All I Need {Sequel to We Belong Together}

Chapter 11: The Perfect Storm

Hello everyone! Once again, sorry about the delay. Been well... struggling recently with a lot of things. My allergies are killing me this summer, so most days I've had killer headaches. On another note, I've been working on things for my wedding and my vacation I'll be taking here in just a few days. I wanted this chapter to be longer, but I cut it short so I would have something posted before I left on Saturday. Anyways... I hope you all enjoy this short chapter anyways. :)

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Adrianna excitedly took her seat in the lower bowl of Joe Louis Arena. While she had been to many games in her time, this was the first time she sat on the lower levels close to the ice. It had always been a dream of hers to sit close to the bench of her favorite team, and now here she was sitting only feet away from the bench. The girl could hardly hide her excitement.

She glanced to her side, seeing Tom glancing around the arena, much like she had done on her first time there. Not much had changed since Adrianna's first game; a new championship banner hung from the rafters from their Stanley Cup run in 2008, but other than that nothing had been added. A new banner would be hung in March when they retired another number belonging to Nicklas Lidstrom, one of the best defensemen in history, and Adrianna was hoping she'd make it to see that too. Right now, however, she was just happy to be there at all.

"It's smaller than I thought it would be," Tom finally said.

"I thought the same thing when I came here the first time. It looks so much bigger on the television," Adrianna agreed.

"So one of the most beloved teams in the league has a small arena?" Tom inquired.

"For now," Adrianna answered. "They just got okayed to build a new arena so in a few years time, we'll be playing somewhere else, and I'm sure it will be a bit bigger."

Tom nodded, placing his arm across the back of Adrianna's chair. The girl smiled, glancing up at the clock, seeing the seconds tick down before the pregame skate. Really, it wasn't anything too special- just the teams coming out and warming up- but Adrianna always enjoyed watching it anyways. And the girl only had seconds to wait. When she had glanced up at the clock, there were only seconds to go, and soon the players from both teams came filing out of the locker rooms.

It only took Adrianna a few moments before she spotted her favorite player skating past her. He was easy to spot, even from a distance; he was the only player on the team who routinely warmed up without his helmet. The girl smiled; in her entire life she had never been so close to him. Adrianna watched Pavel Datsyuk for several minutes, until Tom cleared his throat.

"Don't freak him out now," he joked. "Poor guy doesn't need some crazy lass gawking at him the whole game."

Adrianna pushed Tom gently before looking back to the ice. "I'm not gawking. I'm just having a slight fangirl moment; that's all."

"I don't think I've seen you have one of those in a while," Tom retorted, a smirk forming on his face. "Not since you realized who I was."

Adrianna turned to look at him, still smiling. "You were different."

"And why's that?" Tom asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you forgetting the fact that I had had a crush on you for years before we ever met?" Adrianna reminded. "I remember babbling on and on about you to my friends when we were just teens! And then when you said who you were... I think I about had a heart attack." She stopped speaking for a moment, and then added, "Plus you're my age and not ten years older than me."

"Hmmm... I guess you make a fairly good point," Tom replied. He pulled her closer to him. "Besides, I'm just messing with you, love. He's used to having thousands of people staring at him every game; I'm sure having one more won't hurt."

Adrianna rested her head on his shoulder. "It's your fault we're sitting so close to the ice," she reminded. "I wouldn't be fangirling if I could hardly see him in the nosebleed section."

"I'll remember that for next time," Tom said, laughing slightly.

"Next time?" Adrianna asked, a bit confused. The game hadn't even started yet, and yet Tom was planning another trip. Adrianna wasn't complaining, but she was still a bit shocked. "You mean you want to do this again?"

Tom shrugged. "I don't see why not. I mean... it gives you an excuse to come home, and so far I've enjoyed myself. You know... unless we lose."

Adrianna rolled her eyes. "We're not going to lose," she assured. "I mean... have you looked at the other team yet?" She nodded towards the far end of the ice where the light blue and white jerseys of the other team were prominent.

The girl studied them herself for a few moments, just to make sure she was right. And the girl couldn't have been more so. The opponents, the Tampa Bay Lightning, were just coming off a game in Chicago the night before, and were in no shape to play tonight. They were sluggish, and by the looks of it, weren't even trying. Adrianna was sure Chicago had put a wailing on them the night before, and she was sure there would be a repeat performance from Tampa Bay tonight against Detroit.

"Yea... they are pretty sad, huh?" Tom agreed. "Are they always this pathetic?"

Adrianna shook her head. "They played Chicago last night, and you know how brutal they are."

"Oh yea," Tom mused. "I forgot about that. So this should be a breeze, right?"

The buzzer went off, signaling the end of the warm up. Adrianna's attention went back to the ice for a moment, watching the teams file off the ice, only to have two ice cleaning zambonis come onto the slippery surface. Twenty minutes until game time now.

"Yea, I think we'll be good," Adrianna agreed. "I mean... I don't see why we shouldn't. We were moving faster, our shots were more accurate, our goalie was on his game... We have all the ingredients to the perfect storm."

"Well then, all I have to say is let's do this!" Tom exclaimed. The boy pulled Adrianna close to him before taking a picture with his mobile phone. He looked at it for a second before showing Adrianna. "Why don't you smile love? This is supposed to be a fun evening."

"I didn't know you were taking a picture," the girl replied. "Shall we take another one?"

"Of course!"

This time, Adrianna made sure to put a smile on her face. After all, this day had been amazing so far- she was home, they had great food, and now, Tom was just as excited about the game as she was. The only thing that could make this any better was if they had actually won. And there was no doubt in Adrianna's mind that it would happen.