Give Into Me

On Wednesday afternoon, Kaelin was dropped off in front of the O'Connor's house by a taxi, having just come from the ceremony. Cars were lined up and down half the snow-covered lawn in a pattern much like gridlock, as if there was heavy traffic. The driveway was the only plowed surface in the front yard, and it was specially reserved for the bride and groom's limousine. Although Kaelin had been one of the first to leave the church, it had taken quite a while to catch a cab, so many of the guests had made their way to their cars and headed out before Kaelin had told the driver the address. It seemed that most people were already inside. The rest of the guests would arrive any minute now, then the wedding party, family, and closest friends in a half hour.

As Kaelin hurried toward the front door, she looked up to take in the beautiful, manor-like house that had once been like a second home to her.

Beautiful, smooth, twenty-five feet tall white columns decorated the front of the house, holding up the second-floor balcony and roof. There were no railings in the front, so one could look out across the lawns with their line of sight unobscured, which were covered in a foot of snow and a hundred cars at the moment. The second-level's railings were twisted wrought-iron that the O'Connor's somehow kept from rusting, even after years of rain and snow. Two pairs of French doors lined both the dining room and the library, which were open at the time to accommodate for all the guests and allow some air to flow through the house. Despite the snow, the sun had come out around noon, and it had warmed up a little. It was the same on the second-story balcony, but the doors to the bedrooms were closed. The party was staying downstairs for the most part.

As she approached the porch, memories flooded back of snowball fights on the front lawn with Tammy and her two sisters, of drinking hot chocolate out on the front steps, of her mother pulling into the long driveway in the rusty old sedan to pick her up. There had been a time, maybe around their freshmen year of high school, that Kaelin was jealous of her friend for having such a wonderful house and life. But after a year or two, Kaelin had realized that life wasn't always fair and to be happy with what she did have. It wasn't hard to appreciate her own home, car, and mother after the accident. She knew just how quickly it could all be taken away from her.

The steps were slippery with ice, and it was especially hard to walk in heels and a long dress, but Kaelin managed to make her way up onto the porch and through the huge, oak front door without falling on her face.

Although the French doors throughout the house were open, it was quite warm inside. She felt a little inconsiderate to be tracking snow and ice inside, but that was what this room was for. Kaelin shed the knit jacket Tammy had let her borrow, like the dress, in the foyer, a sharply dressed man taking it and her clutch after she pulled out her phone.

"May I take your keys as well, madam?" he asked.

"No, sorry, I took a cab," replied Kaelin, blushing slightly.

He gave her an odd glance, as if wondering what on Earth she would be doing at a wedding reception like this if she didn't have some fancy car to drive herself over in, then walked off to put away her coat for the time being.

She turned her head to the left and the right, seeing the dining room table to have been cleared to create a sitting room and the library shelves just as full as ever, both rooms teeming with distant relatives and friends chatting away with each other, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newly weds. Behind the guests, on the walls furthest from Kaelin in either room, the fireplaces were laden with flaming logs, the source of the warmth inside. All five gaping fireplaces in the house must have been lit to create that much warmth. Of course, the number of people were giving off enough body heat to warm the house themselves.

Kaelin did want to wait for the wedding party to arrive, but she also wanted to find her seat so that she wouldn't be caught in the throng of people that would swarm into the billiard room when Tammy and Paul got there.

Still, like she had done every time she entered the house before, Kaelin had to stop in the rotunda at the center of the house where the spiral staircase curved upward to the second story. She spun slowly in the center of the circular room, not caring who was watching, staring up at the dome, marveling at the beauty of the sunlight on the cream-colored walls through the stained glass.

She shook her head and looked around quickly, now making sure that no one was looking. Before she could be seen standing alone in the middle of the rotunda, Kaelin walked toward the living room.

The three pairs of French doors here were open and the room had been cleared, leaving a large portion of the dark wood floor for dancing later that evening. The space was slightly obstructed by two columns near the center of the room, but, unlike the columns on the facade, these were thin. Against the left wall, a DJ was setting up hastily, running a bit late in Kaelin's opinion. Everyone would be there soon enough. It would be nice to be ready before the wedding party arrived. On the right, the fireplace was lit like all the others, spreading warmth.

Through a small break in the wall to the left, Kaelin could see the somewhat familiar family room. But it seemed bigger than the last time she had seen in. More open. Of course, a moment later she realized that the wall between the kitchen and the family room had been knocked out to create a larger space. This was where most of the furniture had been moved it seemed. Now, there was a big room full of couches and armchairs where people could socialize during the reception if they preferred not to dance the entire time.

A sharp right turn lead Kaelin right into the billiard room, where all the tables and chairs were set up. Several people were milling about the room; however, the majority of the guests were toward the very front of the house, as Kaelin could see through the singular set of French doors in this room.

It had always reminded her of a ballroom in a castle, this part of the house. With its high arching ceiling, tall windows, and polished, decorative wood floor, Kaelin had always loved this room, although, it had usually remained empty and closed up, as there was no use for it in the O'Connors' every day lives.

Kaelin had taken note of a sign at the entrance that had said in loopy, decorative writing:

"No seating arrangements. Please, sit where you like!"

So she had chosen a spot near the wall furthest from the entrance, as to keep from offending any close relatives and to get a better view of where the wedding party was to be seated.

Above where she had entered was a large balcony where the bride, groom, maid of honor, best man, and parents of the newly weds were to sit. The two tables nearest to this balcony were the only ones that were reserved for the wedding party. Although they were great seats, being the closest to the kitchen and warmth of the rest of the house, but when speeches were being made, the people sitting there would have aching necks from craning to see who was speaking.

Nobody came to join her table for a while, so she sat by herself, watching the people entering and leaving the room and waiting for Tammy and Paul to get there. But she didn't have to wait long for someone she recognized to enter the billiard room. Of course, they had no idea who she was.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin strolled into the room with their hands in their pockets, followed closely by James Neal and Max Talbot. All four of the handsome men were dressed in nice dark suits, probably the ones they wore before and after games. Kaelin had seen them and some other Pittsburgh Penguins sitting on Paul's side of the aisle at the ceremony in the church, closer to the front. The guys were probably like brothers since they spent all that time together. Kaelin, on the other hand had been squeezed into a pew at the back of the church, alongside some of Tammy's acquaintances from nursing school.

For a moment or so, Crosby, Malkin, Neal, and Talbot stood at the front of the room, surveying the area for an empty table. After a moment, Neal spoke up.

"How about right over here?" he said, quite loudly for a room so sparsely filled. But Neal, who seemed slightly arrogant, didn't seem to care who was around. In fact, he winked as a few of Tammy's distant cousins when they looked over at him. They waved back flirtatiously.

"Nah," said Crosby, scratching his chin and scanning the room for a completely empty table.

His eyes passed over Kaelin, and she caught her breath, one part of her hoping he would look directly at her, the other urging him to keep looking around.

"How about here then, Sid?" asked Talbot, inching a bit closer to the French doors, where a group of young blonde women had congregated.

"Nah," Crosby repeated. Talbot edged back over to where his friends were standing, looking longingly at the girls by the door.

"Where you want to sit?" Malkin asked, sounding a little frustrated by Crosby's indecisiveness. His broken English and accent were familiar to Kaelin from all the television interviews she had watched but hearing it in real life was much different.

Again, Crosby looked from one side of the room to the other, judging what empty table would be the best to sit at.

"There," he finally said . . . walking right in the direction of Kaelin.

Once again, she held her breath, watching as he strode closer with Malkin, Talbot, and Neal in tow. They were headed right for her table. Kaelin could hardly contain her excitement that they were coming to sit beside her, the most ordinary girl in the room. She might of screamed if she hadn't been having difficulty breathing. Then —

At the last moment, about ten feet away from her table near the back wall, Crosby pulled out a chair at a table nearer to the center of the room and took a seat, unbuttoning the front of his jacket as he did so. Malkin sat down beside him, Talbot following suit, then Neal a bit reluctantly, as if he wished he were flirting with the girls in the front rooms rather than sit here with his teammates. The four of them chatted leisurely, never looking back at Kaelin, who was still glancing at them every few moments, trying not to look so suspicious at her lonesome little table.

Her breath returned to her, which she was grateful for, but she couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. Although, she wasn't surprised either.

As soon as they had sat down, they stood up again. A tumultuous noise was coming from the front of the house and the blondes that had been standing by the entrance to the porch trotted off in the direction of the front steps, the clicking of their heels on the brick following them the whole way.

Kaelin, pushing Crosby and his teammates from her mind, left her seat to stand by the doors, where some of the other guests were starting to gather. The limousine must have been pulling up the driveway with the bride and groom.

Even with her heels, Kaelin was by far one of the shortest people there, so she was able to make her way to the doorway quite effortlessly. Of course, there had really been no point. When the limo door opened, some of the crowd rushed forward to get as close as possible, forcing her to fight to hold her ground in the doorway. Had it been Ella's wedding, she might had done the same simply because the girl back in LA was her closest friend in the world; however, she hoped she wouldn't have to rush to see the bride — it was likely she would be the maid of honor when Ella got married. But, as for Tammy and Paul, Kaelin already felt that she was intruding on their lives enough. No need to make it seem that she could jump right back into life in Pittsburgh like she had never left.

All she could see from where she stood was a flash of Tammy's white dress and a glimpse of Paul's red hair. It wasn't long before she could hear a stampede of footsteps in the foyer and rotunda, indicating that everyone was returning to their seats in the billiard room.

Not wanting to lose her seat, Kaelin spun around and took a step forward, not looking where she was going — running directly into someone.

Crosby.

He, Malkin, Neal, and Talbot had remained in the room like Kaelin and several other people, coming up right behind her to try and see Tammy and Paul pull up to the house.

Glancing up at him, Kaelin was given an apologetic smile. His honey brown eyes tried to catch her own hazel ones, but she was so flustered that she had to look away and take a step back. It wasn't everyday that one ran into the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"It's okay," smirked Crosby, chuckling a bit at her fazed state.

Kaelin smiled back sheepishly, but as she tried to sidestep past him to return to her table, she clumsily stepped on his foot in her heels.

"Ow!" he said, more out of surprise and discomfort than pain.

"I'm so sorry!" she said again, a little louder this time as she stumbled and turned around to make sure he was fine. "I'm so clumsy."

Crosby looked down at his foot, then hopped up and down on one foot for a moment, rubbing the toe she had trodden on and feigning injury.

"Yeah, you are," teased Crosby, making her blush.

They might have joked with each other for a few more minutes. In those few minutes, they could have gotten to know each other a bit more than Sidney Crosby, Canada's Captain, and the girl who had stepped on his toe. But the wedding party was entering the hall and finding their seats, Tammy and Paul standing up on the balcony, looking out into the billiard room.

Not speaking, Kaelin and Crosby parted ways, retreating back to their separate tables, looking in the other's direction whenever they thought the other wasn't looking, then looking away quickly when they caught each other's eyes.