Bluehaven4220: Yeah, Robbie's clueless, lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this next chapter!

meadow567: Thanks :) Glad you liked it.

NellieBly413672: Yeah, more to come with Robbie's mom in this chapter. I think you'll like it. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!

xcapitalbarbie90: Thanks. It wasn't really that Robbie forgot to tell Laura exactly, he just didn't want to worry her. But anyway, yeah, dinner and the game with Robbie's mom. I'd be scared if I were Laura, lol. I hope you enjoy it.

everpresentpast: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it. I think you'll be happy with the Laura and Beth part ;) Enjoy the chapter!

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! I love reading what you all think. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and for those of you who want Beth to go easy on Laura and warm up to her... you might be in luck. This chapter is filled with drama though. Lots and lots of drama and tension and stress, and, well, you get the idea. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 29

"Hey baby," Robbie said, seeing Laura walk into the arena. His parents were already there, as they had gotten there a few minutes before.

"Hi," she said. Robbie gave her a quick kiss. "Hi David and Beth. It's good to see you again," Laura said, pulling away from Robbie whose arm was still around her.

"It's good to see you too, Laura," said David.

After the four chatted for a few minutes, Robbie left to meet up with the team and Laura, Beth, and David left for dinner at a restaurant in the Olympic village.

"So Laura, I heard you're moving to Buffalo after the games," David said while they were waiting for their food.

"Yeah, Robbie asked me last week. I'm excited. It will definitely be different, because I've lived in Minnesota my whole life, but I'm excited. I'm most excited for Robbie though. He's ecstatic to have the chance to play in the NHL."

"Wait a minute," interjected Beth. "You're moving to Buffalo? To be with Robbie? He never told me about that," she said, surprise evident in her voice. She turned to her husband. "When did he tell you?"

"Just the other day."

"He didn't tell me," she said again. "Wow. So you're really moving to Buffalo for Robbie?" Beth asked, still surprised. David shot her a warning look, but Laura didn't really notice the tone of shock in Beth's voice to begin with.

"Well, yeah," Laura said. "I really love him," she said quietly, but loud enough that Beth heard her. Laura turned a light shade of red from admitting her feelings to his parents.

"Your family lives in Minnesota, don't they?" Beth asked, wondering to herself what Laura's real motivation for moving was.

"Yeah, but they understand why I'm moving. They actually want me to. My family met Robbie at Christmas and they absolutely loved him. I thought it was amazing at how well we all get along in general. My family and Robbie, and me and all of you. I was so scared that one of us would end up with in-laws that hate them."

The word "in-laws" sunk in quickly for Beth. Before she had a chance to ask about it though, Laura realized what she had said.

"Well, not that we're getting married," she said quickly. "Not that we won't," she added awkwardly. "We're not yet though. But, um . . . well . . . I just meant that, like . . . " Laura really didn't know how to tell them what she meant. She realized that Robbie's parents must think she was crazy. Laura blushed.

"Don't worry, we know what you mean, Laura," David said, noticing how tongue tied she got.

The rest of dinner went pretty well, and there were hardly any more awkward moments. Laura still felt a little weird being alone with Robbie's family, but she tried her hardest to be herself. David made her feel more comfortable than Beth, who Laura still wasn't sure about. She kept getting mixed signals and didn't know how to read them.

Before leaving the restaurant, Laura went to the bathroom and Robbie's parents were alone to talk about Laura.

"Beth, what happened to giving her a chance? You're lucky Laura didn't notice the look of surprise on your face when she said that she's moving, because you had 'I can't believe you might actually love him' written all over it."

"I am giving her a chance. I even talked to her about her interests all through dinner. And I thought I was very nice to her. But earlier, I was just surprised, that's all."

"Well, please try to be yourself and stop judging Laura."

A little while later, the three arrived at the arena. Laura relaxed quite a bit at the game because she noticed that Beth seemed more laid back and normal. She wasn't as uptight as usual.

Beth also noticed something about Laura. Once the game began, Beth saw that Laura knew much more about hockey than she would have ever guessed. Laura knew specific penalty calls and the rules of the game.

"Laura how do you know so much about hockey?" Beth asked, sort of giving Laura her first genuine compliment from her ever.

"Well, my dad and brother love hockey, so I've always watched it, but I actually picked most of the specific rules and really began understanding the details from watching Robbie play."

"Well, I have to say, I'm impressed," said Beth with a real smile.

Laura smiled back. "Thanks. I used to tell Robbie did amazing after every game, but sometimes he'd tell me that he really didn't. Now I can actually give him my honest opinion, because I know what he thinks is bad." Beth laughed a little.

"It's funny you say that, because to this day, I tell him good job after every game I watch, and sometimes he gets mad at me for saying it."

"Yeah, now I know when to watch out for him too. After a not so good game, I can usually tell whether to bring up the game or avoid the subject of hockey completely."

Beth was really impressed with Laura's knowledge of hockey. She figured that Laura was just another girl that found Robbie attractive mainly because he was a hockey player, and thought Laura wouldn't have a clue to the difference between a right wing and a defenseman. Beth now realized that she was totally wrong. Laura actually liked, or loved, Robbie for who he really was.

Within the first half of the first period, Sweden scored, and close to the end of the period, they were still ahead. Robbie was on the ice and fighting for the puck when Laura noticed Robbie back off a little. The Sweden player got the puck away and passed to someone else. Then Laura noticed the lines changing and Robbie half limping off the ice in apparent pain.

"Oh my God, is he okay?" she wondered out loud.

"It looks like his leg got hurt," said David.

"I hope he's all right," said Beth, turning to see a worried expression on Laura's face. For the remaining few minutes of the period, Laura didn't pay much attention to the game. She watched Robbie on the bench, wincing in pain as Doc looked at his injured leg. Laura knew guys got hit all the time, and minor injuries were a normal part of the sport, but she thought Robbie looked like he was in an incredible amount of pain. She just hoped it was nothing too serious.

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Doc helped Robbie into the locker room before the period ended. Robbie took his equipment off and was icing his leg as the rest of the team came into the locker room. No one was happy about being down by a goal, but no one was as upset as Herb.

He came into the locker room clearly pissed off. Robbie was too busy thinking about his leg and hoping it would be better for the next game to really notice how upset Herb was at first. Ever Herb throwing a table across the room really didn't get Robbie's full attention. His leg hurt too much to care.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Herb asked. Robbie looked up, realizing that Herb was talking to him. After Herb told him to put his gear on though, Robbie wasn't sure anymore and didn't react. Herb told him again, and Robbie responded, telling him that Doc said he couldn't play. Herb then acted as if Robbie was a baby for not playing and called him a quitter.

Robbie was pissed but decided to let it go and get dressed like Herb wanted. It was Herb's next comment that really burnt Robbie up though. No one was going to call him what he thought just came from Herb's mouth. Robbie threw down the ice and stood up, moving toward Herb. The two began yelling at one another, with Robbie ten times more heated than Herb was.

"You want me to play, huh? Is that what you want?" Robbie yelled.

"I WANT YOU TO BE A HOCKEY PLAYER!" Herb yelled back.

"I AM A HOCKEY PLAYER!" Robbie yelled, his face turning bright red from the stress of screaming.

Herb calmly walked out of the room as Robbie tried to go after him. Johnson and Rammer held Robbie back, with Robbie yelling at them to get off of him. Robbie didn't know exactly what he would do to Herb if he got to him, but that didn't really concern him at the time.

"Get off me!" Robbie yelled at his friends again. "Does that make you happy? Huh, Herb? I am a hockey player!" Robbie yelled some more, even more angry that Herb was just walking away from him.

"Easy. Easy, Mac," someone said. Robbie didn't know who said it and didn't care either. He continued fighting the guys off of him.

"Come on, Mac. It's over. Stop," said Mark. After a minute more of yelling, Robbie stopped, realizing Herb was gone and probably couldn't even hear him anymore.

"It's not worth it," said Rammer. "He's just being Herb."

"Yeah, Mac. Don't let it bother you too much. Herb always says stuff like this," said Rizzo.

"Oh yeah," Robbie yelled. "I've heard him say plenty to you, but I don't recall him ever calling you a candy-ass. I don't deserve it!" he yelled loud, still hoping Herb would hear him. "I'm not a quitter and I am a hockey player!" he yelled, his face bright red from anger.

"I'm sure he didn't really mean it," commented Verchota. "Herb's being a jerk. It's not like that anything new."

"He's being a fucking ass hole!" yelled Robbie.

"He's just trying to mess with you and get you angry," said Jimmy, quietly.

"Well he did a damn good job. I'm pissed," Robbie said, picking up his equipment and putting it on forcefully. "No way I'm letting anyone call me a fucking quitter," Robbie mumbled. He continued mumbling to himself as he got ready to play. His leg killed, but it wasn't stopping him. As soon as he was ready, Robbie left the locker room and sat in the hall. He wanted to be away from everyone just then.

For the remaining time between periods, the guys sat in the locker room, still shocked at the scene that had just unfolded minutes before. Once the second period was a couple minutes away from starting, Rizzo decided to make a quick captain speech before the guys left the locker room.

"Come on guys, let's do this. I know we're all pissed at Herb right now. We have every reason to be. What he said to Mac was uncalled for. But let's go out there and do this for Mac. Even though his leg hurts like hell, he's gonna go out there and give us everything he can. Let's see what we can do for him. We have to play together and behind him. Mac took one for the team, and now we gotta do something for him. Let's show him how proud we are that he's sticking this out."

This motivated the guys to get back on the ice and play hard, including Robbie, who could hear Rizzo's powerful words in the hall. He was still angry, but ready to show Herb that he had what it took. No one was going to call him a quitter.

Laura was very surprised to see Robbie out on the ice in the beginning of the second period. He looked really angry just before the face off, but it still looked like he was in a lot of pain.

"I wonder why he's still playing?" Laura wondered out loud.

"I don't know. I thought for sure he would be done for the night," Beth responded.

Laura watched Robbie play a little in the second and third period. With almost three minutes left in the game, Robbie was on the ice for a face off. He still looked more angry than Laura had ever seen him. He wasn't even as angry when they had a fight about something. It was almost scary seeing Robbie that angry. He had a look that could kill on his face. Laura also noticed him pushing the Sweden guy next to him before the face off. She just hoped he didn't get in a fight. The team really couldn't afford a penalty now, because they needed to score.

Just after the face off, Robbie was checked hard into the boards. He was down for a little longer than normal, causing Laura's heart to skip a beat, but he was then up, although still in pain.

Robbie skated with some difficulty down the ice, his thoughts on what Herb had said earlier was the only thing keeping him going. That and the cheers of support he heard from his team. He had a sudden burst of strength as he hit a Sweden team member hard in the boards.

"All right, Mac!" Robbie heard Rizzo yell.

With a little over a minute left, Robbie was relieved from the ice. With words of support from his teammates, Robbie sat on the bench to watch the remainder of the game. He knew he wouldn't be back out again, thankfully.

Only seconds were left when Baker scored and tied the game at two, ending the first game of the Olympics in a tie.

After the game, Laura wasn't sure whether to go down to the locker room or not. She was really worried about Robbie, but with him looking so angry, she wasn't sure wether she wanted to see him right away or not. Laura decided on waiting with Robbie's parents near the doors where Robbie would come out. It didn't take him long after the game.

Though Robbie was still angry, and in quite a bit of pain, he smiled when he saw Laura waiting for him. He knew that she probably saw how angry he was on the ice and smiled as a way to reassure her that he wasn't angry with her and wouldn't take his problem out on her.

Laura understood the simple gesture, realizing the smile was sort of forced, but also knowing that he was indeed happy to see her.

"Hey," she said walking up to him. "Is your leg okay?"

"It hurts like hell," he answered honestly. Robbie didn't mention why he was so upset on the ice, but Laura got the impression that he didn't feel like discussing. Robbie did explain exactly how he got injured though. He got a bad charley horse from getting hit in the leg with someone's knee. Robbie assured his parents that he would be okay and after thanking them for coming to the game, they left. Laura went back to Robbie's room with him. Robbie was rooming with Buzz for the Olympics, so he was alone because Buzz went to his wife's room for the night.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked. "Ice? Ibuprofen?" Robbie shook his head and sat on the bed, carefully bringing up his leg on the bed. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just really tired tonight. I think I need a good night's sleep."

"You played great for being hurt, Robbie," Laura said sincerely, rubbing his arm affectionately. Robbie didn't respond. "Do you want to talk about it?" Laura asked, sensing there was something else that was wrong. Robbie was trying to hide it, but Laura knew whatever was bothering him was more than a simple charley horse. He was clearly pissed off at something, or someone.

"There's nothing to talk about," Robbie said. "I've had a long day and I want to go to sleep."

Laura didn't want to push him, but she wanted to help. "Okay, if you want to talk though, I'm here. I'll just listen."

"Thanks, but I don't feel like talking," he said cooly. Immediately he regretted it. He wasn't trying to start a fight with Laura, but it was hard keeping his cool. He wanted to talk to her because he knew she would listen and understand, but he couldn't admit what Herb had called him. It was bad enough that his friends heard Herb's harsh words, but to have his girlfriend hear that Herb called him a quitter, baby, candy ass, and other things would have been even worse.

"Okay," said Laura, knowing he didn't want to talk. She decided to let it go and not say anything more about it. He obviously had a rough day. "Do you want me to stay? I can leave if you want."

"Stay," Robbie said. Laura could Robbie needed her even if he didn't want to talk just then.

"I love you. Good night," Laura said, kissing Robbie on the lips. He returned the kiss and they both fell fast asleep.

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The next morning, Laura woke up long before Robbie. He was still sleeping when there was a knock on his door. It was Rizzo.

"Is Mac up?"

"Not yet."

"Okay, I was just wondering how he was doing. How was he when you two got back last night?"

"All right I guess. His leg was really bothering him, but he tried to hide it."

"Is he still pissed at Herb? Or has it washed over a bit?"

"So it's Herb that he's royally pissed at," Laura said, glad to finally know.

"You didn't hear about it?" Laura shook her head and Rizzo motioned for her to come into the hall so they could talk. "After Robbie got hurt, Herb said a lot that he shouldn't have," Rizzo began. He went on to explain the locker room fiasco and Laura was in disbelief. She couldn't believe Herb either.

"Thanks for telling me, Rizzo. I don't think Robbie would have told me."

"He's probably too embarrassed," deduced Rizzo.

Laura went back in the room and a little while later woke Robbie up because practice started in an hour.

"How's your leg feel today?" Laura asked.

"It hurts," said Robbie, sitting up in bed. Laura sat next to him and put her arm around him.

"Other than the leg how are you?" she asked.

"Fine," he responded. Laura could see that he wasn't fine though.

"You looked really angry on the ice last night," she commented. Laura hoped Robbie would explain everything to her so she didn't have to tell him that Rizzo told her.

"Yeah."

"I was surprised to see you still playing, actually."

"I had to tough it out. That's what hockey players do. I can take it. I'm not a quitter," Robbie said bitterly, thinking about Herb's words the night before.

"I know you're not. But it looked like you were in a lot of pain. I don't think anyone in your shoes would have continued playing."

"Like I said, Laur, I'm tough. I can handle it."

"No one has to be that tough though, Robbie. I wouldn't have blamed you for not playing." Robbie began getting annoyed.

"Well, I had the whole team to think about, didn't I? I couldn't go quitting on them. I had to prove that I could take it."

"You never have to prove anything to me," Laura said quietly, rubbing his back. "And you're no quitter. You are a hockey player, and a good one at that, no matter what anyone says. Okay? Don't forget that."

Robbie looked at her, his expression turning hard. "Who told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Told you about what happened last night."

"No one."

"I know you know. Who told you?" he asked, glaring at her.

"Rizzo," she finally admitted. Robbie pushed Laura's hand away, got up and hit phone, knocking it off the bedside table. He went into the bathroom and slammed the door. Laura was left sitting on the bed, wondering exactly what had just happened.

Ten minutes later, Robbie came out to see Laura watching TV, like nothing was wrong. For the past ten minutes, he just sat in the bathroom, not doing anything but thinking. Robbie wanted to cool down before seeing Laura. The last thing he wanted was to do or say something that he would later regret. It wasn't fair that he was taking this out on Laura, and he knew it. He sat next to her without Laura acknowledging his presence.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean it. I know you were only trying to help," Robbie said.

"It's okay. I know you had a rough day yesterday, and it's completely understandable. I don't blame you for not wanting to talk either."

"I would have told you eventually, but I just felt like maybe I was a baby and I didn't want you to think that I was or anything. I needed to prove that I was tough and could handle it."

"I know," said Laura.

"And I didn't mean to get mad at you and knock the phone off the table and stuff. I'm still pissed at Herb. It's not anyone on the team or you that I'm mad at."

"I know it's hard. You have to take it out on someone, and it can't be on Herb, so why not me or the team."

Robbie sighed. "Thanks for understanding."

"No problem. I'm here for you no matter what." Robbie gave Laura a kiss and then got ready for practice, all while venting to Laura some more. It just took her listening to him and making a suggestion every now and then to reassure him and give him confidence. Robbie couldn't completely put what Herb said behind him, but it was a lot easier to keep it in the back of his mind now though.