𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱
━━━━━

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 peaceful morning in Ann Arbor as the couple sat in the local cafe.

After deciding that once every ten days they'd have to go out and do something together (and alone) allowing them to have date night once a month but more so giving them the time to talk about anything that had happened during the previous ten days that had yet to be spoken about.

"I'm glad you had fun in Jersey," Ethan confessed as he watched the girl separate the fruits on her pancakes to pick at her favourites first.

"You are?" Lillian looked up as she cocked her head surprised by his words.

"Yeah," the brunette nodded as he brought his hand to his hair,

"Jack seems like he's a good friend to you," he added as he had heard the girls stories from her trip,

"And it was obviously good for you to see Luke," the boy added as the girl missed her best friend,

"You should see how much the fans already love him!" The blonde smiled as she giggled,

"Can I ask you a question?" She added as she furrowed her eyebrows,

She had to tell him something and she was trying to wrack her brain for a way to do it.

"You just did," the hockey player smirked as he was met with a scoff,

"I'm kidding go ahead," he added as he crossed his arms,

"Do you think we would work long distance?" The soccer player was still too scared to actually announce it,

"You planning on transferring?" Ethan felt his heart stop as he looked at her,

"No," Lillian was quick to shake her head,

"I was just thinking about it in Jersey," she added as that was partly true,

She wondered what life would be life if they made it to graduation together.

"That was very different to how it will be," the brunette was quick to wave his hand as though he wanted her to forget about that,

"How could you be sure?" The blonde asked as she sipped on her smoothie,

"Well for a starters we would actually be talking," the hockey player reached out to grab her hand,

"And if we did have to do long distance I'd fly out and see you whenever I could," he added as he rubbed his thumb on hers hoping that the gesture would bring her some comfort,

"You really mean that?" The soccer player felt a smile form on her lips,

"As long as you come and visit me too," Ethan nodded as he sent her a playful pout,

"I couldn't leave my boys alone for too long now could I?" Lillian was quick to agree as she almost thought that the boys would take the news worse than Ethan,

She was the woman in their life at campus that they could come to for anything,

Well anything that didn't land her up in their bed.

"I love you Lilly," the brunette confessed as he watched her turn a soft shade of pink,

"And no amount of distance is going to change that," he added as he pulled her hand to his lips letting him kiss it.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Lillian had been sat on her floor almost in tears as she processed the message that she had gotten.

Her parents were coming to visit.

Don't get her wrong she loved both of her parents but her mother had her moments and the fact that they were coming to Michigan made her realise that she was going to be seeing the less positive side of the older woman.

It usually entailed backhanded comments but sometimes it went as far as to being controlling as she expected everything to be perfect, and when it wasn't Lillian knew just how her mother felt. An example of this was the New Year's Eve party when Lillian was fifteen.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you have to use the gold sparkles and not the silver ones!" Francesca groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose,

"M sorry," Lillian sobbed as she pulled her legs to her chest,

"Stop being pathetic," the older woman grumbled as they heard the door open,

"I got the sparklers that you-" Matt cut himself off as he cocked his head looking at his daughter,

"What is going on?" He added as he walked over to her helping her up from the ground,

"Your daughter cannot follow simple instructions,"

"You okay?" He kissed the top of his daughters head,

"She used the silver instead of the gold when I told her that this was a gold theme party!"

"Nobody ever complained with a bit of silver in their lives." Matt almost let out a laugh,

"Right darling?" He squeezed Lillian's shoulders as he sent her a comforting smile.

Every time that Francesca would have a moment like that it always ended with Matt coming in and saving the day but that also came with the message that the blondes mother just wanted what was best for her and that's why the older woman had such high standards.

But truthfully Francesca felt like a failure, she never wanted to get married, or have kids or even settle down in Canada. So that was why she was so harsh on her daughter. Because she refused to believe that any woman, no any person could be happy in that lifestyle.

"She's been on the floor like this since I texted you," Indigo explained as she opened the door to their bathroom,

"Thanks Indigo," Ethan sent his girlfriend a look of concern as he had received an SOS message from Indigo,

"I'll give you two some space," the striker shut the door behind herself as she went back to sitting on her bed,

"E?" Lillian asked as she saw the boy sit in front of her,

"I got you Lilly," Ethan cooed as he pulled the girl onto his lap,

"What's wrong?" He added as he saw her tear stained cheeks,

"It's my mom," the blonde mumbled as she picked at the strings of her hoodie,

"Is she okay?" The brunette grew concerned as he thought that something was wrong,

"She's coming to visit," the soccer player groaned as she threw her head back,

"Like over the summer?" The hockey player thought it was weird but he just went with it,

"Like tomorrow," Lillian shook her head,

"You'll be okay," Ethan placed his hand on the girls jaw forcing her to look at him,

"She said that she's got news to tell me and that she wants me to look good because we're going to the club," the blonde explained as she picked at the fluff on her boyfriends shirt,

"She even had the nerve to tell me to not train today so that my nails wouldn't break beforehand." She added as she scoffed,

"I'm sorry Lilly," the brunette looked at her week old acrylics,

"It's not your fault," the soccer player cupped his cheek as she ran her thumb under his eye,

"You want me to come with you tomorrow?" The hockey player proposed as he watch her eyes light up,

"You would?" Lillian softly smiled as she cocked her head,

"Yeah," Ethan nodded,

"I miss your dad," he added causing the girl to laugh,

As much as Matt tried to scare the Canadian Ethan still loved the older man.

"If your mom makes you feel uncomfortable at any time throughout the day just tug on my bracelet and we'll leave." He added mentioning the thing that they used to do in high school,

"Then she'll get mad," the blonde shook her head as she sighed,

"Life's a bitch she's gonna have to move on then." The brunette blurted out causing the girl to laugh once more,

"Thanks E," the soccer player smiled as she hugged the boy letting them sit on the floor in silence.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Lillian shifted in her seat as she felt like her mother was visually critiquing her outfit choice,

"You're okay babe," Ethan whispered into her ear as he placed his hand on her thigh sending her a 'you got this' kind of look.

"When we invited you to lunch we sort of thought that you would be alone," Francesca mumbled as she sipped her drink,

"Dad said I could bring Ethan if I wanted," Lillian explained as she sent her father a soft smile,

"Okay well I guess that we should just tell her then?" Matt took a large gulp of the beer he was drinking before he began,

"Your mother and I are moving back to England over the summer," he confessed announced causing the girl to tense up her she body,

"And we want you to come with us," Francesca nodded as she watched Ethan's eyes go wide,

"What?" Lillian choked on the words,

"Why?" She added as she now squeezed Ethan's hand trying to remain calm,

"Because we don't want you half way across the world," the older woman explained in a duh tone,

"I'm gonna be twenty one,"

"I should be allowed to choose,"

"We won't fund your trips home," Francesca warned as she sent her daughter a 'don't test me kind' of look,

"I'll spend my summers with Ethan," the soccer player shot back as she pushed her lips into a thin line,

"Or the Hughes'" she added as she shrugged knowing that Ellen would take her in.

With all of the commotion from the questions her parents were asking her about the reasons why she didn't want to move she finally blurted out the main thing that was keeping her in America, "I've been invited to the draft!"

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

AN: look at me giving us a little bit of a cliffhanger 😏

I always wanted to give one of her parents a bit of baggage and here is how I sort of did it,

okay so to clarify I'm talking about the woman's soccer league draft, not the military one or anything else like that.