Never Again

** LACEY'S POV **


At around nine in the morning, my eyelids fluttered open and I experienced a moment of terror when I realised there was a heavy object draped across my waist, until I felt fingers lightly tracing circular patterns on my back and tangling in my hair. As I slowly came back into consciousness and remembered the details of the night before, I decided to allow myself to enjoy the moment a little bit longer. I re-closed my eyes and focused on Patrick's fingers moving against my body. His touch was feather-light, barely skimming his fingers against the sweatshirt I was wearing. I instantly craved skin on skin contact, but I knew it would be impossible given the current position we were in. My back wasn't completely pressed against his chest, but our bodies were still extremely close. Our legs were tangled together and with one arm across my waist and the other drawing on my back, I felt like we were in an intimate position. To me, intimacy doesn't just mean sex. To me, intimacy is when you feel comfortable, safe, and happy while being in the presence of someone and that is exactly how I feel when I'm with Pat. We stayed in this position for around a half hour after I woke up, not wanting to ruin the blissful state I was in.

Deciding that I wanted to be closer to him, I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck and he eagerly pulled my body to his. I shoved my face in his chest and mumbled a sleepy "good morning" to him, and I felt his lips press against my forehead, where they lingered for awhile. His lips moved against my skin as he spoke.

"Morning, beautiful. How'd you sleep?"

"Good." I playfully nudged his chest with my elbow, "thanks to my very comfortable pillow."

Pat's chest vibrated with laughter; "at your service, my lady. Anytime that you so desire a pillow, I'm your guy. Do you want breakfast?"

As if on cue, my stomach let out the loudest growl of hunger to answer Pat's question and I groaned in embarrassment.

"Well I guess that settles it. Breakfast time!"

"Alright, alright, breakfast time. What do you want to eat, Pat?"

I pulled myself out of Pat's arms and threw my legs over the side of the bed, in preparation of getting out of bed to cook, when all of a sudden I felt Pat's arms around my mid section again, pulling me back down to the bed.

"Oh no, you don't. Today is your special day. You're staying right here, and I'm making breakfast and spoiling you like crazy."

Before I could even protest, he was out of bed and he tucked me back in very tightly under the covers, making my escape virtually impossible.

"What do you mean, my special day? It's not my birthday or anything, you know. It's just another normal day in the life of Lacey."

"I know. You're just different, and I want you to know how special you are. I know this all sounds crazy because we haven't known each other long, hell, we haven't even known each other for a week, but I feel like I [i] know [/i] you, you know? You're Lacey. You're the girl who's so naturally beautiful, with long, soft, brown hair." His fingers tangled themselves in my hair, and e ran them from the top of my head all the way down to the tips. "You're the girl who I assumed was an easy fuck, and you're the first girl where I can honestly say that I'm so glad that my first impression was wrong. You're so much more than that. We've only known each other for a couple of days and you already challenge me to be a better person. Do you want to know how many dates I've been on, before you? Like actual dates, where I wanted to impress the girl instead of the girl wanting to impress me? None. I had no idea what to do in order to make you agree to our dinner date, and I had even less of an idea of what to do for the date itself. I even had to ask Sharpie for ideas, and he basically planned the whole thing. I know that I don't know much about your past, but I can tell that it took a lot for you to meet me on that night, and today I want to take the day to show you how much this chance means to me. That's all I want, Lace. A chance. Can you give me that?"

If I could take a picture of this moment, I would. Patrick looked so vulnerable, and I instantly knew and felt that he cared for me as more than a friend who he could talk to after he loses a game. His eyes were wide with a mix of different feelings. I was able to catch a glimpse of fear, excitement, and nervousness in the ocean that is Patrick's baby blue eyes. I took a moment to reflect on what he said, and I suddenly couldn't hold back the tears in my eyes. I wanted to wrap myself in a blanket of his words, where I can be safe and as happy as I am now forever. Knowing that Patrick went out of his way to learn what to do on a date to impress me touched my heart, and knowing that all he wanted from me was a chance to prove himself was beyond adorable. He could have asked me to be his girlfriend, but instead he just wanted a chance. That, I could do. I held out my hand and reached for him.

"C'mere." He looked beyond terrified, but he took a step towards the bed regardless and I took advantage of that situation to grab his hand. I intertwined our fingers and waited for him to look at me before I spoke.

"Of course, you can have a chance, Patrick. I would honestly be disappointed if you didn't want one." In one swift movement, Pat's lips were on my forehead again and he pressed a tender kiss to the skin there. "Thank you," he said in a barely audible whisper. "Now how about that breakfast?"

♦ ♦ ♦

Around 30 very loud, antagonizing minutes later, Pat came back in the bedroom with a tray in his hands. On the tray was a plate with two pancakes, both of them in what was probably an attempt at the number eight. There was a little glass of orange juice, a container with syrup and a banana on the side as well. Finally, to top it off, there was a little vase with a single lily in it. Once again, as if on cue, my stomach took that moment to grumble in protest of the lack of food in it. "Okay Lacey's stomach, I hear you. Here's your food, enjoy it." Before I could even get out so much as a thank you, Pat left the room and after a little more banging, he came back with a plate of his own regular shaped pancakes. I have no idea how he managed to find all of my plates and cutlery, let alone all of the ingredients for pancakes. We ate in silence until I turned on the television for some background noise, then the sports news came on. It snapped my thoughts back to the reality of the gorgeous man who just cooked me breakfast in my own home being a professional hockey player, and I turned towards Pat. "Do you have a game today?"

He had just taken a bite of his pancakes and he finished chewing and swallowing his food before answering. I couldn't help but smile at his manners, talking with your mouth full had always been a major turn off for me. "No, but I have a practice later this afternoon, at three. I have a game tomorrow, though. Why?"

"Just wondering. What time do you have to leave?"

"I actually texted Jon and asked him to swing by my place to bring my stuff to the arena for me, so I don't have to leave here until 1:30. You have me for...." his sentenced trailed off so he could look at the clock on my wall which read 10:30, "three more hours."

I sighed a happy sigh, still not being able to believe that this man was lying in my bed right now, wanting me. I put my tray on the floor next to the bed, and leaned over to where Pat was to lay my head on his chest. He immediately followed suit with his tray and put one of his arms around my shoulders, while his other one pulled my arm across his chest. It was a very comfortable position and I felt myself drifting off into sleep again when Pat's voice pulled me out of my near-slumber state.
"Do you want to do anything in particular today, or do you want to stay in bed and sleep? I know you mentioned that you work crazy hours, so if you just want to lounge around then that's completely okay."

"I kind of just want to stay here. I worked yesterday morning at 6, went straight home to get ready for our date, I have to do some schoolwork tonight and I work tomorrow at 6 too since its Monday. A few hours of relaxation are exactly what I need."

Pat nodded, rubbed his hand back and forth across my arm soothingly, and before I knew it I was drifting off to sleep yet again. The last thing I remember feeling is Pat's lips against my cheek and his voice whisper "I'll see you later, Lace."

Notes

Hey guys! I'm so sorry for taking so long to get this update out, I really didn't intend for it to be that long but life got a little hectic and I just got around to this now. I know this chapter is the worst one yet, but I'm a huge Habs fan so their elimination motivated me to write something that resembles a fluffy chapter to cheer myself up, but around halfway through I kind of lost motivation again and just wanted to finish it. I promise you that the next one will be better, and I promise to try not to have a 9 day gap between updates again! I have a few ideas for this story in the future and I'm hoping that when I get to them I'll gain a little motivation back.
Also, I didn't fully edit this one so I'm sorry for any mistakes. I'm sure I'll go over it in the morning to fix them.
Comments are fun!!!!!!
thanks for reading :D