Summers, Sunsets and Shoulder Surgeries

It was really hard for Lauren to fall asleep, not only was she in a great deal of discomfort but she also couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she would actually be done cheering for at least 6 weeks. Eventually the pain meds kicked in and Lauren was able to fall into an uneasy sleep.
-----
The next morning Ryan was already awake when Taylor sauntered into the kitchen. To be honest Ryan hadn't slept all that well, he had felt so incredibly bad that Lauren had broken her ankle, and he felt somewhat responsible. He knew how much it sucked not to be able to participate in your sport.

"Morning man" Taylor slapped Ryan's good shoulder as he walked to the fridge to grab some orange juice.

"Listen Taylor I erm I have to tell you something"

"LAUREN WHAT THE HECK" Taylor was stunned.

Ryan, startled, turned to the doorway where Lauren was standing, propped up by her crutches.

"Err uhh turns out I broke my ankle..." Lauren couldn't make eye contact with Taylor.

"What the fuck man what did you do?!" Taylor glared at Ryan.

"Taylor he didn't do anything. I hurt it awhile ago cheering and I never told anyone and I ignored it every time it began to hurt. It's no one else fault. He's the one who convinced me to go to the doctors"

"Well why didn't you guys wake me up?"

"Taylor I'm not a child I can take care of myself, plus I had Ryan, I was in capable hands" Lauren shot an apologetic look over to Ryan, seemingly trying to apologize for her cousin's rudeness. He just smiled back at her.

"Well are you okay?"

"Well I'm here aren't I?" she sassed back.

"No need for the attitude missy"

"Sorry Tay" Lauren used the nickname she knew he hated most as she slowly crutched her way over to give him an awkward half hug. "I love you"

"Love you too Lauren"

"Love you too Nuge" Taylor added as he walked by giving Ryan a noggie.

"Ehh you're alright" Lauren winked at Ryan as his cheeks grew red. "Hey shouldn't you be at the doctors or something, ya know getting cleared to train again?"

"Ahh shit" Ryan looked at the clock and realized he was very close to being late for his 9:30 appointment. "Hey Taylor are you still going with me man?" Ryan shouted through the apartment when Taylor appeared in the doorway, "Oh um yeah man lemme throw some clothes on". In five minutes Taylor and Ryan were gone and Lauren deduced that Kelsey must have already left. For really the first time since she had gotten to Edmonton Lauren was all alone. She took advantage of the opportunity by eating some breakfast, checking her email and accepting an incoming skype call from one of her friends back home.

As soon as Lauren answered the call she could hear his thick Spanish accent on the other side of the screen.

"Lauren!" Everyone yelled at once. When the picture finally came into focus Lauren could make out the faces of her best friend Ashley, two boys from her year, Mike and Kevin, and front and center on the screen was Mateo.

"Oh hey guys" Lauren responded meekly.

"Where are you?"

"I um.." it had been a long time since she had skyped him and she found herself getting choked up, "I um, I'm in Canada, Edmonton actually, if you know where that is" she added the last part quietly.

"Why?" he seemed to be confused.

"I came to visit by cousin. He lives here, he plays hockey here."

"Your cousin plays for the Oilers?!" Mike chirped in from the background.

"Uh yeah Taylor" Lauren hadn't really told many people at school, she figured people might just use her to get to her famous kin.

"You didn't want to see me?" he was still stuck on Lauren being gone and honestly she didn't know how to respond. Before an awkward silence could ensue the door to the apartment bust open with Taylor and Ryan half wrestling each other as they obnoxiously laughed. When they saw Lauren in the living room with her skype open they seemed half apologetic but more so interested in who was on the other end.

"That Kaley?" Taylor asked as he made his way over to his cousin hoping her twin was on skype so he could say hi.

"Uh no it's some friends. Ashley, Mike, Kevin, Mateo this is my cousin Taylor oh and that's Ryan. Taylor, Ryan, this is Ashley, Mike, Kevin and Mateo."

Taylor controlled himself from letting his eyes grow wide at the mention of the last name and instead responded with an ever pleasant "Nice to meet you." Ryan just waved from behind the couch as he head down the hall towards his room, meaning to leave Lauren to finish her skype call with her friends. Taylor figured maybe Lauren needed to be saved from this call and he thought on his toes.

"Uh guys I'm real sorry but I'm going to have to pull Lauren away from you guys, Nuge and I need someone to help us uhhhh help us uhh pack some stuff"

"Smooth" Lauren coughed quietly under her breath.

"Oh yeah okay have fun guys. Just message me later Lauren" Mateo spoke for the group before ending the call.

"Thanks" Lauren replied sheepishly, she didn't need to elaborate Taylor knew what she was thankful for.

"Wanna explain why you were skyping with him when the whole reason you came here was to avoid him?"

"That's not true I came here to visit with you too!" Lauren gave an overly sweet grin to Taylor.

"Lauren"

"Obviously I didn't know he was gonna be there. They were using Ashley's skype."

"Don't get all upset about it, don't let him have an affect on you"

"It's not like I do it on purpose. I can't control it it just happens"

"I just don't wanna see you hurt again Lauren" Taylor said all serious like as he reached over to pull her into a hug.

"Already am" she mumbled into his chest.
------------------

After saying hi to her friends on skype Ryan headed down the hall to use the bathroom. When he came back he heard Lauren and Taylor having what sounded like a serious conversation so he decided not to interrupt them and instead he headed to the kitchen. His curiosity, however, got the best of him as he allowed himself to listen in.

"Wanna explain why you were skyping with him when the whole reason you came here was to avoid him?"

"That's not true I came here to visit with you too!"

"Lauren"

"Obviously I didn't know he was gonna be there. They were using Ashley's skype."

"Don't get all upset about it, don't let him have an affect on you"

"It's not like I do it on purpose. I can't control it it just happens"

"I just don't wanna see you hurt again Lauren"

He wasn't sure but Ryan thought he might have heard Lauren say something about how it was too late or that she already was but he couldn't be sure. He grabbed a glass of water and headed back into the living room grabbing the remote and changing it to espn as he sat down. There was a few minutes of silence, no one really knew what to say, then Lauren pipped up.

"This cast is really boring, will one of you take me to get stuff to decorate it with?"

"Decorate it?" Ryan asked seemingly amused.

"I mean if I have to wear this thing for five plus weeks it could at least have some sparkle or pink on it somewhere"

"Or you could get Ryan and I to sign it and then it will be worth so much money"

"Why would someone want a gross old boot that my foot has been in? No that's gross"

"You'd be surprised" Taylor mumbled. "Nuge can you take her? I think I'm gonna head over to Kelsey's, it's her nieces birthday and I promised to stop by and say hi"

"Yeah of course" Ryan responded.

A few minutes later Taylor had left and Lauren had gotten changed. It was rather difficult with her new injury and her boot but she managed. {http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/fa/1c/fe/fa1cfe721e3f84239f39d45da2801d9d.jpg} After a quiet car ride the two arrived at a local craft store.

"I bet you shop here all the time Nugie" Lauren joked as she carefully climbed out of the SUV.

"Oh yeah my favorite" Ryan said as hurried around to her side of the vehicle to help her. He had parked as close to the doors as he could so that she wouldn't have to crutch as far. It was slow going but eventually they had made it across the lot and into the store and all the way to the back where Lauren was looking at rhinestones and pink bedazzled bows.

She added a few things to a basket Ryan was holding for her, including some glue, some sequins and some various pink decorations. After they checked out the two began the trek across the parking lot. Ryan helped Lauren up into the passenger seat before he took the wheel and they headed home.

"So how did your doctor's appointment go today?" Lauren asked turning her body, as best she could, to face Ryan.

"It was uh pretty good. I got cleared and I can start working out tomorrow"

"Oh darn"

"What?" Ryan asked a bit of worry noticeable in his voice.

"Now you will be able to tie your own skates" Lauren winked at him as he laughed lightly.

He reached a hand over and grabbed one of her thighs shaking it as he shook his head.

"Tell anyone else about that and you will need more than crutches" he jabbed at her, still not removing his hand.

"Is that a threat?" she asked sweetly. Ryan just shook his head as Lauren laughed. She had the cutest laugh and every time he heard it it made him smile.

"So who were those guys you were on the computer with earlier?" he asked her.

Lauren's cheeks were red enough from the large hand still on her left thigh, she was internally thanking herself for shaving her legs the day before. "They were just some friends from back home" Lauren answered.

"Oh. Why did one of them talk strangely?"

Lauren let out an awkward laugh, "Its kinda a long story but he was an exchange student last year. English isn't his first language"

"Doesn't sound like a long story to me..."Ryan prodded.

"We just we had some history. Basically he went home, forgot about me, broke my heart"

There was silence for a few moments. Ryan couldn't believe what he was hearing and Lauren couldn't believe she had told him.

"I'm sorry Lauren"

"No it's okay. I'm sorry for springing that on you"

"No stop! I asked remember?" he added giving her thigh a light squeeze. "And for the record you could do so much better"

Lauren's cheeks heated up once again "Not really but thanks Ryan"

The rest of the ride was pretty much quiet and uneventful. When they got back to the apartment Taylor still wasn't there. Lauren set up shop in the living room and began blinging out her boot. Ryan tried to help but his big clumsy hands just got in the way so instead he resigned to the kitchen to make some grilled cheese for lunch. After they ate and finished the decorating {http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/8a/63/c0/8a63c0b35cbfcd8908945c0169c368ec.jpg} they decided there was nothing better to do than watch a movie.

Again Ryan popped in a horror movie and Lauren gave him the puppy dog eyes, begging him to pick something else. He just smiled at her and lifted his arm up motioning for her to cuddle up to him. Without hesitation she sidled up next to Ryan and rested her head against his shoulder. Again Ryan's free hand found one of Lauren's legs she had draped over him and he began rubbing circles in her smooth skin. The whole time Ryan was distracted with the thought of kissing her. She smelled like vanilla and she had the smoothest most inviting skin and he was willing to bet her lips would be the same. Yet nagging at the back of his mind was the idea that maybe Lauren was not so over that Spanish boy and he didn't want to hurt her anymore than she already was. He decided he would just have to settle for holding her as he focused back to the screen. Every time something jumped Lauren he would tighten his grip around her. He didn't know it, but in that moment Lauren had felt the safest she had ever been. She liked the heat rating from his body which was bigger and able to be wrap around hers. She liked his clean smell and his rough hands as they worked across her skin.