Things Aren't Always What They Seem

***Flashback June 2010 ***

When Patrick scored the overtime game-winner in game seven to clinch the Blackhawks their first cup in over forty years, Jon couldn't jump off the bench fast enough. The Philadelphia crowd had fallen completely flat but Pat, Jon and the rest of the guys were screaming with joy and excitement. Everything they'd worked for, for so long, had paid off in the sweetest of ways.

Charlotte was in the suite with Jon's parents that they had been given for the night. There was no way she was going to wait for him back in Chicago and watch the game on tv. She wanted to be there front and center sharing in Jon's happiness or sadness depending on how the night went. When Patrick put the goal in the net she burst out screaming as she jumped up and down with tears in her eyes. She knew how happy her best friend was down there on the ice.

She cheered and hollered as Jon was presented with the Conn Smythe. She told him repeatedly when they got into the finals that he would win it, whether they won or lost. She wanted to run down on the ice and hug him but it wasn't the place or the time. She saw him hold the trophy and look up at her smiling like a kid in a candy store and with tears in her eyes she smiled back.

It meant so much to Jon that Charlotte was there. He wouldn't have wanted to share in this moment without her. Seeing her up there smiling and crying all because she was proud of him almost meant more to him and he relished in the moment.

After celebrating on the ice and taking lots of pictures, the guys skated off victorious and deliriously happy. As soon as Charlotte was allowed downstairs she ran to Jon and jumped into his arms as he picked her up and spun her around.

"I'm so proud of you!" she squealed more than once. "Can you believe it?" she asked as he put her down in front of him.

"Honestly?" he took what he thought was his first breath since seeing the puck go in, "No. I can't. This is what I've worked for my entire life. It feels fucking amazing."

"You've gotten what so many people in your position spend their lives trying to do Jon. You better be damn proud!" She couldn't be happier than if she had been on the team with him.

"I'm still taking it all in to be honest. It feels like a dream." There was champagne and confetti everywhere in their locker room. Jon already had on his Stanley Cup Champ Hat and grabbed an extra one to put on Charlotte's head.

"We have a new teammate," Pat quickly commented as he walked by Jon and Charlotte. (This was before they started dating. If only they knew what the future held for them.)

Jon let out a laugh and put his arm around Charlotte's waist, "Yeah, didn't I tell you?"

Patrick looked at her and raised his eyebrows, knowing the status of hers and Jon's relationship, and nodded. "Fine by me. She's much hotter than the rest of the guys," he flirted and Charlotte blushed.

"Congrats on the goal," Charlotte responded as she adjusted her hat and turned her attention briefly to Pat.

"Thanks," Pat nodded.

"Hey!" Charlotte called out to him like she had a great idea. "Come here real quick. Can you take our picture together?" She asked Pat innocently and he walked over obligingly.

"Yeah, no problem," he said as Charlotte handed him her camera and Jon put his arms around her. She hugged him back and smiled, both in the Champion hats.

"Thank you," she extended her gratitude to Pat after he snapped it.

"No problem." He gave a head nod before heading off to yet another reporter.

Charlotte turned her attention back to Jon and gave him a hug, "I'm going to get out of here. I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you," she yelled over the noise. "I'll meet you wherever you guys decide to celebrate tonight. Unless you don't want to me to."

"Why wouldn't I?" Jon asked with a wrinkled brow.

"Well," Charlotte smiled playfully. "I think I have an idea how your night is going to end and I'm no use with that," she shot back at him.

Jon knew what she meant and nodded. "Well I have to find who I go home with don't I? Until then I want to drink my face off and I want you to be there with me."

"You sure you don't want to be with just the guys? I mean it's your moment."

"Charlotte, you're my best friend and you're coming with me. With us. Don't say another word about it. I'll call you in a little bit."

Charlotte nodded and hugged him again, "Okay," before making her way out the room. Jon didn't take his eyes off of her until the doors closed behind her.

***

When she met Jon and the rest of the guys she could see he was already drunk. Actually, they all were. She wasn't sure she had a place there simply because the guys in relationships were with their girls and the ones who weren't were looking for girls to go home with. This included Jon. He'd just won not only the Stanley Cup, but the individual award of the Conn Smythe, it wasn't going to be hard for him to find company for the night. Charlotte watched as one by one the single guys left with their girls of the evening.

Charlotte leaned over and whispered in Jon's ear, "Who's the lucky lady tonight?" as she scouted the room over with her friend.

Jon had flirted with a couple of girls but wasn't interested in any enough to take them home with him.

"I'm probably not helping your cause here," she teased as she stood up.

"C'mon you're usually the best wingman around," he shot right back with a laugh.

"I"m going to head to the bathroom and hopefully when I get back you'll have your conquest for tonight. I mean this is an important, historical night Jon. Can't spend it alone." Charlotte spun on her heel and headed to the restroom leaving Jon to make his move on whoever he chose.

When she came back out she looked first across the room to their table to see Jon talking with a pretty brunette. The girl looked like exactly what Jon needed. She was attractive and Charlotte could tell from where she stood that her panties were moist and begging to leave with him. The girl's body language was screaming easy as she leaned in and showed off all her assets. Charlotte smiled and took a deep breath before deciding her next move. When she looked back up at Jon and the girl their lips were locked and she knew it was only a matter of minutes before he escorted her out. She'd seen this routine happen more than she would have liked over the years of their friendship.

As Charlotte made her way to the door unnoticed she turned back and looked at Jon as he stayed at the table lip-locked with this girl. Charlotte leaned against the door for just a moment. "Congrats on winning the Cup, Jon," she said with a sad smile under her breath before turning and going back to her hotel room alone. Closing the door behind her.

***

When Jon woke up the next morning he was severely hungover and in bed with a girl who's name he didn't remember. He lingered for a moment, putting his feet on the ground and rubbed his face in his big hands. When he finally stood up he made his way to the bathroom and bent over the sink looking at himself in the mirror. He'd just won the Cup and was awarded the Conn Smythe. He'd literally accomplished everything he'd ever worked for...yet he wasn't happy. He knew why he was unhappy and he didn't want to allow his mind to go there again. The girl he'd spend his day with the Cup with wasn't the girl he woke up next to this morning.

He wanted it to be her that he woke up next to. He wanted to have spent the night celebrating with her. He hated that he felt empty when she wasn't around but he knew she'd never look at him that way. It'd been so long since he allowed himself to go there that he wasn't prepared to feel this way now. But he knew. He knew the second he won everything that she was what was missing.

Jon shook his head and splashed some water in his face trying to shake it off. He needed to kick those feelings to the curb much like he'd done every other time his mind entertained them. After everything she'd been beside him for, there was no way she'd ever look at him that way. They were too different, she was so much better than him. Plus, he thought, I can't lose her if she's my best friend.

*****Present Day*****

There weren't any cup clinches this night, but there was a game won and the guys were happy enough about it. Rose met Jon down at his locker and Charlotte met Pat at his.

"You played great tonight baby," Charlotte said as she put her arms around his waist and rested them on his stomach trying hard to establish physical intimacy between them. He used to put his hands on top of hers as she rested them on his abdomen, now he seemed like he barely noticed.

Jon took note of her physical actions with Pat and pursed his lips before turning his head away and focusing on Rose.

Pat spun around in his grasp and gave her a quick peck on the lips before looking up and flickering his eyes quickly on Rose who was standing besides Jon eyeing up his locker. "This is a new picture," she said borderline sarcastically as she nodded her head to Jon's locker clearly referring to the picture he'd recently put up of him and Charlotte from his first game with the Hawks.

"Yeah," he nodded as he put his shirt on and looked at it. "It's from my first game with the team. It was my first night in the league."

Rose didn't say anything, she just nodded and swallowed. Jon grabbed her gently by the top of her arm and pulled her to him for a kiss. "What do you want to do tonight?" Jon asked as he tied his tie.

"I don't know," Rose flickered her eyes over to Pat who was looking at Charlotte. "We could stay in," she said suggestively. "Spend some time together."

"Sure," Jon offered his agreement. He never was particularly excited and it was one of the things that annoyed her about him. He was always serious, always quiet.

She let out a sigh not happy that she couldn't get Patrick's attention. She hated that she was becoming more and more jealous of Charlotte. She knew it was ridiculous, Pat was going to marry Charlotte, and she was okay with it just being sex when they started up, but as it continued she found herself more and more bothered by it. Not being in a position to show her annoyance towards Patrick, she turned and quietly let it out on Jon. "You could sound excited or happy or anything," she whispered pissed off so that only he could hear. He wrinkled his brow and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you never sound excited. I'm telling you we can go home and you'll get some and you don't smile or anything. You just say 'sure' like I asked you if you wanted a bowl of cereal, 'sure'. What is that?"

Jon leaned down and gave her a quick kiss to calm her nerves. "You need to relax," he said with a serious tone as he looked into her eyes. "This isn't the place to show how much I can't wait to go home and fuck my girlfriend."

Rose nodded trying to contain herself. "Okay." She didn't know what else to say and she didn't want to make anything of a scene, embarrassing both of them.

"Hey," Jon looked at her. "I mean it. I don't want you to think that."

"Okay," she said again not looking at him.

Jon glanced over once again at Charlotte and Patrick and saw her rub his biceps gently with her hand. He swallowed and looked away, putting on his suit jacket. "Are we okay?" he grabbed Rose's hand and prepared to make his way out with her by his side.

"Yeah," she sighed. She knew it wasn't his fault and if he knew what she'd been doing...or, who she'd been doing behind his back it'd break his heart. So she decided to go easy on him. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Jon answered as they walked out the doors together. He gave a nod to Patrick. "See you later Char," he yelled out as they walked by.

"Night Jon...and Rose" she waived with a smile. "Call me tomorrow."

Charlotte turned her attention back to Patrick who had promised her that he'd spend the night with her. Not like she was begging for sex, she just wanted to spend time with him. She felt like they hadn't spent much time together lately. She still couldn't shake whatever was bothering her from the other night and they hadn't spent a night together since before their engagement. "I love the way you look in a suit," she sighed out flirtatiously as Pat tied his tie. She frowned when he didn't seem to register what she'd said. "Or not?" she said more visibly annoyed.

"Huh?" he looked over at her startled, genuinely unsure of what she was talking about.

"Didn't you hear me?"

"No," he responded, his mind clearly preoccupied. "Sorry babe, what did you say?"

"I said you look good in your suit," she said more deflated this time.

"Oh," he looked at her and flashed his beautiful smile. "Thanks babe."

"Yeah." She was clearly pulling back now and he finally noticed.

"Hey," he reached down and put his arms around her waist and looked into her eyes. "I love you, you know that right?"

Charlotte nodded but didn't look at him. "Hey," he put his hand under her chin and forced her gaze to meet his. "I'm serious."

"I know," she said weakly. "I love you too. It just seems like you're distractive by so much lately. It's like there's someone else or something," she said partially joking. Truth was, she didn't really hold grudges with Pat. She never really needed to.

Pat's heart pounded in his chest. "No one could get me to take my eyes off you," he leaned down and kissed her more passionately than was probably appropriate given the setting. "Tonight, it's just you and me. Really all I can think about is how much I want to make love to you." He rubbed his thumb gently on her cheek and she smiled as she put her arms around him. She couldn't help thinking to herself that this was the guy she fell for, she just wished he wasn't so few and far between lately.

*****

When Charlotte woke up in the morning she curled up into Patrick who instinctively breathed her in. As much as he enjoyed being with Rose lately, he still loved the feeling of waking up next to Charlotte. It was one of the things that propelled him to propose.

"Morning baby," he breathed out still partially asleep.

"Morning." She pressed herself closer to his almost naked, warm body. "When do you need to leave?"

Patrick opened his eyes and turned to glance at the clock. "I have about an hour," he rolled over and ran his hand up her side and down her back pulling her closer to him. He looked down into her eyes and smiled before he pressed his lips to hers.

Charlotte felt his erection easily pressing into her and flipped onto her back when he pushed her over and pulled her pajamas off. Pat crawled in between her legs and pushed inside her. For just a split second he pictured Rose beneath him like she had been so many times but it was gone in a flash.

*****

Jon woke up next to Rose and put his feet on the floor, taking a moment before getting out of bed. He was careful as not to wake her and made his way to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and splashed his face with water before brushing his teeth.

He'd woken up next to the same girl for the past year and yet he had no interest in making it official. He liked being with her and she was very attractive but every morning that he woke up next to her it only served to remind him that he didn't want to wake up next to her every day for the rest of his life.

He let out a deep breath before turning to start the shower. He pushed the thoughts that started to sneak into his mind out. No. There was no way after all these years he wanted Charlotte. No part of him wanted to wake up next to her every morning. Absolutely not. He shook it out of his head and went into the shower like normal.