A Lifelong Promise

Clare was sick in bed and miserable. She'd taken care of her husband while he was sick, catered to his every need, and while he did return the favor he wasn't able to now. Clare had to take care of herself while he had a previous engagement planned with the NHL Network. She was impressed with how much he seemed to be trying while he was there. James was attentive, he brought her tea, made her soup, kissed her forehead and told her over and over how much he loved her. She was finally starting to believe him.

Clare wrapped the blanket around herself and dragged her body down the stairs to make herself another cup of hot tea. She was a little worse off than James had been, she couldn't really keep down food, but at least her fever had broke. She put the teapot on the stove and as she waited to hear it whistle she rested her head down on her arm which was perched on the counter. She had just closed her eyes and began to consider jumping off a bridge simply to feel better when she heard a knock on the door.

Clare lifted her head and wrinkled her brow as she made her way to the front door and the blanket dragged on the floor behind her. She slowly opened it to find herself face to face with Paul.

She smiled when she saw him but it was him who spoke first. "Hey," he greeted her with a sympathetic laugh. "How are you feeling?"

Clare swallowed and cleared her throat. "Like crap," she giggled. "You've definitely seen me better before."

"Yeah, Neal mentioned you were pretty sick-- caught what he had. I figured I'd stop in and check on you."

Clare nodded her head. Now that he was standing in front of her she remembered that James had quickly mentioned in passing something about Paul stopping by while he was gone. If she remembered correctly, she was in some twilight between being asleep and awake, but he said something about arranging to have her taken care of even if he couldn't be there. "Come in," she said as she extended her arm to open the door.

"You don't look so good," he cooed as he really looked at her. "Are you feeling any better today?"

"Eh, I don't know. I don't have a fever anymore so I guess so." Just as she said that she heard the whistle of the teapot screaming from the kitchen. "Oh! I have water on the stove to make some tea, follow me."

"Let me," Paul insisted as he walked behind her like she told him to. He gently grabbed her wrist and stopped her, pulling her backwards and slowly to him. "Go sit down and rest," he said softly as he looked down into her eyes.

Clare felt insecure with her hair in a messy ponytail and her eyes glassy. Her nose was red and stuffy and she knew she didn't look anywhere close to her best. She could feel more heat flushing to her cheeks in embarrassment. "No," she said sweetly. "That's so kind but I couldn't ask you to do that. I"ll get it, I'll be right back. I'll make you one if you want, just let me--" she went to turn towards the kitchen again but Paul's laugh and hand on her waist made her turn back around to him.

"Clare. You're miserable. I wanted to stop in and make sure you were alright since Neal's gone for the day and frankly who knows what time he'll be back." He rested his hand at the small of her back and led her to the couch. "I'll make your tea, it's not an imposition on me. Please, go sit down."

Clare looked up into his eyes and felt her cheeks sting as her lips curled up into a smile. "Okay," she said quietly as she slowly nodded her head. "That's very sweet of you. Thank you."

Paul looked down at her and smiled back but shook himself from his trance after a few seconds. "Look at you," he chimed in again as he sat her down on the couch and felt her shiver. He tucked her in her covers and placed the one that was resting on the back of the couch over her as well. "Poor thing. You're shaking."

"The chills come and go." She looked up at him hoping he knew how much she appreciated his efforts. "That's part of the reason I need that tea."

"I'm on it. What do you take in it?"

"Honey."

"Thought so," he said with a nod. "I'll put some whiskey in there like my mom used to and you'll be breathing out that nose in no time. I'm sure Neal's got some in the house."

"No!" she shook her head and laughed. "No alcohol in my tea! I'll puke!"

"You won't," Paul insisted. "Do you trust me?" He gave her a little smirk and raised his eyebrows but it still was a serious question.

Clare looked at him and tilted her head. "Yeah, I do."

"Then let me make you a little hot tottie. Where's he keep it?"

"Basement."

"Alright, let me go shut that annoying ass whistle off and I'll hit the basement. I'll be back in a flash. I promise. Get cozy and relax in the meantime." Paul gave her a wink as he turned and made his way to the kitchen.

Clare settled into the blankets and turned on the tv as she listened to Paul running around her house. She wasn't used to people doing things for her the way he was selflessly doing this, but she wasn't going to object. One thing she definitely knew about Paul was that he had a huge heart-- that much was obvious.

After a few minutes he finally emerged holding two mugs in either of his hands. "Here." He held Clare's mug out for her and she took the warm remedy in her hands. "I hope you like it."

"Thank you," she breathed out as she looked at him sincerely. She put her lips to the mug and took a sip. Her eyes lit up when she swallowed and she looked up at Paul. "I don't even taste the alcohol," she gushed. "This is really good!"

"I told you. I wouldn't steer you wrong."

"I didn't think you would." She took another sip and sat up a little so that Paul could sit by her on the couch. "Please sit," she said as she motioned for him to join her.

"I could sit over on here," Paul said nonchalantly as he pointed to the love seat.

"No," Clare insisted. "That's really, that's just awkward," she said with a laugh. "Just sit."

"Alright," he said without putting up any kind of further debate.

Clare looked down at her tea and took a few deep breaths before looking up at him. "So, I guess James told you about the other night after we left."

Paul nodded and let out a little moan. "Somewhat."

"I don't know what happened; what got into him. He was like a new person all of a sudden. He was apologizing for everything he's done, for pushing me away, treating me terribly. He promised it'd be different-- better."

Paul bobbed his head up and took in a deep breath. "That's great Clare, that's really great," he said as he let it out. He didn't want to burst her bubble but he was vocally skeptical of his friends sincerity.

"Do you have any idea what got into him?"

Paul took a few moments before answering her to make sure his emotions were in check. "Clare I really don't. But he should have been treating you like a princess all along and I'm glad he's realized he's come up short for longer than he should have. I just hope he keeps his word this time."

"That's the thing," Clare said engaging more in their conversation. "The funny thing was, it's been what I've been longing for, for so long. I've been waiting and waiting for him to come around and he finally did but...I'm not ready to totally trust him yet. It's like I hit my breaking point and he finally was ready to make this work. I don't know," she said clearly confused and slightly frazzled. "I've been going over this and over this in my mind. I don't know what clicked but I guess I shouldn't be complaining."

"Well," Paul said as he readjusted himself on the couch. "What changed in you? You'd be wanting that based on everything we've talked about."

"I know! And I did, but it was like...something felt wrong. I can't put my finger on it. I don't know. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. But it was like I'd finally had enough and he wanted to reel me back in. I just realized...I don't know. We had been talking about getting pregnant, having kids, starting a family and then he just...he pulled away from me and I tried to mask for a long time how much that broke my heart."

"Do you still love him?" It bothered Paul that James did that to her. He didn't know that part of the story and it made him more protective of Clare, but he wasn't about to let that be known.

"Yeah I mean he's my husband. He just was so different when we got married. I was so naive to think we'd have this storybook romance forever. I didn't think that his profession would change him. I thought we could get through everything together. It's just weird to me, this whole situation. He's been good to me since the other night. He's been attentive and he's been there for me, so I feel bad venting. Like you said, I'm just afraid it won't stick."

"You don't trust him." Paul was asking but he already knew the answer.

"Would you? I mean, totally?"

Paul had to bite his lip to keep from spilling what he knew, but that wasn't his secret to tell. He knew that Clare needed to know everything but it was James' secret and burden to tell. One thing he knew? "You deserve better than what he's done." He couldn't help slipping out.

Clare grinned at him and held his gaze for a few seconds. "Paul, let me ask you something."

"Alright."

"You've played for different teams, been in different cities, had a bunch of different teammates."

He nodded. "Yup."

"I know you've seen marriages fall apart. People get hurt. I'm sure they've even unraveled in front of you."

He nodded again. "Yup."

"Did you...did you care about those, about what happened, the way you care about James and myself?"

Paul sucked in air and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "The difference here in this scenario, Clare, is that I've actually gotten to know you. Usually I couldn't care less what happens in someone's personal life because it isn't my business. I have my fun, I have my own life. But I didn't get to know the wives or the girlfriends the way I've gotten to know you-- I didn't get invested, I didn't see them leave crying on multiple occasions."

"I just hope I didn't put you in the middle of this because I never meant to. You've been so great to me and I like talking to you. I just want you to know I appreciate you having my back."

"Clare it's been my pleasure. I don't know," he shrugged bashfully. "I just like you. You're pretty cool to be around."

Clare felt her cheeks blush and she looked away flattered. "You know, when James and I started dating he was pretty adamant of shielding me from his teammates-- and I wanted it that way to some degree. They were...dogs, really. He didn't trust them around me and they were just overgrown children, mostly. Cheaters, party animals. I'm sure you get the gist." Paul nodded and she continued. "You're not like them. I'm sure you like your partying as much as the rest of them," she said playfully. "But you aren't some immature jackass and my point is I'm really glad we've become friends. You've been so good to me and made it much easier having someone to talk to."

"Yeah," Paul laughed. "I don't normally befriend my teammates wives. I'd have to say this is a first for me-- unchartered water."

Paul sat with Clare for a few hours watching tv on the couch, making her soup and refilling her tea when she needed it. They were able to talk so easily that it made the time they spent together fly and before they knew it, almost three hours had gone by. Paul made sure she didn't need anything else before he made his way to the front door and turned to give Clare a hug goodbye.

"Thank you so much for being here with me and taking care of me. You've been wonderful and such a help. I'm glad James sent you."

Paul tried to hide his surprise at her statement but couldn't find it in himself to be too caught off guard that James would embellish the truth at this point. "It was nothing, no need to thank me. I had a real nice time with you today."

"I'm sure your plans didn't really include spending the day with a sick teammate's wife. I know I'm kind of sore on the eyes right now too so that probably didn't make it any easier," she said joking around with the covers still wrapped around her by the door.

"No," Paul shook his head slowly. "You're anything but an eye sore."

"You're just too nice to tell me the truth," she laughed. "But I guess I owe you one now."

"You just work on getting better, then we'll figure that out." Paul couldn't help smiling as he pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her. "I'll see you later," he said with his hands still on her waist as he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before turning and walking out.

"Bye Paul," she said as she shut the door.

***

Clare had crawled up and into bed to rest and realized after a few hours that she'd fallen asleep. The only reason she woke up was because she heard James walk through the door and up the stairs to her.

He slid onto the bed and cuddled up next to her. "Hey baby," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her. "How are you feeling."

Clare shrugged and took in a deep breath. "A little better but still not great."

"Did Paul stop over?"

Clare nodded. "Yeah. We had a nice time. He was real nice to me. Thank you for making sure someone was here to take care of me."

"Of course baby, I'm glad to hear he was good to you, I was worried about you."

"I know," she said softly. "Thanks. He's awesome, I like him a lot. He's a good friend."

"Yeah, he is," James agreed unassuming.

"How was your day? You must be tired. Did it go well?"

"I am," he answered as he nuzzled into her. "Let's just get some sleep together. It went well though, yeah. Just took longer than expected. But I can't complain I guess."

"That's good, I'm glad you had a good time. I'm sure it was fun."

"Yeah it was, but you know what? I would have rather been here with you."

"Mmm," Clare moaned out as she closed her eyes and drank in his words. One change in him she could tell was that he was saying the right things. She just hoped he would follow up on doing them.