Baggage Claim

Sidney woke up sprawled out over his bed with the blanket covering his still naked body. The lighting in the room was beginning to become darker and Sid knew that he had slept longer than he had wanted too. He looked around to notice that Brooke was nowhere to be found and frowned. Sid sat up in his bed and looked to see that his clothes were no longer thrown on the floor, but were folded and sitting on top of his dresser across from his bed. He got up and found a pens shirt that he quickly threw on along with some work out shorts and headed off to find her.

Once he made it downstairs, Sid could smell something delicious coming from the kitchen and went to see what Brooke was making.

When he walked into the kitchen Brooke had her back to him, standing over the stove. She had her hair puled back into a high ponytail and she had her glasses on. She was wearing an oversized shirt and a pair of very short sleeping short that made Sidney take a deep breath. “Hey,” Sid said, making it known that he was there. Brooke turned around with a spoon in her hand and smiled shyly at him. Sidney noticed that the shirt she was wearing was one of his and he smiled looking at it. Brooke followed his eyes and looked down at her chest, noticing what he was looking at. “Nice shirt,” He said smirking and walking over to see what she had on the stove.



“Oh, yeah, uhm I hope it’s okay that I borrowed it, I kind of just threw it on when I got up,” Brooke said blushing as she watched him walk over to her. He smiled at her as he stood beside her, finding the reddening of her cheeks cute.



“It’s fine, it looks good,” Sid said smiling at her. Brooke relaxed a bit and smiled turning back to the pasta she was cooking. “Smells good, what are you making?” Sid asked looking over her shoulder to see what was in the pots.



“Just some pasta and sauce. I also grilled some chicken stuffed with cheese and asparagus so it’s just staying warm in the oven,” Brooke said while she dipped the spoon into the sauce and tried a little bit. “Wanna try?” Brooke asked as she held the spoon out to Sidney. He moved forward, allowing for Brooke to keep hold of the spoon and tasted the sauce. Sid’s eyes widened once he tasted it.



“That’s pretty good, what happened to you not knowing how to cook,” Sidney asked taking the spoon from her and eating the rest of the sauce, smirking at her. Brooke swatted his stomach and Sidney flinched away as he chuckled at her.



“As a matter of fact, I’m a great cook, it just took a lot of practice and a little bit of teaching,” Brooke said grabbing the spoon back from him and turning the burners off. She grabbed the strainer from the counter and put it in the sink before she brought the pot containing the cooked pasta over to empty it. Sidney stood there against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest watching Brooke as she worked and shook his head. When they were growing up, she was lucky if she knew how to cook scrambled eggs let alone a dinner for two people and he was impressed. Brooke took the chicken out from the oven and placed it on top of the cooling wrack sitting on the counter and Sidney’s stomach growled with hunger. “Are you going to trust my cooking and eat with me or are you just going to stand there staring?” Brooke asked while putting two plates down on the counter, pulling Sidney from his thoughts.



“I guess I could eat,” Sid said holding his hand out to take his plate from Brooke

.
…



Sidney brought their plates into the kitchen and began loading the dishes into the dishwasher. Brooke followed him in with the rest of the stuff from the kitchen table and started to help him clean up. “Hey, you made dinner, I’ll clean up,” Sidney said taking the dishes out of Brookes hands. Brooke smiled at Sidney, not wanting to argue and ruin the good time the had been having together so she pulled out one of the bar stools and sat in the kitchen while he cleaned up.

“So you never really told me how you learned how to cook,” Sidney said, rinsing one of the pots out.



“I kind of just picked up the basics while I was in university since I had to eat, and fast food just wasn’t all that appealing everyday of the week. And then in my junior year I met a guy who was from France and his father was a cook so one thing lead to another and he taught me some things,” Brooke explained.



“Did you guys date?” Sidney asked.



“Yes,” Brooke said stiffening a bit.



“For how long?”



“Until halfway through my final year of my undergrad,” Brooke answered, wondering where this conversation was heading. Everything had been so easy between them since the afternoon and Brooke was starting to worry that it was fading away.



“Oh,” Sidney said as a reply. He really didn’t want to think about Brooke being with another guy. It made him angrier than it should have but he didn’t want to make it obvious to her.



“I came and watched you play you know,” Brooke said catching Sidney off guard by the change of subject.



“When?” Sidney asked, turning to look at her, leaning up against the counter.



“A couple times actually,” Brooke said getting up to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge. “I went to your games in Washington the year you won the cup, while I was still living in Baltimore. I’ve gone to a couple other games when I’ve had the time. I saw you play in your first game back after your second concussion in Pittsburgh. Other than that, not any notable games,” Brooke said shrugging her shoulders. Sidney looked at her with a small smile on his face.



“And why did you come watch me play?” Sid asked.



“It just felt like the right thing to do I guess, I mean I was kind of dragged to the playoff games, so I really didn’t have much say in those ones, but it was a good series so i didn't mind too much,” Brooke said turning to look at him.



“And what about the game after my concussion. That’s not a cheap flight,” Sidney pointed out.



“It was just my own way of being there for you I guess. I mean we didn’t get along but it scared me when you first got a concussion and then when you had problems the second time, I called your mom a lot to see how you were doing,” Brooke said looking down at her feet. Her own mother never knew about Brooke and Trina talking but that’s because Brooke made her promise not to say anything to anyone.

Sidney closed the distance between them fairly quickly and his lips were on hers. He held on to sides of Brookes face deepening the kiss while Brooke rested her hands on his waist. Brooke pulled away slightly too look up into his eyes, trying to understand what he was thinking but was met with a pair of cloudy eyes. “What was that for?” Brooke asked.



“A thank you,” Sidney said lowering his hands to her sides. Brooke smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him in for a hug. Sidney did the same around her waist and nuzzled into the side of Brookes neck, taking in a deep breath. He knew that he had had feelings for Brooke that he had never wanted to admit before but now, he didn’t seem to be able to hide them anymore. “What is this Brooke?” Sidney asked pulling out of her embrace so he could look at her.



“I don’t know,” Brooke said looking straight ahead at his chest. She shook her head before she spoke again, “ I’m confused about what is going on, and about how I’m feeling towards you and I just don’t know what to say or do, it’s just all so weird I guess,” Brooke said closing her eyes. Sidney let out a deep breath and stepped away leaning against the counter once again. He rubbed his face, suddenly feeling a lot more tired than he had five minutes ago.



“I know what you mean,” he said. “But I want to see where this goes if you do,” He said reaching out to grab her hand and pulling her towards him. She stood in front of him, in between his legs with her hands resting on his arms and looking him in the eyes.



“I think I’d like that,” Brooke said smiling at him.



“Me too,” Sid said smiling back before pulling Brooke in for another kiss. When the pulled appart Brooke rested her hands on Sid’s chest while he rested his on her hips.



“So where too Crosby?”

Notes