Sidney opened his fridge and looked inside, it was almost empty, just like he expected.

This house was more like his vacation home, he lives in the States for the most part, but when he gets the chance he'll always come back. Living by the ocean was something that was irreplaceable, the sense of peace and serenity it gave him was something Sidney held close to his heart. Living here kept him sane, to put it simply. Sidney was always careful to not buy too much food whenever he stayed here. Just enough for the duration of the stay, since one stinky block of cheese taught him a lesson he'll never forget.

Sidney took the bag of pasta from the drawers above, and found fettucini sauce in a glass jar, he had bought it and never opened it. Probably the only reason it hasn't gone bad yet. He put the pasta in a big pot of water that was close to boiling, the whole time performing this act of cooking absentmindly.
He was playing it out in his head now, how he would bring everything up to Kay. She was the kind of girl who, if she didn't want to talk about something, there is no way you can bring up the topic. Which made this more awkward, a part of him wonders if she even remembers that night. He didn't want to scare her away but he couldn't keep holding on if there was no point. As the pasta finally turned al dente, he scooped it out and separated it onto two plates.

"Smells great!" Kay's voice interuppted him, he turned around and was in temporary shock seeing how she dressed. Kay had worn Sidney's jersey, with nothing under it. Her hair was still wet and fell in loose, messy waves. She had worn a pair of sweats which hid her slender figure, sadly. More comical though, was the fact that the jersey was almost long enough to reach her knees, reminding him of a kid playing dress up. Kay had come up beside Sidney and smelled the sauce, making a pleased face when she did. Sidney scooped the sauce out with a spoon and threw it onto the pasta, the sauce was suppose to be heated up but the hot pasta was already melting it.

"Not much of a cook tonight, sorry" Sidney said to Kay apologetically, he was sure that she was hungry, plane food wasn't much, most times it wasn't any. Kay's eyes were practically glittering at the sight of the pasta, to Sidney's surprise. Sidney walked automatically to the couch, in front of the flatscreen TV, then realized that might've been inappropriate. He turned around,

"Do you want to eat at the dinner table, like a proper dinner? Or you wanna watch TV as we eat?" Kay chose the second, Sidney might've been actually surprised if she chose the first. They made their way to the black leather couch, the kind of couch that when you sit in it you sink a bit, making it feel like you're sitting on a cloud. Sidney handed Kay her plate and she started mixing the pasta with the sauce, he did the same. Sidney turned the TV on, and it flashed to a movie, Ocean's Eleven…or Twelve…or even possibly Thirteen , George Clooney's face came on, along with Brad Pitt.

"OH BRAD PITT!" Kay squealed like a fan girl, while slurping her noodles. Sidney stared at Kay, completely oblivious to her attention. The way she just sat there, wearing his jersey, he wondered if she knew that it was his jersey she wore. With the letters 87 and CROSBY on the back, maybe she does know and doesn't care, or maybe she worn it because it's his. The movie played on, now there was like 10 men standing, with one guy speaking Chinese, the other men seemed to understand him perfectly.

"Are you only watching because of Brad Pitt?" He asked her, she was barely halfway through her food, Sidney was almost done.

"No…he's just a bonus."

"You're telling me you actually like this guy who cheated on his wife of…a long time for some woman he just met?" he couldn't bother to actually know how long Brad Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston. Kay simply stared at him, her eyes were bigger than it usually was, she looked almost hurt.

"I don't like him, he's just impossibly handsome. Big difference." Kay said nonchalantly, signalling the end of this discussion. But Sidney decided to push his luck.

"Not even, would you do what Angelina Jolie did and seduce him even though he is happily married and has a wife?"

"No, but if he hooked up with Angie then that must mean he's not happy in his marriage." Kay defended, Sidney couldn't understand why she was defending a guy who was clearly a bastard. He got up, feeling thirsty, and asked Kay if she wanted a beer. That was all he had in his fridge, no milk, no juice, since they can all go bad.

"I don't know if I can finish a whole bottle…" she said, biting her lips again. God, when she did that it took all of his willpower not to just grab her and kiss her.

"We'll share then, that alright?" she nodded, then turned her attention back to the movie. Sidney wondered randomly which Ocean's this was.

"It's Ocean's Twelve, by the way." Kay said when Sidney walked away. Sidney looked back in amazement, but didn't ask.

It was well past 11 when the movie ended, Sidney and Kay had downed one beer each by this point. Turns out Kay could finish a bottle of beer, something Sidney knew from a long time ago. Kay started flipping through the channels, seemingly indifferent to every single one. She had a bottle of beer in her hand, and was sipping it slowly. Sidney saw her like this, and it reminded him of that night. She was exactly like she was now, minus the jersey.

December 17, 2009

Sidney Crosby helped Kay out of her car, she was practically sleepwalking, she has no idea of how she made it back to her apartment nor does she even remember why she is so drunk and sleep-deprivated. Sidney took her purse and started looking for her keys, her purse had 5 inner compartments and another 4 outer compartment. Some of them are connected, to Sidney he might as well have been looking through a maze. He didn't want to stay out in the hall too long, for people might see them together. In this city, he was well recognized. Finally, after searching through the fourth inner compartment he took out her keys. There was two, Sidney tried both and found luck with the second one. Kay's entire body was supported by him, her arms was practically dangling on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her waist and that was the only thing keeping her standing. Her apartment smelled of a unique scent, like a perfume, almost. Sweet yet with a hint of almost a spicy scent. Sidney put Kay down on her couch and she curls into a half fetus position, he looks around for a blanket but couldn't find any. He wonders into her bedroom and grabs the blanket off her bed, he notices a framed picture of Kay and her now ex-boyfriend, Ross. Sidney flips the picture down and walks back into the living room, Kay is sleeping soundly. He puts the blanket on her and considers leaving. But for a reason or another, he doesn't. He checked his watch, it said 2:37am. The weather looked terrible outside, it was snowing pretty heavy and it hadn't been an easy drive here. Plus, Sidney lived on the opposite side of the city, he didn't feel like driving back in the storm.

"I hope she doesn't mind." He said quietly to himself, before sitting on the other side of the couch, eventually falling asleep.

Sidney felt a movement, and slowly opens his eyes. He expected to see the cream coloured walls with the white sheets, instead he finds himself uncomfortably sore, sitting on a couch. He sees the blanket across from him and remembers what happened.

"Kay…" he said, his voice drowned by the silence. As he starts getting up, a figure approaches him. It was Kay.

"Hey, glad you're awake." She resumes her spot on the couch, holding a cup with steam coming out of it. Sidney looks at her, she looks tired but better than the state she was in before. He checked his watch, it was 4:13am. "I didn't expect you to stay here, actually I don't even know how I got here." She was still wearing the same clothes, which means she just got up.

"I drove you, you were pretty upset and I didn't want you to come home by yourself at 2am." He said, Sidney's head was throbbing, he's had a bit to drink as well. He puts a hand to his head, begging silently for the throbbing to stop.

"You didn't have to stay…" Kay said as if she didn't want him to, but her face told a different story. She looked grateful almost.
"I didn't want to drive back in the storm, sorry, I hope you don't mind."

"Oh no, not at all!" she smiled, Sidney forced a smile back, he realized he was quite thirsty, and desperately wanted whatever Kay was drinking. Kay seemed to have noticed the same thing, and passed her mug to her. "Chrysanthemum tea, it'll warm you up."

Sidney looked at the tea, it had a slight hint of yellow and the aroma smelled subtly sweet. He took a sip, it did taste pretty good. He took another sip before handing it back to her.

"It's embarrassing to say this, but I kind of appreciate the company. And, thank you for driving me home." Sidney nodded in reply. Kay continued,

"You were really nice to take me home, given the state I was in, if I said anything offensive I hope you don't take offence to it."

"Actually you didn't, you did cry quite a bit though." With that said, Sidney noticed her eyes, they were red and swollen. Kay looked away, clearly embarrassed. "For what its worth, I think you're better off."

Kay looked back at him, and gave a smile that would've broken his heart. She looked broken, like a girl trying to smile into a cracked mirror.

"I guess it's better to think that way, isn't it? It'll be easier." Kay said, her tone completely numb. Sidney tried to think of something to say to comfort her, but his mind drew a blank. Sidney's mind played back to their conversation, most of which took place at the bar with Kay downing shot after shot. Sidney had tried to console her, but he didn't expect Kay to confess everything to him.

"You've been through a lot." Was the best Sidney could come up with. Kay stared into her mug, as if the tea could predict her future.

"Did I…say, or tell you…anything?" Kay sounded unsure, she was looking up at him now, her face was a mix of emotions but Sidney couldn't tell what.

"Um…" he considered lying to her, but decided against it. "You pretty much confessed everything to me."

"Oh sweet Jesus…" was all Kay could say, she looked horrified. Suddenly, she got up and walked to her fridge, Sidney just sat there. He has no idea what she was going to do, actually he was a bit scared of her now, for obvious reasons. Kay came back on the couch, a bottle of Corona in her hand. Instinctively Sidney got up and snatched the bottle away from her. As if the girl hadn't had enough to drink.

"HEY! Give that back!" Kay yelled, standing up now. Although physically speaking there was no way she can force him.

"Do you know how much you drank tonight?" Kay gives no reaction. "No!" he said and held the opened bottle of beer high, knowing she can't reach it. Kay let out a noise of frustration then sat back down, slowly, after Sidney realized she wasn't pretending, sat down too. The beer was still in his hand, he noticed Kay's shoulders shaking slightly, then he realized she was crying. Her arms were crossed and she stared off blankly into space.

"Pathetic huh?" Sidney didn't realize what she was talking about, Kay continued.

"My boyfriend dumps me, right after I find out my parents are getting a divorce because my dad had a one night stand with a prostitute." Sidney knew all of that, Kay had confessed it to him in the car right before she fell asleep. Ironically she was laughing.

"You know, I thought surviving through a sickness made a family stronger. I guess my dad couldn't stand the sight of my mom all skinny and worn out from chemo and decided to go screw some slut." Tears were running down her face now, Sidney put the bottle on the table and moved closer to her. He put his arms around her, as if that'll change everything. He didn't want to feel stupid and helpless by just sitting there, Kay leaned into his shoulders but didn't stop crying. She went to grab the beer and this time Sidney didn't stop her.