In which Mark crosses the distance between Wisconsin and Minnesota to give his best friend something she forgot before leaving after graduation.
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The University of Wisconsin felt like light years away from Minnesota for Y/n Brooks. Yet, there were so many exciting opportunities. She loved the atmosphere and everything the University had to offer. Every time she stepped on campus she felt at home. She felt as though she could be fulfilled there for the next four years of her life. So she accepted their full ride scholarship - which she would be a fool to pass up anyway - and committed to the University of Wisconsin. The almost seven hour drive was grueling, especially with her mother crying the whole way, but she was excited. And she was determined to make a name for herself at her home away from home.
And she did such that the next four years passed with a blur. She achieved her degree and met many a friend on the way. She was in as many clubs as possible, part of organizations and events. She was known, loved, and cherished by everyone. Including the one Mark Johnson - her best friend - who kept her interest in hockey alive. She thought for sure she'd grow out of her love for the sport after she quit herself and she moved away from her father. But Mark Johnson changed all that.
The two instantly hit it off freshman year in their required English class. An 8 am of a class they took in high school that didn't transfer has a way of bringing people together. Plus, Y/n instantly recognized his favorite player's jersey and from then on Mark couldn't get enough of her. He was head over heels in love with her the second the player's name rolled off her lips (as if he was already entranced enough with her).
The two spent the next four years growing up together. The little quirks and immaturities they found annoying in each other freshman year were no longer present when they graduated. But they still found excuses to tease each other and "flirt" (though they refused to call it that). Yet, still, they remained best friends. Each would have swore up and down they didn't like the other. Despite that they were attached at the hip, the blushes when they'd brush against each other, the way they'd instantly perk up when the other arrived, how they'd arrive to and leave from events together. But they'd never believe the other liked them...so they stayed best friends.
Even as Y/n took the nearly seven hour drive back home - this time she was the one crying - she and Mark never lost contact. They called as much as they could with the long distance. If he was ever around for a game, she went to see him. Not it, him. She claimed she was fine, that she didn't miss him all that much and she could get by; but her parents noticed the way she changed. She was more solemn, more forlorn. None of Herb's boys could fully bring out her fun personality - no matter how hard they tried - and she was never as interested in a game if she wasn't cheering for Mark.
It was safe to say the same about Mark. He didn't play as well when she wasn't there. As if her presence was the determining factor of how he played, but one could more easily chalk it up to the sadness at her leaving seeping into every corner of his life. He thought he'd let her go forever and he wasn't able to get over that. He took losses harder than he ever did, knowing he may have lost the best thing in his life. The only one who could talk him off the ledge after he failed.
