O Captain, My Captain.

"Holy shit!" Aubrey flinched awake, being awoken by the sound of a loud banging noise on her front door.

When she checked the clock sitting on her bedside table, the large neon numbers read 8:57. It wasn't extremely early, but early enough for being a Saturday morning. She then twisted her head to the left to see Sidney sleeping soundly next to her. His chest was lightly heaving up and down which was a clear indicator that whoever was banging on the front door had not disturbed his peaceful slumber. Getting to look at him in his most rawest form was enough to put the biggest smile on Aubrey's face as she took in her boyfriend's beauty.

Aside from Nealer's douchebag tendencies and slightly degrading comments towards Chelsea, last night was pretty damn perfect. As soon as the couple finished up dinner, they headed back to Aubrey's apartment to relax and talk about the upcoming weekend, which got Aubrey all excited that he was finally going to meet her parents. The two had plans to show them all around the city, taking them to some of their favorite sights and restaurants. Even though Aubrey was only from about two hours north of Pittsburgh, her mom and dad never felt the need to make the trip in, only coming down under special circumstances. Sidney was also able to snag glass seats right behind the bench for Sunday's game, assuring that her family would receive the full Penguins experience.

Suddenly the pounding started up again and it all finally clicked with her. 'MOM AND DAD!' she mentally yelled at herself. All this time she spent reminiscing about the perfect weekend with them, she had completely forgotten that they had planned to make the trip in around nine this morning. It was all starting to make sense now.

She slid out of bed as quickly and quietly as possible, trying her best not to wake Sidney up. 'SIDNEY!' she mentally yelled at herself again. Much to his protests last night, she insisted that he stay the night so that'd he already be at her place when her parents got there in the morning. Now looking at him fast asleep in her bed, in desperate need of a shower, it occurred to her what it might look like to her parents. 'Whatever' she shrugged it off. 'It's not like they haven't seen it all with Chelsea'.

"Babe," she jostled him awake. "Babe, wake up."

"What?" his eyes slowly blinked open, his voice still soft and raspy with sleep. God he was so cute.

"I think my mom and dad are here. Get up," she nudged him even further.

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed, once her words finally clicked with him. "I still need to, what are they gonna-?"

"Trust me," she smiled reassuringly. "They won't think a thing of it. Compared to Chelsea, I'm a fucking saint. Now go shower."

As he swiftly got out of bed to stand up and stretch, the banging continued once again and Aubrey quickly shuffled down the hall and to the front door to greet her parents.

"Mom! Dad!"

"Sweetie!" Joyce engulfed her youngest daughter in a tight hug.

"Took you long enough to open the damn door," Tom joked, pulling her in for a hug of his own. "How ya doing, sweetie?"

"Hi, daddy!" she exclaimed hugging him back. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting you guys so soon. Come on in!"

As she held the front door open, her parents bent down and scooped up their weekend bags and stepped inside, taking in the apartment surrounding them.

"It's like you never even left Pitt!" Joyce laughed, noticing the worn Pitt t-shirt blanket slung over the back of the small leather couch.

"Nope," Aubrey smiled. "Once a Panther, always a Panther."

"Did your sister make it in alright?" Joyce asked, quickly switching subjects. "I know she came down last night."

"Yeah, she and I went to dinner with Sidney and James Neal last night," Aubrey replied, temporarily forgetting that Chelsea was even in town. She must have stayed the night at Nealer's house once they dipped out from dinner.

"The Real Deal!" Tom exclaimed. "Where is Chelsea?"

"Uhhhh," Aubrey stared down at the floor.

"Well if she went out to dinner with Sidney and a teammate of his, you can only imagine where she ended up," Joyce said to her husband, well aware of her oldest daughter and her seemingly never-ending habits.

"Save it!" Tom stuck up his hands in protest. "I don't wanna think about it."

"Chelsea's a grown adult, she's old enough to make those types of decisions on her own," Joyce explained. "But if Chelsea is with the 'Real Deal' right now, who's in the shower?"

"Uhhhhh," Aubrey trailed off again. That seemed to be the only phrase that could escape her mouth. "Sidney actually stayed the night last night. We didn't do anything, we just kind of hung out."

"Sweetie, are you forgetting that you're a grown adult too?" Joyce leaned in close to her daughter. "You shouldn't be embarrassed to tell us that your boyfriend spent the night last night. It's part of life."

"You mean Sid the Kid is in THIS very apartment!?" Tom clapped his hands, completely ignoring the fact that she had just told them that her boyfriend spent the night last night.

"Dad!" Aubrey cocked her head to the side. "He's 26 years old. I would hardly call him a kid anymore."

"Oh, honey, relax," Joyce cooed, defending her husband. "It's just not everyday that you walk into your baby girl's apartment and one of the most famous men in Pittsburgh is in the shower. Your father's just excited."

"I'm sorry, daddy," Aubrey apologized. "I'm just nervous."

"Don't be," Tom placed a hand on her shoulder. "From what you've told us and from what I can see, Sid's a stand-up guy. I'm sure we'll love him."

"You have no idea how good that is to hear," she breathed a sigh of relief, listening as she heard the water shut off.

"And if your father approves, then he must be quite the gentleman," Joyce said, knowing all too well that her husband could sometimes be a tough cookie to crack when it came to his daughters boyfriends.

"He's great," Aubrey beamed. "I don't even know why I'm freaking out. I know you guys will love him."

"I'm sure we will," Tom smiled reassuringly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get a pot of coffee started. Where's the Keurig?"

"Same spot it's been in since the day you guys moved me in," Aubrey pointed her finger towards the kitchen. "Mugs are in the cabinet above the sink."

"I better go help him, dear," Joyce said turning towards the kitchen. "You know your father and simple household appliances."

"Well while you two are trying not to burn my apartment down, I'm gonna run down the hall and check on Sidney."

Aubrey watched as her parents disappeared into the kitchen and made her way down to her bedroom to find Sidney standing in nothing but his boxers, running a towel through his freshly-showered hair. Her breath hitched as she took in his perfectly chiseled abs and toned, muscular arms. Most girls would kill to be her right now.

"Nealer text me," he smirked, catching her staring at him.

"Yeah?" Aubrey awoke from her mini-daydream, her cheeks turning a bright red.

"Yeah. He said Chelsea definitely lived up to his 'expectations'," he made air-quotes around 'expectations'.

"I told him she would," Aubrey smiled smugly. "You think Nealer's advanced, you don't even wanna know the shit Chelsea's done."

"Your sister's really that fast?" Sidney raised his eyebrows.

"Like you would not believe," Aubrey exclaimed. "I can't even begin to tell you the countless times I'd wake her up on Sunday mornings to go to church and she'd be with a different guy. It's not a bad thing. She just doesn't like to be tied down."

"Uh, I wouldn't be so sure," Sidney said matter-of-factly. "Because she and Nealer already made plans for her to come down and spend the weekend with him next weekend."

"Are you serious?" Aubrey said sounding surprised.

"Dead," he said re-reading the text. "From what it sounds like, he really likes her."

"No kidding. What did he say?" Aubrey pointed towards his phone.

"Just that he had a really good time and to thank you again for introducing him to someone who was finally on the same page as him, uh, sex-wise. You know, just guy stuff," he said reaching into his overnight bag for a black 412 t-shirt.

"I can only imagine how their night went last night," Aubrey shook her head. "I should probably text her and let her know that our mom and dad are here."

"They're really here?" his eyes got wide making him look like a deer in the headlights.

"Yes," Aubrey walked over to him and placed his hands in hers. "And they're so excited to meet you. My dad already fan-girled once and it's not even ten."

"Oh jeez," he said sliding on a pair of dark-wash denim jeans. "I don't know if I can handle a fan-girling father."

"Shut up!" she slapped his arm playfully. "I told him to be on his best behavior. Besides he'll be over the initial shock within like the first five minutes. Just give him something sports-related to talk about and you two will be best friends."

"Something sports-related," he took a deep breath in. "I can do that."

"You're really nervous, aren't you?" she placed his hands in hers again giving them a firm squeeze.

"I'm terrified," he admitted. "I've never done anything like this. I've never had feelings like this about a girl and I guess I'm just anxious."

"You're so cute," she leaned up and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. "You have absolutely nothing to be worried about. I can't tell you this enough but they really are gonna love you."

"Swear?"

"Swear," she leaned up and kissed him again.

"Okay," he smiled, nuzzling his nose against hers.

"Take a deep breath," she instructed. "Now let's go woo the pants off my parents."