Forever Chicago
What If
*Tyler’s POV*
-One month later-
“Hey Segs! Have you seen my tie?” I heard Tuukka yell from the living room in my and Dougie's apartment. “Never mind I found it!” I heard him yell seconds after. “What time are the girls getting here?” I asked as I walked out of the bathroom in my suit. “Well Alex said they’d be here in 10 minutes and that was 15 minutes ago so…” Dougie answered as he finished off the beer he was drinking and popped a mint in his mouth. Alex had always hated beer breath so he knew not to have it when they walked in. About 5 minutes later Alex, Arianna, and Tuukka’s wife Jasmiina walked in, all looking beautiful. “Wow…” was all I could say as I looked at Arianna in her stunning dress. “You look gorgeous.” I said as I kissed her cheek. “You’re not so bad yourself sexy... I mean Segsy.” She said winking as we headed out the door. We all piled into the limo that contained the rest of the team and their dates and headed off to the Black Puck Ball.
Once we arrived we saw all the teams from the Eastern Conference were already there and that we were at a table with Tuukka and Jasmiina, Looch and Brit, Ference and Krista, and Chara and Tatiana. We sat down after some mingling and had our dinner and dessert. The music then started and couples started dancing.
*Arianna’s POV*
Before I had any time to say no, Tyler pulled me out onto the dance floor and we were swaying along to Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You by Frankie Valli. “Hi there.” Tyler said as he gazed down at me while we continued to dance. “Well hello there.” I said smiling up at him. “You know, there’s something I want to tell you.” He said looking nervous all of a sudden. I didn’t know what he was gonna say and I started to get really nervous. “I used to have feelings for you.” He said quickly looking away from me. I didn’t say anything because I had already known. I just started laughing and he gave me an offended but funny look. “Why are you laughing?” He asked as he started to laugh himself. “You think I didn’t already know that? You made it pretty damn obvious babe.” I said as he dipped me and then spun me around. “Well now I just feel stupid.” He said as the next song started, The Way You Look Tonight by Elton John. We spent the rest of the dance just making jokes and funny faces and mocking people until we were told to turn because we were having our picture taken. We then went over to where they were taking official photos of all the players and their dates. We posed like you would at prom with Segs wrapping his arms around my waist and me placing my hands on top of his and then the flash went off. We spent another hour there mingling until we all decided to leave.
I got home at about 1 am and showered because I had a ton of hairspray and a full face of makeup that I couldn’t stand anymore. Once I was out of the shower, in my pajamas, and in bed, I finally checked my phone. I had 3 missed calls and 5 text messages:
Jon: Babe call me, I miss you and need to talk to you. The game was horrible and I need your advice. (10:37 PM)
Pat: Hun give Jon a call, he’s beating himself up over the loss (10:54 PM)
Abby: Okay you really need to answer someone, Jon is really upset… (11:39 PM)
Abby: Did you even watch the game?!?!? He’s miserable! He NEEDS you! (12:14 AM)
Shawsy: Arianna, I’ve never seen Jon like this- you need to talk to him. (12:46 AM)
I mentally kicked myself because I had forgotten tonight was a huge game for the Hawks against the Red Wings and Jon had been freaking out about it. I hadn’t realized it was on the same day as the ball and completely forgot to watch it. It was 1:22 in the morning so I decided I would wait until the morning to call, but that turned out not to be the best idea because when I woke up at 10:15, the text messages had continued.
Sharpie: Arianna please call Jon, he never showed up at practice and we’re worried. (9:24 AM)
Pat: Please tell me you’ve heard from Jon because I haven’t and he didn’t show up to practice. (9:41 AM)
Abby: Alright I swear if you don’t call Jon and make sure he’s okay, I’m never talking to you again. (10:04 AM)
I instantly dialed Jon’s number, now getting extremely nervous myself. He didn’t pick up the first time so I called again and he picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?” He asked sounding groggy.
“Babe it’s me… what the hell is going on?” I asked sitting up in bed. He didn’t say anything, but I heard him start to cry. “Baby talk to me, what’s wrong?” I asked getting upset because I wasn’t there to comfort him. “It’s my fault we lost last night… it’s all my fault. I let the team down and we’d been preparing for this game for weeks and it’s all my fault.” He cried over the phone. “Oh Jon, it’s not your fault. You can’t blame yourself… the team doesn’t blame you babe. They’re worried you never showed up to practice and they wanna make sure you’re okay. Give sharpie or Pat a call. Please babe they’re so worried about you.” I pleaded as I sat there feeling helpless. “I know… I will. I miss you so much Arianna…” He said as he started to calm down. “I miss you too Jon. I’m sorry I didn’t call last night, but I was at an event and completely forgot about the game.” I said feeling guilty. “I’m glad you didn’t watch. It was pretty bad and I played like shit.” He said sighing and letting out a defeated laugh. “Well you’ll just have to be better for next time. Listen babe I gotta go because I need to go pick out the flowers and go for my final dress fitting, but I’ll talk to you soon.” I said feeling better now that I knew he wasn’t mad at me. “Alright. I love you baby.” “I love you too Jon… one more month.” I said smiling. “One more month.” He repeated over the phone. And then we hung up and I got ready to leave.
-One month later-
*Arianna’s POV*
“It’s done… it’s all done.” I said checking off the last thing on my list of things I needed to get done for the wedding. I would be leaving in the morning to go back to Chicago and it was bittersweet. I had loved spending my time here in Boston with the boys, but I missed Jon and the boys and Chicago a lot. I felt my phone ring in my pocket and looked at the caller ID to see it was Adam.
“Hello?” I said smiling and leaning back on the couch in my parents’ house. “Hey, what are you doing?” He asked. “Oh nothing, just finished the last thing for the wedding so I’m free.” I said knowing he wanted to hang out. “So you wouldn’t mind coming outside and spending the rest of the day with me then?” He asked as I looked out the window to see his car in the driveway. “I would be delighted.” I said putting my flats on and grabbing my purse. “Well then I’ll see you outside.” He said and then I hung up.
“Adam! I’m gonna drop my ice cream!” I yelled as he picked me up from behind in the park where we had gone after getting ice cream. It had been about 2 hours since he picked me up and we were acting like teenagers and just being crazy. “Well then I’ll buy you a new one.” He said putting me down and spinning me around to face him. He smiled at me as I smiled back and then he looked away, laughed, and looked back at me. “You’re so cute when you do that.” I said bopping him on the nose. “Well you’re so cute in general.” He said pulling me closer to him. It didn’t matter with Adam that I had a fiancée and it wouldn’t matter after I was married, we always acted like we were a couple- it was just how we acted and everyone- including Jon- knew that. “I don’t want you to go tomorrow.” He said as we sat down in the grass and talked. “Well I have to Adam. I’m getting married in two weeks and I need to go home and get ready. You’ll see me in a couple weeks though. Don’t worry.” I responded licking my ice cream cone as he stole some. “Yeah well I’m not gonna be exactly ecstatic.” He said starting to look sad. “Adam… I know this isn’t easy for you, and it isn’t easy for me… I’m always gonna love you, but… Jon just makes me feel like I’m on top of the world and like I’m the only girl in the world.” I said sighing. “And I didn’t give you that?” He asked looking at me. “You did Adam, but it’s different… I can’t explain it, but when you find the one, you’ll know what I mean.” I said taking his hand in mine. “I know what you’re talking about Arianna... I found the one; I’m just not the one for her.” He said looking at me with sad eyes. “Adam…” I said before I broke down and he pulled me to his chest.
Going through with this wedding was going to be a lot harder than I thought… it meant I got Jon forever, but it also makes me think what if… what if I’m supposed to be with Adam? What if Jon isn’t the one for me?
What if I lose Adam forever?
