Part 40 - Pure Gold

The next morning I’m sure that everyone woke with a hang over. I know I did. I was not looking forward to flying out, and going home. But the fact was, school was going back right away. I had to go home. I didn’t want to, but it was going to happen whether I liked it or not.

The alarm went off and I got up, took a nice hot shower, packed most of my things and got dressed. Colin had bought us all those jerseys and I knew that he wanted us to wear them, so I tossed on a tank top and pulled the jersey on over top. “Rebels for Life.” I whispered to myself as I closed the door behind me, heading downstairs for one final meal with everyone.

I stumbled my way into the elevator and downstairs to the lobby, where everyone was meeting (or so Coach had said at some point last night before I was too cut) before we met for breakfast. I was nearly in tears by the time I got to the lobby. I was going to miss all of the guys.

As soon as I got to the lobby, D was next to me, an arm wrapped around my shoulders. “We’re going home Drew.” He said excitedly, the gold medal around his neck.

I grinned at him and kissed him on the cheek. “Are you ever going to take that off D?” I asked.

“Not for awhile.” He told me with a grin. “Did you hear Andy and I last night?”

“Why?” I asked, eyebrows raised. “What are you two trouble makers planning?”

D shrugged and grinned, giving me his little boy grin. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“I don’t think I want to know.” I said, rolling my eyes. “But I’m sure that you’ll see to it that I’ll find out.”

He grinned. “Definitely.” He said.

Getter came up and gave me a big hug and I kissed him on the cheek enthusiastically. “I’m gonna miss you Dely.” He said, hugging me again. “You better come down to Calgary soon.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I know what my schedule is like… but it’s not like we’re not flying almost all the way home together.” I said. “And when I have time, I’ll be there and we’ll have a night that we both won’t remember in the morning.”

Ryan laughed. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Though not necessarily a good one.” Mikey said, kissing me on the cheek.

I flung my arms around him. “I am really going to miss you Richards.” I told him.

“Not more then you’re going to miss me I hope.” Sidney’s voice (which he had almost totally lost the night before) said from behind me.

“I don’t know….” I said slowly, turning and accepting his hug, burying my face in his neck briefly, inhaling his scent. “Mikey is a really, really nice boy.”

“Nicer then me?” Sidney said in his scratchy voice, pouting.

“Maybe.” I said teasingly.

“Just kiss her already.” Getter said, sounding completely disgusted. “It’s, like the only way to shut her up.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Not that you would know Getzlaf. Because if I remember correctly, none of your attempts ever succeeded.”

Everyone laughed and Getter shook his head. “But Beauchemin on the other hand… he’d know.”

“Well he’d know better then you would Getter.” I said, grinning at Sidney.

“You guys mind if I steal Drew for breakfast?” He asked. “You guys will all get to spend more time with her then I will today.”

D laughed. “Somehow Darryl, I don’t think you’d really care if we said no.” He said.

“Probably not.” Sidney croaked with a shrug, steering me away from the group.

I reached up and hugged him impulsively. “I’m gonna miss you sweetie.” I told him softly.

“We aren’t saying goodbye yet Drew.” He said fiercely. “I wish we didn’t have to say goodbye at all, but I refuse to say anything like that until we have to separate in Winnipeg.”

I shook my head. “Then we won’t.” I told him softly. “Until Winnipeg.”

Sidney and I sat down in quiet corner of the restaurant, ate breakfast, and, essentially, enjoyed each other’s company. Neither of us knew what the future would bring, but we did know just how much we cared about and meant to each other in that moment. We just wanted to be together. Sidney and I talked quietly about a lot of things, but neither of us talked too much about the future. We knew that would come and we didn’t want to focus on it.

As soon as we were done… as soon as everyone was done, we all headed up to our rooms one last time. I checked carefully to make sure that I hadn’t left anything important behind. I had on the bracelet that D had given me (it was far to valuable to be left in my bag) and the one that Sid had given me. I pulled the Team Canada leather jacket that Dion had given me the year before on over my jersey. I was going to be comfortable above all else on this trip.

Well at least I was going to be comfortable in my clothing. I knew that this was going to be a hard trip. I knew that Sidney did too. He came up to my room, his bags on a trolley, and silently loaded my bags onto it. We didn’t say a word to each other, he just wrapped his arm around me as entered the elevator. I leaned into him slightly. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him anymore then he wanted to say goodbye to me.

We had connected since we met. We connected mentally, emotionally, and physically. I wanted to be with him, and I knew that he wanted to be with me too. He felt the connection in the same way that I did. I looked up at him, suddenly feeling like shy little girl.

I had to say something. I looked up at him again, this time, his chocolate brown eyes met mine. “I love you Crosby.” I whispered, my arms sliding around his neck as I burried my face in his chest. “I love you.”

A kiss was dropped softly on the top of my head. “I love you too Drew.” He replied. “I know how silly it sounds, since we’ve only known each other for, like two weeks, but I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“Neither can I.” I told him truthfully as we hugged.

As we hugged the doors to the elevator opened and Sidney basically carried me into the lobby. I forced myself to pull out of his arms and away from him. I didn’t want to. No more then I wanted to say goodbye to him, but it had to happen. Some things in life are just inevitable and our leaving each other just happened to be one of them.

It was funny though, because as we waited in the lobby for everyone to arrive, no one talked to us as they did. Not D, Getter, Mikey, Reggie, Fraz, Patrice, Dixon, or even Sidney’s parents. No one talked to us. It was as if they knew (and they probably did) that we just wanted to be alone with each other.

Sidney had to board the bus with the rest of the Team Canada players, and I climbed into a van with the Crosby’s and the Dixon’s. Because of the size of the Phaneuf’s group, they were flying home later on. D, of course, would be with us. Everyone was buzzing about going home and how excited they were.

But I wasn’t excited. As I curled up next to Sidney on the plane, his arm wrapped around my shoulders, his lips resting softly on my hair. I cried. I cried because he was just a 17-year-old boy and I didn’t know what was going to happen. It wasn’t like I was sobbing or anything. The tears were falling silently, wetting Sidney’s shirt, but he didn’t seem to mind. His arm just tightened around me.

The flight wasn’t exactly a long one. It hadn’t been the first time around either, but somehow, this time, it seemed even shorter. We landed in Winnipeg, where everyone was going to go their separate ways… kind of. The guys from the east were boarding a flight bound for Toronto, and they’d split up from there. Those of us from the west were boarding a plane that would hit Regina, and then Calgary before finally landing in Vancouver.

D, Getter, Fraz, Andy, Coach and I would get off in Calgary, where Coach would get in his truck, and D, Fraz and I would climb into my car, which had been parked at the airport in Calgary the whole time, and head up to Red Deer. It was going to be a long trip, since we had a particularly long layover in Regina. Which we had to spend on the plane apparently.

Either way, we landed in Winnipeg, got off the plane and it was time to say goodbye. Mikey and Sidney were the only guys from the eastern half of the country whom I’d gotten to know really well. I mean, I kissed the rest of the boys goodbye and Mikey gave me a big hug and promised to keep in touch before everyone kind of backed off and left Sidney and I to say our goodbye.

“Well I guess this is it.” I said uncomfortable, my hands jammed into my pockets.

“Yeah.” He said slowly, his voice sounding a little better now, since we hadn’t said much at all since I’d told him that I loved him. “I guess it is.”

“You’ve got my numbers and stuff?” I asked after an uncomfortable pause.

“In my cell.” He replied, sounding as if he felt as uncomfortable as I did. “You?”

“I’ll call you as soon as we hit the ground.” I promised. “You probably won’t be home, but I’ll leave a message.” I smiled up at him tremulously. “That way the first thing you’ll hear once the vipers have left you alone will be my voice.”

Sidney smiled back at me. It was an easy smile, not forced at all. “I’ll like that baby.” He whispered roughly, pulling me close.

We hugged each other tightly for several moments. It was almost time for us to go to our separate gates. When he let me go I noticed something. “Umm Sidney?” I said slowly, slightly scared and more then a little worried.

“What?” He asked, looking concerned.

“Where’s you’re medal?” I asked, not wanting to cause a panic. All of the other boys had theirs around their neck.

“It’s in my pocket baby.” He said with a shrug. “Don’t worry.”

“Don’t you want to show off the gold?” I asked, intrigued.

Again Sidney shrugged. “It’s just a medal Drew.” He said, his eyes soft as he looked at me. “I’ve got what I really want… I’ve got what’s pure gold… standing right next to me. That’s what matters.”

I stretched up and kissed him softly on his smooth cheek. “I love you sweetie.” I whispered softly. “Now go before I do something stupid.”

“You first baby.” He said, his hands gently massaging my arms.

I took a deep shuddering breath. “I’m trying to imagine what it’s going to be like not to see you everyday.” I told him slowly. “And I’m not sure I like it.”

“Neither do I baby.” Sidney said. “You’re the most important thing I won this trip and I hate the thought of losing you now.”

I looked at him, somewhat in shock. “I bet all of Canada would disagree with you sweetie. That medal matters more then I do Sidney. It’s priceless.”

“So are you Drew.” He insisted, pulling me close again. “I told you baby, that you’re pure gold to me and you’re the most priceless thing I could ever have.”

I pulled away and shook my head with a smile. “Well then Crosby, I guess everyone won on this one… you, me, the Team and the country. Everyone got what we wanted… and a little bit more.”
Leaning down Sidney kissed my forehead. “I can’t lie to you Drew.” He said. “I came here to win a gold medal and I got it, but somehow, to me, you’re the real prize your worth your weight in pure gold… and even more baby."

The End