The Right Kind of Wrong

“So how many people do you have left to shop for?” Chris wondered, his arm slung around Emily’s shoulders as they were walking down the snow-covered streets of Grand Forks.

“Too many,” Emily groaned slightly, leaning into his side, smiling softly as he gently kissed the top of her head. “Fortunately I only have to shop for my close family this year as…well shipping and all that,” she shrugged slightly. “What about you?”

“I got my parents left and one of my cousins,” he said proudly.

“Hate you,” she pouted, reaching up and lacing their fingers together as they stopped at a traffic light.

“You love me,” he retorted, neither of them fully acknowledging the words used. They hadn’t used the L-word and neither of them was anywhere near ready to do so, and they never ventured closer to the subject as it would only cause trouble for them. “Do you need any help with anyone?” he asked as they waited for the light to turn green.

“I need to find something for Taylor,” she admitted. “Something that says that you're a great friend, but doesn’t insinuate anything beyond that,” she added, knowing that the wrong thing could end up leading into disaster land, on an express train.

“What’s his deal by the way?” he wondered as they crossed the street.

“He’s…” she trailed off, not really knowing that to tell him. She wasn’t especially keen on telling him that one of her friends actually had a crush on her, if he was anything like Erik – which he wasn't – that wasn't going to go over well and she could very well be slapped with an order to not see him again. “He doesn’t like hockey players and he really doesn’t like you,” she settled for.

“His loss,” he shrugged simply, that wasn't the first time he came up against that.

“Yeah, but he’s still my friend,” she smiled slightly. “And I need to find a gift for him,” she added, looking up at him.

“Buy him a tie,” he figured.

“I could buy you a tie,” she smirked. “Cause you actually wear one occasionally, he doesn’t, and if you suggests socks I'm going to hit you.”

“We’ll find one,” he promised, kissing the top of her head. “Is he interested in any sport, at all?” he wondered.

“I think he likes golf,” she said slowly, she didn’t actually know. After he made it clear that he really hated hockey and the players, she kind of steered cleared of the subject of sports as to not set him off again, or get them both into an argument.

“He likes golf, but not hockey?” he frowned. “He’s strange,” he decided.

“That is true,” she nodded slightly. “But he is my friend.”

“You have weird friends,” he smiled against the side of her head.

“You cannot talk,” she laughed slightly. “Your teammates are a bunch of weirdoes who know how to skate.”

“True,” he nodded in agreement, steering her towards a store where he was pretty sure they could find something for her friend.

Letting him take the lead, she slowly followed him into the store. Watching him look around, a sudden thought hit her. They might not have been together long, not long at all actually, but they were Christmas shopping…after over five years together she and Erik had never gone shopping for Christmas presents together…

Having finished shopping, all but a present each left to buy, not including ones for each other, they decided to wind down at one of the many café’s in the city, both opting to drink hot cocoa in honor of the cold outside as well as the snowy blanket covering most of the outside.

“I went to the softball tryouts,” Emily blurted out as Chris was in the middle of taking a sip of his cocoa, causing him to choke slightly on it.

“What?” he coughed slightly, looking over at her.

“Softball tryouts,” she repeated. “You know, we talked about it and I…well, I wasn't really enthusiastic about it, but I thought, what the hell,” she shrugged, feeling almost embarrassed under his intense gaze.

“That’s amazing,” he smiled widely. “How did it go?” he asked curiously, reaching across the table and taking her hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I mean, it felt fine, the girls on the team are really nice and I don’t know, I've never actually been to try outs before,” she smiled slightly. “We don’t find out if we made the team or not till later, but they didn’t act like I made a complete fool out of myself,” she shrugged indifferent.

“You went, that’s what matters,” he gently brushed his thumb over the side of her hand. “You tried out, now it’s up to someone else to decide, as long as you did your best.”

“I think I did,” she nodded slightly. “Tryouts are hard,” she stated. “I thought I was nervous when I was called up for the regional tryouts to the national team in soccer but…that was nothing compared to this,” she shuddered slightly.

“You competed on national level?” he asked surprised, he didn’t know that.

“Just for U-16 and U-17, I wasn't picked for 18 or 19 and then I quit and then I moved here,” she shrugged, it wasn't something she really thought about. Thought it had been nice wearing the yellow jersey bearing the country’s emblem; representing the country.

“How can you say that tryouts for a college softball team are worse than trying out to play for your country?” he asked surprised.

“It’s not as much a tryout as it is a rite of passage, if you play soccer and you reach a certain age, you're called up for it,” she told him. “Then you play some games, do some sprints and stuff, then they make cuts every once in a while, till they have a team of 20something players. It’s nothing more than that.”

“Okay,” he nodded slightly, still not fully believing her, but he’d never been there so…he couldn’t call her out on it. “Do you think you made it?” he asked curiously.

“I really have no idea,” she said honestly. “Everyone was good and they didn’t actually specify what positions they were looking for, so…” she shrugged. “All I have to do now, is wait.”

“I'm proud of you,” he stated, standing up and leaning over the table, pressing his lips against hers.