Try to Live

Andrew sat on his couch, eating an apple as Alice walked through the door. He glanced up at her and immediately jumped up; her eyes were watery with red streaks on her cheeks and make up smeared. Andy didn't know this, but Alice had used some of Lindsey's make up to make it look like she had been crying. She was faking the break up with Jake.

"Oh my god, what's wrong Alice?"

She sniffled and rubbed the back of her hand to her nose. "Jake and I..." she sighed awfully dramatic and looked away from Andrew's eyes. It wasn't easy lying to him.

"Alice," he sighed, grabbing her wrists and pulled her to his chest, rocking them back and forth. He rubbed her back as she 'cried' in his chest. "We can... we can watch Pitch Perfect and eat ice cream all night and paint each other's nails."

She laughed and pulled away, wiping her eyes. "That sounds great. Let me freshen up, ten minutes."

He nodded and she started to her room. "Alice!" He called out to her. She turned around and waited while Andrew took slow strides to her.

"Yes?"

He pulled her in for another hug. He took in a long breath through his nose and enjoying the smell of her tangerine shampoo. "Never mind," he whispered, pulling away and giving her a long kiss on her cheek. He enjoyed the feeling of her warm, soft skin under his moist lips.



Alice sighed, finally getting sick of reading her book and being cooped up in her room. Andrew had told her that she just had to stay in her room. When she asked why he just responded with "because". She needed to tell the Hawks they had to take acting classes. Or at least come up with better excuses.

She threw her feet over the side and hopped off to go out in the hall. She opened the door a crack and peeked out. Andrew was standing at the kitchen island, but Alice couldn't exactly see what he was doing. Her feet pattered on the hardwood floor as she made her way towards Andrew. He looked up and quickly ran up to her, stopping her in her tracks.

"You can't come in here."

"Why not?" She whined, trying to see what he was working on. She caught look of blue frosting that was spread on a cake. "A cake!" The woman squealed and forcefully pushed him out of the way. Her face brightened and she drug a finger across the icing and licked it. "You made a cake for me?"

Andrew was sick of lying, he wished he could just say he loved her again. "Of course, why wouldn't I make you one?" He slung his arm around her shoulders. "It's for your birthday, obviously."

"Aw thanks, Andy." She surprised him by wrapping both arms around his neck. As she pulled away she pecked his cheek. "This is amazing. You are really good at making cake I say we should-"

"No," he laughed and grabbed a bowl half full of the blue frosting. "You can have this to tie you over."

Alice grabbed a spoon and dug in. After a couple bites she looked up at him and smiled. "This is that frosting recipe I showed you last year isn't it?"

Andrew blushed and looked away from her. He was embarrassed that she noticed. "Well yeah. It's delicious."

She snorted and lightly punched him in the shoulder. He gasped, digging a finger in the frosting and smeared some on her nose. He wished he could have taken a picture of her reaction, it was that funny. Alice quickly reacted, wiping some all over his face.

He shook his head, getting a glint in his eyes. She squealed and ran away from him and into the living room. Andrew followed her, now armed with his own bowl.

"Don't think I'm not going to get you!"

She stuck her tongue out at him and backed away from him. As she expected, he took steps closer and closer to her, but she didn't exactly plot out how she was going to escape. Her back pressed against the wall and he closed in on her. He now stood directly in front of her, his brown eyes staring into her blue ones. They could feel each other's breath on them as they decided who was going to make the first move.

Alice quickly took a handful and smacked it on Andrew's forehead. He laughed out loud for a second, then quickly did the same to her. She thankfully had her hair in a bun. They started putting it on each other's faces. Andrew laughed and licked some off of his chin and nose. Soon they were both out and just standing there.

With their chests rising and falling, they occasionally brushed up against each other. Andrew took a step closer, looking down at Alice. He leaned down, ready to once again feel his lips on hers. Someone knocked on the door. Again. Andrew groaned stepping away from Alice. Opening the door he cursed.

"Patrick."

He smiled, walking into the dirty apartment. He took in his surroundings; frosting thrown all over with Alice standing in a corner with the icing over her face. That's when he noticed Andrew had icing on his face too, and his smile turned into a smirk. "What the hell were you two doing in here?"

"Uh..."

"You showed her the cake? Dude!" Patrick exclaimed examining it, making sure no one took a bite out of it.

"Well I'm going to clean up," Alice trailed off, quickly exiting to her room.

Andrew was about to lash out at Patrick. He completely ruined his chance right there. "I was about to kiss her!"

"Oh..." Patrick looked everywhere except for the angry little man in front of him. "Sorry?"



The boys had just played Nashville and won 5-4 in overtime. Now they only had five games until the playoffs start. Alice and Lindsey walked into the locker room once the media had left. Bryan Bickell and Corey Crawford were the first ones to come up to Alice. Lindsey went right to Jon to congratulate him.

"Hey birthday girl!" Corey poked the sides of Alice before engulfing her in a sweaty hug. She laughed and pulled apart, scrunching up her nose.

"I don't care how many times I come in here, I'll never get used to that smell." Both of them laughed, and Bryan hugged her for even longer. "Thanks guys."

Patrick Kane walked up to her with a large box and a card on top of it in his hands. He handed the card over first, which Alice read. It was signed by every guy on the team, and even Coach Q. Then, he gave her the box. She opened and gasped loudly.

"You guys got me a Ben Roethlisberger jersey?" She squealed holding it up against her body. She began jumping up and down when she saw two tickets to a Pirates game also. Alice squeezed Patrick tight as she continually gave her thanks. "I love you guy so much!"

The guys shouted their happy birthdays to her as they left. They had a game tomorrow, so sadly there was no late night party or anything for Alice, but she didn't mind at all.

Andrew was one of the last ones out of the locker room, along with Jon and Lindsey. Alice was planning on getting a ride from Lindsey, since she did drive here with her. Andrew walked up to Alice with a wide smile on his face.

"You're going to ride home with me," he stated, getting a confused look from the woman. He just simply grabbed her arm and basically drug her out. She shouted her goodbyes to the couple left.

The drive home was silent. Alice didn't know why exactly Andrew had told her she was going home with him, but she just guessed it was because they lived together and it would be silly to make Lindsey drive there too.

Andrew held the door open for her and she toed off her shoes and tossed her purse on the kitchen island. When she turned around Andrew put his hands on her shoulders.

"Stay right here." He smiled and walked down the hall to her bedroom. The brunette opened the door and vanished for a few minutes before he came back out, his hands behind his back. She heard a small meow and she gasped for about the one hundredth time that day. He moved his right arm, and in the palm was a tiny, little kitten.

"Andrew!" She leaped at him before taking the kitten from his hand. She cooed and kissed the cat's head. "This is perfect. Thanks so much, it's the best present I've ever gotten."

A large smile found it's way to Andrew's face. Seeing her so happy made him even happier. "What are you going to name it?"

"Is it a boy or girl?"

"Uh..." he laughed nervously and began stroking it. The fur was soft and silky beneath his fingers. "I think they said it was a boy."

Her smiled got even wider, if possible, and it was like a lightbulb went off in her head. "I'm going to name him Stitch."

Andrew laughed and shook his head. "You and your Disney movies."

"You know I'm a sucker for them." Alice picked Stitch up and held him close to her chest. She lightly grabbed the attached claw, tugging it off the jersey she sported. "Holy shit, he looks like a leopard!"

Andrew threw his head back in laughter and examined the new pet. "Yeah, they're called a Bengal Cat." He took Stitch and cradled him in his arms. The kitten was absolutely enjoying the attention he was getting.

"Aren't those really expensive?" Alice asked as she shedded the red jersey and tossed it on the dinning room table.

"Well he was only about $2,000."

"Shut up." With her eyes wide she walked back over to him. He was leaning against the back of the couch. "You're not serious, are you?"

Andrew shook his head. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, and the other held Stitch. They stayed like that for several minutes, until Stitch meowed from in between them. They both laughed and peeled themselves from each other. Handing Stitch back over to Alice, Andrew told her that the supplies for raising the kitten were in her room. She thanked him again before shutting her door for the night.