Chapter 11

Sorry, I didn't check this for typos or spelling mistakes. I'm tired and just wanted to update :D

Emma's POV:

After he yelled at me to get in the car on the highway, I scolded my body for having such a traitorous response to the sound of his gruff, angry voice. It was how I imagined his voice to be on the ice and even though I didn't want to be in this position with him, it was hot.

I had felt so pathetic earlier when I was forced to dial the one number in my phone I had never even bothered with. Vero had given it to me just in case him and I had to talk wedding stuff and since sticking it in my phone, I hadn't thought about it. Honestly, were we ever going to have a need to call each other? I didn't think so but I listened to Vero anyway and kept my mouth shut about it. Then today after taking a nice couple of hours for myself to go hike, my car decides to shut down on the highway and none of my so-called friends answer their phones to come save me.

"Are you sure we have to go to the mall?" Sidney interrupted my daydreaming to ask me again about the mall. After he had picked me up, he had completely stunned me by asking if I would help him find a birthday present for his little sister. After he had rescued me from potential doom with my car, there was no way that I could say no and not come off like a big bitch. Plus, I loved to shop and buy people presents. How much of a hardship could this really be?

"Why are you so afraid of the mall, Crosby?" I asked narrowing my eyes at him in speculation. I know he's a guy but a mall isn't THAT bad.
"I don't hate malls or anything, it's just I can't go in them." Even though his eyes were on the road I could see the small lines of stress fill in on his face and it dawned on me. Of course he has to avoid malls because then he'll have to deal with fans.
I felt bad for him but it was a little too late for him to be thinking about himself. We were already here at the mall.
"When is her birthday? You could always online shop instead if you don't want to go in." He looked over at me sheepishly once we were parked.
"Her birthday was two weeks ago."
I could feel my eyebrows touching my hairline now in disbelief. The gift was that late.
"You are such a guy." I knew that this would get him riled up enough to get his ass out of the car.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked frowning slightly. It was working.
"You just expect that she'll be okay with a late gift and now you won't even make the effort to make it a good gift." I could see that he was starting to feel guilty like I had planned. "That's just a very typically male thing to do." I shrugged my shoulders for effect and he looked at me again before rolling his eyes and taking the keys out of ignition and opening his door.

Success!
"Let's go" he said shutting his door and walking around back to wait for me. He had pulled on a baseball cap and was trying to angle it low enough so that he could go unrecognized. How anyone would miss him, even in a hat, was beyond me. He kind of stood out.
"You know, we can always get you a fake mustache or something to wear" I suggested trying to lighten the mood. "Or maybe just a really long beard. Like ZZ Top long." He looked at me a second before bursting out laughing and making me feel like I had won a shiny gold medal. He had the most gut splitting laugh that when he actually did relax enough to laugh, it never failed to make me smile in return.

"I might take you up on that offer" he said still smiling at me. Oddly enough, after that, we fell into an easy conversation as we walked along trying to find a store that his sister might like. I was so distracted by the feeling of having a normal conversation with him that I didn't notice his hand was still on my back as we walked along.

"What about this store?" I asked stopping in front of a Forever 21. Teenage girls loved these kinds of stores and I remembered shopping in the store when I was still in college while my friends and I looked for clubbing outfits. Yes, we were that lame once.
"Sure, whatever" Sidney said frowning at the half-naked mannequins in the store's display. I laughed at his disapproving expression and nudged his shoulder.
"Don't worry, we won't make your sister look like a slut. How old is she again?"
"Uh, she's 16 now" He was still eyeing the halter tops cautiously making me grin again. I walked around looking at different outfits while Sidney trailed close behind me.
"Wait, what's the driving age in Nova Scotia?" I asked starting to get wind of an idea.
"16 actually. Why?"
"Just follow me" I said grinning and leaving the store. We reached the store I was looking for while Sidney looked at me like I was crazy.
"What is this store?" he asked as I walked in heading directly to the trinkets counter.
"It's 'Things Remembered.' This is what you should get her" I said pointing to different gold and silver keychain charms. A keychain from her big brother would be the perfect combination of sweet and thoughtful, especially since every teenager practically counted down the days until they could drive.
"You can have it engraved with a special message and it's something she'll always have with her that's a part of you." 
"You really think she'll like a keychain?" he asked still looking skeptical.
"Definitely. Plus, you can always say that the gift was late because it was being engraved" I said giving him the perfect out for why his gift would be arriving late.
"Okay, I'm trusting your female opinion" he said hunching over the counter to pick one out. "Which one do you like? I kind of like the star one right there." He pointed to three silver stars all hanging on the same chain. The last star was the largest and was where he could have something engraved. It wasn't too girly but was still feminine and I liked it.
"That one's pretty. Do you know what you would want written on it?"
His eyebrows bunched together in thought and I could tell that he was nervous about making this gift good.

"Okay" I said trying my hardest not to laugh at him. He was so...perplexed. "Tell me something about her."

"Well, she's really into hockey. And boys." he frowned again and this time I did laugh out loud. I had never seen this protective brother side of him before.
"Okay, well why don't we go with something simple. Like 'Happy Sweet 16, love Sidney.'" The saleswoman who had been watching us closely stepped closer to inform us that she approved of our choice. "On the middle star you could have her number engraved too. That would be a nice detail."

"That's a really good idea" Sidney agreed looking relieved. He filled out the order form while the saleswoman chattered away complimenting the purchase. He had it rush ordered meaning that he could pick it up in two days and have it sent out right away.

"Ready to go?" I asked as he put his wallet away. I was starving and was ready to get home so that I could park myself in front of the refrigerator for awhile.

"Yeah, come on, I'll take you home. Will someone be able to take you to your car later?" he asked as we left the mall. I nodded even though I wasn't quite sure. Eventually Eliza or Vero would call me back and I'd guilt them into taking me to where my car was being looked at.

"Maybe your parents could take you or something" he suggested keeping his eyes on the road. I couldn't help the unladylike snort that burst from me at the idea of my parents doing something like that for me.

"Yeah, sure" was all that I said. What they would actually do was buy me a new car instead of taking the 'trouble' to take me to the car place. They were hopelessly useless like that. Besides, I wasn't sure, but I had heard from Nathalie that they were out of town and didn't bother to fill me in on details like that.

"They're probably busy" I added when we fell into an uncomfortable silence. Talking about my family always managed to put me in a bad mood. Because he looked like he wanted to question me, I quickly changed the subject to the topic of the Pens game tomorrow and that either worked, or he just decided to drop the subject allowing us to talk more freely on the way back to my place.

"Thanks again for the rescue" I said unbuckling my seatbelt in the driveway. I was so proud of myself for actually having a good time with him this afternoon and for the fact that it seemed like we could genuinely be friends now. I hadn't felt awkward with him once all afternoon, definitely a big feat for us.

"I think you rescued me too with the gift thing" he said giving me one of his goofy, big smiles. We sat there smiling for another second before I hopped out making sure I hadn't left anything in his car. "Good luck tomorrow" I added giving him one last smile.

"Thanks, see you later?" he questioned. I nodded waving as he backed out of my driveway and onto the street. He honked one last time before disappearing down the block and out of sight. After letting myself in and humming slightly, I dug around in my purse for my phone so I could call and check on my car.

6 missed calls. 5 new voicemail.

I selected play and balanced the phone between my cheek and shoulder while I dug around in the refrigerator to make myself a sandwich. 3 out of the 5 messages were from Eliza demanding that I call her back because she was worried about me and why I called so many times. The other 2 were from other friends also wondering the same thing. I texted everyone back to let them know that I was alive and safe. Eliza immediately offered to drive me to the car shop later on to get my car without me even having to ask.

With that taken care of, I settled down in front of the TV still feeling the effects of my good mood lingering from before. Maybe Sidney and I could end up being friends anyway.