Pirates

My right knee bounced up and down as I sat on my couch, staring at the TV as I absentmindedly flicked through the channels, trying to keep myself from glancing up and checking the time.

Peyton had flown home three days ago, unable to miss anymore school and also out of spending money. Without her here to constantly distract me or drag me out my place to go show her around Pittsburgh, since she didn’t get to see much of it last time she was here, I was viewing time as my enemy. No many how many channels I flicked through, it seemed like no time had passed by at all. I let out a long sigh, tossing the remote down on the couch next to me, standing up and making my way over to my kitchen, pulling open the fridge and looking in it to try and see if anything caught my interest. I stared into it for a few minutes, letting the cold air hit my legs and seep through the fabric of my jeans before I closed it, moving over to the cupboards and opening each one, taking a moment to look at all the contents of them before moving on to the next one. After looking through every cupboard and not finding any suitable form of distraction, I returned to the fridge, opening it again and staring into, trying to see if I had missed anything, or if something had expired and I should throw it out.

I was in the middle of pulling out every individual container of yogurt and checking the expiration date on them when I finally heard someone knock on my door, causing me to toss the container that was in my hand into the fridge, shutting the fridge door and almost sliding across my kitchen floor to get to the door, nearly tripping over the pair of shoes by the door as I grabbed the door knob and pulled the door open, launching myself onto Sidney as soon as I saw him and almost knocking him backwards.

“I’m happy to see you, too,” He said, laughing as he steadied himself, returning my embrace and standing just outside of the door with me for a good minute before he kissed the top of my head. “Can I come in, or are we just going to stand out here and hug?” He asked.

I reluctantly let go of him, stepping back into the basement and letting him step in as well, watching as he took off his shoes and set down the bag I hadn’t noticed was in his hand before he turned to me, smiling as he walked over to me, placing a hand on the side of my face so he could lean down and kiss me.

On the ice, Sidney looks so small. When you’re on a team with the likes of Jordan Staal, Evgeni Malkin and Eric Goddard, it’s hard not to look so tiny in comparison. But off the ice, he seemed like a giant to me. I had to step on the tips of my toes to kiss him, or even to hug him comfortably. I had spent the last two weeks trying to remember what it was like to kiss Sidney, and somewhere in those two weeks I had forgotten about how tall he was.

“You’re taller then I remember, did you grow?” I asked him when he finally pulled away, settling back onto the flats of my feet.

Sidney laughed, “I wish. Maybe you just shrunk while I was gone, did you think of that?”

I rolled my eyes at him, giving his chest a shove as I headed back over to the couch, sitting down and waiting for Sidney to make his way over, watching as he settled into the chair next to the couch before asking, “How was your time away?”

“Stressful,” He admitted with a bit of a smile. “The media seems even crazier outside of Pittsburgh.”

“That’s just because Pittsburgh is used to you and the other cities only get to see once in awhile. It’s like a treat for them,” I explained, grinning at the way he shook his head at me.

“It was pretty good, I guess. I would have preferred a few more wins, obviously, and maybe a little more time for sleep, but other than that, it was alright,” He said. “How was being here without any of your friends?” He asked, grinning.

“I had Peyton for awhile,” I reminded him. “But, it was lonely. My boss told me that he might be able to introduce me to you, though,” I shared.

Sidney laughed, “Did he now? That’s nice of him, offering my services to random girls.”

“Random?” I repeated, making him laugh again.

“Have you not told your boss that you’re dating me? What am I, an embarrassment?” He asked.

“No, you’re not an embarrassment. I’ve just already learned that if people find out I even know you they immediately want me to ask you for favours. I mean, Lisa is an example. I know you didn’t really have a problem with meeting her brother, but who knows what everyone else might expect from you? And I know that you’d go along with it, because you’re just a really nice guy, but I don’t want to do that to you. You’ve got enough happening to and around you, and I’m still really worried that one day you’re just going to lose your mind because you never complain,” I finished, letting out a big sigh afterwards. “I’m sorry to add that last part in, I just wasn’t sure when I would have the opportunity to throw it out there,” I admitted, looking down at my hands for a moment before I looked back up at Sidney. “I’m worried about you, Sidney.”

He sighed, getting up from the chair and moving to sit next to me on the couch, taking both of my hands in his. “You don’t need to worry about me, Hanna. I’m okay, and all of the added stress, that’s just part of my job. I can handle it.”

“But what if you can’t?” I asked. “I think about this all the time, Sidney, it’s almost ridiculous. What if one day it’s too much for you? What if all these expectations and stress just become too much? What if you just lose your mind, or can’t take it anymore?”

“Why don’t you just let me worry about that, okay?” He said, letting go of one my hands so he could run his hand through my hair. “I knew about all of this when I first entered the NHL, and if I feel like I can’t handle it, I promise, I will tell you,” He swore. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Yeah, because that will stop me from worrying,” I muttered, making him chuckle. I studied his face for a moment, seeing that he didn’t want to talk about his stresses and career anymore. I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth for a moment, trying to think of a way to change the subject. My eyes drifted away from Sidney for a moment, finding their way over to the bag beside the door. “What did you bring?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” He said, standing up and walking over to where the bag was, snatching it up from the ground and walking back over to me. “I, uhm, I bought you something,” He said, smiling at me.

I raised my eyebrows up at him. “You, the boy who makes millions of dollars a year that he refuses to spend bought me something? Is the world ending?”

Sidney rolled his eyes, reaching into the bag and pulling out a rectangular box. “It’s not anything super fancy, but I saw it and thought of you,” He said, handing me the box.

I eyed it for a moment, looking up at him. “Sidney-”

“Just open it before you try and tell me that I shouldn’t have,” He said, smirking at me slightly.

I sighed, opening up the box and looking down at the necklace inside. It was nothing overly-fancy, which was a relief since I had a history of misplacing, losing or breaking anything fancy, but it still made my entire face heat up as I looked down at it. It was a tiny little locket on a silver chain, and once I managed to pry the locket open, I was met with an equally tiny picture of a penguin inside. I let out a small laugh, looking at the little cartoon penguin. “That is so adorable, Sidney. Thank you.”

He smiled, “I know you don’t like really expensive looking jewellery and I figured this was simple enough that you could wear it with whatever. I mean, unless you don’t want to wear it.”

“Of course I want to wear it,” I told him, lifting the necklace out of the box and holding the chain with my left hand, letting the locket lie flat in the palm of my right. “It’s really pretty, and I love the penguin in the locket.”

“Well, you know, I’ll be off on road games a lot now that it’s the end of the regular season, and then with the playoffs, so I wanted you to remember me when I was gone,” He admitted a little sheepishly.

I grinned at him, “Like I would forget about you, Sidney,” I said teasingly, testing the clip at the back of the necklace before deciding to put it on.

“Do you need help?” Sidney asked.

I shook my head, already managing to clip the necklace shut, untucking my hair from under the chain of the locket. “No, it’s pretty easy to put on, which is good because otherwise, I’d never be able to wear it.”

Sidney grinned, letting his eyes move away from me as he looked around my basement suite. “Well, everything looks just as I remember, that’s good. I was worried you’d have re-painted or something.”

“Right, because I have the motivation to do that,” I replied, giving my head a bit of a shake. “I debated drastically changing the place, just to try and distract myself from how lonely I was. I love Peyton, and she was great to have around, but she never seemed to adjust to the time change and was asleep by about seven thirty every night, which was just after I’d get home from work.”

Sidney laughed, “Oh, Peyton. I actually kind of miss her.”

“Yeah, she misses you too,” I said, smiling at the unbelieving look he sent me. “Okay, no she doesn’t, but that’s just because she misses Kris too much to miss anyone else. Don’t take it personally.”

“I don’t take anything personally. I’m a man,” He informed me, puffing out his chest.

I smirked at him, giving my head a small shake, “Sure you are, Sidney.”

He bit his lip, looking at me as I played with the necklace around my neck for a moment before he let out a loud sigh, startling me slightly. “Do you want to go for a walk with me? I haven’t had the chance to get a lot of fresh air with the whole hiding in my hotel room thing,” He said, already standing up from the couch.

I nodded, also standing up and grabbing my coat from where it was draped across the back of the couch, walking over to the door where a pair of flats were already waiting for me. Sidney waited for me to button up my coat before he pushed the door open for me, having to wait a few feet away once more as I locked the door behind me, finally turning around and facing him so that we could make our way down the driveway and onto the sidewalk, falling into a calm silence as we walked alongside each other for a few moments.

I didn’t do a lot of wandering around. I had never been much for enjoying the scenery, I guess. I always wanted to see the people, make friends, make connections. I didn’t even explore much of Vancouver, and I had lived my whole life there. I knew the big name places, Science World, Granville Island, GM Place, Metro Town, etc., but I didn’t actually know the area. Sidney was an explorer. He wanted to see all of the sights, he wanted to know the details of his surroundings, he wanted to feel like he knew every city he visited like the back of his hand. The only problem was that he rarely got to see the city on his own. He could only see the sights in passing through the windows on the bus or the airplane, and even though I knew that it had to drive him crazy and that he must completely despise being locked inside of every hotel room he’s checked into, he refused to admit it. Watching him take in the sights in the small neighbourhood the Dupuis’, and I, lived in, I knew that he must have been itching to be back in an area where he could roam freely.

“What’s your favourite city to visit?” I asked, breaking the silence that we had fallen into.

Sidney thought about it for a moment, twisting his mouth to the side a bit as he did so. “Well, I loved Vancouver, obviously,” He started, making me chuckle at him., “but I also love Los Angeles.”

“LA, really? I wouldn’t have pinned you as the type to like that city,” I admitted, surprised by the answer.

“I’m rarely there, so it’s always nice to visit it,” He explained. “And it’s nothing like Cole Harbour or Pittsburgh, so it’s a unique experience. I haven’t really had a chance to see most of it, but what I had seen, I liked. Oh, and I also like being in Carolina. The people are there are always really kind hearted. I’ve only been spit on once there.”

I laughed, “It’s sad that being spit on at all is an upside for you.”

Sidney shrugged, reaching out to tug one of my hands free from the coat pocket they were trying to keep warm in so he could hold it. “It’s okay. The amount of people who are nice to me cancel out the ones who are so passionate about their team, they hate me.”

“Those people are douche bags,” I decided aloud, making Sidney smirk at me. “I think you’re rad.”

Sidney laughed lightly, “Thanks, babe.”

I was startled by the use of “babe”, as he had never done that before, and by the odd sideways glance Sidney sent me, it was just as unexpected on his part. “That was…neat,” I finally said.

Sidney raised up both of his eyebrows, “I don’t know where that came from. I don’t even like pet names.”

“Apparently you like ‘babe.’ I guess it’s better then calling me ‘hun’ or some crap like that,” I mumbled.

He laughed, “I hate people who call their girlfriends or boyfriends hun, it’s just so…mid thirties of them.”

I giggled, “It really is, you’re right,” I agreed. “Although, to be honest, the Babe thing? It makes me think of that terrible children’s movie of the same name, with that stupid talking pig who makes friends with a bunch of chickens or some crap like that, so I’m almost offended by it.”

“What stops you from being offended?” He asked, already smirking.

“Well, Babe went on to have three mildly successful sequels, and was never caught and turned into a delicious ham, so I guess the name must have some sort of positive sentiment to it,” I explained.

Sidney laughed, letting his head tip back a bit as he did so. “I missed you, Hanna. Next time I have to go off for road games, I think you should just come with me so I don’t have to miss out on these conversations.”

“I would love that,” I agreed, taking a second to look around us and try to see where we were. “Where are we?”

“Down by the park. You’ve never been here before?” He asked, seeming surprised.

“No, I didn’t even know there was a park right by my place,” I admitted, eyeing the small playground that was vacant, since it was nearly nine o’clock at night and most of the kids were home.

“Are you kidding me?” He asked, laughing. “Hanna, you drive past it on your home every day.”

“Do I?” I asked, looking down the stretch of road and realizing that, yes, I did drive down here on my way to and from work every day. “That’s really sad for me.”

Sidney shook his head, checking for cars before he tugged my hand and lead me across the road with him, jogging over to the small play area. “When I was younger, my favourite thing to do, next to play hockey, was go on the swings,” he told me, already heading over to the set of swings.

I dropped his hand so that he could sit down on one of the swings, leaning against the side the slide just a few feet away. “Really? Why’s that?”

He shrugged, started to swing slightly. “I don’t know. There was just something about how high up I could swing, and that feeling of your stomach dropping that I loved. I didn’t spend a lot of time out at the parks, or even on the swing set at my school because I was always playing hockey, but if I couldn’t find anyone else to play, or the pavement was being used for something else, I’d come out to the swing set,” He explained.

I smiled, watching as he barely moved on the swing before I made my way over to the swing two over from him, sitting down and starting to sway. “I was always scared of the swings. When I was about five, Cameron pushed me so high once that I lost my grip on the chains and fell backwards,” I admitted, seeing the grin that hit Sidney’s face. “It’s funny to look back on now, how that one fall was enough to scare me off of them for years afterwards, but at the time I was convinced I’d never sit on a swing again. I didn’t even want to walk past them for at least three years after. That’s probably why I was never involved in anything as a kid, no kind of sports, music or dance. I was always a quitter.”

Sidney was barely moving now, instead twisting on his swing so he could see me. “I never had that in me. If I fell off the swing, which I’ll admit, I never did, I would be determined to get back on and not do it again. I don’t know why, but it was just always instilled in me to be the best I could be at everything and to never give up on anything.”

“That’s a good thing, Sid,” I told him. “Most people don’t gain that attribute until they’re much older.”

“I know,” He said, still smiling slightly. “I kind of wish I had had that in me, though, the giving up thing. I know it sounds weird, it’s just, it makes me feel like I was never a kid.”

I nodded, looking at him for a moment. “Well, let’s be kids now,” I said.

Sidney frowned, “What?” He asked, laughing slightly.

I grinned, getting off of the swing. “Come on, let’s pretend we’re pirates on this stupid slide set or something,” I said, already climbing up the wood ladder to stand on the giant wooden bridge that connected the slide to the monkey bars and small zip line. “Do you want be the pirate, or the hostage?”

He laughed, finally hopping off of his own swing. “I don’t know, does it matter?”

I gasped, “Does it matter? Clearly, you are not cut out to be a pirate. Come up here so I can pretend to tie you up.”

Sidney stared up at me for a moment, trying to judge if I was joking or not. When I didn’t change my stoic face he sighed, climbing up to join me. “You are the weirdest girl I have ever met.”

I grinned, rising up on my tip toes to kiss him before replying, “I know. Now help me find a giant stick so I can pretend it’s a sword.”