Misery

Cam was nervous, not for himself but for the girl that at his side, as they walked hand in hand from their hotel to a downtown Chicago bar. He could tell Catherine was nervous, too, but she didn’t have a reason to be. She was only going to meet up with old friends, mainly Aimee, Boley, and Troy. If her ex boyfriend happened to be there, well, she had no idea what she was going to say to him; She hadn’t said more than ‘hi’ to him in eight months.

Just as Cam and Catherine approached the bar, she wrapped her knee length pea coat tighter around herself. Her legs were freezing, but she supposed that was what she got for not dressing warmer. The blistering cold December wind whipped around them, as Cam came to a stop outside the front entrance to the bar.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Catherine gave Cam a forced smile and squeezed his gloved hand with her own, “I’m fine.”

”We don’t have to go in there.”

“Cam, it’s been eight months. I think I’m over Adam and everything that happened between us.”

Cam gave her a skeptical look but nodded his head none the less, pressing a kiss to Catherine’s lips. “I love you,” He told her.

Her smile told him she felt the same as she gave him a kiss of her own, “I love you, too.”

Stepping into the bar, Catherine could immediately feel all eyes on her, so she moved herself closer to Cam. She slipped her jacket off as she and Cam approached the table where Aimee sat with Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer, and Andrew Ladd. She kept her eyes focused on that table and not the one right next to it where Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook, and Adam Burish sat.

Cam gave her hand a squeeze as they walked through the bar. Catherine held onto him just as tightly until Aimee finally noticed them and jumped up to greet them, “Cat!”

Catherine threw her coat at Cam and grabbed onto Aimee, as it seemed the whole bar turned to look at them. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too! You look great,” Aimee told the redhead, glancing over her outfit of a skin tight gold satin dress and black pumps.

“Thanks,” Catherine laughed as she sat down next to Aimee, Cam at her side.

“So, Aimee tells me you work at the Scottrade Center?” Troy asked her.

“I do,” Catherine nodded, taking a sip of the drink Boley had gotten her. “I love it; I really do, no matter how much I complain about it.”

“And she complains about it a lot.”

Everyone at the table laughed, and Catherine let her eyes glance at Adam to see him sigh and stand up, walking to the bar. Cam knew she had seen him stalk away and sit down at the bar, so he gave her knee a tight squeeze with his hand, drawing her attention to him. When their eyes connected, he gave her the smallest nod.

Catherine took a deep breath and stood, walking to the bar and taking the empty stool next to Adam. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, at a loss for words. She finally sighed again and gulped down the rest of her drink, ordering another.

Taking another sip, she turned to look at Cam to see him smile at her and nod again. Nodding herself, she turned to Adam and placed her hand on his forearm. At her touch, he turned to her as well, but he didn’t say anything.

“This is stupid,” Catherine mumbled.

Adam let out a light laugh and set down his beer, silently agreeing with her. There was something about him that seemed different to Catherine, but what it was, she didn’t know.

“Are you happy with Cam?”

When Catherine caught his gaze, she realized what was different about him. He was sad. Forever happy, forever smiling Adam was sad. The way he looked at her told the entire story. Catherine learned very early on in their friendship, way before their relationship even started, that his eyes were the window to how he was feeling.

“Adam,” She started. “I’m not with Cam.”

His head spun so fast to look at her, Catherine could only laugh. His eyes, Catherine noticed, were lit up.

“You’re not, but, I thought - ” He paused. “You walked in… hands… What?”

“Me and Cam… We aren’t dating. We tried.”

He nodded, “What happened to us?”

“We started dating, Adam.”

His eyes widened and he looked taken aback, “But…”

“Adam, we were best friends our whole life, and yeah, our relationship started out…” She sighed, finding the words to say. “Us trying to date ruined us, Adam.”

He tried to open his mouth, dispute what she was saying, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized she was right. Their perfect friendship turned into a terrible relationship, even though it had taken a while for it to get so terrible.

“We were kind of miserable together, weren’t we?”

She nodded, silently agreeing with him.

“Do you like living in St. Louis?” He asked after both were silent for a while.

“I do,” She told him. “I have a job I love, a house I love, a roommate I love…”

Adam sighed, “Even though I know you’re not with him… And I know we’re over, I’m still jealous that he gets to live with you.”

Catherine playfully shoved Adam as he laughed, taking a sip of his beer. When their laughter died down, he stood from the stool he was sitting on and helped Catherine off of hers. He looked her up and down and told her she looked great. She blushed, but shook her head.

“Just because we’re not together doesn’t mean we can’t - ”

“Shut up, Adam,” She laughed.

Suddenly she found herself wrapped in a tight hug and Catherine let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Finding herself wrapped in Adam’s arms again felt good. Knowing that they were okay, that everything was okay, she felt at peace.

“Cat?” Aimee asked, as she and Adam approached the table.

Catherine shook her head, silently answering Aimee’s unasked question. Adam grabbed Catherine’s hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles.

“Cat and I are going back to being friends,” He answered.

“Best friends,” She elaborated, smiling up at Adam.

Cam smiled at Catherine as she and Adam sat down next to him. The two tables where the Hawks sat had been connected into one big table, as everyone joined into the conversation. Catherine let out a happy, content sigh as she held hands with both Adam and Cam under the table. Catching Aimee’s smiling gaze, she smiled too, knowing how lucky she was to have two of the most amazing (in completely different ways) guys in her life as friends.

She just felt sorry for the poor guy she would end up with, knowing he’d have to go through both Adam and Cam before he was deemed fit to be with her, but strangely, Catherine couldn’t imagine anything else.