Frozen in Ice

Chapter 27

Luke's POV

I woke the next morning and it took a minute to remember where I was. I slipped out of the guest room and found that only Brynn's Dad was in the kitchen. He must have heard me pad in because he turned around and smiled at me.

"You must be Luke, did you sleep well?" he asked.

"Yes thank you Mr Washington. Thank you for letting me stay," I said earnestly.

"Paul, please, you are always welcome here," he told me.

We talked a little bit as we both moved around the kitchen. I told him that I played hockey and then we started talking about that. Brynn came down and she didn't look fully awake yet. I pressed a kiss to her forehead as she moved around.

Once I finished eating I placed my bowl in the sink and I knew that I had to head home to grab my stuff and change.

"I'll see you at school," I said to her.

She nodded and kissed me quickly before I headed out after I said goodbye to Paul as well. Brynn offered me a ride but it wasn't a long walk so I refused it. I found the apartment unlocked and I knew that Mom was home. I pressed my head against the door for a moment before pushing in inwards.

Mom was sitting at the table and I quickly headed into my room and shut the door. I didn't hang around in there long either. Changed, gathered my stuff and headed out. Mom was looking up now and called after me so I stopped for a second.

"Luke, I'm so so sorry," she started before I stopped her.

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to see you. Fuck off," I snapped and headed out.

I was still angry when I got to school so I headed straight to math class and took my seat. No one was in there and I could just focus on breathing and calming down. Brynn came and sat down probably five minutes later and she could see that something had upset me.

"My Mom was home," I said without her even asking.

She offered a sad smile and wrapped me in a hug. We didn't move until class had started and Mr King started talking. I felt out of focus all day and Brynn didn't push me much. I knew that she wanted me to meet her friends but I really couldn't today so we spent lunch in the library.

We didn't talk much the whole day and she gave me a tight hug at the end of the day.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

"Yeah," I said softly.

"Remember you can stay with me whenever you want," she reminded me.

I nodded and we headed off in separate directions. I had Peewee training so I was heading to the rink and I was looking forward to it because these kids always put me in a good mood. I had rec training afterwards as well as that was nice.

David was already there so I joined him out on the ice and we started to talk about the kids. It was nice to get away from everything else that has been going on in my life and just worry about hockey. The kids slowly trickled in and we started training.

I mostly let David run the session and I helped the kids on the ice. The whole time that I was working I could forget about everything else and it felt calm and relaxed. At the end of the session I got talking to Thomas and Tom. Tom was a good kid even if I didn't like his Dad.

For once Thomas' mother was here so I headed over with him to talk for her.

"I never got to say but thank you for having me last night," I said softly.

"It's alright. You are more than welcome to stay any other night that you want," she assured me.

I didn't get a chance to talk much longer because they had to leave and I was getting called away so I said goodbye to the pair of them. Thomas gave me a tight hug and wished me well and I couldn't help but smile. He didn't know what was wrong but he still wanted to make it better.

I didn't realise but I was heading over to talk with Chase and Tom. I couldn't get out of it without it looking strange. I took a deep breath and moved to talk him. Tom smiled up at me and I couldn't believe that this was happening to me.

"Jane told me about your conversation this morning," he started.

I just stared at him and I couldn't believe that he wanted to have his conversation in front of his kid.

"I was just wondering if you knew how much you are hurting her?" he asked.

"How much I hurt her? How about you think about how much she hurt me? I'm all alone and it hurt. I would say more but I'm not going to do it in front of Tom because he doesn't deserve it. I don't want to talk to either," I snapped.

Chase didn't say anything and started to lead Tom away. All the other parents and kids had left so I slumped down and pulled my knees to my chest. I still had skates on so it was awkward but I continued to sit there.

I couldn't believe what Mom had been hiding. I wasn't sure what to think about it and my mind was thinking about it the whole time that I changed for rec training. Once again I was the first one out but not by much.

Jamie pulled me aside at the end and looked me up and down.

"I haven't heard you say anything today. What's the matter?" he asked.

I completely broke down and told him everything that had happened since I last saw him. He wrapped me in a hug and we slowly walked into the locker room. Everyone else noticed my expression and Alex was the first one to react. He stood up and joined Jamie in hugging me. Soon enough I was getting hugged by the whole team.

"Thanks guys," I said.

The locker room got louder and I didn't bother listening to it as I broke away from the hug and took a seat. I slowly changed until Alex, Jamie and I were the only ones left in the locker room. Jamie explained to Alex what I had told him and Alex wrapped me in another hug.

"You can stay with me tonight if you want?" Jamie offered.

I nodded because I wasn't sure if Mom was going to be home and try to talk to me. We headed out together and Jamie drove towards his place.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Comment and Vote

The Wise One