The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

All-Star Weekend

Sidney and Geno were selected for the All-Star Game, however, they weren't able to play. Geno got sick a few days before the game, and Sidney's wrist was still giving him issues. Marc was then selected and he went to play in the All-Star Game. Because so many players across the league would be playing, no games were scheduled for several days. Johnston gave me permission to head home over the break, and I took the opportunity and ran with it before he could take it back.

I was packing my bag when someone knocked on my door. I opened it and found Sidney. "Hey, Sid. How are you doing?" I knew he was still upset about Annalise breaking up with him.

"I've been better," he replied, leaning on the door frame.

"You can come in," I smiled, "I'm just finishing grabbing my stuff."

"Thanks. Are you leaving for the entire break?" He asked, and I could see in his eyes that he didn't want me to go.

I pulled out my phone and sent a text to my mom, asking if he could come. "Yes, I'll be coming back after the game."

"Oh," he said. My phone buzzed a moment later with my mom's reply. "Who's that?" Sid asked.

"My mother. Would you like to come back with me? I know that you don't want me to leave you here," I twined my fingers with his.

"Are you going to see Justin? I don't want to interrupt anything."

"You won't interrupt anything; I won't hang out with him the entire time," I reassured him.

"And your mom is okay with all of this? I don't want to disrupt your vacation with my moodiness," he was trying really hard to get out of coming, even though I knew that he wanted to go.

"Do you want to come?"

"Well, I-"

"Damn it, Sidney! It's a yes or no question!"

"Yes. Yes. I want to come," he said hurriedly.

"Okay, good. We'll have to drive back to your place to grab all of your stuff because you'll need a pair of skates."

"Why?"

"Because we'll need to cut a cake and we ran out of knives," I said sarcastically. "You need your skates for skating, genius."

"Sorry," he held his hands up defensively.

"It's alright, let's just get your stuff and go," I grabbed my bag and keys and led Sidney out of my apartment.

I had been a bit afraid that my mom would be upset that I was bringing Sidney home with me, but she wasn't. She and my dad loved having him there, as did my siblings. It was almost like he was already part of the family. He lounged casually on the couch next to me as I had this thought, and no one noticed as I zoned out, thinking about what could have happened if our situation was different.

He and I could have met on some the street somewhere, or through friends, and hit it off like we did in the weight room several months ago. We could have started off as friends, maybe, or started dating immediately. Probably friends first; Sidney wasn't the type to dive into a romantic relationship. We would have dated for a while, and eventually, we would have gotten married. We could have had kids; maybe a son like Sid, who played hockey, and a little girl who could do whatever she wanted. She might play hockey, too, or maybe she would be an actress, like my sister. I didn't really know what she would be. And I never would, because my relationship with Sidney hadn't happened like that; it couldn't happen like that. I was his coach and he was my player and sometimes, we just have to play with the hand we were dealt. I saw no way for us to be more than friends, at least not until one of us stopped working for the franchise, but by then he'll have probably met someone who he loved; someone actually good enough to be with him.