Chasing the Stars {Jamie Benn}

Eleven

{Jamie}

The apartment just didn't feel right ever since Elle found out. She'd packed up her things and left. Neither Tyler nor I knew where she went, which scared the living hell out of me. It'd been weeks, it was the offseason, and the only thing that had been keeping us around was Elle.

"Heard anything?" Tyler asked, walking into the living room. His hands were tangled in his hair, and the bags beneath his eyes were becoming more and more noticeable. I shut the lid of my laptop and sighed.

"Nothing."

"Shit," he breathed, plopping down on the couch next to me. "She couldn't have gotten to far away because she didn't even take a car."

"I know, Segs." He'd spent hours trying to rationalize where she was, running circles around the same thoughts. It was getting exhausting and admittedly annoying. I was just as worried, if not more, as he was.

It was pretty twisted, considering this whole ordeal was his fault in the first place. Yet he blamed her finding out on me. I should've kept her home, he would say.

"Jamie," he said, looking over at me.

"What?"

"I fucked up. I fucked up really, really bad."

"Yeah, you did," I replied, "and I'm getting real fucking tired of you whining, when you know that it's your fault she's gone!"

"Jamie, shut the hell up," Tyler demanded.

"No! I'm not going to sit here and listen to you mope around, when you're the one who made the decision to sleep with 10 other women," I replied, pushing myself off of the couch.

"Where are you going?" Tyler questioned as I grabbed my keys off of the counter.

"Away from you for a little while," I remarked as I pulled the door open. I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and dialed Val's number. I knew he was still in town, too.

"What's up?" he answered.

"I need Krystal's number," I replied. "Please."

••••••••••••••

"Jamie, she'll kill me if I tell you where she is," Krystal told me as she wrapped her hands around a mug of hot tea.

"Please, Krystal," I begged. "I need to see her."

"She's still extremely upset," Krystal informed me. "I honesty think it would do her some good to see you. Why didn't you tell her? What stopped you?"

"Tyler's one of my best friends. I didn't want to butt into their relationship more than I already was," I explained. "Other than that, I honestly don't know."

"Don't tell her I told you, but she's back home in Plymouth. She's at her parents' house, just staying there until she figures out what she's going to do."

"What should I do?"

"Buy a plane ticket, cowboy," she answered. I grinned as she slid her laptop across the table for me to use.

••••••••••••••••

I landed in Detroit and got a rental car to make the 30 minute drive to Plymouth. Krystal was a saint, considering she even gave me the address of Elle's parents' house.

The house was a two-story traditional family home, and it was beautiful. There was only one car in the driveway, and as soon as I saw the Patriots sticker on the bumper, I knew it was Elle.

I took a deep breath. I wondered for a moment if I was even doing the right thing. What if she shoved me out the door, and I was stuck here until the next flight out to Dallas?

I decided that I was just being ridiculous, and I pushed the car door open before I could change my mind. I stepped up to her porch, and hesitated before pressing the doorbell. I saw a flash of her hair and the the curtain dropping out of the corner of my eye.

I hadn't even realized she opened the door until she said my name.

"Jamie? Wha-why are you here?" she questioned, her voice soft.

"I should've told you" I said, just standing on her porch like an awkward meathead.

"Come in," she sighed, opening the door farther. She stepped to the side and let me in. "This is where I grew up."

She leaned against the door frame to the kitchen and gazed at me.

"I'm so, so sorry," I apologized, leaning against the wall opposite of the door frame.

"Jamie, I'm sorry, too," she admitted.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blamed you and made it your fault. It wasn't your fault, it was his."

"I still feel like shit," I admitted. "I feel responsible, and I wish I could make it up to you."

"Don't," she told me. She pushed herself off of the wall and came towards me. "The fact that you're even here makes it up to me, Jams."

She wrapped her arms around my torso and rested her head on my chest.

I hugged her back, holding her close.

"Eleanor?" I called quietly. She leaned her head back to look into my eyes. I slid my hands to her cheeks and just stood there, taking in the silence and the beautiful color of her eyes.

"Yes, Jams?"

"I think I'm glad I came," I commented with a grin.

"I think I'm glad you came as well," she replied. She let me go and she dragged me into the kitchen. She pushed herself into the counter and I leaned against it next to her.

"So, what've you been up to, darlin'?" I questioned with a small laugh. She rolled her eyes at me but laughed.

"The weirdest thing happened to me that night." She was obviously referring to the night she saw Tyler and Kelly.

"What happened?"

"I got shitfaced drunk, and I was puking in the bathroom. There was this random dude who followed me in there and was holding my hair and rubbing my back."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. I knew damn well who that random dude was.

"He told me he was in love with me," she said with a grin. "Isn't that crazy?"

"Totally crazy," I commented with a smile.

"Who does that? Who professes their love for some random chick in the bar? Especially in the bathroom! While I'm puking!"

"Maybe he thought you were someone else," I offered with a shrug.

"No, no, that's the really weird thing. He knew my name, Jamie. He called me Eleanor," she told me with a laugh. "I just can't stop thinking about who it might've been."

Me, Eleanor. It was me, and it always will be.