Some People Stay

Amelia was nervous as she stood outside the locker room, waiting on Jonathan to emerge. She hated that she was nervous, too. But, he had been the one to help her throughout the days following David’s death. And, while she wasn’t her normal self still, Jonathan had helped her begin to come back around. And, then he had told her that he had to leave, and she had flipped out on him, refusing to talk to him since.

She knew it wasn’t his fault that he had to leave. She understood that it was his job, and he had no choice but to go back to Chicago, but that didn’t hurt any less. And, then she had stopped talking to him. She figured it would be easier that way. She assumed that as soon as he got back to Chicago he would forget all about her. She wasn’t anything to him. He and Bridget had always been close friends, and she just happened to be Bridget’s sister. But still, Amelia and Jonathan had barely ever spoken to each other. Why wouldn’t he forget about her?

She had assumed she had made him angry when she had refused to talk to him. He had to be angry at her for shutting him out after all of the work he had put in to help her out. She was scared to see him, to see how he was going to react. But, Bridget had told her that he was looking forward to seeing her. So, maybe she was just worrying for nothing.

She shuffled from foot to foot as she watched other players from the team come out of the locker room. She couldn’t tell you any of their names or who was good or not, but that didn’t matter at the moment. All she cared about was seeing Jonathan. Finally, she saw the familiar face walk out of the locker room. He caught sight of the two sisters, and a smile formed on his face, as he made his way over to him.

Amelia continued to stand there, showing no emotion. “I’m so glad you came,” he told them, the smile on his face seeming permanent. “How are you guys doing?” he asked, looking between the two sisters.

Amelia waited on Bridget to answer first. “I’m doing good,” she told him, and then the attention turned to Amelia. Jonathan’s smile dropped a little, as he waited to see if she was going to talk to him.

“I’m okay,” Amelia finally replied, a small smile crossing her face. “It’s good to see you again,” she said softly.

“It’s good to see you, too,” Jonathan told her, wrapping her up in his arms and giving her a huge hug. All of a sudden, they heard whistles coming from behind them, and when Jonathan let her go, Amelia looked to see there was a crowd of Blackhawks players standing there, watching the scene before them. They were cheering Jonathan on, obviously thinking that he and Amelia had something going on.

Amelia awkwardly forced a smile to the crowd as Jonathan let go of her. “So, are you going to introduce us to your girl, Captain?” one of them asked. Amelia couldn’t tell one guy from the next, but this one had blond curly hair and was giving Jonathan this knowing smile. Little did he know, he was completely wrong with his assumption.

“Guys, this is Amelia,” he introduced. “And, this is her sister, Bridget,” he added, making sure not to forget about the other girl, who was standing more in the background at this moment. All of the guys were fixed on Amelia, thinking that their teammate had a girl.

Amelia could hear all of them mumble hello and other greetings to her. “Where you guys going?” the same guy as before asked.

Amelia looked up at Jonathan, not knowing the answer to that herself. She wasn’t sure if he was leaving right away or if they were going to go out to dinner or what. Up until two minutes ago, she hadn’t talked to him in weeks. She wasn’t sure what his plans were. Jonathan looked at Amelia and Bridget. “I was thinking dinner?” he asked more than stated.

Amelia glanced at Bridget, who shrugged her shoulders at her sister, almost as if telling her it was up to her. “Yeah,” Amelia said, nodding her head.

“Well, do you mind if we join you?” a different player asked.

Jonathan looked down at Amelia, who looked at Bridget for a moment before looking back up at Jonathan. She nodded her head ever so slightly, not knowing if this was the best idea. Jonathan looked over at his teammate. “Yeah, sure,” he said, and a bunch of the guys cheered jokingly. Apparently, a bunch of them were about to join the three of them.

Amelia hadn’t been out in a crowd of people in a long time, and to say she was nervous right now was an understatement. Jonathan must have sensed her nervousness because he bent down to whisper in her ear, “Are you sure about this? We can say no to them.”

Amelia simply nodded. “It’s fine,” she said as the group of them made their way outside. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at a restaurant, one that Bridget had recommended, knowing they had good food and they would be able to accommodate a fairly large crowd with no notice.

“So, Johnny boy, how did you and Amelia meet?” the man that Amelia had come to learn goes by the name of Patrick Kane, or as his teammates liked to refer to him as Kaner, asked.

“Actually Bridget and I have been friends since before I can remember,” Jonathan replied, and Bridget nodded her head in agreement.

“So, you introduced him to your sister?” Kane asked Bridget.

“Uh, yeah, something like that?” Bridget answered, confused by how to respond to the question. “Jon’s always kinda known Amelia. They just got closer lately,” she added, trying to explain it further, but knowing she wasn’t doing a very good job when she heard most of the guys cheer for their captain.

“Guys, stop it,” Jonathan ordered, but the guys wouldn’t listen to him.

“Calm down, Captain Serious,” Kane told him. “We’re just trying to get to know the girl a little bit better,” he said, putting his arm around Amelia, who jumped a little bit at the contact.

“Kaner, stop it,” Jonathan ordered more forcefully, pushing the younger man’s arm off of Amelia.

“Whoa, buddy, I’m not trying to steal your girl,” Kane defended himself, putting his arm back around Amelia’s chair. Amelia looked at Jonathan almost helplessly. She didn’t really know what to do. She wasn’t ready to be in a big crowd yet, especially with a bunch of people she didn’t know. She was sure that Jonathan’s teammates were nice, but she didn’t know them, and right now, she just felt uncomfortable. She saw out of the corner of her eye Jonathan give his teammate a glaring look, and Kane backed down.

“So, you’ve known Jonny for a long time, since he was a kid?” another one of his teammates, Brent Seabrook, asked the two ladies.

Bridget spoke up, getting the attention off of her sister. “Yeah, we grew up next to each other. We’ve been friends ever since,” she said, smiling at the thought.

“Was he always so uptight? So serious?” someone at the far end of the table asked.

“He’s always been pretty serious,” Bridget nodded her head. “But, that’s one of the things that we love about him,” she added with a smile in Jonathan’s direction.

Amelia breathed a sigh of relief as the focus was off of her for a little while. But, that didn’t last forever. A little while later, she heard her name being said, and she realized that the guys were talking to her. “So, Amelia, when are we going to see you up in Chicago?” Kane asked.

“Huh?” Amelia asked, confused by his question.

“I’m just wondering how long you guys are going to keep it a long distance relationship. I figured eventually you’ll want to move up there to be with him. Gotta keep the captain happy,” Kane continued.

“Kaner, shut up. Now,” Jonathan ordered, a stern expression on his face.

But, Kane refused to give up. “What? I’m just asking a question!” he defended himself. “Don’t you want to actually be with him instead of this long distance shit?” It was obvious at this point that Kane had had a little bit too much to drink, which was exactly why he wasn’t listening to Jonathan’s warnings.

“Guys, I’m not in a relationship with Jon,” Amelia finally spoke up, causing all of the guys to stare at her. She heard them all talking at once, saying everything from “What? You’re not?” to “What’s wrong with you? You think you’re too good for Jonny?”

Amelia looked up to Jonathan for help, feeling overwhelmed with all of their comments, as she shrunk back into her seat, wishing she could just disappear. The guys continued hounding Amelia, and she felt as if she was going to lose it at any minutes.

“Guys, shut up!” Jonathan said loudly.

“We just want to know if she thinks she’s too good for you or something,” Kane spoke for the rest of the group. “Why wouldn’t she want to date the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks?” he questioned.

“Because her husband just died,” Jonathan answered, causing everyone to instantly become silent, while Amelia held her breath, not knowing what to do or say after that announcement.