thin ice // mitch marner

CHAPTER 2

I sighed before my phone, my finger hovering over the button. Was I being too clingy? Maybe. Did I honestly care? Not really.

I pressed on the button, holding my phone to my ear. I waited as it rang and rang, and just as I was about to give up, someone answered.

"Hello?" the woman's voice said.

"Hi, Ema, it's Natalie." I say.

"Natalie! Hi honey." Ema responds. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, thank you. How are you?" I ask.

"I'm good, good." she says, and I can just hear the smile in her voice. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no." I immediately dismiss. I take a deep breath. "I was just wondering when Auston would be home." I say, and after a few seconds of silence, I add, "I want to surprise him."

"Surprise him? He'd love that." she laughs. "He's flying back a week from today."

"Oh, perfect." I say. "I'll get a plane ticket home and come." I tell her.

"Perfect! I can't wait to see you." she says, and the two of us talk for a while longer before we depart. I immediately take out my laptop when we're done and look up flights home.

I booked a cheap one-way flight home to Arizona, leaving tomorrow. Tomorrow. I'd finally be home tomorrow.

Sure, Toronto had been good to me. But I truly did miss my home town. And my best friend.

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I had had to quickly pack my dorm room, as I didn't know when I'd be back. Maybe I'd come to Toronto sometime soon, but with exams over, I was officially on my summer break. I had until September to do whatever I pleased.

My first and immediate thought was to go home to Arizona, plus the fact that Auston would be coming home soon made it so much better. That's why it was a no-brainer to buy that ticket home.

I left the next day, the dorm room completely empty after Anna left for home as well. The plane ride wasn't too bad, I was stuck beside a mother and her 2 year old son, but they made surprisingly good company.

My dad came to pick me up at the airport, the both of us sharing a long hug. I hadn't seen my parents much this year, just the occasional breaks and long weekends, but since I was just a university student, a plane ticket was relatively expensive.

When I got home, I shared a long hug with my mother as well, who was so happy to see me. "I thought you were coming home next week." my dad mentions as I'm getting settled.

"If I had known you would be home so soon, I would've gotten the house ready earlier." my mom says.

"You don't need to get the house ready, I'm your daughter." I laugh.

"Did something happen that caused you to come home earlier?" my dad asks. I tried to avoid the subject by not responding, but now I was forced to answer.

"Ema told me Auston would be home soon, so I came home as quickly as I could so that I wouldn't miss him, like last time." I tell them, rolling my eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Last time." my dad says, sharing a look with my mom. I groaned as I thought back to last time. Auston had had a tournament in Switzerland, and his parents invited my family to go. However since I was still in school, my parents didn't tell me about the tournament, therefore I didn't go. After I learned of this, I was so angry at my parents that I didn't talk to them for a month.

"Well we don't mind," my mom quickly assures me with a smile, "At least we'll get to spend more time with you." she adds.

"You guys are so cheesy." I groan, heading to the stairs and to my bedroom.

"Let's go out for dinner!" my mom calls after me.

I mount the stairs and take a huge seat on my bed, sighing happily. I was happy that my first year of university was finally over. It felt long, and god was it ever hard, but it was done. I had the whole summer to myself.

I picked up the house phone, dialing the Matthews' household for the second time in two days.

"Hello?" Ema answers the phone, like always.

"Hey Ema, it's Natalie again." I say awkwardly.

"Hi Natalie, how are you?" Ema asks with a small chuckle.

"I'm good, I'm good, a bit tired since I just got home. I was just wondering if maybe you could call to let me know when Auston arrives? My parents are excited to see him too, maybe we can all welcome him together?" I suggest.

"Of course, of course! That sounds perfect." she says, and I can hear her smile. She gives me the rest of the details, and I hang up when the conversation ends.

When it's over, I lay back on my bed. Was I too excited to see Auston? What if he's forgotten all about me, I haven't seen him in so long... No, he couldn't have. Whatever the case, his arrival couldn't come soon enough...

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let me know if you liked this chapter by voting :) 3 votes = next chapter! i'm gonna try and update at least twice a week, if not more. in the next chapter nat and auston will be reunited yay