NHL Imagines

Charlie Coyle

"Charlie, why do you have to leave me??" You joke as your best friend, Charlie Coyle, gets ready to leave for good to go play hockey for the Minnesota Wild.

"I'll miss you," Charlie says.

"I'm gonna miss you too," you reply. "You better call me everyday and keep me updated and everything, Coyle."

"Of course I will, Y/Last/N. That's a promise."

That was almost five years ago. And that "promise" was broken within the first few months that Charlie moved to Minnesota. Just as quick as you two were best friends, you both became strangers to one another. Charlie was busy with his career. You were busy with school.

The more busier he got, Charlie stopped talking to you. You tried as much as you could to continue to talk to him. You never told him, but you loved him for the longest time now. And it wasn't a just friends, like he would always assume. You had feelings for Charlie. You never told him because you were sure he didn't feel the same way.

New Years Eve was always your favorite tradition. Each year, the Coyle family would throw a huge New Years Eve party. Your parents and Charlie's parents were always close, that's how you and Charlie became best friends. Your family was always invited over. You always had a good time, too.

But this year, you weren't looking forward to it. When you found out that Charlie was coming into town this year for New Years Eve, you decided you wanted to stay home. You were still holding a small grudge against him because he stopped talking to you. But it would be just too awkward, you two in the same room. Your family dragged you to the New Years Eve bash, though.

So here you are, sitting with the parents, eavesdropping on their conversation about their children's embarrassing stories. At one point, Charlie's mom says to you, "Y/N, have you talked to Charlie at all today?"

"No," you vaguely answer.

"Well, I think he's downstairs playing the video game with his cousins. You should go down and talk to him," she suggests.

You sigh, "no it's okay. I'm sure I'll see him later."

And you were right. A little while later, Charlie came upstairs, claiming to be looking for food. As he's looking for food, his eyes meet yours. He smiles at you, but you pretend you didn't see it. All of a sudden, you didn't feel too good. You excuse yourself from conversation with the parents and go to the bathroom.

You go in, lock the door, and throw some cold water on your face. You take a minute to cool yourself down. Once you felt good enough to go back out, you open the door to find Charlie waiting on the other side. "Hey, Y/N," he says.

You walk past him to go back downstairs and say nothing. You stop walking, though, when Charlie says, "Y/N, wait. I need to talk to you about something."

You think about it for a minute. Then, you sigh and decide to follow Charlie into his bedroom. You sit down on the edge of his bed as he closes the door. "Y/N," he starts. "Why haven't you talked to me?"

"Why haven't I talked to you? How about why haven't you been talking to me?" You spit.

"Are you mad at me?" He asks.

"Yes, I am," you answer. "You broke a promise. You promised me that you would call everyday. But what did you do? You just up and out of nowhere decided to stop talking to me." You could feel the tears start to sting in your eyes.

"I know, and I feel terrible..."

"No, you don't! If you felt terrible you would've tried to keep that promise. Charlie, you kept ignoring me."

"I would've tried but I was just too busy."

"Too busy for what? Would it have hurt you to take two seconds out of your day to text me something like 'hey' to show you still care?"

"I do still care."

"No you don't," your voice cracks. You couldn't hold it in anymore. You cover your face as the tears start to fall. "You don't care."

Charlie sits down next to you and starts to rub your back. "I do care," he repeats. "Why are you crying?"

"Charlie, I love you," you blurt out.

"I know you do, and I love you too," he replies.

"No, Charlie, you don't understand. I mean, I love you; I have feelings for you. I've had for the longest time."

He sits there speechless for a few moments. Then he says, "Y/N, I love you too. I've felt the same way about you since before I left for Minnesota. That's why I stopped talking to you."

"I'm confused."

"I knew you were busy with school. And I knew that I was getting more busier with my career. But when I had the free time, I didn't text you because I was afraid you were mad at me. And I didn't want to bother you or annoy you or anything. I'm sorry, Y/N. I promise I'll start talking to you more. I don't want to lose you."

Instead of saying anything, you just rest your head on Charlie's chest. He wraps his arms around you and pulls you closer.

"5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year!" You hear everyone from downstairs cheer. You and Charlie both look at the digital clock sitting on his dresser and see that it reads "12:00".

"Well, I guess we missed the ball drop," you say.

Instead of saying anything, Charlie cups your face with his hands and crashes his lips with yours.

Maybe this will work out, you and Charlie. But, you never know until you try.

Requested by Ash_Ann7 . Happy New Year Everyone!