The End

I can't believe this story is over, but I'm also very relieved about it. Thank you everyone for following and reading! I might start another story, so if there's someone you're really hoping to read about, let me know!
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The Olympic gala was one of the most beautiful and intimidating thing I had ever been to.

Every Canadian hockey player from Team Canada was there, and every time I even so much as passed by one, I almost fell over from the shock of being so close to them.

And then there was the fact that the actual gala, the decorations, the entertainment, the guests, was absolutely breath taking. Every where I looked, there was a gleam of red, a shimmer of white and a touch of gold. I wanted to shake my head and tell myself that it was tacky, the constant colour all around the banquet room, but every time I turned my head and allowed my eyes to rest on some aspect of the room, I was right back to being completely mesmerized.

“Enjoying the gala?” A voice asked from behind me, causing me to turn around and meet Troy’s grinning face.

I smiled at him, giving a half shrug. “I guess. I’ll probably be happier when the food is out.”

Troy laughed, nodding his head as he took a quick glance around the room before he let his eyes fall back on me. “It’s good to see you again, Hanna. I’m glad you’re doing well.”

I tried to give him a sincere smile, completely aware of the fact that Sidney must have told him all about why we broke up, and nodded. “It’s nice to see you too, Troy. I swear you’ve gotten better looking since I saw you last.”

This only managed to get a smirk out of Troy before he excused himself, heading over to where Mike Babcock was so they could catch up, leaving me to take in another big breath of air and get lost in the banquet room again.

Peyton was off with Kris, just at the other end of the room, being introduced to all of the athletes he knew, or being used to introduce him to the ones he didn’t, and smiling politely at them all when they told her about how beautiful she was. I watched the two of them for a moment, noticing the way that Kris kept a hand firmly placed on the small of Peyton’s back as they walked around. How she would step forward to shake whoever’s hand, and then step back and rest against Kris once more. The way that everyone looked back and forth between the two of them and gave a soft smile, because they were just so adorable together that you couldn’t help but smile when you saw them, and I had to fight the urge to pout. If I had done what I was supposed to when I had first arrived in Pittsburgh, and focused more on the fact that there was still a lot of issues running around my head and not so much on what a babe Sidney was, it could have me that was being courted around the gala, with Sidney’s hand on the small of my back and jealous eyes on the two of us.

I let out a long sigh before I turned and looked around the room in search of Jordan or Max. Jordan was somewhere in the gathering of all the Staals, all of whom were being photographed, and all of whom were towering over the pint sized photographer taking the pictures. Max was heading across the room and towards the table of pictures from the Olympics, smiling at everyone he knew as he passed them.

I walked as fast as my legs would allow me to in my heels to try and catch up with him, apologizing when I bumped into some unsuspecting woman and caused her to spill a bit of her champagne. She only smiled back, telling me it was fine before she returned to talking to the man in front of her. I carried on towards Max, flipping my hair out of my way as I did so. “Talbot!”

Max stopped, turning around in search of whoever had called him and grinning at me when his eyes landed on me, lifting up a hand to wave at me. “Hanna! I thought you had left, I hadn’t seen you since we first arrived.”

“Well, that’s probably because as soon as we stepped through the doors, you were dragged off to be interviewed, Jordan’s mom made him head over and see his family, Kris is showing Peyton off to everyone he knows and I am…. Well, I’m alone.” I frowned, crossing my arms. “Now I made myself kind of sad.”

“You are so whiny,” Max groaned, reaching out put an arm around me so he could drag me beside him as he walked. “We bring you here, with all of these attractive people, and all you can do is whine because we left you all alone and didn’t introduce you to anyone? Hanna, be a little grateful. Enjoy the scenery.”

I let out a half laugh, pushing him away from me. “I’m sorry, Max. How dare I not love being completely ignored in a room full of gorgeous people?” I paused, lowering my voice to add, “And the women’s hockey team.”

Max laughed, covering my mouth as soon as I had said the last comment as he let his shoulders drop down so he could chuckle at me. “Oh, Hanna. Come on, we’ll head over to where Sidney is, having his picture taken by all of the adoring fans.”

“A usual day for Mr. Crosby,” I joked, tugging at the straps of my dress as we neared the mass pile of people surrounding Sidney.

I had to stop a moment, causing Max to turn around and frown at me. The sight of Sidney surrounded by the media, the way that I couldn’t see him at all because of it, it brought me right back to the first day I ever met him. Back to when Matt Cooke was throwing chunks of gum at him and Jordan was struggling to remember Peyton’s name. I had give me head a small shake before I met Max’s curious gaze and gave him a half smile. “Sorry. I’m having flashbacks.”

He nodded, seeming to understand what I was meaning. “Ah, back when Sidney Crosby was just Sidney Crosby, and I was just an attractive French man.”

I smirked at him. “I don’t remember that last part, but, basically, yes.” I reached up to make sure my hair was okay before I gave Max a nervous glance. “How long will they be talking to him for?”

Max shrugged, glancing over one of the reporters in front of him to peer over at Sidney before turning back to look at me. “It looks like he’s almost done. They’re asking him what his plans for the summer are, which is usually he end question.”

I nodded, letting my hands smooth out the fabric of the dress I was wearing as I watched the gathering of cameras, microphones and reporters thanked Sidney, still jotting down a few notes on their notepads as they headed off towards the other players and coaches. Sidney let out a small sigh, reaching a hand up to adjust the tie he was wearing, loosening it a bit, before he turned around to see where Max and I were, clearly surprised to see us.
“Hey. I didn’t know you guys were here already,” he said, smiling at us. “How has the gala been so far?”

Max shrugged. “Fine. I wish there was more to eat, but it’s very pretty.”

Sidney smirked at him, giving his head a small shake before he looked over at me. “How about you, Hanna? Enjoying yourself?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. Everyone abandoned me when we first got here, but now that I’ve found everyone, it’s becoming more enjoyable.”

He nodded, his eyes moving past me and towards someone else for a moment before they returned to me. “So, things are looking up for you now, aren’t they?”

I let out a soft laugh. “I guess so. I mean, having a job I actually like is certainly a bonus.”

“A job? Hanna, you’re working side by side with the Canucks main photographer. This is the first step to getting a career,” Sidney corrected. “It’s going to be really good for you.”

I gave him a half smile. “Well, when you put it that way…” I trailed off, making Sidney chuckle lightly. “Things are getting better, though. I should have taken the time to try and sort myself out as soon as I was out of high school.”

“And you want to do some more counselling?” He asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. I guess there was more going on inside of my head then I thought,” I joked, making Sidney smile at me a bit. I looked away from him for a moment, taking the break from eye contact to take in a big breath of air. “What about you? What’s new with you?”

He was looking past me again at someone I couldn’t see, but his eyes moved back to me as soon as I had asked the question. He sighed, seeming to need a few seconds to think about before finally answering, “Not much. My mind has mainly been occupied with interviews and endorsement shoots. I feel like I haven’t even had time to sleep, actually,” he said, letting out a soft laugh. “Summer’s don’t feel like summer anymore.”

I fought the urge to reach out and pull him into a hug, choosing instead to give him a sympathetic smile, nearly jumping out of my skin when someone shouted, “Sidney!” from behind me.

Sidney’s eyes seemed to widen for a brief moment before he grinned, stretching out a hand to the approaching man and grinning. “Good to see you, Rick. I’m glad you make it out.”

Rick Bowness, the assistant coach of the Vancouver Canucks, grinned at Sidney, shaking his hand. “Glad I was invited.” He glanced behind Sidney at the giant mural of stills from his game winning goal, “the golden goal” as most called it, and laughed. “This certainly is the Sidney Crosby show here, though, isn’t it?”

Sidney smiled, that look that I had seen flash across his face so many times before when praise thrown at him and he felt it was undeserved had settled over his features again. “Is your wife here?” He asked.

Rick nodded, his attention moving to me for a moment before he glanced back at Sidney, seeming to wait for some kind of a signal before turning back to me. “Hi, I don’t believe we’ve met yet. I’m Rick.”

I smiled. Shaking his hand. “I’m Hanna. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m a huge fan of the Canucks.”

He nodded, grinning a bit. “You don’t happen to be Hanna Ashton, do you?”

I nodded, smiling a bit. “I just so happen to be actually.”

Rick continued to grin. “I’m glad to finally meet you. Sidney had a lot of great things to say about you when I was visiting with him back in Halifax. The boy thinks you’ve got the potential to be the next Anne Geddes.”

I frowned, looking at Sidney. “You think I could one day take scandalous photos of Miley Cyrus?”

Sidney laughed, shaking his head at me as Rick Bowness chuckled beside me. “I’m excited to see you around taking pictures, Ms. Ashton,” Rick told me. “But, if you’ll excuse me, I’m hoping to catch up to Roberto before it’s his turn to be hounded by the media.” He waved at me, wishing Sidney luck with the rest of the night before he headed off into the crowd.

I watched him walk away before I turned back to Sidney, taking a step closer to him. “You did that? You’re the one who showed my pictures to Bowness and got me this… whatever this is?”

“I just showed them some of your pictures. They were sitting on my living room table when he and his wife dropped by. I told you, he lives right by me in Halifax, and we have dinner together a few times every summer. He saw them and asked who the photographer was. I just told him about you, said you were really talented, and he asked if you’d be interested in a job.”

“Why did Max and Jordan tell me? I thought one of them was behind it, or that it was Vero.” I frowned, looking back up at him. “And how did you have some of my pictures?”

He sighed, “Marc and Vero would always ask you for copies and then give them to me. I wanted to see how good you were, since everyone kept telling me you were so amazing at photography. And, the Max and Jordan thing? I just… you and I weren’t really talking, and I was still really confused about everything that happened. I didn’t want to end up saying something I’d regret to you.”

I studied his face for a moment before asking, “Why did you do that for me? I go all crazy on you and ruin our relationship, and you get me an internship.” I paused, smirking at him. “Oh, I get it. You’re keeping me in Vancouver and out of Pittsburgh.”

He laughed, “Yes, that’s exactly why I did it. To make sure you’re not around anymore,” he rolled his eyes. “I did it because you deserve it. Hanna, I don’t know why you don’t see this in yourself, but after everything you’ve been through, losing someone so close to you, having your family fall apart, you’re so strong. And you’re so selfless. You pushed aside your own problems to take care of me, and I don’t even think you were aware that you were doing so. You’ve spent so long trying to find out who you are and what you love to do, who you want to be, and you came back from that family visit with all those answers. Photography, Hanna? That’s what you love. I don’t know how you just ignored it for the last few years, but when I see those pictures you’ve taken, I feel like I was there when you took them. And that trip always made you start thinking about life differently, about what you still needed out of it.” He paused, licking his lips before he added, his voice a bit softer, “Maybe I’m not a part of wherever you’re going, and that’s okay. But I couldn’t let you take all of these steps, go and get help for yourself, and then hear that you weren’t doing anything with photography. When Rick asked about those pictures, I had to make sure he knew how amazing you were. Because you are. You’re amazing.”

I didn’t even know what to say to him after all of that. I tried to think of something to say back, but every time I opened my mouth nothing except a few squeak came out. Sidney was looking at me for a minute, but after I offered nothing except silence, he sighed, looking away from me and over at all of the people mingling around. I was actually surprised that no one had come over to interrupt us yet.

Without meaning too, my eyes shot over to where Kris and Peyton were, once again looking over at the way the two of them just seemed to mould together when they stood side by side, and how Kris seemed anxious to tell everyone who was willing to listen that Peyton was his girlfriend.

I glanced back at Sidney, following where his eyes were and noticing that he, too, was watching Kris and Peyton, with the same glint of jealousy in his eyes that I was sure had been in mine seconds before.

There was some kind of an announcement being made over the speakers, something about the athletes being needed at the stage set up in the centre of the room. Sidney let out a long sigh, reaching up to scratch his neck before he mumbled, “I guess I have to head over there.” He glanced back down at me. “I’m glad you came, Hanna.”

I nodded, watching as he started to make his way over to where the rest of the players were gathering. He had gotten a few steps when I jolted forwards and grabbed his arm, turning him around and seeming to catch him by surprise. “Sidney,” I said, making him pause and turn himself around to fully face me. He waited, looking down at me as he waited to hear what I was going to say.

I let go of his arm and bit my lip. “I actually have no idea what I was going to say to you. I just didn’t want you to leave.”

Sidney’s mouth turned itself up into a soft smile. He lifted his hand up to cup the side of my face, surprising me before he leaned down to softly tell me, “I’m right here, Hanna.”

I sighed. “I don’t mean leave here I mean-”

“I know what you mean,” he interrupted, his thumb stroking my cheek.

“I know that I was really stupid and I ruined everything, but after spending these last couple of months just having ‘me’ time and working on dealing with my problems, I realized that there’s really no point in making myself more awesome if I don’t have someone equally awesome to share it with,” I explained.

Sidney tilted his head to the side. “Now that’s just silly. My level of awesome is far superior to yours,” he reminded me.

I managed to peer over his shoulder enough to notice that almost all of the other players were up on stage. “I guess you have a job to go do, again.”

“I guess so.” He let his hand drop from my face. “Where are you sitting?”

“Wherever Max and Kris are, I guess,” I answered. “Why?”

He gave me a small shrug. “I just want to know where to look when I have to give my speech.” He grinned at me, turning and heading towards the stage.

Max and Jordan were both smirking at me when I slid into my seat, making me sigh. “What?”

“Nothing, that was just… that was beautiful,” Max told me.

“I almost wish a mic had been there so I could have heard the sound of your heart melting when he gazed into your eyes,” Jordan said.

I ignored both of them, looking up at the stage as Mike Babcock introduced himself to everyone. Peyton nudged me, making me glance over at her. “So, are you and Sidney-”

“Sidanna,” Jordan whispered.

“Hanney,” Max whispered afterwards, making both Peyton and I sigh at them.

“Are you two back on?” Peyton asked.

I glanced back up at the stage, managing to catch Sidney’s eyes looking back at me as I shrugged. “Well, he practically begged me so, I agreed to give it another shot,” I joked.

Peyton shook her head at me. “I don’t know why it didn’t work out the first time when you’re so sweet and thoughtful.”

I grinned at her, my eyes moving back up to the stage and meeting Sidney’s once more.

I Miss That

“Hanna stop pacing,” Peyton whined, reaching out to grab my arm and hauling me down to the couch beside her. “It’s not going to help you calm down or give you and idea of what Sidney has to say. All you’re doing is pissing me off.”

I frowned at her. “Well, sorry, Peyton. I’m sorry that my extreme nerves are bothering you, jerk. Oh, and I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

She laughed. “Hanna, seriously, do you think Sid would come all the way out here to say something mean to you? The guy won’t even trash talk other hockey players, Hanna?”

“Okay, that’s a valid point,” I agreed. “But it doesn’t make me any less nervous.” I lifted my hand up and scratched the back of my head quickly before I moved to the end of my seat. “How’s my hair?”

Peyton rolled her eyes. “Hanna, calm down. He probably won’t even be here for another-”

“Was that a knock?” I asked, cutting off her sentence.

“What? No, it was me talking, asshole,” she answered, standing up from the couch and making her way out of the living room and towards her own room, stopping when the sound of someone knock on our door was heard. “Oh. Maybe you did hear someone knocking,” she muttered, shooting me an apologetic smile. “I’ll be in my room, so you two will have your privacy.”

“I don’t know if I want privacy,” I admitted, standing up and slowly edging my way towards the door.

“Hanna, he clearly just wants to talk to you, and I have to call Kris and double check on dinner plans, anyways. You’ll be fine. You’ve talked to Sidney a million times.” She reminded me.

“That was different,” I began, stopping when there was another knock on the door before continuing, “I hadn’t slept with him, let him buy a house for us to live in and then admit that I was still a complete mess and needed some time.”

Peyton rolled her eyes again. “Hanna, stop being so dramatic and answer the damn door, okay?” She didn’t wait to see what I was going to say, already turning and making her way into her room before she had even gotten the last word out.

I had to take in a deep breath of air, reminding myself to let it out before I took the last few steps towards the door and pulled it open, staring up at Sidney. “You get taller every time I see you.”

He smiled, both of his hands in his pockets as he looked down at me. “I wish that were true.” He continued to looking at me, his eyes occasionally moving away from my face and towards the apartment behind me before he let out a soft laugh. “Are you going to let me in?”

I felt my face blush, stepping aside so he could enter the apartment watching as he slid his flip flops off and headed into the living room, waiting for me to join him before he sat down on the very edge of the beaten up arm chair, sitting with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands together. “How are you?” He asked me, his voice soft.

I shrugged, sitting with one leg curled beneath me so I could play the threads of my sock. “Good. I moved back in a couple of days ago, right after my counselling was done in Pittsburgh. I’m actually thinking about signing up for some more, since the therapist I had back there mainly talked about my family. Alissa was just kind of a background topic, and even though I see why he did that, I still feel like I need to talk more about the impact of her death a little more.” I lifted my eyes up to look at him, immediately intimidated by his gaze and looking back down at my lap. “What about you?”

I heard him sigh before he actually answered. “I’ve been busy. My workout schedule takes up most of my time. I don’t want to fall out of shape in the off season, so I’m pretty hard on myself during the summer.”

There was a long pause, and as much as I wanted to look up at him, I just couldn’t seem to bring myself to do so. I knew that Sidney didn’t hate me, even though there was a voice in my head telling me that he did, but I was still dealing with a lot of guilt over how things had ended, and every time I looked up and saw him looking back at me, it only seemed to intensify the guilt and the loneliness I had thrown onto myself.

Sidney eventually continued, clearly realizing that I wasn’t going to give in and meet his gaze. He told me about the interview’s he’d done, about how fatigued he was from the constant flying back and forth to make appearances that he had agreed to months ago. He told me about how his mom had made him help his dad remodel the kitchen, and about how the person he had spent the most time with was his agent and other coaches who had been at certain events that he had also been asked to show up too.

I finally lifted my head back up, relieved to see that Sidney was now looking down at the floor, not at me anymore, and debated whether I wanted to ask the question or not, before I finally just asked, “What happened to the house you bought?”

Sidney seemed to freeze, despite the fact that he wasn’t really moving to start with. His fingers, which he had been lightly tapping together, stopped, and his body to seem to jolt into a freeze frame. He didn’t say anything for a moment, and I was beginning to think that he wasn’t even going to answer, before he lifted his head up to look at me, letting me see the way his face had adapted this look that I didn’t even recognize, and answered, “I haven’t been to it since the day we… since you left.”

I sucked in my lower lip, giving a small nod and letting my eyes fall away from him again. “I’m sorry, Sidney.”

He didn’t reply to the apology, even though I managed to catch a glimpse of his face after I had issued the apology, which let me know that he had heard it. Instead he let out another loud sigh and leaned back a bit. “So, I hear your taking pictures now?”

“Yeah. Jory, the Canucks photographer, he’s taking me on as an assistant slash apprentice. He’s an interesting guy,” I answered, letting out a small laugh.

Sidney nodded, his focus on the window behind me. “I forgot how much I loved Vancouver,” he said, standing up from the couch and walking over to the window so he could look out it. “I can’t get over the mountains, or even the way the air feels different. Do you know what I mean?” He asked, turning around to glance at me. “Did you notice it when you came back from Pittsburgh, the way the air feels, I don’t know, heavier? But in the best way.”

I smiled, shaking my head, no. “I did not notice that. I missed the mountains, but I miss Pittsburgh a lot, actually. It’s beautiful out here, but Pittsburgh really felt like home for those six or so months that I was there.”

Sidney turned away from the window to look at me once more, taking a moment to study my face. He had caught my gaze when he turned around, and now that he had it, he held it, making sure that I was actually looking at him. “I’m glad you’re getting help, Hanna. You don’t deserve to hurt anymore.” He seemed to glance past me and at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall before he took a few steps back into the living room, Sidney’s subtle way of showing you that he had to leave. “And I’m really glad that you’re finding your passion. I didn’t even know that you were into photography.”

I gave him a soft smile, standing up from the couch but staying a few feet away from him. “I didn’t think I ever had a chance with it, honestly. It wasn’t until Elizabeth and Cameron bought me that camera that I remembered how much I loved it.”

He nodded, letting out an awkward laugh. “Yeah, when I heard that you were doing those headshots for Vero, I was really surprised. But, in a good way.” He glanced at the clock again before he looked back at me. “Are you coming with Peyton?”

I frowned, “Where is Peyton going?”

He smiled. “She didn’t tell you? The Olympic gala I’m going to, I’m actually leaving for it tonight, some of the team is coming with me. Kris, Max, Jordan and Tyler are all going, and obviously Kris is bringing Peyton. I got her an extra ticket for you, but I guess she didn’t tell you about it.”

I laughed, “She probably didn’t want to say anything in case you and I didn’t have a good talk today.”

He smirked at me, seeming to understand. “Well, I know this was a short visit, but I just…” he shrugged, looking down at the floor for a moment, seeming to try and find the words to finish his sentence before he looked back up at me. “I miss you, Hanna. And I wanted to make sure you were okay, that you were dealing with everything. I know things didn’t end well, and it will take some time before we’re less uncomfortable around each other, but, I really want to be friends again. I found that picture of you, Staalsy and I in the photo booth, and I miss that, you know?”

I had to take a moment to try and figure out what he was talking about before I laughed. “Oh yeah. The first day we ever spent any time together,” I remembered, smiling. “I miss that too.”

Sidney looked at me for another moment before he turned his gaze away from me and started making his way towards the door. “Well, I told Luongo I’d met him at GM Place in about two hours, and I still have to swing by Rick Bowness’ place and say hi.”

I frowned, “You know Rick Bowness?”

Sidney was already at the door, putting his flip flops on and tugging his car keys out of his pocket. “Yeah, he lives across the lake from me in Halifax. We go fishing together once in awhile, and his wife invites me over for dinner every so often.” He grinned, “He won’t tell me how to beat Luongo, though, the bastard.”

I laughed. “I didn’t know that. This whole time you’ve had an in to helping me meet the Canucks and you didn’t even tell me.”

Sidney just shrugged, his hand on the door handle as he looked over at me before giving me a small smile. “Bye, Hanna.”

I waved to him, falling backwards onto the couch as soon as he was out the door and groaning into my hands. I was going to be spending another evening with him now that he had invited me to the Olympic gala banquet, and even though I was grateful that he still wanted to be friends, I couldn’t get over how awkward this brief talk had been.

“Well, you’re not crying. That’s good,” Peyton said, startling me a bit.

I sat up, frowning at her. “Why didn’t you tell me about the Olympic gala?”

Peyton made a face, “Oh, right. So, there’s this Olympic gala tomorrow night in Alberta-”

“Yeah, I know. Sidney asked me if I was going and then had to awkwardly explain to me that he had given my best friend a ticket for me, and said best friend didn’t tell me!” I reminded her, grabbing a pillow from off of the couch and chucking it at her.

Peyton ducked, avoiding the pillow. “Yes, throw things at me. That will urge me to hand you the ticket and say, ‘hey, Hanna, why don’t you and I sit side by side on an airplane for two or so hours and hang out!’”

“Please, you’ll sit with Kris and stick me with Max,” I said.

Peyton laughed, “I totally would do that, you’re right.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “So, you want to go?”

“Well, I can’t not go after Sidney came and invited me,” I mumbled, falling back onto the couch. “What am I going to wear?”

“We’ll buy you a dress!”
I frowned, sitting back up and staring over at where Peyton was, utterly confused as to how Max, Jordan and Kris had ended up behind her. “How did you guys-”

“Right, funny story,” Peyton began, causing Jordan to burst into laughter, which caused the rest of us to turn and look at him. He stopped, giving an embarrassed smile. “Sorry, I thought laughing would make the explanation funnier, but I guess I should have waited for her to actually explain it.”

Peyton shook her head at him before she looked over at me again. “Well, they’ve all been here the whole time. We were all in my room, just in case you and Sid had a screaming match and we had to intervene.”

“But now that you know about the gala,” Max started, skipping over to me and sitting on my lap, making me groan from his weight, “we can all go shopping and get you all pretty.” He grinned, making a bit of a face before adding, “Well, prettier.”

I sighed. “Why do you always have to buy me a dress?”

“Because, I may be a man, but I can still appreciate a wonderful piece of clothing. But, since I’m a man, I can’t wear them, but I always wish I could buy them and feel beautiful.” He explained.

“What’s he’s trying to say,” Jordan cut in, “is that he buys you pretty dresses so that he can live vicariously through you.”

“If you feel beautiful, we all feel beautiful,” Kris added.

I laughed, pushing Max off of me and completely ignoring his overdramatic cry of pain as I stood up from the couch. “Well, I guess I can appreciate that.”

“Good,” Kris said, letting out a yawn before he continued, “because Max already bought a few dresses for you to try on.”

“I went with him to make sure he got your size.” Peyton assured me. “And also to stop him from buying this unfortunately fuchsia coloured dress with silver sparkles all over the neckline.”

“The dress was beautiful Hanna,” Max told me, grabbing onto one of my legs with a long sigh. “If I had the bust for it, I would be in it right now.”

“Okay, someone please give me a distraction to get the image of Max in that dress out of my head,” I whined.

“In my head, he purple lipstick, dark blue eye shadow and some serious curls,” Jordan told me, laughing at the facial expressions we all gave him. “But if you want a distraction, I’m starving, and I’ve been told that Vancouver has the best sushi.”

“I could actually go for some sushi,” I agreed, kicking Max off of my leg and heading over to where the shoe closet was. “What time do we have to leave tomorrow?” I asked.

“Around noon, I think,” Peyton answered, already waiting with the door open. “You sure you want to go?”

“I’m positive,” I answered. Smiling at her before I stepped out of the apartment, waiting for the rest of them to join me.