Beauty and the Beast

Elle couldn't believe that her ex-boyfriend Derek was here at her father's hospital room. Her parents loved Derek, especially her father so she spared them the details of finding out that Derek had been cheating on her for awhile. So that lead them to ask tons of questions of why suddenly their daughter would break up with Derek.

"Honey, we thought it would've been a good idea to have Derek here for your support." Elle's mother said as they went to get some coffee.

"Mom. Me and Derek are done. I've moved on already, can we just drop the whole Derek thing already?" Elle pleaded with her mom.

"Moved on already? Elle Marie Johnson your father and I did not raise you up to be some promiscuous type of girl!" She shouted at her daughter. She couldn't understand why Elle would throw away a perfectly great man like Derek for anyone else. "Oh, Elle do not tell me you fell for that beast; Milan?!" She asked her daughter searching in her eyes for the truth.

Elle desperately tried to avoid her mothers gaze knowing that once she looked into her mother's eyes then she would know. After trying for so hard Elle finally made eye-contanct earning a suppressed gasp from her mother. "Elle, I understand he's my friends son. But Derek is so much better for you honey. I mean look at him and then look at Milan."

Elle couldn't believe what her mother was saying so she simply just walked away from her. She didn't need all of this stress from her mother especially when she's worried about her dad. "He's a monster you know, Elle." She heard Derek say as he was walking up to her.

"You don't know what you're talking about Derek. Just leave me alone." Elle said not facing Derek at all. She was still hurt by what he'd done to her.

"Look Elle, I know I wasn't the best guy in our relationship. But at the end of the day you knew that I would never hit you. You can't say the same about Milan, I ran into his ex-girlfriend Brittany and she had a lot of stories Elle. He's a monster." Derek said who for the first time was showing compassion to Elle.

Elle didn't know how to respond to the information that Derek was telling her. Derek was telling her how Milan and Brittany got into an argument because she didn't want to put on her shoes. Drunk and in a fit of rage Milan had hit her to the ground. So when the police arrived there was Brittany on the ground and Milan standing over her, yet Milan was careful enough to hit her where there wouldn't be any visible marks.

When Derek was done telling Elle the story she was conflicted, Milan was rough around the edges but deep down a compassionate guy. "You're wrong, Milan would never do something like that." Elle said standing up walking away from Derek but she couldn't get far before he grabbed her arm.

"Think about it Elle, do you see how big Milan is? Do you see what he's capable of on the ice? Milan on the ice and off the ice is the same guy, a total monster. A beast." Derek said before Elle yanked her arm free from Derek.

Elle made a beeline for her father's room, it's only been two days and she had it already. She couldn't stand seeing Derek or her judgmental mother. Plus the doctors expected her father to make a full recovery from his heart attack.
"I'm going home." Elle said telling her mother and father.

"But honey, you're home is here in Vancouver." Her mother simply stated.

"No, my home is in Boston." With that said Elle grabbed her purse and suitcase and walked out of the room. She was ready to go back home to see Aurora and Milan.

"Hey Milan." Milan froze upon hearing that voice as he was taking Aurora for her regular morning walk. He didn't think he'd ever hear that voice again, especially after she left him.

"Brittany." Milan said curtly turning around to see that she had died her hair blonde again. She was always going from brunette to blonde which seemed superficial to him.

"I can't believe you finally got a puppy! I remember how I kept begging you and begging you for us to get one." Brittany said bending down to pet Aurora. Yet all Aurora did was dodge her hand and stand behind Milan.

"Uh, it's actually my girlfriend's dog. It was my Christmas present to her." Milan said before realizing that him and Elle never really made it official. They just confessed they loved each other before Elle left for Vancouver to see her dad. As soon as Milan said 'girlfriend' Brittany froze. She couldn't believe he would find someone else.

"Oh, hey would you like to grab some coffee after your practice? You know like to catch up, I'll be waiting at our usual coffee shop. Bye Milan." Brittany said giving Milan that dazzling smile and walked away. Now Milan was totally conflicted if he should go and see Brittany.

At practice it was obvious that something was bothering Milan because he kept missing the puck or doing the wrong drills. He couldn't stop thinking about how Brittany wanted to see him after she left him.

As all the guys were busing themselves by removing their pads, taking a shower and packing up before going home; Milan simply let out the words "I ran into Brittany today and she wants to go out for coffee." All the guys in the locker room stopped and silence fell upon them.

"Don't do it man, don't do it to Elle." Tyler said standing up and looking Milan straight in the eye. As big as Milan was Tyler wasn't afraid to stand up to him for his friend. All the guys put in similar advice saying not to risk what him and Elle have for some girl who threw Milan to the curb.

Driving home Milan made sure to pass the coffee shop to see if Brittany would actually be there and there she was. Sitting down dressed as if she's going to be walking the red carpet waiting for him. And driving pass the coffee shop to head home gave Milan the greatest satisfaction ever.