A heavy weight drops on my back and shakes me. I groan, and the weight chuckles.

“Wake up, Tori!” Pat says, shaking me again.
“I don’t wanna.” I grumble.
“Too bad. Erica’s going to be here in fifteen minutes!”

I roll out from under him and stretch my arms and legs out.

“You’re lending me your shoulder on the plane.” I say, grabbing the clothes I left out last night and heading for the bathroom. I hear him chuckle and say something about breakfast, but I’m not really paying attention.

I wash my face, brush my teeth, and change into my travel clothes before joining Pat in the kitchen.

“Nice hat.” He says, tapping the brim of the Blackhawks hat on my head.
“Thanks. I spent a lot of good money on it!” I joke, both of us knowing full well that I stole it from his closet.
“Erica should be pulling up any second now. You all ready to go?” He asks.
“Yeah. I dragged my bags to the front door.”

The two of us are half way through our breakfast of yogurt, granola and fruit when Erica comes sauntering into the kitchen. Pat turns his handheld camera by the sink so it can see both of us. Erica doesn’t say anything, but hops up onto the stool next to me. Her eyes are tired, and her shoulders are slumped. She tucks her head into her arms on the counter and lets out a long sigh.

“You’re so lucky I love you.” She mutters into her arms.
“I know.” Pat responds with a cocky smile.
“Not you.” Erica laughs, looking up at her brother. “If it was just you’d I would have told you to get a taxi to pick up your lazy ass. But I’m not going to make Tori take a taxi to the airport. I actually like her. More than I like you.”

I chuckle at the female Kane’s words, and laugh outright when Pat’s face scrunches up in the way I’ve learned means he’s not happy. He leans over the counter to flick her ear, but she ducks out of the way just in time.

“Let’s get out of here.” I say, cutting in before the siblings really start going at it. “We’ve got a flight to catch.

Erica pulls me into a gigantic hug while Pat is pulling our bags out of the trunk.

“Thank you so much.” She says.
“For what?”
“For being Pat’s friend. He.... he doesn’t have many female friends. At least, not ones who honestly just want to be his friend. It’s nice that there’s someone who can tolerate him like we can, who isn’t just out for his money or his fame.”

I blush, suddenly realizing just how big of a deal it is that Pat has a female friend who’s just a friend.

“Your grandfather said the same thing.” I admit.

Erica simply smiles and pulls me into another hug before letting me go. She turns to her brother and pulls him into a hug as well. Although they constantly give each other hell, it’s obvious to see that the siblings love each other.

“You ready?” Pat asks me after ruffling Erica’s hair.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” I smile.

I haul my bag over my shoulder and give Erica another quick hug before leading the charge into the airport. Pat and I certainly get a couple looks from the crowd, but we make our way to the gate eventually. Chris is already waiting for us, with his smallest camera in hand. He does a quick interview with the both of us sitting in front of the window, the plane visible behind us. Eventually, we’re able to board and we’re in the air within half an hour. Ten minutes later, I feel myself falling asleep on Pat’s shoulder.

The next thing I know, Pat is gently shaking my shoulder.

“Tor. We’re landing.” He whispers.
I yawn my response and stretch my shoulders and back the best I can while still seated.
“Did you sleep?” I ask.
“A little.” He responds. “I played a word search game on my iPad most of the time.”

I crack my neck and lean over his lap to see the Pittsburgh skyline.

“Such a beautiful city.” I beam, prideful.
“Chicago is better.” Pat smirks.

I punch him in the shoulder lightly, but smile anyway. We land smoothly and only have to sit a couple minutes before we’re taxied at the gate. The two of us are among the first group of people off the plane, and hurry our way towards baggage claim. We both keep our hats pulled low, and stick to the corner of the area until our bags come out. Regardless of our attempts to stay inconspicuous, we still gain looks from passing groups of people. As usual, it’s probably the camera following us that’s making people stare. Fortunately, it doesn’t take too long for our bags to arrive and we’re out of the airport before anyone can stop us.

“Tori!” I hear as I’m scanning the pick up area for my cousin. I look over to my right and spot her jumping out of her car.
“Zabko!” I respond, smiling at her.
“Hi boo!” She says, hugging me. “How was Buffalo?”
“It was good! Pat, this is my cousin, roommate, teammate and basically my second half, Aubrey. Bree, this is Patrick Kane.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you.” Pat says, pulling Aubrey into a big hug.

My cousin lets out a small squeak, which makes me laugh. Though, I do understand what she’s feeling right now. I remember my first Patrick Kane hug too.

“Okay, okay. Let’s get out of here!” I say, throwing mine and Pat’s bags into the trunk.

I hop into the front seat and jump up and down, excited to start showing Pat my life and my city. I hear him laughing at me, but I don’t really care.

Once the four of us are situated in the car, Aubrey pulls out and starts heading towards center city. Chris pulls out his camera and trains it on Pat. In turn, Pat pulls his handheld camera out and trains it on Aubrey and me.

“So Pat, what have you seen of Pittsburgh before?” Aubrey asks.
“Basically just the hockey arena and hotel rooms. We’ve been to a couple restaurants before, but I don’t remember what they were.”
“So you’ve never had the true ‘Burgh food experience?”
“I guess not?” His response is more of a question than an answer. We both know he has absolutely no idea what we’re talking about.

Aubrey looks over at me and smirks. I instantly know what she’s thinking.

“I really don’t like the looks on your faces.” Pat says hesitantly. “I may have just met you, Aubrey... but I know you both enough already to know that can’t be good.”
“We’re going to take you to the best restaurant in Pittsburgh.” I respond.
“Okay?” He’s skeptical.
“You’ll love it. Trust me. I’ve never met someone who hasn’t.”

A little while later, we pull into the parking lot of the best eatery in the city and Pat’s face lights up when he sees the name on the front.

“Primanti Brothers? I’ve heard about this place! They put french fries and coleslaw on their sandwiches, right?”
“Yes!” Aubrey cheers. “It’s so delicious.”

The four of us make our way into the restaurant and place our orders. Almost immediately, we’re recognized. Both hockey fans and newly found diving fans come up to us while we’re waiting, and Pat, Aubrey and I spend a couple minutes signing autographs and taking pictures. It’s funny, Pat is recognized much more than either of us, but isn’t as well loved by those who come up to him. Many people make jokes about how he should enjoy his time with the Cup for the rest of the summer, because it’ll be here next year. But he takes it all in stride, and jokes back with them. Eventually, our sandwiches are dropped off and the fans get the hint that it’s time to leave us alone.

“Okay, this is officially the best looking thing I’ve ever seen.” Pat declares, staring wide-eyed at the mound of meat, coleslaw and french fries in front of him.
“Wait until you taste it. Take a bite!” Aubrey encourages.

I pull out my handheld camera and catch a close up of Pat’s face as he takes a bite of his very first Primanti Brother’s sandwich.

“Mmmm th’s so goood.” Pat moans, his mouth full. “Can I have another?”

Aubrey and I laugh, but we understand exactly where he’s coming from. The three of us finish our lunches and take a couple pictures with the staff, to go on the “Wall of Fame.” Aubrey and I are already on the wall somewhere when we brought in our medals, but now they’ve got Pat on here as well.

When we’re all set and done, I foot the bill and we pile back into Aubrey’s car. The two of us decide to take Pat to our pool and gym before we head home. The gymnastics complex is closest, and we’re in the parking lot in ten minutes.

“So this is one of our second homes.” I explain, walking through the front door. “We spend almost twenty hours here each week.”

We take him up to the cardio room on the second floor first, which is one of my favorite rooms in the complex. The entire far wall is a gigantic window that looks out on the rest of the gym, specifically the trampoline area. It’s been painted light gray, and has pictures of all the successes of the gym. The two largest photos are of Aubrey and me on the Olympic podiums with our medals, but there are also photos of the gym’s nationally ranked gymnasts from the past ten years, from various competitions. there are also a couple of Pitt gymnasts on the wall, from when they won the NCAA championship. Many of the girls who go here end up at Pitt, since it’s so close. And the owner used to be an assistant coach for the University. My favorite part, though, is the gigantic American flag that covers one entire wall. It’s the same one that Aubrey and I wrapped around our shoulders after we won our Olympic medals. And it’s displayed in all its glory for the younger generation to use as motivation to become the best they can be.

“That’s the flag from the Olympics.” Aubrey says, admiring it the same way I always do.

Pat hesitates at first, but brushes his fingertips along the edge of the flag. I can see it has the same power on him that it does on the rest of us. It isn’t just an ordinary American flag. It’s a symbol of success. Of American success.

But the moment is broken almost as soon as it happens.

“This is a sweet setup.” He says, walking over to the window and looking out over the area.
“A local construction company sponsored the gym after London.” I explain. “They paid for us to completely redo everything. We kept the old equipment, but pretty much everything else is new as of last year.”
“So you train here, what? A couple hours a day?”
“We usually have half an hour of cardio training. Then we do some light strength training- nothing at all like what you do. We just need to maintain our bodies’ natural strength. Then we go gymnastics training, which is all body weight work. And we finish of with an hour of tramp training. We work on our technique individually, and then our synchro together.”
“And you do this every day?” Pat asks.
“Six days a week. Sometimes we take Saturdays off too, if it’s been a long week. Or we’ll modify and only do a short training session. This is just our off-season training, though. It’s no where near this intense once we’re actually in season.”
“Shit.” He laughs. “And here I was thinking that I trained a lot.”

I smile, grateful that he understands what a commitment this lifestyle is. We head back downstairs with Aubrey in the lead.

“It’s what has to be done. When we go back to school, we won’t have all this free time to work out. We’ll have classes and team practices and other commitments we have to honor. So we do what we can now to prepare ourselves to get through the season without injuries and to give ourselves the best possibility of being the best.”

Aubrey opens the door to the main gym and the familiar smell of sweat and chalk hits my nose. Since it’s the middle of the day, only the elite girls are here. There’s currently only three of them, and they’re all over by the beams. I wave and they smile before going back to their training.

“Tori! Aubrey!” Coach Sandra Walters calls, leaving the girls on the beams to come over to us.

“Hey coach.” I say, giving the petite woman a hug. “I’d like you to meet my new friend, Patrick Kane. Pat, this is Sandra Walters. She owns the gym, and coaches us on the tramp.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Pat says, reaching out to shake Sandra’s hand.
“Oh, darling. I don’t shake hands. I hug!” Sandra says, pulling Pat in.

“Coach, Pat will be training with us the next couple of days until we leave to film Splash!” Aubrey says.
“That’s more than okay with me.” Sandra says, looking Pat in the eyes. “Just don’t get hurt, and don’t hurt my girls.”
“Yes ma’am.” Pat promises.

We take a short tour of the gym, showing Pat around our dry-land workspace. We thank Sandra again for letting us bring Pat along, and head over to the pool.

The first thing Pat notices when we get to the pool is the giant banners of us on the Olympic podiums. I can tell by the way he starts chuckling.

“It’s a good thing you both look good in those pictures, huh? It’s everywhere.” He says.
I notice a small blush on Aubrey’s cheeks.
“Believe me, we’ve accepted that we just can’t get away from them. The whole city was plastered with these photos last summer. We couldn’t go anywhere without them showing up.”

Unfortunately, there’s a swim meet going on at the moment, so we’re not able to fully show Pat the pool. But he’s able to see from a distance where we train. It’s enough for now, considering we’ll be back in less than twenty four hours.

We finally get home, and I realize that I can’t wait to just relax into my own couch and bed for the first time in a week.

“It’s not Buffalo mansion, but it’s home.” I say, opening the door.
“It’s much bigger than I thought it would be.” Pat admits, taking in the open floor plan.
“We’re pretty lucky, it’s a nice apartment we got for a fairly cheap price.”

I show Pat to the guest room, right across the hall from Amy’s room. She isn’t home from her summer internship with a local film company yet, but she should be soon. We decide not to do anything until she comes home, so the three of us say goodbye to Chris and hang out for a while, talking about school and explaining to Pat what it’s like to be an NCAA athlete.

He’s surprised about the amount of Ohio State stuff we have around the apartment, which seems like a given to us. We’re Buckeyes through and through.

I notice at one point Aubrey and Pat are getting kinda close with each other, so I excuse myself to unpack and shower, which is more than okay with them.

When I come back into the kitchen, I find that Amy is home and already cooking dinner. She’s joking and laughing with Pat, which makes me excited. I love that my new friend is getting along with my family.

The four of us eat dinner together and spend the rest of the night hanging out. Eventually, Aubrey and I decide it’s time for bed, considering we’ve got another early morning practice tomorrow.

The next four days are almost exactly the same as each other. We wake up in time to get to the gym by nine. We spend half an hour on cardio, half an hour with weight training, forty five minutes of body weight training and gymnastics, and an hour on the tramps. We then break for lunch before heading over to the pool to do half an hour of swim cardio training and an hour of actual dive training.

To say watching Pat train with us is comical would be an understatement. Not surprisingly, he has no issues with the cardio, weights, or swimming. But gymnastics, trampoline, and diving are definitely not his strong suits. He gets through them, but he definitely wouldn’t do well in an actual competition setting.

The first day of training with Pat, Aubrey and I decide he has to jump off the ten meter platform. Pat isn’t so sure about it, but we walk up with him and make sure he gets to the end. Chris stays on the pool deck to capture the full jump into the water, and I take my handheld video camera up with us.

“Tor, seriously. I don’t think this is a good idea.” Pat pleads, inching away from the edge.
“Don’t be a baby, Pat!” I laugh. “It’s not even that high. Aubrey and I have jumped off cliffs twice this height before.”
“Because you’re insane!”

I laugh, but consider where Pat is coming from. He’s used to being on the ice. He’s used to skating at fast speeds. He’s used to slamming into someone else at a hard pace. But he isn’t used to being this high off the ground, jumping into a pool of water. I hand my camera to Aubrey and walk over to Pat’s side. I grab his hand in mine and give him a warm smile.

“Man up, Kane.” I joke. “Let’s go.”

He takes a deep breath, realizing he’s just not going to get out of this one. He turns to the edge and peaks over, his nose twitching a little. He lets his breath out slowly and closes his eyes.

“Alright. Let’s go.” He says.

The truth of the matter is, I can’t wait to see the video footage from this moment. It’s so absolutely hysterical on the way down that I almost forget to hold my breath. That would have been a fantastic headline.

“Olympic Diver Drowns Due To Laughing at NHL Star.”

Awesome.

The only thing that’s different between the rest of our days in Pittsburgh are the two nights that we have dinner with my families.

The first time Pat meets both sides of my family, he is completely overwhelmed. While I just had his grandparents, his parents and his sisters to meet, he’s got the entire McKinley and Dabrowski clans. Separately, of course.

My father’s family is first, including my own siblings. My father’s two sisters, Aunt Betsy and Aunt Rita, fawn over Pat’s good looks and gentlemanly charm. They pinch his cheeks like he’s a little kid, and talk about him behind his back like he’s the next coming of Jesus. It’s like I’m living in a twilight zone, considering they normally just ignore me and anyone I bring around. Not surprisingly, my twin cousins Bethany and Kristen both ogle Pat. The twenty five year olds can’t seem to keep men for longer than a year or two, and it’s easy to see why. They over-extend themselves flirting, and quite honestly it’s embarrassing. But that’s partially why I don’t really associate with this side of my family as much. They’re all over dramatic. I can tell right off the bat that Patrick isn’t comfortable in the situation, and we leave fairly early in the night.

My mother’s family, though, is an entirely different story. Since my mom is the oldest, almost all of my cousins on her side are either my age or younger than me. We’re all a lot closer to each other, and I think that stems from my grandparents. Bruno and Helen Dabrowski immigrated to the United States when they were teenagers from Warsaw, Poland. Within our family, they have instilled a multitude of both Polish and American ideals. Mainly, they stress the importance of family. Of both having and being a loving support system. I think it’s why so many of their grandchildren, including Aubrey and I, have been able to be successful already.

Pat seems to fit easily into this side of my family, and clicks instantly with my cousin James, his girlfriend Holly, my uncle Aron and his husband Dan. It doesn’t hurt that Dan is a huge hockey fan, and actually had Pat on his fantasy team last season. Pat helped him win his entire league, so Dan is most definitely a fan.

I’m actually relieved beyond words that he gets along with James. After Aubrey and Amy, he’s the cousin that I’m closest with. He’s also the most protective when any of the three of us introduce someone to the family. It’s a good sign that Pat has his approval, even if he is just a friend.

I think Pat gets confused the first time my grandfather starts speaking in fluent Polish and a bunch of us start up a conversation. It’s normal for us, but I always forget that most Americans aren’t practically bilingual.

“Motylku, your friend is confused.” My grandmother laughs in english.
“I forgot to warn him that we speak Polish together.” I admit, sending Pat an apologetic look.
“It’s kinda interesting, actually.” He chimes in with a smile. “I can’t really follow what’s going on, but I can still tell the dynamics and stuff. You guys are all really close.”

I smile, proud of my family.

“What does Motylku mean?” He asks, scooting closer to me.
“It means butterfly.” I explain. “It’s my family’s nickname for me.”
“Is that why you have a butterfly tattooed on your wrist?” He asks.
“You’re very perceptive, Mr. Kane.” I laugh. “But yes, it is.”
“The small Olympic rings on the back of your neck are self-explanatory. But what about the bird on your shoulder?”
“It’s the Polish falcon. The national symbol of Poland. It’s also on my necklace.”
“I’ve noticed that, actually. I just didn’t know what it was. And Aubrey has the same necklace. How long did the tattoo take? It’s so big.”
“Four hours, actually.” He whistles, long and low. “I know. It was torture. But I love it so much, it was totally worth it.”

He nods understandingly.

“Bree has a small frog on her wrist. And I’ve noticed you call her some nickname with a Z. Does it mean frog?” He asks.
“Zabko.” I smile. “Yeah, it means froggie.”
“Why froggie?”
“When we were really little and we would go to the pool, she would stand on the diving board and just jump up and down instead of jumping in. I, on the other hand, would try to fly in the air as high as I could before I fell into the pool. Thus, I became the butterfly and she became the frog.”
“That’s a cute story. I just call my sisters Pest One, Two and Three.” He chuckles.

Truth be told, it should have been a sign that Pat got along with my family so well. I should have realized that he snuck in completely unnoticed by almost everyone. But I didn’t. Not until my grandmother pulled me aside before we left to have a nice “chat” about him. I immediately burst into laughter at her questioning, and got a stern look in response. But honestly, I haven’t once thought about Pat that way. Sure, he’s more than welcome to become a part of my family. But as like another brother. Or a cousin-in-law.

The next morning, Aubrey, Pat and I set off to Dallas, where the newest reality TV show is being filmed.

Splash! is a reality competition show where celebrities compete against each other in a diving competition. My good friend, and fellow Olympian, David Boudia is one of the judges. And Greg Louganis, an American diving icon, is a mentor to the celebrities.

This week, the third week of the show’s competition, is centered completely around diving with someone else. The producers thought it would be a good idea to bring in the reigning Olympic bronze medalists in synchronized diving to be guest judges. It’s a fun idea, actually.

This afternoon, Aubrey and I are making surprise appearances at each of the celebrities’ final practices before the competition. We’re surprised to find out that they will be diving with some of the best junior divers, kids who are only ten to twelve years old.

The celebrities enjoy our surprise visit. Some of them enjoy getting to meet us, and spend their time getting to know us a little. Others, like actor Drake Bell, spend their time picking our brains. These are the ones I’m sure will go the farthest in the competition.

It’s fun to see the way some of them react to Pat as well. He isn’t on camera for the show, but he does talk to them when their cameras stop rolling. They’re all intrigued about our show, and promise to watch when it comes on.

When we’re done with our visits, the three of us head to a local steak house to meet up with David and Greg.

Seeing David feels like coming home. He’s always been such a good friend to me and being with him again is just natural. He pulls me into a hug almost immediately, the familiar smell of chlorine and old spice surrounding me.

He lets me go and I see Greg letting go of Bree at the same time. We do the awkward shuffle and switch dance partners for a quick moment. I introduce Pat to the duo, and we all order before getting deep into our conversation.

“So how was your experience with the show?” I ask, knowing he just recently spent two weeks with the snowboarder chick Aubrey mentioned before.

“It was..... interesting.” David starts. “Lily certainly wasn’t anything like what I was expecting.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, filing her name away in my brain.
“When you think about snowboarders, what do you think about?” He asks.
“I don’t know. Sean White is the only one I’ve ever heard about.” I admit.
“Well from what I’ve heard about them, I usually think about the crazy group of daredevils who party a lot. They get drunk and go crazy. That’s what they do every Olympics, and that’s all I know about them.”
“But this Lily wasn’t like that?” I clarify.
“No, not at all. I mean, she’s the two time defending Olympic gold medalist. The youngest Olympic champion in snowboarding history. But she’s not at all like what I expected.”
“Wait....” Pat interrupts, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. “Lily Rivers?”
“Yeah.” David confirms.
“Like, THE Lily Rivers?”
“Yes. Why?”

Pat’s face goes bright red and I can see a memory flashing in his brain.

“I- uh.... I know her. Well, I’ve met her. Before. In Vancouver.”
“Sounds like you’ve more than met her, Pat...” I laugh.
“No, no. Not like that.” He sends a nervous glance at Aubrey. “I just... well, she won the gold in Vancouver. And White won the gold too. And so the entire Team USA house partied. And we all got drunk....”
I snort, thinking about a drunken Pat. I’m not surprised, though. The House can get rowdy after a gold medal win.
“Don’t snort at me, Tori.” Pat chastises. “She did a body shot off me. That’s it.”

Aubrey’s face visibly relaxes and Pat’s shoulders lose some of their tension. David and I just laugh.

“I honestly, don’t believe you.” David says with conviction in his words. “She doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who would have ever done a body shot. She doesn’t seem like someone who parties at all, truthfully.”
“Maybe she’s changed?” Pat suggests. “I don’t know. I’ve never met her other than that. But I swear she did. In Vancouver, after winning her gold.”
“She mentioned that her mother passed away a couple moths after Vancouver. Maybe that has something to do with it...” David trails off.

Suddenly, I feel nothing but sorrow for this girl I’ve never met before. I couldn’t imagine losing my mother. Even though I’ve got so much other family, she’s my number one lifeline. My heart and soul.

“So what else was it about her?” I ask David, trying to get the tightness out of my chest.
“It was just weird, you know? She was very reserved up until we were in Colorado. Like she wasn’t sure if she could trust me or not. But then she kinda opened up a little more. She told me about spending time in Russia with her NHL friend, Malkin? Pat, do you know him?”
Pat snorts.
“Yeah, I know Malkin.” He says simply, rolling his eyes.
“Apparently they’re really close. She’s his mother’s favorite person in the world. And she talks about him like he’s the king of the world.”
I smile, thinking about my team’s beloved Russian.

“He is one of the best players in the league. And he plays for the best team in the world.” I declare.
“That’s what Lily said, too.”
“Um, excuse me. What?” Pat asks, bewildered.
“Patty, I love you dearly. You’re a great friend and I’m so glad I’ve had the chance to get to know you. But Geno is second in the world only to Sid.”
“Uh. No.” Pat says, putting his fork down to look at me. “You’re officially coming to Chicago during your fall break and I’m going to introduce you to the greatest team in the league. And the two best players in the world. Well, you already know one of them.” He pops a cocky smile and I shake my head.
“Pat, you’re pretty damn good. But you’re not number one.” I say, rolling my eyes.
“No, I’m the second best. Tazer is the best.”
I laugh at my goofy blonde friend.
“Whatever you say, Kaner.”

“But seriously, was your experience at least good?” Pat asks David.
“It was. Like I said, Lily wasn’t at all what I expected. But she’s a great girl and I think we’ve got a decent relationship now.”
“Did she struggle with diving?” I ask.
“Oh yeah.” He laughs, thinking about it for half a second. “I never thought about it this way, but those extreme sports athletes are taught at a young age to never ever land on their head. Land on anything else, but not your head. So the thought of going into the water head first scared her a little.”

“Rory Bushfield is having the same problem in the competition.” Greg pipes up. “He’s an extreme skier and he’s struggling to go head-first.”
“Yeah. It’s a shame, too. He’s got all the guts to go off the ten. He’s got the body awareness to try the flips and twists. He just can’t go in head first.” David adds.

The five of us enjoy the rest of our steak dinners, and Pat wins the hard fight for the bill. I’m not too upset though, once I see how much it is. Pat’s got a nice multi-million dollar contract plus sponsorships. All I’ve got is most of a college education and enough money to pay my share of the rent for both apartments until graduation. Plus some extra spending money for when I want to treat myself.

The next morning, the three of us go for a long run through Dallas before heading over to the studio to tape the show. It’s really cool, actually. They have it set up so that we’re sitting right next to the pool where the celebrities will get out.

Aubrey and I have to get there a little earlier than everyone else, because we’ve got a nice surprise for everyone and have to make sure we’re ready to go.

The live audience is brought in, and Pat takes his seat in the front row with the contestants’ families. Greg begins his welcoming speech, and explains the theme for the week- partner diving. He then goes on to talk about the United States’s history in synchronized diving, ending with the bronze medal in London.

“And here tonight, a special treat for our competitors and all of you, please welcome Victoria McKinley and Aubrey Wright!”

The crowd cheers and Bree and I wave before setting up for our showcase dive.

“Jeden, dwa, trzy.” I say, counting out for us.

We successfully complete our dive together and when we climb out of the pool, David and Steve Foley, the other judge, are both giving us a standing ovation.

“Perfect ten!” David jokes.

The rest of the competition is exciting. The contestants are fantastic, and the kids they’re paired with are just as impressive. By the end, Drake Bell and Katherine Webb are the top scorers. Unfortunately, Kendra Wilkinson withdraws from the competition due to personal reasons. That makes our jobs easy, since we don’t have to send someone home.

Aubrey and I stick around a little while after the competition is over, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans who were in the audience. It’s nice to meet so many young kids who are interested in our sport. It makes me feel like I’ve actually accomplished something with my life. Like I’ve got a higher purpose than just winning a couple medals.

I tell Pat this when he’s got his camera in my face afterwards, sitting in our shared hotel suite sharing an ice cream sundae between the three of us. Aubrey agrees with me, and Pat seems like he understands.

Eventually, we’re tired out. We say our good nights and split to our respective rooms. I pull out my camera and Bree and I get set up to do our last video diary.

“I think it’s just starting to hit me that today was our last day with Pat.” I admit.
“Me too.” Bree agrees. “I’ve only known him for a week, but it’s like he’s been a part of our lives forever.”
“Completely. He just fit right in. And tomorrow he’ll be on a plane back home to Buffalo, and we’ll be on a plane to Pittsburgh.”

Bree and I look at each other sadly.

“Can we just kidnap him and keep him with us?” I ask.
She snorts.
“Yes please!”
“Dear Chicago, I’m sorry to tell you that we’re holding your beloved winger captive from now on. We will not be offering an opportunity to exchange him for ransom. Because honestly, we’re just not willing to give him up. Sorry.
“...Actually, we’re not sorry.” Bree adds. “Over and out.”

She reaches over to turn off the camera and as soon as it’s stopped recording we burst into giggles.

“You two are dorks.” Pat’s voice sounds from the door. “If you really think Chicago will let you kidnap me, you’re crazy.”
“Hey! Spy!” Bree jokes.
“We just don’t wanna say goodbye.” I admit.
Pat sighs and crosses the room, collapsing into the bedding on our king between us.
“It isn’t ‘goodbye’, you crazy girls.” He says. “It’s ‘see you later.’ I’ve got Hawks tickets with your names on them whenever you want to come to Chicago. And I’ve got connections in both Columbus and Pittsburgh. So when I’m playing there, I’ll have tickets for you.”

“I guess that’s acceptable.” I say.
Aubrey just sighs.
“You’re not getting rid of me this easy.” He promises. “I heard Helen wants me as part of the family already. And I kinda like you McKinley/Wrights.”
“Good.” Aubrey says.

Both of us snuggle into Pat’s sides automatically, and he wraps his arms around us. I sigh, and snuggle even closer. It's so strange how in just two weeks this random stranger has completely stolen my heart. Enough that I'm completely okay with him sharing a hotel room bed with us. He leans over and kisses Aubrey's forehead before turning to do the same to me.

“Night, Patty.”

Notes

I'm so incredibly sorry for how long this has taken me to post.

Mainly, I've been struggling with real life. And writing has had to go on the back burner. But also, I've hit a couple rough patches with writer's block. And that sucks big monkey nuts.

Unfortunately, between school, my internship, work, and trying not to fail my senior year of college...... I really just don't seem to have any time to myself anymore.

I'll give you a small preview for the next two chapters, just so you don't all give up.
(I PROMISE THERE'S HOCKEY COMING!!!!)

In the next chapter, Tori will be going back to school. But it will also cover the beginning of the 2013/2014 hockey season.

The chapter after that, Tori will be attending TWO live hockey games. One in Chicago, and one in Pittsburgh. And she will be meeting her leading man!!!! (hehe that's a HUGE hint. But not at all at the same time. I'm mean.)

Anyways. I hope you're all still interested in this story. I know it's building slow, and I hope that makes it somewhat intriguing for you all. I'm doing my best to write when I can, so I can update more often than every THREE WEEKS. (again, I'm sorry!) Comments really help. They make me realize that people are actually interested in reading, and that makes me want to write.