Chapter 76

**Sorry for the long wait! My trip to Denver was amazing - it was 55-60 degrees and sunny every day! Then I got back to Pittsburgh and it was 16 degrees - yikes! And of course, my luggage didn't make it so I spent most of Monday tracking it down when I should've been studying for my final. Alas, I managed to do very well on my final! I spent the rest of this week finishing some other projects, sending off some internship applications, and taking my LAST final of the semester last night! I've got 3 more days of work next week and then I'm off for 3 weeks, so hopefully I'll be able (and inspired) to write a lot! How about that 9-2 win last night?! I missed most of the game but I was jumping up and down when I got the text alert with the outcome of the game!**


Chapter 76

“He bought you a house?” Vero asked excitedly. Lauren had called her to tell her she had some news and now they were sipping tea at Marc and Vero’s kitchen table.

“He bought us a house.” Lauren corrected.

“That’s wonderful!” Vero said with a warm smile. “Wait, is this what you want?”

Lauren smiled at how easily Vero was able to read her emotions. “Yeah…I was just really shocked at first. I kind of reacted poorly initially. He tried to hide his disappointment, but he was pretty upset.”

“Oh yeah? Do you think you guys aren’t ready for this or something?” Vero raised an eyebrow.

“No no, nothing like that. I was just…shocked. Sometimes our relationship seems so surreal. Like I question if it’s all a dream, or if I’m just imagining that we’re really together and we’re really in love. In my previous relationships, if you could call them that, I could never pictures us being together for the long haul, buying a house together, getting engaged, having children someday, all of that…but with Sidney, everything’s different. It just feels like I’m dreaming sometimes and I feel like I have to stop and check myself occasionally.”

“His love for you is as real as it comes. Otherwise all of us have been dreaming about it too, and it would be just a little bit weird if a bunch of hockey players were all having the same dream about one of their teammates and his fairytale romance.” Vero said, giggling.

Lauren laughed too. “I suppose you’re right about that.”

“But seriously, I think this is great, Lauren. You two deserve a place that you can have all to yourselves.”’

“Yeah, I am looking forward to not having to pack an overnight bag every time I stay over at the Lemieux’s. I suppose it’s about time Sidney move out on his own anyways.”

“They’d let him stay forever. They really seem to love him.”

“They do. The kids are really going to miss having him around.” Lauren said quietly.

“Well, good thing you’ll only be a street or two away.” Vero said, patting her shoulder.

They both looked up when they heard the door open and close. “Lauren!” Marc said cheerfully when he entered the kitchen. “Sidney told me the exciting news!” He said, leaning down to hug her and kiss her lightly on the cheek.

“It’s nice to see you too, sweetheart.” Vero said sarcastically.

“’Allo, beautiful.” Marc said, leaning down to kiss Vero’s lips. She smiled back at him.

“So you guys will have to help us pick out furniture and stuff.” Lauren said.

“Not again.” Marc groaned, remembering the long hours he had followed Vero around furniture galleries when they had moved in.

Vero rolled her eyes at him. “Of course we will help! Marc won’t admit it, but he had fun working on this house.” It was Marc’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Well, I should probably get going. I’ve got a ton of homework to get caught up on if I’m going to finish my classes this semester. Thanks for the tea, V, and for everything else too.” Lauren said, standing up and hugging Marc and Vero goodbye.

Lauren spent the afternoon writing papers, reading, and e-mailing assignments off to her professors. They had all been very understanding of her situation and they had all told her to finish her coursework when she could and they would take care of making sure her credits went through. She had been handling a lot of work things through email as well, but they were starting to ask about when she was coming back.

The truth was that Lauren had started to question whether or not she even wanted to go back. She loved her job, and the students she worked with, but she had hated being so far away from Sidney and her family and friends. Lauren had been thinking a lot about ways she could still have the job she loved, but stay in Pittsburgh. She also thought a lot about all the philanthropic projects that Vero and the other girlfriends and wives were always working on and she wanted to be a part of that too.

On the other hand, she didn’t want to give up her career. Not only did she love it, but she didn’t want to ever become one of those hockey girlfriends who has no life of her own and sits at home pining away. Not that Vero was like that – she was always working on some sort of fundraiser or something. Lauren was just really torn up about what she wanted to do. And while Sidney was always a good listener and always gave her great advice, she knew that deep down he wanted her near him, so she wasn’t sure how much help he would be in this situation.

The next day, Lauren met Liz for lunch and some shopping before heading back home to do some more work. She had been working at her family’s dining room table when Sidney texted her saying he was on his way there.

A little while later, Sidney got there and burst excitedly through the door into her kitchen. Lauren and her family had insisted he stop knocking about 10 months ago, so Lauren smiled to herself when she saw him come in.

“Hey!” he said breathlessly, leaning down to kiss her.

“Hey. What are you all wound up for?” she asked, eyeing him curiously.

“Can’t I just be excited to see you?” Sidney said, looking at her with puppy dog eyes.

Lauren rolled her eyes. “That’s sweet, but you’re up to something. I can tell.”

“Do you want to go camping tonight?” he asked.

“It’s March. I don’t camp out in the cold.” Lauren answered.

“Don’t worry baby, I’ll keep you warm.” Sidney said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

Lauren rolled her eyes again. “I’m sure you will Casanova. What are you plotting?”

“Like I said, do you want to go camping? I promise it will not be cold at all and you will like it.” Sidney said, tucking a section of hair behind Lauren’s ear.

“Okay…let me get some clothes together and we can go on this little adventure of yours.” Lauren said with a bemused smile. She wasn’t sure how it was always so easy for him to talk her into playing along with his hair-brained ideas.

A little while later, Lauren had an overnight bag ready and they were headed down the road towards Sewickley.

Lauren’s lips curled into a curious smile when they pulled into the driveway of the new house. “Sidney?”

“Lauren?” he countered with an innocent smile.

“This is our house.”

“I know.” Sidney said, his grin widening. “I love hearing you say that.”

“But we haven’t bought any furniture yet.”

“Which is why we’re camping. Come on.” He said, coming around to her door and taking her by the hand, both of their bags slung easily over his shoulder.

The house was dark when they stepped inside except for a glow coming from the living room. Sidney dropped their bags in the hallway and kissed her forehead. “We won’t need these right now anyways.” He took her hand and led her down the hall.

When they stepped into the great expanse of the living room, Lauren realized the glow she had noticed was caused by candlelight. There were dozens of candles of every shape and size scattered around the room. In the middle of the room, a large aerobed had been inflated and there were jersey sheets, a fluffy down comforter, and several pillows on it. There was a portable CD player plugged into one of the walls and music was softly playing in the background. A fire was roaring in the fireplace and there was a picnic basket settled on the hearth.

Lauren’s jaw dropped in pleasant shock as she surveyed the room. Finally she turned to face Sidney, who had a lopsided grin on his face. “I’ve never really been camping before,” he admitted. “Is this acceptable?”

Lauren nodded her head eagerly and Sidney closed the gap between them, kissing her softly on the lips.

“Who did all this? The candles I mean. They were already lit when we got here, and you’ve been with me for several hours now.”

Sidney chuckled. “Apparently you didn’t notice Marc and Vero driving past us as we turned down the street.”

Lauren laughed. “I should’ve known those two would be in on this too.” It was then that she noticed a picture frame perched on the mantle and walked over to it to get a closer look.

“Yeah, they were pretty excited to help out.” Sidney said, following her towards the fireplace.

Both of them laughed when they saw the picture. It was a picture of Sidney, Lauren, Marc, and Vero. It had been taken a few months earlier when they had all gone to a party at Max’s after a game one night.

“What’s in the picnic basket?” Lauren said a moment later.

“Camp food. Well, according to your mom it is.” Sidney said.

“My mom?”

“Yeah, I remembered you told me once how your mom was always the camp cook when you went away to Girl Scout camp, and so I told her about my idea and asked if she could help me out.”

“You’re so cute.” Lauren said, kissing the corner of his mouth.

“Wait right here. There should be one more thing in the kitchen. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Sidney said, disappearing into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Sidney returned with a steaming plate in his hands. “Don’t worry. I didn’t make this. I just heated it up. Your mom said this was an ‘absolute must’ for camping with you.”

“Camp mac and cheese!” Lauren said excitedly.

“Yeah, that’s what your mom called it too.” Sidney responded, confusion creased across his forehead. “I always just thought this was Velveeta shells and cheese.”

“No, this was always everyone’s favorite. Mom’s camp mac and cheese is like, famous.”

“How come I’ve never had this ‘famous’ mac and cheese before?” Sidney teased.

“Okay, well maybe it’s not like Sidney Crosby famous, but don’t mock it till you’ve tried it.”

Sidney rolled his eyes at her joke and sat down on the floor by the fireplace and offered her a fork. “You know, I really shouldn’t be eating this during the season.” Sidney pointed out.

“Oh shut up and just eat it.” Lauren replied. She watched him carefully to see his reaction as he took a bite. “Well?”

“Mmm this is so good.” He said with his mouth full. She laughed.

They ate the macaroni and cheese and then made some s’mores from the items in the picnic basket. “You’re trying to make me fat, aren’t you?” Sidney joked as Lauren offered him another perfectly toasted marshmallow.

“Oh, please. Like you’re not going to work out twice as hard tomorrow to burn it all off anyways.” She said, patting his hard abs.

He just laughed and she leaned over and kissed his mouth. “Thanks for tonight. You never fail to amaze me.”

“I just thought we needed a little fun. And I didn’t want to share you with anyone else tonight.”

She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her.

“I like it when I don’t have to share you too.” She said wistfully.

“I love you.” Sidney said.

Lauren lifted her head to look into his eyes. “I love you too, Sidney.” She said, offering her lips to his. He cradled her chin in his hand and kissed her, slowly at first, but gradually their kiss gained intensity.

After a few minutes, Sidney pulled away breathlessly. “Sorry.” He said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Sorry for what?” Lauren whispered back, still trying to catch her breath.

“I didn’t mean for things to go too far.” Sidney explained.

“Why not?” Lauren asked, a big lump forming in her throat. She was terrified of what he would say. She was terrified that since she had been raped, he wouldn’t be attracted to her in that way anymore.