"You really need to get going."
"I know, but I don't want to leave you here all by yourself."
"I won't be by myself silly," Julie laughed at him, "Miss McKay will be with me the whole time."
"Julie," she could tell Gunnar was suddenly serious by his tone of voice, "maybe it's not a good idea going to the game. I don't want you to get another headache."
She sighed, "I'll be fine, trust me. Okay, I promise we'll leave if there is any pain." Julie paused at the concerned look in his gaze, "Gunnar I am not missing this game. Speaking of which, you need to go, warm-ups will be starting soon."
"Has Portman come to you at all?"
Julie was surprised at the quiet tenseness of his question, "No, he hasn't."
"That might be my fault," he turned his grey eyes on her, "he showed up at the hospital to apologize and I told him to go away. I'm sorry Julie; I didn't think it was appropriate to have that conversation in a hospital room."
Her gaze softened and she placed a warm hand on the side of his face, her heart picking up speed as he nuzzled against her touch, "I love you Gunnar. And thank you because you were right. I didn't want to face him and frankly, I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet."
"If it helps at all, I believed when he said he hated himself for what happened. Julie, we agreed the fighting was over. I hope he means it because I can't let this keep happening to you. You mean so much to me, I love you too."
Gunnar watched as her gaze dropped to his mouth and he couldn't keep back the smirk from invading his face. He leaned over and carefully pressed his lips to hers for a long and sweet kiss. He pulled away and could clearly see that she wanted more; he did too, but there was no way he was risking a set back just so they could deepen their kissing. They would just have to be patient.
"You really need to go," she reminded him, "I'll see you there…what?"
A determination set on his jaw and shoulders and the way he was looking at her made her breath still in her lungs. Gunnar gave her another soft kiss and stared into her deep blue eyes, "I'm going to win this game and I'll be doing it for you. I know you want your Ducks to win Julie, but this is personal, this game is for you."
She swallowed down her anticipation and sudden desire. His words, his voice, his eyes, and God his mouth, it was all just too much. It was strange but that small cut on his cheek; knowing why and how he earned it, made him handsome in a rugged sort of way to her appreciative eyes. And in her heart, she wanted him to win, if only for her. It was peculiar because the Ducks were her team and in her mind she would be rooting for them. But it was her heart that would be secretly cheering for her love, and for once she was glad it wouldn't be her in net for this game. "I believe in you."
He nodded and finally pulled away from her completely. Grabbing her hand he gave her several soft kisses before leaving. Julie stared at the door he closed behind him for several long minutes. Her heart was still wildly beating and there was a goofy grin spread over her lips. She loved that boy, plain and simple.
Half an hour later Miss McKay came back and the two made their way across the street to the arena. They had gotten seats in a suite near the center of the ice that also ran center of the stands, separating the lower bowl from the upper bowl. The two teams were already out skating just before the puck dropped for the start of the game and already the crowd was going crazy.
Looking around the ladies saw several girls in attendance with posters of Gunnar and Julie's name surrounded in hearts. There were even a couple "Marry Me" posters for them both. Julie watched as Gunnar removed his helmet and shake out his already wet hair from sweat, and listened in as girls went raving mad. She glanced over to her instructor with wide eyes and both just started laughing. Julie was absolutely stunned, Gunnar was very attractive and this was just the beginning, she could only imagine how insane it was going to be when he made the pros.
Julie started to smile as she watched his observant eyes seek her out of the crowd, already knowing the general vicinity of her seat. And when their eyes locked her heart melted at the sincere smile and wink he sent her way. Even with a brace supporting her neck and head he could still make her feel beautiful with just a single look. Her eyes began tearing up as he tapped the place on his chest over his heart twice, keeping his gloved hand there for a long moment. It was a message and a reminder, he was playing for her.
The whistle was called for the first face-off and when #9 circled around and took his position for the first draw, the crowd again erupted into cheers for him. This was really kind of wild; these people were rooting for him, a foreigner over their own country. It had to have been louder in here than when the Ducks won the championship last year. Julie wanted to shake her head at the absurdity of it all.
Before his first shift on the ice ended it was clear that Gunnar Stahl had elevated his play to a whole new level. He was everywhere; leading the rush, finishing his checks, first back into the Viking zone to help his team defense, skating around the USA players and finishing his plays. Watching him play like this was almost breathtaking. He was just a special kind of player; an elite. And no one on the Ducks could even touch him.
Every time one of the bash brothers managed to finish a hit on him he simply pushed back to where the momentum was in his favor. And the Vikings, following their captain's example, started to pull together as a team and completely dominated USA in every single facet of the game.
The first goal came at the half-way mark of the first period, Sanderson's slap-shot left a juicy rebound and Amssalik buried it through the five hole into the net. It seemed no one on the ice was more excited for the goal than Stahl, his enthusiasm and excellent level of play had spread to the rest of his team. There was no stopping them and the Ducks were beginning to realize it, no one counted them out though. After all they were the Ducks and still had plenty of magic left.
So when Banks managed to get a breakaway and score the tying goal Julie couldn't help but smile. Adam was talented and was another one who would make it big one of these days. The buzzer sounded for the end of the first, and it would turn out to be USA's only goal scored against Iceland in this final game of the series in the second round.
Iceland simply came out, rallied behind their captain, and took over everything. Gunnar scored two goals late in the third and the final score was 5-1. It wasn't lost on Julie that he'd scored as many times he tapped his heart for her earlier, Gunnar really was something else, just amazing. Julie wished she could have been part of the two teams shaking hands at the end; she wanted to be there to support her Ducks and also congratulate the Vikings for a game well played. Walking through the halls Julie and Miss McKay overheard several people talking about the game with quite a few expressing that they didn't know hockey was so exciting. So, if anything with all the media attention focused on her relationship with Gunnar, hopefully they helped bring more fans to their sport.
The two ladies made their way into the cold basement and went into the Ducks locker room. It was quiet as Coach Bombay was telling his team that they weren't out of the tournament yet. They still had a chance to play for a medal and there was no shame in the way they played the game. He made certain that his players knew he was still proud of them, especially of Portman and Fulton who played their best game tonight. They as a team did the best they could and that is all anyone ever asked of them. There were simply too many changes and not enough time to adapt. They were used to The Cat being in net, knowing she could be counted on to make the save. Goldberg was a great goaltender but his reflexes were simply slower and that is what cost them on a couple of the goals tonight. Not to mention that Averman still wasn't back to full form yet with his sore ankle.
All the Ducks brightened a little when they noticed Julie and Miss McKay entering the locker room. A few of them called out to her, but it was Dean who stood and approached her. Adam stood as well and made to go to them but Charlie and Fulton held him back, Banks just wanted to make sure nothing happened to his best friend. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if she got hurt again and he did nothing to stop it. Adam worried over nothing though, as that was far from Portman's intentions.
In fact, the enforcer went straight to his knees and glanced up to a surprised Julie with tears in his eyes, "Cat," he swallowed and softened his voice, "Julie. I'm so sorry, you'll never know just how sorry I am. I would do anything to take it back. It should be me wearing that thing around your neck. Whatever you want I'll do, I'll leave the team, just say the word. I just," he choked out a sob, "I don't want to hurt you anymore."
"Dean," a few tears leaked down her cheeks and she placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know you didn't hurt me on purpose, you never did."
"Julie, I'm so sorry," his eyes pleaded with hers, needing her to believe him.
"Ssh," she attempted to pull him up but couldn't strain herself to much. He got the gesture and stood, towering over her while still wearing skates, "I forgive you. We're friends and we'll always be friends."
He let her wrap her arms around him and savored the feeling of her touch, grateful to know he still had another chance to make things right between them. He hadn't been lying; he would gladly leave the team if she wanted him to. Dean wanted to hug her back but was too afraid he might somehow hurt her. So they stood there in the middle of the locker room, her hugging him and their teammates watching on with both pride and relief.
Fulton and Tyler began clapping and soon they were all cheering on the reformation of their team. For the first time in over a month the Ducks could feel their team healing as a whole.
Coach Bombay and Miss McKay looked on as the kids so close to their hearts moved towards the center of the room, surrounding Dean and Julie and hugged each other. So they weren't going to play for gold, some things were more important. And in many ways the Ducks had pulled through something far more challenging than a hockey game. Now, they were stronger than ever.
Once all the celebrating calmed down Julie went out to the hallway and began making her way towards Iceland's locker room. She waited for Gunnar, not knowing if any of his teammates would be indecent or not. They didn't have girls on their team to worry about things like that. She didn't have to wait long as Olaf stepped out and grinned at seeing her there. He grabbed her hand and gently led her into Viking territory.
"Gentleman, we have a surprise visitor," Olaf announced.
Gunnar stood up as he saw it was his girl, happy to see she had come to see him after the game. Julie's smile was breathtaking to him, and he watched as her eyes scanned the room and nodded to certain guys on his team before she told them all, "I wanted to congratulate you guys. You were amazing out there and definitely deserved the win. What an exciting game!"
"Would have been more exciting if you were in net," Jovin sent her a teasing grin.
"Yah," Fanger agreed with an amused snort, "but then we might have lost."
The Vikings laughed at that and Larsson the goalie spoke up next, "You okay, Julie The Cat?"
"I will be," her eyes moved over to Gunnar and saw the pleased expression on his face before she returned to Larsson, "no headache today so that's a start."
Stanssen smiled, yes he actually smiled, "Somehow I don't believe you. Even my head hurts hearing all those screaming banshees."
Julie giggled, "It was pretty loud tonight."
"And whose fault is that?" Olaf teased her and nudged her in the back to go to Gunnar and walked with her. More laughter was heard and her cheeks reddened at their teasing.
Gunnar carefully hugged her and brought her down to sit next to him on the bench, "Certainly not ours," he told them and pulled his jersey over his head with his protective gear following shortly after.
"Right," Fanger rolled his eyes, "then tell me who those people were on all the posters."
Julie shrugged, "Still not our fault. Blame the media."
Fanger just shook his head and waved his hand at them in dismissal. Gunnar leaned over and softly kissed her cheek, "Beautiful and brilliant."
"Oh hey," came the voice of Charlie as he entered the locker room and spotted his two friends and chuckled at them. "Guys, we wanted to come and wish you luck for the rest of the tournament."
"Yeah," Adam spoke up, he had tagged along and so did Connie and Fulton, "we and the rest of the Ducks will be rooting for you guys all the way."
"And the Vikings will cheer for your team's triumph over Canada," Stanssen said before addressing his team in a louder tone, "We have a week to prepare, first practice is at 10 tomorrow morning, see you there. And gentlemen," he eyed them all, "don't stay out too late celebrating, that goes for you Ducks as well."
Raucous laughter enveloped the room and their coach left and more the Ducks came into the locker room. The friendships previously established managed to survive a back and forth series against each other. It was a nice atmosphere and no one would have ever imagined it being like this…ever.
Gunnar placed his arm around Julie's back and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "You see this? It is all because of you."
She looked at him with confusion, "I doubt that Gunnar, let's just be happy that our friends can get along now."
"You don't see it do you?" His lips pressed against her hair before his quiet voice continued, "And that's okay, I will tell you how I see it and maybe you will understand. My team, my friends, they accepted you right away. Partly because I am captain but also because they went through the same changes I did over the past year. We changed because you made that save; you showed us what it meant to be a team. And with you and your Ducks, it is because of your feelings for me that they really opened up to us Vikings. Can you see now Julie, all of this, these bonds of friendship, they are thanks to you."
"Gunnar," she was stunned at his words. The way he saw things, how he placed her at the center of everything that was good, it was humbling. And in the middle of chaos in a locker room where rivals and friends celebrated together, she fell even more in love with him.
A/N **Blu: Just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews and support, you all have been so great!