I'll Be Your Friend, I'll Help You Carry On

five

“So what do you guys want to do today? We’ve been to the mall, we went to Mario’s house, what else?” Sidney asked one morning.

Troy, Taylor, and Sidney were sitting at the kitchen table as Chantal and Trina cooked the breakfast for that morning; French toast and bacon. All of the plates, cutlery, and glasses sat on the table as well as the orange juice and the pot of coffee that was half empty.

Sid’s family only had a few more days until their flight back home to Cole Harbor, and even though the beginning of the trip hadn’t gone exactly to plan, the last few days had been fun. Taylor had kept her opinions to herself and Sidney had seen Chantal making an effort to talk to her on every outing they’d been on. It made him proud to date someone like Chantal.

“Could we go downtown, Sid?” Taylor asked as she sipped her orange juice and pushed back her bangs.

Sidney nodded, “Sure. We can go to all of the little shops and restaurants; is that okay with everyone?”

Everyone nodded, some voicing their opinion, and the conversation continued on. Chantal smiled as she brought over the big plate of bacon, putting them down on the lazy susan in the middle of the table. Troy reach over to grab one quickly but Chantal lightly smacked him on the hand, “Not yet.”

Troy laughed and nodded, “Okay, I’ll wait.”

Chantal smiled and leaned over to Sidney giving him a small kiss on the lips as he smiled back into the kiss. He could hear a small scoff, but disregarded it as he pulled her face in a little closer and kissed her again.

“You look beautiful,” he said to Chantal, smiling at her outfit; black, jean shorts and a purple short sleeved top.

“Thank you, Sid.”

Trina brought over the French toast and the family dug in quickly. Sidney smiled as his girlfriend talked with his father, smiling and laughing at the, most likely, lame jokes he was making.

As soon as breakfast was over, everyone went and grabbed their cell phones and sunglasses and went over to the door to slip on their shoes.

“So we’ll drive down and park somewhere, and then walk around for most of the day, alright?” Sidney asked as everyone got into his SUV.

“Sounds good, babe,” Chantal said as she turned the radio on.

Sidney drove down to the highway to get downtown with the windows rolled down and music playing in the background. There was laughing and talking going through the car and it immediately put a smile on Sid’s face. This is what he wanted all along; for his family and his girl to get along.

Sidney found a spot downtown on Fifth Avenue, that didn’t require paying, and parked.

“So this is Fifth Ave. There’s a ton of shops and whatnot along the road and there’s a few shops on the roads connecting. We’ll meet back here in 2 hours and go for lunch? Good for everyone?” Sidney asked, grasping Chantal’s in his own.

“Perfect,” Taylor said, smiling and turned to walk with Trina down the street.

Chantal and Sidney took off down the opposite side of the road, towards some of the more expensive shops, holding hands as the sun was beating down on them.

“Y’know, she’s not that bad when she’s not insulting me,” Chantal said to Sidney.

Sidney giggled, “She has been better, hasn’t she? We still need to work it out though, she can’t privately hate you; I won’t let her.”

Chantal smiled and gripped his hand a little bit tighter as they walked by a few jewelry shops. Chantal glanced at the sparkling diamonds in the window, biting her lip as Sidney started to slow down.

“I actually wanted to go in here for a minute; It’s my moms birthday about a week after they leave but I want to give her something face-to-face,” Sidney told his girlfriend, pulling her into the store.

The entire store was sparkling with diamonds and gold and Chantal walked away from Sidney and over to the necklaces and rings. Sidney kept an eye on her as an attendant walked over to her to help.

Sidney, instead, walked over to the bracelets he had seen the week before and smiled as the same man came up to him.

“Is that your girlfriend?” He asked Sidney, opening the glass.

Sidney nodded and pointed to the bracelet he wanted for his mother, “Yeah. When we leave, can you please call my house with the numbers and styles she’s looking at right now?”

The man smiled and nodded, “Of course, Mr. Crosby. I’d be happy to.”

The man wrapped up the bracelet, putting it in the box and putting the box into a bag. Sidney nodded thanks to the man and walked over to Chantal.

“See anything you like?” Sidney asked her, wrapping an arm around her slim waist.

Chantal pointed at a white gold necklace, with the four diamonds hanging from the bottom, “I love that. My mother has a necklace like that. I used to put it on before she went out with my dad.”

Sidney smiled and looked up at the man that came to help her and gave him a wink, “Anything else?”

Chantal shrugged and turned around, “A few other things caught my attention.”

Sidney nodded, “Alright, well let’s shop some more, I got the bracelet for my mom. We have about an hour left.”

The couple walked out of the store, hand in hand, both sliding their sunglasses down to their eyes as they were met with the bright sun again.

“What do you want to do now?” Sidney asked as they walked down the sidewalk.

“Clothes shopping?” She asked, looking up at Sidney with a hopeful grin.

He reluctantly nodded, “Clothes shopping it is.”

It wasn’t his favourite thing in the world, but if it meant going in the change room with her while she changed, he’d do it any day.

---

“Could you put the three on hold for me? I’ll come down this week to look at them,” Sidney said quietly into the phone.

The jeweler had left a message on the phone and as soon as the group got back, Sidney checked the messages before Chantal could.

“Alright, thank you very much. Bye.”

Sidney grinned as he thought of how happy Chantal would potentially be in a few weeks.

“Who was that?” Troy asked, walking into the kitchen.

His son was bent over the kitchen bar with the phone now on the table and a silly grin on his face; the kind he’d get from scoring a goal when he was younger.

Sidney turned around and bit his lip, “I actually wanted to ask you something, Dad.”

Troy nodded and sat down on one of the chairs, “Shoot.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking recently, and it’s actually one of the reasons I was so excited for you to come. I’ve been thinking of asking Chantal to marry me,” Sidney whispered the last part to this father, in case anyone was near the kitchen, a blush starting to creep up his cheeks.

Troy looked over at his son. Sidney had accomplished so much in his young 22 years, more than Troy had ever thought possible.

“Do you love her? Do you love her so much that you’d do anything in the world for her?” Troy asked his son the same question his father had asked him.

Without hesitating, Sidney nodded, “Of course. She’s my world.”

Troy slowly nodded, “Would you kill for her?”

Again, without hesitation, Sidney nodded, “If it came to it, I would. Without a doubt.”

“Then I believe you’re ready to marry her.”