I Heard You Were Kind of a Big Deal

Pat sat slumped in his seat, hat pulled low over his eyes. It had been a long night last night and an early morning flight was a reality that he was very unhappy to be facing. He should have known better, in fact, he did know better, but it was really only supposed to be a couple of drinks with the boys as a farewell before they headed off to wherever they called home for the off season. If he could have slouched any further into his seat, he would have, but he was as comfortable as he was going to get before takeoff. All he could hope for now was that whoever had the seat next to him didn't smell or even worse was big and smelly. Nothing worse than two big guys smooshed in next to each other, especially when one of them didn't know how to bath themselves. Even with the extra space first class provided, it could still end up a tight squeeze.

"Empty your pockets, place all laptops in their own bins, remove your shoes," the TSA agent repeated for the millionth time as Charli tapped her foot waiting for the ancient little lady in front of her to finally get all of her items organized into bins and start through the metal detector. Charli was late. Again. Charli was always late, especially when it really counted. Like for a job interview, or the birth of her niece, or in this case, her flight home for her brother's wedding. Everything had gone so wrong today and the pace of this blue haired bitty was just the icing on the cake. First, her alarm hadn't gone off, mostly because her phone had died. It sat there on the charger on her nightstand with a completely empty battery. The plug had somehow gotten pulled from the wall. She was blaming Rex her roommate's cat. Then Julia had been late picking her up due to the same traffic that delayed her arrival at O'Hare even further. All of which was followed immediately with a minor heart attack and a ten minute search through her bags for her ID which she found in a pocket of her purse that she didn't even know existed. Now as Marge, as she affectionately started thinking of the woman in front of her, finally made it through security it was her turn and only a short sprint from the check point to west Egypt, gate 47E to be exact, was all the stood between her and her cushy first class seat to Mom's house.

"Last call for passenger Charlotte Evans for flight 603 to Buffalo. Please report to gate 47E as your plane has been completely boarded. Last call for passenger Charlotte Evans for flight 603 with nonstop service to Buffalo."

Whoever the hell this Charlotte Evans was needed to hurry the hell up. Pat cracked an eye to glace at his watch. They should have been taxiing ten minutes ago and every little thing that delayed their departure delayed his arrival at home and the much needed nap he planned on taking as soon as he made it through the door. Closing his eyes and pulling his cap lower, he decided Charlotte Evans was an ass.

Not a minute later was he cracking his eyes again as a soft repetition of sorry's and oops' made it final stop at his elbow. Of course Charlotte the Ass would be his row-mate and of course she had the window seat.

Charli regarded the slumped form in the aisle seat, her last obstacle before she could plop down and pass out. He really didn't look happy to see her. Well screw him. It wasn't even 8 am and her day had already gone to shit. She hadn't had enough coffee to deal with mister grumpkin over here. Instead of growling at him to get out of her way, she reverted back to the manners her mom had beaten, not literally, into her and plastered on a polite smile.

"Hey. Hi. 'Scuse me," she said as he looked up at her. "Sorry, that's me, 8A."

Patrick grumbled quietly to himself as he pulled himself out of his seat. Well, at least she was little. He eyed the spritely brunette as she struggled to get her backpack into the overhead. Taking the bag from her, he gestured for her to sit as he unceremoniously shoved the bag into the storage compartment and dropped back into his seat. He did happen to notice as she pulled on a red Blackhawks hoodies that she also smelled pretty good. With a smirk, Patrick closed his eyes again thinking that Charlotte the Ass could be worse. At least she wasn't Boris the Smelly.

Charli woke from her nap with the worst pressure in her stomach. Oh man, did she have to pee. Those three coffees from the first fifteen minutes of the flight hadn't kept her awake but they sure were making her uncomfortable now. Of course, Mister Grumpkin was passed out, long legs kicked out under the seat in front of him, head lolling to the side. She felt bad waking him but she'd feel worse if she pee'd her pants.

"Hey. Psst. Excuse me. I need to get out."

He didn't budge. She cleared her throat loudly. Nothing. She was about to start bouncing her seat. She tapped him lightly on the shoulder

Pat woke with a vicious start. Neck cramped, he looked around realizing he was still on the plane. On his way home. Not sure what woke him, he turned at the sound of a light cough. Charlotte the Ass looked almost panicked as she asked to get out. He watched her rush up the isle to the little bathroom. Hopefully she wasn't one of those people with a weak stomach. It would be a long flight if she was gunna be tossing her cookies the whole time. Though, a quick glance at his watch showed that there was only one more hour left of the flight, meaning that if this was her first panicked trip to the restroom, he was probably safe.

Within no time, Charlotte the ass was back at his elbow asking to be let back into the row. He took a closer look at her this time as he stood to let her in. She really was quite little. He had to be what seemed like a foot taller than her, and though he noticed quite the set of curvy legs on her when she got up, she was very petite. He wouldn't be surprised if that little red Blackhawks hoodie was a youth size.
Even her facial features could be described as little, though she was a bit more pretty than cute. She had a small up turned nose and a really nice set of lips, the upper lip a smidge fuller than the bottom, giving her lips an almost irritated expression. Maybe she was just as tired as he was.

Charli was more than a little surprised when the guy next to her cleared his throat. She was so zoned out staring at the window that she'd forgotten that he was there. She was even more surprised when he started to actually speak to her considering he hadn't really spared her more than glance besides the two times she'd asked to get by him.

"So, you a hockey fan?" He asked with a dip of his chin.

Charli looked down and realized she'd grabbed on of Drew's old sweatshirts in her rush out the door. "Oh, um, kind of. I mostly grew up in a hockey rink watching my brothers play. This is my brothers old youth hockey sweatshirt though, not like an official Chicago one or anything."

Pat had noticed the number on the back wasn't one he recognized but the hood had covered what looked like a last name.

"Ahh," he almost hummed. "So you're not really a Blackhawks fan, then?"

She laughed and looked down at her shirt again before answering, "No, not really. It's mostly just a coincidence. He played for a pee-wee team called the Blackhawks and I had barrowed this the last time I was home. I suppose I would have to pick the Sabers out of hometown loyalty but I don't really follow them. How about you?"

Pat couldn't help but laugh. It seemed pretty douchey to say that by now he'd expected her to recognize him, the flight attendant sure had if her lingering glances and extra attentiveness were any indication, but this girl had no clue. The sweatshirt being a pee-wee league logo explained it. Most people wearing team merch knew who he was. That wasn't his ego, it was a fact.

"Oh I'd say I'm a pretty big fan of the Hawks. They have a pretty great offensive game and a winger that's real fun to watch play," he couldn't keep the smirk off of his face as the words came out of his mouth. "Buffalo was a favorite of mine as a kid though. What area are you from?"

"Just a little north of city. I moved away for college and never moved back. Haven't been back in almost, well shit, almost a year and half."

"Yeah, I don't get home much either. Not nearly as much as my mom would like any way. I try to get back every summer but sometimes it doesn't happen."

"I thought my mom was going to have a cow when I told her I'd actually be able to make it home for my oldest brother's wedding. I think she even cried a little," Charli couldn't help but laugh. Her mom was a little more than a bit over dramatic. Being the only girl, she'd picked some of that up from her but Frankie and Momma Evans were the clear champs. She laughed again, "She's a little dramatic especially when it comes to her baby girl."

Pat watched her roll her eyes but the smile on her face showed that she wasn't serious.

"So what did you go to school for?"

"English. I minored in education though. As just about any one will tell you, you can't get a real job with an English degree. I teach high school English now."

Charli immediately narrowed her eyes at her row companion when he promptly burst out laughing. Before it crossed her mind that she probably, definitely, didn't know the guy well enough to hit him, she'd already elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow," Pat groaned out between laughs. "Sorry. Don't you students give you a lot of shit?"

Now Charli was even more confused. "No. Why?"

"You're so little and cute. I mean, I wish I'd had a teacher that looked like you when I was in high school."

She glared at him. "Whatever, Chuckles. I give a real good bitch face."

Patrick agreed with her and continued to chuckle to himself some more. He could just see this little girl, well she wasn't really a girl, she was probably the same age as him for all he knew, standing up in front of the class glaring at her students while all the boys drooled over her. The only thing that was really cute about her was her size. Fun sized, he'd called it in the past, but her features were much too pretty to really be called cute and those legs he'd noticed earlier had spent too much time in the gym to be anything other than sexy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please move your seats into the upright position and stow all tray tables as we make our final decent into Buffalo. On behalf of our Delta staff and flight crew, I'd like to thank you all for flying with us and we hope to see you again soon."

As the plane pulled up to the gate, Charli couldn't help the excitement that started in her chest and bubbled its way out of her in a face splitting grin. She knew Frankie would be waiting for her by the curb, ready to whisk her home to the house she grew up in. Of all the things she missed most about Buffalo, Frankie was her number one. Of her four brothers, she and Frankie were the closest in age, what you would call Irish twins; they were only ten months apart. As kids, they'd been the gruesome twosome in all of the same classes and in high school they'd been terrors. She could not wait to see him. It had been months since his last visit to the windy city and she was ready to get up to no good with her best friend.

Pat followed his little row mate off the plane after he retrieved her backpack from the overhead and they made their way toward baggage claim together. By the time the bags started coming out, she was practically bouncing. It seemed she was rather excited to be home. If he was honest, now that his hangover had slacked off a bit, he was pretty excited to see what his sisters were up to and spend some time with his dad. He was pulled from his thoughts by what sounded like a dying pig. He turned to a jumble of arms and legs and shock of bright red hair. Charlotte the Ass was screeching like a wild animal in the arms of a monster.

"Frankie put me the fuck down!"

Whoever the hell Frankie was, he was a big ass guy. He unceremoniously dropped Charlotte to her feet then scooped her back into a painful looking hug. The small squeak she let out only confirmed Pat's suspicion. Well, at least she knew the guy. He had let her go and was grabbing her backpack when he noticed Pat standing there rather awkwardly. He didn't actually know Charlotte so he didn't expect any real introductions and was a little surprised when the big guy stuck out his hand.

"Frankie, Charles’ brother."

Pat had started to respond just as the monster started to squeeze the shit out of his hand.

"Franklin, knock it off. This is just the kindly stranger I sat next to on the plane. Sorry, my little brother gets a little overzealous sometimes."

Upon retrieving his hand Patrick scoffed, "There is nothing little about your brother. I'm Pat by the way."

Charli saw her bag just as Pat finished speaking and went to retrieve it the same time that he grabbed the hockey bag next hers. She didn't fail to notice the huge Blackhawks logo on the side. He really must have been a fan after all. "Well, it was nice to meet you. See you around, Chuckles."

Charli waved one last time over her shoulder as her and Frankie left the baggage claim area. Frank threw a large arm over her shoulder and gave her another good squeeze. She couldn't have been any happier than she was at that exact moment. She was home, she was with her best friend and the sun was shining. It was going to be a fun summer.

She smiled over at her brother as he pulled into traffic, his brow pulled down in a classic 'Frankie is thinking' face. He looked back at her and flashed a grin.

"You really don't know who that was, do you?"