Trick or Treat

"Hey, Superstar!" I felt a thud against my face as Sid's balled up socks whacked me and fell to the floor with a soft thump. I grabbed my own smelly socks and threw them back at Sid as he asked, "You ever call Hannah back?"

I glared at him and looked down at my feet. I hadn't called her. It had been a week and I hadn't called her. Call me an asshole, fine. But she scared the hell out of me. I grabbed a piece of gum from my cubby as an excuse not to talk to Sid. We were sitting in the visitor's locker room in Phoenix. At least Sid couldn't magically summon Hannah here.

"I take that as a 'no,'" Sid concluded as he shook his head. I flipped him off and busied myself re-tapng my stick for no reason. All I wanted to do was avoid this conversation. I didn't want to talk about Hannah. Because all I wanted to talk about was Hannah. I wanted to talk about how happy I felt around her. I wanted to talk about how at ease she made me. I wanted to talk about how I might consider becoming an honest man for her.

Why should I be scared?

Because this was after hanging out with her twice.

"You don't understand," I mumbled as I ripped off the end of the tape. Sid rolled his eyes and threw my socks back at me. Shaking his head, he answered, "Oh I understand. You're scared, Max. You're scared and you don't want to be a big boy about this. I saw the way you looked at her. I've never seen you look at someone like that. Why can't you let yourself be happy?"

I looked up at him and saw him staring at me. I knew deep down that he was absolutely right. Everything he had said was right. I was scared, plain and simple and I needed to man up. Instead of saying anything, I grabbed my stuff and headed to shower. He'd know that he'd won that one. He always did.

As I stood in the hot water, I heard Sid talking, but I didn't know to who. I didn't hear any other voices. Whatever. He was probably giving himself a pep...ta-

"SIDNEY CROSBY, PUT MY PHONE AWAY!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. He continued to talk as I rinsed the soap out of my hair and ran into the locker room. I didn't even care. We'd all seen each other naked at some point. Sid held the phone away and I jumped around like an idiot to get my phone back.

"Great. Good to talk to you." Sid smiled and added, "Tell her I said 'hi.'" He nodded and finished, "Bye." Holding the phone out to me, he said, "You're a moron, Max." I grabbed the phone and started to throw it to my cubby when I realized that Sid was on his own Blackberry. That wasn't my phone. I had just danced around naked for no reason.

"...I fucking hate you, Sid."

I glared at him and shoved the phone back at him. He smirked and pocketed it. "I told you you were a moron. Could you go back and shower now? I'm really getting weirded out with your dick staring at me."

I had forgotten I was naked. Turning, I went back to the shower and finished cleaning up. I guess Sid being on the phone was fine. Why was I so paranoid? What was I afraid of? I was Max Talbot. I shouldn't be afraid of a woman. I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around my waist before going to grab my stuff. I needed to get back and get a nap. This was making my brain hurt.

--

I walked into the arena that next Wednesday to get ready to host the Bruins. I felt energy coursing through my body. Something was going to go down tonight. After everything with Cookie, it was disappointing if it didn't. Gods had been pumping himself up all day. I just wondered who'd he'd drop the gloves with.

"Mr. Talbot?" I looked over as one of the girls from will-call walked up to me holding a clipboard. "I just wanted to let you know that your guest just picked up her pass for after the game."

Guest? Who had I invited that night? My family was all in Quebec. I hadn't brought a girl back from the road trip. I hadn't...called...

Sid.

I gave her a smile and nodded. It wasn't her fault Sid was an asshole. "Thanks a lot. I'm looking forward to the visit."

She smiled back. "Aw, I bet she is, too." She turned and walked back upstairs. I headed towards the locker room, completely amazed. Sid must have put Hannah's number in his phone, too. He had called her that day in Phoenix. Just not from my phone. Why the hell was Sid so set on me being with her? Yes, she was beautiful. Yes, she was amazing. But...she was terrifying.

"Heya, Max."

I wheeled around and pointed my finger in Sid's face. "I am going to beat you senseless, Sidney Crosby."

He just laughed. Laughed. "I'm guessing you heard you had a guest tonight?" He looked so smug and pleased with himself. I just wanted to know what he was up to.

"Yeah. I did." I glared and him and crossed my arms. "What the hell, Sid? Why are you pushing this on me? What is your obsession with me being with Hannah? Are you trying to get to Jessi? Because dude, you could just ask Hannah. She'd hook you up. You don't have to use me. I don't want dragged into it."

Sid rolled his eyes. "Listen. I'm not doing this to get to Jessi. I'm doing this because I want you to be happy. Whether you let yourself see it or not, you're happy with her, Max. I'll be damned if you let this slip away and then I have to hear you bitch about it for the rest of your life."

He stared me down and I let out a deep sigh, running my hands through my hair. After a second, I said, "Ok, alright." I started walking towards the locker room. "I'll go."

--

I knew Gods would fight that night. He and Thornton had gone at it and right after they went to the box, I dropped them with Campbell. Gods and I had sat in the box bsing. He didn't bring up Hannah, but I knew he knew. He had to. The guys had been razzing me about "a girl" since Halloween. The story had made its rounds.

I felt my stomach tying up in knots as I headed out to see Hannah. I made sure I looked perfect. I didn't want to look like a slob. I wanted to make a good -

What the hell was I doing?

Marc came up behind me and coughed. "You're putting a lot of work into yourself for someone you don't care about." I turned around and saw Marc smiling. I rolled my eyes.

"You too, Marc?"

"Give her a chance. All I'm going to say." He headed out towards the wives' lounge to pick up Vero before heading home. I took a deep breath and headed upstairs. I wanted the kegar in my stomach to go away. I wanted to not be nervous. I wanted to say "she's just a girl" and walk away, but I couldn't. She had me drawn in.

As I saw her, I felt a smile break my face. I was in over my head. Before I knew what I was doing, I heard myself call out, "Hannah!" She looked up and gave me a smile of her own as she walked over. Her smile made my smile grow until I thought my cheeks would crack. I gave her a hug, not even thinking about it. Then I mentally slapped myself.

Control. Control yourself, Max...come on...

She pulled back and gave me a radiant smile. I felt my heart speed up a little and I told it to shut the hell up. I couldn't do this. I just couldn't. Not after...no. The boys from the Olympiques would understand this. The guys here...not so much. They hadn't seen me that summer before Wilkes-Barre. They hadn't had to deal with me. They hadn't seen the way I didn't deal.

They hadn't seen why I didn't do love.

Before I could stop myself, I heard words coming out of my mouth. "Why don't we grab some coffee?"

What the hell am I doing?