Five Minutes For Fighting (Completed)

Caroline sat in her room on her bed flinging a lacrosse ball into the air and catching it with her lacrosse stick, empty boxes sat around the room as her Brothers started closing up their pool. The Thomas's weren't coming back here until Caroline's Spring Break from high school in April, just the three of them that's how it's been since the boys had been in the NHL. For Christmas they spent in Minnesota, where the Winter there was like a snow globe, it was perfection. "Why aren't you packed?" Michael said coming into her room and examining the mess. "If I pack then the summer is over, and the summer can't be over." She said shaking her head. She didn't want to go back to Hartford and worry about the Rangers Scouting her out at practices and games. She didn't want to go back to school on the days she was made to, didn't want to see the fake friends she had made, just to have friends. She wanted to stay here, in Thunder Bay where everyone was nice and there wasn't any drama. Except when the whole town was in their living room when Tucker had come home with the cup. "Care, summer's over it's time to head back to the city, it's time to head back to the apartment, we have new roommates." Michael said, Caroline not listening. Ryan and Brandon moved out living in apartments downstairs with their girlfriend and Fiance. She loved the girls deeply but she didn't like change. She feared it, she hated it, and she felt it coming on.

"I promise you everything will be okay, we have each other, we have Marc and Lindsay, Brendan, Brandon and Brenna, Ryan and Kyla, Pam and Dan, upon all the Connecticut Whale and New York Rangers + your parents we are really lucky that we have this support system. Everything will be okay." Caroline looked up at him and back at her frayed Nike Athletic Shorts. "Promise me." She said kissing him gently. "I promise." They kissed again as her dad stood in the doorway coughing. They broke away laughing. "Wow Carey you haven't packed at all, we leave back to Greenwich today what are you thinking?" Marcus said kicking some empty boxes away clearing some space on her floor. "You do this every summer, last moment." She looked up at him, her dear old dad always looked like he added wrinkles every summer after the Draft, Prospect Camp, All his kids and everything else summer brings. During the season everyone dispersed so he and Cari had alone time. "FINE. Everyone out. I'll pack." Michael and Marcus ran out of the room like they were on fire as Caroline boxed up everything. Taking all the pictures from the summer down from her walls as she peered out the window at her three brothers splashing each other with water balloons. She's going to miss this summer, it was legendary.

"LETS GO CAROLINE." Brendan said as she did the usual goodbyes to everyone from the Pyatt's to the Staal's as Brendan, Michael her and Marc left for the airport to go back to Manhattan, while everyone else left in the upcoming days. "Back to the grind." Marc said as he slumped down in the seat next to Caroline. Brendan and Michael sitting in back of them playing cards. "Yup woo go Hockey." She joked. "Why couldn't we take the Rangers plane?" She said laughing. "Because it's in Europe getting the Europeans." Marc said in all seriousness. She knew that meant Carl Hagelin, Marian Gaborik, Henrik Lundqvist she laughed it off. "Win the cup this year?" She said leaning on her Godfather. "That's the goal." He said putting on a movie. She fell asleep instantly, the next thing she saw when she woke up was the New York Skyline. "Home." She said silently.

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