Walk in the Sun

After going back to Sidney’s house, I couldn’t help but tense up a little bit. I felt awkward just showing up at a guy’s house with him after just meeting him. I usually only went over to guys’ houses to study or hangout with a group of friends. Never alone. I kept reminding myself that I was overthinking things. I noticed that Sidney could tell that I was tense and tried to break the ice.

“Oh, I should warn you before you enter. I have a dog, and she might attack you….with kisses, of course.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. I followed Sidney into his house and he was right, his dog did in fact, attack me with kisses. Sidney stood above me as his dog had me on the floor, laughing.

“Steph meet Sam. She’s a real bitch, eh?”

I looked up at him with a smirk on my face, but after a few seconds I was getting a bit uncomfortable.

“Oh yea, just vicious. Could you help me up?”

Sidney continued to laugh as he shooed Sam off of me and helped me back on my feet.

“Well, looks like she likes you.”

I smiled and looked at Sam, who stood in the hallway just a few feet away from Sidney and I.

Sid had given me the grand tour of his house. It had 4 bedrooms, 2 and ½ bathrooms, a large deck outside, as well as a balcony off of his master bedroom. It was a beautiful home; I was in complete awe of it.

After the tour, we went into the kitchen and made some root beer floats. Making the floats also involved, according to Sidney, included a food fight with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. After he flung some whipped cream at me, I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Tell me, why did the chocolate syrup and whipped cream come out when we don’t use them in our floats?”

He didn’t answer me right away. First, he took the bottle of chocolate syrup and squirted some on my head.

“I’m not entirely sure, but come on, tell me you’re not having fun.”

I tried as hard as I could to hold back a laugh, but to no avail. I shook my head.

“Okay, you got me. But how are we gonna sit in your living room with all of this gunk all over us?”

Sidney gave me a sideways glance, followed with a smirk.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to have a shower.”

My jaw dropped.

“You’re not seriously suggesting we shower together are you?”

I began to tense up again and Sidney walked in front of me.

“Okay, I can see this is creeping you out. I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to suggest we shower together. I was going to offer you the guest shower and some of the smallest clothes I have before we watch the movie.”

I sighed then smiled.

“That sounds much better. Thank you, Sidney.”

I followed Sid out of the kitchen to his master bedroom, and he pulled out some old gym shorts and a tshirt. I took the clothes and left Sid’s room to clean all of the gunk off of me.

I was shocked to find some nice smelling shampoo and body wash in the guest bathroom, but I didn’t question it too much.

After I hopped out of the shower and got dressed, I realized Sidney was already out of the shower as I could smell popcorn. Going downstairs and into the kitchen, I saw Sidney re-making out floats on top of the popcorn.

“You need some help?”

He must’ve not heard my footsteps, because I made Sidney jump as he turned around and looked at me with his eyes full of shock.

“Holy crap! Where the hell did you come from?”

I smirked.

“You know, if you don’t like people sneaking up on you, you should make them wear bells on their ankles.”

He chuckled.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get startled, but I was hoping to have this all done by the time you were out of the shower.”

I ran my hand through my still-damp hair.

“Well, if you would like to keep up with the gentleman-like approach, I could go upstairs and blowdry my hair. I’ll come back down and pretend I never saw a thing in here.”

Sidney smirked and shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. It’s all done anyways. Let’s head into the living room,eh?”

I watched as he tried to carry the floats and the popcorn all by himself. I shook my head.

“Sidney, you don’t have to be all ‘Strong-man’ around me. Let me give you a hand with those.”

I took the bowl of popcorn from his arm and followed him into the living room. We put the food and drinks on the coffee table and plopped on the couch. Sidney picked up the remote and then turned his head towards me.

“So, what shall we watch?”

I looked up at the TV and noticed a list of movies displayed. I had seen many of them, so it was down to me picking which one I’d love to see again.

“Ummm.. how about Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?”

Sidney nodded with a smile.

“Great choice. I love this movie.”

As the movie played, I found myself getting sleepy. I didn’t want to fall asleep in the middle of the movie, but I did have a long day. I felt myself curl up against the couch and my eyes began to close slightly. After a few moments, I had drifted off to sleep.

After what felt like only five minutes, I felt myself being shaken. I didn’t respond entirely right away. I simply snuggled into the couch a little more. After a couple more shakes, I finally slowly opened my eyes. I saw Sidney standing over me with a tired expression on his face. I rubbed my eyes before speaking.

“Oh Sidney, I’m sorry I fell asleep. Is the movie over?”

He nodded.

“Yea, it ended some time ago. I fell asleep myself. You ready for bed?”

I nodded my head and sat up. I got off the couch and followed Sidney up the stairs. He led me to the guest bedroom across the hall from his.

“Well, I’ll see you in the morning. Sleep tight.”

I sleepily waved at him and closed the door behind me. I snuggled under the blankets on the queen-sized bed, falling back into a deep sleep.

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

The Next Morning

I woke up feeling refreshed. I didn’t want to leave the confines of the comfy bed I was laying in. I rolled over and saw that the door was open. I was sure that I closed it before I went to sleep. Before I began to freak out, I felt something weighing down the blankets. I sat up slightly and saw Sam lying on top of the covers by my feet. I couldn’t help but smile.

“I see that she found out to open the door. Sorry if she woke you up.”

I looked over to the doorway and saw Sid standing there. I gave him a goofy smile.

“No, it’s okay. I woke up on my own. I didn’t even feel her jump up on the bed.”

Sidney chuckled as I snuggled myself more into the bed.

“I also see that you don’t want to get out of that bed.”

I smirked.

“It’s really comfy.”

“Well, I don’t mean to dampen your mood, but you did tell your cousin that you would be back in the ‘Chi today. So you’re going to have to get out of bed sometime.”

I sighed and pushed the covers off of me. I sat up and looked over at Sid.

“When you’re right, you’re right.”

He chuckled as I lazily rolled out of bed, trying my best not to disturb Sam. After I get out, I started to make it the way it was when I got in it.

“You don’t have to make it. I can do that after you leave.”

I shook my head.

“No, it’s fine, I used the bed, so I’ll make it. It won’t take me long at all.”

After I was done making the bed, I went downstairs. Sidney was already down there. I could smell the aroma of Back Bacon coming from the kitchen. Walking throughout the main floor of the house, I found Sidney hovering over the stove. He was making scrambled eggs, Back Bacon, and toast. I felt like I was in breakfast heaven. Just in case I startled him like I did the night before, I made my presence known before I made a statement about the delicious smell of the food.

“Just so you know, I’m not trying to scare you.”

Sidney turned to look at me and grinned.

“I was expecting you this time, no worries.”

I smiled. “This all smells delicious. You didn’t have to make all this, you know.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s no big deal. I have this big kitchen and yet, I haven’t been able to cook much for people other than my family. This is a nice change.”

I smiled and sat on a stool by the island in the kitchen.

“So, I’m going to go ahead and phone Jess now. Are you okay to drive me back to the ‘Chi after breakfast?”

I noticed his shoulders slumped slightly before he turned around to look at me.

“Yes, I suppose that’s okay. You sure you don’t want to spend the day in Halifax? There’s still more of the city that you haven’t seen yet.”

I didn’t know what to say. I knew that I would be coming back to Halifax at least once more before I went back home to Ontario. At the same time, I felt bad leaving Sid while he was sad.

“Well, I have to phone her anyways, just to let her know that I’m okay. If she doesn’t have anything planned for me, than I would love to spend the day in Halifax. One condition, though.”

Sidney’s face broke out in a smile.

“Name it.”

“You have to promise to take me back to the Chi if I ask and feel like I’m not having fun.”

He nodded.

“Okay, agreed. Go ahead and phone them. It’ll take a few more minutes for breakfast to be ready anyways.”

I went into the living room, where I put my purse, to grab my cell phone. After rooting around for about 30 seconds, I remembered that Sid took my phone before we drove to his place the night before. I walked back into the kitchen and tapped Sid on the shoulder. He turned around with a hopeful smile.

“So? What did your cousin say?”

I scoffed.

“Well, I would have an answer for you if you gave me back my cell phone. You took it from me last night, remember?”

Sid looked deep in thought for a couple seconds then nodded his head. He left the kitchen for a few seconds and came back with my phone. I smiled, thanked him and left the kitchen to phone Jess. After a few rings, she picked up.

“Hey there cuz, how’s Halifax with the boy toy treating you?”

I rolled my eyes before answering.

“Well, I just woke up, so today hasn’t started yet. But that’s not why I’m calling.”

“Okay, well then why are you calling?”

“I was trying to plan out my day, and it starts with you and Jenn. Do you guys have anything planned for the three of us today?”

I heard her giggle and whisper something before answering me.

“No, we don’t have anything planned, why do you ask?”

I couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Well, do you mind if I stay in Halifax for the day? I made Sid promise that if I’m not having fun, he will drive me to the Chi.”

Jess snickered.

“Aww, that sounds okay to me. I’m sure Jenn will also be okay that you’re spending more time with your boy-toy.”

I ran my hand through my hair, wanting to pull it out before responding.

“Oh my, he’s not my boy-toy. He’s not my anything. He’s just being a kind tour guide.”

I didn’t notice Sid come into the living room and stand beside me while I finished the conversation.

“Look, Jess, I gotta go. Sid made breakfast, and it smells delicious. I’ll talk to you later, okay? I’ll probably be home later today.”

I hung up the phone and turned on my heel. I jumped out of my skin a little when I saw Sid standing right there. He smirked.

“So, I’m your boy-toy, eh?”

I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Hey, any more of that attitude and you’ll be driving me back to the Chi right after we eat.”