I Never Told You

It had been two days since Gabe and I kissed and we haven’t really had time to talk about it, or about us. Everything was kind of up in the air. Bea and I were woken up by a phone call from Cecelia. Gabe had set tickets aside for the four of us to go to his game. His last home game before he had a few days off for Christmas. After Bea hung up the phone, she looked at the clock. Her eyes widened at the time.

“Shit! We only have 2 hours!”

I laughed. “It’s not going to take you that long to get ready, you know.”

She turned her to glare at me once she stood up from her bed. “Shush you. I’m just trying to be precautious. I don’t want to look like a slob.”

I rolled my eyes. “Aren’t you wearing a jersey anyway?”

She nodded. “But that’s only part of my outfit. I still have to figure out pants, shoes and what to do with my hair.”

I hopped out of bed and walked over to her. “Why don’t you hop in the shower and I’ll pick out your pants and shoes?”

She gave me a look of hesitance. “Uhhh…”

“Come on,” I pleaded. “This is the one way we know we’re going to be on time.”

I didn’t expect her to give in so easily, seeing as she was very picky on what clothes she wore. Hell, she usually picked out all of my outfits. She scurried into the bathroom and began to get herself “beautified” as she would say. I went through her luggage and pulled out a nice pair of jeans. Seeing that Bea brought a separate bags just for shoes, I walked over to that. Knowing what the Avalanche jerseys looked like, I pulled out ones that would match, but not look overly “matchy-matchy.” After I had her outfit planned out, I decided to start on mine. I didn’t have a jersey to wear, so I had to get a whole ensemble out. I was almost finished when I heard the bathroom door open. All I had to pick out was shoes. Bea walked out in a towel and looked over the pants and shoes I had set out.

“Oh, very nice.” She smiled at me. “Bathroom’s free.”

I nodded towards her and walked passed her to the bathroom.

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Gabe’s POV

Two days. I hadn’t realized just how much I missed Katy until she kissed me two days ago. We had agreed that we weren’t going to say anything to anyone about it. That was a little hard for me. I guess it was written “all over my face” when I got home after driving around with Katy.

“Whoa! Either you got your panties in a bunch or you got into someone’s panties?” Matt laughed as I walked through the door.

“Neither. I’m gonna hit the sack. What time is practice tomorrow?”

“10, and what are you not telling me?” He smirked.

“Nothing, I’m just tired. My sister wanted to argue over whose name should go first on the card.” I said, as I began to walk to my bedroom.

The comments continued from Matt, but I refused to bite my tongue, no matter how hard it had become. It was really awkward timing for that kiss. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to see Katy until the day before the family dinner, and that would only be at the arena. We had texted as much as we could. It was nice to have Katy back in my life. I don’t know why I had stopped texting her. I knew that she was busy with school, but the busier I got, the later my texts or phone calls got. I didn’t think she would want to be bothered or woken up if she was sleeping. There was quite the hour difference between us when she was in Sweden, so I usually waited until she texted me first. But that slowly started to stop.

The day before the dinner, I was pacing around my apartment. With my phone in one hand and a picture in another, I had a decision to make.

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Katy’s POV

Bea and I were just about ready to leave when our hotel phone rang. I raised an eyebrow to Bea. She shrugged her shoulders, so I picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Is this Katy?”

I didn’t know who I was talking to, so I was in no mood to give away my identity.

“Um, no. She’s not here right now. Can I ask who’s speaking?”

“It’s Lisa at the front desk. There’s a package down here for her. I was wonderingif we could send it up.”

I thought for a second, trying to come up with the best response. “Uhh, hang on let me ask her roommate.” I put my hand over the end of the phone and waited for a second. Bea raised an eyebrow at me, but I just waved her off. Turning my attention back to the phone, I spoke again. “Yes, that would be fine. Send it up.”

“Great. It will be up there shortly.”

“Great. Um, just one last question. Who is it from?”

“I was told not to say, ma’am. The person said that Katy would know when she saw it.”

I rolled my eyes. This wasn’t getting me anywhere.

“Okay, thank you.”

I hung up the phone and turned to Bea. “Apparently, I have a package coming.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, it can only be from one person.” I raised an eyebrow at her, egging her to continue. “Gabe, of course.”

I thought about it, and it seemed to make sense. But why would he send me a package? He could just call me or come to the hotel. I thought. Not even two minutes after I got off the phone with the front desk, a knock came to the door. Bea went to answer it as I walked into the bathroom to lightly touch up my make-up and hair. Leaving the bathroom, I saw a box on my bed, opened up. Bea smiled at me.

“Well, it looks like I was right. It’s from Gabe. There’s a letter with it.”

I walked over to the box and looked inside. There was a t-shirt. I picked it up and saw that it was a shersey, clad with Gabe’s name and number. Just as Bea said, there was a letter with it.

“How do you know that this is from Gabe?”

She picked up the note out of the box and handed it to me. “Handwriting.”

I slowly nodded and turned to sit on the bed. I held the note in my hands and just stared at it.

“Well?” I looked up at Bea, who had a look of confusion on her face. “Are you going to open it or what?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Uhh…” I looked over at the shirt and picked it up. “Um, no I don’t think so. Not right now.”

“But, you are going to put that shirt on? Man, you two are perfect for each other. You’re both so confusing.”

I rolled my eyes and walked past her and back into the bathroom. I quickly changed the shirt that I had on and slipped on the new shirt. After I smoothed out the shirt and looked at it in the mirror. I was still so confused as to why Gabe would give me this. Picking up the letter that I had slipped into my pocket before I walked in to change, I quickly ripped open the envelope and sat down on top of the toilet lid. Looking over the letter, I could feel the smile grow on my face.

“Hey, where did that letter go?” I heard Bea from outside the door. “OH!” She gasped, “you took it in there! What does it say?!”

I rolled my eyes and looked over the words of the letter. I was positive that Gabe didn’t want Bea to know what was in the letter, so I thought fast.

“It just says that… he was sorry that he couldn’t get a jersey in time.” I rolled my eyes to myself. That’s all you could think of? I argued with myself. I opened the bathroom door and saw Bea with a confused look on her face.

“Seriously? That’s what the ‘secret, sealed letter’ said?”

I nodded. “Yepp, I was a little shocked. I didn’t think he would need to seal it. Hell, I wasn’t even expecting anything at all. I don’t know why he had to have it delivered.”

“Well, he is quite busy on game days. Maybe he just wanted you to have something to wear for the game.”

I shrugged my shoulders. ‘Yeah, I guess.”

“But,” Bea pondered while looking at me. “I still don’t understand why he’d go out of his way to buy you a shersey.”

Again, I shrugged my shoulders. “Beats me.”

“Something happened when I left you guys the other day, didn’t it? You said that nothing happened other than you guys having a good talk.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s all that happened.” I picked up my purse and slipped my coat and boots on. “Didn’t you say that we were running late?”

Bea looked at her cell to check the time. Her eyes widened. “Oh shit! My parents will be waiting for us in the lobby by now. Let’s go.”

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Gabe’s POV

The game was in full swing and we were on our way back to the locker room for the first intermission. I sat down in my stall and Ryan sat down in his stall beside me.

“So, what was up with you earlier today? You were acting all… weird.”

“He’s hung up on some chick. It’s about time, if you ask me.” Matt yelled out from the opposite side of the room.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not hung up on anyone. I’m just thinking about my family dinner tomorrow.”

“Why are you worried? Your whole family is here. Aren’t they supposed to be coming over to our place tonight to help start the turkey and what-not?”

I nodded. And Katy would be there, too. I thought to myself. “Yeah, I’m just hoping that it will all go smoothly. You’re flying out tonight, right?”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, you don’t have to worry about me. Better than that, your sister won’t have to worry about me.”

I smirked. “Yeah, that’s a big weight off my shoulders.”

“But that Katy, on the other hand. What’s she like? She didn’t seem like she was attached to anyone. Can I stay for her?”

I could feel my blood start to slowly boil, but I didn’t want to give anything away. “I think your mom would miss you a little too much there, bud.”

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Katy’s POV

The boys were just coming back out on the ice for the second period. They were up by a goal. Tony had just come back with our drink re-fills. He gave me a little confused look.

“So, Katy, when did you get that shirt?”

“Oh, she,” I slapped my hand over Bea’s mouth.

“I picked it up yesterday. Bea told me that since I was part of the family for a little while, I should wear something to fit in. I didn’t have enough money for a jersey, so I got this instead. Sorry if I’m stepping on any toes.”

“Oh no, sweetheart,” Cecelia laughed, “it’s perfectly fine. You are a member of our family. We’re happy that you support Gabe as much as we do.”

I smiled at her and Tony before removing my hand from Bea’s mouth, sending her a death glare. She raised an eyebrow at me.

“Why the hell didn’t you just tell them that Gabe sent you the shirt?” She whispered towards me.

“Because! I don’t want to make things…awkward.” I whispered back.

“Why would it be..? OH!”

I rolled my eyes. “Not like that. I just don’t want them to think that.”

Bea shrugged her shoulders. “It wouldn’t bother them, especially not my mom. She loves you. You’re like her dream date for Gabe.”

I pondered on her words as I brought my focus back to the ice, my eyes lingering on the number 92.

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Gabe’s POV

After the game, and a huge win going into our Christmas break, we all piled into the locker room. Of course, the media only gave us a few moments to ourselves to celebrate before they all came in for interviews. I had a few come up to me, asking me how it felt to have a huge 4-point game going into Christmas break. Just as I was wrapping up the last interview, I saw that my family had walked into the locker room. I saw Matt eyeing up Katy, and I couldn’t hide the smirk when he looked over her shirt. The interviewer thanked me and walked away. I left my stall and walked over to my family. My mom and dad met me with hugs and a “great game, son.” Bea pulled me in for a tight hug. Pulling away from Bea, I looked over at Katy. She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“Good game.” She whispered to me, placing a small kiss on my cheek. She pulled away and I looked at her shirt with a smile.

“Nice shirt.” She looked up at me with a smirk.

“Well, I had to fit in with the family, you know.”

I wanted to say something, but my thoughts were cut off by a voice.

“Katy went out and bought that shirt to feel a part of the family, isn’t that nice, Gabe?” I looked over with my mom with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s awesome.”

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Katy’s POV

I looked up at Gabe as he answered Cecelia. I couldn’t read his facial expression, but he didn’t seem to mind that I hid that he had bought me the shirt. After making some small talk with some of his teammates, we finally left the arena. Tony and Cecelia left with Gabe in his car. Bea and I were to go back to the hotel to gather up the gifts and such to bring them to Gabe’s. We were having what would be called the “typical family Christmas Eve-eve.” We were all going to spend the night at Gabe’s and watch Christmas movies in our pajamas before we go to bed. At least, that’s what the plan was 2 days prior.

When Bea and I arrived at Gabe’s apartment, we could hear laughter coming from the kitchen. We took our boots off and Bea grabbed the bags from my hands.

“Here, I’ll put these by the tree.”

I nodded toward her and watched her walk away. I slipped off my jacket and was looking for a place to hang it up. I felt something grab onto the jacket. Turning my head, I saw Gabe standing behind me. He helped pull the jacket the rest of the way down my arms.

“Here, I’ll take that.” He hung it up on a hook behind him and then grabbed my hand and began walking me through the apartment. “I’m glad I picked the right size.” He said looking down at my shirt once again. I looked over my shoulder to see if Bea saw us then smiled up at him.

“Bea opened it before I got to it.” His eyes widened.

“She didn’t read the..?”

“No,” I cut him off. “She saw the envelope, but I told her you just said that you were sorry it wasn’t a jersey.” I smirked.

“Well,” he smirked down at me, “I do wish it was a jersey, but you can wear this more often than a jersey.”

I nodded. “That’s true. So, what are your parents laughing about in there?”

“I don’t know, probably some recipe of my mom’s.” He said shrugging his shoulders. “They can get pretty tricky sometimes. She always gets things started the night before.” He continued walking me through the apartment until we reached a door. He stopped and turned to me. “So, this is your room. For once on this trip, you don’t have to share with Bea.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that bad sharing with her, you know. A lot has changed since you left Sweden.”

He smiled and opened the door. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Here’s your bag.” I didn’t even notice that he picked up my bag, or that he even saw it in the doorway. He turned and closed the door. I was left in my room, completely confused.

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Gabe’s POV

I walked away from Katy’s room feeling like a complete fool. I had planned to fulfill the promise that I wrote in the letter that I sent with the t-shirt. I wanted to show Katy that I will not forget about her when she leaves. However, something was still holding me back. I wasn’t sure if it was if my family would accept me and Katy together, or if I was scared that I wouldn’t be everything she would ask of me. I walked into the living room and saw Bea “setting up” the gifts under the tree. She had this fascination with making the gifts look “pretty” before we opened them. She must have heard my footsteps because she turned to look at me.

“Where’s Katy? Mom said she could pick out the first movie.”

I sat down on the couch with a sigh. “She’s in her room, getting changed, I think.”

Bea gave me an odd look then stood up from the floor. “Okay, I’m going to get changed myself.” She walked passed me and down the hall. I leaned back into the couch and sighed.

“Gabe? Sweetie, are you okay?” I opened my eyes and saw my mom sitting beside me on the couch, eyes full of concern.

“Yeah, mom, I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

“Well, what if pushed the movies to tomorrow night? We could all use the sleep, I’m sure.”

I sighed. “Well, if it’s okay with everyone else. I don’t want to ruin everyone’s plans.”

“No, it’s fine. You need your sleep. Especially with the big Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow.”

I nodded and stood up from the couch. “Yeah, you’re right. I need energy to eat all that food.”

She smiled at me. “You just go to bed. I’ll tell the girls.”

I shook my head. “I’ll tell them. I’m going to walk right by them on my way to bed, anyways.”

She nodded and pulled me in for a short hug. She placed a soft kiss on my cheek.

“Good night sweetie.”

I repeated her first two words and made my way down the hallway. I stopped at Bea’s room first and knocked on the door. I stood there for about 30 seconds, and didn’t get an answer, so I walked over to Katy’s room. I knocked on the door and Bea answered.

“We’re just about ready to come out.”

I shook my head. “No need. We’re not doing the movies tonight. Everyone needs sleep, so we’ll do them after the dinner tomorrow.”

Bea smiled and nodded. “Oh, okay. We’re both actually pretty tired so that works. Night, Gabe.”

I looked past Bea and locked eyes with Katy. The confusion I felt was evident in her eyes.

“Good night.” I stepped away from the door and walked into my room. Once I settled into my bed, I fell asleep with one thought in mind. I will keep my promise.

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the next morning

Katy’s POV

After a restless sleep, I woke up with a knock on my door. Slowly and with my eyes only half open, I walked over to the door. Opening it, I didn’t get to see who it was, before I felt a pair of lips capture mine. Pulling away, I looked up into the eyes of Gabe. He was smiling down at me.

“Merry Christmas Eve.” His eyes darted upwards and I saw he was holding mistletoe above our heads. He leaned in once more and his soft lips met mine once again. The kiss was getting heated. Gabe had dropped the mistletoe and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tighter to him. I reached my arms up to wrap around his neck. My fingers began to play in his hair, when I heard something from behind us. I pulled away from Gabe and looked over his shoulder. When I saw who was standing behind him, my eyes widened.

“Oh my!”

Cecelia