Fire & Ice - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

When the water started to get cold, Cassie drained the tub and I stepped outside the bathroom so she could shower. I didn't go far though, just outside the door encase she needed some help getting from the bathroom to her room. Cassie didn't though. She used her cane and was able to make it to her room without a problem. I waited outside her room until she was dressed then joined her inside when she was done. We cuddled together on her bed and watched another episode of American Horror story before her mom called us in for dinner.
As I tried to put on the nice shirt I brought, Cassie didn't let me. She is dressed in sweats and said her parents would be too and that I should save it for tomorrow. With a kiss on the cheek I let Cassie hang the shirt back up and we walked into the dining room together. Chad was in the middle of setting the table and he took a seat when he was done.
"It's nice for you to join us McKenna, take a seat wherever. What can I get you to drink?" Cassie's dad Marshall asked.
"Thank you for having me and water is fine with me sir." I said and let Cassie push me into the chair next to her. Thank God it wasn't across from Chad.
"Don't call him sir, it will go right to his head. Marshall is just fine." Cassie's mom said coming into the dining room holding a bowl of pasta.
"Whatever you like ma'am." I said and bit my lip when Cassie snickered next to me. I looked up and saw Chad hid his laughter behind his hand.
"Nope, no, none of that in this house ever. I'm Willa, he's Marshall and that's it." Willa said and sat down next to Chad. He was still trying not to laugh and Willa didn't like it so she gave him a slap across the back of his head.
"And you, next time you are planning to come home, call first, I had to send your father to the store to get some more stuff for dinner. I knew I had one hungry hockey player to feed not two." Willa said and Chad stopped laughing to mumble out an apology.
That's when Cassie started laughing and I had a hard time keeping a straight face as Chad glared at his sister. Marshall came back in a few moments later holding three cups and he handed one to me and the other to Cassie while keeping the last one to himself.
"So, what'd I miss?" He asked and pulled his chair in.
I couldn't help the almost snort that came from my nose and I tried to hide my face behind my hands. Cassie started laughing next to me and I just looked over to her.
"Well these two have jokes. That's okay we'll just start eating without them." Marshall said and reached over for the bowl of pasta. Willa and Chad started grabbing some of the other dishes on the table and passing them around to each other while Cassie and I got ourselves together. Once we did, we took the plates and passed them back and forth to each other to get mix of everything.
While we ate, there was just some light chatter between us all, nothing major as we were all pretty hungry. Chad kept pretty quiet during dinner and every once and in a while I would glance over at him and find him looking between Cassie and myself. By the time we were finished eating it was really starting to annoy and I think Cassie noticed too because she called him right out on it.
"Is there something you wanted Chadwick?" Cassie said pulling out Chads full name and put her fork down.
"No" Chad said looking scared he just got caught.
"Oh there is, so out with it, because I'm sick and tired of the looks you have been throwing us all night." Cassie said.
Chad looked at the both of us and then at his parents who looked on concerned. I didn't know how if Cassie told them about what happened between Chad and myself at the bar and I didn't know if she wanted to ever bring it up again but it looks like she's about too. Chad looked down at his plate and sighed before looking up at me.
"I wanted to apologize to you McKenna, for the way I acted that night. I was way out of line and I should have never done what I did." Chad said. It looked like he was about to say more when Cassie beat him too it.
"I'm not some fragile girl anymore Chad and I don't need your protecting. I don't know what's gotten into you but you need to stop. I want to actually show you the video from that night." Cassie said and pulled out her phone. I don't know where she is going with this but I'm just going to let her go.
Cassie pulled up the video that I sent her from Becca and walked around the table to stand in between her mom and Chad. She hit play and I could hear the whole thing. You can hear the thud from when Chad threw me against the wall, Cassie yelling, the second thud when I put Chad up against the wall, my threat, Cassie's slap and the video ended with Cassie yelling my name and the door slamming shut.
"You're not allowed to put your hands on another woman ever. You're not allowed to even think that McKenna would do anything to harm me. That night you were the one who wanted to start a fight. You came over to us and broke us apart. For what reason I still don't know. Throughout that whole altercation, McKenna had the wherewithal to push me away from you and kept herself in between us. She has been through more then you will ever know and her actions that night speak for her character. I don't know what your problem is but you need to bury it, fast. If I knew you were going to be home this weekend, I wouldn't have come home." Cassie said and put her phone in her pocket before storming off.
Sunny followed her out of the room but the mood has already turned sour. Chad didn't know what to say and he opened his mouth a few times trying to come up with something only to close it again. With nothing coming out of his mouth he got up from the table and retreated to I'm guessing his room leaving me alone with Cassie's parents. I took a calming breath and let go of the fork I held so tightly in my hand.
"Ever since the fire, Chad feels personally responsible for Cassies well-being, especially when she surprised us and said she wanted to dorm at school. It took her a long time to get back to herself from the fire and when she really started to get the hang of walking again her and Chad did everything and anything together. Cassie was always so independent and now that she was getting back to that point Chad didn't learn to back off." Willa said and sighed.
"Now we get almost weekly phone calls from Cassie about Chad's hovering. It has gotten a bit better now that you and Cassie are in a relationship but now we know that was a big fat lie." Marshall said and stood from the table to check on Cassie in the backyard.
"Are you okay McKenna? Like Chad didn't hurt you right?" Willa asked concerned.
"I'm fine, like you saw in the video, I was more concerned about getting Cassie out of the middle of us." I answered.
"Thank you for that. I know this might be a bit forward and I hope it doesn't invade to much of your private life but Cassie told me a bit about what happened your junior year of high school. I just want you to know that you're always welcomed here if something were to happen." Willa said and gave me a smile.
"Thank you Willa." I said and felt an unexpected weight lift from my shoulders.
"Don't thank me yet, I think they staged this so they can all leave me with the dishes. Since they ran away, you're going to help." Willa said and stood from her seat with a few plates in her hands.
"I can definitely do dishes." I said and helped Willa unset the table and bring everything over to the kitchen.
It didn't take long for Willa to bring everything over to the sink and we chatted as I rinsed some items and handed them off to her to place in the dishwasher. I got to know Willa a bit more and I tried to be a bit more open to her then I normally would be. Willa mostly kept the questions to about school and what I was doing a major and how hockey is going so far. Marshall came in a little while into it and said he and Chad were going for a drive.
Only after we heard the slam of the front door did Cassie come back inside and joined us in the kitchen. My conversation with Willa slowly ended and Willa pushed a box of pastries in front of Cassie. Cassie smiled at her mom as I finished the last few dishes. When I turned I found my girlfriend stuffing her face with a chocolate frosted donut and I couldn't help but smile.
"What?" Cassie asked and wiped her face in between bites.
"You're cute" I said and pulled the second glove off my hand.
"Don't you still have some pastries in that bag from this afternoon?" Cassie asked and tried to hide her blush.
"Yea but those are late night snacks, didn't I tell you this before?" I asked and took a vanilla frosted donut out of the box.
"Hockey players, you're like a human garbage disposal." Cassie said and finished off her first donut before reaching back into the box and pulled out a cookie.
Turned out the cookie was for Sunny and Cassie made her do a few tricks before she gave it to her. Willa left Cassie and I alone in the kitchen after that and I watched as Cassie finished off another pastry before she said she was full. We went off to Cassies room after that and I could tell she wouldn't be awake for much longer. So I made Cassie change into her pajama's and we settled into her bed. We only managed to make it through one episode of American Horror Story before she was out. I left Netflix on and made it through another episode myself before I shut it off and went to bed.
The next morning everything seemed to be calm and Chad was nowhere to be found, which makes my life so much easier. Cassie appeared lighter as well. Marshall and Willa both moved lightly around the kitchen in the morning teasing each other along with Cassie in a light morning. To me, it just seemed like another breakfast for them. I sipped my coffee and just mainly watched the trio until I was pulled into conversation with Marshall about hockey.
When Cassie had enough hockey talk, she pulled me away from her dad and we walked back to her room. We still had a bit of time before the festivities really started this afternoon so we just went right back to her bed and cuddled for a bit. After a few more episodes of American Horror Story we got up and started to get ready to go to the festival. I ended up wearing the button up I didn't get a chance to wear last night along with a pair of warm jeans and my good boots because I know we are going to be doing a lot of walking today.
After I was done getting ready I walked back to Cassie's room and found her waiting for me dressed and ready to go. Cassie is dressed in an oversized light blue sweater with a pair of black skinny jeans and boots on her feet, her blonde hair down in waves and my breath caught in my lungs stopping me in my place. It took me a second to get moving again and I walked all the way over to her.
"You look beautiful." I said put my hand on her waist.
"You clean up pretty nice yourself Mac." Cassie said with a blush on her cheeks and gave me a bright smile as she ran her hand down the back of my arm that rested on her waist.
"Are you ready to go?" I asked. Cassie nodded and we left her room hand in hand. Cassie called out to her parents that we were going to the festival and she gave Sunny a few pets before we were out the front door.
"You didn't take your cane." I said as I got into the passenger seat.
"Why should I use the cane when I have an amazing strong girlfriend I can hang onto?" Cassie said and gave me a smile as we pulled out of her driveway.
Cassie didn't drive long. We parked towards the middle of the town and walked across to the main street of the town and found the heart of the festival. Cassie pulled me right away to her favorite booths and told me all about her younger years running up and down main street with Chad. We actually bumped into Chad as Cassie pulled me into the ice rink. Even though she doesn't skate anymore she used to be Chad's practice partner.
I watched the memories flash in her eyes and hope that maybe one day the siblings will be able to mend their relationship. As she was showing me the rink Chad came down from somewhere and yelled at us to get out because they weren't open yet. When he noticed it was us Chad asked if I wanted some skates. I declined but thanked him for the offer. Cassie told me I should have taken him up on it but I said no. Today is about Cassie and her showing me her town and favorite things. That put a smile on her face and earned me a kiss.
After we left the rink Cassie pulled me into her favorite German place for lunch. They had some specials for the festival and I left ordering up to Cassie as she seemed to know what everything was. As we waited for the appetizers to come Cassie and I ordered flights of beer to sample. At first we weren't sure we would be able to get away with drinking underage but when our waitress looked at us like we were crazy for not getting drinks we thought it would be okay to get something.
As the food came out and we drank our drinks, Cassie told me more about the festival and a bit more about her life before the fire. Turns out that Cassie used to be a gymnast. She talked about going away to compete and how her schedules with Chads always clashed. Whenever either of them had a free weekend to watch the other they would always be there. Since the accident, Cassie hasn't been back to the gym.
After we finished our food and the bill was paid, Cassie and I continued to walk the festival. Just as we were going to make it the stage where some people were preforming some live music, Cassie stopped and looked at a building behind some booths that were set up. I just gave her hand a squeeze to let her know I'm here and Cassie pulled me along. I follow behind her as she pulled me into the building that I quickly realized was the gym she used to train at.
Cassie let go of my hand I let her walk around for a few minutes by herself. Just when I was going to after her I felt someone stand next to me. When I turned my head I saw Chad standing next to me.
"She was training for Olympic qualifiers to get a shot at a spot on team USA. Going into the few tournaments before that one, she was the heavy favorite to make the team. I knew she would have made it; she was that good. That all disappeared after the fire. This is the first time since then that she had stepped foot inside the gym. I also owe you an apology, probably a few. This is the first time she's been in a real relationship with someone and it's the first time she's been relying on someone outside of our family. In a way I'm jealous. She hasn't been the same since the fire. Before she was always this outgoing bubbly girl who had a million friends. After the fire she became a shell of herself and hasn't been the same. Constant nightmares, insomnia so bad she refused to sleep for days on end and only finally got a few hours when she could no longer keep her eyes open. On the rare occasions we did go out somewhere, if there was any kind of open flame she would have a panic attack no matter if we removed her from the situation a few seconds after.
"Time helped a bit, mom and dad finally got her into some kind of therapy and that helped more. She had some meds to help her calm down but she stopped going to therapy once she really got to walking again. When she said that she wanted to go away to school we were shocked and scared and there were a lot of arguments about letting her go. University of Wisconsin was kind of a settlement between my parents and Cassie, letting her go away but not as far as she wanted to originally go.
"Watching her over the last two months with you it's like she is almost back to where she was before the fire. I always hoped that it would have been me to be able to pull her out of her downward spiral and I'm seeing the error in my ways. I shouldn't have been putting it on you McKenna and I'm sorry again." Chad said and watched his sister move around the gym.
I didn't know what to say in response. So I just turned my head and found Cassie standing in front of the vault table with her hands on her hips. All of a sudden Cassie punched the vault and let out a frustrated scream. Chad went to go after her but I held him back.
"Let her have a second to let it out." I said quietly and watched as Cassie slowly came apart. I let her have another minute in front of the vault table and when I saw she was starting to favor her good leg I moved in.
Carefully I walked up behind her and caught her in my arms as her legs gave out underneath her. Cassie sobbed for her lost dream for a few more minutes and I couldn't help the few tears that escaped my eyes as well. First the pain she must have gone through during her recovery to then learn that she would never be able to chase her dream again. It felt like a punch to my own gut because I was almost in her position after my concussion. So I just wrapped my arms tightly around her and held Cassie close.
After what seemed like a few more minutes I felt Cassie relax more into my body. I knew she would be okay but she needed this for herself. I kissed the crown of her head and pulled her right hand up a bit. Her knuckles are already started to bruise but none of them split open which is a good thing.
"Have you given any thought to becoming a boxer? You really showed this vault table who's boss." I said and slow ran my fingers of her warm knuckles. I only heard Cassie chuckle and I picked up her left hand to take a look. Just like her right, none of her knuckles opened and I sighed in relief.
"After the fire I thought that once everything healed up I would be back on my feet and back to doing flips in the air in no time. If I even tried to do any of that now I would most likely rupture muscles and ligaments up and down my leg." Cassie said.
"It would probably be best to avoid that, hench why I suggested you becoming the next Rocky." I said. Cassie turned and looked at me and I just gave her a smile. She pressed her forehead into my cheek and I just held onto her.
"How about we get out of here and get a drink, I could use one." Cassie said.
"We should probably get some ice for your hands as well." I said but slowly stood from the ground and helped Cassie up.
"That might be a good idea." Cassie said as we made our way to the exit. Before we could leave Cassie left me by the door to use the bathroom and I took a second to collect myself. When I looked up Chad was waiting by the door.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yea, actually can you do me a favor?" I asked.
"Anything you need." Chad said. I told him my plan and Chad said he would set it up for me for tomorrow morning.
When Cassie came out of the bathroom Chad left the gym not to be seen by his sister. Cassie looked a bit better but most of the makeup she put on this morning is gone. I gave her a kiss on the temple as we walked back outside to the fair. Cassie and I got drinks and a pretzel to spilt and took a seat near her parents to watch a bit of the show the town is putting on. As it got closer to dinnertime Chad came around and sat with us to watch the rest of the show. Though the tension is still there it wasn't as suffocating as it was before. Now that most of the drama has been aired out I think things will slowly start to get better between us. Will he and I become best friends, probably not, but getting to a place where we are civil with each other is what I'm hoping for.
After the show ended we all went out to dinner together to try and get a second chance at a nice night between us all. It was definitely better than last night and Chad and myself actually talked a bit about hockey. It was mostly about Travis and how I saw him as such an underused talent but it was something. Cassie watched the two of us most of the night and tried to keep her hands out of view from her parents so they wouldn't see the bruising. She managed to keep them from seeing and after we finished dinner we left to go back to her house. Chad even hitched a ride back with us and climbed over the passenger seat to get into the back.
The three of us made our way back to her house in silence, just listening to the radio. When we got to the house Chad let himself out of the trunk before I could move the seat again and I just laughed and watched him almost fall out of the Jeep. Cassie just smiled at her brothers silliness and we all walked inside. Sunny was waiting to great us and as I walked into the kitchen to get Cassie some ice for her hands. When I got to her room I found Cassie wasn't there so I just left the ice on her bed. I kicked off my books and quickly changed into my pajamas for the night. As I finished up Cassie came back into the room and climbed into bed. She took the ice and place both on her hands and sighed.
We relaxed in bed for a while Catch Me If You Can. As the movie started to get to the end of the movie I turned and found Cassie barely awake next to me. I smiled and took the ice off her hands before pulling her close to me. Today was a long day and I hoped that tomorrow will be a little bit better then today.