One More Day (Counting on Hockey #2)

Chapter 12: 74 Days

The Bruins fans leave instantly, but the few Blackhawks fans stay and celebrate for a moment. Noah's kind of heartbroken his team lost, I can tell. But he stays, and he cheers for us.

I lead Cole and Noah down into the tunnels. Jonathan gave us the back-stadium passes to get into the tunnels. We show our passes, and pass through a scanner. The guys and I try to find the locker room. It isn't hard. Take a left, then a right, then another right. I've had this down packed since I was little.

Outside the door, a girl with dirty blonde hair stands outside of the locker. She sees us walk around the corner. Our eyes meet for a second.

"Meredith?" The girl asks. She looks to only be a little older than me. So familiar. "Hey puck s!ut". The nickname she gave me a few years ago, just a running joke between us. 

"Francesca!", we run to each other for a hug.

Francesca is Jonathan's little sister. She's 23 years old, graduated from Boston college last year. She works here at one of the hospitals in the city. I haven't seen her in at least a year, when I came down with mom and dad for a weekend trip right before we moved to Chicago. Everyone calls her France.

"Oh my god", France releases me from her arms. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to the city?"

"I completely forgot to call you. I was just so excited to get back to the East coast. It completely slipped my mind", I plead to her.

"Okay, fine", France takes me in for another quick hug. She looks behind me. "Who are these very fine young men?"

The guys smirk as I turn to them. "The blonde one is Noah, my best friend, and the other is Cole, my boyfriend. I told you about him when I came down last winter", France wraps an arm around my shoulder. "Noah, Cole, this is Francesca, Jonathan's little sister. She lives here in Boston".

The guys wave shyly. That's a first. "Nice to meet you guys. Call me France".

"Call me your new boyfriend", Noah says with a smirk.

France blushes and giggles. "Okay, Noah. One, she is five years older than you, and two, she is engaged". I say with a smile. Noah snaps his fingers.

The door opens behind us. Hanging out of the doorway, Jonathan's head pops out. "France! What are you doing here?" He comes out of the door, giving his little sister a hug.

"Just seeing my older brother who didn't tell me he was going to be in town. Bought a ticket last minute just before the game. Gave security my ID and they let me down here. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Um", Jonathan doesn't have a response. "I'm sorry. I thought you would have known". Jonathan scratches the back of his neck.

"Let's go out for dinner. The team wants to go out to that Mexican restaurant over near the airport. You should join us", Kane says as he comes out of the locker room while we all chat.

"Oh, no. These two just went there last night. Pick somewhere else", Jonathan chimes in.

Before I can speak, Cole looks to me with a smile, then turns back to Patrick and Jonathan. "No, no, no, no. It's fine. Me and Mere can go some where else and meet you back at the hotel. We are fine with it".

"Yeah, we are completely okay with that", I say, looking at Jonathan. "But, I'm sure Noah wants to go. He is really loving Brent, I'm sure he wants to spend more time with him before we all go home", I say. Noah fake blushes beside me. He nods his head, looking down at the ground for a moment.

"I have something to show Mere anyway. I was going to wait 'til tomorrow to show her, but now would be good, too. We will just meet you guys at the hotel", Cole says.

"If you are guys okay with that then. The team, France, and Noah will go out to dinner, and we will see you guys at breakfast tomorrow morning", Jonathan says.

The rest of the team travels out with their hockey bags on their backs. Most of them travel right out to the bus. A few stop at congratulate Jonathan, once again, on his amazing goal. I say goodbye to Noah and France, then Jonathan and Patrick. Cole grabs my hand as we walk away from them. We walk back a few blocks, to outside of the aquarium, to the Boston Green.

"We're in the Green", I state matter-of-factly. "At 11 O'clock at night".

"Yes we are", Cole says. He looks at me. "But, it's not the Green we are here to see. It's what's in the Green that I want to show you".

He leads me down a few paths, finally ending in a small clearing. In the middle, 5 hammocks. Cole pulls me over to the hammock in the middle. He goes around on the other side, sitting down.

"I'm not laying here by myself. Come on", he says, putting his head on a pillow in the hammock.

I sit down beside him, and the physics of the hammock slide us together. I lean my head against Cole's shoulder. Our hands fit together perfectly between us.

The stars in the sky shine like diamonds. They twinkle. Looking at the sky reminds me of being back on the Beach at Noah's vacation house. It was always so quiet when you focus on the stars. No matter where you are. Even in the middle of the city, like we are now.

"I never want this to end. I want to go back to Maine, and be with you, and Noah, and being at a school who didn't know I was the girl with the injury. That took over my life in Michigan. In Maine, no one knew about it. I was so thankful", I turn my head to look at Cole. "Out there in Illinois, I'm the bitter girl who doesn't like anyone. I don't necessarily care about that, because the second I graduate, I'm back in Maine. And-".

Cole stops me, "Meredith Jude Eleanor Adams. I love you with all my heart. If that means I have to live fifteen hundred miles away from you, then know you are going to come back to me, then I am going to wait. Because I know that I get to see you at the end of that time. If you are there, and I am out here, I'm okay with it because I know I get to be with you at the end of that. Calm down. We will be okay apart, and even better when you get back to Maine after graduation".

I couldn't ask for anything more perfect. Nothing.