The Fear Is Paralyzing

Dani was determined to figure out what was going on, specifically with Darcy. She figured she could figure out the connection with Dean soon enough if she kept on Darcy. Fortunately, Darcy had never met Dani before so it was a lot easier for Dani to stalk Darcy without her knowing. Or so she thought.

She had followed Dani down the street in downtown Pittsburgh. She had no idea where she was going, but she had been following her since she had left her hotel room that morning. Dani had hoped that the fact she was in a hotel meant she wouldn't be in Pittsburgh for too long. Tyler had filled her in all about Darcy's relationship with Kris and how big of a manipulator she was, and Dani didn’t want her in town long enough to try any of her schemes on her.

Darcy went into a Panera, and Dani slipped in a few seconds after her, only to be met with Darcy standing there, her hands on her hips. "I don't know who the hell you are or why the hell you're following me, but I will not hesitate to call the cops," Darcy announced, staring Dani down.

"Oh cut the dramatics, Darcy," Dani rolled her eyes, calling her bluff. She knew the other woman wouldn't call the cops on her, so there was no sense in playing along with her games.

"Who are you? How do you know my name? And why are you following me?" Darcy questioned.

"I'm a friend of Kris Letang's," Dani announced, and she saw the expression in Darcy's eyes change when she mentioned Kris's name. She gave Darcy a good look up and down, wondering how on earth Kris had ever found her attractive or could date her for as long as she did. Her boobs were enormous, and Dani wondered if she had gotten that work done before or after she and Kris had dated. She had on way too much makeup for the daytime.

"By friend you mean crazy jealous fan who wants me out of the way so she can try to make her way into his bed?" Darcy questioned, raising her extra-thin eyebrow.

"By friend I mean I know him. And I know all about what a manipulative bitch you were to him when you were dating him. And, I also know you're trying to get him back because he blew you off in Canada because he's madly in love with his fiancée," Dani crossed her arms over her chest, watching as anger flashed into Darcy's eyes. She hadn't realized this was the first time Darcy was hearing that Kris was now engaged.

Darcy stared at her, trying to think of a comeback but failing to do so. "Seriously, who the hell are you?"

"If you must know, my name is Danielle, and like I said, I'm a friend of Kris's, and I'm looking out for him and his fiancée. I don't know what the hell you're up to, but stay the hell away from those two," she told her.

"Look, you can go fuck yourself," Darcy stated, surprising Dani with her language. "I will fucking toss you across this room if you don't leave me the hell alone."

Dani lifted an eyebrow, wanting to laugh in Darcy's place. "Please, I kick your ass before you even know what the hell hit you. You do not want to mess with me or the people I love."

Darcy must have realized Dani was telling the truth because she turned on her heel, walking out of the restaurant, but not before turning her head to tell Dani, "And don't you dare follow me because I will call the cops."

Dani rolled her eyes, but didn't follow her nonetheless. She figured Darcy had got the hint and knew to stay the hell away from both Kris and Quinn. She walked up to the counter, deciding she might as well order some food after she'd made a scene in the middle of the store with Darcy. She ordered an extra panini, figuring she could drop by Quinn's work, bringing her lunch, knowing she was working overtime in the offseason, trying to gather the ropes on the trade market for the first time.

Dani texted Quinn on the way to the stadium so she could let security know she was on her way and they'd let her in. Dani had always been surprised by the amount of security at the stadium, and they had only beefed it up more recently after all of Dean's antics.

She smiled at the security guard and gave him her name. He waved her on in, and she made her way up to Quinn's office. She hadn't been up there too many times before. In fact, she had mainly been in only two places in the entire arena, in her seats near the ice or down by the locker room, waiting for Tyler. Walking up to Quinn's office was different for her. She saw tons of portraits of old stars on the team and team pictures of all the Stanley Cup winning teams, including the one from this year. She couldn't help the smile forming on her face as she walked into the office and smiled at Carolyn, who was sitting at her desk. "Hi, I'm meeting Quinn. She's expecting me," Dani told her.

Carolyn nodded and pointed her in the right direction, and Dani walked into Quinn's half of the conjoining offices. "Hey Dani, what's up? Is everything alright?" Quinn asked, pushing her hair behind her ears. Dani hadn't told her why she wanted to have lunch with her, and she had to keep reminding herself she couldn't make any mention of either Darcy or Dean.

"I just wanted to eat lunch with someone," she said, telling the half truth, as she set the bag from Panera down on Quinn's desk. "Tyler is working out," she explained. In actuality, she wasn't sure what Tyler was doing at the moment, but she knew at some point in the day he'd be working out, so she wasn't technically lying to Quinn.

"Oh, thanks! I haven't had time to go out and get lunch," Quinn smiled at her, opening the bag and pulling out the two paninis. "What have you been up to today?" she asked her friend.

Dani had to think of a lie quick. "Oh, just shopping for stuff for the wedding. It's getting closer," she said with a sincere smile.

"About a month now," Quinn said with as much as enthusiasm. "Not that it'll change much," she said with a chuckle. "Kris says you two have been acting like you're married for years now," she laughed harder.

Dani thought about that for a few seconds, shrugging her shoulders. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed. She was quiet for a little bit as she continued eating her lunch, thinking about Darcy and Dean. She hadn't gotten the information she wanted today, and it was bothering her. She wanted to know what those two were up to.

Quinn noticed the abnormal silence from Dani and questioned her. "What's going on?" Quinn asked, and Dani looked up, confused. "Fess up, you're thinking about something. You've been sitting there for like ten minutes staring at the carpet," she said with a chuckle, assuming it was something about the wedding or Tyler. She wasn't expecting the words that came out of Dani's mouth.

"I've been keeping something from you," she told her. She knew Kris was going to be furious at her. In fact, she was mad at herself for even telling Quinn. She knew it was best for Quinn to not be in the know right now until they knew more, but she couldn't keep it from her.

"What is it?"

Dani thought about backing out. She should have. She should have just told Quinn it was nothing and changed subjects. But instead, she blurted out, "Darcy's back in town." The only good thing was she hadn't mentioned Dean, and she intended to keep it that way. Quinn had never told Dani the whole back story on Dean; it had been Kris to fill her in. So, Dani knew she didn't want everyone to know about Dean, so she would keep it to herself that he was working with Darcy.

"She's here," Quinn stated more calmly than Danielle had expected. Quinn had known Darcy would show up in Pittsburgh. She had given that indication to Kris when they had been in his hometown. She just wasn't sure when exactly she'd show up. Now she knew she had to deal with her. There was no way Darcy wouldn't invade her life.

Danielle nodded her head. "Yeah, Tyler and I saw her the other morning," she told her. She avoided mentioning that she had also seen her earlier that day. Quinn didn't need to know the details of that encounter.

"I'm surprised she hasn't paid Kris a visit yet. I'm sure that's on her to do list," she said. Dani could tell she had upset Quinn, though Quinn would deny it all the way. This was exactly why Kris hadn't wanted to tell her, and yet Dani had ruined that, and now she felt horrible. "Thanks for the lunch," Quinn told her as she glanced at her watch. "But, I've got a meeting in about two minutes. But, maybe we can have dinner some night this week?" she asked.

Dani nodded her head. "Yeah, of course!" she told her. "Text me whenever," she added as Quinn picked up her things and headed for the door.

●●●

Quinn walked into the front door, seeing that she had beat Kris home. She sat down on the couch, turning the tv on to see that ESPN was talking about trade rumors with Sidney. She rolled her eyes, having the inside knowledge on the matter and knowing that there was absolutely no way they were going to trade away their captain. But, everyone enjoyed gossiping, and ESPN was no different.

She stretched out on the couch, getting comfortable as she flipped through the channels. About an hour later, the door opened, and she lifted her head enough to see Kris walk through. "Hey babe," she said, laying her head back down.

"How was your day?" he asked as he put his keys on the table and walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

"Oh, I had an interesting conversation with Dani," she called out.

"What happened?" Kris asked, walking back out into the living room as Quinn sat up on the couch so she could see him.

"She told me she saw that Darcy was in town," Quinn told him, not realizing he already knew this information.

"Merde," he muttered under his breath, angry at Dani for telling Quinn after he had explicitly told her not to do so. "She told you about Darcy and Dean?" he asked, running his hand through his hair.

"Darcy and Dean?" Quinn questioned, her eyes widening. "What do you mean Darcy and Dean?" she asked, and Kris realized this time it was he who had made the mistake. Dani apparently hadn't told Quinn about Dean. "Kris," Quinn said his name when he didn't respond right away. "Tell me what the hell is going on!" she ordered.

Kris sighed, running his hand through his hair again. If Quinn wasn't so angry that he was keeping something from her, she would have found that to be extremely sexy. She stared at him, waiting for him to start talking. "Darcy and Dean were together," he revealed. "I swear to you, I don't know what they were doing together. I was trying to figure that out."

Quinn was angry that he hadn't told her sooner. "How long have you known?" she asked.

"A couple days."

"Why would you keep this from me?" she questioned. "Don't you think I should know about these things so I know what I'm up against? I had thought I was just battling Dean, but now I'm battling Dean and Darcy, and you didn't think I should know about that?" she asked, her voice getting louder with every word. "Goddamnit, Kris," she screamed.

"Look, I know you're mad," he began.

"Damn right I'm mad!" she interrupted him. "I've just…I need to go for a walk right now, get out of here," she said. "Think about all of this."

She stood up and grabbed her keys out of her purse before walking to the door. "Quinn, wait!" Kris tried to stop her, but she shook her head.

"Just let me go, okay?" she said, walking out the door.

Kris sighed, running his hand through his hair as he sat down on one of the chairs at the kitchen table. He had messed up. Now, he just needed to fix it all.