Tonight, We Are Young

“Well, this is it.”

I had lost count of how many times I had dreamed of going to Europe. Now here I am, fresh out of college with the chance of a lifetime at my fingertips. I remembered applying to Stockholm University, but I didn’t have a chance of getting in. I still couldn’t believe it. My mom pulled me into a huge hug as we arrived at the airport.

“I’m going to miss you so much.”

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. This is the first time I’ll be more than five hours away from my mom for school. It would take some time to adjust, but I knew if I didn’t do this now, I would regret it. I pulled away from my mom and looked her in the eyes. Seeing the tears well up in her eyes, only made my heart break a little more. I wasn’t only leaving my mom, I was leaving my best friend.

“I’m going to miss you too, mom.”

She began to ask me a million questions.

“You sure you have everything? You know where you’re staying? Do you have enough money? School supplies? Do you…?”

“Mom, I’m fine. I have everything I need. The only thing I need now is to get on the that plane now before I stand here and re think it all.”

She nodded and gave me a small smile. I pulled her in for one last hug.

“I’ll call you as soon as I get there. I love you, mom.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Landing in Stockholm, I looked through the airport. I knew who I was looking for, but there were so many people it was becoming hard to breathe let alone see what was in front of you.

“Katy! Katy!”

I heard my name being called out. Looking around me, I finally spotted where it had come from. I walked up to the girl, who looked to be about my age and she pulled me into a tight hug. Pulling away, I smiled at my new roommate, whose family was happy to let me stay with them for the year.

“Beatrice! How are you? Thanks again to you and your family. I really appreciate this.”

She scoffed lightly and smiled.

“Don’t mention it. We’re happy to help international students. How was your flight?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Long, but I’m so happy to be here.”

She smiled and looped her arm through mine.

“C’mon let’s go get your luggage and head to the house.”

After gathering my luggage, Beatrice and I made our way out of the airport. I had applied to stay with a host family while I studied in Sweden for the first year. The Landeskogs contacted me within two weeks of applying. I had added Beatrice on Skype and we had talked a lot throughout the summer. The more I talked to her, the more excited I got to go to Sweden. I had researched a lot about the country and chose a few places I made sure I visited before I went home for the summer.

“I’m so glad you came two weeks early. I need another girl my age around the house.”

I laughed at Beatrice as we hopped into her Range Rover.

“I’m so happy to be here. I just hope I didn’t forget my list of places to see.”

We pulled out of the parking lot and she chuckled at me.

“Oh, no worries, Gabe and I will show you everything you need to see before school starts. Trust me.”

I smiled and leaned back in my chair, looking at all of the sights out the window as we passed.

“We just have to pick Gabe up before we go home, is that okay?”

I turned to her and nodded my head. I was a little anxious to meet her brother, knowing that he was an NHL superstar, but I would try to keep my composure as much as possible.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I warn you, though, I may fall asleep on the way.”

She let out a soft chuckle and said it was fine. I leaned my head back and within seconds my eyes closed and I fell into a well-overdue slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up to someone wrapping their arms around me, lifting me out of the vehicle. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a pair of beautiful blue/grey orbs staring into mine. He set me on the ground and smiled at me.

“You have a good nap?” I saw a smirk form on his face.

“Yeah, I did, thanks. Didn’t get a chance to on the plane.”

He chuckled and stretched his hand out to me.

“You must be Katy.”

I smiled and nodded as I began to walk to the trunk of the Range Rover.

“I am, and you must be Gabe. I hear you and Beatrice are going to show me around before school starts.”

He walked up beside me, leaning in to grab my luggage.

“Yepp, we’ll show you the sights and sounds. Before you know it, you’ll be an honorary Swede.”

I chuckled lightly as I looked up at him. His smile was not only infectious; it was able to make a woman weak in the knees in a split second. We walked into the house and I was officially introduced to Gabe and Beatrice’s parents. I thanked them for not only allowing me to stay, but allowing me to arrive a two weeks early.

“Oh, you’re welcome sweetie. We’re just happy to help.”

Beatrice pulled on my arm lightly.

“Oh lord, you’re starting to sound Canadian with all of your politeness.” She laughed. “C’mon on, I’ll show you your room.”

I smiled and waved to the three Landeskogs that stood in the living room as I was pulled upstairs. It looked as though Beatrice was pulling a page out of Vanna White’s book.

“And here you are…” She stretched her arm out in front of the door to what I could only assume was “my” room. I walked in and my jaw dropped. It looked better than any hotel room I’ve seen, even in movies. I looked back at Beatrice and smiled.

“This is amazing. Than---“

She stuck her hand out in front of her, silencing me.

“If you say thank you one more time, you’re sleeping outside. And please, call me Bea. I only get called Beatrice when I’m in trouble. ”

I smiled and turned back around, surveying the room once more. I walked over to the dresser and looked at the photos on it. I chuckled to myself at the photos of American monuments. It was so cliché that it was touching. Like I had a little piece of home here in Sweden. I turned to ask Bea a question.

“Hey Bea, where’s my---“

I stopped mid-question as I saw Bea had been replaced by Gabe. He stood in the door way with my luggage, that killer smile intact once again.

“You looking for this? Bea dragged you away before you could grab it.”

I nodded and took one bag from him, he placed the other two on the floor.

“I was just going to ask Bea about it, thanks.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s no problem. You like your room?” He asked as he sat on his bed.

I smiled and nodded as I placed my luggage on my bed, ready to begin unpacking.

“Yes, I do, very much.”

“That’s good. My mom was worried that you wouldn’t. She thought the pictures of American monuments would be a little bit..much.”

Walking over to the dresser, I shook my head. “No, they’re great. It’s like a little piece of home.”

Gabe walked over to me and smiled.

“You need any help unpacking before dinner?”

Looking at the amount of luggage I had, I knew that a little help would get it done so much faster. I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to seem too eager to spend more time with him.

“I could use the help. You sure you don’t have anything better to do?”

He shrugged his shoulders and flashed those pearly whites once again. If he kept that up, I would become puddy on the floor in no time.

“Nope, I’m just spending the day at home today. Since you just got here, I figured we could get to know each other a little bit before I have to leave in a month.”

I smiled and walked over to my bed and unzipped one of my bags.

“Well, let’s get started then.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Gabe and I had almost finished putting my clothes away when Bea came into my room.

“Hey you guys, dinner’s ready.” And with that, she took off again.

Gabe and I both stood up. I looked around my room, satisfied with how much we had accomplished in such little time. I smiled up at Gabe.

“Well, I think we got enough done for the day. I can do that rest tomorrow.”

He nodded.

“I’m happy you said that, because Bea and I kinda already decided we were taking you out to the movies tonight after dinner.”

I smiled, but then remembered I still had yet to phone my mom.

“Okay, sounds like a plan, but I have to phone my mom before we leave.”

Gabe nodded and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“That’s not a problem. Now let’s get some Swedish grub into you.”

I giggled lightly as we walked down the stairs to the rest of his waiting family.

Sitting at the dinner table, I was treated to a meal I knew well, spaghetti. The only difference being the meatballs, as Gabe pointed out.

“Those may look like regular meatballs, but they have the taste of Sweden. Delicious, I’m telling you.”

I smiled as I dug into my meal. I was happy with how well I fit in already. I was half expecting Gabe to hate me and Bea and I to not get along, but so far, it was going great.

After we were all finished eating, Mrs. Landeskog had stood up and began to clear the table.

“Do you need any help, Mrs. Landeskog?”

She turned around and smiled at me, her arms full of plates.

“Sure, that would be lovely. You know, you two could take pointers from Katy here.”

I looked over at Bea and Gabe. Bea gave me a mock-glare and stuck her tongue out at me, while Gabe just smiled at me. I followed their mom into the kitchen. As Mrs. Landeskog set the dishes on the counter, I began to run the water in the sink.

“So, how do you like your room?”

I turned to look at her over my shoulder.

“I love it, thank you so much. It’s great, Gabe and I got a lot of unpacking done already.”

She came up beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m happy to see you getting along with both of them so well already. You’ll probably see more of Gabe than Beatrice these next two weeks. Her boyfriend and her job take up a lot of her time.”

I thought back to what Bea said in the ride from the airport, but quickly shrugged it off. I was happy to be here, and as long as I had someone to spend some of my time with and not be completely, I was happy.

“Yeah, Gabe seems nice. I guess we’re all going out to the movies tonight.”

Her eyes widened as she turned to me.

“Well, if you’re going out, what are you doing here in the kitchen? Go get ready, sweetie.”

“I promise you, Mrs. Landeskog, it won’t take me long to get ready. Besides, I offered to help.”

She placed the plate that was in her hands back in the cupboard and turned to me.

“Please Katy, call me Cecelia, and it’s no trouble. Go, get ready. I can finish up in here.”

I didn’t know what to say, but I knew better than to argue with her on my first day here.

“if you insist. Thank you, Mrs. Lan--- I mean, Cecelia.”

I left the kitchen to see Gabe and Bea still sitting at the dinner table, talking. I didn’t want to interrupt their conversation, but when I walked closer to the table, they both stopped talking and looked at me.

“Let me guess, Mom found out we were going out and kicked you out so you could get ready?”

I smiled at Bea and nodded.

“Yepp. Apparently, it’s believed that it’ll take a girl forever to get ready. I wonder who put that idea in her head.”

Bea rolled her eyes.

“Please, Gabe only takes 10 minutes to get ready.”

Gabe feigned shock and ruffled up Bea’s hair as she squealed. Cecelia could be heard yelling, telling them to calm down. I just smiled at the interaction between the siblings. I turned to start walking up the stairs when I felt someone lightly pull on my arm. Turning my head, I saw the gorgeous grey/blue eyes of Gabe.

“Just so you know, we’re leaving in about an hour, so you have time to call your mom.”

I smiled and gave him a ‘thank you’ in the form of a nod. Walking into my room, I smiled to myself as I closed the door. I walked over to my bed, sat down and reached for my purse. I looked at the time on my phone and noticed that my mom would be just finishing dinner back home. I had hoped that she was done as I dialed her number into my phone. After three rings, she picked up.

“Katy? Is everything okay?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the anxiousness in her voice.

“Hi Mom, everything’s fine. I’m sorry I didn’t call when I first got here. I had fallen asleep during the drive from the airport.”

“That’s fine, sweetie. I’m just happy you called. So, did you meet the whole family yet? Do they seem nice?”

“Yeah, I met everyone. Bea picked me up from the airport. We picked up her brother Gabe on the way home, but I was asleep, so I didn’t meet him until we got to the house. Their parents were here when we got here. They were so welcoming. Gabe, Bea and I are going out to the movies in a bit.”

I heard a faint knock on my door as my mom spoke again. I got up off my bed and opened my door. It was Bea, holding up a few items of clothes with a smile on her face. I smirked as I let her in. I walked back over to my bed as I listened to my mom.

“Well, I’m happy you’re getting along with everyone there, sweetie. We miss you already. I miss you.”

I watched as Bea began to search through the make-up bag I had on the vanity beside my dresser.

“I miss you all, too. I hate to cut this short, but apparently there’s a dress code here when you go to the movies.” I joked as Bea turned around and flipped me off.

“Haha. Okay sweetie, I’ll let you go. Call me again soon. Love you.”

I repeated my mom’s last two words before hanging up the phone. I placed it on the bedside table and then turned my attention to Bea.

“You know, I like that we’re getting along and all, but I do have my own clothes.”

She turned around and smirked.

“Yes, I know that, but it’s your first night out in Sweden. We’re gonna find you a man.”

I rolled my eyes and walked up to where she was standing, surveying my make-up.

“It’s my first night in Sweden period, and I’d like to keep it low-key for a couple days. I’m not really one to get all dolled up, anyways.”

Bea’s mouth dropped as she placed her hand on her chest.

“I am not here to make you look like a doll. I’m here to help you grab the attention of the Swedes. My brother’s not going to be here for long, y’know.”

My eyes widened and I shook my head. I placed my hand on her shoulder and she took her gaze away from my make-up. She nodded her head and backed away from my dresser.

“I’m sorry. I just saw how well you two got along and I panicked. He’s only here for another month and I don’t want you getting too attached to him and then watch him leave.”

I admit, I was touched that Bea worried about my friendship with Gabe, but it was only my first day here. I had to shake my head a few times to sync myself back to reality. I sat on my bed and looked at Bea. She had a saddened look on her face, like she knew what I was going to say.

“Look Bea, I haven’t even been in this country for 12 hours yet. There’s no way to tell if anything’s going to happen between me and Gabe. Right now, we’re nothing more than friends and housemates. Now as for tonight,” I walked up and put most of m make-up back into my bag and handed her back the clothes she brought in, “I’m not looking for anything more than a nice time out with you and Gabe. I got the clothes for that covered.”

She smiled and pulled me in for a hug.

“I’m sorry to get so snarky with you, but I know how girls can get around Gabe. I’m only looking out for both of you.” I nodded as she continued. “Now, get dressed and meet us downstairs. We’re leaving in 25 minutes.”

I rolled my eyes as she turned to walk out.

“That’s plenty of time.”

After realizing that I didn’t remember which drawers had which clothes in it, it took me a longer time to get ready than I had hoped. I had chosen to wear a simple outfit, faded blue skinny jeans and a red t-shirt with a black and white striped cardigan over it. I slipped on a pair of black flats and applied minimal make-up on. I was ready to leave my room with just over 6 minutes to spare. When I walked into the living room, I saw that only Gabe was waiting. He looked up at me with a small smile, which I gladly returned.

“You look nice.” He said as he stood up from the couch. “Ready to go?”

I nodded, “Are we going to wait for Bea?”

He shook his head. “No need to, Erik picked her up about 10 minutes ago.”

He walked around the couch and began to venture towards the front door. I smiled and followed him out the door. When we got to the car, Gabe opened the passenger’s side door for me. Once he came around and hopped into the driver’s side and turned the engine on, he turned to me.

“So, did Bea tell you what movie we were seeing?”

I shook my head, not having a clue what I was in for.

“No idea, but I’m just happy to be out and about.”

He smiled. “Well, we’re going to see a special viewing of Stephen King’s It.”

I began to tense up a little bit. I was terrified of clowns, but I didn’t want to say anything and have Gabe or Bea, once she was told that I was a baby. My hands quickly began to fidget and as much as I wanted to, I didn’t know how to stop it. It didn’t take long for Gabe to notice.

“Hey, you okay?”

I looked over and gave him a small smile while nodding.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine.”

He pulled over slowly, bringing the car to a stop.

“You’re not okay. Is it the movie? Do you not want to see it? We don’t have to, we can go back to the house and just watch whatever’s on tv.”

I shook my head quickly, trying to hide my fear.

“No, really Gabe, I’m fine. It’s okay, let’s just go.”

He turned the engine on once again and continued down the road. I let out a long sigh of relief, knowing that he dropped the subject. At least I thought he did, until he turned into a driveway, only to pull back out onto the street, this time going back towards the house.

“I may be young, but I do know that when a woman says she’s fine and her hands are fidgeting like that, she’s lying and trying to hide it.”

I didn’t show it, but inside I was beaming. I was not expecting this, to find a guy in Sweden that could read me without me saying a word. It was different, but I liked it. I leaned back in the seat and looked out the window as Gabe pulled out his phone and dialed a number. He had it on speaker so he didn’t have to take his eyes off the road.

“Gabe? Where are you guys? The movie starts in 15 minutes.”

I heard Bea’s voice yell through the phone and I silently hoped that Gabe didn’t say anything about me being afraid of the movie.

“We’re not coming. Katy’s feeling a little more jet-lagged than she thought. She doesn’t want to fall asleep in the middle of the theatre.”

I looked over at Gabe and when his gaze met mine, I mouthed a ‘thank you’ and sent him a smile.

“Yeah, I don’t blame her. Well, if you two are both up when I get back, I’ll see you then. Don’t put any moves on her, Gabe. She needs to forget about you when you leave.”

Clearly she didn’t know she was on speaker phone, but I lightly chuckled at her words remembering the speech she gave me in my room. After Gabe said his goodbyes and ended the call, we had pulled into the driveway.

I felt the ca r come to a stop then heard Gabe sigh. I turned to look at him and he ran a hand over his face then through his hair. He looked at me with a sympathetic.

“I’m sorry about that. Bea’s a little protective sometimes.”

I smiled and shook my head.

“It’s okay, she’s your sister. She’s only looking out for your best interest. She gave me a small speech in my room, too.”

I didn’t know if I should’ve told him that Bea talked to me about him, but I didn’t want him to feel awkward around me after I just arrived in Sweden. I saw a smirk form on his face.

“Oh yeah? Did you comment on my handsome good looks, or my incredible hockey skills?”

I threw my head back and laughed, happy that the weird tension had left the car.

“I didn’t comment on anything, hot shot, so don’t go inflating your ego on me now.”

He smiled as he got out of the car. I took my seatbelt off and was about to open my door when I saw him point at me. He mouthed ‘stay put’, I rolled my eyes and did what I was told. He came around and opened my door and I stepped out of the car. We walked up to the house in silence, walking in to see his parents sitting in the living room watching tv. His mom looked at us with a smirk, while his dad waved as we took off our shoes.

“Well, that was a quick movie.” Cecelia said from the couch.

Gabe looked over at me before. “Katy’s a little more jet lagged than she thought, so we’re just gonna go downstairs and watch a movie.”

Cecelia nodded. “Oh okay. Well, don’t have the movie too loud and remember we’re going to the rink tomorrow, Gabe.”

He nodded as he guided me through the house. “I know, mom. We’ll be quiet. Good night.”

I said good night to Cecelia and Tony as Gabe and I walked through a door way leading to a flight of stairs which lead to what I could only assume was the basement. When Gabe and I reached the bottom of the stairs, I immediately found my spot on the large couch that looked like it could easily fit 6 people. Gabe walked over to the tower that held a bunch of DVD’s and asked over his shoulder.

“So, what do you wanna watch?”

I shrugged my shoulders, even though he couldn’t see me.

“Anything without clowns.”

He turned to face me and smirked, holding a movie case in his hands. I didn’t see what it was, but Gabe seemed pretty happy with his choice. He popped it into the DVD player and walked over to the couch. He sat down beside me and grabbed the remote off of the coffee table. I smiled at him when he sat down then switched my gaze back to the tv. When I saw the menu for Sherlock Holmes appear on the screen, a grin broke out on my face.

“I love this movie.”

Gabe smiled and leaned back into the couch. He stretched his arm across the back of the couch and on instinct, I leaned in him slightly.

“Guess I made a good choice, then.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up to someone lightly shaking me. My eyes fluttered open and I saw Gabe smiling down at me.

“You ready to get up, there, lazy bones?”

I smiled then stuck my tongue out at him.

“Why is it always you who wakes me from my slumber?”

He shrugged his shoulders as I sat up. I looked around the room I was in.

“I guess I didn’t make it up to my room last night, huh?”

Gabe chuckled and shook his head.

“Nope, you passed out half way through the movie. I didn’t want to disturb you too much, so I laid you down on this couch and left you here all night. Figured you would’ve woken up while I carried you up two floors.”

I nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I probably would.”

Suddenly, he jumped up from the couch and held his hand out for me. I raised my eyebrow at him. He smiled down at me.

“Don’t give me that look. You wanted Bea and I to show you around Sweden, and we’re still going to do that. Now get up so you can go upstairs and get ready.”

I rolled my eyes, grabbing his hand and being pulled up to stand on my feet.

“And just where are we going today? I thought you had to go to the rink.”

He pointed to the clock on the wall. I saw that it was almost noon.

“Been there, done that.” He said smiling.

I looked down and noticed that Gabe still had a hold of my hand. When he noticed what I was looking at, he quickly dropped my hand, blushing slightly.

“Uhh… Bea wants you upstairs. She’s got something for you to try on.”

I smiled as I passed by him. I walked through the living room and up to my room. I walked into my room to see Bea standing over my bed. I raised my eyebrow at her.

“What’s all this?”

Bea turned to look at me with a huge grin on her face.

“Well, look who decided to get up? Now pick one.” She pointed to the array of bathing suits that were laid out on my bed.

I shook my head. “Okay, but before I do, you wanna tell me where we’re going? Although judging by the bikinis, I can make an educated guess, Gabe wouldn’t tell me anything.”

She looked at me as if I had three or more heads. Her jaw dropped and she stretched her arms out in front of the bikinis once more.

“Isn’t in obvious? We’re going to the beach!”

I smiled as I walked over to by bed. I surveyed the selections and finally picked one. Picking it up, I turned to look at Bea for her opinion. She smiled and began to lightly clap her hands.

“Perfect.”

I shooed Bea out of my room so I could shower and then change. When I was ready to go, I skipped down the stairs to the living room. I had put a loose white t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts over the bikini I chose to wear. I met Gabe at the front door, slipping my sandals on. He smiled at me.

“You ready to go?”

I nodded happily. “Yepp, I’m all set.”

He stretched over my head to grab a bag in the coat closet. Throwing the bag on the ground, he reached in a pulled out a bottle. He handed it to me with a smirk on his face. I looked down at the bottle in my hands. It was a bottle of sunscreen. I looked back up at Gabe with a smile.

“Okay, now I’m all set.”

He smiled and put his arm around my shoulders.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

We left the house and I looked for Bea waiting for us at the car. Turns out, there was no one else around. Gabe gave me a sympathetic smile as he opened the car door for me.

“She left with Erik already. We’ll meet them there.”

I hopped in the car and we took off to the beach. Gabe and I got to the beach in about 15 minutes. We saw Bea with who I could only assume was Erik sitting on a blanket about 30 feet away from where we parked. When they saw us, Bea came running towards me.

“Please tell me you brought the sunscreen.”

I pulled the bottle out of my purse. She smiled and took it from me.

“Okay, Erik and I will use it, then you and Gabe can have it okay?”

I nodded and watched her run back to Erik.

“So, where do you wanna sit?” Gabe asked from behind me startling me.

I turned to face him and shrugged my shoulders.

“It doesn’t matter to me. Wherever there’s sun works for me.”

Gabe set up the blanket and the umbrella. I took my shirt off and then sat down on the blanket. Gabe walked over to Bea and Erik to grab the sunblock and walked back over. He sat down beside me and handed me the bottle.

“Ladies first.”

I had applied it everywhere I could reach, but was having trouble with my back. I felt the bottle get taken lightly from my hand. I slowly turned my gaze to see Gabe smiling at me.

“Here. Allow me.”

As wrong as the thoughts were that were running through my mind, one stuck out. It scared me the most.

I could get used to this…..