Cold As You

I thought I could live in your arms, and spend every moment I had with you. stay up all night with the stars; confess all the faith that I had in you. too late, I'm sure and lonely. another night, another dream wasted on you.
-mayday parade.

It was surely the happiest day of his life. Even I felt a few tears prickle the sides of my eyes as I watched him lift Lord Stanley's Cup over his head and let out a loud yell. I had never felt more proud of him than I did in that very moment. I stood up straight, my hands pressed together and against my lips like I was praying as the tears spilled shamelessly down my cheeks. Everyone around me was cheering and yelling loudly, popping the caps to the champagne we had bought earlier in the day. Not a sound left my lips as I watched him give his interview.

"Can you believe it?!" I felt two hands on my shoulders and a loud voice in my ears. I turned around to see my brother smiling widely. "Why are you crying? Your best friend just won the Stanley Cup!"

"They're tears of joy Sean," I told him as I dropped my hands down to my sides.

"Are you gunna call him?" He asked. I stole one last glance at the Tv before directing my full attention at my brother.

"Not right now, he'll probably want to celebrate with his teammates," I said with a small awkward shrug.

He practically laughed in my face as the words left my lips, "You're his best friend Van. Just call him," he stressed the words 'best friend' again. I nodded and smiled widely. Sean grinned as well and shoved a glass of champagne in my hands. "Now it's time to celebrate! The Stanley Cup is coming to Cole Harbour!" He exclaimed, making the rest of the room cheer loudly, their drinks held high in the hair. I wrapped my fingers around the glass and took a small sip as I turned back around and looked at the Tv.

The boys were all getting their pictures taken with the Cup, smiling widely with their fingers pointing "number one". I sighed deeply and took another sip of the sparkling liquid. I was so proud of him I couldn't even properly fit in into words. And all I could think about is how badly I wish I had flew to Detroit for the game.

Instead I had to stay back in Pittsburgh, forced to take summer classes that I couldn't afford to miss. Had I known the boys would make it to a Game Seven in Detroit; I would have been there in a heartbeat. But I had signed up for my classes way before any of those kinds of thoughts were actually tangible.

As everyone else continued to get drunk I sat back and watched each player give their interview, laughing as some of them slipped a few curse words in, and smiling warmly at every last one of them. And then the camera panned towards Sidney and his father embracing on the ice, and that's when the tears really started to come. What I would have given to been the one hugging him! I silently cursed myself at these thoughts and wiped my tears away before anyone could see, taking another sip of my champagne. The night died down soon after the game was over.

Everyone left except for Sean- he had been staying with me since the second round of the Playoffs. He hadn't been able to make the first round because of school but he found his way to Pittsburgh when the Penguins faced off against the Capitals.

Despite his desire to stay longer, our father had set him up with a summer job he had to get to in two days and he was set to be on a plane at noon the next day. I smiled as I walked passed him sleeping on the couch and turned all of the lights off in my small apartment as I walked to my bedroom.

I hooked my phone up to its charger and noticed I had a voicemail, excitement bubbled in my stomach as I called my voicemail and pressed the phone to my ear, eagerly awaiting to hear if it had been Sidney who left me a message.

"Evangeline- it's your father. I would call your brother but he probably doesn't even know where his damn phone is. Anyway, I just want to remind you to have Sean on that plane tomorrow morning. If he doesn't make this job it'll be my head, you understand? I pulled a lot of strings for this one. Oh yeah, tell Sid I said congrats. The town's going crazy for him."

I felt my heart sink a little as the options for the message played. I deleted the voicemail and placed the phone on my bedside table. I shouldn't have expected him to call anyway; he was probably drinking out of the Cup and having a good time with his friends.

Plus, I'd see him tomorrow anyway. It was no big deal. Not at all. Nope, I didn't mind one little bit.

- - -

I had lived in Pittsburgh for three years and attended college at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. However, contrary to what most think, I didn't go to that particular school because of Sidney. He may have swayed my opinion a little, but he wasn't the sole reason I was living in the Steel City.

You see, my parents got divorced when I was about 12 years old. I was born in a small town in New Jersey, but when my parents got divorced they both went back to where they were living before they met each other. In their case, my Dad went back to Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia and my Mom went back to Youngstown, Pennsylvania which just so happened to be about a half hour outside of Pittsburgh. I spent the school year with my Mother and my summers with my Dad.

My Dad also happened to be good friends with Troy Crosby, Sidney's father. They grew up and played hockey together when they were young. Naturally because we were only a few months apart, I met Sidney at a young age but we didn't click as quickly as our fathers had hoped. In fact, we actually hated each other until we were about 17 before we became friends. It also worked out to my advantage that I was up in Canada for the summers because that was the only time Sidney wasn't playing hockey.

When it came time to picking a college I was either going to school at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, or the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. After much persuasion from my Mother and after Sidney got drafted I made the decision to stay close to my Mom and my best friend.

I got home from dropping off Sean at the airport at around two in the afternoon. I lived alone though Sidney and I had recently begun talking about moving in together. He was finally thinking of moving out of the Lemieux's residence.

I threw my keys on the kitchen table and walked into my bedroom. In the craziness of the morning I had forgot my phone at home. I had slept through my alarm and ended up waking up with an hour to get my brother to the airport.

Once again I found a voicemail waiting for me, this time accompanied by a few texts. I decided to check my voicemail while I shuffled in towards my kitchen.

"Vannie! Can you believe it?! I'm so excited to get home tell you all about the game! We should be home around three, I'll be at your place right after. We have to celebrate! I think Staaler's having a party or something- typical right? I'll call you when I land. I can't wait to see you."

I hung up the phone with a smile and answered my texts from Jordan and Max. Deciding to shower before Sidney got home, I grabbed a pair of sweats and an old tee-shirt and walked to the bathroom. I didn't take long, and was out soon after.

I was just exiting the bathroom, my sweats on but my hair still wet when I heard a long bang from the front of my apartment. It sounded like a door slamming and I walked down the short hallway to see what was up. I didn't even have a chance to register what was going on before I felt a pair of arms encircle my shoulders and a soft body being pressed against my own.

"Evangeline," he breathed into my hair.

"Congratulations Sidney!" I exclaimed after the immediate shock of him scaring me was over. I wrapped my own arms around his middle and smiled, even though my face was pressed against his chest. "I'm so proud of you."

He pulled away just enough to look at me, but stayed close enough so his arms remained around me. "I can't believe this is real Vannie," he grinned. I smiled at the use of my nickname and hugged him again tightly.

"I'll pinch you if you want," I told him, still smiling.

"There's no need for that," he told me. "I think you hugged me tight enough to make me realize this is reality," he joked.

"You love it," I stuck my tongue out at him.

He smiled and nodded. "You got me there," he said.