The Truth Is...

“Did mom say anything about what happened?” Claudia asked as she sat in the passenger seat of Aaron’s vehicle as they made their way to the hospital. He shook his head and she asked, “Did she say what the doctor said? Did his doctor say anything?”

“I don’t know Claud, she didn’t even call. She had Eric send me a text to say that dad was awake.” Aaron told her sharply, and so when she nodded he sighed and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that. I’m panicking as much as you are.”

“I know, I’m sorry too.” Claudia told him, reaching out to grab his hand in hers. She gave it a squeeze and then she said, “I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

When they arrived at the hospital Marc and Eric were occupying the chairs next to their father’s bed and Claudia had never been so relieved to see him propped up, eyes open, smiling at something they had interrupted. He turned his attention to Aaron and Claudia in the doorway and spoke with a still groggy voice, “You didn’t have to come all the way out here for this.”

“Of course I did.” Claudia threw back, approaching him slowly before she gave him a soft hug. He patted her back gently before she straightened up and asked, “Where’s mom?”

“Bugging the doctor, no doubt.” Her dad told her, smiling when Claudia shook her head in amusement at him.

He patted the spot next to him so she sat down on the edge of his hospital bed and she couldn’t help but ask him, “Why didn’t you tell us about the first stroke?”

“Claud.” Marc warned but their father waved his hand in a dismissive motion.

He told her, “Because you would have come running, and I was fine. I could never expect you kids to put your lives on hold for me, which is why I had your brother book you a flight back to Nashville first thing in the morning.”

“Dad.”

“You still have to listen to me whether I’m stuck in this stuffy hospital bed or not Claudia.” He told her firmly, and she let out a sigh.

“Fine, but I don’t like it, just so you know.” She told him, the corners of her lips turning up into a small smile.

He smiled, “I know that.”

When Claudia saw her mother standing outside of the hospital room she gave her dad’s hand a pat and then got up and headed out there to ask her, “Mom? What did the doctor say?”

Her mother tucked her hair behind her ears and told her, “He’s not out of the woods yet, they want to keep him here for at least another few days to make sure he doesn’t have another stroke… after that I can take him home and he has to take things easy.”

“I wanted to talk to you about something, before you go back in there.” Claudia told her, approaching the subject with caution because it seemed she never knew what she got when it came to her mother. When she nodded Claudia continued, “Well… with everything that’s happened I think this is a good time to talk about this.”

“If you want to talk about his will don’t bother, I already told your brother we were not there yet.” Her mother told her sharply.

Claudia’s eyebrow raised, figures Eric would mention that already, she simply shook her head and assured her mother, “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about, not even close.”

“Okay, what did you want to talk about then?”

“Well… Before all of this happened I was kind of thinking of maybe moving back to Vegas and now with the stroke and dad and you… I just thought that maybe it would be a good idea for me to be closer. I could drive out to visit on the weekends, or whenever you needed me.” Claudia told her, watching her face intently for any clues as to how she was going to react to her suggestion.

To her surprise her mother smiled and said, “That would be nice for your dad.”

“I haven’t really made up my mind about it yet, and you know what he’s like so will you just keep it between us for now? At least until I decide?” Claudia asked her, hoping she didn’t sound so shocked that her mother was okay with her living closer to them. She must be really worried.

Nodding her mother told her, “I will… now let’s get in there, they’ll think we’re talking about them if we stay out here any longer.”

Claudia let out a laugh and she linked their arms together, surprised when her mother leaned over and kissed the side of her head. Most of her life Claudia had been wanting them to get a little closer but it had always seemed like a pipe dream. Maybe the one good thing to come out of this whole thing was this.

It wasn’t until after visiting hours were over and Claudia had said goodbye to her parents and she was sitting on the patio of Aaron’s house that she realized she hadn’t spoken with James all day. She glanced over her shoulder and into the house through the glass patio doors to Aaron and Marc who were cooking in the kitchen and then she turned back to look out over the backyard.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent James a rather long text.

‘Dad woke up this morning, sorry I didn’t let you know sooner, doctor says he’s still not out of the woods. Worried about him having another stroke, so he’s staying in the hospital for a few days and then he’s been instructed to take it easy. I have a flight back to Nashville in the morning, see you when you get back.’

She received his response a little over five minutes later.

‘I’m headed out to Vegas tomorrow for two days. Just to check it out, look at some houses. I’ll see you Friday.

I'm really glad he's okay by the way.’

Would things always be this weird between them now?



When Claudia arrived back in Nashville to find Lucca waiting at the airport for her she was surprised, it must have shown on her face too because Lucca was quick to tell her, “Colin is back home with his family and I’ve spent all damned day looking at houses in Denver and I can’t find anything I love as much as our house here so I needed a distraction.”

With a smile Claudia linked their arms together and she told her, “My flight was delayed, of course, so I didn't have anything to eat, I could use some dinner, let’s go out.”

“I am down with that idea.” Lucca told her, and once they were in the car she told her, “I’m sorry about your dad Claud, but I’m glad to hear he’s doing better.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty tough so he’ll be fine.” Claudia told her, nodding her head. She then asked Lucca, “How’s Colin taking the trade?”

Lucca shrugged, “It’s a business, he understands it. I think I’m taking it worse than him honestly. I mean, I’m not about to say he’s Crosby but like… to be traded for a fourth round pick? Ouch.”

Claudia nodded her head and pointed out, “Could be worse, could have let him go for fuck all.”

“This is true… I guess you always have to look at the positives.” Lucca stated with a nod of her head in agreement. They made small talk to catch up on the way to the restaurant, Claudia left her bag in the car as they headed inside and got a table and that was when Lucca pointed out, “That is one heck of a tan you’ve got there.”

Claudia smiled and had to tell her, “Yeah I have a nice hand print tan line on my butt though.”

Lucca’s eyebrow raised, “James was up to his usual shenanigans while on vacation I see?”

“Pretty much.”

“So how was your vacation? Nice little break from the real world and all.” Lucca asked her curiously, taking a sip of her iced tea from the straw in her cup.

“It was good.” Was all Claudia said as she picked at the napkin in front of her.

Lucca’s eyebrows lifted and she asked her, “What was with that?”

“What was with what?” Claudia asked her, looking over at her with a curious expression.

“’It was good’ that’s all I get? And you’re picking at a napkin while talking.” Lucca pointed out, making Claudia shrug her shoulders.

“It’s nothing.” Claudia told her.

Lucca, as Claudia expected, called her out on it, "Bullshit it's nothing."

Claudia sighed as she reached up and tucked a few stray chunks of hair back behind her ear, she then tapped the side of her thumbs against the edge of the table. Lucca simply continued to watch her in amused curiosity, because Claudia didn't usually get like this. Claudia was usually the level-headed, cautious one of the two of them.

"Okay, if I tell you this you have to promise you won't tell anyone. Like, not even Colin." Claudia told her.

Lucca's eyebrows lifted as she said, "Okay, now you have to tell me. I promise I won't breathe a word of it."

It came out like word vomit, "James and I slept together."

Lucca stared at her in surprise for half of a second, maybe a full one, and then she exclaimed, "Shut the fuck up."

It was her way of asking if she was kidding so Claudia shook her head and told her, "Not kidding."

"So... like what, you two had too much to drink one night and had sex on the beach? I gotta say, I never really pictured James as an exhibitionist, especially when you end up with sand in places it takes forever to come out of." Lucca joked.

Claudia hadn't even been aware of how much she needed to laugh about the situation until that moment when she tilted her head back and laughed. Lucca, again, watched her with amused curiosity and waited patiently for her friend to stop laughing to explain the rest of the story.

Eventually, Claudia did stop laughing and she told Lucca, "No, it was at his place in Whitby. I don't know, there was this weird vibe the whole time we were on vacation... this is all your fault you know."

Lucca let out a laugh, brunette brow raised high as she asked, "My fault? How so?"

"You got in my head." Claudia told her.

"About what?"

"About James! And how we look at each other and how we need to just 'own how we feel about each other' and all of a sudden I was looking at him in a different way and I just... why'd you have to put the thought in my head?" Claudia explained to her, letting out a sigh as she tucked her hair back for a second time.

Lucca told her, "Honey, the thought was already there, I just helped you see it."

"You know what the worst part about it all is?" Claudia asked her, and when Lucca raised her eyebrow she went on to explain, "The next day I tried to talk about it with him and he told me that pretending it never happened was probably for the best."

"Ouch." Lucca muttered, adding in, "James is a dumbass though, we all knew that. Claud, he probably just thought that was what you wanted, or that it would make it easier for you guys."

Claudia stated, "Or he really does think it was the biggest mistake of his life."

"You want to know what I think, personally, from an outsider’s point of view, someone who gets to see how you two interact with each other?" Lucca asked her, and when Claudia nodded her head she told her, "I think James knows how out of his league you are. I think he thinks there's no chance in hell you would ever want to be with a guy like him and I think that's why he thinks it's better like this. Like he would rather have you around like this than risk you laughing in his face about a relationship."

"I wouldn't laugh in his face." Claudia stated and Lucca nodded her head.

"But he probably thinks that. I mean, Claud, think about it; you've been friends for years, you've seen firsthand what he's like with women, his track record... most women, women with half a brain and ones who don't give a fuck about hockey, would run in the opposite direction." Lucca told her, adding in with a soft smile, "I could be totally off base here but I'm probably not because I'm practically psychic."

Claudia let out a laugh and told her, “You need professional help.”

“Probably. One would have to be pretty crazy to date Colin sooo….” Lucca joked, making them both laugh.

It was nearly twelve o’clock when Lucca pulled up outside of Claudia’s condo building, the two bid each other goodbye and Claudia grabbed her keys from her bag before exiting the vehicle. She made a pit stop to grab her mail, after over a week away she knew it was probably overflowing and as she pulled handfuls of envelopes out and stuffed them in her bag her neighbor approached.

As he unlocked his own mailbox he smiled over at her, “Hey Claudia.”

“Hi Ryan.” She greeted as she closed her mailbox and locked it up again.

“Have a good night!” He called out as she headed to her condo door again.

She locked up the condo practically the moment she stepped inside, she tossed her bag onto the floor by the door and left it there for morning, heading straight into her bedroom. She stripped out of her jeans and t-shirt and made her way into the bathroom where she filled the tub with near steaming water and a little splash of bubble bath.

She had barely gotten comfortable in the tub when her cell phone rang with a FaceTime call from James. She hit accept, holding the phone at the right angle that he could really only see her face, yet he still asked, “Are you in the bath?”

“It’s possible.” He must have been able to hear the faucet running.

He smiled gently and asked her, “How was your flight?”

Shrugging her shoulders Claudia rolled her neck twice before she let out a small sigh and she told him, “After all of this I’m just glad to be able to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

“I bet.” He told her, still wearing a soft smile on his face.

She looked at him, taking in the fact that he was in a dress shirt, the top button unbuttoned as usual, and his dark hair was tousled in just the right way that told her he had spent at least a few minutes on it. Curiously she asked him, “Where are you coming from?”

He glanced down at his shirt and then over at her and he told her, “Went to dinner with flower and his wife.”

Claudia would never tell him this but she was glad that there was at least someone familiar with him in Vegas.

“Did you have a good time?” She asked him curiously, reaching up to fix the neat bun twisted and tied down at the top of her head.

James nodded his head, “What about you, how was your night?”

“I went for dinner with Lucca, my flight was delayed because what else is more Claudia than that. I just got home like twenty minutes ago, actually.” She told him, covering her mouth as she yawned. James let out a chuckle and then she looked up at herself in the corner of the screen and she asked him, “I’m thinking of getting bangs, what do you think?”

“Bangs?” He asked her, brow raised.

She explained, “Yeah, you know, like short hair that frames the forehead?”

He rolled his eyes at her, smiling gently as he told her, “I know what bangs are. I just… why?”

She shrugged, “Something different. I think I’ve had the same hairstyle for like six years.”

“Well… what kind of bangs?” James asked her.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead.” She admitted to him, adding in, “I was just thinking I needed a new hairstyle but I like the length it’s at now.”

“Straight across would look nice, like that chick you follow on Instagram from that one show.” James told her.

Her brow raised, “That’s helpful.”

He rolled his eyes and his phone moved so that all she could see was his forehead, at least until her phone beeped with a message from him so Claudia opened it, and then she laughed and she asked, “Lea Michele? How do you even know who that is?”

“She’s hot, that’s how.” James told Claudia with a grin that made her roll her eyes and a laugh escaped her lips. James watched her with a smile and then told her, “So… I looked at two houses today.”

“Yeah? Didn’t you just get there today?” Claudia asked him, she was a little surprised because James was not a planner. He liked to wing things, she knew this because it drove her absolutely crazy.

Nodding he told her, obviously a little proud of himself, “I wanted to get started sooner rather than later. Plus I leave late tomorrow night, so I figured the most I could get done today the better so that I could actually check the city out tomorrow.”

“I’ve rubbed off on you… that makes me happy.” Claudia stated and James let out a laugh.

“Yeah, you’ve turned me into a planner. I much preferred life with that element of surprise that came with winging it though.” James told her, smiling when Claudia laughed at his words.

How were they ever going to get past this when he couldn’t even hear her laugh at something he had said without his chest swelling with pride?