Sweet Caroline (Corey Crawford)

We Call It Love

Corey

"Wow, this place is beautiful" Caroline sighs as we get up to our hotel room.

"It sure is" her dad says checking into the room next to us.

I was able to get Caroline to come on vacation for a little... as long as her dad got to come too. It was kind of a package deal at this point. I honestly had no problem with it, Caroline had more of a problem with it than I did. But the only way we could come and Patrick wouldn't shun us is if he got to come with and get his party on too. That way he could still watch over Caroline and catch a few rays in the mean time. And I get to hang out with my favorite person in the world... and his daughter.

Caroline and I get into our room and get our things put to the side. I go over to the window and look out at the view. The beach was right outside the resort we were staying at and I could not wait to get out there. It was white sands and clear water making for a good time.

I feel something hit my back and then hear it fall to the floor. I look and see my swim trunks laying on the ground by my feet and look up to see Caroline with her tiny little swim suit hanging from her fingers.

"Get changed, we're going swimming before my dad notices were gone" she says and I smirk. It's not like her to sneak around her dad... it's kinda hot. I pick up my trunks and go to get changed in the bathroom.

Once I put them on I throw on a tank top then start to pack some beach bags. I grab a towel and a bag to put everything in. I toss in some sunscreen and snacks along with a hat and some water in there. I pack Caroline a bag too and wait for her to come out.

I sit on my phone with a Blackhawks top on trying to see if anything is happening with the lockout. As per usual there is no new news so I guess I'm just going to have to live with it. Hopefully no news is good news in this situation.

Finally Caroline comes out and I stop for a second. She was wearing a revealing bikini I never thought she would ever pick out wear. And definitely not one her dad would let her wear. Now I see why she's trying to get out of here before her dad does because he would flip out if he saw her wearing that. It doesn't leave much to the imagination.

But I do have to admit she looked incredible. The little white material covering just enough says everything except purity. She usually doesn't show off her body for she would rather showcase her brains or heart, but her body was nothing to be ashamed of either.

"Wow" I gasp and she smiles.

"I'm not really sure how I ended up buying this but I am not mad about it" she shrugs.

"Neither am I" I tease and she shakes her head.

"Are you ready" she asks.

"Yeah, here is your bag" I say handing it to her. She takes it and we tip toe past her dads room out to the beach.

We get down there and set our blankets out on the hot sand. I shed my shirt I had on and stuff it in my bag. I put on some sun screen before looking out to the water. We were defiantly not in Montreal anymore.

I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders before I turn around and see Caroline jumping onto my back. I quickly catch her as she latches her arms around my neck. She leans over and kisses my cheek making me feel like I would fly away with her in my arms.

I run out to the water as she squeals when the water hits her. I get in the water until it reaches my waist before I finally stop.

"Are you going to come down" I ask.

"Absolutely not. I'm tall for the first time in my life" she says and I laugh.

"I don't know... my legs are getting tired" I joke.

"You better watch it" she warns.

"I think I'm gonna fall" I continue.

"Corey Crawford, you better not" she threatens.

I grab her tight and jump into the cool water letting it engulf us. We resurface and Caroline looked like she wanted to be mad. She crosses her arms over her chest and it was actually really cute. I've never seen her mad before.

"Awww are you mad at me" I smirk.

"Yes" she pouts and my smirk turns into a smile.

I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her. I kiss the top of her wet head and I feel her sigh.

"Why can't I ever be mad at you" she asks.

"Because you love me" I insist.

"That is true" she agrees.

We spend hours out in the water having a good time and splashing around. No phone to distract us or people to get in between us. It was finally just her and I, just as I always dreamed it would be. And it was even better than I ever imagined. As the sun beats down on us it starts to melt all the stress away. Her long blonde hair was covering up all her scars from earlier this year almost making me forget about the accident. I almost forget about how I wasted seven months fighting my feelings for her. I almost forgot how she is too sweet for me but somehow she looked past my imperfections and the front I was putting on to see the real me. I didn't forget, I could never forget how she makes me feel or what she had been through. And at the same time right now none of that matters, she was practically glowing and she looked so at peace, it was beautiful.

"Why are you looking at me like that" she asks.

"Like what" I wonder.

"Like you have never looked at me before" she claims.

"I haven't seen you from this perspective before" I admit.

"Do you like what you see" she smirks and I laugh.

"I always do. But something about this is so... peaceful" I admit.

"I feel pretty at peace with my life for the first time in a long time. I know running away from your problems is bad, but this doesn't feel wrong" she claims.

"It doesn't" I insist wrapping my arms around her.

"So what do we call this" she asks.

"We call it love."