Storm Warning

Tessa is all too happy to accept the invitation to come along to the game. She decides they need to leave early so that they can get to the arena in time to watch warm ups and she even goes so far as to brag to the boys that she gets to go to the game and they don't, pointing out how great their seats are probably going to be since a player arranged them. Lyla just shakes her head at her new friend, holding back a smile.

When she arrives to meet Lyla at the apartment, she's all decked out in Hurricanes gear, from the black Eric Staal jersey to the red beanie pulled down over her dark hair. She frowns in disappointment when she sees that Lyla's wearing a plain red sweater instead of a jersey and demands that the younger girl get one as soon as possible.

"I'll pick one up at the team store tonight," Lyla promises as she grabs the little black wristlet that holds her money, phone, and keys.

"No, you won't. Honey, you're gonna let your boy get you one."

Lyla chuckles and rolls her eyes as they walk out into the hallway. "That's not necessary," she tells Tessa as she turns back to lock the door. "Besides, what if I wanted a Staal jersey?"

"You can't have a Staal jersey because I have a Staal jersey."

"You have an Eric Staal jersey. There's more than one brother, you know."

"But if my new boyfriend had his own jersey, you can bet your sweet ass I'd be wearing his and no other."

Lyla rolls her eyes as she follows Tessa down the stairwell. "He's not my boyfriend. It isn't like that."

"Sorry, didn't you just have a date with him last night?" Tessa asks, glancing over her shoulder with an incredulous look.

"Yes, so?"

"Well, I mean from what you told me, it sounds like he really likes you."

"I like him too, but I''m just-....I'm not looking for anything serious."

Tessa reaches the bottom of the stairs first and she spins around to look at Lyla, quirking a brow curiously at the younger girl. "Does he know that?" she asks before she turns back and pushes the door open to walk out onto the street. After a moment, Lyla sighs heavily and follows.

The conversation is forgotten by the time they get across the street and into Lyla's black jeep. Tessa turns the radio volume up to a cringe worthy level and sings along with it, simply pointing in the correct direction every time they have to turn. PNC Arena ends up being fairly easy to get to and it only takes them fifteen minutes before they're pulling into the parking lot. Tessa's obviously been to a game or two or a hundred because she knows exactly where to go and what to do; she strolls right up to will call and gives them Lyla's name and, once their tickets are in her hand, she leads the way in to exactly the section they need to be in.

She insists that they go ahead and go in to watch warm ups first then they can get food after that before the game starts and Lyla agrees so Tessa leads the way down the many stairs, past their designated row, to stand directly behind the glass to watch the players skating around, passing pucks to one another before shooting at the net. Jeff seems to notice them almost immediately and he leaves his place in the line to skate over to where they're standing, a huge grin on his face. "Hey, you came."

"Of course I did," she smiles in return. "Oh, this is Cash's girlfriend, Tessa. Tess, this is Jeff."

"Nice to meet you," he says, nodding politely.

Tessa smirks a little. "You too. Lyla talks about you all the time."

Of course Jeff blushes when he hears that and Lyla just rolls her eyes at her friend's transparency. A puck bounces off the glass only a few feet away from them and they all look to see who the culprit is, finding Elias grinning and waving as he skates over to join them. He greets her in Swedish and props his arm on Jeff's shoulder, casually leaning on him as Lyla introduces him to Tessa. After pleasantries have been exchanged in English, he returns to his native language to tease Lyla for her lack of team gear and she takes it as an opportunity to act offended as she looks down at the sweater she's wearing. Jeff barely even registers the fact that they're once again speaking words he doesn't understand because he's too busy looking down at the sweater too, now that she's drawn his attention to it. He'd been right-- red really is a good color for her. Tessa, who's standing quietly to Lyla's left, smirks when she catches him staring and he blushes again, immediately embarrassed.

Lyla's eyes flickering toward him, along with the amused smile playing on her lips, is what draws him back in to the conversation. He still doesn't know what's being said but then Elias laughs loudly and looks over at him, slapping him hard enough on the back that it still stings even through all his gear; whatever it is she just said must be really funny. Once Elias calms down enough, he replies, "Fair enough," and then he grins and skates away from them, back over to his teammates who are still warming up and talking among themselves on the other side of the ice.

"You were talking about me again, weren't you," Jeff says with a little grumpy frown, because he knows they were just by the pleased look on her face.

"Of course not," she shakes her head but she's still got that amused smile. "That'd be rude."

He rolls his eyes playfully before looking to Tessa and saying, "I'm gonna have to learn Swedish, I think."

"I'd say so, if you wanna keep up with the two of them."

"Oh, stop," Lyla chides, nudging her friend, and then her gaze moves back to him, the look on her face something like apologetic but only because he's uncomfortable with them being able to talk about him right in front of his face without him understanding what they're saying. "It was good, I promise."

"Alright," he sighs dramatically. "If you promise, I guess I believe you."

Elias must have gone right back to his teammates to let them all know that the girl he's standing at the glass talking to is the one he'd had a date with and the one he'd been spending time with when he came home late and when he came home smelling like her perfume. Five or six teammates in black jerseys across the ice start yelling his name and shooting pucks in his direction, not directly at him because that'd be stupid when they need him for the game tonight, and once they all grab his and the girls' attention, they start waving like maniacs and making kissy faces and basically just acting like a bunch of twelve year old boys.

He huffs as he turns back to Lyla and Tessa, blushing for the third time in a span of five minutes. "Guess I should get back."

"Yeah, I think they might want your attention over there," Lyla chuckles. "Good luck."

"Thanks. Uh...see you after?"

"Sure," she nods and a huge grin lights up his entire face before he skates off to finally rejoin his teammates. She watches him all the way across the ice and sees him roll his eyes at the other guys when they start slapping him on the back and throwing their arms around him to pull him in for some good-natured rough pats on the helmet. He just takes it, unable to do much else because most of the guys are bigger than he is, which she finds ridiculous since he has three or four inches of height on her. The rest of his team are practically giants.

"Aaaaah, could he be any cuter?" Tessa squeals, grabbing Lyla's forearm and giving it a squeeze. "What were you saying to Elias?"

"He told me I needed a number 16 jersey and I told him the only number I'd wear is 53."

"Oh my God, you're so smitten!"

"Shut up, I am not."

"No, I get it; he's fucking adorable. If you didn't like him, I'd be a little bit worried about the state of your mental health."

Lyla shakes her head but cracks a smile as she turns her back to the ice and looks up the long row of stairs they have to climb. "Let's go get a beer."

They hike back up the many steps and Tessa leads them down to the team store, insisting that Lyla has to get something, just not a jersey because she thinks it's Jeff's responsibility to get his name on Lyla's back. Lyla ends up buying just a plain black v neck with Hurricanes scrawled across the chest but Tessa seems happy with the purchase so she rewards Lyla with a beer and a hot dog. Once they have their food and drinks in hand, they go back down to their seats to eat while they wait. Things get started a little earlier than usual because there's a special pre-game ceremony to honor the goalie, who reached the five hundred game milestone earlier in the week, but after they've finished with that and gotten everything cleared off of the ice, they're ready to get underway.

Lyla never would've guessed it until today, but Tessa is actually a huge hockey fan. She's cheering and yelling and flailing her arms just about the whole time, but especially when the Hurricanes score their three goals of the night. The guy Brett who came in to Cash's bar and asked for her number after talking to her for awhile, the one who's been texting her nearly every day since then, is the first one to score for Carolina, which is impressive considering that just this morning he told her he was feeling a little under the weather. Jeff scores the second goal with an assist from his roommate Elias and that gets even Lyla cheering loudly, which in turn draws the biggest grin from Jeff when he looks up at her in the stands and sees it. There are quite a few penalties drawn from both sides but the last one ends up being a major for Brett, who drops the gloves against one of the young, hot-headed Washington players, and both are forced to leave the ice for the remainder of the game. The final Canes goal comes with ten seconds left in the game and an empty Washington net and the whole arena goes wild as the final buzzer sounds.

The girls wait in their seats as the three stars of the game are announced, of course two of them being Jeff and Brett and the first the goalie who earned a shut out for his record. They wait for the crowds to clear out for a few minutes before they get up from their seats to stretch and start heading up the stairs. Lyla isn't quite sure where she's supposed to go to meet Jeff so she pulls out her phone to text him but the missed call on the screen momentarily shuts down all her thought processes. It isn't his number, but it is a Chicago area code; she recognizes the familiar digits immediately and her chest feels a little heavier at the thought of the woman who'd considered her a friend. She has to hate me now, Lyla thinks as she stares at the number because how could she not? For the last eight months, they'd been good friends and when Lyla had just disappeared without warning, it wasn't only a boyfriend she left behind. It was all of them.

"What'd he say?" Tessa asks, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Lyla quickly clears the screen of the missed call and opens her messages to text Jeff, who almost immediately responds with directions down to the restricted area where only players and families are allowed. She absolutely does not want to be in that area so she tells him she'll be waiting in the hallway just outside of it. He agrees, promising to be quick with his media scrum and shower, so Lyla informs Tessa of the plan and the two girls head down in the direction Jeff said. It's quiet in the long hallway when they get down there and Lyla looks down the adjacent hall to see the huge double doors that lead to the family lounge and the player areas. Tessa decides to call Cash really quick so she disappears into the stairwell at the end of the hall.

While she's waiting, Lyla's mind goes back to the missed call. There had been a voicemail too and her phone is practically burning in her hand with how badly she wants to hear what it says. Sure most of them have called her since she left, but this is the first time any of them has actually left a voicemail. She can never bring herself to listen to the ones he leaves, but now that someone else is leaving one, she's dying to hear it, if only because she's feeling sort of masochistic at the moment. Her curiosity overrules her good judgment and methods of self preservation and she clicks the tiny blue play button before putting the phone to her ear.

"Hey Lyla, it's Dayna....Look, I don't know what-....I mean, I thought everything was great with you guys so I don't really understand why-....You and I are friends, or at least I thought we were, but he's like family to Brent and me and this is destroying him....I went by your apartment when he first told us what happened and all your stuff was gone so I don't-....I don't know if you're even in the city anymore but....Please talk to him, Lyla. He's crushed. He doesn't deserve what you're doing to him. Please.....just think about it."

Her eyes are bleary and stinging by the time she pulls the phone away from her face and she shoves it back to into her clutch. Tessa's not very far away in the stairwell and she can't let her see the tears so she tries to wipe them away as best as she can without messing up her makeup. She's silently thanking whoever came up with waterproof mascara when the metal door clangs open again and Tessa's walking toward her, her phone still pressed to her ear as she lets out a flirty giggle. "Cash says hey," she tells Lyla once she reaches her and Lyla responds with a hi in return but Tessa's eyes immediately snap up to her face and her smile is wiped away. "I gotta go babe," she blurts before hanging up on him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lyla shrugs. "What do you mean?"

"Don't try that shit with me," she scolds, grabbing Lyla's arm and turning her to face her. Tessa has an inch or two on her naturally, but with Lyla's currently slouching posture, she feels much taller than that. "You were crying, so tell me what's wrong."

"Honestly, it's nothing," Lyla assures her, and she doesn't even try to hide her sniffle now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag. She's decided that a very vague truth is better than trying to come up with some lie off the top of her head. "I got a message from an old friend and it made me miss her. That's all."

"You sure?" Tessa asks skeptically, her eyes narrowed.

Lyla nods and gives her most encouraging smile. "I'm sure."

"Alright....Well then let me tell you what just happened at the bar!"

Lyla stays quiet and keeps the smile on her face while Tessa launches into the story Cash must have told her over the phone but her mind is still on the voicemail. She replays it over and over in her mind until the words are all swirling together and she can't even remember what it said anymore. Jeff eventually emerges from the locker rooms, freshly showered and dressed in his pre-game suit, and he's got the biggest grin on his face when he walks up to her with his bag hanging off his shoulder and his hands shoved into his pockets. "Hey."

She automatically smiles, momentarily forgetting about why she was so sad ten seconds ago. "Hey. Good game tonight."

"Thanks," he says softly as he ducks his head down, embarrassed.

Tessa suppresses a laugh at his adorable awkwardness and nudges Lyla with her elbow before holding out her hand. "I'm gonna go warm up the car." Lyla digs the keys out of her wristlet and hands them over without question and Tessa goes off to find her way back up to the main crowd areas, leaving the two of them alone together.

"Are you going out with the guys to celebrate?"

He smiles bashfully. "Actually I was kind of hoping, if you weren't busy...."

"You just scored a goal and got a shut out win and you'd rather hang out with me than go celebrate with your teammates?"

"Maybe I just like hanging out with you." He seems surprised at himself for being bold enough to actually say it but then he shrugs his shoulders. "They can't be out late anyway. We have morning skate and then we're flying to New York."

Someone calls his name obnoxiously from down the adjacent hall and he answers back to let them know where he is, only to be joined by the person in question about five seconds later. Brett peeks his head around first but when he sees the two of them standing there, he grins and makes his way over, slipping an arm around her shoulders for a side hug. "Lyla, you made it!"

She wraps her arm around his back to return the hug but when she glances back at Jeff, she can tell that his body is tensed up and the expression on his face is less than amused. "That was a nice goal," she says, looking back up at Brett with a smile. He's practically a giant, towering over her and Jeff both. "How's the hand?"

Brett chuckles and raises his free arm, flexing his fingers and making a fist, the same one he'd been using to throw punches at Tom Wilson not too long ago. "I'll survive." He finally glances over at his teammate for the first time since he spotted Lyla and instantly he picks up on the jealousy, even though Jeff isn't going so far as to openly glare at him. He's suddenly aware that he's intruding, and though he kind of wonders why Lyla didn't tell him there's something going on with her and his teammate, he can tell it's beyond him, or anyone else who might like her. He's gotta back off. "But, hey, how about my man Skins out there!"

It takes Jeff by surprise when Brett throws his other arm over his shoulders so that he's got them both pulled into his side but Lyla just grins up at Jeff, proud of how well he played tonight. "Yeah, he did okay too."

"So a couple of us are goin' out to celebrate," Brett says. "You comin' with us, Lyles?"

"I can't tonight, my friend is waiting for me. But you guys have a good time! Take care of my boy, will you?"

Jeff's sad that he won't get to spend any more time with her tonight, but that only lasts until he hears her call him that, and then he's flying high, feeling like he's just scored a hundred goals. Brett's eyebrows shoot up in surprise and he grins down at her before slapping Jeff on the back and squeezing him tighter. "I can do that," he promises. "Well, Skins, we're all ready to go so you've got five minutes. I'll leave you two kids alone now. Bye, Lyles. Good to see you again."

"You too, Brett."

He chuckles and pats the top of her head like a child before he lets go of them both and turns to go back down the hall he came from, leaving them alone once again.

"I don't want to go," Jeff mutters with a little half smile.

She chuckles and she takes a step forward, placing a hand on his solid chest to steady herself as she leans up to press her lips to his. She'd only meant it to be a quick peck because his teammates are waiting, but his hands immediately find her hips to pull her closer into his body and she's not about to ruin that. Her other hand goes up to twist her fingers in the short hairs curling up at the back of his neck where his hair has grown out a little and she takes a few moments to enjoy the kiss before she gently pushes her palm against his chest. "They're waiting for you."

"I'd rather stay here and kiss you some more."

She smiles at the flush that's taken over his cheeks and spread down his neck before disappearing into the collar of his button down shirt and she leans up to quickly peck his lips one more time before removing herself from his arms completely. "Have fun," she says, taking a few steps backward toward the door. "And good luck tomorrow."

"Hey, can I, uh....can I see you again when I get back?"

Lyla pauses, her hand on the door and a small smile on her face as she looks back at him. "Do you even have to ask?"