Sky Full of Stars

The holidays and her week at home practically flew by in a huge blur of twinkly lights and gingerbread and wrapping paper. Calista's family had welcomed her back into Victoria like they hadn't seen her in years; her mother cried, her ten month old nephew squealed in delight, and her big brother only slightly guilt tripped her for living so far away from them all. Casey is seven years older than she is so they obviously weren't that close growing up, but the past few years have changed all that. She knows that he only does it because he knows how much their parents miss her, but it always manages to make Calista feel like a terrible person for choosing to live in Dallas instead of BC.

She arrives back in Dallas in the middle of a home stretch of games and finds the email of Jamie's and Tyler's interview notes from her intern Miranda. Now that they've been completed, it's her responsibility to put the notes into article form and get the boys scheduled in with the photographer. She stays busy for the next few days, not even stopping her work to grab lunch with Jamie when he calls the first couple of times. Finally, he's done taking no for an answer and he comes up to the office on Monday to say hi to Mr. Lennox and personally force her to take a much needed break.

Calista protests the whole way to the diner, citing a huge work load and some fast approaching deadlines, but he just turns up the radio to tune her out with a grin on his face. She's expecting Tyler and Jordie to be there when they walk in because they mostly always are, but instead, she's met with two tables full of boys. In addition to Tyler and Jordie, there's Eakin, Dillon, Nichushkin, Roussel, and Lehtonen all scrunched up where two tables have been pushed together but it's still somehow not a big enough space for them.

Jamie moves another smaller table to the end next to Eakin and Tyler and thankfully he takes the seat on Tyler's side, leaving her to sit next to her favorite ginger. The waitress appears with their drinks almost immediately after they've sat down and the boys all shout their greetings before they continue on with their conversation which, as she listens a little more, she finds out is sharing their plans for tomorrow night. They have a game scheduled against the Kings and then they're renting out the upper level of the same club they'd gotten for the Halloween party.

She suppresses a groan at the thought of what happened the last time she was there. It's still something she feels a little nauseous every time she thinks about so she quickly tries to put it out of her mind and starts to tune the boys out, focusing instead on swirling her straw around in her water. She'd been excited about the party at first, but the more she's thought about it, the more she's started dreading it; these things literally never end up being very much fun for her. The past four years have pretty much ended the same way-- drunk and crying for one reason or another.

Last year's disaster is the freshest in her mind, of course. She'd started out the night well, surrounded by her two best friends and all of their teammates that she'd just met. Dilly was the guy she got to know the best in the week that she was in Dallas so he had kindly taken the hit by kissing her at midnight. She'd been fine up until then, but then she spotted Jordie over in the corner with a pretty blonde attached to his face and she just lost it. She immediately sneaked out and found her own way back to Jamie and Jordie's apartment where she was staying until she got her own place and then she promptly went to sleep so she didn't have to deal with them when they came home.

"Hey Liss, who're you kissing on New Year's Eve this year?"

Calista snaps out of her recollection and turns to look at the boy next to her, who's thrown his arm around the back of her chair. "I'm not kissing anyone this year, Eaks."

"Aw no, don't say that! It's supposed to be my year!"

Dillon, who's sitting on his other side, lands a playful punch to his shoulder. "No way, bud. We've got a tradition going now. If she's kissin' anybody, it's gonna be me."

"How about she doesn't kiss any of you clowns?" Jamie deadpans from across the table. "None of you are good enough for her anyway."

"Geez, lighten up, Benny," Eakin chuckles, kicking Jamie's shin under the table. "You can't blame a guy for trying."

"I don't know if I'm even going to go anyway," Calista puts in, and the moment the words leave her mouth, she realizes she definitely shouldn't have said that. All eyes turn in her direction and immediately there are looks of protest on the seven faces staring back at her. She should have waited until she and Jamie were alone because the chances of her being convinced are a little bit less with just him than they are with a whole table.

"Why wouldn't you go?" Dilly asks, leaning forward in his chair to look at her around Eakin.

"Liss, you can't just sit at home by yourself on New Year's Eve."

She shrugs at Jamie's statement. "Why not? I can watch the same program on my tv at home that you'd have on the tvs at the club and I'll get to do it in my pajamas."

"You can't ring in the new year alone, Calista," Tyler pipes up. "That's just sad."

Not like celebrating with other people ever ended so great, she thinks to herself but she just sighs, hoping this discussion can just end now. "Maybe."

Luckily, the boys seem comforted enough by that to leave her alone for the time being and they branch off into a conversation about the game they have to play before they can go party it up. Eakin, who still has his arm around her back, leans in closer and whispers, "You're gonna kiss me tomorrow night, right?"

She chuckles and gives him a playful shove, telling him to shut up before she picks up her water glass to take a sip.

When Jamie eventually returns her to her office, she's immensely grateful for the break because there's still a lot of work to be done. Mr. Lennox wants her drafts on his desk by the end of the day and she still has to wait for the photographer to send her the photos from the guys' shoots so she can choose which ones go into the spread. Miranda comes into the office after her one o'clock class and stays to help for a few hours before heading back to campus for her last class at 5:30. Calista finally ventures home around six and of course Tyler happens to be arriving home from somewhere at the same time.

She says hi to be polite as they both step into the elevator and he takes the liberty of pressing the buttons for both his floor and hers. They make awkward small talk on the ride, asking about how each other's Christmas holidays had been, and Calista is beyond thankful to reach her floor because she's till not used to being so friendly with him. She says goodbye and steps off as soon as the metal doors slide open, practically power walking down the hall.

"Hey, wait up a sec!"

She stops in front of her door and turns to look over her shoulder just as Tyler steps off of the elevator and jogs over to where she's standing. "What is it?"

"Kiss me on New Year's."

"Sorry, what?" she asks, letting out a disbelieving laugh to try to hide her sudden discomfort. She looks down at her hands to stop herself from looking at his face and shoves her key into the lock of her door. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of Seguin fans at the club who wouldn't mind being your first kiss of 2014."

"I don't wanna kiss a stranger, Calista," he objects. "C'mon."

Since when?, she thinks, but instead she shakes her head and pushes the door open before she finally looks back up at him. "I'll think about it," she says before walking inside and shutting the door directly behind her, pretty much in his face. She leans her back against it and lets out a heavy sigh, only one thought racing through her mind over and over.

What the actual fuck did I just do?

---

Jamie had of course talked her into attending the party, but she'd only promised that she'd be there for when the clock struck midnight. She opts out of attending the game so that she can stay at home and get herself club ready, but she keeps her tv on to watch it. Still, long after it's over and the boys pull out a win over the Kings, she finds herself sitting on her bed in her bathrobe, makeup done and dress laid out next to her. She's stared at the little black sequined thing for almost an hour but the longer she does, the less desire she has to put it on and leave the apartment.

There's a series of 'where are you?' texts from Jamie, among others, but it's the one she gets from Tyler that makes her groan out loud and decide it's time to just get it over with. She tugs her dress on over her head, pulls her wavy hair back into a low ponytail, then slides her feet into her heels before giving herself a once over in the mirror. Unsatisfied but knowing it's the best she can do, she grabs her driver's license and slips it into the front of her bra then gets her phone off the charger on the nightstand. Jamie has a key to her apartment so she leaves hers on the kitchen counter and sets out after grabbing enough cash to pay for her cab to the club.

All of downtown is insane. There are people everywhere, most of them already drunk or at the very least well on their way. There's a long line down the sidewalk when her car pulls up at the club her friends are already inside of and she quickly pays the driver before carefully sliding out of the back seat. She bypasses the entire line of people, much to their disagreement, and gives her name to the doorman, who checks the list on his clipboard before letting her inside.

There's just under an hour until midnight now and as she wades through the sea of sweaty bodies to get to the staircase, she's even more happy with her decision to wait so long to leave her apartment. There's another man with a list standing at the bottom of the stairs and she gives him her name too before he moves to let her go past him. Apparently New Year's Eve is the busiest night of the year for them because she's never seen the place so packed as it is tonight. No one seems to notice her when she reaches the top of the stairs and looks around at the smaller, yet still sizable, crowd in the VIP area. Most of the girls lingering around she's never seen before but she does notice a few wives toward the back in the lounge part of the room.

She weaves in and out of the crowd to get to the bar and order herself a drink before turning back to scan the room again. It seems that most of the guys on the team are at least halfway drunk, probably a mix of their post-win high and the copious amounts of alcohol they've already consumed. She sees Jordie and Eakin over on the other side of the room, but Jamie is nowhere to be found so she decides to stay where she is for now. Plus, it's easy access to more drinks.

Tyler spotted her the second she came in and he feels a little like he got punched in the gut. Her short black dress is tight, hugging all the right places and leaving her long legs exposed, and the sequins catch the minimal light just right so that she's literally shining as she moves across the room. He watches her go over to the bar to order herself a drink and he doesn't realize he's staring until Dillon elbows him hard in the ribs.

"What the fuck, ow," he grumbles, rubbing the spot but Dillon only laughs at him.

"Dude, you've really got it that bad?"

"What are you talking about?" he scoffs, but of course his gaze drifts back over to Calista again as she sips from the tall glass now in her hand.

"C'mon, Seggy. You can't even tear your eyes away for five seconds to have a conversation with me."

After a moment, Tyler finally does and he's met with Dillon's smirk. "Shut the fuck up."

"You're sayin' it all with that lovey dovey look on your face, man."

"I do not have that kind of look on my face," Tyler protests, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, look, I get it; she's a sweet girl and she's super hot. But she's also Benny's best friend and he would never let you get with her. That's if she even wanted to," he adds with a laugh. "Seriously dude, admire from afar or whatever, but don't even get your hopes up for anything more than that."

"I'm not that into her," he says, but even he can hear how weak his denial is. He doesn't want to be into her for exactly the reasons Dilly just said, but apparently that's not going to stop him. He's never been in a situation like this where he's been told he can't do something about some stupid little crush he's been harboring. Usually if he wants something, he goes for it and fuck what anybody says. But this is Calista and she's his captain's best friend and she's also an employee of his team. And worst of all, she doesn't even like him back.

"Keep telling yourself that, bud," Dilly chuckles, clapping him on the back before he walks away to go talk to a couple of girls.

Tyler shakes his head at his teammate and finishes off the whiskey in his glass then heads over to the bar to get himself another. Calista's no longer there when he approaches but a quick look around the room finds her standing over with Jordie and Eakin, a small smile on her face and a drink in her hand. He watches the way she interacts with them so easily and can't help but feel a little jealous, especially of Jordie. She admitted that she'd had a casual relationship with him and she also (begrudgingly) admitted that she'd liked him. Watching her with him now, Tyler can see it and he wonders how on earth Jordie doesn't. Or even if he does, why the fuck wouldn't he reciprocate her feelings? He decides that his teammate must be crazy and then he downs half of his new glass.

For the next half hour, he watches her flit around the room, mingling with all of his teammates and their wives or girlfriends. She eventually finds Jamie in the crowd and sticks with him for a bit before she ducks outside onto the patio. The televisions are all turned to the New Year's Eve program and the clock on the bottom of the screen says it's 11:58-- less than two minutes until midnight. She starts shivering the moment she steps outside into the night air. Even out here, she can practically feel the whole city buzzing.

It's kind of lonely but she stays where she is because being outside in the cold by herself is probably a better way to ring in the new year than having a repeat of last year would be. The door behind her opens and now that she's no longer alone, she breathes out a defeated sigh before turning around to face whoever it is who's now joined her. She almost curses out loud when she sees that it's Tyler instead of Eakin or Dillon or basically anyone else but him.

"Wow, you look-....wow." He'd been looking at her from across the room all this time, but up close she looks even better.

The comment makes her uncomfortable because she knows he has to be lying but she elects to ignore it completely as she takes in his tall form fitted in an excellently tailored suit. "You look nice," she says, then takes a long sip of her drink because, oh God, she actually just complimented him.

He offers her a genuine grin. "Thanks."

Even though they're outside with the doors shut, they can still hear everyone inside shouting the countdown in time with the television. Twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven....

"It's almost midnight," he says, as if that weren't obvious. Calista just nods, biting her lip as she stares hard at the glass in her hand. "Have you thought about it?" he continues carefully.

Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen....

She doesn't answer because she really doesn't even know what to say. She wants to tell him no but the truth is, she's thought about it a lot since he asked the day before. She's still angry at him for what he did in Boston, but at the same time, she remembers what kissing him feels like and she kind of wants to feel that again. The alcohol in her system certainly isn't helping her resolve to hate him at the moment.

Nine, eight, seven, six, five....

"Fuck it, it's New Year's Eve, right?"

Two, one, Happy New Year!

A grin spreads across his face and he only has to take two steps to close the space between them, very gently pulling her into his body and pressing his lips to hers. She almost drops the glass in her hand; she feels dizzy and overheated pressed up against him, one of his large hands cupping her cheek and the other resting on her hip. She doesn't know how long the kiss lasts but too soon, he's pulling back to look down at her with a smile on his face.

"Happy New Year, Calista."

She can't even find the voice to reply to him before he drops his hands and turns to go back inside, leaving her breathless and light-headed. She glances down at the drink in her hand and quickly tosses the rest of it back, her mind racing a million piles per hour.

"Fuck."