Mel's Pov
I was woke up early the next day to the sound of my phone ringing. I grabbed it and checked the caller id to make sure that it wasn't anyone that I didn't want to talk to and when I saw that wasn't the case I quickly anwsered it.
" Hey Mel, it's me Sid." a male voice said on the other end of the line. He had agreed to call me and keep me informed of what was going on.
" Hi Sid. What's up?" I asked him
" I just thought I'd call and let you know that they talked yesterday before practice. I have no idea what either of them said but there wasn't any more punches thrown and they seemed to both do well at practice so I'm guessing that everything is as good as it can be."
I let out a sigh of relief at hearing that they were at least trying to get along. That was one less thing that I now had to worry about.
" That's great." I said waiting for a response.
" Yeah it is. I know it's not my place but are you any closer to figuring things out?"
" I'm trying Sid. Really I am but this is complicated and I don't want to rush into a decision and end up regretting it."
" I don't really think it's that complicated. Do you love Max?" he asked catching me a little off guard
" I care about him as my friend but no I don't love him the way that he say's he loves me." I anwsered honestly
" Okay and now my second question. Do you love Jordan?"
" Yes." I said and I knew it was the truth.
" So there you go. See not complicated at all."
I groaned into the phone. That was such a typical male response
" It is more complicated then that. What do I say to Max? Sorry but no thanks? I really don't want to hurt him anymore than I already have."
" Just be honest with him. Maybe you two won't be able to be friends anymore but I know that he is a good guy and will respect your feelings. "
Maybe he was right. Maybe this was less complicated then it needed to be. I couldn't help the way that I felt anymore than Max could and one day he would find someone that he could have love him back the way that he deserved.
" Maybe your right." I said
" I know I am. You know there are other things that I am good at besides hockey." he said in a teasing voice
" Yeah maybe you can go back to school and be the Canadian version of Dr. Phil once your hockey playing days are over." I teased back, cracking my first smile in days
" I have to get going. Practice is in a half an hour."
" Alright and Sid thanks for everything."
" Not a problem. Just for the record I do expect some kind of monetary compensation for my advice."
" Yeah because it's not like you don't have enough money to last you ten lifetimes as it is." I replied
" It's hard but someone has to do it."
" Okay, you should get going before you are late, and please don't tell either of them that you talked to me."
" Don't worry. If either of them found out that I had been talking to you neither of them would stop hounding me and it's bad enough from the press and the fans. Think about what I said and I will call you if anything else happens."
"Okay." I agreed before saying goodbye and hanging up.
I was left to think about what he had said. Maybe I had overreacted by running away and things were more simple than I thought they were. It was still pretty early so I was about to turn over and go back to sleep for a little while but much to my annoyance there was a knock at my door. There was only one person that it could be and since my dad had been so great I didn't want to be snippy. I told him to come in and he opened the door and peeked his head around the corner.
" There's someone here to see you." he said as he looked at me. Before I could get a chance to ask him who in the world it could possibly be he disappeared, shutting the door behind him. There was very few people that knew that I was home since I hadn't left the house at all since my arrival. I threw on my old ratty bathrobe and made my way out to the living room. I heard my dad talking to a familiar male voice and I couldn't help but smile as I made my way around the corner.
" Hi Mr. Staal." I said as Jordan's father turned around and smiled at me.
" I think that after all of these years you can call me Henry." he said as he pulled me into a hug
" We heard that you were in town and I wanted to check on you and make sure that you were okay. I hope you don't mind." he said as he looked at me like he was gauging my reaction
" I'm as fine as I'm going to be." I admitted to the man that had become my surrogate father over the years
" I'm doing as well as can be expected I guess. I'm sure that you heard what happened."
" Yeah we did. Jordan called the next day to let us know before we heard about it in the news. Linda threw a fit and really let him have it." he said with a small grin. I could only imagine what had been said. Linda had always been the one who wore the pants in that family.
" I know how hard it can be. Linda and I have had our fair share of ups and downs over the years but somehow we always managed to work our way through them. You just have to decide if the other person is worth the effort and I can say that there has never been any doubt in my mind that my wife has always been worth the effort."
I blinked my eyes a few times and thought about what he had said as he changed the subject to what was going on on the farm. I really couldn't concentrate on what he was saying as not only his words but all of the advice that I had gotten from everyone ran through my mind.
" I'm sorry Henry I don't want to be rude but I have to go. I really need to go home and fix this mess as soon as I can. I just hope he's still waiting for me when I get back." I said as I jumped up and pulled the man into a tight hug. He looked surprised but happy and he gave me a pat on the back before he let me go.
" Dad" I yelled since I had no idea where he had went
" Yeah sweetie I heard. Just call me when you get back to Pittsburgh so I know that you are safe." I gave him the same tight hug that I had given Henry accompained by a kiss on the cheek before I ran to my room and threw the few things that I had brought along with me back in their bag. Henry offered to drive me to the airport since he had to head home anyways and I gladly accepted the offer. I fingered the keypad of my phone wanting to call Jordan badly but I knew that it would be better for the both of us if we talked in person. I called ahead to the airport and because it was so last minute I was going to have to connect to another flight but it was worth it to know that I would be back where I belonged before the end of the night.
Jordan's Pov
Things were better but they weren't right because she wasn't here. It was crazy how much my body and more importantly my mind missed having her around. Everytime that I picked up the phone I would catch myself wanting to dial her number but I always stopped myself. She wanted time and that was the least that I could do considering I was half the reason that she ran in the first damn place. I stood in the mirror and made sure that my tie was straight before grabbing my keys and heading out to the arena for the game tonight. We were playing the Rangers which meant that I was going to have to play against Marc, which was always alot of fun. I got to Mellon earlier than I usually did and after signing a few things I made my way inside. I wanted to find Marc and talk to him but it would have to wait until after the game. I made my way inside and only found a few of the guys already there. It was mostly the older guys that needed to get extra work done to them by the trainers in order for them to be able to play well. I sat in silence as I started to tape my sticks and make sure that my I had everything ready. I really wanted to win this game and I tried to put everything else out of my mind.
Max's Pov
I went into the locker room to find that a good chunk of my teammates had already arrived. I got a few pats on the back but for the most part I kept to myself. I had finally gotten the balls to call Bridgette but she never anwsered my calls or text and I had to say that I couldn't blame her. I was a total asshole and the more that I thought about it the worse that I felt. I looked over and gave a head nod to Jordan. He returned it and then went back to taping up his sticks. We were playing together well when necessary but we weren't hanging out after games or anything and I would never admit this to anyone but I missed it. Whenever I had felt inclined to do something crazy in the past he was always besides me joining in on whatever crazy shit we had planned. I couldn't help but let out a sigh as I got up and went to see one of the trainers. I had taken a pretty hard hit a couple of games before into the boards and my shoulder was still a little sore.
Mel's Pov
I flipped my phone shut as I walked out of the terminal. In my haste to get back to Pittsburgh it hadn't even occured to me that they might not be in town. I went on the internet on my phone and checked their schedule and was glad to see that they were playing the Rangers at home. If they were playing the Rangers that meant that Marc was going to be in town. I thought about calling Sid but I didn't really want to because if I did there was a good chance that Jordan would find out and I didn't want him to be distracted. I made a call to Marc and he gladly agreed to get me inside Mellon and I made him promise that he wouldn't say anything to Jordan before I got a chance to see him.