Harbour Lights and Lonely Nights

Staying at Sidney’s managed to prove 2 things to both Emily and Sidney in only a couple short days.

1. Whether either of them had realized it before, they had both been stiflingly lonely without the other.
And 2. The dream team of Sid and Em (Em and Sid) was still very much a dream team.

The two managed to function without annoying each other and ran like a continuation of their old cottage trips.

Day 2 in the Sidney Crosby residence involved making the guest room home while Sidney was off at work and then going on a walk along the water with him. It wasn’t like the Cole Harbour water but she liked it all the same.

Day 3 she tried to teach him to cook some French dishes she had learned to make but it was a little too advanced for the hockey player so they visited the Andy Warhol museum instead.

By the time Day 4 came along Emily had seen a fair amount of the city and could see why Sidney loved it so. She had gotten used to living with Sidney and remembered why she had loved him once. He had become addicted to having her around and he let himself take for granted the she had nothing better to do than stay in Pittsburgh with him.

However, also by day 4 his teammates were starting to worry about him. Their captain was a lot less social at practices and he was never around outside of practise. His performance was just as good as always but he wasn’t openly as hard on himself when he made a mistake or missed a shot, which was a nice change but in combination with everything else it caused worry among the hockey players. So, Jordan and Max had taken it upon themselves to go check on their captain.

The fourth day was a day off for Sidney. In the morning he found himself in the backyard trying to fix a moonlight that had broken long ago. Up until now he had never bothered to fix it because he had no reason to. He never really used his backyard when he was on his own, but now he wanted to fix it for Emily. They could come eat their meals out here some nights, or he could picture them on the lounge chairs in the sun just talking. It was as if she had become as much a part of his home as anything else in it. Neither Sidney, nor Emily mentioned her leaving. The fact that this was only just a trip was never uttered between them and in this way he could pretend it wasn’t a trip at all.

The finicky wires of the moonlight were hard to manage in his bulky hands as his thoughts kept wandering to her.

She was inside, loading the bowls from their cereal into the dishwasher and tidying up the counters of the kitchen. It was as she closed the stainless steel dishwasher that the doorbell rang through the large house. Quick on her feet she had to decide whether to go answer it herself or risk the person leaving because of the long wait while she ran to grab Sidney in the backyard. Since she had come to Pittsburgh she understood that there was unwillingness for Sidney to introduce her to the rest of his life. She knew very little of his hockey life and he kept her hidden. She had her theories about him not wanting her to get too involved just to leave again, or that he was scared or embarrassed to show her to his friends. But what if the door was important? What harm could really be done?

When she reached it the bell chimed a second time, her slender fingers turning the knob and opening the large white door to reveal two fairly attractive men. She couldn’t ignore the fact that the two men were really quite handsome and that made her feel uncomfortable to be dressed in her shorts and loose plaid shirt thrown over a t-shirt. Her tousled hair was heaved recklessly to one side and she had yet to have a shower.

“How can I help you?” She asked the tall blond and short brown haired man. Jordan Staal and Max Talbot, these were Sidney’s teammates, she noticed upon closer look.

“Is Sidney home?” Max asked in a warm French accent that fell very pleasantly on her ears. The two men were first shocked to be met with a woman at Sidney’s door but once that initial shock wore off and they looked her over the second shock of the Habs logo across her chest seemed softened or muted.

“Yeah, he’s just in the backyard. I can get him for you.”

The Staal brother beside him smiled crookedly, “It’s alright. We know our way.”

She gave them one more look over awkwardly before letting them in. The first thing on her mind was a shower and the second thing was giving the boys some privacy so she let them find their captain as she ventured for a shower. It occurred to her that the situation must have seemed strange to the two men. The looks they had given when she answered the door indicated shock at her existence. She wondered if Sidney had ever uttered a word about her to any of his new friends. Having mentioned her would have meant having thought of her and it would make her feel just the slightest bit better to know somewhere down the line he had told them the story of seeing Joel Plaskett and The Trews in Halifax or getting fake ids from Alberta.

Max and Jordan were silent as they walked to the backyard but their matching grins had said it all. Sidney Crosby had shacked up with a gorgeous woman, finally. Even a saint like Sid could not deny a girl like that. So what if her allegiances were to a different team, they could change her mind about that.

“Sid!” Jordan greeted as they stepped through the sliding glass door. Sidney was crouched over something near a bush, from which he looked up to see his two teammates.
“Doing some gardening mon amis?”
“What are you guys doing back here?” The Cole Harbour native left his task to meet the two men. He shook the little bit of soil from his hands.
“A leggy brunette with extremely blue eyes seems to have taken to answering your door.” a disconcerting grin rested on the Quebeckers lips.
While Sidney could concede that Emily’s legs were a thing of wonder, he didn’t like the idea that Max had noticed this as well. Not to mention that the two had even seen her.
“That was Emily,” he explained, “but that didn’t really answer my question.”
Max continued to answer for the two, “Well we were coming to see if you wanted to do something on your day off, the guys are worried you haven’t been around lately, But now, I think I see, you’ve just been running home to ‘Legs’.”
Through the annoyance at Max he corrected once again, “her name is Emily and she’s just a friend who’s visiting.”
His friends frowned. Certainly, Sidney wasn’t so dedicated to hockey that he could deny that beautiful girl with the sunkissed skin.
“Either you are lying, or you are insane,” Jordan finally chipped in.
“Or I’ve known her forever and that would be weird.”
Max tutted once, twice, three times. “Emily is from Nova Scotia?”
“Yeah, she just got back to North America, she’s been travelling and she decided to stop by for a bit because she was headed South.”
“A traveller... sexy.”
Sidney rolled his eyes and pretended to ignore his friend's too keen interest.
“Is this the girl you used to talk about when I first joined the team?” Jordan too ignored Max.
“I guess.”
“We should all go out to dinner so she can meet the guys,” he enthusiastically suggested.
But Sidney didn’t think that was a very good idea, “I don’t want her to be overwhelmed by the attention we get when we all go out together.”
“The season starts soon. It will be nice, Kid. We can come here.”
Sidney was still not impressed by Max’s eagerness. “I guess I can run the idea by Em.”
The French man’s hand clapped together, “Parfait. It’s settled then. We’ll tell some of the guys to come around 7.”

The whole idea loomed over Sidney. He knew leaving Emily’s side with them over would be a bad idea so he committed to stay with her and keep her in sight. Not because she couldn’t take care of herself but for his own selfish reasons. He had tried to prolong it as much as he could manage but the time had finally come when he had to share Emily with his friends.

---

When Emily came back down stairs after her shower the two men were gone and Sidney was sitting on the edge of one of the lounge chairs in the backyard. His face seemed pensive in the sun. The task of fixing the moon light had been managed, she noticed as she went to sit with him on the long chair.

“Hey there.”
“Hi.”
“You fixed the light.”
“I did.”
“And something’s bugging you.”
“No.”
“Does it have to do with Max and Jordan?”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“Doesn’t matter.” He shook off the expression on his face and the stiff manner in which he was sitting and turned to look at the girl beside him, “What would you think about some of the guys coming over tonight?”
Her elegant shoulders shrugged, “What would you think about some of the guys coming over tonight?”
“I don’t think I have a choice,” he smiled, “Max seemed pretty adamant.”
“Then what does it matter what I think?”
“I just wanted to know.”
“I’d like to meet them.” She leaned over to rest her temple on the rounded corner of his shoulder.
“Well then I’d like you to meet them.” A strong arm wrapped around her.
“Good.”
“Wonderful.”
“Fantastic.”
“Magnifique.”
“…Sidney?”
“Yeah Em?”
“Thanks for letting me stay here.”
“It’s no problem.”
“I know I’ve been taking you away from the guys the past couple of days.”
“You haven’t been taking me away from anything.”
“But I have.”
“But you haven’t.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“I believe you.”
His head rested on her head, perfectly common actions when they had been friends in high school now seemed tainted with adulthood, “good.”

He could remember the first moment he felt he might be in love with the girl beside him. When her skin had smelt of tangerines and her skin was pale like milk. The music intruded on every movement and every thought. It was the first and only rock concert Sidney would ever find himself at.

The night had long since cast its shadow over the sky. So far Joel Plaskett, some band from Emily’s high school and Wintersleep had all graced the stage along with a few smaller bands. Now it was the upbeat sounds of the Trews permeating through the crowded air. Both Em and Sid had managed to swipe a plastic cup of beer from the beer tent and found themselves sitting against a fence that had been put up from the concert, watching the band in the distance.

I lost all faith in reason when no reason took a love from me
So I'll ask you my friend if the stories were pretend

Together they drank from the translucent white cups with the familiar logo and watched the people jumping and singing and bumping and crashing. Had they not already been partaking in said activities for hours they may feel more inclined to be closer to the stage for the anticipated set but watching from a distance was fine with them. If it wasn’t for her he never would have snuck out or made the long trip to Halifax for the concert. He wouldn’t have snuck beers from the beer tent despite being just over a year underage. He had even been hesitant when she suggested her crazy idea but he went along with it. Of course he followed her here, he would follow her anywhere.

Sidney was thinking about how he would be leaving in a couple of weeks and he didn’t want to. Things could never be like this again anywhere else. His body relaxed against the metal of the fence and he felt contented as the beer touched his lips. The familiar taste of Keiths across his tongue and the sound of music coming from the stage etched in his memories. From Emily there was a warmth beside him and he thought about life without her as he watched her sing along.

“All is well you never fell—don’t kiss and tell—I swear to hell I love you …and I always will
But when you leave, I lose control And I hate to have to even lose control”

How could he not be in love with that?

“Should we get the place ready for company?” Emily asked softly, watching his thumbs battle each other as he fiddled. His mind roaming over a memory he had stored away and not retrieved for years.
“That’s probably a good idea.”
And they set out to make the place presentable for his half uninvited guests.