On the Way Down - Andre Burakovsky

Ch. 2: "You're never safe"

 Today was my birthday. I woke up to a few messages on my phone from friends and family, I texted them all thank you and got up to shower. When I got out of the shower I walked into my room wrapped in a towel to get dressed when I looked outside and sighed. It was snowing. I usually loved the snow, but on my birthday when I was supposed to spend the day out with friends it was a little bit of a buzzkill. It wasn't long before messages started coming in, saying we would reschedule for the weekend, and although I totally understood I was still sad. My phone buzzed on my bed and I decided I didn't want the bad news right now, so I got dressed before grabbing it. It was Tom, so after I got dressed I called him back.
  "Hey birthdaay girl! Happy birthday!" he yelled after the second ring.
  "Thanks Tommy." I giggled.
  "Hey, since its snowing I don't think I want you coming to the game tonight, do you care if I come by after the game though?" of course. I knew it would happen, I lived a good 30 minutes from the venue so I was expecting this call.
  "If you don't want me on the road, why do you think its safe for you to drive all the way out here?"
  "Because you're more important." he laughed and I just shook my head.
  "I really don't think so, but I don't know if I was YOU risking your life for me. We can just do something this weekend."
  "I leave for a roadtrip on Friday, tomorrow is an off day so I figured I could come by and spend the night and we could spend tomorrow hanging out before I leave."
  "Only cause I'll miss you, I'll allow you to come over if you can promise me you'll be safe."
  "I'm always safe Chels."
  "You forget I watch your games Tommy, you're never safe." I chuckled.
  "Off the ice, I'm a saint. I gotta go practice, I'll see you later. Love ya."
  "Love you too." I hung up the phone and sighed. Today was turning out to be a crappy birthday, but at least I'd still get to see Tom.
 Janell showed up around noon to see me and spend the day with me. She lived down the street from me, so she was able to just walk to my house so I didn't have to worry too much about her. We spent the day in front of the fireplace, watching movies and drinking hot chocolate. When 7 o'clock hit, we turned on the Capital's game. I winced and groaned each and every time Tom rammed into someone, and I threw my head back in frustration when he dropped the gloves with number '75' on Vegas. Friggin' Ryan Reaves. Those 2 really need to learn to leave each other alone, or their coaches needed to make sure they never saw the ice together. I had met Ryan when I lived in Missouri and he played for the Blues. He was pain in the ass on the ice, for sure, but off the ice he was a sweetheart. Him and Tom really played the 'pest' role very well. I grabbed my phone and sent a text to both boys, knowing they wouldn't see it until the game was over.

To: Tommy
Could you possibly choose someone else to pick on? Vegas has a lot of guys that will fight you. SMH

To: Reavo
You and Tommy need to grow up. Couldn't even leave each other alone for my birthday. I'm hurt.

 The game went to a shootout, but Vegas won. Since I knew how much Tom hated losing to Vegas, I wasn't sure I wanted him to come over tonight. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with the crankiness, but on the other hand I missed him so I would just have to settle for slapping him if he was crabby.
  "You should go change. Wear something cute." Janell said about 20 minutes after the game.
  "Why? Its just Tom coming over."
  "Its your birthday, you should want to dressup and look nice." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. 10 minutes later I was standing in my room wearing some jeans and a cute button up shirt, not sure how I had gotten here or in these clothes. Janell stood next to me smiling.
  "I really hate you. I want my sweats back." I reached for my sweat pants but there was a knock at the door so I rolled my eyes and walked to the door.

  "What?" I gasped as I looked out onto my porch. I stepped back and opened the door all the way letting everyone in. The last of whom was Tom and Ryan. "What?" I repeated and both guys laughed.
  "Look, we don't like each other but we love you and I knew you'd be sad if you didn't get to see him." Tom said wrapping his arms around me before letting Ryan hug me too.
  "But, I mean thank you, but what about..."I trailed off gesturing to my living room that was filled with hockey players.
  "You've been wanting to meet them, I figured it would be a good present since I couldn't think of anything else to get you." he laughed. He had brought his whole team to meet me. "Now come on, let me introduce you."
 I was sitting on my couch some time later, still trying to wrap my head around the amount of people in my house. Vrana came and sat down next to me and threw his arm around my shoulder.
  "Whats up Kub, thanks for coming." I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder.
  "Wouldn't miss your birthday if I had anything to say about it. Been asking Tom what he had planned for today all week so I could come along." he laughed. Since Jakub had been one of the few teammates I had been allowed to meet early on, we'd become pretty close. Tom didn't seem to approve because he thought Jakub had a thing for me. I'll admit he was super cute and sweet, but I thought of him more as a best friend than anything else.
  "Thanks," I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Have you seen Nelly? I haven't seen her since I opened the door."
  "Uh, I think I saw her walk out the backyard. Haven't seen her come back in yet."
  "She's not big on crowds, must have went to get some air." I stood up and walked to the backdoor and saw Janell sitting there talking to Tom. I smiled to myself and went back to the party, no way was I going to interrupt her with her favorite person.