The Hockey Life - A Patrick Kane Fanfic

Part Forty-Seven - Stanley Cup Summer

PART FORTY-SEVEN: STANLEY CUP SUMMER

As I had expected, the rest of June and most of July meant a lot of fun for my friends and I. Plenty of days were spent at the beach or walking around the city. If I wasn’t in Chicago, I was at my parents’ place. Brian and I spent a lot of time at the ice rink we grew up at. It was open for skating basically at all times - summer, spring, fall, or winter - and recreational teams for anyone went on during the summer, which gave me a summer job. I worked part time as a trainer, although the injuries were rare and usually small for the younger teams that I worked with. Brian spent time with the teams too, and we were a pretty good brother-sister duo. The job was fun. I didn’t get paid much, but it was better than nothing. I added it to savings so Tess and I could hopefully get a much nicer apartment in the near future. We both were over the whole tiny living space feeling that we dealt with all throughout college, even after we were out of the dorms.

Once the end of July came, it was time for the annual Blackhawks convention. Naturally, Dylan and I were going, and the other interns had promised to show up too. It was a really fun, exciting event for me, since it was the first convention I had been to. I expected a lot, especially after a Stanley Cup win. I wasn’t let down. There was plenty of great entertainment, especially when it came to Patrick and Jonathan. I got to watch them have a hilarious dance-off, and I of course took a video on my phone so I could send it to them at any given time to taunt them.

It felt like Patrick and I left for Buffalo as soon as the convention ended. He had a summer house there, so he usually spent his summers there after the convention so he could be with his family. This time I was coming with him. I had already spent plenty of time with his parents and sisters, it seemed, what with all the events in Chicago. I had gotten pretty close to his family, and I knew by the time hockey season started again, they’d almost be a second family to me.

“Do you think Tess is going to miss you while you’re gone?” Patrick asked when we arrived at his parents’ place in Buffalo. Even though he had his own place there, he usually spent most of his time at his old home.

“Probably not,” I laughed. “She’ll be too preoccupied with Jonathan.”

The Kane family welcomed me back into their home like I was a family member that lived in a different country. They were always excited to see me, especially Pat’s sisters. Since I didn’t have any real sisters, it was nice to have them around. They treated me like a sister, and I was thankful for that. As much as I loved Brian, I did like the feeling of having three girls to shop with while simultaneously embarrassing and making fun of Patrick. That was what sisters were for, right?

At the end of August, Patrick finally got his day with the cup. That was a busy, eventful day full of photo shoots. Out of all the things I did with Patrick that day, I have to say that my favorite was hoisting the cup with him. He never let me handle it since it was a little heavy (thirty-five pounds, to be exact), but when he was there to help, it was a different story. He carried most of the weight, but I could tell that unless you were a Stanley Cup champion with adrenaline and pride pumping through your veins, it was a lot to carry. Well, it would be for a lightweight like me, anyways.

Once September arrived, the vacation was over. It was about time to put celebrating on hold until the next time the Hawks won the Stanley Cup. Patrick and I both returned to Chicago, and Tess came back too. After I had gotten so used to being in nice houses surrounded by extremely kind and loving people, I had to get re-accustomed to living with Tess in our tiny apartment. No offense to Tess, it was just that she was rude to me all the time, even though it was always just a joke.

“So how was your vacation with the Toews family?” I asked as I unpacked my bags. I had just gotten back from Buffalo while Tess had been back at our apartment for a couple days. She sat on my bed while I put stuff away since she had already done so with her own things.

“It was fun. I like having a brother,” she said, referring to Jonathan’s younger brother, David.

“I like having sisters,” I commented.

“Oh, so you don’t like Brian?” Tess raised her eyebrows at me.

“Of course I like Brian, it’s just that I’ve always had him. This whole sister thing is new.”

“Having a sister is new to you, huh?” she asked.

“Come on, Tess! You’re killing me here! I meant the whole three sisters to help me make fun of my boyfriend thing. And I’ve always had you too. I’m used to you,” I reminded her.

“Alright, fine. I’ll stop harassing you.”

“Good. So does your second family like you?” I wondered. She was newer to Jonathan’s family than I was to Patrick’s family, so I hadn’t really been filled in on her situation with them.

“Well they’re not exactly my second family yet. I’ve been with Jonathan for a little over two months, not eight like you and Patrick. They’ve known me for a much shorter period of time, but they do seem to like me. Jonathan swears they love me, actually,” she told me.

“That’s great!” I smiled.

“Yep. And you know what else would be great?” she continued.

“What?”

“Getting the hell out of this ridiculous apartment.”

“True. When’s our lease up again?”

“The end of March, I think.” I frowned at Tess’ answer.

“It’s that far away?”

“Yeah, unfortunately. We’re lucky our boyfriends have nicer places for us to stay at every once in a while,” Tess decided.

“So you and Johnny are having sleepovers already?” This time I was raising my eyebrows suspiciously at her.

“Yes. I mean, not sexy sleepovers…we just sleep. I want to take things kinda slow with him. I don’t want to start that type of thing too early and screw things up.”

“You sound a lot like me, Tess,” I told her.

“Oh, shut up.”

I finished unpacking my bags and smiled at an obnoxious Snapchat from Patrick. We had only been away from each other for a few hours and he was already finding excuses to contact me again. We seriously never got sick of each other. When we did, it would only be for a short amount of time while one of us was mad at the other, but we forgave each other easily. I guess we were one of THOSE couples, but luckily Tess couldn’t make fun of us for that anymore since her and Jonathan were quickly becoming one of those couples too. It was a lot of fun for us to both be dating. Usually it was just one or the other, and the taken one would feel bad and think the single one felt left out, etc. But now, we went on double dates and there was no jealously or loneliness. Plus, we both were almost always happy. This was a good thing for us, and I really hoped it would last for a while.

Sorry that this chapter was a bit boring. It was basically a filler chapter. I know they're not the best chapters, but they're necessary. The next one should be a little more interesting! Anyways, vote if you liked it and leave me some comments :)