S C O T T

I kissed Elle.

We were cleaning up the mess we made (ice cream was covering the grass, and ourselves), and we had just dropped down by the harbor. It was calm, and dark, and Elle turned to me and grinned, green eyes bright in the dim light.

And I really, really wanted to kiss her.

Elle opened her mouth to say something, but I leaned forward and cut her off by putting my lips on hers. She tensed for a second, but, before I got a chance to do anything, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in closer.

The kiss ended too quickly. I had went to deepen it, and leaned forward with my one hand, only to have it land in a pile of mud. I ended up slipping forward, and accidentally making Elle and myself fall into the grass.

We had taken the subway back to where my car was, and now we were driving home. I still really did want to kiss her again, though.

Elle was leaning forward in her seat, fiddling with the radio for a good station. I snorted and Elle glared at him, before focusing her attention to the radio and switching the station. I knew she wouldn't find a station she liked, though. Whenever she did settle for a song, she changed it a minute later because, apparently, it got annoying.

"You're gonna break my radio," I complained, pulling to a stop at the light. I turned at Elle and pouted, "you've gone through every station, like, five times."

Elle rolled her eyes, "I forgot you could only flick through each station a certain amount of times."

Elle went to change it again, and I groaned, reaching forward and grabbing her wrist. Gently, I pushed her hand back onto her lap and took the dial, flicking to the next station. I didn't know the song, but it was catchy and they kept repeating the same lyrics over and over again, so I deemed it as okay.

"There," I said, grinning and driving forward, "all it needed was the magic touch."

Elle smirked and squinted down at the radio to see what was playing, "Definitely. The magic touch that puts on Kids Pop."

I flushed and shook my head, pulling onto Elle's street and avoiding her gaze. She laughed and leaned forward, drumming her fingers on the dashboard until I pulled up in front of her house and parked.

We sat in silence for a minute, and I bit my lip, contemplating on what to do. Elle's hand was on the handle, halfway turned to the door, but she wasn't moving. So, before she could open the door, I leaned forward, wrapped my arms around her waist, and pulled her back towards me.

Elle's arms wrapped around my waist, head rested against my chest. I grinned and put my chin on top of her head, just holding onto her tightly. My arms went completely around her back, fingers latching onto each other in the middle.

Elle pulled back and smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile at her, "This was a really good date," I blurted out, jaw going slack when I realized what I had said. Date.

I didn't get a chance to say anything, though, because Elle grinned and nodded, "It really was," she turned, opened her door, and stepped out. Elle ducked down and waved, "goodnight, Scott."

Elle shut the door, and I took no time speeding off down the street.

I grinned the whole drive home because, honestly, tonight had been amazing. Throughout the weeks I spent with Elle, I learned a lot about her. She was sarcastic and snappy, and had a tendency to says things without thinking. But she was also nice, sweet, funny, and just an all-around amazing person to spend time with. Tonight, she had been amazing to be with.

I pulled into my apartment building and got out of the car, itching to get into pajamas and just go to bed. I stumbled into the elevator and leaned against the wall, eyes closed as I waited for the ding. The second the doors opened, I got out and walked down the hall, pulling my key out of my back pocket and fumbling to get it in the lock.

Pushing the door open, I squinted at the sudden, complete darkness of the apartment. Frowning, I kicked off my shoes, pushed the door closed, and leaned to the left, rubbing my hand along the wall in search of the light switch. Connor tended to shut off every single light before he went to bed, and it often ended with me stubbing my toe against the table or something. So I had learned to always turn on the light switch before moving.

I flicked the switch up and turned back to the apartment, yelping and jumping against the door when I saw Connor. He was sitting on the couch, grinning at me. His hair was a mess, and he was in a pair of plaid pajama pants (that I recognized as mine). Miguel was perched on his lip and the cat hissed at me before crawling against Con's neck.

"What the fuck?" I asked, tossing my keys and wallet on the table. I glared at Con and leaned against the wall, running a hand through my hair, "Why were you just sitting on the couch in the dark?"

Connor rolled his eyes at me and swung his legs over the edge of the couch, leaning forward, "I wasn't. Miguel started hissing and meowing when you unlocked the door, and I was too tired to get up and turn the lights on. So I waited."

"I hate you," I laughed, walking over towards the basket on the floor. I un-bottoned my shirt and grabbed a t-shirt from the basket, swapping them quickly, "I come home from a good date - "

"Ah!" Connor yelled, practically lunging off the couch. I glared at him and he pushed himself up, grinning up at me. He stood up and wiggled his eyebrows at me, "So you admit it was a date!"

I flushed and grabbed a pair of sweatpants, throwing them over my shoulder. Turning away from Connor, I started walking down the hallway. Connor yelled from behind me and suddenly, jumped on my back. I shouted and stumbled forward, just as Connor wrapped his arm loosely around my neck and steadied himself.

I stopped walking, balancing myself with a fucking idiot on my back. I tried to turn and glare at him, but Connor just leaned in the other direction and flicked my cheek. I growled in annoyance and stumbled backwards into the wall, laughing when Connor complained when his head hit the wall. I went to do it again, but Connor yelped and threw his hands over my eyes, making me stumble forward.

"Don't hit me against the wall!" he cried, dropping his hands from my eyes and gripping my arms tighter, "That's abuse!"

I scoffed and managed to slam my elbow back into his ribs, "And jumping onto my back in the middle of the dark hallway isn't?" I yelled, stumbling backwards when Con's foot 'accidentally' kicked into the back of my knee, "Con, get off of me or I'll kill you!"

Connor laughed and put his chin on top of my head, "That's not a good incentive, buddy," I glared and slammed my elbow against Con's ribs again, and he coughed out, "I'll get off when you give me the exact details of your date."

I contemplated backing up into the wall again, but I could barely see in the dimly-lit hallway, and my legs were starting to get tired from holding him up. I sighed and hoisted Connor up, reluctantly telling him everything that had happened on the date. I felt like an idiot holding him up and telling him everything, especially when he, 'whooped' loudly when I told him about the kiss.

When the story ended, Connor loosened his grip on my arms. I rolled my eyes and completely let go off him, laughing when Connor groaned and landed on the floor in a heap. Calling a, 'goodnight' over my shoulder, I walked into my room and kicked the door shut.

I quickly changed into my sweats and jumped into bed. I snuggled against the pillows and grinned, thinking about how good the night had been. It had all been perfect honestly, except for the fact that Elle had shut the car door before I had gotten to say anything back to her.

I snatched my phone off my bedside table and texted her a quick, 'goodnight elle :-)'. Grinning to myself, I tossed my phone on the other side of bed and shut my eyes, unable to stop smiling.

The second I walked into the third tryout, Jay waved me over.

Coach Monroe had called me right before I fell asleep to told me that I had made the cut and he was expecting to see me at the final tryout that next morning. I was ecstatic; during the date, I had completely forgotten about the tryout, but now, I was absolutely pumped.

I hoisted my gym bag further up my shoulder and walked up the bleachers, joining him and Edi. They were both grinning and I grinned back at them, dropping down onto the bleacher. I unzipped my bag and kicked off my sneakers, pulling out my skates instead.

"All right," Jay said, pushing his dark hair back from his face. He stood on the bleacher in front of me and shot me an expectant look, "How was the date? Did I make scelle happen?"

I opened my mouth to respond, and then closed it. Staring at Jay in confusion, I muttered out a, "What the fuck is a scelle?"

Jay rolled his brown eyes and shot me an annoyed look, "Christ, Scott. Scelle, you know. It's your names," at his shit expression, I just quirked an eyebrow and Jay groaned in annoyance, "Scott and Elle combined."

"Your ship name," Edi piped up, shooting me a wide grin, "so, is it official?"

Ignoring their rambling about our ship name (it did sound catchy when they kept repeating it), I re-told them the events of the date. Jay grinned in satisfaction when I said that I had actually kissed her this time, and Edi 'whooped', earning the attention of everyone else. He grinned and ruffled my hair.

"Now all you have to do is ask her out," Jay stated, grabbing his helmet and pulling it over his head. He spit out his mouth-guard and grinned at me, "unless I need to do that for you too."

I didn't get a chance to say anything (or respond that if I did ask Elle out, it would be me doing it), because Coach Monroe called everyone onto the ice. I grinned to myself and rolled my shoulders, prepared for today's tryout. The amount of guys had dwindled down signifcantly, but I was determined to make the team.

Forty-five minutes later, and I was sitting back on the bleachers with Jay and Edi. This has been one of the toughest tryouts, and my heart was beating extremely fast in my chest. I pulled off my gloves and put them on the bench and grinned.

Despite how insanely hard practice had been, it was also one of the ones I was most confident about. During our scrimmage, I had made eight goals, and during each one of the weave practices, I had made all of the goals. Coach Monroe grinned at me, and I just knew that this had been one of my best tryouts.

Plus, having Elle cheering in the bleachers did help.

I swapped my skates for sneakers and shoved them in my gym bag before zipping it up. Edi was sprawled out on the bleacher below us, but Jay was practically bouncing in place, a wicked grin on his face. If I knew I did well, Jay was absolutely positive that he had done amazing.

"We need to celebrate," he decided, kicking Edi in the ribs. Edi groaned and propped himself up on his elbows, glaring at Jay, "this was our late tryout, and that calls for celebration."

Edi frowned and leaned back down, "No, it calls for a nap."

Jay scoffed and picked up his gym bag, dropping it down onto Edi's stomach. I laughed and Edi groaned, sitting up and picking the bag up, whacking Jay in the stomach with it. Jay's eyes went wide and he weakly grabbed the bag, tossing it weakly at me. I snorted and pushed his gym bag against his chest, watching in amusement as Jay dropped down onto the bleacher.

"Despite you two being abusive," Jay started, putting his hand over my mouth when I started to object, "we're having a celebration at Scott's."

"What?" I asked, "Why does it have to be at my apartment?"

Jay rolled his eyes and flicked me in the temple, "I don't want to make a mess of mine. Get with it," picking up his bag again, Jay grabbed his keys out of his pocket, "We'll just follow you back to your place, and celebrate!"

I didn't get a chance to object before Jay was practically sprinting down the bleachers, a huge grin on his face. Edi shrugged and stood up, slinging his bag onto his shoulder. Edi looked to the side and I followed his gaze, seeing Elle walking towards us. Edi grinned and hoped down the bleachers, making his way after Jay.

I grabbed my bag and walked towards Elle, grinning at her. If there was going to be a party at my apartment, I'd want her there.

"Come on," I said, nodding my head towards the door, "Jay's called for a celebration at mine, and I'm really not ready to brave it on my own."

"So I'm your protection against Jay?" Elle grinned and fell into step with me.

"I think he's scared of you," I stuck out my tongue and Elle slapped me in the shoulder, making me laugh and wrap my arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to me.

"He should be," Elle ginned at me, ducking out from my arm.

I laughed and leaned forward, wrapping my arm around her shoulder again and pulling her towards me. Elle leaned against my shoulder and I decided that I really, really liked holding her like that.