Tomorrow's a New Day

Marcus wouldn't see Lily the next day since he was called up to the Winnipeg for the game Monday. He wanted to say goodbye but she was already off to work, or so he assumed. Marcus didn't think he'd be in Winnipeg too long and hoped he could have some time to hang with Lily while she stayed at his place.

"Sorry I didn't get to see you before you left for work. Hopefully I'll be back soon and we can do something." Marcus sent her.

"Haha of course! Well party hard. I even found out where Nabbers keeps the good stuff ;) "

Marcus smiled at her reply, imaging a repeat of their night in her dorm room. Now if he could only get rid of Brayden...

Lily couldn't help the grin on her face at the thought of spending some more alone time with the Amerk forward. He had learned information that she's never told anyone about. Not many knew the truth behind her mother and Lilly's reasons for moving far enough from the woman that drove her mad. And Lily was hoping she could trust him with that kind of information. She didn't want people to pity her do to the lack of a mother figure in her life. She was a strong girl and was going to make a place for herself, even if that meant disobeying her mother.

Her father was totally supportive of Lily's choices. Though she didn't talk to him much, he actually would send emails asking how she was, making sure she was doing good. Her father felt bad for puting his daughter through all of this. She relied on him when her mother went crazy and when he left Lily had to be strong on her own.

Brushing the thought from her mind she finished her day at Target and drove over to the studio,

"Hey Lily there's a family here to see you." Ian said as she checked in. She stuffed her belongings into her locker and made her way over to main part of the gym.

"Drew?" she asked recognizing the Amerk goaltender and what appeared to be his wife and daughter.

"Hey Lily, how's it going?"

"Pretty good. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could get some extra workouts from you. Nabbers seems to be doing pretty good and I certainly need it more than he does."

"Of course! I'm more then happy to help."

"And my daughter, Grace, found out and wants to do some gymnastics as well." He explained smiling down at his girl who could be no older than three.

"Have you signed her up for lessons?"

"We wanted her to see what gymnastics would be like before we made that decision so do you mind if she just tags along today?"

"No she's more then welcome."

So for the next two hours Lily worked with Drew on various stretches and workouts fit for a goaltenders trade. His daughter would do some of the safer tricks and watch the gymnast and her father do the rest. By the end of her session, Lily had two more private lessons signed up.

Lily returned to the house close to 8:00pm and was just ready to shower and sleep. When she got back she found Brayden sitting on the couch with a giant bowl of KD in his hands while he watched the start of the Sabres game, "Hey you're back late." he commented a mouth full of food.

"Yeah, Drew and his family stopped by for some lessons so my schedule got moved around."

"That's cool. Well there's more KD in the kitchen, help yourself." And Lily did, too a bowl just as big as Braydens.

Marcus wasn't playing again in this game, only called up for precaution but Lily sent him a similar text like the ones from before.

He responded his gratitude and continued to text her for the rest of the night. The team planned on flying out in the morning so Marcus was rooming with Corey for the night, "Who are you texting? You haven't stopped all night."

"I'm just talking to Lily." Marcus answered casually like this was an everyday thing, which it was turning out to be.

"What happened to Tiffany? You don't complain about her as much as you use too."

"Um I'm not with Tiffany anymore." He admitted throwing his roommate off completely.

"When did that happen?"

"A while ago. She was being a bitch to a friend and it pissed me off."

"You know Maddy said that Tiffany was bashing Lily...was that it?" Marcus didn't reply but that was all the answer Corey needed.

Marcus was right to pull that thorn in his side. She drove everyone nuts and the strangest thing was she was never like this in the beginning. Even Maddy noticed the change. She had never seen Tiffany act that way towards anyone and Maddy found it hard to believe Lily was going after the boys. She seemed far too nice and at the dinner she was obviously uncomfortable seeing that she wasn't a girlfriend. She just looked tired. Corey explained to Maddy she was a student working three jobs. Everyone would be drained and wanting to go to bed to sleep for the next 24 hours.

Corey was just happy Tiffany was gone, "So are you going to ask Lily out?" He asked. Marcus looked up from his phone and over at his friend.

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. Lily's nice and everyone likes her and it's kinda obvious with the way you're always texting and talking to her that you've got a thing for her. I don't blame ya...she's kinda cute."

"I wasn't planning on it." Marcus admitted.

"Well you better jump on it or someone else will beat ya too it."

---

When Brayden woke up Wednesday, he wasn't expecting the mouth watering scent coming from the kitchen. But what was odd, was that no one was there. He knew Lily was working this morning and wouldn't be home till dinner time, like usually.

That's it...someone broke into my house and cooked me food. He assumed. That is, until he saw the note on the counter beside the stove,

Don't touch the pot, it's for dinner. Have fun at practice. -Lily

Brayden took the lid off the pot and the small of ham and beans filled his nostrils. There was enough to feed a whole team! How many hours till dinner?

Practice was light on the ice, most of the work out taking place in the weight room for the Amerks, "Dude, I'm starving." Travis proclaimed, setting his weights down and taking a drink.

"Me too. Lily's cooking something that smells amazing." Brayden said.

"Lily's cooking for you? When did that start happening?"

"When I offered to let her stay at my place while she's on spring break." The boys around Brayden silenced and came over to him.

"Lily's staying with you? As in living in the same house?" Travis asked, hands on his hips.

"Um yeah. She couldn't go home but needed a place to stay so I offered."

"That's it, DINNER AT NABBERS HOUSE!" Travis announced to the entire team, most of them cheering for a home cooked meal.

Brayden wasn't sure how to explain to Lily that the entire team was coming over for dinner. At least when he got home, she still wasn't back yet. So he showered quick and went to pick up the place before the guys showed up.

"Um, yeah I can take your class...No it's fine, I didn't have plans anyways," Lily was talking on her phone when she walked through the door. She gave Brayden a quick wave as she walked up the stairs to her room.

From downstairs he could hear Lily's gym bag drop to the ground, an aggravated groan, and the shower turn on, I'll just tell her when she gets out.

"I'm here! Where's the food!?" Travis announced into the house. The sounds of paws scratched the floor as Travis' dog, Minka, ran in as well. Behind Travis was Phil, David, TJ, Jacob, and Max piling into the house, the smell of dinner making their mouths water.

"Lily's in the..."

"Oh my god!" The boys heard the voice say upstairs.

"Where's Minka?"

Lily appeared at the bottom of the stairs with Minka at her feet, a giant smile on her face, "Who is this?"

"That's Minka." Travis answered her.

"She is the cutest thing ever! But here's a question...what are you all doing here?"

"We heard you made dinner." Lily looked over at Brayden who just shrugged.

"It's a good thing I made a lot then, eh? It's got a little longer though." The guys let out a hungry groan but went to the living room to wait.

Lily sat in the kitchen and peeled the potatoes she had to add to the pot. This was the first time all day that she could sit and think to herself. The day had been long one and to finally be home felt nice, even if she was alone cooking dinner for eight people. But she didn't mind.

Her day started off at Target, working at the cash register. How exciting? By 3:00, she was making her way to the gymnastics studio to teach a few classes of young kids who just wanted to goof around and watch as Lily pulled her hair out in frustration.

Lily didn't mind teaching gymnastics. There were situations when she'd rather just do her own thing but she was getting paid to teach, not compete.

That was something Lily sort of missed. She liked being able to compete, not because her mother was pushing for gold, but the feeling of being in front of the judges, of doing her best. If asked if she wanted to compete again, Lily would say yes. She wouldn't have the pressure of her mother on her shoulders and she could come up with her own routines and everything. It would be her way. Not her mothers.

Once the potatoes were in the pot, Lily pulled out the brownie mix she bought and began to mix it up and put it in the oven. Before she cleaned out the brownie bowl, she licked the spoon clean.

"I saw that." A deep voice said behind her, seeing her unhealthy decision. She jumped, dropping the spoon into the sink and turned around to see someone she didn't know was coming home.

"Oh my god! You're back!" She yelled, a smile stretching ear to ear as she hugged Marcus. To wrap her arms around his neck in a hug, she had to stand on her toes. Marcus held Lily in an embrace, practically lifting her off the ground as he enjoyed the way she felt in his arms.

"Yeah, I was sent back down." He told her, setting her back on her feet and holding her waist. Her arms fell from around his neck, down his arms and resting on his biceps.

"I'm glad you're back...but sorry you were sent down." Lily said, not sure if this was a good thing or not. She wanted him up with the Sabres but missed him when he was. "Do the guys know you're here?" He nodded.

"Yeah, but I wanted to surprise you."

"Well you certainly did. It hasn't been the same without you." Lily pulled herself away from Marcus to check the pot on the stove, "And you're just in time for dinner." Marcus smiled, the idea of a home cooked meal sounded welcoming.

The rest of the boys piled food into their bowls and went back to the living room for the Sabres game. Marcus took the spot next to Lily on the couch, who barely took up a cushion when she was surrounded by hockey players.

Sitting next to her made it very hard to pay attention to the game on the television screen. Marcus did his best to not make his starring obvious. Her long, lean legs stretched out in front of her on the coffee table, the short black shorts that probably gave every male in the room a semi-hard on, her loose fitting Yankees tee that fell off one shoulder. Defiantly a look that complimented her body.

There is no man on earth that could deny Lily had a great body. But unless Lily walked around in that outfit everyday, a guy wouldn't know. Lily didn't have a particular facial feature that made her stand out against the rest of the girls that Marcus encountered; plain brown eyes, a nice smile, small nose. She was a plain girl.

Maybe that's why Marcus and the guys never took notice of her. She wasn't a tall, blonde haired beauty that was on every guys radar. If she hadn't been there in the locker room that one fateful January day, he probably still wouldn't have noticed her. He'd probably still be with Tiffany.

"Oh there's brownies too!" Lily announced, remembering the dessert she made. Every male in the room took off for the kitchen for their dessert.

I wouldn't have a home cooked meal either. Marcus thought, the brownie melting in his mouth.

---

Since Marcus came home, he and Lily had spent every minute they could together. They would walk the mall, watch movies, eat at the diner, and just enjoy each others company until Marcus was called up Friday to Ottawa to play, "You just got back! Don't they know my breaks almost over? Can't they wait?" Lily whined while Marcus packed up his stuff for the third time.

"Come with me. It's just to Ottawa."

"Only if you'll call my bosses and explain that Marcus Foligno wants me to go to Ottawa to watch him play." Marcus picked up his phone from the bed.

"Give me the numbers."

"No! Marcus! It's alright. You still owe me a Sabres game though. Don't think I forgot." Marcus laughed.

"Fine just make sure you watch the game."

"I'll try but the Amerks are playing at the same time."

"You'll technically being doing your job...you'll be watching me play."

"You won't be an Amerk!" She said, throwing a pair of his socks at him, "I promise to watch but you have to score a goal. I will not welcome you back until you score a goal."

"You know I'll probably be up there longer. Vanek's out and they don't know when he'll be back."

"Fine...I want five goals when you come back...if you come back."

"Deal." He said with a smile.

On Saturday, Lily did her best to watch the Sabres game in one of the back rooms during the Amerks game. She couldn't control herself when he got his first goal, jumping up and down. He tied up the game, bring in the extra five minutes of overtime. The win in the shoot out just made it a sweet victory.

Lily sent Marcus a text congratulating him with as many words as her phone would allow. She got a response not long after the post game show, "Thanks! It would of been better if you were here".

When Marcus stepped off the ice after the win, he was bombarded by reports and photographers, trying to capture his moment of greatness before it became old news. When he was finally able to pull out his phone, it had blown up with messages from texts and tweets and voice mails. But as he scrolled through the names of his friends and family, he found what he was looking for.

Lily was the first person he responded too. The only person that, for some reason, was the only message that was important to Marcus. The only one that mattered.

He actually wanted to call her but with his brother and father here, it was gonna have to be put on hold.

--

"What are you doing calling me? You should be out celebrating!" Lily yelled into the phone around midnight. She had stayed up to work on the last minute homework she didn't do over her break and wasn't expecting a call from Marcus tonight...or at all really.

"I will be. I just wanted to call you."

"Gonna go party with the boys?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. You'd be too if you came with me."

"You'd be so busy you would forget I was there."

"I would not! How could I forget you? Besides, you'd probably forget me at first glance at Gerbs." Lily laughed.

"Yeah probably."

"Want me to give him your number?" Marcus teased, imagining the panic look and the blush on her face.

"Oh my god no! I'd pass out if he called me."

"We wouldn't want that now would we?"

The conversation flowed between the two of them until Marcus was dragged off by his team. He promised to call her tomorrow, which only made Lily's heart flutter.

He should be calling pretty girls, not me. But it was Lily's number he dialed the next day. He told her about the team celebration and that he had a surprise for her, "You either have to come to Buffalo to get it, or wait till I get home." He tormented.

"That's not fair!" If Lily could just up and leave for a trip to Buffalo she would, no questions asked but she was anchored to work and school. So Lily had to settle for waiting till Marcus came back...however long that will be.