Downsides and Upsides

If there was one downside to living in the basement of Pascal Dupuis’s house, it had to be that Kris lived two houses down and enjoyed waking up at ungodly hours, racing over to the Dupuis’ and banging on the door to my basement suite repeatedly until I answered. If he didn’t bring breakfast with him, I would have killed him by now.

“Seriously, you have to stop doing this,” I whined. “You never even gave me a day to adjust to the time difference. I’m feeling sleep deprived,” I let out a groan as I fell back onto the couch, ignoring Kris as he laughed at me, setting down the coffee and egg McMuffins he had brought over.

“Aw, come on, Hanna! I’m helping you adjust to a hockey player’s schedule,” He reminded me, handing a still wrapped mcmuffin to me and sitting down next to me.

“But I’m not a hockey player,” I pointed out, unwrapping the McMuffin and taking a bite. “And don’t you have practice or a work out to do? Something that doesn’t involve waking me up before seven every morning?”

“Hanna, do you how many girls would love to have me wake them up every morning with breakfast?” He asked, smirking at me.

I ignored the comment, taking a bite out of my McMuffin instead and letting out a sigh. “How long are you planning to stay here? Because as soon as you leave, I’m going back to bed.”

Kris rolled his eyes, chewing up the food in his mouth and taking a long sip of coffee before talking. “I promise to leave within the hour. I just hate eating breakfast by myself.”

“Aww, that’s so sad,” I cooed, picking up my own coffee and taking a sip. “But seriously, if you continue to wake me up two hours before my alarm every morning I’m drop kicking you into another state.”

He laughed, taking a bite out of his hash brown as he looked around the room we were sitting in. “You know, you’ve really made this your own place in the last week,” He observed.

“I haven’t unpacked anything in my room yet,” I admitted. “It’s just a mattress on the floor still, with boxes of clothes sitting on top of the dresser Max and Marc bought me.”

“What? When I moved out here, my room was the first place I worked on,” He told me.

“Yeah, but someone is always over here and I’d rather have the living room and kitchen area look presentable. None of you see my room, so I figured it could wait.”

“That is silly,” Kris decided. “You know that as soon as anyone else hears about this they’ll be over setting up your room for you.” He took another gulp of coffee. “What else haven’t you finished?”

I sighed, chewing on my food for a moment. “I still haven’t put up my shower curtains yet. And I never got around to buying a vacuum. Other than that, I think I’m good.”

Kris shook his head, crunching up the wrapper of his mcmuffin. “Hanna, I am so disappointed in you. Thinking of others before your self, sacrificing having a cozy room to host a bunch of ungrateful boys. What are you doing with your life?”

I laughed, “I know, I’m such a disappointment.” There was a brief pause as Kris sipped his coffee and I finished off my food. Once I was done I was let out a long sigh, turning to look at Kris. “So, serious question,” I began, causing him to turn and look at me. “How do you feel about Peyton?”

He cleared his throat, shifting a bit on the couch before he shrugged, avoiding my eyes. “She’s a very nice girl. Especially for everything that happened to her growing up, she’s a brave girl.”

I smirked, “So you have a gigantic crush on her?” I asked, teasing.

Kris pouted, “Why are you picking on me, Hanna?”

I laughed, “I’m not. It’s just that Peyton, and I know this is hard to believe, but Peyton’s only dated one guy and it ended pretty badly, so I want to make sure that your intentions are right before I give you my blessing.”

Kris smiled, “That’s very sweet of you. But, I don’t know how Peyton and I could ever work, with her living out in Vancouver Canada and me living here in Pittsburgh. She deserves better then some long distance thing.”

“Well, you should let her know that before you continue sweet talking her over the phone,” I told him, grinning at the tinge that hit his cheek. “Yeah, she tells me about that. It’s what us girls do.”
He nodded, taking another sip of his coffee. “Hey, what about you?”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Do I want to date Peyton? Look, I know she’s gorgeous, and I know I seem lonely, but I like my men.”

Kris laughed, “No! I meant Sidney. What is going on with you two? He went out of his way to make sure you’d be as happy as possible out here, and you’ve only seen him twice since being here. Is it some game? Because guys don’t like those games.”

“It’s not a game,” I said, laughing lightly. “Sidney’s just…Sidney’s…I don’t know. He’s complicated. And he spent two blocks telling me about how he doesn’t date and he doesn’t do relationships during the hockey season. He also told me he isn’t a hook-up guy. So basically, Sidney is A-sexual, and there’s not much I can do with that.”

Kris laughed, a loud laugh that actually startled me a little bit. “Oh, Sidney. He didn’t lie to you, he isn’t a hook-up guy, or a go to clubs and find a one night stand guy-”

“That’s basically the same thing,” I pointed out.

“But he hasn’t written off relationships. He just likes to think he has so he doesn’t have to think about how lonely he is all the time,” He explained. “He had one relationship, it lasted about a month, and the girl basically made him feel like no one would ever love him with his schedule. That’s why he doesn’t drag girls into it, he doesn’t want them to come second, but they have too.” Kris yawned, causing him to pause his speech. “No one wants to live this kind of life alone, Hanna. You think Sidney actually enjoys waking up at five am to shoot commercials, spend all day doing interviews, practices, listening to fans of rival teams claim he’s not actually good at hockey or that he has no character, and then go home alone, with no one to talk to?”

I shook my head. “I guess that doesn’t make sense. I mean, I can see how alone he feels sometimes, but he won’t admit it. And he won’t talk to anyone about all of these things on his mind because he doesn’t want any of you to think he’s weak.”

“See, but he does talk to someone,” Kris pointed out. “He talks to you. Maybe he doesn’t tell you everything you’d like him to, but he admitted that he holds everything in, and he trusts you. I know he’s still trying to convince you, and himself, that he doesn’t want a relationship, but that guy is just waiting for you to tell him he’s wrong and hold his hand. Or something more manly than that.”

I stared at Kris for a long time before I shook my head. “You know, sometimes you say the dumbest things, and the all of a sudden, you’re the wisest person around. You’re an interesting guy, Kris.”

He shrugged, “I try sometimes.” He finished off his coffee before he stood up, gathering up the wrappers and the bag the food had come in. “Well, I’m off to practice. I’m sorry to have woken you up, again.”

I smiled, “That’s okay. I do enjoy the free food and the conversation, I guess. I mean, I don’t enjoy it as much as I enjoy my sleep, but it’s still okay.”

He nodded, heading over to the door. “Oh, by the way, you should stop by the arena. I know you don’t work today, since there’s no game tonight, but we’ve got a practice and then we’re all heading out for lunch. Maybe we could come help you get your room together after?”

I yawned, stretching my arms above my head before I answered. “We’ll see. I need to sleep another hour or so and then I might head over.”

He nodded, waving goodbye to me as he finally headed out the door. I wasted no time in getting up off of the couch and staggering back to my mattress, collapsing back into sleep.

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I rubbed my hands up and down my arms as I walked through the back tunnel of Mellon Arena to find where the boys were. I had arrived just as their practice was ending, and Ashleigh, Jordan’s girlfriend, had led me down to their dressing room where some of the other girlfriends and attendees were waiting.

“Hanna!”

I spun around, surprised to find Sidney’s dad grinning at me as he made his way over. “Oh, hi Troy! I haven’t seen you at all since I arrived in Pittsburgh.”

He smiled, taking off the hat he was wearing to scratch his head. “I know, I’m sorry about that. I was back in Cole Harbour with the family. I’m not in Pittsburgh as much as people seem to think I am.”

I nodded, “Sidney told me that awhile ago, actually. I guess I just forgot. How have you been?”

He shrugged, watching as a few of the players filed out. When Sidney wasn’t one of them he looked back at me. “I’ve been alright. I’m tired, though. Taylor’s hockey team was on a pretty intense road trip last week, and Trina and I went with her. All the time changes really did me in.”

I nodded, my attention drifting as I saw more players leaving the room. Marc noticed me and immediately came over, dragging Vero with him. “Hanna, do you need help setting up the rest of your place?”

I sighed, “Kris needs to learn how to shut his mouth.”

Vero let out a small laugh. “I can come help you if you want. The boys don’t need to come. I’m sure you’re sick of most of them.”

I grinned, “I’m only sick of Kris. But I’d love to have a girl help out for once. You won’t try and get me to hang up a glamour shot of Guy Lafleur.”

Troy laughed from behind me. “I’m assuming it was Talbot that suggested that?”

I nodded, “How did you know?” I joked.

Sidney finally emerged from the room, his hair still wet and his t shirt patterned with water marks from him obviously having tugged it on as soon as he was out of the shower. He nodded to his dad, walking over to where the rest of us stood and glancing around. “What are we talking about?”

“Hanna never set up her room,” Marc told him. “So Vero is going to help. Apparently we’re not invited.”

Sidney laughed, “Oh, that’s nice of you, Hanna.” He grinned at me. “Is everything else set up in your suite?”

I sighed, “No. I still haven’t put up my shower curtains, and even though the living room is technically set up, I want to re-organize the couches and everything.”

Sidney nodded, glancing at his dad for a second, having one of those creepy eye conversations with him, before looking back at me. “Well, I’m gonna grab dinner with my dad, but I can swing by and put the curtain up and help you move around the furniture, if you want?”

I nodded, “Yeah, that’d be great. Max picked out the heaviest couch ever, so there’s no chance I could move it.”

He laughed, “Well, then I can definitely help with that. Is that cool dad? If I ditch you a little sooner than planned?”

Troy let out an exaggerated sigh. “Well, I guess I have to be okay with it, don’t I?”

I nudged Troy’s arm. “That’s the spirit. Have a good dinner, guys. I’m grabbing lunch with the rest of your team, but I should be back at my place around four.”

Sidney nodded, bidding goodbye to me as I followed Marc and Vero out to the parking lot, breaking off to find the rental car I had.

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“Oh my God, Hanna,” Vero laughed, lifting up one of the shirts in the box she was unpacking. “Why do you own this?”

I turned around to see what she was holding up, laughing when I saw my tie-dye Spice Girls shirt. “I don’t know. I must have thought it had some form of sentimental value if I packed it.”

She laughed, folding it up and placing it into one of the drawers. “So, Sidney was pretty willing to drop by and help you out.”

I sighed, pairing up my socks and glancing at her. “You’re not going to do exactly what your boyfriend does, are you?”

Vero let out a soft laugh. “I’m sorry. I just haven’t seen him so dedicated to a girl before. He’s usually all about hockey first and everything else comes second, but he’s been going out of his way to make sure you’re taken care of first.”

I felt my cheeks heat up a little bit. “Well, he’s just a really nice guy. Besides, he has a lot on his mind, so I’m not expecting anything.”

Vero shook her head, closing the drawer she had now filled with my shirts and sighing. “Hanna, sometimes boys like Sidney need the girl to make the first move. I think Sidney’ main thing with relationships is the fear of rejection, and it’s understandable that he does have that fear. What if he really likes a girl, he asks her out and she says no? Doesn’t seem that bad, right? But, what if that girl tells a friend, who then posts somewhere on the internet that she knows a girl who turned Sidney?”

I frowned, “It’s that big of a deal? Really?”

“Hanna, girls already claim they know someone who turned down Sidney, and then everyone reading it assumes he approached her at a club and the entire thing sky rockets into this conclusion that Sidney is a shady guy who just looks for hook-ups, when the truth is, none of it ever happened. I can almost guarantee that that is the only reason he hasn’t been more forward with you,” Vero said.

I gathered up all of my paired socks, standing up from my finally put together bed and heading over to the empty drawer that the socks would be dumped into. “Even if all of that is true, I still feel like I need a little time. I just moved out here, I started a new job the day after I arrived and I’m incredibly sleep deprived. I need to give my body and mind a little rest before I even think about a relationship.”

Vero nodded, glancing around at the empty boxes tiredly. “Well, it took us three hours, but your room is complete,” She observed, following me out of the room and out into the living room area where we had filled the coffee table with sandwiches to eat as soon as we were done. We both collapsed onto the couch, Vero reaching forward to grab the plate of sandwiches and handing it to me after she grabbed one for herself. We both simultaneously let out a sigh, taking a bite out of the sandwich and falling into an exhausted silence.

We must have stayed like that, silent and exhausted, for a good twenty minutes before I heard the knocks at the door, causing me to groan as I stood up. For some reason, my body was full of aches suddenly, even though my room was probably the easiest room to set up. Maybe it was the mix of fatigue and hard work, but every step I took towards the door caused an outcry of pain in the back of my calves and neck.

I pulled the door open, leaning against it tiredly as I looked up at Sidney. “I’m so tired, Sidney,” I whined.

He laughed, holding up a box. “I went out and bought cupcakes.”

“Oh, you can definitely come in then,” I said, moving aside so he could step in, smiling slightly as he immediately took off his shoes before moving any further into the basement.

“Cupcakes?” Vero asked. “Oh, you are a good man, Sidney.”

Sidney laughed, setting down the box of cupcakes and glancing around. “Wow, this place looks amazing now.”

I nodded, walking over to stand beside him. “Yeah, I’m actually surprised. Pascal’s wife went out and bought all the paint so I didn’t have to deal with the lime green walls that were in here before.”

Sidney laughed, “I remember that! Pascal bought this place before his wife moved out here and he seemed to think that the green was a warm colour.”

“It probably gave his kids nightmares,” I mumbled, earning a chuckle out of Sidney.

Vero cleared her throat, causing both Sidney and I to glance over at her. She smiled, standing up from the couch. “Well, I think I’m going to head out and leave you two to… finish the unpacking.” She sent me a subtle smirk, leaning down to grab a cupcake from the box. “Thank you for buying these, by the way, Sidney.”

Sidney nodded to her, moving out of the way so she could head over to the door.

“Thanks for helping, Vero. I’m pretty stoked to have an actual bed to sleep in tonight,” I told her, earning a polite “you’re welcome” from her before she headed out.

Sidney let out a sigh, “So, where’s the shower curtain you need me to hang up?”

I laughed, leading him over to the bathroom and pointing to the mess of plastic in the middle of the tile floor. “We had a fight,” I explained.

He laughed, nodding his head as he stepped into the room and picked the curtain up, grabbing the rod it was supposed to hang on and walking over to the bathtub/shower. “This doesn’t look too hard.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s really easy if you’re not stupid,” I agreed, earning a laugh out of him again. “I’ll just leave you to take care of that and I’ll go make some coffee,” I offered, not waiting to see whether Sidney agreed with me or not.

There was a lot of clanking and a few cuss words, but ten minutes later Sidney emerged, wiping his hands on the front of his jeans. “Well, you officially have a shower curtain.”

“Oh, best day ever!” I told him, grabbing the pot of coffee I had just made. “Do you want coffee? Or is that not in your hockey diet?”

He rolled his eyes, “I don’t have a hockey diet.”

“So, you’d like a cup then?” I asked, smirking at him.

He sighed, “Yes, Hanna. I would love a cup of coffee.”

I poured two cups, scooping some sugar into my own cup before I handed the sugar to Sidney, mixing in some cream before I took a sip, burning my mouth a little bit.

Sidney had clearly noticed my bad decision, as he bit back a grin, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he glanced over at the living room. “So, how do you want the furniture to be?” He asked.

I sighed, “Well, I was thinking that the couch could be up against the wall so it’s not in the middle of the room, in the way. And maybe the chair could be just to the right of it, facing in. Then I’d have to move the TV stand over, too. I don’t know, does that sound too complicated?”

Sidney shook his head, setting down his cup of coffee and heading over to the living room. “How about you clear off the table while I move the couch and chair? Then you can take care of the table and TV stand, unless they’re too heavy.”

I nodded, “No, that sounds like a plan. I mean, it’s way more work on your part, but I don’t mind that.”

Sidney laughed, heading over to the couch and eyeing it up a bit before he grabbed one end, lifting it up and pulling the couch over towards the wall. I hadn’t even managed to lift an end up yet, so I watched in shock as he moved the thing as if it was no big deal. I caught my eyes staying on his biceps and immediately snapped my attention away, focusing on clearing off the table instead.

Sidney had moved the couch and chair before I’d even managed to clear all of the food off, so he, of course, came over to help me with that as well. “You do too much for me, Sidney,” I told him as he grabbed the plates and sandwich platter and carried it over to set down on the kitchen counter. “Just let me handle all of this. Drink your coffee or something.”

He laughed, “It’s fine, Hanna. I don’t want you to hurt yourself. Besides, I know Kris has been here driving you crazy all the time, so I feel like I owe you.”

I smiled, shaking my head at him as he grabbed the last cup on the table, allowing me to lift it up and move it over to where the couch and chair were now. I turned around to find Sidney already carrying the TV stand, with the TV still on it, over to where I was. I pointed to the corner I wanted it in, watching as he carefully set it down before he went to grab the DVD player that had been left. I had to shake my head at him, overwhelmed with how much kindness he had.

I grabbed both of our cups and the box of cupcakes, carrying them over and setting them back down on the table before I sat down on the couch, watching as Sidney plugged everything back in for me before he came and sat down next to me.

“I hope this wasn’t too much for you,” I said to him. “I don’t want this to throw you off your game or anything,” I explained.

Sidney took a drink of his coffee before shaking his head. “It’s not a problem at all. I’ll be fine for tomorrow, I swear. Besides, you needed help, and you’ve done so much for me already, it’s the least I could do.”

I grabbed one of the cupcakes, letting out a small sigh as I leaned back into the couch. “So, what’s new with you?” I asked.

Sidney laughed, “Oh, not much. Just hockey and interviews. The usual.”

“Do you ever get sick of having such a routine life?” I asked, taking a bite out of the cupcake.

Sidney shook his head, “I think it’s good for me. My whole life, or at least as far back as I can remember, has been based off of routines. I’m so used to it now, that it doesn’t even matter. I usually don’t know what to do with unpredictable situations. I get enough of that during the games,” He joked, taking a sip of his coffee.

I chewed up the piece of cupcake I was eating. “I can’t handle routines. My life needs some surprises in it for me to not die of boredom.”

Sidney laughed, “Well, I guess that’s why you’re not living my life.”

I nodded, chewing on the last piece of my cupcake as Sidney and I fell into silence for a moment. I glanced over at him, taking in his now slightly messy hair and the hint of sweat glistening his forehead. He had such a serious expression when he was silent, I had noticed. He would clench his jaw a bit and allow his dark eyes to focus straight ahead. It seemed like whatever Sidney did, even if it was just taking a moment to be silent, he was completely concentrated on it. I let out another sigh, leaning back on the couch and looking around my now unpacked suite, feeling content with the outcome.

Sidney shifted forward a bit, squinting his eyes at he looked at something across the room. “Who’s that a picture of?” He asked, pointing towards the far wall.

I looked over at where he was pointing. “The one in the blue frame is my parents wedding photo. And the silver frame is my cousin Alissa.”

He nodded. “I guess you and Alissa are close, since you keep a picture of her, huh?”

I looked down at the cup of coffee in my hands, swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat. “We were close,” I corrected, earning a curious glance from Sidney. “I’d rather not talk about it right now. Just because I’m so tired,” I explained.

Sidney nodded, seeming to completely understand. “There’s nothing else left to be unpacked or moved around?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I’m probably going to buy some end tables or something, but other than that, it’s all done.” I glanced over at the clock, surprised to find it was nearing eleven. “Oh wow, I guess you need to head out soon, don’t you?”

Sidney nodded, gulping down the rest of his coffee. “Is there anything else you need me to do?” He asked again, standing up from the couch.

I laughed, “No, you’ve done enough Sidney.” I walked with him over to the door, yawning lightly. “Who do you guys play tomorrow?” I asked.

Sidney glanced up at me as he tugged his shoes back on. “The Capitals.”

“Oh dear,” I said, frowning. “I don’t like them very much.”

Sidney grinned, “Me either,” He joked, opening up the door, “Wish me luck.”

I smiled, looking up at Sidney and his grinning face and the way that the outside light was reflecting against his eyes, turning them from their usual dark brown into a shining hazel colour, and suddenly I could hear Vero’s voice in my head, repeating her earlier suggestion;Sometimes boys like Sidney need the girl to make the first move

Before I could even realize what I was doing, my right hand was on the back of Sidney’s head and I was up on the tips of my toes. Sidney dipped his head down just enough that our lips met, softly at first until I pushed myself up more, pressing harder against him. It didn’t last too long, and I pulled away before the kiss could evolve into anything more, catching my breath as I looked up at Sidney as he slowly opened his eyes. “Good luck,” I said, letting my feet fall flat against the floor once more as I gently brought my hand back down to my side.

Sidney stared at me for a moment, looking over my face before he nodded, the faintest smile appearing. “Goodnight, Hanna,” He said softly, surprising me as he leaned down once more to kiss my cheek before he headed out towards his car, turning around once just to glance back at me.

I closed the door once his car had backed out of the driveway and leaned up against it, re-playing what had just happened. It only took a moment before I started giggling like a small child, heading back into my room so I could collapse on my bed and let the giddiness completely overwhelm me.