Echo

Nicole:

I'm back in Boston with Tyler and things seem normal again. After talking it out, Tyler decided to stay in Boston, and I supported his decision. If we have stuck together through all the drama, we can get through some more. Plus, he made a promise to never leave without saying goodbye first. Their next game coming up is against Montreal, which mean Jordan will be in town. I know Tyler makes it seem like he doesn't care but he does. I walked into the living room and sat by Tyler. Just by looking at him I could tell something was wrong. "Ty what's up?" "We're playing Montreal tonight, that's the problem! That means we're playing Jordan, the guy who practically ended Brad's career awhile ago." "Look, he's not gonna hurt you. You have Milan, Nathan, Adam, practically the whole watching your back." "If they get to him first! And if they don't, he's gonna hurt me! I need to talk to coach and figure out how I can get scratched for tonight." He jumped off the couch and started pacing back and forth. I walked over and put my hands on his shoulders. "Hang on okay! Gosh. Before you go crazy, just, at least let me try and talk to Jordan."

"He's got nothing to loose Nicole. He isn't a big star for them, he could care less about getting traded or sent down to the minors. All he wants is blood starting with mine. Maybe staying here wasn't a good idea." He walked away holding his neck. "I'm not gonna say goodbye to you again if that's what your implying. Understand me?" I walked over and held his hand. He looked at me sincerely. "Let me fix this." I held his face and gave him a kiss.

I went to the rink with Tyler to talk to Jordan after his practice. Tyler went into his locker room to get ready for practice and I watched the Canadians finish theirs. The only people left on the ice were Jordan and a few injured players. Eventually they all got off and I waited until Jordan was the only guy left in the room. I knocked on the door and Jordan opened it with a surprised look. "Why are you here?" "I need to talk to you, about Tyler." He walked away and I followed. "Look, I don't like him, he doesn't like me what else is there to talk about?" "You don't get it. He is over all the drama. You should be too." "Look, he attacked me! I had to try and defend myself, but I won't let that go." "He only attacked you because of all the shit you said about me! Which I did hear about." "I'm sorry about all that, but Nicole I didn't want to leave Boston, but I knew Tyler was their pride and joy, so I was the bigger man and decided to leave." "If you wanted to be the bigger man you should have tried to fix things instead of running away from the problem."

"Now you wanna fight with me?" "I didn't come here to fight Jordan. You just, you can't hurt Tyler." "Not only can I, I have to. I have a reputation to uphold, but mostly I want to." "I'm not asking you to forgive him, all I'm asking is you forget everything, and leave him and his teammates alone." "So he gets off scott-free after everything? After he partied the way he did in Vancouver? After he attacked me and I was the one who had to leave? He is forgiven while everyone continues to hate me!" "We all may have forgiven him, but we didn't forget!" "Everyone? What about you?" "It doesn't matter! He has gone through so much that I can't let one thing like a fight with you mess things up, or him going back to Brampton to be with his family." "You can't forgive him, can you?" I looked at him with tears in my eyes and thought, maybe he was right. "You know how much I love Tyler. You can see how scared I am to loose him. If you claim that you're sorry for what happened, then show me your compassion. Show him that you're over everything!" "I can't do that." "What do you mean? You told you were sorry?" "Yeah, I apologized to you, but I will never apologize to Tyler." "You really are pathetic. The only thing you care about is hurting people, and that's all anyone will ever know you for!"

I turned to walk back to the door but couldn't make it out before Jordan would do something. I smacked into the wall as Jordan pushed me down. "What the hell?" i put my hand to my head and the wall and they both had blood on them. "you were right, all I like to do is hurt people. Now you can know what it feels like." I wanted to hit him or something, anything, but my head was throbbing. "You head looks pretty bad, you might wanna go find the Bruins trainer and get that checked out. He walked away to finish cleaning up his stuff, but threw a towel by my and I slowly got up and left the room. I held the towel tight to my head and slowly walked to the bruins room. Milan was stretching outside and saw me walking over. "Nicole! What happened?" "Jordan. I need a trainer, now." "Come on, I'll take you in." We walked in the door and he took me past all the guys. Tyler quickly jumped up as he saw the now semi red towel pressed to the back of my head."Nicole! Are you okay?" He followed Milan and I into the trainers room and I sat on an bench as the doctor looked at my head.

"Don't tell me he did this Nicole?" Now more of the guys were trying to see what was wrong and hear who did it. "Yeah, he did." "Who was it?" Tyler looked back at the guys and sighed. "Caron." "Tyler, what do you want us to do?" "Let's just wait for now. I'm more worried about Nicole." "Of course."

Tyler:

I walked over and held Nicole's hand. "How is it? How does it feel?" "Its getting worse." The tears were falling form her eyes and I felt horrible. "I'm sorry." I shook my head. "No, it's my fault. I'm sorry." "No, you didn't do any of this." "I fought Jordan and cause all of the drama between us. I should have just left it alone." "You did what you thought was right Tyler. You trusted yourself. Don't forget that." I shook my head and looked back to the door. "Do you trust me?" She looked at me concerned but shook her head yes. I left the room and Milan stayed with Nicole. I walked over to the Canadians locker room and went inside. Jordan was hanging up his gear, but stopped when he saw me. "You wanna be in control? Fine, if you did this to try and get me to not play tonight or to scare me, then I won't play. I you really want her hurt, fine! Then you can go into our locker room and watch her sit there crying as the doctor stops the bleeding and gives her stitches. But if you want me to fight you again, or you're trying to provoke me, it's not gonna happen." I looked at him for a minute before walking back to check on Nicole.

(A few days later)

Nicole is doing better since the whole Jordan incident, but she still has headaches here and there. Overall, Jordan and I will probably never be friends or even get along for that matter, Nicole and I just need to realize that and forget about everything with him and move on.

(The Off-Season)

I got the news along with most of the players in the NHL that there is going to be a lockout which means we all have to find somewhere else to play. No one knows how long it will last, but I've heard that we could all be out for awhile. I haven't found out how to explain to Nicole that I have to leave, I don't want to, but I need to keep playing so I can be ready for whenever they end the lockout and start the season. I figured I would tell Nicole tonight before she finds out from any other sources. I just need to make sure she knows that I will come back, eventually.

(That night)

I texted Nicole and asked her to meet me outside my house so we could talk. I was so nervous waiting for her to come over. I didn't know how to tell her I was leaving, but this time I would be far away, that sin't just a 2 hour drive or plane ride. I looked outside as she pulled up and opened the door. "Ty why did you want me to come over and talk? Is everything okay?" I walked outside and put all of my suitcases on the porch. "Tyler, what's wrong?" "Sit down." We sat on the stairs and I could see she was nervous. "There is no easy way to put this. I've been trying how to tell you, and I just have to come out and say it." I looked at the ground and waited for the words to come out. "There is a lockout." "Okay?" "I have to leave." "Why?" "I need to play somewhere else, until they settle things and the owners come to an agreement." Tears were forming in her eyes. "So your playing in the minors then?" "Not exactly." I looked down again and she took a deep breath. "Then where are you playing?" "Switzerland." "Switzerland? that's not exactly a place I can visit often Ty." "I know, I had no choice, I needed to go overseas to play at a high level while we were locker out." She shook her head. "I'm guessing you're leaving now?" "Yeah. Patrick Kane is playing there too so I will at least be with another NHL player." She looked over at me trying to hold back her tears. "How many times are we going to have to say goodbye?" "At least this time we have a minute to do it the right way." She couldn't hold back her tears and she began to cry. Man I hate seeing her cry.

"There isn't a right way." She shook her head and I held her hand. "This isn't goodbye. This is, until I come back. I promised remember?" She shook her head and sniffled. "I will come back, we will be together." "What if you don't?" She looked over at me concerned and scared. I gave her a reassuring look, but she continued. "What if you don't come back for years and I'm forced to move on with my life?" "Nicole, don't think like that." I held both of her hands to try and comfort her. Now I couldn't hold back my tears. "Tell me that you'll never think of me again. Tell me that you'll forget about me. Tell me that you are gonna go on and life a full happy life without me." She looked at me with tears rolling down her face and I didn't want to say it, but I knew I had to. I took a deep and choked on my words before I could form them into a sentence. "I will live a happy life without you. I will forget all about you. And I will never." I stopped and took another breath. "I will never, ever think about you again." She shook her head and let all the tears fall. I knew I had to say it, but it still felt horrible.

I looked at Nicole and couldn't hold my tears, I thought of everything I could loose by going over seas, what I could be giving up and it scared me. She looked up at me and I did the only thing I could do. I pulled Nicole in for a kiss and everything flashed through my mind. When we first met, the Vancouver incident, problems with my dad and hers, everything with Jordan, and even singing One Direction with her on my birthday. Nothing will ever make me truly forget Nicole, not even another Stanley Cup. We both pulled away and she played with the hair on the back of my neck and let out a sigh. "Until you come back?" I could only shake my head because trying to talk would have cause me to break down completely. I gave Nicole a kiss on the head and she held onto my arm until I got up to leave. I grabbed my suitcases and put them into my car. I looked back at Nicole as she cried on the step and watched put everything into my car. I opened up my duffle bag I had in my back seat and reached for something. "For whenever you really miss me, I know it's not me, but it might help a little." She let out a small laugh as she saw what I pulled out. "I'm sure it will help. Thank you." I walked over and gave her one last kiss. "Your welcome."

I walked over to my car and looked back before getting in. As I pulled away from my house I questioned if I was doing the right thing leaving Nicole. But if she is the girl I know she is, she will stay up to somehow watch my games overseas and be sitting on the couch with her Tyler Seguin bear cheering me on. Most of all, I know she will be waiting for me when I come back. She truly is an amazing girl, and that's why I will always love her.