Chapter Twenty Six

"Shhh… it's over now," Max ran his hand down the back of Amber's head, soothing her. It felt so good holding her, even if it was for all the wrong reasons. "I am sure they were just testing your limits… I hear they do that to all the new girls."

"I tried to act like their insults didn't bother me… Nathalie warned me that I would need to be strong but… but it was horrible and she didn't say anything to help… I really thought she would. I thought she was on my side," Amber buried her head further in Max's shoulder. "She practically threw me under the fucking bus!"

"I'm sure she didn't mean to," Max offered, breathing in the scent of Amber's hair. Max knew he had an opportunity to make the situation seem worse then it was. It would be too easy to convince Amber it was going to get worse, that she would never be happy but he had to be careful. He wanted her in Pittsburgh, just not with her current companion.

"Every time I thought they were about to lay off, she would bring up another thing for them to attack me about… I don't get it…"

"I am sorry they were so awful to you… but I doubt its going to get any easier… being with Sid, you know, you're going to have to develop a thicker skin… people are going to say awful things, all the time…"

Amber sniffled and pulled back from Max's arms. "I know but Nathalie said that the WAGS stick together… I thought… I thought… I dunno what I thought…" Amber shook her head and stared at the floor, a small sob escaping from her shoulders, as another round of tears began to fall.

Max reached for a napkin from behind the counter and handed it to Amber. "Here, its better then your sleeve…" She promptly wiped her face and took a deep breath to calm herself. Max wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her back to him, encouraging her to lay her head on his shoulder. "I'll be here for you though, whatever you need, whenever you need it…" Max reached over and placed his hand under her chin, turning her face up to his. He could practically see his reflection in her crystal blue eyes, albeit tear soaked and red rimmed, they were still breathtakingly beautiful.

"Anything you need…" He felt her lips were pulling him in like a force stronger then gravity. Max leaned in till he was within inches of her lips. He could smell her breath. It was sweet smelling - she had had wine with lunch, he could tell. This was not part of his plan but he couldn't resist himself. He licked his lips in anticipation, tilted his head and went in for contact.

-.-

"I thought you said that you would take care of her? She is balling her face off!" Sid yelled across the room. After listening to Amber tell him about what had happened at lunch, he had stormed upstairs to his boss's new office to confront Nathalie. It was hard for him to believe that someone he knew to be so caring and so compassionate, could have done or even been apart of the situation that Amber described.

"You might not know it yet but they did you a huge favour… she had to hear it because she is going to hear it. It might as well come from people who know you and love you… instead of all the people who don't, and there are lots of those out there. She will be tougher for it. You'll see."

"Are you kidding me right now?"

"No Sidney, I'm not," Nathalie stated calmly but firmly, staring up at her husbands young protégé. He had every reason to be upset. The girls had been far from kind at lunch. At a couple points, she had wondered if they had gone too far but she reminded herself that the media wasn't going to let Amber off easy, so the closer to realistic they were the better.

"You're going to have to trust me…" Nathalie offered.

"Trust you? You just terrorized my girlfriend!"

"I will apologize, but she needs some time to reflect on it… she needs to get a lot tougher, if she can't handle four women, how is she going to handle four hundred, screaming horrible things at her? And don't for a second think that they won't be."

"It's her first day here…"

"That's why we thought we would get it over with…"

"You planned this?"

"Of course… I must say, it wasn't easy finding dirt on her… the girls really did their research. I think Michelle could make a living as a private detective and I didn't know that Vero could be so feisty," Nathalie chuckled to herself.

"So what am I supposed to do now?" Sid ran his hands through his hair.

"You comfort her, make her feel better… geez Sid, you'd think you would be better with girls by now… I'll talk to her later."

"No, you'll talk to her now!" Sid demanded. "Before she changes her mind on being with me!"

"No I won't. I will talk to her later. You need to go and remind her why she is with you," She repeated firmly. "Besides, if it's that easy to scare her off, wouldn't you rather know now? Before its public and everyone watches you get dumped?" Nathalie offered. "You should be down there with her right now. Take her out tonight, somewhere really nice. Show her all the perks of being with you. She will get over it. If anything, it will prep her for dealing with your parents."

Sid stood silently, contemplating the plan that had just been laid out for him. He knew that he shouldn't be up here fighting with Nathalie, but downstairs sucking up to the only person that mattered to him right now. He just had to understand the situation.

Sid turned toward the door, then turned and faced Nathalie. "Do me a favour? In the future, could you let me know of any more of your little plans in advance? That way I can prepare for getting dumped…"

-.-

Sid stormed out of the Mario's office, slamming the door behind him. He was angry but it was more then that – he was scared too. What if she couldn't handle it? What if she didn't want too? It would devastate him to loose her now but it would be harder to loose her down the road. He hated what Nathalie and the girls had done to Amber but he also understood it.

He headed back down to the players lounge. He had every intention of following Nathalie's advice. His original plan of going shopping for some furniture now seemed somehow not good enough. He certainly didn't want to take Amber back to the Lemieux house in her current condition. He had to somehow make her feel better and build her confidence by tomorrow. Nathalie was right about that too – she was going to need to be at the top of her game for his family. The Amber he knew - the confident, secure Amber – was the Amber he wanted his parents to meet. It was shitty timing for the girls to have hazed her today. As if they couldn't have given her some time to get comfortable here…

Sid turned the corner into the lounge and came to an abrupt halt. 'That fucking bastard," Sid thought to himself, watching the situation unfold in front of him, unable to move from his spot. He watched as if in slow motion, Max pull Amber to his lips. Amber turned her head and pushed him away, climbing out of her chair quickly. Max reached for her and her hand came up and contacted the side of Max's face, making a loud crack that seemed to echo throughout the room. She turned toward the door, where Sid was standing, watching. Seeing the fear in her eyes, Sid snapped out of his frozen state and walked towards her, quickly wrapping his arms around her. She buried her head into his chest and wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him like she was drowning.

"Are you okay?" Sid whispered into her hair and felt her nod against his shoulder. He looked across the room and caught the eye of Max, starring them down. He had never seen so much hatred in Max's eyes and felt that he himself must have had a similar level of hate pouring out of his. He pushed Amber back from his shoulder.

"Amber, why don't you head to my car? I'll be right out, I promise," Sid said calmly, handing Amber the keys to his car. "Just follow the signs to the parking garage, spot number 87."

"Of course…" Amber said quietly, taking the keys from Sid's hand. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and watched her head towards the entrance to the hallway.

As soon as she was out of ear shot, Sid turned toward his once trusted team mate. "Now I get it… every time I turn my back this is how its going to be isn't it?" Sid hissed.

Max held his ground, saying nothing nothing at first but clenching his jaw, squeezing his fists tightly, as if to hold himself back. "Someone has to be here for her… you left her down here crying."

"Stay the fuck away from my girlfriend! DO YOU HEAR ME?"

"FUCK YOU! Don't you fucking tell me what to do! She was MINE before she was EVER yours. I told you I would be here watching out for her… Every time you fuck up, I will be there… its just a matter of time before she realizes you're shit..."

"You said you were fine with Amber and me…"

"Yeah, you know why? Because it will never last… you're going to fuck it up… "

"NO! I love her and if everyone would just stay the FUCK OUT OF IT, we will be FINE!"

"Oh I doubt that, mon amie… Sidney Crosby only knows how to take care of Sidney Crosby… it's just a matter of time…"

Before Sid knew it, the loud crack in the room was his fist contacting the same section of Max's face Amber had slapped earlier.