Looking Up

------Elle's POV

When I wake up, I am wrapped in Steve's sturdy arm and his heavy head is on my shoulder. I blink my eyes a couple times, move one hand from Steve's bare back, rub my eyes and let out a yawn. As soon as I yawn, Steve starts to move and mumbles, "Good morning sunshine." He starts to sit up and I feel rather cold around my chest- Shit! Where's my bra?! I let out a small gasp, frantically look around and pull up some of the sheets to cover me.

Steve looks back at me confusedly, "What's wro- Oh! Uh"

"Yeah, I totally forgot I wasn't wearing one," I say and we both laugh at the circumstance. He leans back, turns towards me and starts to kiss me lightly. "I had a nice night," I utter softly with a smile.

"Me too," he pushes my crazy bed head hair back from my face and strokes my cheek. After he gives me a small smile, he hops out of bed and ventures to find my bra. Once he does, he tosses it to me and turns away, "I would make you breakfast, but there's nothing here at all. Have you ever been to a Tim Hortons in Canada?"

"Nope! I haven't, this is my first time in Canada too," I say as I get out of bed and walk over to him. He turns around, "You've really never been here before? Well you're in for a treat, Tim Hortons is better than Wawa."

"Woah woah woah there, watch what you say about Wawa Steve," I laugh, "I don't think anything is better than Wawa." He scoffs at me playfully and tousles my hair a little bit, "We'll see, we'll see." We get dressed quickly and head out to his truck. I couldn't stop staring at Steve and admiring the way he looks in the sunlight.

I place my hand underneath his chin and feel some stubble growing, "I like this rugged look," I say jokingly, even though I'm not kidding at all. He honestly looks so good like this; no suit and tie, no gelled hair and clean shaven face- just a baseball cap with some of his hair peeking out the sides and some scruff.

He laughs and rubs the side of his cheek, feeling the stubble, "yeah I usually shave regularly during the season, beards and goalie masks don't necessarily go well together for me. I was hoping that we could stop by my parents house so we could pick up George around lunch time?"

"Sounds great! I finally get to meet George!"

"And you know, my parents too. I'll have to tell my mom you were more excited about meeting George," Steve chuckles.

I hit him on the shoulder and giggle, "Please don't! I'm really nervous about meeting them actually. I really hope they like me, what should I wear? Should I bake something to bring over? Should I-"

"Elle, take a deep breath, you don't have to do anything at all- they don't care- just be you and they'll love you as much as I do," he says calmly and gives me a quick sincere smile.

"Okay but we really need to stop at the grocery store because there's no food at your house and I need to bake something for your parents," I laugh.

Steve and I stop at the grocery to pick up some food and baking supplies, we head back to house. I offered to pay for some of the food we bought but he refused to take any of my money. When we get back to his house, we put all of the groceries away and I set up my baking supplies in his beautiful kitchen.

"You are so lucky- this kitchen is amazing, I'd absolutely kill to have a kitchen like this Steve," I look away from the stove and give him a smile.

"My sister helped design it actually, she loves cooking so I came to her for help."

"I have a feeling your sister and I are going to get along," I laugh, "What's her name?"

"Melissa- she lives about 15 minutes away- she just got married last summer to her high school sweetheart, Adam," he says before taking a bite of raw carrot.

"That's so cute! I can't wait to meet her!"

Steve walks over to the counter next to me and leans his elbow on it, "I'm going to go get a shower real fast while you work your magic- I'll be right back," he kisses me lightly on the forehead and then heads up the stairs.

-----Steve's POV

When I head downstairs, Elle is sitting on the counter checking her phone; the entire house is filled with a sweet chocolaty scent. The brim of her Flyers hat, and parts of her shirt are covered with flour and I can't help but to laugh. When she looks up and sees me laughing, she looks down at her shirt and realizes how much flour she has on her, "I can't help it" she laughs and shakes her head at me. "Now it's my turn to get a shower, if the timer goes off, take them out of the oven please!" she says as she heads up the stairs.

I'm only on the couch watching TV for 15 minutes before the oven goes off so I rush over to take out whatever amazing thing she made. I grab an oven mitt, take the brownies out, and set them on the counter. I sit back on the couch but I can't ignore the sweet chocolate smell any longer so I walk over to the counter and grab a knife to cut myself a piece.

"Hey! You have to wait until we get to your moms!" she laughs.

"Well then let's get going cause I can't hold off any longer," I say as I grab my keys.
*****

As we get closer and closer to my parents' house, I can tell that she's nervous. I don't blame her- I remember how scared I was when I met her parents.

"Hey, don't worry, they're going to love you," I say and give her a sincere smile, as I put the car in park. "I'm trying- I just keep telling myself there's no way they can be mean because they raised such a sweet heart," she laughs softly.

Elle and I walk up to the front door; I take her hand and give it a light squeeze to reassure her. A couple of moments after I knock, my mother is standing in front of us shocked.

"Steve! What a surprise! I can't believe you're here!" she yells as she pulls me into a hug. "That was the plan Mom!"

"And I'm going to guess that you're Elle," she says with a big smile on her face as she steps back from me.

I look down and I can see Elle blushing a little, "Yes, hi! It's so nice to meet you Mrs. Mason," she says with a huge grin and my mom brings her into a hug.

Once we get inside, we put down our jackets, and take off our shoes- my mom's rules still haven't changed one bit over the years. All of the sudden, George comes running over to me snorting and barking at us and I hear Elle swoon over him beside me. We both talk to him and pet him for a couple minutes- I could tell George had already won over Elle's heart.

Once my dad comes out of the living room, I introduce him to Elle and then I notice my younger brother, Tyler coming down the hallway.

"Steve! Hey! It's been so long!" Tyler runs over to me and gives me a huge bear hug.

-----Elle's POV

I can't believe how much Steve and his father look alike. Tyler and Steve have the same build but, he looks more like his mom and has redder hair.

"So this is Elle," he says with a smile, dragging out my name, exaggerating the L's.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, Steve never mentioned that he had a brother!" I laugh.

"Steve! I'm so hurt," Tyler elbows Steve in his stomach unexpectedly.

I let out a loud laugh and Tyler puts an arm around me, "I'm the better brother, that's why he didn't mention me- he wouldn't want me to whisk you away from him," he says playfully. I laugh and roll my eyes at him and his parents start to crack up at my reaction.

Steve shoves Tyler on his shoulder lightly and grabs my hand, "Maybe I didn't tell her about you cause you're my annoying little brother, eh?" Steve guides me down the hallway to give me a tour of his parents' house, ending with his old room.

-----Steve's POV

"Oh boy, the Devils?" Elle scrunches up her nose, "I mean Brodeur, isn't bad of course I have nothing against him but, I have something against the Devils," she laughs as she walks around my room looking at pictures and my old trophies. "Well I just can't bring myself to take them down, even after being with Columbus and now with the Flyers."

"I like your parents they're so sweet," she walks back to me, looking a lot less anxious than before, "I like your brother too, he's such a doofy guy. He seems a lot more.... boisterous than you."

I shake my head, "Of cooouurse you do, everyone loves Ty. You two are the same age actually."

"Oh really? In that case, it was so nice meeting you. Your brother really has whisked me away- it was truly love at first sight. I hope you can come to terms with this Steve," Elle says with a slight smile.

As she makes her first step towards the door, I slide in front of her and wrap my arms around her, "Oh, no, no, you're not getting away that easy." I back us up, make us flop on top of the bed and Elle lets out a small yelp. I press my lips down onto hers softly just before Ty interrupts us.

"Hey, love birds, Mom said lunch is ready and I saved a seat for Elle next to me- Steve I'm sure George has room for you in his dog house," Tyler winks at Elle playfully and I push him out of the doorway as soon as we both get off my bed.

Once we all sit down, my mom serves us her amazing Sloppy Joes and it doesn't take long before my dad is asking Elle all different types of questions about herself. I'm just glad that they didn't bring up her father- I had told them in previous phone calls about what she was going through since I needed some advice on how to help her. It's not that I don't think she can handle it, it's just she's been in such a positive mood lately. I can tell that my parents are warming up to her quickly- they are certainly impressed by her ambitions and her family's bakery, Sweetie Pies. They especially loved the brownies she baked for them. After a couple of hours, Elle and I decide that we should leave and we spend about 10 minutes saying goodbye.

"Elle, please if you ever need anything just give me a call!" My mom says before embracing Elle and I in a big hug. I call George over to me, close the door behind the three of us, and head to the truck.
*****

When we get back to my house, we plop on the couch to watch some TV and George joins us.

"I have to get a picture of this," I laugh and pull out my phone. I post our picture on Instagram right away, "Lazy day in Ontario with @CheerUpElle36 #thiscouchistoosmallforallthreeofus #isitbedtimeyet #stopslobbering #moveover"

"Hey are you okay with me posting a picture of us on mine?"

"Yeah sure, just be careful with people finding out- sometimes they can be a little strange."

*****

-----Elle's POV

After Steve and I watch a couple episodes of Scrubs, I check my Instagram to see if people had recognized Steve. A month before he did post a picture of me in it, but no one really said anything because there weren't any pictures of us together on my account. Holy crap, 43 likes?! Some of the comments say things like, "So happy for you," and "You two are so cute together!" I scroll through some of the likes and half of these people I don't even know. All of the sudden I see John's name. No, this can't be good. Steve must've noticed me tense up because he asks me if I'm alright.

I just try to push John out of my mind while we watch a movie but I can't. Abruptly, my phone starts to ring and Steve looks over to the coffee table, "it's a US number, PA- want to answer it?" When I look at the number, my heart sinks into my stomach- it's John.

"NO- no, uhm just let it ring, if it's important they'll leave a message."

Over the next 2 minutes John has called 4 times. Once it starts ringing for the fifth time, Steve finally says something. "Elle, honestly, just answer it, please, I can't listen to "Sencha" on more time."

"I-I can't."

"Why?" he pauses the movie and turns to face me.

"Because it's- it's John." I stammer.

"John? The guy from the store?"

"Yeah him, we used to date. It was 2 years ago, but every once in a while, he tries to get a hold of me."

"But why? You guys dated years ago."

"I know, well, he was very abusive. It was all verbal, all the time and I felt so trapped- I didn't know what to do. He was nice for a little while but then he just got mean. He was only nice to me if he wanted sex. I kept thinking he'd change- he'd be the John that I met- but it never happened. Towards the end, I was trying to get away from him but we had classes together so it was impossible to escape him," I say trying to keep my voice steady but suddenly it becomes harder to speak.

"On his birthday, I planned a day for us and it was like nothing was good enough- I wasn't good enough- everything I did was wrong. He started to act nice and he knew I'd do anything when he was nice- so he tried to get sex out of me. He started kissing me and when I said no, he lost it. He said I ruined his birthday and he hit me across the face." Steve looks in my eyes with disbelief and holds me closer. "After that I ran out of my room and into Jamie's. He pounded on her door until the RA had to escort him out of the building. I tried to keep it from my parents, but Jamie told them and they switched me out of classes that he was in. It was terrible and I lived in fear for so long- but not anymore, I refuse to," I say shakily.

"Elle I'm so sorry. I promise I will never let him hurt you- you don't have to worry anymore," Steve says while looking into my eyes, "We're staying here for another week, we have to- I don't want him to find you when you're alone. Maybe after a week he'll stop trying so hard."

"I'll call my aunt and let her know everything. Thank you so much," I say before I get up from the safety of Steve's arms.

Notes

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great Halloween! The Flyers have been playing well lately and Mason's back in net! I hope you guys liked the chapter- I'm sorry it's so long but I didn't want to split it and I had a lot of stuff I wanted to get in there. Please comment! I love your feedback! Not sure if these long chapters are terrible or not, but I personally don't like chapters that are about 5 paragraphs all together.

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Have a good weekend!!