Say Something

Gwen woke up the next day at eleven. She cracked one eye open, finding herself in unfamiliar surroundings. She rolled over into Claude's body. He murmured her name, opened one eye and smiled.

"Hi," he said with his trademark grin.

"Did we?" Gwen asked.

Claude shook his head no. "You were drunk and I couldn't find your keys to take you home so I just brought you here. I hope that's okay." Bits and pieces of the night before drifted through her mind. Given the throbbing headache she had awaken with, she was certain she had had a lot to drink. She remembered dancing with Claude, taking several shots with Scott and Wayne, and she was pretty sure at some point she had danced on the bar top.

“Did I dance on the bar last night?”

“Yep. Scott gave you dollars for that.” Gwen groaned and Claude chuckles. She stretched and peeked under the covers. She was still in the jeans and top she had been wearing the night before. Claude climbed out of bed, clad only in a pair of gym shorts. He stretched his arms over his head, muscles flexing. "Like the view?" he teased Gwen. She smirked at him.

"It's not bad."

"Not bad?"

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I've seen better. Kayleigh took me to a Penguins game last week and her boyfriend gave us the grand tour before the game. Geno was all kinds of impressive in the muscle department. And Crosby; sweet tiny pockets he has a great ass."

Claude's features darkened at the mention of the Flyers hated rival and his on ice nemesis. "You will pay for that," he growled lowly.

Gwen smiled innocently at him. "I'd like to see you try."

Without warning, he dived onto his bed, pinning Gwen under him. His fingers found her sides and he began to tickle her relentlessly. She squealed and laughed, squirming under him before finally begging for mercy.

Claude held her arms above her head with his own. He leaned in closely to her. "Tell me I'm the best ever and that you can't live without me."

"You're the best ever. No one is hotter than Claude Giroux. Best looking ginger, hands down on the Flyers, the league even. I can't live without you." Claude grinned at the words she ad libbed on to his own. His lips sought hers and he kissed her hungrily. He let go of her arms and she put them around his neck as he ran one hand down her side.

"Want to spend the day with me in bed?" he breathed against her ear.

"Sounds tempting but I have some things I need to take care of today."

"Like what?"

"Grocery shopping is number one on my to do list."

"I can help with that." He rolled off of her and climbed off the bed, rummaging around in his drawers. He tossed a t-shirt and then a sweatshirt onto the bed. "You can wear those if you want."

Gwen gathered up the items and shot Claude a grateful smile. When she lifted them to her, they smelled like his cologne and fresh laundry. "Thanks." She headed down the hall for the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She leaned against the door, her eyes closed and counted to ten, releasing a slow breath. She braced herself on the counter of the sink and splashed cold water on her face. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten out the unruliness of her curls. She sighed and pulled her shirt off, replacing it with Claude's and slipping on his sweat shirt.

She stepped out of the bathroom and walked to the living room. Claude looked up at her and grinned as he finished tying his shoes. "Ready?" Gwen nodded and sat down to put her own shoes on. Claude grabbed his keys and twirled them around his finger. Gwen stood and grabbed them from him. "Hey!"

She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed as she ducked out his door and sprinted for the stairwell. "Hope you ate your wheaties!" Gwen called over her shoulder. She was a flight ahead of him but he quickly caught her and hip checked her playfully to pass her.

"Not fair using your hockey moves all star!" She caught him at the next landing and grabbed the belt loops on his jeans, giving them a hard tug. He stumbled and she raced ahead of him. He caught her when she reached the bottom, easily catching her around the waist and flipping her over his shoulder. "Claude!" She squealed. "Put me down!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Tell me I'm the best again."

Gwen rolled her eyes and smacked his butt. "You're the best."

Claude grinned as he stopped and set her down. She punched his arm and he laughed, catching her hand and slipping his into hers. "You driving?" he asked her.

She looked at him in surprise. "You'll let me drive?" Claude nodded.

"Sure. You know where you want to go after all. After we're done and get everything put away at your place, I thought we'd go get your car from Danny's, grab dinner and a movie later?"

Gwen's gaze dropped to the ground, the memory of dinner and a movie with Danny the night before playing through her mind. She nodded at Claude, murmuring a simple "mmhmm" and climbed into his camaro. She let out a whistle, running her hands along the steering wheel. "Nice ride, ginger. How fast does she go?"

Claude groaned. "Don't make me regret this," he said as she turned the engine over.

Gwen let herself into her apartment first, looking around furtively for anything to hide before Claude could see. She led the way into her kitchen, stashing some things in drawers as she went. She set her bags down on the floor and Claude set his beside them. He pulled himself onto the countertop as she pulled things from bags and put them away. They chatted amiably and when she was done, she excused herself to change her jeans and put on one of her own shirts and slipped back into Claude's sweatshirt. She walked back to the kitchen and handed the shirt to Claude.

"I'm keeping your sweatshirt. It's very cozy."

"I can live with that. Come on, lets go get your car."

Thirty minutes later, they pulled into Danny's driveway. Claude let himself in the house and hollered "honey, I'm home!"

Three sets of footsteps thundered down the stairs before tackling Claude in a blur in the foyer. He laughed and took off chasing the three boys moments later. Gwen stood back, shaking her head and giggling at them.

"Hey," Danny said as he came into the room.

A shyness fell over Gwen. "Hey," she repeated softly. Danny stepped forward, closing the gap between them and reached for her hand. He glanced in the direction Claude had gone as he touched her.

"About last night," he began.

Gwen shook her head to cut him off. "Don't." Danny nodded and dropped her hand. He stepped back from her as they heard Claude approaching.

"Do you mind if we stay awhile?" Claude asked Gwen. "The boys want me to play video games with them."

Three hours later, Claude was losing to Gwen playing NHL 12. Danny's boys laughed at him and the youngest, Cameron and the oldest, Caelan, sat on either side of Gwen. "Traitor," Claude said to Caelan as he gave Gwen tips on the game.

"Pizzas here," Danny called up the stairs to them. The three Briere boys ran from the room and down the stairs and Gwen giggled at them. Claude paused the game.

"Alone at last," Claude said with a grin. He moved next to Gwen and pulled her to him for a kiss. She swatted at him as she pushed him off with a laugh. She grabbed her controller and unpaused the game. She shot the puck and scored. She stood and did a victory dance. Claude groaned. "I won't live this down, will I?"

Gwen grinned and sat on Claude's lap. "Tell me I'm the best ever and that you can't live without me."

"You're fucking hot, I want to kiss you, do dirty things with you in the first private place I can find even if its the closet in my old bedroom here. You are the best ever and I can't live without you."

"Has anyone ever told you that you really know how to flatter a girl?"

He smiled. "Je suis assez impressionnant." (I'm pretty awesome)

Gwen groaned. "French too? You are a man of many talents Mr. Giroux." He kissed her and she wrapped her arms around him.

Behind them, Danny cleared his throat. They broke apart and Gwen scrambled off of Claude, her cheeks turning crimson. "There's enough food if you want to stay," Danny said, a hard edge to his voice. Claude stood from the couch and followed Gwen out of the room. He slapped Danny on the back.

"Think we'll get out of here," he said with a wink. Danny clenched his hands at his side and nodded at Claude.

Gwen glanced at the clock on their way downstairs. "Oh! I have to get home."

Claude frowned. "Right now?"

"I'm sorry, Claude. I didn't realize what time it was. I really have to go."

"Will you come to our game on Wednesday?"

"I can't, I'm sorry."

"If you're working I can get Danny to talk to your boss. She never says no to him."

"It's not work, I just have plans," she offered vaguely. "But next week?" She waved to Danny's boys and called out goodbye to them. She gave Danny a kiss on the cheek, thanking him for having them over. She kissed Claude. "I'll call you tomorrow?" She darted out the door and into her car and pulled away.

Danny and Claude watched from the door. "What the hell just happened?" Claude moaned.