Falling For You

Letting out an angry huff, I watched as my breath hung suspended in the air for a few seconds before the bitter Michigan air blew again, causing it to dissipate quickly. Stuffing my hands deeper into my pockets, I continued on my trek to find my friends. I don't know when it happened, but they had managed to separate themselves for me.

As the wind blew even harder, causing the temperature to drop even more now that the sun had gone down, I quicked my pace, hoping to get to the restaurant faster. After a few seconds of fast walking, I realized how bad of an idea that had been.

My arms flung themselves out of my pockets, flailing around as I tried to keep myself standing as I slid on a unnaturally large patch of ice. My purse went flying and right as I was bracing myself to meet the ground, two strong arms saved me from meeting my demise.

Cracking my eye open, I looked over to see a tall blonde man standing there, a dorky grin on his face, his bright blue eyes twinkling.

"You okay?" He asked and I felt butterflies errupt in my stomach.

"Yeah. Uh, thanks. You kind of just saved me life," I said as he let out a chuckle before he helped me steady myself. I watched as he crouched down to start picking up the miscellanious items that had spilled out of my purse all over the sidewalk before joining him.

"I guess I was just in the right place at the right time," He said, holding out the few makeup items he had picked up as I snatched my purse from the unforgiving ice and started stuffing the things back in it. Phone, keys, makeup. When it looked like I had everything, I noticed another phone on the ground.

"Is this yours?" I asked, holding it up.

"Yeah, that probably fell out of my pocket when I caught you," He said letting out a quiet chuckle.

"Well thank you so much, I'd offer you coffee or something in return, but I'm already late enough to meet my friends," I said, scuffing my boot on the ice, hoping he would take the hint and ask me for my number or a raincheck on the coffee. But he didn't. He just smiled again.

"Well, don't let me keep you. I should be going anyway," He said, glancing at his watch quickly before nodding.

"Alright. Thanks again for saving me," I said, smiling at him before rushing away, this time being more careful than I had been before. Glancing back, I saw him crossing the street before going in the opposite direction I was.

I returned my gaze in front of me as I neared Cantina Diablo's, hoping Amy and Carrie were already there and waiting for me. Rushing in once I got to the front, my body welcomed the heated air as I unbuttoned my black wool jacket, glancing around for a second before spotting the two brunettes seated near one of the windows.

"Took you long enough," Carrie said as I quickly slid into the booth. Sliding my jacket off, I pulled my sweaters sleeves down to cover my hands as the waitress came up to ask what I wanted to drink while handing me a menu.

"I almost killed myself out there, don't blame me for being late," I said as Amy started laughing. "Why did you guys even leave me?"

"You didn't hear us saying we were leaving?" Carrie asked, giving me a look.

"No?"

"That explains it then.. But explain you almost killing yourself. Was there ice or something?"

"Yeah, some guy saved me. Caught me right before I was going to hit the ground," I told them, remembering his blue eyes. That had always been a thing for me. I absolutely loved blue eyes. It didn't help that this guys were the perfect shade.

"Did he cop a feel?" Amy asked, taking a sip from her drink as Carrie snorted at the question.

"No!" I said defensively, a blush rising on my already rosey cheeks.

"Oh but if he had, you would have enjoyed it, huh?" Amy asked, throwing a wink as I blushed harder before burying my face in my menu, ignoring their laughing.

-

I leaned back in the soft couch I had in my living room, finally relaxing after having a stressful day of Christmas shopping with Carrie and Amy. Having them there only made it worse, seeing as I was trying to shop for them, along with my family. As I reached for the TV remote, I heard a phone ringing from the kitchen.

Getting up with a confused look on my face, I searched out the noise. I didn't even have a house phone, just my cell phone, and that definitely wasn't the ringtone I had set for it. Unless the fall earlier had messed some things inside up... I groaned at the thought of having to go to Best Buy in order to replace the phone.

Digging in my purse, I pulled the iPhone out and glanced at the number flashing on the screen. Looking up for a second confused, I returned my gaze to the phone. Why was my own number showing up on the screen?

"Hello?" I answered it, confused.

"Hi, my name's Justin.... I think you have my phone," I heard on the other end.

"Excuse me?"

"Well the phone I'm using definitely isn't mine...I'm thinking you're the girl who almost fell today in Royal Oak, am I right?" Suddenly the man who had saved me's face rushed to my mind and I felt the butterflies come rushing back.

"Yeah...Oh man we got our phones mixed up?" I asked embarrased, seeing as I was the one who had done it. This kind of stuff only happens in movies, what the hell?

"I'm guessing so."

"Well, were do you live? We could meet up and exchange them. I'm Emily, by the way."

"The only problem with that plan is the fact that I'm not currently in Michigan right now..." He trailed off and I felt my eyebrows furrow.

"Where are you?"

"I'm currently in LA. I'm going to be in California for a few more days, then I'll be back."

"So...I'm not going to have my phone for a few days?" I asked, resisting the urge to facepalm myself.

"I guess so. I'm really sorry, there's no way I can get back any sooner."

"So are you out there for work or something?"

"Yeah, otherwise I'd come back sooner, I'm sure you don't want some random guy with your phone.. sorry."

"No, it's fine. It's my fault anyway. I'll just tell everyone not to call me or whatever."

"Okay," He cut himself off and I heard a low voice in the background. "Well I have to go. I'll talk to you when I get back to Michigan I guess."

With that he hung up the phone. I pulled the foreign phone from my ear and looked at it for a few seconds before setting it down on the counter. Looking at the time as I let out a sigh, I decided it was late enough to go to bed.

-

"So you gave the guy your own phone?" Carrie asked as Amy flipped through the channels on my TV, trying to find the sports station. After finally finding it, she settled back into the couch, glancing over at Carrie and I, waiting for my answer.

"Yeah. I mean, we both have iPhones, so it's not like I accidentally took a phone that looks nothing like mine.."

"I still find it funny as hell that you have some random guys phone for a few days. Have you looked through it?" Amy asked, not looking away from the recap of the Red Wings game she had missed earlier that day for work.

"No, why would I?"

"It'd be fun. Could play a prank on him. I wonder who the girls in his phone are..." Amy trailed off, reaching for the phone that sat on my coffee table. I snatched it up before she had the chance to get a finger on it, the sound of a new text resounding from the device the second it was in my grasp. I glanced at the screen to see my own number pop up. Biting my lip, I opened the text under the watchful eyes of my two best friends.

"Sorry to bug you. I don't remember anyones numbers in my phone. Feel like talking? I'm stuck at a meeting." I glanced up before quickly typing a reply.

"You're not bugging me. My friends are over watching a hockey recap."

"Oh sure, you can text people on it but no one else can," Amy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned back towards the TV as the station came back from a commercial. I rolled my eyes, ignoring her as I got another text.

"Well at least the Wings won," I heard Carrie say, poking fun at Amy and her pouting.

"Yeah, one of my customers came in and said they thought Abdelkader was going to get a Gordie Howe. He had a goal and an assist, haven't heard if he fought or not though," Amy said, quieting down when they went to replays of the game. I quit trying to decipher what they were saying and focused on the phone in my hand again.

"So, are you a fan of hockey?"

"Uh, sorta?" Looking at the phone, I wondered if I could have found a better way to answer the question. Deciding it was worthless to worry about, I looked over at Amy.

"Wasn't Gordie Howe on the Wings?"

"Yup."

"So is that phrase just for Wings fans? Or do other hockey fans know what a Gordie Howe hat trick is?" I asked and Carrie chuckled, smiling at me as Amy laughed too.

"It's a league thing."

"Oh, okay." The phone jingled again, capturing my attention from the television where the two men were discussing the game that I still had yet to comprehend fully.

"What does that mean?"

"My friends love hockey, they've been trying to get me into it lately. Do you like it?"

"Yeah. I play a lot." This response came quicker, prompting me to think his meeting was dragging on and more boring than he had hoped.

"My friend's boyfriend plays too! Lol."

"Yeah? He any good?"

"He's on a pro team apparently, so I would say so."

"OH MY GOD!" I looked up when Amy yelled, bouncing on the couch next to me, her eyes glued to the screen. "ABBY FOUGHT! YES!"

I looked over to the screen to see two players fall to the ice, still attempting to fight. My eyes widened as the camera panned to another fight on the ice and at this, Carrie and Amy both let out groans of disapproval.

"Why does he fight?" Carrie questioned, shaking her head.

"I don't know, Abby need to give him lessons or something," Amy said, biting her lip as I watched one of the big players on the Wings circling with someone, their fists up ready to go.

"Who is that?" I asked, hearing the text jingle but ignoring it for the moment, trying to figure out who the players were. I couldn't remember many of them by their numbers and when they showed their faces, it was even worse.

"Jakub Kindl. One of the bigger defensemen, but he has no idea how to fight. He probably got his ass kicked," Amy explained, scrunching her face up once the fight started, the opposing teams player obviously having the upper hand in the fight.

"He's not doing so bad," I commented, watching as the guy got in a few hits.

"He's doing better than his last fight, I'll give him that," Carrie commented, watching as he got taken to the ground and the refs quickly separated them. The men discussing the game returned on the screen and I returned my attention to the iPhone in front of me.

"What team?"

"Amy, what team is Louis on?" I asked, seeing as I had only heard his teams name once or twice.

"The Griffins," She said, shooting me a questioning look that I chose to ignore.

"The Griffins? They're in Grand Rapids."

"Really? That's pretty cool. ...this meeting feels like I'm in high school...I just got the stink eye from my coach.."

"What's the meeting about?"

"Just typical team meeting. I gotta go, looks like coach is about to take the phone."

"Oh done texting your boyfriend?" Amy mocked me as I set the phone back on the table.

"He's not my boyfriend," I mumbled and she laughed.

"No but you'd like it. Oh, random attractive stranger, catch me!" She said in a high pitched voice, her hand going to her forehead as she fell over onto Carrie dramatically. "It's so slippery!"

"Shut up!" I said, shoving her, cracking a smile as she threw a wink at me before sitting back up.

"So. Wings won, Abby finally got a Gordie Howe like I've been saying he needs to for the past two months... Filppula scored and so did Zetterberg and Helm. Good game?"

"Good game," Carrie confirmed.

"Are you going to go to the Griffs game tonight with us?" Amy asked, looking over as I bit my lip.

"I was thinking about staying in tonight to relax..."

"Oh that's fine, you're going to the next one though. I think April said she wasn't busy tonight, she'll be game."

"You sure?" I asked, feeling bad that she had already bought the tickets and might lose money on mine.

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

-

I bit my lip as I played with the iPhone in front of me on the table, glancing around every few minutes to see if anyone new had entered the coffee shop without me noticing. As I looked up for the eight time, someone entered the room, shivering slightly as the door swung closed.

Watching the man remove his snow covered hat to reveal blond curly hair, I realized it was the person I was waiting for. Justin. The guy whose last name I still hadn't asked for. Taking in his height, I realized I hadn't noticed how tall he was compared to me before. Shaking the thought from my head, I waited for him to look up so I could grab his attention.

When he did, our eyes locked, his piercing blues seeming to stare right into my soul. I swallowed before making a move to stand up. He quickly rushed over, stopping me from getting out of my chair.

"Hey, Emily?" He asked with a light smile on his pink lips that I returned.

"Yeah. "

"Sorry I'm late, I've been rushing around all day. I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?" He asked, removing his gloves and digging in his pocket.

"No, not at all. I haven't even been here ten minutes," I said with a smile as he produced my phone from his pocked.

"Okay I'm glad. I hate to do this, but I really have to get back home and get some things sorted out. I owe you one though," He said as we quickly exchanged the phones.

"Don't mention it," I said with a smile.

"Thanks again. And I'm sorry to leave so soon."

"No don't worry, it's fine. Go do what you have to do, I don't want to keep you," I said, shooing him again with my hands and he let out a dorky laugh.

"Thanks." I nodded and watched as he quickly put his hat and gloves back on before venturing out into the snowstorm that was going on out in the bitter winter air. Biting my lip, I looked down at my phone, happy to see it was just as I left it. Unlocking it, I saw I had a new unread message.

"Hey, sorry if this is still the dude with Emily's phone. But this is for her. You're coming skating with me tomorrow. Campus Martius. Get your skates sharpened." I rolled my eyes before tucking the phone in my purse. I grabbed my coffee and braced myself for the cold Michigan air as I decided to make my way back home.

-

"Amy, I'm going to kick your ass," I mumbled as I skated past her and Louis, skating together, hand in hand. Glancing back, I saw that she hadn't heard what I had said. I let out my breath in annoyance, watching as the air in front of me fogged up momentarily.

I looked around to see that most everyone on the ice was skating with a significant other. Young women and teenager girls had their arms wrapped securely around their boyfriends or husbands arms, trying their best not to fall. Others were paired up, one person facing forward while the other skated backwards, both hands being held as they showed off their skills. All I had was the wall to keep me standing. Once I made it to the entrance, I stomped my way off the ice and over to one of the few unoccupied benches.

Glaring at the happy couples and my misfortune of letting the guy I could have seen myself liking get away, I pouted on the bench. I watched as Amy looked around confused before spotting me on the bench, my arms crossed over my chest. She quickly released Louis' hand and made her way over to me, him following a few feet behind.

"What's the matter?" Amy asked, worry laced through her tone.

"Nothing, go have fun with Louis," I said, sounding more bitter than I wanted to.

"Em are you mad he showed up? I didn't even know he was coming!" Amy said as her boyfriend approached, towering over us both as he chewed his lip nervously, making it obvious he had overheard the conversation.

"Emily I-" He started but I cut him off.

"It's not you two, I promise, okay? Just go have fun, don't let me ruin the night," I said, and Amy stared down at me.

"Are you sure? We can go do something else if you'd like," She offered and I sighed.

"No, go have fun. You always want to come here and you rarely get to. Go be all cutesey with Louis," I said, smiling slightly as I watched a blush creep onto the tall boys already rosey cheeks.

"Well if you want to leave, just get my attention, okay?" Amy asked and I nodded before pushing her towards her boyfriend, watching as they made their way back to the ice, Amy throwing a glance my way to make sure I was really okay with her staying with Louis.

"Emily?" I heard from behind me. My eyebrows pulled together in confusion as I turned, wondering if the person was talking to me or someone else.

Upon turning, my eyes lit up at the sight of Justin, standing there with a pair of skates in his hand, the same hat and gloves he had been wearing the day before when we had exchanged our phones.

"Hi Justin," I said happily, turning more as he made his way around the bench to sit by me.

"What are you doing here? ..Duh, dumb question," He muttered, taking notice of my skates.

"Are you going skating?" I asked, somewhat hopeful.

"No, I just got done. I met up with some friends. I was about to go get a coffee to warm up actually.... Any chance you'd want to join me?" He asked, biting his lip in a somewhat nervous manner. "I mean, you don't have to if you still want to skate, I just thought I'd ask.."

"I think I'm going to have to take you up on that offer," I said with a smile that Justin returned before I started untying my skates.

Justin sat patiently, waiting for me the untie the skates I had rented. My fingers were frozen, seeing as I had decided to bypass gloves. Fumbling with the knot some more, I huffed as my fingers weren't functioning as I wanted them to.

"Want some help?" Justin asked, laughing lacing his voice after he has watched me struggle for awhile.

"I can do it, I just..." I trailed off as he kneeled in front of me, slipping off his gloves to quickly get the skates untied for me.

"So why hockey skates?" He asked, leading me towards the rental shed so I could get my own shoes back. After exchanging skates for shoes, and quickly slipping the shoes on, I gave Justin a shrug.

"Honestly, my friend told me to get hockey skates. She hates figure skates."

"I take it you don't skate that often?" He asked, holding his arm out for me as we turned away from the shed to leave the crowded area. I linked our arms together before sticking my hands in my pockets.

"No, I'm not so great. I always say how I want to skate more to get practice, but I don't have the money to pay for lessons or anything."

"Lucky for you then, I know someone who's pretty good at skating," He said, throwing me a wink and I heard a giggle escape my lips.

"What exactly are you suggesting?"

"Well you don't have money for lessons, and I don't do much when I'm not play hockey. I might as well teach you," He said with a shrug.

"So do you play pro? Cause you said you were in California for work and then you were a team meeting when you were texting me..."

"You caught me," He said, a lazy smile on his face as he navigated our way down the street.

"For real or are you just going along with this?" I asked and he laughed before giving me a look that set off the butterflies in my stomach.

"Have you ever heard of Justin Abdelkader?" He asked and after a second, the realization hit me like a train. I felt my jaw drop as I realized my Justin was the same Justin that Amy and Carrie were constantly talking about.

"That's you?" I asked in disbelief and he let out another quiet laugh.

"Yeah."

"You play for the Red Wings!" I said loudly, subconsciously wondering if the people around us were thinking I was an idiot or something.

"Yes, I do," He said, a proud smile on his face.

"Why are you wasting your time talking to me? And offering skating lessons? You're like a celebrity or something!"

"I wouldn't say celebrity..just, sort of well known in these parts. And who says I'm wasting my time?"

"Well I'm just some nobody and you're offering to teach me to skate when you do that all the time.." Justin stopped as looked down at me, his bright blue eyes boring into my brown ones.

"You're not just some nobody Emily. Ever since we met I felt drawn to you. I don't even know why, I just am. And since we started talking, I feel even more drawn to you. I got really nervous when I asked if you wanted to get coffee. I never get nervous asking girls out, but with you I did. There's just something about you, I don't know what exactly, but I can't help wanting to make you mine..."

My jaw dropped slightly at his words, not sure how to respond. I took a minute to collect my thoughts and right as I was about to respond, I felt someone tugging on my jacket. Looking down, I saw a little boy who couldn't have been older than six. I knelt down in front of him, hoping he wasn't lost.

"What can I do for you little guy?" I asked and he smiled before pointing up above my head. I turned to look up at Justin, wondering if maybe the kid wanted an autograph or something.

"You two hafta kiss!" He said happily and I felt my eyes get as wide as they possibly could. I blink a few times.

"Why do you say that?" I asked and the boy grinned at me.

"You two are under da mistletoe!" He squealed with delight and I looked over at Justin, just now noticing the small leafy plant hanging from the awning above us, directly above where we had both been standing. "It's bad luck if you don't."

"Oh is it?" I asked, watching as the little boy nodded feverently, the puff ball atop his hat flopping around as he did so.

"Joey! Get back over here!" I heard a loud voice, causing both the boy and myself to snap our heads in the direction it came from. Joey quickly scampered away and I was left kneeling where he had been. I slowly got up before turning to look at Justin.

"You know he's right, I've heard you have bad luck if you don't kiss someone under the mistletoe," He said, a small smile playing on his lips.

"How bad?" I asked, returning to my spot in front of him, biting my lip.

"Very bad. Horrible even," He said quietly as he reached a hand up, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear before he dipped his head down slowly capturing my lips in a soft, yet passionate kiss.

It seemed to end all too soon and I could feel myself craving the feeling of his lips against mine again already. Gazing up at him, I felt a blush creep it's way onto my cheeks.

"I don't think that covered it. I'm feeling quite unlucky today," I said and watched the small smile on his face break into a grin. He let out a laugh, his eyes twinkling as he did so.

"Yeah, know anyone who could help you get rid of all that bad luck?"

"Well I did have a pretty cute guy offer to teach me to skate, I wonder if he'd be interested.." I mused and watched as Justin smiled, letting out chuckle.

"Hm, well if he doesn't want to, he must be insane," He said before dipping his head again to place another soft kiss on my lips.