047

Trina, Taylor and I gathered in the kitchen as Sidney took his dad out front to look at the Jag. "So how are you doing Avery? Everything going good?" Trina asked me as I handed her a cup of coffee. "Things are getting there. I'm pretty sure I know who broke into the house back in November, but I don't know what's going on with that. The police are suppose to be investigating it, but I haven't heard anything," I explained to her before taking a sip of my coffee. "Yeah Mario told us everything, that must be so stressful on you," she looked at me with such understanding eyes it made me feel better about the whole situation. "Other than that things are good?" she asked. "Yeah, things are great beside that. Work is good, love is good, health is good. Couldn't ask for anything more," I smiled. Then it looked as if she was looking straight through me, like she knew something else was going on that I wasn't bringing up. I didn't know what it could possibly be though. I brought my hand up and itched my forehead awkwardly, this was weird. Did Sidney tell her something else?

We all gathered in the living room and Trina brought out a few wrapped gifts for Sidney. He pulled out a few new beanies, touques, whatever, a few sweaters and then his mom handed him a smaller wrapped box. "Is this what I think it is?" he asked him mom. She only smiled with a very slight nod of her head. He unwrapped the gift and opened the box leaning away from me so I wouldn't see it. He got up from the couch and pulled his mom into a hug. "Thanks mom, this means a lot to me," he smiled. "What is it?" I asked now becoming very curious. "It's actually for you," he smiled sitting down next to me handing me the box. I looked around and everyone was smiling at me, even Troy. I lifted the lid to see a beautiful diamond bracelet. "This was my grandmothers, she left me a few pieces of jewelry to give to the woman I was to fall in love with," Sidney smiled before kissing me. I went to say something to Sidney but we were interrupted with a knock on the door. I got up and answered it, "Scott?!" "We need to talk," he said very firmly pushing me aside to walk into the house. "Hey mom, Taylor lets go look at my car," Sidney said standing up. He's leaving me in here alone? I saw Sidney whisper something into his dad ear then him, Trina and Taylor went out front. I hope he's calling the cops out there! I followed Scott into the kitchen. "Where is it Avery?" "Where is what Scott I don't know what you are looking for!!" He looked out into the family room to see Troy looking through a book. "The diamond from South Africa," he whispered so Troy wouldn't hear. I looked at him completely confused. "What diamond?" "I stashed a ten carat rough diamond in one of your shoe boxes, I couldn't bring it with me, now I need it." I looked around the kitchen trying to remember if we had talked about this before. Wait did he just say TEN CARATS? As I went to say something Sidney walked back into the house with two police officers. "What the fuck Avery?" Scott yelled at me as the cops grabbed hold of him. "You put Sid in the hospital and then beat the crap out of my friend, all over something I don't know about! What the hell is wrong with you?" "A lot of people are after what you have Avery, I'm only trying to protect you, you need to find it and bring it to me!" he yelled as the cops dragged him outside.

Just as the cops pulled away, Mario came speeding down the street. "What does he want?" Sidney asked me as we all gathered in the front yard. "He said he stashed a ten carat rough diamond in one of my shoe boxes and a lot of people want it, and he's trying to protect me by getting it," I said not looking at anyone in particular, I was so confused. "Let's go inside and discuss this," Mario stated as we noticed the neighbor across the street had come outside to see what was going on. "I had no idea he even had a diamond, let alone a ten-carat diamond," I said as I plopped down on the couch. "Is there anyone you can call and maybe find out what's going on?" Mario asked. I looked down at my watch and figured it was about 7PM down in Cape Town. I went into my kitchen and pulled out my phone book. There was only one person I could call and that was Michael, who was Scott's best friend. It rang twice and he picked up. "Michael it's Avery," I answered. "Avery, oh Avery, we've been trying to get ahold of you for months," he said into the phone with relief. What the hell is going on? "You know about the diamond?" "Yes I know about the diamond and if Scott doesn't get it, they're going to kill him." "WHAT?!" Sidney wrapped his arm around my waist trying to calm me down but I just pushed him aside. "He stole the diamond, why do you think he moved back to the states? Then that Russian bitch seduced him and took him to Russia thinking he had the diamond but I guess he left it with you. I hate to say it Avery, but if you have it, you're not safe either." I dropped my phone on the ground, this was all sounding ridiculous. This is some Hollywood, Leonardo DiCaprio bullshit is what it is!

"Avery you need to tell me what's going on," Sidney shouted as I began to tear my closet apart, pulling out every shoe box I had. "He stole a rough ten-carat diamond, and whoever it belongs to is one pissed off son of a bitch and either wants the diamond or wants Scott dead. Michael told me if it's true that I have it, I'm not safe either." "That sounds ridiculous," Sidney said as he pulled me up off the ground. "I know that's what I thought at first too, but you've never been to South Africa, you don't know what it's like down there. Sure it sounds stupid, but diamonds from South Africa that are stolen are pretty much a death wish to whoever steals them." I started to cry, I didn't know why this was happening to me, I always thought Scott was a normal guy. Obviously I was WAY wrong. "That diamond, wherever it is, is worth a lot of money and I can understand why someone wants it back. We have to find it Sid." He pulled me into his arms and I was terrified. Wait! The shoeboxes! I slipped out of Sidney's grip and ran to the garage. I pulled the latter out and climbed up into the attic. I went through my shoeboxes and finally came upon a purple velvet bag. I opened it up and dumped a rough diamond into my hand. "Oh my god!!"

"Miss Winters, I think it might be best to lay low for awhile until we get all of this taken care of, and you might want to consider moving into a new house," the police officer explained to me after I had taken the diamond down to the station. I walked out of the station with Sidney and we drove to Mario's house. "I think we need to consider what he said, and move. I don't feel safe leaving you alone in that house," Sidney said squeezing my hand. "Okay, yeah okay." I was still in shock. "This kind of stuff just doesn't happen, why is it happening to me?" I asked Sidney before I started crying again. "It's alright babe, you didn't know. You had no idea, but we're going to get through this together. I'm right here," he squeezed my hand once more and we pulled into Mario's driveway. We walked into the house and Trina pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry, this isn't exactly the welcome I wanted to give you guys this morning," I cried into her shoulder. "It's okay Avery. Troy, Mario and I were talking and I think it might be a smart idea if you guys moved," she explained and Mario chirped in, "please stay here until you find a place." We both nodded our head and sat down in the kitchen. "I'm sorry I pushed you away earlier," I whispered into Sidney's ear. "Hey, don't be sorry. I love you." He smiled and pulled me in for a kiss. I feel safe like this.

046

(It was the perfect day in my eyes, so I'm posting another chapter! Seattle Thunderbirds won (my WHL team), LA Kings won, Penguins won (Crosby with a hat trick!!!!) and Riley Armstrong made his NHL debut with the Sharks!! PERFECTION!)

***

The days passed and we never saw Scott or heard from the police. Probably set it aside, won't do anything unless he comes around again. I rolled over to lie on top of Sidney and he moaned trying to push me off. "What time is?" he asked still half asleep. "It's midnight, happy birthday baby," I whispered into his ear before kissing it. "Oh, I get it, is this my gift? Because if it is, I love it," He smiled wrapping his arms around my back. "It's not but I can allow that," I laughed. He squinted his eyes open and smiled at me, but it was one of those closed mouth smiles that really stick his lips out. "I love you Avery," he smiled before kissing my nose. "Love you too Sid." To my surprise he rolled me over onto the bed and snuggled up next to me. "Maybe you can give me your gift in the morning, I'm really tired." I leaned back and gave him one last kiss on his lips before falling back asleep.

When I woke up that morning I rolled over to see Sidney was already gone. I hate it when he does that. I pulled on one of his Reebok shirts and made my way out to the kitchen where we was making pancakes. "Oh babe, I would have made breakfast, all you had to do was wake me up," I smiled before kissing his arm. "I wanted to give you your rest because after breakfast you are giving me your gift," he grinned looking at me over his shoulder. "Oh is that so? I see I have you on MY workout plan now," I laughed and he could only shake his head. We sat down at the kitchen table and ate our chocolate chip pancakes. I looked over at Sidney who was just shoving his face full of food. "Damn Sid, slow down," I laughed. "Sorry, I'm just ready to go here." "Is it sad we've started planning when we're going to have sex?" "As long as we're having sex I don't care." He makes a good point there.

I slipped into jeans and a tank top, put on my sandals and I was ready to go. "Can you do me a favor tonight babe?" he shouted from the living room. "Yeah?" I walked out to see him sitting on the couch. "Don't dance with Max, I know it's a weird request but it's still a sensitive area," he explained with no emotion in his face. "That's not a weird request Sid, that's completely normal. I won't get crazy tonight anyways, can't drink remember? You on the other hand, we'll get you nice and comfy," I smiled leaning down to give him a kiss. "Ready to go?" he asked after we pulled away from our kiss. "Yeah, Colby should be here any minute to pick us up." "Colby? Why is he picking us up? You're not drinking so how come we're not driving?" I looked down at him and raised an eyebrow. "Calm down, go with the flow. I have a plan," I smiled kissing him before he could say anything. I pulled away just as there was a knock on the door. "Alright come on birthday boy," I laughed dragging him off the couch.

"Ten o'clock on the dot Avery," Colby said looking at me through the rear view mirror. I smiled and saw Sidney look from Colby to me, Colby to me. "What's at ten o'clock?" he finally asked. "That's when the stripper shows up babe, so you have an hour and a half to get you nice and liquored up," I smiled taking his hand in mine. "Oh whatever . . . you did get a female stripper right?" What?! We didn't know what to say, Colby, Mel and I just laughed. We got to the brewery and quickly made our way upstairs as we heard many people yell, "Oh my god, is that Sidney Crosby?" "Damn, you would think this guy was famous or something," Max laughed pulling Sidney into a hug. "Talbot, what the hell, did you have any chance against that guy?" Colby asked as he took a good look at Max's face. "I thought I did," Max laughed and we all sat down. I was happy to see that Brad was working the bar upstairs as he was an excellent bartender, and I knew he would take care of us.

Ten o'clock was fast approaching and I couldn't help myself from looking out the windows every few minutes. "Well that's what she said, she said nobody, not nobody can do the Soulja Boy dance like she can!" Sidney shouted breaking my concentration from looking outside. Everybody's eyes landed on me with huge smiles. "What?" I asked a little scared. "I will pay the DJ to play that song right now, Army said he perfected it," Sidney shouted standing up. He tried his best to walk over to me, but eventually fell back onto the couch. He's trashed! "Come on Avery," he shouted standing back up but this time making his way over to the bar. After talking to Brad for a bit he walked back over. "It's going to be the next song, he wouldn't take my money he said he wants to see this too," Sidney smiled and landed a very sloppy kiss on my lips. I knew there was no backing out, Colby was already stretching out his arms and legs. I flipped my sandals off and walked over to where Colby was at, which was close to the railing which meant people downstairs could easily see what we were doing. The current song playing finished and I prepared myself for 'Crank That' to start playing. The opening notes to the song started and I took a deep breathe. I could see Colby really getting into it and I knew I had to bring my all, I was competitive when it came to dance offs. Just don't fall! "Soulja boy off in this ho, watch me crank it, watch me roll, watch me crank dat soulja boy, then superman that ho." Half way through the song I had to stop I was laughing so hard, Colby completely lost himself in the dance and was stepping all over his own feet. "Army you suck! Come here baby," Sidney shouted opening his arms open for me. I walked over and gave him a big kiss than looked out the window. IT'S HERE!!

Colby and Max helped Sidney down the stairs, he was capable of walking but the stairs kind of scared me. "Where are we going babe?" Sidney asked as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, leaning into me. "Outside," I smiled. "We leaving already? What the hell?! I don't want to leave yet." We walked outside with Colby, Mel and Max close behind us and the Jaguar came into view, parked right in front of the brewery. "Damn that's a big red bow," Sidney laughed as we stopped right in front of the car. "Wait . . . what?!" He yelled and nearly sounded like a little boy with his voice cracking a bit. "Happy birthday baby," I smiled kissing him. "You got me a Jaguar?!" he pulled me into such a tight hug I couldn't talk as my mouth was smashed into his shoulder. I pushed him away and he pulled me into such a passionate kiss I thought I was going to take advantage of his drunk ass right there on the hood of the car. He finally pulled away and we both gasped for air. Now I was wishing he wasn't so drunk. He jumped into the passenger seat of the car and looked around. At this point a few people had wandered out of the bar and started taking pictures. Why do I need a marketing plan when I have make shift paparazzi right here!? "This is why Army drove huh!?" Sidney yelled and I could only laugh. "Come on drunkie! Let's go back inside!" I smiled pulling him out of the car.

We headed back upstairs and Sidney pulled me down onto his lap. "Baby thank you so much, that has to be the best thing anyone has ever given me," he smiled pulling me into another kiss. "I'm marrying this girl! Next summer, Army you hear me? You're my best man, next summer I'm marrying her!" "Crosby, did you just propose to me?" I asked trying to laugh but I was obviously nervous. "No, well I will, I plan on it, but I want to be sober when I do," he smiled pulling me down into another kiss. "I am going to marry you though, you have no choice." No choice? He sounds like my dad. We stayed at the bar for another two hours and Colby helped me drag Sidney out to the car. "Will you be able to get him into the house?" Colby asked as he pulled me into a hug to say goodbye. "He's either walking or sleeping in the car," I laughed. "Hey, we need to do dinner before you leave for Atlanta, okay?" "Yeah, I will call you sometime this week," he smiled then walked away with Mel.

I snuck out of the house the next morning and made my way to the airport. I felt bad for leaving Sidney at the house, but he had been throwing up all morning. Ah there's something I don't miss, hang overs! At the airport I walked into the baggage claim to find the Crosby's waiting. "Where's Sid?" Troy asked very concerned. "He's um, sick," I smiled and Trina laughed a little. "Sick or hung over?" Troy asked firmly. I looked over at Trina who was still laughing a bit. "Hung over. He had fun last night," I smiled hoping to see a smile from Troy, but nothing. The ride to the house was a silent one and I was happy to see Sidney had atleast showered when we got back. He tried to hide that he had a headache, but it wasn't helping his case at all. "Who's Jaguar is that outside?" Trina asked. "That's my birthday gift from Avery," Sidney smiled talking just about a whisper. "You guys are going to need a bigger house just for the cars," Taylor laughed. Ah, I love this family!

045

I ran my fingers through his hair and couldn't help the tears falling from my eyes. I hadn't been this happy in a very, very long time. Oh Sidney, how I love thee so. His already big lips were pouted out and his nostrils would occasionally flare out. He brought his arm up, hooking his elbow around my knee, resting his fingers underneath his chin. I love it when he falls asleep on my lap. It was moments like this that I would picture myself with Sidney five, ten, twenty years from now, and the images were so clear. Oh look at little Sidney Jr. I chuckled a little to myself and Sidney straightened his legs out. "What are you laughing about?" he moaned turning onto his back so that he was looking up at me. "I was just picturing us a few years from now," I smiled dragging my finger over his lips. "And it was humorous to you?" he laughed. "Kind of. You ready to go home in the morning?" "No, but we have to go back at some point, can't stay cooped up in here all year long," he smiled rolling back over onto his side. I continued to run my fingers through his hair than it hit me. Oh shit, what am I going to get him for his birthday??

My legs were bouncing up and down and I knew that I was about to put Sidney through five hours of hell. "Here, try playing a game," Sidney suggested handing me his PSP. "I don't play video games Sid, you know that," the words coming out of my mouth were very shaky and broken. "I put the hockey game in for you, so you can act like you're Marty Turco for awhile," he laughed. I took the game in my hands and looked down at the screen. I scrolled through the teams and landed on Pittsburgh. A big smile came over my face and I selected Colby's name. I started playing and I surprised myself at how fast I picked up playing the game. Just as I was about to win the Stanley Cup and Colby was to be named the MVP the PSP died. "Are you kidding me?" I shouted looking down at it. My face quickly turned red as a few people turned to look at me. "It's about time that thing died, we're almost to Pittsburgh," Sidney laughed taking it from me. "Are you serious? I've been playing that thing for how many hours?" "A lot better than Valium huh? We will have to get you one of your own, then we can play against each other," he smiled grabbing hold of my hand as we started our decent into Pittsburgh.

I was happy to be home, but a big part of me wished we were still in the cabin. As we pulled down the street Max's car came into view and I became a little bit nervous. What's it going to be like with the three of us together? I helped Sidney pull our luggage out of the back, and we headed into the house. "Holy crap Max, what happened to you?" Sidney shouted as we walked in. I stepped around Sidney to see a very broken Max standing in our kitchen holding ice to his nose. "It's nothing, how come you guys didn't call to say you were coming home?" he asked. "That's not nothing Max, what happened to you?" I asked pulling the ice away from his nose to see that it was probably broken. Two black eyes, a swollen upper lip and a large cut on his chin wasn't 'nothing' in my eyes. Max stayed quiet and went and sat down at the kitchen table. Sidney sat down next to him, and I stood between them. "That asshole ex-boyfriend of yours was here last night. He knocked on the door and I answered, he asked where you were and I told him you were out of town. He got this look in his eyes like that's what he was hoping to hear and he just stormed right in the house, pushing me out of the way. He went straight to your closet and started throwing shit around. I wasn't thinking, I should have called the cops right then, but instead I had to do the man thing and go beat the crap out of him. Boy was I wrong." I clinched my fists and could feel my jaw lock, I was ready to kill him. "Wait, he was going through my closet? He's probably the asshole that put Sid in the hospital back in November. What is he looking for?" What do I have that he so badly needs?

"Sidney, I don't think I feel safe staying here," I told him after we said goodbye to Max. "Yeah, I'm thinking we should stay at the Lemieux's tonight, then figure all of this shit out in the morning. Let me call Mario," he pulled out his phone and walked into the bedroom. I sat in the kitchen and was trying to piece things together, nothing was making sense. What does he want? "Av, can you come get what you need," Sidney shouted to me. I slowly got up and made my way into the bedroom. I threw a bunch of things into a duffel bag and followed Sidney out to the car. We made the ten minute drive to Mario's house and walked inside. "Sidney, you guys look exhausted, go ahead and go to bed, I will take care of some things tonight then we will worry about everything else in the morning, okay?" Mario said as he ushered us upstairs to Sidney's old room. "Thank you Mario," I smiled pulling him into a hug before walking into the room and throwing myself onto the bed. "This is such bullshit Sid, what the hell does he want? I can't think of anything that he could be looking for." Sidney sat down on the bed and looked over at me. "Hey, let's not worry about it tonight, try and get some sleep and then we will worry about it in the morning, okay?"

Sleep? Who sleeps now a days? It's overrated! I starred at the same spot in the ceiling for most of the night, my mind was racing and there was no way I was going to fall asleep. Sidney rolled over and threw his arm around my waist, like he knew I had yet to fall asleep. "It's 5 AM, have you slept at all?" "No, I'm too pissed off to sleep," I replied wrapping my fingers into his. "Well we can't do anything at this hour, but I know of something we can do to pass time." "Oh really and what's that Crosby?" "Come on a jog with me, it will clear your head." "Jog? You want me to go on a jog? I don't jog," I laughed. He climbed out of bed pulling me with him. He threw some clothes at me and I changed into them. "I can't run in the shoes I have," I said sitting back down on the bed. "Size seven yeah? Here," he smiled pulling a Reebok box out from underneath the bed. "You're sneaky." We went on a jog and Sidney was right, it did clear my mind a bit. "Want to race back?" he asked after we stopped for a breather. "Hell no. I haven't ran like this since high school," I laughed than drank some water. "You have better stamina in bed," he joked slapping my butt. "It's gave seven every night when I have you in my bed."

When we got back to the Lemieux's we cooked up some breakfast and all of the kids slowly made their way down to the kitchen. "Sidney! What are you doing here? Are you moving back?" Mario's youngest shrieked as she wrapped her arms around his waist squeezing onto him as hard as she could. "Hi Alexa, no I'm not moving back I'm sorry. Avery and I just spent the night here last night. Have you gone to the zoo yet this summer?" "No! Mom said you won't forget and that you will take me. Is Avery still here?" Sidney pointed to me and Alexa turned around and ran up to me. "Good morning Alexa," I smiled hugging her. "I like you Avery, but you keep Sidney away from me!" She stuck out her bottom lip, crossing her arms. "Well I will make sure he takes you to the zoo okay? I'm sorry I've kept him away from you." "You guys are up early," Mario smiled as he walked into the kitchen. He poured himself some coffee and sat down at the kitchen table next to Sidney. "Max has a broken nose, four stitches in his chin and the cops are working on what happened. They need to know everything about this guy Avery, so if you could go down to the police station today that would help, and if you have any pictures of this guy that would be really helpful," Mario explained and I could feel myself tensing up again. I nodded my head and headed back up to Sidney's room to get ready.

"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Sidney asked as I got ready in our bathroom. "Yeah, you look tired, just try and get some sleep. Afterwards Colby and I are going birthday shopping. I'm not going to let this asshole ruin your birthday," I smiled looking over at him. "You're the one that should be sleeping, and don't worry about my birthday we need to figure out what the hell this guy wants first." "I'm fine really and I'm sure everything will work itself out, Scott's not the smartest guy in the world, I'm sure it won't be hard to find him," I laughed walking over to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and stood on my tip toes and gave him a kiss. "I might be gone awhile though, I have no idea what to get you for your birthday," I laughed before walking out of the room. "Just get me beer," he laughed and kissed me once more before I walked out the door.

I told the police everything I knew, which wasn't a whole lot. I gave them some pictures and they thanked me for coming down to the station. Is this going to get pushed aside just like last time? Or will something actually happen? I was still very pissed off, but I tried to clear my head as I drove to Colby's apartment. "Hi Mel! How are you?" I asked pulling her into a hug as I walked into the apartment. "I'm doing good, busy packing though. How are you though? Everything between you and Sidney okay?" "Yeah things are good, getting away was a smart idea," I smiled as Colby walked in. "Hey doc! Ready to go?" I laughed at him and nodded my head. We got into my car and I started driving, not knowing where we were going. "You look terrible, are you sure things between Sidney and you are okay?" he asked turning in his seat to look at me. "Yeah things between us are good. You know Max stayed at the house while we were gone, and Scott my ex came by and just beat the crap out of Max. Broken nose, stitches, black eyes. I'm just really pissed off and didn't get much sleep last night. I'm pretty sure it was Scott who put Sidney in the hospital back in November. It just doesn't make sense," I explained to him. "What the hell!? This guy sounds like a complete jack off. You sure do know how to pick them huh?" he laughed. "Sid is turning out alright," I laughed with him.

We drove around for what felt like hours and no ideas were coming to my mind as to what to get Sidney for his birthday. "Honestly, what do you get someone that can have anything?" I asked laughing. "If I had enough money I would buy him a Tim Horton's franchise," Colby laughed and I thought about it for a minute. No that's ridiculous! I stopped at a red light and a very nice Jaguar pulled up next to me. Now there's something he might like. "Have you ever seen those Super Sweet Sixteen shows on MTV?" I asked and Colby looked at me very confused but nodded his head. "There's the big party and then the dad brings everybody out front and the big gift is a new car. I have an idea," I smiled then drove my way down to the auto mall. "He already has a car Avery," Colby laughed. "He was trying to get me to buy a Jaguar so he could drive it. What if I got him one?" I laughed pulling into the Jaguar lot. "You know my birthday is coming up too!" We got out of my car and walked around the lot when my eyes fell on a beautiful silver XJR, just like the one I had taken on a test drive. "You're being serious right now aren't you? You're going to get him a car," Colby said looking at me with wide eyes in complete shock. "Yeah, I think I am," I laughed as I sat inside the car. It sure was nice, not my style, but Sidney would look really good driving around in it. Okay, I could see myself driving this too!

"I can't believe you just dropped ninety grand on a birthday present," Colby laughed as I drove him back to his apartment. "I can't either, I just hope he likes it." "He'll be so stupid if he doesn't." I usually never spent money like that, but it felt good considering for once in my life this was my own money, not my fathers. I dropped Colby off and headed home. "Hey babe," I smiled crashing on the couch next to him. "You're in a good mood, everything go okay?" he asked wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Yeah, I told the cops everything I knew, wasn't a whole lot, but they are investigating. I got you the best present," I smiled kissing him on the cheek. "My own keg?" he asked laughing. "Oh, so much better," I laughed. Where can you buy those gigantic red bows? "So I thought we could just hang out at the bar on my birthday, get some of the boys together, keep it simple. My family is coming down the next day, so I don't want to be hung over." "We can do that," I smiled and the excitement was getting to me, I couldn't wait.

044

"You're kidding me," Sidney laughed as he watched me lace my skates. "You are going to hurt yourself if you go out there like that." He knelt down in front of me and untied my skates. "Sorry I'm not a professional athlete like some other people I know," I laughed as he pulled really tight on the laces. I watched him work away at my skates with his tongue hanging partially out of his mouth. I couldn't hold back my laughter. "What's so funny?" "Every time your concentrating really hard on something, you stick your tongue out. Video games, face offs, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." He pulled a little too tight on my skate and I jumped up a little bit. "Oh I'm sorry, did that hurt? You broke my concentration." After he was done he pulled me up to my feet and I was a little wobbly, but managed to walk to the ice. I found my feet pretty fast on the ice, taking a few laps to warm up. "Alright Sid, here they come," Rob yelled from the bench. I stood next to Sidney as the kids took to the ice, within thirty seconds they were all yelling and screaming and headed our way. I slowly started skating backwards trying to get out of the mess. That didn't scare him? Scared the crap out of me.

"Sid, hey Sid, what's it like scoring a goal in front of all of those people?" a little boy asked as he skated around with us. "Imagine the cutest girl in the school just kissed you, it's kind of like that, maybe a little bit better." "Eww Sid, girls are gross!!" I stopped skating and just stood there laughing. Sidney glared at me then knelt down on the ice to get to the little boys level. "Okay, your right, they are gross. Imagine this, it's better than making the kill on Call of Duty when your the last guy standing." "No way!" "Way" What a dork! Sidney looked up at me with such loving eyes and a big smile, something I hadn't seen in some time. "You are such a dork," I laughed as he wrapped his arm around my waist. "I'm happy I am doing this, you really get to see the dork in me come out." "Hey Avery, come here for a second," Rob yelled to me from the bench. I smiled to Sidney and skated over to the bench. "Your dad drop that off this morning," he smiled pointing to my Luc Robitaille jersey sitting on the bench. "This is brilliant," I laughed grabbing it and pulling it over my head. I skated back over to Sidney and he started skating backwards away from me. "No, don't even, I might catch on flames if you touch me wearing that," he laughed picking up speed. "Oh come here you big baby," I laughed. He skated by a little kid who was lying on his back, picked him up by the skate and started dragging him around. "Want me to take it off?" "Not with the kids here," he smiled with a devilish look in his eyes while still dragging around the little boy. I stopped and headed back to the bench where I sat on the boards and continued to watch Sidney interact with the kids. He gets along better with them than he does with me sometimes.

Sidney took dozens of photos and autographed everything the little kids could bring to him. It truly was a sight seeing him interact with all the kids. I could now see what his dad was talking about, the excitement in his eyes about hockey when he was younger. I saw that excitement in those kids' eyes. "Ready to go super dork?" I asked laughing still sitting on the boards. "Um, no. I'm not going anywhere until that jersey comes off," he smirked at me stepping off the ice. "Well you can walk home then, but if you change your mind and want a ride, I will be in the ref's locker room right over there taking my skates off," I smiled pointing to the door on the other side of the rink. I jumped off the boards and skated to the other side, jumping off and jogged into the room. I turned around to see that Sidney was right behind me. I watched as he shut the door and locked it. "That jersey is coming off, either you take it off or I force it off." "Have fun trying Crosby, but this jersey is my prized possession, look it's autographed," I smiled turning around to show him where Robitaille had signed the number. I felt his hands wrap around my stomach, up the jersey and up my t-shirt. I felt his mouth crash on my neck and I became very unstable on my skates. "That jersey is coming off Avery," he moaned into my ear. I turned around in his arms and held my arms up. With one swift movement of his hands on my sides my shirt and my jersey was off. "Hey, you said just the jersey, I can't walk out there in just my bra," I pouted as his mouth landed on mine, shutting me up. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and began walking forward, setting me down on the bench. He unbuttoned my pants and pulled them down along with my underwear down to my ankles. He brought me feet together, spreading my knees apart and began to finger me a little. "This might be a bad idea Sid, you might want to take my skates off." He placed a hand on my skates, pushing them down a tad. He began sucking on my clit and I threw my head back moaning his name. He slowly inserted a finger all while flicking his tongue at me. I could feel myself tensing up and he dug his tongue in sending a warm sensation all through out my body. "Fuck!" he shrieked and I threw my head up to see a large rip in his shirt. "Sid! I told you that was a bad idea, let me look." I dragged him close to me and saw an inch wide gash a few inches above his belly button. "Oh Sid." I applied pressure to it with his shirt and he began to laugh. "Sid it's not funny!" "This isn't the first time blood stopped us from having a good time," he continued to laugh, which brought a little chuckle from me as well.

We continued to laugh as we drove back to the cabin. "Three stitches, three lousy stitches." I looked over at him and just shook my head. "We're dangerous for one another, you give me a broken nose, I give you three stitches in the stomach. I hate to imagine what's next." Soon the laughter died down and we drove back to the house in silence. I snooped around the kitchen a bit, becoming very bored with myself. "Can I cook dinner tonight?" Sidney asked looking through the refrigerator. "Did I just hear you ask if you could cook dinner tonight? Sidney Crosby, have you ever cooked anything before in your life?" "Okay, let me rephrase that, can you teach me how to cook tonight?" he looked over at me with sad puppy dog eyes. "Yeah, I guess I can. I don't know if you will be able to handle the heat though," I laughed pulling out the meat from the freezer. I laid everything we needed out on the kitchen counter and looked under the sick for a fire extinguisher, just in case. "Have you thought about when you want to go home?" I asked as I sat down on the couch next to him. "How does the day after tomorrow sound?" "Sounds good to me. I'm really happy that you have forgiven me Sidney. I don't know what I would have done with myself if you hadn't." "I don't know what I would have done either, but Max really helped me, Colby did too. They were right that I would be walking away from the best thing that has ever happened to me. It just took me a few days to really cool down and think things out. Max was very mature with how he approached me though, which was cool of him. He just threw everything out there, that he regretted everything that happened and that I should be angry at him and not you." I looked up into Sidney's eyes and saw that there was no more anger present in them. Thank god! "Did you punch him?" "I did, before we even had a change to talk. The minute I saw him I couldn't control myself. I didn't feel bad though. He's taken worse." I curled up into his arm and rested my head on his shoulder.

"So what are we making?" Sidney asked rubbing his hands together looking at everything laid out on the counter. "I thought I would start you out easy with honey-lime enchiladas," I smiled looking up at him to see a terrified look on his face. "That does not sound easy." "It is, trust me. This will be fun." I didn't do a whole lot of work, I just sat back and watch Sidney make a mess of the kitchen. "You're suppose to cook it before you eat it," I smiled watching him sneak a piece of chicken into his mouth. "I'm starving, sorry," he laughed sneaking another piece. "Are you going to make the desert?" he asked stuffing the meat into the tortillas. "It's already made," I smiled pulling out a bag of Dove chocolates from my purse. "That's cheating," he laughed. "Aren't we suppose to be all turned on and half naked by now?" "If that was the case you would never learn how to cook, trust me I'm getting turned on watching you, but I won't initiate anything until I taste the final product," I shot him a smile I knew that would drive him crazy. "Stop watching me." Yeah, I called that one! After dinner was done, Sidney dished us up some plates and we headed out back to eat. I took my first bite and was very impressed, it wasn't an easy recipe at all but Sidney pulled it off. "Oh my god," Sidney moaned after his first bite, "I can cook!" "Don't get too far ahead of yourself now, this was your first try," I laughed.

After we cleaned up the kitchen we crashed on the couch and I pulled out the bag of chocolates. "Oh they have little fortunes in them," Sidney laughed shoving his chocolate in his mouth. "What's it say?" "Enjoy the pure indulgence of Dove," he laughed showing it to me. I unwrapped mine and smiled when I read it. "Love cures people, both the ones who give and the ones who receive." "Oh yeah eh?" Wow, he REALLY is Canadian. "Oh yeah eh!" "So who gets to give and who gets to receive?" he asked raising an eyebrow at me. "I believe last time I was the receiver, but I never got the grand finale." "That's why I love you Av, you know exactly what you want," he laughed before pinning me down on the couch.

043

What the hell? I rolled over on the bed and slammed my hand down on the alarm clock. "Why?" I whispered to myself, then remembered I had set it the night before. "Hey Sid," I whispered into his ear and he tossed around for a bit. He rolled over and squinted his eyes at me. "I want to take you somewhere," I smiled before climbing out of bed. I pulled on some sweats and brushed my teeth real quick. "You're going out like that?" he asked as he walked into the bathroom behind me. "We're just going on a small hike in the backyard," I explained to him before walking out to put my shoes on. I looked out the windows in the living room and could tell it was going to be a beautiful day. "Okay, let's go," Sidney smiled standing next to me. I grabbed a big blanket and we walked out back and started our trek up the hill. "So where are we going?" he asked after ten minutes. "My dad built this look out type deck up here, off the side of the mountain, it's where we kept the telescope. I would spend almost every night up here during the summer when I was younger." The deck came into view and I climbed up the stairs, and it was a lot smaller than I had remembered, but the view was the same, spectacular.

I sat across from Sidney, leaning against a tree, our legs entwined and I could only stare at him and he continued looking out at the view. "Are we going to be okay Sidney?" He looked over at me and leaned forward and grabbed hold on my leg. "I sure as hell hope so, it's just hard for me. I lost my trust in you, but then all of these factors come in that makes it seem like it was okay, but it wasn't." "What factors?" I asked with fear of what he would say. "I know how Max is, I know his ways. He tries to get with every hot girl he can, he has this spell he's able to put on women, and he did it to you. I'm sad because I thought you were able to see straight through it, but then when I heard you were drinking tequila. I don't know. I just want to forget it ever happened." I looked into his eyes and I can see the pain inside of him. He pulled back his legs, getting up on his knees and he crawled over to sit next to me. He took my hand in his and I once again had to fight back the tears. I heard him sniffle a bit and looked up at him to see a tear roll down his face. "I love you Avery, even after all of this happened, I still love you so much. I just need to know it will never happen again." I nodded my head trying to find the right words, "it won't. I wish I could take it all back." Is this what we're going to do now when something bad happens? Pack up and go on a 'fix-it' vacation?

The only thing you could hear on the deck were the songs of the morning birds. Sidney wrapped his arms around my waist lifting me up onto his lap. I could feel his hot breath on my neck and I titled my head in the opposite way inviting him to do as he pleased. He slid his hand up my sweatshirt a bit, resting his hand on my stomach as I felt his lips rest on my neck. I placed my hands on his shoulders, bringing one of my legs around so that I was now straddling him. I placed my hands on either side of his face bringing him up to me and kissing him on the lips. His hands squeezed my sides as he entered his tongue into my mouth. He grabbed onto the bottom of my sweatshirt lifting it up over my head, then put his attention on my bra, quickly unsnapping it. After my bra was off, I pulled his shirt off and pressed my chest into his, it felt so good to be skin to skin once again. Our kisses deepened as he began to massage my breasts. I grinded my hips into his crotch letting him know that I was game for whatever he wanted to do. "Where's the nearest neighbor? I want to make sure they can hear you," he mumbled into my ear tugging on my sweatpants. I stood up and slowly slid out of my sweatpants and underwear. I bent over, picking up his feet grabbing onto his pants and pulling on them. He lifted himself up with his hands so I could easily tear them off. "No underwear?" I asked with a disappointed look on my face. "Saves you time," he smiled reaching for my hand pulling me back down to him.

I felt my head raising and lowering on his chest with his breathing. "I love how my leg fits perfectly between yours," I smiled rubbing my toes on his feet. He ran his fingers through my hair, "I love how we fit together." "We should probably get back to the house before the animals come see what we're doing. Wouldn't want to come across a bear naked," I laughed. We got dressed, put our shoes back on and climbed back down the mountain. "I love you Av," he smiled before heading into the bathroom to shower. I love you too Sid. I sipped on my coffee in the living room watching the sun pour through the windows. "Want to head into Seattle today?" I asked Sidney as he walked out with just a towel wrapped around his waist. "Yeah, I'd like to see the city a bit, especially the troll you keep talking about." "Oh yay, the Fremont Troll, it's awesome. We can do that, check out Pike's Place Market, Seattle center, Alki beach, I'm excited. I've never shown someone my city before, this is going to be fun," I smiled as he leaned down and gave me a kiss. "I'm excited too."

We took another dozen or so pictures in the fish market before I could finally drag Sidney away. "That was awesome," he smiled like a little kid. "Hey, so tomorrow I'm going to a kid's hockey camp in Kirkland, I think he said. Rob is putting it on. I wasn't planning on doing anything like that this summer, but I can't pass up little kids and Rob is a pretty cool guy," Sidney explained to me as we continued to walk through Pike's Place Market. "That should be fun, do you think I would be able to get out there, be a student?" I asked laughing. "Oh I don't know, those kids might tear you up," he laughed as he stopped in front of the flowers. The one thing I loved going to Pike's Market for, and that was their flowers. Huge bouquets you would spend a hundred dollars on at a florist were there at the market for twenty bucks. My apartment always had fresh flowers on the table. I wandered off as some home made honey caught my eye. I snatched up three jars and turned around to see a beautiful white bouquet in front of me. "Those are beautiful," I smiled smelling them. "You think my girlfriend will like them?" "I think she will love them." He leaned over the flowers and kissed me on the forehead. "Where to now?" he asked as we made our way out of the market. "The Troll," I smiled with great excitement. I don't know what it is about the troll, but I just love it. Maybe because the time you spend with the troll, you feel like a little kid again?

We got in the car and I started driving north toward Fremont. "So what's the troll?" Sidney asked knowing how excited I was. "You know the story 'Three Billy Goats Gruff'?" I saw Sidney nod his head and I continued, "well this is the troll that lives under the bridge. It's huge, you just have to wait and see it." I made a left turn, driving slowly up a hill, and just over the ridge the troll came into sight. I parked the car and looked over at Sidney who had wide eyes. "I have never seen anything like this before in my life," he smiled before getting out of the car. I watched as he jogged across the street and immediately climbed it, standing on top of the troll's shoulder. I took a few pictures before joining Sidney. "I can see why you like this thing, he's pretty good looking," he smiled pulling me into his arms. "Oh whatever Crosby," I began to laugh, "I like my men to have heartbeats, and big beautiful brown eyes." I placed my hand on his chest and could feel his heart beating through his thin t-shirt. "You don't like guys with hub caps as eyes?" I shook my head and started to climb off the troll. I got back down to the street and turned around to see Sidney was still standing on the troll. "Can I move back in?" he shouted. "I was hoping you never really moved out," I shouted back and a huge grin crawled over my face. YES!!!

042

I turned my phone on as we waited for our luggage and saw I had a new voicemail. "Avery, it's Max. I swung by the house to talk to you and that Scott guy was outside looking through the windows. I honked the horn and he went running. There's something about that guy that's off. Anyways, Colby told me you and Sidney are on your way to Seattle, that makes me happy. Call me when you get this message." I hung up my phone and stood there with anger creeping into my bones. "You alright?" Sidney asked placing his hand on my lower back. "That was Max, he said he came by the house to talk to me and Scott was outside looking through the windows." My mind began to spin. Has he really been in Russia? Did he break into the house back in November? Sidney pulled out his phone and made a phone call. "Max, can you do me a big favor? . . . Mario has a spare key to Avery's house, can you stay there until we get back? If that asshole comes around again call the police. . . . Thanks Max." Sidney looked down at me, "stop grinding your teeth, it's bad for you." I wanted to punch something, why was he hanging around my house? "Hey it will be alright, Max owes me anyways," Sidney said very firmly grabbing our luggage off the carousel.

My mom pushed past me a little bit to pull Sidney into a hug. She pulled away after too long of a hug and pulled me in for my own. "Hi mom, where's dad?" I mumbled. "Hi darling, he's at the brewery, go figure. Here are the keys to the house, do you remember how to get there?" She put the keys in my hand and I looked around the house I grew up in. "Avery?" "Sorry Mom, it's just I haven't been home in five years, I can't believe it's been that long since I've been in here." Nothing had changed at all, they still had the same furniture in the same exact spots. A painting of the brewery hanging in the formal dining room, and a bowl of fake grapes in the middle of the table that were probably twenty-five years old. I could hear Sidney and my mom talking in the kitchen but I continued to walk around, it was a bitter-sweet moment for me. "So what are your plans for when you're here?" I heard my mom ask. "I want to see everything, I want to get to know this side of Avery I have yet to discover," Sidney smiled as he looked at me. "Well Avery, I will ask you again, do you remember how to get to the house?" "Yeah, I'm mean it's out there by itself, but it's a straight shot. If I get lost I will call," I smiled before pulling her into a hug.

I pulled onto the dirt road that led up the mountain and the house came into view. "Wow," Sidney mumbled as he caught sight of the house, a three story log cabin. It truly was secluded, only fifteen minutes from downtown Snoqualmie, but the closest neighbor was four miles away. I parked the car and we both got out and dragged our luggage up to the front door. We made our way inside and Sidney was amazed. "This is how I want my house in Cole Harbour to look," he smiled as the huge sailfish hanging over the fireplace came into view. "I think I'm going to take a nap," I shouted to him as I took my suitcase into my old room. "Yeah that sounds like a good idea," he shouted to me. I walked back out into the living room where Sidney was looking out the two-story high windows looking over the Cascade mountains. "There are three rooms on this floor, master bedroom upstairs, then another bedroom downstairs. Make yourself at home," I smiled before heading back to my room. I closed the door behind me and slipped out of my clothes down to my underwear. I heard the door open and turned around to see Sidney leaning against the door jam. "Can I join you?" he asked looking at me head to toe. "I would love it if you joined me," I smiled, relief coming over my body. I watched him as he stripped down to his boxer briefs and grabbed hold of my hand pulling me into the bed with him. I felt his arm wrap around my waist and a small tear fell from my eye. I miss this. No words were said, and we both fell asleep.

The next morning I walked out to the kitchen and started the coffee. I noticed my 'Cougar' travelers mug was sitting out and I didn't remember packing it. I noticed there was another mug next to it that read 'Cougar Hunter' on it. I laughed to myself for a bit before Sidney stumbled out into the kitchen. "Nice mug," I laughed as I felt his arms wrap around my waist from behind me. I leaned my head back onto his shoulder and was lost in the moment. "I've missed you so much Sidney," I whispered as I felt him kiss my neck. "See what I was talking about, out of our element. Coming here was a good idea," he whispered into my ear turning me around in his arms. "Where are you taking me today? I want to see everything, where you went to high school, your first apartment but mainly the brewery." I gave him a big kiss before letting go of him and made my way to the coffee. "Well get ready, it's going to be a long day then," I smiled.

We drove north, back toward Woodinville making a few stops on the way. "Where do they throw the fish at?" Sidney asked as I pulled into the parking lot of my high school. "That's at Pike's Place Market in downtown Seattle, we can go there tomorrow if you'd life," I explained as I got out of the car. I felt Sidney's fingers tangle with mine as we made our way up to the campus. "I sat right here everyday at lunch reading," I smiled pointing to the concrete bench right outside the front doors. "Did you have any friends?" I was hesitant to answer, I knew where he was going with this. "No, I had Riley, back then that was all I needed." "What about in South Africa?" "Angie, we hung out every once and a while, but not a whole lot." Yeah I know I don't have any girlfriends! "How about this, when and/or if you get married, who would be your maid of honor?" I sat down on the bench and looked up at him. I don't have anybody. "Colby?" I asked laughing. "No he's mine. If you were marrying me, who would it be?" "Sid, I don't know. That's really sad. I've always been friends with guys, they are just so much easier to get along with ya know?" He nodded his head and sat down next to me. "That's a long ways from now though, so I still have time to make some friends," I laughed at how pathetic I sounded.

I took him all around Woodinville before ending up at the brewery. "Holy crap, Avery Winters is that you? Must I bow in your presence?" a very thick Canadian accent filled the room as he pulled me into a hug. "Hi R0b," I smiled squeezing him in my arms. "Sidney Crosby?" I laughed a little as Sidney looked at me waiting for his introduction. "Sid this is Rob, he's the head coach of the Thunderbirds, he lives next door to my parents. Mike, this is my, umm, boyfriend, Sid," I smiled looking at Sidney's face the whole time. "Have you seen my dad?" I asked him breaking his eye contact with Sidney. Why do all these men fall in love with Sid at first sight? "He's working behind the bar," Rob explained pointing over to where my dad was. "What? Is this a mid-life crisis? Thanks Rob." Sidney walked ahead of me over to the bar and my dad's eyes lit up when he saw us. "Sid! How the hell are ya?" he asked shaking his hand. Do my parents love Sidney more than they love me? Is that possible? "Doing great! Hey thanks for letting us stay at your vacation home, it's beautiful." My dad started to pour up beers for us, but I stopped him before he poured mine. "Did you just turn down a beer? Are you . . . ?" he gave me a very questioning look. "Oh, no, no dad, I'm not pregnant. I'm on medication that makes me really sick if I drink alcohol," I smiled. "Everything alright?" "Yeah, it's okay," I smiled sitting down next to Sidney. Rob started talking Sidney's ear off about hockey and I pulled my dad aside a bit. "Hey, why did you let us stay at the house? You never let anyone stay there." "Sidney called, said things weren't going so good between you two. He said he wanted to come out here and was wondering of someplace where you guys can stay, he said he wanted to be secluded, away from any distractions so you two can really talk to one another and work things out. The house just made sense. I wasn't okay with it at first, but I know how happy he makes you, and if it takes a house in the woods to help, then that's what needed to be done. Just make sure nothing gets ruined or broken." I gave my dad a smile and turned my attention back to Sidney and Rob.

After Sidney had a few beers he turned in his stool to look at me. "So what kind of memories do you have in this bar?" I looked around, images pouring into my head of all the great times spent in there. "My 1st birthday was here, well actually every birthday of mine up until I was twelve was in here. My first kiss was in here. Colby and I would spend hours in that booth over there playing poker. This was like my safe house, whenever I didn't want to face reality I would come here," I brought my eyes back to him and he had a big goofy grin on his face. "Are you drunk Crosby?" "Yeah, just a little. This is really good beer," he smiled holding his half full pint up to my face. I began to laugh, "alright cowboy, finish up we have an early morning tomorrow."

041

Tuesday morning came around and I dragged myself out of bed, quickly checking my phone, nothing. I got ready for the day and headed out to my appointment with the psychiatrist. "It's nice to meet you Avery, please have a seat," the older man said pointing to the over sized black leather couch. I sat down and smiled at him before my eyes wandered to all of his degrees hanging so proudly on his walls. "What brings you in today?" he asked crossing his legs setting a clipboard on his knee. "I'm just not myself anymore, I've been in this funk ever since December and I can't get out of it, and I'm tired of pretending like I'm okay." "Did anything happen in December to set this off?" Wow he really wants me to jump right in doesn't he? "I had a miscarriage," I said just above a whisper lowering my eyes to his clipboard, I watched as he scribbled away. We talked for the next forty minutes, about almost everything, Sidney, my brother, Max, my parents, the brewery. "Well Avery, I have every reason to believe that you have the symptoms of bi-polar. I want to try and put you on some medication and have you come back in a month to see if we've stabilized your moods," he explained to me pulling out a prescription pad. Bi-polar? No I'm not bi-polar! "There is one thing about this prescription though, it can make you very, very sick if you drink alcohol." My eyes grew wide. No more beer?!

'Meet me at the bar at noon.' I looked down at my watch and it was already noon and I was some twenty miles from the brewery. 'Just left the docs be there as soon as I can.' I responded. I jumped in my car and quickly made my way to the brewery. I walked inside and saw Colby sitting at the bar with two beers. "Ah beer, my last one," I smiled quickly taking a sip. "Last one? What?" he asked shocked. "Bi-polar. He said I'm bi-polar and he's putting me on meds, and if I drink I guess I get violently ill," I explained to him. "Oh wow, well then drink up." After a few moments Colby finally spoke up, "Sidney told me everything. He's pretty damn pissed off, and have you seen Max lately?" My head dropped and I played with my fingers, "no I haven't seen him since Friday." "He's got a nice little shiner thanks to Sid." "WHAT?!" I almost jumped off the stool. Sid punched Max? "Yeah, Max came over last night after their little confrontation and he said he completely deserved it. But Sidney . . . I have never seen him like this before. He is so confused. He's unsure of everything. I think he just feels like someone stole something from him, that someone touched something sacred to him. It's like his sticks before games, no one can touch them, NO ONE. Your his golden stick." "I'm not an object though, I don't know what to do Colby," I sighed taking another swig of my beer. "Just give him time and space, he'll come around. If you were just some girl, you'd be out of his life already, but your not just some girl. Your his girl. It's going to suck, but you just need to sit and wait this one out," he smiled and I knew he was right.

As I was driving home I turned my iPod on to some ABBA, I needed something bubbly in my life at that moment. "Take a chance on me," I whispered to myself along with the music. I heard my phone beeping in my purse and quickly pulled it out. One new message, I flipped the phone open, Sidney. 'What did the doctor say?' Not what I wanted to hear from him, but it's a start. 'Bi-polar, he put me on some meds for it.' I replied. I pulled into my driveway and it became obvious that he wasn't going to message me back. Well at least he still cares about me to ask what the doctor said. I didn't know what to do with myself, there was nothing I wanted to watch, I wasn't hungry, I just sat on the couch starring at the front door, just hoping he would walk through.

Another week flew by and still nothing from Sidney. My body was filled with fear as the realization that Sidney moved on from me set in, we never went for more than twelve hours talking to each other, now it's been a week. Colby was right though, I needed to give him his space and time. I headed to the brewery and as temping as the beer looked I knew better. The previous night I had three beers, and then I spent the rest of the night in the bathroom throwing up. The doctor was right, no more drinking. I didn't do a whole lot once in my office, just occasionally throwing a ball against the wall. It was getting pretty late, and since nothing was accomplished and nothing was going to get accomplished I headed home. My heart nearly stopped when I saw Sidney's car in the driveway. I felt like running away, but he had to be there for a reason. I slowly opened the door to see him sitting on the couch watching TV, watching Fraggle Rock. "Hi," I whispered setting my purse down on the table. He patted his hand on the couch next to him and I sat down. He turned the TV off and turned to look at me. "We're leaving tomorrow," he said searching deep into my eyes. "Who's leaving?" "You and I, we're going to Seattle. I need what we had in Halifax and in Ireland, I need to know that it's still there. The only way I feel like we can do that is to get out of this city. Get out of our elements. I want to forgive you Avery, I do, but I need that feeling, I need those emotions back." "And going to Seattle will help with that?" I asked confused. "I like to think it will, but I don't know. I just feel betrayed." I looked down at my fingers and he lifted my chin up with his fingers. "I'm so sorry Sidney. I am so, so sorry," I whispered as tears fell from my eyes. "I know you are, Max is too. I'm just angry, and I don't know who or what to focus my anger on." I nodded my head. "If you should be angry with anyone it should be with me. I lost your trust, I was stupid and alcohol got the best of me." "Max said you were drinking tequila. You don't drink tequila," he said raising his eyebrows knowing that something was going on in my mind that night. "When Scott showed up, it was just weird, it didn't feel right. He left a year ago, just got up and left, moved to Russia. Then all of a sudden he's on my doorstep asking for a box of his. It was weird. I wanted to forget about him so I drank tequila, hoping it would clear my mind, but that was a stupid decision on my part." Sidney pulled me into a hug and got up off the couch. "Our flight leaves at ten tomorrow morning, so I will pick you up at eight," he said before leaving.

I made my way into my room and was making more of a mess than packing my things. How long are we going to be there? I looked in my closet and could only laugh, his side was so organized, with everything hung up going from shorts up to suit jackets. I looked at my side and it was the complete opposite. Only a few things hung up, and the rest half folded on the ground. I began to think back to the night he first brought his things over, and then my phone rang. "Hi mom," I tried to smile into the phone. "Hello darling, we are very exciting you and Sidney are coming out here, I didn't think you guys would have time in your schedule to come out here." "I didn't think we did either," I said flatly. "Avery, what's wrong?" I took a deep breath, I knew there was no way around my mom. "Sidney kind of temporarily moved out, we're only heading out there to try and fix our relationship." "Avery, what happened?" The tone of my mother's voice was one of worry, something I hadn't heard in a very long time. "It's not important, the thing that is important is that I don't lose him. I can't lose him mom." I'm getting sick of crying. "Okay well we will see you tomorrow when you stop by to get the keys." "Keys?" Did he honestly talk my parents into using the vacation house? "Yes, to the house in Snoqualmie," she laughed. "Oh okay, see you tomorrow mom, bye." I hung up the phone and turned all my attention back to my clothes. They don't let ANYONE use that house.

I sat on my bed starring at my clock, watching the minutes dwindle away. When it hit 7:59 AM there was a knock on the door. I walked out and opened the door. "Why did you knock?" I asked confused. He looked at me and tilted his head. "I don't know actually, things are just weird, I thought it would be weird if I just walked in." Fair enough. I went to walk away but he grabbed my hand pulling me into him. He didn't say anything, just simply placing a very gentle kiss on my lips. "Ready?" he asked and I grabbed my suitcase, which he quickly took from me. I smiled and we went out to his car. "So how long are we going to be there for?" I asked as I climbed into the passenger seat. "I didn't book a return flight, so I don't know. I would like to spend my birthday in Pittsburgh though," he explained. "That's two weeks away, we should be back by then. Have you thought about what you want to do for your birthday?" "I don't know yet, I had it all planned out in my mind a few weeks ago, but that has since changed." Fuck. I dropped my head and the rest of the ride to the airport was silent.

My nerves were already getting to me, it wasn't just the flying that I was worried about, it was the coming days with Sidney as well. "Did you bring your Valium?" "Yeah, I only have enough for the flight there though, I'm just going to have to suck it up on the way home," I laughed nervously. "Home come you didn't take any on the flight to Halifax?" "That's a short flight, anything under three hours I'm usually pretty good to go, more than that it's bad news," I smiled just as they called for us to board the plane. We buckled in and my heart was racing. I didn't want to take the Valium in fear of what I would say to Sidney, but when the plane started to make it's way to the runway, I had no choice, I had to take it. I must have looked like an idiot, I kept my hand over my mouth trying not to talk. My mind was spinning and there were so many things I wanted to say, but I was too scared to say them. Sidney took advantage of my drugged induced state of mind. "Why did you do it Avery? Why Max?" I slowly withdrew my hand from my face and looked up at him. "He's always teasing me, making sexual references. I was drunk, he was drunk, I was missing you and I was curious. For a moment when I looked at him on the couch, I thought it was you, I wasn't in my right mind," I replied looking for a response from him, but his face was blank. "Sidney . . . I hate myself." My eyelids were getting heavy and my head rolled back onto the chair. "I can't live with myself knowing I did that to you," my words were just above a whisper and I was struggling to say the right thing. I felt him kiss my forehead and I fell asleep.

040

Max looked into my eyes with a questioning look, as if he was asking if he should continue or not. A tear rolled down the corner of my eye and that was all it took. He sat up on the couch pulling me into his arms. "Max, I am so sorry," I mumbled into his ear. "Avery, don't be sorry. The tension has been high between us since we met, it was bound to happen." I'm so stupid! "Come on let's get you to bed," Max whispered pulling me up into his arms, walking me to my room. I sat on the edge of the bed, still shirtless, looking up at Max. "I lectured him about not hurting me. I couldn't handle getting hurt again, but here I am, hurting him." He walked over and knelt down in front of me holding onto my hands. "He doesn't have to know. No one has to . . . " before Max could finish his mouth crashed on top of mine once again. I was so confused, I had one hand pushing him away while the other was pulling him in closer. I crawled back on the bed, with Max on top of me. "All you have to do is say the word," he whispered before moving his kisses down my neck to my chest. I felt one of his hands go up my skirt, moving my underwear to the side. He rubbed my clit between his fingers for a few seconds before entering two fingers. "Max," I moaned not knowing to tell him to continue or to stop. "All you have to say is stop," he said before splitting my lips apart and flicking at me with his tongue. "Oh fuck," I moaned grabbing onto the sheets around me. I could feel myself climaxing and I reached down and grabbed onto Max's hair. "Stop," I moaned, and I could feel his head lift. "Max I am so sorry," I cried sitting up on the bed. "Don't be, if that's where you want to stop, then we stop. Now, everything that happened in the last hour never happened at all." Except for the guilt. "Avery, why are you crying?" he asked lying next to me. "I love him so much Max, he is my life, we're going to get married." "He finally proposed? About damn time," he laughed. "No he hasn't, but it's only a matter of time, and I might have screwed that up. I might have lost the best thing that has ever happened to me." Max, why are you laughing?!

I stumbled into the living room, putting my tank top back on and poured myself a glass of water in the kitchen. I saw my phone sitting next to the sink and grabbed it. 12:02 AM. I opened it up and sent a text message to Sidney, 'can't sleep, can't wait for you to get home, i miss you and i love you sooo much.' Not thirty seconds later my phone was ringing. "Hi baby," I cried into the phone. "Avery, what's wrong?" he asked with some fear in his voice. "I'm just having a bad day, and I miss you. How's New York?" "It's New York, tell me about your day, why is it bad? Didn't you have the BBQ today?" "I did, and I drank far too much, and Scott showed up out of the blue, and I'm just kind of out of it now," I continued to cry. "Scott, the guy in Russia? What happened when he was there? Are you okay, did he do anything?" Sidney instantly became panicked. "Max was still here when he showed up, he just came to get a box and he left. It was weird," I answered with a calm voice. "Okay, well try and get some sleep okay? I hate hearing you like this. I will see you Sunday night." "Okay Sid, I miss you." "Avery, I love you." "Love you too Sid."

I walked back into the bedroom and Max was passed out cold, still in his pants. I quickly changed into some of Sidney's sweatpants, leaving my tank top on. I leaned against the wall next to my closet and slid down to the floor. What did I do? I sat there for about twenty minutes and I had to get away, the events of the night sobered me up real quick and I headed out to the living room. I scribbled down a quick note for Max, grabbed a blanket, my car keys, my purse and I was out the door. I got in my car and drove to the brewery. It was still filled with people and I got some looks from the patrons as I'm sure my mascara was rolling down my face. Brad made eye contact with me, I just smiled and headed to my office. I curled up on the couch in my office and pulled the blanket over me, but I wasn't tired. I laid there looking up at the ceiling when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" I shouted knowing that it would be Brad. "What's wrong Avery? Looks like you were hit by a train," he said sitting on the couch looking down at me. "Oh Brad, trust me you don't want to listen to my problems," I laughed throwing my arm over my head. "I'm a bartender, I listen to problems all night long, it's in the job description, come on now, what happened?" I sat up and I knew I could trust Brad, the only other person I would tell what happened would be Colby, but telling him might be a very bad idea. I took a deep breath and then sunk in. "I cheated on Sidney." He gave me a look to continue. "I drank way too much, and it was just Max and I, and something just came over me and I started kissing him. I didn't sleep with him, but he did go down on me, I just feel disgusting. Why did I do that?" "We all make mistakes. Are you going to tell him what happened?" "I don't know, Max said no one needs to know, and I trust Max that he won't tell anyone, but the guilt is already getting to me. I don't know what to do." I looked at him for any sign of advice. "I don't know what to tell you Avery, because this is a really sticky situation. It wasn't just a random guy, it was Max, Sidney's teammate. One of your best friends. If you can look at Max in the eyes when you are both sober and not feel a damn thing, I'm sure you will be okay, but I think it's best if Sidney didn't find out right now. You really need to sit down and talk with Max. Sidney is your life though, he's your soul, yeah you're going to feel like shit about what happened for a while. Sidney loves you so much though, we can all see it. Max doesn't love you, he's sexually attracted to you, that's it. You're strong Avery, everything will turn out alright."

The next morning I woke up with a pounding headache. I looked around my office and saw it was 9:30, I crawled off the couch and reached for my phone in my purse. One new message. I flipped my phone open to see it was from Max. 'I guess we need to talk about last night. Text me when you wake up.' I sat down behind my desk and spun my phone around. 'Meet me at the Starbucks down the street from the brewery, ten minutes.' I pulled open my drawer, happy to see I still had my toothbrush and makeup inside. I headed to the bathroom and cleaned myself up a bit. As I walked down the street I saw Max park his car across the street from Starbucks. I waited outside of the door as he crossed the street. "Hi," he said just above a whisper as he opened the door for me. We sat down at a table with our drinks and the silence was deadly. "I'm sorry Avery, I should have gone home with Colby," he simply said not raising his head from starring at his drink. "Max look at me." He brought his head up and looked into my eyes. Nothing. Not a damn emotion. "I have to tell Sidney, I won't be able to live with myself if I don't. So just be prepared okay?" He nodded his head and nothing else was said.

I drove in silence to the airport, I was in no mood for music, which was unlike me. I parked my car, put on Sid's black and white gongshow hat and headed inside the airport. I sat patiently playing with my thumbs when I saw those legs walk around the corner. He could disguise himself anyway possible, but you always knew it was him by the way he walked. I looked up at him and that huge goofy grin of his climbed over his face. I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck. How come I'm not happy? He pulled me up for a kiss and my stomach started doing cartwheels, my fingers got tingly and I knew this was how I was suppose to feel. This was right. "I've missed you. How are you feeling today?" he asked looking down in my eyes. I tried my hardest to fight back the tears. "It's day to day, let's go home," I smiled giving him one more kiss before we left.

I sat down on the couch, crossing my legs looking up at him. "Something's wrong Avery, what's going on?" he asked very concerned sitting down next to me. "I screwed up Sid, I fucked up," the tears I tried so hard to hold back were now flowing. He held on to my hand and looked into my eyes. "I got really drunk Friday. I was stupid. I kissed Max." There it's out, well half of it is out. He hung his head a little bit for a moment then looked back into my eyes. "Is that all that happened?" I took a deep breath and wiped away a few tears. "He went down on me, but I stopped it before anything else could happen. Then I called you, and after I hung up with you I went to the brewery and slept there." I hung my head and I could feel him withdraw his hand from mine. He pulled me up from the couch, pulling me into a hug. "I am so sorry Sid," I whispered. He leaned back and gave me a big kiss before heading into the bedroom. I sat back down on the couch and continued to cry. What's going on in his head? He walked back out a few minutes later with his old hockey bag obviously filled with clothes. "Avery . . .," he went to say something but nothing came out, "I will be at Mario's." With that he was out the door and probably out of my life.

039

After dropping Sidney off at the airport I headed to the brewery to see how things were going. "Hey Avery, how was Ireland?" Brad asked. "Amazing, I wish we could have stayed longer," I smiled before making my way up to my office. I sat down at my desk, turned my computer on, leaned back and put my feet up. I closed my eyes just as my phone went off. A text message from Colby, 'you asked Sid to marry you huh?' WHAT? I quickly typed back, 'what are you talking about?' 'Haha, Starbucks, ten minutes.' I sat there stunned for a minute and then got up, grabbed my purse and headed downstairs. "Hey Brad, I'm heading to Starbucks to talk to Colby, want anything when I come back?" "Yeah I'll try whatever drink that is you get all the time," he smiled and I left. When I walked in, Colby was already sitting at a table with our drinks. "I didn't ask Sidney to marry me," I laughed as I sat down. "He said you did, on the plane ride back, but you were all drugged up on Valium," Colby laughed. The plane ride back? Belly button, nose, nuckin' halium? "Oh my . . . I did. He said 'fucking valium', what did he tell you?" "I can't tell you," he smirked. "Colby," I whined tilting my head. He starred at me for a minute and finally broke down. "He said if you weren't drugged up he would have put a ring on your finger that minute." "He has a ring? He's carrying around a ring?" "I didn't say that," he said to me with wide eyes, obviously trying to cover the fact that Sidney does have a ring. He really has a ring? "Anyways, BBQ Friday eh? Who's all coming?" Colby asked snapping me out of my trance. I gave him a fake smile, "So far it's you, Mel, Max and I." "And Flower and his girlfriend," Colby added.

Friday came all too soon, but I was happy Sidney was right, this week was flying by fast and he would be home in just three short days. I got out of the shower and heard very loud knocking on the door. I threw my robe on and went out to see who it was. "Max what are you doing here so early?" I asked as he walked in. "I've been knocking for like fifteen minutes, I have to start my ribs early," he smiled giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Okay, well you know your way around, I have to run to the brewery and pick up the beer after I get done getting ready," I smiled before heading back to my bedroom. I curled my hair in nice big curls and threw on a flowy summery skirt with a razor back tank top. "You doing alright? I will be back in probably a hour or so, call me if you need anything," I smiled to Max who was working away in the kitchen. "Yeah, do you have an apron? You look hot by the way." I began to blush and then a huge smile crawled over my face when I remembered the apron I had. I walked towards the front door and opened the hall way closet. I pulled out my apron and tossed it to Max. "Why is Marty Turco on your apron?" he asked holding it up in front of him. "You wouldn't understand Maxy," I laughed before leaving.

The BBQ was very chill, exactly how I wanted it to be, with just the six of us. "Rib's are done!" Max shouted from the back patio. Colby was the first one to jump up and ran outside. "Excited is he?" I asked laughing before making my way to the fridge for another beer. "Avery, your fridge looks like a sea of gold, where do you keep your food?" Flower asked as he grabbed a beer as well. "Who needs food when you have beer?" I laughed making my way out to the patio, "all the food is in the fridge in the garage, just so you know if you wanted anything." "Here take a bite," Max smiled holding a rib a few inches from my mouth. I bit in, tearing away some meat and a big smile came over my face. "Wow Max, those are really good, where do you learn to make these?" "You wouldn't understand Avy," he smiled before eating the rest of it. What a dork. We sat around out back eating the ribs and drinking beer, just kicking back, the perfect afternoon in my eyes. Well almost perfect, Sid's not here. "Hey, are you going to see a psychiatrist?" Colby whispered into my ear. "Yeah, I was suppose to go yesterday but they rescheduled me for Tuesday. I feel so much better after Ireland though, but we will see," I smiled and he sat back in his chair smiling at me. "Good," he said just as Max ran into the house. "Where's the music at?" he yelled from inside. "Dance party?" Flower asked laughing. I made my way inside and opened the huge cabinet holding all of my CD's. "Holy crap, did you buy out iTunes or something? You probably know all the lyrics to every single song too," he laughed looking through my collection."What can I say? I'm a human karaoke machine."

It felt like twenty minutes later Max finally decided on a CD. "What'd you find?" I asked sitting down on the couch watching his eyes read over the CD back cover. "R. Kelly, this album is a classic," he laughed. "Which one is it?" I asked and he put it in the CD player. "12 Play," he smiled. The smooth opening notes to "Your Body's Calling" filled the house and I headed to the fridge for yet another beer. "Beer us!" Colby yelled from out back as he watched me walk to the fridge. I pulled out six beers and took them outside. "Hey, come back here and dance with me, I didn't put music on for nothing!" Max shouted. "I'm happy to see you found a new girlfriend," Colby laughed as I made my way inside. "Okay, let me put it on an appropriate song to dance to," Max said before stumbling around a little bit.

My mind's telling me no!
But my body!
My body's telling me yes! Baby!
I don't want to hurt nobody
but there is something that I must confess!!
I don't see nothing wrong,
with a little bump and grind.
I laughed as he pulled me into him."We're drunk aren't we?" I asked still laughing. "Well we've been drinking since noon," he said wrapping his arm around my lower back. I placed my arm on his shoulder, still holding on to my beer.
See I know just what you want,
and I know just want you need girl.
So bring your body to me,
bring your body here.
I'm not fooling around with you.
We danced for the whole song, and he still held me very close to his body. I pulled away, turned around and flipped up my skirt at him before going back outside.

Two hours later Mel, Flower, his girlfriend, Max and I were completely trashed. "Alright gang, let's go," Colby shouted cleaning up the table out back. "I love crepes," Flower said laughing uncontrollably before continuing, "my name is Jean Girard and I am a racing-car driver just like you except I am from Formula Un." "Is he reciting lines from Talledega Nights?" I asked Colby laughing. "Yes he is," Colby said shaking his head. We walked into the house and noticed Max was passed out on the couch. Colby went over to wake him up but I stopped him, "he's already passed out, might as well leave him." "You sure? Lock your bedroom door alright?" Colby pulled me into a hug, giving me a kiss on the cheek and they all left. I waved to them as Colby drove away and walked back inside locking the door. Seriously? It's only 10 o'clock? "They gone?" I heard Max mumble into the pillow. "You asshole," I laughed kicking him in the legs. "I didn't want to leave yet, but since I want to keep drinking, is it okay if I crash here tonight?" "Of course you can crash here, but I have to warn you before Sid left he said if you mess up our house I get to kick your ass." "I might enjoy that though," he laughed getting up to grab two beers.

About a hour later after a brutal, and terrible low-scoring game of Scrabble there was a knock at the door. I jumped up and looked out the front window. "What the fuck?" I opened the door very slowly. "Hello Avery," he smiled. "Scott? What are you doing here? How did you know I lived here?" "You have some things of mine I need, and your brother told me where you lived," he simply smiled before walking past me into my house. Robert? He talked to Robert? I felt an arm wrap around my waist, "hey baby, who's this?" Max asked and I looked up at him. "Max, this is Scott, my ex. Scott this is-" "Maxime, Avery's boyfriend, nice to meet you," Max greeted him offering him his hand. "Nice to meet you too, I hope your taking good care of my girl, she's a gem." "Oh I know she is," Max smiled looking down at me. What's going on? "Well Avery, you have a box, that is sealed with duct tape and has my name on it, do you still have it?" "Yeah it's in the garage," I said still dumbfounded as to why and how he showed up on my doorstep at 11 o'clock at night. Max tightened his grip around my waist and leaned down placing his forehead on mine. "I'll let you two talk," just as the last word came out of his mouth I felt his lips crash on top of mine. For a moment my mind went blank and I almost felt like I was floating in the air, he ran his tongue along my bottom lip and finally pulled apart. I gasped for air and looked up at Max who winked at me then walked away. Before making my way out to the garage I stopped in the kitchen and poured myself a shot of tequila. "Still drinking I see," Scott stated firmly. "I needed something, it's just odd seeing you here, sorry, I thought you were in Russia. You know I could have mailed it, a simple phone call would have done," I smirked opening the garage door. I showed him where the box was and that was it, he was out the door. Nothing else other than 'thank you' was said. Two more quick shots of tequila and I sat up on the kitchen counter. What the fuck just happened? I sat there for a few minutes before my vision became blurry and I knew I was a goner.

I walked into the living room and stood next to the couch trying my best to stay standing up right without falling over. "Sorry about that," Max said before finishing off his beer. I looked over at him and for a moment I saw Sidney. The dark hair, the big beautiful smile. I walked over to him on the couch and almost fell on the way. "You're trashed aren't you?" he laughed. I looked down at him and threw one of my legs over him, sitting down on his lap facing him. "Av . . . " he moaned before pulling my lips down to his. He grabbed onto my butt pulling me closer to him and I wrapped my fingers into his hair. His hands went up my back and I forced my tongue into his mouth. I could feel his hands moving up my back, moving to my sides, right next to my boobs. I moved my hands to the back of his neck sitting up on my knees, pulling his face up to mine. His hands moved further up my shirt, eventually pulling it up over my head. He began to chuckle a little as he noticed I wasn't wearing a bra. He lifted me up in his arms, lying me down on the couch. I reached up and pulled his shirt over his head. He crawled on top of me and began kissing my neck. "Max," I moaned pulling his face back up to mine. I began to kiss him again, feeling his hands travel all over my body. I pulled back and looked into his eyes. Holy shit! WHAT AM I DOING?!

038

(I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that reads and comments. I've been writing stories like this one for years and this is the first one I've thrown out there for people to read, and I'm having fun with it. Oh if only the story was a true story ... sigh!)

***

The city was beautiful with rows of white houses with black roofs, narrow streets and kegs stacked everywhere. This is my heaven. The day after arriving in Ireland, Sidney and I walked through the town, hand in hand in silence. There really was nothing you could say about how beautiful Kilkenny was. We turned the corner and my eyes lit up when I saw the St. Francis Abbey Brewery, home to Ireland's oldest ale, Smithwicks. "Oh wow, look at all those kegs," Sidney laughed dragging me toward the brewery. Just behind a chain link fence there were probably thousands of kegs stacked five high. He started to drag me inside but I planted my feet firmly on the ground, not moving. "What's wrong?" Sidney asked looking at me. "Nothing, this is amazing. They've been brewing here since 1710, did you know that? 300 years of beer. This is like the mecca to me," I laughed still staring up at the high tower in front of me. Sidney didn't say anything and just looked up at the building with me. "'Ello, you here for the tour?" a gentleman with a very, very thick Irish accent asked walking out to greet us. "Yes, we are, I'm Sidney and this is my girlfriend Avery," he introduced us. "Ah yes, we've been waitin' for ya! I'm Shea, come on inside!" he smiled and we followed him into the brewery. He took us straight into the tasting room and sat us at the bar. "Well we start with the beer and then work backwards here, so here we go," he smiled pouring two pints. "So you two American?" he asked setting the beers down in front of us. "I am, he's Canadian," I smiled before sipping on my beer. Oh, delicious! "Babe I'm sorry, but this might be better than your beer. You can hit me for that," Sidney laughed. "Your beer?" Shea asked raising an eyebrow. "My father founded Red Hook back in the states, and I just opened a brewery in Pittsburgh," I smiled before drinking some more Smithwicks. "Well congratulations, it's a great business to be in," Shea smiled. "Yes it is!" Sidney laughed.

Shea walked us through the whole brewery and it was a thing of beauty. We ended up back in the tasting room for one more beer. "Thank you Shea, I know Avery already knows everything about beer, but she never really explained it to me," Sidney laughed clinking his glass to Shea's. "You never asked," I smiled. "We better get going babe, we have a two hour drive ahead of us," Sidney smiled as he stood up. "Two hour drive? Where are we going?" I asked as I stood up. "Limerick," he smiled and Shea perked up. "Limerick you say? You should go to The Bank, it's a pub downtown, ask for Jimmy tell him I sent you. He'll set you up," Shea smiled before shaking our hands. "Will do, thanks for everything Shea." We walked back to our hotel, checked out and headed to the car. I climbed in and Sidney looked at me and started laughing. "You driving?" he asked. I looked down and realized the steering wheel was in front of me. "Sorry, I forgot," I started as I climbed out, "having you drive though makes me nervous. I know how you drive, but now we're driving on the other side of the road." I started laughing. "I'm a good driver," he snapped. "Yeah sure Crosby. Anyways, why are we going to Limerick? I thought we were spending the whole week in Kilkenny?" Sidney started the car and started tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel. "You're not going to tell me are you?" A big grin came over his face and he shook his head.

Our two hour drive quickly turned into a four hour drive as we stopped almost everywhere on the way to take pictures and pick up souvenirs, and had a few minor arguments when it came to directions. The sun was starting to set and Sidney pulled down a long road with very large hedges on either side of the road. We turned a corner and a beautiful castle came into view, half of the establishment was covered in vines, and the landscaping was beautiful. "Wow Sid, what is this place?" "This is where we're staying, I forgot what it's called," he laughed. We parked the car and before we could even get out, the staff had water for us, our luggage out of the trunk and a valet waiting for the keys. Impressive. We walked inside the castle and it took my breath away. I looked up and around and everything was so beautiful. I'm falling in love with Ireland. "Welcome to Adare Manor, do you have reservations?" The beautiful woman behind the desk asked us. Would I look good with red hair like that? Sidney handed her his ID and she began typing into the computer. "Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Crosby, I hope you enjoy your stay," she smiled and handed us a key. Mrs. Crosby? We followed the bell hop and Sidney leaned down and whispered in my ear with a chuckle, "hello Mrs. Crosby." "Yeah what was that about?" "When I made the reservations I kind of told them it was our honeymoon, they threw in some extra perks," he continued to laugh. The bell hop stopped in front of large double doors and stepped aside to allow Sidney to open the door. We walked in and it was probably the same size as my house. "If you need anything please don't hesitate to call," the bell hop said before leaving. Sidney picked me up in his arms and started walking around our suite, trying to find the bedroom. "Oh try those doors," I laughed pointing to the closed double doors. He opened the door with his foot and we were greeted to a huge canopy bed covered in rose petals with a bottle of champagne resting in some ice. Sidney let me down and I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Well Mr. Crosby, what are we to do on our honeymoon?" He placed his hands on my hips pulling me into him. "Anything you want Mrs. Crosby," he smiled before he began to kiss my neck. "You better stop calling me that, I might get use to it." He picked me up and laid me down on the bed, slowly taking my shirt off. "What if I want you to get use to it?" Before I could even open my mouth he was on top of me kissing me.

I rolled over in the bed and wrapped my arm around Sidney's waist. "Good morning," he mumbled and I could only smile, resting my chin on his shoulder. "What are we doing today?" I asked as he turned onto his back to look at me. "I thought we could head out early and go see the cliffs that are about a hour north of here, then come back and drink," he smiled before kissing me on the lips. "Cliffs of Moher?" I asked. "Yeah that sounds familiar. Anything you want to do?" I turned my body so my head was now resting on his chest, looking up at him. "I think I want to get a tattoo," I smiled tracing my finger over his collar bone. "A tattoo? Really? I never knew you wanted one." "I've been wanting to get one for a really long time, and I know what I want, this might be the right time and right place to get one." "What do you want, and where?" He asked running his fingers through my hair. "A claddagh, and I want it somewhere where I can see it, like my wrist," I smiled taking his hand and kissing it. "What does the claddagh stand for, I never did know. All I knew was that you wore one on your ring finger," he chuckled. "Loyalty, friendship and love. It use to be my grandmother's. She was 100% Irish, so that's probably where I get my fight from," I smiled before climbing out of bed to get ready.

The cliffs of Moher were overwhelming, the highest point standing seven hundred feet over the Atlantic ocean. I began to chuckle and Sidney gave me a confused look. "It feels funny just knowing two weeks ago we were on the other side of this ocean looking this way," I smiled grabbing hold of his hand. "That's kind of cool," he smiled turning me around so we could take yet another self-portrait of ourselves. We hung out at the cliffs for two hours, having lunch there before heading back to Limerick. "Hey look there's that pub, The Bank," Sidney pointed out to me. "Jimmy right? That's who we're suppose to ask for?" I asked laughing. "Yeah, and oh hey look at what I just found," he smiled parking the car across the street from a tattoo shop, just a few shops down from the bar. I jumped out and became very excited. I dragged Sidney inside and there were three men sitting at a counter looking through magazines. "'Ello, what can I do for ya?" the first guy asked getting up from behind the counter. "I want to get a claddagh tattooed on my wrist," I said a little worried about what he might say. "Oh, I would love to do that for you, come on now," he smiled taking me to the back. Half way through the tattoo I could see Sidney looking around the shop. "You want a tattoo now don't you babe?" I asked laughing. "I don't know if I do or not," he smiled walking over to see the progress on mine. "Wow that looks awesome," he smiled. Twenty minutes later my tattoo was all done and we left heading down the street to The Bank.

The bar was definitely a very cool one, and it was explained to us that the building was an actual bank from the late 1700's up until 1999. We sat down at the bar and I could tell Sidney was really enjoying himself on this trip, he wasn't Sidney Crosby the hockey phenom, he was Sidney Crosby the tourist. "Hi, we were told to find Jimmy," Sidney shouted to the bartender. "I'm Jimmy, who sent ya?" he asked with a goofy smile on his face. Everyone is so damn friendly here. "Shea down at Smithwicks," Sidney replied. "Ah yes, the lady brewmaster! He told me to expect you two, everything is on me tonight, anything you want," he stated shaking our hands. "Well then, we'll take two Guinness' to start and the starter platter appetizer," Sidney order. "Hey," I said to Sidney and he turned and looked at me. "What?" he asked raising an eyebrow. "Everytime I look at this tattoo now I will think of Ireland and of you," I smiled before giving him a big kiss.

We spent the rest of our time in Ireland just slowly getting back to Dublin for our flight home. I didn't want to leave, and this was the first time in a long time that I was truly happy. I knew Ireland was somewhere I would come back to over and over again. I held onto Sidney's hands with my sweaty palms as we sat at the airport. "Have your Valium ready to go?" he asked laughing and I nodded my head. "Sid, do you have to go to New York? This week has been amazing and I just want to sleep in bed with you for the next week catching up on the sleep we didn't get here," I smiled laying my head on his shoulder. "I wish I could do that too, but it's only a week, look at how fast this week went by. Just promise me you won't let Max trash our house," he laughed. "Oh I'll kick his ass, you don't have to worry about that." On the plane I thought I would try and not take my Valium but as soon as we took off I sprung into my purse trying to find my bottle, I pulled it out and quickly took a pill. "Hey babe, try not to molest me this time, okay?" Sidney said laughing. I shoved him with my elbow a bit and just waited for the craziness to begin. Thirty minutes later I tossed my head onto Sidney's shoulder. "Ready to talk eh?" he asked laughing. "Do you know what I love the most about your physical appearance?" Sidney began to laugh a little harder and set his magazine down. "What?" "Your belly button, it's an outie, I always wished I had an outie," I smiled placing my hand on his stomach. "Do you know what I love the most about your physical appearance?" Sidney asked laying his head on top of mine. "Hmm . . . " "Your nose," he answered and then kissed the top of my head. My head rolled back onto my chair and I closed my eyes. "Hey Sid, will you marry me?" I felt him grab my hand, tangling his fingers with mine. What did I ask Sid again? How come he's not answering me? "Nuckin' halium," Sidney mumbled. Nuckin' halium? What the hell? Nuckin', luckin', suckin', truckin' . . . what? Halium? What's halium? I began to giggle, "nuckin' halium," then quickly fell asleep.

***

(just a little side note, that's my newest tattoo, i'm very proud of it. =) )