"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.
Almost as soon as the second period started, we scored thanks to Brandon. Hossa added to our lead a little over 10 minutes later. We'd won the game easily 5-3. Our only additional goal was from Seabs. I'd gotten the #1 star of the game, which I was very pleased about. The only bad thing about today was that we'd have to fly back to Chicago tonight. It would've been nice to spend at least one more day in the heat.
Natalie was waiting outside the locker room when I was finally ready. She looked adorable in her leggings and Hawks tank top, which she apparently bought today. I was gonna make her become a Hawks fan one piece of merchandise at a time. I wrapped my hands around her waist, pulled her down towards me. She wiggled out of my grasp before I could kiss her and skipped down the hallway.
"You smell terrible, Jonny. There's no way I'm kissing you." I grabbed her from behind, spinning her so she was facing me and gave her the sloppiest kiss I could manage. She squealed, slapping my chest in the process.
"Chicago here we come."
*****
The weather was perfect today. The sky was clear and there was a slight breeze. Natalie, Chaunette, Andrew and I were sitting in Andrew's living room. It overlooked the river and today there was an myriad of boats coasting along it. Patrick wasn't home yet, but was going to be here soon. So in the mean time, we were gathered around planning what to do for Niklas' birthday. It was in five days, but we had a game that day. We'd also be in Tampa, which meant Elina and Theo wouldn't be around. Since T was so young, Elina only liked to go to the home games.
"When's your birthday?" I whispered, glancing down at Natalie. Her head was resting on my chest while her feet were draped over the arm of the couch. It didn't look that comfortable, but she didn't seem to care.
"July 2nd."
"Well my dear we're gonna have to do something fun."
"Actually Vlads wedding is on the 1st so I'll be in St. Louis for that."
"Wait, you're missing our first Canada Day together?" I know it shouldn't have been such a big deal, but my family took Canada day pretty seriously. It was by far David and I's favorite holiday and we always went to Montreal to boat out and see friends. I'd just expected Nat to be along side me, just like Lindsey had for the past couple years.
"We can celebrate the 4th together. It's way more fun than Canadian holidays anyways." She shot me a wink and removed herself from my chest. Patrick walked in the door simultaneously, earning a chorus of hellos. He threw his bag on the kitchen counter and sat down adjacent to Chaunette.
"So what's the plan with Nik's birthday?" He asked, taking a swig from one of the beers he'd gotten for the group. Nat cracked one open to drink, but I decided against it since I was driving.
"We rented out a restaurant over looking the ocean. We thought it would just be better to have a chill night since we have games." Andrew let Pat in on the details. Natalie looked pretty tired since we'd been traveling the night before. We said goodbye to the group and got in my SUV and made our way towards Lincoln Park.
"Wait pull over here." I parked the car in what looked like a sketchy part of the city. Nat made her way into a shop and I followed before I could get a good look at what it was. When I entered, I instantly knew.
I'd accompanied my teammates several times while they'd been getting tattoos. Every parlor reeked of rubbing alcohol and blood. That was one of the main reasons I never thought of getting one. Plus I never really had a good enough ideas.
"Hey Chucky." Nat said, pulling a heavily tattooed man into a hug. They chatted for a bit before she took a seat in the chair. Wait Nat was getting a tattoo?
"Babe are you sure you want one?" I questioned, thinking she was just tipsy from the drinks at Pat's. I quickly disregarded that theory when I remembered she'd only has a single beer today.
"Yeah of course. Mark and loads of my cousins has the same one. He was my grandmas favorite artist." She showed me the design which I instantly recognized at Keith Haring's famous dog. Of course she would be getting that.
That tattoo was done pretty quick. It was black, placed on her inner left bicep and was amazingly done. It looked just like Keith Haring's original. She seemed pretty pleased with it. Nat had also taken it like a champ. She didn't even flinch when the needle penetrated her skin.
"Thank you so much Chuck! I love it."
But all I could think about was how much I loved her.
I'm currently on my way to the One Direction (don't judge my super white girlness right now) and I'm so excited. I went to one when I was in 6th grade and it was so much fun. Also half of my school is going tonight so I'm gonna meet up with a couple of them just to say hi. AND PRAISE THE LORD MY BENN JERSEY CAME IN. It's even more beautiful than I could've ever expected. :))
Q: Favorite bands?
A: Twenty One Pilots, Death Cab for Cutie and Modern Baseball