Chapter Forty Nine
'...Dammit...' I growled as my teammates and I walked off of the ice and headed towards the locker room, angry at the fact that we had just lost our final game and our season was over with. It was Sunday, April 15th, I had been with the Bears for a month.

Not once had the Capitals called me back up and I was growing rather irritated that I was being treated like this. Contact from everyone except Dennis stopped and I was realizing that the guys were doing ok without me. They were in the first round of playoffs, and the best part, was that the Capitals were against the Bruins. The first game was in Boston three days ago, Boston had won in overtime with the final score being one to zero. Although, last night the Bruins lost in the second overtime period with the final score being two to one.
Milan didn't play the first game because he had hurt his shoulder in the last regular season game against the Sabres, but when he came back in the second game, he got into a fight with Green, we all knew that was coming.

I was finishing up in the locker room, the door opened and some reports walked in, they came over to me and wondered that since the Bears' season was over, was I going to be brought back up to the Capitals. I told them I didn't know what was going on, grabbed my things and then walked out of the locker room. I made it down the hall and turned the corner, only to be met by a pair of arms.

"You did good out there," I heard and looked up to see Brad standing there.

"What are you doing here?" I asked and he smirked and turned his head.

"We came to support you, just you," he said and I smirked and kissed his cheek, looking past him to see Tyler, Nathan, Tuukka, Andrew, Zdeno and Milan.

"I played like shit," I said and Brad wrapped his arm around my shoulder and shook his head.

"You played well," he said and I sighed and walked over towards Milan.

"Don't you have a game tomorrow?" I asked and Milan nodded his head.

"It's only a two and a half hour drive from here," he said and then kissed my forehead.

"You're coming to the game, right Red?" Tyler asked and I laughed and then shook my head,

"Aw come on!"

"I need to pack up my room, be here to clean my locker out, things like that," I said and Tyler waved me off.

"When will you clean your locker out?" Milan asked.

"Eleven tomorrow morning," I said and then sighed, "What time's the game?"

"Seven thirty," Brad answered and I started to run through my schedule.

"It'll take me probably about two hours to clean out my locker, answer interviews and things," I said and then sighed, "If I'm on the road by three thirty, I'll make it in time for your game."

"So you'll come?!" Tuukka asked and I laughed.

"I'll try," I said and the guys nodded their heads.

"I'll leave a ticket at will call," Milan said and I snorted.

"Please, all I have to do is walk through the player door," I said and the guys laughed, "It's
gunna be weird going back there, though," I said and Milan sighed and kissed my forehead.

"And they haven't said anything about having you back?" Andrew asked and I shook my head, "That's so messed up."

"I know," I said and then noticed that the reporters were making their way down the hall and decided that we should move this little reunion somewhere else, "When are you guys heading out?"

"Now," Zdeno said and I looked at Milan sadly, "Sorry, but we need to be there for our morning skate and we're already going to be breaking curfew."

"It's all right," I said and then walked with the guys outside to the player parking lot. They walked over towards their rented SUV and I watched as the seven of them looked at me.
"I wish we could stay longer," Brad said as I nodded my head and watched as he came up to me and hugged me, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hopefully," I said and then one by one hugged the guys before they climbed into the SUV. Milan was the last, apparently he had called shotgun, so he leaned against the door and looked down at me.

"I'll see you soon, Lyss," he said and I gave him a small smile and watched as he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. I felt his arms wrap around my waist and I wrapped mine around his neck and cupped his neck.

We laughed a little as we pulled away after hearing some of the guys cheering from inside of the SUV, "You'd better get going," I said and Milan smirked towards me, kissed my cheek and then opened the passenger door, "Call me when you get there."

"We will," Milan said and then closed the door and rolled down the window.

"Drive safely," I told Zdeno because he was driving. It was late, almost midnight and the guys wouldn't be getting into Arlington for a while yet. I watched as they drove off and then walked towards my car and got in. I texted my sister telling her that I was going to be coming home tomorrow night, she didn't reply, I figured she was sleeping.

I drove back to the hotel and then started to pack my things up. I went to bed around three in the morning, staying awake to wait for the guys to text me telling me that they made it there all right. Once I had that, as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out.

-Milan-
"Did you leave her a ticket?" Zdeno asked and I nodded my head, "Did you really need to?"

"I don't know, but I left one just in case," I said and he nodded his head as we all were getting dressed and ready for Game 3 of the playoffs against the Capitals. My phone went off and I looked to my side, picked it up from the bench and looked to see that Alyssa was texting me saying that she was here, I smiled brightly and then showed the text to Zdeno.

"I'm happy for you, Looch," he said and I nodded my head.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, we all looked towards it to see a redhead pop her head into the room with her eyes closed, "Is it safe?" we all laughed and told her to open her eyes, she smiled brightly and then walked into the room because we were all decent.

"So which team are you going to be cheering for?" Tyler asked as Alyssa walked over and took a seat next to me.

"The winner," she laughed and I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Guess we'll have to make sure that the winner is us," Brad laughed and Alyssa smiled up towards me.

"I'm glad you made it," I said and she nodded her head, "How was today?"

"Hard," she said referring to the fact that she had to clean out her locker.

"We caught your interview," I said and she nodded her head, "Ice cream, really?"

"What? I love ice cream!" she said and I laughed and shook my head.

"Yo Looch, check it out! Red's on TV!" Tyler said as we came into the locker room from morning skate.

I looked at the TV and saw that some of the others were watching it too. It was live from the Hershey Bears' locker room and the one reporter was in the middle of interviewing Alyssa.

"So since you don't know if you're going to be brought back up to the Capitals, if this is your final game of the season, what do you plan on doing?"

"Eating lots of junk food, ice cream in general," she said and we all laughed, "I don't get to eat the stuff during the season so once it's over, I indulge myself for a week and then after I got back onto my strict diet and started to train."

"Sort of a reward for trying your hardest?" the reporter asked and Alyssa nodded her head,
"Well now I'm in the mood for it," she said and she and Alyssa laughed, "Well you heard it here, I'm Alison Kramer for ESPN news and Alyssa Brace and I are screaming for ice cream."

"So are you going to go after Green again, or are you just going to let it go?" Alyssa asked and I sighed and looked at her.

"What do you think?" I asked and she sighed and leaned against him.

"Just let it go, Milan, it's over with," she said and I looked at her, "I don't want you getting hurt or getting in trouble."

"I'll be fine," I said and then kissed her forehead, "Where are you sitting today?"

"In the press box," she said and I shook my head, not liking that idea.

"I got you that ticket," I said and she nodded her head.

"Yeah, but that's in the stand. I don't want to sit there, I'll be fine in the box, I'll see you after the game," Alyssa said and then stood up and kissed my cheek, "Good luck out there."

"You know I wish you were out there too, regardless of which team," I said and she sighed.

"I know, Milan, I know."