Family Reunion
Seven
Before the allstar break can come, it's John's birthday. He's in California the night before playing against the Kings so I arrange for Karl and Johansson to sneak the cake I got to the locker room for after the game. John had asked for nothing special for his birthday, so I kept the cake order rather simple, with red and blue fondant for the Capitals and 'happy birthday' written in vanilla buttercream.
I try to stay up for the whole game which starts at 10:30, but fall asleep halfway through the third period on the couch with the Caps losing.
The next morning, I wake up close to noon on my couch with a voicemail on my phone. I see its from John and I rush to listent to it, the guys in the background loud and obnoxious though they had lost the game only an hour or so before the message was recorded. "Hey, Eela- Sasha shut the hell up, I'm trying to talk to Eela!-" after he snaps at Semin, the room goes dead silent and then all I hear is a chorus of "ooh's". "Shut up. Anyway, Eela, thanks for the cake, though Karl and MoJo kind of made a mess of it, the part of a piece I got was great, so..yeah."
I hear some generic pep talks and John takes a deep breath before finishing the message, "I love you, Eela, see you tomorrow."
I don't know how long I just sit there frozen in shock, but soon, John is opening the door and walking happily into the apartment, already changed out of his suit and into a pair of sweatpants and a tshirt. "Eela?"
"In here," I call. He comes into the living room from the kitchen, a half eaten nutrigrain bar he must have gotten while he was there in his hand. He smiles at me, sitting down on the couch next to me and flipping on the TV.
"You okay?" he asks, finally noticing my daze. I shrug it off but he mutes the TV and turns towards me. "What's up, Eela? You've said two words since I got here," he says, taking my hand. I shake my head, but he doesn't let go, and a look combining realization and fear crosses his face before he speaks, "You heard my voicemail didn't you?"
All I can do is nod. His head drops back against the couch, but his hand keeps its grip on mine still. "Did they get you drunk that quick?" I mumble, not believing he meant it when he said it. His head jerks up, and he seems frustrated.
"You don't believe I love you, right? That's why you're upset?" I nod again, trying not to let the tears come out. "Look, Eela, I know it wasn't the ideal way to admit something like that, but I do love you. I honestly thought it was just some stupid crush at first when you got here at the beginning of the season; but I missed you when I hadn't seen you for an hour, and I was as dependent on your company as you seemed to be on mine, and you have no idea how happy it made me that I mattered that much to a person. I've known I loved you since Christmas, probably even before that actually, and it took so much not to tell you and run the risk of scaring you off for saying it so early on. But Karl kept bugging me about it once I let it slip talking to him during the holiday break, and I kind of promised myself for a birthday present to finally admit it to you."
He finally looks up from our hands that he's been staring at the entire time he's been talking and I see his faced is flushed like he's trying to keep from crying too. I let go of his hand and see his face fall, but I shift so I'm facing him and poke him in the cheek with my free hand to get his attention, and he perks up, a questioning smile playing at his lips. His hands now find their usual spots on either side of my waist as I lean up and peck his lips. I pull away slightly to say something, but he pulls me back against him, keeping our lips connected. We kiss like that for a minute, eventually I pull away, putting my forehead on his, "I love you, too, John."
-
Soon, the allstar break comes and John and I are getting on the plane to Finland. John falls asleep almost immediately for the nine hour flight, trapping me against him when he puts his arm around my shoulders. I try to fall asleep too, using John's chest as a pillow, but the nerves of going home keep me awake.
Once we get off the plane, I'm groggy from jetlag but John's perky as ever. "Why didn't you sleep on the way here?" he asks while we wait for our bags on the carousel. I grab his hand and lean my head against his bicep since I'm not tall enough to come up to his shoulder.
"I don't know, I guess homesickness kept me awake." He squeezes my hand then leans down to grab my bags for me. We make our way to the main enterance of the airport, trying to find Joonas in the throngs of people. After about twenty minutes without finding him, I see him wandering around in a circle, trying to see over the people around him. "Joonas!" I call, and he sees me wave, making his way over to us.
He grabs one of the bags and John retakes my hand which he had let go of to carry everything for me, leading me with Joonas to the car.
-
Joonas drives us to the hotel right on the edge of the city, about half an hour from my parents' house. He looks like he wants to say something but never does and leaves after hugging me quickly.
I go back into the room and see John sprawled out on the bed with his hands behind his head. He pulls an arm out, holding it out for me to crawl under. He pulls me against his chest and kisses the top of my head and I have to fight to stay awake. Soon, though, I hear John snoring quietly above me but his grip around me stays tight.
I try to stay up for the whole game which starts at 10:30, but fall asleep halfway through the third period on the couch with the Caps losing.
The next morning, I wake up close to noon on my couch with a voicemail on my phone. I see its from John and I rush to listent to it, the guys in the background loud and obnoxious though they had lost the game only an hour or so before the message was recorded. "Hey, Eela- Sasha shut the hell up, I'm trying to talk to Eela!-" after he snaps at Semin, the room goes dead silent and then all I hear is a chorus of "ooh's". "Shut up. Anyway, Eela, thanks for the cake, though Karl and MoJo kind of made a mess of it, the part of a piece I got was great, so..yeah."
I hear some generic pep talks and John takes a deep breath before finishing the message, "I love you, Eela, see you tomorrow."
I don't know how long I just sit there frozen in shock, but soon, John is opening the door and walking happily into the apartment, already changed out of his suit and into a pair of sweatpants and a tshirt. "Eela?"
"In here," I call. He comes into the living room from the kitchen, a half eaten nutrigrain bar he must have gotten while he was there in his hand. He smiles at me, sitting down on the couch next to me and flipping on the TV.
"You okay?" he asks, finally noticing my daze. I shrug it off but he mutes the TV and turns towards me. "What's up, Eela? You've said two words since I got here," he says, taking my hand. I shake my head, but he doesn't let go, and a look combining realization and fear crosses his face before he speaks, "You heard my voicemail didn't you?"
All I can do is nod. His head drops back against the couch, but his hand keeps its grip on mine still. "Did they get you drunk that quick?" I mumble, not believing he meant it when he said it. His head jerks up, and he seems frustrated.
"You don't believe I love you, right? That's why you're upset?" I nod again, trying not to let the tears come out. "Look, Eela, I know it wasn't the ideal way to admit something like that, but I do love you. I honestly thought it was just some stupid crush at first when you got here at the beginning of the season; but I missed you when I hadn't seen you for an hour, and I was as dependent on your company as you seemed to be on mine, and you have no idea how happy it made me that I mattered that much to a person. I've known I loved you since Christmas, probably even before that actually, and it took so much not to tell you and run the risk of scaring you off for saying it so early on. But Karl kept bugging me about it once I let it slip talking to him during the holiday break, and I kind of promised myself for a birthday present to finally admit it to you."
He finally looks up from our hands that he's been staring at the entire time he's been talking and I see his faced is flushed like he's trying to keep from crying too. I let go of his hand and see his face fall, but I shift so I'm facing him and poke him in the cheek with my free hand to get his attention, and he perks up, a questioning smile playing at his lips. His hands now find their usual spots on either side of my waist as I lean up and peck his lips. I pull away slightly to say something, but he pulls me back against him, keeping our lips connected. We kiss like that for a minute, eventually I pull away, putting my forehead on his, "I love you, too, John."
-
Soon, the allstar break comes and John and I are getting on the plane to Finland. John falls asleep almost immediately for the nine hour flight, trapping me against him when he puts his arm around my shoulders. I try to fall asleep too, using John's chest as a pillow, but the nerves of going home keep me awake.
Once we get off the plane, I'm groggy from jetlag but John's perky as ever. "Why didn't you sleep on the way here?" he asks while we wait for our bags on the carousel. I grab his hand and lean my head against his bicep since I'm not tall enough to come up to his shoulder.
"I don't know, I guess homesickness kept me awake." He squeezes my hand then leans down to grab my bags for me. We make our way to the main enterance of the airport, trying to find Joonas in the throngs of people. After about twenty minutes without finding him, I see him wandering around in a circle, trying to see over the people around him. "Joonas!" I call, and he sees me wave, making his way over to us.
He grabs one of the bags and John retakes my hand which he had let go of to carry everything for me, leading me with Joonas to the car.
-
Joonas drives us to the hotel right on the edge of the city, about half an hour from my parents' house. He looks like he wants to say something but never does and leaves after hugging me quickly.
I go back into the room and see John sprawled out on the bed with his hands behind his head. He pulls an arm out, holding it out for me to crawl under. He pulls me against his chest and kisses the top of my head and I have to fight to stay awake. Soon, though, I hear John snoring quietly above me but his grip around me stays tight.