Promises to Keep

They had lost. In a very close game, completely opposite from game one, they remained close all game. With only one minute to go, the Knights had tied it at 1, and they were off to overtime.
In Tayla's mind, if her team was about to go into overtime and lose, they might as well get it over with as soon as possible; there was no sense on dragging the anxiety out for potentially one or more overtimes only to come out with a loss. And, unfortunately for Tayla and the Dallas Stars, that is exactly what had happened.

They dominated overtime. They had outshot the Knights 15-3 in the extra frame. They had all the play, all the momentum, but, just like in the third period, the Knights scored with less than thirty seconds left in the extra frame, William Karlsson shattered the Stars hopes of tying the series by scoring the game winning goal.

Tayla arrived back to her hotel room with a racing heart. She wasn't sure what to expect; would Nick still be there? Would he be gone? Was he actually so mad that he flew home? Upon opening the door she got her answer. Fuming, she slammed the door shut, and let out loud breaths between sobs. Before she let her emotions run wild, she sat down at the desk and began to type out her article, which was a little more negative than normal.

Stars Lose in Devastating Overtime Loss- head back home down 2-0

The Dallas Stars had the run of the game. It looked like they would be going back home with a series tied at one game a piece. The Stars only goal came from Jamie Benn, who had blasted one from the top of the circle on the powerplay. They had outshot the Knights 36-17 throughout the game, but with less than a minute to go in the final frame, let a devastating goal squeak in from the point from Nate Schmidt, his first goal of the post season.

Headed into overtime with confidence, the Stars dominated. They out shot, out chanced, and out played the Knights. The best opportunity came from Stars forward, Tyler Seguin who was only stopped by the post.

She eyed what she had typed, and continued to narrate what had happened in the game, ending with a quote made by their coach, post game.

"We're headed back home down two games to none. But that's behind us. We have to forget the past two games, draw from it what we need to, but go home with a fresh mind ready to go again"

Rereading a few times to make sure she was satisfied, she e-mailed the article to her dad, and her boss. Usually, she would wait for her dad to get back to her, but she was too angry. Slamming her laptop shut, she let tears fall down her cheeks. How could Nick do something like this? Why would he leave her in Las Vegas?

She wasn't sure why he was so interested in her relationship with Tyler. They were best friends; and that's all there was to it. He wasn't going anywhere in her life; he was here to stay. Whoever she was dating would have to understand this; and she thought Nick was one to be understanding.
Shaking her from her thoughts was a knock at the door. She wondered who it could be; was it Nick? Did he come back? Opening the door, she knew she looked crestfallen when she saw who it was.

"Wow, glad to see you too" Tyler joked, trying to lighten the mood. He didn't get the full story from Cass, but he did know Tayla and Nick had fought during the game; and, it was obvious by the expression on Tayla's face, Nick was gone back to Dallas.

"It's not that" Tayla tried to defend herself, but Tyler brushed her off.

"I know it's not. Are you okay?" Tyler asked, forgetting the outcome of his game for a moment.

"I'm fine" Tayla repiled, her voice cracking. Tyler gave her a look, and she sighed heavinly. "Fine, okay, I'm not; you caught me" she answered, flopping down onto the bed. Tyler sat down beside her, waiting for her to speak next. "I don't know why he would do this" Tayla finally said, exasperated.

"He's all of a sudden super interested in our relationship" Tayla gestured to herself and Tyler. "He asked you about my past too, didn't he?"

"Uh- yeah he did" Tyler confessed, though he was definitely not going to keep it a secret. "He seemed really interested in all aspects of your past, really. Mostly our relationship though"

"What did you tell him?" Tayla asked, sniffling.

"I told him that whatever he wanted to know, he could ask you. It's not my story to tell" Tyler replied, and Tayla smiled.

"Thanks, Ty" Tayla answered, sighing. "And he left to go home. He got angry I decided to pay attention to the game, we stopped our fight, and yeah" Tayla rambled. "I don't know what I did wrong- or keep doing wrong"

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked, genuinely confused.

"There's obviously something wrong with me" Tayla sobbed, tears now flowing down her face. "I manage to fuck up every relationship I am in. Now I ruined another one" she sniffled.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with you Tay!" Tyler nearly shouted. He wrapped an arm around her, feeling guilty. "You're a smart, strong, funny, caring, giving, amazing woman" he cut himself off, feeling he was saying too much. "If Nick can't see that? It's his loss. It's the same with anyone in the past too. If they failed to see what an amazing person you are, than that's their loss" he ranted on, his heart hammering in his chest.

"Then why do I always feel like it's my loss?" she asked in a whisper.
Tyler's guilt only intensified. Everything he had done up until this point was for a purpose; but what good was it if he was hurting the most important person in his life?

"I don't know, Tay" Tyler decided to reply honestly. "I know you shouldn't be blaming yourself. You just need to keep remembering that" he added in a near whisper, hugging her tightly.

"I don't know what I'd do without you" Tayla whispered, curling up closer to Tyler. "I'm glad at least you're the one person I can always count on"