Unfamiliar Territory

Walking through the parking lot of a large, silver, dome shaped building in downtown Pittsburgh, Paige LaBianca was lost beyond belief.
The twenty year old student was a transfer to Duquesne University and had no idea where she was in relation to her new school.
Paige ran a hand through her dirty blond hair, her green eyes searching for someone to approach for help.
It was an oddly nice March day and there were several cars in the lot at 2:30 in the afternoon.
The girl had been wandering around the city and didn't even recognize much of her surroundings. It was her first week at the school; spring break had just finished and classes were in session.
This particular Saturday was Paige's day to explore and she was obviously doing a horrible job.

Paige saw a silver Range Rover pull into the lot and her hopes immediately increased.
Once the car parked, a man in a suit got out and Paige made her way toward him.

"Excuse me," she called, catching his attention and making him turn to face her. Paige was awestruck, and he apparently was too.

This man was handsome and looked to be around her age. He was taller than her five foot seven frame and had dark brown hair with hazel eyes.

"I'm really, really sorry to bother you," she started and he watched her intently, as if he knew exactly what he was going to say.

"I just transferred to Duquesne and I'm out exploring and well.. This is really embarrassing, but I'm lost." Paige saw a look of relief hit his face and she couldn't figure out why.

"Well, you're actually pretty close!" the guy spoke, letthing his kind voice fill the air with accent that Paige instantly loved.

"Seriously? Do you think you can give me directions? I'd really appreciate it!"

"I honestly have the worst sense of direction. You'd probably end up in Ohio if I gave you directions, you know?" he said, making the girl laugh.

"That makes two of us. Do you know where I can get some directions then?"

"My coworkers would know. Want to come inside with me?" he asked, pointing to the huge round building that said 'Mellon Arena' on the sign.

"You work there? I mean, I would.. But I don't even know your name!" Paige said hesitantly. She didn't want to get murdered in a Pittsburgh parking lot.

"That's understandable. My name is Sid," he smiled, reaching out and shaking her hand.

"I'm Paige. Nice to meet you. Okay, we can go now," she laughed.

Sid got a large bag out of the back of his car and they began to walk to the daunting arena.

"So what do you do here?" Paige was trying to be polite, wanting to know more about this rather attractive guy.

"Oh, this and that. I have a lot of roles here," he shrugged, "What are you going to Duquesne for?"

"Well I was at a school in Russia to major in political science, but I transferred here and changed over to communication," she told him.

"You don't have a Russian accent," Sid noticed.

"Yeah? Well I'm from Seattle, so they're not really common there," Paige explained, trying not to giggle.

"Ahh, I see. That's cool though," he said, opening a door for her and she walked in.

Sid led her to some offices, where he told her to wait so he could get somebody. Paige looked around, noticing pictures everywhere. She didn't take the time to inspect them closely though; she was checking her texts. Her room mate was worried, but Paige assured her she was okay.

'A cute boy is getting me directions!' the message read as she hit send.

Sid soon returned with another well dressed guy who was around a smiliar age.

"Paige, this is Max. He told me where you need to go. I can walk you since it's not too far away."

"Really? That would be awesome! Thank you.." the girl was beyond grateful.

"Cool. Don't take too long though, Sidney. We got work to do," Max said, then turned to Paige, "It was great meeting you."

"You too," Paige nodded at the good looking man, who winked at her as she left for the parking lot with Sidney, only this time he was wearing a baseball hat with the letters 'RBK' on it.

As the two walked and talked, Paige noticed that Sidney was constantly looking around, as if he was nervous or something.

"What are you doing that for?" she asked and he seemed caught off guard.

"Just a habit I guess," he shrugged, walking across the street and ignoring the 'Do Not Walk' signal.

"Isn't this dangerous?" the girl asked, following him closely.

"Everyone does it here. You get used to it.."

Suddenly a car blew its horn at them as it drove by and Sidney waved, a bright pink coming over his cheeks.

"The people here are really friendly," Sidney told her, not leaving any room for discussion.

They got to the top of the hill in a little less than fifteen minutes and they looked at each other.

"Thank you so much.. You have no idea how much this means," Paige thanked him.

"You're very welcome. I know what it's like to be new here. You get adjusted pretty quick," Sidney smiled sweetly.

"I don't know how to make it up to you.."

"You don't have to, really," he said, shaking his head.

"No, I'm going to. It's how I was raised. Can I take you out for dinner?" she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"If you're gonna be adament about it, then ok."

"Good.. Well, I don't have a car so we can eat on campus or locally or something like that..."

"I can drive us somewhere, it's cool," Sidney offered.

"Alright. So how about six thirty tonight?"

"Actually, I'm working until about ten. How's tomorrow sound?"

"Yeah, that's fine." She gave him her cell phone number and he promised to text her as soon as he got off work.

They quickly said their goodbyes and hugged before Sidney went back down the street and Paige went to her dorm.

Paige's room mate, Hilary, was relieved when she walked through the door.

"I thought you were a goner!" Hilary laughed.

"Luckily I came across his guy who got me back here," she told the red head.

"Yeah! You said he was cute. What did he look like?"

Paige described him as best she could, but it wasn't good enough for Hilary.

"You're a communications major who can't properly communicate," Hilary said as she rolled her eyes.

"Gee, thanks Hil."

The girls hung out then got dinner, then they went to their dorm and Paige started some studying while listening to music.

"Can you turn that down? The Pens game is coming on," Hilary hissed.

She was a mega fan, where as Paige was totally uninterested in anything hockey related. She had seen enough enough hockey in Russia to last a lifetime.

"Fine.. Just calm down," Paige sighed, plugging her headphones into the jack and continuing to study.

She was constantly checking her phone, expecting a text from Sidney at any second as ten rolled around. Hilary was in a good mood; her Penguins won. But Paige was antsy.

"What if he was lying and isn't going to text me?" Paige asked and Hilary gave her a look.

"Paige! He'd be an idiot not to. And you know what, if he doesn't, this guy obviously isn't worth your time."

"Thanks Hil. You're such a wonderful friend."

It wasn't until after midnight that Paige recieved a text.

'Hey it's Sidney. Sorry I didn't text earlier. Pick you up at 6, ok?'

Paige typed back a quick, 'Okay! See you then! :)'

The girls lounged around all Sunday, and while Paige was getting ready for dinner Hilary was leaving for work.

"So, want me to bunk down the hall tonight in case you bring this guy back for some private time?" Hilary asked, making Paige blush.

"That would be cool."

The girl was wearing a spring time dress. It was a dark blue, sweetheart neck spaghetti strap, and she paired it with a white sweater and gladiator sandals.

"Aren't you gonna be cold?"

"Please. I basically lived in Siberia. This is summer weather," Paige said as she curled strands of her hair to make it wavy. Hilary helped her with her natural makeup look, then went to work.
At six sharp, Paige's phone went off.

"Hey it's Sidney. I'm at the place where we were yesterday if you wouldn't mind meeting me.."

"Sure, I'll be right there!" The girl hung up, grabbed her purse and left the dorm.

She greeted Sidney with a hug, noticing his cologne and how well dressed he was in a pair of tan slacks, a dress shirt and tie.

"I heard about this burger place in Bloomfield... It's supposed to be amazing," he told her as he opened the passenger door of his car, closing it after she got in.

"Alrighty then! I'm down for a burger," Paige smiled as Sidney started the engine.

They arrived at the small, out of the way restaurant and walked in. The two were seated toward the back, as per Sidney's subtle request.

After ordering, they started to get to know each other. Paige had a very distinct taste in music, where Sidney liked 'everything'. The pair had similar favourite movies like Zoolander and Wedding Crashers. They both played Xbox in their spare time, which wasn't much for either of them.

"This place is really cool," Paige noticed. It was obviously a local's kind of place that had great food.

"Yeah. I don't get to come here often, so whenever I get the chance," Sidney shrugged.

"You don't get out much or date a lot do you?" she asked, immediately realizing how awkward that sounded.

"I'm sorry.. That was rude of me," Paige blushed.

"Don't be sorry, it's true!" Sidney laughed, making her smile and feel at ease.

"I don't get out much either, so it's okay," Paige confessed.

"Don't tell me that you're not out all the time dating and being a social butterfly."

"Definitely not," Paige told him, taking a sip of Pepsi.

"Remember Max?" Sidney asked and Paige nodded.

"He keeps trying to get me to hook you two up."

"Oh really?" she laughed slightly, feeling her cheeks get hot.

"Yeah. But I'm not going to."

"And why's that?"

"No reason," he told her, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Mmhmm, sure," she nodded.

When they finished dinner, Paige insisted that she pay but Sidney wouldn't have it. He drove back to Duquesne and Paige invited him to her dorm.

"Don't they lock it down?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Not until two am on weekends. You have to sign in though."

The pair played Call of Duty and talked until just before two. Paige walked Sidney down to check out and then went with him out into the chilly night.

"I had a really good time tonight," Paige said, looking up at him with a smile.

"Me too. I'd love to see you again.." Sidney sounded a little nervous, which Paige found to be quite cute.

"I'd like that too. Give me a call whenever you're free."

"I will for sure," Sid said, giving the girl a kiss on the cheek.

Over the next few weeks, Sidney and Paige went out consistantly, growing closer than either had anticipated.

Paige never expected to get involved with someone after being in Pittsburgh for only a few weeks and Sidney didn't forsee himself getting intimate with anyone with his busy schedule. He made time for Paige though, no matter what.

The only thing that bothered Paige was that she had no idea what Sidney did for a living. She knew that he worked at Mellon Arena and travelled. He would talk about the weather in Florida or Minnesota, or the types of food the places were known for.

Whenever Sidney dropped Paige off after a date, she would bring him up to her dorm, knowing her room mate would be gone. Hilary was taking an overload of classes and working at Souper Bowl, a restaurant near the college. This particular day was no different.

"Come here," Paige smiled brightly, taking Sidney's hand and pulling him to her bed, "Sit with me."

Paige sat up by her pillow, facing the foot of her bed and Sidney sat in front of her.

"What's up?" he asked, his hazel eyes searching her green ones for some sort of clue.

"I just wanted to tell you that this last month has been great. I'm actually really glad I got lost.," she told him sincerely, then leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss.

When Paige pulled away she watched Sidney for a reaction. He simply sat there, speechless.

"I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to be too forward," Paige began to apologize but Sidney cut her off with a kiss of his own.

"I'm glad you got lost too," he grinned, giving her another warm kiss, which Paige happily returned.

Sidney wanted to keep their relationship quiet due to work, among other things, and Paige somewhat understood. She noticed the attention Sid got when they went out and she wanted to know why, but never asked, figuring that he would tell her eventually.

During a quiet lunch outside of the city, Paige told Sidney about her upcoming internship.

"So it looks like we're gonna be working together!" she told him excitedly.

"Howso?" he asked, extremely interested.

"I got an internship with the hockey team that plays at the arena! The Penguins? Yeah." When it came to one of the sports Pittsburgh was so passionate about, Paige tended to look the other way. She preferred soccer or even baseball.

Sidney nearly choked on his sandwich.

"What?" he asked when he was able to breathe again.

"I know! I didn't really want to.. My room mate is obsessed with the Penguins. She's in love with that one guy. You've seen the posters of him in the dorm," Paige told Sidney, who never really said anything about her room mate or had any desire to meet her.

"Oh, Staals-" Sidney stopped himself, "Staal. When do you start?"

"On Monday I'm supposed to go to their practice and introduce myself to the players. I have to get quotes from them about their upcoming road games."

"Oh... Well that's cool," Sidney was acting differently now and Paige could tell.

"What's going on with you?" she asked.

"Nothing! I've met a bunch of those guys, so you'll have a good time," he assured the girl.

Monday morning around nine am, Paige entered Mellon Arena. She was dressed to impress; a pair of dark jeans, a simple, cute navy blouse and a fitted blazer. Not knowing what to expect from these men, she had a notepad as well as a small recorder to get quotes.

Most of the players were in the dressing room getting ready for practice, a few were on the ice, and apparently a few weren't even there yet. When Paige saw the mass of young men walking around half dressed, she felt her heart begin to race.

The girl's supervisor introduced her to the group, then left her to fend for herself.
Paige looked around nervously, spotting a friendly looking guy and approaching him.

"Hi, I'm Paige LaBianca. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

"Not at all. Take a seat," the guy replied.

Paige sat on the bench next to the blond haired, rosy-cheeked, boyish player.

"I'm Ruslan, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Paige shook his hand.

When she finished conducting the mini-interview, Paige moved on to another player. She had interviewed Ruslan as well as guys named Kris, Pascal, Tyler and Evgeni. Paige and Evgeni got along extremely well, doing their interview in Russian and having a good time joking about everything.

Around ten thirty, when Paige was getting ready to leave, the door to the dressing room opened.
Thinking nothing of it, Paige continued talking to Evgeni about their frightening experiences with sandwiches from Primanti Brother's.

"It's about time you got here, Sid!" one of the players, Marc-Andre, laughed and Paige's head shot up.

In the doorway stood Paige's boyfriend, wearing a Penguins shirt and hat, carrying several sticks and tape.

"Sidney?" she asked, staring at him in disbelief. She was beyond confused; she was angry and bewildered.

"Paige- I can explain," Sidney began, but the girl was already heading out the nearest exit.

It was taking Paige a while to find her way around the underbelly of the arena; the way she left wasn't the way she came in. The upset girl wandered the halls until she came across the one person she absolutely didn't want to see.

Sidney wore a nervous look as he approached Paige.

"Get away from me," she hissed, staring down at her feet as she tried to walk by him, but he only stopped her.

"Paige, please look at me," he said softly and her eyes slowly rose to meet his.

"I didn't want you to find out like this.."

"Like how? On my internship? How exactly were you going to keep the fact that you play on an NHL team when I intern for them?"

"I wanted to tell you.. I really did, you know. It's been so nice to be with someone who has no idea who I am."

"And who is that, exactly? I want to know who I've really been falling for these past two months." In her anger, Paige let it slip that she had been falling in love with him, which made the man smile.

"I'm Sidney Crosby, captain of the Penguins. That's why I get noticed every time we go somewhere. The fans here are pretty good about letting me have space.." Sidney's voice trailed off, watching Paige with a worried look.

"I had a feeling that it was too good to be true.. I can never just meet a nice guy.."

"That's the thing. I am a nice guy," Sidney reasoned, but Paige wouldn't listen.

"No, you lied to me from the very beginning. I wouldn't have thought any differently of you if you had introduced yourself as who you really are."

"As opposed to?"

"As opposed to 'Sid, normal guy.' You're anything but ordinary," Paige told him.

"I felt like I was myself with you.. I did let you see the real me, just not my occupation. I wanted you to be able to go around town without being bombarded with questions or anything like that about me or us. Only a few of my team mates even know that I've been seeing you."

"My roomie doesn't even know we've been dating either.. She thinks it was just that one time," Paige admitted, feeling her anger waning, "No. You lied to me. I have to go."

The girl looked around, trying to find an exit.

"Let me walk you out. I want to sort through this," Sidney said, gently taking her hand.

Paige didn't object; she silently walked beside him as he led her to where she had come in.

"Look, I have to go to practice. Can we talk about this soon though? It'll give you time to think."

"Fine, whatever," Paige sighed, squeezing Sidney's hand. Even though she was shocked and furious, he still managed to hold on to her affection. Sidney smiled, knowing she would give him a chance to work everything out.

"See you later," she said, releasing Sidney's hand and walking out the door back to campus.

When Paige got back to her dorm, Hilary was there doing some reading.

"Hey Hil."

"What's up?" Hilary asked; she could tell something was going on.

"A lot. You know that guy I went out with a while ago?"

"Yeah?"

"Well we've been dating since then," Paige admitted.

"What the hell? How could you not tell me?" Hilary gaped.

"There's more though.. You might freak out." The girl was very hesitant to tell Hilary.

"I knew that he works at the arena.. Today when I started my internship, I actually found out what he does."

Hilary's eyes lit up.

"Does he deal with ticket sales?" She was always trying to get into games.

"Not exactly," Paige said as she sat on her bed, "He's the captain of the team."

"You're kidding, right?" Hilary atared as Paige shook her head.

"I'm definitely not. I flipped out and he wants to come talk to me later, but I'm not sure if I want to talk to him."

"Why did you flip?"

"He wasn't honest with me about what he does.. I mean, it's basically who he is. That's kind of important."

"Paige, do you know how rare it is to come across someone here who doesn't know who Sidney Crosby is? He's practically a god in Pittsburgh. If I were him, and I met a girl that liked me but had no clue that who I was.."

"You would do the same thing," Paige finished.

Paige's phone rang a few hours later; it was a number she didn't recognize.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Paige? It's Max Talbot," the familiar voice said to her.

"Oh hi, Max!" Paige smiled, catching Hilary's attention.

"Is that Maxime Talbot?" she asked and Paige nodded.

Hilary let out a shrill scream, shaking her fist at her room mate.

"What was that?" Max asked with a laugh.

"Sorry, that was my friend... What's up? How did you get my number?" Paige was curious.

"I got it from Sid's phone when he wasn't looking... He's freaking out right now.. He has no idea what to do, so I thought I'd call you."

"Oh..." Paige murmured.

"Look, you're the first girl that Sid's gotten really attached to. But he's in unfamiliar territory when it comes to these things... He seriously has some mad feelings for you," Max explained, "You can't just shut him out."

"And I don't want to.. Will you tell him to come see me?" Paige was slowly realizing that this wasn't worth losing someone like Sidney over.

"Definitely... I'll go tell him now."

"Thanks Max," she smiled, telling him bye and hanging up her phone. As soon as she put her phone down, Hilary punched her in the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?" Paige yelped.

"For talking on the phone to Max Talbot and not letting me say anything to him!"

"Well sorry!" she answered sarcastically.

Sidney called Paige a half an hour later, telling her that he was on campus. Hilary had a class to go to, so she went with Paige to the university's football field. The girls saw Sidney sitting on the bleachers on the other side of the field.

"Go for it girl. I have a feeling that you two get along well. I knew you had to be seeing someone this whole time; you were always in a good mood," Hilary said, pushing Paige toward the field.

Walking across the terf, Paige made her way over to Sidney, who smiled when she sat beside him.

"I'm glad you decided to talk to me.. You have no idea how sorry I am for not telling you.." Sidney started, as if he had rehearsed on his way over.

"It's okay, I'm not mad," Paige told him and his jaw dropped.

"You're not?"

"Nope," she shook her head, "If I were you, I would have done the exact same thing."

"Seriously? I don't even know what to say.."

"You don't have to say anything. I'm sorry that I got all worked up," Paige apologized, ruffling her hair as the wind blew.

"You had the right to. Are we ok though?" Sidney asked, "I just want to be sure."

Paige nodded, leaning against his shoulder trying to stay warm.

"Want my jacket?" Sidney offered.

"No, it's fine.." the girl shook her head, but Sidney didn't buy it. He pulled off his Reebok sweatshirt and slipped it on over her head.

"Thanks," she smiled, giving him a hug. It was those little things that made it difficult for Paige to be mad at Sidney.

"I want you to come to my game tomorrow night," Sidney said as they walked across the field toward her dorm.

"Oh yeah? How come?" Paige asked, swinging their entwined hands back and forth.

"I want you to see exactly what I do," Sidney smiled at her, "We could get something to eat after too.."

"You're just sweetening the deal, aren't you?" Paige asked with a laugh.

"Is it working?"

"Maybe," she shrugged and Sidney pulled her to a stop in the middle of academic row, where the majority of classes were held.

"Sid, come on. I want to get inside. It's getting nasty out.."

The weather had quickly become rainy and cold, but he didn't seem to care.

"Hold on, there's something I have to do," he said, pulling her closer to him.

"And what would that be?" she asked and he leaned in, giving her a kiss that practically knocked Paige off her feet.

When he finally backed away, he held onto her to keep her steady, smiling as he said, "That."