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Allie closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. The cold from the air rushed though her lungs, bringing with it a chilling comfort.

She could almost hear her brothers skating across the ice on the pond behind her grand-père's house, cutting sharp turns, no doubt leaving small grooves on the frozen surface. She could see the sun setting on late days when they would play until they were called in from the back porch by grand-mère for dinner. Most times, grand-père was out there with them, and would rush inside to be fed, promising them he'd take them out the next morning. They spent a week every Christmas break at their grandparents' farm until their grand-père passed away just before Allie was set to go to high school. Her grand-mère followed soon after, and Allie hadn't even thought about skating since then.

Until now.

She loved watching people skate. Ice dancers, hockey players. She just hadn't been able to bring herself to skate since that last winter. Her brothers continued to skate for leisure and they both enrolled their kids in anything to do with skating. Hockey was part of the family.

Being in Boston and seeing her uncle and his team had somehow renewed in Allie a sense of longing for the ice. And as she had stepped onto it at the Bruins' practice facility, skates ready and sharpened, she could feel her grand-père smiling down at her.

***

"Allie?"

"Hi, Tyler." Allie looked over at her uncle, and he winked. She rolled her eyes, but when she turned around, she had a smile on her face. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come to the banquet with me tomorrow night."

Allie bit her lip. She knew she wanted to... Tyler must have sensed her hesitation because he added, "You're the only girl I know here close to my age. I'm not trying to be smooth, Allie, I promise." Allie's lip turned back up into a smile and she sighed exaggeratedly.

"Okay," she said, dragging out the 'o'.

***

Allie looked at her reflection in the mirror. She turned a bit so she could admire her dress, and smiled. It wasn't anything fancy - it was a simple blue dress that belonged to her aunt. It fit Allie perfectly. It wasn't extravagant - just what Allie liked - but it was still a beautiful dress.

The doorbell rang and Allie yelled out for her uncle to get it. She slipped on her shoes, listening as her uncle opened the door. She smiled as she heard Tyler's voice.

"Hey, Patrice."

"That's sir to you." Allie bit back a giggle at her uncle's statement. "Right now, I'm her substitute father. I don't care if you're on my team - heck, that makes it even more important. You be careful. And have her home by eleven."

"Uncle Patrice, you won't even be home by eleven," Allie pointed out as she made her way into the front hall. Both men looked her way, and Allie ignored the butterflies as Tyler's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, but I'll know, trust me," her uncle threatened. Allie laughed.

"Okay," she responded sarcastically. "See you later." The door had just closed behind them when they looked at each other and laughed. "Sorry," Allie giggled. "You shouldn't have had to go through that."

Tyler shrugged with a smile. "I understand."

"It's not like this is... A date, or anything, you know, so..." Allie's voice trailed off and she looked at the floor as they continued to walk. There was a pause before Tyler spoke up again.

"Well, can I still tell you that you look beautiful?"

***

The two of them arrived at the banquet hall with five minutes until the event started.

"And then he asked me what the answer was, and of course I owned him," Allie grinned as she finished telling Tyler the story of how her teacher had thought he had caught her not paying attention. She let out a giggle, and Tyler laughed along with her. They pulled into a parking spot, and there was silence for a moment. Allie turned to the man beside her, about to speak, but she stopped when she met his eyes. Tyler stared at her, a tiny smile adorning his lips.

"What?" Allie asked, chewing down on her lip. Tyler's eyes flew down to her mouth for a quick second before he met her eyes again and shrugged.

"I like your laugh, that's all."

Allie's stomach was immediately hit with a tornado of nerves. Despite the feeling, she managed to say in a serious tone, "Tyler."

"Allie," he repeated in the same voice, his eyes still on hers. There was a small smile on his lips now, and Allie gave him a look. "Just being honest." He held his hands up in surrender, breaking her gaze. He undid his seatbelt and opened his door. Allie leaned her head back against the headrest with a sigh, closing her eyes for a moment. She opened them after taking a deep, calming breath, and began to undo her seatbelt. Her door clicked open, and Tyler held out his hand to help her out of the truck. Allie looked at it for a second before reluctantly taking hold of it. As his hand folded around hers to keep her steady, she was glad she had taken up the offer. His hand was warm and strong and firm.