S C O T T

"Scott!" Connor yelled, making me whip my head towards his room, "Come here, dude!"

I groaned and pushed myself up off the couch, making my way towards Connor's room. I had my first official Marlies game, and I probably should have left by now to make it to the game early enough. But every couple minutes, Connor kept calling me into his room to check if I had my bag, or my gloves, or ask which jersey I preferred best. It was kind of ridiculous, but pretty awesome, too.

I leaned against Connor's doorway and laughed at all the stuff thrown around his room, "What?" I asked, grinning when I saw what jersey he was wearing, "Good pick, buddy."

Connor had specially ordered a Marlies' jersey with Wilson printed on the back. Connor told me that he was going to be my the best fan in the audience - which meant wearing a jersey for me, and buying one for Kelly, too. Even Elle had gotten a jersey with Wilson printed on the back of it, and that meant the world to me.

"Do you have your gloves?" Con asked, brown eyes narrowing. I rolled my eyes and nodded, and Connor yelped, pulling my gloves out from under his comforter, "Liar!" he cried, throwing the gloves at me, "You left them on my bed, jackass!"

I grabbed my gloves and frowned, twisting them around, "I thought I put these in my bag."

Connor scoffed at me and I laughed, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. My phone vibrated and I pulled it out, grinning widely when I saw Elle's name pop up. It had been a few days after our stupid 'fight', and now everything was back to normal. If anythings, things managed to be even better than before.

From Elle:

good luck tonight loser. i'll be the loudest one in the audience tonight :p you'll do amazing, babe, see you later :)

I grinned at the cheesy message and wrote a quick one back before pocketing my phone. I went to lean back in Connor's bed, only to have Con flop down next to me. I groaned and looked up at him, knowing that I had to get ready to go, anyway. I still had to get there before the game even started for our practicing.

Con shook his head and grabbed my shoulders, pushing me up and out of his room. It was already four-thirty, and the game started at six. That wouldn't have been such a problem, except for the fact that Coach Monroe wanted us at the Marlies stadium by five, and I didn't even have shoes on yet. Shit.

I ducked under Connor's hands and tossed my gloves in my hockey bag. I cursed and dropped down on the ground, tugging the closest pairs of shoes I had towards me and shoving them on my feet. I had gone to bed at eight o'clock last night to make sure I'd have plenty of time in the morning, yet, somehow, I was still late.

I jumped up and tugged my jeans up a little higher. I looked around for my jacket, only to see Connor standing a few feet away, texting someone (probably Kelly), with a goofy grin on his face. I glared at him and practically threw the couch cushions around in a search for my hoodie. I had just seen it.

"It's on the kitchen table," Con called, the same stupid smile playing on his lips. I frowned and walked into the kitchen, not really surprised when I saw my hoodie on the table. Connor was a neat-freak - he knew where everything was.

Jogging back into the living room, I pocketed my keys, and grabbed my hockey bag, ready to go. I ruffled up my hair and took a deep breath before opening the front door and slipping out. I was half-way done the hall (I was resisting the urge to check my phone, since I knew that Elle had been texting me) when Connor shouting my name made me stop.

I turned around and Connor grinned at me, flashing me a thumbs-up, "Good luck, Scotty!" he called, whistling afterwards. I grinned and started down the hall again.

"I'm so excited!" Jay grinned at me, adjusting his gloves. Jay was practically bouncing around the locker room now, but he stopped, turned to me, and just grinned wider, "I'm so fucking excited, dude!"

I grinned back at him and plopped down on the bench, tugging my skates up and lacing them tighter. The game hadn't started yet, but I was already ridiculously hype. Edi had been blasting The Real Slim Shady on repeat, which, surprisingly, turned out to be the perfect song to get hype. Jay and another player named Graham had given the longest, stupidest, yet best speech, and now everyone was ready to go out and play.

"Nervous?" Edi asked, holding his helmet in between his two hands. Jay plopped down next to him and bumped Edi's shoulder, a wide grin on his face.

I laughed and slapped Edi's helmet, grinning widely myself, "I'm more nervous that I'll do something dumb and Elle will see," I joked, a smirk spreading out across my lips.

I didn't realize it, then, but the noise level had gone down. I turned and all the guys were staring at me, some in surprise, and some in confusion. I quirked an eyebrow in Edi's direction, and he just shrugged, blue eyes widening on confusion as he looked around.

"You're dating Elle?" Graham asked, lips twitching up into a wide grin.

"How could you not know?" Jay asked, leaning around Edi and awkwardly wrapping his arm around my shoulders, "They're always together. Scott's basically whipped."

I scoffed and the whole room broke out into laughter. The laughter and shouts ended quickly when Coach Monroe walked into the room. Jay practically bolted over to his side and I sat up straighter in my seat, heart pumping quickly. I had gotten plenty of first-game speeches from coaches before, but not from a professional coach for a professional first game.

"All right," Monroe said, clapping his hands and getting everyone's attention, "We've been practicing for weeks, and I know each and every one of you are ready to go out there and win this game! I'm proud of all of you, so get out there and kick some ass!"

We all whooped and cheered, and then we were filing out of the locker room, and that's when my heart practically jumped in my throat.

As we walked down the hall, I could already hear the screaming. Some people were shouting for the Bulldogs, but this was a home game and I could hear the shouts for the Marlies. Jay and Edi bumped my shoulders and I grinned as we walked into the heart of the stadium, where the shouts only intensified.

Everything happened quickly. We skated onto the ice and did a few laps, and I swore that no screams at any game I had ever been to sounded so loud. Red and white lights flashed across the ice, and I just couldn't stop grinning.

We skated over to our box, and that was when I saw Connor, Kelly, and Elle. They all stood up and started shouting, and I grinned at them. Connor was waving his hands and screaming, and Kelly was practically jumping up and down. Elle grinned and waved at me and I grinned back at her, only to have Jay tug on my shirt and roll his eyes at me.

We all filed into the box, and waiting for the game to actually begin. There was a few announcements, and they sang the anthem, and then Monroe was rounding us up and cheering and grinning wider than I had ever seen him grin before. Jay, Graham, Edi, Michael, and Max, and I all stood up, since we were the starters.

Monroe ran through the positions quickly and then turned to me. Over the noise of the crowd, he called out, "Scott, I want you playing center offense! Jay, right wing!"

Jay turned to me, and, through his visor, I could see the grin on his face, "Remember, Scotty: with great power comes great responsibility."

Edi nodded, and slapped me on the shoulder, "So, get the puck in the goal!"

I laughed and we all skated out onto the rink. Everyone got into position, and I eyed down the players for the Hamilton Bulldogs. It was our first game, and we were playing a team I had always liked. But - fuck, there was something so unreal about being on the ice, about to play a team I used to watch on TV.

The twenty minutes of the first quarter went on the scoreboard, and adrenaline pumped through my veins. I bent down, eyes on the puck as he the ref dropped it and called for the face-off. A wide grin broke out on my face as I slapped the puck to Jay and started skating down the ice.

The screams of the crowd doubled by tenfold, but it only edged me on further. I could see my teammates skating around me; could see the defense-men moving up only slightly. I skated forward and drifted around some people, calling to Jay when I saw he was about to get boxed-in but two players.

Everything happened in what felt like less than seconds. Jay slapped the puck towards me and I got it easily. I skated forward a few feet, only to see someone skating towards me. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to skate around him, and Graham was too far away to make a pass to. So, I took a decision.

I did my favorite shot: a slap-shot.

The puck flew forward and I watched with wide eyes as it sailed into the goal. The ringer went off, and the screams intensified and I knew I could hear Elle, Kelly, and Connor screaming. Jay skated forward and tackled me in a semi-hug and I smirked, skating around, the screaming only making my smirk widen. I blew Elle a kiss and Con blew me one back, making me bust out into laughter.

"Hell yeah!" I screamed, skating back into position quickly.

Two periods later and the game had ended.

There was a lot of penalities, and Jay and I both spent a little bit of time in the penality box. Connor's lost his voice by the end of the game, Kelly could barely hear, and Elle had lost her voice, too. But we had won the game, and I was practically dancing through the parking lot.

"We won!" Edi shouted, hoping on my back. I laughed, stumbled forward, caught my balance and started to run forward, "We fucking won!"

"Hell yeah!" Jay shouted, pounding his fist into the air happily, "I'm on top of the fucking world right now, man!"

Connor looked up at Jay, who was standing on the front of his Jeep, "You're on top of my car," Con pointed out, a ridiculously wide grin on his face, "but I'll let it go because you guys won your first game!"

Edi jumped off my back and I jogged forward, wrapping my arms around Elle's waist. Elle yelped and I laughed, pulling her towards me and spinning her. I grinned and dropped Elle down on the ground, before wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her towards me, pressing a kiss against her lips.

"No kissing," Edi groaned, hoping up onto the top of Con's Jeep with Jay and Con.

Connor grinned and bent down, pressing his lips against Kelly. Edi groaned and Connor laughed, awkwardly pulling Kelly up on the Jeep to sit next to him.

I laughed and held Elle close to me, not caring that we were standing out in the parking lot when it was freezing out. I was still ridiculously happy from our win, and holding Elle there in that parking lot was perfect.

"You did good," Elle said, twisting around and kissing me again, "I mean, some of your turns were abrupt, but still."

I grinned down at her and ruffled up my messy hair, "Would it be cheesy if I said that you were my good luck charm?"

"A little bit."

"Good," I said, turning and pointing at Connor, "because Con's my good luck charm!"

Connor whooped loudly and Elle rolled her eyes, before standing up straighter and kissing me again. I whipped away from Connor and wrapped my arms around Elle's waist again, pulling her as close to me as I could. Elle's arms wrapped around my neck, and I knew I was probably sweaty and smelled, but I didn't care.

I pulled back and pressed my forehead against Elle's. Her green eyes were vibrant, and she was shivering against the cold so I held her tightly towards me. Elle's head was nestled into my neck and I grinned.

I was still high off of our win, and holding Elle there was just amazing. I closed my eyes and blurted out my next words without even thinking.

"I love you."