Fallen into Place

Tonight was one of the last nights before the regular season started up, and Andrew wouldn't be home at nights very often. So Alice made her famous spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. Andrew was now basically licking the plate clean. She giggled and shook her head; he had sauce all over his face. He smiled before grabbing a napkin and wiping his face and getting up, grabbing both of their plates and putting them in the sink. Andrew sat back down before speaking up.

"So what do you have planned this evening, miss Alice?"

Alice took a sip of her wine, letting it sit in her mouth a couple seconds before swallowing it down. "Maybe a late night swim." Tomorrow they would be closing down the pool for the winter, so they needed to get one last swim. "And before we could go down to Navy Pier."

He smiled genuinely at her. "That sounds amazing, lets go get ready."

It took them around forty five minutes and then they were on their way to Navy Pier. That was one of their favorite places to go in Chicago. Besides the United Center, of course. They held hands as they walked down the street to the entrance. Andrew had his leather jacket on -which Alice had always disliked but didn't say anything- and his black snapback, Alice had on a black long sleeve shirt, both had jeans on. They stood in line for the ferris wheel, surrounded by other couples who were to wrapped up in each other to even realize Andrew Shaw was standing next to them. And both were thankful for that.

"Couples are so obnoxious," Andrew said, turning to face his girlfriend, holding both her hands.

She laughed and observed the teenage couple next to them. They were full on, making out. Watching teenagers kiss was one of the most disgusting things ever. "I remember when we were like that though."

"But we didn't do it in public," Andrew pointed out, stepping sideways when the line moved up. "I mean, I'm waiting for them to rip off each other's clothes!"

Alice tried to hold in her laugh, but when the couple stopped kissing and turned to glare at them, she couldn't hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing, continuing to until they got onto their cart. Andrew put his arm around her as the cart made its way to the top. They were at the very top when it stopped for a couple minutes. The sun was setting over the large lake, reflecting and making the water look like a rainbow. Alice sighed contently and rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed her temple before taking out his phone. He stuck it out in front of them, focusing on the camera on their faces, with the sun and lake in the background.

shawz15er: Amazing night with @alibennet07 #couldntgetbetter

She smiled up at him, kissing his lips lightly as they made their way down. The rest of the night, they walked around, eating ice cream and playing mini golf. Andrew did the cliche, wrapping arms around her as she took her turn at it. It was like they were teenagers again, being all cheesy to each other. As they made their way out, Andrew was telling her all about the regular season games that were going to take place in less than two days. Alice didn't mind that all he talked about the past week was hockey; the games coming up, past games, other teams, players, plays. He felt the need to just spill it to a person that wasn't on his team. His teammates would just make fun of him for it.

Alice rested her head on his shoulder as they walked up the stairs to their room. It was a little past ten, but Alice knew she could drop any second.

"Still up for swimming?" Andrew asked, rummaging though the dresser for his trunks and her bikini he loved. "You look a little tired."

"I am," she laughed and rubbed her eyes as she collapsed backwards on the bed.

He gave her a lopsided smile after he turned around. He collapsed next to her, except on his stomach instead of his back. "That's fine. We don't have to go swimming. We can cuddle." He turned his body towards her and pulled her into him. She sighed contently and relaxed into his embrace. Before they scooted up to the pillows, they took off their jeans and shirts. Andrew pulled back the blanket and Alice nestled under it and against Andrew. He wrapped a secure arm around her and kissed her hair.

They stayed silent, the only thing that could be heard was soft thumping music that the house across the street must be playing. Alice hummed along, recognizing it. Andrew listened to her angelic voice as his eyes remained shut.

"You're awesome, you know?"

Alice laughed, blowing through her nose. "I'm pretty great, aren't I?" She kissed one of his pecks before adding, "and you're amazing."

"I love you, forever and ever."

Alice didn't respond right away. Instead, she thought to herself, with her eyes wide open. He always said he loved her and that he wasn't going anywhere and all that, but he never hinted or even brought up marriage. Alice never told anyone about it, she knew they were just going to say they were to young and they haven't been together for that long. But Alice and Andrew had been together for almost three years -minus the break up for a couple months- and they knew each other since they were sixteen. Even if that was just a week. Everyone around her seemed to be moving forward, but her relationship paused. Abby and Patrick were having another baby. Lindsey was getting ancy because she knew Jon was going to propose to her soon. Bella moved to live with Viktor. Nia moved from freaking Sweden to live with Marcus. She wanted that step forward.

Andrew lightly kissed her head when she didn't respond. "I know you're not asleep, baby."

"Sorry, I was just thinking." She looked up to kiss Andrew. "I love you too."



Andrew held Alice's hand from underneath the table. Patrick and Abby Sharp were sitting across from them in the booth. Alice spilled to Abby that she was wanting marriage and a child and all that, so Abby suggested that the two would go to dinner, and maybe Andrew would think over the whole family thing. Patrick was explaining everything about how wonderful being married was; he was also in on the plan. This plan wasn't to trick Andrew or anything like that, but to have him open his eyes a little and look at what was or could be right in front of him.

"Yeah, it feels great to be married," Patrick continued. He really was hamming it up, and Alice had to stop herself before she would laugh. "You feel so free, yet tied down at the same time. Well that's another thing. It feels like you are tied down and can't go hangout with the guys-" Abby stomped on his foot, making Patrick abruptly stop and laugh nervously. "But that's not a bad thing!"

Andrew nodded suspiciously and quickly pulled out money from his wallet. "Yeah. Well I'm good with being just a boyfriend right now," Andrew said, standing up. They had already eaten and it was getting late. Before they left, Abby told Alice about when to babysit Maddy. "That was kind of weird, don't you think?" Andrew asked when they entered their home. "I mean what was with Patrick explaining about being a husband?"

"Maybe he just felt like letting it out," Alice said with a shrug of her shoulders. She threw off the full suitcase -Andrew was going on a four day road trip- and pulled back the covers. Andrew still looked confused, but he continued to the bathroom to brush his teeth.



"So, you're telling me you think Alice is trying to get you to marry her?" Nick Leddy asked when they arrived at the hotel in Vancouver.

"Yeah basically. She's been, like, talking to me about it and how awesome it is and crap like that. I know she's the one, but I don't feel like getting married anytime soon."

Nick nodded and pressed the floor where their rooms are. "Maybe she's hiding something from you."

Andrew didn't respond when he walked to his room. He didn't even offer up a goodbye; he was to caught up in his thoughts. What did that even mean? Alice couldn't be hiding anything from him, right? They were suppose to tell each other everything, and it would be impossible to sneak something by him anyways. He set his bags on the floor, not even taking off his suit he dialed Alice's number. He needed to know if she was in fact keeping secrets from him.

"I need answers," was the first thing Andrew said when she answered her phone.

She laughed, "about?"

"Are you keeping things from me, Alice? What's the whole obsession about getting married?" He didn't mean to come of harsh, but if he did he would regret it later. He kicked off his shoes and sat on the bed as he waited.

"Obsession? What the hell are you talking about?" She asked, in the same tone he had used with her. "I am in no way obsessed. It's a freaking thought, Andrew. Something you should actually take in consideration."

He swallowed and tried to back track. "I didn't say you were obsessed-"

"Oh shut up. You said exactly that. Cut the shit, what's your problem with official commitment?" He didn't say anything back, instead he tried to come up to say why he was afraid, but in reality he wasn't exactly scared of it. "Whatever, have fun on your trip."

Andrew tried to call her back three times after she had hung up on him. He didn't mean to upset her like that, but he was just worried about what Nick said and had to ask, which led to an argument. Andrew reminded himself to yell at Nick for that. He was starting to get worried after every second she wasn't calling him back. And with her sitting home alone made it even worse. He didn't want her to do something stupid that she would regret -he knew she wouldn't, but still- and have something bad happen.

Soon though, it was time to get some sleep for the game taking place tomorrow.