Begging You

*Patrick*

For the first time in a long while, Patrick woke up with someone warm and soft in his arms. He pulled Scar closer and reminisced on the night before. At first, it had been hot and intense, as the night progressed, it changed to sweet and quiet. A pang of hurt hit him, she wasn’t going to stick around.

Scarlet Anderson wasn’t the kind of girl who would. At least not right now, she’d made it clear the night before that she had a lot more to live before she settled down for anything serious but a part of him hoped she at least be willing to continue the friendship that he felt growing. He’d at least get to admire her from afar.

He watched as the sun made her pale skin glow, how the white sheet offset the smooth curves of her body. Light pink burns showed, Patrick was immediately regretful of being so rough the first couple times. His o’clock shadow had rubbed her skin a bit raw. Her dark hair was in a messy array on his pillow. Scar was still so beautiful it took his breath away.
So slowly, her eyes opened. The sun shone in them a tad, causing the deep brown to be rimmed with gold. She took his breath away. A sleepy smile popped up on her face. “Mmmm, morning.”

As if suddenly aware of her surrounding, Scarlet popped up, dragging the sheet off him as she stood. Her eyes raked over his body. “Holy shit, what the fuck was I thinking.” She murmured. Patrick felt a trickle of anger pass through him. She softened and looked him in the eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just, I don’t do things like that, Pat. You’re really great but, I don’t know, it must have been the wedding and I just don’t know. That wasn’t smart. How can I expect to get off to a good start when I sleep with its residential par-“ She stopped.

Red clouded his vision as she realized what she had said. Immediately, a wave of anger washed over him, eliminating any possibility of their friendship. Whether it was anger at her or that he was still dubbed the Chicago party boy, he didn’t exactly know. He just couldn’t get away from his past.

The scene would have been amusing if he were in the mood to laugh. She stood there, obviously sexed up, covering her mouth, wide eyed. But now the sight of her left a bitter taste in his mouth. Frustration raked through him.

“Residential party boy?” A low dangerous note was added to his voice. His mood had flipped so fast, he felt like he was going to hit a brick wall and explode on impact. “Yes, well, that says a lot about you, huh?” It was meant to hurt her, just like she hurt him.

“What do you mean?” Fear, he heard it in her voice, it was so soft, so timid. Nothing like the woman he met last night. She’d been replaced by someone a little more insecure, someone who would easily be hurt.

“I mean, you’re in the city for all of five minutes and you get your hands into me. What was it for, huh? The ability to impress your boss with ‘I slept with Patrick Kane.’”

“Shut up, this was a mistake. I didn’t mean it like that Pat.” Confidence filled her. Even from his place on the bed, he could see her stand straighter, her eyes glint with disapproval. That was like an added slap.

“That’s your story? Then why are you still here? Why didn’t you just leave? Going to sell our little squabble to the gossip rags.” The cold air in the room did nothing to cool his rising temperature. He watched as she started to put her clothes back on.

“Fuck you, Patrick. It was a mistake. I didn’t mean what I said I was babbling. But why am I apologizing?” Scarlet through the sheet at him. He could still smell her scent on it. Patrick hated how he was still attracted to her. “You’re an moody asshole who has a grudge against the world for labeling you, instead of going out and changing people’s views of you, you sit in your goddamned apartment hoping that being lonely will change what everyone thinks. Well fuck you Patrick Kane. Have a nice fucking life.” She flipped him the bird before pushing her hair out of her face for one last good look at him and storming his apartment.

Patrick was speechless. No one, other than Jon, had ever had the guts to tell him off. Was this chick right? Sure, people could call him a nice guy all they want but would that really change the public’s opinion? What would he have to do to prove her wrong? That he was a good guy and he wasn’t waiting for the frat boy image to wear off.

As he showered and got ready for his day, he thought about how his past mistakes were coming to bite him in the ass. He’d gone from boy wonder, the cities pride and joy to someone the team considered trading because he didn’t seem to have the character. Patrick was angry with himself and a little pissed at Scarlet for being the one to tell him. He was determined to change the public’s view on him and he would succeed.

As he walked out of his room, into the kitchen, he murmured. “Well, I have to after the summer.” Ryan looked up at him and made a face. The rookie was sitting on the counter, eating a bowl of cereal in his flannel pajamas. He must have just woken up.

“What are you talking about? Is it that girl from the wedding last night? Are you going to hit that all summer?” Patrick didn’t need to look at his roommate to know that the kid would have been beyond excited to have Scar around. Despite her bitchy tendencies, she was a total babe. Given that, Ryan was only nineteen and not yet used to all the pretty women who would through themselves at him.

“Uh, no. She’s gone, man. No good. A bit crazy.” Tip toeing around the subject would be the way to go. For a minute, Ryan only looked at him, still munching on his cereal. Then he nodded his head.

“I guess but I’m telling you, she’d probably be worth it.”

“Yeah, stop thinking with the wrong head Ryan. Women, they can be shady.” The rookies eye were wide, absorbing every piece of information about him. He knew that Patrick history with women, he was even around for the whole Kennedy debacle, which if he let himself think about it, still kind of stung him. “Just… be careful kid.”

“Yeah, yeah. I promise I will be Patrick. I swear, no girls while you’re gone.” The kid was wide eyed and had his hand up like a boy scout. It made Patrick chuckle.

“Okay, I didn’t say you had to go and do that, but just, seriously, be careful while I’m in Buffalo. I’ll be back in a two or three months. Can you make it here in the city alone?” Ryan nodded. “Callie and Jon, they’ll be back in two weeks and they’ll be in Chicago for a week or two before he’s gotta head back to god-knows-where Canada.” Both of them chuckled, they were proudly American.

Ryan hopped off the counter and walked up to stand in front of Pat. The kid was freakishly large for 19, Patrick would never be that big. He placed his hands on his shoulders, Patrick didn’t feel the need to shrug them off like he did with other people. Ryan had easily become like the brother he never had. With Callie and Jon spending all their time together, he was what Pat needed.

“I’ll be okay, dad.” He teased. “I know, no parties, or orgies, or drugs, and stuff.” A mischievous glint still shown in his eyes.

“No underage drinking either.” Patrick chimed in. Immediately, his face fell, which caused him to laugh. “Trust me, kid. It’s not always a pleasant path to go down.” Ryan just nodded, understand enough about Pat’s trouble with alcohol to take his advice. “But come on, have fun.”

Patrick clapped his roommate on the back before heading back to his own room to pack and deal with his arrangements. He’d almost forgotten Scar but her scent assaulted him the minute he entered the room. She was just another possibility that hadn’t ended exactly like he had planned and he was going to have to get over it if he ever wanted to be happy.

*Scarlet*

Scarlet felt like an asshole. Everything she’d said had just been babble that just spilled from within herself. A part of her wanted to blame him and the reasonable part of her knew that it was just as much of her decision as Pat’s. Still, his words cut her. She wouldn’t dare do anything she accused her of.

The humid Chicago afternoon and the waves of people that were making their way through the city, overwhelmed her. The tall sky scrapers, the loud taxis, everything was different from her DC. Everything was combining in a way that made her want to weep.

A part of her would let herself admit that she had nothing in the city but a small apartment in a bad part of town. Scar had convinced herself that all she needed was time. She would get a job and be successful, she would find friends, and she would make it in the city.