Picture Perfect | Claude Giroux Philadelphia Flyers story |

On the Road Again

(Warning: there may be some bad typos since I wrote it so fast)

-----Kat's POV

"Thanks for picking me up Kat!" Tess says cheerily as we get into the car; I hold back a grimace- it was way too early too be this bright and sunny. I flash a bright smile in reply regardless of how much I wasn't a morning person, "no problem at all, I have to go over some rules of road trips with you anyways."

She nods her head with an excited grin as she throws a small duffel bag in the trunk of my o' faithful 2003 Jeep Grande Cherokee. Even though she wasn't the best car to drive around the city, she got me from practice and back just fine. The original plan was to drive my car with Tess instead of taking the bus to New York for the big game against the Rangers since I had Tess coming with me but the guys heavily insisted that the Jeep wasn't the best choice for such a long drive. Before I could tell them no, Tess was already too excited for me to kill her hopes of getting to know the guys even better.

We get to the WFC relatively quickly from Tess's dorm which was relatively close to Philly, but it gives me ample time to explain to her some of the rules we have. "Make sure you get enough sleep too- sometimes getting up for the morning practices come sooner than anticipated after a night of going out with the guys."

Tess nods her head in understanding and waits for more information, "I'm staying in the same room as you right?"

"Yeah, I've never had a roommate on these trips yet so far so I'm excited to have you coming," I give her a reassuring smile as we get our bags out of the jeep.

"Good I'm glad, despite what my roommate says at college, I'm a pretty kick ass roomie," she jokes and we laugh.

"Oh one more thing too," I begin to say as we walk up to the group of guys waiting for the bus, "try not to get involved with one of the guys- it just can get pretty messy and confusing- trust me," I half laugh as I look up and find Claude in the group. Tess quickly notices who I'm looking at and a smile breaks from her lips. "It's just- I'm trying to protect you- I can't let anything happen to my young apprentice," I laugh, wrapping a friendly arm around her shoulder as we walk, "I know you're nervous but if you follow some of the guidelines I've told you about this road trip will be a piece of cake."

"Aye aye captain," she teases and salutes me with a free hand.

"I wasn't aware there was another captain," a deep voice says with a laugh interrupting our conversation. We look up to see a sleepy Claude standing in front of us giving us a panty-melting smile.

"And I think we all know who the better captain is," Tess says with a challenging grin causing us to laugh.

"Tess! Kat! Over here!" we hear a cheerful Brayden call, holding a tray with four Wawa coffees in his hand- bless Bray for bringing some caffeine. It was good to see him with a big smile on his face- just a few days ago Luke was traded to the LA Kings along with Vinny for Jordan Weal; he's been pretty broken up about it since- and I can't blame him. Tess runs over to him first leaving G and I by ourselves, walking slowly over to meet Bray and Tess- who were already chatting it up.

"Good morning captain," I say trying to stifle a laugh- Claude looked like hell; his eyes were still red from lack of sleep and his disheveled curls were hardly being tamed by the gray beanie pulled on top of his head, "you're a regular sleeping beauty."

"Not everyone can wake up looking as beautiful as you," he lets out with a laugh but his smile drops as soon as he realizes what he said. I look to the ground in an attempt to hide my blushing cheeks and the sure as hell goofy smile on my face.

"Coffee?" Brayden asks with a smirk, holding a coffee for me.

"Yes, please," I say with desperation, "thanks so much."