Inevitable

Nazem reached for the bottled water and took a few gulps. He sighed, feeling empty as he watched his teammates play the white and orange Flyers. He should have been out there. He didn't want to miss a game--especially for such a stupid reason. Yet there he sat, in the press box, with his eight hundred dollar suit on. Beside Matt.

They were the only two that had been scratched. It was embarrassing for both of them. The media was not aware of what had happened. Only that Nazem suddenly caught the flu and Matt was day-to-day with an upper-body. That was all the outside world knew. However, the locker room was disrupted because of everything. It was not Leafs vs Everyone Else, but rather teammate vs teammate.

Naz sighed as Bozie took the faceoff in the middle of the second period. Even with Matt beside him, it felt like he was alone. He may have physically been there, but it didn't feel like it. Normally they'd be cracking jokes, talking shit, and enjoying a best friend's company. But there was dead silence.

Until Matt spoke. "Take it back."

Naz blinked and glanced to his right, confused. "What?"

"Say you regret it," he clarified, with his arms crossed. "Tell me that you regret doing it."

Nazem sighed uncomfortably. "I never meant to hurt you, alright? Shit. I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy and--"

"But you'd do it to your best friend? You wouldn't sleep with Lucic's girlfriend but you'd sleep with mine?" he interrupted.

"No..I.." he rubbed his head. "Fuck, man."

"Yeah." Matt said, looking forward.

There was a long pause. "Can you just let me try to explain, at least?"

"You already explained."

"No," Naz shook his head. "I want to actually say what really happened. Not the summary, not the rules, just how I feel. As stupid as it sounds, just listen. Let me explain, and you can't talk until I finish, okay?"

Fratts bit his lip, wondering why he was even considering it. He figured he'd might as well let him do it so he could laugh it off after. "Fine."

He exhaled. "When we first started hanging out, it was cool, y'know? We became brothers. You were the brother that I always wanted and you trusted me and I trusted you, and it was awesome. And then, I blew it all away.. One thing happened, and then bad things kept piling on top and before I knew it, I was in too deep. God, I hated myself so much whenever I looked at you, because you had no idea. You didn't know what I was doing behind your back and I didn't have the balls to admit it."

Matt loosened up a bit, and continued listening. It was a confession that he wanted to hear, no matter how much it pissed him off.

"Literally nothing I say will be enough to make you forgive me. And I get that." Naz looked at him. "I understand that. Our friendship will never be the same all because I fucked up. It just really, really fucking sucks that I lost you. I mean, you probably think that I'm lying and don't give a shit, but that's far from the truth. The guilt ate me alive, Matt. I cared. My actions speak louder than my words, but don't doubt that. I lost the only true friend that I ever had. And it sucks."

Nazem felt a knot in his stomach. He let out a quiet sigh and looked down at his lap. "I do regret doing that behind your back. When it was that early..before I developed feelings, or whatever, I could have stopped. It makes no sense that I didn't. I know you think that I have no respect for you. I know. But you're wrong, because, I look up to you."

Matt furrowed his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to question that but closed it after remembering his promise.

"You kinda broke me out of my shell, you know? I didn't know where I was going or what I was doing, but you showed me the big picture and taught me how to be a pro. You taught me what the media likes to hear, what place has the best suits, what ties go with what, and you showed me around the city first. You knew how to handle situations in such a calm but certain way. I dunno. I guess I really envy you." he said quietly.

Nazem was so disgusted with himself at the moment. He ruined something so special all because of a girl.

"All I can do is say sorry. I'm sorry for fucking up. I'm sorry for sleeping with her. I'm sorry for lying. I'm not asking you to forgive me, because that's impossible, but.. I just hope we can be teammates again. Treat each other the same here. For the team's sake. You can hate me all you want after."

Matt stayed very quiet for the next minute. Neither said anything, they just looked down at the two teams playing.

Fratts rubbed his temples. "Okay."

Naz glanced at him. "Okay?"

He nodded slowly, not looking at him. "Okay."

"At the teammates thing?"

"At everything," he sighed. He didn't bother to go further, he just left it at that. He meant that he understood him.

They both stared at each other. Nazem with hopeful, confused eyes, and Matt with daring and certain eyes. Then Matt added, "You love her."

His first thought was to lie. He quickly shook that off. There was no way he would start with that again. "Yeah.."

He nodded. "Are you going to go back to her?"

"I will stop," Nazem replied right away. "I'll get over her. I'm not going to do that again."

Matt sighed. "I don't want you to let go of something that could have potential."

"But she was this huge wedge between us." Nazem said, feeling his stomach churn with those words. He wanted her so desperately but he was not willing to choose between her and him.

He bit the inside of his cheek. He didn't love Kaitlynn. He really liked her, and hoped that their relationship would progress, but after finding out that she cheated, all those feelings were sent out the window. It would bother him if Nazem went back to her, but he would never control that.

"You can do whatever you want," Fratts told him. "I still," he exhaled. "Want you to be happy. And if she does that, then go for it."

Naz smiled weakly. He would not go back to her, however, hearing those words from him made him happy. As the buzzer sounded off, and the teams were tied at 1-1, they both stood up to visit the locker room during intermission.

"Oh, and Nazzy?" Matt said as they walked side by side down the hall.

"Yeah?"

He glanced at the red tie that hung down his dark blue dress shirt. He laughed lightly and put his hand around his shoulder, "Don't ever match those colours again."

**

JvR took a deep breath of the fresh air. "Do you smell it?"

Dion, Joffrey, Bozie, Phil, Matt, Nazem, Jake, and Cody copied his moves. They all stood by the big rocks on the grassy surface. Below them were the huge waves splashing against the cliff. They all had their heads held high and their eyes closed.

Bozie peaked one eye open. "I don't smell anything."

JvR inhaled again and smiled widely to himself. "The sea."

"See? I bet pigeons see us as the perfect shit targets right now." Dion murmured.

They all laughed but James just stood in awe, taking in the beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean. "Why don't I live here?"

"Alright, buddy, don't get too close," Joffrey chuckled putting his hand on his teammate's shoulder.

"Don't you guys just love this?" JvR said to them after turning around.

"It is pretty great." Matt and Nazem nodded in agreement and took a gulp from their champagne glasses.

The sky was clear blue. Not a single cloud was above them in their view. There was a light wind, but it matched the Summer air. Newfoundland really knew how to tug on their heart strings, especially for JvR on such an important day. His wedding day.

He was exchanging rings with the love of his life in less than half an hour. The guests had all arrived and they were enjoying snacks and drinks on the white decorated tables outside. There were flowers everywhere and the expensive wedding planner had done a terrific job.

The Philadelphia Flyers, Scott Hartnell and Claude Giroux were two of the many former teammates James had invited along. The entire Leafs roster was also there, along with Randy and Burkie. It was a big guest list.

As the boys wandered about to the snack tables, they filled mini plates up. Phil stuffed his mouth with the chocolate drizzled balls, while Tyler and Naz shoved their faces into the slices of pie.

"He's so nervous. Look at him," Tyler nudged Naz. They glanced at JvR from the distance, and could clearly see his shaking legs while he tried to hold a smile on his face.

"Poor guy," Kess laughed.

Naz chuckled. "Do you see any girls you like, Phil?"

Tyler shot him a look. "Stella and I are the only girls he likes." he referred to Phil's dog, and then realized what he said. "Wait----"

Nazem cracked into a laugh. "Alright then."

He rolled his eyes. "How you holding up, though?" Bozie said after, and they all easily knew what he was talking about.

He sighed. "Well I haven't seen her yet today. I mean, it's been almost 4 months. She's forgotten about me, and I the same for her."

Tyler nodded his head and sipped his drink. He didn't believe him one bit. He knew his friend well enough. "That's good.."

Phil spoke, "I think I see her."

They all followed the direction of his eyes and landed on the one and only Kaitlynn Connors. The 23 year old architect-to-be, the sister of the bride, the sneaky play maker, the woman that he went through so much with in so little time. She was wearing a light purple dress with white classy heels and her hair half curled, half up. She looked beautiful, just the way Nazem remembered her.

He sighed. "That's her."

Tyler glanced at him, and he smirked. "You're going to end up talking to her," he said. "It's inevitable. "

Nazem swallowed at those very familiar words. Later, the entire crowd erupted in cheers when James and Claire officially became husband and wife. The ceremony was done just right, and the newly wedded couple, finally, drove off.

All that was left were the crying mothers, the happy friends, and the hockey players trying to score with the bridesmaids. Nazem put both of his hands in his dress pants pockets and walked back to the spot they were standing earlier, overlooking the water.

"When I was little," a very familiar voice started behind him. He didn't have to look back to see who it was. "My dad took us to Niagara Falls. We went on that tourist boat that goes close to the water fall. I was soaking wet after, but I thought it was awesome. It's all natural. I'm just in love with oceans and lakes and waterfalls."

A tiny smile peaked across his face. "Maybe you're meant to be a mermaid."

Kate chuckled quietly behind him. "Maybe."

He turned around and faced her. He sighed. "Congratulations. I know Claire will keep him happy."

"And congrats to you too, he's your teammate." she smiled.

He licked his lips and looked past her. He could see families leaving to their cars in the distance, Gards and Cody talking, and Matt. Matt was standing in front of a girl with her arms crossed, and they were laughing. He didn't know why, but he could see by their actions that they were getting along. Nazem smiled.

"How've you been?" Kate asked him.

"Not bad," he replied. "How about you?"

"Same," she shrugged and crossed her arms at the chilly wind. It was almost 5 in the afternoon and the darker shaded clouds had arrived.

He eyed her carefully. "Here," he took off his black suit jacket and reached around her.

She tugged it closer. "Thanks, Nazem. You didn't have to."

He nodded. "Do you wanna sit?" He suggested, glancing at the big, sturdy rocks.

"Yeah, that would be nice," Kate spoke. They both took a seat on the same one and Nazem took a long blade of grass out of the ground.

He sighed, fiddling with it in his hands.

"Time really flew by," she said quietly.

"It did." he responded.

They stayed quiet for a moment and listened to the waves. She bit her bottom lip and looked at him to her left, "I wish you called."

He stared at her and tied the blade with his fingers. "What do you mean?"

"When all that stuff went down," she explained. "Tyler said to give you some time to think, and so I did. And then you never called or talked to me. And I just felt like...it was a really sad way to end things."

Naz looked down at his lap again and then at her hazel eyes. "Matt and I fixed our problems. I didn't want to choose one or the other. And Matt assured me that it would be fine if we talked again. But I just didn't know. And then the playoffs rolled around, and I never had time. I was busy and or in Boston. And then after, it had been like a month, so I thought you just didn't care anymore. So I left it alone."

"Oh," she said blankly. There was a pause. "I did care."

He flicked the grass as far as it went in front of him. "Do you still?"

"Do you?" she let her knee brush against his, but not in a seductive way like she used to. It was innocent.

He looked at her and looked at her. He'd experienced so much with her. So many good things and so many terrible things. But after everything, there was no denying that Kate had found a place in his heart. After all, it was inevitable from the beginning.

"You already know.." he said, and added, "It didn't end like that. It's not over."

She smiled weakly. They both leaned in and pressed their lips together, again, and again. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. They both felt at peace. For the first time ever, they felt like they were meant to be there.

Nazem curiously glanced over his shoulder, making her look back as well at where the party was held. Matt was still with the brunette from earlier, Dion and Elisha were chatting with Reims and April, and Claude Grioux was talking to a blonde haired girl wearing a red dress.

"Do you think they're hitting it off?" Kate asked, looking at them. He was arguably close to her and even from the distance she could tell she was blushing. She knew Claude because of Claire, but did not recognize the woman. She assumed it must have been a friend of JvR's as well.

Nazem's eyes widened. "That's Phil's sister."

End