Sweet Caroline (Corey Crawford)

Protect Me From What

Caroline

Corey slept for 14 straight hours with the occasional bathroom break the relieve him self and throw up. But his fever had finally broken and he seemed to be more like himself.

I ended up sleeping on the couch last night and woke up early. I go out and get us some coffee since he didn't have a coffee maker here. I grab us some bagels from Panera for breakfast before coming back in. I go into his bedroom and sit on the side of the bed. I shake him lightly and he stirs under the covers.

"Hey, it's almost nine and in order for your medicine to work you need to take it now" I explain and he lets out a groan. He reluctantly sits up in bed and follows me out of his room. He sits at the island and I give him his medicine and a water to wash it down with. I sit across from him and he starts to wake up some more. "How are you feeling this morning" I ask.

"A lot better, thanks" he says.

"So you'll be good to go for the game" I ask.

"You mean to sit on the bench" he laughs and I roll my eyes.

"You know what I mean" I shake my head.

"Yeah, I'll be fine" he insist.

"Good. Now here is some coffee and a bagel. No cream cheese because diary isn't good for you when you're sick" I say handing everything to him.

"God... what would I do without you" he asks.

"Die probably" I joke and he laughs.

"Yesterday I really thought I was" he admits.

"What all do you remember from yesterday" I ask cautiously. He looks up and me and realizes that I needed to talk about something.

"Not much. I slept a lot and I remember something about soup, but not much else" he admits.

"Oh" I whisper.

"Did I say something" he asks.

"Yeah. But I'm pretty sure it was because you were on medication and it got all mixed up. You said you're feeling weird so I wouldn't read into it" I say softly.

"What did I say Caroline" he asks and I sigh.

"It's nothing" I insist.

"Tell me" he demands.

"Let's just drop it" I try.

"Caroline..." he warns and I let out a sigh.

"You said... that you used to love me" I say and his eyes go big. He puts the bagel down never breaking eye contact.

"Well that not true" he says and I feel my heart break. "I still love you" he says and I feel my heart stop. We just stare at each other, neither of us end up saying a word.

"Why now? Why didn't you say something earlier" I whisper.

"I never wanted you find out" he claims.

"That is so stupid" I insist. "These are your feelings Crawford. You shouldn't be hiding them" I defend.

"I couldn't look you in your eyes and tell you that I love you. I couldn't bare the thought of you letting me in and me going in and destroying everything you worked so hard for. I couldn't imagine how my bad habits and less than ideal lifestyle would reflect on you. You're not just anybody Caro, and your happiness means the world to me. You deserve someone who isn't moody or high mantinence or a mess" he claims.

"You're human Corey, I don't get why you're so down on yourself. In fact you are an amazing human being, and you've made your mistakes, but you're learning. And you can only learn if you try" I argue.

"The best way to fix a problem is to prevent it. I'm just trying to protect you" he claims.

"Protect me from what? From being loved? That is doing me no favors" I insist.

"Look at me! I lost my job and the only relationship I've ever known, even if it was a shitty one. What makes you want to be a part of this" he asks.

"Because I love you too. And love means that none of that shit you are talking about matters. I want you at your best and your worst. I want the ups and downs and everything in between in this journey called life. And I want it with you. There's nothing you can throw at me that I can't handle. I watched my dad walk past his coach and up to his boss and tell him that he wanted no part in his team anymore causing me to up and leave my whole life and move to Colorado. You don't think that hurt? You don't think I was scared? I was beyond broken that I had to leave the home I loved more than anything and move to a new culture and change everything I knew about this world. But I loved my dad more than any of it and we made the best of the situation. Just because you aren't sure of something doesn't mean that it's automatically going to be terrible."

"I know. I'm so new to all of these life lessons and the reality of the situation and psychological things. I care more about you than I do me and I cannot be the reason you get hurt. I just can't" he claims.

"Then show me you love me" I say.

"I can't" he insists.

"You can Crawford. I know you can. I see it in you every single day, so much potential to be who my dad was, but better" I claims.

"I just... I love you much" he sigh finally breaking eye contact.

"Then be with me" I insist.

"I don't want to h-" he starts.

"I am tough. I can take it. I might be nice but I can hold my own. My dad is Patrick Roy, if you think I won't defend myself or call you out if you are doing something you shouldn't you are very wrong" I assure him.

"You really want to be with me" he asks.

"More than anything" I insist.

"Then Caroline, would you be my girlfriend" he asks and I giggle.

"I can't believe after all of this, this is how we get together" I admit.

"Is that a no" he teases and I roll my eyes.

"Yes Crawford, I would love to be your girlfriend" I say. He comes from the other side of the island and grabs my face softly. He pulls me up and presses his warm lips against my cool ones. My eyes slam shut as his hand slips into my hair pulling me closer.

"Oh shit" he whispers as we break apart.

"What" I ask.

"I'm still sick" he frowns and I smile. After all of that about him afraid to hurt me he ends up getting me sick, should I be worried?

"Come here" I say grabbing his neck and pulling back down. He happily goes back to kissing me like nothing ever happened.