The Tandem

"Looks like this is headed to a Game Seven, ladies and gentlemen!", the announcer in Bell Centre, jumping in glee. The Red Sea of Canadiens jerseys leaps in joy as we filter onto the ice to congratulate Carey on the win as the Bruins walk into the locker rooms, pissed off.

"Amen Pricey amen!", PK exclaims and gives Carey a bear hug. All the guys, including myself, laugh at those two lover birds. PK and I can share my man.

"Nice job sweetheart", I give Carey a kiss on the cheek and skate back to the locker room with everyone.

"Oh come on, all I get is a kiss on the cheek? I just saved our asses", he grins cockily and pulls off all his gear, heading towards the showers. I roll my eyes and strip off all my gear, organizing it in my gear bag because we fly out to Boston for Game Seven tomorrow morning. I quickly pull on yoga pants and my team issued Canadiens hoodie. I considered stealing Carey's, but he likes his very much and I wouldn't be a very nice girlfriend if I stole his favorite hoodie. See, I can be nice sometimes!

"Hey babe, can you toss me my clothes?", Carey calls from the doorway to the showers, he's lazy sometimes.

"You better be happy that I'm your girlfriend, or else you'd have to get your own clothes", I pick up his wad of dry clothes and carry them to the showers, only to be greeted by a towel clad Carey. I cover my eyes and hand him his clothes. He laughs at my innocence and I flip him off.

"Aww Jess, you're so adorable and innocent", he coos, bringing me in for a hug. I squealed, protesting against the hug while my idiot of a boyfriend laughs at my reaction.

"Get some clothes on and meet me at the turf", I say, poking him in the chest.

"And why should I do that?", he says cockily.

"It's a surprise and I'll beat your ass anyway", I wink at him and run out to the turf in the training facility next door, I don't need to be there when he reveals the whole show.


"Princess, you called?", Carey stands next to the goal post of the giant soccer net as I grin evilly, tossing a soccer ball in my hands.

"How good are you at soccer?", I asks, spinning the ball on my finger.

"Better than you", he says, grinning cockily yet again. See, my lovable idiot of a boyfriend!

"I played in high school and some during college", I respond back. He snorts at my statement, typical Carey.

"Okay Miss I'm Fantastic At Soccer, let's make a bet. If I score a goal on you, I start Game Seven. You save it, you start", he says with an idiotic grin plastered on his face.

"Alright deal.", we shake on it and he takes the ball from my hands, lining up at the edge of the outer goalie box as I face the ball, taking away angles. A look of intense concentration takes over his face and he volleys the ball as hard as he can. Remembering my goalie coach from high school, I track the ball with my eyes and am square to the shot, catching it with the signature 'W' grip. I grin in victory as Carey stares at me, his jaw practically on the turf.

"Suck it and you just lost your starting position!", I do a little victory dance around him as he glares at me in defeat.

"Not fair.", he crosses his arms and pouts. I laugh and give him a quick kiss.

"Oh honey, you never asked if I was a soccer star. Starting goalie three years in a row in high school", I punch him lightly in the shoulder as he still looks on angrily. His ego has just been murdered.

"Fine, best of seven. You're shooting babe", he says, now smirking at the thought of me sucking at shooting. Wrong again Carey!

He gets between the posts as I place the ball on the edge of the outer goalie box.

"Ready to get schooled by a girl?"

"Bring it Williams."

I wind up and kick the ball hard, making it go upper right corner, hugging the inner curve of the net. Carey groans and flops on his back.

"I give up!", he throws his arms over his head in defeat. I fetch the ball and toss it at him.

"Sorry Carey, but you will never beat me in soccer", I offer a hand to hell him up and he grabs it, pulling me down next to him.

"And that's why I love you", he says, pulling me into a hug. I smile beneath his arms.

"And that's why I love you too", I says back. At that moment, I truly was in love.

"Hey lovebirds, you two ready for dinner?", Prusty, Brandon Prust, says from the doorway, causing us to giggle like twelve year olds.

"Sure thing Prusty, but I think we're gonna have dinner at home. And maybe a movie", I respond, holding back a laugh.

"Am I invited to this movie night?", he teases. Oh Prusty.

"Nope, we're watching grown up movies like Nemo and Bee Movie", Carey shoots back in response to Brandon's sarcastic excitement. Brandon snaps his fingers and scowls.

"Damn it! I guess I'll go to dinner with the guys, see ya on the plane", he waves and walks out of view. Still laying on the ground beside each other, Carey turns to face me.

"Movie night? Really?", he questions in disbelief. I gently smack his chest.

"Oh shut up Carey, how bout you think of something next time!", I gasp and fake offense,
causing him to erupt in laughter.

"I'm not complaining, do we get Mexican food for dinner?", he stands up, hold out a hand for me. Gracious, I take it and brush the turf off of me.

"Duh and piggyback ride to the car?", I ask, shoving my phone in my pocket. He turns around and squats down so I could hop up on his back. He takes off down the hallway with me clinging to his back, squealing loudly. Laughing hard, we stop at the truck and get in.



After picking up Mexican food from our favorite place, we finally pull into the driveway of our house.

"I was promised Nemo", Carey flops onto the couch.

"I'm getting there, jeez!", I put his tacos on a plate and place it on the coffee table in front of him before putting in the Nemo disc into the DVD player. Selecting start, I snuggle up next to Carey before one of his labs takes my spot. For some reason, they always take my spot on the couch or in bed.

Times like now make me sit and think about how lucky I am. I mean, just look at me for a second. I'm dating one of the best goalies in the league and he is one of the sweetest guys I have ever met. I have a solid position on a great team with amazing guys on it. I have many great friends here in Montreal and I'm living very close to my best friend, which is great! But there is still one little piece of my mind that still misses Boston. I get roughly five calls a day and fifteen texts from Tuukka and I get a few calls from Torey and Dougie. I'm on the road of recreating friendships with Torey and Dougie. I know that they didn't mean to leave me there, anyway it's still kinda stupid that I'm hung up on that. It's been three months since and we're tied up in a playoff series with Boston. So I have to deal with the entire Boston team and half of them still hate me.

"Jess? You still with me? Hello Jess?", Carey snaps his fingers in front of my face and I jerk back, startled. I look around the room and notice the room is very dark and some intense music is playing.

"Yeah sorry, I uh-", something pops up on the screen, scaring me. "WHAT THE SHIT WAS THAT?"

Carey laughs so hard at my reaction that he startles the dogs. I gasp and punch him in the chest.

"You asshole! You know I hate horror movies!", I yell and cross my arms angrily, moving over to the other side of the couch. "That was a dick move Pricey."

He finally stops laughing enough to put a hand on my leg.

"Awww Jess, I'm sorry but that was too easy", he laughs lightly at my anger. I'm beyond embarrassed, like over the moon embarrassed, right now. God I hate it when I get scared and other people see it.

"Dickhead", I mutter under my breath as I continue to glare angrily at the opposite side of the room. Yeah I get it, I'm probably acting stupid but I'm so incredibly embarrassed right now it's not even funny.

"Well this dickhead is going to bed, care to join me angry one?", Carey sighs, realizing that I'm being as stubborn as hell.

"Fine, only because you're a good cuddler", I groan, struggling to stay angry with him. I mean yeah I'm pissed off about being scared, but he is a good cuddler. I race him to our room and flop on the bed, I suppose yoga pants and a hoodie are good pajamas. He laughs and grabs a towel, disappearing into the bathroom to shower. Thank goodness?

I'm half asleep by the time the bathroom door creaks open and the bed sinks as Carey slowly slides onto his side, trying not to disturb me. Out of habit, he puts his arm around my waist and pulls me into him. We both fall asleep cuddled up next to each other.



"Carey? Oh Caaaarrrreeeeeyyyyyy", I sing as I bustle around the room, getting stuff packed because the plane leaves in an hour. Luckily, we live only fifteen minutes away from the airfield. The lump in the bed groans and shoves his head back into the pillows. Am I really going to have to wake him up the hard way? Guess so.

"GET UP YOU BUTT!", I scream and belly flop on top of Carey. He moans and turtles under the covers. I peel the covers off of him as he tackles me, practically sitting on me.

"Did you just try to wake me up like that?", he says threateningly, but with a teasing glint in his eye. I press a pair of jeans to his bare chest, a smug smile playing upon my lips.

"How bout you get dressed? And I'm digging the plaid boxers", I laugh and finally escape while he's too busy putting pants on. Not that I would mind him in his boxers.

"Shirt?", he says from the other side of room. I grab a shirt from his suitcase and toss it to him.
"Thanks babe."

"Consider me doing the team a favor", he laughs at my comment. "Now let's get going! We're late as usual to the plane!"

He pulls his shirt over his head and puts on the socks and shoes I left for him as I pull my Canadiens hoodie on over my tank top and tie my sneakers. We actually get out to the car at a reasonable time, which is surprising, and arrive at the plane ten minutes before we're scheduled to leave.

"They're here! Whitey, you owe me ten bucks!", PK yells as soon as we get in the plane, causing everyone to laugh in a good natured manner.

"You might get ten bucks, but at least I have a girlfriend", the entire team 'ooooooo's at Carey's remark.

"You win this round Pricey and only because Jess would beat my ass if I won", PK says with a laugh and a wink in my direction. I laugh and sit in my usual seat, next to Brendan. Him and Michael Bournival are the only two other people younger than me on the team, so they're two more younger brothers to me. I'm only 23, which is pretty younger for any NHL player. The plane rumbles as we lift off. Just 2.5 hours until we get to Boston.



We get into Boston at noon, leaving us to our own devices for the rest of the afternoon. I'm down with that. Now that I'm back in the city, I might as well go see a few of the Bruins that I'm still good friends with. And being honest with myself, I still miss Boston and everyone here. My
plan for seeing people is to go out to lunch or something. Yeah, I suck at planning.

Whipping out my phone as we check into the hotel and get to our rooms, I send a quick text to Krej, Bergy, Dougie, Torey, and Soupy.

Willsy: Hey guys, I have a free day. Lunch anyone?

I purposely left Tuukka out because I'm not ready to talk to him yet. I'm probably being so stupid by still holding a grudge, but you just don't do that to your girlfriend at the time.

Krej: You're in town? I'm in.
Willsy: It's game seven dude! Of course I'm in town!
Bergy: Jesse! It's been a while, I'm in too!
Dougie: My favorite Canadien! Of course I'm in.
Willsy: Yay friends! We're just missing Torey and Soupy huh, I'm sure they'll get back to us soon but where are we going?
Torey: Hey sorry I'm just replying now, I'm in!
Soupy: Shoulda just counted me in beforehand haha what's on the menu?
Willsy: Excellent question, how bout that place near the Aquarium? What is it called? Waga something.
Bergy: Right that place, god the food there is great! I think it's called Wagamama.
Krej: Sounds great, let's meet there at one.
Dougie: We'll meet you guys there, see ya soon!
Torey: He's my ride, so seeya!
Soupy: I can make it. THANK GOD FOR GOOD ASIAN FOOD!
Willsy: Alright, I'll see you guys there at one!
Krej: Just don't bring any extra Canadiens with you!
Willsy: Aha don't worry! I won't!

"You going out to lunch with everyone?", Carey asks from the bathroom.

"Yep! Just seeing some old friends, I'll be back at three ish", I yell back, pulling on a pair of blue skinny jeans and throwing on a white shirt. A typical outfit for me is usually a plain shirt, various colored skinny jeans, a hoodie, and sneakers. I try to be as hipster and white girl as possible.

"Have fun and bring me back something!", he shouts. We're that kind of couple, the only way of communication is through yelling. I laugh and shove my phone and the room key in a pocket, scurrying out the door to catch a cab. I guess I should feel bad for telling a lie. I mean, they're Bruins and we're Canadiens. How much worse could it get?


"Ma'am, that'll be $10.63", the cab driver says in a thick Boston accent. You can tell after a while. I hand him a twenty.

"Thank you and keep the change", I say, stepping out onto the curb and closing the door.
Ah Faneuil Hall, busy as usual. Since I've been in Montreal for the past few months, I've completely forgotten where things are, typical me. As I'm looking like an idiot, a strong pair of arms wrap around my waist from behind.

"Jesse!", David practically yells into my ear, I swear to god I forget they're adults sometimes. I break out into a huge smile and give him a huge hug.

"Krej! I've missed you!", I mumble into his shoulder, seeing Patrice behind him. Letting go of David, I quickly wrap Patrice up in a huge hug as well.

"Nice to see you off the ice again Jesse", he says. Only a few people call me Jesse now, most call me Jess or Willsy. Go figure.

"So where is this fantastic place?", I link arms with the both of them and we start off to the restaurant. Along the way, they point out where my favorite places were. It was a well needed trip down memory lane.

We get a table pretty fast and soon enough myself, Krej, and Bergy are deep in conversation.

"Willsy!", Dougie snuck up on us and hugged me from behind. I break out in a huge smile and hug him back tightly.

"Ginge, I've missed you", I say. He hates it when I call him Ginge, so obviously I do. I pull back and hug Torey equally as tight.

"Awww look at my little girl, all grown up", I hear Soupy say from behind Torey, faking a tear. I laugh and hug my third favorite forward on the Bruins. Soupy is like the older brother I don't have, my two sister are older and the brothers are younger. So yes, Soupy is pretty special to me.

Someone clears his throat from next to Krej across the table from me. I turn and instantly my heart swaps places with my stomach. He's here. He looks more tired that usual, dark circles under his eyes. He smiles wryly and looks back down at his menu. I decide to sit across from Krej, in between Soupy and Dougie. I'm going to have a good time regardless of him.

"So Willsy, are you starting tonight?", Bergy asks, trying to start a conversation. Since myself noticing him, the tension has been noticeable. I laugh for the first time since sitting at the table.

"Carey and I made a bet and he lost so I'm starting", I say with a smile at the memory of me kicking Carey's ass in soccer.

"We're so going to hand your ass to you", Soupy says with a laugh.

"I'll tell Whitey and PK to score on Tuukka", I say his name for the first time aloud. In my head, his name never stops being said. At my mention of his name, his head jerks up to look at me. Krej gives me a look, probably in surprise because I always rant over the phone about how much I'm still mad at Tuukka and I refuse to talk about him with anyone else and now I'm
laughing.

Everyone laughs at my comment. The food comes and I'm too busy salivating over the incredible food to notice Tuukka glaring at me. The guys ask me how Montréal is, how Jerm is doing in Anaheim, how the team is treating me. I'm pretty sure they know about me dating Carey. Somehow, we end up there.

"So how is Carey", Tuukka pipes up in a snarky voice. He glares at me, challenging me. The table goes quiet.

"Tuukka, can we go talk over there for a second?", I point to a bench a little bit away from the restaurant. I really don't want something to go down between us in front of my friends.

"Why not.", he obliges and we excuse ourselves, sitting down on the bench. I take a deep breath as he looks angrily at the ground.

"Tuukka, if you're going to be a complete asshole, I suggest that you leave. Never once have I brought up my relationship with Carey, giving you no reason to be jealous. Don't even say that you're not jealous. You are and that's okay. It's human nature. But if you're going to make this awkward for everyone, just stop yourself. This is the first time in the last three months that I'm able to have lunch with my friends, don't ruin that for me", I say exasperatedly. I'm seriously tired of fighting. He puts his head in his hands and doesn't respond. I sigh and get up to rejoin the table.

"He okay?", Krej asks out of concern.

"Yeah, just thinking", I reply.

The rest of lunch goes on without a hitch. We stayed out an extra two hours so by the time I get back to the hotel, it'll be time to leave for the Garden. The cab drops me off in front of the hotel, but not without asking for an autograph first. His daughter and son are fans of mine. The elevator takes forever to get to the fourth floor. Peter Budaj meets me at the elevator doors of the fourth floor.

"Hey Jess, just a fair warning that Carey is, well, very pissed. Just letting you know", Buds puts a hand on my shoulder before disappearing into his room shared with Whitey. Oh shit, Carey never gets mad. Nervous as hell now, I unlock the door with the room key and slowly open the door. Upon first glance, he's not in the room. Confident that no one is in the room, I relax and start digging through my suitcase for a dress and heels.

"Where were you?", I turn to see Carey leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom. I roll my eyes at his overprotectiveness.

"Out with some friends."

"You said you were going to be back two hours ago. Why not?"

"We were having fun and lost track of time. Jeez sooooorrrryyyyy."

"You were with the Bruins, weren't you?"

"Yeah why does it matter?"

"They're the opposing team Jess, you don't go get lunch with the team you're in a Game Seven
with."

"Who gives a shit Carey! They're my friends, what am I not allowed to be friends with them anymore?"

"No, I wasn't saying th-"

"You know what, screw you. You can't tell me who I can and can't he friends with."

"Jocelyn Jesse Williams, listen to me. I just wanted to know where you were, that's all."

"You don't trust me now?"

"No. I don't an-"

"Fine, I get it. Can we not talk about this now. I don't want this to be a distraction before the game. We'll talk about this after.", with that, I change out of my casual clothing and into my dress and heels and walk straight out of the room, ignoring Carey's sad puppy face. Honestly it's killing me on the inside, but he shouldn't be nosing around in my friend choices. I knock on the door of the only two people I'm very good friends with on this team. I'm pretty good friends with everyone, but I trust these two. A only dress pants clad Brendan opens the door.

"May I come in?", I ask, laughing at his appearance.

"Sure, Michael's in the shower, just warning you that you might see more than you want of that kid", he says with a smile and shut the door behind me as I flop on one of the beds.

"I've seen it all on the locker room, doesn't faze me anymore", I sit with my back against the wall, watching at Brendan struggles to get his suit on. Michael finally emerges out of the shower and nearly drops his towel in pure surprise. I laugh and cover my eyes so the poor boy can get some underwear on.


"Is it time to leave yet?", I ask for the hundredth time as Brendan and Michael both finish fixing their ties.

"Yes, jeez woman, patience!", Brendan jokingly scolds as we walk out the door to join the team.

"Where's Carey?", Buds asks me as we get onto the bus. I shrug.

"He's beyond pissed at me because I told him to piss off if he's going to be picky about my friends", I explain as Buds nods his head in understanding.

"He had been muttering about you being late or something. I just assumed he was pissed", he says and pulls out his phone to text his wife about something. His wife is one of the nicest people I've ever met and his kid is hilarious. I always volunteer to babysit.

We pull into the players drop off spot and make the walk to the visiting locker rooms. Quickly, everyone suits up. Carey and I have stalls right next to each other, so it's awkward. I just ignore him and lead the team out onto the ice for warm ups. As I stretch on the ice, I take the time to scope out the competition. There are several Providence call ups playing tonight, two forwards and one D-man.

As I head over to my crease for the start of the game, Carey taps me on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry", he says with a sad smile and I nod understandingly. Game time, no room for Carey or Tuukka.

Third period, we're up 3-1. One minute left and Boston begins a rush towards myself and the net. Krej to Lucic, back to Krej and Krej sends one straight to one of the calls up and the call up takes it to the net. The events that followed seemed to happen in slow motion.

The call up drives the net hard and knocks me over as I'm still half out of my butterfly. My helmet goes flying and the back of my head hits the iron crossbar. Hard. With the call up still on top of me, my head hits the ice harder than it hit the crossbar.

Immediately, the scrum next to me breaks out into chaos as now Montréal wants a piece of the kid who knocked me over. I feel dizzy, like I'm not there. Krej is the first one to notice that my head is gushing an unbelievable amount of blood and he starts shouting at both benches. Both benches empty rapidly. Some go to help the medics and trainers onto the ice, some help the officials restrain team members and others circle about my limo form upon the ice. The entire Garden is in silence.

"Jesse, Jesse please stay with me. Stay with us please", Carey pleads as he kneels down on his pads beside me, gently lifting my head to place one of the guys shirts beneath it. Tuukka comes flying from the other end of the ice and kneels beside me on the other side. An unspoken agreement between the two is set in place of my bleeding, limp body.

Both men are in tears and pick me up, placing me on the stretcher and pushing the stretcher as fast as they can off the ice. The last thing I remember before everything goes black is Tuukka holding my hand tightly.

"Remember that I love you", he whispers in my ear as I am rushed to the ambulance. That is the last thing I hear before it all goes black and I go numb.

Notes

My cousin says that I'm a horribly brilliant person now and she is on team Juukka. Yep, she made ship names