Protective

“I’m going to kill them,” I’m not paying attention to which one of them says it, but it was probably Jonathan. Him and Patrick have been alternating on the death threats ever since we told them what happened a little while ago. I’m pretty sure it was his turn.

“You can’t kill them,” Kailey says for what feels like the millionth time. I don’t join her, even though I did in the beginning. I’ve given up on trying to convince them.

“Watch me!” Tazer shouts. He keeps pacing in front of us, as though that will somehow solve the problem he wasn’t there to help with. “Those guys were bastards who tried to touch you! They would’ve hit you as soon as they had the chance! I’m not letting anyone hurt you, either of you.”

He looks at both of us, his face angrier than I’ve ever seen it off the ice. I appreciate that he feels the need to include me in this, but I think we all know that he’s more pissed about Kailey than me. After all, she is his girlfriend, and that guy did try to grab her ass.

“In case you didn’t notice,” Kailey says, pacing behind the couch. It’s kind of funny, she’s matching her boyfriend step for step. “I kicked his ass for that! He was on the ground crying when we left him!”

I didn’t see any tears, but I’m keeping my mouth shut here. Coming between a fighting couple is not the smartest idea.

“Besides,” she continues. “Jen was doing just fine herself! Her guy couldn’t even lay a hand on her.”

I flinch, wishing she’d just kept me out of it. I was kind of hoping I could just sneak upstairs and fall asleep. It had been a stressful night.

Patrick, who up until now had been staying out of the couple’s argument himself, turns to look at me. “You did good,” he says. “But you should’ve called for help.”

I try very hard not to smack him. “And why should I have called for help?”

“Because,” he answers. “While you can definitely handle yourselves against two guys, those guys had friends, and it didn’t look like they were too happy about the direction the fight was going.”

Oh. “I didn’t see any other guys,” I admit grudgingly.

“Me neither,” mutters Kay behind me.

“See!” Toews seems to think this means he’s right, and he should kill them. “You could’ve gotten seriously hurt!”

“So that means you should come in and get hurt too? What the hell good would that do?”

I slip out of the room while they yell some more. I know where this is going, and they’ll be making out and apologizing within ten minutes.

“I’m going to sleep,” I say to Kaner, who followed me out. “Goodnight,” I say without turning around.

“Jen, wait,” I stop, wondering what he wants to say. Does he want to lecture me some more? I’ve been lectured enough tonight to last a lifetime.

“I just want to apologize for what I said earlier,” he won’t meet my eyes, instead staring down at his shoes. Is this the same Patrick Kane who I see on the ice every game? The same guy who can make girls fall at his feet just by looking at them?

“No need to apologize,” I tell him, even though it’s nice for him to say. “Neither of us saw the other guys. You’re right about the fact that we couldn’t have taken more than one guy at a time,” I smile a little at him. “We’re good, we aren’t that good.”

A crash from the other room follows my words, making us both look at the closed doors. The sounds that follow leave very little to the imagination.

“Oh god,” he says. “Do they not realize we’re still in the house or do they just not care?”

“You can’t hear them from upstairs,” I tell him, before proceeding to head up there. I’m not sure if it’s true though, since I’ve never actually stayed here before.

“Good thing that’s where we’re going then,” he says from behind me.

Surprised, I turn around on the landing. “You aren’t going home?”

He shakes his head. “No, it’s just easier to stay here tonight. Tazer lives closer to the airport and we have to leave in the morning so I just brought my stuff over and we’re gonna head over together.”

Oh, that makes sense. I flash him a lame thumbs up, and then hurry into the guest room to hide my blush. What in the world possessed me to do that/

“Hey,” a hand on my arm stops me from entering the room. “I really am sorry about tonight.”

I think about blowing his apology off again, but obviously this is important to him, if he’s going to say it twice. I turn around on a sigh. “I accept your apology,” I tell him. “And I have one of my own. I shouldn’t have jumped down your throat before when you said we couldn’t have handled it. You obviously saw something in the situation that we didn’t and I’m glad you stepped in, because it would not have ended well if you hadn’t.”

It kills me to get the words out. Yes, I have a lot of pride and yes I am swallowing it. I don’t have to like it though.

He looks floored by my apology. “I didn’t even think about stepping in to be honest. I just did it.”

“Why did you?” I can’t figure it out. “I mean I get it if you would’ve stepped in front of Kailey. She’s your best friend’s girlfriend, and he’s beyond overprotective of her,” that much is obvious, even without the death threats being issued a little while ago. “But why step in front of me?”

I haven’t let myself think about this question much. Mostly, I’ve been focused on keeping Jonny and Patrick in the house and away from that bar. I think it’s a miracle that we all left the bar in the first place. From some of the comments that were made tonight I know that those guys were lucky the guys didn’t decide to stick around.

I didn’t really think about the fact that Patrick had stepped in front of me though until they’d finally calmed down slightly. As soon as I did, I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I didn’t have time for that, I was still trying to play referee. Now though, I’m extremely curious to hear what he has to say.

If I thought he looked shocked it’s nothing compared to how he looks now. My question has clearly stunned him. “Honestly,” he says. “I didn’t even think about jumping in front of Kailey. I just saw you fighting with that guy and knew I didn’t want him to lay a hand on you.

“You were doing great on your own,” he reassures me. “But I couldn’t stand there and let you possibly get hurt. I couldn’t take the thought of him hurting you.” He finishes off his explanation with a shrug, as if that makes it less important.

It doesn’t.

I nod casually though, playing along. I must be a pretty good actress because he looks relieved that I don’t think it’s a big deal.

It’s a huge deal.

“Well,” I say, only semi-awkwardly. “Goodnight.”

He smiles at me, and looks like he has something to say. He must think better of it though because he just says, “Goodnight,” and goes into his own room.

I follow suit and head into the room I’m staying in. I shut the door behind me and lean against it for a moment. It feels like tonight has been ten years long. And what just almost happened out there? Because it seems a lot like Patrick freaking Kane wanted to kiss me.

But no, I must be imagining things. I shake my head and push myself off the door, heading to bed. I clearly need some sleep.

A/N: hey! so i know i've been updating this story A LOT lately and i hope you guys don't mind lol :) please let me know what you think by commenting, and if you like this please vote for it! thanks so much for reading, every time i see that little counter thingy go up i smile haha it really makes me so happy so thank you :) so much!