The Final Goal

At first Skylar didn't realize why Patric was being so cold. It wasn't until she ran into her room that she finally understood. Passing by her mirror, she got a glimpse of her reflection and almost started crying again; she probably would have if she had any tears left in her. Her makeup was smeared, which was to be expected since she slept with it on and then cried this morning. What really caught her eye was the fact she had not one, but two hickeys on her neck! Of course nobody but her, and Justin and Tommy of course, would know that two different men had given them to her, and she wasn't even dating one of them!

​​​​Sighing, Skylar changed out of her now wrinkled dress and took a long shower, hoping to erase not just the smells of last night, but the memories created. Unfortunately, this was impossible, but at least she couldn't remember everything. Once she was out of the shower, she pulled on a black Kennywood sweatshirt and a pair of dark grey sweatpants. Not wanting to face Patric again or see Fleury yet, she called Dumoulin.

​​​"Hey can you pick me up? I need to get out of this house."

​​​There was a pause at the other end of the line, probably because Brian was surprised she had called him so soon. "Yeah I'll be there in 10," he said.
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​​​​​She sat on the porch for the 10 minutes, waiting for him to arrive and take her elsewhere. When he finally arrived, she got into his car along with a bag she had packed with a few of her things. As she got in the car, Brian eyed her bag warily. "What's that for?"

​​​Skylar looked down at the bag she brought with her and sighed. "I can't stay here," she said, her eyes clouded with emotion as she avoided Brian's gaze. He hesitated for a moment before finally responding. "Okay you can stay with me, but Tommy lives with me too. Are you okay with that?"

​​​She paused at his words and let them sink in. Would she be able to live with them while she waited for Patric to get over himself? She didn't even know how long she would be with them; she just knew she couldn't come home tonight. A break from Patric would be good for the both of them, this way they could both gather their thoughts and let the anger and frustration fade away.

​​​"Yeah that's fine," she replied, after realizing there wouldn't be a lot of other places she could go. The ride was quiet after that, Brian focused on driving and Skylar laid her head against the window, watching the scenery outside pass by in a blur.

​​​As they got closer to Brian's house, Skylar felt slightly nervous about heading inside. It was a given that she would see Tommy inside and she wasn't sure she was ready to see him face-to-face. She did come here though, so it was now or never. Walking up to the front door, she followed Brian inside and into the living room.

​​​When she was here before, she really didn't pause to admire her surroundings, so the interior genuinely surprised her. The floor was dark hardwood, maybe a dark cherry color. There were two beige couches centered around a glass coffee table that was situated in front of the large screen TV resting on a dark brown entertainment stand. The area was surprisingly homey, and Skylar's nerves slowly died and went away.

​​​"Here I can take your bag," Brian said, taking the bag out of her hands and motioning for her to follow him upstairs. There were four doors in the hallway, and Skylar figured one was a bathroom and the other three were bedrooms. He opened the door at the left at the end of the hallway and walked inside. She followed him in and he set her bag on the large king size bed in front of her.

​​​Skylar looked around the room and observed her surroundings. The bed was flush against the right wall and had a shiny, dark brown comforter on it with beige sheets and pillows. There was a smaller flat screen TV on an entertainment stand on the opposite wall, so there would be a perfect view from the bed. Skylar assumed the door to the right of the TV led to a bathroom. There was a window on the back wall with a brown dresser underneath that caught her eye. Walking over, she saw a few picture frames sitting on top with pictures of Brian and who she made out to be his parents. Confused, she turned around to look at Brian, but saw a table by the door that she must have missed on the way in. On top were multiple pictures, pucks, and awards Brian had collected over his hockey career. Suddenly it made sense.

​​​"This is your room?" she asked, surprised. He nodded, not voicing a reply and sat on the bed. "Why am I staying in here?" she asked, confused. She figured she would stay in another guest room. He did have three rooms after all. "Tommy is in the front room and the other room I use to workout, so there isn't a bed in there, so I figured you could sleep here," he said shrugging his shoulders like it wasn't a big deal she was going to take over his room. "But where will you sleep?" she asked. "I can sleep on the couch downstairs. It's pretty comfortable," he said, smiling.

​​​Skylar didn't want to argue with him about it now, nor did she have the energy, so she shrugged and went back downstairs. As she walked into the room, she saw Tommy was still nowhere to be found. "Where's Tommy?" she asked, looking around the room but unable to find any trace of his presence. Brian looked around, thinking. "He probably went for coffee; he loves his caffeine," he said, chuckling. "So why don't you tell me what happened?" he asked, and Skylar nodded, knowing she would have to tell him everything for him to fully understand the predicament she put herself in.
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​They sat on the couch, close but not touching, and she told Brian everything that happened in the past 24 hours. As she talked, he listened and nodded his head, showing that he was paying attention and actually listening to every word she said instead of blowing her off. ​​​​When she finished, Skylar leaned back against the cushy couch pillows and bit her lip, anxiously waiting for his response. Would he see her side in this? Would he somehow, someway understand that she never meant for all of this to happen? She watched him take a deep breath before he spoke, and she instantly cringed and braced herself for bad news. ​​​​
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​"Well what you did was obviously wrong, but you already know that. I think Patric just needs some time to cool down. With everything that happened last year with Downie, of course he would be upset."
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​​​​​"I don't know much about it, but I sort of put everything together," he​​​​ added, noting her confused look. Skylar had figured word had gotten around but she didn't know if everyone knew the whole story or not. "I think Patric mainly feels confused. He doesn't know where his loyalties should lie, with his teammates, meaning Fleury, or with you," Brian said, and Skylar finally understood where he was coming from. She was putting Patric in the middle of everything by sleeping with his teammates. It was bad enough she was dating one of them, but she betrayed Fleury by going out with his teammates. Patric would be empathetic with Fleury, and feel the hurt Fleury would most likely feel when he finds out.
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​Just as she was about to thank him, a door shut behind them, bringing their attention to the front entryway of the house. Skylar inwardly grimaced at the man before her. She knew she would have to face him eventually after leaving his bed this morning, but she didn't expect it to be so soon. "Hey guys," Tommy said, a look of confusion plastered on his face. "Why'd you leave so soon?"
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​Skylar guessed he was referring to this morning, so she just shrugged nonchalantly like it wasn't a big deal. "That wasn't supposed to happen, Tommy." His look of confusion didn't go away at her response, instead he somehow seemed even more confused, if that was even possible at this point. "What do you mean?"
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​"I'm dating Fleury," Skylar said, sighing and looking away, trying to avoid his questioning eyes. "You are?" he asked, a baffled look on his face. "Seriously with the way you acted last night, I thought you guys had broken up." Her face flamed red at his words and she looked at the ground, willing herself to calm down. "Yes we are still dating, although we probably won't be after I tell him," she said the last part to herself under her breath, so only Brian could hear her since he was still sitting right next to her. "If he really cares, he can find a way to move past it," Brian said, trying to comfort her, but utterly failing. If Skylar was in Fleury's place, she didn't think she could find it in herself to find forgiveness.
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​"Okay, enough with the depressing stuff," Tommy said, running over to the shelves by the TV. "What're you doing?" Brian asked, questioning why Tommy was going through all of his stuff. "We are going to have a movie marathon," he said, holding up a stack of movies. Skylar sat up, suddenly interested. "Will there be ice cream?" she asked, craving the sugary dessert. "Pfft. Of course!" Tommy said, jumping in between them on the couch. Skylar gave him a weird look and moved over so they all had more room. "Well, Brian?" Tommy prompted, looking at him intently. "What?" Brian asked in return, prompting an annoyed look from Tommy. "Are you going to get the ice cream or what?" he asked, rolling his eyes impatiently. It was obvious Skylar wasn't the only one who had a secret relationship with delicious soft serve. "Ugh fine, but we are watching Spiderman first," Brian said, groaning as he got up. A few minutes later, they finally settled in, ice cream in hand, to watch the Tobey Maguire version ​​​​​of Spiderman.
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​The day went by a lot quicker than expected for Skylar. She still wasn't sure when she was going to tell Fleury about what happened, but she figured she would have to do it sooner rather than later. Tommy had already gone to bed, so her and Brian were, once again, alone. Picking up the empty bowls and spoons, Skylar walked the dishes to the kitchen and placed them in the dishwasher to be cleaned. Heading back into the living room, she stopped next to the couch where Brian was trying to set up a bed for himself.
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​"Brian I can't let you sleep there. This is your house," she said, feeling guilty about taking his bed. "Well I can't have you sleep on the couch," he said, looking at her stubbornly. Skylar groaned, but grabbed a few pillows off the couch and then grabbed his arm and dragged him upstairs. "Fine! We can do this instead," Skylar said, placing the pillows in a vertical line in the middle of the bed, like she used to do when she was a kid sleeping over at her friend's house. "There you can have the left side and I'll take the right," she said, already making herself comfortable.
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​​​​​"Are you sure this is okay?" Brian asked, unsure if it was a good idea. "It's fine! Anyone that comes in here could obviously see that we aren't sleeping with each other. I mean, there's a freaking wall between us!" Skylar said, gesturing to the makeshift pillow wall that would separate them while they slept. Brian shrugged, too tired to argue. "Okay if you say so."
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​​​​​All settled in for the night, Skylar was just about to fall asleep when the bedroom door opened with great force to hit the wall with a bang. "What the hell?" Brian yelled, and Skylar felt the bed shift as he sat up. The lights flickered on, blinding her for a moment, but she gasped when she saw the man in front of her. "Really Skylar? Tommy wasn't enough so now you have to sleep with Brian? How many of my teammates are you going to sleep with?" Patric yelled the question, his face turning red with anger.
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​​​​​Skylar didn't know what to say. Her mouth was agape and thoughts were rushing through her head, but no words were coming out. "Back off Patric! She just needed a place to stay while you calmed down!" Brian said, trying to explain the situation. "Stay out of this, Brian! I thought it would be nice to have you living with me, Skylar. We haven't seen each other in ages and I desperately wanted to spend time with you and catch up after years apart. I just didn't realize you were such a slut," Patric said, shaking his head in disgust, unable to see reason. "Patric you don't mean that!" Brian yelled. "Yeah, I do. Skylar, I hoped you would have told Fleury by now, but seeing as he has been calling me all day trying to get in touch with you, I see that you have yet to tell him, which is why I'm going to do it for you. He deserves better," Patric said, eyes cold and watery, like it killed him to say the truthful words out loud.
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​"Patric! "I'm sorry. Please, I need to tell him," she said, begging him to see reason and let her go to Fleury on her own. Patric just shook his head. "He needs nothing from you." With that, he left the house and slammed the door. Skylar was still sitting, shocked, on the bed when Tommy ran in half dressed. "What the heck just happened?" he asked, running a nervous hand through his messy hair. "What happened? Why the hell didn't you lock the door?" Brian asked him incredulously. "Why didn't I lock the door? Brian this is your house!" Tommy said, exasperated. "What should I do?" Skylar asked, making the two men focus their attention on her. "It's too late to go to Fleury's house now. Patric would make it there first anyway, so why don't we go there tomorrow morning, okay?" he asked, searching her eyes for a response.
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​Skylar wanted to go now, but Brian was right. Patric would get there first and it wouldn't be good to get in another fight with him at Fleury's house. If Patric wanted to exaggerate things, that was fine. Skylar wouldn't lie to Fleury when she tells him tomorrow. Honesty really is the best route to go and she's hoping he will find a way to forgive her for her stupid mistakes, even if it takes years. After all, Fleury is worth waiting a lifetime for.​​​​​​​​
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