Karly was just starting a new pot of coffee when her phone went off. "Hello?" she said

"Hey, good morning." Sidney said

Karly smiled "Good morning to you too. What's up?"

"Not much. Just hanging around. Say, are you busy?" Sidney asked

"No, actually. Why?" Karly asked

"Well I was wondering if you wanted to go ice skating with me at the arena." Sidney said

"I'd love to, Sid." Karly replied

"Great! I'll be over in a little bit, OK?" he said excitedly

Karly giggled "Okay. See you in a bit."

"Yup." he replied. Karly smiled and hung up. She quickly put her hair in a messy bun, brushed her teeth and put on her shoes. Before she knew it, there was a light knock on the door. She answered it and was greeted by Sidney's smiling face under a Steeler's cap. "Hello!" he said

"Hey." Karly said

"Are you ready to go?" he asked

Karly nodded "Yep."

Sidney smiled, took her hand and lead her to his Range Rover. "So, I hope you don't mind, but some of the guys will be there too." he said. 'The guys', meaning the team, Karly thought. She all of a sudden felt really nervous. Sidney must of sensed this, because he gave her hand a squeeze "Don't worry. They're very welcoming."

Karly smiled "I'm just nervous about meeting your friends."

"Why's that?" Sidney asked

"Well...they're your friends. I mean friends approval means everything and I don't want to screw things up with us." Karly said. Shit, Karly thought. She said 'us'.

Sidney smiled "Us. I like the sound of that."

Karly looked at him and smiled "You do?"

Sidney looked down at his feet and his cheeks reddened "Yeah...I mean, I kinda like you and stuff."

"I kinda like you too." Karly replied

Sidney smiled "Well, glad that's been established. So let's go to the arena."

Karly laughed "Let's" she said getting into his car.

The drive to the arena in Pittsburgh was rather long. Karly and Sidney just chatted like the normally did about random things, the conversation never died. That's what Karly like about Sidney, they could always find something to talk about. Before Karly knew it, Sidney was pulling into the back parking lot of Mellon Arena. "Welcome to Mellon Arena. Home of the Penguins." he announced

Karly hopped out of his car and smiled "Nice arena."

Sidney laughed "Yeah. So come on inside." Karly smiled and followed Sidney inside. He lead her down the halls to a small room with skates all along shelves "Shoe size?" he asked

"8." Karly replied. Sidney smiled and handed her a pair of skates.

"Those should fit right. They may be a little snug, but you want skates tight so they don't slip." Sidney said lacing up a pair of skates for himself "And if you need help with the laces...just ask."

Karly smiled at the way he perfectly laced up his skates and she slipped on her own skates and laced them. "Is this right?" she asked

Sidney smiled "Perfect. Now you just gotta be careful walking in them. Skating is easy. Walking in skates...not so much."

Karly laughed "I know. " she said standing up.

Sidney smiled "So have you skated before?" he asked leading her to the ice

"Yes, actually. In high school, we had a hockey team...my friend dated like the entire team." Karly said

Sidney laughed "Wow...I bet that was...entertaining." he said

Karly laughed "Oh it was."

"Do you still talk to her?" Sidney asked

Karly shook her head "Not really. She moved away after we graduated...she was one of the only true friends I had in Cali. Actually, she ended up moving because she married one of the players. I saw her at my parents funeral, but things aren't the same."

"I'm sorry." Sidney said

"It's OK, Sid." Karly said as Sidney stopped. They walked out to the benches where the players skated out.

"Sidney!!!" a guy called out. Karly noticed he was Sidney's height, had really blue eyes and a distinctly French accent

"Hey, Maxime!" Sidney greeted the other as he came skated over

"You must be Karly. I'm Max Talbot." Max said smiling

"Hey. It's nice meeting you." Karly said

Max smiled "Well, did we come here to chat or to skate?" he said skating off

Sidney smiled "That was Max." he said stepping onto the ice

Karly laughed "He seems nice." she replied following him

Sidney nodded "Let me introduce you to the others." he said skating over to a small gropu of players "Hey guys, this is Karly."

"Nice to finally meet you, Karly. Sid talks about you all the time. I'm Brooks, by the way." Brooks said. Sidney blushed and Brooks laughed.

A tall blonde reached his hand out to her "Jordan Staal. Nice meeting you." Jordan said

Karly shook his hand "Karly."

"Tyler Kennedy." the last guy said with a smile

"It's nice meeting you all." Karly said

"You haven''t met all of us yet. Shes coming to the party tonight, right, Sid?" Max said

"I haven't asked, yet." Sidney replied

"Asked what?" Karly said looking at Sidney smiling

"Well...the team is having a party and I'd like it if you came." Sidney asked

"Sure that sounds like fun!" Karly replied

Max did a fist pump "Yes! Now the party won't be lame."

Karly smiled Sidney's friends where just as nice as he was and she knew that night would be great.