back to you

paige bedard learned early that loving something meant sacrificing for it. the early mornings, missed birthdays, and the quiet pressure of carrying a last name hockey already knew. but, there was always one place she didn't have to be paige bedard: connor bedard's little sister, captain of the wisconsin badgers, alternate captain for Team Canada, and star forward of the vancouver goldeneyes. it was the place she could just be paige and that place was wherever macklin celebrini was.

they met at thirteen, two north vancouver kids with dreams too big for their bodies. he stayed on the ice after everyone left. she stayed with him. driveways became rinks, summer nights became promises, and somewhere between shared playlists, lake days, and silent understanding, paige fell in love with him.

she just never told him.

he was macklin, her best friend. her almost. because almost was safer than losing him completely.

then, came the leaving-
he went to Boston to chase the NHL. she went to wisconsin, where she became captain and one of the most dominant players in college hockey before returning home as the face of the Goldeneyes. phone calls became texts and texts became nothing. years passed, but feelings didn't.

now, at nineteen, paige stands at center ice in milan with a silver medal around her neck and an "A" over her heart. a loss she can't escape. hockey, for the first time, doesn't feel like enough.

until she sees him-

across a city thousands of miles from where they began, macklin stands there and suddenly she's thirteen again. macklin was never just her first love, he was her unfinished one and some people, no matter how far you skate or how much time passes...

you always find your way back to them.