The Long Day Is Over

When Harper woke up the next morning it was to an empty bed, and she was confused only until she heard movement outside of the open bedroom door. She rolled onto her back, stretched quickly before she got up and headed into the bathroom. When she was sure she looked somewhat presentable and a lot less like a creature from a horror film Harper started down the hall and toward the kitchen.

She leaned her hip against the island counter and Roman turned his head to look at her from where he was standing at the very same island, cooking breakfast. He smiled and told her, "This is very confusing."

As he motioned back and forth from the cooktop on the island and the oven behind him Harper smiled and told him, "Good morning to you too."

His cheeks flushed and he said, "I hope this is okay... me rifling through your kitchen to make you breakfast."

"Just as long as you didn't open the cupboard by the fridge." Harper told him, and when he didn't say anything she let out a laugh. His brow raised as she stated, "My boyfriend is a professional athlete and I have the Willy Wonka of candy stashes in my kitchen. I find it ironic, that's all."

"I am willing to forget about it if you say you have chocolate milk." Roman told her.

Her cheeks flushed, "I have the kind you make from syrup."

He made a face, "You have problems."

She shrugged and then nodded, reaching out to grab a strawberry from the bowl next to him, dodging his slap he was aiming for her hands. Before biting into the strawberry she told Roman, "I'm never home. Honestly, the only reason my fridge is stocked with anything right now is because I knew you were coming and I needed to at least make it look like I eat normal human food."

He let out a laugh, and asked her, "Don't tell me. You eat a lot of cafeteria food?"

She made a face, "God no. That shit's disgusting. No, there's a diner across the street from the hospital... they make the best pizza, and french fries. Not together, though."

"Aren't doctors supposed to be super healthy? Set a good example for people and all?" Roman asked her in amusement as he grabbed two plates from the cupboard above the sink.

"Please, ninety percent of doctors smoke. The way I see it is; if I eat five out of the seven days of the week at a diner but I don't smoke then it balances it out a little." Harper told him with a grin.

"If you say so." Roman stated in amusement.

"I do say so." She said, nodding her head for good measure. Once they were seated on the bar stools at the island with their plates in front of them Harper looked down at the omelet, toast, and assorted fruits on her plate and she admitted, "This might be the healthiest thing I've eaten all month."

Roman turned to stare at her, blinking slowly in disbelief, before he shook his head and told her, "It's a miracle you're alive."

Harper nodded her head and stated, "Basically."

Once they were done their breakfast, with Harper insisting on cleaning the kitchen herself, Roman asked her, "So... what's the plan for today?"

She countered his question with one of her own, "What time do you have to be at the airport?"

"My flight is at six so... by like four-thirty or so." Roman told her, watching as she made a what he assumed was a thinking face. Whatever it was it was cute; her lips pursed to one side, head slightly tilted.

"Well, we have two options." Harper finally told him, and when Roman raised his eyebrow she explained, "We can find more things to do around the city, or we could just hang out here most of the day."

"I vote for option number two. I'd much rather just hang out the two of us since it might be a while before we get to see each other again." Roman told her, and Harper was silently glad that he went with that option.

"Sounds good. But I do need to go pick up a parcel today." Harper told him, adding in an explanation, "Some gremlin ripped the end of my stethoscope off last week, I've been borrowing one from a friend while I waited for mine to come in, and I have an early shift tomorrow so I have to grab it today."

"It's fine, I'm sure we can deal with an hour of fresh air." Roman joked, and she let out a laugh.

Upon putting the last dish back into its rightful spot in the cupboard Harper wiped down the island counter before she asked Roman, "So, what is it that you do in your free time?"

He followed here to the couch, sitting down next to her as he joked, "Aside from taking a six-hour flight to visit a crazy person?"

She rolled her eyes and reached out to pinch his thigh before she told him, "That was rude."

He leaned over and kissed the side of her head before he told her, "Honestly, not much, mostly my off days are filled with getting everything else done that I can't when we have games and practices and such. Sometimes I'll go out with some of the guys, we'll go for lunch or see a movie or something."

"Are you guys close? As a team, off the ice and such?" Harper asked him curiously.

He shrugged, "Yeah, I like to think so. I mean, obviously you get along with some better than others but I think that's a life thing you know?"

"So who do you get along with the best?" Harper asked him, glancing over at him as she moved to sit facing him, with her back against the arm of the couch and her legs spread out across it, feet in his lap.

"Shea, obviously, we spend a lot of time together and my first year in the league he played a big part in it. I actually lived with him and his fiance for a while." Roman told her, and Harper smiled gently. He then told her, "Nealer too, we're pretty similar so we hit it off pretty good when he first got here."

"I'm glad." Harper stated, confusing Roman. So when his brow lifted she flushed and explained, "I mean... I met James... not that long ago, but I don't know... he did tell me during one of our many late night chats during that trip about the trade and how he had a lot of trouble not taking it personally for a long time. I guess I'm just glad things worked out so well for him there."

"You have a real soft spot for him, huh?" Roman asked her curiously.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I guess. You kind of can't help it with him. He'll annoy the shit out of you, but he's just such a nice guy... he grows on you after a while. He used to text me once a week after I left over the summer to come back here. Just to check in, and see how I was doing. I had assumed that like so many of John and Steven's friends I'd never hear from him again, so I guess the fact that he went out of his way to keep in touch helped too."

"For the record, I'm glad you guys kept in touch too." Roman told her, and when Harper's eyebrow lifted his cheeks flushed and he told her, "Most of what I know about you, and the things you like, I know from Nealer."

"James has a big mouth." Harper stated, and she crossed her arms over her chest as she told Roman, "This isn't fair, you know."

"What's not fair?" He asked her with a smile.

She narrowed her eyes at him and told him, "You having an inside man when I don't."

"You could ask James." Roman told her.

She let out a laugh, "No, see if I were to do that he would pick on me for weeks. If there is one thing you do not talk to James Neal about it's a boy. He's worse than my brothers."

Roman couldn't help it, he was curious so he asked Harper, "Does your family know about me?"

Her cheeks flushed, "Brad does. I have not told Ben because he'd be almost as insufferable as James about it."

"And your parents?" He asked her curiously.

Harper admitted, "No. I wasn't even... sure what this was before you came here. I'm not so good at all of this... kind of stuff."

He smiled, "Harper, it's okay if you haven't. I mean... my brother and dad are the only one's who know about you. I have yet to approach the subject with my mother because she'll get too excited and probably scare you off the first time she meets you. She needs to be eased into this."

Harper chuckled and told him, "It can't be that bad."

He nodded and said, "Oh no, it totally is. She's the mother of two boys. She's been bugging me to get a real girlfriend for years, so she finally has another girl in the family I guess."

"A real girlfriend?" Harper asked him, eyebrow lifted in curiosity.

He nodded, "Yeah... you know, like a serious one. I've had girlfriends since getting to Nashville, but nothing serious or long-term."

For some reason, Harper was glad to hear that. Not because she was glad that Roman had struck out with all of his relationships, but because selfishly the idea of him not having been in a serious or long term relationship in so long made her feel a little more comfortable with her own lack of experience in the dating world.

Harper glanced at Romans watch, and she let out a loud groan mixed with a sigh. He watched her in amusement, and asked, "What was that?"

"That was the sound of laziness realizing that she needs to get up and get dressed and leave the house." Harper stated with another sigh. Roman let out a laugh as she heaved herself up off of the couch and headed down the hall to her bedroom, and he busied himself on Instagram while he waited for her to get ready.

Once Harper came out into the living room again she muttered, "Men have it so easy."

Roman got up from the couch and raised his eyebrow, asking her, "What was that?"

She motioned to his combination of jeans and a t-shirt with a lightweight zip-up sweater overtop, and stated, "You can throw that on and look hot, I do that and I look like I'm homeless."

Roman blatantly checked her out, smirked and told her, "You hardly look homeless in that."

"I mean, I wasn't necessarily talking about this. Just the general idea of how much easier it is for the male gender." She told him, shoving her phone and wallet into her bag as she spoke.

Roman patted the pockets of his jeans to make sure he had his own things before they left the apartment together. The walk to wherever Harper had to pick up her parcel was shorter than Roman expected; three blocks over to be exact. Still, they made small talk while they walked, learning little things about each other that they didn't already know, and then Roman held open the door to the shop Harper walked toward and he followed behind her as she approached an elderly man behind a counter.

"He's new." Roman looked up from where he had been looking at a case full of stethoscopes to the older man who was bringing a box from the back to them. Their eyes met, Roman smiled politely, as did the man.

Harper nodded her head, telling him, "Don't get used to him, he's leaving tonight."

"You know, I thought your brother was playing a practical joke when he mentioned there being a boy in your life. That or you were making it up and he believed it."

Harper made a face and smiled when she said, "Hey, watch it old man."

When she went to pull her wallet out of her bag he told her, "Already paid for."

"What?" Harper asked him, eyebrow raised as she asked, "Did I pay you when I ordered it? Because I do not recall this."

He let out a chuckle and told her, "Nope, seems you have a secret admirer. Now go, enjoy your time with your boyfriend. Come see me when you have the chance next."

Harper took the box from his hand and as she and Roman headed toward the door she turned back and told him, "I'll even bring you coffee, maybe a donut if I'm feeling generous."

He grinned and told her, "You're too good to me."

Once they were back out on the sidewalk Harper told Roman, "I used to work there, a lot to start with and then when school got too crazy it was mostly just weekends and summers. My parents have been nice enough to help out with living expenses since my schooling was basically all paid for but I've never felt comfortable not pitching in a little."

"Scholarships?" Roman asked her curiously, and when she nodded he mused out loud, "James said you were way smart, but damn."

She let out a chuckle and joked, "Anyone is smart around him."

"True." Roman stated, both of them laughing.

Once they arrived home Harper tossed her backpack onto the counter and immediately opened the box for her stethoscope, rolling her eyes when she found a note on the inside. She stated, "You know, I hate you hockey players."

Roman raised his eyebrow, "What did we do this time?"

She held out the notecard, which read 'Your brother is on my side. Since you won't let me fly you here for Christmas, here's part of your gift early. Try not to break this one too. -John.'

Roman smiled and told her, "Let him do nice things for you, obviously he enjoys it."

"He enjoys being a never ending pain in my ass is more like it." Harper muttered as she stuffed the note card back into the box and left it on the island counter as Roman grabbed her hands and pulled her back with him onto the couch.

Once they were settled; Harper curled into his side with a marathon of Lifetime Christmas movies neither of them cared to watch on the TV Roman asked her, "So... do you believe in luck?"

She raised her eyebrow, "Yes."

"I was just thinking... how lucky I got the night I met you, that I agreed to go out for dinner with the guys the night we met. I wasn't going to go, but Nealer kept bugging me... and I'm glad I gave in." Roman told her, leaning over to kiss the top of her head.

Harper was silent for a moment, before she asked him, "What you said last night... did you mean it?"

"I was hoping you would have forgotten about that." Roman admitted softly, his cheeks flushed.

Harper looked over at him as she asked him, "Did you want me to forget about it?"

He shook his head, "No... I just wished I had said it differently."

"What do you mean?" Harper asked him, eyebrow raised.

"Just... in a better way. At a better time. When I was less likely to scare you off." Roman explained to her.

"You didn't scare me off." Harper told him, and when he looked at her in surprise she nodded and she spoke softly as she said, "In fact, if you don't want me to forget you said it I'd like to tell you that I think I love you too."

He was quick to tell her, "I don't want you to forget I said it."

Harper let out a laugh, and she leaned over to kiss him quickly before she pulled back and told him, "Alright, I won't forget it."

"Me either."

Hours later, after they went back and forth with stories of their childhood, and their lives before each other, a nap, lunch and a movie date later Roman glanced at his watch and sighed. He looked down at Harper, who was laying on the couch between his legs, back against his chest, fast asleep, and he didn't want to wake her but it was after four and he really had to be going.

So he shook her gently, and she let out a breath of air through her nose before she mumbled something completely incoherent that made Roman smile. He spoke softly, "Harper."

"Hmm?" She mumbled.

"I gotta go." He told her softly, and she took a moment to rub her eyes and then she sat up and looked at the clock.

"Why didn't you wake me earlier? We were supposed to do an early dinner." She asked him, tucking a few pieces of hair that had pulled loose from her braid back behind her ears.

Roman smiled over at her and told her, "It's fine, I'll grab something at the airport. I didn't want to wake you, you looked exhausted and peaceful."

"You should have woken me up." Harper told him as she got up off of the couch at the same time that he did. He leaned over and kissed her softly, as a way to shut her up. Roman grabbed his bag from her bedroom, taking a quick peek to make sure that he had everything with him while Harper called him a cab. She walked him downstairs to the lobby, where they stood on the sidewalk outside of her building and waited for the cab, and she told him, "Sorry I can't take you myself."

Roman shook his head, "Don't worry about it."

Harper wrapped an arm around his back, and tucked herself into his side as she told him, "I'm glad you came, really."

"Me too." Roman told her, adding in sadly, "I just wish I could have stayed longer."

Harper nodded her head in agreement and she told him, "Maybe next time I can come to you."

"I'd like that." He told her, sighing when a cab came to a stop in front of them. Roman opened the backseat and he tossed his backpack inside before he asked the cab driver for a minute. He turned back to Harper, and he told her, "I'll text you when I get in since it will be so late."

"I get off at eleven-thirty tomorrow, so if it's not too late for you maybe we could talk after your game." Harper told him, and he nodded his head.

"I'd like that."

She glanced at his watch and then looked up at him and smiled, "You have to go, you'll be late and I already feel bad enough that you're not getting in until so late."

"I'll sleep on the plane." He promised her before he leaned over and kissed her quickly. When they parted he told her, "Talk to you tomorrow."

She nodded and stood on the curb while he got into the cab, waving one last time before the driver pulled away from the curb and down the street. Harper waited until she could no longer see the cab on the road to head back inside, taking her time up the stairs and letting herself back into the apartment.

As she locked her apartment door behind her Harper looked around and sighed. It seemed so empty now, and she thought it maybe matched the way she felt. She dropped onto the couch with a package of Ho-Ho's and a blanket, changing the channel to something a little less depressing than a Christmas movie and she thought about calling Bristol. But John had a game, and Harper knew Bristol would be there.

Her phone beeped, and she pulled it out of the pocket of her jeans to find not one but two waiting messages. One was from Roman, telling her that he was at the airport, standing in line for security and that he missed her already. It made her smile.

The other was from Steven.

December fifth, we play San Jose. If you can I'd really love it if you could come, I'll take you out for dinner after and everything.

Harper smiled, and sent him a message back telling him she would find out tomorrow and let him know, and then she text Roman.

Steven asked me to meet him in San Jose on the fifth. I just wanted to check to make sure you were okay with that.. or whatever... I'm not good at this whole thing.

She got a response half a minute later from him.

You don't have to ask me if you can go see your friends Harper. You should go, catch up with him. I know why you asked, but please don't feel like you ever have to.

He really was perfect.