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silvervioletvalentine · 8 months

Text

🏑Everything has changed 🏑

Pairing: Sydney Crosby x Single mom Cherrie

Word count : 6.7k

Summary: falling in love can come as easily as breathing sometimes . The right person can be the one who holds the door open for you .

'And all I've seen

Since eighteen hours ago

Is green eyes and freckles and your smile

In the back of my mind making me feel like'

Sydney didn't know what was coming over him as he froze by the apartment complex door , barely blinking , barely breathing as he watched her brush past him.

Mumbling a small, shy , sorry as she cradled a small baby to her chest . Not even looking up at him as he held the door open for her , arching his arm up high on the doorframe so she could duck underneath it, not even thinking to move himself completely . Feeling like he had been stuck in a daze , as though somebody had cast a spell over him.

She glanced briefly over her shoulder at him, still stood there holding the door like a damn fool. Eyes wide and chest still, struck on her , swallowing as he dazedly watched as she flashed him the most prettiest smile he had ever seen.

"Thank you." She mumbled to him gratefully , arms full. And Sidney recognised that the baby must have been her own, the same head of hair and the biggest bambi eyes looking around over her shoulder , then straight at him too.

He didn't know what to do or what to think , barley managing to mutter a quick "it's alright." Before she was gone. And he could finally breathe.

Letting out a small groan of humiliation as he let the door close shut again, rubbing the palm of his hand over his face as he replayed each split second of their encounter in his head.

Cringing in mortification to himself at how stupid he must have looked to her then, frozen still , unable to move and practically forcing her to duck underneath his arm instead of just stepping aside for her like a normal person.

He swallowed thickly , felt the rapid beating of his heart and cursed beneath his breath. Wondering if he was coming down with something because what else could explain his strange behaviour ? If his friends could have seen him then, he would have been getting chirped on for life after that display.

So he sees a pretty girl and suddenly he can't fucking speak? He was a grown ass man for gods sake! What the hell was wrong with him? He wondered embarrassed as he quickly hurried back up to his apartment .

Shaking his head to himself because this was not how he wanted his new nigh out to meet him at all. Not only was he a sweaty mess from the gym, he had also acted like some hormonal teenager that couldn't talk to girls at all. Hell knows what she thought of him now

The rest of that night all he could think about was her, wondering what her story was. Wondering why a beautiful , young woman would be moving into an apartment on her own with a baby. Wondering if she was married, it somebody loved her . Barely believing that a woman that beautiful could be single , I mean, that smile ...

She had took more breath out of him than all the times he was getting bodied slammed in ice by a grown man , and that was not normal at all.

He placed his hand over his chest and his frown deepened , his stomach twisting as he replayed her shy smile in the back of his mind, exhaling uneasily.

Met the new girl next door. He text his friend slowly , still feeling strange in ways that he just couldn't , and wouldn't , explain to his friends.

Oh yeah? She hot? He texted back.

Sydney paused , fingers hovering over the screen of his phone before hesitantly typing

Yes.

She had dimples man. He sighed , stressed.

Oh? Where?

Sydney rolled his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips.

On her face asshole. She Has a smile like the sun.

Ah man. His friend knowingly typed back and Sydney Could just picture his smirk through the screen. You're fucked.

Completely. Sydney agreed. Sighing , hands over his eyes. Because when he woke up the next day and went about his day, eighteen hours later and her smile was still all could think about

'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello"

And your eyes look like comin' home

All I know is a simple name

And everything has changed'

Sydney finally got to officially meet the girl that he had been practically obsessing mentally about that very next weekend.

When he was once again getting home late from a game , she was there by her front door. The little baby balancing on her hip, crying a little as she struggled to get the keys into the lock properly . Clearing tired ands stressed out as she sushed her baby softly , rocking side to side in attempt to soothe him.

Sydney took a deep breath To gather his confidence as he felt his stomach twist again, cautiously approaching them before his mind could convince him that it was a bad idea.

He cleared his throat , then winced A little as he watched her nearly jump out of her skin at the sight of him suddenly appearing beside her.

"Sorry! Sorry!" He hurriedly apologised , cheeks flushing with colour as he offered her a smile that he hoped showed that he wasn't a threat.

"I'm Sydney." He then blurted out before he could just continue to awkwardly stare at her and freak her out some more.

Seeing the way that she was looking at him, brows furrowed and shoulders tense, gripping her baby tighter in her arms. He winced again "your neighbour. I held the door open for you last week." He felt the need to explain some more, feeling the heat spread from his cheeks to his ears now.

And he felt so fucking thankful that he hadn't offered to host hus friends for beers at his place because If they are to witness the way he was behaving now, they would never let him hear the end of it.

It was humiliating and Sydney didn't understand why he was behaving like this at all.

Her face softened a little then as she saw just how nervous him scaring her had made him, letting out a small giggle as she offered him another one of her smiles.

Sydney felt goosebumps break out across his skin.

"I remember you." She said quietly , relaxing now that she realised just who had crept up on her.

She looked at him sweatpants and hoodie, his wet hair and frowned a little "is it raining out? I was just out and it wasn't.." she wondered out loud. Mother instincts kicking in at the thought of him wandering around in the cold with his wet hair freely.

Sydney chuckled a little, rubbing his fingers through his hair. "Nah. I had a shower after the game." He said . Then he saw her confused look and his eyes widened in disbelief .

"What game?" She asked him curiously , wondering if he was some type of rugby player. He was buff enough to be one but his face was far too pretty.

Sydney looked at her in shock, blinking in astonishment because this was a first. He felt a little dizzy.

"You don't know who I am?" He blurted out. Then cringed at how entitled that sounded.

Fuck me. He mentally complained. What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I being so...uncool? He wondered to himself in embarrassment.

Thankfully she just let out a small Confused laugh and shook her head a little . Rocking her gurgling baby a little more in her arms as he wiggled about restlessly .

"No? I don't know you do I?" She winced at the thought while eyeing him up and down, scanning her memory for his face and coming up blank . Hoping to god that he wasn't some ex hookup from her wild college days or something.

She was a wild child before life had crashed down on her ass and forced her to grow up and face the consequences of drinking every night to the point where she apparently thought that she was allergic to rubber. But alas. That was the past and this was now.

And she had a ridiculously handsome man as her new neighbour , smiling down at her like she was his Christmas gift come early.

"You do not." He breathed out , grinning now.

Eyes flickering down to the baby in her arms, his little head now facing him as he blinked his big eyes up at him curiously . Syd he his face soften at how adorable he was.

"And who's this little man playing where's Waldo?" He teased , motioning towards his red and white striped jumpsuit and hat. He looked cute as hell, there was no denying it. That baby had hit the genetic genes with her as his mother .

She rolled her eyes at him playfully , stroking the top of her baby's head affectionately. "This is benny. And those are his pyjamas since it is nearly midnight." She pointedly told him, smiling up at him. In awe by just how attractive he was.

Sydney smiled , reaching out to gently tap bennys little nose. Chuckling when he giggled , all high pitched and cute.

He awed softly . Enamoured by the both of them then.

"And do I get to know mammas name too?" He wondered a little nervously . Glancing over at her again, giving her a hopeful smile, heart pounding in his chest as he crossed his fingers behind his back.

She looked at him for a look moment . Taking in his flushed cheeks and nervous smile. The way he wouldn't stop fidgeting on his feet , shoving his hands into the pocket of his sweatpants .

The longer she took to answer him, clearly expecting her not to, the more anxious he visibly got, Having already decided in his head that she was way out of league anyways .

She felt the familiar butterflies ravish across her chest and down to her stomach , fighting back a defeated sigh.

It'll happen when you least expect it. Her grandmother used to always tell her when she asked her about falling in love.

You probably won't even want it and then bam! Some stupid man will walk casually into your life and wreck all your plans . And you'll just know .

It'll be easy. and it will be sweet. Don't trust any of that 'love hurts nonsense honey.' She used to tell her fondly , like the wise woman she was. 'Love isn't like that That at all. Love is supposed to feel like coming home . Like everything has changed."

So she took a deep breath and told him gently "it's cherrie. It's Nice to meet you Sydney." Reaching out her free hand for him to shake, giving him this one chance.

And he took it.

He wrapped his fingers around her own and felt his skin burning , gently shaking her hand with his. Lingering there for a moment longer than he should as he looked into her pretty eyes, sighing a little As he did so.

"It's nice to meet you too Cherrie." He told her , having never said a more honest thing in his life.

And as Cherrie watched Sydney turn away from her to carefully take bennys tiny hand in his own, shaking it gently with a smile on his face. She just knew that her grandmother was smirking down at her knowingly , a 'I told you so' look on her beautiful face.

"And it's nice to meet you too little man." Sydney muttered , gently nudging his chubby cheeks before straightening up again. Giving Cherrie another glance "hopefully we'll get to bump into each other more often?" He hoped. Eyes glistening like daylight .

Cherrie just smiled and Sydney knew then that everything had changed.

'All I know is you held the door

You'll be mine and I'll be yours

All I know since yesterday

Is everything has changed'

It turned out that Sydney did a lot more than bumping into them after that night . Almost like he planned it. (He did).

The very next morning he was up at the crack ass Of dawn , excited and pumped , having his confused assistant get him a load of baby merchandise from their team catalogue . Ignoring her startled look and worried questions of 'did you get someone pregnant and not tell us Sydney?!'.

Instead he was grinning widely when she opened up the door, yawning cutely and looking behind confused As he silently held up a tiny Crosby jersey for her to see. Excitement written across his face.

Hyped up on coffee and hope and nerves, his confidence was at a all time high . and he hadn't Given himself a second to overthink a single thing before he was at her front door . Not even thinking , just doing what felt right.

"Look how cute this is." He stated proudly , grinning as he looked down at his name on the jersey . Turning it around for her to see.

With messy hair, just a oversized tshirt dried with baby food on. Face puffy from sleep , she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen as he watched her yawn again. Squinting at the jersey in his hand in tired confusion.

Blinking slowly , she sniffled . Barely there.

"Crosby? Who's that?" She mumbled out tiredly , rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Stepping away from the door to head back over to the high chair where little benny was sat, impatiently waiting to be fed.

Sydney didn't hesitate to wander in straight after her , an arm full of baby clothes coming with him . All penguins and Crosby. Giddy with this new feeling inside of him, refusing to even question it.

"My name." He simply answered her. Grinning down at Benny who started clapping his hands and holding his breath in excitement , squirming in his chair as soon as he caught sight of him.

Sydney laughed "breathe little man!" He said in amusement as he took a seat at the table beside his high chair . Not even thinking to ask, completely missing the incredulous look on cherries face as she watched him settle right in like he had always been there.

"I know I'm amazing but come on.." he chuckled , gently stroking the curls on top of his little head. Shaking his head fondly at him, heart feeling soft .

"He's gonna be the coolest little dude wearing this." He then turned to face Cherrie again , nodding towards the clothes proudly .

Still confused and shocked and tired , she scratched at her forehead warily . Blinking at him slowly as she tried to catch up "football?" She muttered. Carefully lifting one of the tiny jerseys up to look at it , not a sports fan at all.

She could name messi and neymar and that was about it. She had a baby to take care of after all, no time for sport games.

Sports had never interested her. Maybe some of the players in college when she was in her hoe era but that was about as far as her knowledge went . How to blow a football player underneath the bleachers in less than five minutes . That she knew.

Sydney Crosby? She did not. Alright, she bit her lip gently as she looked at him, sat at her table in Nike shorts and a tight tshirt , looking like he belonged in the front page of GQ. She wouldn't mind being a hoe for him at all.

Teenage Cherrie could be foaming at the mouth. Adult Cherrie was just wondering why such a hot man was sat at her table , bringing her baby clothes and smiling up at her like she was something special.

"Hockey." He corrected her in amusement . Picking up the tiny bottle of baby food and the little spoon, he gathered some of the mushed food onto it.

Before pausing just before he could feed benny, cheeks flushing As he glanced back over at her. "I can feed him? Sorry...I didn't ask." He muttered embarrassed that he had gotten caught up in it all.

She didn't know him after all . But he wanted her to. and he wanted to know her, he wanted to know everything.

Cherrie just smiled , heart softening as she looked at him nervously fidget in his seat. His eyes wide and apologetic as he looked up at her.

She knew what was happening and god was she scared. She's had been burned before after all. A single mother in her early twenties told everyone all about that, but she was trying not to let one guys cruelness affect another, Especially not one as handsome and kind as Sydney seemed to be.

So fighting off the instinct to push him away and physically recoil from men entirely , she gave him a smile and relaxed .

"Sure. As long as you don't mind getting pudding all over you." She simply said .

Sydney just chuckled as he carefully fed benny a spoonful, grinning in Awe as he watched the little baby hum and wiggle in his seat As he practically tried to chomp the plastic spoon out of his hand.

"I don't mind." He muttered continuing to happily feed him. Then he remembered what he had promised himself to do and took a deep breath.

I can do this. He encouraged himself firmly. I'll regret it forever if I don't at least try. He then tried to reason with himself but the words failed to come out.

"Cherrie?" He finally called over to her. Watching as she poured herself a cup of coffee , leaning against the counter to face him when he said her name .

"Yeah?" She hummed. Curious .

He hesitated , then finally exhaled "you prefer going out for dinner or staying in?" He asked her as casually as he could manage to while feeling like he was going to have heart failure .

She frowned slightly in confusion. Tilting her head a little at him as she answered "staying in. Baby's and restaurants just don't end well."

Sydney nodded his head , giving her a grin. "Pizza?" He asked her. Wiping bennys mouth with his bib gently once he was done feeding him.

Cherrie paused, cup raised to her lips as she looked at him hesitantly . Wondering if he was really suggesting what she thought he was.

"Sydney..." she sighed. Nervously fidgeting with her cup as she watched his smile drop when she didn't say yes. But she felt the need to warn him. "I'm a mother." As though he didn't already know that.

Sydney frowned back at her , confused. "And I'm a hockey player?" He replied back blinking "what's that got to do with pizza?"

She gave him a look "you know what I mean." She said a little annoyed . Used to guys running for the hills as soon as they Realised that benny was in fact hers. "You won't just be having pizza with me. You'll be having pizza with benny too." She told him matter of factly. Expecting him to take it back and agree with her.

But Sydney had laughed and shrugged his shoulders with a grin. "Sounds good. Do they even do baby pizza?" He wondered out loud casually . As though his heart wasn't threatening to leave his rib cage then.

Cherrie just shook her head with a small smile tugging at her lips. Giving in With a defeated little huff because what else could she do?

"There is not."

He nodded again , pulling up the Crosby jersey again. "He's gotta wear this gem for pizza night." He stated. Grinning at her boyishly .

Cherrie just sighed because her grandma was right.

She did know.

'And all my walls

Stood tall painted blue

But I'll take 'em down, take 'em down

And open up the door for you'

But it wasn't always easy and Sydney had never expected it to be all sunshine and rainbows because that wasn't how real life was .

He had come to learn that She was as beautiful as she was stubborn but by then Sydney had learned to just roll with it. Because he knew that she needed a solid presence there for her when she got all knitted up like this, knew that he needed to stay calm and factual with her.

She was used to silly , stupid boys that were easy to push away. Insecure men that didn't know how to handle a woman like her, but Sydney was determined to prove to her that he was nothing like them at all.

And he thought that he had been doing a pretty great job at it so far.

He had made sure that she knew just how much he wanted to be around her, everything really had changed for him . And so quickly it had become that Sydney could barely bare to be away from her or benny for very long at all .

They were quickly becoming his whole world and Sydney wasn't going to let anybody ruin that.

So when they were out on a rare night out together at some bar her friends had been bugging her to go to, benny at his grandmas for the night.

Sydney Could only watch in confusion as Cherrie suddenly went tense beside him and then pulled her body away from him, making his arm fall down to his side from where it had been placed comfortably around her shoulders for most of the night.

Holding her purse in his other hand, he frowned warily to himself as he watched her straighten up with a odd look on her pretty face just as a woman walked over to them.

There was a moment where the woman just looked Cherrie up and down, eyes widening before she let out a loud laugh.

"Oh my god!" She gasped , grinning at her like they were best friends . "is that really you Cherrie? You've changed so much.." the way she said it didn't sound so nice either.

Sydney tensed up , his frown deepening as he silently stood to the side and just watched. Not wanting to step in , knowing by now that she hated being coddled and that she got embarrassed whenever he stepped in before .

So this time, he just stayed silent because she had pulled away from him. and it stung . But he knew her boundaries and knew what her body language meant by now.

"Yeah." Cherrie muttered, clutching onto her drink in her hands tightly . Swallowing drily when she noticed Maxine eye the drink in her hand with a smirk on her face.

"Still a party girl then? The baby not take you away from your wildness huh?" She laughed , clearly judging her.

And Sydney kind of wanted to grab that drink and throw it in her bitch face but unfortunately that would be assault .

Cherrie didn't answer so Maxine took it upon herself to continue on despite the uncomfortable look on cherries face , Sydney tried to gently place his hands on cherries waist in support so that she knew he was there, but she shrugged him off, not even looking at him.

He inhaled silently then , telling himself not to take it personal. She was clearly upset , she would tell him why she was acting like this when she was ready.

Hopefully.

"I can't believe you actually went through with it! All the girls were placing bets on which footballers baby it was! Was it Harrison's? You two were always fucking around between classes.." she smirked at her meanly .

Cherrie swallowed , skin prickling as Maxine brought up all of her past shame right in front of Sydney who knew nothing about it. Because she didn't want him to know what a wildcard she had Been before benny came and settled her down.

She had been the definition of a whore and she knew it. She had been easy , she had been the party girl.

The girl that everybody wanted to get with and most of them she let hit it too, because she was lonely and desperate for attention back then. Mix in alcohol and daddy issues and she was your average college girl who was trying to find love in all the wrong places.

But she was better now. She was grown up and she didn't just sleep with anybody anymore. She hasn't been with anybody since bennys dad , and Sydney had been the only man that she had been with since then.

But she didn't want him to know about it because she was scared. What if he thought differently of her after finding out what a party girl she had been? Her body count was way more than his, there was no doubt about it.

Would he think that she was easy and that he didn't want a girl that had been around the block a dozen times?

What if he didn't want her anymore?

The thought of losing him because of what an idiot she had been when she was younger made her want to dump him before he could dump her.

She didn't want Sydney to have the power to break her heart, her heart and thoughts were going rapid with panic and fear. Irrationality mixed with hard liquor not Helping her at all. It was like all common sense had went out the window and she froze up .

"No. No. I-he-" she stammered , blinking back the stinging in her eyes. Feeling like her throat was closing as she looked at maxines mean smirk , knowing exactly what she was doing.

And Cherrie hated that she knew exactly why Maxine was doing this. Because Cherrie had been a horrible person as a teenager , boy crazy and the queen B. She had went a little power crazy and let the popularity ruin her for a while .

And cherrie couldn't even get angry at Maxine for acting this way because mostly she felt ashamed that the past was always going to follow her everywhere.

Because Maxine hated her simply because her boyfriend had dumped her for Cherrie when they were eighteen , because every boy in their class had wanted her then. And Cherrie hadn't cared at all about how the girl felt, too busy sucking faces in front of her with her boyfriend , without a single care in the world.

She had been a bitch. There was no denying it.

But it was different now. Everything has changed and now the only man she wanted was stood beside her, hearing what a whore she had been before benny. And it scared her and she hated it.

"Actually he's mine." Sydney butted in blandly , hearing enough.

Seeing the way that Cherrie had frozen up and seeing the tears cloud her pretty eyes had Him stepping up, taking her hand in his own no matter how hard she tried to tug it away.

He held on stronger . He wasn't going anywhere . And neither was she. They were a team now, they could face the world together.

He wasn't going to let her be spoken To like this. She didn't deserve it. And he wasn't going to let it happen.

The past was the past and in his opinion it should stay there. Not go be brought up in some club years later when everything had changed.

"And we were busy so.." he gave her a clearly fake smile. Steering Cherrie away, not giving the frowning Maxine another glance.

Instead he turned to face Cherrie, sighing when she pushed him away and stomped out of the bar like her ass was on fire , Sydney hot in her heels. Not letting Her get very far at all.

"Fuck off Sydney." She snapped. Overwhelmed , drunk and upset . Convinced that he wasn't going to love her now.

Sydney shook his head in frustration , not understanding why she was acting like this now.

Just wanting to make her feel better .

"No." He ground out firmly "you're going to tell me what's going on! Why are you snapping at me? I didn't do anything!" He stated annoyed .

She just scoffed , spinning around to glare tearfully at him. "No. But you're going to! Now you know what a fucking slut I was! You can't tell me that you're happy with me now!" She pushed at him roughly , sniffling . Beyond upset.

He scoffed at her. Rolling his eyes. "no I'm not happy . You're right." Seeing her face crumble, clearly not catching his sarcasm , he sighed loudly .

"I'm not happy because you're not Cherrie! I don't care what you were like in fucking college. You think that I think that you got benny by being some saint?" He sarcastically responded . Gently grabbing her wrist to pull her closer , not letting her storm off.

They were going to work this out, Right here and right now.

She looked up at him, blinking away the tears . sniffling emotionally .

"you don't care?" She couldn't believe it. She would care. She was a mess.

Sydeny just laughed at her in disbelief. Eyes scanning her beautiful face as though she was joking , shaking his head at her fondly .

"are you kidding me?" He squished her face between his hands , puckering up her lips for him , quickly leaning down to steal a quick but firm kiss, laughing at the startled squeak she let out as he did so.

"the only thing I care about is you now. And let me ask you- are you the same girl that you were back then?" He asked her seriously. Already knowing the answer.

She frowned at him , looking at him all upset and pouty . "No. I'm Not." She mumbled grumpily . Leaning onto his chest as his arms came up to rest around her back, biting back a grin at her poutiness. The same pout that benny wore whenever he wasn't allowed anymore ice cream.

He rose a brow at her smugly , "exactly. And that's all I care about. You want to fuck anyone but me?" He then casually asked her already knowing the answer to that question too . Confident in her and him and who they were together .

He trusted her and he knew that she trusted him too. It was all going to be just fine.

She paused, then blushed, then shook her head a little bashfully .

"No. You know I don't. I just want you Syd ." She whispered. It was a promise.

He leaned down and gently nudged their noses together , feeling happy when she finally let out a soft giggle. Leaning into him fully , letting him comfort her.

Wrapping his arms around her fondly , he gave her a strong squeeze. So filled with love for her that it hurt . He wanted to kill anybody that even bought a tear to her ear. That woman, her shitty ex boyfriend and that pizza shop that had put pineapple on her pizza despite her asking them not to.

That was love. Hope. Protectiveness and happiness he knew what he wanted in life and his future was standing right in front of him, puckering her lips up for another kiss.

He kissed her again ".And I want you. It's as simple As that. I didn't know you then but I know you now alright?" He told her clearly , making her understand how serious he was about this, about her .

"And I love you for who you are. All the good and all the bad. You can call yourself a problem but you're my problem now alright? Are we clear?" He muttered down to her seriously , tilting your her chin between his fingers so he could meet her eyes. Keeping her gaze on him.

Smiling to himself contently when she quickly nodded her head, cheeks flushed as she squirmed at his demanding tone and held him closer. Trusting him completely .

"Crystal." She agreed without any hesitation . The weight being lifted of her shoulder .

"Can we go home?" She then asked him softly. Just wanting to be with him .

Sydeny smiled down at her and kissed the top her head a dozen times, Heart feeling full because he finally had her walls crashing down for him. Getting the whole story instead of just the pages in her messy book.

And he still loved her. Nothing was going to change that.

Everything had changed for the better . His sun was never going down. His daylight was never fading .

'And all I feel

In my stomach is butterflies

The beautiful kind, makin' up for lost time

Takin' flight, makin' me feel like'

"So it's serious then?" His friend inhaled sharply in disbelief . The two men stood side by side in a corner of a fancy room as they stared down at a glass case of fancy diamond rings .

Sydeny chuckling a little as he carefully picked up a emerald cut ring , titling it to the light As he envisioned it on her slim finger .

"What gave you that clue?" He joked. More than Amused by his reaction.

His friend just shot him a look, still in shock. "I just can't Believe it man! I mean- shit-marriage is a big deal! What if in a few years you hate her? Then what?!" He rambled , worried.

Sydney couldn't have laughed any harder if he tried.

"Trust me man, I couldn't hate her ever. She could run me over with my own car and I'd still tell her it wasn't her fault. She's the one." He simply responded . Believing it with everything in him.

"I can't believe it." His friend repeated , sighing loudly . Shaking his head in disbelief .

"You. Married. Plus that means you'll be bennys step dad too. That's serious." He said. As though he didn't already know, like he hasn't planned it all through .

From day one, he knew what he wanted as soon as he saw her smile at him while he held the door open for her. And he hadn't even knew her name then, but he knew.

Sydney just rolled his eyes "that's the whole point. This is as serious as I am about her and benny. I love that little man and he loves me. He's the next Crosby. Hopefully the next baby will be as perfect as he is." He stated without thinking , still looking at the rings. Not paying any kind to the prices.

His friend place a hand on his chest , exhaling heavily. "Man. I feel like I'm dreaming. Plus she's so out of your league! How did you even bag her?" He laughed at him in disbelief.

He had met Cherrie on several occasions and he couldn't believe that she was his girlfriend .

She looked like a supermodel but she was the sweetest and funniest woman that he had ever met. and watching her tiny ass put Sydney in his place was hilarious , and watching sydeny run about after her and moon over her whenever they were on the road was just as insane to him too.

His mr hockey had become mr hockey and Cherrie and benny now. It was strange to witness but he was happy for Sydney because he had never seen his friend so fucking happy before .

"Food and wine." Sydeny muttered , face lightening up as he held up the perfect ring. The butterflies swarming in his stomach , making up for lost time.

And Sydney knew that it was going to be forever because it had always felt like he had known her forever . His love for her was as easy as breathing. All he wanted to do was make her happy , because seeing her smile because of him made him just as happy too.

It really was that simple. and well, happy wife happy life right?

Now he just needed to make her his wife now. So he could annoy her with that catchy phrase.

He couldn't wait.

'All I know is a new found grace

All my days, I'll know your face

All I know since yesterday

Is everything has changed'

Cherrie was sat in the sand digging up sand castles , listening to benny giggle and whisper with Sydney with a smile on her face. Lifting up her head from the sand, she grinned over at them playfully .

Heart feeling full as she watched them, seeing benny in his Sydney shirt , matching with Sydney right down to his swimming trunks .

"What are you two gossiping about?" She called over to them in amusement.

Sydney gave benny a look and the nearly three year old started stumbling over to her , a large shell in his hand. and she sat up, thinking that her son was about to show her his findings from the beach hunting that He and Sydney had been on. Collecting shells for them to paint once they got home.

"Just about how good you look right now. You've got that sun kissed glow." Sydney told her as he slowly walked over , ruffling bennys messy hair . The toddler giggling and beaming up at him as he did so.

He winked at him , gently kneeling down on one knee beside him. Wrapping a arm loosely around his waist so he didn't topple down in the sand, keeping him upright.

Cherrie Thought nothing about his position , just him supporting benny. She reached over to give him a soft kiss , giggling a little as she pulled away.

"I think you're lying." She whispered

Playfully , looking down at benny with a smile.

"what did silly Syd really say?" She tickled his small stomach making him shriek with laughter

Sydney quickly took the shell from his hand before he could drop it , and while she was distracted , he turned it over on the palm of his hand.

Benny now sitting beside him crossed legged while he stayed there in front of her on one knee.

"Syddy wants to marry mommy!" He giggled out, pointing at him with a toothless grin on his little face.

Laughing along with him, she turned her head to see what he was pointing at and froze up. Eyes going wide as she looked at Sydney, on one knee, holding out a shell in the palm of his hand, tears in his eyes too as he smiled at her softly , patiently.

"What'd ya say babe? Want to marry me?" His voice shook as he held out his hand for her to see inside the shell.

She looked down into it and saw a beautiful diamond ring .

She inhaled sharply and looked up at him in shock, mouth dropping open. "Holy shit!" She exclaimed. Laughing loudly , hand cupping her mouth as she looked between the ring and him over and over again.

Sydney laughed too , fondly . Shaking his head at her with a amused grin "so it that a yes? Because I really love you and I really , really want to be your husband. If you'll let me.." he told her softly. Meaning each word .

Cherrie was speechless . Then benny giggled and nudged het impatiently "let him. He's gonna get me

ice cream." He told her like that was all that mattered. To him it did.

Cherrie bust into tears and threw her arms around Sydney's neck , Sydney laughing loudly as he clutched onto her just as hard .

His own tears falling down his face as he lifted her hand and slid the ring in her finger before they could lose it in the sand. The sight of his ring on her finger made them cry harder.

"I love you so much! Of course I'll marry you syd! Holy shit!" She giggled into his neck , sniffling . Overwhelmed with love for him. Because everything had changed , for the better this time.

Sydney caught bennys confused and worried look over her shoulder, the toddler making grabby hands at him . Tears filling his eyes just because they were crying too.

"Awe." He laughed emotionally while pulling benny into the cuddle too, squeezing him to him and kissing the top of his little head.

"You happy bud?" He echoed . Kissing cherries head too while she cried into his chest making him laugh.

Benny nodded his head , hugging him around his neck . "Ice cream?" He mumbled hopefully. Oblivious.

Sydney snorted "ice cream. After mommy's done crying." He told him in amusement , patting the love of his life's back as she continued to sob tears of happiness into his chest.

Take that Maxine. She thought gleefully. Who's laughing now?

Everything had changed.

#Sydney Crosby imagine #Sydney Crosby oneshot #nhl imagine #nhl oneshot #ice hockey oneshot #ice hockey imagine #hockey imagine #hockey oneshot #nhl fic

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silvervioletvalentine · 11 months

Text

🏑!American boy! 🏑

Pairing: Quinn hughes x OC F1 driver Cherrie Valentine

Word count: 11k

Summary: in which she swears she’ll never be as stupid as her brother and fall in love in America when her whole life is back in Monaco.

Or ; the week of falling in love.

Warnings- fluff. Cherrie a bit of a drama queen, rich bitch? A bit of crapping on backward caps and america? I don’t even know. Mostly fluff I think . Cute shit ya know.

A/N -okay I know this is like, a world away from my usual f1 driver fics but I’ve been having writers block then I watched a hockey game and remembered the huge crush I used to have on Quinn. Apparently it’s not gone so. Wrote this. I don’t know. First nhl oneshot… soooo, kinda a small glimpse I guess. Might write more for Quinn maybe. Anyways. Let me know what u think xoxo

The scowl could not be wiped from Cherries face as she stared down her brother , who was laying casually against the couch snacking on candy like he wasn't the one that had pleaded for her to be here like a cry baby.

The French woman couldn't believe the nerve her brother had to drag her from beautiful , warm and luxurious monaco and have her travel all the way to... Vancouver . Only to greet her with a casual 'hey' and a head nod like he hasn't went nearly six months without seeing his sister.

"I can't believe this." Her accent was thicker than his was, seeing as her brother had been living in America for a couple of years now. Travelling around like a wayyard hippy , sending her selfies every weekend of some new destination.

She was happy for him. He had spent months of the year flying out to her races and staying back in Monaco with her too. Up until this year when her brother had declared himself in love and suddenly wanting to settle down. In Vancouver. She just couldn't believe it.

She was feeling more than a little annoyed and bitter about his sudden decisions. Certain that he wasn't thinking this through properly , having always thought that her brother would end up living somewhere a little closer to her.. at least within france. That had been the plan. But now some American girl had apparently bewitched her lovesick brother and now he didn't want to leave at all.

Instead he was making her fly all the way out here to a place she did not want to be in. At all.

Cherrie was Monaco. She was Milan. She was Paris. She was €3000 white jeans and dainty diamonds, she liked the high life. Just like her French mother who was also having a crisis at the thought of her son settling down in America of all places. Something that Cherrie and her mother liked to rant about at brunch in Monaco , a far cry from the life that Leon was living here.

She kind of wanted to cry. Kind of wanted to drag him back home with her too. She missed her brother and she didn't want him to be so far away.

So she couldn't help but be a little upset . And a little pissy with his decisions , even if he was happy. She wasn't. And she liked things her own way. No way else.

"Why would you want to stay here leon? This is like-this is like a -" she didn't even have words for it as she glanced around the boring mans apartment that looked like teenage boys lived in it. Messy and bland, no taste at all.

She wanted to be sick. "Nightmare! You're turning into a fratboy like on those shows! You're even-" she swallowed in disgust as she stared in horror at her brothers head. "-you're wearing a cap backwards!" She couldn't believe it.

What had happened to her linen pant wearing brother who wouldn't be seen dead without his fancy shirts and Rolex?

He was lounging on the couch in grey joggers, a jersey and backwards cap! Cherrie thought she was going to be sick. Maman was going to have a stroke!

Leon just rolled his eyes at his sisters dramatics, used to het snobby and judging behaviour by now. She never did like anything unless it was done her way. But he loved her none the less. Hence why he had wanted her to come visit him so badly, wanted to show her that it wasn't so bad here.

That it could be home. In more ways than one.

"Don't be so ridiculous. This is the style here. I look cool." He told her matter of factly , always happy to fit in. "Would you just relax?" He exclaimed.

She shot him a look "relax?" She scoffed , eyeing him judgmentally. "You're living like a fratboy in America! Poor maman is having a crisis! She thinks this is a cry for help!" She shot back at him , unimpressed as she glanced around his apartment "I'm starting to think she's right! You've traded Monaco for Vancouver! Who would do this?!" She just didn't get it.

Her brother merely sighed and told her "a man in love would. Sarah is the love of my life Cherrie. She makes this place feel like home." With a lovesick smile on his face, unashamed . Not bothered by the disgusted look he was receiving from his sister.

She was cringing , horrified . "Love? Love couldn't keep me here. This is insane! Nobody is worth this!"

Leon rolled his eyes again "what do you know? You've never been in love but one day you will be and you'll get it then." He tried convincing her. Unable to wait for the day that she understood.

He just hoped that it was soon. His sister was far too cold and cynical recently . Her life was racing, champion and Diamonds. No time for love apparently. He just wanted her to be happy , to have a taste of what it felt like to not need anything but the embrace of your partner to feel happiness. It was a special feeling.

Cherrie just wasn't having it. Too stubborn to take him seriously . "I would never live in America for a guy. I'll fall in love with a Frenchman if anything. Much easier." She muttered unimpressed with him as she clutched her purse to her, feeling her phone buzz in her pocket. No doubt her new friends for the night asking where she was. Having planned to get some drinks and have some fun.

Leon just smirked a little, looking at her confidently. "I bet you that you'll grow to love it here. There's just something about it.." he sighed happily "I promise you. By the end of the week you won't want to leave." He told her.

Cherrie couldn't have laughed any louder if she tried. "Ha! I don't think so! But whatever.. are you coming with me?" She had mentioned her clubbing plans to him earlier. Wanting to party so it felt still a little like home.

Unfortunately leon shook his head "I can't. I'm having beers with the guys . They’re coming over and we're gonna watch the game..." he trailed off once he noticed her disbelieving look. "What?"

She just couldn't believe it "you’re turning too American! Are you trying to hurt my and mamans heart leon? Because you're breaking them!" She dramatically let him know. Upset that so much was changing lately. She hated it.

Leon just snorted, used to her guilt tripping behaviour. It had no affect on him whatsoever. She was a drama queen. Always had been and always would be.

"Shut up." He groaned "and the guys are really nice alright? So I want you to be.." he looked at her seriously.

She just looked at her brother with a confused frown, not understanding him. Hating that she was sounding more French than he did. Hating that his accent was fading so quickly. Hating it all.

"To be what? I'm not talking to them. They're your friends not mine!" She was quick to let him know. Wanting no part in it.

Leon looked at her in disbelief "you have to talk to them for that exact reason Cher! Plus they've been asking about you. They're big fans!" He told her with a grin. Amused by the way his sister managed to capture everyone's attention even when she wasn't even there.

It didn't help that he bragged about her every chance he got. He was very proud of her. He made sure everyone knew what a legend she was. Always. Including his new friends who couldn't believe that his sister was THE Cherrie Valentine. F1 driver and two times world champion. Hopefully 3 soon.

She was a star all around the world. And ever since drive to survive had hit Netflix , everybody knew her name now. Even outside of the usual f1 fans. She was popular . That was an understatement. People either loved her or absolutely hated her. She was known at his ice queen who was more mean than she was nice. Beautiful but deadly. She had everyone hooked.

Cherrie simply didn't give a shit about what anyone thought of her. All she cared about was winning another championship , her family and convincing her brother to come home. That was it.

"Oh no. I don't like talking to new people! You can't make me!" She almost whined, hating making new friends. She didn't want any nor did she need any. She had her close circle And that was enough.

Leon let out a small laugh "you sound like Quinn's inner dialogue. He hates meeting new people too." He muttered in amusement. Having a feeling that the two would get along great if his sister wasn't so scary and stubborn.

Unfortunately he had a horrible feeling that she'd scare him off and make him wish that he had never met her. He crossed his fingers and prayed that she would be nice for once.

"Sounds like a smart guy." She simply replied running a hand through her hair, checking out her tight dress in the mirror. Making sure she looked good. "But I still don't want to-"

"All I'm asking is that you be nice! I'm not asking you to marry them. God! I'm just asking that you filter yourself a little!" He argued, exasperated with her already. And she had only been here not even a day.

She was offended "I will be myself. Thank you. And If they don't like it then that's their problem." She snapped back at him, annoyed. Stomping to the door in her high heels. "Goodbye leon! Maybe by the time I get back you will have found your brain again!"

Her brother simply laughed "and maybe you'll stop being such a bitch!" He shook his head to himself in amusement as he heard her muttering curses in French, cursing out America and him before she slammed the door behind her in a mood. "I don't think so." He muttered grinning.

It was nearly eleven by the time his friends finally started asking Leon about his sister again, Jack and Trevor grinning at him, excited at the thought of meeting her.

"Is she really as scary as everyone says she is?" Trevor wanted to know. Passing them all another round of beers as they paused their game of fifa for a moment to chat.

Leon chucked a little, looking at them in amusement. Jack looking equally as intrigued , Quinn was merely relaxing back into the couch quietly, not speaking. Just listening.

"She really isn't!" He wanted them to like her, wanted to paint her in the best light.

“She's actually really nice. She's just a bit-" of a bitch

"-blunt and lacking a filter sometimes. So I guess it intimidates people. But she's actually - deep down- really lovely and such a sweetheart-"

His exaggerated truth was abruptly cut off by the slamming of his front door hitting against the wall making them all nearly jump out of their skin. Jack gasped a little in fright while Trevor nearly dropped his beer, Quinn flinching a little in shock as they all glanced over to the hallway quickly.

"Just socialise a little more Cherrie! Go out and have some fun!" She mocked her mother's voice in Annoyance as she stormed inside in a fury, too angry to realise that he wasn't alone.

“And you know that got me ?! A fucking slap to the face! This bitch-"

"Cherrie-" he brother tried to warn her, already wincing in embarrassment as they all watched her throw her bag to the side in anger. Stomping into the open kitchen without even glancing at him, a bright pink hand mark on her cheek.

"God that's insulting bitches by calling her that!" She scoffed angrily. Furious even.

"she was crazy! Screaming at me about her boyfriend as though it was my fault that he's a cheater! He failed to mention her stupid ass when he was trying to shove his tongue in my-" she turned around ready to rant to her brother about her horrible night when she froze up at the sight of three other pairs of eyes watching her in both shock and amusement.

"Oh." She breathed out with a grimace "American boys."

She suddenly remembered about Leon telling her that he was having his new friends over, a little too late.

She glanced between them carefully , eyes lingering on the dark haired guy on the loveseat for a little longer than necessary before she looked away, inhaling deeply.

Fucking shit. She thought.

"Nice night?" Trevor joked with a smirk , wide eyes looking at her in awe. Jack not too far off, his mouth had even dropped open as they all stared at the world champion in front of them in a tiny black dress and killer heels with a slapped cheek, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else but there.

She just glanced at her brother with a wince "je suis désolé. I forgot." She muttered . Not knowing whether to just walk past them to her room or god forbid... speak to them.

Fucking hell.

Leon just chuckled "it's alright. This is Jack and Trevor.." he nodded to the two wide eyed guys next to him with a small smirk "and the quiet one over there is Quinn." He told her.

She just nodded her head, briefly glancing over at Quinn again. Seeing him already looking up at her , only to look away as soon as she met his eyes.

She frowned "bonjour." Was all she said, eyeing the hallway behind them. Wondering if she could just slip away without her bother scolding her for being rude.

"Oh my god. You're even hotter in person. You look amazing." Trevor breathed out, snapping out of his shock as he tried to send the Frenchwoman a wink. Jack chuckling beside him , shaking his head at him.

Quinn just looked at him, unimpressed. Fighting the sudden urge to roll his eyes as he glanced subtly back over to Cherrie , eyes lingering on her as he watched her shift on her feet. Clearly not impressed either.

He tried not to smile as he saw her looking blankly back at Trevor , not even hesitating in shutting him down.

"I take it you're one of the boys getting my brother to wear his caps backwards?" She sniffed , disinterested.

A Frenchman had once told her in a bar that she was as beautiful as a field of rare flowers in a dream.

Getting called hot didn't faze her at all.

He nodded proudly , not picking up on her distaste for it at all. Jack slowly turned his cap back the right way , fighting back a laugh as he did so.

Briefly looking over at his brother only to see Quinn’s eyes still on Cherrie , his lips quirked up as he lifted his hand up to his face to hide his smile. Jacks eyebrow rose in surprise , not expecting that reaction at all from his quite, timid older brother.

"Yeah. Looks good huh?" He grinned. Leon laughing at the look on his sisters face.

"Pierre does it too. I told him he looks like a stupid jackass." She simply said before turning around to get herself a glass of water , hoping to sober up quicker.

The slap to the face had been a real mood killer.

Trevor paused "wait..you don't like the look?" He said offended. Looking at Jack in disbelief once he saw his cap the right way forward again.

Cherrie just shrugged boredly as she sipped at her glass, not even glancing at them anymore. Wondering how the hell she was going to enjoy a full week here. Already missing Monaco. French boys and champagne.

"It reminds me of boysluts-" her brother laughed quietly "fuckboys." He quickly corrected her already knowing what she meant. She just rolled her eyes and muttered "same thing."

"Very American I suppose." She sighed , homesick. Kicking off her heels and losing six inches to her height, Quinn's eyebrow raising in amusement as he watched her fall back to barely 5,6. He wondered how she even walked in such things. Surely her ankles must be killing her?

He watched her wince and rub her claves together and pressed his hand further against his mouth , wondering why he was fighting back a smile so badly. Wondering why he was even thinking so much about the woman in front of him at all. She clearly didn't like them. Clearly wasn't happy being here..so why couldn't he tear his eyes away from the moody , insanely fucking beautiful Frenchwoman?

Jack laughed loudly "well you are in America. Sorry to burst your bubble." He teased , having already been clued in by Leon about how pissed off his sister was about being there instead of sweet Monaco.

“It's nice to meet you finally though. I thought Leon was lying when he told us that his sister was the current world champion." He said hoping to make friends with her, he had to try. Being Cherrie valentines friend was a one off chance. One in a million.

He was going to be her friend whether she liked it or not.

Leon grinned to himself, knowing this. Trevor and Jack weren't going to be scared away easily. Trevor was already trying to put a cap on his sisters head, unafraid of the glares she was sending his way.

Batting his hand away from her with a loud sigh "I know. I can't believe it either sometimes. I am the amazing , talented one of the family. Leon is just the.." she smirked at her brother "idiot. Stupid in love and stupid in America apparently. Quite a difference." She couldn't help the jab. Petty as ever.

Unfazed, her brother just snickered. "Okay miss ice queen. Just because you don't believe in love-"

Quinn repeated quietly in disbelief "you don't believe in love?" Without even realising it until it suddenly went quite.

He looked up from his feet to see them all looking back at him, Cherrie unbothered, the guys in shock that he had spoken up so suddenly.

He ignored the look Jack sent his way, clearing his throat quietly and hoping the flush in his neck wouldn't reach his face. He fidgeted with his beer bottle instead. Feeling his heart race in his chest the longer she looked at him.

She groaned a little "no. It's not that- I do. Just not for me. I'm not going to fall in love so stupidly." She told him , believing what she was saying.

She looked at Quinn , took in his black sweatpants and oversized sweatshirt , his hair a mess, long and uncut. Unshaven with a healing cut on his nose and frowned a little to herself , swallowing as she felt her throat suddenly go dry. Forcing herself to look away from him when he didn't say anything else, simply looking down at his bottle of beer and not acknowledging her anymore.

What was his problem?

Actually , what was her problem?

The vodka shots. She suddenly thought to herself. That was why she wanted him to look at her again. Obviously. It could only be that.

"Someday you will and I'll be there to make fun of you and tell you I told you so." Leon told her with a grin as he turned the game back on . Pulling Trevor back down to the couch so that he would stop annoying his sister by trying to put a cap on her head, unable to let her comment go like a child.

Cherrie just scoffed and turned away to head back into the kitchen.

"I don't think so." She denied, she would never do something so stupid.

Not even an hour later she had changed out of her dress and into a silk , white nighty and some fuzzy slippers and snook her way back to the kitchen for something to eat. Hearing loud laughter and boyish shouting from the couch as they watched some game on tv, despite it being past midnight already.

Bending down to look into the fridge , she frowned in dismay . Seeing nothing but old takeout containers and crap. The fridge was so full with different brands of things that she had never seen before , she had no clue what to eat . Didn't know if she dared.

She couldn't wait to tell their mother about his poor diet and new living. He was going to be in for a scolding of a lifetime for living like some frat boy, their mother had brought them up better than that.

"Your cheek is still a little pink." The sudden low voice nearly made her jump out of her skin.

Flinching in fright as she spun back around with a curse "putain! oh mon Dieu! Quinn!" She place her hand on her poor heart with a heavy exhale , glaring at him.

He looked a little bashful then , smiling a little apologetically at her.

His cheeks flushing as he muttered a quiet "does it hurt still?" His eyes glued to his feet again .

For a moment she could only look at him in pure confusion , heart still racing and wondering how he had managed to sneak off from the others without anyone noticing. She wondered if he was always this quiet or if he just hated her.

She was so used to guys being loud and arrogant , she was a woman in a mans sport , she had never dealt with a man being shy or bashful around her before .

She didn't know they could be like this, so the first thing she thought was that he simply didn't like her. Unused to it.

"Does what hurt?" Her accent was even thicker than usual. Both from tiredness and confusion. Tucking her long hair behind her shoulder , suddenly feeling out of place in the plain kitchen in her white silk nighty that barely hit mid thigh. White faux fur on the edges.

She leaned back against the counter with some resemblance of confidence , wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Why the hell did she care about what she looked like all of a sudden?

She didn't . She didn't. No. She was just tired, that's all.

Quinn's eyes slowly trailed up from his feet , pausing on her bare legs for a moment, lips quirking for a second as he saw the white silk and faux fur, before they quickly darted to meet her eyes again. Heart jumping in his chest.

"Your cheek. The slap.." he reminded her quietly , gently nudging her out of the way so he could get into the freezer.

She watched him pull out a small ice pack with a slight frown "it's fine. She slapped like a child. I've had worse." She muttered , feeling out of place.

Quinn hesitated for a moment before moving in front of her and holding up the ice pack to her cheek, gently resting it there . He smiled a little "children hit like boxers sometimes though. A slap is a slap."

"She was a bitch. She should have slapped her boyfriend not me." She muttered , eyes on his blue jersey he was wearing. Shivering as she felt the ice cold sink into her skin.

"What did you say to make her slap you?" He seemed to know that she wasn't telling the whole story before.

She immediately looked up and scowled "I didn't say anything but the truth!" She quickly snapped , annoyed just at the reminder of her night.

Quinn tried not to smile. He really did. Unable to tell why he felt as amused as he did then by how defensive she was getting.

"Some people don't like hearing the truth so bluntly."

"That's their problem. Not mine." She quickly countered back. "You can't have both. You can't hate someone for telling the truth and hate liars too. That's stupid." She grumbled , grimacing as she tried to turn her frozen cheek away from the ice pack , not liking the numb feeling sinking in her face.

Quinn kept it pressed to her cheek though , gently holding her jaw with his other hand to keep her still without even thinking about it. Used to hockey injuries and making sure his stubborn teammates and friends looked after their injuries properly too.

It wouldn't be until later, when he was alone in his bed , that he would realise how easily he had let himself touch her. Cradled her jaw gently as though it was something he did everyday. Him. Somebody who avoided Physical contact and affection all the time. Maybe he should have known, realised that it began then.

"People are stupid." He agreed easily in a whisper . Lifting the ice for a moment to glance at her cheek to make sure that the slight swelling was going down. It was.

Her eyes were glued to the mole above his cheek , smiling a little to herself . "They are." She agreed too before remembering what her brother had told her about his new friends . Vaguely .

“You play sports." She said struggling to remember which .

Outside of racing she didn't know much about other sports . She enjoyed all motorsports and football , that was about as far as her enjoyment and knowledge went.

Quinn chuckled a little "yeah. Ice Hockey. My brothers do too. and Trevor." He added secondly in case she didn't already know.

Smirking a little as he saw her nose twitch at Trevor’s name, knowing that he had already succeeded in annoying her made him want to laugh. The playboy wasn't getting her attention at all.

It was all on Quinn instead. She tilted her head a little , unaware of how close they even were until she felt their knees bump together . She pulled her leg away and fiddled with the strap of her nightie again.

"The sticks and the -" she had no clue at all.

Quinn smiled for real then "the pucks. Yeah. Never watched it before I'm guessing." He was amused , there was no hiding it.

She just shrugged a little "no. Boring. I like heart racing sports. Bit of danger. Not boys on ice." She said , hoping to wind him up a little.

It worked. He frowned down at her "hockey is Dangerous. One wrong move and your career could be over. And we're not boys.." he muttered annoyed at the way she kept calling them so.

She smirked up at him slyly "no?" At his small head shake she laughed slyly "okay. Men on ice then. Not your first bloody nose , non?" She gently tapped the end of his nose. Carefully of the deep cut there.

His breath hitched , eyes never leaving hers as he swallowed quietly .

“No. The pucks love me. So do the sticks." He mumbled, averting his eyes away from hers when it became too much for him.

He pulled away completely, putting the ice pack back into the freezer instead. Missing the way Cherrie frowned as she straightened out her nightie and moved away from the counter she had been leaning against, taking a much needed breath again.

"Hmm. Okay." She just muttered . Turning away from him and busying herself with looking in the kitchen cupboards. Still hungry. She blamed her weird emotions on the tiredness, hunger and vodka. All three were to blame.

There was a beat of silence as Quinn hovered by the breakfast table unsurely, glancing out into the living room to see the guys still messing about on the couch, too busy bickering to pay any attention to where he had gotten to.

He swallowed , glancing at the pizza boxes that were on the table in front of them.

“You want some pizza? I think they're might be a slice left.. maybe." He didn't know why he kept talking. Why he hasn't left her alone yet. This wasn't like him at all. What the hell was he doing?

Cherrie glanced over at him with a grimace, shaking her head . "No. Strict diet with racing. I'm not wasting my cheat day on ... that." If she was going to eat pizza she would be eating real, Italian pizza. Not this crap they were eating.

“Though I doubt my brother has anything I want in. I'll just get something in the morning.." she muttered, yawning as she rounded the table , ready to call it a night.

Quinn slowly nodded his head, fiddling with his jersey sleeves as he watched her run a hand through her hair , shaking her hair out over her tanned shoulders . He glanced away quickly.

"Alright.."

She hesitated by the doorway before glancing over her shoulder at him briefly . "bonne nuit Quinn." Was all she muttered before disappearing from the kitchen.

Making sure to ruffle her brothers hair as she walked past , then she grabbed the cap from Trevors head and flung it across the room, giving Jack a small smile before heading straight to her room, closing the door behind her with a heavy exhale.

Ten minutes later there was a small knock on her bedroom door and a plate of cut up fruit left for her on the floor beside her door .

She went to sleep with a small smile on her lips that night. The first night of many.

Throughout the next week the two of them found odd ways to be around each other , making up excuses and ignoring any strange looks they received from others as they did.

The first time Quinn did it, he felt like he was still dreaming. Sleepwalking maybe , only he knew exactly what he was doing just not why he was doing it.

It was the next morning after meeting her and all he could think about as he ate his unhealthy breakfast , was about how she complained about the lack of her favourite food in her brothers apartment next door. So he ate his own food and ended up texting Leon

What does your sister like for breakfast? Sending the text before he could even think not to. Already putting on his shoes and pocketing his wallet , having a feeling that the luxurious Frenchwoman wouldn't be eating cornflakes .

Her brothers text was both wary and amused. Has she blackmailed you into doing shit for her already?

No. Was already out. He was not. Just thought I'd ask seeing as you said she hates it here. Might make her hate it a little less if she had some good food to eat. He sent, flushed from lying to Leon and himself .

Leon's text came quickly , unconcerned with his sudden interest in his sister. Just taking it for him being a nice guy.

Alright. She usually likes seeded bagels with some eggs or something on top. Or protein pancakes and fruit. I don't even know man.

Quinn ended up getting them both from some fancy new age cafe a little further out. Ridiculously overpriced and a little shocked on how much protein pancakes could cost, he drove back home in silence and found himself at their apartment . Getting a friendly pat on the shoulder from Leon on his way out as he rushed off to meet his girlfriend , his sister a slumped mess at the table.

He walked in hesitantly , took one glance at her barely open eyes and cleared his throat .

“I got food." He announced his arrival. Once again scaring the absolute shit out of her.

"Fuck me!" She gasped looking up at him in surprise "Quinn! ne fais pas ça ! mon cœur!" (Don't do that! My heart!) "oh mon Dieu!" She exhaled loudly.

He just smiled a little shyly "sorry." He mumbled while placing the cartoon of food in front of her on the table . "Was at breakfast and ordered too much." He told her in a mutter. Taking a seat opposite her on the table , pulling out his phone to appear busy. Like he had something other do than stare at the freckles over her nose and the tiny star shaped mole Beneath her left eye.

Cherrie looked down at the food in amazement , mouth watering. Heart warming as she looked at her favourite food with a small smile tugging at her lips,

so that's who her brother was texting while glancing at her with a knowing smirk . She realised then.

"Ah." She got some cutlery and digged right in , pancake already on her mouth when she remembered her manners. "Right. Thank you Quinn. I was really hungry and Leon was trying to poison me with some weird children's cereal." She told him, looking offended.

"Froot loops?" He guessed in amusement , briefly glancing up at her disgusted face as she nodded her head as though her brother had tried to feed her literal shit in a bowl.

He laughed lightly "it's alright ya know. Should try it." He said to her.

She looked at him with a frown "don't make me go off you ice man." She muttered , shovelling her face with her fancy food again.

Humming in content , missing the pleased look on his own face as he watched her enjoy the food he went half an hour away to get for her . Just because he wanted to.

"I want to see see a movie today." She told him after she had finished eating. Washing up after herself before walking over to the couch , sitting down to put her shoes on.

Quinn leaned back against his chair, looking through the archway over to her. Watching her put her foot on the coffee table to lace up the other shoe, his eyes lingering on the large snake tattoo he could see snaking up her upper thigh and disappearing underneath her shorts , no doubt over her hip.

He breathed in deeply before speaking up hesitantly

"I could see if the guys want to go tonight-"

Cherrie shook her head firmly, still not looking at him as she focussed on making herself presentable.

Standing from the couch and wandering over to the mirror in the corner of the room , she ran her fingers through her hair, smirking a little to herself as she caught his eyes on her through the reflection

"No. I don't want to go as a group. Too much." She muttered , beating around the bush a little.

Not used to being the one to ask guys out with her, they are usually the ones begging for her time. She didn't really know what to do or say. And that was not like her at all.

Quinn just looked at her for a few quite minutes , watching her get ready and feeling his heart racing in his chest as he wondered if he was reading her right.

Surely she wasn't hinting at him-?

She glanced in the mirror again and met his eyes , lifting up a perfect brow at him without saying a single thing.

Oh. He breathed out. She was.

"I-er...I could take you, if you want. I mean..I know a good place for movies. You want to go now?" He rushed out , confused on what was appropriate to say. Not wanting say the wrong thing and potentially piss her off. She was intimidating. The media weren't wrong about that.

With that attitude and her being so fucking beautiful, he could barely even speak. Her French accent only sinking him deeper into the point of no return.

She just casually nodded her head , grabbing her Chanel purse from behind the couch and hanging it on her shoulder . Satisfied with how she looked, she had some makeup in her bag. She would do it in the car on the way there.

"Yes. You're not getting pucks to the face today , non?" She walked over to the door, ready to go. Just waiting for him now.

He looked over at her and quickly stood up from his chair, nodding his head before shaking it, letting out a nervous laugh.

“No. No. Not today. I can take you ." He took out his car keys from his pocket and walked over to her, holding the front door open for her as she slipped out.

Walking side by side , she glanced up at him for a moment . Holding back a small smile as she saw the way he seemed to be concentrating on his breathing, no longer looking at her.

"We can go together . Not take me. You're not my driver." She corrected him once they were outside , despite him holding open the door for her as she slid into the passenger seat. Giving him her purse to hold in his lap as she pulled out her lipstick and mascara and got to work.

He started the car but didn't pull away just yet, merely leaning back with a small smile , flicking on the radio as he watched her pouty lips part as she put on her makeup. Humming happily as a taylor swift song came on.

"There's also a ice cream place next to it.." he mumbled ten minutes later as the pulled up. Too shy to look at her. To say what he truly wanted to ask.

But she understood. Of course she did.

She just casually hummed and nudged his shoulder with her own like they were the best of friends.

"we'll get ice-cream after then. Just don't tell my trainer." Was all she said. Before letting him open the car door for her as they got out to watch their movie. And get ice cream too.

The day after that Cherrie didn't bother knocking at his door, merely letting herself in as if she owned the place. Scaring the hell out of poor Jack who was watching tv, his head snapping up as he looked at her with wide eyes.

"Wrong apartment." He blurted out , thinking she had confused her brothers place for Quinn's. He turned his backwards cap around to face the front quickly too.

She held back a grin . "No it isn't." She glanced at the hockey game on tv and rose a brow "missing it?"

"A little. You want a jersey?" He grinned back at her, determined that they were still going to be friends. He would get the scary , hot Frenchwoman to like him. He would.

"Non. I want a cap." She said putting her bag down on the empty chair, pocketing her phone instead.

He took his teams cap off his head immediately and passed it to her with a large smirk .

“Backwards?" He joked about her hatred of it.

She smirked a little "you are." She muttered slipping it on her head the right way.

“I look better with it on than you, yes?" She bragged. Letting him pull up his phone to take a picture of her to show all his friends that he wasn't lying and that THE Cherrie Valentine was his friend. (Pending).

"No way! No one can look better than me!"

She scoffed while backing away "lying is bad. Your tongue will go black and fall off." She told him seriously. Heading down the hall to where the bedrooms were , the exact same layout as her brothers place.

"Where are you going?" He called over the couch to her in confusion . Wondering what he had missed and why the hell she was heading towards his brothers bedroom like it was a normal thing for her to do.

She didn't even spare him another glance "none of your business kid!" She called back before knocking on his door and barging in without any other warning.

Quinn darting up out of his bed with wide eyes , mouth dropping open in shock as he looked at the woman now snooping around his room , wondering if he was still dreaming. About her. In his room. Again.

"You're -" he then glanced at her head and frowned deeply .

"get that off." He ended up telling her, unimpressed by the red cap she was wearing.

Cherrie just giggled as she looked at him teasingly "I don't know. I kind of like it. I think red is my colour. He said something about a jersey too?" She crawled onto his bed. Ignoring the way he flushed and leaped out of it like she was some siren about to eat him whole.

Maybe he wasn't too far off.

He yanked one of his jerseys from the back of his desk chair and threw it at her, smiling a little when she huffed and grabbed it off her head where it had fell onto . Glaring up at him.

"No it isn't, you look horrible in red." He muttered, lying through his teeth . She would look good in any colour. The whole damn rainbow.

She just snorted knowing for a fact that he was lying. "I'm a ferrari driver. I know you're lying." She reminded him smugly. Setting the jersey aside, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of wearing it yet.

He ran a hand through his hair, suddenly feeling self conscious in just some basketball shorts and some old oversized shirt. He thought of her French teammate who looked like some model and frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What do you want?" He mumbled, barely audible as he grabbed a hoodie from his closet. Quickly pulling it on. Grabbing some black jeans before disappearing into the bathroom to change into them too.

Cherrie sighed a little as she looked around the mostly blue room filled with everything hockey , raising her brow in amazement at his achievements. She looked at some of the photos with him in his hockey gear , smiling next to his teammates and found herself smiling a little too.

Maybe she should try and see a game of his some time, it would be rude not to . She supposed. She would have to google the rules of the game later when she was alone, maybe watch a few on YouTube to familiarise herself with it first. Yeah. She would do that. Maybe text Lance too. He loved hockey.

"Nothing really. I was bored."

"So you decided to come annoy me?" He said as he walked back into the room . Face washed and teeth quickly brushed.

He paused by his door at the sight of her sitting so casually on his bed, looking like she belonged there . He already knew that her vanilla and cocoa perfume would linger on his pillows, he hoped it did.

She grinned a little "yeah. For a minute. I'm gonna go anyways.. maybe get my brother to do something." She muttered , bored.

Quinn panicked at the thought of her leaving and blurted out "you can stay here. Jacks making me go bowling with him , Trevor and Luke. You can ya know..." he rocked on the back of his heels unsurely, feeling the heat travel up his neck and into his cheeks darkly.

She quirked a brow up at him in amusement "I can, what?"

He huffed a little, not looking at her. Busying himself with putting his shoes on. Eyes flickering to his Vancouver jersey beside her that she had yet to put on.

"You can come. Luke might freak out a little . He's a fan." He warned her quietly . As though he wasn't a fan of her too. He just was much more quieter about it. Less embarrassing. Hopefully.

She sighed dramatically "I guess." She got up from the bed , adjusting jacks cap on her head.

Quinn reached over and yanked it straight back off , making her laugh. "Hey!"

"No." Was all he muttered moodily , throwing it aside.

“Are you gonna out my jersey on?” He mumbled to her , eyes hopefully glancing between the blue shirt and the beautiful woman in front of him.

She smirked a little to herself, amused with the way he couldn't even look at her. Fiddling with his hoodie sleeves as he waited by his bedroom door. As though he was too scared to come any closer to her.

"Do you want me to wear it right now?" She asked him. Wanting to hear him say it. She wasn't easy about it. That wasn't the kind of person she was.

He hesitated for a moment. Eyes darting up to look at her before looking away again just as quickly.

"Wouldn't have given it to you if I didn't want you to wear it." He muttered with a bit of embarrassed attitude. Pulling open the door and quickly heading out into the hallway before she could see his cheeks blush any further.

He heard her laugh lightly behind him, quickly pulling on the blue jersey over her tank top with a small smirk on her face.

Shaking her head to herself in amusement at how a man as good looking and rough looking as Quinn could act so shy and bashful. It was a nice change to the usual arrogant and cocky guys she dealt with daily.

Speaking of cocky .. Trevors loud voice reached her ears as she trailed out of Quinn's bedroom after him . Pulling her hair from his underneath his Jersey, not fazed at all by their sudden company.

"Woah! What is this?!" Trevor gasped in surprise looking at them with wide eyes.

Luke freezing beside him while Jack just glanced over at Quinn, only to see him refusing to look at any of them. Too busy getting his jacket, but he wasn't quick enough for him not to see his bright pink face .

His brother was blushing. Jack couldn't believe it.

"Wearing blue? Coming out of his bedroom?! What the fuck have I missed?!" He echoed in disbelief , behind shocked .

Quinn just rolled his eyes at him "nothing. Shut up."

"Oh yeah. A whole love affair. It was so romantic." Cherrie couldn't help but joke , forgetting that these weren't her usual sarcastic friends back in Monaco for a moment . Maybe she didn't hate them as much as she thought she would.

“He made love to me in his jersey. He's made me fall in love with him and now I'm never leaving here! Just like my brother!"

Trevor gaped at her "really?" Both Quinn and her rolled their eyes simultaneously. Jack silently looking at their in tune movements in disbelief .

"No. Not really!" She scoffed shaking her head at him . "Too many pucks to the head for you! I'm not that stupid!" She was offended . Really she was.

Trevor was now offended too "hey! That's mean! What else was I supposed to think? Will you wear my cap too then?"

It was Quinn's voice that spoke up quickly next "absolutely not." He muttered not even looking at him. Passing Cherrie his spare coat seeing as she was still dressed like she was in Monaco , her shorts far too small for how cold it still was.

He hid his pleased smile by turning his head as he watched her slide it on without any complaint for once. She looked great in his clothes.

"Where's my cap I gave her?" Jack wondered.

"In the trash. Don't even try it." Quinn shot back at him without missing a beat.

Cherrie looked at the younger Hughes Brother that was still gaping at her and smiled. "Bonjour Luke. You exited for bowling?" She asked him nicely.

Ignoring trevor's "how come she wasn't this nice to me?" Whining.

"Yeah. I thought Leon was lying when he said you were his sister." He blurted out in shock. Giving her a smile anyways .

She just snickered "yeah. I'm way better than him so no one ever believes we're related . It's hard being the star of the family. So many awards and such little space." She sighed like she was troubled by it. Following behind Quinn to the door.

The guys laughed, luke just looking at her in amazement . "Can you be on my team In bowling?" He asked her hopefully .

Cherrie laughed "sure. Beats being in a team with Trevor." She said.

Trevor looked at her in disbelief "so mean!" He repeated. Pouting dramatically.

"Quinn?" She muttered to him as they all headed down to their cars. Automatically following him to his, sliding onto the passenger seat like she did yesterday, kicking luke to the back seat.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna be on my team too?"

He just hummed. Nodding his head a little, still not looking at her. Just smiling to himself.

Luke looking between them in disbelief. Feeling like he was dreaming. Quinn felt like he was too.

They spent the next week making excuses to spend time with each other. Pretending like they had no clue to why they even were.

Midnight movies, sunset ice cream. Card games under the streetlights , silently made dinner , no questions , no answers. Cherrie ended up spending everyday of her stay with Quinn in one way or another . Whether it was muttering stories in the dark or bickering over something stupid, winding him up until he had no room but to retaliate. They did.

It was the final night before she was due to leave and the guys were hanging out at the bar together, Quinn quieter than usual as he silently sipped on his beer and listened to Trevor once again grill Leon about his sister.

Ignoring jacks amused , quizzing glance as he caught his annoyed rolling of his eyes. Not as subtle as he thought.

"Is she single then? Or had she got some guy back in Monaco?" He asked him curiously . Ever the gossip.

Quinn's frown deepened, eyes down to his beer bottle as he just listened in. Wondering that too. Surely she had a line of godlike guys waiting for her back home. No doubt.

He didn't care. Not at all.

Leon chuckled in amusement "she is and no she doesn't. She doesn't do the whole love thing remember?" He reminded them of her passionate anti falling in love speech.

Trevor just smirked slyly "didn't say anything about love. I can do casual too. Or whatever she wants." He wiggled his eyebrows jokingly.

Quinn's scoff went unheard in the bottle of his beer as he gulped it down, subtly rolling his eyes to himself again.

Her brother just snorted. "Yeah, no. She doesn't go for guys like you. You have no chance." He laughed.

Trevor was offended "WHATS that supposed to mean? Is is the hat thing again?" He wondered.

Leon rolled his eyes this time , amused. "No. She just usually likes the more casual and less arrogant guys. Ya know..not so full of themselves and quieter.." he trailed off, brows furrowing in realisation as he glanced over at a quiet Quinn who was now finally glancing up from the table.

They met eyes for a moment , Leon tried not to grin .

Oh. He thought in amusement . This is too good.

Quinn quickly looked away again, Leon tried not to laugh in glee.

"-and anyways. I invited her so I need you not to make a idiot out of yourself because I can only take so much second hand embarrassment before I die." He let them know. Mainly glancing at Trevor. They all did.

He gasped jokingingly "me?! She loves me! She high fived me the other day!" He exclaimed.

Jack snorted "yeah. In your face ." He laughed. More than Amused.

Quinn sat up a little straighter in his seat when she finally arrived. Dress in a little back dress again, satin this time.

He inhaled deeply and met her eyes, she narrowed her eyes back at him.

"Why was there a snake plushie on my bed?" She whispered to him as she slid into the booth beside him, ignoring the others loud greetings for a moment. She accepted Jack sliding a beer over to her, not drinking it though. Beer was not her thing at all.

"Hellooooo gorgeous! You're looking better than ever!" Trevor would not let himself be ignored.

She just looked at him, unimpressed. "And you're more annoying than ever. Don't you ever get tired?" She threw back at him. The others laughing at their banter.

He just winked at her "of being the hottest guy alive? No, never!" He laughed. Lifting his hand up for a high five.

She just slapped it away, rolling her eyes at him in amusement. She reached over and spun jacks cap to be the right way, making him chuckle as he shook his head at her now usual greeting for him.

"You gonna do that to Quinn?" He questioned her with a grin , nodding towards his distracted brother who had gotten up to go to the bar.

Confused she looked over at him and paused for a long moment , lips parting as she really looked at him finally. He looked good. More than good. With black jeans and a black sweatshirt on, a white tshirt collar poking out from underneath. Only this time he had a cap on too.. backwards.

And look. She hated it when other guys wore their caps backwards. Cringed at how it reminded her of stupid fuckboys who thought they were so goddamn cool passing around stds and shattering hearts along the way.

But Quinn... she inhaled sharply in shock, leaning back against the booth seat in absolute disbelief. He looked hot as fuck. She couldn't believe it.

"oh non. mon cœur.." she breathed out quietly to herself.

Unable to take her eyes off him as he walked back over, carefully balancing a cocktail glass in his hand. "ça ne peut pas m'arriver." (This can't be happening to me.) she almost whimpered.

Her brother, understanding every word she muttered , simple smirked smugly at her. "What's the matter sis? Think he looks stupid with the backwards cap too?" He taunted her.

She shot him a sharp glare, Quinn catching the end of his words as he arrived back at the table. Eyes widening as he realised that he had in fact put his cap on backwards because of the heat, to keep his hair out of his face.

Knowing how much Cherrie hated that look on guys, he lifted his hand to take it off.

Cherrie immediately slapped his hand away from his head and shook her head at him sharply . "No! Don't touch it!" She almost yelled at him. Heart pounding in her chest, feeling flushed and sweaty all of a sudden.

Jack and her brother were giggling , poor Quinn just looking both alarmed and confused at her sudden behaviour . He cautiously sat back down beside her and handed her the cocktail he had gotten her.

"What? I know you don't like it.." he mumbled, lowering his eyes back to the table bashfully . Sipping at his beer bottle again.

Glancing sideways at her when she let out a strange , strangled noise.

Almost glaring at him like she was pissed, he shifted in his seat nervously , wondering what he had done now. Her fingers were clenched around the stem of the glass, quickly sipping at her drink .

Quinn looked over to his brother for help. Wondering what the hell she was acting so weirdly for.

Jack just smirked and muttered "think she likes your new look dude.” Barely audible. Having the time of his life watching them.

"I never said I don't like it."

"Yes you did. Like every time someone wears it like that, you literally just turned jacks around..." he reminded her in confusion. Frowning down at her.

She frowned back at him just as deeply "yeah. On them. I don't like it on other guys. God Quinn. Shut up." She snapped at him. Flustered.

He was none the wiser . Taken aback by her sudden attitude, he scoffed lowly .

“What have I done? Why are you being so pissy?" He wanted to know. Countless beers helping with his confidence in questioning her .

She turned to face him fully, still sipping on her cocktail as she scowled at him. Cheeks pink as she repeatedly glanced between his eyes and his backwards cap. Wondering if she was having a midlife crisis at twenty one.

"I'm not being pissy. You're being pissy!"

He looked at her in disbelief "what the hell is your problem? Is this about my cap? I can take it off if it's bothering you that much-"he didn't get it.

She almost screeched "if you take that cap off I will smack you! I mean it!" She glared at him , too turned on to think straight.

Stupid American guys and their stupid backwards caps. She wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor.

Fucking hell.

Quinn blinked at her in shock. Speechless.

He fidgeted nervously with his beer bottle, eyes never leaving her dark ones before suddenly it clicked.

He exhaled shakily and flushed a dark red, awkwardly scratching at his flushed neck as he muttered unsurely to her "you like it?"

Cherrie just sighed in defeat . "Yes Quinn. I like it." That was an understatement. She wanted to jump him right there and then.

“Only on you though. Everyone else looks stupid." She quickly added. Sticking to her original judgment. Only Quinn pulled it off for her,

He smiled shyly against his bottle of beer, unable to meet her gaze. Flattered.

Instead he kept his eyes on the table as he muttered "I got you the snake plushie to match your tattoo. Why did you get it?" His question was quiet. Curious. Having been thinking about it since he first caught glimpse of the detailed snake tattooed up her thigh and around her hip? He guessed. He only saw so much.

Her voice was equally as quite , private between them, as she answered him "they kept calling me a snake for switching teams from redbull to Ferrari. But I won. Sooo..I'm proud to be such a snake I guess. It all worked out for me." She smugly smiled.

He smiled too, slowly nodding his head .

Liking that she owned what was once an insult against her. Liked that she was so stubborn and stuck to what she believed in. Just liked her really.

It was quiet between them for a moment, both just sipping on their drinks for a moment before Quinn worked up the corkage to mumble "I er...I like snakes. The French kind."

Her face softened as she glanced at him beside her, still unable to meet her eyes fully. She smiled too.

Soon they found themselves bickering again, in their own world together as they blocked out the rest of the table around them. Cherrie looking at him in disbelief as he accused her of purposely pushing max off the track in her last race.

She totally did but that was besides the point! She scoffed at him, a little tipsy just like he was, their arms, their thighs and sides pressed together as close as could be.

She was almost in his lap at this point , still bickering though. Too prideful to be soft and sweet .

"I did not! He spun me off the track in the race before that. Or did you forget that?!" She exclaimed , sipping from his beer now. Stealing it right from his hand.

He sipped from her cocktail in return , both of them hiding their smirked behind their drinks. Enjoying their bickering far too much to be normal.

"No I didn't. Which is exactly why you did it on purpose. You're revengeful . You like to get even." He knew her far too well already. It was unsettling.

She just looked at him before frowning "I am not." She denied, then she placed the palm of her hand on his cheek and pushed his face away from her with a huff.

"ferme tes jolies lèvres !" (Shut your pretty lips up!) she whined.

He snorted , actually giggling at her . Unaware of the shocked and disbelieving glances he was receiving from his friends and brother , too immersed in Cherrie to notice anything but her .

"Talk French to me all you want, I'm right. You know I am." He smirked at her, thoroughly enjoying himself. He loved winding her up just as much as she did him.

She had never felt so light and free before. So...happy. She swallowed briefly , face softening as she looked away from him for a moment to gather herself again. To remind herself of who she was.

She wasn't her bother . Oh god. She hoped not. She would never hear the end of it otherwise.

Her poor mother would have a stroke if they both had stayed and got themselves some American lovers. She couldn't do that.

No way. That wasn't her. Not at all. She had promised herself. She didn't fall in love. She didn't make it easy. She didn't ...

Oh my god. She didn't. Did she?

She finally managed a laugh , snapping out of her chaotic thoughts. She looked at him and said "it's different up close. It's not the same unless you're there." She told him, plans Already forming in her mind .

How would it work? How could it work? Could it? Could she? She could. He could... she drained the rest of his beer and smiled a little, titling her head as she felt him press closer to her.

His hand coming up to brush her hair over her shoulder gently , without even saying a thing. She just relaxed against him. Like it was normal. Something she always did. Would always do.

"You need to come to a race with me , then you'll see what I mean." She muttered. Looking at him seriously. Hoping he'd get the hint.

He did, his eyes softened , lips too. He nudged her shoulder with his gently as he mumbled "yeah? You should come to some games of mine too. It's only fair." He crossed his fingers, opened his heart for once. Wished he'd learned French to tell her how he really felt without any of his friends or their brothers knowing,

But he didn't need to. One look into his soft, hopeful eyes and she got it. Of course she did.

"Deal."

By the time they made it back to his apartment, his brother and friends had went to her brothers apartment to play video games. Too drunk to see them disappear into his own away from them. Wanting some moments on their own.

She found herself sat up on his kitchen counter top as he hovered near her knees, too scared to make the final move.

Cherrie didn't have those fears , confidence had never been an issue. She wasn't shy, just a little unsure to what she was supposed to do next,

She had never felt like this before. Guys didn't make her head spin like this. Didn't make her want to change her mind and stay. That wasn't her.

But maybe it was now. Maybe it could be.

"I'm going back to Monaco tomorrow." She reminded him of the inevitable . Somehow now wishing that she didn't have to.

Strange how a week ago she wished for nothing more than to leave , now she looked across from her and wanted nothing more than to stay. Or take him with her.

He slowly nudged her knees apart , eyes down to her thighs as he slid himself between them. Hands cautiously landing on her soft skin as he sighed quietly , heart pounding in his chest fearfully .

He swallowed "but you're coming back right?" Hope filled him so sweetly that she wanted a taste.

She trapped him between her thighs, titling her head at him as she gently wrapped her arms around his neck to pull his bashful self closer.

Her whole body melting against him as he suddenly leaned down and hugged her, like he had been wanting to for a while now, smiling to herself softly as she felt his face bury in the crook of her neck. A shy, soft, barely there kiss being placed there below her ear . Just for her. For them.

She inhaled deeply "I only came to see my brother.." that had been the plan.

But since when did plans ever work out fully in the end? That would be boring wouldn't it?

He pulled away enough to meet her eyes, gathering what courage he had left to mumble bashfully "you er-you promised me - you owe me a game remember? So you have to come back. To see me play."

She felt her heart brighten, she only saw daylight as she laughed softly . Cupped his blushing cheeks in her hands and leaned her face down towards his, kissing him gently . Just like she had wanted to the whole damn week.

His breath hitched in his chest as he laid his hands on her hips and sighed against her mouth, melting into her as he nudged his nose against hers gently, deepening the kiss as he felt her hand slide into his hand, pulling at the strands at the nape of his neck.

He moaned into the kiss , heart in his mouth as their tongues brushed together , his lashes fluttering against her cheek as he cupped the back of her head, giddy with feeling . Overwhelmed.

Smiling into the kiss, unable to stop himself. So fucked. So unbelievably soft for her. Yet so hard too. She had him in every way.

He should have known that it would come to this really. With eyes like hers .. and a smile so smug and sweet.

He got the best of both worlds. He wanted to have his cake and eat hers too.

"You want to come back to Monaco with me tomorrow?" She whispered to him , pulling away to breath.

Running her fingers through his hair gently , the other hand gently wiping her red lipstick stains from his mouth. Only managing to make it worse, her smile deepened. Unable to look away from the mess they made.

He was so much better than those French boys. She realised to herself in pure amazement. He was everything that she didn't know she needed until then.

Huh. Who knew. Her American boy.

He was giddy with excitement, with hope and disbelief. That a woman like Cherrie could want him. That this could be real. That he had a chance at something you could only dream of.

"For your home race?" He whispered , fingertip tracing her Cupid's bow. Feeling their kiss on his fingertips. Wanting kiss her until he could No longer breath.

Forever if she would let him.

Other hand cupping her cheek, his thumb stroking her cheekbone gently. Feeling the heat there. Glad to know that he wasn't the only one. That she could be just as nervous and giddy as he was feeling too.

"Yeah. To my home too. Maybe you could stay a week or two.. with me." She whispered back to him, smile never leaving their faces.

She felt it now. Knew that this was it. This was what people talked about In their stories . What her brother was so adamant about her feeling.

She had found it. Found him.

He let out a nervous laugh , breathy and amazed that this was happening. "Yeah. My next game is in two weeks. We could- you could come back with me. We could.." he trembled with the overwhelming feeling of falling in love.

"-we could take turns. I go with you and you go with me..." he inhaled shakily "if you want to..."

She just smiled , shaking her head to herself in disbelief . "I want to.." then she kissed him again. And again and again.

Because apparently she was as stupid as her brother was. She had fallen in love and now she didn't only want to call Monaco her home.

She wanted to call Quinn home too.

She was never going to hear the end of this. She had fallen in love with her American boy.

#Quinn Hughes imagine #Quinn Hughes oneshot #nhl imagine #nhl oneshot #hockey imagine #ice hockey imagine #nhl fic

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