You Raise Me Up (Artemi Panarin)

8| Date Night

Valerie

"You have a boyfriend" my brother Travis accuses me over the phone and I roll my eyes. He never talks to me and this is what I get when he does?

"How did you hear about that" I ask.

"I follow your things" he claims.

"You don't" I accuse.

"Okay, your other, much more idiotic brother told me" he admits.

"That's what I thought" I laugh.

"So tell me about him" he pries. Travis only calls when I'm sick or when something exciting happens, which is never, so it makes sense he's calling me now. This is the first piece of news to come from my life since my doctor got my papers messed up with someone else's and I almost had a lung transplant.

"He's amazing" I smile as I think about him. "Just the sweetest guy I have ever met. He plays hockey for the Blackhawks and moved in next door to me last month. He doesn't treat me like I'm a disease. He always looks in my eyes when we face time or leaves me flowers outside my door if he knows I'm having a rough day. We pass each other notes under the door and we talk every day. He's great" I insist.

"Awww you guys are so cute" he coos.

"Awww you just want his autograph" I counter.

"What's the point of having a cool sister with a even cooler boyfriend and not taking advantage of it" he asks.

"I don't know, maybe you're a decent human being" I tease.

"Doubtful" he admits.

"Right... what was I thinking" I roll my eyes.

"So how are you doing" he wonders. "I saw you went outside."

"I'm fine. I feel a little sick but that's normal for someone who has no cells to fight off anything" I admit.

"Are we still able to come up for Christmas" he asks.

"I sure hope so" I insist.

"I'll bring my girlfriend" he sing songs.

"You better. I need to meet whoever is willing to put up with you" I scoff.

"Okay, you act like such a ray of sunshine and if your fans knew you talked to me like this then they would be so disappointed in you" he claims.

"My words are justified" I defend.

I talk with Travis a little more before he lets me be. I decide to go to the kitchen and cook something up for dinner since I had the time. Then again I always had the time.

With being stuck in the house your whole life you learn a lot about cooking and baking. It sucks because no one is there to enjoy it with you, but I usually have the leftovers delivered to a homeless shelter instead of letting it rot in my fridge. I should honestly make a cookbook for one person.

But since there is never a single serving recipe I go ahead and I get started on dinner by pulling out some ingredients and starting to cook. I decide to do some stuffed zucchini and grilled potatoes with fresh fruit. I turn on some music and and dance around the kitchen as I do what I needed to do. I make my food and stuff it all in the oven before my phone goes off again. I see it's Artemi and answer it.

"Hey baby" he starts and I smile to myself. I liked the sound of that.

"Hey, what's up" I ask.

"Well I was going to play some video games and avoid all responsibilities such as eating dinner but my neighbor is cooking something delicious and now I'm hungry" he says.

"Why don't you come over and eat then" I ask.

"Because you don't feel well and I don't want to escalate anything" he claims.

"If you want me to feel better than you would come over" I say as I bite my lip.

"That was smooth" he admits.

"I've had a lot of time to work on these things" I insist.

"I'll be over in 5 minutes" he claims.

"Alright, I'll see you then."

I finish up making dinner and he comes over with a bottle of wine. He had on a pair of jeans that made his butt look really and a polo shirt from Russia he always wore.

"I brought wine" he announces with a thick accent as he walks into the kitchen and I giggle.

"Perfect" I insist.

I set the table and fix us our plates. I grab two wine glasses and he pours us some. He gets up and pulls my chair out before I sit down. He sits across from me and gives me a great smile.

"This looks just as good as it smells" he claims.

"Hopefully it'll taste as good too" I insist.

"Before we eat this amazing dinner, I would like to make a toast" he claims grabbing his drink. I quickly grab my phone and start to record him as he just laughs at me. "I would like to make a toast to you, Valerie, because you can't leave your house and I just don't want to, but you always give me a excuse to get out. Thank you for this amazing food we have before us, and doing a date night even though I kinda sprung this on you. And for being really cute" he says and I start to laugh.

"To date night" I say raising my wine glass.

"To date night" he smiles.

I set my phone down and put it back in my pocket. We enjoy a nice dinner and enjoy a bunch of laughs. I've never connected with someone like this. Then again I've never met anyone like him.

"What's something you really want to do" he randomly asks and I ponder the question.

"Probably ride a horse again, I miss that more than anything" I admit.

"When was the last time you rode a horse" he asks and I let out a long sigh.

"Oh boy, it's been a while" I claim. "I would say when I was 12. I suck out the house and rode my horse from the farm for a few hours. My mom was so upset with me but it was worth it. I was sick for a week after that but I got to be a kid again so I have no regrets" I shrug.

"I feel like you would love Russia" he admits.

"I really would" I agree.

"They do horse hiking there and it's so cool. Maybe one day I can take you there" he says.

"I would love that. What all would we do there" I ask.

"Whatever you want. We can hike or go horse back riding or swim in the ocean or just walk around town. There's not much there, but it's the quality of what is there that matters" he explains.

"Perfect" I smile.

After dinner Artemi insists on cleaning up since I cooked. I pack up the extras in the box then set it by the door in a bag.

"What's that for" he wonders.

"Henry comes up and takes it to the homeless shelter on his way home. They usually don't accept premade food but they made a exception for me" I say.

"That's really sweet" he smiles.

"I try to be" I admit.

He quickly turns to me and grabs my waist before pulling me closer. I was taken back at first, but I quickly melt into his arms. He tuck a long strand of hair behind my ear before looking at my lips then my eyes again.

Without a word he pulls me into a deep kiss and my eyes slam shut. My fingers slowly get tangled in his hair as I pull him closer. Suddenly nothing else mattered, not my illness or the fact that I felt like crap. All that mattered was that he was here with me.