Give Into Me

As Paul and Geno led her through the dancing throng of people in the living room, Kaelin bobbed and weaved to avoid running into anyone, contemplating taking off her heels after nearly stepping on the toes of Tammy's sister. She'd already done that one too many times today. But she couldn't say that it had turned out that bad. As a result of it, Kaelin had had the opportunity to meet Crosby. Canada's Golden Boy himself! How many people could say that?

Probably more than you think, she thought, smiling to herself.

Just as they reached the edge of the crowd, Tammy came over, closely followed by Clare, and pressed a kiss to Paul's cheek. The happy couple began chatting for a moment about something, leaving Clare, Kaelin, and Geno to socialize. Kaelin gave the maid of honor a little close-lipped smile, that was mirrored back. But, much like when the two had first been acquainted on Sunday, she didn't seem too keen about Kaelin's presence at the reception.

"I enjoyed your speech," said Kaelin casually, trying to make small talk. "That one story about . . . Tammy was quite . . . amusing."

"Oh, yeah," replied Clare, playing along. "The two of us had a lot of fun. I just wish you had been able to hear the whole thing. Where'd you go anyway?"

Bitch, thought Kaelin. That's so rude to call someone out. It's not my fault my phone was ringing off the hook. I did you a favor by walking out for a bit rather than letting it continue buzzing.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that. My roommate kept calling me," Kaelin explained, putting on a pleasant face, although she would have liked to say what she was thinking, as she was liking Clare less and less the more she spoke to her. "Last time I left her alone for three weeks, she had a severe allergic reaction to pet dander. I didn't want to risk going back to Los Angeles at the end of my trip to find her puking all around the apartment."

With a look of mock sympathy mixed with legitimate disgust, Clare turned away from Kaelin to speak to Geno briefly about the party, Kaelin simply standing there awkwardly, left to her own thoughts.

It all seemed so strange as she thought back on the past few hours. Meeting Paul Martin, Maxime Talbot, and James Neal; dancing with Evgeni Malkin, calling him Geno; literally running into both him and Sidney Crosby – it all seemed so surreal. How could she, Kaelin Bremner, an ordinary girl visiting her hometown, be experiencing something like this? She had seen these guys on a television screen up until now. But, in the time that had passed since first seeing them in the church this morning, Kaelin had began to see them as more than just hockey stars. They were just normal people with extraordinary labels on them. The more she thought about that fact, the less anxious she was to meet them.

"Hey, so Paul's taking you to meet the guys?" asked Tammy abruptly, cutting into Kaelin's thoughts.

"Yeah, we were heading there right now," she replied.

"I'll come with you, if you don't mind me tagging along. I haven't actually been able to talk to them for a couple days so I would love to say hi."

"That'd be great," smiled Kaelin, grateful for the familiar face.

"Would it be all right for me to come as well?" said Clare, smiling spitefully.

"Yes, of course. By the way, I didn't get to tell you both right after the ceremony. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Martin!"

"Aww, thank you, Kae," Tammy beamed, pulling her into another of her rib-crushing hugs. "Oh, that's so strange to hear! But I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Thanks, Kaelin," said Paul, coming up behind Tammy and wrapping his arms around the waist of his new bride, kissing the top of her head. "Now, if you ladies are finished chatting, we're gonna introduce Kaelin if you don't mind."

"Oh, we're not taking that long," said Tammy, placing her own hands over his. "Come on then, let's go find them."

The newly weds led the way out of the living room, heading toward the rotunda in search of some of the guys. Kaelin walked along behind them, smiling discreetly to herself as she observed their linked hands and loving gestures. She could only hope for a love like that one day.

In her junior year of high school, Kaelin had only had one boyfriend, who was one year older than her. The relationship hadn't lasted more than the six months, ending a few weeks before he had graduated. Her twelfth grade year had been spent in solitude. And like in high school, she had only had one boyfriend since beginning college, but this relationship had been much more serious than the last.

Luke and her had gotten together during the spring semester of their freshmen year, him the stereotypical blond-haired California surfer boy, her the girl from out of state. Set up on a blind date by Ella, who'd known him since elementary school, they had instantly clicked, dating steadily for nearly three years. But it had all come crashing down this most recent summer, when a huge fight about their future had torn them apart. While Kaelin thought they were still too young, Luke believed they were ready to get married, although he had never met her mother. In addition to the family issues between them, where they planned to live if and when they were married was a major source of conflict, as he wanted to settle in northern California while Kaelin wanted to consider somewhere else in the country. All the little stuff along the way had been enough to break up the couple. After this, Kaelin had only been on one date with a man who worked at the Barnes and Noble nearest her apartment.

Looking at the couple before her, Kaelin silently wished them the greatest happiness for the rest of their lives.

Passing through the rotunda, the crowd had thinned considerably to a few scattered groups standing about, shouting out congratulatory remarks to the happy couple. Just past the circular room, in the foyer, there was hardly anyone, save for the butler who now awaited people leaving the party. He said nothing as they walked by, Tammy glancing into the dining room, then striding across to the library from which low voices were emanating. As they entered the room, Geno caught up to Kaelin, placing his hand on the small oh her back, leading her and leaving Clare to walk by herself.

Inside, there were only a few of the Pens, which she was grateful for; but, once again, she saw them as hockey stars rather than ordinary people. Although she wanted to see each one as any face in the crowd – to have the ability to make small talk with no difficulty – all she could see were skates and jerseys.

Numbers nine and fourteen, Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz, stood by the nearest open French doors, looking out over the snow covered lawn sloping gently down to the main road, both holding a beer in his hand. On the opposite side of the room, scanning the bookcases passively and looking quite uninterested at the moment was Kris Letang, number fifty-eight. And standing by the warm fireplace against the furthest wall, talking quietly were number twenty-nine, Marc-André Fleury, and number eighty-seven, Sidney Crosby.

As the group entered the library, all five men looked over at once, all conversations coming to a halt at the sight of bride and groom. The first to speak up was Fleury.

"Congratulations, Paulie! Congratulations, Tammy! Vero loved the ceremony," said Fleury from his place beside the fireplace.

Conversation once again initiated, the others called out their thanks, saying what they enjoyed about the ceremony or reception so far. At that moment, Crosby's eye caught Kaelin's, the man giving her a little smirk from across the room. But his smile faltered when he noticed Geno's hand on her lower back. He then occupied himself with grinning at the happy couple.

"Well, I'm happy for you two," said Crosby when silence had fallen again. Lifting his beer, he added, "I know this isn't a formal toast, but . . . to the bride and groom!"

"To the bride and groom!" the others repeated, raising their imaginary drinks.

"Oh, so you guys know Clare, of course," said Tammy. "But this carrot-top over here is my best friend from high school, Kaelin Bremner. She's from around here but right now she's just visiting on break from Occidental University in California."

Letang, seemingly eager to escape the conversational confines of the room, stepped forward to introduce himself to Kaelin.

"Kris," he said, shaking her hand quickly. "It's nice to meet you. Sorry to rush out, but I've gotta go take care of business."

He hurried out of the room, sliding past them and out into the hall. Not minding that he wasn't too keen to stick around, Kaelin turned to the other guys just as Kunitz was stepping forward.

"Don't judge us based on his behavior," said Kunitz before he'd introduced himself formally. "We kinda forced him to hang out with us so don't be surprised that he rushed out. I'm Chris, by the way. With a 'C-H'. Tanger spells his name with a 'K'."

"It's nice to meet you," she replied as he shook her hand gingerly, much more gently than Letang's brisk handshake.

It was strange to meet the Penguins this way, being introduced to them on a first name basis. She'd always known them by surname and number, but slowly she was beginning to see past the hockey facade to the real person beneath all that. She wouldn't see them the same again, whether on TV or at a game, because there was more to them than just their sport.

"Since all of you seem to be happy where you are, I guess I'll introduce you assholes," continued Kunitz. "Over there by the door is Pascal, but you can call him Duper if you want. The Frenchy is Marc-André – "

"I don't mind being called Flower though," cut in Fleury, raising his hand in greeting.

"So now you want to talk. Yeah, so that's Flower, and that's – "

"Sidney," said Crosby, stepping forward slightly, standing a few feet away but extending his hand. "I was wondering when we'd run into each other again, I just thought it might be in the literal sense like last time."

He flashed her a goofy smile, making her chuckle a little at the memory of their first awkward meeting.

"You two know each other?" asked Tammy, confused as almost everyone else in the room. "How?"

"We ran into each other just before the reception," explained Kaelin.

"Actually ran into each other. And then she stepped on my foot," Sidney explained further.

"It was an accident!"

"But we didn't get to introduce ourselves, so . . . it's nice to meet you, Kaelin," he smiled, his honey brown eyes softening as they shook hands.

"You, too, Sidney," replied Kaelin, reciprocating the smile.

Now standing in the space between Crosby and Geno, it was awkward being the center of attention, as she would enjoy standing off to the side rather than in the middle of things. But there was no escaping it at the moment, as she was the one being introduced.

A smirk and a look of recognition suddenly crossed Kunitz face as he looked from Sidney to Kaelin.

"Oh, so this is her?" he grinned mischievously. "This is the girl you were gawking at during dinner?"

Kaelin felt herself blushing while thoughts flew about her head at a thousand miles per hour.

He was looking at me? Of course, he was – you saw him yourself. How did Kunitz know? Does he know you were glancing at Crosby, too?

"What? No, I wasn't gawking! I was – er – " Crosby began in a desperate attempt to cover up for himself, suddenly flustered and bright red; but he was interrupted as the volume of the music from the living room increased and three women came hurrying into the room.

The first was Véronique LaRose, Fleury's girlfriend, who was quickly followed by Dupuis's wife, Carole-Lyne, and a somewhat pregnant Maureen Kunitz. All three hurried over to their boyfriend or husband, talking quickly. From where Kaelin was, she could hear Véronique.

"Will you come dance with me? You don't have to try hard. Just do what the music says. Please, Marc?"

"Yes, of course."

The couples left a moment later, the women pulling the men along behind them, leaving Kaelin, Crosby, Tammy, Paul, Geno, and Clare to figure out what was going on. Tammy was trying to listen to what was playing.

"It's the Cupid Shuffle!" she said. "Come on, Paul!"

Before he could resist, she lead him out of the library, heading toward the dance floor.

"Do you want to dance, Sid?" asked Clare, stepping past Kaelin to stand in front of Crosby, smiling flirtatiously and batting her eyelashes.

"Um, I think I'm good, Clare," he replied.

Kaelin nearly laughed out loud at her reaction. All flirtiness and confidence came to a screeching halt, Clare's shoulders drooping and her smile faltering. It was likely she had never been refused by a man before, because she didn't seem to know what to say or do. For a moment, she just stood there, confused. But this didn't daze her for long. Muttering "Okay" in response to his refusal, Clare turned to Geno.

"What d'you say, Geno? Want to dance?" she asked, her eyes darting toward Kaelin.

He took a moment to think about it, then nodded in agreement, he stepped toward Kaelin to have a word with her.

"I going dance with Clare now," he said, as if he were asking permission.

"Okay, I'll see you later, Geno," smiled Kaelin.

Then they left, Crosby and Kaelin left alone in the library.

~

Geno left with Clare, who threw a piercing look over her shoulder as she exited the room. Although he thought she was a nice girl at times, he had no desire to dance with her. The way she just assumed that he would dance with her, then asked another man just like that. It showed that she had no wish for a connection of any kind. All she wanted was a dance and a one night stand.

After the two of them had disappeared, Sidney looked over at the red-haired girl who had remained in the room with him – Kaelin.

Kaelin Bremner. She was watching the door longingly, as if she was hoping someone would come back for her. It had to hurt that Geno had just left with the woman being rude to her – yes, Sidney had taken notice of the way Clare tended to act around her. It probably wouldn't help that Kaelin was now alone with Sidney after he'd turned the maid-of-honor's offer to dance down. But he wasn't complaining.

While he had to admit Clare was a pretty girl, the problem was that she was well aware of the fact and tended to flaunt it. This girl, on the other hand, had no idea how she made men feel. How she made him feel. Although she wasn't extraordinarily beautiful, Kaelin wasn't unattractive either. And any flaws he might have seen initially were dwarfed by her personality. In the short chat they'd had before the reception began, she'd made him laugh; not at her, but rather because of her flustered attitude and how shy she became. He'd seen her talking to some of the people at her table. So nervous about everything –

"Um . . . don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you should have turned her down," said Kaelin, her words cutting through his thoughts. "It doesn't help self-esteem."

She had turned to face him, her hazel eyes narrowed a bit. The nervousness he had seen earlier was suddenly gone, replaced by a quiet intensity like no other.

"I didn't want to dance with her," was the only explanation Sidney could give.

"Why not?"

"Because she can be a bitch sometimes. You must've seen how she treats people. It's not right."

"But that's not how she treats you," Kaelin countered, crossing her arms loosely but in a defensive stance.

"It's fake," he replied, taking a drink of his beer. "Simple as that."

Her arms dropped back to her sides almost as quickly as they'd come up. Wandering over to the bookshelves, she ran her fingers lightly over some of the ratted old covers, touching them gently as if caressing the face of a child.

"You like to read, then?" asked Sidney, setting his bottle on the nearest circular table and walking over to join her.

"Mm-hmm," she said in response, still looking at the volumes on the shelves with a dreamy, far-off gleam in her eyes. She reached out and took Jane Eyre off the shelf.

"You ever read it?"

"What? It? By Stephen King?"

"No, this. Jane Eyre?"

"Yeah. A long time ago . . ." her voice trailed off.

". . . in a galaxy far, far away?" Sidney offered.

Kaelin laughed a bit, grinning incredulously at him. Seeing her face brighten made Sidney chuckle as well.

"Did you just quote Star Wars?"

"Of course!"

She continued to snicker, but looked back at the book, cracking it open. She flipped a few pages before coming to one with notes written in the margins. There was an arrow pointing from the writing to the text, the written words reading: "It is not your circumstances that define you, but your character and your word."

"Wow, Jim O'Connor's a pretty deep guy. And he has really nice writing," Sidney added as he read over Kaelin's shoulder, taking note of the loops of the Y's.

"That's not Mr. O'Connor's writing," explained Kaelin.

"How do you know?"

"I grew up in Pittsburgh. This house was my second home. I didn't just read any copy of Jane Eyre – I read this copy while I was in high school. And, anyway, I was the one who wrote this. This is my writing."

Sidney looked from the writing to the woman in front of him. It seemed there was more than what met the eye. More than just a pretty face. Assuming that she was like any other girl had been his first mistake.

"Are you okay, Sidney?"

He blinked to clear his mind, realizing that he had been staring at Kaelin. Taking a step back, Sidney looked away.

"Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking . . ."

His voice trailed off as a familiar, popular tune reached his ear.

"Everybody clap your hands. Clap, clap, clap your hands . . ."

"Do you want to go dance with me?" he asked without hesitation, feeling the rhythm of the bass in his bones.

Kaelin looked confused suddenly and her face paled. Sidney tensed, worried he might be refused just as he had refused Clare only a few minutes earlier. He saw the vulnerability he had seen when they'd first met regenerated in her eyes as she thought about what had just been asked of her. Then she smiled nervously.

"Sure."

"Come on then."

Taking his outstretched hand, she kicked off her heels and picked them up off the floor, the two of them hurrying toward the sound of music coming from the dance floor, hand in hand and both unable to suppress their smiles.