Quick Flicks

Justin and I had grown up together, living in the same neighborhood since I was six and he was eight. I remember the day we met for the first time, while we were both out playing in the neighborhood.

He had been, of course, playing hockey with his friends. They had a little street hockey rink set up in the cul-de-sac, and my cousin had been on Justin's team. I had asked to play and my cousin had refused, telling me it was boys only. I had walked away, sniffling, and gone to sit on the curb, throwing pebbles at the ground.

I remember looking up and seeing him walking towards me, still in his pads.

"Hey, uh, you can play later, you know. After they leave, do you wanna help me practice?" I wiped my eyes and nodded.

He had kept his promise, and our little hockey routine became a tradition. I'd come out after he was done playing with his friends and help him practice. He even traded places with me sometimes and let me play goalie.

We remained close all throughout school. Of course, like most boys and girls, we grew apart slightly during middle school, right around the time kids started teasing us about being boyfriend and girlfriend. But, when we weren't in school, we would still hang out constantly.

With each year, Justin got more and more busy with hockey. I played, as well, but not nearly as much as him. By the time we reached high school, we were both playing on our school's teams. I had ditched my brief stint as goalie for a position at defense. We still practiced one-on-one when we could, sneaking into our school's arena on Sunday afternoons.

Of course, my friends constantly told me that we should date. We actually did try, once, but it just didn't work out. We were freshmen and at a party, and one of his friends dared him to kiss me. It had been my first real kiss, but not his, and we had tried the dating thing a little bit after. But, it just didn't work and we ended it. Thankfully we were close enough that our one peck on the lips and sorta-dating stint didn't affect our relationship.

When senior year came around, Jared was preparing for the NHL draft. I was applying to colleges, hoping to continue playing hockey. At that time, I was also celebrating a year with my boyfriend, Steve. We were perfect for each other and he made me so happy. He was my first for so many things, and I was head over heels. I ended up passing up an offer from a D1 school in favor of going to the school Steve was going to, which didn't even have a hockey team. That was when Justin and I had our first big fight, which ended in me screaming in his face and running out of his house in tears. We didn't speak for a week after that. And even when we started speaking again, we never mentioned Steve or my future.

If I had a dollar for every person who told me I shouldn't go to college for a boy, I would be rich. I would have enough money to go back and fix one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. Because, not even a month into my college career, I walked in on Steve banging my roommate. The best part about it? He didn't even apologize. She grabbed her clothes and ran to her friend's room, while he sat up and looked at me.

"Well, guess Justin can say 'I told you so, now.'"

I nearly drank myself into a coma that night. I ended up in the hospital, drunk off my ass, and all alone. My family lived states away and wouldn't have had the money to come help me, anyway. They had barely been able to support my hockey career growing up.

I (barely) remember laying there in bed, on the verge of passing out, staring at the ceiling lights with tears in my eyes and an IV in my arm, when Justin walked in.

"J, what are you doing here? How'd you get here so quickly?" My words came out in a slurred, jumbled mess.

"Well, luckily I was playing a few towns over tonight." He pulled a chair up and sat on it backwards, resting his chin on the back. "What are we going to do about you?"

"It's fine! Steve said you can say 'I told you so' now!" My slurred words were further warped by the sobs that started escaping my throat. Justin moved me over and sat next to me, holding me as I sobbed. The doctor came in to check on me, or at least that's what Justin told me later, because by that point I was knocked out.

But, contrary to what Steve said, Justin never said I told you so. He never, ever made me feel bad for that mistake.

During those years of college, and during the years following, Justin and I didn't get to see each other as often as we'd liked to. He was busy in North Carolina and, after graduating, I had taken a job teaching at a high school outside of Washington D.C.. I had done a two-year masters program in the area and had fallen in love with the city. I had been a history major in college, and as a high-school history teacher now, I was in love with the city.
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"Okay, girls, one more round of sprints." I heard a few groans and skated to the center of the ice, arms crossed over my chest. "Do you want two rounds?" The rink was silent. I laughed and blew my whistle, the girls beginning their series of sprints.

This was my first year coaching the team. The head coach had quit unexpectedly right before camp was supposed to start. I had mentioned that I used to play hockey and, I guess the athletic director had found a few videos of me playing online and he decided to give me the job. I was ecstatic to be playing again.

Most of the girls at camp today were students at the school, while others were just players in the area. Even though it was only July, these girls were already training for the season. The program at the school was intense, but I was so ready.

The last player crossed the line and the girls huddled up, as they did at the end of each practice, and did a cheer, throwing their hands in the air. I clapped after they finished, still center ice, and watched them begin to skate off the ice.

"You gonna let 'em off that easy, Em?" I spun around on my skates and saw Justin leaning against the visiting team's bench. He carefully stepped onto the ice.

I skated over to him as quickly as possible, jumping into his arms and nearly knocking him over. He steadied himself and held on tight, squeezing the air out of me and lifting me off of my feet. When he set me down, and turned to wipe the tears out of my eyes with my sleeve.

"Aw, come on Emily. I didn't come here to make you cry." He pulled me in for a hug again, patting my back.

"No, these are happy tears." I wiped the remaining tears away and stepped off of the ice with the help of Justin. He sat on the wall of the rink with his feet on the bench while I untied my skates. "What in the world are you doing here?"

I hadn't seen him in over six months, since Christmas. Even then, we'd only had a week to hang out because he had to fly back for games. Plus, he had to share his time with his family, as well.

"I thought I'd check out some of the sights in my new city." I snapped my head up, sure that I'd heard him wrong.

"Uh, you're new city?"

"You're looking at the newest goalie in the Washington Capitals organization." I kicked off my second skate and stood up, hands on his shoulders.

"Are you serious?! You're a Cap?!" He smiled and nodded and I gave him another hug. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Em. I'm happy, too. I'll miss NC. But, this is good. It means we can see each other more often!" I pulled back and we started walking towards the door. "Hey, maybe you can even come to my games! I'll expect you to cheer me on, obviously."

"Justin, I may be a Washingtonian now. And, I may be your friend. But I'm not gonna admit to liking the Capitals." Justin laughed.

"Washingtonian? Is that what I am now?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, but you're also an idiot." He put his arm around my shoulders as we walked out the door. "I guess I could cheer them on, for you. Except when they're playing the Leafs, obviously."

"Okay, I guess that's fair."

"So, you just drive up here for the day or...?" Justin removed his arm from around me and crossed them across his chest, clearing his throat.

"Oh, uh, no. Actually, Jessica and I flew in to check everything out. Look for a place to live and stuff." He nodded his head towards the black SUV that sat a few yards away. I saw his bleach-blonde girlfriend sitting in the passenger side. She smiled wide and waved, so I did the same.

"That's nice! Well, I don't want to keep you two waiting. I'll see you soon?" He nodded, the smile shrinking on his face. I was wrapped in a massive bear hug again and buried my face in his chest. "It's good to see you, Justin."

"You too, Em", he whispered into my hair. When he pulled away, he waved quickly and then made his way to the car, hands in his pockets and head down. I sighed and walked to my car, which was on the other side of the lot.
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I sat in my apartment, drinking a glass of wine. It was a Saturday and only 2 PM, but I had had a long week of coaching and a meeting this morning, so I thought it was a well-deserved break. As soon as I had gotten home, I had thrown my hair up into a bun, taken my contacts out and put my glasses on, and jumped in a pair of sweats and a high school hockey tee. My feet were currently up on the coffee table as I watched "Say Yes to the Dress", adult beverage in hand.

I heard a knock on the door and rushed to my feet. My neighbor could sometimes be testy about too much noise, even something as simple as knocking, and I didn't want to deal with that today. I whipped the door open.

"Hey, Em, mind if I come in?" I nodded and stood aside to let Justin in.

"You know, I obviously don't mind big NHL superstars showing up at my door unannounced. But, I have to ask... How did you know where I live?" Justing leaned against the kitchen counter. He crossed his arms and shrugged.

"I've got connections." I gave him a dirty look. "Fine, I looked you up in White Pages."

"Damn it! I told the school I didn't need a land line, but they insisted. Guess that's what I get for not standing up for myself." He laughed and shook his head.

"Always the jokester, huh?" I nodded and made my way into the kitchen, popping up onto the island and facing him, while taking another sip of my wine. Mouth still full, I picked up the bottle and held it towards him, offering him a drink. He politely declined. I knew he didn't like wine, anyway.

"So, what's up? In town again checking things out?" He shrugged.

"Yeah, something like that. I've got a few meetings to finalize my contract. Thought I'd do some more sight seeing, too." He was quiet for a few moments before speaking again. "Actually, that's the main reason I came over. The team is having a charity cruise tomorrow night and, even though I'm a newbie, they invited me along. You wanna come?"

"Oh muh gawd! Like, you mean, like, on, like, a date?" I laughed before taking another sip of wine and continuing. "I'd love to. But, I think your girlfriend might take issue with it." Justin walked over to the fridge, opening it and, because he knew me so well, taking out a can of the beer I had in it. He opened it and took a slug, holding it in his fist and looking forward at nothing in particular.

"Yeah, that would be an issue. If I had a girlfriend." I nearly choked on the wine and placed my glass on the counter next to me.

"Excuse me?"

"We're done. Jessica and I are over."

"What?! When did it happen?!"

"In the car. Right after I surprised you at the rink."

Jessica and Justin had been dating for almost four years. They had met at a bar after a game one night. I was a little hesitant when Justin told me about her at first, because she seemed like most of the other girls who hung around the team after games. But, he assured me she wasn't.

We had met quite a few times, actually. She came back home with him for Christmas and, on the one or two weekends a year I'd fly down to see Justin play in NC, she'd be there, too. She seemed very nice, albeit not as talkative as I would have expected. She had the look of a typical puck bunny, but I tried to trust what Justin had told me about her and be friendly.

"What- are you serious? What happened?"

"I don't even know. I mean, that's not true. I know, I just-" He set his beer can down and ran a hand through his hair before crossing his arms across his chest. "She refused to drive here because she hates car rides. So, we flew. Not a huge deal, I guess, I just saw it as one of her quirks. She was obviously already a little thrown off by the idea of picking up our life and moving it here. But, she was opening up to the idea." He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "But, I guess she'd changed her mind after that night." I rolled my eyes and pulled my knees to my chest, hiding my head.

"I knew she didn't like me! God, I'm so sorry." He laughed and threw his head back, staring at the ceiling and shaking his head. I reached out and pushed his chest.

"She did like you, Em! That's why she ended it!" I moved my legs back so I was sitting up straight and placed my hands behind me, leaning back slightly as I listened to Justin. "She saw us- hell, she's seen us every time we're together. She watched us talking and saw the smile on your face." He looked me right in the eyes. "Do you know what she said?"

I shrugged.

"She looked at me, fully calm, and said, 'I can't do this anymore. It's not fair for that girl to have to watch you like that. It's not fair for me, either.'" He gulped and looked at the ground. "She said, 'It's not fair to me because I know what we have will never compare to what you two have.'" By this point, I had opened my mouth to speak. But, I couldn't think of anything to say.

"But-"

"She was right." I put my hand to my head, my brow furrowed.

"But, we're just friends. We tried that dating thing, remember? Freshman year of high school?" I was nervously giggling as I spoke. "It didn't work! We decided that it just wasn't for us. We're better off as friends remember?" At this point, I was full on crazy person babbling, my heart rate and breathing picking up. "It just, it's not us!"

"Em, calm down, please." Justin had walked over, standing in between my legs and putting his hands on either side of my face. I'm surprised he didn't slap me across the face to snap me out of it.

"This just isn't us. We're- we're best friends. That's it, right?" Justin's lack of an answer didn't make me feel any better. I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to quiet my thoughts. Justin's hands remained on my cheeks as I felt his lips meet mine.

The kiss was delicate and over as quickly as it had begun. When Justin pulled back, I kept my eyes closed. My heart racing even more than it was before.

"Em, you-" I opened my eyes to find Justin's lips again, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down to me. I didn't peck him softly, either. I let years and years of 'what-ifs' and 'what-coulds' pour into our kisses, which grew in intensity as I pulled him to me, leaning backwards. I spread my legs further apart, allowing him to get as close to me as possible. I began kissing his neck, rubbing my hands up and down his muscled arms. "Em." I let him help me so that I was sitting straight up, my face flushed. My arms were still around his neck and he hadn't moved back at all.

"I- I'm sorry. I mean, I-"

"No, shut up. I mean", he groaned. "Sorry, force of habit. I- if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this right. As much as I'd love this to happen right here, right now, I'd rather do this somewhere comfortable." I kept my eyes locked on his, a few inches away. I pointed to my room down the hall.

"Bedroom?" Justin swept me off of the counter, his hands on my thighs to hold me up. He pushed the door open and walked over to our bed, setting me on it softly. I took off my glasses and tossed them on my bedside table.

Justin's hand slipped under my shirt and made its way to my breast, as he laid me . He moved his head into the crook of my neck and attacked it with kisses, nearly sending my heart into overdrive. I held him close to me, hands laced through his shaggy hair, and let my mind go wild. A million thoughts flew through it, slipping out just as quickly as they had arrived.

"J, I-" He set himself on his forearms, hovering over my body.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. This- this feels great. It feels- I don't know, it feels right." Justin smiled, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "But, it also feels very fast." Justin pushed himself off of me, grabbing my hand to help me sit up. I smoothed down my shirt and scooted so I was sitting against the headboard, while he sat with his legs crossed facing me.

"I- I know. This is very fast." He gave me a strange look. "Please don't tell me you're worried that we're gonna ruin our friendship or anything by doing this." I shook my head quickly.

"Absolutely not. I think we'd know by now if our relationship was that fragile." I shrugged. "I don't think anything could hurt us. But," I leaned my head agains the headboard, exhaling slowly, "it's been so long since I've done any of this. It feels so new again, and I- I guess I'm just scared. I mean, we've grown up with people constantly telling us we should try being more than friends, but I guess neither of us could see it until now."

"I know, it's kind of crazy when you think about it. We've been in each others' lives for years. Having you in my life felt so natural that I guess I never thought about changing anything." Justin scooted closer to me and placed his hands on my knees, which were half pulled to my chest. "But I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right. And, I don't just mean the physical stuff. I mean everything else. I want to take you on a real date and do all of the things a real couple would do."

"That sounds perfect."

"Seriously, I want this to work. If everyone's been telling us it should happen, there's bound to be a reason." Justin stretched his arms out and I crawled into his lap, his arms holding me close. "You already know that I love you. I want to show you, too."

Notes

No worries, I'll right a Part II. :D