The Fear Is Paralyzing

It was the critical part of the season, nearing the end. March was always important because it was when teams either made it to the finals or fell apart, letting their seasons end early. Kris sat in the hotel room, having just got into Florida to play the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tyler had followed him into the room, quickly jumping on the bed closest to the door, claiming it as his own. Kris walked over to the other one, throwing his bag on it before laying down on it himself.
 
"So," he heard Tyler begin, and Kris turned his head to look at his teammate. "Do you get extra benefits or something…better retirement?" Tyler asked him, trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably by the second comment.
 
Kris rolled his eyes, reaching for the pillow behind him and throwing it at Tyler's head. "Shut up," he told him.
 
"Do I get anything extra? You know, for keeping it all a secret?" Tyler asked, his smile wide as he was still laughing. Kris held up his middle finger for his friend, who tried to settle down. "Why are you keeping it a secret though?" he asked, being serious for a change.
 
Kris sat up in the bed, moving his feet around so they were hanging off the bed, facing Tyler. "Because not everyone on the team would react like you did, not so positive," Kris answered honestly. He left out the part that he didn't want his and Quinn's relationship to get out to the public. He assumed Tyler had already figured that one out, especially since he was keeping his secret for him.
 
Tyler thought about it for a bit before responding. "No, I guess not. Geno would be cool with it," he said with a chuckle, thinking about the big Russian and how he was with his own girlfriend. "He'd understand."
 
Kris nodded his head, knowing he was right. "But what about Sid? Or Jordan?" he countered with people he knew wouldn't be so supportive.
 
"Jordan would ask you how the hell you got her," Tyler chuckled, though he knew Jordan wouldn't take Kris dating Quinn lightly. "And Sid…well, let's just say I understand why you wouldn't tell the team," he admitted. Sid was a great player and captain, but when it came to personal lives, he wasn't very empathetic or understanding. Sid understood one thing: the game. And, if you were doing anything to jeopardize the game, the team, and the season, then you needed to get rid of it. That would include dating the owner of the team.
 
Kris looked over at him. "Yeah," he said simply, nodding his head. "So I've got to ask you, why did you keep the secret for me?"
 
"Well, I figured you've dealt with me and Danielle all the time, her coming to visit me on the road, and you've never really complained about it. I owed you, and I figured this could be my repayment," Tyler shrugged his shoulders. Kris eyed him, wondering if that was the truth, and he must have felt Kris's eyes boring into him because he began adding to his original statement. "And, when I saw her name, I didn't really know what to think. But, the look you were giving me, and the fact you hadn't said anything before, I knew you didn't want us all knowing. So I figured I'd respect that."
 
"It wasn't that I didn't want to tell you personally," Kris began. He didn't know why he felt the need to defend himself, but he also didn't want Tyler's feelings to be hurt that he had kept it from him.
 
"Dude, I get it," Tyler cut him off. "You had to keep it on the DL. I'm going to help you out," he assured him.
 
"Thanks man, now I owe you," Kris told him once again.
 
"You're going to regret saying that," Tyler joked.
 
"Well, anytime Dani is visiting, I'll leave you two alone," Kris promised him.
 
"Actually, I just want you to ask Quinn if I can get a raise," Tyler stated. Kris looked at him for several moments, trying to figure out if he was being serious or not. Tyler was a joker, but he was good about covering it up with a straight face sometimes. Kris opened his mouth to question him when Tyler cut him off. "I'm just kidding, man. But, I do have a question. What is she like? I mean, outside of Miss Boss Woman," he clarified.
 
Kris thought about it for a moment. "Not like you'd expect," Kris said carefully, and Tyler waited for him to continue, kicking his shoes off onto the floor, leaning back in his bed, his head against the headboard. "She's a good one. She cares. A lot. About the team, about the people in her life that she's close to. She's had her hardships," he said, remembering how she had told him about her gymnastics accident and how Dean treated her. "But, she's grown from them. She's definitely not the person we all met that first day."
 
Tyler started laughing, thinking back to that first day. "No?" he asked through his laughter. "She's not the girl that has absolutely no clue about hockey?"
 
Kris shook his head. "No, she's definitely learned a lot since then. She's all about the team, she wants to do whatever will be best for us."
 
"That's good to hear," Tyler responded. "So does anyone know about you two? Mario or anyone?"
 
"No, not really," Kris told him. "I just met her brother and sister-in-law. That's about it. And now you."
 
"How long have you two been going out?"
 
"For a while," Kris admitted, not really wanting to give away when they actually got together. "We've kept it under wraps pretty well."
 
"Pretty well?" Tyler said. "Damn well is more like it. None of us even knew you had a girlfriend until a little while ago when you two broke up. And even then none of us knew who she was."

"What have the guys been saying?" Kris asked, knowing the guys were talking about his girlfriend, "Blaire", behind his back, trying to figure out who exactly she was. "What have you been saying?"
 
Tyler grabbed the remote off the table next to his bed, turning it on and flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch as he answered Kris's question. "They're just trying to figure out who she is, where you met her, things like that. I haven't said anything. For all they know, I know as much as they do, which is just her name. I mean, if you want me to say you told me about her this trip and make up something about her, I can," Tyler shrugged. "It's up to you."
 
Kris shook his head. "No, no need to create more lies for us to keep up with. Where did you get the name Blaire anyways?" he wondered aloud.
 
"Dani's dog's name is Blair," Tyler chuckled.
 
"You named my fake girlfriend after a dog?" Kris questioned, his eyes wide.
 
Tyler laughed. "It was the first name that came to my mind! And, you should just be happy I lied for you, that I can think on my feet," he defended himself, and Kris knew he was right. "I could have just told them that her name was Quinn. I think they all would have figured it out really quickly. Even Jordan," he chuckled. They always joked that Jordan was the slowest one in the group.
 
"I knew you figured it out right away," Kris said. Even though he didn't have Quinn's last name in his phone, there weren't too many Quinn's out there.
 
"Well, your Quinn was the only Quinn I knew," Tyler began, and Kris couldn't help but smile when he heard Tyler refer to Quinn as his. He liked hearing that. "And, then I looked over at you and the look on your face said it all. I still can't get over the fact that you're dating the big boss," Tyler said, shaking his head.
 
"I don't really think of her like that," Kris told him. "I mean, yeah, I know she's the owner, and she's talked about her work before, but it's not like when I think of my girlfriend I think of her being the owner of the team. In fact, I think that might be the worst part. It just gets really complicated." Kris liked that he finally had someone to talk to about Quinn. He had been keeping it a secret from everyone, while Quinn had at least had Claire to talk to before about him.
 
“I get it,” Tyler nodded his head, though Kris really wanted to tell him that he didn’t get it. There was no way anybody could understand what he and Quinn were going through unless they were going through it themselves. But, he decided not to argue that point with Tyler right now. A look appeared on Tyler’s face, as if something had just occurred to him. “Wait a minute,” he spoke. “That road trip a while ago. When Quinn went with us. And Dani visited me. You left the room. At the time, I thought you were just giving me and Dani some time alone and you had gone and hooked up with some random girl. You didn’t, did you?” he questioned. “You were with Quinn.”
 
Kris nodded his head slowly, remembering that night. “Yeah I was.”
 
“You mother fucker,” Tyler said, grinning at him. “You were with her back then! And, I had no idea. You guys can keep a secret!” he told him, and Kris was happy that Tyler was okay with him not telling him for so long.
 
***
 
The guys had won the game in Tampa Bay and were now back in Pittsburgh for a home game. They were excited to play on home ice again, and Kris was excited to play in front of Quinn again. He always seemed to play a little better, a little harder when she was around. Whether he was trying to impress her or it was pure coincidence, it didn’t matter. All that did matter was that he was on his game tonight. He had even scored the game-tying goal, giving Chris Kunitz the chance to win the game for them right before they were going to head to overtime.
 
The team was celebrating in the locker room when Mario and Quinn walked inside like normal, going around the room, congratulating the boys on a game well done. When Quinn walked over to Kris, he noticed Tyler looking at them out of the corner of his eye. Fortunately, he wasn’t making it obvious, not that the other players would have noticed as they were all celebrating the win against the Philadelphia Flyers.
 
Quinn treated him like she did everyone else on the team, telling him congratulations before moving on to the next player. What the rest of the team didn’t know was that she had texted Kris as soon as the game was over but before she had gone downstairs to the locker room, telling him congratulations and asking him if he felt like coming back to her place tonight. So when he nodded his head at her as she walked over to him, they had no idea he was actually answering her question.
 
He got out of the locker room as quickly as he could without being obvious and drove to her place, making it there before she did. He waited in his car out in the parking lot until he saw her pull in, and he got out of the car, waiting for her. They walked in together, making sure to have no public affection, waiting until they made it into her apartment. Once she had shut the door behind them, she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him. “Congratulations,” she said pulling away slowly, smiling wide at him.
 
“Thank you,” he replied, leaning in for another kiss from her.
 
“You had me nervous out there!” she exclaimed, slapping him lightly on the chest. He looked down at her curiously, not really knowing what she was talking about. “You fighting!” she clarified. “You can’t do that!” she told him.
 
Kris laughed at her. “Sometimes it’s necessary,” he said with a chuckle. “I can’t not do it,” he added.
 
“It just worries me,” she admitted.
 
“Oh?” Kris asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “You’re worried about me?”
 
“Of course I am!” she admitted, not even caring that he was teasing her.
 
Kris put his hands on her shoulders, looking down into her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself in a fight,” he told her with a small smile on his face.

Quinn didn’t say anything for a few moments before finally sighing. “I can’t help it. I’m always going to worry. Even if you can handle yourself in a fight,” she said with a small laugh as he scooped her up in his arms, giving her a hug. He liked having someone care about him and worry about him. Even if he did tell her a countless number of times that it was not necessary.