Chapter 72

**Sorry for the long wait! It's that time of the semester - I'm up to my ears in papers and projects and conference proposals and a big project at work to boot - and I'm preparing for a conference in a few weeks (that will occur the week right before I take my finals - sheesh). Anyways, I'm afraid there probably won't be regularly updates over the next few weeks, but I'm going to try and write as often as I can! In the mean time, make sure you check out all the great stories I've got listed in my blog roll!**


Chapter 72

A few days later, Lauren watched Sidney practice and then they grabbed lunch together. “I want to take you somewhere.” Sidney said as they left the restaurant.

“Where?” Lauren asked.

“You’ll see when we get there.” Sidney said.

They drove back to Sewickley and Sidney turned down an unfamiliar street. He pulled up to a house where there was a woman leaning up against the car that was parked in the driveway.

“Whose house is this?” Lauren asked, admiring the gorgeous home in front of her.

Sidney went around to her side of the car and opened the door and helped her out. The woman approached them with a smile.

“You must be Lauren. I’ve heard a lot about you.” The woman said, extending her hand. “I’m Claire.”

Lauren looked back and forth between Sidney and Claire. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Claire’s my real estate agent.” Sidney explained. Lauren raised her eyebrows in surprise, starting to realize what they were doing there.

“Shall we go inside?” Claire said, leading the way towards the front door.

Sidney noticed Lauren’s somewhat bewildered expression. “We’ll be right in – just give us a minute.” He said to Claire.

“Of course.” She said with a smile, opening the front door and stepping inside.

“I’m sorry. I think I should have told you about this before, but there was never a good time. I looked at this house a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to tell you about it, but then everything happened and I didn’t think about it for a while and now I want you to see it.” Sidney said, holding Lauren’s hands in his.

“Sidney, it’s okay. I was just confused. And I didn’t know you were looking at houses again.”

“I wasn’t. But then Claire called me about this one, and I came and looked at it and now I want to know what you think of it.”

“Well, let’s go then.” Lauren said, squeezing his hand as they walked into the house.

The house was as beautiful on the inside as it had been on the outside. The rooms were large and airy, but still had a cozy feel to them. The kitchen was state-of-the-art and had beautiful granite countertops. Lauren’s dad’s company owned a granite tile company, and she made a mental note to ask him if they had done this house.

There were five bedrooms on the second floor, which seemed like a lot at first, but then Lauren remembered that Sidney’s family would need rooms to sleep in when they came to visit. Sidney watched Lauren’s face intently as they walked through each room, taking in her reactions to everything. When they got back to the kitchen, where they had started their tour, he looked at her expectantly. “Well, what do you think?”

“Do you like it?” she countered. Claire’s phone rang and she stepped into the other room to take the call.

“I care more about what you think.”

“It’s beautiful. There’s plenty of space and everything is really nice and the location is great. And I love the yard. It’s so private, yet there’s plenty of room out there.”

“I’m so happy to hear you say that because I really like this place.”

“Are you going to buy it?”

“Only if you like it. You see, I want this to be our house. What do you think about that?”

“I think that’s a pretty serious request.”

“Yes, it is. I’m very serious about this. I want you to move in with me.”

“Sidney, sweetheart, please don’t read too much into this,” she paused, pursing her lips together in thought. “But I just need a little bit of time to process this.”

“Oh.” Sidney’s smile disappeared.

“No, Sidney, really. You have no idea how much this means to me. It’s just big, ya know? And I definitely think we’re ready for that, but I just need to let it sink in.”

A meek smile appeared on Sidney’s face. “Yeah, I guess I was just hoping you’d say yes right away. But I can wait.”

Lauren could tell he was still disappointed. “Sidney, I’m going to say yes to moving in with you. I’d say yes even if you said you were moving to Alaska or something. You know I’d follow you anywhere. I just need some time to think.” She said, resting her hands on his chest.

Sidney let out a heavy sigh. “I know.” He kissed her forehead softly. “Ready to go, then?”

“Yeah.” Lauren said quietly, knowing he was disappointed.

The drive back to the Lemieux’s house was very quiet. Sidney was lost deep in his thoughts. He knew that Lauren liked to think through big decisions before settling on anything. For the most part, he was the same way. But with anything that had to do with her, he never really had to think too much about it. All he needed to know was that he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He tried not to show it, but he had been crushed when she didn’t immediately agree to move in with her. It made him worry that she might not say yes when he finally got the chance to propose to her. Sidney wasn’t sure he could handle the heartbreak of that.

When they arrived back at the Lemieux’s house, they stood in the driveway for a moment, each of them staring awkwardly at the ground. “Well, I should probably go.” Lauren said quietly.

“Yeah…okay…see ya.” Sidney responded awkwardly.

Lauren bridged the gap between them and put her hand on his chest. “Sidney, I’m sorry about today. I just wasn’t…I didn’t expect you to…I don’t know…it was just very sudden. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. I love you.”

“I love you too. You just didn’t exactly give the response I was hoping for, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. But I understand. Take your time.”

Lauren leaned up and kissed his cheek before getting in her car and pulling out of the driveway.