We Found Love

Emily began to grow distant again after her meltdown, and I was beginning to get worried. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get her to talk to me unless she was shouting plays during games or practice. It wasn’t until a week after the initial event that I realized how serious it was though. It was a little after 9 o’clock when Vero called me, and I raised my eyebrows.

“Hey, Marc’s not here,” I said, answering the phone.

“I am not looking for ‘im Sidney. It’s about Emily,” Vero said.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, immediately sitting up a little straighter and muting the TV.

“She called me ‘ysterical crying and she said zat she isn’t good enough for you. What ‘appened?” Vero asked, her accent thicker like it always was when she was upset.

“When we got home from the Olympics we were having a bit of a... moment, and I may have accidentally said that I wanted to marry her and have kids,” I muttered.

“ARE YOU INSANE SIDNEY!? SHE IS A ‘OCKEY PLAYER! SHE CAN’T ‘AVE KIDS! YOU PROBABLY SCARED ‘ER TO DEATH!” Vero shrieked, and there were a few moments of scuffling on the other line before I heard Marc pick up the phone.

“Sorry Sid, Vero is not ‘appy right now. Emily was really bad when she called. Did you talk to ‘er?” Marc asked, sounding equally as distraught as Vero, but not screaming at me like his fiancée.

“No, she won’t talk to me. I called her; left her texts…I even sent her an email! She’s just ignoring me,” I said unhappily, running my free hand through my hair.

“Go to ‘er apartment then Sid! You are always messing this up. When are you going to learn that when a girl runs, you chase ‘er? I ‘ad to chase Vero, but I promise you that she is worth it,” Marc said, making me feel like a complete idiot.

“Marc, it’s not that simple. She wouldn’t answer the door, or she’d be mad that I even showed up. You don’t know how she can get,” I said.

“You are making excuses Sid, and bullshit ones at that. Emily loves you, but she is scared that you will leave ‘er for a woman who can ‘ave a family right now. You are so dense!” Marc said, sounding a bit like Veronique.

“Fine, I’ll go talk to her,” I muttered before hanging up. Frenchies I thought as I grabbed my jacket.

I knocked on the door to Emily’s apartment, and it came as no surprise that she didn’t answer the door. Instead of leaving though, I simply sat down next to her door and began to wait. She’s gotta come out some time, and I’m not leaving until she does I thought as I sat there, playing games on my phone to pass the time. The hours passed by, and I began to doze off.

Emily’s Point of View

I let out a shriek as I opened my door to find somebody sleeping next to it. However, as they slid down the wall and their head landed near my feet, I recognized the face and my heart leapt into my throat. Sidney was lying there, snoring lightly, dark circles beneath his eyes and a frown creasing his forehead. Guilt began to fill my body even more than it had before, and I bit back a sob as I gazed at the sleeping man. I bent down and brushed a few curls off of his forehead, and Sidney immediately smiled in his sleep. His hands twitched and made a grabbing motion, and I gently placed my hand against his chest. This time his hands wrapped around mine and he sighed contentedly before letting out a particularly loud snore. I let out a weak sob, and the small noise was enough to stir Sidney.

Sidney’s Point of View

I woke up and the first thing I noticed was that somebody’s hand was in mine. I rolled over on the cold, hard floor of the apartment building hallway and looked up to see Emily crouched next to me, silent sobs wracking her body and tears flooding her cheeks as she looked at me. I immediately reached up and wiped a few of the tears off of her cheeks before standing up, bending over, and scooping her up into my arms. She sobbed and buried her face in my chest as I walked into her dark apartment and sat on the couch, cradling her and whispering to her as I brushed her hair out of her face.

“Emily stop. Please stop crying,” I pleaded, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes as I watched the woman I loved become a sobbing mess, and knowing full well that it was my fault.

“Why?” she croaked, hiccupping as she tried to breathe.

“Because I need you to,” I whispered, swallowing roughly as tears threatened to spill over.

“You deserve better than me Sid,” she said, and I stared at her for a second before closing my eyes. I was an idiot.

“Emily if you break up with me, I swear to God you will be the last woman I date. I am so utterly in love with you that it might actually kill me. This is my fault. I should have never scared you like I did, making you think I wanted kids right now. But I did, and now you think that you’re worth nothing to me. It kills me Emily, it really does. This is all my fault. I love you so much, and to see you crying like this, and knowing that I’m the reason you’re crying…I can’t take it Emily. Please stop. I’m sorry,” I explained, my voice a mixture of anger (at myself) and fear (that I would lose her). Emily hiccupped again and looked up at me finally, her honey brown eyes swimming with tears. She reached up slowly and touched my cheek, and when she pulled her hand away and I saw that it was wet, I blushed.

“Y-you’re crying Sidney,” she squeaked.

“I feel like my heart is being ripped out Emily…what do you want me to do?” I sighed in resignation. I could see the guilt intensifying in her eyes, and I wanted to kick myself in the face. She slipped out of my lap and stumbled backwards.

“Sidney, get out,” she croaked.

“What?” I said, my heart throbbing with pain.

“Leave! I’m sorry! I can’t do this to you anymore. Find somebody better!” Emily cried, her voice becoming a hoarse scream as she stumbled further away from me. I jumped up and reached out to her, but she shrank away as if my touch would poison her.

“Emily, don’t do this to me…to us…I need you,” I said, searching her eyes for something reasonable.

“No, you need a woman who can give you what you want, and I’m not her. I’m sorry Sidney,” Emily said. The tears in her eyes had dried up, and the breath left my lungs as if I had been sucker punched when I saw the look in her eyes. She was serious.

“Y-you’re breaking up with me?” I stammered.

“Yes. I’m sorry Sid,” Emily said quietly, and something in me snapped. I turned around and stormed out of her apartment, slamming the door shut as I went. I slid down the wall and put my head in my hands, tears flowing down my cheeks shamelessly as I listened to her collapse onto the floor and begin to sob once more.