( 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 — 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗇𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾 )

"I'm so excited." Riley grinned as she gushed over Danny's game that was coming up. "I can't believe I'm finally gonna get to see you play in a pro game after all these years."

Bonnie chuckled awkwardly. "Whereas I have never missed one."

The Wright siblings watched amused as Danny didn't acknowledge what his mother had said and turned to Riley. "Really wish you could have come up to Calgary."

"I was there, Danny." Charlotte then muttered awkwardly, waving him off through a dramatic cry. "But it's fine. One best friend wasn't enough for you. I'm fine."

"There every week." Bonnie chimed in once again with awkward smile.

"Well, I know it was a little traumatic for you, but I for one am very glad you got traded." Riley commented, this earning a confused look from the Wheeler mother.

"Traumatic?" The blonde-haired woman raised her brows in question before waving them off with a shrug. "No, players get traded for all kinds of reasons. I don't care what the reporter said."

"What reporter?" Danny questioned.

This making Riley scoff in return. "Oh. The one who said the only thing worse than your skating is— all kinds of reasons. I'm gonna get something to eat."

"Ooh, food!" Tommy gasped before jumping out of Charlotte's arms who was sat beside Bonnie on the couch before following Riley over to the kitchen.

Danny sighed. "Can we please go over the list now?" He asked, turning to Charlotte and his mother. "Everything's got to be perfect."

"And it will be, honey." Bonnie sighed, reassuring her son. "Mom's got it covered."

"You've got my extra long laces from Gordon's? My mouth guard still in the package?" Danny questioned, going over the list. "And you're gonna press my socks?"

"The iron is already on. Oh, my god. Did I leave the iron on?" Bonnie asked herself, making Charlotte chuckle.

Tommy and Riley returned from the kitchen with a tub of turkey breast, the four-year old leaving the piece of meat between his lips as he sat back on Charlotte's lap, listening to Riley who went on about Danny's superstitions.

Charlotte looked at Riley with wide-eyes. "Wait. Do you remember that rank jersey that he used to wear in high school—" The Wright girl cut herself off with a gag, coughing from the new terrible smell that Danny had brought in by lifting up that exact jersey Charlotte had mentioned.

"Yeah, that's the one." Riley coughed, getting up to her feet to walk away as Charlotte and Tommy pulled faces of disgust.

Danny sighed. "I never washed it. Never will. That is the scent of victory."

The Wright boy scrunched up his nose through his remark. "Well, I think that scent is telling you to give that jersey a bath."

From the kitchen, Riley awkwardly smiled before chiming in with her own thought. "And victory smells like the inside of a dumpster."

"A hot, sweaty dumpster that helps my baby win. Give me that." Bonnie grabbed the jersey from Danny, holding it up by the end of the hockey stick as she walked through the kitchen.

"I still wear it under my uniform for every game. It's tight, but it's definitely my good luck charm."

Bonnie turned around, smiling. "He was wearing this when he won his first championship. He was only fourteen." She mentioned, pausing for a moment as her nose caught the scent of the jersey once again. "Oh, dear lord. My eyes are watering."

"That bird was already dead, right?"

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Charlotte Wright has decided to never do favours for Ben ever again. As he promised to get her two packets of double stuffed oreos, in return, she had to go out with his new date, Cassie, for lunch to get to know her.

Her opinion on Cassie wasn't much of a high one at that, but that could be leaning towards the fact that she was not a people person. Charlotte felt uncomfortable around new people which her friends all know about.

Although as soon as they arrived at the bar, she plastered a fake smile on her face and followed Cassie inside where the two of the Wheeler siblings were.

"Ben. Hi." Cassie greeted her boyfriend with a bright smile before leaning over the bar counter to kiss him. "Everything you said about Charlotte was true. We had such a great time together."

Charlotte smiled awkwardly, a slight wince at her lips as Cassie squeezed her shoulders and pulled her closer, not going unnoticed by the boys.

"Can we please do this again soon?"

"It's a date." The fake smile didn't fall from her face as Charlotte played along, watching as Cassie soon left the bar, leaving her to sigh in relief.

"So, what'd you think?" Ben questioned.

"Well apart from me not being a people person, you were right. She's really special." Charlotte told Ben who grinned in relief before stepping away from them. "And by special, I mean I do not like that girl."

Charlotte huffed in annoyance and went to grab a fry from Danny's plate when he clutched her hand before it reached her mouth. "Don't even think about it."

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Game Day has arrived and Charlotte was feeling a rollercoaster of emotions. It went from being annoyed at Cassie to feeling panic and worry after discovering Danny's lucky jersey had been ruined because Tucker accidentally washed it, thinking it was a dirty rag.

Riley and Brodie had taken Danny to the bar to distract him while Bonnie, Charlotte, Tommy and Tucker tried to think of a plan to fix this disaster.

"How hard can it be? You know, I'll— I'll buy a jersey, I'll tie it to my bumper, I'll drive around town and wrap it in dead meat, and then I'll just shove it in a plastic bag and drop it off at the arena. He'll never know." Bonnie ranted while pacing back and forth in the apartment.

"Charlie, please stop her before I go dizzy." The four-year old boy mumbled to his sister who rubbed her hands over her face in stress.

"I think we're actually good." Tucker pointed out, making Bonnie stop in her tracks, the three of them watching as Tucker held up the 'fixed' jersey that he used tape for to 'fix'. "He'll never know."

Bonnie nodded sarcastically. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's perfect."

Tommy raised his brows in confusion. "Really? Even I know that it won't work."

Charlotte huffed. "He hasn't taken that many pucks to the head, Tucker. He'll know!"

"You two have to protect me." Tucker pleaded.

Bonnie shook her head. "No, what I have to do is mom-up. I'm going to go talk to my son. I'm gonna tell him to grow up, and hopefully I'll stop him from shredding you like you did his lucky jersey." She admitted.

"I'll wait here."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Bonnie said before walking out of the apartment, leaving Tucker with the Wright siblings.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

"Whoo! That's my boy." Bonnie cheered, clapping proudly for her eldest son as they watched the hockey game.

Tucker smiled down at Emma, holding her in one of those giant foam fingers. "Oh, look, Emma, can you see your Uncle Danny?"

At that, Danny was suddenly shoved against the wall, his face smushed as he greeted his niece and 'nephew'. "Hi Tommy and Emma."

"Let's go, Wheeler!" Ben and Brodie yelled as they cheered on their brother along with Riley and Charlotte.

"Is it always this violent?" Cassie asked Ben after he sat back down in his seat.

Ben grinned. "Only if you're lucky."

"Isn't it great?" Riley asked from two seats down, with Tommy sat on her lap, playing games with Brodie. She received no response as Charlotte interrupted, leaning forward to yell out. "Oh, it's called hockey, ref! Not cuddling!"

Ben winced at her sudden yell, using his arm to gently push her back into her seat. "Any louder and you'll burst my eardrums."

Charlotte smiled sarcastically. "Good."

The Wheeler boy rolled his eyes, though amused before changing the subject. "Hey, thanks again for being so nice to Cassie. I know you hate new people but it really means a lot to me and Emma."

"No problem. Just have my double stuffed oreos by my door at the end of the day." Charlotte reminded, making Ben chuckle.

At the sound of a whistle, Bonnie banged her fist against the glass. "Cross check? What are you, blind? He hit him first. Come on!"

"It didn't look like that to me." Tommy muttered, hearing Bonnie through his ear defenders.

"Really, 'cause it looked like Danny just whaled on—" Tucker went to remind the woman who glared at him. "I'll be quiet."

Cassie leant closer to Ben. "Where's Danny going?"

"Penalty Box. I'm gonna go check on him. I'll be right back." Ben informed his girlfriend, kissing her on the cheek before standing up.

"I'll come with you." Brodie said before following after his brother.

Riley cleared her throat which caught Charlotte's attention as she looked at the blonde who nodded towards Cassie, mentally encouraging Charlotte to strike a conversation with her.

The Wright girl narrowed her eyes at her friend before sighing in defeat, turning her head to look at Cassie. "So... how's it going so far?"

Cassie smiled awkwardly. "We should talk."

Her response caught Charlotte off-guard. Though before she could get a chance to question what she meant, Cassie continued. "It's pretty obvious you're in love with Ben."

Charlotte instantly laughed but stopped when she noticed Cassie's facial expression. "Oh, you're serious." She muttered, letting out a sigh. But once again, she wasn't given a chance to explain before Cassie carried on, although her smile was more fake just like Charlotte's had been.

"It's okay. It's not like I'm threatened, I just— I feel badly for you because he's never gonna see you as anything other than the girl with no parents."

No parents. Those words repeated in Charlotte's head as the girl narrowed her eyes in anger. That was the last straw for Charlotte who didn't care about where she was, she wanted to respond with violence... but she couldn't. Because of Tommy.

Luckily, the Wright girl was interrupted once again when Riley had the same thing in mind as the blonde leant forward to look at Cassie with narrowed eyes. "What did you just say?"

And in the space of a second, Rigantor came out of her shell to protect her best friend.

Charlotte grabbed Tommy and pulled him close to her, covering his eyes slightly to deny him access to the girls fighting.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Tommy, don't worry."

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

After the game had finished, Charlotte rushed out of the arena as fast as she could and returned to the apartment, avoiding Ben and Cassie at the after-party that took place at the bar.

And it seemed like Riley had that very same idea.

Charlotte had put Tommy to bed not long later, leaving her standing alone on the fire escape with a soda drink in her hand.

"Hey." A voice called out, interrupting her silence as she turned around to see Ben climb out the window.

"Hi." Charlotte sighed, looking back out in the open as Ben went to stand beside her. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier."

Ben furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why are you apologising? I didn't see you putting my ex-girlfriend in a headlock. I saw Riley." He smirked slightly as he reminded the girl. "Apparently still her signature move."

"I guess but she still—" Charlotte cut herself off, widening her eyes as she looked at Ben. "Wait, did you just say ex-girlfriend? Ben... I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If you want me... or Riley to talk to her—"

"Not sure how helpful that would be with Riley talking to her." Ben reminded the brunette who moved to sit down on the windowsill, Ben following in her actions. "But um... this really isn't your fault."

"And besides..." He continued on as Charlotte sat there listening to every word. "Any girlfriend of mine that has the audacity to speak like that to someone I care about, then I wouldn't want to be going out with them anymore."

Charlotte smirked playfully, placing one of her hands over her heart. "Aw Ben, you care about me?"

"Shut up." Ben laughed, nudging her shoulder in a playful way that made Charlotte laugh more before a sigh left her lips.

"Anyway, how did you know?"

"My mom told me." Ben answered, slightly tilting his head while adding. "Well, more like ranted. She was quite angry afterwards when she found out the reasoning behind the fight."

"Though it was probably partly my fault. I talked about you a lot." Ben mentioned.

Charlotte nodded sarcastically. "You mean telling her about my family history. Thank you for that."

"That was an accident." Ben made sure to tell her that. "And no. I just told her what we were like as kids and how you grew into this amazing, independent woman who has and still is raising her brother ever since he was born. And I hope Emma grows up to be just like you."

"That is the sweetest thing you have ever said to me, Benny." Charlotte responded, smiling as she teased the boy. At the nickname, Ben shook his head before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "So, are we good?"

"All good. So... do you want to come inside to watch a movie with all of us?" Ben asked Charlotte who smiled. "I know you don't want to leave Tommy alone so we all came here."

"Yeah, let's go." Charlotte said before following Ben back into her apartment. "Danny! If you don't remove your hands from my double-stuffed oreos in the next three seconds, you won't have hands!"

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

megan speaks !

i hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as i loved writing it! although, charlotte and tommy deserve so much better 🥺

thanks for reading, i love you all!! <33