The Greatest Assist (Patrick Kane)

39| Prince Charming

Chelsea

When I was a little girl I used to dream about falling in love. I had it all planned out, how our eyes would meet and how our words were so specifically chosen and special. And times were never all that hard, it was a happily ever after at the end of every day. I never questioned the love I would feel or if he was really the one. When you're young things like that are possible, almost expected even. We all had our prince's picked out as we sat by the window waiting for him to come sweep us off our feet.

And as you get older you realize sitting there with your head out of a window waiting for life to happen is no way to live. Not everyone's Prince is out there and even fewer find their way to the Princess's. Eventually I started to wonder if he was even out there. If this guy I made up in my mind even existed. Granted at that age every prince has the blonde hair and blue eyes because that's what little girls go for, naturally. But as I got older and my prince started to change I realize it didn't matter his hair or eye color. Because those aren't things that's people can control, it's not something that is in their hands. I started to look at guys and the way they lived their lives. Did they help take care of their siblings or grandparents when they needed to, do they spend money on memories or insensitive pieces of jewelry that have no real value to it?

The more questions I asked the more I realized that my prince wasn't real. There was no guy who would meet this insane standard that I had from my younger years. But that's okay because when I fell in love it wasn't a guy who had everything I loved. I fell in love with what he was, not what I wanted him to be. All the things that were once issues I now see were just tests to make us stronger, to make us better.

And now we're here, almost six months into our relationship and we still don't know where we stand. We confessed feelings, we talked for hours about how we got here and where do we go. But neither of us know what to do because these feelings are new and this territory is uncharted. Even though we love each other very much we live in a world where dating right now is a bit of a reach. He wants to focus on hockey and I want to focus on helping him be the best person he can be. And the only way we can do these things is to keep things professional and stay focused on the present, not the future.

And who knows, once the season is over and things slow down maybe fate will get the best of us and we end up together. Or maybe our paths separate and we have to let go of each other for the betterment of the both of us. Who knows? All we can do is keep moving forward and pray we stay on the same path.

"Earth to Chels" someone says as they wave their hand in front of me.

I shake my head before joining this moment I was in even though I got a little lost in all that space in my head.

"Yeah, what's up" I wonder as I turn to Alice. She was the photographer Patrick was working with for the front of the Chicago magazine he was invited to be on.

Originally he said no but I had emailed Alice a few times and after a lot of convincing Patrick agreed to come and do pictures then a interview. He was the most famous person in this city right now and the closest to him was Jonathan. But he had captain duties and none of which required him to be at a photo shoot right now. Patrick was becoming the poster boy for hockey in this city and the country even.

"Patrick is asking for you" she tells me and I nod my head.

I rise out of my seat and walk over to where Patrick was. He smiles really big as he looks at me like he hasn't seen me all day, even though he has.

"Hey Patches, what's up" I wonder.

"The photo shoot has finished and we were about to do the interview. I was wondering if you were okay if I talked about you in it" he questions.

I feel my cheeks start to burn as the blush gets darker and darker after each passing second. "Why do you want to talk about me" I ask.

"Because of you there is a me that I'm proud to talk about in the first place. I believe in giving credit where credit is due and you are the reason any good comes of my life. I want people to know that I've changed and how I did it. And I did it with you" he shrugs.

"That's very sweet of you Patrick. I don't mind you talking about me at all" I promise.

"Even if this means your parents will see it" he wonders.

"I hope they do see it and they will see how wrong they were about you. About us" I explain.

"There's a us now" he questions.

"It's always been you and me. From the first moment we met it was you and me and now that means something a little different. But it still means the world to me" I insist.

"Is that what you were over there thinking so hard about? Because I thought we lost you there for a second" he claims.

"You were watching me huh" I tease and now it was his turn to blush.

"Maybe" he admits.

I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear before I finally look back into his eyes. "Was that all you needed" I wonder.

"No. But that'll do for now" he admits.

I nod as I turn to walk away but he grabs my wrist. He pulls me back before wrapping his arms around my waist, his face buried into my chest. I hold his head against my heart as I lean over and kiss the top of his head. I could tell he was tired of doing all of this but it was for his own good. He finally has a voice and now all he had to to was talk, even if it was about me. If it is his words at least we have that going for him.