Faceoff

Chapter 28 -Wedding Bells

"Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness, of hatred, of jealousy, and, most easily of all, the gate of fear." -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Jonathan's P.O.V

"Happy Canada Day, Jon." David said wearily, patting me on the back. My whole family had been walking on eggshells with me this whole week. I was a ticking time bomb. David was my first victim, I'd screamed at him for trying to take my beer from me. I needed the alcohol, it was the only thing keeping me slightly sane. But even the bottles upon bottles of booze I was drinking couldn't fill the hole in my heart. Natalie broke me, shattered every vision I'd had for our future. "Um, TJ is on the phone."

"Hey Osh." We'd been talking for the past couple days. He was worried about Natalie and of course I was too. She may have broken my heart, but I still loved and cared for her. "How is she?"

"Uh, not good I'm not going to lie to you. She's been sitting in my guest room all week not doing anything and when she does go out she gets absolutely hammered. You've got to do something Jon. I'm begging you."

"TJ, I don't know."

"She's my best friend. This is the first time ever she hasn't told me what's wrong. She isn't talking to me." He sighed, the desperation evident in his voice. I felt sorry for him, but I couldn't just forgive Natalie that quickly.

"You just haven't been around her in a breakup. This is probably how she always acts."

"Jonny I've been with her for way too many breakups. She doesn't act this way. I swear to god Jon if you don't talk to her I will personally kill you."
*****
I hopped off the plane, the sun blasting me immediately. America was always way warmer than Winnipeg. It was almost too hot now, but the rain was cooling me down. I adjusted my suit and ran my fingers through my hair before getting into my car. I knew exactly where to go, it wasn't my first time in this city.

I could hear the music from at least a block away. I gave my car to the valet and made my way towards the ballroom. Crowds of people blocked the entrance so I had to wiggle my way through. But as soon as I did, she was standing directly in my line of vision.

If I'd thought she looked good at the awards, this blew her previous look out of the water. She wore a plain navy blue dress that clung to her hips and rested mid-thigh. Her legs looked especially long thanks to the nude pumps on her feet. She looked miserable chatting with her friends.

"Nat could we talk?" Her eyes shot up at the sound of my voice. She excused herself from the group and pulled me to a quiet hallway.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, running her fingers through her straightened hair. She looked so flustered under my nitpicking gaze. I wanted so desperately to hate her, but seeing her made me fall in love all over again.

"We needed to talk about everything. TJ said you had a valid reason as to why you decided to screw Beau."

"Oh so you and TJ and talking about me behind my back? We are so not talking about this now." She hissed, grabbing her things. "And why the fuck haven't you called Brandon. He's upset enough and you won't even call him to see how he's doing. He's one of your best friends, Jonathan."

"Nat, please don't walk away from me. I just want to understand you. I still love you and I know you feel the same way." I begged. "Please tell me what's going on."

She sighed, playing with her fingers. I grabbed her hand and led her outside to sit down on a bench overlooking a pond in the back of the venue. It was dark enough that the stars were reflecting of the water.

"Jordan came up to me and he brought up some stuff that I've been trying to forget about for years." She started, already tearing up. I didn't want to make her cry, but I desperately wanted to know the whole story.

"Like what? You can trust me." I reassured her, rubbing her thigh. Her head was resting on my shoulder, which was already damp with her tears.

"We dated way longer than you probably thought. Like a year and a half. He was perfect to me, I'm not even going to lie. But then we got too comfortable and I stopped taking birth control because of health issues and I um- I got pregnant." She looked up at me to see my reaction. I held no emotions. I wasn't judging her, I just wanted to know what was going through her head.

"So you had an abortion?" She nodded, bailing into my chest. "It's not your fault, Nat. You made the right choice."

"You have no idea what that was like Jon. I left Jordan without telling him anything and moved in with TJ. I was so depressed. I didn't eat or talk to anyone but TJ. I snapped at Lauren every time she came over. I regretted my decision everyday. So when Jordan brought it up, I couldn't take it. I was so scared all those dark thoughts would come crawling back. So I used Beau to distract myself."

"I don't blame you." I whispered, shocking myself. "But why didn't you come to me?"

"I was scared to tell you. Which is stupid looking back on it, but I thought you'd be disgusted by me."

"I could never be disgusted by anything you do. I love you so much." I whispered, pressing my lips against hers wearily. She placed one hand behind my neck to insure that I wouldn't pull away. Not like I would anyway. I'd craved her kiss this whole week. I pulled away a minute later. "I haven't been completely honest with you."

"How so?" She asked nervously, biting on the corner of her lip.

"The real reason Lindsey and I broke up is because she cheated on me. I didn't want to tell you because I thought you'd think I still loved her. But trust me when I say I haven't loved her since I saw you the first moment at Barb's house."

"I love you so much Jon. Don't you ever forget that."
*****
"Natalie, Jonathan get down here." TJ shouted the next morning. I'd gone back to his house with Natalie last night. There was really no point in us getting a hotel if we were driving back today. All of Natalie's friends were back with their families so all she really had left in St. Louis was TJ, but him and Lauren were busy with the wedding.

"Why was it so necessary to wake me up at this god forsaken hour?" Natalie asked, sitting down across from him. She didn't seem to notice his nervous demeanor, but it was blatantly obvious just by looking at him. He was hiding something big.

"Um I got a call from the GM this morning with some bad news." She blurted out. "I got traded to Washington."

Natalie tensed up under my shoulder. Her breathing slowed down as she tried to calm herself down. I knew she didn't want to act like this bothered her, but this was the worse possible news for her. We both knew she would never survive without seeing him all the time. Even being 5 hours away from him was killing her, but now she needed at least a plane ride away.

"I can visit all the time. When do you move?"

"After the wedding."

"Oh." Was all she said. "Does Vlads know?" TJ nodded, playing with his fingers. Neither of them wanted to mention what this would do to their friendship. I didn't blame them, if Patrick ever got traded, I don't know what I would do.

"I'm gonna miss you, Bubs." He whispered, rounding the table to hug her. She buried her head into his shoulder, choking on her sobs.

"I'll miss you more, Chubs. So so much."

Yo if the Hawks could win a game I would appreciate that very much. But dang the Canadiens though :))) My boy Pricer is killing it so far. Also are we not going to mention how McDavid isn't even playing good. Like his one "goal" would've gone in without his tip anyway. *sips tea*
And my Cubbies though! We're coming for you Mets. Lol lets be real we probably will lose this round, but that's still the farthest we've gone since I remembered (I was just a lil baby in 2003)

Q: Will the Cubbies make it to the World Series?

A: probably not, but damn that would make Chicago so rowdy