Teach Me How to Dougie

After the game, Dougie and I had both gone straight to bed. We were both exhausted from our respective commitments and fell asleep quickly.

I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head to face Dougie, who was just waking up, as well. He smiled sleepily and scooted closer to me, our faces inches apart as we lay our heads on the pillows.

"What do you wanna do today?"

I shrugged.

"We can just relax if you want."

"Sounds good. But, I may have a surprise for you later."

"Really?! What is it?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

I rolled my eyes and tried to think about what the surprise could be. Dougie and I had planned on exchanging gifts later, but hadn't really gone into much detail about our plans.

"Can you give me a hint? Pretty please?"

"Hmm, maybe. It involves Christmas."

"Wow, that's so helpful, thanks."

Dougie laughed and thought about another hint. I knew I could break him down a bit.

"I may have asked Holly to throw together a nice outfit for you and I may have picked it up the other day while you were in class. But that's all I'm telling you!"

I giggled and leaned forward to kiss him.

"Yay! I can't wait."
----------------------

Dougie and I had spent the whole day watching movies on the couch, cuddled up next to each other. Reilly was out for the day, but Ryan had joined us for the past few hours, quietly watching the TV with us. At about 5, Dougie suggested that I go change into the outfit Holly had packed for me. I grabbed my bag from his room and went to the bathroom to change, while Dougie changed in his room. Ryan wouldn't give up any hints, either, so I decided to punish them both by forcing Ryan to hear my off-pitch singing while I changed and by not letting Dougie see me take off my clothes.

I pulled the clothes out of my bag, shaking my head slowly as I saw what Holly had packed. She had put in my long-sleeved black dress, which had a v-neckline. She had also packed black tights and my black, heeled booties. I laughed as I pulled out the matching, maroon lace bra and panty set, not surprised that she had chosen some of the sexiest underwear I owned. Always looking out for me, I guess.

After I put on my outfit, I clipped some of my hair back, letting my curls still spill over my shoulders. I touched up my makeup and put on my pearl earrings, which Holly had also packed. I did one more look-over and sent Holly a "thank you" text for packing me such a cute outfit.

I strolled out of the bathroom, turning off the lights. Dougie was sitting on the couch next to Ryan, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a dark gray sweater. He looked super handsome and I couldn't hide the smile that spread across my face when I saw him. Dougie looked at me as I entered the room, his eyes lighting up as he saw me.

"You look beautiful, Chloe. Dougie's a lucky guy", Ryan said, making my heart swell. He was such a sweetheart and had become a great friend of mine.

"I am a lucky guy. Chloe, you do look absolutely gorgeous."

I blushed and thanked them both. Dougie took my hand and we headed out for whatever Dougie had planned for me. He wouldn't tell me where we were going as the taxi drove us to our destination, even covering my eyes as we approached.

"Dougie, come on! Let me see!" I anxiously bounced up and down as Dougie and I stood at our destination. He had his hands over my eyes as he stood behind me. He removed his hands and I looked around.

"Prudential center? What's going on?"

"Come on, follow me." Dougie grabbed my hand and we started walking. We walked through the doors of the massive building and over to the elevator. Dougie and I rode up, passing many floors. When the doors finally opened, I realized where we were.

"Oh my god, the Top of the Hub? I've always wanted to go here!"

"I know, Holly told me."

I kissed Dougie's cheek as he walked over to the hostess, giving him his name, although she probably already knew who he was. She escorted us to a table write by the window, with a phenomenal view. We had just enough privacy to be able to carry a normal conversation, and I was so happy and surprised.

Our meal was amazing, and Dougie and I had spent the whole time chatting about nothing in particular. We changed topics from our favorite movies, to our plans for Christmas, to everything else in between. I couldn't help but stare at the view every once in awhile. It was truly breathtaking. Whenever I would look back at Dougie, I would catch him staring at me.

"Isn't the view beautiful?" He nodded, still looking at me.

"Yeah, it is."
------------------

Once we got back to the apartment, I changed into a pair of yoga pants Holly had packed me and one of Dougie's old sweatshirts. Dougie threw on sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt, as well, and we sat on the floor in front of the couch, pushing the coffee table out of the way so we could have space to give each other our gifts. Ryan had gone out to meet Reilly, in what I assume was a suggestion by Dougie to get us some alone time.

I hid the box containing my gifts for Dougie behind my back and Dougie held a few boxes in his lap.

"Dougie, how much did you get me? I hope you didn't spend too much."

"Don't worry about it, Chlo. I wanted to get this stuff for you. I'm allowed to spoil you."

"Okay, but I get to go first! Here." I placed the box in Dougie's lap and he tore it open. Inside I had placed a map of my school's campus, a baseball hat with my school's logo on it, and a Celtics shirt. All things referencing different points in our relationship. Underneath it all, I had framed a picture of us that Holly had Reilly had jokingly taken while I was over at the apartment a few weeks after Dougie and I had started hanging out. I was sitting on the counter and Dougie was standing in front of me, leaning against the counter in between my legs. I had my arms wrapped around him and was peeking out behind him on one side, both of us with smiles on our faces. I remember that we had been joking about my height and I had been convinced that I would be as tall as Dougie if I sat on the counter. Obviously, I had been wrong.

"Chloe, these are great! Thank you so much!" Dougie laughed as he looked through the gifts and kissed me.

"You're welcome. Glad you like them."

"My turn now. Here, open this first."

I took the first box from his hands and opened it. I was confused when I saw a Bruins jersey and slowly pulled it out of the box. I turned it around and saw that it was Dougie's number, but also that every single member of the team had signed it. As much as I had gotten super close with most of the team, I was also still a huge Bruins fan and couldn't deny that this was one of the coolest gifts I'd ever received.

"Dougie, oh my god, this is so cool. Thank you!" I inspected all the signatures and laughed at the few short messages some of the guys had left. Reilly had written "Your bff" and Marchy had written "the one and only" before his signature. I smiled as I saw that Tuukka had written "Your biggest fan" and I saw a smiley face next to Pasta's name.

"No problem. The guys all really like you and were more than happy to give you a gift. Besides, I figured it was time you rocked my number. Here, open the next one!"

I took the slightly smaller box out of Dougie's hands and saw that inside was a annual pass to the New England Aquarium and a stuffed penguin. I had told Dougie that I loved to go to the aquarium growing up, but that I never really got the chance to go now that I was a poor and busy college student.

"This is amazing! I can go see the penguins whenever I want to! And the jellyfish!" I smiled and held the stuffed penguin close as Dougie handed me the last gift, which was in a tiny box. I carefully untied the ribbon on the Tiffany blue box, quickly realizing that the color was not a coincidence. When I opened it, I saw the most beautiful necklace inside.

It was a silver heart on a delicate chain. On the front, the number 27 was engraved. I flipped it over and saw that it said "You helped me find my way." A small pearl and sapphire hung next to the heart, which I recognized as representing Dougie and my birthdays. I felt tears sting my eyes as I took it all in, from the message referring to Dougie and my first meeting to the beautiful gems glistening in the dim light of the room.

"I don't know what to say. This is the most beautiful necklace I've ever seen."

"Do you want me to put it on?"

All I could do was nod as I lifted my hair and turned around, handing the box to Dougie. He carefully undid the clasp and reached around my neck to secure it again. The pendant hung perfectly against my chest. I reached up to touch it, turning around to face Dougie again and smiling.

"Thank you- for everything. Not just these gifts, which are all so amazing and thoughtful, by the way. But for making me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world and for making me happy every day. I am so lucky to have someone like you in my life, and even though we've only been together a few months, I feel like I could trust you with my whole life."

"Chlo, you are the most beautiful girl in the world. Inside and out. You've never once made me feel like you're using me for anything. The fact that you care about what I do for a living is amazing, and it's pretty entertaining to hear you talk about hockey, I must admit. You inspire me everyday, trust me. I love you, I really do."

He leaned in to kiss me, slowly. His hand reached up and touched my cheek, pulling my forward slightly. The kiss was brief, but tender.

"We should take a picture. This moment is too cute to keep to ourselves."

Dougie laughed and pulled out his phone.

"Yeah, especially with my black eye. I am camera ready, for sure."

Dougie took the pic and we decided to both post it on our respective social media.

The pic was of me kissing his cheek, my new necklace visible. I also had my penguin in the frame, tucked under my arm. Dougie had his new hat on and a smile on his face and, as he had said, his black eye was visible, but I thought it added character.

My Instagram caption read, "He may score goals on the ice, but I think I'm the real winner here."

He posted the picture on Twitter, saying, "Best gift I've ever received. #nottalkingaboutthehat."

We settled on the couch, the time only being about 8:30, and decided to watch "Elf". I couldn't remember the last time I had been this happy.

Notes