Seating Arrangements

“Peyton?” I called as I walked back into the hotel room, surprised by the quietness.

“Hanna?” She called back from somewhere.

I frowned, slipping off my shoes and walking across the room, looking around to try and figure out where she was. “Are you in your room?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to come out?” I asked, turning so I was facing her closed bedroom door.

“I don’t know.”

I sighed, walking towards her door and placing my hand on the doorknob. “Peyton?”

“Hanna? Don’t come in.”

“Are you having sex with someone?” I asked through the door.

“What?! No. Who would I be having sex with?” She yelled, clearly moving away from something as I could hear a loud “thud” in the background.

I pressed my ear against the door, straining to try and hear anything that would give away why she was refusing to come out. I groaned, pulling away from the door. “Peyton, come on! I’ve barely even seen you today, and now you’re ignoring me. I feel neglected.”

There was a pause on the other side of the door before I heard her feet padding across the floor to open the door. The doorknob twisted about halfway before it stopped. “You have to promise not to say anything.” She said.

I took a step back from the door and made a face. “Uhm..how long am I forbidden to speak?”

“Hanna, just…you’ll see, okay?”

I laughed, “Okay, okay. I won’t say anything until the time feels right.”

“I’m going to act like you aren’t mocking me and try to believe that you won’t be a jerk,” She said back.

The doorknob twisted once more before the door was finally pulled open a crack. Peyton peeked one eye out at me, making me raise my eyebrows at her. She disappeared behind the door for a second. Finally, after she muttered to herself for a moment, she pulled the door back fully and stepped out so I could see her.

I felt my eyes widen immediately as I took in her overall appearance, and both of my hands flew to cover my mouth before any laughter or snide remarks could seep out.

Peyton sighed, trying to pat down her hair. “I should have stayed in my room.”

I dropped my hands from my mouth, still struggling to hold back the laughter. “What happened?”

“Jordan. That’s what happened,” She told me, crossing her arms.

“I don’t understand,” I admitted, still looking her over. I gasped, “Oh my God, you had sex with Jordan?”

“What?!” She yelled, her face melting into a frown of disgust. “No! God, Hanna, why would you even..I can’t…I don’t even…” She shook her head, sighing. “He and Max came over about an hour ago and I was styling my hair-”

“Oh, now I get it,” I said, laughing. “Max offered to style your hair?”

She pouted. “His hair always looks pretty nice, so I figured it would be okay. But then…but then, I guess he gave Jordan all the products and-”

“How did you not notice that?” I asked.

“Well, they were styling my hair out here, so there was no mirror and I couldn’t see him and they put on the TV, which had Hockey Night In Canada on it, and they were interviewing that Bieksa guy,” She stopped to take a breath. “I was defenceless is basically what I’m trying to say.”

I nodded. “Okay, so I get the hair. But, the makeup and outfit?”

“They offered to do my makeup, as well.” She explained. “They told me that there’s some charity event tonight and that they were trying to pull some strings so you and I could go with them, and Jordan said that they had a friend they wanted to set me up with.”

“Peyton, Jordan arranged to have Sidney’s dad greet with a sign that had ‘Hanna and Traffic Violation.’ You should know he’s not a good person by now,” I told her. “Plus, you still haven’t explained the outfit.”

She frowned, looking down at the yellow miniskirt and baggy floral print shirt she was wearing. “What’s wrong with my outfit?”

My eyes widened once more as I realized that Peyton legitimately thought her current outfit looked good. “Nothing. I just assumed they must have helped with everything, do you want to borrow a face cloth or something?”

She nodded, still trying to pat down her wildly styled hair. One half looked mildly okay, but the other half was almost completely poofed out, with the curls hanging in one giant clump and the rest of her hair on that side resembling a freshly blow-dried poodle.

“Were they lying about the charity event?” She asked me as I dug through my still unpacked washroom bag for a spare face cloth.

I finally found one, pulling it out of the bag and walking back over to her with it. “I think so. I haven’t heard anything about it yet. And I spent the whole afternoon with them.”

She nodded, taking the cloth from me and nodding her head for me to follow her into her washroom so we could continue talking while she tried to wash her face. “Are you sure? I mean, I believe there is an event, I just don’t believe we could actually go. Maybe that’s why they didn’t tell you?”

I shrugged, sitting on top of the bathroom counter. “Maybe. I don’t see why it matters. I’d be good with taking a night to just look around Pittsburgh. We’ve been here a couple of days, tomorrow is our last full day, and the only thing I’ve seen is a bookstore and Mellon Area.”

Peyton had to take a second to answer as she was scrubbing her face. “Yeah, I guess having a night without those assholes would be nice.”

“They aren’t assholes,” I argued.

She smirked, looking at me. “They’re nice to you because of Sidney. They’re mean to me because I’m ruining everything.”

I frowned, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Peyton sighed, putting the cloth down and looking at me, which was hard for me to handle since only half of her face was scrubbed free of the orange foundation and bright pink blush. “Are you kidding me, Hanna?” When I didn’t answer she shut off the running water and sat down on the other side of the counter, crossing her legs and turning herself so she was facing me. “Look, I left out a few details on Sidney and I’s ‘cofee date’.” She admitted, earning curiosity from me. “Sidney left before Jordan did, he said he had an interview to do or something, so I spent almost an hour with Jordan.”

“Oh, you are sleeping with him,” I gasped.

She made a face. “No, I am really, really not.” She shook her head, giving a small shudder. “I was informed that my asking Sidney out probably ruined the chances of Sidney asking you out.”

I laughed, which seemed to completely surprise Peyton. “Sidney won’t ask me out. He just spent three blocks telling me about why he doesn’t date and why he doesn’t plan on dating.”

Peyton frowned, scratching the still caked side of her face. “Maybe he’s just confused?” She suggested. When I merely shrugged she tried a different approach. “Maybe he was saying all of that more for himself than for you,” She began, catching my attention once more. “From what I’ve been told by Max and Jordan, Sidney is a really private guy. He doesn’t let people in because he doesn’t usually have the chance to shut them out. There’s very few aspects of his life that he can manage to keep to himself, right?” She had to take a second to readjust herself. “But look at how much he’s talked to you already. And he goes out of his way to talk to you, to make sure he’s around you, and the rest of the team does it, too, they go out of their way to make sure you and Sidney are left alone.” She grinned to me, “I mean, look at today?”

I scratched the back of my neck, eyeing up Peyton’s smirking face. “I can see some of that, I guess,” I admitted “But you have to look at this in a logical way, Peyton. I’ve known him for about a week. I leave after tomorrow. We spent the entire walk back from the arena discussing why he won’t date. There’s no point in me putting in an effort into something that can’t happen.”

Peyton’s smirk had disappeared, and for a long moment she just stared at me. Eventually, she slid off of the counter and turned the water back on, picking up the face cloth and returning to washing her face.

When she didn’t say anything more, I took the hint and hopped off of the counter, awkwardly heading out of the washroom. Just as I was about to leave Peyton spoke.

“I always thought of you as the girl who believed anything was possible,” She said, looking at me in the mirror. “It’s too bad you left that girl in Vancouver.”

I frowned, choosing not say anything as I headed out to my own room.

--------------------------

I’m not sure when I fell asleep, but when Marc banged on my bedroom door and startled me out of my sleep, I flipped right off of the bed and onto the floor.

“Did you just die?” He asked, laughter lacing his voice.

I groaned, tiredly picking myself off of the floor and rubbing my now sore back. “Almost,” I called back, slowly making my way towards the door, which was only a few feet away but seemed to be miles out of reach.

I tugged the door open, rubbing one of my eyes with my free hand as I stared up at Marc. “What do you want now?”

He laughed. “Well, I came to tell you and Peyton to get ready.”

I frowned, only then noticing the suit he was in, the absence of his usual hat and the scent of expensive cologne. “What’s happening?”

“The charity dinner. I thought Sidney told you?”

I stared at him. “Do you think I would look like this if I had any clue I was going to have to be at a fancy dinner?”

He shrugged, “I don’t question the ways of females. Do you have a nice dress to wear?” I shook my head, no. “That’s okay, Max and I bought you one,” He grinned, presenting a dress bag from behind him. “I hope you like blue.”

“I love blue,” I said, taking the bag from him and unzipping it a bit so I could peer in at the silky dress.

“We figured it would match your eyes well,” He told me.

I looked back up at Marc. “My eyes are green.”

“Oh. Then they’ll match your…well, hopefully a pair of shoes or something,” He said. “Anyways, hurry up. We have to be downstairs in twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes!” I yelled, startling him. “Get out of my room!” I yelled again, shoving him away from the door as I raced around, changing at the same time, to find all of my makeup and hair pins.

When I emerged, a surprisingly speedy fifteen minutes later, Peyton was sitting on the couch talking to Marc and Max, who were both dressed up as nice as hockey players who own a limited number of suits can be dressed. Max noticed me first, grinning at me. “Ah, see? You look fantastic for only taking fifteen minutes!”

Peyton looked me over, her face free of the makeup she had previously been wearing and replaced a modest amount now. “Your dress is way nicer than mine.”

“That’s because she is way nicer than you,” Max said, standing up from the couch. “Alright, ladies. Out we go!”

Peyton and I followed behind the two of them, me looking over Peyton’s dark purple cocktail dress and envying the way she could walk in her heels with no struggle whereas I was bobbling with every step.

“What’s this event for, anyways?” I asked, placing a hand on the wall to steady me as I tried to get used to the heels I was wearing.

“It’s for Children’s Hospital,” Marc answered me. “I’m sorry we didn’t give you two more notice. We didn’t know we could bring guests until this afternoon. Bylsma pulled a few strings and got you on the list.”

“Hey, I appreciate it,” I assured him, looking nervously at the few steps I would have to walk down. “Is Vero coming?”

Marc nodded. “She’s in the lobby with the rest of the team and a few of the wives and girlfriends,” He told me.

I nodded, slowing down my walking pace drastically as I tried to make it down the five stairs without falling down and completely embarrassing myself.

“I’m so proud of you,” Peyton cooed when I finally made it to the last step, letting out a sigh of relief as I managed to not die.

I shot her a sarcastic grin, reaching a hand up to check and make sure that the five minutes I had taken to try and throw my hair up into some sort of an impressive up do. Marc had already headed off to find Vero, leaving Peyton, Max and I to stand at the bottom of the stairs and stare at the massive mob in front of us.

“I don’t remember there being this many people before,” I said, suddenly nervous.

Max grinned, looking at me over his shoulder. “Well, this is everyone involved with the team. From coaches and trainers to PR guys and the people in charge of the site. I’m pretty sure that guy over there did my laundry once,” He joked, pointing at some random man on a cell phone.

“How long is this dinner going to be?” Peyton asked, looking around the crowd.

“You’re worried your hair won’t stay fantastic for the duration of it, aren’t you?” I asked, smirking at her.

Peyton frowned at me. “Hair is a very important thing for me, Hanna. When I was in high school, and fat, all I had was my hair.”

I laughed, “You were not fat in high school! I have seen pictures.”

“Ladies ladies, please,” Max interrupted, turning around to place a hand on each of our shoulders. “Let’s just focus on finding someone that doesn’t have a problem understanding me and figure out what’s happening.”

“Oh, so you can make fun of your accent, but I can’t?” Peyton asked.

“I meant understanding me emotionally,” Max said. “But it’s nice of you to make fun of my heritage. Again.”

I stifled a laugh as he raised his eyebrows up at Peyton, as if challenging her to say something more. When Peyton merely let out a small chuckle at him, he nodded and told us to follow him as he headed off into the mob, greeting all of the familiar faces who grinned at him and then sent Peyton and I a confused look.

“These people totally think we’re your escorts,” Peyton told Max.

He laughed, then threw a serious face on. “Wouldn’t be the first time I brought some as my date.”

I laughed, then, noticing his lack of amusement, made a face. “Are you kidding?”
Max merely shrugged at me, turning back around and speeding up a bit as he spotted whoever he was looking for. Peyton and I struggled to keep up, as each of us were in heels and dresses that weren’t too long, but had enough of a so-called train that we could easily trip on the fabric. He finally came to a halt, turning around with an apologetic look. “Sorry, ladies. I forgot about your lack of pants.”

“Haha, that’s what she said!” Kris laughed, looking over at Peyton and I. “You two look lovely. I’m glad disco Dan decided to let you two in on the party.”

“I’m sorry, did you say Disco Dan?” I asked.

“You are so out of the loop.” Kris sighed.

“Is everybody here now?” Some guy that I had never seen before asked, appearing next to Max and startling both Peyton and I. When the other guys nodded he made some sort of note on his clipboard. “Good. Start heading out to the taxis that are waiting,” He said, heading off to repeat the message to the rest of the group.

“If we snag a taxi van we can all go together,” Tyler suggested, taking a second to count those of us standing in the circle and nodding, now sure that he hadn’t lied.

“Well, let’s do that then,” Max said, pointing towards the hotel doors and then making an ushering movement so someone would head towards them.

Kris was the first to head off, holding the door open for the rest of us as Jordan, whom I hadn’t noticed was there until that moment, looked around for a taxi van. “There’s one at the end of line-up, but I think Malkin and Gonchar’s group are eyeing it up,” He told us.

“Then we run,” Max said. “Don’t worry girls, you don’t have to. We’ll run and claim the van. You take your time,” He assured us, breaking into a sprint as he and Jordan took off towards the van. Three seconds later I was almost knocked over by a racing Evgeni Malkin, who was yelling something at them in Russian.

“This is a weird moment for me,” Peyton admitted.

I chuckled, shivering in the coolness of the night as she and I made our way towards the van, where Max and Jordan were standing in the open door taunting Geno and Sergei Gonchar, who were standing outside panting. Tyler and Kris were a few steps ahead, whispering to one another and occasionally glancing back at the two of us with a suspicious grin. “After you two,” Tyler said, grinning at the two of us.

Peyton and I eyed him for a minute but eventually thanked him and climbed into the van.

“It will be a good night, girls.” Jordan said from the row behind us. “Free food. What more could you ask more?” He challenged, pursing his lips for a moment and glancing at me. I was expecting some sort of odd joke, but he merely smiled at me before looking out the window and leaving me to send a questionable look at Max, who merely shrugged, clearing his throat and looking out his own window.

-----------------------------------

“Oh, there is a camera crew,” I said as we made our into the giant auditorium. The amount of tables, decorations and servers just abut made my head spin. “This is like how prom is supposed to be.”

“Prom,” Peyton muttered. “Hopefully it’s nothing like prom. If it is, I’ll be crying in the bathroom at the end of the night.”

I sighed, looking at the tiny cards set at each seat with a name written across it. “So, which table are Peyton and I at?” I asked Max.

He and Jordan exchanged a look before Max smiled. “Well, Peyton, you’re right here,” He said, pointing to the table right beside him. “And Hanna, you’re not.”

I frowned. “Am I not on the list?”

“No, you’re allowed to be here,” Max said. “You’re just not sitting with Peyton.”

“Oh, there wasn’t enough room?” Peyton asked, already sitting down at the table and leaning around to read the other names, glancing up as more and more people filed in. “I’m sitting with Tyler, Kris, Ruslan Fedotenko, Brooks Orpik and Brent Johnson,” She read. “Awww, Hanna, I’m going to be so bored.”

“Where am I sitting?” I asked again, completely ignoring Peyton and she said something to Kris when he sat down at the table.

“You’re over here,” Jordan said, nodding over his shoulder and walking me over to a table on the other side of the room. He glanced around before stopping me. “Look, I’m sorry that I changed the seating so you’re not with Peyton-”

“You did what now?” I asked, shaking my head a little bit.

He let out an awkward laugh. “Yeah, Max and I might have snuck into Bylsma’s office and rearranged a few things. But it had to happen, because if Peyton is there, Peyton will distract you.”

I eyed him for a moment, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I peered around him to see the table we were standing a few feet from, straining my eyes to try and read the name cards.

Bill Guerin, Jordan Staal, Amanda Cummings, Maxime Talbot, Hanna Ashton, Sidney Crosby

“Oh, you assholes,” I muttered, reaching out and smacking Jordan’s arm. “Would you guys stop playing cupid?”

“Cupid? Do I look like a tiny baby who is mysteriously good at archery?” He asked. “I just think you and Sidney-”

“Stop thinking about me and Sidney,” I interrupted. “Nothing will happen. I’m only here tomorrow, then I leave early in the next morning. And Sidney doesn’t date. Drop it.”

Jordan stared at me for a long time before he walked over to the table, picking up my name card, and switched it with one at the table behind it. “There. No worries.”
He pulled out his chair and took a seat, leaving me to stare at the back of his head in confusion.

Max, who was standing behind me, let out a sigh, coming to stand next to me. “I don’t think you realize what’s happening, Hanna,” Max said, pausing so he could pick my name card back up. “We’re not doing this just because we want you two to date or whatever,” He paused again so he could put my card back where it was before, saying something to Jordan as he placed the other person’s name back on the other table. “It’s not about all of that fluffy stuff. It’s about Sidney needing someone to talk too. And he has that with you.”

He stopped, glancing behind me and nodding at someone before looking back at me. “Stop thinking about whether you ‘like’ him or if there’s a need to bother with him if he already told you he generally doesn’t date, and just talk to the guy.”

Max stepped away from me to greet one of the photographers at the event, leaving me to awkwardly head over to the table and sit down, looking over at Jordan. He was staring down at the table, his jaw clenched and his face lined with annoyance.

I played with the fabric of my dress for a moment before letting out a loud sigh. “I’m sorry, Jordan,” I said, making him glance up at me. “The truth is, I appreciate the effort you guys are putting in. Even if it makes me wildly uncomfortable most of the time.”

He sat up in his chair, placing his elbows on the table and leaning forward. “Good. Because whether you believe it or not,” He said, glancing around quickly, “Sid’s just as bothered by the idea of you two having no chance as you are. He’s just not going to say anything about it.” He watched as my expression flashed between shock, embarrassment and disbelief in a matter of seconds before he simply laughed, taking a sip from the glass of the water set before him.

I felt my eyes widen, as I was still trying to wrap my head around everything Max and Jordan had told me, when the chair next to me was pulled out.
“Hey guys,” Sidney greeted, glancing over at me when I snapped my head up, making Jordan laugh. Sidney chuckled, “Sorry, did I startle you?” He asked, looking at me.

I had to take a second to answer after I turned my head to look at him, taking in the still wet hair, the scent of the cologne he had on and the way the dark coal colour of his suit set off his eyes. I forced a small smile. “A little bit, yeah.” I turned my attention straight ahead once more, reaching out for my own glass of water and taking an unlady like gulp, ignoring the way that Jordan was watching with an amused expression.

Sidney, thankfully, had turned his own attention away from me briefly as Bill Guerin had patted his shoulder as he walked around him to get to his chair, causing Sidney to tip his head back and look at him. He turned to look at me again, taking in my dress before he looked up once more, catching my eye. “You look beautiful, Hanna.”

I felt my face growing warm as I quietly thanked him, catching the first pump Jordan did from two seats over. “I told you it would be a good night!” He said, making me shoot him a look while Sidney glanced over at him in confusion before becoming distracted by Bill Guerin asking him something. Jordan gave me a thumbs up, laughing as I completely ignored the gesture and tried to distract myself with another drink of my water.

Max took a seat across from me, glancing quickly between Sidney and I before he grinned. “Hey, you know what’s really weird?” He asked, earning both Sidney and I’s attention. “Sidney’s tie matches your dress.”

I glanced down at my dress before I turned and looked at Sidney’s tie, noticing that they were, indeed, the exact same colour.

Jordan made a shocked face. “Well, that is certainly a coincidence.”

Bill Guerin laughed, “It’s like you two are a couple. That’s adorable.”

I was still staring over at Max and Jordan, who were both trying as hard as they could to not fall over in a fit of laughter, as they had clearly arranged this whole thing, from the seating to the outfits.

Sidney let out a laugh from beside, holding his tie out so he could look at it and then looking at me. “I guess we just both have amazing taste,” He grinned, his eyes moving to Max. “Or friends with connections.”

Max began whistling, looking away from Sidney and I as if he had no idea what was being implied.

“Whichever it is,” Sidney continued, smirking at Max for another brief second before returning his gaze to me, “You still look really pretty.”

I the lights hadn’t dimmed at that exact moment to signal the start of the event, I just might have fallen out of my chair .