Say Something

Gwen bounced on the balls of her feet as she waited for Zoe outside of the Wells Fargo Center five days later. It was the last home game of the regular season but playoffs were just around the corner. Zoe breezed up minutes later, apologizing for her delay, blaming traffic on her way. She grabbed Gwen's hand and led the way inside the players entrance. They had arrived a couple hours before game time. Max met them and pulled Zoe into his embrace. When they broke apart, Zoe laced an arm through Max’s and he offered the other to Gwen with a smile. “Mes chéris,” he said, leading them on. He entered the locker room first to make sure everyone was decent and then held the door open for Gwen and Zoe.

Zoe bounded over to Wayne to show off her newest jersey with his name and number, the latest in her growing collection of Flyer sweaters. She also had cookies for him and the others which she produced out of her large purse. She laughed with Wayne and he passed the cookies around the room.

Gwen hung back and took the scene in, watching Zoe interact with the men she called friends and so obviously cared for. Claude entered the locker room, spotting Gwen and walked over to her. She greeted him with a warm hello.

“You haven’t talked to Danny yet,” Claude said. Before she could respond, he took her hand and pulled her from the room. Across the hall, he opened the door to the trainers room and looked around. He filled the doorway and Gwen could not see around him. “Everybody out,” he commanded. "Except you." Without a word, the room emptied past them, curious glances in Claude's direction, open stares at Gwen. Claude pushed Gwen inside and she found herself face to face with Danny. She turned away from him and glared at Claude. “You're welcome,” he said to Gwen.

“You’re such an ass!” Gwen called out to him as he laughed and sauntered back to the locker room. She turned slowly to face Danny.

“Hey,” she said to him.

“Why haven’t you taken my calls?”

“I didn't know what to say.”

“Hi would’ve been a great start.”

“Danny, you know it wasn’t that simple.”

He crossed the room and took her hands in his, entwining his fingers with hers. “It is. Say it."

"Hi, Danny."

He wrapped his arms around her back and held her against him. "I can't get you off my mind."

"Danny...."

He pulled back from her and led her to one of the trainers tables. He hopped up and patted the spot next to him and Gwen pulled herself up beside him. Danny put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him. She laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Gwen. I let your age scare me and it was incredibly stupid of me. So what if you’re eight years younger than me? You are an amazing woman and I fell for you.” She opened her mouth to speak but Danny continued on.

“Gwen, I know you think this is about Livvie, that I like you because somehow you’re more appropriate for me because you have a daughter but I promise you, its more than that. Yes, finding out you had a daughter was a moment of epiphany for me. It made me realize that I had all these feelings for you that I couldn’t push down any longer. Do you remember that night of your first date with Claude and you two came to that club and we danced?”

“I remember.”

“I wanted to kiss you so badly but I kept telling myself you were with Claude but I wanted to take you out of there and home with me. But I convinced myself that you were too young for me and that Claude was right for you. But I never asked you.”

“I hated that damn bunny. I wanted to claw her eyes out,” Gwen admitted. “And I wanted to kiss you the day I met you.”

Danny grinned. “When I was telling you about the guys and you brushed against me, I thought I would die. I would’ve hauled into a closet for two minutes if it meant it was just us. I know I messed up and I shouldn’t have assumed anything about you without knowing you because as soon as I got to know you, I knew you were it.”

Gwen tilted her face towards his and smiled. “Can we start over?”

Danny nodded and hopped off the table. He held Gwen at her waist and picked her up from the table, setting her in front of him. He stuck his hand out to her. “My name is Danny and I think you’re gorgeous. Would you go out to dinner with me tonight?”

She took his extended hand in hers. “My name is Gwen and I would love to go to dinner with you.” She kept her hand clasped in his and pulled Danny to her and his eyes widened. “But first, dessert,” she said as she kissed him.

Danny and Gwen entered the locker room holding hands and smiling. Zoe squealed and clapped her hands, bouncing excitedly beside Max who along with Scott and Wayne whistled and made kissing noises at the pair.

"Now tell me I'm the best ever," Claude said to Gwen with a wink.

"You're the best ever and still my favorite ginger," she said to him with a wink of her own.

"Finally!" Max exclaimed with a grin. He turned to Danny and chuckled. "This is karma, mon ami. You might be Zoe's favorite but now you'll know how it is when Claude is her favorite," he teased.

Gwen smiled. "He has a fair point," she added. Danny groaned and Zoe squealed again.

"Thank God you two finally got it together!" she exclaimed.

Danny laughed at Zoe who was grinning ear to ear. “You need to thank Claude for making this happen,” he said to her.

Zoe whipped her head around to where Claude sat in his locker stall. Zoe ran to him and jumped in his lap, throwing her arms around him in a hug and kissing each cheek twice. Max threw his arms up in the air in defeat.

“You are one hell of a guy, Roo,” Zoe whispered to him.

“Thanks, Zo,” he replied with a small smile. “Hurts though. She’s a hell of a girl.”

“But not the right girl for you. She’s out there though and if I have anything to do about it, we’ll find her.”

“You need a jersey, Gwen,” Claude called out as Zoe climbed off of him and walked over to sit on Max's lap.

“You can wear mine since Zoe never does,” Max said. Zoe stuck her tongue out at him.

“I’ll have you know I came prepared,” Zoe said. She reached into her purse and pulled a black Flyers jersey from the confines and tossed it to Gwen who pulled the jersey over her head.

“I told you that you would look good in my number,” Danny whispered to her.