The Long Day Is Over

9:27.

That was what was displayed in tiny red numbers on the clock beside her bed when Harper was woken up by a knock on her door. She let out a sigh and rolled onto her back, she stared at the ceiling for a moment before she heaved herself out of bed and shuffled to the door. She was sure she had left the 'Do Not Disturb' sign hooked on the door handle so that housekeeping didn't disturb her. She pulled the heavy door open, and was surprised to find Roman standing on the other side, so surprised that she instantly moved just the slightest so that she could hide behind the door to keep her pyjamas, which consisted solely of one of John's Islanders shirts and a pair of boy shorts, out of view.

"Breakfast?" Roman asked her with a gentle smile. When she still looked confused as to what he was doing there he told her, "I asked the receptionist downstairs for your room number."

"You guys aren't leaving today?" She asked him with a brow raised in curiosity.

"No we're here until tomorrow morning. So... breakfast?" He asked her, and she shrugged her shoulders and motioned for him to come in. She was quick to cross the little entry way hallway to stand in the doorway of the bathroom when he did walk in and Roman caught just a tiny bit of her bare legs in his peripheral vision and he understood why she was hiding from him.

His cheeks flushed and she told him, "Just let me get dressed."

He nodded as she closed the bathroom door behind her. She was glad that John had, at the very least, dropped her bag off at the hotel when he checked her in the day before, if she had to stay in a hotel at least she had her clothes. She slipped into a comfy outfit, brushed her teeth and pulled her red hair up into a long, high pony tail before she slipped out of the bathroom and found Roman sitting on the end of the bed staring at his phone.

He looked up when he heard her feet on the carpet floor and she asked him with a bright smile, "Ready?"

The trip down to the hotel restaurant was silent, and as they took a table and sat across from each other Roman told her, his cheeks flushed pink, "I'm sorry for waking you up."

Harper shrugged her shoulders and assured him, "Don't worry about it."

As they looked over the menu Roman asked her curiously, "When are you headed home?"

Harper closed over the menu at him, but his eyes were intently trained on the menu before him and she told him, "Not for a few days yet."

She closed her menu as their server stopped at their table and Roman did the same thing, placing his menu on top of Harper's at the edge of the table. With their meals ordered Roman asked Harper, "So, you said you were an doctor? What kind?"

"Intern in an ER." Harper told him, and when he looked confused she explained, "It's sort of like being a doctor but not being able to really do anything without supervision."

"Oh... that sounds interesting." Roman said, chuckling more at himself than anything.

She smiled and nodded, "Keeps me crazy busy but I love it."

"That's good though, you know, that you love what you do." Roman noted softly, and when Harper nodded her head he asked her, "So how often do you get to New York?"

"Three or four times a year if I'm lucky." Harper told him.

"What about San Jose? LA? Anaheim?" He asked her curiously.

"Never been." She told him honestly.

"Would you consider it? Since they're only a few hours away." Roman asked her, and his cheeks flushed when she raised an eyebrow in questioning.

"Would I consider going to San Jose, LA or Anaheim? What for?" She asked him with an amused expression as once again his cheeks flushed.

He cleared his throat and looked at her, his light eyes meeting her own and he asked her, "Maybe for a Preds game?"

"Do you guys even play there any time soon?" She asked him with a grin.

"We play the Sharks October 28th, the Kings on the 31st and the Ducks on the 1st of November." Roman told her with a smile. Her brow raised and he admitted softly, "I may have looked already."

"And what, you want me to come to a game?" She asked him with an amused expression.

He nodded and, as if he got some sudden boost of confidence, Roman told her point blank, "I'd really like to see you again."

Harper looked over at him in surprise, which was mirrored in her voice when she asked him, "You do?"

"I do." He confirmed with a nod of his head.

"Me? Like... me as in the person sitting across from you?" She asked him in almost disbelief. It was like she was hearing what he was saying but her brain just wouldn't allow her to comprehend his words.

With a small chuckle Roman nodded his head and he assured her, "Yes you. All five foot, what, three of you?"

"Five foot four if you must know."Harper told him with a small smile on her face. Curiously she asked him, "Why?"

"Why what?" He asked in confusion.

"Why do you want to see me again?" Harper asked him, leaning back in her chair to wait for his response. She was curious, and curiosity did kill the cat.

As their waitress brought their food to them, pancakes for Harper, bacon and eggs for Roman, he told her, "Because I want to get to know you."

"Why?" She asked him again, putting a bite of her pancakes into her mouth and letting out a small sigh.

Roman smiled at her reaction to the fluffy, syrup coated pancakes on her plate and he told her honestly, "Because... I don't know, I guess I like you. You're different, and I like that... it's kind of new and a little refreshing honestly."

She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything at all. She continued to eat her breakfast so Roman did the same and he could have slammed his head directly against the table when James dropped into one of the extra chairs at their table, Pekka following suit.

Roman shot a glare at the goaltender and asked them, "Can I help you?"

Pekka shrugged, "We just finished our meal and thought we would come say hi."

James nodded in agreement and Harper glanced between the two of them before she looked over at Shea, who stood a good foot behind Pekka, clearly he wasn't the one who had orchestrated the breakfast interruption. Not that Harper didn't have any clue who really had. Still, she surprised all four of the men at the table when she pushed the chair next to her out and said to Shea, "You can sit."

So as they finished their breakfast she was peppered with questions from the blonde goaltender. Where did you go to school? University of Pennsylvania and the University of California San-Fransisco.How old are you? Twenty six.The Dark Knight or The Dark Knight Returns?Neither, Batman Returns.Michael Keaton fan? Tim Burton actually, but if we're on the topic of superhero's I'd choose Wonder Woman.

"Why Wonder Woman?" Shea asked her curiously, interrupting the back and forth between Harper and Pekka.

James joked, "Don't get her started."

She narrowed her eyes at James, before she told Shea, "Well first of all Batman can't even be considered a superhero, that would imply he had some kind of super power instead of just being a pouty rich kid with gadgets."

They all laughed, and Shea stated, "I mean, I guess you have me there."

"But I choose Wonder Woman simply because she's a female and she's badass." Harper stated with a shrug of her shoulders.

With a quirked eyebrow and an amused expression Pekka asked her, "So you're one of those women. What are they called?"

"Feminists?" Harper asked him in almost amusement. When he nodded she shrugged her shoulders again and explained, "I mean, if thinking that in twenty-fifteen women should have all the same rights, respect and job equality as men makes me a feminist then I guess so."

James joked, "Here we go again."

Harper rolled her eyes at him and asked, "Did you forget your muzzle?"

James rolled his eyes this time as the guys all laughed at him, but Roman turned to Harper and asked her curiously, "Is it really that different? I mean, obviously it is but... you know."

Of course he knew that the world for a woman was vastly different than that of a man, but he liked hearing Harper's opinion on things, she always sounded so smart and he really just never wanted her to stop talking.

She took a drink of her water and said, "Yup. Fact is women still make seventy-nine cents to every dollar men do. Plus, you add in old ass gender roles and honestly it's just a losing game for us with boobs."

Pekka and James laughed, Shea choked on his water and Roman pushed the conversation further with his curiosity, "Gender roles?"

"Yeah, you know, the ones that say women are to be seen but not heard? You can be the best in your field and still not be respected for it because you're a woman. It's the way of the world, which, forgive me for quoting James Brown, it's a man's world." Harper stated, and it was clear she had a very point blank opinion on the topic but also the slight edge to her voice made Roman wonder if maybe she had some personal experience with it.

Pekka grinned at Shea, "She would get along with Tessa."

Shea chuckled and nodded, before Roman told Harper, "Tessa's Shea's friend."

Harper smiled over at Shea and told him, "Well she sounds very smart."

He joked, "She's a smart ass that's what she is."

After a round of laughter Pekka asked her, "So why a doctor?"

This seemed to pique the interests of everyone at the table, including James, who despite already knowing her didn't know the answer to this question. This question seemed to gather more interest than their superhero turned woman's rights conversation, and Harper, while aware of the personal nature of his question, didn't miss a beat as she told him, "Both my parents are doctors, and one of my brothers as well."

"Damn, guess it's in your DNA then." Pekka stated with a look of impression on his face.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Probably the same as y'all with hockey."

James grinned at her, "Y'all? Harpoon you'd fit in just fine in Nashville."

She rolled her eyes at him and stated, "Nah, Nashville wouldn't be able to handle me."

"If Nashville can handle Tessa it can handle you." Pekka stated, and when Shea rolled his eyes he grinned, "She's very lovable but she's also very loud and obnoxious."

"Honestly how they can even be friends with each other is amazing. They're like... the male and female versions of each other but also so beyond different." Roman explained to Harper.

She smiled gently, "Opposites attract, even in friendship."

"You don't actually believe that stuff do you?" Roman asked her with a raised eyebrow. He knew, much like himself, that his teammates also enjoyed talking to Harper. Roman found her smart as hell but she also had this very amusing quality to her, he couldn't quite put his finger on it but he knew that he would probably never be bored with her around.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Sure, why not? People believe in lots of things; Law of attraction, the chaos theory and the butterfly effect."

"The butterfly effect? Isn't that a movie?" Roman asked her, he was sure he had just recently watched it on TV.

She nodded her head, "Yes, but it is also a real, sort of scientific concept. You know, a butterfly flaps it's wings and halfway across the world there's a hurricane."

"That is so not a real thing." Pekka stated.

"People believe in anything and everything that they want to. I mean, explain why people have such blind faith in God but the butterfly effect can't be real?" She asked him, eyebrow raised and Pekka smiled at her. He could see why his younger teammate was so infatuated with the girl across from him, hell if he were closer to her age he might be trying to get to know her on a more personal basis but he would settle for helping poor, nearly helpless Roman with his case. It was probably a losing case, but who was he to ruin it for him?

"So, what do you believe in? The chaos theory?" Roman asked her with a raised eyebrow and the beginnings of a smirk on his lips.

"I believe in science, things that make sense and have an explanation. Not theories and blind faith and miracles."

James smirked, "You're such a science nerd Harpoon."

She narrowed her eyes and informed him with a pointed look, "There is always an explanation for everything. There's always some medical or scientific reason for the things that happen in the world."

"Northern lights?" Pekka asked her curiously.

"Particles of the sun colliding with the earth's atmosphere." She stated.

"Deja Vu."

"An anomaly of the memory." Harper said.

As he leaned back in his chair Pekka announced, "Well it's official, she's smarter than all of us combined."

"Took you this long to figure that out?" Roman asked him, and he could have sworn he saw Harper's cheeks flush. His ego swelled just a little bit, knowing how easy it was for him to get her to blush, it took practically no effort at all. Harper reached over and grabbed Shea's arm, turning it toward her enough that she could see his watch, which was when Roman asked her, "Somewhere you have to be?"

She gave Shea his arm back and said, "I think I was supposed meet John and Bristol like two hours ago."

James informed her, "You're good, they're not even out of bed yet."

Harper rolled her eyes, "Go figure."

There was an odd glanced exchanged between the four men at the table before Shea got up and told Harper, "It was nice to meet you. We're gonna go, we have some stuff to do today."

"No we don't." James stated with a grin.

Pekka nodded his head in agreement but he nearly yelped when Shea kicked him hard underneath the table. He jumped up immediately, and James followed, and Pekka told Harper, "Right, lot's to do. It was nice to meet you and if you're ever in Nashville look us up."

She chuckled as they walked away and when her eyes met Roman's he gave her a warm smile, his cheeks flushed, and he apologized, "Sorry, he doesn't do subtle."

"Neither does James." Harper told him with a smile and Roman nodded his head.

With their meals finished Roman paid for their breakfasts, much to Harper's displeasure and as they left the restaurant he asked her curiously, "What's the big deal with me paying for breakfast?"

"Because you paid for the cab last night." She stated, giving him a look when he looked at her with a 'so?' expression on his face. She explained to him, "I'm perfectly capable of buying breakfast."

"But I asked you for breakfast, therefor I pay." Roman informed her with a small smile.

"Fine, but next time I buy." Harper stated, before she realized what she said and her cheeks flushed a million and one shades of red. She stuttered through an explanation, "You know... not that there will be but if there ever is...and... I'm just gonna shut up and let this ship sink itself."

Roman chuckled and told her, "You can buy the next breakfast."

She was thankful that he didn't linger on her mortifying moment of complete and utter embarrassment. So she smiled gently up at him, and then said, "I guess I should probably make my way over to John's."

Roman nodded slowly and walked her to the front doors of the hotel lobby, but before she could leave his hand wrapped around her elbow to stop her. Harper turned to him with a raised eyebrow as he pulled his phone from the pocket of his jeans and held it out to her. He explained with a smile, "I can't really invite you to our games in a few weeks if I don't have your number."

She smiled gently as she carefully took his phone, and she opened up a new contact page, adding in her name and number before she hit save and handed it back to him. She told him, "There you go."

"Am I gonna call this number and have some Chinese food place answer?" Roman asked her with a grin.

As she pushed the door open and stepped outside she looked over her shoulder and smiled at him, "I guess you'll have to find out."