Andrew
He honestly hadn’t realized how relaxing his time in Lake Placid had been until he pulled into his driveway back in Raleigh. His grass was perfectly cut, mailbox empty, and when he’d checked his kitchen, it was fully stocked with everything he would need for the pre-season diet to kick back in.
He supposes that he has his agent to thank, but right now all he wants to do is climb in bed with Roscoe and call Danielle. He has to be at the arena early the next morning, and he’s not sure when he’ll be able to talk to her between practice and pre-season interviews.
He’s only been gone for fourteen hours and he misses her like crazy .
It was also Harper’s first day of school.
With that as his excuse, not that he needs one, he navigates to Danielle’s contact card, pressing the FaceTime button. She picks up before the first ring even finishes, and he has to laugh.
She’s in her bedroom in her pajamas, hair wrapped up in a towel. He checks the time and feels a little bit guilty calling her at nine o’clock at night, but that goes away when her face lights up with a smile.
“Were you waiting for me to call, or something?” he asks.
She rolls her eyes. “I was watching a YouTube video when your call came through.”
“Was it a compilation of my sexiest plays?” he asks, wiggling his eyebrows. “I know they exist, D, so don’t pretend you haven’t watched them.”
“It was old interviews, actually,” she replies, “I have to see how you charmed the pants off of half the women in America.”
“Aunt D!” Andrew hears in the background. Roscoe hops onto his bed behind him and stretches out. “Are you talking to Andy?”
“Sure am, Sparrow,” Danielle says, looking over her shoulder. “Want to come say hi? ”
“Yeah!”
Her little face appears on the screen next to Danielle’s and Andrew’s heart is so overwhelmed with love he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
“Hey, bug,” he says with a grin, “how was your first day of school?”
“ So good,” Harper says, and then she launches into an explanation about the other kids at her table, how she and a boy named Oliver decided they’re best friends because they both love the color red, how Danielle packed her a crunchy peanut butter sandwich, and how Ainsley and JT went to the bookstore to see her and brought her a brand-new Dukes of Hazzard folder for her homework.
As she’s talking, Andrew brushes his teeth and listens intently. Her excitement can be felt through the phone
“Will you call tomorrow so that I can tell you about my day again?” she asks, and Andrew can practically see her bouncing up and down as Danielle stands to bring her to her room.
“I can’t make any promises,” he says, “but I’ll try to call you as much as I can. ”
“Okay,” Harper says, nodding as she climbs into bed. “Can you help momma tuck me in?”
Danielle’s breath catches, and Andrew feels a lump grow in his throat.
“As long as momma doesn’t mind holding her phone while she says goodnight.”
“She doesn’t.”
Andrew laughs, and Danielle carries him along to Harper’s room, making sure to tuck her in and leave her night light on for her. Andrew blows her a kiss as Danielle closes Harper’s door.
“Night, bug!” Andrew says, one more time, clearing his throat to get rid of the lump that’s formed in it.
He misses them. He misses them so much it physically hurts. He hadn’t realized how much of his life had been re-shaped to fit in the quiet moments until he wasn’t in a space that allows for them anymore.
Danielle carries him down the hall, flipping the lights off as she goes. He crawls under his blankets, six hundred miles away.
“She called you mom,” Andrew says softly, after Danielle has shut herself in her room. He barely gets the words out before she bursts into tears .
He wishes he could reach through the phone and hug her.
“D,” he says softly.
She wipes her eyes, sniffing loudly as she climbs under her blankets.
“I’m sorry,” she says, voice thick, “I just didn’t expect that. And with you gone, I think I’m just overly emotional right now.”
“Don’t apologize for having emotions,” he says, “that’s a huge thing that just happened.”
“I was hoping it would,” Danielle said, “but not this soon. It’s only been a couple of months, and she might not have even meant it.”
“Harper isn’t a kid who just says anything,” Andrew says, “not something that big. She’s probably been thinking about it for at least three days.”
Danielle sniffs again, offering a watery smile. “I’ll have to ask her.”
“Or you can just… let it happen,” Andrew says, “you can keep it a big deal for yourself, but let her think it’s normal.”
She lays on her side, her phone leaning against something so she can pull the blankets over her.
“I wish you were here,” she says, so softly that he barely hears it. “I could really use a hug right now.”
“I know,” he replies, “I wish I could have stayed another day. I have interviews and practice starting bright and early tomorrow.”
He settles into his pillows, matching her position and laying on his side. He sets his phone on his nightstand, leaning it up against his lamp so he can still see her as he plugs it in.
While she’s distracted, he sends a quick text to JT.
Andrew : I didn’t realize being away would be so hard
JT: because you love two people, not just one
JT: and by two I mean Harper and I, of course
Andrew: yeah, I’m definitely in love with you
JT: I know, baby, it was obvious to everyone ;)
JT: or have you not seen the fanfiction about Jamdrew?
Andrew: I hate everything about this conversatio n
When he looks up again, she’s studying his face carefully, soft smile on her own. Her eyes are still a little watery, and with both of them laying like this, he can almost pretend that they’re together.
“What?” he asks, returning the smile.
“Just can’t believe my boyfriend is in the NHL,” Danielle says, smile growing. “Do you think you’re ready to go back?”
“There’s only one way to find out, right?” he says, smiling back. “I’m doing better than I was, at least.”
“I bet your team will be excited to see you.”
“They haven’t heard from me in months,” Andrew says, “they’ll probably be shocked that I’m even back.”
“Or they won’t know what to do with themselves.”
“One of those two things, I’m sure,” Andrew says, yawning. He closes his eyes.
“I can hang up, if you want,” Danielle says.
He shakes his head no. “Stay.”
Somewhere along the line, they both fall asleep on the call. Andrew wakes up as Danielle blinks awake on his phone screen, smiling shyly and hiding her face under her blankets.
“If I didn’t have to be at the rink in an hour, I would definitely lay here all day,” Andrew says. “But I have to be at practice.”
“And I have a six-year-old to get to school,” Danielle yawns, “and a bookstore to run.”
He sits up, drags a tired hand over his face, and yawns. “I’ll try to call you when I’m back from practice.”
“If you can’t, it’s okay,” Danielle says, “I know that it’s going to be different now that you’re back playing. I don’t expect you to have hours free. Just send me a text when you have time, and I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll call, D,” Andrew says, picking his phone up and standing. He carries her into the bathroom.
“I’ll pick up,” she says with a smile.
He ends the call, looks at himself in the mirror, reads his Herb Brooks quote on the Post-it stuck on the glass, and gets ready to face his day.
Five things you can see. Four you can touch. Three you can hear. Two you can smell. One you can taste.
He parks his truck in the players lot, grabbing his gear bag before he heads into the arena. The player’s entrance is crowded with reporters, and their Social Media Coordinator is filming all of their arrivals for their Instagram feed.
Andrew plasters a smile on his face, not giving any answers as they hurl questions his way, knowing he’ll have to sit in a press conference with the coaches and alternate captains later.
The dressing room is full of laughter and loud voices talking about their off-seasons as Andrew steps inside.
He teammates offer him waves and shouts of greeting, but a hush doesn’t fall over the room.
You can’t hear a pin drop. It’s like any other practice, and Andrew feels the tension slowly seep out of his system and elation grows in its place.
“You good, Drew?” Petrov asks, clapping him on the shoulder. Andrew nods.
“Excited to get on the ice,” he answers.
“Hope your soul-searching went well,” Griffin Oher says from across the room.
Danielle’s smile fills his mind, and a slow grin splits his face. “It went really well.”
After two hours of grueling practice and a quick shower, Landry leads Andrew to the press room. He’s missed playing at a high level more than he had realized, especially since he had spent almost the entirety of the off-season as far from an ice rink as he could get.
Being back today felt good.
It felt like he was allowed to enjoy himself, playing the sport he loved, with a team he cared about. If it could just be about hockey, and not appeasing fans and answering press questions, posing for social media, and pretending not to be anxious about how he’s playing… it would be so much easier.
He knows he’s a professional, and on some level, he’s grown used to this in the last fourteen years, but walking into that press room, with the cameras flashing and the low buzz of reporters never gets easier.
At least this is just pre-season.
They haven’t won or lost any games yet, so the reporters shouldn’t be hostile.
The hush he expects when people see him enter the room falls, and he takes his seat next to coach. The team’s media manger opens the conference, and about a hundred different voices start yelling his name.
He points at random, and a guy wearing a red and black Carolina quarter-zip, and slacks stands, tape recorder in hand .