Teamwork

"It's not like we can only be around each other when we're ***ing."

She texts Mike early in the day and asks him to stop by her place after their game against the Penguins, which she immediately regrets because she knows his mood is going to vary based on whether they win or lose. Luckily, they pull out a win so he's happy when she opens the door for him after Melissa's already gone to bed. He looks good, a little pink across his nose and the tops of his cheeks like he might have gotten a bit too much sun when they were in Miami over their short break. His hair is still damp from the shower he took at the rink before he left and he looks damn good in his game day suit. "Hey, Julia. What's up?"

"Come on in," she says, moving aside to let him by and he steps into the apartment, shrugging out of his suit jacket and laying it across the back of the chair in the living room before he sits down to make himself comfortable. She takes a seat on the sofa across from him and he raises his eyebrows at her in curiosity as he leans forward to rest his elbows on his thighs.

"So what's up?" he finally asks, sensing her hesitation.

"I can't see you anymore," she blurts, and Mike just sits there for a moment before cracking a smile.

"Because of Tom?"

"You know about Tom?"

He chuckles. "Willy's not exactly subtle. I asked him about it weeks ago and he denied it but I knew even then he was lying his ass off." Julia nods, absorbing that information and Mike watches her carefully as he leans back in his chair. "And I'm guessing you feel the same."

"I don't know, I mean, I-....I guess I do, yeah."

"So you guys are dating then?"

"No. I don't know. We haven't really talked about it yet. But if there's a chance there, then-...."

"Yeah," he replies in answer to the statement she left open ended. "You should. Tom's a good guy."

"You're okay with it?"

"I mean, I can't say I'm not bummed for myself for, ya know, reasons. But he's my best friend. I want him to be happy. Besides, we're friends too, right? It's not like we can only be around each other when we're fucking."

"You don't think it'll be awkward?"

"I don't know. Is it awkward right now?"

She smiles sheepishly. "Kinda."

"Eh," he shrugs. "That'll pass. Probably."

Julia shakes her head at that, laughing a little, but he's still looking at her all serious and she doesn't really know what to do with that. "Thanks for not being a dick about this," she finally says, and then the serious look is gone and he's grinning.

"What's there to be a dick about? You and I were mostly just having fun; it ended up being more for him. Can't expect a guy to catch feelings and then not act on them just so we can keep having fun. Especially when that guy is my best friend, my teammate, my roommate. That's not fair to him."

She gets up from the sofa and throws herself into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. "You're a good guy, Mike. Thank you."

He chuckles, rubbing his hand up and down her spine. "Jules, I didn't do anything."

"You're just great, that's all," she says, pulling back to look at him with a smile before planting a kiss on his cheek and standing up to move back over to her spot on the sofa.

"Now," he says, stretching out his long legs and folding his hands behind his head. "Does this mean we still hang out because I didn't drive all the way over here just to get dumped, ya know."

"Shut up, I didn't dump you," she laughs, rolling her eyes, but she gets up again to go to the kitchen for some snacks, handing him the remote control on her way.

-


It's Saturday night and the boys are on a road trip to Montreal so Julia is having a wild night in, doing laundry and grading essays on symbolism. Some of the girls' papers are horrible, like they didn't even try at all, and then some, like Lucas Hathaway's, are perfect even down to punctuation. She has a proud moment when she reads his. Melissa is sitting on the other end of the sofa, her feet shoved up under Julia's thigh for warmth and she yawns loudly as she flips through the tv channels even though it's only 8:30. The dryer buzzes, signaling that the load of towels she's got in there are done, so Julia puts the cap back onto her red pen and stands up from her seat to go get them out. She takes the basket back into the living room with her and Melissa sits upright as she drops it onto the coffee table in front of them. Julia flops back down into her seat and both girls begin folding, some infomercial playing loudly. Melissa chew on her bottom lip, nervous, but Julia doesn't seem to notice, instead focusing solely on the task at hand.

"Jules, I need to talk to you."

"Sure, " Julia says, picking up another towel from the basket. "What's up?"

"Julia." She drops the towel into her lap and turns her body to face her roommate fully and Melissa just sighs, also dropping her towel and running her hands through her dark hair. By the way she's acting, it must be serious so Julia puts the towel back into the basket and slides over to sit right next to her friend, bracing herself for something bad. Melissa wrings her hands, chewing on her bottom lip as she stares straight ahead at the wall. "I'm sorry, I should've told you sooner."

"Told me what?"

"I, um, applied for this job back before Christmas, a really great job actually, better than what I have now. I had a couple of interviews over the past few weeks, met all the people in the office."

"Okay," Julia replies slowly, unsure where this is going and why Melissa is acting like it's the end of the world.

"They finally called me back this morning. I-...I got it."

"Really? Mel, that's awesome! Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Melissa says with a small smile but her eyes are sad, almost regretful, and oh. "It's, uh...it's in Philly."

The smile immediately falls from Julia's face and she just sits there frozen, staring at the side of her roommate's face. "It's in-....You're moving to Philly?"

"I'm so sorry, Jules. I didn't think I'd ever get it in a million years. I thought it was just a pipe dream when I applied for it. I should've told you but I didn't want you to be mad."

"No, you didn't-...Well yeah, I mean, I guess. But I'm not mad, Mel. I'm happy for you. You deserve whatever job you want, I just-....I'm just gonna miss you."

Melissa wraps her in a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you too. But I promise I'll come back and visit all the time and you can come stay with me in the summer!"

"When are you leaving?" she asks hesitantly, pulling back from Melissa and waiting for her to say she's leaving tomorrow or next weekend. "Oh, not until July," is what she gets in response and she can't help laughing as she swats Melissa's arm with the back of her hand. "You jerk! I thought you were leaving me like now. I've got five more months to get sick of you before you actually go."

"That's right, so you better enjoy me while you can."

"Shut up and get in here," she grumbles, pulling her friend back into another hug.

-


Tom brushes a loose strand of hair out of her face before returning to running his fingertips soothingly up and down her arm. She has goosebumps all over but she doesn't even seem to notice it, her mind preoccupied ever since she came down from her orgasm half an hour ago. She keeps tracing the outline of his abdominal muscles with her fingers but she doesn't even seem to realize that she's doing it. Finally having enough of the silence, he sighs. "Jules, you okay? You haven't said anything in a really long time."

"Hmm?" she mumbles into his bare chest. "Yeah, fine."

"I don't think so."

She sighs heavily and rolls over onto her back, pulling the sheet up over her chest and looking up at the ceiling. "Mel's leaving."

"Leaving?" he repeats, turning onto his side to look at her and propping his head on his hand. "What do you mean, leaving?"

"She got a job in Philly. She's moving there."

"When?"

"July. But still-....We've lived together for three years. I don't know what I'm gonna do when she's gone."

"No, I get it. If Latts moved out, I wouldn't know what the fuck to do with myself all the time." She cracks a smile for a brief moment but then it's gone again and he leans in closer to her face. "I know we're no Melissa but you've still got me and Latts. And that baseball guy, whatever."

That earns him one that lasts a litle longer and she cranes her neck to lean up and kiss him. "Thank you, Tommy."

"You don't gotta thank me, Jules. I'm just saying the truth."

"I know it's a night off for you. You're supposed to be enjoying it, not worrying about trying to cheer me up."

"I am enjoying it, thanks. In case you didn't notice I just banged a smokin' hot girl and I'm gonna do it again. Right after I make us breakfast." He pushes himself up over to the edge of the bed and pulls his grey boxer briefs back on and she just watches the muscles in his back as he moves, mesmerized.

"Breakfast? It's 6pm."

"So? You can eat breakfast anytime and it's still good."

"I don't think I have anything to make breakfast in there."

That gives him pause for a moment but then he shrugs his shoulders and heads for her bedroom door. "I'll find something else to cook then," he says over his shoulder on his way out.

"Just please don't burn down my building!"

Tom can make spaghetti with minimal supervision apparently and when she eventually shuffles into the kitchen in his tee shirt, he's actually almost finished cooking, stirring the sauce before he goes to grab a couple of plates out of the cabinet. It makes her heart swell a little to realize that he immediately went for the correct one because he's already that familiar with her stuff. He drains the noodles before making plates for both of them and he sits them both down in front of her at the bar before going back for forks, which of course he also knows the location of. He comes around the other side of the counter to sit down at the little white table with her and they both dig in, extremely hungry after working up their appetites before.

Julia cleans up the kitchen since he cooked (and also he kind of made a mess and she's pretty sure he doesn't know how to clean up after himself very well) and the front door opens as she's loading the plates into the dishwasher. "Hey, guys," Melissa says as she tosses her jacket into the chair and kicks her shoes off by the door. "Tom. Buddy. We talked about this. You gotta wear pants in public spaces."

Tom laughs but he's obviously not embarrassed because he knows how great his body is and he's not shy about it. "Sorry. Got distracted by food."

"Speaking of food, any left for me?"

Julia turns the microwave on before looking back at your friend. "Made a plate for you and put it in there. Just waiting for you to get home to heat it."

"You're the best," Melissa sighs, sliding into a chair at the little table. "Today sucked."

They both sit down at the table with her while she eats and listen to her tell the story about all the awful things that happened, which were why she got home so late. She makes an offhand comment about the fact that she only has to put up with it for a few more months and Tom automatically glances at Julia, who looks like she's trying really hard to keep her face from showing the emotion she's actually feeling. He reaches for her hand under the table, lacing their fingers together in her lap for the rest of the time they're sitting there and once Melissa gets up from the table to retire to her bedroom for the night, he pulls Julia back down the hall to her room to try and cheer her up again.
♠ ♠ ♠
:)