I wasn't able to watch the game because I don't want Lizzy to focus on Sid again. She's hasn't mentioned him in a couple of days so watching an afternoon game could bring it all back before we're ready. Instead we played Hungry, Hungry Hippos and had a tea party. Lizzy was in a good mood and it was so much fun. Miss Sally joined us for dinner and the three of us enjoyed ourselves with Lizzy making us laugh the whole time. Miss Sally cleaned up while Lizzy and I went through our bedtime routine. When she's down, I run to the bathroom to get ready for my date.

"Lovely" Miss Sally says when I enter the living room.

"Thank you" I tell her.

"Will you be home tonight?" She asks me.

"Definitely" I tell her. I don't want to take advantage of her staying with Lizzy.

"Cat, stay with Sid if you want to and I'll stay here. You know that I love staying with that little girl."

"Ok, I'll see what Sid thinks and I'll text you."

"Have fun dearie."

I say goodbye and rush to meet Sid. When I get to the lobby, he's not waiting which surprises me. He's usually early. I check my phone and there's no message from him. I start to wonder if he had something come up. Thankfully, a few minutes later, he drives up so I rush out and jump into the truck.

When I kiss his cheek, I notice that he hasn't turned to kiss my lips so I meet his cheek. Something is definitely wrong.

"Hi Sid. What's up?" I ask him.

"Nothing" he answers quickly and drives away.

I've never seen him like this and I'm unsure what to do or say.

"Sid, there's definitely something wrong. Talk to me."

He's quiet again and just keeps driving.

"Sid, please."

He swerves suddenly and pulls into an empty parking lot. He grips the steering wheel hard but still doesn't say anything. I try to be patient and wait him out. He takes a few deep breaths before it rushes out of him.

"We lost and I haven't had a point in three fucking games."

Oh, it's hockey. I guess I should have at least checked the score even if I couldn't watch the game.

"We haven't gone through this Sid. I don't know what to say or do."

He's quiet again and I begin to worry that I said the wrong thing. He's clearly frustrated and upset but it's not about or aimed at me. Ok, let's try a different approach.

"Sid, would you please drive to the diner?"

He looks at me surprised but shrugs, starts the car and drives in the direction of the diner. I text Tessa.

'I'm 5 mins away. Will you do a take out of the meatloaf, mash potatoes and salad, two portions please?'

'Will do girl. See you soon'

We get to the diner in just over five minutes.

"Give me a minute and I'll be right out."

I jump out of the car before Sid can say anything.

When I get to the front counter, Tessa has my order ready for me.

"Thank you so much Tess."

"You're welcome sweetie. I figured that you are with Sid so I made sure there's an extra portion."

"I appreciate that. See you tomorrow."

I wave and head out to Sid again.

"Ok" I tell him as I buckle up. "Let's go to your place. I have dinner" and I point to the boxes.

Sid simply stares and I don't know if he understands me. When he looks up into my eyes I smile and nod. Sid starts the truck again and we head off in the direction of his place.

When we're up in Sid's apartment, he sheds his jacket and rolls up his sleeves. We both go into the kitchen and I plate our dinner. Sid gets us drinks and sets the table. It feels odd to do all of this in silence but it might be what he needs right now. I wait until we're sitting down and eating before talking again.

"You need to talk to me Sid. Tell me if you want to talk about the game, if you want to just ignore it, what do you need?"

Sid puts down his fork and stares at his dish for a moment before he says anything.

"I don't know what to say either" he begins. "I haven't dated during the season and don't know what to do. I'm pissed, frustrated and disgusted by how we played, how I played too, but; I don't want to take that out on you. Look" he gestures around. "We were supposed to go out to a nice restaurant and here we are, again, holed up at my place. This isn't what I wanted."

I feel all of his frustration pouring out now. I still don't know what to do for him but at least he's talking to me. I go with my instinct and walk behind him. I slide my hands over his shoulders and hug him close. It takes a few moments but I feel when Sid relaxes into me and lets me hold him.

"It might not be what you want Sid but it is what you need" I whisper into his ear.

Sid sighs and then reaches around slowly to pull me down to his lap. I wrap my arms around him and hold him to me again. Sid leans down to rest his head on my shoulder and nuzzle into my neck.

"I should be able to fix this but I just can't." His voice is muffled into my neck.

"All by yourself Sid?"

"I'm the captain."

"Of a team. You may lead and score but the responsibilities aren't yours alone so don't shoulder all of blame alone."

He's silent now and for so long that I want to ask what he's thinking. I decide to wait him out. Finally, he pulls away so that he can look at my face.

"When did you get so smart?" He asks.

I peck his lips and reply "I don't know about smart but I do know about you. You'll figure it out Sid. It might take some time and don't give me the crap about a shortened season. You'll figure it out. Now, I'm still hungry, can we finish dinner?"

He chuckles and lets me up.

"I'm hungry now too."

I walk back to my chair and we continue dinner only Sid's mood is better even if not completely light.

"What are some of the things you've done in the past to get out of a rut?" I ask.

Sid shrugs and replies "various stuff; new skates, new stick, practice more or practice less. Have sex." On the last words he smirks at me.

"Oh, would you like me to get you a new stick?"

That comment gets a genuine chuckle from him.

"I will make this up to you" he tells me, serious again.

"What's to 'make up?' You said that we would have dinner together and we're having dinner together."

"Ok, fine, but I'm still going to take you out for dinner soon."

"I'd like that and we will Sid. You know, you don't need to hold things back from me. I know you're thinking about the pot and the kettle but we're figuring out this relationship together. That means we need to talk about what we want from it and what we need from each other. Ok?"

He smiles and says "ok."

I look down at my plate and see that I've finished eating. So has Sid so I pick up the dishes but Sid stops me.

"Let me do this and you can get comfortable in the living room."

I take his suggestion and move into the living room. I turn on the gas fireplace and get comfortable on the sofa. Sid joins me soon after and pulls me to his side. We both stare at the fire.

"Cat, you never talk about your father?"

That seems to come out of nowhere but I guess we did just say that we need to talk. Sid was going to start asking more questions as I share my past with him. At least this one is easy.

"I don't know who he is or was. My mother would tell me different things depending on what story she wanted to weave at that moment. He was a teacher or a college student. She even once said that a priest raped her. She may not have even known or remembered who he was if she was high."

"Cat, I'm so sorry that you had to through that, had to live that way."

This is exactly what I wanted to avoid; pity. I look up at Sid.

"I don't want you to pity me Sid. That would be the worst thing you can do. I'm not a victim. I've worked for everything I now have and I'm not a victim." It comes out a little fiercer than I intended but it's what I mean.

Sid cups my cheek and says "can't I feel sorry for the little girl and still admire the woman you've become?"

How does he know the perfect thing to say? It makes me think and he's right. One has nothing to do with the other.

"Ok, you're right. Thank you" I say and lay my head on his shoulder.

"Sid, there's a lot in my past that I need to tell you and it's going to take time. I trust you" I say. Ok, time to take another step. "I think I'm falling in love with you Sidney."

I feel him take a deep breath. I know that I'm holding mine.

"Good" he says. "I think I'm falling in love with you Cat."

I feel my heart warm and that warmth spreads throughout my whole body. Sid just said that he's falling in love with me. I know that I'm falling in love with him. How did this happen? How did I get here, right here, in his arms?

"Sid, have you been in love before?"

I didn't realize that I was going to ask him that until it was out of my mouth. Now that it's out there; I guess it's out there.

"I don't think so Cat. I've cared for and even loved some of the girls that I've been with but, in love with someone, no."

That's really interesting. He's going to be 26 this summer and he's never been in love.

"What about you Cat?"

"No, I've never been in love. Actually I've never told anyone that I love them except for Lizzy."

Sid leans down. "Hopefully we'll change that soon" he whispers in my ear.

I feel that warmth throughout my body begin to heat up.

"I haven't thanked you" Sid says.

"Thanked me for what?"

"Thanked you for making me talk about what was bothering me, about the game. You helped me put everything in perspective. We will come out of this scoring slump like we always do. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I want to support you Sid like you support me."

"Let's just say that we support each other. How about that?"

"Ok."

We stay where we are quietly enjoying the silence and each other. I notice that it's after 8pm. There's probably a game on that Sid wants to watch.

"Sid, do you want to take me home? Then you can watch a game or, most likely, a few games."

"Aren't you staying the night?"

"Oh, we didn't discuss it so ..."

"Do you want to stay?"

"Sure I do. It's just, um, ok, I have my period." I'm mortified that I had to tell him although I guess I shouldn't. I mean, I'm a woman, he knows that I have periods.

"We don't need to have sex every time we're together Cat. We'll call it a sleep over."

That makes me chuckle as he meant it to of course.

"Ok, we'll have a sleep over. I didn't bring my tooth brush."

"Well, I actually got an extra one. It made me think, do you want to keep a few things here?"

That surprises me. While I've never had a relationship like this before, I always thought that guys didn't want this kind of thing; that they freak out over so much as a hair brush.

"Yeah, that would be good Sid. I wouldn't have to keep clean undies in my purse."

"Good."

"When are you going to put a game on? I'm sure that there are a few you'd like to watch."

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not. Go ahead."

I can feel Sid smile before I see his face. He grabs the remote and immediately finds a game.

"Do you want to change and get comfy? I can give you some sweats."

I want to say no so he doesn't have to bother but it's too tempting.

"Yeah, that would be great."

We both head to the bedroom; Sid gets me Pens sweats and then changes himself. The pants are almost twice as long as my legs and the shirt sleeves hanging too.

Sid starts laughing. "You look like you've been swallowed by the warm up gear."

I look down and I do look rather ridiculous. Sid helps me roll up the legs and sleeves.

"Ok, I think that you can walk now without tripping over yourself."

Still laughing, we both head back to the living room and settle onto the sofa together.

The next couple of hours go by quickly. Sid flips between three games and answers questions that I have. He focuses specifically on one game since the Pens are playing them next. He points out the big defense man who will shadow him during the game.

"You mean they assign one guy to play against you the whole game?" I ask him.

"Usually a team will assign one guy, yeah" he replies.

"But he's so big" I say.

"They usually are."

"How do you get away from a guy that big?"

"Sometimes it's good that someone is playing me directly because then I can pass to Kuni or Duper. Usually, if they're really big, I can simply get away from them."

"Because you're faster?"

"Yep, I'm usually faster."

"Cool."

"You guys should come to another game."

It was an off handed comment, I can tell, but it makes me wonder about Lizzy. Are Sid and I at a point where we should tell her that Sid and I are dating? Is this as serious as I think it is? Sid seems to feel the same way. I don't know what to do. I've never done this before and I chose so badly last time and Lizzy got hurt.

"You are extremely quiet. Are you worried about being recognized or something at the game?"

How do I explain this to him after how wonderful the evening has been? I guess I need to follow my own advice and communicate.

"Sid, it's just that you said 'you guys' meaning Lizzy and me."

It takes him a moment but he understands.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that."

I can feel the weirdness come into the room.

"Sid, I don't know what to do. I've never been in this situation before. I believe in this relationship and a future for us. It really worries me still about Lizzy. What do you think?"

I don't know who is more surprised by my question; me or Sid.

"Sid, I know she's not yours but, I guess, if we're in this then I want to include you. What do you think?"

He's quiet for a moment then says "I don't know. I've never had to deal with something like this before. Ok, let's think about it. We still don't know about the future, right?"

He sounds so unsure of himself. Is it because he's not sure about the future or something else?

"Sid, we don't know for sure of course but we do know that we want one, right?"

He smiles at me now. "Yeah, yeah we do."

"Ok, so maybe we should do something, the three of us" I hesitantly suggest.

"Yeah, I'd like that. How about the next afternoon game? We can have dinner afterward."

Wow, we need to do this more often; talking instead of sex. Maybe not instead of but more talking is definitely good.

"That sounds great. Lizzy is going to be so excited."

We go back to watching the game again. It doesn't take me long to fall asleep.

I wake up feeling Sid's lips on my brow, then my cheek and then my lips. Instinctively, I reach up and hold him to me so that I can lengthen our kiss. It is very sweet and soft. When we part, I open my eyes and look directly into Sid's.

"I guess I fell asleep" I say.

Sid chuckles "yeah. I hated to wake you up. Let's go to bed."

He rises and pulls me with him. I turn off the fireplace while he turns off the lights and then, hand in hand, we head to the bedroom. Sid gets changed while I brush my teeth; he's left out a pink toothbrush and my own toothpaste tube. When I'm finished in the bathroom, I head back into the bedroom and see that Sid has another game turned on.

"They aren't done yet?" I ask him.

"This is a western conference game. It's Chicago and Anaheim. Chicago hasn't lost in regular time yet. If they can keep it up, they'll be the ones to beat."

"Besides you" I tell him.

He smiles at me and heads into the bathroom.

I cuddle into the bed with the comforter pulled up to my chin. I must get one of these. It is so comfortable and warm. It's almost like sleeping in a cloud and a hug rolled into one.

"Are you in there somewhere?"

I chuckle at Sid's question.

"I am but good luck trying to get me out. I may never leave."

"I'd be ok with that" Sid replies as he climbs in beside me.

"You're a funny, funny man Crosby."

Sid climbs in and drags me to him under the covers.

"Are you going to let me keep some of these covers tonight?" I ask.

"What do you mean?"

"Sid! The last time I stayed over, I woke up naked, on the very edge of the bed, shivering without covers."

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you have to say is 'oh' when you banished me to the edge of the bed?"

"It wasn't intentional Cat."

"I didn't say it was intentional but it still happened. At least this time I have your shirt on so I won't be buck naked if you're a cover stealer again."

"I'll try to share. Ok?"

"Ok."

I lean on Sid's chest and can't help but sigh. It feels perfect.

"Something wrong?" He asks.

"No. Everything is perfect. That's why I sighed."

"Oh, good."

He hugs me closer to him.

"I have another idea" Sid says.

"I'm sure I know your other idea but we can't."

"Very funny. My idea is why don't you and Lizzy stay over here after the game and dinner?"

Oh. I don't know what to say to him. As much as I love the idea it feels too soon. We'll have just gone out together for the first time as the three of us.

"I guess the silence tells me what you think" Sid says a little deflated.

"Sid, I love the idea just not on that day. It will be the first time the three of us are together. It will be the first for a lot of things."

Sid sighs this time. "I guess you're right."

He continues watching the game and I continue to think this through. What is the downside of sleeping over at Sid's? I'll be in his bed and Lizzy would be in his spare room. We wouldn't be having sex so it's not like that's an issue. She's really too young to read something into a sleep over like that and I can position it as a sleep over with our friend Sidney.

"Ok."

"Ok what babe?"

"Ok, we'll stay over."

"Really?" Sid's voice goes up a notch when he asks that quite clearly surprised.

"Yeah, I think it would be really nice."

Shortly, I fall asleep dreaming of Lizzy, Sid and I living together in this apartment.