A Ship in Harbor is Safe

“Your house is so nice.”

Max smiles, “ma belle, no need to be polite.”

“No, I was expecting you to have some bachelor pad, party house. But you’ve got a really nice place, Max.”

“I spoke with Sid earlier,” Max says casually.

A heavy feeling weighs Athena’s stomach down and she blinks, bowing her head. “What’s he up to?”

“He’s coming by later, because he wants to see you.”

Athena nods.

“Why haven’t you two spoken?”

She shrugs, sliding into a barstool. “I, um,” she swallows the lump in her throat, “I feel bad. I kind of snapped at him and I shouldn’t have.”

Max nods, “but you apologized, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” she nods. “I still feel bad, though.”

“Well,” Max leans onto the counter, lowering his voice, “ignoring him isn’t going to solve that problem. And that’s certainly not doing anything good for Sid.”

She laughs, “how do you know that?”

“He’s a close friend of mine, ma belle,” Max nods. “I know these things.”

The young woman blinks. “I just… I don’t want there to be tension there, ya know?”

Max nods, “by avoiding him, you’re creating that tension, though. So… just move on. It’s water under the bridge.”

“Yeah,” Athena looks up at Max, forcing a small smile onto her lips, “I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right,” Max smirks.

She sighs, “what do you think my chances are of getting a nap in before he shows up?”

“You could take a nap,” Max nods.



“Look who’s awake,” Max laughs, pulling a coat on.

Athena silently walks into Sidney’s open arms, wrapping her own arms around his waist.

“Alright, no wild parties or anything,” Max says, with a faux serious tone. “And whatever you two decide to do, clean up after yourselves, okay?”

“Oh my god,” Athena mumbles under her breath, not moving her temple away from Sidney’s chest.

Sidney nods, clearly just as uncomfortable as Athena, “okay, Max.”

As soon as the door connecting to the garage closes, Athena shakes her head, “he’s so embarrassing.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Sidney laughs.

Pulling away slightly to look up at Sidney, Athena smiles and stands on her tiptoes to meet him halfway for a gentle kiss.

“I’m so happy you’re here,” Sidney smiles, once again wrapping his arms around the petite blonde and pulling her body against his.

Athena smiles, “I am, too.”

After a minute of just standing in the middle of the living room, wrapped in each other’s arms, Athena looks up at Sidney as a rumbling sound emerges from his abdomen.

Trying not to laugh, she smiles, “when was the last time you ate?”

“It’s been a little while,” Sidney smiles.

Athena shakes her head, “maybe we should get dinner?”

“That sounds good,” Sidney nods.



“So, is it just a coincidence that this place is nearly empty?”

Sidney smiles, “I have a knack for picking out the quiet places.”

“Oh, really?” She smiles back.

He nods. “It’s not yet perfected, but it does come in handy.”

“I’m sure it does,” Athena smirks, taking a sip of her drink.

The bell on the restaurant’s door echoes loudly, making both Sidney and Athena look to see who’d entered.

“Oh, God.” The phrase barely leaves Sidney’s lips, before Athena turns to him.

She sets her glass down, “who is that?”

“That’s Marc-Andre Fleury, just don’t look and maybe he won’t see us.” Sidney whispers.

Athena giggles, “isn’t he the goalie?”

“Yes,” Sidney quickly puts his hand on hers, “stop looking.”

“Why did he show up here?” She smirks, turning to look at Sidney.

He shrugs, “he asked me what I was doing tonight and I told him, but I didn’t think he’d show up.”

Covering her mouth in an attempt to hide her chuckling, Athena bows her head.

“I’m glad you think this is funny,” Sidney slowly takes a long pull of his water.

She shakes her head, “it’s not funny. It’s hilarious.”

“Sid!” Marc-Andre Fleury walks away from hostess podium, toward their table. “Fancy running into you here.”

Sidney smiles at his friend, “yeah, tell me about it.”

“Who’s your friend?” The goalie is smiling, standing at the end of the booth’s table.

“This is Athena. Athena, this is Flower.”

Before Athena can say anything, her new acquaintance picks up her hand and kisses it.

“It’s nice to meet you, Athena. I wish I could say that Sid’s said so much about you, but I’ve never heard of you until now.”

She nods, letting her gaze dart to Sidney quickly, before looking back at the man who is still holding her hand. “Same here.”

“I’m surprised Sid hasn’t told me about you though,” he slides into Athena’s side of the booth, smiling at Sidney, “why haven’t you told me about Athena, Sid?”

Sidney sits with his elbow blatantly on the wooden tabletop, with a hand covering his lower face. He shrugs, “I have no idea.”

Athena sinks her top row of teeth into her lower lip, attempting to hide a smile from tugging at her lips.

Flower leans closer to her, nudging her playfully with his shoulder. “Uncomfortable Sid is funny, isn’t he?”

“No comment,” she smirks, making eye contact with Sidney and biting her lip again.

The goalie continues to talk with a large smile on his face, “it’s okay to say he is. Although, I will say, it’s been a while since I’ve seen him so uncomfortable. The guys and I haven’t really been able to get such a reaction out of him for a while. I guess you’re his good luck charm.”

She shrugs, “maybe.”

He nods, “well, I will let you two lovebirds get back to your date. Have fun, it was lovely meeting you Athena and I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other soon.”

“It was nice meeting you, too,” Athena smiles as the lean man begins to slide out of the booth.

The goalie stops and smiles at Sidney, “bye, Sid.”

Sidney is still in the same position, with his hand on his jaw. “Goodbye, Flower.”

The French Canadian giggles, sliding out of the seat and promptly exiting the restaurant.

“Oh my god.” Athena puts her hands over her mouth, “do your teammates always do that?”

Finally dropping his hand, Sidney shakes his head. “No, they never do things like that.”

She shakes her hand, slowly letting her hands fall into her lap. “That was crazy.”

“That won’t happen again,” Sidney says quietly.