Live laugh love hockey season. I was bouncing around my room packing my overnight bag for the first roadie of many this year, I was Muskegon bound. The steady stream of Harry Styles's voice was cut off by the ringing of my phone and I jogged over to my nightstand to see who it was. I was expecting Care or Johnny or Case, maybe even Jack if God wanted to bless me with that. But instead, I was met with the name "Finn Reilly." Confusion swept across my features, why in fucks name was he calling me on a Tuesday night?
"Hey Finn." I said into the phone I put on speaker, shoving my sweatshirt into the bag before flopping onto my bed.
"Hey Lain." He said, causing confusion to take over me again. When did that nickname become a thing? "You comin' tonight?"
"Coming to what?" I racked my brain to what could be happening tonight in Plymouth on a Tuesday the week of the first football game.
"Jason's party. His parents are gone until Thursday." There was a slight pause. "I could like, pick you up and we could go like, together?"
Hello??? "I can't, I'm going to Muskegon tonight. I won't be back until tomorrow night."
"You're missing school tomorrow? And what the hell is in Muskegon?"
"I'm going with Caroline to Johnny's game. It's the first roadie of the season."
"Can't you just skip it? I want to see you." He asked. As if I would skip spending a weekend in a hotel with Jack for the weekend. And all of my other friends but... Jack.
"Care and I made a pact. We promised to go to every roadie this season, they're all counting on me. I'm sorry. Next time though." I responded.
"Next time Lain. Have fun and drive safe."
"Bye Finn, take some good notes for me in Spanish tomorrow."
"I won't let you down."
As soon as I hung up my door swung open: Jess.
"I want to see you. I won't let you down." She mocked, throwing herself against the wall. I jumped backwards, not even knowing she wasn't in her college dorm.
"What in fucks name are you doing here? Go to college!" I screamed.
"Remember that dress I ordered for senior year homecoming and never wore?" She didn't even wait for me to answer the question. "Well I got invited to Sig Chi's bid night and came home to get it. Also the dining hall is ass so mom is making me dinner and then I'm leaving. I don't have class until like... 3:30 tomorrow anyways so surprise! But, that wasn't Hockey Boy on the phone. That was Finn. Why was Finn flirting with you?"
"Okay so I'm not being conceited or losing my mind, that was flirting?" I asked, sitting up to make room for her on the bed.
"Nope. He's flirting with you. He likes you, and he seems to be doing a more forward job than Hockey Boy, I'm not gonna lie to you."
I opened my mouth to answer but was saved by the bell, Caroline texting me to come downstairs.
"I have to go. Bye Jess."
"Don't run away from the truth!" She yelled after me, but I was long gone.
"Hello twins. Prepare to be serenaded by the one and only, Harry Edward Styles." I said, immediately turning on "Carolina" by Harry Styles the second I jumped into the infamous Beecher truck. The drive from my house to the USA Hockey arena went by fast and Johnny pulled up in the lot, hopping out of the car to grab his bags. Me and Care followed him out of the car for her to assume the driver's seat and me the passenger side because... duh.
I hugged Johnny goodbye quickly, "See you in a little Jonathan." I jumped into the passenger side to let Caroline talk to her brother and scrolled through my phone, only looking up when I heard an incredibly distinctive laugh: Jack. I watched as Cole and him were fucking around with a water bottle, chewing down on my lower lip. No invitation to any football party could keep me away from this.
"Oh absolutely not. You enjoy your team bonding, I'll enjoy bonding with Elena." I heard Caroline say, bringing me back down to Earth from Planet Jack.
"Like you two need to bond anymore, you're already the same fucking person." Trevor said.
"No we're not." We said in perfect synchronicity, making Trevor jump.
"See! Stop doing that!"
"Doing what?" We chorused, causing him to walk away with his hands up in surrender.
"Z, what?" Johnny asked him, confused at the terrified look on his face.
"I thought she was your twin sister." He said.
"She is. Last time I checked." Johnny said, panic creeping into his voice. "Is there something that I should know? Oh fuck is this some switched at birth shit? I can't handle that right now."
"Please stop. We are, unfortunately, fifty percent genetically identical." Care said, shaking her head at him.
"Carrie and Lains have a creepy mind link. I hate it." Trevor said, pointing between me and Caroline feverishly.
"Don't you have a bus to get on?" I said from the passenger seat. Jack appeared from thin air to answer my question. The sight of him was like a shock to the system, I felt like I had just been electrocuted.
"Yes. He does." He grabbed Trev's collar, pulling him like a dog on a leash.
"See you later Carrie." Trevor yelled over his shoulder as Jack threw his bags underneath the bus.
"Bye Ziggy." She said, joining me in the truck. We waited for the bus to pull away before making our exit from the familiar parking lot. The car ride was filled with lots of One Direction and Taylor Swift, the perfect way to spend a drive. We pulled into the parking garage of a Marriott Hotel, our new home for the time being. We got out of the truck with our bags and headed into the building, and we heard the team before we saw them. What we actually heard though, was a bloodcurdling shriek that came from none other than Cole Caufield's mouth.
"Are they harming sweet baby Cole?" I said in a panicked tone, immediately switching gears from my leisurely walk to a quick sprint which Care copied.
"They better fucking not be." She responded, picking up the pace to find out what trouble the boys had decided to cause today. When we found them in the lobby, Cole was in a headlock, being held by Trevor.
"Z! Come on! Let go!" He pleaded with the taller boy, and Care and I wasted no time getting involved.
"Trevor! Quit!" Caroline snapped, moving towards him to try to free Cole from his grasp. She opted to just tase his sides as he yelped, causing his grip to loosen and Cole to be able to slip free and run over to me for safety.
"Oh honey, are you alright?" I coddled him to keep him away from the danger of the tall men. Caroline and I particularly took care of Cole, he was like the little brother both of us had never had in that way. He was the sweetest, and we would protect him at all costs.
"Why, might I ask, were you attempting to murder your teammate and best friend, Ziggy?" Care asked with crossed arms, raising her eyebrows to demand an answer.
"Best friend? Woah there." Jack chimed in, pointing a finger in my face. "Who said Cole is Trevor's best friend?"
"Shut up Jack." She said, pushing him aside and turning back to Trevor. "I am expecting an answer here Mr. Zegras."
"He got on my nerves. And I wasn't going to murder him, I was gonna let go." He said sheepishly.
"How did he even- I don't even want to know. Whatever." She said, rolling my eyes. Coach Wroblewski approached the group with a wad of hotel room keys and distributed them to the boys, before handing a key to Caroline.
"Please make sure I have a full roster for tomorrow girls. Can't take these idiots anywhere." He said, glancing over to see Case and Pat attempting somersaults.
"We'll try, but we're not miracle workers." Care picked up her bag off the floor with a laugh, following me to the elevators. As the doors were closing, a hand flew through the gap, and we were joined by Cole, Alex, Jack, and Trevor. I just about died on the spot. We talked, a lot, usually over text or during Bio. But being with Jack in the wild was just not something I was prepared for. My heart was about to fall out of my ass and I was staring at the wall, fighting the urge to just burst into flames.
"So, what floor?" Jack asked, looking at the array of buttons on the wall. There was a slight pause, meaning his question was for me and I had to get my shit together.
"Um, four." I said, turning to look at him with my most composed smile.
"Cool. So are we." Jack replied.
"No shit Rowdy, we're all on the same fucking floor." Alex snorted, slamming his thumb against the button. His cheeks flushed red and so did mine. I genuinely thought I might pass out being in such an enclosed space with him. All I could smell was Abercrombie cologne, I felt like I was drunk. I tried to diffuse the situation with a laugh, and by coming to his defense.
"It's a big hotel, and maybe Coach W wants to protect us from your idiocy Alex." I giggled, causing him to step back in shock.
"Me? Out of all of them? MY idiocy? Look at who is on our team. Have you met Case McCarthy recently? The kid is barely alive. I am self sufficient. I am smart. I am not an idiot." Alex rambled on and on, as the elevator rose to the floor. I barely heard a word he said, as Jack was mouthing along in front of Alex and making fun of him to me. I stifled back laughs the entire time, and it was only the ding of the elevator and motion around me that brought me back to the land of the living.
"That's for me to know, and for you to not find out." I heard Care say, sticking her tongue out as we arrived at our floor. "Catch you later, Ziggy."
Caroline and I exited the elevator with the boys hot on our heels. We arrived at our room, and the boys continued to follow us to the room across the hall.
"Looks like you'll be seeing more of me than you thought." Z laughed at Caroline, gesturing between our two rooms.
"Isn't it just my lucky day?" She spoke sarcastically, turning around into the room with me.
I flopped down on the bed closer to the window, covering my head with a pillow and letting out a muffled scream. "Am I stupid? Like actually, am I stupid?" I lamented, rolling over to look at Care. "See, the answer is no. I'm not stupid. I'm Elena Cameron. Student Council President, top of our class, Elena Cameron. Future nurse Elena Cameron. So riddle me this. Why is it that I can take AP Biology without batting an eye, but I cannot seem to form words around a boy?"
"Can you relax? He can't form words either, and he's barely passing high school. He's flirting with you in his own Jack way. Trevor said so." She replied, wrestling the pillow out of my hands.
"Trevor said what? Caroline Mae Beecher, I want word for word. Right the fuck now."
"He said, and I quote: These two. Jesus Christ. We're better at the whole flirting thing." She recited.
My Jack issue didn't matter right now because that was confirmation from Trevor that I was right, and I love being right. "WOAH THERE? He confirmed double flirting? And what the fuck did you say?"
She repeated the quick elevator exchange that felt straight out of Grey's Anatomy, and I stared at her with wide eyes.
"Oh my god. Young love. I fucking knew it." I laughed, pointing at her in victory. "You and Trevor will be dating before homecoming."
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Lains." She said, but I knew she hoped I was right. "Let's just watch Netflix and wait for them to summon us for dinner."
That's exactly what we did. We huddled around my laptop and watched a few episodes of "Dawson's Creek." Our peace of imagining life in Capeside was interrupted by incessant banging on the door.
"Maybe if we ignore it, it'll just go away." I whispered, focusing on Pacey Witter on the screen.
"So true." She whispered back, but we would never know peace.
"CAROLINE? ELENA? HELLO?" Case bellowed, picking up the intensity of his knocking. "Are you dead? Do I have to break down this door? I will. I watch 'Criminal Minds'. I'll kick this shit in." Panic started to set into his voice, and we both knew he wasn't kidding.
"Cassandra! Quit!" Care yelled back, and we both pulled ourselves out from under the blankets and met him at the door. "Is there something we can do for you?"
"Yes. Join us for ice cream. We're leaving. Come hither." He said, grabbing both of our wrists and dragging us into the hallway towards the elevator. Neither of us had time to protest, and I was glad we had at least picked up our phones as we exited our Dawson's Creek sanctuary.
"When you say 'we', who does that entail?" I asked. I mean, I love ice cream and my friends more than the next girl. But if Jack was coming I had to at least be prepared so I didn't word vomit all over him.
"Unsure." Case responded, doing his weird thing were he gives vague answers to questions that get nobody anywhere.
"Can you just answer questions? Please? You sound like an 8-Ball." Care said, flicking the side of his head.
"Ouch Care! That was just unnecessary." He winced, rubbing his head. "Your brother is coming, so are Cole and Alex. I think Pat, not sure about Z or Rowdy. Maybe Spencer and Danny, I didn't take fucking attendance." He said as the doors opened, revealing a few members of the team in the lobby waiting for us. His attendance record was pretty on point: Cole, Alex, Johnny, Pat, Spencer, Danny, Boldy, Dom, Jack, and Trevor were lingering by the door.
"Thank God, it took you long enough. What the fuck were you guys doing?" Johnny asked, rolling his eyes at us.
"Oh no attitude, Jonathan." I snapped, waving her finger at him. "We were watching 'Dawson's Creek,' if you must know."
"Dawson's Creek? I fuck with that show." Cole said, a huge smile on his face. When he was confronted with confused stares from his teammates, he immediately went on the defense. "Kelly loves it. I don't need to explain myself."
"Whatever. Ice cream?" Care asked, gesturing towards the door.
"Yes. Ice cream, before Coach notices we're gone." Spencer said, causing me and Caroline to stop in our tracks.
"Is this an illegal ice cream outing?" She said.
"We're going to sneak out of the hotel? And sneak away from Coach W? Are you dumb, stupid, or dumb?" I reiterated. "We promised to keep you alive."
"Come on, live a little Madame President." Jack teased, grabbing my hand and pulling her outside into the darkness. Jesus Christ, he could literally lead me anywhere and I would follow.
Me, Caroline, Case, Jack and Trevor loaded into Z's truck, while the other five got into the Weight family minivan.
"Sick ride, Danny." Care laughed at him as he slid into the front seat.
"Suck my dick, Caroline." He fired back, defending the honor of his mother's car. "You've seen my car. This is my mother's car, don't do her like that."
We drove off behind them, vibing to Trevor's playlist featuring a lot of Mac Miller. Both cars pulled up to a small ice cream place about ten minutes away from the hotel. All eleven of us filed out of our respective vehicles and headed up to the window, picking out our flavors.
I was rocking back and forth on my heels trying to figure out what flavor I wanted, when all too familiar voice caught my attention.
"Whatcha thinkin'?" Jack asked me, referencing the list of flavors.
"See, I don't know. There's so many choices, I'm feeling a little in over my head." I laughed, flipping my hair over my shoulder. "Pick for me."
"Woah, that's a lot of pressure." He said, putting his hands up and taking a step back from me.
Something about the risk we all took leaving the hotel on our illegal ice cream run must've given me some surge of confidence, because I filled up the space between us and our faces were less than a foot apart. "I think you're up to the challenge, Captain."
He ran his tongue against the side of his cheek and tilted his head, laughing at my dare. I continued to egg him on this time, knowing the opportunity might never present itself again, so I stepped away. "I mean, if you can't, that's totally fine. Some people just can't handle it I gu-"
"I can definitely handle it, Elena." He cut me off, pulling me back towards him with a new fire in his eyes.
"If you say so." I winked, letting him pick a flavor.
"Rocky Road."
"Okay."
"Okay."
Neither of us dared to move for a second, our hands still intertwined and our faces still inches apart. He is the one who stepped around me, pulling me along with him before letting go of my hand. "One Rocky Road and one vanilla with butterscotch, please."
I stood there literally breathless with my back turned away from him, my brain trying to catch up with those new developments. I joined him at the window quickly, grabbing napkins after realizing he had already paid. "Thanks, I hope you made the right choice."
"I definitely did." He winked as he handed me the cup and nonchalantly walked over to the table, once again leaving me dumbfounded at the window. The ice cream woman popped her head out the window, a smile on her face.
"Good luck sweetheart." She beamed, urging me to join my friends at the table they had taken over.
We were all talking and laughing, when Jack's phone rang in his pocket.
"What's the sitch?" He said, channeling Kim Possible.
"You guys better hurry the fuck up. Coach is on the move." Ryder said in a serious tone, causing us all to run back to our cars.
"Stall him." Jack said, sprinting as he lunged into the truck.
"How the fuck would you like me to do that?" Ryder asked, panicked.
"Fake an epileptic seizure!" Cole shrieked.
"But I'm not epileptic?" Ryder replied.
"That's why you'll fake it!" Cole fired back as Jack hung up.
Trevor drove like a maniac and he skidded back into his parking spot near Danny's minivan. i leapt out of the car and Jack once again grabbed my hand, pulling me along with him for the ride.
"Okay. Some of you take the stairs. Take different elevators. You three, go to the sixth floor and then come back down. Space it out." I commanded, heading to the elevator with the twins, Jack and Trevor. We went straight up to our floor, departing leisurely to our rooms as to not raise suspicion. Johnny waved goodbye as he went down the hall to his room, and we paused at our door across from Jack and Trevor.
"You're still a good second in command, Elena Gilbert." Jack said, offering me a salute.
"Aye-aye, Captain America." I laughed, reciprocating the salute before dipping into the room, and hearing Trevor declare he would buy Care all the cookies and cream ice cream in the world.
"Ugh. Young love!" I gushed again as I clocked Care's blush, heading into the bathroom to wash my face.
"Shut up, second in command." She laughed, and we both got ready for a night of hotel sleep before the game tomorrow.
Morning came with the sound of an alarm clock, and we knew the boys were already gone for morning conditioning in the parking lot. We stretched out in our respective beds, thrashing around in the sheets before heading downstairs for free hotel breakfast. I would not speak a word, considering my brain wouldn't be awake for at least another two hours. We headed back upstairs to get ready for the game. I was sitting on the floor in front of the full length mirror with my curling iron plugged in, adding simple waves to my dark hair as Care did her makeup in the bathroom as we sang along to 5 Seconds of Summer. We both pulled on USA Hockey crewnecks, two we had stolen from Johnny's room for days like this. We headed downstairs, catching the boys loading onto the bus as we headed to the truck.
"Hello girls!" We were greeted by none other than Luke Hughes, as he draped his arms over our shoulders.
"Dukes!" She beamed, hugging the youngest Hughes brother.
"Hi Peanut." I used the nickname I had coined for him. He's definitely not a peanut, but that's why I love calling him that.
"You two get prettier everytime I see you. Care, you driving?" He asked, gesturing to the keys in her hand.
"Ye-" She started.
"No. She's not." Trevor interrupted, cutting into the conversation.
"I'm not driving, and Luke can't drive, so who would be driving?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow out at him.
"The bus driver. You two are coming with us." He declared, grabbing us from Luke's grip. "You go ride with Ellen."
"No way. Luke, you're coming with us. No shot we're riding on the bus." She argued back. "Coach wouldn't let us."
"Let's go, ladies!" Coach W yelled from the open bus doors, beckoning us onto the vehicle. "Hockey waits for no girls."
"Sorry Luke, see you later." Trevor said, pulling us along.
"Coach? Got room for a spare Hughes?" Care asked, gesturing to Luke.
He paused for a second, before nodding. "Let's go."
We all piled onto the bus, and the boys hooted as we joined them.
"VICTORY!" Alex shrieked, dapping Care up as we passed his seat.
Care and I tried to sit near Jack, but Trevor cut me off.
"Sorry Lains, taken." He shrugged, leaving me standing in the aisle.
"Fuck you." I rolled my eyes, turning around to find another seat.
"This one is... not taken?" Jack said, gesturing to the space next to him. I paused for a second, most of the confident tension from our ice cream outing was now gone, and this was broad daylight. Not the time to try to spark it back up. I couldn't help the rose flush of my cheeks and smile that pulled at my lips
"Thank you, Rowdy. Such a gentleman." I grinned, taking my seat next to him.
I might've been hallucinating but I swear he blushed too.
The ride to the arena was quick and relatively quiet, and I offered Jack an Airpod to listen to my music. I knew the bus rides were chilled on the way there, but if they won the rides back to the hotel were electric. As we parked, I turned to him once again.
"You ready for this one, Captain?"
"I'm always ready." He replied with a smirk.
"Pretty big talk. You got the game to back it up?" I teased, and the energy was returning. Butterflies swarmed my stomach and chest, but I had to maintain my cool and calm demeanor.
"You're really gonna question me Elena Gilbert? That's pretty bold."
"What can I say, I'm a bold girl." I paused, having one last burst of confidence which I know will disappear if I don't act on it immediately. So, using every ounce of strength I had, I leaned in close to his hear. "Good luck Jack."
I slipped off the bus without another word and just a smirk, high fiving Johnny on my way past him and fist bumping Cole. Luke appeared behind us again, grabbing onto us to guide us to our seats. I glanced over my shoulder to see Jack watching us head into the arena, shooting him one last smile.
"Let's go and find our seats. Bye Jack!" He put heavy emphasis on the second part of his sentence, causing Jack to flip off his younger brother. We headed inside and sat with the parents and Luke.
The game was a success, and I was glad to see them win. We loaded back onto the bus, and this ride was much more lively than the first. The boys were blasting "Head & Heart" on the speaker and dancing in their seats, while Coach pretended not to deal with their stupidity. We were headed back into the hotel when I was able to finally get a moment to talk to Jack again.
"Guess you do have the game to back it up." I smiled, referencing his assist and first point of the season.
He laughed, flipping his still damp hair with his fingers. "Well that's obvious." He teased.
"Obvious? Okay Cake Eater." I said, turning over my shoulder and picking up the pace, hoping he would follow me.
"What did you call me?" Jack said, jogging to catch up with me.
"You heard me." I said, not stopping my stride. He boxed me off, stopping me in my tracks and pulling all the air from my lungs.
"Say it again."
"What?"
"Say it again." He repeated.
"Make me." I tilted my head to the side, waiting to see what he would do next.
He stepped closer to me than he ever has before, running his tongue along his cheek. "What did you call me?" He whispered, and his hot breath tickled my skin.
"Cake Eater." I whispered back, not breaking his gaze. The eye contact lasted for an eternity, and I could feel myself getting lost in his eyes. Instead of letting him have the satisfaction of breaking it this time, I stepped around him with a laugh. "Goodnight Cake Eater." I called over my shoulder. "I mean, Jack."
All I could hear as I walked away was his laughter, the sweetest sound I'd ever heard.