The playoffs loomed in the near distant future like a dark raincloud; a dark raincloud that could offer you the Stanley Cup, of course. This was all Hannah heard about at work, and it was all Olli talked about after work. It was his first NHL playoffs, so of course he was excited, but it was starting to be a little overwhelming for Hannah. Not the playoffs, she could handle that (this was, after all, her second post season working for the Pens). No, what was bothering Hannah was Olli, or the lack of Olli, rather. He spent more time at the gym, at extra practices, studying games to see where he could improve, which meant he had less and less time for Hannah.

Hannah has often taken pride in how un-clingy and independent she was, in her ability to be self reliant and not need anyone but herself. So she tried to give Olli the space he needed, and tried to appear unaffected by his frequent absences. At first, she really wasn't bothered by it, but after a few weeks his attitude got colder, and he was a bit rougher than he used to be. He took longer to respond to texts, and when he did, he often gave one word answers. Hannah was starting to think there was something more than the playoffs. What if he had another girl?

It was stupid, Hannah knew, worrying about that. After everything they'd been through together, how could he cheat on her? He couldn't, Hannah decided. That just wasn't him. He was nineteen, a little naïve, completely adorable, but he wasn't stupid, and he certainly wasn't a cheating asshole. Hannah tried to put these thoughts out of her mind as the series with New York continued. Olli wasn't playing well, and this only added to Hannah's worries. When she invited him over after the game, he mumbled that he'd "be there when he could."

Hannah thought he'd be around in a half hour or so, and she opened a bottle of wine and poured them both a glass. She had a few sips as she read a book while she waited for him, and after waiting for him for an hour, a few sips turned into a few glasses. So she opened another bottle (bad choice #1). Hannah decided to surprise him, so she changed into something 'a little more comfortable' for when he arrived, and lit a few candles (bad choice #2). She poured herself yet another glass of wine (bad choice #3) which led to (bad choice #4) calling Brandon.

Things were already a little different between the two of them since she'd cried on his shoulder in an ice house in Alberta over the Olympic break. He knew something about her that not many others knew about and she could see how that had changed his opinion of her. They were still friends, and they still got cinnamon waffles like they used to, but there was something between them now that wasn't there before.

When Brandon finally answered his phone, he grumbled that it was 1:30AM and Hannah should just go to bed.

"I can't, I think he has another girl!" Hannah blurted out, her words fuzzy around the edges showing her intoxicated state.

"Hannah, that's ridiculous. Olli loves you a lot, I can't figure out why, but..." he teased, and he knew she'd smack him if they were talking in person, but a tired smile still crawled across his face. He interrupted Hannah before she could come up with a drunken retort, "trust me, the last thing Olli has on his mind right now is another girl. He barely has time for you, how could he possibly have time for a girl on the side? Besides, he knows what you'd do to him if you found out, and honestly, that's enough to scare anyone into a monogamous relationship."

"No, there is something going on that he isn't telling me about!" Hannah protested, but Brandon wasn't having any of it.

"Please don't do anything stupid tonight, just go to bed and sleep it off, okay?" Brandon said tiredly and Hannah mumbled goodbye and hung up. She finished the bottle and carried it toward the kitchen, but stopped when she heard a key turn in the lock. She turned toward the door and watched it slowly open; Olli's silhouetted form filled the doorway, backlit by the streetlight. Only one thought screamed in Hannah's mind when she saw him, and she couldn't fight it.

Without thinking, she raised her arm and threw the empty bottle at Olli (bad choice #5).

He held his arms up, but the bottle smashed into the doorframe above his head, sending a shower of broken green glass onto the floor around him.

"What the f-" Olli started.

"Who is she!?" Hannah screamed and slowly walked toward him.

"What? Who is who?" Olli asked, and closed the door so the neighbors wouldn't hear. He brushed a few shards of broken glass out of his hair and shook his jacket to get the glass off.

"The other girl! The one you've been spending all your time with!" Hannah was close enough that he could see the drunkenness in her eyes, even, in the dim lighting of her entryway.

"There is no other girl. What are you talking about? Why would you think I was cheating on you?" Olli apprehensively moved closer. "Be careful, don't step on the broken glass." He held his hands out as if to stop her, but she pushed him away.

"Then what the hell have you been doing?!!?"

"I...um, I was in physical therapy," Olli sounded ashamed, and slightly embarrassed, and looked away from Hannah for a few seconds before his eyes flitted back to hers.

"Is that her name? 'Physical Therapy'? That's a terrible name," Hannah slurred her words so much Olli wasn't exactly sure she'd really said that.

"What?" He looked at her, completely confused. "That doesn't even make sense..."

"Yeah, I know it doesn't, but I'm completely drunk," Hannah replied in a moment of surprising clarity. She shook her head and took a deep breath before looking him in the eye, waiting for his reply.

"I was at physical therapy for a shoulder injury I got in the end of March," he explained carefully.

"What? When did you get hurt? You never told me you were injured? How did this happen?" Hannah put her hand gently on his arm.

"I don't know, I might have taken a bad hit or fallen on it wrong, but it got worse the last couple of weeks. I couldn't tell anyone about it, not even you," Olli tried to explain. "I know, that sounds kind of stupid, but if anyone on the Penguins medical staff thought I was unfit to play, I would probably have been out the rest of the season and missed the playoffs."

Hannah wanted to respond with a sarcastic remark along the lines of 'it's only a game,' but she knew that wouldn't get her anywhere. Because it isn't only a game, it's his life. Instead, she asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

He shook his head and shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I will probably need surgery this summer."

"What?! That sounds serious; will it affect your career?" Hannah stopped suddenly and started laughing, the drunkenness settling in again. "You're career? You're only nineteen...."

"Actually, that's one of the reasons I'm probably going to be fine. My physical therapist said that because I'm so young my shoulder will most likely be fine after surgery. It all depends on..." He trailed off, his eyes staring distantly past Hannah.

"On what?" She asked quietly when it was clear he wasn't going to continue on his own.

"How much longer I play this season."

"So you think you will take some time off?" Hannah asked and Olli's eyes flicked back to meet hers, holding steady eye contact for this first time since he'd arrived.

"No, I mean," he swallowed, the words not forming in his mouth. "If we win on Sunday, we could advance to the next round."

Hannah nodded, because she knew exactly what he meant, and he didn't want to talk about it. If they won game six (or seven, if needed) they could play four to seven more games, and possibly advance to the next round, and then play another four to seven more games, and so on. The further they advanced, the worse Olli had a chance at a full recovery. If they made it to the finals, he might not even be able to play.

Hannah's head began to swim, and she promptly turned to the umbrella stand next to Olli and threw up in it.

"I'm sorry," she said as she stood up shakily. "I don't know why I'm apologizing to you, it's my umbrella stand." She laughed a tired laugh that ended with a hiccup.

"Too much wine?" Olli asked as he put his arm around her and led her toward her bedroom.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, that was not smart," Hannah leaned close to him and breathed in his post-game, freshly washed scent. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too; sorry I haven't been around much. The playoffs are a lot tougher than I thought," he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

"At least you don't have to worry about hiding your physical therapy from me anymore," Hannah said as the entered her room. "Will you stay tonight?"

"Yeah; I'm sure I've got some pajamas here somewhere," Olli replied as Hannah slipped into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"Even if you didn't," she poked her head around the door and caught Olli changing, "you could always sleep like that." She smirked at his slightly embarrassed grin before she finished brushing her teeth. She crawled into bed and tried to pull him in after her.

"I'll be right back," he said and headed out the door.

"Where are you going?" She called after him, but he didn't respond. By the time he returned, she was half asleep, cured up with a stuffed animal he'd given her for Valentine's Day.

"Sorry, I was just cleaning up. Didn't want to leave that for the morning," he said as he crawled into bed.

"You didn't have to do that, I would have cleaned it all up tomorrow," she opened her eyes slightly, just enough to see his face. "You're so sweet, Olli. I love you."

"I love you too, doll," he replied and cuddled up next to her.

"Doll?"

"It's something I'm trying out. No?"

"It's okay, a guess, but I always thought of myself as a tigress, or a warrior princess," Hannah said sleepily. She remembered what she had actually wanted to talk to him about that night, but it was too late for that. She was drunkenly falling asleep, and fast, and Olli's chest was already rising and falling with the familiar rhythms of sleep. Instead, she curled around him and let sleep take hold of her like a warm ocean current.

A/N: Want to keep reading? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z7DW6JS?*Version*=1&*entries*=0