The Lonely Hour

Chapter 17: Head In The Game

What are you doing?" Jonathan questions Patrick as he enters the room. A white towel clung to his waist, pushing his damp hair back he dug through his duffle bag for underwear and a pair of shorts.

"I called her" Patrick says, enthusiasm filled his voice"'I called her" He repeated as if he didn't believe that he actually talked to Ella.

"You called her?" Jonathan questioned

"She texted me wanting to meet at when we landed in Chicago than I called her."

"This all happened while I was in the shower?" Jon laughed.

"As soon as we touch down I get to see her" Patrick mumbled dreamily, he had yet to move from lying on his back on the bed.

"I'm happy for you, I really am Pat but she can't be distracting you from hockey. You know what the ultimate goal is" Jonathan says. In a way Patrick knew he was right. No girl should come between him and the thing he wanted the most, his ultimate goal, the Stanley cup. From the first season with Jonathan they would talk till two in the morning about how amazing it would be to lift the thirty five pounds of silver. Together they would fantasize the feeling and describe how unexplainable it would be.

But another part of him thought maybe Jonathan was a little jealous for their normal conversations had now always turned down the path of Ella. Patrick knew Jonathan well, he knew how good Jon was at hiding his feelings and he felt that this was one of those times.

"Jon I promise, the moment she gets in the way she's gone" Patrick says to calm Jon's nerves, he didn't need this the night before their last road game.

"Good" Jon mumbles as he get's under the covers. Like every road trip the two of them were in their beds by nine thirty and like always Patrick would turn the lamp off and the two would drift off to sleep while.

-

"Go!Go!Go!" Jonathan yells as his line jumps over the boards to take their shift, Patrick following behind.

A bad turnover by Patrick in the neutral zone caused a three on one, bruins cashed in on his mistake.

Patrick lashed out using vulgar words that could even be heard through the mouth piece he was wearing. Now the bruins where leading 2-1 and he might have just cost his team the game.

"We'll get it back boys, we'll get it back" Jon says as they replay the goal on the screen

"Aw fuck me!" Patrick groaned as he took a seat next to Jonathan on the bench. Patrick didn't screw up during a hockey game often but now that he did and he cost the game.

"Don't be so hard on yourself" Jonathan says. That was the thing about Jonathan, he was always there for Patrick, maybe mre than Patrick was there for him.

The team had lost their last road game and returned to Chicago to take on the blues, a team that they were building a rivalry with.

Patrick quickly shook the loss off as he boarded the flight home, as for Jonathan, the whole team knew better than to talk to him after a loss. Hockey was Jonathan's life, more so than anyone on the team. He lived and breathed the sport. It was as if ice, itself, pumped through his veins. His heart belonged in the rink, it's where his soul would find rest. A loss to him wasn't just a loss. It was a mind battle of 'I could've done this, I should've shot, I should've passed, I should've been in this spot. Should've, would've, could've'

When the plane touched down it was ten o'clock. Patrick quickly gathered his bag and beat the rest of the team off the plane. Zig zaging through the crowd, he made It outside to the frigid Chicago temperature. Quickly he hailed a can and told him the address. Arriving at his apartment, Patrick struggled to grab the right key with shaking fingers.

When he finally does unlock his door he throws his bag into a closet and begins cleaning until there is knock on the door. She was here. This was his chance.