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Looking Up

Blue Christmas

-----Steve's POV

As we make our way off the plane, only half of the guys are coming back to Philly- half of the team went back home to different parts of Canada for Christmas. We all talk and wait with each other while we sleepily sit at baggage claim waiting for our suitcases to file onto the conveyer belt.

"So what're your plans Mase?" Jake asks me as he sits down next to me.

"Going to Elle's Mom's house- she's not doing great despite what she says," I say as I rest my face in my palms and rub the sleep from my eyes, "she's actually picking me up with George today.

"Great, I can't wait to see her," he smiles and Brayden jumps into the conversation soon after. We talk about some more of our plans for Christmas before we have to leave our girlfriends for the Nashville game on the 26th. A few moments after our bags start to fill the conveyer belt, I hear a warm and familiar voice.

"Hey guys!" Elle chimes.

I turn around and see George happily wagging his tail, excited to see everyone. Her hands are stacked and filled with heavily decorated Christmas cookies for everyone and the guys' faces light up brightly. I take some of the trays, start helping her hand them out, and everyone thanks her. I'm happy to see that the guys like her as much as she likes them- she needs this kind of love and support in her life during a time like this. Brayden drops everything and runs towards her, "Do you have some of those cookies for me?"

"Yes of course!, she smiles and Brayden lifts her up in a hug and they start to laugh together; jealousy takes over my entire body and some of the guys must notice because G goes over to them to shoo off Brayden. After handing out everything and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday, Elle and I make our way to the apartment- I want to drop off some of my gear and sleep before heading over to her Aunt Kate's house.

"What's wrong?" Elle asks as she watches me throw my bags into the corner of the room a little too aggressively.

"Nothing."

"Tell me, something is obviously bothering you," she says as she takes a step closer to my tensed up body.

"Nothing- just this road trip was frustrating," I lie and she buys into it. Before we get some stuff ready for tonight's Christmas Eve dinner at her Aunt's, we take a nap together. When I wake up, Elle is jumping on the bed to get my attention, singing "it's Christmas Eve time to get ready!" I pull the blanket underneath her feet when she lands from her jump causing her to plop onto the bed on her back with a yelp. She starts to uncontrollably laugh suddenly- I'm not sure why but I'm glad to hear her so happy and laughing after being away from her for so long. She crawls up to my chest, "But really we need to get ready for the party- and I got something last week that you can wear."

I notice the devilish smile on her face, "Oh no, what's that grin for? What'd you get?" I ask. She gets up from the bed and grabs a bright green and red sweater with a huge felt Christmas tree surrounded by shiny presents and hanging above it are Christmas ornaments dangling from a gold strand of beads.

"You're going to look great in this," she tries to say with a serious face but can't hold back laughter.

"Oh my god did the sewing machine blow up?" I laugh, "That is honestly the ugliest sweater I've ever seen," I say as I hold it up in front of me. She pulls out another sweater and holds it against her chest, "this one is mine."

"Never mind I take it back, THAT is the ugliest sweater I've seen," I chuckle, "But it'll look so adorable on you," I smile and kiss her forehead.

******

-----Elle's POV

When we get to Aunt Kate's house, all of my little cousins freak out when they see that I've brought Steve. Some of my older guy cousins are especially floored when Steve and I walk through the door- mostly excited about Steve though of course. Most of them come up to say hi and I introduce them all to him.

"Just let me know if they get on your nerves," I murmur to Steve when we get a second by ourselves after they bombarded him with questions.

"Don't worry about it, okay?" he smiles and strokes my back with his hand to assure me.

"Would you mind signing some of their stuff? I know they'd go crazy and love it," I ask hesitantly, "I feel so weird asking you- it feels like I'm pawning you off or something- if you don't want to I totally understand."

"No, I'd love to- it'll be a good Christmas present I can give to everyone since I didn't get something for each of your family members," Steve chimes. I sigh in relief- the last thing I want is to feel like I'm trying to give him some PR. The dinner goes well and Steve signs a ton of stuff for anyone and through the night, I had to have thanked him well over 100 times; I was feeling so grateful he was doing this for everyone- he has such an enormous heart. No one could get enough of Steve- he was making everyone laugh and fitting right in with the family, which was making my heart soar with happiness.

I started cleaning up the table along with a few cousins, Jen and Jamie while everyone moved the party into the living room.

"You're so lucky Elle," my cousin Bethany says as we wipe parts of the dining table down and I can feel my face flush red.

"Yeah tell me about it, he's so cute," Ashley says making googley eyes at Steve- her 14 year old girl crush is so obvious to everyone. Steve notices her gaze and flashes a smile at her, she looks away immediately and squeals- we all can't help but to laugh at her reaction.

"You better watch out Ellie, Steve's flirting with Ashley," Jamie laughs and Ashley's face turns a bright red.

After the "Cleaning Crew" and I get done, we sit at the table while everyone else is watching Christmas movies and talking in the living room and den. We spend the time catching each other up on what's happening in our lives since half of us weren't at the family party for Thanksgiving.

Steve makes his way over to us and kisses the top of my head and all of the girls at the table "awww" in unison- my two guy cousins, Ryder and Brett roll their eyes at them. "Anything I can do to help?" he asks.

"Nope you're way too late on that one Steve-o," Jamie chirps, "way to be oh-so helpful," she says playfully, thickly laid with sarcasm. Steve just shakes his head and laughs, "sorry bout that, your cousins were telling me some great stories about you when you were a kid," he grins.

A rock drops to my stomach, "Those little twerps!"

"Don't worry- nothing too embarrassing," Steve smiles, kisses my forehead, and places his arm around my shoulders.

"So are you two going to get married?" Ashley asks and Steve and I almost choke on our waters.

"You don't ask people that question Ash," Bethany says as Steve and I are still coughing. We are quickly saved from the question when Aunt Kate and my mom tell everyone to come into the living room for the game portion of the night.


-----Steve's POV

When the fun filled night is over, we head to Elle's mom's house so we can wake up on Christmas morning there; I insisted we stayed at her mom's since she's still having a hard time dealing with her husband's passing. As we drive, George is sitting on Elle's lap sleeping. Suddenly, I hear quiet sniffles overtop of the music playing through the truck. I turn and see Elle leaning her head against the window wiping a tear from her cheek.

"What's wrong?" I ask and right after the answer to my question pops into my head- I'm such an idiot, "don't answer that, I'm sorry," I say and stroke her hand with the pad of my thumb.

"It's fine," she half laughs, "it's just it's my first Christmas without him and it's just hitting me that he's gone. He won't be walking in through the door with presents and singing 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.' And not watching The Santa Clause with him- Christmas isn't the same," she says trying not to cry more.

"Bambi, it's going to be okay, I promise. I know it's not the same but you know he's still with us- don't stop the traditions just because he's not around- do them to keep him around, ok?"

She smiles and nods her head, "thanks Steve."

On the way to her mom's house, we blast Christmas music and I make sure the smile on Elle's face never leaves. When we get inside, her mom and Jen, Jamie and Andy all greet us again at the door even though we just saw them at her Aunt's.

Even though everyone was pretty beat from the night, Elle demanded to keep with tradition and watch The Santa Clause even though her father wasn't there. Everyone looked unsettled for a few short seconds but they complied and sat at the TV waiting for Elle to pop in the tape. As the movie started, I noticed how uncomfortable and sad everyone looked, however as the movie prolonged, we all started to unwind, laugh, and have a great time.

*****

The next morning, I found myself being awoken by George whom was wearing reindeer antlers and Elle once again jumping on the bed to get me up.

"It's Christmas! Get up you big rock!" she chimes with a big smile, "since when was it this hard to wake you up?" she asks with a laugh.

"I'm not sure but, Merry Christmas Bambi," I say and pull her down to me and press my lips against hers.

"Let's go see what we got," she says as she beams.

Under the brightly lit tree are an assortment of presents for all of us- even I got presents which surprised me the most. After we open up and exchange our presents, we spend the day watching movies, eating Christmas cookies, and just hanging out. At the end of the day, I was feeling thankful that even though I wasn't with my family for the holidays, I still felt at home.

The next morning, before I leave to board the plane, Elle and I have a small breakfast together before anyone is awake. Sad to go, I give her a hug and a kiss goodbye- I wasn't ready to leave Elle once again.

-----Elle's POV

The next week goes by slow since Steve is away and I'm still at my mom's with Jen trying to clean and go through all of my father's things deciding whether to keep or donate certain things. It is so hard going through all of the clothes that are so familiar. Only one more day until Steve comes back to the city and I can't be any more excited to see him. Some of the guys have been trying to keep me company and busy with texts and calls every so often- it was really helping.

"Hey Steve!" I answer as I answer my ringing phone.

"Hey Bambi, whatcha up too?" he asks, sounding cheery.

"Nothing really, packing up some more of my fathers' things- I'm probably going to take them to the thrift store after dinner," I say as I fold another t-shirt.

"Sounds like a good plan. Have you been okay?"

"Yeah I guess so, some of the guys- especially Brayden have been keeping me company," I say with a smile, feeling grateful for all of the support.

"Brayden?" he asks with tension in his voice.

"Yeah, why? What is it?"

"I don't understand why you two have been all over each other lately- I don't get it Elle," Steve spits out and I feel my heart thump heavier and fury washes over me.

"What are you-" I start to say but he cuts me off.

"Is this your little crush from before but now since he's actually talking to you it's grown even more? He gives you a necklace, he hugs you like your his girlfriend, and you get so happy when you see him- I can't help to assume you two are keeping secrets," he confesses angrily and I begin to clench my fists tightly- how could he say this?

"Excuse you?" I ask trying to muster confidence, "How could you be saying this to me? Why would I ever cheat on you Steve? Sure, I had a crush on Brayden before I met you and it wasn't even a realistic one at that or big one! It was dumb! It's not even relevant! How dare you accuse me of something so ridiculous," I add heatedly.

"Ridiculous? I see how you feel about him Elle- you can't deny it."

"Steve, call me when you get a fucking clue," I practically shout and hang up the phone. What the hell was this even coming from? And why was my friendship with Brayden even getting to him? I situate my head in my hands and rest few a few moments trying to keep myself from crying. Suddenly, my phone begins to ring.

"Claude?"

"Hey Elle, what just happened between you and Steve?" he asks sounding concerned.

"Geez news travels fast," I murmur to myself, "I don't want to talk about it- not right now please? I can't handle any more stress and I think Steve and I just need to cool off. Have a good practice and I'll talk to you soon, good luck tonight," I say trying to get off the phone as soon as possible. We say our goodbyes and I'm so thankful Claude didn't bombard me with more questions.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur; Steve and I avoid texting or calling one another to keep away from adding fuel to an already bright flame. I didn't even call him before their game against the Devils- it just wasn't worth fighting and distracting his focus from the game. I try to keep my thoughts from being clouded by Steve, but it's no use- his words keep replaying over and over again in my head. I keep a smile on my face for my mom and Jen so they don't start asking me questions about what was wrong either.

Before heading to the thrift store, I load a couple of small boxes filled with clothes- it wasn't all of what needed to be taken in but I just had to get out of the house. As soon as I get on the parkway, tears fall down my face and everything starts to crash down on me at once. I could finally shed a couple of tears now that there was no one analyzing my every move.

As I pass through a green light, I turn my head and see a set of large blinding lights heading straight towards me, getting closer with every second. Everything moves in slow motion as I hear muted tires screeching against the pavement.

Notes

Hey guys! Sorry for that gap in posting- I had some huge finals/final projects but now I am done thank goodness. SO I hope you liked the chapter and the next one will be up very soon! Tell me what you think- I love to get feedback (positive or negative!).

By the way, I finally posted the first chapter of the Claude Giroux story I've been working on; it's called "Picture Perfect" so check it out! (Although it might be a little bit till I get the second chapter posted).

Comments

@Flyers3516

I understand the school stuff, I'm in my final year and there is too much to do!

Bookworm93 Bookworm93
11/6/15

@Bookworm93 Ahh! I'm so sorry I haven't updates in like 25 years hahaha- school has been so busy but I think once the semester ends or at least slows down a little I'll finally write a chapter hahaha (: and I'm so happy it's one of you favorites! I have to catch up on all of you stories! (which are amazing btw!)

Flyers3516 Flyers3516
11/6/15

Miss this story soooooo much! It's a favorite of mine!

Bookworm93 Bookworm93
11/5/15

I hope you don't end it too soon. We have to have a proposal and a wedding!!!

amr10299 amr10299
6/3/15

Can't wait for the next update! I love this story!

amr10299 amr10299
4/27/15