𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐣. 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬

𝟐𝟕

That Same Night...

New Jersey

Hours later, the girls gathered in Charlotte and Emilie's living room. A large assortment of snacks laid out on the coffee table as Gabi scrolled through Netflix looking for a movie for them to watch. Before ending up on the couch in the living room, they'd all agreed to do face masks and paint each other's nails. Although Charlotte was still upset about what she found out that morning, she tried her hardest to be present and in the moment with the girls she was leaning on. For Em, Nicole, and Gabi, the ultimate goal for the night was to spend time with Charlotte and help her forget about all the noise around her.

"Okay, so what do we feel like watching?" Gabi turns to look around at each of the girls. Looking over at Charlotte, Gabi saw that she seemed to be off in her thoughts. "How about we try to find a crappy movie? Those in itself are pretty entertaining to watch because no matter what they're super cringy and funny." Once Nicole spoke up, Char snapped out of her thoughts, landing back into the conversation. Nodding their heads, the girls all agreed and set off on a mission to find a crappy movie. After twenty minutes of endless scrolling, they'd found and agreed on a strong contender, pressing play.

During one of the more ridiculous scenes, laughter erupts from the far end of the sofa. Turning their heads collectively, the girls look over, seeing Charlotte laughing hysterically at what'd just happened to one of the characters. Nicole, Gabi, and Emilie all smile to themselves, happy to see Charlotte finally laughing. Since they'd arrived earlier in the afternoon, it had been difficult to even get her to crack a smile, let alone laugh.

After waking up from a long nap earlier, Charlotte had seen a few missed calls from Jack and a voicemail. After the voicemail, Jack hadn't tried to reach out again which probably meant that he'd decided to give her space. As much as she wanted to move past this, she also wanted to give herself time to collect her thoughts on the matter. Eventually, she knows that she's going to have to talk to Jack about everything and clear up things, but for right now, she is okay with not talking about it. She was more than happy to be with her girls and no one else. 

While the girls were enjoying each other's company and having a good time, the guys were doing the exact opposite in Vegas.

Las Vegas

The Devils were down three goals halfway through the first period. Jack was essentially playing the worst hockey he'd ever played since he went pro. He was frustrated with himself and how often he'd been losing possession of the puck, missing passes, and constantly getting checked into the boards. Jack couldn't get himself to think straight and focus on the game. In the hours leading up to the game, while getting dressed, he was constantly checking his phone. He was giving Lotte space, but a little part of him hoped that she would reach out to him. 

Skating back to the bench for a line change, Jack was approached by the coach. Whispering in his ear, he informs Jack that he's being moved from the second line down to the fourth line. Despite wanting to let out his frustration at the change, Jack holds his tongue, looking back at the game in front of him, and letting out a huff.

By the second period, Jack hadn't seen any ice time since the end of the first.  Being called out to switch out onto the ice, he gets up and joins in on the current gameplay happening. He manages to get the puck on the end of his stick, but when he passes it, hoping to connect the pass to Nico, Jesper, or Luke, in a miscalculation, the puck finds the stick of one of the players of the Golden Knights. This failed pass has him being called off the ice and straight to the bench. In a sign of anger and frustration, Jack repeatedly hits his stick on the half wall separating the bench from the ice, eventually breaking his stick.

Nico, Jesper, and Luke look on from the ice as they skate to the next face-off zone. They look at each other feeling a mutual amount of worry for Jack and his behavior. They know that it's been a long day with everything going on and they hoped sitting out would calm him down. Before thinking too much about what they're going to do about Jack, they get their head back into the game and focus on the rest of the period.

Being sat out for the rest of the game, Jack now had free reign to think about Charlotte and what exactly happened the night before. He remembers that last night after the girl had kissed him, she'd taken his hand and led him away from the large group of clubgoers. He had no clue where they were going, but it just didn't feel right. Of course, it wouldn't feel right, he has Charlotte and this girl isn't her. Sobering up and before she could continue taking him to God knows where, Jack moved his hand out of hers and without saying a word, walked away and back to his friends. 

He doesn't know how he didn't expect someone to take pictures of him and that girl when it's almost always inevitable for someone to recognize him out in public. Also, it was obvious that someone was gonna take a picture at the exact moment that girl was gonna drag him away from his friends, the image telling a story that never ended up happening. 

He messed up badly and he knew that. The kiss was one of the worst things could've done, but that last picture of him and that girl walking away from the large crowd was even worse. He knows that when Charlotte decides that she's ready to talk, he'll tell her everything. He wants to apologize to her, but he feels like any apology, large or small, will never be enough. She didn't deserve what he did to her and he knows that.

He doesn't expect Charlotte to forgive him and he knows that if she does, he'll be extremely lucky. He knows he hurt her badly and even if she didn't text or call him tonight, he was hopeful to hear an update about Charlotte from the girls who would most likely update Nico, Luke, or Jesper. For him, just knowing she was okay would be enough to ease his mind slightly. As much as he'd like to hear from her directly, he knows the chances of that are slim to none.

Edited: 12/31/24

~

melissa speaks
I apologize for how short this was, but it's just a little filler. This pretty much takes place the same day Charlotte finds out about what happened. I wanted to let you guys in on how both Charlotte and Jack are doing after what I think has probably been a long day for them both.

hope y'all have a great day or night wherever you are!

stay safe ♡