Tough Love

Chapter 3 - Back to Pittsburgh

The next morning, they went back to the airport pretty early, and Brooke claimed two seats for herself, getting as comfortable as possible and closing her eyes to maybe catch up on some sleep. "Hey sleeping beauty. Time to wake up." Brooke opened her eyes and blinked a few times, looking at Kris, who had woken her up. "We're here," he told her and she sat up, noticing the blanket that had been placed over her. "Don't look at me," Kris said when she looked at him questioningly. "It was Sid," he added, and Brooke just nodded before getting up and stretching. They left the plane and went outside, where the other guys were already standing around. Coach Johnston gave them a few last instructions before telling them he'd see them the next day for training, and the guys left afterwards. Brooke went to her car as well and got in, sitting there for a bit and eventually driving home as well. When she got home, she took out her phone and texted Sid: 'Thanks for the blanket. I was really tired'. She'd gotten everyone's number during the flight to St. Louis, for emergencies. 'No problem. Yeah, I was a bit tired too. Maybe we should rent a movie next time and choose one that doesn't last three hours' Sid texted back a bit later and Brooke couldn't help but smile. She was already looking forward to the next time.

'Hi Brooke! We're going out tonight, you want to join in?' Brooke looked at Fleury's message and bit her lip softly before texting back a simple 'Tell me when and where and I'll be there'. After getting the time and place, she took a long and relaxing shower and put on a black and white striped shirt and some jeans shorts. She just left her hair open and grabbed her bag before leaving her apartment and walking towards the restaurant where everyone was meeting up. The guys were already there, as Brooke had been running late a bit, and everyone's attention turned towards her when she stepped up to the table. "Brooke? What are you doing here?" Kunitz asked her and Fleury answered for her. "I invited her. She's part of the team as well." Sid pulled out a chair for Brooke and she sat down next to him, sending him a thankful smile. "You smell good," Geno suddenly said from her other side and Brooke laughed. "I hope so, I just took a shower!" Sid leaned towards her and took a deep breath, nodding slightly. "Smells like roses," he stated and Brooke shook her head, looking at the menu Letang had just given her. After everyone had decided on something to eat, they ordered and then leaned back. "So guys, am I still allowed to be working with you or am I bad luck?" Brooke eventually asked and everyone laughed. "No, I think you're actually a good luck charm, so I guess that means you're going to be stuck with us," Letang told her and the guys nodded in agreement. Brooke just smiled thankfully and took a sip of her beer, looking around shortly. The food came soon after, and Brooke started digging in, defending her food against Geno with a laugh when he tried to steal a few bites from her plate. "You have your own Malkin. Go steal some from Crosby if you're hungry!" She told him and Geno just pouted before getting his own plate and starting to eat as well. After eating, Brooke talked about their kids with a few of the players and got to see many cute baby pictures and stories, and she couldn't help but smile. She'd always loved children, and for her it was clear that when she had found the man for her life, she would have children. Chris Kunitz showed her a picture of Sid with a baby in his arms and Brooke turned towards the Captain before looking at the picture once again. "That's Sid with our eldest, Zachary," Chris explained and Brooke couldn't help but smile at the picture. "So you like kids?," she then asked Sid, who nodded with a soft smile. "Yeah, absolutely. I want to have kids on my own eventually, but until then I'm just going to be the best uncle Sid to all of their kids," he stated and Brooke nodded with a smile. "Hey Brooke, you want to play darts with us?" Beau shouted a bit later and Brooke groaned quietly. "I suck at darts," she shouted back and Sid next to her chuckled and got up. "Come on, I'm going to help you. You can't be that bad," he stated and held out his hand to help Brooke up. She sighed and let Sid pull her up before following him over to the dartboards, where Kris, Beau, Fleury and a few others were already waiting for them. "Are we going to team up?" Beau asked and the guys nodded. Sid took a few darts and looked at Brooke with a grin. "I'm with Brookie. We are so going to destroy you!" He said with a grin and everyone laughed. "All right, Crosby. You and Brooke are going to start then," Fleury said and Brooke groaned and stepped up. "If anyone says a word I'm going to kill you," she stated before concentrating and throwing her darts one after another. Just like she had told Sid, she wasn't really good at darts, and she only got five points in total. "That's no problem, we're going to catch up in no time," Sid told her when she stepped back to him and Brooke just snorted quietly. When it was their turn again, Sid threw the darts and this time, he made up for Brooke's poor skills and they were almost catching up to the rest of the team. When Brooke had to throw her darts, Sid stepped up behind her. "Here, let me help you," he mumbled and took her hand, guiding her while the other guys thankfully stayed quiet, and Brooke tried to concentrate on throwing the darts instead of concentrating on the feeling of Sid that close to her, his front touching her back with the way he was standing behind her. She threw the darts with his help a bit later, and actually got a pretty good score, and when she turned back to Sid with a happy grin, he grinned right back at her. "See, I told you I was going to help you," he stated softly. While the other guys were throwing their darts, Sid whispered helpful tips into Brooke's ear, standing close to her, and she tried to listen to everything so she wouldn't embarrass them on her next turn. The game ended with Chris and Fleury winning, and to Brooke's surprise, Sid and her were only second to last and not last. "We were petty good, right?" Sid asked her with a grin after hugging her and Brooke laughed. "Yeah, thanks to you, Champ." "With a bit of practice, you're going to be quite good as well. And you're the pro at our shooter games, can't be good at everything, right?" He asked while they were walking back to their tables and Brooke couldn't help but laugh.
A bit later, Chris said that he needed to get home and after a short discussion, they all decided to get back home, so everyone paid and went outside. "Where's your car?" Sid asked her when they were outside and Brooke looked at him, shrugging slightly. "I walked here, but that's all right," she responded, but Sid just shook his head. "No way you're walking home all alone. I'm driving you, come on!" he stated and led her towards his car, shouting a goodbye to the rest of the guys. Brooke told him where she lived and they got there about ten minutes later, stopping the car right in front of the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Brookie," Sid said and Brooke nodded with a smile before getting out and closing the door behind her. She walked to her door and waved at Sid with a soft smile before stepping inside and taking a deep breath. Sidney Crosby was definitely a very charming and attractive man and she couldn't deny that there were butterflies in her stomach every time he was near her. She knew she'd given him the promise to not hook up with anyone, and she'd been serious about it, but her heart obviously didn't listen to what her brain had to say.

Author's Note:
All right, so I hope you all liked this chapter! This is dedicated to my good friend Leaena, who reads all of this through to ensure I don't make too much mistakes. Thank you for being so supportive, Lay! :)

The next chapter probably will be up next monday!

Lots of love

- Rae