Reunited

Shea woke up in a dizzy of sweats. She hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep on the couch, while watching a special on Sidney's upcoming wedding. She reached for the remote and turned the tv off, before realizing that what had just happened was, in fact, all a dream.

I would never do that, Shea thought to herself. She was right. Standing up at a wedding and confessing her love for the groom, probably wasn't her style. But the dream did have her wondering if maybe her heart was trying to tell her something. Like maybe "tell him you love him before it's too late" or maybe just "don't let him marry her."

I dreamt up a whole week, Shea thought thinking back on her dream. She never confessed her love, Sidney's teammates never came over to her house, and most importantly the wedding never happened.

"Shea you have to start packing for Pittsburgh," Elizabeth yelled from the kitchen.

That's right, Shea thought, the wedding's in Pittsburgh.

Everything made sense to her now, or at least she thought everything made sense. Rattled by the dream, she shoved it into the back of her mind and walked outside. She had been left with a painful headache, and without the answer as to what "dream Sidney" would of said to "dream Shea" after confessing her love to him. Nevertheless she walked down to the mailbox, reached in and pulled out many different assortments of envelopes and magazines. She riffled though the mail until she reached an envelope with her name on it. She flipped it over.

She read over the return address: Rosemount High School. Shea looked back at the name on the envelope, thinking that the letter wasn't meant for her, but there it was, Shea Anderson printed on the front. She walked back up the driveway, scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion.

When had I applied for a teaching job?

She rushed inside and threw the rest of the mail on the entry counter. She didn't even bother going upstairs to her room to open the envelope.

Ms. Shea Anderson,

We were ecstatic to receive a recommendation from Mr. Phillip regarding your psychological education. He told us you were an excellent student and would be wonderful as a High School Counselor. We know you never applied for the job personally, but if you're ever in Pittsburgh, give us a ring. We'd love to show you what we offer!

Sincerely,

Principal Reese Mattews

Rosemount High School
Pittsburgh, PA

Shea was beyond confused. She knew she had never applied for a job at a high school, but that gosh darn old Mr. Phillips was too good to be true. She had never thought about being a school counselor, but a psych degree allowed it, and since she hadn't heard back from any of the others places she had applied to, Shea gave Rosemount a call.

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"Now where do you want that Andy guy to sit?"

Sidney had been staring at a seating chart for the past four hours, and now he was starting to realize that other than his family, friends from Cole Harbour, and teammates, he knew nobody at his own wedding. But he knew it wasn't the right time to bring up just how many guests Brooke had invited. Other than cake tasting, Sidney hadn't been involved in anything regarding the wedding. If he had actually cared, he might of been a little bit hurt. But now all he had a was a headache from staring at one piece of paper for too long.

Brooke sighed, "Alright we'll put him here." Sidney watched as Brooke put him where everybody from Cole Harbour had found their way to, the back of the room. Sidney made a mental note to move the tables around so they were at the front of the room. Brooke picked up another piece of paper, "Oh I suppose we don't need this." Sidney looked at the name on the paper.

Shea Anderson.

"Why don't you need that?" Sidney asked confusion written all over his face. As far as he knew Shea had been planning on coming to the reception.

"I was gonna put her outside, with the trash."

Sidney was furious. More furious than losing a Stanley Cup, he was aggravated. He knew Brooke didn't like Shea, but Sidney did. And ever since Sidney and Brooke started dating it was all about what Brooke wanted, well Sidney was getting pretty damn tired of it. He wanted Shea front row and center, not "outside with the trash."

He pushed out his chair and started to walk towards the door, "Oh Sidney I was kidding, calm down." Sidney turned around to see Brooke following him.

"No you weren't Brooke," Sidney said this with such a stern tone that it almost frightened Brooke. She decided not to push it, so she walked back to the kitchen and started to put the rest of the guests at tables. Sidney pushed open the door and walked down the porch stairs before sitting down. He could almost see Shea's house from his, and he wanted desperately to see her, but if he left Brooke he knew he would get an earful later. So he stayed where he was. Pondering things from "Should I go get a beer?" to "Should I call off the wedding?"

He had been with happy with Brooke for the past year. She pleased him, but seeing Shea and feeling what she does to him, made him question everything. He didn't want to hurt Brooke, but what if he already knew what his decision was between Brooke and Shea.

It's a little late now asshole.

Sidney wasn't in the mood to fight with himself. He was flying to Pittsburgh later that night, and overseeing the final productions of the wedding. The wedding was in two days, some guests had already arrived in Pittsburgh, but Sidney wouldn't be coming back to Cole Harbour after the wedding, so he wanted a little more time at home.

Sidney could hear Brooke calling his name to help her with Jake Erickson, a kid from school. He sat up just enough to the point where he could see Shea at the mailbox. She was wearing an old shirt that he had given her quite some time ago. He was surprised it still fit. He was about to go over and talk to her, but Brooke was nagging now, and if she came outside while he was talking to Shea, well he would leave it at Shea not being able to attend the wedding. So he brushed off his pants and walked back into his house.

Little did he know Shea was receiving news that would tear him apart.
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"London?!?" Shea said screaming into her phone. After she had hung up with Rosemount High School she had gotten a call from a research facility in London. They were offering her a job to come research depression and anxiety all within the mind in London. Which in her eyes was better than helping snotty kids make decisions about their future.

"Yes ma'am. We obviously still need to interview you, but to save expenses we could just do it over the computer."

Shea nodded her head before realizing they couldn't see her, "Absolutely." She quickly logged onto Skype, giving the facility her username, which she wasn't too proud of. Before long she was seeing London through the window of the facilities offices. She was asked basic questions about her major and her schedule. They seemed all too pleased with Shea, and at the end of the call offered her a position. She was ready to scream and yell "Yes" but she wanted to give Rosemount a chance.

Maybe she would stand up at Sidney's wedding and admit to loving him and she would need a job in Pittsburgh, but who knows. She though that was a little crazy anyways.

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Shea's plane landed with a bump and a thud, waking her up in the process. She could see her family around her stirring as well.

Her Captain came on overhead, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have landed at the Pittsburgh International Airport. The current time is 6:07, and the temperature is about 65 degrees. We hope you enjoyed your flight, and we hope to see you soon on another Delta flight.

Shea heard the unbuckling of seat belts and the rummaging of people trying to find their suitcases. Her family was pretty far back in Coach, so she just turned on her phone and waited for the line to disperse to get off the place and start to move. Her phone was beeping and buzzing, all with the news of Sidney's upcoming nuptials. She had tried her best to ignore them, but it was starting to get harder than anticipated.

Shea looked up from her phone to see Jason and Mike stepping out into the aisle to grab their suitcases from the overhead compartments. She followed suit, and started to walk down the narrow aisle, off the plane. She thanked the flight attendants and pilot for flying her and stepped off the stuffy plane. Her family walked through the airport, and towards the rental car place. Shea had only been to Pittsburgh a couple of times, but if it hadn't been for a certain phone call a couple nights before her final decision on where to go to college was made, she might of been an Alumni at UPitt. She thought it was eerily weird that Pittsburgh could of been her home for four years, now it seemed like a whole new place.

Once her family had gotten their rental car, they drove towards the hotel. Shea's parents had gotten their own room, and as usual Shea was stuck on a stupid, squeaky pull out bed since she had no interest in a sharing a bed with either Jason or Mike. All night she tossed and turned hoping that sleep would come to her, but she kept thinking about the wedding tomorrow and the meeting she had at Rosemount High School before she made her final decision. Pittsburgh or London? Or maybe she just went back home and ate all the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream she could since Sidney was going through with the wedding.

Before Shea knew it, it was 8:00 in the morning. She heard several different alarms go off, and since she knew her brothers would steal all the hot water if they showered first, she got off her cardboard bed and ran into the bathroom, beating Jason by just two steps. She did her morning routine, washed her hair, body, face, and teeth, before stepping out of the warm shower to the steamy mirror that lay ahead. She dried her hair into its natural wavy look, and walked back out into the room to find what she was going to wear.

She rummaged through her suitcase, and found a form fitting red dress that showed off her body, and she thought that it wouldn't be bad to have the whole wedding talking about her instead of Brooke. Jason and Mike had taken turns showering and were throwing on their suits. She could hear her moms hairdryer in the next room, before she walked back into the bathroom to do her makeup. She kept it light and fluffy, that way if she cried, she wouldn't have to clean much up. She put on some red lipstick, fluffed up her hair, and walked back into the room to throw on her black heels. She knew the school would be rattled as to why she looked so fancy for an interview, but hopefully it would shorten the process if she told them she had somewhere to be.

She walked into her parents room and told them to chop chop. Within the next five minutes the gang was heading towards the school and parking. Shea told them it shouldn't take too long, and she was right. Within ten minutes she was walking back out, she had of course gotten the job, but that made everything all the more confusing.

Her family drove towards the Botanic Garden where the wedding was being held, before long Shea would see all Sidney's teammates drinking bear out of the back of a car.

Deja Vu, Shea thought, laughing to herself. Her family parked, and started to walk towards the entrance of the garden.

Neal stopped her, "Hey Anderson! You got a plan?" Shea chuckled, if only he knew.

She shook her head, "Gonna watch my best friend get married, You?" James' face fell, he offered her a beer. She thought that maybe she could you the liquid courage since her legs felt like jelly underneath her.

"I got a question for you James."

"Go for it," James said taking another sip of his beer, finishing it off.

"Lets say theoretically there was a girl with a past involving the groom, and she got two job offers. One where he lived for most of the year, and one halfway around the world. Would you include him in the decision process?" James had gotten confused halfway through the question, but he had an answer.

"Shea if you don't tell him you're taking a job halfway across the world, you'd be making a mistake."

Shea raised her eyebrows up, "How did you know I was taking that job?"

"You wouldn't be asking the question if you weren't."

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Shea knocked on Sidney's dressing room door. Shea heard a faint "Come in." She twisted the door handle to see a struggling Sidney.

"I can't get this damn thing right!" Shea could tell he was nervous, his hands were shaking and he was perspiring, but only slightly. Shea chuckled before walking over and pushing his hands away from the awful bow tie he had chosen to wear.

"You never did know how to tie a tie." Sidney smiled before looking down at Shea's hands twisting and turning the fabric between her nimble fingers. It was Brooke's idea for him to wear a bow tie, for what reason, he had no clue. Shea finished tying the tie and turned Sidney around to look at himself in the mirror. "Now I prefer a tie, but it's your decision." Sidney walked over to the chair where he had brought an extra black tie just incase he hated the bow tie. And as usual Shea was right, he hated the bow tie. He handed the black satin tie to Shea and watched her untie the bow tie and throw the tie around his neck.

"I have to tell you something Sidney." Sidney looked back down into Shea's eyes. He could tell she was holding something back, why he hadn't picked up on before this moment, he didn't know. But nevertheless he nodded his head, telling Shea to keep going. "I was going to write it in a letter and not come to the wedding. Despite popular belief, it's going to be hard to see you vow your love and life to someone who isn't me, but luckily I won't have to see it and you deserved better than a letter." Shea was still fidgeting with the tie. "I got a job offer… in London." Sidney, stared wide-eyed, hoping, praying, that she was just kidding, but her eyes started to fill up with moisture. "I took it." Shea finished tying the tie and stepped away from Sidney.

"Shea no--"

"Sidney you can't change my mind. If that's what you were even going to do. I made up my mind, and it's the right thing for me to do. I can't pretend that I'm not in love with you anymore Sid. Because I never stopped loving you, probably never will actually, but I need to try. And you need to get married, and live your life. And we need to forget about each other." Shea could feel tears start to run down her cheeks, she tasted the salt, but she kept going. "Maybe I'll come back and see that game you promised me huh?" Sidney reached out and cupped Shea's cheek she put her hand over his and fell into it. She could of sworn she saw some tears fall down from Sidney's eyes, but her blurry eyes made her see things. "I wish you luck in all you do Sid, really." Shea reached up and cupped Sidney's cheek in her hand this time and leaned in to give him a goodbye kiss. It was short, and quick, but sweet and full of all the love flowing between the two in the moment, and in moments past. She backed away and started for the door, hoping that Sidney would yell "stop" or "don't go" but when she turned around to wave goodbye, he was just standing there, still as a statue.

Shea opened the door and quickly closed it behind her. Sidney was still standing there, in the exact same spot, still in shock, hoping that maybe she would come back.

He was still standing there when he said, "But I love you Shea."

She never heard it.

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Shea didn't know how she would get back to the hotel to catch the flight to New York then to London that the research center had payed for to take, but she needed to leave and leave fast. She would call her parents and friends and explain later, but she needed to get out of there before her heart stopped beating and completely ripped into two.

She started to walk down to the bus stop, where she pulled out her phone and called a taxi. She waited until her ride came, all the while thinking about if she was making a mistake, but no sign came to tell her to go back.

Not even a phone call.

So Shea sat on the edge of the street, waiting for the car to whisk her away to her future, all the while yearning for the past.

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Shea had slept the quick trip from Pittsburgh to New York, it was the only thing she could do to keep from crying. She had called her parents from the taxi, they had told her the wedding hadn't started, but when she told them her news they understood. They were quite proud of her actually, for realizing things stop hurting once you let them. She told her brothers to come visit, and oddly enough Jason booked a flight for a week after the wedding, knowing full well he would love London.

She got off the plane and wheeled her suitcase to the bar, she quickly ordered a Margarita, feeling sorry for herself and needing to drown her issues. She downed the first one ordering a second. Her flight to London wasn't for another three hours, so she needed things to do. She bought a magazine and read it, she watch a football game at the bar, she even eye flirted with a cute guy before realizing he was no Sidney.

No Shea, stop that.

Shea knew it was going to take a lot to get over Sidney, and being half way across the world might just make her miss him more, but he was getting married and would be starting a family, and if he didn't have time for her when he first started his career in the NHL, he sure as hell wouldn't have time for her now.

Shea took her phone out of her purse and quickly dialed Kelsey's number. She knew that Kelsey would be the only one to tell Shea the truth about how amazing the wedding was, and how happy Sidney looked.

She answered on the first ring, "Where the hell have you been?" She sounded anxious.

"Waiting for a plane to London."

Kelsey gasped, "You what?!?"

Shea chuckled at her friend, "I'll explain later. How was the wedding?" The other line went eerily quiet. Almost a little too quiet. Shea thought Kelsey had hung up until she heard her friends uneven breaths. "It's okay Kels. It can take it." Still no answer. Shea was starting to get worried.

Kelsey finally replied, "You haven't heard?"

Shea looked confusedly at her Margarita in front of her, "Heard what?"

Kelsey let out a deep breath before replying.

"Sidney didn't go through with the wedding."

Notes

Sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chapter and this cliffhanger, but I love you guys. And just incase you didn't get it the whole standing up and sharing her love for Sidney at the wedding was a dream. Hope you guys aren't too mad it wasn't real.

xoxo