Meet Me at the Rink

Chapter 36

~ Austin ~

** A Month Later**

Anything else left upstairs or did we get all the boxes?" I ask as Ally comes out to the truck with a box of clothes in hand. "That's the last of it." She replies as I take the box and place it in the back of my truck. "I've just gotta pack up my hockey bag and load it into the back of my car with the rest of my hockey stuff." She adds as I close the tailgate of the truck. As ally went back inside to grab her bag, I lean against the truck talking to Jack and her dad. "I'm gonna miss not having Als around the house as much anymore." Jack says. "But she's your problem now Austin so good luck with that!" He adds with a laugh. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her for you and don't tell her I told you this but you can come to hang out with us anytime you want." I reply.

"Don't tell me what?" Ally says coming out of the front door, hockey sticks in hand and bag slung over her shoulder. "Oh, umm... Jack here didn't want me to tell you how much he's going to miss you now that you're moving out." I say placing a hand on Jack's shoulder as he looks at me and rolls his eyes. "Aww, Jackie boy! I'm gonna miss you too!" She replies dropping her bag in the back of her car and coming over to hug her brother. "Als, you're hugging me a little too tightly." Jack says as their dad and I laugh. "Sorry!" She says apologetically stepping back from hugging him as her mom and Lucy come out to join us.

"Alright, you ready to go?" I ask closing the trunk of her car. "Yeah." She smiles as she hugs her mom. "I'm a text and call away if you ever need your big sis." She says hugging Lucy. "I know." Lucy replies. Next, she hugs her dad and he holds her close. "Take good care of my girl alright." He says to me. "I will sir." I reply. Ally lets go of the hug and moves on to hug Jack again. "Come see me anytime you want Jackie boy." She says. "Don't worry, I will."

** Unpacking at Austin's**

"And that's the last of it!" Ally says placing her last pair of shoes on her shoe rack. I look inside all of the boxes making sure they're all empty before demolishing them. "Actually, it's not the last of it." I say pulling out a couple of hockey pucks from a box marked Hockey on it. I hold up the pucks as Ally's head turns. "These are the last of it." I say as I hand her a puck and take her hand, leading her down to the hockey cave where all of our awards, trophies, jerseys and special game pucks are placed on shelves and walls in the screening room.

Once we're down in the hockey cave, I find an empty shelf which is the perfect place for these special pucks. "This is the perfect spot to put these on." I say. "Isn't it a little bit too long of a shelf for three pucks to go on?" She asks. "It might look like that right now but this shelf is going to be a full timeline of our story in the future." I say looking down at her as she smiles at me. "Starting with the first puck I gave you when you first caught my eye." I say placing the puck down on the shelf. "Then the puck you gave me the day you asked me to be your girlfriend." She says adding the second puck onto the shelf. "And the third puck from my hat trick game. The game I asked you to move in with me." I say placing it next to the other puck.

"There, now that's the last of it!" She says with a smile, leaning into my side. "Can we go get something to eat now? I'm hungry!" She says as I laugh. "Come on, let's go." I reply.