I'll Be

It was around 8:30 when Niki barged into Rylo’s room, shaking her awake. It took a moment for her to come to, but when she did; her friend was in her face. Niki was looking down at her with an excited expression and it had her wondering how someone could be this jumpy and happy this early. Slowly, she slipped out of bed and groaned. Now Niki was motioning her out of the room and to her kitchen table. At first, she thought she was still asleep, and even after rubbing her eyes and blinking continuously, it became obvious that she wasn’t.

“Um, Patrick…what are you doing here so early?” Rylo asked with a raspy and tired voice. “I didn’t think night owls woke up before noon.”

Patrick laughed and revealed a bag of bagels before setting them down on the table. “I brought you breakfast. Good thing I got half a dozen,” he said motioning over to Niki. “No idea you had Niki over.”

“Way to tell him, Ry. I’m offended!” Niki dramatically touched her forehead. This drew laughter from herself and Patrick. Rylo wrapped her arms around her and kissed her cheek with a loud pop. “Your kisses don’t make up for the hurt, but those bagels might.”

The three of them sat together at the table for a while after they finished eating. Rylo was really enjoying the time Patrick was spending with her and Niki. It felt like the three of them had known each other for the longest time. Patrick was laughing at something that happened to her and Niki during college. It made Rylo smile seeing him laughing like this, but it had her noticing how melodic his laughter sounded. His laughter was something she could get used to hearing.

Niki soon announced that she had to leave and get ready for work. She hugged Rylo tightly and gave a quick wave to Patrick on her way to the door. As the door closed after her, Rylo’s smile started to fade. It made her realize that these sleep overs and impromptu breakfasts weren’t going to be happening much longer.

“You seem really sad,” Patrick noted. “Why is that? It seems like you two are always together.”

She quickly snapped back into her thoughts and turned to face him. “Niki’s moving to New York City in less than a month and its slowly and painfully sinking in I guess,” Rylo’s voice cracked near the end.

With that, Patrick walked up and pulled her into his arms. He ran his fingers through her hair as she began to cry softly into his shoulder. As he rocked her gently, she began to calm down. It was one of the most comforting things Rylo had ever felt, it was so different. Reluctantly, she pulled away and his hands came up to cup her cheeks. The pads of Patrick’s thumbs wiped away the tears that remained on her cheeks. A pang of guilt rose in her stomach because of the assumptions she had made about him. If anything, he was one of the nicest guys she had ever met.

A small smile spread across her lips along with a quiet chuckle. “I have to shower for work,” she said her voice still sad. “Will you wait here for me?”

Patrick nodded to her and watched as she disappeared into her bathroom. He walked around her small apartment, taking in how simple it was. It felt like an actual home, not an apartment in the city of Chicago. There were various picture frames scattered around her apartment. A lot of them were family photos, and of those, most were of her and her brother. The others were filled with her and Niki. As he continued to look over those, he noticed a picture of the two of them at a Blackhawks game. They were pointing at Jonathan Toews stretching on the ice and laughing, in turn it had him laughing. Each picture had a small story and Patrick could see why she was such kind person to him.

When Rylo finished her shower and changed into clothes for work, she headed out into the living room. He was looking at the one of her and Niki at the game they had gone to together. After grabbing her rain boots, she sat down on the couch and pulled them on. “Ah, I see you’re looking at that one where we’re pointing at Jonathan’s ass.”

“Shit, Rylo. When did you get there?” Patrick asked, completely stunned. When Rylo burst out into laughter, he did as well. After a moment, he wiped a tear from his eyes and looked back at her. “Yeah, I think this picture is hilarious. Are those rain boots?”

Looking down at her boots that were striped various shades of blue, she smiled. “Yeah, I thought they were cute.”

“They are,” he replied with a chuckle.

As she stood up and grabbed her bag, Patrick handed her the umbrella that was perched by the door. She smiled gratefully and took it into her hands. They walked out of her apartment together and headed out to the rain drenched city. The sound of rain drops hitting the umbrella above their heads and the splashing of water beneath their feet were soothing.

When they stopped in front of Starbucks, Patrick pulled her into a gentle hug. “It’s odd not saying goodnight to you,” he said with a laugh after they pulled away from each other.

“I know,” Rylo scuffed. “This time, it’s an ‘I’ll be seeing you’. Just as good, right?”

“Right you are, Rylo. I’ll be seeing you.” He waved and walked away, pulling his hood up in the process.

She watched him walk away for a moment and then headed inside for work. Chris and Dana looked at her with equally shocked expressions. With a shrug of her shoulders, she made her way to the back to get set for work. When she got to the front, the looks from Chris and Dana continued. “Alright, you two. Niki came over last night, and she was out cold by ten. So I went to bed, completely tired, but instead I wound up staring at the ceiling for an hour. I got out of bed and went for a walk. I was just wondering around and bam, I literally run into Patrick.”

“You aren’t going to tell me you two slept together…” Chris asked her suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

“No! So we took a walk together, and then we stopped at my house. We exchanged numbers and then he went home. Niki woke me up this morning, and dragged me out of my room, and bam, he’s standing in my living room. He bought us bagels. I went to take a shower; he looked at the pictures I had laying around. Then we walked her,” Rylo said, hands on her hips. “I’m not like that guys. We’re friends.”

Chris and Dana nodded at each other and got back to work. She smiled triumphantly as she began taking orders. Customers were coming and going at a fast pace, accumulating more as the day wore on. It was kind of a relief for Rylo; she didn’t want to explain herself further than she needed to. Sure, it was Patrick Kane she somehow managed to befriend, but the looks they were passing at her started to get old fairly fast. She rubbed the back of her neck in attempts to relieve some of the stress that was starting to build up.

By the time the end of her shift came around, she bolted towards the back to get her things. “Rylo?” Dana asked quietly while walking to the back. “You alright?”

“I’m just really annoyed, alright? You and Chris need to stop with the looks. Patrick Kane is my friend and that is that,” she responded agitatedly. “Just…please.”

“I’m sorry, Rylo, I really am. It’s just exciting, and I won’t lie, I made some assumptions. The way he looked at you was really…sweet.”

Rylo sat down on one of the stools and shrugged her shoulders. “I was crying earlier after Niki left because she’s moving away. He comforted me. I think he only did that because I was still not tiptop.”

Dana smiled and nudged her gently. “Where can I get a friend like that?” she asked as Chris walked in.

“Tryin’ to make me jealous, are ya?” Chris asked, fake sadness dripping from his words.

“I’ll leave you two at it,” Rylo said with a smirk. “Later!”

After throwing on her jacket and grabbing her things, she headed outside. Since it had stopped raining, she kept the umbrella at her side. Only momentarily did she stop to pull her phone out. There were various texts and a missed called, along with a voicemail. Her finger pressed down on the icon and put the phone to her ear. To her surprise, it was Patrick. “Rylo, you…aren’t going to believe this. Derek Boogaard is dead. Please call me back?”

Rylo was quick to calling him back. It rang a few times, making her foot tap anxiously. When he finally answered, she sighed heavily. “Pat, holy shit, when did this happen?!”

As Patrick filled her in on what he knew, her heart began to sink slowly. She could hear in his voice that he was upset and almost immediately after did she blurt out, “I’m coming to see you.”

“You…are?” His voice had a hint of surprise in it.

“Of course, you were there for me this morning. It’s my turn. Where do you live?”

She stayed on the phone with him as he directed her along. When she arrived, Patrick was standing in the lobby. His eyes were red and slightly puffy, and his bruise had darkened. Rylo bit her lip to hide her incoming frown. They headed up together in silence, her head was spinning. The death of any hockey player was devastating, regardless if they were on the team a person cheered for or not.

Patrick led her inside and wrapped his arms around himself as she took off her rain boots and jacket. She placed her things in a corner and walked over to him, wasting no time to pull him into her arms. He sighed, his breath warm against her neck. It sent a chill across her body, but she ignored it. “Come on, let’s get you in bed. You look awful,” she whispered, pulling away slowly.

Her hand rested on the small of his back as they walked into his bedroom. As he lay down on his bed, his sadness and stress became even more evident. Rylo was shocked that within three days, she would see Patrick Kane at one of his worst moments. She looked down at him and he motioned her to join him on his bed. With a skeptical look, she stepped out of her jeans and crawled in to lie next to him. His head rested on her shoulder, just under her chin. The short, blond curls tickled her skin as she wrapped her arms around him.

A small, hot drop landed on her chest and slid down slowly, stopping at her shirt. It broke her heart to see him this down on himself. She kissed his forehead gently and stroked his cheek until he looked up at her. A sad smile appeared on his lips and at that moment, tears began to fall from her eyes as well.

“Fuck, Rylo,” his voice cracking as he spoke. “Please don’t cry.”

She sniffled and let out a quiet sob. “Sorry, it’s just so sad seeing you sad, and fuck. Kaner, I feel so bad.”

Patrick rested his forehead against hers gently. “Why do you feel bad?”

“Because I can tell how hurt you are about, well, everything,” Rylo choked out. “Like the cup, and then you got punched in the face, then some creepy girl you slept with leaked the picture onto the internet, and now Boogey is dead. That doesn’t help at all…poor guy.”

“I need to be more careful.” Rylo could hear the shame in his voice, making her tear up a little bit more.

Then she remembered what she had joked about just a day ago; being his ‘wing-woman’ and ‘giving him tips.’ Her mind was whirling and then she realized she must have looked ridiculous staring at him. “Maybe I can help you.”

He sniffled and twitched his nose. “What do you mean?”

“You know how guys have a wing-man when they got out?” Patrick nodded in response. “Well, I know it sounds stupid. But maybe…I can be your wing-woman.”

As he started to laugh, she knew it was a stupid idea. But when he held up his hand for a high five, she started think otherwise. “I can’t believe I never thought of that. But then again, I always think girls get jealous of each other.”

Now it was Rylo’s turn to laugh and she nudged his shoulder playfully. “Oh come on, Pat. I would have hopped into your bed with less than this if I was one of those girls. Clearly, I’m not into you like that.”

Patrick looked shocked, making Rylo laugh harder. “I’m kind of offended by that statement, Ry.”

“Oh hush, you aren’t as big of a chick magnet as you think. I really am more than willing to help you out with this. We’re both getting something out of this.”

“I’m assuming my part is getting laid, and yet I am so unsure of what your something is.” His eyebrow was raised and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“What I’m getting out of this is your happiness, Patrick. You won’t have to worry about creepy girls, and heck, I’ll be their taxi ride back to wherever they came from if you’d like,” Rylo said with a wink.

Apparently her idea was good enough because he agreed to it, even the taxi part. Even though Rylo wasn’t into going to clubs or bars, she was willing to do it for Patrick. She didn’t want to see him upset like this anymore. Even though having someone to hold onto was nice, wanting to see him with a genuine smile on his face outweighed that heavily.

They talked for a short while longer until Rylo was starting to fall asleep. He insisted that she’d stay the night and even set the alarm for her. Patrick crawled out of bed momentarily and slipped out of his t-shirt and jeans. Her skin flushed when she saw him practically naked and slipping into bed next to her. The warmth of his body pressed up against hers as he wrapped his arms around her stomach. Nervously, she turned to face him and slowly snuggled in so that his chin was resting on top of her head. One of his hands stroked her back gently, putting her completely at ease.