Chapter Fourteen
Max was extremely excited about me skipping work to go to the games with Tobias. He told me it made for better content if I was at the games in person, instead of watching on the television. It didn't hurt that he was a huge Blackhawks fan and was one of the people who actually believed that I was good luck for Tobias.
"He's going to need you badly this round. The Dallas Stars are a feisty team – it's going to make for an interesting game." Max explained after briefing me on my next article.
Tobias was gone most of the day at practice, so I was usually left alone in the apartment. It wasn't that bad, it was just lonely.
I spent most of the day, after work, going through our plans for the new house and shopping online for furniture and home décor. My Mom had stopped by a few times to help with the plans – she was happy that we were moving closer to where her and my dad lived – and thankfully, she never asked about where my relationship with Tobias was. She knew we were back together and she didn't need to know more – at least, that's what she told me.
Practices started late these days, which usually meant that Tobias didn't get home until after dinner. Most of the time I was up when he got home, but sometimes – like tonight – he went out to dinner after practice and I would be asleep by the time he got home.
I had been working on a short article for Max and finished around eleven. I was tired and didn't want to move so I put a movie on the TV and stretched out along the sofa.
It felt like five minutes later when I hear the front door opening and then closing. "Tris?" I'm still half asleep when he walks around the couch and sits down next to where my head is. "You awake?"
"Hmm." Is all I manage to get out and he chuckles.
I shift so that my head is resting on his lap and he brushes his fingers through my hair. He doesn't speak for a long time and I'm close to falling asleep, reveling in the feel of his fingers brushing through my hair and then down my arm, raising goosebumps along my skin.
"Come on." He finally says, patting my arm. "Bed."
Groaning, I cover my face with my arms.
He laughs and stands up, pulling me up with him by my hands. "Let's go sleeping beauty." He pulls me towards the bedroom and I follow behind him, my feet dragging.
The next day is the first game of round two and it's a home game for Chicago. Tobias heads to the rink early, the team wanting to get a quick practice in before the game starts at two. I give him a quick kiss goodbye and then, after he leaves, I head out to stop by work and drop off an article for Max.
After that, I head back to the apartment to change into a pair of jeans and my jersey and then I go to meet up with Christina and Will.
The first game went smoothly and it ended with a win for the Blackhawks, 4 to 1. The team was in good spirits, hoping that this game was an indication of how the rest of the second round was going to go. The second game was in Dallas and I had convinced Christina to come along with me so that I didn't have to endure the players' girlfriends and wives alone – it wasn't that they were terrible, they just weren't the type of people I liked to hang out with. The second game, the Dallas Stars had stepped up their game and refused to let the Hawks keep a lead. If one team scored, the other team retaliated quickly – the game was a nail biter, by all accounts and I was extremely grateful to have endless food available so that I could stress eat. Unfortunately, the Stars had made a comeback and ended up taking game two.
Tobias was upset, but he knew that it wasn't possible to win every single game – especially in the playoffs. Thankfully, he wasn't as upset as I had expected him to be.
During the third game, I was sick with a stomach bug and ended up staying home. I still watched the game live on TV and managed to knock out two articles that I had been working on for a few weeks – they were both projects to try and convince Max to let me handle more important articles and not just cover sports.
The third game ended with the teams being tied at three each by the end of the third period, so it went into overtime. There were no goals scored in overtime so it went into a shootout.
The Blackhawks took the win for the night and Tobias returned home in a good mood and sat on the couch with me, watching movies until he eventually passed out from exhaustion.
While he slept, I continued to watch the movie that was playing and my thoughts drifted off, thinking about tonight's game. Everybody had said that I've been Tobias's good luck charm all season long and I thought that it was true. But he had won tonight…and I wasn't there. And I've been at the games for some of their losses.
I try to ignore the voice in my head, instead focusing on how close Tobias was to getting what he's really, really wanted.
If he wins the playoffs, it's going to open so many more doors for him and it's going to jump-start a promising career and that thought makes me feel a lot better – Tobias getting what he wants and what he deserves, and I'll be at his side.
Three days later, the Stars and Hawks face off once again – this time in Dallas. The Blackhawks had two wins and the Stars had one, so if Chicago won tonight then they would be going to the finals and if Dallas won…the round would be going back to Chicago to try for another win – which ended up happening.
Game four had gone into overtime and within a minute, Dallas had managed to score and take the win. Both teams were tied at two games each, which meant that whoever won game five would move on to the next round.
The loss didn't do too much for Tobias, his mood dropped slightly but he was still incredibly excited and confident.
Game five wasn't for another few days, which gave us some time to spend together (when he wasn't at practice, of course). It was nice, the quality time we got to spend together. I loved being on the road with him and getting to go to all his games, but he was normally too worn out after the games to go out and do anything, so it was a nice change of pace to be able to go out during the day with him.
It was the end of April and starting to warm up, so Tobias and I headed into the city to spend the day walking around.
Surprisingly, there were only two or three people who recognized Tobias, otherwise we had an uneventful day. We could walk around, stop at small shops, and have lunch uninterrupted. After lunch, we did some shopping – or, well, I did some shopping. Tobias just slumped around and complained a lot about how long I was taking.
Honestly…I was just trying to take up time to distract him.
"There's one more place we need to go." I informed Tobias as we climbed into a cab. I gave an address to the cab driver and Tobias gave me a confused look, while I just smiled.
We pull up outside of a large hotel and a doorman hurries to open the cab door. He takes the shopping bags from me and Tobias takes my hand when he gets out. "What are we doing here?" He asks and I just continue to smile.
Taking the bags from the doorman, I thank him and we head towards the elevator. "Did you get us a room?" He asks, looking down at me. I stare straight ahead at our reflections in the elevator doors and feel giddy. Tobias groans, frustrated, and I pull him off the elevator when the doors open.
Heading down the hall, I stop in front of our room and take the keycard from my back pocket and slide it into the lock.
The room wasn't huge, but it was one of the nicer hotels in the city. We had a full view of the city and the sunset, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows along the furthest wall. There was a large bed, big enough for four people, with a cream-colored satin comforter and matching pillows piled on top.
I turn to face Tobias, dropping the bags on the floor, and he's never looked so confused or lost.
"I thought it would be nice to get out of the apartment." I explained, when the door shut behind us. "I know we've been spending a lot of time in hotels lately, but this time we have time to ourselves. There's nothing that either of us need to do and there's no stressors to think about. I've been a terrible girlfriend since we got together, before the whole…miscarriage thing. I wasn't as serious as I should have been about us. But I am and I want you to know that I am – I am all in, fully and completely. I love you and right now, I'm so proud of you and can't begin to express how lucky I am to be with you. I love you, Tobias, so much."
He stands still and silent for a few moments, staring at me. And then he steps forward, clasping his hands on either side of my face and crushing his lips against mine.
"I also wanted you to know…" I start, pulling away from him for a second to catch my breath. "that even if you lose the next game or lose the finals – I'm staying." I joke, smiling and his dark blue eyes brighten and he drops his head back and laughs.
"Well thank God for that." And then he's kissing me again and his hands move to my waist and I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, pulling myself to him.
I know that this is short and I'm really sorry, but if it went on for too much longer than it wouldn't have turned out as well as I would want it to. But, anyways, the next chapter is the last chapter of this story! I want to thank you guys for all of the amazing comments and feedback and to let you know that I have another story lined up, but won't be publishing it for a few weeks. I'm currently busy with work and spending time with friends and family.
Happy Holidays!