The Middle

After the gala, I went in my room and as promised, phoned Ryan to tell him how my date with Pat went. Although, I was almost positive he’d rather hear Pat’s view on the evening.

*Flashback*

After I arrived back at Pat’s place, I saw him and Erica giving me skeptical smirks. Erica walked right up to me and her smirk turned into an all-out grin.

“Come with me.”

I looked over at Pat with a confused look on my face, hoping I was hiding the fact that I knew he was up to something. He just shrugged his shoulders, the smirk never leaving his face.

I followed Erica into “my room” and my jaw dropped. There was a beautiful [url=
http://www.prom-dress-gown.com/products/big/one_shoulder_red_prom_gown_nm-6235_20110729024541.jpg] dress [/url]spread out across the bed. I looked over at Erica. She shook her head and pointed behind her shoulder. I turned and saw Pat with a huge smile on his face.

“You did this?” Pat nodded.

“I picked it out myself, actually.”

I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that Pat had picked out this dress. Then something clicked and I started to giggle. The Kane siblings looked at me like I was crazy.

“Something funny?” Erica asked as she raised an eyebrow at me.

“I just found the irony in that Pat picked a red dress.” Erica chuckled, but Pat’s face fell slightly.

I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

“It was a joke. I love the dress. Thank you, you didn’t have to do this.”

A smile reappeared on his face.

“Yes, I did. You deserve to be the most beautiful girl at the gala tonight. The dress is just an accessory though.”

I could feel my cheeks start to flush as I looked at the floor. Before I found myself stuck in an awkward moment with Pat, Erica came to the rescue.

“Okay Pat, why don’t you go get dressed? Claire needs to get into this dress.”

Pat nodded and left the room. Erica, however didn’t leave right away.

“Look, I’m sorry we went behind your back to do this. Pat really wanted you to feel special tonight. He thinks really highly of you, and your brother. I hope you have fun tonight. Oh, and you can have your room back now. My job is done.” She smirked. “Oh! I almost forgot! Don’t forget, your shoes are on the floor, right there.” I looked down and saw and pair of red and black peep-toe heels. “Don’t worry, I picked those out.” I smiled at her as she left the room.

I was in awe of everything that has happened since I met Pat. I’ve never seen Ryan so happy. I’ve never felt more alive, now that I have a little more time to myself. Then this night; the date, the dress, everything. I’ve never had anyone other than Ryan cherish my company. I was still confused on how to deal with it all, but I was adjusting.

After I got dressed and left my room, I noticed that Erica had left the apartment. Pat was standing in the kitchen, nursing a small glass of rye.

“I certainly hope you know I’m driving.”

Pat turned to look at me and his jaw dropped.

“You….look amazing.”

A smiled spread on my face as Pat continued.

“Also, there’s a car coming to get us. Tazer got it for the four of us.”

I raised an eyebrow, which Pat noticed and answered my question before it left my lips.

“The two of us, Tazer and his date are all arriving to the gala together.”

I nodded and went to sit on the couch in the living room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We arrived at the gala before many of the guests. The ride there was awkward, to say the least. I had met Jon before, so I was comfortable around him. His date, on the other hand, looked at me like I didn’t belong. A part of me had pondered the thought, but shrugged it off after seeing the smile on Pat’s face.

I didn’t know exactly what to think of this event. It was a formal dinner & dance with a silent auction. Money from the auction went to North Western Hospital. That warmed my heart a little bit more. Ryan had been living there for the last 20 months, so I was happy to be a part of this, for him. As I walked by the items that were up for auction, I heard heels coming up behind me. I silently prayed to myself that it wasn’t Carly, Jon’s date.

“You trying too hard, you know.”

Turning my head, my worst fear was confirmed. Carly stood there with her hands on her hips. I looked around to see who was in close vicinity before I responded. Noticing that nearly everyone was a far enough distance away, I opened my mouth.

“I’m not trying to do anything. I’m here to have fun on a date, that’s all.”

She scoffed.

“Fun? On a date with Patrick? That’s hilarious. Patrick Kane doesn’t date.”

I rolled my eyes and walked away from Carly. I was pondering as to what exactly Jon saw in her. She was obnoxious and a complete and utter bitch. I belonged at this gala a hell of a lot more than she did. If not with Pat, than being here to support North Western.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pat and I danced to a few slow songs and I had managed to keep my mind off of Carly’s words for the most part. I went into the bathroom to freshen up before the auction winners were announced. Unfortunately for me, I was followed into the bathroom by my least-favourite person. This time, I got the first word in.

“You know, I don’t know what I ever did to you. I belong here just as much, if not more than you do.”

Carly rolled her eyes.

“Jon was right about you. You are using Pat. I heard about your little brother. You know, Pat’s going to see through you eventually.” Carly stepped closer to me. “I said it once, and I’ll say it again, you don’t belong here. So why don’t you run along home, that is, if you have one? Or is Pat allowing you to live with him to further your charity case?”

I didn’t know why I was letting her words get to me, but I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. I walked out of the bathroom with tears threatening to fall. I had my eyes focused on the floor, so I didn’t notice when I crashed right into something. Looking up, I saw I had run into Jon.

“Claire, what’s wrong?”

I shook my head and quickly wiped my tears before anyone else would notice. Before I could get the words out of my mouth, I saw a door open behind Jon. I brushed past him and ran out of the building. Luckily, I still had my purse in my hand, so I pulled out my cell phone. I had to get away from this building. I quickly called a cab and made my way home as fast as I could.

*End Flashback*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pat’s POV

I was standing by the entrance of the banquet hall waiting for Claire to come back from the bathroom. The winners of the auctions were about to be announced, and I wanted her to see just how much we raised for the North Western. She mentioned to we while we were dancing that she wanted to see the end result.

I had waited a good 15 or so minutes before walking into the hall alone. I figured that Claire was just taking her time, or she was chatting up some girls in the bathroom. I didn’t worry about it too much. I went and stood beside Tazer and Carly.

“Hey, have they started announcing the winners yet? I want to see how much is raised for the camo jersey we all signed.”

Tazer shook his head.

“No, not yet. They’re just about to start. Everyone’s just standing around waiting, I guess.”

I nodded my head, while I looked over towards the entrance to the hall. I had begun to get a little worried as to where Claire was.

“Hey, do you guys see Claire around? She went to the bathroom almost a half hour ago.”

Jon had a skeptical look on his face.

“I saw her when she came out of the bathroom. She looked really upset. She didn’t tell me what was wrong, but she took off. I think she left buddy.”

My face fell and my gaze fell to the floor.

“Oh come on Pat, forget about her. You’re here to have fun. Besides, there’s a hot girl over there who looked like she was interested in you.”

I looked up to glare at Carly. Quickly, my gaze switched to Jon. He had a shocked look on his face, clearly not believing Carly said what she did.

I looked over to where Carly was pointing earlier. There indeed, was a girl standing there looking at me. Don’t get me wrong, she was hot, but she’s wasn’t……she’s wasn’t Claire. I was trying to think of things that could’ve made her upset. We had fun during dinner, laughing with Sharpy, Abby, and the others that sat at our table. We laughed while we danced to the horrible, corny music they were playing. I thought the date was going well, but of course, Claire could have thought differently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claire’s POV

I managed to get through my phone call to Ryan without crying. I left out the part with Carly. According to Ryan, Pat and I had a great time, but I was feeling a little queasy and came home early. Ryan knew that Pat wouldn’t be here, since he was a player and had to stay until all the festivities were over.

I took the time to rearrange my room so that I wasn’t living out of the duffle bag anymore. I didn’t know exactly why I had done it, considering I was contemplating leaving Pat’s apartment anyways. Maybe a part of me believed that I should talk to Pat first, I wasn’t quite sure.

I felt myself getting thirsty so I went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. As soon as I shut the fridge door, I heard a noise coming from the living room. I slowly walked into the living room, praying that I was just hearing things. A noise came again and I grabbed the umbrella I saw on the shelf. I reached the living room without hearing another noise. The tv was on. Which I found strange, until I saw the blonde hair showing over the back of the couch. I walked up to the side of the couch and looked down at Pat. I was about to say something, but he broke the silence first.

“You left.”

My heart sunk with how sad he sounded.

“Yes, I did. But Pat, it had nothing to do with yo…”

“Just tell me what I did wrong?” He finally took his gaze away from the tv to look at me. “I thought we were having a great time. We were laughing and having fun. What happened that made you leave?”

I sighed. “Pat, you didn’t do anything wrong. I had fun. It was just….I had begun to feel like I didn’t belong. Girls were looking at me like I was just another notch on your bed post. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn’t handle it.”

Pat sighed. “Claire, come on, you don’t need to worry about what they think. It’s you and me. That’s it, that’s all. I’m not interested in what they think of you. I know who you are. If you were feeling that way, why didn’t you come to me and tell me?”

I began to pace in front of him. “I don’t know. I didn’t want people to see a crying woman walk up to you in a panic and then walk away.” Then I began to ramble. “It was bad enough I ran into Jon, especially what his slutty-ass date said to me. God, what does he see in her? Calling me a charity case because I live here and that you go visit my brother? AGHHH!” I plopped myself beside Pat. He looked at me with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry, did you say Carly, Jon’s Carly, called you a charity case?”

My eyes widened as I snapped my eyes up to meet Pat’s. I shook my head.

“No, no, no, no. I didn’t mean to say that. You didn’t hear that. Please don’t tell Jon that you heard that.”

I got up and began to walk away. Pat too, got up off of the couch and followed me down the hallway. Just as I reached my door, he lightly pulled on my arm, turning me to face him.

“Claire, what did Carly say to you? Not that it would really matter, Jon broke up with her at the gala.”

My jaw dropped.

“Really? Why did he break up with her? He seemed to really like her?”

Pat rolled his eyes.

“Well, this was only their third date, and she had manipulated Jon to let her friends come to the gala. She brought them so they could try and steal some of the guys away from their girlfriends.”

“I didn’t mean to cause all this trouble.”

Pat took both my hands and looked me in the eyes.

“You didn’t cause trouble for anyone. Except maybe me, who you made worried after you left that I had done something wrong to you. To be honest, I think Carly planned to ruin your night for the get-go. One of her friends just happened to have the hots for your truly.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. I quickly went back to being serious, though.

“I’m sorry I let her get to me, and I’m sorry I left.”

Pat pulled me into a hug.

“It’s okay, Claire. Next time, just come to me when you’re feeling uncomfortable, okay?”

I pulled away a little bit stunned.

“There’s going to be a next time? After what I put through tonight?”

Pat chuckled.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”