Back to Where We Started From (Miracle)

Chapter Ninety-Eight

The next day, Julia returned to the hotel with sore arms from all the bags she was carrying. She and Cyndi had spent the morning shopping. She was struggling to unlock her hotel room door when Robbie came out of his room.

"Jules, you have a shopping problem," he laughed when he saw her.

"I needed something to wear tonight!" She defended, finally getting the door unlocked as she dropped several of the bags.

"That explains one bag. But what about the other ten?" He chuckled, grabbing a couple of the fallen bags and following her into her room.

"I needed options," she insisted, dropping the remaining bags on her bed. "Thanks for the help. What are you up to?"

"I was actually coming to see if you were back from shopping," he said, sitting on the bed. "I wanted to know how last night went."

"It was good. Tommy was...annoying at first but I got him to behave eventually," she told him, arranging her bags on her bed.

"How did you manage that?" Robbie questioned, raising an eyebrow. She sighed, taking out a white turtleneck and folding it before she placed it back in the bag.

"When Jack got up to go to the bathroom, Tommy told me that he was worried about me tying myself down to Jack. It's not Jack he's concerned with, it's me," she explained. "Which is totally crazy."

Even as she said that, she knew it wasn't crazy, and she should've expected Robbie to call her out. She picked up a sweater, inspecting it with her back facing him.

"Is it?" Robbie asked quietly. Julia put the sweater down, turning around to look at him.

"I don't know. Based on what everyone is saying, I guess it's not that crazy," she grumbled.

"I know you care about Jack, but it just seems like you've been a little too content being away from work," Robbie shrugged. "Like I would've thought you'd be dying to get back."

Julia didn't say anything, she just frowned and stared up at the ceiling. Robbie watched her for a second before he continued.

"Jules, don't stress about it. I think you're just forgetting what you're missing. You're gonna go to the party tonight and see all your old friends and listen to great music and celebrate with your band. It's going to absolutely remind you what you love about it, and everything will work out," he told her gently.

"Do you really think that?" She inquired, looking over at him solemnly.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it," he assured her with a smile. "Are you feeling okay about the party tonight? About being around all that?"

"Yeah," she said with a deep breath. "I feel good about it. Plus the band will be there with me. And Tommy's sober too, now."

"Think you'll still manage to find trouble?" Robbie asked her.

"If there are girls there for Tommy to flirt with, I'm sure I'll be plenty entertained for the evening. Oh, Jim and Cyndi finally admitted to being a couple," she informed him with a grin. His eyes lit up with excitement.

"Oh, they finally did? What did everyone say?"

"We pretended to be surprised, but eventually we just told them we had known for a while. They were so confused," she laughed. "I'm glad they finally told us, though."

"Yeah, that's good."

"How are you feeling about tonight?" She asked him. He looked pensive for moment and he took a few deep breaths.

"There's just a lot of pressure. I don't even get it. We're just kids, and it's just a hockey game. The game tonight doesn't even really mean anything, but it still just feels like everyone is counting on us," Robbie explained. Julia sat down beside him.