Filles de Fleur

“You know, if you leave it on pause for too long you’ll burn the image into the screen?” Sylvie chuckled as Margaux jumped in surprise, blushing as she looked away from the editing bay.

“I was just debating keeping this clip-“

Truthfully Margaux was taking advantage of the first real moment she’d had alone since coming to Pittsburgh to wrap her head around the whirlwind that has become her life. A month ago she had a comfortable job as the public relations manager for Beyond the Rack, she had a gorgeous apartment in Montreal, and was planning a wedding. Now she’s sitting here watching b-roll of her boyfriend as she edits her first video for Pens TV.

It’s surreal.

“Sure you were.” her little sister shook her head as she pulled up a seat, “I just wanted to thank you for being in my corner earlier. Beau is…something else and I want to see where this goes, whether Marc likes it or not.”

“You don’t have to thank me, honey.” Margaux smiled, reaching over and giving her little sister’s hand a squeeze, “I had your back because I think this could be great for you. The last thing I want is for you to be anything like me-“

“What are you talking about?” Sylvie asked as Margaux sighed.

“You have no idea how much I regret the past ten years.” she admitted as the Larose girl frowned, “I’d give anything to go back to my senior year and take Sidney to prom instead of Richard. If I had sucked it up and told Sidney I loved him when we were 18, I would’t have spent ten years with - wouldn’t have nearly married - the wrong man if I had.”

“You were scared to lose him.” Sylvie smiled reassuringly at her big sister as she squeezed her hand, “You never had someone who gave you a push towards Sid, I wouldn’t be going on this date with Beau if you hadn’t helped.”

“You’re my sister, I want you to be happy.” Margaux powered off the monitor before turning her swivel chair to face Sylvie head on, "So what are you doing on your date?" She asked as she grabbed her luke warm Starbucks and took a sip.

"We're just going to have a movie night at his place-"

Margaux nearly spit out her coffee, coughing once she'd swallowed as Sylvie looked at her wide eyed.

"A movie night? Really?" Margaux raised an eyebrow skeptically at her little sister who blushed slightly as she nodded, "Oh, Sylvie, I didn't realize what a romantic you've fallen for!" Sylvie giggled as Margaux shook her head, "It's like a fucking fairy tale!"

"Okay, so it's not exactly magical, but if it means I get to see Beau, I'd do anything." Sylvie shrugged and Margaux frowned.

"I hate to sound like Vero and Marc," Margaux started and Sylvie groaned hearing another sex talk coming on, "No, hear me out. As someone who has been an advocate for you and Beau, I'm leery of you two being alone at his place because history has a tendency of repeating itself."

Sylvie blushed, looking down at her hands in her lap and Margaux sighed, "Honey, I just want you to be smart about this. You're smarter than I am, hell you're smarter than the rest of the Larose-Fleury's, but love makes people do stupid things. If you're not ready, you're not ready, and if Beau loves you - which he does - he'll respect that. Don't feel like you owe him anything, okay?"

"Okay." Sylvie nodded slightly as Margaux leaned over and wrapped her in a hug.

"I love you, kid."

"I'm only four years younger than you!" Sylvie protested, pushing Margaux's wheelie chair away as they both giggled, "Well I'm going to go, you clearly have work to do."

"Here, take my car. Sid can give me a lift." Margaux insisted as she dug her keys out of her purse, "If I don't see you later, have fun tonight, alright?"

"Thanks Mar." Sylvie smiled, kissing both of Mar's cheeks before heading out into the maze of corridors in Consol Energy Center.

Margaux sighed as she turned back to the editing bay and turned the monitor back on. Her heart fluttered as Sidney's face flickered back on and she bit her lip wondering about her own night. She was worried about Marc behaving, he was begrudgingly okay with her and Sid in small doses, but a whole evening together?

Margaux's thoughts were interrupted by her buzzing phone and she frowned at the 604 number that flashed across her screen, it clearly wasn’t a Pittsburgh caller - or Quebec for that matter.

“Allô?” she asked, eyebrows knitting together.

“Margaux.”

Her heart stopped at the sound of the all too familiar voice on the other end and she shook her head as she recognized the area code.

Vancouver.

“Richard.”

“I know you probably don’t want to talk to me right now-“

“Why?”

That was all Margaux could muster and he stopped short.

“I’m just calling to let you know the apartment sold. The relator said your half will be deposited your new account tonight-” Margaux frowned slightly before sighing.

“Not why are you calling. Why did you do it?”

“Do what, Mar?” he sighed as she shook her head, rubbing her temple.

When Rick left, she came home from work to find him loading the last box of his things into the back of his SUV. He hung around long enough to tell her he was leaving for the west coast and in stunned silence, all she could manage was giving back the ring. Now she wanted some answers.

“I can’t believe I have to spell it out for you. Why did you cheat on me? After ten years together I foolishly thought you’d respect me enough to end things before beginning again with someone else.”

“It’s simple. She loves me and you haven’t in a long time. I know it was wrong, but it felt right.”

“I loved you.” Margaux whispered biting her lip.

“I know you did, you told me so, I just stopped believing you when we were sixteen.” he cleared his throat and Margaux licked her lips, anticipating what he’d say next, “You how in that movie you love the father says it was better to play second fiddle than to not be in the band at all? He’s wrong. I lived by that saying, praying it was true for the last ten years, but the truth is…the truth is it’s been a one man band all along.”

“Rick-“

“It’s alright Margaux, I was the idiot who hung around as long as I did. I just regret not figuring it all out before I asked you to marry me. That was a first I should’ve saved for Sid.”

“Good luck, you know, in Vancouver.” Margaux bit her lip, hoping he realized she meant it.

“Thank you. I don’t need to wish you luck in Pittsburgh. You’ve been there a week and you probably own the town by now.” he chuckled and she smirked.

“I took over Katie O’Malley’s job, I’m living with Sylvie-“

“Really?” he asked in awe, “I thought for sure you’d be with him by now.”

“We’re taking things slow. We’ve been waiting ten years, we can wait a little longer, right?”

“You were always better at this stuff than I was.” he admitted and she chuckled.

“Do me a favour, when you propose to this one, make sure there are no cereal bowls in sight.”

“Thanks Mar.”



“A movie night?!” Ollie snorted, laughing at his teammate as they changed out of their gear. “You have got to be the fucking cheapest guy in the entire NHL.”

“There is nothing wrong with snuggling up and watching a movie.” Beau groaned, sick of Ollie and Kris’ teasing of his idea of a romantic date. “And besides, there’s no one to stop me from making out with her all night long.” He laughed at Ollie’s crushed expression.

“Seriously though, you realize she can google how much money you make, right? So she’ll be fully aware you can afford to rent a yacht with a five star chef making you dinner or some shit before you take her into the cabin for a long, intimate night of love making.” Kris chimed in, pulling off his shoulder pads.

“Always the romantic.” Beau muttered.

“No shit Sherlock, I’m French.” Kris laughed.

“I just can’t risk anything going wrong again. If we’re in a controlled environment-” Beau started, but Kris cut him off.

“Like last time?” Beau’s face flushed as Ollie looked suspiciously between the two.

“I feel like I’m missing something.” He hinted. Beau looked ready to murder Kris, but before he could there was a tentative knock on the door. “Nudity check!” Ollie hollered, he heard no objections before turning back to the door. “Come in.”

Sylvie walked inside, her eyes shielded even though most everyone was still completely dressed. Beau laughed at her bright red face, walking over and holding her shoulders gently. “You’re fine babe, we did a nudity check.”

“That doesn’t mean Ollie still won’t moon me.” She giggled.

“Hey!” Ollie objected. “If I show you my ass I’m going to make sure Beau’s very far away, because you wouldn’t be able to resist it.” He winked before remembering her eyes were covered, settling for chuckling at Beau’s furious face. “Oh relax Sunshine.” Beau rolled his eyes before returning his gaze to Sylvie, who was a deep shade of scarlet.

“What did you need?” He asked, smiling as she kept her eyes closed. Her mouth twisted nervously and he didn’t say a word, leading her out into the hallway and shutting the door behind him. She pulled her hands away from her eyes, and he could see something was bothering her. “Sylvie, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

“I’m just…” She stopped, biting her lip before meeting his gaze. “Things aren’t going to get…out of hand again tonight, are they?”

“Absolutely not.” He assured her. “Just movies, popcorn, and snuggling. Lots of snuggling.” She smiled at that as he pulled her into him, kissing the top of her head. But something was bothering him. “So, can I ask what Marc said to you? Before you ran off the rink today?” She sighed, letting herself fall further into him.

“He said something about you having a terrible temper, but I don’t think I believe him.” She said, looking up into his bright blue eyes. “I think you’re just a little territorial, probably because you haven’t quite sealed the deal yet.” She winked at him, and it was finally Beau’s turn to blush as he laughed nervously at her forwardness.

“Well, I got the pen on the paper, I just didn’t sign.” He stepped away from the door, knowing Kris and Ollie were probably pushed right up against it, struggling to hear the conversation. “But I promise you, when I do seal the deal, you won’t ever forget it.” She bit her lower lip playfully, reminding Beau of that night right before her kisses had sunken past his stomach. Her normally bright brown eyes were dark, and he knew he had unleashed a little sex kitten in training.

“So, you’re house at seven, right?” She whispered, running a finger over the name on his chest protector. He swallowed nervously, knowing that this was going to be a long night of resisting his urge to lay her down and make sure she was screaming his name until her voice gave out.

“Right.” He said, trying to sound smooth. She giggled, giving him a short, intense kiss before starting off in the other direction. And as she walked off, Beau knew she was shaking her hips just for him, and the thought of her doing the same thing with no clothes on intensified the fire in his stomach. He sighed, knowing he was going to have to take a very cold shower as he walked back into the locker room, wondering just how dirty his innocent little Sylvie could get.



"Remember when we broke up-"

"You'll have to be more specific, that was one of our favourite things to do." Margaux chuckled and she could tell Rick was rolling his eyes on the other end.

"As I was saying, at Dominique's wedding reception? I left my phone at our table and you were so mad-"

"I texted that Red Cross donation number a few dozen times." Margaux finished for him, laughing at how angry he was when he got the bill, and how that anger disappeared when he'd seen how she'd driven up his bill.

"I honestly thought you'd made a few long distance calls to Evgeni in Russia, but the charity thing was a nice touch."

"I like to think of it as a douchebag fine." Margaux smirked.

"Hey-"

"You picked a fight with me at my cousins wedding-"

"Because you couldn't stop texting the Dizzy Timbit." Rick laughed, "I know he was concussed but he was half way across the country. I didn't get how you thought you were helping."

"It was more to help me than to help him. I was worried.” Margaux admitted and Rick sighed on the other end.

"I know that now. Look, I have to go get ready for my flight, but this was nice Margaux."

"It was." She smiled faintly as she leaned back in her seat.

"I'll talk to you soon?" He asked and she nodded even though he couldn't see her.

"I'd like that."

Margaux smiled as she hung up and saved the number into her contacts for next time. She managed to finish editing without further interruption and headed back for the locker room, taking a seat in Sidney’s stall as she waited out the last few minutes of the team’s video review session.

She leaned back against the wall and froze when she spotted a photo tapped to the underside of the stall’s shelf. The picture was from Vancouver 2010, you couldn't tell who looked prouder as Sidney's gold medal hung around her neck, his arm around her shoulders and her's around his waist. She was wearing a Crosby jersey, half to tease Marc about not playing a game, but really to show her support for Sidney. He was under a lot of pressure playing on home ice and the more friendly faces in his corner the better.

"It's a good thing no one's seen that photo." She jumped slightly at the sound of Sidney's voice and he smiled at her as she stood, "We look like a couple in it. Puck bunnies would riot, it'd be like Vancouver after game seven."

She beamed up at him as he wrapped her up in his arms, pulling her into his chest.

"You have no idea how happy seeing you in that jersey made me feel." He leaned in and kissed her, smiling at the faint blush on her cheeks.

"I could say the same thing about you. From awkward stick boy to national hero in just seven years, what a feat." She chuckled, shaking her head.

"Okay, there's been enough cuddling in this locker room for one day, break it up!" Tanger teased them as he wandered in.

"I declare the locker room a PDA free zone!" Marc bellowed as he barrelled past them and Margaux giggled as Sidney leaned in to kiss her again anyway.

"Meet me in the family room in a minute?" Sidney asked and Margaux nodded as he let her go.

"Hey Sunshine!" She called, turning around once she reached the doors. Beau looked up from his stall as she smirked at him, "Tell me you a least rented out a theatre for this movie night, you cheap bastard!"