As Long As You Love Me

After shopping for a few hours, Carli and I headed back to Nick's condo. Carli still wanted to surprise him and all. Before we went up, I texted Nick if he was back yet. He replied. I looked at Carli. "Yup, he's home." I unlocked my car and helped Carli grab some of her things. I grabbed a couple of the shopping bags of clothes that I would probably keep at Nick's just in case. We headed upstairs. When we got up there, I heard another voice besides Nick's. "Does he have company?" Carli asked. I shrugged as I searched under the 'Welcome' mat for the spare key. I unlocked the door, "Guess who I found!" I said bursting through the door with Carli hiding behind me. I dropped the bags, "Oh hello Marcus." I said to Marcus Kruger, another young gun, on the team. "Hi Sam, it's nice to finally meet you." I nodded, "As it is the same." "Hi Carli." Nick said looking over my shoulder. She popped up from behind me, "How did you know it was me?" she exclaimed. "My mom texted me asking if you came yet." "Darn Aunt Vicki." Nick walked towards us and pulled us into a hug, "It's nice to see my two of three favorite girls here." Nick let go of Carli and wrapped his arms around me. "So what did you buy?" he whispered in my ear. I pushed him away. "None of your concern." I grabbed my bags, "Come on Carli, I'll show you to the guest room." I said leading her to the room.
 
I let Carli settle in and I sat in the living room with Nick and Marcus. "So how was training camp you guys?"

"You know. It was good. There was a lot of people." Marcus said.

"Yeah, I heard. Every year it's sold out. But tickets are cheap." I said.

"It is. It's nice to see the fans come out in the morning." Nick said.

I turned around as I heard Carli's footsteps enter. "You all ready?" I asked with a smirk. "Ha ha. Yes." She said mocking me. I turned back around. "Marcus this is Carli, Carli this is Marcus." I said introducing them. They shook hands and stared at one another. After a few minutes I leaned in to Nick's ear. "I think they like each other. They haven't said a word for a few minutes." I whispered. Nick wrapped an arm around me. "Kruger's gonna have to watch himself." I laughed removing them from their little trance. "So did you guys have fun staring at each other." Carli started to blush. She pushed me a little bit. "I guess I should get going. It was so nice to meet you Sam and Carli. See you tomorrow Leds." Marcus said. Nick lead Marcus to the door. After Nick closed the door, he turned around. "So ladies, what shall we do today." "I shall go home. Seriously. Taylor can't be trusted alone." I told him.
 
"Who's Taylor?" Carli asked.

"She's my roommate in my condo."

"Oh. She dating a Hawk?"

"You could say that." I said.

She looked confused.

"Let's just put it this way. Captain Serious isn't trusted."

"Gross Sam. Don't let me think about what could be going on over there." Nick blurted.

"Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow." I said walking towards him kissing his cheek. He smiled. "And you…" I said looking at Carli. "Don't give Nick a hard time." I continued as I hugged her.

"Don't worry. I will." I laughed pulling away. "Bye guys!" I waved, walking out the door.
 

 
"So what's going on?" asked Taylor as I cooked breakfast. The sky started growing dark as the fall season of November emerged. "Nick and I are going to pick up his dad at the airport today after lunch. The Hawks are going on the Father/Son trip for a few days while on the mini-road trip in Florida." Her eyes lit up. "Don't ask me if you'll meet papa Tazer. Seriously. You should go ask Jon about that." She grabbed a strawberry from the bowl. "I never said I wasn't." I put my hands up in defense. "Not going to ask, take your pancakes and get out of here." She stuck her tongue out at me. "Whatever Leddy." she said grabbing a pancake. I laughed as I continued to cook a few more cakes.

My phone started ringing, I walked over to see that Carli was calling. I picked up my phone and answered it.

"Yola!" I said flipping the pancake that was currently in the frying pan.
 
So Sam, Nick said I can stay at his place until I find a place of my own. I was wondering if Miss Chicago could help me find one?
 
"Yeah, sure no problem. I think there is a place in my building that's for rent. Wait. Does that mean you got the job?" I asked.
 
If you must know. I did get the job, but I'm also transferring to Columbia.
 
"Gosh. Congrats girlie."
 
Thanks. So you said there's a place in your building? She asked.
 
"Yeah. I can talk to the person if you want. I'll give you all the details."
 
Thank you so much, Sam. You're the best.
 
"No problem." I said shutting off the stove.
 
So you said you had a roommate. Why can I meet her?
 
"Uhh. You kinda did already." I said flatly.
 
I did. When? She asked.
 
"Uh remember that new girl in homeroom Senior year?"
 
That art freak? She's your roommate?
 
"To be honest. When I saw my place for rent with a roommate, I didn't know it was her."
 
I walked to my locker to grab my books for my first class. I looked at the mirror to check my hair. "You do know, you look beautiful everyday. You don't need to check you hair. Even if you look hot wearing my jersey. " I heard Nick say behind me. I turned around to face him. "Thanks hot shot. But your shag of hair isn't your style." I said. He leaned down to kiss my cheek. "Well, if we win tonight's game, I'll let you cut it." I face lit up. "Really?" He nodded. Nick shut my locker as we started to walk away. He draped his arm around me. We headed towards the staircase called the 'Neutral Zone'. It was one of the staircases leading outside to the rink. There was no way anyone could not pass it on the way to class. The main office was across the staircase as well. Most of the hockey team sat of the stairs the morning of a game, before homeroom, for good luck.

Nick and I walked to the stairs hand in hand. "Look the love birds are here." Brian said. I giggled and Nick gave him the finger. "Such a lovely day isn't it?" I asked sarcastically referencing to Brian and Nick. "Oh yeah. For sure." Carli said.

"Sam, are you really wearing a Hawks sweater?" Carli asked.

"It was cold outside and I couldn't find my Wild sweater to wear under the jersey." I replied.

"Right, and if we lose tonight's game it'll be your fault." Brian commented.

"Fine. If you guys lose tonight, I'll treat the team out to dinner one day. If not, then I'll do your homework for a week." I told Brian.

"Deal." We shook hands on it. "Newbie alert." 'Coughed' some other teammates as a girl wearing a Hawks sweater walked passed the Neutral Zone into the office. I looked at Nick who mouthed 'Sorry' to me. He leaned down to kiss my temple. "See if you didn't hit puberty, you wouldn't have to lean to kiss me." I said. Everyone laughed.
Freshman year, Nick was only 5' 3". Now that it's senior year, he's 5' 11 1/2". I swear. I was like 5' 0" freshman year, and now I'm 5' 5". He likes to make fun of me for that.

"Yeah, but you have to tip-toe to kiss me." he replied. "Touché." I said.

"Guys did you hear there's a new kid in homeroom." said another one of Nick's teammates. Nick wrapped an arm around me. "You don't say. I think I just saw her." Nick said sarcastically. The bell rang. Nick and I walked hand in hand to homeroom with a bunch of 'Awws' coming from behind us. We continued to walk. When we arrived at the doors of homeroom, we found it a tradition for the girlfriends to remove the jerseys and handing them to the boyfriends before we entered homeroom doors. We don't know who started it but it's been around for years. Once Nick's jersey was back in Nick's hands we walked into homeroom once the bell rang again.

"Ah. The puck heads are finally in homeroom." said Ms. Jacobson our homeroom teacher.
We all laughed and headed to our seats. A few minutes later the same girl that passed the Neutral Zone walked in. "Ah. Ms. Rodriguez, am I correct?" Ms. Jacobson asked. The girl nodded. "Welcome to Eden Prairie High School." she continued.

"Hey look another Hawks fan!" Brian shouted. I snapped my head towards him.

"Bri." I said.

He put his hands up in defense. "Sorry."

I turned my head back around. Ms. Jacobson laughed. "It's not common to have other hockey teams fans out here besides the Wild. You're not the only one." she paused. "Why don't you sit next to Ms. Anderson." I raised my hand. She walked towards me taking the seat next to me. "Hi, I'm Sam."

"I'm Taylor." she said.

"So what classes do you have?"

"All honors." She said showing me her schedule.

"I have those too. Don't worry. You'll be fine." she smiled.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Carli holding up my Wild sweater.

"Who had it?" I asked her.

"Brian." I looked at him and shook my head laughing.

"Students. Face forward for some morning announcements." Ms. Jacobson said.

We all turned to face the TV screen with the announcements running. I quickly changed out of my Hawks sweater to my Wild one.
 

"In today's events, Eden Prairie Hockey will be playing against Kingsland High School tonight at home for the Minnesota Hockey Semi-Finals. Good Luck to the Eagles."
 
The team members stood up and cheered, giving their girlfriends their jerseys to wear for the day. We stood up and put on the jerseys. Everyone clapped and cheered, "Go Eagles!" Ms. Jacobson, told everyone to calm down after it started getting all crazy. 1st bell rang and we were dismissed to our first class. I grabbed my bag and books and turned to Taylor. "I could show you around if you want. Since we do have the same classes."

"No, I think it's fine. I'll find my way."

"Are you sure?" I asked adjusting my bag strap.

"Babe, let's go." Nick said walking up to me.

She nodded and walked off.

I watched her walk away. I sighed walking out of homeroom. Nick wrapped an arm around my waist. "What's wrong?" He asked. "I don't know. I feel really bad for the new girl since it's senior year and she doesn't know anyone. It's already the end of the year too." He cupped my face in his hands. "Sam. Everything is alright. She'll figure out Eden Prairie soon enough. In the meantime, let's go we'll be late to Bio, lab partner."
 


Later that night, I was getting ready for the game is the girls bathroom. I was talking to Carli about the new girl, Taylor.

"So what do you think about this new girl?" she asked me.

"I think she's okay. I kinda feel bad that she had to transfer in the middle of senior year."

"Well, yeah. Brian heard that she's kinda like an art freak. She loves to draw, paint, sketch and whatever art people do."

"You can't judge a person by what they like. She could be a nice person." I said combing my hair. The door opened and we turned to see that Taylor was walking the room.
 
"Oh I'm sorry. I. I'll find another one." she quickly turn around and headed for the door.

"Wait." I yelled. She turned back around to face me. "

Are you going to the game tonight? I see you like hockey." I said looking at her Hawks sweater.

"Uhh. Yeah. I was told if I liked hockey, I should experience Minnesota hockey."

"Yeah, you totally should. It's really fun." I said looking at Carli. Carli nudged my side, "That's because your boyfriend is on the team."

"You're Samantha Anderson right?" Taylor asked me.

"Yeah. I was in the same homeroom this morning. I also have all of your classes."

"Oh right. Uhh I was wondering if I could take a picture of you. You know for Human Studies and the semester project coming up. Mr. Conner told me to pair up with you since you had no partner yet."

"Oh cool. What's your medium?"

"Photography. I really like taking pictures."

"That's nice. We'll have to find a time to meet up for the project."

"Okay camera freak." Carli said to Taylor. "Sam, we have to go. Nick told me to tell you that they want everyone participating in Senior Night ceremonies to be there early." Carli grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the bathroom. "I'm so sorry." I told Taylor.
 


"Hello is anyone here?" I said slowing opening the door to my potential condo looking for my roommate. "Yes! I'll be out in a second." A voice said. I walked further into the condo and walked around the living room a bit. I saw some picture frames of this girl at various Hawks games, the same girl with her grandparents and a bunch of family pictures. This girl looked so familiar. Where have I seen her before?

"Well, it looks like you have made yourself comfortable." the voice said walking into the living room. I turned around. She literally dropped her jaw. "Samantha Anderson?" she asked. Then it clicked. "Taylor Rodriguez?" she smiled. We squealed slightly and we hugged each other. We sat down on the couch. "What are your doing in Chicago?" she asked me. "I'm actually here for school. I'm going to the culinary school downtown."

We laughed. "So I don't really need to know anything about you. I'd just let you know, you'll be able to move in."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. You were basically my first and only close friend I had back at EPHS." I hugged her.

"Thank you so much!!"
 
Nick and I were on the way to the airport to pick up his dad for the Father/Son trip. Nick was holding my had as he drove. At the stop light, Nick kissed the back of my hand. I turned my head to face him. I smiled. "So, buttercup. I wondering. What do you want to do for Thanksgiving?" I raised my eyebrow. "But you guys are on the Circus trip during Thanksgiving."

The light turned green and he continued to drive into airport grounds.
"I know. I mean, once we land back from L.A., you and I can go to a restaurant alone just the two of us." Nick said finding a parking spot. He turned off the engine and we both got out of the car. Nick walked around and held my hand as we walked towards the terminal entrance. We walked around as we waited for Nick's dad's plane to land. It was a little chilly in the airport and I shivered slightly. Nick engulfed me in a bear hug as I shivered once again. "Warm?" Nick asked looking down at me. I looked up into his eyes. "Yes. Don't move." I said leaning my head on his chest. He chuckled a bit. Flight 372B from Minneapolis, Minnesota is now landing. We shot up and looked at the T.V. screens for what gate Mike would be landing in. "Gate 8" Nick said. I giggled a bit. "What?" he said looking at me. "I don't know. Gate 8. Your number is 8." I continued to giggle. Nick wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we walked towards Gate 8 to find his dad. A couple minutes after getting there, people were already walking out of the plane. We spotted Nick's dad walk out. "Hey dad!" Nick shouted. Mike looked up and saw the both of us. He smiled and walked towards us. When he reached us, Nick and Mike shared one of those father/son hugs. "It's nice to see you again son." He said. "Nice to see you too, dad." They let go. Mike looked at me and smiled. We shared a hug. "Samantha, it's nice to see you keeping Nick in line." I smiled laughing. "Yes, someone has too." We all laughed. We walked towards the baggage claim to get Mike's luggage. Nick went to find his dad's things as Mike and I stayed behind to catch up.

"Is everything okay in Chicago, Sam?" Mike asked. I looked at his with a puzzled look on my face.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, is everything okay, nothing is bothering you and such. Your parents are asking for an update since you haven't called or e-mailed them in a while." He explained.

"Oh. Everything is going fine. I just finished culinary school and I've been I guess, searching for a job and such. Graduation doesn't come around till May or something so I've been trying to get stuff to do until then."

"That's great. Congratulation Samantha. You definitely deserve it."

"Thank you Mike. I appreciate it."

"So how are you and Nick doing?" He asked and he made a head gesture towards Nick, who was still waiting for his dad's luggage.

"He and I are doing great. We're getting used to the long days and nights away from each other, especially with the Circus Trip coming up later in the month."

"Shouldn't you guys have been used to it by now? I mean, you both were separated during your college years."

I paused for a bit, "I guess that's right. It just seems like, since we've been back together, those years never happened."

"Well I'm glad. Back in Minnesota, Nick would always call my wife and I to see if your parents got any updates on you when you were in Chicago."

I giggled, "He did that?" I asked.

"Yeah, I can tell that he's really protective of you. He has this feeling as a boyfriend that I had when I was dating his mother."

"He is?" I asked.

"You may not see it Samantha, but others can. He loves you. That's all I can say." I blushed.

"Thank you Mike." I said. "No problem. You and Nick have been together for so long, I consider you already part of the family."

I laughed a bit. "Funny. My dad said the same thing."

Just then Nick came back with his dad's luggage. "So who's ready for Florida." he said.
 


Nick and his dad along with the rest of the Blackhawks and their fathers, were headed to Florida for the father/son trip. When I dropped them off at the United Center, I decided to run some errands. I was walking back to my car for late grocery shopping. The November sky was growing dark and Chicago was transitioning from Fall to Winter. I heard footsteps walk up from behind me. I tried to get a peek of who was behind me. No luck. I heard the footsteps walk faster, I tried to out run the person, all of a sudden the person covered my mouth with their hand preventing me from screaming. I dropped the bags.

"Il mio amore, do not scream." the voice said. My eyes widened, Linguini. {My love}

"If you do, I'll have to hurt you some more." I felt a knife next to my throat. I gulped. I sighed.

"Questa è la mia ragazza." he said dragging me into an alley. {That's my girl.}

He pushed me to the ground and covered my mouth with a piece of tape. He looked at me sternly like he was thinking about what to do next. He ripped opened my jacket as I blacked out.
 
I woke up seeing my clothes were ripped and a bunch of scratches all over my body. I also saw blood coming from my legs. I tried to stand up but I couldn't walk. The pain in my legs hurt so much. I realized what just happened. I limped all the way to the car to see the bags still on the floor unharmed. I slowly put them in the trunk and walked to the drivers seat. I drove to the Sharp household, where the girls were holding a baby shower for Abby Sharp and Danielle Scott. I removed the tape from my mouth and winced at the pain I was in just in driving stance.