What's The Name Of The Game

Tianna couldn’t help but smile to herself on the plane ride back to Chicago.

Sure, it was sad to leave Jon’s family, but the fact that they made her feel like part of the family warmed her heart.

Andree had actually had tears in her eyes, and although Tianna knew they were mostly for Jon she felt like maybe some were because Andree would miss her as well. Tianna looked over at Jon, who was just looking around the cabin aimlessly.

She looked at their intertwined hands and another smile crept onto her face. Sure, she hadn’t gotten along with Jon all the time, but that didn’t stop her from completely falling for him. Now all she had to do was make sure she didn’t do anything to mess this relationship up. She didn’t want to lose Jon or the new found family she had.

She squeezed his hand, causing him to look at her. She smiled up at him, and he returned it before Tianna looked back out the window.

Jon had a million thoughts running through his head a few moments ago, and Tianna squeezing his hand had jolted him a bit. He looked over her, afraid she was somehow reading his thoughts.

But then she smiled, and Jon’s head got completely clear. He couldn’t help but smile back, but then she looked away.

Thoughts re-clouded Jon’s mind, thoughts about Tianna and their relationship.

Had he jumped into this too fast?

Of course he did.

He shouldn’t have asked her to be his girlfriend so soon. Yeah, they had kissed and stuff, but he should have at least asked her out on a date. Now that he thought about it, he knew next to nothing about this girl.

Except that she was a total emotional wreck, thanks to her mother.

‘Oh yeah, great girlfriend material, Jon,’ he said to himself. He removed his hand from Tianna’s and out of the corner of his eye he saw her look at him. He refused to look at her and pretended to be looking for something in his pocket. He saw her turn back toward the window with her hands folded in her lap, totally oblivious.

Jon shook his head at himself, wondering what he got himself into.

Did he even like her?

Sure, he thought she was pretty and had a great laugh and stuff like that, but that was all physical stuff. Personality wise, Jon could already think of about a million reasons why they shouldn’t be together. Yeah she was sweet, kind, funny, laidback, and all that, but that was when you were on her good side.

And Jon and Tianna clashed far too often for Jon to be on her good side for long.

Jonathan didn’t know where all of this was coming from, or why he felt he needed to do something about it. But he had to. He wasn’t going to get bogged down in a relationship with a girl he didn’t even like.

He’d wait though, until the opportunity presented itself to break up with her. He didn’t want to just dump her, he wanted it to happen like he wasn’t planning it. He’d pick fights if he had to, maybe even to get her to break up with him.

He glanced over at her and felt bad for a second.

“But don’t string her along alright? She doesn’t deserve that.” David’s words rung in Jon’s ears. He ran a hand over his face, and suddenly felt a delicate hand on his arm.

“Are you okay?” Tianna asked softly. Jon’s stomach churned, suddenly feeling guilty. He nodded and looked away, hoping she’d do the same.

Tianna didn’t know what Jon’s problem was, but she figured it had something to do with leaving his family. She decided to give him some space, because that’s what it seemed like he wanted.

Jon decided then to wait a while, before he did anything about Tianna. Maybe he was just being too judgmental, and needed to relax and let the relationship run its natural course. He’d try and get to know her more personally, and also study her personality to prove to himself that maybe he made the right choice after all.

While Jon had good intentions, something in the back of his mind was still against this relationship. Instead of analyzing Tianna, he found himself being critical of her.

Her eyes were a beautiful rich chocolate color, but they could be a little brighter.

Her laugh was the most infectious thing Jon ever heard, but she either did it too often or not enough.

She had a beautiful smile, but her teeth could be a little straighter. Okay, that one was a bit of a stretch. Her teeth were at straight as anyone’s could get and still look normal. There were a few little crooked areas, but it made her look natural. Jonloved hated that.

She was curvy in all the right places, but maybe she was a little…too…curvy…? Okay, that one for sure was just total bullshit. Jon couldn’t get enough of her curves. He wasn’t even going to deny that one.

“Can you stop that?” Jon snapped at her as she jiggled her leg. She stopped immediately, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Sorry,” she offered with a smile. Jon turned away sharply, not wanting to see her smile and all of it’s…perfectness.

Tianna and Jon didn’t speak anymore during the plane ride, or the cab ride home from the airport. Patrick and Kara weren’t at the apartment when they got there, but there was a note saying they want out to grab food and should be back soon. Jon wordlessly went into his bedroom and shut the door, before immediately coming back out and pointing at Tianna.

“What the Hell is all that shit?” He asked.

“What?” She replied, confused. Jon grabbed her hand and led her to his room, which had a lot of her stuff in it now.

“You can’t keep all this stuff! There’s barely any room!”

Tianna looked around quizzically, because all her stuff was neatly placed in the far corner of his gigantic room.

“Okay,” she nodded, not wanting to upset him. “I’ll go through it and sort it all out.” Jon just turned on his heel and went into the living room, flipping on the television.

Tianna sat in the room going through her boxes, but her mind was racing.

Had she done something wrong to upset Jon?

She couldn’t think of any other reason he’d be so mean to her, but she also couldn’t think of anything she could have done wrong.

Kara and Patrick came back a while later, lifting the spirits of the apartment a bit. Everyone was excited to see each other, and since Jon and Pat were catching up at the same time Kara and Tianna were, the bad mood between Jon and Tianna went unnoticed.

Tianna decided to confront him later that night when they were going to go to bed, but as she sat in bed and watched him move around she lost the courage. She convinced herself that maybe he just needed a good nights rest.

Jon shut off the lights and crawled into bed, and Tianna waited for his arms to wrap around her.

But they never did.

She twisted and turned a bit, unable to get comfortable without the feeling of Jon’s arms secured around her.

“Fuck, Tianna, lay still, will you? Jesus,” Jon muttered. Tianna froze immediately.

“Sorry,” she whispered. Not caring that it was uncomfortable, she forced herself to stay that way the rest of the night.

When morning came, Tianna slipped out of bed while Jon was still asleep. She showered and got ready, only to emerge from the bathroom to see Jon with an annoyed expression on his face.

“Took you long enough,” he muttered, brushing past her. Her heart sank a little, because she had been hoping he’d be in better spirits today. Obviously he wasn’t.

“Sorry,” she murmured before he shut the door.

She left the room and went into the kitchen, trying to hide her sadness when she saw Kara and Pat in there as well.

“Morning,” Pat said brightly.

“Good morning,” Tianna replied. “What’s everyone up to today?”

“Tazer and I have practice, but we’ll be home early in the afternoon,” Patrick replied. Tianna nodded and looked at Kara, who just shrugged.

“I’m free,” she said. As the girls were discussing their plans, Jon came into the kitchen with his hockey gear.

“Kaner, you ready?” He asked.

“Yup,” Pat replied, standing up and slinging his own bag over his shoulders. “By ladies,” he said, leaning down and kissing Kara lightly on the lips.

“Bye,” the girls said in unison.

Tianna wasn’t expecting a kiss from Jonathan considering his mood, but she did at least hope for some type of acknowledgment. But he left the kitchen in front of Pat, not even saying goodbye.

He didn’t even wave.

Kara started rambling on about something, but Tianna wasn’t paying attention.

She was too busy thinking.

She was too busy trying not to show that she was breaking down, all because of the person she had been leaning on the most.

She was too busy trying to conceal that she loved Jon, when he clearly regretted ever falling for her.