Make You Better

“You think they’re ever going to wake up?” Derick asked as he leaned back in his chair and placed a hand over his full stomach. Glancing over at him, I shrugged a little and then took a long sip from my room temperature coffee. I knew for a fact that Carl and Lea could sleep a whole entire day away if they wanted to. For the other brunette, I wasn’t aware of his sleep cycle.

“Does Mats usually sleep late?” I hummed the question as I pushed my nearly empty plate toward the center of the table.

“Yep.” Derick popped the ‘p’ his eyes wide as they roamed around the room, inspecting every panel on the ceiling and detail of the table. I could tell that he wanted to say more, that there was something on his mind, but after the awkward interaction this morning, and the fun cooking battle we had, I didn’t want anything to regress our relationship back to that moment. I didn’t really want to know what was on his mind.

I had managed to shove all of the dark thoughts and urges to kiss the brunette sitting next to me into the very back of my head. I had settled my head, my nerves, and my heart. My head had managed to shove Derick Brassard into my friend category and I refused to let my heart have any rebuttals.

That was the decision, and it was final.

The brunette next to me was fun, sweet, caring, and gorgeous, but I didn’t care. I had been with someone with all of those traits before, and I didn’t like the outcome. Sure, Derick seemed like he would never pull anything like that, and I would love to believe that he wouldn’t, but I didn’t know for sure, and I didn’t want to find out.

“You think too much, you know?” His voice broke through my thoughts, causing me to straighten my back and blink a few times before looking over at him. “You’re on vacation, you should relax.”

“I am.”

“…Not.” Derick finished my sentence and sent me a smug smile as he grabbed our empty plates from the table and walked them into the kitchen. A clink of the dishes hitting the bottom of the porcelain sink was followed by heavy footsteps growing closer to me until they stopped right at the empty chair to my left.

Pulling it out, the brunette sat down and then grabbed his coffee mug, holding it in one hand while he stretched the other above his head.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because you’re my friend.” Derick answered quickly, his eyes not leaving the coffee mug in his hand.

“No like… But why did you wanna be my friend?” I could feel my heart racing as I waited his answer.

“Well, I figured I’m stuck in a house with this girl for a week, so why not.” I could feel a smile forming on my face.

“Sounds good to me.” I turned to him, swinging my legs to my left so that I could lean the side of my body on the back of the chair. As I looked up at him, I watched his face closely. He would look at me from the corner of his eye, and then quickly look back to his mug. Every time he would do this, the red on his cheeks would get a shade darker.

Sitting in silence for a little while longer, I managed to finish the liquid in my coffee and then muster up the energy and will power to clean off the table and wrap up the food so everyone else could eat it whenever they woke up.

Standing up, I watched as the brunette jumped a little, and then jerked his head up, his eyes following me as I grabbed almost all of the plates from the table and walked them into the kitchen. Setting them down, I turned around to grab the rest when I felt my face collide with the soft fabric covering a muscular chest.

Stumbling back, the strong arm to the man I had just bumped into wrapped around my waist, catching me before I collided with the tiled floor. Letting out a small laugh, I placed my hands on the chest of the brunette and looked up at him from under my eyelashes. “Thanks, super man.” I joked and then pulled my hands from his chest and took a step back as his arm fell back to his side.

Grabbing the mugs from his other hand, I turned to the sink and set them down next to our plates. Looking over to the food, I grabbed the plates and went to condense the leftovers to two plates when I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders and pull me away from the sink.

“Carl, ya’ fuck, what do you want?”

“Having a nice morning with my young stallion over here?” He joked, his blue eyes still holding that dreamy, sleepy, state that I had seen so many times when he and Lea had stayed at my house upstate during the summer. “Did we pick a good one?” He whispered into my ear as Derick walked off into another room and left us alone near the sink.

Rolling my eyes, I slapped the blonde’s shoulder and then pulled myself away from him. “Whatever you think is going to happen, isn’t going to happen.” I snapped, my blood boiling from the relentlessness of the blonde boy.

“He asked about you last night, like, a lot.” I felt my heart sink.

“Well I’m flattered, but nothing’s going to happen.”

“I woke up before Key, I saw you two laughing and making breakfast and shit. Why don’t you give him a chance, he’s a really good dude, and he’s like really into you.”

“Listen Carl,” I snapped as I felt heart beat loudly in my chest. “I appreciate your concern and I’m flattered that Derick likes me, I really, really, am, but nothing, absolutely nothing is going to happen.” I ended in a roar and stomped my foot on the ground, the vein in my forehead pulsing through my skin. “I’m tired of being thrown into these awkward dating situations when I don’t want it.”

“Okay, okay,” Carl said, his eyes wide as he snuck glances from the entrance to the kitchen and then back at me. “I just… Not everyone is like Ryan, you need to get over it.”

A loud slap filled the house. My heart was racing as I watched the blonde’s hair form a wave over his face as his head snapped to the side. Skin on the inside of my hand pulsing, I felt my blood pressure skyrocket and my cheeks heat up as I moved my eyes from the blonde to the man that was standing in the doorway, the bright brown eyes I had been staring into all morning now cloudy and dull.

Blinking hard as a small pound started in the back of my head, I took a step away from Carl and let out a shaky exhale. “Don’t you dare fucking bring that up.” I whispered in a harsh tone and then quickly walked passed the blonde and over to the doorway. Body numb, I paused at the brunette and watched as he tore his eyes from me and then stepped to the side, letting me jog through the room and then rush up the stairs, the pound in my head getting worse and worse as I got closer to my bedroom.

Once I hit the door, I slammed it shut and dropped my body onto the mattress. Grabbing the closest pillow, I pressed it into my face, closed my eyes, and let my thoughts eat away at me.



When I heard my bedroom door open and shut, I knew I could rule out two of the four people in the house. Derick and Mats weren’t on a good enough friendship level to just open my bedroom door and walk in, so when I pulled the pillow off of my face and saw Lea looking down at me with tired eyes, I just took the pillow and shoved it back over my face.

I didn’t want her to see me like this. I didn’t want to hear the speech about how I should move on from Ryan and blossom into the gorgeous bachelorette she knew I could be. I didn’t want to feel guilty for liking my alone time, my job, and quality time with my pet.

“I’m so sorry Carl called you out like that this morning.” I felt a wave of shock wash over me as the mattress dipped down next to me. After a few seconds, I felt her thin frame lying next to mine, her shoulder pressing against my own. “I… I definitely was on board with the Derick and Keaton ship, but… I didn’t want to push it that much.”

“Yeah.” I didn’t really believe her words, but as I laid there and listened to the soft sound of her breathing, I thought maybe this time was different. Maybe she was beginning to realize that I needed to move on in my own time, and not when everyone else thought I was ready.

I felt her thin fingers grab onto my hand. “Derick ripped Carl a new one when you left.” I could hear the stifled laughter behind her words. “I never thought that little French boy could talk like that in English.”

Pulling the pillow from my face, I looked over at the blonde and watched as her piercing blue eyes jerked to mine. Sending me a smile, she nodded her head and then rolled onto her side so she was facing me. “I learned four new French curse words.”

“Why was he so angry?” I couldn’t help but feel the corners of my lips twist up as I imagined Lea cursing someone out in English, Swedish, and now French.

“Because he was having a nice morning with you and Carl fucked it up, much like he does with every single date we try to set up.”

“How do you manage?” I joked and turned toward the blonde, mirroring her position. “I love that man to death, and I will be the godmother of you children, but I just don’t understand his thought process.”

Lea shrugged, the smile on her face huge from the mention of her and Carl in it for the long run. Everyone knew that Carl and Lea were going to make it. They had been dating for years, and the twinkle still shimmered in their eyes when they looked at each other. Carl’s jaw still dropped when she got dressed up for a team dinner or special date. They were like two teenagers in love, even after the years they had been together.

“The man is an idiot,” we shared a hearty laugh before falling back into silence. “But I manage to balance that out. We work together, you know? I can counter act his utter ignorance to the human emotion. I don’t understand it sometimes because he can read me like a book and knows what to say when and how.” She rolled her eyes as she looked up at me and let out a sigh. “With everyone else though, he’s a fucking moron.”

We shared another hearty laugh. It felt nice to laugh with her after all of the stress I had put my body through in such a short amount of time. Usually when one of the dates had turned sour so quickly, or Carl had interjected too fast, Lea wouldn’t take the time to make sure I was okay after. It was usually a quick removal of the two of us, and then she would apologize a few days later and immediately bring up a new guy.

If anyone had ever seen me from an outside perspective, and didn’t realize that all of these dates turned to nothing in a matter of an hour, they would have thought I was the biggest player in the world.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, especially from me, and especially now, but Derick really, really, really likes you.”

I groaned and watched as Lea nodded her head and looked up at me with serious eyes. “Lea, I don’t-“

“I know, I get it,” she whispered a small smile on her lips. “I’m just saying that don’t write it all off so quickly, alright? I’ve been around this guy for the last two years. I literally lived with him for six months, I watched him after games and around people, he’s probably one of the last genuinely good people left in the world. If you don’t want to date him, that’s fine, but keep him around, all right? You deserve good people like him in your life.”

“I hate you.” I whispered and watched as the blonde’s eyes lit up. Nodding her head again, she leaned into me and gave me forehead a quick kiss before rolling onto her back and picking her head up, locking her eyes out of the large windows near my mattress.

Nodding her head, she dropped it back down into the sheets and looked over at me. “This bedroom was made for you, wasn’t it?”

“You know me so well.” I joked and looked up at the ceiling, letting the comfortable silence between the two of us fill the air. After a while, she moved closer to my side and rested her head against my shoulder.

Lea started talking about the other guys on the team. She told me all about how they were all attractive in their own stunning way, even the rookies that were cute in their own dorky way. The words continued on, flowing through my head about how nice they all were, how welcoming and fun. She told me she wanted me to meet them, that she wanted me to be friends with them all like she was. The blonde assured me it was for the friendships and support, she told me most of them were in legitimate relationships or married. She told me that all of them were respectable guys and that when they were all together, it felt like a family. At the end, the whole reason she was telling me this, was because she felt like I needed that. She knew I credited her for keeping me sane and stable through everything that happened, but she knew that she wasn’t enough. She knew that her and Carl wouldn’t be able to pull me out of whatever funk I had been in.

When she whispered that she just wanted to see me happy again, I couldn’t help but to let a few tears slip through the corners of my eyes.

I had been happier early this morning when I made breakfast with Derick. I was happy when he tickled me. I was happy when the muscles in my stomach were sore from my laughter. But before that, I honestly couldn’t think of the last time where my happiness was pure joy, and not based off of new clients, working, or stupid TV shows.

“You’re such a fucker, you know that?” I growled when I sat up and wiped the tears away from my face. As the blonde followed me, she pulled me into a side hug and let a short laugh fill the air.

“Va te faire enculer.” She whispered, her eyes shutting as that huge smile of her rose to her lips. “Means ‘Fuck you’ in French learned it this morning.”

“I’m glad something educational came out of your boyfriend being an asshole.” I joked and watched as Lea nodded, her head colliding with my shoulder again as we sat on the edge of the bed.

Another silence swept over us. It was comfortable, like that one that had plagued us before. There were moments when it seemed like Lea and I were just friends who got on each other’s nerves most of the time. To everyone who just saw us interacting in front of people, they would probably question the bond we had, but it was times like these, when she was completely honest with me and expressing true worry and concern, that made us so close.

Shutting my eyes, I let out a small yawn and then felt all of the blood in my body as I battled with the idea of telling her that I really did think Derick was attractive. I thought about telling her how he made me smile and laugh like I had not a worry in the world. I wanted to tell her about how close he was to me this morning, about how I found myself looking at his lips thinking about what it would feel like if he kissed me.

I wanted to contribute the strong feelings to the fact that I hadn’t been intimate with a man since my last relationship, but I had been in this situation before, I had been pressed up a man before in a result of one of these dates Lea and Carl planned.

But I had never been overcome with emotions like I had with him.

“I like him.” I blurted out, my eyes snapping open when I felt the girl next to me stiffen. “I don’t want to hear anything about it, but I really like him.” I felt my heart race as the girl next to me stayed silent. “I haven’t laughed with someone other than you in a really long time, and this morning he looked legitimately worried about me when I started to think about all of that shit back then. He had his hand on my chin and he was so close to my face… I could feel his breath on my skin and I… I wanted to kiss him.”

“Oh my god,” Lea whispered, her wide eyes darting over to me. She urged me to keep talking, but as I thought about her relaying this to Carl, I felt myself get sick.

“I can’t though, I can’t do it.”

“You don’t really know him, that’s true.”

“I don’t think he deserves a train wreck like this.” I whispered and watched as the blonde’s eyes snapped to mine, fire raging inside of them.

“Keaton fucking Adams, you are the most successful, beautiful, down to Earth woman on the face of the planet. Please don’t ever say that again. Derick would be the luckiest man in the fucking world to have someone like you, understand?”

“Sure mom.” I joked and watched as the fire behind her icy blue eyes quickly disappeared.

“Now that I totally get what’s going on, go grab some clothes and get in the shower.” She ordered as she stood up, letting me see that she had already showered and gotten dressed while I moped around on my mattress like a heart broken little teenager.

Furrowing my eyebrows, she looked down at me and sent me a wide smile. Hand on her hip, she tilted her head to the side and then waved her hand in the air. “We’re going to hit the slopes while Mats and Derick teach your sorry ass to ice skate.”

“I didn’t agree to this, Lea!” I yelled, my eyes wide as I thought about embarrassing myself in front of a bunch of people at a crowded ice rink. Cheeks filling with warm blood, I went to speak when Lea sent me a mischievous grin.

“It’s only the pond out back.”

“You’re leaving me in the house with Derick and Mats, what the fuck just happened to all of the heartfelt conversation we just had?” I barked, my eyes wide and filled with anger as I looked up at the blonde. As she sent me a warm smile, she leaned into me, pulling me into a tight hug.

“The plans were made before I found all of this out. But hey, you’re home; you don’t have to worry about anything, all right? If anything goes wrong, you tell me and I’ll drop Carl like bad seafood and come home to kick some ass.” The blonde pulled away from me and headed over to the door as I stood up and reluctantly walked over to my closet and pulled out fresh clothes. Turning back to the door, I watched as she opened it and then sent me one big smile before disappearing into the hallway.

As the silent air of the upstairs hit me, I let out a long groan and then looked down at my bare feet. Shaking my head, I tucked my clothes under my arm and headed out into the hallway. Just as I was about to open the bathroom door, it swung open, hitting me in the face, causing my body to fallback into the wall, and then slide down. Stretching my legs out as the pain rushed through me, I dropped my clothes onto the floor and felt a laugh rumble passed my lips as I replayed the incident in my head.

“Keaton, are you alright? Oh my god, I am such an idiot.” The words with the small hint of a French accent hit my ears, causing the humor of the situation to multiply. Pulling my hand from my nose, seeing the red liquid smeared against the pale skin, I shook my head and looked up at the brunette, his bright eyes filled with fear.

“Only me.” I whispered and after a few seconds, the brunette hovering over me cracked a smile and shook his head.

“I would hit you with a door.”

“That’s what friends are for, right?” I looked up at him and watched as the twinkle in his beautiful brown eyes rendered me speechless. Heart beating roughly in my chest, I sucked in a deep breath and let Lea’s words float through my head again. I thought about everything she said about him, everything she said about the team, and how legitimately worried she seemed about me.

After all of that had hit me at once, and I felt the rough hands of the boy over me pick me off of the floor. I let out a heavy sigh and leaned into his strong chest as he walked me into the bathroom. Picking me up with ease, he sat me down in the large gap between the two sinks and then grabbed a towel from the racks near the shower.

Watching him closely, surveying the worry in his eyes and the small frown on his lips as he quickly went the edge of the towel and started lightly dabbing at the blood that was smeared around my mouth and cheeks.

“Thanks, super man.” I whispered and watched as the brunette’s eyes quickly snapped to mine. After a minute of staring at me, his lips turned into a huge smile, creating a large window to show his bright white teeth and small tooth gap that I had grown to appreciate in the matter of a single day.

“I like that nickname.” He gave me a cautious glance as he went back to cleaning the blood from my face. Nodding my head a little, I sucked in a small breath and then felt my heart start to knock my head out of power. Watching the brunette carefully tend to my wounds, I let myself fall for him.