Filles de Fleur

"You finished it?" Margaux chuckled as she walked back into her room to find Sidney hoisting her mattress into place with a grunt. Margaux bit her lip, admiring the display of flexing muscles rippling beneath his shirt.

"You say that like Ikea furniture is hard to put together." he chuckled, hopping onto the unmade bed, patting the space beside him as he laid down. She smiled, jumping in beside him and closing her eyes, unsure she could handle the sight of him lying beside her.

"This is more comfortable than the one in the store." she sighed rolling onto her side once she was ready to face Sid not expecting to find him leaning up on his elbow, looking down at her.

"You probably have a better mattress."

"No, it's knowing that this wasn't put together by a high school student making $7.25 an hour." Margaux nodded as Sidney giggled, shaking his head. She felt her heart swell as his eyes crinkled, beaming at her as a slow smile pulled at the corners of her lips.

"You're something else, Fleury."

"Yeah, I know." she chuckled, rolling her eyes as she rolled onto her back, staring up at the popcorn ceiling, out the window along the far wall, anywhere that wasn't Sidney.

When Rick came to her two weeks ago and told her he was ending their eleven year relationship to move in with his new girlfriend, the first thought she had was Sidney. She'd had a very on again and off again relationship with Rick, but they'd never dragged anyone else in to the midst. Now that he had another girl, she was sure that this was over.

For the first time since she'd met Sidney, she was single. For the first time, maybe something could happen. A small part of her - the part that naively hung onto any hope of her being with the boy of her 16 year old self's dreams - had been hoping this day would come all along. Even ten years later, she still remembered the day she met him vividly.

Marc was invited to the Team Canada World Juniors training camp and the family had packed up in their Ford Explorer and drove out to Halifax for their Christmas holidays. She sat in the stands with Vero and Marylene, a few rows down from her parents so their hushed whispers about Joffrey Lupul's intense eyes and Derek Roy's smile would go unheard. Maxime winked at Marylene as he passed by to the ice and the other girls giggled as she slowly turned red.

Then the stands around them hushed as he walked out to the ice. Even at 15, Sidney Crosby had that air of importance about him. Watching him glide effortlessly around the ice felt like you were watching history in the making.

When the boys left the ice, Sidney walked off with Marc and Max, laughing at something Talbo said as Marc stopped to give Vero a kiss.

"Talbo, you've met everyone, but Sid, this is my girlfriend, Veronique, and these are my sisters, Marylene and Margaux."

He was different than she expected, with pouty lips and a nose a little too big for his baby face. If she hadn't watched him on the ice she wouldn't have believed this was The Next One.

"It's nice to meet you." he smiled, shifting awkwardly on his skate clad feet. They stayed for a few moments, chatting before coach called them into the locker room.

Half an hour later, while waiting for Marc outside of the door, Margaux bit her lip to keep from laughing as Sidney strolled out of the dressing room. His tie was too long, his sleeves were too short and the dress shirt hung awkwardly wide in the neck, they clearly weren't his clothes.

"Before you say it, I know how awful this shirt is." he sighed, shaking his head as he chuckled despite himself, "It's my dad's. Apparently jelly stains on your dress shirt doesn't give off the best impression."

"I wouldn't expect it too."

Ever since, Margaux had been completely head over heels in love with Sidney Crosby. She'd already been dating Rick six months at this point, and once the tournament was over, she went home to him and stayed with him all these years as she watched Sidney's success from afar.

He never showed any interest in being with her, though the opportunity had presented itself many a time in the past decade. So she tried her best to pull away, adamant that it was better to have him in her life as a friend than not at all. She could get by on the harmless flirting, if she couldn't kiss those plush lips. She'd rather he wrap his arms around her in a hug, if she never had the chance to fall asleep in them.

Until now.

"I heard you and Flower arguing." Sidney frowned, pulling her out of her thoughts, "It sounded like you could use a drink after that."

"I would love one."

Sidney was thankful to finally be free of Margaux's room. She hadn't changed out of the dress she'd been wearing for her interview with Potash and there was only so long he could resist the urge to slip his hands under her short, wispy skirt that had been driving him crazy all day.

Damn Rick, he thought, shaking his head as he followed Margaux out of her room. If only the asshole had been considerate of the other men dying to fill his shoes and broken up with her weeks ago. The wound he left was so fresh it was practically still bleeding and as desperately as Sidney wanted to make a move, he knew he couldn't. It wouldn't be fair to Margaux, no matter how much of him wanted to pin her against the wall and return the favour for ten years of relentless teasing.


Sylvie hadn’t moved from the spot on her bed she’d collapsed on, her head in her hands, since Marc had left. She was too embarrassed to even look at Beau, so when she heard footsteps leaving and a body beside her, she immediately fell into who she assumed to be her sister in law. But when she was met with a solid chest and large, rough hands, she stiffened, looking up to see Beau. He smiled softly at her, his eyes making her glad she was sitting, because there was no way her knees could have held her up when he looked at her like that.

She immediately pulled away, her cheeks flushed as she looked at the wall. “You should go.” She whispered. “I think my family has humiliated me enough for one day.” She let out a small hiccup before pressing a hand to her mouth, squeezing her eyes closed tightly to fight off tears. She waited for him to leave, but she felt arms around her again instead. She couldn’t breathe as she felt Beau’s chest press into her back, his arms squeezing her stomach tightly. And when his breath caught her hair, making it flutter gently, she could have sworn she’d died and this was heaven.

“Pretty girls shouldn’t cry.” He whispered. “Especially not over something like family.” She turned in his arms to be met with those stunning eyes again, blush blossoming on her cheeks. He smiled kindly at her, moving one of his hands towards her hair, but hesitated. “Marc might be back.” He muttered, looking down at his jeans.

“Right.” She said, pulling away. There was a suffocating silence between them before Sylvie spoke again. “I really am sorry you had to hear that. When Margaux and Marc get going there’s no stopping them.” He shrugged.

“It’s fine.” He promised. “Did not think I was going to learn about your guy’s sex lives though.” They both laughed at that before Sylvie’s smile fell, one of her hands moving through her hair.

“I can’t believe she said that.” Sylvie muttered. “Jesus it’s bad enough she had to bring up hers, but to tell you I’m a…” She stopped, swallowing nervously again. “Never mind.”

“I already kind of figured.” Beau admitted. “If that makes you feel better.” Her eyes shot to his as he smiled softly. “When I first joined the team Sidney sat me down and said there was one thing that was off limits for the team, no matter what, and that was you three. Margaux and Marylene because they were in relationships, at least at the time, and you because Marc seemed proud as a peacock at the fact you’ve never even been on a date.” She groaned, her head falling back as her face turned scarlet again.

“Please tell me he doesn’t give that talk to everyone who joins the team.”

“He does.”

“Merde.” She muttered.

“Hey, no French.” Beau teased. She giggled, looking back up at him.

“Vous êtes parfait Beau Bennett.” She whispered. Now it was his turn to blush as he smiled at her, his heart racing.

“What does that mean?” He asked, leaning just a breath closer. She blushed as his eyes flicked to her lips for just a moment before boring into her own again. She giggled nervously, never having meant the words to be heard.

“It um… It means-”

Footsteps cut her off mid-sentence as Beau shot up, stepping as far away from her as quietly as he could before Margaux and Sidney appeared at the top of the stairs. They pair looked at Beau and Sylvie, chuckling. “It’s alright, Marc went to go see Vero and Estelle, most likely to cool off.” Margaux promised.

“We’re going to go get a drink with some of the other guys and were wondering if you two wanted to come.” Sidney offered, smiling.

“Or, you can have the apartment all to yourself.” Margaux winked. Sylvie and Beau turned bright red before they both laughed awkwardly.

“Let’s go, I just am going to change.” Sylvie said.

“Oh, I’ll help.” Margaux offered. Before Sylvie could object, the Fleury girl was ushering the boys out the door, telling them to get everyone else ready. Margaux then turned around, a wicked smile on her face. “Now, let’s find the shortest skirt you own.”

Beau looked over at Ollie, who was picking at one of Sylvie’s cookies, his face set in a deep frown. Beau liked the guy, but honestly was glad that he had taken the brunt of Marc’s rage. He was leaning against the wall when Kris Letang spoke. “You have no idea what kind of bullet you dodged.” He laughed.

“Barely, Margaux saved my ass.”

“Yeah, she’s good at that.” Kris chuckled. “She’s the only one who’s not afraid to tell her brother to fuck off and let her live her life.” Beau nodded, the gears in his mind spinning. Maybe Margaux could be the key to getting Marc to give his blessing for him and Sylvie, so he could finally kiss those plump lips, hear her whisper his name, feel her skin against his…

His mind had begun wandering to dark places when the stairs creaked and Margaux walked out, and when Sylvie emerged behind her it was all Beau could do to not run over and tackle her to the ground. She’d changed from her jeans into a tiny, curve hugging black skirt, showing off toned, tanned legs. All Beau could think about was them wrapping around his hips or maybe resting on his shoulders when Ollie’s voice broke him from his thoughts.

“Sylvie, now you’re just being cruel.” She turned red again, her eyes flicking to Beau’s before meeting the ground again.

“Well boys, that means our drinks are on you all right?” Margaux teased. They guys chuckled at that, but Beau couldn’t take his eyes off Sylvie. His heart was hitting his ribs so hard he was wondering if it’d pop out of his chest before Kris snapped his fingers in front of the younger man’s face.

“Come on Romeo.” He laughed. “You’ll have Juliet all to yourself at the bar.”