Hero {Brendan Gallagher}

18 - Travels

"Stella, c'mon," Quinn gently shook my shoulders as she spoke. "Time to board."

It took me a moment to realize my surroundings, and I stifled a yawn as I reached for my passport and plane ticket. The girls and I shuffled over to the slowly moving line, all too tired to really converse.

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When the plane landed, I felt like my stomach was about to bust with butterflies. A little under an hour and we'd collect our baggage, go through customs, and be reunited with our boys.

Katie and Quinn navigated us towards international baggage like a couple of seasoned traveling pros, dodging lost tourists left and right. We all stood around, waiting for the luggage conveyer belt to begin moving.

"This is taking forever," Quinn moaned, reaching for her phone.

Finally, the conveyer sprung to life and began moving. All of our luggage was easy to spot, as we had all placed a Montreal Canadiens luggage tag on the handles of our suitcases. In all honesty, we probably didn't need to bring a suit case full of stuff. However, we'd be in town for New Year's Eve, and even though our boys would have to go to bed shortly after the clock hit zero, we didn't.

Being girls, we couldn't simply just pack one outfit. We needed options, and we also needed plenty of warm clothes for the family skate.

After the last girl grabbed her bag, we booked it towards customs. Once our passports were checked and bags scanned, we were set free into the airport.

"There's supposed to be a guy with a sign that says Montreal Canadiens on it.." Katie trailed off as her eyes searched the crowd. I began scanning the large room as well, until my eyes landed on a stocky figure in the corner with a Blue Jays hat pulled down to shade his face.

"I don't know about the guy with the sign, but I just saw B," I told the girls excitedly before taking off towards Brendan. A smile spread onto his face as I weaved around people to reach him. As soon as I got close enough, I dropped my suit case and threw my arms around him.

"Hey there," he said, wrapping his arms around my body. I nuzzled my head into his neck, savoring the feeling of safety and warmth I felt in his arms. He leaned back and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before grabbing my suitcase for me.

"The rest of the guys are around here somewhere, waiting for the girls to find them," he said with a grin, glancing to another guy across the room who I quickly recognized as Nate Beaulieu.

"You guys are too cute," I commented, discreetly waving at Nate. "Where to?"

"I know it's not the classiest breakfast, but there's a Dunkin near by," he responded, taking my hand into his as we walked towards the exit.

"You know classy-ness doesn't matter to me," I told him, squeezing his hand. "I'll go anywhere as long as I'm with you."

"That was almost too cheesy," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I debated whether I should say it or not," I admitted with a laugh. We arrived to a car waiting for us outside. Brendan tossed my luggage into the drunk and told the driver what hotel the team was staying in.

The ride to the hotel was mostly silent; I spent the majority of it looking out at the city of Boston in awe. Big cities never failed to fascinate me, and the buzzing feeling they give me is hard to resist. Even leaving the salon after a day of work, looking up at the lit up buildings makes me happy.