Status: One-Shot

If That Ain't Love...

001

Everywhere I go I keep her picture in my wallet like here…

Tyler sighed, rolling his shoulders as his feet stretched out in front of him. He had a full eleven hour flight ahead of him from Toronto to Bern, Switzerland. How he managed to sign up with a city that didn’t even have an airport itself, he didn’t know. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he leaned out a big and watched the flight attendants greet the other passengers as they filed on to the plane.

Why the hell were these people going to Switzerland? Maybe they were all hockey fans jumping across the water to see some real-ish hockey. He smiled to himself and tucked his body back into the chair. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out.

Have a safe flight. Email me when you land and don’t have any customs agents stick their finger in your ass looking for cocaine. ALSO! Bring me back a chocolate something. Except penis. DNW chocolate penis

He laughed loudly, but shut his lips tightly as he felt eyes staring at him. Hitting the space on the screen to reply, he sat back. You only want my chocolate penis.

Tyler expected the reply that followed as quickly as it did. Um. No. Especially because your “chocolate” would be Brownie’s brownie…and omg even as I type that I’m disgusted. ILU. Have fun. Skype me ASAP! <3

Turning his phone off, he smiled and put it back in his bag, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Girlfriend?” The lady next to him asked with a soft smile.

Tyler nodded as he turned to look at her. She looked like his grandmother, all small and gray-haired and adorable. “Fiance...” He blushed.

She beamed in his direction. “Not taking her to Switzerland with you?”

“I can't...it's a work thing. A no-girls-allowed kind of work thing.” He nodded. “Why are you going to Switzerland if you don't mind me asking?”

“My grand-daughter is getting married. Finally.” She shook her head. “Too much to talk about on an eleven hour flight. Talk to me about this girl who has you blushing, young man.” She smiled and turned to him, closing her book and put it in her lap.

Tyler smiled, ducking his chin to his chest, his feet shuffling under the seat. “Her name is Ashley...and she's....She's amazing. We've been on and off for a while...I'm not the best boyfriend, with my job and all, but she's stuck by me as much as she could, you know?”

The woman nodded and smiled to him. “Do you have a photo of her? She sounds like a keeper.”

Tyler nodded and reached into his bag at his feet, pulling his laptop out. A few months ago, he would have to dig through unnamed folders on his desktop, and filter thorough the dozens of sets of nude photos from other girls that happened to end up in his inbox. But today, there was a photo of them together as his desktop background. The Playboy model he used to bang on the side's photo-shoot had been replaced with a PhotoBooth snapshot of the two of them; her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders from behind, her hair in a messy pony-tail atop her head and his jersey swallowing her arms.

“Oh, she is beautiful.” The old-woman swooned, patting his arm. “Most definitely a keeper.”

Tyler blushed again and nodded, looking the photo over. “She is.” Closing the laptop, he looked to her, starting to tell the stories of their relationship.

~~~

Tyler smiled, seeing the girl sitting at the bar, her eyes fixated at the television above the array of bottles that beckoned to be consumed in one giant mixing bowl of death. Looking her over, he chuckled, shaking his head and headed over with Brad and Milan, passing through the Boston crowd with strange ease for a Saturday night. “When are you going to start wearing my number again?” He smiled, sitting beside her and took a glance to Milan who stood next to him with that shit-eating grin he had. She had his number on.

Without looking away from the TV, Ashley chuckled. “When are you going to start scoring goals again?"

“Um...Ouch?” He pouted, leaning over to kiss her cheek to which she smiled softly, finally looking to him.

“Nice game tonight.” She nodded, matter-of-factly. “I was almost rooting for you.”

“That’s so funny. Because I was thinking of you while I was trying to score in that big gaping hole. It just somehow reminded me of you.” Tyler quipped, trying to hide his smirk as Milan and Brad cackled behind him before leaning over to hug the girl happily.

“He’s just mad that’s not the only hole shutting him out lately. Don’t worry.” Brad smiled, sitting beside Tyler who shot a glare in his direction. “And with that, I’m ordering a beer. Anyone else?”

“Yeah, hit me with one” Milan smiled, taking the seat next to Ashley and kissing her cheek as he sat. “Nice shirt. Looks flattering on you.”

“Well thank you, Mr. Lucic. See Seguin, at least someone knows how to pay a compliment to a lady.” Ashley smiled hugging Milan tight, wrapping her arm around his shoulder when she was finished.

“A lady? In this bar? Where?” Tyler looked around trying to find this ‘lady’ she was speaking of.

Ashley rolled her eyes with a chuckle before looking back to the television. "Motherfucker..." She grumbled, sitting back up as her arm came off of Milan and she took a sip of her beer. "Fucking Richards. You'd think after all this time on the fucking ice he'd learn how to fucking block a shot."

Tyler brought his attention back to her and then to the TV above their heads. The score on the screen flashed 5-1, and only in the first period.

"Yeah...ouch..." The Kings we losing, pretty badly to the Canucks. "But at least Mike's stats are up now that Jeff is with him again and they are butt-fucking in the bathroom between periods" he tried to interject before she crumbled up a napkin and threw it at the television in frustration. Never mess with a girl and her hockey.

"You would know all about butt-fucking. I heard you and your boyfriends are having a grand old time hiding out in your condo." She nodded and could feel him roll his eyes. "Fuck this game." she turned her attention back to the boys who had just joined her. "And fuck Vancouver. Fuck Kesler and all his pretty looks. And Bieksa and his handsome features and..."

"You are aware we obliterated them last year...right?" Brad looked over cautiously to get a glare from Ashley. "I'm kidding. I'm kidding! Please, enjoy your hunk-fest." He was only half kidding.

She would have laughed, too, if she wasn't stressed out. Meet Ashley. The 22-year-old, photographer to the crappy pop-punk bands who wore better jeans then her, and ex-girlfriend to the one and only Tyler Seguin who was seated beside her, his arm around her chair, rubbing her back tenderly and aimlessly.

It was nothing out of the ordinary for them, even after they had broken up. To everyone, they were the couple that was always supposed to end up together somehow, someway. They complimented (or insulted each other, rather) perfectly and they way they fit...it just made sense even to them.

But, Tyler enjoyed the local cuisine a little too much and Ashley was not willing to move to Boston just for a relationship. She traveled, he traveled and it just made sense that they were not supposed to be together, at least right now.

Ashley was two years older than him, but they had the same group of friends in Brampton. She had met him when he was sixteen at a party. She was the cool, eighteen year old who had brought all her hot friends that were seniors in high school or freshmen in college and got the party supplied with beer. She would argue that was the reason he wanted to date her. Free booze.

Not long after that he left Bramton for junior hockey. He didn't just leave home. He left the country, heading all the way to the States. While the trip was only four hours, she never had the courage to hop in the car and take off and he never had the courage to ask. Even if his parents just insisted that she travel with them to the game. She was good reading the stats online.

She made it for one game though. One of the Whalers' playoff games against Mississuaga. He didn't know she was there and to this day she had never told him. It was better that way. The next time she saw him face to face, he was a whole new person. Fifteen pounds of muscle sculpted his frame, and a bubbly blonde was attached to his hip.

Summer cookouts at the Seguin household were a thing. She was invited, but when she saw that Tyler had a girl who wasn't her, she knew she wasn't welcome.

"So, how long are you in Boston for?" Tyler looked over, brushing her hair back off her shoulder to fix it.

"We have a day off tour tomorrow so I planned on getting drunk tonight and wandering aimlessly tomorrow and being all photographic tourist and shit." She nodded, looking to him.

"Wait, the band's here?" He looked around.

"No no. They went to find some cool, hipster club or something. You know me. I just needed a place with a TV and good beer." She smiled, blushing slightly as she led up the half-empty glass in front of her before glancing back to the TV. Same score.

Milan looked between Ashley and Tyler. "So, where are you staying though tonight? Like, on that shitty bus down by the venue?"

"Pretty much yeah." She laughed, looking to him. "I think they got a hotel but I don't feel like venturing solo to find it."

"Segs can stay with you." Milan nodded. "We don't have practice tomorrow so you guys can be all touristy together." No, he wasn't trying to get them back together. Not at all.

Ashley looked to Milan with an eyebrow raised before looking to Tyler and shrugging. "I don't mind. I'd like to hang out with you."

Something Tyler would never admit was that even though he was kind of a cheating dick through their relationship, he was still madly in love with this girl and just hoped that she felt the same way about him. So the fact she wanted to hang out with him while she was in town made his heart almost jump out of his chest and he had to think about his grandmother dying in order to hide his excitement.

"Yeah. Or you could just stay at my place and I'll make breakfast or something in the morning."

She smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah...that sounds like plan then. As long as you still have that big black comforter. And, wait. You? Breakfast? I thought Dunkin Donuts was supplying donuts and bagels to you every morning. Please don't touch a stove. Ever. Again."

“That was one time and it's not my fault that they didn't specify to vent the area before adding the wine to the pan.” Tyler huffed and sat back, grabbing the bottle at the bar. Thank God for being basically the hot young star of this team and not getting carded in local bars.

“No, it's only common sense.” She patted his leg and smiled. “I'll make pancakes...are you still a fan of pancakes?”

Tyler scoffed. “Excuse you. When have I ever not been a fan of pancakes? I'm Canadian.”

“...That has nothing to do with pancakes...” Milan looked over, shaking his head. “The boy will eat a garbage truck if you dumped it in front of him.”

“Not true. There could be condoms in there. And that would just be not only completely gross...no, that's just fucking gross.” Tyler shook his head.

Ashley watched the commercials on TV for a second at the end of the period and looked to him. “So if there was no condoms, you would eat it...my god, you're horrible.”

“Just supply me with Alka Seltzer or Zantac and I'm good. This young body can handle anything.” He smirked, patting his stomach.

Tyler wasn’t the world’s greatest cook, but he got by. Except that one time, that no one seemed to want to forget. He was trying to impress her with his culinary ability, and failed miserably. The pan had gone up in flames. The fire department had been called.  Ashley had laughed and laughed. The fire department had laughed and laughed. And then they hit on his girlfriend, and laughed some more. Assholes.

“Whatever. It’s the thought that counts anyway. And may I remind you, we ordered what you called, and I quote, the ‘worlds greatest pizza.’ So shut up.” He shook his head at Ashley as she laughed at him.

She smiled and stretched her hand over to his, taking it warmly in hers as she pulled it up and kissed the top. “Relax. We’re just fucking with you.”

He blushed. He shouldn’t have but he did, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning over and pressing his lips to hers.

Ashley kissed him back and mentally kicked herself for doing so. Any time her lips touched Tyler’s in the past, they would end up in bed for a day or so, he would confess all his feelings for her and a week later when she was on the road he would be doing the same to someone else. She would be depressed for a week and convince herself that she would never return back to him. Yet here she was with her lips back on his and her walls shattering down around her brick by brick. She sighed into his lips as she pressed deeper and felt his curl into a smile over her own. He won. He always won.

Tyler opened his eyes just slightly to take a look at her. Her eyes were closed and she was enjoying herself. Her hand clenched around his, their fingers inter-locking together. He won. He always won.

“Oh my god, Tyler! I didn’t think I’d see you in here!” The high-pitched tone was enough for Ashley to pull away and turn her head back to the TV, cursing herself. Her hand slipped out of his and wrapped around the cold glass sitting in front of her.

Blinking, Tyler turned and looked to the girl calling his name and slipping her hand up his back. “Oh…Hey…” What was her name? He knew he had been inside her once or twice but he always just called them “baby.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. “It’s so good to see you!”

He nodded, hugging her back. “Yeah! You too. How’s everything?” Who the hell was she?

“It’s good. School is getting harder but that’s because of finals.” She nodded, her hands resting on his neck as she pushed herself between the stools, filling the space between him and Ashley.
School. That didn’t narrow it down. He nodded, as if he agreed. “Yeah. Totally. I get that. Yeah”

Ashley rolled her eyes and looked to Milan sitting next to her. “Please tell me she is at least out of high school…?”

Milan looked up and over her head, looking the girl over and shrugged. “My guess is unlikely.” He sighed, rubbing her back as he slumped back down. “…I’m sorry…”

Ashley shrugged, looking back to her glass and then up to the TV. “Used to it.” And she was. The wave of blonde hair swooshed around in the corner of her eye and she inched closer to Milan as they watched the game and talked about his plan to pop the question (finally!) to Brittany.

It distracted her from the giggles and touching taking place next to her for a while, at least.

Watching the game end, Ashley finished her beer and pulled her hoodie off the back of the stool, hopping down off of it and pulled it over her arms, zipping it tight to her neck. “It was great seeing you boys again.” She smiled and hugged Milan and Brad tight, ignoring Tyler staring at her. It would be rude to hug him, especially with his female companion perched happily in his lap.

The pair hugged her tight as Tyler stared daggers into them. His girl. “What about me?”

Ashley’s head whipped around as she shoved her hands in her pockets. “You’re busy. Nice seeing you too, Seguin.”

Like a knife through his heart, his body sunk into the stool as he watched her walk toward the door. Three, four, five more steps and the door closed behind her. It would be three days later that Ashley found a photo of them on his Facebook with the caption ‘love her.’

--

Tyler came back from the bathroom, sitting back down next to the older woman who was waiting patiently to ask him more questions. “But what happened with this girl? I mean, obviously you and Ashley are together now, but I can’t see you being a hump and dump kind of guy.”

He cackled at her use of terminology, accidently waking the sleeping man next to them. He held up his hand as a silent ‘sorry’ and turned back to her. “No… But I am a pathological cheater.” He sighed. I cheated on her, and then on that girl after.”

“You’re young…” She left the rest of the sentence open to his interpretation.

“And stupid.” He nodded.

“Well you said it, not me. And you’re not stupid, Tyler. You were just trying to find the right girl. And you have now.” She patted his wrist. “I’m interested in how you convinced her…”

He smiled and blushed deeply, leaning back. “Well…I can’t take all the credit, but….”

--

Cassidy giggled, jumping on Tyler’s back as they walked though the store, Candace trotting behind them tapping away on her phone. “Ty, you’re gonna have to be all romantic. Like, Adam Sandler in 50 First Dates romantic.” She nodded, wrapping her arms around his throat.

“I don’t do romantic, Cass…” He grumbled, hiking her up higher on his back.

Candace rolled her eyes. “Um. Hello. You have two younger sisters who live and breathe rom-coms and Jake Gyllenhall.”

“But she’s gonna know if you did it. I want it to be my side of romantic.” He sighed, walking up and down the bedding aisle.

“No. Absolutely not. I will not let you tell a girl you’re in love with her with her own personalized Bruins Jersey, a bottle of Grey Goose and a pack of condoms. No.” Candace rolled her eyes, pushing past him as she shoved her phone in her back pocket. “Let me work.” He hand came out in front of him and he rose a brow. “Credit Card, dork.” She huffed, snatching it from his hand and taking the cart. “Go away. Take Cass to buy a video game or something.”

Cassidy’s face lit up. “Ty! The new Final Fantasy!  Pleaseeee.” She pouted, hugging him tighter. He grumbled and nodded, heading out. At least he loved them.

The afternoon shopping trip ended with Cassidy getting about ten new video games, titles of which he had never heard of but she just insisted she “had to have, and Candace spending an obscene amount of money on things he didn’t even know how to work. What was the big deal about Egyptian cotton and why would it “totally impress Ashley?” The bottle of Grey Goose and a pack of condoms were totally sounding like the less-scary alternative.

Tyler looked over the bags as they were loaded into the trunk of his truck. “…This is a lot more than just sheets, Candace.”

“Shut up and trust me. When she is all ‘oh Tyler, you’re so handsome! I love you too! Let’s make babies!’ later tonight, you won’t even worry about the price tag.” She smiled and patted his back.

“She’s going to look at all of this and think I’m trying too hard. This…this isn’t us.” He opened a bag and shook his head.

“And look how you two have worked out in the past. Look, Mom loves her, Dad loves her, we love her. And we want you guys to be together. Trust us on this one. Right, Cass?” Candace looked to their baby sister, already in the backseat ripping the plastic off her new games.

“Yeah!” She turned and sat on her knees, looking at Tyler. “She helps me with my homework. Because Candace is stupid and can’t do fractions.”

“Ignoring that,” Candace shook her head. “She’s a part of this family and has been for the past … what three years now? And you guys were only together an actual year of that.”

“It was less than that…” He sighed, closing the trunk and heading to the driver’s seat.

"Still." She climbed into the passenger side and buckled herself in. "You love her. She loves you. If she didn't she wouldn't be around all the time."

He shrugged, starting the truck. "I just think she's going to look at all of it...and just tell me to get a life. Look at how much I've screwed up over the past four years. If it were you, would you take the guy back?"

"No." she shook her head. "I don't stand for cheating. But she's still here, Ty. The way she looks at you when you're not looking. The way you look at her when she's not looking. It just...it makes sense, okay?"

Tyler nodded and drove back to his condo, letting Candace in with all the bags. "Just don't destroy my house too bad, okay?"

She smiled and nodded, kissing his cheek through the window. "No problem. Call me when you're on your way back."

He nodded and headed to his mom's house, to pick up the trays of food she had made for him all day. All he had to do was heat it up and claim he was the chef. Getting back to his condo, he came in, blinking. Candace was a genius.

Inside his condo, the shadows of his furniture bounced off the walls from the candles on the coffee table. His entire living room was clean and the expensive sheet was thrown over the dark couch making it look elegant and inviting. "....Wow."

Candace came in and smiled, looking him over as she wiped her hands on her shorts, taking the bags of food from him. "You're welcome."

"No...seriously...this is awesome." he nodded, toeing his shoes off and walked into the living room, looking around. There were yellow lilies, Ashley's favorite on the table and scattered through the hallway. There was a soft vanilla scent lingering in the air which he didn't want the garlic in the sauce his mom made to destroy. Everything was perfect.

"It's simple. Elegant. Beautiful. Like her. She's not going to remember the little details of the night, Ty, so don't stress over them. She's going to remember you, and you finally sealing the deal." She smiled, patting his back. "I want pictures."

He nodded, hugging her tight and thanked her again, as she headed out of his condo and into the car of a friend she had picking her up.

Tonight was more pressure than Game 7 Stanley Cup final and he was shaking. This was it.

--

Ashley arrived to Tyler's condo at seven-thirty. He told her seven, but he figured a half hour of waiting was punishment for his infidelity. He buzzed her up, smoothing his dark gray t-shirt down, before opening the door. He leaned against the door frame and took her in. He light brown hair was slightly disheveled in it’s ponytail, her blue eyes were flickering and her face was flushed.

"Those stairs getting harder for you there, Ash?" He chuckled.

"You calling me fat?" she rose a brow with a hand on her hip at the end of the hall. Nice going, Tyler.

"No. Just old." He winked. Because that was better.

She rolled her eyes and continued walking to the door. "What do you want, Tyler? I have photos to edit on a deadline and I don't have time to be one of your hook ups right now."

“Hey,” he said, giving her that half smile that made her knees weak.

Ashley looked him over, slowly realizing that this was not a "hook-up" dinner. She smiled shyly, noting the way his hair stuck out in the oddest places. His bare feet were sticking out of the black jeans that complimented well with his deep gray t-shirt, causing him to look slightly sexy (but only slightly) and her eyes traveled back to his smile and his slightly dilated eyes and she heard static in her ears.

“Hi,” she replied. He backed away and held his arm out indicating that she should walk inside. As she did so, she removed her hoodie, taking a sniff of the air. "Cooking again? Should I take out my phone now?"

He rolled his eyes, hanging her hoodie up for her. "Leave your phone elsewhere. And I've gotten better you know..."

She nodded, sniffing again. "You're mom made it."

"Shut up." He kissed her cheek and guided her into the living room. "Have a seat. I'll have the food out in a minute."

Ashley looked around the room and blinked, feeling his hand disappear from her back leaving her alone in the empty, too-romantic space. What the hell was going on? "I...uh... Like what you've done with the place..." She sat on the couch, leaning forward to pick up a flower and brought it to her nose. He remembered.

"Yeah. Trying something new. Glad you like it." he smiled, poking his head out of the kitchen, watching her trace the flower in her hand. Heading back in, he grabbed two plates and walked into the living room. "Order up."

"Looks good." She nodded, taking the plate from him. "Tell your mom thank you."

He chuckled and nodded, kissing her head and sat beside her. "Will do."

Ashley watched him, seeing his jaw twitch a little. He was nervous. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Why?" He looked to her.

She shrugged, looking to her plate. "No reason." She knew Tyler better than he thought she did.

He nodded, looking to her. They ate in silence, hands occasionally brushing as they reached for the glass of wine on the table. "..Are you okay?" Tyler finally asked.

Ashley shook her head. "No...I don't...I don't know what all this is, Tyler. I don't know why you're doing this when you and I both know that in a month from now you'll be fucking someone else. This is too-romantic for a friendly dinner. We can't get back together. I can't get back together with you."

Tyler blinked. This evening was not going as he had planned. "But...why?"

Ashley placed her glass down and hung her head. "Because it hurts me to feel like I can’t be the one who can make you smile anymore. I don’t know if you can understand that, you probably can’t. You should always bring your friends in when no one else can be there to help you, but if you want a distraction, why not come to 'the girl'? I fight so much because I want to be that person and I know that I'm not. It hurts that I have to hear about your conquests on Facebook, and it hurts even more that I can't make you happy. I'm numb to everything now, Tyler. My heart cant possibly break any more. It hurts me to hear you say that you don't care anymore because I care about every fucking limb that hurts you. I know. I know you're so fucking tired of hearing the same old shit and you don't want to hear it any more. Which is why I can't do this anymore. I can't be 'convenient' for you when you're home."

On complete impulse, Tyler leaned forward and placed his big, soft lips on hers in an awkward sort of kiss. Ashley kept her eyes open as she opened her mouth slightly to kiss him back. The pair stayed like that for a few minutes before Tyler got the courage to pull himself away.

Ashley exhaled deeply, she had never been kissed like that in her life. Tyler felt himself blush. The kiss was an experiment. He tried to remember how he felt when he kissed the other girls while he kissed Ashley. All kinds of repressed emotions came flowing from his brain and everything good about his life with Ashley was heartbreakingly obvious.

“I’m too afraid...” Tyler whispered.

“I’m fucking terrified,” Aly whispered back. She leaned forward and kissed him again, this time she shut her eyes. She wanted to be sure of what she was feeling, that it wasn’t simply going to be about how alluring Tyler was, she needed it to be so much more. Tyler placed his hand on her knee before sliding it up her thigh, resting it at the top.

Not wanting to break their kiss, it was important now to Ashley that she be completely immersed in what they were feeling. She got out of her sitting position and carefully straddled his lap, wrapping her thin legs around his back. Tyler responded by wrapping his arms around her back and holding her as tightly as he could.

Tyler struggled no more, he let everything hostile he was feeling go. He reached up and pulled her hair from the elastic and wrapped his fingers around every strand he could. The pair kissed for what must’ve been hours, when Tyler could barely remember a time he had ever kissed her before. He pulled away and tried in earnest to catch his breath as she did the same. He offered her the biggest grin he had, and it was more than enough to make Ashley's heart flutter.

"I love you, Ashley. More than love you. I'm in love with you. I keep coming back because every girl isn't you. I don't know why I leave in the first place, but I know I don't want to go anywhere anymore. You're it for me. This is all I want. You and me together forever." He looked up to her, brushing her hair back off her face. "I know I'm an ass. I know I've done some fucked up shit and I've asked for forgiveness and second and third and fourth and fifth chances since I can remember. But this is it. This is the last time I'll ask for anything. Because it's important. Because it's the last question I ever want to ask you." He moved her off his lap and sat her down on the couch beside him, digging into his pocket and pulled out the small black velvet box.

"Ashley Rose Thomas, when I first talked to you at Callie's party, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I thought there was no way that this gorgeous, brilliant woman would ever be caught dead talking to a boring hockey player like me. I was too scared to do much of anything for so long. But you told me I would make it in the NHL one day. You believed in me. You told me I was going to be 'that asshole' who won a cup his rookie year. And I did. Because I know you believe in me. You make me believe in myself. And those are just a few of the reasons I'm hoping you'll spend the rest of your life with me. Will you marry me?"

--

Tyler got off the plane in Toronto. He had spent three months in Switzerland lighting up the lamp as much as he could and becoming a key player. Plus now with Kaner by his side the dynamic duo were taking Switzerland to work.

Moving through customs, he looked into the crowd of people. Some recognized him and gave sympathetic looks. Yeah, the lock out was still going on. But he had two weeks home to see family and friends and all that jazz. He smiled appreciatively to them as he made his way down the tunnel.
He saw her standing here, looking at her phone, her body swallowed by the oversized Bruins pullover he had left behind. Beaming, he took strides toward her.

Feeling something coming at her, Ashley looked up and beamed, shoving her phone in the front pocket and ran to him, jumping into his arms as her legs and arms wrapped him up. "I missed you..." She mumbled into his neck, burying her face into his warmth.

Tyler held her up, his arms securely under her rear as his forehead came down and rested on her shoulder. "I missed you. So much."

She smiled and picked her head up, cupping his face in her hands and kissed him deeply, for all he was worth. The sun caught the reflection of the diamond on her hand and it bounced off the wall next to them. Neither of them noticed or cared about the eyes of the passerby's that were staring and pointing. "You need a shave." She giggled, stroking his jaw line.

"I think it makes me look sophisticated." He jutted his chin out, scratching at it.

"It makes you look like a homeless man who just hit puberty." She nodded, kissing him again.

Call it dumb, call it luck, call it love or whatever you call it...they were it.


It's gonna be a long drive home but I know as soon as I arrive home
And I open the door take off my coat and throw my bag on the floor
She'll be back into my arms once more for sure
♠ ♠ ♠
Lockout stories make me sob.