Forever and Always | Adam Banks

Nothing Had Changed

It was the day after Hans' funeral and Ellie was sat in her room working on an English assignment. She had decided to throw herself into her schoolwork in hopes that it would take her mind off their departed friend. The persistent knocking that was coming from her window not only interrupted her train of thought but also the song she was listening to on her walkman. There was only one person who knocked on her window, so she didn't have to look up to see who it was. Whether or not she wanted to let Adam in was entirely different story. Hans' death wasn't the only thing she was trying to distract herself from.

A true battle between her head and her heart. Without a second thought, she made her way to the window and let him in. Guess you can bet who won that battle. "Hey," she greets her ex-boyfriend. After being in his comfort again, it was hard for Ellie to go back to ignoring him. The last few days just reminded her why she fell in love with him in the first place.

"Bombay wants us to meet the Ducks at the park at 2:00," Adam informs her. He had gotten the call about fifteen minutes ago, and was told to relay the message to his neighbor. Ellie looked at the clock that sat on her nightstand which read seven minutes past noon. 

"What for?" Ellie was unsure as to why Bombay was gathering them, seeing as he was no longer their coach. They also hadn't seen him since he dropped them off at Eden Hall and left them for a new job.

"I don't know for sure, something about Charlie." Adam didn't get much information from the phone call, just that Bombay wanted the Ducks to meet at the park after he did some things with Charlie. 

Ellie nodded and agreed that they would be there at the set meeting time. Now the two were left in an awkward silence. There was no need for Adam to still be here since it seemed he had nothing left to say, but he didn't move from his spot. "Are we ever going to talk?" Adam finally speaks up. They had started spending time together again and he wasn't sure where they now stand.

"Adam..." Ellie starts. She knew they needed to have a conversation, but she wasn't prepared to be having it right now. Avoiding the elephant in the room was just the easier option. She was still processing her thoughts about the breakup, as there were moments she regretted it.

"I just want to know where we stand," Adam tells her. He understood where they stood when she was ignoring him, but now that they were hanging out things were more complicated. It seemed as if they were friends but even when they were friends in the past, they weren't really just friends. 

"I don't know, Adam." Things between them were getting complicated and even Ellie didn't know where they stood. They weren't acting like a couple, but they certainly weren't acting as if they had just broken up a few weeks ago. They were in this weird limbo of an in between.

"I don't know if this is going to change how you feel toward me right now but the day you thought you saw me cheat on you, it was actually all planned by Riley. Scooter told me that he devised a plan to break us up because he thought I was too attached to you and the Ducks." Adam was baffled when Scooter had told him this news. He didn't think his relationship with Ellie was a threat to Riley, but apparently he was. What Riley did seriously pissed him off because his plan had worked and he lost the best thing that had ever happened to him, over something that didn't even happen. 

The cheating wasn't the only cause for the breakup, but it was certainly the driving force that pushed Ellie toward that decision. The stunt pulled at the restaurant was something that really hurt Ellie, but it could be forgivable. This news changed Ellie's entire mindset. "I--wow." She was just shocked, barely finding the words to say. "Well, I think we could be friends for right now and see where things go." 

"That's fine with me," Adam let out a sigh of relief. He had a real shot at getting back with Ellie, which is what he had been wanting this entire time. He was just glad that she finally heard him out, wanting to tell her about Riley did for for almost two weeks. Nothing was going to get in the way of their relationship this time. 

Ellie and Adam met up with the rest of the Ducks and started playing some street hockey. It had been a while since Adam had participated in anything with Ducks, but it was like nothing had changed. They were still a team and they had treated him as if he had never left for Varsity. Adam was worried how they would treat him after the dinner, but it seemed like all was forgiven. He was always going to be a Duck, so it was nice finally being back with his friends.

"Hey, it's Coach Bombay!" Dwayne calls out, noticing Charlie and Bombay standing at the fence, watching them. 

"Damn, Conway, what took you so long?" Russ asks, as they had been awaiting his arrival. 

The Ducks all started talking at once, wanting Charlie and Bombay to join their game. Having the gang all back together again, reminded the team of old times. Playing without Charlie had been rough, and they were still getting used to having Orion as the coach. However, this moment had made it seem like they were the old Ducks again. 

Author's Note:

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday and are ready to jump back into the book! I missed y'all and the Ducks the past few days and am ready to dive back in. I'm not for sure how many chapters are going to be left, but we are getting close to the end. Enjoy the new chapter, and hopefully I'll have another one posted later today or tomorrow!