You Had Me at Hello

Jen’s P.O.V.

When I got back to my room Sunday morning I was shocked to see three guys in the room. Morgan had told me that CJ and Hoovey were coming to spend the weekend but I hadn’t realized that someone else was coming with them. I figured that it was just another of her friends from home but when I really looked I was surprised that the third guy was Alex. I was even more surprised to see that Morgan was sleeping tight to his side. I supposed that meant that she had forgiven him. Well just because she had forgiven him didn’t mean that I had to. Just then he stirred and started to wake up. When he opened his eyes he looked down at Morgan and smiled before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. He looked like he thought he was the luckiest man on earth. I saw his hand moving over her back and cleared my throat. He jumped and looked startled to see me.

“When did you get here?” he asked quietly.

“About two minutes ago. Can we talk in the hall?”

“Sure. Give me a minute.”

“Fine. Hurry up,” I ordered before heading out into the hall. Alex followed soon after me. I turned and slapped him in the face as hard as I could as soon as he shut the door.

“What was that for?” he asked rubbing his cheek that now that I could see in the light I noticed that it was already bruised and had a cut on it that I luckily hadn’t reopened.

“For fucking up with Morgan, asshat. I’m assuming she forgave you?”

“Yeah she did. After CJ and Hoovey beat me up. If she hadn’t, something tells me that those two wouldn’t have let me near her again. They are very protective.”

“You’re just lucky that you were smart enough not to hit her.”

“I would never hit her or any other woman for that matter. Why would you say that?”

“Morgan never told you about Stefan?”

“Who’s Stefan?”

“Her ex-boyfriend. I really shouldn’t tell you this but I will as a warning. Stefan and Morgan dated for almost two years. In this time I only met him a handful of times and every time I saw them together I could never figure out what she saw in him. I never knew how abusive he was until Morgan came back to school one Monday with a black eye. She was always really good at hiding the emotional scars. She has never been one to have all of her emotions out in the open, I mean once you get to know her if she wants you to know what she is feeling you will know it but if she doesn’t want you to know what she is feeling, you will never know. That’s how she hid what Nick was doing for so long. When she finally broke down and told me what he did to her I was shocked to say the least. As far as I know, he only ever hit her that one time but sometimes the worst scars aren’t visible. She told me after he was arrested about how he was consistently insulting her and calling her derogatory names and making her feel like shit. When you broke up with her and lied about it, I think it hurt her more than she let on. The night you guys broke up I walked into the bathroom while she was getting a shower and heard her crying. I didn’t say anything to her about it because I knew that she wouldn’t want me to know that she isn’t always as strong as she tries to appear. As much of a badass as Morgan is, there is a part of her that will always be that girl that has no self-confidence, I know she puts on a good show but underneath she is vulnerable. If you ever hurt her like Stefan did or like you did again I will make it so you never play hockey again. I’m sure Hoovey and CJ said something of the same thing but if you hurt her it’s me that you have to worry about. I may be short but I can and will kick your ass to protect my friend. Morgan is one of the best friends that I have and I will not see her hurt again.”

“I promise to do my best to never hurt her again. As soon as I found out what was going on or not going on as the case was with that guy I felt horrible. I know that I should have talked to her about it but as I told Hoovey and CJ yesterday, almost every girl that I have dated has only been with me for money or because I am a NHL captain and most of them I later found out had cheated on me. I know that Morgan is different but the past hasn’t taught me to trust women.”

“Well I can’t pretend to know why Morgan is with you but it sure as hell isn’t for the money. Her family is loaded and she has an education and is willing to work. And I also know that Morgan would never cheat on some one. She has a very low opinion of people who cheat and has said multiple times that she will never cheat on anyone. Plus she is so freaking, I wouldn’t say in love yet but for lack of a better word I’ll say fond, she is so freaking fond of you that it is sick. I mean, don’t get me wrong I really like Mike but she takes it to a new level. She still watched all of your games this week. When Marc Staal put that hit on you she freaked out at the T.V. you think I was bad that night at your house, that was nothing compared to what she did. And she likes Marc. So I knew she still cared about you. Please do not fuck up again.”

“Believe me; I have no intention of it. I know we have only dated for like two months but the last week without her was horrible. I know that we almost never see each other but we talk as much as we can and if it ever gets to the point where I can’t deal with all of the shit hockey throws at me or just don’t want to talk about it, I knew that I could talk to her and she would make me forget whatever was wrong. This last week was hard and I think it showed in my game. If she hadn’t forgiven me, I don’t know what I would have done. Between getting kicked out of the playoffs and losing her, I would have been a wreck. I’m one lucky son of a bitch.”

“That you are. Oh and I know I should be sorry for hitting you but I’m not. I would do it again and will if you hurt her. I know you have said that you won’t but I still feel that it is my job to make sure you remember. I also think that she shouldn’t have forgiven you so easily.”

“I understand and like I told the guys, I’m glad Morgan has such great friends, even if you all are so violent. And I was honestly surprised that she did. I know that she said she forgives me and I believe her but I still plan to try to make it up to her. I know I have a lot to make up for.”

“You’re right you do.”

“I know. Oh and before I forget, Mike said to tell you hi and that he misses you.”

“Thanks. I miss him too. I never thought I would say something like that but I really do.”

“Well he said something about trying to come up next weekend but that he wasn’t sure.”

“I hope he can. Now, we should get back into the room before everyone wakes up.”

“We should. And Jen?”

“What?”

“Please don’t hurt Mike. He’s a good guy.”

“I don’t plan on it. Let’s go.” With that we walked back into the room to find that everyone was still asleep which wasn’t surprising because Morgan could sleep until after noon if given the chance and I had a feeling the guys were the same way. Alex and I sat and talked for a while longer until Morgan woke up and saw us sitting there and after finding out what time it was said that she was going to wake the boys up and we could go to get something to eat. During lunch I watched how Alex interacted with Morgan and was pleased to see that they seemed just as close if not closer than they had been before the break up. Morgan deserved to be happy after all of the crap she had to deal with in her life.

That afternoon, after giving both Morgan and I hugs, CJ and Hoovey left to each head home and after Alex said goodbye to me, Morgan walked him to his car because he was going back to DC for a couple days before coming back here for graduation.

While I was waiting for Morgan to come back, I decided to call Mike because I figured that it may be a while. We had been talking for almost forty-five minutes before Morgan came back into the room and at that point I told Mike that I had to go and he promised to call me later.

I heard Morgan laugh when I put down my phone and looked at her questioningly. “What the hell was that for?” I asked.

“I just find it adorable how cute you two are even over the phone. I’m really happy that you decided to give him a chance.”

“As much as I fought it, I’m really glad that I did to.”

“Is he coming to graduation?”

“He said that he would be there.”

“Well that’s good.”

“Yeah, it will be nice to get to see him again,” I said before turning back to my computer and getting to work on my final papers. Over the next week I stressed about my papers and exams and tried to relax by watching Ridiculousness with Morgan.