Sweet Revenge

Milan Lucic slid into the booth next to his girlfriend of nearly 7 months, offering the other couples at the table of the downtown Boston bar a quick greeting before he let his attention fall to the dark haired girl next to him. Drowned out by a mixture of the loud music and commotion throughout the bar, none of Milan's team mates seemed to pay any attention as his girlfriend leaned up to whisper to him, a sickly sweet smile stretching across her face.

"I see you decided to stop off at home first." Allie Ryerson patted the jean clad thigh of her boyfriend, before briefly glancing across the booth at Patrice Bergeron, one of Milan's Boston Bruins teammates, who had shed his suit jacket and tie, but was still wearing the dark blue dress shirt he had worn to the team's game earlier that night.

"I had to look good for the ladies tonight." As he spoke he shrugged off the thick black peacoat he had been wearing over top of his simple black v-neck T-shirt. While it was still quite cold outside for early March, the amount of people packed into the bar caused the temperature to swelter inside, leaving most people inside comfortably wearing just t-shirts.

"Mhmm." She answered as he slipped his arm casually behind her to rest on the back of the booth, his wrist resting lightly on her opposite shoulder. "You let me know how that one works out for you." Her hand was still rested on his thigh, so she gave it a light squeeze as she smiled up at him.

"Did you watch our game tonight?" The rest of the table still paid no attention to the couple as Milan waved down a waitress to get him a beer, and his girlfriend another rum and coke.

"No, I was a little busy." Was all Allie replied with. Although she kept her answer quick and brief, Milan rolled his eyes, removing his arm from around her shoulder as the waitress returned with their drinks.

"I saw that." He casually took a sip from his beer, thinking over his next words carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was start a fight while he was out with his teammates and their girlfriends to celebrate that night's win. "It was a little... excessive, don't you think?"

"That's not the way I see it."

"Just not what I expected from a girl like you."

Allie had been absentmindedly stirring the small black straw that had come in her drink, but as Milan's words sunk in she froze. "What is that supposed to mean?" She spat at him, louder than she intended. She caught Patrice's attention again from across the table, who glanced over at the two, his arm wrapped casually around the shoulder of his latest girlfriend. He raised his eyebrows at her, but Allie just gave him a sweet smile. His interest faded almost as quickly as it had started, turning back towards the conversation he was having with Johnny Boychuk.

Keeping his voice low, he leaned in closer to her. "You know exactly what I mean." He smirked as he watched her jaw tighten. "The innocent little preacher's daughter."

Allie ground her teeth together, shrugging off Milan's arm as he wrapped it around her shoulders to pull her in closer. As discreetly as possible she tried to slide further into the booth towards Tuukka Rask who was seated on the other side of her in the large, round booth. "Clearly you don't know me as well as you thought you did." She glared at her boyfriend, swatting his hand away as he tried to rest it on her bare thigh that was not covered by the short silver sequinned dress she had worn out that night. "I guess we both don't know each other as well as we thought."

It was his turn to tense up at her words, knowing exactly what she was referring to. "Trashing our apartment, though? Really? Did you think that was going to get your point across?" He paused to take a swig from his beer, placing the nearly empty bottle onto the polished surface of the table. "What would daddy think of your actions?"

Allie had been raised in a strict Christian family in their small town in southern Illinois. Her father was the pastor for the small town's only church, and anything Allie did was sure to be the talk of the town since all eyes were on Ryerson family. Except, Allie had always been a model child, avoiding parties and trouble her entire life. As soon as she had graduated high school she left town for university in Boston. Her first year, her good girl image held up, avoiding the party scene all together. But by the time her second year rolled around her inner wild child had slowly decided to appear. Now, on the verge of graduating, she hadn't been home in over a year. Despite the occasional phone call home, her new life was in Boston. Besides, her parent's didn't approve of her dating a hockey player, especially a fighter like Milan. As far as Allie was concerned, Milan was her new life, and she didn't need her close-minded family to support her anymore. Or at least, Milan had been her entire life up until a few weeks prior, when their flawless relationship had begun to crumble.

"I think daddy would support me." She tossed her perfectly straight dark brown hair over her right shoulder. "What would your parents think about everything you've done, baby? Or should I say who you've done."

Milan choked on the sip of beer he had just taken, coughing and sputtering as he quickly clapped a hand over his mouth. Tuukka Rask turned to the couple next to him, laughing lightly. "You okay, Looch?"

Milan nodded, waving off his Finnish goaltender as he tried to re-catch his breath. "Yeah, I'm good. Don't worry."

Johnny Boychuk's girlfriend leaned over the table to get Allie's attention while Milan struggled to breathe beside her. "Jenny and I wanted to do some karaoke tonight. You in too?"

"I'd love to." Allie beamed. "And I know just the song to pick." As the other girls began to climb out of the booth, Allie signalled for Milan to stand up so she could slide out since he was at the end of the table.

As she climbed out, Milan gently grabbed her hand before she could fully pass him. "This isn't over, Allie."

Roughly tearing herself from his grip, she shook her head. "No, Milan, I'm pretty sure we are done."

As he watched Allie head off with the two girls, he slid back into the booth, immediately waving down a waitress in desperate need of another drink. Patrice laughed at his team mate as a fresh beer was placed in front of him. "Trouble in paradise, Looch?" He questioned as Milan took a long chug from the cold beer.

"No." Milan snapped, setting the bottle back onto the table again.

"You sure?" Tuukka chimed in. "Allie does not look too happy with you tonight."

"She hasn't really looked happy the last couple of times we all got together." Patrice added, as the rest of the guys at the table nodded.

"Everything's fine." Trying to drown out his teammates, Milan focused his attention on the three girls who had just climbed onto the stage in the far corner. As they gathered around the microphone, a familiar song began to play throughout the bar and Milan immediately groaned.

As the three girls began to sing along to the Carrie Underwood song that Milan had heard too many times before. His teammates immediately picked up on the song choice, Tuukka elbowing Milan as they all shared a laugh at his expense.

"I wouldn't say everything's fine." Patrice noted, taking a drink from his own beer.

"I'd say she knows what you've been up to, Lucic." Boychuk added as Milan turned his focus back to his, now very interesting, beer bottle. He tried his best to ignore the girls singing, but he couldn't shut out the words that he felt were directed right towards him.

"And if it wasn't for guys like you, there wouldn't be songs like this.
And if you hadn't gone and done me wrong, I wouldn't go off like this..."

***

Allie's strappy black stilettos clicked loudly across the floor of their apartment's lobby as the couple made their way back up to their condo. Few words had been shared between them, afraid of making a bigger scene then they already had for one night. Opting for the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, they arrived at their second floor apartment in no time at all.

Allie slid off her shoes, leaving them in a pile by the door as she headed further into the apartment, draping her jacket over the back of the couch.

"So are we going to talk about it?" Milan questioned as he followed her, tossing his own jacket onto the couch as well.

"No." Allie side stepped some of the books and magazines she had thrown across the apartment in her rage earlier that day.

"Why not?"

"I don't feel like it." She shrugged, brushing her bangs out of her face as she spoke.

"Allie, we really should."

"No, Milan." She headed towards the bedroom they shared, adjusting her strapless dress as she walked. "Because if we talk about it, I can't guarantee I'm going to stick around when it's all said and done."

"It's not as bad as you think it is." He followed her to their bedroom, watching as she pulled her dark hair back into a high ponytail. He just wanted to explain himself to her, he knew everything that had happened wasn't nearly as bad as she must have assumed they were. Milan needed to clear his name, and free their relationship from the obvious tension it was under.

"That's what guys like you always say."

They way she answered so calmly enraged Milan. He was trying so hard to keep his calm, but his patience was beginning to wear thin. "Guys like me?" He shook his head as he took in a deep breath. "Just let me explain. It's not as bad as you think it is, I promise."

Allie took a few minutes to reply, as she took out her contacts and slipped on her thickly rimmed black glasses. "Really, Milan? Do you want to get into this." When he didn't answer, she took his silence as a yes. "My best friend." She turned to fully face him, crossing her arms across her chest. "I come home from dinner with my parents to find you on the couch making out with my best friend! A dinner where I did nothing but praise you to my parents because they think you don't deserve a second of my time. Oh, but this is after I get bills for you deciding to go on a shopping spree with my credit cards. I look past you stealing from me, and you reward me with trying to fuck my best friend!"

When Allie had started talking, she had managed to remain calm, but by the end she was practically screaming at him. He only nodded, waiting for her to finish before he began his explanation. "I'm sorry. But, I had had a few too many drinks that night, and-"

"I don't want to hear about how you picked up my best fucking friend, Milan!" She grabbed the small leather case she had just taken her glasses out of, and whipped it at him. He moved at the last minute to avoid the flying object, it slamming into the wall behind him.

"Allie, I'm sorry!"

She ignored his comment, shaking her head. "My parents always told me that you'd just end up being a jerk in the long run, but I didn't want to believe them."

"Baby, I'm sorry! The credit card thing was just a mix up, I already told you that! I'm going to pay you back-"

"I told you I didn't want to know any of this!" Allie's scream echoed through the room as Milan fell completely silent. After the couple stood in silence for a few minutes, Allie let out a breath she hadn't noticed she had been holding. "I didn't want to know because I didn't want to have to leave you."

"Can we please just stop this?! You don't have to leave." Milan ran a hand through his short dark hair. "Please don't leave. I know I'm a jerk, and I can't guarantee that I won't always be this way. But I'm trying... I'm trying just for you."

"Convincing speech." She muttered, turning back towards the vanity she stood in front of.

"I messed up, Allie." She felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind. Looking at her reflection in the mirror she watched as Milan gently kissed the top of her head, his 6'4 frame towering over her petite body. "But please just know that I'd never do anything to hurt you on purpose."

Allie only nodded as her boyfriend rested his chin atop her head gently.

"How about a second chance?" He spun her around to face him, offering her a small smile.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling into his chest as she closed any possible space between them. "One more chance." She whispered into his chest. "But if you fuck up, you know exactly what I'm capable of."

He chuckled lightly, glancing around the room that she had torn apart earlier that day in a fit of anger when she had thought Milan had been seeing other girls. "That I do." He smiled as he kissed the top of her head once more, pulling her tighter into his chest.