In Your Eyes

Piper checked herself in the mirror for the tenth time and decided it was good enough. She scrunched the loose ringlets of her hair one more time, piecing them apart to give her hair more volume. She dabbed a little more pale peach lip gloss on her bottom lip, turned to the side and examined her waistline, and then sighed contently. She gave her side-swept bangs one more little fluff and then went to join her brother.

When she walked out, Bailey's eyes moved from the television to her. "Ooooo - you look really pretty, Piper."

She smiled and looked down at her dark gray cap-sleeve dress; tight and simple and sophisticated enough for the restaurant they were going to. "Thanks, kiddo. Too much?"

"No." Bailey smiled at her. "You have high heels on."

"That I do."

"Why?"

Piper laughed. Even Bailey knows I never dress like this. She came over to the edge of the bed where he was sitting and took a seat next to him. "Same reason you're wearing a shirt and khakis." She smoothed back his hair, tickling the back of his neck. "Fancy schmancy dinner tonight."

"I've never been to a fancy schmancy dinner."

"Yes you have! Don't you remember Grandma's birthday?" She watched Bailey try and recall their now-deceased grandmother's 80th birthday a few years ago. Apparently, Bailey was too young to remember. "Okay, maybe not - but that's fine. Tonight will be special enough for you."

"I'm up way past my bedtime, you know" Bailey said with a smirk. "But I won't tell Mom or Dad."

Piper held up her hand. "Promise?"

"Promise." He high-fived her and giggled.

She hugged him to her chest and smiled. "Glad you had fun tonight."

They stayed in each other's arms, and Piper rocked her little brother slowly. She had to believe he was tired, but he'd taken a short nap while she showered following the game. She made sure Bailey absolutely wanted to go to dinner with Sid, otherwise - she would have had to turn Sidney down. But he insisted that he wanted to "go to a grown-up dinner", so Piper agreed. Now, as she held him, she realized that if there was ever a time to break the news to him about moving to Pittsburgh, it was likely now.

She inhaled deep, steadying herself. "Hey, Bailey?"

"Yeah?" He sat up and looked at her with a small smile.

"You like Sidney, right?"

"A lot." Bailey was nodding his head as he said this, his eyes lighting up at just the mention of him.

"Well….I do too, a lot…." She pointed at her outfit. "Another reason why I'm dressed all fancy schmancy."

"You love one another, don't you?"

It was simply put, and Piper had to hand it to her brother. For 10 years old, he didn't mess around. He also wasn't blind to what was going on the past several months, either.

"Yeah, we do, kiddo. Very much." She flattened the corner of his little collar, fussing with him only to give her hands something to do while she bought herself time. She knew she just had to say it. Whatever happened afterward, she would be able to handle. "So, because of that, I wanted to let you know that I am planning on moving to Pittsburgh to be closer to him. Then he and I can spend more time together."

Her heart was beating so intensely at that moment she wondered if Bailey could hear it. She waited, seemingly frozen, too scared to breathe as she watched for her brother's reaction. He seemed to be mulling it over, not reacting too much…at least not right away.

"For how long?" he asked, his voice soft.

"I don't know…probably a long time."

Bailey nodded and looked at the floor. After a few more seconds, he shrugged, and then met the scared gaze of his sister. "You'll come home and visit, right?"

"Sure! Of course I will! You and Mom and Dad are still the most important people in my life." Piper hugged him again. "It won't change how much I love you - it'll just mean I spend more time with Sidney. I'll still be in your life as much as I can be."

He smiled. "Are you two getting married?"

"Nooo…." She started to giggle. "No, not yet, anyways…"

"Oh. Well I wish you guys would. I like Sid."

Piper nodded, but had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing too much. "One thing at a time, Bailey...one thing at a time."

They hugged again, and Piper held her brother out before her so she could see his eyes. "Still friends?"

"Yes."

"You don't hate me for moving so far away?"

Bailey shook his head. "I could never hate you."

With a sigh of relief, Piper finally allowed herself to relax. "You're the coolest brother I could ever have."

* * *

Sid got a text from Piper towards the end of the game saying she'd meet him back at the hotel. He found this a little odd, considering their original plan was to meet at the arena right after the game; but in any case, it wasn't a big deal. It just meant he would have to wait just a tiny bit longer to see her.

And he was excited to see her. Very excited. They wouldn't be sharing a room together or getting to do anything they normally would get to if they were alone and back in Pittsburgh, but he'd take whatever time he could get with her.

The plan now was to meet at her hotel lobby and from there, Sid would take her and Bailey out to dinner at one of his favorite places in the city. It would be all he would get of her for a while, and he had every intention of making the most of the few hours he had with her.

When Sid stepped through the gold doors of the lavish hotel's lobby, it took 0.4 seconds to spot Piper. It also zapped whatever breath in his lungs right out of them. Her tall, leggy figure was hugged in one of the tightest dresses Sid may have ever seen. It was gray like a storm cloud, and made her jade-colored eyes stand out even more. The soft click of her nude heels on the marble floor was the only sound as she and her little brother approached.

"Hi" she said sweetly.

There was nothing sweet about that body. It made Sid hot just looking at her, taking in her slender body hugged by the material of the dress. Her hair was especially wavy, her makeup just a little more pronounced. He wasn't used to seeing her like this...dressed up. It showed effort, pre-planned, all for him. He struggled to find words. "Hi to you" he said, fumbling to get his hands out of his pockets in order to hug her. "You look gorgeous."

"Thanks." She placed an innocent kiss to his cheek and Sid was hit with the scent of something floral and musky. He saw Bailey next, whose little face was taken up by his big smile. "There's my teammate!"

Bailey reached up and hugged Sid when he bent to be at his level. "I got to see you score today!"

"It wasn't ten, but I did get ya two." He gave him a sly smile. "Is that okay?"

Piper felt all the butterflies she normally felt whenever she was with Sid, but any time he interacted with Bailey like this, they went into overdrive. Bailey let out his usual giggle while he joked around with Sid for a bit, but then Sid's eyes were on her. They looked at her with a deep level of knowledge between the two of them. When he licked his lips, she wondered if it was because of her. Based on the way he was looking at her, she had a feeling it was.

"Good game today." Her hand found his and felt the familiar strength in it's grasp. "And myyyy, you clean up well."

It was just his usual suit, tie, shoes, and watch. To Sid - it was just another post-game uniform. To Piper, it was the sight of sex on two feet. Sid knew it too, and that's why he nodded modestly. "Thank you. Shall we? I can't wait to show you this restaurant."

"Piper says this is an official fancy schmancy dinner" Bailey said as they headed outside.

Sid glanced at Piper. "Yeah, I'd say your sister's right. Excited?"

"Yeah! Are you?"

Sid squeezed Piper's hand, unable to take his eyes off hers. "Very."

*

It went surprisingly well. Bailey behaved, and even humored Piper by gobbling up most of his meal. If she thought he was tired before, she could see his eyelids struggling to stay open after the food had settled a little in his belly.

Because Piper and Sid sat next to one another, they watched Bailey across from them as he lay his head back against the high back, dark cushioned private booth. With low lighting and just a single candle on the table between the three of them, the romantic atmosphere only helped to lull the boy to finally close his eyes.

"He's adorable, isn't he?" Piper sipped from her martini glass, her eyes catching Sidney staring at her for the umpteenth time that night.

"Did I mention how gorgeous you look tonight?"

Piper felt his hand slide over the curve of her thigh beneath the table, the warmth spreading over her skin as goosebumps flushed across the rest of her leg. She quickly glanced sideways, making sure Bailey's eyes were still closed. "No, tell me again..."

Sid leaned in closer, heat emanating from him like a carnal furnace. "You look gorgeous tonight." He nuzzled closer. "My incredibly sexy girl..."

Piper almost giggled like a teenager, but she held back only because she was temporarily stunned by how good he smelled. When his nose brushed against her ear and was followed by a kiss, she was rendered immobile.

"Too bad we can't go back and be alone" he whispered.

"I know." Piper met his gaze, heavy with lust and longing. "You should've been in my mind during the game."

He backed his head away just slightly, a look of subdued surprise coming to his face. "Oh yeah?" He ran his hand a little further up her thigh. "Tell me about it..."

Now all of a sudden, Piper felt bashful. She kept checking to see if Bailey was still snoozing, but her entire attention was focused solely on Sidney in that moment. The rough feel of his hand almost covering the entire width of her thigh, coupled with his breath on the exposed skin of her neck was enough to make her drunker than the martini. "I don't think you've earned that knowledge yet" she teased. "You didn't score ten goals, after all."

Sid laughed softly. "True. Maybe I'm not Superman after all."

"Oh you are..." Piper felt his hand on her thigh and raised him one of her own. She went straight across his wide lap to what she really desired at the center, squeezing gently. "On and off the ice."

Their lips met briefly, barely touching, and then pressed harder and more needful. Sid's hand was just cupping the side of Piper's face when she pulled away slightly.

"Fuck" she breathed, eyes slow to open.

Sid was licking his lips; anything to get more of a taste of her. This was going to be hard to walk away from at the end of the night. "Feeling it too?" He smiled, fingers lingering on her face.

"Yeah....definitely..." She backed off a little more, trying to remember where she was and who was sitting right across from them. "There will be more of this, more often and whenever we want, when I move."

"Did you tell him?" He nodded towards Bailey. Piper nodded, and he felt himself become nervous all over again. "And?"

"He didn't mind." Piper was smiling wildly now. "Just have to tell Dani and the girls, then I'd say it's settled."

Sid couldn't believe it. One step closer. One step closer to finally having everything you want. He looked at her, completely ecstatic and trying to contain it but doing a horrible job at it. He had to crack a grin when Piper began to laugh at him.

"Yes?" she asked, waiting to see why he looked so stupefied.

"I don't know, I'm just really...." He shrugged one shoulder. "Really lucky, really excited, and really nervous."

"Nervous?"

"About a lot."

She frowned.

"They had you and Bailey on the screen today." Sid looked at her seriously. "Didn't that bother you?"

Piper lowered her eyes. "It did at first" she answered truthfully. "But I just told myself I have to accept it." At that moment, she remembered the rude woman sitting next to her, and she actually cracked up a little.

Sid looked at her with question. "What?"

"Oh God, Sid. This woman sitting next to me at the game...." She hesitated, remembering what the woman had said about him. She quickly decided against revealing that part. "She thought Bailey was my son."

His dark eyebrows lifted. "Really? But he's too old?"

Piper shook her head and nursed her martini. "Some people, right?"

"Right..." He looked away, thinking about this. Though he was in the middle of quite a bit of traffic on the ice the minute he noticed Piper and her brother on the jumbotron, it cut at his heart. For a split second, he wished they hadn't come...he wasn't comfortable with Bailey being in the middle of it. And now that Piper told him they thought he was her son....

"Sidney?"

He looked up.

"In your mind again?" Her lips curled upwards as she sipped a little more of her drink. "Really need to watch that. Might get lost sometime."

"Yeah." He reached for his glass of bourbon. "Sorry."

Piper looked towards Bailey and sighed. "Guess we should get him back, huh? Mom gave specific orders not to keep him out late." She said this in good humor, but she could tell something happened when Sid went into his head. He was downing the rest of his drink like it would evaporate if he didn't hurry and he had that stern look on his face whenever something was troubling him.

She ran her nails over his thigh. "Hey. Something up?"

Sid shook his head and flashed his crooked smile. "Nah. Let's go....I don't wanna get on April's bad side."

Piper waited and watched for any sign that he was covering, but he seemed to come out of it. She slid out of the booth first, grabbing her clutch on the way. Just as she was about to wake up Bailey, Sid stepped beside her, his hand lightly touching her waist.

"I got it." He scooped Bailey up out of the booth gently, folding him over his shoulder so that his head was resting on his shoulder.

Piper was stunned. "Sid..."

"It's no problem. Hate to wake him up if we don't have to." He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Come on, Gorgeous."

To the day I die, I will not believe this man is real, Piper thought. She blinked hard, yet she still wasn't in a dream. It was actually real life, and it was all hers.

*

With Bailey fast asleep in the hotel room, Piper grabbed her key card and joined Sid back downstairs in the lobby. They walked slow in hopes of prolonging their time together. The slow click click of Piper's heels sounded as glum as she felt.

As they neared the revolving doorway that led outside, they halted. Piper hugged herself against the chill of the autumn breeze that blew beyond the doors. Just a tiny bit seeped in enough to cause a chill. She gave Sidney a sympathetic smile. "I hate this part."

"It won't be long until we don't have to do this anymore." He said this in hopes of cheering her up. He didn't want Piper focusing on the negative when there was so much good to focus on. "That also means I can have my way with you and that dress."

He took a step closer and Piper inhaled, trying to imprint his face, his body, his eyes, his scent, all of him into her memory to take back to Maine with her. Because it was late, the only other people in the lobby area were those working at the desks around the corner, and the valet parking guys who had momentarily stepped inside to get out of the chilly air. This gave Sid just enough privacy to lean in and give Piper the kiss he wished he could've given her over and over all night long.

Piper held onto the lapel of his jacket, as if that might make him stay. "Have a good night, okay?"

"You too. Call me when you make it back." The smile he gave her was tired, but still full of love. "Tell Bailey I said thanks for coming...and apologize to him that I didn't give him a proper goodbye--"

Piper pressed herself against Sid, giving him the kiss she'd been wanting to give him all night. She felt those heavenly lips against hers and it only drove her hunger for him more. The naughty side of her said find a restroom and fuck him now, but the responsible side of her said send him off remembering who loves him. If this was just some other guy she dated in her past, the restroom would work for a quickie. But this wasn't just some other guy, and that made all the difference.

"Wow." Sid opened his eyes, a knowing look in his eyes. "You are going to make me leave with half a hard-on." He laughed when she did, and then wrapped his arms around her tight, hugging her smaller frame against his. "Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for dinner....and for carrying Bailey back....and for all the kisses....and for being you--"

"--You can stop" Sidney replied, his face turning slightly red. They looked at one another sweetly, and then their lips met a final time. No tongue, no feverish desire, nothing lustful...just a kiss to last them until their next one.

"Love you, Sid."

The corner of his mouth lifted, and his eyes cooled to their comforting shade of caramel. "I could hear that every day and never get tired of it."

Piper grinned. "Soon enough, you will."

He brushed a piece of her hair aside, giving himself one last look at the woman he wanted to spend more than just that night with. "Love you. Sleep well."

The air around Piper felt empty the second Sid stepped away. She watched his strong, compact body walk away from her, his confidence the most obvious thing in the room. It followed him, defined him, and went with him as he left her there in the lobby. The greeter opened the door for him, and before Piper knew it, they were separated again.

* * *

knock - knock - knock.

Sid waited outside Nealer's hotel door, the silence louder than his knuckles on the door. He knew trying to wake him up was likely a hopeless endeavor, but he had to at least try. He knocked again, a little louder this time, hoping he wasn't waking up half the hallway in the process.

When he thought he heard something, Sid craned his ear to the door. Just then the door shot open, scaring him backwards. "Jesus..."

"What the fuck?" James looked down both sides of the hall confused. "Everything okay?" He leaned against the doorframe, one arm raised against the door.

"Everything's fine. Do you have a sec?"

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Midnight?"

James smirked. "Close enough. Whaddya need?"

"I need you to look something up on your Instagram account. You have one, right?" Sid worried maybe he should've went to Geno instead; if he didn't need to start something with Nealer, he wasn't going to.

"Yeah." James' blue eyes narrowed on him. "Whyyyyyy?"

"Just get your phone and come out here. I don't want to wake Nisky up." He waited while James shut the door and retrieved his phone. In a few seconds, he came out into the hallway, standing there in his boxers and nothing else.

"What's this about, anyways?" James asked, eyes focused on the phone in his hands.

"I need you to look up anything with my name or Piper's that may have come across from tonight."

James' eyes lifted. "This about your girl?"

Sid hesitated, but figured he'd learn sooner or later. "Yeah...kind of."

"What'd they do to her?"

"I don't know yet - just look it up."

At that moment, James took a long look at Sid and realized he was still in the suit he wore after the game. He put a few of the pieces together, gleaning he was out with Piper somewhere. From there, he couldn't guess why Crosby looked so concerned. He kept his mouth shut, though; typing in their names and scrolling through whatever came up on the screen.

"Got a lot of love for ya out there, buddy" he said, paging through the nonsense. "A lot..."

Sid rolled his eyes. "Just let me know if you see a picture of her or of her little brother."

Little brother? James would've asked; in fact, he should've asked, but it didn't take long before his questions were answered. He came to a picture taken by someone who attended the game. It was of the jumbotron when Piper, and what looked to be a little boy next to her, were pictured on the giant screens.

James held out his phone. "Is this what you're looking for?"

Sid grabbed the phone. He scrolled down from the picture, reading the text below. James waited, wondering what the problem was. He knew Piper was making the trip to be at the game, but he didn't know anything about a little brother coming along.

"Fuck." Sid's shoulders slumped and he ran a hand through his dark hair in agitation. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

James snatched his phone back. Below the picture was the caption: She has a kid?!?! Oops. He understood immediately. "Shit, Sid..."

"It is what it is." Sid looked at James, defeat in his eyes. "Fuck me, though. Why's everything have to be so fucking hard."

Looking down at the picture again, James read through the first couple of comments. Most of them argued that the boy in question was actually Piper's son, which was good news. As he kept scrolling though, he found the usual hate and insults being tossed around.

He closed out of the app and scratched at his messy hair. "Jeeze, man...obviously it'll just blow over, right? They'll eventually see it's not her kid and just her sibling.....right?"

Sid was staring at the floor, already trying to formulate some sort of damage control. First Mario, then Coach, then his father. Maybe not in that order - but definitely those three were who he'd be hearing from first thing in the morning.

"You know this shit has a way settling down after a while, Sid" James continued. "Come on, this isn't our first ride at the rodeo, eh?" He tapped him in the arm, trying to get him to relax. "Just let the haters do their thing, and then laugh in their faces when it's all over."

"That's the thing, though Nealer" Sid said. "I tried to protect this girl from this. She's too good for this kind of shit, you know? I try to protect everyone from this bullshit. How the hell did they know she was even there tonight, anyway? Did someone tell the media?"

"I....I don't know..."

He clenched his jaw. "So now what do I do when my father calls me tomorrow, wanting an explanation for this?"

"Shit, Sid - you tell him the fucking truth, that's what." James put his hands on his bare waist, resetting his posture. He squared his broad, bare shoulders so he was facing Sid head-on. "Listen - you love this girl. She's moving in with you. You're doing this. There's no worrying about whatever the Rumor of the Day happens to be. You know they'll fucking talk about you whether its true or not anyways. You can't worry about that shit all of a sudden now that you have a steady girlfriend when I know this stuff never bothered you before."

Sid looked at James in a whole new light. "You know, this might actually be the first time you've ever made sense, Nealer."

"For real?" James nodded and grinned. "Nice."

"You're right though." He rubbed his forehead, wishing the tension would slip out with every move of his fingers. He wanted to be back with Piper in her bed, with her soft body pressed up against his as tight as he could get it. "I just...want to do this right."

James chuckled. "Yeah....I get that." He couldn't help but think of his own worries and concerns as of late, stressing over things he had no control of. Maybe I should heed my own advice, he thought to himself. He looked at Sid and noticed he seemed a lot calmer now. "You alright? You need anything else?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks, Nealer."

"She's gonna be dealt these things, dude." He looked at Sid matter-of-factly. "No sense in worrying about it every little step of the way. She seems pretty sturdy. She can take a hit or two."

Sid nodded, knowing what he said was true. He couldn't worry about what anyone said or what anyone thought. After all, didn't Piper just say something similar at dinner? If she could do it, Sid knew he'd have to try harder to do the same as well.

James clapped a hand on Sidney's shoulder. "Get some sleep, alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks again. Sorry to wake you up like this."

"Not a problem."

James quietly slipped back inside his hotel room, leaving Sid alone in the hallway once more. He walked back to his room, feeling the strain of the day and the workout from the game finally settling into his body. It ached for his bed, as uncomfortable as it likely was, and Sid wasn't about to deny it any further.

Once undressed and under the sheets, he fell asleep within minutes.

* * *

Sid had a dream that night.

He was back in the Consol Energy Center, staring up from center ice at Mario and Piper, still seated in their seats as they'd been many months ago the first time he had this dream. Piper was still dressed in white, her hair pulled back tightly into a bun. Mario remained dressed in his red suit and his face was still stern and unmoving.

Gazing around, Sid noticed every single seat in the house was occupied by someone dressed in all black. He couldn't tell if they were male or female, but he knew they were dressed in black suits. All of them. The hundreds of thousands of seats looked like one sinister blob, moving and changing subtly. All except for the two individuals in the crowd he cared for most: the one in the white, and the one in the red.

Two of the black suited spectators stood and took Piper by the arms. At first, she went willingly. Sid watched, still stuck at center ice in his uniform, seemingly unable to move or to say anything at all. As the black suits led her down the aisles and closer to the ice, two more dressed in the black suits rolled out a red carpet that ended at Sid's skates. It watched it roll out unnaturally fast, coming to rest just below where he stood.

Something about the entire thing didn't seem right. There was a heaviness in the cold air. Sid had a terrible feeling that if Piper walked down that carpet and came closer to him, something horrible would happen. He moved to open his mouth, but no words came out. He went to tap his stick on the ice to warn her - but he couldn't move. All he could do was stand there.

As the boards opened up and the black suits led Piper onto the carpet, she no longer went willingly. Thousands of spectators began yelling and screaming at her all around the arena, shouting profanity and insults at her. She struggled against the two holding her arms, but they were too strong. She pushed with her heels against the red carpet, but it only caused her to trip in their arms as they continued leading her down the carpet.

Sid was mortified.
The insults were atrocious.
The screaming was getting louder.

All the while, he could see Mario smiling from his seat amongst them. He was still, never moving, save for his ominous smile.

Piper, don't….don't come any closer, he thought. He tried to yell, but again - nothing came out. Piper's eyes grew terrified the closer she was forced to walk towards him, and Sid went to move his gloved hands, but he was frozen still, forced to watch the entire thing play out.

Piper was shaking her head, protesting in fear as the black suits brought her even closer. She pushed hard against them, her heels digging into the carpet, but it was no use.

Sidney looked up at Mario, who was now full-on grinning. He could see his smile - bright against all the black around him - but terrible in nature.

"Sidney!" Piper's voice barely rose above the insults and obscene screams of the fans around them. "Sidney please…Do something….help me!"

"I can't" he said, finding his voice. "I was told I couldn't have both. And I can't."

"You can!" She struggled harder, trying desperately to rip her arms from the vice grip of the two leading her ever-closer. "Don't listen to them!"

"I can't." He shook his head, lowering his gaze to the floor.

The two black suits brought Piper to him, stopping just at the end of the carpet. The shouting and screaming around them ceased.

Sid raised his head and Piper was no longer standing in front of him. It was now his father.

"You fool" Troy said.

Glass shattered everywhere from the boards.

Just before the glass hit Sid - he woke up in his hotel bed. A sickening, nauseous feeling came over him. He reached behind him, grasping for his phone, desperate to know his dream was not real. In the darkness, he felt around until he felt the metal of the phone in his hands. Muscle memory helped him bring Piper's number up on his phone until his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the screen. He didn't lay down until he heard her voice.

"Hello? Sid?"

"Piper, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Her voice was sluggish. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not. And I'm sorry for everything because of who I am." Words were just coming out of his mouth now, not really knowing what he was getting at or what he wanted to really tell Piper. "I love you, but I don't want to hurt you."

"I need you to slow down, Sid, please…"

"That's what I'm saying." He slipped his fingers into his hair, grabbing at it tensely. "Maybe I'm not ready for us to live together."

In the bed next to his, Pascal rolled over and turned on one of the small desk lamps. "Hey Sid--"

Sid held up his hand angrily. "I don't know, maybe it's too soon. Maybe we're rushing this."

"Sid, don't." Pascal's eyes were dark as he stared at his young friend. "Don't do this to her."

He stared at Dupuis, noticing the seriousness in his eyes. But Sid was just as serious, because he was scared shitless. There was too much he needed to think about; too much he needed to figure out before he made a major leap like this. He couldn't ask Piper to move her entire life for him. He couldn't. Not yet.

"I….I don't know what's going on….can't we talk about this in the morning?" Piper sounded just as scared. The confidence and cheerful nature of her voice was completely gone. "Why…why are you doing this now?"

Pascal was shaking his head, his lips pursed in anger. "Don't. Do. This."

Sid tried to swallow, but his throat was thick and his mouth was dry. It was like he and Dupuis were in a staring contest.

"Sidney?" Piper's voice was frail now. "Please?"

"I'm sorry" he told her.

"We can work this out" Piper said, a small amount of hope coming back to her voice. "Let's just talk about this together, okay? Tomorrow? Or whenever you want…let's just discuss it, together."

"Don't back out" Pascal told Sid, sitting up now. "You'll regret this, I'm telling you."

Sid was breathing heavy. Why does everything have to be so fucking difficult?

"I love you" Piper said. "Please don't throw that away."

He exhaled and closed his eyes. "Let's talk tomorrow."

"O-okay…"

Pascal shook his head. Sid didn't know what to tell him anymore than he knew what to tell Piper. He didn't know what the fuck he was doing. All he wanted to do was play hockey and not worry about this other shit - shit he didn't know how to do or how to do well. Life was so much simpler when all he had to worry about was rubber hitting the net.

"Are we okay?" Piper asked fearfully.

"Yes." Sid rubbed his eyes. "Let's just talk tomorrow."

"Okay…"

"Sorry to wake you up. Night, Piper." He hung up, reluctant to meet Pascal's angry stare. He did though; he had to. "What, Duper. Say it."

"You're a fool, Sid." With that, Pascal rolled over, and nothing more was said between the pair the rest of the night.

* * *

Notes

~~Thanks to all who continue to leave messages and follow along with this story. I would like to declare this the proverbial "halfway point" in the story, but I said that about The Games We Play and it ended up going almost 100 chapters. Sooo......we'll see. :) XOXO. ~~