AN: This chapter actually didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. But, hey, that's fiction for you!
To 8JbFbAbM9, I'm glad you liked it! Larson is a pretty complex character, if you ask me. I think he cares for Adam, but the rest of the Ducks are a nuisance to him. He doesn't really know what to think of them, and Charlie is the worst one. As for Connie/Larson, who knows what'll happen there! All I know is that I have a soft spot for both Guy and Larson, so..
To jnwrx1, thank you! As much as I like 'Bangst', I really think some authors overdo it and write him off as being weak and/or weepy. I happen to think Adam's quite tough, really. He went against his father in D1 (who'd said he'd rather not play than play for Bombay) to play with the Ducks, told Portman not to call Julie 'babe' in D2 (and probably would have fought him, had Fulton and Charlie not held the two back), and even held his ground against Charlie in D3. So, Adam definitely won't be an emotional roller coaster in this fic. He won't even be the one with daddy issues! He has enough on his plate with Charlie as a best friend (for now).
Thanks for the reviews! Hope to see more, I love feedback!
Center Of Attention
7. in slow motion, the blast is beautiful
"Conway."
Charlie raised his head from its resting spot, which was Julie's shoulder. He looked at Orion questioningly, still leaning all his weight against Julie, who was busy trying to tie her shoes and shove him away from her at the same time. As soon as he moved away, she smiled in victory. This disappeared as soon as she looked up from her shoes and saw the grave expression on their coach's face.
"What's up, coach?" Charlie asked, wondering why he looked as though there'd been a serious incident. He suddenly shot up, worry clearly on his face. "Is it my mom?"
Adam and Guy exchanged a look behind his back. Everyone was still in the locker rooms, aside for Kenny, who'd told them he wanted to go to bed early, Luis, who told them the same thing but was probably with Mindy, and Connie, who'd left as soon as she'd been done to most likely avoid Guy some more.
Coach Orion looked surprised, but nodded. Charlie felt all the blood drain from his face as he suddenly remembered the nightmare: his mum, hit by a car. "I just got a call from her," Orion explained, to which Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. If Casey'd called him, she couldn't be hurt. "She wants you to call her back as soon as possible. Said it's important."
Charlie immediately looked around the room. The rest of his team instantly caught on; they all searched through their stuff to see whether they had their mobile phones with them. It was Banks who finally took his out of his duffel bag and handed it over. Good ol' Cake-eater. Charlie smiled gratefully, instantly dialing the number he knew by heart.
"Casey Conway--" before his mum could finish, Charlie interrupted, "Mom, what's wrong?"
"Oh," Casey sighed at the other end. "I think you should sit down, Charlie."
"No." Charlie refused, stubbornly. He was getting more and more anxious by the minute. Had someone died? Was it Jan? Shit, what if something happened to Bombay? "Tell me what's going on."
"Oh, honey." Casey sighed again, "It's about.. your father."
Charlie finally sat down.
"What's going on, Jules?" Connie asked, a little out of breath as her friend dragged her with her. Julie didn't respond, but continued to walk as though there was someone chasing her down. "Did Charlie get sick again?" Connie tried again, but Julie shook her head no.
As they entered the locker room Connie had left about twenty minutes ago, and Connie was surprised to find most of the Ducks there. All except for Ken and Luis, she noticed. "What's going on?" she asked, feeling a bit dumb.
Charlie looked up, and she was startled to see his entire face was twisted into rage. "Daddy dearest called," he spat, and Connie instantly looked towards Guy, who caught her eye and nodded to confirm.
"He wants joint custody."
Without a sudden warning, Charlie suddenly stood up and tossed the phone he was still clutching in his hand at a nearby locker with incredible speed. Had Portman been sitting further to the right, he would have been hit. The phone smashed apart. Julie didn't think it would ever work again.
After a few moments of silence, Charlie sat back down. "Sorry," he muttered, though didn't look up. "I'll replace it."
"It's fine." Adam assured. He could always ask his father for a new one.
"Charlie," Russ started, hesitating briefly. He glanced towards the new Duck, who, Connie noticed, all looked a bit out of place. "You never told us about.." Russ trailed off as Charlie raised his head again. The old Ducks exchanged looks, knowing how hard it was for Charlie to talk about his dad.
"Mum and I left him," Charlie spoke, sullenly. "I don't remember much." Again, he looked furious. Had he still been holding the phone, it probably would have been crushed into his hand. "But I know he was a drunk. He never did anything, he just yelled at her a lot." His eyes glazed over, as though he was remembering something of long ago. "Until one day. He came home, and he hit her. He hit her so hard she had to go to the emergency room. I think he broke her arm."
The room was eerily silent. Though the old Ducks had heard the story before, it was still as upsetting as the first time he'd told them. Casey was like a mother to them, too. She'd always been there for the team. "As soon as he'd left the house, mum gathered our things and we left. Haven't heard from him since."
Until now. Though he hadn't said it out loud, all of the Ducks knew what he meant.
And so they sat into silence, each of them trying to think of a way to help their captain. Connie truly believed Charlie was the heart and soul of the team, as it was quite obvious that when Charlie felt bad, they all did.
"Okay, so." Julie finally spoke, clasping her hands together. "Charlie, we love you." While Connie nodded, most of the guys in the room eyed each other warily. Julie noticed and rolled her eyes, "Oh, stop acting macho." She huffed, before she turned back towards Charlie, glad to see the small smile on his face. "It won't do you any good if you keep thinking about it. So, I suggest, we all get a decent night's sleep and," she turned towards Connie and threw an arm around her friend excitedly, "Celebrate this girl's birthday tomorrow."
At once, the room was filled with cheers. Even Charlie brightened; knowing a night out would work wonders. As the team began to chatter amongst themselves, Charlie felt Fulton slap his back encouragingly. He smiled at the support they all gave him, though lingered behind as everyone left.
Why now, 'dad'? He thought, bitterly. What's in it for you?
As expected, no one answered him. Charlie sighed and began to collect his things. He headed out after his teammates, determined not to think about it unless he had to. His mum had told him not to worry, so he wasn't going to.
For now.
"For she's a jolly good Duck, for she's a jolly good Duck, for she's a jolly good Duck, which nobody can deny!"
Connie laughed as the team sang for her at breakfast, completely out of tune. It didn't matter that the entire hall was watching them. Though some of the old Ducks usually went home on weekends, they'd all decided to stay for Connie's birthday.
"Time for presents!" Portman announced giddily, as though the presents were for him instead. As the Ducks scrambled around to find their presents, Charlie looked over at Julie. Catching his eye, Julie gave him the thumbs up. He grinned back at her.
A good ten minutes later, Guy was the last to step forward, awkwardly. He held out a package for Connie to take, which she slowly did. "I bought this for you back when we were still.." he didn't have to finish, everyone knew what he meant. Though it looked to be a private moment, the eyes of the Ducks were glued to the scene before them. Connie carefully unwrapped the gift, which revealed a box. After a slow breath, she opened it and took her present out. Carefully dangling from her fingers was a silver charm bracelet, two charms hanging on it. Charlie could easily make out a hockey stick and a heart.
He whistled slowly. Must have been expensive.
Connie stared at it for a while longer before she looked back up at her ex-boyfriend, her smile radiant, yet everyone saw the underlying sadness. "Thanks, Guy," Connie whispered, before she wrapped one arm around his neck for a hug. Guy carefully wrapped his arms around her waist, smiling into her hair.
"And now," Charlie cleared his throat when the two parted. Julie quickly walked out of the hall, much to Connie's surprise. "It's time for the best birthday present ever. Presented to you by Charlie Conway. And I suppose Julie Gaffney too," everyone laughed as they heard Julie shout out a, "Hey!" from wherever she was, watching the scene unfold. "Here it is! Or should I say she?"
Guy stepped aside in order for Connie to see what was going on. When she finally spotted her best friend, her eyes grew twice in size at the company she was with. "Oh my god! Tammy!"
Tammy Duncan smiled brightly as Connie flew at her, enveloping her into a hug. The two began to start jumping up and down like a pair of kids shortly after. As soon as they were done, the rest of the old Ducks came up to greet the newcomer, as the new Ducks exchanged some rather confused glances. Fulton gathered the tiny blonde into a massive bear hug, despite Tammy's protests. After that, Averman and Goldberg both embrace her at the same time, nearly squashing her in the process. Even Guy couldn't keep the smile off his face, despite the tension between him and Connie.
"Adam Banks, always the polite one," Tammy regarded him teasingly, noticing he'd been the only one not to sweep her into a hug. She held out her arms, and Adam laughed, quickly hugging the girl he hadn't seen since he was eleven. Though they hadn't been that close, it was nice to see her.
"And Conway." Tammy put her hands on her hips and gave him a menacing glare. Charlie winced, wondering what he'd done this time. "Calls me up, wants to surprise Connie for her birthday. And then he doesn't even come pick me up! His mother does." Charlie merely smiled, innocently. Tammy shook her head and then engulfed him into a hug, too.
Portman cleared his throat, "Anyone care to introduce us to the babe?" he asked, as Dwayne, Russ, Luis and Kenny nodded their heads in agreement. Fulton elbowed him in the side. "I told you about Tammy, dude." Portman gave him a look that plainly said he couldn't remember.
"People," Connie threw an arm around the still petite blonde, "This is Tammy Duncan. She and her brother Tommy used to be on the team, before you lot came along. She's one of my best friends." Tammy waved politely. Dwayne tipped his hat off to her as the others smiled in acknowledgement.
"Dude," came a familiar voice, and the Ducks looked to their side to see an even familiar face. He smirked, "I feel kind of left out here."
Before anyone could react, Charlie leaned into Connie with a careless shrug, "And he's part two of your present."
"Thanks for the introduction, Spazway," Jesse Hall commented, dryly. "What, no hug?"
Connie was the first to reach him, almost squealing. "Jesse!" He caught her just in time as she hugged him tightly. The rest of the Ducks were quick to follow, clapping him on the back. Eventually, the group began to chat among themselves.
Jesse turned towards Adam and Charlie, who stood side by side. "Please tell me you two made up by now."
Charlie shared a look with Banksie, leaning his arm on his shoulder. Adam eventually shrugged, "Still hate his guts." Charlie looked back at Jesse and nodded solemnly to confirm.
Jesse threw an arm around them both, "Glad to hear it. Hey, is that cake?"
"Didn't they get rid of you?"
All chatter immediately ceased when the Ducks caught sight of McGill and a few other Hawks. Fulton immediately stood in front of Tammy, but McGill wasn't focused on her.
"Who let this trash in?" Jesse had never been one to back down, and he wasn't going to now.
"I belong here. I'm the one with the full scholarship." McGill smirked, close to bragging.
"And I'm the one who's going to kick your ass." Jesse threatened, to which McGill laughed. Before he could say anything, though, someone came in between. "Move along, McGill," Larson told his friend, his face stern. McGill glared at him, before he motioned back to his teammates and left.
Larson turned back towards the Ducks, eyeing Jesse warily. Charlie couldn't help but smile at the uneasy look on his face. Finally, Jesse took a step forward and clapped Larson briefly on the shoulder in acceptance. "Unlike Conway, I trust Cake-eater." The 'don't fuck it up' was unsaid, but hung in the air. Larson nodded, and then went over to congratulate Connie.
"Okay!" Fulton exclaimed. Portman continued eagerly, "Let's get this party started!"
