Gabi sat in her car for a good five minutes, before unbuckling her seat belt and getting out of the car. She smiled and hugged her sister tightly, “Who am I killing? Jordan or Mom?”

But before Whitney could answer, Gabi saw him. He had grown in height but that was pretty much the only thing that had changed and the fact that he hadn’t shaved all playoffs, so he was sporting a beard, something she wasn’t so sure she liked. She followed him with her eyes as he came closer to them, his eyes never leaving her. Gabi looked at her sister, wishing that the earth would open up and swallow her whole.

He didn’t say anything right away. He couldn’t, he knew that she didn’t want to see him, that’s why she’s stayed away for so long. He wasn’t stupid, well he was but for other reasons than this. He knew that she didn’t want to be around him, but he also knew she still loved him, just like deep down he knew that she knew he still loved her. Eric turned to Whitney, “Your mom sent me out, to see what was taking so long.” He then turned to Gabi than back to Whit. “Can you give us a few moments?”

Whitney looked from her sister to Eric than back to Gabi, and that’s when Gabi knew she was going to leave, and give Eric what he wanted. She could see it on her face it showed nothing but apologizes. Gabi shook her head and opened her mouth to tell her sister to stay, but before she could Whitney had walked back into the hotel, leaving her there with Eric.

“Elle,” Eric started looking at her with his intense caramel colored eyes. If there was one thing that Gabi loved the most about Eric, it was his eyes. They were this swirl of caramel and brown, and every time they looked at her, she swore that they saw right through her, and straight into her heart.

She shook her head and looked away from him, “No.”

Eric ran his hair through his golden locks, he knew she was going to be stubborn, “We need to talk.”

“No, you need to talk,” Gabi said taking a deep breath. “You feel the need to explain to me what you were thinking that day but I don’t want to hear it Eric. You broke my heart and now you have to deal with it.”

“Elle,” He said sighing. “We really should talk. It’s almost three years; we were friends long before we were dating. And you here to see me play in the Stanley Cup Finals, can’t we just put the past aside and be friends?” 

She shook her head furiously, “No. We can’t.”

“Elle,” Eric started frustrated. “I know that I hurt you.”

“You don’t know anything,” Gabi said narrowing her eyes at him. “You didn’t just hurt me, Eric, you killed me. You broke me to a point that I thought I’d never return and now I’m finally fixing what you broke, and you want to open old wounds, I’m not going to let you do that. Sorry.”

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, something he only did when was annoyed and Gabi could tell by his facial expressions that he was, “You weren’t the only one who got hurt that day, Elle.”

“Stop calling me that,” She hissed out, her blue eyes connected with his caramel ones, trying to prove that she wasn’t afraid of him, that he didn’t mean anything to her. “You lost that right that day in the barn.”

“The more you fight,” He said with a smile. “The harder I’ll fight back. I’m not giving up on you. I did that once, that led us to here, to this exact moment, where you hate me, and that is something that I don’t like.”

Gabi’s jaw set, “Well, that’s your own damn fault, Eric. You had the choice, you the one who ended things not me.” She turned on her heel, went to her car and grabbed her overnight bag. “I’m not here to see you, this trip here wasn’t about you. My family chooses to be close to your family, and your family invited my family to watch you play in the finals, they took them up on that offer, and if they hadn’t, I’d be on my way to Thunder Bay right now instead of being here. I didn’t want to see you. I had everyone promise to keep it a secret that I was coming, but obviously that didn’t work. I’m not going to forgive you for what happened, so I would just move on, and let me live my life.”

Gabi didn’t give Eric a chance to reply to everything she had said, before booking it into the hotel, instead of heading to where her family was; she walked up to the counter and asked for a key to her room.  Once she, finally got to her and Whit’s room, she fell on the bed that she assumed was her’s, seeing how Whit’s stuff was by the other, and let out a groan. This was going to be a long vacation. She was expecting to see Eric, eventually, but no the first night she got here, and defiantly not the first few moments. She let out a heavy sigh, and closed her eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears that were pooling in her eyes, she would not cry over him again. Gabi was going to show no emotions towards Eric for the rest of the trip, she was going to make him feel that he means nothing and that she has moved on from him. Her head snapped up off the pillow as the door opened,  to see if it was just Whit or one of her parents. To her surprise, it wasn’t Whit or her parents, it was Jordan.

“What do you want?” She hissed at him, glaring hard. The saying if looks could kill, fit this glare. He told Eric she knew he did.

“Your mom told him, not me,” Jordan said throwing his hands up in defeat. “I just confirmed it.”

Gabi rolled her eyes, “Whatever Jolly Green Giant. Do you need anything?”

“I think you should tell Eric,” He said giving her a look but stopped when he noticed that her glare had intensified. “You know what, don’t tell Eric that you still love him, even though he deserves to know. Also don’t tell him about that Nate guy, or the fact that you couldn’t say yes to anyone that isn’t a Staal, or maybe it is more like that isn’t Eric. He doesn’t deserve to know anything; he is just a guy in your life now? Someone passing through. Gabi, it is time for you to let go of everything. Eric deserves to know that his feelings aren’t one-sided, that you still love him and that you want to be with him. Stop being so damn stubborn and get off your high horse.”

Gabi was stunned; Jordan had never stood up to her, because he was always scared what would happen. She was completely taken back by what was said and why he was saying it but before she could say anything in response, Jordan left closing the door behind him. Gabi let out another sigh, and got up from the bed. She went into the bathroom and turned the shower on, all she wanted to do was take a shower and wash away all the stress of the day, but a knock on the door interrupted her plans. She groaned and walked to the door, praying that it wasn’t Eric, or her parents. As she threw the door open, a smile spread across her face as she flung herself at the person standing in front of her.

“Marc,” She said smiling and hugging one of her best friends tightly. “I’ve missed you.” She broke a part and looked past him at Jared, man had the baby grown. He was getting older, and she felt like she had missed a big chunk of his life. He wasn’t the same little boy she left, but he’d always be Baby Staal to her. “Jared!”

“Hey Gabi,” Marc said looking at the girl, woman, that he had grown up with. Gabi was in between Eric and him age wise so growing up, the three of them, were peas in a pod. “Jordan’s already been here.”

“That’s a statement not a question,” She said smiling. “But yes, the Jolly Green Giant has showed his presence and you interrupted my almost shower.”

“Sorry,” He said with a smile spread across his face. Honestly, he wasn’t sorry. “Jared and I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”

Gabi sighed and ran her fingers through her tangled mess of blond hair, “I’ll be fine. I just wasn’t expecting to see him this soon. I was hoping that I’d have a day or two before having to see him but obviously that wasn’t in the cards.”

“Gabs,” Jared said looking at the person he considered an older sister, she was the one that had given him advice when his brothers mocked him, she was there for him when his brothers were being jerks, she was the older sister he didn’t have and one day hoped to, “We are all on the same page with this. You and Eric need to talk. I know you don’t want to because you’re afraid of getting hurt again but both of you have grown in the years apart, I think Eric realized that life without you, wasn’t a life he wanted at all. You haven’t seen him these last few summers. Gabs, please just talk to him.”

“If I say that I’ll consider sitting down and talking to him after the finals are over, will that get you guys off my back?” She said rolling her eyes. All four of them where the same in so many ways, and this was one of them, they didn’t know when to give up and when to fight.
Marc and Jared shared a look and slowly nodded.

“Good,” Gabi said smiling. “Now as much as I love you guys, I want to take a shower and get some sleep, so go.”

Both of them gave her a hug before letting her go. She was glad that she got to see her boys today, but part of her wished that she could have just gotten here without anyone knowing and taken a shower, without any interruptions but that wasn’t possible with her family or the Staals. She was actually surprised that Henry and Linda hadn’t come up yet, but there was a part of her that knew why that was. They were busy with Eric and trying to get him to focus on the game tomorrow and not what is going on between the two of them. Gabi sighed as she stepped into the shower, washing away all the stress of the day. As she took her shower, one thought remained in her mind, how did Jordan know about Nathan and if he knew did that mean Eric knew?