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The Moonstone Starlet

Chapter 54

Chapter 54

My Dearest Patrick, Third of his Name, Truest Blue, Prince of Hockey, My Eternal Love,

I want you to know that my sleep schedule has become seriously messed up because of you. Essentially I've become nocturnal, waking up in the middle of the night to watch your games on my computer. I wish I could tell you I do stay awake the entire time, but those intermissions are long and silent. Regardless, I am so proud of you and the team for how the season has started.

Last week Cheyne finished the four stalls in the barn, and is just about finished with the the tack room. He wants to update the plumbing in the apartment before he leaves, because he got a job in Paris! He will be working with a construction crew, and wants to build custom furniture in his free time. We were there over the weekend looking at apartments. As much as I'm excited for him, I can't help but feel a little sad, even a bit nervous. I feel almost as if he's been my security blanket, my partner in misery, and now he's stepping back into the light and I'm left behind. There I go thinking of myself again.
Tay Tay and Spence are back in classes now...

Patrick read through the two hand written pages that Elia had mailed to him on a plane ride to Minnesota. She had terrible handwriting, alternating between print and cursive randomly, missing crossing her t's. Talking about a trip to Berlin she was planning to see some actor friend, Daniel Bruhl, a new horse she had gotten named Bisou. On the bottom of the last page, however, the tone changed.

Patrick dearest, you know I am not one to meddle in the affairs of others. But a little bird I know does, and passed along a bit of news to me. I think you have a chance, if you want to take it, to get Amanda back. I know you said she hadn't replied to any of your calls or texts, but my source has corresponded with her directly. She misses you, and thinks she may have made a mistake ending things. I happen to know she moved from Lakeview to Ukrainian Village, and doesn't work at Boundary anymore. Now she is at Bull & Bear Tuesdays, and Thursday-Saturday. I know you must be wondering, why haven't I told you this on the phone the numerous times we've probably talked in the past few days? Romantic schemes are always best plotted by hand on paper!

They had talked on the phone at least twice since Elia had mailed this, and she hadn't mentioned a single thing about Amanda. Pat smiled as he read it. It was a glimmer of the old Elia he knew, innocently wicked and imaginative. He still thought about Amanda a lot. He hadn't even been dating anyone else, although he did hook up with a woman over the summer in Buffalo, and everyone had seen him making out with randoms in Madison. Since then he hadn't even hit on another woman. He pictured being able to hold her again, the way she'd look up and smile at him. If he could have that again...He folded the letter up, slipping it back into the envelope and pushing it into his backpack. They were heading out on a two week road trip. The Wild, Vancouver, Calgary, San Jose, Phoenix, Nashville. It would be almost Valentine's Day by the time they got back. What if something changed by then? What if she found someone else? He thought about calling her right then and there, in the middle of the plane. The flight attendant would yell, “Keep your phone on airplane mode!” and Pat would yell back, “Don't tell me what I can't do! I love Amanda!” and keep calling. No, he needed to do something better than a phone call.

The Blackhawks had started the season on a six game win streak. Everyone was playing well and having fun. Unfortunately, the Minnesota Wild brought the wins to a halt. The Wild scored the first goal, but were quickly answered by goals from Shaw and later Toews in the first period. The Wild scored again in the second, but both teams came up empty in the third. Eventually the game was pushed to overtime. Pat had fucked up his shootout turn. Niklas Backstrom, goddammit. He was supposed to think Pat was going up, but somehow knew he was really going five-hole. After the game Patrick reviewed scouting footage of Backstrom in shoot-outs. Even if it was unlikely to happen again, he needed to know what to do.

The Hawks found themselves in a shootout the next game too, and were shut out by Luongo. Even though they had technically lost the last two games, they had still earned a point. They had earned at least a point in the last eight games. In their downtime Pat hung out in his hotel room, or occasionally the hotel business center and watched scouting videos or movies on his tablet. On the ice he had been on fire, but off the ice he was staying quiet. One night in San Jose Jonathan found him watching Love Actually in hotel office lounge. The center of the room had a row of computers for guests to use, and a few chairs and desks around the outer walls. Pat was sprawled out in an arm chair, his legs up on a small coffee table. Jon leaned over the top of the chair and looked down at the tablet.

“What are you watching?” he asked snidely. Pat looked up, saw Jonny, and straightened up in the chair. He paused the movie and pulled his headphones out.
“It's Amanda's favorite movie. What are you doing here?” Kane asked, annoyed. Jonny shrugged and pulled up a chair next to Pat.
“Can I watch with you?” he asked.

Pat didn't know what was up with Jon these days. He looked over at Jonny and tried to read his face. His dark brown eyes had softened, his mouth turned into a slight frown. Maybe Jon was trying to figure out who he was too. Patrick had been so wrapped up in his own struggles with public persona he hadn't stopped to think maybe Jonny was struggling too. It couldn't have been easy having to be Mr. Perfect all the time. Captain Serious. And now Pat had become one of the critics too, pushing the weight down on Jon for what he had done to Elia. All Jonny had ever done was try to support Patrick and have his back no matter what he did.
“Do you want me to start it over?” Kane asked, a warm half smile on his face.
“I don't care...I mean, I guess, if you don't mind.”

They watched the movie together, sharing a pair of ear buds.
“This is by far the gayest thing we have ever done.” Jon said partway through.
“I dunno, we've taken showers together in the locker room.” Pat replied. Jon laughed. “Nah, you're right, it's this.” Pat continued.
“You're going to try and get Amanda back?” Jon asked. Hugh Grant was singing and dancing on a staircase.
“Yeah,” Pat replied.
“How do you know she's the right one?”
Pat thought for a moment.
“Because when I'm with her I am the person I want to be. Like...she makes me whole.” He said, wondering if Jon just wanted to tease him. Jonny didn't say anything back. He stared at the tablet screen, the movie blurring in his eyes. He was thinking about who made him whole.

The rest of the road trip they earned their wins out right, and rolled back into Chicago on a twelve game point streak. They lost in a shoot-out to the Ducks in their first game back, but beat the Sharks again that Friday night. Pat stayed up that night after the game, and at about 2:30 a.m drove his car over to a bus stop on Grand. He waited with the car running for over twenty minutes, until he saw a tall brunette walking up Wells Street. He jumped out of the car, setting up his phone and some portable speakers on the hood. Mariah Carey's “Love Takes Time” started playing loudly across the empty streets. She saw him now, fumbling to pull something out of the back seat of his car. He turned with some poster boards and they met eyes.
“Amanda, please, wait, just hear me out,” he yelled. She hesitated, then walked over, shivering in the February cold.
He held up the first poster.
I could never find the words to say
He switched to the next.
How much you meant to me
But without you I am empty
If you give me a second chance I promise to tell you every day
How much I love you and want you by my side
Until we are old and gray

She was smiling, and he took it as a good sign. He threw the posters back into his car and walked up to her.

“Manda, I haven't stopped thinking about you since you walked away from me last year. I know I messed up, but I won't ever let you feel that way again. I'm going to communicate better. I love you,” he couldn't think of what else to say, so he put his arms around her and pulled her into a kiss. She didn't resist, and he felt her arms wrap around his body. Her face was cold from the wind.
“Beautiful girl like you shouldn't be taking a bus home alone this late at night. Can I drive you home?”

Across town Jon was seeing some old familiar faces too. After the game he had gone out with Crow, Bolly, Oduya and Stalberg. Like usual, they had wound up at Paris Club. Crawford had invited some women to come and sit with them, and everyone was flirting. Bolland like to announce loudly that he was married, as if just saying it gave him a pass for anything that would happen after. Jon thought it was mostly just harmless flirting, but he didn't know what happened after the bar. He liked to assume Crawford and Bolland just went home.

“Hey stranger,” a voice said to him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. A pretty blonde with hazel eyes was smiling at him.
“Lindz, hey,” he said, standing to give her a hug. As soon as he stood up he realized he had drank more than he thought. What had he told her last year? He wasn't looking to date anyone? He needed to focus on hockey? He couldn't remember what excuse he had made up, but she didn't seem to be holding a grudge. She kept talking. That was a great thing about Lindsay, she always knew the right thing to say. Jonny had never been good at leading conversations. He never knew what to talk about besides hockey. Elia never knew what to say either, but she would make random things up. It had put Jon at ease. But Lindsay did too, because he didn't do much besides answer questions. And she was here, in front of him, touching his arm and smiling. Jon didn't know where Elia was.

“It's tough to pinpoint why things are going well. I'm playing with good players, and the team is off to a fast start. I'm trying not to be satisfied if I have a good game.” Kane said, addressing the media. The Blackhawks were into March now and still hadn't lost in regulation. Kane was on a point streak now too, and everybody was paying attention to the team. Even Lebron James had tweeted about the Blackhawks. Eventually all things have to come to an end, and finally the Avalanche defeated them in three periods. In a way it was a relief, everyone could go back to just playing hockey and not worrying about the streak. It was never about the streak anyway. They had one goal. To take back the Stanley Cup.

Jonathan felt like he had been floating. Floating through games, floating through all the wins, floating through dates with Lindsay. It all went by in a blur. Twenty games, twenty two games, twenty four games. The loss had woken him up a little, but he still felt like he was on a ride. One day the ride stopped, and they were playing the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals. It was like seeing Brad Marchand's face had woken him up to what he was missing again. That and Brad reminding him. The rat made a point of skating by the bench in the third game to try and provoke Jon.

“Huh, I haven't seen Elia Downs around,” he said sarcastically as he skated by. He turned and came back around.
“I guess even with me out of the picture she still didn't want you.” He said, smirking. Nobody except Toews, Carcillo and Kane knew what he was talking about. That, and Bolland thought he was talking to him.
“I'm happily married,” Bolland had yelled back at him. The rest of the team just looked confused. Despite nobody knowing what it was about, Shaw decided to fight Marchand in game three anyways while Chara and Bickell rolled around on the ice. Elia hadn't been around at all, but she was still like a team mascot and somebody needed to get a punch in on Marchand.

The series was a tough fight. Both teams played outstanding hockey, and weren't ready to give up the battle. When the Blackhawks took the OT win in the fourth game, however, they didn't look back. They won the final two games handily. And at the end of game 6, it was Bolland who scored the winning goal. While friends and family ran to the ice to celebrate, Jon found himself holding the Cup, with Lindsay there to kiss him.

Notes

Comments

Well. There goes my reason for coming to the site. Brava on being done! Hope you find inspiration to write another story.

DELETED DELETED
4/27/15

omg its done.... what am i gonna read now :( So good girl!

hockeygirl07 hockeygirl07
4/26/15

What an amazing story. I can't believe it is over.

runawaycherry93 runawaycherry93
4/26/15

aweeeeeeeee

hockeygirl07 hockeygirl07
4/26/15

That was beautiful!!! Made me teary. Is this the end?

KWeber8771 KWeber8771
4/26/15