a/n: reader will be addressed as Ellie (the OC) to look cleaner
based on i think you're really cool by guardin
cale makar helped you get together with tyson jost but now he regrets it
Chapter One
For Cale, today started as a regular day of practice. Keyword: started. That’s because Tyson Jost soon made his entrance later that very morning. And where Tyson goes, she goes. Cale held back a breath as he caught the eyes of Jost’s girlfriend. That was her– His little crush for her had developed over a couple of years of knowing her. If he hadn’t made the dumb mistake of introducing Tyson and Ellie, she could’ve been his. Maybe it was his insecurity. Perhaps he believed Tyson would be better suited. In a way, he is. She seems happy with him. Could she be happier?
“Yo, Cale! What’re you doing?” The captain’s voice cut through his thoughts like a hot knife through butter.
Cale’s cheeks flushed a bright red at being caught by Gabriel. “Sorry, coming!” He called and skated away from the sight of Tyson’s girlfriend.
It was just his luck that Tyson was practicing in the same area as him. Cale quietly practiced balancing and catching pucks on the blade of his hockey stick as he waited to take shots on the Darcy Kuemper. Tyson, naturally, had to stand beside him.
“Hey, I never got to thank you for getting me with Ellie,” He said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cale replied.
“She’s…She’s amazing,” Tyson gushed. Why would Cale want to hear this? “Like, I’ve never met a more beautiful, amazing person. Should I get serious?”
The puck Cale was flipping smacked into the blade at an awkward angle and flew off onto the ice. Get serious?
“Ahh, maybe it’s too soon, eh?” Tyson chuckled, dismissing his friend’s clumsiness. “I’m so blinded by love, I forget I gotta take it slow, y’know?”
“Oh– yeah. Yeah, man,” Cale agreed mindlessly. He bent down to pick up the puck as he snuck a glance over at Ellie. She observed all the other players in the stands, smiling softly to herself. One thing Tyson was right about was her beauty.
“Cale? You okay?” Gabriel had skated into his view and was now in his face.
“Uh, um…Yeah, I’m good,” Cale sputtered. “Just feel a little slow today, but I’m all good.”
“Just checkin’,” The captain frowned with concern visible in his eyes. “Go on now. Your turn to take a shot.”
Right. Hockey came first. It’s how it’s always been with Cale. He took one last look towards Ellie before skating to the enormous space between the goaltender and the blue line. A bunch of pucks lay scattered in front of him. He got ready to wind up for a shot, but it ended up weak and poorly aimed. He let out a sigh and scooped up another puck.
That was a horrifying shot, and he knew why it was. All he has to do is forget Ellie for a minute so he can get his groove back. Like that was simple, he thought. He looked down at the puck he was handling smoothly on the ice. Maybe he didn’t need to stop thinking of Ellie. She could be what he needed to work harder. It may not be direct support, but her being here was support enough.
“Alright…” Cale muttered under his breath. He now looked up towards Darcy in the net. He drew in a breath and began to skate, dragging the puck along with him. Without much thinking, he slammed the puck home. Darcy ended up being caught off guard and let the puck slip past.
“Aww, come on, Darcy! You’re being easy on him,” A teammate shouted from the benches. A few others laughed. Darcy, on the other hand, was beet-red.
“W-Well, so what if I was??” He stuttered. “Kid’s got talent.”
Cale smiled to himself, semi-proud of the praise, but he’ll stay modest. He glanced over towards Ellie’s direction, and he found she was watching. His heart nearly did cartwheels at that point! But the excitement soon died down due to a tap on his shoulder, snapping him out of the daze.
“Gonna move, Cale?”
It was Tyson.
“Oh, yeah…” Cale lightly cleared his throat and moved off to the side, giving Tyson the floor. Instead of watching him, Cale watched Ellie on the sidelines. She looked proud watching Tyson, and he had to admit, it hurt to witness. He was stupid to let her date him. Why wasn’t he more expressive of his feelings? Damn his self-effacement.
Practice dragged on slower than usual, which didn’t ease Cale’s suffering. After practice finished, he had to watch from afar while Ellie and Tyson met up outside the locker room. At least the door closed on them, keeping him from visually torturing himself. Unfortunately, he wasn’t safe from their PDA when he left the locker room. Right down the hall, Tyson and Ellie were holding hands, giggling together.
A tightness developed in Cale’s throat as he watched them turn a corner and slip out of sight. Each and every time he sees them, regret washes over him. He’s taken back to the day he should’ve told Ellie, “Date me! You won’t regret it!” Where was his pride?
Behind him, the locker room door closed and a voice called out to him. It was his linemate, Sam Girard.
“Hey, Cale,” He said, shrugging a jacket on. “You okay? You looked a little off.”
Cale shook his head. “I’d rather not talk about it,” He muttered. “It’s silly.”
“Shoot.”
He paused for a moment. Sam has been there for him more than the other guys. As he should; since they played almost every single game together. They were practically glued to the hip. Yet, for some reason, he didn’t want to spill out all of his secret feelings. Girard wouldn’t understand how much he wanted Tyson’s girlfriend.
“C’mon, it can’t be that bad,” Sam pressed teasingly. “I can tell you something bad about me right now and I bet it isn’t as embarrassing as–”
“I like Tyson’s girlfriend!” Cale admitted, his face flushing.
Sam stared at him for what felt like a lifetime. “Oh, wow.” That’s all he had to say.
“I-I know, it’s stupid, and I know I got him together with her, but every time I see them together, I can’t help but think of the what-ifs.”
“Let me guess: you haven’t told her,” Sam stated. “Just let her know how you feel.”
Cale laughed half-heartedly. “She’d find me weird, man,” He replied.
“Well, what’s better? Torturing yourself by watching them, knowing she has no idea of how you feel, or getting it all off your chest? If she decides you’re a weirdo, then you don’t need to keep messing around with her.”
What Sam had advised stuck in Cale’s head up until he had the guts to ask Ellie out for a cup of coffee. This was it. Judgement Day. In front of him, he had a cup of steaming fresh coffee. The other cup was Ellie’s seasonal favorite: peppermint mocha.
He remembered it from the first time they ever hung out. Ellie was studying for a sports journalism degree and she had the opportunity to internship as the team photographer’s assistant. The Avalanche had won a match against the Wild, and Cale and some teammates were celebrating the win as usual. They had plans to go meet at a local brewery, so shortly after dressing out of their uniforms, they marched on out to the parking lot. A fairly attractive woman was walking out to her car. She appeared invested in something in her hands until it mysteriously dropped out of them. That’s when they met.
“Are you alright?” Cale called out to her. The other guys stayed behind with him.
“Um, yeah…shit,” She cursed. He jogged over to her and picked up the camera she dropped. The whole lens was taken off by some force and it looked to crack off in pieces.
\
“I’m no camera expert, but that doesn’t look too good,” Cale said jokingly. And his joke seemed to cheer her up a bit because she let out a little laugh. He could feel his heart flutter in his chest.
“God, my employer’s gonna be pissed when he finds out about this. I can’t afford a new camera right now…”
Cale looked at her with some sympathy behind his eyes. Buying a fancy new camera might hurt his wallet, but if it meant helping someone he would do it. “Look…I only have the salary of a rookie, but I wouldn’t mind buying you one,” He said.
The woman looked up at him with surprise. “Oh, no. No, no, no, I can’t ask that of you!”
“It’s alright,” Cale smiled reassuringly and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. “Just promise to get some good shots of the team.”
“Tch, that’s practically my job, or my would-be job,” She chuckled. “Well, thank you…Cale.”
Once the camera was delivered to his doorstep, he had it gift-wrapped and placed in the photographer’s office with a tag addressed to the woman: Ellie. Following that day, they’ve been in steady contact and grew pretty close. Then Ellie expressed interest in Tyson and here they were now. Meeting in a coffee shop. Discussing his feelings towards her.
The door to the shop jingled merrily and there was Ellie. Her beautiful amber eyes surveyed the place for Cale, and then their eyes met. She gave him a friendly smile and walked over.
“Oh, you got the peppermint mocha! Thank you, Cale, ever the sweetheart,” She beamed.
Cale blushed at the compliment. If he was such a sweetheart, why didn’t she choose him? “Of course,” He said quietly. “So how are things?”
“Oh, they’re great,” Ellie replied. “Tyson and I are sorta tip-toeing around the idea of moving in together.”
Wonderful. Cale nodded at her. “That’s cool, but do you think it might be too early? I mean, you two have only been dating for five months.”
She shrugged as she went to remove her scarf. “Well, when you know, you know, right?”
Oh, he definitely knows, but he thinks he might be stuck on a “just friends” basis.
“So what about you? Anything new? Aside from the obvious,” She smirked. He knew what she was getting at: his new franchise record for most points by a rookie defenseman.
“Uhh, well, I…I wanted to talk to you about something,” Cale began nervously. He felt his hands start to white-knuckle his coffee cup. “It’s about us, and our friendship…and your relationship with Tyson.”
Ellie’s happy disposition slightly fell at his choice of a conversation topic. He continued anyway.
“So, I didn’t realize how I felt about you until I saw you and Tyson always hanging out together. Ellie, I’ve always thought you were a cool person, you’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met before, and while our friendship is amazing, I…I want something more with you. I’ll admit, it was stupid of me to suggest Tyson to you when I had these feelings. I should’ve just been upfront with it, but I wasn’t sure how you would feel. So I need to know, Ellie. Do you, or did you ever, feel the same way?”
For a moment, Ellie was staring at him with an unreadable expression in her eyes. Then she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Every second she wasted not giving him an answer left him more and more hopeless.
“Ellie–”
“Cale, I’m sorry, but I’m happy with Tyson. I’d hate to say it, but you’re just like all the guys I usually go for and vice versa. Tyson is…Tyson is like a breath of fresh air for me. He’s different. He’s outgoing and unafraid to do something a little dangerous. He’s a fun guy to be around. Believe me when I say this, Cale– You’re amazing, but I can’t go down the same paths I have before.”
Cale could feel his heartache at every word she said to him. Of course she didn’t feel the same way. Every part of him wants to believe that it’s because she’s dating Tyson, but his gut was telling him it was because she never saw him as more than a friend. He swallowed down his pride and nodded at her.
“Thanks for being honest with me, Ellie,” He said and finished his coffee before standing up. “I…I should go. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
Time felt so slow as he left the coffee shop. It felt almost like the movies. In a way, it was like that. It’s a classic drama where one loves another, but they don’t feel the same so they part ways and never speak of those feelings again. This was that parting moment. Or it was supposed to be. Ellie had grabbed his arm, keeping him from leaving the shop. The action attracted some looks from other customers which caused Ellie to quickly remove her hand from his arm.
“Hey, Cale? Please don’t think I don’t wanna be friends anymore. I-I still do. You’re a great friend–”
“Don’t sugarcoat it, Ellie,” Cale sighed. “It’s not worth the effort. I’ll see you around.” With that, he left Ellie standing alone in the coffee shop. He said what he needed to say. He got his feelings acknowledged, but unfortunately, they weren’t reciprocated. Now he just needed to move on with his life. Focus on his career. The right person will come along eventually. They always do, right?
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