Quick Flicks

I sat on the floor in front of the TV, bridal magazines spread out on the ground. I was flipping through "The Knot" right now, drooling over the floral arrangements depicted in an article about southern weddings.

I caught a glimpse of my ring as the sunlight coming through the window, the diamond glittering in the most beautiful way. The band was silver with small diamonds, and the oval-cut diamond sitting in the center was breath-taking, as well. I was so surprised when James had given it to me, proposing in the middle of our backyard after I had spent the whole day working on cleaning it up, and he had spent the day traveling back from an away game.

I smiled at the memories and continued flipping through the magazine.

"Hey, honey?" I turned around to ask James a question, but I didn't see him. He had been lounging on the couch, doing something on his laptop. But, all I saw was his laptop sitting on the couch, my fiancé nowhere in sight. I started to push myself to my feet, folding over the corner of the page as to not lose my place. "Babe?" I walked around the couch, but stopped when I saw James walking back in.

"Great. Thanks, Coach. I'll see you tomorrow." James spoke into the phone he held to his ear before hanging it up abruptly, letting his hand fall to his side. He stared ahead, not looking at anything in particular.

"Babe? What's up?" I walked over to him, wrinkling my brow in concern. He gulped slowly, still staring ahead.

"I- I got traded."

Those three words were three of the scariest words in any hockey player's life, and in any hockey player's family's life, as well. Those words signaled a drastic change. They meant saying goodbye to familiarity and hello to a strange, new world. They meant a million feelings, regardless of where the trade was to.

I saw all of these feelings cycling through James' eyes as he continued staring forward. I walked closer to him, my heart beginning to pound quickly.

"Oh, uh." I was lost. What should I say? What could I say?

"Nashville." James answered the question I had been hesitating to ask, moving his gaze to my own. "I am going to Nashville. The Predators." He gulped once more, and I was having a hard time reading his emotions.

"Did you- did you know? I mean, did you-" He shook his head slowly, crossing his arms and exhaling slowly.

"Nope. Not a clue." I ran my fingers through my hair and walked over to sit on the couch, playing with the bottom of my shirt and trying to process my thoughts.

"Well, uh. This is- this is manageable." I nodded slowly, reassuring him just as much as I was reassuring myself. "This is exciting! It's- it's a new opportunity. This is good... right?" James walked around the couch and joined me, putting an arm over my shoulders.

"Uh, yeah. This is good. I mean," He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head quickly as if to wake himself up, "I did not see it coming. But, I can handle the Preds." I smiled and nodded looking up at him. "I'm going to see Coach tomorrow just to discuss the final details and then, well, I guess that's it." He shrugged and looked back at me, smiling.

"Yeah, I guess so." I smiled and leaned up to plant a quick kiss on his lips.
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*JAMES' POV*

Kelsey had gone up to take a shower about twenty minutes ago. She was usually pretty speedy in there, so I was concerned when I didn't here her footsteps coming down the stairs after ten minutes or so.

I stood up from the couch and padded over to the stairs, heading to our bedroom.

"Kels? You alright?" I turned the corner to our room, noticing her clothes in a trail to the bathroom door. It was closed and the shower was running, and I slowly walked towards it and opened the door. "Ba-."

Kelsey sat on the edge of the tub, wrapped in a towel. Her hair was still dry and she was staring at the ground. She looked up when she saw me, and I could see black trails running down her cheeks from the tears had dragged her makeup. When she saw me, she tried to wipe the tears away, but only ended up creating new ones.

"Honey, what's going on?" She shrugged and sniffled, not saying anything. I walked over to the shower and turned the water off before sitting next to her on the edge of the tub. I put wrapped my arms around her and she pulled her knees to her chest, turning to cuddle into me.

We sat like that for a few moments before she finally spoke up.

"I was so surprised when you said you were traded. I tried to be calm and supportive, because I knew you were just as surprised as I was. You know, it's exciting and a new opportunity and everything!" She shrugged. "But, I'm so scared. I don't want this new opportunity. I don't want a new life." I could hear her getting choked up again, so I rubbed her back. "Sorry, I'm being so selfish. I'm being ridiculous."

"You are not being ridiculous or selfish. Trust me, I'm scared, too. I had no idea this was coming. Seriously, not a clue." She looked up at me and leaned against my chest as I played with her hair. "And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared shitless. But, I mean, it's happened. I can't change it now. It's a new team and a new city with new fans. It'll take some getting used to, but we'll survive."

"But, what about all of our plans? We've only lived in this house for a year. And, and what about our wedding? Our plans? I mean, luckily I haven't found a job yet, so I don't have that to worry about. But... everything else has to change."

"I'll miss the house, too. But we won't have to move down there for another month or so, for offseason training. Our wedding doesn't have to change at all. We can still get married in May, and we can still get married here. A flight from here to Nashville is, what, two hours? It'll be fine, plus all the guys and their wives will already be here. And, who knows, maybe I'll have some new teammates to add to the invite list."

She sat up and turned to face me, holding my face in her hands. "It'll be okay?" I nodded, saddened by the emotion her eyes still held.

"It'll be okay." She stood up, securing her towel after using the edge of it to wipe the remaining tears away.

"You're right. This is scary, but it's good, too." She smiled and grabbed my hands, pulling me up. Her arms encircled my neck and she kissed me, slow and deep. "I love you, James."

"I love you, too, Kels." Her towel slipped and she giggled as the cold air hit her bare skin. Pulling away, she looked into my eyes mischievously.

"You know, I still haven't taken a shower, and I think you could use one, too, to calm your nerves." I smirked, meeting her gaze and lowering my hands to rest on her naked waist.

"I guess I could use some help relaxing." Her hands traveled under my shirt to pull it off quickly, as I undid my belt buckle and felt my pants drop to the floor.

"I can help with that."

Notes

Didn't know much about James Neal before this, so hope you like it! :)