Killer

The world could have been burning outside and Sidney wouldn’t have noticed as Annie just looked at him. He had no idea what she would say to his answer, if she would kick him out, stab him, or hug him again. But he knew he was hoping for the last one. Something about having Annie in his arms made Sidney feel so safe, like nothing could harm him. It was like that horrible game had never happened as he just gripped the smaller girl. Finally she sighed, folding her arms in front of her chest.

“You don’t know?”

“I wasn’t thinking Annie, it was an accident. I never even meant to slide into the net I was supposed to go to the side of it and-” She held up one of her hands, stopping him.

“You don’t know.” She said again, her voice shaking slightly. The pain in her eyes was killing Sidney as she looked up at him.

“Annie please.” He murmured. He reached out, setting his hands on her slim shoulders. “You have to believe me, I never wanted to hurt him. It was a freak accident.” He then let one of his hands move to her chin, tilting it up so she looked at him. “But I am going to spend the rest of my life making up for it.”

“How?” She asked, he let his thumb slide over her cheek as he looked at her with those stunning puppy dog eyes.

“By taking care of you Annie. Nothing bad will ever happen to you while there’s still air in my lungs.” She simply shook her head, looking at him.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep Sidney.” She murmured. She tried to back away, but Sidney simply held on tighter.

“Annie, I need to make this right.”

“Then bring my brother back to me.” She whispered. There was a long, tense silence between them, Sidney feeling like she’d just stabbed him in the heart. But finally they were broken apart by a loud knock on the door. Neither one moved, but when a voice rung out Sidney froze.

“Annie!” Jeff called. “Annie please I want to talk to you.” She just stood there for a moment, keeping her eyes on Sidney before finally she turned, making her way to the front door, She took a deep breath, hoping Sidney would be smart enough to stay in the kitchen as she opened it to see Jeff’s handsome face.

“Hey.” She said simply.

“How are you holding up?” He asked. He immediately pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head.

“As well as can be expected.” She muttered.

“Well, Marc was saying Sidney somehow got a hold of your address and…” Jeff trailed off and Annie pulled away, spinning around to see Sidney looking at the older man. She could practically hear Jeff’s teeth scraping together behind her. “What the fuck is he doing here?!” He snapped.

“Look Jeff, he came to apologize-” Annie started, but Jeff wasn’t hearing a word of it. Greif over his friend and jealousy over Annie had caused his formerly smug rivalry to become an all-out hatred of the young captain before him. He gently pushed Annie to the side before walking over and getting in Sidney’s face.

“Who do you think you are?” He snarled, shoving Sidney.

“Jeff stop it.” Annie started, but Jeff was beyond consoling.

“Did you just come in and sweep her off her feet? Tell her that because of your passion you murdered her brother and then took my Annie to bed?!” Sidney stayed stoic as Jeff continued to shove him. “Fight back pretty boy!”

“Jeff!” Annie started over, but when Jeff smacked Sidney in the face the younger man snapped. He punched Jeff square in the nose, feeling the bone crunch under his knuckles before Jeff teetered backwards. He grabbed his face for only a moment before glaring Sidney down.

“You little bitch!” He then lunged, both of them falling to the ground as fist and blood flew everywhere. Annie ran over, desperate to stop them, but they kept pushing her away.

“Jeff! Sidney!” She hissed, grabbing at the back of Sidney’s sweatshirt, please! You’re going to-”

A strong shove from Sidney sent Jeff flying into the wall, and Annie watched in horror as the photo of her and Rylie from that day he was drafted fell to the ground, shattering. She just stood there as Sidney and Jeff froze. Neither one could get a read on her as she just looked at the photo, now cut up from the broken glass.

“Annie, I didn’t mean to…” Sidney started, but she didn’t respond. She just knelt down, pulling out the photo and looking at it. She sat back onto her knees, her amber eyes far away as she remembered that moment.

The proud smile on her face was matched only by Rylie’s beaming grin, both their sets of dimples in full force as he squeezed her tightly. Their parents hadn’t come, of course, but that one hug, that one smile from Rylie had let Annie know that she was enough. She remembered the way his eyes shined when they called his name, how he waited until the way home to cry. She remembered each and every second, but now that was all Rylie was, a memory.

He was photographs and trophies and a pair of skates he wore on his first game. He was the puck from his first shutout, his jersey that the team had returned to her, washed, pressed and dried. He was his room and his trophies and his stick, but none of that mattered. She couldn’t talk to a jersey when no one else would listen. She couldn’t have a puck hold her while she cried. And she couldn’t hear Rylie’s perfect laugh from a photo.

He was gone, and he was never coming back.

The true magnitude of it had never fully hit her until that moment as she just collapsed on the floor. She didn’t feel the glass sinking into her legs, or the blood that stained her jeans, because all she could think of was how she had never really gotten to say goodbye. She had told him to kick ass and she’d be watching, those were her last words to him. Not ‘I love you baby brother’ or ‘thank you for everything.’ And now she would never get her chance.

Sidney and Jeff reached a silent truce as Sidney scooped Annie up off the floor. Jeff knew he must have crashed here since the rest of the team had gone back to Pittsburgh, and had no idea how Annie could just take him in. He watched the handsome captain walk her back into her room, setting her down on the bed. Jeff just watched as he pulled out the small pieces of glass from her knees. And when he looked for something to wrap them with, Jeff ducked into the bathroom and grabbed the gauze.

He wrapped her knees, Sidney just looking at her far off eyes as she laid there. “Do you think she even knows we moved her?” He asked finally. Jeff shook his head.

“Probably not.” There was a long, tense silence before Sidney spoke.

“Look, nothing happened between Annie and I.” He said. Jeff sighed.

“Well, I don’t really have the right to get mad if something did.” He muttered. “I love her but…” He stopped, sighing. “When Rylie first joined the team we roomed together, and we became inseparable. I knew about his and Annie’s shitty childhood, so I tried to be like the big brother they never had. And somewhere along the way…” He stopped, looking at Annie. Her eyes had slipped closed and he assumed she’d fallen asleep. “I realized I couldn’t live without them.”

“Jeff.” Sidney said, setting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“It… It wasn’t your fault.” Jeff said. “It was a freak accident on the one night Rylie wasn’t wearing his throat guard. He knew the risks.”

“That doesn’t get his blood off my hands.” Sidney said. “I killed him.”

“True.” Jeff murmured, looking up at him. “But you’re also saving her.” Both men looked back up at Annie, who was fast asleep as she clutched the photo of her and Rylie to her chest.

“Jeff?”

“Yeah?”

“Earlier, when you said you loved her, what else were you going to say?” Sidney asked. Jeff was quiet for a long time, chewing his lower lip before he spoke.

“Every time she sees me, she’s just going to see Rylie. I’m a link to him now. All I can do is hurt her.” He said, hanging his head. “So no matter how much I want to be with her, it’s best for her if I let her go.” With that Jeff stood, turning to Sidney. “Take care of her for me.”

“I will.” Sidney promised. Jeff simply nodded, taking one last look at Annie before he turned, walking out the door. After he left Sidney turned to Annie, flipping out the light before he made his way over to the couch, quickly falling asleep.