The Pursuit of Happiness (Patrick Kane)

|Thirty-Five|

Patrick

After sight seeing for a few days Kayleigh's parents leave us be. And it was weird because I kinda missed them, her dad were really cool and I liked having twice as many dad jokes. But I was more than ready to spend some one on one time with the love of my life. We get to do some romantic stuff and she showed me around where she grew up. It was nice to see this side of her, a little more innocent and vulnerable than usual. And while I loved my firey expressive thinking out of the box girlfriend, I liked seeing this side of her too. Where she didn't know everything there is to know and she had a sense of wonder. We were both on this ride far away from the live we had been accustomed to back in Chicago.

As the trip rounds up we decide to have a beach day. Spend the whole day in the sand getting a tan and not worrying about a damn thing. While she sucks at not worrying I'm a little too good at it so maybe I can rub off on her.

"I haven't been to a real beach in forever" she admits.

"That's because you don't know how to take a break" I accuse.

"You..." she starts before she softens, "you're not wrong" she giggles.

"But we're doing to crank open some beers, put our feet in the sand, and take a few naps and live life" I explain.

"I don't drink" she reminds me.

"It's not a sin. As long as you don't drown yourself you're going to be fine. You're far away from Chicago, no one is going to judge you" I assure her.

"I guess one wouldn't hurt" she smirks.

So we set out the blanket and set our food and drinks out to our likings. We strip down to our swim suits and put on some sun screen because both of us admittedly don't get as much sun as we should. Once we were safe I get us both a beer and we lay on top of the sand.

I watch her face as she takes her first sip and her nose scrunches up. "Ew Patrick what the hell" she laughs as she sticks out her tongue in disgust.

"You get used to it" I chuckle as she shakes her head.

"I don't think I will" she claims as she sets the beer in the sand.

"Oh come on! It's not that bad" I insist.

"I feel like I'm drinking the sand" she argues as I chuckle.

"Alright alright. Maybe we can get you a martini or something" I insist.

"Does it taste like that" she scoffs as she points to the beer she deserted in the sand.

"Not at all" I assure her.

"Good" she sighs.

So we decide just to watch the waves crash down before getting in. There wasn't too many people at the beach but we still wanted it to die down a little before we got in.

Kayleigh rests her head in my lap and I smile down at her. Her little bikini not covering much but I'm not the cautious type. She has a beautiful body and has every right to show it off. Me being her boyfriend doesn't make her any less attractive and she shouldn't have to hide the fact that she is to satisfy me. I never believed in her looks having anything to do with me. She can dress however she sees fit and I support whatever she decides she wants to wear. She looks good in anything really, if I was her I would embrace it too.

I go to say something to her and I see she's passed out in my lap. I guess she wasn't joking about these naps. She's had a busy few weeks and she's probably dog tired, I don't blame her. So I lay down and decide to take a little snooze too.

Eventually we get up and I get her something to eat and a martini which she enjoyed a lot more than the beer. So I finish off both of our beers and she drinks her martini before we finally get in the water. She sits there wrapped up in my arms as we just talk. It's crazy how we could talk about anything and the conversation never really dies. It's one of the many many things I loved most about her.

"Have you ever seen the moon sit over the ocean" she asks me as we look out over the horizon. The sun still up but slowly getting closer and closer to the horizon.

I think for a second before shaking my head. "No, I don't believe I have" I admit.

"Well it's beautiful, I swear the moon looks huge over the water. Then the reflection of it shines on the water and for a moment, just for a moment, the water is still. Everything is still and it's like time stops long enough for you to appreciate it. It's peaceful but it's kinda of scary, to look out to the water and to the sky knowing we don't even know what's out there. And we probably will never know all of life's secrets, we will never know how the waves came together or why the moon shines bright enough for the water to mirror it" she explains.

"You think we can see it like that tonight" I wonder as the sun starts to disappear into the horizon.

"I guess we will have to wait and see" she smirks.

So we head back in and find something for dinner because if we keep drinking and don't get a meal in this night is not going to go as we hoped. So we find some nice hamburgers and fries and eat every last bit of it. The sun starts to disappear and the moon starts to come up making me smile. We weren't really supposed to be here after the sun sets but if this is anything like Kayleigh says I have to see it.

Most of the people leave but a few stay behind. Our things were packed up but the blanket was still parked in front of the water. Eventually the moon was on full display and like she said everything pretty much came together. As I sit there and look out over the ocean the moon shines brighter than I've ever seen it shine. In the city you don't get to see the sky like this. Not even on lake Michigan.

"You have to get tired of being wrong at some point" I insist as she giggles.

"Not at all" she smirks.

"I think I've seen one thing more beautiful than this in my entire life" I admit.

"I swear to god if you say me..." she trails off.

"It's you" I smile as she playfully hits my chest.

"Do your hockey buddies know you're this cheesy" she teases.

"They don't need to know" I assure her.