Discovering...Love?

“K thanks Mare. Hello?” I ask answering the phone.

“Hi, Caitlin it’s Laura… Laura Fleury, Marc-Andre’s wife. I hope I’m not interrupting your work.”

“Oh, hi Laura, how are you? And no, I was just looking at a file.” I say putting down the file on a Jack Russell terrier.

“I’m good thanks. And you? I heard you got stitches, what happened?” she asks.

“Wow, word really gets around fast, but to make a long story short a Rottweiler latched onto my arm.”

“Ouch, I bet that hurt.”

“Nothing a few Tylenol won’t handle. So what’s up?”

“I was calling about tonight. Marc said that you are going to the game, and I was wondering if you were sitting with us,” she replies sweetly.

“Oh, umm… I dunno. I guess, I mean, Sid didn’t give me tickets or anything yet, so …” I hesitate, while taking a file from Mary’s hands. ‘Oh great, the aggressive German Shepard is coming back’

“Oh, honey, you’ll sit with us. In fact if you want, I could swing by and pick you up,” she replies.

“Really, that would be great. I don’t really know where to go or anything so, if you could take me under your wing for the night that’d be awesome,” I respond with a sigh of relief.

“Sure thing, I’ll pick you up around 5:30 that way we’ll have more than enough time before the puck drops.”

“Okay, that’d be awesome, thank you so much Laura.”

”Oh, it’s no problem. I’ll see you then.”

”Wait, don’t you need directions?”

”No, I know where Sid’s house is. I can’t tell you how many time I’ve had to go over there to drag Marc away from the video games at his house,” she sighs.

“Ha, yeah they really like their video games,” I laugh, “See you later Laura.”

“Bye, Caitlin.”

I hang up and check the clock, t minus 30 minutes before I can pack up and go home, I think.



“What the hell do I wear to the game?” I shout throwing my hands up in the air, causing Bran to glance up from his position on the bed.

I sort through my closet for the billionth time, and find once again that the answer isn’t there. Normally I would wear a Penguins shirt with jeans, but tonight I was sitting with the girls. This fact was extremely intimidating, they were gorgeous and I was, well… not. I wasn’t usually very self-conscious at all, but these women looked fabulous. I mean, throw a small town girl into a room full of insanely pretty women and she’s going to be uncomfortable. They were all tall and perfectly toned, with their natural looking highlights and fabulous makeup. Plus, they made wearing heels look like running around in bare feet.

And then there was me, 5’3’’ and I had a booty. Not to mention I had never dyed my hair, and even though I was only 24 I had a gray patch of hair hidden beneath my layers (Thank God). I had had it since I was 13, and I’m sure these women had never even seen a gray hair on their heads even though some of them were quite a few years older than me.

I looked at the clock… 15 minutes, crap!

“Ugh, Bran, I don’t know what to do!” I say falling onto the bed next to him.

He looks at me with those piercing blue eyes before getting up and going to the closet. I watch as he pulls out a long sleeve, burgundy shirt with a deep v-neck and ruching on the side.

“I don’t know Bran, that shows quite a bit of cleavage,” I say biting my lip. He woofs in reply and drops it gingerly at my feet.

“Okay, fine. I’ll try it on to see how it looks,” I say giving in. I mean, what did I have to lose, I had to be out the door in less than 15 minutes and I was still in a robe. I pull the shirt over my head and pull on a pair of dark boot cut jeans. Not to bad, it’s form fitting so there is a little bit of a lump on my arm where my band aid is, but that’s going to happen with everything. Bran seems to have better taste in clothing that I do.

‘To wear heels, or not to wear heels, that is the question.’ I thought to myself before adding aloud, “Good Lord that was lame.”

I finally decide on a pair of purplish pumps that match the shirt. I figure what the hell, I should be sitting down most of the game. I pull up my hair in a high loose ponytail, finishing just as I hear a car pull in the driveway.

“Bye guys, be good!” I say grabbing a book and shoving it into my purse, before grabbing my coat.

I pick up the ticket Sid left for me off the mantle before heading out the door. I knew I would be going home with Sid after the game, and I didn’t know how long it would take him to finish media stuff, so a book would keep me from going out of my mind bored.

I walked out to the expensive looking SUV, parked beside my faithful wrangler. Opening the passenger door, I climb in to see Laura Fleury next to me. Her long dark hair was perfect, as was the make up accenting all her best features.

“Hey, Caitlin. Ready to go,” she says with an award winning smile.

“Yup, Let’s go!” I smile back.

“So is this your first Pens game?” she asks pulling out onto the highway a few miles from the house.

“No, but this will be defiantly different than what I’m used to,” I laugh.

“Understandable. But don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

‘Will, I?’ a voice says inside of me somewhere.

After arriving at the arena, Laura leads me up to where all the other ladies are. Just as I predicted, they all looked flawless making me feel shabby. They were all smiling their perfect white smiles, while holding glasses of wine. I take a deep breath before walking in.


Sid’s POV

“Thanks Sid,” the last reporter says walking away.

“Sure thing,” I reply before going to the showers so that no one else can interview me.

I look at the clock on the wall, 11:45. Damn that was a late night; I hope she’s ok by herself. I think back to the girl whom I scored 2 goals for this game. I knew she was nervous about tonight, not fitting in with the others, but I didn’t see why.

As soon as I brought up the subject about sitting with the other girls, I saw a good portion of her self-confidence drain away. I thought that I would never see that day, and there she was standing in front of me before she went to work, tucking her hair behind her ears nervously and chewing her lower lip. I was baffled that she didn’t think she was pretty enough for them. I mean, I knew she didn’t have the fashion sense they had, but that was one of the things I love about her. Plus she could do something that most of those women couldn’t do. She first of all didn’t need all that make up, and secondly, she was completely independent, she protested every time I went to buy her something. It was refreshing, after being with Victoria, and that kind of confidence she always seemed to have was incredibly sexy. I never thought I would see the day when she cared about what others thought.

I lace up my shoes after showering and changing, before going out into the lounge area. Everyone had gone already, but I spotted her snuggled up in a plush leather couch with her shoes at the base. A book was splayed across her chest and one arm cushioned her head as she slept peacefully.

Caitlin’s POV

“Caitlin, Caitlin, come on let’s go home,” I hear a voice call and feel someone gently nudging me awake.

“Hmmm?” I ask, opening my eyes to see Sid kneeling down next to the couch I was on.

“Come on babe, let’s go home,” he smiles, his eyes shining.

“Oh, yeah, ok,” I yawn stretching as I sit up. “You played a good game. Congrats on the win and the 2 goals.”

“Thanks, those were for you you know.”

“Well, thank you. They were much appreciated,” I say slipping me shoes on before getting up. Even with the 4-inch heels, he was still a good 4 inches taller than I was.

“Wow, you look really good tonight. Did you have a good time?” he says linking his fingers in mine.

“Yeah, it was fun. I got to know some of the girls and it was a good hockey game,” I smile at him.

“So it wasn’t as bad as you were anticipating?”

“No, but things rarely are. I still feel a little out of place though,” I shrug.

“That’s ok, you just need to get used to things. I really like your shirt, I didn’t even know you owned something like this,” he smiles tracing a finger across the deep neckline.
“Watch those hands Crosby,” I smile, “And I didn’t know I owned this shirt either, Bran picked it out for me.”

“Wait… the dog picked… never mind, I shouldn’t find that surprising with you,” he says chuckling and shaking his head.

“I told you I have a lousy sense of fashion. Bran apparently doesn’t,” I smile back as we walk out the door.

He unlinks his fingers with mine as some fans approach. Even though it’s close to midnight, they still come asking for autographs.

“Here, I’ll be there in a minute,” he says handing me the car keys.

I nod and walk off to the car. I put the keys in the ignition from the passenger seat and turn up the heat, and the music. A few songs later, the driver side door opens and Sid climbs in.

“Sorry, I know you’re tired, but I just felt like I should sign their stuff. They’re here so late and in the cold, I just had too…” he starts to explain.

“Sidney, it’s ok. I get it. I’m fine with waiting a little longer, this is your job, you’re really important to the fans.”

”Really? Just like that you’re okay with it?!” he asks looking at me stunned.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be. If I didn’t want to wait for you I would have driven myself. But I wanted to come home with you.”

“Wow, it’s just, Victoria was never that accepting, you just so different than her. In a good way,” he adds looking over at me.

“Sid this is part of you. This is part of the package I understand that.”

“Thanks, that really means a lot.” He smiles taking my hand in his and setting it on his thigh.

“I take it you’re staying here tonight?!” I laugh as he follows me into the house throwing his bag by the door as all the dogs come racing to greet us.

“Yeah, is that a problem?” he asks unloosening his tie with one hand, and bending down to pet Maggie with the other.

“No, not at all. You can go to bed if you want, I have to let the dogs out first,” I smile bending down to pet the wiggling bodies around me.

He heads up the stairs as I open the door letting the dogs out. While they’re outside I refill water bowls and pick up the many tennis balls that were taken out of their toy bin through out the day. By the time this is all said and done, 15 minutes has passed and I call the dogs back in so I can go to bed.

After telling each individual dog goodnight, I head up stairs my self.
I find Sidney walking out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth, his chest bare and his legs still clad in his dress pants. ‘If I wasn’t so damn tired,’ I think biting my lip. I walk into the bathroom and wash all the makeup off my face, before brushing my teeth. I take my shirt off as I walk back into the room and grab a white beater. Walking back into the bathroom I put it on and slip off my pants. I throw them into the hamper by the sink and look down at my arm, dreading taking the bandage off. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, surprised to smell a male spicy scent. I feel a pair of strong arms slide around my waist and Sidney kisses my shoulder.

“What are you doing?” he asks resting his head on my shoulder. I can feel him pressing into me, wearing nothing but boxers.

“Mentally preparing myself for taking my bandage off,” I sigh.

“Here, let me help you,” he says letting go of my waist to tend to my arm.

“No, it hurts,” I say jerking it away before he can touch it.

“Would you just hold still, I’ll be gentle. I’ve done this dozens of times.”

“Okay, but be careful,” I hesitate.

His hand slowly comes to my forearm and to the bandage. He slowly peels it off, being as gentle as possible. Surprisingly it doesn’t hurt much.

“Wow, you’re good,” I sigh when he peels the rest away, “Thank God that’s the last time I have

to have that on.”

“When do you get them out?”

“Not for another 10 days. They’re such a pain in the ass,” I grimace looking at the jagged line.

“Come on. I’ll help you clean it,” he says reaching for the peroxide.

“Uh, can’t we skip that part?” I groan.

“No, now hold still,” he says directing my arm over the sink and dabbing the wound with peroxide.

I quickly inhale through clenched teeth, as I feel the burn of the peroxide.

“Shhhh…” he says trying to comfort me as he finishes. He finishes by putting the antibiotic junk on it. “Wow, he really did a job on you, didn’t he.” He adds inspecting my stitches and the bruised purple skin around it.

“Yeah. This is the part of the job that I could do with out.”

“Alright, you’re done, leave the bandage off and let’s get some sleep.”

“Yes, Dr. Crosby,” I say rolling my eyes.

I crawl into the bed as Sidney does. I flip the switch before lying down and snuggling into him as his arms wrapped around me. He lifted my chin up to kiss me sweetly on the mouth before pulling me tightly against him. There in his arms, I could let go of everything, and feel safe. Being in his arms, felt like I was always meant to be there, we were the only beings on earth. That together we could defeat anything life threw at us. Yes… I was meant to be there, and I never wanted to leave. I immediately started to fall asleep with my head on his shoulders, feeling his warm body against mine. I sighed and came to the edge of consciousness and sleep, when he whispers,

“Caitlin?”

“Hmm?” I reply.

“I love you,” he whispers.

“I love you too, Sidney,” I whisper back, feeling his hold on me tighten before slipping into a

deep sleep.