Saturday, July 30, 2011

Chapter 13

Hey!! Just wanted to drop a note to check in and let you all know I've been reading and enjoying all your comments!! The common thread seems to be how much we all hate Andy-Ass... He is pretty shitty, isn't he? :)

Obviously I haven't had a ton of songs attached to the this story, but this is one that I felt was perfect for this chapter... and for Liv and Steven. It's an oldie-but-a-goodie in my book! The accoustic version is what the link is to...


if you'd accept surrender
I'll give up some more
weren't you adored
I cannot be without you
matter of fact
I'm on your back

if you walk out on me
I'm walking after you




Ch. 13



The conversation I had with my mom earlier in the week was a complete disaster.

“Olivia! You have a role to fulfill and you are promised to Andreas.”

“Mother, he abused me so bad that I was put in the hospital.”

“You cheated on him,” she hissed.

“How do you know that?”

“Because he came here as soon as he arrived back home and told us everything.  He also told us how you broke his nose.”

“Lies!” I cried into the phone.  “All lies.”

“Even if they are, you still cannot change your future.  You are his.”

“I’m becoming an U.S. citizen, Mother.  I’m not coming back home.”

“You are better than that,” she spit and hung up the phone on me.

I have to say I was shocked when my father agreed to Skype with me.  However, he probably thought I was confessing that I had been wrong and that I would be coming home.  Honestly, my heart was torn in pieces.  My family’s approval was so important to me.  My heritage was so vital and I knew by becoming an U.S. citizen, I would be going against everything I was ever taught and I would never be able to return home to the family I loved so much and my friends.

“Daughter,” my father said sternly over the computer.

“Hallo, Vater,” I said in our native tongue.

“I see you are making a bigger fuss than what should have been made about your bruises,” he said harshly in English.  I felt Steven fidget next to me, but I just laid a hand on his thigh, warning him to shut his mouth.

“They were a lot worse; I actually had a severe concussion, from which I still have vertigo.”

“Don’t use your big medical terms on me,” he growled.

I just sighed and decided I better turn it over to Steven.  “Father, I have someone here that would like to speak with you.  His name is Steven and he speaks English, so please be polite to him and speak English back to him.”

My father just nodded, obviously annoyed.

“Hallo, Pflazgraf Meier,” Steven said politely.  “My name is Steven Stamkos…”

“Are you the boy my daughter is messing around with?” my father blurted out.

“I wouldn’t put it that way, sir.”

“How would you put it then?  Would you rather I just ask if you are fucking my daughter?”

I cringed and heard Lesley take in a sharp breath.

“You have no business being involved with Olivia.  All you do is fill her head with American ideas.  You Americans are all the same,” my father continued, allowing me to realize that Andreas sounded exactly like him. Or maybe it’s the other way around…

Steven cleared his throat and spoke up.  “Sir, I am not American.  I am Canadian and there is a big difference.”

Of course my father just scoffed at this.

“I have an offer to make you.  If we promise not to press charges on Andreas, will you allow Olivia to stay here in the States and live her life the way she pleases?”

Again my father laughed evilly, causing me to shutter at his harshness.  “You wouldn’t be able to afford to fight this in the courts.”

“Ah, that is where you are wrong.  I think our salaries are evenly matched; I make a few million in just endorsements.  I will be able to hire the best.”  This was absolutely the first time I had ever heard of Steven talk about money.  He was never one to flaunt it or use it for power…until now.

The talk of money made my father’s ears perk up.  “Are you threatening to use your money against me?”

“I am.  All I want is your daughter,” Steven said in a grown up voice as he squeezed my hand.  “She deserves the world and I will give it to her.  I’d just rather do it without the hassle of fighting with you, but if I have to, then I will.”

I watched as my father sat back in his seat, obviously a little uncomfortable with someone talking about their feelings, especially when it came to his daughter.  My father never told me he loved me, mainly because I was a girl and basically meant nothing to him.  In truthfulness, I doubt my father even knows the meaning of love.

“For not being American, you sure do have that whole attitude of believing in fairytales Mister Stamkos.”

“This has nothing to do with fairytales.”

“So are you asking me for permission to marry my daughter?”

I sucked in a breath and looked over at Steven who never seemed to be thrown off kilter by the question.  “Yes,” he said solidly.  “I want to marry your daughter, whether it is tomorrow or several years from now, I’m going to marry your daughter.”

“If I give you my permission, you will make sure she never steps foot on my land and promises to never make contact with my family?”

Before Steven could say anything I pushed back in front of the computer and said, “Wait, do not bargain with him like I am not here listening to this!”

My father just crossed his arms and looked into the computer and I could tell that there was no choice because he wouldn’t give me any other options.  It was either go home to Germany and marry Andreas and possibly end up on my death bed within a few weeks or stay here with Steven.  To an outsider it would seem like an easy choice.  To a woman who loved her family and country, it was the hardest decision I ever had to make in a split second.

I took a deep breath and blew it out, willing the tears to stay away until I finished my piece.  “I’m sorry it has to end this way, Daddy.  Even though you have never loved me, I have always loved you.  I just wish you understood what that word meant and that you could have loved my mother the way she should have been loved.  Please tell everyone goodbye for me and as much as I am not a malicious person, I hope my decision haunts you forever.  Know that I have found what I deserve in life in Steven and that I will make the best of the new life God has given me a chance to pursue.  One day I hope to look back at this decision and realize it will probably be the best Christmas gift I have ever been given.”  As soon as the words were out of my mouth I leaned over towards the coffee table and flipped the lap-top closed.





The whole room was silent except for the beating of the 4 hearts that occupied it.  It was the best and worst moment life had dealt me.  I stared straight ahead for a few moments, giving Liv some privacy.  When I looked back over at her, I found a pale faced blonde who was turning a terrible shade of green.  Before I could say anything she was up off the couch and running to the bathroom.  My mom, sister and I just sat still, listening to her puke and cry.

I stood up to go to her when I heard the sink faucet turn on, but I only made it halfway to the her by the time she walked out of the bathroom and the look on her face made me stop in my tracks.

“Nein, I just need some time alone,” she mumbled as she held up her hand to stop me.  “I’m sorry,” she said, turning towards my bedroom and walking towards it, shutting the door behind her.

My heart ached for her because truthfully, I had no clue what she was going through at this moment.  I just knew how thrilled I was about the fact she was going to be here with me forever, but I couldn’t imagine making the decision to never see my family again.  I knew how much they meant to her and I could only imagine begin to visualize how devastated she was from making the decision to walk away.

I walked back out to my living room, plopping down on the couch next to my mom.  I leaned into my mom as she wrapped her arm around me, whispering words of encouragement and love.

“I think I’m going to head over to Downie’s for the rest of the night,” I said, hoarsely after I sat and stared at the TV, not able to concentrate on a damn thing.  What I really needed was to go for a run, but since my best friend was probably sulking about still being laid up, I decided playing video games was probably the next best option.

“Hey buuuuudddy,” Steve chirped as I walked into his place.  “Why do you look like you just lost your favorite stuffed animal?”

I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.  “It all came to a head tonight,” I said as I walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

“What did?”

“I talked to Pflazgraf Meier,” I said, leaving the sentence open, looking over at him.

“No shit,” Steve breathed, reaching over me to grab his own bottle of water.  “What happened?”

“Well, basically Olivia is never allowed to go back home and is not allowed to make any contact with her family ever again.”

“Well that’s a good thing right?  That means she can stay here…”

“It is a good thing, but you know how she feels about her family.”

Downie sighed as he hobbled back and flopped down on the couch, grabbing an X-Box controller off the coffee table.  “Yeah, I’m sure she’s devastated.”

I just nodded quietly.

“So why are you over here and not at your place consoling her?” he asked curiously.

“She said she just wanted to be alone for the rest of the night.  She ended up puking in the bathroom after she told her father goodbye and I think she needs time to let things set in and grieve,” I informed him honestly.

“Well, I guess I can understand that.  Your mom and Sarah are still over there, right?”

“Yeah, I just figured some time with my best friend was needed,” I said, regretting the words right after I said them.

Soon his arm was around my neck and he was roughly rubbing my head with his fist.  “Aww, my little buddy.”

“Jesus, Downie!” I growled.  “Can we just play Call of Duty here?!”

He just laughed obnoxiously, let go of my neck and flipped on the TV allowing me to immerse myself in the fantasy land for a while.





I somehow fell asleep.  I’m assuming I was able to fall asleep because my body was just so tired from crying.  When I awoke, I rolled over to see the clock reading 0300hrs.  Stewie had curled up next to me where he had slept every night since we moved into Steven’s place and groaned as I slid past him, placing my feet on the cool carpet.  I grabbed one of Steven’s sweatshirts from his drawer, threw it over my head and padded out to the kitchen for a glass of water to hopefully solve the terrible case of cotton mouth I had accrued.  I was half way out into the semi-dark living room; it was dimly lit by the lights of the Christmas tree in the corner of the room, but I never saw Steven on the couch.

“Liv,” he said hoarsely, causing me to basically jump out of my skin. 

“Sheisse!” I squeaked.

In two steps he was standing in front of me, his hard, warm body just inches away from mine as he looked down at me with a worried face.  His hair was tousled in that sexy, no sleep way. He was wearing just a pair of boxers and a t-shirt; the scent of him comforted me.  “I didn’t mean to scare you, love.”

I looked up and just stared at him for a moment.  He must have known my tears were coming because he suddenly reached out and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him so that I could sob into his chest.

“Sssh,” he cooed.  “I promise it will be okay.  I love you and I promise to make everything okay my beautiful.”

“I know it will be okay,” I sniffled in between sobs.  “But ist meine family…und Ich just feel so alone right now,” I continued, mixing my Deutsch and English. 

“But see, that is what you have all wrong.  You have a new family here that is willing to accept you for who you are and already loves you.  We are going to make our own family some day and we are going to be here for each other forever,” he murmured as he soothingly rubbed his hands up and down my back.  “I know this will all take sometime to come to terms with, and I am here for you if you want to cry or scream about it.  That is what a relationship is about, Liv.”

After a moment of silence I mumbled, “How is it that you are only 20 years old but you seem to have the wisdom of an old man?”

I smiled when he laughed his easy laugh and said, “You can thank my mom for that bit of advice.”

We stood there in the glow of the lights, holding onto each other.  I just focused on his breathing and the beating of his heart, enjoying how it relaxed me by just being near him.  After a while he pulled back to my reluctance and took my hand to lead me back to the bedroom.  I crawled back in, over top of Stewie and snuggled myself under the blankets as Steven crawled in beside me.  I sighed happily when he pulled me back against him and wrapped himself around me.  Things weren’t going to be easy, but I knew that I had the perfect partner to help me make it through as his warmth enveloped me.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Chapter 12

 

Deep in another dream
Thinking about you
Sailing through the city streets
Thinking about you
It's only been a little while
But I'm thinking about you
Can't hide another smile
I've been thinking about you







This road trip was going to be pure hell in my mind.  It was long and it was in Western Canada where winter was already rearing its ugly head.  Truthfully the first half of this season has been total torture.  We were not lucky to have a nice balanced schedule where we were home for a little and away for a little, instead, we have only played roughly 18 games at home this year and have logged over 5,000 miles of travel already.  The end of January couldn’t get here soon enough in my mind, we only had one away game in February and that was on the very last day of the month.

I was a complete wreck not being able to be home with Liv for more than 12 hours before I had to leave with the team to head to Calgary.  I knew Steve would take good care of her, but the protective side of me was running in full force.  So I did what any guy would do; I called my mom.

“How is Olivia?” she asked, already knowing what had happened because I had called her while Liv was still basically unconscious in her hospital bed.

“She’s good,” I said with a grimace, knowing that she wasn’t as good as she should be.  “She’s staying with Downie until I get home from our Western Canada tour.”

“Do you want me to fly down so that I can be there for her?” my mom asked.  I swear she could read my mind at anytime.  It used to piss me off when I was a teenager, debating if I should do something she might not approve of, but now it was 98% of the time a wonderful thing.

“You are coming down at the end of the month for Christmas…I couldn’t ask you to do that,” I said slowly.

“I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap, Steven Stamkos.  There is no reason why I can’t be down there with her this week, especially after watching you play in Calgary; I’m thinking you need a little peace of the mind.

I sighed and cursed myself once again for having such a terrible game.  “I’ll order the ticket now,” I said quietly into the phone.

“Just text me the time I need to be at the airport and tell Steve I’ll call him when I get into town so that he can pick me up.”

“Okay.”

“Get your head out of your ass and play like I know you can,” my mom said in her ‘mom knows best voice.’”

“Mom, I love you.”

“Love you too, kiddo.”

I was actually able to sleep a little better that night; it probably could have just been for the fact that I was exhausted from not having slept or just the stress I was feeling from worrying about Olivia.  The next morning I found a text on my phone from Olivia.

Liv: Your mom and sister are here.  You are amazing.

Steven: Don’t let them fill your head with non-sense about me.

Liv: Too late.

Steven: I’m glad you aren’t mad at me.

Liv: I am glad you are obviously thinking of me.

Steven: Always.

Liv: I am in your bed.

Steven: Damn, I wish I was there.

Liv: I will be waiting for you here when you return. Your smell on the pillow is making me homesick for you.

Steven: God, I miss you. There are so many things I want to do to you in that bed, but I’m afraid I would hurt you.

Liv: You would never hurt me.

Steven: I love you.

Liv: Ich liebe dich.





The one thing I had found was that I was always so tired.  I likened that to the copious amount of pain medications I was still taking.  I was already cutting back as much as possible, but at night I needed them to sleep.  Steve and I joked that we could do a lunch trade swap with all the lovely drugs we were on to see what would make us the most loopy.

Monday evening was topped with talking to Eric.  He was very sad that I wouldn’t be at his home for at least a week, but together we planned out the day we were going to go to Epcot for lunch and the day we were going to head over to Magic Kingdom to get our pictures taken in front of the castle.

As fun and entertaining as it was to hang out with Steve, I was still in need of some girl time.  After-all, I had been through a lot and needed to talk to a woman.  My prayers were answered when Heather, Karine and Caroline came over Tuesday afternoon while Steve was at the training center working out.  At first it was a little awkward because I felt like they pitied me.

“So, how are you doing?” Caroline asked worriedly as she leaned down and gave me a hug while I was sitting on the couch.

I just shrugged and said, “I am okay.  My body ist beginning to heal.”

“How is your heart though?” Karine asked.

I sighed, “It hurts, a lot,” I admitted.  “Even though he did what he did, he ist still someone I have cared about for a long time.”

The three of them nodded like their heads were on bobble sticks and their eyes were wide open.

“Don not pity me,” I said firmly.  “I just need to be around people who are not going to bring up the past.  I think I have a lot to talk about when it comes to my future.”

I looked at Heather who just smiled and nodded as she pulled out a folder from the bag she brought along.  “I was hoping you would say that!”

At that she showed me all the paperwork that I needed to fill out to start the process of becoming a U.S. citizen.  “We’ve got a lot of paper work to fill out,” she said as she nodded to Karine who got up and walked over to the kitchen to put a pot of hot water on for tea and we got down to business.

Later on that evening I must have fallen asleep during the game against Calgary because the next thing I knew I woke up in Steve’s arms as he carried me back to his guest room.

“You shouldn’t be carrying me,” I mumbled half asleep.  “I am going to be in trouble if you end up off the ice longer because you are carrying me around.”

“You are the weight of a feather.  I think I can handle carrying you, Olivia,” he said quietly.  “To tell you the truth, I don’t know how Stammer doesn’t break you in bed.”

This caused me to blush as he set me down on the fluffy mattress.  “You have such a subtle way with words, Steve.”

He puffed out his chest and smiled broadly, making me giggle when I noticed he didn’t have his fake tooth in.  “The chicks dig it.”

“I’m sure they do,” I laughed before I threw a pillow at his head.  “Gute Nacht, Steve!”

“Gute Nacht, Olivia,” he chirped as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, causing the darkness of the night to encompass me.

I slept fitfully, waking up often to the sound of me yelling.  Twice, Steve came in and held me until I would fall asleep again.  After the second time he just stayed with me and I woke up with my head on his chest and his arm draped across my back as he snored lightly.

I was still getting a hold on my surroundings when his cell phone began vibrating across the bedside table.  He jumped, but suddenly seemed to remember that I was still in his arms, causing him to abruptly slow his movements to not bother me as he answered his phone.

“Hello?” he whispered into the phone.

I heard a woman on the other end, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

“Are you here in Tampa now?” he asked, sounding slightly surprised.  “Okay, I’ll be there to pick you up in about 20 minutes.  See you then, Lesley.”  After he laid the phone down he rubbed my back and I rolled my head back onto my pillow.  “Ah, so you are awake?”

I smiled shyly and nodded.  “I’m sorry that you had to stay with me last night.”

“No problem, I got more sleep being in here with you than I would have if you were alone.  I’m glad Lesley and Sarah are here…”

I looked at him confused.  “Lesley and Sarah? Steven’s mom and sister?”

“Yup.”

“They are here?!” I asked, sitting up abruptly, regretting it as soon as I did because I was still feeling the effects of my concussion.

“Don’t get yourself all worked up.  Yes, they are here,” he said getting out of bed and stretching towards the sky.  “Stammer told me they were coming.  He figured you would want some lady company.”

“Oh,” I mouthed.

“Would you like to come along?  You can just stay in the Range Rover, my windows are dark tinted.”

I bit my lip and thought about it for a moment, “Um, I think I would rather get a shower so I feel a little more presentable and meet them when they get here.”

“Okay, suit yourself,” he chirped and out of my room he went.



Steven and Sarah could not deny that they were siblings.  Sarah was tall and lean, like her brother.  She had thin, long beautiful white, blonde hair like Steven and blue eyes to match.  Her smile was contagious, something they both seemed to have gotten from their mother, Lesley.

With the help of Steve, we moved my things over to Steven’s condo and made lunch.

“It is so wonderful to finally meet you, Olivia,” Lesley pulled me into a hug before we sat down to eat.  “Steven is so in love with you,” she said in a matter of fact tone that also told me she approved.  “He needs a good woman to stand by him.”

“Hey, what about me?!” Downie chirped as he took a sip of his drink.

“He does have a point,” Sarah giggled.  “You do have the personality of a moody woman, Downie…”

“Shut-it, Sarah,” Steve shot back at her.  I noticed immediately that there was definitely more going on between them than what met the eye.  But I figured it hadn’t gone too far because of the age difference between the two of them (5 years) and the main factor was that she was Steven’s little sister.

After lunch, Steve went back to his place and we began talking about the serious stuff.  Lesley did not beat around the bush when it came to talking about what had happened with Andreas.  It was so hard to recall the memories, causing me to cry our in anger more than once.  However, once I spoke through the whole ordeal I felt a ton better.

We then talked about Steven.  Lesley and Sarah had no problem dishing out the dirt on him and she even brought something along to share with me.

“I figured you might want to see some pictures of him growing up,” Lesley laughed as she came over and sat down next to me on the couch.  She set the large photo album on my lap and the rest of the evening was spent laughing or cooing on and on about how cute he was.





I finally broke my scoring drought in Edmonton; unfortunately we lost in a shootout.  In Vancouver we turned it around and I had a huge multi-point night.  It was great to salvage the away trip with a big win against a good team like the Canucks.  The flight back home took forever and we got home around 6am EST.  We were all a little shocked by the cold temperatures when we got off the plane and I found myself shivering the whole ride home to the complex.  However, I think I was more excited to see Liv than I was cold.

The place was quiet when I got inside and I made sure to keep it that way.  I tip-toed into my room, locking the door behind me as I shucked off my suit and closed the blinds so that I could bid the day time to come later.  Before moving the blankets, I stopped and looked at Liv as she slept.  She actually had a peaceful look on her face and I couldn’t help but smile at this finding.  Steve had told me that he ended up sleeping with her the other night because she was having such fitful sleep.  I was slightly jealous that he was the one to hold her, but I couldn’t thank my best friend enough for being there for her.

I gently lifted up the sheet and comforter and slid underneath them, pulling myself against her.  She automatically curled into me, allowing me to easily spoon with her and within minutes of smelling her sweet hair and skin, I was fast asleep.  I could get used to coming home to her like this.  This is what I want for Christmas.

I awoke some time later to her laying on top of the comforter, with her chin in her hands just staring at me with a silly grin on her face.  Her purple cast and was a grim reminder that not everything was happy.

“Guten Morgen, Steven.”

“Mmm, Guten Morgen Liv,” I stretched before pulling her up towards me so that I could kiss her.  Her face was healing surprisingly fast.  The bruises around her eyes were diminishing up and most of the swelling had gone away.  “What time is it?”

“Noon.”

“Shit.  I didn’t plan on sleeping that long,” I mumbled as I kissed her face again.

“You needed the sleep.  You were totally out,” she said as she ran her hand through my hair.

“I need you,” I whispered, causing her to blush.

“I need you too,” she whispered back, looking into my eyes.

I gently lifted her on top of me, so that our lengths were pressed together and I could feel the warmth of her body through the comforter.  I wrapped my arms around her and slowly began kissing her.  The initial kisses were light and gentle but that quickly changed when she began nipping at my lips for entrance.  I opened slightly and soon our tongues were wrestling and drinking from one another.  I groaned when she left out a sigh into my mouth and laced her fingers through my hair.

I felt her begin to move, pressing her hips down against mine, allowing her to feel that I was becoming very turned on.  She always turned me on, even with the smallest of kisses.

I pulled back from one of her kisses and croaked, “Why are you on top of the blankets?”

She just giggled, rolled off of me and stripped out of my old t-shirt and a pair of her yoga pants.  I tried not to focus on the bruises that still showed, but it was so hard not to when they were on her skin like a declaration of the war she was fighting in.

“Stop looking at them and look into my eyes, Steven,” she whispered as she lifted back the comforter and crawled towards me.  “They will fade soon enough, right now I just need you to make love to me.”

I gulped as she slid her body back over top of me, allowing me to feel her soft, smooth skin against mine.  “Is my mom and sister around?”

She just giggled softly as she ran her tongue along the outline of my ear, making me shiver.  “They are out doing some Christmas shopping.  I am getting the feeling that maybe you do not want me?” she pouted.

My hands flew up and locked her hips against mine as she attempted to slide off of me.  “I am sorry that you have gotten that idea because I definitely have ideas of my own that involved me being inside of you,” I growled huskily into her ear, returning the shiver favor to her.  “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“I trust you.  I will let you know if something hurts.”

So began the experiment.





A wicked, yet loving smile caressed his beautiful blue eyes as he began lightly running his big hands up and down my skin, beginning at my ass and tracing a line up to my shoulder blades.  I felt the goosebumps instantly pop up as he breathed lightly into my ear while he did this several times.

“How does that feel?” he whispered, causing me to shake my head from how it tickled me.

“You are tickling me.”

“Well then I guess I need to change my approach,” he humored.  He gently rolled me off of him and onto my back, creating a shelter with the blankets when he straddled himself over top of me.  I couldn’t help but cry out as he laid kisses down my neck and down to my collar bone.  I was intoxicated by his touch and the smell of his skin so close to mine.

“Steeeeveeennn,” I moaned when his lips found my hardened nipples.  He took one in his mouth and rolled it with his tongue and teeth for an extended time before switching to the other one, allowing it the same attention.  He then began his trek farther south with his lips and tongue.

“How does this feel?” he breathed against my skin, making me squirm.

“You are teasing me.”

“I’m just making sure I don’t hurt you,” he exclaimed as he looked up at me with wide puppy eyes.  “Honestly.”

“Liar,” I began to pout but instead a sigh was forced as he quickly moved down between my sensitive thighs.  “Okay, so you are a good liar,” I hissed through my teeth as my fingers latched into his hair, coaxing him to make good of his promises.

He teased me further by just blowing air lightly over my wet folds, he continued after looking up with his big beautiful eyes to find me more than amped up and ready for him.  I cried out his name again when his tongue finally tasted me and he hummed in pleasure.  “Mmm, I have missed the taste of you,” he murmured so softly that I almost did not hear him.  I was so focused on the light of the end of the tunnel that was quickly coming closer.  To bring me to the light he took my pearl in his mouth and sucked hard as he traced it with the tip of his tongue.  I screamed as my body quaked from the orgasm he had given me.

I was lying lifeless on the bed when he came up for air, chuckling at me.  “Well I now know not to do that to you if we have guests in the house.”

“It was your entire fault,” I playfully complained.

“I hope the next one is my fault too,” he drew out as he positioned himself between my legs again, this time slipping his hardened length inside of me.  He felt like home, not like the invasion of my last sexual encounter.  This felt right, this felt amazing, this was how it was supposed to feel like with the man I loved and wanted to marry.

He was slow and gentle, obviously afraid of hurting me, forcing me to grind down against him every time he pushed into me so that I could feel the friction I enjoyed when he was inside of me.  He finally got the hint and began stroking my core with more force.  “Pllllleeeeassseee,” I cried out.  “Fuck me, Steven.  I want to cum with you.”

He left out a grunt as he pushed fully into me, his balls slapping my skin as he did with sweat beads beginning to form on his face from his exertion.  I held him down against me so that he was close enough to kiss me when we weren’t panting for air.  He hit first, filling me with his warm fluid and putting me over the edge milliseconds after him.

We both came down from our highs by just lying still connected to each other.  I realized at this moment that I was never meant to be anywhere else besides here in his arms.  He was my present and future and there was nothing else in this life I could ever want more than him.





“You know now that I have you living here at my place, I’m never letting you move out?” I informed her as we still lay in bed.  I was lazily running my fingers through her soft hair, allowing them to trail down her smooth back.  It was relaxing for both of us it seemed.

“Oh, really?” she mused as she lifted up her head, holding it up with her hand cupped around her chin.

“Yup.”

“But what if I do not want to live here with you?” she said, obviously trying to hide her smile.

“You are a terrible liar.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes, “I know, I am not as gut as you.”

We laid there kissing for a few more moments until I finally made us both get out of bed and hit the shower.  We had a lot to talk and unfortunately it had to do with Andreas.

“They left him go?” I freaked.

“I didn’t press charges, so they didn’t have anything to hold him on,” Liv said evenly as I looked incredulously at her.

“Why wouldn’t you press charges?!” I freaked.

“Because if she pressed charges she would have had to go back over to Germany to have him tried and then who knows if she’d be able to come back over,” my mom interjected, trying to calm me down.

“Plus, it ist very expensive for me to fight something that in the end will not do much to him.  Our laws are not as strict about rape over there,” Liv pleaded.

“So he gets to go home without any punishment?!”

“He won’t be allowed back into the States,” Liv informed me quietly.  “He has lost his traveling privileges to here.”

“So where does that leave you?  Have you talked to your family?”

She sighed and attempted not to cry, but unfortunately she couldn’t hold the tears back.  “Yes.  They are threatening to have my VISA revoked if I do not voluntarily come back home.”

“Do they know what he did to you?!” I freaked out once again.

She just nodded her head.

I ran my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath.  “I want to talk to them.”

“I don’t think that will help anything.”

“I don’t care.  I want to talk to them,” I said stubbornly as I held out my hand for her to give me her cell phone.  “I won’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try and talk to them.”

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Chapter 11



“Stop checking your phone! She ain’t going to call you because she’s probably conked out in bed from you wearing her out!” Downie complained as I attempted to discreetly slide my phone back into the pocket of my khaki shorts while we stood out on the golf course.

I sighed, pulled the brim of my baseball hat down over my eyes to shade them from the sun and walked over to the tee.  “It was a perfect night,” I mumbled.

“I’m sure it was,” Steve said with a surprisingly sincere tone.  “You two are perfect for each other.”

“I guess you are just dying to say, ‘I told you so!’ Aren’t you?” I chuckled as I swung my club and watched as my ball went bouncing up onto the green.  I grinned when Downie groaned at my awesome shot.

“Yeah, I was just going to save that line for your wedding day when I give a speech or something,” he said walking back over to the golf cart.  We usually did a lot of walking when we were out on a beautiful day like this, but with his high ankle sprain, we really didn’t have much of choice but to drive.

“Whoa, don’t rush things there,” I said as I dropped my club into the bag.  “I’m only 20.”

“Your point?”

“We’ve only been together for basically 2 weeks, its bad enough I told her I loved her last night.”  I flew forward and almost went out over the front of the golf cart as Steve slammed on the brakes.  “What the…?!”

“You told her you love her?!” Downie exclaimed loudly as he turned towards me.

“Uh, ja.” I said, a little miffed by his contorted, confused face.  “Did I do something wrong?”

He sat there looking at me for another minute before a big, cheeky smile broke out across his face.  “Nothing is wrong with that.  That’s fucking awesome!”  Before I knew it he had me in a head lock rubbing his fist over the top of my head, growling, “My little Stammer has grown up!”

I ripped myself out of the precarious position and pushed him away from me.  “Seriously, dude?! Good lord,” I complained as I put my hat back on my head and straightened up my shirt, looking around to make sure no one was near us.

“Haha! Never mind, I’m so saying ‘I told you soooooo!’ now because that just goes to show how smooth I really am!” he laughed, obviously pleased with his match making skills.  “This calls for a celebration!”

I sighed before asking, “And what kind of celebration do you have in mind?” I could only imagine when it came to Downie’s silly ideas.

“Well, I think we need to get that Christmas tree we had talked about for the future Mrs. Stamkos and decorate it tonight since she has no decorations going on in the apartment.  It’s an easy excuse to spend time with her even though Andy-ass is there.”

I looked over at him a little amazed about his novel idea and said, “Glad I keep you around, Downie.  You always come up with the best ideas to cause trouble.”

He just grinned and posed in a strange pose a model would probably stand in and chirped, “Just call me Mr. Clark Griswold, because we are gonna make sure this Christmas tree is so bright you are going to need sunglasses to sit in Olivia’s living room.”



A few hours later with a couple hundred dollars spent on the essential Christmas decorations and food for dinner, we were on the elevator heading up to Olivia’s floor with Heather, Marty and the kids in tow.  We figured by bringing along the St. Louis family, it would help make things a little less awkward with Andreas in the apartment.  Besides, the little Lucas St. Louis had taken to Olivia in such a way that I was afraid I might have competition in a few years.

“Do you think Olivia will let me stay over at her house on Christmas Eve?” Lucas asked as he sniffed at the large, twined wrapped Christmas tree he had helped picked out.

“Why do you want to stay over at her house for Christmas Eve?  Santa will be delivering your presents to your house,” Downie asked the child.

“Well, I figured Olivia might need help to put out the cookies and milk for Santa.  Plus, I have some extra Reindeer mix to put out if she would want to use it; especially since it is her first year over here in the U.S.  I wouldn’t want Santa getting lost finding her new home.” he said sincerely, making it extra hard not to laugh at the kid.

“I’m sure Stammer can help her with all that,” Marty piped up as he ruffled his small son’s hair.

“You let me know if you need help,” Lucas said as he shot me a look that I could have sworn was a death threat.

“No problem, buddy,” I laughed as the elevator doors opened to Olivia’s floor.  We walked down the hall and Downie obnoxiously knocked on her door.  There was no answer, but once all the excited “Sssh’s” faded and Downie knocked again we heard Andreas cursing loudly in German.  A voice inside me called out saying something wasn’t right.  We were all looking at each other when the door cracked open, the chain lock still on.

“What do you want?” Andreas growled.

“We’re hear to visit with you and Olivia,” Marty spoke up, taking a step in front of the children, obviously feeling the same way I did about the situation.

“We don’t want visitors,” Andreas said rudely and attempted to close the door.  His attempt was thwarted by Downie’s hard walking cast that was placed between the door jam.  “We’d at least like to talk to Olivia then,” Steve said in an even, yet on-edge tone.

“She’s not here.”

“That’s funny, because her car is outside,” Downie shot back automatically.  “Look buddy, we bought a bunch of Christmas decorations for Olivia, so just let us in so we can at least put them in the living room instead of leaving us out here in the hall.”

“Fuck you,” Andreas growled, attempting to close the door again, but this time Downie pushed against the door and busted the chain lock, effectively toppling Andreas onto the floor.

Heather gasped when she saw how the apartment was totally trashed.  “I’m calling 911,” she said, quickly ushering the kids down the hall.  Marty, Downie and I pushed our way into the apartment.

“Olivia?!” I yelled out, quickly noting the dents in some of the drywall, with blood marking some spots.  When she didn’t answer, I turned back around to find Andreas attempting to get up as he cursed in German and English.  I helped him up by roughly grabbing his collar and putting his ugly face within inches of mine when I hissed, “Where the fuck is she?”

“None of your god-damn business, jock.  She’s not your problem.  She’s mine and if you knew what was best for you, you’d stay away.  I have connections,” the troll threatened.  Before thinking twice I felt my fist connect to the asshole’s nose, dropping him back down onto the floor.  I was about ready to punch again when I heard Downie yell out from the bedroom down the hall.

“Stammer!”

Marty stepped in between me and Andreas, mumbling something about taking care of the piece of trash and coaxing me to go back to Downie who sounded like he had just seen hell.  When I got back to the bedroom I heard him basically sobbing.  When I entered the room, I instantly realized he had seen hell.

“Oh my God!” I choked out as I pushed him away from Liv who was lying on her bed, naked, bloodied and virtually unconscious.  “Liv! Liv! Are you awake?!” I cried.  “Downie, make sure Heather calls for an ambulance,” I turned to my friend who was still standing there with a horrified stare.

“I’m going to kill him,” Downie breathed out as he turned and raced down the hallway.

“Shit, shit, oh my God, Olivia, please wake up, open your eyes.  I’m here now, you are safe, shit, shit,” I repeated over and over again as I cradled her in my arms.  She was breathing and moaning, but she seemed to be unable to open her eyes and it was obvious they were swelling shut.  Her face was completely battered with cuts and bruising.  Her beautiful ivory skin was marked with new bruises and it looked like her arm was broken.  I left her side for only a moment to grab a blanket out of the closet to cover her with.  I vaguely heard Marty when he came back to the room to tell me that the ambulance was on its way because my heart was pounding so loudly.  I was fairly sure I could hear Downie punching the crap out of Andreas and the only thing I could think about was how I hoped he left him alive enough so that I could kill the son-of-a-bitch myself when Liv was taken care of.

It seemed to take forever for the ambulance to arrive, but when they did everything moved in fast-forward. They took her out of my arms and began caring for her.

“So how did Andreas get the bruises on his face and possible broken nose?” the police officer asked Marty, Downie and I after the ambulance had taken Olivia.  Andreas was being questioned by another officer as he sat in the bathroom, attempting to stop the bleeding from his nose.

“He seemed to have a terrible balance problem, Marty said sincerely.  “When we pushed the door open, after seeing how the place was trashed, he just fell onto the floor onto his face, Officer.”

The officer stopped writing on his little note-pad, looked up at the 3 of us and just raised an eyebrow with a subtle smirk and nodded before going back to writing on the pad.  After all of our statements were taken and we watched them put Andy-ass in the back of the cop-car with handcuffs; I rushed to the ER to find out how Liv was doing.





I remember blacking out the first time from his blow to my head.  I pictured myself being thrown into the wall as he punched me some more and ripped at my clothing.  Terrible nightmares clouded my mind while he raped me on my bed, while slipping in and out of consciousness.  His threats of making me go back to Germany rang through my ears and his other hateful words echoed in my head.  It had suddenly become quiet and the next voice I heard was one of an angel.  Steven had rescued me, I was sure, but I couldn’t open my eyes and the pain would not let me tell him “thank you.”

The next memory I made was of bright lights and a lot of people yelling at each other and poking and prodding me.  Now I’m lying on what feels like pillows with warm blankets covering me.  The smell however is just wrong yet the sounds of machines and bells are familiar to me.  I startled when I felt a hand squeeze mine.

“Liv?” An even more familiar voice asks worriedly.  “Liv, are you awake?” he whispers anxiously.

I slowly test my eyes but find that I can barely open them.  They only open far enough to make the world look shaded and disproportioned.  But it must have been far enough to show that I was responding to his voice.

“Oh, thank God, Liv, I’m here for you.”

“Sssteeeeven,” I attempted to whisper.  My throat felt like sandpaper and my lips were dried and stuck together.

“Sssh, don’t talk, I’m right here with you, I’m just glad that you are waking up.”

“Aaanndddreeeaasssss,” I whispered.

“He’s rotting in a jail cell at the moment,” I heard Downie grumble from another part of my hospital room.

I just nodded and closed my eyes again as I pushed the pain medication button and willed it to take me off to sleep again.

I’m not sure when I woke up again, but it was dark in my room except for the illumination of the TV.  This time I was able to open my eyes a little farther, causing an ice pack to fall to the side of my face.

“Hey,” Steven murmured as his large hand caressed my face.  “I put that ice pack over your eyes, hoping to take down some of the swelling.”

I just smiled softly as I stared into his restless blue eyes.  “I need something to drink.”

He abruptly stood up and grabbed a Styrofoam cup from the table next to him.  “Here, have some water.”

I took a few small sips of the cold water, feeling it flow throw my body.  “Danke,” I whispered as he set the cup back onto the table.

“I love you,” Steven blurted out as he leaned over top of my face and kissed my forehead.  “I’m so sorry,” he sobbed.

I immediately squeezed his hand and willed him to stop.  “Nein,” I said in a warning tone to get him to stop right away.  “I will be fine.”

“He raped you, he bruised your beautiful face and body, he broke your arm,” Steven said with a tortured gaze.  “He almost killed you,” he choked as tears ran down his sweet, young face.

“Sssh,” was all I could say as I reached up with my good arm and held his hand to my cheek, running my thumb back and forth over his warm skin.  He cried for a few more moments, but stopped when Downie came back into the room.

“Oh, you are awake!” Steve exclaimed as he walked over to the other side of my bed.  “How are you feeling?” he asked with concern.

“I feel like I was run over by a bus,” I said with a small smile.

“You look like me after a bad fight on the ice,” he joked, earning a growl from Steven.

“I probably still look better than you,” I chirped back, hoping Steven would get the drift that I was not going to be depressed about the situation.

Both boys laughed as Steve informed me that I was 100% right.

The doctor came in later on in the night to inform me of all my injuries and the plan of care.  Their main worry was my concussion and my bruised kidneys.  As long as everything kept progressing the way it was, I would be released to home tomorrow already but on strict bed rest and no work for at least a week or two.  I wasn’t too keen on the work part because I knew Eric would be bummed, but I figured that once I felt up to it, I’d be able to start my duties as his hospice nurse without much issue.  When the doctor left, Steve and Steven were back by my bedside going on about the future plans.

“So we talked and since Downie isn’t on the ice right now, we figured you could stay with him for the week,” Steven rambled.  “That way you have someone to be with you.  Heather said she would also come over and help with things if you needed them…”

I put my hand up to make him stop having diarrhea of the mouth.  “I do have an apartment.”

“Um, a trashed one,” Downie spoke up.  “You don’t have a choice on this one, Liv.”

I sighed, “Why?”

“Because for one they are not sure how long they can keep Andy-ass in jail since it seems he’s loaded and has some pull with the German government.  The German embassy is involved and it already is a big mess,” Steve said in a sincere voice.

“Well I knew that was going to happen.  Our families are aristocrats...I’m sure my VISA will be getting revoked at any point…”

“Not so, because we have the U.S. Embassy working on getting you citizenship,” Steven piped up.

“What?!” I asked a little loudly, causing me to grab at my head.

“Ssh, don’t get worked up,” he cooed.  “The front office has been helping me with options on helping you stay here.”

“Options?”

“Yeah.”

I took a deep breath and blew it out, “Steven, why would you do something like that?” I asked evenly, trying not to be upset.

“Because I was afraid something like this would happen,” he mumbled, not being able to look me straight in the eyes.

My heart broke, realizing how much worry and stress I had been causing him and we had only known each other for such a short time.  “So, what have they come up with?” I asked slowly, not sure if I wanted to hear their plan.

“There is a fast-track citizenship program that would take about 6 months for you to complete; it’s for skilled workers like you.”  He paused for a moment and I could tell that he had something else on his mind as he looked over at Downie and then back at me.  “Or, you could become a Canadian citizen,” he said slowly.

I’m sure the look on my face was a puzzled one because Downie just snickered quietly.

“Why would I want to do that?” I asked, feeling like I had totally missed something.

He sucked in some air and blew it out slowly.  “Well I do want to spend the rest of my life with you…” he began.

“Uh, stop,” I hissed.  “Nein. Das medications might be clouding up my kompf right now, but my brain does still work.  I love you und I want to be with you, but we are not rushing into anything like that 2 and a half weeks into our relationship, Steven Stamkos.  Marriage ist not an option right now.”

“But it would be the easiest way…” he began.

“No.”

“I love you.”

“And I love you, but not right now, Steven,” I pleaded.

“Told you,” Downie mumbled.

“SHUT UP,” Steven and I both yipped at the same time, causing Downie to shrink his way out of my room; something he probably should have done a while ago.

“I will go through and get my U.S. Citizenship and if we get married, then I have dual citizenship allowing me to still work here in the States,” I said evenly.  “Thank you for the offer, Steven,” I said as I took his hand and kissed it.  “I will say yes when the time ist right.  Now, however ist not the right time,” I said as he sadly nodded his head yet seemingly relieved that I had refused him.  I knew it was not the right time for us to be making hasty decisions.  We deserved the time to be a couple because frankly I didn’t want to miss this part of our relationship for the world.