"And we are put on this earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love" -William Blake
Jonathan's P.O.V
"So Jonathan, what was going on in your head while you were fighting Henrique?" A reported asked, shoving a microphone in my face. I glared at the young boy.
"There's a line we don't cross in this league and he crossed it." I shoved past the reporters and into our private locker room. Adam Henrique is a dick and I wasn't letting him get away with it.
"You need to calm down." Patrick warned, grabbing onto my pads. I shoved him off of me, quickly changing and running out to the car. Natalie was leaned against it, giving me a wide smile.
"What'd Adam say?" She asked, kissing my quickly before hopping into the passengers seat. We drove away from the arena, getting stuck in traffic as usual. I'd been leaving the stadium earlier than usual, which meant I almost always hit the traffic leaving the games.
"He said he was gonna fuck you like every other player in the league." My grip tightened on the steering wheel. I know Natalie didn't just hook up randomly, so her sleeping with only 4 or 5 guys other than me should've made me happy. But the fact that I had to see the guys she slept with at every event killed me.
"I'm glad you beat him up then." She smiled and my anger instantly melted away. We made it back to her place around 11, letting Deke out before collapsing onto the couch. Say Anything was playing in the background, but I was too focused on Natalie. She kept complaining, scolding me for not watching the movie, but she was way more entertaining.
"Hello bitches, I know you've missed me." Patrick shouted, barging into our apartment. Deke began barking like a mad man. I shushed both of them, patting the empty space on the couch next to me.
"We saw you like half an hour ago, but of course we missed you." I said, chuckling at the blond. "What brought you here?"
"Can't a guy just hang out with his best friends?" Patrick grinned, leaning into my side. I shoved him away, throwing a couple popcorn pieces in his direction. "But seriously, I've been spending so much time with Pan and I miss you guys. We should invite the whole gang over."
"That sounds fun, I'll call Chaunette and Andrew, Jon you call Corey." Natalie smiled, dialing the numbers. I called Corey, telling him to get over here with as much alcohol as possible.
"The party's officially here." Andrew shouted, a case of beer under one of his arms and Chaunette under the other. Natalie ran towards one of her best friends, throwing her arms around the tiny blonde. Corey stepped in a minute later, setting a bottle of Fireball and vodka on the counter. I engulfed the boys in hugs and kissed Chaunette's cheek.
"So what do you say to having a little rematch kids?" Andrew asked with a terrifying grin on his face. He grabbed Patrick whispering for him to help move the ping pong table in the open space between our living room and bedroom. Nat found some red solo cups and I helped fill each of them with beer.
Patrick threw the first ping pong ball, missing it wide.
"Peaks you're not even drunk, yet you suck." Natalie chirped, earning a high five from Andrew. Patrick rolled his eyes at her. I handed Nat the ball and she lined up to take the shot. She released, sinking it in the first cup. Patrick groaned, chugging the liquid.
Our game continued until there was only 1 cup for us to make and 2 for Patrick and Andrew to make. Just as Natalie was about to throw, her phone obnoxiously rung. She pulled it out of her pocket, Mark's face filling the screen.
"I should take this. Don't you dare lose for us." She warned, kissing me briefly before making her way towards our bedroom. I missed our shot earning laughs from the other team.
"Who called her? It's not like Nat to ditch a beer pong game." Andrew hoed, tossing the ball into one of my remaining cups.
"It was her brother. I don't think they talk much so she always drops everything when he calls." I explained, making the last cup. Patrick and Andrew both missed, meaning my team had won. We all moved to sit on the couch, chatting for a while. By 11:30 everyone decided they were getting too tired and said their goodbyes.
I made my way to the back, hearing the shower running. So that's why she hadn't come out to say goodbye. I changed out of my day clothes, throwing on a pair of sweatpants. As much as Natalie hated me going into the bathroom while she was showering, I desperately needed to brush my teeth.
"Babe, coming in." I knocked, slowly opening the door. I brushed my teeth quickly. Natalie didn't say a word. "Everyone says goodbye."
After a few seconds of silence, I left the bathroom. Maybe her phone call with Mark didn't go great. I knew they fought occasionally, but never to the point where she wouldn't speak to me about it.
10 minutes passed and the shower was still going. Natalie hated long showers because she felt terrible wasting water. Something was terribly wrong. I barged into the bathroom, peeling back the shower curtain. Natalie sat there, mascara streaming down her face and looking lifeless. I shut off the shower, wrapping a towel around my lifeless girlfriend.
"They're dead." She whispered as soon as we were sat on the couch. I engulfed her in a hug while she sobbed uncontrollably. "My parents are dead."
I said nothing, I had no idea what to say. A few years ago Patrick's grandpa died and of course he came to me. I tried to help him or calm him down, but everything I said made him more upset. I didn't want to do that again.
"I have to go." Natalie sobbed, running into the back room and throwing clothes into her suitcase. There seemed to be no order, but I know matching outfits was not the biggest of her concerns at the moment.
"Babe, calm down. Let's just go to sleep and we can go to the airport tomorrow morning." I clutched her tightly, letting her tears wet my teeshirt.
"No. Mark is alone in LA with no one to have comfort him. I've got to be there for him."
"I'm coming with."
"Jon no. You've got games. The season started like a month ago, you can't already be missing games."
"Nat, you need me right now. Please let me be there for you, don't shut me out." I begged, nearly crying at the thought of her having no one to be there for her. That must be how Mark felt right now. Natalie was right, he needed her there or else he would go crazy.
"I think Mark and I just need to be with our family right now. I'm sorry baby." She gave me a weak smile, wiping away her tear stained cheeks.
"Fine, but I'm taking you to the airport. You're in no condition to drive and I've sobered up." She nodded, rolling her suitcase down the hallway of our silent apartment building. It was nearly 11 at night and she would be lucky if there were any flights to LA or anywhere around there. I threw her suitcase in the back of my SUV while she hopped in the front. The ride to O'Hare was silent, Natalie's sniffling was the only noise available. I wanted nothing more than to pull over, kiss her and tell her how much I loved her, but I knew she needed to be with Mark right now.
We arrived at the airport a little after 11, hitting no traffic since the city was dead. Natalie luckily found a flight to Anaheim that was leaving at midnight. We walked towards the deserted security, clutching unto each others hands as if it would be the last time we ever felt them. I had a feeling it would be weeks until I saw her again, so I took in her appearance. Her blonde hair was matted and tangled in the back of her head, her eyes were puffy, and her entire face was beet red. Yet, I couldn't help, but still want to spend every second of my life with her.
Natalie Plager was my soulmate and I finally realized it. She was the only person that made me laugh when I was sad. With all my previous girlfriends I would question if the relationship was going anywhere, but with Nat I had no doubt in my mind: I wanted to marry this women. I wanted to have dozens of children with her, wanted to wake up everyday looking into her eyes. I wanted to grow old and senile with her. She was the only girl in my life that had every truly mattered to me. I was head over heels in love with her.
"Jon," She whispered looking up at me. "I'll see you soon, yeah?"
"Of course baby. You'll call me if you need anything, right? I won't hesitate to drop everything and fly out to meet you there."
"Yeah of course. I love you." She weakly smiled, kissing my lips lightly.
"I love you more than you will ever know." I told her breathless. And boy did I mean it.
I'm a terrible person for not updating, but I lost all motivation for this story. But I think there's only going to be 1 or 2 more chapters and they both will be epilogues. I'm sorry I'm awful at updating, but I hope the cheesiness made up for it a little bit. Epilogue will most likely be up toward the end of the week if I don't slack again.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Hawks trades?
A: I fricking love Dale Weise and Andrew Ladd so I'm super hyped about this. So cute that Krugs traded his number for Ladd also!