Escape

Lauren had been running along the beach for almost forty minutes and was ready to head back to Anze’s house when two arms looped around her waist and lifted her from the ground. With a squeal she turned her head to see who had grabbed her, adrenaline pumping through her faster than it had been from the surprise. She let out a breath when she saw Anze’s face, both his lips and his eyes smiling at her. “You scared me!” she scolded when he placed her on the ground, glaring when her boyfriend only laughed. He held up his hands in defense as she adjusted her tank top. Her harsh look finally softened and she entwined her fingers with his. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to his other hand that held onto a few pieces of papers.

“A surprise,” he told her, pulling her up the beach, her breathing slowly going back to normal. “Want to grab a table on the patio?” he asked, referring to the restaurant along the beach. When she agreed, he continued to pull her in the direction of it, making her laugh.

“You must really want to tell me about this surprise,” she commented.

“You have no idea,” he laughed as they grabbed a table and sat down. It was only a minute before a teenage girl came to their table, asking if they wanted drinks. Both of them ordered a big glass of water, and the girl left. “Okay,” he grinned, pushing one of the pieces of paper in front of her.

Quickly grabbing it, her eyes scanned over the receipt for two plane tickets to Slovenia. Her eyes widened. She had never been able to go home with Anze during the offseason. Last summer, their first together, she had already been enrolled in classes at UCLA. Now, though, with her summer free she had been wondering if Anze would want to take her. She knew his parents wanted her to come. The Kopitar family had all instantly loved her when they’d met, only a few weeks after she and Anze had gotten together.

“You do want to go, right?” he asked, only noticing her silence.

“Of course, Anze!” she nearly shouted. “I’m sorry, I was just surprised. I’m thrilled!”

“You had me worried for a second,” he laughed. “My other surprises would have made up for your disappointment of going to my home country, though,” he added, sarcasm in his voice.

“Shut up,” she laughed. “I was ready to ditch my classes last summer and go with you.”

Anze smiled, scooting his chair closer to hers and planting a kiss on her lips. She was surprised again, for the third time in just a few minutes she had to note. Anze was not one for public displays as the one he had just initiated, but Lauren kissed back as she smiled into it. “I love you,” he told her, pulling away slightly. Before she could respond, their waitress cleared her throat from next to their table. Laughing like they’d been caught making out by their parents, Anze apologized.

They quickly ordered something small for lunch, sending the waitress away again. Anze pulled the other pieces of paper between them, keeping his chair just next to Lauren’s. “If you’ll notice our departure date on the flight to Slovenia,” he told her, putting on a professional voice and making Lauren giggle. “Okay,” he relented, laughing too. “We’re not going until the last week of June.”

“How come?”

“Because, the next couple of weeks are going to be spent traveling to your schools of choice. You can’t really make you decision on the internet, can you?”

“Anze…” she started, completely floored by what he was telling her. It was by far the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.

“Tell me you love it, because if I’m ‘o’ for two, I’m going to be upset.”

“Anze!” she laughed, trying to swat at him. “You are two for two,” Lauren corrected, putting a hand on his arm. She leaned forward, catching him in a kiss this time. “You are wonderful.”

He laughed, nodding his head. “I know. I’m freaking great!” Lauren rolled her eyes and hit his arm, but she grinned. She looked over all the sheets of paper, the tickets to all her possible graduate school locations already bought. She looked at his handsome face, pressing a kiss to his stubble covered cheek.

“I love you,” she told him, finally getting a chance to repeat his words back to him.

---

A few days later with a cup of coffee in his hand and sticker marking him as a visitor stuck to his tee shirt, Anze Kopitar slowly walked around the huge campus of the University of Southern California. With his ankle still tender and in a walking boot and because he didn’t want to get lost, he stayed close to the building Lauren was in, having a meeting with the head of the sports medicine department about her possible enrollment.

He sat down on a bench, giving his ankle a rest. It wasn’t long before he started turning heads, and after that getting asked for autographs. Signing for any and all who came up to him, Anze kept a smile on his face. He loved interacting with Kings fans, and for the young team, Anze found there were a lot of college kids who were into the sport of hockey; some of them just discovering it due to the team’s recent success.

He had been consistently signing and giving people updates about his ankle when he spotted Lauren coming toward the small crowd that had gathered around them. Despite all the people he’d talked to, no one had asked what he was doing simply hanging around the college campus. He ushered Lauren to come into the crowd, and she did, gently pushing past the people and wrapping an arm around Anze’s waist as he slung a heavy arm over her shoulders. “How’d it go?” he asked, grinning down at her.

She laughed. “It went great. What’s with the fan club?”

“Did you not know, my dear? I’m a famous hockey player!” Lauren resolved into a laugh along with everyone else as Anze cracked jokes. He was most definitely the cutest person in the world, only enhanced by how big of a dork he was sometimes. He turned back to his fans. “This is my girlfriend, Lauren. She’s thinking about enrolling here for the graduate program of kinesiology. Anyone in that program?”

Lauren laughed as a lot of the kids shook their heads, until a petite blond almost lost in the large crowd shoved her way toward Anze and Lauren. “I am,” she smiled. “I just finished my first semester, taking some summer courses now.”

“You like it?” Lauren asked, excited she would get a first hand account.

“I love it. I think I checked out a million other schools and their programs, but I thought USC was the best fit for me.” As Lauren and the girl dove into a conversation, almost all of the other kids dispersed, realizing Anze’s attention was on the girls, too. He stood diligently at Lauren’s side as she talked to the girl, and he was growing more excited by the second. This school sounded damn good, and if Lauren loved it, she’d stay with him.

“Good luck on your search,” the girl said, handing Lauren her number.

“Thanks, Sophie,” she said, gratefully. “If I have any questions, I can call you?”

“I’d love to help,” she encouraged, adjusting her backpack and giving her and Anze a small wave. “Got to get to class.”

Lauren grinned and turned to Anze, wrapping her arms around his torso. “I really do like this school,” she commented. “The teachers I met were great, the facilities awesome, and Sophie was super encouraging.”

“Well, we’ve got three other places to check out, so don’t decide yet.”

“Of course not,” she laughed, kissing his cheek. “You ready to go?”

“Sure, back to my place?” he asked as they approached the parking lot. Anze pressed a kiss to Lauren’s cheek as they came to a stop at the driver’s side door. “You’re at my place more than yours now, anyway.” Laughing, Lauren pulled the door open before turning to her boyfriend.

With a hand on his scruffy cheek, Lauren pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. “My place doesn’t have you.” She gave him a wink as she pulled away and climbed into the car, shutting the door after her. Anze stood outside the closed door for a few seconds before he snapped back to reality with a laugh. He moved as quickly as he could in his walking boot to the passenger side, climbing in and entwining his fingers with hers.

“You know,” he began to say as the walked in his front door. “Even if you stay in Los Angeles, you don’t have to resign your lease.”

Throwing her keys into the dish just inside the door, she widened her eyes and turned to Anze. “You’re asking me to move in with you?”

As he ran a hand over the back of his neck, he nodded. “I mean, you’re here almost all the time anyway; more than you’re at your own place. If you wanted, I would love for you to move in here.” When she broke into a grin, he let out a tiny breath, relief flooding through him. She nodded her head and closed the gap between them, her lips pressing against his with such force, he was almost knocked backwards. “Of course, that is if you’re staying in LA.”

“I am!” she protested. “I don’t care how good those other schools are, Anze. I can’t leave Los Angeles, especially not now.”

He laughed, shaking his head. He watched Lauren skip away from him and go upstairs, telling him she wanted to take a dip in the pool. Realizing her idea was better than anything he could plan for the day, he followed her and quickly changed into a pair of swim trunks.

When they were outside and sitting by the edge of the pool, she helped him remove the walking boot, freeing his tender foot and ankle. She frowned at the bruises that still littered his skin, but she was glad they weren’t fresh and were still lingering from the original injury. She pressed her fingers against his ankle gently before she gave Anze a sad smile. “I was so scared when you got hurt,” she told him.

“Oh, Lauren,” he sighed, scooting over to wrap her in his arms. “I’m fine, and going to be perfect in a few more weeks. I healed quickly.” She nodded, taking a deep breath as she calmed herself down. “I know it must have been hard to see me go down like that. I would have been a wreck had it been you.”

Despite his sweet words, Lauren let out a small laugh and Anze did too. He scooted himself closer to the edge of the in-ground pool, swinging his legs into it. The water felt good against his sore ankle, and he slid the rest of his body in, Lauren following after. His arms grabbed her around the waist as she went to swim away. She laughed, wondering why he was being so sweet and touchy with her. She thought maybe the threat of her leaving was hanging over them, and as much as he was encouraging her to pick the best school, she knew he didn’t want her to leave.

As they floated together in the pool, they wrapped their arms around each other. She held him tightly; she didn’t want to leave either.