I'll Be Right Beside You

At five thirty we got in the car and Jordan drove to Sidney’s place. We shared a slightly confused look when we pulled up, seeing several other vehicles parked along the street. I knocked on the door and Becka flung it open, hugging me tightly.

“You’re here! Come on in,” she waved us in, before taking our coats and hanging them up in the huge hall closet. Sidney’s house was massive, just as I had remembered from the last time I’d been here at the end of the season in spring. But while it still looked basically the same something was… different.

“Something’s different,” Jordan pointed out, saying exactly what I was thinking as we went to the kitchen to get something to drink before we would head to the living room.

“We’ve done a little redecorating – nothing serious or big. Just some new small furniture, we painted some accent walls…” Becka shrugged, and then I began noticing the little things. Some new picture frames here, the new table in the foyer, an accent wall painted in the kitchen… little stuff that made his house feel like a home. Sid had hated the place at first because it had always felt like an empty space to him, but I think Becka was finally turning it into the home he’d dreamed of when he bought it.

“I love it – it looks so much more homey now,” I complimented her, her grin getting larger as she grabbed us each a beer.

“I know – this place felt like a show home before,” she rolled her eyes, making us laugh as we got to the living room.

“Hey! Good to see you again,” Sidney smiled as he stood up and gave me a hug, before he and Jordan did their weird little handshake.

“Yeah, because I haven’t seen you in forever,” I smirked, and he gave me a light hip check before returning to his seat, gesturing for us to make ourselves at home.

“You know what I mean,” he shot back, making TK, Geno, Kris and Marc all laugh. We sat and visited for about a half an hour, and when Becka excused herself to go and finish dinner I did the same, wanting to help her out as much as wanting to finally have a long chat with my best friend again.

“So, you and Staal are looking just as attached at the hip as ever,” she commented with a sly grin as she started getting ingredients for the salad out of the fridge and handing them to me.

“Shut up – you and Sid are just as bad, if not worse,” I reminded her, and she just shrugged.

“I love him – that’s all there is to it,”

“Aw! My little Becka’s all grown up,” I dabbed at a fake tear in my eye, earning myself a snap from a damp tea towel. Becka had always had a boyfriend, but had never been one for really serious relationships – she liked to have fun. So seeing her so settled down with Sidney was different, but good.

“Hey, I can say the same for you! You went from basically never having had a boyfriend to being all but married in under a year,” she rolled her eyes, making me blush.

“We aren’t all but married,” I mumbled, paying extra attention to the tomato I was cutting up now, as if it would hide my red face.

“Are you kidding? I bet you thirty bucks he’s dying to get down on one knee and make you the next Mrs. Staal,” she snorted, and I just shrugged, feeling embarrassed. I didn’t like talking about this, because it made the fact that I wanted to marry him far too real, and the possibility that he wouldn’t want to marry me far too scary.

“You know I’m right Cam, so you can shove whatever stupid little argument you’re having with yourself in that pretty little head of yours up your ass,” she informed me, making me snort before laughing.

“Whatever Becks. So, you and Sidney do anything for six months?” I asked. She all but squealed, before slapping a hand over her own mouth in an attempt to quiet herself.

“Oh my God Cam! It was so perfect; He flew out here without telling me, and when class ended and I was walking towards the bus stop and there he was! I was almost sure I was seeing things, or mistook someone for him, but then he waved and I realized it really was him. He had spent the whole day setting up flowers and candles in the living room, and Tina had coached him through cooking me dinner through Skype. He picked me up and brought me here and we had the most romantic evening ever. It was perfect; after dinner we had this amazing chocolate cake for dessert he’d picked up from that cute little bakery down on Brightwood Road, and then watched a total chick-flick movie and fell asleep on the couch together,” she sighed, her eyes getting that glassed-over look as she recounted the details from that night.

“Wow, Cap knows what he’s doing,” I nodded in approval, making her laugh.

“He got me this necklace too, and the earrings to match, but I suspect Taylor might have had something to do with picking them out,” I smiled, having seen the beautiful diamond earrings already, and she was finally wearing the necklace. She’d been too afraid to before, worried about catching it on something and breaking it or losing it.

‘It’s absolutely gorgeous, even if Taylor helped him pick it out,” I shrugged, and she giggled.

“Did you guys do anything for your six months?” she asked.

“Not really,” I told her, and her jaw dropped, eyes widening at the same time.

“What? I’ll kick his ass, the little bugger!” she declared, while I grabbed her arm to keep her from stomping into the living room and chewing out my boyfriend for not doing something for our anniversary. I hadn’t wanted to do anything big, and Jordan was okay with that. We’d been in separate places too – I was at home with mom while he was in Thunder Bay with his family. I’d found out courtesy of Jared that he was planning on flying out for the weekend so he could take me to dinner or something, and I’d promptly called him and chewed him out for it. He didn’t need to spend that kind of money just so we could go to dinner when he’d have to be back in Toronto on Sunday so he could keep training with Gary.

So instead we’d decided we would both order in Chinese food, and Skype; that way we could talk and eat like we would have had we been in the same place, and we watched a movie over Skype so it was kind of like watching it together.

“It wasn’t his fault! I was at home and he was in Thunder Bay, getting ready to head to Toronto Becka,”

“That’s no excuse! The guy’s got money coming out his ears,” she snorted, still a little riled up about the news.

“He was going to fly out for like a day and a half so we could go out to dinner Becks, I told him not to spend that kind of money on a dinner date,” I continued, and she groaned, face-palming as she did so.

“You have to be THE only girl I know who wouldn’t have been swooning over the idea of her boyfriend flying out just so he could take her to dinner for her anniversary,”

“Well that would be expensive! So we both ordered Chinese food in, had dinner over Skype and watched a movie with Skype on so it was kind of like we were together,” I shrugged. It had been enough for me, just to be able to see him – even on a computer screen – and talk like we did when we were together.

“Some days I swear there’s a few screws loose up there girlie,” she sighed as she finished mixing up the salad. The timer went off and I checked the chicken that was in the oven, and after Becka double-checked we set the timer for another ten minutes.

“I think some days Jordan does too,” I allowed, making my best friend cackle with laughter as we returned to the living room.