To Sweden With Love

In the last few weeks, I have done things in Hawaii I never thought I would do. From paddle boarding to taking a short flight to Maui to snorkel along the reef.

Thanks to Ben.

He got me out of my bubble and got me to really enjoy the islands during my time here, even if I really just wanted to lay on the beach and drink my sorrows away.

I spoke to Ellie everyday, mostly to just check in and give me updates on our team.

‘Oh my God Liv! We won! We won the cup!’ She exclaimed a little over a week ago.

I laughed. ‘I know I was watching! I cannot believe it!’

She wanted me to fly back in town for the parade, but I couldn’t leave my paradise to face reality not just yet.

Now, as I sit on the beach watching the sunset, with only a few days left, I realized I was finally at peace.

“I really wish I wasn’t leaving you tomorrow Liv.” Ben stated as he handed me a beer as he sat down beside me.

I laughed. “Am I that addicting?”

He nodded. “Now I can see why that guy is so hooked up on you. You’re like a drug.”

I sighed and put my head on his shoulder as he put his arm around. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For making this vacation everything I needed it to be.”

He chuckled. “I couldn’t leave you to drink yourself to death. Especially since you don’t have a phone.”

I smacked his chest. “Not funny. I feel so lost without it.”

A few minutes past before he stood up and offered me his hands.

“Come on. We are gonna have some fun tonight.”

I gave him a look of intrigue as I let him help me up. He held my hand as we walked down the beach toward a group of people playing cornhole and enjoying a fire.

I let go of his hand and stopped dead in my tracks as I heard one of the guys laugh.

Carl was here? I thought as I saw him.

“Ben, uh, I think I am just gonna go back to my hotel. I am tired and I don’t feel good.” I said as I turned my back to the crowd in fears he might see me.

He looked at me with concern. “Are you okay? I can walk back with you if-.”

I waved him off as I kissed his cheek. “I’m okay, I promise. Go have fun. I will see you before you leave.”

As I made it halfway back to the resort, I heard someone coming up behind me.

“Olivia stop.” Carl said as he caught up with me and spun me around.

I looked into his eyes and everything came flooding back. I felt my heart pounding out of my chest.

“How did you know it was me?” I asked shakingly.

He chuckled. “I would know you in a sea of people Liv.”

I sighed. “What are you doing here Carl.”

“Vacation with some of my boys. Is this where you have been hiding out all summer?”

“I don’t think that is any of your concern.” I said as I started backing away. “Now if you will excuse me.”

“No.” He said, stopping me in my tracks. “Haven’t you done enough running Liv?”

I looked at him with anger. “Fuck anymore bitches? I haven’t gotten anymore pictures so I’m not sure. Then again my phone has been at the bottom of the ocean for about 3 weeks.”

He sighed. “I was drunk and pissed off. It was a mistake.”

“And that gives you a right to send that to me?” I said, crossing my arms.

“No, I was stupid and regret it horribly.”

I held back tears. “Carl, I don’t think anything, or anyone, has ever hurt me so bad.”

He walked up to me and took my face in his hands. “And I am never going to forget what I did to you. It will haunt me for the rest of my life. But I want to try to make it up to you so we can get past this.”

“I don’t think-” As I gently removed his touch, the touch I have been craving for weeks.

“Liv,” He said as he looked with me with sincerity, “I love you. Somehow, some way we ended up here together right now. It’s a sign.”

Before I could answer, I saw Ben coming run up.

“Liv, are you okay? Is this guy bothering you?”

I looked down as Carl turned around. “Who are you?”

“Ben, Liv’s friend and travel buddy. Who are you?”

Carl looked at me with disbelief. “Travel buddy?”

I shook my head. “He is just a friend I met here. He has helped me enjoy my vacation.”

“Liv?” Ben asked concerned.

I sighed. “Ben, this is Carl.”

He eyes lit up when he realized who he was. “Hey! A Stanley Cup Champ! Nice to meet ya. Olivia has said a lot about you.”

Carl’s eyes smiled. “Oh has she?”

I try to motion to Ben to cut it out, but I was too late.

“Oh yeah. Hey you want to grab a beer? I’m sure we have Olivia stories we can swipe.”

Carl looked at me with mischief before he agreed. I facepalmed as I followed them into the resort bar.

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“So let me get this straight. Olivia is a brunette, who changed her hair so you wouldn’t notice her?” Ben chuckled as he took a swig of his beer.

“Oh yeah. But, no one could forget her.” Carl smiled at me as I rolled my eyes.

Ben shook his head as he noticed Carl’s bracelet. “Hey Olivia, don’t you have the same bracelet?”

I gave him a what the fuck look as I tried to hide my wrist from Carl.

“It was my wedding present to her, to remind her we would always be best friends. It was also supposed to be her something blue.” Carl answered for me as he looked at me.

I squirmed in my seat and Ben looked at his watch.”Okay kids, this has been fun, but I have an early flight, so I need to get out of here.”

I stood up and gave him a hug as he whispered in my ear. “Liv, give him a chance. The way he looks at you, he’s in it for the long run.”

I nodded as Carl shook his hand and thanked him for the beers.

After a few minutes, we were alone.

“I think this is the longest we have spent together since that party.” He said motioning to the waiter for another round.

I smiled as I peeled the label off my bottle. “That was an interesting night.”

“I still cannot believe Ellie attacked Alexis.” He laughed.

“Well, in Ellie’s defense, Alexis is kinda a bitch. And Ellie drunk is-”

“Is like unleashing the beast.” He finished.

I nodded and bit the inside of my lip. “Look Carl, I’m sorry. For everything. I know I put you through hell and-”

He place his hand on mine to stop me. “You were going through a lot.”

“But that doesn’t mean I had to shut you out. It was unfair to you.”

“To be fair, I wasn’t that fair to you too.”

I grimaced as I thought about the picture. “Can we just not talk about that?”

He nodded. “How much longer are you here?”

“Just a couple more days. I’ve been here almost a month, it’s time to go back home.”

“How about we do something tomorrow?”

I hesitated. “Carl, I don’t know if that’s a good-”

“I just found you, I am not letting you go that easy.”

I saw that he meant every word in his eyes.

And with that, I agreed.

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I was woken up at 5 am the next morning by my room phone ringing.

I reached over and picked up the receiver.

“Someone better be dead.”

I heard Ellie laugh. “Payback is a bitch ain’t it?”

“What’s up Ellie? I need a few more hours of sleep before meeting Carl for breakfast.”

“I just wanted to call and tell you - wait a minute, did you say you were meeting Carl, the guy you swore you were never going to talk to again, for breakfast?”

I sighed as I snuggled further under my blankets. “Yes.”

I heard her laugh. “Man, I knew he was going to Hawaii, I just never thought he would find you.”

“Hold the fuck up El, you knew he was coming out here? And didn’t say anything?”

“Well not there per say,” She explained. “And I didn’t want to ruin your good time with Ben!”

I rolled my eyes as I groaned. “Yeah. Good time.”

“Uh Liv?”

“Oh he and Carl are pretty much best friends now.” As I continued to explain to her what went down the night before.

“So what are you going to do Liv?”

I sighed. “I don’t know El. I love him, I really do. I just-”

“Listen Livvy love,” Derick interjected as he stole the phone. “Do not break his heart again. I will hunt you down and hurt you immensely if you do.”

I laughed. “Okay dad. Whatever you say.”

“No but seriously,” He said as his tone changed. “You two are meant for each other. Horribly stubborn, hard headed, try to drink your problems away and make huge mistakes. It’s soulmate material. Besides, if I can’t be with him, it might as well be you.”

“Gee thanks Derick for your blessing. But can I go back to sleep now?”

“I told her not to call to you this morning, but nooooo. Nobody listens to Derick.” I heard him drone on as I hung up.

I curled deeper into my bed and was soon back in dreamland.

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A few hours later, I was nervously rushing around my room trying to get ready when there was a knock on the door.

I paused and looked in the mirror and took a few deep breaths before going to open the door to see Carl standing there.

“Hi.” He said with a smile.

My nerves instantly disappeared as I matched his smile. “Hi, come on in. I got kinda a late start thanks to our best friends.”

He laughed as he took a seat on the bed. “You got the 5 am phone call too?”

I groaned as I was finishing up my mascara. “They called you after me? Good lord they are incorrigible.”

“Did Derick give you the same speech he gave to me?”

I turned to look at him with a grin. “If it was about being stubborn and hard headed, then yes. You ready?”

He stood up and took my hand. “You know, he could have a point.”

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves Hagelin. We gotta get through breakfast first.”

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“So, Stanley Cup Champions huh?” I asked after put in our order at One Forty.

He smiled and excitement danced in his eyes. “Liv, it was amazing. We had a couple bad games, missed a chance to win it at home, but it was well worth it.”

I chuckled. “I heard interesting stories from Ellie about the parade.”

“I honestly do not remember most of that day.” He took a deep breath. “But I do know I wish you were there.”

I looked down to my hands in my lap. “That probably wouldn’t have been the best idea, considering everything going on.”

He nodded. “You’re probably right. So uh- I need to ask this, just for my sanity.”

I looked at him questioningly. “Okay?”

He sighed. “You and Ian. Did-”

I busted out laughing and stopped him. “Seriously, you’re worried about Ian? Really?”

“Well you did run to him when you were still in Pittsburgh.”

I pursed my lips. “He was on your side Carl. Nothing ever happened. I did get drunk once at his house when we were hanging out and slept in the same bed as him. Not because I wanted to, he just put me there. He knew the situation.”

He nodded and took a sigh of relief. “Now I feel really bad about punching him.”

My jaw dropped. “You what?”

“Yeah well, I was drunk. It was after you called me and said you were to blame for the game and the-. Anyways, I walked back into the bar pissed and kind of hit him.”

I tried not to laugh as our food arrived. “Uh huh. And how did that work out for you?”

He smiled as he saw me struggling. “Ah, not so well. His face hurt my hand pretty good.”

I shook my head as I took a bite of my eggs benedict. His eyes never left me.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” I asked as I wiped my face with my napkin.

He shook his head. “No, I just can’t believe we are actually together. Here in Hawaii, of all places.”

I smiled at looked out at the ocean. “It’s so beautiful here.”

He sat back in his chair and looked it me. “Yes it is.”

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After breakfast, he walked me back to my room. As we got to my door, I turned to him.

“Do, you, uh, wanna come in for a few? You know, finish talking?”

He smiled. “I’d love to, but I need to go meet up with my friends. How about we meet up later? I think we’re gonna be doing the fire thing again tonight if you want to come.”

I bit my lip. “Sure.”

He kissed my forehead and walked down the hall. As soon as he was out of sight, I went into my room and called Ellie.

“Livvy and Carl sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g” Derick sang as he answered her phone.

I rolled my eyes. “Not quite there sweetheart. Just breakfast.”

“Well you two suck.” I heard him say as he passed the phone to a laughing Ellie.

“Your boyfriend is ridiculous.” I said as she continued to laugh.

“At least he is rooting for you and not against you. How was breakfast?”

I sat back on the bed and got comfortable. “It was… good. It felt good.”

“Yes! So what now?” She exclaimed as I heard Derick yell ‘what’s going on? I wanna know!’ in the background.

I heard a knock on my door. “Now, there is someone at my door. Let me call you right back.”

I hung up the phone and walked over to the door. As I opened it, I saw Carl standing there.

I looked at him questioningly. “Carl? What’s wrong?”

He smiled. “Nothing. I just forgot something.”

Before I could ask, I felt his lips on mine. All those feelings of worry, regret, nervousness were replaced with sheer joy, love, and happiness.

I pulled him into my room as he shut the door behind him.

After a few minutes, we separated and he smiled at me.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I saw you.” He said as he caressed my cheek.

I leaned into his touch. “I’ve missed you.”

“Then why did you run from me?” He asked softly.

I felt a tear run down my cheek. “I don’t know honestly. I thought I was doing what was best for me and for you.”

He chuckled and wiped the tear away. “Man, were you wrong.”

I nodded and started laughing as he engulfed me in a hug.

And right then I knew, I was right where I belonged.

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Over the next couple days before I left, we were inseparable.

“I wish you didn’t have to leave.” Carl said as he laid on my bed while I packed.

I laughed. “I’ve been here almost a month. I need to go back and get stuff started on my classroom. And get settled into Ellie’s, well now my house.”

“You should come to Sweden. You’d love it there.” He said as he sat up.

I sighed. “I can’t. I’m broke thanks to this vacation and have so much to do before school starts up.”

“So where does that leave us?”

I bit my lip. “I honestly have no idea. You’re going to be gone all summer, on a different continent.”

He sat and thought for a minute. “How about this, we take it easy the rest of the summer. You know, talk and what not. And see what happens when I come back?”

I bit my lip and thought about it. This could work.

I nodded. “Deal. But I gotta get a phone first.”

He jumped off the bed and went towards the door. “I almost forgot! I’ll be back.”

I laughed as he ran down the hall. Ten minutes later, I heard him knocking.

“So what did you forget?”

“This” he said as he shoved a gift bag into my hands.

I gave him a questionable look as I opened the bag to see a brand new iPhone.

“Carl, I could have bought my own phone”

He shook his head. “Just take the gift. Please.”

I sighed. “Fine. But I need to get going. My flight leaves in like an hour and a half.”

He ran his hand through his hair. “So I guess this is it huh?”

I walked over to him and pressed my lips to his. After a few minutes, I broke the kiss and grab my bag as I walked out the door.

“See you in September.”