I never planned to make a part two but I got a few comments asking for one and, of course, my mind decides to go on its own and next thing I know I'm writing it. Hope you enjoy :)
ENDING 1
"So what did Skylar think about our prank today?" Sonnett asks me as I arrive back to the hotel, coming in halfway through team dinner but Jill was okay with me arriving late.
"She agreed with me on it being a little extreme but she wanted to know all the details so I think it was a win," I tell her laughing as she throws her hands up in celebration
"Yes! If I got her approval then I know it was a good one" Sonnett says happily grinning to herself
"How was Skylar today?" Alex asks me across the table, the whole team care about her like she's there own, it's what we do here.
"Okay I think, she was a little emotional though, telling me she loved me a lot and that she wants me to be happy if something ever happened to her." I tell the table who are all listening
"maybe she had a hard treatment today, it happens sometimes," Ali tells me and I just smile back knowing she's probably right
"I actually want to talk to you guys about something," I say putting my glass down to get everyone's attention
"Sure Tobs, what is it?" Christen asks me looking a little concerned.
"I've waited long enough with Sky and I love that girl to bits so I think I'm going to propose soon," I tell everyone trying to keep the grin off my face which doesn't work at all.
"No way! That's awesome Tobs!" Kelley shouts happily for me as everyone else cheers
"Have you got a ring?" Ash asks and I go into my pocket and pull out the one my mom gave me a few days ago.
"Mom gave me this a few days ago saying that I should use it when I'm ready, I had never thought about proposing but having this ring in my pocket just felt right you know? Life's too short to wait any more" I say running my fingers over the band and smiling to myself at the thought of Skylar being my wife
"I'm happy for you Tobs, you and Skylar are perfect for each other I know that," Allie says to me and I smile back thankfully.
"When do you plan on doing it then, I want to watch it happen!" Mal asks excitedly making me chuckle
"I'm not too sure actually, I might take her out to the pier we went to the day we met and do it looking out at the water," I say thinking about how perfect that would be
"Would the hospital let her leave though?" Sonnett asks and I know she's right
"I'm not too sure, I would have to ask them, I'll do it tomorrow when I go see her in the morning," I tell everyone happily nodding to myself at the plan I've got in my head.
We chat for the rest of dinner everyone telling me their ideas for the grand proposal saying it will go down in team history as the best one. I'm glad that be got my family around me and they support my decision to be with Sky, a few people didn't when she got sick but there not in my life anymore.
The pair of us first met at a skatepark back in Orlando when Ash dragged me there on a visit. There was a large crowd gathering around the bowl and we expected to see some guy doing some tricks or something but when we got a closer look there was this girl absolutely shredding it, embarrassing all the guys.
I was left standing there just admiring her and drooling a little according to Ash, she was the most gorgeous person I had ever see. Her eyes twinkled with such innocence and that smile, that smile could melt anyone icy heart in a matter of seconds.
I was too much of a pussy to go up and talk to her so Ash decided to play wingman and do it for me, I wanted the floor to eat me up whole when she did but know I owe everything to Ash, and she knows that trust me.
We talked for hours on end and next thing you know Ash has left to go back home to Ali and the pair of us are riding down the empty roads on our boards laughing with each other.
I told her about my job and how I'm a professional soccer player, she told me about hers and how she's a professional skater which didn't surprise me after I saw her moves at the park. The two of us ended up at the pier front just looking out at the dark sea once the sun had set, feeling some kind of way about the other person.
She told me that she'd never actually been to a soccer game which gave me an idea and I told her I was playing a game tomorrow against Orlando Pride and if she wants I could give her some tickets to come and watch.
She turned to flash me that smile of hers, the one that could probably wash away anyone's problems if they saw it and agreed to come. We exchanged numbers and I told her to go to the front gate and say her name and they'd me tickets waiting for her.
I left her after that to head back to the hotel, the only thought on my mind the entire ride back was her intoxicating personality and what I would do to meet her again.
"You must be thinking about Skylar, you only ever smile like that with her" I hear Alex say to me as we head back up to our room.
"Guilty, I was just thinking about how we first met actually. God I don't know what I would be like now if I had never seen her that day at the park" I say to Lex shaking my head not wanting to think about that.
"Do you remember what she was like when she first met everyone?" Alex asks me laughing a little at the thought
"Oh God, that day was hilarious, I've never seen Sky so embarrassed before" I reply laughing along as I think about the memory
- - - -
"What if they don't like me, Toby? I'm a skater not some professional soccer player like you" She tells me worriedly, biting the corner of her lip a habit of hers when she nervous
"Baby, you're an athlete like us and have like 12 gold medal for the US so I think you're a pretty good athlete. You've met half of them already anyway and they all loved you didn't they not?" I say to her slipping my hand into hers
"I guess so, these guys are like your family I don't want them to hate me," She says
"They won't, that's a promise okay?" I tell her and she nods her head and lets out a sigh as we arrive at the hotel.
We walk in and Sonnett is the first person to arrive and notice us making quick work of leaping from her seat to run over.
"Tony!" She says going to my girlfriend and the pair of them do they're a handshake before hugging.
"How you doing Flo" Skylar replies laughing at her.
"How come you have a cool handshake with Frat daddy Jr and not me!" Lindsey asks in shock coming over to
"Sorry Jack, I'll make one with you soon," My girlfriend says pulling Lindsey into a hug too
"All these names being thrown around are really confusing my brain," Kelley says making us turn around and realise the rest of the team are here.
"Guys I want you all to meet my girlfriend Skylar Neilson, 6 times World Champion Skater and 12 time US gold medalist," I say with a smirk on my face as Sky just glares at me.
"How you doing Skylar," Ash asks smiling coming up to hug her too
"Doing good thanks Ash, how's the wrist these days?" She asks concerned about others like always
"It's a lot better actually, I don't think I'll be having any problems from it for a while" Ash says happily making my girlfriend smile widely.
"I'm Kelley, it's nice to finally meet you because someone wanted to keep you from us all" Kelley says sending a glare my way.
"Do you blame me! God knows this is probably the last time I'll see Sky cause she'll break up with me after meeting all you lot" I say
"That's not true Toby, I like you too much to do that," She says turning to give me a quick kiss on the lips
"Okay that was cute but I want to know more about you Skylar, so you're a professional skater with a shit ton of awards, what's that like?" Alex asks and I lead my girlfriend towards a seat, keeping my hand reading on the small of her back as she starts to talk
"Its a lot of hard work actually, long hours trying to perfect tricks and different runs but I love every second of it, the thrill I get is like nothing else" Skylar explains grinning with pride as she talks about her sport.
"Have you ever had any bad injuries?" Mal asks next leaning forward fully engaged in what my girlfriend has to say.
"A couple actually; broken leg, fractured pelvis, plenty of broken ribs, some internal bleeding once that wasn't fun," She says and I cringe at the thought, pulling her a little close to my body.
"Jesus, and you still carry on doing it?" Christen asks
"Of course, just because I get injured doesn't mean I stop loving the sport. It's like if you guys did your ACL, you wouldn't just quit there and then would you?" She says as they all hum in agreement.
"That's why I practice so much though, so I don't get injuries like that and I can keep on seeing this one," She says turning to smile at me lovingly.
"We should get going, the restaurant is booked for about 10 minutes," Ash says standing up.
We follow behind her and I slip my hand into Skylars, squeezing it tightly.
"That wasn't so bad was it" I say to her as she grips onto my bicep tightly.
"it's not over yet, we've still got dinner and anything could happen," She tells me and I chuckle at her paranoia
"it's not a team outing without something crazy happening, don't worry," I tell her.
We arrive and take our seat near the back away from everyone else in hopes to give us some privacy, I pull out the chair for Skylar to sit down and she pecks my lips in appreciation.
"Tobin has gone soft" Allie says making Skylar laugh
"she's always been soft," She tells them making me gasp in mock upset
"You didn't need to expose me like that babe, I'm meant to be this chill, hard and mysterious person and you're ruining my image," I tell her
"Baby, you cried watching Finding Nemo the other day," She says with a smirk on her face making the whole table laugh.
"You said you wouldn't tell anyone" I whine out
"Sorry Toby, I couldn't help myself," She says smiling at me and I can't stay mad at her for very long.
The rest of the evening carries on going smoothly, everyone telling Skylar stories at my expense but she seems to be having fun so I don't care how embarrassing they are. That's until Kelley gets too excited telling a story and knocks over her drink, spilling it all over Skylar's lap.
"Shit I'm so sorry," Kelley says standing up from her seat
"Youre fine Kel, don't worry-" Skylar says and pushes her chair out to get away from the liquid but in doing so she bumps into the waiter behind her knocking over all the glasses he was carrying.
"Oh my god," She says covering her mouth as everything smashes to the floor.
"I'm so so sorry, I didn't mean to knock you over, oh God that's so many glasses, here let me help," Sky says panicking a little as everyone looks over at us and towards the commotion
"Sky, calm down for a second, let the man clean it up with a brush so you don't cut your hands," I tell my girlfriend quickly pulling her up off the floor
"Its okay ma'am, I'll go get a dustpan and brush," the guys says smiling at us and walking off.
Skylar nods silently and sits back down in her seat, nobody saying a single word to anyone until Kelley speaks up.
"She's official part of the team, you've embarrassed yourself in public while with us," She says making the whole table cheer loudly and Skylar to cover her face as it turns a different colour.
"I told you something crazy has to happen" I whisper in her ear and pull her into me
- - - -
"Are you ready to call her your fiance Tobin, it's a big thing?" Alex asks me as we flop down into our beds
"I really think I am, we've been together for almost 5 years now and a year of that has been taken up by her cancer, it's really made me realise how precious time is and I don't want to wait any longer in giving her my last name," I tell my best friend honestly
"Skylar Heath has a nice ring to it as well," Alex says smirking and I let out a small laugh
"Yeah, I guess it does" I reply closing my eyes and thinking about the girl of my dreams being my fiance soon.
- - - -
"Alright I'll see you all later for training," I say waving goodbye to the team as I finish off my breakfast
"Bye Tobin, say high to Skylar for us," Kelley says and I give her a thumbs-up before heading outside and climbing into the car waiting to take me to the hospital.
I sit in the back, leg tapping against the floor impatiently and I eagerly wait to see her, never getting old of seeing her again and again. I guess that's why I know she's the one for me, the constant feeling of happiness when I think about her or even around her. On her worst days there the best for me because she's there by my side.
I thank the driver as I climb out and head towards Kelsey on reception I come in smiling and head towards her desk grin down at her as I wait to be signed in like usual.
"Hey Kelsey, how's Tom doing," I ask the lady referring to her husband
"He's good thank you Tobin," She tells me a smile on her face but it's not the usual bright one in used to seeing, instead of seems a little forced. I decide to not question it and ask to be signed in.
"Why don't I come with you while we go to her room," She tells me and I frown for a second wondering why since she's never done it before
"Oh okay, sure thing," I say not wanting to be rude.
She walks by my side not saying a word to me which is strange again, normally Kesley has some new story every day about what her little kid did the night before.
"oh before we go in I wanted to show you something," I say turning to her excitedly and pulling out the ring from my pocket
"I-is that for S-Skylar?" She asks me in shock
"Yeah! My mom gave it to me a few days ago and I plan to propose soon, hopefully, the doctors will let me take her out for the day" I say happily but notice the tears in Kelseys eyes and they don't look ones of happiness
"Is everything alright Kelsey?" I ask worried for her
"Miss Heath, you're here," The doctor says interrupting us before I could get an answer from her. She walks off giving my hand a quick squeeze and turning around in an instant.
"Hey Doc," I say to him still confused about what just happened.
"Why don't we go somewhere, have a little chat for a second," he tells me and I just follow him towards an empty room not thinking anything of it
"Take a seat Tobin," He tells me and I do as he says my eyebrows furrowing in confusion
"What's going on the doc, is everything okay with Skylar?" I ask worried something happened.
"Tobin, Skylar was a lot sicker than she let on." He tells me after a deep breath and I feel my heart drop at what he's starting to tell me
"She didn't want to tell you about any of it, saying that you'd stop playing soccer and look after her instead" He starts to say
"Why are you talking like that, why are you speaking about her in the past tense," I ask him panicked my thoughts racing all over the place
"Tobin, I'm so sorry but Skylar passed away last night. She asked us to not inform you until you arrived today and that it was what she wanted" The doctor tells me.
"No, that's not true, she was getting better! She told me she was getting better!" I shout at the doctor not believing what he is telling me
"We were keeping her alive with all the machine and drugs we were putting into her body but it wasn't going to last much longer so she asked to be taken off them last night," He tells me the same straight emotions on his face like he isn't just telling me she's gone.
"But I just saw her yesterday, I left here and she was happy we were talking about fucking pranks! How can you tell me she's not here now!" I scream out, tears now rolling there way down my cheek.
"I'm am very sorry Miss Heath, she left you this behind" He tells me and hands me a piece of paper before leaving me alone and devasted in the empty room.
I stare at the paper in my hands wondering why I can't open it up. Maybe it's the fact that I'm holding the last thing she gave to me, maybe it's the fact that if I open it up and read what's inside then this all becomes real.
I shakily reach for my phone in my pocket, scrolling through my contacts as my tears drop onto the illuminated screen. I call the one person I know will be strong enough to handle this right now and put my phone to my ear.
"Hey Tobin, everything okay" She asks me the cheeriness in her voice being enough to make me break down and gold back my shocking sobs.
"Lex, please get here, she's, she's not here anymore," I say as best as can, my words laboured as I try to take some breaths and get oxygen back into my lungs.
"Tobin what do you mean," Alex says and I close my eyes keeping them shut tightly as I try to keep it together
"Just get here, now," I say and hang up the phone, throwing it across the room in anger.
Why is his happening to me, she was getting better why did the doctor telling me she's gone when that's just not possible, she told me she was improving, I trusted you Sky.
A wave of anger seems to rush over my body and I feel myself lashing out in the room, the once organised place now has tables overturned and chair broken into pieces as I sit down against the wall, my head between my knees in defeat.
I let my hands drop to one side and that's when I feel the small object that seems to be so prominent in my pocket. My hand slips into it and I pull out the small diamond ring that I planned to propose with.
I stare at it and it seems to just stare back at me, almost mocking me for never getting to use it. I never got to get down on one knee and confess my love for Sky, I never got to tell her what she meant to me. I'm thrown out my thoughts when the door barges open and Alex stands there just looking at me
"Its real isn't it, she's gone," I say not looking away from her
She doesn't reply but keeps her lips shut tight and nods her head up and down, the empathy clear in her eyes as she slowly steps towards me, not saying anything still but taking a seat next to me as I just flip the ring between my fingers.
"I didn't get to do it, Lex, I missed my chance and now she's gone," I tell Alex, the ring staying right between my fingers.
She doesn't say anything still but wraps her hands around mine, holding onto them tightly as I lean my head into her shoulder not having the energy or emotions to cry right now.
"We'll get through this Tobs, you've got us all to help you okay, you're not alone and you'll never be," She tells me I don't reply but just stare at the wall in front of me, my eyes catching the paper that I was given earlier.
I wordlessly stand up from where I am getting a concerned look from Alex but walk towards it slowly anyway, holding it in my hands and staring at it as I did before.
"Can you open it please, I do think I can read what's inside?" I tell Alex holding out the paper towards.
I think she was shocked that I was asking her to do that because she doesn't move for a few seconds but gets up eventually and takes it from my hand. I pick up one of the overthrown chairs and sit down in it, my hands looking at the floor. I hear Alex clear her throat and then begin to talk.
Dear my sweet little Toby. My knight in shining armour, or soccer kit as you liked to say. I just want to start off by saying I'm sorry, I'm sorry that you're having to go through this without me, I'm sorry that I can't be there to hold your hands and tell you everything will be okay, I'm also sorry that I didn't tell you beforehand.
When I first met you, there was something that just drew me in and once I was hooked there was no chance I was leaving you, I couldn't even if I tried. You told me all about your job and how it was your life, it's was what you dreamed of always doing since you were a little kid, just like me and skateboarding. So when I got ill and you stopped playing for a couple of months my heart broke for you. You gave up on your dream for me and I couldn't live with myself so I told you to go back and you did eventually because I said things were getting better.
They were at the time and when you went back to kicking that soccer ball around the field with all the girls you were so happy and I couldn't let you go back down that rabbit hole again, I promised myself that. But I started getting worse again a couple of months back, my body wasn't taking well to the drugs and it was just making me feel so sick. Please don't be mad at me for not telling your beforehand baby, I wanted your last memories to be happy ones, not depression ones because my life was coming to an end.
Don't be mad at anyone else either, I told the doctors to not tell you what was happening so if you want to be angry, be angry at me but just know I love you to the end of the world and I'll be up in the clouds watching over you and making sure you don't get into too much trouble with Sonnett.
I just want you to promise me something Tobin Health, you carry on living your life to the fullest. You become the best player you can be, become the best person, become someone who inspires others to chase what they want just like you and I did. Don't hold onto me too tightly Toby, it's okay to move in when you're ready just know that it's what I want for you.
I love you Tobin Powell Heath, even on my death bed there's nobody I would rather have spent time on this earth with. Take care of yourself baby, and look after the team for me too. Love your Skylar
"She loved you Tobin, so much," Alex tells me the tears trapped in her throat as I sit there letting mine drop to the floor.
Alex pulls my head into her stomach and runs he hand over my hair as I let it all out. The anger, the pain, the regret. My Skylar is gone and there's nothing I can do to get her back.