Thin Ice (Corey Crawford)

Reunited

Corey

After spending two whole weeks away from Chicago, and Samantha, I finally return to the city. After dropping my stuff off at my apartment I drive right over to Samantha's house. Her brother was in school right now but I could wait to see him again. Sammy... not so much.

I pull into her driveway and quickly exit my car before running up to her door. My heart was going a mile a minute as it bangs against my chest. Before I can even knock on the door it flies open and I see Samantha standing there. She had on a pair of jeans and one of her old college sweaters on. It was the last day of November and it was cool and she looked so cute.

She quickly jumps into my arms before pressing her lips to mine. I smile real big as I wrap my arms around her so she won't fall. I feel my fingers dig into her back as I hugged her and every doubt and every fear I had about loving her was gone. It had disappeared and I was blissfully happy to be here in her arms.

"Oh my god I've missed you so much" she admits as soon as we break apart and I smile.

"I've missed you more" I reply.

"I seriously doubt it" she smirks.

She welcomes me in and like usual she was by herself. She had the night shift for tonight so I knew it was going to be her and I for a little while longer. She offers me a drink and I follow her to the kitchen to help her out. She hands me a water and gets one for herself before we decide to chill out in her backyard. She had a bunch of cool things like a hot tub and a pool. They even had a obstacle course her and her brother do that tests strength. But my favorite thing was to sit on the porch and just talk to her.

"So how was your trip" she wonders.

"It was pretty good. We racked up a lot of points and only lost one game so that certainly helps" I nod.

"Did you get to do anything fun" she asks and I shrug.

"Not really" I admit.

"You got to go to seven different cities and you didn't get to do anything fun" she gasps.

"I've been in the league for a while now, I've seen it all" I guess.

"There's so much more to this life than we know, than we'll ever know, but that shouldn't stop you from taking every opportunity you have and doing the best you can with it. You're so lucky Corey, you get to travel and see things people only dream of. There thousands of guys in the AHL or ECHL who would kill to go on the trip you just did. To be able to play on this team of guys and have the opportunity to see what you can see. You just gotta open your eyes" she claims.

I smile as I fiddle with my thumbs in my lap. My teeth out for the world to see as I listen to the one voice I never minded getting stuck in my head.

"I was busy" I defend.

"Busy doing what" she wonders.

"Thinking about you. About what you were doing and if you were thinking of me too" I admit. She smirks as she turns away from me so I couldn't see her start to blush.

"I was. I couldn't get you out of my mind. Like a record scratch you were running through my head over and over again. I missed you like I miss my dad" she claims.

"I don't want you hurting because I'm not there. I hated being apart, and if it hurts you I don't..." I trail off.

"You don't what" she asks. I let out the longest sigh of my life as I shake my head.

"I don't know" I admit.

"I'm not going to give up on you because our relationship isn't perfect. I'm okay with you being gone because it reminds me of how much I want you here with me when you are here. Yeah, it hurts like hell, not to be able to hold your hand, to kiss your lips and hold you close. But I would rather miss you than live my life knowing that you're not coming back" she says.

"Why do you want to be with me" I ask her. She grabs my hand so I would stop messing with my fingers and I look up at her. I see those bright blue eyes I saw that first night I ever laid eyes on her. The first moment I knew that this girl would one day mean the the world to me.

"Because I love you Corey" she says softly. I try to hide my smile but it was as bright as the sun as I look down at her.

"Are you sure" I ask and she giggles.

"Yeah. I've had two weeks to think about it. Then when I stopped listening to my head and listened to my heart I realized that I missed you so much because I loved how I felt when you were here, and I hated how I felt when you're not. And yeah, it sucks that you're gone. But you're here now" she says.

"Loving me can hurt you" I insist.

"Nothing would hurt more than not be able to love you" she promises.

"Well... looks like we're in this for the long run eh" I ask as she laughs at me.

"Yeah, looks like it" she says. She rests her head on my shoulder as she holds my hands in hers. It didn't work too well because my hands were considerably bigger than hers, but it's the thought that counts.

We sit there in the silence for a while before I kiss her forehead.

"Oh and by the way... I love you too" I say as she smiles up at me.

"I was hoping" she jokes.

I pull her chin up and give her a real kiss before I hear someone pull into the driveway.

"Uh oh, I think Shawn's home for lunch" she claims and I smile.

"Why is that a Uh oh" I ask.

"I was supposed to make him lunch. But in my defense I had a pretty good distraction" she claims as she squeezes my hands.

"How about we go out to lunch" I offer.

"Okay. But you gotta tell him he has to go back to school when we're done because I can't call him out again because he doesn't feel like going back after lunch" she claims.

"Or we can play some mini sticks in the driveway" I say and she smiles.

"I like your idea better" she admits.