Things Aren't Always What They Seem

Before Charlotte had the chance to answer Jon stepped up and put up a fight. "You really think that's the best idea Kane?" Jon could see how uncomfortable she was at Pat's proposal and again, he knew she wouldn't say anything to offend him.

Pat redirected his gaze from Charlotte to Jon and gave him daggers as he did so. "Yeah, I don't see why not."

"Because I don't think it's best for her."

"Good thing I didn't ask you," Pat answered back quick.

Jon wanted to yell and curse but he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he looked from Pat to Charlotte and saw the confusion on her face. "I just think she should stay here in her element. The hospital told us to keep it simple and routine for her-- what's more routine than her home?"

Pat put his arm around Charlotte and walked by her as if to excuse himself keeping his focus on Jon. "She's spent plenty of time at my place." He kept his tone low and calm as to not cause any doubts in Charlotte's mind as she listened to the two of them go back and forth. "Maybe the setting will jog her memory."

"Why don't I get to decide?" Charlotte chimed in from behind the two of them holding her own ground-- her arms crossed over her chest.

Jon and Pat each spun around and looked at Charlotte who was glaring at them with that fiery passion they'd come to know. "I know you two want what's best for me and I appreciate it, really, but shouldn't I get a say in it?"

Jon kind of laughed and dropped his head down towards the floor before lifting it back up and looking at Charlotte. "Yeah, you do."

Pat swallowed hard and rushed back to Charlotte putting his arms around her waist. "Of course you do," he answered as he looked down into her eyes. "What do you want baby?"

"I want you two to stop fighting over what I need to do," she said sternly. "Look, I'm having a hard enough time with this. The last thing I want is to see you two so contentious with each other."

Pat let out a sigh and lifted his hand to brush the hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "I'm sorry Charlotte," he cooed. "If you don't want to come tonight you don't have to."

Jon stood in the shadows waiting to see what her reaction would be. He couldn't blame her no matter what she decided to do; at least she'd took a stand for her own well-being.

"I guess I should spend some time with you too," she looked up at Pat and shrugged; he looked back at her and smiled wide. She gave a little nod and shimmied out of his grasp to walk over to Jon who was doing his best to pretend he wasn't watching them interact.

"Hey." She was quiet and unsure as she walked up to him. She stared in his eyes when she got his attention and very gently slid her hand in his as she lightly pressed against him. "I'm gonna go with him. Maybe he's right, maybe it'll light a fire or...something," she said trying to convince herself. "I mean, I love him-- or I did-- and I'm engaged to him. I should go back with him tonight since I spent the evening with you."

Jon nodded and looked away trying not to show how frustrated he was at her response though his actions betrayed him mightily. "Hey," she nudged him again and gave his hand a little squeeze. "You made coming home a lot easier. Thank you for everything tonight. I...I don't think I could have handled it without you-- I can see why you've been my best friend these last eight years."

Jon looked down and forced himself to nod again. Before he could look back up Charlotte had hastily leaned it and kissed him on the cheek. He pulled back and looked at her surprised, holding her glance for a solid three seconds before she turned and went to Pat. He realized then that she was doing what she felt she had to do rather than what was in her heart.

"You be sure to lock up," Pat yelled back as he walked out the door with his arm around Charlotte.

"Do I need to get clothes or anything?" Jon heard Charlotte ask as Pat closed the door. "No," Pat answered. "I have everything you need."

When Pat shut the door and Jon was left alone in her apartment he put his hands to his head and tugged hard at his hair frantically trying to calm his nerves. He felt the rage, hurt and rejection race through his body and he fell backward on the couch where he stayed put for a few minutes with his eyes closed. When he finally opened them he looked up and saw the picture on the side-table next to her couch. He cracked a smile when he realized it was the same one he'd brought to the hospital for her-- the one that she'd given him a copy of just a little while ago--the two of them from the night he played his first game with the Blackhawks. He picked up the frame and held it in his hands not able to do anything but stare at it. He missed that girl so much-- the girl who wrapped her arms around him and looked him in the eyes and knew who she was looking at. His mind rewound back to the last time he was with that girl-- when she was at his place and he all but told her he never wanted to see her again. What he wouldn't give to go back to that night and have a do over. He'd kiss her, he'd tell her how he felt, he'd risk everything just to avoid her leaving that night.

Rather than go home he pulled his body off the couch and dragged it into her bedroom where he got under the covers and fell asleep to her delicious scent, in her bed that still smelled like her.

***

Charlotte sat as close to the window as she possibly could on the drive back to Pat's trying to wrap her already damaged mind around everything that she had to absorb. Pat reached over and rubbed the top of her thigh before finding her hand and intertwining their fingers. She turned her head and gave him a quick smile before returning to her position looking out the window.

By the time they got back to his place she was mentally drained and ready to go to sleep but she wasn't going to say that after he'd gone so out of his way to bring her back.

As they walked to his door he wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her through the threshold. "I'm really glad you came back home with me," he said as he pressed his lips to her temple.

"Yeah." She gave a shrug and glanced over at him. "We should probably get to know each other again huh?"

"I know you." He was confident and quick with his response. "And I love everything I know about you."

"What if the things you love about me never come back?" She glanced at him and waited to see what his answer would be. Could he love her if she never regained her memory?

"The things about you that make you who you are, are things that I would love whether you remembered who you were or not. They are things that are woven into the fiber of your being. Doesn't matter how much you don't know, it's already there."

Charlotte smiled bashfully and looked down at her feet. "You mean that?" She felt the sting in her cheeks from grinning at his words.

He lifted her chin up and leaned in for a soft kiss. "I wouldn't lie to you," he whispered as he pulled away. He took hold of her hand and began to lead her upstairs to his room where she hesitantly followed him.

"Can I ask you something?" Her voice was timid as they approached the top of the stairs.

"Sure."

"Where were you tonight? I would think the guy I'm marrying would take me home from the hospital. What was so important you weren't there?"

Pat didn't say anything until he got to his bedroom door, turned the knob and opened it. "This."

Charlotte's eyes widened as she looked around the bedroom. There were rose petals on the floor, candles on the table, and more rose petals on the bed that formed a heart. Her breath hitched in her throat as her eyes scanned the room. It looked so beautiful with the soft glow from the candles that lit it up in the most romantic of ways.

Charlotte took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Patrick turned to her and looked to her for any type of reaction. "What do you think?"

"It's so lovely," she answered softly. "I'm flattered you'd do something like this for me. Is this part of the normal-- the routine?"

Pat swallowed and shook his head slowly. "Not exactly part of the norm. I was suave on occasion, but I'd like to start fresh with you now." He took her hands in his before sliding them up her arms and down to her waist. "I made my share of mistakes-- no relationship is perfect-- but I do love you even though it might be too much for you to hear right now."

Pat leaned in to kiss her and as he moved his lips against hers he waited to feel her move back against him. She finally gave in and gave him something and though it wasn't much, it was enough for him to go for a little more. He slowly slid his hands up under her shirt before running them down to her ass and whisking her up bridal style to carry to the bed.

He placed her down on her back and positioned himself on top of her. He went to lean down and press his lips back to hers until he felt her push him back. "What--what's wrong?" He breathed out nervously.

"I--I think we should stop." Her chest was rising and falling rather rapidly considering they hadn't done anything yet. Her hand was placed firmly against his chest and her eyes were pleading with him to listen to her.

"Are you okay?"

"I just...this is too much Patrick. Too soon. I love the set up and it means so much you went through the trouble to make it so beautiful in here....I just, I think I want to lay on this bed and talk to you. I'm not ready to do more than that yet."

He rolled off her and onto his side next to her on the bed. He paused for a few moments before nodding his head. "I'm sorry, yeah, we can do that. We can do whatever you want."

She looked at him and smiled with appreciation. "Tell me about us," she breathed out as she looked in his eyes and ran her hand down the back of his head resting it on the nape of his neck.

"Okay," he obliged and relaxed, getting into a more comfortable position on the bed. "I first asked you out by sending flowers to your apartment when you were sick. We had an amazing first date-- we went out for dinner and it wasn't awkward like most first dates typically are. It was actually...it felt right, you know?" he looked at her and she nodded. "It wasn't like we didn't know each other because we did-- for a few years actually, I just never made a move until then which oddly made it easier."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmmm hmmm. We weren't like best friends or anything but we knew who the other was. Once we went out and things kind of started progressing we spent as much time together as we could."

"Sounds like we fell pretty hard and fast," she commented. She was lying on the bed on her back listening to Pat tell her their story in a nutshell. He was lying next to her on his side with his arm draped over her waist.

"I'd like to think we did." He swallowed and looked away. "At least from my end I'd say so. Though I'll be honest, I didn't want to fall in love with you I just couldn't help it." He was leaving out so much-- all of it bad. He couldn't bring himself to tell her the things that would make her hate him. He had a clean slate and he wanted to keep it that way. His affair with Rose was out in the open, but she had no idea-- she didn't even know who Rose was and he wanted to keep it that way as well.

"Well gee thanks," she laughed.

"No, I don't mean it in a bad way. It just wasn't really me, you know?"

She nodded politely though she really didn't know. "What changed then?"

"Um, I don't know. It was just you, I guess. You were different. I could see why Jon hid you from all of us for so long. You aren't--weren't a typical slutty girl." He looked down at her, "You know you made me wait a good five-six months before you slept with me."

A blush spread across her face, "I'm glad to hear that."

"I'm..." he didn't know how to say this without it sounding awkward. "I'm the only guy you've been with."

"Really?" she asked happily and Pat nodded. "That's awesome," she said with a smile. "I'm glad I'm not a slut," she said with a giggle.

"No, you definitely aren't."

"So we're happy then?" she looked at him seriously waiting to see his reaction.

"I'm going with yes." Though he knew he was partially lying. They were happy to an extent, but he knew he wasn't giving her everything that she needed before. There were cracks in their armor but he wasn't about to reveal that now-- this was his second chance and he was going to take full advantage of it.

"Why are you and Jon so...I don't know, intense with each other? What's going on there?"

"We don't always see eye to eye," he said quickly. "Him and I...we," he puffed out air and turned his head before looking back at her. "Him and I tend to disagree easily."

"So it's...normal?" He didn't know how to answer that. Truth was, yes, it was normal...but not because it was good. They'd been at odds over Charlotte since Pat's first date with her. He just nodded unable to flat out lie to her, and unable to tell her the truth.

"Pat," she looked up at him with longing eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really tired and my head still hurts...I'm ready to get some sleep if you are."

He crawled off the bed and grabbed her some sleeping attire. "Sure," he said as he handed it to her. "I could use the sleep too." He climbed back in bed under the covers pulling her back and ass into the front of him.

"Good night Charlotte," Pat gently rolled her on her back and gave her a quick good night kiss. She kissed him back and looked into his eyes giving him a smile before he rested his head on his pillow and she turned back the other way. She could tell he fell asleep rather quickly while she was awake in the dark room wondering about their history and hoping she could remember it.

***

It was still pretty early when Jon's eyes fluttered open and saw the cracks of light creeping in Charlotte's room. He looked at the clock, saw he didn't need to move yet and repositioned himself so he could fall back asleep. He was out of it maybe five minutes when he heard a shrill causing his heart to leap up out of his throat and his body to instantaneously pop up.

"Jon?!" Charlotte was standing in her bedroom doorway grasping her chest. Clearly him being in her bed was something that she wasn't expecting and it scared the bejeezus out of her.

"Woah," Jon took a few deep breaths as his heart slowed down realizing the threat of imminent danger was gone. "Yeah, Charlotte what are you doing here?"

"I asked Pat to drop me off. I woke up early and he has practice anyway so I figured I'd come home and get showered and settle in here. I thought maybe going back to sleep in my own bed might be beneficial you know? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I don't know really," he felt his cheeks redden as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I was tired and didn't want to leave last night so I just crashed here. I'm really sorry I hope you don't mind." He went to throw the covers off himself and plant his feet on the ground so he could quickly scamper out when he saw her put her hand up in a 'stop' motion. "It's okay," she said reassuringly as she caught her breath. "I just wasn't prepared for that, obviously."

"I'm really sorry. That probably was the last thing you needed-- me giving you such a scare." He felt like an idiot and didn't know what to do next.

"Well you definitely freaked me out," she teased as she walked over to the empty side of the bed totally calm and not at all angry. "You don't have to leave unless you mind sharing," she said as she pulled the covers back and went to climb in the bed with him.

"You don't mind it?" Jon looked at her for confirmation as he realized what she was doing.

"No," she shook her head and answered simply. "I trust you. I feel safe, actually."

Charlotte crawled under the covers and instantly snuggled up into his shirtless chest. He felt his heart fluttering again as her body pressed against his. He pet the back of her head and ran his fingers through her hair as he felt her nuzzle her face further into his chest. After a few minutes he felt her breathing slow down and realized she had fallen asleep.

Charlotte was sleeping-- and did it taking comfort in him. She was peaceful and warm and it stirred so much up inside him. She couldn't possibly have any clue what she was doing to him-- she never did-- but he was longing for the moment he could tell her the truth. This was what he wanted every night and every morning for the rest of his life. Jon bent his head down and kissed the top of her head, drifting back to sleep with a smile on his face.