Picture Perfect | Claude Giroux Philadelphia Flyers story |

Aftermath

"Alright is that all?" I ask the several reporters holding their microphones to my face. They nod back and start to head over towards Mase. I sit down at my cubby and start to peel of the remaining left sweaty sock still clinging to my foot.

I look up when I see a familiar figure appear in my peripheral vision. My breath catches when I see her standing by the reporters and getting a picture of Mase. Where has she been? I dare to get on my feet and strike up a conversation with her, but the truth of situation stops me. We can't be together and she probably hates me for kissing her. I can't help but take in the way her jeans hug her body seamlessly. Even though the staff polo shirts were hardly anything special, it somehow looked amazing on her.

"Don't stare too long, G, you might drool all over the floor," Schenner jabs my shoulder with elbow and snickers. I feel my face redden at his comment; he sits down next to me, throwing on a Flyers t-shirt. 

"I think it's too late for that," Coots chirps as he sits down as well. I shake my head and try to ignore my feelings for Kat- if the guys knew- they'd bust my balls about it for so long. I change the subject and the three of us start talking amongst each other until a small yet confident voice clears their throat, "excuse me?"

We all look up surprised to see who's in front of us," Jules?" I ask with a smile, "what's up?" Jules was dressed to kill- she looks like a bombshell standing in front of us- Schenner and Coots' mouths are hanging open in awe.

"Nothing much," she grins back, "I was hoping to get a few things from you boys I can put in my article tomorrow? If that's not too much?"

"No problem at all," Coots replies, and Schenner and I give her a nod yes. After we answer a few questions each, Jules starts to leave but Schenner stops her, "hey, so there's a Halloween Party tomorrow night- you should definitely come with Kat."

"Yeah it'd be great if you came along- it'll be a lot of fun," Coots says, obviously interested in Jules.

"Halloween Party? Kat never said anything about it," she thinks aloud. My heart drops to the pit of my stomach- I really hope the reason she doesn't want to go is because of me.

"Wait really? She should've gotten event reminders all this week," Schenner remarks matter-of-factly, "I can't get mine to stop," he half laughs.

"Hey Kat?" Jules calls over to Kat and she turns around reluctantly.  Julie beckons her over with a hand motion and Kat and I make awkward eye contact as she walks over hesitantly; I look down immediately as sparks shoot down my spine.

-----Kat's POV

I take a gulp as I move towards Claude, Jules, Coots and Schenner; 'don't let him know you're practically dying inside Kat' I remind myself. I adjust my camera strap crossing my torso out of nervousness. "Yeah?" I respond to Jules, my voice cracking a bit.

"You never mentioned the Halloween party tomorrow night," she accuses with an arched eyebrow. Shit - why'd they have to bring that up? My plan was to show up for 10 minutes, in regular clothing, and leave when I had some photos taken to post on social media sites like Twitter, Instagram and our new Snapchat account- which amazingly, I was running both- again, Kelly's great plan to connect with fans.

"I- uh- wasn't planning on going all night..." I stutter.

"What? You have to go Kat," Brayden practically shouts, "it's going to be so much fun- plus we all want you there- especially Gir-" he begins to add but Claude elbows him in the stomach before he can continue, causing Brayden to let out a couple coughs. I look to Claude to get a clue on how he felt about the situation but still he was avoiding all eye contact with me. He runs a hand through his ginger locks I so desperately wanted to tug on and keeps his gaze on Jules.

"I don't even have a costume to wear," I tell the truth.

"Well, we're going to have to get them because we're going," she chimes, "and don't even think about saying no because it's not an option," she retorts sternly. She looks away from me and to the hockey players in front of us, "Brayden, Sean, thanks for the invite," Jules adds with a smile. I groan internally- now that Julie knew about the party there was no way we weren't going.

"Even if she doesn't come Julie, you should still show up- I'd love to talk more," Sean flirts and Jules swoons. I roll my eyes and yank on her arm.

"Let's go Juliet- I'm tired and we're leaving now," I grumble and I hear a few laughs behind me as I drag her to my office down the hall from the locker room.

"Bye! See you tomorrow night!" she nearly sings as we walk out the door and it latches behind us with a loud click. "Kat- get over this grumpy mood- you look like the squinty miserable emoji with the bar lines as eyes basically all the time. We're going to the party and you're going to enjoy it."

"Fine- I'll go to the party but I doubt I'll have a good time," I protest as we walk into my shared office with Jeff and a few other co-workers.

"I'm just tired of you moping. Kyle's a jerk- get over him- like you said he didn't give you sparks or anything so be glad it's over with," she comments as I slip on my black Northface jacket over my staff polo shirt-, which is hideous if you ask me.

"You can't expect me to be over it after a couple days Jules," I comment bitterly, "I dated the guy for more than just a couple months- it was a couple years."

"Listen," she says stopping me from packing up my camera, "I just want you to be happy- I hate seeing you like this Katina. You need some fun to help you unwind ok? This party will be good for you. If you really want to leave after an hour of being there, then we'll leave," she offers and saunters towards the exit. I quickly stuff the remaining lens of my camera into my bag and hurry after her- Jules' strides are twice as big as mine- especially with her high heels on.

"Really? Promise?" I challenge her.

"Yep," she says popping the 'p.'

"I have a feeling you're lying," I raise an eye brow at her with a chuckle.

"You'll see- but anyways, what's the deal with Sean? Single? Married? Taken? Leads a celibate life?" she asks digging for the deets.

"He's single, has two adopted kittens, and as you already know is missing his two front teeth, and loves messing with me when I'm taking pictures," I list.

"Well he's really nice- and cute," she beams.

"Yeah if caveman is your type, Jules," I laugh.

"You know I love when he grows out his beard in the middle of the season," she sticks her tongue out at me playfully.

Just before turning on my car, I stop in my tracks, "wait- what the hell are we going to do for costumes? We have a half a day- they probably only have shit costumes left."

"I have some good ideas," Julie snickers and I shake my head and laugh, this can't be good.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry this is late- my family visited with us for a week +, so I couldn't get anything done for this chapter. This hapter is relatively short since I wanted to write a quick one before the next- which has something pretty big happening in it! Thank you so so much for commenting and voting! I love your feedback (:

PS: I hope you love the gif I chose for the chapter ;D