I couldn't believe we were here; I couldn't believe Jamie was here. Stanley Cup Finals, game seven was in a few hours.
After walking out of work, Erica and I immediately took off for Montreal. She was coming with me to see Jamie's parents and sister, in anticipation of Tyler's parents and sisters coming a couple hours after we arrived.

To say she was nervous was an understatement; it was quite comical to watch. I had met Jamie's family under no pressure; we were simply friends when we had met. They had seemed to like me; but I hadn't seen them since Jamie and I started dating.

“Haley!” I whipped around in the hotel lobby where Erica and I were walking with our bags towards our room. I smiled when I noticed Jamie's sister, Jenny, make her way towards us.

“Jenny! Hey!” I smiled wider, the pair of us making our way into a hug. Jamie's parents were not too far behind her. “How are you!?” I asked happily. We spoke a handful of times over the phone, whenever she called Jamie and I was around, she'd always ask to speak to me.

“I'm doing great! You look amazing!” She pulled away, her mile smile matching my own.

“Well- thanks” I blushed furiously, turning my attention to introduce Erica. “Jenny, this is Erica; Tyler's girlfriend”

“Tyler? As in… Seguin?” She asked, a little surprised.

“I know, right!?” I replied with a laugh.

“Nice to meet you- wow the one who tamed Tyler Seguin” she shook her head with a light laugh. Erica must have turned a million different shades of red; for the moment, I felt bad for her; but only for a moment.

“I guess you could say that” Erica grinned proudly, finally finding a way to speak after the initial embarrassment.

“It's nice to see you guys again” I turned towards Jamie's parents, who were smiling proudly.

“You too Haley” Jamie's dad smiled, nodding as his mother pulled me in for a hug.

“I always knew you guys would end up dating!” Heather exclaimed, causing me to turn a brighter shade of red. Did everybody think this?

“Me too! I always told Jamie he ought to ask you out” Jenny added with a smirk. I noticed the grin on Erica's face; it was her turn to enjoy my embarrassment.

“What, did everyone think it or something?” I asked, more of a rhetorical question.

“Well, yeah”

“Yep”

“No duh”

I rolled my eyes; looks like everyone had seen what I failed to notice for years.

“Sorry it took my brother so long to own up to it” Jenny snickered with a wink.

“I wish people didn't feel the need to tell me that” I grumbled with a small smirk.

“I'm starving, you guys wanna go to dinner?” Jenny asked all of us, changing the subject.

“Sounds great” I nodded immediately; I didn’t want to talk about how everyone knew Jamie and I would end up together anymore. I've heard it from just about every single person that had known Jamie and I were friends.

“Great, we’ll just check into our room and we’ll meet you down here in half hour” Heather smiled, and all of us parted ways for the moment.

Erica and I rode up in the elevator in silence for the most part; I began to think of the game later. I couldn't imagine how nervous Jamie would be; how badly he wanted this.

“I like them” Erica smirked as we arrived on our floor. “Smart people”

I rolled my eyes once more.

“Yeah, yeah” I grumbled, pushing my way past her into the room to get ready for dinner. “Do any of you guys ever get tired of telling me ‘I told you so’?” I asked as an after thought.

“Not a chance in hell” Erica snickered. “And when you get married, I'll be sure to mention it in my maid of honour speech” she added with a wink, laughing when she saw the terrified expression on my face.

“Okay, woah, getting a little ahead of ourselves” I defended, a little thrown off by the subject of marriage. We had been dating for just over a month; there was no way I was even thinking about marriage.

“Oh come on Hales” Erica rolled her eyes, seeing no big deal with the subject. “You're obviously meant to be together”

“Doesn't mean were gonna get married” I told her seriously. Obviously, I planned to be with Jamie for a long time. He was my best friend; I couldn't picture my life without him. But there always was a fear that played in the back of my mind; what if he found someone better?

“Why wouldn't you?” Erica asked, seeming genuinely confused.

“What if- hefindssomeoneelse” I said the words as quickly as I could, as if getting them out faster would make them sting less.

“Pardon me?” Erica asked, arching an eyebrow in confusion, a scowl on her face.

“I said what-”

“I heard what you said” she interrupted me sternly. “I was just surprised you'd be dense enough to think it” she added harshly.

“Wow- thanks” I grumbled, busying myself by picking out my outfit for tonight's game to avert the intense stare she was throwing my way.

“Haley, you obviously don't see the way he is around you” Erica's expression softened from anger quickly as she spoke. “The kid is absolutely in love with you; has been forever. He's not going to find someone better because you're it for him”

But as much as I wanted to believe her words, the nagging in the back of my mind didn't cease to tell me otherwise. With a slight nod I grabbed my outfit from my suitcase and headed into the bathroom, willing myself to keep it together.

I turned on the shower, letting a few tears escape my eyes before I climbed in. My absolute biggest fear in the world was losing him; I didn't think I'd be able to make it through.

*****************



Here we were; in the Bell Centre for game seven of the Stanley cup finals. We sat behind the bench, decent seats a fair distance from the ice. It wouldn't be hard to pick us out of the crowd; we were all wearing our green Dallas Stars jerseys, versus all the white Habs ones around us.

I sat with Jamie's parents and sister in one row, Tyler's parents, his sisters and Erica in the one behind us. I wasn't sure how they managed to get such amazing seats but I didn't question it; this was a dream come true as a hockey fan.

We sat the lone greens in an otherwise sea of either red or white, awaiting the beginning of the game. The fans around us chatted excitedly in French, obviously wanting their team to become Stanley cup champions on home ice.

Watching the first two games of the series, I never expected to see the Stars in this position; and it was safe to say neither did they, nor the Habs. They couldn't score a goal if their life depended on it; they just couldn't get it right.

Whatever it was, after game three, that clicked, leading to their three victories in a row. Here's hoping for four, I thought to myself with a small smile.

After coming out of the shower in the hotel room after the marriage conversation, Erica had just dropped the subject completely; pretending we never even had the conversation. For that I was grateful; it wasn't something I wanted to worry about right now. But, unfortunately I knew, it wouldn't be something that would be going away anytime soon.

After the national anthems were sung we sat back in our seats, my heart beating at a pace so rapid I was surprised I wasn't on a caffeine high.

“Don't look so tense” Erica teased from behind me. It was obvious she was trying to keep it together. She looked tense but at ease around Tyler's sisters; they seemed to be taking a liking to her.

“Like youre not nervous as hell either” I shot back with a forced smile, tearing my gaze from behind me to the ice as I heard the opening face off go underway.

*******


The game most certainly didn't disappoint on a scale of “intense game seven Stanley cup final games”. And of course, to make my heart explode even more, we were headed off to overtime.
At this point it could be anybody's game. Anyone could make a mistake, anyone could capitalize on a mistake; this could be anyone's. That scared me more than anything; as well as the Stars had played all game, it meant nothing now. Overtime was a new beast; one to which I hated watching.

And seemingly in slow motion, it was all over. I saw the Habs throw their hands up, the fans around us leaping out of their seats. I found myself shrinking back into mine; we lost. We fucking lost.

I knew Jamie would be devastated; he and his team had worked so hard for this. Tearing my gaze away from the ground I looked up to see Kari complaining to the refs, pointing and shouting to the net. The ref simply nodded, skating over towards centre where PK and Jamie met him, confused.

The goal was under review.

“Oh my god” I spoke out loud, not being able to handle the intense situation. If they said the goal counted, the Stars cup hopes would come crashing down. If it was no goal, they still had a chance to win this.

“I don't think I've ever been more stressed” Jenny spoke, wide eyed as we watched the referee carefully. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity later, he skated to centre ice.

“After careful review, it was determined the puck did not fully cross the line, no goal”

The crowd erupted into boos. The line of us smiled so wide I didn't think it was possible.

“They can still do this” I affirmed, getting silent nods from Jamie's family around me.

The players all lined up at centre, Tyler facing off with Jamie on his wing. It was obvious, even from the distance I sat, how determined he was to win this. With a swift move of his stick Tyler won the face off easily back to his defender, who managed to get the puck in the zone.

The classic dump and chase, I smirked to myself.

Jamie managed to get to the puck before the defender, turning his body slightly at the right moment to avoid a check into the boards. He looked up, seeing Tyler skating through the crease and passed it off.

He took a one timer, hitting Price in the pads, the puck bouncing away towards Jamie. He took one swift stride towards it before batting it with his stick. This time, time really did seem to be in slow motion; the puck was in the back of the net.

And just like that, the Dallas Stars were the 2015-2016 Stanley Cup Champions.

Notes

I'm so so sorry it's taken me this long to update! I've been stuck working overnights so all I do is sleep during the day!

Anyway, this is the last chapter :( I may write an epilogue!

Just want ant to thank you guys for your continued support while writing this story, it means the world to me!

Thanks so much for reading :)

xx