Love Never Felt So Good

The bed that Bailey and Sidney shared was big enough when the two of them were in it, but when it was just Bailey alone, it was massive. It had been two days since he had moved to the basement and it was her second time sleeping on her own in months.

She hugged his pillow to her chest, feeling empty as Belle ran up her little staircase to the top of the mattress. Sidney had built it for her before they left for New Jersey so she wouldn't hurt herself jumping down.

"Hi baby." She whispered to the little fawn pug. She could smell breakfast cooking in the kitchen and decided it was good enough a time to get out of bed, she had two hours before she needed to get to the studio and had already decided she wasn't going to shower. She threw on a pair of shorts and a long-sleeve tee before padding down the two flights of stairs to the Kitchener.

"Morning." She said quietly as Sidney plated up eggs and sausage onto a plate on the kitchen island alongside a bowl of honeydew melon - her favorite.

"Morning." He smiled as he stood in front of her in a pair of flannel pants and a messy bed head. Normally this was enough to send her flying across the kitchen island, but now, with a sick stone of guilt settled into her stomach, she felt nothing, like she wasn’t worthy of this great guy. She felt like she was the root of all of their problems.

He watched her push around her breakfast for a moment before eating her fruit.

"What time do you work until today?" He asked.

"Eleven to three and five to eight." She nodded, taking a drink of the orange juice he set down in front of her. "I'm off tomorrow and Wednesday before Vegas." She added. Sidney was up for the Ted Lindsay award again this year and they'd be heading to Vegas two days before the awards show and staying an extra day after.

"Can I meet you for an early dinner after your first class?" He asked. "I was thinking we could go see the new Marvel movie tonight." He suggested.

"Yeah that sounds good." She nodded, "thank you for breakfast," she got up, kissed his cheek and ran upstairs, deciding to take a shower after all.

Sidney cleaned up from breakfast, walking out to the patio and rounding the side of the house to the shed where his toys slept, including his big John Deere riding lawn mower. He fired it up, setting his coffee mug in the cup holder and putting on his over the ear headphones, taking on the backyard.

From the third floor of the house, Bailey stepped out of the quick shower she took, fixing her hair into her signature milkmaid braids and applying her winged eyeliner and red lips before dressing for class. Today she had her older high school students, a group she always had fun with.

A day in the studio and back to her normal routine was exactly what Bailey needed, letting her feel more and more like her old self. There was something cathartic in sweating out her body weight, listening to music and having a great time with her students. After her juniors and seniors came her freshmen and sophomores, a little more rambunctious, but itching to work hard and prove themselves. Auditions for competition lines would be at the end of the summer and everyone was always trying to move up a level.

By the time three o'clock rolled around, Bailey was wiped. At least for her evening class, she could sit and observe as two of her assistants would be coming in to help with the middle-schoolers.

When she looked up to see Sidney standing in the doorway of her studio with a bouquet of wildflowers and a big red passion tea from Starbucks, she blushed for the first time in months.

"Hi Sid!" Her students called out, making him laugh. They hardly blinked anymore seeing Pittsburgh's biggest star hanging around the building.

"You didn't have to bring me these." She blushed as she took the flowers. "They're beautiful, thanks Sid." She blushed.

"Haven't seen you turn that color in a while." He joked.

"Shh." She bumped her shoulder into his. "What's for lunch?" She asked, taking a sip of her tea.

"I thought we could go back for sushi. We have the time for it and I know you like their edamame and their spider roll." He smiled. It made him so happy to see her happy.

"Let me put these in water quick." She let go of his hand, improvising and filling an empty Nalgene bottle with water from the fountain before setting the flowers inside.

Sidney and Bailey sat on the same side of the booth at the back of the sushi restaurant, deciding to try at least one new thing. They shared a lot of smiles, Bailey laughing as he discovered that he didn't enjoy raw surf clam after all. It felt a lot like it did back when they first started dating, very fun and light.

Bailey didn't want Sidney to go back to the studio when they were having such a good time. She was worried the feeling would go away when he left.

When Bailey did return to the studio for her evening class, her mind was clouded with the good time she had that afternoon. A little space had done them well. Her middle-schoolers class had gone by quickly and she was thankful she had packed a different outfit and face wipes for after. When eight o'clock rolled around, Sidney appeared in the studio with another bouquet of flowers to match the first. She thankfully found another water bottle to keep them in overnight at the studio so she didn't need to carry them around to the movie that evening.

"Where are you going?" She asked as he pulled into the regular parking lot of the theater.

"To the theater?" He replied, looking at her perplexed.

"You never park up here in case someone sees us." She felt silly for saying it. "And you're not wearing your hat." She pointed out. "What if someone sees you with me?" She could feel her voice shrinking with each statement.

Sidney felt like shit. Without consideration, he realized that they had gotten to a point in their relationship where she thought that not only did he not want to be seen in public, but that he didn't want to be seen in public with her.

"Stay there." He instructed.

Sidney walked around to the other side of the car, opening her door and standing in her way.

"I want everyone to know we're together. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel otherwise." He took her hand in his. Bailey nodded and he kissed her hand. "So what's it going to be? Popcorn or Swedish Fish?" He helped her out of the car.

"Popcorn, salt and extra butter." She said. "And I want a blue raspberry Icee." She added.

"Anything for you." He grinned, "I think I'll get popcorn, too."

“What would Kadar say?” She teased.

“Our little secret.”

- - -

It was a warm May night, and after their movie, the two weren’t ready to go back to the house, opting to park the car, grab Belle’s leash and take a walk through the woods near the house. When walked far enough, it would lead to a small reservoir about a mile and a half away.

“Remember when I took you out here last fall and that giant spider crawled up your leg?” Sidney asked, swinging their hands between them as Belle roamed ahead.

“That was the worst day of my life.” She said dramatically, making him laugh his awkward, honking giggle. Bailey was truly happy in that moment walking with Sidney in the night, Belle trotting along in front of them, and the man that she loved at her side. “I really did mean it when I said I wasn’t embarrassed of you, Sidney. I was frustrated and I wasn’t thinking when I said it.” She spoke quietly. They slowed until they were standing. “I am honored to be with you every single day.” She insisted.

“I love you, Bailey. I know sometimes I put our relationship second to hockey or my personal image, and that’s not okay. I’m going to actively work on not doing that anymore.” He insisted.

“I just want to be good enough for you and the kind of love you give.” She said, “I hope that makes sense.” She added.

“I just want you to know that any doubts you have about us are in your head. For me, you’re it, and no matter what you think, you’re the one for me.” He said, placing his hands on her shoulders and dragging them down her arms to her hands. “I put a lot of pressure on you to be a certain person and to act a certain way.” He added.

“Let’s just make a promise to be completely and entirely honest with each other from now on.” She said, leaning her head forward to rest against his collarbone. “I’ll stop bottling things up and you can tell me when you’re annoyed with me so I can change what’s happening or we can talk things out.” She offered. “And, I promise to stop running.” She looked up at him.

“I promise to talk to you instead of everyone else around us when I’m frustrated.” He offered.

“Kiss on it?” She asked, looking up at him, biting her red lower lip. Sidney laughed, leaning down to kiss her sweetly.

“I love you.” He whispered.

“I love you too.” She smiled. “And I was thinking, if you wanted, we could go look at puppies when we get back from Vegas?” She asked

“A puppy?” He gasped, feigning shock, making her laugh as they continued on down their way to the reservoir. When they finished their walk, winding up at the house again, it was almost midnight, and while Sidney was tired, Bailey was exhausted. Sidney didn’t want to assume anything, causing him to get ready for bed while she took a quick shower and head down to the guest room the basement again. He rolled into the double bed, flipping on the television and propping himself up against the headboard.

Not ten minutes later, Bailey was in his doorway, dressed in one of his button-down shirts, face bare of makeup and hair braided down the front of her shoulder.

“What are you doing down here, Mr. Crosby?” She asked, crossing one leg over the other as she leaned in the doorway.

“Hangin’ out.” He replied, bringing up the remote to reach the television sensor and flipping the television off.

“You know, it’s much cooler down here than on the third floor.” She commented, walking into the bedroom and kneeling on the mattress at the foot of the bed.

“Well, I do have a bit of extra space,” said Sidney, running his hand over the comforter beside him. She happily wiggled her way up to him, loving the feeling of his cool skin over hard muscle felt under him.

“I still love you pale and pasty.” She kissed the patch of skin just at the base of his neck.

“There are new.” He fingered the mint colored-studs in her ears. “They’re pretty.” He mumbled as she let her eyes flutter shut.

“Thanks, Missy gave them to me for my birthday.” She mentioned before letting out a big yawn, snuggling up to him and slowly letting sleep come over her.

And that’s when Sidney’s heart essentially stopped beating in his chest.

He had forgotten her birthday.