Breaking The Ice

Friends

TJ's POV

I was pacing around my room, anxiously biting my nails as I waited for Chelsea to arrive, before a knock sounded at the door and I practically sprinted to open it.

"Did you get it?" I asked her as I pulled her into the dorm, barely giving her time to respond after I'd opened the door.

"Um, hello to you too." She chuckled as I closed the door behind her and led her into my room. "I'm great, thanks."

"Sorry, I just...did you get it?" I asked nervously, wringing my hands in front of me.

"Yeah." She sighed as she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. "Here. It's off campus, on 6th."

I took it from her and inspected it, taking a deep breath before I shoved it into my back pocket and started to pull on my jacket. Chelsea watched me carefully as I rushed around my room trying to gather up my stuff, obviously worried about where I was going or what I was about to do.

"Teej...I know when you called you told me not to ask, and I won't...I just, you're not in some kind of trouble are you?" She asked nervously. "It was just a pretty strange request."

I closed my eyes and sighed, wishing I could just tell her what I'd needed it for, but knowing it was better to keep my mouth shut. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, I just knew that it would have been a difficult piece of information for her to get, and if she'd known ahead of time she may have had to let it slip. I was relying on her social skills and connections to get me the information I needed, and it was just better for everyone if she didn't know why.

I'd called her up and told her I needed a favor, and that she couldn't ask me what it was for or why I needed it, but that I just needed her help. She'd agreed hesitantly, but I knew she was the only person who I could even remotely trust to help me and not bring more attention to it. She was the only person I was even remotely friends with that had connections outside of hockey, and the only one I could trust to be discreet about it. I'd come to learn that my list of people who genuinely had my back was pretty small, and it wasn't until I needed her help that I even realized how much I trusted her.

"I'm sorry, I really appreciate it Chels. I just...I can't explain right now." I said quickly. "I gotta go."

"Teej if something is going on and you need help, just let me help you." She said, grabbing my arm as I passed and stopping me. "You're freaking me out."

"I'm...it's not me. I just need to do this. I promise you I'll explain later, okay? I just really have to go." I pleaded with her, praying she wouldn't push any further. "I'll call you later, or you can stay here if you want, I just really gotta go."

"Okay...just..." She sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing, be careful."

"I will." I nodded, before I turned and left my room.

I hurried out the door, leaving her standing in my bedroom wondering what the hell was going on, and quickly made my way downstairs and out of my building. I was practically running toward sixth avenue, desperate to get there as quickly as I could, all of the things I planned to say running through my mind as I tried to keep myself calm.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. I knew that what I was about to do was either the stupidest thing I'd ever done and gonna completely ruin everything, or the only chance I had at getting Harry out of the mess he was in. I tried not to think about it too much, knowing I couldn't just sit around and do nothing, waiting for idiots like Yates and Rollins to prove he didn't do it, so I was taking matters into my own hands.