Sky Full of Stars

Calista shoots upright in her bed at the sound of someone banging on her front door. The alarm clock on the nightstand tells her it's almost three in the afternoon, which means the nap she decided to take when she got home from work only lasted for about half an hour. She slowly drags herself out from under her comforter and shuffles out of the room, down the short hall to the living room but she pauses before she reaches the kitchen when the banging picks up again.

"I know you're in there, Liss. I saw your car downstairs. The only reason I haven't barged in already is because I left the key upstairs but I'll go and get it if you don't open this door in three seconds!"

She rolls her eyes but walks forward to answer the door, swinging it open to find a very frustrated Jamie with his fist raised, ready to start pounding on the door again. "I was taking a nap," she says flatly.

"You haven't been answering my texts all day."

"I wasn't ignoring you on purpose."

"Where were you last night? You said you'd see me after, but I couldn't find you."

Calista sighs as she moves aside to let him into the apartment before shutting the door while he goes over to sit in the seat at the end of the bar. "I know I did, I'm sorry. I still wasn't feeling that great so I just came straight home instead of going down to the locker room."

He nods slowly, like he's absorbing her answer, and then he cocks his head to the side, scrutinizing her face. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Yeah," she answers automatically. "I'm fine."

"You know you can talk to me, right? I mean it, Liss. About anything."

"I know, Jamie," she assures him, adding a warm smile for good measure, and then she goes around the counter to wrap her arms around his giant body in a hug. "Thank you."

He hugs her back for a few moments before he reaches up to ruffle her hair and he only chuckles when she slaps his hands away from her with a snarl. "You're feeling better now, yeah? So we're still on for tonight?"

"You think I'd miss our first Friday night in three months?" she chuckles. "But, uh, one minor thing."

"What is it?"

"I kind of promised Violet a sleepover so she'll be here tonight."

"That's fine," he shrugs. "Want me to bring anything?"

"You could bring dinner if you want? That'd be great."

"Is pizza okay?"

"That works," she nods. "Although just cheese for us. Vi doesn't eat meat anymore."

His brows furrow in confusion but he looks thoroughly amused. "A four year old wants to be a vegetarian?"

"She decided at her grandma's last night, according to Fifi's text."

"Okay," he chuckles. "Plain cheese pizza. Anything else?"

"Some Capri Sun. The fruit punch kind."

"For Violet?"

"Uhh, no," she scoffs, looking offended. "For me."

"Right. Capri Sun for the twenty-two year old and vegetarian pizza for the four year old. Of course." He laughs and shakes his head as he slides out of the chair, pulling his car keys from the pocket of his basketball shorts. "I'll be back."

"If you forget the Capri Sun, don't even bother coming."

"You're so fucking mean," he says as he opens the door to leave but just before he walks out, he turns back to grin at her. "See you around six."

-

The profiles were supposed to be done before preseason was over, but someone, she isn't sure who, is falling down on the job and not taking care of their own responsibilities, so she apparently has to do their job too. It's not like it's hard work at all, but it is annoying that she's being forced to edit web pages at six o'clock on a Friday night when she's expecting company because someone didn't do their job. Luckily, Violet is an extremely low maintenance kid and she's one hundred percent satisfied with occupying herself practicing the simple braid that Calista showed her how to do earlier. She's perched up on the back of the sofa, her tiny hands working in Calista's auburn waves when there's a sharp knock on her black front door.

"Vi, could you go let Jamie in?"

Violet nods enthusiastically and hops down from behind Calista so she just says thank you and goes back to her work. She can hear the little girl's feet pitter-patter against the hard wood floors and then the lock clicks before the door is pulled open, but she pays no mind to it until Violet is running back at her full force, chanting, "Not Jamie, not Jamie."

Calista's eyes snap over to her just as she dives forward onto the sofa and then she looks over the little girl's head to see Tyler standing there in the doorway with his hands shoved into his pockets, looking confused and a little bit nervous. She's instantly annoyed at his presence, not really knowing what he could possibly want from her; then she notices that he's still standing outside in the hallway even though the door is open and she realizes that he must be worried about scaring Violet.

"Tyler, hey. What are you doing here?"

He takes a tentative step forward so that he's actually inside the apartment and his eyes flicker down to the little girl who's wormed her way under Calista's arm and buried herself in her side. "Jamie told me to meet him here. Sorry, I didn't mean to-....."

Calista looks down at Violet when he motions toward her and then she meets his gaze with a polite smile. "Oh no, she's fine. Come on in."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," she chuckles, and while he shuts the door and hesitantly shuffles his way over into the living room, she pushes her laptop off her lap to the cushion next to her and gently prods Violet's ribs until the little girl looks up to meet her eyes. "Vi, this is Tyler. He's Jamie's friend. Can you say hi?"

Violet blinks slowly at her before she turns to look over her shoulder at Tyler, where he's taken residence in the big round chair opposite them. She carefully scrutinizes him for a few moments and he tries to act as natural as possible, feeling ridiculous that he's actually kind of nervous with this tiny child sizing him up. "Hi," she finally says, her voice barely above a whisper, and then she crawls onto Calista's lap and hides her face again. Tyler frowns but Calista can't help but smile because she can feel the little girl's quiet giggles against her neck.

"Vi, why don't you pick out a movie to watch while we wait for Jamie to get here with dinner?"

Violet shoots up instantly, looking at her wide eyed. "Anything I want?"

"Anything you want."

With that confirmation, she scrambles off of Calista's lap and heads for the collection of dvds hidden away in the media cabinet below the television. She busies herself with looking through all the cases while Calista turns her attention back to her guest. "Sorry, she's just hesitant about new people." He nods like he understands, but she doesn't see, having already turned her attention back to her laptop, pulling it back up to sit across her thighs as she begins typing away. "I'm so not trying to be rude, but I just have to finish this thing for my boss really quick."

"I didn't know we were intruding on your night."

"You aren't," she insists without looking up at him. "Jamie and I do this every Friday night he doesn't have a game. Sometimes Jordie joins, but sometimes he goes out. Guessing tonight it's gonna be the latter. We usually just veg out, watch some tv, get some pizza-- that kind of thing. Violet isn't usually here unless her parents have a class or something, but I promised her a sleepover since I've been gone all summer."

Tyler feels relieved to know this kid has parents because it means she's not Calista's, but he isn't sure why he even cares. The thought momentarily crosses his mind that having a kid would make it more complicated and difficult to pursue her but he shakes the thought away almost immediately. He can't pursue her anyway; she's Jamie and Jordie's childhood friend and she works for his new team. He remembers the promise he made to himself when he first found out that Boston had traded him: he would look at it as a new opportunity to become more responsible and mature and be taken more seriously as a player. He can't afford to mess up; he's trying to improve his reputation and fucking around with an executive employee of his new organization is definitely not the way to do so. If that weren't reason enough, she's his teammates' close friend so it's like they already have some kind of claim on her. He'd even checked all the social media of his new teammates and friends, finding pictures and mentions of her scattered all throughout their twitters and instagrams.

"So, uh, what are you working on?" he asks, changing the subject for the sake of his poor brain.

"Oh, just adjusting some of the established profiles, making profiles for the new guys."

"Profiles?"

"Yeah, for the website. I'm almost finished with everyone. Just have to add 'captain' to Jamie and then I have to do you."

He tries not to acknowledge the double entendre in her words that she obviously didn't catch. "The website? Like the team's website?"

"Yep," she replies but then pauses what she's doing to look up at him, brows furrowed. "Jamie didn't tell you anything about me, did he?"

"Not really, no," he chuckles. "Just that you work for the Stars. Nothing specific."

"That honestly doesn't surprise me at all." She shakes her head but there's a little smile on her face as she goes back to typing. "I do Interactive Marketing and Digital Media."

"You're pretty high up too, aren't you?"

"Assistant Director in the marketing stuff and Assistant Manager in the media stuff."

His brows shoot up in surprise and he nods appreciatively. "That's impressive. Especially since you're so young."

Calista isn't sure if he's digging to see if maybe Jamie and Jordie had something to do with her getting the job or if he's actually just impressed but she keeps her eyes on the screen and her fingers moving against the keyboard. "I worked my ass off in college. Double major, multiple internships, summer classes to graduate early."

"You even graduated early? How old are you?"

"Only a semester, but yeah. I turned 22 in June."

"Damn," he whistles. "That really is impressive."

She chuckles. "Thanks."

He doesn't have anything else to say so things get quiet between them as Calista continues her work. She's just finished typing the information and reformatting the page when a DVD case comes flying toward her. She looks up just in time for it to bounce off the back of her laptop and Violet presses her hands over her mouth to suppress her giggles.

"I guess you picked a movie?"

The little girl nods and Calista sighs, quickly saving and submitting her work before she closes the laptop, setting it on the coffee table and leaning down to pick up the DVD. Of course Violet wants to watch The Princess Bride; it's the only movie she ever picks to watch when she's at Calista's apartment. She thinks it's the funniest movie ever, even though most of the humor goes way beyond her four year old understanding. Calista gets up to put in the movie and Violet quickly settles herself up on the back of the sofa again after her babysitter returns to her seat.

Calista feels the tiny hands in her hair and she's sure it probably looks like a bird nest by now with all the tousling and twisting Violet's done to it since Fifi dropped her off. "How's it coming?" she asks her.

"I can't remember how to do it," Violet answers sadly and when Calista turns to look over her shoulder at her, the little girl is pouting.

"Aw, sweetie," she chuckles. "Here, watch me again." Calista grabs a section of her hair and divides it into three even sections before braiding it, slowly enough that Violet can easily watch how she's doing it. "See?" she says, holding the braid out when she's done. "You'll get it. You just have to keep practicing. I bet your mom wouldn't mind letting you try on her since her hair is so much longer than yours."

Violet perks up a little and she stands up on the sofa cushion, wrapping her arms around Calista's neck. "Aunt Lissy, can you paint my fingers?"

"Sure, baby. After dinner, okay?"

The little girl squeals when Calista tickles her ribs but she plops herself down in her lap, letting Calista hug her tightly to her chest as she settles in to actually start watching the movie. She giggles when Calista quotes the lines into her ear and giggles even harder when Westley and Inigo begin sword fighting on screen.

Calista forgets Tyler is even there until there's a loud thumping against the door and he hops up to go and open it. Jamie moves past him in the doorway to set down the two pizza boxes on the counter before dropping a grocery bag and a six pack next to them. "You're lucky I like you," he says, pointing an accusing finger at her.

She laughs as she stands up, still holding Violet, and walks over to where he and Tyler are waiting in the kitchen before she sets the little girl down in the chair at the end of the bar. "Why's that?"

"I went to three different grocery stores before I found fucking fruit punch flavored," he grumbles, pulling the box of Capri Sun from the white plastic bag. "All anybody else had was grape."

"Hey, watch your mouth around the child," she scolds, smacking his arm.

He winces even though she could never actually hurt him. "Sorry."

Calista smiles, snaking her arm around his back and hugging his side tightly. "You're right, I am lucky. Thanks," she says, pressing an obnoxious kiss to his cheek.

He rolls his eyes as he shrugs her off but then he turns his attention to the little girl and grins. "You're even luckier," he tells her as he reaches back into the grocery bag. "What kind of cookies did you say you liked best?"

"Chocolate and peanut butter?" Violet gasps and her eyes widen as Jamie produces a giant roll of cookie dough from the bag. "Can we have some, Aunt Lissy?! Pleeeeease??"

"Maybe after you eat your dinner," she sighs before maneuvering around Tyler to reach into the cabinet for some plates. She passes one to each of the boys then opens the pizza box on top, but it's covered in various meats and vegetables so it must be the boys'. They waste no time in grabbing three slices each before they take the seats next to Violet at the bar and she just shakes her head silently as she opens the other box to pull out a slice for Violet and a slice for her. She sets one of the plates in front of the little girl and by the time she's filled a pink Disney princess cup with ice and water, Violet's already finishing her slice.

"Don't eat so fast, Vi. You'll get a tummy ache." Violet just blinks at her before she looks over at the two giant boys next to her, who have almost scarfed down their three slices, and Calista knows her silent question. "Well, they're not very good examples, are they?"

Tyler looks confused, Jamie looks offended, and Violet starts giggling again but Calista just hands her another slice before setting her drink next to her plate. She gets each of the boys a beer and gives them over before she opens the Capri Sun box to get herself a drink and the four of them eat their dinner, the two boys conversing about unimportant things. They finish their whole pizza just as Calista reaches for her second piece, but she knows that's all she and Violet are going to eat so she hands over the rest of it to the boys and they accept it enthusiastically like they're still starving.

Once she washes the pizza grease off her hands, she goes over to preheat the oven and Violet bounces excitedly in her seat at the prospect of cookies. She's punching the straw into her second drink pouch when a voice finally addresses her. "Hey Liss, can I talk to you for a sec?"

She looks up at Jamie with furrowed brows and then they both look at Tyler, who, taking the hint, clears his throat and slides out of his chair. "Uhh, come on, Violet. Let's go finish that movie while we wait for cookies, eh?"

Violet nods and hops down from her seat, grabbing Tyler's hand and pulling him over to the living room without a second's hesitation. She's already warmed up to him, which isn't much of a surprise because even though she's initially wary of new people, it doesn't take her long to get past that. Once they're out of earshot, Calista turns back to Jamie expectantly. "I just wanted to say sorry for not giving you a heads up," he says, jamming a thumb in the direction of his teammate sitting over on the couch. "I didn't think it'd be a problem if he came, but I didn't mean to spring it on you."

"Oh," she says, waving him off. "No, it's fine, Jamie. I didn't mind him coming." (Lie). "I mean, I do wish you'd at least sent a text to warn me.....I don't usually let people see me looking this rough until I've known them for at least a week, minimum."

He laughs at her cheesy joke. "Well, I don't think you look rough considering you're wearing that shirt."

"Oh please," she says, rolling her eyes. "Just because it has your number and your face on it? You're such a butthead."

"What? I can't believe you just called me that."

"Because you are one."

"After I just complimented you!" he gasps in mock outrage.

"You complimented the shirt and for the sole reason that it's a shirt of you. Doesn't count."

"You, Calista Clark, are the most beautiful goddess that ever walked the face of the earth and we mere mortals are unworthy of your presence!"

"You're full of shit."

He sighs heavily, shaking his head in disappointment. "I just can't win with you."

"Oh, get the fuck outta here," she scoffs, shooing him away from the bar, but he just grins as he gladly goes over to where his friend is sitting now as completely engrossed in the movie as the four year old in his lap. Calista mentally curses when she realizes she's staring and she quickly busies herself with cleaning up their dinner mess, loading plates into the dishwasher and throwing out the empty pizza boxes. The oven beeps when it's finished preheating and she forms the cookie dough into little balls before placing them on a cookie sheet and shoving the pan in to cook. Every fiber of her being goes into keeping her eyes away from the living room where the two giant boys are sprawled out on the sofa and the little girl has re-situated herself to be curled up in between them with her feet propped on one and her head resting on the other.

Violet is like a bloodhound when it comes to desserts of any kind because Calista's barely pulled the cookies out of the oven when the child comes running, her little feet pitter-pattering against the hard wood floors. The boys aren't far behind her and Calista has to be the bearer of bad news by telling them that they have to wait until the cookies have cooled off. She doesn't wait quite as long as she should because there are three pairs of eyes staring at her impatiently and she's pretty sure that Tyler burns his tongue when he grabs one and shoves it into his mouth as soon as she sets the plate in front of him.

This time when they're finished, it's Jamie who gets tugged back to the living room by a determined four year old and Calista tries to seem unfazed by the fact that Tyler's still sitting there at the bar watching her put the newly dirty plates into the dishwasher. "You need something?" she asks, hoping her feigned casualness isn't completely transparent. "You want another beer?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks."

Ooookay then. She shrugs it off and retrieves herself a new Capri Sun before she turns the kitchen light off and heads over to the living room to plop down on the empty end of the sofa. Tyler's a few seconds behind her, sinking into the huge round chair to her left, and Violet immediately hops into her lap, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Can you paint my fingers now?"

Calista sighs. "Come on, let's go pick out a color."

The little girl immediately hops up and heads for the bedroom where the nail polish collection is and it takes her about ten seconds to pick the polish she wants. Calista grabs a bottle for herself too before they head back into the living room and she holds it out to Jamie as she props her feet in his lap with a little grin. He rolls his eyes but takes the coral colored bottle from her hand without a word, and Violet climbs up onto the sofa with them, surrendering her own pale pink bottle. Calista paints Violet's fingernails while Jamie paints her toenails but it takes him much longer, considering he isn't as good at it. Tyler seems amused by the fact that he accepted the job with no protest.

Calista asks Tyler to put in a movie once the first one goes off because he's the only one out of the four of them who isn't currently tangled up on the sofa. He holds up three movie choices and Violet cheers for the second option so he puts it in before returning to his seat for it to start. Calista isn't sure why exactly the little girl likes the Harry Potter movies so much, because they're pretty dark for a four year old, but Nick lets her watch them so she does too.

Though she squirms a little, Violet stays in her spot until Calista says her nails are dry and then she climbs back into Jamie's lap to watch the movie so that she can bury her face in his shoulder at the parts she thinks are too scary to watch. Calista is forced to move her feet off his lap to make room for the child so she props them up on the coffee table instead, crossing her ankles and slumping down into the sofa cushions to get more comfortable for the long movie.

When the credits start rolling, she looks over to her right to see that Violet's fallen asleep in the crook of Jamie's arm, her cheek pressed against his chest and her little fists holding tightly to his tee shirt. He's asleep too, his head lolled over to the side so that his cheek is pressed against his shoulder. It's only a quarter past nine so he must be incredibly tired but she knows if he stays in that position, his neck is going to be sore in the morning so she needs to wake him up and send him home. She can't help nabbing a quick photo first before slapping on a filter and posting it to her instagram, making sure to tag both Fifi and Jamie in it.

Tyler's been unusually quiet for the majority of the evening so she's forgotten about his presence yet again until he she looks up and sees him looking back at her and she very nearly jumps out of her skin. Her hand flys to her chest where her heart is thumping wildly and she takes a few calming breaths. "Sorry, I forgot you were there."

"Oh, thanks," he says jokingly, but oddly he does feel a little wounded.

She doesn't bother responding, instead leaning over to gently shake Jamie's shoulder. It takes her calling his name a few times before he grumbles out an acknowledgment and he squeezes his eyes shut tighter before he finally opens them. "A summer without me has really made you boring, old man. It's not even ten yet," she teases. "You should go home and get some sleep. I refuse to be the reason you suck at the game tomorrow night."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he rasps sarcastically, shooting her an unamused look before he very carefully stands up, still cradling the little girl against his chest. Calista gets up to follow him as he carries Violet down the hall to the bedroom and he sets her down gently on the right side of the bed before pulling the comforter up over her. Calista tucks the covers up under her chin and turns bedside lamp off before following him back out to the living room where he's picking up his empty beer bottles to take to the recycling bin under the kitchen sink. Tyler gets up from his chair to join the two of them in the kitchen and Jamie turns back to face her once he's disposed of his bottles. "You comin' to lunch tomorrow?"

Calista hesitates with her answer because she knows Jordie will be there and she's really still not up for facing him any time soon, but she also knows that if she flat out says no then Jamie and probably Tyler will have questions as to why. Instead, she shrugs noncommittally. "I guess that depends on Mr. Lennox but I'll let you know in the morning."

He nods, satisfied with her answer, and wraps her in a hug. "It's good to have you back for Friday nights, Liss."

She laughs into his shoulder and tightens her arms around his back in return. "It's good to be back."

"See you tomorrow," he says as he plants a kiss to her temple before letting her go to walk over to the door. "And you have to actually come down after the game. No bailing this time."

"We'll see."

He shakes his head and grins as he opens the door but then he pauses to look back at his teammate who's still lingering by the bar. "Segs, you comin'?"

"O-oh," Tyler stutters, briefly glancing at Calista before he meets his friend's eyes. "Uh, yeah."

She's slightly amused by the fact that he's been caught staring but she'd never admit it because she also hates him and never wants him to look her way ever again. "Bye, boys," she says as she leans back against the counter and she pretends not to notice that he looks back at her one more time before he follows Jamie out the door.