Rumors

“What the hell?” Patrick Kane screamed, his eyes widening as he read the post on the website. One of his friends back home in Buffalo had just texted him, telling him to go onto this random website and read a rumor that was circulating about him. To say Patrick was outraged at this point was a complete understatement.

His roommate on the road, Jonathan Toews, walked out of the bathroom in his sweatpants, wondering what all the commotion was about. “What are you yelling about?” he questioned as their hotel room door was opened and Adam Burish, Dave Bolland, and Kris Versteeg came rushing into the room.

“What’s going on?” Adam asked.

“You did this, didn’t you?” Patrick questioned, narrowing his eyes at Adam. “Did you think it’d be funny or something?” he continued, while all the other men in the room continued to stare at him confusedly.

“What are you talking about?” Dave asked.

“Yeah, what did I supposedly do this time?” Adam asked.

“This,” Patrick shouted, spinning his laptop around so everyone could read what was on the screen. Adam was the first to step forward, grabbing the laptop and lifting it up so he could read it. The other three crowded around him, peering over his shoulder, trying to see what it said.

Adam started bursting out laughing first, followed by the other guys, as he sat the computer back onto Patrick’s bed. “You’re gay?” he asked through his laughter, tears beginning to form in his eyes from how hard he was laughing. “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever heard. I mean, what else have you been hiding from us? You got a secret boyfriend hiding somewhere, too?” he asked.

“This is all your doing, isn’t it?” Patrick questioned, getting even more furious with his teammates laughing at the post that had claimed that Patrick was in fact gay. “You are the biggest asshole I have ever met!”

“Hey,” Adam said, putting his hands up in defense. “As much as I’d love to take credit as the mastermind behind all of this, I can’t. I had nothing to do with this,” Adam told him.

“Was it you?” Patrick questioned, glaring at Kris, who shook his head, unable to verbalize an answer since he was still laughing. “What about you?” Patrick asked Dave, continuing down the line of guys, trying to figure out who had started this ridiculous rumor in the first place.

“Hey, you know you don’t have to keep secrets from us. You’re still our teammate no matter what. You don’t have to keep the fact that you’re gay a secret from us. Go ahead and bring your boyfriend to the next team dinner,” Jonathan joked with Patrick, who began to ball his hand into a fist.

“I am not gay!” Patrick screamed.

“I think he’s protesting just a little too much,” Kris spoke.

“I am not gay!” Patrick yelled once again, only causing everyone in the room to start laughing even harder than before, making Patrick even more furious at all of them.

•••

Two days later, the team was finally back in Chicago, and Patrick thought they couldn’t have gotten back any sooner. His teammates hadn’t forgotten that stupid post on the internet that had started the rumor that he was gay, and he was getting tired of hearing their teasing.

Patrick sat in his living room, refusing to even get on the internet, as he knew that this rumor had gotten out of hand, and it was everywhere that he was gay. He heard a knock on his door, and he reluctantly got up and went to see who was there. “Addie,” he said with a smile on his face when he opened his door and saw one of his oldest friends on the other side. “Come on in,” he told her, moving aside to let her walk into the living room.

“So, now I know why you said no to all those girls who asked you to prom. I mean, there had to have been at least fifteen of them that asked you, and you turned every single one of them down,” Addie said, trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably.

“I hate you, Addie,” Patrick said before sitting down in the recliner once again.

“Aw, you don’t hate me,” Addie smiled at him, sitting on the arm of the chair. “You know you love me,” she told him. “So, how much shit have the guys been given you about it?” she asked him.

“Let’s just say, I’d rather stay here, not turning the television on or getting on the internet than go to the game tonight to see them,” Patrick replied.

“Aww,” Addie began. “Would you like me to go with you tonight so I can fend off all those mean people?” she asked in a baby voice.

“Yes,” Patrick answered. Addie started laughing but stood up anyways, holding her hand out for him to take before the two of them walked out the door, heading off towards the United Center.

As they walked into the locker room, they could hear everyone talking about the rumors, and Patrick started to turn around to leave. Addie pulled on his hand, preventing him from going any further. “You have got to be kidding me, Pat!” she exclaimed. “They’re joking! Stop being such a baby and get your ass in there,” she said, shoving him into the locker room, following right behind him.

“Why are you so late?” Troy Brouwer called out. “Having some good times with your boyfriend?” he joked.

“Now, boys,” Addie began. “Don’t make fun of Patrick and these rumors. I mean, it’s not like he’s really gay,” she said, and Patrick smiled down at her, happy to have someone defending him. “Well, we all kind of wondered after that little tryst with that guy while he was in London playing for the Knights,” she said, obviously making up everything she was saying but causing all the guys in the locker room to erupt with laughter nevertheless.

“Addie!” Patrick screamed.

“But, that was just one drunken night,” she continued, trying to keep a straight face.

Patrick suddenly grabbed her arms, pushing her up against the side of the lockers, roughly attacking her lips with his. All of the guys stared on, wide-eyed, not knowing what to do or say. Finally, Patrick pulled away, leaving Addie gasping for breath. “Do you still think I’m gay?” he asked her. Addie shook her head, her mind still trying to comprehend what had happened. “Good,” Patrick said, turning around, smiling, walking over to his locker room, getting ready for the game.

Addie stared at him, wondering if he was going to say anything to her. They’d been friends for the past eighteen years, and she had had feelings for him for the past five, not that she’d ever tell him that. She had never thought anything would happen between the two of them, and now that he’d kiss her, she didn’t know what to do. When she realized he wasn’t even giving a glance in her direction, she walked right out of the locker room without a word, leaving all of Patrick’s teammates wondering if everything was alright with her, while Patrick didn’t even notice she had left.

•••

A week later, Patrick was wondering what he had done to make Addie angry, as he hadn’t even talked to her in the past week. The last time he remembered saying anything to her was in the locker room right after he had kissed her. Maybe she was angry that he had kissed her, but he was just trying to make a point. He walked into the practice ice rink with Addie still on his mind. “Hey,” Patrick called out to Jonathan who was walking a few steps ahead of him. Jonathan turned his head around, slowing down to wait on Patrick to catch up. “Do you think Addie’s mad at me?” Patrick asked him as they walked into the locker room.

“You’re kidding, right?” Jonathan questioned.

“You don’t think she is?” Patrick asked. “It’s just, I haven’t seen or talked to her in like a week. Usually, we talk just about every day,” he explained.

“Hey guys,” Jonathan called out to the men who were in the locker room. “Pat just asked me if Addie’s mad at him. What do you guys think?”

“You’re an idiot,” Kris told Patrick.

“What?” Patrick questioned, his eyes growing wide. “Why am I an idiot?”

“Of course she’s mad at you!” Jonathan exclaimed. “You kissed her and then didn’t even give her a second glance afterwards! Any girl’s going to be mad at you after that!”

“I kissed her to prove a point,” Patrick said. “And, afterwards, I just did what I always do before a game. I got dressed,” he said simply, still not understanding why Addie would be angry at him for that.

“She likes you,” Kris said, breaking it down for him. “She likes you. You kissed her and then ignored her. She’s just upset.”

Patrick shook his head. “She doesn’t like me like that,” he said, thinking how ridiculous that sounded. “We’ve been friends for the past eighteen years. That’s it. Friends.”

“You might want to rethink that,” Jonathan told him. “She likes you.” Patrick shook his head, but he started thinking about what his two teammates had said to him. Was it possible that Addie did like him as more than a friend?

That question was still on his mind a few hours later when he left the practice rink. Knowing there was only one way to find out if it was true or not, he drove over to Addie’s apartment, hoping she was there and not off in an interview with someone for her job as a journalist. He knocked on her door, happy when he heard footsteps coming towards him. “Pat, what are you doing here?” Addie questioned when she opened the door, seeing he was on the other side.

“I needed to talk to you,” he said, pushing the door open even further so that he could walk inside.

“What?” she asked, putting a notebook into her bag. “I’ve got an interview in a half an hour, so can we make this quick?” she requested, grabbing a few pens and her tape recorder, throwing those into the bag also.

“Yeah, this will be really quick,” Patrick assured her, and she stopped packing her things to give Patrick her full attention. “Do you like me?” he asked, deciding to get straight to the point.

“Of course I like you, Pat,” Addie answered. “Why would I have been friends with you for this long if I didn’t like you?” she asked with a laugh, knowing that this wasn’t what Patrick had meant when he had asked the question, but she wanted to avoid his true question.

“No, do you like me?” he repeated. “As more than a friend,” he clarified.

“Pat, we’re friends,” Addie began.

“You’re avoiding my question,” Patrick pointed out.

“No, I don’t like you as more than a friend,” she lied, hoping that Patrick wouldn’t notice, though she should have known differently.

“You’re lying,” he said instantly, and she looked at him curiously. “I think that you’re forgetting that we’ve known each other since we were three. I can tell when you’re lying. Your tongue’s on the inside of your cheek,” he pointed out. “You always do that when you’re lying.”

Addie shut her eyes, knowing he was right and he had caught her in a lie. “I’ve got to go,” she told him, grabbing her bag and heading for the door. “I’ve got to get to that interview,” she added, knowing that she really could have stayed a few more minutes to talk to Patrick and still made it to the interview on time.

“Addie!” Patrick called after her, but she refused to stop, embarrassed that Patrick had found out her secret.

•••

Patrick knew he needed to talk to Addie, but every time he tried to go to her apartment, she wasn’t there. Or, she was simply refusing to open the door when she saw it was him. Not knowing what else to do, he asked Kris to help him out in getting Addie to come to the Blackhawks game that night and get her to come to the locker room beforehand.

As he sat in the locker room by himself, several hours before the game started, he began to wonder if Addie would actually show up or not. He heard footsteps, and he glanced up, seeing Addie walking towards him. “You’re not Steeger,” she said, looking at Patrick.

“Yeah, thank God,” Patrick joked, as Addie stopped in the doorway, not stepping any closer towards him. “I actually asked him to get you to come here,” he confessed.

“Why?” Addie inquired.

“So, there’s this rumor going around that you like me as more than a friend,” Patrick began.

“You more than anyone should know that rumors aren’t always true,” Addie told him.

“Yeah, but they always stem from some sort of truth,” Patrick retorted.

“And that rumor about you being gay?” she questioned. “What’s the truth that it stemmed from?”

Patrick shut his eyes, knowing he had walked right into that one. “Okay, so not all rumors stem from the truth,” he said. “But, there’s another rumor going around, too,” he said.

“And, what’s that?” Addie asked, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“That Patrick Kane has feelings for one of his best friends he’s known practically his whole life,” he said, slowly walking towards her.

“See, I knew that gay rumor was true!” Addie said. “You have a thing for Doug!” she exclaimed, referring to another one of Patrick’s friends that he had grown up with in Buffalo. Patrick stopped where he was standing, staring at her in disbelief before both of them started laughing.

“It’s you, Addie,” he said, taking two large steps towards her to close the gap between them, putting an arm around her waist and kissing her deeply, just as a couple of Patrick’s teammates walked into the room.

When they separated, Addie looked at Jonathan and Kris, who were both standing there, watching the two of them. “Yeah, guys, about that gay rumor,” she began. “Definitely not true,” she smiled before Patrick captured her lips with his once again.