Worth The Wait

Ch 23

When Sid woke up in the morning Phoebe wasn’t snuggled up into him. His arm wasn’t resting over her waist and the bed next to him was cold. He sat up trying to imagine where she could have ran off to when he heard a loud bang in the kitchen.

“Son of a bitch!” That was Phoebe. He laughed to himself immediately because she didn’t freak out like that much and it was entertaining to him when she did. He knew she must have dropped a pot on the ground because of the way it sounded and the reaction it got out of her. He pulled the covers off his body and made his way into the kitchen where Phoebe was cleaning up the floor, the result of dropping a pan on the floor that was holding eggs in it, just as he predicted.

“What’s happened babe?” Sid asked.

Phoebe looked up at him from kneeling on the floor. “I dropped the damn eggs. I don’t even know how.”

“It’s okay. We can go out for breakfast if you want. You don’t have to cook.”

“I wanted to make you breakfast though.”

“It’s really not a big deal Pheebs. You make me stuff all the time.”

Phoebe sighed and looked down at the eggs that were still splattered on the floor. “Fine. Let me finish cleaning this up and we’ll go. You should probably get dressed while I do that.” She stood up and went to throw out some of the remains in the garbage. Then headed for the sink to wash her hands. Sid cocked his head slightly, he could sense something was slightly off about her demeanor. He went up behind her slowly, wrapped his arms around her waist and dug his face into the side of her neck. “What’s the matter,” he asked as he planted a soft kiss on the corner of her neck.

“Nothing, everything’s fine.”

“I might be a guy but I know enough that when I a girl says she’s fine that is never a good thing,” he joked.

A faint smile spread across Phoebe’s face, “Really, it’s okay. I’m not mad at you.”

Sidney swallowed and went where he didn’t want to go. “Is that about what happened last night? Do we need to talk about it?”

“Sid…I don’t want to be a nag and I don’t want to argue with you. What your friends said…it bothered me. I know you had a life before me. I know that you have a past and I have no place to throw it in your face but I don’t want to relive it with you. It’s hard for me to think of you with other girls. You have no idea how much it drives me insane to hear about your sexcapades.”

“Ohhh I think I have an idea.”

“Oh really?”

“Yep.” Sid put his hands lightly on her waist and spun her around so she was facing him. “I wanted to rip out my insides when Richards was here and I knew you were in your bed with him.”

Phoebe closed her eyes. She had forgotten about that. She didn’t like to think about being with Mike and the agony it’d put Sidney through.

“See,” he said softly. “It isn’t just you that has the mental images. You think that’s easy for me to stomach? The only thing that matters is that we’re together now; we love each other. My past doesn’t matter to me. I know it sounds cliché but I don’t care about those girls. I don’t remember them. I’m not proud of it and it makes me hurt even more knowing my actions hurt you. But let me ask you something. Do you like to think about Richards? Is it something you dwell on?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Well then why would you think all the shitty things from my past matter to me? Why would I want to dwell on such crappy things? Things that hurt you. The only thing I think about is how much I wish I could go back and change it.”

Phoebe smiled at Sidney. “I know what you mean. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too. Don’t be surprised if you get an apology from them tonight. They need to realize they can’t say the shit they say anyway.”

She smiled at him again and nodded her head. “Okay. I just feel awkward. I don’t want them to have a problem with me.”

“Are you kidding me! That’s the least of your concerns.” Sid then nuzzled his nose into the side of her head, “Are we okay now?” he whispered into her ear.

“Yeah. You still want to go get breakfast?”

“I do. Give me twenty minutes and we’ll be good to go. I want to hop in the shower real quick.”

Phoebe paused for a second and buried her head in Sid’s neck. She slowly began to bathe his neck with soft, lingering kisses. “Care for some company?” she seductively breathed into his ear.

Sid grinned and felt his blood heat inside him. He wasted no time in dragging her into the bathroom, removing her clothes and pulling her into the shower with him.

*****************************************************

Phoebe was happy being at the game and found it very endearing when a very nervous Kris delivered her an apology. She hugged him and thanked him for his efforts and was soon greeted by Jordan, who asked her how she was doing despite the fact that he played no part in throwing Sid under the bus. Phoebe liked Jordan and his attentiveness to make sure she was okay meant a lot to her. Sid was pleased that his friends went out of their way to make amends since they had acted like complete animals the night before.

After enjoying three days together Phoebe’s phone rang while she was grocery shopping. Sid had practice and this was the first time he had touched base with her since the morning. They both had forgotten the fact that Sid had a commitment to shoot a commercial later on in the week and weren’t reminded until Sid got a call about it the day after their game, the one in which she was offered apologies.

“Hey!” Phoebe happily answered her phone.

“Hey babe. What’s up? What are you doing?” Sid inquired from the other end.

“Not much, just picking up some groceries for the week. How was practice?”

Sid groaned. “Ah it was good. Don’t forget I have to go shoot a commercial tomorrow though, so I’m leaving tonight and I won’t be back until tomorrow night.”

“I know, I remember. Does that mean that I won’t see you at all today? Do you have to go straight there?”

“Unfortunately. I don’t really want to go. I like being home with you able to relax in between games. I’m so freaking happy I’ll be home tomorrow though, I’m looking forward to just getting it done. I’m exhausted.”

“I hear ya. That sucks. Is there anything you need me to do?”

“I can think of a lot of things,” he flirted. “But none I can take advantage of right this second. Actually, just promise to still love me when I get back tomorrow, even if I’m boring and tired.”

“Hmmm. I’ll have to think about that.”

“What!” he joked. “You better.”

She laughed a real laugh. “Of course Sid, I love you.”

Phoebe kept herself busy when Sid was gone. She felt bad that he was so exhausted and there was nothing she could do to brighten up his mood. She figured he’d only be gone a night though and tomorrow he’d come home and get to relax, so it’d be over soon. It wasn’t a big deal but it didn’t mean she didn’t miss him. She knew he was going to come to her place as soon as he got back and when she woke up in the morning she had a text from him saying that she should expect him about six or seven. After a busy day, she decided to stop at Starbucks around five and grab herself a coffee. She was just about to get back in her car when she heard her name. She jolted around to see Jordan in his car.

“Hey! Phoebe! I thought that was you!”

“Hey Jord. How are you?” she smiled at him. “What are you doing around here?”

“You know I don’t live that far, I was out and I thought I saw you so I figured I’d stop and say hi. Where’s Crosby?”

“He’s shooting that commercial remember? He won’t be home until,” she looked at her phone which showed her that it was a little after five. “Well he should be home in less than an hour. He said he’d be back around six or seven.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mmhmm. I’m on my way home to cook dinner now, you want to join us?”

“Yeah I don’t see why not. I’m not doing anything, and I don’t pass up free meals. Home cooked ones anyway,” he laughed.

“Alright, well, why don’t you just follow me to my place, he should be back not too long after we get there.”

“Okay, sure. Lead the way.”

Jordan followed Phoebe to her building and went with her upstairs. She’d never been alone with him before and they were both slightly unsure of what to talk about at first, but they got into a groove once she started cooking and wasn’t trying as hard to think of things to say. Before either one of them realized, it was almost seven and Sid still hadn’t gotten to Phoebe’s. Neither one of them could imagine what was keeping him and neither had heard from him. Phoebe tried calling but couldn’t get a hold of him and dinner was ready. Soon they were laughing over the meal Phoebe had prepared as Jordan was telling her stories about all the pranks they’d pulled on Sid through the years. What Phoebe appreciated most was when Jordan told her how happy he was that Sidney found her and that they’d finally worked it out. Phoebe realized that perhaps Jordan wasn’t as bad an influence as she thought he might be.

“What’s going on here?” Jordan and Phoebe both looked to see Sidney standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Hey baby!” Phoebe’s face lit up.

“Hey man,” Jordan welcomed Sid as Phoebe jumped up and ran to hug him but Sid pulled away. “What’s the matter baby?” she looked at him confused.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt your little date,” he said bitterly.

“What? Are you serious? It’s just Jordan.”

“Yeah man, c’mon. What’s your deal?” Jordan echoed, just as taken aback as Phoebe was.

“I didn’t think you’d be all friendly with my girl while I was out of town for a night.”

“Crosby are you kidding? What’s your problem? You know I’d never do anything to you like that, and I know you know Phoebe wouldn’t either.”

“Do I know that? Because given how we started it wouldn’t be the craziest idea.”

Phoebe’s mouth dropped and tears welled in her eyes. She ran passed him in disbelief and went straight to her room. She could hear Jordan trying to reason with him but she couldn’t hear full sentences. All she could hear were elevated voices and Jordan calling Sid an asshole. Then her front door slammed and she wasn’t sure who left or if both of them had left. When she walked out into her apartment she realized that not only was Jordan gone, Sid had vanished too. She walked into her kitchen and went in her refrigerator to get a drink of iced tea. When she took the container out of the fridge she looked at the huge calendar in front of her and suddenly she was panicking for different reasons.

Sidney felt like a jackass. He was exhausted and grumpy and all he wanted to do was take a nap. He hadn’t gotten much sleep. Between the extensive traveling, being on the road, not getting enough sleep and not being with Phoebe, uninterrupted, as much as he would have liked, he was extremely irritable. He’d been looking forward to getting home to Phoebe all day and was a little shocked to see Jordan sitting in the kitchen with her but he never actually was jealous. He knew he had absolutely nothing to worry about and he let his bad attitude and lack of sleep overcome his emotions. Jordan was right; he was being a real asshole. Sid wouldn’t have left if he didn’t feel like he needed a few minutes to himself, he knew he’d hurt Phoebe by the awful words he threw at her and he wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to see him for the rest of the night. He went back upstairs and took the initiative to let himself back into her apartment, ready to apologize for his behavior. When he got in he heard Phoebe cleaning up in the kitchen. He walked over to it and when he did he saw her emotions plastered on her face. She was very upset and he couldn’t blame her.

“Hey…”

She looked up at him and waited for him to continue.

“Pheebs…I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean what I said.” He walked closer to her. “I really didn’t. I’m exhausted and I took it out on you. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He grabbed her hands and pulled her into him. “I love you. So much. And I’m sorry I acted like such an asshole.”

In response to his words Phoebe started sobbing into his shoulder. She didn’t say anything. She just cried and clung to him, which made Sid feel worse.

“I’m sorry I hurt you this much,” he said softly.

“It’s not that Sid,” she said between sobs.

Sid looked at her with concern. He was worried. “What’s the matter baby?”

“Sid…I’m late.”

He was confused. “For what?”

“No. You don’t understand. I’m late.

It took a few moments but then Sid’s eyes widened as he realized what she was saying.