Snowed In

Always a man that stayed true to his word, Sidney rang up to Ellie’s apartment at exactly 1:00 PM.

“Is this everything?” Ellie asked her roommate, Kate, frantically, not wanting to keep her escort waiting. Packing had never been her strong suit - wherever she went, she always managed to leave something here or forget something there. Most of the time it was both. But that’s why she got on so well with Kate - the tiny blonde went as far as organizing her jeans by fit and wash.

“Clean socks?” Kate asked, “Fresh undies? Deodorant? Toothbrush?”

Ellie paused and shot her roommate a look, eyebrow raised.

Kate just shrugged. “What?” she dismissed, “You’re going on a plane ride with Sidney Crosby. I’m just making sure you’re prepared.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, foil strip. “Gum?”

Ellie scowled, but nonetheless accepted the piece of gum. “You’re ridiculous,” Ellie accused, kissing the air beside her friend’s cheek before curling her fingers around the worn handle of her suitcase and heading for the door.

“Wait,” Kate called after her.

Ellie stopped, wondering what she could have possibly forgotten. “What?”

Kate’s eyes rolled down to her battered old suitcase. “You’re taking that?”

Ellie frowned. “It’s the only one I have-” she excused in defense of her trusty luggage. Brown and boring, but littered with a variety of tacky patches that she’d stitched on over the years so she could detect it in the baggage claim.

“Hold on,” Kate told her, “I’ve got a nice bag that I hardly use-”

“Kate!” Ellie called, tugging anxiously on the ends of her scarf. “I don’t have time!”

Kate’s animated arms flopped in defeat at her sides. “Fine,” the blonde accepted with a thin smile, “but don’t come crying to me when an angry Canadian tries to light it on fire.”

Ellie rolled her eyes at the never-ending America vs. Canada war her and her roommate fought. She held up a farewell hand as she closed the door behind her and hurried to the stairs, counting her steps as her old bag bounced down the steps behind her.

It wasn’t that ugly.

---

Ever since his career as a professional sports star had taken off, Sidney often found himself feeling as if his life was like a scene in a movie. Like it was surreal. Particularly now, he decided as he waited patiently outside Ellie’s apartment building, rolling up on the balls of his feet every so often to encourage cardiovascular circulation in the cold. It’d had began to snow again, the thick fluffy kind that was the best for snowball fights or building snow forts. He quietly hoped they had this kind of snow back home, too.

As soon as he heard the apartment’s front doors swing open, he felt the roles in the simply-plotted Hallmark-Holiday film switch. The spotlight shifted to the stunning brunette who had just stumbled onto the sidewalk, long hair askew beneath her knit cap and attracting snowflakes like a magnet as she stepped out into the winter afternoon.

She looked nice, Sidney thought. Her cheeks were rosy, matching the tip of her thin nose. Her slender neck disappeared beneath a thick navy scarf, which lead to a puffy red coat. To make up for the shapeless fit of her coat, she wore slim dark-wash jeans tucked into a beige pair of winter boots. She looked more like a Christmas commercial rather than a movie star.

His lip twitched upward as he signaled her with one hand while the other stretched out to help her with her-

“What in the world is that?” he asked before he could stop himself, eyes settling on the shabby lump of leather trailing behind her.

She frowned up at him with pink lips, colored from the chill. “My suitcase,” she said defensively, eyebrows knit together stubbornly.

He didn’t remember seeing it from the last time they traveled - and he was fairly sure he would have remembered it. At least they wouldn’t have a hard time finding it in the baggage claim. “Ready?” he asked, reaching out to grab her bag and hoping it wouldn’t grab him back in the process. He threw it in the back of his Range Rover before he could find out.

“So what’s the plan?” Ellie asked as Sidney slipped into the driver’s seat and pulled his door shut before any more warm air could leak out. Ellie shoved her hands in front of the heaters, fingers wriggling in her cabled mittens.

“The plane’s scheduled to land at 10:30,” he told her, glancing over his shoulder before pulling into traffic. “You said you had someone set to pick you up at the airport?”

He saw Ellie nod in his peripheral vision. “My brother’ll be there,” she confirmed, pulling her hands back from the heater and tucking them beneath her legs.

“Okay,” Sidney said, deciding not to carry on the conversation any further. He’d taken the hint when she’d pulled out a book from her carry-on. City of Bones the title read, followed by an amped up photo of a shirtless man.

The model didn’t stand a chance against him, he decided as he turned up the radio.

---

Once a year, Ellie treated herself to first class seating. It was like her Christmas present to herself. On any other trip home she would have found the cheapest tickets available, but since she tagged along with Sid, she didn’t really have a choice. The Face of the NHL in coach? Not if her public relations ass could help it.

“They’re so much roomier,” Ellie observed, exercising her seemingly unlimited amount of moving space. Sidney laughed from his window seat, stretching his long legs out, too.

“Get’s you every year, doesn’t it?” Sid teased, unfolding the complimentary newspaper to the front page.

Ellie shrugged a shoulder and sat back in her seat, reaching for the sound-proof headphones the plane had provided and searching through a list of play-on-demand movies. Nothing serious, she decided - action movies always made her feel panicky. She finally landed on a easy-going chick flick and settled back in her seat.

Sidney eyed her suspiciously; she lifted one of the headphones off her ear. “Want to watch it with me?” she offered coyly.

“What are you watching?” he asked, trying to make out the movie splayed on the little screen.

Ellie grinned. “The Devil Wears Prada.” Her grin turned to laughter as he wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Not a chick flick kind of guy?” she teased, tongue stuck between her teeth as she waited for him to reply.

He just buried his nose back in his paper.

She let the headphone clamp back to her ear. “One day, you’ll learn.”

---

Ellie was out by eight. The movie hadn’t even finished before her head drooped over on his shoulder.

At least it’s not the Dorito-munching businessman.

He wasn’t sure if it were the gentleman in him or the nagging paing in his arm, but - careful not to wake her - Sidney removed the sound-proof headphones from Ellie’s ears and set them back in their compartment. The throbbing spot where their hard exterior had been pressing into his muscle lessened just a bit before her head settled back against him.

They stayed like that for the remainder of the ride - a short two and a half hours after he dozed off, too. He was startled awake again by the low drone of the intercom, but hadn’t quite caught the words. His neck creaked with stiffness as he up-righted from his spot against the top of Ellie’s head; he stretched as much as he could without nudging her awake. Curious, he checked his watch. 10:21. They’d be landing soon - maybe that was what the intercom had announced.

Ellie woke a few minutes later - eyes fluttering and lips smacking - as the plane began to descend. “How long was I out?” she murmured, wiping the sleep from the corners of her eyes.

“Maybe two hours,” he answered vaguely. He left out the part about him sleeping, too.

“We’re landing?” she asked, looking around to take in her surroundings. Like a child that had just woken from a strange dream.

He nodded his confirmation, biting his tongue against the warm spot on his arm where Ellie had been sleeping. He could have stayed there like that all night if time would have allowed it. It’d been a while since he’d enjoyed the company of a girl for other reasons than just professional ones.

They both jolted as the plane touched the runway, slowing until it came to a complete halt. They grabbed their bags and stood, both of them wondering how long it would take to make it out of the airport. Ellie needed to find her brother first - he wondered if he should wait with her until she did.

“Thank you for choosing US Airways,” the intercom announced as they filed from the plane, “We hope you enjoyed your flight and wish you a save drive home.”

Home. Like they expected everyone on board was home visiting. Why else come to Halifax, Nova Scotia during the holidays? It certainly wasn’t for vacation. The part Sidney was having a hard time comprehending was that last bit. Safe drive home?

Ellie was obviously battling with that, too - her eyebrows crinkled together as she glanced up at him. “Safe drive home?” she asked, repeating his thoughts. “You think it snowed?”

Sidney just shrugged, not admitting that he’d been hoping so since he’d booked his ticket home. Lest it jinx the chances. Their assumptions were answered once they left the plane - early, thanks to their first class seating. Sidney had expected to see at least some snow, but nothing like this.

“Well, shit,” Ellie cussed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone. She had to take off a mitten before using the touch screen to switch it off of Airplane Mode. She quickly dialed voicemail to retrieve any un-received messages. The screen came up blank.

“It’s not too bad,” Sidney tried to dismiss, aware that she was worried about whether her brother had made it to the airport or not. It was a half hour’s drive to Halifax from Meaghers Grant - he began to doubt if her brother had came or not, too. “Tell you what,” he reasoned, setting his carry-on at her feet. “I’ll go grab our bags. You call your brother.”

She nodded, but the nervous lines stayed on her face.

He’d been right - it wasn’t hard spotting the worn suitcase covered in God-awful patches. His didn’t take long, either. It was simple, black, discreet - no Penguins logo to rat out his identity. His general appearance did a good enough job at that; he pointedly pulled his baseball cap.

Ellie was still in the same spot he’d left her, phone to one ear and mitten covering the other to lessen the outside noise. As he came closer, he could hear the one-way conversation. “-are you sure? Okay…okay. I love you, too, Mom. Bye.”

He eyed her, not bothering asking what she already knew he was wondering.

“I guess it’s a lot worse in Grant,” she explained, gesturing to the already-thickening flurries around us. “I’m going to try and find a place to stay here in town for now-”

“Don’t bother,” he warned her, sparing her the ironically cold truth. It was the holidays - Halifax hotels were packed at this time of the year. Hell, half of their plane’s passengers were probably heading to their hotels around the city right then.

She just looked at him, lips fixed in a thin line - he guessed that she’d thought of the same thing. “What should I do?” she asked, eyes large with worry beneath the rim of her cap.

“I have a place you can stay,” he offered. One night wouldn’t be a big deal - he’d get her off to her family’s house as soon as the storm passed through. He nudged her arm encouragingly. “Let’s go.”