Secret

It was a quarter to nine when I woke up from the best sleep I've had in weeks. Glancing down, I realized I still had Brent's sweatshirt on. It smelled just like him. I decided to check my phone, to see if there was anything worth liking on Instagram, or maybe something funny enough to retweet on Twitter. Glancing at the screen on my phone, I noticed I had a new text message.




I let out a quick giggle before typing a response.



Not even seconds later, I got a reply.






I was a little nervous to send the text to Brent. I felt as if maybe I was being desperate, asking to see him again, when we just saw each other the night before. Then again, I did only ask to return it. My worries were interrupted by Brent's quick reply.




The minute I read the text, I was full of instant relief.













I don't think I've ever used this many smiley faces while texting in my life. Maybe when Dan and I first got married, but this was a little strange on my behalf. Shrugging off the thought, I skipped over to my bathroom and turned on the shower. Waiting for the water to warm up, I turned my iPod on shuffle, I settled on the first song that came up. It was some old hit from the nineties that even though I haven't listened to in years, I still knew every word to.

Hopping into the shower, I lost myself in my thoughts. I thought about everything, from how much I missed Chief, to theories on life, and Ritz Crackers. I also thought about how Dan was calling me less and less. A feeling of jealousy began to hit me. What if he moved on? What if he's calling some other girl? What if he's seeing that puck bunny again? I shouldn't feel this way, we were over, I'm seeing someone else. Get a hold of yourself, Natalie. Just then I reminded myself of my date tonight, and it was pure bliss all over again.

Stepping out of the shower, a shiver was sent down my spine. I grabbed a fluffy towel off the rack and dried myself off. With the towel wrapped around my body, I put on light makeup and dried my hair. It wasn't until then I realized how nice it is to be clean: I haven't had a shower since before I went clubbing, and I definitely preferred the scent of floral shampoo over beer and sweat.

Exiting the bathroom, I went over to my closet to pick out something to wear. Choosing comfort over fashion, I slipped on a grey sweatshirt, leggings, and added a scarf and leg warmers just to look a little more put together. Walking into the kitchen, I put my iPod on shuffle once again. This time, the Burlesque soundtrack came on. That entire album was pretty much my go-to-giddy-mood-and-feeling-limitless playlist. Singing and dancing throughout the kitchen, I filled the teakettle with water and placed it on the stove.

It wasn't long until a cranky Tori emerged from her room.

"Jesus Christ, do you have to be this energetic in the morning?!" She nearly shouted at me, before turning off my music.

"I can't help that I'm a morning person." I smirked, before filling my mug up with the now scalding hot water.

"Yeah, well maybe you should take your morning peppiness elsewhere, until I have voluntarily gotten out of bed." Tori grumbled, before pulling a box of cereal out of the pantry.

"Lighten up, Tori! It's a beautiful morning, you shouldn't spend it in bed all day!" I sang to her.

"Okay, what is going on? You're abnormally peppy, and I know for a fact it's not because morning is your favorite time of day. What happened after we went clubbing, and where were you all day yesterday?" Tori began firing questions at me.

"You first." I shot back at her.

"What do you mean, Me first? She asked me, pretending not know what I was talking about.

"I mean, what is your deal with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews?" I made it clearer this time what I was talking about.

"Well...I don't know, to be honest. I thought I was head over heels for Patrick, but then Jonathan came along and made me unsure of everything. Yesterday, I woke up to find Jonathan on our couch. I asked him if we hooked up the night before, and he said he could never take advantage of me like that. If it were Patrick, he would have been just as drunk as I was, and he would have fucked me in a heartbeat! I've always liked Patrick, but it wasn't until Jonathan that I realized I'm worth so much more than what Patrick thinks I am. To Jonathan, I'm an angel, but to Patrick, I'm just a booty call." Tori looked as if she could cry.

"Well, isn't it obvious then? Jonathan is much better for you than Patrick is." I replied, putting my two cents in.

"That's just the thing, I should be with Jonathan, but I can't just get rid of Patrick so easily! I can't choose!"

"Well, it seems like Jonathan is looking for a relationship more than Patrick is. Are you looking for a relationship?" I asked her.

"I mean, yeah I guess. It's not like Patrick hasn't tried to make me his girlfriend before, I've just shot down all his attempts. If we're in a casual relationship, then I shouldn't feel this bad about him seeing other girls!" Tori obviously sounded stressed.

"I'm sorry Tori, have you ever tried talking to him about it? Maybe you should end things with Patrick."

"Well, no. I just, I don't know what to do. Whatever, what I really care about is, what happened to you? Why are you happy all of a sudden?" Tori asked me.

"Well, when we went out a few days ago, I got uncontrollably drunk, and before I know it, I found myself puking in a strangers apartment. It turns out that the stranger I hooked up with was Brent Seabrook. We went out for breakfast after and started talking. He's a really sweet guy and he's not like most guys you hook up with. He didn't want me out after, he wanted to get to know me more. We spent all day yesterday together, and he even took me to his special spot where we just talked. It was really nice, and I'm going to see him again tonight." I wanted to keep going on about him, but I decided against it.

"Well, that's nice and all, but what about Dan?" Tori asked me.

"What about him?" I asked, clearly not understanding.

"Well you left him heartbroken only a month ago and you're already settling down with someone else. Maybe you should start to worry about divorcing him before you worry about your next boyfriend." Tori said in an extremely blunt tone.

"I can't believe this, everyone wanted me to get over Dan, and when I do, it's all of a sudden a problem. And I left him heartbroken? Is that an awful joke or something? Last time I checked, he ruined everything, and he crushed me!" My voice started to rise.

"That's just the thing, Natalie. There's no doubt he hurt you, but what you're doing to him isn't fair. He's torn trying to find you. He wants to apologize and make things better. Even if you won't go back, the least you can do is answer a fucking text message! Don't you think you're spreading yourself a little thin?!" Tori spat back at me.

"Are you kidding me Tori? I'm spreading myself too thin?! Look in the mirror! You're between two guys right now! You go on a date with one, and as soon as it's done you go straight to the next guy! This is ridiculous!" I screamed. I'm sure my veins were popping out of my neck by now. Grabbing my keys, I stormed out of the apartment before Tori could say anything back to me.

Getting in my car, I started to drive. I drove for hours and hours. I allowed the highway to drain my thoughts, my memories. Everything was a blur in my mind, and the only worry I had was how long I could keep driving until I needed to refuel my gas tank.

It was about 7:05 when I got up to Brent's apartment. Exhaling slowly, I knocked on the door. Moments later, Brent answered and his face nearly lit up.

"Hi Natalie! You look lovely." He said to be before pulling me into a hug and planting a quick kiss on my lips.

"Thanks Brent, by the way, what's burning in your apartment?" I asked, worried something caught on fire.

"Oh fuck!" He shouted before running into the kitchen. I followed after, and found Brent pulling something out of the oven, that I couldn't quite figure out.

"I tried to cook, but as you can see, that didn't turn out too well...How about we order a pizza?" He asked me, with a slightly embarrassed look in his eye.

"Pizza sounds great." I smiled back to him.

"What kind of pizza would you like?" Brent asked while rummaging through a drawer for the number of a pizza place.

"Bacon, ham, pepperoni and sausage deep dish." I told him, hoping he wouldn't be scared away by my choice.

"All that?! Damn, I knew I liked you for a reason!" He smiled at me, causing me to blush.

After about a half hour of cleaning and airing out Brent's apartment form the original dinner, the pizza arrived. While Brent was paying, I set the scene. Lighting candles and the fireplace, I dimmed the lights, giving his apartment a romantic feel to it. Brent came back into the room, and before he could react I stole the pizza box from his hands and plopped myself in front of the fire. Moments later, Brent appeared with two beers, handing one to me.

"So tell me Natalie, what was your life like you were younger? Aside from the Puddles story, that is." Brent chuckled slightly.

"Well, looking back at high school, I never really knew where I fit in. When I was with my brother, I was one of the most popular girls in the school. However, when I wasn't with him, I was just kinda, there. I played hockey of course, and I also did a lot with music. I tried other sports and activities but none of them stuck as well." I started to explain to Brent.

"Really? What did you do with music?" He asked me.

"I played guitar, piano, cello, and sang a bit. I liked the idea of picking up an object and making something beautiful from it. Music was definitely something I loved to do." I explained.

"That's really great. I tried playing the trumpet in elementary school, and I quit within a month. What was Kris like in high school?" Brent's question made me laugh a bit.

"He was ridiculous. He was super popular, but ridiculous. He was always doing crazy things, acting crazy, always making people laugh. Like he still is now. He was always trying to impress the ladies, doing stunts to make them swoon. I feel like I let a lot of people down though, they always expected the same from me, but I was shy back then, and so I wasn't as...free as him. That's why I always hated being known as 'Kris Vertseeg's Little Sister'. I thought maybe when we grew up, that label would go away, but because he joined the NHL, the nickname stuck."

"I don't see you as Kris Versteeg's little sister." He reassured me.

"You don't?" I asked.

"I see as so much more." He continued to reassure me.

"Like what?" I questioned, unsure of where he was going with this.

"Well, for starters I see you as a beautiful, young woman with a great personality. But what I would like to see you as, is my girlfriend." He responded, and all of a sudden, my stomach started to do back flips.

"Oh Brent, I would love to be your girlfriend, I really would. But, don't you think it's a little soon? I mean we only met two days ago." I really wanted to agree, but I knew it would only make things worse with Tori.

"I know we did, but I just can't stop thinking about you...you're amazing." He tried to get me to change his mind.

"I think I need to think this over, but I promise that as soon as I make up my mind, I'll let you know." I then placed a soft kiss on his lips, to let him know I still liked him.

"Thank you, Natalie." He smiled at me. You would think things would have been awkward, but they weren't. Our conversation just kept flowing.

"So Brent, do you have any tattoos?" I asked him, very curious.

"No, I've thought about getting one, but I don't think I would want to have something on me forever. I feel like I would get sick of it very quickly. What about you? Do you have any?" Brent also sounded curious.

"Yes, I do actually." I smiled proudly.

"You do? Where?" He asked, very intrigued.

"Well, I bet you saw it a couple nights ago when we did the unthinkable but, here it is." I teased him before rolling up my shirt to reveal a tattoo on my ribcage:




"Wow, that's cool! What's the story behind it?" He asked me.

"Well, aside from the fact I just think its a great quote altogether, I love French culture. I got the idea of this quote from the movie Moulin Rouge. It takes place in France, and is a tragic love story. I love that movie. It's also a David Bowie song." I smiled.

"That's great, did it hurt?"

"Yeah, but I've felt worse." He nodded.

After we finished eating, Brent and I spent about twenty-five minutes arguing over which movie we wanted to watch. We threw ideas back and forth for what seemed like forever, until we finally agreed on National Treasure. It was a painfully corny movie, but for some reason, I was in the mood to watch it.

Curled on the couch with Brent, we spent the entire movie making fun of Nicolas Cage, and I spent a good portion of time drooling over Riley. That man was too attractive.

The movie ended quickly, and I glanced over at the clock on my phone. I had a missed call from Tori, but I didn't worry about it. I saw it was about 12:30 in the morning.

"What time is it?" Brent asked me.

"Half past midnight. I should probably get going. I think I'll call a cab, I drove over and I don't think I should drive home." I yawned back, knowing I had a few too many beers to drive.

"I would drive you home, but I don't want to put you in danger. I also drank a little too much. You don't have to take a cab, you can stay the night if you'd like." Brent suggested to me.

"Alright, that sounds great." I smiled to him.



The next morning I woke up to the scent of eggs and bacon.

"Good morning, sunshine." Brent smiled at me before placing a kiss on my forehead.

"Good morning," I smiled back, before helping myself to a cup of coffee. "I see you are better at breakfast than dinner?" I teased him.

"Oh, shut up! It was an accident." He blushed a bit.

After breakfast, I decided I needed to go home and relieve Tori of her worrying. I gave Brent a kiss goodbye, and drove home. When I walked into our apartment, I found Tori sitting at the kitchen table with the newspaper and a cup of coffee.

"Brent and I slept together last night. By that I mean he and I lay in bed discussing whether there are other planets like Earth and what it would be like to live on them, so don't freak out." I sounded bitchy, but I was still a little mad about what was said the previous day. She looked up from her newspaper.

"I'm sorry I freaked out on you yesterday. I know things are confusing for you right now and I shouldn't have said what I did." She gave me an apologetic look.

"Tori, it's fine. I shouldn't have said what I said to you about Jonathan and Patrick. I guess I'm just a little bitter still. I don't want us to fight all the time." I somewhat apologized to Tori.

"We're like an old married couple, Natalie!" She laughed before pulling me into a hug.

"I know we are, we're ridiculous!" I laughed back.

"Patrick wants to get a bunch of people out tomorrow for a beach trip. You and Brent in?" Tori asked, slightly accepting our relationship.

"A beach day sounds lovely."