Promises to Keep

"So, things are going well with you and Nick, eh?" Katie asked Tayla curiously. Tayla simply blushed, biting her lip and tucking a piece of her hair gently behind her ear. "I'll take that as a yes" she added, and Tayla giggled despite herself.

"He really is wonderful" she gushed, feeling genuinely happy. Things were going well since her move to Dallas. Her job was going extremely well, her new bosses were amazing and treated her way better than she had ever been treated in the past. Nick was an amazing guy; she found herself hanging out with him more and more. There was just one thing that continued to plague her mind, however.

"I sense there's a but here?" Katie asked, skeptically. Tayla seemed to hesitate slightly, before responding.

"Tyler's been acting strangely" Tayla informed her newest friend.

"What do you mean strangely?" Katie asked, not liking where this conversation was going.

"I don't know, I mean it's possible it's only my imagination" Tayla bit her lip. "We just don't seem as close as we were when I lived back home. Which seems silly, I know" she added, not sure why she decided to bring up Tyler's strange behaviour moments before puck drop. Katie and Tayla sat together, as they normally did, in their usual seats at the American Airlines Centre. The Stars were one point out of a playoff spot; and with any luck, tonight was going to be the night they would clinch. They both knew how much it would mean to both Jamie and Tyler to make it into the playoffs, especially since experiencing a let down the year before and falling short.

"It doesn't seem silly" Katie assured her, thinking back to the conversation she and Jamie had with Tyler on the night of Tayla's first date with Nick. It was obvious he had ignored their advice, and just as they said, he was becoming distant from her. "What's he been doing?" she then asked.

"It doesn't seem like he's interested in hearing about my life" Tayla told her in a whisper. "We used to talk when he was on the road, but now he says he's busy, or he's trying to concentrate so he doesn't have time. He keeps blaming the stress of trying to make the playoffs" Tayla shook her head. "Does he think I'm an idiot? I've known him my entire life; I can sense that there's something else up with him" She paused, looking around to see if anybody could hear her and what she was saying. "He's even started bringing random ass girls home again" she grumbled.

"I thought he was over that?" Katie asked, pretending to be oblivious. She felt terrible; she felt as if she was keeping secrets from Tayla. She knew the reason why Tyler would be having random hookups again. She knew the reason why he was acting so strangely. But, as much as she wanted to blurt it out, she knew she couldn't; it wasn't her secret to tell.

"I thought so too. But I think I've seen at least four girls in the last month. I don't even feel comfortable being around the house. I've spent quite a few nights at Nick's when Tyler's been home off the road" she confessed, feeling defeated. "I've tried talking to him, but he's just short tempered with me. He won't talk to me; I'm not sure what I can do" Tayla ended, just as the lights when low in the arena, indicating the game was going to start within the next ten minutes.

"I'm sorry, I wish I knew what was up his arse" Katie apologized, feeling even more guilty.

"There's no reason for you to apologize, you didn't do anything" Tayla shrugged. "I'll ride it out; I'm sure I'll get him to talk to me. We've been through worse before" she laughed, thinking back to the few petty fights they had over the years of friendship. They didn't fight long, nor often. Though the both of them were head strong and hated to admit they were wrong, they always managed to forgive each other; though they never really fought about anything overly serious.

"You're probably right" Katie answered back, for a lack of a better thing to say. "Game time" Katie then pointed to the ice, where they were going to begin singing the national anthem. Katie however, felt an intense amount of guilt. She knew the reason Tyler was being so strange; and she couldn't help but wonder, if Tayla had felt the same about Tyler at all, despite being involved with Nick.

*****************

"Clinched!" Tyler yelled, as a few teammates cheered beside him. After a tough fought game that had went into the final minutes of overtime. They won 3-2, the game winning goal being scored by Jamie with under 5 seconds to go in the extra frame. To say that the team wasn't ecstatic would be a lie; they were thrilled. Though they weren't leading the league in points by any means, once your team got into the playoffs it was a whole other ballgame; anything could happen.

"Way to go boys!" Jamie yelled. After the game, they decided of course a celebration was in order. As usual, they all piled over to Tyler's house to have a small party. It wasn't going to be anything crazy; their schedule tomorrow demanded practice in the morning.

Tayla and Katie spoke with Jamie in the corner of the living room, laughing and enjoying the party. Jamie had his arm slung around Katie as he sipped beer out of a red solo cup, his smile going from ear to ear.

"I'm gonna get another drink, you need a refill?" Katie asked Jamie, who shook his head no and kissed his girlfriend before she went off to grab another beer for herself and Tayla, who had nodded yes at the question.

"Congratulations, captain" Tayla commented shortly after Katie had left. She had not spent much time one on one with Jamie, but she spent enough to know he was a nice guy. Katie was head over heels for him; and him for her. They made an adorable couple. "That was one hell of a goal. Couldn't have scored it any sooner? I think you gave us all a bloody heart attack" she added with a laugh.

"Oh trust me, I think we gave ourselves heart attacks too" he wittingly replied. "And thanks. I think I spoke for all of us when I say we're relieved, and excited to get a chance at the Stanley Cup"

"As excited as I am for the cup run, I'm also not looking forward to having more heart attacks" Tayla laughed, remembering all the times she had watched Tyler in the playoffs. "I think I almost died back the year the Bruins won the cup" she laughed, reminiscing in her own mind. She remembered the crazy feeling when they won; and remembered just as well the day she found out he had been traded.

"Right, I keep forgetting you weren't always a stars fan" Jamie mused, and Tayla rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm a fan of the team I grew up watching with Ty, but I guess now I'm mostly a Tyler Seguin fan" she laughed, immediately realizing it sounded slightly weird. "Okay, that sounded weird" she had to voice her displeasure at her choice of words.

"It kind of sounds creepy, but when you take into account your history with him, it's not so bad" Jamie tried to make her feel better. They both just laughed, continuing on their conversation. It was at least half an hour before Katie had come back but without the drinks, though Jamie and Tayla had been so immersed in conversation they hadn't taken notice.

"Slow poke is back! And with no drinks" Jamie teased once they found out how long she had been gone.

"I'm sorry! It's not my fault" she defended, and Tayla raised her eyebrow, awaiting an explanation. "Tyler needed help to the bathroom- I think he's sick. I came over here to tell you that and you may wanna check on him" she told Tayla, who nodded, waving herself out of the conversation.

She walked up to the master bathroom, where Katie had said she had helped Tyler before coming to get her. She could hear the sounds of retching from outside the room.

"Tyler?" Tayla called out, knocking on the door before walking into the room. Tyler was laying on his back, holding onto his stomach. He opened his eyes to see Tayla there, and then proceeded to close them immediately. "Are you okay?" she asked when he had closed his eyes again. He didn't answer; he simply laid on the floor, eyes closed, feeling himself getting the spins. He had had too much to drink too quickly; he was going to pay for it at practice tomorrow.

"Jesus, Ty" Tayla commented, seeing the state of him. She tried to approach him to get him up, but he refused her grip, and moved himself away from her. "Are you still on about this?" Tayla fumed. "Whatever the hell is up your ass has got to crawl out, otherwise we're going to have a fucking problem" she added, rage flowing through her.

Tyler simply shrugged, remaining silent.

"I'm so sick of you treating me like shit. You don't talk to me anymore, anytime I try to talk to you, you just push me away. What the hell is going on? You ask me to move up here, away from everything, and you just push me away?" she felt hot tears stinging her eyes. At this point, Tyler had finally opened his eyes, and looked at Tayla, who was now crying. He felt his heart sink in his chest.

"Tayla..." Tyler trailed off, feeling weak.

"Fuck you, Tyler" she simply spat, not being interested in taking care of him. She turned on her heels and closed the bathroom door behind her, wiping the tears away before she walked downstairs back to where Jamie and Katie were standing.

"Are you okay?" Katie asked her worriedly.

"I'm going to Nick's. Tyler's pretty sick, so you may want to check on him. And with that, she strolled outside.