Breaking The Habit - Elias Pettersson [Vancouver Canucks]

Chapter 1: Papercut

I had been through what felt like a million different dresses. Too light, too dark, too revealing, too short, too long. It was becoming a nightmare.

My best friend Ashley had just gotten engaged and I needed an absolute perfect dress for the engagement party. I had been through every color and every style, I was beginning to lose hope.

Right as I was about to give up and go to a different store, one dress caught my eye. I pulled it up and looked at it. It was stunning. An off the shoulder black dress, lace on the arms, perfect length. There's no way it looked good on me.

I grabbed the dress anyway and went back inside the dressing room. I slipped it on and reluctantly went out to the mirrors they had. I tilted my head curiously. It wasn't bad but there's no way it looked as good on me as on the hanger.

I looked around for an employee or something to get an opinion. While my eyes grazed the room I saw a male looking through some clothes.

He was cute, blonde and way out of my league. What was the harm? I needed an opinion.

"Excuse me?" I called softly to him since he wasn't far from me.

"Me?" He pointed a finger at himself.

"Yeah, what do you think of this dress?" I asked holding my arms out.

"I...uhh...I mean it's...it's a dress" he shifted nervously.

"Got it, not the dress. Thanks" I giggled slightly moving back in the dressing room.

I quickly changed, giving up and grabbing my things to head to another store.

I walked out with the dress in my hand and went to the rack to put it back. As I was putting it back a voice caught me off guard.

"It's beautiful"

I lifted my eyes up to see the same blonde from before.

"Excuse me?" I asked confused.

"The dress, it's beautiful and you looked stunning" he smiled slightly.

"The it's a dress, dress?" I rose an eyebrow at him over the rack.

"Yeah"

"What made you change your mind?" I asked confused.

"I didn't change my mind, I just didn't say it before" he looked down avoiding eye contact with me.

"Oh, well thank you" a small smile spread on my lips.

"To be fair, you could wear any of these dresses and you'd look stunning so it doesn't really matter what dress you get" he said still not looking directly at me.

"I'm Y/N" I reached my hand over the rack with a smile.

"Elias" he shook my hand, finally looking up at me.

"Nice to meet you Elias, where were you when I was trying to pick out a dress three hours ago?" I giggled.

"Nice to meet you too and I was at home" he grinned at me making me breathe a laugh.

"I could have saved a few hours if you were here to inflate my confidence earlier" I laughed finally dropping his hand.

"Then my work here is done" he smiled, turning to walk away.

"Thanks again" I called after him.

"You're very welcome" he turned back to me with a soft smile for a quick second before he turned to leave.

I pulled the dress back off the rack and looked at it questioningly.

"Stunning huh? Guess I have to buy it now" I spoke quietly to myself.

I paid for the dress and walked out of the shop with a weight lifted off my chest. I took a deep breath and instantly thought how I still had to get them an engagement gift...but first I needed coffee.

I walked into the shop and ordered what I would usually get from any coffee shop. I grabbed my coffee and took a deep breath. One perfect dress down, one perfect engagement gift to go.

As I walked out of the shop, I held the door open for the person that was walking in.

Elias. How ironic.

"What are the odds?" I giggled moving to the side to let him in.

"Two times in one day...are you stalking me?" He joked with a smile.

"Technically, I was both places first so that would make you the stalker" I laughed.

"Alright, fair enough" he chuckled softly. "I guess I'm too late to offer to buy you a cup of coffee?" He motioned to the coffee in my hand.

"Maybe a little bit" I giggled. "But I am actively trying to avoid doing something. If you have time you want to maybe sit down and have some coffee or something?" I asked almost nervously.

"That sounds nice. I'm going to grab something to drink, do you need anything else?"

"No thank you, I'll find us a table" I let the door shut as he made his way to the counter with a small smile on his face.

"So" he started as he took a seat across from me at the small table. "What is it that you're avoiding?" He asked taking a drink of his drink.

"My best friend just got engaged and her engagement party is coming up. I have to find her the perfect gift and I really don't want to" I giggled taking a drink of my own coffee.

"That's a lot of pressure" he chuckled leaning over the table. "Don't overthink it, what's the first thought that comes to your mind when you think about it"

"A cooking appliance, she's a terrible cook" I laughed taking another drink.

"Sounds like you just fixed your own problem"

"I...I guess I did" I breathed a laugh. "Wow, that was shockingly easy. Thank you"

"I did nothing" he smiled slightly.

"Again that would have taken me ages" I shook my head taking another drink.

"Was the dress for the party then?" He asked. I nodded my head unable to swallow my drink fast enough to answer. "I thought you weren't supposed to take attention away from the bride"

His words made me smile. He was definitely a sweet one.

"Ashley's beautiful, there won't be an issue" I shook my head with a smile.

"Whatever you say" he watched me with a smile.

"So Elias, tell me about yourself. I know almost nothing...except that you're a stalker" I giggled trying to take the attention off of myself.

"Well I know almost nothing about you either except your best friend is getting married...and you look amazing in black"

Again, he brought a smile to my face.

"You first, what do you do for a living?" I asked curiously.

"I play hockey for the Vancouver Canucks" he smiled widely.

Fucking. Great.