Chapter 7

Hey guys! I wanted to update this story quick and it is quick. I also didn't proof-read it too much so sorry if there are weird typos or something.

Emma's POV:

"So I see that you and Marc figured things out" I commented holding Vero's left hand back up to the lights so that I could see her ring. It was gorgeous and totally Vero with the pretty princess cut diamond surround with smaller ones on the white gold band.

"Yeah, he reassured me that we were both ready to take the step. And after some convincing, I agreed" she said beaming and looking at the ring with me. I shuddered at the mental image of them "convincing" each other and kept my mouth shut. Sure we were friends, but it was gross in a cute-I don't want to hear about it- sort of way.

"I'm really happy for you V" I said smiling again and feeling the excitement of love and a wedding wash over me. I was hopeless like that and if I hadn't taken this job with the Pens, I imagine that I would have gone into wedding planning instead. Both jobs were similar in a way. You planned and executed a vision for the end result of making someone's day special and meaningful. There was magic in that and I knew that I would never be able to do something that didn't make other people happy.

"Did you work everything out with Sid?" she asked changing the subject. My eyes searched for his for the millionth time that night, spotting him on the other side of the VIP section.

"Yeah" I lied. We hadn't even gotten close to working anything out but I felt that we were both at least friendly with each other now. He didn't seem mad at me anymore which was definitely a plus. He claimed not to have a dark side but I could definitely see him having a nasty temper when he actually let it loose.

"Good," she smiled looking relieved. "Marc and I were worried that you two would end up fighting the whole way through planning our wedding."

"Vero, you know that I would never get in the way of your wedding."

"I know, I know. It's just that I'd like you to be my maid of honor since I don't have a sister or anything and I know Marc's asking Sidney to be his best man."

"Oh." I said feeling completely floored. "Vero, of course I'll be your maid of honor" I said hugging her tightly. I was still a little stunned that she had chosen me but we had become really, really close this year. "Wait, what about Eliza?" I asked not wanting her to be offended by the choice.

"Oh, I made sure it was okay with her. She said that she'd love to help out anyway so you both are maids of honor essentially. She's just trusting you to take the full load of the responsibility" she joked. "You are the one who basically plans events for a living."

"Vero, your wedding is not a charity case!" I laughed. The two were vastly different but no less problematic now that Sidney would be involved.

"This will be so great! You and Sid are good now so there won't be any problems when you help us plan stuff." She looked so elated that I didn't have the heart to tell her that things weren't quite that perfect yet.

"I'm excited too" I smiled faking my way through the whole time.

Sometimes I really hated my inability to tell the truth.

After another hour of hanging out with everyone, I was starting to get tired and my yawns were more frequent. Everyone was distracted with the news of Marc and Vero's engagement so I knew that I would be able to leave quietly.

"I'm gonna head out." I announced hugging both Max and Eliza and waving goodbye to the group.

"You can leave when I leave" Jordan joked throwing me an exaggerated wink. He had been drinking like everyone else so I let the comment go and shot him a "next time" and a smile instead. He really needed to find a different girl to flirt with and actually mean it for once.

"I'm going to leave too" Sidney announced startling me from where he was standing behind me. He's always creeping up on me.

Eliza gave me one of her looks and I did my best to ignore her. Sidney was still talking to a few of the guys while I searched for my coat and purse. With my coat on and my purse in hand, I thought that I was home-free and Sidney and I wouldn't even run into each other. Wrong.

"Where are you parked?" he asked joining me right outside the doors of the club.

"Um, I'm up the street a few blocks, this way" I gestured to the left wondering what he was up to. A few clubgoers were looking at us curiously obviously aware that he was Sidney Crosby but probably wondering what he was doing with me.

"Okay, I'll walk you" he said putting a hand on my elbow and leading me down the street.

"Wait, you don't have to. I mean, I'll be fine, I do know how to walk myself safely to my car at night" I protested. We hadn't finished our discussion from earlier and frankly, I was being a coward. I wanted to just forget about everything Sidney-related that had happened today.

"I'm sure you can" he laughed. "I just want to, okay? It's getting pretty rowdy down here."

I tried not to giggle at his choice of the word "rowdy" and the disapproving, old man face he was sporting. He was so cute when he acted like he was 65 years old. I was still feeling the affects of alcohol that brought out my stupid side. Normally I would still find things amusing about Sidney, that was part of the reason why I had harbored such a massive crush on him, but slightly drunk Emma laughs out loud at these cute traits and draws attention to her drunken self.

"What's so funny?" he asked leading me around a crowd of excited college students.

"Nothing" I said trying to stifle my laughter and look serious. It wouldn't help our relationship any if I kept laughing at him.

"So Marc and Vero huh? I can't believe that Flower's getting married" Sidney said after we had walked a little bit in silence. It occurred to me that this was a new first for me: Sidney actually trying to have a conversation with me.

"I know, I'm so excited though. I love weddings" I said sighing. Just thinking about it had my heart sighing dreamily.

"So you're one of those girls" he said looking slightly disgusted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked staring at him. How could anyone not love weddings? There was love, happiness, dancing and cake. I couldn't think of a better way to spend an evening.

"Well, they're kind of a waste of money" he stated simply. "And people get all worked up about them and spend months planning them and then it's all over in a couple of hours."

"Well if I'm one of those girls, then you're one of those guys." He looked at me questioningly and I felt proud of myself for catching him off guard. I kind of liked it. Actually, I really liked yelling at him too.

"You're one of those guys who get bitter about weddings and the whole process claiming that 'they're a waste of time and money' when years later, you end up going through with the whole process anyway just to make your bride happy."

He snorted and led me through another crowd of people trying to get into a popular bar, his hand resting briefly on the small of my back. I tried to ignore the little jolt I felt, even through my coat. "I don't think that marriage will be an option for me for a long time."

He looked so serious as he said this that it wasn't even amusing anymore. He almost looked sad and I didn't know what to say to that. I didn't know him well enough and I doubted that anything I could say would make him feel better about it. We walked the last few feet to my car in silence again with his hand still resting on my back.

"Thanks for walking with me" I said fumbling around for my keys. I felt like I was 16 years old and ending the night of my first date. "Do you want me to give you a ride back to your car? It's the least I can do so you can avoid the crowds." He agreed and got into the passenger side looking enormous in my small convertible. With the top up, it looked like he was ducking his head a bit just to fit in under the roof.

It was still bothering me about what he had said before. For the first time since I had known him, he had dropped his aloof facade with me and had let me in, even just a tiny bit.

"Hey Sid?" I said using his nickname as he got out of the car. "I really am sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean it and I'd like it if we could be friends."

"Don't worry about it" he said, his lips twitching as if he wanted to smile. "I'll see you around, okay?"

I nodded giving him one last smile as he shut the door and walked to his own car. As soon as he got out of the car, it occurred to me that he had never agreed to my offer of friendship.

Sid's POV:

That was definitely one of the strangest conversations that I had had in a long time. Especially with a woman. There hadn't exactly been a lot of time to have any conversations with women though lately. So what did I know?


Surprisingly though, that was the most open I had been with anyone in a long time and it was interesting considering who it was that I had been talking to. The girl who claims to hate me was the same girl I started to almost spill personal information to. It didn't make any sense but at least I now knew that we could start to get along. It would be pretty bad if I let things go back to the way that they used to be and I had the feeling that I would get my ass chewed out by more than a few people if I went back to ignoring her.

It had been pretty hard to miss how well she fit in and was liked by the team. Why hadn't I noticed how buddy-buddy she was with literally everyone, but me? She even knew the names of some of the player's kids. Why didn't I know some of this stuff?

There was still something about her that I was unsure of. I realized it as I got out of her car that night and she looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't. I felt like she knew something about me that I didn't and it kind of pissed me off. What did she think she knew? And why didn't she just say it? She always looked like she was on the verge of saying something to me, even when I was making her angry. So what was it?

I pushed it to the back of my mind and pushed the tape of the game from tonight into the DVD player.

I tried to ignore the fact that I could still see her eyes shining at me as I got out of her car. Fucking hell. What was it with this girl?