Looking Up

-----Elle's POV

"Hey Claude! It's me, Elle" I say quietly into my cell phone as I throw on Steve's oversized sweater.

"Hey Elle!"

"I stole your number from Steve while he was sleeping- I hope you don't mind!"

"No it's perfectly fine! What do you need?" he laughs.

"I need some help planning a birthday party for Steve- I was thinking of having it at his apartment in Philly- do you think some of the guys will be able to make it?"

"Yeah, I'll get a group message going and ask everyone about it."

"Oh my goodness, thank you so much- We'll be back in Philly a couple days before his birthday if you want to meet up and talk about it," I say smiling- this might actually work out.

"Elle?" Steve yells from the bedroom and I can hear him get closer to the stairs within seconds.

I gasp, "Crap! I gotta go! He's awake- I'll text you later when I can. Thanks so much G!" I say quickly.

Claude laughs, "Sure no problem- can't wait to see you guys!"

As soon as Claude finishes the last syllable of his sentence, I hang up, and turn towards Steve with my phone behind my back.

"Good morning!" I yell out nervously- hopefully he didn't hear me talking to G. He walks over to me in his boxers and a white t-shirt, "Good morning Bambi. Why didn't you stay in bed?" he asks curiously while he gives me a long warm hug.

"Can't a gal just stretch her legs in the morning without being questioned?" I enthusiastically ask. He gives me a strange look, laughs and shakes his head, "whatever you say." He gives me a kiss on my forehead, walks over to the cabinets, and pulls out two bowls for cereal.

"So are you ready to meet a ton of my family and friends?" Steve asks with a mouthful of Cheerios.

"Yes! It's so nice of your mom to throw a party for you since you won't be here for your birthday but I'm especially nervous about meeting your sister."

"Don't worry about it- you guys are going to get along just fine trust me. She's got a tough exterior but she'll let her guard down once she actually meets you and sees us together," he says with a reassuring smile.

"I can only hope so."

Just as I finish my sentence, my phone starts to ring, "It's Jamie- don't worry, she's probably just wondering if I'm still alive, I haven't talked to her in so long.

"Hey!"

"ELLE! WE HAVEN'T TALKED IN FOREVER I'M HEARING ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN YOUR LIFE FROM MELANIE AND YOUR AUNT!"

I start to laugh, "I'm sorry! I've been so busy lately- so much stuff has been happening!"

"Yeah I GUESS SO!" she says starting to crack up. "We need to talk and catch me up on everything- especially John."

"Alright, hold on," I say before I put my phone against my shirt to cover up the receiver, "This is gonna take a little bit, do you care?" I ask Steve.

He gives me a crooked smile, "Of course not, do you want me to leave?"

"No you're fine!" I give him a smile back and put the phone back to my ear.

I catch up Jamie on some of the stuff about John that my Aunt didn't know and tell her that I told Steve about him.

"Well, make sure you tell him I said thank you for keeping you safe for me." She says sincerely.

"I will, don't worry."

"So did you guys- ya know- Do the dirty? Knock boots? Do the deed?!"

"Jamie!" I yell, "No, not yet," I look up at Steve and I can tell he knows what Jamie just asked just by his facial expression.

"Well, I'm just curious! I can't help it- how in the world do you keep your hands off of him?!" she bursts out into laughter, and I do the same. Her laugh is so contagious.

After we hang up, I know Steve wants to ask me what Jamie and I were talking about, but thankfully, he doesn't. It felt like we were dancing around the topic quite a bit since we got close to it last week when we came home from the club. It's not that I don't want to- I just don't know how he feels about it. I'm sure if there was no thinking involved, he'd throw me down on the kitchen table and we'd go at it right now. But, this is more than just sex.

Since that night, we've gotten closer and broke through a lot of walls, but now there's even more sexual tension. Last week when he got out of the shower with just a towel wrapped around his waist and I couldn't help but kiss him. Within seconds, I was on top of him, he had his hands up my shirt, and my hands were pulling at his towel. But, then I leapt off of him and kept saying sorry. I don't know why but I wasn't ready- and he respected that.

As I take my last bite of cereal, I can't help but to question why I'm not ready yet. Steve's so nice, such a gentleman, and I've never been with anyone better. It's like my heart is telling me to go for it- let him see everything- give him my everything, but my brain's saying "what if he breaks your heart, what if he changes- you can't get hurt again."

I keep racking my brain until Steve interrupts me, "You okay?"

"Yeah," I give him a small smile, "Wanna help me bake a couple things for today?"

"It would be my pleasure," he says giving me a kiss on the forehead.

*****

When we get to the party, Steve starts introducing me to people left and right and I try to take a mental picture of them so I can remember everyone. Tyler greets me with a big hug and he teases Steve some more before he shoos him away. I love how big of a goof ball Tyler is- I can definitely tell Steve is the more serious brother.

As we are talking to Steve's Aunt Bonnie, someone lightly pushes Steve from behind, "Hey twerp!" I hear a female voice yell. Everyone laughs, and Steve turns around and hugs her, "Hey!"

"Elle, this is my sister, Melissa. Melissa this is my girlfriend, Elle," he says with a big smile.

I could tell right away what he meant by a tough exterior- her face was hard to read and I wasn't sure what she was going to say next. She looks like a spitting of her mother with her long light brown hair that frames her face nicely.

"So you're Elle, it's so nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too!" I say while I let out a huge sigh in my mind.

After meeting Melissa, I'm a lot more relaxed during the party. Meeting everyone else is a piece of cake. While Steve and I talk to his friends and family members, he brags about me and my family's bakery. I can't help but laugh to myself about this since I'm just a baker. It's just something I do- sure I'm good at it but I never thought anyone could ever really brag about it. If anything I should be bragging about him to everyone- for goodness sakes, he's a professional hockey player in the NHL and I'm just a baker.

After dinner, Melissa whisks me away from Steve, and I help her clean up some of the food and put things away while the party is still going on.

"So Elle, I heard about your dad," she says quietly as I hand her a dirty serving tray to wash and my stomach drops, "I just want you to know that if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here and so is my entire family- we already love you- especially Steve," she looks over to me and gives me a smile.

"Thank you, it means a lot Melissa," I say sincerely.

"You're different from the girls he's dated in the past. He really does care for you- I can tell. He keeps looking over here and checking to see if you're okay- he's done it 4 times since we started cleaning up," she laughs and I can feel myself start to blush, "but really, he cares a lot- that boy is love sick and you're the cause," she chuckles and elbows my arm playfully.

"Well, he has me head over heels too that's for sure," I say as we start grabbing dirty paper plates. "So tell me about my brother and the city of brotherly love," she says with a smile.

-----Steve's POV

Even though, Melissa asked me to leave her and Elle alone so they could talk, I keep checking up on her- and each time I see them laughing together. It feels good to know Melissa actually likes Elle and is taking the time to get to know each other- but I can't help but think they're talking about me. Some of my cousins, best friends and I are sitting around the fire pit talking and reminiscing about the past and when we used to play hockey together at a nearby pond. Suddenly my dad comes up to me during my cousins story, "Hey Steve could you help me for a minute?" he quietly asks. "Yeah sure," I get up, follow him over to a nearby table, and help him fold it up.

Once we put it in the shed, he stops me before I leave, "Steve I want to talk to you real quick," I nod and wait for him to speak.

"I just wanted to say, your mom and I really like Elle. Make sure you look after her- let her know she can talk to you about her dad. I can't imagine what she must be going through- make sure you're there for her."

"I will, don't worry. We've been through a lot together already, I love her." I say and my father gives me a proud smile.

"I'm glad, now, get back to your party," he lets out a chuckle.

As I sit down back in my seat with my cousins and friends, I see Elle and Melissa with big smiles on their faces, carrying a cake over to me. Once they get over to me, everyone starts singing. Before I blow out the candles, I look at Elle for a long two seconds. The candle light on her face highlights all of her features and I can see how happy she is. As I blow out the candles, everyone claps and I still keep staring into Elle's eyes while smiling. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see my sister looking at the two of us awing, "I'll take this, Elle you stay here," she says as she walks away with the cake and sets it down in the distance.

"Hey," Elle says quietly and smiles.

"Hey, how was hanging out with my sister?" I say as I take her hand.

"It actually went really well, I'm not sure why I was so nervous," she laughs.

We walk over after we talk for a little while to get some birthday cake. For the next couple of hours, everyone is in sweatshirts and seated around the bonfire we have set up. Elle is sitting on my lap and we have a blanket over top of us. As she inches closer to my chest and more into my lap, I feel sparks and all I want to do is kiss her but I know everyone will make a big deal out of it.

-----Elle's POV

Within a half hour, the party starts to wind down and Steve and I decide to leave. We thank his parents for a great party and we load some of the birthday presents into the truck.

"I love your family- they're so sweet- it reminds me a lot of my own actually," I smile, "Thank you for such a great day Steve, and for everything else you've done." I take his hand in mine and start to stroke it, "it was really nice getting to know your back story even more."

"I'm glad to share it with you, Elle," he says and gives me one of his panty melting smirks. "Hey, can I show you a place before we go back to the house?"

"Yeah, sure, where?"

"It's a surprise," he smiles.

(Part 1 of 2)