Chapter 52

I finished packing the last of my stuff into my car and gave each of my parents a hug. I watched Nick do the same and we both got into our cars. I turned to look back at Bauer, and saw the look on his face. It said 'Really, we're moving again?' I let Nick pull out of the driveway first and then I followed.

In fact I followed him for close to five hours. We were both headed to school. He went to college in Buffalo and driving through there was the fastest way for me to get to Pittsburgh. We stopped at a rest stop together and ate a fast food lunch at a picnic table with Bauer wrapping himself around the legs.

“Are you nervous?” he asked me between bites of a cheeseburger. I shrugged.

“Not really. I have done the college thing before, you know. Not to mention that I'm going to know people in the city I'm moving to unlike the last two times I moved.”

“You'll have to come up when the Pens play the Sabres. You could stay with me,” Nick suggested.

“And stay in tetanus central? I don't think so,” I joked. He rolled his eyes at me but laughed.

We finished up our lunch and gave each other a hug before saying goodbye. I gave a honk as Nick turned off at his exit and I continued on. I sang along to some music, in a great mood. It had only been a week and a half, but I couldn't wait to see Sidney again, and away from Cole Harbour.

The summer had been amazing...mostly. We'd had a blast spending time together and with our friends. It had been just as good, if not better, than the previous summer. With the exception of Troy that is. Our fight certainly hadn't helped things, and probably made them worse. We were at odds the entire summer.

The tension had gotten so bad that I stopped joining Sidney for dinner with his family when it was just his parents and sister present. I made sure to take a shift at work each time they invited us over. I just couldn't take the looks he gave me, and the passive-aggressive comments he'd make all night.

The worst part was that everyone knew what was going on. Troy never made an effort to hide his hatred for me and it just made everyone uncomfortable. The only way to avoid making people uncomfortable was to just avoid Troy. Now I could finally get away from it.

I finished off the trip and pulled into the parking lot for my new apartment. I found the closest spot and parked the car, letting Bauer out to run around. I grabbed a couple of things and began to head towards my new home. Oneida stepped out the door and smiled.

“Need some help?” she called out as she walked towards my car.

Oneida and I had kept in touch throughout the summer. It had been difficult, but I still hadn’t told her about Sidney. Even though she seemed like she wouldn’t be strange about who my boyfriend was, I didn’t want to tell her until I had moved in. I just wanted to be sure.

She helped me bring everything from the car inside and then ran out to get some food while I got to work unpacking. I took a break from unpacking to eat and Oneida and I chatted as we did so before she came into my room to help.

“Want me to get this box?” she asked, pulling one over to her. I didn’t even glance at the one she was opening.

“Yeah, that’s fine, thanks.” I heard her rustling around and then I heard her yell.

“Holy shit!”

“What?” I asked, turning to look at her. Then I saw what was in her hand.

“You met Sidney Crosby?!” she exclaimed.

She turned the framed picture over so I could see which one she was holding. I hid a smile as I looked at it. The picture had been taken after a game so Sidney was wearing a suit and it looked a little like just a fan picture.

“Yeah, I did.” Hey, I wasn’t lying.

“And your boyfriend isn’t jealous that you framed this picture?” she asked. I laughed.

“Somehow I don’t think he minds.”

Oneida looked at the picture a little longer as I went back to pulling things out of the box in front of me. She made a couple of comments on other pictures she pulled out that were of me and friends. Then I heard her yell again.

“You met him twice?!” she called out. Then there was silence as I watched her brow furrow. “Hey, wait a minute.” She was holding two frames, and one was a picture of Sidney and I kissing.

“I told you my boyfriend wouldn’t mind,” I joked.

“You bitch! How did you not tell me?!”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I just had to be sure you wouldn’t be weird about it. I can’t always trust people when it comes to him, you know?”

Oneida and I talked about him a little longer and as we did I could tell that she just wasn’t going to be a problem. We finished a little bit more of the unpacking before giving up for the night.
Not long after we collapsed down on the couch to watch TV my phone rang and I saw that it was Sid. He had gone back to Pittsburgh at the same time I had gone to my parents to see them before school. I told him it was okay for him to come over and then gave Oneida the heads up.

Sidney came by about 20 minutes later and I introduced him to Oneida. She wasn’t weird at all when I introduced them and didn’t treat him like he was anything special. Thankfully I’d found out that while she knew who Sid was, she wasn’t into sports so it wasn’t really all that big a deal for her to meet him.

The three of us sat in the living room talking and watching TV when a knock sounded on the door. I was closest so I got up to answer it. I pulled the door open and groaned when I saw who was standing on the other side of the door.

“Mon ami!” Max called out, holding his arms out for a hug. I turned to look back at Sidney.

“You told him where I live?!” I jokingly scolded. Sid just laughed and shrugged as Max wrapped his arms around me in a hug before carrying me into the apartment.

“It’s nice to see you too.” He put me down and glanced over at Oneida who was looking at him curiously. “Well, hello.” Max had put on his charming voice and took her hand in his before kissing the back of it.

“Don’t even think about it, Talbot,” I told him.

“What?” he asked innocently. I turned towards Oneida.

“This one may be charming and funny, but he uses it for evil. Avoid him at all costs,” I warned her. She laughed as Max grabbed at his heart and pretended to faint backwards onto the couch, landing on Sid’s lap, who promptly pushed him off onto the floor.

“Geez, tough crowd,” Max commented as he picked himself up.

We spent the rest of the night hanging out, laughing, and watching a movie. Just before midnight they both got up to leave with a skate in the morning. When they were gone Oneida and I headed to our rooms for the night.

“This is going to be one interesting year because of you,” she said with a laugh before walking into her room and shutting the door.

Eeeeek!

So sorry it's been pretty much forever since I've posted. I'm still around, don't worry, but on occasion my life happens to suck. Nothing major or awful has happened, but things just keep coming up and happening. There might be a small window in here where I can get some writing done, but then life is going to get crazy again for a bit. I can't promise anything, but hopefully it won't be this long again. I also have a kind of wacky idea. I had a dream the other night and when I woke up I realized I could totally turn it into a short story. I've already gotten a little bit of it written, but I'm not sure if I should post it or not, so I'm going to leave it up to you guys. It'll definitely be short, maybe 10-15 chapters. What I'm not sure of is how long it will take me to finish it. Do you want me to start posting it as I go, with possible long gaps between, or should I save it until I have time to finish? Your choice!

Chapter 51

Sidney got home and called out Misty’s name. Sam and Bauer greeted him as he walked in, but he received no response from Misty. After giving each dog attention he headed for the back door. He knew where Misty would be if she wasn’t in the house. He stopped at the door and glanced out the window.

Misty was sitting at the end of the dock staring out at the lake. She did this a lot. Misty had told him that she loved just sitting there in the quiet. He gave her a few minutes, just watching her sit there before he made his way outside to join her. She turned and smiled up at him as he reached the end of the dock.

“How was dinner with your parents?” she asked as he sat down next to her. He gave her a quick kiss before responding.

“It was good. Mom and Taylor said they hope you don’t have to work next time so you can join us.” She released a sigh.

“Troy didn’t share the sentiments?” He saw the look on her face, and felt bad that she’d noticed that he’d left his father out of his statement.

His father had been absolutely awful to Misty since they’d gotten there for the summer. He hardly acknowledged her when she was around. In fact, he almost went out of his way to be less than pleasant to her sometimes. Then when she wasn’t around he always found a way to get on Sidney’s case about what he could possibly see in her. It was grating his nerves, that was for sure.

He didn’t know why his father couldn’t see what everyone else did. Misty loved him for who he was, not what he had. She went out of her way to make sure she made his life as easy as possible. She made him laugh, cheered him up when he was upset, and let him vent when that’s all he needed. She’d become his rock.

He’d tried to tell his father that. He’d tried for a little while at the beginning of the summer to get them together whenever he could so that his dad could see the kind of person she really was. For whatever reason, his dad refused to see it. It was like he’d put on blinders when it came to Misty.

“He didn’t mention you, no,” Sidney replied as he slipped an arm around Misty. She leaned back into him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Well, that’s a plus. Usually he has something so pleasant to say.”

“I’m so sorry he’s like that,” Sidney apologized for what must have been the millionth time. Misty turned her head to look up at him and gave him a smile.

“It’s not your fault. There’s no reason for you to apologize. I’ll win him over someday. I’m not sure when, but it’ll happen.”

Her attitude about his dad never ceased to amaze him. It would be so easy for her to stop trying, to give up. He wouldn’t blame her if she went around complaining about him, but she didn’t. She just put a smile on her face and kept her mouth shut when something he did upset her. No other girl he’d ever even introduced to his parents had hesitated to complain about his dad, but not Misty. That was just something else that he loved about her, because who wants to hear how much their significant other hates their parents?

“I don’t ever want to leave this place,” Misty said after a few moments of silence.

“It means a lot that you love it here just as much as I do,” he told her.

“Maybe more,” she joked with a little laugh.

He glanced down at the surface of the water and watched her swing her feet, the balls of them barely skimming the surface of the water, and he knew. He wasn’t going to do it this summer because he knew they both weren’t ready, but he knew he was going to propose to her, and he knew how he was going to do it. He pressed his lips to her forehead and she giggled.

“I love you,” she whispered as if she could tell what he was thinking.

“I love you, too.”

She shifted, turning her body to face him before placing both hands on either side of his face and kissing him. He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of that. As they kissed she climbed onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Should we head inside?” she asked, following that question with a few light kisses trailing down from his ear to his collarbone.

“You keep doing that and we won’t make it that far.” She giggled again, as he lifted her up and carried her towards the house. He groaned as she continued placing kisses in strategic places. “You’re pure evil.” That same giggle had him practically running through the door to get inside.










“It’s going to be fine,” Zara tried to assure me. I pushed my bangs off my forehead and looked at her in the mirror.

“It just keeps getting worse every time I see him. I don’t know what to do anymore,” I confided.

“You’ve just got to kill him with kindness. He can’t hate you forever,” Valerie chimed in. The three of us were getting ready for a barbecue at Sidney’s parents’ house and I was not looking forward to seeing Troy again

“I’ve been so kind I’ve nearly killed myself,” I groaned, taking a straightener to my hair.

“The more he gets to know you, the more he’ll like you. I don’t know anyone that can resist the Misty Harris charm. He’s just more stubborn than most,” Zara stated.

“I hope you’re right.”

“What the hell’s going on up there? It’s an outdoor barbecue for fuck’s sake!” we heard Walker yell. The three of us laughed before walking out of the bathroom and meeting the guys downstairs.

A couple of hours later I was helping Trina set the food out for dinner. So far I’d managed to avoid talking to Troy past saying hello when we’d arrived. I wasn’t sure if it had been because I was avoiding him, he was avoiding me, or a combination of the two. I ran into the house to grab another bowl of salad since the first one was empty and ran into Troy grabbing a few beers out of the refrigerator.

We both looked at each other in surprise, not expecting to be alone in the house at any point together. After I got over the initial shock I smiled at him and made my way to the refrigerator where he was still standing. He didn’t smile back, and actually narrowed his eyes at me as I moved closer to him.

“I just need to grab the other bowl of salad to replace the bowl that’s empty,” I explained as I approached.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked. I had no idea what ‘this’ entailed.

“Doing what?”

“Everything. Helping Trina with the food. Living with Sidney for the summer. Working here instead of back home. Going to school in Pittsburgh. Dating my son.” I clenched my jaw and took a deep breath before answering so I wouldn’t snap.

“I just want to be happy and doing all of that makes me happy.” He gave me a look that told me he didn’t believe a word of it.

“I’m sure being with a famous millionaire makes you really happy.”

“I didn’t go looking for that. I just happened to fall for a guy with that lifestyle. You think I’m looking forward to the day that the world discovers I’m Sid’s girlfriend? I dread it. I stress about it almost every day. If I didn’t love him so damn much I would have run the other way a long time ago.”

“I’m sure you would have.” His outright accusation was it for me. I was officially done trying to be nice. If he wasn’t going to make an effort, than I wasn’t going to either.

“I’m no gold digger or puck slut, Troy, and to be honest I’m sick and tired of you treating me like I am. Everyone else who has ever met me can see that I’m with Sidney because I’m truly in love with him, not because I’m using him. I don’t know why you’re the only one blind to that. All I know is that I’m not going anywhere and you’re going to have to get used to that fact. It’s time to realize that your son is an adult and doesn’t need you making decisions for him anymore. Let him go, Troy. You have another child to worry about. Her name is Taylor. She'd love a little attention once in a while.”

I didn’t wait for a response. I took the bowl of salad and walked back out the door with it. I paused to calm myself for a moment and then carried the bowl to the table that was set up with the food. I felt a hand on my back and turned to see Sidney standing there, a look of concern on his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked. I forced a smile onto my face and nodded. Now was not the time or the place to tell him what had transpired in the kitchen.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired. I think I need to eat something.” He placed a kiss on my temple and reached over to grab a plate.

“Then stop working so damn hard to help host and eat something,” he said with a smile. I took the plate from him and filled it with food before making my way over to the table where our friends were sitting to eat.

Troy and I didn’t have any more run-ins that night. In fact we both avoided each other like the plague. I was upset by the confrontation, but I tried to act like nothing had happened and put on a brave face even though I was terrified about what the result of my words would be. All I knew was that I hoped someday we’d at least be able to be civil to each other.