Karly was getting ready to go to the Penguins' party with Sidney. When he dropped her off earlier, he said he'd be there at 7:30 to pick her up. Karly was still kind of nervous. Sure she had met a few of the players, but this would be like the whole team, including some of their girlfriends or wives. It was almost 7 and Karly still hadn't decided what to wear. Sidney had told her it was casual, but she didn't want to seem sloppy, but she also didn't want to seem like she was trying to impress anyone. Karly finally found one of her nicer UCLA t shirt, a pair of dark skinny jeans, and some black flats. She applied light make-up and let her hair down, her chestnut brown locks touching her shoulders. Right as soon as she grabbed her purse, there was that knock on her door again. Karly looked at her clock 7:30 on the dot. "Shit...he's punctual." Karly said out loud. She laughed then opened the door.

"Hey! Are you all set?" Sidney asked. He was in a grey shirt, jeans and Reebok tennis shoes. To Karly's surprise, he wasn't wearing a baseball cap. Instead, his messy curls were just loosely hanging right in place.

Karly smile "Sure am."

"You look beautiful. I haven't seen your hair down since we met." Sidney said

Karly felt the heat rush to her cheeks "Thank-you, Sid."

He smiled "I mean you look beautiful either way, but um...I..."

Karly laughed "I know what you meant, Sid."

Sidney smiled even more "Well, we better get going. The guys will worry I'm not coming."

"Okay. So anyways, Sid...can I ask you a serious question?" Karly said

"Uh sure." Sidney replied

"Well...earlier you said you liked me and I was wondering how you meant it..." Karly replied

Sidney smiled "I like you as more than a friend, but I don't want to rush anything and ruin what we could have."

Karly smiled back "I was hoping that's how you meant it...and I'm willing to take things slow too."

"Sounds good to me! Let's head off for some fun." Sidney replied.

"Where is this party at?" Karly asked as Sidney drove off

"Just at one of the conference rooms in the arena." Sidney replied "It's more of a get together than party. Just a few of us getting together to watch a movie."

"Oh so it's not like the whole team?" Karly asked

"No probably not. Brooks, Max, Jordan, and Tyler will be there. Probably Letang and Kunitz too." Sidney replied.

"OK, sweet." Karly replied

Sidney nodded. After a while he pulled into the arena. "Hey, Sid!" a guy said running up to them

"Hey, Kuni! Where's your wife?" Sidney asked

"Oh she stayed home with the little guy. You must be Karly. I'm Chris Kunitz, but you can call me Kuni." Kuni said

"Hi, nice meeting you." Karly said

"Well, let's head inside. For food and a movie." Sidney said

"Hey, you guys came." Max greeted them "Brooks, Fleury, Vero, and I are the only ones here. No one else other than you three is coming."

"What?! TK and Tanger aren't coming?" Kunitz asked

Max shook his head "Tyler's girl is sick and Letang was doing who knows what."

Sidney laughed "You probably don't want to know."

"Sidney!" a dark haired girl greeted

"Hey, Vero! How are you?" Sidney said politely

"I'm good. You must be Karly. I'm Veronique, but you can call me Vero." Vero said smiling

"Nice meeting you." Karly replied

"It's nice having another girl around that isn't Oksana, Malkin's girlfriend or Kelsey, Tyler's girlfriend. You'll probably meet them later." Vero said "So anyways, the boys are probably gunna hockey talk before the movie. You can hang out with me if you want."

Karly looked at Sidney and he gave her a nod "Sure that'd be fun."

"Sweet!" Vero said

"Now that you ladies are introduced. I'm stealing Sid so we can talk hockey." Max said

Vero laughed "Soyez tranquille, Maxime.(Be quiet, Maxime)"

Max laughed "Non! (No)"

Vero rolled her eyes as Max walked away laughing "I'll be back in a bit." Sidney said to Karly with a smile

"OK." Karly replied smiling back

"So Sidney says you used to live in California. I've been there a few times. It's so sunny." Vero said

"It is. Pittsburgh is lovely too. Can I ask you something?" Karly asked

"Sure!" Vero said

"Do you think that Sidney and I could ever be a couple...I mean he said he likes me in that way." Karly said

Vero smiled "I think you're a perfect fit for him and he really seems to like you. I'm so glad he's found a nice girl finally. He's usually so shy around girls, but he seems relaxed with you."

Karly smiled "I really like him too. He's so sweet and easy to be around."

Vero nodded "It's surprising. Most major athletes aren't like him. He and Marc are such good friends. Sid comes over a lot to hang with Marc. He's kind of like a brother to me."

Karly smiled "You know, I think you and I can become good friends."

"Oh of course! I hope you come around more. I've only known you a few minutes and I already like you more than Oksana." Vero said

"Is that good?" Karly asked

Vero laughed "Yes."

"Movie time!" Max said coming back

Vero and Karly followed him back to the room. Karly sat down in between Brooks and Sidney. Sidney smiled "Have fun?" he asked

Karly nodded "You bet."

Sidney smiled "Good."

"Hey, again!" Brooks said

"Hey, Brooks, right?" Karly said

He nodded "Yes ma'am."

"You want something to drink?" Sidney asked

"No, thanks." Karly replied

"OK, well if you change your mind, let me know." Sidney replied

Max put in 'Slap Shot' then took his seat beside Kunitz. "I love this movie." Max said

"We all do!" Sidney said laughing.

Karly smiled of course they'd watch a hockey movie. She had watched 'Slap Shot' a few times with Jasper and Nikki. Speaking of...she hadn't seen or spoken to them in a while. Sooner or later, she knew she'd have to tell them about her and Sidney...if it ever grew into anything. She thought she'd invite them for lunch tomorrow so they could, in a sense. catch up. Karly was interrupted from her thoughts by Sidney putting his arm around her. She looked over to him and he smiled. Karly smiled back and laid her head against his shoulder.

After the movie Sidney drove Karly home. "That was a lot of fun." he said

Karly nodded "Vero is so nice."

"I'm glad you two got along." Sidney said smiling

Karly smiled back "Me too. So tomorrow I'm probably going to hang out with my cousin's Jasper and Nikki...what are you doing?"

"We start training camp." Sidney replied with a laugh

"For real? Already?" she said

Sidney nodded "Long season, equals short break."

"I guess." Karly replied as Sidney pulled into her driveway. Before she could say anything Sidney hopped out of the car and opened her door.

"I wanna walk you to your door tonight." Sidney replied with a smile

"Okay." Karly said questioningly, but smiling back at his gesture. They got to the door and Karly turned to Sidney "I had fun tonight. Thanks for asking me to come along."

"Oh no problem. Thank-you for coming." Sidney said

"So um..." before Karly could finish talking Sidney gently kissed her on the lips. Karly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back. Sidney smiled, gave her a hug and pulled away.

"Good night, Karly." he said

"Good night, Sid." she replied. He kissed her on the cheek and headed to his car. He gave her one last wave before driving off. Karly headed back inside and couldn't believe what had just happened. Sidney Crosby had just kissed her. Karly felt like she was floating on a cloud. She was falling in love with Sid and couldn't be more happier.