I Don't Want to Miss a Thing

It was finally New Year’s Eve and I woke up to loud talking and laughing coming from the kitchen. Things between Sidney and I were finally back to normal after the whole Sarah situation. With a smile on my face I jumped into the shower and was out in record time. As I walked into the kitchen, Max threw a piece of toast at Jordan and in turn Jordan threw his food at Max, starting a mini food fight. I looked around the room and saw everyone but Sidney laughing, he as glaring at his friends.

“Guys knock it off, Taylor is going to kill me if she wakes up and this place is a mess.” He said.

Geno had spotted me in the doorway and started laughing. “Too late Sid.”

Sidney turned his gaze from Max and Jordan’s fight to where Geno was pointing. The look of surprise on Sidney’s face was priceless. I just waved at him and laughed when he cursed. Jordan and Max stopped their fight, but Kris and Marc couldn’t stop laughing.

I walked further into the kitchen shaking my head. “You guys are so immature sometimes.” I laughed and turned to Evgeni. “Um Geno, you owe me a hug.” I said. He walked over to me and gave me a big hug. “How’s Anna?”

“She good.” He smiled. Anna was so happy now that she was with him. I was surprised when I found out that they were dating. He is a Penguin after all.

“So Max. Jordan, you guys going to clean this mess up?”

Jordan and Max exchanged a look and then looked at Sidney for help, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

“Go relax guys, I got this.” I shooed them all out of the kitchen and dining room. Sidney stayed behind and just stood there watching me. “What?” I asked

“Good morning.” He walked over to me and gave me a kiss. This is what I loved about our relationship, this is what I wanted all the time. But I know that every relationship has its up and downs, ours is now on the way up but there was still the possibility for it to crash and burn. I wasn’t going to worry about that right now though. I was going to enjoy this for as long as I could.

“Morning.” I gestured to the mess around us. “What started this?”

“Max said something about Jordan and…” He shook his head and chuckled. “They’re immature.”

I chuckled and kissed him again. “Go hang out with them. I got this.” I watched as Sidney walked out to the living room where his friends were watching Sports Center. I turned to the mess to see what I had to work with. There were crumbs all over the place, spilled orange juice on the counters, a few pieces of bacon here and there, and even egg shells. I sighed and shook my head, getting to work.

Twenty minutes later I was sitting in the living room with the guys trying to decide where we were going to go for lunch. As we were deciding Marc told me that Vero wanted me to go over to their house to get ready for the party tonight. I also was going to get a ride with them to the party since Kris had given Vero my ticket. After we ate, I went back to Marc’s house with him so I could drop off my dress and other things. As soon as I was in the door, Vero grabbed me and dragged me to her car.

“We are getting Manis and Pedis.” Was all she said.

Spending the day with Vero was nice, hanging out with her was a lot like hanging out with a big sister. She talked to me about how to fix things with Sidney and how to handle being a hockey player’s girlfriend. She tried her hardest to sell Pittsburgh to me because she really wanted me there. Little did she know that I already sent in my application the day Sidney and I got into the fight.

After our day at the spa, we went back to the house to start getting ready. Before we went upstairs to ‘destroy the bathroom’ as Marc put it, Vero poured herself a glass of wine. I sighed just a little bit, tonight was going to be interesting because everyone was going to be drinking tonight except for me. I knew this was going to happen eventually and I wasn’t really worried about it, but I know at some point it’s going to bother me. It also was going to make my age stick out even more.

I was sitting on Marc and Vero’s bed just listening to the radio while Vero started on her hair. I was about to change the channel when Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” came on. I loved this song, especially the first few lines.

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
Far away and dreaming

Those three lines summed up the way I feel about Sidney. This entire song was like the theme song for my feelings for him. Vero stuck her head out the door and looked at me,

“Why are you crying?” She asked.

I wiped away the tears that were making their way down my cheek. laughing. “This song pretty much expresses the way I feel about Sidney.”

Vero smiled and walked over to stand in front of me. ‘You are too cute. You know that Sidney is just as crazy about you as you are about him.” She took a sip of her wine and smiled at me. “I think you two will get married.”

“What?”

“Oh come on Taylor. You can’t tell me that you haven’t at least thought about being married to him.”

I didn’t answer, I just lowered my head and blushed. The truth was I did think about marrying him, more times than was probably normal. Vero didn’t say anything, she just smiled and turned to her closet. I groaned and laid back on the bed, listening to the end of the song. An hour later we were all in the car on our way to the party. Vero and Marc were sitting in the front having a quiet conversation in French. I sat in the back looking at the city and listening to them talk. I just loved the way French sounded, it was so pretty. The two of them got so caught up in their conversation that when I sneezed they both jumped and I laughed..

“Oh my gosh, Taylor I totally forgot you were back there.” Vero said. “Why didn’t you just hit me or say something?”

I just chuckled. “V chill, it’s okay. I was giving you two time to talk. Plus, I was just listening to you guys talk, French is so pretty.”

“Do you speak it?” Marc asked

“No, but three certain friends of mine are supposed to teach me.” I glared at the rearview mirror and tried not to laugh.

“It’s not our faults that we don’t get to see you all the time.”

“Well that is about to change, hopefully. There also these things called phones.”

Vero just laughed and pushed Marc’s shoulder. The rest of the ride was filled with attempts by me to speak French and attempts by Marc and even Vero to speak Spanish, which means that it was also filled with laughter. When we reached the hotel the three of us got out and headed into the party.

“My ladies,” Marc said holding out his arms so Vero and I could each take one.

“Why thank you, monsieur.” I giggled, hey I used French.

Vero and Marc laughed at my attempts to use French as we walked into the party. When we walked in I immediately began looking round for Sidney, but didn’t see him anywhere. He was probably sitting somewhere where I couldn’t see him from the door.

“Flower, you have two dates when I couldn’t even get one.” Max said coming up to us.

“Whoa, Max didn’t get a date?” I asked shocked. “Mark this date down.”

“Haha, you’re so funny.” He pulled me off of Marc and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Sidney is so lucky he has you. Wait until he sees you. You look so beautiful.” He kissed my cheek and I blushed.

“Thank you, Max. So why don’t you have a date?” I asked quickly changing the subject away from me.

******

Sidney walked into the party and immediately began looking for Taylor in the crowd of players and their dates. He realized after their fight that he was indeed an ass. He shouldn’t have said those things to the girl he loved. So tonight he was going to be the perfect boyfriend for Taylor. He wasn’t going to say anything that he was going to regret tomorrow. As he looked around again, he spotted Vero and Marc sitting at their table.

“Hey guys.” He said as he approached the table. “Where’s Tay?”

“Max got her as soon as we walked in the door.” Vero said.

Sidney felt his eyes bug out a little. She was with Max, this wasn’t going to be good. Max had no boundries when he was sober and there deffenatly weren't any when he was drunk. Sidney had to find Taylor fast. “Thanks.” He turned from the table and began looking for Taylor again. He spotted her with Staalsy by the bar.

“Gronk, just because Victoria couldn’t come doesn’t mean that you can steal my girlfriend.” Sidney said.

Jordan laughed and removed his hand from Taylor’s lower back. With any other guy that little gesture would have bothered him, but he knew that Jordan and Taylor were friends and Jordan was Sidney’s best friend so he didn’t have to worry. Oh who the hell was he kidding? It still bothered him.

“Man, she came over to me.” Jordan said.

Taylor moved away from Jordan and over to Sidney. “Don’t worry.” She whispered in his ear. “Max had asked me to find him a date and as he drank more he was getting closer to me. It was making me a bit uncomfortable.”

“Then why are you with Jordan?” Sidney asked

“Because I was on my way back to the table and ran into him. I decided to stay with him and hang out for a bit.”

Sidney just rolled his eyes and turned to talk to the group of guys that Jordan was talking to. Taylor huffed and started making her way back to the table. Sidney excused himself from the group and followed her.That's when he noticed that she was wearing a simple sparkly black dress and black heels. Her hair was down and had her natural curls to it. The entire thing wasn’t over the top, it was simple and it worked for her. When Sidney caught up with her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. When he first wrapped his arms around her, she jumped but once she recognized who it was she relaxed.

“You look so beautiful tonight Taylor.” He whispered, kissing her cheek. She turned around and looked him up and down.

“Thanks, so do you.”She smiled

Sidney led her to the table that they were sharing with Marc, Vero, Geno, and his date, though Taylor didn’t know that Anna was coming. When Sidney sat down, he looked over to the door and smiled, Evgeni had walked in with his date on his arm. She had noticed that he was looking at something over her shoulder so she followed his gaze and let out a squeal before jumping out of her seat. Sidney sat back in his chair and watched his girlfriend interact with her best friend. It was little thing like this that reminded him that she was still a teenager and needed to see her other friends, but he loved her no matter who she was friends with.

******
I looked over at Sidney who was smiling like a mad man and I had no idea why. I noticed that he was staring at something over my shoulder so I followed his gaze and when mine settled on a very familiar couple I let out a screech and ran over to my best friend.

“Anna!” I called

“Taylor!” She called back.

Geno laughed and kissed Anna before heading over to the table. Anna and I stood there for a little bit catching up then found ourselves sitting on the couches in the corner. While we were talking a waiter came over with a tray of Champaign.

“Champaign ladies?” He offered. Normally I didn’t drink, but tonight was a special occasion, so I accepted one. Anna just waved them off with a quiet, ‘no thank you.'

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I took a sip. “So you are drinking?”

“Tonight is a special occasion and that’s the only time that I have this.” I said taking another sip.

“What about your parents?”

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them. It’s not like I’m going to get drunk out of my mind.” I took another sip. “You know you’d be the last person I’d expect to turn down alcohol. Weren’t you the one that said you’d be drinking as soon as you got to college?”

Anna just laughed lightly and turned her attention to our table across the room. “Um,” She said quietly.

“What’s wrong Anna?” I turned and looked behind me and felt my eyes widen when I saw Sidney charging at me like an angry bull and I was holding the red flag. “Shit.” I mumbled and turned back to Anna. I held my breath, waiting for Sidney to get to us.

“Taylor, can I speak with you?” He asked calmly. Underneath I could sense he was pissed and fuming.

I sighed and just looked at him. “Sure Sid, what’s up?”

“Outside?”

I put my drink down and slowly got up. Sidney grabbed my arm and pulled me with him to the front door. Anna followed behind us and I noticed Vero getting up as well. When we got outside Sidney dropped my arm and glared at me. He was actually starting to scare me. He sighed and ran his hand down his face. At that moment I noticed that he only did that when he was frustrated or upset.

“Sidney, what’s up?” I asked quietly.

“Why the hell did I see a glass of Champaign in your hand?” He asked. I went to answer but he cut me off. “You’re only eighteen, you’re not old enough.” I rolled my eyes and closed my mouth because what I wanted to say at the moment would have been a bad idea. So I just stood there and took whatever he threw at me. “So who was the one getting closer? You or Max? Or was it Jordan?” He sneered

What the hell? He was accusing me of cheating on him. “What the hell do you mean?” I was finally able to say.

“Well you said ‘Max’ was getting closer with each drink. Are you sure it wasn’t you?”

“No! Sidney, I would never do anything like that. Max was the one getting too close.” I took a deep breath. “Jordan and I are friends and you know that. Plus he has a girlfriend.”

“You'd never do that? I just saw a glass of Champaign in your fucking hand Taylor.”

“That I only had like two sips from. It’s not the first time that I have had it. I have been to weddings and other events where it was served."

“Well that still doesn’t explain why Jordan and apparently Max where all over you.”

“Sidney, Max was only with me because I was finding him a date, which I did, and you don’t have to worry about Jordan.” I turned to go back inside, but Sidney grabbed my arm.

“Taylor, do me a favor and stay away from Max and Jordan. And no more drinking.”

“You’re not my father! You’re my boyfriend and really have no right telling me who I can and can’t hang out with!” I screamed.

“I’m not telling you that.”

“Stay away from Max and Jordan.” I quoted.

Sidney growled and began pacing on the sidewalk.

“As for drinking, I’m not drinking a lot or even hard liquor. So just chill out and let me be."

He stopped pacing and stopped in front of me. “Taylor you’re eighteen! I’m not going to sit by and watch you do something illegal!” He yelled.

I stood a bit straightened and looked him in the eye. I did not like him yelling at me for no reason. “Do not yell at me, Sidney. I’m not a child, I know not to drink a lot or even at all.” I ripped my arm out of his grip. I was now pacing. Sidney was really starting to get to me. “Why are you all of a sudden yelling at me?”

“I’m not yelling at you.” He said

“Yes you are and it’s not just tonight but the other day too.”

“The other day was a pointless fight and I’m sorry we had it. But tonight, I’m not yelling at you. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“Nothing is going on!” I shrieked “What don’t you understand about that?”

“What I don’t understand is why my girlfriend had two guys–my friends-all over her.”

“Nothing is going on with them. Like you said, they are your friends. They respect you.”

“Bull shit! If they respected me then they wouldn’t be flirting with you.”

“They weren’t flirting-well Jordan wasn’t. How come you freak out when I hang out with Jordan, but not when I hang out with Geno, Tanger, or Flower.”

“I trust Kris. Geno and Flower have girlfriends, one of which is pregnant.”

I had forgotten that Anna and Vero had followed us outside, that is until they gasped. Apparently he wasn’t supposed to say anything. I turned to look at my friends. Vero shook her head and we both looked at Anna who was smiling.

“Anna are you?’ I asked quietly

She just smiled and Vero hugged her and I turned to Sidney and glared at him. He had no right to spill her big news.

“You’re an asshole.” Was all I said before walking over to my friends. I gave Anna a big hug and walked inside with them.Once we got inside Vero, Anna, and I sat at a separate table so that we could talk. I also didn’t want to be anywhere near Sidney at the moment.

“So that’s why you didn’t drink earlier?” I smiled

“Yeah, I was going to tell you before this whole Sidney thing went down.” She said

I sighed. “Speaking about Sidney, I’m sorry about him spilling the beans.”

“It’s okay.”

“No it’s not, it was your news to tell” I looked over to our table where the guys where talking and laughing. Sidney looked at me at the same time that I looked at him and instead of the love filled look I was growing use to, what I got was a blank glare. “He’s an asshole.” I said before turning back to the girls, hoping he could read my lips.

“Hey, question.” I laughed. “Does Geno know?”

“Um, not yet. I was going to tell him tonight.”

Vero and I smiled at the idea. “That’s really cute.” I said. “You’re going to tell him at midnight right?”

“Yeah that’s what I was thinking.”

“I think it’s a good idea too.” Vero said standing up. “I’m going to go back to the table. Taylor are you coming?”

“No, I think I’ll just sit here by myself.” I said quietly.

Vero sent a sad smile in my direction and went over to the table. I could see Sidney asking her a question and she shook her head and he looked over at me, but I turned my attention to Anna to continue talking about her plans with the baby.

*****

Sidney sat at the table with his friends, drinking another drink. He doesn’t normally drink much because of his status in the city, but tonight he really needed to loosen up and just try and forget what was going on with Taylor. Every once in a while he would look over to the table where she was sitting with Vero and Anna, laughing. Sidney sighed and took a sip of his drink. At one point during the night he turned to look at her and saw her talking to the waiter, he held his breath and hoped she wasn’t ordering more Champaign.

“Sidney?” Hearing Jordan call his name pulled his attention away from his upset girlfriend and back to his friends.

“Yeah Jordan?” He replied.

“Are you okay?”

Sidney ran a hand down his face and released his breath. “I don’t know Taylor and I are having some issues right now.”

Jordan just simply nodded and dropped the subject by striking up a conversation with Flower. Sidney looked over at Taylor’s table again and swore when he saw a glass of light colored liquid in her hands. He knew she was doing this to piss him off and it was working. His waitress came over to their table and he ordered himself another drink. Two can play that game.

****

Sidney was pissed and I could care less. I ordered a sparkling cider for me and Anna just to mess with him, though if he was as smart as I knew he was he would have noticed that Anna and I were drinking the same thing and she wasn’t supposed to be drinking, but I still pushed my luck with him. I frowned to myself when I saw his response to the glass in my hand, he ordered yet another drink.

It was five minutes until midnight and I decided that I needed to leave. I didn’t want to be near Sidney right now and when the clock struck midnight I didn’t want to be within kissing distance of him. As I said my goodbyes to Anna, Vero and the guys, I ignored the looks I was getting from Sidney. I would see enough of him once he got home later on.

I hailed a cab and climbed into the warm backseat. I sat back and tried to relax for the twenty minute drive back to the apartment. During the ride, the clock struck midnight so I called my mom and dad and wished them a happy new year. As we drove through the city, I looked out my window and watched the fireworks light up the night sky.

“Happy New Year.” The cabbie said

“Thank you, you too.” I said lightly.

Finally the cab pulled up in front of the apartment and I paid the fare. Before shutting my door I wished the driver a happy new year again. I slowly made my way up the steps to our door and unlocking it. I put on my pajama pants and one of Sidney’s shirts, took my contacts out, and made a cup of tea. With my tea in my hand I made my way out to the living room and looked around at all the pictures of me and Sidney. Instantly tears sprang to my eyes and overflowed down my cheeks. I had no idea what was going on in that pretty head of his but I did know that I need some advice. I grabbed my phone and dialed the very familiar numbers of mom’s cell phone. As the phone rang I prayed that she was still awake..I needed my mom.

“Hey baby girl,” Mom said. “How are you?”

I sighed. “Mom I need help. I don’t know what to do.”

“What’s wrong?”

I sprung into the long explanation of what was going on between me and Sidney. Everything from Sarah and the fight that followed that to my drinking one lousy glass of Champaign to the fight that followed that. When I finished I was all upset again. I wasn’t sad upset, I was pissed upset because we weren’t supposed to be fighting like we were so much. We were supposed to be happy with the other person all the time.

“Sweetie, it sounds like both you and Sidney have some jealousy issues you need to work out.” Mom paused for a second. “Maybe you should come home early, see what that does for things.”

“So what you are saying is to take a break from everything here?” I asked trying to clarify what mom was suggesting. “I don’t want to leave all pissed off, but he won’t talk to me. He starts getting all mad at me and then we end up fighting again.” I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. “Mom, I don’t want to break up with him.”

“I’m not saying break up with him, I’m saying that coming home might help clear some things up. As for him not talking to you? He’s a man, they don’t talk.”

I chuckled and then yawned. “I get what you are saying mom. I’ll try to talk to him, but that might be difficult because he is going to be very hung over tomorrow.” I chuckled dryly and then yawned again. “Alright mom, I’m going to head to bed. I’ve had a very long day. Love you and see ya in a couple of days.”

“Okay sweetie, love you too.”

I finished my tea and made my way to bed. I crawled under the covers and sighed. Tomorrow Sidney and I were going to talk. I hugged his pillow to my chest and soon fell asleep.

****
It was midnight and Taylor was nowhere to be found. Sidney thought that she was kidding when she said she was leaving, but apparently she wasn’t. Sidney took a large gulp of his drink as everyone kissed their significant others. At that moment he realized that he shouldn’t have freaked out on Taylor, but everything inside of him just exploded. If he wouldn’t have done that then she would be here, ringing in the new year with him.

Marc-Andre and Vero came up beside him and Marc took his arm, but Sidney pulled it out of his grasp. “Sidney,” Marc sighed. “You’re a mess. Vero and I are going to take you home. You need to sleep this off.”

“No.” Sidney whined. “I don’t want to go.” He slurred.

“Sidney, you need to go home and then tomorrow morning talk to your girlfriend.” Vero said.

“Why the fuck do I have to talk to her?”

“Because you messed up. Not only did you spill someone’s big secret, you acted like an ass, and you yelled at her for no reason what so ever. She’s a very matured girl Sidney, she can look out for herself. She doesn’t need you there to tell her what she can and can’t do. She was right earlier when she said you aren’t her father. You’re her boyfriend, so start acting like it. Starting with making this all better tomorrow morning.”

“Let’s go man, you’re not thinking straight.” Marc said.

Sidney sighed and gave into Marc and Vero. He let them drag him to their car and shove him in the back seat. As they drove, Sidney just sat there looking out the window and thinking about everything that happened with Taylor. Once they got to the apartment, Marc help Sidney up the steps and into the apartment.

Once inside Sidney shrugged off Marc’s helping hand. “I got it from here.” He huffed.

“Call me in the morning.” Marc answered before walking out the door.

When Sidney heard the front door shut, he stumbled his way down the hallway to their room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he looked into the room. Taylor had fallen asleep hugging his pillow, and she was wearing one of his shirts. He also noticed that she still had tear stains on her cheeks. Sidney sighed softly and stripped down to his boxers. Once he was ready for bed he carefully removed the pillow from Taylor’s grip and put his body in its spot.

“I love you Taylor and I’m so sorry.” He whispered before passing out.