Looking Up

-----Elle's POV

"Are you nervous?" I ask Steve as I start the truck and head towards the hospital.

"Yes and no- I mean I've had surgery before, but I'm not sure how long it's going to take to recover. I feel like I've already missed so much of the season," he admits with defeat.

I reach over and place my small hand on his, "I'm sure it'll all turn out good- I promise. At least you won't have to worry about the pain coming back since you're getting it fixed," I say trying to brighten his outlook.

He grins at me, "that's true Bambi. Are you going to stay during the entire surgery?"

"Of course! I brought a book to keep me entertained; well I hope it'll keep my mind from worrying," I confess, and flash him a nervous smile.

"You're nervous? I've gotta hand it to you- ya hid that pretty well," he says with a laugh.

"Well, one of us has to be nervous for you," I tease. Steve turns on the radio and puts on the most popular radio station in Philadelphia. We start to sing along to Fall Out Boy when he remembers he forgot to ask me something.

"So, obviously, I won't be going on the long road trip- so I'll be home for Valentine's Day," he informs me.

"Oh! Yeah that's right- awesome!" I chime.

"So I was thinking, we'd go to a restaurant? A late dinner- maybe some place fancy?" he suggests.

"That sounds great," I say with a big smile but then my stomach turns- my plans with Jen, I can't just leave her hanging. "Actually- uhm- I have plans with Jen and I really don't want to ditch her. She doesn't have anything to do that night and honestly I think she's real bummed about not finding her Mr. Right yet," I spill out, "I mean obviously you're going to join us and it's just that we've been getting closer again and-"

"Elle, it's fine!" Steve interrupts me, laughing at my nervousness, "I'd love to just hang out with you guys- as long as I'm with you, I'll be good," he smiles and strokes my hand with his thumb. We pull into the hospital lot soon after and I help him out of the truck to make sure he doesn't put any weight on his knee. I walk with him into the hospital while he makes his way on crutches. He gets called into surgery and before he leaves, Steve kisses my forehead and tells me not to worry, he'll see me before I know it.

Thankfully, my book, The Return of the King, absorbs my attention and before I know it, a nurse is trying to get my attention.

"Elle? Elle Mason?" she calls out and I can feel my cheeks flush a bright red.

"Yes?" I manage to squeak out and I stand up as I place my book back in my bag I had packed filled with a water bottle and a couple granola bars just in case I got hungry. She gives me a bright and friendly smile as she walks towards me.

"Your husband is ready to be taken home. Just a warning- he's still really loopy from the meds still though," she chuckles. I smile nervously while I process what she called Steve- my husband- doesn't sound half bad. She walks me back to where a groggy Steve is sitting with crutches and a temporary bandage around his knee.

"Elle!" he giggles, "Did you call her by her last name? Mason?" he turns and asks the nurse then faces me with a huge grin, "I think it sounds pretty, right? Elle, don't you like the sound of it?"

My face flushes red once again; "It should wear down in the next couple of hours," the nurse leans into me and whispers, noticing my sheepish expression.

"Thanks," I laugh, "Alright Masey let's get you out of here," I say and the nurse helps me get him out of the chair. She offers to help me to the truck but I assure her I'll be fine. Steve puts almost all of his weight on me and trudges along groggily. I laugh to myself at how silly we must look: a 6'4 bulky 220lb giant leaning on 5'2 pipsqueak.

"Bambi- you're too sweet," he grumbles happily, "why haven't we gotten married yet? You're so nice- like really nice!"

I let out a loud laugh and guide him to the truck with his arms hanging around me, "I can't wait to terrorize you about this later," I remark with a grin. While we trek towards the truck, Steve is singing the first chorus of Steal my Girl by One Direction- very obnoxiously- over and over again with a goofy smile of his face.

"Remind me to ask you to marry you later, okay? Cause you're super nice," he says sleepily as he gets comfortable in the passenger seat. By the time I'm in the driver's seat and turn on the truck, Steve is knocked out cold.

***

-----Steve's POV

"Aw, shit," I grumble as my eyes slowly open, burning from the bright sunlight pouring into the bedroom, "how the hell did I get in here?" I ask myself as I sit up in my bed.

"Wow, that medicine seriously was strong," Elle laughs from the doorway, "I'm glad to see you're up and not high. You should have heard the stuff you were saying," she adds with a daunting grin. She makes her way over to the bed, I open my arms to her, and she happily snuggles up to my chest.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" I ask, not really worried about what I could've said.

"Well for one, you told the nurse that my full name was Elle Mason and that you were my husband," she smirks.

"What?!" I would've jumped out of bed but my bum knee kept me in it, "are you kidding me?" Oh my god, please don't tell me I told her about the engagement ring. I try to keep my cool- the last thing I need her to do is suspect anything. "What else did I say?" I ask warily, attempting to hide my nervousness.

"You asked me why we weren't married yet and you wanted me to remind you to propose to me- since I'm 'super nice'," she informs me with a laugh.

I let out a big sigh and hide it with a laugh, "wow- uhm- sorry about that," I say and run a hand through my disheveled hair.

"It was pretty entertaining- I wish I took a video for you," Elle admits.

"Well did you at least like how Elle Mason sounded?" I tease and watch her face turn bright red. She snuggles up more in my neck in an attempt to hide her face from me.

"Maybe," she confesses quietly, smiling big.

"Good," I almost whisper and kiss the top of her head.

*****

-----Elle's POV

"You guys should go out- I'm fine sis, go have fun," Jen says with her hands on her hips, "don't blow off an amazing night because you feel bad for me."

"Yeah but we want to stay here; watching movies and getting drunk is our idea of a great night. We will have fun- here - with you," I say sternly trying to convince her to soften up, "trust me we're not sacrificing anything," I add truthfully. Since Steve hasn't been on the road with the Flyers for the past week and instead at home recuperating, and Jen has been staying at our apartment till she moves into hers, they've gotten to know each other a lot better.

"Fine- I believe you- but I swear if you're doing this cause you pity me..." she warns.

"I'm not! I swear," I say with a smile. Little does she know, I have a small Valentine's Day gift for her that will be arriving later.

"So when do you have to go pick up Steve at the physical therapist?" Jen asks as she gets a water bottle from the fridge.

"Soon- on our way back we're going to pick up the pizza and more alcohol."

"Sounds perfect," she laughs. Jen tells me about how she spoke to our mom today- she sounds a lot happier, which is amazing- she's been so strong. Jen informs me she's actually been staying at Aunt Kate's for a little while- she probably didn't want to be by herself around Valentine's Day- I can't imagine how hard it is for her.

After Steve and I come back to the apartment, hands filled with pizza and extra vodka, beer, and whiskey, Jen is ready to get the night started.

She claps her hands together, "I'm prepared to get shit faced on this beautiful day of love," she says with a laugh. Suddenly someone knocks on our apartment door; Steve and I look at each other and smile. "Right on time," I grin and Jen starts to worry.

"What the hell is going on? What's with that devilish smirk of yours?" she asks panicking.

Steve shakes his head, refusing to calm Jen's nerves as I walk over to the door.

"Hey Michael!" I say as he greets me with a big smirk. I hear Jen gasp from behind me and mutter, "oh my god." Michael Raffl was her absolute favorite player on the team- she fell in love with him when he scored the winning shoot out goal last season. I figured since he was out with an upper body injury and not on the road trip-, it would be a perfect time than any to introduce the two. Steve and I had a feeling that they'd get along great.

"Raff! Come on in- glad you could make it," Steve chimes.

"I wouldn't miss it," Michael admits, and walks over to Jen who is completely taken aback by him showing up at the apartment, "it's nice to meet you Jen. I've heard a lot about you," he shakes her hand.

"It's nice to meet you too," she squeaks, "Elle? Could I have a word with you? Real quick?" she fakes a pleasant smile.

"Sure, one minute guys," I say and Jen drags me into the kitchen.

"Why didn't you warn me?!" she asks angrily, but a trace of happiness and excitement was laced in her voice.

"I wanted to surprise you- well we did. Honestly, it was Steve's idea in the first place," I admit.

"I just wish I could've at least worn something nicer," she whines, "but nonetheless, thank you so much- you're the best sister ever!" she cheers quietly and attacks me with a hug- I can't help but to laugh.

"You look fine- a beautiful natural style," I tell her so she doesn't feel as self conscious. But it wasn't a lie at all- Jen always looked amazing whether she had make up on or not- her loose fitted v-neck and skinny jeans did nothing but compliment her body shape.

"Thanks again," she smiles sweetly and squeezes my hand.

I lead us out of the kitchen and Michael grins at her goofily- I can't help but to laugh at how nervous he looks. They start to talk immediately and Steve and I excuse ourselves to the kitchen to get paper plates for the pizza to give them some alone time. We hurry behind the wall and I follow close behind him, "hurry, hurry!" I whisper. I hide behind the wall and stick out my head a tad bit to watch them talk.

"How's it going?" he asks in a whisper.

"Hold on!" I turn to him and say softly, "You'll get your turn." I stick my head out again and hear them laughing and the two have huge smiles on their faces, "awww! This is so cute!" I cheer in a whisper.

"I can't see! What's going on?" Steve asks in a low voice. Steve takes over my spot as I slide against the wall to the left to take his.

"No awkward silences at all- they're talking about her job- I think- but it really is going good," he whispers eagerly to me.

"It's lucky Michael had an upper body injury," I joke with a smile and Steve elbows me softly on the arm.

We decide to stop spying on them and actually get us plates for the pizza. Once we get our beers, we sit at the dining room table and chow down on pizza- we finish two large pizzas with ease. Soon, we start our movie marathon/game night with the movie 50 First Dates and the board game Life- we were saving Twister for last when we were buzzed out of our minds and it would actually be a challenge and hilarious.

The board games went by quick and rule was that if you lost, you'd have to take a shot of whiskey. So that made everyone that didn't come in first, get drunker quicker. Unfortunately, Steve, Michael and I were getting our asses beat by Jen- who would do a victory dance every time she won. Nonetheless, we are all drinking beer and twisted teas the entire time so it was hard to keep track of who was more sober than who.

During our game of Twister, Steve and I were out first- I was way too drunk to balance awkwardly on a slippery mat and it wasn't that Steve couldn't stretch his body in weird positions well- he couldn't balance himself at all. Jen and Raffl are struggling to keep their balance from laughing so much. The rest of the night goes by quickly with laughs, stories and movies. Michael ends up staying at our apartment since it's so late and he's not sobered up. Steve and I leave Jen and Raffl alone and head to our bedroom to get at least a few hours of sleep.

"We did good Mase," I say referring to setting Jen and Raffl up with a smile as I face him in the bed in the darkness; the only light coming into the room is from the city lights pouring through the balcony door.

"We make a pretty good team," he laughs softly and presses his lips up against mine, "happy Valentine's Day Bambi."

Notes

Hope you guys liked the chapter- it was fun/funny to write! Next chapter should be up soon and some drama as well! Thanks for subscribing and reading- don't be afraid to comment! (: