Breakeven

"Old friends I never visit, I remember what they're like."

"Reese Santino is home," Davey said nonchalantly at dinner that night. Jonathan's ears perked up at his brother's statement. Reese had grown up down the street from the Toews' household and both Jonathan and Davey became fast friends with the short girl with rust colored hair.

"Oh really?" Mrs. Toews asked. "You should ask her over for dinner one night or something. I haven't seen her in ages."

"Yeah, me either," Jonathan mumbled as he pushed his dinner around his plate.

"Don't you like, live in the same city?" Davey asked. Jonathan shot his younger brother a nasty look to which he just smiled to. "It was just a question. No need for the death glare, geez."

"Shut up," Jonathan snapped. Mr. Toews rolled his eyes at his boys.

"It's just like when you two were younger," he said. "Only you're a lot meaner this time around."

"I'm not mean!" Davey protested. "It's the superstar over there who's got his panties in a bunch."

"Fuck off Davey," Jonathan seethed as he pushed himself up from his seat and walked towards his bedroom.

Jonathan never thought his life would come to this. A few months ago he was on the top of the world. Signing a new five-year deal with the team he had grown to love, having his beautiful girlfriend by his side, being one of the few selected players to possibly play in the Olympic games. As far as he was concerned, nothing could bring him down. He was sure she was going to say yes to his proposal; it just seemed like the next logical step in their relationship. When she said no, everything else seemed to go downhill with it and the next thing he knew he was broken-hearted, a reject for Team Canada, and playing the worst he had in perhaps his whole NHL career.

Holding his head in his hands, Jonathan Toews let a few tears slide down his cheeks. It was out of frustration mostly, but also because he was so fucking sad he didn't know what else to do. Jonathan liked to be in control of situations, and he felt that he had lost control over his life. Now, he felt completely helpless when it came to controlling his life, and that really scared him.

At the sound of his door slowly creaking open, Jonathan quickly wiped away his tears and looked up noticing it was his brother who had come to talk to him. He was surprised to see Davey walk into his room and sit on the chair from his desk, especially after he had been so horrible to him.

"You really need to cut the whole blaming me for everything act," Davey informed his older brother. Jonathan said nothing as he swung his legs onto his bed as he laid his head on his pillow. He laced his fingers together and placed them behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling, thinking of something to say to his brother. "I mean, I get you're upset and maybe a little angry or whatever, but I didn't make your girlfriend leave you, okay? And I didn't call up anyone on Team Canada and tell them to make sure you weren't on the team. So stop acting like a chick on PMS and blaming me for everything, alright?"

"I'm sorry," Jonathan said, closing his eyes tightly.

"Whatever," Davey said. "Just stop."

"It's just hard," he murmured. "Ya know?"

"Not really," Davey stated honestly with a small shrug. "But I can imagine."

"Yeah," Jon muttered.

"Maybe you should go see Reese tomorrow or something. Maybe it'll put you in a better mood."

"Maybe I will."

- - -

Reese Santino sat in her bedroom, perched on her bay window staring out onto the streets she used to play on. She had a lot of friends when she was little, and her childhood was filled with fond memories. However after seeing Davey, her mind couldn't help by wander back to the Toews' boys. They had been two of her good friends she was younger, and she couldn't believe they were all back at home at the same time for the first time in what seemed like forever.

After Reese met her ex-boyfriend her life went on the fast track. She moved in with him after merely seven months of knowing each other and she was spoiled with nice things and trips all around the world. She dropped out of college her sophomore year to completely devote herself to being a real trophy girlfriend and she did a damn good job at it. She strutted around town with all of her ex-boyfriend's friend's girlfriends and wives like they owned Chicago. She had talked to Jonathan when he first moved to Chicago as well (she had actually been living there longer than he had), but after a while she lost contact.

Reese could have blamed this on her boyfriend, but it was really all of her fault. She choose to lose contact with not only one of her closest friends growing up, but also her family and the rest of her friends back in Canada. She used to go to Blackhawks games, but since her ex-boyfriend's father was part owner of the Bulls, she mostly attended basketball games. She couldn't exactly say she turned into a bitch once she started dating him, but she certainly turned into someone she wasn't before.

She was just about to crawl into bed when she quickly glanced down at the Toews' house to see Jonathan walking down the driveway, trash bag in hand. She sprung up from the bay window and flew down the stairs, ignoring her parent's questions as she shot down the street.

Jonathan heard her feet pounding against the pavement and he looked up, only to see Reese Santino slowing her pace down so it didn't look like she was sprinting any longer. He smiled discreetly as he threw the trash bag in the garbage can and closed the lid, wiping his hands on his pants before looking up.

"Hey," he said first. Reese smiled, trying not to pant so loud as she stopped in front of her old friend.

"Hey," she replied.

"Why were you running towards the house?" He asked.

"I wasn't," she said quickly. "I was just...around."

Jonathan smirked. "Okay."

"Your brother said you were home," she changed the subject.

"My brother said you were home too," he added.

"We should go out to lunch tomorrow or something," she suggested awkwardly.

"Uhm-" Jonathan paused, racking his brain for an answer. Under normal circumstances would he want to go to lunch with Reese? Of course he did. But honestly, sulking in his bed all day just seemed much more appealing after he had gotten dumped. Lying in bed all day seemed more appealing than anything actually.

"Oh," Reese said, her eyes falling to the ground. "Well, it's okay. Maybe uhm, Davey will go with me or something. So yeah- I'll just go now," she stuttered awkwardly pointing back towards her house. She wasn't sure why Jonathan was acting so weird, and she didn't really want to stick around in that awkward situation any longer. She turned around on her heel and retreated back to her house, cursing lowly to herself at what an idiot she had just made herself look like.

Jonathan watched as his old friend walked away, feeling like a douche bag. He sighed through his nose and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Reese!" He called out, making the short girl stop in her tracks and look over her shoulder cautiously. "I'd love to go to lunch tomorrow."