All the Ways

xxiii

Paige walked into the Saddledome, following Johnny. The first person she saw was Sam, who noticed the sad look on her face. "Monahan rubbing off on you, Paige?" He pulled her into a hug.

Paige's head just rested against Sam's chest for a while; she stayed there silent, and sighed when they pulled apart, "I'm just concerned."

He rubbed her shoulders endearingly, "Vivienne is too."

She nodded, "I'll see you later, Sam. Kick some ass."

He chuckled, "I'll kick McDavid's ass."

"Sean already did that a while ago."

Paige continued to roam the empty arena, ending up in completely unfamiliar territory. She quickly realized it was where the away teams would hang out before games when she saw lots of blue duffle bags. She turned around to go back to familiar area when she heard her name being called out.

Connor.

Paige put on a smile, "Connor! Hey!" She couldn't blame the kid. He was nice--probably one of the nicest kids she's ever met.

He hugged her, "How's it going? Is Amber here?"

Paige just shook her head, "It's goin'. Amber isn't here yet, though. I arrived with Johnny."

He smiled, "Right. I heard you two are seeing each other!"

"More like actually dating each other, but you were close, Con." She laughed. The two caught up with each other for a little bit until Connor had to leave to talk to media. Paige waved goodbye to him as he walked the other way.

/////

Amber and Vivienne arrived at the arena later, Amber wearing an old Erie Otters jersey, and Vivienne wearing a Bennett jersey. Amber dialed Paige, who picked up quickly.

"Where are you? Me and Viv are by the Flames locker room."

"I got lost and ended up in Oil Country. I'm running back right now."

Paige met up with the other two, her eyes growing wide when she saw Amber in her old Otters jersey. She thought Amber left it in Toronto. Paige looked at Vivienne and cocked an eyebrow, Vivienne shooting a, "It's not my fault" type of look to Paige.

Sean saw the three girls talking and laughing, spotting Amber in a #97 jersey instead of #23. He knew they were broken up, but come on--she didn't have to switch teams. He turned around and saw that Sam noticed him creeping on them. Sean growled and went back to preparing for the game.

Vivienne's phone rang in her hand.

Samuel 🙇🏼💙
Sean's pissed

Vivienne
Shocker. Tell him to not be a goon tonight

Amber was excitedly texting Connor about the game tonight as Vivienne continued her conversation with Sam. Soon enough, the boys had to abandon their phones to warm up. The girls went up to their seats and watched warm ups from there.

/////

The game went badly for the Flames, to say the least. They were shut out by the Oilers, a team doing significantly worse than them. Connor lit the lamp twice, which excited Amber. The other two girls were less than happy. As for the boys, Sean was furious. After the game, Paige watched him as he walked off the ice, smashing his stick on the boards.

Paige and Vivienne ran down to the Flames locker room, Amber leaving the game to go home. Paige's first priority was Sean. She wanted to make sure he'd be okay, even if him and her best friend weren't together. He came out of the locker room first, looking angry. Paige stopped him in his tracks, and he just looked blankly at the small girl in front of him.

"You okay?" She pulled him aside to talk.

"I'm fine." He huffed.

She crossed her arms, "You know you can talk to me, Sean."

"I know."

"So, talk."

"I can't."

She sighed, "If it's about Amber, I won't tell her."

"We'll talk later." He said firmly.

"No, we're talking now," Paige stood her ground, even as Johnny exited the locker room. Vivienne pointed to Paige and Sean, and Johnny just nodded at Vivienne before engaging in conversation with her.

"It is Amber. I just feel lost. I don't know what to do or who to talk to or how to play. It's like, when we broke up she just left me for dead. I need you to help me."

Paige stood tall and reached up to grab him by his shoulders, "If you could play well before you two dated, you can play well now. You don't need her to play, Sean. But trust me when I say that I need you two to fix this. I'm not going to do it for you. Vivienne is not going to do it for you."

He sighed at her, looking somber and disappointed. She sighed at him as well. Neither of them knew how they were going to fix anything.

/////

Paige picked up her car from Johnny's with the help of Vivienne, and the two made their way back home to Amber. They arrived to see Amber laughing and smiling at her phone. When Amber realized they were home, she smiled, "Oh! Paige and Viv are home. Say hi, Connor!"

Connor was on the other line. Paige and Vivienne waved to him politely, and made a beeline for Paige's room. They laid in Paige's bed, dumbfounded, until Vivienne finally spoke up, "We need to fix this."