Chasing the Stars {Jamie Benn}

Nineteen

"Good god, I leave for twenty minutes, and you've already got her crying," Jamie commented as he walked back into the kitchen.

"It's fine, really," I told him with a small laugh. My stupid tears gave me away. I was so, so tired of crying over Tyler.

"Good job, mom," Jenny remarked sarcastically. "I'm going to bed." She grabbed her phone from the counter and gave me a quick hug before heading upstairs.

Heather and Randy exchanged a look before looking back at Jamie and me.

"I think we're gonna hit the hay, too," Heather said. They left the room, and I turned to Jamie, wrapping my arms around his neck. He put his hands on my hips and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

•••••••••••••••

The two weeks absolutely flew by, and before I knew what happened, it was time to say bye to Jamie's family. It was actually kind of upsetting to have to leave them.

"It was so nice to meet you, sweetheart," Heather told me as she pulled me into a big hug. I hugged her back and smiled to myself. She was such an amazing woman.

"Nice to meet you, too," I replied. She smiled as I went on to Randy. He also pulled me into a hug, making me feel at home.

"Try to keep him in line, will ya?"

"I'll try my hardest," I replied with a laugh. Jenny was teary eyed as I walked towards her. We had hung out a lot during the two weeks I had spent here, and I would definitely miss her.

"I'll will definitely be visiting Dallas," she informed me as she squeezed me tight.

"You better," I told her, "or else I'll hunt you down. I know where you live!"

The whole family laughed and insisted on one final group hug before Jamie and I left to make it to the airport on time.

"They love you, Elle," he told me as we waited at our gate.

"Really?" I asked eagerly. Jamie laughed at me.

"Of course, babe," he replied as he leaned over and kissed my cheek.

Finally, Jamie and I were back in Dallas. The first practice was today, so that left me alone at Jamie's new apartment pretty much all day while he dealt with the media.

By seven o'clock at night, I was beginning to worry. Surely it was too late for him to still be doing interviews.

I wandered over to the window and looked out over Dallas. Such a beautiful city. My serenity was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. I was hesitant to open the door, so I opened it just a crack.

"May I help you?" I asked, peeking my head out. A man with khakis and a polo stood there with a pen and a notebook.

"Yes, I'm JC from DallasNews.com. We're here to talk to you about Jamie and Tyler," he said. My eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"What about them?" I questioned, suddenly feeling uneasy about this man at my door.

"Oh, Elle, we know all about the engagement and how it ended. It's resulted in locker room drama between the two best forwards on the team," he said, looking at me like I was a piece of meat.

"Uh, I don't have anything to say," I replied, trying to close the door as quickly as possible. Before it was shut, JC stuck his foot in, jamming the door open.

"Elle! Let me in and let's talk!"

He tried to pry the door open. I was horrified. This man was trying to break into my home to do god knows what to get a good story out of me. How in the hell did he even find Jamie's address?

"Dude!" I hear a voice yell, and I immediately recognize it as Jamie. I open the door just enough to see him lift JC by the collar, holding him against the wall. "You leave her alone, understand, asshole?"

The man nodded quickly, his face turning red. Jamie roughly dropped him onto his feet.

"Now get the fuck out of here," he demanded, his tone low and serious. My heart rate had to be at least 115, and I could feel my eyes nearly bugging out of my head. Jamie turned and locked eyes with me, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. He glanced down the hallway to make sure we were alone before finally coming inside.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, holding my face in his hands once the door was closed. I slowly nod, still unsure of how to feel about what just happened. He leaned down and softly kissed my forehead before pulling me into a full on bear hug.

"That was awful."

"I know, baby, I know," he whispers, combing his fingers through the ends of my hair. My hands were shaking, but I gripped his shirt as tight as possible.

I felt safe, right there in our living room, wrapped up in his muscular, tattooed arms. I felt my heart rate drop down to normal, and my breathing became steady.

"What was that?" I asked as I leaned back to look at his face. That was when I realized he had a black eye. "Good god, Jamie, what in the hell happened today?"

"Tyler said some shit he shouldn't have, and I kicked his ass," he replied. "That guy was looking for you to comment on it."

"Jamie," I whispered, trailing off. I didn't even know where to begin. This was bad. Really, really bad. Jamie and Tyler had to figure something out before the season started.

"PR is pissed off," he told me, running a hand through his hair but keeping his other hand on me. "But hey, if you think this looks bad, you should see the other guy."

I laughed at his stupid joke, but went into the kitchen to grab him an ice pack.

"You're an idiot," I told him with a small laugh as I pushed myself up onto the counters. He grinned and shrugged at me as he placed the ice pack over his eye.

"But I'm your idiot," he responded as he came over to me, leaning against the counter. We sat in silence for a few moments, just enjoying the silence. "Okay, so from now on, don't answer the door unless you know who it is."

"I'm sorry," I apologized, feeling bad for adding to his stress. Jamie turned to me, eyebrows pulled together with a confused look on his face.

"Hey," he said quietly. "Look at me." He put his thumb on my chin, gently tilting my head up so my eyes would meet his.

"What?"

"What are you sorry for?" he asked, still looking pretty confused.

"I shouldn't have opened the door, I've added on to your stress, now you're mad, and-"

He cut me off with a soft kiss.

"It was a mistake, Elle. I'm not mad," he told me quietly with a smile. I took a deep sigh filled with relief.

"It's just, Tyler would be mad about something like that," I admitted with a shrug. Jamie pressed another kiss to my lips.

"I'm not Tyler."