Miracle On Ice One Shots

Love & War (Jack O'Callahan- #17)

Ryleigh was beyond pissed off.

Her boyfriend of two years, Jack O'Callahan, had decided to try out for the Olympic hockey team.

Without telling her.

He hadn't even said goodbye.

Which is why she found herself driving all the way to Minnesota, right at the beginning of her last summer of freedom.

Ryleigh was in between her junior and senior year at Boston University, and would be graduating in December with a Bachelors in Marketing. Jack had just recently graduated- and evidently had been planning on trying out for this team for months. Once again, without telling her. Needless to say, she was slightly pissed off. And slightly hurt. Okay she was very hurt.

Why wouldn't he tell her? Did he think she wouldn't be supportive? Was he worried about her leaving him? She had been nothing but supportive towards him and his dreams, and yet he still kept her in the dark on arguably one of the most important decisions of his life. She had to find out from his mother (who she absolutely loved) which just did not sit right with her.

17 hours in a car had laser focused her brain (and slightly turned it to mush). Thank goodness for pure rage- it's been the thing fueling her as she drove the monster trek. Only 3 hours to go. Let's hope that this trip doesn't blow up in her face.

****

Jack felt terrible. He shouldn't have just left Ryleigh like that- she was his girl, but he couldn't bare the idea of saying goodbye. He didn't want to let her down.

He had just put the finishing touches on his room that was hopefully going to be home for the next few months when he heard a knock on the door. Confused, he heads over to the door and opens it to see a familiar brunette standing on the threshold.

He was speechless to say the least.

"Ryleigh? What are you doing here?" She huffs at his question. He could tell that he was seriously in for it. The familiar fire raged behind her brown eyes, and her stance suggested that she was ready to explode. She had bags under her eyes, and when he saw her white knuckled fist holding her car keys, he knew that she had driven. He began to feel angry at the girl- something could've happened to her on the drive.

"Why the hell did I have to find out from your mother that you were trying out for this team?" She seethed. Jack immediately flipped on the defensive. He narrowed his eyes. "Me? You're seriously going to lecture me about not communicating? What about California? When were you going to tell me about that? Huh?" Ryleigh's mouth parted in shock.

She had only told two people about her job offer in San Francisco- some major corporation wanted her to step into a marketing position. She hadn't decided if she was going to take it yet. The shock she felt was soon replaced with a boiling anger, hotter than the one that had been brewing over the last day as she was on the road.

That was the thing about Jack and Ryleigh- they both felt things very deeply. And those feelings usually ended up being expressed in bursts of anger.

"Don't you dare make this about me. You're the one who was just gone in the middle of the night! I went over to your house to see you- and you know what I find? An empty room, your car gone! I was going to tell you Jack. You never once had a plan to include me in your future."

Now Jack was pissed. "My future? Don't give me that shit Ryleigh. When have you ever wanted to even talk about the future? You turn and run every single time marriage is brought up. Because guess what? You were the only thing I was sure about. Or used to be sure about." He snapped before he could think about what he was saying. He immediately caught his mistake, and her eyes widened. But he didn't care. He was too upset with the fact that she was moving across the country and didn't even bother to give him a heads up.