the boy- Carter finally spoke up. Prior to his statement, it had been silent, dead.

Slowly, Malayna turned her head to face Carter who was staring at her nervously, his eyes pleading for the girl to say something to ease the tension. Malayna swallowed hard, not believing her luck. The reason she left her house was to get Carter off her mind. But here she is, sitting beside him.

Carter took the silence as a no, shifting his gaze from the girl to something far off into the distance. "Oh. Maybe it was someone else then, you just looked familiar."

Malayna fiddled with her fingers, her eyes glassy as she diverted her attention to somewhere in the distance as well. "Thank you," she started after a moment, both her and Carter meeting each others eyes. "For the puck. That was very nice of you," she said slowly, softly, as if she was scared of waking up the town.

Every word that poured out of her mouth was followed by a cloud of her breath, another indication of how cold it was and how crazy they were for being outside. The corners of Carter's lips tugged upwards at Malayna's words, nodding his head slightly. "It was no problem," Carter let his gaze roam over the snow covered park before landing back on the girl. "I know you might already know this, but I should still formally introduce myself. I'm Carter."

Malayna couldn't hide the smile on her face as she turned her body to face the boy, her neck getting tired from the uncomfortable position before. "Malayna."

Carter chuckled, glancing down at the ground well scuffing his feet on the pavement, his body slumping back against the old, wooden bench. "God, you have no idea how good it feels to put a name to your face. I like Malayna a lot better than hotdog girl."

Malayna groaned, her head falling back as a small chuckle arose from her throat. As the moon cast down on the two of them, her grey eyes seemed to glimmer with happiness. Carter chuckled, though his laughter faltered as he admired the girl, she was so beautiful.

"Oh my god," she shook her head still laughing, "of course you saw that."

Shrugging Carter grinned, loving how easy the conversation was going. "You were on a pretty big screen, Malayna. Everyone saw you."

Not meeting his eye, Malayna bit her bottom lip as she gazed up at the bright moon providing light along with the streetlights. "That was so embarrassing," she mumbled softly, glancing back down at Carter who had yet to take his gaze from the girl.

"No..." he waved her off with the flick of his wrist, his body still facing forward well his head was turned to Malayna. "If anything it was... cute," he admitted reluctantly.

Malayna's cheeks instantly reddened as her shoulders lifted, her lips trying their hardest to not turn upwards into a smile. Deciding it was best to just ignore the compliment, she chewed her cheek as she gazed up at the sky. "You have a game tomorrow at noon, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to try to clear my mind. Decided a run in minus ten degree weather would be fun," he said semi sarcastically, yet also seriously. "What about you? I'm assuming you're going to the game tomorrow, you should be sleeping, preparing yourself for the big game."

Malayna snorted slightly, letting out a breath through her nose. She met Carter's gaze once again. "Same as you. I wanted to try and get a few things off my mind."

Apart of Carter wondered and hoped she was there for the same reason he was. Had she been thinking about him to? Had she tried and failed to get him off her mind? The thought brought a smile to his face. "And how's that going?"

Malayna bit her lip, her heart hammering in her chest in fear she would say something to scare Carter off. "Terrible," she breathed though a small smile was displayed on her face. "You?"

Carter nodded in agreement, smiling despite his answer. "Terrible."

Malayna giggled, biting her lip as she realized they both were there for the same reason. This brought a warm fuzzy feeling to her body, she couldn't help but feel special whenever Carter gazed at her. "Such a shame," she responded, pretending to be upset though Carter knew she was only joking.

"It really isn't though. I like this much better."

Malayna nodded, ducking her head, "me too."

Silence seemed to follow after their playful conversation, the two enjoying the crisp air and having someone beside them. The park was absolutely silent, the only faint sounds were the snow hitting the ground and the odd airplane flying overhead.

"So what hotel are you staying at? I couldn't help but notice you were cheering for Canada," Carter questioned, breaking the silence after a moment.

"I live here, in Buffalo. We moved here last year from Toronto. Canada's still my country though, it always will be."

Carter nodded, "thats good. Yeah, I'd be quite disappointed if you betrayed Canada." He clucked his tongue teasingly, but couldn't help but laugh after Malayna rolled her eyes.

"Well I'll be quite disappointed if you boys don't take home gold this year. You've been kicking ass, though I think it's because of that one goalie." Carter beamed, perking up at the mention. "What's his name? C-Ca-Colton! Colton Point!"

Carter's mouth dropped, "hey!"

Malayna laughed, waving him off. "I'm just kidding, you've played incredible. You look so comfortable and aware in net. Which is probably why you've been the starter so many times, and most likely why you'll be starting tomorrow."

Carter nodded, his cheeks heating up at the praise. "Thank you."

"No problem. Now, because I want to win, you should probably get back to your hotel," Malayna pulled out her phone, checking the time. "It's eleven fifteen."

Carter nodded glumly knowing she was right, but not wanting to say goodbye just yet. "I want to see you again, though, I want to talk to you more." He admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

Malayna bit her lip, "and I want to talk to you more too. But you'll be tired tomorrow. What time do you have to be at the rink at?"

"Ten."

Malayna seemed to think for a moment, biting her lip as she glanced between the sky and Carter. "If you want... I could bring you a coffee before the game tomorrow?" There was a slight pause, "you know, just as an apology for keeping you up so late, making you tired."

Carter smiled hugely, nodding his head. "I'd love that."

Malayna let out a breath of relief, afraid Carter would turn her down. "Great."

Carter pulled out his phone, handing Malayna the unlocked device. "Could I get your number? Just incase there's any... complications. With the coffee of course."

The blonde grabbed the phone, "of course." Malayna typed her name and number into Carter's phone, her heart swelling with happiness knowing he wanted her number — Carter Hart wanted to see her again.

Handing the phone back to the boy, Malayna grinned, "any cream in your coffee?"

Carter tucked his phone back into his pants pocket before scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Obviously," he stammered.