Film Strips and Hockey Sticks

Chapter 22

"Your mom wants to know when the two of you will be here this summer," Hannah's dad said tiredly over the phone.

It was early for him, living on the West coast, but Hannah called as soon as she got her mother's text message: 'Urgent. Please call.' Lucy still hadn't gotten the hang of texting and her messages ended up reading like telegraphs.

"That was mom's urgent message?" Hannah groaned and rolled her eyes. "Sorry for waking you up for that. I don't know; we're... still trying to figure out what we're doing this summer."

"If you could tell your mother as soon as possible, that would be excellent," Will replied with no enthusiasm.

"Ughh tell mom I will let her know when I feel like it," Hannah hung up after mumbling 'goodbye' and leaned back in bed. She hadn't slept well the past few nights since the Penguins had been eliminated from the playoffs. Olli had no interest in talking about their summer plans, but when he did, Hannah was happy that they included phrases like 'we' and 'us.'

They were a definitely couple now, but more than that; they were Hannah and Olli, Olli and Hannah ('Holli' as Beth had dubbed them). They were a pair, a unit; you didn't have one without the other, and instead of feeling trapped, Hannah felt secure.

Hannah did not mention his upcoming surgery when discussing their summer plans. She had no idea what kind of recovery would be required, or even how mobile he would be. She shuddered at the thought of spending her summer sitting next to him while recovered in bed.

Hannah snapped out of her daydreaming when she heard a sound from the kitchen. She crept down the hallway and peaked around the corner, only to find Olli making coffee.

"Oh hey," she sounded surprised. "I didn't realize you were here."

"I've been here all night." He replied without turning around.

"You must have come back pretty late, I didn't hear you come in." She slid her arms around his waist and tucked herself under his arm.

"You were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up." He leaned over and kissed the top of her head as he slipped out of her grasp. He sat at the table with his coffee and Hannah sat across from him.

"I don't have much food, sorry, I've been kind of busy," Hannah bit her lip and felt bad about not being able to feed him anything breakfasty.

"At least you have coffee," he smiled, but it quickly faded. "My shoulder surgery has been schedule for May 22, right after I return from London."

Hannah opened her mouth to reply, but she didn't know what to say. "I'm sure it will go okay." She smiled hesitantly. "Did you want me to come to London with you?"

"No, I'm just visiting some old friends and watching one of the Knight's playoff games, it would probably be boring for," he laughed tiredly. She could tell he hadn't been seeping well; his pale skin showed the dark circles under his eyes clearly. "Besides, it's only about an hour flight, I probably won't be gone longer than a couple days."

"My mom wants us to visit at some point," she said, staring into her coffee, but glanced up to see his reaction. "You don't have to; I'll probably go back to Oregon for a few weeks anyway."

"Okay," he smiled, "but only if you come back to Finland with me the rest of the summer."

Hannah relaxed and actually laughed a little. She had been so worried that he wouldn't want to spend the summer with her, or they'd only spend a few weeks together. Especially after the bottle incident, she didn't want to seem clingy/needy/crazy or anything else. She knew he needed space after the loss, and getting over that would take time, but she was okay with that.