Our Goodbyes

It was two in the morning when Sidney came home trying as quietly as he could to sneak into the small apartment. Obviously he wasn't quiet enough, as Ella could hear him loudly and clearly every step of the way. She heard him open the door, walking into the room, curse when he stepped on something, change, chuckle when he saw Ella on his side of the bed, and slip into her side.

The moment he went into bed with her, Ella could smell Mandy's perfume instead of his Old Spice, which put Ella in a bad mood. She shouldn't be, she had no right to be, but she was angry and jealous. Ella was so used to having Sidney all to herself, she didn't know how to share him, and especially with another woman that wasn't his family.

She rolled over to the other side so her back was facing him and fell back to sleep once she heard Sidney give out a tired sigh and slip his hands around her waist. It was something that Ella loved, as it made her feel safe, but at that moment she didn't enjoy it.

When morning rolled around, Ella was the first to wake. She slipped out of Sidney's grasp with an annoyed look the moment Mandy's perfume filled her nostrils. She thought that the feeling of jealousness would go away after a goodnight's rest, but it didn't. It was just as strong as the night before.

Walking over to the kitchen to start breakfast, it wasn't long when Sid walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but his boxers. He had a smile on his face, completely unaware of Ella's sour mood and walked behind her, resting his head on her shoulder and hugged her closely.

Ella stood over the stove watching the omelettes cook unmoving. Sidney must have noticed her lack of response and raised his head, his brows furrowed and his head cocked to the side.

"El, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "Does it have to do with last night and why you had to leave so early?"

"Its nothing," she replied coldly, taking out the omelettes from the pan and put it on plates. Without another word, she moved away from him and placed the plates on the breakfast table and looked at Sid expectantly.

"El, its something you're all pissy."

Ella rolled her eyes and sat down on an empty seat. "Amazing choice of words," said Ella, raising her right leg, rested it on the chair her knee closer to her chest; she looked out the window, and the end of her right thumb nail resting between her teeth.

Sidney sat down opposite to Ella and jut watched her intently. He tried to figure out what he had done the pervious night to make her mad. Was it because he didn't bring her home last night? Or was it because they were supposed to have dinner together, alone?

"Are you driving with the team to New York tomorrow?" he asked, hoping to change the subject and get a decent response out of her.

She looked at him slowly. "I'm going with Taylor. She has a break and we decided to road trip there. We're leaving a little earlier than you guys," she replied distantly. "I'm not that hungry, I think I'm going to meet Taylor to buy some stuff for Wyatt," she informed him.

Without another word, Ella got up and took her plate and stocked it into the fairly full refrigerator. Not bothering to look back at Sidney, Ella went into the shared bedroom to change and to begin her day.

Being left alone in the kitchen, Sidney sighed sadly and started to eat his breakfast. He wondered what he had done to make Ella so mad. It wasn't like them to have such a cold morning. Sure they've had arguments, but it wasn't like the one they had. They were usually back in good terms a couple of minutes later.

*

"What's going on with you and Sid?" Taylor asked the next day in New York as the two girls stepped out of Starbucks with coffee in their hands.

Taylor noticed when she went to pick up Ella for their road trip to New York that Ella barely spoke to Sidney and the tension in the apartment was so thick it was practically visible. All Ella said to him was that she was leaving and Sidney kept giving Taylor pleading looks.

"Nothing, we're just not talking," she replied guardedly.

"You wanna tell me the truth? Because it's obvious that you're bullshitting.

"Really, we're just having a small argument. It's not anything bad."

"Does this argument include a certain girl named Mandy, and Sidney coming home at two o'clock in the morning?"

Ella gave Taylor a side ways glance and just kept on walking, not saying anything else. It was obvious to Taylor that it had everything to do with Mandy and that she hit it right on the ball.

"I thought so," she commented knowingly.

"What does it even matter?" she asked her tone short and annoyed, not at Taylor but at the situation. "I'm not his girlfriend or his mother; he could do whatever he wants. And if it means reconnecting with his ex-girlfriend than so be it."

"It matters because whatever you think that Mandy and Sidney have is long gone. Max complained to me that Sidney talked about you all night. That you were all he could talk about, everything she said he could make a reference to you. Ella, don't you get it? Sid's in love with you."

Ella's heart skipped a beat, her stomach fluttered. She felt an inch of happiness when she heard that Sidney talked about her the whole time. But it still didn't make sense to her that he neglected to call her. She was speechless; Ella didn't know how to respond to what Taylor had revealed to her.

*

At the hotel, Ella's hand twitched as her hand hovered over her cell phone. Taylor kept on pushing her to call Sidney and apologize for the way she had been acting.

Sidney had called Taylor earlier and asked her to ask Ella if she still planned on letting him meet Wyatt or if she had a change of heart. His voice sounded desperate, like he wanted to really meet the little baby.

It broke Taylor's heart. Wyatt was such an amazing baby and such a handsome looking one at that. He looked exactly like Ella, and was armed with such a charming smile. Wyatt was such a special baby and she felt that Sidney had the right to meet him. He was the one that was most excited to meet him. He even asked Taylor a week earlier what kind of present he should get Wyatt for when he visited him.

The phone rang a couple of times before a tired Sidney answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Sid, its Ella."

"Ella!" Sidney greeted her happily. "How are you? How's New York?"

"It's good. I'm good, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if you were still going to come down to the foster house after your game?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still going to go," he said eagerly, thankful that Ella didn't change her mind. "I was scared you didn't want me to come," he admitted to her.

"No, no, I want you there. I want you to meet Wyatt," she said sincerely. No matter how mad or upset she was at Sidney, he was still important to her and she knew how important it was for him to meet Wyatt.

Ever since Ella asked Sidney to meet Wyatt, he'd been nothing short of excited to meet him. He even wanted to meet her the moment she asked him more than two months back. Sidney offered to take the red eye there even though he had a game the next day.