Behind the Glass

It felt weird for me to be going to a Stars team dinner because I technically wasn't part of the organization anymore, but the guys insisted that I come with. At the dinner, Tyler and I decided that it would be a good idea to tell everyone about us, and I was beyond nervous, but I knew that all of the guys would be accepting and happy about it.

As I finish curling the last piece of my hair, I hear a knock on the door.

"I'm decent you can come in!" I say, adding in a quick laugh at the end.

"Well I've seen you indecent, so I don't think that applies to me." I hear Tyler joke when he shuts the door. I put the curling iron down, and walk into the bedroom. Once I see Tyler sitting on the edge of the bed, I do a quick twirl to show him my outfit.

"Do I look okay?" I ask, bitting my lip. Tyler knew I was nervous about tonight, and even though he wouldn't admit it, I knew he was too. Tyler stood up from the bed, and pulled me into his arms. "You look amazing, as always Rae." He said, pulling my lips to his for a quick kiss. I couldn't help but smile whenever Tyler would kiss me, he always knew how to make me the happiest.

"Thanks Ty." I said while blushing. I break away from his embrace, and put on my heels. But even with the few extra inches, I was still a lot shorter than all the guys.

"Let's go!" I said, pulling Tyler out of the room and towards the door. Tonight was definitely going to be interesting.

~~~~~~

I sat between Tyler and Jamie at the table, practically shaking the entire time because I was so worried about how everyone would react. It's not like I could help being nervous, we had kept this from the team for so long, and I usually tell them everything. They're all like my brothers for god's sake. Under the table, Tyler rubs the back of my hand with his thumb to try and calm me down. It didn't really work, but I sent him a thankful smile anyway. Tyler smiled back, and I could tell he was ready.

I watch Tyler stand up from his seat, and gather everyone's attention. I take a deep breath and look up at him. I still couldn't believe Tyler and I were dating. Whenever I'm with him, I feel like I'm on cloud nine and I never want to come down.

"Hey everyone! So you might be wondering why my stupid ass is standing up," Tyler starts, making some of the guys laugh. "But I have an announcement, well actually Raegan and I do." He reached his hand for me, basically telling me to stand up. I suddenly get extremely nervous.

"Rae and I are a couple! And we have been for a few months, but we wanted to wait to tell all of you because of her going to work with the Hawks." Tyler said, causing everyone to cheer and clap. This lifted a huge weight off my chest, and I actually genuinely smiled for once tonight. Ty pulled me into his side, and pulled me into a quick kiss, which we both happened to smile into.

"Get it Rae!" Said Eaves.

"Finally Seggy has a good girl!" Said Val.

"Break her heart and I'll kick your ass!" Said both Jordie and Jamie at the same time.
I couldn't help but laugh and smile at all of their ridiculous comments, but it did help me realize that I was nervous for no real reason.

~~~~~~

{ Two Days Later - Game Day }

I was both excited, and sad that it was game day. I was excited because it was my first official game with the Blackhawks, but I was also sad because this was the first game that I wasn't spending with the Stars. I needed to get these emotions out of my head though so I could focus solely on what my players needed.

As Tyler and I arrived at the arena, I took in all the familiar sights and sounds that I was missing. It only took me a minute before I was ready to go in. We walked hand in hand up to the Stars locker room. We stopped outside, and turned to face each other.

"This is where I leave you Ty Bear." I say, smiling up at him. He pulls me into a quick hug and kisses the top of my head.

"I'll see you after the game right?" He questions.

"Duh! I'm not letting anyone get in the way of me spending my last night in Dallas with my boyfriend." I say, pulling him into a quick kiss.

"That sounds awesome to me baby." He says, pulling my body into his for yet another kiss, but this one was more passionate.

"Oh, Rae, there you are! I was wondering-" A voice said, scaring me and causing me to jump away from Tyler. I look in the direction from where the voice came from, and saw Jonny. My cheeks instantly turned a deep shade of red, knowing I would be getting a lot of shit for this.

"I gotta go babe. I'll see you after the game. Good luck." I say quickly, pecking Tyler's lips, and heading past Jonny to the away locker room. But before I could ever get halfway there, Jonny caught up to me and grabbed my wrist.

"Rae what the hell was that?" He asked me in disbelief. I looked up at him, and I couldn't quite read what he was feeling. I took in a deep breath, and stood confidently.

"You just saw me kissing my boyfriend Jonny." I say, putting emphasis on the word boyfriend.
Jonny looked taken aback. His face broke slightly, and he leaned away from me slightly, dropping my wrist. This all confused me. Why was he acting like this?

"Jonny are you okay?" I asked, genuinely concerned. He instantly changed his demeanor, putting on a more confident one.

"Don't worry about me Rae, just go worry about the other idiots in the locker room waiting for you to arrive." He said, adding a small smile to the end. I was still worried about him. He was acting weird, and as someone he's known his entire life, it's up to me to find out.

~~~~~~

I walked into the dressing room, and was instantly engulfed in a huge group hug made up of massive hockey players all saying how much they missed me.

"If I'm really your favorite trainer, you probably shouldn't try to kill me!" I say while being crushed. All the guys laugh and let me go, except for Kaner.

"Patrick Timothy Kane Jr., if you don't let me go right now I will make your life a living hell!" I threaten him, causing the other guys to laugh.

"No!" He says, shifting his body so he can throw me over his shoulder. I let out a squeal, and was met with my face in Kaner's ass.

"Kaner, nobody gives you enough credit for your ass. People say Tazer's is the best but I don't think they've ever seen yours before." I joke. A couple of the guys laugh, even Jonny, which makes me smile.

After hanging upside down for a couple of minutes, and multiple ass slaps for both me and Kaner, he finally decides to put me down. I stand up, and brush off my shirt, acting as if nothing just happened and say, "Now, I've got work to do boys," and walk out of the locker room.

~~~~~~

The game was a thrill ride from beginning to end, with the Hawks winning in a shootout 3-2. Yet again I found myself feeling both happy and sad, happy because of the win for the Hawks, but sad because of the loss for the Stars. I know I'll always be torn between these two teams.

"Is everyone decent?" I yelled into the Stars locker room.

I was answered with a chorus of yeses, so I peeked my head in just to be safe. Thankfully everyone was dressed, and I was met with a couple of half smiles.

"I just came to say my goodbyes to most of you guys since I'm leaving with my cry babies early tomorrow morning." A couple of the guys laugh at my comment about the Hawks, but most of the guys come and pull me into a hug. It was a lot like the one I got earlier, except this one was filled with smelly guys, but I put up with it because I was really gonna miss them.

I couldn't help but let a couple tears fall when I said goodbye to all of the guys. Tyler, who was all dressed and ready to leave, wiped the tears from my eyes.

As I walked out of the locker room for the last time for a while, I turned back and said, "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone! I love you guys!" I heard a chorus of "I love you" as I walked down the hall, and at that point, it was even harder to try and keep back the tears. Tyler pulled me into his arms, and rocked me back and fourth while we stood in the parking lot. This goodbye was even harder than the first one, but I knew eventually I'd see them again soon.

~~~~~~

Since it was late, and Tyler was extremely worn out from the game, we decided to just watch movies until we fell asleep which was really easy for Tyler, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how weird Jonny was acting earlier. He's never acted like that before, like he just got his heart ripped out of his chest. Around me he's always been his usual awkward self, except for after losses of course, but this just felt different. I need to talk to him about it tomorrow.

I decide to quickly shoot the boys a text in the group chat:

R: Can't believe I'm stuck with you guys on a plane tomorrow. Please don't kill me!

I let out a small chuckle, and put my phone on the closest charger. I think about all of the exciting adventures to come, and I can't wait for them. This year was definitely going to be one for the history books.

Notes

[a/n]
Hello everyone!!! I'm just shooting this update out there for you because I finally found some time to write with my busy schedule. (drill team and sat prep kick my butt on the daily) Thank you for reading and please comment and vote! It means the world to me!
-Courtney