Always Beautiful

Beau’s P.O.V.

“Hey, Sunshine!” Bortz called, pulling me out of my haze. I Stared back at the small brown-haired girl by his side, she had a frightened look in her eyes when she saw me. “This is my sister, Beatrice. Bea, this is my teammate Beau.”

She looked up, directly in my eyes. Her chin came up to maybe my shoulder, and she was so thin, I was afraid that if I even touched her, she’d break. Her eyes were a piercing ice blue, and seemed to go on forever, and her pin-straight brown hair came down to just below her breasts.
That’s when I saw them. The fading bruises on her face, around her eyes, her forehead, jawline, even her neck. Her lip looked like it had been cut open, but had recently healed, and I could tell her nose had been broken by the stitches there. ’Say something, you idiot.’

“Uh. . . Hi. . . I’m Beau.” I said, not breaking eye contact with her. She giggled, and I swear, my heart skipped. Bortz looked at her like she didn’t laugh much.

“Nice to meet you, Beau.” She said, a smile on her face. “Um. . . Robbie? Do you mind if I shower?”

“Of course not. Upstairs, second door on the right. Lemme know if you need anything, okay?” She nodded and went upstairs. I watched her as she headed up, disappointed that she wouldn’t be staying down here longer so I could talk to her. Suddenly, a hard slap came down on my shoulder. I turned to see an angry look on Bortz’s face. “What the hell, man? I told you, off-limits.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I said, an obvious lie between my teeth.

“C’mon, look me in the eye and tell me you weren’t just checking out my sister. Look, man, she just went through a lot, the last thing I need is you hitting on her. Especially when she’s trying to remember her whole life.” My head snapped to him at that.

“What do you mean, ‘trying to remember her whole life’?” He sighed, and took a seat on one of the barstools in our kitchen.

“She’s. . . uh. . . She’s hit her head pretty hard, She doesn’t remember a thing.” His voice dropped as he looked at his hands. “Not even me.” He took a deep breath, and I could tell how much not having his baby sister remember him distressed him. “I’m gonna go to the store, we need more food.” He stood up and headed to the door.

I walked to my room with a single thought on my mind. All I saw in Beatrice’s eyes was a look of loneliness and hurt. I know how lonely she felt, maybe I could help her. I just knew that I would never let anyone lay another hand on her again.

~

Bea’s P.O.V.

I stepped out of the shower, and as I looked in the mirror I realized that the bruises that once shadowed my entire body only a week ago were now fading. As I looked at my face I notices that they could now be covered up with make-up. I dressed in some of the clothes Robbie bought me and looked to the bed. ‘My bed,’ I thought. I promised that with how much I slept in the past few days that I wouldn’t nap, but I crawled in the bed anyway and sleep overcame me.

~ A couple hours later ~

“Bea, wake up!” I opened my eyes and saw Robbie’s face, a smile slowly growing. “Dinner’s ready, come on down, lazy.” He took the small throw pillow and softly hit my shoulder with it.

“Okay, jeez, I’ll be right down.” I said as he left the room. I stood up and strolled to the bathroom. As I turned on the light, I saw how much better I looked now that I’d slept. The dark circles around my eyes were not as obvious. I ran the new hairbrush through my hair, turned off the light and went around the corner to the stairs.

I heard Beau’s loud laugh from the kitchen, and I got nervous. I couldn’t remember what happened with me and that ‘Chris’ guy, and honestly, I didn’t care. Beau was really cute. I was worried he would be this cocky, arrogant hockey player who thought he was all that, but in the couple minutes I was around him, I could tell he wasn’t like that. He was so awkward, and he fumbled over his words, and he looked so flustered. I just couldn’t stop thinking about him.

“Hey, there she is! Finally, we were waiting for you.” Robbie said, welcoming me into the kitchen. “Well, kids, food’s all here. Bea, Beau will show you where the dishes are, I gotta go.” He said, grabbing his keys.

“What? You buy us food and then leave us alone to eat all of this?” Beau asked. “How ever will we do it?” He said more dramatically and sarcastically. “Hope you’re hungry, Bea, it’s just you, me, and all this free food, DEAR GOD! How will we survive!?” I could hardly breathe after Beau’s drama episode, I looked to my right and Robbie just shake his head. He reached his arm around me to give me a hug.

“Be safe, don’t let him burn the house down, ‘kay?”

I laughed, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he gets plenty of fresh water.”

“Hey!” Robbie and I looked at Beau, pasta sauce already on his face and noodles sticking out of his mouth. “That’s not nice!” He pointed at us.

“Take care of him.” Rob said, looking back at me. “I’ll see you tomorrow, don’t wait up for me.” He grabbed his jacket and went for the door. As I heard it close, I looked back to Beau, who was getting a bowl out, and loading ravioli into it. I walked over and he handed it over to me.

“Beef ravioli, for the lady.” He said, bowing slightly. I laughed and took the bowl. “Now, let’s go see what’s on Netflix!” He smiled and jogged to the family room, I followed, with a smile on my face. I rounded the corner and saw him lounging on the big sectional couch. He patted the space next to him, where I gladly sat. I ate my ravioli and watched as he flipped through the endless tv shows and movies.

“Have you ever seen Futurama?” He finally spoke through the silence. I looked over at him.

“I don’t know.” He looked at me like I just grew a second head.

“WHAT. Oh, no. We can’t have that. We’re watching it.” He said looking back at the TV and selecting the cartoon. He made himself comfortable and I saw how intently he watched the opening theme, even though he’s probably seen it a thousand times. I sat back myself, pulled my knees into my chest, and watched the show.

~

“WAIT, she was in a coma the whole time?!”

“Yeah, she imagined the whole thing.” Beau said casually.

“No, but Fry waited with her for two weeks? And they’re STILL not together?!?” I asked.

“Nope. Love is a cruel mistress.”

“Oh my gosh.” He started laughing, clearly amused.

“Why do you seem so shocked? Would you be with him?”

“If a guy waits by your bedside for two weeks while you’re in a coma- and isn’t family- husband him.”

“Husband him?” He asked, curious.

I turned to him, “Yeah, like when guys say, “Wife her; ” husband him.” He cracked out laughing. “What?”

“Nothing.” He said in between laughs. “You’re funny. Watch out, or you’ll get wife’d.”

“Hah, I think Robbie would kill any guy who tried. Especially after what happened with Chris, or whatever his name is.” I said as he hit the button to confirm to Netflix that, yes, we were still watching Futurama.

“What happened?” He asked quietly.

“It’s weird, but I don’t remember. From what Rob told me, I think he abused me; bastard.”

“Well, damn, I don’t blame Bortz. You don’t treat a lady like that. No matter what.” I got comfortable again, laying down, about ready to pass out.
I heard him whisper one thing as I drifted to sleep; “If you were mine, I’d never hurt you.”

~ A couple weeks later ~

I walked down the stairs to see Beau in the kitchen cooking bacon . . . shirtless. In the past couple weeks, Beau and I had grown really close. Robbie had been gone a lot during the day, he claimed to be training, but he always got home so late.

~

“He’s fine, he probably just found a lady friend.” Beau joked one day.

“Yeah, but why is he being so secretive about it?”

“Because he knows we’d want to meet her.”

“So?” I shrugged.

He laughed, “If I had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t want my team to meet her.”

“If?” I asked, surprised. “The Ho-Beau is single?” I joked, using him nickname.

He laughed more, “Haha, yeah, why is that so shocking?” I didn’t wanna say what I thought, so I avoided the question.

“Well why do you think you’re single?”

“Cause I’m too weird. Plus, I play for the Pittsburgh Penguins. I mean, who’d want me when they could have Sidney Crosby?” He looked down at his hands.

“I would.”

~

Bea’s P.O.V.

I looked out at the ice as I watched the guys skate by. I sat next to Marc-Andre Fleury’s wife, Vero. She was filling me in on who’s who, what number they wear, and, I have to say, I was keeping up really well.

“So,” she started, “What’s going on with you and Sunshine over there?” I looked where she pointed, and saw Beau goofing off by Marc and James Neal.

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking back at her.

“C’mon, you guys are always looking at each other, you live together, and you just said Bortz is gone a lot. I’m surprised he hasn’t noticed yet.” I went to object, but she gave me a look, and I knew there was no lying to her.

“Okay, fine. I like him, okay?” I buried my face in my hands and got ready for her to say something about liking my brother’s teammate.

“Does he like you?” She asked surprising me.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “A couple weeks ago I heard him say something before I fell asleep.” I stopped, but she gave me a ‘go on’ look. “He said if I was his, he’d never hurt me.” Her eyes grew wider than I thought possible, and a smile spread on her face.

“Oh. My. God! He so likes you! I knew it!” She squealed in happiness, I covered my face with my arms and tried to ignore the slightest possibility that Beau Bennett could like me.

Beau’s P.O.V.

“So what’s going on between you and Beatrice?” Marc asked the second Robert left. I felt my face get red.

“Nothing, Why?”

“That’s a lie and you know it . The way you look at her, the way she looks at you . . . You know Bortz would kill you for liking his sister, right?” I stayed silent, not giving him the satisfaction of a yes. “You DO like her! No way, does he like you too?”

“Probably not.” I said, hoping to please him.

“No, has she said, or done anything? Even a little bit?” I avoided his stare as I thought. I mean, I didn’t want anyone to know, but I wanted advice, and Marc wouldn’t tell Bortz.

“Well, a couple days ago she asked me why I thought I was single, and I told her it’s because I’m a Pen, and who’d want me when they could have Sid. She said she would.” He stood up straight, and lifted his helmet.

“I thought you said she didn’t like you!” He said. I put my hands up in defense.

“She doesn’t! That doesn’t mean anything!” I said. She shook his head and crouched into position again. “Does it?” I asked after a minute.

He sighed and hung his head, “You’re hopeless.”