Just Hold Me (Sidney Crosby) EDITING THEN CONTINUING

Chapter 14 - Sid

I wake up to darkness. I flutter my eyelids, trying be officially awakened.

I look around spotting red numbers of an alarm clock.

3:23 am.

I must have fell asleep.

I let my eyes wander around the room.

The walls are painted a warm bright yellow and there is a soft gray carpet beneath me.

I sit up and notice I am on a black leather couch. A squishy one too. It makes a rubber squeaking sound as I make my way to my feet.

I decide to explore. Last thing I remember is looking at Sid. This place must have something to with him.

I see a kitchen with steel appliances that connects to -what I am assuming- the living room, in which I was sleeping.

I creek along the carpet to a narrow hallway with a framed jersey on the wall to my left. I spot doors. I peek into one door and notice a bedroom.

It is big. Woah. A king sized mattress with a black bedspread, gray walls, and a white carpet dominating its first impression.

"Wow." I whisper to myself.

"You like it?" I hear a mans voice say. It is rough and deep, coming straight from the throat.

I jump, startled. I whip around and standing there in the door frame is a darkened figure with chiseled features and a muscular body. Curls of dark hair exposed in outlines by a stream of pale moonlight from a window afar.

He steps forward.

Sidney.

My hand runs through my hair in awe at how amazing he looks at night. He seemed to glow.

"How are you feeling?" He asks, stepping forward.

"Uh." I say, scratching my head.

He pulls me into a hug.

He smells great. Like he was fresh out of the shower with a clean shave. And it had to be Sports AXE I was smelling.

I pull back and look up at him. He scoops me up and sets me on the bed. He reaches over and turns on a lamp.

His face is more beautiful in light, his eyes putting me in a glossy soft brown trance with just a hint of magic. I couldn't pull away.

"Do you want to talk?"

I look up.

I nod as he sits down beside me. I crawl into his lap like a small child and breathe against him.

His strong, protective arms wrap around me, cradling me. And I love it.

"I was going to talk to Brooks because he was inappropriate with Marilynn. She said he had his friends over and they..."

Sid pulled me against him tighter to tell me he was listening.

"I drove to where Marilynn said he was and I confronted him. I threatened him and he grabbed me and forced me into the woods. He threw me down and tried to..." I didn't want to hold it back any longer so I forced the words out of my mouth, not wanting it to seem sugar coated, or any less horrible than what it really was.

Instead of getting mad like earlier, he just held me harder. I sit up from his hold.

"Can we have one of those 3am talks where we tell each other everything? It would make me feel so much better." I speak softly.

"Of course. Anything you want." He says.

"My full name is Hannah Elizabeth Martin, and my parents were killed in a car accident when I was too little to remember it. I grew up my uncles and cousins after my parents' death. Since it's 3am I'm going to speak everything on my mind. I'll probably regret it later, but to be honest I don't care."

Sid's eyes focus on me.

"I am currently dealing with...a lot of messed up things, but you are making it better. You are making me feel so loved and love was really all I ever needed." I say pulling up the sleeves of my sweatshirt and exposing my scars. Sid's wide eyes travel down my arms and back up to me. He closes his mouth as it drops a little.

"You are making everything better just by being here and being nice. I don't know if I'm just being too clingy or if it's actually something about you that is helping me. Whatever it is, I'm glad you exist. I'm thankful for your existence. I don't mean to make this awkward, but I'm prone to saying the wrong thing But, I just wanted you to know, and I wanted to thank you properly. And what better time to do that than at 3 in the morning when I probably don't know what I'm saying?"

He cups my jaw and kisses me, bringing me down with him in a cuddle. We fall asleep spooning, and I was so glad I said what I did and glad he knew I felt that way. I just hope it wasn't too soon to say it.