Love In The Air

By the time the end of the Stars season came, nothing had changed. Adam was still very lonely back in Dallas and Sarah was still staying with her friends in Chicago while working more than she had in the past. She continued to ignore every phone call from Adam and while she may have made it look easy to outsiders, it was far from it for her. But she kept telling herself that she needed to move on, so she kept trying to act like she had. Adam never gave up though. He called her constantly, had called her mother a few times, even showed up at Vanessa and TJ's place in St. Louis. He would have tried to find her in Chicago, where he figured she was when she wasn't to be found in St. Louis, but the Stars were not meeting with the Blackhawks in Chicago another time during the season.

His mind settled though when he heard from a couple of his friends in Chicago about her being safe and sound in the city. He knew she had to be staying with Kelsi and Jon, so on several occasions he tried sending her things, like lily's and things from Edible Arrangements with sweet notes, hoping to ease the anger and hurt she was feeling. When Sarah saw the things he would send, she couldn't help but feel her heart chip away little by little, but she kept ignoring it.

He tried to get Patrick Sharp to watch out for her and tell him what he could, trying not to come off too much like a stalker, but Sarah was avoiding him and neither man could blame her. While Sarah did try to avoid spending much time with Patrick Sharp, seeing as he could easily tell Adam anything he wanted to and that he reminded her too much of Adam, that didn't mean she didn't see Abby and their baby girl, Madelyn who she loved to spoil.

Though she appreciated her friends letting her stay with them, she couldn't handle their cutesy relationship all the time, so she actually found herself bonding with some of the single guys on the team and spending more time out with them than in Kelsi and Jon's apartment. No one was more shocked than those two to hear she was hanging out and actually getting along with Patrick Kane, but it probably helped that Brent Seabrook was there most of the time.

At the beginning of May, the Blackhawks had yet again failed to make it to the Stanley Cup finals like they had in 2010, meaning soon most of the players would be gone for the summer and soaking up the sun wherever they called home in the offseason. Deciding they wanted whoever they could get together one last time before a summer of offseason trades began and life got crazy, Sarah, Abby and Kelsi decided to have a send-off brunch for everyone, just to say goodbye to who they could. The girls made a bunch of food, which was a given for who they were feeding, from eggs benedict, fruit salad, hash browns, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, home fries, pancakes of all kinds, and miscellaneous dishes that players were bringing with them to the Sharps large and new home.

“Hey, you guys should put everything out on the buffet. I've still got a few more batches of these pancakes to finish up and the guys might as well start eating now,” Sarah told her friends, as she poured some mix for a couple more pancakes.

“Are you sure?” Abby asked her.

“Yeah, it's no big deal,” she smiled at her friend.

The two other girls nodded and began taking everything out of the kitchen and setting it up for the boys, who were talking with each other and pretty taken with the youngest of the group, little Madelyn.

“Hey Mr, give her to me,” Kelsi smiled, walking up to Jonathan who was holding the baby and was surrounded by Patrick Kane and Brent. He pouted at her and held the little girl closer to him. Both girls giggled at him. “Oh no, none of that. Go fix yourself a plate and I'm gonna feed her so Abby and Patrick can have an uninterrupted meal for once.”

“You sure babe?” he asked.

“Yeah, me and this little munchkin need to spend some quality time together,” she told him, tickling the baby's tummy. “Seabs, you should go pull out the pancake maker though and help Sarah. She's making her specialty pancakes but she won't use the pancake mould for it.”

“I'm on it!” he told her with a grin.

“Now you two, go make your plates and eat,” Kelsi instructed both Jonathan and Patrick. They both smiled at her and Jon kissed her cheek as he walked passed her.

In the kitchen, Sarah was whipping up another bowl of her pancakes, knowing the guys would want more and whatever they didn't eat, they would freeze and surely take back to their apartments when they felt like eating some more.

“I'm here to help,” Brent announced, walking into the kitchen with a grin.

Sarah playfully rolled her eyes at him. “You? Helpful? Please,” she teased.

“Fine, I'll just stand here and keep you company,” he laughed, lifting himself up to sit on the countertop next to the sink and across from the stove, where Sarah was hard at work.

The two spent the next twenty minutes joking around and play fighting in the kitchen, like true best friends. It could have looked like flirting to an outsider, but anyone who had been around them since December knew it was just how their friendship worked and that Brent was one of the few who could keep Sarah happy after her breakup with Adam. They were so busy goofing off in the kitchen that they hadn't noticed everyone greeting the newest arrival that afternoon, until he cleared his throat in the kitchen entrance and spoke.

“I see why you didn't answer my calls now,” he spoke darkly. This caught the attention of both young adults and they turned to Adam who had just spoken.

“What?” Sarah asked, caught off guard and clutching tightly to the spatula she had just been using to playfully hit Brent.

Brent laughed a little at how clueless his ex-teammate was. “Man, it's not what you think it is.”

“Whatever. You mind leaving so she and I can speak in private?”

Brent looked at Sarah who looked unsure of being left alone in the kitchen with her ex. She nodded her head at him and he reassuringly squeezed her shoulders, then took the platter of pancakes with him out of the kitchen.

“Can we, uh, not do this here? Let's take a walk,” she suggested. Adam didn't argue and followed her out of the apartment once she made sure Kelsi knew where she was headed.

The two started walking and had been doing so for more than a half an hour in awkward silence, something that had never been an issue in their relationship before Sarah decided to speak up.

“Why are you here, Adam?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Adam sighed and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “You just up and left, Sarah. I thought you would come back but when you kept ignoring my phone calls, I figured the only way you would go back to Dallas was if I dragged you back. So here I am and if I have to bring you home kicking and screaming, I will. Nothings right without you and I know it's the same for you. You know that Dallas became home for you whether you want to admit it or not. It's only home for me if you're there, just like it should be. You think people aren't telling me how different you are? Please. You may have avoided Sharpie as best you can but did you forget about the other Patrick? Or the fact that Jon is still good friends with me? I know you're miserable. Just admit it. If you agree to put your pride aside just like I'm willing to do, we can fix this and move on from it.”

Sarah stopped walking and sat on a nearby bench. She was grumbling to herself and Adam couldn't help but laugh at how torn she looked, so he sat next to her.

“Just admit it. We're both stubborn and that will never change. Neither will the fact that we love each other. We fought over something stupid and it's time to let it go and go back to the way things were. I'll even let you ignore Ott like I know you've been dying to.”

“....Whatever,” she mumbled, though she was quite happy she got that agreement out of it. “Just promise me we'll never threaten to end our relationship again, unless we're dead serious about it.”

“Never.” He pulled her into his arms and gave her a big, loving kiss. “Now, let's go back to the Sharp's, I'm starving!”

“Deal,” she grinned, standing and locking their hands together. “Don't you dare pull a stunt like that again, Burish.”