failed horribly, however, because it’s not exactly like the rest of the day had been any better. I tiredly looked up at Kris then, who was looking at the TV but I could see his mind was somewhere else, like me. He was probably thinking about Luc, which made me feel bad. I mean, here he was, going through a personal tragedy, and I was the one being catered to.

My eyes snapped open at this realization and I scolded myself for being so selfish. I tried pulling away from Kris, but he swiftly tightened his grip and looked down at me. He raised his eyebrow in question, so I played it off like I was just getting more comfortable. He loosened up a little and turned his head back towards the TV. I sighed in defeat and leaned against him, letting the sleep over take me. A while later I heard voices, and a firm hand was shaking me.

“Jaime, c’mon babe let’s get you to bed,” someone said. I peeked my open and saw bright blonde hair, so I knew it was Jordan. I snuggled further into Kris’s chest and groaned. I heard laughter form the guys and Callie after that. “Jaime,” Jordan called again, grabbing my arm lightly. He pulled on it, trying to get me to get up. I just hung loosely in his grasp, making it harder for him. He let my hand drop back down and I immediately clung to Kris.

“No…don’t let them take me,” I murmured into Kris’s neck. I heard them all laugh again.

“I think she’s still loopy from the meds,” Sidney noted.

“I’ll say,” Jordan remarked.

“Jaiiiiime,” Sidney cooed, attempting to grab me. “C’mon, Kris’s legs are probably numb by now and I’m sure he wants to go home.” He had said it as a joke, but it somehow upset me. Probably because I knew it was true. I jerked my head away from Kris’s shoulder to look him in the eye. He was looking back at me amused, but his smirk fell when he saw my worried expression.

“Sorry I’ve been such a hassle,” I murmured, letting Sidney pick me up the rest of the way. I felt myself get placed into a bed, and the covers were thrown over me. Callie hugged me goodnight and sat with me for a while, just talking about random little things. Later, the guys all took turns saying goodnight to me and giving me a hug and kiss, and the only one left was Kris. Everyone else had left the room. Kris cautiously approached the bed and stood next to it.

“Uh…bonne nuit,” he finally said. I smiled weakly and he began to leave. Suddenly panic set in as I realized I was going to be alone. Before I could do anything, however, Kris had turned around and was by my bedside again. “Just so you know, my legs are fine. You aren’t a hassle,” he asserted. I didn’t really know how to reply, so I just nodded. He turned around again to leave.

“What time is it?” I asked softly. He turned back towards me.

“Around 12,” he answered.

“Is everyone leaving?”

“No, I think they’re all staying over. They all have their stuff anyways,” he told me. “Except Callie. She’s taking Jordan’s car home because she has to work early tomorrow.”

“Are you staying?” I was trying to stall being alone, but I was also curious.

“I wasn’t planning on it. I’ve got a lot things to do regarding Luc,” he explained. I nodded and thought he was going to leave, but he hesitated and looked at me for a moment. “Why?”

“Why what?” I asked.

“Why did you want to know if I was staying?” He clarified.

“Just curious,” I whispered. I was afraid if I talked too loud my voice would break. He narrowed his eyes at me and smirked, as if sensing I was lying. He stepped closer and knelt down by the side of the bed near me. “Is that all? No other reason?” He smirked teasingly, brushing the hair out of my eyes.

“No, no other reason,” I stated. He took a deep, unneeded breath and stood up.

“Okay then, see you later,” he began walking away, taunting me. He knew I didn’t want to be alone. He also knew I was too proud to ask him to stay. So I just threw it back in his face.

“Kris,” I called. He turned around with a smug look on his face. “Can you go get Jordan, Sidney, Geno or Marc? I really don’t want to be alone tonight.” His smirk fell and he muttered to himself in French, leaving the room. I snuggled back under the covers and waited for two things. One, to hear the apartment door open and close signaling Kris’s departure, and two to have one of the other guys come in and stay with me. When neither happened after a while, I started to become restless. I sat up and tried to see out the door, but everything was pitch black. I decided a good excuse for getting up would be to get a drink of water. I got out of bed, but as soon as my feet hit the floor I swayed. Damn, those pain killers were stronger than I thought. It was like I was tipsy or something.

I stumbled out into the living room and heard snoring. I looked and saw Jordan sprawled out on the couch, Geno had the recliner tipped all the way back, and Marc was on the loveseat all curled up. They were all knocked out. I laughed silently to myself, briefly registering that Sidney was probably sleeping in his room. Where was Kris? Did he leave without me hearing it? I turned to go to the kitchen to get a water bottle, but I didn’t make it very far. Two steps in I tripped over air and ate hardwood. “Owwww” I groaned, not moving. I still heard snoring, so I figured no one woke up. That’s when I saw a pair of legs walking out of the kitchen. Two arms gripped me and pulled me up.

“What are you doing?” Kris asked, holding my face in his hands and checking for wounds. I just leaned up against his chest and threw my arms around his neck, relaxing. His hands went around my waist.

“You didn’t send anyone in for me,” I said, looking up at him and pouting.

“They were all asleep. I didn’t know what to do,” he answered, glancing at my lips.

“What were you doing in the kitchen?” I asked him.

“I was getting you a bottle of water…I figured you’d want one,” he said, reaching behind me to the table that was next to us. He held the bottle out to me and I grabbed it.

“It’s like you’re psychic,” I remarked. He just chuckled, leaning his forehead to mine. “Are you leaving?”

“Do you want me to?” He asked. I shook my head no. “Do you want me to stay with you tonight?”

“Yes please,” I whispered. He smiled and pulled away. I stumbled forward, not expecting such a quick movement. He caught me right away and set me straight. “Warn a girl next time.”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I’m going to get my bag okay? Stay still.” I nodded and he walked away. I felt myself sway, but I tried to stay rooted to my spot. I was so tired.

“Sleepy?” Kris whispered in my ear, making me shiver.

“Oh my god, you are seriously psychic,” I told him. He laughed again and put a hand on my back and pushed me forward towards the bedroom. I stumbled, but he caught me.

“Wow, you are retarded,” Kris remarked, picking me up bridal style and walking into the bedroom.

“I’m heavily medicated,” I defended. He laughed and shut the door behind him with his foot.

“Whatever you say, princess,” he replied, setting me down on the bed. I put my water on the side table an immediately crawled under the covers. Kris took his bag into the bathroom, and I could hear him turn the shower on. I began to feel drowsy again, but I wanted to talk to Kris, so I turned on the TV in hopes it would keep me up. A few minutes later Kris had finished up in the bathroom and came out. He was only wearing sweatpants, and I could feel my face heat up. I silently thanked God for my tan skin and the fact that it was dark in the room. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” I told him. He got an uneasy look on his face.

“About…?”

“Why you don’t like me,” I said. He furrowed his eyebrows and crawled onto the bed. He sat next to me and caressed my face near the bruises.

“Why do you think I don’t like you?” He questioned.

“Because you don’t,” I asserted. “We don’t get along.”

“Jaime-”

“I mean, I understand that we argue a lot and poke fun at each other but I don’t think you realize how much it bothers me,” I said. Normally, I wouldn’t be saying this stuff. It was the drugs, I swear.

“What?” Kris said, caught off guard.

“You hate me for no reason,” I groaned, putting a pillow over my face. “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything to warrant your wrath.”

“Jaime,” Kris chuckled. I tore the pillow from my face and narrowed my eyes at him.

“Are you laughing at me?” I asked, incredulous. He tried wiping the smirk off his face, but he failed miserably. I tried to get up but he threw an arm around my waist and pulled me in to him. He laid down next to me and propped his head up with his other hand while looking down at me.

“Why do you suddenly care that we don’t get along?” he asked, smiling.

“You were so nice to me today,” I started. He snorted, which caused me to halt the rest of my explanation.

“You were beat up! It’s not like I was going to kick you while you were down. You were nice to me today too,” he shrugged.

“Your best friend died,” I said.

“Exactly,” he remarked, suddenly getting serious. “Get my point now?”

“No…I’m always nice to you, until you start shit,” I noted. He just rolled his eyes and laid his head down. After a few moments I spoke again, even though Kris looked like he was about to fall asleep. “So are you saying that you were only nice to me because of what happened to me today? That if it were just any other normal day you would’ve acted the way you normally do?”

“Uh…probably,” he murmured without opening his eyes. I was silent after that, and soon enough Kris’s steady breathing indicated he was asleep. I sighed and rolled over, and felt Kris spoon with me out of instinct. I rolled my eyes, but eventually I fell asleep.