Worth The Wait

Ch. 4

It wasn’t hard to figure out that Sidney Crosby wasn’t acting like himself. The next day during the team’s afternoon skate, he barely spoke to anyone and focused solely on getting his job done. After giving him confused looks all morning, Jordan finally went over to him during a break and pressured him into talking about what he knew was going on.

“What’s up with you man?”

Sid didn’t look at him, he just looked ahead and took a squirt of water from his Gatorade bottle. “Nothing.”

Jordan rolled his eyes at his friend. “Whatever. Where’d you go last night? You just disappeared. You never do that…well, alone anyway.”

Sid winced at Jordan’s words. The truth was he knew how terrible he had behaved in the past, but something had clicked in his brain and he didn’t want to be that person anymore.

“I don’t know, I was just tired and I had to take Phoebe home anyway.”

“So you know this girl for what? A day? And you’re changing your life around? For what? She’s marrying someone you hate…someone who hates you. What are you gaining out of that?”

Sidney didn’t say anything; he just skated away and got ready to finish practice. He left immediately after it was over and went home to contemplate what Jordan had said. Maybe he was right…but then again Jordan didn’t know her the way he did. On the other hand, how much could he possibly know her? They only met a day ago…but he already felt closer to her than anyone else he’d known in a long time.

He didn’t want to wait until the next day to see her, but he didn’t want to scare her and make her think he was some type of clingy stalker, so he waited it out. He put on a movie and tried to enjoy being on his own. He hadn’t done that in a really long time. He actually found it peaceful for once, not lonely. Before it got too late he fell asleep and awaited his next meeting with the girl who suddenly occupied all his thoughts.

When Sid showed up to pick up Phoebe his stomach was fluttering with anxiety. He could feel his heart racing and his hands tingling. When she opened the door and he finally saw her, he didn’t know what to do but suddenly found himself breathing her in as she pulled him close to her in a tight hug.

“How are you? It’s good to see you,” she squealed. As much as she didn’t know if what she was doing was right, she found no harm in being friends with someone. She didn’t have many, she practically gave up everything for Mike and what was she getting in return? There was someone who wanted to spend time with her and as long as she wasn’t physical with him, she thought it was fine to hang around him. At least that’s how it worked in her mind.

“You ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah, where are we going?”

He gave her a killer smile. “You’ll see.”

He ended up taking her to his favorite place in Pittsburgh. It was nowhere that people recognized him and was almost like finding a tiny treasure in a huge chest. It was small but the food was fantastic, and it gave him the privacy he wanted to be with her. He took her over to his usual booth and let her slide into her seat before taking his.

“So,” she started, almost nervous. “What’d you do last night?”

Ordinarily Sid wouldn’t have been proud of the answer he usually would’ve given, but he actually wasn’t disappointed in his choices. “Surprisingly, nothing.”

She tilted her head and gave him a playful smile. “Oh really?”

“Really. I watched a movie by myself and went to bed.” It was refreshing to him how he answered her question. “What’d you do?” he asked.

She took a sip from her water. “Eh, pretty much the same. Worked on some homework in-between. Nothing spectacular.”

“Talk to your boy?” Sid asked with a hint of bitterness.

She glared at him. “Uh, yeah. A little bit. He was busy so I didn’t get to talk to him that much.” Sid took a deep breath so that he wouldn’t run his mouth. He had a pretty good idea of what Richards was busy doing.

“I see. I gotta ask you again, why are you bothering with him? I know I don’t know you very well but he seems to make you miserable. You don’t seem like you talk let alone see each other.”

She started to fidget with the ring she actually remembered to wear, something Sid noticed immediately and stung him in the heart. She didn’t know what to say to him. On one hand he was completely right, and on the other it just wasn’t that simple to walk away.

After a brief pause she finally began to try and answer his questions. “It’s complicated. I told you I’ve been with him since I’m seventeen.”

“Yeah, and you said you don’t trust him,” Sid butt in.

“I don’t know. I want to trust him, but I don’t see him. I won’t hear from him for much longer than I should and it’s just hard. I don’t know how to get out and I don’t know how to stay…” she trailed off.

Sid looked at her sympathetically. He felt like a jerk for making her feel bad but at the same time he couldn’t understand why she was so afraid to leave the asshole she was with. Then he realized, she might not be entirely happy, but that didn’t mean she was completely aware of just how big an asshole Richards actually was.

“Can…can we stop talking about Mike? Please?” she pleaded. She wasn’t angry, she just didn’t know if she had the strength to answer anymore questions about their relationship.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “It really isn’t my business. I won’t do that to you anymore.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you,” she whispered. “What about you? I don’t think you have the best track record”

Ouch. He felt his stomach tighten because he knew that she was right. “Yeah…you’re pretty accurate with that statement.”

“It’s funny how an entire city can idolize you, yet behind closed doors…it’s just an entirely different world,” she looked down at her plate stoically and Sid realized that she wasn’t just referring to him.

“Yeah. I know.”

“You know? Really?” she looked up at him. “You don’t have to be that way…you make choices everyday.”

“Please don’t elaborate,” he interrupted. He felt pangs of conviction because how he was off the ice wasn’t something to be proud of.

“I just…I don’t think being nice to fans or buying the pretty girls drinks makes you a great role model,” she sincerely looked into his eyes. “It’s harder to do the things that no one else wants to do; to go against the grain. The thing is, I think you have a big heart, you’re just afraid to show it.”

He froze as she pierced him with her words. He didn’t know what to say to her.

“I have faith in you,” she said softly. “Because I don’t think you’re satisfied making the choices you make. I know I probably shouldn’t be saying anything, and I haven’t known you very long, but I think you have it in you to be so much more than how you act.”

“You do?” He’d never heard it coming from someone like that before.

“Yeah, I do. I’m sorry if I’m being rather harsh, I just…I like you, that’s all”

And with those words Sid knew that everything he thought about her was true.

They went through the rest of their lunch talking about their favorite movies and laughing at the funny lines. There were no more tough questions to answer, there knew how the other felt about certain things and they left it at that.

“I take it you don’t have a game tonight,” Phoebe stated as Sid opened her door and they began walking to her building.

“No, not tonight.” He couldn’t believe how long their lunch lasted. “Tomorrow night.”

She nodded her head. The sun was setting and the temperature was starting to go down
which caused her to shiver since she wasn’t wearing a jacket. It was warmer when he had picked her up for lunch and she didn’t anticipate being out so late. Sid noticed that she was cold and instinctively wrapped one arm around her far shoulder and placed the other hand on the one closer to him. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm her up without realizing what he was doing. They both turned their heads to look at each other in shock at what was going on between them.

“Th-thanks,” Phoebe stuttered.

Sid swallowed. What he wanted to say was that she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever met. What he wanted to do was move his arms down to her waist, turn her so that they were facing, and kiss her, but he knew that was off limits. Instead, he nodded his head and tried to compose himself.

She unlocked her front door and Sid was antsy about when he would get to see her next.

“Thanks for lunch,” she had her door open and was ready to walk inside.

“You’re welcome,” he stared at her.

She turned to walk in and right as he was about to plead with her to see him again, she spun around and looked at him. “Do you… want to come in?” she asked hesitantly. She couldn’t believe what she was asking, but it was later than she thought it would be and she had no other plans that night.

Sid’s mouth dropped in shock. “Yeah, sure. If you want me too.”

“Yeah, we can watch a movie. Come in,” she motioned her head towards the inside of her apartment and he didn’t miss a beat in following her in.

She made popcorn and gave him sweatpants to put on. “Don’t worry,” she said as she threw them at him. “They aren’t Mike’s. They’re actually my dads.”

“I don’t know if that’s weirder or not,” he laughed.

“Oh hush, I want you to be comfortable and sitting in jeans all night isn’t going to be. I don’t care what you say,” he thought it was cute how concerned she was.

They sat down to watch a movie and one turned into two. About midway through the second movie, they were huddled under a blanket and she laid down on the couch, curled up into a ball with her head on his chest. His heart was pounding and he wondered whether or not she could tell. When her breathing slowed, he realized she must have fallen asleep and looked down at the angel in his lap. She looked so peaceful that he automatically started running his fingers through her hair and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

She smiled to herself and felt her body get goosebumps. Though he was sure she was sleeping, she was enjoying the feeling of lying in his arms, and that’s how they stayed the rest of the night. Eventually she did doze off to sleep, and he soon followed, as he was too content to leave.