Chapter Six - Tied Together

After I finished eating, I got dressed and came back downstairs, where Sid was waiting for me in the living room.

“Well, since this is your last day here, I figured we should make the most out of it,” he said, going over to the hall closet and rummaging through it.

“Oo la la, sounds intriguing. What exactly did you have in mind?” I asked, flopping down on the couch. After he found what he was looking for, he came over and held a box directly in front of my face. It took a minute for my eyes to focus, but when they did, I couldn’t hold back my laughter.

“Scrabble?!”

“Where every word’s a winner!” he quoted the Scrabble slogan as he walked into the dining room and I followed.

“You are aware that you’re the biggest dork this side of the Western Hemisphere, right?”

“Aw, only the west?”

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” I sat down across from him as he whipped out the board and the stands.

“Pick your letters.” He held the velvet bag open for me and our game began. There were two very important things I learned that afternoon. One, Sidney Crosby loves his Scrabble and two, Sidney Crosby loves to outplay everyone at everything. That had to have been the most intense, competitive game of Scrabble I ever played. I never stood a chance. He even busted out the calculator to make sure our scores were being kept properly. When I told him that I could do the math in my head, he smiled at me condescendingly and said “We wouldn’t want a silly error now, would we?”. At this, I rolled my eyes, told him where to go, and continued playing. Needless to say, he mercilessly beat me and whipped out this spiral bound notebook.

“What’s that?” I asked, coming around to the other side of the table and placing my head on his shoulder, so as to get a better view of the book. He smelled like a mixture of whatever cologne he was wearing and hand soap.

“Oh, I just like to keep a tally of all the game of Scrabble I win whenever I play. I’ve had this since I was six.” I pulled the book out of his hands and began flipping through the pages. They were neatly lined with the date of the game, who he was playing, where the game was played at, and the point tally. That’s when I learned another two things. One, Sidney Crosby might have slight OCD problems, and two, Sidney Crosby might be a tad bit crazy.

“Remember my ‘dork’ statement earlier? I take that back, there might be bigger dorks out there, but you’re definitely the biggest psycho this side of the Western Hemisphere. Who does things like this?!” He laughed and took the book back from me.

“Apparently I do.”

“Apparently you’re also kinda crazy. If I happen to beat you at Scrabble one day are you gonna have a hit put out on me or something?”

“It’s a possibility.” His eyes gleamed with laughter and I couldn’t help but smile in return. Damn this man for already having a hold on me. We spent the better part of the afternoon sprawled on his living room floor fighting over the remote and throwing popcorn at each other like we were back in ninth grade. And even though it was childish and silly, it was one of the best times I had had in a while. When dinnertime rolled around and there was still no word from Ally, I decided to call her and make sure she was still alive. Before I did so, Sid grabbed the phone. “Hey, let me take you out to dinner first. It’s the least I can do.”

“Or not. I really don’t feel like having pictures of you and me posted all over the internet for people to see and rip apart if we’re not even dating.”

“We are, though.” He smiled as he threaded his hand through my own.

“Are we?” I asked. It seemed odd to me that two people could be ‘dating’ after basically just meeting each other.

“Unless you can think of a reason not to be. Do you have a boyfriend back in Pittsburgh? Is that it?”

“No, no boyfriend.”

“Okay then. What did you think we were doing here, then?”

“I don’t know, hanging out?” I instantly regretted my choice of words when I saw his face fall. “It’s not that I don’t want to date you. I just figured you were some hot shot who wouldn’t want to be tied down to anyone right now. I thought this was just, you know, fun.”

“I normally don’t house girls that I don’t want to be tied down to.” His smile was back and I knew the awkward part of the conversation had passed.

“Well then, consider us tied.” I crawled over to him and rested my head against his shoulder.

“You know, I really wouldn’t mind be tied to you. Literally.”

“You and your one-track mind.”

“I can’t help it, you attract me.”

“And you do absolutely nothing for me.” I laughed as he quickly rolled on top of me and pinned me to the floor.

“I do nothing for you, eh?”

“Not a thing. I mean look at you. You’re not that handsome, you’re kinda over-hyped, and between you and me, you’re a bit of a whiner.” That was the last straw, he began tickling me so intensely that I thought I would blackout from lack of oxygen. “Stop, stop, stop! I can’t breathe! And I have to pee! Stop it!”

“Say it then!”

“Never!”

“Say that I’m the most amazing athlete in the world and the best looking guy you’ve ever met.”

“I will do no such thing! Your ego’s already big enough as is.” This only made him increase the torture until I was forced to choke out those words.

“Thank you, I’m glad you think so.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He stood up, offered me his hand, and walked into the kitchen.

“So, I guess we’re not going out to dinner?”

“Nope. But I’ve got an idea.”

“What’s that?”

“You can drop me off at my hotel and on the way there, we can get Tim Hortons! I could always go for Timbits.”

“For dinner?!”

“Why not? Live a little.” Without waiting for his response, I grabbed my things, his keys, and darted out of his house. He had no choice but to follow. When we got to Tim Hortons , Sid waited in the car while I got a box of 40 Timbits, which we promptly devoured because we were both starving to death. After our ‘meal’ he drove me over to my hotel.

“Have a safe trip back. I’ll see you on Friday.”

“Friday,” I repeated as he leaned over to kiss me. I brought my hand to the back of his neck and he brought his to the side of my face.

“Try not to have too much fun without me,” he said when we finally pulled apart.

“I don’t know what I’ll do, my life will be a boring wreck!” I teased, opening the car door.

“Believe me, I know.” He was still laughing as I slammed the door and headed inside.

Chapter Five - Southern Hospitality

Wow, so it's been quite a while since I picked up the pen on this one. It's just been pretty crazy here and with Christmas coming up, this just kept getting put on the back-burner. But thank you so much for your patience and all your comments. They really do mean the world.


Once I was able to pry myself away from Sid long enough to get proper oxygen flow to my brain, I realized that I should get going. Ally was probably wondering if I got ax murdered and if my lifeless body was laying in a ditch somewhere. So after a great struggle with will power, I said goodnight to Sid and made my way back to the car and ultimately back to the hotel. Time had absolutely flown by and it was nearing one in the morning. Therefore, I was particularly careful so as not to wake Ally when I opened the door to our hotel room. I felt around blindly until I reached the bathroom where I turned on the light, so I could see into the rest of the room. However when I was finally able to see, I actually wished I had gone blind. There, staring me in the face, was Max Talbot’s bare ass sprawled across the bed, with Ally tucked neatly under his arm. Both of them were out for the count. This was exactly what I didn’t need right now. I grabbed my purse, a change of clothes, and made my way down to the front desk to try and book another room. When the concierge told me that they were completely booked, I did everything I could to stop myself from releasing a very long stream of expletives and instead headed outside towards my car, in hopes of finding another hotel. However, when I started to venture across the parking lot, I saw Sid’s Range Rover parked in the first spot.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to get out here,” Sid said after he rolled down his window.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“Well, after you left, it dawned on me that Max probably tried to sleep with Ally and with nowhere to go except your shared hotel room, I figured that they’d probably still be there. And by the looks of the clothing in your hands, I was correct. So, hop in.” I stared at him, completely baffled. This guy was good.

“Where are we going?” I asked when Sid started to drive.

“So full of questions tonight. I’m taking you back to my place.” He must have felt me shift uncomfortably because he quickly added. “I’ve got a million and one guest rooms. Don’t worry, I’m not like Max. I won’t be trying to sleep with you…tonight, anyway.” I laughed and punched him in the arm and watched him feign injury. When we arrived back at his house, Sid led me upstairs to a gorgeous guest room.

“Wow, someone’s got a knack for decorating,” I teased as I took in the vibrant blue walls and the matching curtains/bedding set. The room had an overall bright and airy look as the crisp white and blue bedding accentuated the walls. The windows on the opposite side of the room offered a spectacular view of the lake.

“I do what I can,” he answered smugly. “I like to call this room ‘Blue’.” He looked around the room, studying it as an artist would study a masterpiece.

“Very original, Sid. I applaud you on your desire to stand out from the rest. Bravo.” The room reminded me of vacationing in the Bahamas when I was younger, with a very “beach house” feel.

“Well! There’s an adjoining bathroom so you won’t get lost, the kitchen’s right downstairs if you want a drink and I’m right across the hall if you need anything.”

“Thank you very much for your hospitality, kind sir.” I did a mock curtsey to which he bowed in return.

“The pleasure is mine. Goodnight.” And with that, he closed the door. I quickly showered and when I came back out, Sid had placed a t-shirt and sweats on the bed for me to use as pajamas. Always the thoughtful one. After putting them on, I slipped into the plush bed, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up with me.

**

When I awoke the next morning, I looked over at the clock to find that I had slept through the better part of the day. It was approaching one o’clock when I finally came downstairs to find Sid already dressed and sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper.

“Well, look who finally decided to join the land of the living.”

“Stop that, you sound like my mother.” I pulled out the chair across from him and grabbed a doughnut from the open box.

“You are aware that you sleep like you’re dead, right?”

“So I’ve been told.”

“I had to come in there twice just to make sure you were still breathing.”

“How thoughtful of you.”

“I like to make sure my guests leave just as alive as when they arrived.”

“You know, that’s always important when you have company.” He smiled at me and we stopped our banter for a moment.

“How did you sleep?”

“Really well, thanks. I wish I had a bed like that back home.”

“You know, I could always buy you one.”

“Oh? Well Mr. Moneybags, since you’re taking gift requests, I’ve always wanted a pony. Oh! And a Barbie Jeep!”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Listen Sid, thanks so much for letting me stay here, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“Well thankfully I know exactly how.” He rustled through a pile of papers and finally found what he was looking for, an envelope, which he pushed towards me.

“What is this?”

“Open it and you’ll see.” The envelope was actually already opened and I pulled out what was inside. It was a wedding invitation for none other than Colby Armstrong.

“And what exactly would you like me to do with this?”

“I’d like you to go with me, be my date.” He must have noticed my wary expression because he quickly added, “Or we could go as friends. Whichever.”

“But Sid, I don’t even know him or his wife to be.”

“That doesn’t matter! That’s what a ‘plus one’ is for.” I looked down at the invitation and noticed that this wedding was taking place in a week.

“You know this wedding is happening on Saturday right? Where the hell am I supposed to get a dress from that quickly?”

“I don’t know. Go shopping?”

“And I’m going back to Pittsburgh tomorrow. How are we going to get there?”

“I’m going back in a few days and when I get there, I’ll pick you up on that Friday and we’ll fly down. See, I’ve figured everything out, now you can’t say no.”

“I hate how you always have a plan.”

“This is going to be like so exciting!” His mock Valley Girl voice made me roll my eyes and wonder why I ever got mixed up with him in the first place.

Chapter Four - Originality Is Key

“You know what, Sidney? It’s been absolutely wonderful and I’d love to stay for dinner, it’s just that Ally’s gotta be waiting for me, so I really should get going,” I said, basically sprinting towards the front door. If I had been in my right mind, I would have known to use to back door instead because as soon as I reached for the knob, the door swung open. Standing before me was a very cheerful Ally and a very handsome Maxime Talbot. Ally stood there like a deer caught in the headlights for a good two minutes before either moving to enter the house or slapping me across the face. Thankfully she did the former, rather than the latter.

“Spencer! What are you doing here? You know Sid?!” she asked. I tried to detect if there was any hint of anger in her voice, but all I heard was shock.

“Um, actually we met the other day,” I said, bracing myself for the worst. Here we go. She’s gonna call me a bitch and end our friendship right now.

“Wow, that’s so awesome! You go girl!” she chirped, winking at me. I looked down to notice that her hand was intertwined with Max’s. So that’s why she wasn’t mad at me! Max had swept her off her feet. Thank God. I guess she was happy being with any member of the Penguins. I smiled and turned to Sid to explain, but he had the guiltiest grin on his face.

“Well, this is quite shocking! Such a small world we live in isn’t it?” Sid asked before ushering Max and Ally into the house.

“How did you do this?!” I whispered in his ear as we walked into the living room.

“Do what? I have absolutely no idea what in the world you’re talking about,” he said easily, taking a seat next to me on the couch. Ally and Max took the loveseat.

“Sid, care to introduce me to that beautiful girl on your arm?” Max asked.

“Of course I wouldn’t mind. This is Spencer. Spencer this is Max. And…did I catch your name correctly, was it Ally?” Sid asked in false uncertainty. I watched as Ally began to turn a shade of red. I guess she was still star struck.

“Yes, Ally. It’s so nice to meet you…again,” she gushed. “You’re like my hero!”

“Oh please. Heroes are people like…oh I don’t know, Abraham Lincoln and…Beyonce. I’m just a hockey player. And a Canadian. Two very good qualities, but not hero material,” Sid responded lightly. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically at his insane remark.

“Beyonce?!” I choked out in between laughing fits. “Beyonce is hero material?”

“Um, have you seen her? Not to mention her amazing music, acting skills, and fashion sense,” he responded with the most serious expression I’d ever seen.

“Okay, are you for real?” I asked.

“’If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it’,” Max chimed in, high-fiving Sid.

“See, Max gets it! Classic line. Classic,” Sid said, with a self satisfied smile.

“You guys are insane,” I said, rolling my eyes. “And as much as I’d love to sit here and go over what qualities make Beyonce a ‘hero’, I thought we were gonna have dinner.”

“Oh right!” Sid hopped up, took my hand, and led me into the kitchen. Once I heard Max and Ally begin their own conversation, I started my interrogation of Sid.

“How on earth did you pull this off?!” I asked, watching him lean against the counter top, the epitome of cool.

“Hmm, well, I wanted you all to myself and I knew you’d never come with me if Ally was on your tail all day. So, my plan was to find out what hotel you were staying in and then just come and get you myself. But thankfully Max was just dying of hunger so he made us stop at Tim Horton’s. And low and behold, when we pulled into the parking lot, your friend Ally was coming out of the store. So then a new idea formulated. I told Max to go distract Ally for the day. And Max loves a good challenge, so, here we are now. I’m pretty brilliant, eh?”

“More like ridiculously scary and borderline stalker. But it’s the thought that counts I guess.” I smiled at him from across the kitchen. “So, ‘Man with the Plan’, what’s for dinner?”

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t think this far into the future. No idea! Do you cook?”

“You’re in luck! I can handle pasta and maybe some chicken if you have it. Other than that, we’re screwed.” He laughed and reached into the pantry, throwing a box of spaghetti at me.

“Do your ‘thang’.”

“Oh God, never again, Sidney.” I pushed him out of the kitchen and indeed did my ‘thang’, whipping up some spaghetti and a nice salad. I was so impressed with myself and the fact that I was able to think that up on the spot. After dinner, Max offered to drive Ally back to the hotel, since I had the car. I had to admit, they looked pretty cute together. I hoped Max would stick around. I’d heard stories about him and from what I’ve heard, he seemed like a pretty big partier and he also seemed to love the ladies. It would be nice if they dated though. She’d have someone and I would too. If you could even consider that what Sid and I were doing was actually dating. It was more like hanging out. Although we did kiss that one time. But that wasn’t even a legit first kiss. It was more like a peck. I walked back from the front door after letting Max and Ally out to find Sid heading out the back door. “Where are you going?”

“You know, you ask too many questions.” I followed Sid back down to the dock where he perched himself on the edge and patted the space next to him, indicating where he wanted me to sit.

“Aw, this is so pretty,” I said, noting the stars above us. “I love the sound of crickets too. It makes everything seem so summery.”

“Yeah, I love the outdoors too, it’s relaxing. You can forget about your responsibilities for a little bit.” It hit me just then that all Sid does is eat, sleep, and breathe hockey. Even on his vacation, he’s signing autographs and giving interviews. This was probably the one place he could relax and actually be himself.

“Yeah, I totally get that. It must be so hard for you, Sidney---”

“You know, you can call me Sid.” He turned to smile at me and he looked absolutely breathtaking in the moonlight.

“I…um…yeah. You can call Spence. No need for formalities, huh?”

“Exactly. By the way, that makes you sound so American.”

“What does?”

“’Huh’. It’s classic American.”

“Oh yeah, and ‘eh’ isn’t?”

“When did I say ‘eh’?”

“See! You say it so much you don’t even realize you’re saying it!” He started laughing and then he placed his hand on top of mine.

“Relax, Spence. I wasn’t saying it in a bad way. It’s cute. Just li---”

“Please don’t say ‘just like you’. Must you be every cliché known to man?” I shoved him lightly.

“Good point. How about I---”

“And please don’t say ‘how about I do this instead?’. Originality, Sid.”

“Why must you ruin all of my plans? These clichés have worked for me every time in the past.”

“Well, not on me. You’ll just have to try something new!” I smiled at him and he rolled his eyes. And this time, instead of prefacing it with any corny line, he leaned over and kissed me. With the sounds of summer, the water below, and the stars above, it definitely counted as our first official kiss.

Chapter Three - Aquatic Adventures

I’m not quite sure how I drove back to the hotel after that because I was positively delirious with happiness. But, by some miracle of the Gods, I made it in one piece and back into bed without even waking Ally. When I opened my eyes a few hours later, it was of my own accord and not because someone was opening the curtains and blinding me to death. The room was empty besides myself and I got up and walked over to the desk where Ally had left a note. ‘Spence, I went out to get some breakfast for us and you’ll never guess who asked me to hang out with him?! Well, I’ll keep you on your toes because you wouldn’t believe it if I put it in this note. Anyway, now we can do our own thing today! Maybe meet up for dinner? I’ll text! Love ya, Ally.’ I put down the note, not really giving it a second thought. I was glad she found someone to keep her occupied for the day. I tossed the paper aside, grabbed some clothes, and hit the shower. About twenty minutes later, I was out the door and looking for something to do. I set out on foot in a quest to find the nearest Tim Horton’s. No sooner than when I sat down, my cell phone started ringing. I cringed at the fact that I forgot to change it from the “Gimme That Fillet O’ Fish” song that Ally had set it as. I opened it quickly to silence the ringing and didn’t even check the name.

“Hello?” I asked, trying to avoid the stares of those who had heard that awful ringtone.

“Hey, can you get away from whatever you’re doing?” Sid asked on the other end. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. I had completely forgotten that we exchanged numbers.

“Hmm, I have to think about it. You know I’m an extremely busy person,” I said playfully into the phone.

“I’ll take that as a ‘I’m not doing anything because I have no life’,” he retorted.

“Okay, you got me. Why what’s up?”

“Come hang out with me today.”

“Hang out with you? Didn’t we discuss this last night? The press, Sidney, the press.”

“Exactly, that’s why I want you to come over. To my house. It’s gated so it’s hard for the press to catch me there unless I let them in.”

“But won’t they see me pulling up or whatever?”

“Yeah, but you could be anyone. My cleaning lady for all they know.” I couldn’t help but laugh. The stuff he comes up with.

“A twenty year old cleaning lady? Very believable.”

“Okay, I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ you’re coming.” He proceeded to give me directions which I wrote down on a napkin and he ended with, “bring aquatic essentials.”

“Aquatic essentials? Really? You couldn’t just say bathing suit?”

“I like to be different. You should know that by now, Spencer. See ya in a bit!” And with that he hung up. I rolled my eyes, but the smile couldn’t be removed from my face. I basically sprinted back to the hotel, shoved a bathing suit into my purse, grabbed the keys, and hopped into the car. It wasn’t long before I was arriving at the gates and to my surprise, Sid was standing there, ready to let me in.

“Hey,” he said smiling as he hopped into the passenger’s seat.

“Hey,” I replied, not sure what the proper greeting was. We only had one kiss last night so it would probably be way too forward to expect anything in greeting. Thankfully I didn’t have to make the decision because in the middle of my pondering, Sid picked up my hand and kissed it.

“Completely lame,” I laughed as he joined in.

“Well, I didn’t know what the proper greeting was! So I figured I’d go classic. You can’t go wrong with classic.”

“Well that one’s a swing and a miss. Keep trying.” I continued to laugh all the way along the drive up to his house. Once I finally pulled up, we got out and made our way inside. It was the cutest summer house I’d ever seen. “What, no masses of people? I thought your life was a constant party, Mr. Crosby.”

“I like to make time for the VIPs every now and then. How was that?”

“You’re so lucky that you’re not trying to pick me up. That was rough.” He playfully shoved me and led me down a long hallway.

“Here’s the bathroom. You can change in there.” The bathroom was adorably decorated and the soap smelled like heaven. I had to remember to ask where he got it. I changed my clothes in twenty seconds flat, replaced my t-shirt, and stuffed my shorts into my purse. When I got out, I walked into the living room where Sid was sitting on the couch.

“So what exactly are we doing today?”

“You’ll see.” He led me out the back door and down onto the dock where his Sea-doo was waiting in all of its aquatic glory.

“I am not getting on that thing!” I said, refusing to go any further.

“What? Why not?! It doesn’t bite, I promise,” he said, taking my hand.

“It can’t possibly be safe,” I responded looking from it, to him, and back again.

“Can you swim?” he asked. I nodded and he continued. “Then it’s perfectly safe. Plus you’ll be wearing a life jacket. Plus, I’ll save you if anything happens.” At that last statement I could help but smile. I agreed to go on it and I followed him down to the end of the dock where he handed me a life jacket and put on one of his own. I took off my shirt, neatly folding it, and placed it next to Sid’s which was in a wrinkled heap. After I adjusted my bathing suit top and put on my life jacket, I turned back to him and had to remind myself to breath. His perfect physique almost knocked me off my feet. He smiled back at me, not noticing me drooling all over myself. “Ready?” He got on first and then held out his hand for me. I said a silent ‘Our Father’ before hopping on the back and clinging to his waist. We started off slowly, just meandering around. “See it’s not so bad.” I was beginning to agree until he picked up speed and we were flying across the water. At first I absolutely hated him, but then I couldn’t get enough. The combined rush of speeding on that thing and holding on to the actual Sidney Crosby was enough to give a person a heart attack. At one point Sid even let me drive his precious Sea-doo, until he claimed I was an awful driver and made me switch back. By the time we finally docked, the sun was starting to set. We both climbed up onto the dock continuing our debate about who was the better driver. It ended in Sid throwing me into the water after I had already put my shirt back on so, needless to say, I was a little irritated. However, I soon forgot my irritation when we got back to the house and he gave me one of his to wear. It was ten times better than wearing anything I owned.

“So what’s the game plan?” I asked sitting next to him on the couch. I was tugging at a string sticking out from my shorts and he was fiddling with his cell phone.

“Actually, one of the guys is coming over for dinner. I’d love it if you’d stay. He’s even bringing a girl along.”

“Of course I’d love to meet one of your teammates when I’m wearing absolutely no make-up and my hair looks like a disaster area. How did you know that’s my dream come true?!”

“Oh please. You look gorgeous. And believe me, if you look gorgeous like that, they’ll think you’re absolutely stunning when they see you all dolled up.”

“Um, people haven’t used the expression ‘dolled up’ since 1922.” Just as he was about to come back with a snarky remark, my phone started to ring. That hideous ringtone once again taunted me. I really had to change that. It was a text from Ally.

“you’ll never guess what! we’re going to dinner at some hockey player’s house! i’ll explain later!!! love ya!”

And at that moment, it all fell into place.

Chapter Two - A Sleep Schedule Disruption

“Holy Shit! You sleep like the dead!” Ally sighed as she pulled back the hotel curtains. Blinding light flooded the room immediately and I pulled the covers up to shield my eyes.

“Ugh, Ally! What time is it?!” I asked, fearing the answer.

“Oh, it’s 8:30! And you need to get up right now because we have to be out of here by 9:00,” she said pulling various make-up essentials out of my bag and throwing them at me.

“Why? We have somewhere to be?” I eyed her suspiciously.

“Well, Sidney’s doing this little signing at some local sports store at 12:30 and we have to go down there and get in line. And I am not going without you.”

“We have to be there three and a half hours before?! You’re insane. You’re friggin insane!” I rolled over in bed and buried my head underneath the pillow.

“Look, Spence. I know you’re not a morning person, but can you please just do this for me?” I hated how close we were. I couldn’t say no.

“Fine! I hate you, you know.”

“Ah! I love you so much!” I managed to drag myself out of bed, take a quick shower, and dress. I wore denim shorts, a blue and white checkered short sleeved shirt, and my favorite cowgirl boots. “Wow, you look like you just stepped out of The Dukes of Hazzard!” I looked at Ally and smiled. I hoped my outfit impressed someone else too. We ended up with a really good spot in line inside the store. I felt bad for the other people who had to stand out in the sun. When Sid finally emerged to a roaring applause, Ally dug her nails so far into my arm I’m pretty sure she left permanent scars. “Oh my God!”

“Can you calm the hell down, please?” I asked even though my own nerves started to take a hold on me. I really hoped that he wouldn’t say anything about our meeting last night. I wasn’t sure at all if I wanted Ally to know yet. But if he remembered, of course he’d say something right? I hoped to God that he’d be able to read whatever subtle signs I tried to give him to keep his mouth shut. When we were five people away from the front of the line, the picture in Ally’s hands began to shake. “Relax, Al. It’ll all be fine.”

“Hey,” Sid said when we finally reached the table.

“Oh my God, it’s so nice to meet you!” Ally gushed, turning about a million shades of red. She controlled her shaking hand enough to hand him the picture. “Say something, Spence!” She whispered as she took back her picture and thanked him a million times. Surprisingly she managed to walk away without fainting.

“Hey there,” he said as he began signing the picture I handed him. “I’m not good enough to introduce to your friends?”

“No, that’s not it,” I said. “It would just take too much…explaining.” He smiled and handed me back the picture.

“If you think that will take explaining, you better not show her that.” He pointed at the picture then moved on to sign the next person’s autograph. I looked down at the picture in my hand. ‘Spencer, hope we’re still on for later. –Sid’.

“He was writing for such a long time, what’d he say?” Ally said, peering over my shoulder.

“NOTHING!” I practically screamed at her and shoved the picture inside of a magazine I had bought earlier and then shoved the magazine in my purse. She was looking at me like I had five heads which was to be expected. “You know, he just wrote his name. It didn’t take any longer for him to sign mine than it did yours.” Ally was still giving me a peculiar look, but she let it slide.

“I totally can’t believe we just met him,” she said, returning to her former swooning. “I wonder where he hangs out, you know, to get away from the fans?”

“Yeah, I wonder too,” I muttered. We stepped outside into the warm sun and looked around at the hundreds of fans who were still waiting on line.

“Glad I made you wake up early, huh?” Ally asked, noting the crowd.

“Yeah I guess. Well what do you want to do today?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Just hang around.” And that’s all we did. Hang around. All day. We pretty much covered all of Cole Harbour on foot until both of us were too tired to even move. By the time nine o’clock rolled around, I was ready to just crash. So, I set my phone alarm for 2:00, shoved it under my pillow and was off to sleep. By the first ring of the alarm I was out of bed. I dressed as quietly as I could, grabbed my keys and headed for the door. I love promptness and I was a little disappointed that Sid had beaten me there. He was sitting on a little bench a few feet away from the diner with his ice cream and apparently mine.

“I was starting to think you wouldn’t show,” he said handing me the cup of chocolate ice cream.

“I’m always true to my word,” I replied, taking it from him. “How’d you know I wanted chocolate?”

“Oh I tend to remember when something stains my favorite shirt forever.” He smiled and I stared at him in disbelief.

“Oh my God! I had no idea I got any on you. I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it. I was only kidding when I said it was my favorite shirt. I can live without it. And besides, whenever I look at it, I’ll think of you.” I was suddenly more than grateful that we were sitting, because if we weren’t, I might have fainted dead away. “So, how are you enjoying your time in Cole Harbour so far?”

“Do you want the honest answer, or the polite one?”

“The honest one.” He laughed and started eating.

“Well, there’s not much to do around here. I mean it’s been a day and I think I’ve seen it all.” [A/N: Once again, I’m so sorry if Cole Harbour has a hoppin’ night life. I know nothing about it =p]

“Well I’d love to show you around sometime.” He said it as nonchalantly as if he were stating that it was dark outside or that the world was round. Another look of disbelief floated across my features.

“I’d love to be shown around sometime, but the media is hot on your trail right now, with all of the Cup stuff, and I wouldn’t love to be shown around by you and the media.”

“Fair enough. I can take a hint when I’m being rejected.”

“No no! I’m not rejecting you at all…I’m just saying.”

“Jeeze Spencer, lighten up. I was only kidding.” Great here I was making myself seem like an uptight moron. “You’re not an uptight moron.” Oh my God. Did I say that out loud?

“Wow, I have no idea what’s wrong with me tonight.” This had to go down in history as one of the most awkward first dates ever in the century of the world. But to my surprise he was laughing again and that put me at ease.

“Relax Spencer, I already like you. You don’t have to try so hard.” To say I was floored could probably be the understatement of the century. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Well, now that I know I can ramble endlessly without you hating me, you should get comfortable.” After that, I rattled on about how I’ve lived in Pittsburgh my whole life and how Ally and I are absolute best friends and that that was the reason I didn’t want him to say anything earlier. I talked about when I was younger, how summer was my favorite season, how I loved to vacation, and everything in between. Only when I finished talking did I notice that the sun was rising.

“I am so sorry that I bored you till the sun came up.” I said laughing.

“It wasn’t boring at all. You’re really interesting. And even though this is drastically screwing up my sleeping schedule, it’s worth it.” I still couldn’t believe that we were really having this conversation. I kept expecting to wake up any minute or a camera crew to run out from behind a tree and yell “gotcha!”.

“Well it’s your turn. I wanna hear everything!” I leaned closer to him and lost my balance, toppling right off the bench. When he leaned down to help me up, our faces were inches apart. I could almost taste the minty-ness of the Altoid he popped about five minutes ago. I wanted to curse the heavens when his cell phone started vibrating.

“That’ll be my mom,” he said without moving.

“You better go.”

“Yeah I better.” But neither of us moved. I was still sitting on the concrete and he was still leaning over me and frankly, I was tired of waiting for him to make a move, so I just went for it. I leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips. When we pulled apart he was smiling. “Now I can go.”

“Damn it Sidney! I hate making the first move!” He was still smiling as he began walking down the block.

“I know! Why else would I do that?” I could hear him laughing even as he rounded the corner.

Chapter One - Did That Just Happen?

Alright, so I had this idea && I swear, it just wouldn't leave me alone until I picked up the pen [[or in this case, opened the computer]] and wrote it. I honestly don't know where I'm going with this story, I just sort of...went haha. I'd love to know what you all think of it though && if it's worth continuing. Besides, a little Sidney Crosby fan-fic never hurt anyone ;) OH! P.S. I know absolutely nothing about Cole Harbour, so I'm so sorry if this is all wrong =p



“Jeeze! Can you believe it?! We’re are going to the hometown of THE Sidney Crosby! I can’t believe it! I think I might die before I get there!” My best friend Ally Mulqueen chirped excitedly from the passenger’s seat of my Mercedes. It was my delayed high school graduation gift. My high school career had ended two years ago, but my dad didn’t give me the car until now. Therefore, it counted as my graduation gift and my twentieth birthday gift.

“Seriously Ally, we didn’t even get out of Pennsylvania yet. If I have to hear this the whole car ride, I just might kill myself,” I responded in an exasperated tone.

“Come on, Spence! This is gonna be so fun. Me, my best friend, a summer road trip, Sidney Crosby. What more could you ask for?!” She grabbed my hand that was resting on the center console and squeezed. I looked at the excitement in her face and immediately softened. Ally and I had grown up together in Pittsburgh. We did absolutely everything together. Went to school, had sleepovers, dated guys, fought over guys, everything. It was Spencer Addison and Ally Mulqueen for life. Where one of us went the other followed. And on this particular day, we happened to be driving all the way up to Cole Harbour all because Ally just had to see the sign that boasted Sidney’s name or she would “positively die”. Ally and I both shared a love of hockey but for very different reasons. I loved to actually watch the game. She loved to watch the guys playing the game. Now, I love Ally to death, but hearing how “absolutely dreamy” Sidney Crosby is seventy five times during a game can be a little tiring. I give Ally so much crap about her obsession that I would never admit that I find him quite attractive too. I could never give her the satisfaction of saying “I told you so”. That would kill me.

“How do you know he’s even in Cole Harbour right now?” I asked pulling my hand away and putting it on the wheel.

“Because,” she started and whipped out a colorful chart, “his second day with the cup is today! Therefore, when we arrive tonight, he’ll definitely still be there. And I’m sure he’ll want to spend some time with his family. Trust me, he’s gonna be there.”

“And there’s also going to be a thousand other crazies just like you who are hoping to meet him there,” I replied.

“Oh my God! Your French manicure looks so good, Spence! Did you get it done at Tiffany’s?” she asked quickly changing the subject. I rolled my eyes and turned up the volume on the radio. It was going to be a long twenty one hours. We left at 12 AM Saturday morning and arrived around 10:00 PM that night. We drove in shifts because, to Ally, it was an absolute must that we get there as quickly as possible. As soon as Ally saw the sign she made me stop and take fifty million pictures of her in front of it.

“This one’s totally gonna be my new Facebook default,” she said staring at the screen on the digital camera.

“You said that about every single picture I took,” I answered focusing on the road. There were still tons of people mobbing the streets. I guess when something this big happens to someone from your town, you want to squeeze every last ounce of celebration out of it.

“Can you please pull over, Spencer? I wanna get out and walk around,” Ally begged, giving me the “puppy dog” face. I sighed, incredibly tired from the drive, but complied. After walking around for an hour with no sign of Sid, Ally finally agreed to let me drive to our Halifax hotel. After a quick shower, I was in the bed by 11:30. A time unusually early for me, which is exactly why at around 3:00 I was wide awake. My body was used to running on ridiculously low hours of sleep. I crawled out of bed, threw on a pair of jeans and my University of Pittsburgh sweatshirt and stealthily exited the hotel room. I hopped into the car and decided I’d take a drive around Cole Harbour. My eye was immediately attracted to this little 24-hour diner that had a flashing “homemade ice cream” sign. I was sold. I walked into the diner, which was mostly deserted, bought my ice cream, and made my way back out to the car. I was fumbling around in my purse for the keys when I accidentally ran into someone. I involuntarily let out a scream because, after all, it was 3:30 in the morning and I bumped into a shadowy figure.

“Whoa sorry, are you okay?” the guy asked. I wasn’t even looking at him. I was more concerned with making sure I didn’t get any chocolate on my prized hoodie.

“Yeah I’m fine,” I answered closely inspecting the “I”. After I saw that all was good, I looked up to see who I ran in to. We were under a streetlight, so I could see everything from his dark curly hair to his plump red lips clear as day. “Sidney Crosby?!” Shock filled my voice.

“Oh man! I was hoping I was gonna run into the one person who wouldn’t recognize me,” he said smiling. “But I guess I should have given up that dream after I saw the Pittsburgh sweatshirt.” I looked down then back up at him.

“Yeah, it was a longshot, but I’m sure you’ll run into that person one day,” I said smiling back at him. “What are you doing up at 3:30 in the morning?”

“I could ask you the same thing. But since you asked first, I was going to get ice cream,” he answered.

“Ah, same here,” I replied holding up my cup.

“Great minds do indeed think alike,” he said. “You’re from Pittsburgh I take it?”

“Born and bred. And you’re from Cole Harbour, I take it?” He laughed and nodded although I already knew the answer.

“Pretty crazy day today. I just wanted some peace and quiet. Did you see all the Cup stuff?”

“Nope. I just drove up here tonight with my best friend. Big hockey fan. Big you fan.” He laughed again. He probably got that all the time.

“And you’re not?” He raised an eyebrow at me playfully.

“Oh I am. But she’s more into it for…how should I put this, the…man candy.” I couldn’t think of a better way to put it so I stated blatantly what it was.

“If she’s half as cute as you are, I’m in trouble.” I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. This could not be happening. Was I seriously being hit on by Sidney Crosby on a street corner in Cole Harbour. He’s just being nice I decided. Friendly. It’s the way he has to be to deal with all of the girls he meets. “So, you already know me. Who am I speaking with?”

“Spencer Addison.”

“I like Spencer. You look like a Spencer.” More flirting? No. More politeness.

“Thanks. Most people think it’s weird.”

“Absolutely not. It’s unique. I like unique. So Spencer, I’d love to stand around and chat, but I’ve got to get back. My mom will think I got murdered somewhere. Moms.” He rolled his eyes dramatically. “I’ll see you around, hopefully.” This was it. This could potentially be the last time I ever see him. Where was my sassy attitude when I needed it? Why couldn’t I think of something clever to say? Think, think, think.

“I might be craving ice cream around 2:45 tomorrow morning.” There we go, back in action.

“Oh? Are you asking me on a date?” A cute smile played on his lips.

“That depends on whether or not you show up.” And with that I hopped in my car and drove away, feeling very confident that he would indeed be there.