Explosive

Chapter 1

"JamieJamieJamieJamieJamieJamieJamie!!-" Tyler said quickly into the phone the second Jamie picked up. "JAMIE GUESS WHAT."

"What?! Why are you calling me this early?!" Jamie groggily answered into the phone. Jamie was on a completely different sleep schedule than Tyler, and was upset that he was getting called at three in the morning.

"JAMIE I JUST CAN'T SLEEP, DO YOU KNOW WHAT TODAY IS?!"

"It's Friday. So what?" He asked, rolling over and curling up under the comforter a little tighter. He yawned and set the phone on his ear, clutching the pillow to his chest.

"I can't believe you forgot!"

"Sorry, I'm not the most conversational person in the middle of the night."

"Well, I forgive you."

"Are you going to tell me what's so special about today?"

"TORI COMES BACK TODAY!!" Tyler screeched happily on the other end of the phone. "MY  BESTEST FRIEND FOR LIKE, 15 YEARS!! SHE'S COMING TO VISIT ME!!"

"Oh, I remember you did tell me about this. I'm so happy for you," Jamie responded. "But couldn't this wait until morning?"

"Jamie, silly you, IT IS MORNING!! Her flight lands in approximately five hours and twelve minutes, but who's counting?!"

"Well, you are." Jamie answered Tyler's rhetorical question, and Tyler ignored his friend's response.

"I've gotta start emotionally preparing myself for this, what if she's not happy to see me? Of course she would be, we haven't lost contact at all and we're still best friends. I haven't seen her in years, so what if she's, like, different?!" Tyler excitedly said, then starting to freak out. Jamie knew he was going to continue freaking out like this until he got there, which would be hours later. He wouldn't get any sleep.

"Tyler, calm down. We'll deal with this later, I'll pick you up at your place and I'll have sticky buns. You do know that she'll have to stick around for practice? We don't have time to take her back to your place after we pick her up, before we have to go to the rink."

"Yeah, I thought that would be awesome! She gets to see what I do. I mean, she's seen me play hockey before but that was when I was a teenager before the draft. Oh God, I'm so scared, what if she realized I've changed and doesn't like me anymore? I don't think I can lose her-"

"Tyler, don't worry." Jamie comforted mindlessly. He knew the second after he said it that it wouldn't be that simple.

"It's not so easy!" He said into the phone, exasperated. Jamie saw it coming.

"Do you want me to come over?" He asked, rubbing his eyes and turning on the lamp on his side table.

"That would be nice." Tyler admitted. Jamie got out of bed and slipped on a pair of sneakers and a hoodie, tucking his phone between his shoulder and ear.

"I'll be right over." Jamie returned, hanging up the phone. He grabbed his keys and slid his phone into his hoodie pocket, making his way downstairs to the front door, tripping halfway down the stairs over something on the stairs.

"This is what friends are for," Jamie reminded himself as he got up, groaning.

"Maybe I'm not a good enough friend to go to his house at three in the morning." He wondered, considering going back up to bed and telling Tyler that he would be there in a few hours.

He cracked his back, every other joint following, and stretched before unlocking the front door, stepping out into the slightly chilly Texas night and locking the door behind him.

"I could always go back inside." He muttered to himself as he began walking to his car.

"But, Tyler probably has food made and ready." He continued, talking to himself. "I can do this."

He got in his car and put the keys in the ignition, starting the engine and getting his seatbelt on. He put the car in reverse, the leather seat of his SUV cold against the skin of his legs that weren't covered by his athletic shorts. He made the drive over to Tyler's house, and Tyler answered the door immediately as if he were sitting there, waiting. On a second thought, he probably was.

"Good, you're here!! Now, we just stay up all night and wait for her flight to arrive!" Tyler exclaimed. He was bouncing off the walls, and Jamie was trying to stay awake with him until he fell asleep on the couch.

He owed Tyler a dozen sticky buns, which eventually woke him up. He glanced at the clock and it was just before seven. Tyler immediately noticed that Jamie was awake and started talking to him right away. Jamie unintentionally ignored almost everything Tyler said. He was too tired.

"WE HAVE TO GO!!" Tyler eventually concluded, grabbing Jamie and waking him up. Tyler drove to get sticky buns and coffee, eating a sticky bun while he was driving.

Jamie was continually asking himself if this was all worth it, and it was soon apparent that it was.