O Captain, My Captain.

"Hmmmmm," Aubrey surveyed the parking garage.

She was contemplating whether to call Sidney out on whatever it is he was doing or play along with his plan. She opted to play along. After all, she did love surprises.

"Ready?" he asked slinging his hockey bag over his shoulder and shutting the trunk. Whatever he was doing, he was good at making it seem believable.

"Yep!" she reached for his hand but immediately opted against it. If she was going to play along, she really needed to commit herself to playing dumb.

"Why'd you pull your hand back?"

"Because I don't wanna seem anymore suspicious than I already am. Walking into a locker room full of guys with you is already gonna raise enough eyebrows," she said.

"But no one's here," he raised his hands and pointed out all the empty parking spaces. "No one's gonna know whether we walked in together or not."

"Why do I have the feeling that we're not going to be walking into a locker room full of guys?" she said blowing her cover. As much as she loved surprises, she loved calling people out on their shit even more.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he chuckled, punching in a number into the keypad that led from the parking garage into the arena.

"Okaaaay," she said sarcastically following closely behind him.

They walked down the empty hallway that led to the locker room, the automatic lights flicking on overhead every time they sensed motion. Photographs of past Penguins from all different decades lined the walls along with trophy cases showcasing all the awards the franchise had ever won. Aubrey couldn't help but smile when they passed the huge still shot of Sidney lifting Lord Stanley over his head back when the team won the Cup in 2009. His hair was a long, scraggly, sweaty mess and he had random strips of facial hair that sat above his upper lip that were considered to be his "playoff beard". Even though the picture was taken four years ago, he still looked the same. The only difference was his face was a little less defined and he still had most of his real teeth. 'The price you pay to be a successful hockey player', she thought.

When they finally reached the home team's locker room, he paused before opening the doors and turned around.

"Okay so I lied," he said nervously.

"About?" she pressed.

"Oh don't act like you don't know that we had an off day."

"What?" Aubrey giggled sarcastically, slapping her right hand over her heart. "We have an off day!?"

"You're such a bad liar."

"Guilty," she said surrendering both of her hands. "But in my defense I really had forgotten until we pulled in the parking garage and there was no one here."

"Uh huh," Sidney smiled, not buying a word she said.

"I swear!"

"Okay, Aubs. I believe you. Whateeeeever you say."

"Are we really about to stand here and argue about whether I truly forgot or not or are you going to tell me why we're really here and why you brought your gear?" she cocked her head to the side.

"It's a surprise," he said, that boyish grin returning to his face.

"You have a surprise!?"

"Mhm," he said now turning to open the doors. He held them open for her and she followed him inside.

He flipped a few switches and the lights overhead slowly beamed to life, revealing a completely empty locker room. Player cubbies that were normally filled with gear were completely stripped except for one in particular. She didn't even have to look at the name plate to see who it belonged to. Inside the stall hung a pair of particularly small hockey skates and a stick wrapped with pink tape leaned against the bench in front of it.

"What's all this?" she asked examining the stick. "Did you already have this all planned out?"

"It's just a little something I threw together this morning," he leaned against the wall, a proud smile plastered to his face.

"A little something you threw together?" she questioned now inspecting the skates. "Sid, these are my exact size. How did you know?"

"I looked to see what size your shoes were when you took them off last night," he said.

"But how did you find a pair so quickly? Most shops don't even open till 10 and I'm willing to bet that there aren't a whole lot of women's size 7's lying around here."

"Let's just say I pulled a few strings and was able to find them before you woke up this morning. What difference does it make how I found them as long as they're here now?"

"I'm sorry, it's just," she hung the skates back up. "I don't even know what you have planned but I can already tell you that this is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"No need to apologize," he said holding his arms out to pull her into a warm embrace. "I've always wanted to do this for a girl but I've never found anyone special enough for it."

"Special enough for what?" she asked looking up at him.

His lips twisted into that cute smile that made her heart melt. "I'm gonna teach you how to shoot pucks."

"You're gonna what?' she asked in disbelief.

"I'm gonna teach you how to shoot pucks."

"But, Sidney, I barely know how to stand on the ice let alone skate. Could you imagine me trying to shoot a puck?"

"Then we'll teach you how to skate," he said, muscular arms still wrapped around her.

"But what if I fall?" she questioned.

"Then I'll be right there holding your hand waiting to catch you."

Aubrey sighed. She'd said it once and she'd say it again but he really was perfect. He had gone through all the trouble of pulling off such a sweet surprise and it was hard to believe that it was all for her. Her mind fluttered back to last night when he had asked her to become "emotionally invested" with him and how silly it was to hear those words come out of his mouth. Arguably the greatest hockey player in the world was taking baby steps into a relationship with her and it was all too much for her to fathom. 'He wants me', she thought. 'Not Shelby, not some model. Me.'

Suddenly another, more logical, thought popped into her head. What if they got caught? Recreational use of the ice was for players and members of the coaching staff only. What if Dirty Dan made a surprise stop in to pick up some paperwork only to find one of the team's physical therapists out on the ice with the captain? She could potentially get into some serious trouble and she had worked too hard to get her job to risk losing it. 'But I'll be with Sidney', she thought. 'And as long as I'm with him, everything will be okay, right?'

"Stop thinking," he said interrupting her train of thought.

"But what if we get caught?"

"That's the problem with you, Aubs. You worry way too much. Let your hair down a little and just have fun," he sighed.

"Those are some pretty wise words from the most superstitious man in the world," she joked.

"HA HA. I'm starting to learn how to relax a little," he finally released her from his tight embrace. "Now go lace up, we're teaching you how to skate."

With a little hesitation and a little encouragement from the seemingly perfect man standing in front of her, she turned her back to him and trudged over to where her customized skates and stick were waiting in his stall. She plopped down on the hard wooden bench and slowly slipped off both of her shoes and reached up for the skates hanging above her head. Carefully she placed each foot inside their respectful skate and began to lace up. Before she was even halfway done tying the first one, Sidney already had his skates on and was waiting patiently on the bench beside her.

"Showoff," she smirked.

"Slowpoke," he smirked back. "Need some help?"

He knelt down to where her feet were and after a few quick tugs of the laces, they were ready to hit the ice. He held out his hand in which she gladly took and he helped her up as they walked over to the tunnel that led out to the ice.

"Are you sure we won't get caught?" she said stopping midway through the tunnel and turned to look up at him. He was at least a good four inches taller than her in his skates.

Before she had time to ask any more questions he swiftly planted a sweet kiss right on her lips and all of her hesitations subsided.

"I take that as a no."