Training Miller

"I'll miss you," Beau told me as I was getting ready to board my plane out of Chicago. It wasn't the most practical thing, but we decided to fly to Chicago and I would meet Patrick to go to New York then off to Sochi and Beau would catch a plane to California.
"It's less than two weeks. I'll call you when I get there. I love you, Beau."
"I love you," he placed one hand on the side of my face, the other on the small of my back and leaned down to kiss me. It was sweet at first but it turned into one of those kisses that I would fall over if he wasn't holding on to me.
"Alright you two. Time to break it up," Patrick's voice broke me out of my trance.
I could have finished with Beau, I mean I never wanted to be that couple. But with him I didn't really care so I flipped off my best friend and didn't stop what I was doing. I heard Pat gasp and I couldn't help but smile.
"Is that the first time you've flipped someone off?"
"Just because I'm a nice person, doesn't mean I don't swear or slip people off."
"Yeah it does," Beau laughed, "I've heard you swear maybe three times since we met back in August. I'll let you go now. Don't forget to tell me when you get there."
"I'm sure I'll be talking to you somehow while I'm still on the plane. When does your flight leave?"
"In a few hours."
"Drew we really should get going.."
"Alright, alright. Bye babe. Love you," I quickly pecked his cheek and squeezed his hand.
"I love you more."
"I would totally stay and argue that but I think Pat would get upset."
"He would be."
I finally left my boyfriend and got in line to board the plane. As soon as I sat down, I grabbed my headphones out of my backpack. I sent a quick text to Dan and my parents before turning my phone to airplane mode. We were the first section to board, so we just sat there for a while.
For as much as I travel, I was extremely afraid of flying. I started tapping my foot and rubbing my clammy hands on my leggings. Soon, Patrick put a hand on the leg that was moving to try and stop it.
"Are you nervous?" He looked at me with caring eyes.
"Um. Yeah. Scared of flying."
He paused and looked at my leg that was still moving. I wasn't sure what he was thinking, but instead of saying something to me, he called over the flight attendant.
"What can I help you with sir?" She asked. Whenever they talked, it seemed like their tone of voice was forced. Probably because it was. I don't know anyone who could handle all these people on a daily basis and still be friendly.
"Can I get four bottles of the honey whiskey, please?"
"Of course. I'll get those right to you."
"You're getting me drunk?" I looked at him with disbelief. I still had to walk through the New York airport and get through the Sochi security.
"Drunk? No. Tipsy? Yes. You need to calm down a little.. Or a lot. Everything will be okay Drew, I wouldn't put you in any danger."
The flight attendant set the bottles of Jack on Pat's tray table and I grabbed them right away. I drank the first three and decided to wait on the fourth. I wasn't sure when the alcohol would kick in, but it couldn't come fast enough.
After I got a slight buzz, the plane ride went fine. The one to Sochi, however, would be a little more rough. The Jack wore off so Patrick got me more. I could tell he was getting tired but after the fifth or sixth mini bottle of tequila, I was drunk on a plane.
"I feel like Beau doesn't care about me as much as I care about him."
"He loves you Drew, the kid just is kinda stupid," I started giggling, everyone on the plane was still awake so I didn't feel as bad as I would have.
We went on talking for a while. I got Pat talking about his life and some of the girls he had been wheeling. Chances are, they wouldn't pass the Drew test but I don't think he was worried about that. Especially since a majority of them were gone the next morning.
"Patrick, are you okay?" I know he had been going through some rough things lately, and I wanted to make sure he was doing alright.
"Yeah. I think so, Drew."
"You can tell me how you're feeling, you know that right?"
"Of course I do. It's just hard."
"I know. Now, you look like you're tired and netflix is calling my name so I will let you fall asleep now."
"Oh gee. Thanks," He rolled his eyes and gave a smirk. Maybe I should have just stayed in Chicago with him..
The men had a few days of practice before the games started. While Danny and Patrick were busy doing hockey things, I was with my aunt enjoying the different things in Russia. I stopped and talked to Jonny and Sid one of the days that Brandon and I decided to wander around. I wasn't sure how they could watch curling and like it so much. Frankly, I thought the best thing about the sport was their pants.
Once the hockey actually started, days were a lot more filled. I went to every game I possibly could. The game against Russia was the best, even though I didn't have any fingernails afterwards. The skin around the nail was pretty much chewed away too. After we won, I found Geno to give him a hug. I couldn't help myself. I knew how much pressure was on his team to win in their home country. I didn't realize how bad it would be after they lost out of the tournament. All but one of the Olympic Penguins would be in a game that could earn them a medal.
The game against Finland was rough. I chewed the plastic off the end of my sweatshirt strings because I didn't have any nail to bite at. The first period went by scoreless. Selanne scored the first goal of the game not even two minutes into the second period. As much as that upset me, the guy is amazing and if we didn't get the bronze medal, he deserved it. The second goal came eleven seconds later from Jussi.
Everyone was on edge. Dan looked worried. Pat looked like he wanted to cry. Halfway throught the last period, two more goals were scored. By now, I was starting to lose hope. I know I shouldn't have, but I can't say I was the only one.
"Well shit. Might as well let the 19 year old score while you're at it." I mumbled. I don't think anyone heard me but two minutes later, Olli scored.
Brandon turned to punch me in the shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for?" I rubbed the sore spot he left. That was sure going to leave a bruise.
"You said it was okay for Maatta to score!" I guess someone did hear me.
"I didn't say it was okay. I meant if we're losing 4-0, Olli might as well score." He rolled his eyes and went back to watching the final minutes of the game.
It was official. The American players would be going home without any hardware. Seeing Patrick skate around, shaking hands, broke my heart. He worked so hard for this, only to fall short.
People started filing out of the arena, as the gold medal game wouldn't be until the next morning. I ran into Jussi and Olli as I was trying to find Patrick.
"Congrats you two! I'm so happy for the both of you!" I hugged one and then the other. They both stopped to chat with me for a while before getting interviewed. At least four of our guys would be medaling this time around. I'm sure Sid and Kuni would be getting the gold, though.
I found my aunt and stood next to her waiting for our team to exit the locker room. As soon as Patrick came out, I ran over to him, tears threatening to spill over, and wrapped my arms around his neck. At first, he only had one arm around me, but then he used the other one to squeeze me. I could hear him start to sniffle.
"Let's go get something to eat," I grabbed his bag and nodded towards one of the restaurants that I had been eating at quite a lot during my stay.
Dinner was painstakingly quiet. I didn't know what to say, but there wasn't anything he would want to hear anyway. We went back to my room after eating. He just crawled into my bed without saying anything.
"Will you get me a bottle of something?" He asked while I was in the middle of washing my face. I wondered if that was a good idea while I rinsed off the last of the soap.
"Yeah. I'll go find something. I'll be back in a few." I was in a pair of Beau's sweats and my brother's wrestling shirt from last year. Probably a sight to see, but it's not like I'm seeing all these people when I get home.
As I was getting back with Pat's bottle of vodka, I met my family outside of their room.
"When are you guys heading back?" My uncle asked me.
"I think we leave like halfway through the game," Our flight was supposed to be the next day, but after we knew that we wouldn't be in the championship, he had it changed.
"We leave in the morning. I'll see you back in Pittsburgh," I hugged all three of my cousins and told them good night.
"Alright Patrick," I walked in and set the bottle down before grabbing the plastic cups, "I don't condone drinking to feel better, but you deserve it."
"Why do I deserve it? I let my country down."
"Patrick. You played your heart out. You didn't let anyone down, especially not me."
"Yeah whatever, give me the bottle," he snapped. As much as I didn't want to, I gave him the alcohol. I figured after about half of it was gone, he should be done. But until then, I watched my best friend drink and listened to him talk about what was on his mind.
"What would have happened if you were pregnant that one time? Would you have stayed with me? You would have kept the child, right?"
"I don't know what would have happened. What would you want me to do?"
"I want you."
"Okay, time to stop drinking and get some sleep. I'm going to stay with Dan. I'll be back early tomorrow morning."
"Beau doesn't deserve you," Patrick told me, "But I don't either."

Notes