Your Hand In Mine

For the past week and a half, work and school had taken over my life. You can only pay attention in class and take people's orders for so long. I did get to spend some time with Kris, and the boys, but not much. I talked with Alexa maybe.. twice in that time period, but only because we were both pretty busy. I also worked up enough courage to ask Kris if he wanted to come to Josh's birthday party with me, and not because I was scared of the threat my mom gave me, but because I wanted him to come. I asked him while we were out eating lunch one day. I was nervous as hell, too, which wasn't something I was used to. I was never really that girl who was scared to talk to guys. It was weird. Anyway, he said he'd come and here we are now, walking up the sidewalk of my parents' house.

"What if they don't like me?" Kris asked as soon as we reached the door.

"Are you kidding? They'll love you. Just be yourself," I smiled over to him then rang the doorbell. Not even ten seconds later the door swung open and my dad appeared. "Hey, Dad," I said and gave him big hug then pulled away.

"And who might this be?" My dad questioned with an eyebrow raised even though he already knew who Kris was.

"This is my friend, Kris Letang," I told my father with a smile.

Kris stuck out his hand towards my dad. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Matthews."

"Oh. Please, call me John. 'Mister' makes me sound old-"

"Dad, you are old. You're fifty-five," I reminded him.

"Shut it, kid," he joked. "You'll be my age someday, you just wait." He turned to Kris. "So, Kris.. How's life as a Penguin?"

Kris shrugged. "It's been pretty good, I guess."

"That's good to here. Well, come on in you two. Josh is going to be here in about fifteen minutes. And you're mother is having a melt down in the kitchen because she can't find the Ranch dressing, " my dad told us. Women..," he muttered the last part and walked away shaking his head.

"I can see where you get your sense of 'umor from," Kris chuckled.

"Yeah, we're a lot alike. Come on, let's go introduce The Great Kris Letang."

"'The Great'.. What an 'onor," he smirked. I shook my head and we started walking towards the kitchen.

"Mom! I'm here!" I screamed over everyone. They all stopped talking and looked over at us.

"Dude, it's Kris Letang," my cousin, Danny, said to my other cousin, Mike, as he kept hitting Mike's chest with his hand repeatedly.

"Dude, I know," Mike replied as he mocked Danny's movements.

"Nice to see you guys, too," I said, and they still wouldn't stop staring at Kris. "If you don't shut your mouth soon, a fly's going to fly in there and you'll choke on it and die," I tried again. It seemed to work because they closed their mouths and shot me a glare.

"Anyway, everyone, this is Kris Letang. He plays hockey for the Penguins, if you didn't know," I told them then turned to face Kris. "And Kris, this is everyone. Don't feel overwhelmed. You do play in front of thousands of fans on a regular basis."

"Um.. 'i?" Kris said a little on the nervous side. They all replied with a smile or a form of hello.

"Oh, Mom, the Ranch is on the coffee table. I don't know why, though."

"Thanks, honey," she said, stepping forward to Kris and I. "It's nice to meet you, Kris. You can call me Donna," she said..

"Okay, sound good. And it's nice to meet you also," he said.

I heard someone squeal, and I could've sworn it was Max. "Ashley texted me! They just turned onto the road!" That would be another cousin, Sam. And Ashley, she's Josh's wife. We like her.

"Okay, everyone, hide. Donna, get the lights," my dad commanded. The lights were off before Kris and I even moved.

"Follow me," I said and grabbed his hand. "We'll duck behind the couch." His hands were huge and warm. I didn't miss the tingly feeling I got from his touch, either.

"Damn, your 'and are cold."

"They're always cold. And you can let go as soon as we get to the couch if they're so cold. Jeesh, I was trying to help you hide so you wouldn't trip over anything." I replied with a fake serious tone. I don't even know if that made any sense.. fake serious.

"Would you two shut up? You'll ruin it!" my dad whisper/shouted.

"Sorry," Kris apologized.

Not even a minute later, the door opened and my mom flipped the lights back on. "SURPRISE!" everyone yelled.

"Whoa," my brother laughed.

We all took our turns to say hello and wish him a happy birthday. When Kris and I walked up, Josh was in as much shock as I was when I had first met Kris, except he didn't fall into mulch. Josh and Kris walked off together and went to bullshit with some family and friends. I felt sort of bad for abandoning Kris, but he seemed to fit in well.

"So, how'd you meet Kris?" Sam stopped me and dragged me into the family room.

"I was on the swings, and he just kind of showed up next to me. We've been hanging out for a few weeks, and I've met all of his teammates, too. They're hilarious," I told her and everyone else who was sitting in the room and wanted to listen.

"Interesting. Are you two dating?" Amanda, another cousin, asked. If you've never heard me mention someone's name before, just assume they're one of my cousins.

"Nope." Plain and simple. Why do they have to know that I like him as more than a friend but he probably doesn't? They'd probably run over to him now and tell him just that, which would not be good.

"Well, I think you would look cute together. Just my opinion, though."

"Sometimes, I wish you'd keep them to yourself," I told her and got up to go back into the kitchen and find my drink.

I found my cup and leaned up against a wall and joined a conversation. I wasn't really paying attention, though. I glanced up and caught Kris' eye. He shot me his crooked smile, and I smiled back.

- Kris -

When she smiled back at me, she took my breath away. She was so beautiful.

"Ha. Zach, do you remember when that kid up the street took Shane's crayons then snapped them in half?" Josh ask one of the guy we were sitting with. He was a pretty cool guy. He look a lot like Shane, too.

"Yeah, man. Then she chased him back to his house and punched him in the face and told him to tape them back together. She'd probably still punch you in the face if you took her crayons," Zach recalled as he laugh.

"'ow old were you guy?" I ask.

"Uh.. I think she was about seven?" Josh answered.

"Wow. She was a serious colorer.." I said.

"Yeah, she could probably still kick my ass," Zach said.

"Do you remember the beach that one year?!" someone name Aaron said, and it made everyone crack up.

"What is so funny?" I ask.

"Hang on. I have to get a picture, it's hilarious," Josh said then walked into the house.

"How'd you get lucky enough to meet Shane?" one of them ask me and said it like it was sort of a bad thing.

"Uh, at the park," I answer, not really knowing how to reply.

"Nice. You guys dating?" another guy ask.

"No, just friends."

"I found it, guys. Here, take a look at this," Josh told me and point to one of the picture. I grabbed it and look at the photo. Shane was standing on the beach with bird shit all over her and a crab hanging off of her finger, but she had the biggest smile on her face. She could not have been any older than fourteen.

I laughed for a minute or so along with the rest of the guys. "What exactly 'appened?"

"She was making a sandcastle, and then we threw bread at her. The seagulls came and basically attacked her. Then she went to rinse all of the bird shit off in the ocean but she tripped over a boogie board and her hand landed on a crab. She got up and had started to scream and dance around trying to get the damn thing off," Zach said and pause to laugh. "Then we made her stand there a take a picture because it was so fucking funny. We forced her to smile and act like it didn't hurt, but then she made us take it off of her finger. And she got four showers in a row because she didn't think all of the bird shit was off of her. She still has a scar on her left pointer finger," Josh finished.

I chuckled a little bit then look back down to the picture frame that was in my hand. There was five picture.

The first one was of her and Josh, maybe. They were really little, and they had an arm around each other's shoulder and were waving with their free hand. The two of them were standing in front of a school bus with book bag on their back. I'm guessing it was their first day of school or something?

The second picture was the one where she was smiling with the crab. I will have to get her take on that story one day.

The next picture was of Shane and some guy. I am pretty sure it was Prom. Shane was wearing a long, light yellow dress. It really showed off her figure well. The guy.. I was just envious of him. Envious that he got to dance with her, hold her close to him, and probably kiss her--something I might not get the chance to do.

The fourth picture was also of Shane. She was standing on top of a mountain, and her arm were high above her head, a lot like how I celebrate the goal I score. She had a big grin again and look the happiest I had ever seen her. She must love being outside.

The final one was a picture of Josh and Shane holding a sign that said 'Our first Pens game!' They were in black and gold from head to toe, too. It made me smile. It proved that she liked watching hockey, actually knew how the game work, and was not a bandwagon fan--a refreshing change from all of the girl I am use to.

Shane is definitely one of a kind.