Author's Note!
Hey guys!
I just wanted give you guys some information regarding some updates and some other stuff that's been going on.
Firstly, I went to the Blackhawks season ticket holder's party and I met PATRICK FREAKING KANE. It was so amazing and he was so nice! On top of that, I finally got to go to a Red Wings game in Detroit! So the last couple of weeks have been pretty amazing.
Also, this will be my last update on any of my stores until after Christmas, so I want to wish all of my wonderful readers and followers a happy holidays! Thank you guys for everything, you guys helped get this story to 10k reads! That is really an insane number, and I can't thank you guys enough for all of the support you guys have given me in writing this story.
Anyway, cheers guys!
Brooke
April 11th
Ryan's POV
I tucked my shirt in and applied a small amount of cologne.
Tonight, Ashley insisted that she take me out for my birthday dinner the night before.
I didn't really get it, but she really wanted to go out with me tonight, and I wasn't going to object.
She's spent the last hour getting ready, and she was almost ready to go.
I zipped my Northface jacket and waited in the door frame. Ashley came out the bathroom wearing a bright blue dress that went to her knees with white heels.
She's perfect.
She grabbed her phone off of the bed and met me in the doorway.
"Ready to go?" She asked me, softly pecking my lips. I could taste her lip gloss.
"Cherry?" I asked her. She smiled.
"Yeah, and it looks like some got on you." She smiled innocently. I walked over to the mirror and wiped the gloss off of my lips.
"I think it looks good on you. It brings out your feminine side." She giggled, placing her hands on my shoulders. I smiled.
"Is it off?" I asked her. She nodded.
"We should go, our reservation is at 7:00 and it's already 6:30." She told me. She grabbed her jacket and led me out of my room and downstairs. Taylor and Natalie were in the living room watching a movie together, and Jordan had went out with some family for the evening.
"Heading out?" Taylor turned to us and asked.
"Yup, we should be back in a couple of hours." I told him. He nodded and turned back towards the TV. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Natalie give Ash a really dirty look.
I'm going to have to talk to her about that tonight.
It was probably nothing.
"See you guys." Ashley smiled, taking my hand and escorting me to the front door. We walked out to my truck and we both got in.
I started the truck and pulled out of the driveway.
The city lights reflected off of the windshield and dimly lit the rest of the otherwise dark night. It was cool, but not uncomfortably cold.
"So are you feeling 22 yet?" Ashley joked. I laughed.
"Yeah, time flies. It's pretty crazy." I said, keeping my eyes locked onto the road. The drive continued on for another fifteen minutes or so until we reached the restaurant.
The place was high end, seeing people dressed nicely coming in and out of the restaurant. I parked my truck in the closest spot I could find and turned the car off.
Ashley got out and the two of us walked into the restaurant hand in hand. The upscale restaurant was crowded with Edmonton's elite.
An older gentleman stood at the front podium, checking people in.
"Name?" The man asked.
"Daniels." Ashley replied. The man checked the list and grabbed two menus.
"Right this way." He smiled, walking us to the back of the restaurant. I followed Ashley and the host to our table, a booth situated at the far end of the restaurant with a great view of downtown.
"A waiter should be with you shortly." The man said, walking back to the front of the building. Ashley and I sat down on opposite side of the booth.
She's striking in her beauty.
Her hair falls just right.
Her blue eyes shine perfectly in the dim light.
Her smile is flawless.
She is flawless.
"So what were you thinking about having?" She asked me, looking down at her menu. I perused the menu and looked at the options.
There was a selections of elegantly served pastas, meats, and seafood.
"I'll probably have some type of pasta. You?"
"The shrimp dinner. I think you should have it too. You always eat pasta."
"It's a possibility." I said, seeing our waitress coming over to our table. She was a younger girl, about Ashley's age, with red hair tied in a neat bun, and a light smile.
"Hi, my name is Hannah, and I'll be taking care of you two tonight."
Hannah.
That name and this time of year is associated with one particular bad memory.
One that I've kept to myself for a long time.
I chose not to tell anyone what happened that night.
"Can I start you off with something to drink?" The girl asked. I was on another planet.
I didn't even hear what the dialogue between her and Ashley was before they both turned to me.
"Ry." Ashley said, looking slightly concerned.
I looked up and the girl stood there, smiling at me.
"Oh, sorry, I uh... kinda spaced out." I smiled. "Just a water." I said, looking away from both of them.
"Alright, I'll have those up for you in a minute." She turned away from us and walked towards the kitchen.
"Are you okay? Your eyes totally glazed over. You looked like a zombie." Ashley said, giving me a grave look.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just drifted off for a second." I said, giving her a reassuring look. She shrugged, and looked back at her menu.
I looked out of the window and stared out towards the city.
I need to get this off of my mind.
This isn't the time or the place to think about that night.
The waitress came back with the drinks and placed them down in front of me and Ashley.
While I wasn't paying attention, Ashley had gotten a glass of wine as her drink.
"Can I get you guys any appetizers or are you all set to order?" She asked.
Christ, she looks just like her.
"We'll have the calamari plate." Ashley said. The waitress scribbled it down on her pad.
"Alright, if you guys are ready to order, we can get everything cooking now." She smiled.
"Are you ready to order?" Ashley asked me.
"Yeah, I guess." I said, not having an objection.
"I'll have the shrimp platter with a salad and some steamed vegetables on the side." Ashley said to the girl.
"And for you, sir?"
"I'll have what she's having." I said. Ashley gave me a funny look for across the table. Hannah just smiled.
"Alright, we'll get all of that going for you." She said, grabbing our menus and heading back to the kitchen once more.
"Okay, what's wrong?" Ashley asked, seeming slightly annoyed.
"Nothing? I just wanted to try what you suggested." I said. It was a partial lie.
She just looked at me.
"Penny for your thoughts." She said, bluntly.
"Huh?"
"What are you thinking about?" She asked me. She wasn't only gorgeous, she was damn smart. She could tell when I was somewhere else.
"It's a nice night. This is a nice place. I'm with my favorite person in the world. How could my life possibly get any better?" Another partial lie.
"Flattering, Ryan." Ashley smiled, taking a sip of her wine.
"You're quite welcome." I said, taking a drink of water.
"So, you never really told me about your time in Red Deer. Or high school. What was all that like for you?" It's like she fucking knows...
"Red Deer was great, I met a lot of great people, made life long friends, and had a great career there." I explained.
"And high school?"
"High school was alright, but I was mostly worried about hockey, so school wasn't something I paid a lot of attention to." I told her.
"I wasn't taking about the school part, I was talking about the high school girls." She elaborated. "So who was your high school crush?"
"I didn't really have one." I lied. She laughed.
"That's some bullshit, Ryan. You don't have to lie to me. You've been out of high school for a few years now. You can tell me about your old flames." She smiled, trying to make me more comfortable.
"I mean, I dated a girl or two in high school, it was nothing serious." That was a lie.
"I bet. Who were the lucky ladies?" Ashley continued to pry.
"I don't want to talk about it." I told her. Her face dropped slightly.
"Why not?" She asked me.
"I just don't." I said, with a little more force. Ash clearly noticed it.
"I'm just trying to get to know you better. You don't have to bite my head off."
"Just stop prying at me Ash, I don't want to talk about the past."
"What, you can't tell me about someone you dated before me?"
"No, I can't and I'm not going to either."
"You know, that's fine." She said, turning away from me and looking out of the window.
When she says she's fine, or the situation is fine, it isn't. She's pissed now.
We sat there in silence, ignoring each other until the food came. The girl came to our table and set our plates down. We both thanked her before digging in.
The food was excellent, but Ashley and I still didn't say a word to each other.
We finished and the bill had come. I paid the check and we left, still ignoring each other all the way to car, and all the way home.
***
Ashley's POV
I slid my t-shirt over my head and climbed into bed. I turned my back from Ryan, who was in the bathroom.
We haven't spoken all night.
I want to know what's going on inside his head.
But that was his problem.
He would never open up with me, or anyone for that matter.
Ryan came out from the bathroom. The clock read 12:01.
It was officially Ryan's birthday.
But right now, I wasn't in the mood to wish him a happy birthday after he blew me off at dinner.
Ryan got into bed, propping himself against the headboard, sitting upright, looking straight ahead.
I turned back away from him, trying to forget that he was there.
I laid there, trying to fall asleep, when Ryan spoke.
"Hannah West." Ryan said, out of the blue. I rolled over and looked towards him. His eyes were still trained forward.
"What?"
"Hannah West. The last girl I dated before you." Ryan elaborated.
"Okay?" I said, unsure of where he was going with this.
"Hannah and I met in high school, we were both seniors at the time. She was the new girl, transferring from somewhere in Manitoba to Red Deer because her dad had found work there." He explained further.
"We started talking at the beginning of the year and took it slow until mid October, the 12th, as I recall, where we were an official couple. We were crowned homecoming king and queen that night."
"I don't understand?" I said, confused by his words.
"You wanted to know? Well, you're going to get the whole story of what happened."
Flashback
5 Years ago
April 12th, 2010
Ryan's POV
"Hey, Ryan, can you come here?" Hannah called from the living room. Our forensics project was sprawled out across the table. I came in and saw her sitting on the floor.
Her red hair straight and beautiful as always.
This is the girl I want to marry one day.
"What's up, babe?" I asked, crouching next to her, wrapping my arms around her waist.
"Can you help me glue all of this stuff together? I have everything, we just need to glue and write our paper then and we'll be done." She looked tired. She had been here since this morning trying to get everything together for this project.
"You need a break, Hannah. Take five." I told her.
"I can't take a break, we need to get this done." She said, grabbing the glue bottle. I grabbed it from her hand and placed it behind me.
"You're over exerting yourself, you need a break."
"I'm over exerting myself because I'm doing all of your work." She growled.
"Woah, I've done work. I researched our topic!" I defended.
"Wow, a five minute job. I've been sitting here all day trying get information while you've been watching god damn hockey all afternoon. This is due tomorrow!"
"You need to calm down." I told her.
"You need to do some goddamn work! I've done all of it!"
"Hannah, just relax-"
"I'm not going to relax, Ryan! You're honestly pissing me off!"
"If I'm pissing you off then you should leave." I told her.
"I'm doing this for you!"
"You know what, I'll do it myself! Just go, Hannah!"
"That's how you're going to-"
"JUST GET THE HELL OUT, HANNAH!"
I could see the tears forming on the outside of her eyes. She turned around and stormed out of the house, slamming the door as she left.
***
Present Day
(Ashley)
"All of that over a project?" I asked him.
"Yeah, and to think that it managed to get worse." Ryan explained.
"All couples have fights. You and I for example. What was so bad about this one?" I asked him. He sighed.
"I never said I was sorry."
***
Flashback
5 Years Ago
April 12th, 2010
(Ryan)
I sat on the couch, putting the finishing touches on our project.
I wrote the paper and glued everything to our poster board.
It was now around 8:00 at night.
Hannah still hasn't called me.
I didn't expect her to.
We've had disagreements before, but nothing like this.
We never yelled at each other, and neither of us ever went to bed angry or upset with each other.
That obviously wasn't going to keep going after tonight.
Right then, the phone rang, and I sprang off the couch, hoping that it was Hannah.
I grabbed the phone and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins?" A man on the other line asked me.
"This is him speaking. Who's this." I asked.
"Ryan, my name is Mike Harding, I work with the RDPD." He said.
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked him.
"No, but do you know a Hannah West?" He asked me.
"She's my girlfriend." I told the man. He paused.
"There's been an accident. Ms. West was in a car accident about an hour ago." My heart rate picked up and my eyes widened.
"Where?" I asked, more so demanded.
"Near her home. She was t-boned by a drunk driver. She is at the hospital now, but her injuries are serious." That was all I could stand to hear. I hung up the phone and ran out to my car, not even bothering to tie my shoes before racing to the hospital.
I was going well above the speed limit before I pulled into the hospital parking lot.
I sprinted into the hospital and stopped at the front desk.
"Where is Hannah West?!" I asked, in a total panic.
"She's in room 213." The nurse looked at me, confused. I continued down the hall until I reached her room.
I swung the door open violently, where I saw Hannah's lifeless body on the hospital bed. I looked over at the heart monitor.
It was dangerously low. I walked over to her side.
"Hannah." I whispered, feeling tears pushing on the brim of my eyes.
This is all my fault.
I grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight.
"Please Hannah, please. Don't do this. Please." I begged.
The monitor keep going down at a slow rate.
Her skin became cold and clammy.
"Hannah, please. Wake up. Please!" Tears were streaming down my face now.
That's when I heard it.
The monotonous tone.
The flatline.
"No. No no no NO!"
I stood over her now.
"Hannah, no! Hannah!"
The nurses came in and tried to revive her, but it was no use.
She was gone.
I sat down in the chair beside her bed, crying harder than I ever had before.
"I'm very sorry." The doctor told me.
The room was now empty. It was just myself.
"I'm so sorry, Hannah." The words squeezed themselves out through my tears.
"I'll never forget you."
***
Present Day
Ashley's POV
I started crying softly as Ryan finished.
I had no idea.
"Five years ago today. That changed my life forever."
"Ryan, I'm so sorry, I didn't know." I told him. He continued to look straight.
"I never got to say goodbye. The last thing I told her was to get the hell out of my house. I never got to tell her I was sorry." Ryan choked on his words. I knew he was going to start crying.
"Excuse me." He said, getting up from the bed and heading towards the bathroom. I stood up and followed him.
"Ryan, I-" He turned to me and stopped me.
"Ashley, stop." He said, glaring at me. I could see a tear escape his eye in the moonlight. I marched to him and cupped his face in my hands.
"Showing emotion doesn't make you weak, Ryan. It makes you human." I said, feeling tears coming harder down my cheeks. Ryan looked away from me, clearly in deep pain.
I hugged him tight, feeling his chest shake and his breath shorten. He cried into my shoulder.
I cried quietly, just his pain was enough to upset me, but that story really took me over the edge.
I realized that everyone has their problems in life.
I have mine.
I've spent all of this time, thinking that I needed him more than he needed me.
But in reality, we needed each other equally.
And it will always be that way.