Ch. 16

Sam's POV

I gather my thoughts for a second and wipe the tears from my eyes before timidly getting into the conversation I was trying to put off.

"I told him no," I whisper softly, adverting my eyes anywhere besides his.

"You told who no?" I can hear the frustration in his voice. It's as if he's trying his very best not to just grab me by my shoulders and give me a good shake. "If it was Marc, I swear I'll--"

"No, it wasn't Marc," I snap back at him, glaring at him and finally looking at him for the first time since I started talking. "I love him," I announce, and suddenly wish I didn't as I see him wince slightly, but not say anything. It is then that I know for sure that last night did actually happen, and there is no getting around that. "He loves me," I add, trying to make my last statement less bold. "He would never do anything to hurt me."

"Well than who?" He questions angrily, and I can't blame him. "What were they trying to do to you?

"Do you remember a couple of years ago when my parents sent me down here to stay with you?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do--?" he starts, but I interrupt him.

"Just answer the question, Sid."

"Yes," he sighs. "How could I forget."

"Do you remember why I had to come stay with you?" I press on.

"Because your parents said you were an unruly brat," he laughs, and I have to admit, he makes me smile a little. "No, I'm kidding. Your parents said you had a run in with a couple of people up there, right..?"

"Yes." I state simply. He squishes his face and raises his eyebrow in a way that says continue. "Do you remember Josh?", I continue, because I'm just ready to get this over with. He sits there puzzled, and I know that means his answer is probably a no. "From Juniors?"

"Oh, yeah," he replies, not sure where this is going. "Haven't heard from him in a long time. What's he up to?"

"Like I give a shit what he's doing," I mumble under my breath. Sid catches what I say, and just gives me a puzzled look. I sit silently, shuddering at the single memory of that one moment, and the tears start falling again. Sid sits there silently as well, completely puzzled.

"He raped me," I say in so quiet of a voice it's almost inaudible. I glance up at his face, just to make sure he's heard me. I know he did as I watch the realization hit his face as it changes from frustrated to pure rage. He opens his mouth about three times to try and talk to me, but closes them all three times as I just sit there and let the tears silently roll down my face.

"And I tried to tell him no," I stammer. "I did, I tried, but he was just too big for me, and I couldn't fight him off." I don't need to go into detail any further, because he's already got me wrapped in his strong arms, and suddenly I'm not as afraid as I was before and the bad feeling goes away. I sit there and continue to cry, and he just holds me. Finally he speaks up.

"Does your brother know?"

"No," I scoff. "Are you kidding me? He would have freaked out way too much. The last thing I needed was him getting thrown in jail for murder. I needed him. "

"Well, obviously your parents knew, right?"

"Yeah, they wanted me to press charges, but I had no proof. And I didn't want to make it into a big deal. So that's when we came up with the idea of me coming to live with you. I had to get away," I reply. "They knew you would take care of me," I add in a low voice. He smirks, but I can tell there is something else on his mind.

"And Marc?" And there it is. I knew he would make it about the two of them.

"Yes, Marc knows. Why wouldn't he know?! He is my boyfriend, after all."

Sid's POV

It stings, the way she so casually drops the "b" word after everything that has happened here. In the back of my mind, I knew that there was a possibility that she would go back to him. Bt now, I'm just not quite sure where that leaves me or how I'm going to deal with losing her so shortly after realizing that I wanted her in the first place.

"And besides, he's been present for more than a few of my night terrors," she adds in a softer tone, as if trying to make the let down easier.

"Of course," I reply, nodding my head and trying not to make her feel as bad.

"Thank you for being there for me last night, Sid," she says politely while standing up and lightly kissing my cheek and then leaving.

Needing to clear my head, I hop into the shower. I let the hot water pour over my body for a good 15 minutes and then decide that I can't avoid her any longer. I still have a few things I need to get off of my chest, and then if she still choses Marc I'll at least know that I tried. I quickly get dressed and then head out of my bedroom, but stop just short of the guest bedroom that Sam was staying in. I can hear her on the phone, obviously talking to Marc.

"I know you need some space to get over everything, but do you think you could use a visitor?"

--------

"I know...."

--------

"It's just that, I really need to see you," she sobs out. "I need you right now. I need you to make it better like you always do."

And that's all I need to hear. That's enough to leave a sting in my chest for a while, so I walk right past her door and down the stairs and fall onto the couch and turn the tv on. About ten minutes later I hear her coming down the stairs as well, with her suitcase in tow.

Sam's POV

I gather my things and then make my way down to the living room where I can hear the tv playing. I leave my suitcase by the end of the stairway and head over to where Sid is sitting on the couch. He looks over at me, but only for a second before turning his attention back to the tv.

"Leaving so soon?" The sarcasm in his voice hurts me. Out of all people, I never would have thought that he would think I'd use him just for a night.

"Umm, yeah I'm just kind of needing some space to think about everything and get my mind straight again."

"And go see Marc?" He asks, a tone to his voice that I'm not liking and a look on his face that I'm not fond of either.

"Yeah, just for a little bit," I reply, wishing he wouldn't be treating me like this. Right now, I don't think I can handle being hurt by him too. "I'll call you when my flight lands?" I ask, hoping like hell he won't back down on our ritual right now. We've always done this since he first started flying, and it just kind of stuck by the time I finally got on a plane.

He looks down at his watch, and then casually looks back at the tv.

"Yeah, I don't know Sam, it will be a late landing. I'll probably already be asleep." And just like that, I feel as if a thousand bricks have just landed on top of me. I know I can't keep it together long, so I make a quick exit.

Sid's POV

"Right," she adds casually with a nod of her head, but I can hear the defeat in the tone of her voice and I know I've hurt her. "Well I'm heading out. Call me sometime," she says while grabbing her suitcase and wheeling it toward the door. I hear the door open and don't say a word until it slowly clicks shut.

And in that moment, I can't decide if I let my ego get in the way of everything I've ever wanted.

Ch. 15

Yes, I'm alive.

Really.

Sam's POV

I wake up the next morning to the sun shining through the window, landing straight on my face. Damn windows... I sigh in frustration before squeezing my eyes shut and snuggling into the bed more, pulling the comforter up around my face. After doing so, I feel someone tighten their grip around my waist, and I automatically freak out and open my eyes, finding myself in Sid's bedroom, and not mine, which makes perfect sense since I don't have any windows that face the sun in the morning... My eyes go wide before I jump out of the bed as quickly as possible. I turn around to look at him, only to find him still out cold. He always has been a hard sleeper.. I continue to stare at him, trying to decipher the difference between what really happened last night and what my mind is telling me happened by the scene in front of me. I realize that I'm freezing cold, and I glance down only to find myself naked. My eyes go wide once again before automatically reaching for the blanket on the bed, the one that Sid had previously been covered up with, and pull it off of him to cover myself. I squeal in surprise and jump from being startled when I find him naked too before throwing the blanket back toward him, which thankfully lands and covers up the majority of his body. Well, at least the parts that needed to be..

I search the floor for the closest piece of clothing and shudder when I realize it's his shirt. I slide it over my head before crawling back on the bed at a very slow pace toward him. I lurk until I'm kneeling on my knees right in front of him, and he's still completely passed out and unaware of my closeness. I sit there, starring at him for what feels like forever. I've looked at Sid many times, but I don't think I've ever noticed him. At least not in the sexual way my eyes are skimming over him now. His hands; looking at them automatically makes me remember the way his light caresses turned into something more passionate last night, marking my hips with bruises that I can feel now as he turned more animal than man in the heat of the moment. His broad shoulders are strong and sturdy, but not so much that I felt fragile in his arms. His abdomen; just looking at his tightly formed six pack, I can't help but reach out and run my fingers across his stomach, watching the way my fingers move over each indentation before my hand gets lower and right to that goody trail that has me biting my lip staring at where the blanket is thankfully strategically placed across him. I shake my head, trying to clear it of all the dirty, raunchy thoughts plaguing it before glancing up at his face; his almost angelic face. His hair is tousled, gel-free much like I love it. Its wild and curling out of control, making me want to run my fingers through it, but afraid to touch him again, thinking that I wouldn't be able to stop. Next my eyes roll over his lips that are formed in the slightest bit of a pout, which makes me smile before glancing up at his closed eyes, knowing that the amber liquid of them would melt me completely if they were opened.

I cross my legs before leaning in a little, sitting there for a while and making sure it's safe, before leaning down even more, to the point that I'm at a dangerously close distance from his face, and I just stare at him. I take a deep breath, smelling in the scent of him before I feel his hand come into contact with my face in a playful slap. My mouth hangs open in shock before I see a sly grin cross his face.


"Get out of my face, freak," he chuckles while rolling over on his side, his body now facing me, as he grabs the covers and pulls them up over his head. I sit there in shock, not because he slapped me, because over the years this is something I've grown accustomed to, but because either he is okay with what happened last night between the two of us, or he is completely unaware of it all.

Sid's POV

She's as timid as she was last night, nothing like her normal self. She's rigid in all of her movements and honestly, it looks as if she could start to cry at any moment with the way her bottom lip is jutting out. After a deep breath, I can see the determination set into her eyes, and for a second I see a glimpse of the old Sam, but only a glimpse. Sure, she looks like the tough girl everyone makes her out to be, but not to me. I know her better.

It's a mask. It has been for a while now. I don't know how I didn't pick up on it before..

I coax her into lying down next to me, much like I did last night, and the second she's in my arms again, her breathing gets deeper and I know she's trying her hardest not to cry in front of me. If only she knew how pointless her little act was with me now.

I know she's putting on a show.

I roll her over so that she's facing me, and I stare at her. I stare at her until I know she sees in my eyes that she's not getting out of this one. That no matter how much she tries to talk her way out of it, I'm not budging. First she begins to chew on her lip, a nervous habit she picked up a long time ago. But it's not under seconds after that I see her eyes begin to fill with tears, but she uses the rest of the strength she has to keep them from falling. I admire her for this.

My tough girl...

I reach out with one of my free hands and lightly brush hair out of her face, and it's then that the first tear falls. I wipe it away before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, and that's when she breaks down completely. She lies in my arms, shuddering ever so softly from the tears that are now dripping on my chest.

I sit patiently, waiting for her to exhaust herself just enough to be able to open up to me, to tell me what really happened. She pulls away from me, just enough to look at me and then sits there, wiping at her own tears before I see the determination disappear from her eyes and something softer take it's place.

Sam's POV

I stare at him, wondering how much he's put together in his mind. I left home. I had to. Last night, I was in hysterics, and I'm sure he's figured out that the reason I had to leave home had something to do with it. Either that, or he thinks it's because of Marc.

Marc... The name hits me hard, and suddenly I remember how what I did last night was SO wrong, even though it doesn't feel like it. I continue to stare at Sid, and as cliche as it sounds, I wonder to myself how it can feel so good to be with him like this when I know it's so wrong. I love Marc. I need Sid. Looking at Sid now, I have no idea what I feel for him, but it's much different from what I feel for Marc, but the same all at once. Is it possible to love two different men, in two different ways? Is it possible to need them both?

Only one idea keep replaying in my mind, almost like a broken record, almost making me quake in anticipation of what I knew I would have to do in the future; You can't have them both.

At that point, I knew I would have to choose between them both.

Ch. 14

Yay, you all want to do the co-writing thing. :-) I was worried you guys would be like"omg, what are we.. eleven?" lol I don't know emails or anything.. but we'll get in touch somehow. Naturally we all have to agree on one player.. that will probably be the hard part. So many good ones to choose from! :-)

Okay, so I was excited to post this, so I didn't proof read any of it.. just a heads up. haha

Sid's POV

I'm just about ready to call it quits with the game film when I hear a shriek come from Sam's room. Startled by this, I head for the stairs, but no sooner than when I get to the first one I see her sprinting down them and right into my arms. As she tucks her head under my chin, it's then that I realize how hysterical she is.


"Sam, what's wrong?" I ask, looking up the stairs for some kind of intruder, but finding nothing. I wait for an answer, but she's crying uncontrollably now and I don't think I'll be getting a response from her anytime soon, so I scoop her up in my arms bride-style and make my way up the stairs, her clutching her arms around my neck for dear life. I walk past her bedroom, taking a quick peek inside but not finding anything out of the ordinary; no broken windows, nothing out of place. I continue to head to my bedroom where I attempt to lay her down, but she won't turn loose of me so instead I sit down on the bed myself, cradling her in my arms like one would a smile child.

I sit there, totally unable to think of anything to do to help her, because I have absolutely no idea what's wrong or even what or who did this to her. My first idea would be Marc; and he better not have laid a damn finger on her or we are going to get up close and personal real fast.

As she sits in my lap, cuddling next to me, it's harder than hell for me to not feel the slightest bit satisfied right now with her in my grasp. I love her, she loves him... typical lover's triangle. But I'm the one with the bad luck, I'm the odd man out.. the lone amigo.. the one getting screwed. When her crying has came down to just a sobbing state, I pull her away from my body and look down at her.

"I told him no, I told him no..." she mumbles while frantically shaking her head from side to side. I put my hands on both sides of her head, making her stop long enough to look me in the eyes.


"Who?" I ask, still not really having any idea what has caused the fear I see subsiding in her eyes. "You told who no?" She shakes her head in response, not answering me once again. At this point, I'm honestly getting concerned about her and the situation at hand more and more with every second that passes. She once again lays her head on my shoulder, so I just hold onto her tightly, hoping that for now that's enough. We sit there for who knows how long and one thing runs through my mind; I would give anything to know how to fix this, to fix this broken person that is cradled within my arms, because if there is one person I'd do anything in the world for, it's the tear streaked, slightly disheveled, pain in the ass that is currently driving me slowly insane at the moment. She sniffles, bringing me out of my trance before she pulls back away from me enough to look me in the eyes.


This time, when my eyes meet hers, I don't see the initial fear I had the first time. No, instead the fear is now replaced with what appears to be hurt and pain. I take my thumbs and wipe the tears from her face while she once again shakes her head slowly, squeezing her eyes tightly shut.


When they open again one more time, I once again see another emotion cross through them, but this one has my blood racing as her eyes bore into mine.


I take one of my hands and brush her hair out of her face, but no sooner than after I've tucked her hair behind her ear, her hand touches mine, and we both stop all of our movements and just stare at each other. She looks over at where my hand is still slightly touching her face and then back up at me, and then the next thing I know, her lips are softly touching mine.


As she pushes her lips harder to mine, I find myself wrapping one of my hands through her hair and pressing my lips to hers in return. I tell myself that she's with Marc, that this is wrong, but it's as if her lips are coated with crack, her touches electrifying because even though I keep repeatedly telling myself these things, I don't pull away from her and better yet, I don't want to.


It's not that I'm amused or surprised by how mesmerizing her movements are, but it's the fact that I don't seem to have as much self-control as I normally do that is bothering me. Even as our hands get more adventurous with the exploring, I keep trying to tell myself to stop, but then she pulls her t-shirt over her head, exposing herself to my greedy eyes and I find myself not resisting at all as she tugs me on top of her.


Looking down into her eyes, her intent is clear, but I also know that this is more about being comforted than it is about me. With that said, as she pulls my shirt over my head, if this is what she needs from me right now, if this will take her mind off things, I'll do all of this for her, and then put my feelings aside afterwards.

Sam's POV

After all clothing has been shed, I feel myself becoming less tense as his lips touch my neck. And as my legs move to accommodate him and our bodies finally meet, I find myself forgetting about everything besides this right now.

As things continue to escalate, I find my tears reappearing, but for much different reasons than before. I've always known that Sid was one of the nicest people I've ever met, but his movements are so tender, caring, and sweet that I can't help but let a few tears escape my eyes. He looks down at me, but never once judging me.

As I feel myself getting closer to the edge of insanity by his precise movements, a moan escapes my lips that I'm completely helpless from attempting to hold in. As my breathing becomes more rigid, I start to bury my head in his neck again as I can't help but mumble a quiet 'Oh God,' before I feel his hands on both sides of my head, pulling me back and making me look him in the eye. The intensity in his gaze sends a shudder down my spine, but it also gives the silent command to stay with him as we both fall over the edge together.

We both lay there, him still on top of me as we continue to stare at each other, not moving an inch besides the violent rise and fall of ours chests. He sighs before leaning down and kissing my lips softly, his forehead resting on mine before moving toward my shoulder where he rests until both of our breathing has came back to normal. Within this time, I know we are both thinking the same thing. What the hell have we just done?

Ch. 13

Okay, I'm in such an OCD mood right now that I'm literally updating my stories in numerical order by number of followers, because for some strange reason it bothered the hell out of me today to look at my dashboard page and see all the numbers out of order. Weird I know, lmao. Please tell me someone out there has similar situations every now and then... haha

So.. after helping Becky with her last update.. I've decided that co-writing something is actually pretty fun. If anyone would want to be a co-author with me on a story, let me know. We could all just alternate turns with the updates, so it would be pretty stress free. *WRITERS WANTED* Kristina, Aeryn, Becky, Lauren, Jay, Zigh, Heather... hope you all see this! If we could get 7 of us, we could update nightly. That would be so effing awesome. Okay, I'm gonna stop blabbing..if you want to do it leave it in a comment or email me or something. :-)

Sam's POV

It has been 4 months since the day that Marc was waiting for me in the parking lot, and we had been seeing each other regularly since then. I got use to the older women calling me a gold digging whore just for the simple fact that I was nearly 10 years younger than him, but none of that seemed to phase me anymore. There was just something about him that I couldn't exactly place, but then again I never really tried to. I was drawn to him, and I didn't see the need in trying to figure out why. He was one of the most caring, polite, and sexiest men I'd ever saw or came into contact with, so there is no wonder I fell for him.


With that said, I did still question things. Precisely why he wanted me. Women in town much more his age faun over his breath taking smile and cute accent all the time, I've seen it often, but yet I've never once had any indication or reason to think that he was using me or better yet even cheating on me. He always seemed to come home to me, and one better, he seemed to be happy and pleased that I was there waiting for him. He never raised his voice at me, but he didn't treat me like I was 15 either. I think it's that perfect combination of being stern, but respectful at the same time that made me fall for him. And yes, somewhere over the past few months, I had fallen; and hard. As much as it scared the hell out of me to even think about it, I knew that I loved him. He'd never said those three meaningful words to me, and I'd never said them to him, but his eyes could tell me everything and I saw that feeling on more than one occasion and I had to believe that he saw the same in mine. For us, that was enough.


But after the season came to an unexpected end when the Flyers beat us in the second round, things quickly changed. The boys got eliminated five days ago, and Marc blames himself. He's not cold to me, but he's in a rough place right now.


This I can understand.


I grew up around Sid, and he blames his self for things going bad more than any other person I know. For him, me just consoling him as we sat together in silence was always enough. It always seemed to get better like that. Even though we were young then, I had tried that technique on Marc, and it did no good. He hardly slept, which is why he decided to go home for a little while, and I didn't object once. I knew that when his mind was cleared, he'd be back. Until then, I owed it to him to wait patiently.


Wondering if I couldn't at least help Marc through this, I headed over to Sid's to see if I could at least comfort him.

Sid's POV

I'm sitting on the couch with my back facing the door when I hear it open. I'm busy watching tape of the last game, seeing what all I did wrong so I don't bother to look at see who it is. I don't need to anyways.. I know who it is. I figured she'd be showing up sometime soon anyways. I haven't seen a whole lot of her here lately, just when she's stopped by the get clothing and stuff. This is going to sound cruel, but I still find it slightly satisfying that she keeps her stuff here and not at Marc's. She drops a bag on my lap that I recognize right away before she disappears into the kitchen, sticking her head in the refrigerator and coming out with a bottle of ranch dressing before coming back into the living room and plopping down next to me on the couch, propping her feet up next to mine on the coffee table.

"Buffalo Wild Wings?" I ask, pointing to the bag of food that is still sitting in my lap.

"Yes," she replies simply while grabbing for the bag and popping open a very large container of boneless wings.

"You know I can't eat this," I say while shaking my head at her as she squeezes ranch on one and pops it into her mouth. Of course she knows I can't eat this.. it's in the strict diet I follow and she always has been the person that has given me the most crap about that. She eats anything she wants and her body looks fine.. I do that and I get bigger boobs than most ladies.

"It's not in the diet, I know," she responds while grabbing another wing from the container. "But it's the off season now anyways and this is heart-break food and it's a container of 50.. So eat," she says while shoving them my way and passing me the bottle of ranch. I do as told, and automatically feel a little bit relieved.

Sam's POV

We sit in silence as we watch the game, but adding our two sense when we think someone should have done something differently. After watching the game at least 3 times and all of the food is gone, I decide I'm getting tired and make my way up to my room and almost automatically falling asleep after my head hits the pillow.

I run as fast as I can down the hallway and then down the stairs, but I know that my little, short legs are no match for his, but I know it's my best option. He out weighs me by a large majority, and I know that if I had to fend myself from him, it would just come up with him dominating me. One thing I've always been proud about myself is my ability to think quickly under stress or pressure, so I swing my legs over the stairs and jump to the floor below me when I hear him come raging out of the bedroom. I don't know why he's acting like this. Even when he has been drunk before, he's never hit me. Feeling the burn on my left cheek now that is surly red from contact from his fist, I've never been more scared in my life.

I hit the floor below me awkwardly, and I feel my ankle give out, but I'm still running like hell for the basement. If I can get there and lock that door, there is no way that he'd be able to get to me since that is the only door that leads down there and there aren't any windows. After I get the door closed, I hear him pounding on it which has me stepping away as quickly as possible as shock over takes me. I stand there for a minute, not really believing this is happening to me. When I finally snap out of the trance, I reach for me cell phone, and panic when I can't find it. It's then that I remember it falling out of my pocket during my jump from about 25 or so steps.

I'm running my fingers through my hair anxiously, not knowing what to do now when I hear the door whip open. I turn around to see him lurking down the stairs next to me, an evil smile on his face as he walks toward me slowly. I look around for something to use as a source of defense, but I'm too late. He grabs me in his arms, and no matter how hard I try to fight against him he easily positions me underneath him as he starts to violently remove my clothes.

I wake up with a jump, screaming instinctively before jumping out of my bed. I sprint out the door, and am relieved when I see Sid jogging up the stairs, concern written on his face. I hide my head in his chest as his arms wrap around me, the first tears leaking from my eyes.

Ch. 12

Ugh.. I feel horrible for the lack of updates, truly. I thought I had this all planned out on who would end up with who.. but now it turns out I'm just as indecisive as you're comments have been. Oh, the tragedy! lol Short update.. and I swear, I'll make up my mind soon and post more. Well, I guess I'll really be making up my mind again, but I'll stick to my decision this time, promise! :-)

Sam's POV

It happened like it did any morning he had a skate to go to.. He opened my bedroom door, never taking a step closer.. I guess he learned his lesson quickly after his first encounter with me in the morning what felt like forever ago. So instead of taking a step anywhere near me or my bed, he throws whatever he finds closest, this flying object of mass destruction hitting me somewhere in the leg/butt area, jolting me out of the peaceful sleep I had been in. I roll over, only to see him smiling, which my only response is to mumble my normal 'What the hell, Sid..' before flipping him off and hiding my head under my pillow as he laughs on his way down the hallway.

I finally drag myself out of bed, getting ready in about 5 minutes, because I know that's all the time I have. On my way out the door, I grab my cell phone off of the charger and grab the wad of cash on my dresser, shoving it in my pocket on my way to make it downstairs frantically.

Just as I come to the bottom of the step, he's checking his watch, probably about to leave me no doubt.. he sees me running toward him and rolls his eyes at me before chunking a package of pop tarts in my direction. I catch them on the run before grabbing my shoes that are by the door. That's another discussion we have frequently. He adamantly tells me to take them up to my room, keep them with the rest of my stuff and I reply by telling him it's more user friendly and well thought out to leave them by the door, because I'm obviously only going to need them when I'm going through it. He either sighs deeply in frustration or rolls his eyes at me, something he does all the time.

As I'm running out the door to hop in his car before he pulls out, I am multi-tasking by holding my pop tart bag in my mouth, running... okay more like hopping, and trying to pull my shoes on all at once. I look up just in time to see him shaking his head at me as he taps his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to be patient but failing miserably. I slide into the car, and mere seconds later he's pulling out of the driveway, trying to make up for the 'lost time' I've caused him.

"I swear, 5 seconds later and I would have been leaving your ass at home," he says while shaking his head at me. I glance at the clock, and just roll my eyes back at him.

"Sid," I sigh, getting his attention before I point at the clock, his eyes following the direction my finger is pointing. "It's 8:17. Morning skate starts at 9:30."

"I always get there early, you know that. Could you just, oh I don't know, try setting your alarm for once?" he replies sarcastically.

"Oh shut up, you like having an excuse to be all irritated with me and throw stuff at me anyways," I say while reaching up and changing the radio station, something he absolutely hates, but I do it everyday anyways, only for him to sit there for maybe two seconds, just long enough for me to get my hands back at my sides before he changes it back. Eventually, I start talking about some random topic to distract him and change it again, only to have him refocus minutes later and change it back. It's part of our morning routine, however crazy that sounds.

"It does let me relieve some tension," he says while a small smile.

"Oh I know that, and so does my ass," I say while lightly touching the tender spot on the side of my hip that I already know is bruising from this morning. "I'd appreciate it if you'd find something softer to throw.. a pillow maybe, because seriously, you've got to be running out of random remote controls anytime now."

"Hey, I still can't turn on my surround sound you know," he says while looking over at me and eyeing the pop tart I'm about to put into my mouth. I offer him some, but he just shakes his head no before continuing. "It's been about two weeks now, you would think you could give it back now."

Sid's POV

I'm so superstitious of a person that I like routines.. luckily for me, she's so stubborn that she does the same things every morning just to get on my nerves, and it would.. if it wasn't all part of the routine.

"I need it," she says while shrugging her shoulders, continuing to shove her pop tart in her mouth, getting crumbs all over the middle console of my car in the process.

"For what," I sigh, reaching over and wiping the crumbs off and onto the floor. "And you're going to vacuum that out," I say while pointing to where they are resting on the gray floorboard. "Hey, at least I'm letting you eat in here now," I continue after she rolls her eyes at me.

"I need it to level out my bed.. one leg is shorter than all of the others." I whip my head over in her direction, hoping she's kidding. She smiles back at me, so I just shake my head, hating how she can always pull my leg, and hating even more how I always believe her. I pull into the parking lot, both of us getting out and heading for the arena in the same silence we normally do.

The parking lot is normally vacant when we show up too, but today I can't help but notice a familiar black car. As we approach, he gets out, a smile on his face that I see reciprocated on Sam's. This is just lovely.. like I really need to put up with the lovebirds this early in the morning..

Ch. 11

Short update, thought I should throw some friendship issues in there in between all the Marc drama.

Sid's POV

I'm practically pacing by the time I hear them approaching the house. I sit down on the couch and grab the remote to the TV, trying to go for inconspicuous and nonchalant, but most importantly, trying to make it seem as if I wasn't waiting up for her, which I was. I flip on some game tape, thinking she would fall for the idea of me staying up to watch film over anything else.


She finally comes inside and I glance over at her, quickly turning my attention back to the TV. She walks into the kitchen and grabs a bag of chips before plopping down next to me on the couch. I look out of the corner of my eye down at her while keeping my head facing the TV screen to try and read her emotion, but sadly, I can't tell if she had a good time or not.


She looks up at me, her eyes as innocent as ever as she offers the bag of chip my way after taking a handful of them herself. I shake my head no, gently shoving the bag back in her direction before once again looking at the TV.

"Sid?"

"Hmm?" I reply absentmindedly, doing that thing all men are accused of doing.

"Hey," she says while reaching up and slapping me lightly on the cheek. "Don't do that to me."

"Do what?" I ask while looking down at her.

"Act like you're listening to me, but in reality you're paying no attention to me at all. Rude.."
I laugh at her, knowing I should have figured she would call me on my bluff before looking back at the TV again, actually interested in watching this game now. "Don't do that either.."

"Do what?" I sigh, glancing down at her to show I'm listening before adverting my gaze once again.

"The thing you are doing," she says while getting up off the couch dramatically and going into the kitchen and putting up the chips she was eating, opting for a pop tart instead.

"Thank you for being so descriptive.." I reply sarcastically as she sits back down, not as close this time as she pulls her legs up close to her chest, resting her arms on top of them as she continues to stare at me.

"Ever since I walked out that door to meet Marc, you've been so distant. Whatever happens with Marc, it doesn't affect me and you at all," she says while breaking her pop tart in half, then into fourths, then into eights, and finally into sixteenths, successfully making bite size pieces, just like she use to do all the time. "You're still my number one.. dude."

"Number one dude?" I question, feeling a smile pull at the corners of my lips as she shakes her head yes frantically. "So I'm your dude.." I sigh, shaking my head at her explanation.

"Yep," she agrees. "My dude," she continues while shrugging her shoulders. She gets up to leave, but I open my mouth, and she just chuckles before tossing a piece of her pop tart my way which I catch with my mouth, just like old times before she almost skips up the stairs to her bedroom.

Sam's POV

I head off to bed, ironically stressed and relieved at the same time. Stressed because I think I could like Marc, like really like him, and relieved because the air seems to be cleared between Sid and I, at least for now.

I felt so at ease with Marc it was almost scary, almost as if we'd known each other forever, as if we were childhood friends. The only other person I feel that way with is well, Sid, and that's probably because we were childhood friends. There is just something about Marc that appeals to me, and I can't really describe what that is.

Isn't that the way love is suppose to be though? Unexplainable?

I'm not saying it is love, no, it's way to early for that, but I really can't express the feelings stirring withing me at the thought of his name, the thought of his accent, the thought of that smile he gets when I say or do something stupid..

Okay, so maybe it's just wishful thinking. After all, who knows what he is thinking or wondering. Better yet, he's a man.. he's probably not thinking or wondering anything, but sometime a girl has to wonder.

And on top of it all, I think things are good between Sid and I again, which only makes my adrenaline high even worse. Obviously I want to see what happens with Marc, but I hated that by doing that I was going against Sid's wishes.

Sid's important to me, he always will be, but there comes a time when people have to prioritize. I know I mean a lot to him as well, but I also know that I am no where near the top of his list of important things, and that's okay with me.

Anybody that is a part of Sid's life knows that it comes with a cost. Hockey will always be his first passion. So literally, you can't be his number one.

Not really anyways..

Ch. 10

Geez.. writers block for one story and then all thoughts or ideas hit the fan, I swear. I don't know what is wrong with me... lol I swear I looked at a blank screen for days, not being able to decide how this all went down.. was it good, was it awkward, did they automatically it it off, and so on. Ugh. Hopefully things go back to normal soon, because this is killing me. All comments are greatly appreciated at this point.. who knows what one of you guys could say that set me off on a rabbit trail of ideas.. lol

Marc's POV

She walks out the door with a smile on her face, making her way straight to me and pulling me into a hug, allowing me to get a nice feel of her curves and a whiff of vanilla before she kisses me lightly on the cheek. So much for tonight being about a friend helping out a friend, because as she pulls away from me I have anything but friendly thoughts going through my mind. I guess I should give up trying to remain neutral, because I know that if Sid knows we are going out together tonight, albeit as friends or more, he also won't be friendly anymore. He's always been demanding, but it's never been an issue before. And so, with one simple night out together, a harmless hug and kiss on the cheek, I'm sure World War III could break out anytime soon, sending us all to our respective corners as we wait for the bell to ring.

I had every intention of just taking her out, showing her around Pittsburgh all while keeping my distance. Friends do that, right? At least that's what I keep telling myself. This is just a friendship, it's really all it can be. Except I threw that idea out the moment I saw her, not being about to get her out of my mind now, the way she smiles, the way she doesn't hold in laughter, at the way I know I'm going to have a good time tonight just because I'm with her.

"What are you thinking about?" she asks as we continue to stand patiently, almost waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Nothing," I lie, smiling at her as I start to walk to my car. "We should probably get going," I say while opening the door. I'm about to get in when I realize she hasn't moved. "What is it?"

"It's a pretty evening," she says while looking up at the sky. "Let's walk."

And so we walk. We head off toward no certain destination, just enjoying the night, the silence, and each others company. We take a couple steps before one of us looks over at the other, smiling before adverting our gazes back to the ground in front of us, only to go a couple more steps and doing it again.

It's then that I realize how long I've lived here with unseeing eyes, how many little details I've missed through my car window as I zip past it.

"So you like it here in Pittsburgh?" she asks, finally breaking the easy silence we had fallen into but never once looking in my direction.

"I do," I agree while nodding my head, but then just thinking that's silly because she can't possibly see me do such a thing since she's not looking at me.

"Why?' she prods. This one, she's definitely nosy..

"We win here," I answer with a laugh. "Winning is good."

Sam's POV

Ugh, men. No, better yet.. hockey players. One track minds I swear. Okay, two track minds, hockey and sex, but anything aside from that is a stretch.

"No, not Pittsburgh the hockey team, what do you like about Pittsburgh the town?" I ask, being more specific so he can't give me an easy answer. Nope, he's gonna have to think hard for these ones.

"Good question," he says with a sigh. "I've never thought about it before. For me, Pittsburgh is hockey," he says while shrugging his shoulders.

"You're so boring," I reply in an exasperated tone. "Do you ever concentrate on anything but hockey?"

"Sometimes," he says with a smirk while finally glancing over at me. I feel my cheeks flush, and I can't believe this is happening. I'm blushing..? Crap this man is good.. I never blush..

Marc's POV

"So you've never really gotten attached to anything in Pittsburgh besides hockey?" she asks, and it's almost like she's daring me to say no, just so she can throw it in my face when she finds out I'm finding it very hard not to become attached to her.

"It's just for me, this isn't really home," I say while waving my hands around. "This is work."

"Pathetic," she sighs dramatically while rolling her eyes, once again baiting me. I look over at her, completely caught off guard only to see a smirk on her face. This one.. she's sneaky. "Okay, well since you don't like Pittsburgh, I'm going to figure out what else you like."

"And why are we playing 20 questions?" I ask with a laugh, not really remembering the last time I've done this.

"So I can accomodate enough facts to judge your character," she says while narrowing her eyes at me. "Favorite movie?"

"Umm, I don't really have a specific--"

"Keep your answers short, say the first thing on your mind" she demands, but once again that smirk is there.

"Talladega Nights."

"Favorite season of the year?"

"Hockey season," I answer, bracing myself for her reaction. She whips her head in my direction and just stares at me before she mumbles a barely audible 'Smartass' in my direction. "You said the first thing that I thought of.. I have two track mind, right?"

Sam's POV

Oh, he's good.. little bugger.

"Favorite food?" I ask while slowing the pace of my walk down, noticing that we've walked around in a circle and we are almost back to Sid's house, and quite frankly I don't want this to end yet.

"Anything edible," he answers coyly. I look over at him, and he just gives me the same smile that has been making my knees weak for a while now. "What?" he asks while raising his hands in defense. "Hockey player.." I roll my eyes before moving on to the next question.

"Favorite holiday?"

"Thanksgiving."

"Is it called soda or pop?"

"Soda," he says with a chuckle.

"Shut out or shoot out win?"

"Shut out."

"Shoe size?" I ask randomly, trying to see if he's still paying attention to me or dozing off over there.

"Really?" he asks with a laugh while looking at me.

"Just making sure you're still with me," I add with a laugh of my own. "But this is me," I say while holding my arms up as we come to a stop in front of Sid's house.

"Are you coming to the game tomorrow?" he asks while backing away from me and toward the direction his car is parked.

"I'll be there," I say with a smile, only to see it reciprocated on his face.

"Good. See you there," he says before disappearing in his car. I shake my head before heading into the house, only to see Sid sitting on the couch, his intense gaze on me as I walk through the door.