I let it fall, my heart
And as it fell you rose to claim it
It was dark and I was over
Until you kissed my lips and you saved me

My hands, they're strong
But my knees were far too weak
To stand in your arms
Without falling to your feet

But there's a side to you
That I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say
They were never true, never true
And the games you play
You would always win, always win

Adele’s song blared in the arena during the commercial break, a song that she normally loved, but absolutely hated tonight. “Did you eat something, sweetheart?”, Mario asked from his chair next to her as they sat in his suite watching a hockey game. Autumn shook her head, taking another sip of her wine. “Looks like Sid is going to the penalty box, again”, Mario sighed exasperated with his captain, too distracted to comment on Autumn’s response. She looked tired after a long shift at work where she was trying to avoid her sister, for the third day in a row. She had yet to come to a game this year though, she couldn’t keep making excuses to Mario.

She felt Mario’s hand hold hers gently. “How was work?”, he asked, noticing how drained his wife looked. “You know, the usual”, she answered him with a small smile. “You don’t have to go to the party, you know. I already told Geno that I can’t make it”, Mario said. “But you told him that I will. It’s alright, I will just make an appearance and leave early. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a team party. Geno will kill me if I don’t go, so will Anna”, she said with a soft chuckle. Mario smiled fondly at his wife, he missed her smile, something that was rarely making an appearance lately.

The game rolled in front of them as the Pens were unquestionably about to lose to Tampa Bay. The captain was distracted, the defense sluggish and no one seems to be able to put the puck in the back of the net. Geno’s Halloween party is going to suck, Autumn thought. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they will cancel it after they lose the game. With two minutes left on the clock, she looked at the Pens bench and watched Sidney slump down after another fruitless shift. He looked so frustrated as he tried hard to catch his breath. Her heart ached for him right before reminding herself that the man she was empathizing with had lied to her and used her. He doesn’t love you. That asshole got what he wanted and I bet now he’s over you.

Tiff cruel words kept replaying in her head. How can she get over that Sidney and Tiff had sex? The thought of them together made her sick. the thought of any feelings involved, left her bitter with jealousy. Did he treat Tiff the same way he treated her? Did he go down on her? Her skin crawled at that last thought. She was appalled by the whole idea. Now though, she had a different problem. Sidney was bound to go to Geno’s party, and it made her extremely anxious. How can she face him again? More than this, how can she face him without confronting him and giving a piece of her mind, without screaming out all the things she so badly wanted to say to his face? His stupid, stupid face.

She should have declined Anna’s invitation. She should have made up an excuse, she was getting good at this whole lying thing after all, she thought. But she cared about her friendships with the players and the WAGs. Maybe Sid won’t even go. All these hopeful thoughts died as she watched him climb in Geno’s car as she was getting into hers after the game. To top it off, she was not pleased by the fact that Mario was staying at the office for a late night, instead of going with her, she made that clear to him right before they went separate ways for the evening.

*****

I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name!

When I lay with you
I could stay there
Close my eyes
Feel you here forever
You and me together
Nothing is better
__________________

Autumn has always been the social butterfly at any gathering, but at Geno’s party she decided that the safest way to go is to stick to the children’s corner. Kids loved her, especially when she was not wearing a Lab coat nor holding a needle. She was too focused on Alex Letang sleepily explaining why his costume was the coolest when she sensed someone watching her like a hawk. She turned around be met with the hazel eyes of a man who made her heart beat so fast and break all at once. She turned away from his gaze and tried to stop the angry tears from welling in her eyes. When she failed, she collected herself from where she was sitting on the floor and went in the opposite direction of where Sidney was, not even sure where she was headed.

She heard him call her name, but she was adamant about ignoring him. The noise of the party started to fade as she found what looked like an empty trophy room at the other end of Geno’s massive home. She closed the door behind her and let out a frustrated cry. Few seconds later, the door swings open to reveal a concerned Sidney Crosby. “Are you okay? Are you sick or something?”, he asked innocently. She gave him a death stare. She looked so pissed with her wide green eyes flashing with anger, it was a rare but scary sight nonetheless.

“I’m sick of YOU”, she spat. “I’m sick of everything. From the lies, from all this pain you’re putting me through”, she continued, her voice cracking a little. “I care about my husband, he’s the best man I know. So, stop sabotaging my marriage! Stop following me, stop telling me that you care! Stop pretending that you care! Stop lying to me!”, she yelled the last part, losing the control over her emotions. Too shocked by her outburst, he froze for a few seconds. Deciding that they needed to have this talk, he slowly closed the door, making sure he it was securely locked, and turned to face her.

He tried to remain calm seeing how worked-up Autumn was. “Why would you say that?”, he treaded his words warily. “I know about you and Tiff”, she said, this time her voice was not wavering. She had her back to him, refusing to look at him. He cursed under his breath, surprised that Tiff decided to tell her now. How would he explain himself to her? He stayed quiet while trying to formulate a decent answer to yet another big regret he had. “Autumn, it was one time and…”, he stopped himself before finishing this sentence.

Was it a good excuse to say that it was just a one night stand with her sister, that it meant nothing to him? She was her sister after all. He concluded that it was going to be a lose-lose situation no matter what he said, so he might as well be honest. “It was a one-time thing, a while back. It was just that, Autumn. It meant nothing to neither of us”, he said cautiously. “Yeah, the same way sleeping with me meant nothing to you”, she said just above a whisper, but he heard it. Her defeated voice told him that she was crying. How could she possibly think that? He wondered, aggravated.
“What we did was a mistake for obvious reasons, but don’t you dare say it meant nothing to me! Don’t you dare compare what we had to Tiff or any other woman for that matter! Just don’t!”, he yelled loud and clear that it made her turn to look at him. He rubbed his face, trying to calm down. It dawned on him why she was upset. It hurt him that Autumn thought that he just wanted sex and more importantly, that he lied about his feelings for her. He looked at her, at the only women he’s ever loved, she was pale and skinnier than usual, she was the shadow of the once radiant and full-of-life woman he was in love with. “You mean everything to me”, he whispered as he stood in front of her.

“I hate that I hurt you, it pains me. I didn’t mean to. It kills me to see you like this”, he added. “I’m not the same man who let you down last year, Autumn. I’m not the same idiot who left you behind on the dance floor because people were watching. I’m not the same coward who was too terrified to ask you out”, he continued as he inspected her face for a reaction. But nothing, she stared blankly at the floor with her arm hung at her side. “Look at me”, he said as he tilted her chin up towards him. “Please”, he added when she still refused to meet his eyes.

“I love you, Autumn. I love you with every fiber of my being. I don’t know how you don’t see it. Every person in my life seems to notice how much you mean to me. What do I have to do for you to believe me? What do I do to show you that you were not just another woman? How can I show you? Please tell me”, he pleaded desperately, a tear rolling down on his cheek. His words and the way he struggled to get them out tugged at her heart and made her push her own hurt feelings to the side. Wiping his tear with her thumb, she looked into his wet eyes that mirrored hers, they reflected every word he said. Her anger melted away. She believed him. “Show me”, she whispered softly as she kept caressing his cheek tenderly.

He leaned down and captured her lips with his in deep affectionate kiss that made her weak in the knees. She flung her arm around his neck as they kissed long and slow, with her melting in his strong arms. He put everything he had in that kiss, wanting to erase any doubt she had. She could feel him grow with every passing second. Her hands made their way between them as she untucked his white shirt from his pants and placed her warm hands on his tight stomach. She felt him shiver under touch as he broke their kiss and looked down at her with hooded eyes that told her all about how he was going to prove his love to her.

He watched closely as she started to unbutton his shirt slowly, leaving delicate kisses along his exposed skin, from his chest to his belly button. He shrugged off his shirt and lifted her in his arms unexpectedly. Placing her on the pool table, seeing as it was the only empty flat surface in Geno’s man cave, he hovered over her and covered her mouth with his in another passionate kiss. His hips pushed her legs apart as his hands caressed her legs that were still covered with very tight jeans. He decided that he wanted no barriers between them as he lifted her to a sitting position, ridding her of her black and orange Halloween sweater, her pants following shortly. She leaned back on the green cloth in her black lacey lingerie that made his blood boil.

“God, you’re beautiful. So beautiful”, he said with a loving grin. She could see how aroused he was through his pants. “I want to see you”, she whispered shyly. Giving her a big megawatt smile, he was more than happy to comply. Once fully naked, he supported himself on his elbows as he connected his lips with hers in a deeper kiss. With his hard arousal grazing the skin of her thighs, she was more than wet and ready for him to take her. Detaching her mouth from his, she spoke of his earlier promise. “Show me”, she repeated softly in his ear as she ran her fingers in his hair.

And show her he did. Moving her panties to the side, he connected their bodies in the most delicious of ways, both sighing and relishing the feeling, before he even started moving inside of her. With his lips licking at her neck and under her ear he whispered all the things he wanted to “show” her. “I want to make you feel so good baby, do you want that?”, he whispered huskily, with his lips on her earlobe. Autumn nodded frantically as the feeling of him was too much and not enough, all at the same time.

Sprawled on Geno’s pool table, he made sweet love to her, sent her to the moon and back. With her fingers securely laced with his, he pumped long and slow inside of her. “I love you”, he whispered right before he joined her in the euphoria of a rare intimate moment between the two lovers. He showed her how much he loved her the only way he knew how in that moment. He loved her like they were the only two people in Geno’s home, like they were the only two souls in the whole wide world.

Sometimes I wake up by the door
That heart you caught must be waiting for you
Even now when we're already over
I can't help myself from looking for you

I set fire to the rain
And I threw us into the flames
When it fell, something died
'Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time…

Notes

Bonjour!

Thanks for reading, I hope you're still enjoying the story of Sid and Autumn despite all the controversies that one might think of.

As always, I look forward to your feedback! It's a good motivation to write :)

Let's go Pens! hope we win tonight. Sid (and his purple tape of course) is doing so fine lately, hope he continues like that.

Happy weekend,
Charlie