Young Hearts

There's a brunette with some of the brightest green eyes you have ever seen that goes by Darla. She had one of the brightest personalities of anyone you will ever meet. Loud, energetic, happy and one of the kindest souls you'd ever meet, with the smile to match it. Which would explain her long time friendship with the four Staal brothers and steady relationship with one of the two blonde brothers, Jordan.

Their mothers had known each other from grammar school and had been best friends since, just kids themselves and when they decided to get married and start their own families, they knew they wanted to do that together, to have each other to lean on and friends for their future children. The first few years weren't as easy as they had expected. Linda found herself pregnant within the first six months of trying and though Caroline Thompson was determined, it just wasn't happening for her. It nearly broke her heart seeing her best friend have the one thing she wanted, though Linda tried reassuring her that her time would come. She and her husband kept trying and though it took a few years and another pregnancy for Linda, Caroline was blessed to hear the news one day at her doctor appointment, knowing she would finally get the chance at parenthood. When she approached her best friend about it, Linda couldn't hide the smile and spilled that she too was expecting, this being her third child. They hardly separated in the coming months, which would be a trait soon passed on to their babies that would be born just weeks apart, Jordan first, as he would become accustomed to, seeing as he would always be waiting on Darla in their teenage years.

Neither parents pushed their children into a friendship, it just seemed to come easy to Darla and Jordan, something that gave Darla's father Marty and uneasy feeling. He didn't like seeing his only baby so close to a boy, though he couldn't have asked for a better one to be in her life, as was proven over the years as Jordan never failed to be there for her.

The first time being when he, Marc and Eric were playing a pick up game of hockey and refused to let her in the game, not only because she was a girl, but because she was small for a four year old. Jordan knew the determined look on her face and he knew his brothers would regret not letting her play, so they stuck her in the position of goalie.

For such a small child, she knew how to hold her own, finally causing Eric's frustration to get to him and he stupidly tried to push her over as she was situated between the poles on the net. As she crashed to the ground, Darla fought the tears. Jordan saw them and he was not about to let his brother get away with it. He marched right up to him and tried his hardest to clock his much older and taller brother in the nose, getting a bit of force behind it. Eric and Marc scurried off, likely to tell on him, but Jordan didn't care. All that mattered to him was making sure his best friend was okay.

“Dar-Dar, are you okay? Do you need a bandaid? Do I need to kiss it better? My momma does that for me and it always makes mine feel lots better,” the little boy rattled off as he kneeled next to her, checking all over.

Darla let out a girlish giggle, “Jordy, I'm fine, see!” She gave him a bright smile.

“Well, can we go to the park? I kinda don't want my momma to yell at me when she see's Eric,” he admitted sheepishly.

She stood quickly, taking the gear she was wearing off. Darla reached for his hand and he took it, being pulled to a standing position, “Lets go.”

As they made their way to the park, Jordan didn't let go. It was typical for the two young ones, no matter how many times they would be teased about cooties.

When they approached the park, Jordan pulled Darla over to a tree and they sat beneath it, giggling and playing simple hand games like Patty-Cake and Thumb War.

“Jordy, promise you'll always be my best friend?” she asked innocently, in between one of their games.

A huge, pearly grin showed up on his face, “Forever!”

Darla grinned right back at him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, like she had seen in movies she had watched. A slight blush appeared on the boys face, quickly disappearing as they heard Momma Staal yelling for them and Jordan knew he was in for it. But to him, it'd always be worth it if it meant protecting Darla.

A few years passed and the two found themselves in elementary school, where Jordan had slowly started making more friends who were boys.

Darla had always been small for her age, which seemed to gain her a lot of unnecessary mocking from the children. And though Eric and Marc started to take on a role of looking after her, it was nothing like the one Jordan held. Sure, they tried their best but being a bit older there were times when they just couldn't be there to help, especially with their hockey leagues and camps they seemed to be so involved with.

So one day as she was playing hop-scotch during recess, she unexpectedly tripped and fell, but it wasn't on her own accord. No, it was in fact Billy Robinson who decided to put a stick in front of her, thinking her protectors weren't around to do anything about it.

“Ow, Billy!” she yelled and before she even got to Billy's name, Jordan was already at her side, having ditched his friends at the slide.

“Is it bleeding? Are you okay?” he asked, but soon noticed it was a mere scrape so he turned to Billy, anger coating his features. “Don't you have something to say to her?” he asked, stepping up to him.

“S-sorry,” the other boy stuttered out. Darla ignored him, grinning at her best friend as Billy scurried away.

“Thanks Jorday,” Darla told him, holding her hands out to be pulled to her feet.

“Meet me at the park tonight?” the seven year old asked and Darla nodded, not thinking twice.

That afternoon once Jordan was back from hockey practice, he met Darla at their tree, the same one from years earlier.

“Does it hurt?” he asked, taking a seat next to her and motioning to her scraped knee.

“Just stings a little,” she muttered, coloring a picture of a puppy in her coloring book.

Without asking, Jordan leaned down to “kiss it better” as his momma had taught him. A slight blush rose on Darla's cheeks, curious as to what her best friend was doing.

“Is it better now?” he asked.

Darla gave him a nod and without thinking, gave Jordan a quick kiss on the lips. It was each of theirs first kiss.

Over the years, their friendship started to progress into something a lot more. By grade nine, the two were a solid couple and the news didn't shock many. In fact, his brothers seemed to have been anticipating it, even the youngest Jared, who let out a “finally!” when the news broke.

That tree in the park seemed to gain more meaning for both of them because it was where a lot of things happened. Such as their first kiss and where Jordan finally admitted his feelings to her. Though that tree didn't necessarily only have positive memories. A lot of fights and tears had ended up being spilled there and yet, it brought them closer together each and every time. The two of them knew they would be completely lost without the other and that wasn't something they were hoping to experience any time soon.

In grade eleven, Jordan's hockey career took off extremely fast but he always promised to never forget a date he had with Darla and he tried his best not to.

However, as prom season rolled around it had completely escaped Jordan's mind that he had made a promise to his best friend and girlfriend a long time ago that no matter what happened to them, he would be her date to both proms.

Darla figured he was just being a boy and it kept slipping his mind to ask her and that it was just assumed they would go together. But when that Saturday rolled around and she was dressed and done up to the nines for the night, she could have sworn she heard her heart break as each hour passed with no sign of that blue eyed, blonde at her doorstep.

Ignoring her mother, Darla made a break for the park, needing her sanctuary. Jordan spotted her dashing down the street as he was coming home from a quick trip to the gym. He caught sight of her outfit and couldn't figure out what she was looking so nice for, so he dropped his bag at the door and headed for her.

When he approached her, he could hear quiet sobs escaping her and it was tearing at his heart.

“Dar, what's wrong?” he asked quietly, making his way towards her to pull her into him.

“Don't, don't come near me,” she snapped, backing herself up against their tree.

“Woah! What did I do?” he asked, stunned by the harshness in her voice.

Darla just shook her head, not wanting to acknowledge the fact that her boyfriend could forget something so important to her, something that their whole school had been buzzing about for months.

Finally, she let one word slip passed her lips, “Prom.”

And just like that, Jordan's face paled. Running his hands through his hair, he felt like the worst boyfriend in the world, knowing how much that night meant to her.

“I am so, so sorry. You know I would never intentionally forget about something like that. It's just...with all this pressure that's on me, some things just slip my mind. You know you mean the world to me, right? I love you Darla, so, so much and I don't want this to drive a wedge between us. I'll do anything to make it up to you, just please don't hate me!” he begged, getting on his knees and wrapping his arms around Darla's waist, resting his head on her stomach. Darla Thompson was the only girl besides his mother that Jordan didn't want to picture his life without.

“Dance with me,” she whispered, running her hands over his hair.

Jordan pulled back and looked at her, immediately getting to his feet and pulling her into him as he saw the soft smile on her face.

The two stayed out for a couple hours, dancing under the moonlight to no music, without a care in the world.

In her mind, that night was better than any night she would spend with her classmates, crowded on a dance floor.

Another year had passed and it was now the middle of October. Jordan had been drafted a few months prior to the Pittsburgh Penguins, following in the footsteps of his older brothers in entering the NHL and Darla had chosen to attend university in Toronto.

It was the first time they had been separated for an extended amount of time, knowing there wouldn't be much of a chance to see each other.

Darla was home on an extended weekend and she thought it would be a breath of fresh air to be back home. However, the hardest part for her was realizing that everywhere she turned, something was there to remind her of Jordan and disappointment would sink in that he wouldn't be there.

One night as she lay in her childhood bedroom, sleep refused to meet her as her thoughts were plagued of the past and the future, mainly revolving around Jordan, so she pulled on a pair of shoes and one of Jordan's sweatshirts that he had left behind just for her. She grabbed her cellphone and her house key as she booked it out the door.

She made her way down the road to the park that was always hers and Jordan's. Darla took a seat under the tree that they had deemed theirs because of all the memories it held. From Jordan telling her he was heading to the NHL Entry Draft, to the night their futures almost fell apart when she told him there was the possibility she could be pregnant. Luckily, the latter was a false alarm and Jordan wouldn't need to be hiding from Mr. Thompson any time soon.

She rested her back against the tree and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to rid herself of thoughts of her boyfriend. No matter how long he was gone for, it never got easier and this was just the beginning for them.

As these thoughts began to overwhelm her, she felt a buzzing in the front pocket of the hoodie. She put her hand in and pulled her cellphone out, smiling as she saw Jordan's name flash across the screen.

“I was just thinking about you,” she muttered.

“Are you okay?” he asked, noticing the tone in her voice right away, instantly alarming him.

She took a deep breath, ready to lay all her cards on the table. “I can't do this anymore Jordy. It's all so hard without you here. You have no idea how often I break down at school, how much I wish that you were here to hold me.” Silent tears rolled down her face but Jordan knew her well enough to know the tears were falling, even if he couldn't see her.

His heart broke as he thought about her and guilt laced his words as he spoke, “I know. I know it should be me there.” He paused. “Will you come see me in Pitt over your Christmas break?”

“For how long, Jord?”

“All of it. A day. I don't care. I just want to see you baby,” he begged, missing her more with every word spoken between the two.

“I don't know if I can spend time with you in your city and then leave... that'd hurt me to much...”

“...Then don't. Don't leave I mean. Move here with me and transfer to a school here next fall. I don't think I can stand to be away from you for much longer than is necessary.”

“I'll visit Jord, but I don't know if I can move. That's asking a lot, you know?”

He nodded, which she knew he did just by how well they knew each other.

The day after her finals were done at university, Darla was on her way to catch a flight to Pittsburgh, where for the first time in months she would be seeing the only man aside from her father that she loved.

When she arrived, Jordan swept her up into his arms and they went back to his apartment, where they sat and held each other well into the night.

As each day passed and Darla spent her time with Jordan, meeting his teammates and attending games, she knew leaving wouldn't be easy, so she began filling out applications for school all over the city, hoping at least one accepted her. When she told Jordan she would be canceling her flight home, he was ecstatic, words couldn't even begin to describe how much those actions meant to him.

That summer when they went home to Thunder Bay, the couple took a walk to their park and Jordan sat with his back against their tree, Darla tucked into his arms.

“Dar-Dar,” he began, noting the grin on her face as he called her the nickname he had given her when he had difficulty with her name as a toddler. “I know we're young, but I also know there's one thing I'm sure of. You're it for me until the very end. Make me and both our families the happiest people alive and finally become a Staal?” he asked, pulling a ring box from his pocket and flashing the platinum diamond engagement band in front of her. He took her silent kiss as a yes.

Several years down the road, the two were living happily and comfortably in Pittsburgh, Jordan's career as hot as ever. They were happy with their life and their three year old little boy, Tommy.

As the parents took him to the park one day, they noticed him with a little girl, hiding under the shade of a small tree. When they looked closer, they noticed that he was checking to make sure she was okay and sighed in relief when they came to the conclusion her tears weren't because of their son.

Watching the interaction, Darla grinned up at her husband, seeing every bit of Jordan in him and knowing that there was something between that little boy and girl brewing.