Blue Eyes Don't Lie

'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No I won't give up

~ I Won't Give Up
________________________

Instead of our history repeating itself, Jordan called basically every day. If I was the one to call it was usually around dinner time since I hadn't quite gotten the hang of his new schedule after Jordan had been cleared to practise with the rest of the team. For a few days after our make-out session in his car, we only spoke through phone calls and text messages, and so when Jordan invited me over for dinner and to help him with his Christmas decorations, I was worried that things would be awkward.

But Jordan obviously didn't do uncomfortable since he greeted me with a kiss and a wide grin.

I was pleasantly surprised over the dinner. Something homecooked was definitely not expected as Jordan had told me about his clear lack of talent in the kitchen. Upon questioning if it was edible or not, jokingly of course, I was told that Mama Staal had guided him through it over the phone.

The night passed in a blur, what with all the wine that Max had apparently helped pick out, and I didn't really come to until I was underneath Jordan on the couch and his hand was cheating its way up to my bra below my shirt while he was working on quite the hickey on my neck. While this turn of events certainly wasn't unwelcome, it had been a while since I'd last slept with someone and was wondering if we might have been moving too fast. After all, our first real kiss had taken place just a few days earlier and we hadn't seen eachother since.

Any doubts I had were quickly blown out of my mind as Jordan used his arms to get up into a push-up position before getting on his knees to whip his shirt off, and all I could think about was 'biceps, biceps, biceps!'. Even if I would have thought about stopping Jordan from going from second base to a complete homerun, the sight of those arms definitely would have swayed me. It also didn't help that the rest of him was hot and that that in turn was making me hot.

Having made up my mind, I lifted Jordan's head from my neck, his eyes bluer than ever, and then grabbed the hand resting on my now bare ribs. My shirt must have gotten thrown away at one point or another.

"Do you want me to stop?" Jordan questioned with a slightly rougher voice than usual. The only way I answered was by getting off of the couch, still holding onto his hand, and then dragging him down the hall.

"No, just tell me where the hell your damn bedroom is."

We never even touched the Christmas decorations.
_________

I was the first one to wake up the next morning, Jordan's arm resting heavily over my waist and his breath against the back of my neck. A glance at the clock on the bedside table told me that it was closing in on nine in the morning. Carefully moving out from under Jordan's arm, I grabbed his t-shirt from the floor and pulled it on while leaving the bedroom. I also picked up the wine glasses from last night from the coffee table, catching sight of the decoration boxes as I went. We would have to take care of that later.

It felt strange, I had to admit that. Walking around in someone else's kitchen, wearing nothing more than a man's shirt. I knew that I had to stop overanalyzing shit, but it couldn't be helped. Where would we go from here? Nothing had ever been settled or even discussed about if we were even dating. Lost in thought, I didn't notice Jordan entering the kitchen and jumped as his arms wrapped around my waist.

"Good morning," he greeted and I didn't have to see his face to know that he was grinning.

"Morning."

Tightening his grip, Jordan nuzzled his face into my neck, the slight stubble scratching against my skin.

"You're quieter than usual."

"So, what? You think I talk a lot?" I asked and turned around in his arms to look at him. Jordan was wearing his normal, shit eating grin, the one that further deepens the dimple in his chin.

"'Think'? I know you do."

I poked my tongue out to which he retaliated with a kiss. Jordan had just placed me on top of the counter when the doorbell rang.

"Who the hell is that?"

Instead of answering, Jordan dropped his head onto my shoulder, hands still holding my hips. "Fuck."

"What?"

"I can't believe I forgot." Jordan lifted his head again and moved his hands to my cheeks, looking me in the eyes. "My parents are coming to stay here, and that's most likely them."

"How long are they staying?"

"Until after the Winter Classic. My brothers are flying in over Christmas too."

I nodded. Sure, I would have liked to know that Jordan's family was coming to Pittsburgh, but there was nothing to do about it now. "You gonna let your mom continue knocking, or are you going to let them in?"

"Good idea." Jordan lifted me back off the counter and I followed him into the hall. He was just about to open the front door when I stopped him.

"Could you at least wait until I'm in the bedroom? I'm not meeting your parents for the first time in just one of your shirts," I told him.

"You look pretty hot, though." Jordan grinned and kissed me on the cheek. "Go on, I'll wait until you've closed the door."

The second I closed the door behind me, I heard Jordan unlock and open the front door and greeting his parents. I couldn't hear what it was they talked about while I walked around the room collecting my clothes, but Jordan was most likely warning them about me being in the bedroom. It wasn't until I was standing there in my jeans, bra and boots that I remembered that my shirt was thrown away somewhere in the living room. Since I couldn't very well go look for it, I grabbed a clean shirt from Jordan's closet and slipped it on before walking into the hallway.

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous. I would be meeting Jordan's parents for the first time after I'd spent the night, also for the first time. Had he even mentioned me to them? He must have told his mother something since he had her help cooking dinner the night before, but I had no idea how much. It was just to suck it up and deal with it.

The conversation stopped the second I set my foot in the living room, and I hoped to God that Jordan had told them something that wouldn't make them think that I was some one night stand he'd picked up the night before. When Jordan saw me he stood up and walked over, still only wearing his underwear.

"Mom, Dad, this is Hayden. I've told you about her, remember?"

Linda Staal stayed seated for only a second before hurrying over and wrapping me in a hug.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, sweetie. You must have really made an impact on my son since he never has called me for cooking advice earlier," she said and winked at me as she pulled away. Henry grabbed me next and I was pulled into another hug.

"Yes, it's really nice to meet you, Hayden. As Linda said, you must be something really special."

I could feel my cheeks heating up and I looked up at Jordan, who was rubbing the back of his neck but I could see the pink on his cheeks.

"Jordan, go put some clothes on, it's in the middle of winter. We'll keep Hayden company, don't you worry," Linda ordered her son while dragging me to the couch by my hand. Jordan hesitated for just a second before sighing and listening to his mother.

Once I was seated between Linda and Henry on the couch, she turned to me. "Tell us a little about yourself, Hayden."

Wow, talk about being put on the spot, both of my... boyfriend's?... parents staring and waiting for my answer.

"Well, my full name is Hayden Mallory. Born September 4th, 1988 to Trina and Richard Mallory. My parents got divorced as soon as I turned eighteen, I mean literally as soon as I turned, and I have an older brother named Chris whom I barely talk to anymore. I've worked at a daycare since graduation and two of my students are the oldest Dupuis children..." I trailed off, not having any idea of what more I should say.

Linda smiled kindly and took one of my hands in hers. "No need to be nervous, sweetheart. We're just curious about you. As we said, Jordan seems to really like you."

I was about to open my mouth when the topic of our discussion returned, dressed in a long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Mom, play nice," he said but the teasing tone was obvious in his voice.

"Don't worry, I am," Linda responded and shoved him a little as he came close.

"How are you spending Christmas, Hayden?" Henry asked. It caught me off guard and made me realize that I didn't have any plans for the holidays and that it was too late to make any now. My father had his new family and Chris to spend his Christmas with, and they usually went to some cabin in Alaska, while Mom would most likely be spending her time with her boyfriend without her cat. Yeah, I was still bitter about and the cat seemed to be as well since it wasn't as mean as it had been before.

"I don't know, actually. I didn't remember to make any plans so I'll probably just spend it at home with my mother's cat. Why?"

"How long have the two of you known eachother?"

Instead of answering right away, I looked up at Jordan who'd been standing quietly behind the couch. Jordan didn't look at me though, and answered for me.

"We first met in early October. Why? What're you two planning?" He asked, looking between his parents.

"Why don't you join us for Christmas the day after tomorrow? I'm sure you heard that Jordan's brothers will be flying in, and I'm sure they'd love to meet you as well. After all, I've shared every detail Jordy gave me about you," Linda said.

Once again I was shocked speechless. They'd known me for what? Fifteen minutes? And now I was being invited to their Christmas celebration. I wasn't about to question it though, it would be nice to actually spend Christmas with a real family instead of my own kinda broken one.

"That would be amazing, thank you for asking. I just don't want to intrude-"

"Nonsense, we'd love to have you there. Right, boys?" Linda looked over at her husband and son.

"Yeah, 'course," Jordan agreed and gave me another kiss on the cheek.

"They're right, Hayden. Besides, now the boys have something new to tease Jordy over here about," Henry said and nodded over to Jordan, who had an expression of a grin mixed with a grimace.

"Great, this will be fun."