Worlds Between Us - Jack Hughes

Chapter 23

Jack had told me we were going somewhere special, but he wouldn't tell me exactly where. He did tell me to wear a hockey jersey though, so I grabbed my Vancouver Canucks jersey from my closet, and pulled on a pair of jeans. 

I walked out of my room, saw that Jack wasn't ready yet, and went downstairs to wait for him. 

A few minutes later, he ran down the stairs. When he saw me waiting in the living room he said "oh hey Amy! Sorry I kept you waiting so long." I shrugged. "It's ok, I wasn't even waiting that long anyway. He grinned. I leapt up from my seat, and he took my hand and led me to the car. We got in, and drove for awhile before I started to sweat. "Jack?" I panted. "Yeah?" He responded looking over at me. "Why'd you tell me to wear a jersey in the middle of summer?" He grinned abashedly. "Sorry, it's just, you might want it where we're going." "Well, where are we going, the North Pole?" I asked. "Nope." He smiled, as he pulled to a stop at the side of the road.

"C'mon." He said, gesturing for me to get out. I did, asking "where are we?" "Downtown Toronto." He answered. He opened the trunk and pulled out a bag. He still didn't tell me where we were going, so he held my hand and led me. He stopped a couple times to sign autographs for people who recognized him already, but soon we made it to a huge building with 'Scotiabank Center' emblazoned on the front. I was confused. "But... there's no game today." I told him. He grinned. "We're not watching a game." He explained. "We are the game." I almost screamed. "You mean we are going to skate on Toronto Maple Leaf ice?!" "Yup." He confirmed. I launched myself into his arms, and he held me. "How did you even do this?"  I murmured into his chest. I could feel his smirk. "Oh, I have my ways." He said, attempting to be mysterious. I laughed at him, and we walked quickly into the arena.

We zigzagged through the halls, until he finally opened a door that led to the dressing room. Yeah. The dressing room, as in the the Leafs' dressing room. "Pick a stall." Jack told me. "I picked up some skates for you earlier, and I always keep mine handy." He said, emptying the contents of the bag. Two pairs of skates, one significantly smaller than the other. I walked around the room, gazing at the numbers and names above the stalls, letting my hands brush across the tops. I saw Matthews, Marleau, Kadri, Marner, Kapanen... I immediately slid into the next stall which had 'Nylander 29' printed across the top. "Why Nylander?" Jack asked as he walked over, my skates in hand. "I just find him cute." I smirked. Seeing his expression at that, I sprang to my feet and pecked him quickly on the lips. "Not nearly as cute as you though." I whispered in his ear. He smiled, and then knelt down on the floor at my feet. "Take off your shoes." He told me. I did, and he slipped on my skates and started lacing them up, with the fluidity of someone doing an action that has become second nature to them. 

In no time at all, our skates were tied up and we walked into the arena itself. I couldn't help but gasp. It was huge, with the blue Maple Leaf printed in the middle. I slowly lowered my foot onto the ice, and then kicked off. I was a bit choppy at first, but once I got used to it, I was flying around the rink with long smooth strides.

I wasn't quite as good as Jack though, who was skating backwards, and doing crossovers effortlessly. We skated around together for a bit, before he tagged me, yelling "you're it!" I giggled, and pushed off, chasing after him. I got close a few times, but I could never reach him. Eventually, frustration took over, and I launched myself at him, sending us into a heap on the ice. "You're it." I laughed, gently tapping him. he got up saying "no fair! You jumped on me!" but I was gone. I heard him laugh, and I sped up, trying to pull away from him. He could've caught me faster, but he went slow, going around the rink about five times before tagging me. At that point, I was exhausted, and clambered over to the bench.

A/N -  Phew that was a long one anyways probably only gonna do a few more chapters, going for about 30, but we'll see. :D

-CanucksFanFics