Fulton pushed the door to Jan's shop open melancholy. He was frozen to the bone and beyond tired from the long walk he'd gone on after leaving the rink and as the door opened a small bell jingled and Jan emerged from the back room.
"Fulton, I was beginning to think you had gone home." The man said placing a freshly sharpened pair of skates on the shelf.
"I went for a walk, I got side tracked." Fulton explained.
Jan just nodded and locked the register.
"Come sit, have some hot coco, my must be frozen."
The two walked silently to the back of the building and entered the quaint kitchen. Fulton sat down at the small, while Jan went to the sink and filled the tea kettle before putting it on the stove.
"I went to the grocery store this afternoon. If you're going to be staying here, I thought maybe you would like some junkie food. There is potato chips under the sink, ice cream in the freezer and some fruity things shaped like alien heads in the cupboard." The older man informed him, turning on the burner.
The Bash Brother sighed and fiddled with the table cloth.
"You didn't have to do that Jan."
"Oh nonsense, you should feel at home here. In fact, I was thinking that if you would like, we could Gordon draw up the needed paper work and perhaps you could live here permanently."
"My parents didn't come looking for me today either did they?" Fulton asked knowing where Jan was going with this.
"No, they didn't." The whistle on the kettle began to blow and he got up and started filling two cups.
"They probably haven't even noticed I'm gone yet."
Jan was never one to stand for self-pity, even if he knew how much it hurt Fulton to know his family really didn't care. So he changed the subject by handing the boy his mug and telling him
"Drink you're hot chocolate Fulton, here take a cookie." He gestured to a plate between them. "My niece sent them to me from the old country."
"I guess I shouldn't complain right? I mean I've got the Ducks, Meredith, you and Coach Orion. You're sort of alone here in America." Fulton observed taking a bite on he moistest chocolate, walnut cookies he'd ever tasted.
"That… is not true, I have the Ducks too. But yes sometimes I do get very lonely here since my brother died. That is why, I would really like to become your guardian, if you decide that it what you would like to."
The boy smiled and took a long sip of his coco as the phone rang.
"Thanks Jan, I'll think about it."
Again Jan nodded and went to answer the phone.
"Skate Shop? Why hello, yes he's here, hold on. Fulton, it's for you, it's a girl."
A girl? What girl would be calling him, what girl even knew where he was? None that he could think of.
"Yo?"
"Hi Reed." The opposing voice familiar one, one that's chipper on the outside, but had something distrusting and bitter buried deep within it.
"Hey Merry, how'd you find me?"
"I called your house and my older sister said nobody has seen you in days and I figured if you were staying with one of the Ducks, they would've mentioned it at the rink today. So I did some thinking and that only left Jan's, so I got Casey's number from my work contact sheet and got this number from her. Normally I wouldn't have gone through that much to find you, but after I heard you were missing, I got really worried. Are you alright?"
"You should become a PI or somethin'. Sure, I'm fine. You didn't tell anyone where to find me right?"
"Nope, your secret's safe. My shifts over, so I was trying to see if you wanted to hang out tonight. My mom's closing and Jared is on a date, so I'm kinda bored. Oh and you'll never guess who just called here. Bryon Riley, supposedly he had his father get my number from the office. He wants to see a movie this weekend."
"Uh, actually, you should come down here. I want you to meet Jan." He ignored the latest on the younger Riley brother, something just didn't seem settling about his new found interest in Merry. She was not his type, there had to be some reason he was so interested in her, but what could it be?
"Sure, okay, um I'll call a cab. See you later."
"Kay. Bye."
"Bye."
Fulton hung up and walked into the living room where Jan flipping through the newspaper. He lowered himself onto the couch and picked up the remote control, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Which caused Jan to look up from the paper with a look of warning, Fulton put his feet back on the floor.
"So, a young lady is calling for you, in my day the girl never called on the boy. You must be very special to her." The shop owner lowered his glasses and looked up at his house guest.
"She was worried about me, she's really cool. We're just friends though, sometimes I think she knows me better then Portman." Fulton replied.
"Friendship is a precious thing, always protect it."
"I will." 'Just have to figure out what Bryan's up to.' He thought getting up to change into a pair of sweats and a tee before Meredith got there.
"Fulton, I was beginning to think you had gone home." The man said placing a freshly sharpened pair of skates on the shelf.
"I went for a walk, I got side tracked." Fulton explained.
Jan just nodded and locked the register.
"Come sit, have some hot coco, my must be frozen."
The two walked silently to the back of the building and entered the quaint kitchen. Fulton sat down at the small, while Jan went to the sink and filled the tea kettle before putting it on the stove.
"I went to the grocery store this afternoon. If you're going to be staying here, I thought maybe you would like some junkie food. There is potato chips under the sink, ice cream in the freezer and some fruity things shaped like alien heads in the cupboard." The older man informed him, turning on the burner.
The Bash Brother sighed and fiddled with the table cloth.
"You didn't have to do that Jan."
"Oh nonsense, you should feel at home here. In fact, I was thinking that if you would like, we could Gordon draw up the needed paper work and perhaps you could live here permanently."
"My parents didn't come looking for me today either did they?" Fulton asked knowing where Jan was going with this.
"No, they didn't." The whistle on the kettle began to blow and he got up and started filling two cups.
"They probably haven't even noticed I'm gone yet."
Jan was never one to stand for self-pity, even if he knew how much it hurt Fulton to know his family really didn't care. So he changed the subject by handing the boy his mug and telling him
"Drink you're hot chocolate Fulton, here take a cookie." He gestured to a plate between them. "My niece sent them to me from the old country."
"I guess I shouldn't complain right? I mean I've got the Ducks, Meredith, you and Coach Orion. You're sort of alone here in America." Fulton observed taking a bite on he moistest chocolate, walnut cookies he'd ever tasted.
"That… is not true, I have the Ducks too. But yes sometimes I do get very lonely here since my brother died. That is why, I would really like to become your guardian, if you decide that it what you would like to."
The boy smiled and took a long sip of his coco as the phone rang.
"Thanks Jan, I'll think about it."
Again Jan nodded and went to answer the phone.
"Skate Shop? Why hello, yes he's here, hold on. Fulton, it's for you, it's a girl."
A girl? What girl would be calling him, what girl even knew where he was? None that he could think of.
"Yo?"
"Hi Reed." The opposing voice familiar one, one that's chipper on the outside, but had something distrusting and bitter buried deep within it.
"Hey Merry, how'd you find me?"
"I called your house and my older sister said nobody has seen you in days and I figured if you were staying with one of the Ducks, they would've mentioned it at the rink today. So I did some thinking and that only left Jan's, so I got Casey's number from my work contact sheet and got this number from her. Normally I wouldn't have gone through that much to find you, but after I heard you were missing, I got really worried. Are you alright?"
"You should become a PI or somethin'. Sure, I'm fine. You didn't tell anyone where to find me right?"
"Nope, your secret's safe. My shifts over, so I was trying to see if you wanted to hang out tonight. My mom's closing and Jared is on a date, so I'm kinda bored. Oh and you'll never guess who just called here. Bryon Riley, supposedly he had his father get my number from the office. He wants to see a movie this weekend."
"Uh, actually, you should come down here. I want you to meet Jan." He ignored the latest on the younger Riley brother, something just didn't seem settling about his new found interest in Merry. She was not his type, there had to be some reason he was so interested in her, but what could it be?
"Sure, okay, um I'll call a cab. See you later."
"Kay. Bye."
"Bye."
Fulton hung up and walked into the living room where Jan flipping through the newspaper. He lowered himself onto the couch and picked up the remote control, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Which caused Jan to look up from the paper with a look of warning, Fulton put his feet back on the floor.
"So, a young lady is calling for you, in my day the girl never called on the boy. You must be very special to her." The shop owner lowered his glasses and looked up at his house guest.
"She was worried about me, she's really cool. We're just friends though, sometimes I think she knows me better then Portman." Fulton replied.
"Friendship is a precious thing, always protect it."
"I will." 'Just have to figure out what Bryan's up to.' He thought getting up to change into a pair of sweats and a tee before Meredith got there.