Sequel: Run the Show

Somebody Needs You

Chapter 22

Spending most of Christmas Day with her family, Katie and Luke boarded one of the few flights actually taking off from the airport during the day. The Leafs were going up against the New York Islanders on the evening of the 26th and the whole team needed to be there for morning skate at 10am, so flying out the same day was out of the question.

Checking into the same hotel the hotel would be staying at for the time in the city, they fell into Luke’s usual game day routine of getting up rather early and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. As Luke had to be at the arena for pre-game skate, Katie made most of her free time as well as the hotel’s spa-area.

Returning to the room at the same time as Luke, they decided to make the most of Boxing Day, by heading out in the city and see what the stores had to offer. He had to be back at the hotel for a pre-game nap, but they had a few hours to themselves before that.

Walking up and down the snow-covered streets with everyone else in the middle of New York City, hand in hand, they took in the sights and Katie shopped a little more than she had planned. It wasn't everyday she was on Manhattan after all, even if Toronto wasn't far behind in her mind.

“So how did you find Christmas?” she wondered as they were having lunch at a small deli in the middle of the island. “Was it a good substitute?”

“It wasn't a substitute for anything,” he stated seriously. “It was Christmas, with your family,” he smiled at her across the table. “And it was fun,” he added. “I never knew two eleven year old girls could be such terrors.”

“Be glad you never met me and Kris when we were growing up,” she laughed slightly. Julia and Savannah’s ambush on Luke from behind a particularly high snow bank was nothing compared to what she and Kris had been up to when they were kids. “You wouldn’t have gotten out alive.”

“You sure that you're so much better now?” he raised his eyebrow at her. “In your old age, I mean,” he added dryly.

“No, but now we know that it probably isn’t such a great idea to ice the driveway in the middle of winter,” she nodded in agreement.

“You did that?” he choked out, very surprised.

“I was like six or seven and Kris was 11-12 something and we were out playing in the snow. For whatever reason we had water out there and we thought up the brilliant idea that we should pour it out in the snow,” she shrugged sheepishly.”We poured it out on the driveway and then we had to go inside, mum probably called us and obviously we totally forgot about it, and then out dad came home…” she trailed off.

“What happened?” he asked curiously, she could not build the story up like that and then just stop.

Clearing her throat uncomfortable, she looked away from him and out the window. “The car slid on the ice and managed to take out most of the garage door. It was also in the shop for three weeks afterwards,” she revealed. “And Kris slipped on the ice when we all rushed out to see what happened, cause it was one hell of a bang. She ended up breaking her leg,” she blushed brightly as she gnawed on her lower lip and refused to look up at him.

“Oh my God,” he breathed as he pictured it all happening. “My girlfriend was a complete hazard when she was a kid.”

“I was,” she nodded in agreement, that wasn't something she could argue, at all.

“What happened afterwards?” he wondered.

“Nothing really,” she remembered slowly. “I wasn't old enough to really understand the consequences of what we were doing and mom and dad thought that Kris had been punished enough with her broken leg,” she explained. “She had a cast for like six weeks or something and then she wasn't allowed to play out in the snow for another month when it came off,” she continued. “And the garage door was hanging crooked till they replaced it after about two weeks.”

“Wow,” he laughed slightly.

“But I never did it again,” she pointed out smiling.

“I would hope so,” he replied seriously. “And I thought that Brayden and I were bad.”

“What did you do?” she quickly asked him, desperate to shift attention from her own childhood.

“We just wrestled inside the house too many times,” he shrugged slightly. “Once we broke two of the drawers on the dresser in our bedroom,” he remembered.

“You and your brother shared a room?” she asked, smiling softly. If it hadn’t been such an age-difference between herself and Kris, she would have loved sharing a room with her, at least for a few years.

“Yeah, till I was about 16 and moved to Kelowna to play hockey anyway,” he conformed.”Well, we shared the room during the summers too,” he corrected himself, remembering the troubles the two of them had gotten themselves into during those summers…

Returning back to the hotel just in time for Luke’s pregame nap, Katie left him sleeping and logged onto her laptop, catching up on mails and other work-related things as well as with a few of her friends back in LA.

The game against the Islanders that evening wasn't a good one for the Leafs and sitting in the stands – not wearing their jersey – Katie couldn’t help but feel like that was becoming the tagline for the team’s entire season… They were one of the teams not competing for a spot in the playoffs, but trying to get away from being the worst team in the league. Even if they knew that being last wasn't always a bad thing. It really was a Catch 22, that was for sure.

Heading back to the hotel on her own, Katie tried to hug and kiss it better for Luke when he got back; already knowing it was only a temporary fix. Thought personally he got more ice time than usual as of late so that was a good thing, but like always, the team came before the player…

Kicking him out before the team’s curfew so he could go back to the room he usually shared with one of his teammates, she literally fell back into the bed. She wanted him to stay with her, but the following morning she would have to return to Toronto a lot earlier than the team was and she knew he needed his sleep, so they were sleeping in separate rooms. It really pained her to kick him out. And it wasn't for his sake…
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Complete filler...not that happy about it, but it was necessary for the next one =)