Follow the Echoes // Ryan Lindgren, New York Rangers

Chapter Nine

"Syd... Syd... get up."

Sydney feels a pair of hands shake her lightly. Her eyes slowly open and a sharp pain immediately reaches her head. She winces and glares at Jade, who is trying to get her to wake up for some reason. Sydney lightly swats Jade's hand away from her.

"It's time to get up and go for a run," Jade coos at the younger woman.

Sydney does not feel good. Her head is ringing, and the sharp pain has not left her head yet. All she wants to do is close her eyes and go back to sleep. She has no idea what Jade is talking about. She is not going for a run.

"I'm serious, get up!" Jade places her hands back on Sydney, "Ryan is waiting downstairs."

Ryan. Oh fuck. Everything she said to Ryan last night while under the influence of alcohol has suddenly rushed into her head. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

"What do you mean he is downstairs?" Sydney manages to croak out.

Jade hands Sydney a bottle of water.

"Ryan said you both agreed that he was going to train you for that relay marathon. I know how much you want to beat that guy from work, and I think it's great that Ryan is going to help!"

"Oh my god."

Sydney slowly sits up so she can take a large gulp out of the bottle of water.

"Chris would have been more than happy to help you if you had asked," Jade continues.

Sydney did not intend to actually train with Ryan. She had no idea why she asked him to when they were bantering on the streets last night. He was desperate to get her to cooperate with him, but she did not think he was actually going to help her. Now is a god awful time for him to keep his word to her. Sydney feels like absolute shit right now. There is no way she is going to be able to keep up with Ryan without throwing up.

"Tell Ryan I can't do it today," Sydney hands Jade the water bottle and clutches her head with her free hand.

Her phone buzzed immediately after she said that. She reaches across the bed for her phone and checks the message. The message is from Ryan.

Don't even think about backing out.

Sydney groans.

"Fuck off, Lindgren."

Jade raises both hands up defensively.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I'll leave you be. You do what you have to do, but I think you should start training today if you're going to beat that guy."

Jade knows how badly Sydney wants to beat Darian at the marathon relay. She has heard countless stories of Darian challenging her and beating her during said challenges. Sydney is itching to win a competition against Darian. Sydney knows Jade is trying to push her to overcome this hangover to start the journey of beating Darian, but it is extremely difficult when her head is pounding and her body is punishing her for merely being conscious.

The older woman places the water bottle on Sydney's bedside table before leaving the room. Sydney's phone buzzes again.

You better be ready within the next ten minutes or I'm dragging you out of this house kicking and screaming.

Sydney curses.

"I fucking hate Lindgren."

She opens her messages with Aurora and sends her a quick message.

SOS – Ryan is here and trying to make me run with him to train for that marathon. Give me an excuse to not do that. Lunch?

Aurora views her message and begins typing immediately. Within seconds, Aurora sent her a response back.

Sorry, can't! I'm getting lunch with Igor.

Sydney raises an eyebrow. Igor. She remembers seeing the two chat each other up at the bar. She also remembers Ryan telling her that Igor was going to take Aurora back to the hotel last night. This is totally unexpected. Of all the people she expected Aurora to make a move on, Igor is almost last on her list. He does not even seem like Aurora's type. She is usually into more studious and assertive men. Although Sydney does not know the goaltender well, she knows for a fact that he does not fit the bill.

Igor, huh?

Sydney sends a smirking emoji with the text message.

Shut it, Syd! We're just getting lunch.

Suuuuuure. Just lunch.

Leave my nonexistent love life alone and go get ready to break a sweat with ~Ryan~.

Sydney rolls her eyes.

There is nothing to this. He's trying to torment me because he knows I'm hungover as fuck.

"Sydney!" Ryan's voice reverberates from downstairs.

Fuck it. I'm going to do this. I'm not going to give Ryan the satisfaction of seeing me quit, Sydney leaves her bed to pick out her running outfit. She probably looks like shit right now so she is hoping that her outfit will mask that fact. She finds a pair of black leggings, a bright pink sports bra, and a black cropped track jacket.

She quickly undresses and slips on her running outfit.

"Shoes, shoes, shoes," Sydney grabs the first pair of socks she can find in her top drawer and looks around her room frantically to find a pair of sneakers.

She ignores her pounding head momentarily in search of any pair of sneakers to slip on. She finds a pair of black Nike sneakers under her bed and pulls them out. She slips her socks and then the sneakers on. After she is fully dressed, she runs to her bathroom to freshen up and remove last night's makeup from her face. After she is done, she stares at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes look sullen and there are bags under her eyes. She definitely did not sleep well last night.

"SK, we're just going running, what the hell is taking so long?" Ryan's voice sounds closer than downstairs.

It is possible he is standing outside her door at this point.

"I'm coming!" She yells back.

Sydney pulls her hair in a high ponytail and checks her reflection one last time. This is the best I can do right now, Sydney tells herself. It is not that she looks bad, she just looks pale and exhausted. She does not need to look stellar for a late morning run, but it is not ideal that there is no life in her eyes now.

She grabs her phone from the bed and finally throws open the bedroom door to see Ryan standing impatiently. He examines her outfit briefly before opening his mouth for a remark.

"It's just a run. You don't need to look your best for anyone, definitely not for me."

Sydney walks past him to descend the staircase, making sure to bump into him as she makes her way down the stairs.

"Not everyone can get ready in ten minutes," Sydney mutters under her breath, "Especially when you show up unannounced."

"Hey, you asked for my help so here I am!"

She sighs in exhaustion as she makes it to the bottom of the staircase.

"Fill up your bottle before you leave. You're going to be dehydrated," Ryan comments.

Sydney walks over to the kitchen to pour the contents of the Brita into her water bottle. She does not like how Ryan is bossing her around right now, but she does appreciate his commitment to her cause. Deep down, she knows Ryan just wants to torment her. Maybe after today's run, he is not going to commit to making her run again. He took her home last night and noticed how intoxicated she was. He knew she was going to be hungover this morning. This is her punishment for last night. But still, if she wants to beat Darian, today is a start. Assuming I don't throw up,Sydney thinks to herself sardonically.

"Good, let's go!" Ryan beckons for her to follow him out the door.

Sydney groans for what feels like the thousandth time this morning.

"Bye Jade!" She calls out to her sister-in-law before walking out the door after Ryan.

She can hear Jade faintly from upstairs before she closes and locks the door behind her. Ryan holds the elevator door open for her and she steps inside in haste.

"Where are we going?"

Ryan grins.

"Central Park."

Sydney stares at the blonde defenseman, exasperated.

"That's like five miles from here!"

He shrugs nonchalantly.

"It's pretty close to my condo and is a good spot for us."

Her look of surprise turns to a glare quickly. Of course, he is out to torture her today. Knowing Ryan, he is going to make her run until she coughs out her lungs and then make her take the train home by herself while he just takes a quick five-minute walk to get to his place.

"Where is your condo again?" Sydney asks, trying not to let her frustration with him get the best of her.

"Upper East Side, on 61st," Ryan responds.

"Fancy," she muses aloud, "didn't know a non-elite defenseman like you can live the high life like that."

Ryan scoffs at her sad attempt at getting under his skin. The elevator door opens, allowing the two to leave the penthouse building. He beckons for her to follow him, not waiting for her to catch up before he starts jogging down the street.

"Let's see if you can outrun this non-elite defenseman!"

Sydney curses under her breath and follows suit without another word.

-*-

After their run at Central Park, Ryan decides to take it easy on Sydney and invites her to lunch. The last thing he wants to do is have lunch with just Sydney, but it felt like the right thing to do after the two jogged four miles to get to the park and five miles at the park. Sydney looked like hell but surprisingly, she was able to endure some long-distance running. They did not run very fast, but they were able to do the five miles at a consistent pace. Since neither of them ate today, they have no choice but to hit up the nearest café to put food in their bodies.

Even if it is the last place he wants to be, he is sitting across from Sydney in the booth seat at the café. She looks intently at the menu, biting her bottom lip as she ponders over what to order. He tries not to pay too much attention to the bottom lip and scolds himself for even giving it the time of day.

"What's the most expensive item on this menu?" Sydney wonders aloud.

Ryan rolls his eyes.

"I invited you to lunch but I didn't say I was paying."

Sydney pouts as she puts the menu down. She glances at him for a brief moment, as if studying him. For once, she did not say anything for a while. It is rare for Sydney Kreider to keep her mouth shut and maintain a moment of silence, however brief it is.

Ryan waits for her to say something, quirking an eyebrow at her expectantly. She shrugs and picks up the glass of water to take a long sip from it. He can tell she is dehydrated and dying from the run, despite her best efforts to hide it from him. Deep down he has respect for her resiliency and strength to push all of that aside just to prove to him that she can run five miles without throwing up.

"How long are you going to grow out that stache for?" Sydney asks randomly, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He raises an eyebrow at her. He did not expect this question to come up.

"What, do you like it?"

She shrugs.

"It's not bad, but it's not good either."

"Come on, it's fantastic! You're just afraid to admit it!"

She laughs as a response, shaking her head profusely. The sound of her laugh is not... atrocious. Ryan has not heard her laugh during their conversations in a while. Most of their recent conversations had been quips and insults. They have not sat down and engaged in civil conversation for a while. Last night certainly did not count. Sydney Kreider was intoxicated and tried to make sexual advances towards him.

"I've seen better. There's this guy in the league with a cool mustache, I think he plays for the Caps?" Sydney pretends to ponder for a second, "Charlie Lindgren, I think?"

Ryan chuckles in amusement. He is sure he talked about Charlie and his accusations towards Ryan about trying to copy his mustache with Sydney back when they were friends. She remembers this conversation it seems. Sydney has never met Ryan's older brother or seen his facial hair in person.

"I think he invented the mustache or something?" Sydney continues.

Ryan definitely has told Sydney the bantering between himself and his older brother. She is teasing him now, just like they used to before their falling out.

"Yeah okay, SK! You know what I got goin' on is better than his!"

"I don't know, Google is giving me very good pictures of your brother's stache," she says nonchalantly.

Ryan shakes his head doubtfully as the waitress approaches their table.

"Are you guys ready to order?" The waitress asks.

Ryan looks at Sydney quizzically and she nods at him in response.

"Yes," he says, "can I have the carbonara?"

The waitress nods in comprehension as she writes his order down in the little notepad she has in her hand.

"I'll have the chicken parmesan."

"Great! I'll go put those orders in!" The waitress leaves their table and approaches one of the monitors by the kitchen.

The waitress' departure leaves the two alone again. Ryan takes a sip out of his own glass of water just to give himself something to do as the silence between them thickens.

For a while, neither said anything and the silence started to get awkward for Ryan. Other than throwing insults at Sydney, he does not know what else to say. He is not used to hanging out with Sydney so much, which leaves him wondering why he even decided to go out of his way to increase the level of interaction he has with the raven-haired woman.

"Is Igor single?"

Ryan looks up at Sydney with a look of confusion. She has the ability to bring up random topics for them to discuss.

"Why? Are you looking to ruin another one of my teammate's life?"

Sydney reaches over the table to slap his upper arm playfully.

"You're not funny," she remarks, "he seems to be getting along with Aurora."

Ryan did notice that last night. Igor is usually shy and more reserved in a social gathering. When he saw Aurora alone at the pool table, he left their group without hesitation to talk to her. As far as he knows, Igor has never had a single conversation with the Asian woman before last night. For a long time, he was engaged in conversation with Aurora, and he did not pay his teammates any mind. It was as if he forgot they existed.

"I guess," he says instead.

Sydney looks at him in question.

"You guess he is getting along with Rory or you guess he is single?"

"Both?"

"She is moving to New York after graduation, so I wanted to make sure there is a chance there," Sydney explains.

Ryan does not know why she is explaining this to him. She has never tried to gossip or discuss her friends' love lives with him. His attempts to end this conversation completely went over her head. His curt responses have not swayed her from avoiding this topic.

"I also hope that he is a good guy, not a player or anything," Sydney absolutely does not drop the subject.

She is just going to go on and on forever, isn't she?

"You mean like you?" Ryan decides to take this opportunity to go on the offensive.

Sydney clearly is not going to shut up so he might as well get some enjoyment out of this experience.

"I am not a player," she exclaims defensively, "you do not know the whole story of what went down between me and Adam."

"I know enough," he responds curtly.

Sydney sighs in frustration.

"You are not even worth the calories I would burn explaining myself to you," Sydney retorts.

The waitress arrives with their food, interrupting their conversation again. Ryan and Sydney take this opportunity to stop their conversation and eat their food. They are both starving and are in grave need of carbs after that run.

Ryan finishes his food first. He sips his water and checks his phone to make sure he has not missed any important messages. He received a message from Adam asking to hang out tonight. Ryan sends a quick sure to his defensive partner just as Sydney stops eating. Ryan wonders what Adam would think about his interactions with his ex-girlfriend today.

Sydney is not able to finish her food it appears.

"Do you want to take that home?" Ryan asks.

She nods.

"I'm going to ask for a box."

"Okay."

Sydney opens her mouth to say something and then closes it quickly. It looks like she wants to bring up a topic but is hesitant to do so. Ryan knows better than to ask Sydney to blurt it out, but he has not been making good choices lately when it comes to her. Before he can stop himself, Ryan allows himself to nudge Sydney.

"Just spit it out, Kreider!"

Sydney hesitates for a few moments but eventually finds the courage to speak again.

"I-I was out of line last night and I'm really sorry you had to hear me say all that."

Ryan brushes her off nonchalantly, even though he cannot stop thinking about the weird ways she was trying to make advances towards him. He was confused and allowed himself to try to decipher her words and actions as he was lying in bed last night.

"Already forgotten," he says dismissively.

Sydney visibly relaxes at his response. It seems like she is embarrassed about her actions last night and his attitude of nonchalance has reassured her that he was not going to hold her to anything she said or suggested while she was intoxicated. Ryan had to keep reminding himself that she was drunk and horny. She was going to act the way she did, especially since he pulled her away from the guy who wanted to take her home.

"Ok, and uh, thanks for getting me home," she scratches the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Wow, is that a thank you from Sydney Kreider?"

Her gaze on him hardens immediately. He can tell she is irritated at him once again. This level of interaction between them is more in line with what he is comfortable with. The weird dynamic between them yesterday and today had been unsettling.

"Even though you're an absolute ass, I am still going to acknowledge when you have done something decent for once," she snaps at him.

Ryan spots their waitress and waves at her to come over to the table. When the waitress approach their table, Sydney politely requests for a box to pack her food in. The waitress nods politely at her request and reassures her that she will be back with the box.

"You can put the meal on one check," Ryan calls out to the waitress as she is retreating to the kitchen.

The waitress acknowledges his comment and disappears into the kitchen. Sydney raises an eyebrow at Ryan.

"Are you making me pay for both our meals?"

Tempting.

"We both know you can't afford that," Ryan scoffs, "I'll take care of your meal today. Just this once, Kreider! I'm going to have to start collecting money from your brother."

Sydney rolls her eyes at him.

"Thank you for the meal, and no, I don't need you to pay for me next time."

The waitress returns with the check and the box for Sydney. Ryan takes out his credit card and hands the check back to the waitress. When the waitress leaves again, Ryan turns back to Sydney. She is attentively packing her food into the box she was just provided. She is paying him no mind.

I hate her, but damn I cannot stop looking at her, Ryan cannot stop himself from thinking. He has always found Sydney attractive but what is up with him lately? He seems to catch himself gazing at her longer than he should. His gaze should not be lingering on her for more than the time it takes to acknowledge her existence. He hates her, which is why he does not understand himself.

Sydney hurt his best friend, and he is supposed to make her pay for it. What on earth is he doing here, dining with her, paying for her meal, and staring at her as she packs the leftover food that he bought her?

"Is this a one and done deal, the running?" Sydney asks, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Ryan almost sighs in relief. He wants more than anything to be pulled out of this stupor.

"You wish!" He pulls out his phone calendar, "let us commit to 6:00 am on weekdays when I am not on the road."

Sydney makes a surprised noise.

"6:00? That is so fucking early!"

"Don't you work at 8 on weekdays?"

Sydney's shoulders slump in defeat at the realization.

"You have a fair point. What about the weekends when you are here?" She asks.

Ryan ponders over her question for a moment before responding.

"8?"

"AM?"

Ryan blinks at her.

"No, Syd, I'd love to go for a run with you at 8 in the evening on my weekends," he deadpans.

Sydney raises her hands up defensively.

"Look, I just wanted to make sure!"

The waitress returns to the table with Ryan's credit card and the receipt. He gives the waitress a tip and signs off on the receipt. After he is done, he beckons Sydney to leave with him.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I have already spent more time with you in the last 24 hours than I wanted to."

Sydney rises from her seat with a pout.

"I hate you too, Lindgren."