The Sake of the Show

“So,” Jonathan Toews fired a puck aimlessly down the ice, missing the empty net by at least three feet. He cursed under his breath a bit, playing it off with a light laugh as he turned to Corey. The goaltender flinched, knowing that this more than likely wasn’t going to be a hockey conversation. For the first time in his life, he’d give anything in his wallet for Jon to continue rambling about something hockey related.

“I went to lunch with Dina and Blair the other day,” Jon began slowly, peeking through Corey’s mask to discover traces of recognition in his face. Corey maintained his best poker face, trying his best not to roll his eyes at his Captain.

Or perhaps, since it was the lockout, the rules of respect did not apply. Either way, he didn’t feel like testing the current today. Instead, he pursed his lips. Picturing Jon sitting awkwardly at a table with two women was enough motivation for him to keep from rolling his eyes.

“That sounds like a blast,” He muttered sarcastically. It was nearly Christmas, and the last thing Corey could feel cheery about was the lack of Blair in his life. Since he’d last seen her before Thanksgiving, his life had been a summation of sympathies and moments spent contemplating whether or not he should call her. She had gone through with their fake break-up, telling all of their mutual friends that they were no longer a couple. However, Corey couldn’t help but feel that their friendship was also terminated.

“Blair mentioned you a few times.” Jon shrugged casually, poking at a stray puck with his stick casually. Corey eyed it suspiciously, as if it were a magic eight ball containing the answers to his life crises. “I really think you should give her a call, Crow. She’s really... torn up.”

“What?”

Jon shrugged, rolling his eyes dramatically. “Exactly what I said, she’s sad. I don’t know. I don’t know women. I just know Dina spends a lot of time with her and stuff. You should just talk to her, because I know that she won’t make the first move. Besides, if she mopes any longer Patrick’s going to kill you.”

“For fuck’s sakes!” Corey groaned at the mention of his blond enemy. “I could give a fuck less about him. He’s probably over the fucking moon that he can hone in on Blair now.”

Jon was speechless, his lips parted at the outburst Corey had just delivered. Unable to handle whatever reaction his Captain would dole him, Corey angrily skated off the ice, letting the door slam behind him. He continued to physically let out his frustrations once he got into the locker room, kicking several lockers so harshly that he surely left a dent. He threw around his pads angrily as he changed, not caring that his belongings were more than likely scattered all over the floor. They could sit there and rot, for all he cared.

He heard Jon moving behind him, but Jon didn’t really make an effort to cut the tension as he bustled around. After a few beats however, he cleared his throat, speaking in his usual rational tone. “Pat would never go for Blair, you seriously don’t have to worry about that. Get over this stupid bullshit with him and go for your girl. You’re being an ass right now, I’ve never seen you act like this.”

“Screw off. And she’s not my girl,” Corey grumbled moodily, wanting to point out the truth; Blair was never his girl, and to ever think she would be was simply just a pipe dream.

Entertaining these notions with Jonathan Toews of all people was infuriating him beyond belief. He slammed as many more things as he possibly could, before he hoisted his gym bag over his shoulder. As he made his exit, he was intercepted by a determined Jon.

“Listen, I’m only telling you this nicely because the rest of the guys are just going to give you shit. Man up, and talk to Blair. Okay? If Blair’s happy, Dina’s happy. If Dina’s happy, I’m happy. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” Jon demanded, glaring evenly at Corey.

Corey came to a realization; Jonathan Toews was threatening him. Threatening him. Had this not been such a dire situation, he probably would’ve begun hysterically laughing. The situation was a joke.

“Whatever, Jon.” He boldly pushed him out of the way, leaving the locker room with a huff. He maneuvered his way out of the building into the chilly air, his car parked a small distance down the street. He kicked at the pavement as he walked, still stewing over the intervention he’d just experienced. He didn’t mean to sound overly jaded, but he felt like most of his friends never had the agony of being friend zoned by someone of Blair’s caliber.

He hoped one day, Patrick would experience that emotion. He deserved it, anyway.



A few days before the Christmas holiday, the remaining Chicago Blackhawks were gathering to celebrate the Christmas festivities with one another. Patrick and Abby Sharp had renovated their home into a Winter Wonderland, the Sharps themselves decked out in ugly Christmas sweaters carrying an abundance of Christmas cheer.

“Hey, Abby!” Corey greeted her with a smile, grinning at the giggling baby in her arms as she let him into the house. Madelyn cooed at him, reaching out to try and grab onto his sweater. He politely evaded the grabby baby, moving into the kitchen to put the wine bottles in the Sharps’ wine cooler.

“Corey! My man!” Patrick clapped him on the back, a Santa hat on top of his dark, fluffy hair.

“Hey Pat, how’s it going?” Corey nodded, reaching into the fridge for a beer. When he turned around, he saw that Patrick was looking at him with an odd expression.

“Oh, it’s going fine.” The older man maneuvered around the island counter, approaching him gingerly. “You do know Blair is in there, right?”

Corey rolled his eyes. For some ungodly reason, it seemed that he had been morphed into the bad guy when- did he do something wrong? He wasn’t sure. He had not a single clue anymore what the hell happened. He just knew he and Blair were avoiding one another like the plague. He didn’t understand. She was so upset that they weren’t “friends”, yet...

“I figured.” He shrugged. “Am I supposed to leave?”

“No, I just wanted to clue you in.” Sharp chuckled. “I also heard you’re calling for Kaner’s head, and I want to get your word that you won’t start anything. It’s a Christmas party, for fuck’s sakes.”

“I’m not going to start a fight, Jesus Christ.” Corey grumbled, a pointed look on his face before he escaped the kitchen. He moved into the living area, where apparently Santa’s most prized elves had thrown up. Garland, little Christmas trinkets, fake snow, and stockings covered nearly every available inch. He’d never seen anything like it before, but it put him into the Christmas spirit. He felt less dorky wearing the Christmas sweater that Marcus had talked him into.

He heard Blair before he saw her, which was more painful than he expected. “Oh my god, shut up! You’re such a dork!”

When he finally saw her, he felt crushed and emotionally exhausted. She was wearing a pale pink sweater that was baggy on her in the cute kind of way that made him want to hug her again. It was covered in little snowflakes, and complimented the rosy pink flush on her cheeks. Never in his life was he ever so caught up by a girl, that he started noticing these ridiculous things.

Also being tangled up in the aura that was Blair, prevented him from noticing everyone else in the room. Among her presence was public enemy number one (Patrick Kane), Dina, Marcus, Jon, Andrew Shaw and his girlfriend, Niklas, Elina... and then public enemy number two. Adam Burish.

“Corey! My man!” Adam stood up, crossing the room to embrace him in a man hug. Corey stiffly returned the gesture, rolling his eyes at how grandeur Adam had to make everything. “I’m glad you could make it! Came down for the day since I’ve been staying with my family up in Madison. How’s it going?”

“It’s going great man.” He answered stiffly.

Adam leaned down, muttering in Corey’s ear. “Dude, heard about you and Blair. Come on, man. Get it together.”

“Adam! Can you grab me another glass of wine, please?” Blair called out, smiling at Adam as if he held the world on a string. She waved her empty wine glass at him, her steel grey eyes sparkling coyly. He patted Corey on the arm before he complied with her request, one of the least Adam-like activities he had witnessed.

Blair had made eye contact with him, and for the brief moment their eyes were connected he’d never felt so analyzed. Not a single fiber of her was smiling as she assessed him unblinkingly, before she snapped her attention back to Dina and Jon.

Well then.

The majority of the night, the two Swedes proved to be the most faithful friends. Both Marcus and Niklas chatted with him throughout the duration of the party, both of them seeming oblivious to the elephant in the Sharps’ living room. He supposed that whatever terrible deeds he did, his punishment was not a ticket to hell, but having to listen to Blair’s laugh the entire evening.

He was four beers in when Blair finally got up to fetch her own glass of wine. He bolted from his seat, ignoring the stares as he followed her into the kitchen. Her strides were no match for his, and he easily blocked her path to the wine chiller.

“Blair, we need to talk.”

“No, we don’t need to talk. Your silence has spoken enough, Corey.” She hissed quietly, attempting to keep their conversation private. “You’ve made it perfectly clear that I’m the only one who gives a bloody damn about this friendship. I’m sick of you dodging me and avoiding my texts and calls. I thought you were a bit more mature than some of the other guys, but I was wrong.”

She knew exactly how to make her words cut the deepest. “B, it’s not-”

“Don’t call me B. My friends call me B, you can call me Blair. We aren’t friends. We used to be friends, before when you used to actually acknowledge me and have fun with me. My feelings are fucking hurt,” She spat. He’d never heard her swear, let alone with such malice. It made his insides turn to ice. “If you had a problem with what was going on between us, why didn’t you say something? Instead, you just dropped me like a hot potato. It hurts to be so insignificant to someone-”

“I didn’t have a problem, Blair. Ever think I was confused? Cause you were blurring a hell of a lot of lines. I never know where I stand with you. I watch you flirt and cuddle up to Patrick and Adam-”

“Stop bringing up Patrick! Or Adam, for that matter! They have nothing to do with this, Corey! Bloody hell, you’re too hell bent on competing with everyone else that you can’t realize the real problem here.” She finally yelled out loud. He could hear the conversation in the other room drop to a low murmur, everyone surely tuning in to the brewing spectacle.

Blair felt like her heart was breaking down the middle as all of the anger in her body boiled to the surface. She’d spent enough sleepless nights imagining her confrontation with Corey, and none of them included this current outburst that she was putting on display. She wanted nothing more than to just forget things and pretend that they’d never happened, but her feelings were too hurt. She was too bitter over the entire situation to just “let it go”.

“They have everything to do with it, Blair. I can’t play a mind game. You’re just as guilty as I am for making things weird between us. Do I even need to bring up that fucking kiss?”

Blair felt like she’d been slapped, and it was clear as day on her face as her jaw dropped. “I was drunk, thank god.”

“Good, great. I’m glad I know how you truly feel now.” Corey sneered.

Kane joined them in the kitchen, his brows knitted together in worry as he joined Blair’s side. “What the hell is going on in here?”

“Kaner, for once in your life, mind your own god damned business.” Corey snapped.

“No, I’m not going to mind my own business when I hear someone talking to my best friend like that.”

“Pat, it’s fine.” Blair waved him off warily, her eyes brimming with tears as Corey eyed her harshly. “I’m going to leave.”

“So you’re just going to walk away then?” Corey challenged. “You don’t make any sense.”

“Stop talking.” Blair growled. “I don’t owe you anything.”

“Quit putting words in my mouth. Jesus Christ. There’s no winning with you. Talking to you will get me nowhere. I’m just wasting my breath.” He chuckled darkly. However, he regretted the harsh statements the moment he said them. Blair’s tears finally slipped onto her cheeks as she shook her head, desperately willing them away.

“I hate you, Corey.” She choked out before spinning on her heel, storming out of the room. A minute later, he heard the front door slam resoundingly.

“You’ve been a fucking asshole lately, Crow. Get your shit together. I don’t know what your problem is, but you don’t talk to her like that. Blair doesn’t deserve that.”

“You’re not going to scold me, Kaner. Your not my fucking mom.” Corey brushed past him, their shoulders connecting roughly. Patrick easily seized his shoulder roughly, keeping him in the conversation. “Get your fucking hands off of me. Oh wait, you can’t keep your hands off of anyone.”

“Get over your insecurities, you clown. I’m not trying to get with Blair. She’s my best friend. Y’know, I actually care about her.” Patrick said as he stepped closer. Corey shoved him away angrily. “Touch me one more time and I’ll punch you.”

“Fucking bring it. I can’t take you seriously. And I refuse to get into a pissing match over who actually cares about Blair. You’re a child.” Corey informed him severely. He stormed out of the kitchen into the living room, where everyone was staring with wide eyes. Even Adam looked to be in awe of Corey’s actions.

No one expected the nice one to snap. Well, he was sick of being “puppy dog Corey” to just get pushed around by the other guys. He wasn’t going to let his obnoxious teammates use Blair as bait on him any longer.

Jon stood up, his serious, business-mode expression in place as he addressed the angry goaltender. “Just go cool off, man. Everything’s going to be fine. He’s just being defensive. Everything’ll get sorted out.”

“Yeah, okay Dr. Phil. Don’t worry, I was just leaving. Merry fucking Christmas.” Corey faked a smile for the people he didn’t despise, before slamming the front door. He instantly felt cooled down the moment he stepped outside, the hints of snow falling from the sky onto his face.

As he walked toward his car, he began to feel like the biggest ass on the planet. He couldn’t explain where his anger was coming from, but he was never the type of person who took pride in yelling at people. Especially Blair. Knowing he’d spoken to her that way absolutely crushed him. He could sleep at night knowing he put Patrick in his place, but Blair...

He spotted her car parked three spaces behind his, and he felt his heart beat quicken in his chest. He knew that’s where she had to be, sitting in her car. More than likely, she was waiting for it to warm up. The temperatures were beyond frigid for Chicago weather. As he passed her vehicle, he couldn’t help but peer into her car.

The blonde sat deadpanned, her wet cheeks illuminated in the soft glow of the street light. He felt the beer in his stomach swirling around, threatening to betray him and expel from his body. With each step he felt his heart throb painfully, mentally kicking himself for not doing something to make things better. Just like every other time, he just avoided her and hurried to his car.

Maybe that was why he didn’t deserve Blair Bailey.