Chapter 21

Sorry this is so late guys!!! Enjoy and comment please? I really like this chapter. In fact, I giggled frequently as I wrote it. That could also just be the coffee making me that way.  

Also, Happy Thanksgiving! I wish you all a very turkey-food-induced coma!


Emma's POV:

I was struggling not to fidget and failing miserably at it. Then again, I always had been a fidgeter in situations that made me uncomfortable. Right now definitely counted as uncomfortable.

"Are you okay?" Sidney asked looking over at me as I tightened the seatbelt on my lap again. I checked it one more time before deciding that it felt secure.

"You know, you can take your seatbelt off. We're already in the air" he gestured to the light above us signalling that we could indeed get up and move around the air craft.

"No, I'm good" I replied willing my body to stay still. In two more hours we would be landing in Hallifax and I wasn't completelely sure how I felt about that now that it was officially happening.

When I told Eliza and Vero about my holiday plans both of them had looked at each other, shaking their heads.

"Vous etes trés, trés stupide." Vero had told me before changing the subject- not even offering me some advice on what to do.

After my moment of girl-power in agreeing to go home with him to Cole Harbour, the feelings of confidence and strength wore off pretty quickly and were replaced by anxiety and feelings of remorse over what I had agreed to.

Then I remembered that I would have to spend time on an airplane.How could I have forgotten that I hate to fly? Years of travelling with or without my parents hadn't conditioned me for flying and I hadn't told Sidney this out of embarrassment. In fact, until this morning, I had completely forgotten about the flying part. Besides, everything was already complicated between us.

"Okay seriously, you're making me nervous with all of your moving." Sidney stated placing a firm and warm hand on my knee. The touch jolted me away from where I was concentrating out the window and back to his face.

"Em?" He asked now looking at me curiously. "Are you okay with flying?"

I tried to give a reassuring yes but it came out more like a squeak as we hit turbulence, the butterflies exploding in my stomach once more.

"Where's your iPod?" He asked chuckling and shaking his head. I gestured to the purse at my feet and he leaned forward to dig around in it for me. "I seriously don't understand what it is with women and huge bags" he grumbled finally pulling out the device.

He smiled at me and popped an ear bud in each of our ears, scrolling around for something that we could listen to. "Music will help" he stated leaning back and looking relaxed and incredibly perfect in his reebok sweater and pens hat. How does he do that?

In fact, he had seemed remarkably relaxed all morning, even when I obviously wasn't. Hell, I was a complete mess and he had been so nice, guiding me through the airport and laughing repeatedly every time he mentioned something about our plans with his family and I forced myself to smile like I was excited. He could see right through my little charade and yet he was as patient as ever and reassuring me that I would have fun.

It actually surprised me how patient he was being considering the roles were usually reversed between us and he was the antsy one who worried and dissected everything.

Truthfully, I knew that I shouldn't be nervous about this. Yes, I was meeting his family but I wasn't meeting them as a girlfriend or lover, I was meeting them as the awkward friend of his that didn't have anywhere else to go for the holidays.

"Put your head back and try to relax" he instructed already closing his eyes in relaxation. I tried to copy him and get comfortable by tucking one of my legs up beneath me and rest my head against the window. This failed however when my movement away from him yanked his earbud out.

"You're still fidgeting" he whispered laughing at me again. The woman across from us gave both of us a dirty look and "shh'ed" us. "Come here" he motioned lifting his arm and sliding it around my shoulders. Before I knew it, my head was resting against the crook between his arm and chest and he settled back against his seat again seemingly oblivious to our cozy position and all of its implications.

Under the weight of his warm arm, I felt my body begin to unwind even though my brain was on high alert just from being in close proximity to him again. i breathed in his scent which was now surrounding me like giant comfort blanket. Did he even realize that he smelled like winter? It was something I had never really noticed until now but he smelled like cold, fresh air on a grey, winter afternoon in January. Without realizing it, I nestled my head in further against his arm finding an even more comforting position against him. I didn't even want to think about what we looked like right now cuddled against each other.

"You're still not relaxing" he mumbled. "I can hear your brain still working."

I tilted my head back slightly to look up at the smooth lines of his face. From this angle I could see the fan of his eyelashes which looked oddly long and feminine when his eyes were closed. I smiled- Sidney Crosby had the eyelashes of a little girl. The thought almost made me laugh out loud until I realized that he had dozed off completely and within seconds.

I hit pause on the iPod so that the music couldn't disturb him and closed my own eyes falling asleep within minutes. I wished that we could have just hit pause on the moment instead.




"Hey" I felt a little nudge against my side and the touch of a hand sweeping hair away from my forehead. "We're here."

I opened my eyes to see Sidney staring at me and the plane emptying around us. How on earth had we landed without me even knowing it? That was usually the loudest part of a plane ride not to mention how much planes jostled around when landing too. My mouth was still open in shock from just waking up and I realized that I had been drooling. The barely noticeable wet spot on Sidney's sweater was proof that I had actually fallen asleep on him and drooled for two hours.

"You know, even though we're on a plan, flies will fly in your mouth if you don't shut it soon."

I knew that he was trying to joke with me and bring me back into the world of the living but since when was he such a comedian? I pushed myself away from him and sat up trying to wipe my mouth and be discrete about it. I know that I looked disgusting and we were about to get off of the plane and meet his family. What a great impression.

Sidney was already up and bringing our carry-ons down from the over head compartment and I was still frozen in my seat trying to recollect myself. Was fuzzy an accurate description of how I felt? It was like I kept hitting the "on" switch for my brain and somewhere between sleeping and cuddling with Sidney, the wires had gotten crossed and were hopelessly broken.

"Ready?" He asked picking up his coat and shrugging it on. I scrambled to get up, not wanting to hold him or anyone else on the plane up and promptly rapped my head against the compartment above me. Sidney of course laughed while my face turned three shades of red in embarrassment.

"What's up with you today? It's like you're actually nervous or something."

"I am nervous" I replied a little more testily than I had intended. "Your parents don't even know me and here I am intruding on their time with you. We're not even-" Thankfully he cut me off because I realized that I had almost said 'dating.'

"What do you mean 'intruding?'" he asked guiding me off of the plane. The passengers around us were probably relieved to see me leave. "I already told you not to worry about it. My family has a 'more the merrier' approach to holiday gatherings."

I shut up and didn't protest because I didn't want to seem ungrateful to him for anything that he had done to make my holiday better. Whether we agreed or not, I knew that he was really going out of his way to make sure that I enjoyed the holiday and besides, he never listened to me anyway. I could have been wearing a sign that said "NO MEANS NO" on my forehead and Sidney would still be able to look past that.

He placed his hand on my back and we walked in silence heading for the escalators that would lead us downstairs to the baggage claim where we would meet up with his parents and little sister. As we rode the escalators down, I looked around noticing a small crowd of people gathered at the bottom, trying to stay out of the way and look nonchalant. However, nonchalant was kind of hard to do when someone in the group was holding a "SIDNEY" sign with hearts all over it.

I looked over to see Sidney with a giant smile on his face at the sight of the group. I was too distracted by the giant and semi-rare smile on his face that I barely noticed when he grabbed my hand and practically tugged me off the escalator as he walked over to the group in question.

The teenage girl holding the sign broke out in a jog and ran over squealing as she jumped on a laughing Sidney.
"Hey Tay" I heard him say laughing as she smothered him in a hug. He pulled back to look her in the face. "How have you been squirt?"

"Sid, I'm a teenage girl. Stop calling me squirt." He laughed at again at the obnoxious sign in her hand and she hugged him again.

I felt like I was intruding on their moment but it was hard to look away from how adorable it was either. Plus, it was awkward since we hadn't been introduced yet.

"He still doesn't realize that I'm growing up" Taylor said turning to me and eyeing me up and down as she spoke to me. It wasn't unfriendly, but it wasn't completely welcoming either.

"Aren't you going to say hello to us?" Another voice piped in. I recognized that the small, blonde woman in front of us was his Mom, also eyeing me up and down while she spoke. It was obvious that these two women were feeling a little territorial with their golden boy. If Sidney hadn't been standing right next to me, I probably would have warned  them that they had absolutely nothing to worry about. The guy could have any woman he wanted, there was no need to wonder about the red-headed mess standing before them in jeans and an old Pens sweatshirt.

Sidney began to hug everyone and introduce me, and I tried to keep up with shaking everyone's hands and receiving hugs from unfamiliar faces. I hoped that I didn't come across as a nervous fool but Sidney seemed to understand this and kept one hand on my back in subtle reassurance. I wondered if he even knew how much we had been silently communicating the entire trip so far.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Crosby" I said taking initiative and introducing myself to Sidney's Dad. I had heard rumors about him being pretty tough to crack and I wanted to make a good impression. He, like everyone else before him, gave me the once over before giving me a friendly smile and accepting my outstretched hand.

"Nice to meet you, Emma" he said giving me a firm shake. It was evident where Sidney got his strength from- the man had the handshake of a bear. "Ready to go?" He asked the group. We all nodded and Sidney and I headed over to the bag carousel to pick our bags out of the jumbled mess.

"All ready to go?" He asked leading me out to meet his family where they were standing on the curb. He looked so content to be here with his family that I didn't want to spoil the moment with more of my already evident anxiety. So I nodded and smiled even though it was a complete lie.

What have you gotten me into, Sidney Crosby?