Enchanted- jj mccarthy [UNEDITED]

4

🏈🏈

When Val posted on the hockey page and her brother and his teammates posted I saw the hateful comments that people were commenting. I felt bad because all she is at fault for is being related to an athlete and working for the team. When I read the comment that Rutger was heading to her place because she felt sad I decided to text Rutger and then DM Val on instagram.

imessage 

jj 🏈 + rutger 🏒

jj: hey Rutger this is JJ I got your number from Ethan

rutger: hey jj what's up

jj: I was texting you to check on Val. I saw the comments that people were leaving her and I just wanted to make sure she is okay

rutger: to be honest she's not doing too well, but she's getting better. Thanks for checking in

jj: of course I hope she slowly gets better

After texting Rutger and getting some confirmation that she is doing better I went on instagram. I went to Val's profile and decided to DM her. I didn't know if she was sleeping or not but I figured she would respond when she had the chance.

Instagram DM

jjmccarthy: hey i saw the comments that people left about you and i wanted to message you and make sure that you were okay.

I put my phone away after sending that message and made myself some dinner before starting to do my homework. I made myself some pasta with vodka sauce and chicken. I also decided to make myself a salad too to get some veggies in my meal. Dinner didn't take long to make only about 15 minutes. As I was eating I felt my phone vibrate. I saw that Val responded to my message.

valmcgroarty: hey jj thanks for checking in. i'm doing better. it still sucks seeing the comments people were leaving but it helps that Rut is here and was able to come over to be with me

jjmccarthy: that's awesome i'm glad you have your brother. i'm sorry people have been leaving these hateful comments. just wanted to let you know i'm here for you too if you need anything

valmcgroarty: thank you jj i appreciate it a lot especially since i don't want to always make Rut worry with these things

jjmccarthy: of course it's no problem. i know we just met today and it might seem too soon or weird but i was wondering if i could have your number

valmcgroarty: it's not too soon or weird my number is (221) 272-5699

I couldn't help but smile when I saw that Val gave me her number. Since I was still eating I decided to go look through her instagram. I saw so many pictures of her and her brother together starting from when they were in middle school. They were always together no matter what. It was rare to see a picture where they weren't together. Since Rutger was tagged in all of these pictures I also went onto his page. I saw that he posted recently. I opened it and saw that it was a post with all these pictures of him and his sister. I read the posts and commented also sticking up for her.

I know how much hate can affect someone and I didn't want it to affect Val anymore than it should, especially after reading the caption that Rutger wrote. I knew then that the hate comments are definitely getting to Val which should be expected since the only reason that she is getting hated on is due to the fact that she is Rutger's little sister and just happens to be working as a social media manager so she can add this to her resume to allow her future job opportunities.

Once I finished eating I cleaned up all the dishes, put everything into the dishwasher and went up to my room to do my homework. Once I finished up with my math homework for my statistics class I put my things away and got ready for bed since I had an early morning lift and that was when I would also be seeing Val next and I could check in to see how she's really doing.

When I woke up the next morning I quickly threw on my sweats and hoodie before walking out to grab a protein bar, putting on my jacket, backpack and sneakers before walking out the door. When I arrived at the Field House I saw that Rutger drove Val to the field. He got out of his jeep walked over to her side to open her door and handed Val her things. Once she had her things she gave him a hug. She started to walk to the Field House to go in and before she got to the door I hear Rutger tell him that he will pick her up, but to call him if she needs anything. She quickly nodded to let him know she would before walking in. I walked in after her.

I went to the locker room to get changed into my sweats for lift. When I walked into the weight room I saw that Val had her camera out and ready. Since she was all set up she was on her phone and didn't notice I was already in the weight room. Once she put her phone down and looked up she was shocked that there was someone already in here. I liked to be early to practice not only because I don't like being late but it also allows me to meditate and get my mind right before practice.

Although I usually meditate before practice I don't do that before lifts. I sat down next to Val since I was worried about her. When I sat down she put her camera down and looked at me. I decided to start the conversation since I didn't want Val to be stressed or worried. "Hey, how are you doing after last night?"

She took a deep breath and looked into my eyes. Her eyes were so pretty. I could get lost in them. As I was looking at her she quietly responded "I'm doing okay, not as good as I could be, but definitely not as bad as last night. It just sucks that I'm getting hate and I don't know what to do or what I did to deserve it."

I was quiet. I didn't know what to say to make her feel better. It hurt me to see her like this. I just grabbed her hand and rubbed my thumb up and down over her hand. It was the only thing I could think of to try and console her. As we were sitting like this and lost in our own world neither of us realized that Roman and Blake walked into the weight room until we heard the shutter of the camera on one of their phones. We both looked up and Val started blushing bright red. I didn't let go of her hand though. I don't know why I'm feeling like this with this instant connection, but I do know I've never felt this way before, not even with my ex-girlfriend.

Since these two were here that means the rest of the team would be coming in soon. I looked at Val and we both went back to get ready for the lifting session. Before I walked to my rack which is where Roman and Blake are now standing I pulled Val into a hug wrapping my arms around her waist with her arms around my neck and kissed the top of her head. As soon as we let go and I walked a couple of feet away from her the rest of the team starting walking in. Since practice was starting soon Val started to take pictures of all of us whether that is in our groups laughing and joking around or during our sets.