The Right Thing

Leaving Pittsburgh after everything that had happened surrounding Skates and Plates wasn’t the easiest thing I’d ever done.

It was one of the hardest.

I’d thought that after I left in January, I would stay back in Boston more often than not, but it didn’t work out that way. I’d spent more time with Sid in Pittsburgh than I had in Boston. I’d stay weeks at a time and then go back to my own life in Boston only to return to Pittsburgh a few days later. I just couldn’t bring myself to stay away for long, yet I hadn’t been able to agree to move in either.

I hated to go back to Boston, but there was promise in it, the awareness that it wasn’t forever, that the lonely apartment I was going back to wasn’t going to matter in the long run. Before long it would be someone else’s apartment to deal with. All of my things would be moved out and I wouldn’t even call Boston my home. My life in Boston would officially be a chapter in my past because I had my future to look forward to.

My future was clearly with Sidney. It wasn’t something I could wave off or pretend wasn’t the case. I was stuck with him and he was stuck with me. It was outrageously simple even if we had a tendency to make it feel difficult. At least I was guilty of doing so.

I wouldn’t have to put up with the smell of the fry oil that came from my downstairs neighbor or the leaky faucet in the bathroom that the super never sent the plumber to look at. I wouldn’t have to concern myself with the increased crime in the neighborhood or the fact that the rent went up with every subsequent signing of a lease.

My lease ran out in July and that would be the last of it. There would be no contract for another six months of my life. If I was lucky and the patch job that we’d done in our first year in the apartment after Sebastian put his fist through the living room wall held up, I would even get the deposit back on the place.

I’d made the giant leap by finally agreeing to move in with Sidney, something he’d been hinting at for months. He’d been trying to convince me of it as playfully as possible. He always meant it when he asked, but it was different the last time around. He was as if he was demanding that I move in or move on. I knew he never would have given me an ultimatum; he would have put up with my flying back and forth as long as I made him do so. But he would have been unhappy, that much was clear. He was asking because it was what he felt was best for him; what was best for us.

I wasn’t afraid of moving to Pittsburgh or even Halifax for that matter. I wasn’t concerned about cohabitating with my boyfriend; about the bad habits both of us had rearing their ugly heads. But I was more than a little concerned about how Troy would respond given that we’d been together for well under a year and that so much of our courtship had occurred via electronic device and not personal time spent together.

My concern wasn’t helped by the fact that up until the end of my trip in early March I’d met only two of Sid’s teammates. But that had changed after the event, he’d made sure that he introduced me to each of the guys individually; little did I know the layout of the team would change piece by piece as the trade deadline approached. There would be new faces to grow accustomed to, new players to meet and there was still plenty of staff that still only knew my name and had never seen my face.

Regardless of how little interest I had in it, I went back to Boston not long after the event, deciding that Sidney needed to focus on his season and that I needed to focus on something other than him.

March went quickly, spending several weeks clearing out my apartment bit by bit. It was liberating to go through old things and start from scratch in a lot of ways. I packed as I went, the boxes stacking up in the spare bedroom. There was no rush, no need to pack up things that I would need in the coming months, but it was nice to get a head start with the items that I didn’t need, winter clothes being packed away as spring began; all of the boxes waiting for the time when they would be packed onto a truck and sent away to a new home.

I watched the games as they went on a streak that lasted longer than anyone expected. When Sidney would call, he always had something that could have been better, something that could have been stronger in every game. Regardless of the wins that they were putting up, there was always a way to do better, something to be learned. It was part of his competitive spirit, his passion for the game. He wanted to improve whenever and wherever he could because he felt that the more elements of the game at which he excelled, the better he would be as a leader of his teammates. I was impressed by his motivation but at the same time wondered if he ever took more than a few minutes to enjoy the big moments, the wins that were stacking up or the records that they were breaking.

He urged me to return to Pittsburgh while they had a stretch of games at home, but I declined. As superstitious as Sidney was, I was becoming just as bad. They were winning and Sidney was playing well, all while I was away. I wasn’t about to step in and screw it all up. I didn’t tell Sidney that it was silly superstition that was keeping me away. Instead, I blamed it on the process of getting ready to move. I blamed the packing and tying up of loose ends. Sidney believed me only because it wasn’t a complete lie; it was keeping me busy. Still, the excuses couldn’t last forever.

I returned to Pittsburgh a few days before Easter to spend the holiday with Sidney and take in a game. I was a little terrified because I knew that Troy would be in town as well and it would be the first time that I would be sitting with anyone other than Sebastian for a game. I knew that it was silly to worry, but Sidney had known I was likely to overreact and made sure that I was in town before his father so that he could break the news as gently as possible and get me through my nervous breakdown before his father settled into the spare room of the apartment where Sidney was staying again. The constant back and forth between the apartment and the guest house was enough to make me dizzy, but he seemed to have a method to his madness.

“You could have told me he was going to be here.”

He gave me a sympathetic look. “I didn’t know until a couple of days ago.”

“So you thought you’d just wait to tell me instead of telling me when you found out, a few days ago?”

“It will be fine, Wyn. He’s really looking forward to seeing you.”

“He’s looking forward to getting me alone.”

“It’s not like that and you know it. It will be fine.”

I knew he was right. I hadn’t seen Troy since the season had begun. He’d spent far more time in Pittsburgh than I had, but our paths didn’t cross. The last time we’d seen each other had been in Halifax over Christmas, but I knew that it wouldn’t be like it had been in Cole Harbour. We were on a different page; I knew from the way Sidney spoke about his father and even from a few conversations I’d shared with Taylor. It had become clear that Troy was not as turned off by my presence in his son’s life in the way that he had been at first.

It didn’t hurt my cause that the team was winning and that Sidney was dominating the league in points. He was playing like he’d never been away, like the previous playoffs hadn’t happened, like there hadn’t been a lockout or a chance that he wouldn’t get to play at all. Even if Troy still believed I was a distraction, it didn’t matter because I wasn’t a detriment to Sid’s game.

It didn’t mean that we would be the best of friends, but I could certainly believe that we would manage to at least get along.

We spent Friday out at the zoo. I’d become an expert at making myself scarce when a fan started to move towards Sidney. Troy and I would just skirt a little to the left or right; making ourselves appear busy paying attention to the exhibits or the animals. It wasn’t difficult once I’d gotten used to it and Troy seemed to already be better at it than most people would be. But he’d had years to get used to it, I’d only had a matter of months.

It was a long day, but there wasn’t any tension between me and Troy. It seemed that between the last time we’d seen each other and Easter weekend, Troy had become sold on my being a part of Sidney’s world. I didn’t feel judged or uncomfortable in the way I had. I didn’t feel like I needed to prove myself anymore. We’d crossed that bridge.

We went out to dinner afterwards but called it a night fairly early. Troy settled in the guest room and Sidney and I retired to his bedroom, settling in for the night. I curled up under the blankets and watched Sidney strip out of his clothes. He slid in next to me as I tried to adjust the pillows and ignore the fact that he was in nothing more than his underwear and his father was in the next room.

It didn’t matter, he had an early game the next day and neither of us had any intention of doing anything aside from sleeping. It just wasn’t that kind of night and neither of us minded. It was just nice to be close to him again, to fall asleep in his arms and sleep through the night without waking up cold or alone.
I rolled onto my side as his arms enveloped me in his warmth. He was all I was aware of, overriding my senses. It had been a long few weeks without him.

“You did great today.”

“It was the day and dinner with your father.”

“My father who used to terrify you. You’re kind of a rock star, you know that?”

“If you say so.”

“I’m serious, babe. You’ve proven to him that you’re in this for the long haul and I think he’s really beginning to open up to it.”

“The long haul, eh?”

He chuckled as I drew a finger up and down the skin of his chest.

“Yes.” His tone was even, determination in his voice. “You are moving in with me, after all.”

“At the end of the season,” I reminded him.

“I know, I’m not pushing the timeline. But you have to admit that it’s a pretty big step.”

“It’s huge,” I replied, narrowing my eyes. “Are you trying to scare me into changing my mind?”

“Not at all.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

He was staring at me in the dark. His eyes drilled into mine until I couldn’t stop myself from looking away. He was searching me for something, digging for more from me.

“What?” I asked, my eyes focused on his chest.

“Is it permanent?”

I glanced up at him in the dark. My eyes had adjusted to the dimness and I could see the planes of his face clearly, cast blue and silver in the moonlight.

“I hadn’t planned on it being temporary,” I admitted.

It felt like the first step of many other steps that we’d never spoken about. Big steps that I knew we’d both thought about but hadn’t spoken aloud to one another. I’d thought out loud during lunch with Sebastian once, but that was as far as it had gone.

“Me either.”

“We can talk about it, you know. It doesn’t scare me.”

“What if it scares me?”

I shrugged. “I’ll protect you.”

He chuckled, his chest rumbling against me in a way that made my nerves stand on end. I wanted a future with him, whether it was something that we’d spoken about or not, it was something that I knew I wanted. I could see it when I closed my eyes, visions of spending my life with him, of being in love with him for the remainder of my existence. It didn’t frighten me, it was an idea that I welcomed. Frankly, I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Some days I couldn’t even remember what things had been like for me before he’d walked into my life.

“I want to marry you someday,” he whispered, the words coming out like a secret.

“And someday, if you ask, I’ll probably say yes.”

“I want a big family.”

“I know. You’ve got to fill up that house somehow.”

We didn’t take it any further. We didn’t have to. We’d come to an understanding that someday we would be more than what we were, that there would be a time when we would actually talk about the specifics of our future. But Easter weekend wasn’t the time, we would know when the time came and we would both welcome it with open arms.

I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with his scent. I held it there in the way I held him close, never wanting to let go.

“Sleep tight,” he murmured, his full lips brushing my ear as he spoke.

Morning came too soon and Sidney was off to the rink early leaving Troy and I with the apartment to ourselves. He was in the kitchen when I finally decided I was ready to face the day, my hair done and makeup applied.

I wore the same black frock that I always wore to games, refusing to wear my Crosby sweater- a game worn number that Sidney had handed to me with a wink that told me he wanted me to wear it alone just for him to see. I only wore it in the privacy of my own home when I was curled up in the couch stress-eating cinnamon Chex out of a small mixing bowl. Though I’d worn it a few times in the manner that Sidney preferred, I wasn’t about to wear it to the arena.

“You look nice,” Troy said with a kind smile, one I’d never seen him use.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“No jersey?”

“I figured there are enough women with his name on their backs at the game.”

“Would you like some eggs? I was just about to whip some up.”

“That would be nice.”

I headed for the toaster and slapped a couple of pieces of bread into the slots. I glanced over at Troy who was intent on the stove.

“Do you want some toast?”

“Sure. One slice is fine but not…”

“Too toasted?” I asked with a chuckle. He glanced towards me, looking a little confused. “Sorry, it’s just that I’ve heard Sid say that about a hundred times. You sounded like him for a second there.”

“You really love my son, don’t you?”

“I really do.”

I went about buttering the toast as he dished out eggs onto two plates. We sat down at the island, each of us with a glass of orange juice. We were quiet for a moment but I could feel his eyes lingering on me. I was still adjusting to not feeling like I was being judged when in his presence. If I acted out of habit, I was likely to try to find a reason to leave the room to keep his eyes from searing my flesh. But I knew that we were starting over, coming from a place where I wasn’t a threat to his son’s life or career. It was new for both of us, that much was abundantly clear.

He cleared his throat. “I owe you an apology.”

“For?”

“The day we met last summer.”

“Water under the bridge.”

“No, really, I was rude and the things that I said that day were uncalled for. I just didn’t realize how good you could be for him. I didn’t really see it until Christmas. I was blinded by my own issues but our family loves you and Sidney is just so different since he’s had you around. He’s…content.”

I smiled. “It had to have been a shock seeing me there. I don’t handle surprises well either, Troy. Really, it’s okay.”

“You handled that surprise pretty well. I should have seen it then, but I was…”

“Suspicious?” I suggested.

“Makes me feel like a pretty terrible person.”

“You’re protective of you son. Why wouldn’t you be? There are a lot of people in this world who want to take advantage of Sidney for who he is as a player without ever considering who he is as a man. You have every right to be wary of strange women in his house, in their underwear no less.”

He chuckled. “Sidney said you were special from the beginning. I guess I’m finally seeing that now.”

“I appreciate that.”

“As long as you appreciate Sidney, that’s all that I could possibly ask.”

“I won’t take him for granted, I can promise you that.”

We finished breakfast quietly, a sudden understanding between us. We were both fixtures in Sidney’s life, two of the people who cared more about him than others could possibly understand. We were on the same side as we should have been from the start. But it felt nice for there to be ease between us, no tension to sully the air.

Eventually, after a lot of waiting around, we headed for the arena in my rental. We picked up our tickets at will-call and he set off towards our section. I took my ticket and stopped off in a restroom before buying myself a beer and joining him. I felt the need to arrive separately, to not be the girl who showed up with 87’s father. Instead I preferred to be the random girl who just happened to end up with a seat next to Sidney’s dad.

We didn’t talk much or really interact. It was a calculated decision in the same way that my arrival had been. People knew Troy. They didn’t know me. Too much indication that he was at the game with the twenty-something blonde would raise questions and draw attention. It was something that Sidney and I, regardless of his hormone-based escapade behind the scenes of the Skates and Plates event, were still trying to avoid.

I was relieved when the game began, but it didn’t take long for my day to sour considerably.

My heart leapt into my throat, nearly gagging me. Of all the games to witness live, it had to be the one where he got hurt. Worse yet, it seemed serious; whatever had happened couldn’t have been good. He didn’t see it coming and while he didn’t linger on the ice, I was terrified. He hadn’t had a chance to protect himself from the puck that was deflected into his face. I felt sick.

Troy subtly touched my arm to keep me from leaping out of my chair at the shock of it. I couldn’t go running towards the locker room and Troy seemed to know that it was exactly what I wanted to do. I needed to know he was okay and my heart was beating so rapidly that I thought I might pass out.

“He’s on his feet, he’ll be okay.”

I hoped that the cameras wouldn’t find him in the stands in search of his reaction. I didn’t want the camera to catch me with the look of half-sick terror on my face. They didn’t know who I was, I could just be the lucky fan sitting next to Sidney’s dad in the stands, but I had a feeling that I looked more horrified than any of the gasping women in the stands where his jersey.

“Please don’t tell me I’ll build up an immunity to this,” I pled quietly.

He shrugged. “To a certain degree, we all do. You might be a hockey parent one day too, you should probably start getting used to it.”

I blanched. Did he know what Sidney and I had spoken about in the dark on Friday night? They were just murmurings brought on my discussion of a shared future. It felt so intensely private and I knew that Troy couldn’t have heard us from the next room, we’d been whispering the whole time. But it still seemed like he knew something had changed in the intensity of the relationship that I shared with his son.

I grew anxious as the game went on and Sidney didn’t return. If the puck had just cut him or knocked out a couple of teeth, he would have returned. But he wasn’t back and the clock was ticking down on the first period. A text message pulled Troy out of the game that he’d been watching so intently. I hadn’t been able to glance at the ice since Sidney had left.

“Meet me at the doors in ten.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I’ll explain later. Doors. Ten minutes.”

I knew that it had to do with Sidney and I could barely stand staying in my seat. I slipped off a few minutes after he left, stopping in the bathroom to calm my nerves. I ignored the chattering voices of the other women, a few talking about the players that they planned on seducing through the glass. I just needed a couple of moments. I splashed cold water on my face, took a few deep breaths, and headed off to meet Troy at the doors.

My rental was in the lot, but Troy led me in the opposite direction, towards an idling SUV that seemed to be waiting for us.

“Where are we going?”

“Taking Sidney to the hospital.”

My blood turned to ice. He’d gotten to his feet with little help and skated off the ice. He hadn’t cried out in pain and there hadn’t been much blood on the ice. I couldn’t imagine what horrible thing had happened. I was terrified that it was a concussion because I knew it was one of Sidney’s worst fears. Even if he didn’t think about it on the ice, whenever he took a blow to the head or face, he would worry. There was a chance he would go back to where he’d been and I knew that Sidney dreaded ever having that diagnosis again.

“What happened?”

“The puck broke his jaw and knocked out a bunch of teeth.”

“What is it with games against this team?” I groaned.

He chuckled as my stomach rolled.

“Sid’s probably wondering the same thing.” He paused for a moment. “He’ll be fine. It’s something that they can fix, something that can be treated and has a timeline. He’ll be in pain, but they can fix it.

“Ready?” he asked before he opened the door of the SUV to let me in.

I didn’t know what to say. Frankly I was petrified of what kind of shape Sidney would be in when I saw him. He was tough, but a broken jaw was a big deal. I nodded and tensed every muscle in my body to will myself not to overreact to whatever awaited me inside the vehicle.

I wasn’t sure how they’d managed, but Sidney was out of his gear and changed into sweats and a t-shirt with a hat pulled down over his curls. He held a towel to his face as he had when he’d left the ice. He looked at me with an apology in his eyes, as if to tell me he was sorry I had to see him with a broken face and bloody towel pressed to his mangled mouth.

Troy sat in the front without a word, not even saying anything to the trainer who was driving us to the hospital. Sidney certainly couldn’t speak and I wasn’t sure there was anything that could be said.

Sid’s hand crawled across the seat, his left still holding the towel in place. I reached out and took his hand in mine, the look in his eyes softening at the contact. I wondered if he wasn’t in shock, still unaware of how much things would hurt once the adrenaline had burned off. I could only assume he was feeling the best he was going to for a while.

When they took him away at the hospital, my heart started to race. I didn’t like being away from him when he was hurting. I didn’t want them to take him somewhere that I couldn’t follow. I told him I loved him and he paused to press his forehead to mine, the only way he could reply.

I collapsed into one of the chairs in the waiting room. Troy was in the chair next to me, less antsy than I was at that moment. The chairs were narrow, the padding thin and aggravating. The room was painted a garish shade of yellow and the pattern of the carpet could be dizzying if you stared at it for too long. The whole place made me feel uneasy, but I’d never dealt well with hospitals, that much wasn’t new.

He patted my hand awkwardly.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” I said quietly.

“You will.”

I doubted it and found myself muttering about Sidney’s face and how horrible the Islanders games tended to be for him. Sebastian texted to check in, telling me that he’d been watching and hoped Sid was okay. I found myself glad that I’d finally let him in on my boyfriend’s secret identity. He hadn’t freaked out, but I hadn’t given him a chance to do so. By the next time we’d spoken, it had already sunk in and he’d come to accept that I was dating Sidney Crosby and it was as simple as that.

Waiting was the worst part. I sat in the corner of the waiting room as Troy thumbed through a magazine. I stared at the floor, feeling like I was losing my mind little by little. The fact that it was an emergency surgery on a Saturday afternoon made for a quiet waiting room with very few people around and little noise to speak of. It didn’t seem that there were many people getting their jaws rebuilt.

When the doctor finally appeared, I felt like I could breathe again.

“Mr. Crosby?”

“Troy,” he insisted.

“I’d like to discuss Sidney’s surgery,” he was eyeing me. “If you’d like to step…”

“Bronwyn is Sidney’s girlfriend. She lives with my son; she’ll need to hear this as well.”

My heart stuttered as the doctor gave me another passing glance. He resigned himself to telling us both what was happening with Sidney.

“Aside from the teeth he lost, Sidney’s jaw was fractured in two places. We inserted two plates and a number of screws to stabilize the bone. He’s just fine, coming out of anesthesia now. There is some swelling and he probably won’t be able to speak until that starts to subside. We’ll let you know when you can come back to see him for a few minutes.”

We wouldn’t be allowed to stay long, no matter how Sid was feeling. There was protocol that even the face of the Pittsburgh Penguins had to follow and that meant he wouldn’t be able to have real visitors until the next day to assure that there wouldn’t be complications from the surgery.

We thanked the doctor as we waited for a nurse to come get us.

“Thanks,” I murmured.

“For what?”

“Letting me in on that. It’s not like I have right to it and we’re not living together yet.”

“You will be. Besides, Sidney would have my head if I didn’t keep you in the loop.”

“Still,” I argued.

“You’re welcome.”

It was a while before Sidney was awake enough to see us. His face was swollen and his lack of teeth, including the upper caps that had been knocked out, was almost comical. He didn’t look like himself, but I knew that when the swelling went down and he could smile again he’d be handsome even without his teeth.

I brushed his hair away from his forehead, his curls unruly. I couldn’t press my lips to his, who knew when that could be done without causing him pain, so instead I planted a kiss on his forehead and sat down next to his bed.

He decided to communicate via text, typing faster than he could write on the tablet the nurse had left next to his bed. I watched him type a message as Troy stepped out to call Trina and give her an update on Sid’s condition. She’d been watching at home and was more than a little concerned after finding out it had been a lot more than the couple of teeth that wound up on the ice.

-You look worried.

I felt silly replying back on my own phone. It wouldn’t be the first time we’d sat in silence, but I chose to answer aloud. It took less time and he could work on his next message while I was still speaking.

“You got your jaw broken by a puck and I’m not heartless like the Isles fans sitting three rows down who high-fived.”

-I’m fine. Well…I’ll be fine. It’s just my face.

”Just your face?” I asked.

He nodded.

“I’m always going to worry, Sidney.”

-Will you stay with me?

“Here? I can’t, they don’t technically allow visitors so soon after surgery.”

He shook his head and began typing another message. I waited as my phone vibrated in my hand once again. I couldn’t help but smile as I looked down at the screen.

-Pittsburgh.

I bit down on my lip, shaking my head slightly. He was typing again, quickly trying to get the message to me before I could argue. Troy made his way back in the room as Sidney sent the next message.

-Nurse me back to health. Keep me company. I have 2 stay here 4 a few days, but after I’m home.

Troy was watching our exchange; Sidney’s side of the conversation was a complete mystery to him. Beyond my words, he could read only our expressions; mine torn and Sidney’s distorted by swelling to a degree that was almost comical.

“Sorry,” Troy muttered, realizing that perhaps even one-sided it wasn’t his conversation to listen in on.

“It’s okay, Troy. Your son was just imploring that I stay here and nurse him back to health.”

Troy shrugged, his hands shoved deep into his pockets in the way that Sidney’s so often were. “Maybe you should.”

Sidney scowled, typing furiously. My phone vibrated in my hand.

-Is he okay? I thought I was the one who took a puck to the skull.

“Neither of you are concussed.”

“What?” Troy asked.

“Sid is confused because you’re being nice to me.”

Troy chuckled. “I think she should stay, Sidney. You’re happier with her than I have ever seen you. I can’t stand in the way of that.”

-He’s concussed.

I held my phone towards Troy so he could see the message.

“Not concussed, just got some sense knocked into me I guess.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Sid grimaced and texted again.

-Smiling hurts.

“Of course it does. They just operated on your face, which is why we are leaving so you can get some rest.”

-I’m fine.

“Get some rest.” I kissed him on the temple. “We’ll be back for visiting hours tomorrow.”

-Love you.

“I love you too, and so does your dad.”

“Rest up, son. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

I didn’t sleep well that night and Sidney didn’t either. We spent much of the night texting back and forth talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Sid asked for details about the game, but I didn’t have any to give him. He thought it was silly that I hadn’t been able to watch after he’d skated off hurt, but I was actually concerned, wondering just how many games I would be forced to sit through in that way. I didn’t voice my concern, but I silently pondered just how many times I would spend a game with my eyes trained on the floor worried sick about him and how many times we would ride in the back of an SUV to the hospital before the game was even over.

By the time visiting hours began on Easter Sunday, Troy and I were back at the hospital. He’d been in touch with his teammates and the staff. He’d even emailed a couple of journalist with whom he shared a good rapport.

He was fidgety, but in a remarkably good mood for a guy with a busted face and a remarkable number of missing teeth.

He was just happy that there were no concussion symptoms, that it wasn’t something that would be keeping him out of the game for a long period of time with few answers. It was a broken bone that needed time to heal and then he could go back to his life. That fact, along with the painkillers they had him on, was enough to keep him almost giddy as he languished in a hospital bed.

A few of his teammates stopped by to check in and I met both his coach and general manager for the first time. I felt awkward in sweats with my hair unwashed. Mario was there to do the introductions, for that I was thankful. Sidney opted for a white board and marker for communication whenever several people were in the room at one time. It worked better than trying to text everyone, even if his handwriting was atrocious.

It had to be an exhausting day for him but he showed no signs of being too tired for more guests. But I could tell by Monday afternoon that he was glad to be back home at the apartment. When Troy headed back to Cole Harbour that afternoon, we were left to our own devices, curled up on the sofa and communicating by text. It felt silly. I wanted to hear his voice but until the swelling subsided, I was left with a mute boyfriend who made me take him to get milkshakes three times in one day just to get some calories in his system.

I let out a deep sigh, trying as hard as I could to stifle a yawn. I was cherishing my time with him. Two nights apart had felt like torture. Sidney pulled me off the couch and turned off the TV, forgetting about the movie that we were in the middle of watching. We were becoming better at silent communication. As we reached the hallway I attempted to kiss his cheek and head for the guest room. He held fast to my hand, scowling at me as if to ask where I thought I was going.

“I toss and turn, Sidney. I don’t want to flop over and smack you in the face. The last thing you need is for your girlfriend to screw up your still-healing bionic jaw.”

He rolled his eyes and tugged me towards the bedroom.

“Sid, I don’t want to hurt you because I can’t stay still while I sleep.”

He sighed and pulled me along behind him. I wasn’t strong enough to put up much of a fight even if I’d wanted to. The conversation was over. He’d won the argument without saying a word. I couldn’t win even when the man couldn’t speak. It wasn’t fair, but it was way things seemed to go for us.