Teach Me How to Dougie

I stood looking at my phone, following the directions to Dougie's place. He had sent me the address and told me it was about five minutes from the T stop, so I wasn't too concerned about getting lost.

I was dressed in a plain pair of black leggings and had thrown on my Sperry's, which were just the normal tan ones everyone had. I was wearing a long-sleeved white and navy striped shirt and my favorite maroon scarf. My hair was still in the messy bun it had been in all morning and I was wearing my glasses, as well. All I had really done to get ready was change my shirt and throw on the scarf, put on a little bit of makeup, and spray some perfume. I'd checked with Holly, who told me I looked cute and pretty much pushed me out the door, telling me to hurry up or I would be late.

The voice on my phone let me know that I was almost at my destination. I gazed at the buildings lining the street, which was in a beautiful part of the city. Approaching a nice apartment building, I entered the lobby, amazed at the beautiful interior. This building wasn't brand new, but it was definitely alot nicer than my building. I walked by the front desk, greeting the woman who sat behind it, and walked into the elevator, pressing the button for the third floor.

Once the doors to the elevator opened, I walked down the hall, counting the numbers on the doors. I could tell by the distance in between each door that these apartments were huge. I finally reached Dougie's, which was at the end of the hall and quite a distance from any other doors.

Hesitantly, I raised my hand to knock, tapping three times. I heard some noise from inside, and, shortly after, the door opened. Dougie stood before me in a pair of black sweatpants, with the number 27 embroidered on one leg, and a simple white t-shirt.

"Hey Chloe! Glad you could find me." He welcomed me in, offering me a drink. There was a short hallway at the entrance of his apartment, so I didn't get a full view of the place until a had taken a few steps in.

Dougie walked over to the fridge, grabbing two bottles of water and handing one to me. I had taken a seat on one of the two stools at the counter, looking around his apartment.

It was pretty simply decorated and a lot cleaner than I expected. Aside from shoes by the front door and some dishes in the sink, it actually looked very put together.

Dougie walked over and handed me a bottle of water. From where I sat on the stool, he was still quite a bit taller than me. But that didn't stop him from leaning down to kiss me briefly. It was quick, but it was just as gentle and perfect as I had remembered.

After he pulled away he looked around anxiously.

"So, uh, you want me to show you around?"

"Yeah, sure!" I hopped down from the stool, letting him lead the way.

We left the kitchen, which was small but still at least twice the size of mine. It was attached to the living room, which had a huge TV and a couch and armchair facing it. There was a bathroom off of the living room, but Dougie took me down the hall to what I assumed was his bedroom.

As we walked, I noticed a room with the door slightly open. I tried not to look in too much, but I could see a bed and some clothes. Dougie noticed me looking.

"Oh, yeah. I've got roommates. Actually, they're on the team, too."

That didn't surprise me much. I guess it made sense to live with people who understood your schedule and who you got along with.

"That's cool. Who are they, if you don't mind me asking?" I didn't want to come off as creepy in any way. Dougie laughed.

"No, of course I don't mind. That room," he pointed to the one I had been looking at, "is Ryan Spooner's." He pointed to the door directly next to the living room, not in the hallway, "Reilly Smith lives down there".

"Oh wow, sounds fun".

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, I guess. We get along pretty well most of the time."

We continued walking until we reached the end of the hall, with one door remaining. Dougie opened it, letting me peek inside.

"This is my room. Sorry, it's a little messy."

I had no idea what he was talking about. Sure, his bed wasn't made, but aside from that his room was cleaner than mine was. I could see some family photos sitting on his dresser, as well as a tiny stuffed dog lying on his bed. After I was done looking around, he closed the door and we walked back to the living room, where he sat on the big, comfy couch facing the TV. I stayed standing and continued looking around the room.

"Wow, this place is really nice. Maybe I should become a professional hockey player." That got a laugh and a 'thank you' out of Dougie.

I yawned and stretched my arms, my exhaustion from spending all morning studying beginning to hit me. Dougie patted the spot on the couch next to him, welcoming me to sit and turning on the TV. There was some movie playing on ABC Family, but neither of us were really paying attention.

I sat right where he had gestured, leaning into his side. His arm moved from the back of the couch to rest around my shoulders. I nestled myself closer to Dougie, pulling my knees into my chest. My hair had fallen out of its bun, so I put my hair tie on my wrist, while Dougie mindlessly ran his fingers through my hair.

We sat like that, talking about nothing for a while. I drew little circles with my finger on Dougie's knee as he continued to play with my hair.

Everything felt so natural, like we had been doing this forever. We talked about his game on Friday, and I commented on his third period goal. He asked me about the test I was studying for and I told him about the basics of American foreign policy. It was really nice and relaxing.

After a while of talking, we sat in silence, watching the movie, which ended up being "Ratatouille". Between my exhaustion from studying, the soothing feeling of Dougie running his fingers through my hair, and the position of my head against Dougie's chest, I felt myself drifting to sleep.
------------
I woke up to a noise coming from down the hall. It sounded like someone jamming a key into the door, trying to unlock it. I looked around and noticed that Dougie was gone and that I had a blanket over me. He must have put it on me after I fell asleep. I barely had time to rub the sleep from my eyes when the door opened and I heard footsteps down the hall. I heard a voice.

"Honey, I'm home! Dougiee!!!! Yoohoo!!" It was a man's voice. I peered over the back of the couch, semi-hiding while still trying to see who the voice belonged to. I could hear another quieter voice but I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying.

Just then two men walked into the living room, and I immediately recognized them as Reilly Smith and Ryan Spooner. They stopped in their tracks. Reilly was the first to speak up.

"Whoa, uh. Hi, who are you?"

I gulped, sitting up a little straighter and smoothing out my hair.

"Um, my name is Chloe, I'm-"

Just then I heard the door open and close again, and heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"Oh, hey guys."

Dougie stood with two iced coffees from Dunkin's in his hands, staring at Reilly and Ryan before moving his gaze back to me.

"I didn't realize you were coming home so soon."

"You didn't tell us you had company." Ryan spoke for the first time, with a much quieter voice than Reilly's.

"Oh, sorry. This is Chloe. We were just watching a movie and I ran out to get something to drink", Dougie explained. There was an awkward silence.

"Um, I'm just gonna excuse myself for a second and use the bathroom. Nice to, uh, meet you two." I waved at Reilly and Ryan, walking to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and leaned against the counter, thankful I had remembered to bring my phone. Opening it up, I saw that Dougie had texted me about half an hour ago.

*Dougie: Just went out to get coffee. Won't be as good as Timmy's, but I think we could both use some caffeine. :)*

I smiled, thinking back to a conversation we had had before I had fallen asleep. I was trying to convince him that Dunkin Donuts had the best iced coffee, but he was insistent that Tim Horton's really had the best. We pretended to argue back and forth, finally deciding that they were both tied for the best.

"Dougie boy! Getting some action, huh? What's this, the fifth girl this week?" I heard a voice I recognized as Reilly's piping up from the living room. Ryan and Dougie laughed.

"Shut up!", Dougie responded defensively.

"Come on, you're a ladies man. Don't deny it." I heard Dougie laugh at Reilly's comment, Ryan joining in after a few seconds.

They continued chatting for another minute or two, but I really wasn't listening to what they were saying. My mind was racing at a hundred miles per hour. Were they being serious? I mean, I knew hockey players had a reputation of being ladies' men, but I had hoped maybe Dougie was different. Maybe they were joking. But Dougie didn't deny what they were saying, either. I chewed my thumbnail, anxiously, still leaning against the counter.

I heard a soft knock on the door and noticed that the conversation had stopped.

"Chloe?", Dougie asked quietly.

I opened the door, looking up at Dougie's worried face and noticing that Reilly and Ryan had left the room, presumably returning to their own bedrooms.

"Is everything okay?"

I nodded my head, looking down at the floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I-" I stopped for a second to think. "I'm just, I don't know..." My words weren't coming out correctly.

Dougie and I walked over to the couch, sitting down on opposite sides, but turned to face each other. I collected my thoughts and tried to speak again.

"I know that you're an athlete and stuff and you probably have girls falling all over you all the time, and that's okay obviously. But I thought maybe you weren't the type of guy to hop from girl to girl and-"

Dougie cut me off, shaking his head and trying to stifle a laugh.

"Oh no, you heard what they said, didn't you?"

I nodded, still not making eye contact with him. He shook his head again.

"They were just messing with me. Reilly's a dick sometimes but he does it out of humor and Ryan just goes along with it. Truthfully, I don't bring girls home all the time."

Dougie looked at me and, for the first time in a minute or two, I met his gaze.

"Actually, if I'm being completely honest, you're the first girl I've had over. I mean, I guess I'd be lying if I said I didn't have girls coming up to me all the time and that I hadn't done stuff with them while out at a bar or club after a game or something." Dougie scooted closer to me, but still maintained his position facing me.

"But, honestly, I'm not really the type of person to do stuff like that. I'm pretty shy most of the time and all the attention can be a little much." He shrugged his shoulders and continued. "Chloe, you seem really nice and I've really enjoyed talking to you and getting to know you. I don't want you to think that you are just another girl who got my attention for a minute or two. You're not."

I smiled at Dougie's comment.

"Seriously. I know we've only known each other for like a week or two, and we've only really hung out twice, but I've had a great time. You're beautiful and I just feel very comfortable around you. I don't know, I'm sorry I guess. I should've been more clear about everything."

"No, you don't have to be sorry. I guess I'm just insecure. I've had a great time getting to know you, too." I stopped, deciding to be bold and say something risky. "I'd like to get to know you more, actually."

Dougie smiled wide.

"Yeah, I'd like that, too."

I scooted forward, placing myself closer to Dougie. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss, which was quick but still amazing. He pulled away and I reoriented myself to sit next to him, as he handed me my iced coffee.

We were quiet for a few minutes, drinking our coffees and watching TV. Dougie was the first to pipe up.

"So, how's Holly? I think I saw her when I was leaving your apartment the other day."

I thought back to Holly coming home that day and her reaction to the whole situation.

"She's good! I actually had forgotten to tell her that you were coming over, so she must have not seen you."

Dougie nodded.

"Oh, okay. You know, you can tell her. Next time, I mean. I know some guys don't like to tell people about when they are hanging out with girls, 'cause rumors spread and stuff but, Holly seems like a cool girl and, I don't know..." His voice trailed off.

"Definitely, Holly's great. I just didn't get a chance to tell her before."

"Did you let her know after?" I laughed.

"Actually, I didn't have to tell her what had happened. She noticed something was up." Dougie looked at me, confused.

I lifted my hair up slightly, revealing the two still very prominent hickeys on my neck.

Dougie brought his hand to his mouth and, looking absolutely shocked.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, is-" I continued laughing, patting his arm.

"PLEASE don't apologize. It's nothing a little makeup or a scarf can't hide. Besides, I think they're kinda hot and it sure felt good, so..."

Dougie moved his hand away from his mouth, a smirk coming to his face.

"Oh, right. I remember you sounding pretty happy about it."

I blushed as I remembered the sounds that had escaped my lips as Dougie kissed my neck. I pretended to be mad.

"Very funny! I guess I'll just have to give you some of your own, sometime."

Dougie shrugged, trying to act all cool and relaxed.

"Gladly."

Notes

WHOA that was a long one. Hope you like it! I'll keep writing as long as I have ideas. YAY FOR TEN CHAPTERS! <3