It Never Took a Lot to Make This Hard

As Daphne walked off the plane which had just landed in Salt Lake City, she couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face. Everything seemed to be going well for her at the moment, and she couldn’t have been happier about it. She turned her head to glance behind her, making sure that Piper was somewhere back there, not wanting to lose her in the crowd. She instantly found Piper’s fiery red hair and she slowed down a little bit, trying to wait for Piper to catch up to her. “So, when’s this interview?” Daphne asked, glancing over at Piper.

“Tomorrow at three,” Piper replied, but she knew Daphne hadn’t heard her, as Daphne practically ran away from her, right into the arms of Louie, who stood a few feet away. Piper couldn’t help but smile at the two of them, having known of Louie’s plan all along to surprise Daphne.

Louie had come back to Salt Lake City on an earlier flight, wanting to practice a few runs with his coach before he had to meet with some sponsors later today. He had called Piper, asking when their flight was supposed to come in, and Piper had continued to pry until Louie had admitted that he was going to surprise Daphne at the airport.

“What are you doing here?” Daphne asked, pulling herself away after giving Louie a kiss. “Don’t you have to meet with your sponsors?” she asked him as they walked towards the baggage claim, needing to get Daphne and Piper’s things.

“Later today,” he replied. “I thought maybe we could grab some lunch or something first,” he suggested, and Daphne immediately looked over at Piper, wanting permission to go with him.

Piper couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across her face as she looked at the two of them. Though they hadn’t actually made things official between the two of them, they were clearly a couple. If Piper hadn’t known for a fact already, she would never have guessed that the two of them had only gotten together two days ago. In her mind, they were so perfect for each other, and had it been up to her, they would have been together long ago.

“Go,” she told Daphne, who smiled at her older cousin. “Have fun, but be back by four. I want to watch you take a few runs down the pipe today, okay?” she asked, and Daphne excitedly nodded her head. “I’ll grab your bag and take it back home,” she added.

“Thanks!” Daphne exclaimed, before grabbing Louie’s arm and dragging him off.

“Bye, Piper,” Louie called behind him.

Piper rolled her eyes at the two of them before going over to baggage claim and grabbing hers and Daphne’s bags, struggling to walk with two suitcases in her hands, along with a backpack slung over one shoulder. She started to trip over one of the suitcases, barely steadying herself as she dropped both suitcases and her backpack onto the floor. “Got enough bags?” she heard a familiar voice from behind her, and she turned around to see Scotty Lago, Mason Aguirre, and Shaun White staring at her, none of them trying to stifle their laughter.

“Well, are you boys just going to stand there, or are any of you going to help me?” she asked, trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably, as a smile took its place. Each of them took one of the items, and Piper stared at them. “Well, I was hoping that you could just get one of them, but if you guys want to carry it all for me, I won’t complain,” she laughed. “You guys headed to the parking lot, I assume?” she asked, and all of them nodded their heads.

“So, why do you have so many bags?” Mason inquired as Piper tried to keep in step with the three energetic boys who were practically running out of the airport, they were walking so fast.

“That one’s Daphne’s,” she said, pointing to the one that Scotty was carrying. He gave her a curious look, and she further explained. “She’s off with the boyfriend right now.”

“Boyfriend?” Shaun asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Did you miss the whole make-out session at the Winter X Games?” she asked him.

“Apparently I did,” Shaun muttered, still feeling out of the loop.

“Her and Louie were going at it,” Scotty filled in for him, and Shaun’s eyes widened in surprise. “So, they’re official, then?” Scotty asked, looking over at Piper. “Meaning I have no chance with her at all?” he added.

“Sorry, buddy,” she said, patting him on the shoulder. “I don’t think you ever had a chance, though,” she continued with a smile.

“Damn,” Scotty muttered under his breath.

“So, she ditched you for him?” Mason asked her.

“Not really ditched,” Piper began, opening the door for the three men who were carrying her bags for her. “I mean, she asked me if it was okay, and I told her to go,” she explained, shrugging her shoulders. “Besides, she’s going to have a few busy days coming up, what with her interview and photo shoot for ESPN, with Shaun, over here,” she said, pointing towards the red head who was walking next to her.

“Don’t remind me,” Shaun groaned.

“What? You don’t enjoy all the pampering?” she smiled at him.

“If I could get by with just snowboarding and skateboarding, I’d be happy,” he told her.

“Well, don’t be a downer tomorrow around Daph. She’s not used to the special treatment,” she reminded him. “She’s going to be ecstatic. Don’t bring her down,” she ordered him.

“I promise I won’t,” he told her. “So, she’s really excited about tomorrow?” he inquired.

Piper nodded her head. “Oh yeah,” she said. “Like I said, she’s not used to all that’s about to happen. It’s a pretty special time for her.”

“Are you going to be there?” he asked.

“Nope,” Piper shook her head. “Daph’s on her own for that one,” she said as they made it to the parking lot. She reached for her keys and unlocked the door to her car. “Thanks, you guys, for carrying my stuff for me,” she told them as they put the bags in her trunk. “I’m sure I’ll see you guys around,” she added.

“Of course,” Scotty told her, and the other two nodded their heads.

“Bye,” she said, getting into the driver’s side and starting her car up, driving back to the place she called home.

***

Daphne sat at a table at a restaurant she’d been to countless times before, but this time it seemed different to her. This time she was there with Louie. She’d been there with him before, but it’d always been with Piper tagging along. He’d always been close to Piper, having known her growing up, and Daphne hadn’t ever really seen herself going out with him before. But now, she couldn’t remember one of the reasons she had ever thought that.

They hadn’t made things official, neither of them wanting to put a label on whatever was going on between them, but both knew it was something different. Daphne looked up at the waiter who stood next to their table. “I’ll have a salad with Italian dressing and parmesan chicken. Oh, and a hot chocolate,” she told him, ordering the same thing she always ordered when she was there.

“I’ll be right out with your food,” the waiter promised before walking off.

“Didn’t even have to look at the menu, did you?” Louie observed.

“Please, I’ve been here a million times before,” she replied. “In case you forgot, I grew up here, not in Ohio, like some people,” she added with a smile.

“Yeah, well you missed some great times not growing up in Ohio,” he retorted.

“Oh, like what?” she questioned.

“Like swimming in your neighbor’s giant swimming pool, or using that same swimming pool to bike and skateboard in when it was empty while the neighbors were away on vacation. Or jumping on a trampoline outside, trying to do back flips and crazy tricks, causing you to nearly break your leg,” he said, remembering all the things he did as a child.

“That may be true,” Daphne admitted. “But, I’m sure you never got to try to ski for the first time using lunch trays stolen from school. Or try dog sledding with your pet collie, who caused you to run into a tree,” she said, laughing at the memory.

Their conversation soon escalated into who did the craziest things as a child, each of them trying to top the previous story. “I jumped off the top of our staircase in our living room with an umbrella, which I thought would be the same as a parachute. Let’s just say, umbrellas are not parachutes. I broke my right leg,” Louie told her, shaking his head at how stupid he had been as a child.

“Okay, you win,” Daphne surrendered through her laughter. “There is no way I can top that story,” she said, wiping at the tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. “How old were you?” she managed to get out.

“Seven,” Louie answered, causing Daphne to laugh even harder, picturing a seven-year-old Louie jumping off the staircase with an opened umbrella.

“Oh goodness,” Daphne said, finally calming down. “Is it sad that I can actually picture you doing that?” she asked him, and Louie laughed at her.

“So, tell me about this thing with ESPN you have tomorrow,” he said, changing topics.

“It’s nothing much,” Daphne tried to play it off. “It’s just an interview and a photo shoot,” she said, looking down at her plate of parmesan chicken and moving it around with her fork.

“Just an interview and a photo shoot,” Louie mimicked her. “Please, you should be so excited about this!”

“I am,” Daphne said, still moving her food around on her plate.

“Then why don’t you sound like it?” he questioned.

“I don’t know,” Daphne said, shrugging her shoulders before looking up at him. “I am excited,” she assured him, nodding her head. “I really am. It’s just, I’m nervous. I mean, I’m doing this with Shaun, who’s the best snowboarder in the freaking world,” she said before looking up at Louie and seeing the expression on his face. “I’m sorry, Louie,” she apologized immediately, not realizing what she had said could potentially upset him.

“Don’t apologize,” he told her. “It’s true. Shaun is the best snowboarder in the world. No one can deny that. Anyways, continue.”

“What if I don’t measure up?” she asked him.

“Daph, you’ll measure up just fine,” Louie told her. “Just be confident. You deserve to be there. They’re interviewing you for a reason,” he said, smiling at her.

“Thanks,” she said, leaning over the table and giving him a kiss. “What do you say we get out of here?” she asked him, seeing that both of them were finished with their food.

“Sounds good to me,” Louie replied, catching the waiter’s eye and asking for the check.