and we scored

Scene 35

NINI

Although it's late at night, I can still see the city lights flashing pass me through the car's window. It has been a long drive, too long, but we made it to Kansas City. Which is beautiful. I can see the different buildings, the people having a night out, the streetlights...It is all just perfect.

We now pass by a stadium and Caden points at it with the hand he's not steering the wheel with. "Dad and I used to come here all the time when I was little", he says. "He's a huge football fan."

I nod and take a better look at the stadium. It really is huge.

"Do you also like football?" I ask him carefully, not to reach a touchy subject. I learned that the hockey and football team at Wrencore aren't exactly good with each other, the reason yet unclear.

"I like watching it, yes", he says, lost in thoughts. "Never playing it though. I tried, yet it wasn't the one for me. I didn't feel any spark towards it. Not like with hockey, anyway."

I nod again and look away from to window to look at him. He's focused on the road, yet his eyes wonder off to me from time to time. Every time I catch him sneaking a glance in my direction, I smile.

We continue driving for another half an hour. I can feel my eyes closing in the meantime, falling asleep. I only wake up as I can feel someone gently tapping me on my shoulder and whispering my name. As I open my eyes, the car is parked in front of a house and my car door is open, with Caden standing in front of it, looking at me admiring.

"We're here", he whispers swallowing hard the nothing in his throat, as if he wanted to say something else but couldn't bring himself to do it.

I nod and follow him outside. The moment I take a better look at the house, my breath is away. It looks beautiful. The garden in front of it is decorated with Christmas decorations, from a big inflatable Santa to a little sled. The house itself looks incredibly similar to the house Noah built for Allie in one of my favorite movies, The Notebook. It's white and has a big old porch that wraps around the entire house. The moment I see this house, I know that I am in love with it.

Caden opens the trunk and takes all our suitcases from there. I go over to him wanting to help him, he only says that it's okay. I smile at him thankfully and follow him to the front door. Of course, I have to freeze again as I see the door. It is decorated with a beautiful Christmas wreath with a red ribbon and small lights. As he wants to ring the bell, Caden notices something and stops.

"Broadway", he says and then points up to the roof, from where a mistletoe is hanging. "We can't break the tradition", he whispers to me.

"No, we can't", I reply and wrap my hands around his neck, pulling him closer. I crash my lips on his and give him the most passionate kiss any mistletoe has ever seen.

"I think I'm going to need more mistletoe", he whispers to me and I take some distance to look at him. He's wearing a black winter jacket and some jeans, a beanie on his head. His cheeks are red from the cold and he's smiling at me like I'm the most beautiful girl he's ever seen, even though I'm probably looking like a mess. My hair is up in a bun, strands falling freely from it. I'm not wearing much makeup, almost none. My cheeks must also be red from the cold, since I can feel them freezing. I'm wearing a very puffy winter jacket that makes me look like I just came back from skiing. However, he still looks at me like I'm beautiful. The most beautiful.

"Me too", I whisper. And kiss him again. I can hear him softly chuckling, his lips brushing mine. Then, we kiss again.

I highly consider spending my entire night with him outside, just kissing, as the door opens and a person says: "Oh, I thought I heard noises." We both stop our smooch fest and turn to see a woman with curly brown hair and eyes the same color, wearing a knitted white sweater and some beige pants, smiling at the two of us. Caden takes the hand from my waist for a few seconds and goes hug the woman.