Unexpected || Tyler Seguin

Chapter 7

It had been a relaxing past few days. With having nothing to do but pack, Hadley spent a majority of her time packing up her things so she could start moving into the apartment. As she zipped up one of her suitcases her phone buzzed on the nightstand in her room. “Hello?”

“Hey Hadley, happy new year!” It was Cassidy.

“Hey Cass, happy new year to you too! What’s up?” Hadley held the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she started folding clothes to fill another suitcase.

There was rustling on Cassidy’s end of the line. “Nothing much! We’re actually packing our stuff so we can leave later tonight! How was your Christmas?”

Hadley laughed at how fast Cassidy was talking. She had learned from standing in as her assistant coach that she talks fast when she gets excited. “My Christmas was good. I hung out with some of my friends on Christmas Eve and I was at a New Year’s party early this morning. How was seeing Tyler play in the Spengler Cup?”

“Awesome! Did you see the picture he tweeted?”

“Yes, I did.” She laughed. “But Jesus, what did you eat? A pixie stick or something? You sound like you are bouncing off the walls right now.”

“No, I’m just excited to get home for the last week of Christmas vacation.” There was a pause on Cassidy’s end of the line. Hadley heard a deep voice in the background and she recognized it as Tyler’s voice. “Tyler says hi.”

“Hey Tyler,” Hadley said as she put her phone on speaker so she could crawl across her room to empty out one of her dresser drawers.

“Sorry Hadley, we have to go! We’ll see you later tonight!”

“Alright Cass, I’ll talk to you later then. Bye!”

Hadley hung up the phone and continued to pack up her room. The only thing she needed to move to the apartment was her clothes and everything in her bathroom. Besides that, the rest of the house was staying behind until she figured out what to do with it.

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It was ten o’clock at night and Hadley had fallen asleep on the bare mattress in her room. She was fast asleep until the door to the apartment slammed shut. Hadley sat up so fast she strained her neck. “Oh fuck.” Her hand braced itself around her neck and she slowly got off the bed. She poked her head out into the hallway and saw that the light in Tyler’s room was on. Hadley bit her bottom lip not knowing whether it was right for her to go into his room, but she felt she needed to see if he was okay.

Knocking on his door softly, she waited for a response that she didn’t get. Slowly she opened the door and saw Tyler sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. “Tyler,” Her voice was soft and soothing. “Are you okay?” No answer. Hadley didn’t want to pry, but she felt like she couldn’t leave him alone upset like this. “Hey,” she knelt down in front of him and took his hands in hers. “What’s wrong?” For the first time since she walked into his room, Tyler looked Hadley in the eyes.

Hadley’s heart broke when she saw that his eyes looked glassy and his cheeks were wet from crying. “What’s wrong?” She asked again as she held onto his hands.

Tyler looked at her closely for the first time. Her blue eyes sparkled like little sapphires. They were filled with concerns. “My friend Derrek,” his voice was slightly scratchy. “He got into a bad car accident.”

Her heart wrenched in her chest. She crept closer to him. “I can empathize.” She squeezed his hands in a comforting manner. “Do you want me to make you some chamomile tea? You look like you could use some sleep.” She smiled when he heard him chuckle softly.

“That would be great.” He said, taking a few deep breaths.

“Okay,” Hadley patted his knew before standing up. She went into the kitchen and found a kettle so she could boil the water. She grabbed a tin can full of tea bags that she brought from her house and placed it in a big mug. As Hadley waited for the kettle to whistle she couldn’t help but feel for Tyler. She had gone through the same thing last year.

The water was finally hot enough to pour into the mug. Hadley filled Tyler’s mug with the searing liquid before bobbing the tea bag in the water so it would dissipate into the water. After letting the tea bag soak in the water for a few minutes, she tossed the tea bag into the sink and walked into Tyler’s room.

Hadley walked in and noticed that he had changed into some sweatpants and a Boston t-shirt. “Thanks,” he said, gratefully taking the cup of tea.

“No problem,” she turned to walk back across the hall to her room when Tyler stopped her.

“Hey,” he called after her. She stopped and turned around. “Are you staying here tonight?”

“I was going to head home – ”

Tyler cut her off. “Can you stay here tonight?” His hands were wrapped around the warm mug. “Please.”

Hadley nodded. “I’ll be across the hall if you need me.” She said with a sweet smile. “Try and get some sleep.”

Tyler nodded and placed the half-full mug of tea on his nightstand. He stared across the hall at the slightly ajar door of Hadley’s room. A small stream of light seeped through the crack and it was comforting to him. He couldn’t be alone right now. He just couldn’t be.