Obligated Hockey.

Walking around down town he felt out of place, like a fish out of water. Today was optional practice and he’d been forced to opt out of it. Glancing down at Ellie holding onto his arm lightly as they wandered the fashion district of downtown he held back his sigh.

He was cleared, he’d played an amazing game, and he was Capitan of his team yet here he was helping an overpriced and cherished super model with daddy’s credit card of hate and evil shop for whatever she wanted but clearly didn’t need by her overpriced and overdone outfit.

With a slight glance over his shoulder the crowd of people following them was unbelievable. Fans, photographers, and anybody who knew the two of them and saw them pass by. This wasn’t something that was just going to stay in Pittsburg or the Hockey community. No, his face was going to find it’s way onto tabloids much like Ellie’s usually did.

“Oh look at this.” She pointed. She sounded so soft and gentle, so kind when she spoke and it was the two of them. He wondered if she just had a hatred for her sister and that was where the evil came from, but how anyone could hate Monroe was beyond him. Her attitude was starting to give him whiplash and he wasn’t sure if he should actually give Ellie a chance or not.

Some days she was kind a sweet and he found her to be beyond perfect and a chance to actually get to know her and find out what had caused the evil he’d seen on a few days, Then there were the days like today, where she was just hiding her evil ways with the kind ploy she’d developed. She was keeping him from his hockey and parading him around like a prize and she was doing it so he couldn’t be a complete and utter asshole to her about it either. She was parading him around in a populated public area, he had to show he wanted to run away screaming for his life like a little bitch, he had to be the man everyone knew. The man he usually was, when he wasn’t in the presence of Ellie Ellis.

“What is it?” He asked looking in the window. It was a huge bedazzled purse in three hideously bright tones of hot pink, sky blue, and yellow. “What the…” He questioned simple out of shock that someone had made it with intention of people to buy it.

“It’s beautiful.” It took everything he had not to snap his neck over to her and look at her as if she had grown three heads.

“Why would you want something like that?” His question was a genuine one, he wasn’t being rude he simply wanted to know. “I mean, it seems pointless to me.” He added again. She frowned at him.

“How is it pointless?” She asked now the confused one. He glanced at her a bit surprised at how softly she’d spoken to him. She sounded a touch upset and sad as if her liking the purse was something that was pointless.

“To me I see it being pointless because I don’t get the whole girls and purse thing to begin with.” He admitted honestly. Why was he being so honest? He couldn’t even figure that out himself maybe he was finally giving into her kind overlay and seeing if there was something to actually like and get to know under it all. Ellie giggled at him as she watched him finding his confusion in women having purse cute. He shrugged simply. “That and it…why do you want or need, or whatever it is that attracts you to this purse want something that looks like a three year old made it.”

“A three year old did not make it!” She laughed at him, it sounded genuine but he couldn’t trust her or her actions. She lightly smacked his chest in her little outburst. Had it been someone else Sidney would’ve found it cute but he knew what lay under her ploy and wasn’t sure if it was cute or if it was a threat for later. “This is a Coach purse!”

“I have no idea what that means.” Sidney stated dully, lost. He didn’t dwell in the world of fashion very often, just long enough to get suits tailored to fit him, that was it. After that it was dirty old sweats and old t-shirts at the gym or out running and hockey pads and jerseys on the ice. That was it. He just need suits to transition into one or the other when people were around. That was it.

“It’s a company that made my purse.” She showed him it and giggled. Nodding he pursed his lips.

“That’s not hideous, that,” he pointed to the one in the store. “I can’t even fathom how you would actually pay to carry it around. It seems…pointless to me.”

“Is it because it’s a purse?” She teased at him. He groaned as she pulled him lightly to the store. He followed like a good little boy and tried to not look completely put off about it. “and it screams fashion.” She added.

“It screams look at me.” He sighed down at her. Ellie stared at him confused, wounded by his words. “You’re not that kind of girl Ellie.” He added softly with a shrug as his frown deepened. “You don’t need an outlandish purse to get people to look at you, that’s for desperate people. People look at you all the time, you’re beautiful.” Why was he being so honest? He wanted to bash his head against a wall. He was giving into her twisting, manipulating ways and it was only his third week of knowing her. He could shoot himself for it. Yeah he’d admitted she was beautiful on the outside but that was it, so far beauty for rare to find deeper than skin on the woman.

She cooed at him and placed a hand over her heart as she watched him. He raised an eyebrow at her. Was she going to kick him in the nuts, go for the throat, or worse hit him in the head? He couldn’t tell but usually that coo and hand to the heart was her precursor for snapping at him, it was sarcastic and evil and he’d learned that trick quickly.

“That’s so sweet Sid.” She cooed. Hugging him he looked down at her and slowly wrapped his arms around her. “You’re too sweet to me.” She giggled pulling away from him. He wanted to call her stupid or an idiot because he was rarely nice to her, granted he rarely talked when they were together, but usually what came out of his mouth was not kind.

“It’s true.” He managed. Two words, that’s all he’d managed to utter when a slew of other words were backed up and stalled in his mouth waiting to jump out and spit at her. None of which feel into her category of ‘sweet’ for him.

“Do you have a game tonight?” She asked looking at him.

He must’ve had mule, jackass, pack animal, or something of that nature written on his head as he carried almost all of her bags. The ungodly amount of bags they’d collected in three hours. The woman could shop he had to give her that.

“No.” He shook his head thankful that he didn’t. He’d managed to play if first few games back relatively well only a few losses after being a healthy scratch for a few to be safe and now he was fully back in the game and he was going to the Cup, if she didn’t drag him down. So far he was managing to stay afloat and he had Monroe to thank for that. Know she was listening and his need to impress the blind woman was keeping him going. He didn’t like not getting him name in the announcements of goals, hell he’d even take penalties to get his name solely spoken so she could hear it.

“Do you want to go to dinner then?” She asked, sounding truly interested and as if he truly had a choice. So he lied.

“I can’t tonight.” She frowned. “I promised I’d help Staalsy with something, I can’t really remember. Tomorrow?” He asked to cover for himself. She nodded looping her arm with his since his hands were full.

Holding in his sigh of relief that he’d gotten away with it he licked his lips and they kept shopping.