Nothing Left

Three weeks since Adrienne had moved into Kris's apartment, they had fallen into a comfortable cycle. Adrienne was now in the fifth month of her pregnancy and Kris's schedule was now in full force. She tried as much as she could to stay out of his way on game days, but Kris had made it a habit to include her in his routine.

Since she wasn't working, Adrienne was either in the house doing chores, talking on the phone with either her mom, Suzanne or Kelly, or with Vero shopping for the baby or talking about the baby. It was obvious that Vero was extremely excited for the arrival of baby Lucas. Adrienne had decided that, since she was having a boy, she was going to name him after his father and his father's best friend.

Kris was sitting on his couch watching recaps of last night's game when Adrienne sat down beside him and looked at him. "What's up?" he asked her, turning down the volume and gave her his full attention.

"Vero and I were talking about baby names, and I was wondering if it was okay with you if Baby Lucas had your name too," she said biting her lip nervously, yet rubbing her stomach affectionately.

Kris's eyes widened and a grin replaced his stoic face. He felt his hear soar in happiness hearing those words come out of Adrienne's lips. "Lucas Kristopher Bourdon," he mumbled quietly under his breath. "Yes! It would mean a lot to mean," he said wrapping her in a hug, catching her off guard.

Recovering from shock, Adrienne returned the hug, closing her eyes as she missed the warm embrace of someone that made her feel safe. She broke the hug, but their faces remained inches from each other. She looked him in the eyes and then his lips, suddenly feeling the temptation of pressing hers against them.

Kris's heart started to erratically beat like a drum against his chest. His breathing hitched as his and Adrienne's lips drew closer and closer together. Finally they touched. It was as if fireworks erupted behind him as varied emotions surfaced.

Adrienne broke the kiss, but kept her face close enough to feel his breath against hers. She began to bite her bottom lip as she tried to formulate something to say, but nothing could describe how she felt or what was going through her mind. "I'm sorry," she whispered and got up.

"Wait," Kris said, grasping her tiny wrist, making her turn back and look him in the eye. "I like you," he confessed. "For a long time I've liked you. Way before Luc asked you out. I've been going to the diner you worked in for weeks trying to get the courage to ask you out."

Adrienne was shocked. She knew that Kris had been going to the diner she worked at and sat at the tables she was in charge of weeks before he brought Luc with him. To be honest, ever since he walked into that diner the first time, she had a small crush on him. But he was so shy he didn't seem interested in her, so when Luc asked her out, she couldn't help but say yes in hopes that it would give her an excuse to see Kris again. But then she grew to have stronger feelings for Luc and her crush on Kris was put in the back burner of her mind.

She slowly sat back down beside Kris. She had to tell him the truth, Adrienne owed him that much. After everything he had done for her, she owed him at least the truth about her feelings towards him. As much as it might disappoint him, he had put himself out there for her.

"I like you, I really do," she confessed. "But I don't know if it’s the way you want me to like you. To be honest, if I'm not thinking about the baby, which is 90% of the time, I'm thinking about how I'm going to handle the baby," Adrienne explained and watched has Kris's face fell in disappointment. "You've been there for me through everything and I can't thank you enough. I know that its time to move on and I know that Luc would want me to be happy, but I don't know how," she admitted.

"I'm willing to take it slow if you are. I don't want to pressure you into anything you're not ready for and not matter what; I'll always be there for you and the baby."

Adrienne smiled warmly at him. She moved closer to his face and placed a gently kiss on his cheek. "I know, and that's why I'll be forever grateful for everything you've done for the both of us," she said, rubbing her protruding stomach.

The sinking feeling in Kris's stomach disappeared and was replaced by happiness knowing that their relationship was moving forward. Even if Adrienne didn't want him to be a part of hers and her son's life, he was going to find a way to be a part of her son's life. That baby was a part of his best friend and the woman he had been in love with for a long time.

*

Kris skated around, doing his routine warm ups when he took his eyes off of the ice and to the bench where Adrienne sat, all bundled up. She had a smile on her face as she laughed alongside Vero.

She looked beautiful. The way her face would be so animated whenever she was happy, her green eyes lighting when her smile reaches her eyes. There were just so many things about Adrienne that made him fall in love with her. He knew he was in love with her the moment she went out of her way to help back at the diner, cheering him up and giving him hope when the team had been eliminated from the playoffs.

He had been going to the diner for weeks since he saw Adrienne. Hockey was huge in Val-d'Or and the town had been expecting great things from the Foreurs – from him because he was captain. After being eliminated from the playoffs it was as if the town had cast the team off.

Adrienne walked up to him, with a huge smile on her face congratulating him on a good game and that she was proud of him and what the team had accomplished. She gave him encouraging words; something the town could not after all the ass kissing the town had been doing at the beginning of the season and during the highest points.

"Are you guys okay?" Marc asked, skating up to a standing Kris.

Kris nodded and smiled. "I was going to tell her that I loved her, but I knew she wasn't ready to hear it," he admitted. "So I told her that I liked her and that I cared about her and the baby. She told me that she wants to move on and be happy, but it would have to be slow."

Marc smiled and patted his back. "I'm glad that you're happy. Both you and Adrienne need something to be happy about."