All the Ways

xi

Vivienne knocked on Sam's door. He answered the door with a smile on his face, even though he still had a sling on. He leaned in to kiss her and invited her inside. Vivienne had been seeing Sam every single day since he was injured. She would go straight to his house from school or work just to hang out with him. Having him was nice, but she could tell he was greatly bothered by not playing hockey. She cooked him dinner tonight, setting their plates down and sitting down in front of him. She ate slowly and stared at her plate the entire time.

"What's bothering you?" Sam asked.

"You! You don't tell me anything, Sam. I can tell you're sad, and I'm here for you. I want to be here for you, actually. I just want you to tell me how you feel."

He put his fork down, "Okay. Ever since I got surgery last season, I've been scared. I've been scared that I would fuck my shoulder up again. And guess what happened? I'm away from my job right now, Vivienne. And it fucking sucks. Maybe I don't talk about it because I don't want to. Have you ever considered that?"

She breathed in, trying to recollect herself after Sam yelled at her. Sam and Vivienne don't argue, ever, and it was a weird thought to know that her boyfriend just told her off. "Fine." She huffed, and walked out, leaving Sam alone.

He felt bad, but in all honesty, everything made him feel bad. He was at his worst right now, and talking about it made him feel downright horrible. He was angry with Vivienne for making him talk, but he was also angry at himself for yelling at her. He was angry at the trainer for not letting him play, he was angry at himself for being in the wrong position, he was angry at life in general.

/////

Sean and Amber sat on his couch, watching movies, when someone knocked on the door. Amber opened it and Vivienne stood there, staring at her. She looked exhausted. Her eyes were puffy, her breath was jagged, and when she saw Amber, she fell into her arms and burst into tears.

"Get Paige. Now." Amber ordered Sean.

Sean quickly ran to Johnny's room, where him and Paige were laying together, laughing at something on an iPad. "Paige. There's an emergency," he said, out of breath.

Paige threw the comforter off of her and ran to the living room, where she saw Amber rubbing Vivienne's back while Vivienne cried.

"Whoa, what happened?"

"I just... I try to help Sam and he doesn't want my help. I've taken care of him every single day since he got injured, and he just blew up on me tonight. I knew the injury bothered him, so I asked about it, and he just blew up. He started telling me he didn't want to talk about it and made me feel bad and I just want to die." She rubbed her eyes, but just ended up crying even more.

Paige got her a glass of water, putting it up to her lips and making her take a few sips, "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. Things like this happen, he probably doesn't mean it."

"I know he doesn't mean it, but it just sounded like he did at the time, and it made me feel like shit," She rested her head on Amber's shoulder and sighed, "I want to apologize but I don't want to talk to him right now."

Sean piped into the conversation, "He's just mad at everything right now and he took it out on you. It happens all the time when someone gets injured. Don't beat yourself up, Viv. The kid loves you more than anything, and everyone can tell. When you two talk it out, everything will be fine." He pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back.

Vivienne wiped her eyes, "Thank you, Sean," she turned back to the other girls, "I'm gonna head home and treat myself for a bit. I'll see you guys later?"

"Yes you will." Amber said, hugging her and kissing her head.

"Have fun. I love you." Paige hugged her as well.

Vivienne left, and the girls went back to what they were doing earlier. Amber looked at Sean and smiled, "Thank you."

He didn't take his eyes off of the TV, but rubbed her shoulder to indicate he was listening, "For?"

"Being so nice to Vivienne! She's my best friend, Sean. It really means a lot to me that you comforted her today."

He turned his head and kissed her forehead, "Anything for you. Anything for Viv. Anything for Paige. You know, your friends are actually pretty cool. You chose good ones."

"I always choose the good ones," she smiled at him.