Choices
Choices
Tyler had been listening to music and running on his treadmill when he heard the door knock. He hadn't been expecting anybody, not since Zoe had gone back home to "think".
Tyler wiped his sweaty, red face off with a towel, grabbed some water from the fridge in his workout room and walked downstairs to his front door. The whole way down and the stairs and the four walks to his door, Tyler thought about Zoe. He thought about how life had been different since he came into his life and how he didn't understand why she would even have a choice between him and Patrick. The choice should of clearly been him, just the way he looked at her and treated her. Tyler hoped and prayed to every god out there that when he opened the door Zoe would be standing there, smile on her face. Then she would kiss him and they would spend the rest of their lives together. He imagined their wedding, and kids, and grandchildren. Their life. It was her behind the door. He just knew it.
Tyler walked his four steps from the bottom of the stairs to the front door, and saw an outline through it. He was shaking. Zoe made him more nervous than any other girl he'd ever been around, more nervous than the Stanley Cup championship. And that was certainly saying a lot.
He opened his door.
"Brad?"
--------
Patrick had been hanging out with Jonathan and Patrick when he heard a knock on the door. He ignored it, until he thought of Zoe. Standing out there, waiting for him to the open the door. Waiting to either break his heart, or make his heart. He didn't know if he should answer the door, like his heart was telling him to, or not, like his mind was telling him to.
It was all too complicated.
But Patricks heart got the best of him. He set down his beer on the coffee table in front of him and got up to answer the door. The door just eight steps away from the living room. The big wooden door, the only thing standing between him and love, or him and heartbreak.
He reached the door. Grabbed for the handle and twisted it.
He saw her.
"It's you."
----------
It was all Patrick needed. He didn't waste another second before enveloping her in a heart stopping, mind blowing, sex crazed kiss. A loving and heartfelt kiss. One that said everything for each of them.
For Zoe it said, I love you and I'm sorry I even had a choice, from the beginning, from the second I walked out your door there was no choice. There will never be another choice. It's you.
For Patrick it said, You pick me and I am going to keep you here for the rest of your life. You are going to be a slave to my heart and mine to yours. I am never going to let you walk out of that door again, it was the worst mistake I've ever made. I love you.
And in chorus when the broke apart they both said the same thing: "to the moon and back."
--------
Patrick walked in to the house after being defeated by the Bruins. And it wasn't because of the loss but because he had to see Tyler. See the guy that had Zoe's heart when he should of had it himself. But he promised Zoe he wouldn't be a sore loser about any of it. He had her. Not Tyler.
"Babe?" Patrick shouted, setting down his hockey bag before walking into the kitchen to see Zoe dancing and cooking dinner. He slowly walked up behind her and could feel the box moving around in his jeans pocket. He had bought the ring a little less than a month ago, and he had everything planned, he just needed to get Zoe out of the house and to the park first.
Patrick snaked his arms around Zoe's waist, he could feel her jump before instantly relaxing into his arms. She took her earbuds out and kissed Patrick before saying, "hi."
It was simple. But then again everything with her was simple. Right. Perfect. Some many different words all at once. But it was simple. Patrick smiled before kissing her again, and again, and again. Finally he pulled away remembering his plan and turned off the stove that Zoe was preparing dinner on.
"I have to make dinner babe," Zoe said switching the gas stove back on. Patrick immediately turned it back off. Zoe wasn't one for little fights so she stood there waiting for Patrick to say whatever he needed to say.
"Lets go on a walk," Patrick said grabbing Zoe's hand and walking he towards the front door.
"It's 20 degrees outside Patrick," Zoe said grabbing her jacket anyways, knowing that something was up.
Patrick walked over to where Zoe was standing by the door wrapped his arms around her and said, "I'll keep you warm."
--------
Zoe was wrapped up in Patricks arms the whole walk to the park. It was colder than 20 degrees but it was worth it she kept saying to herself, just to be in Patricks arms. It was always worth it. Patrick pulled away for nearly a second, Zoe kept walking.
She kept walking thinking he was just admiring the view he was looking at, but she turned around and he was gone.
"Patrick?" Zoe turned around and around, "Patrick this isn't funny if you're trying to scare me I am scared please come back."
That was when the lights on the christmas trees all around the park lit up and Zoe could see the outline of every Blackhawks player. They were walking towards her. With lilies in one hand and scraps of paper in the other.
Jonathan walked up, handed her the lily and the scrap of paper that read, “I wanted to tell you that wherever I am, whatever happens, I’ll always think of you, and the time we spent together, as my happiest time. I’d do it all over again, if I had the choice. No regrets.” He walked away.
Corey Crawford was next except his paper read,“And in her smile I see something more beautiful than the stars.”
Then Patrick Sharp, “I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.”
Andrea Shaws after Patrick, “I never loved you any more than I do, right this second. And I’ll never love you any less than I do, right this second.”
And so on and so forth, every Blackhawks player giving Zoe lilies and scraps of paper.
-“I am catastrophically in love with you.”
-“Sometimes I can’t see myself when I’m with you. I can only just see you.”
-“I knew the second I met you that there was something about you I needed. Turns out it wasn’t something about you at all. It was just you.”
-“I don’t care how hard being together is, nothing is worse than being apart.”
and by the last one, Zoe had already dried her eyes full of tears.
"It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together… and I knew it."
Coach Quenneville was the last one in the line, but instead of a scrap of paper he gave Zoe and note. From Patrick.
Now I know you're probably thinking who is this guy? He's so cheesy? But I found some quotes and wrote some quotes that reminded me of you. Reminded me of what I want the rest of our life to be like. And I know that you're probably crying your eyes out, and we'll get to talk about the quotes later, but I love you Zoe. Nobody can change. It was written in our stars because finding you that night in the bar was special to me. I love you. I love you. I love you. To the moon and back. Forever & Always.
Patrick
p.s. look up from the note.
She did. And what she saw was better than anything she's ever witnessed.
Spelled out in candles were the words, Zoe will you marry me?
Zoe of course right then and there let all the tears come out, but when she saw Patrick walk over with lilies in his hand. Suit and tie on. Smile from ear to ear. She was already eager to give her answer.
Patrick walked up to Zoe, got down on one knee and repeated the question already spelled out in candles,
"Zoe will you please do me the honor of making you my wife, for the rest of my life"
Zoe looked at the man she wanted to spend together with and nodded her head, "Yes, 100% Yes!"
Patrick exhaled in relief. He put the ring on her finger and wrapped his arms around his soon to be wife and they touched foreheads. They could hear clapping in the distance and knew their moment would be over soon.
"Never let me go."
Patrick looked Zoe in the eyes before saying,
"I won't. I promise."
Tyler wiped his sweaty, red face off with a towel, grabbed some water from the fridge in his workout room and walked downstairs to his front door. The whole way down and the stairs and the four walks to his door, Tyler thought about Zoe. He thought about how life had been different since he came into his life and how he didn't understand why she would even have a choice between him and Patrick. The choice should of clearly been him, just the way he looked at her and treated her. Tyler hoped and prayed to every god out there that when he opened the door Zoe would be standing there, smile on her face. Then she would kiss him and they would spend the rest of their lives together. He imagined their wedding, and kids, and grandchildren. Their life. It was her behind the door. He just knew it.
Tyler walked his four steps from the bottom of the stairs to the front door, and saw an outline through it. He was shaking. Zoe made him more nervous than any other girl he'd ever been around, more nervous than the Stanley Cup championship. And that was certainly saying a lot.
He opened his door.
"Brad?"
--------
Patrick had been hanging out with Jonathan and Patrick when he heard a knock on the door. He ignored it, until he thought of Zoe. Standing out there, waiting for him to the open the door. Waiting to either break his heart, or make his heart. He didn't know if he should answer the door, like his heart was telling him to, or not, like his mind was telling him to.
It was all too complicated.
But Patricks heart got the best of him. He set down his beer on the coffee table in front of him and got up to answer the door. The door just eight steps away from the living room. The big wooden door, the only thing standing between him and love, or him and heartbreak.
He reached the door. Grabbed for the handle and twisted it.
He saw her.
"It's you."
----------
It was all Patrick needed. He didn't waste another second before enveloping her in a heart stopping, mind blowing, sex crazed kiss. A loving and heartfelt kiss. One that said everything for each of them.
For Zoe it said, I love you and I'm sorry I even had a choice, from the beginning, from the second I walked out your door there was no choice. There will never be another choice. It's you.
For Patrick it said, You pick me and I am going to keep you here for the rest of your life. You are going to be a slave to my heart and mine to yours. I am never going to let you walk out of that door again, it was the worst mistake I've ever made. I love you.
And in chorus when the broke apart they both said the same thing: "to the moon and back."
--------
Patrick walked in to the house after being defeated by the Bruins. And it wasn't because of the loss but because he had to see Tyler. See the guy that had Zoe's heart when he should of had it himself. But he promised Zoe he wouldn't be a sore loser about any of it. He had her. Not Tyler.
"Babe?" Patrick shouted, setting down his hockey bag before walking into the kitchen to see Zoe dancing and cooking dinner. He slowly walked up behind her and could feel the box moving around in his jeans pocket. He had bought the ring a little less than a month ago, and he had everything planned, he just needed to get Zoe out of the house and to the park first.
Patrick snaked his arms around Zoe's waist, he could feel her jump before instantly relaxing into his arms. She took her earbuds out and kissed Patrick before saying, "hi."
It was simple. But then again everything with her was simple. Right. Perfect. Some many different words all at once. But it was simple. Patrick smiled before kissing her again, and again, and again. Finally he pulled away remembering his plan and turned off the stove that Zoe was preparing dinner on.
"I have to make dinner babe," Zoe said switching the gas stove back on. Patrick immediately turned it back off. Zoe wasn't one for little fights so she stood there waiting for Patrick to say whatever he needed to say.
"Lets go on a walk," Patrick said grabbing Zoe's hand and walking he towards the front door.
"It's 20 degrees outside Patrick," Zoe said grabbing her jacket anyways, knowing that something was up.
Patrick walked over to where Zoe was standing by the door wrapped his arms around her and said, "I'll keep you warm."
--------
Zoe was wrapped up in Patricks arms the whole walk to the park. It was colder than 20 degrees but it was worth it she kept saying to herself, just to be in Patricks arms. It was always worth it. Patrick pulled away for nearly a second, Zoe kept walking.
She kept walking thinking he was just admiring the view he was looking at, but she turned around and he was gone.
"Patrick?" Zoe turned around and around, "Patrick this isn't funny if you're trying to scare me I am scared please come back."
That was when the lights on the christmas trees all around the park lit up and Zoe could see the outline of every Blackhawks player. They were walking towards her. With lilies in one hand and scraps of paper in the other.
Jonathan walked up, handed her the lily and the scrap of paper that read, “I wanted to tell you that wherever I am, whatever happens, I’ll always think of you, and the time we spent together, as my happiest time. I’d do it all over again, if I had the choice. No regrets.” He walked away.
Corey Crawford was next except his paper read,“And in her smile I see something more beautiful than the stars.”
Then Patrick Sharp, “I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.”
Andrea Shaws after Patrick, “I never loved you any more than I do, right this second. And I’ll never love you any less than I do, right this second.”
And so on and so forth, every Blackhawks player giving Zoe lilies and scraps of paper.
-“I am catastrophically in love with you.”
-“Sometimes I can’t see myself when I’m with you. I can only just see you.”
-“I knew the second I met you that there was something about you I needed. Turns out it wasn’t something about you at all. It was just you.”
-“I don’t care how hard being together is, nothing is worse than being apart.”
and by the last one, Zoe had already dried her eyes full of tears.
"It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together… and I knew it."
Coach Quenneville was the last one in the line, but instead of a scrap of paper he gave Zoe and note. From Patrick.
Now I know you're probably thinking who is this guy? He's so cheesy? But I found some quotes and wrote some quotes that reminded me of you. Reminded me of what I want the rest of our life to be like. And I know that you're probably crying your eyes out, and we'll get to talk about the quotes later, but I love you Zoe. Nobody can change. It was written in our stars because finding you that night in the bar was special to me. I love you. I love you. I love you. To the moon and back. Forever & Always.
Patrick
p.s. look up from the note.
She did. And what she saw was better than anything she's ever witnessed.
Spelled out in candles were the words, Zoe will you marry me?
Zoe of course right then and there let all the tears come out, but when she saw Patrick walk over with lilies in his hand. Suit and tie on. Smile from ear to ear. She was already eager to give her answer.
Patrick walked up to Zoe, got down on one knee and repeated the question already spelled out in candles,
"Zoe will you please do me the honor of making you my wife, for the rest of my life"
Zoe looked at the man she wanted to spend together with and nodded her head, "Yes, 100% Yes!"
Patrick exhaled in relief. He put the ring on her finger and wrapped his arms around his soon to be wife and they touched foreheads. They could hear clapping in the distance and knew their moment would be over soon.
"Never let me go."
Patrick looked Zoe in the eyes before saying,
"I won't. I promise."
Notes
So this is the last actual chapter, short story I know but I feel like its run its time. I don't quite know if I'm going to do a sequel, or if after the Epilogue I decide that patrick and zoe are good where I leave them. The second part of the chapter is not the Epilogue by the way.Who knows?
anyways, thank you for reading
xoxo
I cried so many times during this story it's unreal lol
1/26/15