thin ice // mitch marner

CHAPTER 40

"Can I close it now?" Mitch sighs, leaning against the wall.

"I don't know if I'm done yet!!" I exclaimed, staring at the luggage intensely. This is why I hated packing for vacations—I always worried that I'd forget something.

"The luggage is overflowing, Nat, I think you're done." He chuckles.

"Let me just double check," I say, standing over the luggage and mentally counting everything. Today began the Leafs' bye week, where they wouldn't have any games for seven days. It was my dad's birthday tomorrow, so Mitch and I were going to first fly to Arizona for a few days to be with my family (and so he could meet my family). After that, it was off to Mexico for us.

"I think you're done." He says, giving me a look. We should've been on our way to the airport by now, but my intense worrying has slowed us down.

"Okay, fine." I say, stepping back. Mitch breathes a sigh of relief and steps forward to zip up the suitcase for me. Mitch had called for an Uber driver to drive us to the airport, and just ten minutes later, we were on the road.

I was someone familiar with flying, since over my past two years in Toronto, I'd flown between Scottsdale and Toronto plenty of times. I usually enjoyed flying- when I was alone it was a good time to do homework, listen to music, and just relax. It felt so calming being thousands of feet above the rest of civilization - it always felt like a different world. Mitch was obviously used to flying, too, he was on multiple flights each week. I've never flown with him, though. He was definitely a fun passenger.

"I didn't pay for first class..." I say, holding up my boarding pass to show him. We were about to board the flight, and I hadn't noticed the mistake on my ticket.

"I did." He said with a smile, pulling me into him.

"We're sitting first class?!" I said, my surprised voice muffled in his shirt.

"Baby, I wouldn't rather be sitting anywhere else." He laughed.

I pulled back, smiling. I definitely should've known that. "Well thank you." I said, so appreciative of him.

"It's also because the plane is in rows of three but the first class seats are in rows of two. I only wanted to be sitting with you." He mumbled.

"You clingy ass." I said, but I definitely agreed. I only wanted to be sitting with him.

When the announcement sounded for the priority seating, Mitch grabbed me and pulled me into line with him so that we could truly be the first passengers on the plane. This was also a superstition he kept with the team, too.

The ride was about 5 hours, which wasn't too bad. I usually was really good with falling asleep on planes, which was a good thing. It also helped that it was 7 in the morning, I hadn't gotten much sleep last night with Mitch staying over, so hopefully we'd both sleep on the plane.

When the plane was taking off, Mitch took my hand tightly, giving it a small kiss. He didn't let go until we were safely in the air. Small gestures like this were what made him the greatest.

I wasn't expecting to sleep the whole time, but I did. Mitch woke me up right when we landed. We had no trouble leaving the plane and collecting our luggage. We took the taxi to my house, not wanting to put my parents through the trouble of having to drive to and from the airport.

I had originally told my mom on the phone last week that I was going to be bringing my boyfriend on the trip, but I hadn't told her or my dad who my boyfriend even was. "My dad's gonna freak out when he sees you." I smile at Mitch. We were nearing my old neighbourhood now, and I was getting more and more anxious.