Goodnight, Beautiful.

Bristol opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, but nothing constructive or intelligent could come out. Brittany looked just as mortified as Bristol did. There were no words Bristol felt she could offer to ease the pain she knew Brittany must have felt. She wanted to tell her side of the story, clarify that she had no idea she and Daniel had been dating during the time they first hooked up. Bristol figured she didn’t want to hear excuses and she couldn’t exactly blame the girl if she threw her drink on her or slapped her before walking away.

But rather, Brittany’s eyes remained glued to the concrete floor. She was clearly still stunned by the identification bomb Bristol had dropped on her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Bristol managed to choke out five words that really held no comfort what-so-ever. Staring back with a blank and shocked expression, Brittany knew Bristol was thinking the same thing. After all the lies and secrets that had been kept from her for several weeks, Brittany told herself over and over she would confront the enemy. But, as she stared back at Bristol, Brittany realized she wasn’t the enemy. She too had been misled, and the fact they hit it off so well just minutes ago made it hard for Brittany to consider anger as an emotion.

Her heart went out of the grieving woman. Bristol knew exactly what it felt like to be not only hurt, but also confused. As Brittany’s eyes rapidly shifted from left to right, Bristol could tell she was frantically searching her mind for the hateful words she promised to spew had she ever run into her on the streets. She had probably rehearsed them over and over in her mind as she sat in front of the television on a lonely and dark Saturday night.

In the back of her mind Bristol knew this was the situation she had been unknowingly preparing herself for since the second she laid eyes on Daniel. There was something always telling her things didn’t seem right. Bristol knew she wouldn’t walk out of that arena tonight the same person, but at least she was brave enough to recognize the truth.

Silently the two women came to an agreement that there was nothing left to say to one another. Bristol could feel the air becoming caught in her throat and chest tightening. She could fell the painful pressure of tears pushing on the back of her eyes as she slowly began to back away. Bristol fought the words out of her mouth. “I’m sorry.”

“Bristol!” She had just walked out of the suite and brought a shaking hand to run through her hair. A panic attack wasn’t too far away. Brittany jogged out of the suite and met her in the cleared out hall. “I’m sorry, too.” Turing back into the suite, Brittany nervously scratched at her arm, not sure how Bristol would react.

Once she had regained her composure and came to with a clear mind, Bristol acted only on impulse. She jogged ran down the stairs to the main level of the arena, pushing anybody that came in her way. A fog had set in on her mind as she navigated to the visitors changing room. Reporters were lined up against the wall, waiting to get the okay to head in and speak to the stars of the night’s game. At the current moment, Bristol didn’t give a flying fuck whether or not the guys were decent. She wasn’t one to get angry often, but when she did, the loud Italian woman came out.

Excusing her way through the reporters, Bristol pulled open the heavy door and ignored the calls by security that she couldn’t go in there. The cameras that were glued to photographer’s hands flashed, documenting the current black-out state of anger Bristol was in.

The chatter amongst the men didn’t quiet when she entered. Kris had been the first to spot her and stood up from the bench. Most the guys had barely entered the room from the ice and some had just taken off their sweaters. He noticed her tensed body language; she was pissed and he felt sorry for whom ever was about to be hit by the storm.

“Bristol, what are—“ The one and only Daniel Carcillo tossed a ball of waded tape into the trash bin and stood up to grab her arms and pull her in to a hug.

Forcefully pulling her arms back to get away from him, Bristol could fell the tears explode from her eyes. “Don’t you fucking touch me!”

Everyone abruptly stopped their chatter and recoiled at her venomous tone. Daniel’s face fell with confusion. “What the hell.”

A tingling sensation pumped through her veins as Bristol placed her hands on Daniel’s shoulders and pushed him to sit down. She didn’t want him looking down on her; she wanted to look down on him. Her voice was thick and coaxed with tears. “You lied, to me.”

“What are you talking—,” Daniel would have much rather had this conversation somewhere other than the dressing room, but he was afraid to say anything to Bristol. Her actions were…scaring him.

“She’s not you’re cousin, Brittany.”

Running his hands down his face, Daniel realized what a cluster-fuck he had just created for himself. Why couldn’t he just tell the truth? “Yeah, I should have told you.” She could see hurt flashing behind his dark eyes.

“You think? But, I forgot, you’re not the smartest one on the team.”

Ouch, Kris thought. He sat at his cubby-hole with his head down. He knew when the insults flowed like water, it meant she was no longer angry, but rather visiting its neighbor, rage.

Looking up at the ceiling, Daniel told himself to shake it off. She was angry at the expense of him and he expected it of her. Standing up—still dressed in his padded pants and under armour—Daniel inched his way closer to Bristol; there went his temper.
“I couldn’t tell you. Can you not get that through you’re thick skull? Not after everything we shared. There is no way I could have bared you looking at me like you are now.”

“You should have told me.” Bristol wiped the black tears off her cheeks. “You should have told me the night the first night we hung out at the bar that you were in a serious relationship.” For the first time, the urge to be back in Chicago hit her like a ton of bricks. She wanted her old life back; she was content with being the wife of a high-class lawyer. Daniel was just too much risk and excitement. “This should have never happened…”

Bristol regretted it the second the words left her mouth. She had already said some pretty dumb things but that, by far, was the stupidest. Because she didn’t mean it.

“Don’t say that Bristol. I know I may not be the smartest guy, but please don’t make excuses for me fucking all his up for us.”

Shaking her head, Bristol rolled her eyes and turned to head out of the dressing room. She was mentally and physically exhausted. There wasn’t much more could have possibly taken before snapping completely.

Daniel chased after her out into the hall. The reporters had a field day—snapping pictures. It wasn’t regular that real drama went down right before their eyes.

“You’re a real fucking piece of work, ‘ya know that, Bristol.” Daniel stopped walking and so did Bristol. She turned around, her black waves wrapping around her neck. “You didn’t want to know the truth or else you would have said something the second you thought I was cheating. Since when do you keep you’re mouth shut when you’ve got something to say?”

“You’re full of shit.” Now that the table had been turned on her, Bristol had no idea how to respond.

“You didn’t want to know.” He said slowly. “Or else you would have said something before tonight. Even if you had the slightest suspicion I was fucking around.”

She looked up at Daniel, mesmerized by his angry expression. It was a state she had never expected Daniel to reach with her. His anger was meant for the ice, wasn’t it? “No—“

“You were happy to keep living as if nothing was wrong. It wasn’t until it slapped you in the face did you feel the need to address this issue. If you haven’t noticed, I was trying to make it so you and I could be together. Fuck, everything was fine until you started hanging around Briere…admit it!”

The latter part had Dan now yelling. For the first time in her life a man had raised his voice to her. It was always Bristol who was in control of the argument, but Dan proved to be much mightier. She felt much small than she had a few minutes ago; now Dan was back to looking down on her. He immediately regretted what he said and how he had said it. He felt twice as worse watching Bristol quiver in fear and fresh tears streamed down her face.

The only thing he didn’t know was that she was crying due to the overwhelming guilt she had felt. Bristol had no right to be angry at Dan. She was the one who had really been unfaithful.

She glanced up at him. Her head hurt, her eyes hurt and her stomach was tied up in knots. Daniel’s sad and hurt eyes were fixated on her, waiting for Bristol to make the next move. “I think it’s best if I go. We can sort things out when we get back to Philadelphia.”

“Okay,” Daniel took a sharp breath, trying to contain his own tears. “You know, I’m not the guy you really think I am. I’m not heartless; my soul isn’t filled with ice. I wanted to be the one to protect you, love you.”

Closing the gap between them, Daniel fought Bristol back when she tried pulling her arms away from him. Holding her wrists tightly, he looked her dead in eyes. Bristol calmed down—for the moment—and searched his eyes hopelessly for an answer.

“You may not forgive me about Brittany, but, I forgive you for what happened with Danny.” Bristol collapsed in Daniel’s arms as another round of violet crying started up.

She had been caught; he knew full well what had gone down between her and Danny. It wasn’t that hard to see. The sudden awkwardness between the two; she and Briere could barley look each other in the eyes. Kissing the top of her head, Daniel didn’t—couldn’t blame her. He had been the force to drive her right into Danny’s arms and now, he had to be the one to pull her away.