Baggage Claim

Brooke sat on Vero’s couch in-between her and Taylor watching the boys currently down 3-0 in the first five minutes of the third period against the Sens. They were playing terribly and hadn’t capitalized on any of their power plays. She had been silently watching as the other two talked and chimed in at times when her response was needed but other than that her mind was elsewhere. She had said her goodbyes to everyone at the hospital that afternoon since her semester was over and it had been an emotional day. She was sad to be leaving, having enjoyed her time there so much and knew that this was one of the most amazing opportunities that she got to be a part of in her life. She had a hard time saying goodbye to Kayla and they promised to stay in touch knowing that Brooke would be back to visit. Dr. Leviey had pulled her into his office before she left that afternoon.
…
“Brooke I just want to say that it’s been a pleasure having you here with us and I want to offer you a position here for your residency after you’re done your last semester,” He said sitting on the front of his desk while Brooke sat in a chair in front of him. She was shocked to say the least and was at a loss for words.

“Wow, thank you sir,” Brooke said smiling.

“No thanks necessary, you’ve shown me that you have a lot of talent and you’re amazing with the patients. I would be very happy to have you in my practice and we all know that I’m going to have to retire someday and I can’t think of anyone else that I’d feel more comfortable giving this,” he said motioning around his office with his hands, “ to more than you once that day comes. You’ve proven to be a great student and I’m sure work ethic is going to be the same once you’re practicing medicine on your own.” Brooke couldn’t believe what he was saying. She loved working under him and loved learning everything he had taught her but she never thought in a million years that she would ever hear him say anything along these lines. She would love to work for him, getting to learn every trick and special techniques that he had used over the years. She knew how lucky she was to be able to learn under him for the semester, but working under him, or working with him during her career was something she couldn’t imagine. She knew she had a stupid huge grin on her face but she didn’t care. She wanted him to know how much this meant to her and how serious she was about this opportunity he was offering her.

“I would be more than honored to come and work her for you, thank you so much,” She was standing now with her hand outstretched in front of her and Dr. Leviey chuckled as he took it in his own.

“Enjoy your holiday’s Brooke and also enjoy your last semester. Try and take in as much as you can because once you step off that stage at graduation everything comes at you like a tidal wave and I promise you that it will be both the most stressful and amazing time of your life.”
…
“Well they’re not going to be the happiest men when they get home,” Vero stated pulling Brooke back into the living room. She refocused on the television and saw that the game had ended with the pens losing 5-0. It definitely wasn’t how the guys wanted to finish before going into the holiday break but it would be put behind them once they got back. Brooke let out deep breath and rubbed her face before looking at her phone to see what time it was. She was exhausted but she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep since she hadn’t slept the past couple of nights.

“Are you feeling okay?” Taylor asked, putting a hand on Brookes shoulder. She shook her head saying no and took a deep breath resting her head on the back of the couch.

“I just have a really big headache after everything today,” She said giving Taylor a weak smile.

“I’ll get you some water,” she said before getting up from the couch and headed to the kitchen. Vero smiled at Taylor as she walked in front of the coffee table and turned back to Brooke once she had left the room.

“What’s going on? Is it Sidney?” Vero asked.

“I haven’t slept very well the past couple nights and it’s hard not being able to be with him,” She said emphasizing the last part. Vero nodded her head and continued listening. “I don’t mean sex or anything but I mean just having him hold me, and as weird as it sounds but just the smell of him calms me down. I just feel like he’s completely vanished from my life in the past five days but I can still physically see him.” Brooke could feel her eyes start to well up with tears and Vero started to say something but Taylor re-entered the room. She handed Brooke the glass and sat down next to her.

“You know,” Vero started to say and Brooke turned to look at her with wide eyes, not wanting Vero to say anything that would let Taylor know what they were talking about. “I think it’s tough not being able to have something you want, like how you want to stay at this hospital and it’s still sitting right there but you can’t have it. But you’ll be back one day and you’ll get to experience it all over again and it will be just as amazing and everything you remember it to be in the first place.” Brooke nodded, understanding what she was getting at but like anyone knows, words only help so much sometimes. Taylor sat there looking at the two of them with a confused look on her face and Brooke tried to cleared it up.

“Just feeling a little sad about today being my last day at the hospital. You ready to go?” She asked as the three stood up from the couch. Taylor nodded and walked over to grab their coats from the entry way and handed Brookes’ to her.
“So when are you going back to Baltimore?” Vero asked as they were putting their shoes on. Brooke blanched.

“Aren’t you going back on the fourth?” Taylor asked. Brooke nodded in agreement not really knowing what her plans were yet.

“Well we’ll have to go out for lunch before you leave and Taylor,” She said pulling her in for a hug, “You have to send me picture of your prom dress once you get it! I’ll also be expecting a whole bunch of pictures from the actual day.” She said squeezing her.

“You’ll get them, I promise,” she said pulling some hair back behind her ear. Brooke smiled at her, knowing that all she had been talking about for the past couple of days was her dress and her date. Vero and Brooke hugged quickly before the two headed out the door into the cold evening.
…..

“Well I’m just going to head up to bed,” Taylor said as they walked in the front door and Brooke punched in the security code. “Mom and Dad are getting here pretty early and I’m excited to see them.”

“Alright, I’ll see you in the morning,” Brooke said smiling at Taylor as she ascended up the stairs. Brooke walked into the kitchen and turned the lights on hunting for a tea bag to make herself something to drink. While she waited for the water to boil she ran upstairs to change into a pair of roots sweatpants and her old baseball Henley. She heard her cell phone ping as she made her way back toward the kitchen and looked to it sitting on the counter. It was from Sidney and she smiled seeing his name on the screen.

Sidney: I’ll be home around 3.

It was short and nothing to get excited about but Brooke had butterflies non-the-less. She knew he was angry about the game and she wished that there were something that she could do to help him. She frowned slightly as she put her phone down and took the kettle off the burner once the water was boiled and poured it into her mug. She let the bag sit for a little bit before she turned back to her phone.

Brooke: I’ll probable still be up. I’m sorry about your game but I miss you and can’t wait to see you once you get home. <3

She stood against the counter looking out the back deck door watching the light snow that had started to fall as she sipped on her tea. She remembered when she was still in high school and her and her best friend had gone to the local outdoor skate pad in Cole Harbor where a whole bunch of their friends went almost every night in the winter. Once the ice was ready to skate on they would be out there until about one in the morning when the lights finally all turned off and they couldn’t see each other anymore.
…
“I think Kyle is back in town,” Andy said as she pulled into the parking lot of the rink.

“Oh? You don’t think he stayed in Denver over the break?” Brooke asked as she pulled on her toque and zipped up her coat. Kyle was two years older than them and Andy had had a thing with him the summer before he left to go the University of Denver on a hockey scholarship.

“No, and that’s his car right there, next to…” he started to trail off as Brooke looked in the direction of his car. Right next to it was Trina’s Jetta, one that had been parked in her driveway only one day earlier.

“Obviously Sid is back in town too,” Brooke said as she got out of the car and grabbed her skate bag from the back seat.

“You’re not going to start a brawl with him, are you?” Andy asked, laughing and their situation.

“No, I’m not even going to acknowledge his existence,” Brooke said walking up to a bench and sitting down to tie her skates. The last time she saw Sidney was at the lake house at the end of the summer and they had gotten into a fight ever single day they were there. She had finally begged her mom enough to let her go home by herself for the last two days so she didn’t have to deal with him anymore.

A couple of their friends skated by and waved but she knew that they weren’t going to stop because the guys were on the ice. She saw Sidney down at the other end talking to some of his friends and Kyle was with them too. She looked over to see Andy looking in their direction too and felt bad for her. They had ended things kind of rocky and Andy still had feelings for him. “We don’t have to skate tonight, we can go back to my place or something,” Brooke offered up since she was the one who wanted to come tonight. Andy shook her head and continued to tie up her skates. Once they were both done they got up and made their way onto the ice. Andy wobbled a little bit, still not totally comfortable on the ice but Brooke stayed with her along the boards until she was ready to skate around.

“Hey, did you see who’s here,” their friend Megan said coming to stop right in front of them causing Andy to stumble forward before Brooke caught her. “Crosby,” she said wiggling her eyebrows. Brooke rolled her eyes and smiled at her. Megan had always had the biggest crush on Sidney and Brooke never heard the end of it.

“Well why don’t you go talk to him then,” Brooke said motioning with her hand towards where they were standing. Megan went red and shook her head.

“Not a chance, he’s gotten so much hotter since the summer, it’s hard to believe. But I’ll come find you guys after. Lex went to get us some hot chocolate so I should probably go find her. Later,” she said before skating off to the side of the rink and walking over to the table of girls.

“I honestly wonder how we’re friends with them sometimes,” Andy said shaking her head and laughing. Brooke laughed to wondering the same thing. All their other friends were so into gossip and boys and going out partying where as Brooke had always been into school and Andy had been the same way. They were happier just hanging out in the sweatpants than anything else and that was partly the reason why they were such great friends. Andy had always said that Brooke needed her as an ugly friend to not make her look so shallow because she was so beautiful but Brooke always rolled her eyes and ignored her when she said that. They skated along the boards a little further until Brooke got Andy to come away from the wall with her and they made their way to the opposite end of the rink. The guys were still standing there talking when Brooke looked up to see that Kyle was looking in their direction. He hit Sidney’s arm causing him to look over too and Brooke and him locked eyes. Brooke groaned and took her attention back to Andy who had been looking down at her feet.

“I don’t want to alarm you but I think that Kyle is coming over,” Brooke said feeling the grip of Andy’s hand tighten around her arm before Brooke saw Andy’s skates go out from under her and landed flat on the ice.

“Ow,” Andy said sitting up and rubbing the back of her head. Brooke quickly bent over to check and see if she was okay and to help her back up and when two bodies were quickly at her side.

“Hey, are you okay?” Kyle asked rubbing the back of Andy’s head. She nodded and winced a little as she wiped the ice off her jacket. Brooke looked to he left to see Sidney standing beside her making eye contact with one another. She was sort of surprised to see the guy standing in front of her because he had really changed since the summer. He had let his hair grow out a little bit longer and he no longer had such a baby face. He had grown up and Brooke felt a butterfly start up in her stomach.

“Thanks for catching me Brooke,” Andy had said sarcastically as she scowled at her when Brooke turned back to see she was upright on her skates. Kyle was making sure she wasn’t going to fall and had a hand on her lower back.

“Sorry. You were down before I could reach out for you,” Brooke tried to plead with her friend knowing that she was distracted when it had happened. Andy rolled her eyes and moved a hand to the back of her head once again.

“Well how about you don’t let it happen again,” She said before laughing lightly.

“Why don’t you skate with me, I promise not to let you fall,” Kyle said smiling at her. Brooke didn’t know how Andy was going to react but when she nodded her head she figured everything would be okay. They started skating around the end of the rink and back up the side and Andy looked a lot more stable than she had been with Brooke. Brooke smiled and let out a deep breath realizing that Sidney was still standing beside her.

“Hi,” Brooke said nodding at him slightly.

“Hi,” he said back. They stood there for a few seconds before Brooke felt the need to move.

“Well, bye,” she said waving her hand at him and skating past him up the ice.

“Bye?” she heard him ask as she heard him skating up behind her. He was in stride beside her and she looked over at him.

“Yeah, bye,” Brooke said again trying to insinuate that she wasn’t in the mood to talk to him.

“Why bye?” he asked. He had a little smirk playing on his lips and Brooke glared at him for being annoying.

“Because don’t you have people who actually want to talk to you or who quiet possible for some unknown reason enjoy your company anywhere here?” she asked looking around to see that a whole bunch of girls had their eyes locked on him.

“None that are as fun at making mad as you are,” Sidney said with a full smirk and he moved in front of her to skate backwards so he was facing her.

“Oh, boy lucky me,” Brooke said trying to skate past him but he just moved quicker.

“You are quiet lucky, I mean I didn’t get to fight with anyone for those last couple days of summer so I gotta try and fit them in now,” Sidney said getting Brooke to laugh a little. She hated that she smiled and quickly pulled her lips into a grim line.

“Those were probably the best two days of my summer to be honest, they were completely free of you,” she jabbed back getting a little laugh out of him. It had started to snow and Brooke looked ahead to see that Andy and Kyle had stopped at the other end of the rink. Andy was smiling so she figured that things were going all right.

“Your life is pretty boring then if you sitting at home alone were the best two days of your summer,” He said nudging her side. She got the butterflies again and rolled her eyes. “So how’s school?” Sidney asked shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Uhm it’s alright, what about you? How’s Quebec?” Brooke asked, knowing that he was having an amazing season with his team.

“It’s alright,” he said shrugging his shoulders. Brooke stopped skating and looked at him. He came to a stop a couple feet in front of her and turned around. “What?” He asked looking confused.

“You’re the best player in the league, have the most points and you’re saying that it’s alright,” Brooke said shaking her head and started skating again. Sidney shrugged once again and continued with her.

“For someone who hates me so much you sure know a lot about my life,” Sidney teased causing for Brooke to stop again. She narrowed her eyes at him and could feel him starting to get under her skin.

“No, I don’t,” She said shaking her head.

“What ever you say Brooke, no need to get all worked up over it,” Sidney said letting out a deep breath and shaking his head at her.

“You’re right I do hate you, and the only reason I know any of this is because half of the girls I hang out with wont shut up about you. And if you haven’t remembered our mothers spend a lot of time together so getting away from you and your life is virtually impossible. So have a good night Sidney, and enjoy your life or what ever because I really don’t care about it,” Brooke said before skating past him and over to her bag next to the bench. She hated that he called her out on it because she had kept up with how he had been doing. She would never admit it but deep down she cared. Andy had seen the blow up, along with almost everyone else who had been on the ice and she made her way over the Brooke.

“ ‘No going to acknowledge his existence?’ ” Andy said in a mocking tone.

“Shut it,” Brooke said, still fuming. She threw her skates into her bag and stood once she had gotten her boots on her feet. “Are you leaving now too or should I just walk home?” Brooke asked almost stomping her foot.

“Can you just take a breather while I take off my skates. I’m leaving with you,” Andy said scolding her. “The car is open,” Andy said indicating that Brooke didn’t need to stand there any longer. She walked off to the car and crawled into the passenger side, slamming the door behind her. She let Sidney get to her and she hated that she did. She hated him. Hated him so much that she had been clenching her jaw since she had gotten off the ice. Andy put her stuff in the back seat before she got into the drivers side and started the car. She sat there for a minute and Brooke knew she was going to say something.

“Can I say something without you yelling at me?” Andy asked turning to look at her friend. She had concern written all over her face and she had only seen that once before when Brooke had told her about her dad. She nodded knowing that Andy was probably going to tell her regardless. “It’s more of a question, but do you like him?”

Brooke narrowed her eyes out the front windshield and she could see the guys walking back to their cars. Sidney was opening his door and he stood talking to one of the guys in her class.

“I’m not going to say anything to anyone,” Andy said, letting Brooke know that she knew the answer even if Brooke didn’t want to say it out loud.

“I really hate him.”

“I know you do,” Andy said smiling at her before pulling out of the parking lot.
….

Brooke sat her mug in the sink once she was finished and decided that she wanted to watch a movie. She had flicked through the movies on demand and looked through the Netflix selection not really finding anything that interested her. She knew that Sidney had some movies down stairs in the basement in his entertainment room and she decided she would set up camp down there. She grabbed a couple blankets from the laundry room before heading down the stairs and tossed them on the couch before going to look through the titles. Once she had found a Lord of the Rings movie she popped it in the DVD player and wrapped herself up in the blankets.

She looked at the time on her phone and saw that there was about two hours before Sidney would land and knew that her movie would keep her preoccupied until then. She nuzzled into the blanket and was happy when she found that it smelt like him. This must have been the blanket they had used when they were sleeping on the couch together when Brooke was sick. Sidney had been amazing to her that weekend even when she was being emotional and trying to fight him helping her. She felt a pang of guilt when she thought back to it and also about how she would be leaving shortly. They hadn’t talked about her going back to school or about the offer for Switzerland and she felt awful about the lack of communication but with everything that had been going on lately there really hadn’t been much time. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to stop herself from thinking about it and focus on the movie but she had little luck. She was worried about what was going to happen between them once she left or even once she told him about everything.

She laid there thinking about all the possible ways things could play out and eventually was immersed in the movie. She was startled slightly when she heard her phone ping and looked through the blankets to find it.

Sidney: Just landed, should be home in half an hour if you’re still up.
Brooke: I am :) Just in the basement watching a movie.

She looked at the time and saw that it was ten after three and she wasn’t feeling tired anymore. She was excited to see him and possibly have some time alone with him if he wasn’t too tired. Once the final scene played on the TV screen Brooke got up and put the second movie in and pressed play. She sat there impatiently waiting as she watched the clock on the walk tick as slowly as ever. She let out a huff and realized that it wasn’t going to go any faster by her watching it. she focused her attention back on the TV and not long after she heard the garage door open. She didn’t know whether she should let him be for a few minutes before going up to see him and decided that she would wait for him to come down the stairs. She felt like a little kid waiting to be told she could go down stairs to open her presents for Christmas and was almost bursting at the seems when she heard the door leading to the stairs open. Sidney bounded down the stairs heavily and Brooke turned to look at him still in his dress shirt and tie. “Hey sexy,” Brooke said sitting up on her knees, propping her arms up on the back of the couch where Sidney was standing. He smiled down at her and leaned in to kiss her. He pulled away slightly so he could look in her eyes and rested his hands on her sides.

“Hi,” he said before kissing her again. Brooke wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him as close to her as the couch would let them be. She had miss him, she had missed this over the past few days and she was going to get as much as she could while they were alone. Sidney was the one who pulled away and he stood up and looked over her head to look at the TV. “Lord of the rings, huh?” He asked smiling at her. She nodded at him and smiled. “What are you still doing up?” he asked as he leaned down on the back of the couch. She sat back on her heals and shrugged her shoulders.

“I haven’t been able to sleep lately and I wanted to see you once you got home.”

“Why haven’t you been able to sleep?” Sidney asked with a confused look on his face. Brooke sighed and looked down at her hands.

“Just thinking about a lot of stuff and it sucks not sleeping with my boyfriend,” Brooke said pouting at him. He smiled and walked around to sit down next to her on the couch. Brooke wasted no time and moved so she was straddling him. She leaned down grabbing his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. Sidney rested his hand on her hips, lower them under her butt so he was able to pull her closer to him. She let out a slight moan once they were flush to one another and her tongue slipped into his mouth. Sidney’s hands traveled up under Brooke’s shirt and he rubbed circles into her skin. He pulled away slightly, shocking her and looked into her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked searching her eyes for an indication. She was caught of guard and wasn’t expecting him to ask her.

“N-noting,” she said, eyes widened and lean back to sit on his legs more.

“Brooke, it’s something, please I want to help,” H said giving her a little smile. Her heart broke because he had no clue about the bomb she was about let off between them. She sighed and crawled off of his lap to sit beside him and faced the TV. She could already feel herself getting emotional and knew that it was only going to get worse when she said the words out loud.

“Why don’t we talk about it in the morning, you’re obviously tired after the game and it’s almost four,” Brooke said standing and trying to stall.

“Brooke, what is it?” Sidney said standing up and grabbing her hand so she wouldn’t walk towards the stairs. She turned to look and him and bit her lip.

“I’m going to Switzerland for the semester and I leave on the first.”
……

Brooke jolted awake when she heard the door slam. Her head was immediately pounding and she sat up in her bed to grab the Advil from her nightstand drawer. “Of course,” she said looking into the drawer and seeing that there was no bottle to be found. She knew exactly where it was. Sitting on the bedside table in Sidney’s room almost taunting her as to say that she deserved to be in pain and out of reach of any sort of relief. She rubbed her eyes, feeling that they were still a little puffy from the lack of sleep and the intense amount of tears that she had cried before finally falling asleep at six. She picked up her phone to see that it was only quarter after nine and she was happy that she didn’t have to go into the hospital. But she was going to have to deal with him.

Brooke got out of bed and decided the best thing for her to do was take a shower and that it might help clear her mind and wake her up. When she reached out for the door handle she hesitated knowing that he could be out there and she really didn’t know what she would do if she saw him. Should she say something or just keep to herself. she really didn’t know how to go about handling this but took a deep breath and headed out before she locked herself in her until her plane left for the other side of the world.
…..

“Would you stop slamming everything in your path?” Taylor said as she walked up behind Sidney in the kitchen. He took a deep breath before turning around and saw her hair sticking up all over the place. He thought she looked like she did when she was seven and would wake up with her hair plastered everywhere.

“Are you going to go pick mom and dad up looking like that?” Sidney asked, returning to look in his cupboards for a coffee mug.

“Brooke’s in the shower so I was just coming down to ask you when we were leaving. What are you looking for?” Taylor asked hopping up on one of the bar stools.

“A coffee mug,”Sid said, a little more aggressive than needed but hearing her name didn’t help things. Taylor hopped down and walked over the cupboard containing the mugs and pulled one down for him. She looked at him quizzically as he took it from him crossed her arms across her chest.

“Did you just move in here? Or did you hit your head last night?” Taylor asked sounding a bit concerned once she asked. Sidney sighed as he poured the coffee into his mug and turned to look back at his sister.

“No, I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and I just have a lot on my mind,” He said pulling the mug up to his lips.

“Oh, yeah I guys you have a lot to think about with the game last night, it was rough,” She said wincing when she thought back to it. the game was the farthest thing from his mind at the moment but he nodded his head in agreement. “Why don’t I go pick mom and dad up and you sleep?” Taylor said grinning like an idiot. She loved driving Sidney’s truck and jumped at any chance to drive it. He stood there for a minute looking at her and just continued drinking his coffee. “Sid, I’ve been to the airport loads of times. I know how to get there. You know I’ve never been in an accident. Please. Let be the best little sister,” she said causing Sidney to laugh slightly. he was about to say yes when Brooke wandered into the kitchen. Her hair was wet and hanging down her back and she was dressed in a sweater and jeans. He could tell she hadn’t slept much either last night and her eyes were puffy from the crying. He froze when he saw her and could feel his anger from earlier that morning returning.

“Go have a shower and get ready, we’ll leave when you’re done,” He said to Taylor causing for her face to fall.

“Fine,” she said rolling her eyes and headed out of the kitchen. “He’s grumpy this morning so watch out,” She said to Brooke as she passed. Brooke nodded her head and watched Taylor’s retreating figure leave the room. When she turned back to look at Sidney, he had his eye trained on her. He didn’t know what he wanted to say and he didn’t know if he wanted her to say anything either but he knew they both couldn’t stay silent forever. He turned around to put his mug in the sink for something to do and he leaned against the sink facing away from her.

“Sixteen,” he heard Brooke say and turned around to look at her.

“What?” he asked not really sure what she was talking about or if he had even heard her correctly.

“Sixteen,” she said again taking a step towards him. “Sixteen was how old I was when I realized I had feelings for you. You were home from Quebec and we saw each other at the skating rink and you gave me butterflies.” He remembered. He remembered because all the guys were telling him about how hot she had gotten over the summer and how they all wanted to get with her. He felt irritated and protective because she was Brooke, the girl he fought with all the time and the girl that he had grown up with and didn’t see her that way…Until she showed up at the skating rink. “ Eighteen, the year I realized I wanted to be a doctor, and the year that all your dreams started to come true so I forget about you,” She said taking another step closer to him. Sidney tensed hearing that from her. “Twenty-five, they year that I feel so deeply and utterly in love with you that I didn’t even know was possible,” Brooke said starting to tear up. He hated seeing her cry and it hurt his seeing her like this. She was standing in front of him at this point and he reached out for her hand.

“It’s also the year that you decided I wasn’t important enough to you let yet, our that you weren’t completely sold on us to tell me about this program Brooke and then actually take it,” He said looking her straight in the eyes. Tears streamed down her face as he said that. She felt her heart crumble into a billion pieces and she knew that he was going to start to block her out.

“That’s not it at all,” Brooke said shaking her head. He looked down at his feet stretched out in front of him and let out a deep breath.

“Then what is it Brooke because it sure seems like you don’t care that you’re going to Switzerland and didn’t even tell me about the offer or talk about it like we were even together. I don’t know about you but I’ve never told anyone ‘I love you’ so much and felt so strongly from them than I do about you. And that means something to me,” He said raising his voice slightly but lowering it knowing that Taylor was only upstairs.

“Sidney, I love you so much, so so much and I’m so sorry but I made a mistake in not telling you. I understand that. But I needed to make this decision for myself and I figured that you of all people would understand that,” she said taking her hand from his. She stepped away from him, feeling like he slapped her. “Putting your career first. Going after your dreams. This is the most amazing opportunity that could possibly be offered to me and you’re making me feel bad for taking it.”

“I’m not making you feel bad about it, you put yourself in that situation all by yourself,” Sidney said almost yelling. He was fuming. He felt like someone had taken everything away from him in that moment and he didn’t know how to get it back. He looked at Brooke and the look on her face told him that he had fucked up. “Brooke, I-” Sidney started to say before he caught sight of someone standing in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, but I was just coming to say that I’m ready when you are,” Taylor said very quietly from behind them. “I’ll just wait outside,” She said walking back out of the room. Brooke shook her head and started to walk back out of the room.

“We’re not done with this,” Sidney said causing for her to stop. He didn’t just mean their fight.

“You wanna bet Sid?” she said before walking away.
….
Sidney pulled into the parking garage and parked his truck since they were a bit early getting there. He had driven like a manic there and by passed a lot of the Christmas traffic. He turned the truck off and rested his head against the headrest.

“Who else knows?” Taylor asked turning to look at him. They hadn’t talked the entire drive but he knew she heard the majority of their fight and knowing that they weren’t just two people living under the same room.

“Marc, Vero and her friend from work I’m pretty sure,” He said letting out sigh. He looked down at the keys in his hands and didn’t really know what to do.

“You know I wont say anything,” she said reaching across and squeezed his forearm. He nodded his head and pulled tight smile across his lips. “but is it too soon to say that I’m really happy about it?”

“I don’t think there’s anything to be happy about anymore Tay,” Sidney said realizing that it was most likely true.

“I don’t think so Sidney, I think you need to talk, with out mom and dad there obviously, but I think you know what you need to say,” She said leaning agaist her door and pushing it open. He looked after her as she made her way out of the truck. He did know what he needed to say to Brooke but the question was whether or not she was going to let him say it.
……

“Is Brooke working or is she going to be home? I can’t wait to see her,” Trina said as they were all getting out of the truck. They had gone out for a late breakfast before coming back to the house where they had pretty much avoid the topic of Brooke all together.

“Uh, she should be upstairs but she wasn’t feeling to well this morning so I don’t know if she’s sleeping or not,” Sidney said pulling their bags out of the trunk trying to avoid eye contact. He was the worst liar when it came to his parents and really wasn’t in the mood to explain this one.

“Mom, I can’t wait for you to see the dress she helped me pick out, we have to go and get it this afternoon!” Taylor said pulling her mom in the direction of the house. Sidney was happy for Taylor stepping in and followed behind them with her bag.

“Alright alright, we’ll go once I see her, let’s check to see if she wants to come,” Trina said getting through the entry way.

“I’ll go and check and see if she’s upstairs,” Sidney said heading up the stairs with the two bags. “Can you make sure dad isn’t changing thing around in the garage,” Sidney asked seeing that he hadn’t followed in behind them.

“Yes, yes,” his mom said waving her hand at her son. He smiled and headed the rest of the way up the stairs, setting their bags in front of their guest bedroom and walked back to Brookes. Her door was closed and he took a deep breath before knocking. There was no answer so he knocked again before opening the door and looking inside. He was expecting to she her sleeping in the bed but was surprised when she wasn’t there. Nothing was there. None of her stuff was sitting on the dressers and there were no clothes in her hamper. He walked farther into the room and opened the closet to see that there was only a pair of running shoes and one of the jersey’s he had given to her to wear to one of his games. He quickly took note that it wasn’t the one he had given to her for her birthday but it still didn’t make him feel any better. He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed her number waiting for her to pick up. When her voicemail started to play Sidney hung up and sat on her bed.

She was gone.

Notes