Crossing the Line

“Where’s your other half?” Adam teased seeing Tuukka without Logan. Milan and the rest of the guys in the room laughed. “She didn’t want to be caught dead with the guy who was seen driving the Mutts and Cuts van through the streets,” Tuukka threw back and everyone laughed at Milan’s expense. “She’s going to be bummed she missed out though. There’s nothing that girl loves more than Valentina. She was begging me to go trick or treating a few weeks ago before she took a shift,” Looch said with laughter and a shake of his head. “By the way Dougie, she says thanks for the costume,” Tuukka said and everyone turned to teasing the young defensemen. “I know you’re all jealous but you need to stop before I freeze the city over,” Dougie threatened raising his hands as if to cast a spell. “Let it go, let it go, can’t hold it back anymore, let it go, let it go, turn away and slam the door,” Torey burst into the room singing with Mel behind him shaking her head as if to say ‘What am I going to do with him?’ “I don’t care, what they’re going to say, let the storm rage on,” Dougie joined in twirling in a circle. “The cold never bothered me anyway,” the rest of the guys sang dramatically. “We leave them alone for five minutes and it turns into a Disney sing-a-long,” Britt shook her head looking at the men signing. “Uncle Dougie why aren’t you Elsa?” Valentina asked from under her dinosaur hood. The room erupted with laughter, Dougie included. “I’m not Elsa tonight because Auntie Logan borrowed my costume to wear at work,” Dougie said noticing her disappointment seemed less when he said someone was wearing it. “Can we trick-or-treat now?” Loui Eriksson’s daughter asked Mikaela trying to be quiet. The guys all started to file out the door and head for the streets of the North End to get candy with the kids.

Logan shuffled out of the elevator trying to pretend she wasn’t dead on her feet. “You look like you could use a nap,” Tuukka commented startling her. With a confused look on her face Logan looked at Tuukka then at her watch and back at Tuukka. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You have a game today why aren’t you in bed?” Logan chastised walking over to him and allowing herself be engulfed in his comforting embrace. “We always sleep together the night before a home game, eat breakfast together and then take a pregame nap. Even when you have to work we figure it out,” Tuukka said reminding her of their routine even though she knew and loved it. Logan rolled her eyes and looked up at him wanting to just go to bed after a shower. “We’re going to my place since it’s closer for morning skate we can sleep in a little,” Tuukka said wrapping an arm around Logan as they walked out to the car. “Seriously Tuuks you should be asleep,” Logan said stifling a yawn and leaning her head against the window. “I’ll go to bed when you get in the shower and I’ll go to sleep soon after,” he promised driving quickly through the early morning streets of Boston thanking everyone for using public transportation rather than driving. “Did she send you an pictures?” Tuukka asked referring to the woman whose shift Logan had covered so she could take her son trick or treating for the first time. Logan grinned and showed him a picture of a little boy in a Buzz Lightyear costume while gushing about how cute he was.

“I’m going to bed but I’ll wait up until you get out,” Tuukka said as he and Logan headed for the master bed and bathroom. Logan nodded her head and walked into the bathroom to see he had already set out everything she would need from towel to pajamas. Smiling the whole time Logan took the fastest shower possible, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep with her best friend. After throwing her damp hair in a bun Logan quietly made her way across the room to the bed. “You’re the best person I know. Just don’t tell Jackie or Cam,” Logan whispered cuddling up to Tuukka. He chuckled and promised not to tell them if she promised to sleep in. “I pinky swear,” Logan said locking her pinky with his in the dark. “Can we go to sleep now?” she asked with a yawn. Tuukka chuckled softly again and fell asleep almost immediately making Logan happy. She lay awake for a while with her head on his chest listening to his heartbeat and making a mental list of everything she had to do before the game.

“This has been an exciting home game stint. A goal and three assists, none of which I was present for,” Jackie commented sipping her tea looking at the red head across from her. Dougie held his hands up in defense. “It’s not my fault you pick all the wrong games to go to,” he said feeling her leg brush against his when she shifted. Jackie just raised her eyebrows, keeping her gaze on his face while taking another sip. Outside of their lunch dates every Friday they hadn’t spent much time one-on-one and neither approached the elephant in the room that was their drunken make out. Jackie found herself thinking about it more than she was willing to admit and sitting across from him she found it hard not to stare at his lips when he spoke, remembering the feel of them against hers. She groaned internally when she realized she was analyzing the kiss while she was with him, something she had vowed not to do but couldn’t stop once she started. She didn’t know what it meant to him. Or what it meant to herself for that matter. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Jackie asked bringing her thoughts back to the present and looking at Dougie who just laughed. “I asked if you were tired and wanted to head home for a nap. It’s only two o’clock but it’s been a long day for you,” Dougie repeated smiling at her. “That is the best idea I’ve heard all day,” Jackie admitted already thinking about curling up with Tazer. After a brief argument about whose turn it was to buy lunch Jackie conceited and let Dougie pay, most likely for the second week in a row. The walk back to their building was short and quiet, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. “Thanks for lunch,” Jackie said when the elevator stopped at her floor. Surprising them both she kissed his cheek before making her way to her condo.

Adam raised his eyebrows when Dougie walked through the door frowning in confusion, but Dougie just ignored him. He knew he liked Jackie that much was easy to determine what he couldn’t figure out was how she felt about him. He couldn’t decide if she had kissed him because she was drunk and he was there or if the alcohol had only served as liquid courage. He was leaning on the counter eyebrows knit when there was a knock on the door. When Adam realized that Dougie wasn’t moving to answer it he rolled his eyes and got the door. “Can I nap here? Logan has literally every wife and girlfriend in our place right now plus the kids for God knows what. Val wouldn’t let me take Tazer so it’s just me,” Jackie said, her exhaustion evident in her voice. “You can sleep in my room if you want, I just cleaned it,” Dougie offered moving to the door. He watched as relief instantly washed over Jackie’s body but noticed a look flash across her face. He wondered what it meant. “I know you’re missing your nap buddy. If you really need one I’m not Tazer but I’m available,” he teased leading her to his room. “You do realize that the chances of me taking you up on that are very high right?” Jackie asked glancing at him and feeling a slight flutter in heart when she saw his blush. “It’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before,” Jackie said trying to seem nonchalant but her face betrayed her. “So I take it you’re in the market for a nap buddy, be warned this nap doesn’t come with a make out because I’m not into necrophilia type situations,” Dougie said trying to ease the nerves in the air. Jackie grinned, so he would kiss her again. “Well then I would say you owe me Hamilton. You’re lucky I like you or I wouldn’t take an ‘I owe you’,” Jackie said slipping off her shoes before sliding into bed after him. Dougie just chuckled and told her to get some sleep, she needed it.

Alex was only half listening to the audio; nothing had been interesting for the last couple of days, when something peaked his interest. A voice he couldn’t identify addressed Logan asking her about their relationship. For the first time he was able to hear what she thought and found himself upset with the result. “Honestly Katie, he’s a really nice guy but half the time I was out with him I was wishing I was with Tuuks doing whatever it was we were doing. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy my time with him it’s just that I always enjoy myself the most with Tuukka,” Logan said heaving a sigh. Alex growled in frustration, why couldn’t she see they were perfect together? He and Logan were made for each other, not Logan and Tuukka. “They’ve been in a relationship for years but she’s too stupid to realize,” a different voice muttered. “No we aren’t,” Logan quipped giving Alex more fuel. If she wasn’t in a relationship with Tuukka then her feelings for him were purely platonic and he could easily convince her they were meant to be. Pleased with his new information Alex texted Logan to see if she was free the next night and wanted to hang out. He listened to the live audio as she received the message and asked the group she was with if she had anything going on. “We have WAG stuff in the morning and then you have lunch but you’re free tomorrow night,” someone said and Alex was surprised by how well they seemed to know each other’s schedules, he would have to remember that. When she responded Alex set up a time to pick her up and moved away from his laptop. He picked up the GoPro he had taken apart, reconstructed and placed in fake sunflowers. He knew Logan would love having a bouquet that would never die and had learned that the best place to hide a camera was in plain sight since no one would suspect it. He studied the flowers, inspecting each one to make sure the camera wasn’t obvious before checking their streaming connection on his laptop. Pulling up the window he saw it divided into six sections each showing a different part of the room that the sunflower was facing. Alex smiled to himself. Now he wouldn’t see to take any more pictures outside her work and risk being caught or hang around her apartment hearing the dog growl inside as if he knew, now he had constant access to Logan both audibly and visually.

Notes

This sounds mental but do you ever write something and slowly start to realize it unintentionally seems similar to something in your life? It dawned on me about an hour ago that my relationship with my best friend is similar to Logan and Tuukka's. We're in a relationship only without the actual relationship part, gotta love him. So yeah, that's my story for the day.