I woke up the next morning, feeling Fulton's arms still wrapped tightly around my waist from behind. I turned, slightly, looking at him from over my shoulder. He was awake already, looking down at me as I slept.
"Hey." I said smiling a little but closing my eyes to the bright morning sunlight shining down on us.
"Hey." He said leaning forward to kiss me softly on the cheek.
"Oh, god, is it morning?" I asked, suddenly realizing we'd spend the whole night at the lake without me even calling home to make up an excuse. I was so dead meat when I got home
"Yeah." He said sitting up as I shot up from the grass.
"I got to go." I said looking around, "My skates are at your house." Realization crossing my face as I tried to fix my hair now.
"Come on." He said taking my hand to help me up.
We ran back to his house as fast as we could go, collecting my skates. I kissed Fulton quickly before I skated to my house as fast as I could. I was hoping it was still early enough for no one to notice. As I skated up the street, there was a police car in my driveway and I knew I was going to be in big trouble.
I opened the front door, sliding in and slowly sitting to take off my skates. My Mother came out of the living room, a look of panic on her face until she saw me sitting there. Relief was the first emotion until she realized I was safe and a look of anger spread to her cheeks.
"Tammy!" She said grabbing my arm in a tight grip before backing off and looking at me,
"Where have you been?" She asked, "Was it that Fulton kid? Did he talk you into something? Did he pressure you into something." She asked as I sighed.
"No, we just fell asleep. Nothing happened."
"Fell asleep? Where, what were you doing?" She asked. I sighed again,
"Nothing...we were talking and we fell asleep." I said as my Father was letting the police officers out the front door and thanking him for his time.
"Young lady, you are grounded for the rest of the month! No, the rest of the summer!" My Mother yelled as I looked at Dad, he agreed with her, a slight nod of the head and I stomped up the stairs to my room,
"I didn't do anything." I said slamming my door with a bang. Tommy opened it ten seconds later.
"Oh...you're in trouble!" He mocked as I went to grab him by his stringy red hair but he shut the door too fast for me. There was a knock on my window a few seconds later and I turned running to let Fulton in.
"Are you okay?" He asked, worry sounding in his voice.
"No, I'm grounded for the next 3 weeks, if not longer." I said hugging him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you in trouble." He said
"No, I guess it could be worse, but that means no hanging out with you or the team." I said sitting down on my perfectly made bed. Fulton knelt in front of me on the floor.
"I'm sorry. This is all my fault...it will be okay. I'll just sneak in your window." He laughed a little, touching his hand to my face. I laughed too.
"I really liked sleeping in your arms last night." I admitted as he hugged me to him n a tight embrace.
"I liked having you in my arms." He said as I leaned in to kiss him.
"Tammy? Can you come down here please?" My Mother's voice asked from the bottom of the stairs. I sighed.
"I'll see you later." I promised as Fulton nodded. He kissed me again, lightly on the lips before he headed out the window.
"Yeah." I said heading down the stairs to see my coach sitting at the table in the dining room, his hand folded gently resting on the wooden top.
"Coach, what are you doing here?" I asked sitting down.
"Tammy, we have some news for you." My Mother started as my coach smiled.
"Honey, I know you want to make something of your skating and with last night...your Father and I feel it's necessary to take Coach Blizzar's offer to let you train at his compound." My Mother said as I looked at her shocked.
"What? I'm not going." I said getting up to leave the room.
"This is your chance at the Olympics." My Mother stressed. I stopped in the doorway, turning back to her.
"You're sending me away." I practically yelled, turning around.
"Tammy, it's for your own good." She said touching my shoulder in a tender fashion, trying to remain cool at the situation. "You didn't want to play hockey anyway. Everything's a distraction here." She said as I shook her hand off of me.
"You mean Fulton is a distraction." I corrected, feeling on the verge of tears.
"Well, he's the biggest one." My Mother said honestly.
"I'm not going." I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest. I looked back and forth between the occupants of the room.
"The decision's already been made." My Mother finally vocalized sternly. A look of defeat crossed my face and I turned and left the room in a huff. Running up the stairs, I slammed my door before falling unto my bed and crying into my pillow. I sucked up the tears and snuck down the stairs to leave after a few minutes. My Mother was talking to the coach still in the dining room as he showed her pictures of the training compound. I grabbed my skates and headed out the door before she even realized I had gone.
I made my way down to the park where everyone was that afternoon. They stood inside the wire fence, playing a game of street hockey. Fulton saw me and skated up to me, a smile playing on his lips in the bright sunlight.
"Hey, Tammy, Coach Bombay is back...guess what!...We're going to the Junior Goodwill Games!" He yelled picking me up off the ground in his arms. I smiled and laughed, enjoying the feeling of his arms wrapped around me. The thought that this could be the last time I ever felt this crossed my mind and I pulled away as I slide down the front of him to the ground.
"Fulton, we need to talk." My eyes told him something was wrong as I said the sentence before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the alley.
We made it to the alleyway by Hans' shop and stopped, Fulton sitting on a box.
"What's going on?" He asked as I poured everything out of my mind. He sat there looking at me as I rambled on.
"Well, don't go." He finally said touching my face and bringing me down to his lap.
"Fulton, they're not giving me a choice." I said turning away, feeling the tears start to blur my vision.
"Is this because of last night?" He asked, standing and turning me to him chest.
"Kind of." I admitted, burying my face in his shoulder.
"This is all my fault." He rested his head on mine.
"No, it's not...it's mine." I gripped his waist with my arms.
"What about us?" He asked. I looked up, seeing his eyes tear up.
"I'll write you." I couldn't hold my emotions anymore and began to cry.
"That's not the same." He said taking my hand before I pulled away. "Come with us." He asked. "Run away with me. We'll go to California. We'll find a way to be together." He said, taking my face in his hands. I shook my head in defeat.
"I can't, that will just get us in more trouble. As much as I wish we could." I said, "Fulton, I need you to be okay with this." I said touching his cheek.
"What am I going to do with you? How am I supposed to be okay with this?" He asked.
"Just live." I said, "Fulton, promise me something." I pleaded, searching his eyes.
"Anything."
"Don't wait for me." I said with tears brimming on my eyes again.
"No." He whispered, turning to turn away from me.
"Fulton, I don't know how this is going to work and I don't want to come back here 10 years later and find you married and have my heart break."
"I wouldn't do that!" He cut me off, turning back towards me with a scold on his face.
"I know. Just please go on and be happy. Don't wait for me." I asked, trying to reach for him.
"What about all the dreams, what about our house?" He asked. This was only the second time I'd ever seen him cry.
"Fulton, please." I whispered. He kissed me, silencing me for a minute and then looked into my eyes, hoping he could convince me to stay.
"Tammy, I am always going to love you." He said before getting up to skate away.
"Fulton!" I cried as he skated away, not turning around. That was the last time I saw Fulton Reed. My parents pulled up seconds later to drag me back to the house to pack. I left later that day, feeling like my heart had been cracked wide open.
California was not what I expected, it was dry and hot and there was nothing to do but train, so that's what I did. I was ranked the best in my class but my heart wasn't in it. The coach knew this, so he decided to pair me with someone to move me along in artistic ability. That's when I met Scott; his class was the oldest class at the compound and the best class with experience. He was always so nice to me and so I found myself trusting him, telling him about Fulton and how I was afraid to write because he was mad at me. He helped me put my emotions into the skating and we excelled being chosen to go to the nationals finally after years of training.
That was a year and a half ago. My eyes darted from the floor down at the hockey team skating on the ice. I ran over the memories in my head one more time before moving nervously from the seat I had been occupied. I wiped my eyes with my gloved hand before standing to exit the arena. My head hurt from the unshed tears that consumed my thoughts and clouded my mind creating a fog of confusion. I was almost to the door when I ran into someone, falling on my butt to the hard gravel floor. I looked up and my eyes widened as Fulton Reed looked down at me, his dark hair falling into his widened eyes. His face was aged and all the pain from the years showed but it was him. The same boy I fell in love with so many years before.
"I'm...I'm sorry." I said as he looked down at me stunned.
"Tammy?" He asked helping me up.
"Yeah, I really am sorry, it was my fault." I said, trying to move towards the door at a fast pace.
"Tammy, when did you get back?" He asked, looking at me, still shocked I was standing in front of him. His hand gripped mine in a tight embrace, unwilling to let me go out the door.
"A few days ago." I said dropping the paper with the article of Tommy in it from under my arm. He glanced down at it before picking it up to glance over the article.
"Oh, yeah...Tommy's...was this morning?" Fulton asked, nervousness in his eyes.
"Yeah...It was a mistake coming here." I said turning again to leave before he could reach out for me again.
"I'm really sorry I wasn't there." He yelled out after me. I stopped in my pace to listen to his voice as it resonated in my ear. I had missed his voice to much to hear it again, made me want to stay just to hear him speak "He was a great kid." I turned around,
"Thanks, Fulton." I could see his eyes soften as his name rolled off my lips.
"How long are you staying?" He asked, shifting his stance.
"A few days...a few weeks...I'm not sure yet." I said honestly, I could never lie to him. He could see right through me.
"Well, if you need someone to talk to..." He started as my eyes teared up again. He reached out for me as I threw myself into his arms, smelling his familiar scent and feeling his strong embrace. It made me feel protected, I hadn't felt that in a long time as I let go of the emotions I was holding in all morning.
"Fulton, how am I supposed to live without him?" I cried into his jacket.
"I'm so sorry, Tammy." He said holding me as tight as he could. I cried for what seemed like forever before lifting my head and staring into Fulton's eyes.
"I missed you Tammy." He admitted. I backing up; letting go of him and stood back a little bit to look up at the man in front of me.
"I'm...I didn't mean to..."I started as Fulton shook his head in understanding,
"It's alright." He said brushing it off, "You're entitled." He looked out at the ice, a look of concern on his cheek.
"Am I keeping you?" I asked noticing his distraction.
"Oh, no, not really, I coach the pee-wee team now." He said as I smiled a little.
"I never imagined you doing that." I said,
"Yeah, well, life's lead me in a different direction than I thought it would...I saw you won a gold medal." He commented.
"Yeah, I did...Fulton, I'm really sorry...about everything...you know, us..." I said as his eyes suddenly changed. They darkened with thought.
"It was 6 years ago, I've moved on." He said as I nodded. I didn't believe him but it made me feel better about our situation.
"Well, I am."
"Look, I got to go...the other coach is having trouble controlling the kids." He motioned as I looked out the window at a tall muscular man, trying to control ten kids jumping around him for the puck. I smiled, not really able to laugh or I would start crying again.
"I understand." I said as he grabbed his clipboard from the windowsill, where he had left it.
"Tammy, like I said. Just call me if you need to talk." He said heading through the door.
"Hey, Portman!" I heard him yell as he ran down the aisle and unto the ice. I stood there watching for a minute before taking a deep breathe and walking out of the arena, back to my car. I got in and managed to shut the door before crying all over again.
