Lessons Learned

"Katarina FUCKING Haner! I Missed you bitch!" I screamed as she tackled me in a hug as soon as I stepped off the damn plane. She giggled and rolled off me, hopping to her feet and pulling me up with her. Where I was immediately pulling into another bone-crushing hug.

"I missed you toooooo! You are never allowed to go a year without visiting me ever again, you hear me?"

"Kat..need.air!" She squeaked and let me go, probably forgetting that her hugs can be deadly if she's missed you enough. She smiled sheepishly, grabbed one of my bags, and turned to march out the door. I giggled and grabbed the other bag quickly, running to catch up to her quickly disappearing form.

~~~~~~~~~~

I sang along to Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri as Kat drove silently, hand relaxed against the gearshift, shifting smoothly every so often.

"So where do you actually live?"

"Sewickley, it's about ten miles outside of Pittsburgh, but the gym is in the Burgh itself." I nodded and fiddled with the iPod that was sitting in the cup-holder. I grimaced as I went through the artists Kat had loaded onto the small device,

"Kat, Justin Bieber? What the hell man? Why are you listening to a prepubescent hermaphrodite?"

"Hey now, don't underestimate the power of the Biebs. I love him."

"Kat, he's a sixteen year old boy who looks like a 14 year old girl that sings like a 12 year old girl. What.The.Fuck."

"Yeah, well... fuck off."

~~~~~~~~~~~

I gaped at the huge house in front of me, it was almost bigger than the band house in California.

"Kat, why the hell do you need this much house? You live alone..."

"Um...not exactly. You know how we have a physical therapy wing at the gym?" I looked over at her, really not liking where this conversation was heading,

"Well, we got a few players in that are rehabbing and they're staying with me." Cue big cheesy grin.

"You're not gonna tell me who they are, are you?"

"Nope."

"Not even a hint?"

"I told you they were athletes. But...other than that, no."

"Are they home?"

"Nope."

"When will they be back?"

"Not for a few hours."

"Is that all I'm getting?"

"Yepp." I nodded and shrugged,

"Whatever."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walked around the house looking for Kat, I needed more hangers and couldn't remember where she said she had put them. I frowned as I wandered, hating how big the damn house was. I meandered into the kitchen, the only room I hadn't checked out.

"Hey Kat, do have some more...hangers? Kat, why the fuck are Evgeni Malkin and Max Talbot sitting in your damn kitchen?"