Won't Say I'm in Love
One and Done
“Well… I should probably let you go. Score a goal for me?” she shoved her hands into her jeans pockets and began to pull away from his embrace. They stood alone in the hallway of the TD Garden, she focused on the rubber-covered floors, feeling his brown eyes bore holes into the back of her head.
“I’ll score you three,” he replied and she looked up to see a large goofy grin begin to grow across his face, and she couldn’t hold back the smile that was forming on her own lips. One of his large hands cradled the back of her neck while the other pushed the loose hair from her forehead where he quickly leaned down and kissed her. She began walking back down the hall so she could take her seat for the Bruins game Tyler had begged her to come to.
“Hey Bee?” she heard him say softly, his eyes now the ones glued to the floor, “Thanks so much for coming. It means a lot to me.”
“Anytime,” she replied.
“I love you Albany.” For a moment he glanced up at her, eyes full of hope, as if by some sort of miracle, tonight would be the night she would be ready.
“Good luck, Tyler,” she said, quickly turning and speed walking to her seat.
❄ ❄ ❄
Everyone in the crowd jumped up to cheer as the Bruin’s forward, Shawn Thornton began to take swings at his opponent Michael Cammalleri. Albany was even more horrified when she saw something red start to ooze out of Shawn’s mouthguard. It was then that she saw a few other hockey players swarm around the two and begin to fight, among them, Tyler Seguin.
His helmet hung haphazardly off the back of his head as he flashed an impish smile, flirting with the crowd. He grabbed the collar of someone much bigger than he was and began to take some quick punches to the man’s chin. It didn’t take much for the guy to flick Tyler off and send him crashing into the boards like an annoying bug. Albany gasped, what if he was hurt? She remembered the time Nathan Horton had gotten taken out by a cheap shot from Aaron Rome. Tyler had been so depressed that the two of them decided to teepee the Rome’s hotel room. She giggled at the memory watching Tyler pop right back up as if nothing had happened.
“WE LOVE YOU TYLER!” Albany heard a crowd of giddy fangirls scream. She looked back at them, all decked out in Tyler Seguin jerseys with posters that said things like, “Marry Me, Tyler Seguin.”
Suddenly, she saw them everywhere. All throughout the arena she could see thousands of girls proclaiming their love for Tyler. Girls prettier than her, smarter than her, liked hockey more than her and most of all they loved Tyler like she couldn’t.
She dashed out of her seat and thrust open the Garden doors out into the cool November rain. She turned her face up to the sky and allowed it to soak her thoroughly before she plopped herself on the nearest bench and began to cry.
❄ ❄ ❄
“BEE? BEE? ARE YOU THERE?” Tyler's deep voice echoed out desperately into the night. He had frantically searched every corner of the TD Garden looking for her and this was the last place he expected her to be.
“Tyler?” Her call was barely audible, but he raced towards it like an empty net. She was sitting alone, drenched, shivering on a bench. It almost broke his heart when he saw she had been crying.
“Albany what the hell are you doing out here? You could have gotten pneumonia!”
“I dunno. Can we just go home?” she practically whimpered.
He nodded but insisted that she change first. Draping his coat over her shaking body and bringing her inside the Garden, he buried her in fresh sweatpants, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt. He wrapped her up tightly in his arms, bidding her shivering to stop.
She drifted off almost as soon as they climbed into the taxi, and by the time they reached his apartment she was fast asleep. Tyler threw the driver a few bills through the window, not caring about the change and carried her back inside. Gently placing her in his bed, and pulling the covers over her, he leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead,
“Sleep tight, baby girl.”
❄ ❄ ❄
Albany triple checked to make sure Tyler was really asleep before climbing out of bed. She looked at him, noticing how he smiled in his sleep. She remembered when she had first met him, and the two of them joined Brad Marchand and his girlfriend on a road trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver instead of flying with the rest of the team.
“You nervous, Segs?” Brad joked without taking his eyes away from the road.
“NO!” Tyler frowned, giving Brad’s seat a shove. Albany saw that worry clouded the normally friendly brown eyes.
“He totally is,” Brad snorted.
“Don’t worry Tyler, you’re gonna be great.” Albany flashed him a smile, hoping to settle her friend’s nerves. She felt one of his large rough hands desperately grab one of her small soft ones, and although the life was being squeezed out of it, she never let go.
Only a few minutes had to pass before Tyler was passed out sleeping. Albany wondered whether he always slept with a smile on his face.
She walked into the kitchen, grabbing the pink post it notes and a pen and scribbled down a quick note:
Dear Tyler,
I need to go away for a little while.
Take care,
Bee
She noticed how stupid the "take care" sounded, but she just couldn’t bring herself to write "love" in its place. She stuck the note on Tyler’s forehead, grabbed her bag and walked out the door.
❄ ❄ ❄
It had been exactly one month since Albany had run away to God only knew where. It was December 24th, Christmas Eve, and Tyler was all alone. He sat on the bench he had found Albany on just a month earlier, letting the flakes graze his face. His eyes were always open and alert, scanning, as if, if he looked away, he would miss it. Miss her.
But he already was missing her, he missed her terribly. He spent nights awake wondering what he did to drive her away and memories of her constantly played back in his mind. He remembered how she refused to go out with him unless the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, and he remembered how beautiful she looked on the night they finally did win, she had worn a Seguin jersey covered in sequins.
He felt something icy hit the back of his head and realized it was a snowball as it began to melt down his neck. Always willing to play with the neighborhood kids, he leaned forward to gather up some snow in his gloves, and whipped around ready to fire.
But the snowball just fell from Tyler's hands, splattering on the ground in front of him. There stood Albany. She was glowing; her eyes were sparkling and her smile was bright. Christmas lights were reflecting off her sequined Seguin jersey and Tyler could have mistaken her for an angel. She threw her brunette head back and laughed as Tyler just stood there dumbfounded. He charged at her, sending the two of them rolling around in the snow. He made a snow angel and she climbed on top of him, straddling his stomach.
“Hey,” she giggled.
“Merry Christmas,” he breathed. His cheeks were turning pink from the cold, but he didn't care. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and held on as tightly as he could. “Please don’t leave me again?”
“I won’t,” she said, and she leaned down to kiss him.
“I love you, Bee.”
“I love you too, Tyler.”
“I’ll score you three,” he replied and she looked up to see a large goofy grin begin to grow across his face, and she couldn’t hold back the smile that was forming on her own lips. One of his large hands cradled the back of her neck while the other pushed the loose hair from her forehead where he quickly leaned down and kissed her. She began walking back down the hall so she could take her seat for the Bruins game Tyler had begged her to come to.
“Hey Bee?” she heard him say softly, his eyes now the ones glued to the floor, “Thanks so much for coming. It means a lot to me.”
“Anytime,” she replied.
“I love you Albany.” For a moment he glanced up at her, eyes full of hope, as if by some sort of miracle, tonight would be the night she would be ready.
“Good luck, Tyler,” she said, quickly turning and speed walking to her seat.
❄ ❄ ❄
Everyone in the crowd jumped up to cheer as the Bruin’s forward, Shawn Thornton began to take swings at his opponent Michael Cammalleri. Albany was even more horrified when she saw something red start to ooze out of Shawn’s mouthguard. It was then that she saw a few other hockey players swarm around the two and begin to fight, among them, Tyler Seguin.
His helmet hung haphazardly off the back of his head as he flashed an impish smile, flirting with the crowd. He grabbed the collar of someone much bigger than he was and began to take some quick punches to the man’s chin. It didn’t take much for the guy to flick Tyler off and send him crashing into the boards like an annoying bug. Albany gasped, what if he was hurt? She remembered the time Nathan Horton had gotten taken out by a cheap shot from Aaron Rome. Tyler had been so depressed that the two of them decided to teepee the Rome’s hotel room. She giggled at the memory watching Tyler pop right back up as if nothing had happened.
“WE LOVE YOU TYLER!” Albany heard a crowd of giddy fangirls scream. She looked back at them, all decked out in Tyler Seguin jerseys with posters that said things like, “Marry Me, Tyler Seguin.”
Suddenly, she saw them everywhere. All throughout the arena she could see thousands of girls proclaiming their love for Tyler. Girls prettier than her, smarter than her, liked hockey more than her and most of all they loved Tyler like she couldn’t.
She dashed out of her seat and thrust open the Garden doors out into the cool November rain. She turned her face up to the sky and allowed it to soak her thoroughly before she plopped herself on the nearest bench and began to cry.
❄ ❄ ❄
“BEE? BEE? ARE YOU THERE?” Tyler's deep voice echoed out desperately into the night. He had frantically searched every corner of the TD Garden looking for her and this was the last place he expected her to be.
“Tyler?” Her call was barely audible, but he raced towards it like an empty net. She was sitting alone, drenched, shivering on a bench. It almost broke his heart when he saw she had been crying.
“Albany what the hell are you doing out here? You could have gotten pneumonia!”
“I dunno. Can we just go home?” she practically whimpered.
He nodded but insisted that she change first. Draping his coat over her shaking body and bringing her inside the Garden, he buried her in fresh sweatpants, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt. He wrapped her up tightly in his arms, bidding her shivering to stop.
She drifted off almost as soon as they climbed into the taxi, and by the time they reached his apartment she was fast asleep. Tyler threw the driver a few bills through the window, not caring about the change and carried her back inside. Gently placing her in his bed, and pulling the covers over her, he leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead,
“Sleep tight, baby girl.”
❄ ❄ ❄
Albany triple checked to make sure Tyler was really asleep before climbing out of bed. She looked at him, noticing how he smiled in his sleep. She remembered when she had first met him, and the two of them joined Brad Marchand and his girlfriend on a road trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver instead of flying with the rest of the team.
“You nervous, Segs?” Brad joked without taking his eyes away from the road.
“NO!” Tyler frowned, giving Brad’s seat a shove. Albany saw that worry clouded the normally friendly brown eyes.
“He totally is,” Brad snorted.
“Don’t worry Tyler, you’re gonna be great.” Albany flashed him a smile, hoping to settle her friend’s nerves. She felt one of his large rough hands desperately grab one of her small soft ones, and although the life was being squeezed out of it, she never let go.
Only a few minutes had to pass before Tyler was passed out sleeping. Albany wondered whether he always slept with a smile on his face.
She walked into the kitchen, grabbing the pink post it notes and a pen and scribbled down a quick note:
Dear Tyler,
I need to go away for a little while.
Take care,
Bee
She noticed how stupid the "take care" sounded, but she just couldn’t bring herself to write "love" in its place. She stuck the note on Tyler’s forehead, grabbed her bag and walked out the door.
❄ ❄ ❄
It had been exactly one month since Albany had run away to God only knew where. It was December 24th, Christmas Eve, and Tyler was all alone. He sat on the bench he had found Albany on just a month earlier, letting the flakes graze his face. His eyes were always open and alert, scanning, as if, if he looked away, he would miss it. Miss her.
But he already was missing her, he missed her terribly. He spent nights awake wondering what he did to drive her away and memories of her constantly played back in his mind. He remembered how she refused to go out with him unless the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, and he remembered how beautiful she looked on the night they finally did win, she had worn a Seguin jersey covered in sequins.
He felt something icy hit the back of his head and realized it was a snowball as it began to melt down his neck. Always willing to play with the neighborhood kids, he leaned forward to gather up some snow in his gloves, and whipped around ready to fire.
But the snowball just fell from Tyler's hands, splattering on the ground in front of him. There stood Albany. She was glowing; her eyes were sparkling and her smile was bright. Christmas lights were reflecting off her sequined Seguin jersey and Tyler could have mistaken her for an angel. She threw her brunette head back and laughed as Tyler just stood there dumbfounded. He charged at her, sending the two of them rolling around in the snow. He made a snow angel and she climbed on top of him, straddling his stomach.
“Hey,” she giggled.
“Merry Christmas,” he breathed. His cheeks were turning pink from the cold, but he didn't care. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and held on as tightly as he could. “Please don’t leave me again?”
“I won’t,” she said, and she leaned down to kiss him.
“I love you, Bee.”
“I love you too, Tyler.”