This Love

Sidney and I left the arena and began to wonder the streets of Vancouver. I was still trying to process everything that was happening right now. It was hard to believe he was standing right beside me. I had to keep blinking rapidly as I looked at him to make sure this was all real. But it was real, cause the stares were circling us like wolves to a fox.

“You ok?” Sidney asks me with a light nudge.

“I’m fine, I just feel like I’m dreaming right now.”

“Well, I can assure you that you are not dreaming right now. This is real.”

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and looked up at him, “Aren’t you freaking out a little bit? About any of this? Cause I sure am!”

He smirked at me, “You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Shut up,” was all I spat out before walking down the road a bit more, but he caught up to me quick, “you’re just trying to play the tough hockey player right now.”

Sidney still had his stupid smirk on his face but he licked his lips before looking back down at me. His baseball cap shielded his eyes a bit, but I could see the warmth coming from them. People this adorable shouldn’t exist.

“Is that so?”

“Mhm.” I say as I walk away from him, feeling a bit proud of myself. The nervousness was starting to leave and it felt like we picked up where we left off last summer. It felt good to be teasing someone again. I’ve been so far up my schools ass that I forgot what it was like to not have a one track mind.

Just then Sidney grabs me and throws me over his shoulder. I kicked and pleaded for him to put me down but he wouldn’t listen to me. It didn’t help that I was only 5’1 and really couldn’t do anything to fight against his hockey figure. At this point, we look like a bunch of kids as he walked down the road before taking us into an alley.

“Really Sid? An alley? We’re in Vancouver! We could get stabbed by a coke-snorting hobo!”

He just laughed lightly before wrapping his hands around my waist. There was silence in the air and his expression became more focused. My hands instinctively grabbed on his arms and he pushed me against the wall. Our breath was the only thing to be heard over my pounding heart. His lips pressed against mine as if we never missed a beat. Butterflies were having a war in my stomach as we pulled apart and he kisses my forehead.

“I really did miss you too.” He says before he kisses my forehead again.

“I know. Now lets go get food before that coke-snorting hobo comes after us.”

We decided on a quiet Irish pub for dinner. Sidney wasn’t in the mood to get severely noticed either so it was perfect. I sometimes forgot who he really was half the time. We sat in a quiet booth, and both settled on bacon cheddar burgers, but I took it the extra mile and got poutine with mine.

“Poutine this late at night?”

I raised my eyebrow at him, “I’m not the one who needs to watch their weight.”

“This is true…so how are you?” Sidney asks as he takes a drink of his water. Not daring to break our stare.

“I’ve honestly never been better. Sounds cheesy, but it’s true.”

Sidney leans on the table and wraps my fingers around his, “Congrats on finally graduating, so what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug, “My Dad says that my Aunt back in Cole Harbour isn’t doing very well. I might go stay with her for the summer and look after her if her health declines. I’ll more than likely go back to Ottawa and start looking for work.”

“I like that plan … Ottawa is close to Pittsburgh.”

I bit my lip to avoid a stupid smile on my face but he was making it extremely difficult. “I guess you could say it is.”

Before I could say anything else, our food arrived. Thank god cause I was starving. Sidney dug right into his like a typical growing boy and was done before I even got through my poutine. I couldn’t help but take my time eating. I was so distracted studying every inch of his face.

“Geez, hungry enough?” I asked as I washed my food down with my water.

“Have you played hockey? It makes you stupidly hungry afterwards.”

I half smiled at him before my expression dropped, “Sid, what did you mean about Ottawa being close to Pittsburgh?”

He pushed his plate away and sighed a little, “I don’t know really. I was kinda happy cause we wouldn’t be that far apart … plus, I really want this to go farther then tonight.”

My heart stopped, “What?”

“Like I said, I was an idiot for letting you go and dropping contact all together. Think about it, you can come see me when I’m playing at home, or I’ll come see you when I get time off.”

“Sid this is still hard to wrap my head around, but of course I want you in my life. Can’t we just enjoy tonight and maybe talk about this more over breakfast? Today’s been full of action.”

He just nods and lets me finish up my food. We ended up talking about his season and how it’s almost time for the playoffs, as well as my schooling. I could honestly watch and listen to him all day talk about hockey. The way his eyes light up and his smile beamed as the words escaped his lips. It was really hard to find that passion in people anymore about anything. I think that’s one of the reasons why I fell so hard for him.

We finished up our food and argued over who was going to pay, but in the end, he won. I didn’t really put up a hard fight; I was still a poor college student. After we left the restaurant, we walked over to his hotel. My stomach dropped, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him yet.

“So do you need to go back to your dorm tonight?” Sid asks as we stood in the hotel lobby.

I could help but let my smile appear, “Honestly, no. What did you have in mind?”

“Go up to my room, watch a movie, then I can take you out for breakfast before I leave in the morning? This way we can spend more time together, and you won’t have to make a second trip into town.”

“Sure.” I reply before he stole another kiss as we walked over to the elevator.

Oh god, I was going to spend the night with him. Honestly, it would be nice just to not be in public with him and avoid all the stares we got cause of his status. It would just be him, privacy, a bed, and me. Nothing would be better than that right now.