Rose Garden

Andrea wished things were still like that. The venues she played in now were great, she didn’t want anyone to ever think she was ungrateful for the opportunities she had, but they weren’t the intimate gatherings she had come to love in Biel. The loud crowds and overpowering lights were sometimes too much for the young woman and she would often have to take 20 minutes to decompress after a show.

She loved the life she lived now, sure. But there was part of her that wondered if having someone else by her side, someone that could be like Michael Del Zotto was to Taylor. After he had decided to spend some time in Biel, he and Andrea’s best friend had just had some spark that some people never found. It was astounding.

In the back of her mind, as she prepared for her New York show, her mind drifted to the day everything unraveled.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Tyler was in town with the Bruins to go against the Rangers in an early season match-up. It had been almost two months since the young couple had seen each other in person, as Andrea and Taylor had been hard at work meeting with record labels.

It had taken so much work on their parts and so many rejections, before they had gotten lucky. Big Note Records had been the one label willing to take a chance on a YouTube sensation who in the real music world, was a nobody. After offering a contract, and Taylor consulting several online resources, Andrea had signed on the dotted line.

Not caring that the coaches would give him grief for skipping out early from the hotel that night, Tyler hailed a taxi and gave the driver the address he had since memorized. The ten minute drive there was worth the wait, his girlfriend greeted him at the door dressed to the 9’s.

“Missed you,” he said simply before grabbing her into his arms and attaching his lips to hers.

Andrea didn’t argue, although she would admit that her mind was elsewhere. She had put a lot of thought into what she would be doing at the end of their time together and it certainly wouldn’t be easy.

“I missed you too,” she allowed. “Dinner?”

Tyler smiled and offered her his arm, old-fashioned style.

“M’lady,” he kissed her cheek. “Where did you have in mind?”

*~*~*~*~*~*

After dinner, Tyler and Andrea opted for a walk instead of a cab. Hand-in-hand, they strolled down the streets of nighttime Manhattan, everything aglow.

“I have news,” Andrea said as she looked up at Tyler. She had yet to tell him the exciting events that had transpired just a week before.

“What is it?” Different scenarios flashed through his mind. Was it bad? Her health maybe? He knew she had an appointment to check things over to make sure she wasn’t still cancerous just a little while ago. Had something been wrong?

“I got signed,” her voice was breathless.

“What?” Tyler stopped walking. “You got signed?” He moved his hands to her shoulders.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “How crazy is that? I think they might be a little crazy, but…,”

“But nothing,” Tyler shook his head. “That’s fantastic! All your hard work, babe, it’s paying off.”

“We’ll talk about that after I’ve won my Grammy,” she jibed playfully.

They continued walking on then, just enjoying being together. Or at least, Tyler was. Andrea’s mind was elsewhere, thinking about the things she knew would come out of her mouth before Tyler was back in Boston. The only question was, when would she say it?

Before Andrea could make a decision, her thoughts were interrupted by a swarm of Bruins fans coming out of a nearby restaurant.

“Do you mind?” Tyler asked her quietly.

Andrea assured him that no, she didn’t mind. Taking a step back, she watched him interact with his followers.

He was so genuine with them, offering a smile or a fist bump to each one. He would sign for them and take pictures, all while answering their questions.

“Is that your girlfriend?” a young boy asked as Tyler signed his Bruins hat.

Tyler looked over his shoulder with a smile on his face before turning back around. “Sure is, buddy.” He ruffled the young fan’s blonde hair. “I’m lucky to have found her.”

‘Please don’t,’ Andrea melted. ‘Don’t make this any harder than it already will be.’ Andrea decided in that moment that if she wasn’t already in love with him, his sweet moments with fans would make her melt anyway.

Bidding farewell to his fans, Tyler took Andrea’s arm again, nestling her into his side. Placing a happy kiss to her forehead, he made sure she was warm as the fall air began to pick up.

“Game tomorrow?” he asked.

“Of course,” Andrea nodded. “I’ll be in the Lundqvuist jersey.”

“Not funny,” Tyler pouted. “I would expect Taylor in blue, but not you!”

“I kid, I kid,” she assured him. “I’ll be in a Marchand jersey!”

“You’re so cruel,” he feigned heartbreak.

‘Don’t do that!’ she internally cursed him. ‘It’ll be for real soon enough!’ At least, she hoped he would be upset.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“So you’re really going through with it?” Taylor asked after the game the next day.

The Bruins had come out on top in a 4-2 game where Tyler had scored a hat trick for Boston and Michael had an assist on a Staal goal for New York.

“It’s time,” Andrea sighed. “It’s what’s best for both of us.”

“You realize it sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself too, right?” Taylor advised her friend.

Sending her a glare, Andrea left Taylor outside the Rangers locker room and travelled further down the hall towards the visiting team’s room. It had been decided that morning that that day was the day to end things.

But walking into that locker room, Andrea almost had second thoughts. Tyler sat in his stall, with a throng of media surrounding him. As the door opened, his eyes were drawn away from the cameras and to his girlfriend. Standing up, he wedged past the reporters, not bothering with a shirt or an explanation. Picking Andrea up in his arms, he let all the cameras see just how in love he was. If only they could have shown him the bittersweet smile on her face.

Leaving the arena an hour later, Tyler was once again greeted by a crowd of fans. Doing just what he had done the night before, Andrea stood back, trying not to talk herself out of her plan. It would be so easy to not go through with it, but she knew it would eat away at her until she did it.

*~*~*~*~*~*

And eat away at her it did. The boys from Boston wanted to party while in NYC, so that’s just what they did. Tyler and Andrea, sans Taylor and Del Zotto of course, partied into the early morning hours with his teammates before retreating back to Andrea’s apartment with Marchy promising to cover with their coach.

Arriving there, they found it to be empty. Taylor was, without a doubt, staying with Michael that night, to nurse his wounded pride.

Instead of pulling her straight into the bedroom like he had wanted to, Tyler led her out onto the little balcony overlooking a little courtyard below.

“Almost looks like Biel,” he said quietly, observing the grassy area in the almost dawn light.

“If you try hard enough,” she shrugged. Yawning, she moved on to another topic. “You’re so lucky, you know,” she draped her arms around his neck as Tyler’s hands moved to her hips.

“And why’s that? Because I have an incredible girlfriend?” he mumbled against the skin revealed along her neck by the swoop neckline of her dress.

She usually loved his cliché, amazing boyfriend moments, but this weekend, they just reminded her of everything she would leave behind.

“You’ve got hordes of fans waiting for you everywhere you go,” Andrea elaborated. “They fucking love you.”

“And you’re going to have your own,” he reminded her as he unlocked the door to his home. “Soon enough, you’ll have hordes of ‘darlings’ waiting for you everywhere.”

“I don’t know about that,” she sighed. As good as she knew she was, she couldn’t help but doubt the possibility of success in her future. So few made it in the music industry, who’s to say she would be one of them?

“Stop with the depressing shit,” he said, leading her out onto the balcony. “We’re supposed to be celebrating.” He pulled her into his arms, expecting her to connect her lips with his. She didn’t.

He could sense that there was something else she wanted to say, but he didn’t pressure her to spit it out. Something in the back of his mind was yelling at him not to, that it would only end badly. And it was right.

“We need to talk,” she said eventually with a hand on his chest.

“Okay?” Tyler nodded, stepping back but not releasing her hands.

“What I’m about to say is as hard on me as I hope it’ll be on you,” Andrea wouldn’t meet his eyes, afraid she might break down.

“A?” he had made his own nickname for her long ago and she loved it. Tyler reached out and cupped her chin, forcing her to look at him. What he saw surprised him. Tears were brimming on her eyelids, threatening to spill over onto her pretty face. “Baby what’s wrong?”

“I can’t-we can’t,” she stumbled, trying to find the right words to say what she wanted. Although she might have rehearsed it time and time again, Andrea couldn’t believe what she was about to do. “I think it’s over.”

“What?” Tyler shook his head. “What do you mean ‘over’?”

“I mean us, Tyler,” Andrea clarified. “I mean what we’ve had for over the past year. We shouldn’t do this anymore!”

“Do what?” he asked. “Be in love? You’re not making any sense right now, A.”

“I don’t want you to feel any responsibility towards me for the rest of your life. It’s not fair to either of us to have to deal with our own lives and work while trying to make the other happy.”

“But I like making you happy,” Tyler protested. “And you just being around makes me happy.” He refused to believe that she was breaking up with him.

“Please,” she begged. “Ty, don’t-don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

“Hard?” thoughts ran through his mind a mile a minute. “What do you mean hard? Nothing about our relationship has ever been hard!”

“No!” she shook her head. “That’s where you’re wrong. The last few months of Skype calls and texts and tweets have been so, so hard for me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tyler asked. “Why didn’t you let me in?”

“Because I knew how you would react,” Andrea said.

“What’s wrong with me wanting to look out for my girlfriend, huh?” It seemed he was asking a lot of questions and not getting any real answers.

“I need to focus on my career,” her voice was firm. “And you need to focus on yours. It’s that simple, Ty.”

“Well fine,” he was furious, not just with Andrea, but with himself. Had he done something to make her feel this way? “But know this, in a few years, when you’re famous and have crowds everywhere screaming your name; you’re going to wish I was still here. You’re going to wish you had someone to lean on and protect you!”

“I don’t need protecting, Tyler!” Andrea said, following him back into her apartment as he stormed through her living room. “I never have.”

“Then forgive me for thinking you wanted someone to care about you!” he slammed the door behind him, leaving her there, as she crumpled to the floor.

In the cab, the events of the past minutes became real. Suddenly, he realized that all their plans would never become a reality. They had wanted to get a house in the Toronto suburbs, close to family. And they agreed they wanted to travel in the off season. It had been a joke that Tyler would join Andrea on tour, sharing a bunk with her on the tour bus with both his dog, Marshall, and the dog they planned to purchase together, for Andrea. Now, none of that would ever happen.

Maybe Tyler had overdone it; maybe he’d been too dramatic. But in that moment, he didn’t really care.

*~*~*~*~*~*

That feeling soon wore off. Now, Tyler found himself caring- a lot. All he wanted was to hold her, have her against his chest at night. But Tyler had screwed up. He’d let her get away. And maybe, he’d driven her even farther that night.