Together Until We Die...

Patrick Sharp turned to Andrew Shaw and gave him an ‘are you serious’ look. Andrew was being his typical silly, goofy self. He was bouncing off walls, being crazy, like he’d just drank fifty shots of tequila. He wasn’t always this hyper, but he was today for some reason.

Patrick watched as he tripped over his feet and crashed toward him. Instinctively, the merry prankster of the Blackhawks caught him. “Shawzy, what’s wrong with you man?”

“I am just so excited because of my new contract! Sharpy, I’m going to be staying in Chicago with you, Kaner and Tazer!”

“That’s great, but I thought that news came months ago?”

“It did.”

“So then why are you celebrating it like it just happened?”

“Because I never got to celebrate before! I’m going to call Saader!”

“Don’t….don’t call Saader!”

Patrick shoved Andrew to the side. Andrew’s face screwed up in bewilderment. He wasn’t used to seeing Patrick Sharp so tense and downtrodden. Something was wrong with him.
The prankster glanced down at his phone and then at the door. He heaved a heavy sigh.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“What?”

“What’s bugging you? It obviously isn’t me. Normally you have some kind of witty comeback or joke. You’ve been depressed all day!”

Patrick shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something inaudible. Andrew leaned over and pressed his shoulder against Patrick’s. The older Blackhawk frowned, looking at him strangely.

“Come on, Sharpy, tell me. Tell little Shawzy! Please? Tell the Shawzer!” Andrew begged, pouting his lip.

Patrick glanced at his phone again. Then he finally turned to Andrew. “The kids said that they’d be here. We were all supposed to get together for a quick skate. Johnny hasn’t texted me at all.”

The Chicago pest looked down at his feet. He gave a rather loud, “oh!”

Patrick shook his head. “I guess they’d rather not let the ole Sharp Shooter in on the change of plans!”

“Sharpy, I don’t think they mean it.”

“They promised me that they’d text or call me, after they finished with their fundraiser charity event. And that was seven hours ago!”

Andrew raised an eyebrow in shock. That was a long time. “Maybe something came up or they were kidnapped?”

Patrick gave Andrew a look. “Why would two superstar hockey players get kidnapped AND not let their friend know!!”

Andrew decided not to go down that route. He patted Patrick on the shoulder. The big adult male model sniffled. He reached up with his hand and lightly touched his nose.

“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for their silence. I’m sure it’s nothing. But if I can just throw this thought out there, why the hell wasn’t I invited to hang out?”

Patrick cracked a small grin, as he wiped his eyes. “I’m sorry Shawzy. It’s not your fault. It’s not theirs either and you’re right!”

The phone in Patrick’s hand vibrated, startling the brunette man. He glanced down and read the message, from an incoming text. His eyes flew open wide and he dropped the device. It clattered on the ground, but didn’t break. Patrick screamed, his hands flying up to cover his mouth.

The older Chicago Blackhawk forward was visibly shaken and Andrew could see that the man was trembling from head to foot. His hands shook, as though he had a harrowing case of arthritis or some kind of horrible disease. Andrew stared at him, deeply concerned. He reached out and put his hand on the prankster’s shoulder, gently. “What? What was that? What did it say?”

“It’s----” Patrick attempted, before the words caught in his throat. He backed up, speechlessly. His heart rate increased and he slowly stumbled to a sitting position on the nearest bench to them. He stared, horrified ahead of him.

Andrew picked up Patrick’s phone and walked over and sat down beside him. He was gravely concerned about his friend. He respected his privacy and was assured that Patrick would eventually tell him the message’s contents. He was tempted to peek, but he thought better of himself. The Blackhawk pest passed Patrick his phone back.

Chicago’s prankster, gradually took it with one hand, while the other remained, cupped over his mouth.

Eventually, though, he did drop his hand down to his side. He rotated around, bit-by-bit, still shaking from what his eyes had read. Patrick looked at Andrew, straight in the eyes, took a large inhale and said, “It’s the kids: To-ez and Peekaboo!”

Andrew straightened up, curiously gazing back into his teammate’s bulging eyes that glittered with sheer terror. “What about them? What happened?”

Another deep inhale to prepare for the shocking news.

“They’ve been kidnapped!”

Andrew’s eyes flew open wide. He was dumbfounded as well.

Notes

FINALLY!!!! Sorry it took like forever to get this chapter up here. There's just a little thing called a flood of ideas. But here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

I'm currently juggling I think 7 or 8 stories right now. But don't worry, it just means more distress and eagerness for my audience! lol jk I'll try to rotate the stories and get the next chapter out much quicker and sooner!

Thanks!!!!