The Boy, The Girl, and The Game (Artemi Panarin)

Lifesaver

Annabelle

"Anna."

"Annabelle."

"Belle, wake up!"

I slowly open my eyes to see Artemi hovering over me with a huge smile on his face. His curls falling over as his brights eyes search for mine.

"Yes" I ask wiping at my eyes so I can study him better. He was truly a sight to see.

"Happy birthday" he says and I laugh a little. I forgot it was my birthday.

"Thanks babe" I reply and he gives me a soft kiss.

"Get dressed, we have a big day ahead of us" he says and I look at him questionably.

"I thought I told you I didn't want anything for my birthday" I ask.

"You did. But you never let me spoil you otherwise so this is my only chance to. Plus you're my fiancé now, I'm going to do something special" he insists.

"Okay then. What should I wear" I ask.

"I picked out your outfit and drew a bath with your favorite bath bomb. I want you to chill and have some alone time before we get started" he says tugging at my sleeping shirt.

"You're the best" I claim before kissing him then skipping to the bathroom. I let the floral scent take over as I slip my shirt and rings off before slipping into the tub. I immerse myself in the water and close my eyes letting my mind wonder. For the first time in my life my thoughts consumed me and I wasn't scared. I wasn't worried about what was going to happen, I was actually kind of excited. Eventually I get out and look through the cloths he picked out for me. It was a pair of jeans and my favorite pink blouse. I change and let my hair sit in its natural waves. I slip my rings back on before looking into the mirror satisfied with what I saw. I head downstairs and nearly fall over when I see all the decorations.

"Surprise" people yell and I place my hands over my mouth. I've never had a surprise party before because I didn't think enough people liked me. But here we are.

"Oh my god" I whisper looking around at the faces I've become so accustomed to.

"Happy birthday baby" Artemi says throwing a arm around me and kissing my head. I look up to him as she shows a bashful look on his face.

"You did this" I ask.

"Yeah, I know you said you didn't want to do anything special but I wanted to do this for you. You work really hard and I wanted you to see how many lives you've affected" he shrugs and everyone "awww"'s.

"I love you so much" I reply and kiss him passionately We haven't told anyone we were engaged yet. We were ready but wasn't so sure everyone else was.

"Where's my favorite little sister" someone says and Kyla and Erica appear from the kitchen.

"KYLE" I scream and jump into his arms as he spins me around.

"Hey baby sis, happy birthday" he says into my hair before setting my down.

"I've missed you so much" I say on the verge of tears. When we almost lost him last year it broke my heart. But he's still here and I couldn't possibly be more excited to see him.

"Missed you too" he smiles. We get to talking and I say hi to everyone else. The team along with their significant others was here. I've gotten close with a few of the guys because they needed more help than others but I've gotten to know everyone pretty well and this was such a great group of guys. Most of them just played with Puck and I don't blame them, he was a adorable dog.

"So when are you getting married" Kyle asks and my eyes go big. How did he know?

"Don't worry, I helped Artemi plan everything. Your secret is safe with me" he says and I laugh.

"We don't know yet. We're living life as it is presented to us" I shrug.

"Well I'm happy for you. You guys deserve each other" he says and I thank him. Eventually people file out until it was just Artemi and me again.

"Are you mad" he asks sheepishly. It was cute.

"Are you crazy? I had a great time! Thank you" I say giving him a kiss. He grabs my hips and pulls me close as he stares into my eyes. I run my fingers through his curls and his eyes flutter close. I take the time to examine his facial features. Those beautiful lips that are always in the shape of a smile. His unique blue/green eyes that change every day but are always beautiful. His smile lines that make his cheeks squeezable. Those freckles on his neck. His stubble in his chin. All of him is perfect in my eyes and I wouldn't change a single thing about him... inside or out.

We go to the game and along with a toy drive it was also pride night at the UC. I pull on my "Hockey Is For Everyone" hoodie and find the pride socks I bought for today. I pull them on over my black leggings and pull half of my hair up. The guys use rainbow tape and will sell those sticks for charities which I'm a fan of. I spend the first part of the game by a toy bin accepting donations and toys for underprivileged kids. Lindsey chills with me and Amanda during a lull where everyone was in watching the game and not in the hallways. I had on gloves so no one could see the ring under them.

"How has your birthday been" Lindsey asks.

"I was with you guys for over half of it, you tell me" I joke.

"I know, but did Artemi do anything special" she asks wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

"No. I practically begged him not to. I hate birthdays and am willing to focus on just about anyone who isn't me. For my birthday all I asked was for people to give to people who need things, not me. Sure there are probably thousands of things I would like to have but I wouldn't know what they are. I do know that there are plenty less fortunate than myself and I would like to help them" I shrug.

"You know... I read that the people who are stressed and have anxiety or depression give more and it actually helps them" Amanda mentions.

"Yup" I say and they both turn to me questionably.

"Annabelle are you okay" Amanda asks. Great. Here we go with this again.

"Yeah, I'm okay" I try and she frowns at me.

"You're a terrible liar" she says.

"Not my fault. Lying is a icky disgusting thing" I claim.

"Who says icky? You're like miss America or something" Lindsey laughs and I shrug.

"Don't think I'm letting this go. You're my best friend and if there's something wrong I want to know" she says looking me in the eyes. I couldn't straight up lie to her, she didn't deserve that.

"I have anxiety okay? I like to hide my problems instead of fixing them, I don't ever say no even if I really want to, I feed off of stress, I do so much so I don't have time to focus on my problems until they come back to bite me in the ass. I constantly worry about my future or if I'm good enough. I'm terrified that someone will need me and I can't help. There's a list of things that go into my anxiety problems. But I've gotten better, Artemi was the first besides my family to know. He's helped me organize my life, manage time and take some stress off. He helps me sleep at night and I have someone I know I can talk to. And no matter how hard I try to push him away he's always right next to me reminding me that I'm going to be okay. I'll always have anxiety, it's not something that goes away. But it's under control and it's no longer holding me back. I promise" I explain. They stand stunned at my random outburst but it's nice telling them.

"Wow.. I had no idea" Amanda whispers.

"Kinda the point" I laugh.

"Well thank god you have Artemi. He's a lifesaver" Lindsey says.

"That he is" I smile playing with the ring on my finger.