Faceoff

Chapter 20 -Artists

"People should fall in love with their eyes closed. Just close your eyes. Don't look and it's magic" -Andy Warhol

Jonathan's P.O.V

"You know who I love?" Natalie asked, briefly looking up from her phone. All of yesterdays sadness was washed away. Apparently it was caused by Lindsey, who showed up unannounced. Pat got an earful from me since he ditched Nat. After he apologized to her, everything seemed to be back in order.

"Me?" I smirked, running my fingers through her hair. She tried to hide a smile, but failed fairly quickly. She was a sucker for my stupid jokes.

"You wish. But seriously, Andy Warhol is my spirit animal."

"How so?"

"Well listen to this quote: 'I just do art because I'm ugly and there's nothing else for me to do.' Is that me or is that me." I chuckled at her, removing her head from my chest. It was already 3 and I had to be at the stadium by 4. Nat joined me in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet while I styled my hair. She then helped me choose an outfit which was just a plain black suit with a gray undershirt. I started throwing my clothes in my bags when I heard the sound of a picture being taken.

"Delete that you ass." I attempted to snatch her phone. The picture was of me with my mouth slightly ajar. I looked like a total idiot.

"The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do." She said with a smirk on her face. I shook my head. It was another Andy Warhol quote. We'd talked about our favorite artists before. I remember being heavily scolded for not knowing who Keith Haring was at the time. Apparently it was her all time favorite artist, while Andy was a close second. I'd never been into much art so when I said my favorite was da Vinci, she insisted I'd only known about him because of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

"You're a nerd, but I must bid you farewell." I kissed her a quickly before pretty much running out of the room. Patrick was going to be pissed if I made him wait any longer. As much it didn't seem like it, Peaks took hockey super seriously. He loved to be the first one on the ice and the last one off of it. So when I hindered that, he got pissed. He was already in my car, who even knows how he got the keys.

We drove to the Honda Center in silence. I was scared to talk since I didn't want a fight that could interfere with the game tonight. The game we so desperately needed to win. If we won this one, I had a feeling we could win the cup. Nothing against the Lightning, who had just beaten the Rangers yesterday, but the Western Conference was on fire this year. Hell, the East haven't won since 2011 and I was desperate to keep that streak going.

*****

The buzz from the arena was defying. Among the gold and black was a sea of red. Nestled in the hustle and bustle was Nat and Mark, who waved at me as soon as I stepped onto the ice for warm ups. In a box near the top was my parents who were also with Brandon, Patrick and Andrew's parents. They'd sort of formed a club awhile back and they were exclusively who my parents talked to.

The game started shortly after 5. I was the second line tonight, along with Peaks and Brandon. On our first shift, Patrick flew up the right side. He found Hammer, who had virtually no one guarding him. All I needed to do was get near the goal. Hammer let one fly. It bounced off Andersen's pads and ended directly in my stick. I scored easily, thanks to Nik and Peaks.

About halfway through the first period the Ducks drew a hooking penalty. Keith, Richards and I did a little tic-tac-toe until we could find an open lane. I found one and gave a quick wrist shot that managed to get in the back of the net. The first period drew to a close with us in the lead.