Once In A Lifetime Love

It was 10:55. Five minutes before Tyler was supposed to show up at the apartment, and to say that Ally was freaking out would be an understatement. She had thought a lot about what her brother had said when they talked yesterday, and she was now second guessing herself. Did she really want to get involved with Tyler? She knew what her brother was like during his rookie year and it was anything but pleasant with how many different girls he’d been with. Was she just someone who he thought he could hook up with and then never talk to again or were they going to be friends? She had no idea what to think anymore; and she blamed her brother for that.

Snap out of it! She yelled at herself. It’s not even a date, we’re just hanging out. It can’t be a date when we haven’t even known each other for twenty four hours yet!

“Will you stop thinking so much?” Taylor called from the couch where she was sitting with her laptop on her knees. “You just need to relax and forget about what Patrick said last night. You’re just hanging out, it’s not like he’s bringing you back to his place. You’re going to be in public, where there will be witnesses if he tries to do anything that you’re not comfortable with, but honestly Al, I don’t think he’s going to.”

Ally nodded, agreeing with her best friend. She just needed to stop, take a deep breath and relax.

Less than a minute later, Ally heard her phone go off with a text message. Pulling it out of the back pocket of her white jean shorts, she saw that it was from Tyler.

“I’m in the lobby, I wasn’t sure exactly where your apartment was…”

“What’d he say?”

“He’s in the lobby, said he didn’t know where the apartment was. I
give him credit for not hassling Braden into telling him where it is though.”

“Definitely. Now, you go have fun and either send me a SOS text or call if you need me to come bail you out. Lord knows I’ll be looking for a break from this history paper at some point,” Taylor smiled, looking Ally over one last time before allowing her to walk out the door.

She could have taken the stairs, but going down thirteen flights of stairs, she thought better of the idea. The ride down to the lobby was stressful for the young eighteen year old in the sense that she was making herself nervous all over again. She didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of him; she’d been known to do that from time to time with boys that she hadn’t known all of her life. She wanted him to see that she was just a normal girl who liked hockey almost as much as he did; but that wasn’t all that she was. Her thoughts came to an immediate stop when the elevator doors opened in the lobby. Walking out, she instantly noticed Tyler standing by the small lounge area.
She smiled when he saw her and his small frown turned into a light smile. Stopping in front of her, he gave her a small quick hug.

“You look nice,” he commented, taking in her short, but not too short white jean shorts that was paired with a dark pink tank top, both from American Eagle, with a pair of black Old Navy flip flops on her feet. Her brown hair was down in its natural curls, her make up done light, just like always; only a little bit of eyeliner, shadow and mascara.

Ally blushed at the compliment. “Thank you, you too,” she replied softly.

Tyler had on a pair of Khaki shorts that came below his knees, black and white Under Armour sneakers with a plain black t-shirt.

“You ready to go?” He asked, and when she nodded lightly placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her out of the building.

“So,” he started, turning right down the sidewalk, “how do you like Boston so far?”

She turned to him with a smile, pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes. “I love it so far. I haven’t seen too much just because when we moved in it was like the day before classes started so I’ve been focused on that and trying to finish unpacking everything. What about you? You haven’t been here long either have you?”

Tyler shook his head. “No, I haven’t been here too long, but long enough to find my way around. It also helps that the guys on the team have been here for so long already that they can help me out. I’ll have to take you on a tour of the city sometime,” he told her smiling.

They continued with their small talk just getting to know one another as they walked the semi-long distance to the diner that Tyler had suggested.

“Was it hard, the first couple weeks you were here, away from your family?” Ally questioned as she was looking through her menu, trying to decide if she still wanted breakfast, or if she was in the mood for lunch.

“Yes and no,” he answered, placing his menu on the table. “I had been away from home before, playing in the OHL and getting as much training as I could, that this was just like another one of those times, only a bit further. I think it’s tougher on my sisters and mom this time around though.”

She nodded in understanding. That was something that Tyler admired about her. She understood exactly what he was saying because she was in the same situation, well sort of.

“It is tougher,” she spoke softly, speaking for not just herself, but for his sisters as well. “It’s different this time. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but I know what you mean about your mom and sisters. When Pat first left,” she said, her eyes lighting up just a small amount as she mentioned her brother, “it felt like I’d never get to see him again. I mean, I knew that wasn’t true, but it was harder to grasp that it wouldn’t be as easy to talk to him, that with the way his schedule was that I’d have to go a couple days without being able to talk to him.”

Tyler nodded in complete understanding. “You and Patrick, you’re close I assume?” he asked with a smile.

She nodded, before being interrupted by the waitress that was at their table.

“Hi kids, what can I get for you?” the elderly lady spoke in a tone that only cute, elderly ladies can speak with. It caused them both to smile in appreciation.

Tyler motioned for her to go first. “Can I get two chocolate chip pancakes please? With chocolate milk?”

“Of course dear,” the waitress, who’s nametag read ‘Hailey’ answered with a smile, writing down the order. “And for you honey?” she questioned, her attention now on Tyler.

“You know,” he started, “that actually sounds really good, I’ll have the same please.”

He had originally thought he wanted something of a lunch variety, but when he heard Ally order the pancakes, he realized that he was actually craving them.

“They’ll be right out kids.” And with that Hailey walked back towards the kitchen of the small diner.

“Chocolate chip pancakes huh” Tyler smirked looking at the brunette in front of him. She nodded, a small blush on her cheeks.

“Sue me, I’m a kid at heart,” she responded with a laugh.

“Hey, I’m not judging, I got the same thing remember?”

They fell back into conversation very easily, Ally answering the question Tyler had asked earlier.

“Pat and I are extremely close. You’d think we wouldn’t be considering he’s the oldest and I’m the youngest of the five of us, but for some reason we are. When we were younger, our other sisters, Erica, Jessica and Jackie always used to complain about having to go to a hockey practice or game; they’d end up playing with their dolls and whatnot in the seats, while I would be really into watching him play. I’m not really sure how it happened, but it did. I wouldn’t trade our relationship for the world. Do I wish I could see him more, of course I do. What little sister doesn’t wish they could see their big brother more? But I’m so proud of him for doing what he’s always dreamed about that I’d never let him know just how much I really do miss him because I know he’d come home in a heartbeat.”

Tyler sat there with a smile on his face. The story that he just heard was almost identical to the type of relationship that he had with both of his younger sisters, the only difference is that his sisters both played hockey competitively as well.

“I’m sorry!” she said almost immediately, “that was really sappy. I have a tendency to just babble and don’t know when to stop and – “

“Ally,” he interrupted, smiling at how she blushed once again. “It’s ok. It really wasn’t that sappy. My sister’s, Candace and Cassidy have told me the same thing. You don’t have anything to worry about. Plus, the babbling, I think it’s cute,” he smirked while winking.

The blush on Ally’s face turned an even deeper shade of pink, almost matching the tank top that she was wearing. Thankfully she didn’t need to respond because Hailey arrived with the pancakes.

After a bit of small talk while eating the delicious meal, they were getting ready to leave when Tyler scooped up the check before Ally could even register what had happened.

“I can pay for my breakfast,” she said with certainty in her voice. He just looked at her and shook his head.

“That won’t be necessary, it’s my treat. Next time, it’ll be on you,” he replied. That caused her to let out a small sigh of relief. At least it wasn’t a complete date; if you wanted to put it that way.

Tyler paid the bill and they walked back out into the Boston heat. She pulled her sunglasses back down to protect her eyes from the beaming sun while suddenly stopping when she saw a small park to her left. Looking at Tyler, she asked the silent question, and he couldn’t deny her. He nodded with a smile and they made their way to the bench that overlooked the park.

“So,” Ally spoke, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over the two eighteen year olds. “You know all about me, but I don’t know much about you.”

He was just about to ask what she wanted to know when his Blackberry rang in his pocket. He was going to just silence it, but when he saw that it was his sister calling, he knew that he needed to at least answer it. She normally just texted him, hardly ever called; so he was a bit worried.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, “it’s my sister, I’ll be right back,” and with that he got up and walked a few feet away but not before shooting her an apologetic look.

While he was talking to his sister, she pulled out her iPhone to check for any missed text messages; as she had turned the volume down to its lowest setting. She smiled lightly when she saw one from Taylor and her brother. She also had a couple from her sisters, but she would read them later.

“How’s it going? I was hoping for a bit of an update! I’m anxious here Al!” is the message from Taylor which caused a smile to break out on her face, a small laugh coming from her lips as she could just picture her best friend sitting on the couch typing the message.

“Just checking in, making sure he hasn’t done anything to piss me off.” He would, Ally thought to herself as she read the message from Patrick before quickly responding.

Everything is fine. We had brunch and now we’re at a small park. I’ll call you later.

Just as she hit send, she saw a shadow walking back toward her. She put her phone back in her pocket before smiling up at Tyler.

“Everything ok?” she asked, and he could tell she was actually concerned. It comforted him to know that she wasn’t upset with him for taking the call. Like she had said about not getting to talk to her brother as much as she’d like, it was the same for him. He wasn’t able to talk to his family much, so when they called, and he wasn’t in the middle of hockey, he took the opportunity to talk to them. He knew that when training started up on Monday that he’d have less time to talk and wanted to get as much in as he could before then.

He nodded. “Yeah, she’s just being a fifteen year old girl,” he smiled. Ally laughed lightly at his answer, understanding exactly what he meant.

“So, what do you want to know about me?” he questioned, getting back to what they had been discussing before he took the phone call.

The duo spent a good chunk of the afternoon in the sun on that park bench, sharing stories and getting to know one another. To any onlooker, they would have thought they’d been friends for years, just catching up after not seeing each other for a couple months; when in reality, the young adults had barely known each other for a full twenty four hours. It was strange how things seemed to happen.

“I had fun today, thank you Tyler,” Ally smiled as they made their way back into the lobby of Ally’s apartment building. Tyler smiled, nodding his head in agreement.

“I did as well. I’ll see you later,” he told her, giving her a quick hug, which she responded to this time, before turning and walking back out of the building, but not without taking one last look behind him at the brunette that he had just spent most of his Saturday with.

A small smile formed on her face as she watched him walk away, turning her direction to the elevator. Stepping inside, she noticed that she was once again alone, which made her somewhat happy, meaning that no one would question her as to why she had such a goofy looking smile on her face.

As soon as she stepped out of the elevator her phone rang. Chelsea Dagger exploded from her phone and instantly she knew that her brother was calling.

“It went well, he didn’t do anything that you wouldn’t approve of. All we did was talk and get to know each other, so stop worrying,” she said in lieu of a greeting as she smiled into the phone, knowing that’s exactly what he was calling about.

“I can’t just call to see how my baby sister is doing in Boston?” he asked, feigning innocence in his voice. He knew that she saw through it, but hey, you couldn’t blame a guy for trying could you?

“No Patrick, not when you knew where I was and that I told you I’d call you later,” she answered, opening the door to her apartment.
In Chicago, Patrick rolled his eyes. “Fine, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have to come to Boston and kick his ass before he even started in the NHL.”

“You don’t have to worry,” Ally told him, mouthing ‘Pat’ to Taylor when she questioned with her eyes who she was talking to. “It was just a casual thing, you don’t need to place any bodily harm on him just yet.”

“Good,” he responded.

“Tell Ally I said hi!” she heard being yelled in the background. She smiled when she recognized the voice.

“Tazer says hi,” Patrick said.

“Can I talk to him?” she asked excitedly. She hadn’t spoken to him in a while, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss it. He was like another big brother to her, only this one was just like a best friend too, not that Patrick wasn’t. It was just a bit easier for her to talk to him about certain things because he wasn’t her brother and she didn’t have to worry about him interrupting her to go all ‘protective’ on her.

She heard shuffling on the other line and was then met with his deep voice.

“Hey Allycat! How’s Boston?!” he asked with enthusiasm. She smiled.

“It’s great, but I do miss home. When do I get to see you? I hardly saw you at all over the summer!” she complained. The two had grown close since Patrick joined the team in 2007 and they had met. She had to admit, when they first met she thought it was the most attractive man she’d ever seen, but the more she got to know him, the more it wore off. Not that he wasn’t attractive by any means, but he was almost just like her brother. On the ice he was ‘Captain Serious’, but off, he was just a normal young guy who liked to have fun. He was just a bit more careful than her brother.

“I know I miss you too. I’ll see you soon though, maybe we can fly you out during a long weekend or something. You and Taylor can come to a game or something.”

It was no secret to her that Jonathan had a crush on her best friend, and it was not secret that her best friend had a crush on the young captain either. The only people it was a secret to were the two subjects at hand, they were both oblivious no matter how many times she mentioned it to both of them that the feelings were mutual.

“That would be awesome! I’m sure you and Patrick were going to go out or something, so I’ll talk to you guys later. Tell Patty I love him, and you too Tazer.”

“Later Ally! Tell Taylor I said hi,” she knew he was blushing, that’s just the kind of guy he was.

“Will do, later Jonny.”

“Why won’t you just tell him you like him?” she asked turning to Taylor, who’s ears had perked up when she heard that Ally was talking to Jon.

“You really think that he’d like an eighteen year old college freshman that he’s known for three years when he can have any girl he wants out in Chicago? I’d rather not put myself through that humiliation.”

Ally just shook her head at her best friend, wishing that she could see what everyone else sees, before walking to her room to get her lap top to work on her journalism article, her afternoon with Tyler completely forgotten.