One Shots

Knocking on the door of the Bickell’s house Irene stood with a few plates cover in tin foil on them. After a few seconds the door opened to Patrick Kane standing there with a beer in his right hand.

“Room for one more?”

“Oh, hey Irene. You’re just in time! The teams just got on the field.”

He said flashing her a smile. Irene giggled and took the few steps into house.

“Sorry, I thought I was going to be here sooner, but my friend dropped me off and she’s a slow driver.”

“You made it, so it’s all good.”

Patrick gave her a quick hug before she headed off the to kitchen. As she walking to the kitchen she had a few greeting thrown her way. She was wave, say hi, and flash a smile there way. Finally getting into the kitchen Irene found a handful of the wives standing around cooking food.

“Irene you came!”

Amanda Bickell said when she as her friend walk into her kitchen. In Amanda’s arms was her five month old baby girl Makayla, when she heard Irene’s name she perked up and looked over towards her. Seeing her a smile formed on her face and she reached her arms out for her.

“Oh, there’s my favourite girl.”

Irene said with a smile on her face. She went over towards Amanda, but the plate in her hand started to fall to the right and Irene steadied herself and and plated went back to the centre. AManda let out a laugh and took a step forward.

“I’ll take those. You can take Makayla to play.”

“Thanks.”

Irene said with a laugh and she placed the plates in her hands on the island counter. Then when her hands were free she took Makayla from Amanda.

“I made mini pies, guacamole, and pigs in a blanket.”

“Prefect. I forgot to make guacamole. Thanks Irene.”

With Makayla in her hands Irene walking into the living room where she heard a large group of guy’s voices.

“What’s up guys.”

Irene said when she around the corner to see most of the roster of the Blackhawks in the Bickell’s living room all around the large TV mounted on the wall. A few heads turned to look at her and Makayla.

“Irene what are you wearing?”

Andrew Shaw asked when he saw her walking into the room. She rolled her eyes at him.

“Um, the best cornerback in the league jersey.”

She told him in a matter of fact voice. She was wearing her blue Richard Sherman jersey. Andrew rolled his eyes and turned back to the TV. Irene walked over to a the large ginger in the room and lifted Makayla up on her shoulders.

“Look who I found.”

She said making Bryan turn around to see the two of them. He smiled and gave Makayla a kiss.

“Irene it’s great that you were able to make it.”

“Come on. Why would I? It’s the biggest game of the year. Is my best friend here?”

“Yeah, he’s next to Shaw.”

Bryan said pointing over to the couch. Irene turned to look and saw Teuvo sitting next to Shaw. He was looking at the TV and listening to Andrew spitting off Patriots trivia. Irene said a quick goodbye to Bryan then walked over to the two and sat down in between Andrew and Teuvo.

“How are you boys on this lovely Sunday afternoon?”

Andrew just looked at her and was about to say something about her jersey again when she pointed to Makayla who was now sitting on your lap.

“Watch your language there Shawzy. We have little ears here.”

She said with a smile and he rolled his eyes again. Andrew turned his attention back to the game Turning her attention over to Teuvo, Irene smiled.

“I haven’t seen you all week.”

She said giving him a quick hug without taking her eyes off the large television screen. If she was looking at Teuvo she would have seen the small amount of blush that had rising to his cheeks when she hugged him.

“Yeah, I’ve been busy.”

He explained to her, Irene looked away from the TV and smiled at him. Then Makayla started to squirm in her lap and Irene but her down on the floor and watched her crawl over to her dad.

“It’s fine. I’ve been pretty busy at work. So, who are you going for? You’re wearing pretty neutral colours. Who is it? The cheaters or the defending world champs?”

Irene could hear Shaw roll his eyes when she brought up the deflated footballs from the AFC Championship game. But, Irene was right about Teuvo’s wardrobe choice. Everyone else at the house was either wearing a team’s jersey or shirt with the team they were rooting for colours. Teuvo was wearing a plain white long sleeve shirt.

“Um, I’m not really sure. I’m not to into football.”

Irene knew that was true. She had always gone to one of the Blackhawk’s house every Sunday to watch football and Teuvo was either not there or not really paying attention.

“Oh come on, it’s the biggest day of the year in America. You have to pick someone.”

“Don’t you mean game? Not day.”

Irene laughed and smiled at Teuvo’s confusion. She loved him to pieces, but she loved how confused he was of some things in the US.

“Nope. Super Bowl Sunday is a holiday. Hell, my mom got work off today because of it.”

She said with a laugh, making Teuvo crack a smile. Her comment made Shaw look over at her and laugh too.

“Your mom got work off?”

“Oh yeah. It’s a big deal over there. Sports team for our corner of the States don’t win things. So who are you going for Teuvo?”

“Um... I think the Seahawks.”

Irene put her hands in the air and cheered and Andrew rolled his eyes again. Teuvo laughed at her reaction and then the others in the room looked over at the three of them, wondering what had just happened.

“You win okay, bandwagoner.”

Andrew said crossing his arms and then Irene scoffed at him and punched his arm.

“I am not a bandwagoner. I have been a fan of them my whole life. Just because they have a bunch of ‘bandwagoners’ last year, doesn’t mean every fan is one.”

She told him glaring at him. Shook his head and got up from the spot on the couch, leaving Teuvo and Irene alone.

“Sometimes that mutt gets on my nerves.”

Irene told Teuvo who smiled at her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. pulling her close to him.

“It’s okay. You want to explain the game to me? I still don’t understand it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the end of the game Irene was in Teuvo’s lap with her face in his chest, hiding from the game on the screen and all the guys who were celebrating the Patriots’ win. The whole game had been an emotional ride for Irene and the rest of the team who were pulling for Seattle.

“Aw look and the lovebirds.”

Patrick Sharp said pointing over to Irene and Teuvo, and everyone did look but Irene didn’t look up.

“I hate you all.”

She said loudly making everyone laugh and Teuvo chuckled but his face turned pink at the Blackhawks ventrian’s words. Everyone knew that Teuvo liked Irene, but she was clueless to the fact. He liked her ever since he came over to the NHL from Finland. Irene was one of the first persons who made him feel welcomed to the Blackhawks organization. She worked in the team’s PR office and was a part of the Blackhawks’ social media team, she was in charge of the team’s twitter and helped out on the YouTube channel. They met the first day he was in Chicago at the team’s practice rink. One of the first things Irene told him when they met was that she loved his accent, and still to this day it was her favourite part about him. Ever since that day they had become friends. They were some of the younger people apart of the Blackhawks family and the two of them were just drawn to each other.

One day after a morning skate Shaw was teasing Teuvo about Irene and then Teuvo let it slip that he did have feelings for his good friend. Ever since then the whole team had tried to get the young Fin to tell Irene how he felt. He would always say that Irene probably didn’t feel the same way and that he didn’t want to ruin their friendship, if only he knew. Everyone on the social media team knew how Irene felt about Teuvo and she returned the feelings. Irene’s argument was the same as Teuvo’s, she didn’t want to ruin their friendship. Yet, almost every day someone in the office would tell her to go after Teuvo but she just rolled her eyes.

After about fifteen minutes of Irene hiding from the world, she got up from the spot next to Teuvo that she had called home for almost three hours, and went into the kitchen. She grabbed her dishes that she had brought along and went over to the sink to clean them, but then Amanda walked in and stopped her.

“Don’t worry about those. I’ll clean them and have Bryan drop them off at your office tomorrow.”

Irene gave her a weak smile and neatly placed her bowl and plates on the counter. Amanda shook her head and walked over to Irene, who looked like her dog just died.

“You okay?”

“No. I know it’s just a game, but still.”

“I understand. I was going for them too.”

Irene smiled and then Amanda hugged the younger girl. Out in the living room all those who were Patriots fans were still dancing around and celebrating while the Seahawks fans were doing the exact opposite. When Amanda pulled away from the hug Irene saw Teuvo walk into the kitchen, looking around for her.

“Are you okay, Irene?”

Irene smiled at him, he away asked her thing and she loved how much he cared, even if he’s never know how she cared about him. Amanda got the hint and walked out of the room, leaving the two alone for a moment. Teuvo walked over to her and stood next to Irene at the sink.

“I’m just sad we lost and annoyed at Shawzy for rubbing it my face.”

Teuvo laughed and he didn’t take his eyes off of her. She was looking down at her sock clad feet spacing out with a look of disappointment on her face. Teuvo put his hands on the edge of the counter and then looked at his own feet, trying to find the right words to say, something he found difficulty doing when he was around Irene.

“I’m going to head out. I have to call Carly.”

She finally said as she went to pull out her phone from her back pocket. Then a lightbulb went off in Teuvo’s head, making him smile a little.

“I’ll drive you. You don’t have to bug Carly.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a nuisance.”

She said looking up at him seeing the small smile on his face, knowing that she wouldn’t be just making sure he was okay with the plan.

“Not at all. We’ll leave in a few minutes?”

“Okay. Thanks Teuvo.”

Irene said with a smile and kissed his cheek before leaving the kitchen to go to the bathroom.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Irene and Teuvo said their goodbyes to everyone a few minutes later as they left the Bickell house together. Closing the door Irene pulled her jacket closer to her as they walked into the cold Chicago night. Teuvo noticed it out of the corner of his eyes and took a side step towards Irene and took his own jacket off, putting it over her shoulders.

“Teuvo you’ll freeze.”

“It’s okay, I am from Finland. I’m used to the cold.”

Irene smiled at him and let out a giggle, making heat rush to Teuvo’s face. The two of them walked across the snowy front lawn of the house and over to his car. Teuco went to pull out his car keys but then realized that they were in his coat pocket. He looked over at Irene and reached over to her and put his hand in his coat pocket. When Irene felt his hand on her side she jumped and let out a squeak. Her reaction made Teuvo laugh and move his hand away from her.

“Sorry. The keys were in there.”

When he explained himself it made Irene laugh at him and put her hand over her heart.

“Sorry. I'm just really ticklish.”

Then a sly smile came to Teuvo’s face and he stopped walking, making Irene walk alone for a second before she looked back at him.

“What?”

Teuvo didn’t say anything but then Irene out two and two together then started to run away from him, with her telling him to not do it with a laugh in her voice. The distance between her and Teuvo didn’t last too long because he caught up with her. Irene tried to push him away when she got into the empty street, but Teuvo grabbed onto her arm. She tried to pull out of his grasp but then she hit the icy pavement wrong and slipped. When Irene felt her feet come out from under her, she let out a small squeal but then she felt Teuvo’s arm go from her wrist to her waist. Irene looked up and saw Teuvo looking down at her. She knew that her face was beet red and it wasn’t from the cold.

“Are you okay?”

Teuvo asked as he helped her regain her footing, the whole time she didn’t look away from him. When she didn’t say anything Teuvo looked at her and saw that her eyes were fixed on her. Then Irene put her hands on either side of his face and pulled him down the short distance to her.

“Irene?”

Then Irene took a leap of faith and kissed him. At first Teuvo was in a state of shock when Irene’s lips were on his, but then he kissed her back. He put his arms back around, pulling her as close as he physically could. Irene was the first to pull away and she giggled.

“I’m better now.”

Teuvo laughed and smiled at her while his stomach did backflips.

“How long have you…”

“A few months.”

“Me too. Do you think we could get in the car? It’s cold out here.”

Irene giggled and took his hand in her’s as they walked over to his car.

Notes