Sky Full of Stars

Calista's plan is to not even get out of bed at all on Sunday (despite the flat out lie she'd told Jamie about class), but bright and early at 8 o'clock in the morning, the incessant knocking on the front door begins. It jars her awake and she lies there squinting up at the ceiling for a few minutes, hoping for it to stop so that she can roll over and go back to sleep, but it doesn't. Of course it's only after she's tossed the comforter back off her body and thrown her legs over the side of the bed to sit up that the noise ceases, but the sound of a key in the lock follows directly after it. She assumes it's Jamie and falls face first back onto her mattress, ready to bitch at him as soon as he enters the room.

Her eyes slide shut as she listens to the footsteps on the hard wood floors out in the main living area and almost immediately they grow louder as he makes his way down the hall to her room. The knob jiggles a little as he opens the door, but before she has a chance to say anything, she's interrupted by a different voice, one she's definitely not expecting and can't handle this early in the morning.

"Liss, you sleepin'?"

She wants to ignore him, pretend she's still asleep and hope he goes away, but that plan goes out the window when she feels the bed sink down behind her and then fingertips softly grazing her shoulder. Squeezing her eyes shut tighter, she bites down on her lip and tries to remain still. He sighs and retracts his hand. "I know you're awake. You're a terrible faker."

Calista lets out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and turns her head to look over her shoulder at Jordie, who's watching her very carefully. "Not all the time." They both know she's only saying it to be spiteful because she's never once had to fake it with him. He has no reaction, except for the somewhat hurt look on his face, and that only makes her feel guilty so she begrudgingly sits up and slides up the bed to rest her back against the cushioned headboard. "What are you doing here, Jordie?"

"We didn't get to finish our conversation last night."

"I don't know, I was pretty much finished with it."

"Calista, come on," he groans. "I said I was sorry. I don't know what else you want me to do."

She shakes her head and looks away from his eyes, instead focusing on the large ornate mirror hanging over the dresser across from her bed. At least this way, she can see him without having to look at him. "You don't understand," she says softly, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"I didn't mean it, Liss. I was annoyed, but that didn't give me the right to accuse you of anything, especially with Tyler. I mean, he's a nice kid, but his reputation-"

"I'm not an idiot, Jordie. I know what kind of guy he is." Not that she would ever tell him, but she happens to know from personal experience what kind of guy he is.

"Yeah, but-"

"Besides, even if I didn't, I'm not like that. I can't just-.....it takes a lot of trust for me to sleep with someone." She can hide her true feelings really well most of the time, but the Benn boys are two of her best friends and they know how insecure she is about her body sometimes, Jordie especially. Their arrangement hadn't been easy for her at first, solely because of how self-conscious she was about being naked in front of him. The fact that she's in love with him didn't make it any easier either.

"I know," he says softly. "That's why I feel so shitty about what I said. Earning your trust definitely isn't the easiest thing I've ever done and I threw that trust back in your face just because we were fighting. That was a total dick move and I don't know what else to say except I'm sorry."

Calista sighs heavily and slides off the edge of the bed to stand so that she can put some distance between them. "You were an asshole," she says, crossing her arms over her chest because she's suddenly aware of the fact that her bright pink bra is still hanging on the closet door handle because she'd taken off before she went to bed.

"I was," he agrees. He gets up from the bed too and she subconsciously takes a step back when he takes one forward. "But can you forgive me?"

"I'm not over it," she confesses quietly, dropping her gaze from his. "Not yet anyway. I'll get there, but I need some time.....You hurt me, Jordie. And I know you're sorry, but that doesn't make it automatically go away. Of course I forgive you, you're one of my best friends, but I still have to get over it. I hope you can understand that."

"No, I get it. Anything you need, as long as we can be okay again."

"We're okay," she nods, giving him a weak smile. "I hate being mad at you."

"I hate you being mad at me," he replies with a little chuckle and this time when he steps forward, she doesn't retreat further back. "C'mere."

Calista moves forward the last few feet that still separate them and he holds his arms out for her to walk into so that he can wrap her in a tight hug. She tries not to relax too much into it and enjoy it too much so after only a few seconds she pulls away, and she can feel him hesitate before he actually lets go of her.

"So if we're gonna be okay....does that mean you'd be up for meeting Megs? There's a bunch of people coming over tonight to watch the football game so I thought maybe if you-....I don't know, I think you two'll really hit it off once you get to know each other."

"I don't know, Jord," she says hesitantly, but not for the reason he thinks. He's still under the impression that she doesn't approve of his relationship because Megan is an ice girl for the team and therefore supposed to be off limits to players. Even though that part is true as well, her main reason for skepticism is that she just doesn't want to meet the girl who gets to have what she wants. She's been in love with him since she was a little girl and it's only gotten harder over the years to see him with someone else. Plus, the overwhelming sense of inferiority she knows she's going to feel when she comes face to face with the beautiful blonde just makes it worse.

"Please, Liss. I want you to meet her," he begs. "It's important to me."

He looks so hopeful as he waits for her answer and she feels a pang in her chest at the thought of making him unhappy again. Even if he's the most clueless person in the world for not seeing (or at least not acknowledging) the way she feels about him, she never wants to do anything that would make him unhappy. Now she has a chance to just sweep everything back under the rug and pretend it isn't there, and if that's what she has to do to get things back to normal, then that's what she'll do. Even if it hurts.

"Fine," she agrees quietly. "I'll be there."

A grin stretches across his scruffy face and he pulls her into another quick hug. "Thank you," he mutters into her messy auburn hair before kissing her temple and letting go of her to turn for the door. "Everyone's supposed to be there around 6," he stops to tell her before he turns and walks out her bedroom door, shutting it softly behind him. She waits until she hears her front door close before she collapses back into her bed and pulls the pillow over her face to muffle her frustrated scream.

---

She's just pulling on a comfy cardigan over her tank top and shorts combo when there's a loud knock on the door. It's only 5:30 so it shouldn't be either of the boys trying to hurry her up yet. Her blonde best friend is waiting when she pulls the door open.

"Fifi, hey! What are you doing here?"

"Jamie called to invite us to the thing tonight. I figured if Jordie's gonna be there, you might need some extra support to distract you."

Calista's facade drops at once and she wordlessly pulls Felicity into a hug. "Thank God you came. I'm definitely gonna need you."

Felicity chuckles as she pulls back to place her hands on her slightly taller friend's shoulders. "Why, what's goin' on?"

"Jordie came by this morning. To fix things."

"And how'd that go?"

"Okay," she shrugs, but the frown clouding her features tells the exact opposite. "He wants me to meet his girlfriend tonight. He's sure we'll hit it off once we get to know each other."

Felicity gives her a sympathetic look before pulling her back into a hug and she doesn't let go of her until they're joined by a welcome interruption. "Aunt Liiiiiiiiissyyyyyyy," a little voice calls out as soon as the elevator doors open and just about the time Calista pulls back from her friend to look over, her favorite little person steps out into the hall, all bright eyes and wild curly hair and mischievous grin.

"C'mere, you," Calista says and Violet giggles before running full speed to her. She hoists the little girl up into the air before settling her on her hip to greet the man who's just walked of the elevator behind his daughter. "Hey, Nick."

"Hey," he returns automatically, but then he notices the look on her face and the one on his girlfriend's. "You okay?"

"Mmm, it's just gonna be a long night."

"Jordie?" he guesses. She can't help wincing at the mention of his name and Felicity gives her a knowing look but now it's Nick's turn to be sympathetic. He throws one arm around her, pulling her into a side hug.

"Daddy, no!" Violet squeals, grinning from ear to ear as she tries to push his arm away. "She's mine!"

Felicity scoffs. "Excuse me, little miss, she was mine first. You'll have to fight me for her."

Violet considers it for a moment before nodding decisively. "Okay."

The three adults share a laugh while the little girl beams with pride at being the cause of it. Calista hands her over to her dad and runs back into the apartment to retrieve her phone from its charger in the bedroom before she rejoins them in the hallway. She locks her front door and they all go to the elevator to travel the nine floors up to the party location. The door to Jamie and Jordie's apartment is standing slightly ajar when they reach it and Calista simply pushes it further open to walk inside while Felicity loudly announces their presence.

Jamie's head pops up over the back of one of the sofas and he grins when he sees them, immediately jumping up from his reclined position to come over and hug each of the girls. After a bro hug with Nick and tickling Violet's belly until she giggles, he informs them that Jordie's gone to pick up his girlfriend and Tyler's on his way with more beer. He's expecting seven or eight more teammates too, some of them bringing their significant others, which means there's going to be a pretty full house later on. For now, they all go back over to the living area where Jamie has the pre-game show on the television and make themselves comfortable on the multiple sofas.

Calista tunes out the conversation happening around her while she waits anxiously for the door to open, but when it finally does, it's only Eakin and Roussel. Tyler comes in only a few minutes behind them with more beer to add to the stockpile that Jamie already has in his fridge and much to her surprise, four bottles of the kind of wine she likes. That has to have been on Jamie's direction because Jamie knows she doesn't like beer and probably figures some of the other women don't either. He puts everything away in the kitchen before he joins the group in the living room and Calista finds it odd that he acknowledges her first before Roussel or Jamie who are sitting on either side of her. She responds politely but the thought flashes through her mind that she's already messing things up by being too nice to him. Being friends with him is definitely not something she wants.

Lehtonen and his wife, Daley and his wife, Dillon, and the Russian rookie Nichushkin have all arrived by kickoff time, but Jordie is still nowhere to be seen, and the longer Calista waits, the more anxious she becomes. Violet has found her way out of her mother's lap and over into Calista's and Roussel is entertaining her by letting her give him English words to translate into French. She giggles every time she tries to repeat what he says and Calista laughs along with him at the little girl's valiant attempts at pronouncing French words. The sound of the door opening yet again catches her attention and when she looks up, she immediately wishes she hadn't because it's Jordie with a short blonde following on his heels. Another moment's observation reveals he has Megan's hand enveloped in his own and Calista can't help the surge of jealousy she feels when she remembers the last time it was her fingers tangled with his, just before she left Dallas for the summer.

Even though the game is on and the Cowboys are in the middle of running the ball on screen, every single pair of eyes in the room turns to door and then to her. Obviously, they've all met Jordie's girlfriend but they know she hasn't and they also know how protective she is over both Benns. They'd somehow heard (from Tyler) how 'upset' and 'annoyed' she'd seemed when she found out over breakfast and now they were about to catch the live show. Jordie grins when he spots her and he motions for her to come over with his free hand.

Violet has no problem hopping over into Jamie's lap as Calista stands from her spot on the sofa and she doesn't miss the wary look he gives her before she steps over Roussel's and Eakin's long legs to walk around the back of the sofa and go over to the foyer where Jordie and Megan are still standing. It's eerily quiet for there to be thirteen people in the living room; the only sound audible is the faint blowing of a whistle and some droning commentary of a play on the field and when Calista glances over her shoulder, she finds thirteen people quickly looking away as if they hadn't been being nosy a half second ago. The volume of the game increases behind her and she silently thanks whoever is controlling the remote as she comes to a stop in front of the couple.

The girl in front of her is even prettier up close, with her shiny blonde hair and her bright blue eyes framed perfectly with eyeliner that Calista couldn't accomplish if she tried. Megan's designer blouse and tight jeans make her feel even more inferior in her comfy cardigan and shorts combo, and she just knows she must look completely massive standing next to a girl who's probably three inches shorter and about eighty pounds lighter than she is. In summary, it's a devastating blow to her self-confidence standing next to this girl and Megan seems to know it. Calista can see the way she's looking her up and down, sizing her up and feeling superior with her findings. That's another blow.

"Lissy, this is Megan. Megs, this is my friend, Calista."

Calista nods and smiles in acknowledgment, but it's obvious already that Megan doesn't like her. She doesn't even try to smile in return, instead quirking a brow as if challenging Calista to try her. Jordie must just be hoping so badly for them to get along that he doesn't seem to notice the look; instead, he drapes an arm around both of them and pulls them into his sides, declaring the same thing he'd told her earlier in the day. Fat chance, Calista thinks, but she agrees just to appease him and then politely excuses herself to the kitchen to get a head start on one of those bottles of pinot noir Tyler brought in.

She's almost downed an entire glass by the time she hears steps approaching on the hard wood floors but when she pauses to turn around and look at the person, she finds Tyler standing on the other side of the kitchen island, arms crossed over his chest and leaning his hip against the counter. "You okay?" he asks, throwing her completely off guard.

Suspicious, she only stares at him with narrowed eyes for a long moment before nodding weakly and occupying herself by refilling her glass. "I'm great. How are you?"

He sees through her attempt at deflection and smiles a little as he leans over to prop his elbows on the counter in front of him. "You like him, don't you?"

"E-excuse me?" sputters, trying desperately to rein in the panic that's quickly bubbling its way up to the surface.

Thankfully, he at least has the good sense to glance over his shoulder at Jordie instead of saying his name out loud and possibly having any of the people in the living room hear him. "You like him."

"You don't know what you're talking about," she scoffs, raising her glass to sip from it and hoping she doesn't give anything away in the process.

"I know it hasn't been that long since we met, but I feel like I already know you. And with the way you reacted at breakfast the other day and just now-"

Her nails dig into the skin of her palm as she clenches her free hand at her side to stop it from shaking. "Stay in your lane, Tyler," she snaps, cutting him off, and before he has a chance to even gloat about being right, she turns away to walk out of the kitchen, taking her newly full glass of wine with her. Megan's taken her seat on the sofa and the only open seat left is the one on the other sofa between the Russian rookie and Jordie so Calista opts to sit on the floor at Nick's feet, leaning her back against his legs and refusing the seat when he offers it to her. She ignores the looks she's getting from all around the room, instead focusing on the television screen and eventually everyone else does the same.

By the time Goligoski and his wife arrive, the focus of the group has been wholly and successfully shifted away from her. The last to arrive is Peverley, a veteran player who's new to the Stars team this year. He'd come from Boston in the same trade as Tyler so they already know each other, even though the difference in maturity levels between the two there had been so exponentially different. He and his wife, who's tagged along as well, both look at her with furrowed brows, like they're concentrating hard on figuring out if and when they've seen her before and she knows it's only a matter of time before they figure it out and blurt it out in front of everyone, which can't happen.

The thought of it sends Calista to her feet again, offering to get drinks for everyone just to be able to keep herself busy by having something to do. She has to make two trips from the fridge with beers for all the guys before she goes back to pour glasses of wine for the ladies, except Megan who's sharing the same can of beer with Jordie. Calista silently shakes her head at that, knowing how much Jordie hates drinking after other people.

As she's retrieving more glasses from the cabinet, she notices out of the corner of her eye Peverley's wife standing up from the arm of the chair where she'd been sitting and quietly making her way over to the kitchen. Calista pretends not to notice her as she pour some wine into each of the glasses she has set out until the pretty brunette politely clears her throat. "Sorry, this may sound strange, but I feel like I know you from somewhere."

Calista puts down the empty bottle and glances over at the living room to make sure no one is eavesdropping before sighing heavily and raking a hand through her hair. "You do." The older woman, Nathalie, as Calista remembers, frowns in confusion, obviously not remembering the few times they've come in contact in the past, which she can't blame her for because it wasn't like she was anyone important in the organization there. "I lived in Boston for four years, did a couple of internships with the Bruins. Sabrina introduced us once."

"Marchy's Sabrina?"

"The one and only," Calista replies with a nod. "She was my roommate when I lived there."

"Oh my gosh, you're right! It's been so long, I'm sorry I didn't remember that."

"No, it's fine," she chuckles, waving her off. "Stanley Cup parade wasn't the ideal place to meet someone for the first time. Too much going on."

Nathalie laughs too. "I don't even remember most of that day to be honest. I was flying on autopilot for like the last month of playoffs."

"It was a pretty hectic time," Calista agrees, handing her one of the glasses she's just filled. The older woman thanks her and takes a sip before carefully picking up two more to take to some of the other ladies in the living room but Calista says her name, and she spins back around, raising her brows expectantly. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, sweetie. What is it?"

"Okay, this is gonna sound a little crazy but-....could you, uh, not mention Boston?"

Nathalie takes two steps back toward the kitchen, giving her a confused look. "Sure, but why?" Calista glances over at Tyler, where he and Dillon are laughing hysterically about something Eakin has done and the other woman follows her gaze, her eyes going wide in surprise as she glances back to Calista. "Oh...Did something-....?"

"I just don't want him to remember me," she mutters quietly, tearing her eyes away from the boy in the living room.

"Yeah, of course," Nathalie replies, nodding like she understands the gravity of the situation, which unfortunately no one does. "Of course. I'll tell Rich too. Make sure he doesn't say anything. Don't worry about it."

"Thank you."

"Come on, let's go get some wine into these girls," she smiles, turning back to walk toward the living room and effectively dropping the subject. Calista follows with the rest of the wine glasses and she hands them out to the remaining ladies before she goes back around the sofa to sit by Nick's feet again, but Tyler jumps up from his seat next to Eakin and tells her to take it. At least half of the room stares at him in surprise, but no one is more caught off guard than Calista. After a moment, she snaps out of it and says thank you as she goes to sit in the empty space on the sofa between Daley's wife and Eakin, who throws his arm around her shoulders and gives her a ridiculous wink.

She rolls her eyes at him but does crack a smile and she lets him keep his arm there until the pizza delivery guy arrives just before halftime. Jamie goes over to answer the door and pay for the pizzas but as soon as the door is shut again, all of the guys get up from their seats and rush him to take the boxes out of his hands. The women aren't quite as eager and they take a moment longer to get to the kitchen, but while everyone is now occupied with their backs turned, Calista uses the opportunity to sneak up the stairs and get away. She wanders down the hallway until she reaches Jamie's bedroom and the bed is simply too inviting not to collapse onto to wallow in her misery.

It's only after Felicity finishes her first slice of ham and pineapple pizza that she realizes Calista isn't crowded around the island with everyone else. She hands her crust to her boyfriend for him to eat and leaves the circle to look for her friend. She's not sitting on the sofa in the last place Felicity saw her and she's not in the half bathroom downstairs which means she has to have gone upstairs. No one except Nick notices her go up but he gathers the reason when he too looks around and doesn't see Calista anywhere.

Felicity makes her way upstairs, past the open doors of an empty bedroom and an empty bathroom before she comes to a closed door at the end of the hall. She knocks softly before going on in and when she steps into the room, she sees her friend lying in the middle of the bed with her face buried in the pillow.

"You okay, sweetie?" she asks softly as she walks over to sit down on the edge of the mattress.

"I don't know why I agreed to do this," Calista mutters, rolling over onto her back with a sigh.

Felicity smiles sympathetically and strokes her auburn waves. "You don't have to be okay with it, you know."

"I don't have a choice, Fifi."

"Yes, you do. And besides, it's kind of unfair for him to ask that when he knows how you feel."

"Well, I'd rather have him this way and be miserable than not have him at all."

"You can't think like that though, Liss. It's not fair for you to have to sit back and pine over him while you watch him parade that bitch around right in front of you."

"That's mean. You don't know if she's a bitch or not."

Felicity saw the way she looked at Calista when Jordie first introduced them so, yeah, she does know that Megan is a bitch, but she decides not to mention that. "Calista, you're trying to distract me from my point. You deserve better than this and you know it."

The younger girl chuckles but that doesn't stop her eyes from welling up with tears. "I don't know, maybe I don't. It's not like I've got a bunch of guys lined up outside my door. I never have. Maybe this is all there is for me, just being the one who's there for him between girlfriends."

"You stop it," Felicity warns, slapping her arm, and even though the hit is gentle, her tone is anything but. It's not often Felicity uses her mom tone, but when she does, everyone knows she means business. "Don't you ever say that again. You're my best friend, Calista, and it's really shitty to watch you be hurt, but it's even worse to hear you say something like that about yourself. You're one of the best people I know. You're smart, and beautiful, and sweet, and you're so fucking strong. After all the shit you've been through-....Jesus, you're amazing, Liss, and you deserve the world. Don't let shitty boys make you think otherwise."

The quiet knock on the door causes Calista to quickly sit up, turning her back toward it as she furiously wipes at her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. The door opens slowly but then Felicity squeezes her shoulder, muttering that it's only Nick, and she sighs in relief that it's him and not anyone else. "Aunt Lissy, why are you sad?"

She looks up at the sound of the young voice and when she sees Violet in Nick's arms, she feels terrible because the little girl looks like she's about to cry too. "C'mere," she says, holding her arms out, and Nick sets Violet down so that she can go over to her. Violet plops herself down in Calista's lap and wraps her little arms around her neck, burying her face in Calista's shoulder. "It's just grown up stuff," she says softly. "I'm okay."

"You promise?" Violet asks, looking up at her with big sad eyes and her bottom lip slightly rolled out.

She nods and hugs the little girl tighter to her while Felicity rubs her back comfortingly. Nick flops down at the end of the bed, looking equally as concerned as his daughter had been. "You sure you're okay?" The look Calista gives him says no she isn't but she won't say that out loud with Violet right there. She shifts positions so that she's laying horizontally across the bed with her head in Felicity's lap and Violet curls herself up in her side with her head resting on Calista's outstretched arm. "I think they're, uh, starting to notice you disappeared down there."

"Great," she groans. That's just what she needs- them noticing her absence will prompt them to wonder why she came upstairs to hide which will prompt them to become suspicious about every little thing she does from now on. "Well, I guess we should get back down there then. The longer I hide, the worse it'll be."

Nick and Felicity both agree but they all stay where they are for another ten minutes before Calista finally stands up, situating Violet on her hip and pulling Nick up off the bed with her free hand. Felicity jumps onto his back for a piggy back ride and the four of them head back down the stairs to face the music.