Blue Eyes Don't Lie

Angels we have heard on high,
Singing sweetly through the night,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their brave delight

~ Sixpence None The Richer
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To be honest, I definitely never thought that Hayden would come for me, and much less that she'd apologize. It just didn't seem like something her stubborn self would do. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy she did, it was just unexpected.

The way she'd acted when Flower and I met her and Karen at the Chinese restaurant made it clear that something was bugging her, and that it was most likely something I'd done. It caught me off guard, and so I kept quiet during the duration of the dinner.

I tried to confront Hayden about why she was ignoring me, and ended up saying: 'It's not like I don't have other things to do that are more important'. Which did not come out the way I'd planned. I really don't blame her for becoming pissed and hitting me with her bag, but Hayden had drove off before I mentally recovered enough to apologize.

It also wasn't until Flower later asked how it was going that I remembered the bet I had with Max. I had been more focused on only Hayden instead of trying to win the bet, but moved it to the front of my mind. I have to remember it. I can't lose.
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To be honest, I was surprised when Jordan called me the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. I'd expected him to ignore me for a couple of days at least, but he didn't. He didn't even ask me out when he called, he only wanted to talk. So we pretty much had dates over the phone, I didn't count them as dates though, but they were better than nothing.

Some of you may ask where my earlier resentment toward him went, and I don't really know. I believe it disappeared some time after the third 'phone date' and it hasn't resurfaced since, so I think it's gone for forever. But to my defence, it's impossible to not like Jordan once you actually get to know him. He's funny, nice and just an all-'round great guy.

We also told eachother stories about our families. They were completely different to say the least. While Jordan told me about his brothers and things they'd done as kids, I told him about what happened every time it was someone's birthday and we went out to a restaurant. Our parents spent half the time quietly arguing about one thing or another while Will and I sat silent, picking at our food. The other half was spent with our mother flirting with the waitress, male or female all depended on how much wine she'd had, while Dad, Will and I acted as if nothing was happening. I very much preferred his family stories.

I also got to hear a lot about Jordan's nephew Parker and even though I haven't seen the little boy, I just knew that he'd be adorable. I have seen what his dad and uncles look like. I kinda got the feeling that Jordan was the favourite uncle, and couldn't help but think that it was probably a good thing that I'd never seen the two of them together. There is only so much a girl can handle before her heart completely melts. My situation wasn't improved when Jordan called on December 11th and told me that Parker now had a little brother, Levi.

The more days that passed with me talking to Jordan, it got closer and closer to Christmas. And I decided that I was not going to buy my mother a gift this year. Wanna know why? She still hasn't picked up that damned cat of hers! The last time she called was after Kit had been at my place for a week. Other than that, I haven't heard anything from her after she texted me just to say that she was home.
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On December 14th, Karen and I had agreed on going Christmas shopping while there was still something good left in the stores. After only an hour had passed, we took a break. The Christmas rush was full on-going and weaving between people while trying not to knock anything over quickly got tiring. Karen had found a small, cosy café and we'd just ordered our coffee when someone called my name. I turned, trying to figure out where it came from and saw Jordan waving from over at a table. I gave a small wave back and nudged Karen.

"I think I've found us a table."

Looking over in the direction I was pointing, she waved to Jordan as well and then smirked while looking at me. "How do you call your loverboy?"

I glared at her. It doesn't matter how many times I tell her, her quoting Dirty Dancing is not funny. Especially that song. Our coffee got called and we made our way over to Jordan's table. Something quite unusual was the fact that he was alone since I normally saw him with at least one of his team mates.

"Hey, Jordo. Never seen you anywhere on your own before," Karen voiced my thoughts as she sat down on a poofy chair, leaving one seat free between her and Jordan.

"Nice to see you too, Kare," he teased back, smiling. When I sat down between him, Jordan turned to me with a big grin. Next he kissed me on the cheek and from the corner of my eye I saw Karen gaping while sending me a meaningful look. "How are you, Hayd?"

I couldn't help but grin back. He just looked so cute with blond locks crazily sticking out from underneath his toque and a big cheesy grin on his face. "I'm great. Sorry to say this, Jordy, but I have to agree with what Kare said. I've only seen you without at least one team mate once before."

Jordan grimaced at me but didn't say anything about it. "So, you girls out Christmas shopping?" He asked instead and leaned back in his chair, but still kept one long arm resting on the back of mine.

"Yup, we had to come here to take a break after an hour, though," Karen chirped and took a big swallow of her coffee, only to almost spit it out when she burned her mouth.

Taking a napkin and holding it out to her, I added: "Yeah, people are relentless this time of the year. But we're pretty much finished, I think. I only have to get something for Karen and then I'm done."

It was true, it didn't take longer than around an hour to get pretty much everything. That could have also been because we were running everywhere to get the last of the best stuff. I'd always thought that the rushes started closer to Christmas, but apparently not. I had even gotten something for Jordan. Since I wasn't too experienced when it came to buying gifts for guys that weren't Will or my dad because of my lack of history concerning serious relationships, I had to ask Karen for advice. But, in the end, I managed to find something for him. The question now was when I should give it to him.

"You're lucky, then," he told us and motioned to the two bags on the chair to his left, "this is how many gifts I've gotten so far. I've bought something for Jared and Eric, and now I don't know what to get for the remaining seven of them."

"I'll help you," I immediately said and mentally face-palmed at how eager and desperate I sounded. Jordan didn't seem to mind and sent me another dazzling grin.

"That'd be awesome! Thanks, babe."

Since we were all done with our coffees, Jordan excused himself to go to the bathroom and as soon as he was out of hearing and sight, Karen made a noise and stared at me.

"Weren't you against everything to do with Jordan Staal and feelings? 'Cause that's not what it seems like."

"Well, enlighten me then. What does it seem like?"

Giving me a look that said that she thought I was lacking something mentally, Karen talked as if she was speaking with a toddler. "That he's in love with you. And that you're well on your way there yourself."

"What? What makes you think that?" I spluttered and fought the heat rising in my cheeks. "That's just... it's just..." I then trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Karen seemed to know though, but kept her mouth shut as Jordan made his way back.

"You ready to go?" He asked and pulled on his jacket. Standing up, Karen and I did the same.

"Sure you don't want to tag along?" Jordan questioned as we were about to split up outside the café.

Karen shook her head and the two seemed to exchange some kind of look before she gave me a look that said that they'd talk about it later, and then waved and walked toward the parked car. Jordan held out his arm to me and I hooked my own through it.

"Where should we go first?"

Shrugging at my question Jordan looked down at me. "Where do you think we should go?"

"Who do you have left to shop for?"

Jordan stopped, forcing me to do the same, and started ticking family members off his fingers. "Mom and Dad, Tanya, Parker, Levi, Marc and Lindsay. But I was thinking about getting something for Marc and Lindsay to share since it's their first Christmas married."

I nodded. "Okay, sounds good. What about if we start with your parents and Tanya?"

My suggestion was approved and we started toward the mall. I have to say, I was pretty nervous about this. And I had no idea what to help him with; choosing? Giving suggestions? Giving him a female outlook on things? It's not like I actually know any of his family members either.

First off, we went to the perfume and jewellery section of Macy's, where Jordan looked more than a little lost. I let go of his arm and walked over to the many bottles of perfume, Jordan following like puppy.

"Okay, since I don't know Tanya at all, and you seem to have no clue what to get her, I think we should go with a perfume. As long as it smells good, you can't really go wrong with it." I said and gestured to the bottles. "Since it's your brother's wife, you should at least have some information. Do you know if there are any smells she likes, for example a certain flower? And does your brother have any preferences?"

"I don't know. Guys don't really talk about that kinda stuff," he shrugged, and I knew that I would be doing most of the work.

"Haven't you ever talked about their anniversary? If Eric was getting her any flowers, and in that case, which kind?"

"Nope."

"Jesus. Does he ever talk about doing something special for her?" I was running out of questions that Jordan and his brothers could have discussed. That guys didn't talk about this kind of stuff like girls do, I knew, but I still found it hard to believe that they didn't even mention something about it to eachother. Especially now that two out of four were married.

"Alright, I guess we'll have to go blind with this," I sighed and picked up the closest perfume. "Time to start sniffing, then."
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"I don't think I'll ever smell anything but perfume from now on," Jordan complained as we finally walked out of the store, now with a small bag in tow.

"Oh, stop complaining! It's not that bad. Besides, we still have a lot of work to do. We have to find something for your parents, Marc and Lindsay, and for Parker and Levi. And I can tell you right now, the boys will be the easiest by far to find gifts for," I told him when we walked through the mall. "Therefore, we will buy their gifts last, and focus on your parents for now."

Jordan groaned and tilted his head back, but snapped it back up as I elbowed him in the ribs. "Come on, princess. Let's go."

Choosing a present for Linda and Henry wasn't too hard since the Staal boys had agreed on giving them a cruise over Valentines day. Jordan had been the one to go and actually do the purchase after they'd already come up with a destination. Getting something for Marc and Lindsay was almost as hard as getting something for Tanya. Since Jordan had been injured and unable to play, he hadn't been on to many road trips and hadn't been able to visit Marc's place in New York, he didn't know what they had already.

I had learned that Marc and Lindsay had just moved to a new place, and tried to think of something that would be fitting. In the end, Jordan ended up paying for new professional kitchen tools as well as a kitchenaid. I knew that you could never have to many of any of those.

During the time we'd walked around stores trying to come up with what to buy, Jordan had been noticed a few times. Some just looked over at him a couple of extra times while others, mostly parents and their kids, came up to us and asked for an autograph. I wasn't one of those who found the fans irritated, personally I found it adorable when Jordan interacted with the kids. While the children and most of their parents kept their attention on Jordan, some of them would glance over at me. It wasn't really hard to know what they were thinking, probably mostly along the lines of 'who's that?' and 'why is she with him?'. I wasn't very bothered, let them think what they wanted. What ever it was between me and Jordan, it wasn't any of their business.

As mentioned earlier, we left shopping for Parker and Levi to the end of our trip. Although pretty much everyone we saw in the toystore recognized Jordan, we were left alone after he signed another few autographs.

"I'm never going Christmas shopping again," he complained and sank down in a beanbag with the shopping bags, while I walked around browsing the shelves of toys.

"Stop being such a drama queen, Jordy. We only have the fun part left," I told him before leaving him to be able to look at the toys for the smaller children. Jordan had told me about how old Parker was, and I knew that Levi was only three days old, and so I knew where to look.

"Hayden! Wait up!" I could hear Jordan getting up from the beanbag, something that took two tries, and then his heavy footsteps.

"What does Parker like, Uncle Jordy? Is he a car guy, dinosaur guy, hockey guy, etc? " I asked when he caught up with me.

"Well, he actually likes books and hockey," he said with a quite proud grin.

"I guess he doesn't take after his uncle then," I teased. "We'll have to visit a few more shops for that, but we'll be able to find something for little Levi here."

And without checking to see if he'd follow, I walked down the shelves toward the baby section. There I picked out a very plush, stuffed penguin and a really soft blanket that could be used in the crib and on the floor when Levi was older. Once I showed the things to Jordan he loved the penguin but was concerned if the two items would be enough. I knew that was what he thought before he even opened his mouth.

"Don't worry, Jordan. First off, Levi will be two weeks old at Christmas, it's not like he can judge you. Second, it's the thought that counts. Otherwise you could have just bought him a bunch of expensive stuff that wouldn't mean anything. And lastly, have you seen how cute this thing is?" I held up the penguin in front of my face.

"How did you do that? Can you read minds or something?" Jordan asked.

"It was written all over your face, sweetheart," I smiled, got up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
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It took another hour before we were completely finished. I helped Jordan pick out a few books and Pens paraphernalia, and barely remembered to get something for Karen. Instead of me calling Karen to pick me up, Jordan offered to give me a ride home. When he asked for directions I realized that this would be the first time he'd see where I lived, not that I knew anything about his place either, but still.

Jordan cut the engine once we were outside my building, leaving us in silence. After a minute, he was the one to break it. "Thank you for helping me out today. I definitely couldn't have done it without you."

I blushed slightly, whether it was from his complimenting words or the emotion in his voice. "I'm glad to be of help. I had a really good time and, if we don't see eachother before Christmas, I hope everyone enjoys their gifts." I said and met his eyes for the first time since we got inside the car. And I knew why I hadn't.

Jordan's blue eyes drew me in, erasing pretty much every sensible thought in my head until all I could think about was him. For the first time I actually looked at him, studied his features. Everything from the blue eyes to the dimpled chin, and I had a hard time believing that he wanted to spend time with me. Jordan was one of those guys that could probably have any girl he set his eyes on, but still he spent his time with me.

Another thing I couldn't believe was how fast I'd trusted him. As I've mentioned, I've never had many relationships, and when I had one, it took some time before I let him in on my strange mother, re-married father and the brother I rarely see. But somehow Jordan managed to get dragged into it right away.

I was drawn out of my thoughts as Jordan placed his hand on my cheek, and without looking away from my eyes, his lips descended upon mine. Instinctively my arms reacted and one wrapped around the back of his neck while my other hand grabbed onto the collar of his jacket. Jordan traced my bottom lip with the tip of his tongue and I parted my lips, allowing him to sweep his tongue over the roof of my mouth.

Breaking away, Jordan leaned his forehead to mine, both of us keeping our eyes closed.

"Sorry 'bout that. Next time I won't wait as long."

"Don't worry. Neither will I," I grinned before kissing him again.