Tell Me What To Do

I was aching from head to toe from the first official day of training camp, and I was in no mood to be bothered when the doorbell to my apartment rang. I stood up almost unwillingly, figuring that it was one of my teammates here to harass the hell out of me when I was exhausted. When I open the door, however, I wasn’t expecting what I found. Jane stumbled in, her lip split, a bruise forming around her left eye. I feel my jaw drop as I catch her, and I shut the door quickly.

“Jane what happened?” I gasp, leading her over to the couch. She groans, her eyes shut, and shakes her head.

“My uncle…my uncle found me…” she croaks, and I feel something flip in my stomach as her body trembles beneath my fingers.

“What do you mean, found you?” I ask quietly.

“I mean that I was hiding from him Sidney. I didn’t want to go back home. Not now, not ever. I was never in Pittsburgh for school. I’m an artist, and a damn good one at that. My uncle never supported me…never wanted me to pursue art. He took me in when I was three. My parents died in a car crash, and he was so angry that he got landed with me…when I turned eighteen he kicked me out and handed me a bill detailing every single dime ever spent on me, whether it was food, clothes, or utilities. Mind you, they never did much else for me than what they were legally obligated to do, but I was just so shocked that I couldn’t…” Jane began to rant. I simply hugged her to my chest and rocked her gently back and forth.

“You can’t pay him back, can you?” I whisper.

“No. I haven’t made enough money yet…but he wanted the money by my twenty third birthday…and that was today. I don’t know what I’m going to do Sidney,” she whimpers, and I look up at the ceiling, questioning everything I had believed about life. I had never been shown true malice, I had always had the love and support of a family, and I had never been in such a spot of trouble before. Even when I was young and had to leave Canada for my own safety, I was never scared.

“You’re staying here tonight. I’m going to see what I can do about your uncle attacking you too,” I say firmly before kissing her cheek.

“No! Don’t call the police! Sidney, he may be a little unorthodox, but he’s the only family I’ve got!” she cried, and I bit my lip.

“Fine…but you’re still staying here. I’ll…I’ll lock you in if I have to!” I say boldly. Jane stares up at me with puffy green eyes and smiles weakly.

“Okay…do you have hot chocolate?” she asks quietly. I furrow my eyebrows.

“Hot chocolate? It’s almost August!” I say, and she giggles quietly.

“It’s what I like to drink when I’m upset,” she explains, and I immediately leap up and tear through my kitchen, looking for hot chocolate. I finally find two packets crammed between a box of crackers and a jar of Ragu, and start boiling water in my tea pot. Jane eventually wanders into the kitchen, and I cringe as I see her face in the much better lighting of the room. Her left eye is swollen almost completely shut, her lip is puffy, there is a trickle of blood running down her chin from it, and she has finger shaped bruises around her throat. As the water slowly heats, I take a paper towel from the roll and wet it before gently wiping the blood from her chin. I notice a few stray tears running down her cheeks and I brush them away gently before putting the towel on the counter. She looks lost, afraid, and helpless, and I instinctively wrap my arms around her. She stares up at me, her un-bruised eye wide, and I lean down and kiss her battered lips gently. She whimpers as I break away, and pulls my head down quickly to capture my lips in her own. When we break apart again her lip is bleeding once more, and I dab it gently with the wet paper towel. The tea pot lets out a shrill whistle that makes us both jump, and I quickly pour the hot chocolate. We drink in silence, the drink burning my throat slightly. Jane seems to calm down slightly, and by the time she plunks her empty mug on the table, she looks like she’s about ready to fall asleep.

“Are you tired?” I ask, and she simply nods. I walk into my bedroom and pull out a pair of black gym shorts and a random tee-shirt before walking back into the living room. I hand her the clothes, and she walks into the bathroom, but comes back out almost instantly. She’s stripped out of her own green tee, and is wearing a clingy, lacy white camisole. The sight makes my mouth go dry, but I raise my eyebrows.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“You expect me to wear this thing?” she asks, holding up the tee. It’s one of my Penguins tees, and I can’t help but snort with laughter.

“Is it really that big of a deal?” I ask.

“Do you want my skin to melt off Crosby?” she asks, and I roll my eyes before taking the shirt back from her.

“You are such a drama queen,” I mutter before returning to my room to toss the shirt back in the drawer. I take out a plain black tee, and when she comes out again I can’t help but smile at how adorable she looks in my clothes. The tee, which would be snug on me, is baggy on her, and the shorts hang way below her knees. She heads towards the couch, but I shake my head and push her towards the bedroom.

“You can sleep in my bed tonight…I’ll take the couch,” I say.

“No! You’ll get all sore and achy sleeping on the couch!” she argues.

“Well you’re not staying on the couch!” I growl.

“And you’re not either!” she replies.

“Fine then!” I sigh in exasperation before throwing a blanket on the floor. She simply grabs me by the wrist and drags me into the bedroom before shoving me into my bed.

“We’re sharing, and that’s that,” she says, folding her arms over her chest. With her black eye and other battle wounds she looks like a little warrior, and I can’t help but fold under her gaze.

“Fine,” I sigh before peeling off my shirt, crawling over to the left side of the bed, where I usually sleep, and getting under the covers. She smiles and slips under the covers as well.

“What?” I ask as she lets out a chuckle.

“You sleep on the opposite side I sleep on,” she says simply.

“Yeah, so?” I ask.

“Not arguing over what side of the bed you sleep on is supposed to be a good sign,” she mutters sleepily before draping her arm over my stomach and resting her head on my chest. I immediately wrap my arm around her waist and smile softly before turning out the light.

“Good night,” I whisper as she drifts off to sleep.