Maybe Someday

When Ellen first told her family she was (temporarily) moving to Pittsburgh, she couldn’t figure out why everyone was apprehensive. It wasn’t until she looked at it as an outsider that she got what all the fuss was about. She was engaged to a wonderful man, yet she was moving to Pittsburgh for another. She had to keep telling herself that she was doing the right thing for her and Sid. They had been separated once, and no matter what they went through, Ellen loved him; she always would. She couldn’t lose him again.

People thought they knew Sidney, but none of them knew him like she did – not even his parents. He was an extremely guarded person; he hardly ever said what was really on his mind. He loved to make people happy, and if his opinion differed with, say, his agent, Sidney would put a smile on his face and agree. Ellen wished he would speak his mind more. Inside the lovable hockey player’s mind was some of the most intelligent, hilarious, and amazing things Ellen had ever heard.

“You almost ready, El?” Sid asked, popping his head into her bedroom. She smiled and nodded, zipping up the last of her suitcases before dragging it off of the bed. “You are aware we’re going to have a washing machine, right? You don’t need to bring an outfit for everyday of the year…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Ellen waved off. “I’m pretty much bringing all of my stuff… I mean, someone convinced me to move to another country for a few months.”

Sid grinned and wrapped his arms around Ellen, pulling his best friend in against his chest. He planted a quick kiss to the top of her head before pulling away slightly and staring directly into her eyes, a serious look on his face, “Thank you for coming.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Sid. I want to save our relationship as much as you do.”

Even though he knew she was talking about their friendship, the burst of happiness he felt in his gut was not something he could ignore. Lifting one of her suitcases and following her from her nearly empty bedroom, he decided to ask the question that had been bugging him over the past few days. “How does Pierre feel about you moving to Pittsburgh with me?”

“Oh, he’s fine with it,” Ellen said, choosing to ignore how Sidney had said her fiancé’s name.

“I wouldn’t be fine with my girlfriend moving in with a guy she has history with.”

“First of all, you say it like this is something permanent. It’s not, Sid. I’m moving in with you for a little while so we can catch up on the last four years, okay?” He nodded, but rolled his eyes when she looked away from him. “Second of all, I didn’t tell him that me and you have history, like what you’re referring to. I told him we were best friends growing up and that was it.”

“Oh.”

“Is that all you have to say? ‘Oh’?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, shrugging as they got outside and to Ellen’s car. It was her turn to roll her eyes, turning toward her mother who wore a look of amusement.

“Seems you two are back to bickering like you did as kids.”

Sidney and Ellen laughed, each hugging her mother in goodbye and a promise to call when they made it to Hartford, Connecticut – almost halfway between Cole Harbour and Pittsburgh (but closer to Pittsburgh) and where they were staying overnight before they continued their drive. Much to the dismay of his agent, his dad, and Mario Lemieux himself, Sidney and Ellen elected to drive to Pennsylvania rather than fly. It would be easier to bring all of Ellen’s things, and she would be able to have her car with her, too.

“You ready to head back to reality?” Ellen asked as she turned the car’s engine on.

Sid smiled, “Not yet, but reality doesn’t set in until we hit Pittsburgh, anyhow.”

Ellen smiled at him and pulled the car into reverse, backing out of her driveway. With a final wave at her mother, the two of them made their way out of Cole Harbour. She wanted to ask about what he had said; about how he was ‘not yet’ ready to head back to Pittsburgh. Ellen had never seen Sid not ready to play hockey, to get back into the season, at least before they had lost touch. Who knew what had changed since then.

“Sid,” she started as they pulled onto the highway ten minutes after they had left Ellen’s house and after ten minutes of silence. “Why aren’t you ready to head back to Pittsburgh?”

He shrugged, “I wish I had more time off; more time with you.”

“Is that it?” She asked, knowing there had to be something more.

“I’m not ready to feel the pressure that everyone puts on me. I’m a different person during the season, and you know that.”

Off-season Sidney was in fact a completely different person than the version of himself he became from September to June. That Ellen knew and she knew it from when they were teenagers. She wasn’t much of a fan of the person he became during the season. It wasn’t like he was a bad person; he wasn’t at all. But, all he thought about was hockey and pleasing everyone else. He didn’t do anything for himself, which was why Ellen was quick to make him do so when he came home for the summer. She wanted him to think he could do anything. Not just hockey.

“Shouldn’t there be less pressure now that you’ve won the cup?” She asked, loving how he smiled when she did.

But he shrugged, “There’s just pressure to repeat now. There will never not be pressure, El, but I’m used to it.”

She frowned, but didn’t say anything more. The music was turned up, the windows were rolled down, hockey was forgotten about, and Ellen and Sidney enjoyed each other’s company like they were sixteen again. There had been many times before the two of them hopped on the highway with no destination in mind. It had been one of their favorite things to do.

“I’m hungry,” Sid said soon after they had made their way into Augusta, Maine. Ellen rolled her eyes, but she realized she was hungry too. They had already been driving for nine hours, only taking stops to use rest-stops. Since they had left at 6AM, they had been eating snacks and drinking the bottles of water they had brought. Pulling off the highway, she made her way into Augusta, finding a restaurant along the road she pulled onto. She gestured to it, and Sidney shrugged, “Whatever. I’m starving.”

A massive amount of hot wings were consumed; more than two people probably ever should, but Ellen had been craving them for weeks, and she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to eat chicken wings. After arguing over who would pay the check (which Sid finally won) they left the restaurant to find some people lining the sidewalk, waiting for the hockey superstar to sign. Ellen grinned and waited patiently as Sid signed for all the children first, before moving onto the adults.

Ellen climbed into the passenger side of her car, turning the GPS back on and making sure it was routed to their hotel in Hartford. She sighed as she put her seat belt on, telling Sidney the GPS estimated their arrival would be in five hours. He sighed, too, but pulled the car into drive and headed back toward the highway in silence as Ellen turned her iPod on.

“What kind of tunes are you in the mood for?” She asked, scrolling their her artists. When Sidney shrugged and didn’t say anything, she put on the Backstreet Boys, immediately causing him to groan.

“Okay, anything but boy bands.” Ellen laughed and changed the music, putting on some classic driving music. When Sid started bobbing his head, she laughed and leaned her head back against the headrest. “Hey,” Sid continued. “I didn’t fall asleep on you; you can’t fall asleep on me.”

“Then we better keep talking, or I will.”

“What should we talk about?”

“I don’t know. Do you think your teammates will like me?”

“Of course they will. They already do.”

Ellen stopped bobbing her head and tapping her feet to the music, turning her head to look at her best friend, who kept his eyes on the road and a smirk on his full lips. “You told them about me? When?”

“Uh,” he started. “Pretty consistently over the last four years.”

Ellen grinned, happy to know that Sid had told his teammates – his friends – about her. It was reassurance that he hadn’t forgotten her, and that he had missed her as much as she had missed him. Catching his eye, they shared a smile before she again leaned her head against the seat of the car. She felt Sidney’s hand grab hers as her eyes grew heavy. She felt his lips press against the back of her hand before he turned the music way down and whispered for her to go to sleep.

- - -

When Ellen opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that the car was not speeding down the highway, but rather the car was parked in a lot, and Sid was nowhere to be seen. Grumbling to herself that Sid had stopped at a rest stop and hadn’t informed her, she opened her door and grabbed her purse. She widened her eyes when she realized they were not at a rest stop, but they were at the small, quaint, Hartford, Connecticut ‘Bed and Breakfast’ Ellen had insisted on staying at.

It was a white, Victorian style house, she had found out through her research. Sidney had wanted to book an expensive, boring, repetitive hotel room, but Ellen had insisted on the cute house, telling him it would be more comfortable, only rolling her eyes when the hockey play told her that he loved those repetitive hotels; he stayed in them more times than he could count during the hockey season.

Just as she was about to head into the place to find Sidney, he came back out and grinned at her. “You’re right; I do like this better.” Ellen laughed, asking him when he had planned on waking her up. He only shrugged and motioned for her to pop the trunk for him.

“You were passed out, El. I got bored like, two hours ago, but there was no waking you up.”

“Sorry,” she replied, stretching her arms over her head and throwing her sunglasses on her face. The sun was just setting, and that was always the sun Ellen felt was brightest. Grabbing a couple of her bags while Sidney carried the rest, she followed him into the old, huge house, immediately being welcomed by the elderly couple who owned it.

“We hope you like your room dear. Sidney’s already checked in for you two.” Ellen grinned and assured the woman whatever room she had set aside would be fine. Shuffling her tired body up the stairs behind Sid, she groaned when she realized his ample rear end was in her face. Pushing him to go faster proved futile; the hockey player was too strong for her.

Laughing all the way to their room, the pair practically fell into their room, dropping the bags as they ’fought’ with each other. Sidney’s hands were on Ellen’s waist as his fingers dug into her sides. Her hands were against his chest, trying to push him off of her as they moved further and further into their room. She was sure that almost everyone could hear her loud giggles and his loud laughs as they wrestled against each other, something they had always done as kids.

Finally pushing Sidney hard enough, she laughed as he fell back against the bed, but her laughter was short-lived when he kept his hands on her waist and she on top of him with a loud squeak. Sid laughed again, as Ellen glared down at him before giving up on squirming out of his grasp; again, he was just too strong.

“I miss this,” he said, stopping his tickling of her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Us wrestling each other? I don’t! You always won,” she laughed.

It was then that Ellen realized she was laying on top of Sidney. She tried to move off of him again, now that he had stopped tickling her, but he wrapped his arms tighter, keeping her locked against his chest as he looked up at her. She stared down at him, wondering what he was doing, but he didn’t say anything.

Instead, he picked his head off the bed a couple of inches and pressed his lips against hers lightly. Her eyes widened before they fluttered closed, involuntarily, her body relaxing against his. It was only a couple of seconds before he ended the kiss, giving her a small, lopsided smile, gently moving her off of him. Scooting off the bed, he stood, straightened his clothes, and asked, “Are you hungry for dinner?”

Ellen nodded, her eyes staying wide as she stared up at her best friend. But he didn’t say anything; he motioned for her to follow him out of the room, no doubt ready to go find a restaurant to eat at.

She nodded numbly, grabbing her purse and wondering what had just happened and more importantly, why she hadn’t been the one to stop it.