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.