Alright, I know it's been a few days but school has started, and I'm already packed with work :( But, I'm going to make a vow right now and update/add a new chapter once a week. Maybe more if I'm lucky.

Anyway, this chapter is a little different. I hope you guys like it! By the way, thank you for the reviews! I'm happy to be pleasing people!

Bon Fire

Connor Averman walked out of his house with Lizzy Duncan. Her, Landon, and their mom had joined Connor's family for dinner, as they did every other Friday night. His parents were good friends with Miss Tammy, considering she and Connor's dad had played hockey together, the first year the Ducks were created. The Duncan's moved to Minneapolis, just before Jordan moved to California.

The air was nice and cool, perfect for a Bon fire. Usually he, Lizzy and Landon would go roller skating, but they couldn't pass up a Bon fire opportunity. The wind blew through the trees ferociously, making Lizzy shiver. Her jacket wasn't very big. He didn't know how she could stand it. He had two long sleeve shirts underneath his, so he took his thick, long sleeve ducks jersey off. She looked at him with curiosity. He smiled and handed her the jacket.

"Connor, keep it. I'm fine." She tried her best not to stutter. She didn't fool him, so he put the head of the Jersey over her head, and forced it on in a not so 'mean' way. The top of her head became frizzed, and he chuckled.

"Put it on, I'm not gonna have you freeze to death." He said. As they were walking, Lizzy put it on and apparently didn't realize that part of her bangs were still sticking up. He turned to stop right in front of her. She looked up at him and he lifted his hand slowly, she pulled her head away. "Relax, Liz. I'm not gonna hurt you." He smiled.

Connor ran his hand through her hair, making it un frizzy. She arched an eyebrow. "You're hair was sticking up from when I put the jersey over your head."

She giggled and looked away, and started walking to the bridge that connected the path to the Conway's house. "You could've told me." Her voice was nervous, she hadn't expected him to do that, and he could tell.

The sky was orange and pink and when he looked closer to the suns spot in the sky, it was bright yellow, almost white. it was a beautiful sky. He shrugged and walked up to Lizzy's side, her bluish-green eyes glistened in the light. Ever since the family problems have raised in her life, Conner always found her coming to him, to try and take her mind off things. This started two years ago, when he was twelve and she was eleven. And just like that, they locked eyes and it had reminded him of a memory.

At that time, she knew Conner, and they were friends, but not like they were now. One day when everything had possibly gone wrong, Lizzy had lost her mind. It was weird for that to happen for an eleven year old in her mind, but she ran away. Her brother was bothered by what had happened and found himself at his grandmothers house, trying to look for her. When she was no where he thought she would be, he had called Connor for help.

Conner didn't know much about Lizzy, so he wasn't sure exactly where to look. Then he had thought to himself, 'if I were upset and angry, where would I go blow off some steam?' It wasn't the best idea, he thought, considering he was a boy and she was a girl, but it was worth a shot. Connor had found him back at the place where he went all the time, but only came at night during the winter season, so he could be alone, and no one to bother him, and he could just do what he loved to do: skate.

He hadn't seen anyone out on the pond, across from the park, a few miles away from his house, but he heard a muffled sound, almost as if someone was crying. He searched again, and he spotted someone curled up in a ball by the tree, skates on her feet. It was dark out, like around 9 o'clock. Connor walked over and had confirmed it was Lizzy, but it wasn't the Lizzy he had known for that short period of time. The Lizzy he knew was always confident and strong. This Lizzy looked broken and weak.

Her lips were blue, and her eyes were puffy. She was shivering ferociously. At that moment, Conner took off his heavy coat and put it around her, as he came to sit down on the cold, wet, snowy ground, beside her.

"C-Connor," her voiced trembled, looking away, covering her face. "G-Go, I d-don't want anyone to see m-me like this, esp-pecially you." The wind blew once more and she flinched and stiffened, trying not to be bothered by it. She didn't fool him, she never had, and possibly never will.

He didn't move other than to put the jacket she had given back on her and pulled her into his arms. Her cold body was frigid through the jacket. Her shivering had made him shake, but she cried right into his torso. He hugged her even tighter. "Shh," he whispered. "It's okay, I'm here. You're fine." He said, not wanting to say the wrong thing. What had surprised him was that she wasn't pulling away, fighting him for freedom, instead after a few minutes, she had calmed down and slowly had stopped shaking.

"How long have you been out here?" He asked in a low voice.
She pulled her head up to face him. "Since early this morning." He couldn't believe it.

"Liz, you must be starving!" He exclaimed in a whisper.

Her head shook. "I had a couple bars in my bag, and a water bottle, I'm just cold." She said, the shaking coming back as the wind picked up again.

The look on his face clearly read: dissatisfied. "Lizzy, why haven't you gone to shelter? I know you don't want to go home, but you could've at least gone somewhere where it wasn't going to be so cold, or you might've thought to wear better clothing." When she released a breath, it touched his face. He gulped silently. "You could've at least come to find me."

She sniffed. "At first I was listening to music, skating. Just ignoring everything. Then everyone left and my iPod died. Music was gone, and I just didn't want to go home. I tried my best to fight back my emotions, but I can't because of another reason I'm not going to mention-girl stuff-so when I cried my heart out, I couldn't go anywhere. I didn't want people seeming me like this."

Connor stood up. He grabbed her hand to pull her up. Still being on her skates, she slipped, forgetting. He caught her when she did and their faces were centimeters apart. Never in his life had he ever been this close to a girl in this way. Lizzy was the same when it came to a boy. She blushed and immediately looked away. He did too. She took her skates off and put her boots on.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"My house. My mom won't mind you staying over." He paused. "But I do have to call Landon and told him I found you, and where you are going to be." She nodded.

Once they were inside his house, Connor's mom welcomed Lizzy in with open arms. Mrs. Averman had given Lizzy something to change into. And Connor had made them both hot chocolate, and he soon saw the color return to her face.
Connor snapped back into reality. The memory had only lasted seconds. He never told her, but ever since that night, he's developed a big crush on her. He never told anyone, not even Landon, who was technically his best friend. She smiled shyly as they walked over the bridge.

Just up the small hill to his right was the Conway house, but if you walked down hill to his left was this medium sized area with tons of trees around, but looked out onto the pond. That was where they were setting up the fire pit.

Mr. Charlie and Mr. Adam had spotted them and waved them over. When they came up to him, Connor said, "So, the house isn't on fire and there doesn't seem to be stress in the air, so I assume that my old friends have made up, and everything is all good?"

Mr. Charlie and Mr. Adam looked at each other and chuckled. "Connor, I think things are better than 'Good.'" He quoted 'good' with his fingers. This could only mean one thing, and Connor couldn't help but smile.

Mr. Adam called Lily and Jordan down. We walked up the hill slightly and saw them walk out the back door. They were both laughing when they came up to Connor and Lizzy.

"Hey Connor." Lily said, giving Connor a hug. Lizzy, who was beside him, felt a twinge of jealousy. Lily looked at her, with a sweet face. "Hi, I'm Lily. You must be Lizzy." She stuck her hand out to shake. Lizzy gladly excepted it.

"It's nice to meet you, Lily. I've heard a lot about you today. Well between all the guys at the rink." Lizzy said. Lily laughed. They decided to go get the s'mores from the kitchen, leaving Connor and Jordan alone.

"So, I hear from both your dads that everything looks better than things were." Connor raised an eye brow to Jordan. Jordan laughed out of awkwardness, Connor guessing he didn't know what to say, so Connor continued, "what happened?"

Jordan looked away from Connors gaze. "I don't know, it's like we read each others minds. When I saw her up close, I didn't know what to say. She looked so . . . So . . ."

"Different?" Connor guessed, finishing his faltered words.

There was a nod from Jordan. "Yeah, she sort of had me in shock, until she smiled and threw her arms around me for and hug and apologized." He looked back at Connor. "I told her that she wasn't the person to apologize, but then she explained her story. Man, I feel like a terrible best friend. When she needed me, I wasn't in her life anymore. And it breaks my heart to see her giving up on what used to be her dream." Connor kept nodding in agreement.

There was absolutely no doubt that Lily would've wanted him to be there, but she did have a weakness issue. She was afraid to show weakness and both boys knew it. She didn't want to be treated like a lost cause, or some helpless girl, that can't do anything for herself. And yet, her parents had taken her out of school, and homeschooled her just so they could help and take care of her. Both boys were thinking the same thing.

"Lil must've hated having her parents take her out of regular school, and have her sit at home, or on the road all day so they could watch her and keep her safe. She hated when it seemed like she was a lost cause." Connor said.

A few minutes had passed and Mrs. Conway led the rest of the team to the fire pit. Landon Duncan was running up the path behind them. Lily and Lizzy were walking down with a big bag.

"Hey guys," said Landon. His strawberry blonde hair was sticking to his sweaty face. "Man, the heat had definitely fired up in the house. It was blazing!" He then felt the cold air. Jordan started chuckling, and then Connor joined. "Well, jeez! It's cold out here . . . I better go get a jacket." Jordan and Connor looked at each other and shook their heads as Landon ran down the path to go fetch a jacket.

The two boys jogged over to meet the team by the fire. It was getting darker, and the temperature was dropping fast just like it does in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lizzy was still wrapped in Connor's jacket, standing by Lily. They were laughing hysterically. Connor was glad that they were getting along. Lizzy looked at him and smiled shyly, crossing her arms that were now tangled in the jacket. With Connor returning the smile, Jordan had noticed a connection, but didn't say anything.

Instead, he grabbed Connor's arm and dragged him over to the girls. The night was filled with laughs and questions. Lily seemed to be getting along with all the guys, Lizzy, and little Kylie. Connor still couldn't believe that Kylie was going to play with them. She was so tiny, and sweet. He didn't think she could handle it, but Connor always noticed one thing about Kylie that he always admired: She had Lily's personality.

A few hours after dark, everyone slowly left, leaving Connor, Lily and Jordan talking among themselves.

"So Jordan, how was California?" Connor asked. Lily cocked her head, to the side. Connor didn't think Lily knew about Jordan's move, about a year and a half after she left.

Jordan sighed. "Nothing too special. This tan was cool, but I missed the cool weather and all four seasons. The only seasons there were summer and winter."
Lily agreed. "I know how you feel, Florida is the exact same way. I learned to like it, but that was after the accident. I didn't appreciate it as much before."

There was silence between all of the kids when she mentioned the accident. As far as Connor knew, he and Jordan were the only ones to know what happened. Lily searched the ground, not really wanting to talk about it, but she met with Kylie's eye, that were asking what had happened.

Lily took a deep breath, and told her story. The coma that lasted a couple weeks. Averman was surprised she didn't suffer any brain damage. "But, unfortunately I did suffer from some memory loss." She said. "So if I don't remember some of you, I apologize in advance."

"But you remember Connor and Jordan clearly?" Asked Devon.

"Yeah, I remember who they are, and most of the memories we shared. There are a few things though, one of them I strained my brain on a few times since I've moved back, but I can't seem to find the memory, I only know one thing, Jordan and Conner were apart of it." She looked at Jordan. "I don't remember the first time I skated." Wow. Connor knew. Only because it was his and Jordan's first time too. From the moment Lily stepped on the ice, he knew that Lily could be out there forever and never leave. Her passion grew stronger everyday. That memory was one of the only memories he remembered as a young kid.

The fact that Lily couldn't remember her first time skating might impact her impression of getting back on the ice. First times are a big deal, and they set the way you feel about doing something. Connor just happens to know a lot about first time experiences. He remembered taking a vow on trying new things this past year. He tried different sports (none of them compared to the way he felt about hockey), he also went to different places with friends. He also found himself his first real crush rather than a celebrity

The way Lily talked, she seemed really stressed. Almost like it had bothered her before she came back. Boy, Lily was good at hiding her emotions. Only Connor seemed to catch it, maybe Jordan did too, but obviously Connor didn't know what Jordan was thinking.

"So, anyway, anyone from the Hawks we should be worried about?" Asked Jordan.

Cole looked at him with a distasteful look. "Nobody now, since I'm here." His tone really made Connor want to knock his teeth out.

"Cocky much, Cole?" Asked Lily. Her personality confidence was really nice.
He looked at her as if to say, "So what?"

"Don't be too full of yourself. You maybe small and fast, but there are others on this team just as good as you, believe me I know most of them." She was honest. She did know most of them but Landon, Lizzy, and Kylie. Well, she knew Kylie, but not her skill on the ice. The others they went to school with in elementary, and skated with on the pond at recess during the winter.

Cole glanced around to all of the people on the team, until he met with Lily's face again. "I know they're good. What I meant before is that the Hawks aren't too good this year. I was their best player last year. I'm not saying I'm better than anyone here." He said, trying to contain his cockiness. "Everyone here tells me that you're really good on the ice. Well, used to be. They tell me you're funny, energetic, good with words, and confident." Connor didn't know if Cole was attempting to flirt, or just get a reaction out of a few people.

Jordan was waiting, he knew there had to be more to what Cole was getting to. Connor did as well, but he didn't know if it would be bad or good.

Cole continued, "if you're so confident," Connor knew what was coming, and by the reaction from Lily's face, she did too, "then why don't you suck it up and stop acting like a weak girl." Everyone was staring, even the parents. Lily looked around, with lack of confidence. She looked really pissed, but confused, and sad. Connor wasn't sure if it was towards Cole or herself, but Jordan and Conner were definitely pissed at Cole. Lily turned around and walked away towards her house.

"See? Weak." Cole stated when she was inside.

Jordan marched up to Cole, looking as if he was going to hit him, but instead restrained himself. "I think it's time for you to go home."

"But it's a team party. I'm part of the team."

"Your name may be on that list, but you sure is hell aren't part of this team, until you treat everyone with respect, including Lily." He firmly stated.

"Her name ain't on that list. She's not part of the team." He stated, his cocky tone wavered based on the look Jordan was giving him.

"You may not think so, but she is weather you like it or not. She's the Coach's daughter, she'll be at every game, every party, every gathering. She is part of this team, even if she's not playing. What you said was wrong. Imagine if you were in her shoes. What would you say if some kid called you a weak girl?" The looks around the area were given full attention to Jordan and Cole.

"I'd be pretty upset." Cold admitted. He looked at his watch, almost anxious to get out of Jordan's way. "It's getting late anyways, I'd better be getting home."

He didn't even bother saying goodbye. Connor wondered where Cole lived. It must be pretty close if he was walking.

Jordan was good. He stuck up for his friends. Lily would have really appreciated it too. Connor looked around to see that everyone was slowly getting back to conversations, quietly. Lizzy was nowhere to be found though. Jordan was making his way towards the house, so Connor followed with Landon at his side.

"Jordan seems scary when he's mad. Well, now we no not to piss him off." Landon claimed.

Connor laughed. "He only seems scary because it's Lily who he's defending. He does defend his friends, but he's always had that protective thing for Lily. I don't know, but he's done that, even as little kid."

"He likes her." Landon stated.

"Naw, I would've never known that if you hadn't said anything." Connor hinted with sarcasm. He chuckled.

"Like you like my sister." Landon stated slowly.

Connor almost said, 'yeah,' but he caught himself and blushed. "What?" He asked in his high-pitched voice.

"Connor, you don't have to lie. I know you do, and I've known for a while. I just wanted to know why you never told me?"

Connor took a minute before he answered, then he sighed. "Because you're like my best friend, and she's your sister. It's got to be weird for you."

Landon shrugged. "Rather you than some messed up kid like Cole Johnson."

Connor couldn't believe Landon was practically giving him permission to like his sister. "But I don't want to here about her all the time, okay? That's when it'll get weird for me. Besides, I think she likes you too. But don't tell her I told you that."

Connor believed it. That's why Connor started hinting around, maybe she'd get a hint, and maybe start flirting back.

They had made their way into the kitchen and walked straight to the staircase that lead to Lily's room. Once they rounded the stair rail, Lily's door was straight ahead. It had been so long since Connor had been in the house, well everywhere else besides Lily's room. It looked completely different from when he was little.

He opened Lily's door to find Lily talking to Jordan and Lizzy. "Hey, mind if we join?" Connor asked.

"No, not at all." The two joined the conversation.

"Lil, don't listen to Cole, he's a twerp. But he left, probably before he could pee himself." He laughed at his joke.

Lily looked at him in confusion. Connor looked at Lizzy. "You didn't tell her?"

Lizzy then had the same expression, confusion. "Tell her what? And why did Cole leave before he could pee himself?"

Connor patted Jordan on the shoulder, and looked at Lily. "This dude stood up for you, told him to treat you with respect, and that you were part of the team, even if you're not playing."

She looked at him. "Thank You, you didn't have to do anything. I'm sorry about walking away though."

"It's alright. I'd be glad to do it again." Jordan smiled.

Suddenly there was noise coming from downstairs. "Landon! Lizzy! Connor! Time to go!"

Connor looked to Jordan. "Hey, you wanna go roller skating tomorrow?" He asked.

Jordan piped up. "Yeah, sounds like old times." Jordan looked at Landon and Lizzy. "You two want to join us?" They looked pleased, and accepted.

"We should go before mom gets mad." Landon said. "And right now, I'd hate to see her upset." He made his way towards the door. "It was nice meeting you Jordan and Lily."

"You too." The two said in unison.

Lizzy walked over and gave Lily a hug. "It was really nice meeting you. Connor mentioned you and Jordan I don't know how many times. I even saw a picture of you all." She walked up to Jordan and he gave her a side hug.

Jordan looked at Lily, "will you come too?"

Conner knew she was thinking about it. "Please?" Jordan asked. "Baby Steps."
She smiled slightly and nodded. Lily gave Conner a hug as well, and Jordan gave him a bro hug and he left, "See you guys tomorrow!"

What do you think? Review please! Hope you guys are enjoying the start of school.. If you haven't already started.

xoxo,

Amanda