7.31.2008

Chapter 10

The next morning Karen got up with her alarm blaring. She wasn't happy about how things ended with Sidney last night and hated what Maggie did. She looked at her cell phone remembering she turned it off. Karen turned it on and left it on the bed as she went to the bathroom to get a shower and get ready for work. As she was in the shower, she didn't hear her phone beep with a new voicemail.

Karen got her things ready and walked out of the room, but stopped when she forgot her cell phone. She picked it up off the bed and left the room. Karen walked into the kitchen and saw Maggie standing there getting her coffee ready.

"I'm heading up now, so I'll see you later."

"Karen, wait. I'm sorry ok."

"No its not ok Mags. Things have been going so great between Sid and I and you had to pull this shit. Why?"

"I don't know. I thought about just coming out and asking him but I figured if I could come on to him and he fell for it, then you'd know not to fall for him."

"Well it's too late, I already have." Karen said as she left the house and got in her car to head to work.

Karen got to work 20 minutes early an went inside to wait to clock in. She went into the break room and pulled out her cell phone. When she flipped it open, she saw she had a new voicemail. At first she wanted to ignore it, but she called her mailbox and listened to the message.

Hey baby, it's me. I'm sorry for not believing you and just leaving like I did. I feel like an ass for doing that. We need to talk to straighten this out. I was more mad at what Maggie did and I should have known you had nothing to do with it. You've been nothing but honest with me since day one. Anyway, I'm sorry too Karen. Please call me when you go to lunch. Bye.

Karen exited her mailbox and put her phone on vibrate before putting it in her pocket. She got up and went to the bathroom to let a few tears fall and freshen up before clocking in.

All morning both Sidney and Karen couldn't stop thinking about each other. Sidney had practice at 10am and he was on his way to the arena. He knew when or if Karen called him during her lunch hour, he'd be on the ice. He hoped that she'd leave a message and that would be something he'd look forward to after practice.

When Karen had gone to lunch, she stared at her phone constantly wondering if she should call him. Better yet, what she should tell him. Karen hoped that what happened last night isn't throwing him off his practice. She decided to pick up her phone and dial Sidney's number. When she heard it ring and ring, she knew he was in the middle of practice. Her hand was shaking and as soon as she heard his voicemail pick up she couldn't decide to leave a message or not. When she heard the beep she knew there was no turning back. Karen left a message and then put her phone on the table. Maggie saw her sitting by herself and went over hoping to talk to her.

"Can I sit with you?"

"Do whatever you want" Karen hissed.

"Ok I deserve that. How many times do I need to apologize to make this right?"

"I'm not the only one you need to apologize to."

"I know. Next time I see him I will profoundly apologize to Sidney."

"Fine, whatever" Karen said to get the subject changed.

"Have you talked to him?" Maggie asked somewhat cautiously.

"He left me a voicemail I guess last night that I got this morning. I just called and left a message back to him since he's at practice now."

"What did he tell you?"

"That he was sorry for not believing me and that he's more pissed at you for doing that to him. Honestly Mags, I don't know where your head is most days. The one thing that hasn't been in my life for 12 years and you go and screw it up for me when I get a chance again."

"I know I did and...."

"Your sorry, I know."

"Just tell me what I need to do to help you fix this?"

"Just stay away from him and for today stay away from me." Karen said getting up and heading out of the breakroom. She went for a walk outside until she had to go back to work.

At 1pm, the players were taking a break from practice and Sidney practically ran to the locker room to see if Karen had called. He opened his phone and saw he had a missed call. Going through the list, he saw it was from Karen and smiled calling his mailbox. His smile soon faded when he actually heard the message.

Hey Sid. I wasn't really sure about leaving you a message but figured I needed to. I told you I didn't want to be a distraction for you during the playoffs and I think I just became that. I'm happy that you don't blame me for last night. I was serious when I meant I had nothing to do with what Maggie did but it hurt that you didn't believe me right away. Maybe the best thing right now would for us to take a three day break from talking. I don't want to be the reason for any lack of concentration you might have because of this. I will just see you at the game on Friday and maybe we can talk afterwards if you want. I'm sorry this happened now.

Sidney shut his phone and sat down. He could hear the sadness in her voice and it sounded like she was starting to cry by the end of the message. He hated that he jumped to conclusions to make her sad. He was falling for her and falling fast. Sidney needed to try and reassure her because he didn't want to lose her. Their break was over and Sidney put his phone away and went back onto the ice.

Later that night, Karen had been in her room since she had gotten home from work. She didn't want to deal with Maggie but also because she had a guy over and didn't want to have to play nice and be socialable. She had the tv on to try and drown out the sounds of them but it wasn't working. A few minutes later her cell phone rang and she looked at the caller ID. Karen's heart jumped into her throat when she saw Sidney's name appear. She wanted to ignore it, but chose to answer it instead.

"Hey" Karen said softly.

"Hey baby. I'm glad you decided to answer."

"I thought I would be able to avoid you until Friday, but you make it hard for that to happen."

"I've been told I have that affect on people" he thought he heard a smile in her voice but wasn't sure. "I really am sorry for how I overreacted."

"I know. I think in some sick way Mags thought she was helping by finding out your true intentions. All my friends have been very overprotective since I moved back home in 1999. Its sweet, but it irritates me."

"I can imagine. You wouldn't have been a distraction baby. All we needed to do was talk."

"I don't think its that simple anymore Sid" Karen said as tears started falling down her cheeks.

"Baby, please don't cry and tell me what you mean."

"I can't, not right now. Just do what I suggest and let's wait to talk on Friday. Please?"

Sidney hated to hear her cry and didn't want to press the issue anymore. "Ok, but I will only do this if you promise me that we will talk on Friday."

"I promise, Friday."

"Alright. Night Karen."

"Night Sid."

Karen hung up first and curled into a ball. She let the remaining tears fall and eventually fell asleep.

Sidney laid in bed and couldn't help but hate himself for doing this to her, to them. He thought of what he needed to do before going to sleep himself.

On Wednesday, Karen was finishing up a few things before getting ready to take her lunch. As she was turned looking for a certain size, she didn't realize she had a visitor by her cart. Karen turned back around and was startled at the person staring at her.

"It's not Friday." Karen told Sidney as he stared at her.

"I couldn't let this continue until Friday. I had to see you and get this cleared up. Go to lunch with me?"

Karen knew she shouldn't but decided to go. "Ok. Let me go clock out and I will meet you outside the employee entrance on the side. Five minutes?"

"I'll meet you there."

Karen walked to the bathroom and then clocked out for lunch. She grabbed her purse from her locker and went outside to find Sidney. When she got out there, she saw him parked and standing by the passenger side. Karen walked up to the car and the first thing Sidney did was grab her and kissed her. As much as Karen wanted to pull away, she instantly melted into the kiss.

After pulling away "you know I only have an hour for lunch?" Karen told him.

"I know. I just had to do that." Sidney said as he opened the car door for her then getting in and heading out.

Sidney drove to the Chinese restaurant Karen took him to on Monday and she just laughed since they were there two days ago. When she questioned his choice, Sidney told her it was where they could be alone to talk. But it had different meaning to Karen. Once they were seated, they went ahead and ordered so she wouldn't be back over to bother them.

Sidney took ahold of Karen's hand and held it. "Talk to me. Tell me how to make this better between us. Do I need to go kick Maggie's ass for what she did?" He saw a small smile form on Karen's face and smiled himself.

"You could but her new boyfriend towers over you and weighs about another 60 pounds." Looking away from his eyes, "we'll be fine I just want you to be ready for the game without worrying about me or us."

"I can't do that because all I seem to want to worry about is you AND us. There's is something more building between us and I know you know what I mean."

"I do know what you mean" Karen said soft enough that she hoped Sidney didn't hear, but he did.

Their food came and they ate in silence. Not how Sidney pictured this, but at least they were together. After they were done, Sidney paid the bill and he took her back to work. Karen still had about 15 minutes until she needed to go back.

"Tell me why you're so afraid for this to go farther?"

"I'm not afraid of this going farther, I'm afraid of getting hurt again" she said while looking out the window.

"And I hurt you Monday night by not believing you and then just leaving angry. I never meant for that to happen."

"But it did happen" turning to look at him, "I just don't want it to happen again."

"I can't promise it won't happen, but I will do whatever it takes to not be the one to do it."

Sidney caressed her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. He was happy that she kissed him back and loved how the feelings that always poured into their kisses never left. When they broke away, Sidney felt the words that wanted to escape, but he knew it wasn't the right time. He looked at his watch and Karen knew she needed to get back.

"Now I don't feel so bad waiting to see you on Friday." he said.

"It did help seeing you today and it will make Friday night come quicker. Please tell me that you will be able to concentrate for your game now?"

"I know I will. You better go before you're late clocking in."

"Yeah I better." Karen kissed him again and got out of the car. She walked towards the building and turned back to see Sidney drive away. Karen couldn't help but smile the rest of the day.

Chapter 9

About an hour and a half later, Sidney woke up and looked at where he was. He saw he was lying on top of Karen and smiled when he looked at her asleep. He leaned up and kissed her lips. After a second, Karen softly moaned and kissed Sidney back. He pulled back and looked into her eyes.

"Hey"

"Hey yourself. Did you have a nice nap?"

"Yeah I did. Feel a little energized if I say so."

Sidney dips his head down for another kiss, going deeper every minute. Karen stopped him before it got any hotter.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I need to tell you that Rick wasn't the only hockey player I've been with."

"So, you dated someone else. Its no big deal, unless there's still feelings."

"There's no feelings past or present. I just think that you should know that I had the label of puckbunny given to me."

"And you feel I should know this why?"

"Because when it comes out that we're dating and are seen together, you might hear stories. I wanted you to hear it from me so when you did hear it, you'd know the real truth from me."

"I appreciate that. So who was it?"

"Brendan Shanahan" she watched his eyes got bigger as he processed the news "and since you said that you guys will get the Rangers next and he does play with them, I didn't want you to get the wrong idea if he sees me and tries to talk to me."

"Will anything else happen?"

Caressing his cheek, "no. It was one night that I choose to forget. I just wanted you to know."

"Will you tell me the story?"

"Ok, but not here. I want to take you somewhere that I love to go when I'm here."

"But that means I have to get off you and I don't know if I want to."

"You know you'll have another chance to get back on top of me. Please go somewhere with me?" Karen pouted with her bottom lip out.

"Oh alright. But I want a time frame of when I get to get back on top of you."

"Deal."

Sidney kisses Karen before he got off her and helped her up. Sidney put on hs shoes and Karen grabbed her flip flops. They headed out to the car and Karen told him where to go. A few minutes later, they parked the car and got out to take a walk by the river. Karen stopped at some concrete steps and looked out at the river.

"So, where are we?"

"This is the waterfront ampitheater that they built a couple years back. They sometimes have the Wheeling Symphony play here during the summer. I like to come here and sit and think about things. Nobody bothers you. I guess you could say this is my sanctuary."

Karen takes Sidney's hand and walks to the one concrete bench that was her spot near the tree. She sat down and Sidney sat beside her.

"Will you tell me?"

"It was when Shanny was playing for Detroit and after a home game for the Pens. My friend is a huge Red Wings fan and she wanted to try and meet some of the players. I went down and stood with her waiting for them to come out. She's one that doesn't have a favorite, she was waiting on any of them. They were staying at the Marriot and leaving the next day and so one of the players, I forget who, invited us to go join them for drinks. Being the good friend that I am, I went with her."

"That was smart because I heard that those type of guys can be kind of assholes."

Nudging him, "present company excluded."

"Yeah the joys of being raised right. Then what happened?"

"We got to the hotel and waited for him to meet us. When he walked in, he had Shanny with him. I don't know if he told him I was for him or what, but I was there to make sure my friend was going to be ok. During the next couple hours, they were buying anything and everything to drink and I knew I was getting drunk. Shanny started to make some moves and I know I turned him down numerous times."

"Are you sure? Sometimes you don't always do what you remember after drinking like that?"

"I was sure Sid. I didn't want anything from him."

Not sure if he could handle hearing the rest, "did he, um...." he closed his eyes but couldn't say the words.

"Yeah, he did" Karen didn't want to say it either. She knew where he was going and he knew what she meant. "I fought him the entire time but he was so much stronger than me. When it was over, I just got up, grabbed my clothes and left. I waited downstairs for my friend to come back. She did about an hour later all happy and we left."

"Wait you drove home after all that?"

"Trust me, I sobered up real fast. We got back to my parents' house and I was in the shower for an hour trying to forget what happened. After that, when Detroit came here, he would see me and smile. I just told whoever I was with that he did it to them."

Sidney wrapped his arm around her and snuggled into her neck, "sorry to hear that happened to you."

"It was 8 years ago. It must not have scarred me that bad since I am here with you. But I guess I should tell you that I am really not that impressed with hockey players."

Sidney couldn't help but laugh at that, "so no matter what I do, you won't be impressed?"

"It depends on who's doing the impressing, you the hockey player or just you?" she asked as she stared into his eyes.

"But what if the hockey player inside thinks of something to do to impress you that just me follows through on? Are you going to turn us down?"

"Let me see what you do first, then I'll let you know." Karen looked at Sidney and then glanced behind him, smiling. "Do you want to impress me?" she whispered.

"Always."

"Come with me."

Karen got up and brought Sidney with her. They held hands, walking towards a building. Karen had seen a lot of young kids go in and wanted to see what was going on. Truth is, she knew but wanted to see Sidney's reaction. At the building, Karen left Sidney standing by himself and she went to talk to the staff to see if they could go in. She explained her situation and they were allowed in. Karen told Sidney to go with her and they walked into the building.

"Why is it cold and why do I smell ice?"

"You can smell ice? Damn, you are a natural hockey player. I saw a bunch of little kids come in here and a good bit of them had your jersey on. I thought it would be nice if you dropped in on them." she said with a hopeful smile.

"Will this impress you?"

"Beyond words."

Sidney smiled and kissed her before they walked in and sat in some seats. In a few minutes, the kids and coaches came out onto the ice. They watched them play around for a bit and Karen saw Sidney's eye light up like he was remembering when he was little. Karen told him she's be back and went to talk to one of the coaches. She came back and told Sidney that they had a pair of skates in the locker room if he wanted to put them on. He practically jumped up and followed Karen to the locker room.

"Who plays in here?"

"The Wheeling Nailers. They are the ECHL affiliate to the Penguins. I'm surprised you didn't know that?" she started laughing.

"Quiet you" he said as he kissed her as he got up. He walked towards the door of the ice and waited until he heard the coach introduce him. Karen got back into the seats to watch this. As soon as Sidney stepped onto the ice, she heard all the kids gasp, sigh, and cheer. She watched Sidney talk to them and then spend a few minutes with all of them. She laughed at how he would act just like them. A half hour later, Sidney skated off the ice and went to put the skates back. He met up with Karen outside the locker room and she hugged him.

"They loved you."

"It was fun to be out there with them. Made me think of myself back at that age. How about we go for some dinner?"

"I would love some. Didn't realize how hungry I was."

"Any suggestions?"

"Chinese? I know a good one?"

Sidney agreed and they headed out to eat. They were seated in a booth near the back. Karen knew Sidney wouldn't be recognized but didn't want to take a chance. After they ordered, Sidney reached his hand out to grab Karen's hand and held it until the food came. He would rub his thumb over the back of her hand, sending sparks throughout her whole body. It was at that moment Karen realized she was falling in love with him.

When their food came, they talked about everything possible that came up. Sidney realized he hadn't talked or laughed like that for a long time. He knew there was something happening between them, he just didn't realize how long it would take to finally be able to express it to her.

After they got done eating, they headed back to Maggie's house. It was 7:00pm and Sidney knew his time with Karen was dwindling down and he wouldn't see her until after the home game on Friday. Reaching the house, they went inside and Karen told Sidney she would be back in a minute and to make himself comfortable. He sat down on the couch and waited for her, but had another visitor.

"Hi Sid" Maggie said, walking out into the living room with a tight low-cut tank top and short, shorts on. She sat right beside Sidney, almost on top of him.

"Hey Maggie."

"What happened, Karen desert you?"

"No, she'll be back."

"Maybe I can help pass the time until she does come back. You know..." tracing her finger over his chest "Karen is my best friend and best friends usually share a lot of things."

Just as she said that Karen came back from the bathroom and stayed around the corner hearing the rest of what was going on.

"Well, it's nice that you guys share things."

"And do you know what toy of hers I want to play with?"

Sidney started to get uneasy, "I can probably think of what you mean."

"You can tell me the truth Sid, if all you're interested in is one night of hot meaningless sex, you're barking up the wrong tree. I could rock your world so hard that you'd think the earth blew up. But then again, I'm not picky. If you want to lead Karen on but come see me afterwards, I'll leave my door open for you."

"I don't plan on leading Karen on. I plan on having more than one night with her."

"She never has to know Sid. You know you'd rather have this" Maggie pulled down on the neckline of her tank top to show even more of her breasts.

"Sorry, I know what I want and it's not you." As Sidney said it, Karen walked around the corner.

Maggie looked up to Karen and got off the couch "he passed, you should be very proud."

Karen stood there and shot her a look as she walked to her room. When she glanced back she saw a pissed look on Sidney's face.

"Before you go jumping to conclusions, I had nothing to do with that. That was all her."

"So, I'm to believe that you didn't set me up to see if I would actually take her up on her offer."

"Yes because I would NEVER do that to you."

"Whatever. I'm going to go since I know you'll need to get to bed soon." Sidney said as he started to walk out of the house.

"Sid wait, please." as Karen ran after him. "I swear I had nothing to do with this."

As he looked into her eyes, he could tell she was telling the truth but he needed to go. He kissed her then got into his SUV and headed out. Karen watched him leave and stood there until she couldn't see him anymore, a few tears falling too. Karen managed to go back inside and anger hit her as soon as she saw Maggie standing there.

"What the fuck do you think you were doing?"

"I was making sure he's the real thing for you. Any other guy would have kissed, touched, or taken me up on my offer. He never made a move which told me he is really into you."

"Well now he thinks I set him up to prove that. Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone?"

Stopping Karen from going to her room, "I was trying to protect you."

"I don't need protecting anymore Mags. I've learned from the mistakes that happened to me and I will be damned if that happens with Sidney. I'm going to bed."

Karen got ready and climbed into bed. She had her cell phone clutched to her chest hoping it would ring with either a call or text. She decided to send a message instead and then turned off her phone before crying herself to sleep.

When Sidney got back to Mario's, he knew his phone went off during the drive up but decided to ignore it. After he got settled in for the night, he opened his phone and saw he had one message from Karen. He felt bad the way he left after he read her message. It simply said "I'm sorry". Sidney sighed and dialed her number, but hearing it go directly to voicemail he knew she had it turned off. He left a message anyway and then watched tv until he fell asleep.

7.30.2008

Chapter 8

Sidney was lying in bed when his phone went off. He picked it up and smiled when he saw he had a message from Karen. He opened his phone and settled in for a conversation.

"Is there a reason you marked me?"

Sidney couldn't help but laugh. He knew he lingered at her neck longer than he expected but he couldn't help it.

"Didn't I tell you I like to brand my women. Looks good on you though."

Karen felt her phone vibrate and read what Sidney had said, laughing to herself.

"Do you know how hard these things are to cover?"

"Not really, never had to cover one. Always got one where it wouldn't show."

"Not next time."

"LOL what's that suppose to mean?"

"You will just have to wait and see what I mean."

"Aren't you suppose to be asleep by now?"

"Yeah I should but my mind can't stop thinking about you and today."

"I can't stop thinking about it either but you need to get some sleep."

"I know. 2:30a comes too fast for my liking. Talk tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't want to talk to anybody else. Night baby."

":) night my hockey stud."

They both shut their phones and Karen turned off her light and tried to fall asleep. Sidney still laid awake and thought about her until sleep took over.

The next morning Karen woke up and groaned. She was having a great dream with Sidney and didn't want it to end. She reluctantly got up and got ready. Karen emerged from her room all ready and went into the kitchen to find Maggie making coffee.

"Did you want some?"

"No, I think I just want some juice. I'm tired but not tired enough that I need a strong caffeine rush this early."

"So, spill it. Who'd you hook up with?"

"If I tell you, you have to swear that no one knows about this."

"I swear."

Not believing her, "I mean it Mags, you tell this to anyone and I will poke pin holes in every condom you own in this house."

"I swear, god. No need to go to extremes. Just tell me who he is."

"It was.....Sidney Crosby."

"WHAT? THE SIDNEY CROSBY? OF THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS?"

"Too early to be this loud."

"Sorry, but still. You met and then made out with Sidney Crosby? Oh man this is good. Maybe we should take a picture of it for historical reasons. Something you can always look back on and brag about him leaving his mark."

"Um, there's more."

"Tell me you didn't sleep with him? I have taught you better than that and now I have to refer to you as a puckbunny."

"I didn't sleep with him but there's something going on with him. I think we might actually start dating."

"Please girl, Sidney Crosby is not the dating type. He is a true hockey player and you fell for his actions." Looking at the clock, "shit, we gotta go."

They grabbed what they needed and headed out. On the drive to the store, Karen just sat back and listened to Maggie go on and on about Sidney falling into the category of 'love 'em and leave 'em'. Karen knew he had to be different from how he acted but it still bothered her. She kept rambling on even after they got out of the car and was walking into the building.

"Alright Mags, will you shut up about it? I get it ok." That was all Karen said before walking off to get her job done.

Maggie left her alone until 11am when they went to lunch. Karen was sitting in the breakroom turning on her cell phone when Maggie came up to sit with her.

"Look, I'm sorry for going on like that this morning. I worry about you ever since what's his name."

Karen smiled at her friend and told her it was ok. Maggie could never bring herself to say the other guy's name after Rick and her broke up. It was the only time Karen was truly considered a puckbunny. She was soon brought out of her thoughts when her phone went off. Karen looked at it and it said she had a text message. She flipped open her phone and saw a message from Sidney pop up.

"Hey baby. Just wanted to tell you good morning and I hope you have a great day. Ttys, Sid."

Karen smiled and showed Maggie the message. She still had reservations, but thought this could be different. She watched Karen text him back.

"Morning hockey stud. My day is a whole lot better now that I've heard from you. Enjoy your day :)"

Karen closed her phone and began to eat her lunch. As her and Maggie were talking, they jumped when Karen's phone rang. She looked at the callier ID and it said HHS...'hot hockey stud'. She smiled and answered her phone.

"Hello."

"I didn't think you'd pick up now."

"I'm on lunch right now for the next hour."

"So, can you talk?"

"Yeah it's so easy, you form words in your head and your mouth actually says them for you. Wow, I'm doing it now."

"You're insane" he said laughing.

"Well I do have the papers to prove it" laughing with him. "What are you up to today?"

"We have an off day and wondered if you wanted to meet up when you get off."

"You know this is borderlining on obsessive and stalkerish."

"Does it bother you?"

"Please, I have a hockey stud vying for my affections, a bother it is not."

"I can handle that. Can I have directions to get to you?"

"Sure. Once you leave Mario's, head to I79 and go south. Take that all the way until it runs into I70 and then head west. After you cross into WV, look for the Cabela's exit. It'll be the third exit. If you leave now, I will still be in clothing working so you should be able to find me."

"I think I got it. What time do you get off?"

"1pm."

"Cool. Will it be a problem, like will I get majorly mobbed?"

"I doubt it but if something happens, I will take the blame and make it up to you."

"I may have to cause a scene just to see how you'd make it up to me."

"Trust me, you don't need the scene."

"Yeah, I'm leaving now. See you soon."

"I am counting down the minutes stud."

They both laugh and said goodbye before hanging up. Maggie looked at Karen and asked what was going on. She just told her he wanted to see her later today and that they would meet up somewhere after work. Karen knew if she told her Sidney was coming to the store, all hell would break loose because Maggie would start it. They finished lunch with Karen telling her how she met him and what all happened with him over the last 48 hours.

After lunch, Karen tried to concentrate on her work. She would scan things and put in the system what needed to be sent to corporate for them to deal with the missing product. Every now and then, she would scan the customers around her to see if Sidney was there yet. At 12:45pm, Karen was finishing up her last product scan and then started to shut down her computer. She concentrated on her computer screen when she heard a familiar voice speak to her.

"Would it be highly inappropriate if I kissed you right here, right now?"

"Only if you would like me to lose my job."

Turning her around to face him, "isn't that what I want so I can spend every non hockey day with you?"

"Yes and if you do it, it will be the last time you ever kiss me."

"Damn girl. Alright, I will try and control myself....for now. What all do you need to do before you can leave?"

"I just need to put my things away, clock out and get a couple things from my locker. So give me 10 minutes?"

"Ok. I am going to look around, maybe end up in fishing."

"I will find you."

Karen leaves Sidney to look around and hurries to get her stuff put away. She clocked out and had her purse checked so she could leave out the front door instead of the employee entrance. She went back out to the sales floor and looked for Sidney. She saw him in Fishing talking to a man and a young boy in a wheelchair. Karen walked over and quitely watched how he was with the young boy. When they left him alone, Karen walked up to Sidney and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Thought you didn't want to be recognized?" she whispered in his ear.

"Apparently I need another look."

"Yeah cause everybody knows to look for the Reebok ballcap."

Sidney shot her a look and then smiled at her. Karen took him to the aquarium to see all the fish they had. When they were alone and standing where no one could see them, Sidney wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

"I have been wanting to do that since you left me last night."

"Took you long enough" she said smiling.

"Well I wanted to kiss you about 20 minutes ago, but someone wants to keep her job."

"Well we could leave here and continue this elsewhere."

"I'm for that."

He quickly kissed her again and they walked out. Karen saw a few co-workers recognize Sidney, but she didn't acknowledge it to anyone. They walked to the car and Karen told him how to get to her friend's house.

"So tell me about the boy in the wheelchair?"

"I was looking at some random things in fishing and he said my name. I looked at him and couldn't refuse to talk to him."

"That was sweet of you. You probably just made his day."

Sidney smiled at her, grabbing her hand and kissing the back of it. He continued to hold it until they got to the house.

Karen took Sidney to a quaint little neighborhood. When they got out, he realized that he didn't see many kids. He asked Karen about it and she told him that there wasn't too many around this neighborhood. Sidney liked that for the fact that he could be with Karen in Wheeling and maybe blend in. They went inside and Karen went to change while Sidney sat down and turned on the tv. A few minutes later, Karen heard Maggie come in and just started to talk because she heard the tv going. What she didn't expect was.....

"AH!!! OH MY GOD! SIDNEY CROSBY IS SITTING IN MY LIVING ROOM!"

Karen came running into the living room and saw Maggie literally sitting on Sidney's lap. She couldn't help but laugh, not at what Maggie was doing but at the look on Sidney's face. It was like he was pleading for help.

"Maggie?" trying not to laugh, Karen goes over and pulls her off him. "Maggie? Look at me, calm down."

"But....that's...."

"Yeah I know who he is, he's here with me. I am the one who brought him here. If you can act normal I may let you meet him like a sane person."

"Ok, I'm calm."

Karen couldn't stop laughing but she tried long enough to introduce them. "Sid, I would like you to meet my friend Maggie, this is her house. Maggie, I would like you to meet Sidney Crosby."

Sidney reached out his hand for her to shake it. Maggie looked at his hand before grabbing it and holding on to it. Sidney looked at Karen with helpless eyes and she pulled them apart.

"Mags, you ok?"

"Yeah, me, no I'm great. Couldn't be better, just going to head to my room and...." walking off again, trailing her words.

"She does that a lot" looking at Sidney to explain. "You ok?"

"Yeah, not that I minded her greeting approach, but I kind of wished that was you on my lap."

"Really?"

Sidney nodded and then brought his lips down on hers for a soft kiss. "What do you usually do after work?"

"Right after work, I try and take a nap and then find something for dinner. After that, watch tv and get on the computer until I go to bed. Did you have something planned for us to do?"

"Maybe, but you know, that nap sounds good right about now."

Karen didn't say anything. She took Sidney's hand and led him to her room, shutting the door behind him. Karen laid down as Sidney took off his shoes. He laid down beside her and they instinctly turned towards each other. He brought her leg up over his again and pulled her close.

"This is weird, but I am getting a strange feeling of deja'vu." she told him.

"I thought this seemed familiar. I kind of like it though." smiling at her.

"Well you got me here, now what do you plan to do with me?"

"Telling you about it would take to long. I'd rather show you."

Whispering in a needy tone, "show me?"

They both leaned in to the kiss together and found the heat and passion was still there. Sidney put his hand under her shirt, but left it on her side. Karen had her hand on his hip, digging her fingers into it. After a few minutes, Sidney left her lips and trailed down to her neck.

"Um, what are you doing there nippy?"

She felt him smile into her neck, "I'm not doing anything, why do you ask?"

"Sidney? Don't you dare put another mark on me."

Looking up at her, "would I really do that to you?"

"Do you really need me to answer that?"

"No. I just thought I could give you a matching one."

"You give me one, I get to give you one."

"I like that idea."

Sidney goes back to her neck and every nerve in her body shivered. After Sidney was done, he kissed back to her lips and Karen broke away. She rolled them over onto Sidney's back and Karen crawled on his lap, straddling him. She pulled up his shirt and undid his belt. Sidney just laid there and closed his eyes letting the feeling of Karen's lips on his skin take over. Karen lowered his jeans a little bit and started kissing/nipping right on his hip, leaving a big red mark. When she was done, she smiled up to Sidney and crawled back up to him. She kissed his lips, letting him roll them over onto Karen's back. She loved the weight of him on her, like they fit perfectly together as one.

They laid there staring at each other for a moment before Sidney kissed her and then scooted down to lay his head on her chest. Karen brought a hand up and lightly stroked his hair.

"So, what happened that Coach Therrien gave you guys a rare day off during the playoffs?"

"They have it mapped out that the next game, a home game for us, will probably be on Friday night."

"I guess that means he's going to work your ass off the next three days, huh?"

"Pretty much."

"Well maybe it will be good that we can stay busy the next four days before we see each other again. Let some of this tension fade away."

Sidney looks up at Karen and smiles "what tension could you possibly mean?"

"You know EXACTLY what tension I mean."

"Yeah I do. So does that mean by the time we see wach other on Friday we will be ready to explode?"

"How about you just explode on the ice with a lot of goals to put the next opponent away? Any idea who yet?"

"It looks to probably be the Rangers."

"Can't wait for that match up."

"Me either" Sidney said as he yawned.

"Close your eyes and relax." Karen said as she continued to massage his head. Soon her eyes closed as well and they both fell asleep.

7.28.2008

Chapter 7

When Karen walked back inside, she saw everyone cheering at the tv.

"Who's leading?"

"Your man Johnson, who else?" Nate answered

"Naturally."

"You coming to join us for the rest of the race?" Samantha asked

"Yeah. I'm going to get something to eat first then I'll be in."

Karen walked into the kitchen and saw Liz getting some pizza. She walked past her to find something to eat.

"Um, do you want these last couple slices of pizza?" Liz asked

"No. I think I just want a bowl of cereal. Thanks anyway."

Karen got her cereal and started to make her way back into the living room.

"Kiki wait" Liz called to her "look, I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I shouldn't have gotten Jason to ask what he did."

"I'm sorry too. I never should have said you still had David's number, especially with Tom here."

"You had something on me to get back at me, props to you for using it. You could have just not gotten me back and walked away but you stood your ground. I just don't want to see you get hurt again by a hockey player."

"If I get hurt, then there is going to be a reason other than Sidney being a hockey player. I am even confused to what's going on with Sid" sitting down at the table with Liz joining her "and before you say it, no it's not the age thing. Maybe I am scared to fall in love again, but this feels so right being with him. I don't have to be anybody but myself and I love that."

"Then don't let yourself run from this. Sidney is great, we all think so. He wasn't all cocky or arrogant around us when he could have been. He brings out your natural smile, it never came out with Rick."

"And I thought Rick and I were so happy too."

"At one point you probably were, but not as happy as you look with Sid" getting up from the table "let this happen naturally. Everything will fall into place, you'll see."

Liz left Karen alone with her thoughts. She sat there and smiled before grabbing her bowl and heading to the living room to watch the rest of the race with her friends.

Meanwhile at Mellon Arena...

Sidney pulled into the parking lot and grabbed his bag, running into the arena. He headed to the locker room and was told by a few remaining players that they were going to be in the weight room. He changed into his workout clothes and headed out.

"Nice of you to join us today Crosby." Coach Therrien bellowed out as he entered the room.

Sidney just nodded to him and waited to hear what was going on. The guys were broken into different groups to do their workouts.

"Not like you to be late Sid, what's going on?" Ryan started with the questions.

"Just got held up is all. I still got here on time."

"Did something or someone hold you up?" Marc-Andre said getting in on the questioning.

"What's with all the questions? I got held up, simple as that."

"Guys, leave the kid alone" Jordan chimed in "I think our boy is in love with the girl that schooled him yesterday. Tell me I'm wrong."

Sidney smiled "Ok, you're not wrong. There's just something about her."

"Isn't she like twice your age though?" Ryan asked

"What's age really got to do with anything in a relationship? She understands what pressures I'm under and can just be there to be there."

"What are you talking about?" Evgeni added

"She used to date Rick Tocchet back when he played here. That's why she's perfect for me, she knows what we go through everyday and can handle it. Besides, she used to play the game. What better qualities can I ask for?"

"He has a point guys" Marc-Andre said. "We all need our girlfriends to understand what we go through after every game and he's found someone he doesn't have to explain everything to get them to understand. She just knows. So why don't we concentrate on our workout and get more out of him after?"

All the guys agreed and put their energy to their workout and not into questioning Sidney about Karen.

After an hour, Coach Therrien told the guys to get their skates on. They weren't going to be in full practice gear, he told them he wanted them to skate around to keep their legs loose and warmed up. The guys changed and headed out to the ice surface for the last hour or so of practice.

Back at Karen's house, the race ended and her friends had left. They were leaving in the morning to head to their respective homes and Karen needed to get things ready before driving down to Wheeling for the week. She got the house cleaned up and her clothes packed for the work week, now she was just relaxing on the couch and waited until it was time for her to leave.

At 7pm, Karen was getting the car packed when she heard someone walk up behind her and then felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist.

"Got a few mintues to spend with a lonely guy?" Sidney whispered into her neck

"I have about 60 of them, but I am expecting a really hot hockey stud any minute now. Maybe you want to join us?"

"I'm not really into all that. Besides, I saw that hot hockey stud and I told him he needed to back off because there was only one hockey stud that was vying for your affections."

Turning around in his arms, "is that right? Do I get a say in which hot hockey stud I want vying for my affections?"

Sidney never answered her, instead he kissed her with a hard, passionate kiss that sent shockwaves through Karen's body. She was thankful she had Sidney to hold on to because she would have collapsed if she didn't.

"Ok, I guess I know which one I want."

"You know if it's me, there will be more of that anytime you want it."

"Mmm, maybe I should just pick you and not worry about the other one. He wasn't all that anyway."

"Don't tell me you're getting ready to leave now, are you?" Sidney asked looking in the car.

"No, not for another hour. Care to join me inside until I need to go?"

"I was hoping you'd ask me that."

Karen just smiled and led him inside. They went into the living room and sat on the couch, watching tv until it was time for her to leave.

At 8pm, Karen got a few more things and Sidney walked her to her car. She told him to get in and she would drop him off at Mario's as she left. He got in and they headed down the street. When Karen stopped the car, Sidney leaned over and kissed her.

"I wish you could just commute to work everyday."

"That's a little harsh on gas for the week, besides it easier this way."

"Where do you stay down there?"

"One of the girls I work with has a house and an extra room. She knew I liked to be here on the weekends and offered me to stay with her during the week when I worked. I do pay her some money for food and for letting me stay there, it just works out."

"We might need to find you a job up here so you wouldn't be leaving me every week."

"Oh poor baby. What ever will you do to pass the time until it's the weekend again? Maybe you could use that talent of yours and play hockey professional." Karen said sarcasticly while trying not to laugh.

"You're funny. I wish I could be just like you." he said with his own sarcasm.

They sat there and just laughed at each other. Karen looked over at Sidney and knew it did feel right to want to be with him. She wondered if she should throw all the waiting out the window and date him.

"You still with me here" Sidney waved his hand in front of her face "where did you go?"

"Nowhere, I was just thinking about something."

"Was it about me?"

"Maybe but I will never tell."

"Never?" he asked before starting to kiss her neck.

"Mmm, maybe one day."

Karen turned her head and let her lips meet up with Sidney's. They stayed locked in a heated kiss for a few minutes before Karen finally broke away.

"I need to go before it gets any later. My friend goes to bed early and I don't want to disturb her coming in later than what she's used to" seeing a dejected look on his face "it doesn't mean what you think it means everytime I pull away Sid."

"I know you want time to process all of this, but please understand that I want this to happen between us."

"I know you do and part of me wants to throw my waiting out the window and try this."

"But..."

"I don't know. It just feels complicated for some reason."

Turning her head to look at him, "it doesn't have to be complicated you know."

Sidney kissed her one more time before telling her goodnight and getting out of the car. Karen said her goodnight as well and he shut the door, watching her drive away. As Sidney was walking up to the house, there was a car pulling into the driveway. He stopped to see Mario get out and waited for him.

"Don't tell me I have someone actually waiting for me to get home?" Mario said with a smile.

"Sorry, I was just going in."

"Where'd you go?"

"I was down at Karen's house talking to her and she just left to head back to Wheeling. Can I talk to you about her?" Sidney said.

Mario picked up on his serious tone, "Yeah, let me go change and I will meet you inside."

"Ok" Sidney sat on the porch steps while Mario went inside. He wanted, no needed some advice about him and Karen and Mario seemed like the best choice since they were friends. Sidney looked up at the moon and sighed before heading inside to wait for Mario. He got some water and then went into the living room to wait for Mario. After a few minutes, Mario came down and sat beside Sidney, waiting for him to start.

"What do you think of Karen?"

"Personally, I think she's great. She has always been a friend to me, my family and the team. Why?"

"I like her, a lot."

Mario sat there and a smile crept across his face. "I had a feeling you were interested in her from how you kept staring at her yesterday when her and her friends came to the arena. What's going on Sid?"

"I don't know, I mean, when I went out with her last night to meet her friends, it was like natural to be there with her. A couple times we acted like we were a couple. Then today, I woke up and had to see her. I was at her house before practice."

"Yeah heard you made it with like a minute to spare today."

"Sorry about that. I just didn't want to leave her and now that she's gone for the week, I really miss her. Is this as crazy as it sounds with how fast it's moving between us?"

"Not really but you do want to be careful Sid. Look, I know Karen and eventhough I hadn't seen her for a while, she still seems the same as she was back then. She is genuine in her feelings and if she is showing something back, it's because she's feeling the same as you. Have you guys acted on anything yet?" Mario asked somewhat worried.

"No, well, I mean we did kiss but that was it. She wants to take things slow and see where things go."

"And you don't agree to that?" Mario asked confused.

"I agree with it. I wanted to fight it at first and tried to convince her to let it happen, but she told me that I needed to concentrate with the rest of the playoffs first and then we'd see after that."

"Smart girl. So, if you guys both agree to wait and take it slow to see if this is real, what else is bothering you?"

"Well, you know how old she is and I don't care about that or the age difference, but what if we do finally get together and everybody goes against it because of the age thing? I don't want to hurt her like that."

"It's not going to matter what other people think as long as you do what you feel is right. If after the playoffs it still feels right to be with her, then be with her. You need to control what you do, not do what everybody else wants. Anything else?"

"No I think that's it for now. Thanks Mario, I really appreciate it."

"Anytime. Look, I know its hard to not always have your dad around to talk to but I am glad you feel at ease coming to me about this" patting him on the shoulder.

Sidney sat back on the couch and thought about what all happened today. He smiled remembering what all happened in Karen's room and knew he wanted more with her. Sidney decided to head to his room and relax for the night.

In Wheeling, Karen had gotten to her friend's house and walked inside as quite as she could. Setting her bag down, a light appeared and scared her.

"I thought you were asleep. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Its fine, I wasn't completely ready for bed anyway" her friend Maggie said. "You're a little later getting in, did you have any problems on the way home?"

"No, just a late start."

"How was your weekend? Did you meet up with anyone?" she asked looking at the mark on her neck forming.

"Why would you go there?"

"Apparently you haven't seen a mirror lately. You have what appears to be a hickey forming on your neck there. So either you lost a battle with a vaccuum or you got lucky this weekend. Which is it?" As she saw a huge smile appear on her face, "it was a guy."

"Yeah it was."

"Well we will talk about it on the way to work tomorrow and on break and on lunch...." Maggie was trailing off as she walked into her bedroom.

Karen just laughed and went to her room. She got changed and headed to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she indeed saw a mark when Sidney had previously been earlier in the day. Karen put her hand over the mark and remembered what happened in her room. She wondered what it would have been like if they did take it further. She got done in the bathroom and got into bed. She looked at the clock and saw it was still early, so she picked up her cell phone and texted Sidney.

7.27.2008

Chapter 6

As everyone came in, they all saw Sidney sitting on the couch and then looked at Karen to see how she looked. Karen noticed what they were looking for and just shook her head at them.

"Ya'll are pathetic. We were just talking until you pulled up."

"Is that true Sid?" Nate yelled from the hallway.

"Well I tried to keep her off me but she was so irresistable I couldn't stop her." Sidney said as he joined everyone in the hallway.

"I guess we got here in the nick of time" Stacie said handing Sidney a small paper bag. "We can turn the tv up loud if you want to go upstairs and finish." She walked past Karen into the kitchen laughing the whole time.

The others followed and Karen had blushed for the second time that morning. She saw Sidney start to open the bag, but she grabbed it from him before he could.

"What's in the bag?" trying to take it back from her.

"It's nothing. Stacie is just trying to be funny." Karen had the bag behind her but Sidney was still playing around to get the bag.

"Just let me see what's in there?" he said laughing as Karen had a death grip on the bag.

Karen realized how close Sidney was to her and she leaned in and kissed him, hoping to get him to forget about the bag and its contents. Stacie walked out of the kitchen and saw the two of them kissing. She grabbed the bag from Karen's hands and walked off with them. Breaking away, she looked at Sidney with a smile and showed him her hands which were now bare.

"I will know what's in that bag before I leave today" he whispered.

She whispered back "maybe" and then kissed him again before walking into the kitchen.

"So what are we doing?"

"Well Karen, this is called opening a beer and then taking a drink" Jason said mimicking his actions.

"Not what I meant smartass but thanks for the play by play from your alcoholic ass. I meant what are we doing now, starting to make lunch before the race, wait until the pre-race, what?"

"The guys bought some pizza to make when the pre-race is under way. They didn't want you to go to too much trouble." Liz stated.

"It wouldn't have been trouble but whatever you guys want to do is fine. We have an hour and a half before it starts, what do you guys want to do?" Karen asked the group.

"Why don't we play a game?" Samantha smiled knowing which game to pick.

Karen turned to Sidney, "this could get ugly."

"Why, what game will they want to play?" he whispered back.

Before Karen could answer him, Stacie shouted "truth or dare."

"Can't we play something a little more fun? There will be no surprises since we've known each other forever unless....." she looked at Sidney's confused expression then looked back to her friends, "you are not going to torture Sid by asking him all the questions."

"But how else will we get to know him?" Jason said matter of factly.

"Just by talking to him."

"But that's the boring way. We want to see what we can get him to do if he takes a dare." Andrew said then took a swig of his beer.

Karen looked to Sidney, "it's up to you. Do you want to play truth or dare?"

"Will you play too?" he said smirking at her.

"Yes I will play too."

Everybody grabbed a few more beers and headed to the living room. Karen asked Sidney if he wanted some Ice Tea or Water knowing he couldn't drink with practice coming up in a few hours. She got them both some Ice Tea and then they headed to the living room too, seeing the spot on the couch for both of them.

"Ok, we already flipped for it and I will go first" Tom said. "Karen, truth or dare?"

"Oh god, yeah let's just start with me, truth."

"Did Sidney spend the night last night with you?"

"No he didn't" she said.

"Ok, my turn" Stacie chimed in.

"Wait, isn't it the turn of the person who answered the question?" Karen asked.

"That's not how we're playing this time" Stacie said. "Sid, truth or dare?"

"I'll take truth."

"How many girls have you been with since you've been in Pittsburgh?" Stacie asked which got the attention of the whole group, except Karen who shot her a glare.

"I'd say about 15."

"Were they all puckbunnies?" Karen asked in a serious tone.

"You can't ask another question out of turn?" Stacie said

"Yes you can" Karen stated. "If a question is asked and the answer leaves room for another question that is a continuation of the first question, then it's allowed."

"Okay then. Yes they were all puckbunnies." Sidney said looking at Karen but she just looked down when he answered.

"My turn" Jason said "Karen, truth or dare?"

"You know it will always be truth because I know how you guys get at picking dares."

"Why do you still wear the ring Rick gave you?" he said

Karen glared at Jason knowing that question came from Liz. "Because its my birthstone and I happen to think it's a beautiful ring." Turning her glare from Jason to Liz, "I still wear the jewelry that my parents gave me too. What do you want me to do Liz, stop wearing everything someone gave me because they are no longer in my life?"

"It wasn't suppose to be meant that way." she tried to clear up.

"Fine. Liz, truth or dare?"

"Truth" she said quitely.

"Why do you still have your ex boyfriend's number on speed dial?" Karen asked angrily

"WHAT?" Tom practically shouted.

Liz just glared at Karen as she continued "Come on Liz, it's apparently a crime for me to still wear a ring my ex boyfriend gave to me, but it's fine to have David's number still in your cell phone."

"Karen, enough" Samantha said trying to calm everybody down.

"Whatever" she said while getting up. "You guys obviously had an agenda thought up on the way over here. You want to finish playing the game and get everything out of Sidney, finish without me."

Karen left the living room and went to the kitchen. She put the pizzas in the oven for them and stopped telling them to get them out in 12 minutes before heading upstairs. Sidney sat on the couch not knowing what to think.

"Sorry Sid, we didn't mean to get out of hand" Andrew said "we just wanted to quiz you and see what you'd say to our questions."

"Speak for yourself Andy" Liz spatted out. "She took it one step to far."

"Only because you did Liz" Samantha said "you know how bad he hurt her and how she was when she finally came home. Maybe that ring symbolizes a happy thing for her that she'd rather hold on to." Looking to Sidney "did she tell you anything about their relationship?"

"Actually, that's what we were talking about before you guys showed up. I think I'm going to check on her." Sidney said and got up, going upstairs to find Karen.

As he got to the top of the stairs, there were three doors but one was open. He figured to try that one first and found Karen sitting on the bed with her back against the backboard staring at the ring she was wearing. When he got closer, he could tell she had been crying.

"You ok?" Sidney asked softly.

"Yeah. Sorry you had to sit through that" she said, still not looking at him. "Liz always knows where to take things."

Sidney walked over to the bed and went to sit beside her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. He picked up her hand and looked at the ring, thankful it didn't look like an engagement ring.

"It is a beautiful ring. Why did he give it to you?" Sidney asked cautiously.

"It was for my birthday. He bought it for me June of '93 because I should have something beautiful to wear everyday. That's all this ring means nothing more, nothing less and she knows that. Are they pissed that I came up here?"

"I think only Liz is mad at you because you're mad at her and then Tom is mad because he wants to know why she still has her ex's number. Everybody else stood up for you that she shouldn't have had Jason ask that question."

"I knew it came from her before Jason finished the question. She always lectures me about old boyfriends and yet she can't let go either." Karen looked at the ring again "maybe I am still holding on to something wearing it. Holding on to the fact that once upon a time, love did exisit for me." Looking at Sidney "I guess it's time to tell you that I truly am unstable. Half the time I don't even know what's going on in my head."

Karen smiled when she heard Sidney laugh "do you think that I might think it means something else?"

"Not really. If you want to question every piece of jewelry I own to see who gave it to me, then go ahead. I have nothing to hide from past relationships."

"Neither do I."

"Have you had a real relationship before?"

"In school I dated a girl for a year and a half, but that was the longest I've been with anyone and of course we were 15 at the time so I don't know how real it could have been."

"Ah, the exploring age."

"I thought any age in any relationship was an exploring age" Sidney smiled at her as he caressed her cheek.

"Really now?"

Sidney leans in and captures Karen's lips in a kiss. They both move down the bed to where they were lying down on their sides. As the kiss continues, Sidney moves Karen's leg on to his and pulls her closer to him, not leaving an inch between them.

Breaking the kiss "were you mad about the puckbunnies?" he asked.

"No. I didn't know you then, if that's what you went for that was your choice."

"That's not my choice now. I just need you to know that."

"I know."

They started to kiss again with hands roaming. Sidney's hands had moved from Karen's back to her stomach. He played with the hem of her t-shirt before moving them inside her shirt. He lightly touched her body, feeling her shiver at his touch. Karen placed her hands inside of Sidney's shirt to feel the muscles she knew was there. She had imagined what he would look like without a shirt on but feeling how cut his chest and stomach was turned her on immensely. She moved her hands to his back and left them there, digging her fingernails into the skin with every minute they continued to kiss. Sidney decided to test the waters and moved his hand up towards her breast. At first he slid his hand to the side and started to rub his thumb over her breast. He heard her moan into the kiss and moved his hand over to completely cover her, lightly massaging her.

Sidney left her lips and kissed his way to her neck, staying in one place and changing between kisses and light nips at her skin. The more he did this, the more soft moans escaped Karen's mouth. She had thoughts to tell him to slow down or stop, but she couldn't force the words to come out. When Sidney was satisfied playing with her neck, he moved back to kiss her. Karen was about to deepen the kiss when she heard a clicking sound. She pulled away from Sidney and looked over his shoulder to see Stacie standing in the doorway with her hand covering her eyes. She couldn't help but laugh and it caused Sidney to turn to see what was funny.

"We are still dressed Stac, you can uncover your eyes?" Karen said still laughing.

"That's ok, I don't want to take the chance. I was just checking to see if you were ok and by the sound of it, you are fine. I just wanted to bring you these." Stacie pulled the small brown bag from behind her back and threw it, hitting Sidney in the arm and landing between them. Stacie giggled before leaving and closing the door behind her.

"Oh god" Karen sighed.

Sidney removed his hand from under her shirt and picked up the bag, emptying the contents.

"Condoms? She bought these for me or you?" he couldn't help but laugh.

"Apparently both, sorry" she said with a smile.

"Hmm, a 12 pack. We could really have some fun with these" looking into her eyes "when we're both ready." Seeing her smile, "so where were we?"

"I think we were ready to stop."

"Why in god's name would we be stopping?"

"Because when I looked at Stacie, I saw the clock and it's 5 til 2. Don't you need to get to the arena?"

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Don't sound to happy to go play hockey with your teammates?" Karen said laughing.

"I'd rather stay here and play with you, why do you think I came over today?"

"I thought it was to keep my other boyfriends from coming over to play with me?"

"Oh, you have other boyfriends?"

"Yeah, I was waiting for the right time to tell you that I decided to not only play with you but with Ryan and Jordan too."

"Out of the entire locker room, you pick those two?"

"Um, out of the entire locker room, I've only met you, those two, and Marc and Evgeni. I took a shot and said two names that popped in there first."

"How about popping them out of your head and just keeping me in there all alone?"

Getting out of his grip and off the bed, "don't worry, you won't be alone in there. I have like numerous voices floating around in there so you will always have someone to talk to."

They both laughed and headed downstairs. Sidney stopped and said goodbye to everyone sitting around watching the tv and then grabbed Karen's hand, walking outside.

"Before I go, the reason I came over was to spend time with you. I think your friends are cool and everything, but I'm glad the last hour was just us."

"If you wanted it to be just us until you had to go to practice, why didn't you stop me from inviting them over?"

"Friends are important, I don't want to be that type of a potential boyfriend to keep you from your friends."

"That's sweet" she leaned up and kissed him "you better go. I don't want you to get in trouble for being late because of me."

"Yeah. Can I call you later?"

"Absolutely. I won't be heading down to Wheeling until about 8pm."

"What am I going to do without seeing you until the next home game?"

"I'm sure we can figure something out."

Sidney kisses her one last time and then runs down the street to Mario's to get into his SUV. He had already put his bag in the car to save time. Karen could see him drive down the street and out of sight before heading back inside.

Chapter 5

Later that morning, Karen woke up and looked at the clock. She groaned when she saw it was only 10:13am. She reluctantly got up and went to the bathroom. When Karen was done, she brushed her teeth, put her hair up into a messy ponytail, and got dressed. As she was heading downstairs, there was a knock at the door. Karen knew she didn't look that presentable for a visitor, but opened the door anyway. Her heart stopped when she realized it was Sidney.

"Apparently you don't need much sleep either"

"Well good morning to you too sunshine"

Smiling up at him, "sorry, morning Sidney."

"That's better. I couldn't sleep anymore and I wondered how you were from last night."

"I'm fine actually. I was never one for getting hangovers, but just tired for never getting to sleep as long as I'd like. Of course I usually average 4 1/2 hours a night before work."

"What time do you work?"

"I have 4am to 1pm shift, so I am in bed by 10p and up at 2:30am."

"Damn, and I thought I had weird sleeping habits" Sidney said looking around. "So do we continue having this conversation like this, or at some point are you going to invite me in?"

"Sorry" she said laughing as she opened the screen door, "come in."

Sidney walked in and Karen shut the door behind him. When she turned back around, she was face to face with Sidney and soon felt his lips on hers. As much as Karen wanted to fight this, her body had already melted into his touch and her arms wrapped around him. Sidney sneaked out his tongue and lightly brushed Karen's lips, begging to enter. He was relieved when she allowed him access and the kiss went to a deep, more passionate one. Karen broke away after a few minutes, but Sidney still had her pressed against him with his forehead to hers.

"I wish you stop pulling away like that" he said.

"I wish you would stop kissing me like that" she whispered back.

Sidney lifted his head back and looked into Karen's eyes before leaning back in for another mind blowing kiss. Before he could connect their lips again, Karen's cell phone started ringing. Sidney reluctantly let her go so she could find her phone and answer it.

"Hello."

"Hey Kiki. What are the plans for today?" Stacie asked.

"Hey Stac. I am up for whatever. Did you guys have anything you wanted to do?"

"Well you know the guys, there is a race on today and I guess they are deciding where to watch it."

"Why don't you guys come over here to watch it. I was going to anyway. I have enough food in the freezer we could cook out during the race."

"That sounds like a plan. We'll probably stop off for some beer and then head over. Ok?"

"K. I'll be here when you get here."

"Are you going to invite the hockey stud?"

"He has practice today."

"But not until 3p, so I can hang out for a couple hours" Sidney said all of the sudden.

"Is he there with you right now?" Stacie said loudly enough that Karen heard all the catcalls and comments coming from her friends on the other end. "Did he stay over last night?"

Karen was now blushing "no he didn't stay over Stac. He just came over about 10 mintues ago."

"Let me talk to him."

"No, I am not letting you talk to him. Just get ready and come over, do you still remember how to get to mom and dad's house?"

"Of course. We'll be there in an hour."

"Alright, see you then."

"Oh Kiki, do you need anything? Chapstick, Altoids, condoms?"

"I am hanging up now. Bye Stac."

Karen hung up before Stacie could say anything else and when she turn around to a smiling Sidney, her face turned three shades of red.

"Please tell me you didn't hear any of that?" a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

"Would you actually believe me if I said no?"

"Probably not. Sorry about that. We tend to do this to each other when there is potential for a new boyfriend/girlfriend to enter our group."

Walking up to her "am I a candidate? Not that I wouldn't mind seeing how we've clicked being together."

"This doesn't seem too fast or even the least bit awkward to you?"

"Maybe it does seem like its happening fast, but why would it be awkward? Because of the age difference?"

"It doesn't bother you that I am older and not just by a few years?"

"No it doesn't. You can't help who you are attracted to. If everybody in this world chose to be with people only because they were the same age, there would probably be a lot of unhappy marriages. That's why you go on what you feel for someone." Sidney lifted her chin to look into her eyes, "I feel something for you and I know you are starting to feel something for me if you haven't already."

Karen moved away from him, "can we be realistic for at least one minute? I don't care what heat comes to me about dating you. Besides Rick, I have dated younger guys. It's you that I don't want to see always defending our realtionship and distracting you from what's important to you...your hockey career."

"I appreciate that you have my best interest at heart but I don't care what the media will say about this nor what the fans say. The fans are fans because of what I do for their city and this team. Yes, there will be some that hate you because you are with me, but they will get over it and find another guy on the team to fall all over. If that is the only reason they are a fan of mine because they think there is potential to be with me, then I don't want them as fans."

"Alright, but what about your mom and dad? Or the guys on the team? I know you'll care what they'll think."

"We will deal with that when and if the time comes. If you want this to slow down then I am all for it, just don't shut out what could be good for both of us."

"How would us being together benefit us exactly?" Karen said with a smile to break the tension that had obviously formed.

"Well I get a girlfriend who understands what I do and won't try to fake her feelings to make me feel better when things go bad and you..." walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her, "you get a hockey stud to play around with."

"I am killing Stacie when she gets here. Can we make a deal?"

"What are the terms?"

"That we slow it down and get to know each other better. Let me have this time to really think about us."

"How long?" Karen looked away, but Sidney brought her to look at him again "how long are you asking for?"

"Just until you turn 21."

"So, three and a half months."

"I'm sorry Sid, I will just feel better about us being together if you were 21."

Seeing her sadness, "hey, it's ok. I fully understand why you want to wait until then."

"Thank you."

"So, have you already been thinking about being with me?"

"After you helped me with Tony last night, I saw something in that. Most other guys being a date or friend wouldn't have done what you did. Then after you kissed me, that was all I could think about when I tried to go to sleep. But then everything came rushing along with it."

"Are you scared to fall in love with me?"

"I think a part of me is scared in general. I don't want to get hurt again but getting hurt by a hockey player really doesn't have any basis here. Its that whole putting your heart out there thing" Karen let go of Sidney and walked over to the couch to sit down, bringing him with her. "I was so in love with Rick that I didn't think anything would happen between us. I thought our love could withstand anything and everything that was thrown at it."

"What really happened between you two, besides what you said at dinner last night?" Sidney saw the look she gave him at the question he just asked "you said you wanted us to get to know each other better. Tell me about you and Rick. We still have time before your friends get here."

"Ok." Karen took a deep breath "um, I had first met him when he was playing for Philly and was in town for a game. Then one weekend, some friends and I took the road trip to New York, DC, and then Philly to see the Pens play. We would do this every now and again. Once they finished the trip in Philly, as we were about to leave our seats, an usher came up and told me that Rick wanted to invite us to the locker room. We were staying in town that night, so we really weren't in a hurry to leave. We headed down to meet him and some other players then made plans to go out after he got dressed. It was actually like last night with us. Just casual enough to have fun but there were those little things to make people wonder."

"Like you putting your hand on my thigh and lightly rubbing your thumb over it?"

"Not like you didn't start it by putting your arm around my shoulders. My hand just happened to relax itself there."

Whispering in her ear, "I wasn't complaining."

"Anyway, we exchanged numbers and talked like almost every night and when they were in town to play, we would get together after the game. During the '91-'92 season he got traded here and I was a little reserved at first not knowing what to expect, but we officially got together not long after he got settled."

"Did anything happen here that maybe carried over to when he got traded?"

"You mean with the team?"

"There or with you two?"

"If there was anything unravelling within the team, I didn't pick up on it nor did he ever say. With us, there was something but I never let on that I knew or questioned him about it." Seeing the confused look on his face, "he did cheat on me once and I don't think he really knew I knew, but I did and let it go for the most part."

"And you think that could happen with us?"

"Have you met Sophia Jenkins yet?"

"The name doesn't ring any bells. Who is she?"

"She is basically the original puckbunny for the Penguins and she has had basically almost every Penguin player in one way or another. She never cared if they had girlfriends or wives, she just wanted the bragging rights."

"So what are you saying then? You think she's waiting for a perfect opportunity to get me?"

"Yes. Sophia and I were never ones to be best friends. She literally took any guy that I was interested in away from me for herself. If she's left you alone until now, then she is either waiting for you to turn 21 or until you actually claim you have a girlfriend. When and if she finds out it's me, there will be no stopping her then."

"Well we will deal with her when the time comes. What happened after Rick got traded to LA?"

"I decided to put everything on hold and go with him. I had doubts, but I was in love and wanted to be where he was. I really didn't want to do another long distance relationship. While we were in LA, we starting fighting more about the most stupidest things. He just didn't seem happy there. We would rarely talk or do anything for that matter and then one night he had a really good game and we kind of put all the bad times behind us....at least for one night. A couple months later I ended up pregnant. He wasn't even happy about it and never talked to me about how he felt. That's when I knew it was over. I figured I could come back home and raise the baby on my own and I don't know if it was all the stress between us, but I had a miscarriage. I was out shopping with Janet Gretzky and doubled over in pain. Rick didn't even come to the hospital to see me until like a day later. He just didn't care and that killed me. I really didn't have any plans to go anywhere and he never really told me to leave or that it was over, so I just bided my time until I could leave on my own and that's when the try outs came up for Team USA. I had a purpose to leave him and a place to go. Cammi Granato let me stay with her since we were both trying out and then made the team."

"Did anybody back here know you were pregnant?"

"No. Unless Rick told Mario and he just didn't want to say anything last night or Rick just completely forgot about everything that happened between us."

"What would happen if he came back and you guys talked?"

"I doubt anything would ever happen between us again. I don't think I could let it happen knowing how it all ended."

"Then you'll be safe for me to keep all to myself" caressing her cheek "because I don't want to share you with anyone. I'm sorry all that happened to you but not all relationships end up the same way."

"I know. I actually am more scared of Sophia getting to you to destroy it than you changing personally."

"I won't let that happen" Sidney said before softly kissing Karen.

Karen broke away when she heard car doors slam and voices nearing the house, "here comes the calvary." She wiped her eyes and got up to greet her friends at the door.

7.26.2008

Chapter 4

The car ride to the bar was quite with limited conversation. Karen didn't know if Sidney was regretting the choice to go with her or that Karen just didn't know where to take the conversation. After she pulled up to the bar, they got out and headed in.

"Are you sure you wanted to come tonight? You kind of seem unsure about being here with me."

Grabbing her arm and stopping her before she reached the door, "I'm sure that I want to be here. You intrigued me today and I wanted to know you better. Is that alright with you?"

Karen smiled shyly "yeah it's fine. I just wanted to make sure you wanted to be here. I know I hate being somewhere under protest and I didn't want you to feel that way."

"I was interested in you at dinner and figured I could get to know another side of you away from Mario and Nathalie."

"Gotcha."

Sidney opened the door and let Karen go in first. He looked around the quaint little bar that he had never been to and liked it. He thought it would be a good place to be inconspicuous at during off days. Sidney was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard a man's voice.

"Well batten down the hatches boys, look who decided to grace us with her presence. Get over here girl and give me a hug."

"Pops" hugging him. "It is so great to see you and I realize it's been a long time."

Unleashing her from his grip, "You look good but then again, you've never looked bad." He glanced behind her and saw Sidney standing there taking it all in "and look what you brought."

"Pops, I would like to introduce you to..."

"Sidney Crosby. I know who he is dear child. I am just glad that you brought him to my humble abode" Pops beamed proudly.

Sidney shook the older man's hand "it's nice to meet you sir."

"What's this sir shit. Call me Pops, it's a local thing."

"I'm not really all that local Pops" Sidney stated.

"You will be playing here for the next 5 years, you will become local. Especially if you keep stopping by to see me with this beautiful lady. Are you two dating?"

"Pops!" Karen couldn't believe that just came out of his mouth. "We just met like 8 hours ago. I had dinner at Mario's catching up on old times and he decided to join me to come here."

"I usually work pretty fast, but this one needs a little more coaxing" Sidney chimed in.

"I am going to go join my friends."

Karen walked towards the table shaking her head and laughing. As Sidney was about to join her Pops pulled him back "she is a special one Sid, don't let her slip away from you."

Pops smiled and headed back behind the bar and Sidney walked to the table Karen was standing near. He instictively put his arm around her waist and Karen looked at him, making all her friends look as well.

"Guys, you remember Sidney from today. Sidney you remember Liz, Stacie, Samantha, and Kasey."

"Nice to see you all again" he said.

"These are their boyfriends, Tom Matthews, Nate Markson, Andrew Strand, and Jason Parks."

Shaking all their hands, "nice to meet you." Sidney turned to towards Karen "what do you want to drink?"

"Beer is fine" she replied.

Sidney went to the bar to get a couple of beers and went back to the table. Everybody scooted down and made room for him to sit closely beside Karen...dangerously close. They all talked with the guys quizzing Sidney about the Pens and their chances in the playoffs this year. Karen was surprised how he handled himself in public. He had an aura about him that was genuine and not at all cocky of who he was and what he did for a living. When they finally got off questioning Sidney, they would start to tell sories about Karen and the girls and it was time for Karen to blush to all what they were telling Sidney. At some point of the night, Sidney had put his arm around Karen's shoulders and she had actually leaned into it not realizing she had. She also never realized how her hand was resting on Sidney's thigh until he grabbed it with his other hand and held it.

"Well enough of this, I am going to go shoot some pool" Tom said standing up. "You up for a game Sid?"

"Sure. You mind Karen?" he asked

"No, go have fun."

She watched Sidney walk over to the pool tables with the rest of the guys and the girls all took turns in asking questions about what was going on with Sidney.

"So, is this a date Karen?" Liz started the questioning.

"No. I had dinner with Mario and his wife tonight and Sidney is staying with them. He had dinner with us and when I left to come here, I asked if he wanted to come."

"Then you asked him out. No wonder he's making moves, he probably thinks this is a date" Kasey added.

"I just figured that since they had some days off until the next round he could use some relaxing fun" Karen tried to explain.

"I'm not buying it" Liz said sternly. "You've been hurt before by a hockey player, why would you want to go through that again?"

"Who says I am going to go through that again. I am 16 years OLDER than him. I am not the least of who or what he is looking for in a girl."

"The last interview he did when they asked what he wanted in a girlfriend, he said he was looking for someone who was independent and could handle his schedule with being gone a good bit of the time. That fits you perfectly because one, you've done it before with Rick and two, you are more independent than all of us put together" Samantha pointed out blankly. "You are a perfect rendition of a hockey player's girlfriend" she added.

"Maybe for one more my age."

"Oh for fuck's sake Karen, get off the age thing and realize what is happening in front of you" Stacie finally chimed in. "He either obviously doesn't care that you're older or he wants someone that's older. Either way, you win a very nice prize in dating the hockey god of Pittsburgh."

"I am going to play pool with the guys" Stacie said getting up.

"I'm coming too" Liz followed her.

"What are you afraid of Kiki?" Samantha asked. "This can't be all about the age thing."

"It's not all about the age thing, I just....I don't know why" Karen said looking at her empty beer bottle. "But I do know that we need some more beer."

"I am up for that, but for the record Sidney has not taken his eyes off of you since he left to go play pool with the guys" her friend told her with a smile.

Karen and Samantha got up and headed to the bar for more drinks, looking towards the pool tables as she went and noticed Sidney staring at her. She pointed that she would be at the bar and he nodded along with flashing her that killer smile he had.

"So what does my girls want?" Pops asked

"Tequila" they both said in unison.

Pops set out the shot glasses and poured the Tequila in them, leaving the bottle for them.

"Let me ask you this" Samantha started. "If he did want to start something, would you at least take the chance to see where it would go?"

Karen slammed down her shot and filled the glasss again "I don't know, maybe."

After a while of downing shots, a guy came up to Karen and Samantha. "How about I buy the next round for you two pretty ladies?"

Karen looked up at the guy and her face went from having fun to a disgusted look. "No thanks Tony we're covered" holding up the half bottle of Tequila.

"Well, then how about letting me join you?" he asked with a hopeful grin.

"I think you already know my answer to that. It's the same answer to everything you have ever asked me...NO!" Karen practically yelled.

Sidney was waiting his turn when he looked over at the bar and saw Karen annoyed at a guy that keeps pushing his way at the bar. He leaned over and asked one of the guys if they knew him.

"Hey Jason, do you know who that guy is at the bar with Karen and Sam?"

Looking to the bar "yeah that's Tony. He went to school with us and have been trying to get with Karen ever since the 7th grade. I guess he's never quite gotten the message that Karen has never wanted anything to do with him."

Sidney watched Karen leave the bar and head in the direction of the bathroom. A minute later he saw Tony walk off in the same direction. Sidney told the guys he would be back and went looking for Karen.

As she was coming out of the bathroom, Tony had grabbed her and pinned her up against the wall.

"You need to get the hell off me."

"When you finally give me what I want then I will. You should know by now that I always get what I want."

"Yeah, you usually had daddy buy it for you. I'm still not for sale."

"Really now. Saw you come in with Sid the Kid" whispering in her ear "you sure you're not for sale or did you finally find a price worth your time."

"You are an asshole" Karen said shoving him away as best as she could, only to have him come back more angry.

"Forget about going home with The Kid, you will be going home with me."

Karen didn't have to answer him as someone else spoke up for her.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. See, I always make it a point to take home the girls I take out" Sidney said slipping inbetween them "so you might want to back off."

"I wouldn't get all cocky now Sid, you don't have your teammates to back you up."

"I don't need my teammates."

Karen put her hands onto Sidney's back and felt his muscles contract "let's just leave Sid."

He pulled her out from behind him and slid his arm around her. Karen melted into him to feel safe and hopefully to give Tony the impression that she was indeed with Sidney.

Tony backed off and started to walk away. "You know I will have you Karen, you're still worth waiting for."

"You'll be waiting a long time buddy" Sidney said not taking his strong glare off him until he left the hallway. His eyes softened when he looked into Karen's still scared ones. "You ok?"

"Yeah. I have always been able to fend off his advances but not this time. Thanks for helping me."

"When I saw what he was doing at the bar and then follow you, I figured it wouldn't end well. I have to protect my date from harm or Mario might hand my ass to me."

Karen couldn't help but laugh at that but her smile faded when she realized that Sidney still had his arm around her and pulled close to him. She nervously bit her bottom lip as she saw his head lean closer to hers. Karen went on instinct and got out of his grip looking at her watch.

"We better go, it's almost 2:30am."

"Yeah, ok. Let's go tell everybody that we're leaving."

They headed out into the bar and saw Karen's friends were back at the table. She told them they were leaving and that she'd call them later for plans to do something. Sidney grabbed Karen's hand to hold and led her out of the bar. He unlocked the car door and Karen got in. Sidney shut the door before walking around and getting in the driver's side.

"So what was that guy's deal with you anyway" Sidney asked.

"We had gone to school together and we had been friends growing up but that was all he ever was to me. Tony had this obsession with me and I never fell for him. He dated my friends hoping I would get jealous, but I never did. He didn't give up until after I started dating Rick."

"Really?"

"Yeah, apparently Rick wasn't just intimidating on the ice as a bruiser. Tony came up to me after a game when I was waiting for Rick and he wasn't too pleased with what he saw. After he got done 'talking' to him, Tony finally left me alone."

"Maybe he'll get the hint again" Sidney said as he pulled in front of Karen's house and shutting off the car, both getting out.

"We just met not even 12 hours ago, how can this be happening so fast?" Karen asked.

"I guess it's fate."

"You believe in fate?"

"In some things, just depends on what the situation is" stepping closer to her "and this is just one situation that I think fate is having a hand in."

"Sid..."

Before Karen could speak or protest, Sidney had his lips on hers in a soft kiss. She felt his hands wrap around her waist to her back and stay there. Karen's hand went to his shoulders and then up into his hair. The kiss started to intensify but Karen pulled away before it got any hotter between them.

"You better go. I don't want Mario to come after me if I keep you out too late."

"Yeah, we have a late practice today so I guess I need some sleep."

"Thanks for coming out with me tonight. I don't think I would have had that much fun if I went by myself to meet them."

"I had fun too. Your's friends were cool and didn't get all fan-crazed on me."

"Well we're old enough to know better" looking up at him "night Sidney."

Karen walked up on the porch and unlocked the door. She headed inside and was about to close the door when Sidney yelled to her.

"One last thing" he walked up onto the porch "can I call you later today?"

Karen smiled and gave Sidney her cell number. They said goodnight again and he left, programming his phone as he went. Karen shut the door and couldn't stop the smile from being glued on her face as she locked the door and went to bed.

7.25.2008

Chapter 3

Nathalie decided to change the subject off of Karen and Rick to something a little more happier.

"So Karen, what are you doing now?"

"I am actually working doing inventory for a retail store in Wheeling, Cabela's. It's a store that mainly deals with the outdoors....hunting, fishing, camping. I help keep the inventory straight."

"Do you hunt or fish?" Sidney asked.

"No, nothing like that. But we do sell clothing and I have a background with selling clothes. I worked in the clothing department for 2 years and then went to the inventory side of it 2 years ago."

"So you've been with them for 4 years then?"

"Yeah, since they opened in 2004."

"Are you living down in Wheeling?"

"During the week days. I work a straight Monday through Friday week and always have the weekends off. So I stay up here in my parent's house on the weekends and whenever I am up here for the home games."

"Do you go to a lot of the home games?" Sidney asked

"Do you always unknowingly play 20 questions with people you don't know?" Karen asked back with a smile.

"One answer just opens up for another question. So, do you go to a lot of home games?"

"I have season tickets so unless I want to waste a lot of money, I still come up for every home game. Anything else?"

"Not right now, but I reserve to ask more later."

"Fair enough."

"So, I haven't seen your mom or dad around the neighborhood lately. How are they doing?" Mario asked

Karen's breathing stopped for a brief second realizing they must not have known.

"You guys never heard what happened to them?" Karen saw the blank expression on everyone's face and took a deep breath before continuing. "Mom and dad died during the September 11th attacks."

Nat got up and hugged her friend as Mario took her hand in his. "We are so sorry to hear that. Where were they? How did they..." Nat couldn't seem to finish the sentence when she saw Karen's eyes start to tear up.

"They were on one of the flights leaving Boston and heading to Los Angeles to visit some friends. You know how dad always boasted about travelling around eastern Canada and how they went like every year since 1994?"

"Yeah, he would take the same pictures every year."

Karen smiled at the thought of her dad always dragging out the photo album to anyone that asked about the trip. "They were visiting friends in Boston and the four of them went in late summer of 2001. They stayed until after Labor Day and then they headed back to Boston for a few days. On the 11th, they had the early flight out since they were going coast to coast. I never got to talk to them before they were to leave Boston and when I woke up on that Tuesday morning, I guess the first plane had hit Tower 1. I, like many others, was glued to my tv that day and watched as the second plane flew into Tower 2. When the reports came out and they identified where the planes originated from I went hysterical trying to find the flight info mom had left for me. When I put their info against the info from the tv, I realized that I had literally watched my parents die that day." Karen said as tears began to roll down her cheeks. She wiped them away and continued on. "I called the airline's customer service and waited and waited until someone could confirm that they were indeed on the flight. I didn't know what to do after that."

"We are so sorry to hear that happened."

"I'm sorry too Karen." Sidney offered his condolences as well.

"Thanks, I do appreciate it. I am getting better when people ask and they didn't know. Before I would have been hysterical to the point I would be throwing things. I guess a few tears flowing and staying calm is a big step 6 years later."

"Do you go to New York during the anniversary?"

Karen shook her head, "no, I can't. Not on the actual day. I did go up a year later to grieve but it was nowhere near September. I still can't believe they're gone." She looked up and saw the three of them staring at her with sympathy. Karen wiped her eyes, "um is there a bathroom near by so I can freshen up a little?"

"Sure, I'll show you." Nathalie lead Karen to the downstairs bathroom "take all the time you need."

"Thanks Nat."

Karen hugged her and then went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She sat down on the floor with her back up against the shower door and silently cried. Karen had gotten to the point to where whenever she thought of her parents she thought of the happy times and had stopped crying. But Mario had become such good friends with her dad that the emotions just poured out. After a few minutes, Karen got up and looked at herself in the mirror. She freshened her makeup and smiled knowing she carried her spare makeup for times like this. When she was satisfied with her look, she headed back out to the dining room.

When she got there, Karen noticed the kids had joined Mario and Sidney at the table and were eating ice cream. Nathalie was walking up behind Karen when Lauren spoke.

"Can I have some more ice cream daddy?"

Karen opened her mouth before Mario could speak. "Are you sure ALL your homework is done to deserve that second bowl of ice cream?"

Lauren turned to the person who said that and saw Karen standing in the doorway. She jumped up from her chair and ran to Karen who scooped her up in a big hug.

"KIKI! What are you doing here?" Karen set her down and kneeled to her level.

"I ran into your dad today and he invited me for dinner."

"You mean you've been in this house all night and I am just now seeing you?"

"Well when you came home from getting pizza and movies, you ran right past me and didn't even see me."

"Oh, sorry. But I see you now. How long are you staying?"

"Actually, I need to get going. I have plans to meet some friends at 10pm."

Sidney's head shot up at her comment and really didn't want her to go just yet.

"Will you come back to see me?"

"I promise I will. Tell you what, I am up here every weekend staying at mom and dad's house down the street. Anytime you want to see me, have your mom or dad call me and I will run up to see you. Deal?"

"Deal" Lauren said hugging her. "I missed you Kiki."

"I missed you too baby girl" letting her go. "Why don't you go eat some ice cream for me?"

"Ok."

"Thanks again for dinner Nathalie" hugging her again.

"Anytime you need anything, and I mean anything, stop over or call me. Ok?"

"I will. It was nice seeing you again Sidney."

"You too Karen."

Mario got up to walk Karen to the door as Nathalie stayed with the kids.

"I'm sorry for being so harsh talking about Rick. I guess just hearing his side I figured...."

"I know. You were just trying to help a friend. I do miss him Mario, a lot. Maybe you're right and we should sit and talk everything out. I just don't know when it could ever happen."

"Maybe one day next season."

"Maybe. Thanks again for dinner, I truly enjoyed being around you guys like that. It had been too long."

"Well, during the off season we can plan to do this every weekend."

"I'd love it and if you ever need another babysitter on those weekends, please call me."

"I will" Mario said hugging her. "Have fun and I will see you later."

"Will do. Night."

Karen walked to her car and was about to unlock the door when someone stopped her.

"Where are you going?" Sidney asked and Karen turned around to see him standing there smiling.

"I was going to meet my friends and their boyfriends at a bar on the Southside."

"Are these the same friends from today?"

"Yes" Karen went against her better judgement "Would you like to go hang out with us?"

"You wouldn't mind if I came along?"

"Actually I would love it if you did. I still don't feel like being the 9th wheel or being subjected to the guys my friends' boyfriends will try to set me up with all night. They might leave me alone if you're there."

"Great, let me go tell Mario I am heading out for a bit and then we can go."

Karen watched Sidney run back to the house and she leaned up against her car. She thought to herself 'what did I just do asking him to go with me' but she didn't have time to answer herself when she saw Sidney running back towards her. They got in Karen's car and headed to the bar.