1988

Kitten groaned and turned her head to the other side, trying to silence the fast-paced heart underneath her ear. She moaned again, when it didn’t stop, and rolled off the chest, only to be caught by two arms and slammed against the chest again.
She growled and shoved herself upright, glaring down deathly at a grinning Patrick Kane.
His eyes were still closed and he looked innocent enough - but the smirking lips gave him away and Kitten began punching at his solid chest.
“You keep that up, and you’re gonna hurt your hand.” He chuckled.
“Ooh!”
“If I had let you keep rolling, you’d be on the ground, be thankful.” His eyes opened and his hands sat on her hips.
“When do we leave?”
“At….four hours. I’m sure the boys are out eating or skating,”
“You have to go!”
“I got a text this morning telling me that everything was optional. You need me more than they do.” Patrick’s smirk softened to a straight, pursed line. Kitten gaze dropped and she moved to get off Patrick, but he tightened his grip on her hips and forced her to stay put.
“Patrick, let go of me.”
“No. You can’t dodge this, Kitten,”
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”
“No.”
She gasped, Patrick throwing her off of him and pinning her against the bed. His eyes went from sorrowful to angry and Kitten knew that - once again - it was her fault.
“Do you even remember last night? Because I do! Some guy was latched onto you and practically carrying you! And you couldn’t even speak! I really thought I was going to lose you! That prick is lucky I don’t teach him a lesson!”
“Patrick, stop,” Kitten began crying to him, holding onto his shirt as if her life depended on it.
“And do you even know how hard it is to see you in the arm-crying!?”
Patrick was completely positive of one thing: the words coming from his mouth were from his heart.
“You don’t get it, Kathleen! My world was crashing around me!”
Very rarely had Patrick ever called her Kathleen. She couldn’t really remember the last time he’d called her Kathleen.
“Kitty? Are you okay?”
Patrick shifted off of Kitten’s body and sat at the end of the bed. Kitten moved to sit up, but didn’t go towards Patrick or reach for him.
“I’m fine.”
“Can I come in?”
“Y-yeah.” The card slide through the lock and Jonathan Toews stepped into the room. Patrick had made sure to give Jonathan Kitten’s extra key when they got off the bus.
“You guys don’t look okay.”
“We’re fine.” Patrick got up from the bed, grabbed his suit jacket from the chair in the living room before storming out, slamming the door behind him. Jonathan dropped his gaze and waiting only a second before hearing Kitten burst into tears.
He moved towards her and sat on the edge of the bed, the same place Patrick had been sitting, and touched her leg.
“Kitten, talk to me.” She continued to cry, not moving to acknowledge Jonathan or even to move near him.
“Kitt-”
“He hates me! He yelled at me and he hates me, Jon!” The captain sighed and shifted onto the bed and took Kitten into his arms.
“Pat doesn’t hate you. He’s just angry. Not at you, but the guy who did this.”
“I did this!”
“No you didn’t. What did he say?”
“He said I didn’t get it! He said his world was crashing and I don’t know what that means!”
But Jonathan did. He figured Patrick had been lying when Jon had bugged him a while ago, but he never could have guessed just how strong those feelings for Kitten were.
Patrick’s world had been crashing around him because his world was currently panicking to no end.

Patrick Kane was first on the plane, sitting in the back and covering the seat next to him so that no one would sit next to him. He quickly shoved earbuds in his ears and turned his music as loud as he could take it. He barely noticed his team board the plane, but he really didn’t notice Kitten not board the plane.
Jonathan sat at the front of the plane, with the rest of the team, but made it his point to constantly look back at Patrick and glare. Patrick might not have known why Jonathan was glaring, but Jonathan sure did and that was all that mattered.
By the time the team landed at O’Hare, Patrick was ready to apologize to Kitten for overreacting and screaming at her.
The only problem: Kitten was nowhere to be found.

“Jon, where’s-what the fuck?” Patrick cursed as Jonathan walked straight past him, as though he hadn’t heard the winger’s question.
“Jon!”
He was suddenly knocked into by Andrew Shaw, then by Patrick Sharp.
“Guys!” The team left Patrick standing on the tarmac alone. Patrick growled and rushed to his car, getting in and dialing Kitten’s number.
Hi, this is Kathleen, I’m not able to get my pho-
“What the fuck!?” Patrick slammed his hands on the steering wheel but, gripped it to drive towards Trump Towers.
He ignored the usual woman at the desk as she greeted him and made his way to his flat. Once there, he pulled his laptop onto his lap and found Dallas International’s number.
“This is Mary at Dallas/Fort Worth International, how can I help you?”
“I need to know if a Kathleen Walker bought a ticket to Chicago today.”
“Sir, I cannot disclose that information to you.”
“I’m her boyfriend, just tell me if she bought a ticket.”
“That does not matter-”
“I am fucking Patrick Kane, tell me where she is!”
“Mr. Kane. Do not raise your voice at me, please. If Mrs. Walker did purchase a ticket this today I could not help you figure it out. You’d have to call the airline where she would make the purchase. Good day.”
“No, ple-”
Patrick sighed, hanging up on the call and sighing. He knew calling Jonathan would get him a straight to voicemail, so he tried Kitten again. It was straight to voicemail as well.
So, he called the airport again.
“Mr. Kane.”
“I’m sorry for my behavior, but I need to find her. I-you don’t understand, please. Can’t you just look up her name in a database or look up flights to Chicago, please.” Patrick was crying. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was sure the woman on the other end could tell.
There was a sigh. “Mr. Kane, I can only look up flights to Chicago and tell you the airlines flying them.”
“Please, I’ll call the airlines and leave you alone.”
He heard typing on the other end and he began bouncing his leg.
“A flight took off a half hour ago is being flown by Delta, a flight leaving at 3:35 is being flown by Southwest, a there’s a flight at 10 o’clock tonight being flown by American.”
“Thank you so much, I’m sorry.” Patrick hung up and typed Southwest into his laptop’s search bar.
“This is James with Southwest Airlines, how can I help you?”
“I need to know if a Kathleen Walker purchased a ticket to Chicago for 3:35.”
“Sir, I’m not authorized to tell you.”
“Please, I need to know.”
“Is she a minor?”
“No.”
“What is your relation to her?”
“I’m her boyfriend, please. I need to find her.”
“Sir, is she missing?”
“N-no. I’m Patrick Kane, and she’s my girlfriend and she didn’t get on the plane home.”
“I need to transfer you then, please wait a moment.”
Patrick stood up, pushing his laptop away, and began pacing his flat. If Kitten was so mad that she would take a different flight home, Patrick was willing to do whatever he needed to in order to make it up to her. His Kitten was somewhere in the world and he didn’t know where.
“Mr. Kane?”
“Yes!”
“Mr. Kane, I’ve been informed that you would like to find if a Kathleen Walker purchased a ticket today?”
“Yes!”
“My records tell me that no one by that name purchased a ticket today. I’m sorry.”
Patrick felt his heart breaking.
“O-oh...okay...thank you.” Patrick’s phone slipped from his hand and he almost collapsed to the floor. Had it not been for the click of a lock and the sound of the front door opening.
His head snapped up to stand face to face to Kitten.
“Kit!” She looked up at him, but her eyes didn’t shine. In fact, they were dull. The colour of a darkened sea. Her cheeks were tearstained and the shimmer of fresh tears shined in Patrick’s eyes.
“K-Kitten?” She wiped furiously at her cheeks and walked past him quickly, dropping her bag by the open door.
“Kit-” Their bedroom door slammed in his face. Patrick gulped. But decided that if she wasn’t going to talk to him today, he’d just make camp outside their room and wait for her to talk to him.
Patrick compiled pillows and blankets from the couch and made a bed on the wall opposite of their room. And that is where Patrick found sleep.

“Pat...Patrick….Patrick!” He groaned at the shove and opened his eyes slowly. The image of Kitten covered his vision and he sat up suddenly.
“Kit-”
“You have practice.” She stood up straight and left the hallway to go into the kitchen.
“Kitten listen to me!”
“No, Patrick Kane, you listen to me!” He stumbled back as a shoe was thrown at him. “You yelled at me, screamed at me, tried to tell me I didn’t understand! And now you want me to listen to you grovel for forgiveness!?”
“Yea…” His answer was unheard by Kathleen.
“You are sadly mistaken! You weren’t even there to hear me cry over you! Jonathan had to listen to me and then, you didn’t even notice that I wasn’t on the plane home until you got home! You want my forgiveness, well it’s going to be hell getting it, okay!? So go to fucking practice, of course, they probably want to see you as much as I want to see you, so good luck with that!” Kitten slammed her hand on the counter as her final words and stormed from the apartment, leaving behind a distressed Patrick Kane and worse: a depressed Patrick Kane.
Patrick decided that if the Blackhawks wanted to see him as much as Kitten wanted to see him, it’d be best to get drunk and sleep until she forgave him.
Not exactly the best idea, but it seemed like a good one at the time.

“Can I have a double chocolatey chip frappuccino?” Kitten ordered her drink and moved to the side to wait for it. She felt very dull. Almost numb. No, she was numb. The one person in her life she was sure would never hurt her did. She didn’t know what she had anymore. She knew meeting and befriending Patrick Kane would only end bad for her. She just hoped that it wouldn’t.
“Excuse me?” She looked up and over to meet the eyes of a familiar man. “K-Kitten?”
“Excuse me, how do you know me?”
“I’m Alex...we met in Dallas...kind of.”
Alex?
“My name’s Alex,” He whispered into her ear. She heard him, but she didn’t - couldn’t - reply to him.
“Alex.” She nodded, putting on a smile. “I kind of remember.”
“H-how are you?”
“Um. Okay?” It wasn’t an answer, but a question. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
“Okay...that’s good. Yeah.”
“Thank you, for helping me.” Alex smiled.
“You’re welcome. You know, I never got to fully introduce myself. I’m Alex McDougall.”
“Kitten Walker. My real name’s Kathleen, but I prefer Kitten.”
“I like it. So, you live in Chicago, I must guess. You know Kane.” The sound of his name made her heart drop and her smile fall.
“Yeah. I...know Kane.”
“You guys must be close. Is he like a-?”
“Family friend. He’s like a brother.” She lied. Patrick was far from a brother, but Alex didn’t have to know that.
“So, where do you live?”
“Uh-”
“Sorry, you don’t have to answer. I’m just nosy.”
“It’s okay. I’d just rather keep it to myself.”
“Yeah, totally. You, uh, you wanna go get lunch? I know this great place you’ve probably never been before.” Kitten chuckled at him.
“I’ve been all over Chicago, Alex. I dare you to find a place I haven’t been.”
“Prepare to be amazed.” Alex boldly took her hand and they left the Starbucks with both of their drinks.
They made small talk on their way to the tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant.
“I’m amazed.” Kitten laughed. “I’ve never even seen this place before.”
“I’m pretty amazing.” Alex laughed with her.
“I guess.” She teased.
“Come on.” They went inside and got a table to order.
It was a small family owned Italian restaurant that Kitten instantly loved and Patrick was sure to love as well.
The couple ordered and sat quietly.
“You must have taken the same flight as me to have gotten home so quickly.” Kitten chuckled, sipping water.
“I actually got on a plane right after the game.”
“Ugh, that would suck. I would have stayed longer, but Pat-” Her voice cracked and it would have taken a blind and deaf man to not notice the effects of his name on her.
“So, what do you do?” She looked at Alex, seeming happy with his subject change.
“I used to breed - horses - but I’m down to my last girl so, I’ll be renting her to a stable. It brings in enough money so I don’t have to have a real job.” They laughed. “What about you?”
“Eh, office job. I work as a financial consultant for Morgan Chase.”
“Ooh, fascinating.” They chuckled at each other. “At least yours is long term.”
“I guess so. Mine’s also long and boring.”
They ate their lunch, talking quietly about the ever fascinating world of money and stocks. It wasn’t until Kitten’s phone rang that their lunch became interesting.
“Jon, what’s up?”
“Where’s Pat?”
“Huh?”
“No one can get a hold of Kaner. He’s not answering his calls and he’s not at your apartment.”
Kitten’s blood ran cold.
“What d’ you mean you can’t get a hold of him? I sent him to practice.” Kitten became scared and unaware of the man sitting in front of her.
“Sent as in?”
“I-I told him you had practice but…”
“Kitten.”
“I-I told him that you guys wanted to see him as much as I did.”
“Okay, so he has to be in Chicago still. Can you go look? We tried all over the UC area but he’s not here.”
“I-I’ll check my place but-”
Kitten felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Alex.
“I’ll have to go.” She looked up at Alex.
“I-I have to go-I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. You look scared, so I won’t keep you any longer.”
“I’m so sorry, Alex. We can have a lunch Thursday? Here?” Alex smiled.
“Sure.”
Kitten shot up and was gone without a word.

Kitten knew exactly where he was, but why would he just disappear like that? What would he possible want with getting drunk at ten in the morning?