Sky Full of Stars
21
Jamie leaves for Sochi two days before she starts her new job and Tyler goes off to Mexico with some friends, which leaves her and Jordie alone in Dallas. She decides that she's not going to let that serve as a distraction as she prepares herself to get started in a new work environment and even though it's just the two of them in town, she doesn't see him for an entire week after the night at the restaurant. She's honestly not even expecting to because A.) she's pretty sure she's not the only one who was embarrassed at that dinner, and B.) now there's no Jamie in town to be the buffer in case things get awkward. She'd gotten to talk to Jamie about his fight with Jordie before he left for Russia but she hasn't seen Jordie yet to talk to him about it and the longer she goes, the less she's worried about it. Jamie had promised that he and his brother were good and that's enough for her.
She loves her new job. That's not to say it isn't an adjustment working in a new office with new people and a sport she knows nothing about, but so far she adores her boss and her other coworkers have been extremely friendly and welcoming. She's even attended a couple of Mavs games and gone out for drinks with some of them. Of course she still misses her old job and her old organization but where she is now is quite possibly the absolute best she could have asked for in the situation she was in. Right away, she throws herself into her work and in between all that, she makes sure to keep tabs on the Olympics all the way in Russia. She'd watched the opening ceremonies and tries to catch the Team Canada hockey games when she can, but it's difficult with the time difference. She does talk to Jamie after each one though, no matter what she happens to be doing at the time, and she can't help but notice the obvious excitement and happiness in his voice after every win. She's so proud of him and she tells him so every chance she gets.
She's also heard from Tyler nearly every day. He'll send her random photos of the spectacular view from his hotel room or the tiny lion cub he got to play with or the fruity drinks he's drinking on the beach because, hey, he's in Cabo and he wants a damn paper umbrella in his pina colada. In return, she sends him photos of the stacks of paperwork piled on her desk or her socked feet propped up on her coffee table next to a massive glass of wine with the Canada vs. Norway game on tv in the background. Obviously he doesn't find her photos nearly as amusing as he finds his own. He texts her the day before he's supposed to fly home to ask if they can hang out when he gets back and she's a little suspicious of his motivations but she reluctantly agrees anyway then shoves her phone into the bottom of her purse to will herself not to think about it for the rest of her work day. She soon gets so wrapped up in a conference call that she's able to forget all about him.
It's almost seven by the time she finally arrives home from the office after a long day but it's only about to get longer because as she's unlocking her front door, the elevator dings down the hall and then someone is calling her name. A quick glance over her shoulder feels her with dread, and then guilt because she shouldn't feel that way about someone who's supposed to be one of her best friends. Jordie jogs over as she pushes the door open and she holds it for him to follow her inside but he lingers in the doorway like he's suddenly not sure if he's doing the right thing.
"Are you coming in?"
He automatically shuffles in at the question and watches as she takes off her heels then makes her way over to the living room before he follows her. She takes a seat in the lone chair, probably to keep herself as far away from him as possible, and he retires to the sofa, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. Out of all the tough conversations they've had, this one is probably going to be the most difficult.
"I, uh, just wanted to start out by saying I'm sorry for dinner the other night. I feel like that's all I've been saying to you these past four months, but-"
"You don't have to apologize again, Jord. You didn't do anything wrong. It was awkward, but that doesn't-....I knew it was going to be like that. The guys like to joke around; I should have been more prepared for it, I guess."
"Maybe if I hadn't gone, it wouldn't have been-"
"Jord, stop, c'mon," she interrupts, shaking her head at him. "You're my friend. I wanted you there."
Jordie swallows hard and nods, dropping his gaze to his hands in his lap. "Look, I need to tell you something. I wanted to do it myself before you heard it from somewhere else. I'm....kind of seeing someone." He pauses to wait for a reaction but she does her best to keep her expression neutral. "You remember Bethany?"
"Course I do," she says after a long moment of awkward silence. "I liked her."
"You did?"
Calista lets out a little laugh. "No, to be honest, I hated her guts. Jealous, I guess. I always thought she was good for you though. She made you happy."
"I, uh, don't know where you are now, or-....but I'm the one who's changing things. I'm the one who fucked everything up. So if you want me to take a step back, to not....be around, I'll do it."
"I'd never ask you to not be around, Jord. I'm the one who came to Dallas in the first place, onto your turf. I don't have ties to the organization anymore. They're your teammates. If anyone's taking a step back, it should be me. So if you want me to-"
"What? Calista, no. They're your friends too. I wouldn't expect you to stop hanging out with them just because of me."
Calista frowns at the thought of giving up all the boys, but rationally she knows it's something that will be beneficial in the long run. She squirms uncomfortably in her chair before confessing, "I may do it anyway. At least for a little while." Until I can get over you, she adds in her mind but fortunately doesn't say it out loud.
"Everyone?"
She nods, studying the little cluster of freckles on the back of her hand where it rests in her lap because it's too hard to look up at him at the moment. "Jamie'll be in Russia for three more weeks. Now's the perfect time."
"What about Tyler?"
Her head snaps up then. "What about Tyler?" she asks, defensive.
"Hey," Jordie says gently, holding his hands up in surrender. "That's not me just saying it to be a dick this time. You and him-...."
"Jord, there is no 'me and him'."
"C'mon, Liss. I see the way he looks at you."
"No, he doesn't-....No." Calista shakes her head disbelievingly, not even sure how to respond to that. The entire notion is not even slightly plausible to her.
"I was wrong about Tyler. He's a good guy." She frowns at that and Jordie gets up from his seat on the sofa to stand in front of her. "You should give him a chance," he says softly and then he just walks right past her toward the door. He's already opening it by the time she calls his name but when he responds, she doesn't look over her shoulder at him.
"How do you know he would even want a chance?"
Jordie pauses in the doorway and smiles a little, almost apologetically, even though she can't see him. "He'd be an idiot not to."
-
After her talk with Jordie the night before, Calista texts Tyler and cancels their plans, offering the excuse that she doesn't feel well (which actually isn't a total lie). She waits until she knows he's on his flight home from Cabo so that he won't have a chance to respond right away and then she crawls back under her covers like that's going to do something to alleviate some of her guilt. She ends up taking a long nap but when she wakes up, there's a reply on her phone that consists of a 'hope you feel better soon' accompanied by a bunch of sad face emojis. That makes the guilt worse but she just tells him thanks then hides her phone under her pillow so she doesn't have to look at it anymore.
She spends the rest of the day cleaning her apartment, reorganizing her closet, and finally taking a long bubble bath before she settles in to watch the Team Canada game she has recorded in her DVR. She already talked to Jamie earlier so she knows that they won but it's still so much fun for her to watch because she's basically just beaming with pride the entire time. She orders some chinese food and then pours herself a glass of wine to watch the first period while she waits. There's a knock on the door with seven seconds left on the clock so she waits until the intermission to remove herself from under her warm fleece blanket and go answer it.
She's expecting Simon the usual delivery guy when she opens the door but instead it's Tyler standing on the other side, holding a pizza box in one hand and a walgreens bag in the other. "I didn't know what you had so I got a couple of different things.....aaaand you're not really sick, are you?" he asks after taking a second to study her appearance.
"I thought you were going to go hang out with the guys and watch the game," she says instead of acknowledging his question and she hopes she's not actually blushing as hard as she feels like she is.
"I did for a little while," he shrugs. "But then I felt bad that you were sick home alone so I thought I'd come check on you."
"You didn't have to do that."
Tyler grins. "So you gonna let me in or are you still contagious?"
Calista rolls her eyes at his lame joke but moves aside to let him into the apartment and he takes the stuff he brought directly over to set on the kitchen counter. The pizza he brought with him is half whatever the hell kind of funky stuff he eats but the other half is just pepperoni for her. She finds it oddly endearing that he remembered, despite the simplicity, but it's when he opens the grocery bag that she feels like she's in definite trouble. He wasn't kidding about thinking she was sick. He'd gone and bought medicine for every ailment known to man.
She frowns guiltily at that while Tyler grabs a slice of pizza and slides into the seat at the end of the counter. "I've got chinese food coming if you're interested," she tells him as she goes to retrieve a couple of water bottles from the fridge and almost as soon as the words leave her mouth, there's another knock on her door. It actually is Simon this time so she pays him quickly then brings the bag over to the counter where Tyler is sitting and he's not at all shy about ripping it open to see what she ordered. She gets some plates from the cupboard and hands one over to him so that he can get some of the orange chicken and rice before she walks around to the other side of the counter to slide into the seat next to him.
"So why'd you bail on me tonight?"
Calista looks over at him but he doesn't seem angry at all, just curious before he shoves a piece of chicken into his mouth. She wastes a few seconds by sipping on her water, but he just watches her patiently waiting for his answer so she sighs. "I talked to Jordie last night and after that, I just-....I thought maybe it'd be a good idea to take a break from the guys. It seemed like a good time since Jamie's in Russia."
"All of us?" She bites her lip, hesitant to answer, and he nods in understanding, looking down at his plate sadly. "You want me to leave then?"
"No," she answers honestly and at least that perks him up just a little bit. He looks over at her with a grin pulling at the corners of his lips and she can't help the small smile that makes its way onto her face as she shakes her head and turns her attention to her plate. "So, how was Mexico?"
That's all it takes to change the subject and Tyler launches into story after story about things that happened while he was on vacation. He's way more amused by his friends' antics than she is but luckily she finds him pretty amusing so it's easy to laugh along with him. After they've long finished eating, they finally get up from their seats and Tyler helps her put the leftovers away before they move over to the living room to watch the last two periods of the Canada game. Their talking dies down after that with both of them too interested in what's going on on the screen to keep the conversation going back and forth.
It's in the last two minutes of the game that Tyler's need to ask his question becomes so overwhelming that he can't wait any longer, not even til the game is over. "Hey, Calista?"
She hums her acknowledgment but doesn't look away from the television, too enthralled in watching the play unfold to devote all her attention to him.
"Go out with me."
Immediately, her head snaps over to look at him, her brows furrowed and a confused frown on her face. "What?"
"Go out with me," he repeats.
"You mean, like, on a date?"
Tyler chuckles awkwardly. "Yeah."
"Why the hell would you ask me out on a date?" she blurts and then she feels bad when she sees him wince. "I'm sorry, I don't mean-....I just-....You don't like the way I look. Remember?"
He lets out a heavy sigh. "Calista, I was a jerk back then-"
"No, don't," she interrupts, holding her hands up. The final buzzer sounds on the television but neither of them even hear it. "I don't want to talk about it again. Yeah, you were pretty much an asshole about it, but everybody has a type, and I am so not yours. And I get that. So I guess I just don't understand why you'd-....."
"I was arrogant and shallow and immature," he says, completely ignoring the fact that she said she doesn't want to talk about Boston again. "But I told you, I'm not that guy anymore. I grew up, I got-"
"What, you're mature enough to handle a fat girl now, is that it?" she snaps, suddenly irritated. "Now you're deep enough not to care about it anymore?"
"That's not what I meant."
"It doesn't even matter what you said back then, I forgave you for that. The bottom line is you still thought it. You were....repulsed by the thought of me three years ago. Nobody changes that much."
Tyler hates the dejected look on her face but her saying that he couldn't possibly want her really pisses him off. "I like you, Calista. I wouldn't have asked you out if I didn't. I don't know what I have to do to prove that to you, but I'll do it. Just tell me what it is."
She shakes her head, still annoyed, but there's no bite left in her tone when she speaks again. "There's nothing to do. I just can't believe you."
"Why not?"
"Because! You're that. And I'm....this. It just doesn't add up."
"Calista, you're insanely hot so your argument is what doesn't fucking add up. I like you. I have a good time hanging out with you. I had a really good time kissing you. Wouldn't mind doing a lot more of it in the future."
She rolls her eyes at that because obviously it can't be true. 2011 was three years ago, but it's going to take a lot longer than that for her to forget what was said and what happened that night. The recording of the game has ended so now they're just sitting there in complete silence and she can feel him studying her from the other end of the sofa. It makes her feel warm all over and she really just wishes he would leave so that she could have some time to process everything. Jordie's words from the day before keep crossing her mind but the more she thinks about the man sitting next to her, the less plausible it seems that he would actually want her. Impossible, in fact.
"Maybe you should go," she blurts.
"What?"
"I think-....I think you should go."
"You want me to leave?"
Calista looks down at her lap and swallows hard before nodding weakly and Tyler exhales before pushing himself up from the sofa. He pauses halfway to the kitchen and turns back to say something but then thinks better of it and keeps walking toward the door. She waits until she hears it shut behind him before she throws her head back against the couch cushion and slouches in her seat, sighing loudly at herself.
Why the fuck did I do that?
She loves her new job. That's not to say it isn't an adjustment working in a new office with new people and a sport she knows nothing about, but so far she adores her boss and her other coworkers have been extremely friendly and welcoming. She's even attended a couple of Mavs games and gone out for drinks with some of them. Of course she still misses her old job and her old organization but where she is now is quite possibly the absolute best she could have asked for in the situation she was in. Right away, she throws herself into her work and in between all that, she makes sure to keep tabs on the Olympics all the way in Russia. She'd watched the opening ceremonies and tries to catch the Team Canada hockey games when she can, but it's difficult with the time difference. She does talk to Jamie after each one though, no matter what she happens to be doing at the time, and she can't help but notice the obvious excitement and happiness in his voice after every win. She's so proud of him and she tells him so every chance she gets.
She's also heard from Tyler nearly every day. He'll send her random photos of the spectacular view from his hotel room or the tiny lion cub he got to play with or the fruity drinks he's drinking on the beach because, hey, he's in Cabo and he wants a damn paper umbrella in his pina colada. In return, she sends him photos of the stacks of paperwork piled on her desk or her socked feet propped up on her coffee table next to a massive glass of wine with the Canada vs. Norway game on tv in the background. Obviously he doesn't find her photos nearly as amusing as he finds his own. He texts her the day before he's supposed to fly home to ask if they can hang out when he gets back and she's a little suspicious of his motivations but she reluctantly agrees anyway then shoves her phone into the bottom of her purse to will herself not to think about it for the rest of her work day. She soon gets so wrapped up in a conference call that she's able to forget all about him.
It's almost seven by the time she finally arrives home from the office after a long day but it's only about to get longer because as she's unlocking her front door, the elevator dings down the hall and then someone is calling her name. A quick glance over her shoulder feels her with dread, and then guilt because she shouldn't feel that way about someone who's supposed to be one of her best friends. Jordie jogs over as she pushes the door open and she holds it for him to follow her inside but he lingers in the doorway like he's suddenly not sure if he's doing the right thing.
"Are you coming in?"
He automatically shuffles in at the question and watches as she takes off her heels then makes her way over to the living room before he follows her. She takes a seat in the lone chair, probably to keep herself as far away from him as possible, and he retires to the sofa, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. Out of all the tough conversations they've had, this one is probably going to be the most difficult.
"I, uh, just wanted to start out by saying I'm sorry for dinner the other night. I feel like that's all I've been saying to you these past four months, but-"
"You don't have to apologize again, Jord. You didn't do anything wrong. It was awkward, but that doesn't-....I knew it was going to be like that. The guys like to joke around; I should have been more prepared for it, I guess."
"Maybe if I hadn't gone, it wouldn't have been-"
"Jord, stop, c'mon," she interrupts, shaking her head at him. "You're my friend. I wanted you there."
Jordie swallows hard and nods, dropping his gaze to his hands in his lap. "Look, I need to tell you something. I wanted to do it myself before you heard it from somewhere else. I'm....kind of seeing someone." He pauses to wait for a reaction but she does her best to keep her expression neutral. "You remember Bethany?"
"Course I do," she says after a long moment of awkward silence. "I liked her."
"You did?"
Calista lets out a little laugh. "No, to be honest, I hated her guts. Jealous, I guess. I always thought she was good for you though. She made you happy."
"I, uh, don't know where you are now, or-....but I'm the one who's changing things. I'm the one who fucked everything up. So if you want me to take a step back, to not....be around, I'll do it."
"I'd never ask you to not be around, Jord. I'm the one who came to Dallas in the first place, onto your turf. I don't have ties to the organization anymore. They're your teammates. If anyone's taking a step back, it should be me. So if you want me to-"
"What? Calista, no. They're your friends too. I wouldn't expect you to stop hanging out with them just because of me."
Calista frowns at the thought of giving up all the boys, but rationally she knows it's something that will be beneficial in the long run. She squirms uncomfortably in her chair before confessing, "I may do it anyway. At least for a little while." Until I can get over you, she adds in her mind but fortunately doesn't say it out loud.
"Everyone?"
She nods, studying the little cluster of freckles on the back of her hand where it rests in her lap because it's too hard to look up at him at the moment. "Jamie'll be in Russia for three more weeks. Now's the perfect time."
"What about Tyler?"
Her head snaps up then. "What about Tyler?" she asks, defensive.
"Hey," Jordie says gently, holding his hands up in surrender. "That's not me just saying it to be a dick this time. You and him-...."
"Jord, there is no 'me and him'."
"C'mon, Liss. I see the way he looks at you."
"No, he doesn't-....No." Calista shakes her head disbelievingly, not even sure how to respond to that. The entire notion is not even slightly plausible to her.
"I was wrong about Tyler. He's a good guy." She frowns at that and Jordie gets up from his seat on the sofa to stand in front of her. "You should give him a chance," he says softly and then he just walks right past her toward the door. He's already opening it by the time she calls his name but when he responds, she doesn't look over her shoulder at him.
"How do you know he would even want a chance?"
Jordie pauses in the doorway and smiles a little, almost apologetically, even though she can't see him. "He'd be an idiot not to."
-
After her talk with Jordie the night before, Calista texts Tyler and cancels their plans, offering the excuse that she doesn't feel well (which actually isn't a total lie). She waits until she knows he's on his flight home from Cabo so that he won't have a chance to respond right away and then she crawls back under her covers like that's going to do something to alleviate some of her guilt. She ends up taking a long nap but when she wakes up, there's a reply on her phone that consists of a 'hope you feel better soon' accompanied by a bunch of sad face emojis. That makes the guilt worse but she just tells him thanks then hides her phone under her pillow so she doesn't have to look at it anymore.
She spends the rest of the day cleaning her apartment, reorganizing her closet, and finally taking a long bubble bath before she settles in to watch the Team Canada game she has recorded in her DVR. She already talked to Jamie earlier so she knows that they won but it's still so much fun for her to watch because she's basically just beaming with pride the entire time. She orders some chinese food and then pours herself a glass of wine to watch the first period while she waits. There's a knock on the door with seven seconds left on the clock so she waits until the intermission to remove herself from under her warm fleece blanket and go answer it.
She's expecting Simon the usual delivery guy when she opens the door but instead it's Tyler standing on the other side, holding a pizza box in one hand and a walgreens bag in the other. "I didn't know what you had so I got a couple of different things.....aaaand you're not really sick, are you?" he asks after taking a second to study her appearance.
"I thought you were going to go hang out with the guys and watch the game," she says instead of acknowledging his question and she hopes she's not actually blushing as hard as she feels like she is.
"I did for a little while," he shrugs. "But then I felt bad that you were sick home alone so I thought I'd come check on you."
"You didn't have to do that."
Tyler grins. "So you gonna let me in or are you still contagious?"
Calista rolls her eyes at his lame joke but moves aside to let him into the apartment and he takes the stuff he brought directly over to set on the kitchen counter. The pizza he brought with him is half whatever the hell kind of funky stuff he eats but the other half is just pepperoni for her. She finds it oddly endearing that he remembered, despite the simplicity, but it's when he opens the grocery bag that she feels like she's in definite trouble. He wasn't kidding about thinking she was sick. He'd gone and bought medicine for every ailment known to man.
She frowns guiltily at that while Tyler grabs a slice of pizza and slides into the seat at the end of the counter. "I've got chinese food coming if you're interested," she tells him as she goes to retrieve a couple of water bottles from the fridge and almost as soon as the words leave her mouth, there's another knock on her door. It actually is Simon this time so she pays him quickly then brings the bag over to the counter where Tyler is sitting and he's not at all shy about ripping it open to see what she ordered. She gets some plates from the cupboard and hands one over to him so that he can get some of the orange chicken and rice before she walks around to the other side of the counter to slide into the seat next to him.
"So why'd you bail on me tonight?"
Calista looks over at him but he doesn't seem angry at all, just curious before he shoves a piece of chicken into his mouth. She wastes a few seconds by sipping on her water, but he just watches her patiently waiting for his answer so she sighs. "I talked to Jordie last night and after that, I just-....I thought maybe it'd be a good idea to take a break from the guys. It seemed like a good time since Jamie's in Russia."
"All of us?" She bites her lip, hesitant to answer, and he nods in understanding, looking down at his plate sadly. "You want me to leave then?"
"No," she answers honestly and at least that perks him up just a little bit. He looks over at her with a grin pulling at the corners of his lips and she can't help the small smile that makes its way onto her face as she shakes her head and turns her attention to her plate. "So, how was Mexico?"
That's all it takes to change the subject and Tyler launches into story after story about things that happened while he was on vacation. He's way more amused by his friends' antics than she is but luckily she finds him pretty amusing so it's easy to laugh along with him. After they've long finished eating, they finally get up from their seats and Tyler helps her put the leftovers away before they move over to the living room to watch the last two periods of the Canada game. Their talking dies down after that with both of them too interested in what's going on on the screen to keep the conversation going back and forth.
It's in the last two minutes of the game that Tyler's need to ask his question becomes so overwhelming that he can't wait any longer, not even til the game is over. "Hey, Calista?"
She hums her acknowledgment but doesn't look away from the television, too enthralled in watching the play unfold to devote all her attention to him.
"Go out with me."
Immediately, her head snaps over to look at him, her brows furrowed and a confused frown on her face. "What?"
"Go out with me," he repeats.
"You mean, like, on a date?"
Tyler chuckles awkwardly. "Yeah."
"Why the hell would you ask me out on a date?" she blurts and then she feels bad when she sees him wince. "I'm sorry, I don't mean-....I just-....You don't like the way I look. Remember?"
He lets out a heavy sigh. "Calista, I was a jerk back then-"
"No, don't," she interrupts, holding her hands up. The final buzzer sounds on the television but neither of them even hear it. "I don't want to talk about it again. Yeah, you were pretty much an asshole about it, but everybody has a type, and I am so not yours. And I get that. So I guess I just don't understand why you'd-....."
"I was arrogant and shallow and immature," he says, completely ignoring the fact that she said she doesn't want to talk about Boston again. "But I told you, I'm not that guy anymore. I grew up, I got-"
"What, you're mature enough to handle a fat girl now, is that it?" she snaps, suddenly irritated. "Now you're deep enough not to care about it anymore?"
"That's not what I meant."
"It doesn't even matter what you said back then, I forgave you for that. The bottom line is you still thought it. You were....repulsed by the thought of me three years ago. Nobody changes that much."
Tyler hates the dejected look on her face but her saying that he couldn't possibly want her really pisses him off. "I like you, Calista. I wouldn't have asked you out if I didn't. I don't know what I have to do to prove that to you, but I'll do it. Just tell me what it is."
She shakes her head, still annoyed, but there's no bite left in her tone when she speaks again. "There's nothing to do. I just can't believe you."
"Why not?"
"Because! You're that. And I'm....this. It just doesn't add up."
"Calista, you're insanely hot so your argument is what doesn't fucking add up. I like you. I have a good time hanging out with you. I had a really good time kissing you. Wouldn't mind doing a lot more of it in the future."
She rolls her eyes at that because obviously it can't be true. 2011 was three years ago, but it's going to take a lot longer than that for her to forget what was said and what happened that night. The recording of the game has ended so now they're just sitting there in complete silence and she can feel him studying her from the other end of the sofa. It makes her feel warm all over and she really just wishes he would leave so that she could have some time to process everything. Jordie's words from the day before keep crossing her mind but the more she thinks about the man sitting next to her, the less plausible it seems that he would actually want her. Impossible, in fact.
"Maybe you should go," she blurts.
"What?"
"I think-....I think you should go."
"You want me to leave?"
Calista looks down at her lap and swallows hard before nodding weakly and Tyler exhales before pushing himself up from the sofa. He pauses halfway to the kitchen and turns back to say something but then thinks better of it and keeps walking toward the door. She waits until she hears it shut behind him before she throws her head back against the couch cushion and slouches in her seat, sighing loudly at herself.
Why the fuck did I do that?