Heart of Ice

Chapter Ten

EDITED: 03/10/19

Aurelie

Beep. Beep. Beep. I heard the steady beep of a machine near my ear. Slowly, my senses came back to me. Then, the memories came back. Fuck. Why was I here?

I turned my head to the right and saw the concerned gazes of a doctor, my parents, and Jacob? What was he doing here? 

My mom gasped, "Aurelie! You're awake!" She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my neck. 

I awkwardly patted her back and responded with, "Unfortunately." 

Everybody in the room sighed except for Jacob who's expression remained unchanging. 

When he thought I wasn't looking, he turned and whispered something to my dad, who then nodded his head in response.

Just as I was about to ask what was up with the secrecy, Jacob walked over to my bedside. 

Lowering his head to my ear, he whispered, "I'm sorry, Princess, if I had any part in this," I shivered at the feel of his deep voice in my ear, but tried to compose myself to listen to what he was saying, "and I know you'll hate me, but I had to tell your parents what happened to you at Regionals." 

As his words to me processed, I felt myself panic. Before it could really set in though, he was there, stroking my arm. "Aurelie, listen to me. I figured out a way to catch Dylan and Amber, without the pictures getting released. It's going to be OK, and no one is mad at you, alright. It's going to be OK." 

I closed my eyes and his words calm me down, trying to take deep breaths. I looked up at him and in a hoarse voice asked, "How?" 

He sat down on the side of the bed and told me that there were actually security cameras in the locker rooms, to prevent people coming in and stealing the athlete's stuff. They didn't show me in the shower but they would show me coming in and showering, with whoever coming in and taking the photos of me. I mean, we couldn't be 100% sure that it was Dylan, but we could catch whoever came in and took the photos.

I took what felt like my first breath in weeks and felt the panic that had been residing in my mind ever since Regionals dissipate. "Thank you," I gave him a hug, "I don't know how I'll ever repay you." 

His arm ran soothingly up and down my back. "Don't worry about it Princess. If anything, I owe it to you for how I treated you that day in freshman year." 

I was immediately confused, seeing as he thought I was in the wrong that day. 

He continued with his explanation, "It turns out, you just so happened to spill coffee on me the same day that my dad had left. And me and my mom, well we weren't in the best place financially and he had left saying some truly awful things to me, and I wasn't in the best mood. So, I overreacted when you spilled coffee on me and I realized a couple years ago that what I said to you was uncalled for and would traumatize anybody. So I'm really sorry." He finally looked me in the eyes and I saw the uncertainty swirling there. 

I grabbed his hands, and looked at him head-on. "Thank you for apologizing. I'm sorry about your dad. He's an asshole that doesn't deserve you or your mom." 

Tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, he looked at me, and chuckled, "Thank you, princess." 

Suddenly, I blushed bright red, realizing my parents must still be in the room. However, a quick scan of the room showed me that they were nowhere to be found. I guess they stepped out to give us our privacy. 

Before I could chicken out, I reached forward and captured Jacob's lips with my own, giving him my own version of a thank you. 

I felt his hand come up to the side of my face as he took control of the kiss, making me see fireworks. 

I knew I had to pull away though, I really didn't need my parents to walk in and see me making out with him. Reluctantly, I pulled away and gave him a shy smile.

I peeked at him through my lashes, and saw that he was still staring at my lips with a wondrous expression. 

Jacob

Had I really just kissed Aurelie? 

I looked at her slightly kiss-swollen lips. Guess I did. That had been one of the best kisses of my life. Not that I had had that many, but still. I didn't know they could be like that.

The door opened with a creak, and both Aurelie and I looked up to see the doctor walking in as well as her parents.

As I stood up, her dad clapped me on the back. "Thank you so much for all your help, son. We'll be coming by the rink tomorrow to get that footage, but you need to be heading home. It's late and you still have school tomorrow." 

Giving him a nod, I turned and said goodbye to Aurelie, who still looked quite embarrassed. I made sure to say bye to Aurelie's mom as well and made my way out of the room, shutting the door quietly, so as not to disturb them. 

I woke up the next morning with bleary eyes, my three hours of sleep not sufficient enough to put me in a good mood. 

Groggily, I grabbed grey sweatpants with shoes and a black hoodie, ready to make my way to school. 

School went by slowly, and I made sure to grab all of Aurelie's schoolwork so she wouldn't miss anything. 

Soon, I was in my car and on my way to the rink where I was meeting Mr. Washington and the rink manager to try and get the footage. It was important for me to be there, because it was most likely a member of the hockey team and I was the one that knew them best. 

I pulled my car into the parking lot, and made my way inside, spotting Mr. Washington almost as soon as I walked in. 

"Hey, Jacob," Bill, the rink manager, greeted me, "Do you know what days we're looking at here? It's a lot easier to search the security footage by time." 

I thought back. Well, she had the photos in early October, and the team started practicing together with Aurelie in early September. I told Bill that it would most likely have occurred during the month of September. 

By this time, we had walked into Bill's office and were gathered around his screen, looking through the footage. We saw the same thing for most of the days, after skating, Aurelie would come in with her stuff, shower, get ready for school, and then head out. 

Finally, after about an hour of looking, we got something. I looked at the time stamp. September 26. Aurelie went through the same routine she always did, but while she was in the shower, a door opened by the side of the locker room. 

Instinctively, all of us watching leaned forward. Got him. 

hahhahahaha ok im back from my mental breakdown lol that lasted about 10 min but i'm keeping that a/n up just to see what y'all would think if i did need a longer break. 

anyways i kinda think this chapter is ugly too but we will see! 

comment thoughts pleaseee i'd love to have more engaged readers! 

bye until wednesday! 

dmh 

published: february 10, 2019