Chapter Ten

Hey guys,

I'm sad to say that this will be my last update for a while. I'm leaving next week for U.S. Air Force basic training which means that I will be unable to get to a computer for eight and a half weeks. I know this seems like forever for you guys but just think how ling it's going to be for me; waking up a four am everyday, doing countless push-ups, sit-ups, running mile after mile. The next time that I will be able to update will be once I get to technical school, but the exact that that I can update is unknown. I hope that you can all bare with me, your support is greatly appreciated and expect an update in either late January or early February.

Thank you all so much,
Miriya.

***

Chapter Ten

June seventeenth finally came, Nikki's mom's birthday and the day before she left for Canada. After having a small birthday dinner with the family for all three birthdays that week Nikki went to her room to finally pack, she was a bit of a procrastinator. "Why hello there sexy," she said before picking up the phone after reading the caller id. "Bonjour Kristopher."

"Bonjour Nicolette."

"You're picking me up from the airport tomorrow, right?"

"No I'm going to make you walk to my house," he said in a joking tone. "Of course I will be there to pick my best friend up."

"Bon, I'm excited to be coming back to Canada, especially Montreal. I loved Val-d'Or but as you know I'm a city girl."

The conversation went on for a while before Nikki decided that going to bed was the best idea, she wanted to be rested for the next day and when she saw her young Canadian friend. In Canada Kris was talking to Luc. "She's coming back to Canada to spend another week with you, and this time it's just you, I think it's safe to say that this girl has a thing for you."

"I don't know," he continued in French. "What happens if I don't make the big squad this year and I don't get to see her?"

"Don't be so negative. We're both going to make the NHL and you're going to be happy with a beautiful girl, okay?"

"Oui, merci."

The next morning Nikki awoke to the sound of the alarm clock on her phone and quickly got ready. She threw on a pair of jeans, a Pens' t-shirt and converse before eating a bowl of cereal. Throwing her bag in the trunk she waited for her mom in the passenger seat of the car and soon they were off to the airport. Arriving at the airport she said good-bye to her mother before checking her bag and making her way through security. Once she found her gate she sat down and awaited the boarding call for her flight.

When it finally came she found her seat and again didn't pay any attention to the safety instructions. Once the plane took off for Montreal she pulled her wallet from her pocket and from the wallet she took her favorite picture. As she looked at it she let her mind wander back to that day, the three of them happy and spending time together. She missed both Kris and Luc but on this trip she would only be seeing Kris. This was perfectly okay with her, spending time with the man who she found she falling for more and more every day. Staring at the picture she wished that Kris shared the same feelings she did, if only she knew.

Upon landing in Montreal she made her way to baggage claim in search of her bag and her best friend. After pulling her bag form the belt she was off in search of the reason she was back in Canada. It took less than a minute of searching to find him, standing about twenty feet from her was the attractive French-Canadian she had come to know and love. As she found him he was running his fingers through his hair sending a chill through Nikki's body, oh how she had missed that.

There eyes met and they started towards each other. When they were within five feet of each other Nikki dropped her bag and ran towards him, jumping into his arms. Thank God he was a hockey player and was used to things like this. Once she was in his arms she took in the scent that she had missed so much over the past five months; she had missed everything about this man. "I missed you Kristopher," she said while still in his arms. She didn't want to let go and apparently neither did he.

When he did place her back on the ground though he took her hand, bringing it to his lips and placing a gentle kiss. "I missed you too, Nicolette."

They both agreed that they had spent enough time in the airport and they should start off towards Kris' house. Learning her lesson the first time she had come to visit Kris, Nikki didn't argue when Kris tried to carry her bag for her.

A twenty minute drive was all it took for them to find themselves at Kris' house, a cute little house. Kris grabbed Nikki's bag from the trunk of the car and lead her to the room where she would be staying. It was not much bigger than the room she had had in Val-d'Or but it had a different feel to it. "Want to see my room?" Kris asked.

"Of course," Nikki smiled. She had things to add to this sentence but she chose to keep them inside, a wise choice. The room was a bit larger than the one that she would be staying in. A queen size bed sat against one wall and a dresser along the other. On the night stand by the bed sat the picture of Nikki and Kris, part of him hoped that she would see it while another hoped that she didn't. The walls were bare except for a picture of a hockey team that Nikki recognized by their jerseys, the Val-d'Or Foreurs. The walls along with the comforter on the bed were a light blue. The light hard wood floor lay under a simple rug. The bed, the dresser, and the night stand were all a dark wood, contrasting with the light tone of the rest of the room. Two windows next to the bed light up the room and Nikki could imagine that this sometimes annoyed Kris.

"Not much, are you hungry?" It was around one o'clock and Kris knew that flying always made him hungry.

"Mhm," she said with a nod. "Are you cooking?"

"Not lunch, but I'll make you dinner," he smiled. "Let's go out and I'll show you around town."

That's exactly what they did; a small café was where they enjoyed a small lunch before Kris showed Nikki a few parts of town. "It's a lot more beautiful at night," he said as they looked towards the city.

"It's still pretty beautiful," Nikki smiled, she was talking about the city but also they man who she was with.

After a brief tour of the town they found themselves back at Kris' house where he went straight to the kitchen and Nikki attempted to help but was soon told to make herself comfortable in the living room.

Soon the smell of food drifted into the living room, catching Nikki's attention and drawing her to the kitchen. A smile came to Kris' face when she entered the room, he was facing away from the doorway but could sense when she stepped through the threshold. "Dinner should be ready in about ten minutes."

Ten minutes later Kris was placing the last dish on the table and sitting down across from Nikki. Throughout dinner they talked about everything from Pittsburgh to Luc and his girlfriend. Kris had also made cupcakes for Nikki's birthday.

After a delicious meal Nikki returned to the living room after being assured that Kris could handle the dishes himself. She sat down on the couch and made herself at home, turning the TV on and trying her best to understand the French being spoken. She shut the TV off though when she heard the water in the kitchen shut. Kris sat down on the couch next to her, but keeping enough space so that it wasn't awkward. "Nikki," Kris said nervously.

"Kris," she said with a smile turning to face him.

He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair before speaking. "Okay I don't want to make the rest of your trip awkward and it will be awkward if you say no. And I'm sorry if I make everything awkward but Luc said that I should do it."

'Rambling about making things awkward is definitely the way to go Kris, good job,' he thought to himself during the brief pause. He mentally hit himself on the back of the head when Nikki spoke.

"Kris," she said placing a hand on his, sending a chill through both of their bodies which they each tried to hide and ignore. She tried not to giggle at his rambling, it was cute she thought. Trying to keep her voice steady she spoke more softly than normal saying, "Kris what are you trying to say?"

The smile on her face was all that made him continue, this time more slowly than the last time he spoke, but still on the side of rambling than calm speech. "Seeing you again made me realize something. I really, really liked you but now I'm pretty sure that I love you. I guess what I'm trying to say is --"

"Yes Kris I will go out with you," she said cutting him off. She leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek, she wanted so much more, to feel his lips pressed against hers like in her dreams, but for now she would take what she could get. "I'm pretty sure that I love you too."

Kris sighed, relieved that that was all over. Nikki who seemed confident on the outside was just as nervous as Kris was on the inside. She inched closer to him and after a few minutes she found their legs touching. He put his arm around her hoping that she wouldn't push him away. He was again relieved when she rested her head against his chest, something that she had wanted to do for months. "I guess it's a happy birthday for you then?"

"I don't think anything could make it better," she said lifting her head and looking into his dark brown eyes.

"Even this?" He asked before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers. It was exactly how both of them had dreamt it would be, possibly even better. His lips were soft and tasted of the cupcakes they had had following dinner. Hers were the same against his and even though the kiss only lasted a few brief seconds it told them both what they need to know; they really did love one another.

"Okay I lied, that made it better." She rested her head back against his chest after placing a kiss on his cheek. They both smiled, they had waited so long for this moment. Spending times with Kris would have been enough for her but she definitely would not complain about what had happened. She felt safe in his arms and the kiss certainly didn't hurt. She let her right hand lay on her thigh and hoped that Kris would take notice. Soon enough he did and hesitantly he placed his hand over hers and laced their fingers. Nikki gently squeezed his hand to let him know that it was okay and they spend the next few hours just sitting in each others arms and watching something on TV.

Chapter Nine

She rolled out of bed and got ready as usual, this would be the last time she had to do this. Pulling her hat onto her head and her bag over her shoulder she made her way to the bus stop. As usual the bus was crowded and Nikki stood at the front of the bus as she did everyday. When the bell rang sending students to class all that the seniors could talk about was how this was their last day of hell; the last class high school class they would have to attend, the last high school exam they would have to endure.

Nikki's last exam was Bio II, she felt like neither teacher had taught her anything, that all of the learning in this class was student based. The tests had been written by the same company that wrote the text books but the tests were awkwardly worded and therefore difficult to pass. For this exam however everyone felt prepared, the teacher had told them every question that would be on the exam.

Sitting down next to her good friend Shelby one last time Nikki smiled, that is until she was told to stop talking and the exam was passed around the room. "You have one hour, you may begin."

Twenty-five minutes passed and Nikki put her pencil down, satisfied with her answers she turned the test in to her teacher and sat back down. Taking a notebook from her bag she began to doodle, mostly writing Kris' name. When the bell finally rang all of the seniors ran to the auditorium for graduation rehearsal. Rehearsal dragged on until finally they were set free. Before they were permitted to leave however everyone had to stop at the guidance counselor to make sure that he had the correct school for them. "RMU," Nikki said when it was her turn; the school she had worked so hard to get in to.

AS she waited for her friends to make it through the line she made her final decision, she would go to the luncheon. Food was food, she wasn't paying for it and she had plenty of time to kill before the game that night. The only problem was that after eating and spending some time with friends she didn't feel like waiting for a bus and no one would give her a ride to her bus stop back at school so she had to walk twenty blocks alone.

While walking through the not so great part of town Nikki pulled out her phone and began to text Kris, something he hadn't done a lot of that day. 'Tiens,' she wrote unable to think of anything important to say.

'Tiens, ca va?'

'Comme ci, comme ca, et tu?'

'Bien. =]'

This conversation was going no where and fast so Nikki began to tell him about her day and soon she had made it to her bus stop. They continued to text all day, Nikki saying how much she missed Canada but never saying that she missed Kris until he let it slip first. 'I miss you Nicolette.'

'I miss you too Kristopher, but I get to see you in less than two weeks. =]'

Kris sat at home in Montreal and smiled when he read this. Maybe there was some hope, Luc was always trying to convince him to ask her out but what was the point he was almost positive that she would say no. They were such great friends and he didn't want to risk screwing that up.

That night Nikki sat down to watch game five of the Stanley Cup Finals with Kris. Well they were both watching the game while texting each other. When the final buzzer rang and the scoreboard read Ducks six, Senators two Nikki was quite excited. The Ducks had just won the Stanley Cup. While watching the post game festivities as she did every year Nikki continued to talk to Kris, they had talked non-stop all day. 'I'm so glad someone finally beat those guys. =]'

'Yeah, what are you doing tomorrow since you don't have school?'

'No idea, look how happy those guys are.' She couldn't help but smile as all of the Ducks skated around the ice with wide smiles on their faces, some had even shed a few tears of joy.

'I'm going to lift that someday,' Kris said. As he wrote this he thought of how great it would be to win the ultimate prize, to lift Lord Stanley's Cup. Before he could even come close though he had to make the NHL, something he hoped that he could do this coming season.

Nikki also admired the Cup, it was so beautiful. It had been fifteen years since the Penguins last won it and although she had watched it she was only two at the time so she didn't remember it. She wanted so badly for her team to win it again, to see her team's captain Sidney Crosby hoist it over his head.

It had been a long day so at around midnight when Nikki was struggling to keep her eyes open she told Kris goodnight. They had talked for over ten hours and hadn't run out of things to talk about. 'Why is he so perfect?' Nikki asked herself as she flopped into bed. She ran her finger over him in the picture she kept by her bed, a copy of the one she kept in her wallet. She found herself asking this question quite frequently, mostly of herself and when she needed cheering up she pulled the original picture from her wallet. That normally brought a smile to her face no matter what the situation was. "I love you Kristopher."

While her thoughts of being with him back in Canada turned to dreams Kris' thoughts were much of the same. He had his copy of the picture in a frame on his night stand. After sending a final text that said goodnight he stared at his phone background for a while, it was also Nikki's picture. He had really fallen for her since their first meeting back in October. Was it love though?

He found himself thinking about her all of the time. Every time he talked to Luc, which wasn't as often as during the season when they lived together, but they still texted, Nikki was brought into conversation. Luc still talked to her, no where near as much as Kris did, but they had remained friends. Nikki wouldn't tell Luc anything about her feelings for Kris and Kris made Luc swear that he wouldn't tell Nikki how much Kris liked her.

***

Nikki mostly sat around the house for the next few days, she had a babysitting job lined up for the summer before she headed off to college but that didn't start for a few weeks.

Graduation quickly approached and she couldn't have been more excited to never have to deal with that school again. It had been a long four years and when Saturday the ninth came Nikki began to get showered and dressed up around ten o'clock. She decided to let her hair air dry and ran some mousse through it so that it wouldn't frizz. Leaving her hair down she pulled her new dress from the closet and slipped it over her head. Adjusting it so that it didn't bunch she then fixed her hair.

Cassie took a picture to send to Kris just to get his opinion. The dress was a dark shade of blue, sleeveless and knee length. It was the perfect dress for her, showing just enough cleavage to draw attention but it also covered her enough so that the rest was left to the imagination. This was what drew Kris' attention when the picture arrived on his phone. That along with her smile left him breathless. He sat down on the couch to catch his breath and this only proved further that he had it bad for this girl. 'You look absolutely amazing,' he though, however that's not what he texted back. 'You look excited =].' He typed before pressing send. If only he could be there and see her in person, he missed her; after all it had been over five months since he had seen her. The next week could not go by fast enough; he couldn’t wait until she was back in Canada with him.

Back in Pittsburgh once the ceremony started it only lasted an hour and Nikki was finally done with CAPA, for good.