Because You're Home

Patrick looked around the bar, wondering if the rest of his team saw the tear slip down Leah's cheek. Everybody was staring at their drinks, and Patrick knew it was taking everything in them not to run out the door and tell Leah everything that's happened in the three years she's been gone. In a flash, Patrick was standing up from his seat, throwing some cash on the bar and walking towards the door. He could hear his teammates yelling at him to come back, but not once did he hear Jonathan's voice.

Leah was only a couple feet down the sidewalk when Patrick emerged from the bar, he could tell it was her by the way she walked, always seeming like she had somewhere to go, but making you want to keep her there with the way her hips swayed. It was no question that Leah was a smoke, but she wasn't fake and pretentious. She was the first real person that everybody on the team had become friends with while she was dating a teammate. It hurt the team as much as it hurt Jonathan when Leah left, not that anybody would admit it.

"Lee, come back."

Leah turned around, noticing that the voice who normally called her Lee was not the same one calling her that now. She could see Pat, his hands in his pants suit pockets, standing a little ways from the bar. He looked the same from the last time she saw him, which wasn't surprising because Patrick always had a look that women flocked to. Why change when women enjoy me the way I am, Patrick would always say when someone would tell him to get a haircut, or shave his beard. He was always Leah's favorite.

"Pat, look I gotta go, I have a thing tomorrow, super early." Leah tried to sound rushed, pretending like she didn't want to just go back to her apartment and cry.

Patrick started walking towards her, "I'll walk you home."

Before Leah could object, Patrick had his arm linked through hers, like an old couple out of habit. It was quiet for a few minutes, like Patrick was waiting for Leah to break down and ask how everybody was. But Leah hadn't seen anybody from the team for three years, and in one walk home she wasn't going to lose her resolve, especially not to Patrick.

"It truly is a beautiful dress, when did he give it to you again? Valentines day? Your birthday?"

"Christmas." Patrick remembered going with Jon to pick out the dress, there was a ring that went along with it, but that part of the gift hadn't been kept. "It was the only thing I kept," Patrick looked expectantly, "From the breakup, I threw everything else out."

Patrick nodded his head in understanding, "So where are you working now?"

"Uh I opened a salon." Patrick whipped his head towards where Leah was standing on his right. "Yeah I finally opened it. It's near the city and we're doing really well." Leah smiled from ear to ear.

"Well shit Leah that's great." In all honesty Patrick never thought she'd do it. Everybody on the team knew that it was a life's dream for Leah to open her own salon, but every time somebody would bring it up Leah would talk about how it was only a dream, and how it would probably stay that way. "I guess leaving Chicago was the step you needed to really go for it huh?"

Leah nodded her head. She knew nobody expected it to ever happen, except Jonathan. They kept walking in silence, both not knowing what to say, it was Leah who finally broke the silence, "How is he?"

Patrick took a while to answer, because every answer he could ever give Leah would somehow upset her. If he said Jon was good it would seem like Jon never cared about Leah, and if Patrick said Jonathan was bad, Leah would feel bad for making Jon feel bad. It was always a lose-lose situation with her. "He's okay. He made it out alive, lots of scars but that's expected. The real question though is how are you?"

Leah bit her lip, "I'm okay too." She had no clue what okay meant, neither did Patrick.

"He misses you--"

"Patrick."

"Leah you asked how he was, I'm not going to lie. He misses you, probably always will. He's seeing somebody, she's alright, but she's got a lot to live up to. You can tell that it isn't really what Jonathan's looking for, but we're pretty sure he already found and lost what he was looking for."

Leah sighed, knowing that this was probably when she should tell Patrick she was seeing somebody, it technically wouldn't be a lie because she was kind of seeing a guy, but that was mostly late at night when they were both drunk. But she was technically seeing somebody since it was frequent, and if she told Patrick she wouldn't look like she didn't move on from Jonathan. Another time, Leah thought.

They pulled up to an apartment on the sidewalk, a house number near the door reading 19. Patrick stifled a laugh, one that didn't go unnoticed by Leah. "It was the only one left." Patrick just smiled and watched as Leah put her keys in the door. From the outside the apartment was nice, and from where he was standing on the front steps the rest of the apartment looked just as nice, but he was a guy so as long as there was food and a bed, everything was nice.

"Hey listen Leah, if you're ever in the mood to just escape the city that never sleeps, don't forget about us in Chicago. It would be nice to see you in a red sweater in the stands again." Leah started to shake her head and decline, "Just food for thought. It doesn't have to happen, but if it does, you still have my number." Patrick started to walk down the stairs and towards his hotel.

Leah yelled, "Ya know you aren't half bad Kaner."

Patrick turned around, motioning towards himself, "Ya I know, I have girls that pay ME to tell me that kind of stuff."

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By the time Patrick got back to the hotel it was past curfew. He knew that the rest of his teammates were probably in bed, sleeping the night away, but when he walked out of the elevator he saw Jonathan sitting on the floor near his room.

Jonathan spoke before Patrick arrived at his door, "Is she okay?"

Again, the loaded question on how an ex is, Patrick answered truthfully, "Okay, yes. Happy, not even close." Jonathan sighed, "She opened a salon though, finally, somewhere near the city. You should of seen her face when she told me, her smile was contagious."

Jonathan smiled, he knew how much Leah had wanted to open a salon, "Is she uh seeing um anybody?"

"Didn't ask, and she didn't tell."

Jonathan picked himself up off the floor, "Thanks Pat, for going after her, making sure she was okay."

Patrick sighed, "Should of been you." Jonathan looked down at the ground, suddenly interested in the design the hotel had picked out. He looked back up at Patrick to speak, "It should of been me for a lot of things."

Patrick nodded his head understanding exactly what Jonathan was saying, he grabbed his room key out of his coat pocket and slipped it in the door, "Night Jon, see ya tomorrow." Jonathan nodded his head and started towards his room, "Oh and John, I have her number for whenever you realize."

Jonathan turned around and scrunched his eyebrows together, "Realize what?"

He didn't get an answer, just the slamming of a door.

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December 2nd, 2008

Leah couldn't hear anything over the music, not her friends talking about cute guys that had just walked through the door and definitely not the cute guy next to her that asked her name.

"I'm sorry what?"

He laughed and leaned in closer, "I asked what your name was."

"Leah." She outstretched a dainty little hand, fingers french manicured.

Jonathan took the soft hand in his own bear claw, "Jonathan, but I like yours better."

Leah smiled and looked back at the stage for a couple minutes, sipping her drunk casually, finally realizing that this band, whoever the were, was horrible. Why the owner of the bar they were playing in decided they could play that Friday night, she had no idea.

Jonathan leaned in again, "They're God awful." Leah looked towards him, with a face that said "no shit", Jonathan laughed, "Wanna get out of here?"

Leah looked up at the man in front of her, he was tall, and very broody looking, but he was cute, no he was fucking hot, she would go anywhere with him. Leah set her drink on the nearest table, "God yes."

Notes

I was going to explain more of how they first met but decided I would save it for the next chapter. Please stick with me since it's obviously new and it will get interesting within the next chapter because she will obviously have to see Jon again.

xoxo