Breakeven
twelve.
"All the ways you make my stomach turn."
Hockey was a huge part of Jonathan Toews' life. It had been that way ever since he was a kid. And he knew the reason he had taken his break-up with Alexis so hard was because he hadn't had hockey to distract him while he was mending his broken heart. The first time he stepped back out onto the ice at the United Center and the familiar roar of the crowd made his heartbeat quicken, and he could hear the sounds of his teammate's skates slice into the ice, he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. He skated circles at the Hawks end of the ice, and shot the puck as hard as he could into the empty net. His friends and teammates knew he meant business as soon as he stepped into the locker room after the Olympic break. Jonathan's Captain Serious persona had been amplified after his break-up. As far as he was concerned, hockey was the only thing that made sense anymore.
Reese watched Jonathan become a man possessed. She hadn't seen him so obsessed with hockey since they were kids. He spent most of his time practicing, and when he wasn't doing that he was talking about hockey, and when he wasn't doing that he was either eating or sleeping. She was worried for him, and on more than one occasion tried to get him to talk to her, but he wasn't having it.
He got her tickets for his first game back, and because she didn't have a Hawks jersey of her own, Jonathan gave her his third jersey. She grabbed her ticket at Will Call and watched her friend skate his heart out. She worried for his sanity, but she couldn't deny he was having a great game.
Jonathan was in the zone. He had a goal and two assists on the night and it was only second period. He was feeling good. It was almost like he was whole again, and he was thankful for that as he slowly skated from one end of the ice to the locker room. Unconsciously he looked up into the stands to a familiar place, a place where Alexis sat at every game thanks to the season tickets he got her at the beginning of every season. He did it almost every game, and still wasn't used to her not being there. Only this time he was nearly knocked to his feet when he saw her sitting in her usual seat, a man sitting next to her. She was facing him, her hand on his thigh as she laughed at something he said. Jonathan's face was blank as he stared at his ex-girlfriend and when he finally got to the walkway to the locker room, he forgot to step up and practically fell on his face. He stumbled a bit but was able to catch himself as he continued to walk to the locker room, his eyes on Alexis until she was no longer visible.
Reese saw Jonathan's distant look and followed his eyes until they landed on a familiar dirty blonde. She gasped and her hand quickly flew to her mouth as she recognized the girl as Alexis. Her eyes got even wider when she realized Alexis was sitting next to an older looking man, her hand on his thigh and her head thrown back as she laughed hardily. Reese's heart sank for Jonathan and her eyes quickly snapped to her friend as she watched him stumble over his own two feet as he walked to the locker room.
She couldn't believe the nerve Alexis had. Reese understood her wanting to continue going to games, because she imagined at the point her and Jon broke up she was pretty invested in the team, but she couldn't wrap her head around why she would bring another guy. She almost felt like getting up and giving Alexis a piece of her mind, but she figured that would just cause more unnecessary problems. So she sat there biting her tounge, burning holes into the back of Alexis' head.
Jonathan's third period was so horrible it was hard to believe his first two had been so outstanding. He was making stupid plays, turning over pucks, getting slammed against the boards when he could have easily avoided the collisions. The fans started to get frustrated with their captain, even going so far as to boo him after he turned over a puck that resulted in a goal for the other team. Reese's heart sank and she counted down the minutes to the end of the game, thankful that the Hawks had managed to hold onto their lead even after the horrible plays of one of their franchise players.
Reese bit her lip as she started to make her way down to the locker rooms. She didn't have permission to be down there, and she was sure Jonny didn't say anything to security about her being there, but she figured she could try her best to see her friend with a fresh bruise on his already damaged heart. And if worst came to worst she could always wait by his car. She hoped Jonathan would get over seeing his ex quickly, but she knew otherwise. His heart was shattered, and seeing Alexis was not going to help him heal.
In Jonathan's crazy deluded world he would believe that Alexis going to his game (regardless of the fact she brought another guy with her) meant she wanted to get back together with him. In his world it would mean she missed seeing him in person and she was sorry for leaving him sitting in the middle of the snow with an engagement ring in his cold hands. Nothing good could come from her being at this hockey game.
Reese was genuinely surprised when she saw Alexis a few strides ahead of her as she made her way to the locker room. She watched as she held hands with the man walking beside her and as she chatted with a security guard who no doubt recognized her as Jonathan's girlfriend. Her heart ached at the mere thought on Jon running into Alexis with another man, and she knew automatically she had to stop that from happening. Reese had never seen a boy cry before she watched Jonathan breakdown in his father's car the week before, and she'd be dammed if she watched it happen again. She couldn’t hold her tongue any longer.
"Excuse me," Reese tapped on Alexis' shoulder, interrupting her from a conversation with a security guard. Alexis turned around, a smile placed on her perfectly pink lips.
"Yes?" She asked. She gave Reese the up and the down before her eyes softened up a bit. Reese knew she must've recognized her. They had gone to high school together, but never associated with one another. They never had classes together, their group of friends never interacted, and they never hung out on weekends. They had met a total of two times when Alexis was dating Jon. Once back in Winnipeg during Christmas two years ago, and once in Chicago before Reese became too consumed with her boyfriend to care about her old friend from her hometown. Both times were brief, but Reese wasn't surprised she recognized her.
"Reese," she pointed to her with a smile. "Right?"
"Yeah," Reese nodded, forcing a smile.
"Oh my gosh, how crazy is this?" She laughed. "Did you and your boyfriend come here to watch Jonny play?" She asked enthusiastically. "He had a good two periods, I don't know what the hell happened third period though," she added with a giggle.
Reese didn't feel like telling Alexis about her break-up, or even about the fact she now lived with Jonathan, so she paid no attention to her questions. Instead she focused on how she could get Alexis to leave before she got to see her ex-boyfriend.
"Why're you here?" She ended up blurting out. Not as eloquent as she had envisioned it, but it would do. Alexis looked slightly bewildered at her question and even laughed uneasily, her eyebrows knitted with confusion.
"I have season tickets," she said, as if Reese should have already known that.
"I get that," Reese said, waving her hand around in front of her. "Why are you here with someone else?" She asked, nodding in the direction of the man standing slightly behind Alexis. He was clearly older than Jonathan, late 20's, maybe even into his early 30's. He was clean cut and dressed nicely- he actually reminded Reese of Sean a little bit. "Do you not have a heart?"
"What're you talking about?" Alexis asked, clearly getting frustrated with all of the questions.
"You broke his heart," Reese said, aggravated she even had to explain this to her. "How could you come here with another guy not even a month after breaking up with him? You saw his third period, that was all thanks to you, ya know. I can't even believe you would have the audacity to do this do him. If you still cared about him at all, or had half of a brain for that matter, you could stay home or at least come alone. I know you two loved each other, so I'm really baffled at why you would do this to him," Reese fumed. Her blood pressure was rising, and she was getting even angrier now that she was saying these words out loud as opposed to keeping them in her head.
Alexis looked completely dumbfounded at Reese's speech. She stood still, her mouth hanging slightly ajar as she wondered what she could possibly say to this girl she knew next to nothing about. Alexis didn't think she was a bad person, and she was pretty upset someone who she barely knew, and vice versa, was telling her she was just that.
"How dare you," Alexis finally said, sticking her finger in Reese's face. "You don't know me, and you don't know what happened between Jonathan and I," she scolded her.
"I may not know you, and maybe I don't know much about your relationship with him, but I do know what he's told and I've seen how he's acted after you basically stuck his heart in a blender. I've also noticed you seem to have no decency at all, nor do you give two shits about his feelings."
"Shut the fuck up!" Alexis screeched. "I'm here to support him and I don't need you standing here telling me I'm some fucking heart breaking monster. You can't blame me for not wanting to marry him!"
"And you can't blame me for thinking you're a heartless bitch," Reese seethed in a low voice. Alexis let out a shrill scream and took two massive steps forward, arms out in front of her- ready to attack. Fortunately, the security guard who had been previously talking to Alexis had been paying close attention to the girls' conversation and quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her away from doing any damage.
"You fucking bitch!" Alexis screamed. A few players began to poke their heads out of the locker room, curious as to see where the racket was coming from. "Get her fucking out of here! Who does this bitch think she is?!" She continued to shriek.
"If you're going to come to the next game come with an apology and an empty seat next to you," Reese said slowly, motioning to the still nameless man Alexis had brought to the game. "I think Jonny deserves some closure."
The man of the hour stepped out of the locker room a few moments later and Reese immediately flew to his side.
"Let's go," she instructed him.
"But, I saw Alexis and I..."
"Let's go," she said again, although this time a bit more forcefully.
Jonathan's stomach had been in knots since he had seen the love of his life sitting in the stands with another man perched at her side. He didn't know if they had just met at the game, or if she had brought him there, but by the way they were interacting it didn't make much of a difference to him- it broke his heart either way. Alexis was the first girl to make him feel butterflies flap their way around in his stomach, and he was now discovering she was also the first girl to make his stomach to back flips, in a not so good way.
Jonathan followed Reese out to the parking lot, smiling to the fans that waited outside, but passing them by. His hand was tightly clasped with Reese's, he wanted to badly to go back into the UC and find Alexis, but he knew something had happened by the way Reese was acting. They both climbed into his car and once the doors were shut behind them he glanced over at his friend with a wary expression.
"It was you yelling, wasn't it?" He asked her softly.
Hockey was a huge part of Jonathan Toews' life. It had been that way ever since he was a kid. And he knew the reason he had taken his break-up with Alexis so hard was because he hadn't had hockey to distract him while he was mending his broken heart. The first time he stepped back out onto the ice at the United Center and the familiar roar of the crowd made his heartbeat quicken, and he could hear the sounds of his teammate's skates slice into the ice, he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. He skated circles at the Hawks end of the ice, and shot the puck as hard as he could into the empty net. His friends and teammates knew he meant business as soon as he stepped into the locker room after the Olympic break. Jonathan's Captain Serious persona had been amplified after his break-up. As far as he was concerned, hockey was the only thing that made sense anymore.
Reese watched Jonathan become a man possessed. She hadn't seen him so obsessed with hockey since they were kids. He spent most of his time practicing, and when he wasn't doing that he was talking about hockey, and when he wasn't doing that he was either eating or sleeping. She was worried for him, and on more than one occasion tried to get him to talk to her, but he wasn't having it.
He got her tickets for his first game back, and because she didn't have a Hawks jersey of her own, Jonathan gave her his third jersey. She grabbed her ticket at Will Call and watched her friend skate his heart out. She worried for his sanity, but she couldn't deny he was having a great game.
Jonathan was in the zone. He had a goal and two assists on the night and it was only second period. He was feeling good. It was almost like he was whole again, and he was thankful for that as he slowly skated from one end of the ice to the locker room. Unconsciously he looked up into the stands to a familiar place, a place where Alexis sat at every game thanks to the season tickets he got her at the beginning of every season. He did it almost every game, and still wasn't used to her not being there. Only this time he was nearly knocked to his feet when he saw her sitting in her usual seat, a man sitting next to her. She was facing him, her hand on his thigh as she laughed at something he said. Jonathan's face was blank as he stared at his ex-girlfriend and when he finally got to the walkway to the locker room, he forgot to step up and practically fell on his face. He stumbled a bit but was able to catch himself as he continued to walk to the locker room, his eyes on Alexis until she was no longer visible.
Reese saw Jonathan's distant look and followed his eyes until they landed on a familiar dirty blonde. She gasped and her hand quickly flew to her mouth as she recognized the girl as Alexis. Her eyes got even wider when she realized Alexis was sitting next to an older looking man, her hand on his thigh and her head thrown back as she laughed hardily. Reese's heart sank for Jonathan and her eyes quickly snapped to her friend as she watched him stumble over his own two feet as he walked to the locker room.
She couldn't believe the nerve Alexis had. Reese understood her wanting to continue going to games, because she imagined at the point her and Jon broke up she was pretty invested in the team, but she couldn't wrap her head around why she would bring another guy. She almost felt like getting up and giving Alexis a piece of her mind, but she figured that would just cause more unnecessary problems. So she sat there biting her tounge, burning holes into the back of Alexis' head.
Jonathan's third period was so horrible it was hard to believe his first two had been so outstanding. He was making stupid plays, turning over pucks, getting slammed against the boards when he could have easily avoided the collisions. The fans started to get frustrated with their captain, even going so far as to boo him after he turned over a puck that resulted in a goal for the other team. Reese's heart sank and she counted down the minutes to the end of the game, thankful that the Hawks had managed to hold onto their lead even after the horrible plays of one of their franchise players.
Reese bit her lip as she started to make her way down to the locker rooms. She didn't have permission to be down there, and she was sure Jonny didn't say anything to security about her being there, but she figured she could try her best to see her friend with a fresh bruise on his already damaged heart. And if worst came to worst she could always wait by his car. She hoped Jonathan would get over seeing his ex quickly, but she knew otherwise. His heart was shattered, and seeing Alexis was not going to help him heal.
In Jonathan's crazy deluded world he would believe that Alexis going to his game (regardless of the fact she brought another guy with her) meant she wanted to get back together with him. In his world it would mean she missed seeing him in person and she was sorry for leaving him sitting in the middle of the snow with an engagement ring in his cold hands. Nothing good could come from her being at this hockey game.
Reese was genuinely surprised when she saw Alexis a few strides ahead of her as she made her way to the locker room. She watched as she held hands with the man walking beside her and as she chatted with a security guard who no doubt recognized her as Jonathan's girlfriend. Her heart ached at the mere thought on Jon running into Alexis with another man, and she knew automatically she had to stop that from happening. Reese had never seen a boy cry before she watched Jonathan breakdown in his father's car the week before, and she'd be dammed if she watched it happen again. She couldn’t hold her tongue any longer.
"Excuse me," Reese tapped on Alexis' shoulder, interrupting her from a conversation with a security guard. Alexis turned around, a smile placed on her perfectly pink lips.
"Yes?" She asked. She gave Reese the up and the down before her eyes softened up a bit. Reese knew she must've recognized her. They had gone to high school together, but never associated with one another. They never had classes together, their group of friends never interacted, and they never hung out on weekends. They had met a total of two times when Alexis was dating Jon. Once back in Winnipeg during Christmas two years ago, and once in Chicago before Reese became too consumed with her boyfriend to care about her old friend from her hometown. Both times were brief, but Reese wasn't surprised she recognized her.
"Reese," she pointed to her with a smile. "Right?"
"Yeah," Reese nodded, forcing a smile.
"Oh my gosh, how crazy is this?" She laughed. "Did you and your boyfriend come here to watch Jonny play?" She asked enthusiastically. "He had a good two periods, I don't know what the hell happened third period though," she added with a giggle.
Reese didn't feel like telling Alexis about her break-up, or even about the fact she now lived with Jonathan, so she paid no attention to her questions. Instead she focused on how she could get Alexis to leave before she got to see her ex-boyfriend.
"Why're you here?" She ended up blurting out. Not as eloquent as she had envisioned it, but it would do. Alexis looked slightly bewildered at her question and even laughed uneasily, her eyebrows knitted with confusion.
"I have season tickets," she said, as if Reese should have already known that.
"I get that," Reese said, waving her hand around in front of her. "Why are you here with someone else?" She asked, nodding in the direction of the man standing slightly behind Alexis. He was clearly older than Jonathan, late 20's, maybe even into his early 30's. He was clean cut and dressed nicely- he actually reminded Reese of Sean a little bit. "Do you not have a heart?"
"What're you talking about?" Alexis asked, clearly getting frustrated with all of the questions.
"You broke his heart," Reese said, aggravated she even had to explain this to her. "How could you come here with another guy not even a month after breaking up with him? You saw his third period, that was all thanks to you, ya know. I can't even believe you would have the audacity to do this do him. If you still cared about him at all, or had half of a brain for that matter, you could stay home or at least come alone. I know you two loved each other, so I'm really baffled at why you would do this to him," Reese fumed. Her blood pressure was rising, and she was getting even angrier now that she was saying these words out loud as opposed to keeping them in her head.
Alexis looked completely dumbfounded at Reese's speech. She stood still, her mouth hanging slightly ajar as she wondered what she could possibly say to this girl she knew next to nothing about. Alexis didn't think she was a bad person, and she was pretty upset someone who she barely knew, and vice versa, was telling her she was just that.
"How dare you," Alexis finally said, sticking her finger in Reese's face. "You don't know me, and you don't know what happened between Jonathan and I," she scolded her.
"I may not know you, and maybe I don't know much about your relationship with him, but I do know what he's told and I've seen how he's acted after you basically stuck his heart in a blender. I've also noticed you seem to have no decency at all, nor do you give two shits about his feelings."
"Shut the fuck up!" Alexis screeched. "I'm here to support him and I don't need you standing here telling me I'm some fucking heart breaking monster. You can't blame me for not wanting to marry him!"
"And you can't blame me for thinking you're a heartless bitch," Reese seethed in a low voice. Alexis let out a shrill scream and took two massive steps forward, arms out in front of her- ready to attack. Fortunately, the security guard who had been previously talking to Alexis had been paying close attention to the girls' conversation and quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her away from doing any damage.
"You fucking bitch!" Alexis screamed. A few players began to poke their heads out of the locker room, curious as to see where the racket was coming from. "Get her fucking out of here! Who does this bitch think she is?!" She continued to shriek.
"If you're going to come to the next game come with an apology and an empty seat next to you," Reese said slowly, motioning to the still nameless man Alexis had brought to the game. "I think Jonny deserves some closure."
The man of the hour stepped out of the locker room a few moments later and Reese immediately flew to his side.
"Let's go," she instructed him.
"But, I saw Alexis and I..."
"Let's go," she said again, although this time a bit more forcefully.
Jonathan's stomach had been in knots since he had seen the love of his life sitting in the stands with another man perched at her side. He didn't know if they had just met at the game, or if she had brought him there, but by the way they were interacting it didn't make much of a difference to him- it broke his heart either way. Alexis was the first girl to make him feel butterflies flap their way around in his stomach, and he was now discovering she was also the first girl to make his stomach to back flips, in a not so good way.
Jonathan followed Reese out to the parking lot, smiling to the fans that waited outside, but passing them by. His hand was tightly clasped with Reese's, he wanted to badly to go back into the UC and find Alexis, but he knew something had happened by the way Reese was acting. They both climbed into his car and once the doors were shut behind them he glanced over at his friend with a wary expression.
"It was you yelling, wasn't it?" He asked her softly.
♠ ♠ ♠
there's lots more drama where that came from! i'm working on smiles®rets now. that will be full of drama as well. weee!i would love some feedback please.<3
xoxo.