My mom and I had changed our plans, so I was on my way to meet her at Blue Ginger in Wellesley for lunch. She didn't want to go all the way into the city and I felt like leaving it, so I met her around 12:30. She was already waiting for me when I got there, and we were seated at a table for two at the window. I ordered an iced tea, as did my mom, and we began chatting about the past few days. I started by thanking her again for hosting all those hockey guys for dinner, I knew it took a lot to prepare for them to come over. Then she asked about the party afterwards. I hadn't been explicit about what was going on at my place after dinner, but she knew me, and she knew it wasn't this small gathering I had made it out to be. I told her the truth, and she asked if Sidney was there. I couldn't lie to her. But I told her that he kissed me, and she started fuming again, the way she had that night before dinner.

"Charlotte, I'm sure you know that was a dumb idea," she didn't ask, she stated.

Why was it dumb? "It wasn't some trashy thing, he really just kissed me goodnight." I tried to defend Sidney, and myself. But it wouldn't work so easily.

"After everything that's happened, you should really try to work things out with Tyler. He took care of you. He bought a ring. I don't know why you had to go and make a mess of it, and just push him away. He was like my other son, and I know your father feels the same way." All of a sudden, this conversation had gone south. I don't even know how we had already gotten into this, but my mother would always try to get me back with Tyler for as long as she lived. And that killed me. I decided to not even bring up the flower incident, and tried to drop it all together after trying to defend myself one more time.

"Mom, you don't even know everything that happened with Tyler," I paused, thinking of the mess it had been at the beginning of the summer. "And yeah, Tyler bought a ring, but he never gave it to me. He never asked me. So don't keep guilt tripping me into crawling back to him. Sid's a nice guy, and he's back in Pittsburgh now, so we can just forget about the whole thing." I was exhausted, so tired of trying to get her to drop the relationship situation, but she never would.

Conversation was light after that, and Mom didn't say anything else about Sidney and Tyler all lunch. I finished the last of my crab cake and my mom finished her sushi and we left. We decided to do some shopping downtown before parting ways, and I brought my new clothes home to hang in the closet. As if I needed any more.

There were text conversations with Sidney that I had left out of the conversation with my mom, but nothing too serious. Just a casual 'how is your day going?' and a 'have a good night' here and there, and the phone conversation I had with him after I received the flowers was nothing too exciting. I left the Tyler incident out of it and thanked him and told him how thoughtful it was. The normal things you should say to someone when they give you flowers - not that Tyler used to send me peonies every week, or that I had accused him of sending them to me. Sid sounded overjoyed that I liked them, and I quickly hoped they wouldn't become a regular thing. Atleast maybe he could switch up the kind of flowers.

The interactions I had with Sidney played over in my head for the next few weeks. Preseason started for both the Bruins and the Penguins, so things got really busy. Sid and I had maintained our texting relationship into the preseason, something that really surprised me considering how busy he would be. I sat down on a Wednesday night to watch a game between the Penguins and the Hurricanes, where the Pens ended up sweeping the Canes in a 4-1 victory. I decided to text Sid about an hour after the game, just to congratulate him. Suddenly my phone started ringing soon after my message had sent, and his name displayed on the screen. I answered it quickly - maybe too quickly. Ugh, I probably seemed too eager.

"Hello?" I tried to sound surprised.

"Hey, sorry I accidently hit call instead of text, but I figured it would be better to hear your voice so I didn't hang up," Sid awkwardly admitted. It was sweet though.

"Oh, that's okay. I just wanted to tell you congratulations. I watched the game, you guys played really well."

"Thanks, I'm just trying to leave here now. I got out of some press and now I'm just headed home." He sounded appropriately distracted, as he was probably trying to make his way out of the building without being disturbed.

"That's good, are you just gonna take it easy tonight?" I asked, trying to keep this conversation going. I hadn't heard his vioce in about a month, and I was intending on hearing it as long as I could tonight.

"Yeah, that's the plan anyway. Damn, I miss talking to you every day," Sid revealed, referring to the week of the clinic.

"...Me too. Are you at your car yet?" I heard the purr of his engine through the line as he fired it up.

""Yup, just got in. No incidents yet," Sid said, I'm sure hoping that no one would approach him as he tried to drive away. He had spoken too soon though, and a few moments later he told me he needed to put the phone down to sign a few autographs. I could hear bits of his conversations with the fans that came up to his window, but he returned to the line a couple minutes later after telling them he needed to leave. "Spoke too soon," he joked.

"Hopefully people understood you had to go."

"Yeah they did."

We continued our conversation along his drive home, discussing his two goals and one assist, talking about the new team lines they were trying out this season, among other things. He asked how my week was going, and how my crazy friends were. All small talk, but it shifted from awkward to comfortable as we both settled in for the night. I changed into comfortable clothes while attempting to juggle my phone, do anything but break the conversation. I curled up on my couch and flipped through the TV channels, and Sid did the same.

"Ugh, there's nothing on." I complained, furious with my nearly two thousand channels.

"Food Network is on, that's what I'm gonna watch until I pass out."

"Oh my god, you do not watch Food Network," I exclaimed, quickly typing in the numbers that got me to the Food Network as well. It was my favorite channel, and there must've been a commercial on when I scrolled through. I told Sid that I was completely amused that he watched it too, and we talked through the shows we watched until we both began yawning in between responses, around 1 in the morning. I can't believe we talked on the phone all night.

"I wish you could've actually been here," Sid said wistfully.

"Yeah me too," I admitted, honestly wishing I had been.

"Come to Pittsburgh sometime," he sprung the words on me, and I was surprised to hear them.

""...Yeah?" I asked, gears turning in my head. Maybe I could go to Pittsburgh? It would have to be without the Bruins, so some weekend where I'm not tied up in their business, and where they can't get involved in mine.

"Yeah, I mean… if you wanted to. Pittsburgh's not so bad."

"Pittsburgh's pretty cool," I thought back to the few times I had been there, and realized I hadn't experienced it the way I wanted to. Meaning I had always gone with the Bruins and never had time to see it for myself. "Okay." I agreed to it.

"Okay?" Sid sounded surprised by my answer.

"Yeah, I'll come to Pittsburgh."

"Really?" There was a little excitement in his voice now.

"Yeah, if I can get away for a weekend. When does your schedule lighten up?" I asked, walking over to my Dooney bag by the door and pulling out my agenda. I sat back down on the couch, suddenly more awake than I had been a few minutes ago.

"This is probably the least busy I'll be, the regular season will start soon and then it'll be hockey 24/7."

He was right, once the season picked up it would be too much to have visitors. I saw an opening in my schedule for this weekend, and thought that even though this was absolutely crazy, I could make it to Pittsburgh Friday night and be back on Sunday afternoon.

"Is this weekend too soon?" I asked, tracing a square around the weekend on my calendar with the pen that was tucked into the front cover on its cap. It was extremely short notice, as it was already Wednesday. Technically Thursday with it being past midnight.

"Uh, hold on. Let me check," Sid said, his voice leaving the phone. He probably had his schedule programmed into his phone, the modern way to do things. I would never remember anything if I didn't write it down. "Yeah, I have practice Friday morning and a game Saturday night but there's a lot of free time in there."

My thoughts raced with what we would actually be doing in Pittsburgh. But I slowed them, and told Sid we would work out the details tomorrow and that I needed to go to sleep. I was exhausted. We said goodnight, and I went upstairs, crawled into bed, and drifted off almost immediately.

The next day at work, I spent most of the morning researching flights from Boston to Pittsburgh, and looking at everything there was to do in that city. There were first class seats available on a Jet Blue flight at 6:15 on Friday, tomorrow, which could work. The flight was only an hour, and I would be able to leave work early that day because there was nothing scheduled at the Garden. The Bruins would be at their practice rink, and I would be free once I finished my work for the day, which would be easy to do with my usual tribe of distractions a half hour away.

I called Sidney before booking it, and luckily I caught him right as he was driving to practice. He gave me the okay, and I booked my flight to Pittsburgh for tomorrow. Had I told myself this was crazy yet? Because it was pure madness. But it would be good to get away for a weekend and get to know Sid more. I felt like we were already pretty good friends, even though we hadn't seen each other much. We talked all the time, and he helped get my mind off Tyler, for the most part, which no one seemed to be able to do these days. They were just completely different people.

After I called Sid, I called Chelsea to get some dinner tonight. I hadn't seen too much of her without Morgan so I really wanted to hang out with her one on one. She was the most rational of the three of us, so she would have good insight on the situation I was dealing with, and would tell me what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear. We agreed to get some Thai take out and head back to her place, and I would pick it up on my way over after work.

I picked up our huge order from our favorite hole-in-the-wall Thai place and headed to Chelsea's apartment on the North End, close to the Garden. She buzzed me in and I hiked up the stairs to her place, where she greeted me at the door. Her strawberry blonde hair was French braided and out of her face, and she wore a baby blue Ralph Lauren v-neck with navy shorts. She was naturally gorgeous, and when she used a little make up, she made me downright jealous. She hugged me and I set the food on her marble counter, while she reached in her cupboard for some plates. We spooned out our food and parked ourselves on her cream colored couch. Usually she didn't let anyone eat on it, but she knew I was the same way about keeping the house and everything in it spotless.

We chatted casually about our week at first, each eating our pad Thai while the other talked.

"So, are you still talking to Sid?" she asked. Finally – I knew she would try to ease me into it, which I appreciated.

"Yeah, actually, he… well, I'm going to Pittsburgh for the weekend." I just had to say it. There would be no avoiding it at this point.

"What?! Charlie, you're kidding me, right?" Chelsea quickly sat up straight.

"He just asked me if I wanted to go," I tried to put the blame on him, and sound like the innocent one.

"He just asked you to stay with him in Pittsburgh for the weekend?" She tilted her head, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Well, I mean. I don't know, we were talking on the phone last night and he just said I wish you were here, and then it was like well why aren't I there? I guess it was just spur of the moment and I didn't even realize I would be staying at his place. I could always get a hotel room, I haven't really thought any of this through." I was really just thinking out loud at this point, hoping Chelsea would jump in and direct me.

"First of all, when have you ever done anything that wasn't crazy?" It was a rhetorical question, obviously.

"I know, I just… I don't want it to be crazy. Yeah, actually flying out there might be a little crazy, but I don't want to have a crazy time."

"Second of all, you have to stay at his place. Did he offer?"

Wow, she was actually into this idea.

"Not really, I guess I just assumed it. I should probably book a hotel just in case."

"Yeah, just in case. But Charlie, you do understand that people will know you went to Pittsburgh, right?" she asked, specifically referring to Tyler.

"I don't care if he knows," I muttered, aggravated at the thought of him.

"Okay, then it's settled. You're going to Pittsburgh to spend the weekend with Sidney Crosby. Damn, how did this even happen?" Chelsea was almost in disbelief. She was always trying to have me set her up with one of the Bruins, and never really understood how I seemed to snag the NHL players up. And now Sidney Crosby was after me.

"I wish I knew. Are you sure this isn't a bad thing though? I know I'm crazy, but it could actually be really good, right?" I needed someone – anyone – to tell me this was okay.

"Yes. It could be very good. You have to keep me updated though." She made me promise. I didn't want everything to get back around to Morgan, or anyone really, until I told them, and I knew Chelsea could keep things on the down low until I wanted them to circulate.

"Damn. Who would've thought Sidney Crosby would be into me?" My outward thinking continued.

"I don't know, but I need some of whatever you got going on," Chelsea joked. She'd find her NHL star some day, and I would continue to try to set her up until she found one.

We ate the rest of our food and watched a couple movies before I decided to head back home. I wasn't looking forward to the drive, but I knew I had to get some things packed before I went to bed. Chelsea had agreed to watch Daisy and Oliver, so I wouldn't have to worry about them this weekend. Once I got back to Cambridge, I began the task of packing for my Pittsburgh weekend. It was still fairly warm out, but it cooled down quickly at night, so I packed a couple pairs of nice jeans and a couple sweaters. I also picked out two dresses, possibly for dinner or some other event that would require a dress, and some lazy clothes. I didn't know what we would be doing, and tried to pack for every possible scenario without exceeding the limits of a carry on bag. When I was completely satisfied with my packing job, I called it a night.

I woke up Friday morning anxious and ready to be done with work before I had even gotten there. I was able to get everything finished by 3:30, which gave me enough time to get to the airport and through security with a little time to spare.

Sid texted me, and I waited to read it until I found my gate and plopped down in one of the hard, plastic chairs.

5:18 PM

- Hey, your flight is at 6:15, right?

- Yeah, they should start boarding us pretty soon.

- Alright, do you think you'd be up for dinner when you got here or have you eaten?

Shit, I wasn't dressed for dinner. But I realized I hadn't checked anything through, so all of my clothes were in my carryon suitcase. I could throw an outfit together if I had to.

5:20 PM

- Dinner sounds good. In or out?

- I was thinking out but we can do whatever you want.

- Whatever you want is fine.

- Out it is. Could you be ready to go from the airport?

And I just assumed he would be picking me up… luckily I had assumed correctly.

- Yeah, and I should land at 7:20ish.

- Perfect, see you soon! Have a safe flight

I rolled my little suitcase into the bathroom and tried to find an outfit without spilling the contents of my luggage on the dirty bathroom floor. I put on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a silver sequined top, and changed my shoes to black heels. Good enough, I thought, looking at myself in a full-length mirror that hung on the bathroom wall. I fluffed my hair and touched up my make up a bit. By the time I got back to the gate, they were beginning to board first class passengers, so I rolled my bag along, had my boarding pass scanned, and walked onto the plane.

No turning back now.