But You're the One I Want

Setting her bags down in the basically empty apartment made her feel happy. Riley was finally in Chicago and ready to see what it's like living with Nick. Her things were suppose to arrive in a couple days, so Nick said that she could share a bed with him. Which of course she didn't deny that offer. He walked up behind her and sighed.

"Yeah it's pretty bare, but you'll spice it up right?"

"Why do I have a feeling that the only reason you offered for me to live with you was because you wanted me to decorate your apartment."

"Hey, that's not the only reason." He winked at her before picking up her three bags she had and walking to her new room. She followed him down to the end of the hall where her room would be. He opened the door and made a dramatic entrance like the room was some mansion. "Obviously the bed doesn't have a mattress so that is why you'll be sleeping with me for a couple days. You get your own bathroom." He pointed to it. "Lucky son of a bitch," he mumbled. "And then there's your closet." Nick left the room after to let Riley put away some of the clothes and necessities she would need for the first couple days.

She organized the closet and then left to go in the living room where Nick was. He said tonight they were going out for pizza, and tomorrow is when she would meet all the players, and to say she was nervous was an understatement. When people disliked her, she kind of would have a melt down.

Riley snatched the remote from him and flipped through several channels. After five times of going through all of them, she sighed and tossed the remote back onto his lap. "Can we eat yet? I'm starved." Nick nodded and stood up heading to the door and slipping on his shoes, and Riley doing the same. After leaving the building they started to walk to the little pizza place. Apparently it wasn't far from the apartment building they were living at. "So this place is good, right?"

"The best," Nick responded. A group of teenage boys were standing by a store and checked Riley out as they walked by. Nick wrapped his arm around her and forcefully brought her to his side. He hated when other people looked at Riley like that. He was hers. "I think it might be better than Wildfire."

She gasped. "Then I have to try this!" Wildfire was a restaurant in Eden Prairie that both of them would visit when they were younger. When Nick and Riley met each other, that's usually where they would have dinner or lunch. They got seated and Nick quickly ordered a beer for himself, a root beer for Riley, and a large pepperoni pizza. "Why can't I have a beer," Riley whined and gave him puppy eyes.

"I'll let you have a sip of mine," he whispered and put a hand through his hair. He hated when she looked at him like that; he always caved. The door opened and Nick looked up, seeing the guys from earlier. He reached over, grabbing Riley's hand. She raised an eyebrow at him but he just mouthed, 'go with it'.

The guys passed, one looking back at Riley at winking at her, causing her to blush. Nick couldn't help but be jealous, whenever he winked at her she never blushed or got so flustered.

"I don't think you should go for those guys," Nick said, earning her attention back.

"And why's that?"

Nick sighed. "Well they're like sixteen, so a minor," he stated, making Riley roll her eyes. "And I don't think some high school jocks are your type."

She pulled her hand away and sighed. She rested them in her lap as he stared intently at her. The pizza came, but neither of them dared to move as they continued to stare. He swallowed being nervous at her heated glare. His hand slowly reached out to take a slice, but she quickly smacked his hand away to take the same slice he wanted. Nick laughed and shook his head, glad that she didn't look like she wanted to kill him. They didn't talk the rest of the dinner, but only because they were stuffing their face.

"That was delicious," she moaned and rubbed her now full stomach. "I'm coming here everyday."

Nick laughed and stood up from the booth. He quickly set out a twenty and grabbed Riley with him. He didn't want her to get any second thoughts and go over to those guys.

"Hey, I didn't get their number!" She joked as they stepped outside. Nick grabbed her hand and they started walking to the shore of Lake Michigan instead. He glared at her and she just laughed. "Why are you so worked up about that anyways? I'm just trying to get a boyfriend."

Nick swallowed and shrugged his shoulders. "I just don't want to share you." Riley stuck her tongue out briefly to the side of his head. "You're my best friend and living with me. I can't picture you bringing home a guy."

Riley snorted and shook her head. They walked closer to the water that was going up just by their feet. The wind blowing off made the air cooler and Riley started to shiver. She pulled away her hand to cover her bare arms. Nick looked at her and swiftly took off his Gopher sweatshirt. She snatched it up and pulled it over her body, being like in a blanket of his warmth and smell. She inhaled through her nose, closing her eyes. He smelled so good. Nick took a step closer, wrapping both his arms around her.

"I'm glad you came here," he whispered and kissed the top of her head.



The first game of the season tonight was home in Chicago, and the Blackhawks were preparing. Nick made mac 'n cheese three hours before he was suppose to be at the rink, and took an hour nap after. He said it was his pregrame rituals and to not be disturbed. He sent Riley to her room for the time he took his nap. She just decided to pick out her outfit. She dressed in dark skinny jeans with her Nick Leddy home jersey. It was his jersey from their Stanley Cup Finals, so it had the little finals patch on the shoulder. Her long black colored hair was up in a sleek pony.

Before she exited her room she coated her eyelashes once with mascara. Makeup wasn't really her thing, but mascara was one thing she always wore. Nick was still putting on his tie when she walked by. He quickly tied it and walked up to her kissing her cheek.

"Is it okay if I just wear UGG boots? My feet hurt." She gave him a quick hug and peck on the cheek as well before walking over to her purse. She pulled out her chapstick and applied some on her lips.

"Yeah go ahead," he laughed and slid on his dress shoes. "I don't care."

"Well I just want to look good for you." She shrugged and slid her phone in her back pocket. "So it doesn't seem your friend is a slob."

He chuckled and put his hand on her lower back, guiding her out of his apartment and to the elevator.

They drove to the United Center and Riley was surprised at how big the building actually was on the outside. She had yet to see inside. Nick smiled and her as he walked in front of them to the dressing room. Riley was meeting the players and she was a little bit nervous. This team was like a family to Nick and she wanted to make sure she made a good impression. Nick greeted some workers as he passed by them, all giving him good lucks for the game. Nick opened the big doors that had a Blackhawks logo on it. He turned around and winked before continuing on down a hall.

Riley could obviously tell when the locker room was right there because she could hear male voices shouting, talking, and laughing. She took a deep breath as she and Nick stepped into the view of the players. Some didn't even acknowledge them, but when Nick cleared his throat, everything became quiet as they studied Riley.

"Guys, this is Riley, who I was telling you about." No one said anything, which made Riley extremely nervous. Her hands were clasped in front as she shifted from foot to foot awkwardly. They all just stared at her, emotionless. "Aka my best friend." Nick elbowed her, slightly making her off balence as he tried to lighten the mood.

"It's nice to meet you." Riley looked over to the owner of the voice. Brandon Saad was stretching out his arm for her to shake his hand.

She hesitantly shook it. "Yeah nice to meet you too."

No one moved after that though, except Brandon kept on with taping his stick. This confused Nick more than ever; he thought they would all like her and welcome her into the family.

"How old are you?" Andrew Shaw asked after a couple minutes. She looked younger than most girls in their twenties.

"Twenty," she responded and pursed her lips. "I just turned twenty..." she trailed off, looking down at the ground. She hated when people stared at her. Nick wrapped an arm around her, trying to calm her nerves, but that didn't really help.

"Seriously?" Andrew asked in disbelief. "You're only twenty? That's a little young."

"Coming from the twenty-two year old," she fired back, looking up at him. Whenever people picked on her in any way, it got her mad. "I'm only two years younger than you and Nick, how's that such a big deal?"

He shrugged, looking at the other guys for backup. "We just thought that you'd be... older. Like our age."

She rolled her eyes, cossing her arms over her chest. She was starting to get annoyed with this guy. He had no right telling her that she basically couldn't be Nick's friend because she was a couple years younger. "That's bullshit." Nick stepped in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. He whispered fastly in her ear, but she couldn't even understand him. "So what your telling me is that I'm not mature enough to be his friend."

"Well if you put it like that." He gave her a shit eating grin before waving goodbye at her.

Riley stomped her foot and let out an exasperated noise before storming out of the dressing room. She was lucky enough to remember how to get out. Instead of going to the car and leaving, she sat up against the wall, breathing heavily. She hated when people teased her or disliked her for no reason. She put her head between he legs as she tried to calm herself.

When she was sixteen, people at her school bullied her for no reason. She began having anxiety attacks, and soon she got pills to calm her when it happened. Her brother was two years younger, and having the same problem as her, except he didn't tell anyone. He went to drugs instead. Going through the same thing, she and Devin, her brother, were closer than they ever had been. They partied a lot together and skipped class together. Whenever they had problems, they would try to support each other. Except soon Devin started using heroin for his problems, but Riley would stay on her pills. But she didn't take only two at a time like she was suppose to, she took about five, and that usually made her high or pass out. And that made her feel amazing.

But now, she didn't have her medicine with her. She didn't even have anymore since she finished high school. Right now, her body and mind craved and she was aching to just have some. Nick ran outside, knowing about her anxiety attacks, and straight to her. He sat down next to her and pulled her to his body. Mumbling soothing things to her. He had no idea why his teammates acted like that, but all he needed to worry about was helping her get back to normal.

He stood up after ten minutes, extending his arm for her to take his hand. When she was back on her feet his kissed her temple. "I don't know why they acted like that. Trust me, they just need to see how wonderful and beautiful you are." They walked back in the building and when she didn't say anything back, he turned around and saw tears in her eyes. "Do you want to stay here?"

"Of course," she responded with her best normal sounding voice she could. "I want to be here for you."

"Okay, your tickets are three rows up behind the opponents goal." He gave her a hug and a kiss on the lips that if Riley had to give it a zone, the time was past the 'friendship zone'. "Love you!" He called over his shoulder as they walked away.

"Love you too!"



"Dude, why the fuck were you that mean to her?" Nick stood in front of Andrew's stall. "She's like one of my best friends. Try to be nice to her."

Andrew shrugged, but Brandon Bollig answered for him. "We're just trying to protect you."

Nick shook his head walked over to his stall, sitting down in it. "I should be the one that's protecting her. You don't know what she's been through."

Andrew put his hands in front of him and laughed, acting as if this whole big thing was a joke. "You're right, I don't know what she's been through, but until I know she's actually good for you, I'll act how I want to."

"Um," Brandon Saad started, standing up and deciding to join in on the conversion. "If it means anything, I think Riley seems nice."