Unexpected Delight.

Jordan scoffed, running his fingers through his unruly blond hair.

he looked up at her, noticing her stance he quickly shed his tux jacket, draping it over her shoulders.

she smiled at him in silent thanks. and he shrugged, as if to say he would do it for anyone.

"that was my bosses son." she informed him, curious to why he had wanted her out here with him if he wasn't going to talk.

"I don't like seeing you with him." he told her suddenly.

she raised an eyebrow at him curiously

"really Jordan? you're jealous?!" she said with a humorless laugh.

"yeah Charlotte, I'm fucking jealous, are you happy?!" he demanded angrily, slamming his fist down on the lid of the dumpster.

"not really." she admitted quietly. her tone and her demeanor in dramatic contrast with his own.

she was hunched over, looking almost defeated, while he stood upright, shoulders back and chest puffed out, an indignant look on his face.

"Why did you come here with him?!" he inquired, his voice was quieter, but the anger was still apparent in his eyes.

she shook her head slightly "I didn't even want to come at all." she told him, sliding her arms out of his jacket, handing it back to him, and turning to head inside.

he followed quickly behind her, putting the jacket back over her shoulders, despite her attempts to shrug it off.

"I'm going back inside, I wont need it." she told him, once again trying to walk away.

this time Jordan grabbed her hand, not roughly, as she had expected, but gently, as if he were apologizing for something.

she turned around reluctantly.

"I don't understand how you think you have the right to be jealous of anyone I'm with" she blurted out, her eyes met his and he noticed how fiercely she was staring at him.

"I fucked up char" he said quietly, still holding on to her hand.

she snorted "That's a fucking understatement" she told him, pulling her hand from her grasp and crossing her arms across her chest.

"I shouldn't have agreed to come here tonight. I just really wanted that promotion." she said the last part quietly, more to herself.

"you're still at the post?" he asked her, dipping his head down slightly, to meet her eyes.

she nodded, avoiding his gaze. "Char, they don't appreciate you there. I told you that you could come work at pens media." he said, sounding frustrated.

she knew that had been through this argument hundreds of times.

she shook her head. "I got the job at the post because I am qualified, and I'm a good writer. If I got the job at pens media, It would be because you asked them to hire me. I don't want that." she told him.

Jordan groaned "char, they've read your work, if you're qualified for the post, then you're qualified for this job too! you need a reference for every job you apply to, my reference is just...more convincing, that's all." he said with a shrug.

he didn't understand why she had to be so stubborn.

she had been this way since the day he met her, hard headed to a fault. she struggled with admitting she was wrong, he had figured that out quickly.

she bit her lip, trying to think of a way to explain it to him. "don't you hate people constantly comparing you to your brother, saying you only got in the NHL because of Eric?" she asked quickly.

Jordan shrugged, nodding slightly "I mean yeah, But I've proved that I'm a totally different person than Eric." he said, looking confused at her sudden question.

"but it pissed you off right?" she asked pointedly.

he nodded, "yeah, it sucked." he admitted.

"that's how it would be for me. I would only be getting that job because you said I'd be good for it, and if I fuck up, it falls on you, because you referred me.." she groaned, it wasn't coming out the way she wanted it to, it just sounded dumb.

he wrapped his arm around her shoulder "I know you don't like being thought of as a charity case Char, but that's not what this is. I really think you'd be good at this job, they've been looking for another writer since O'malley decided she wanted to pop out a baby." he informed her with a smile.

She fought the urge to chuckle, but failed. this made Jordan smile even wider.

"I really miss you being around Char." he confessed, making her stiffen under his arm.

"you told me to leave Jordan." she reminded him harshly, scooting out from under his arm.

"I didn't mean it. I was just frustrated. You would have known that if you had answered any of my calls or texts!" he told her angrily.

"it's been almost a month Jordan.." she it so quietly he almost didn't hear her.

she was shaking her head, trying to remember that long speech she had planned to give him about how she didn't need him in her life anymore, and how she was better off with out him.

but the truth was she missed him. every time she walked by the rink at PPG she remembered their Christmas eve night there.

Every time she walked by pirmante's she remembered how he bet her she couldn't eat an entire order of poutine, and she proved him wrong, only to puke in the backseat of his car later that night.

she missed the way he held her when they slept at night, the way he would hook his leg around hers, as if ensuring that she wouldn't roll away from him during the night.

she missed the way he would tilt her chin up so he could kiss her.

she missed the way he would hold her hand all the time, even when it was inconvenient, and caused more trouble then it was worth.

She hated to admit it, but she loved him, and she missed everything about him.

but he had told her to leave, that he didn't ever want to see her again, and that she was just a distraction to his career, and she was holding him back.

she had packed her things in silence, not speaking a word to him, even as he tried to apologize after he calmed himself down.

she had asked Flower to pick up the things that she hadn't been able to grab.

she had crashed with him and Vero for a few days, before going back to her room mate Kerbie, who welcomed her back with open arms.

Kerbie had been thrilled for her when she had moved in with jordan, and had always supported their relationship, and despite charlies constant crying over him, she made her watch his games on TV.

knowing that the redhead didn't truly hate the blond man as much as she claimed to.

Charlie knew that what he said to her hadn't been how he really felt. He was just frustrated about being on IR again. and he took that frustration out on her.

but she also knew that it wasn't a healthy relationship if he couldn't find another outlet for his frustration.

"Jordan, what you said to me, it wasn't fair. and you wouldn't say something like that if you hadn't thought it at one point or another." she said softly, wiping at her eyes, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her.

"Char, I don't feel that way, It was just something that one of those stupid websites said, and It got into my head, you know how I am with that shit." he told her, reaching for her hands again, but she snatched them away from him.

"You should know better by now Jordan" she scolded, her eyes refused to meet his.

"charlotte, look at me." he demanded, attempting to grasp her focus.

she shook her head stubbornly. "stop calling me that, it's an old woman name." she snapped.

He chuckled despite the situation, reaching for her once again, unable to fight back the smile as she allowed him to hold her hands reluctantly.

"look at me, and tell me you don't miss me." he pleaded. his baby blue eyes were hopeful, and she knew she couldn't lie to him.

"Of course I fucking miss you." she grunted, averting her eyes again.

"then give me a second chance, baby. come home." he was seconds away from getting down on his knees and begging.

she bit her lip, trying to fight the urge to give in to him.

"I don't know If I can trust you again..." she said slowly.

He licked his lips, tilting her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet with his.

"Char, I promise you, nothing like that will ever happen again. I didn't mean what I said, I was being an Idiot. I'm fucking stupid. okay? You always called me your big giant Idiot. and you know it's true."

he was rubbing his thumb over her knuckles gently, a blond curl falling infront of his eyes, obstructing his view of her face slightly.

"I don't think I'm ready to come home yet." she said quietly. his face fell and he felt his knees get weaker.

he had failed. he wasn't going to win her back. It was stupid of him to even try, but he didn't know what else to do. He felt lost without her. she kept him humble, and grounded when he got a giant ego after a win. and she kept him positive when they had a bad loss.

she squeezed his hand "jordy" she whispered drawing his attention back to her.

"I might be willing to try again, if we can take it slow, and maybe we can work our way towards me keeping a drawer of things at your place-"

He interrupted her "It's still our place, babe." he said quietly.

she sighed heavily. "-our place... but I need time. and I need you to respect that. I'm not just going to pack up all my shit and move back in right away. I need you to prove to me that you aren't going to pull another stupid fucking stunt like that again." she said seriously.

He nodded, kissing her forehead gently. "can I tell the guys?" he asked eagerly, wrapping an arm around her waist, picking her up easily, swinging her around, kissing her cheek, her nose and lastly, her lips.

she responded lazily, kissing him back slowly, and softly, just barely brushing her lips against his.

he set her down gently, linking his fingers with hers as he led her inside again.

the ballroom was almost entirely empty. the last few guests were trickling out, gathering coats and belongings and saying their goodbyes to Bylsma and Sid, who stood at the door, smiling and shaking hands.

Charlie allowed herself to be dragged along behind him, smiling sheepishly as all the boys applauded them.

Kris chuckled as he approached her "nous étions tous les paris que vous le frapper dans le visage et laisser." He muttered.

she let out a snort of laughter, shaking her head " J'ai presque fait, pour être honnête. mais je ne peux pas vraiment gâcher ce nez plus qu'il ne l'est déjà."

Jordan glared at the two of them. "I know enough french to know that I should be mad at the both of you." he said, crossing his arms across his chest.

Charlie chuckled and shrugged, faking an innocent smile.

Jordan rolled his eyes and kissed her forehead gently, standing up a little straighter as Bylsma approached him, looking at the two of them with feigned disappointment.

"you're really going back for seconds with the gronk?" he teased, giving the redhead a fatherly hug.

she chuckled and shrugged. "I can't help it. he's just so charming." she joked. Dan smiled, clapping jordan on the shoulder.

"you're still skating laps tomorrow til ya puke for skipping out on your waiterly duties" he informed him seriously.

Jordan groaned and hung his head, nodding in acceptance.

Flower laughed loudly and slugged Jordan in the arm playfully. "worth it?" he asked jokingly.

Jordan looked at charlie briefly, before nodding. "Absolutely."