Tongue Tied

It was happening. Alex's worst fear had happened. She was out for dinner with Erica and she ran into Nathan again. Full on, ran into him. They were at some restaurant and she stood to go to the washroom, turned, and smacked into him. She escaped quickly to the washroom, not positive if he recognized her. She looked out to see if the coast was clear. It was.

She took a deep breath as she walked over to Erica. She sat down across from her, letting the breath out. Erica shook her head as she ate. Alex rolled her eyes. They ate in silence before Erica put down her utensils and crossed her hands. Alex knew what was about to be said so she shook her head.

"Oh, just go up to him!" Erica exclaimed.

"No way in hell." Alex scoffed.

"He knows you're here. You're probably driving him crazy." Erica scolded.

"I don't want to be his friend, Er. He fucked me over." Alex spat.

They ate in silence. Erica knew she had no right to meddle with Alex's life but she also knew Alex missed Nathan. She just wanted to see her friend happy. They finished their food and Alex went to the washroom again. Erica took a deep breath and made sure Alex was out of view. Erica walked over to Nathan, who was walking to the door. She hurried her step and grabbed his arm.

"Nathan, right?" She asked, looking up at him.

He nodded at the girl who couldn't be more than five foot. "You were at Five Guys a while back! Kya's friend." He smiled.

"Yeah. Uh, I'm Erica." She started. "Look, I know about you and your ex, Alex."

"What?"

"She's my roommate and I'm out with her right now. I know you keep running into her and it's probably driving you insane not knowing if it's actually her but it is and here's my number." Erica handed him a slip of paper. "Don't approach her about it. I'll just keep you updated on where she is until you can make your move."

Nathan stared at the paper in his hand. He met eyes with the small girl in front of him. She smiled and nodded at him before she ran back to a table. Ryan came over and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him from his thoughts. They walked to Ryan's car in silence. Nathan texted Erica. They made a plan to get Nathan to run into Alex every chance he got.

Nathan couldn't tell anyone. What he was doing could be classified as stalking. But it wasn't like he was finding out where she was on his own, he had someone with her always texting him. He showed up at the mall while she was there with friends. They locked eyes as he walked past the store she was in.

The next place he saw her was at a bar. He conveniently bumped her as he walked to the bar for a drink. He spotted Erica after he ran into Alex. She winked at him and he nodded back. She was either a great friend or a really bad friend.

The final time, and the night he decided he would approach her, was at a team event. Tyson had asked Kya to come with, to which she suggested her friend for Ryan and her other two friends who were hockey fans. He prayed it wasn't Alex coming for Ryan. Erica had texted Nathan that they had arrived. He excused himself from the group he was in. He walked over to where she said they were.

A girl with dark hair, to one side, in a purple gradient dress was sanding at Tyson's side. He had his fingers laced with hers. Nathan smiled a bit. He assumed it was Kya. Ryan was talking with a blonde. Definitely wasn't Alex. The blonde had a white dress that was tight fitting. Her hair was in an up do. He spotted Erica. She was in a blue dress with an open back. Her hair was straight and she was staring him down. He approached her.

"Red dress, messy blondish-brown hair. Your girl. Make your move, kid." She pointed.

Nathan's eyes followed. He met a red dress. Her hair had gotten longer since the first time he saw her in Denver. The blonde was almost fully out of it. She was curvy and it was causing everything in him to not let out a moan. He looked her over. She threw back her head in a laugh. He looked up to see her chatting with Gabe. He felt his heart stop.

"You mean the Smoke Show talking to my equally as attractive captain?" Nathan asked.

"The Smoke Show that only has eyes for you." Erica reassured him before she shoved him off.

He slowly approached the pair. Gabe spotted him and smiled, extending a hand to him. Nathan walked over and stood at Gabe's side. Nathan looked down at Alex, who had a smile on her face. He felt dizzy staring at her. She was just as beautiful as he had always remembered. Her skin was tanner and her hair was short with blonde through it. He liked it.

"Alex, this is the kid, Nathan." Gabe introduced him.

Nathan shook Alex's hand. "Nice to meet you, Nathan." She smirked.

"Likewise. You have a beautiful smile." He complimented.

"Likewise." She chimed.

"Wow, I'll leave you kids to get acquainted." Gabe grinned, leaving them.

They both laughed as Gabe walked away. Nathan titled his head for her to follow him. She did as instructed. He took her to the bar where she sat on a stool and he stood by her side. He ordered them both water since they were underage. She watched him sip from his glass as he looked around. He smiled and waved at people as they passed. It made her smile.

"So this is your life, huh? It's like Mooseheads but double." Alex spoke.

He nodded. "I love it." He smiled.

"I'm happy for you." She told him.

He gave her a smile. "Were you intentionally avoiding me?" He cocked a brow.

She shrugged. "A bit."

"Did you think about that before you came to an Avalanche banquet?" He questioned.

"All I was thinking about was experiencing the banquet. I couldn't care less about running into you." She explained. His face fell. "No offence, but I didn't exactly come to Denver to see you."

They sat in silence. Nathan drank his water, wishing it was something a lot stronger. Alex watched his face for some sort of indication that he wasn't hurt. She couldn't find one. Deep down, she loved it. She wanted him to hurt the way she hurt. She wanted to hurt him so he would know what it was like to be hurt by the person you loved most. He finished water and sat the glass down. He looked up at her with a frown.

"No." She shook her head. "You hurt me, Nathan, really badly. Don't try to make me feel sympathy for you."

"It doesn't make you any better if you're trying to hurt me in retaliation." He spat. "Flirting with Gabe, when you knew I'd be here? Acting like you didn't know me? I get I hurt you, Alex, but it's been a year."

"It's been a year? Are you unaware of the fact that you came home less than three months ago and hurt me again?" She began to shout. He looked around to see if people were looking. "Sorry, I'll keep it down."

"I didn't think that hurt you. I thought you just needed to get everything out of your system." He admitted.

"Yeah, because every girl sleeps with the guy that broke her heart to 'get it out of their system'." She rolled her eyes, standing up.

He grabbed her arm gently. "I don't want this with you." He whined. "I don't want us to rip each other's heads off whenever we see each other."

"What do you want, Nathan?" She sighed.

"To be friends? Is that insane to ask?" He said as he let go of her arm.

She laughed before we fully turned to face him. "There is no way we could ever be friends. You've hurt me too much." She finished before she walked off.

He watched her walk away. Erica stopped her but she brushed her off. Erica frowned after Alex but looked over to him. She sent him daggers. He just took a deep breath. He walked off. He didn't want to deal with Erica right now. He didn't want to deal with anything. Gabe stopped him. He held back a growl as his captain wrapped an arm around him.

"I'm with MacKid." Gabe said. "I just saw you sitting at the bar, what were you drinking this year?"

"Still just water." Nathan chuckled.

"Because you're thirteen." Gabe smirked.

"Fourteen now." Nathan corrected.

"Ah, I forgot you just had your birthday pass." Gabe exclaimed. "So, short hair, huh?"

"Fresh look for the new season." Nathan shrugged.

"And for the new girls." Gabe teased. "Nate was just with a lovely lady at the bar."

Nathan rolled his eyes as Gabe grinned. They finished there. Gabe went off the harass more teammates while Nathan went to go home. He reached the back of the venue and walked out. Alex was standing on the street, waiting for a cab. She spotted Nathan and a small growl escaped from her chest. She stomped over to him. He jumped when she appeared at his side.

"You're not leaving." She stated.

"Why?" He huffed.

"Because I'm so fucking over you leaving your sports events because of me. Get inside there and chat with your fans. Jesus Christ." She hissed.

"I'm not leaving because of you." He lied.

"Please, go back inside." She begged.

He took a deep breath and nodded. He turned around and pulled open the back door. He turned back to look at her. She climbed into a cab. She sat in the backseat and leaned forward to tell the driver her address. Her head turned and she met Nathan's eyes. She sent him a nod before the cab drove away.

Notes