Full Summary: Brooks Laich is one of the Washington Capitals' star forwards. He excels in all he does, but when tragedy strikes, will he be able to cope? Or will the pain be too much for him to go on? When someone new comes into his life will he be able to let her in, or will his past be too much for the both of them to handle?

This story was inspired by a very, very good friend of mine who is in love with Brooksy : ) She's actually the future Mrs. Brooks Laich ;) haha! This one's for you Annette!

This couldn't be happening.

Things like this just didn't happen to guys like him.

It wasn't possible.

Brooks Laich sat in shock on the edge of his bed in a small apartment in downtown D.C. His brilliant blue eyes were glazed over and his face frozen as he dropped the receiver to the floor. In that moment his entire world began to spin around him. He felt his vision begin to fade and he didn't bother to fight the blackness that quickly surrounded him.

…

Mike Green paced outside Brooks Laich's door anxiously. He ran a hand through his tousled black hair and sighed impatiently as he waited for his best friend to answer the door. They had agreed to go out for the evening and have some fun on the town, but Brooks wasn't answering the door. Mike had been waiting for over ten minutes and was beginning to get annoyed with his best friend.

"I swear if he stood me up I'm gonna be so pissed," muttered Mike under his breath as he pounded on the door, "Yo! Brooksy! You awake man?"

Mike waited a moment longer and then growled under his breath as he reached for the door knob. He raised an eyebrow in surprise when he noticed that the door was unlocked. Brooks always kept his place locked up…they were in downtown D.C. after all. Mike frowned as he walked into the apartment and called out for his friend.

"Brooks? Dude, where are you?" he asked as he rounded the corner, "Dude, seriously…"

Mike trailed off when he saw Brooks Laich, passed out on the floor next to his bed with the phone lying next to him.

"Shit!" hissed Mike as he hurried over and bent down to see if his friend was okay, "C'mon Brooksy, don't do this to me, man."

Mike rolled his friend over onto his back and tried to rouse him. When Brooks didn't respond, Mike raced into the kitchen and grabbed a cold glass of water. He ran back over to Brooks and dumped the ice-cold water on his friend's face. Instantly, Brooks began coughing and sputtering as he frantically wiped the water off of his face.

"Brooks!" said Mike, relief evident in his voice, "What the hell happened?"

Brooks Laich sat up slowly, his head pounding as he tried to collect his jumbled thoughts…something about a phone call…a car…accident…Tracy…

Instantly, Brooks felt like he was going to throw up. He stumbled towards his bathroom and heaved into the toilet. Mike grimaced as he listened to his friend cough up whatever it was he had eaten earlier that day. Once the heaving subsided, Mike walked into the bathroom to check on his friend.

"You okay?" he asked quietly as he studied the look on Brooks' face.

Brooks shook his head slowly back and forth. He had paled to a ghostly-white color and his blue eyes looked dull as he turned his gaze slowly toward Mike.

"Mikey…she's…she's dead," he whispered hoarsely as emotion threatened to overwhelm him.

Mike Green froze instantly at that, "What? No…no there's no way! Brooksy…we just saw her at lunch…no…how…?"

Brooks looked away as he began to shudder with emotion. The image of Tracy's smiling face, her long brunette hair, her dazzling smile flashed through his mind.

"The…hospital said…it was a drunk…driver," choked out Brooks as he heaved again into the toilet.

"Aw shit," muttered Mike as he sunk down onto the bathroom floor in shock, "Oh God…no…"

Brooks finished heaving into the toilet and reached over for a towel to wipe his face. After a few moments, Mike began to get over the initial shock of the news and moved over next to Brooks. He draped an arm around his shoulders and together, the two best friends mourned the loss of Brooks Laich's girlfriend…

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lyin' on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait?
Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me

In the end
Everyone ends up alone
Losing her
The only one who's ever known
Who I am
Who I'm not, who I wanna be
No way to know
How long she will be next to me…