Our Secret Hiding Spot

Quinn stared at her phone when it started ringing, but she didn't reach for it immediately like she normally did. Kris gave her a curious look. "You going to get that?" he asked her, wondering what was going on. Quinn always answered her phone, no matter who was calling her. More times than not, it was work, so Kris wondered why she wasn't picking up right no.

"Uh…no," she stuttered, reaching over and silenting the phone.

"Who was it? What's going on?" Kris asked her as he stirred the pasta in the bowl as part of the dinner he was cooking for Quinn. She had just gotten home a few minutes ago from being with Dani and Claire all day again. Their wedding was a mere four days away, and it seemed like Quinn was always with those two women. Not that Kris minded. He knew they were planning the wedding, and all he wanted right now was to be married to her.

"It's my mom," she replied, staring at the phone to see it show that she now had a voicemail.

"Why didn't you pick it up?" Kris inquired, more confused than ever. Why was Quinn avoiding her mother?

"I'm trying to avoid her and Garrett and Dean as much as possible before this wedding. The last thing I need is for them to figure out that we're getting married on Saturday and them show up or something," she explained.

"You can't avoid her forever," Kris chuckled. "Besides, I bet you anything that she called to see if you're coming to dinner tomorrow night. You know we haven't been in a few weeks," he reminded her. It was true. It'd been three weeks since they had gone to a family dinner, mostly because Quinn always seemed to be dealing with something at work at the time. Though, now Kris was wondering if she had been doing it on purpose. Not that he'd complain. He wasn't a fan of the family dinners either, and he always hoped that one day Quinn would just decide to no longer attend them.

Quinn sighed. "You're probably right," she said, listening to the voicemail, seeing that Kris was spot on with his guess. "You think I can convince her I have to work again?' she asked with a small laugh.

Kris shook his head. "Not a chance. Corinne is likely to show up at the rink and try to find you," he said, laughing at that image.

Quinn groaned as she shot him a glance out of the corner of her eye. "You feel like going to dinner over there tomorrow night? Try to keep the talk of us and/or our wedding to the minimum so I don't have to lie right to their faces?" she asked hopefully.

Kris smiled as he leaned over and kissed her temple. "You know I'll go if you're making me," he joked. She looked up at him, but said nothing. "Don’t stress about it," he advised. "With the wedding and everything, you've already got enough on your mind. No need to give yourself an ulcer worrying about this," he told her. She nodded her head as she wrapped her arms around his midsection, making sure to give him enough room to still cook.

The two of them stayed like that until Kris had finished the pasta and started to set the table. They had finished up their meal a half hour later, complete with some wine, and then they settled in the living room to watch some television. Quinn settled on a comedy sitcom as she got cozy next to Kris on the couch, enjoying the quality time she was getting with Kris that she hadn't been getting near enough of lately.



Quinn sat in the passenger's seat, not wanting to get out of the car, even though Kris had already gotten out of his side. He walked around and opened her door, but she remained where she was, with her seatbelt still on. "Quinn, what's different about this week than any other week? You never really want to come here, but you aren't this reluctant," Kris commented, turning to look at the Myrick house, wondering if anyone was watching them from the window.

"I know," Quinn sighed. "I just don't want them to figure out about the wedding and find a way to ruin it," she said.

"Quinn, they're not going to know," Kris assured her as she finally reached over and pushed the button to release her seatbelt and spun her legs around to step out of the vehicle. "We're not going to say anything. Claire and Noah aren't going to say anything. And, no one else knows we're getting married in a few days. So please stop worrying," he said, putting his hand on her lower back as they walked to the house.

She nodded her head, thinking about how much she always hated these dinners. She took a deep breath as she walked inside, happy that Noah was the first person she met. "Hey, Corinne has been wondering where you're at," he told her as he said hello to Kris with a nod of his head.

"Oh I'm sure she has a ton of things to say since I haven't been here in a few weeks," Quinn muttered as she walked further inside the house.

"Claire will be happy the focus is off of her and me," Noah chuckled as he followed Quinn and Kris into the dining room where nearly the entire family was already seated.

"Oh Garrett," Corinne called out, standing up from her chair at the table and walking into the living room. "They're finally here, so we can eat," she said, returning with Garrett at her heels, sitting down at the head of the table.

Quinn had reluctantly taken a seat next to Dean, allowing Kris to sit between her and Corinne, which she knew he wasn't happy about either. "So, Quinn," Corinne immediately turned the focus to her daughter as everyone began helping themselves to the dinner food. "Tell us what has kept you so busy at work that you couldn't make it to family dinner these last couple of weeks."

"Yeah, Quinn, tell us what's been so important. You finally sell your soul so Kris can stay?" Dean asked from next to her. She noticed Kris tense up like he always did when Dean took a dig at Quinn or their relationship, and she put her hand on top of his, trying to calm him.

She turned her head to look at Dean, who was taking a giant helping of the mashed potatoes, piling them on his plate. "As I've told you all before several times, I have no say in Kris's staying or leaving. It's up to him and Mario. But, I have been busy with a few other moves," she said, grabbing the salad bowl and putting a big pile of Caesar salad on her plate. She immediately dug in, thinking that if she had food in her mouth, she'd be unable to talk whenever anyone asked her more questions.

"You'd think you'd be fighting a little harder for him to stay. I mean, you're about to be married!" Corinne exclaimed.

"I'd love for him to stay, but I have no say in it, Mom," Quinn explained. "Can we please talk about something else?" she requested sternly.

"I'm just saying," Corinne started once again.

"Corinne, let her eat her food without harassing her," Garrett interrupted his wife, surprising everyone at the table by standing up for Quinn. Quinn turned to look at her stepfather, mouthing a "thank you" to him, and he simply gave her a smile in return. "Dean, tell us about that job you were looking at," he continued.

Quinn looked at Noah, who sat across the table from her. "Job?" she mouthed, feeling completely out of the loop. Who knew Dean was actually going to work for once in his life? Noah shrugged his shoulders, giving her a look that said this was the first time hearing it as well.

She turned her attention to Dean who now had a smug look on his face. "Yeah, I got it," he said.

"What job?" Noah asked the question everyone was thinking.

Dean sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm working for TMZ now," he revealed, and Quinn quickly glanced at Noah, seeing him roll his eyes.

"Oh God," Noah muttered. "You're working for that dumb gossip website? What are you doing for them?" he inquired.

"Editor," he answered.

"You have no experience in editing for a website!" Quinn exclaimed. "Why in the world would you get into that?" She knew he had to have a ploy in all of this. Dean always did. Whatever would make him the most money, he'd go and do. So what was his overall plan?

"Like you're one to talk. You had no experience in handling a team, and yet they handed that stupid hockey team over to you," Dean spat. Quinn bit her lip to not say anything in response. He did have a point, even if she didn't like it. "You better be nice, or I'll be having the press all over your wedding," he warned, lifting an eyebrow at her with the threat. "TMZ would love to cover your wedding."

Quinn's heart began racing. If cameras showed up at her wedding on Saturday, she would cry. She and Kris were moving the wedding up to avoid just that. It suddenly dawned on her that Dean wasn't talking about her wedding in three days, but instead was talking about the one in August.

She was about to say something when Kris beat her to the punch. "If there's cameras there, I will sue every single photographer, the company, and you in particular, for trespassing," Kris said in a low voice, and everyone knew he was being serious. Quinn wasn't sure if he was referring to the wedding in August or the one in a couple of days, but she didn't think it really mattered either way.

"Chill, Canadian boy," Dean rolled his eyes. "I won't have cameras there," he told him, though Quinn knew he still was planning something. Anything that would get Dean ahead in his own world, he would do. Even if it meant hurting family in the process. She'd learned that more times than once before.

Kris set his jaw, refusing to let Dean get him to him. "Good job, son," Garrett spoke up, giving Dean a pat on the back from his seat next to him.

Quinn looked again at Noah, giving him a look of disbelief. He gave her an encouraging smile, and she tried to let it go for the rest of dinner. She didn't have as much of an appetite any longer after Dean's announcement, and she picked at her food, moving it around her plate so it would appear that she was eating.

Corinne would bring up Quinn and the Penguins several more times throughout the night, but Quinn didn't bite at most of it. She couldn't wait until the evening was over, and Corinne walked with Quinn, Kris, Noah, and Claire to the door. "I'll see you again next week," Corinne said to them. Noah muttered a "yes", but Quinn didn't respond, simply walking out the door with a quick "goodbye" to her mother.

Noah caught up to her and Kris just before she got inside the car. "Let's go out for a drink," Noah said to them. "I think we could all use one after that."

"What about the girls?" Quinn asked.

"Babysitter is there til midnight," Claire told her. They had left Riley and Anna at home for the evening, deciding it'd be better not to have them come along this time just in case Riley wanted to talk about how excited she was for Quinn and Kris's wedding that weekend.

"Perfect," Quinn nodded her head. "You lead the way," she said to Noah, as he and Claire got inside their car. Kris followed them to a nearby bar, parking in the parking lot and going inside with Quinn.

They got settled in a booth near the back and gave the waitress their orders as Quinn looked around the table. "TMZ? Really? Who in their right mind would work for TMZ?" she questioned.

"Who in their right mind would hire Dean?" Claire responded, and Quinn nodded her head in agreement. "I just can't really see him working there. I mean, he's got a degree in sports management, why would he work for that trash?" she wondered aloud.

Quinn bit her lip. "Well, we don't always work for what we think we will," she said softly.

Noah shook his head. "Don't let him get to you. You're good with the team, and you have a business background. You've helped that team grow."

Quinn smiled at the compliment. "Do you really think he's going to have cameras come out to our wedding?" she asked, seriously worried about the threat she had received earlier in the evening. The waitress came back with their drinks, and Quinn took a big gulp of her margarita, looking around the table, waiting for an answer.

Claire was the first one to speak up. "I don't think he will, especially after Kris's threat," she said with a chuckle. Kris was the kindest person, but if you got on his wrong side, he could be scary.

"I’m not going to let him ruin the wedding by bringing in some cameras or whatever the hell he's planning," Kris shrugged his shoulders. He really didn't know what Dean was planning or what he was capable of, but he wasn't joking when he said he wouldn’t hesitate to sue him. He wouldn't let him ruin the day for Quinn. "Besides, he was talking about August, and that one isn't as important," he added.

Quinn smiled widely. "Three days, can you believe it?" she asked excitedly.

"I can't wait to see everyone's reaction when they find out. Corinne and Dean are going to have a field day with it," Noah commented, taking a swig of his beer.

"Which is exactly why we're not telling them ahead of time," Quinn stated. She took a deep breath, trying to remind herself that they would not be a part of their wedding that weekend, so there was no way they could ruin any part of it. Now if only she could be guaranteed the same of the August wedding. It didn't matter if she and Kris were already married at that point. She really didn't want a media spectacle of it then either. But, that was a ways away, and she needed to focus on her wedding in three days for the time being.