Shattered Dreams [EDITING] - Chapter 72: Chapter 72

COREY'S POV:
Today is a big day as it is the day where I find out whether or not my team is going to make it to the final. I am feeling level headed and calm but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have any anxiety about the game.
We have been in the changing rooms since we got back from college and Willem actually let me ride with him today so I think our friendship is back on track. I am tired from learning all day but I am pumped full of adrenaline to win this thing.
The Puck Flyers are an amazing team and we dominate the leaderboard every season but you can never get too cocky because that's when things start to fall apart.
"Look who decided to finally turn up." Liam laughs as he pats Jasper on the shoulder.
"Fuck off, I was busy." Jasper retorts back, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
I study Jasper, watching as he goes to his locker and pulls out a piece of gum before chewing it. His hair is sweaty and his cheeks are flushed and as I look him up and down, I notice that his t-shirt is on back to front and his fly is undone.
"Like what you see?" Jasper smirks up at me from across the room, gaining the attention from all our teammates, who all have weary expressions on their faces as Jasper and I have a habit of having it out for each other here.
"Yeah, man," I nod back at him, deciding to be friendly for a change. I don't want any arguments before the match as we need to play our absolute best. "Jealous of you, mate."
"Don't be, you're getting more than me." He calls back, laughing to himself and my eyes widen at his response, along with everyone else on the team. Willem coughs next to me, causing everyone, minus Jasper, to huddle around next to us.
"What the fuck was that about?" Nathan is the first to ask me.
"Since when were you two friendly?" Zack asks second.
"Are you fucking Nadia?" Cole blurts out the question everyone wants to know, showing concern as he looks between me and Willem and they all know the answer without me having to say anything as mine and Willem's silence is enough.
"Lucky bastard." Logan mutters under his breath but not quiet enough as Nathan slaps his hands around his mouth. Logans eyes widen in shock and we can hear him mutter "What the fuck."
"I heard that." Willem glares at him and he just shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly.
"Yeah, so did I." I input into the conversation, earning questioning looks from the rest of the guys.
"Seriously Cap, you have to tell us what's going on there so we can keep clear from her." Zack asks me and I gape at him in shock.
"You will be keeping clear from her regardless." Willem warns, tone gruff.
"Corey should be the one you're saying that to, Willem, he's the one fucking her." Nathan laughs, completely oblivious to what he has just said.
"You all need to stop talking," Willem grows agitated. "Now."
It's been a thing in our team ever since Cole slept with Logan's sister that no one is allowed to touch the siblings. It is a pact we have and all abide by- well, most of us- and it helps fall outs from happening. All of us, especially me have admired Nadia from afar as she is the most beautiful girl to ever walk through those rink doors but none of us, until now have acted on our silent feelings. I only went there with Nadia because we were brought closer together, I never had intended to pursue anything with her, regardless of how I felt about her.
I've always had a little jealous in me over Jasper as he has always had a free pass as he met Nadia before he realised who she was.
"I agree," I say to Willem then turn back to the rest of them. "She is my girlfriend, I guess."
"You guess?" Jasper asks, reminding me that he is in the room with us and I suddenly feel self conscious that he is in here listening to me be vulnerable like this.
"It's complicated." I shrug, not wanting to give him anything more than that as everyone else is watching us with careful expressions.
"How come you aren't beating the shit out of him? We had a pact." Liam announces, making me go rigid as the thought of Willem still being mad at me terrifies me.
"Already done," Willem confirms. "Look, as much as it pains me to say this, I can see how much they love each other so I have to learn to deal with it for my sisters sake. She needs something good in her life."
Willem's words dagger me right in the heart as he is still upset that we went behind his back but he is learning how to be okay with it because it is what makes us both happy. He is just like his sister, they both have a habit of putting other people in front of themselves, especially when it comes to each other.
"Be good to her, cap, she needs it." Jasper warns me, tapping me on the shoulder before leaving the room.
"What the fuck?" We all gasp in unison at Jasper's sudden friendliness towards us all.
"There has to be a girl." Someone announces and I can't decipher who as my mind is still too confused as to what has gotten into him, or rather who he has gotten into.
"Does this mean the pact is off the cards?" Cole jokes, looking towards Logan for a reaction.
"I'm gonna kill you," Logan warns him. "You have three seconds."
Logan counts down before chasing after Cole, who sprinted out the room before he even began counting, leaving the rest of us in here with amused expressions.
"I feel weird saying this but I'm happy for you cap." Liam is the first to speak after the mayhem.
"Yeah, me too," Nathan agrees, closing his locker door. "Maybe the constant sex will stop you being so uptight all the time."
"Watch it." Willem glares at the back of Nathan's head as he walks out the room, with what I assume is definitely a massive smirk on his face. The point of Nathan's existence is to just get a rise out of everyone but he is so funny so none of us actually care.
We all close our lockers now, getting ready to warm up for the game when coach walks in with his trusted clipboard. "Cap, can I speak to you for a moment?"
"Yeah? What about?" I question him, worry rising inside of me as I can't think what this could be about. I don't think that my performances have been terrible lately but I have been so out of the loop with everything it's hard to understand whether this is true or not.
"My office, now please." Coach sounds so serious that I know for sure I am in trouble. Why I am in the shit I can't think of but I guess that's what I'll find out. I look at the boys, who all give me a questioning look but I just nod to them, silently telling them that I'll be fine and follow behind Grayson.
It's nothing to worry about, I hope.
"What have I done now?" I break the awkwardness with my question as soon as he closes the door.
"You might want to take a seat." He tells me, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk.
"I haven't done anything that bad," I protest, ignoring the seat offered to me and staying standing. "I would've remembered if I did."
"You haven't done anything, Corey." He confirms and panic rises inside of me at the thought of what could be wrong instead.
"Is it my mum?," I ask, filled with worry. "Is she okay?"
"Your mum is fine," Coach eases my mind slightly, but not fully as I still have no idea what's happened. Coach only asks to speak to people privately in his office when it's really serious and the last time I was in here was when he was asking me to be the captain several years ago.
"Then please put me out of my misery." I beg coach, looking at the clock in his room. We have just over an hour until the game so whatever he says needs to be quick otherwise I won't have any time to warm up on the ice.
"I don't even know where to begin," He sighs into his hands, rubbing at his eyes as if he is going to find an explanation hidden in there. "You know I'm engaged, don't you?"
"Yeah?" I confirm, not really understanding why he feels the need to bring this up to me. "Her name is Nat, right?"
"That's what I call her, everyone else calls her something else." Coach indicates and I grow even more confused because why would he feel the need to tell me this?"
"Natalie?" I ask, causing him to nod. "I'll be sure to write her full name on the congratulations card."
I am about to make my move to leave, not understanding why I am even being involved in this but my actions are cut short when he stares at me blankly, waiting for me to say something. I add everything up in my head, wondering why he brought me in here privately to tell me this and why he is even telling me in the first place.
"Natalie." He repeats my previous question and it takes me a moment until awareness dawns on me.
"Natalie?" I ask again to be sure the words are coming out of his mouth.
"Natalie." He confirms again.
"My Natalie?"
"Yes, your Natalie," He laughs slightly, feeling as awkward as I do I imagine. "I am engaged to your sister."
"What the fuck?" I blow out a large breath and finally take the seat that was offered to me minutes ago, needing to sit down.
I cannot describe the emotions that are erupting through me currently. One half of me is happy that my sister is alive and seemingly well. I am so glad that this could be the step I need to finally be able to see her again. This is what I've always been missing, the missing piece in my life has always been a grasp away from me.
The other half of me is angry. Angry because they both felt the need to keep this from me. Angry because my whole life growing up was filled with moments of missing my sister. Coach told us they were engaged months ago and I can only assume they had been dating years before then so they have both been keeping this behind my back for some time.
"I don't know what to say," I admit, not feeling much of anything right now so I definitely can't form a fully coherent sentence about what I want to say.
My mind is in shambles currently and I should feel some excitement about my sister being so close to me but I can't seem to find it in me. I just feel completely numb to the situation and if there is any feeling in me at all, it is resentment. I resent both Natalie and my coach because they have kept this from me for so long, knowing it is something I would want to know.
"Fuck you." I finally manage to voice some of my feelings and I go to stand but he stops my movements by speaking to me.
"One, you don't get to talk to me like that regardless of the situation. I am still your coach. And secondly, calm the fuck down."
"How can I possibly calm down when you have just told me something that affects the past decade of my life?" I spit back, angry that he is more bothered about my reaction to the situation, rather than the situation itself.
"I will explain everything to you. I just need you to calm down." Coach tells me and for a second I don't want to calm down because I don't want to know how good life has been for my sister whilst myself, Lily and Ed have been worried sick about her for years. I decide to calm myself down though because some selfish part of me wants to know where she has been so that I can have some closure on it.
"Okay. I'm calm." I lie, just wanting him to come out and say it because I have a match to get to soon.
"We first met when she came to the rink looking for you," He starts off by saying, playing with his hands in his lap to calm his nerves. "About two years ago now."
I stare blankly at him due to this new admission and he cringes when he speaks again. "I told her you weren't here and she had just missed you and then we got talking about everything, about what happened to her when she was younger and why you were separated for so long."
"And that led to you two becoming engaged?" I ask, shocked as to why I am only hearing about any of this now.
"We exchanged numbers so that we could keep in contact and we just started seeing each other. It just kind of happened." He tells me but none of this answers what I want to know.
"But still, why am I only hearing about this now?" I ask, still wanting to know the answer to my question.
"I told her that I didn't think it was a good idea until I thought you were ready." He admits, looking to the side of me, instead of at me.
"And you thought just before I am about to have an important match is the time to do that?" I question, slamming the desk in front of me with my hands.
He gives me a warning look so I calm myself down again as being angry won't get me any answers at all.
"I see that now it's a bad time to have told you," He agrees, genuinely feeling guilty. "I somehow thought that it would give you some motivation to win tonight."
"My motivation is Nadia. Not the girl who I have been worried about for years who has been perfectly fine right under my nose." I say harshly. I know that I'm being a dick about the situation, but it's hard to keep my emotions to the side when I have been dealing with this for so long.
"She has not been perfectly fine though, Corey," Coach points a stern finger at me to emphasise his words. "She has been put through the same- in fact, even more than you have so she needed time."
I understand what he's saying, I really do but I can't listen to this anymore. I need to go out there and focus on the one thing I have been focusing on my whole life, my future. Right now, my sister was my past and she is not in my present because both her and my coach decided to keep it from me.
I hate that I am angry as it is so selfish of me because I really do understand why. Natalie had to be ready, it is her trauma at the end of the day. I shouldn't be the one to decide when she speaks about it and get mad at her whenever she decides.
"I just wish you told me at a better time than right now," I tell him, sighing in defeat. "Preferably when she came in here looking for me."
"I wish I did too." He agrees with me.
"Can I just ask one thing?" I question him and he nods, so I continue, "Is she happy.?"
I have many things I want to ask him about my sister but this is where I know I must start. Right now, I don't care about what job she has, if she has any kids of her own, I just want to know that she is truly happy in her life like I have always hoped for her.
"She is." Coach smiles at me and with his answer, I get up and leave, heading out of his office to join my teammates on the ice.
I glide onto the ice and make a move to do a few laps around the rink to warm myself up a little and as I am doing so, I am joined by my team, even Jasper, and they skate around with me.
"Are you okay, cap?" Willem asks me and I nod at him, telling him with my eyes that I will tell him about it later as it's not something that I want everyone else to know just yet.
We skate around and practise passing and attacking and the time closes in on us and it's time for our match.
The stands fill out and I look for my parents and my mum has actually made it for a change. My dad sports a big smile on his face while being face to face with his son heading to another final so he can follow in his footsteps.
We skate over to the opposition and shake their hands as we are professionals and don't have any bad blood with any of the teams we play against. We are friends with quite a lot of them actually and party with them on some occasions.
Once we are done wishing them luck, we get into our positions and wait for the go ahead.
"Good evening everyone and welcome to the semi-final of this semi-professional league," The commentator announces into the microphone, his voice echoing into the speakers. "Today we have The Puck flyers vs The Bears."
Adrenaline is pumping through me as I look out into the stands packed with people. The cheers echo in my mind as I hear the chanting of my name.
It is not professional hockey by any means but everyone treats it as that and it makes for such a warm and loving environment.
To hear people chant your name fills me with so much passion for the game ahead.
The hockey flute is blown and my head is immediately in the game. All of my thoughts of the outside world are cut off as I chase for the puck.
The first period starts off strong and we are keeping ahead at an amazing rate. The stands are filled with a constant state of cheers and music blasts out through the speakers, helping to keep my mind fully immersed into the game.
The game carries on this way and during our break before the third period we are all in high spirits. We are ahead and if we carry on the way we are then we will be well on our way to winning the whole tournament. I shouldn't feel nervous because this team is amazing but the fear of losing it all completely creeps inside of me. I think what unsettles me the most is my dad's disappointment more than anything.
As we get off the ice for our fifteen minute interval, we notice a brunette girl giving the coach a kiss on his lips and I hear the boys laughing. I am about to join in once I notice what is going on but then I remember that it's my sister who he is kissing. I don't take a second to even glance at her and I just carry on making my way to the changing rooms to relax my mind from the game and whatever the fuck I just saw.
"She was a sort." Nathan announces as he walks through the doors and I hear the boys grunt their agreements to his statement.
"Who knew coach could get such a looker?" Willem agrees and I gape at him.
I suppose it's only fair that he is attracted to my sister, considering I am dating his.
"What's that look for?" He questions me.
"Yeah? Do you not agree?" Logan asks as I was about to ignore Willem's question completely.
"Not really, no." I reply blankly, earning shocked expressions from them all and I cringe at what my girl would think about this. I admit I used to be like them, discussing with them the girls we wanted to sleep with in the audience but now it's not something I want to participate in, especially when it's regarding my sister.
"Yeah, he's wifed up, remember guys." Cole reminds everyone and I sigh at their stupidity.
"Yeah there's that," I agree, deciding to add on more. "And also the fact that the girl you're on about is my sister."
Everyone slaps their mouths shut at this and Willem observes me.
"That was Lily?" Nathan gasps.
"No and she's still sixteen you dick so keep those thoughts out of your head." I warn him, knowing he doesn't actually mean it.
"No fucking way that's Natalie." Willem Laughs, not believing that it could be true.
"Yeah, tell me about it," I express my shock. "I was late to warming up because coach thought it would be a good time to tell me that he is engaged to my sister right before the fucking match."
"How convenient." Liam inputs and we all nod in agreement.
"You're telling me. Luckily my mind has been in the game, not on that fact."
"Have you spoken to her?" Willem asks me and usually I wouldn't want to be having this conversation in front of the other boys, especially Jasper, but here I am standing in front of them as they watch me relive a bunch of shit that I was so certain I would leave in the past.
My sister is alive.
My sister is getting married to my fucking coach this year.
What are the chances of that happening?
"No, I didn't even look at her," I respond. "I was too scared for some reason."
"You should've looked at her." Nathan remarks playfully.
"If you don't stop talking," I warn him. "I've got a lot going on right now."
This is probably the most open I have been with someone who isn't Nadia and her brother and it's weird to have an aspect of your life unfold in front of other people as well. They don't know what to expect as much as I don't but we all know one thing for certain and that's that we are in fucking shock.
I tell them all everything that happened, from coach calling me into his office up until me getting on the ice to warm up. They don't have a lot to say but they listen to me get it all off my chest in the fifteen minutes we have and ask me a few questions here and there. They knew that my sister was put up for adoption but they didn't know the ins and outs, not even Willem but now they do.
I must admit, it feels so fucking freeing to be able to speak about this and not have this constant black cloud filled with my secrets looming over me whenever I look at them.
"Why have they only told you now?" Cole asks the answer even I don't understand the answer too.
I shrug my shoulders and they all begin asking me different questions and I have to tell them I don't know. It hurts that I have to tell them this because I should know about my own family. Seeing my hockey coach have more knowledge of my older sister than I do fuckign sucks.
"That was bad of him to tell you now," Jasper chimes into the conversation and we all study him as he comes to stand with us, unsure as to why he is suddenly showing interest in our lives. "He could've at least waited until after the match."
We all mutter our agreements and we hear a knock on the door, telling us that it's time for our third period. We get our head gear back on and make our way back out, the crowd erupting in cheers when they see us move towards the ice. I look up to my parents to see if they are still here and calm myself down when I see that they are. They wouldn't have left yet as the game is going in my favour.
The third period isn't as much of a breeze as the other two as my mind isn't focused on the match at hand. I think it is because my parents are still here. Usually my parents presence, especially my fathers would encourage me to keep doing better than the period before and keep working towards my own goal but now I am just worried. I can't help but think about how they have no idea their daughter is in the same vicinity as them and how that would make them feel. I am too scared to find out to be honest as my dad never has anything nice to say about my older sister.
I manage to clear my thoughts for long enough so that I can tackle their centre and the puck is now all mine. I glide along the ice, pushing out of the way of all their defenders.
"Here." Jasper shouts as I am approaching the goal and I pass him the puck, with him getting it in the net with ease.
Cheers erupt in the stands and Jasper skates up to me, pulling me in for a hug at our teamwork and I am so busy looking in the stands for a familiar blonde that I didn't even register what was happening until he skated away.
I scour the stands for Nadia but I can't find her in any of her usual spots so this puts a damper on my mood. I really thought that she would be here tonight. I didn't expect her to be as I know she has her own shit to deal with but I needed her here. I need to talk to her about the news Ihave just found out, she is the only one that will be able to make me feel better about this.
I look into the crowd again, wanting to see her beautiful face to calm me down as I can feel anxiety rising in me, but I can't see her anywhere still. My awareness for what's happening around me slows down and I start to process everyone's movements slower than what I should. The puck gets passed to me and just as I realise that I need to do something A hard shoulder pushes into me, causing me to lose my balance.
The music cuts to a stop and gasps echo around the rink. My teammates huddle around me and all I can see is their lips moving but no sound coming out of them.
My eyes are still stuck on Nadia's seat without her in it as my vision turns black.