I have issues. A lot of issues. Issues that keep me from being happy. Naturally, I'm a very closed off person so forming relationships is difficult for me. I won't lie, starting a relationship with Sidney was easy. He's so humble and real; it's hard not to like him. Talking to him didn't feel like I was lesser than him and that I had to make up some cooler version of me. He accepted, and still does, all forms of me. Depressed Sera, happy Sera, angry Sera and everything else in between. He let's me cry it out when I feel like my world is caving in on me, even when it's not. He listens to my feminist rants with concentration, asking how and where he should improve. He makes sure that I don't put so much pressure on myself at work and reminds me to eat when I get to busy. He encourages me not to quit when sometimes I just want to rip Anna's head off.

When I think of all the things he does for me, it overwhelms me— how could a man, who has only known me for two months, care this much about me? I've asked him and he quoted Forrest Gump,

"Cause, you're my girl." He said with a slight smile. I swear in that moment I turned into a puddle. With August quickly approaching, I know our happy little world will soon disappear as quickly as it started. Sidney will go to Nova Scotia for the month and then head back to Pittsburgh for the season, leaving me here in New York City. It's not like I didn't anticipate this fact, it's the realization that with summer coming to an end, where will that leave us? All I know is that I'm not ready to talk to Sid about this, so I'll just keep living in our happy, little bubble.

"Hey babe?" Sidney calls from the couch. He's watching Duck Dynasty, the one show among many I said I never wanted to see on my TV. I'm in the kitchen flipping through my recipe apps on my iPad mini, figuring out what in the world to cook for this man. Sidney doesn't have strict diet, but he told me once he starts training, he cuts out all the good stuff therefore making me suffer with him too.

"Yes," I huff.

"Do you think we could have someone over?" I look at him from over the counter.

"What, am I not enough for you?" I ask in mock anger.

"No, silly." Sidney answers as he gets up and walks to the kitchen. Did I ever mention how small my kitchen is? It's like the small ones you see in an Ikea catalog. Not that I have a problem with it but with a big man like Sidney, it gets a little cramped. Sidney wraps his large frame around me from behind, his face in my hair.

"Jack is here remember? I just thought you would like to meet him before he starts training too."

"I was kidding by the way and of course we can have Jack over. I give up." I say slightly frustrated as I shove the iPad away from me. "I can't find anything to cook for you that doesn't taste like shit and that is healthy. To be honest, I just want a pizza." Sidney is laughing the whole time as I complain.

"It's not fucking funny Crosby! I hate you right now!"

"No, you don't." Sidney states as he turns me around to face him. He's wearing a red t-shirt and dark jeans, my favorite combination on him. He didn't over gel his hair today, thank God, making it fluffy. His eyes are especially brown today, in the light they have gold specks making it hard to look at him. I shrink under his intense stare down.

"Yes I do." I refute. He rolls those gold eyes of his before he leans in to kiss me on the lips— I swear I'll never get tired of him kissing me. His hands cup my face, deepening our kiss before he pulls away.

"Do you still hate me?" Our foreheads touch while Sid's thumb trace the outline of my mouth.

"No. I'll figure something out for dinner I guess."

"Ok, I already texted Jack so he should be on his way." He says quickly as he steps away from me, trying to make a quick escape.

"Sidney Patrick Crosby!" I exclaim. "You invited him before even asking me? What if I said no? What if we started doing some not so appropriate activities and he came over? Then what?" I'm half angry half kidding. Sidney may seem like a put together adult for everyone else in the world, but around me, he's a complete goof ball. And I wouldn't want it any other way. Sidney stands on guard between the living room and the kitchen, his hands up in defense.

"Well," he starts. When I move closer to him, he takes a step back; the most child-like grin is splashed on his face.

"I knew you would say yes and luckily we're not doing anything inappropriate right now. Right?" I keep moving towards him— he keeps moving back.

"Sidney, you loser. You're gonna help me cook. No arguments," I wag a finger at him.

"Yes ma'am." Sidney runs to me, picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. I beat on his back in angry protest.

"Put me down! Put me down right this instant!" His hand comes down hard on my right buttcheek. I let out a loud yelp.

"To be honest with you, I have no idea why I just did what I did, but I liked it. Didn't you?" He puts me down slowly. I refuse to let him know I was a little turned on, so I retreat to the kitchen trying to hide my smile.

"You did!" Sidney cheers as he runs to my side at the counter. "Fuck yes! We're going to have fun with that, I promise you. In the mean time, let's make dinner." He says excitedly as he rubs his hands together like a evil cartoon villain.

"Finally, I've been trying to do that for the past half hour." I grunt.

Sid and I have gotten into the habit of eating late. I was raised in a very busy household which gave way to dinners at the time other kids would be getting ready for bed. Because of this, I'm programmed for late night eating. Though the same was for Sid's family, they always ate at a normal time so he has had to adjust to my weird schedule. We decide on Chicken Marsala with a side of white rice and grilled asparagus. I had to convince Sid to stick with the meal after he saw me dump red wine and butter in for the sauce.

"You are trying to ruin my diet, aren't you?" He said, his face contorted in pain at the pan.

"No, that's what the recipe calls for. Trust me, you won't even remember how much butter is in it while you're eating it."

"Whatever you say." Sid sighs. While he works on the asparagus on the grill outside, the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it babe!" I call out to Sid as I put down my tongs and turn down the heat. I look through the peephole and grin.

"You must be the lovely Sera I keep hearing about." Jack says smiling. His face is friendly, his blue eyes dance playfully. He's a little taller than Sidney but not as stocky. He's dressed casually, a white t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. He extends his hand out and I shake it.

"I am. Sidney talks about me? Come in!" I move out of the way to let him in.

"Sweet digs? How much you pay in rent?" Jack asks while looking around my humble abode.

"Oh, more than I can afford unfortunately. Sid's on the balcony by the way." I motion to the balcony. I return to the food simmering on the stove. Luckily nothing burned.

"There he is!" Jack exclaims as Sidney come through the doors. The two embrace, laughing and punching each other on the shoulder.

"You look good, man. How've you been?" Sidney asks.

"Good, I've been good. Just staying at home, traveling and shit. How bout you? I haven't heard from you in awhile man."

"I've been keeping a low profile. Met someone though," Sid trails off. I look up slowly to look at him from the counter.

"Really? Who's this mystery woman?" Jack probes.

"She's a writer for a magazine, crazy smart. She is a huge nerd but it's adorable. She's absolutely beautiful." Sidney lists on affectionately. I turn around to the cabinets to grabs three plates just to avoid his glance. I know he's still looking at me, I can feel it.

"What's her name lover boy?"

"Seraphina." Sidney replies. He comes over to me in the kitchen and takes the plates out of my hands. He holds both of my hands in his, his eyes burning into my face. "I love you, you know."

"I know, I love you too Sidney." I say through a smile. I stand on my tip toes to kiss him even though I don't really need to. His arms lock around my waist pulling me closer to him. I want nothing more in this world than to be in his embrace like this as much as I can be.

"Ahem," Jack coughs. Sid and I break away reluctantly, embarrassed of course.

"Sorry Jack, when Sidney invited you here it wasn't to watch the two of us make out. Dinner is ready." I step back from Sidney and start transferring the food to serving containers. Sid and Jack set the table out on the balcony and get the wine prepared.

"DId you make this Sera?" Jack asks between bites. The air for once isn't sticky—there's a breeze and the sun has just begun to set, the sky a pink fireball.

"Yeah, with a little help of course."

"It's really good, can I take you with me? I'll pay you and you can live with me." I laugh at Jack's offer. Sidney's jaw is set.

"Thanks for the offer but becoming a personal cook wasn't one of my career options. I can give you a recipe, I tweaked it a lot actually." Jack clutches at his heart.

"You are a blessing. Don't worry Sid I'm not trying to steal your girl."

"Better not be. You've been giving me grief since we were kids." He grunts, stabbing at his chicken.

"Oh?" I ask. Any stories about a young Sidney Crosby is bound to capture my interest.

"Whenever me and Sid are together, it's a competition. Whether it was on the ice or on the baseball field or off, we were constantly trying to out do each other." Jack starts.

"And we still are." Sid retortes.

"So junior year there was this girl. At the time, she was the hottest girl, figure skater. I had caught this guy," Jack leans over and jabs a thumb in Sid's direction.

"Oh God, not this story. I beg of you stop, for you're own sake." Sidney groans as he rolls his eyes.

"No, no it's ok. I'm a wingman, I am more than willing to embarrass myself in front of your girl. Anyway, caught this guy staring at her in math class. So naturally, after class I asked him if he liked her. After bullying him into admitting it, I made a play to make myself look as foolish in front of her. I tripped and answered problems wrong, shit like that. One day, I heard her complaining about how hard the math was and how she needed a tutor. I told her I was more than happy to help her but she turned me down. I told her it was her loss but I know this kid who was pretty good at math. Cue Sidney."

"Fucking hell man. I'll finish it from here." Sid raises his hand to stop Jack.

"Ok, how did you get the girl?" I ask resting my chin on my left palm in interest and amusement.

"I can't say I got the girl but I did end up helping her with her math and stuff. We hung out here and there and one day we were in her dorm and let's just say I got acquainted with female anatomy." Sidney smile smugly into his wine.

"Look at you," I laugh. " Still have any of those moves?" Jack scoffs.

"I got you didn't I?"

"True." I giggle. The rest of the evening of goes well. Jack is a pure sweetheart I can see why Sidney kept him as a friend. The two continue to tell me embarrassing stories about each other and probing me about my life.

"Hey thanks for a great night guys." Jack says as we place our dishes in the sink.

"No problem. You're free to come by man." Sid says nudging his friend.

"Uh, no he's not. I'm sorry to inform you baby, but this is not your apartment also."

"That's cold, Seraphina." Sidney whines.

"It's just the truth. Jack you can come over when you give me a heads up, ok?" I lead Jack to the door with Sidney behind me.

"No problem, I'll try not to interrupt too much. Hey," Jack stand in my doorway. "If Sid fucks up, I'm here for you." His face is teasing.

"No offense Jack, I could do worse. Plus I don't have a thing for blondes." Part of me wants to let Sid kick his ass.

"Goodnight Jack." Sid states before he shuts the door. He pulls me towards the couch, his grip on my hand vice like.

"Ow, baby that kinda hurts." I complain as we sit down. Sidney covers his face, I can tell he's agitated by what Jack said. I rub his back.

"Jack is... nice." Sidney grunts and leans back into the couch. He turns over and stares at me blankly.

"I guess. He always used to do shit like that, hitting on girls I'm interested in. I know he's kidding but...Whatever, we're too old for this shit."

"I agree, plus," I motion for him to lay his head in my lap. He obliges and I play with his hair, tracing his jaw and lips.

"You got me. I'm serious about the blondes thing. I'm not into blondes at all. Unless they're one of the Chrises."

"The Chrises?"

"Yeah, Chris Evans when he's Captain America, Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine." I finish listing the men with a dreamy look on my face.

"Oh my god," Sidney groans . He motions to get up from my lap but I hug him to stay. "You are never meeting them if I'm going to lose you."

"It's ok. They're out of my league anyway."

"Nah, you are perfect baby. C'mon, let's go to bed." He says standing up and lending me a hand off the couch.

---

At 3:45 am we find ourselves still up. We spent the rest of the night making out and listening to my iPod plugged in, playing my indie rock playlist. He pulls me closer to him so he's holding me in his arms with his lips on my forehead.

" Babe," I say.

"Yes?" Sidney nuzzles my nose with his.

" I love you. Just so you know."

" I love you too." Sidney chuckles. "Just so you know. And I was wondering if you'd want to come up to Nova Scotia with me next week." I sit up and look at him.

" Hell yes! Plus it's almost your birthday." I still have no idea what to get the man who can get whatever he wants. I feel way in over my head.

" Exactly and I want you to meet my parental units." Sidney twirls some of my hair around his fingers.

" I would like to meet them too, I hope they like me. But it's kind of short notice." My boss may kill me but missing work to spend time with my beautiful boyfriend and the people who raised him is a good excuse. I hope.

" I know, I'm sorry. Just with you I feel very spontaneous. I've told them about you, they like you. Or at least the sound of you."

" Really? I already like them since you're here so..." He laughs.

" Good! You don't have to buy a ticket I already got you one."

" What? Stop buying me things! So why'd you ask?"

" Just double checking!" I put both my hands around his face and look him in the eyes. "What am I going to do with you?"

" I have a few ideas..." he says with a grin his left hand snaking in between my thighs. I laugh then give him a quick kiss.

" Not right now, I have to stop in the office later today to pick up some articles that need editing."

"Alright, I take it we should go to sleep?"

"Yes unfortunately," I say. He takes me in his arms again and cradles me. Whenever I'm in his arms I just feel safe. I don't know what it is but I do, like I know he wouldn't hurt me.

"Go to sleep love, I'll wake you up later." he says. He kisses me on the lips long but softly then turns down the music and let's me sleep.

---

"Hey, wake up babe," Sid says. I groan the " I don't want to wake up" groan. Sid keeps nudging me to wake up but I continue to refuse. I go back to sleep. As I'm sleeping, I feel something soft going up my right leg. I shift a bit and it stops. Then it starts again, now going up to my hip. I wake up now and turn over.

"Sidney," I crack one eye open while my face is buried in my pillow. I swear, this man is going to drive me crazy.

" Yes?" he says with that grin again.

"What are you doing?" I lift my head up to get a better look at him. His hands are trailing up and down the back of my legs, slowly dipping in between my legs.

"Waking you up." More like making me horny. He gets up and heads to the bathroom. He has on black pajama pants with no shirt on. They're hanging low on his hips so you can see the V shape they make. Fuck why is he so hot? Sidney's physique is one thing I will never get used to. He catches me staring at him.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing..." he looks at me for a second and his face changes. Like he knows what I'm thinking.

"You could make it less obvious that you're checking me out, you know." I hate how he can read my facial expressions now. I'm going to have to learn to hide my thoughts. " I am not!"

"Whatever. He goes and grabs some clothes from the chest of drawers and goes to the bathroom. "Bet you're looking at my ass now," he says walking away. I throw a pillow at it, it's huge I don't miss, and he laughs. I lay in my bed because I can't find my clothes. I just get up with one of the blankets and cover myself. I think I'm going to surprise him in the shower. I grab clean clothes and wait a little by the door. I throw my clothes on top of his and open the glass door into the shower.

"Well hello," he says. He's even sexier in here.

" Hi, thought you could use some help." The nice thing about this shower, it's not huge so there's no distance from each other. Kind of romantic. When I moved into this apartment I had a guy put in two shower heads on both ends just in case this were to happen. I was facing my side then he moves my hair onto the other side and starts kissing my neck. One thing leads to another and we're doing it in the shower. I never thought it was going to be hard! Trying to get, uh, situated was but when we got used to it, it was fun. We dry off together then get changed. I'm wearing high waisted blue jean with a black crop top. He wears dark jeans with a red plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up. If he plans on being this good looking all the time, I don't think I can let him leave this apartment. We go to the kitchen and start looking for stuff to eat for breakfast.

"What do you want to eat?" Sid asks.

" I'll make crêpes. Do you want powdered sugar on it or chocolate?"

"Why are you doing this to me!? You know I can't eat that stuff I got to stay in shape." He complains in a bar stool.

"Oh whatever choose one!"

" Can I have both?" Sidney cringes at his own gluttony. I chuckle and kiss his nose.

"Yes you can, darling." I go grab everything I need; flour from the pantry, eggs from the refrigerator, the Kitchenaid mixer, pan, measuring cups and spatula from the cabinets and water from the tap. I start making the crêpes while I'm dancing to the Coldplay music that's playing. Then my door opens.

"Hello people!" Morgan says. She and Jon come in hand in hand to the island.

" Hey guys." Jon says shyly. I remember the first time I met Jon; it was over dinner at Morgan's and I was completely awestruck. She had told me she was going to have me meet someone she was starting to date. What she failed to do was tell me it was Jonathan Toews. I nearly dropped the plate of food I had brought when he opened the door. It's weird now that one of the NHL's superstars is my bestfriend's boyfriend and he comes to hangout at my place often. And to top it off, I am now dating the NHL's biggest superstars. When did my life become cool?

"What's cooking?" Morgan asks trying to look over my shoulder.

"Sera's making crêpes with chocolate on the inside and powdered sugar on top," Sid tells the two.

"Oh my god that's amazing," says Jon. "So you're making some for me and Morgan too right?"

" Sure. What brings you two here?" I ask.

"Well," Jon's voice trails off as he looks in Morgan's direction. Morgan looks back at him, urging him to spill the beans.

" Morgan, you're not pregnant are you?" I ask as I slow the mixer's speed down. I turn it off and adjust the heat on the pan, getting it ready for the batter.

"No!" She screams.

" Ok good. Continue Jon, sorry." As much as I'd love to be Morgan's children's Godmother, I'd like for her to get married first.

"Morgan auditioned for Romeo and Juliet and got the lead!" Sid and I flip shit. Morgan was always interested in acting but sports and stage fright got in the way. I'm glad she finally overcame her fear to do something she desperately wants to do.

"Yeah, its just a little underground theater thing and I've always wanted to do something like this. So I said fuck it and auditioned," She shrugs. "Don't worry, I'm still going to stick to law school. It's a comedy slash improve thing, it should be fun."

"Dude that's awesome! Congrats Morgan! When is it?" I say hugging my friend.

"Congrats Morgan !" Sid says also hugging her.

"We should open the beginning of September. We'll have few shows and if we get people to love it, we'll have even more," Morgan answers when she's released from Sidney's bear hug.

" How should we celebrate?" I ask.

"We can interrupt your breakfast and eat with you two." Jonny suggests with a smile.

"Sure why not." says Sid. He pulls me to his side and looks at the two. "We actually have our own announcement. She's not pregnant."

"Good," Morgan says. "This girl is far too busy to be popping out babies right now."

"We're boyfriend and girlfriend. Officially. We've been dating for a week and a half we just haven't gotten around to telling you." It's their turn to flip shit.

" I knew it!" Morgan yells, practically jumping me. "You're no longer friends with benefits that's great!"

"We were never friends with benefits," I shut her down and shove some strawberries into my mouth. Ok, maybe we were but I'm not going to admit that to her.

"Um I beg to differ babe." Sid argues.

"Whatever, I have food to make. We're actually going up to Sidney's home in Cole Harbor next week before his birthday."

" Oh! That should be fun!" Morgan says.

" How long are you going to be there?" Jon asks.

" No clue. Sidney?" I ask while I flip that last of the crêpes. I've been making the French classic since I was fifteen so it doesn't take me long to finish cooking.

"Maybe two weeks," he says.

"Sweet! The crêpes are done! I put chocolate chips in some of them." Everyone grabs a plate , a cup and a fork and gets themselves a crêpe. Morgan moves expertly around my fridge to find the whipped cream, chocolate sauce, juice and strawberries.

" Dude," Jon says to me, " These are fantastic! Where'd you learn to make these?"

" I think the food network I don't really remember," I shrug and dig into my powdered sugar covered food.

"Well they're fucking delicious." Jon says. I look at the clock it's almost nine.

"Shit," I say finishing my food. " I'll see you guys in a bit I have to go pick up some papers from the office before some other girl gets them."

"Someone would do that?" Sid asks.

" Yup since I'm like on of the best editors/writers and Anna actually likes me, I'm not really the favorite. I'll be back in a bit." I kiss everyone and run to the door and slip on my black sneakers, grab my bag and keys and leave. I catch a cab down to the office. Once I'm there I speed walk into the building and take the elevator upstairs. I get to the Vogue office and go to my desk. Thank the Lord the articles are there. I grab them, some flowers from some models I met at a show and turn to leave. Then I remember that I'm going on vacation so I need to tell Anna. I go and knock on her door.

"Hi Anna, can I come in?"

" Of course." I walk in. It always makes me nervous being in her office, she can be very intimidating and difficult. I admire her though and can only hope to have position and power she has.

" You have the day off why are you here? " she says not even looking up from her newspaper.

"Um, I will be going on a vacation for two weeks to visit... New family sort of, in Canada. I was just coming by to tell you in advance." She's quiet for awhile which always makes me very nervous. What if she says no then what?

" What part of Canada?" she asks.

" Nova Scotia, my boyfriend is from there. I'm meeting his family." Again she's quiet, she flips the page then looks up.

" You're lucky I like you and there's nothing big going on. You can go obviously. Thank you for letting me know. Just get those articles to me before you leave."

"Thank you and your welcome. I'll have them by Friday."

"You better," Anna says. She dismisses me and I catch another cab to go home.

"This traffic sucks." I tell the driver. This is the one thing I will never love about New York City.

" Yeah I know but hey whatcha gon do? It's rush hour, that's why." Just as he says that, the car comes to a sudden stop. My head slams forward then back and everything goes black.

Notes

So much dialogue, omg.