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In Your Eyes

Twenty-six

"With the Penguins trailing the Blackhawks by two points going into the third period, we have to ask the question: why? And how will Dan Bylsma motivate his team to go out there and make up the deficit?"

"All good questions, Steigy. The only other person who may have the answers is standing by with Dan Potash. Dan?"


Piper watched from her couch as Sidney's flushed face, shiny with sweat, turned and faced the camera. His head was slightly bowed, listening as Dan Potash asked him questions about how the team was going to approach the final period. The pads beneath his white jersey made his shoulders seem even broader; his helmet dangled from one finger and rested against his hip where he had his hands.

"LOOK, PIPER!"

"I see him, kiddo." She clicked the volume button on her remote, increasing the level of Sid's voice as he spoke.

"You know, uh...last season, neutral zone turnovers killed us, and we're just gonna have to go out there and see if we can limit those kinds of situations as best we can..."

Piper chewed her fingernail, feeling her heart rate increase just hearing him talk. Next to her, Bailey was practically falling off his spot on the couch from leaning so far forward.

"Are you and the rest of the team treating this as though it were a regular season game?" Dan asked.

Sidney nodded firmly. "Yeah, any game we play, no matter pre-season, regular, or playoffs - our mindset needs to be the same. We practice the same way, so...you know, uh...we just have to pick it up and not make careless mistakes."

He glanced up at the camera, his face dead serious and his eyes narrowed. The sheen of sweat over his face and the damp, dark hair that had fallen over his forehead gave Piper chills. The camera didn't do him justice. Then again, Piper had felt the softness of his skin, her hands had been in his hair when it was damp, her lips had tasted the salt in his sweat as he thrusted inside her whenever they were intimate. The lips he licked while Dan Potash turned it back over to Paul and Bob were lips that she could feel on hers, even now, thousands of miles away.

"Aw, that's it!??!" Bailey said, slumping back into the cushions.

Piper smiled at her brother. "Interviews have to be quick or else they'd never get back out on the ice to play." She ruffled his light colored hair, then laughed as he went to flatten it back out. "Pretty cool watching someone on tv that you know, huh?"

"Yeah! And someone I've played with in my driveway" Bailey added with an excited grin.

And someone you fuck regularly and have fallen in love with, she thought to herself.

While the rest of the second intermission report was underway, Piper went into her kitchen to refill Bailey's drink and to grab them more popcorn. Ever since Bailey had met Sidney, it was all he ever talked about. Knowing his big sister was in someway sort of connected to him (though he didn't know just how deeply), it made him want to talk about Sid all the time to her. She gladly allowed him; Sid was his hero now, and it made Piper happy knowing that. Sid was a good hero to have.

But as she poured the last of the popcorn into the large plastic bowl, she felt the guilt heavy on her shoulders. Sidney called her several times while she was meditating earlier in the day, and she hadn't returned a single one. Listening to his voicemail made her smile, but it also made her feel guiltier for not calling him back immediately. Piper had no idea what his road schedule of events was like, at least not yet, and hoped to just talk to him after the game.

"PIPER!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming...."

"No, HURRY! Look! It's you!!"

Piper's eyes went wide when she heard this. Hurrying into the living room, she saw what her little brother was looking at: an image of her from the home opener, the same image being splattered all over the newspapers in Pittsburgh.

Bailey looked at her with confusion. "Why are you on--"

"--quiet, Bailey." She strained to listen as the commentators spoke about her, her influence on Sidney's life, and how it could be a distraction "not having her there for support". Her mouth fell open in anger. "Are you fucking serious?" The words came out faster than she wished, and she slapped a hand over her mouth. She looked at Bailey, who was looking at her with wide eyes. "Sorry" she said sheepishly. "Don't tell mom or dad I said that. And DON'T repeat that word to anyone, okay? Not cool."

Bailey sat there giggling. "Okaaay, I won't."

"I mean it."

"Does Sid use that word?"

"NO" she lied. "Never. He never uses it."

"Good. Then I won't." Bailey grabbed for the bowl and Piper handed it over. She watched him as he seemed disinterested in anything else but his popcorn and the tv as RootSports replayed key moments from the second period.

Piper exhaled the air she was holding in. Really blurting all kinds of stuff out these days, aren't you?, she thought to herself. Closing her eyes, Piper tried to repeat something from a poster she had in her office: Speak kindly to yourself and your soul's desire will follow. She repeated this at least five times in her mind instead of the angry words she had earlier, hoping she wouldn't beat herself up too much.

As the third period began, Piper watched closely with that funny feeling inside as Sidney bent forward, his stick leaning on his knees. Behind his visor, his dark eyes glanced around to see the rest of his line ready for the face off. The second the puck dropped, Sid was on it and passing it back to Kunitz.

Amazing she thought, reaching over for popcorn as her eyes remained on the television. Bailey was cheering him on as he had in the first two periods, even when Sid wasn't on the ice. Piper said very little but watched very closely. The camera loved Sid; it seemed to show him whenever it had the chance, which made the butterflies in Piper's tummy flutter even more so than they already were.

It was weird and yet not strange whatsoever to watch him on the screen, breathing heavily from his shifts or glancing up at the monitors above him to see a replay. Every now and then, Piper caught him laughing with whoever was sitting next to him or pointing out towards the ice and doing what looked like some sort of instruction for someone.

The knowledge Piper had of him, knowledge she liked to think very little others had, made her have conflicting feelings. On the one hand, she felt incredibly close to Sid. She knew more about those hands she saw slip out of his gloves to point at someone on the ice. She knew more about the body that took hits like they were nothing. She knew more about the hair that stuck to his forehead beneath his helmet and how it felt in her hands. Because of this, it also made Piper feel extremely far away from him. To not touch or feel or kiss or hold any part of him...it made her feel as if all that knowledge meant nothing if she was thousands of miles away.

Piper thought about this as she watched Sid hop over the boards and back out onto the ice for a new shift. There was a lot of hustle for a while as the puck went from the Pens' possession over to the Hawks' possession, before going back to the Pens one more time. Bailey was getting excited again, practically jumping out of his seat every time the puck was stolen and taken down the ice. When it went down towards Fleury in the net, Sid sped down the ice in a flash. He almost too-easily stole the puck near the corner boards, kicking it to himself and making a sick pass behind him to Dupuis, who was coming on strong.

The second Sid made the pass, one of the Blackhawks pushed him into the boards so hard he went down head-first.

Piper jumped up, her eyes locked on the screen in horror. "Oh my God.....oh my God, no....please no...."

Sidney lay there for a second, stunned and shaken. One of the refs blew a whistle, and the Pens players who were nearby skated closer to where Sid was trying to get up. They watched from a distance as he shook his head and wiped the ice that had scraped up onto his visor.

"Get up Sid" Piper whispered. "Come on, you can do it..."

Bailey said nothing. His mouth was hanging open, a piece of unchewed popcorn nearly hanging out of it. He looked up at his sister but she didn't say anything, so he waited.

Sidney struggled to one knee, but had to stop in order to collect himself. Piper didn't breath; she just watched, both scared and confused. Get up, baby. Please. Dupuis skated over to where Sid knelt, bending over to say something to him. Sidney nodded, then shakily got up onto the other foot.

The crowd clapped, and Bailey fell back against the couch in relief. "Thank God!!!"

Piper wasn't relieved yet. She pressed her hands together at her mouth, watching as Sid skated slowly over to the bench. The camera stayed on him the whole time, following him as he took a seat on the bench. Two players hopped over the boards to replace him and Dupuis, who had also skated over behind Sid. As soon as Sid took his helmet off and glanced up at the monitor, Piper felt she could relax.

She fell to the couch with a thud, her legs spread before her. "Well that's new....and not fun."

Bailey glanced over. "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Is Sidney okay?"

On the screen, Sid winced as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes were still gazing far upwards, trying to see what the penalty looked like from a spectator's view. Overall, he seemed okay, and Piper exhaled heavily.

"Yes, I think he's okay."

* * *

Piper tried Sid's phone eight times after the game was over. She didn't leave a voicemail, she just wished that one of the times would be the time he wasn't so busy that he could pick up. She wouldn't go to sleep until she spoke to him. Finally, by the tenth try, Piper got what she wanted.

"I'm fine, I swear" he answered, his smile audible even over the phone.

"Don't act tough, Crosby, this isn't the time to" Piper said, pacing back and forth in her bedroom.

"I'm not, I promise. I've taken worse falls, trust me."

She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling the chill of the breeze coming through her windows; or perhaps it was just the frayed ends of her nerves, raw from worry. "Are you in pain still?"

"My back and shoulders feel a little tender, but shouldn't be anything long term or worrisome."

Speak for yourself, she thought. "That scared the shit out of me. Even Bailey was quiet for a minute."

"I thought about you, actually."

Piper stopped pacing. "When?"

"When I went down" Sidney answered. "I thought: boy, I hope Piper isn't flipping out."

"Flipping out?" She started to laugh. "Do I flip out?"

"No....that's why I was hoping you weren't now. Nothing like a spill into the boards to send my girl out of her usual steady, solid self."

Piper smiled against the phone, wishing against all other wishes that she could be with him...wherever he was at that moment, she wanted to be there. His voice sounded tired, his body likely feeling just the same, and Piper knew she could help him with both of those things.

"What time is it there?" Sid asked, his voice going softer. "Sorry - I lose track of stuff on the road."

"It's okay, babe. It's nearly midnight."

Sid sighed tiredly. "You didn't stay up just to talk to me, did you?"

With a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head, Piper cursed the silliness of the question. "Yes, and don't even bother telling me not to do it again, because I'm going to anyways."

"Yes, Sergeant." When he laughed this time, it sounded even sleepier.

"Where are you right now?" Piper asked, worried that she was the one keeping him awake.

"Hotel room."

"In bed?"

"Bingo."

"Well if you're tired, you should go to sleep."

"Not yet. Stay on a little longer."

Piper sat down on the edge of her bed. She could finally feel herself coming down from the fretting she had been doing earlier. "I got your voicemail from earlier. Sorry I didn't call you back."

"If I have to get hurt every game to get you to call me, I will."

"Sidney!" She didn't know whether to laugh or yell at him. "Don't say that! Even if you ARE joking!"

"I am, I am...relax, baby."

His voice was all it took, anyways. Piper lay back against her pillow, staring up at her ceiling as she tried to envision what Sid might look like at that moment.

"Where were you earlier when I called? Did you have a class?" he asked.

Piper closed her eyes. "No....I was just out."

"Do anything fun?"

"Just did some meditating." She debated going further with it, but figured it wasn't a good idea. "You know, just thinking about stuff. Needed to clear my mind."

There was a pause, and for a second Piper thought maybe Sid fell asleep on her.

"Thinking about what?" he asked cautiously. "Hopefully you're not still worried about the other night?"

"No....no, that's not it at all" she said, not telling the entire truth of the matter. "I know you don't have Facebook or anything, but---"

"--Oh no, Piper." Sid's voice full of dejection. "Don't tell me..."

"I didn't read them all, but the ones I did read were horrible."

"Dammit...this is what I wanted to protect you from."

"Sid, please - you're worth it, okay?" Piper felt the truth of her words the minute they came out. She couldn't recall the exact wording of the insults and hateful comments flung her way on her Facebook wall, but she didn't care. She knew it hurt at the time, but if it wasn't true - why did it matter to her?

"I'm sorry" he said.

Piper frowned. "For what? For being you? For doing what you do best? For being allowed to lo--....to care about someone?" She almost said 'love', but changed it at the last second. She hoped Sid didn't notice the pause beforehand too much. "Please don't apologize. I got this, okay?"

Sid breathed against the phone as if he had been reassured of something himself. "Okay. Thank you."

"Better get some rest" she said, noticing the wearisome hint to his voice return. "We'll talk more tomorrow."

"Wish I was there."

"Me too." Piper closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Sid."

"Night."

* * *

The following day, Piper sat alone in her office at the studio, enjoying the silence and stillness of the sleepy Bar Harbor morning. With no classes scheduled and no immediate engagements on her plate, she spent most of the morning tidying up around the place. She watered her plants, straightened up her desk, answered emails, and worked on finances. Feeling rather productive, Piper decided to get a leg up on the next few weeks worth of scheduling. With Robin fully in the rotation now, it would free her, Danika, and Amy up more in the future. This would be the first schedule which would reflect that, and Piper was eager to see when she could make it back to Pittsburgh again.

As she brought up the spreadsheet graph, she went through the rotation day by day, watching as the time slots that were once filled by vacationers and tourists dwindled. Instead of ten classes a day, they would be down only four - one for each of the instructors. Weekends were slightly different: five on Saturday, and six on Sunday. She could cover the first few, then pass them off to Amy, who preferred weekend classes anyways.

Piper flipped to the second page of the schedule, past October into November. She studied the weeks closely, seeing no huge breaks that she could take off. Frowning, Piper went back to the rest of September again, then looked more closely at October.

Exactly two blocks of four days that she could use to visit Sidney.

Eight days.

Eight days.

She stared at the spreadsheet dumbly.

How am I supposed to make a relationship happen with only eight days to work with?

Feeling an ache of dismay somewhere in her chest, Piper quickly brought up Google. She typed in Pittsburgh Penguins schedule and hit Enter. She found the PDF form of the schedule and compared the days she could visit Sidney with the corresponding games.

Four of the six days, Sid was on the road.

Two free days in almost two months.

Piper leaned into the back of her chair, her shoulders falling in grief. She tried to think of a way to make this work; there had to be a way to have a business and have a hockey player boyfriend at the same time. She wanted both. If Ali could do it, Piper could.......right?

Wrong, she thought. Ali lives there.

Placing her elbows on the desk, Piper rubbed her face in anguish. Her brain was spinning to try and think of a way to gain more days. If Robin filled in all week for me on the 22nd, then I could fill in all of her shifts the following week. Or maybe if Dani and I switched from weekdays to weekends - I'd take all weekends, she could take half or all of the weekday classes...But then when does Amy work? Amy and Robin could rotate through evening classes...

"Ugggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh FUCK." Her face sunk further into her hands until her fingers dug into her scalp. "Whyyyy. WHYYY." She looked angrily at the computer screen that stared back at her. There were so many games. So many days where he'd be gone....so many he'd spend without her....

"He cheats on you every night. SUX TO BE U."

Piper stood up from the computer and grabbed her jacket. She clicked the monitor off before she left, grabbing her purse on the way out while slipping half of the jacket over one arm. She was out of there in less than thirty seconds, locking the studio's main entrance behind her. Hugging herself against the gloomy skies and the cold breeze that whipped at her hair as she walked, Piper went to the one place she knew she had to go. If anyone could help her, it was her father.

She went the back way, around the covered entryway her father and the other restaurant employees used to gain entrance. There was a door that skipped all the activity of the back of the house and went straight towards her father's office. When Piper got there, she was happy to see her father's door already open. He sat inside, stewing over a large book of numbers...not all unlike the one she had at her own office. She rapped lightly on the doorframe, grabbing his attention. "Dad?"

David looked up and immediately pushed back from the business on his desk. "Hey! What are you doing here this early?"

Piper gave him a smirk. "It's 11, Dad."

"My point exactly" he teased. "I thought you didn't have classes this morning? With the traveling you've been doing these days, one would think you'd take the opportunity to sleep in whenever it came."

"Normally you'd be correct." She took a seat across from him and placed her purse on the floor. "But not today. Too much on the mind, I guess."

David knew that was his cue. He didn't raise his only daughter for 20-some years and not know the beginnings of when she wanted to talk. He leaned back and rested his hands in his lap, elbows spread on each arm rest casually. "I'm all ears."

Piper looked at him uneasily. "I don't know what I'm doing."

Dave leaned in, waiting for more. "That's........it? You don't know what you're doing?"

"Right."

"About what, hunny?"

"About life." She sat there feeling as frustrated as she did when she was gazing at her and Sid's conflicting schedules. "How do I balance work and play? Because as it stands, if you go by my schedule and Sidney's - they don't balance well." She looked to her father with hope in her eyes, watching as he considered the question.

"Which is more important?"

Piper blinked. "What?"

"Which one are you willing to sacrifice a little to see the other prosper?" David asked. "Because that's what any good business or relationship depends on."

"I, uh..." She looked down at the cuffs of her pale green windbreaker. "I don't know."

"You've wanted this business a lot longer than you've wanted Sidney Crosby."

She glared at her father. "It's not like that--"

"--What is it, then?" David rocked in his chair. "You've been dating for how long?"

Piper pursed her lips together. "I didn't come here to get a lecture on love, father."

"And I'm not lecturing you. Listen, Piper" David said calmly. "What I want you to understand is that something has to give a little, but that does not mean it you have to give it up. It merely means that it wiggles a little to give the other part you want some more room to grow. It's a balance, not a loss and gain."

"How do I balance it, when one feels like an anchor tied to my ankle?"

David saw the sadness in his daughter's eyes and it hurt him to see her confidence slip like it was. Clearly, whatever was happening in her life with Sidney meant quite a bit to her to have this conversation and to come seeking his help. "Can I ask which is the anchor?"

Piper lowered her gaze in shame. "My business."

"I was hoping you'd say that." He watched her eyes rise to meet his again.

"What?"

David nodded, trying to give her as reassuring of a smile as he could. "The business can move. Sidney cannot."

"Dad."

"Piper." He continued smiling at her.

She searched her father's upbeat expression trying to make sense of it. "I'm not moving."

"Then how are you going to balance this otherwise?"

So many ridiculous thoughts came to Piper's mind at that moment, she wanted to scream them all at him at once. Instead, nothing came out but a stubborn puff of air. "You don't get it!"

"Then why did you come here?"

Dammit, he got me again. Piper exhaled. "Okay, listen. It's more than just my business here. It's my family. It's you and mom, and Bailey." She looked up and she had water in her eyes. "I can't just leave Bailey like that. What would he think of me? Ditching the family like that?"

"Your brother would understand, and you know Mom and I would too. It's your life, Piper." He leaned forward and rested his clasped hands on his stack of binders and papers on his desk. "If you love this guy, and he loves you, why are you even debating this?"

Because he's not there yet, she thought sadly.

"Have you considered the market in Pittsburgh at all?"

Piper nearly snorted. "Funny you ask that..." The words of Mario Lemieux rang in her head now; the foreshadowing of her life like some sort of joke. She could hear Sidney covering for her when he'd asked; when she didn't have an answer, Sid stepped in. She still didn't have an answer. Even as her father sat there with his consistent, steady, calm gaze - Piper couldn't follow up with much.

"I don't know....I just don't know...." She leaned over and rubbed her forehead.

"Why don't you talk it over with him?"

At first Piper thought Mario, but realized quickly that he wasn't in her head like she was. "Who? Sid? I can't..."

"Why not? He should have been the first one you went to. Not me."

Because he's not there yet, that's why! the voice in her head screamed. It was the same voice that kept this over and over, causing her to lose any hope she had for their relationship.

"I should've never gotten into this in the first place." She looked up at her father, feeling the sting of fresh tears pricking at her eyes. "I shouldn't have went up to him at Ali's reception. I shouldn't have given him my number. I wouldn't have to be making this kind of decision if I was just smart and walked away from all this that night in Pittsburgh."

David nodded. "Right. True."

Piper wiped at her eyes, feeling sorry for herself. Her strength seemed depleted at that moment.

"...You also wouldn't have known what love feels like either."

Her father sat there looking as sure as ever, his gaze comforting and his voice tender. Piper sniffled, letting the words seep into her clouded mind.

"Isn't that true?" he asked, and she nodded silently. "So just talk to him. See what he says."

"Okay" Piper said.

It was the only thing she could say.

* * *

Piper didn't bring it up the next day.

She didn't bring it up the day after that, either.

In fact, she didn't bring it up that entire week.

She made it through six days of classes, and during each one she examined how she felt, paying very close attention to how the business and her career made her feel.

Since Sid had two more games that week, both of which were home games, it allowed he and Piper some time to talk longer and more often. On Wednesday night, they were able to video-chat together on their phones, which was hilarious and ridiculous all in its own way. Sid was loving the awkwardness of it all, and deemed it one of the funniest things he's done. And whether he knew it or not, Piper thought the same.

And so the week rolled on and Piper was feeling pretty good….Or at least better. Still, she hadn't admitted anything to Sid, or brought up anything related to what her and her father discussed.

By Friday, Piper had made plans with Danika, Amy, and Robin to have a girl's night out together at one of the local bars. They drank plenty of wine and talked about anything and everything. In addition, Piper got to learn a little more about Robin, who she enjoyed thoroughly. It brought her back to center in a way she was hoping it would...but it didn't fulfill her the way she wanted it to.

Come Saturday, back in Pittsburgh, Sidney sunk deep into the leather of his couch and dialed Piper for their nightly telephone call. He had a headache again, and it hurt the same place it always did. He tried massaging it the way she taught him; he put pressure on the points she directed a few months ago, and sure enough...the pain subsided. Still, even with most of the true pain gone, there remained a dull ache in the back of his eyes and at the base of his head. He did his best to talk himself out of the familiar downward spiral his mind took whenever he had a headache like this. For some reason, unlike all the other times his self-discipline worked, tonight it didn't.

"Hey Siddy-Sid-Sid."

He smiled when he heard yet another one of Piper's interesting greetings. "Hiya baby."

"You done for the day?" she asked, referring to the host of meetings he had following their skate earlier in the day.

"Yeah....thankfully." Sid rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "Guess what I have."

"A huge dick."

He laughed. "Uhhh.....do I say yes or no to that?"

"You say yes" Piper teased.

"I'll take your word for it" he said with half a grin. "But that's not the real answer."

"What about a huge ass?"

"Why are people so obsessed with my ass?"

"Sidney - have you seen it?" Piper was laughing as loudly as ever, and while the volume hurt Sid's headache, it still made him happy.

"I see it everyday."

"Bragger."

He rolled his eyes. "I have a headache."

"Oh no." Piper's tone of voice totally changed. "Is it a bad one?"

"Yeah...." Sid felt his heartbeat spike when he said it.

"Did you try that method I taught you?"

"I did. No luck." He exhaled, figuring he should just say what needed to be said and reveal the real reason why he called her. "Piper - I'm scared."

On the other line, Piper had been walking through her living room, but stopped short. "...Scared?"

"Remember the other night? When I slid into the boards hard?"

Piper felt sweat prick at places all over her body. "Yes?"

"My head hasn't hurt this bad before. Not until that."

It hurt worse to admit it. Sid knew that. He'd been around this block before and the other times weren't fun either. It wasn't that he thought he had a concussion, it was the fear that any headache would be the next sign his career was over. How many times in the past he told himself It's only a headache. It's a pain, not a sentence. This time, he couldn't even convince himself as he had in the past.

Piper sat down slowly onto her couch. Had she known, she laid down in the exact position in the same direction that Sidney was also laying on his couch. "What do you do for this? Is there something you guys can do if you get bad headaches? Isn't there some sort of super pill just for you guys?"

The fact that she was trying to come up with a solution made Sid feel temporarily better. It was nice to know someone had his back who didn't immediately want to send him to twenty different doctors and specialists just because his eyes hurt.

"What if you took tomorrow off?" Piper suggested.

"I could, but that would raise suspicion." He heard the frustration in her voice then, completely sympathizing with her.

"Well how are you supposed to get any help if everything you do is being watched so closely?"

He closed his eyes. "Such is my life, Piper."

It took her a second, but Piper realized why Sid was divulging all of this to her and not the necessary people. It wasn't that he didn't have a thousand different people or places to turn for any given ailment - he was turning to her because he had no one to really explain his fears to.

"Sid?"

"Hmm?" His voice sounded sad and tired.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

Sid opened his eyes. "Breakfast?"

"Yes."

"Um…." He sat up a little. "Well, I haven't really thought about it. Why?"

"Because I'm bringing it to you."

*

Sidney stayed up the rest of the night. He waited and watched the clock. He paced, then sat down, then paced some more. He watched late night tv, but it made his eyes hurt more than they already did, so he clicked it off.

Only one text message came, and that was around midnight.

P: Boston. Switching planes. See you soon.

After that, Sid changed his clothes three times.

It only took an hour and a half to fly from Boston to Pittsburgh - Sid knew this because he did it several times a year - and during that chunk of time, all he did was pace. His head hurt and he popped a few more Ibuprofen, but it just kept on pounding. The clock on the wall kept on ticking. The heart in his chest kept on beating. Sid kept on waiting.

Around 2 am, Sid was still fully awake. There was no way he could fall asleep now. The next time he checked his watch, it was 2:45. That's when he finally heard what he waited to hear all night. Three quick knocks on the door, and then her voice.

"Sid?"

He ran over to the door and flung it open. There she stood, in an ankle-length black maxi skirt and a light blue v-neck shirt, complete with a thin pink zip-up hoodie. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun with little wavy pieces sticking out here and there. Under the dim glow of his front porch light, he could tell Piper had bags under her eyes, but her smile never faltered. Not once.

She held up a plastic bag full of containers, tied at the top by a knot. "Hope you like hash browns."

Sid grabbed her and hugged her his arms. He felt her delicate arms wrap around his torso, the plastic bag rustling softly. One of her hands, the free one, slid up to hold the back of his head, right where he hurt.

"It's okay, Sid" she whispered. "We'll get your headache figured out, okay?"

"Okay." He nestled his face against her neck. "I love you, Piper."

Piper closed her eyes and held back her smile. "I love you too, Sid."

* * *

Notes

Comments

I really really miss youre updates :(

Listor87 Listor87
9/24/14

I agree - the trade brought me to tears. Each time I think about it I cry. It won't be the same without Lazy running alongside G. I hope Nealer does great things in Nashville. He will always be a Pen, no matter what. Still trying to wrap my head around it as well as Matty, Joey V, Tanner, Elko and Orpik.......I just hope this new GM knows what he is doing. Sucks, it really does. I hope you decide to write again. Loved your stuff!! Here's hugs to you Winter OOOO - 73 days till puck drop!! Let's Go Pens!

KWeber8771 KWeber8771
7/29/14

6-28-14 ** A NOTE TO MY READERS **

As a result of James getting traded, I've found myself at a loss for words; a loss I'm not sure I'll be quick to recover from. The trade was a hard hit, and it will take some time for me to get over the initial hurt.

I wanted to post a message to at least tell all of you who have followed my stories up to this point that after this, I'm not sure how long it's going to be before I post a new story. James will forever be a Penguin to me, and likely to many of you as well. I'm just not sure how to go forward right now. As a result - I can't promise I'll be back, but I hope to be. I really do.

Let's let the dust settle and the hurt fade...and maybe we'll find one other again on this wonderful site.

Thank you all again for your support...It really has made writing so much fun for me, and I don't want to go forward with another story until it's fun again. Right now - that doesn't seem plausible.

I'll leave it open for any of you to message me anytime, if you'd like. I will occasionally check in just to see how everyone's doing. :-)

Regards,
Winter

Winter22 Winter22
6/28/14

Great story - you need to write one about Geno!!!

KWeber8771 KWeber8771
5/21/14

Omg. Seriously girl you never disappoint. Omg. I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve. And what's to come for piper and Sid and james and Ali and the baby <3

kristinnx kristinnx
4/21/14