6:07

He's late. And alone. And he's still kind of hoping that girl's there.

And as he slides his phone into the pocket of his suit, brushing off the fabric before pulling the door open, he can already see her from across the room. Not that's she's too hard to spot, considering everyone else in the room is staring at her too. Except, the wives and sisters and girlfriends start the gentle slapping every once and a while, returning their glances to their respective dates.

The room explodes into called out welcomes.

He sends waves in general directions, making sure to shake the hands of coaches, saying hello to their wives and kids, all that proper stuff. And, throughout everything, his eyes wander throughout the room, catching the glances or smiling - one even coming from the mystery girl herself.

He takes a minute to finish the 'hello's and 'nice to see you's, sending side glances in her direction, watching as she smiled lightly, redirecting her glance downwards.

"I'm assuming you're Patrick Kane?" a voice came from behind, turning to see the one he'd been glancing at all night.

A moment of silence precedes his response, a hand lifting to brush over the back of his neck, only managing to curl his mouth into a smirk. "The one and only," he finally managed to reply, "I guess my reputation precedes me."

"Yeah, you could say that... my brother talks about you a lot; he's actually running late. And, uh, now that you mention it, a few of my friends do too," she broke out into a smile, triggering his own to grow, arms dropping to slide into his pockets as a mild chuckle passed through chapped lips.

"Ohhh I see how it is," he replied, chuckling as he did so, "So who's your-"

"Everyone, team picture!" Coach yelled, motioning everyone in around the Blackhawks banner in the back.

"But Tazer's not here yet!" Bickell called out, but coach waved it off.

"His fault for being late!"

Glancing over at the nameless blonde, Kaner held out his arm with a smile, walking her over as she looped her's through his own with a mirrored grin. Hopping in between her and Richards', his arm around his wife, he watched as the click of the flash went off several times until the photographer seemed satisfied enough to wave them off.

---

"No! No way, you were not a Leafs fan!" A hand lifted to cover his eyes, shaking his head as she laughed at his reaction, attempting to explain previous choice in hockey team.

"Hey, my favourite uncle was a fan! I couldn't help it; don't judge me based on my misguided taste in hockey teams!"

They'd been talking for about an hour now, learning that her name was Allison, she was twenty-three, and going to Harvard business school. So, yeah, definitely out of his league - Seabrook was right. But, thank God her brother hadn't showed yet; she didn't have anyone to hang around but him. Which, of course, he couldn't complain about. He hadn't really gotten sick of the bursts of laughter, the cute smiles, and playful punches to the arm.

"Hey, where do you think the bathroom is?"

And that's how they ended up wandering the otherwise empty building, stumbling into the wrong rooms, until they eventually found an old staff room with a usable bathroom.

"Finally!" he laughed, sweeping his arms in the direction of the entrance, "The highly anticipated washroom."

She put on a mock show of gratitude, placing her hands on her shoulder with an over-exaggerated look of worship, "Thank you so much, Lord Patrick Kane; it's been an honour."

"Been, what, are you planning to climb out the window and ditch me?" a hand slapped over his chest, feigning a look of insult but having a smirk gradually break through the facade.

"Of course not; how could I abandon someone who's been looking out for me all day," the false expressions faded, leaving behind a genuine smile.

"So you saw me this morning at practice?" he blushed slightly, faint smirk still in tact as they maintained eye contact for a few more moments.

"Well, you were turned a full 180 in your seat yet conveniently looked away whenever I looked down," she smirked, hands dropping to her side as she averted her glance to the floor. "I'm just shocked you didn't seem to notice me staring back."

The silence remained, his eyes locked on her as she held her gaze to the floor, his hand eventually moving to lift her chin to return their eye contact. Several moments of silenced passed before either made a move, the staring contest dragging on until her hands slowly lifted without hesitation, cupping his face in her hands as she pulled his lips down to meet her.

Gradually, the kisses intensified, until he'd snaked his arms around her, hands on her waist guiding her back against the wall. His chapped lips brushed against her own, their kisses ranging from deep to gentle, as though they were unsure of where they stood. Moments passed, her hands having glided over his torso and shoulders, eventually returning to curl around his neck, holding him close against her in return.

It seemed like they stayed like that for hours, his mind never once drifting to the fact that her mystery brother could have arrived and could very well kill him for this. Or the fact that the whole team, who no doubt had kept tabs on the two since his scene at the arena, was probably monitoring how long they'd been gone.

But, eventually, when memory of where they were most likely set in again, he opened his eyes to meet her's, her forehead rested against his as they regained breath.

"Okay, confession: I didn't really ever plan on going to the washroom."

She'd broken the silence, triggering a hushed chuckle from him, lips brushing one last time against her own before he loosened his grip. He watched as her lips curled into a smirk, bottom lip caught between her teeth.

God, he was definitely in love.

(Okay, mild understatement, but it was all in the heat of the moment.)

"Since we're trashing the whole bathroom break plan, we should probably head back... y'know, before the whole team starts chirping," he smirked, stepping back a bit with her hand caught in his, pulling her forwards as she pouted. They'd gradually left their moment in the staff room, returning back whatever way they'd wandered.

---

"Jonny!" he heard her call out, feeling the light grip she'd maintained on his arm release as she stepped over to Toews, his heart pounding as she watched him embrace her in a hug. Oh God, no. This couldn't be the new girlfriend he was talking about. He couldn't have just gotten steamy with his good friend's girlfriend in an old staff room. God, no.

"Hey, Tazer!" he smirked, walking over to join the too a little more reluctantly.

"Kaner! Hey, sorry I'm late," he smirked back, clearly not suspecting anything as he rested a hand on Allison's arm, averting his glance to her, "Has this guy been good to you?"

"Uh, yeah, you could say that," she replied as Jonathan glanced over at him with a grin, not seeing that she was also glancing at him, biting her damn lip again.

Dear God, please don't let this girl be his girlfriend.

"Good, I felt bad enough dragging my baby sister over here and then showing up way late... do you think coach'll be mad?"

Well, at least she wasn't the girlfriend.

Notes

this one's a bit long & i know it's not the most descriptive but i didn't wanna drag it out. thanks to everyone who commented and send me asks on tumblr, i really appreciate it! :)