Chapter Nine

Amber awoke in the morning and rolled out of her twin bed. She didn't quite fit the bed anymore but she certainly wasn't going to complain to loudly. Being home was great. She had come up with a new resolve last night while she worked out her demons in her sleep.

She didn't need Sid and she didn't need Max. Sid could have any girl he wanted and Max more then likely already had.

No, she thought to herself. It was time to move on. She was home for a vacation, not to be stressed about 'boys'. She was heading to the cottage today and her plan was to lie on the dock with a good book and nothing else.

She waddled her way sleepily down the stairs to the kitchen and reached for a bowl from the cupboard, then moved to the next cupboard to grab a box of cereal. She paused and yawned deeply then thought she should start the coffee first. She went back over to the coffee maker and grabbed the empty pot. She stood over the sink to fill the carafe and glanced out the window. Max was standing in his mom's kitchen waving back at her like a buffoon. They used to make faces at each other through the kitchen window when they were kids, but now she felt like sticking her middle finger up at him. She restrained herself and instead gave him a quick wave. He in return put his index finger up to indicate one minute and then disappeared from the window.

*knock*knock*

"Crap," she thought to herself, as she moved to the back door. She un locked it and opened it slowly.

"Morning!" Max declared, way to chipper for eight am.

"What do you want Max?"

"Want? You assume I want something?"

"You always want something…"

"Okay… fine… you know you are sounding more and more jaded everyday?"

"What. Do. You. Want."

"My mom said you were heading to the cottage today… Oui?"

"Oui. Pourquoi?"

"Les poisson?"

"Non! I am going to the cottage ALONE. Do you hear me you hairy little French man? SEUL!"

"You would be alone… practically. We just want to go fishing."

"NO! Get out!" Amber shoved him towards the door. "I am serious Max! Don't you dare show up at my cottage!"

"Loud and clear, Princess! See you later!" Max jumped over the side fence that separated their parents yards.

-.-

Amber ate her breakfast, drank her coffee and then had a shower. She packed her bag and a couple of books and magazines she had just bought and threw them in the back of the rental car she was driving.

She backed out of the drive way and saw Max waving at her. She knew he was up to something and had a sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach that this wouldn't be the last time she saw him today.

The drive to the cottage was relaxing. There were plenty of fruit stands and highway stops along the way which ensured that she never got bored with driving too long before she had to pull over again. She pulled into the small grocery store, ten minutes from the lake and picked up some fresh groceries. Her parents spent almost every weekend there, so it would be stocked with the essentials and more then enough in the freezer to sustain her.

She continued on her drive, and soon enough found herself pulling down the familiar stretch of road to the cottage. She loved the canopy of trees and the fresh smell in the air. She could see the lake straight ahead of her, and the familiar view of the house but felt the blood boiling in the veins as she noticed the truck, all to familiar, parked in the drive way.

"Son of a bitch."

-.-

"Jesus Christ Max! Don't you listen to anything? What part of alone did you not understand?"

"Oh come on! Its just Sid and Jordon… the two best behaved guys on the team, I swear! We just want to go fishing, and your lake is the best!" Max pleaded while ducking from anything and everything Amber was throwing at him. "Besides, Sid is going through some problems, I think it has something to do with a girl, and he needs some cheering up."

She felt a pang of guilt when Max mentioned Sid's name and stopped throwing things at him.

"Crap Max, I just needed a break. Why can't you just listen to me for once in your life?"

"We will be out on the water, all day. You won't even know we are here."

"Because you won't be… go home."

"Oh come on! Don't be such a party pooper. You used to be fun before…"

"Before what Max? Choose you words very carefully here!"

"I take it all back! You won't even know we are here… I'll carry your bags into the house for you… come on," Max quickly grabbed the grocery bags and her duffle bag and began walking towards the house before she could say anything.

"Ahhhh!" Amber screamed after him, and he began to run.

-.-

This was all part of his plan. Max was determined to win her back. He was tired of being alone, and she was the girl for him. They both knew it, she was just being stubborn. They had planned their entire lives together when they were kids, and maybe they weren't ready a few years ago but they were now. He just had to convince her that he was right. And he was going to do that here. They had spent some of their best times together at the cottage, and he was planning on reminding her of them.

As long as he didn't piss her off too much first.

He figured he was safe with Jordan and Sid. Sid was moping, and he wasn't sure why and Jordan was having way to much fun making fun of Sid. They would entertain each other, as long as Jordan didn't go too far and Sid didn't loose his temper… so Max could concentrate on his target.

-.-

Amber walked into the kitchen of the cottage where Max had ditched her bags before running off to put her duffle bag in her room. Sid was standing at the sink looking out the window. That window did have one of the best views in the house. It was her mom's only request when they did the renovations. "If I have to do the dishes, I want something good to look at." Her dad obliged her mom, as he almost always did.

Sid turned around and faced her.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"Me? This is my cottage!"

"Max said it was his place."

"Well Max is a liar… this is very much not his."

"Jesus Christ. This can't be happening."

"Don't worry. You'll be out on the lake all day… Max promised. You won't have to be around me at all."

"The sick thing is that there is no place I would rather be then around you… even as much as I hate you right now. What the fuck is wrong with me?"

Amber just shrugged her shoulders and looked at the floor, where her bags of groceries were waiting. She bent over and grabbed them.

"Want a hand with those?" Sid offered, stepping forward to take the bags out of her hands.

"You don't need to be nice to me… I understand."

"Being an ass to you isn't going to help me… its not going to help anyone. Max and Staalze will just start asking more questions, questions I certainly don't have the answers to… so unless you are prepared to deal with that, I would recommend being amicable." Sid turned to open the fridge and started unloading the groceries for her.

She stood behind him, slightly in awe of his logic and maturity. Would she have been so calm in this situation? Certainly not. She wanted to run away and bury her head in her pillows and cry herself to sleep again. But he was right. She didn't want to answer any questions. So she decided to go along with his plan.

When he finished unloading the groceries, he stood up and turned around to face her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped in to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her hair. Neither said anything and yet so much was communicated. It was like a truce. A verbal agreement that nothing more would happen, nothing more would be said.

As they began to separate, Max popped his head around the corner of the kitchen wall. "Who's ready to go fishing?"

Sid nodded, "Lets do this." He followed his friend out of the kitchen and outside towards the dock.

-.-

He had never wanted to punch Sid. But walking in on him with his arms around his girl, brought out the most primal possessive instinct. There was no way in the world that he was going to let Sidney fucking Crosby get his hooks into her. Sid could have any girl he wanted but Amber was his.

Once they were outside, Max turned to Sid.

"What was going on in the kitchen there?"

"Nothing man, she was just… helping me feel better."

"Yeah, well stay away from her. She's not for you. She's mine."

"Fine. Seriously, it was nothing… I wasn't aware you were into her. What happened to the Max we know? Not tied down to any woman, no woman tied to him?"

"She is different; she's not like the girls in Pittsburgh. Just stay away from her. I am not fucking around with you on this one. Don't touch her."

-.-

Sid had never seen his friend like this before and he was actually a little concerned. What would Max do if he found out that he had actually already touched her? That he knew just how different she was from the girls in the 'Burgh? He was surprised by Max's reaction. He didn't need the situation to be any more complicated.