Only

"And the game-winning goal slides under Carlo's stick!! 25 with a bullet to end the Bruins troubles! Hellebuyck was sold to the forehead, but Carlo flicked it backhand! Bruins win in OT against the Jets!" Jack Edwards was enthusiastic as ever. "How sweet is that Brick?!"

"Very sweet Jack, very deserving. When you play a team with this much intensity you really have to push yourself a step above—" Andy Brinkley trailed off as the TD Garden crowd went wild.

Alexa was shocked as she pulled Liam up to hug him. Addy gasped.

"What just happened?!"

"Your mans just won!!" Alexa giggled as Liam threw his hands up in the air, hoping for a 3 Stars Of The Game stick. Alexa turned her mic off for the night.

Addy's heart raced, her sleeves twisting around her hands as she sighed. She was full of energy as she blushed. She was ready to go upstairs to the Legends Club, and hopefully sneak into the back entrance where the players could be found after games. And besides, Liam would love to congratulate the players. But all Addy needs is the approval of just one, her hero.

Running up the gray stairs, speeding through the winding concourse, until taking an escalator down to the action. Liam ran over to a group of players dressed in suits as Alexa observed that there was a rookie Bruins Beat reporter that was doing great. His name was Riker. She was fine with that. Besides, veterans get during game, rookies get postgame. Liam got his autographs and smiles from Spooner, Vatrano, and Krug. "Thank you!" He loved Adam McQuaid the most though.

Addy distanced from her siblings to keep poking her head, room after room. She eventually found Brad Marchand by himself, putting a duffel bag down.

"Brad!" Addy grinned. She hadn't been genuinely happy in a while. The memories of her adventure to save her own sister, with the help of her sister's boyfriend, were sentimental.

"Stardust!" Brad waved. "Is Lex around?" He raised an eyebrow, hoping for a-

"Yes! We brought Liam tonight too. Great game by the way." Addy turned to keep walking forward, as Brad walked down the hall in the opposite direction.

"Yeah. Monte came in clutch!" Brad laughed down the hallway until Addy could hear a very far off,

"Oh my god no way!" From Alexa.

Addy smiled to herself as she heard the shutter of cameras and scribbles of paper as players and coaches left the Garden, the media getting all of the desired answers.

But what Addy saw next was what suddenly removed her smile. The butterfly feeling in her stomach flipped. She saw a fair skinned man dressed sharply in a gray tuxedo with sandy hair and a growing goatee from the back at least, as he linked arms with a relatively shorter girl who smiled dreamily up towards him. This girl had purple hair.

What was Addy seeing?

Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was Kuraly. That's bullshit.

Being so frozen, so awkwardly transfixed in watching the end hallway, John Whitesides piped up behind Addy. "What are you doing here so late, missy? If you aren't Bruce or Riker, I don't want to talk."

"I'm sorry. I'll get going."

Why Riker? Why did he want to talk to Bruce?

Addy ran down the hall and out the door, to the exact same back door of the TD Garden she met Tyler under. Her breath was visible in the stale December air as she tried to catch it. She panicked, she was disappointed, more specifically she fled the building, separating herself from her family. But she did it for the person she loved.

Maybe he wasn't around for the media. Maybe he had family here tonight. Maybe he went out a different door and was parked somewhere else. That's all.

Around the corner, a Mercedes-Benz whipped past the Garden and out towards the security booth. In the driver's seat, Brandon Carlo had his hands on the wheel and his gaze was fixed straight ahead, as on the passengers side, the girl with the purple hair and her confident smile wrapped into a small smirk, connecting with Addy through her eyes. It was like Addy was looking at a reflection of herself.

"Oh my god." Addy muttered as she watched the car drive off into the streets of Boston.
It's like I don't exist...

"You cold, stardust? Want a snow day tomorrow, or hypothermia?" Brad chirped as he was also leaving, and unlocked his car, walking past Addy.

"I'm going to Bergy's after, then planning on crashing at Alexa's...sooo" He announced his plans for the night proudly.

"Can I just have a ride?" Addy asked plainly.

"Yeah. Of course. Anything for the little sister in law."

Addy wasn't in the mood for humor, even though her life was starting to seem more like a joke.

"Brad, do I exist?"

Notes

and we're back om-