Together

Chapter Eight: Norway

Cam stirred and turned over onto her back, as she began to wake up. She laid still for a couple minutes before reaching her hands above her head and stretching. She looked around her room and smiled at the classic elegance it had. Since the hotel had overbooked the floor the boys were on, they gave her a suite, complements of the house. While most of the coaching staff tried to persuade her to trade rooms, she stood firm and was now enjoying every minute of it.

Cam sat up when the door to her room opened and a young lady walked in. "God morgen."

"God morgen." Cam repeated smiling.

She got out of bed and walked towards the young maid. She fiddled with her fingers as she thought for a second. "Snakker de… engelsk?"

The maid nodded as he answered Cam. "Ja… yes."

Cam smiled as her hands covered her heart. "Oh thank god, I'm sorry my Norwegian isn't so good. Um I'll get dressed and be out of your way."

"No miss, it's fine. You can stay." She bowed her head and made her way towards the bed.

Cam on the other hand shrugged and walked into the restroom to freshen up. Once she was dressed she walked out to see the maid vacuuming the room. Making her way towards the couch, Cam grabbed the room service menu and began looking through.

"I'll just eat at the rink when I get there." Cam thought as she put on her shoes. She grabbed her bag and turned towards the maid. "Tusen takk, Ha det."

"Vaer sa god. Ha det."

Cam grinned and said a silent thanks that she didn't mistakenly insult the maid. She made her way to lobby and stopped at the front desk.

"Miss. Brooks. I hope your room is to your satisfaction."

Cam laugh. "Are you kidding, it's wonderful. Thank you very much."

"Your father left you a letter." He said handing her a white envelope with her name on it. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yeah um, I know the rink isn't to far from here, so I was wondering if there was anything I can see on the way there?"

"Like tourist things?"

"Yeah, we won't be here long, so I thought since I was planning on walking there, might as well hit some sights on the way."

"Oh, well you can walk through Vigeland Sculpture Park, it's amazing."

"And that's on the way there?"

"Yes Miss you shouldn't miss it."

"Thank you… for everything." Cam said smiling at him.

"It is nothing Miss. Brooks, have a nice day and good luck today."

"Thanks."

Cam walked out of the hotel and took a right, she glanced around before remembering the envelope in her hand. She moved out of the way and leaned against a wall as she began reading the letter.

Cam,

You lucky girl you, you got to sleep in. Mac and I wanted to tell you to take lots of pictures, and hurry up and get to the rink. Well we'll see you soon, enjoy your morning off!

The best buddy ever, Rammer

Cam folded up the paper and laughed, she should have known, he father would have banged on the door until it fell off it's hinges to talk to her, rather then leave a note at the front desk. She continued walking, occasionally smiling to locals as she passed. She push her hands deeper into her pockets and snuggled into her coat. It wasn't freezing out but it was cold.

After a couple minutes of walking she got worried she'd gone the wrong way. "I couldn't have taken a wrong turn, I haven't turned." Cam thought as she looked around. Her eyes landed on a vendor. Taking a deep breath she made her way towards him.

"Unnskyld meg," The older man looked at her and smiled. "God morgen… um… vaer sa snill… Vigeland… naert?"

He nodded and pointed ahead. "Ja… Rett fram."

"Tusen takk."

"Vaer sa god."

"Ha det."

"Ha det."

Cam grinned as she walked away from the vendor. She walked down to were he had pointed and smiled even wider when she saw the entrance. She walked over a bridge walking in-between local and tourist as she admired the artwork. She stopped and looked at one of the sculptures, it was a man playing with four children. One child was being lifted into the air, another was on the mans foot, laying across it. While the man lifted the other two with his other hand. She smiled remembering the way her own father played with her. Now the way he played with Kelly and Danny. Suddenly a tinge of quilt crept it's way into her heart, for in a sense she felt like she abandoned them. She rarely spent time with them anymore, and when she did it wasn't long. Sighing Came spotted a bench near by. She took a seat and stared at the sculpture in front of her, thinking about home.

Cam bit her bottom lip as she looked out on to the ice. She didn't know what was going on with the guys tonight but they weren't playing as well as they should have been. She began pacing behind the players, as she watched them. She winced when some guy slammed into Rizzo, sending him onto the ice.

"Oh wow. Dynamite." Cam looked down at Harrington shocked. As she listened in on his conversation with some of the boys. "Look over here Phillie. Section two about four rows up. Two girls blonde." She glanced at her father who looked quite pissed and then back to Verchota who was in-between Silk and Harrington.

"Man their gorgeous." Cam rolled her eyes, but turned her attention to Buzz when she heard him.

"What row?" She stifled a laughed, and looked to where Verchota had said.

"About the… seventh row up, to the right." He said looking over at Buzz.

"Seventh row up?" Buzz asked looking into the crowd. Furious Cam walked behind him, knocking him in the back of the head with her elbow. Silk, Verchota, and Harrington watched as Buzz looked back at Cam.

"What the hell was that for?" He asked readjusting his helmet.

Dramatically she placed a hand on her chest and looked at him innocently. "Oh I'm sorry did I hit you?"

"You know you did."

"Uh huh? Well what ya know, my head must be somewhere else tonight." Cam said sending him a smirk.

Harrington laughed when Buzz turned mumbling something about his head hurting. "Lovely blond girls."

"Maybe we can take a few home with us?" Silk said laughing.

"Must be something in the water."

Cam snorted and continued Pacing. "Yeah something in the water, idiot… boys."

Cam watched as Craig talk to the boys. She noticed the confused looked they had as they skated off to where Herb was on the ice. She leaned up against the boards behind Craig and next to Doc.

"You guys don't want to work during the game? No problem. We'll work now. Goal line." Herb began walking off but stopped pointing towards one of the lines. "That one."

Craig looked back at Cam confused. "Should have guessed." Cam said shaking her head.

She watched the boys mumble, sigh and slam their sticks on the ice as they made their way towards the goal line. She felt guilty because she knew how tired they were, but part of her knew why her father was making them do this, or at least she thought she did.

Cam glanced around the rink to see people slowly leaving but glancing at the ice trying to figure out what was going on. She saw Walter standing looking just as confused. He looked over at her, his eyes asking her if she knew. She just shrugged her shoulders, as he looked back at Herb.

Herb nodded at Craig, and it began.

"Hustle!" Herb yelled his hands on his hips as Jimmy and Jannie skated past him. "Think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don't have enough talent to win on talent alone."

"Again!"

Cam watched as the last of the people left. She looked over at Doc, who's looking at Walter.

"If you think you can come here and play the Norwegian national team and tie them, and then go to the Olympics and win… you got another thing coming."

"Again."

"You better think about something else, each and everyone of you. When you put on that Jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates, and the name on the front is a hell of a lot more important then the one on the back! Get that through your head! Again!"

"He's right." Cam whispered, causing Doc to look at her.

"He is. Walters leaving." Cam looked to see Walter walking out, not bothering to look back.

"Win, lose or tie, you're gonna play like champions! Again!"

Cam looked away, noticing the rink manager, watching from the doorway. "Doc, I think someone should stop my dad. The rink manager doesn't look to happy."

Doc looked back to where Cam had pointed. "I'll go talk to him."

Cam nodded and shifted her attention back to the boys. "Kick it in the ass, Verchota! You want to go home early?... Keep it going Suter… All the way to the line and all the way back, it's not that difficult! Again!"

Cam closed her eye losing count of how many more times they went before she felt someone touch her. She looked to see Doc walking across the ice towards her Dad.

"Herb."

"What?"

"The rink manager wants to clean the ice… and then go home."

"Tell him to leave me the keys. I'll lock up." Doc looked at Herb stunned. Herb looked at Doc and then back at Craig. "Again!"

Cam watched as Craig hesitated. "Again!" She could have cried at the look Craig had on his face, torn in-between doing his job and what he knew was right for the boys. Giving in he blew the whistle.

"You keep playing this way. You won't beat anybody who's even good. Let alone great." Cam heard Doc and rink manager arguing. "You wanna make this team, then you better start playing at a level that's gonna force me to keep you here." Cam covered her mouth when Baker and Robbie fell onto the ice. She could hear Rizzo's hard breathing and closed her eyes briefly.

She opened them, to see they were engulfed in darkness, except for the few lights, that remained around the rink. She watched as relief washed over the boys faces and knew it wasn't over, not by a long shot.

"Thank god."

"Think we're getting out of here?" Verchota asked breathing heavily.

"Hey, where you going? Back on the line."

The sounds of sticks hitting the ice echoed through the rink as Doc and Craig looked at one another.

"Again."

"Dad enough is enough, you've made your point." Cam yelled as she stepped onto the ice.

Herb looked at her annoyed, as they guys watched in shock. "Cam you stay out of this."

"Dad, just let it go already!"

"Keep it up Cam and you're going to be out here too."

"That's your answer to everything huh? Skate em' until they do what you want!"

"Enough Cam, you've got a smart mouth on you young lady. You need to learn how to shut it when your told to. You and I will talk about this later," Herb said stressing the will part. Cam angrily wiped the tears off her face and Doc pulled her back behind the boards.

"Send them."

"Again."

"How bout it Silky? You gonna be the first to quit on me?" Doc held Cam back as she shot up in an attempt to cross the ice towards Herb. "How about you O.C.? You ready to go down?... Oh I think I got my money on you Verchota, course you got a hot date in about an hour, but you're not looking to good for that right about now, are ya?"

"That was a low blow." Cam said glaring at her dad.

"Send them."

Cam watched as they went again. She began pacing but stopped and gasped when she saw Buzz hit the floor. She began crying as she watched him struggle to get up.

Craig turned to her and Doc. "Doc, I mean this is madness right?"

"He's insane." Cam said as Doc nodded looking out onto the ice concerned.

More tears came down as she watched Johnson, Robbie, and O.C. coughing and gagging on the ice. She closed her eyes and covered her ears.

Herb looked over at Cam his heart breaking at what he was making her witness. Her closest friends falling from exhaustion and she couldn't do anything to help them. He knew he was tearing her in two. Undoing his tie he looked at the boys. "This cannot be a team of common men, because common men go nowhere. You have to be uncommon." He said calmly.

Johnson coughed as he rested his head on the ice. O.C. mimicked the move, breathing in the cold coming off the ice. "Again." Johnson sighed and began pulling himself up using his stick.

"Herb! This has gone on long enough!" Doc yelled getting angrier.

"Everybody on that line." Herb said calmly.

"Somebody's going to get hurt!"

"Everybody get on that line." Craig shifted his weight as he watched.

"Come on Rammer get up… please get up." Cam whispered as she willed him to get up. She sighed when she saw he began lifting himself up.

"Again." Herb looked over at Craig, who looked down and shook his head.

"Again." Cam looked over at her father, noticing his worn composer. She wanted to hate him for what he was doing, but seeing him, looking almost defeated, she sighed.

"Herb."

"Come on Craig… blow the whistle."

Cam waited looking from Craig to her dad as they continued their staring game. Finally Craig looked away raising the whistle to his lip. Cam sighed, but jumped when Rizzo suddenly shouted out.

"Mike Eruzione!"

Herb looked over at Rizzo, stunned as he continued.

"Winthrop, Massachusetts!"

Herb still quite stunned spoke. "Who do you play for?"

Cam held her breath as Rizzo stood up straighter. "I play for… the United States of America!"

She smiled and closed her eyes, as Herb stared at Rizzo. "That's all gentlemen."

She watched as he father walked over the ice calmly and the realization of what he was doing washed over Craig's face. Coughing from the ice caught her attention as she rushed out on to the ice to help Buzz.

Cam kneeled down beside him. "Hey you need some help?"

Buzz looked up at her and smiled. "Just… a little bit."

She smiled back at him and nodded. "Okay."

Cam paced outside the locker rooms she waited for the boys to come out. She stopped when she heard the door open. Her shoulders slumped when she saw Herb standing there.

"Dad…I'm sorry I questioned you but you have to see my side."

Herb sighed and began walking past her. "Cam not now, not here."

"Then when?" She asked following him. "Because I think now would be a great time and place to talk about this."

Herb stopped and slowly turned looking at Cam. He looked tired and worn out, emotionally she noted, but she wasn't going to let him slid. "I do Cam, I just, once… I started I couldn't stop until I got my point across. Believe me Cam I wanted to stop it too. Looking at you crying as you watched them, broke my heart, and seeing those boys push themselves, made me cringe. But they had to learn that they aren't a bunch of individual players, it's a team. If one person isn't doing their job… the whole team suffers. That's what I saw today, boys on the bench talking about girl, players on the ice, flat. Not playing with this." Herb said hitting his chest above his heart.

Cam nodded understanding him. He smiled and pulled her into a hug. "I know we have our differences, but I want you to know, that while you pissed me off by being a smart ass, I'm proud you stood up for them. I also want you to know that you don't have to go to the Olympics, and I understand why you don't want to go. And I'm sorry for trying to force you."

Cam looked up and him and smiled slightly. "Thanks."

He laughed and hugged her closer. "Thought your old man went off the deep end huh?"

"Border line psychopath is more like it." He chuckled and let her go.

"You gonna wait for the boys?"

She shoved her hands into her pockets and nodded. "Yeah, I've gotta talk to Rammer and them."

Herb nodded and then leaned in kissing her on the forehead. "Okay, I'll see you later then."

"Night Dad."

Cam waited outside for a couple more minutes before the boys started coming out. She smiled as she hugged each and every one of them. She waited a couple more minutes Until Rammer, Dave and Rizzo came out.

Cam sighed and ran towards Rammer jumping on him wrapping her legs around his waist. He laughed and hugged her back. "When I saw you on the floor, I prayed for you to get back up."

"Awe Cam." She got down and continued to hug him.

"I'm so sorry about that."

"It's fine, you tired to stop it, and your dad, he had his reasons." She let go and looked over at Dave.

"Sweetie." She said hugging him.

"It's okay Cam, we're all fine."

She pulled away and nodded. "I know." She looked over at Rizzo and grinned. "You… were… amazing." She said hugging him.

"Thanks Cam."

"You guys go get some sleep." She said pulling away.

Rammer looked at Cam before walking away. "You coming?"

"No I wanna see the rest of the guys and I've gotta talk to Buzzy."

"Yeah I heard you knocked him in the back of the head." She laughed and shooed him away.

"Go sweetie, get some sleep."

Rammer nodded and kissed her cheek. "You should too. Don't be to long or I'm taking your room."

She pointed at him. "Yeah that thing is wonderful." She smiled as she watched him leave. She turned back to the door to see another group walk out. Like she had the rest she hugged and spoke to them for a couple. For a while no one came out. If she'd counted right there were only three people left. Mark, Robbie and Buzz.

Just then all three came out. Cam sighed when she saw them and hugged Mark who was closest to her. "Just like I told the others guys, I'm sorry about this."

Mark nodded and hugged her tighter. "Hey none of that."

She nodded and looked over at Robbie. Her eyes watered up a bit as she hugged him. "Hey sweetie, you okay?"

"Yeah Cam, I'm good, don't you worry about it. How about you?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah we talked it out."

He nodded and pushed her hair out of her face. "Well that's good, I don't know if the boys told you but, we're proud of you, for standing up to Herb."

"Yeah I heard. I'm proud of you guys, for sticking though it." She pulled back and smiled. "You guys go get some sleep." Robbie looked at Buzz, who looked at the ground.

Robbie looked at Buzz and then back at Cam. "Well we're the last ones, so you might…"

"Actually I wanted to talk to Buzzy." Cam said looking at Robbie. Buzz looked up confused.

Robbie nodded hugging her again before whispering in her ear. "I wanna know about everything in the morning."

She smiled and nodded. "You got it hot shot."

He pulled away and smacked Mark's shoulder. "Let's go."

"Night Cam." Mark called back as they walked away. Robbie just waved and winked back at them.

She turned from watching Robbie and Mark to see Buzz. He looked at her and sighed when he noticed she was crying. She hurried and closed the distance between them, hugging him as tight as she could. He slowly ran his hand up and down her back.

Cam pulled away some, his arms still around her, as hers moved on to his chest. She looked at him and smiled some, as he reached up and wiped away some of her tears. "I… I just wanted to tell you how much I love you."

Buzz looked stunned for a second before grinning at her. "Cam I…"

"Wait let me finish." Cam said cutting him off. "I realized just how much this means to you, and I'm not saying I didn't before, but I've seen the lengths you'd go to, to do this. When it all seems so hard and you just can't, you got right back up and did it. These means so much to you, and I can wait. Even if I means I'll be waiting 15 years for you. I can wait… It's worth it."

Buzz smiled his eyes lighting up. "Really?"

Cam sighed as he tightened his grip on her. "Yeah"

"I missed this." Buzz said cupping her cheek, he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. He used his finger to trace her jaw line as the rest slowly grazed against her neck. His thumb ran along her bottom lip as stood there gazing at him. Buzz leaned in softly kissing the edge of her mouth. He pulled away before doing the same thing on the other side. Cam closed her eyes when she felt his tongue graze her bottom lip before he kissed her passionately. His hand tangled in her hair drawing her closer. While her hands were at his waist, clenching his shirt with her hands. Buzz kissed her softy before pulling away completely.

He smiled when her eyes fluttered open. "I… too." Buzz chuckled again before capturing her lips again.

God Morgen - Good Morning
Ja - Yes
Ha Det - Goodbye
Vaer sa snill - Please
Vaer sa god - You're welcome
Tusen takk - Thank you very much
Snakker de engelsk - Do you speak English?
Unnskyld meg - Excuse me
Rett fram - Straight
Naert - Near


Sorry if my Norwegian is off.