Chapter 41

Three things before I post this chapter (one is kind of long, sorry).....

1. There is an amazing story out there that it seems not many know about. I think you should check it out. http://imperfectlullabies87.blogspot.com/ This is one of my favorite stories out there right now, and it deserves to have so many more people reading it.

2. So I realize a flight from Vancouver to Pittsburgh is a long flight no matter what way you cut it, but for the story I needed it to be short and landing at a certain time. Hey, it's fiction, right? I can do what I want, haha.

3. I was caught by surprise by how many people blamed Sid and solely Sid for this whole fight and Misty leaving to the point of getting a question from someone asking why Misty was always perfect. Maybe it's because since this is my story and I know what my characters are feeling and going through that I didn't write it as well as I could for everyone to understand. It was not my intention for Sid to be the bad guy. Through this whole story Misty has been fighting with herself to be independent and not need someone and yet for most of it, she's felt like she needed Sidney. Time after time she said things she didn't mean and did what she could to push him away, using any tiny excuse as a way to guard against making the same mistakes she did in the past. She used Sidney simply talking to another girl he had a past with as a catalyst, refused to talk to him about it, said something she knew would be incredibly hurtful to him, and then ran away again. I'm sorry that the way I wrote it, the blame was places solely on Sidney's shoulders, but really, my intention was not for that to happen. To me, the only crime he committed was not sucking it up and telling her he loved her earlier.....but he was scared of that too. My apologies again for failing in telling that story. Hopefully I'll never have to explain something I've written again, haha. Anyway, off my soap box and on to the next chapter.....










I hit the stop button on the treadmill and stepped off. After cleaning it I made my way to the designated area for stretching in the gym. I sat down on a mat and began to stretch out all the built up lactic acid in my muscles. As I stretched I felt the soreness in my muscles. Ever since I’d gotten home my runs on the treadmill had become longer and more grueling.

“Hey, Misty,” I heard a male voice say as a mat was plopped down literally a mere foot away from me despite there being no one else in the area.

“Hey, Eli,” I greeted him. He sat down and started to stretch, despite the fact that I hadn’t seen him do anything other than pull-ups so far today.

“How is everything?” he asked. I gritted my teeth at the annoyance.

“Fine,” I lied as I folded my body over my outstretched leg, feeling the pull in my hamstring.

“Can you believe it’s Christmas already?” I felt my body stiffen at the mention of my second favorite holiday that I wasn’t at all looking forward to this year.

“The year went by quickly.” I switched positions, turning my back on Eli, trying to signal that I was not at all in the mood to talk.

Eli had been hitting on me for as long as I could remember, even when he knew I was dating someone. I’d hardly given him the time of day, but that didn’t discourage him. He was one of those guys in the gym that wore the tight beaters that showed off their upper body. He was also one of those guys that only worked out his upper body because he figured that’s what girls liked. Basically, Eli was your typical gym meathead, and so not my type.

“What are you doing for New Years?” he asked, obviously not getting the point.

“I’m not really sure,” I told him truthfully. I hadn’t made plans, not really sure that I was going to be feeling any better by then.

“A friend of mine is having a party. You’re more than welcome to come,” he invited me.

“Yeah, maybe,” I heard myself saying.

The second it was out of my mouth I was shocked. Eli had invited me to do things about a million and a half times and I’d always turned him down. What the hell was I thinking? When I saw the look on Eli’s face I realized he was just as shocked as I was. A grin slowly formed on his face and he hopped up from his spot and walked over to the front desk. He returned with a piece of paper and a pen.

“Just give me your number and I’ll call you with the details,” he said, handing them to me. I was stuck now, and just obliged, even though I really didn’t have any desire to go.

“Okay, I’m going to go finish my workout. I guess I’ll talk to you later,” I told him, standing up and beginning to head back to the weights.

“Sounds good!” he called after me. I squeezed my eyes closed and fought back the tears that were threatening to spill out. I needed to get a grip.

A few days later I sat in my room after opening presents Christmas morning with my family. My parents and grandparents were busy drinking coffee and making brunch while Nick was shacked up in his room testing out one of his new video games. I was sitting on my futon staring at the wall in front of me.

The wall had previously been covered with pictures of Sidney and everyone back in Cole Harbour. Now it was empty. I let my head fall back against the wall behind me and tried to swallow back the lump that was forming in my stomach. I hadn’t talked to Sidney since the day I’d left. Half of me didn’t want to talk to him and half of me wished he’d call. I doubted he would. Why would he want to talk to me after what I'd said and done to him? I couldn't even forgive myself.

As if on autopilot, I reached over to my purse and absentmindedly grabbed for the picture inside. It wasn’t until my hand was inside and groping around that I realized that I’d left the picture of Sidney and I at his house. I hated that even after the past week and a half I was still reaching for that picture. I also hated that I’d forgotten to pick it up off the counter when I’d left that morning. Even if we hadn’t talked, and I wasn’t sure when or if we ever would, I still wanted that picture to look at to cheer me up.

After being called out to the dining room for brunch and being forced to witness all the sympathetic looks directed at me by my family, I locked myself back in my room. I’d told my family I was going to watch some of the DVD’s I’d gotten, but they knew better. They knew I hadn’t been right since I’d gotten back unexpectedly early from Pittsburgh. I hadn’t told them anything despite all the questions, but they knew whatever had happened was bad.

A knock sounded on my door later that afternoon and I paused the movie I hadn’t been paying any attention to. I got off the bed, unlocked the door, and pulled it open to find Evanne standing there. She rolled her eyes at me when she saw that I wasn’t even dressed before walking past me and flopping down onto the futon.

“Merry Christmas!” she said cheerfully. I gave her a completely unamused look before sitting down next to her. “Okay, it’s time. Start getting over it, or call him.”

“I’m doing my best here,” I argued. She rolled her eyes at me again.

“Whatever you say. I came to cheer you up, because I knew you’d be sulking in here all day. I’m having a party at my place for New Years. Don’t even try to come up with an excuse not to come. You know I can’t have fun without my favorite partner in crime.”

“Evie,” I started, but she shut me up by putting her hand in the air, signaling for me to stop.

“You have something better to do?” she asked.

“Well, Eli did invite me to his friends party,” I told her. She nearly burst out laughing.

“That juice monkey will not give up, will he?” I cracked a small smile. “See! I knew I could cheer you up!” My smile faded and she sighed.

“I miss him,” I whispered.

“Then you should call him,” she replied. I shook my head as tears began to build up again.

“I don’t know that I can handle talking to him or seeing him when I still feel so raw. I love him, Evie, and he doesn’t love me back. I don’t know how to be okay with that.” She pulled me into a hug.

“Don’t worry, he’ll come around. It’s impossible not to fall for Misty Harris once you’ve met her.”










Sidney sat on the plane headed home from Vancouver, his emotions on overdrive. It had been almost a month since Misty had up and left in the middle of the night. He hadn’t quite been the same since then, and tonight had really pushed him over the edge. Watching Mason Raymond assist on two goals while helping the Canucks kick their ass pissed him off.

Sidney had been dealing, or more so coping, with Misty not being in his life right now. Watching Raymond parade around the ice like he was hot shit just made Sid think of how he’d treated Misty. He’d thought going into the game that it’d be fine, that she’d never cross his mind, but he’d been wrong. The first time he’d spotted Raymond, Misty hadn’t left his mind at all. He missed her. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, about all the mistakes he’d made with her.

“Something on your mind?” Flower asked, turning to him.

“Why do you say that?” he asked.

“You declined to play COD with everyone and you’re just staring at the back of the seat, a barely touched meal on the tray in front of you,” Flower responded.

“Stop being such a whiny bitch. There’s plenty of pussy out there!” Talbot chimed in from a few seats away. Sidney wouldn’t even dignify that with a response.

“What’s the deal with Misty?” Flower asked. Sidney shrugged.

“She left. She accused me of not being who she thought I was and disappeared in the middle of the night. I’ve told you that,” Sidney groaned.

“Yeah, but there’s got to be more to it than that, mon ami,” Flower pushed. Sidney closed his eyes and sighed. Maybe it would help to talk to Flower.

“I loved her. Love her. I was going to tell her the day she left. And she didn’t just leave. She made sure to leave things that told me she wanted nothing to do with me anymore. I thought maybe she felt the same way, but you don’t do that when you love someone, right?” Sidney questioned.

“And you’re sure that was her intention? You’re sure that she doesn’t want anything to do with you anymore?”

“No. No, I don’t know that. I fucked up. She asked me if there was anything that should keep her in Pittsburgh and instead of telling her, I was too wrapped up in being stung by what she said to me. Maybe she wouldn’t have left. Maybe I would know the truth,” Sidney finally admitted.

“Then call her. You won’t feel better until you know.” Sidney nodded and settled back into his seat.

Maybe Flower was right. The worst thing that could happen if he called would be Misty hanging up on him. At least then he’d know. He drifted off to sleep not long after and didn’t wake up until the plane was landing. He got off and walked over to his car. He got in, started it up, and Coach’s words ran through his head. “Tomorrow’s off, boys. See you Monday morning.” Suddenly Sidney knew what he had to do.