Tomorrow's a New Day

The nights the boys were playing in Toronto Lily was scheduled to work at the gym. As she trained with some older girls, she would call to Ian in the front room for the score. Lily expressed both happy and sad emotions when she was answered but when the two final scores of the games was announced she would let out an aggravated groan.

After both games Lily would text Brayden to see how he was. The conversation didn't usually last long seeing as neither wanted to talk about it.

Lily never heard from Marcus and didn't intend to text him until whatever was up his ass came out. He had a problem with her, he has to make he first move. But as Marcus sat on the bus home alone, he wanted nothing more than to call Lily. His new fling wasn't much comfort like Lily had always been. He's been a jerk for not talking to her and he couldn't just start now. But he was doing it for his friends. He didn't want to get in the way.

Long into the night, Lily's phone buzzed with a new text, Can I stop by? She replied and waited to get the signal that he was at the door.

Brayden looked tired, his suit packed in his bag so he could wear sweats. Lily took his hand and quietly brought him back to her room. He striped his jacket and shirt off, opting for just sweatpants and crawled into bed, Lily not far behind.

"You'll get 'em next time." She whispered to Brayden. He sighed, cupping her cheek and kissing the top of her head.



Brayden stayed at Lily's the next day while she went to class.The only time he left was for practice. As soon as that was over with, he went right back to Lily's and slept. Lily knew he'd be exhausted and needed a day to recover. By the time she had to leave for the gym she woke him up, "Brayden? I need to head to the gym. You wanna come?" He nodded changing into whatever other sweats he had packed.

While Lily taught her classes, Brayden sat and watched, occasionally doing some stretches Lily taught him from his past lessons. Brayden found it interesting to watch the way Lily interacted with her students. They ranged from young to teenagers and they all listened intently to Lily as she helped them. And when Lily would preform some of the moves, Brayden couldn't understand why she wasn't doing this professionally. He remembered flipping on past summer Olympics during the gymnastics and could image Lily competing like that. She was just as good as any of those girls.

"How come you don't compete anymore?" He asked after her last student left.

"I wanted to go to school. And I had been doing it my whole life, I thought it might be time for a break."

"You're really good. It'd be awesome to see you compete." Lily shrugged, remembering the last time someone said that to her.

Brayden went back to his home that night, the comforts of his own bed calling for him. At his place Luke and his girlfriend lounged on the couch watching TV, "You're back. Didn't think you'd return at all." Luke said glancing over the couch at his tired teammate.

"Lily had a lot of homework to do. Shes got finals coming up." Brayden answered. "Is Marcus here?"

"Nah, he's at that girls place I think." Brayden nodded, walking to his room to unpack and get ready for a shower.



Game 3. It was all coming down to this. If the Amerks wanted to stay alive, they needed this win.

Lily was instructed to work the press box that night. If she could she would of been down with the boys, but she did as she was told. She wished the boys good luck before they prepped for the game. Leaving the locker room, she turned the corner and crashed into someone. When she looked up, she saw Marcus holding onto her shoulders to steady her. Lily jumped back as if his hands were burning, "Sorry." She mumbled.

"Lily--"

"Lily, come on! We need to get going." Someone yelled behind Marcus. She looked up at Marcus one last time, "Good luck," Then took off for the press box.

The first period went scoreless until three minutes were left and the Marlies got one past David. The boys had come back from goals like these and as the period ended, Lily kept telling herself, "It'll turn around."

But as time passed through the next two periods the Marlies scored twice. When the 60 minutes came to a close, that was it. The Rochester Americans lost the series.

Lily leaned against the table up in the press box, disappointment written all over her face, "It was a good year. They worked hard." Others would say to reassure her that it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Perhaps it wasn't. But the season was over. After this the boys would go home and she wouldn't see some of them till the next year.

Making her way down to the office, Lily walked at a slow pace. It felt like if she walked out the BCA door, it would be completely over with. She was going to go back to her dorm and...do homework.

Various workers made small talk with Lily, wondering if she'd be back next year and to have a good summer. It gave some time for the boys to talk with the press, shower, and change back into their suits.

She leaned against the wall quietly when her phone buzzed, "Sorry about the game. Tell the boys they did great. I'll see you back at the room." Rose said. Lily had convinced Rose to come to the playoff game to see Brayden and the boys play. She had been texting Lily over the course of the game with questions about the sport or the boys(since she had a seat right behind the bench).

When the first few boys exited the locker room, Lily offered them a hug which they took, "You played great." She told them, they just shrugged. Brayden kept his arm around Lily's waist as the boys discussed whether they wanted to go get a few drinks or not, "What about you Lily?"

"I might just head back. My roommates got drinks ready for me."

"Marcus!" A female voice called out. Everyone turned to see a small blonde woman waiting off to the side for the Amerk forward to walk up to her. The group hadn't realized Marcus walked through the doors and facing them till he was called.

Lily couldn't stop starring as the blonde stood on her toes to give Marcus a peck on the lips. If the loss wasn't bad enough...

Brayden silently cursed his teammate and himself, not thinking about Marcus' fling coming down for him. And when he saw Lily's reaction to the situation, all he, and the boys in their group, wanted to do was punch Marcus and rush Lily out of there.

Once the couple left, Lily tried to come up with something to say. The boys were giving her a sympathetic look and it just made everything worse. She didn't want pity. This was the way it is, there's nothing anyone can do.

Lily shouldered her bag and offered the guys a small smile before storming out the door, "Lily, wait!" But it was too late. The tears had fallen. All she wanted to do was crawl under a rock, "Lily!"

"What Brayden!?" She exclaimed, her voice pitching as she tried to control herself.

"I'm sorry-"

"For what? What is there to be sorry for?"

"Marcus is an ass-"

"It doesn't matter. That's what he wanted. Who am I to stop him?" She was going to turn away when Brayden caught her arm.

"Let's go some where."

"Look, I'm sorry Brayden but I am just not in the mood to go anywhere but my room."

"Lily...please." Lily huffed but allowed Brayden to drag her to his car.

The ride was silent and when they found a booth to sit in at Dan's they remained quiet. Lily avoided the defenseman's eyes knowing that if she looked at him, that'd be it.

"You still like him, don't you?"Brayden asked just above a murmur. Lily dropped her head into her hands. Instantly she felt like an idiot; an idiot for thinking she could have anything with Marcus, an idiot for leading Brayden on, and an idiot for still liking Marcus.

"What's wrong with me?" Lily meant to just think, but spoke aloud.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Lily. There's something wrong with Marcus for thinking that."

"No there must be something seriously wrong with me for someone just to say 'she's not my type' yet will go out and date someone who looks exactly like me but with blonde hair! Is that his type? Blonde? For fucks sake, you've got to be kidding me! Guess I dyed my hair the wrong fucking color!"

"....dyed your hair? You use to be blonde?" Lily gave him a look, "Sorry. Marcus is being a dick. He's making the wrong decision and everyone knows it."

"Except Marcus."

"Forget him. He's not worth it if he's gonna act like that."

"Did you know after I heard what the boys said he said, I spent all night trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Why a guy like him couldn't like me more than just a friend. After that, I felt like no guy could like me. I'd never be anyone's 'type'."

"Lily," Brayden took Lily's hand in his, "There is nothing wrong with you. Any one of the guys would vouch for it. Hell, they'd even ask you out! You're smart and funny and you love hockey,"

"I'm not blonde."

"So what? Blonde is just a color. The color of your hair means nothing when you've got a personality like yours. Don't let something so small make you think you need to change. You're perfect they way you are."

Lily took his words to heart. Blonde is just a color.



Ding Ding

The obnoxious sound earned a hand slammed down upon it. Marcus curled his tired fingers around his phone and slide it off the bedside stand. Blinking, he waited for his vision to adjust to the bright light from his smartphone.

1 New Message: Ally
Hey Marcus, sorry about your game. We were all rooting for you here. I found these on my phone and thought you might like them. Maybe they'll cheer you up. They're so cute! Tell Lily I said hi!

Marcus opened the pictures Ally sent him. He hadn't realized the pictures had been taken and was shocked to see they were photos of he and Lily when they were in Buffalo. It was right after the game against Toronto, he had just made his way over to her and pulled the small woman in his arms.

The next picture was when they were talking. Lily was looking up at him with a smile on her face while he was rolling his eyes at the tease she made.

The last picture was them standing with the other guys. Marcus had his arm around her waist both laughing at Enzo's attempt at a joke. Both looked happy, they looked...right.

Marcus starred at the pictures, especially the last one, and couldn't help but think how great it was to have her by his side. Their height difference may have looked funny to some but he liked the way she looked molded to his side. If he didn't miss her more before, now he just wanted to go to her dorm and see her.

"Hey I gotta go. Do you want me to stop by tonight or you coming over? Marcus?"

"Wha-yeah?" Marcus looked up from his phone where his latest fling was standing, dressed to impress and a hand on her hip.

"Do you wanna come over tonight?"

"Um...I think I'm just gonna hang here, you know spend some time with the boys."

"So I'll come over later tonight?"

"The guys will be over probably. Some might even stay."

She crinkled her face, "So you don't want to see me tonight?"

"I kinda just lost in playoffs. I think I should spend some time with my teammates."

"Whatever. Text me." Were her last words before walking out the bedroom door, the clinking of her heels fading the further she got.

Letting out a big sigh, Marcus ran a hand through his hair and down his face, What am I doing? He thought. Turning back to his phone, it was that last picture that curved his lips in a smile. Marcus wondered if Lily would come over tonight. She got along with his teammates far better than the woman that just walked through his door.

But why would she come? For Brayden? Maybe. He knew he fucked up any chance of being friends with her again. HE avoided her, HE gave her the cold shoulder. But wasn't HE doing it for HER? He didn't want to get between Brayden and her.

Speaking of Brayden, he feels like he hasn't seen his closest friend in forever, if you exclude the time on the ice. Before they were always hanging out. Marcus guessed it was because Brayden was with Lily. Maybe they finally got together, he should ask him. That's only if he even comes, he could easily just stay with Lily, But it's Tuesday. She has school. He's not just gonna stay there while she's in class.

Nevertheless, Marcus got up to shower, all of a sudden feeling disgusting. Brayden's gotta come back to the house sooner or later. Marcus will talk to him then.



"Brayden, no. I do not want to go. You go spend some time with your team."

"They want you there too, Lily. You're a part of this team just as much as anyone else." Brayden argued.

"I really don't want to go. I've got things I need to do for homework and this is my first night of not working at the gym. Spend time with your teammates."

"Is it because of Marcus? Because he'll be there?"

"Wha-no! I just have a lot of things I need to do." Brayden gave her a look but he knew Lily wasn't going to back down. No matter what excuse Lily used, Brayden knew she was avoiding Marcus. He couldn't blame her but there was more than just Marcus at this gathering and none of the guys would let anything happen.

"Okay, but I can't promise Tropp won't come and get you himself."

Lily chuckled, "Tell the boys I said hi and that I'm sorry."

Brayden nodded and kissed the top of her head before heading out. He had spent all day at Lily's dorm either sleeping or watching Lily do her homework. He could tell she was tired. If she wasn't working, she was studying or finishing an assignment for a class. He supposed she needed a night of rest and a bed for herself.

Arriving home, the driveway and street in front of his house was crowded with cars most likely belonging to his teammates and their significant others. The smell of something grilling coming from behind the house where he found his teammates gathered around the grilling chicken, "Nabbers! Hey...where's Lily?" Corey asked, from excited to upset.

"She's at school. She had some things she needed to do."

"What? I don't think so! She needs to be here? Maddy! Where are my keys?" He shouted.

"Leave the poor girl alone," His girlfriend told him with a shake of her head, "She's got school work to do."

"Can we at least call her?" Corey pouted.

"Do what you want." The boys let out a cheer and immediately dialed her number and put her on speaker.

"Hello?" Just a simple word captured Marcus' attention. It might of been a simple sound but it wasn't a simple effect it had on him when he heard it.

"LILY!!" They screamed into the phone.

"Oh boy..."

"Why aren't you here? You need to be here and party!" Corey started.

"This might be the last time you'll see any of us."

"Phil Varone are you planning on leaving me without saying goodbye first??"

Phil coward, "Of course not, but it might be the last time you party with us."

"I'm sorry guys, I'm just swamped with work and all I'm running on is a cup of coffee from this morning."

"It's true." Brayden defended.

"Well get your work done, sleep for many hours, THEN you party with us. Tomorrow's clean-out. You need to be there."

"I have classes."

"For god sakes woman! Work with me!" Corey yelled.

"When are you all planning on leaving Rochester?" The guys looked around, the thought not really crossing their minds. "Maybe we can work something out. If not, then I'll just see everyone next season."

"You promise?" Everyone asked.

"Yes. Now, I gotta get going. Have fun guys and I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Lily."

The boys finished up cooking and sat around eating all the food that was brought over. They reminisced back over the season, over the funny times they had, over the upsetting times they shared.

Even though he laughed and told his own tales, something was missing for Marcus. He didn't want to admit it to himself but that small Amerk intern should be, no, needed to be here. Most of the stories the guys told, Lily was present at most of them. He knew the boys were missing her too and they had even talked about kidnapping her for one last dinner.

Once things winded down, instead of one big conversation, several small ones scattered among the guys. Marcus found it the best time to talk to Brayden.

He had gone into the kitchen to fetch a water when Marcus walked in the room, "I feel like I haven't seen you." Marcus started with a light joke.

"Been hangin' with Lily." Brayden replied with a shrug.

"So, are you two together?"

Brayden eyed his friend, "Um, no. She, uh, likes someone else." What?

"She does? Who?"

"Just some guy. She doesn't talk much about him. Guess it hurts too much."

"Aw man I'm sorry. I thought you guys liked each other."

"Yeah, well she likes someone else and I don't want to get in the way of it."

"How is she anyways?"

"Tired usually. She's had a lot to do."

"I figured. It's good she has you there."

"You should go see her. You two haven't talked much since the trip to Buffalo." Brayden suggested, hoping maybe he could talk Marcus into confronting Lily.

Marcus shrugged, scratching the back of his neck, "I don't know. She's busy and I don't wanna get in the way."

"You should at least see her before you head home. She'll want to say goodbye."

"I'll think about it." Brayden shook his head.

Why was he avoiding this? Marcus knew he wanted to see Lily one last time but after the way he's been, would she want to see him?