Walk in the Sun

Ever since Kaitlyn and I arrived in Toronto, this was the day that I had been dreading. I woke up with Sidney’s arm draped across my waist. I turned my head to face him and ran a finger over his jawline. His eyes fluttered open and he gave me a sad smile. I responded with one of my own and a soft kiss on his lips.

“Do you think we could rewind this whole week?”

Sidney lightly chuckled.

“I wish we could. Take back the games, too, well the first one, at least.”

I gave him a small smile and began to squirm out of his grasp. That didn’t get me very far, as he tightened his grip on my waist and pulled me into him.

“What’s your hurry? We have all day, let’s just lay here for a while.” He whispered in my ear.

As much as I wanted to call Kaitlyn and make sure that she had everything set to leave after dinner, I wanted to enjoy my final moments alone with Sidney.

“Okay.” I whispered back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sid’s POV

I held Steph in my arms as we layed in bed and decided to just enjoy each other’s company for our final moments together before I go back to Pittsburgh and she went back home. I was not looking forward to another goodbye. I nudged Steph to see if she had fallen back asleep, seeing as it had been a few minutes since she had last spoken. She slowly turned towards me and her eyes looked heavy. Her smile showed that she was happy, that’s all that mattered to me at that point.

“You ready to get up?”

She smiled at me and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.

“Yeah, you wanna see what Kris and Kaitlyn are up to?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, I guess we could always call them. I kinda like what we’re doing now.”

I smiled and placed a light kiss on the tip of her nose.

“Well, why don’t you phone them, see what they’re up to, that way we know what’s going on and won’t have any interruptions during the rest of the day?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steph’s POV…

I sent Sid a smirk after seeing his eyebrows wiggle after he said the word “interruptions”.

“Sidney Crosby, are you trying to seduce me?”

He returned my smirk.

“I might be. Is it working?”

I pondered for a moment. I knew that the suspense of my answer was killing Sidney. It didn’t take him long to react to my silence. He pulled me flush against him and pressed his lips to mine. His kiss made me forget everything. Pulling away, I let a devilish grin appear on my face.

“Oh yeah, it’s working…..”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a little while later…

Sid’s POV

Steph and I finally decided to crawl out of bed and start our day. I looked over at her sitting on the edge of the bed and noticed her face had fallen slightly. She was staring at her suitcase and I could tell there was something on her mind. Walking over to her, I knelt in front of her, placing a finger under her chin, making her eyes meet mine.

“Talk to me.”

She gave me a sad smile and sighed.

“These still aren’t easy…”

I raised an eyebrow. For a second, I completely blanked on what she could be talking about. Then it hit me, and my face fell slightly, too.

“It’s okay. We’ll still talk to each other all the time. Don’t look at this as goodbye, just a ‘see you later.’”

She let out a small chuckle.

“How do you make some of the most meaningful things sound so corny?”

I stuck my tongue out at her, then leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

“Well, it is my specialty.”

I noticed her face brightened up a bit, but I could tell there was something else on her mind. I placed my hands on her knees.

“Hey,” I whispered, “what else is going on?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steph’s POV

I lifted my head to look at Sid. I didn’t know why these thoughts began to run through my head at that moment. It couldn’t have come at a worse time. I shook my head, trying to brighten my spirits.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just worried about Kaitlyn.”

He raised his eyebrow at me.

“Why are you so worried about her? Is there something wrong with her and Kris?”

I shook my head feverishly, then shrugged my shoulders.

“No, nothing is wrong with their relationship, I’m worried about Kaitlyn herself. This is her first goodbye as the girlfriend.” I stood up from the couch and began to pace slightly. “I’ve done this twice before. It’s easier for me…sorry, I’m rambling.”

Sid put his arms out and stops me from rambling. I look him in the eyes and every thought in my mind is gone. I wasn’t sure how he managed to make that happen. He smiled at me and pulled me into him.

“You were rambling, but it’s okay. It’s natural to be nervous for your friend. You know how hard it was the first time, and you can imagine it would be the same for her.”

I nodded. I placed my forehead against his.

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

He smiled.

“So you tell me. You know, you still have yet to phone Kaitlyn to see what the other happy couple is up to.”

I gasped and realized that he was right. I pulled away from him and scrambled for my phone in my purse. I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed Kaitlyn’s number. She picked up after half a ring.

“Hello? Steph?”

“Yeah, who else would it be? Don’t you have caller ID?”

“Well, I was just trying to call you, so I was caught off guard, sue me.”

I could hear her smirk through the phone.

“I’m sorry. So what did you call me for?”

Sid gave me a weird look and mouthed ‘Didn’t you just call her?’ I nodded and waved my hand at him, signaling I’d explain it when I got off the phone. He nodded and continued to watch SportsCentre as I focused my attention on the voice in my ear.

“Well, Kris and I were wondering if you guys wanted to go for one last lunch before the boys head back to Pittsburgh?”

My eyes widened. I had the same thought running in my head just a few seconds earlier.

“Hang on, lemme ask Sid.”

Sid turned his head to look at me. I covered the bottom of my phone with my hand.

“Kris and Kaitlyn want to know if we want to go to lunch with them before you guys head back to Pittsburgh.”

He shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

“Sure, that would be nice.”

I smiled and removed my hand from the bottom of my phone.

“Yeah, that sounds great. What time do you want to meet? And where?”

I heard her ask Kris followed by muffled mumbling from the Frenchman. I chuckled lightly, earning yet another raised eyebrow from Sid. Finally, Kaitlyn came back to the phone.

“Okay, so Kris suggested some small diner that’s close to the hotel. Why don’t we meet in about a half an hour, and go from there?”

I smiled and agreed. I hung up the phone and looked over at Sid. He was giving me a sheepish grin.

“So you wanna tell me what all the chuckling was about?”

I stuck my tongue out at him then smirked.

“Get ready, we’re meeting the other happy couple in about 30 minutes.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sid’s POV

I was given 30 minutes to get ready, but in Steph’s terms, that meant 20 minutes. Thankfully, I was used to it since the summer back home. I was ready and as per usual, I was waiting for Steph to finish getting dressed. I walked out of the washroom and saw her pulling a shirt on. I walked up behind her a placed a kiss on the back of her neck. Not expecting it, Steph jumped and spun around to face me with wide eyes.

“Geez, Sid! You scared the shit outta me!”

I let out a soft chuckle.

“Oh come on, who else would come up behind you and do that?”

With her eyes still wide, her rant continued.

“That’s not the point! I wasn’t expecting it. You startled me.”

I rolled my eyes. Once I realized that she had her shirt pulled on and looked ready to go. I pointed towards the door and gave her a mock-stern look.

“Let’s go. Now!”

She rolled her eyes, but obliged to my request nonetheless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steph’s POV

By the time that Sid and I reached the lobby, Kaityln and Kris were already there. I looked at the time on my cell phone and looked back up at Kaitlyn.

“You’re early? What the hell?”

She dry chuckled and looked at me with a funny look in her eye.

“Well, I know how you work, and I wanted to beat you. I knew that you weren’t too…ermm..busy with Sid, so you would be here early.”

I rolled my eyes at her.

“Oh lord, you are a freak.”

She stuck her tongue out at me and turned to Kris.

“So, where is this diner we’re going to?”

Kris shrugged his shoulders and pointed outside of the hotel doors.

“It should be not too far from just outside the doors.”

We all nodded and walked out, onto the streets of Toronto.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sid’s POV

Kris was right, the diner we were to have lunch at was not very far from the hotel doors. We found a table close to the back of the diner. I could see the looks that the two girls were exchanging and it brought me back to the conversation that Steph and I had just before we made plans for this lunch. I reached over and ran my hand reassuringly up and down her back. She looked over and gave me a small smile. She reached over and lightly squeezed my thigh lovingly. I looked over at Tanger. The girls were in their own little world, so I struck up a conversation with my teammate.

“So, what time are we leaving?”

He looked down at his cell phone and sighed.

“We leave in just over 2 hours. You all packed up?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, I packed before we came down to the lobby.”

I noticed Kris look at Kaitlyn out of the corner of his eye. I finally began to understand what Steph was worried about. I had said goodbye to Steph twice before, so I knew it would get easier with time. Kris, however, only said goodbye to Kaitlyn once, and that was after they had just met. This time, it would be different. Kris and Kaitlyn were officially a couple and as much as he doesn’t show it, Kris can be an emotional guy. I was about to say something, but thankfully the waitress had come by with our drinks and took our orders. A part of me was relieved I didn’t say anything to Kris just yet, as there was a slight chance that Kaitlyn could hear it. I wasn’t sure how Kris would react to that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steph’s POV

Kaitlyn and I were talking about our plans for after we got back home when the waitress came by with our drinks. Looking over the menus already, we had our orders in mind. Kaitlyn and I didn’t make the boys order our meals, but they did offer, which we felt was sweet.

Lunch came and went too quickly, and soon enough, it was time for the boys to leave. We went back to the hotel to gather up their bags. Kaitlyn and I had decided to spend some girl time after the boys left with some room service for dinner after the boys left. Kaitlyn brought her bags back to our room and we left the hotel to take the boys to the airport. My worry for Kaitlyn reached an all-time high.

I drove with Sid, while Kaitlyn had one last drive with Kris. Arriving at the airport, I felt déjà vu coming over me all over again. I looked up at Sid and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“I’m going to miss you. Any idea when we can do this again?”

Sid looked in the air, probably picturing his schedule in his head. He looked back down at me with a blank face.

“Well, it depends on your school schedule, but we’ll have to talk about it. We’ll see each other soon, I’m sure.”
I nodded, sadly. I hoped that he would have a clearer idea as to when we would be able to see each other again.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “We’ll figure it out.”

He gave me a sad smile.

“Hey”, he placed a finger under my chin and forced my eyes to meet his. “We’ll be okay, no worries.”

He placed a soft kiss on my lips. If I had any doubt in the world, it was gone with that kiss. Pulling away, I smiled at him. I rested my forehead against his and closed my eyes.

“I love you, you know that?” he whispered.

I opened my eyes and gazed into his loving brown orbs.

“Yeah, I know. I love you, too.”

I gave him one last passionate kiss before Jordan came over and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey, it’s time.”

We pulled apart and we gazed at each other longingly.

“Call me when you land?”

He smiled.

“Of course.”

I watched him walk away with Jordan and searched the airport for Kaitlyn. She was standing with Kris, who was dragged away by Jordan just like Sid was. She stood there, no more than 20 feet in front of me, and while I could feel tears slightly rolling down my cheeks, I could see her body beginning to tremble. I walked up to her and pulled her into a hug.

“C’mon, let’s head back to the hotel.” I whispered. “They’ll call when they land.”