The next day, I woke up next to Jon. I panicked at first, but then I recalled the previous day's events. I rolled over to my nightstand and checked my phone. It was only 8:30. My head was pounding though. I found the knot on the back of my head. To my surprise, it had gotten significantly smaller. Instead of it being three inches wide, it now seemed to be about 1 and a half and not as swollen. It still hurt to touch though. I turned back over on my back and yawned, and when I did that my face hurt. I had forgotten about my jaw. I whimpered softly and got up and went to my bathroom to assess the damage. I looked in the mirror and found two bruises on either side of my mouth. They were about the size of a finger, Thomas' finger. They weren't terribly dark, and they were already yellowing around the edges. I shook my head and bent down to get a wash cloth out of the cabinet under my sink. When I did that, my abdomen started to hurt. I kept forgetting about that one. Getting beat up by a crazy ex really sucks. I wouldn't recommend it. I got the wash cloth and turned on the hot water to get it going. While I was waiting, I pulled up my shirt to look at the bruise. It was the first time I had. It was right in the middle of my mid-section, above my belly-button and under my rib cage. It looked like a softball had been thrown at me, that's how big it was. I pressed on it a few times, making me wince. I didn't think any organs had been damaged, the pain and force wasn't bad enough for that. I rolled my shirt back down and started brushing my hair out. Just as I was finishing, Jon got up and came into the bathroom.
"Good morning." he said groggily as he rested his chin on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my waist. I smiled and ran the brush through my hair one last time.
"Good morning." I said, putting my head against his. He turned and kissed my cheek then said
"go get ready. We've got a breakfast date, remember?"
"can't we just stay here?" I said, inspecting my facial bruises again. Jon took notice. He wrapped his arms tighter around me.
"No. You're gorgeous no matter what, and if someone can't see that, they're just wrong. I smiled weakly and and shook my head a little.
"Fine. Now get out so I can take a shower." I said, unwinding from his arms and playfully trying to push him out of the bathroom. He stood his ground and wouldn't budge. I kept pushing on his shoulder as hard as I could. Jon was laughing at me while I was pushing him.
"Why do you have to be a hockey player." I said, giving up and giving him a poutylook.
"Why do you have to be not strong." he answered, laughing more. I mimicked him in a dumb sounding deep voice and making a face. He laughed and made his way out, I followed him to the bathroom door to close it behind him. Right before he walked completely out, he turned and said "Im gonna get ready, and when you're done, come over to my place and we'll go. K?"
"Alright. Ill see you in a little while." I said back, smiling. He leaned in and kissed me then closed the door behind him. I got in the shower and started thinking about Jon and I and our recent actions. What were we? Were we going to become anything? It had only been one night, but still. We needed to talk. I liked Jon, but I wasn't sure if he was completely over his ex. He hadn't really talked about her in a while, whenever we were talking he seemed really focused on me. He would always watch my face and look deeply into my eyes. I didn't want things to get weird though if I brought the subject up since things were going so well. I threw my head back and let out an exasperated groan. I finished showering and got out, dried off, put on my bath robe, wrapped up my hair in a towel, and got my clothes. It was finally getting cooler in Chicago, and I was glad. Winter and fall are my favorite season. I loved snow, the cold, everything. I picked out a pair of skinny jeans and looked for a shirt in my closet. As I was going through all the shirts, I came across something that didn't belong to me. It was a Penguins training camp t-shirt from a year or two ago. It was Sidney's. My face flushed red and my eyes began to burn a little. I hadn't talked to Sidney since about a week after I moved. We had both been busy with the season starting. I hung the shirt back up and made a promise to myself to call or Skype him soon. I found my dads old Bobby Hull shersey he let me have a few years ago. I got dressed and returned to my bathroom to dry my hair. My hair didnt take terribly long to dry. It was a little past my shoulders, straight, and brown. I did my makeup, slipped on my black toms, and grabbed my Vera Bradley wristletand headed over to Jon's. I knocked on the door and just as I was doing that, Patrick Kane came out of his apartment across the hall from Jon's. Patrick and I had talked some at training camp, and were becoming pretty good friends.
"Hey Chelsea." he said, closing the door behind him.
"Hey Pat," I said back, smiling
"Whatcya doin'?" he asked, putting his hands in his pants pockets.
"Just waiting for Jon to open his door. We're going out for breakfast, he told me to come over when I was ready to go, but obviously, he isn't." I answered. Pat laughed, then got out his keys.
"I got it." he said, putting the key in Jon's door and opening it for me. We walked in and found Jon coming out of his bedroom in a towel around his waist and him brushing his teeth. He saw Pat and I then went back into his bedroom, which made us both laugh. He came back out a few minutes later, fully dressed and ready.
"I thought I took long." I said as the three of us walked out of the apartment and to the elevator. It made Patrick laugh and Jon blush and shake his head, which made me laugh. We walked out to the parking lot and said goodbye to Patrick. Jon and I found his car, got in, and left. He wouldnt tell me where we going to eat, but it was going to be awesome. I still didn't know if I should bring up our status though. Why are realtionships so difficult? We had been driving for about 20 minutes when I finally decided to do it.
"Jon?" i asked, playing with my hands.
"yeah Chels?" he said as we pulled up to a stoplight.
"um...wh-what are me and you?" i said, biting my lip.
"Im not sure, but I definately want to be something." he said as the light turned green.
"like, something something?" i asked, looking up at him. We had gotten to yet another stoplight. He looked back over at me with his sunglasses on.
"Iike something something," he said, smiling. "Im over Daniela. She was never good for me or to me. Just another dumb puck slut." he said. I looked down at my hands.
"sorry. shouldnt be talking about her" he said, reaching over and taking one of my hands.
"Its fine. Im just thinking." i said
"so, do you wanna be something?" he asked, running his thumb across mine"
"yeah, i really do. But is it okay for us, like is it against policy to do that, since we're quote-on-quote coworkers?" i asked.
"Doubt it. Ive never heard anything about it. but we can make sure, i wouldnt want you to lose your job because of me, or vice versa." he said. I smiled again. I never would have imagined this would happen. Cassie would be so excited.We finally pulled into a parking spot. We got out and Jon met me on the sidewalk. He took my hand and we went down an alley between a few buildings.
"Jon we're gonna get mugged. Where are we going?" i said, moving into his side.
"No we wont, you're with me." he said, letting go of my hand and putting his arm around me. We walked a few more feet and then came to a door in the side of the building. abkve the door was a a fading sign that was painted on the brick that read 'Hole in the Wall.' Under it was a neon open sign. Jon opened the door for me and we went in. He led me down a hall and then into an open room, where a couple of people we seated and eating. A waitress came up to us and seated us with menus and got our drink orders. When she came back, she took our orders. I just got blueberry pancakes with bacon. Jon got an omelett, hasbrowns, 3 pieces of bacon, and three sausage links. After we ordered, Jon asked for someone to come out. I didnt quite catch the name, something 'momma' though. a few minutes later, an older woman came out from the kitchen area. When she saw Jon, her face broke into an enormous smile. She hurried over to our table. When she arrived, Jon stood up and embraced her.
"Momma J!" he said, pulling back and smiling.
"Jon! Its been too long. Where have you been?" she said
"Its only been two weeks. but ive had training camp." he said.
"whatever Jon. Are you gonna introduce me to your lady friend or just make her sit there." she said, gesturing to me.
"Jon smiled and grabbed my hand. i stood up next to him and smiled.
"Momma J, this is my girlfriend Chelsea. She works on the medical staff for the team." Jon said.
"Chelsea, this is momma J." he said to her. "My mother-away-from home."
"Its nice to meet you" i said, holdiing out my hand. She then took it and pulled me into a hug. When we pulled apart, she said "we hug here sweetie. Non of that stuck up hand shaking mess." she said, which made me laugh.
"If he ever hurts you, you make sure to come tell me and Ill take care of him." she said to me, giving Jon a stern look.
"Yes ma'am." i said.
"Glad you've finally gotten yourself a girlfriend." she said, patting him on the shoulder. She smiled and walked back to the kitchen. Jon never told her about his ex girlfriend. He brought me to meet her and intoduced me as his girlfriend, which we never formally established in the car, but i guess we did now. That made me feel really happy, becuase I knew Jon cared about me, a lot. And I cared about him too. We got our food, ate, paid, and left. We spent the rest of our day walking around the city streets downtown, going into stores that looked cool and laughing. We went back to our apartment at about 6 to get ready for the night. I called Cassie and told her to get ready and come over. I picked out two dresses. One was just black, short, and had long sleeve lace sleeves. The other was a short red one-shoulder. When Cassie arrived, I tried both of them on for her. She chose the black one, and I agreed. I re did my make up, making sure to cover my bruises completely and left my hair down. I paired the dress with my favorite black pumps. Cassie wore a simple royal blue , tight, short and strapless dress with silver pumps. Jon and Patrick came over around 9:30. I opened the door for them and finished putting my earrings in.
"CAS!" i yelled, putting my phone and some cash into my clutch.
"WHAT?!" she yelled back. I rolled my eyes.
"WHAT THE HELL IS TAKING SO LONG." i said to her.
she came out of my bathroom and was putting in her earring, her clutch under her arm.
"Im ready jeez. Calm your tits." she said, pulling her dress down. I rolled my eyes and we walked out of my bedroom and met Jon and Pat in my kitchen.
"Jon, Patrick, this is my best friend Cassie." I said to them. She smiled and they all shook hands. The four of us left and got a taxi. We squeezed into the back seat. Pat and Cassie ended up sitting next to each other. She kept giggling at whatever he said and they were definately flirting. Jon and I just laughed at them. When we got to the club, we a piled out. the line was riddiculous. Luckily, we were with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews so we were able to go through the VIP door. We got in and found the private area that the team rented out. We sat down and got some drinks. After a while, Pat and Cassie went out to dance together. Jon and I followed a little later. After about 3 hours of dancing, 4 drinks and 5 shots, I was exaughsted. Me, Jon, and a few other people on the team left. Patrick and Cassie werent ready, so they stayed. When we got back, i went over to Jons apartment. He let me borrow a big t-shirt to sleep in. I took my makeup up and crawled into his big bed. He joined me a few minutes later. We curled up together and quickly fell asleep, together.

Notes

Done! Give me feedback pleaaassse! chapters too short or long? ideas? night lovelies.