Remember Me

"Uncle Dupe, please?!" Alyssa begged her uncle, trying everything she could to get him to allow her to take his car to the mall. She needed to buy Christmas presents for the only family she knew in town, and she had to do it now. Especially considering it was two days before Christmas Eve.

"No, you're not going to the mall alone," he repeated the same answer he had told her over again. For some reason, he had it in his head she was still twelve, and being in a strange town wasn't something she could handle. All she wanted to do was go to the mall - For God's sake!

"I'm twenty, though. I can take care of myself. And it's not like I'm going clubbing, I'm going to the mall!"

"The mall is a pedophile's favorite pick-up place." Pascal told her, as though he were reading the statistic off the internet like he had read just months before. It had stuck with him, and he wouldn't ever leave his daughters alone anywhere in public. Ever. That much was for sure.

"Seriously, Cal?" The duo argued in french over the difference between being a child, and an adult. Alyssa made the argument that she was twenty, and she had lived in New York City all her life; if a pedophile tried to rape her, she could kick the pervert's ass all the way to Mexico City. And then her uncle would simply reason that when caught by surprise, you had no defenses. And he wouldn't take that chance.

"So, really, what you're saying is you allowed your brother to send his only daughter to a place where pedophiles roam the streets and no one is safe? That's some parenting," she spat at her uncle, still speaking a million words a minute in her uncle's native language.

Pascal groaned, throwing his hands in the air and giving up with the argument. Aly was about to smile proudly, until she realized he still wasn't going to give her the set of keys, and she'd either have to bus it somehow, or walk. Or maybe hitchhike. There was an idea to give her uncle a heart attack.

After changing into a Rolling Stones tour tee, slipping a NYU sweater over top and pulling on a pair of dark wash skinny jeans, she hurried down the stairs in hopes of catching Cal before he left for practice. "What if I got someone to come with me!"

"Who's going to be going with you? Your aunt's taken your cousins out for the day. And I'm sorry, Aly, but I'm not going to deal with the crowds at this time in the mall. Besides, we told you not to worry about getting us gifts." he said as he grabbed a hockey stick that was sitting by the door with a note from his wife, telling him to have a good practice and she'd be home by dinner.

"What about that french guy from your team?"

"You're gonna have to be a little more specific there." he was about to head out the front door when Alyssa mentioned a boy from the team. Who was it that he was going to have to give a talk to, now?

"That guy - the one who I kicked his ass at NHL'11. He's the goalie!" Alyssa was pretty sure he would agree to take her. He seemed pretty into spending time with her before, even if he was slightly annoying and made her want to pull her hair out at times.

"You mean, Marc-Andre?" Great, his 20 year-old niece had a crush on his 26 year-old teammate. There was something extremely wrong with that idea. Pascal made a mental reminder to have a firm talk with Flower about this. Alyssa nodded her head, and he took a moment without answering. It was him or Marc, and in that moment, he decided it would best be Marc getting dragged through a completely filled shopping centre, than himself.

"Okay, fine. But you're asking him, which means you have to sit through practice." Alyssa smiled, agreeing to his terms before slipping on a pair of tan leather booths and grabbed her jacket.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Perhaps the only thing about Pittsburgh that Alyssa could enjoy, was the hockey. The Pittsburgh Penguins were her number one team she had cheered for since she was ten, though for most of her life it was always whatever team her uncle played on. She had to cheer for him, no matter what. When he played for the Rangers, it was just as perfect because not only did she get to see her favorite uncle on a weekly basis, but she could go to his games, too. That's why when he was traded only a month later, she was depressed for weeks.

But hockey was the one thing she ever bonded over with her family. Her older brother played before his accident, and was even drafted by the Leafs when he was nineteen. He never got the chance to make the official NHL team, but just being there during the draft, he always said, was the highlight of his life.

Alyssa sat at the top of the bleachers at the Iceoplex, and watched most of the practice intently. She took notes on who did what during the drills, and mentally thought little notes she would tell the players, if she were the coach. She didn't claim she knew everything, but she did know more than most - even if she was a girl (in the words of her older brother, Dalton.)

The whistle was blown several times by coach Dan Bylsma, signaling the end of practice and Aly sat around with the rest of the fans who had gathered for the open practice being held mid-day. She spent a few moments pondering what would happen if she took her uncle's keys, and just drove to the mall; even if he told her no. He had given her his keys in trust - just in case she wanted to go back and wait in the car if she got bored. For some strange reason, her uncle still trusted her. It surprised her, really. After all the times he had told her she needed an attitude adjustment, since arriving in Pittsburgh, she expected him to readjust his own opinion on her.

But that was the one thing about her uncle; he never gave up on somebody he cared about. And that may have been the main reason for Aly's decision to honor his wishes, and just wait. Grabbing the keys out of her jacket pocket, she jumped down the bleachers and headed out to the parking lot to find the car.

Unlocking the vehicle, she got into the passenger's seat and reclined into it, resting her legs up onto the dashboard. Picking her iPhone out of her pocket, she searched through text messages from her friends back home in New York. There was one from her best friend Melissa, telling her about the recent gossip and what she was missing. Something about how Jason had hooked up with Lisa, and took some pictures Lisa wouldn't want the university to see. Of course, he sent the pictures to his pals and they 'somehow' found their way around campus.

Idiot, she giggled, going back to her message page and continuing to read the unread ones. She was busy texting a boy named Matthew back, when there was a knock on the car window. Popping up a glance, she spotted her uncle with Marc-Andre standing just inches behind him.

"Duper said you had a question for me," he said once Aly had opened the door and hopped out. Her uncle went to put some things into the trunk while they were talking.

"Yeah, so my uncle thinks that there's a whole bunch of creeps around town that are going to jump me, so he won't let me go out alone," she couldn't get over how stupid it was. It got even more ridiculous, the more she said it out loud. "So I was wondering, you know, if you wanted to do me a favor and come with me so I can get some Christmas gifts?" The blonde added in a sweet smile to try and sweeten the deal for him.

Marc took a few moments to contemplate the offer. Did he want to spend a day with someone who seemed completely bipolar? Not to mention, who seemed to have a problem with her manners and treating people with respect? "Do I get a gift?" he decided that would be the deal breaker.

She shifted her weight onto her other foot, crossing her arms and looking at him - evaluating him. "Sure, why not. But it won't be over ten dollars."

"Done." He still had his own gifts to get - just a few more left on his list - and he figured he could at least get a chocolate bar out of this. Perhaps some peanut butter cups. And so far, the girl seemed to be in a pretty good mood for the day.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

"Okay, tell me what you need and I'll direct the way to where the stores you're looking for are," the professional athlete spoke, as he slipped a baseball cap onto his head and buttoned up his coat. Alyssa frowned as she watched him; she had enjoyed the way his hair had looked. It had the whole bed head style going on, and he suited it quite well. However she turned around the frown when Marc glanced up at her, and simply agreed with his plan.

"Alright, so I was thinking a necklace for my mom, and maybe a watch for my dad. It doesn't matter about the watch, he'll just take it back anyway," she shrugged and Marc couldn't help but wonder about the last comment. His own parents really couldn't care less whether what he gave them was ugly or not, they kept them and showed them off as if they were the most beautiful things ever. Everyone knew he didn't have the best taste in fashion, or any sort of decor, but he always tried his best to find the right things, and that was what mattered. The way Alyssa had said her father would just return it, made him feel sad for her.

"Now for Aunty Carol-Lyne, I thought a pair of earrings. She has this necklace that she always wears, and I think I saw in Tiffany's once, a pair that would match them. Do you have Tiffany's here?" she looked to Marc, who nodded his head, and she smiled in approval. "So then that'll be good, and then for my uncle, I'm not quite sure yet. He'll be happy with whatever, or at least, he'll act it, but I want to find the perfect gift. And we should just go to an electronics store, and a toy store for my little cousins."

Marc took the lead, making his way through the mall's crowds and heading straight for Tiffany's first. They got to the jewelry store, and Alyssa went straight for the display counters. He could tell she knew exactly what she was doing, and chose to just stand aside and let her shop. He had learned enough in his twenty-six years, to know that you should never interrupt a woman on a shopping mission.

He watched her look through the many display cases. Every so often, she'd get frustrated with her hair and yank it behind her ears. It looked like she was silently demanding it to stay in place, while she got the attention of a store worker and asked to see a pair of earrings. Alyssa's lips curved into a smile and she turned to wave over Marc. Surprised by her action, he dodged a few other customers in the store to get to the blonde, who then showed him a pair of diamond earrings, with ruby stones in the middle. "What do you think? Think she'll like them?"

"You're asking me? Seriously?" he chuckled, wondering if she was actually serious. No woman asked him what his opinion was on jewelry - this was definitely a first. Alyssa just simply stood there, continuing to stare at him with a nod of her head, waiting for an answer. "Oh, well, yeah. They're..." He was having trouble finding the right word to describe a piece of jewelry. Was it pretty? Or beautiful? Was it weird if he said they were gorgeous? "They're really ... great."

"They're perfect!" she corrected him, before turning back to tell the sales woman she'd take them and to wrap them up. Marc found himself wondering how this unemployed girl was going to pay for these presents, as they reached the cash desk. Not only was there one box, but there was another, and he assumed the second box contained the necklace she was going to give to her mother.

Alyssa took out one of three cards in the back pocket of her jeans, and handed the bank card to the woman. They left the store after purchasing the goods, and headed to the next one on the list. Marc was included on the purchase of Alyssa's father's watch, giving him the satisfaction of knowing someone cared for his opinion on a fashion accessory. He left the store with his head held high, proud of his assistance in the gift purchase - pushing aside the fact that she had earlier told him it didn't matter what the gift was for her father.

"So, what's next?" he asked her curiously, watching as she walked alongside him and texted at the same time. He didn't ask who she was talking to, afraid it might strike a cord and suddenly spiral her into the pissy version of Alyssa. And Marc was having a pretty good day so far; practice went well, and now shopping was going okay too. The last thing he wanted was to deal with an overdramatic woman who was acting as though she was PMS'ing.

"Uhh," she looked up from her phone, if only for a second, to see if any other stores around them struck an ideas within her. Then she flipped her attention back to her phone. "Well Kody wants a remote control helicopter, and I could probably find the other two munchkins a gift at the same store. I was thinking of getting Lola a stuffed monkey." When Alyssa was younger, her uncle Pascal had given her a stuffed brown monkey, and she loved that thing still just as much as she had when she was two. She felt like it would be cute to return the favor. "Then I'm pretty much done." Marc began to lead the way to the Best Buy store in the mall.

After an hour more of shopping, and a few stops so Alyssa could try on some cute clothing items or shoes she saw in display windows, Marc and Aly took a seat in the food court for a bite to eat. Marc-Andre ate his McDonald's cheeseburger, while he stared at the girl in front of him in disbelief. "Are you sure you don't want anything else to eat?" he questioned, for the fifth time.

"I told you, I wasn't hungry. Besides, I don't eat fast food," she shrugged, sipping on her regular diet coke.

"Okay, that's weird."

He couldn't help but pat himself on the back for making her laugh. He always was proud of his humor, no matter the occasion. "I just don't see how it's real food, that's all."

"Your loss," he mumbled through chewing on his hamburger.

"Oh, that's so pleasant." she wrinkled her nose, showing her disgust at the sight in front of her.

He swallowed this time, before speaking. "Sorry, sometimes I forget. It's just so good," he took another bite and overheard her giggling.

"You're such a guy."

He paused, looking up at her laughing at him. "I'm going to take that as a compliment, you know."

They returned to their regular silence as he ate his cheeseburger and fries, every so often helping wash it down with his bottle of water. He'd often find himself glancing at her as she sipped her pop, and looked at her phone. He caught her rifling through her bags of purchased items the last time he looked up, and then suddenly there was a wrapped box pushed in front of him. Marc looked up at her questioningly. "You know, I was kidding about the gift thing."

She smirked at him, "I know, but I wasn't." Aly nudged it towards him again. "Go ahead, open it."

He took a moment, studying her face. He couldn't find a wrinkle on it, and her teeth seemed so damn white it was almost bothering him how white they were. He couldn't figure out how she kept them like that, and then he found himself wondering how many dentist visits, she usually went to to keep them that way. They weren't only white, but they were straight. Braces, he decided. Wait, was he actually curious about her teeth? Shaking it away, he wiped his hands on the napkin he had grabbed, and ripped open the simple green gift wrap covering it.

Peanut butter cups, fucking hell, how'd she know? He looked up at her, shocked. Could she read minds? Wait, no. Of course she couldn't. This was reality, not one of his comic books he had back at his house.

"Oh, please don't tell me you don't like Reese's." she began, her face echoing disbelief.

"No, no. I love them. I fucking love them." he smiled brightly. Seriously, could this girl get any cooler?