Goodnight, Beautiful.

Bristol realized how lucky she was the second her eyes fluttered open. Had the thick, black curtains not been hanging in front of the bay window to her left, her head would have just about exploded. The hangover wasn’t as bad as she had expected it to be, but nonetheless, she was still suffering. Lying comfortably on her back, Bristol ran a hand through her hair, moving thick locks out of her face. She was in a room she vaguely remembered but at least her memory wasn’t all washed away.

“Good morning.” Dan walked into the bedroom dressed down in nothing but his dark boxers and a gold chain around his neck. The woman in his bed smiled weakly as he climbed in next her. “Here, these’ll help.”

Bristol held out her hand as Daniel dropped two red pills into her palm and handed over a glass of water. She popped them on her tongue and drank nearly half the glass in one breath. “Please, kill me.”

Daniel lightly chuckled as he placed the glass down on his nightstand. It had been quite an eventful night, last night. It wasn’t his typical routine with a girl. Usually he would have kicked them out by now, but for some reason he couldn’t find it in himself to tell her to get the hell out. Daniel thought it was partly because they didn’t even sleep together. Had Kris not left Bristol stranded at the bar in South Jersey, then refuse to answer either his phone or the door, she would more than likely still be passed out in her own bed.

“Thanks for last night.” Bristol tossed the pleaded comforter off her body as she stood up and stretched. She could clearly tell Dan wasn’t trying to give her the once over but for some reason he couldn’t keep his eyes off. There was something about a female wearing his clothes that always turned him on. “I really appreciate it. Next time Kris and I go out with you guys I will be sure to keeps tabs on him at all times.”

Daniel stood up as well, pulling clean clothes from the laundry basket on the floor. “Don’t worry about it. You can stay here anytime.”

Bristol stripped from his black sweat pants to pull on her own jeans before retrieving her sweater and pulling it over her head. She had decided to just sleep in her tank top even if Danny had slept on the couch. Bristol thought it was rather nice of him, giving up his bed to allow a woman—who he’s only known for a short time—to raid his bed while he took the couch. Finding herself unable to sleep, and feeling rather guilty, Bristol had ventured off into the front room and found him passed out cold before she had the chance to extend the invitation to join her. It wasn’t an invite to do anything other than sleep. She knew how uncomfortable couches could be.

Feeling the pain reliever kick in, Bristol was pleased her head was no longer pounding. She was jonesing a coffee and there would be no way possible way to stop the cravings until she had a hot latte comfortably nestled between her hands.

“I had a good time last night and I’ll see you Thursday?” Bristol picked her bag up from the floor and crossed the strap over her chest.

Four days would be quite the test for Daniel Carcillo. Thursday’s game against the Maple Leafs was miles away from his mind until she brought it up. “Yeah. Why don’t you let me drive you home?” He grabbed his keys off a small table in the hall as they began walking towards the front door. It was out of his character to offer a girl a ride home unless under certain circumstances.

“You don’t have to,” Bristol buttoned her jacket up and dug through her bag making sure she had everything. “I can just take a cab.”

“It’s a twenty-minute drive from here back to Philly. Really, it’s no big deal.” That was one of the reasons he never drove girls home. Most of them lived back in Philadelphia and most of the time he wasn’t in the mood to leave his South Jersey apartment.

Reluctantly, Bristol agreed, only when Daniel offered to stop for coffee. Traffic was light and it took them only fifteen minutes until they reached Philadelphia. Bristol was content with the Starbucks in her hands and Dan was content with the pleasant—and intelligent—conversation he was holding with her. It was like a breath of fresh air for Daniel to be able to hold a conversation that didn’t revolve around hair bleach or acrylic nails.

“Thanks again for the ride.” Bristol grabbed her bag from between her feet and slung it over her shoulder. Daniel kept one hand on the steering wheel as the two lent forward and kissed cheeks goodbye. With both adults coming from Italian backgrounds, the kisses meant nothing other than goodbye.

“Don’t mention it. Give me a call if you and Kris decide to head out tomorrow night.”

Bristol nodded and opened the door. “I will.” She waved at him after stepping out. The cold wind blasted at her face but at the moment she really didn’t seem to mind the cold. Turning on her heels she headed into the warm lobby of the building, where she floated up to the seventh floor and down the hall to their apartment.

Knocking on the door once, it was quite the relief when Kris opened it. Bristol was none to happy with him but there was no way she was about to let him damper her current good mood. Kris was on edge as she walked right past him, putting her bag and coffee on the small dining room table before unbuttoning her jacket. He had expected there would be some yelling, but when it didn’t happen it only him more nervous.

“Are you feeling okay?” He asked, scratching at his bare chest while following her into the kitchen.

Kris had to stop for a second and listen closely. Was Bristol humming?

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Pulling the carton of eggs out of the fridge, Bristol moved about the kitchen pulling a frying pan from the cabinet along with some other spices. “Sit down; I’ll make you an omelet.”

Taking his seat at the breakfast nook, Kris was afraid to take a sip of the orange juice she had placed in front of him. He wasn’t sure if Bristol had laced it with cyanide just to get back at him for locking her out the apartment last night so he could finally get laid. Subconsciously he knew it would only be a matter of time before she asked where her keys were. They were sitting snuggly in the pocket of his jeans; he had tucked them in there after lifting them from her bag. To Kris, it didn’t seem all that bad, after all it wasn’t like he as leaving her there alone. There were four other of his teammates there who would have problem taking her home with them for the night. It was Carter who he had to watch out for.

“Who’d you stay with last night?” Kris expected Bristol to answer with Jeff, but what escaped her mouth was the most shocking.

“Carbomb.”

His orange juice nearly came out his nose and he began to violently cough as he felt it go down his airway. Bristol gazed over her shoulder she whisked four eggs in a bowl. “What?”

“Nothing,” he coughed out. “Just having a hard time believing you spent the night with Carcillo. I do believe it was you who told me last season that you wish I could lay his ass out and cause a career ending concussion. What’s with the change of heart?”

Bristol could fell her cheeks begin to blush, so she turned her head back around while rolling her eyes. Deciding she didn’t want to answer the question, she simply asked one herself. “Why did you lock me out last night?”

---

By the time Thursday rolled around, Bristol was rather impressed with herself over how well she was adjusting to Philly. She had gone out and bought herself a new black Jeep Liberty and her resume had been sent to about dozen places in her quest for work. She was back to speaking with her parents regularly and her brother was already bothering her about taking a trip out so he could run up the infamous steps shown in the half-dozen Rocky movies.

As Kris rolled himself out of bed from his pre-game nap, Bristol moved about the kitchen preparing his meal. It was accustom for Kris to eat pasta before each game. The carbs gave him energy, plus he just really liked spaghetti.

With three guys out of the night’s lineup—one of them being Daniel—Bristol had spent the day putting together a large pot of homemade chicken soup. To her, there was nothing better than a hot bowl of soup when battling flu-like symptoms. It was still that time of the year and Bristol was glad she had remembered her flu shot.

Kris strolled into the kitchen wearing his dress pants and plain wife-beater as he sat down at the dining room table. Eating while dressed in half his suit was just another corky superstition Kris had about winning games. And the fact he was playing the Maple Leafs only added more motivation to do everything right in order to ensure a win.

“You’re not going to eat?” Kris asked as he used his fork to cut at the noodles. Bristol had made homemade sauce using her father’s recipe.

Bristol took a sip of her red wine and shook her head. “I’m going to eat when I get back. Lounge around on the couch, watch the game and eat some soup.”

Kris looked like a five year-old as he sucked a long noodle into his mouth. Sauce splattered on his nose and he used a napkin to wipe it off.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to drop a container of soup off at Carter's place then bring one over to Carcillo. The both of them came down with the flu Tuesday night.”

The wise male knew the soup was an excuse that Bristol was using to go visit Danny. But, unless he wasn’t to keep his teeth or avoid a black eye, he would just keep that thought to himself. Keeping it simple, all he did was nod and mind his own business while Bristol ladled soup into several Zip-Loc containers.

When he finished, Kris dropped his plate in the dishwasher and grabbed the tie Bristol had tied for him. Even at twenty-four, Kris still was clue less when it came to tying the garment. At least in Chi he had Seabrook to do it for him, but now he either didn’t undo the single Windsor knot, or he had his roommate do it for him.

Small droplets of water gathered on the kitchen windows as the sky outside began to flicker with lightning. Both Bristol and Kris preferred the rain over snow. “It’s supposed to get bad out tonight, so be careful driving.” He had unintentionally taken the role as her protective brother and Bristol didn’t mind. She had grown up as the middle child and a little attention was one way to win her over.

“I will.” Deciding against her wool pea-coat, she slipped Kris’s orange Flyers Hockey sweatshirt over her head. She told him not to start when she saw he was about to say something. He recalled her saying something about the fact she didn’t look good in orange.

She bid him farewell and good luck as she headed out the door with the containers of soup. It was in her nature to be a caregiver. After her parents split and her older siblings went off to college and started their own lives, it was Bristol who took the role of caring for the younger kids.

As she walked into in the wet Philadelphia streets, Bristol wore her black and red hat with a hawk head with pride as she ventured to her car. She felt a sense of freedom having her own vehicle. For a short time while living with Kris, her bank account limited her spending habits while she struggled to pay her attorney during her recent divorce. She relied heavily on public transportation and never found a car necessary, until now.

She had made the mistake of marrying at the young age of nineteen to a well-to-do lawyer nearly twice her age and the courtship only lasted three years before she decided to end it. Now that she had alimony checks coming, she could go back to the carefree lifestyle she lived a few long years ago.

Bristol hated the fact that when it rained it seemed people forgot how to drive, and what should have been only a twenty-five minute drive took her nearly forty. While on the highway she could see the sign which welcomed her into Jersey.

Her stop at Carter’s house was short and sweet; he was the sickest of them all and praised Bristol for the fresh food. He couldn’t take eating egg-drop soup anymore from the local Chinese restaurant and with no girlfriend currently, he had no motivation to get up and heat up a can of Campbell’s.

When she finally found a parking spot by Daniel’s building, Bristol raced up the steps to the door and pressed the button which rang up to Dan’s apartment. By now, it was pouring and the rain had nearly soaked though the thick orange hoodie. He buzzed her in and with full hands she opened the door to head up the short flight of stairs.

Daniel had left the door unlocked for her. When she walked in, Bristol found Dan comfortably lying on the couch snuggled up in a thick blanket while watching television. The coffee table was littered with bottles of Nyquil and a few empty boxes of Kleenex.

“How are you feeling?” Bristol set the container on the kitchen counter before flipping on some of the lights. His apartment felt more like a cave.

“Okay,” he stopped to sneeze. “I’m not running a fever anymore at least. Thanks for brining some food by.” Dan got up and gathered some garbage in his hands to throw away. He was eerie about hugging Bristol, not wanting to get her sick.

Bristol told him not to worry about it as she opened it up and began to fill a bowl for him. She popped it in the microwave for a few seconds to heat it up. “Do you want to stay here and eat with me? I just bought a bottle of wine and you’re the only one who’d appreciate a good Italian wine.”

“I appreciate all liquor.” Bristol joked. “I’d love to stay.”

While Bristol filled a bowl for herself, Danny opened the bottle of Chianti and poured two glasses. He brought them over to the couch while Bristol brought over the soup. After folding the blanket up and draping it over the back of the couch, they sat. Daniel turned the volume down on the television so they could talk and listen to the soothing pitter-patter of the rain.

Bristol brought the glass to her lips and took a sip before setting it back down. Danny had already finished almost half of his food before Bristol even took one bite. “I have a weakness for good wine.”

“I know,” Dan slyly looked over at Bristol who held a look of disbelieve. “Kris told me.”

“He would.”

They stayed quiet for a minute, as both turned their attention to the film that played on the screen. Old School had been one of Bristol’s favorite flicks since it first hit theaters. She found it be a little more comical than Hangover.

“Do you remember Game 2 last season?”

“Of course I do,” Bristol couldn’t hide her smile. “That’s the game you accidentally hit Jeff.”

“Yeah.” Dan trailed off as he set his bowl on the oak coffee table. “Earlier in the game, Scott and I were skating around during warm ups, scooping out the crowd and I spotted these red shorts with a great pair of legs and…” Dan gave Bristol a vague gesture in relationship to the and. “I though nice, very nice. I mentioned it to Hartnell and when you showed up here a few weeks ago, he pointed out that the legs that I had been scooping were yours. I must admit, it gave me one hell of a shock.”

Dan gauged her reaction. Surprise soon followed. “In full disclosure, it was the first time.”

“I’m not just a pair of legs.”

“Not at all.” Daniel caught himself. “But they are very nice. You’re a beautiful woman. Some people have a weakness for good wine and others, its beautiful women.”

Bristol looked out the window and even though she knew it was coming, the rattle of thunder still scared her. “Part of me is saying that should piss me off.”

Taking notice that her glass was empty, Dan got up and grabbed the bottle on the counter to refill it. “I think people should always say some surprising and unexpected things.”

She reached out and took her glass from Dan as he sat back on the couch. This time closer to her. “You’re pretty delicate about this.”

“Well, it is kind of a first date.” He made her laugh. A sound so sweet to his ears.

“I just stopped by to give you the soup.”

Daniel called her out. “No you didn’t.”

She stayed quiet. Bristol knew it took balls to be honest with someone whom you’ve only known for a short time and she wanted to show she was just as tough as Dan Carcillo. “I guess I’m here because it’s a result of my sever sexual frustration.”

Danny was clearly amused. He tipped his glass back. “How’s that going?”

“I’m unusually comfortable with the fact I haven’t been touched in quite some time.” Bristol thought for a split second and tried to think of something clever to say. “I guess you can say I’ve been a little more, itchy than usual.”

“Seeing at to how we have a pretty good friendship going here, I could take you to my room and help you scratch it.”

Bristol was about to say something along the lines of how she could scratch her own itch, but she abruptly stopped. “I think not. Sometimes, I ruin good friendship by sleeping around.”

The wheels in Daniel’s head were clearly turning. “I’ve got a proposition.”

Bristol burrowed her eyebrows and urged him to go on. “How about we give it…30 days.”

She took a sip of her wine. “30 days for what?”

“Adjustment. Because you and I both know damn well that if it weren’t for the fact Kris was traded here, you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that sweatshirt. And, the only reason you’d speak to me is to express how much you hate me and think I suck.”

She knew he couldn’t be anymore correct, and the more she thought about it the more embarrassed she became. It was true. All the times she yelled out his name during the Finals and when they came to town in January was when she added a “you suck” to the end.

Dan continued. “We’ll keep doing this; seeing each other. Go out, stay in or whatever. Have conversations, do whatever the hell couples do. That way, we can limit any damage which may follow after we sleep together. And, both of us can go on being sexually frustrated.”

“Let me get this straight.” Bristol tucked her legs under her. “You want to do all the stuff normal, consenting adults would do with each other, but not sex.”

“With each other or anyone else.” He clarified. “And, when the month is over and we fell comfortable, we’ll take the next step.” Daniel didn’t want to admit it too, but he had a problem with ruining relationships with sex.

“Okay. I’m in.” Bristol surprised herself when the words left her mouth. She offered a hand to close the deal. They would have sealed the deal with more than a handshake, but with Dan being sick a kiss was out of the question.

It would be the hardest month for not only Bristol, but Daniel as well. The two just prayed their drives wouldn’t get in the way and ruin it all.