Never Again

** PATRICK'S POV **


The next day, I awoke in my own bed at 7 due to the sunlight peering through my curtains. When I first moved here, I made a mental note to go out and buy curtains that block out the sun's rays, but I quickly realised that the curtains were a blessing in disguise because they ensured that my body's natural clock woke me up so I wouldn't miss morning skates, like the one I have this morning. With an internal groan, I forced myself out of bed and shuffled towards my kitchen to grab a protein shake for a boost of energy. While in the fridge I noticed a carton of eggs that were probably about to go bad, but I just couldn't get myself to cook them and make myself full on food that is nowhere as good as Abby Sharp's food that I know is waiting for me at the arena if I want it. After my morning routine consisting of washing my face, taming my wild, bed-head curls and brushing my teeth, I looked at my watch and in preparation of Jon coming to get me in 5 minutes, I slung my hockey bag over my shoulder and walked to the lobby.

Instantly after walking in to the rink, you could smell the food coming from the mini kitchen and I felt my body follow the scent. I was greeted by Abby and Elina, Niklas Hjalmarsson's girlfriend, cooking omelettes and cutting up fruit. The scent of their cooking always had a way of lifting my spirits, which were already pretty high today due to Lacey agreeing to give me a chance. I wanted to ask her to be my girlfriend so badly, but I didn't know if that would be pushing any buttons so I figured that I'll just work myself up to that question eventually.

When I walked through the door, Abby immediately protested as she does every morning skate. "Patrick Timothy Kane! How many times do I have to tell you that you can't have any food until [i] after [/i] the skate? The one time I fed you beforehand, Coach came to yell at me because you looked 'sluggish' from being too full and I don't want to get on his bad side." She walked towards me with the intention of pushing me out of the door, but I stopped her before she could lay her hands on me. "What? I just wanted to come and say hi to my two favorite girls, I would never just come here for your food. What kind of a person do you guys think I am? Do you have that little faith in me?" I put on my best attempt at a puppy dog face by pulling my mouth into a frown and batting my eyelashes at Abby. She laughed, but she also saw right through me. "Patrick Kane does not simply come to say hello. What do you want from us, if it isn't food then?" I took a deep breath and said the words that I never thought I'd say, "Well, I met a girl, and uh, I was going to invite her to the game tonight, but before I do I wanted to ask if you guys could make her feel welcome. I want her to stick around, so, just be nice to her and stuff, you know?"

If there was a world record for how fast jaws could hit the floor, I probably broke it in that moment. Every player on the team has two tickets for every game to give to the person of their choosing, and most of the guys just give them to their girlfriends and tell them to bring a friend. My seats are usually empty; I was never one for bringing my one night stands to games because I find that introducing me to the regulars of the other players was too personal for a one-time thing. My seats would only be filled when my sisters or my parents came into town which was pretty rare. Abby finally found her voice again and before she could use it, I found myself wrapped in a hug.
"Awww, Patty! The day has finally come; it's about time you find yourself a nice girl! What's her name? What's she like? Tell me everything!"

Elina was the voice of reason and actually answered my question, "Of course we'll make her feel welcome, and we'd be honored to do that. Who would have thought that today would be the day Patrick Kane gets serious? I'm really happy for you." I smiled in her direction and she returned it, however she was clearly waiting and hoping for a response to Abby's questions without wanting to pry it out of me. I sighed, figuring I couldn't get out of this one. "Her name is Lacey. She's kind of tall, she has long brown hair and she's beautiful both inside and out. I haven't known her for long but we get along great, I've never met a girl who just so purely cares about people, you know? She works so hard at school and work, she relies solely on herself but she always puts others in front of her. I took her on a date and asked her to give me a chance, and I don't want to blow this one." My words were met with another chorus of "awwwws" and huge smirks on both of their faces. "She sounds lovely, Pat. We'll take care of her, don't worry. Now get to practice before Q thinks that we're feeding you behind his back!" With a laugh, I walked out of the kitchen and into the dressing room, preparing myself for what would hopefully be a good day.

♦ ♦ ♦

After practice and after eating my well-deserved omelettes, I pulled my phone off of the top of my locker and contemplated sending a text to Lacey. I looked at the clock on the wall that read 9:30, and I didn't want to wake her up but then I remembered her saying that she started work at 6 today. I have no idea how she does it, I mean my body wakes itself up at 7 and at that point, Lacey has already been up and at work for an hour. It's not like she gets a nap afterwards either, because then she has class and it consumes all of her time. She must be a living zombie, but she does a good job of covering it up. I never noticed any bags under her eyes and she doesn't yawn unusually frequently. I quickly drilled my fingers across the screen and put it back down to finish taking off my equipment.

[i] Me: Hey beautiful, how has your morning been? [/i]

Shortly after I sent the text, my phone vibrated indicating a reply.

[i] Lacey: Hey. It's been busy, on Mondays the phone is always off the hook at work and teachers always expect their students to be well rested from the weekend, which is never the case for me. How about yours? [/i]

I sighed and wished I was able to give her a nap with me as her pillow.

[i] Me: It's been good. I had a practice to get ready for my game tonight, but it's done now. I'm probably going to head back to my place for a nap pretty soon, I wish I could take you with me.

Lacey: You can't take me with you, but I have a break for the next hour, if you want to meet up for a bit. I know that it's a public place and that you're busy with hockey and all, so if you can't then that's fine, I don't want to bother you. [/i]

I took this as my opportunity to give her tickets for tonight if she wanted them.

[i] Me: Sure, I can be there in 30, is that okay?

Lacey: See you then! :-) [/i]

♦ ♦ ♦

As promised, a half hour later I was parked outside of her campus and walking around looking for her with a bouquet of flowers in my hands. I had my hat down to prevent being recognized, and it was working for the time being. I was getting frustrated with the difficulty we were having finding each other until I laid eyes on her and I couldn't help the smile that came across my features. She was dressed in a black pair of Puma's, a pair of skinny jeans and a white tank top that was covered by a black blazer. She looked professional yet casual, with her hair curled at the tips hanging loosely over her shoulders. Her makeup was minimal as always, but in my opinion she didn't need any more than she wore. She's naturally pretty. When she saw me the smile on my face was mirrored on to hers, and I enveloped her in a hug. No words were spoken until she took a step away from me to remove herself from the hug, but I kept my arms loosely around her waist. I had her just where I wanted her, and there was no way she was leaving the comfort of my arms.

"Hey." Her voice rang through my ears, and I smiled again. Everything about this girl made me smile, I couldn't help it. She's amazing. "I'm really sorry that this is going to have to be shorter than originally anticipated, I just got one of my grades back and my professor wants to talk to me about it, so I have to leave in like..." She trailed off to look at her watch, "three minutes. I know I should have texted you but I really just wanted to see you and I was afraid that you wouldn't come." Logically, I knew that what she was saying made sense. Why would I drive from the rink to her school, and then back to my house, losing valuable nap time, just to see someone for three minutes? There was no point to it and I knew it, but I couldn't help but let out a chuckle and the mere thought of turning down an opportunity to see Lacey.

"Don't worry about it; I have nothing to do this afternoon other than taking a nap. Besides, I wanted to ask you something." In one swift movement I took the envelope containing the tickets out of my pocket, and I held out my hand to offer it to her along with the flowers.

"Pat, what's in here?" She took the envelope from my hand and instead of opening it; she looked into my eyes and waited for me to explain.

"It's a ticket to my game tonight; I would love for you to be there. It would be my motivation to play better and this way we can get some time together after the game, if you wanted. If you're too tired I get it, but I just thought that I'd offer it to you." Lacey smiled up at me with not only her lips, but her eyes as well. That was something new to me; I never had girls look at me like that. I've had plenty of girls look at me like I was a piece of candy, but this look said that she cared. It was a refreshing change. "I'd love to come to your game tonight, Pat. Where am I sitting?" I debated just telling her to rest assured that she had a good seat, but I didn't want her to think I was hiding anything from her. "You'll be sitting with the other player's wives and girlfriends. I've already asked two of them to introduce you to everyone and make you feel welcome, so you won't have to worry about being an outcast or being by yourself all night. Everyone will love you, I promise." I could see the worry on her face, and she hesitated a bit before speaking again. "I don't know, Pat. What if they don't think highly of me? I mean, they're all dating the guys, as boyfriend and girlfriend. Even if some talked to me, I would still be an outcast by default."

I wanted to ease her worry and ensure that she would come because seeing her there would mean more to me than she could possibly imagine. I lifted my hand and brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear, and moved my hand back down to her waist. "What if we told them that you were my girlfriend?" I looked in her eyes, searching for anything that would help me understand what she was thinking about. I thought she would have been happy at what I said, but she still looked worried. "Is that what you want, Pat, are you sure? To tell them that we're dating?"

I smiled at her, "Yeah, I'm sure. I would be proud and happy to call you my girlfriend, if that's okay with you. I don't need to get to know you any better, I know who you are inside and I know that I want you." The smile that I thought I would have gotten earlier appeared on her face now, "Is this your way of asking me to be your girlfriend, Patrick Kane?" She tilted her head to the side, giving me a sassy look.
"Why yes, yes it is." I said with a laugh, awaiting her response. "Well, I'd love to be your girlfriend."

That was all I needed to hear as I tightened my grip on her hips and brought my lips down to hers for the first time.

We were so caught up in the moment that neither of us heard the click of a camera coming from behind us.

Notes

Hey guys! I hope this chapter is better than the last one! Now that I've got it going you can expect more frequent updates, I hope. I'm not making any promises but I'm ready to start with the main plot of this story so I'm thinking that I'm going to want to write more often!
I hope this can bring a smile to some of your faces what with the Hawks being eliminated. Both of my teams were eliminated three days apart, and it sucks. But there's always next year!!!
Anyways, comments are always fun and motivate me to write a little faster, it's nice to see that I have an audience who enjoys this.
Happy reading! :)