Chapter 9

So I had way too many ideas in my head about another story so I went right ahead and started it. It's not about Sidney, it's about Corey Perry. Completely random, I know, but I've had some weird crush on him for a couple seasons now. I can't explain it really. Anyway, feel free to check it out if you're not opposed to a story about someone other than Sidney or a Penguin in general. www.hckygrl87-allofyou.blogspot.com










Sidney woke up at some point in the middle of the night and looked at the form curled up next to him. He smiled and pushed some stray strands of her hair out of her face. She didn’t move at his touch so he risked planting a kiss on her forehead. She still didn’t stir and he decided she must be a pretty deep sleeper.

He hadn’t exactly planned on sleeping with her tonight. His intentions were purely to have her watch some movies and hang out. He’d also meant to tell her about the hockey stuff. He’d started to, and then diverted the conversation last second. He wasn’t sure why he was nervous about it and that threw him off a little bit.

There had been something about Tanner from the moment he’d seen her. He hadn’t told her, but he’d actually spotted her before her nephew ever got onto the bus. He had walked out of the rink and was signing autographs when he saw her. She was just standing back from the crowd and watching what was happening. He’d figured she was in charge of one of the kids asking for autographs. When Andrew had pulled him off of the bus to meet his aunt, Sidney had been very pleasantly surprised when he was pulled over to her.

He had every intention of throwing away the phone number Andrew had given him until the moment Tanner’s cheeks turned bright red when they were introduced. It was her embarrassment that hooked him. It was extremely rare when a female was less than thrilled to be introduced to him. Their short phone conversation had further sealed the deal that Sidney had to get to know her. He was glad he’d looked her up.

He was also nervous about how glad he was. He’d only known her for a month but he was terrified of telling her what his life was really like. He was convinced that if anything would cause her to leave him, it would be his lifestyle. Not because she wouldn’t be able to deal with him having other commitments, but because she may not be able to deal with the fact that he was high profile which in turn would put her in the public eye.

He realized he wasn’t scared of how she would treat him when she found out the truth like he had originally thought. No, he was scared she’d run screaming in the other direction. He was scared that after only a month he was scared of losing her, especially since he hadn’t even called her his girlfriend yet. What was wrong with him?

He looked down at her again and couldn’t resist pressing his lips to her forehead again. This time she stirred, just slightly. He used the opportunity to pull her a little closer to him. She nestled into him a little more, but never woke up. He couldn’t help but smile as he fell back to sleep.










I heard an alarm go off and instinctively I swung my arm out to hit the button to turn it off. Instead I hit something else.

“Ow,” I heard Sidney say. I opened an eye and saw him holding his nose.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I apologized propping myself on an elbow and leaning over him. I pulled his hand away to make sure I hadn’t really injured him. There was no blood and it wasn’t even red.

“Well that wasn’t exactly the best wake-up ever,” he groaned looking over at me. I leaned down and kissed the tip of his nose. “Now it’s getting better.” I smiled at him and nestled back into him.

“I’m really sorry,” I repeated. He rolled over to face me.

“Do you usually hit people to wake them up?” he asked.

“I haven’t exactly woken up next to anyone before,” I said absentmindedly.

My face immediately flushed when I said that and I wanted to take it back. I hadn’t exactly wanted to divulge the fact that I’d always had a no sleepover policy until the words “I love you” were said first thing in the morning. I was hardly a prude, but to me spending the night was something you only did with someone you loved. His eyes widened in surprise.

“You’ve never spent the night with anyone before?” he asked shocked. I squeezed my eyes shut hoping that if I wished hard enough when I opened my eyes I’d realize I’d been dreaming. I had no such luck.

“Nope. This was my first time,” I fessed up because there simply wasn’t anything else I could do.

“Was I –" he started. It was way too early for this conversation and I cut him off before he could continue.

“Man, I bet that alarm clock went off for a reason,” I said trying to change the subject as I sat up in bed. It was then that I realized I had no clothes on, which just seemed to make the whole situation even more embarrassing. I clung to the blanket, holding it to my chest and looked everywhere but at Sidney.

“Tanner, hold on. I’m being serious,” he said. I pulled my knees up to my chest and put my head on them.

“Don’t worry, the only first you can claim is the sleepover,” I told him keeping my head down on my knees. I chanced a look over at him from the corner of my eye and he looked relieved.

“How have you never spent a night with someone before then?”

I felt like I was going to vomit. You just did not talk about love in any capacity with someone you couldn’t even call your boyfriend. I tried to think of something, anything to say to try to end this conversation but nothing was coming to mind.

“Tanner?” he asked when I didn’t respond.

“Look, it’s no big deal,” I said covering my face with my hands. “I’m not feeling great.”

Then I did the only thing I could think of and ran. I grabbed the top blanket making sure it was covering me and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I sat down on the floor and mentally smacked myself. God, I was an idiot. Why don’t I think things through before I say them? Then I realized my clothes were still in his bedroom and I was going to have to exit the bathroom basically naked at some point. I wished that there was a rock I could crawl under.

“Tanner?” I heard Sidney call through the door. I took a deep breath before answering.

“Yeah?” I managed to squeak out.

“Are you okay?” No, no I’m not okay. I want to die.

“Uh, depends on your definition of okay,” was what I told him.

“Can you come back out here?” he asked.

What I wouldn’t do for some clothes right now. My prayers were answered when I looked up and saw a pair of his sweatpants and a t-shirt sitting on the floor. I put them on and splashed some cold water in my face before I unlocked the door and walked out. He’d put on a pair of shorts, but his chest and abs were still horribly distracting, and the fact that I was having trouble looking away from them made the situation even that much worse.

“Why did you run away?” he asked. I shrugged.

“I’m just a smidge embarrassed,” I told him still avoiding eye contact. My legs felt like jelly and I really just wanted to sit down. He walked over to me and took my hand in his.

“Would you just look at me?” he finally asked. With great pain I forced myself to look into his eyes. “What exactly are you embarrassed about? The fact that you told me I was the first person you spent the night with or because you didn’t tell me you hadn’t done that before?”

“I guess it’s the fact that once I said it I knew I’d have to explain everything to you. It wouldn’t have been at all embarrassing or awkward if it came up in conversation at any other time, but it became embarrassing once I did spend the night with you.”

“Will you explain it to me?” I sighed.

“To me spending the night with someone is the most intimate thing you can do. Sex is one thing, but you have to really care and trust someone to spend the night. When you’re asleep you’re most vulnerable because you’re not aware of what’s going on around you. I just always told myself I was going to wait until I told someone I loved them to do it. Even so, I stayed the night here without a second thought. You’re not even my boyfriend and I broke the only rule I ever made for myself.” He took it all in and thought for a moment.

“Do you want that?” he asked finally.

“Do I want what?” I returned, unsure as to what he was asking me.

“Do you want me to be your boyfriend?” What was with all the tough questions? It was way too early in the morning for this.

“That’s not what I was saying,” I started.

“I thought I made it clear last night how I felt about you,” he said cutting me off.

“You did. I wasn’t trying to trivialize that.” I was beginning to stammer and felt like I was just digging myself in deeper the more that I opened my mouth. “I just – I don’t want to – I think I should just –"

I closed my eyes and my mouth and wondered if an anvil could just drop on me right now. This situation right here showed me why I hadn’t had a serious relationship my whole life. I was no good at this dating thing. I collapsed down on the edge of his bed and put my head in my hands. It was taking every bit of strength in me not to start crying, which probably only would have made the situation even more awkward.

“Tanner, as fucking adorable as you are when you’re embarrassed, you need to stop questioning everything,” Sidney said breaking the silence. Shocked by what he said I looked up at him.

“Excuse me?” He knelt down in front of me and took my hands in his.

“I like you. The fact that you had some rule in your mind about not spending the night with anyone until you loved them wouldn’t have changed that. The fact that you did spend the night with me doesn’t change that. I’m not going to run away because the girl I’m interested in cares enough about me to subconsciously trust me at a time when she normally feels most vulnerable. You heard what I was saying last night, but you didn’t hear what I was saying. I spend all my time thinking about being with you and when I’m with you I spend my time thinking about how to keep you around longer. As far as I’m concerned you’re the only person I want to spend my time with. I want to be your boyfriend, if you’ll have me.”

“God, I’m an idiot sometimes,” I said sighing.

“So, are you going to be offended if I start calling you my girlfriend?” he asked. I shook my head, thinking it was best to keep my mouth shut right now. He smiled up at me and pressed his lips to mine.

“I’m sorry. I guess I’m just scared of screwing this up,” I told him. He sat down on the bed next to me and put his arm around me.

“So am I.” I leaned into his arms and started to feel a little better. "You look cute in my clothes." I laughed and felt a lot better.