Breathe

Kyle Chipchura sighed heavily as he walked into his home after practice. The cloudy day matched his mood perfectly and he knew he should've stayed away. He should've gone out with some of the guys. Anywhere but home. Home wasn't home anymore.

Her coat was draped across the back of a chair in the kitchen where she had taken it off the night before. Roses he had bought her the week before, their color long faded, were still strewn across the dining room table where she had thrown the vase.

Kyle left his duffel by the front door and walked into the kitchen, glass from the broken vase crunching under his feet. He grabbed the broom and began to sweep up the mess.

The front door closed and Kyle paused mid sweep as Hayleigh looked up.

"I wasn't expecting you to be home," she said as she set her purse down.

"I can leave."

"It's your house. I'll only be a minute. I need my laptop and some clothes. I'll get everything else when you're gone in a few weeks."

Kyle's heart seized as the idea. "You're moving out?"

"We broke up, Kyle. Did you think I was going to keep living here?"

"We had a fight. I never agreed to break up."

"Kyle..."

"No, Hayleigh." He tossed the broom aside and crossed to her. "I can't lose you."

“You already did,” she said plainly, sidestepping him and disappearing into their bedroom. The door closed behind her and Kyle heard the lock click into place. Raking a hand through his hair, he stalked to his phone and dialed his teammate.

“Whazzzup?” Paul answered.

“I need to get drunk,” Kyle announced unceremoniously.

“You have come to right place, Chippy. I got this. Bring your ass over. We are going to paaarty!”



Kyle woke the next morning splayed across a couch in Paul’s living room, sunlight streaming in from the large window. His head pounded and his thoughts swirled as he sat up, trying to piece the night back together. They had gone to a bar, and then a second and a third one. He couldn’t recall much of the night and he wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. On the one hand, he wasn't thinking about Hayleigh. On the other hand, his head hurt and he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Which really wasn’t any different than what he had felt like since two nights before, when they had fought.

He pushed off the couch and walked into Paul’s kitchen, grabbing a gatorade from the fridge and drinking half of it in a long swallow.

“Ah, so you are alive,” Paul’s voice boomed as he walked into the room.

“Do you have to shout?”

“This is my normal talking voice and you know it.”

“You’re so fucking loud.”

“It’s all a part of my appeal,” Paul grinned. “So, wanna talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“Hayleigh.”

Kyle growled lowly. “No, I do not want to talk about that.”

Paul shrugged. “Whatever, man. Just trying to help.”



Two weeks passed and Kyle was in a funk. His heart wasn't in the game and his mind was on Hayleigh. She had gone radio silent on him and he didn’t know what to do with himself. He was consumed by her and thoughts about their fight.

It had been a stupid fight and he couldn’t even really say what it had been about anymore, that was how inconsequential it was. Without Hayleigh to come home to, without Hayleigh to center him, to balance his hectic life, it felt like the sun hadn’t shined in those two weeks without her.

“You look miserable, Chip,” Derek Morris said, sitting down beside him.

“Thanks, Mo. ‘Preciate that.”

“What’s going on with you anyways? I haven’t seen Hayleigh lately.”

“She broke up with me.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that. Why?”

“I don’t know; we had a fight and we said some things but it was dumb. I didn’t think she was for real.”

“Dude, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“What are you gonna do about the children's hospital gala?”

“Fuck,” Kyle muttered. “I forgot about that.”

“It’s tonight.”

“Fuck.” Kyle stood abruptly and grabbed his cell phone, stalking from the room. He pulled Hayleigh up in his contacts and called her.

“Why are you calling me, Kyle?” Hayleigh answered.

“No hello? No how are you?”

“Hello, Kyle, how are you?” Hayleigh sighed.

“I miss you,” he stated plainly.

“Kyle...”

“I didn’t call you to talk about that. I called for a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. Look, the charity gala is tonight at the children's hospital, and I RSVPed for the both of us months ago. Will you still go with me, please?”

The Phoenix Children’s Hospital was a cause dear to both Kyle and Hayleigh’s hearts. A native to the area, Hayleigh’s little brother had spent a significant amount of time in the hospital as a child, receiving life saving surgery for a heart defect. Children charities had always been special to Kyle, and seeing the smiles a simple visit could give them made him happy to give his time freely to the hospital.

“I’ll go.”

“You will?”

“I bought a dress two months ago. It’d be a shame to let it go to waste.”

“So I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“I’ll come to the house. My dress is still there. I’ll come over when I get off from work.”

“I’ll see you in a couple hours then.”



Hayleigh parked in the driveway and headed up the front walk at exactly 5:15 that night. It was one of the things she loved about this house, it's close proximity to her job at the local radio station. It was there that she had met Kyle when he and a few of his teammates had come in to do a segment on the morning show in May of 2012. They were leaving the station when she arrived ahead of her own show that was directly after.

She and Kyle had collided as he came out of the booth and into the hall. Paper had gone flying and he stopped to help her pick everything else. A few pleasantries were exchanged but then he was rushed from the building. Hayleigh pictured his warm brown eyes most of the day and even though she could say she had never quite gotten the appeal of a lumberjack beard on a man, one look at Kyle's had her singing a different tune.

Her show was from ten until three and she usually spent between three and five working on things for the next day. She flipped off the light in her office and headed for the lobby, still thinking of the handsome stranger she had met that morning.

As the elevator doors opened on the lobby, Hayleigh stepped out with a few others and began to cross the lobby. When she looked up, she saw him approaching her.

"Hey. I didn't get your name earlier."

"It's Hayleigh."

"I'm Kyle. I wanted to come back and see you but since I didn't know who to ask for, they wouldn't let me wander around and see if I could crash into you again," he smiled.

"You've been waiting here?"

He glanced at his watch. "For about two and half hours."

"Why?"

"I wanted to meet you, see if you wanted to get dinner with me."

"Tonight?"

"Tonight."

"Okay. I just need to change," she said, glancing down at her worn jeans and simple black v-neck.

"You look perfect. Do you live far from here?"

"An hour outside the city."

"I live nearby. What if you follow me there and we'll leave your car? Or I can cook for us?"

"You cook?" Kyle nodded. "This I have to see. I'll take dinner at your place."

That was where it all really started, in his kitchen, Hayleigh thought as she rang the doorbell. It was where it all ended too and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. She missed Kyle and the reason they had fought had been petty and childish, hardly any reason to have had a fight of such proportions that ended with her calling off their seven month relationship.

Being with Kyle had been easy, even after she found out he was a hockey player. He found ways to make time for her and when their playoff run had ended, he stayed in Phoenix several extra weeks to spend time with her before heading home to see his family and train. Hayleigh took a weeks vacation from her job to visit him in July, and flew out to see him over several different weekends throughout the summer. Though their relationship was fresh and new, they were both dedicated to it, their feelings for each other growing by leaps and bounds every day.

When Kyle came back to Phoenix for the season, he asked Hayleigh to move in with him. He had spent enough time away from her over the summer. He couldn’t imagine spending any more time without her. Hayleigh was quick to agree, for the proximity to her work, but mostly because it meant going to bed with him and waking up beside him, something she had missed terribly during their summer apart.

And then two weeks ago everything imploded.

“You could’ve let yourself in,” Kyle said as he swung the door open.

“That felt intrusive, since I don’t live here.”

“Where are you staying?”

“With Shane and Andrea.”

Kyle nodded. Of course she was staying with the Doan’s. The Doan children loved when Hayleigh would babysit them and she loved spending time with the kids and Andrea. The seasoned WAG had taken Hayleigh under her wing when Kyle first introduced them, showing her the ropes and teaching her all the ins and outs of the sport, and the men who played it.

“I need to shower, is that okay?”

“Your stuff is still in the bathroom.” Hayleigh nodded and walked past him, her arm brushing his as she went. He reached out for her, his fingers closing around her wrist and stopping her.

“Hayleigh...I’m sorry.”

She smiled sadly. “I know you are. I’m sorry too.”

“Then what are we doing? I need you in my life, Hails. I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” she whispered.

“Then come home. Let’s fix this.”

“Can we talk later?” Kyle dropped her arm and she hurried from the room, closing the door to the bathroom tightly behind her. As she turned on the shower, she felt the hot tears spring from her eyes and roll down her cheeks.

Twenty minutes later, Hayleigh stepped out of the bathroom, her hair wrapped in a towel and a t shirt and sweats thrown on. She found Kyle in the closet, pulling his own clothes out and he looked up as Hayleigh stopped in the door of the walk in closet.

“I’ll get ready in the guest room; you can have in here,” he said flatly.

“Kyle,” Hayleigh started, taking a step into the closet with him.

“Don’t Hails. I can’t do this. I can’t breathe without you. This isn’t home without you. And if you don’t love me, that’s fine, I’ll figure out how to deal with that but I love you. I love you, Hayleigh.”

“You’ve never said that before.”

“Obviously I’m an idiot.”

“I’ve never said it before.”

“That doesn't change how I feel.” He turned away from her and Hayleigh walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tightly.

“I love you, Kyle. I didn’t think you felt the same.”

“Why would you think that? I asked you to move in with me after three months.”

“But you never said it, and you don’t talk about how you feel.”

“I thought you knew.”

“I’m a girl, Chippy. We still want to hear it.”

He turned and held her against him. “I love you, Hails.”

“Can I come home?”

“God yes!” Hayleigh giggled.

“Was it really that bad without me?”

“You have no idea.”

“No, I know. Not kissing you every day is like the sun not shining. I missed it, I missed you, I missed us.”

“I cuddled your pillow because I missed how your hair smelled.”

“I stole your sweatshirt when I came back for my laptop because I missed the smell of your cologne.”

“Let’s not ever fight again,” Kyle said, pulling back to look down in Hayleigh’s eyes.

“I don’t think we can promise that but let’s not ever go to bed mad at each other.”

“I can agree with that.”

“Get dressed; we have to be at the gala in an hour.”

“But after, we’re starting over.”

“Fresh start,” Hayleigh agreed.

“”New promises,” Kyle added, fingering the ring box hidden in his pocket.

“New beginnings.”

FIN