Status: Complete

Masquerade

Run and Hide, but Your Face Will Still Pursue You

Tegan awoke the next morning to the ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ theme. Tegan glanced at the screen, and sighed. Couldn’t he let her sleep in just once?

“What do you want?” Tegan grumbled into the phone.

“I wanted to invite you to breakfast,” James replied.

An incoherent jumble of words was pulled from Tegan’s mouth in a long-winded groan.

“Paulie says it’s his treat,” James coaxed, the hint of a smile in his tone.

Tegan sat straight up. “Will he be making breakfast?” she asked.

“Yup, french toast,” he confirmed.

“I’ll be there in five.”

James chuckled, “I’ll have a pot of coffee waiting for you.”

“You better,” Tegan retorted, and then hung up.

True to her word, Tegan was at Martin’s front door five minutes later. Albeit clad in glasses and pajamas, but she was there nonetheless. James answered the door. He gave her a hug, followed by a cup of coffee. Tegan took off her shoes and followed her best friend into the kitchen. Paul was in front of the stove, flipping pieces of French toast with a spatula.

“You missed quite the show last night Tegs,” he announced upon noticing her presence.

Tegan’s heart raced. “Oh really?” she attempted to sound nonchalant.

“Yeah, James was completely starry-eyed over a girl at the masquerade,” he informed her.

Tegan eyed James and licked her lips, “Really now?”

James shook his head. “Nah,” he drawled, trying to play it off.

Paulie pointed the spatula at him. “Duper had to practically pick your jaw up off the floor man,” he chirped.

James’ face turned scarlet and Tegan half-heartedly giggled.

“The best part is, he was too awestruck to ask for her name,” Martin snickered. James chucked a dishcloth at the defenseman in response.

Tegan whipped around to face James. “Really?!” she exclaimed incredulously.

He gripped the back of his neck. “I had other things on my mind?” he winced.

“Unbelievable,” Tegan muttered.

Paulie placed a plate of French toast in front of her. “Like I said Tegs, quite the entertainment last night.”

“I bet,” she replied, pushing the pieces around her plate.

Martin’s eyebrows tugged together. She was noticeably uncomfortable. He pointed to Tegan and mouthed to James, everything okay? James shrugged, putting his hands up in an ‘I don’t know’ motion and then reached toward Tegan’s plate.

Slowly, Tegan saw James’ hand come into view ready to snatch a wayward piece of toast. She quickly tapped it away. “You guys got any plans tomorrow?” she asked, successfully changing the subject.

“It’s on off-day tomorrow for us tomorrow,” Paul put forth.

“I was thinking about spending the entire day on the couch,” James answered next.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve had a movie marathon. Dark Knight Trilogy, my place, tomorrow evening?” Tegan suggested to the both of them.

“No can do Tegs, I have some plans of my own,” Paul told her.

“I’m down. Are you working tomorrow?” James asked.

Tegan nodded.

“What time are you off?”

“Three,” she answered.

“Then I shall be there for three-thirty,” he affirmed.

“Sounds good to me,” Tegan said, finally digging into her breakfast.

Though both men suspected something was off; Tegan knew one thing for sure. It felt wrong lying James and now she had the perfect opportunity to tell him the truth.

As promised, Tegan went home the following day –directly from the hospital. When she had parked in her stall, she glanced over to the visitor lot. James’ red-hot Ferrari was there on display, beckoning all to admire it. Tegan merely rolled her eyes as she approached the entrance of her building.

Surprisingly enough, James wasn’t waiting for her in lobby, nor was he outside her door. Tegan wrestled to get her keys from the tangle within her purse. Unwinding her headphones from the keychain, she stuck the key in to the lock with a slight ‘humph’’. When the key turned with ease, she knew just where James had gone. Tegan jiggled the knob, a bright smile stretching across her face.

“If you keep letting yourself in like this, people might think you own the place,” she joked, kicking her shoes off as she entered the apartment.

There was no answer.

Tegan’s eyebrows drew together.

She peered into the kitchen, half expecting James to be eating straight from the fridge. There was no one there. Her smile faltered.

“James?” Tegan called out.

No response.

She licked her lips, and then reached for the phone. “James if you’re hiding, and pop out at me prepare for a fist to the face!” she shouted, grabbing a stapler for extra measure.

Tegan tiptoed over to bathroom. The door was partially opened. Peering through the crack in the door, she saw no one. That would’ve been the first place he’d choose to hide. Where was he?

As if on cue, she heard rustling from the bedroom. Her heart dropped to her stomach.

“This isn’t funny anymore James. Please come out,” she pleaded.

From outside the room she could see a figure looming over her dresser. Tegan licked her lips. She knew she no longer had the element of surprise, but she couldn’t help thinking: Why hadn’t he come to check out all the noise she’d been making? She still had time to tuck tail and book it. She could always…the floorboard beneath Tegan’s feet groaned. It caught the attention of the man in her room. His head turned to the noise. On instinct, Tegan raised the stapler to chuck it at him –but then she stopped. She recognized that profile.

“Jesus Christ James!” Tegan screeched, dropping everything in her grasp, “I could’ve bludgeoned you to death! Why didn’t you answer me?”

Slowly, James turned to her. He held something in his hands. It caught the light and Tegan had to shield her eyes from the sparkling hues of gold and red. As she took in the object within his grasp the color drained from her face. James had found her butterfly mask.

“What’s this?” he asked, a definite edge to his tone.

Tegan looked him dead in the eye. “You know what it is,” she answered succinctly. There would be no point in a witty remark. That would do more harm than good at this point.

“When were you going to tell me?” James asked next.

Tegan sighed, “Today, but I didn’t want it to happen like this.”

“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday? When we were all talking about you?” He pressed on.

Tegan’s eyes darted to her feet as she simultaneously grabbed a hold of her arm. “I didn’t want to embarrass you in front of Paulie,” she mumbled.

She felt his hand beneath her chin before he raised her face it back up to face him. When Tegan looked into his eyes she was surprised and how soft they had become.

“Embarrass me?”

Tegan nodded.

James shook his head. “You could never embarrass me Tegs,” he told her softly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Came pretty close in that dress of yours though,” he joked, “If I hadn’t known it was you already I’d never have been able to find you.”

“You knew it was me the entire time?” she asked incredulously.

“Of course I did. I couldn’t forget those eyes even if they were hidden behind a mask,” James told her and then added, “…I may have also been helped by a little bird named Vero. She told me you’d be there.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me,” she remarked before playfully shoving him away, “And what do you mean you were almost embarrassed by my dress?”

James licked his lips. “You know what I mean…” he trailed off.

Tegan put her hands on her hips, “No I don’t. Do enlighten me.”

“I just– I wouldn’t have thought you’d wear something so sexy” James elaborated.

“And that’s embarrassing how?”

“Well, you had all those guys fawning over you,” he stammered out an explanation.

Tegan’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not really helping yourself here James,” she remarked.

“I didn’t like them staring at you,” he blurted.

“So…you were jealous,” she mused.

“Yes!” James exclaimed. Then his face scrunched up, “I mean, no?”

“It’s okay to admit you were jealous you know,” she teased.

“Fine! I was jealous. I chose the wrong adjective to describe my feelings. Happy now?” he sighed, grabbing her by the neck and ruffling her hair in the process.

“Very,” she remarked, with a satisfied smile.

“Typical Tegan, you always have to have the last word,” James rolled his eyes, “If I wasn’t already madly in love with you I might just hate you for it.” He looked down as he spoke the words, chuckling at the thought.

Tegan’s mouth went slack, “You…love me?”

The corner of his mouth tugged up, “Have for some time now.”

Tegan’s eyes widened. “What?” she gaped like a fish out of water.

“I didn’t know if you felt the same way. I needed a little reassurance,” He shrugged and then gripped the back of his neck, “Reassurance Vero was able to give me.”

“Mastermind matchmaker Vero at her finest,” Tegan quipped.

“She just wants everyone to be as happy as she is with Flower,” he shrugged.

“I suppose I should be thanking her. She knew you’d wait until the last possible second to do anything–“

“Hey!” James interrupted, nudging Tegan with his shoulder.

“What can I say James? You’re a creature of habit –you leave everything to the last minute. If I didn’t love you already, I might just hate you for it,” she remarked.

“Using my responses against me eh?” James spoke without missing a beat.

"What can I say? I'm a witty gal," she countered and then continued on with a cheeky smile, “I could make it up to you by making you dinner."

James pulled her into his arms, “I’d settle for a kiss.”

“Deal,” she agreed, tugging the front of his shirt in order to bring him closer. As their lips met, James tightened his hold on her, for fear she’d disappear entirely. Tegan’s mouth stretched into a smile.

“Relax, I’m not going anywhere,” she managed in between kisses.

James placed a feather-like kiss beside her mouth, and another along her jaw, “You sure? Last time you had a coach to catch.”

Tegan wove her hands into his hair and pulled him right back to her lips. “Positive,” she assured him most earnestly.

However, there was still something tugging at Tegan’s mind. She pulled away and bit her lip. “James, do forgive me? You know, for lying to you?” she asked.

“Duh, of course I forgive you,” James retorted. “Do you forgive me?”

“Yes, I forgive you jerk face,” Tegan smiled, pressing her lips against his once more.
♠ ♠ ♠
This is it! The final chapter. It feels real good to complete something -even if it's a minor project and I want to thank all you guys for sharing the experience with me.

As this is my first mini-series, I really would appreciate any and all feedback. Was it too short? Could it have wrapped up sooner? Anything you could give me would be of use later on down the road.

Thanks again for sticking it through. I am truly grateful for all the support. :)