Je T'aime | D. Mercer

CH 12

Dawson and Liliane skate around the ice during warm ups. They chatted quietly so no one would hear them. They watched everyone warm up alongside them.

"How do you say, 'what the fuck was that call'?" Dawson asks with smile. Liliane snorts.

"c'était quoi cet appel, bordel." Liliane says. Dawson nods and looks over to the refs.

"Do you think they understand French?" Dawson asks as he nods to the refs. Liliane shrugs.

"You never know. Maybe they took French in high school." Liliane shrugs while eyeing the refs with Dawson. She looks to the team across the blue line.

"There are a few people who speak French on the Capitals... I wouldn't chirp them in French." Liliane whispers, forgetting Dawson doesn't know French like she does. Dawson nods, watching Liliane with a smile. He wants to reach out to her and rest an arm around her waist, but he can't. He can't because they need to leave their relationship behind when they're in a rink.

"Liliane." She looks over at Dawson with wide eyes and a beautiful smile.

"Dawson." Liliane whispers.

"When we get back in the locker room... can I kiss you?" Dawson asks. Liliane's mood changes for a fraction of a second, before she's smiling again.

"Yeah." Liliane whispers. Her eyes flicker to his lips, like she was going to kiss him now instead. They had 5 minutes of warm ups before they go back to the locker room. Dawson looks down at Liliane again, then to the crowd of people around them. Could he kiss her right here without anyone knowing? He couldn't.

Our relationship isn't their's to comment about.

"Liliane, can I kiss you right now?" Dawson asks. Liliane's eyes widen. Dawson couldn't tell if she was afraid or shocked by the question. Maybe both.

'Go from dating to teammates and nothing more in this locker room and rink.'

Liliane looked to where Nico and Jack we talking on the side, their eyes on each other rather than Liliane or Dawson. She watched as Jack's tense shoulders eased when Nico brushes his arm and moved in closer to him so he could hear was he was saying.

Jack's in the same situation as I am.

Liliane looked back to dawson. She nodded slowly. Is she sure about this? Is Dawson sure about this? Dawson leaned in and it seemed like time froze. His lips never touched hers. The buzzer sounds. Warm ups are over. Liliane ran back into the locker room. Dawson stood for a second and watched her run before he followed her. He was second in the locker room.

"Liliane." Dawson goes over to the girl and unclips her helmet. He pulls it off her head and does the same to his. He places his free hand on the side of her face and quickly leans in. Their lips crash together. People flood into the locker room just as Dawson pulls away from her and takes a step back.

"All right, starting line up for tonight." Nico says as everyone is in the room. Liliane and Dawson sit next to each other in front of their lockers.

"Myself, Bratter, Haula, Nemec, Auclair." Holy, Liliane is starting.

"In goal, Vaneck." Liliane's hopes for tonight's game waver. The only thing she can control is her defense. Nico spared her a glance before starting his speech.

...

Puck drop. Right Now.

...

Liliane moves the puck up the side of the rink and over the blue line. Quickly, she sends a pass down to Jesper. But, she didn't see him coming. She couldn't move as a body rammed into her and sent her down onto the ice.

The first thing she sees when she regains some kind of control over her body is Jesper's gloves on the ice. Then she sees him. There's blood dripping from his nose, from what she can only guess was a punch, and he's paying no mind to it. His hand is gripped onto the opposing player's jersey as he swings his fist. Her eyes look to the bench and see Dawson with fear in his eyes.

She turns back to Jesper as, finally, the other player goes down. Jesper's breathing heavy and backing away from the player, going right over to Liliane.

"Liliane? Can you hear me?" Jesper asks. His blood drips from his chin the the ice next to her.

"You're bleeding." Liliane says. Her eyes feel heavy, but she keeps them open anyways. She tries to sit up and Jesper quickly assists her.

"I'm okay, Liliane." The medics on the team skate over to her after the commotion has stopped. Jesper pushes himself away from her to make room for them.

"Liliane, can you hear me?" A lady asks. Liliane nods, but it hurts her head. She winces at the pain.

"Yes." Liliane whispers. The noise in the arena is suddenly catching up to her and making her head hurt even more. Then she feels it. The throbbing pain in her shoulder.

"My shoulder hurts and my head hurts." Liliane whispers. The medic nods and helps her up off the ice as carefully as possible. Jesper is at her side the moment she's on her feet. He helps guide her with the medic off the ice. He pushes her so she doesn't have to skate.

Jesper helps her down the tunnel and to the medical/training room. He can't play since he has blood on his jersey, so it's the least he can do to not feel useless. Jesper helps her sit on the table bench before he retreats to the other side of the room to have someone help him get blood out of his jersey and off his face.

"Liliane, what did you feel during the fall?" The medic, Jess, asks. Liliane shrugs, but the quick movement hurts her shoulder.

"Nothing. I came to my senses and my head hurt a little, then the noise of the crowd make it worse, then my shoulder hurt." Liliane speaks all in one breath. Jess helps take her gear off so she can examine her shoulder.

...

"Liliane." Dawson says as he walks into the medics room during first period intermission. Liliane gives him a sad smile.

"Nothing major is wrong. My head hurt from the impact on the ice, but it's not a concussion. My shoulder popped out and back in on it's down which is why it hurts. I'm not supposed to do anything for the next three days though." Liliane explains before Dawson can ask her too. Dawson draws out a quick breath before wrapping his arms around Liliane's torso and hugging her.

"You scared me so much." Dawson whispered. Liliane nodded.

"I know. I'm sorry." Liliane whispered. Dawson pulls away from her and plants a kiss on her cheek before leaving the room and going back to the locker room.