Maybe it wasn't meant to be.

Part 1

Jack knew things were over when Charlie wasn't waiting for him in the lobby of their apartment building as soon as he got there. After the disaster of a phone call midway through the road trip, he hadn't expected her to be there when he got home. But when he unlocked the door to their apartment and was met with their dog, Luca whining and jumping up on him, he knew. Everything of her's was gone. It was almost like she hadn't even been there. Jack swallowed hard, set down his bags, and walked towards the bedroom they had shared. A piece of paper lay on his pillow; the only pillow now on the bed. Jack picks it up, sitting down on her side of the bed. He started to read, his eyes welling up as he glanced at the bottom and saw her name.
To the next girl Jack loves,
He'll get cuddly when he's tired. He always has to be touching you. He makes sure you know you never have to worry about knowing how much he loves you. He hates getting out of bed in the morning so you're going to have to drag him out of bed, every morning, without fail. He never isn't eating something. No matter how many times you warn him about getting his teeth knocked out, he never keeps his mouth guard in his mouth on the ice. He'll fight with Quinn and Luke over the stupidest things but you'll never doubt that they love each other more than anything. He'll let Quinn and Luke pick on you but never lets it go too far. You'll become one of the hockey girlfriends. Jack will show you off to everybody, beyond proud that you're his girlfriend. His teammates are his best friends and his brothers. But you'll never be second to them. They'll become your friends too. Get used to them being around. You'll grow to love them and they'll love you. They'll tease you and Jack but Jack will just smile and brush it off, kissing your forehead as he smirks. It's just one of his many ways of showing that you're his girl. He'll love you no matter what and never take that for granted.
But then things get bad. He shuts you out. He doesn't talk about what's wrong or why he's upset. He doesn't want to burden other people with his problems but will drop everything to take care of everyone else's. He'll start to cancel plans, even if he doesn't really have other plans. Nobody can tell you what to do to fix things because nobody else can understand what's wrong. He'll tell you not to worry, tell you everything is fine. You'll beg and plead for Jack to come back, the Jack that you fell in love with. But he can't. Things won't go back to normal. Then you'll start to fight. Every little thing will be a fight. You'll want to let go. And maybe you do. But I promise, you'll regret it. Jack is worth it. What you have is worth it. Don't make the same mistake I did and give up on him. It'll kill you to let go. I mean, you're not just losing Jack. You're losing Quinn, Luke, his parents, the hockey boys. Nothing seems like it'll be okay. Everything falls apart and your world spins out of control. But, if you decide Jack is worth it and things can work between you two, then get him back. Do everything in your power to get him back. Because once you lose him, you'll regret everything. I already do.
I hate that it ended the way it did. But it's for the best. Jack and I weren't meant to be and I get that now. It's your turn. You get to love him. Just don't make the same mistake I did.
Charlie   
The tears that slipped out of Jack's eyes fell on the white blanket covering their bed, making little dots. He flipped the paper over, seeing more writing. This time, it was a letter addressed to him.
Jack,
Don't come after me. Let me go. You and I weren't everything we thought we were. You need to go out and find someone new. Someone who doesn't hold you back. I'm not the one and I'm okay with that. I'll always love you because you were my first love. My first kiss, my first everything. Every memory I have is with you. I want you to be happy and I can't give you that. So please, I'm begging you, let me disappear. You are strong, caring, loving and everything a girl could want. But how can I just forget everything? How can I just forget that me and you ever happened? All the things you ever said, all the music we ever shared? All the phone calls? The messages? They had to mean something at one point and it hurts too much to let it all go. I can't pretend it all never happened. All those years full of memories. It's not right. This all isn't right. It wasn't supposed to be like this. People tell me to just let it all go, that I don't need you. But I do need you. I don't want anyone else. I want you. I don't want to make memories with someone else. I want to keep making memories with you and now I can't. I wanted you to be a good man. I wanted it to be you. Why isn't it you? Why did you do this to me? Why? Here's the truth. I've been broken for so long. And I get attached way too fast. I'm lost and I'm scared. I'm scared of everything. The littlest things scare the hell out of me. I'm scared of being happy. Or smiling. Or putting myself out there again. Because every time I do, I end up getting hurt. I have no one. I feel so alone. I push people away because that's what I think I need. I try so hard to be enough and somehow I never am. I was never enough for you. I always let people in and open my heart just for them to break it. Just like you did. You said you would never leave and you would never hurt me. But here we are. I'm sitting here, writing you a letter, absolutely terrified of the idea of losing you but I have to. I have to let go before I get hurt again. So I'm scared. Absolutely terrified. I'm sorry Jack. I never wanted things to end like this. Goodbye.
Charlie
Jack's body shook with sobs. All he wanted to do was go after her. But she had told him, if he really loved her, not to come after him. He knew he loved her more than anyone else in the entire world. So he didn't. He let her go, just like she had asked. And to this day, he regretted it more than anything. Here he was, 3 years later, the playboy of the NHL. All over the news and magazines, hooking up with this girl, drinking and partying with this person; the exact opposite of who he had been with her. And the Devils put up with it. Because what team would trade their leading scorer and the man who had led them to back to back Stanley Cups, also making them a contender again this year. But it was all because of her. All because he had made a stupid decision to let her go when he should have fought for her. Every move he made on the ice was because of her and what he hadn't done. And now he had to live with himself and the mistake he had made.
Charlie was happy, or at least she pretended to be. Every so often, her thoughts would wander to a brown haired, blue eyed boy who had captured her heart when she was 14. Back before she knew what love was. But she had pushed him away, just like she always did. Before he could hurt her, she took him out of her life and told him to forget her. To not come after her. She had always secretly hoped he would come looking for her but that day never came. So instead, she had tried to move on, ending up in Denver, Colorado and working for the Colorado Avalanche. She had managed to avoid Jack every time the Avs had played the Devils. But ever since she had left him, she had stayed alone. Never had another boyfriend because she couldn't. She still loved him. But of course, as fate would have it, one of the hockey boys came back into her life. Alex Turcotte, one of Jack's oldest friends and teammates, got traded to the Avs. Charlie, who was the director of communications and team services, was one of the first people Alex had to meet with when he got to Denver. He had walked down the hall, stopped at the door of her office, read her name on the plate by the door and leaned against the doorframe, a smirk on his face.
"Charlotte Henry, director of communications and team services." Charlie had looked up, surprise and excitement covering her face.
"Alex! I couldn't believe it when I was given the notice you were traded! I missed you so much!" Charlie said, getting up and rushing to hug him. In order to keep from all the memories of Jack flooding back in and making her sad all the time, she had completely cut off everyone that reminded her of Jack. Of course, she would check his social media every once in a while, maybe even googling his name and reading what all the news websites and hockey commentators had to say about him. The last she had seen, he was "rumored" to be linked to some model hotshot.
"I missed you too, Char! So, what have you been up to? Besides getting this big fancy job and getting to boss people around, something you do very well, if I remember right." Charlie laughs as he sits down in the chair across from her desk.
"Oh you know, same old, same old. Lots of hockey." Alex smiles and nods. Charlie gets up and walks over, closing the door to her office so she and Alex could talk in private.
"Char, what happened? We used to be so close. Then you just dropped off the face of the earth. Jack fell off the deep end and you're 1,800 miles away from him." Charlie pushes her hair back out of her face and watches Alex, who is sitting forward in his chair, eyes on her.
"Jack and I broke up. I guess you knew that. But things didn't end the way I wanted them to. So I decided to leave and came here. I shut out everyone who reminded me of Jack, which included you guys." Alex watches her, the look on his face hard to read.
"Oh. So that's why you've been hiding out here and haven't come back to Plymouth at all for Christmas or anything?" Charlie nods, messing with paperwork on her desk.
"Huh. Well I guess that's all there is to it, huh?" Charlie glances at Alex as he just completely drops the topic. She had expected him to keep questioning, digging into why they had split and whether or not she was still in love with Jack. She knew Alex could read her well but she didn't think he would have picked up on her not wanting to talk about Jack.
"You're not going to question me about it? About why we broke up? Why I decided to leave?" Alex shakes his head and reaches for the pile of paperwork with a sticky note with his name on it, sitting on her desk. She snatches it away from him and forces him to look at her.
"Alex, this is the first time I've even tried to talk to anyone about this. You're just gonna brush it off?" Alex watches her, seeing the impending breakdown and stands up, walking around the desk and kneeling down in front of her.
"Charlie, I could tell that you didn't want to talk about it but you needed to. So I decided it would be best not to push it. But if you want to talk about it, how about I come over to your apartment for dinner and you can talk and cry through everything." Charlie nods, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to reel her emotions back in.
"Okay. I'll text you my address. Let's get started on this paperwork." Alex nods, still watching Charlie and already planning out a text to Jack.