Chapter 17

Chapter 17
The next morning, Lauren felt Sidney crawl out of bed. He was trying as hard as he could not to wake her, so she just kept her eyes closed. She didn’t want to get up that early anyways. She heard him go into the bathroom and brush his teeth, and a few minutes later she heard him quietly open and close the door. After he left, she snuggled into his pillow and went back to sleep.
A few hours later, around 10 or so, she woke up and saw a note sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. She smiled as she read Sidney’s handwriting.
Good morning, gorgeous. Hope you slept well – I definitely did. I went to the gym and then to morning skate. I’ll be back around 12:30 so we can get some lunch. There are snacks in the kitchenette in case you get hungry before then.
-Sidney
She wandered over to the kitchenette, which was really just a cupboard, a small sink, and a mini-fridge. She found a granola bar and grabbed a bottle of water. After she ate, she went to the hotel gym to work out. She went for a long run and then went back to her room to shower.
As promised, Sidney returned from the morning skate around 12:30 and they had a quiet lunch in the hotel restaurant. Around 2, Sidney took a nap and Lauren spent some time in her room checking her email and reading the news. She also called Liz and Maria and told them how the trip was going, and reminding them that her relationship with Sidney was very private.
Around 3:45, Sidney knocked on her door. “I’m heading over to the rink now. You have Vero’s number, right?”
“Yeah, I have it. She’s going to come up here around 5:30 to go to the game.” Lauren replied, noticing he was holding something behind his back.
“Well, I got you something. Actually, I already had it, but I want you to have it. He pulled his hands around in front of him to reveal a neatly folded jersey. She could the see the “C” on the top left corner and instantly knew it was one of his game sweaters.
“Sidney! You didn’t have to do this! Thank you!” She said, unfolding it in front of her so she could look at it.
“Well, this sweater is kind of special. You see, it was the one I was wearing when I scored my first goal after my high ankle sprain earlier this year. Scoring that goal was proof to me that I had overcome a huge obstacle. I think you overcome huge obstacles every day without batting an eye, and I wanted you to have this.” He explained.
Tears welled up her eyes as he said all this. “I don’t know what to say. No one has ever done anything this special for me before.”
“Well, like I said before, you are very special to me. I am so happy when I’m with you and I just want to make you happy too.” He kissed her sweetly on the lips and gently wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumb.
“You do, Sidney. You make me happier than I think I’ve ever been. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. Just getting to be near you is thanks enough.”
“I’m even more excited for the game now. I can’t wait to wear the same number as the hottest man on the ice.” She said, looking him up and down.
He laughed and kissed her nose, then her lips. “See you after the game?” He asked.
“Yep.” She said, nodding her head towards the access pass he had given her at lunch. It would grant her entrance to the locker room and the media room.
Vero and Lauren easily found their seats, about 6 rows behind the visitor’s bench. The team was warming up on the ice when a group of girls approached them. “Excuse me, but aren’t you Marc-Andre Fleury’s girlfriend?” One of them asked Vero.
She gave a small smile and nodded her head. “Oh my gosh! I thought it was you! You are like the luckiest girl ever!”
Her friend, who was wearing a Crosby jersey, spoke up. “Yeah you are! I, personally, have a huge crush on Sidney Crosby. I think I would pass out if he I was his girlfriend!”
Lauren’s eyes widened when she heard mention of Sidney’s girlfriend, but Vero spoke up. “Yeah, I’m a very lucky girl.”
“Are you her friend?” Another girl asked Lauren, eyeing her suspiciously.
“Yes. We are friends.” Vero said. She smiled at Lauren. The girls asked for a picture with Vero and Lauren and then left them alone.
“Thanks Vero. I wasn’t quite sure how to answer that one.” Lauren said.
Vero smiled. “No problem. You did great. And besides, it’s not like we lied. You are definitely my friend.” She said in a thick French accent.
“I consider you a friend, too.”
Sidney scored a goal that night and when he did, he immediately found her in the stands and pointed at her and winked, as if to say that was for you, babe. People all around them were looking around trying to figure out who he had pointed at, but she just smiled and cheered. He also had an assist that night, and the Penguins won 3-1.
After the stands had cleared out a little bit, Vero and Lauren made their way towards the locker room. When they got to the room, Lauren saw that Sidney was sitting at his stall, still in his gear, surrounded by reporters. She shuddered at the thought of that many people sticking microphones right up in her face like that. She followed Vero over to Marc-Andre’s stall, where he was straightening his tie. Vero kissed his cheek and whispered something in French in his ear. He smiled and responded, “Merci, mon cheri.”
“Vero!” A man said, playfully wrapping his arm around Vero’s shoulder. “Who is this beautiful friend of yours?” He asked, nodding at Lauren with a flirtatious grin.
“Max, this is Lauren Somers. Lauren, this is Maxime Talbot.”
“Hello.” He said, taking her hand and kissing it.
Marc laughed and said, “She’s off limits, Max.” Max looked at him, confused. Marc nodded towards Sidney, who was answering a question. “She’s Sidney’s girlfriend.” He explained quietly, aware of the reporters who were milling around everywhere.
“Ahh, so you are the one that has stolen the Kid’s heart? He mentions you a lot, and he always has a cheesy grin on his face. I can see why now. He is a lucky guy.” Max said, smiling warmly at Lauren.
“Thank you.” She replied.
Sidney’s parents and sister came into the dressing room and smiled when they saw her. “Hello!” They said as they approached the Lauren, Vero, and Marc. Max had gone back over to his stall and a reporter had approached him.
“Did you enjoy the game?” Troy asked.
“Of course! It was really good game!” Lauren said.
“Sidney played very well tonight.” Vero added. “He seemed even more energetic than usual, if that is possible.
Troy chuckled, and it reminded Lauren of Sidney’s infectious laugh. “Well, I think Lauren might have something to do with that.” Sidney approached them.
“Hey dear, we were just talking about you.” Trina said, hugging him. “Great game tonight.”
“Thanks Mom. I can only imagine what you were all talking about.” Sidney laughed, pointing towards Max. Max looked over at him, then nodded towards Lauren and gave him the thumbs up sign. Sidney rolled his eyes. “I see that you met Max.”
“Yeah, he seems very friendly.” Lauren laughed.
Sidney rolled his eyes and laughed too. “Oh, that’s Max alright. But he’s a really a good guy. Can I introduce you to some of my other teammates?”
“Of course!” Lauren said.
At that point, all of the media personnel had been asked to leave the locker room and had moved into the media room, so Sidney took her hand and led her around the room, introducing her to his teammates. They were all really nice to her and they all shared a laugh about recalling how Sidney and Lauren met. They all seemed shocked that Sidney had a girlfriend so Lauren asked him about it. “Sidney, why was it so surprising to all of them that you have a girlfriend?”
He kind of smiled. “Well, this is the first time I’ve introduced a girl to these teammates as my girlfriend.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Really?”
“Well, it’s not like I’ve never introduced them to girls I’ve dated before, but the last time I had a serious girlfriend was when I was back in Rimouski. Even then, we were only together for about 6 months.”
“Sidney, we’re going to go grab a bite to eat? Do you guys want to come?” Jordan (AN: Staal, duh.) asked. Sidney looked at Lauren and she smiled and nodded.
Sidney, Lauren, Jordan, Marc, Vero, Whit, and Max all headed to a diner nearby.
Lauren watched the pleasant chatter and joking between the teammates with a smile. Sidney noticed she was being kind of quiet, so he put his hand on her leg and whispered in her ear, “Are you okay? You seem kind of quiet. We can go if you want.”
“Oh, no. I’m having a lot of fun. I like watching you guys together. I just get a little shy around people I don’t know sometimes.” She said, smiling at him.
He laced his fingers with hers. “Believe me, if these guys have anything to say about it, you’ll know them pretty well in no time. Jordan already texted me to tell me how cool you are.” She looked across the table to where Jordan was talking to Max about something. When he caught her eye, he winked and she giggled. Sidney squeezed her hand. “See? Now I’ve just got to make sure that he doesn’t start liking you too much. I couldn’t bear to lose you to him.”
She laughed. “I don’t think you have to worry about me liking Jordan. I’ve got my eye on one of his teammates.”
Sidney was about to respond when a guy’s voice behind them interrupted. “Sidney Crosby? Is that really you?”
Thinking it was a fan, Sidney smiled as he turned around to face the man. However, when he saw his face, Sidney’s eyes grew wide with recognition. “Jimmy? Jimmy Peters?”
“Sidney! How the heck are you, man? It’s been what, like nine years or something?” Lauren had remained silent during this conversation, and looked around the table at his teammates with a confused look on her face as if to say, should I know this person? Each shrugged their shoulders and looked just as confused as she did.
“Yeah, it had to have been back when we played each other in PeeWee.”
“Those were some good times, weren’t they? So who are your friends? I recognize some of them.” Jimmy said.
“This is Lauren, Max, Whit, Vero, Marc, and Jordan.” Pointing to each of them as he said their names. “Guys, this is Jimmy Peters. We played against each other in PeeWee back when I played for the Cole Harbour Red Wings.” They all smiled and waved at him. Lauren didn’t know why, but she didn’t like this guy. It was like he was trying way too hard to be nice, and for whatever reason, she couldn’t help but think that he was a slime ball. But since he appeared to be a friend of Sidney’s, she acted pleasant.
“So is this your girlfriend?” Jimmy asked, pointing towards Lauren.
Sidney avoided giving a direct answer by saying, “We met at the rink recently. A fan showed up to an open practice and sort of vomited on her.”
Jimmy smiled. “Well that’s really interesting, but it still doesn’t answer my question. Has the ‘phenom’ finally found himself a girlfriend?”
Sidney didn’t like the way he had asked that question, but before he had a chance to respond, Max spoke up. “Sidney, I hate to ruin this reunion, but it’s getting late, and we have an early flight tomorrow. We should probably be getting back.”
Grateful that Max had changed the subject, Sidney agreed. “Jimmy, it was great to see you. Are you living here in Montreal now?”
“I do a lot of traveling, so I’m really not in one place for a long period of time. It was great to see you though.” Jimmy shook Sidney’s hand and turned to leave. As he passed Lauren, he gave her an intent stare and a weird grin spread across his face, but he said nothing. Lauren shuddered involuntarily and wrapped his arm around her as they all left the diner and went back to the hotel.
When they got back to their rooms, Lauren gently pulled Sidney towards her door. “Stay with me?” She asked, in a pleading tone.
He smiled, but looked concerned. “Of course. Are you okay? You sort of tensed up back there at the diner?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. For some reason that Jimmy guys just rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t know. I’m sure it’s nothing.” She explained, squeezing his hand.
“It was really weird seeing him tonight. I figured he’d be back in Nova Scotia, working or something.” Sidney said.
Lauren changed into shorts and a t-shirt and Sidney stripped down to his boxers. They crawled into bed and Sidney wrapped his arm around her.
“I wish we didn’t have to go home tomorrow. Well, today.” Sidney said, pointing at the clock. It was nearly two in the morning.
“Me too. Especially since I have to go back to school tomorrow.” She responded with a heavy sigh.
“But you only have a few more months of school, and then the season will be over, and we’ll have the whole summer together. Besides, I want to come visit you at school anyways. And I’m hoping that maybe you’ll come and visit me once or twice too.” He said, crossing his fingers.
She giggled. “Of course I will! And I would love it if you came to visit me.”
“Good.” He said, kissing the top of her head. They laid there in silence for a while, and after a while, Sidney could feel Lauren’s steady breathing on his chest and he figured she had fallen asleep. He kissed her hair softly so he didn’t disturb her. “You mean the world to me.” He whispered softly. Pretty soon, he, too, drifted off to sleep.