Independence Day

The sun has long disappeared below the horizon, the sky slowly changing from a faded swirl of oranges and pinks into a sheet of dark purple that's almost black. A large light gray cape cod style house sits spread out over a huge grassy yard that backs right up to the beach, a plane of pale white leading to a vast expanse of inky black water. The music playing inside can be heard clearly, even down past the beach to the wooden dock that stretches out into the dark water. The bass line of some top 40 hit reverberates through her body as she jogs down the stone steps of the back porch and when her feet hit the cool grass, she slows her pace to a walk.

Eva Kingsley loves the 4th of July. It's her favorite holiday-- better than Christmas, Easter, or Halloween, ever since she was a little girl. She loves the fireworks, the grilling out, the red, white, and blue everything that goes along with the day. She, as well as most Americans, knows that her country has its flaws, but on this one day every year, she can set all that aside and just celebrate the good parts. She comes from a long line of American patriots; her father was a soldier in the US Army before holding his current position, as was her grandfather, and his father before him. Even her ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. Her sense of pride for her country runs deep and that's why the day she gets to celebrate it is her favorite day of the year. It's only slightly because the 4th of July happens to also be her birthday.

She's twenty-six this year, officially closer to thirty than twenty, and even though that thought terrifies her, she's very slowly learning to accept it. To help with that, her two friends Kristy and Macon have been pushing drinks into her hand all day in between the grilling burgers and swimming in the pool and eating birthday cake, and now at half past nine, she's escaping the party and the house altogether to get away for a minute. The half empty beer bottle dangling loosely from her hand, she pads silently across the backyard toward the dock.

Pausing a few feet away from the start of the wooden planks, she frowns when she sees someone already standing at the end next to where the boat is tied up. It had been deserted when she looked down on it from the house's pool deck and, honestly, she's a little annoyed that it no longer is. She'd been looking forward to a few moments of peace by herself. The figure by at the end of the dock has their back facing her and a hood pulled up over their head and the way their shoulders are slouched over definitely makes it look like they want to be left alone too, so she sighs heavily and turns to trek back toward the house in search of another place of solitude.

"You don't have to go," a voice calls out from behind her, and when she turns back to look, the person is looking over his shoulder at her. He still has his hood up but from what she can see of his face thanks to the lamp on the post at the end with him, he's handsome and he looks friendly enough.

"Are you sure?"

"Free country, isn't it?"

She smiles at that, giving a short nod as she walks down the dock toward him and she takes a seat on the edge, her legs dangling over the side. He follows suit and sits down next to her, pulling the hood back down off of his head as he does so and now she can see him more clearly. He has smooth tan skin, short dark hair, and dark eyes that are mesmerizing with the reflection of the light in them. She's never seen him before and that makes her curious as to what exactly he's doing there.

"This is a private party." He looks up at her, brows furrowing like he's a little put off by her words and it takes her a moment to realize how that must have sounded to him. "I'm sorry, that came out rude. I just meant I don't-....I don't know you, and you're here."

"Am I not allowed to be here?"

"Well, I mean....you probably shouldn't be. Do you even know who's throwing this party?"

He chuckles and raises the bottle in his hand to take a sip of his beer. "No, but I was actually invited, if that helps my case at all."

"By who?"

"Kristy Kohler."

"Wait, you're Kristy's friend from back home?"

He nods slowly. "Yep, that'd be me. You know her?"

"Pretty well. She's my best friend."

"Oh," he says nonchalantly, but then his eyes widen a little as he looks up at her, the realization finally coming to him. "You're-......"

Eva smiles a little, raising her eyebrows to prompt him to continue. "I'm what?"

"You're the reason she invited me today. She wanted me to meet you."

Eva furrows her brows, confused by his statement. So he hadn't actually recognized her; he'd only realized that she's the one Kristy is trying to set him up with. And of course Kristy is trying to set her up with someone. She can't stay out of Eva's lack of love life no matter how hard Eva tries to keep her out; Kristy's always trying to set her up with different guys, but none of them ever work out. Most guys are too intimidated by who she is.

"How long have you been here exactly?"

"Since about seven, I think."

"And you're just now meeting me."

"I guess so," he laughs awkwardly. "I haven't told her I'm here yet. That's the only reason she hasn't dragged you over to find me already."

"Well, it's probably better this way I think. I'm Eva."

She extends her hand out to him and he smiles as he takes it in his much larger one. "Sidney. It's nice to meet you, Eva."

"You too."

As soon as he lets go, she misses the warmth and gentleness of his touch, but she mentally scolds herself for thinking it as she stretches her legs out in front of her and crosses her ankles. She watches the gentle ripples of the water out in front of her for a few moments and he takes the opportunity to really look at her. She's beautiful, that's for sure, with long wavy reddish brown hair and pale blue eyes that are somehow still sparkling even in the low lighting. She's got on a plaid shirt that's hanging off one shoulder and is left unbuttoned to reveal her tiny American flag bikini top underneath. Her denim shorts don't do much to cover her long legs and he mindlessly licks his lips as his eyes travel up and down the creamy flesh.

She catches him looking and he immediately blushes as he looks down at his feet, his shoes nearly skimming the surface of the water, and he lightly kicks it with his toe just to have something else to look at while he gets over the embarrassment he just caused himself. She thinks that he's really cute when he's embarrassed, and while he's trying his best to avoid eye contact, it's her turn to get a better look at him. Even with the dark blue hoodie he's wearing, she can tell he's well built, with broad shoulders and strong arms. He looks like an excellent cuddling partner, among other things, and just when she's starting to daydream about those other things, a loud voice calls her name from back at the house.

Eva and Sidney both look back over their shoulders where Kristy is standing on the balcony, scanning the backyard for her friend. Eva sticks a hand up and waves to her from her position on the dock and when Kristy finally spots her, she visibly relaxes before she notices another person sitting next to her friend. The tall blonde races down the stone steps and jogs across the yard, and as soon as she reaches them, she plops down between them and smacks Sidney on the arm.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?"

"You didn't tell me when you got here!"

"Don't worry," Eva interrupts, covering for him. "He hasn't been here long."

"And you!" Kristy exclaims, turning to smack Eva's arm as well. "You know you aren't supposed to go off by yourself without telling someone. God, you still act like a newbie sometimes."

Eva scoffs. "No one on this island is going to hurt me."

"Doesn't matter, bitch! The whole world knows you're here. You come to Martha's Vineyard every year for the 4th of July."

Sidney looks at the two women in confusion while Eva rolls her eyes but doesn't argue further. She knows that technically she shouldn't be wandering off by herself at night when the whole world knows her location and could easily get to her if they wanted to. Especially when she makes her agents stay outside so that they don't cramp the style of the party she's throwing.

"Sid could have been anybody," Kristy continues with her scolding. "He could've kidnapped you or murdered you or God knows what else before anyone noticed you were even gone. Your agents would be in so much trouble if your dad knew how you keep ditching them."

"I didn't ditch them, Kristy. They're right out front. They even came inside for a little bit to eat earlier."

"If they're not protecting you, then they're not doing their jobs."

"It's not like I sent them away! They're still on the premises."

"That's not good enough when you aren't on the fucking premises."

Sidney clears his throat, awkwardly interrupting the two women, who both look over at him expectantly. "Am I, uh, missing something here?"

"How dense are you, Crosby?" Kristy snaps, still irritated with her best friend, but then she sighs and rubs her hands down her face. "Sorry. She's just such a stubborn ass sometimes I could kill her myself."

"Wait, Crosby?" Eva asks, realization finally hitting her. "Sidney Crosby? You won the Stanley cup in '09!"

Both Sidney and Kristy just stare at her for a moment before Kristy starts laughing. "God, Eva, you're so slow sometimes. I told you that a million times before. He met your dad and everything."

"When did I meet your dad?" Sidney asks, confused.

"Oh my God," Kristy says, throwing her head back with a groan. "You're both slow. So, so slow."

Eva smacks her friend's leg. "That's rude. He's Canadian."

"What's that got to do with anything?" He retorts, suddenly offended when his nationality is mentioned.

"So am I!" Kristy fires back at Eva with a laugh, ignoring Sidney completely. "But I still know the First Daughter when I'm sitting right next to her."

"Wait, what?" Sidney's eyes go wide as he looks between them and Eva sighs, pushing a hand through her dark hair as she turns her gaze back out to the water. "You're-....."

Kristy nudges him with her elbow. "Honestly, Sid. I know we're Canadian, but we still live in America so I feel like this is something you should already know."

"Well, how was I supposed to guess that your friend from college was the fucking President's daughter?!"

"Because I told you!"

"No, you didn't," he says with a firm head shake. "I definitely would have remembered that."

"It's not my fault if you don't remember things."

"I need another beer," Eva says, standing up to dust the invisible dirt off the back of her jean shorts.

Kristy jumps up too and she's already heading off back down the dock before Eva can protest. "I'll get them. You two stay put."

Neither of them says anything until after the blonde has disappeared completely back to the gray house. Eva takes her previous seat again and they keep stealing glances at each other, neither of them sure who's going to be the first one to break the silence. "So you're President Kingsley's daughter," he finally says, and when she looks over at him, he's watching her intently.

"Yep, that's me," she replies with a little smile. "And you're the captain of the Penguins."

He chuckles. "Yep, that's me."

"Well now that I know that, I have to say, I'm a little starstruck."

"You're starstruck by me?"

"Yeah, I mean, I didn't get to be there the year you guys came to the White House, but I've been there every other year. Every time, I always get starstruck."

"How?" Sidney laughs. "Your dad is the President of the United States, probably one of the most famous people in the world right now. And you must meet celebrities all the time too."

"But you play hockey."

"Are you that big of a hockey fan?"

Eva blushes a little and untucks her hair from behind her ear in hopes of hiding it before Sidney sees it, but she isn't fast enough. Fortunately for her, he thinks it's pretty cute. "Maybe."

"Who's your team?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because you won't like it."

"C'mon," he coaxes and she tries but fails to keep from smiling as she shakes her head. "Is it that bad? The Flyers or something?"

"Well, I have lived in DC for most of my life...." She trails off, looking over at him apologetically.

"A Caps fan?" Sidney groans jokingly. "Oh man, I don't know if we can even be friends now."

"Hey, if I can get over you being a Penguin, then you can get over me being a Caps fan. It just means we can't talk hockey. We'll have to find something else to do."

She bites down on her bottom lip as she looks over at him and he chuckles but now he's the one blushing. "Yeah, that sounds fair."

"I don't think Kristy's coming back with my beer."

They both look over their shoulders back to the house that's all lit up in the surrounding darkness. "I don't think she ever planned on it."

"She just used it as an excuse to get us alone. She's more worried about my love life than even I am. It's embarrassing how hard she tries to get me a boyfriend." Sidney's brows shoot up at the word boyfriend and he grins but she doesn't notice, back to staring out at the water. She lets out a heavy sigh before she stands up, pulling the plaid shirt back up onto her shoulder from where it's fallen down her arm. "C'mon," she says, holding out a hand to him. "Let's go find some beers."

He takes her hand and quickly stands up and he looks over at her, somewhat surprised, when she doesn't let go of his hand as they walk back down the dock toward the house. The party is still going on, no one having even noticed that she had slipped away, and now there seems to be some sort of cannonball contest going on in the pool. Eva leads Sidney through the house to the kitchen and it isn't until they reach a tall blond man leaning against the kitchen island that her hand finally loosens its hold on his.

"Sidney, this is my friend Macon. M, this is Sid. He's one of Kristy's friends from Nova Scotia."

The man stands up straight, a grin stretching across his face as he thrusts his hand forward to shake Sidney's. "Nice to meet ya, man. Kris's told me a lot about you."

"Oh, he's also Kristy's boyfriend," Eva adds.

"Right," Sidney says. "Got your hands full with that one, eh?"

Macon laughs as all three of them glance over to the window to see Kristy dancing around the pool with a drink in each hand. "That's an understatement."

"Hey Macon, if you don't mind, go let everybody know it's almost time and to find a good spot."

"Sure thing," the blond man agrees, and with a salute, he's out the side door to the patio where most of the party guests are congregated in and around the pool.

"Almost time for what?" Sidney asks as Eva walks over to the fridge for two cold beers and she just smiles as she hands him one before taking his hand again.

"You'll see."

Eva tugs him down the hallway, pausing for a moment to reach into the hall closet and grab a dark green blanket before she continues pulling him along to the back door. Instead of taking the earlier path right down the middle of the yard, she leads him over to the tree line where they'll be more hidden from the other party guests.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"Can you just relax? A little bit of mystery won't kill you, I promise."

"I don't know, you're leading me down a secluded path right by the woods and you're being secretive and I only met you an hour ago."

"Shut up," she laughs, rolling her eyes. "We're only taking this path because we're less noticeable over here. If we took the other one, people would see us."

"And you don't want to be seen?"

"I don't want to be interrupted."

He raises his brows in curiosity but finally stops asking questions, just letting her lead him down the rest of the path until they finally reach the beach. "Here," she says, handing him her beer, and he takes it from her hand before watching her spread the blanket out on top of the sand. "Sit."

They both take seats on the blanket and she takes her beer back from him, opening the bottle and taking a sip before setting it between her knees and leaning back on her hands with a hum of contentment.

"Now what?"

Eva shakes her head at his impatience but he can see the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "Now we wait." Sidney sighs and leans back in the same position she's in before looking over at her again. "So what are you doing here?" she asks to occupy him in the meantime.

"A couple of friends rented a house for the week up in Oak Bluffs and I just decided to tag along. We've pretty much done some drinking and fishing and that's about it," he chuckles. "What about you, you come here every year for the 4th?"

"Yep. It's one of my favorite places in the world and this is my favorite holiday so-....Usually my parents and siblings come with me, but this year, they all had other things they had to do so instead of being lonely, I decided to throw a party."

"Well, it looks like it's a good one."

"Yeah," she smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes, and he immediately picks up on it. "This is just the first birthday my family isn't spending with me."

"It's your birthday?"

"Oh God, I sound like such a whiny baby," she groans, quickly swiping her hands over her eyes. "I mean, for God's sake, I'm twenty-six years old today and here I am crying because my parents aren't here to celebrate with me."

"Your family means a lot to you. That's not a bad thing."

"Yeah, but there's tons of people who don't get to spend their birthdays with their families. Did you spend your last birthday with your family?"

"Um...Yeah," he admits sheepishly.

"Ugh, you're totally ruining my point, Crosby."

"Sorry," Sidney chuckles. "But there have been plenty of times in the past that I didn't get to be with my family on holidays and I wasn't necessarily happy about it either. It'd be a bad sign if you didn't want to see your family."

"It's selfish of me though. I mean, my dad's busy trying to run a fucking country and I'm sitting here upset that he didn't call."

"You're not selfish. Regardless of anything else he's still your dad and it's okay to be upset that he didn't call you on your birthday."

"Now I'm embarrassing myself spilling my guts to some cute stranger."

"Hey, hey, I thought we agreed we were friends. You know, despite the whole Caps thing."

That gets her to crack a smile and she nods slowly as she looks out at the water. "Right."

A loud, thundering boom goes off behind them, causing them both to jump in surprise, but then Eva looks up at the sky with a huge grin. "Yesss, it's starting!"

The fireworks seem to get better every year. Blasts of red, white, and blue light up the dark sky one right after the other, causing loud booms every time and while Eva watches them in amazement and awe, Sidney's watching her. The excitement in her eyes and the grin on her face is beyond adorable and he finds himself smiling too, just because he's looking at her. Not a word is said between them the entire twenty minutes the fireworks are going on, but when the big finale comes, she reaches over and grabs his hand. "This is my favorite part."

He finally tears his gaze from her face to catch at least part of the fireworks she obviously loves so much and when he does, he too is amazed by the ending. The cheers and applause of everyone back at the house erupt as soon as it ends and she smiles up at the sky, watching the trail of smoke left behind for a moment. Sidney squeezes her hand to get her attention and when she turns her head to look at him, he plucks up the courage to lean in and kiss her. He brings his free hand up to cup her face as his soft, plump lips move gently with hers and she enjoys it so much that she kisses him back fervently until she her lungs are on fire. She regrettably has to break the kiss in order to breathe again and she can't help smiling when he gently presses his forehead against hers.

"Happy birthday, Eva."