Worth The Wait

CH. 5

When Sid woke up in the morning he realized that he was still wrapped up on the couch with Phoebe. She was tangled up in him, which he was sure she wasn’t aware of. Though they were on the couch, squished together, he realized he hadn’t slept better in…he couldn’t remember how long. He looked down at the girl who was rapidly stealing his heart and prayed to God she wouldn’t marry the guy she gave her word to.

It only took a few minutes for Phoebe to wake up and find herself in the arms of Sidney. She felt embarrassed for letting herself fall asleep on him and not finding the will to pull herself away. She didn’t pop off the couch or jump in fear, she eased into the new day and enjoyed the few moments she had left being held.

“I’m so sorry,” she moaned as her eyes flickered open. “I didn’t mean to…I feel so bad.”

“No, don’t. It was my fault too, I fell asleep and I guess we both just passed out,” Sid didn’t feel any ounce of embarrassment or guilt. He was simply happy.

Phoebe felt her cheeks turning red. “I’m sure Mike would love this,” she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. Sid took note of that but didn’t say a word. “Well, I guess since I like, basically trapped you here, I’ll make breakfast. Only if you want though.”

Sid smiled at her, “I’d love it,” and he really meant those words. He didn’t want to be apart from her and every second he spent with her the more he knew she wasn’t going to be easy to let go of.

As she put the scrambled eggs she made special for him on his plate, Sid got struck by an idea he should’ve though of earlier. “Hey, what are you doing tonight?”

“Um, I don’t know yet, why, what’s up?” Phoebe asked curiously as she turned to get his bacon.

“Well, I’m gonna leave tickets for you at the arena tonight. I would love it if you came to the game and I figured if you didn’t have anything better to do than maybe you would want to go.”

She turned to look at him and he could see the sparkle in her eyes as she gushed a smile.

“What?” Sid asked.

“It’s just, I’d love to go. Mike never asks me to go anymore. But it’s probably because we live so far apart,” Sid could tell she was trying to justify a situation that she didn’t want to deal with. He wanted to punch Richards in the face for treating her this way, but he would have to wait until he got the chance to play him.

“Awesome. Maybe afterwards we can hang out…you’ll have passes to come down after the game, so we’ll figure it out then,” Sid informed her.

“Yeah…I’d like that,” she was torn. She didn’t want him out of her life, but she knew Mike would absolutely flip out on her if he knew she was hanging around Crosby so much. Part of her didn’t care because when she was with Sid, everything else made sense and it didn’t matter what Mike did or thought, because he wasn’t there for her.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

When Phoebe got to the arena, she took a deep breath and went to her seat. She laughed when she saw the seat Sid had gotten for her—it was right behind the bench. She hadn’t been to a game other than the Flyers in longer than she could remember. She loved hockey, but Mike didn’t like when she went to games that weren’t his…he didn’t like her doing a lot of things when he wasn’t around. She thought it was a little awkward, her being there on her own with no one sitting besides her, but she then realized she technically was with the star of the team and instantly she didn’t care what anyone else thought.

When the guys came out for warm ups she immediately spotted Sid, who was darting his eyes about the arena searching to see if she had come. When he found her, his eyes lit up and he smiled at her without making it obvious that she was with him. Jordan was beside Sid and when he saw the sparks flying he shook his head and skated passed his friend, bumping into him along the way in an attempt to knock some sense into him.

“You gotta get over this shit,” Jordan said under his breath.

Sid turned his head away from his friend. He wasn’t angry with him, he just didn’t want to hear it. Instead, he focused on the girl who was there for him. He knew that most girls in the arena came to see him, to see if they had the chance to meet him and would jump at the opportunity to date him, but this girl was different. She should’ve been in Philadelphia watching the guy she was engaged to, the guy he hated, but she was there for him and that meant more to him than anything.

Phoebe couldn’t take her eyes off him all night. She’d seen him play hundreds of times, not so much in person, but knew what he was about nonetheless. Watching him do what he did on the ice made her slightly breathless. She knew that she was getting in way over her head at this point, but part of her didn’t care. She liked being around him, she liked the way he treated her and the way he was afraid to say something stupid around her.

After the game was over Phoebe utilized her passes and went down to see Sid. When she walked hesitantly in the locker room she saw him in his finest. She felt her heart race and her stomach churn just by looking at Sid without his shirt on. He looked perfect and she couldn’t remember the last time she looked at Mike that way.

“Hey!” Sid didn’t hide his excitement when he saw her. “I’m so glad you came!”

She smiled at him, still mesmerized by how incredible he looked. “Yeah, I couldn’t not come.”

“Did you have a good time?”

“Of course I did! You played fantastic!” She saw the color of his cheeks turn pink and couldn’t help but bust on him. “Millions of people probably compliment you after a game and you’re gonna get all soft on me?” she teased.

He wanted to grab her close to him. Something about the way she messed with him made his blood race. He put his hand on her arm, right below her shoulder and moved close to her. She looked up at him surprised as their faces were close and she could feel the heaviness in his breathing. “That may be true, but there’s no need to go calling me out on it. Shhh, let’s keep it our little secret,” he seductively whispered to her.

She swallowed, frozen in an eye lock with Sid. She wanted to say something sarcastic back, she wanted to tease him, but she simply couldn’t bring herself to pull away from him. “You wanna come to Jordan’s tonight? I know you don’t like parties, but we could stay for a little bit just to celebrate and then you can leave or I can take you home, whatever you want.”

“I wouldn’t want to leave without you,” she still was looking him in the eyes and her sincerity gave him hope. “I mean, I wouldn’t feel right just leaving alone,” she stuttered, “who knows what kind of trouble you could get into,” she tried to play off what she had just said, but Sid took the opportunity to be honest with her.

“…I wouldn’t let you leave alone, and I wouldn’t stay if you weren’t there. What kind of person would I be if I dragged you there and let you leave by yourself? Something could happen to you on the way home and then I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Both of their hearts were pounding and the electricity that bound them together was irresistibly strong. Though they were in a room surrounded by other people both of them felt like they were the only two in the world.

“Okay,” she gushed. “I’ll go.”

Jordan watched through the corner of his eye, his friend and this chick standing so close together he thought they were going to start making out in front of everyone. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, knowing that the entire situation was way more screwed up than it should’ve been. Had she not been engaged to the one person who Crosby hated, the one person who physically hated him back, then it wouldn’t matter so much. However, as twisted as it was, it was also the truth. The thing was, Jordan liked her but he also knew it was going to end badly for someone.

When Sid and Phoebe got to Jordan’s they walked in together causing heads to turn and Jordan’s frustration to rise. Neither party wanted to stay very long so they didn’t anticipate any complications. Phoebe wasn’t much of a drinker and Sid had no desire to get hammered when he was around her. They walked around the house together, she with a cup of iced tea and him with a coke, stealing glances at each other all night. When the time came for him to casually talk to friends she took the opportunity to go for a little walk through the house, find the bathroom again and grab another iced tea. She took her time in the bathroom and politely said hello to the other guys surrounding her as she passed, she did not wanting to seem clingy…besides, Sid wasn’t hers after all.

When she finally made her way back to Sid, missing his presence more than she should have, she noticed he wasn’t where she left him. She instantly felt her stomach in knots since she couldn’t find the guy she’d devoted her evening to. She looked around the room in a panic but didn’t see him anywhere so she decided to take a lap around the house in hopes of finding him.

Phoebe slowly walked around the house. It was big but not big enough to get lost in. She didn’t expect to find Sid in the dining room, which was more private than the rest of the rooms, but when she ducked her head in she saw him conversing very closely with a girl. Phoebe couldn’t help but think the girl was pretty and saw the way she oozed sex when she spoke to him. Phoebe’s stomach hurt, which surprised her at the same time. She knew having feelings for the captain of the Penguins was wrong, but she tried desperately to ignore the fact that she had them. Not knowing what to do and feeling uncomfortable for staring as long as she had, Phoebe turned to leave. She felt her throat tightening and had to leave before she let her emotions become transparent.

Since Sid had driven to her house so that she could change and drove her to Jordan’s, she took the opportunity to leave and use the walk in the cold air to help her calm down. She politely thanked Jordan for having her, grabbed her coat, and quickly made her way out of the door. It was late but Phoebe didn’t think much of it because her biggest concern was getting out of there. She didn’t belong in Sid’s world. He was a celebrated bachelor and leader of the team her fiancé despised-removing herself wouldn’t be a travesty…at least it shouldn’t be.

Phoebe’s mind was racing, her stomach was still in knots and her adrenaline was flowing. Somewhere in between denying her feelings for Sid and trying to convince herself it wasn’t good for them to be in each other’s lives, she realized that she must have taken a wrong turn. The city wasn’t a friendly place at night and like all towns it had its bad sections. Phoebe threw her head back and forth trying to figure out how her legs had carried her to where she was. The streets were dark and vacant. The only life that was shown were those who didn’t look helpful. Suddenly, Phoebe realized that not only was she not lost, she was close by the Starbucks where she first met Sid. She didn’t notice because she hadn’t been out in the city at night, alone, in a long time and everything was unfamiliar.

Phoebe started feeling nervous. She didn’t like the feeling of being alone, she felt frightened knowing that she was a sitting duck for any of the losers that surrounded her. Her mind knew that it probably wasn’t the brightest idea to leave the safety of the guys this late in the night, but her heart had been irrationally screaming at her to leave. When she saw guys staring her down, making their way towards her; guys who she knew had been in their share of trouble by the way they looked and carried themselves.

She knew they were catcalling and saying crude things, but being in a state of panic she blocked it out. There weren’t many of them, she wasn’t being overtaken by an army, but any amount of guys against a girl usually come out on the winning end, so the two guys that she had unintentionally caught the attention of probably had the upper hand.

She stopped dead in her tracks frozen in fear with thoughts of what could happen to her. The guys were getting closer with each step and she didn’t know how to fight them off.

“You know it’s dangerous to be walking these streets alone at night. Especially for someone as pretty as you,” the one speaking to her mouth was watering.

“I was just going home, really not looking for trouble,” she said in a state of terror.

“Well you found us anyway,” the other one chimed in. “We’ll take good care of you,” he antagonized her.

“No need guys,” she knew the voice bellowing from behind her. “I got her from here.” Phoebe turned around, stunned, and found Sidney staring back at her. He turned his attention back to the thugs approaching Phoebe. “Now, we could do this the easy way or the hard way, and I’m guessing you don’t need anymore trouble with the cops…so if I were you, I’d leave before I had a reason to call.” He grabbed Phoebe’s hand and tugged at her arm, positioning her behind him so that he was protectively blocking her.

She wrapped her arm around his waist and dug her fingers into Sid’s stomach, clinging to him. After the initial reaction of looking like they were going to try to kill both Phoebe and Sid, the two men turned to walk away. “She’s not worth it,” the first guy bitterly said to the other.

Feeling her body tremble in fear, Sid turned to Phoebe so that he was looking her in the eyes. Her grasp was still around his waist and his hand was clutched to her cheek. “Are you okay? Did they touch you? Why did you just leave like that?” Sid’s rapid spewing of questions took a moment to sink into Phoebe’s already frazzled brain.

“No, they didn’t touch me…you-you got to me just in time. I-I left because I didn’t think I should be there anymore,” she stammered, completely flustered with everything that had went down. “I saw you and that girl and I didn’t want to get in your way of…being with her,” she winced as she said the words. “I mean, that’s what you like and I would’ve just…gotten in the way.”

He paused and contemplated kissing her. “Phoebe, no,” he panted. “You- she wasn’t- I didn’t even care, I was just being nice. I swear nothing happened…nothing was going to happen. I couldn’t even tell you what she looked like. That’s not me. Anymore. I told you I wouldn’t let you leave alone…” he pleaded with her. He was telling her the God’s honest truth and he wanted her to know that her trust in him was not a mistake.

She smiled at him, relieved. “Come on, let’s get you home,” he grabbed her hand and started to lead the way. When they got to her apartment she turned to him and looked up at him genuinely. “I-I don’t really want to be alone tonight… would you mind…staying with me?”

Sid swallowed; he couldn’t deny that he was falling in love with her anymore. Seeing the fear in her eyes before and feeling her body tremble upset him more than losing the approval of his friends and was more overwhelming than the thoughts he had when he lost the cup. “Sure,” he whispered. “there’s no place I’d rather be.”