Just My Luck

It was the day before the big wedding and the girls were scrambling all over the place trying to get the last few touches done. Kylie and Jess were currently at the reception hall hanging up the decorations and setting up the tables where the guests would be eating their dinner. They were having a huge wedding so they had to decorate the day before. Kylie had no idea on how Elina and Niklas knew so many people.

Niklas got a few of his teammates to help as well, making sure that the pig, as she always called him, wasn't there. Elina’s only task was to make sure the flowers would arrive on time the following morning as Kylie handled the rest. She already called the band and minister to remind them what time that they were needed. Aside from setting everything up, she had to pick up the dresses and talk to the caterer to go over the menu once more. She even had a clipboard with a little check list so she could narrow down what she had to do.

"Be careful with that!" Kylie shouted, at Viktor at Duncan. They were carrying in an archway that was decorated with flowers as part as some traditional Swedish wedding. "If it breaks you're going to be the one answering to Nik on why Elina is crying."

"Man I am never getting married," Viktor sighed, realizing just how crazy everything was.

Kylie playfully glared at them before checking the time. It was almost four o'clock and she had to pick up the bridesmaids dresses, and more importantly the bride's dress, before they closed at half past five. She took a scan around the room to make sure everything was okay before she walked outside of the reception hall. She found Patrick Kane and Jon standing with a few boxes by their feet.

"Jon, can you drive me to the David’s Bridal on 5th Street so I can pick up the dresses?" She asked him, completely ignoring Patrick Kane. "Elina has my car because she and the girls are getting their nails done."

He nodded, "sure, let me go use the bathroom real quick and I'll meet you out front.

She quickly thanked him before they both walked away. Patrick Kane grabbed her arm and spun her around as she tried to walk away again.

"I can't talk! I have to tell Jess that I’m leaving!"

"Kylie, why won't you talk to me?" He frowned, "you've been ignoring me all day. Did I do something wrong?"

She sighed and she looked into his sad, puppy dog eyes. "No, you didn't. It's just that I can't look at you without thinking about him. You know, since you have the same name and all. I know it's stupid but - "

"It's not stupid, Kylie," he smiled softly. "But it's not even like you call me by my first name anyway."

She laughed nervously, feeling embarrassed about her reason. "I know. I'm really sorry though. I don't know why, it just happens. I can't even look at a sharpie marker without having a breakdown."

He pulled her into a hug. "God I miss you," he sighed. Kylie stayed quiet as she hugged him back, not knowing what to say. "Go meet up with Jon. I'll tell Jess and give her your clipboard." He teased.

"Hey! Don't make fun of it!" She laughed.

He gave her a genuine smile. "Its good hearing you laugh again."

Before she could say anything back, he grabbed the clipboard and walked away. With nothing else to do, Kylie walked outside and found Jon leaning on his car. She quickly ran over to his car so they could hurry and get the dresses. If she had things her way, she would have picked up the dresses earlier that morning but they weren’t open. She didn’t know what she would do if Elina didn’t get the dress in time.

In traditional Swedish weddings, they tend to be in the early afternoon. Elina and Niklas wanted to have a somewhat traditional wedding, so they were going to have it in the late afternoon instead. Elina spent many hours explaining what a typical wedding in Sweden would be like. Kylie had a very difficult time finding the right flowers for Elina’ bouquet in the Chicago area. They ended up having to do a special order where the flowers would be sent on a plane the morning of the wedding. They had a backup just in case.

"So, you excited for tomorrow?" Jon asked, pulling out of the parking lot.

Kylie nodded. "Of course I am. My two best friends are getting married."

"Hey, how come they didn't just have the wedding in Sweden when the season was over? They're both from there, and it would be easier to have the whole team fly there instead of all of their families coming here."

She shrugged. "They said Chicago was their home now. This place is important to them."
Jon nodded, silently saying that he understood. She and Jon made some small talk as they made their way to the bridal shop. After she picked up the dresses, Jon drove her back to her home. He even helped her carry in the dresses since she couldn't carry all four.

"Why aren't we dropping these off at their place?"

Kylie smiled as she unlocked her door. "Because it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding. They're staying here while Nik and the groomsmen are staying at their place."

Jon and Kylie walked in as they carried the dresses in. Elina was watching TV with her sister and cousin as they walked back with the dresses in hand.

"Afternoon ladies," Jon greeted with a smile.

Kylie rolled her eyes as Elina's sister and cousin swooned over Jon. "We're going to go and hang up the dresses in my closet and then we'll order dinner, yeah?"

Elina agreed and watched her and Jon carry the dresses up to her room. Kylie had a nice walk in closet and had the perfect amount of space for hang the dresses. Jon hung them up and Kylie laid on her bed, feeling stressed out and upset over her ex.

"My mom always told me that if I kept frowning, my face would stay that way."

Kylie laughed as she sat up from her bed. "Your mother seems like a very wise woman." She watched him as Jon took a look around her room. He wasn't surprised that her room was this clean. "Hey," she said, catching his attention, "thanks for today. Actually, thanks for the past couple of days."

Jon blushed a little. "It's no big deal."

She thought his reaction was adorable. Heck, he was adorable, but not in a serious way. She considered him adorable in a "you're young and sweet" sort of way. He thought of her as the "you're kind of hot but you're like my sister" type.

"I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

Jon nodded. "Of course. I'll save you a seat at the reception."


The wedding went according to plans, just as Kylie hoped it would. Elina look absolutely beautiful in her dress and Niklas was just as handsome in his tux. She was happy that her two friends were finally married and could spend the rest of their lives together. Kylie even cried a little as the couple said their ‘I do’s’ to each other. She could even see that in the crowd, Jon was silently laughing at her.

Kylie flattened out her pastel purple bridesmaids dress as she returned from the bathroom. So far she hasn't seen the pig, but then again it wasn't like she was trying to find him. Today wasn't about him or her misery. Since she and Jon had been so close lately, she decided to walk up to him and Andrew Shaw.

"Hey Kylie," Andrew greeted, hugging her tightly. "You did amazing. This wedding is great."

She cheekily smiled at him. "Why thank you. I'm just glad it's finally over with and I can just relax. Hopefully Elina’s drunk uncle won’t go too crazy tonight."

The three of them enjoyed each other’s company, laughing and joking with each other. While they were all laughing, Jon stopped as he looked at the man approaching them. Andrew quickly noticed him as well and they both tried to warn her, but she had ready turned around when she felt him place a hand on her bare shoulder.

The color washed away from Kylie's face and she looked up at him. He gave her a tight lipped smile as his teammates glared at him.

"Hi," he said lowly, "you look great."

She didn't know what to say to him. She wanted to tell him that he looked great as well and that she missed him, but she couldn't muster up the courage. Her heart was beating quickly and she felt like she was sweating as he patiently waited for her to say something to him.

"Kylie," Jon said as he turned her around, "let’s go have that dance."

He laced his fingers with hers and dragged her to the dance floor. Luckily for her and Jon, a slow song was playing. She and Jon weren't the expert dancers, so they just held into each other and moved side to side.

"Thanks for that," Kylie said as one of her hands rested on his shoulder, while the other was in his hand. "I didn't know what to say."

Jon sighed. "He had some nerve coming up to you."

"It was bound to happen sometime," she said, looking down at the floor.

He notice her sudden awkward behavior and how she still had the ring on her finger. “You still love him, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” she hated to admit it, but she did. “I hate him for what he did, but it’s going to take longer than a couple of months to get over him.”

He stayed silent since he knew she was right. They continued to dance together and Jon could see over her head that he was watching the two of them dance. Once the song was over, they applauded the live band before they went on an intermission. The DJ took over and began playing more upbeat, club music. Jon and Kylie took that as their cue to leave.

They walked over to the bar and ordered themselves something to drink. Jon gave the bar tender a tip as Kylie suggested they go out on the balcony that wrapped around the reception hall. There were quite a few people outside on the balcony as she and Jon leaned against the marble railing.

“Kylie, you did an amazing job. This looks like we’re in some movie or something,” Jon chuckled as he admired all the lights that hung around the balcony.

She smiled and she crossed her arms across her chest to try and keep warm. “Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without your guys’ help.”

“Are you cold?” Jon asked her. Before she could answer, he was already taking off his suit jacket and draping it over her shoulders.

“Thanks, Jon,” she drank her alcoholic beverage to hide her smile.

He simply nodded before drinking himself. “So tell me, what’s next for you? Elina and Nik are leaving in the summer for their honeymoon and I know you usually leave for a few weeks with him to visit his family. What are you going to be doing?”

At times she hated how curious Jon was. After she met him and the team, she realized that men loved gossip as much as women did.

“Working, I guess,” she shrugged. “Sometimes, clients throw their weddings or birthdays somewhere in the tropics. I don’t take them because that would mean I would have to be away from him for a long time, so I might take up one of those events or something.”

“Kylie!” Niklas shouted as she stood by the entrance. “Elina wants pictures with you!”

She groaned, “Here we go.”

Jon chuckled as he followed Kylie back into the hall. There was a little area by the bar where a professional photographer would be taking pictures. This was actually Niklas’ idea because he and his brothers thought it would be fun to pose and use their hands as fake guns.

She placed her empty drink on a random table before handing Jon his suit jacket back. He draped it over his arm as he watched Kylie take pictures with Elina and the rest of the bridal party. There were a few serious ones, and a few not so serious ones. While she was taking the pictures, Kylie could see him watching her.

He was at the bar, drinking his usual Scotch on the rocks. She did her best to ignore him but she felt like his eyes were going to burn a hole right through her. The pictures were finally done with the bridal party and she dragged Jon in front of the camera. He tried to leave since he hated getting his picture taken. But Kylie wanted to kill some more time to avoid the pig who was watching her by the bar.

Jon had to put an end to the picture taking and quickly got out of the camera’s view. Kylie suggest that she Jon should get another drink, and this time it would be on her. Jon led her to the end of the bar where the pig wasn’t standing, and once they had gotten their drinks, he decided to walk over.
“Hey guys,” he smiled awkwardly.

Neither Jon nor Kylie said anything to him. They just stared at him. He inhaled sharply, knowing how much they hated him at the moment. Patrick Kane ran up to Jon, telling him how he needed to see this “hot chick” was dancing on the dance floor. Jon wasn’t going to lie, he wanted to see the girl. He didn’t want to leave Kylie though.

“Jon, go, I’ll be okay,” Kylie smiled. “Go see that hot chick.”

Once Jon had the okay to go, Patrick Kane grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the dance floor. From the corner of her eye, Kylie could see that he had stepped closer to her so he was only a few inches away.

“Hi Kylie,” he said in a softer tone.

She sighed, “hi Patrick.”

“You did a really good job with the wedding,” he complimented.

She took a big gulp of her white wine, decided that after that she needed something stronger. “Thanks.”

Things quickly grew quit, despite all of the chatter and music playing. She finished her wine with no problem and ordered a Rum and Coke. Patrick Sharp felt like he should say something to her, but he couldn’t. The last time he had seen her, her hand had collided with his face.

“You look really beautiful, by the way,” Patrick said quietly as he tried to touch her arm.
She quickly pulled away and could already feel the tears at the brim of her eyes. “Don’t touch me,” she said harshly.

Kylie quickly turned around and ran out of the reception hall, ignoring his constant calls for her. She ran out towards the front of the building since she knew people would be in the bathroom or on the balcony. She cried as she walked over to the bench on the front of the building. She laid on the bench and cried her eyes out with her make up running down her face. The front door burst open and Jon huffed as she searched for Kylie.

He heard her crying and found her at the bench. He quickly ran over to see if she was okay, even though he knew that she wouldn’t be. “Kylie,” he frowned, picking up her upper body from the bench. He sat down to hold her as she cried into his jacket.

She tried talking, but he couldn’t understand a word she was saying. He gently rocked her back and forth as they sat outside. He rubbed his hands on her smooth arms to try and keep her warm. When her crying had slowed down, he dug a tissue out of his pocket and handed it to her so she could clean herself up.

“I hate Patrick Sharp. I hate him so much,” she sobbed. “That idiot tried to touch me and called me beautiful. Who does he think he is!?”

Jon frowned, “He’s an asshole. I’m sorry I ran off with Kaner.”

“It’s not your fault, Jon,” she sniffed. “God I tried so hard to ignore him. I didn’t want to do this on Elina’s and Nik’s day. It’s not fair to them.”

“And it’s not fair to you that he approached you like that.” He said sternly, “I promise that I’ll be there for you more often. He shouldn’t be talking to you alone while you’re still vulnerable.”

Kylie’s lips trembled as she tried to form a smile on her face. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. “Why couldn’t I have dating you instead?” She asked, making him laugh.