Silver Lining

The next morning when they woke up, Patrick's arms were still wrapped around her. He had his hand on her bare hip still. She smiled to herself when she felt his thumb rub up and down on her skin.
"Good morning." he said softly.
"Good morning Patrick." she whispered to him. They were quiet for a while longer before speaking again.
"When do you fly out?" she asked.
"Tomorrow around 4" he responded.
"Practice?"
"Optional."

They got out of bed a little later and made their way into Patrick's kitchen. He started the coffee maker and set out two mugs for them, then came back and stood across from Aspen at his kitchen island.
"Do you have anything you need to do today?"
"I have to get some stuff for my classroom and get started setting it up." Aspen said. Patrick gave her a confused look.
"You're a teacher?" he asked. She nodded.
"Its the end of September, shouldn't you teaching by now?" he asked with the same confused look.
"Its a new school, and won't be open for about two more weeks. It's being built as an overflow school for a few elementary schools that have way too many kids." she explained. The coffee finished, and Patrick brought a cup of it over to her. They moved to his couch and talked more about the school situation while finishing their coffee. When they were done, they decided to head back over to Aspen's apartment. Patrick quickly ran through the shower and got cleaned up before they left.

They arrived at the apartment and Aspen grabbed her dress and shoes from the previous night and they made their way up to Aspen's floor. She was afraid that Patrick would laugh at all of the Blackhawks merch she had around her apartment, and would think she was weird. They got to her door, and wearily opened it, afraid to see the damage from the previous night's events. They were both really surprised to what they found. Corey Crawford and Brandon Saad were seated at the island while Ellie and Jessica were making breakfast in front of them. They were all laughing and talking with each other, they didn't even acknowledge that Patrick and Aspen had walked in. The pair walked into the kitchen when Jess and Ellie saw them.
"Hey Aspen!" Jessica smiled when she looked up from what she was making. Everyone else turned to look and said their hellos. Patrick introduced Aspen to Brandon and Corey and Aspen did the same for Jessica and Ellie for Patrick. The group continued their conversation while the girls, now including Aspen, cooked. Once all of the eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes were finished, everyone fixed their plates and found a place to sit and eat. The boys ended up cleaning everything after a long nd hard fought battle of rock paper scissors between Corey and Jessica. Aspen found it really surprising that the pairs of one-night-standers were getting along so well. She figured that when she arrived home, they would already be gone or about to be and didn't want to stick around at all.

Once all of the dishes were done and put away, the large group of friends and teammates sat in Ellie and Aspen's living room talking. After about an hour of that, Corey had something to take care of at his condo and had to leave. Him and Ellie exchanged numbers and he met a cab out front. Brandon soon followed, also giving Jessica his number and taking a cab to his place. The girls excused themselves from Patrick and Aspen.
"So do you need help getting your classroom set up?" he asked.
"I could use it, but you don't have to." she said
"I don't have anything better to do, and I would love to help you." he said, flashing her his killer smile.
"Well, be my guest then. I'll go get ready and then we'll go. " she said. He nodded and she got up from the couch next to him and went up the stairs to her bedroom. She showered and got ready quickly, wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans and big sweatshirt from the University of Illinois with black toms.
"Ready?" she asked when she was ready to go. He stood up and they walked outside back to his car and she directed him to a shopping center with a Target and Mardels. In both stores, she got appropriate posters for first graders, name tags for desks, quite a bit on printer paper and construction, new activity and lesson planning books and the rest of the essentials of a classroom. This would be her first year as an actual teacher with an actual classroom and she couldn't be happier. She probably wouldn't have gotten a job this year if there wasn't a need for the new school. With so many budget cuts in the Chicago Public Schools going on, no teachers were leaving other schools out of fear of not finding another position.

Once Aspen had spent all the money the school had given her plus 200 of her own money, her and Patrick were driving to her school. It was located about 5 blocks away from Wrigley field and in the middle of the neighborhood there. It would have Kindergarten through 5th grade, each grade with four classes of around 20-25 kids. They arrived at the school and unloaded all of the new stuff and brought it to the classroom. Aspen already had a few things on her walls and around the classroom, but for the most part it was still pretty unorganized. They emptied the bags and separated everything into piles. Aspen quickly realized how much work this was going to be and was really glad Patrick came to help. Aspen put on some music, and the pair got started.

About five hours later, most of the classroom was put together. The bulletin boards were ready for student work, desks in order, and bookshelves filled. Aspen really liked the way her classroom looked and couldn't wait to finally be a teacher. She'd wanted to teach for as long as she could remember and it was finally becoming real. She was also going to be regularly paid and wouldn't have to worry if a trip to the grocery store was going to get her in trouble with the bank. She'd had a few small jobs during college, but they barely paid for her rent, gas, and food. This is Aspen had been waiting on since she was 15, to be out of school and on her own. She smiled at her classroom before leaving and her and Patrick made their way back downtown.

"You wanna grab something to eat?" he asked her. It was around 7p.m. and they hadn't eaten since breakfast. Aspen quickly realized how hungry she was and agreed.
"Pizza?" she asked.
"Good choice. Uno's?"
"Due's would probably be better, same menu as Uno's, a lot less crowded." Aspen responed.
"Seven years living here and I've never thought about that." he said, looking over at her and smiling. She smiled back and they found a spot, paid the meter and walked to the restuarant. Due's was owned by the same people as Uno's and had the same menu, same restuarant layout, just hella less crowded. There could be an hour and half wait at Uno's and at Due's you could sit right down.

The two of them shared a medium half cheese half peperroni and talked about this that and the other for about 3 hours. They didn't realize how much time had passed until they walked outside and it was dark.
"You've got a mouth on you, don't you?" Pat asked, nudging her with his shoulder as they walked.
"Me? You're the one who adds every damn detail to everything you talk about." she said, nudging him back.
"Whatever. You're just jealous of my charming good looks." he said, running a hand through his curls and shaking them out.
"Oh I'm jealous, right. At least I can keep hockey sticks out of my mouth." she said laughing and gesturing to his recent scar he got in the team game during Training Camp Fest.
"You've got me there." he said, laughing back and putting his arm around her shoulders. They continued their walk to the car before getting in and driving back to Aspen's place.
"You're welcome to come in and hang out." Aspen said. Patrick checked the time.
"Eh, why not." he said, winking at her and then getting out. They walked inside and made their way up. Aspen found a note on the fridge saying that Ellie had gone out with a few friends from college, so it was only Patrck and Aspen in the apartent. She suggested that they go out to the terrace, to which he agreed and they went out. Her and Patrick decided to lay together in the hammock and look for stars in the Chicago sky. Most of the "stars" they say ended up being airplanes, but there were a few out that the lights from the city couldn't cancel out. Aspen curled into Patrick as the night grew colder and he pulled her closer to stay warm. They continued their conversations from dinner about whatever they could think of for a few more hours. When Aspen started yawning and nearly drifting to sleep, Patrick figured it was about time for him to get back to his place. They got out of the hammock and went back down to Patrick's car, where he wrapped her in a big hug.
"This has been a mighty fine 24 hours, Aspen." he said to her.
"Best I've had in a while." she said smiling up at him.
"You know, I still don't have your number though, and I think that may be a problem." he said. She smiled and rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out, letting him put his number in hers and vice versa. He smiled and hugged her tight again, rubbing her back. They pulled away from each other and Patrick got in his car and left, leaving Aspen inside. She went in after his card turned onto another street and went to her room. After she had taken her makeup off, washed her face, put her hair up, changed into pajamas, and got into bed, there was a text from her newest contact.
P>Had a great time today.
A>Me too.
P> Idk how long I can go without seeing that pretty face of yours.
A>Hurry back from Dallas;)
P>How about you send me a picture to hold me over until then.
A>Already taken my makeup off, not sure you'll think the same about me.
P>Nonsense.
A>Do I have to
P>Yeah
A>Fine. Hold on
P>(:
Aspen got on her snapchat and used the front flash to take a picture of herself. She took a few and finally got one she was satisfied with. She saved it and then went back to her messages and sent it to him.
A>Happy?
P>As a clam
A>You're a dork
P>You're tired, you don't know what you're saying ;)
A> I'm rolling my eyes
P> Goodnight Aspen

Patrick was in his bed and smiling goofily at his phone. He loved joking with her and trying to get a rise from her. He loved the way her smirk looked on her face, and could see it on her face as they texted. He saved the picture he sent her and went to his wallpaper settings, where he chose his most recent picture, her face. He set it as his home screen background, looked at it, and then locked his phone and turned off his bedside lamp, soon falling asleep.

Aspen did almost the exact same thing. After Patrick texted her the last time, she plugged her phone into the charger and played her playlist that helped her sleep, turned off her light and let sleep over take her.

Notes

Two chapters a week apart, you guys are lucky I had a long weekend;)

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Thanks for reading, hope yall like it.