Storm Warning

"Whadda ya say, boys? You in tonight?"

Elias glances over at his roommate who's busily packing up his stuff at his stall before he looks back at Justin with a grin. "Skins can't come. He has a date tonight."

Jordan's head snaps up from where he's working on removing the tape from one of his sticks and he barks out a laugh. "Skinny has a date? No way!"

"Shut up," Jeff mumbles, scowling at the tall blond across the room and then Elias, who's laughing too and nodding in response to the question. Elias had already told all his teammates when he came home smelling like a girl and then when he sneaked back into the apartment in the middle of the night, so the guys had already been ribbing him about a mystery girl. He had explained both situations but that didn't stop them.

"So when are we gonna meet this girl, Skinny? You need to bring her around so we can make sure she's good enough for you."

"She's too good for me," he tells Jordan as he shoves the last of his gear into his duffel. "And I'm not bringing her around you guys ever."

"Come on, we're not that bad!"

"Leave the kid alone, Jord," Eric says from his stall but when Jeff looks at him, his captain is wearing a teasing smile too, and he knows it's not quite over just yet. "What's this, his first date? We should be giving him tips on how not to embarrass himself."

"Might not be a bad idea," Jeff replies and all the guys laugh as they go back to what they were doing before. They obviously take it as a joke, but he's completely serious. He needs every single ounce of help he can get on how to not make a fool of himself in front of Lyla. He's only been alone with her one time, the night in the jacuzzi, and he hadn't really done a bang-up job playing it cool. He'd blushed probably a hundred times during that short time that they were together that night.

There's way too much stuff to do before Lyla arrives at his apartment at 6 so he decides he doesn't have time to wait for Elias to shower. He makes sure Ryan can give his roommate a ride home before he grabs his stuff and heads out to his car. The first thing he needs to do is go to the grocery store. He and Elias are by no means messy guys, but neither of them have done any real cleaning in awhile and he's determined to scrub down every inch of the apartment that Lyla might see during her visit, so cleaning supplies are at the top of his list. There's also deciding what to make for dinner because he wants to impress her but he doesn't want to look like he's trying too hard either.

He spends a ridiculous amount of money and has to make two trips from the car once he gets home with all the bags. It takes him all afternoon to clean, starting with the bathroom and then the living room. Elias comes home to find him chucking shoes into his bedroom that had been left out in other areas of the apartment and then he simply shuts the door to keep the area closed off where Lyla won't be able to see it. Seeing how obviously stressed his friend is, Elias decides to help out with cleaning the kitchen and he sets to work loading the dishwasher with the dishes from the pile in the sink while Jeff mops the floor then scrubs the counter tops.

Once the house is clean, Jeff takes another shower and then spends twenty minutes deciding what to wear. He feels ridiculous; it isn't like Lyla will actually care what clothes he picks out, but he still worries that she won't like the maroon color of that henley or the feel of that hunter green thermal. He blushes when he realizes he's thinking about her touching him and his thermal and he quickly grabs the first sweater he comes to before kicking the closet door closed and tugging it on over his head. He spends another five minutes debating on whether or not to use his cologne, because what if it's too strong or he uses too much or, God forbid, it's the same kind her dad wears? He shakes his head and replaces the bottle on his dresser before he goes back into the kitchen, smelling only like soap.

All that's left to do is start on dinner, but he ends up having to skype his mother before he's even halfway through because he can't remember what exactly he's supposed to do. She walks him through everything after only a little bit of teasing and then hangs up when she's sure he's got it handled. Once he's finished with mixing ingredients and has it warming on the stove, he goes to ask when Elias is going to Justin's. Elias tells him, "Soon," but then he goes back to whatever game he's playing on his phone and Jeff just huffs because he's nervous enough without his roommate loitering around the apartment, messing up the pillows on the sofa that he's already straightened three times.

He bugs Elias with the same question every ten minutes until Elias finally leaves just to be able to have some peace. Jeff gives a sigh of relief as he flops down into the chair by the window, but he's up again in a few moments when he remembers the crooked, dented in pillows. After he's fluffed them back up and arranged them properly, he looks around at the rest of the apartment, unsure of what he should do now. There's still thirty minutes until she's supposed to arrive so he turns the television on just to have some background noise and then he goes back over to check on dinner before hovering around the kitchen and by the front door. Waiting.

-

Thanks to the snow the night before, it's even colder when Lyla steps outside. The streets are practically empty and she's sure it's because snow isn't as regular a thing in Raleigh as it is in Chicago, but she doesn't really mind it because, after all, she's seen much worse. She walks over to the parking lot across the street and hops into her jeep, immediately cranking the heat up all the way before she pulls up the text where Jeff had sent her his address. She plugs it into her app and starts the step-by-step directions before she pulls out of the lot to start the short drive.

His apartment is in a nice but busy neighborhood and she has to stop at the gate to be buzzed into the complex before she can proceed into the parking lot. She takes a few extra minutes to enjoy the fancy lobby as she walks through before making her way over to the elevator to go up to the fourth floor. The wide hallway seems never-ending but eventually she finds the dark green door belonging to him and she gives three quick knocks before taking a step back to wait.

Jeff must be waiting right on the other side because the door swings open almost immediately and his cheeks turn pink when he realizes how overly eager he must seem. He looks good in his dark jeans and and ivory colored sweater and he smiles widely, showing off his dimples as he ushers her inside. He helps her out of her coat before hanging it on the hook by the door and once she throws her thick scarf on top of it, she kicks off her shoes to leave by the door as well.

He's moved over into the kitchen to stir whatever's in the giant pot on the stove so she goes over to sit at the bar, across from him. "A home cooked meal? This is a nice surprise! I pretty much live on take out."

"I probably should have made sure you like vegetable soup beforehand, eh?" he chuckles, putting the lid back on before turning around to face her. "It's my grandma's recipe. I figured it'd be good for a day like today, with the snow and everything."

She can't help smiling; he's obviously put a lot of thought into this day. "That sounds perfect."

When he's finished at the stove for the moment, he turns around to face her, leaning back against the counter across from her as he folds his arms over his chest with a sheepish grin. He looks so warm and cuddly in that sweater and it takes an insane amount of restraint for her not to get up and go wrap herself up in his arms. Instead, she decides to get him talking because he obviously isn't going to be the one to initiate it. It's almost ridiculous how adorable she finds the shyness.

"So, Jeff, why don't you tell me about yourself?" she says, leaning forward to prop her elbows on the counter top. "I mean, so far I know....Canada, hockey, big family."

"Well, that's pretty much the highlights," he chuckles, looking down bashfully. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Your highlights. So far, I know....woman without a country."

She grins but shrugs her shoulders. "That's an accurate assessment so far."

"What about your family? Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope, no siblings. Just me."

"What about your parents? Do they still live in Chicago?"

"No, they, uh-....they both passed away. A couple of years ago."

The look on his face switches from mildly amused to completely and utterly horrified, and his whole body burns with embarrassment. "Oh God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Its okay," she interrupts, offering him a soft smile. "They're together so I'm happy with that." He relaxes with her answer, but only slightly. He could kick himself for what just happened but he doesn't know how to turn it around now. Luckily for him, she isn't dwelling on it like he is and she finds a transition into another topic easily. "So about that soup....any chance it'll be ready to eat soon? I'm starving."

"Uh, y-yeah," he stutters, but he's smiling again because he can't help it when she's looking at him like that. "Whenever you're ready."

Lyla slides off of her chair and walks around the bar to go into the kitchen where he's turned back to the stove again. He's stirring the soup when she leans in next to him to look down into the pot and he can't help noticing how close they are and that her hand is resting lightly on the back of his shoulder to keep her balance. "Looks good," she says, looking back at him with a grin before she pulls away completely and moves over to his other side where all the cabinets are. "Bowls?"

"Second from the right," he tells her, pointing up to the cabinet in question and she swings it open to retrieve two bowls before bringing them over for him to fill. While he's busy with that, she helps herself to the fridge to get bottles of water for each of them and then she goes back around to sit down and wait. He's not far behind her with two steaming hot bowls and he sets one in front of her before he sits down in the chair next to her with his own.

"So come on, tell me what else?" she says once they're settled in to start eating. "How old are you?"

He chuckles as he dunks his spoon into his soup, still a bit too hot to eat. "Twenty-two. You?"

"Twenty-three. When's your birthday?"

"May 16th. When's yours?"

"April 2nd."

"What's your favorite color?" he jumps in before she can ask him another one.

"Purple. Whats yours?"

"Red, of course," he tells her, nodding his head toward the picture frame that's hanging on the wall. It's a photo of him with his whole family, obviously from the day he was drafted, wearing the bright red jersey of his current team and smiling bigger than she's ever seen anyone smile before. His parents and five siblings all have matching ones and she thinks to herself that they're probably one of the most loving families she's ever seen, even with all the teasing they do. "Alright, this is an important one," he says, breaking her attention from the frame on the wall. "You ready?"

"Go for it."

"Who's your favorite team?"

"Mm, that's tough," she says before taking another bite of her soup so that she can have a moment to pretend like she's thinking it over. "I think I'd have to say the Flyers."

"What?" he asks immediately, looking positively disturbed by her answer. "You're not serious...."

"God, no," she laughs. "Orange is not my color."

"Red definitely is though."

You have no idea, she thinks to herself but then she shakes the thought away almost immediately. Now is not the time to be dwelling on the past. She changes the subject easily by asking him a question about television shows and the two of them go back and forth the whole time they're eating, finding out lots of useless bits of information about each other that are still fun to know all the same. She helps him clean up the kitchen when they're finished and once the dirty dishes have been loaded into the dishwasher, they take up residence in the living room.

"So what movie are we watching?"

"I thought I'd let you choose."

"Aw, how sweet," she coos, grinning as she gets up to go over to the media cabinet under the television. She chuckles quietly to herself as she looks at some of the cases in the selection but he hears anyway.

"What is it?"

"You've got a lot of romantic comedies over here."

"Oh," he mutters, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "Those are, uh, mostly my roommate's."

She nods like she doesn't believe him and plucks one of the dvd cases out of the top row. "Think he'd mind if we watched one?"

"Which one?"

She grins as she holds up 13 Going On 30 and he blushes in embarrassment at owning that particular movie but can't help smiling too as he takes it from her hand to put it in. She goes to settle herself on the sofa while he gets the dvd player ready and then he turns off the overhead light, leaving only the lamp by the door on, before he joins her. Of course she notices the almost three feet of empty space he leaves between them so as to make sure he's not crowding her if she doesn't want to be crowded; but she just playfully asks "What're you doing all the way over there?" before she scoots over closer to him. He's surprised by the action but it does give him a little more confidence as he starts the movie.

They're about halfway through it when he finally makes a move. They're both slouched down against the cushions with their legs propped up on the dark wooden coffee table in front of them to be more comfortable. Her upper body shifts closer to him when she crosses her ankles on the table but her eyes don't leave the screen until she feels the warmth of his palm as it slips over hers. "Is this okay?" he mumbles, gently squeezing her fingers, and then he feels like an idiot because, honestly, it's just holding hands. And do people their age even still do that or is that strictly for the middle school kids now?

"Actually," she starts, and he immediately tries to pull away because now he's sure he's made her uncomfortable or she's not into him in the way that she'd even want him to hold her hand. Her grip on his hand tightens when he tries to retract it and she shakes her head when he looks up at her. "I'd kind of rather-....." Instead of finishing the sentence, she shifts in her seat, ducking her head under at the same time she lifts his arm, and once she's in position pressed right against his side, she pulls his arm tighter around her shoulders before letting go of his hand. "Is this okay?" she asks with a small smile, teasing him with his own question. He blushes madly and nods his head, trying but failing to hold back a grin that keeps those dimples etched into his cheeks for the rest of the movie.

Once the credits start rolling, she sits up straight, letting his arm slide from her shoulders as she turns back to face him fully. "Your turn to pick," she tells him, because she's interested to see what his idea of a date movie would be. Another romantic comedy perhaps? Or would he get all macho and try to pretend that he wasn't into movies like that even though he and his roommate shared a whole cabinet full of them?

Jeff sighs and heaves himself up from the couch to go back over to the movie selection and he chews on his bottom lip as he stares at it for a moment before looking back over his shoulder at her. "What if I narrow it down to two and you can pick?"

"Okay," she agrees with a nod and he turns back and immediately plucks two movies from their respective spots before holding them up for her to see. She laughs at the options; she'd been half right since he picked both a rom com and a lame not-quite-thriller. "That one," she decides, pointing to the Sandra Bullock movie in his left hand.

"Figured you'd pick that one," he chuckles as he removes the already watched dvd and puts in the new one before carefully returning the first one to its case and then its correct spot on the third shelf of the media cabinet. Lyla wonders if he's always this neat, but then she decides he must be when he adjusts the throw pillows before he returns to his seat. She leans forward so that he can put his arm back behind her and then she leans back into him, getting comfortable in their previous movie watching position. She'd also been right about the sweater; it is incredibly cuddly and she's more than content to drop her head to rest on his broad shoulder and bury herself in his side.

Even after the second movie's ended, she's too content to get up and put in another one and he's definitely too content so they stay where they are, unmoving and silent and just enjoying each other's presence. Jeff thinks maybe she fell asleep during the movie but he won't dare risk moving and waking her up so he makes sure he doesn't move a muscle except for where his fingertips draw careful patterns against the soft light blue wool covering her shoulder.

A quiet bump against the door breaks the silence and causes both of them to jump. Lyla slowly sits up at the sound of a key in the doorknob and they both look behind her just as the door opens for a familiar blond to step quietly inside. He freezes in his tracks for a moment when he sees them sitting there looking at him but then shuts the door at normal volume instead of trying to shut it gently. "Thought you'd be asleep already," he calls to Jeff but he's biting his lip to keep from smiling when he walks into the living room.

"What time is it?" Lyla asks, glancing over at Jeff and he pushes back his sleeve to let her look at the watch on his left wrist. "Oh, I didn't realize! I should go."

"You don't have to yet," he blurts out, catching her forearm before she can stand. The pleading puppy dog eyes he gives her are impossible to resist and she shakes her head as she sinks back into the cushions next to him.

"Alright," she relents with a little smile. "Not quite yet." He grins in return and they both just sit there smiling at each other until Elias clears his throat from where he's taken a seat in the chair next to the sofa. They both look over at him apologetically but are only met with raised brows and an amused smirk. "I'm Lyla," she introduces herself, deciding that Jeff isn't going to do it, and she leans up to extend a hand to him.

"Elias," he replies, shaking her hand before they both sit back in their seats. "Nice to meet you."

"You too!" she says with a bright smile. "So, I have to ask, where in Sweden are you from?"

He's caught off guard by the question, thinking it's irrelevant because what would she know about Sweden? But he answers her anyway, albeit rather vaguely. "Oh, I'm from small town." She nods and raises her brows, silently prompting him to be more specific, and he wonders why it even matters because it's not like she's going to know where it is anyway. It really is a small town, at least in comparison to Raleigh. "Gävle," he clarifies, only becoming more confused when her whole face lights up.

"Oh, about two hours from Stockholm?"

He nods slowly, his brows furrowing as he briefly glances at his roommate before looking back to her smiling face. "You know it?"

She nods excitedly and his eyes widen to twice their size when she starts speaking to him in his own language. She'd lived in Stockholm for two years and during that time she'd visited Gävle a few times. The thing she remembers most about the city is the huge straw goat that's erected every year during the holiday season; it gets set aflame or somehow otherwise vandalized almost every year, including the one year she went to see it when she actually witnessed it burning. Elias laughs out loud when she mentions the goat and Jeff takes a time out from his surprise to pout a little because he has no clue what's so funny.

His roommate seems to think even that is funny and Lyla turns her head to look over at him too, grinning at his pitiful face. "What is it?"

"You speak Swedish?" Jeff asks, amazed, even though it's a stupid question because she's obviously just shown that she does.

She just shrugs. "It was my home for awhile. I had to learn the language."

"You're probably the most interesting person I've ever met," he mutters quietly, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You must meet a lot of boring people then."

"No, I don't."

She smiles again, one that makes him think he could die a happy man if he went right that second, but Elias says something else to her in Swedish and her attention is momentarily yanked away. Whatever he's said to her makes her laugh as she gives Jeff a sideways glance before nodding her head and giving what sounds like a detailed response. When she's finished, Elias is looking between the two of them with his brows raised, nodding like he's impressed. Jeff wants to know so badly what they're saying but this time when Elias speaks, she shakes her head disapprovingly and gives only a brief response but he just chuckles and says okay.

"Were you two talking about me?" Jeff asks suspiciously.

"Of course not," Lyla replies seriously but then she sends Elias a knowing smile. "Well, it was all good anyway."

"That's not even fair."

"I know, that's why we stopped. I told him it's rude to have a conversation in a language that not everyone knows." Elias looks thoroughly amused and he throws out yet another Swedish phrase but Lyla just scolds him, making his grin widen. "Hey, don't make me regret using my love of Sweden to bond with your ass," she playfully threatens, pointing an accusing finger at him. He just laughs as he gets up from his chair and says goodnight to them before heading off to his bedroom to get some sleep.

"I hope he didn't say anything embarrassing," Jeff sighs once his roommate is gone and Lyla chuckles and shakes her head as she sinks back down, fitting herself comfortably against his side.

"He asked how you were doing so far and I told him you were doing very well. He seemed to think you were nervous earlier today."

"Oh, no that's not embarrassing at all," he mutters sarcastically but he picks back up on tracing patterns into her shoulder with his fingertips.

She turns her body more onto her side so that she can look up at him properly. "Why were you nervous?"

"I-I don't-....I'm not-....I mean, you're-...." As if it weren't hard enough to answer a question like that at all, the fact that she's looking right at him makes it almost impossible. He can feel her steel blue eyes taking in the redness that's surely splotching up his cheeks and working its way down his neck. "I just really wanted it to go well," he finally gets out.

Lyla smiles and leans up to press her lips to his heated cheek. "Well, it did." She notices the immediate relief that washes over his features and she wonders if he's actually been that stressed about it the whole night or if it was Elias who had set him on edge with the unknowns of the conversation he'd had with her. "But I really should get going now. It's almost midnight and you have a game tomorrow. You need your rest."

Jeff looks ready to protest again but after a moment he nods in resignation and stands up from the sofa with her. "I'll walk you out."

They both walk over to the door to pull their shoes on before she wraps herself back up in her warm winter coat and he drapes the navy scarf back around her neck before opening the door for her. She'd figured 'walk her out' meant to the door, or to the elevator, or to the lobby, or maybe even to the main door of the building, but he stays by her side all the way to the car to make sure she gets in alright. He's obviously freezing as he stands there with his hands stuffed in his jean pockets, the biting winds whipping around him, because he hadn't put on a coat before he came outside.

"Aren't you cold?" she asks as she unlocks the car door.

"I'm Canadian," is his response.

"And I knew that!" she chuckles, tossing her bag into the passenger seat before turning back to face him. "I had a really nice time tonight."

"Me too."

His breathing visibly changes when she takes the tiniest of steps forward to get closer to him and for a moment she wonders if he's going to turn around and run because the look on his face says he's panicking on the inside. But then in his boldest move yet, his hands find her hips and it's him that closes the rest of the space between them as he ducks his head down to kiss her. She's the perfect height, only a few inches shorter than him, so he doesn't have to strain his neck to reach down to her level. It's fairly short, only about eight seconds if he can even count to eight at this point, and relatively innocent, considering he doesn't want to gross her out by shoving his tongue down her throat after one solo hang-out. God, he doesn't even know if he can call it a date, so that was definitely a good call on the kiss.

All too soon, they're pulling away but neither of them are trying to do anything to hide the smiles on their faces. Jeff really hopes that she says something because he can't even form words at the moment, but she comes through after only a second or two of silence. "Good luck tomorrow," she says softly, almost a whisper. Little does he know, she doesn't trust her voice after that kiss either.

"Do you want to come?" he blurts out, surprised with himself that he'd even found the nerve to ask.

She quickly turns it around on him. "Do you want me to come?"

"Yeah, I-....I'd like that."

"Okay," she nods, smiling. "Then I'll be there."

"I'll leave you a ticket. Unless you want to bring some friends too? It doesn't matter, I'll just leave you a couple. Or four."

"I don't need that many," she chuckles. "Two is fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhmm. Two is great."

"Okay," he agrees. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yes, you will." She leans up just long enough to press another kiss to his cheek before she turns around to climb into her jeep. "Goodnight, Jeff."

"Night, Lyla."

Despite the fact that it's definitely below freezing and he's in nothing but a fairly thin sweater, he watches her leave and he doesn't turn to go back inside the lobby until he can no longer see the tail lights.