Frozen in Ice

Chapter 35

Luke's POV

We had rec training the next day and it was the first time that Dylan was going to come. I told him that I would be there early and he could meet me then. He agreed and he was already there when I got there.

I showed him around but it was pretty basic and there was nothing distinguishing it from any other rink. I led him into the locker room and he was assigned one of the spare stalls. We sat there, half changed, and talked before anyone else came in.

"Are you sure that they will like me?" he asked again.

"Of course they will. The team is great," I assured him.

He didn't get a chance to say anything else because people started to arrive. I made sure to introduce Dylan to all of them and they all smiled and welcomed him so hopefully that helped him calm down.

We headed out onto the ice and Jamie watched Dylan quite closely at the beginning of the practice and mucked around with lines until he found something that worked well. Dylan fit into the team well and I noticed that he had a smile on his face the whole time.

I playfully checked him towards the end of practice and he smiled at me.

"How are you liking it?" I asked.

"It's great. You were totally right. These guys are amazing," he smiled.

"I know, you glad to be back on the ice?" I asked.

"Of course."

Alex decided that a new teammate meant that we had to go out for dinner and I wasn't complaining. We all filed off the ice and everyone was talking about going out for food. I didn't take long to change and I waited around for everyone else to get organised.

Dylan seemed to be fitting in well and he was wrapped in a conversation with some of the other forwards so I turned to talk to Jamie.

"Dylan is good for the team," he said.

"Yeah, he looks happy to be back out here too," I added.

Jamie nodded and we headed out into long later. We headed to our usual restaurant and Dylan made sure that he was sitting next to me.

"I can't believe that I stopped playing for so long," he said.

"I don't think that I could imagine not playing at all," I said.

"Yeah, you look good out there. Coach and Mark are stupid for letting you go," he assured me.

I nodded slightly and turned to talk to Connor and Alex. Dylan had turned away from me slightly so he was part of a different conversation but he seemed be fitting in. We didn't stay at the restaurant too long because quite a few of us had to get up early the next morning and it wasn't going to work.

Dylan lived out of the way for us to take him so he got a lift home with someone else. I was starting to get tired and climbed into the backseat of Jamie's car and was content to let Jamie and Alex talk.

"You can pick players well. Dylan is a good player," Alex said.

"I'd only seen him play in film. I just thought that he needed somewhere to play," I explained.

"Anyway, he's good and seems like a good guy," Alex continued.

I nodded as we pulled up in front of Jamie's house. I climbed out and grabbed my bag out of the bag before trailing after the other two.

I had just dropped my bag and realised that there was something that I wanted to talk to them about. They had both settled on the couch and I sat down opposite them.

"I'm thinking that I'm going to move back into the apartment," I said slowly.

"How come? Is it because of us?" Alex asked.

"No, I just feel like I am running away from my problem and that I need to go back and talk to Mom seriously," I explained.

"If that is what you want then you should do it. Remember that you can stay here whenever you want," Jamie assured me.

I nodded and they both hugged before I headed to my room. Most of my stuff was either already in a bag or a pile so it wouldn't take me long to pack. My hockey stuff was already in my bag and I started organising everything else.

I hadn't talked to Mom since I left. She hadn't texted or called me and I was glad for the break but I decided that now was the time that I had to go back and talk to her. I had to find out exactly why things turned out the way that they did. I needed to know it and I think that I could have a conversation with her now.

I had duffle bag that I stuffed all my other stuff into that wasn't for school or hockey. As predicted it didn't take me long and then I stayed sitting on the floor but leant back against the bed.

I had time to sit and thing before grabbing my phone out and pulling up Mom's contact. I type a couple of different messages before I figured out something that I actually wanted to send to her.

I'm going to be back in the apartment tomorrow and I want to talk to you at some point. Just come by and we can talk. My work schedule is on the fridge so that will be when I am definitely out.

I knew that I wouldn't get a response from her for a while because it was late and she was probably already in bed. I then texted Brynn and told her that I was going back to the apartment and she said something similar to what Jamie had said.

I wasn't quite as sure about this anymore. What if Mom said that it was because of me that she wasn't around anymore? I had to push those thoughts out of my mind and I was lucky that Dylan had just texted me and I could think about something else.

Thanks for getting me go tonight. I had a lot of fun

I sent a reply and then we started up a conversation about the team and hockey and school at it kept me distracted for another hour before I realised that I really needed to go to bed and so I said goodbye to Dylan.

I drifted off to sleep quickly but I had a strange dream where I was on the ice but everyone was three times as tall as me and they were all shooting at me. I had no idea what that meant.

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The Wise One