Don't Be Scared, It's Only Love...

Charlotte's POV

I felt a surge of happiness course through my veins as a smile made its way to my face. I walked into Heinz Field on cloud nine, a kind of high I'd never felt before. Or maybe I had, but with someone else.... and now, it's the present and he's in my present- & maybe my future too.

It was January. January 1st to be exact. I had begged my dad to help me get tickets to the Winter Classic. He knows a lot of people in the hockey world and so he scored me some pretty good seats, not frony row or anything, but maybe halfway back the lower section. I wanted to surprise Jordan because he had told me he was going to be making his debut in the Classic.

Now here I was was, ready to watch the Pens stomp all over Apeman Ovi and all the other Craps. I took my seat and smiled lovingly as the Pens took the ice. Jordan came on 3rd to last, my three favorite Penguins all in a row as first Jordan came out, followed by Sidney, & then Geno, last as always. I saw the smile light up Jordan's face as the crowd roared when he took the ice. I laughed to myself, then cheering along with them, as loud as I could.

It was hardly cold to Pittsburgh standards, but in Carolina 50's aren't short-sleeve-shirt-and-shorts weather by any means, so I had on a nice warm Pens jacket, sweatpants, and some boots.

The game was off in no time and both teams were playing hard. It seemed like the Penguins weren't really getting it done offensively in the beginning but they amped it up near the end of the period, though the score still remained 0-0 for the first intermission.

The second period started and 2 minutes in Geno slapped one into the net. I screamed so loud I thought my throat would burst as I jumped up and down and high-fived all the pens fans around me. I smiled in victory.

Then only 5 minutes later Mike Knuble scored on a power play goal. Now, I've always said i thought power play goals were wimpy, considering that means you couldn't get it done with their full strength so they had to be crippled, basically, for you to score on them. But I was still pissed. See, I was the type of fan to scream my head off & curse out every ref and every other team's player until I could finally calm down. Yeah, I was the yell-at-the-tv type. So, needless to say, I might have a record for how many times & different ways you can threaten the life of Mike Knuble.

I was still feeling good though because the Pens were playing hard and Fleury was looking beast, as always, so I knew we still had a shot. Then, nearing the end of the 2nd period, I felt a gasp slip out as Fleury went behind the net, like he makes a habit of doing when the puck is dumped behind the net, and didn't get to the puck-or, in a second, the goal- fast enough. Jason Chimera passed to Eric Fehr who slapped the puck into the net before Fleury was even back in front.

I could feel the frustration at Heinz Field, but I couldn't bring myself to be mad at Fleury. He's an amazing goalie & when he's doing that, going behind the net, he's just trying to help. This time, it backfired, but there are plenty of times that it helps. The second period ended seemingly uneventful. I sat back down in my seat and pulled my phone out my pocket to check for messages. then I heard the guy next to me saying, "Is he okay?"

I looked up just in time to see the replay on the screen of Sidney getting blindsided and hit in the head, then wobbling off the ice. My phone vibrated instantly and I saw Jenny's name on the text I,D.

Please tell me Sidney is okay?

I rolled my eyes, how would I know? But I just sent back that I was sure he was fine. I sat and waited for the third period to start, feeling the temperature dropping and, along with it, the fans excitement. It's always hard when your team is losing.

The third period finally started and I saw Sid come out just fine, letting out a sigh of relief. After a few minutes of the period had gone by I screamed as loud as I could as Sidney scored! & then.... those god damn refs saying goalie interference and so no goal. I started screaming bloody murder and the security had to ask me to calm down. I complied and then went back to watching, hoping for another Sidney miracle. But instead, Satan decides to grace us with his presence as Fehr snuck in another goal. I seriously felt like beating the shit out of this guy. & with that goal, I lost a little hope. But I still kept believing & then, with just about 5 minutes left in the game, Ovechkin decides to be a dirty little creep and basically hold Fleury behind the net, then slammign the puck into the net before Fleury could come back in. Luckily, it was goalie interference but then the seconds and minutes ticked away and finally it was done.

0.00 seconds on the clock and the score reading 3-1 in favor of a dumbass team that consists of individual piles of dirty Crap(aka the players). I was pissed, considering it was the Winter Classic, but I took a second to cool down and headed to the lockerroom to surprise Jordan.
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Jordan's POV

It felt amazing. I didn't even care that the ice wasn't good, I didn't even care that I was sweating straight through my clothes; all that I cared about was that i had just skated with my boys again, for my city & my fans. I couldn't have been happier- well, maybe if we had won and I got a hat trick..... okay, so that probably wouldn't have happened(the hat trick I mean) so that's way I acknowledge that and now am happy that i got to play again in the Winter Classic.

I started changing into my clothes since I had already gotten showered and I had just gotten my pants on when I heard a yell that made me turn around so fast I'm surprised I didn't get whiplash.

"Charlotte!", Sidney yelled, wrapping his arms around Charlotte. I stared, my eyes wide with surprise as Sid let her go and she rutned my gaze, smiling that cheeky smile she always has on her face,

"Surprised, Staalsy?" she asked coyly. I recovered from the shock and smirked, walking across the room and closing the space between us.

"Nah, more like thrilled. I can't believe my best friend came all the way from North Carolina to Pittsburgh to see little ol' me play!" I said jokingly, squeezing her in a tight hug.

She struggled to break free as she answered, "Well, it is the Winter Classic and you are my best friend."

"I missed you," i whispered in her ear, still keeping her folded in my long arms. She stopped fighting for a minute and craned her neck to look up at me, smiling her beautiful smile. Her beautiful green eyes met mine and swam with emotion.

"I missed you too," she said quietly, burying her head in my chest. I finally let go of her and stepped back to appraise her.

"Wow, is it even possible that you may have gotten hotter," I asked, letting out a wolf-whistle. She scowled playfully.

"Jordan Staal, why do you have to ruin every good moment?" she growled, teasingly strict.

I returned her question with a smile and a shrug, looking into her eyes and wondering why the hell I couldn't tell this girl how crazy I was about her, wondering how the hell I, of all people, ended up on this end of the relationship; afraid to reveal my feelings because of fear of rejection. How could I let a girl do this to me?

But then she stared right back into my eyes and her eyes held wonder too & it made me smile wider. & thats when I realized, whatever she was doing to me, I couldn't deny.... I might just love it.