Forever Yours

Chapter Five: Luna

“Why have we not seen you in a week?” Ava snapped on the phone as I was walking to my car. Well, not walking, more like rushing at this point. I kept looking around, scared. I felt like I was being watched, and it was creeping me out. All I knew was I needed to get in the car and leave before my fear became a reality.

I hate this feeling. The feeling of eyes on you, following you wherever you go. It’s been happening all day and I can’t shake it off. I keep looking over my shoulder but no one’s there, and it’s starting to freak me out. I should have called someone, but I didn’t want to bother them. Plus, why make a big deal out of something that might not even be anything? Who would I call anyway? I don’t have family around here… and everyone else has their own lives to worry about.

“I’ve been busy, Jeeze.” I rolled my eyes as I connected the phone to the car, “What’s the rush anyway?”

“I’m emotional and hormonal. After having the baby, my periods have been so much freaking worse and drinking makes it escalate to a whole new level.” She moaned out in frustration, “I can’t do what I want because Art is so…so…ugh!”

“I can see that.” I laughed, “What did you need me to do for you?”

“I need you to drink beers for me tonight.” She begged, “I know I could just do it myself, but I know he won’t let me and…”

“Tonight?” I squeaked out.

“Yeah. Tonight. After the game, everyone wants to go to Finn and Sawyer’s for a fire. It’s the first one of the summer. You have to be there!”

“I’m already going to the game. What more do you want from me?”

“To spend time with one of my best friends.” I can sense the eye roll, “Come on, Luna. I don’t know what happened over the past few months, but it seems like you’re going through a lot.”

“I’m fine.” I said, trying to convince her as much as I was trying to convince me.

“You're a terrible liar. I said the same thing once upon a time. Just remember, we’re always here for you.”

“I appreciate it. I’ll come to you if I need something, okay? Promise.”

“You better, but now I need something from you. I need you to drink those beers for me tonight.”

“I’m sure you can get Sawyer, Ray or Summer to drink one for you. Hell, drink one yourself. I’m sure Art would love a tipsy Ava.”

“Or…you…could…”

“I’ll think about it. I do have a lot to do tonight.” I mumbled, fiddling with my keys as I unlocked the door. I took one more peek around to make sure no one was watching me and, of course, I didn’t see anyone.My own fears are starting to wear me down. It's getting to the point I'm about to pull someone aside and talk to them. Hell, I just might. I know I'm not in this alone, I just have to learn to open up to people.

But sometimes, it's hard to get over past disappointments and fears that have nothing to do with your present day life. It's a daily struggle.

I remember when the girls found out Ava lived here. It wasn’t pretty. They got her out of that apartment so damn fast it was almost hysterical. What they didn’t know was as soon as they got Ava out, I was able to rent it. Not like I had much of a choice, my options were limited with the income I had, and this place didn’t do credit checks because that’s shot to s**t.

“Like what? There’s no school, so you can’t use grading papers as an excuse to bail. You haven’t dated anyone since I’ve known you, so there isn’t someone like that in your life, plus we all know you’re waiting for a certain soldier to come home and…”

“Nope.” I cut her off, “Things between Aiden and I are over so there’s no waiting for him.”

“Paused.” She pointed out. I knew she was right, but I wasn’t going to admit that to her, “It’s not over, it’s paused because I saw you guys with my own eyes, and I’ve known Aiden almost my entire life, so let’s go with paused, because I know once he comes home you two will start where you left off. I can sense it. But anyway, come with us. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“We’ll see. That’s the best I can do right now. Let’s just see how the night goes.”

“I’ll take it!” There was some screaming going on in the background and I knew baby Phil was up and ready to get on with the day. She said some choice words and walked into his room where the crying escalated because he saw his mama and then you could hear the soothing hums she was doing, “Anyway, let me get this little guy ready to get to the sitters, and we’ll meet you there, right?”

I took a moment as I turned on the car and sat there. I did have nothing to do tonight, and I knew Miles wanted me there. “Yeah, I’ll be there for Miles.”

“I thought you would.” I heard her say with a smile on her face, “See ya. Love you.”

“Love you.”

I decided to head there a bit earlier than I expected. I planned to show up at the last minute, but I wanted to spend some time walking around and just taking everything in. Finn was telling us that this was going to be a huge spectacle, since they decided to go this route to raise money for the schools instead of the traditional gala dinners their parents used to plan. Honestly, this is much better. Community involvement means everything in Crossdale and this just opens up a whole new can.

I reached into my back seat and grabbed my sweater, so I had something warm to wear while I was sitting on the benches. I’ve only been to a handful of hockey games and learned quickly that it can get pretty cold.

Sneaking through the doors, I was able to avoid Finn, who was talking on the phone. He looked frustrated and stressed, so I was going to go up to him and see if there was anything I could help him with until I stopped in my tracks at his words, “She can’t find out, or she’ll kill me. Of course, I haven’t told her, are you nuts? Once she does find out, she’s going to have my balls in her hands.”

What the hell? What is going on? Why does it sound like he’s talking to someone about maybe cheating on Sawyer? No. That can’t be it. I don’t believe it. He would never do that.

He made his way up the stairs towards his office and I so badly wanted to go after him and talk to him. I need to get these terrible thoughts out of my head. I know how it is to be cheated and used by the person you thought you loved, and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. As I turned the corner, I saw the girls standing in the center, talking and looking around with their eyes open in awe, so I made the decision and went with them instead, because thinking anything like that about Finn is crazy.

I ran up to the girls and plastered a smile on my face. I didn’t really have to fake this one because everything I’ve seen so far has been absolutely amazing. Ava caught my eye as I came over, and she had the biggest smile on her face which just made me smile even more. I hate disappointing my friends, so all I can do is try and be there, as long as everything stays decent on my end of things, they should be okay, and I know I would do anything to make sure that happens.

“You guys did great.” I came up next to Sawyer, “The kids are having a blast and all the money raised is going to the school district. I love how they incorporated the towns' people into this along with the other teams. Honestly, this should be something they should do instead of that dinner thing.” Hearing the laughter from the children just made my heart full. I know lots of these kids as I helped teach them throughout the year, even some of the older kids. Being a sub at all grade levels has its perks. There was a huge line over by where the Stars were seated, signing autographs and taking pictures.

One of the teens over there was a guy that volunteered here and helped with the kids on Miles’ team. I’ve heard rumors that he was being looked at by scouts. I can only hope for an amazing future for him.

“I totally agree!” Sawyer exclaimed, “Now, let’s go to the office and get my guy to come down before all this starts.” We all agreed to go up together. Maybe I should have said something about the conversation I overheard, but I'm sure it was nothing. There was no need to make her panic over something I had no idea about.

We all headed upstairs to the office and it was so weird. The couple of times I’ve been here, it’s never been like this. The blinds were shut and there were hush tones coming from the office. We all looked at each other and I couldn’t help that maybe, just maybe, my initial thoughts were right. Damn it, I should have said something.

“Do you have the keys?” Sawyer asked Felix as she held her hand out. Felix became a partner to Finn with this place not long ago, once all the drama and crap died down. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him happier, “Mine are at home.”

“Yeah, one sec.” he took them out and as he went to open the door, the door cracked open and Finn’s face was in the c***k of the door. I saw the look of panic on his face. He was definitely hiding something.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” he asked nervously, his eyes shifting to each of us. I stood at the back and shook my head as my face fell. He saw me, looked me right in the eye and I saw it.

It’s not what you think. I promise.

“Coming to get you…the games are about to start and us guys should go to the locker room to make sure the kids are good. Wanna let us in?” Felix asked as he tried to open the door, but Finn wouldn’t move.

“Nah. You can’t come in.” he said quickly and a bit abruptly. I crossed my arms over my chest and bit my bottom lip, nervous. What the heck is he doing?

“We heard noises, voices. Are you in there with someone?” Sawyer asked with a shaky voice. She was scared, anyone could see it, “If you’re with someone else Finn, please just tell me…”

“It’s not that it’s just…ugh…nothing. Everything’s fine.” He groaned out.

“Dude, who’s in there with you?” Felix snapped.

“No one! Damn can’t a guy watch p**n in the comfort of his own office!” he snapped, and we just froze. Eww. Really?

“That’s gross…it better be at your desk. I’m going to get the girls settled and head to the locker rooms, you freakazoid.” He turned to us and ushered us away, “Come on girls. Let’s go. I’m sure he will tell us what he’s really hiding soon.”

“But…he’s…in there…a locked room…” Tears were starting to well in her eyes, and it took everything in me to keep my mouth shut, but Feix was there to console her. They have this special bond, a brother-sister bond, and they have become closer ever since Aiden decided to re-enlist, “What…what if…”

“Don’t, don’t go there, love. I’m sure he has a reason for what he’s doing.” Ollie comforted her.

“You girls go and get settled. Take my card and get some food, and I’ll handle him.”

“No, I’ll do it because he’s about to get his ass whooped.” Ava sneered.

“Calm down, killer. I’ve heard of your deadly kicks. I got him.” Felix laughed at Ava’s feistiness, “Now, go get settled. I’ll be with you guys after I see the kids in the locker room.”

I walked over to Sawyer and pulled her into my arms as she started to cry. I felt anger build up in me. I wanted to go over there and slam that door open and give Finn a piece of my mind for how he was treating her. No secrets are worth keeping.

I really should take my own advice sometimes.

But with a tight grip on her shoulder and hushed voices, we started to make our way to the stands as Ava went ahead and got us some drinks. It was another twenty minutes or so before I saw Finn, Dylan, Jordan and Felix walk out of the locker room. Gage wasn’t with them, except he came up to us with more food and drinks, sporting his goofy ass smile that we all learned to love.

He’s a special guy in his own way. Strong, brute, honest and kind of adorable in like a cousin kind of way. He has his own way of being there for everyone and being the thing that they need at the perfect time. He sat down with us and leaned over to hand us the food.

“Luna.” He said as he made a small side smirk, “You’re killing me.”

“Pardon?” I asked with a raised brow.

“I know everyone here and their deepest secrets, more than they believe or know.”

“Shut up.” Summer punched his shoulder, “Just because I’ve known you since we were kids doesn’t mean I won’t slap the s**t out of you.”

“You will always be forever abusive. I feel bad for Jordan.” He rolled his eyes and turned back to me, “But you, you beautiful star, I know nothing about. Why is that?”

I shrugged, “There’s nothing to know about me. I'm as boring as they come.” I shrugged as I turned and looked back out to the ice, "I'm an open book really. Grew up on the other side of the state. I have a brother, Ethan. I moved here for school and never left. Pretty much about it." He went to say something back, but the guys started to roll out a carpet to the center and the kids were there, waiting at the door on skates, but they weren’t geared up. Strange…I thought this was supposed to be a tournament or something?

“I’ll find out.” He mumbled, “You can’t hide your secrets forever. I know there's more to you than that, Star.” I raised my brow at him.

"Star?"

"Yeah, Star. Because your name is Luna...Star...get it?"

"Shut up stupid." Summer punched him, making everyone laugh before we turned back to the rink.

But inside, I was scared because no one could find out about my past and how messed up it is. I don't want the looks of pity anymore.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed as a spotlight came out onto the center ice and Finn’s voice boomed in the microphone and I knew right then, this wasn’t going to be a normal hockey game.

Nothing was normal about this.

And little did I know…things were going to change. For the good or bad? I don’t know. Change is rarely ever good, especially in my life…