Chapter 29

Haha, so it's taken me 29 chapters to get these two people where I want them. But hopefully you'll enjoy the result :) Thanks for being patient all of this time and enjoy the double chapter post! I like even numbers and it seemed fitting to split this portion into two chapters so that it would culminate at chapter 30!

Emma's POV:

New Year's Eve. A night of fun, (drunken) debauchery and the promise of a whole new year to start fresh, only a few hours away from becoming definite reality.

It should have been an evening that I enjoyed, and I was having a good time but I still couldn't fight the feeling that something was off. Rather, someone was making me feel off just by being here at the party. Three guesses who that was.

My date Brian and I, a guy that I had struck up a casual friendship with through work a few months ago, had arrived an hour earlier and all was going smoothly until Sidney had arrived. Whereas I had felt pretty and confident before his arrival, as soon as his eyes locked onto mine across the room, my little red dress no longer fit right. Instead it felt tight and I was worried all over again that it clashed with the color of my auburn hair.

He of course looked gorgeous in his crisp, white oxford shirt, blazer and dark jeans. Once again our eyes connected but I couldn't tell what those dark orbs were telling me. That is, if they were actually telling me anything at all besides "I hate you."

I looked down self-consciously at the semi-low cut bodice of the dress and tried to pull it up without drawing attention to myself. Why had I decided to wear something so revealing? Because it's New Year's and I wanted to wear something fun.

"Stop fussing, you look hot" Vero murmured holding out another flute of champagne for me to drink. She must have seen me awkwardly adjusting the dress for the past 5 minutes while Brian was off talking to other people from work.

"Thanks" I mumbled taking a big gulp of champagne.

"Sidney hasn't stopped staring at you" she commented picking at a plate of food she was holding. "That's interesting considering you keep saying that he hates you."

"Don't mock me." I said instantly picking up on the teasing tone in her voice. "Why else wouldn't he be talking to me right now if he didn't hate me for something that I did or said?"

"Honey, a man that spends this much time sulking in a corner on his own and staring at you for over an hour doesn't hate you." She slapped at my hands once more telling me that my boobs looked fine before walking off to go find Marc.

Deciding that I had been ignoring my date for far too long because of a man that I wasn't even speaking to right now, I turned my back on the area that I thought Sidney was still standing in and stalked off determined not to let him ruin my night.

Sidney's POV:

Why was I here again?

This was the only thing I could think about as I knocked back my 2nd glass of Johnny Walker and tried not to look completely miserable alone on a couch in the Guerin's living room.

The root of the problem was a redhead wearing a bright red dress and pointedly ignoring me even though my eyes hadn't left her frame for over an hour. A very small red dress that some random guy I had seen in the merchandise department seemed to be enjoying very much.

I watched her laugh at something he was saying and take another sip of her champagne. Her pink lips curled into a smile and I could tell, even from this distance, that it wasn't a fake smile. She was actually enjoying herself and it was enough to make my stomach clench uncomfortably.

The thought that I should be the one making her smile and laugh briefly crossed my mind before I pushed it aside in favor of more alcohol. Did I want to get drunk tonight? No. Did I need to numb my brain a little bit? Yes. I was so busy staring into my drink that I didn't notice Eliza making her way over to me.

"You know that this would all sort itself out if you just went and talked to her."

I glanced over at Eliza smiling at me and internally groaned. Eliza was one of Emma's best friends and had probably heard a mouthful from her. As much as I liked Eliza and valued her legal advice, I didn't want to hear relationship advice from her right now. I already knew that I was a jerk.

"It's not that simple" I told her. My eyes flicked back over to Emma who was still getting friendly with that guy. Actually he was just getting friendly. I didn't like that his eyes were practically glued to her chest and the way his arm had slid around her waist. She looked fucking amazing tonight but that didn't mean that he had the right to hang all over her.

"Are you sure? You're the infamous over-thinker of the team, Sid."

"I have to be" I told her shrugging. I've always had to be that way.

"Well that doesn't mean that you have to be unhappy either" she stated getting comfortable next to me on the couch and gingerly pulling the still half full glass out of my hand. "If it's any consolation, she's confused and angry."

I sighed wondering how the hell that was any form of consolation at all. "But" she added making me look at her again, "she would listen to you if you would just explain yourself. Emma's too nice of a person to deny you that."

"Who's the guy that's been following her around all night?"

"Jealous?" she asked grinning at me snidely.

"No" I told her just a little bit too quickly. "I was just curious."

"Uh huh" she said knowingly, clearly enjoying my discomfort. "He's no one you should be worried or threatened by" she responded finally, still grinning at me. I tried not to let it show that I was relieved by what she had told me and together we sat in silence for a few more minutes watching everyone else enjoying their evening.

"Go talk to her, seriously Sid. Whatever your reason was for blowing her off, you won't feel better until you talk to her." With that, she squeezed my knee in a friendly gesture before getting up and walking away.

While I stalled and decided whether or not I wanted to talk to her tonight or put it off until after the party, I made an effort to mingle with the guys and enjoy what I could of the evening. Besides, it was getting hard to watch what Emma was doing from my position on the couch. I could only see so much and then nothing at all as soon as she moved out of my line of vision.

After asking around, no one seemed to really know anything about Emma's date except for the fact that his name was Brian and he worked for the Pens somehow. I didn't think that I had really seen him around before so how the hell did Emma know him?

Locating her again in the crowd wasn't difficult due to the dress she was wearing. As if by chance, her eyes looked up and met mine across the room. Though we had been doing this all night, this time she held her eyes instead of looking away. One slim eyebrow rose in challenge as we stared at each other and for the first time that night, I saw how pissed off she really was.

My stomach burned with what I could only identify as shame from my purposeful actions and the steps I had taken in recent days not to talk to her or explain myself to her.

Just like that, the moment was broken and she turned her head leaving me with only a view of her lightly curled hair as she talked to her date. Without looking back I saw them walk hand in hand out of my eyesight and I felt worse than I did before.

Emma's POV:

Maybe it was cruel of me but I wanted him to suffer. I could tell just by looking into his brown eyes frequently throughout the night that he was trying to tell me that he was sorry. I still couldn't decide what he should be more sorry for- for just ignoring me without reason or because he was possibly the biggest all around jackass that I had ever had the misfortune to meet.

What was the saying about a woman scorned? That was me right now and I was just angry and frustrated enough to want to use anything I had available to me right now against him. What I did have available to me was my poor date Brian who was just nice enough not to realize that I had been engaged in a silent battle with another man all evening.

It still didn't make any sense to me whatsoever that Sidney was the one who had been pushing me along all of this time with his kisses and then with how warm and wonderful his family was- how warm and wonderful he was- and then just drop me completely as if he realized that I was mistake but was just too cowardly to tell me.

It was infuriating! And worse- it hurt like hell to be tossed aside by the one man that had consumed such a large part of my heart over the years. Actually, it was pathetic. Not that I considered myself pathetic on the whole but generally, when it came to Sidney Crosby, lets face it- I was a mess.

We weren't even together and I was a mess. Maybe it was better off that we weren't together if this is how catastrophic we were together.

"Do you want another drink?" Brian was playing the role of attentive date well and had been genuinely funny and nice the whole evening. He was engaging, intelligent, handsome- and completely wrong for me. How could I be with someone else when my mind was still stuck on someone selfish, idiotic and stupid?

"A water would be great, thanks!" I told him smiling. I wondered if I had any other single friends that I could set him up with. I watched him walk away and took a minute to collect myself and get my mind back on track and back on the man that I had brought as a date.

It was time for me to buck up and start enjoying the evening like I intended to.

"Can we talk?"

I froze hearing his voice behind me and was torn between turning like my body told me to and walking away as if I hadn't heard him. My body won.

"About what?" I asked standing near him for the first time all night.

"Can I just have a minute, outside maybe?"

I didn't want to do this right now. Not after I had finally worked out in my mind that I owed it to myself and my date not to concern myself with Sidney the whole night.

"No, not tonight."

He didn't look pleased with this answer if the sole, bulging cord on his  neck was any indication. "Just 5 minutes" he told me taking a step closer as if to intimidate me with his size.

"No" I stressed the word wondering why this needed to be discussed right now. Couldn't it wait until after tonight?

Both of us were angry and I could practically feel the air crackle between us thanks to the frustrated energy now bubbling over.

"What is your problem?" he hissed at me shushing me before the outraged noise could errupt from my mouth.

"My problem? My problem? Are you insane Crosby?" This time I didn't bother to keep my voice down elliciting confused looks from those arond us.

"Keep your voice down" he hissed sliding back into Sidney Crosby: popular NHL player and master of not making a scene rather than the Sidney I needed him to be. A Sidney that would admit that he was wrong and leave me alone for awhile.

"I can't deal with you right now" I stated taking a big step back, almost bumping into Kris Letang who looked embarrassed to be caught in the crossfire. I apologized before scooting around him in the crowd looking for an escape. I just needed air. Once I had air, I would be able to go back inside. Out on the Guerin's enormous backyard patio, I felt better letting the cold air rush over me and instantly cool me off.

"Em, seriously, let's go back inside. It's freezing out here."

Rolling my eyes, I turned to where Sidney was standing, partially hidden by the shadows. He still looked angry at me which I was fine with. I was still angry at him too. "I need air."

"Okay, so take some air. Just don't freeze to death" he said slipping out of his blazer and holding it out to me.

"Okay, I won't freeze to death. You can leave now" I stated wishing now more than anything that he would finally leave me be. Funny how the one person you find yourself always wanting to be around can also be the one person to make you physically wish to leave your own skin just to get some distance from them sometimes.

"Why are you being so stubborn? I realize that I was an ass for not-"

"Ass doesn't even begin to cover it, Sidney" I deadpanned.

"Well maybe I would be able to explain if you didn't keep interrupting me."

We were both close to yelling at each other again and I didn't like the look in his eyes. He looked at me like I was Ovechkin or something.

"Could you please leave me alone?" I asked again, almost pleading with him now.

"No. We need to talk" he stated again crossing to where I was standing. I stared down at the hands that were flexing by his sides before they reached out to grasp my elbows and hold me gently in place. "Leave with me?"

My stomach fluttered at the intensity of his voice and I had to take a deep breath before shaking my head no. "I'm here with someone else" I reminded him, my thoughts darting back to Brian for the first time in 10 minutes.

"You don't have to be" Sidney said surprising me with the sudden slyness of his voice.

"Yes, I do." I tried to break free of his hands but to no avail. I was still locked firmly in place it seemed with barely any effort on his part to hold me there.

"No you don't" he stated again. The self-assurance in his voice was unbelievably arrogant and triggered my pent up anger like nothing else.

"What was that for?" he asked finally dropping his hold on my arms to clutch at his now stinging cheek. As far as I was concerned, he deserved to be slapped for his know it all attitude- among other things.

"Nothing that you don't deserve" I told him taking twisted delight in the way his eyes sparked back at me.

Not saying another word, he grasped my hand tightly with the authority a mother might take with a petulant child and dragged me back inside despite my protests. He gave me just enough time to frantically look for Eliza or Vero, anyone who would help me out. Eliza spotted me first and I looked to her for help but instead she smiled and waved then turned her back on me.

I didn't even have my purse as Sidney ignored everyone else and led me out the door into the cold night.