I Left The Lights On So You Stumble In Devotion

The car suffered from an awkward silence until it rolled to a complete stop outside the airport. It was late, but it was still mildly crowded. Oxsana clung to Evgeni’s arm as they walked through the main entrance; Sidney’s eyes shot downward this moment. Evgeni was counting down the seconds in his head before Sidney did something to retaliate to Oxsana.

It was bad enough that Evgeni was going to be formally introduced to Sidney’s parents. Now, with Oxsana hanging off his sleeve, Sidney’s parents were going to give Sidney a lecture afterward about being single. Evgeni was also sure that this wasn’t the plan Sidney had concocted in his head when he thought about how Evgeni would meet his parents.

“This is the gate.” said Sidney, his hands shuffling in his jacket for a piece of paper.

He took two glances at it before shoving it back in his pocket roughly, hesitating to peer over at Evgeni and Oxsana standing curiously next to him.

Evgeni could honestly look at Sidney’s father in an instant and know who the man was. It wasn’t just because he’d seen pictures and seen his face at gatherings before, but because his face resembled the very face of the man he found himself to be falling in love with.

Sidney’s mother was nearly in tears, her arms flailing upwards until Sidney wrapped his arms around her. It sent a jealous surge through Evgeni’s body to think that he’d never be able to be greeted at an airport like this by Sidney.

“What a cute family.” cooed Oxsana, winking at Evgeni while she continued to clutch to his arm and watch Sidney reunite with his family.

Evgeni’s head began to ache. Oxsana wasn’t clinging on to his arm in a desperate, undesirable way; Evgeni could tell she was equally as nervous, probably regretting her decision to join him. Her soft features lay against his shoulder, the smell from her strawberry scented shampoo tickling at his nose. It was unusual, but only because it reminded him of things he could have possibly felt for her if she had met him again before Sidney.

A few minutes had passed before Sidney’s parents noticed Evgeni and Oxsana standing to the side. Sidney’s father cocked his head and held out his hand eagerly.

“Evgeni Malkin meeting me at the airport.” chuckled Sidney’s father. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Sidney’s been talking about you non-stop.”

“It is nice to meet you too.” replied Evgeni, taking Sidney’s father’s hand with a strong grip.

“This must be your girlfriend?” added Sidney’s father, releasing Evgeni’s hand to reach for Oxsana’s.

Sidney quickly walked between them, brushing his father’s hand away from Oxsana’s. Neither Oxsana or Sidney’s father noticed that it was intentional, but Evgeni gave Sidney an annoyed look to let him know that he’d figured it out.

“Actually no, they’re just friends.” corrected Sidney.

“Well, I wish you’d make some friends like this.” scowled Sidney’s mother, locking arms with her son and making a big smile over at Oxsana and Evgeni.

“You know-”

“I know, I know…” Sidney’s mother threw her arms up in defeat.

“How about we get out of here, then?”

***

After spending hours tossing about in his bed, Evgeni decided to just get up. Despite the early hour, Evgeni showered and made himself breakfast, knowing that the next day he’d be heading to Detroit for game seven and he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the silence of his apartment.

Evgeni had tried calling Sidney once he’d gotten home the night before, but Sidney didn’t answer. After trying to convince himself it was just because he was busy with his parents, Evgeni had gotten his short power nap before waking up and finding himself in his current predicament.

His stomach would churn when he would think about Sidney’s parents meeting Kris in the morning when everybody woke up. He imagined them all sitting down at the table having a family breakfast, except with Kris sitting there being pleasantly adorable in a seat that should have been his. Eventually, Evgeni would let out a sigh, trying to push the thoughts out of his head. He thought simply to himself, ‘There’s no way it could have happened.’

Still lost in his thoughts at his kitchen table, Evgeni remained dazed while his phone began to ring loudly from the counter across the kitchen. He quietly, yet quickly, rushed to find it on the darkened counter. The text on the screen read ‘Sidney’, so he hesitated to answer before thinking of something to say.

“Evgeni?”

“Yeah.” answered Evgeni groggily, pulling away the phone from his face so he could cough.

“Were you sleeping?”

“No, awake.”

It was almost as if Evgeni could hear Sidney thinking. He could picture Sidney laying on his bed with his back propped up against a mountain of pillows. It made him miss Sidney’s bed.

“You called a couple of times earlier… I was catching up with my parents.” said Sidney quietly.

Evgeni had a bit of trouble trying to decide whether or not to believe Sidney.

“Yeah, I feel bad about Oxsana.” said Evgeni bluntly, hoping to quickly end the conversation. “I should not have brought her.”

“What? That was fine, it was… okay. It was smart of you.”

“Smart?” questioned Evgeni, wondering in his head why Sidney was suddenly less argumentative than usual.

“Yeah, smart of you to make it look like you guys were a couple in front of my parents.” replied Sidney. “I got the speech from Mom again about not getting grandkids, but it’s better than her thinking I spend my nights… you know.”

Evgeni was shocked a little (while still mildly thankful that Sidney didn’t finish his sentence) that Sidney actually sounded as though he were telling the truth. Sidney really didn’t feel threatened by Oxsana.

“Geno?”

“Yeah, sleepy.” muttered Evgeni, letting out a pretend yawn.

“I’ll let you go then, I’ll see you at practice.”

“Alright.”

Sidney hadn’t hung up the phone yet, he was still breathing into the phone. Evgeni waited, wondering what he hadn’t said that he had wanted to.

“So, yeah… I’ll see you at practice.” repeated Sidney.

“Okay.” responded Evgeni slowly, “I get it.”

“And I love you.” added Sidney awkwardly, continuing to talk before Evgeni could react. “Practice is at, uh… when?”

“Love you too, Sidney.” sighed Evgeni, letting out a deep chuckle. “Go to bed.”

Evgeni's phone landed back on the counter with a thud while Evgeni made his way back to his bowl of half-eaten cereal left on his kitchen table. He played with the spoon, swirling it around in the milk while his mind continued to run on and on. It was impossible to make himself believe there wasn't a problem when his head still felt as though there was something to resolve.