Chapter 34

- March 2009 -

When Sid left the house in the morning to head to the rink, Avery and Nathalie still weren't home. Lauren had gotten home really late - or early depending on how you looked at it - and Sid was eager to get out before Mario or anyone else had a chance to ask him any questions. He would let Nathalie deal with that.

When he got to the rink, he tried to keep his mind on practice but he was exhausted, stressed and was dealing with a hundred emotions he had never dealt with before. He was having trouble performing the basic line drills, he lost in the shootout practice, and could barely stay awake during video review. It wasn't like him at all. And just to top it off, his new coach seemed to notice everything and requested a meeting at the end of the day.

"Hey coach, you asked to see me after practice?" Sid popped his head into Dan's office.

"Come in," Dan waived his hand to greet Sid, not getting up from his desk or barely looking up from his notebook. "Close the door would you?"

"Um… sure…" Sid said hesitantly, doing as his coach instructed him. He closed the door then moved over to his new coach's desk, which was still surrounded by unpacked boxes. Sid had heard Dan laugh about when he was going to unpack his boxes. His answer was always the same 'after we win the cup.' It was clear Dan had his priorities in place and knew that his time here was really just one hell of a job interview.

"So what's going on out there?" Dan asked, finally looking up at Sid as he took a seat in one of the chair across from his desk.

"Um… I don't know what you mean?" Sid stuttered and shifted uncomfortably. Of course Sid knew what he meant but he wasn't going to admit it on his own.

"You're slow, sloppy… not the Sidney Crosby I watch on TV…" Dan pointed out.

"I guess my head isn't really in it right now… I'm sorry, I'm working on it," Sid tried to explain. He had honestly hoped that nobody had noticed his shitty performance this morning. For obvious reasons, he didn't exactly get the best night sleep but he didn't want it to be obvious to everyone.

"I know you're a big superstar but I don't care…" Dan said point blank.

"It's not like that…" Sid tried to defend himself.

"When you show up on my ice, you show up to play or you sit on the bench," Dan threatened him. "I don't care how much you make, where you went in whatever draft, what endorsements you have or anything. What I care about is your on-ice performance. That's it."

"I said I was working on it, and I am…" Sid protested, crossing his arms angrily across his chest. His on-ice performance had been one hundred times better then anyone else since the day he got to Pittsburgh and he didn't take kindly to criticism, even if maybe today he deserved it. "And besides, we're winning! What's your problem?"

"My problem? Is that we are still out of the playoffs at this point in the season and I can't have you play a game, like you played in practice today… if you are hurt..."

"I'm NOT hurt and I know where we stand, believe me! You don't need to remind me. I know where we have stood all year! I am doing everything that I can right now! I work my ass off out there! Did I show up this morning and give 110%? No… and I know that… but there are things going on in my life, okay? I don't expect you to give a damn and I'm sorry that it has affected my performance in your mind. But I will work it out…" Sid put his head into hands and rubbed his face before running his hands up through his still slightly damp hair.

"I heard the guys talking about some girl getting into your head…" Dan questioned him, softening his tone.

Sid just nodded.

"A guy like you? Letting some girl get in there?" Dan chuckled to himself, pointing at Sid's head. "Believe me kiddo, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You can have all the girls in the world if you win a Stanley cup…"

"No, you don't get it!" Sid snapped. "There is only one girl in the world for me and right now she hates me! I don't know what I am supposed to do about that!"

"Okay… simmer down…" Dan held up his hands in surrender.

"I need her back and that's what I care about right now!" Sid stood up and pushed his chair back, tipping it over.

"Okay then. Sounds like you need to win her back and no one wants a loser…"

"I'm not some fucking loser!" Sid snapped again.

"Really? Cause the way you were skating this morning, my nine year old could do circles around you!"

"I'm not a loser…" Sid repeated himself, much quieter.

"Then get out there and compete…" Dan stood up to face him. "When you have the cup in your hands, you will have her soon after… no woman can resist a champion."

Sid looked up at him and nodded, a new level of determination in his eyes.

"So, I will see the Sidney Crosby I was promised on the ice, bright and early tomorrow, for a game day practice?" Dan asked, lowering himself back into his chair and pulling a stack of paperwork in close to him.

"Yes coach, you will," Sid assured him then turned and walked towards the door.

-.-

Sid pulled his car up to the side door of the house like he did everyday and had been doing everyday for years now. Pulling up here today felt far from normal. In fact it felt uncomfortable and had all his nerves on end. His head had been swarming with questions on his drive, which was normally a time when he tried to empty his mind. What would he say to her when he saw her? Would she even look at him? Would she even be here? What if Nathalie and Mario had decided to send her away again? What if she was gone and he didn't get to apologize and beg for her forgiveness or tell her how much he loved her and have her believe it or…or even just say goodbye?

Sid cracked the car door open and headed to the side door, which led into a back mudroom and right into the kitchen. He slipped off his shoes on the doormat, put them in their spot and walked slowly into the kitchen, which was seldom empty in this house, even in the mid afternoon. It was eerily empty, as Sid looked around the breakfast nook and the family room off the kitchen. Normally, five minutes of quiet in this house was something that Sid would embrace, plop down on the couch and be happy to be alone but today it put a knot into the bottom of his stomach. It felt like a scene in a horror movie, before the main character found everyone dead and the killer jumped out from behind a door.

Sid headed down the main hallway to the front of the house, past the formal dining room and library entrances, towards Mario's office. The door to Mario's office was closed – which was the first sign of life in a normally busy house. Sid had only ever seen it closed when he was giving one of his kids crap, so it meant he had to be in there. He listened quietly for any hint of conversation that would indicate who was in there with him. He didn't want to think that Avery was getting in trouble for something that wasn't her fault.

Sid continued to stand outside the door, chewing his bottom lip, listening for any sound. He wanted to barge in there and protect her, stand up for her because he knew she wouldn't stand up for herself against Mario. He also knew that the last thing Avery needed right now was to be yelled at. His attention was drawn away from Mario's door as he saw motion out of the corner of his eye across the entranceway and in the formal living room that nobody ever really went into.

Sid quickly crossed the entrance, feeling like he was chasing a shadow. He stepped around the corner of the living room, feeling the air escape his lungs as he saw Avery standing next to the black grand piano, facing away from him. Her long hair was down, not in her usual pony tail, and cascading across her shoulders in silky waves. One of her hands was caressing the lines of the piano as she walked along its curves and her other hand was at her side, wrapped in a thick bandage. Seeing the bandages, sent images of her bleeding over the carpet through Sid's mind, followed by the image of the anger and pain in her eyes and he had to choke back emotions that were threatening to spill out in another wave of tears.

Avery was oblivious to him standing behind her as she moved from the piano to the mantle, picking up a picture of the Lemieux family – one of the few that didn't feature her. He watched as she examined the picture then gently placed in back in its spot. She continued down the long mantle, stopping in the middle to run her fingers along the marble scroll work that had been carved into the custom piece. She looked up into the gold leafed mirror that was perched on the mantle and caught a glimpse of Sid standing behind her. She whipped around to face him. He had expected anger or pure, unadulterated hatred. What he got was more of a look of confusion and sadness, mixed with… fear? They stood in silence, starring at each other. Sid was trying to figure out something to say and it seemed like Avery was just waiting for him to say something – anything.

Avery was the first to break the stare, as the emotions over came her and she dropped her gaze to the ground as a sob escaped her shoulders.

"Avery - " Sid breathed, stepping further into the room, hoping to move in closer to her and pulling her into his chest. He wanted to hold her close and never let her go.

"Sidney," Nathalie appeared behind him, stepping out from behind the closed doors of Mario's office. Sid looked towards her then back of Avery, who had turned back to face away from him, her face buried in her hands and shoulders shaking as she cried.

"Sidney we need to see you in the office, please," Nathalie continued firmly. He looked back towards her and nodded in understanding. Nathalie turned and walked back into the office and Sid hesitantly followed behind her.

-.-

How was he going to explain this to his Dad? Not only did he almost blow his entire reputation, loose the girl of his dreams forever, piss off his coach but now, all in less the 24 hours, he had also been evicted. Mario and Nathalie had given him till the end of summer to find, buy and move into his own place. They had told him that he could stay in their home, as long as he kept his distance from Avery and there was no more drama. If there was, he would be out on his ass faster then he could imagine.

Sid knew heading into the playoff push and hopefully into the playoffs that he wouldn't have time to find a place to live and as much as he dreaded it, he had to ask his parents for help. He plopped down onto his bed and reached for his phone, pressing speed dial 2 for his parents home phone.

"Hello?" Sid listened as his dad picked up.

"Hey Dad," he began.

"Oh Sid, good timing, I was just about to call you…" Troy began. "Your mom and I were just talking about what we should do for the playoffs… do you think we should book a hotel near the rink, like last year? Or do you think Nathalie will be upset if we don't stay there? I know she extended the invitation at Christmas, and wasn't too pleased last year, but we just think it might be easier again…"

"Dad - " Sid cut Troy off. "I need your help…"

"What's going on son?" Troy asked cautiously, hearing the stress in his son's voice.

"I did something terrible and… and… I made a mess of everything… I don't know what to do…"

"Okay, I need you to slow down, calm down and tell me everything from the start…"

"I can't… you'll be mad at me…"

"Everyone makes mistakes… you just need to tell me what happened and we can figure something out," Troy tried to assure him.

"It's Avery… we… we had a … fight…"

"A fight? Jesus Christ Sidney! Did you hit her?" Troy practically jumped through the phone.

"NO! Dad, no! I would never! I would never hurt her… I mean, not like that… it wasn't that kind of fight… well kind of… I mean, she smashed a lot of stuff and hurt herself… but…"

"She's okay?"

"Yeah… Nathalie came and took her to the hospital…"

"Where were you? Tell me you weren't in public! Tell me no one saw you!" Troy practically begged.

"We… we were at a hotel. We had met there and…" Sid couldn't admit to his dad why they were there. "And that's where the fight started. Some other guests called in the noise and the police came and… it was bad Dad. She was bleeding and they thought I had hurt her… but I didn't! I swear!"

"Okay, son… we need to call your lawyer and Pat and your publicist… We'll make sure this all goes away," Troy tried to stay calm and work through the logical steps in his mind.

"That's not the problem…" Sid admitted.

"Oh fuck… what else?" Sid could practically see his dad reaching for a bottle of Tums.

"Mario…" Was all Sid had to say for his dad to understand. "I…I have to find somewhere else to live…" Sid listened to the other end of the phone for his dad's response but heard silence. "Dad?"

"I told you, didn't I? I told you not to get involved with that girl… Since you're first day in Pittsburgh, you have heading down this path. I said to watch your wandering eyes, to keep your eyes on the goal but no. You thought you could handle it. I warned you."

"I know dad…"

"You couldn't just go fuck the puck bunnies like everyone else hey? You had to go and fall for her… of all the girls in Pittsburgh! You had to fall for the one that practically screamed 'hands off'," Troy continued.

"Dad, please… I know. Okay, I know! There is nothing that you can yell at me right now, that I am not already yelling at myself! I fucked up! I get that! But I will fix things! I will fix everything!" Sid couldn't handle another lecture.

"How son?"

"I don't know… but I will…" Sid tried to convince his dad at the same time as convincing himself. "Right now, I just need your help finding a place to live. Can you do that?"

Sid listened to more silence on the other end of the phone.

"Of course son, anything you need," Troy finally assured him. "I'll book a plane ticket tonight."

"Thanks dad…" Sid offered sincerely.

"So I guess that answers our questions about the playoffs…" Troy tried to make a joke to lighten the conversations. "Hey, maybe if you win the cup Mario will be less pissed?"

"Yeah… that might be the only thing that will work at this point…" Sid admitted. "I'll talk to you later okay?"

"See you soon son," Troy offered, as he hung up the phone.