Fire & Ice - Chapter 25: Chapter 25

The morning after our makeshift thanksgiving, mom, Alyssa and myself all went to the ice rink for a morning skate session. As both mom and I laced up our skates we noticed that Alyssa didn't really know what she was getting herself into. There were only private lessons going on the ice right now so there aren't many people here.
I waited around for mom to help Alyssa with her skates and for them to get to the ice. I hopped onto the ice without issue and so did mom, we both ran a warm up lap and I let her win for once before we returned to help Alyssa onto the ice. I tried to keep my laughter to myself as Alyssa looked like Bambi on ice. Her and mom barely got far before Alyssa started falling. It was a good thing I positioned myself behind them and I was able to catch the doctor without much effort.
Alyssa thanked me a few times as I got her upright and left her with mom again before taking off. I went to the supply closet and grabbed an adult walker used to help people balance on the ice and brought it out for Alyssa. She started laughing but gladly took the walker to help her out. With them settled I started to run a few skating drills myself to loosen up a bit on what would normally be a day I would practice. I kept it up while mom and Alyssa slowly made their way around the rink a few times.
After a few times around, Alyssa called it quits and it freed mom up to come skate with me. Mom ran a few drills with me and it was nice to get some ice time with her as I can't remember the last time we skated like this together. We didn't take too long on the ice as Alyssa was sitting and watching us and we didn't want to leave her out. Once I wrapped up my practice, we got off the ice and returned to the lodge part of the rink to get the skates off.
It was funny to watch Alyssa try to pull her skates off. She almost ended up cutting her palm open when she did manage to get the skate off before mom tried to help her. After she realized her mistake, Alyssa waited for moms help. It was cute to watch them together, it looked like they were on a first date, still trying to get past the awkwardness. When we got out of the rink we went to a diner for brunch and then returned to the house. Alyssa ended up leaving not long after we got back as she had to work later that night. As she left, I pulled her into a hug and thanked her making the effort getting to know me and for being around for dinner last night and going skating today. I have a feeling this won't be the last time I'll be seeing Alyssa around the house.
With Alyssa gone, I got to packing everything I needed for the rest of my school year. After that was all done, mom and I just had a nice night in together. We watched the Boston Bruins game and had the leftovers from the night before. Soon enough it was time for bed as I had an early flight tomorrow.
The next morning it was hard to say bye to mom. This trip home meant too much to the both of us and I didn't want it to end. We finally got the chance to grow together and have those meaningful conversations we never got to have before. We also made plans for Christmas. I'm going to come home right after my last final on the 14th of December and I'm going to head back to Wisconsin and Cassie on the 27th.
With all the ground work for the plan laid out, I booked my tickets before we left for the airport. Saying bye to mom was tear filed and I think it will be even harder now that we have been basically rebuilding our relationship. But finally, I was on the plane back to Wisconsin. I watched the clouds sail by as the flight came into Wisconsin and then land at the airport. When I got to baggage claim I had to get a cart because I brought my hockey sled back with me. It was more cost effective to check it on the plane then it would have been to ship it to Wisconsin.
Just as I grabbed the box I packed it in, I heard someone call my name from behind. I didn't have to turn around to know it was Cassie. I carefully made sure the box was secure on the cart before I turned around and found Cassie speed walking over to me. I took a few big steps and met her in the middle and wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into me. I held onto my girl for a few moments before slowly putting her back down on the ground. Once her toes touched the ground Cassie pressed her lips to mine and I knew I was home.
The kiss didn't last long as I was still missing my suitcase and I wanted to make sure I grabbed it. Once in hand, we made our way out to her Jeep and I loaded the car up while she stayed warm inside. At my request, Chad pulled the back seat out for me so I would have enough room for my bags and the sled in the box.
After everything was inside, Cassie drove us back to the dorm. I somehow managed to enlist Becca's help in getting everything up to the room in one trip. She helped me with the box while Cassie pulled my suitcase along. With the promise of covering her tab the next time Travis' band plays a show, she was all for helping out. As I got the box upstairs, Cassie did ask what was in it. I tried to down play it because I didn't want her to know so I ended up going with its just some hockey stuff for the team. The answer seemed to satisfy Cassie because she didn't bring it up again.
Cassie managed to get Becca out the front door quickly after we got the box upstairs. After the door was closed, I smiled at my girl and pulled her in for another hug that ended in a kiss. When I pulled away, I kept close to her and smiled.
"So, did you have anything planned for tonight?" I asked. Cassie gave me a smirk and her blue eyes started to shine.
"I do, it first starts with lunch I already made and just need be warmed up and then I have a plan that involves you, me and very little clothing." Cassie tease as she started to kiss up my neck in between words.
"If you continue that, I think we are going to be skipping lunch." I almost moaned out as Cassie bit down on my neck just under my ear.
"Well, I can just eat you instead." Cassie responded.
My last bit of self-control I had snapped. I lifted Cassie up effortlessly as she connected our lips again while I walked us toward her room. Cassie pushed the door open as I got close without separating our mouths. When I finally pulled away to make sure I wouldn't trip over anything, I saw Cassie had the lights already dim, her fairy lights twinkling brightly through the room and some music on in the background.
"You really did have this planned." I said and felt Cassie lower her legs to the floor to let herself down.
Cassie didn't say anything but wink and pulled her tee shirt off. Covering her breasts is a lace navy blue bra that had my jaw dropped. When my eyes finally trailed back up to hers Cassie shimmed out of her sweatpants to reveal the matching pair of lace navy blue boy shorts. It didn't take me long to strip out of my cloths and follow Cassie into her bed.
Our afternoon together turning into evening together. We only got out of bed around 6pm to get something to eat as we both needed to eat more than each other. The meal Cassie made for lunch tasted just as good for dinner as it would have for lunch once we warmed it up. After it was gone, Cassie and I laid together on the couch and watched some more American Horror Story.
"I saw your Instagram post of your mom. I wasn't sure when or if you were going to bring it up but I wanted to ask how you are doing about it." Cassie asked and lifted her head from the crook of my neck to look at me.
"I'm just really proud of her. She told me a little while ago when she teased me about trying to ask you out that she tried her own gaydar out. It through me for a bit of a loop but getting to know Alyssa more while I was home has given me some peace of mind. Alyssa has known mom for a while as they have been working at the same hospital together for years. She was the one mom always went to after her and my dad fought. Alyssa always cleaned her up and tried to keep her from going back to him but she couldn't. The pair had a falling out after my concussion and only recently built their foundation again. They have apparently been dating since the summer and she just didn't tell me because she wasn't sure if she was ready to tell me.
"The video was just about me documenting the moment. I wanted to save that moment of time forever. To get to see her so happy and not living in fear made my heart so happy." I said and felt my eyes tear up.
When I looked down at Cassie, I found her watching me with rapt attention. Now that I was finished and looking her in the eyes, more words found me.
"All I've ever wanted was to see her happy and loved and now she finally is." I added. Cassie wiped away a tear that managed to escape my eye and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"I look forward to meeting Alyssa eventually, and just getting to know your mom more." Cassie said quietly and laid her head back down on my chest.
I couldn't help but smile and kissed the top of Cassie's head. The rest of our night was mostly spent on the couch until Becca pounded on our door a few hours later demanding to let in. When we finally let her in, Stacey followed behind her and the pair took up half of the couch. After they sat down was only then when I realized Cassie is still in shorts from getting dress before. Both Becca and Stacey were looking at her scaring and Cassie just sat close to me and I threw a blanket over her legs. The tension in Cassie's shoulders released a bit but it was still there.
Stacey finally opened her mouth and filled me in on what is going on with the team. They both told me that a good amount of the girls went home for Thanksgiving and only about half of the team was at practice on Tuesday. Becca did have some more information about the playoffs this year. We are going to be playing for the WCHA Cup first, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association cup and then we are going onto the Frozen Four, if we win our way in of course. The locations of the games will be determined as we get closer because of the standings.
A little while into our conversation I noticed that the tension completely left Cassie's shoulders. As she started to relax more Cassie shifted the blanket a bit and let her legs poke out the side. Neither Becca or Stacey noticed. The more comfortable she got; the more Cassie moved the blanket off her leg. I feel like I was hyper aware the whole time she was doing it. The more she moved the blanket back the more ready I was to jump down my friend's throats if they did something to make her feel uncomfortable. Becca and Stacey only looked every once and a while and didn't say anything about it or drew any attention to it. Only when Cassie nodded off did I finally kick the other two girls out so we could get some sleep. After our day of reunion sex, I carried Cassie to my bed and we feel asleep pretty quickly once we got settled.
Settling back into our school routine didn't take long as I had my normal Thursday practice. As we all returned from our few days away from the team, it felt nice to have everyone back together. The team started to click again really seamlessly and we were all ready for the final few games of the semester. I also had another session with Dr. Ellis on Friday. I shared with him my time at home and how I've been able to start to rebuild my relationship with my mom. We mainly talked about that and also how to get to know Alyssa better. It was another very good session with him and I made another appointment to speak to him again next week.
And just like that I was off again. We away games this weekend and let's just say that I finally found my grove. In the two games we played, I had 5 goals and three assists and came home with two easy wins. That following week was finals week and needless to say I didn't get much sleep at all. When Friday eventually rolled around, I'm pretty sure my blood was a mixture of half coffee and half red bull. I'm actually surprised I didn't grow wings with how much red bull I had.
With finals this week coach let us only have one practice on Thursday which everyone was happy about. When we got to the weekend again, I was happy that the games were at home as Travis' band was playing one last gig before they all went home for the holidays. Dad Without Child has kind of blown up the bar scene around campus and it made me happy to know that he has bars calling him asking for them to play there. This weekend's show is going to be Holiday themed and we were all pretty excited to get out and see them play the final time for the semester.
We just had to play Saturday's game and go. I was happy to see that my scoring streak hasn't dried up yet either. We won an easy 7-0, and I had myself a hat trick. After the game was over, we all went back to our dorms and got ready for the show. Becca and Stacey both wore ugly sweaters to the show while I just went with a red flannel and a black leather jacket. Cassie managed to put a Santa hat on my head as we made our way out the door and I just laughed at her before following her out.
The night was a wild one. The bar was packed to the gills and people were getting turned away at the door if there, name wasn't on the guest list. The bar was bumping Christmas music before the band came out. I was only going to have a few beers as we have a game tomorrow and I didn't want to overdo it. But when Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You came on over the speakers, all of the girls in the bar went crazy. Cassie grabbed my hand and started jumping up and down saying it was her favorite Christmas song before she started to belt out the first verse of the song. I managed to pull my phone out of my pocket and got a video of her singing the it to me.
That was my favorite moment of the night. Once the pre-chorus ended and the rest of the song started, I stopped the video and pulled her in for a kiss. She was right, all I wanted for Christmas was her. The rest of the night was great. A lot of the people in the bar knew a lot of Travis' bands songs and were singing the lyrics back to them. It made me super happy for my friend and just really proud that he finally found a band that he can be a part of that is actually good and doesn't have too much drama attached to it.
When the night started to come to a close, I could tell Cassie had a bit too much to drink and a few of the other girls on the team so I gathered them together. Once I made sure everyone made it safely to their rides for the night, I went back into the bar to find my girl. We said good night to Travis and Elliot and the rest of the band before I took Cassie's car keys and walked Cassie, Becca and Stacey to the Jeep before taking off back towards the dorm. All three girls had a case of the giggles and everything I did they found funny, so it was an entertaining car ride home. I think that now that the stress of finals are over, everyone had a chance to let loose tonight before everyone went home for the break. We made it back to the dorm in one piece, though it took us about ten minutes to make it upstairs as all of a sudden, all three of the drunk girls forgot how to walk.
I easily just put Cassie on my back while I herded the other two back up to the dorm. Once I pushed them inside Becca's door, I walked us back to our dorm for the night. Cassie was nestled right up against my neck and I felt her press a kiss to my neck. As gentle as I could managed, I put Cassie down on my bed and turned to face her.
"I love how you care for your friends like that." Cassie said and gave me a smile.
"Well, someone has to look after them." I said not expecting that from her.
"No, I mean it. Like you have such a big heart McKenna and it makes me so happy that you trust me enough to hold it in my hands. I love you, Mac." Cassie said slightly slurred and gave me a smile.
"I love you to Cas, how about we go to bed now love." I asked noticing how hard it was for her to keep her eyes open.
"Bathroom first!" Cassie said and popped right up from the bed which was clearly a mistake as stumbled into my hold.
I held onto Cassie as we walked to the bathroom and made sure she was okay to be left alone while I changed out of my clothes into pajamas. Once I was good, I returned to the bathroom and found Cassie leaning heavily into the vanity holding herself up. When she saw me she smiled.
"Mac!" Cassie said and flung herself into me. I steadied her and then picked her up bridal style.
"You're like superman." Cassie said her breath now smelling minty.
"How so?" I asked as we returned to my room.
"You always pick me up when I'm down and are so strong." Cassie said and squeezed my bicep. I only chuckled as I put her down on my bed and kissed her forehead. With Cassie settled in bed I went to the bathroom myself and got ready for bed. When I returned to my bed Cassie was still awake which surprised me. I quickly turned off the light to my room and jumped into bed next to her. Cassie cuddled right up to me and I held her tight.