Sweet Caroline (Corey Crawford)

You Are To Me

Caroline

It was a week before Valentine's Day and it just so happened to be my birthday. I was a ripe 27 years old today and I was planning on celebrating accordingly... by sitting in my apartment with my cat all cuddled up and watching TV.

To say I was a introvert only begins to explain my inability to leave my house. I go to work and I volunteer, but other than that, if I don't have to leave I won't. I cook my own meals and only eat out when we're on the road. I don't have too many friends, and the ones I do have know that if they want to hang out they're coming over to my place. Besides New Years I haven't left the house unless I absolutely had to. And I wasn't that big of a fan of birthdays so my treat to myself was that there was no hockey responsibilities and I get a whole tub of ice cream to myself.

I lay on the couch and eat some of the popcorn Corey got me for Christmas. I sit in a big shirt, which is really any shirt on me really, and my underwear. My hair on top of my head like a trophy of my laziness. I watch Brides Maids for about the 100th time and still laugh my ass of.

Around 2 there was a knock on the door and I look down at Hawk.

"Were you expecting someone" I ask and he just looks at me. He was just a cat after all.

I roll off the couch and go to the door. I was expecting maybe the postman giving me a gift from my dad or maybe a neighbor got my mail again. But instead I see Corey standing there.

I open the door a little bit and stick my head out into the hallway.

"Did we plan to hang out? Because I'm pretty sure I still have concussion symptoms and I could have just forgot" I admit and he laughs.

"No. I wanted to stop by and give you your birthday present" he claims and I squint at him.

"I hate getting presents" I pout.

"And I love getting you things, so get over it" he claims and I huff.

"Fine, I'll take the present" I agree and he smiles.

"Are you naked" he finally asks.

"You wish" I tease and he shrugs.

"I mean..." he trails off and I roll my eyes.

"You can come in but I'm going to change" I say and he nods. I open the door and let him and close it behind him. He walks in and I quickly head down the hallway. "Please stop staring" I blush and he turns away.

"Sorry" he says and I try to scurry into my room. I throw on some shorts and a bra before brushing through my hair. I throw it into a ponytail and I finally come back out.

I find Corey on the couch with my cat just petting him ever so softly. He looked like he was scared of the tiny kitten but he really wanted to touch it.

"What are you doing" I giggle.

"I'm terrified of cats, but this little guy is so cute I needed to touch him" he claims. I pick the kitten up and Corey's eyes go big. I hand him over and Corey reluctantly take him. Eventually he relaxes and pulls the cat to his chest. Hawk starts to purr and Corey looked like he just made a save in a shootout to win a game.

"See, it's not bad" I assure him.

"I actually kind of like it" he admits.

"You shouldn't be scared of things you're unsure of. Educate yourself then decide wether or not you should run or stay" I insist.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but not everyone is perfect like you" he claims and he continues to pet Hawk.

"I am not perfect, far from it" I insist.

"Well to me you are" he smiles and I feel my face heat up for the second time today.

"I hate you" I smile and he smiles back.

Eventually we go back to watching the movie and eating popcorn. We just chill out on the couch and have a good time. Things were never awkward between us, we're pretty good at sorting things out and honestly just want to be around each other one way or another.

"Are you going to open your present" he finally asks me.

"Are you going to make me" I ask.

"One way another, yeah" he nods.

He puts the bag in my lap and I turn to him and glare. I reluctantly open the gift and start to laugh.

"Where in the hell did you find this" I laugh holding up a mouse onesie.

He and a bunch of the guys on the team started calling me Mighty Mouse because I'm small and quite and watch Tom and jerry on Saturday mornings. It started with my dad and as soon as the guys heard it it stuck. Honestly I just don't want to grow up but I like hockey nickname, it's better than Captain Serious or Lil Peek-a-boo so I'm good with the whole Mighty Mouse thing.

"I got it at target... the kids section" he smirks and I reach over and smack him.

"You seriously suck so much" I whine and he continues to laugh at me.

"Oh come on, I had to" he claims wiping a tear away. I decide to put it on and honestly it was the most comfortable thing ever.

"You look adorable" he claims. The thing was still big on me but I might never take it off. I don't know.

"Thank you Crawford, I love it" I smile.

"There's more" he claims and I let out a huff. Note to self: his next birthday I'm going all out.

I look on the bag and see a little package wrapped up separately. It was like the one I got on Christmas. I open it up and see a journal. I take it out of its packaging and smile big. The front of it was wood burned and it said Sweet Caroline with a Blackhawks logo on it.

"Corey" I whisper as I trace my fingers over the engraving.

"I got it specially made, obviously. I don't know why I said that you probably figured out they don't sell those in stores" he rambles.

"I love it" I smile and he stops being so frantic.

"Really? I wasn't sure if you would but you like to write a lot and you're almost out of paper on your other one so I thought I would get you another one" he shrugs.

"It's perfect" I admit. I pull him into a hug and quickly realize how bad of a idea is. He holds me tight and I close my eyes. I slowly rub his back and rest my cheek in his chest. He moves his hand to my head and starts to run her fingers through my hair. "Thank you" I whisper.

"Any time mighty mouse."