⊱ ─ Too Many Goodbyes ─ ⊰

Gordon Bombay was leaving Minnesota to try out for the Minor Leagues, the Ducks all stood with him to say goodbye before he got on the bus to leave. "Look, don't take any bad dives, okay?" Peter tells Bombay as he shook his hand. "Just remember, keep your head up, man," Jesse says as they fist-bump. "Cake-eater," Adam says with a smile making Bombay laugh. "Remember concentration, not strength," Fulton added getting a nod back. "And for God's sakes, Soft hands!" Averman exclaims making everyone chuckle. "Aim high, Fly fast," Daisy tells Bombay who hugged her.

"Right, anything else?" Bombay asks once he stopped in front of Charlie. "Yeah, have fun out there Coach," Charlie tells him before they hugged. "I must be crazy, a tryout with the minors. I'm gonna be goin' up with kids half my age," Bombay says as Charlie grabbed Daisy's hand. "Just have a good tryout, Gordon. One step at a time," Kasey, Charlie's mom tells him with a smile. "Yeah, you're right," Bombay says before he leaned in and kissed Kasey, everyone cheered as Charlie watched them in awe resulting in Daisy cheekily covering his eyes.

Gordon climbed up onto the bus with his bag before leaning out the door, "Hey Ducks! Just remember! No matter what, we'll be back next season. We got a title to defend!" The Ducks cheered together as the bus drove off, the team chased after it for a bit before watching it disappear into the distance. Charlie wrapped his arm around Daisy's shoulder, "I'm gonna miss him." Daisy nodded in agreement before she let out a shaky breath which Charlie noticed. "What's wrong?" Charlie asks her as he stepped in front of her.

She looked down blinking back her tears before looking back at Charlie, "Let's get the team together, I've got something to tell everyone." He nodded hesitantly before they gathered the team together and headed to the lake. They were all seated together looking up at Daisy who was pacing back and forth in front of them, she knew they were gonna be upset and maybe even angry but it still worried her. She finally stopped and turned to the team, to her closest friends in the whole world, they were her hockey family.

She cleared her throat, "There's something I've known since before the play-offs that I've been hiding... I don't want you to be mad with me, I don't really get a choice out of this... But... I'm moving away. My mom got a new job offer in New York and she's seeing someone... I-I'm sorry..." Daisy broke down into tears as everyone processed the news. Jesse and Peter rushed over to Daisy and pulled her into a hug, soon enough the rest of the team excluding Charlie were huddled around the sad girl. The team reassured the girl they weren't mad about her leaving, they were heartbroken but they understood.

She managed to calm down with their reassurance but she noticed Charlie leaning against the tree a distance away with his back to them. Charlie wasn't sure how to feel about this, he wasn't mad at Daisy for keeping it a secret but he wasn't happy she continued getting close to him only for her to end up leaving. He hated that she was leaving, he was falling for her and he loved how that felt, he didn't want her to leave only for those feelings to leave with her. Charlie was heartbroken, the first girl he ever kissed, the first girl he had liked was leaving and that made a part of him wish he never got close but another part was glad he did.

Daisy approached the quiet boy and stood beside him looking out at the frozen lake as the others left to go to the diner. She still had two months left in Minnesota and they were gonna make the most of it. "I'm not mad. I'm just..." Charlie trailed off with a sigh before he turned to her and pulled her in for a hug. "No other girl could ever compare to you, Daisy Jacobs. And I don't know how the Ducks will survive without you, I don't know how I'll survive without you," Charlie whispered to her as she snuggled into the crook of his neck. "No one could ever replace you, Charlie Conway. Make me proud. I know we'll meet again," Daisy tells him, he pulled away slightly looking her in the eyes. "We better meet again, Daisy Jacobs. I'm counting on it," Charlie says, the two shared a sweet kiss before they headed to the diner, hand in hand.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ⛸ 🦆 🏒 ⋅.} ──── ⊰

The two months went by quickly and soon enough, Daisy Jacobs was saying goodbye to the Ducks and her unofficial boyfriend soon to be unofficial ex. Many tears were shed over the past two months, Tommy and Tammy had left the Ducks and moved away with their family. Terry stopped playing hockey and began playing basketball instead, it quickly became his preferred sport and he had found himself a new group of friends. Karp had moved away a few days before Daisy did and Peter had said his own goodbyes a few weeks back.

In such a short time, the team went from fourteen to nine but it didn't bring them down until this very day where they were saying goodbye to Daisy Jacobs. Daisy hugged each of them individually allowing them to tell her things one on one;

Greg Goldberg; "Keep kicking butt and being the best on the ice, Flash."

Les Averman; "No matter how far away you are, you'll always be my best friend, Flash."

Connie Moreau; "I'll miss you so much, teasing the boys won't be as fun without you."

Guy Germaine; "Be sure to remember everything you learned from the Ducks but never forgot where you came from, Flash."

Fulton Reed; "Thank you for helping me learn to skate. Without you, I would've never had the confidence to do it."

Adam Banks; "Thank you for being my friend when your team consider me their enemy. You are a ball of light to those around you, Flash."

Jesse Hall; "What will I do without you? My best friend. You'll always be my best friend, kick-ass out there, Flash."

And finally, Charlie Conway, who opted out on precious words and instead, he pulled her in for a kiss before he lifted her hand and clipped on a bracelet with charms that symbolized the whole team. Daisy let a few tears fall as she looked at the bracelet before she looked back up at Charlie. The car horn beeped signalling her time to leave, she took a deep breath before kissing Charlie's cheek and waving goodbye to the others. The car drove away leaving the remaining Ducks under the dark clouds of Minnesota, New York City was taking their sunshine away and they feared they would never see it again - That they'd never see her again.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ⛸ 🦆 🏒 ⋅.} ──── ⊰

See you in part two, hopefully!
-Rose <3
{1195}