Every Rose Has It's Thorns (Patrick Kane)

I Want It All

Patrick

It's the last preseason game of the year and we take the ice for pregame warm ups. I sing along to the music by myself and skate around as I loosen up my wrists and get used to stick handling. Sometimes warmups can be pretty boring and not a lot of people are around yet but I like being able to hang out and do what I need in order to play well.

Eventually the game starts and we do pretty well. I think we're going to have a good team this year and I couldn't wait to see where we end up. I just hope it's with a trophy above my head, that's what all this is about anyway.

During a tv timeout I listen to Q tell us for the plan for right after the commercial break. I hear the crowd start to roar and I look around to see what it was. This place can get pretty rowdy but no one was fighting right now so I know it wasn't for anything we're doing. Finally look at the Jumbotron and see Madeline up on the video board sitting up there in a box. she had on a sexy red dress and looked like she could walk down the red carpet at any moment. She waves to her adoring fans as they cheer louder and louder. They play one of her songs over the PA system and everyone sings along as they welcome her and thank her for coming. I smile big as I bob my head up and down to the beat of the song, it was one of my favorite songs of hers.

Eventually they take the camera off of her and her body guards return to her side. She starts to look around the ice for someone until her eyes land on me. She smiles big as she waves and I wave back. I feel someone nudge me and I see Sharpy sitting next to me with the biggest smirk on his face. I nudge him back as he laughs at me and my childlike crush I was having right now. But I couldn't help it, she was kind of awesome and I feel like the luckiest man in the world being able to get to know her like have for the past week.

The game comes and goes and after Maddie was shown on the big screen I had two goals and a assist which was good enough for the first star of the night. So I go to the ice to do a interview to talk about the game tonight and starting the season up next week. I talk about how my line is clicking and what it's like to be so young and surrounded by some of the greatest veterans in this game such as Marian Hossa. We've come a long way since my first few games and I like where we're going.

I go into the locker room to change and get out of here. I see Jonny smirking at me from the stall next to me and I shake my head.

"Can you not look at me like that while I'm changing" I joke as he laughs at me.

"I was just wondering if there was a reason you looked like god on skates after they showed Madeline on the Jumbotron or not" he teases and I shake my head.

"I was just playing my game" I defend.

"You were showing off" he accuses.

"Are you mad that I was playing well" I tease.

"No. I'm mad that you can play that well if I throw a girl into the equation" he claims.

"In my defense that wasn't just any girl" I remind him.

"Whatever you have to tell yourself so you will play better" he smiles.

We finished getting changed and were released from our locker room. I try to head down the hallway but get stopped because the hallway was filled wall to wall with people yelling. I see cameras flashing and paper being held in the air and I become very confused. I try to see what was happening but I'm 5'9", I wasn't about to see over anyone.

"What's happening" I ask Seabs as he tries to get through too.

"I think Madeline made her way down here" he says and I smile. That made sense.

Eventually her body guards gets everyone to shoo away and they move down the hall. She catches my glance and smiles before coming my way. I stand there in my spot too nervous to move as she approaches me.

"You're making quite the scene" I tease.

"I couldn't tell, I'm blind from all the flashing lights" she claims and I smile.

"I know of a place in here where we can go for some privacy until things settle down" I suggest.

"That would be wonderful" she smiles.

I grab her hand and pull her behind me. Her body guards follow us for a while before we lose them. I find the elevator and we sneak in there without anyone noticing. Her band of brutes get left behind as we go up to the very top of the building. I take her and bring her out to the unused boxes we have up here. I come up here when I have a bad day or game and just look out over the ice trying to put things into perspective. The lights were off and it was pretty dark, but the lights from around the arena made it so you can still see the ice and stuff.

"What is this place" she asks as she looks around.

"I call it the raptors. It sounds like some cool bar or night club, but it's a bunch of nothing really" I explain.

"This is pretty cool. You can see everything from up here" she admits as she looks out over the arena. If her body guards saw how close he was to the side right now they would have a heart attack.

"After spending my whole life at ice level I like to sneak up here and pretend I'm a fan for a while" I admit.

"You get pretty overwhelmed too huh" she asks and I smile.

"Yeah. I expect a lot from me and I can't always perform to what I envisioned. But I have a feeling it's nothing like what you have to go through. I've never seen that many people in a hallway just to see someone" I admit.

"It's crazy. All that ruckus over little old me" she scoffs.

"I can see why people love you so much. You're really sweet and you have the best music around. Plus you're not ugly" I say then I almost immediately stop breathing. Why on earth would I say that?

"Thanks. I try really hard to be not ugly" she teases and I shake my head.

"I don't know why I said that. I guess you just make me nervous" I claim.

"Why? Because I'm famous" she asks but I shake my head.

"No. Because I truly believe you're this amazing girl who I want to get to know better without totally messing this up. And not the you you're told to be but the you that you wanted to be the other day in the park when you were speaking for once instead of being spoken to. I can't help but feel like you want more than what life is giving you, and I can't help but want to give it all to you" I explain.

"It's all kind of messed up right now. I don't know if you want any part of my life. It's nothing like what you see on the front of a magazine or on the tv. It's pretty ugly" she says.

"I don't want any of that. I just want... you" I say softly. I see her smile over to me as she stares into my eyes. I see this little sparkle that wasn't there before and I felt like I would do anything to see them sparkle like that again.

"What do you want with me" she wonders.

"I want it all" I say.

"I think we can do that" she says and I raise a eyebrow.

"Really" I ask and she giggles.

"Yeah. I don't see why not" she claims.

"So like. You want to go out with me" I question as I point to myself and she nods.

"If I need to spell it out for you, yes Patrick, I want to go out with you" she says and I smile big.

"This is the best day of my life" I joke and she laughs at me.

I hear a bunch of talking and we look down into the bowl. All her people were looking for her and I knew our time together was done. For now.

"I should probably get you back huh" I ask.

"Yeah. They'll tear this place apart looking for me" she admits.

So I take her back and get her to her people. I promise to call her soon and she sends me a kind smile. I watch her get taken away and I let out a long sigh. She looks back one last time before she's taken away. This was about to be really crazy, isn't it?