Horns Sound

Madeline's head rested lazily on Brandon's shoulder as his thumb traced small circles on her arm. The door bell buzzer rang on the wall and she jumped to answer it. “Who is it?” She asked as she held down the respond button.

“The only one of your boyfriend's friends that knows where you live.” Madeline held down the button to let him up and within a minute there was a knock on the door. Brandon looked down and realized his chest was still bare, and ran into Madeline's room to grab a t-shirt. Madeline didn't check before opening the door, and Evan ran toward their guest full speed and launched himself into him, knocking the wind out Andrew. He clenched at his stomach and wheezed.

“Sorry!” Madeline squeaked.

“Don't lie.” Shaw responded enveloping her in a hug.

“Break it up, break it up!” Brandon called as he exited Madeline's room in a Thundercats t-shirt. They separated and Madeline stuck her tongue out at him as she made her way back to the couch. Andrew casually walked over to the fridge and opened it searching for something to drink. Brandon took a seat next to her and placed his arm over the back of the couch.

“Mads, why don't you have beer?” Shaw asked, head still in the refrigerator.

“Because I can't buy it, dumb ass, and I mean that in the most endearing way possible.” He lobbed two juice boxes toward the couch, both ended up hitting Brandon's thigh. Shaw plopped himself down proudly on the recliner, and went to work on getting the straw into the juice box.

“From man to child in 4.5 seconds, maybe we should swap nicknames.” Brandon teased.

“Fuck off,” Andrew retorted, “you're still irresponsible. I tried calling you last night and your phone was off, stopped by your apartment no answer. You could've been dead for all I knew. Where the fuck were you?” Brandon's eyes flickered over to Madeline, who fumbled with her hands in her lap. “Oh...” Shaw looked taken aback, like he was still trying to piece together what happened.

“Why did you come over?” Brandon asked to break the silence. Andrew cleared his throat before he answered and placed his now empty Capri Sun on the end table.

“Coach Q wanted us to all come in before pre-game practice, something about bonding and not losing what we've got. Unless you have a suit all ready to go here, we should probably go so you can get your shit together.”

“Seriously?” His friend got up from the chair and clapped his hands together.

“Yep. Let's go.” Shaw rushed Brandon out of Madeline's apartment, after he haphazardly grabbed his belongings.

“I'll leave my car here, Mads, so you can drive to the game. Park in the player lot, I'll tell them you're coming. I love you.”

“I love you too?” She said to the closing door.

The boys had a solid two hours after the “stick together” pep talk from Coach Q. A small group of the guys, Shaw, Kane, Toews and Sharpie went out for pre-practice grub, that they'd all inevitably throw up later. While others went back home for a nap, like Brandon. He decided to go back to his own apartment and let Madeline settle down before she headed to the UC for their game against the Bruins.

With Brandon contently snoring in his bed, and Madeline curled up with a cup of chamomile tea, the ever rough and rowdy Shaw was left to share something that didn't belong to him. The gossip spread through the team like wildfire. Little Saad, no longer a virgin, it was too juicy a secret not to share. Everyone was fully prepared to give Saad shit when he showed up for practice. And Kaner was already on top of teasing Madeline, the delicate little flower had lost her petals.

“Hey, what were you and Brandon up to last night? No one was able to contact either of you until this morning. Timestamp 3:15pm”

“I heard that your neighbors filed a noise complaint last night. Timestamp 3:16pm”

“How many times did you guys have to change the sheets. Be honest. Timestamp 3:18pm”

“Brandon was practically glowing when he came in this morning. Timestamp 3:19pm”

“He won't talk though, blushes every time we bring you up. Timestamp 3:19pm”

“He's complaining about a pulled back muscle, what did you do to him? Timestamp 3:20pm”

“Said he needed some rest, went back to his place for a nap. Must've been a late night. Timestamp 3:21pm”

“Can't get Daft Punk's 'Up All Night To Get Lucky' out of his head. I wonder why.... Timestamp 3:22pm”

Madeline's phone was on silent so all of Kane's texts went unnoticed. Her day proceeded normally, as she slowly got ready for the game.

Showering was a must because hairspray still coated her hair from the night before. She emerged from the bathroom refreshed and ready to go. Madeline walked around her bedroom in her bra and panties looking for something to wear. Her favorite pair of black leggings easily slid over her pale legs, coupled with a heather grey tank top and a ratty Army t-shirt from her older brother. Her feet received a pair of no show argyle socks and toasty warm black fur lined UGG boots.
She took Evan for a walk and when they got back a package was shoved into her mailbox. When she brought it up to her apartment and opened it, she found a red Saad jersey with a note “I'd rather not have you rep another teammate's name on your back. Love, Brandon.” A smiled spread across her face, he remembered that the only jersey she had was Crawford's and he wanted her to wear his jersey. She slipped her t-shirt over her head and replaced it with her red Saad sweater.

Her clock beeped as the hour passed 6:00pm. “Shit!” Hastily, she let the box fall to the ground and ran through her apartment grabbing her coat and purse, giving Evan food and fresh water and then stealing Brandon's car keys from the table by her door.

Brandon had her up in the box reserved for the Wags even after she protested and insisted that they hated her. He wanted-- needed to know she was safe. He had an in with a few of the Wags, mainly Chaunette and Abby. They knew what to do incase she had a panic attack.

The entire time Madeline was getting ready, the team was ragging on Brandon left and right during practice. At first their comments took him off guard, “finally got it done, huh buddy?” as practice continued they got more blatant “he's got that post-sex look in his eyes.” Quickly Brandon pieced it together, Shaw said something about what he thought he had transpired between he and Madeline. Brandon didn't see the harm in the team making their own assumptions, they were finally off his back about the virgin thing. This chirping was fun, light hearted and didn't get on his nerves because it wasn't actually true. He could live with this. So he took every last bit of it with a smile on his face.

Once Madeline was up in the box, she shot Brandon a quick good luck text in hopes that he'd get it before the game started. It was then that she saw eight unread messages from Kane. She read through them quickly, and picked up on what he had been insinuating. “What the fuck are these about?” Madeline shouted from her seat by the window.

“What's what, sweetie?” Abby sauntered over to her and read the messages over her shoulder.

“Patrick told me about that earlier. You and Brandon finally—you know.” She arched her eyebrows in implication of sex.

“No we didn't.” Madeline replied.

“But Andrew said...” Chaunette chimed in.

“Brandon just stayed the night. We slept. He made breakfast and I fell asleep at the table. That's it.” Her breathing began to speed up rapidly until she was on the verge of hyperventilation. Abby gripped her arm tightly and looked directly into her eyes.

“Madeline, calm down,” she commanded, “take out your inhaler and breathe. It's okay, just a little misunderstanding.” Madeline fumbled through her purse until she found the “L” shaped piece of plastic and shakily took off the blue cap. She inhaled sharply and exhaled, before placing her mouth on the inhaler and breathing in once more. Her cheeks puffed out as she held the medicine in her lungs, and slowly deflated when she exhaled. “Better?” Madeline nodded her head. “Good. Now, I'm sure this whole thing is just a misinterpretation of facts. Andrew saw something, he made an assumption and because we all know these guys gossip like old biddies, he spread it around. Patrick, not my Patrick, though he probably had a hand in this too, is a shit stain. How about after the game we go down to the locker room and have a word with him.” Madeline smirked.

“I'll talk to Andrew, too!” Chaunette bubbled.

“Then it's settled.” Abby slapped her thighs ending that conversation. “Now, to get the scoop on what you said.” Both blondes turned their heads toward Madeline, like she was a suspect in questioning.

“You and Brandon slept in the same bed, right?” She nodded. “And was he wearing clothes or...”

“He had shorts on.” She said softly.

“Just shorts?” Both girls questioned simultaneously. Madeline looked at them and her mouth twitched into a devious grin. They squealed with glee.

“So, like is he muscular or what?” Chaunette asked her tone reflecting a teenage girl.

“You guys,” she whined, “if I wasn't Catholic I'd jump that boy so fast. I was two seconds away from pinning him down and begging him to take me. He would have done it too, if I asked. He was-- he looked like he wanted to ask me, but his face just got really pink and he just sort of stared at me until I turned off the light. And then I turned it back on because he was being weird, and made him lay on his side of the bed.” The two women watched her, hanging onto every word. “So I turned off the light again and put my head on his chest and we fell asleep. It was really anticlimactic. He didn't even kiss me before we fell asleep.”

“That's adorable!” Abby giggled. “Patrick's always so tired during the season we usually just fall asleep on our own sides of the bed. The lockout was the first time we'd had a chance to be together, since Madelyn was born, and you see how that panned out.” Abby placed a hand over her now flat stomach.

“Andrew's the same way, minus the whole kids thing.” Chaunette put a hand on Madeline's knee. “Don't let them give you or Brandon shit about being virgins, there's nothing wrong with it. Honestly, I wish I had your willpower.” She drew her hand back and placed it in her lap.

“If we're actually being honest, most of the time Brandon's the one who stops whatever we're doing. Probably thinks he's respecting me and morals. Sometimes I wish he wouldn't. I wish he was a bit more reckless about things that maybe don't matter so much. Like kissing. He starts it and everything's hunky dory for a while, he usually takes it a step to far and then slowly pushes me away. It's so frustrating.”

“Have you tried talking to him about it?” Abby questioned.

“No...” Madeline mumbled.

“Then talk to him, he's a smart kid and he cares about you, he'll listen.” Abby's eyes were kind and reassuring, in a motherly sort of way.

Madeline was twiddling her thumbs before she looked up. “If he always pushes me away before things go too far, why didn't he stop that stupid rumor?”

“They all give him shit about it, every single day. What do you think guys on other teams say to him to piss him off? I get why he didn't correct them and I don't think he knows about what Patrick said to you. If he did, he would have stopped it.” Madeline nodded her head in agreement.

“You guys shouldn't talk to Andrew or Patrick then. It's stupid that they give him flack for something like that. But it finally stopped, probably. I'm still going to give Kaner a piece of my mind, but could we maybe keep the whole sleeping together thing between us?”

“Of course.” The two women agreed.

“The game's about to start...” Chaunette chimed and they all turned their attention to the game.

Chelsea Dagger rang through the Mad House four times that night. The Bruins last minute burst of energy left them down by one with thirty-five seconds left in the third. Tukka was pulled and Patrice Bergeron rushed toward the Hawk's net in a last ditch effort. The clock slowly wound down. Ten seconds. His stick went back and the puck flew forward several feet above the ice. Left corner of the net, high. The buzzer sounded as the puck connected with Corey's glove and his teammate's cheered, and the fan's cheered, everyone cheered because the Blackhawks had won. But Abby, Chaunette and Madeline all knew they had some business to take care of in the locker room.

Just as they were about to enter the locker room, Coach Q exited. “Ladies?”

“Is it alright if we pop in there, and congratulate them? They played so well tonight.” Abby lied smoothly.

“Of course. Of course.” He held the door open for all three women. Abby and Chaunette both congratulated their respective partners while Madeline stalked over to another locker.

“Hey, Kaner.” His back was to her and he jumped before turning around and seeing who it was.

“Mads. How are you doing? Did you get those messages I sent you?” He looked so pleased with himself.

“I did, actually. You're an asshole, if I haven't mentioned that before. And I was just wondering, is your love life so unsatisfying that you have to insert yourself into other people's relationships?”

“Was Brandon so bad in bed that you had to come to me to unleash your pent up-- aggression? I mean, I don't mind, I'm just curious.” A few teammates in surrounding lockers stopped changing to listen in.

“Watch yourself, troll. Our sex life, however it may be, is none of your God damn business. Got it?” Madeline was only slightly taller than Patrick, but her attitude made her seem six feet tall. Her troll comment got her a few muffled snickers, and it also got Brandon's attention. He watched the scenario ensue from across the room.

“So he really is that bad. Otherwise you wouldn't still be defending him.”

“Here's an idea, Kaner, why don't you go fuck yourself, with a cactus. Because that's the only thing capable of being as big of a prick as you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared into his beady blue eyes.

“Your hormones are still raging in you from last night, you're so feisty, lots of anger still inside of you, but that's no reason to say such harsh things.” His voice was steady.

“Say something about my sex life again and see what happens,” she closed the gap between them and used her slight height advantage look down at him, he was silent, “that's what I thought.” She spat and turned on her heels to walk away, Abby and Chaunette cheered from the opposite corner of the room, but Patrick's words stopped her just before she got to take step.

“Is he going to try again tonight, or did his lack luster performance put you off of sex forever?”

Madeline balled her fingers into fists and paused as Patrick's stupid, little laugh rang through her ears. She let out a heavy sigh before whipping around, and letting her knuckles crack against the cartilage of his nose. He was knocked back into his locker and his hands instinctively flew to his face. “Stupid bitch.”

“What did you call me?” She was about to lunge forward when a strong set of arms slowly pulled her back. “Let go of me,” she looked up to see Brent Seabrook holding her, “please, I won't hit him, again.” He removed his arms from her and let Brandon take over without saying so much as a word to her.

“This is because of what I did?” He gently grabbed her swelling hand.

“No, he just needs to learn to keep his mouth shut, that's why it happened. But I really wish I had a warning.”

“Sorry.” Brandon's ears turned red and she knew he meant it.

“I'm going to get this checked out, okay?” She gestured to her hand.

“I'll come with you.”

“Stay with your team. You won. Celebrate.” She smiled.

“I'll tell them it was--”

“Don't, then everything I did was for naught. Just make sure everyone knows Kaner got beat up by a girl.” He placed a lingering kiss on her lips, and she slid his car keys into his hand as she left with Abby and Chaunette. The head of their medical staff rushed passed the three women as they exited the UC, and they all burst into hysterics. A damn near perfect ending, to a pretty amazing day.