Equal Ice // Harry Styles AU

Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Harry’s POV

It was getting close to being about time to leave the buffet, and I was actually having a pretty good time. I had been talking to Connor pretty much the whole time, but the guy sitting next to him, Sean, began to join into our conversation awhile later too.

I had to say that I really enjoyed talking to them, and I just couldn’t get over how great it felt to get to talk to someone and not have them judge me for anything and they were wanting to be my friend and actually get to know me as a person instead of just knowing me as the person on the hockey team who is dating a hockey player since that is how everyone else viewed me.

A few more minutes passed, and then coach got up and announced to us that it was about that time for us to start heading out. Everyone finished up the last bites of food on their plates and took a few more final sips from the their drink before getting up from the table.

When I got up from the table, I walked with Connor and Sean as we all walked out of the buffet building and met up outside. Coach got us all together and told us that he has a few things he needed to go over before we all left. Knowing him, I was the tiniest bit nervous, but I knew that he wasn’t going to say anything about Gabrielle and me; it was just first instinct to worry. He just went over a few things about tomorrow and then told us that we were free to go.

I didn’t like that he had to get us all together and talk to us out here because now Zack is probably going to come over to me now since he could. I was expecting to just be able to come out here and leave without having to encounter Zack while I was here, but of course coach just had to keep us all out here.

In attempt to avoid Zack, I quickly said bye to Connor and Sean and then started towards the parking lot, but of course I was stopped by Zack and Adam getting front of me and blocking my way.

“Wasn’t expecting to see you here today,” Zack said.

“Well that’s pretty explainable,” I told him.

I was getting tired of people telling me that they weren’t expecting to see me here. It was pretty obvious that they didn’t think that I was going to be here since I usually haven’t been lately.

“I thought that you would be out with your girlfriend,” he laughed.

“Again I’m not surprised that you would think that,” I said back to him, and it was true, I really was not surprised that that was what he was thinking.

So far he’s saying everything to me that I knew he would, so his goal to push my buttons and bother me was not going to work.

“Shocked you didn’t bring her along with you,” he said.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you though, if I brought her along you would have another person to pester about all this instead of just me,” I fired back at him and then walked around him to head back to my car.

I kind of wanted to see what his reaction was to what I had just said to him, but I really didn’t want to be around him any longer. I had realized until now that even though he says he hated the figure skaters and everything, I was almost positive that he enjoyed then being around because that meant that he got to try and bother them and get on their nerves. I hadn’t ever thought about that and I hadn’t noticed it until I said it, that’s why I wasn’t sure what his response was going to be.

Usually he was pretty predictable with his comebacks to things since they were pretty much the same every time just with a few words switched around or changed.

I had a short walk to my car, which didn’t always happen for me since I obviously always parked my car in the back of the lot. This time I was pretty grateful that I parked so close because it meant that I could leave faster. As much as I was excited to come here and talk to the few people who didn’t hate me, I was almost that excited to leave as well.

At this moment in time I really just wanted to go home and relax and clear my mind for the rest of the night. I knew I couldn’t do that right when I got home though because my aunt was expecting me to explain and tell her where I had been in such a hurry to get.

I knew that she wasn’t going to care if I was exhausted or not, she was going to want an explanation from me right away considering that this is the second night in a row that I had left the house without letting my aunt know where I was going since I was in such a hurry.

Last night it was that I needed to go to Gabrielle since she had called me in tears, and tonight it was going to the buffet.

Once I was in my car, I drove back to my aunt’s house and parked my car in its usual spot in the driveway before heading into the house. I threw my hockey bag down onto the living room couch as I made my way into the kitchen where I knew that Ben and my aunt would probably be eating or just finishing up their meal that my aunt always prepared around this hour. My aunt and Ben both looked up from their plates when they saw me come in.

“Where have you been Harry? I haven’t seen you all day,” Ben complained a few seconds after I came in.

“I was wondering the same thing,” my aunt said as I came in and sat down on the barstool next to Ben.

They both wanted to know the same thing, but Ben was asking in a more loving way since he has missed me today, whereas my aunt was asking because if I didn’t have a good excuse to give her then my ass was in big trouble.

“I went to the buffet,” I told her as I grabbed one of the few extra rolls that she had made.

“You did?” she asked and I couldn’t tell if her surprised and shocked tone was a good shocked and surprised or bad.

“What made you decide to go tonight?” she asked me.

“I don’t know, I guess I just felt like I should try and talk to people on the team still and let everyone know that I am unaffected by what they say to me and that I can continue on with my life,” I told her off the top of my head.

I hadn’t really given it much thought but I guess that really was the main reason why I went to the buffet with the team today.

“Well good for you then,” she said and I could tell that she was proud of me.

“So how is Gabrielle holding up?” she asked me after a few moments had passed.

“She’s doing okay, she seemed nervous when I dropped her off and she’s probably in her house waiting for her dad if he’s not already home,” I answered.

I checked the time and judging by the time that Gabrielle told me he usually got home, she probably had a bit longer to wait. I felt so worried for her right now, she was probably sitting on her couch with the TV turned off nervously checking the time for when her dad would be home, probably going over what she wanted to say to him although she’d probably forget everything by the time he walked in the door and I wondered if now would be a bad time to call her.