Breathe Me

“Stop poking at it Max” Kris said with a scowl on his face when Max poked the blue cast on my arm for the fifth time.

I had been awake for not even 5 minutes, when Kris had told me he was going to take me to urgent care, despite my protests. I should have known I wasn't going to win the argument, I was going against a stubborn hockey player. I thought I had been winning, then Pascal had barged into the house, nearly in tears and I had lost it. He literally picked me up, somehow managing not to come in contact with any of my bruises or cuts, and sat me down in the passenger seat of the truck. He had taken me home first at least, and gave me the chance to change into a fresh pair of clothes before dragging me to the hospital.

I hate hospitals. They're always so cold and everyone always seems so sad. I always have to resist the urge to paint the dull grey walls, and the smell always makes my stomach feel sick. I rather just suffer through the pain, but Pascal and Kris wouldn't have any of it. They had even gone to the extreme, and had brought Max and Jordan so I wouldn't try to escape, which I thought was just ridiculous. I was thankful when I had found out the injury was just a simple fracture to the wrist and a couple of stitches.

“Where's the sharpie? I want to be the first to sign her cast!” Max said loudly, smashing me against Jordan. I had somehow managed to end up squished between the two hockey players. I ignore the pain that shoots down my back, when Jordan squishes me back against Max.

“No way, I'm going to be the first one to sign it. She doesn't even like you, douche face.” Jordan retorted.

Max scoffs, “She likes me more than you. At least I don't make fun of her accent and steal her food. Who's the douche face now?”

I groan as they continue to argue.

“Hey guys, calm down. I think you're giving Soph a headache.” Pascal pipes in, glancing at me in the rear view mirror, I give him a grateful look, and he merely nods his head.

“Are coming with us to lunch?” Kris asks, turning around in his seat.

“Sure... were we going to go to Chipotle?” I inquire softly, almost embarrassed. Pascal had taken me there last week, and the food was incredibly delicious.

Pascal grins, “You know it! Marc and Vero are going to be there also.”

I smile at that. Vero and I had become really good friends over the past few months. She could be really crazy at times, but I was thankful I had a friend like her, especially when Kris and all of the guys were gone on the road. It was nice having another woman to talk to. The ride to Chipotle is somewhat quiet, despite Jordan and Max's banter, but we're all used to that.

I glare down at my cast, feeling angry that I had caused Pascal and Kris to be so worried. I felt angry that no mattered how hard I tried, I couldn't escape the pain and abuse from the past. I glance up, looking to where Kris is sitting, he looks tired. I had been moving around in my sleep a lot last night, trying to get in a comfortable position so I wasn't in too much pain, and I had also had a really bad nightmare. I vaguely remember Kris waking me up, trying to comfort me as I whimpered. I remember apologizing profusely, I had been immensely embarrassed that he had seen me in such a pathetic state.

“We're here Sophie.” Jordan said when I hadn't moved from my seat. He was already standing outside of the car, with Kris next to his side. I unbuckle my seat belt and carefully climb out of the car.

“You guys go in, I want to talk to Sophia for a minute.”

I looked over at Pascal, now worried by his words. What if he was telling me that he didn't want me here in Pittsburgh anymore? Or that he was going to kick me out of the house? My mind raced with alarming thoughts when he walked over to stand in front of me. Kris threw me an encouraging smile before walking into the restaurant with the rest of the guys.

“When Kris called me last night... I was so worried Sophia. Especially when I heard it was Ryan. I know he's been hurting you for a long time now, and your injuries could have been way worse last night, thank god they weren't though. Sophie, when Kris and I talked last night... he uh- he suggested that you should report Ryan to the police.” He sounded nervous when he saw the look on my face.

“I thought about that a long time ago actually. I just... I don't want him to find out and hurt me again. I- I don't know what I'll do if Ryan finds me again.”

“Well he can't hurt you if he's in jail, where he he belongs” he replied.

“And what if they don't lock him up? What if they find him innocent? Then I'm screwed, he'll be even more mad at me”

He looked at me, his eyes almost begging, “Please Sophie, just think about it. You're family, and you know I would do anything for my family, especially to protect them. I promise you Ryan will never touch you again.” He pulls me into a bear hug, and gives me a warm smile.

“Come on, we should go inside before Max and Jordan get into another fight.” He said chuckling.

I nod my head, and follow him into the warm building, his words still lingering in my mind.
****
The moment Pascal and Sophia walked into the restaurant Vero was instantly at her side, asking her questions about what had happened, if she was in a lot of pain, and most importantly, if she could be the first to sign Sophie's cast. Vero says something to Sophie, who nods her head and gives Vero a weak smile. She holds out her arm, and watches as Vero pulls a sharpie out of her purse, and writes something on her cast. When Vero is done Sophia slides into the booth and sits next to me.

My eyes travel up to Sophie's face. She has to be exhausted after last night, but she doesn't say anything. I recall the terrible nightmare she had. I had woken up to her twisting around in her sleep, whimpering and gasping for air. Her eyes look tired, and I notice the swelling on her left eye has gone down a lot. She has a bandage on her forehead, close to her hairline that the doctor had stitched up. Despite how exhausted she looks, I can tell she's in higher spirits today. She smiles when Jordan and Max fight over the sharpie and reaches her arm across the table when Max grabs a hold of the permanent marker.

“Can I draw a penguin?” He asks her with a grin.

She smiles, “Fine, just try to make it at least look like a penguin.”

He laughs, “Mon ami! You are not the only talented artist here”

She glances up from her cast to me, and gives me a soft smile. I smile back, and lightly grab her other hand from underneath the table, intertwining our fingers together. Her smile grows larger when I lean down and kiss the tip of her nose.

“AWWWW. You two are so cute together!” Vero exclaimed, a huge grin on her face. Sophia blushes, and glances back down to her cast, where Max is still drawing. Marc laughs at something, before grabbing the sharpie and adding a moustache and a sombrero to the penguin.

“Are you coming with us to the club tonight, Sophie?”

I frown when she shakes her head at Vero's question.

“You guys can go without me. I'm really tired.”

“Are you sure?” Vero asks, now worried.

“Positive. I'm not really in the mood to go out and do anything today. You guys will have fun without me.” She smiles.

Max nods, “I'll have twice the fun just for you!”

Jordan grinned, and high fived Max, “Alright! We're getting wasted!”
****
“I'll talk to you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yeah, I'll call you and let you know what's going on.” she replies, stumbling as she exits the car. She walks over to the passenger side of the car where I'm sitting, and I roll down my window.

“You sure you don't want to come with us? Or maybe I can stay with you...” I suggest.

“Kristopher, go have some fun with the guys. I'll be okay... if I have any nightmares or bad dreams I'll call you.” she murmurs the last part, not wanting the guys to hear our conversation. She stands on her tippy toes, and I lean out the window, lightly grabbing her chin and kissing her soft lips. All the guys in the car make gagging noises, but we ignore them like we always do.

“Have fun... and don't worry about me”

'I always worry about you...'

She said her goodbyes to everyone, before walking into the house, where I'm sure Carol, the kids, and Frankie greeted her right away.

“So do you know who hurt her?” Jordan says as we drive to the club, his tone now serious.

Pascal nods, “It was her step dad. He found her somehow.”

“Man, that's fucked up. Do you think he's stalking her or something?”

Pascal shrugs, “That's what I thought, but I mean... he does know that I play hockey here in Pittsburgh. Maybe he found out that Sophia moved here.”

“I think he stalked her. How else would he know she was at that grocery store? I don't think it was a coincidence that they just happened to be at the same place at the same time. Pittsburgh is a huge city, he had to be stalking Soph.” I finally speak up.

“That's true. Seriously though, if I ever saw that poor excuse for a man I would beat the shit out of him. What kind of person beats a woman? Especially someone as nice as Sophie.”

I notice Pascal's hands squeeze the steering wheel harder, his knuckles turning white at Max's words.

When we finally arrive at the club the two guys in the back of the truck are beyond excited. They practically run into the building, and knowing those two, they probably already have an alcoholic beverage in their hands.

The bouncer nods his head at us, and doesn't even make us wait in line. One of the many perks of being an athlete I guess.

“Why am I not surprised?” I hear Pascal chuckle, and I look over to where he's looking. Max and Geno are having a drinking contest, and Geno is already winning by a milestone. I walk over to the bar and sit next to Marc.

“What's on your mind? You seem quieter than you usually are” He says accusingly.

I shrug, “There's just been a lot on my mind la-”

A loud shriek interrupts our conversation, “Oh my god! Look Brit! It's Max Talbot and Jordan Staal!”

Both Marc and I look over to where the rest of the guys are sitting. We see two extremely tan brunettes talking to Max and Jordan. One of the girls pulls down her shirt and smirks when Max signs her boobs.

“Jeez, he's already going at it.” Marc laughs.

One of the girls looks over to me, and I cringe, praying that she doesn't ask me to sign any part of her body just like her friend had. I hear Marc curse under his breath when she hobbles over to where we're sitting.

“Hi, I'm Brittany. I was wondering if you can sign my-”

She doesn't get a chance to finish because Vero is suddenly at our side, “I wouldn't count on it sweetie, they're both taken.” she said with a smirk when the woman's jaw dropped. Her face must have turned red, but none of us would have been able to tell with all of the makeup she was wearing. I look at Vero, and thank her.

“I got your guy's backs!” she grinned when Marc kissed her cheek.

I sit there for a few more moments, yawning every now and then. I should have stayed home so I could sleep. I knew I was going to be exhausted during practice tomorrow.

'better tired then hungover'

Pascal sat next to me and handed me a beer, “Figured you could use one” He grumbled and took a swig of his. He was acting different tonight, he wasn't his old joyful self.

“What's up with you?” I ask.

He scoffs, “You know sometimes I blame myself for everything that has happened to Sophie. I mean really, what kind of idiot wouldn't be able to see that she was being abused all these years?” I open my mouth to talk but he cuts me off, “I should have known, when I went to my brother- her dad's funeral, she had this bruise on her arm. That should have been a red flag, but I didn't even say anything.” He runs his hand through his hair and shakes his head.

I've never been good at comforting people, with Sophia it just came to me naturally.

“I don't think it's anyone's fault. It's obvious she didn't want anyone to know about it, or else she would have tried to tell someone. She told me once that she was actually embarrassed to tell anyone, and when she told her mom she didn't believe her.” I pause, choosing my next words carefully, “I think she was scared... I can't even imagine what it must have been like for her, not having anyone to trust or feeling like she wasn't loved”

“I wish I would have known sooner.” He says quietly. I nod my head, not really wanting to talk about it anymore. It always made me sad to have to talk about her past. We sit in silence for a few moments. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for neither of us to come here tonight, we were both upset and tired, obviously not in the partying type of mood.

“I'm going to get another beer” Pascal says turning around in his seat and getting up.

“Do you want another one?” He asks

I shake my head, “I'm supposed to be the designated driver”

He nods and walks away. I sit there, getting lost in my own thoughts, not even realizing when another man sits in the chair next to me.

“You're Kris Letang, aren't you?” He asks within a few seconds. I glance up at him, the first thing I noticed was a scar underneath his eye and how messy his curly hair is.

I nod my head, “Yeah I'm Kris Letang”

He takes a drink out of the shot glass he is holding, “That's cool.”

We fall into a silence, and I feel extremely awkward. He's not saying anything and I don't know if I should be trying to start a conversation with him. He smirks when the bartender gives him another shot glass filled with clear liquid. He swallows it in one gulp, and I realize that the man is drunk when he opens his mouth to speak. You could easily smell the alcohol on his breath.

“She was a good fuck, you know. I mean her tits are a little small, and she's a little short for my liking, but she had the sweetest little-”

His words confuse me and I quickly interrupt him not wanting him to go into detail on whatever he was rambling about, “What are you talking about?”

He lets out a high pitched giggle, “Oh I'm talking about your precious Sophia. I'm her ste-”

“You fucking bastard!” I punch him in the jaw as hard as I can, knocking him out of his chair. Jordan is suddenly up and holding me back from the man who is now clutching his jaw in pain.

“What the fuck is wrong with you Kris?!”

“That's him! That's the guy who's been fucking abusing her!” Jordan suddenly lets me go when he hears my words, not caring how badly I kick the shit out of the asshole. I grab him by his shirt and slam him against the bar, he struggles and manages to kick me in the shin, but I hardly even feel it. I don't even see three other guys that are now walking this way, getting ready to beat the crap out of me. I don't notice Max and Jordan, now furious, beating the shit out of the other men. I have no idea what's going on, I'm blinded by my own rage, throwing punches at the pathetic excuse for a man.

He gasps and starts to cough up blood when I punch him in the gut.

“How does it fucking feel, huh? I should fucking kill you for what you've done to her! All those times you hit her, did it make you feel like a fucking man?!”

He tries to cover his face, blood pouring out of his nose and dribbling down his chin. A red mark is already starting to form around his eye, and I pray that it leaves a huge bruise; bigger than the one on Sophia's face. I want him to feel the pain she had to go through.

“Please... please stop. I had a good reason for abusing her.”

He nearly sobs when I kick him in the balls as hard as I can. There's suddenly a pair of hands grasping at my arms. I try to escape them, but they're gripping me tightly.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

I look up at the bouncer from earlier, who is now gripping Ryan's bloody shirt.

“That's the guy who hurt my niece!” An animalistic growl comes from Pascal. The bouncer looks at the battered body, a disgusted look on his face.

“Sir, did you really hurt a female?” I notice his heavy New York accent and the angry look on his face.

“I-I had a good reason. She deserved it! She's always fucking everything up!” He yells.

“You abused her for 10 years and raped her! Give me a fucking excuse for that you fucking pussy!” I sneer, and try once again to free myself from the restraints on my arms.

The bouncer's eyes almost seem to darken, “That's one thing I will not tolerate. I'm calling the police.” He states simply and drags Ryan's body out of the building.

“Okay now?” I hear Geno's heavy accent break through my rage. He loosens his grip on my arms when I nod my head. I stand there for a few moments, my breathing coming out in short ragged breaths.

“Oh Kris, you're hurt” Vero speaks. I press my fingers to my left cheek, and cringe when I realize he had managed to get one good punch in.

“Doesn't compare to the the damage done to him.” Max smirks, and I notice he has a busted lip and a cut above his eyebrow.

Jordan nods, “Dude, you were a fucking beast.”

I stand completely still for a few more minutes, trying to calm my pounding heart. Pascal looks at me, and he's suddenly smirking.

“I've been waiting for that asshole to get what he deserved.”
****
“I've got passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it, show it, show it.... I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT.”

I shoot up from my sleep so fast I nearly pass out. I groan at the stupid ring tone Max had set on my phone without me knowing it. I grab the annoying device from my night stand, and glance at the screen where a dorky picture of Pascal is flashing.

“Must you always wake me up from my sleep?” I answer and I hear him chuckle nervously.

“Uhh Sophia... I was wondering if you could come to the club... we uh kind of... got in trouble.”

I groan and push my messy hair out of my face, “Pascal! What did you do this time?”

“I can't explain right now Sophia.”

“Fine, I'll be there in a couple of minutes.” I hang up and look over to where Frankie is sleeping.

“Can you believe this crap?” I ask no one in particular as I pull on some decent clothes, and make my way down the stairs, not even earning a glance from Frankie who's knocked out on his little bed. I grab the keys off of the kitchen table, and exit the cozy house. I crawl into the Escalade and start my short drive to the club. When I get there I notice a few police cars and an ambulance, and I feel my heart beat faster.

Did someone get hurt really bad?

My worries are put to rest when I see all of the guys, and Vero, sitting on a bench while Max is attempting to do a cartwheel, and failing terribly in the process

Well, he's definitely drunk

I get out of the car, and before I can even talk to any of them a police officer is at my side asking me questions.

“Miss, can I talk to you alone?”

I glance back at everyone, my eyes meeting Kristopher's brown ones. I turn back around and follow the police officer so we're standing in front of his car. He eyes my face, noticing my black eye and the stitches on my forehead.

“I'll get straight to the point, Miss Dupuis. Tonight 4 of those men got in a fight and severely injured a man. The only reason they're not in jail right now is because they said the man they beat up has injured you in the past. Do you know this man?” He gestures towards the police car, and I gasp.

I almost don't recognize Ryan at first. His face is so bloody and swollen it shocks me, “I- yes, that's my step-dad”

"Is it true he's been abusing you?"

My head drops, "Yes it's true... for the past 10 years... I- I don't know how he found me though."

I quickly step away from the car when he lifts his head up and glares at me, blood pouring out of his broken nose. The police officer steps in front of the window so he can't look at me. He nods his head and writes something down on a notepad.

"We have every reason to believe he's been stalking you."

“Is he going to jail?” I squeak

“Well, we're going to need more evidence that he's been abusing you, and we're obviously going to do a background check on him to see what his criminal past is like...” He pauses when he sees the tears in my eyes, “Um, I'll tell you what. How about you come in any time you want tomorrow so we can ask you a few more questions? You look really stressed out right now.” I nod my head, feeling the weight of the world pressing down on my shoulders as he continues to talk to me.

“Alright Miss Dupuis, get a good night's sleep and be prepared for tomorrow” He says, finally ending his long lecture about abuse and how many years of prison he can serve if he's found guilty. I watch as the officer gets in his car and drives off, Ryan's angry face still glaring at me.

I turn around and walk back to the bench, where now Kris is the only one sitting. I sit next to him, and place my hand on his bruised cheek.

“Just to let you know, I'm not sorry what I did to him. He deserves every ounce of pain he's feeling right now.” He says, and I can tell he's still in a bad mood. I place my other hand on his face, smiling when he finally looks up at me. Even with his bruised cheek he's still gorgeous. I place my forehead against his, and look into his eyes, noticing the way they seemed to soften when he looks into mine. I feel my eyes get watery, and I blush when he kisses me softly, my stomach is once again filled with those damned butterflies. His tongue brushes against my lower lip, and I nearly gasp at the fiery trail his tongue creates. He pulls away, now smiling.

“I love you Sophia”