Status: re-post :)
Beside You
Chapter 2
When my mom phoned me, I almost couldn’t believe it. My Gretch was coming to Chicago. I was so happy, yet so nervous. It had been almost 5 years since I had last seen her. I had talked to her quite a few times since I got drafted. But the last time I saw her was when I flew her down to see me play in my first NHL game in Phoenix back in 2006. I didn’t think I’d recognize her if I hadn’t seen pictures at my parent’s place when I went back home. I was surprised that I didn’t see her when I went back home. Her family was always over at my house. Our moms are so close, almost like sisters. I always got told she was busy.
I could remember the first time that we really became friends.
Flashback{/u]
I was walking home from my friend Cody’s house and saw Gretchen sitting on her front porch. She looked like she had been crying. It was raining out, so I knew something had to be wrong for her to be sitting outside by herself and not inside with her family. We weren’t really friends at this point. In fact, I made fun of her a lot with my brothers and her brothers. We picked on her for being the only girl on our block. Still, I felt the need to at least ask her if there was anything I could do to help. I hated seeing someone so close to my family down in the dumps.
“Gretchen? Are you okay?”
She looked up at me with tears running down her face and a frown.
“Does it look like everything is okay, Dan? Look, now you’ve seen me cry. You can go tell your brothers that poor little Gretchen got dumped by her boyfriend and have a big laugh.”
She put her head back down against her knees. I felt bad for her.
“Look, I’m not going to tell my brothers shit. I came over to see if you were alright. Sorry, if I bothered you. Go back to crying yourself into oblivion.”
I was about to walk away, pissed that she thought I was up to no good. I couldn’t really blame her, thought. I hadn’t given much reason to think otherwise. Then I heard her speak again.
“Dan?”
I was halfway turned around when I looked back towards the crying girl.
“Yea?”
“Thanks, for caring. I know if I went inside my brothers would just laugh at me. They never liked Josh; thought he was a tool and treated me like shit.”
I laughed, remembering hearing her brothers talking about how much they didn’t like him.
“It’s no problem. Hey, if you don’t want to go in your house right now, you’re welcome to come over to mine. None of my brothers should be home. I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold over that tool.”
She laughed.
“You sure you don’t mind?”
I shook my head. She got up off the porch and walked beside me. When we reached my house, I led her up to my room. She turned around and raised her eyebrow at me.
“Dan, I just got dumped. I’m in no mood to sleep with you.”
I laughed out loud.
“I was only going to give you some dry clothes to wear, but thanks for letting me know you think about sleeping about me. A real ego-booster.”
She chuckled nervously and followed me into my room.
*End Flashback*
I smiled remembering that I gave her one of my Pink Floyd shirts that day and she kept it. Whenever I asked for it back, she’d tell me that she lost it. Of course, I’d see her wearing it not even a week later. I missed her like crazy. I only hoped that our relationship would be the same as it was when we last saw each other.
*Flashback*
I picked up Gretch and my parents from the airport in Phoenix. My brothers were busy so I gave the extra tickets back to the box office. As long as the three people who were the most influential on my life were there, I was good to go. I looked over at Gretchen from the driver’s seat. She was beaming.
“Danny, I’m so excited. You worked so hard for this. I know I’ve told you a million times already, but I’m so proud of you.”
I smiled. She did tell me a lot before she arrived in Phoenix that she was proud of me. I had been drafted by Pittsburgh in 2003, but never got a chance to play at the NHL level until I was traded to Phoenix. I was so pumped for the game. Sharing this experience with my parents and Gretchen was the cherry on top of a very delicious sundae that, in that moment, I called my life.
“I know, Gretch, and yes, you have told me a bunch of times. That doesn’t mean I get tired of hearing it.”
We shared a few more laughs before arriving at the arena. I had to quickly get into the locker room, seeing as I was supposed to be in my gear about 5 minutes before we pulled in the parking lot.
Luckily, the coach didn’t penalize me for being late and let me play a large number of minutes. I didn’t score a goal or anything, but I played my heart out.
After the game was over, I had my folks and Gretchen meet me just outside the locker room so we could go out for a late dinner before they headed to their hotel. We found a small Italian restaurant. We made small talk about what I was missing back home. Gretchen was telling me about her classes at college. I was so proud of her for going back to school.
The meal ended too soon for my liking, but my parents were getting tired. I understood and drove them to their hotel. Gretchen turned to me before she was about to get out of the car.
“Are you really tired?”
I shook my head.
“No, why?”
I saw the smirk grow on her face.
“I challenge you, fine sir, to a duel. Mario Kart style.”
I laughed out loud. We got out of the car to bid my folks goodnight and headed over to my apartment. I looked over at Gretchen when we reached a red light. I could never figure out how I got so lucky to have such an awesome best friend. I couldn’t think of anyone else who would want to start a Mario Kart marathon tournament at 11 o’clock at night just for the hell of it.
*End Flashback*
I hoped she hadn’t changed too much…
When I got ready to pick Gretchen up from the airport, I could feel the nerves kick in again. I had hoped she was coming alone, but of course, just to see her again was awesome enough for me.
I decided to go over and pick up her luggage, thinking she probably didn’t want to be in the airport too long. It was easy to find, seeing as she never changed her last name. I was happy that a bunch of her stuff got shipped earlier in the week and she only had 2 average sized bags with her today.
Finally, I saw her flowing red hair. I instantly knew it was her. I knew my Gretch.
“Gretchen!!”
She had heard me yell for her and a smile grew wide on her face. She wrapped me in a hug as soon as she was close enough to do so.
We made some minor small talk. I screwed it all up by mentioning that I knew that she got engaged. Apparently that wasn’t the best thing to say after not seeing each other for 5 years. I felt like shit so I tried to correct it by suggesting we just go home and order pizza. Gretch was game for that.
The car ride back to my place was horrible. I never felt so awkward in my life. Gretchen was clearly thinking about something, and the only thing I could hear was my own heavy breathing. I didn’t even turn on the radio, not knowing if that would make it worse or not. I had hoped that when we finally reached my place, she would cheer up a little bit.
No such luck. After giving her her bags and telling her where her room was, I didn’t see Gretchen for most of the night. I felt bad for the comment I made, so after about a half hour of sitting around in silence, I walked up to Gretchen’s room.
She was standing in the middle of her room, surrounded by boxes, yet staring at a picture frame she had in her hands.
“Gretch? You okay?”
I didn’t think I had startled her that bad, but it made her drop the picture frame. The glass shattered when it hit the floor. I walked over to help her clean it up, but Gretchen pushed me away. I didn’t know what I had done wrong, but I didn’t want to push it right now. I left her room and walked back into the living room.
I decided to call my mom. I wanted to see if she knew anything as to why Gretchen would be acting like this.
Finally, my mom answered her phone.
“Daniel, is everything alright? How’s Gretchen?”
I sighed. “Mom….”
“Daniel, what’s going on? Is Gretchen there?”
“Yea mom, she’s here. I don’t know what’s wrong with her, she’s really distant.”
I hoped my mom could give me some insight as to what, if anything, that Gretchen’s mom had told her recently.
“Really? Even around you? That’s strange. She always opened up around you. That’s when the true Gretchen always came out.”
I ran my hand through my hair. My mom didn’t know anything, and that bothered me. If Gretchen didn’t tell me something, she would tell her mom, who would eventually tell my mom, who would tell me if I asked.
“I have a feeling she’s hiding something. She’s not my Gretch anymore. I’m worried, Mom.”
I could hear my mom sigh through the phone.
“Maybe she has some unresolved issues back here that she just wasn’t quite ready to leave yet. Or maybe she’s nervous about being in a new city so far away from her parents. Give her time, she’ll open up to you, Daniel. You just got to be patient.”
“Okay. Yeah, I’ll talk to you later, Mom.”
“I love you, son. Everything will work out, you’ll see.”
“Love you too.”
I hung up the phone and heard footsteps coming from behind me. I turned my head and saw Gretchen. I was sure she heard part of my conversation with my mom. I shot her a half smile. I didn’t know much else that I could do at the moment.
She apologized and told me she needed time. In my head, I was screaming for her to open up to me and tell me just what the hell was going through her head. Instead, I decided to listen to my mother’s advice and be patient and wait for Gretchen to come to me when she was ready.
“Take all the time you need, Gretch. I know that there is something you’re not telling me, but I’m not going to push it.”
She nodded to me, then mumbled something about that being all she needed to say and walked back towards her room. I could’ve sworn I saw tears forming in her eyes. I wanted nothing more than to follow her and comfort her, but I knew I had to stay back and let her go through…..whatever she was going through.
It was at that moment I realized…..
…this is not the way it used to be…
I could remember the first time that we really became friends.
Flashback{/u]
I was walking home from my friend Cody’s house and saw Gretchen sitting on her front porch. She looked like she had been crying. It was raining out, so I knew something had to be wrong for her to be sitting outside by herself and not inside with her family. We weren’t really friends at this point. In fact, I made fun of her a lot with my brothers and her brothers. We picked on her for being the only girl on our block. Still, I felt the need to at least ask her if there was anything I could do to help. I hated seeing someone so close to my family down in the dumps.
“Gretchen? Are you okay?”
She looked up at me with tears running down her face and a frown.
“Does it look like everything is okay, Dan? Look, now you’ve seen me cry. You can go tell your brothers that poor little Gretchen got dumped by her boyfriend and have a big laugh.”
She put her head back down against her knees. I felt bad for her.
“Look, I’m not going to tell my brothers shit. I came over to see if you were alright. Sorry, if I bothered you. Go back to crying yourself into oblivion.”
I was about to walk away, pissed that she thought I was up to no good. I couldn’t really blame her, thought. I hadn’t given much reason to think otherwise. Then I heard her speak again.
“Dan?”
I was halfway turned around when I looked back towards the crying girl.
“Yea?”
“Thanks, for caring. I know if I went inside my brothers would just laugh at me. They never liked Josh; thought he was a tool and treated me like shit.”
I laughed, remembering hearing her brothers talking about how much they didn’t like him.
“It’s no problem. Hey, if you don’t want to go in your house right now, you’re welcome to come over to mine. None of my brothers should be home. I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold over that tool.”
She laughed.
“You sure you don’t mind?”
I shook my head. She got up off the porch and walked beside me. When we reached my house, I led her up to my room. She turned around and raised her eyebrow at me.
“Dan, I just got dumped. I’m in no mood to sleep with you.”
I laughed out loud.
“I was only going to give you some dry clothes to wear, but thanks for letting me know you think about sleeping about me. A real ego-booster.”
She chuckled nervously and followed me into my room.
*End Flashback*
I smiled remembering that I gave her one of my Pink Floyd shirts that day and she kept it. Whenever I asked for it back, she’d tell me that she lost it. Of course, I’d see her wearing it not even a week later. I missed her like crazy. I only hoped that our relationship would be the same as it was when we last saw each other.
*Flashback*
I picked up Gretch and my parents from the airport in Phoenix. My brothers were busy so I gave the extra tickets back to the box office. As long as the three people who were the most influential on my life were there, I was good to go. I looked over at Gretchen from the driver’s seat. She was beaming.
“Danny, I’m so excited. You worked so hard for this. I know I’ve told you a million times already, but I’m so proud of you.”
I smiled. She did tell me a lot before she arrived in Phoenix that she was proud of me. I had been drafted by Pittsburgh in 2003, but never got a chance to play at the NHL level until I was traded to Phoenix. I was so pumped for the game. Sharing this experience with my parents and Gretchen was the cherry on top of a very delicious sundae that, in that moment, I called my life.
“I know, Gretch, and yes, you have told me a bunch of times. That doesn’t mean I get tired of hearing it.”
We shared a few more laughs before arriving at the arena. I had to quickly get into the locker room, seeing as I was supposed to be in my gear about 5 minutes before we pulled in the parking lot.
Luckily, the coach didn’t penalize me for being late and let me play a large number of minutes. I didn’t score a goal or anything, but I played my heart out.
After the game was over, I had my folks and Gretchen meet me just outside the locker room so we could go out for a late dinner before they headed to their hotel. We found a small Italian restaurant. We made small talk about what I was missing back home. Gretchen was telling me about her classes at college. I was so proud of her for going back to school.
The meal ended too soon for my liking, but my parents were getting tired. I understood and drove them to their hotel. Gretchen turned to me before she was about to get out of the car.
“Are you really tired?”
I shook my head.
“No, why?”
I saw the smirk grow on her face.
“I challenge you, fine sir, to a duel. Mario Kart style.”
I laughed out loud. We got out of the car to bid my folks goodnight and headed over to my apartment. I looked over at Gretchen when we reached a red light. I could never figure out how I got so lucky to have such an awesome best friend. I couldn’t think of anyone else who would want to start a Mario Kart marathon tournament at 11 o’clock at night just for the hell of it.
*End Flashback*
I hoped she hadn’t changed too much…
When I got ready to pick Gretchen up from the airport, I could feel the nerves kick in again. I had hoped she was coming alone, but of course, just to see her again was awesome enough for me.
I decided to go over and pick up her luggage, thinking she probably didn’t want to be in the airport too long. It was easy to find, seeing as she never changed her last name. I was happy that a bunch of her stuff got shipped earlier in the week and she only had 2 average sized bags with her today.
Finally, I saw her flowing red hair. I instantly knew it was her. I knew my Gretch.
“Gretchen!!”
She had heard me yell for her and a smile grew wide on her face. She wrapped me in a hug as soon as she was close enough to do so.
We made some minor small talk. I screwed it all up by mentioning that I knew that she got engaged. Apparently that wasn’t the best thing to say after not seeing each other for 5 years. I felt like shit so I tried to correct it by suggesting we just go home and order pizza. Gretch was game for that.
The car ride back to my place was horrible. I never felt so awkward in my life. Gretchen was clearly thinking about something, and the only thing I could hear was my own heavy breathing. I didn’t even turn on the radio, not knowing if that would make it worse or not. I had hoped that when we finally reached my place, she would cheer up a little bit.
No such luck. After giving her her bags and telling her where her room was, I didn’t see Gretchen for most of the night. I felt bad for the comment I made, so after about a half hour of sitting around in silence, I walked up to Gretchen’s room.
She was standing in the middle of her room, surrounded by boxes, yet staring at a picture frame she had in her hands.
“Gretch? You okay?”
I didn’t think I had startled her that bad, but it made her drop the picture frame. The glass shattered when it hit the floor. I walked over to help her clean it up, but Gretchen pushed me away. I didn’t know what I had done wrong, but I didn’t want to push it right now. I left her room and walked back into the living room.
I decided to call my mom. I wanted to see if she knew anything as to why Gretchen would be acting like this.
Finally, my mom answered her phone.
“Daniel, is everything alright? How’s Gretchen?”
I sighed. “Mom….”
“Daniel, what’s going on? Is Gretchen there?”
“Yea mom, she’s here. I don’t know what’s wrong with her, she’s really distant.”
I hoped my mom could give me some insight as to what, if anything, that Gretchen’s mom had told her recently.
“Really? Even around you? That’s strange. She always opened up around you. That’s when the true Gretchen always came out.”
I ran my hand through my hair. My mom didn’t know anything, and that bothered me. If Gretchen didn’t tell me something, she would tell her mom, who would eventually tell my mom, who would tell me if I asked.
“I have a feeling she’s hiding something. She’s not my Gretch anymore. I’m worried, Mom.”
I could hear my mom sigh through the phone.
“Maybe she has some unresolved issues back here that she just wasn’t quite ready to leave yet. Or maybe she’s nervous about being in a new city so far away from her parents. Give her time, she’ll open up to you, Daniel. You just got to be patient.”
“Okay. Yeah, I’ll talk to you later, Mom.”
“I love you, son. Everything will work out, you’ll see.”
“Love you too.”
I hung up the phone and heard footsteps coming from behind me. I turned my head and saw Gretchen. I was sure she heard part of my conversation with my mom. I shot her a half smile. I didn’t know much else that I could do at the moment.
She apologized and told me she needed time. In my head, I was screaming for her to open up to me and tell me just what the hell was going through her head. Instead, I decided to listen to my mother’s advice and be patient and wait for Gretchen to come to me when she was ready.
“Take all the time you need, Gretch. I know that there is something you’re not telling me, but I’m not going to push it.”
She nodded to me, then mumbled something about that being all she needed to say and walked back towards her room. I could’ve sworn I saw tears forming in her eyes. I wanted nothing more than to follow her and comfort her, but I knew I had to stay back and let her go through…..whatever she was going through.
It was at that moment I realized…..
…this is not the way it used to be…