State of Grace

DAYS LATER:
The Penguins win their game against the Flyers, 6-4, with Sid getting second star due to his three assists and one goal.

He finishes up quickly with the media with the goal in mind of getting home to Skype with Grace. That and the fact that Peter takes it upon himself to hover on the fringes of the media’s crowd around Sid’s stall. Obviously the newspaper article and two weeks now that he’s kept his nose clean doesn't warrant enough trust when it comes to games against Philly.

As is to be expected, there are a few antagonizing questions that come his way, worded to get a bite out of him. However he takes them all in stride, refusing to let them break his mood. Peter seems impressed with Sid’s performance and nods approvingly before he disembarks.

As Sid packs up his gear, Pascal Dupuis laughs fondly at him.

“What, Duper?” Sid asks, unable to flank the smile on his face in the arm of his suit due to its less-than-inconspicuous size.

“Nothing,” Pascal chuckles sitting and reaching down to tie his shoes, “ I've just never seen you so eager to leave the rink before.”

Sid laughs and shakes his head, thinking it’s just Duper being funny, but when he casts a sweeping glance over the room everybody else’s expression seems to be mirroring Duper’s, as if they are all in on this big secret that Sid has missed the memo on.

Benny’s stall is about five away to the right, but even he wears some sort of knowing smirk.

“Got big plans huh, Sid?” he asks as he slips on the jacket of his suit.

Sid chooses to play nonchalant since he really can’t get any read on why everybody seems to be acting so fucking weird about this. Yeah, he usually is one of the last to leave, but that’s most due to how long the media hold him up. It’s not like he actually lives at the rink. If only because that’s not allowed.

“Just glad to have got the win,” he shrugs. “No point in staying to mope is there?”

“Guess not,” Benny replies. “Have a good night then.”

Typically Sid wouldn't think anything of it, but the smirk that Ben wears on his face is pure evil and Sid really doesn't like seeing it on him. He’s glad he’s already got his shoes on, since it eliminates the possibility of someone having filled them with shaving cream or something lame, but it makes him terrified of what they might have done to his car. It definitely puts some extra hurry in his steps to get out of there and assess the damage.

He farewells the boys, exchanging a congratulatory hug with Geno –who is basking in the glow of being awarded the coveted Miners Hat after the absolutely stellar game he played, earning First Star.

“Enjoy you night, Sid,” Geno says, nodding at him with a grin.

Fuck. Sid races as much as he can without showing his nerves, which means he just walks pretty speedily, out of the locker room and down the halls.

He’s already imagining the horrible things that might have been done to his vehicle by the team, and trying to think of who could have done it.

Probably Cooke, he thinks. Cookie or Duper are always behind every prank, or at least have a helping hand in it, though this one’s culprit could be Nealer, since Sid helped Flower tamper with Nealer’s combs and hair product last week.

He faintly thinks he hears someone call his name, but brushes it off to paranoia.

“Sid,” someone calls again, and okay, that really is someone calling his name because that time it was a whole lot louder.

He is silently hoping that it’s not anyone wanting a long chat as he turns around to greet the person. When he sees who it is he drops his bag, and his jaw, to the floor.

Holy shit.

“Nice game,” Grace is standing there saying, grinning so brightly that it’s like staring into the sun. She is in some black skinny jeans with her brown hair set in long curls and is wearing a game jersey with what looks a lot like an 8 and a 7 on the sleeves.

Sid thinks he must be dreaming her, that he misses her so much and is so excited to Skype her that he has dreamed her up like a mirage. A damn beautiful mirage at that.

Grace chuckles a little and saunters closer, eyes the shade of blue that he hasn't been able to see over Skype. She stops before him and bends to pick his gear bag up, but he finally gets with the programme and reaches out to touch her, ignoring the fact that it could ruin the hallucination. His hand catches her forearm and pulls her close to him, close enough for him to kiss.

And kiss her he does, eager and excited, unable to believe that she’s really here in the flesh for him to touch and feel and see. His hands move to her back and he picks her up, holding her up as she tightens her legs around him and kisses him back with as much enthusiasm and appreciation as he is giving.

When they break for air, gets enough oxygen to his brain to remember to ask why she’s here, like how and when and all of that, even though it’s so not important.

“I had a feeling that you guys were going to win tonight,” she shrugs, leaning back in to press a kiss to his left cheek and then the other one. She’s missed him just as much as he has missed her, but she intends to more than make up for their lost time.

“So you flew all this way?” he asks. “That’s a lot of faith you have in us, Grace.”

She laughs sweetly, her eyes smiling at him. “You guys are my team, Sid. I always have faith. Especially in you, Mr Second Star.”

“Did you see the goal I got? That was for you.”

“Of course I saw it! I saw the whole game. You were wonderful, Sid. The whole team was just amazing!” Grace really does mean that, not just because she is a die-hard fan. The score line took more credit from both team than it really has right to since they were both firing tonight, the Pens were just simply better, and on a night where the losing team plays so great, that really does say something.

Sid is caught up on something else though. He sets Grace down gently in front of him, looking confused. “You saw the whole game? When did you get here?”

“Last night,” Grace admits, guiltily biting her lip and looking up at Sid through her lashes. “It was so hard not to tell you or come and see you, but I just thought that it would be a better surprise if I kept it quiet and we got to do it like this instead.”

Truthfully, she had switched off her cell phone after talking to her Father about having arrived safely, then proceeded to spend most of the night staring at the draw she had put it in, wanting to text Sid and tell him she was here. Wanting to go and see him. Picturing this moment had helped her draw more self restraint than she ever thought she possessed though, and she had stayed strong, not even calling him in case it slipped out.

“Grace,” Sid says, thinking about the time he spent lying in bed last night trying to sleep while Grace was apparently –unbeknownst to him- somewhere else in the city doing the same. “Who picked you up from the airport? Where did you stay?”

“Benny and his wife picked me up and took me to a hotel,” she confesses. “We kind of planned this whole thing over a few private mails on Twitter and a phone call or two.”

Sid doesn't say anything for a moment, still processing it all. Grace reads into his silence, misinterpreting it for disappointment.

“Are you mad?”

The chances of mad being the emotion he’s feeling is so ridiculous that Sid very nearly openly scoffs. In fact, he does, and pulls Grace against him with an arm around her back.

“What? Grace, no. No way. This –this is,” he lets go of a long breath, thinking of the right word to fully convey his exact excitement. “This is amazing. This is by far one of the best surprises I've ever received.”

Grace lets her smile grow. “Yeah?” she asks coyly.

“Hell yeah,” Sid replies, ducking his head for another kiss. Grace grips him with a handful of his suit and they kiss until they can’t breathe again.

“Please tell me I get to take you home,” he whispers when he rests his forehead against hers. “Please tell me that you’re here for a few nights again.”

Grace whispers back, “How about if I told you I was here for forever?”

Even though it’s impossible, Sid is sure that his heart stops beating for a full minute or two in pure shock. “Wha-what?”

They break away from each other and Grace is wearing that bashful expression again, like she’s nervous to get it all out at once, so she’d rather feed it to him in little snippets to gauge his reaction. Her feelings for him certainly haven’t wavered any since she left, in fact if anything, the distance really has made her heart grow fonder, but she still has enough of a grip on what a big move this is that she wants to make sure it’s the same for Sid.

“Well,” she starts out, fighting off a smile but really, badly failing. “I had a big chat to my Dad and we figured something out. We figured a lot out actually, but what it boils down to is that I think I’m pretty much falling in love with you, and I like it, a whole damn lot. For us to have a shot though, I need to be here, and honestly, I really, really want to be here. Pittsburgh -shit, this city, Sid, it feels like a whole new world to me and I love it. And if you’ll have me, I’d really like to stay here with you.”

“For real?”

Grace nods.

Sid’s face breaks out in to an expression of genuine elated relief and exhilaration all in one. It’s pretty intense.

“Are you sure, Grace?” he checks, bending at his knees a little to be level enough to scan her face. “Because I’m already a complete goner for you, and if you’re really telling me that you want to stay here with me, then I’m probably never going to let you leave.”

Grace beams, chuckling as tears of happiness start filling her eyes. Her fingers grip some of his suit to help bring his face to hers.

“Yeah,” she grins, looking right into his beautiful brown eyes. Eyes that she wants to spend a life time looking at. “Yes. I really want that, Sid. I really want you.”

Sid is really grateful that for some weird reason, nobody else seems to be around in the hallway right now, because he can’t guarantee that he won’t fist punch the air or something just as cheesy, though he really is so happy that he wouldn't even care if he did. Grace is falling in love with him. Grace is here. And more importantly, Grace wants to stay. Forever. He feels like he just won far more than a regular season game. Maybe even more than a Playoff game.

“I want you too,” he says to Grace, smiling down at her.

“I’m glad,” she says playfully, “because I've missed you like crazy. These last two weeks have felt more like two decades.”

“I know what you mean,” Sid replies, echoing her sentiment.

“All of this in such a short time,” Grace sighs, “We must be crazy.”

Sid takes her hands in his and shakes his head. “We’re not crazy. When you know you know, right?”

Grace feels her heart literally reach new heights in her chest.

“Yeah,” she agrees definitively, smiling so big that her cheeks will hurt later but for now she can’t feel it. “When you know, you know.”