Her lips felt hot where his had been moments before. She knew it was childish running off on him like that but she didn't know what else to do.
She ignored the night guard's curious stares as she ran straight past him and upstairs to her shared dorm. She grabbed the suitcase that had once belonged to her dad and started throwing clothes into it.
She had made the choice, tomorrow she would be leaving Eden Hall and the Ducks and starting her new life back in Maine, where her father was buried. There she would forget all about Adam and there would be nothing to remind her of him. She had to start afresh.
She heard muffled voices downstairs, followed by footsteps running up the stairs, getting closer until the door to her room opened.
"Connie is that you?" she said without turning around.
The footsteps grew closer "Connie?" she spun around and came face to face with HIM.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she said trying her best to conceal the fact that she had been crying.
"What the hell are you doing?" he said indicating to the open suitcase on her bed.
"Going on a picnic, what do you think I'm doing" she said sarcastically turning back around to shove more clothes into the case.
"Julie you can't just leave" he said noticing that a few people were starting to gather at the door to watch the fight. Adam closed the open door; this was one conversation that needed to be kept private.
"Give me one reason why not, no wait give me one GOOD reason why not" Julie replied, her eyes filled with anger.
She didn't know why she felt so upset; she didn't know why he was even here having this conversation with her.
Adam took a deep breath. This was it; this was the chance for him to tell her exactly how he felt about her.
"Am I a good enough reason to stay?" he asked feeling himself tearing up. He needed her to stay, he felt like nothing without her.
She stopped in her tracks. She gathered up all of her courage and turned around to face him "Why do you want me around anyway, I get things with us Adam, I understand that we can never be together. I'm just your teammate and one of the guys. You don't have to try to make me feel better about it"
Adam put his hands on her shoulder and looked into her eyes "I don't want to make you feel better about anything, I just want YOU. I don't care about anything else". There! He'd finally said it.
Fresh tears sprung to her eyes, this was what she wanted, this was what she had been dreaming about since she'd first laid eyes on him,
"But why? Why now?" she asked trying to turn away but his hands on her shoulders wouldn't let her.
He tried to draw her into him but she was resisting. "I've always wanted you Julie, I guess I was just too scared before, I…………….I…………." he stammered, if he said it, he'd feel like a fool, he obviously wasn't convincing her of anything.
"You what? You Love me? Is that why you want me to stay? If I do Adam, where would we go from here? Tell me that, I don't see anything changing between us, all I can see is the team falling apart around us" she said breaking free of his grip and continuing with her packing.
Adam grabbed her again and kissed her hard on the mouth "I love you Julie, I always have. I want you to stay, I need you to stay. Please stay for me" he pleaded, the desperation showing in his eyes. He'd finally broken down his barriers and fears and had laid himself on the line for her. It was up to her to decide now.
She wiped the tear that was forming in the corner of her eye. That moment had been so special between them. That was the defining moment for her, he had told her he loved her and he had meant it.
She had to laugh at herself though, why did she run away from him that night if all she wanted was to be with him. She knew the answer to her question, she didn't want to be seen as the dumb girl goalie with a crush on the hottest player on her team.
She got that feeling from almost everyone around her. She felt it from the ever so perfect Cheerleaders and their cronie and she felt it a little from the other guys on the team.
That night was the first, last and only night they had ever spent together. It was undoubtedly the best night of both of their lives.
After an extremely romantic breakfast and Adam shouting the news to everyone that he was in love with her and didn't care what anyone thought they had to face the real world. Word had gotten back to Coach Orion and he wanted to know what the hell was going on and now.