nineteen (Jonathan Toews)

sixteen

It was now Christmas Eve and Patrick was at our apartment for dinner. The team had a game on the 26th so we didn't want to have to go home for a day and then fly back to Chicago. Jon's family was coming to the Winter Classic and I think mine was too, so we agreed to have a late Christmas then.

I felt a little bad for Patrick. He lived alone so he wouldn't have anyone to spend Christmas with, except us and the team of course. His family was planning on flying out here but their flight got cancelled because of snow in New York.

The three of us were all sitting around the fireplace, just talking and laughing. "Oh my gosh, do you remember that one time-" I started laughing and couldn't finish my sentence right away. I took a deep breath to calm myself enough to tell the story. "That time when Patrick, you were early to the team dinner and you went to the wrong restaurant in Colorado and sat with the wrong team?" I bursted into a fit of giggles again, the two boys laughing along with me.

"Hey, in my defense I told the lady I was here with my hockey team!" He exclaimed, trying to defend himself.

Jonathan chimed in. "You ended up staying there for a half hour because you thought the Avs were in the wrong place, not you!"

We all bursted into laughter again. I took a sip of my hot chocolate once I calmed down. "Only you, Patrick."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He challenged. "You wanna go?"

"Try me," I shot back.

Patrick came at me and we pretended to wrestle a little bit before I started laughing again and ended up lying on the ground while Pat and Jonny sat on the couch above me.

Our laughter died down and Jonny got up to use the bathroom. As soon as he was out of earshot, Patrick started interrogating me. "So, how are you and Jon?" He asked with a mischievous smirk.

I felt heat rushing to my cheeks and I sat up. "What do you mean?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "You know what I mean. Come on Alex, don't play dumb with me. I see the way you're looking at him tonight."

I looked him in the eyes and I just couldn't lie to Pat. "I mean, I guess lately I've been feeling different..." I trailed off.

"I knew it!" Pat gasped. "You have to tell him," he encouraged.

I looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you kidding me? He would never feel the same way."

Patrick gave me a pointed look. "You- we will finish this conversation later," he whispered as Jon walked back into the room.

"What did I miss?" He asked as he sat down on the floor next to me so our shoulders and legs were touching.

I felt my face heating up again so I said, "Nothing, just Patrick being an idiot as usual."

"Hey!" Patrick protested. "I'm getting hungry," he announced. "Can we order something?"

"Yeah sure, go order some Chinese food or something, I don't really care," I replied. I was getting hungry too.

Patrick got off the couch and left the room. I laid back down on the floor and stretched my arms above my head. Jonathan followed suit and laid next to me.

I turned my head to look at him. "Hi," I said with a grin plastered on my face from all the laughing we did tonight. I took in his features from this close up, feeling butterflies in my stomach as his eyes surveyed mine.

"Hi," he replied back quietly, his facial expression mirroring mine.

I felt myself start to blush so I turned away and stared up at the ceiling, letting out a sigh. "What are we doing tomorrow?" I tried to make conversation to distract myself from his soft brown eyes.