Nisky was dead asleep when James got back to the room. Frustrated, he left and walked down to the small seating area at the end of the hallway. He sat down heavily on a couch that was angled near the window, already starting to feel the effects of the liquor on his head. Even as he pressed his phone to his ear, he felt his heartbeat thumping in his temples.

“Hiii…”

Ali had that dreamy, sleepy sound to her voice. If James hadn’t been in a quiet hallway, he may not have heard her pick up.

“Sorry to wake you, Als.”

“Everything okay?”

James knew she was sitting up because he heard the blankets shuffling. Her voice got a little louder, making his temples hurt a bit more.

“Yeah, just drunk.”

“Where are you?”

“The hotel.” James stretched out on the tiny couch, most of his legs hanging over the armrest. “On a couch built for smurfs.”

She giggled softly. “What are you doing? You’re not locked out are you?”

“Nisky’s boring and I don’t have anywhere else to go and I wanted to talk to you.”

“Aww.”

When she said that, James smiled. Outside, the lights of buildings adjacent to the hotel shone through the window, casting a low light over him on the couch. He looked down and fingered the buckle of his dark brown belt, unsure of what to say. He just wanted to be on the phone with her.

“…you didn’t fall asleep, did you?” Ali asked.

“Nah. Just quiet.”

“You’re never quiet when you’re drunk.”

“Sometimes I am!” he argued with a laugh. “Okay, all the time.”

“Much better.”

“How’s home?” James asked, wishing she would talk more. He really did just want to listen to her and feel like he was in bed with her.

“Umm….” Ali paused. “Yep, still cold. Just looked outside and it’s still white.”

James smiled, resting his chin on his chest as he played with his belt. “It’s warm here, did I tell you that?”

“I think about ten times now.” She let a little laugh escape. “Did you walk back to the hotel alone again?”

“Yeah….Sid’s gonna get laid tonight.”

“Huh?”

James rubbed his forehead, not understanding why he’d said that. “Some hot chick at the bar was all over him.”

Silence.

“I mean…” He groaned and shook his head, wishing his thoughts would sort themselves out. “She asked me if he was single. I told her he needed fucked, so I think she got the hint.”

“Oh.”

More silence.

“Babe?” James frowned. “Still there?”

“Yeah, still here.”

“Why’d you go quiet?”

“Because you called me at 4 in the morning to tell me about a hot chick at the bar.”

James set the phone down on his chest and knocked himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand. What the fuck is my problem.

“She wanted Sid, though” he said. “I told her I was eng—“

He stopped. Fuck.

“You told her what?” Ali asked.

“I told her I wanted nothing to do with her.” James swung his legs around and sat up. “That’s really why I called you.”

“To tell me that you didn’t want a hot chick at the bar?”

“No, to hear your voice because I missed you.” He hung his head, fingers sliding up his forehead into his hair. “When this stuff happens, you are the only thing in my mind.”

Silence.

He exhaled. “I don’t know. I feel like I’ve changed.”

“…how?”

“Because you know how I used to be.” He didn’t know where he was going with this. His head was swimming and his stomach was weak. Sleep, Neal. You need sleep.

“Well…I’ve heard, anyway.”

“I get so confused.”

“Like I am right now?”

Ali was trying to joke, but it fell flat. James grabbed at his hair, wishing the pattern in the carpet beneath his feet wasn’t so obnoxious. It was making him sick. “I think I have it all figured out now, though.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded, but she didn’t see him. “It just occurred to me that I love you.”

Ali laughed. “James!”

“What?!” He felt worried. “What did I do?”

“Nothing!” She continued to giggle. “You ARE drunk, aren’t you?”

“Maybe a bit.”

“We’re literally two weeks away from our one year anniversary, and you’re talking about how you’ve only now come to realize you love me.”

“I knew from day one” James uttered.

“Okay, babe.”

He leaned back on the couch and sighed. “I don’t really know what I’m saying.”

“I know, I’m just letting you talk” Ali teased.

“Can you talk?” He wanted to hear her. When he closed his eyes, he felt his stomach do somersaults.

“Well I don’t have much to say, except I had a dream right before you called.”

“Tell me.”

“It was weird, you know…cause it was a dream, but it was pretty funny. I dreamt I lived in New York City and you lived in San Francisco, but Brittany was our pilot and flew us back and forth to see one another. Except you insisted on having a giant pink plane because you thought I’d like that.”

James laughed. “You and airplanes, babe.”

“I know.” She chuckled as well. “Anyway, the outside of the plane was pink, but the inside was silver with disco balls and fur rugs and other weird shit.”

“So a pimped out plane?” He smiled when he heard Ali laugh. “For real, that’d be bad ass.”

“Want a pimp plane for your birthday this year?” she asked,

“I want three.”

“I’ll put the order in now.”

James looked up and saw a bunch of the guys coming out of the elevator, talking loud and laughing it up as they moseyed down the hallway.

“Ughh.”

“What?” Ali asked.

“They’re back.”

“Who?”

“NEALSY!”

James nodded at Geno and the guys as they spread out to the various doors that lead to their rooms. Geno started walking towards him.

“The rest of the guys who I was out with.” He looked specifically for Sid, who wasn’t there.

“Better get going then” Ali told him.

“Sorry to run like this. What I said before wasn’t just the beer talking.”

“I know, babe. Get some rest, okay?”

“Okay.”

Geno sat down hard next to him on the couch, which wasn’t even close to being big enough for the both of them.

“I love you” James said.

“Love you too, Alsy” Geno yelled into the phone with a laugh.

James hung up and leaned back on the couch, crowding Geno even further. “How’d it go?”

“Go okay” Geno replied. “Sid go home with waitress after close.”

“SID WENT HOME WITH HER?” James sat up, feeling his stomach turn over at the quick movement. “You’re kidding.”

Geno shrugged. “He say wait for phone call later.”

James blinked in disbelief. Safe and cautious Crosby went home with a waitress. He shook his head and felt Geno slap him in the knee.

“I wait for him” he said. “He ask me to stay up.”

“You sober enough to drive him back when he’s done doing whatever he’s doing?” James asked. Geno gave him a laugh. “What?”

“You know Sid is love.”

“Yeah, I know Melissa is love” he said, echoing Geno’s loose English. He stood up from the couch. “Sleep is calling, G. Good luck retrieving Sid.”

“You will miss good show.”

“I’m sure I will.”

His stomach didn’t care. His head didn’t care. Both of them insisted he go back to his room and lay down before one or the other exploded.

* * *

Thank God there was no morning skate and their flight wasn’t until after noon. The game in Anaheim wasn’t until the following night, so the Pens weren’t in a massive hurry to wake up the next morning and get themselves together.

James showered, popped four Ibuprofen, and chugged two bottles of water all within ten minutes of waking up. He checked his phone while Matt took his turn using the shower, seeing a text from Rebecca and a text from Ali waiting for him. He checked Becca’s first, but it was just an annoyed text about their father. Ali’s text made him smile:

I bet your hair is an absolute sight to behold this morning. :-) Hope you’re not sick or anything. Call me whenever you get the chance.

Since Matt was in the shower, he dialed Ali and took a seat on the edge of the bed, his towel still wrapped around his waist. Tiny beads of water from his damp hair ran down the back of his neck in between his shoulder blades. He wiped at them, drying his hand on the towel.

Hey this is Ali! Leave and message and I’ll get back to you.

Beeeeep.

“Babe. I’m alive, my hair is washed, and I’m still in love with you. Call me when you get this.”

He hung up and stared at the phone for a second. Three games until Denver. Checking over his shoulder, Matt had turned the shower off, but didn’t appear in the room yet. James looked back at his phone and scrolled down until he came upon Jeff & Wendy's spot on his contact list again.

What’s it gonna be, Neal.

He thought about the night before. When he did, his thoughts went immediately to Sid, who he totally forgot about. There hadn’t been any texts from Geno about it, so he assumed everything worked out.

James closed out of his contact list, avoiding the call he needed to make yet again. Instead, he decided to investigate the happenings of the night he missed. He dialed Geno’s phone and waited.

“Nealsy.”

“Geno, did you get Sid?”

“Yeah – he sleep here.”

“In your room?” James asked. “Where’s Sutter?”

“He move to Sid’s room.”

James laughed. What a mess and I love it. “Care for a visitor?”

“Come down.”

“Be right there.” James hung up and threw on mesh shorts and a white undershirt and headed down the hall. He didn’t even have to knock on Geno’s door before he was greeted by him.

Upon entering, he saw Sid asleep on his stomach, arm draped over the side of the bed, still in the clothes he had on the night before.

“Damn.” James was grinning as he checked out the scene.

Geno stood there nodding, hands in the pockets of his suit pants. “He came back messy. Not in mood to change.”

“And Sutter didn’t care he got kicked out?”

“No. He grin like you.”

James laughed. “I bet he did.” He walked closer to Sid, lifting his hand and dropping it. It flopped on the mattress, but he didn’t move. “Did he have that much to drink?”

“Don’t think so” Geno answered. “Do it again.” His mischievous smile appeared.

James lifted up Sid’s hand and let it fall again, both of them laughing. That time though, Sid moaned and pressed his face into the pillow.

“Hey Sid” James said, kneeling down to be eye level with him. “Sid, you’ll suffocate if you sleep like that.”

“Mhndsdmm.”

James looked up at Geno, who shrugged.

“Sid.”

“Hmnn.”

James was enjoying this too much. He never wanted it to end. For once, Sid was on the receiving end of the harassment. “Sid, Melissa’s here.”

He lifted his head. “Huh?”

Geno laughed. “She outside.”

Groggily, he looked over at Geno. “You’re lying.”

James patted Sid on the shoulder and stood up. “We're just messing around. Relax.”

Sid groaned and let his head fall back on the pillow. “You guys suck.”

“Are you hungover?” James asked.

“No.”

“Why so tired, then?”

“Shut up, Nealer.”

James and Geno eyed one another, grins on each of their faces.

“You of all people would know why.”

“Who, ME?” James laughed. “I’m hungover, actually. But I don't know a thing about what you're talking about."

No response, which James loved even more.

“So was she at least a good lay?” he asked Sid.

“Yes.”

“Oh hoh!!”

“Shut up.”

Geno was laughing again, and he stepped forward and gave Sid a heavy pat on the back, which made Sid lift his head again, squinting.

“Fuck, Geno….”

“Sorry…just proud right now!”

James took a seat on the bed across from Sid, clasping his hands in his lap. He stared, along with Geno, as Sid sat up slowly and faced them. He certainly had bags under his eyes and the curls of his hair were limp and misplaced, but otherwise…he was the same ol’ Sidney Crosby they were used to seeing every day.

“Shit” he said, rubbing his eyes with his hands. “Long night.”

“Spill.” James looked at him and nodded. “Now.”

“Nothing to spill, Nealer. We fucked. Big deal.”

“How many times.”

Sid looked at him. “Twice.”

“Blow job?”

“Oh yeah.”

James was ecstatic. Maybe now he'll leave Ali the fuck alone. Geno took a seat next to James, grinning like a fool.

“Nice, Sid” he said. He looked over at James and smiled.

“Work it all out of your system then?” James asked, and he nodded. Christmas in December and January. I’ll take it.

“Does she know who you are yet?”

Sid shook his head and looked down. “Pretty sure it never came up.”

James applauded. “You’re good then! Couldn’t have gone more flawless, right!?”

“Right…I guess.”

“Well, I’m happy for ya. She was a tight little package, hopefully you opened her up a bit.”

“I don’t know how you did this” Sid replied, looking at him with fatigue in his eyes. “How the hell did you pull shit like this off all the time?”

James shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

They exchanged a look, and then James stood up. He felt on top of the world and suddenly, his head didn’t hurt anymore.

“I better finish getting ready and leave you two to some private chirping” he told them. “Good job last night, Sid. Happy for ya.”

“Thanks.” Sid knew exactly why, too, but he’d never admit it.

James left the room, feeling oddly better. In his mind, he thought back to the conversation he had with Ali on the phone, and how he just wanted to hear her voice. He thought about how far he had come, even in just a year’s time, and how he didn’t mind it after all.

* * *

The next day, in north central Pennsylvania, the telephone inside the Diserelli household rang. Wendy had been outside with the dog when she heard the phone ring, so she quickly hurried inside to get it before the answering machine did.

“Hello?”

“Mrs D!”

Wendy inhaled. “James? Is that you?”

“All day, every day” he replied happily. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Was just outside with Chester, who seems to be quite content by himself out there as we speak” Wendy said with a laugh. “Where are you right now anyway?”

“We just got to our hotel in Anaheim an hour ago, but I’m in my room alone right now.” James had asked Nisky to give him a while to himself, which only led to Matt chirping him about needing time to jerk off.

“Is everything with Allison okay?”

“Oh yeah, she’s fine...but I have a question to ask you about her.” He had already been pacing in the room, but now he crossed his arms over his chest, one hand holding his cell phone to his ear. “Is Jeff there, by chance?”

“Yeah, he just got home from work. Would you like to talk to him?”

James closed his eyes. Just do it. You’re there, Neal. Just do it. “Actually, do you have speaker phone?”

“…yes?” Wendy was starting to sound uneasy. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

James felt his heartbeat double in pace. He wiped his forehead nervously. “Everything’s good, Wendy. I just need the both of you on speakerphone, if I can ask that of you. Trust me, okay?”

“Okay, hun.”

James heard her hand cover the receiver as she retrieved Jeff. In the background, she and Jeff were talking in softer voices. The sound the shuffling or some type of movement was heard, and then a hollow sound. James’ heart went into overdrive.

“James, can you hear us?” Wendy asked.

Breathe. “Yeah, loud and clear. Can you hear me?”

“Sure can” Jeff answered. “How ya doing, James?”

“Good, Jeff. Really good.” Nervous as fuck, but good. In his pocket was the box that held the ring he bought Ali. With his free hand, he slipped it inside and held the box tight in his grip.

He inhaled deep, and then exhaled.

“So uh….I wanted to ask you guys something, and I need an honest answer from you both. Just promise me you’ll be honest.”

“Okay.” Wendy and Jeff sounded curious, but slightly cautious.

Jesus Christ, my heartbeat.

He exhaled, holding the box in his pocket. “Remember a few days ago when I asked if you could quiz Ali on if she had plans next Friday? You know…do a little friendly spying for me?”

“She didn’t see through us, did she?” Wendy asked.

“Oh no, she hasn’t said a thing to me yet” James replied, smiling. “Good job, by the way.”

“Thank you!”

James could hear her smiling on the other line. It was something she and her daughter shared.

“What was that about, anyway?” Jeff asked. “Wendy told me you called about that.”

“Well….funny you should ask, Jeff.”

Just do it. Just say it. They won’t say no. Ali won’t say no.

James paused and tried to steady his voice. “The reason I called and why I wanted you two on speaker phone is…..” He swallowed hard. “…is because I want to marry your daughter.”

Total silence.

“And I want to ask her next Friday. In Colorado.” He exhaled hard.

“James….” Wendy’s voice was suddenly hushed.

“My God” Jeff said.

“What?” Wendy said to her husband.

James waited on pins and needles.

“Our daughter is going to marry a Penguin” Jeff said, awestruck.

James felt his heart practically leap out of his chest. “Your what? Say what now?”

“Yes, James.” Jeff was talking directly into the speaker now. “If you’re asking, I’m answering: you have permission to ask my daughter to marry you.”

James let out a laugh in utter relief. “Really?”

“God knows you have MY permission!” Wendy said excitedly. “Oh my God, Jeff! Do you know what this means?”

James could hear them hugging and laughing on the other line. He was grabbing a fist full of his own hair, staring at the floor, eyes wide. Did this just happen?

“Thank you, thank you, thank you” he said to Wendy and Jeff. “You have no idea how nervous I’ve been.”

“I have to ask one thing” Jeff said, his voice a little more stern now. “Now don’t take this wrong, James, but I wouldn’t be a father I could respect if I didn’t ask….”

Oh fuck.

“Are you prepared to take care of Allison her entire life?”

“Yes” James answered confidently.

“I know you and I have had talks before” he continued. “But you need to realize what you’re doing and what kind of decision this is before you ask her. I won’t have my daughter’s heart broken if you’re not ready for this.”

James was nodding. He knew all too well, because he had been wrestling with this very thought.

“So if you decide you’re not ready to ask her….no hard feelings from us.” Jeff paused a second, and then James heard him exhale as well. “I’d rather you wait on asking her if you aren’t ready.”

“I’m ready, Jeff” James replied.

“Good.”

“We won’t tell Ali until we hear from her or from you” Wendy said, still beyond elated at this news.

“I appreciate that so much. Again – I can’t thank you enough.” James could feel the sweat on his forehead as he ran a hand along it. “I bought the ring, I bought her the tickets to come out here, I have the whole thing planned, really….I’ve had it planned for months now.”

In the background, James thought he heard Wendy sniffling.

“So all I needed to do was talk to you both….So I guess now?” He laughed a little, unsure of how he was going to even get through the second part. “Well now, I just need to ask Ali.”

“She’ll say yes, James, I know it.”

Wendy is crying. Holy shit.

“She will, James.” Jeff sounded confident, even a little emotional himself. “She loves you so much.”

“Guess we’ll have to wait and see what her final answer will be, eh?” James sat down, feeling a tremendous weight lift off of his shoulders.

* * *