My Hockey Boy

Chapter 39

Charlie's POV

I had decided to drive somewhere I hadn't been in a long time. I wasn't sure what made me think of it, but now that the thought was there, I couldn't get it out of my head.

As I opened my car door to slip out, the cool wind hit me. The sky had become more cloudy since I left Haley's house and it felt like rain was coming. I ignored it, beginning to take steps in the direction I needed to go. The grass had a slight glossy dew covering it from the morning. Stray leaves covered parts of the grounds as I started to pass by the grey headstones.

I took in a deep breath, knowing I was close. I walked a little more till I arrived at the two headstones, laying side by side.

Austin Daniel Adams
"Brave brother and son"

Henry Grant Adams
"Loving husband and father"

"Hey, dad." I breathed out. "Austin," I nodded to the headstones. "I haven't been around in a while, have I?"

I allowed the rhetorical question to float in the air for a second. I've never really admitted that.

"Sorry about that."

This was harder than I thought. I was already at a loss for words and it was only a one sided conversation.

"I got into college. I'm moving to New York." I shrugged.

If there were any people passing by they would definitely think I had lost my mind.

"I really miss you guys. Mom and I both. It's been pretty rough since you guys . . . left." I shoved my hands in my pockets, shifting back and forth on my feet. "But I got this really great girl. Her name's Haley. You guys would've loved her. She's smart and funny and just . . . beautiful. I really wish you guys could've met her."

I took in a sharp breath, taking my bottom lip between my teeth to bite back the warmth I felt growing in my eyes. I quickly wiped it away, clearing my throat.

"Yeah, I'll try to visit again soon." I said, touching both of the names on the grey headstones before making my way back to my car.

Once I reached my car, I got into the driver's seat just sitting there for a moment. This was Austin's first car. He gave it to me after he picked up another one from the junkyard to repair. That was always his thing. Fixing up old cars.

It's only been a year since they died, but it feels like ten. I miss my brother and I miss my dad. I've never really thought about that. I always focused on blaming myself for the events that night.

But never focused on the good times we had or the reasons behind me being too stubborn to even visit their graves.

All of a sudden I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't know why, but I guessed it was reality finally kicking in.

Haley's POV

I groaned for what felt like the millionth time. Lukcily, I had found the other acceptance letters, but I applied to half of them blindly. I didnt't know the campuses or the majors they offered. I had been up in my room for the past couple hours. My laptop was in front of me and the many pieces of paper were scattered around my sheets.

I sighed loudly, running my fingers through my hair when I finished scrolling through another list of majors for yet another college I shouldn't have even applied to.

I picked up my phone, ready to call Charlie to ask him if he could come over and hopefully, have a better solution to my problem that was more organized then what I was doing. But I stopped my finger from pressing down on the little green call button. I could handle this on my own. I didn't need to rely on Charlie for everything. Besides, we haven't even really covered the topic of college. What are we going to do exactly? If I end up going to a place completely opposite of where he's going or even stay here, we won't see each other and long distance never seems to work.