Hey Girl

Stunned and heart broken.

That’s all I could think as I watched the Ducks and Stars line up at center ice to shake hands through my tears. Avery was looking at the television with tears in her eyes and a look of pure disappointment. The guys played a great game and managed one hell of a comeback, but it just wasn’t enough. They ended up falling to the Ducks in overtime. I shut the TV off, not wanting to listen to the commentators talk about the game and who the Ducks would play in the next round. I didn’t want to continue seeing the broken looks on the team’s faces. I didn’t want to think about what was going to happen now that hockey was over for the guys.

“Jamie couldn’t even get a point.” Avery whispered, broken. “It may have been a little better if he were able to get a point.”

I wasn’t able to say anything because at this point I didn’t know what to say, not to Avery and sure as hell not to Tyler when he calls me. Tyler. He’s going to be so upset. He wanted to win so badly. He wanted to show the Dallas fans that he could help their team make it. Just thinking about how upset he’d be had my tears running down my face at full force. God, I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around him and hold him. Once again, the distance in our relationship was playing a large factor into things and once again I was hating it. As if she could read my mind, which sometimes I believe she could, Avery spoke up.

“Why didn’t we go to this game? Why weren’t we there for them? We should be there to comfort them.”

I nodded slowly. “We had school, A. You know the two of them would have had a conniption if we showed up down there with only two weeks of classes left. We were lucky enough to get the time to see them at the beginning of the month.” I sighed. “I know, I wish we were there too. It sucks.” I added, thinking about how much I would have loved to be there for Tyler.

Avery simply nodded and sulked off to her room where she would wait for Jamie’s phone call. I straightened up the living room since the two of us got a little rowdy during the game, before heading to my own room and wait for Tyler’s phone call. Once in my room, I crawled into bed and sent Tyler a text letting him know that I would be up waiting for his call and did just that, wait. The normal half an hour to an hour wait quickly turned into a two and half hour wait and before I knew I was asleep.

I woke up at some point during the night to find my phone sitting on the nightstand where the light was off. Normally, that would not be concerning, but since I knew it was on when I fell asleep, I was a little confused. Things got even more confusing when I went to roll over and found that I was not alone in my bed, when I knew for sure that I was when I fell asleep. I rolled over and came face to face with my sleeping boyfriend. Even in his sleep I could see the lines of exhaustion on his face. Unable to resist, I reached out and lightly stroked his cheek. The small contact caused him to stir and he slowly opened his eyes. He gave me a small smile, but I could tell it was forced.

“What are you doing here?” I asked quietly.

He shook his head. “I needed you. I needed to see you after that game.” He sighed. “I was planning on coming here tomorrow after we won because I knew we’d have a few days off, but after we lost…”He trailed off. “I kept looking at your text telling me that you’d be waiting for me and I just knew that I had to be here.”

Once again I was at a loss for words, but unlike earlier with Avery where I didn't know what to say, this time there was nothing tosay. So I simply wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed him lightly before burying my face in the crook of his neck. Tyler didn’t say anything else and hugged me closer to him and we both drifted back to sleep.

**Tyler**

Heartbreak. That’s all Tyler felt when that final horn sounded. He watched as the Ducks celebrated on Dallas’ ice, and that hurt even more. The fans were still cheering loudly for their beloved Stars and that surprised Tyler. If he were back in Boston and they had just lost in overtime in Game Six, there would be boos raining down from the stands. Hearing those cheers instead though gave Tyler the little life he needed to get through the handshake line and media availability, something he always hated doing, especially after a loss.

Post-game interviews went by in a blur as they were done on auto-pilot and were simple PR approved bullshit. Tyler did not want to sit around and give his opinion on how he thought the game went. It went to shit, that’s how he felt. The team fell flat and it cost them the Cup. All Tyler wanted to do was call Hannah and talk to her. He needed to hear her tell him that it was okay, that he wasn’t at fault for this. As he showered, he cursed the distance that kept the two of them apart. He would have given anything to have her there tonight, to be in her arms the second he walked out of the locker room. But that wasn’t the case. He knew that she and Avery were at the apartment in Detroit, finishing up there semester. That didn’t mean that he had to like it at the moment.

With a sigh, Tyler finished his post-game shower and quickly changed back into his suit. He checked his phone and saw that he had a text message from Hannah letting him know that she would be up and waiting for him to call her. He went to hit ‘reply’, but changed his mind. Instead he dialed a different number and talked to the girl who answered on the second ring. After a ten minute conversation, Tyler felt a little better. He said goodbye to his teammates and turned down the offers to grab drinks. He just wanted to go home and change out of his suit before heading to the airport.

Tyler decided not to text Hannah back because he was going to surprise her, but he felt guilty and really he wanted to talk to her, but the idea of surprising her was so much better. So for the remainder of the ride home, he thought about how she was going to react to him showing up in the middle of the night. When Tyler got home, he quickly changed out of his suit and threw on some jeans and a long sleeve tee and hat before gathering up the things he was going to need. He quickly sent a text to his dog sitter asking her to keep an eye on Marshall for a few extra days before walking out the door.



Tyler was exhausted by the time he got to Hannah and Avery’s apartment. He let himself in with the key Hannah had given him and quietly crept down the hall to her room. When he opened the door, his heart stopped. Hannah was curled up in a ball, clutching her phone, obviously falling asleep while waiting for Tyler’s reply and impending phone call. That’s not all that caught his attention though. She was still wearing the jersey he gave to her back in March and her eyes were puffy, a clear sign that she had been crying by the end of the game. Tyler’s heart clenched at the thought of her being upset and the guilt of not calling her ate away at him.

With yet another sigh he stripped down to his boxers and walked over to Hannah’s side of the bed and gently extracted her phone from her hand and placed it on the night stand before turning off the light and walking to the other side of the bed and crawling in. Instantly he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her soft, warm body into his exhausted one. He let out a content sigh as she shifted closer to him. Tyler placed a feather light kiss on the back of her head before falling asleep.

Some hours later Tyler woke up to a light caress on his face and he opened his eyes to see a sleepy Hannah gazing at him.

“What are you doing here?” She asked quietly, clearly shocked to find Tyler in her bed.

“I needed you. I needed to see you after that game.” He sighed. “I was planning on coming here tomorrow after we won because I knew we’d have a few days off, but after we lost…”He trailed off. “I kept looking at your text telling me that you’d be waiting for me and I just knew that I had to be here.” Tyler held his breath and hoped that she wasn’t mad at him for just showing up, but the way she kissed him and cuddled into his side, he knew that she was okay with everything. Tyler sighed and placed another light kiss on the top of her head before the two of them fell back to sleep.

That was the night that Tyler knew that from that point on that Hannah was the one he wanted to come home to after a loss like that.

**Hannah**

I woke to quiet snores coming from behind me and thought back to the middle of the night when Tyler crawled into bed with me. When I first realized he was there I thought I was dreaming, but I quickly realized that I was not and that Tyler was indeed in my bed. I rolled over and frowned when I saw how exhausted he actually was. His tan skin was slightly pale and he had dark circles under his eyes. Letting him sleep, I placed a light kiss on his cheek before slowly slipping out of bed and making my way to the kitchen to start breakfast.

I was finished, I went to my room to wake Tyler up. I smiled at the site of Tyler curled up under my purple blanket, clutching my pillow. I walked over to the bed and straddled Tyler’s waist and began placing light kisses up his bare chest. He inhaled deeply and rolled his hips into me as I continued my assault on his chest, making my way up to his neck. I could feel him stirring beneath me and I had to suppress a giggle.

“Tyler.” I whispered, between kisses on his neck. “Tyler.”

He groaned quietly. “Why are you awake?” He asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“I made breakfast.”

“Hmmm. I’d much rather have you.” He said.

I giggled and placed my head on his chest. “Not going to happen. Avery would never let us live it down.”

Tyler leaned forward and kissed me deeply, pressing his hard-on into my core, causing me to gasp. “She doesn’t have to know.”

I pulled away from his tempting lips and gave him a look. “Oh, yeah right. The second she sees the two of us she’d know what happened.” I kissed him one last time before rolling off the bed and standing up. “Come on, before breakfast gets cold.”

Tyler groaned. “Give me like five minutes.” He said, glancing down at the obvious tent in his boxers.
With another giggle I made my way out of the room, but as soon as I heard the shower in my room turn on, my giggle became full blown laughter.

I smiled, trying to suppress a giggle when Tyler came into the living room, showered and dressed. He sent a glare in my direction, causing me to lose my cool and laugh some more.

“Yeah, sure keep laughing. Just remember that payback is a bitch.” He winked before heading into the kitchen. I simply sat on the couch, smiling to myself, enjoying our morning banter. It caused me to wonder if every morning with Tyler would be like this. I shook my head and watched Tyler get himself breakfast.

He took a seat at the breakfast bar, but didn’t touch his food, suddenly somber. I stayed quiet as I watched him push it around his plate. After ten minutes of silence and Tyler not eating I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Everything okay?” I asked before I could stop myself. Of course it wasn’t. His team was just eliminated from the playoffs. If I were in his position I wouldn’t be able to eat either.

Tyler sighed and pushed his plate away and walked out of the room without a word. I decided to give him his space and cleaned up the kitchen and to get a head start on my studying. After about twenty minutes of stalling, I walked into my room and stuck my head in. Once again Tyler was laying in my bed, clutching my pillow like his life depended on in.

“Ty?” I asked softly, walking into my room and shutting the door behind me.

He didn’t look at me, but mumbled something. Then with a sigh he turned to face me. “I’m sorry.”

I took a seat next to him and ran my hand through his growing hair. “Why are you apologizing? For moping around? I get it, okay? I understand your need to be alone and I’m going to give you as much space as you need. I don’t really know what to do in this situation, though.”

Tyler sat up. “You’re doing everything perfectly. You are here for me and that’s all I really needed. Just being around you makes this just a little more bare able. I am sorry for moping though. I’m also in your way.” He gestured to the pile of books next to my bed.

“You’re not in the way. I can still study with you here and that way you’ll still have your time alone.”

Tyler shook his head. “Can you study with me around?” He asked, giving me puppy dog eyes. “I won’t bother you, I promise, but I don’t want to be away from you right now.”

My heart melted at the vulnerability in his voice. I kissed him lightly, before reaching for my Education Psychology book. “Of course you can stay with me.”

About an hour later Tyler’s phone went off and he quickly silenced it before going back to reading my copy of “Boys of Winter” that he had found next to my bed. I trucked on with my notes, but the sound of Tyler’s ringtone interrupted again. With a groan, I put my pen down and looked at Tyler who was staring at the phone like the devil himself was calling him.

“Ty, please answer that. At this rate I’m going to be hearing that tone all day.” I said, trying to reread the paragraph I was on. But as soon as he answered the call and the sound of an angry voice filled the silence, I was interested. It was clear whomever was on the other line was pissed and they didn’t care who heard it.

“Don’t get mad.” Tyler said hesitantly, like he knew that they were going to be mad no matter what. “I’m already here.”

Then I realized who it was as the voice got even louder. It was Jamie. I watched as Tyler’s face fell and sadness filled his eyes.

“You know that’s not true.” Tyler’s eyes became even sadder and that caused me to wonder what Jamie was saying to him. “I had to leave. I couldn’t have them looking at me like I’m a disappointment,”

My heart broke all over again for him when those words left his lips. Oh, Tyler. I wrapped my arms around his biceps, giving him a little support. I laid my head on his arm and just listened as Jamie continued to yell at him.

“Everyone was looking at me to lead in the playoffs and I let everyone down. You don’t understand.”

I shook my head at his words. I knew he was upset, but telling Jamie that he didn’t understand the feeling of letting everyone down was not the right thing to say. If anything he was the one person who was feeling the same way Tyler was right now. Jamie’s voice became even louder and angrier and at this point and I didn’t blame him. The crushing defeat was still fresh and now his best friend and teammate was telling him that he didn’t understand. Hell, I’d be mad at him to for telling me that.

Tyler wasn’t on the phone for much longer after Jamie’s final outburst. He dropped his phone and placed his head in his hands with a sigh. I moved one of my hands from his arm to his back and began rubbing it, trying to comfort him as well as calm him down.

“How angry is he?” I asked, after a lengthy period of silence.

Tyler sighed. “Severely. The two of us were supposed to come up here together to surprise you and Avery, but after last night I couldn’t wait until this afternoon to see you.” He looked down at the comforter. “He called me a selfish asshole.” He said quietly.

That pissed me off. Jamie knew how hard Tyler worked on and off the ice for the team. “ I feel like there is a little more to this than you leaving without him.” I said

“I may have ditched drinks with the team after the game.” He said quietly, not looking at me.

“That wasn’t nice of you.” I shook my head at how angry Jamie was. “I still don’t think that Jamie should have been that upset about it though. Is he still coming up?” Tyler simply nodded. “Well you know you’re going to have to talk to him and work this out when he gets here.”

Tyler sighed. “Yeah I know.”

Not sure what else to say, I tried to go back to studying, but my mind was elsewhere. After rereading the same sentence three times, I sighed, shutting my book. “I’m sorry. I’m getting in the way. I’ll go sit in the living room.” Tyler said getting up and leaving the room before I could stop him.

I stared at the shut door and contemplated going out to him, but decided that he needed some time alone and decided to take advantage of the quiet in my room. After about twenty minutes of studying, the guilt of not telling him that he wasn’t bothering me was eating at me. So once again, I shut my text book and went out into the living room, where I found Tyler sitting at the breakfast bar with his head in his hands. I did not know what he was more upset about, the loss last night or his fight with Jamie.

“Are you hungry? You didn’t eat breakfast this morning?” I asked, mentally kicking myself for sounding like his mother. I wasn't surprised when he shook his 'no' and didn't say anything else to me. I moved around the kitchen, making a snack for myself simply to give me something to do. As I was cutting up some cheese, neither Tyler nor I said a word.

The sound of Avery’s bedroom door opening and closing caught my attention and I was ready for some Avery and Tyler sass. Anything to fill the silence that has fallen over the house. What I didn’t expect though was the anger towards my best friend’s boyfriend to come bubbling up the second I saw her.

“Your boyfriend is a real ass.” I accused before I could stop myself.

“Hannah.” Tyler said in a warning tone. I ignored him and continued to stare at my friend, somewhat in shock when she agreed with me and called Jamie a dick.

“What is your take on this situation?” I asked her, needing to know how she felt.

“I’m not taking anyone’s side, if that’s what you’re asking. This whole thing is fucking dumb.” She said, pouring herself a bowl of cereal. As soon as she finished, she and Tyler started their antics and despite looking forward to them, I was not amused.

“Well I think it’s dumb that your boyfriend called Tyler a selfish asshole. He knows how much Ty puts into that team!”

Avery rolled her eyes at me. “I don’t think he was giving his everything when he ditched the team to commiserate without him, when they could have used his support.”

“He needed a break!” I exclaimed, exasperated. “After everything he’d been through last night, wanting to escape isn’t outrageous, Avery!” I was getting frustrated with her and I knew she could tell. To make matter worse, she accused me of being blind to the whole reason as to why Jamie was upset.

Tyler took this moment to speak up. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” He said quietly. I looked over at him and walked over to his side, placing a hand on his back. He needed to know someone was in his corner for this, at least right now.

Avery’s expression softened. She may get frustrated with Tyler and his antics, but deep down she does care for him. “I know, sweetheart. I understand, but it’s going to take longer for the guys you hurt to get it. Especially Jamie.” She sighed. “He doesn’t understand how people can do things that he would never do.”

I shook my head. I didn’t understand Avery sometimes. She says she’s not taking sides, but the more she talks, the more I believe she is taking Jamie’s. “How is this not taking his side?” I asked, aware that she was getting pissed with me for not using Jamie’s name.

She swallowed the bite of food in her mouth. “While I agree with why he’s angry, I do not agree with how he went about it.” She sighed and looked at Tyler. “He said that his argument was far from over…so good luck with that.” She chuckled.

“Can you at least tell him to lighten up?” I asked, seriously.

Avery laughed. “You think I have that power? I can try and distract him, but when he’s this upset he’s stubborn.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. Finally Avery was getting a taste of her own medicine when it came to stubbornness. “Takes one to know one.” I teased, causing her to laugh as well.

That’s when I knew that her and I would be okay at the end of all this. We were too good of friends to let some petty shit between our boyfriends get in the way of our friendship.

As Avery continued to eat breakfast, the three of us talked about everything but Jamie’s arrival and the impending fight between the two hockey players.



Several hours after I heard the front door slam, my phone vibrated from its spot next to me on the bed. I glanced at it and saw that Avery and Jamie were on their way back from lunch with a few of our players. I looked at Tyler who was asleep next to me and gave him a little shake.

“Heads up. A and Jamie are on their way home. Avery suggested you hiding somewhere or being busy so we can kind of stall.” I told him, responding to Avery’s text message.

“How am I supposed to hide? You’re house isn’t exactly that big, babe.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Why don’t you go shower or something?”

“You just want to see me naked.” He teased, leaning over me and kissing me.

“Always.” No use lying to him. “Come on, get in there before he gets here and realizes that you’re hiding from him.” With another kiss and the start of a striptease, Tyler was in the bathroom.

I made my way down stairs just in time for Jamie and Avery to walk in the door. I waited for the anger towards the captain to surface, but it never did. Instead I was happy to see him, despite the circumstances. When I heard the shower shut off I suggested a tour while I went up to Tyler. When I walked into my room, Tyler was walking out of the bathroom.

"He's here." I said softly, watching the water droplets roll down Tyler's chest and abs.

"Eyes up here, young lady." Tyler chuckled, walking over to his bag. "Are you really going to watch me change?" He questioned, pulling another outfit out of his bag.

I nodded and sat on the bed, waiting. With a laugh, Tyler turned back to the bathroom and shut the door. "You suck Tyler Seguin!" I yelled with a huff. I smiled when I heard him laugh again.

When he walked back out, he was fully dressed, but no longer smiling. "I guess we should go get this over with." He said with a shrug.

With a nod I got off the bed and led the way down the stairs to the impending fight. When Tyler and I walked into the living room, we did not expect to see Avery straddling Jamie and the two of them locked in a heated kiss.

"No sex in shared places!" Tyler yelled before I could make a snarky comment about our house rule.

I watched as Avery's eyes went from joking to defensive in a second. Something obviously happened that Tyler and I were unaware of. "Seeing as this isn't your space, you don't get to say that." She snapped. I bit my lip and looked between my boyfriend and best friend. It was weird seeing them snap at each other and I didn't know whether or not to say anything. Avery quickly made the decision for me when she told Tyler that it was Jamie that he needed to apologize to, not her. With that we left the two of them alone to work out their issues.

"Please don't break anything." I said as I followed Avery upstairs.

As soon as we had the door shut we could hear Jamie's angry voice fill the house. Avery and I looked at each other as we stood back and did all we could do. Listen.

"You are the same self-absorbed, immature kid you were in Boston!"

Avery and I looked at each other, eyes wide as Tyler fired back at him. "You know that's not true! You know I've changed!" The emotion was thick in Tyler's voice. I didn't enjoy just sitting here and listening to the two of them fight. I grabbed a pillow from behind me and clutched it to my chest and continued to listen to the conversation.

"You might not be drowning every little problem in alcohol, but you still think you're above everyone and neglect your fucking responsibilities!"

Avery shook her head at Jamie's words, but I knew deep down she agreed with him about Tyler's antics.

"You're just jealous that I had to ability to turn to my girlfriend. You're girlfriend probably would have run scared at the first sight of you actually needing her!"

I gasped and looked at Avery. I knew Tyler was upset, but bringing Avery and her insecurities into this was a low blow. "He didn't mean it, A. He's just angry." I said gently, placing a comforting hand on her arm.

"Leave the girls out of this! This has nothing to do with them and you know it." Jamie exclaimed. I silently clapped for Jamie for sticking up for the both of us, even when he didn’t need to.

"No, of course it's not about them, because everything is about you! Are you mad that I ran to Hannah instead of to you? You're used to me turning to you for help with every little problem I've had since I got to Dallas and you hate that I found someone else to talk to. That's it, isn't it? Who's fucking entitled now?"I rolled my eyes at Avery who giggled.

"Are you out of your mind? I'm glad you have Hannah, Segs! I think she's lacking some very important brain cells if she thinks you're worth her time, but I'm glad you have her!"

That one stung. I considered Jamie a friend and his opinion of me mattered to me, especially when it came to my relationship with Tyler.

"Don't listen to him, Han." Avery said gently.

I couldn't take much more of these two going at it. Fighting made me anxious already and this was just killing me. "How long are we going to let them go on like this?" Avery didn't get a chance to answer before Jamie's raised voice took over again.

"You know better than to think that I give two shits about how you treat me! This is all about how you treat the team, and you treat them like shit!"

"They are adults, Jamie. I don't think they care about me not being there last night as much as you're playing it up to be!"

Once again, I shook my head at Tyler's argument. This is the same issue that started this mess in the first place.

"That's exactly it!" Jamie yelled even louder. "These guys have been my team for years and you just got here, but you seem to think you know them better than I do. You want to be a leader and make a difference, but that will never happen until you get your fucking shit together! Being a leader is putting the needs of the team before your own and you're too self-centered to even learn what they need, much less focusing on them before focusing on yourself!"

Suddenly all was quiet in our house and that concerned me. How did the two of them go from going at each other's throats to being quiet? Avery and I glanced at each other and slowly made our way to the door. Like teenagers trying to sneak out of our room, we quietly snuck down the stairs and to the living room. When we walked completely in the room we were shocked to see the two guys sitting on the couch, looking at one another's phone. When Jamie noticed that we had walked into the room, he jumped up and explained to us that the two of them were looking up recipes for dinner. Shocked I looked at Tyler who motioned for me to join him on the couch. When I got closer I noticed that his eyes were red rimmed. I wasn't sure if it was anger or guilt, but I decided to leave it be for now.

"Everything good?" I asked quietly, glancing down at his phone.

He nodded. "We worked some things out. He's helping me find a way to apologize to the team for ditching them." He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. "I'm sorry you had to hear all that."
I shook my head before resting it on his chest. "So what's the plan for dinner?" I asked.

"Jamie and I are cooking for the two of you." He grinned.

"Sooooo we're ordering pizza." I giggled. Before I had a chance to more or say anything else Tyler had me pinned to the couch.

"Ye have little faith?" He asked, kissing my neck.

I nodded with a smile on my lips. "When it comes to hockey players in the kitchen? Yeah, I do."

Tyler laughed and lowered his head so he was closer to mine. "We will just have to surprise you then." He said before kissing me.

"No sex in shared places!" Avery yelled, coming back into the living followed by Jamie. I simply flipped her off and sat up.

"We're going to the store, so get your lazy asses up." Jamie declared, making his way for the door.

With a sigh and a roll of the eyes, Tyler and I followed behind. Laughing as Tyler and Avery began picking on each other once again. I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face when Jamie and Avery began picking on Tyler, causing him to whine. It was clear that everything between the four of us was back to normal and there were no hard feelings about things that were said.