---

"Come in!" I knocked on the door and a hoarse voice followed suit, causing me to open the door and walk into the hospital room.

Softly and quietly, I set down the shopping bag that had contained 10 pints of Leon's favorite ice-cream on the table next to him and I gently smiled.

"How are you feeling after the procedure, Leon?" I gently played with his hair and he got out his whiteboard and whiteboard marker since he was going to experience a sore throat for the next week or so.

'My throat hurts, but otherwise, I'm feeling okay. Thanks for asking.' He scribbled onto the whiteboard and I nodded my head. 'Did you bring ice-cream?'

Looking over at the shopping bag, I nodded my head and he was smiling from ear-to-ear. I got up from the 'comfortable' chair and got out a pint of his favorite ice-cream and a heavy duty spoon and carefully handed it to him and he immediately started to open up the lid and started to eat the ice-cream.

"Oh, this is so good..." He started to speak with his hoarse voice and I looked at him like I was going to scold him.

"Leo, you know you're not supposed to be talking so much for the first few days..." I looked solemnly at him and he nodded his head.

"Sorry." He mouthed off and continued to plow through the ice-cream.

After about going through 4 pints of ice-cream, he started to doze off when I started to go out the door and he grabbed my hand and he shook his head, signaling for me to stay with him.

---

"That was a pretty fun moment to see the München-Köln game with you back in Germany when you wanted me to visit you during the off-season. But, during that trip, that's when I started to realize that I have feelings for you, Leon. I've been in love with you ever since then, but I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to ruin our friendship that we have had since you first moved to Edmonton." I softly played with his hair as he was sleeping peacefully.

I carefully got out of the chair and slipped on my winter coat when I saw Leon stir in the bed and I was frozen in place. Out of terror, I turned around to see Leon write something down on the whiteboard. He turned the board around and I was reading what he had written down.

'I've always felt the same way about you, but I didn't know how to say it. I guess I was also afraid of losing our friendship. Ich liebe dich, Y/N.'

Tears started to flow slowly out of my eyes and I walked over to him, "have you also felt this way about me, Leon?"

He nodded his head and I smiled, "well, Ich liebe dich auch, Leon."

I saw him starting to lean in and I was compelled to lean in also before his lips had met mine. They slowly started to move at the same pace before we broke apart to catch up on our breaths, but our foreheads were making contact and we were making eye-contact with his hazel orbs staring into my E/C orbs.

"I love you so much, Y/N L/N." He spoke in a scratchy voice and I chuckled, shaking my head.

"I love you too, Leon Draisaitl," I smiled and I kissed his cheek before he pulled me in for a kiss on the lips, which turned into a makeout session.

The door clicked open and we heard footsteps coming in with a bunch of 'ew's. We were both startled and we pulled away to find Connor McDavid and Taylor Hall standing at the door.

"Oh, hey Connor! Hey, Taylor! When did you guys come in?" I awkwardly laughed when I sat down in the chair that was seated next to Leon.

"We came inside while you and Leon were having a little session..." Taylor smirked and I groaned.

"So, are you guys dating now?" Connor looked at the both of us and we looked at each other before we looked back up at Connor and we nodded our heads.