O Captain, My Captain.

As the days progressed and the more time they spent with one another, Aubrey and Sidney began to realize that their relationship wasn't as exclusive as they'd hoped it'd be. They had promised each other to keep it under wraps from the get-go but based on the suggestive looks and the endless amounts of chirping some of the guys were giving them, it seemed like the whole team knew. Sid's initial reaction was to blame Kuni. He didn't always know how to keep secrets to himself but then again he was never informed of the agreement Aubrey and Sidney had made. Sid recalled the conversation he had with Flower just a few days ago when he asked him about his little spat with Aubrey. There was no way Flower could've possibly gained that information on his own seeing as though he played the entire, grueling 60 minutes. Were they that obvious?

But throughout all of this and much to Sidney's surprise, the chirping was all positive. The guys seemed to be happy for Sid that he was able to snag such an awesome girl, especially one everyone knew liked him for him and not for the perks for his career. Hell, she lived, breathed, and ate Penguins hockey too so she knew exactly what it was like. And he was thankful for that.

And as the days progressed, so did their relationship. Sid had finally managed to move past their little banter and Aubrey was finally able to move on since his little wrist incident. When he got it X-rayed the day after they got back from Detroit, the team doctors determined that the swelling was only temporary and that there wasn't any serious damage, just a minor tweak, as it was suspected in the first place. Everything was smooth sailing thus far and by the looks of it, it was going to continue on that way. But one thing still kept rolling across his train of thought, something that could mean serious business for the both of them.

"So I was thinking," Sid twirled his pasta. They had ordered takeout from the local Italian restaurant in Market Square and brought it back to his house for dinner and a movie night.

"You've been doing a lot of thinking lately," Aubrey teased, taking a sip of her water.

"I'm turning into you," he replied.

"It's great, isn't it?" she smiled.

"This is serious stuff, Aubs," his tone turned serious. "So just hear me out."

"Sorry, sorry," she stabbed a piece of grilled chicken with her fork. "What have you been thinkin about, babe?"

"Us," he said simply. "You, me, together. Our whole relationship."

"Sidney Crosby, are you breaking up with me?" she dropped her fork. She looked absolutely mortified.

"No, no, GOD NO! That's the last thing I'd wanna do!" he exclaimed. "You're great, I love getting to see you all the time. I think we're great as a couple."

"Oh," her face relaxed. "Well I feel the same way. For someone who's not used to the whole dating thing, you're a pretty kick-ass boyfriend. Shelby should be hating herself for being such a bitch. She's missing out."

"Why do you have to bring her into this?" he laughed.

"You're right, I'm sorry," she smiled. "So you've been thinking about us? What about us exactly have you been thinkin about?"

"Well," he took a deep breath in. "I think it's pretty safe to say that most of the guys know and wellllll...maybe people outside the organization should know too."

"Pause," she held out her hand to stop him. "How do most of the guys know? I haven't told anyone except for Kuni. Have you told anyone?"

"No," he took another bite of his pasta. "But I mean it's not like we're very subtle when we're together."

As she chewed her food, she thought about what he said, and he was right. Their secretive relationship was not-so-secretive and neither one of them had really tried to hide it. When they were together at the arena, it was like they were in their own little world and they had never thought about the possibility of the rest of the team catching on. All those times when he displayed his own personal form of PDA or when they would briefly hold hands were now becoming extremely apparent to her. How could the guys NOT think they were together and how come no one had ever said anything to her?

"So are you saying you wanna out us to the public? Like as a couple?"

"Yes," he reached for her hand.

"Like officially out us as like an official couple? As like a real boyfriend, girlfriend type thing?"

"I wasn't aware that we were fake boyfriend and girlfriend up until this point?" he laughed.

"Shut up," she placed her hand in his. "You know what I mean."

"Yes. We'd be like official boyfriend and girlfriend to the rest of the world."

"Hmmmm," she mulled this over in her head. "Shouldn't we at least tell our families first? I know mine would flip if they found out I was dating you through the media. Wait. This isn't gonna be like some paparazzi-type thing where we're gonna be on the cover of like People, will it?"

"Aubs," he squeezed her hand. "I'm an athlete, not a Kardashian. It wouldn't end up in any type of tabloid and if it does, then they must really be hurtin for something to write about."

"Have you ever been in the locker room after a game?" she asked.

"Yes..." he raised an eyebrow.

"Then you know how the media just flocks to you. What do you think's gonna happen if we decide to make this public?"

"Yeah but that's just local press, nothing national," he argued. "And what are you trying to say? You wanna continue to keep us exclusive? I think it's a little late for that, Aubs. I mean the guys know."

"No, no, that's not what I'm trying to say at all," she squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Of course I want the rest of the world to know that we're together, it's not that. It's just a really big step for us and you're in the prime of your career. I don't want you to have the added stress of reporters always asking about something that isn't necessarily hockey-related, you know?"

Sid gritted his teeth and looked away. On one hand, her reasoning was extremely accurate, then again what was new? Reporters hounded him all the time about things and outing his relationship would just add fuel to their fire. But in his mind, he wanted everyone to know about Aubrey. With the way she made him feel, he had never wanted to share the intimate details of his life more than he did at this very moment. It was exhilarating yet nerve-wracking all at once. He knew that it would just be another means for rumors to start flying around but he didn't care. All's he cared about was wanting the world to know how happy he was with her.

On the surface, Aubrey was trying to play it cool as if this was just another every-day occurrence with Sidney Crosby. But on the inside, she was freaking out. If he decided to make their relationship known to those outside the Penguins organization, it would make everything official and that was it. Sidney Crosby would be her official boyfriend and the rest of the world would associate everything she did as a part of him. 'Why am I even thinking like this?' she questioned herself. 'He even said it himself. He's an athlete, not a Kardashian. It's not like Maria Menounos is gonna be covering us on the next episode of Access Hollywood. I should be happy. This is a big thing.'

"Let's do it," she broke their silence. He looked at her with wide eyes.

"But what about-?"

"No but's, babe. I don't know why I freaked out. This is really cool," she smiled. "And I could cry right now that you wanna tell the rest of the world about me."

"Don't cry," he said. "Honestly it won't be too big of a deal. We'll probably get some love from the local press but that's it. Like I said, I'm an athlete, not some reality TV star. Not a whole lot of people are gonna freak out over me having a girlfriend."

"Relax, babe. I'm not gonna cry," she giggled. "And you are pretty darn popular."

"Maybe to the National Hockey League and to Pittsburgh but that's it," he replied.

"Noooo," she teased.

"Do you know something I don't?" diving into his pasta again.

"Have you been on Tumblr?"

"I don't even know what that is," he smirked. She couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"Yeah, okay," she said sarcastically. "But are we gonna like tell our families first or...?"

"Well I've already told my parents that I've been seeing someone pretty exclusively," he said matter-of-factly.

"And they're okay with it?" she questioned.

"I'm 26 years old, they'd better be okay with it," he snarled. "But they think it's great that I've found someone that I can finally be myself with."

"Awwww really?" she took another sip of water.

"I mean, yeah. You know what my job's really like because you experience it first hand. And obviously both our jobs consume the majority of our lives so we have that in common. Have you told your sister?"

"True, true," she said. "And I've told her bits and pieces. I haven't told her that we're officially a couple but I think she's figured it out. I still need to tell my parents."

"What do you think they'll say?"

"Well my dad'll probably fangirl ten times harder than he did when he found out I'd be working for the Penguins and my mom'll probably think you're just another pretty face. She's not all that into hockey."

"Well we'll have to change that now won't we?" he smiled. "Maybe we can bring them down for a game or two."

"Yeah as long as we don't invite Chelsea," she laughed.

"And why's that?"

"Because the second you introduce her to Nealer, she'll be fully undressed faster than you can say don't do that."

"Well," he set his fork down. "If your sister's half as gorgeous as you are, Nealer should be thanking us then, right?"