Counting Down The Days (Counting on Hockey #3)

Chapter 15: Moving Day

I pack the last of my clothes into my two suitcases. Cole let me ship some of my stuff out to his house and I can pick it up when I get there tomorrow. We don't talk much, but he told me that if he could help me in any way with the move, so I sent four boxes of stuff to decorate the house and other things, so the apartment will look more like my own.

I guess there are three other people going to be there with us. One from somewhere in either Illinois or Indiana, or maybe Iowa, I can't really remember, the other two from Boston. Our flights all get in within half an hour of each other, and once we started talking, we decided to meet at the security checkpoint, then all find our way to the apartment building. We decided to leave all of our names to when we meet each other, so we go by the first letter of our names. So, in our group, there is me, M, Peter, P, and then B, J, and A.

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"Come on, come on, come on", I squeal as Peter and I finally make our way into the main terminal from the boarding ramp. I pull Peter along, and he rolls his eyes from behind me. 

"Meredith, we are the first of three flights to arrive. We have at least fifteen minutes until the two from Boston are in, then the kid of Illinois is here right after that", Peter finally stops in his tracks and spins me around to him. We step to the side, leaning against the wall. I look up at him. "Calm down, Love".

"But, but, but", I sputter out sarcastically. He smiles.

He dips down and kisses my cheek, and smiles down at me again. "Calm. We will meet them in the next few minutes. Let's go get our bags and find the security checkpoint".

I turn back to the hallway and grab his hand again. I skip a little, and Peter just laughs at me. We find the baggage carousels and our bags. My two suitcases hook together, so I only have to haul one of them. Peter finds his, and we are off to the security checkpoint. Peter and I sit on a bench on the back wall, and I soon realize something.

"Peter", I stand up from the bench, and look down at him. "I can't sit here".

Peter looks at me with concern. "Why not, Love?"

"This was the last place I kissed... him", I stutter out.

Peter stands up, very close to me. His arms wrap around my waist. "We can sit wherever you want", he places another quick kiss on my cheek.

"Hey, you're the one with the blue bag", I hear from behind me. I move away from Peter and look behind me. "I'm Brendon".

He sticks his hand out to me, and I realize him, and the guy next to him, are B and J. I take his hand and shake it, then he sticks his hand out for Peter, who stands right behind me. My back is literally feeling like it's attached to his chest.

"I'm James", the other guy says. He shakes my hand, then Peter's.

"I'm Meredith, and this is Peter", I say to them.

"So, either you two think that we all share one apartment or you two are a couple", Brendon jokes.

"What? You're telling me we don't get to share a bed?" Peter says back with a laugh.

"So, do we know when the kid from Chicago is coming in, like what flight?" James asks.

"Uh, I think he said it was flight seventeen-thirty four, if I'm correct. It should be landing any minute now", I reply. James looks up to the screen with arrival flights. He nods.

We all talk for a few minutes about how we found the program. The two from Boston are amazed on my story on how Noah sent in my application. Brendon and James have been friends since they were little, and their story just kind of reminded me of the story of Cole and Noah, which made my stomach churn just a little. But, they haven't been through some major event without their best friend, just like Noah and Cole. Peter found it through Coach Gendron, and that we just somehow got to the same team.

We all looks at the clock, and the four us all realize that the fifth person in our group is late. We look around for anyone who looks lost or who seems like they are trying to find us, but we see no body.

Aiden texted me at this moment, and he just wanted to ask how my flight was. I told him it was good, but that we can't find the last person.

The next text I get from him leaves me speechless, and I almost drop my phone.

I'm right here.

I look up, and about twenty feet in front of me, there he stands, with his bag at his feet, and his signature smile on his face.

"Aiden", I take a deep breath out. The other guys look at me in shock, and Peter kind of looks horrified. I remove Peter's arms from around my waist.

I run up to him, and he hold his arms out for me to run in to. His arms wrap around me and my arms around his neck.

I move my face away from his shoulders, and I hold his face between my hands. "You sick Little Ba***rd", I laugh. "Why the hell did you not tell me you were in my internship program?"

"Because it's always so fun to see you this happy", he smiles, moving his head so he can plant a kiss on my cheek. I jump down from his waist.

"Well then. Let's introduce you to the boyfriend and the other two people we are going to live with for the next seven months", I smile at him. We turn back to the group, who is pretty much looking at us like we have three heads each. Aiden puts his arm around my shoulders.

"Let's do this".