All the Ways

xxix

Paige sighed as she watched speckles of white snow fall upon the ground, covering what used to be black asphalt. The roads were horrible--the restaurant she worked at closed for the day, as well as campus. Not to mention she was unable to go to the Flames game tonight. Maybe this was the universe's way of telling her to finish some things she's been meaning to do, like her laundry or something of the like. Paige was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of her phone vibrating on her nightstand. The phone lit up with a notification saying, "Johnny 🏒❣ would like to FaceTime." Paige slid the screen and made sure the camera wasn't on a weird angle.

A grinning Johnny greeted her, "Hi!"

Paige gave a close-lipped smile, "Hi, John."

He frowned, "What's wrong?"

"It's cold and I wanted to go to your game tonight. I mean Amber and Vivienne are gonna do it, but I'm too scared to go out in a winter storm."

Johnny chuckled, "Wow, you really are from California. This is nothing. I'll see you later tonight after my game."

"I don't want you driving in a blizzard just to come see me!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you later. Love you."

Paige huffed, "Love you too," then hung up.

Amber peeped her head in Paige's door, "Are you going tonight?"

Paige frowned, "No."

Amber sighed, "Stupid fucking American. It's not even that much snow."

Paige just sighed as Amber went back to her room to get ready for the game tonight.

/////

Amber and Vivienne braved the snowstorm and made their way to the Saddledome. The roads weren't even that bad; Paige was just a scaredy-cat. Then again, California was always sunny and 65. The two girls pulled into the parking lot a little late, since Amber had to drive slowly through the blizzard. Warm ups were starting soon. Paige suggested that they should go watch from the glass a while ago, so Amber and Vivienne decided to do exactly that tonight. They hurried to the glass as people began to crowd around, and the timer on the Jumbotron counted down the seconds until the team would skate out.

A group of boys, probably younger than Amber and Viv, stood next to them, holding big cutouts of the heads of Sean, Mark Giordano, and Johnny. Amber tapped one of them on the shoulder, "Hi! Do you mind if I take a picture with your Sean cutout?"

The boy holding Sean's head smiled and handed it to her, "Yeah, knock yourself out!"

Amber handed her phone to Vivienne, as she took a photo of her giving a cheesy grin as she held Sean's big head next to her. Amber promptly gave back the prop and thanked the boy who let her take a photo with it.

Amber laughed to herself as she typed away on her phone. She had slapped a filter on it and posted it to Instagram as they waited for warm ups to start.

@a_reins: Now everyone knows I'm not lying when I say that @monahan20 has a big head. 😁 #truetosize

Vivienne chuckled as she read the caption, "So true."

They watched warm ups intently, waving at their boyfriends whenever they came around. Sean or Sam would tap the glass with their stick, or just stickhandle and shoot in front of them.

After warm ups ended, Amber and Vivienne made their way to their seats and waited for the game to begin as they made small talk and scrolled through their phones. Amber unlocked her phone, seeing a bunch of notifications from the photo she had just posted, but one stood out to her.

@paige_ellis commented on your photo: Which head?

Amber burst out into laughter as she showed Viv her phone, and Viv burst into laughter as well. 

/////

The game started soon, and it was an awfully close game. Everything was fairly even against the Islanders, except for the score. The Isles stuffed in a rebound and had them up 1-0 midway through the 3rd period. The Flames were rallying, completely dominating the Isles in the last ten minutes, but no pucks were going in. They finally scored on a 6-on-5, in the last minute of the game. Dougie Hamilton swiftly passed the puck to Lance Bouma, who flicked the puck just over Halak's right shoulder. The crowd erupted into cheers, and Vivienne and Amber shot up, screaming.

The game went into overtime, but five minutes didn't do anything for either team, so off to a shootout they went. John Tavares deked the living shit out of Ortio, but Halak was no match for Joe Colborne and Sean Monahan. The Flames won the game in a shootout, which meant a happy team and happy girlfriends.

Amber and Vivienne waited by the locker room for their boyfriends, like always. Sean came out first with a stern look on his face, but Amber just went up to him and grabbed his face, "Good job out there, Sean Money Hands."

He scoffed, "My head isn't that big."

She laughed and gave him a peck, "Just accept it."

Sam came out next and pulled Vivienne into a tight hug. He loosened his grip on her to kiss her, "Movies tonight?"

She nodded. They intertwined their hands and were on their way out.

Sean and Amber agreed to a quick dinner, then she'd spend the night at his place. That would mean leaving Paige alone for the night.

Vivienne and Amber texted their whereabouts to Paige, who just responded with a "😭" upon learning that her roommates were most likely letting her have the apartment to herself.

/////

Paige sat on the couch watching another episode of Parks & Recreation with a mug of hot chocolate in her hand. She had texted Johnny about her night alone, but also told him that she didn't want him to drive through the blizzard and risk his life just to see her. So she was shocked when someone knocked on the door, and even more shocked when she looked through the peephole and saw Johnny.

She swung the door open and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Hey! I thought you weren't coming. I'm glad you're safe." She took his coat for him and threw it around a chair in the dining room.

Johnny set down a paper bag on the kitchen counter, "I got you food. You couldn't go anywhere today, so I just assumed..."

She grinned, "Thank you! I've been eating my weight in Chex Mix today. I love you." She grabbed his face and gave him a kiss before rummaging through the paper bag. In it there was a grilled cheese and a cup of tomato soup--Paige's favorite meal when it was cold outside.

The two sat on the couch, continuing the show Paige was watching earlier. Johnny sat on one end of the couch, facing the TV. Paige sat on the other end, facing Johnny; her legs were on his lap, and a tray of food was resting on Paige's lap. She took a quick picture of him, still in a button down and tie, staring at the TV with intense focus. At the bottom of the photo, her tray of food was visible.

@paige_ellis: Johnny Hockey on the ice, my sweet & loving boyfriend (who drives through blizzards for me) off the ice 👫

Paige continued to eat her food as her and Johnny would sporadically laugh at the show playing. Her phone chimed with an Instagram notification a few minutes later.

@a_reins commented on your photo: Daddy in bed

Paige rolled her eyes and texted Amber that she was gonna kick her ass. Amber just sent a few kissy face emojis.