Lake Placid, New York

Winter Olympics, 1980

Manca's POV: 

Today was going to be one of the hardest days of my entire life because I would be alone on Valentine's Day.  Well...I shouldn't say that because I am working with the US Ice Hockey Team at the Lake Placid Olympics, but because I have to deal with my crush on his least favorite holiday: Valentine's Day.

I get up and start to get ready by putting on my outfit for the team, which wasn't that appealing, might I add because it was just a simple polo and khakis, paired up with a pair of my favorite black boots.  I tied my hair up into a pony tail, and just as I did that, someone knocked on my door. Knocked- more like hit my door!

After I recovered from my mini-heart attack, I opened the door ever so slightly and saw one of Rob's teammates, Dave Silk, staring back at me trying to not laugh.  I looked at him, anger flashing in my Y/E/C as I said, "Do you mind being a little quieter today?"

"What has my answer been in the past?"

I sigh, "Alright, Silk, you win.  I give up. You ready for practice?"

He leans towards me, "You ready to deal with Robby today?"  My face starts to turn beet red.  Okay, so yes, I do have a crush on THE Rob McClanahan, but the problem is...everyone but him knows it.  The whole team knows, hence, comments like this by Dave.  

I sigh, "Well, he's never happy on a day like this.  So, why not?  Today can't be worse than any other day."  

Put it this way, Rob can act...kinda mean sometimes.  Not mean towards me and his teammates, but he's always too focused on hockey. Today will probably only push his limits to the breaking point because of how he was feeling.

I walk over to another room with Dave, and he hits the door with all of his might.  I hear someone shout, "Give me a second!  I'm just reading something from my family!"  

I yell back, "Mark!  Time for practice!"

The door opens, and Mark Johnson, Rob's other line mate, steps out of his hotel room.  Dave says to him, "What were you doing, filling out a card for them?"

Mark nods ever so slightly, "Yes.  I almost forgot that today was Valentine's Day.  But, for right now, it's practice/ bug Rob time.  You coming Manca?"

I smiled, "It's my job to deal with idjits like you all of the time, so yes."

Mark smirks, and I knew where this was going as he said, "OOOOOOOO! Are you going to admit your feelings to you-know-who?"

I turned towards both of them, "Will you two stop it???"

Mark says quietly, "Is that a yes?  Or no?"

"Ugh!  I won't ever get away with anything will I?"

Both Mark and Dave said this answer at the same time, "Nope."

I sigh, "Well, let's get to practice before Rob flips on you two idjits."

 We all walked over to practice, laughing at each other's jokes and comments.  It was a lot of fun, but I couldn't help but wonder what Rob's mood was going to be like today.

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Rob's POV

Ping! 

Another puck hit the post on the goal.  That was my...100th shot?  I don't know, I lost count after 10.  I was shooting pucks to get off my mind of what today really is.  Sure, to some, it's just February 14th, 1980, but to the majority of my teammates, it's Valentine's Day.  My least favorite holiday of the year.

I know that sounds crazy, but I've always had really horrible luck on this day.  I don't know why, but it's always happened.  Therefore, I just want to focus on winning the elusive gold medal.  No matter who my team needs to face, I want to be ready to win it all.

I hear laughing coming from the tunnels and I skate over towards the entrance to see who it was.  Sure enough, it was the other two people that are on the same line as me, Dave Silk and Mark Johnson, but there was someone else with them.

I recognized her Y/H/C hair and her E/C was shining with happiness and joy.  She was smiling and laughing and I just couldn't take my eyes off of her!  

Manca turned towards me and waved, "Hey Rob!  How long have you been out here?" She caught me staring.  At her. 

I shrugged at her and said, "Long enough."

Dave and Mark then joined me on the ice before the actual practice.  As I  practiced with my line, I could not take my eyes off of Manca.  She looked really happy today, and I wondered if she had anyone special for today.  I was going to find out, but in my own special way.

I skated over to where she was standing, and just crashed into the wall to get her attention.  She jumped and started mumbling, "First Dave and Mark, now you scared me!"

I smirked at her, "Didn't mean to pull you out of your daydream."

"Mmhm." She looked at me with a questioning look, "What do you want, Rob?"

"You seem awfully happy today.  Why are you so happy today?"

"I'm thinking about someone today."

"Is this special someone a guy?"

"Yes."

"Do I know him?"

"Yes."

"Who is it?"

She smirked, "I'm not telling you.  Good luck trying to figure it out."  She then walked off to go make sure that every piece of equipment was good to go for practice.  I just watched her walked off.

Mark came up to me and said, "Rob, are you thinking of someone special today?"

I replied, "Maybe, why?"

"Because you seem to like Manca a lot.  Plus, you've been teasing her a lot lately."

Dave comes up to us, "After practice, why don't you go say hi to her nicely and admit your feelings to her?"

I sighed, "I wish it was that easy.  I just don't want Manca to say no."

Mark smirks, "She probably won't say no, just try to be nice to her and not tease her for once!"

Suddenly, the head coach yells, "Alright!  Let's get to work!"

I see all of my teammates come onto the ice and I had to get my head in the game and focus on winning.  I would have liked to think about Manca more, but she was focused on her job too.  But, I was going to tell her, after practice.

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Manca's POV:

I have a great question for any scientist out there: Why do hockey players have to break so much equipment?  I swear, today was brutal for me, from changing skate blades to taping up new hockey sticks, I was on the go all practice.

I sat on the bench, looking at the team huddled on the ice as the coach gave them his final words for the next game.  I laid my head on the boards, glad to see that no one else was breaking anything else for right now. 

A few seconds later....BANG!  My head springs up, and all I see are Rob's brown eyes.  I rubbed my eyes and said, "Hi Rob.  Do you need me to fix something?"

He sighed, "Yeah.  But I don't know if you can fix this."

"You name it, I can fix it.  Believe that."

"Can you possibly fix a guy's broken heart?"

I looked at him, confused by what he meant.  Sure, I can play councilor for the guys, but I don't know what he means by that, "I don't understand what you're trying to tell me, Rob."

He smiled at me, "Okay, then maybe you'll understand this Manca.  I like you.  A lot.  That's why I tease you so much."

I started to blush and smile, "I like you too, heck, the whole team knows that."

"Well, then maybe we could hang out together?  Two single people on Valentine's Day?"

I giggled, "Sure.  I'm free for the rest of the day."

Rob motions towards the tunnel, "All I need to do is just get changed back into normal clothes and I'll meet you outside of the locker room."

A few short minutes later, the two of us were wandering around Lake Placid and I could have not been happier!  We had so much in common, it was quite shocking!  From our love of hockey to what we thought about the Olympics overall, it was quite a good time!  

And, the best part about it all: I had found a new friend from someone who I had once thought as an enemy.  Friend....that's an understatement.  Rob is now my boyfriend.  We finally admitted our true feelings to each other.

Who would have thought that the guy that hated Valentine's Day would find someone to love on that day?

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A/N: 

Requested by NeverStopDreaming95!  She is such an amazing and kind person, and I have enjoyed writing her idea!  I hope that you like it!  

Next up: Five songs, five imagines.  No problem, but I want to let you, my awesome and fabulous readers decide who to write about.  I already have the songs picked out (kinda, depends on what mood I'm in), but I have no idea about players.  So, I'm opening up a poll on here for people to decide who to write about.

And who knows, maybe my song choice will change based on the player that all of you choose?  But, for now, I am signing off for the first time in a long time.  Thanks for reading and being awesome people!

#AlwaysKeepWriting,

~Shannon