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Miranda's Men

The Homecoming

“CANNONBALL!!” I shouted as loud as I could, crossing my legs and wrapping my arms around my knees as I leaped into the pool. My body hit the water with a slap, and I slowly sank underwater, the low, rushing sound of ten feet of water filling my ears. I drifted to the bottom of the pool, straightening out and pushing off to the surface. When I rose back to the top, I quickly rubbed my eyes and turned to Dave, raising my eyebrows expectantly.

He was sitting on the edge of the diving board in his red trunks, legs and arms crossed, as if he were about to do a cannonball himself. He pressed his lips together, looking up briefly at the starry night sky in thought. “Seven.”
As I floated, my jaw dropped, and the water beneath me made a gentle droplet sound as it hit the water. “No way that wasn’t a ten!”
“Um, way.”
“How?!”
“Well, first of all, your splash was barely even a ripple. A pebble landing in the water could have made a bigger splash.”
“Dave, I'm 110 pounds. How do you expect me to make a fatty-sized splash like yours?”
“You know I’m self conscious about my cankles,” he replied in a high-pitched whine, curling up even more and covering his hands over his bony ankles.
I shook my head at him, trying to control my grin. “What else?”
“Well your form was impressive, but seeing as it’s the middle of the night and every guest in the hotel isn’t out on their balcony chirping you right now, your ‘cannonball’ wasn’t loud enough.”

I rolled my eyes at him, drifting towards him. I dipped beneath the water so that only my eyes peeked above the surface. They lurked, and I pointed my hand on top of my temple like a shark fin, weaving through the water. When I got close enough, he grabbed my hand and pulled my little body right out of the water with one hand. I lifted my other hand to him and he grabbed my wrist and pulled me up with both hands, water streaming off of me. I couldn't help but admire the bulge of his biceps as he lifted me. His feet dangled in the pool, pulling me all the way out, twisting me around and plunking me on the diving board right in front of him. He wrapped his arms around my wet stomach and pushed my wet seaweed hair over one shoulder so he could kiss the back of my neck. For an instant, we merely sat, enjoying each other’s company, listening to our breath and the sounds of the night. Then in a quick sweep, David was standing on the diving board with my body curled in his arms, starting to swing me.

I started screaming, squeezing my arms tightly around his neck. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Already thinking about it.”
“If I go in you’re coming with me.”
He gave me a knowing smile, the rippling pool water reflecting in his baby blues. I tipped my head slightly, admiring them. When he caught me in a moment of weakness, I felt my body weight hang in mid air, then hurtle towards the water. Dave may have caught me, but I had him caught, too. My grip around his neck was too tight, so as I went towards the water, screaming for my life, Dave followed. Our bodies hit the water with a massive splash.
I quickly rose to the surface and wiped the water from my face. Lights in the windows of the different hotel rooms started illuminating, and I cringed through my laughter.
“I think you had your last splash and scream beat,” Dave said, looking up at the same scene I was observing.
“Easily. We should probably get out of here,” I answered, still floating in place.
“Good idea.”

We scurried towards the stairs, our wet feet thwapping against the stone as we gathered our towels and rushed towards the gate. I giggled uncontrollably the whole time, and as we exited the pool area that was boxed in by the hotel, Dave grabbed my hand and stopped me in the entranceway that served as a gap of the building. I stopped abruptly, and he grabbed my other wrist, pinning me against the wall. I breathed heavily, dropping my towel on the stone as my body went numb. He held me there, only a single overhead lamp lighting us up. He pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, and my body became one with the wall as I melted into it. He released my wrists and wrapped his arms around my waist, fingers digging into my bare hips. The night air was icy against our wet bodies, but the heat from his mouth set my body ablaze. My fingers tangled in his wet hair, which was much shorter and gave me much less to work with than before.

Everything about being with Dave was different, but the same. It had been that way the whole week. We’d go to restaurants, take walks, do all the same things we used to do – only it felt different. We were in a new place, a new climate, a new country – but that wasn’t it. After being apart for three weeks, our relationship was put to the test. Three weeks could make you forget, make you put things in the past as each day passed. Knowing that we both felt just as strongly for each other after being apart made our time together feel like something new. We appreciated every second we had with each other so much more, making the most out of each one. Long distance relationships weren’t supposed to work, so for our last night together, we decided to be consistent and break the rules again by taking a midnight dip.

When Dave finally pulled away, I exhaled heavily, looking up at him with bright eyes. His were heavy, and he bit his slightly swollen lower lip. He tucked my wet hair behind my ear, and looked deep in thought. When he released his lower lip and opened his mouth to speak, I nearly missed what came out.

“Come live with me.”

I blinked hard. “Live with you?”
“Come live with me,” he said again, with more intensity in his voice. Upon seeing my brow wrinkle, his face fell. “Why not?”
“I have a life in Ottawa, Dave. I have a family, a job, friends – ”
“You don’t think I had that in Sweden?”
“Yeah, but that’s different.”
“How?”
“You left for North America to follow your NHL dreams. I’m not leaving everything I know behind to be a part of someone else’s dream.”
“But you're a part of my dream now. And yours is to be a music journalist. You can do that here.”
“I love my home, Dave. I didn’t sign up for this life like you did.”
“You did the moment we started dating.”
“I didn't sign up for anything! I couldn’t help the way I felt about you. And neither could you. That’s why I’m here with you right now, and not Miranda. We tried to fight things, but we couldn’t. I put you before a lot of things in my life, but this...this is too much. It took everything in me to convince my parents just to let me come visit you. But live with you? It’d break their heart.”

Dave was silent. His hands had been planted on the wall on either side of my head, and he pushed off. He turned his back to me and took a few steps. “I can’t – ” he stopped, lifting a hand to his hair, shaking some water loose from it. “I can’t...do this again,” he said softly, practically a whisper. “We can’t be without each other, but we can’t be with each other. It’s just not fucking fair.” I could see something building in him. I'd never seen him so flustered. He looked about ready to punch a hole through the wall.

I straightened up from the wall, stepping towards him and putting a hand on his shoulder. “I know, Dave. I really do. I mean, I can’t even imagine how tough this must be for you. Starting a new life in North America, just getting settled, meeting someone, then you have to pack up and start again. It’s hard. But it’s the things like this that make us strong, make us grow up. There’s so much we learn about ourselves going through tough times...we learn our weaknesses, we learn our strengths. And once you get through this, you can get through anything. You can bring your new found strength to your game and be an even greater hockey player. Because, after all, that’s why you’re here, to play hockey. We have our whole lives ahead of us. If I move in with you, we’d be rushing into things just to try to deal with our problems. But that’s not how we should deal with it.”

I looked up at Dave, who was smiling at me faintly. I suddenly felt my cheeks get hot. “What?”
“This is why you can’t leave. Because you’re the only one who can talk me off the ledge,” he replied with a flash of his smile. “I know I’ll be okay, but I think we both know what we want. You’re just making excuses because you're scared.”
He knew me too well. He knew I hated being vulnerable. It was why I couldn’t tell him how I felt in the first place. I had a fear of the unknown, and life in Phoenix with Dave was...unknown.
“Just talk to your family, to your friends. Think about it, okay?”
I smiled back at him, hiding my teeth. “Okay, okay, I’ll think about it!”
With a triumphant grin, he grabbed me and pulled me in to him. He planted a quick kiss on my lips. “You spoil me.”
“I really do.”

* * *

The next month was hard.

I continued to live my life; I went to work, went out with my friends, spent time with my family, but it felt...empty. Life didn’t go on without Dave. It merely continued to exist. I was absent with everything I did. I tried to move on, I tried to make life exciting and productive without him. I tried with every bone in my body. I was doing yoga in the mornings. I took up the violin. I started volunteering at a boys and girls club. I tried to occupy myself with anything and everything, but everything lacked color. I tried putting on a smile, putting it out of my mind, but the people around me knew. I had told them about Dave’s proposition, and I told them why I couldn't go and where my priorities stood. Despite that, they saw right through me. They knew how I really felt.

It all came to a boil one night when I returned to my apartment after work. I plunked my purse on the floor, nearly stumbling against the door in shock when I saw who was in my living room.

Miranda, Kendra, Taylor, Jenny, and my parents were sitting on the grey modern furniture, standing when they saw me enter. “What...what’s going on?”
Miranda took a few steps towards me, folding her hands over her stomach. “Leslie...you’ve been making an absolutely amazing effort to start over since you came back from Phoenix. And we really appreciate it. But we all know where your heart really lies, and we just want to see you happy.”

My mom stood up. “Sweetie, we don’t want to be the ones holding you back. You’ve been putting us ahead of yourself, and you’ve done so much for us. Now it’s time to do something for you.”

“Go live with Dave!” Taylor shouted. Everyone looked at Taylor, and she gave us a defensive glare. “What, was someone else supposed to say it?”
“We were all gonna say it. Way to ruin the moment, Taylor...” Kendra trailed off.

My dad had Miranda’s open netbook in his lap, and he stood up with it. “We have Dave on hold on Skype. We’ve been talking with him all morning, and he’s a great young man who I'd be proud to one day call my son-in-law. We never directly asked, but we know that he absolutely wants you there with him. But he doesn’t know.”
I raised a brow. "D...doesn't know what?"

Jenny held up a piece of paper and bounded excitedly. “That you're leaving for Phoenix tomorrow morning! Here's your itinerary!”
“...What?”

I couldn’t breathe. I forgot what breathing even was. Everyone was beaming at my complete state of disbelief. I wanted to both punch and hug everyone at the same time. I couldn’t believe they had gone to such lengths for me, and that my parents, who were both expressing their doubts about my relationship, were encouraging me to get the hell away from them. Warm tears were collecting in my eyes. I couldn’t leave them now. Not after what they’d done for me. I wouldn’t ever be able to thank them.

As my mind mass-produced reasons to say no, to walk away, to cross my arms and stamp my feet, I hovered towards them and towards the computer, small sobs escaping me. After I'd been baby-stepping slowly towards the group for what seemed like hours, I reached Miranda. She had tears in her eyes, kissing me on the cheek and rubbing my back. Taylor and Kendra sandwiched me, squeezed me like a tube of toothpaste, and handed me my itinerary. My mom was also crying, stroking my hair. "I'll miss you," she whimpered, kissing me on the forehead. She passed me over to my dad, who smiled solemnly. "Love you, Leslie." He handed me the computer, and I used everything in my trembling arms to keep it from crashing to the ground

Sniffling back my tears, I lowered myself to the couch and nestled the computer on my lap. I inhaled, holding my breath, and clicked to button to release Dave from being on hold. When I saw his face light up the screen, I felt my own face light up in response. “Dave...” It was barely even a sound. It escaped me like a single, short breath being squeezed out of me.
“Leslie? What is it?”
Unable to speak, I held up the itinerary, sputtering out a sob. “I’m coming, Dave. I’m coming home.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself when he absorbed my words. A slow smile spread across his face, emitting a chuckle of disbelief. The ball of his hand on his forehead, fingers in his hair, I swore I saw a tear develop in his eye. I'd never seen him cry. I exhaled a nervous laugh, nodding frantically in response to his silence.

By the look on his face alone, I knew it was the right decision. It was the only decision. The next day, I would reunite with that smile, that hair, those eyes, and that laugh that I fell in love with at first sight. The next day, I would reunite with the man who made me feel like I was good enough, who made me feel like Miranda’s men were simply...men. The next day, I’d be starting a new life with the man with whom I'd been skating, cuddled on the beach, eaten Beaver Tails, and done cannonballs after midnight.

The next day, I was going home.

Comments

Love it so happy I found it

lil_red0888 lil_red0888
12/6/14

Love it

this is (was?) really good! awesome writing, really good plot line, and i lovedlovedloved dave <3333 good job :)

Candi Candi
12/28/13
I enjoyed this very much-
Tento2 Tento2
10/9/13