meadow567: I'm glad you like Laura so far. Yeah, her friends aren't exactly the nicest people, and you'll see why she thinks she's just like them, but then she'll realize she's not really like them, lol. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter and thanks for the review!
NellieBly413672: Thanks, and I couldn't keep you liking her forever. Her bitchy side had to come out eventually, lol. Hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Xcapitalbarbie90: Yeah, I'll fix it . . . but don't get too excited, cause I'll mess it up again, lol. Remember from Glory Days that they're on again off again!! Glad you like the story so far and thanks for the review!
A/N: This is the last chapter before the tryouts and stuff, so more team stuff will be coming up. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. It's almost all Robbie and Laura, but it explains a couple things that will be important later. Anyway, when you're done reading, you know what to do. Click that little button and review!
Chapter 7
For the next two months, Laura and Robbie didn't talk at all. If they even saw each other, Robbie completely avoided her. Laura still felt bad about breaking up with him, and at first hoped to get back together. After two weeks of Robbie ignoring her however, she got tired of chasing him and gave up. By the end of the college hockey season, she was completely over the break up, or so she thought.
Laura had been casually dating a few guys in the recent weeks and having the time of her life. One thing she forgot while dating Robbie was how much fun it was to have no strings attached and be single. Slightly disappointed that each of the three guys she was currently seeing weren't able to go out Saturday night, Laura opted to go to a party with Whitney. Minutes after they arrived, Whitney pointed out that Robbie was there.
"Why should I care?" asked Laura. "Even if I try to be friendly, he'll just avoid or ignore me."
"You do have to admit he looks hot tonight though."
"He always looks hot, Whit," Laura said.
"Let's just go over and say hi," Whitney suggested.
"No," Laura said firmly.
"Come on," Whitney wined.
As Laura said no again, Robbie looked in their general direction and locked eyes with Laura. After holding her gaze for a minute, Robbie turned away.
"What was that?" Whitney asked, noticing the eye contact.
"Nothing." Whitney began walking away, clearly to talk to Robbie and his friends. Before Laura could stop her, she was already saying hi.
Robbie did his best to ignore Laura and just talk to Whitney when she came over. The truth was, Robbie was almost afraid to talk to Laura again. He knew seeing her would bring back the feelings he was just getting over. With his friends talking to both girls though, and Laura talking to them as well, it was difficult to pretend Laura wasn't there.
Robbie wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew, his friends left and he was standing alone with Laura.
"Robbie, can we talk?"
"I don't really have much to say," he replied.
"Well I do," Laura said. "Please?" Seeing the pleading look on Laura's face, he caved and agreed.
"Sure. Just let me get another drink first. I might need it. Then let's go somewhere where it's a little quieter." Robbie got another drink for himself and Laura. He was already buzzed, but now that he had to talk to Laura, he wanted to get completely wasted. At that point, Robbie didn't think he would want to remember that night the next morning because he didn't think much good would come of talking to her.
After finding an empty room, Laura sat next to Robbie on the bed and began apologizing for everything. Right away, he knew Laura was drunk, because she would have never been that apologetic otherwise. Nonetheless, he listened and could tell she meant what she was saying. Near the end of their conversation, Robbie completely forgot about being mad at her. Once he couldn't resist the urge to kiss her anymore, he leaned in and was happy when she hungrily kissed him back. As she kissed him, Laura was reminded of the sparks she felt when kissing Robbie, and forgot the benefits of being unattached she had thought about just days before.
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The next morning, Robbie woke up confused. He knew what went on last night could have meant they were getting back together, but with Laura, nothing like that was ever clear. When she woke up, Robbie decided to ask where things stood.
"What are we?" Robbie asked, practically before she had a chance to open her eyes all the way.
"Huh?" she replied groggily.
"Well, we talked last night, and now we're here, but are we together or was last night just to have some fun?"
"I just woke up," Laura said, without answering the question.
"That's what I thought," Robbie said, thinking Laura purposely avoided answering, and he then began to climb out of bed.
"Wait, Robbie," Laura started. "I don't mean to sound like I don't want to get back together, but can we just talk about this first?"
"We talked last night," Robbie reminded her.
"No, I talked. Then we kissed. Do you really need a reminder about the rest of the night too?" she asked sarcastically. "Let's go get breakfast and decide mutually exactly where things stand."
"Okay," Robbie agreed, though he didn't have high hopes on getting back together.
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Two months later . . .
Since Laura and Robbie's talk two months before, they started dating again. This time, it seemed to be for good. They had never gotten along better, and Laura was being a lot more open with Robbie, and seemed into the idea of a little more serious and committed relationship.
Lately Robbie's friends had all been talking about their post graduation plans. A lot of the guys were hoping to be drafted by hockey teams, and those that already were drafted hoped to be called to play. Robbie had been a third round draft pick the summer before, and hoped that he would be able to begin playing with the team during the summer training camp. The only potential problem was that he was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres, and Buffalo was far away from St. Paul. He decided not to mention anything to Laura though, because he didn't want to cause problems if it wouldn't even be a problem. There was no guarantee Buffalo wanted him to play.
Days before graduation, in late April, Robbie got a phone call that made things slightly complicated. The Sabres General Manager called and asked Robbie to sign a contract with the Sabres. It was pretty decent contract, and one that Robbie wouldn't turn down, but that meant telling Laura he was leaving for Buffalo. In the back of his mind, Robbie hoped Laura would join him in Buffalo, but he thought his chances of that were pretty slim. The GM explained that Robbie had three weeks to decide whether he would start his NHL career that season.
"Hey Laura, there's something I need to tell you," Robbie started one night when they were in his dorm room.
"What is it?" she asked, reading from his expression that whatever it was, was serious.
"You know how good my hockey career has been so far, right?"
"Yeah. You're amazing."
"Well, playing in the NHL has been my dream since I started playing."
"Yeah. But unfortunately, not everyone makes it," Laura said.
"But some guys do," Robbie said, smiling.
"Did you get drafted?!" Laura asked, excited for him.
"Yeah. Well, actually, I was drafted last year, but they just called me now to play this upcoming season."
"That's great, Robbie!" Laura said, hugging him. "My boyfriend's going to be an NHL star," she said excitedly.
"Yeah, about that," Robbie said, remembering why he was serious before. "The Stars didn't draft me."
"Who did?" Laura asked. She knew the Stars were Minnesota's NHL team. If Robbie didn't get drafted by them, then he was obviously moving.
"Buffalo."
"What?" Laura said, sounding upset.
"I'm sorry, but-"
"Does that mean you're going to Buffalo?"
"Well, yeah. This is the opportunity of a lifetime."
"Yeah, I know," Laura said, sounding a little sad. "When do you have to leave?"
"In a month." She nodded.
"So you were drafted last year?" she asked, sounding a little upset again to Robbie.
"Yeah."
"And you didn't tell me before we got together that you might be leaving?"
"Well, it was only a possibility so I didn't want to tell you."
"I wish you would have. I wouldn't have gotten so attached to you."
"We can still make things work."
"Yeah right. Robbie, I have issues with commitment, you know that. How the hell do you think I can be committed to someone miles away?"
"Laura, we can do this."
"I don't think so, Robbie. We'll never make it. You're just trying to fight the inevitable." Robbie was silent for a minute, trying to let Laura's words sink in. He knew she was probably right. But he didn't understand why they couldn't try.
"You can come to Buffalo with me," Robbie suggested seriously, but it only seemed to make things worse with Laura becoming even more mad.
"Buffalo? Yeah right. Why would I want to go to Buffalo? My life is here. And do you know how cold it is in Buffalo?" She said nastily.
"It's cold here, Laura," Robbie said, thinking her excuse was stupid.
"Well I'm not leaving."
"Fine. Don't. It was just a suggestion."
"A bad one," she said, standing up.
"Where are you going?"
"To my room."
"Why? Stay here."
"Robbie, we're done after graduation. You're leaving. Why keep this going now?"
"Because, we can still have fun while it lasts," Robbie said. He was actually hoping Laura would come around and change her mind about trying to make a long distance relationship work. Better yet, he hoped she would change her mind and move with him.
"I'm not doing this anymore, Robbie. We can't keep this up. At least, I can't. I'm sorry. I have to go," Laura said, leaving the room and slamming the door behind her. It wasn't that Laura wasn't happy for Robbie, because she was. Laura just thought things were going really well, and for the first time, she was actually in love. Now Robbie was going hundreds of miles away and Laura knew she couldn't deal with it.
