Title: More Than You'll Ever Know

Summary: All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better.

Main Duck: Adam Banks

Rating: PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence

Time frame: After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.

This chapter: Apologies are hard to do. 

Charlie

            Apologies had never come easy for me. It had been hard for me to apologize to Adam for my out of control behavior. How was I supposed to apologize to Jessica? Averman, Russ, Guy, Luis, and I seemed to be the only ones even slightly worried about it. 'Duh, Charlie. You guys are the only ones that want to apologize.' I thought to myself.

            The JV-Varsity showdown came sooner than I anticipated. I was excited about beating Varsity's ass, but I was nervous about Jesse Hall, who would be there. He'd heard about me being the prick of the century from Adam, I was sure. The atmosphere in the locker room wasn't exactly a party. There were no snappy comments from Averman, no loud slammer of locker doors, and no Bash Brothers grunting. Then again, we hadn't heard the latter all year long.

            When we skated out onto the ice, I scanned the crowd for Jesse. And there he was sitting right next to my mom. A couple of rows up, Linda sat waving to me. I smiled and nodded back at her. What took me by surprise was who sat a few seats over from Linda. Jessica. Wasn't she supposed to be here? On the ice? Skating against us or something? I shook my head, confused, and looked over at Guy. He wasn't much surer than I was.

            "You're going to wish like hell you stuck with us," Riley snarled to Banksie right before the whistle.

            "Cut the trash talk!" Banks snapped at him. I smiled to myself. The whistle was heard and the puck dropped onto the ice. It was war.

            By the end of the third quarter, neither team had been able to score a goal. We were trying as hard as we could to clear the trash, so to speak. By that I meant Varsity and defense tactics. But when Kenny stepped out onto the ice too soon, we had to take two players out. Coach put me, Banks, and Goldberg in. As shocked as Goldberg was about being put in the game at the most desperate moment, everyone knew he deserved it.

            I was racing down center ice, only to have the puck stolen. I saw Julie get faked out, clearing the net. Riley was shooting the puck into an open net. Panicking, I screamed for Julie to get back in there, but out of nowhere, Adam dove in front of the goal and the puck bounced off of his chest. What a save! We were in control of the puck again and I had a clear path in front of me. I guess I didn't realize how many of them were trailing me. Suddenly, two huge Varsity guys surrounded me out of nowhere. I passed it back, hoping that someone was there to take it. Adam hadn't been able to get there from across the rink so the puck landed with Goldberg who looked scared out of his mind. Everyone, including Banks and myself, was screaming for Goldberg to shoot.

            "SHOOT! GOLDBERG, SHOOT!!!!!" It was as if everything was in slow motion. Goldberg winded up and shot his best shot right as two Varsity players knocked him over. Scooter missed the save. We won. WE WON!!! I raced over to Goldberg and Banksie met us there. The three of us hugged in happiness before being mobbed by the rest of the team. It was all a blur from there. All I remember is Linda and the kiss.

            "Hey Charlie! That was a great game!" Jesse Hall called out as soon as I stepped out of the locker room.

            "JESSE!" I dropped my things and embraced my friend in a hug. Soon everyone was out and talking to Jesse.

            "Adam! That's was awesome! Did you see the look on Riley's face?!" Jessica ran and tackled Adam into a flying hug. Adam, who now wore a huge smile on his face, laughed.

            Breathlessly Jessica turned to the rest of us, "Congrats! You guys did great!"

            "Thanks," came the scattered replies. A few of the team rolled their eyes at her perkiness, but hey! That was what made everybody happy sometimes: perkiness. If she noticed the eye rolls, she didn't show that she did.

            "Jesse Hall meet Jessica Bombay," Banks introduced the two.

            Jesse nodded at her, "So this is the famous Jessica Bombay?"

            Jessica blushed, "Adam! Were you talking about me again?!"

            "No," Adam said sarcastically with a smile, "Talk about you? Never!"

            "Of course, like the time you didn't talk about me to Danny Larson."

            "Yeah…wait no!" I laughed. I'd never really seen Adam this alert before. It was different, in a good way.

            "How come you weren't out on the ice? I heard you were on Varsity!" Jesse asked.

            "I was," Jessica shrugged, "I quit. I just didn't want to play, you know? It wasn't fun anymore. It's not like I was actually going to go pro anyway. I'm not Adam Banks, you know."

            "Fair enough," Jesse cracked a grin and I knew that he accepted her. The chatter started up again and everybody was happy. I noticed that Jessica was walking away in a sort of hurry. My eyes met Guy's. We nodded and went after her, Russ, Averman, and Luis behind us.

            "Jessica!" I called.

            She turned around.

            "Where are you going?"

            "Out," she replied simply.

            "Well before you do, can we say something?" Guy practically pleaded with her.

            She nodded.

            Aver started, "So this year didn't start out great. But, if anything, we made it worse for ourselves and the people around us, like Adam and you."

            "Yeah," Guys agreed, "And even though you and Banksie were on the outs, that didn't give us a reason to be mad at you."

            "We realized how cool you are and though the feeling is not shared by the whole team, the five of us want to," I stopped and licked my lips, "Well the four of us want to start over with you. So we're…"

            "We're sorry," Luis finished. I nodded vigorously in agreement. Jessica thought for a moment before looking up at us and slowly nodding her head.

            "Well," she said, "I guess a person can't always help their feelings. Honestly, I'd be a bit mad at someone too if they hurt one of my best friends. Still, what I don't understand is why you just dropped Adam like that. I could've cared less if you still hated me; I didn't even know who the hell you were. Plus I was a Hawk even after Adam got re-zoned. But Adam…he was one of you. A Duck. He'll never be a Warrior because he's a Duck. And just like McGill decided to push him into the post and leave him in the dust, you did too."

            "Yeah," I said miserably, "Don't remind me. I feel guilty enough as it is."

            "Well you should. Just don't do it again. Adam was depressed as hell. It went on so long, he didn't yell at me for a week. I almost fainted when he actually agreed with me."

            We all smiled weakly.

            "Ah, shit! I'm late! Catch you later!" And she ran off. I guess everything was alright with us now.

Thanks for the reviews!!

Anne918: *grins* I love Adam when he's talking back too. The plan is in the next chapter so read on!!!

Nebula2: Yes, I know. Your Adam/dad relationship is probably more twisted than mine. Well, the plan is in the next chapters so read on!!

Please review!!