Destiny’s POV

Destiny Miller walked out of the locker room with Valeri Nichushkin, the Canadian-Russian player. She hated that her best friend had just dumped her with him like that so unexpectedly. She was already nervous and a wreck as it was and now she had to manage to remain sane while being with the man she was crushing on…oh boy.

The air around them was frigid and her fingers were starting to hurt from the lack of clothing covering them. She brought her free hand close to her chest and tried to pillage warmth from her coat and scarf. They made their way across the quad, huddling together to share heat like everyone else that was braving the weather.

It felt like winter came out of nowhere and punched them all in the face. One minute it was light jackets and leggings, the next it was heavy coats or freeze to death.

She flinched as something cold and wet fell on my cheek. She glanced up to see snowflakes steadily falling from the sky.

"The first snow." He commented, following her gaze.

She smiled and watched the snowfall. She'd always liked snow, despite her hatred of the cold. Well, she didn’t exactly hate the cold, but she didn’t really enjoy it. They stopped for a second and simply stared up at the sky. She would probably regret this tomorrow, when she woke up with a hell of a cold.

She suddenly felt arms wrap around her waist and a warm chest pressed up against her back. "You are amazingly beautiful," a silky voice murmured in her ear.

She hid a smile and rolled her eyes at a passerby, who was looking at them with wide, admiring eyes. She had no problem expressing how 'cute' of a couple she thought they were. And it showed.

"If I weren't so afraid that you'd catch a cold and hurt yourself, I'd let you stay out here forever," Val continued, his lips trailing along the side of her jaw.

"How considerate of you."

"I aim to please."

"You really shouldn't do that to people," Destiny commented, as he turned her around in his arms to face him.

"What, smile?"

"No, stun them like that. It's not fair, you know," she narrowed her eyes at him playfully, as he chuckled. She wasn’t nervous or shy anymore. Just a few hours with him already and she had got used to him…well, kind of. "I mean, who has teeth like that? It's like a Colgate ad. What do you have to do to keep them that white?"

"Destiny, you have beautiful teeth. They are equally as white, almost like your gorgeous snowy hair."

"You're obligated to say that," she grumbled, attempting to fold her arms, across her chest.

"I don't say anything I don't mean." He grabbed her hand and slowly pulled her back towards the covered corridor. The snow was starting to fall heavier and her hair felt damp, so she let him.

Destiny stared at him blankly. "Do you have a point or what?"

"I don't like you sassy."

"Yes, you do."

He sighed. "Yeah, I do. Anyway, my point is that both of our friends are going to go out on a date, so why not us too?"

"Oh." He caught her off guard. "I guess you're right."

"I'm always right and I know how much you want to go out with me too." He said arrogantly. "We'll work on you appreciating how great I am for you later. Tonight, I'm taking you out."

"You're not a fan of questions, are you?"

"With others, sure - they would never say no to me. However, since you have a habit of avoiding me, I decided to take the shortcut." He said completely seriously.

She simply shook her head at him. "When is this rendezvous?"

"I'll pick you up at seven." He stopped walking and grinned widely at her. Oh, that damn sexy grin of his. "This will be my first date too, you know?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, I usually just skipped to the…"

"Okay. I get it," Destiny interrupted, a little annoyed, but she smiled at him and his ignorance. She didn't want to hear about the several women he'd been with before her. If that was where he was going. She just wanted it to be about her. And she had to admit that he was perfect.

His grin faded, slowly and he leaned down to kiss her softly. His lips were surprisingly warm despite the frigid air around them. His one arm was around her waist and the other was cradling the back of her neck, it made her feel strangely safe. And she loved that.

"I'm really excited for tonight," he murmured against her lips as he pulled back. "Are you?"

She smiled gently, knowing that underneath all that bravado, he was still an insecure high school boy into hockey. "Of course I am."

His grin returned. "Good. I'll see you then." He pecked her lips one last time, letting go of her and walking away. "Oh, and dress warm."

Dress warm? "I thought you didn't want to get me sick!"

He just laughed. He left her standing there, clutching at her clothes. She wondered what her friend Lillian was up to with Nathan MacKinnon, but soon she could only picture Val and how sexy he looked in his hockey uniform and when he was naked in the locker room. When he vanished, out of sight, she leaned against the pole and sighed deeply. She couldn’t believe it. She had to laugh at the insaneness of the luck she had.

She, Destiny Annabelle Miller, was going to go out with Valeri Ivanovich Nichushkin!

****

Nathan’s POV

Nathan MacKinnon followed Lillian for about fifteen minutes, before she stopped in a small dirt parking lot that he had never seen before. He was a little skeptical and cautious, but he pushed it to the side. They were in some kind of a park. As she got out of her car and grabbed her bag, he too got out of his vehicle and looked around. The parking lot overlooked the familiar lake and there was a single picnic table about ten feet from them. She headed over to the table and took out her computer as she sat down. As he sat down, he closed the computer and she looked at him confused.

“I told you, we need to get to know each other, Lillian.” He folded his hands in front of him, across his chest. He had put on a nice collared Halifax Mooseheads’ red shirt with a slimming pair of jeans.

She blew a piece of hair out of her face at the same time. “Alright, ask away.” She put her hands out in front of her on the table. “I’ve got nothing to hide. Interrogate me, Kinny.” She used his nickname playfully, but he couldn’t help but feel a little bit annoyed at the way she used it.

“Alright,” he took a seat, opposite her and they kept their eyes locked on one another.

Over the next few hours the two got to know one another. He learned that her middle name was Marie, she preferred to go by “Lilly”, her birthday was in October, she loved chocolate chip cookies, and she spoke French fluently and was in love with the sport of hockey as a Boston Bruins fan. She also was a major tomboy and had a love for cartoon shows, including Family Guy. He told her that he had started skating before he could walk, he had a dog named Kibby, his favorite show was also Family Guy, and that he sucked at history or social studies.

“Well that doesn't mean good things for our report, now does it?” She asked as she let out a giggle.

Gosh, she’s adorable. Nathan thought, as she tucked a piece of her dark brown, chocolate colored hair behind her ear.

“So… tell me about your brother. I mean I hear a lot about him, good and bad, and I want to hear something from someone who knows who he really is, inside and out.” He looked at her and she had a look of slight panic on her face. He contemplated apologizing and taking the question back, but then she got serious and launched into the answer.

“Well, he was the best friend I ever had. People were amazed we were so close because we were four years apart so when he was going into high school I wasn't even in middle school yet, but he always made time for me. He taught me how to tie my shoes, how to hold a hockey stick, how to play good pranks on people. Once I got older, he’d let me come to the rink with him and the day of the draft, he was an absolute mess. I mean the NHL was his dream, it’s the dream for any hockey player, but he was so worried about you guys and the championship game and that you guys, you know, resented him for the decision he made. When the time finally came for things to begin, he was freaking out because everyone was predicting he would go first.”

“Oh.”

She continued on, saying, “And Colorado had the number one pick and it was always his favorite team, so naturally he flipped out, when they picked him and so did my whole family. I don’t think I’d ever seen him that happy in my whole entire life. But then he got the call that you guys had lost and when he showed up to school a few days later, no one looked at him the same. They snarled and looked disgusted almost, ostracizing him.”

“Whoa, really?” Nathan looked shocked. His mouth had dropped slightly open and his eyes were wide.

Yeah, they blamed him for the loss and he took it awfully, because he knew it would happen. He actually cried a little bit, because the team was full of his best friends and Matt was the only person who stuck by him. It just made me pissed, because I knew that any of the other guys on the team would have done what he did, had they been given the opportunity. They didn't want to admit the jealousy and defeat so they blamed it all on my brother. But he is one of the kindest, sweetest, smartest, fun loving, amazing people I know and no matter what anyone at school says, I’m never gonna feel differently about him because I know my big brother and what people say about him, it isn't truth. I know the truth! People believe what they want to believe and hear what they want to hear…no matter who they lose and hurt in the process.” She looked down at the ground, sadly.

“Well he sounds like a great guy.” He was processing what she had just said to him.

“He really is.” She smiled, gazing past his shoulder now, into the distance.

“You miss him, don’t you?” He saw her starting to get upset and shed a few tears.

She blinked and returned her gaze to him. A few of the tears streaked down her cheeks. “I do… all the time I miss him so much, but this is his dream and I’m so happy for him and that he’s succeeding. He deserves it!” Another tear rolled down her cheek, but she still managed to smile.

He reached over and brushed the tear off of her face, letting his finger linger a little longer than was necessary and when he pulled back, she looked up at him and was biting her lip.

She is so adorable! He thought to himself. He had always thought it was adorable when girls bit their lip, but she brought that to a new level.

They stayed there in silence for a few more minutes, before a low rumble of thunder came and then it started to rain. They headed for their cars as the rain got harder and harder. As they got to her car, he opened her door, gentlemanly and she started to talk once more.

“So I was thinking since tomorrow is a holiday, we could work on the project?”

He stood there with the rain getting harder by the minute. “I need your number, so we can plan,” he reminded, finally knowing she had to give it to him and let a triumphant smile appear on his lips.

“Check your back pocket.” She winked at him, as she shut her door and drove away.

He was confused, as he got in his car. He checked his pocket and there it was - in neat girlish, curly handwriting, it had her name and her number written down. He wasn’t sure how she got it in there, without him seeing her or when she had even wrote it down, but one thing was for sure…

This girl was good.

And he, Nathan MacKinnon, was deeply in love.

Notes

Destiny and Val
and
Lillian "Lilly" and Nathan

Lovey Dovy-ness....so adorable I can't stand it!

You guys know the drill by now! :D I hope. See any mistakes let me know so I can fix them! ;) I really don't bite. I swear. :)))))