Just Shoot.

“Alessenda,” Taylor Louise scolded. “Ask him already.”

Alesse stood mortified beside the stove, phone to her ear. Her mother had been pressuring her to invite Sidney over for the annual Farro hockey game. Despite her efforts to not embarrass herself, because she wasn’t with Sidney like that, Taylor hadn’t let up.

“Ask me what?” Sidney said on the other end. Alesse sighed, opting to stir the spaghetti sauce, and rattle off an excuse. Her mother tutted her angrily and stopped chopping vegetables. Quickly she grabbed the phone out of Alesse’s hand.

“Sidney?” she said into the phone, shielding herself from Alesse’s protests. She heard him laugh.

“Yes.”

“I know it’s so close to Christmas, but we would love it if you came to our little old town for a family hockey game,” she said, sticking her tongue out as Alesse gave up trying to get the phone and went back to stirring the sauce. Embarrassment and the slightest bit of hope filled her face.

“I uh,” he said awkwardly. “I’d love to, but I’m not sure I can do fame on the holidays.”

“Oh no no no,” Taylor said hurriedly. “No one will be there for signatures. Just an empty rink with the Farro family, and Marc-Andre.”

“Marc will be there?” he asked. If he wasn’t surprised, he’d laugh at the use of Marc’s full name.

“Yes, he drives down every year to see Reid,” Taylor smiled. She could practically hear him thinking.

“I guess I’ll be there then.” He smiled through the phone.

“Middleton Arena on School Street at 1,” she said, happy to meet Sidney. Not as the great hockey player, but as the man, even if Alesse wouldn’t admit it yet, her daughter liked. “Thank you.”

Two days later, Sidney pulled into the secluded area. It was small, really small. But it had one of those airy, nice feelings that most small town rinks had. He jumped out of the truck and got his hockey bag out of the back. Grabbing his favourite stick, he set off towards the doors of the arena.

The second he walked in, Sidney immediately saw that the rink was bland and quaint. Inspecting it for a few seconds, he noticed tons of first place banners from almost every year hung up on the back wall. He was impressed, this place looked to be like one of those hockey towns, the ones dedicated to the sport.

“You came,” he heard Alesse whisper. He turned. Her lower body was dressed in her gear, and her smile was beaming. “Come on, we have to hurry, we only have an hour!” She turned excitedly, pushing into the dressing room with the big number 2 on it. Upon walking in, Sidney was shocked for a few seconds. Alesse had a big family, in numbers, and in body. She smiled reassuringly at him and pushed her bag down more, making more room for him to set his down. The small dressing room was filled with about 15 people, enough for a small team.

A few glances were thrown his way, before a tall blonde man at the end of the room laughed, “Jesus Christ, Marc and The Kid, we’re gonna have our own NHL team soon enough.”

“Don’t get your hopes up Adrian, I don’t think the Penguins can afford to lose anymore players,” Marc laughed, giving him a sly wink.

“Yeah, they suck as it is,” a brown hair man laughed, sticking his tongue out at Marc. Sidney was almost offended until Marc laughed.

“Reid, I’m gonna kick your ass,” Marc smirked, turning to Sid, who started to pull out his gear. Sidney was the last to come out of the locker room, but once everyone was on the ice, and few people in the bleachers, Alesse was pointing people out.

“Adrian is my dad, the blond. My four uncles: tallest is Jeff, shortest Pierre, blue jersey is John, and Dean is in the red. The girl in nets is my aunt Jane, and Reid is the one with Marc. The other girl is Sienna, and the other boys are Will, Regan, James, Brandan, and Ben. Will is my darling little brother.”

Sidney took it in slowly, and nodded. He got some of them. Everyone gathered in the middle, her father taking the show.

“So, teams this year are 22U vs. 60U,” he looked around. “Alesse, Sienna, Will, Regan, Ben, James, and Brandan. You guys have Marc. Jane, Reid, Jeff, Pierre, John, Dean, and Sid, with me. Break!" he shouted the last bit, everyone moving to their respected ice sides. A few seconds later the game started.

He never really gave it much thought to how her family was going to be at hockey, but as it turned out, they were good. Not average good, they were really good. Alesse and Sienna worked as a two girl tag team, getting around him while he was still in shock and getting the first goal, by Sienna, of course. Then it was on. He had to put a lot of energy to keep them out of there. He assisted Reid with a goal on Marc which evened it up. The game only got worst from there. With no ref, the hits were always dirty. The ladies sitting in the stands, the wives he guessed, were cheering and booing and having a wonderful time. Alesse was his mark and to his surprise she had slammed him into the boards. Twice.

Marc was laughing so hard both times Sidney wasn’t sure if he would ever recover. But he did, sitting up, a huge smile still on his face. At one point he cornered Alesse into the boards, which she escaped by ducking under his arm, but the second time she wasn’t so lucky. Her blade trapped the puck and he was laughing, Pierre was trying to pry it out then said loudly, “Pick her up.” So he did, while she screamed half heartedly.

Once she was back down they were all off again. Sid pulled onto the bench when the clock said ten minutes left for his first break. Everyone was getting silly, and he honestly loved it. Marc was pulling himself to defense often, just so he could push Will lightly every now and then. It was fun.

He was worried about super after, but for now this was his forte. He was fine in the rink.

The Sienna broke around the forwards, passing to Brandan who shot forward. He didn’t have more than a second to process Brandan passing it straight in front of the net before he saw Alesse top shelf it into the net. Putting the score at 10-8. 22U winning. But not that that mattered to Sidney at the moment.

He was speechless. It took him a few seconds before he caught his voice as Alesse came up to the bench for her break, switching with Regan.

“Am I the only one freaking out?” he asked, shocked. “Did you not just get a goal?”

She looked at him. “Sid.” He loved the way she said his name. “I can get a goal.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I don’t know,” she said shaking her head. “It’s just how it works…”

After the game, which his team had lost, even with most of the goals he'd gotten. He followed Alesse’s black Jetta to her Grandmother’s. He received a few pats on the back before Alesse entwined her hand with his (he swears to God his heart didn’t flutter) and lead him over to a tall brown-haired woman.

“Sid,” she smiled hopefully. “This is my mother, Taylor Louise.”

He nodded, holding out his hand with a broad smile on his face, “I’m Sidney Crosby.”

Her mother looked at Alesse. “Well isn’t he just the cutest thing!” she turned to him. “I know who you are sweetheart.” Slapping his hand down lightly, she hugged him. “Just call me Taylor.”

He was surprise for a second before returning the quick hug. When she pulled back she was smiling even brighter. “Won’t the girls at my book club be jealous of this,” she kissed Alesse’s forehead, moving to walk away. “I have to help your Gram make food, go into the living room. He’s going to go into Farro overload.”

Sid smiled. He liked her mom. Alesse pulled him from the packed kitchen, through the packed dining room, and to the empty living room of the medium sized house. She plopped down on the couch, sighing a breath of relief. He sat down beside her.

“That was awesome,” he said, impressed. “Your family is good at hockey.”

Laughing tiredly, she threw her legs onto his lap and laid down. “They’ve all been on some professional team, so I hope they would be.”

“And that goal you got, that was amazing.”

“I’ve had better,” she shifted, brushing it off. She never wanted to talk about this. Looking at the wall like it was the most interesting thing in the world, she continued. “I usually have a lot nicer ones.”

Sidney looked are her incredulously. “That was a beautiful goal Alesse, don’t dismiss it that easily. Is that the reason?”

She sat up, a frown on her face. “For what?”

“For not scoring, and passing it off 90% of the time?” he said, he couldn’t believe she was wasting her skills.

“No,” she whispered, leaned forward and rubbing her hands over his face. “I’m just waiting for the right moment, when I know it will go in.”

“You’ve shot before,” he said. “It hasn’t gone in. Why?” He needed to know. Even as she spared him a hurt glance, he still couldn’t override the need to understand her.

“I got freaked because I wasn’t sure I could make the shot perfectly, I don't want a little goal. I want a nice one. But I freak too easily, I've been trying for years to just...” she whispered trailing off. She looked down.

He was mortified to hear a small sniffle. Ashamed of himself, he put a hand on her back, and scooted close to her. He rubbed lightly, not daring to look at her face when she moved to hug him, for fear he’d see tears. He couldn’t watch her cry, it would kill him. Especially after it was his fault for pressing the subject.

“Alle,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. He whispered his next words into her ear while patting her blonde locks. “You’ll sit alone forever if you wait for the right time. What are you hoping for?”

She pulled back, thankfully, eyes still blue, and tearless. Innocence written across her face, she whispered, “Perfection. I'm a perfectionist sports-wise.”

He placed a hand on her cheek bringing her chin up to look at him. “Perfection will not come if you don’t take a chance,” he looked into those startling blue eyes, she hadn't been crying. The golden flecks in the middle more prominent in the dim lighting. “I’m sorry.”

“If it helps, I’m trying,” she said, studying his face.

“Don’t try, just shoot,” he rubbed his thumb across her cheek, searching her face. A small smiled appeared. “Did I ever tell you I love your eyes?”

She nodded, distracted, beautiful eyes looking to his lips, “I think you have.”

He leaned in, stopping a second from her lips as he breathed unsteadily, waiting for her to connect them. He felt like a teenager again, excited about a kiss. Her eyes shut and she leaned forward.

Crunch!

Sidney and Alesse broke apart instantly. Alesse blushed as Will stood in the hall, chips in hand, and wide eyed. Sidney mentally damned the kid, for ruining their first moment. But it was quickly retracted as Will smirked, popping a few more chips into his mouth and speaking around the food, “Don’t stop on my account Alesse, he’d make a good in-law.”

Sidney laughed as she stood and pushed her brother, briefly hiding her face and telling him to go to hell. They joined everyone in the kitchen, and the night went on. Alesse didn’t acknowledge the fact that they had almost kissed, and neither did he. He didn’t mind that they hadn’t, as long as he knew that he wasn’t crazy. That something was undeniably there.

He left around 9 with Marc and Reid, bidding Alesse’s family farewell, receiving a more than enthusiastic hug from Taylor, and a big hug from Alesse. He promised to see her before he left in the morning. He wanted to. Needed to. But even if he hadn’t, Taylor invited him over for breakfast at her home. And by invited, he meant she scolded he and Marc for even considering eating breakfast at Tim Horton’s.

Once they made it to Reid’s for the night, they settled down in the den, and Marc and Reid resided talking about their girlfriends.

“Marc, I’m telling you man,” Reid said, leaning back. “You don’t have a real girlfriend until she can make you shoot from nothing. I didn’t think they existed, but let me tell you, they are an elite species, and they do.”

Marc and Sidney both looked at each other, laughing hard.

“Maybe you’re just easy dude.”

“Fuck you!” Reid chuckled, taking a haul of his beer. “She’s a goddess. What about you, anyways? That girl of yours… Aileen?”

“Ainslie.”

“Yeah, her. What’s she like?”

“Well,” Marc said, looking off into space. “She’s perfect. She's French, and so tiny. She's got brown hair and porcelain skin. Not to mention she’s the kindest, and sweetest person I’ve ever met. Just graduated from university to be a nurse.”

“Nice,” Reid said, nodding. He turned to Sidney, suddenly serious. “So, what’s going on with you and Alesse? She wouldn’t tell us.”

“Uh,” Sidney looked pleadingly at Marc. “It’s complicated.”

“Did you take her virginity?” Reid asked, a very serious look on his face. Sidney choked on his beer. Marc’s eyes went wide, and he punched Reid in the shoulder. Reid looked at him innocently. “What? Dude, I should know if they're forking. So I can beat his ass if he hurts her.”

“I-uh,” he shifted, extremely uncomfortable. “I didn’t know she was a virgin.”

“So you… ?” Reid frowned.

“No!” Sidney said hurriedly. “We haven’t even kissed yet. As I said, it’s complicated.”

“Well, she’s always wanted to play her life out perfectly,” Reid laughed, the smile coming back onto his face. The situation immediately had lightened up. “She’s an odd one. She made a vow to stay a virgin until she fell in love hard. She wanted it to be perfect. The family laughs about it, but everyone is so proud of her... don’t fuck her up dude, I know about the tail a hockey player of your standards gets, and she doesn’t need that in her life.”

Sidney was still slightly in shock. He couldn’t believe Reid. He couldn’t believe she was a virgin. He pushed the innapropriate thoughts out of his head, now was so not the time.

But on the otherhand… he could believe it. She was so innocent, and emotionally delicate. He barely managed a smile. “I haven’t gotten laid in months. Been too busy with hockey… and obsessing over her.”

Marc piped up. “Well, she certainly has been obsessing over you too.”

Sidney’s ego busted through the ceiling. “Are you serious?” he asked in disbelief. Alesse Farro, obsessing? Impossible.

“Not in an overly girly way, but if her and I watch your game together, she’s paying attention to your goals, and your stats. Nobody else. Not even Marc,” Reid winked, shoving him. “And Marc is her world.”

“She doesn’t show it much Sid, but she likes you. A lot,” Marc said. “Main point is though, you fuck her up, Reid fucks you up. And I’ll be mad at you.”

Sidney smiled sincerely. “I don’t want to hurt her. I never want to hurt her.”

Reid and Marc nodded, all three of them respectively taking a drink of their beers and turned back to the game.

The next day went by fast. After breakfast at the Farro household, he said goodbye and thank-you. Taylor had only smiled and bid them well on their separate journeys home, with a non-too-subtle welcome to come again.

He waved to Marc as Reid drove him to the airport, and he was left standing with Alesse in the driveway. It was awkward to say the least.

“So I guess I’ll see you boxing day?” he said. Her eyes lit up, and he inwardly smiled.

“You’re coming to my game?” she said in excitement. “I didn’t think you’d come, you’ve got a game in Quebec the next day..”

He smiled with a wink. “About that... Marc may have told me to scheme you into coming, he said he wants you to me Ainslie.”

“So, you mean… ?” her smiled getting brighter.

“I mean after your game, you should pile into my truck and we’ll drive all the way to Marc’s. He decided you’ll watch our game, and then we’ll party the night away,” he said whispering. “But knowing Marc, that definitely just means movies, popcorn, and beer.”

The tension from the almost-kiss that had loomed over their heads had dispersed almost immediately. She nodded happily with a 'sure' before it got quiet. They were both smiling dumbly, and he finally pulled her into a big hug.

“I’ll guess I will see you then,” he hesitated before kissing her forehead, then releasing with a shy smile. A small blush formed across her cheeks, and she nodded. He stayed there, in front of her for a second more before getting into his truck. She waved a small wave, as he pulled out, and drove away. He felt an emptiness fill him the further he got. He wouldn’t see her for a week.

He had to pull to the side of the road, unsure of what to do with himself. He took a few deep breaths trying to control the weird twinge in his chest. It scared the living shit out of him, to think he was falling so hard for such a complex girl. How could he feel so much, after so little?

His cell phone beeped from the dash, catching his attention. He picked it up, flipping it open to see a text. A genuine smiled spread across his face, as his nerves dissapeared. He set the device down, feeling calm yet again. Starting the truck, Sidney pulled back onto the road thinking, I miss you too, Alesse.