til' we aren't strangers anymore:; part nine.

Just a side note.. I had planned on starting this story as if was in the 06-07 season, but I changed my mind. So, from here on out this will be set in the 07-08 season. I only did it to speed things up a bit, because I'd be pretty behind if I didn't. By the way, this also makes Sid 20 and Carrie will be turning 20.
Steelers won the Superbowl!!!!! :)



part nine:;





I pulled into the snowy parking lot of sports bar in downtown Pittsburgh and stepped out into the cold. Taking a breath of the winter air, I turned my head and looked for any trace of Sidney and the boys. "See them anywhere?" "Nope, not yet," Jodi replied, walking around the front of the truck to join me. A gust of wind blew past us and I pulled my black wool coat tighter around me, shielding my still warm skin. Moments passed, and I let my mind begin to wander. Soon I became completely oblivious to everything, even the soft crunch of footsteps in the snow behind me. I was a bit shocked when a pair of warm hands covered my eyes and blocked the view of a random skyscraper I'd been staring at.



"Guess who?" His breath lingered on my neck and he pulled me back a bit, so my head was resting on his strong chest. "Um.. I don't know. Oh my God, you're the boogie man!" He lifted his hands from my eyes and I tilted my head up to look at him, a smile slowly forming on my pink lips. "Oh, it's you," I joked in a disgusted tone. "Well, don't be so happy to see me." He smiled. "I won't," I laughed, walking off towards the door. "Geez Sid, can't even keep a girl for a day," Max Talbot teased.



We walked in and found a table nestled into the back of the restaurant, in an attempt to have some privacy during our lunch. Sidney pulled out the chair next to him for me, and I sat down, thanking him as I did. "Okay guys, this is Carrie.." "So we've heard," Marc interrupted. Sid's cheeks reddened a little, before he continued. "Anyways.. Carrie, these are the guys. I'm sure you know all of them. And this is Jodi, Carrie's best friend and Jordan's new love interest," he laughed. "Hey, watch it Crosby," Jordan said squatting down to take his seat, but Max was way ahead of him. Jordan crashed to the floor, looking back to find his chair a few feet behind him. The whole table erupted in laughter as Jordan glared back at Max. "You fell for it Staalzy. Literally," he laughed.

Eventually everyone settled down enough to order their food, and the waitress walked away with our orders, eyes following her the whole way back to the kitchen. Guys."So, not that we haven't heard a good bit about you already," Petr Sykora started, looking over to Sidney as he did, "but, where are you from? Pittsburgh?" "No, I'm actually from Johnstown. It's a little town about two hours east of here. If you've seen Slapshot, that's my hometown." "Oh, really. That's awesome," Ryan Malone smiled, "So are you in college here?" "No, I opted to take a year off. But, I'm hoping to be a accepted to Pitt next fall." "What are you going for?" Ryan Whitney asked. "Pediatrics." "Nice," Kris Letang added.

Our lunches soon came and with them, the antics did too. Jordan picked up a salt shaker and tilted it towards his fries, only to have the lid fall off and all of the salt pour out onto them. "Don't you think you're overdoing it a little, Gronk?" Colby laughed. "I hate you guys," he stated bluntly, attempting to scoop up the salt with a spoon with some help from Jodi. "So, is this official pick on Jordan day?" I asked with a laugh. "Yeah. Sorry, we didn't have you number to send you the memo," Marc replied.

"Oh my God, they have bubble hockey!" I screamed excitedly, running over to the machine. I looked back to see at table of hockey players and my best friend staring at me like I was psychotic. "What? I haven't played this in forever. Now, are you just going to sit there and stare at me or are you playing?"

It was the nearing the end of the 3rd period, and Sidney and I were tied up 3-3, our competitive personalities clearly showing. "Oh come on, that's holding!" I yelled. "And this is bubble hockey, dear. No penalties," he smiled slyly. "And if there were that little dude would've been in the box half the game." The buzzer sounded and signaled the end of the end of the 3rd period. Seconds later the puck flew up through the ice for the face off, in which I won. We were tangled up at the end of his side of the rink and I had his stick held up. "Oh and you're telling me that's not holding!" he yelled. "No penalties, dear," I smiled coyly, mimicking him. Finally, I broke the puck away from him and sent it sailing down towards my end of the rink. It stopped in front of his net and out of the reach of his defender. I lifted my head for a moment to look at him. "Think you can handle this?" "Any day, anytime," he smirked. I turned my player sharply towards the right, getting Sid to move the goalie, then swiftly turned back the other way and shot the puck hard into the net before he could come back around to save it. "Yessss!!! Thought you said you could handle this, tough guy?" I mocked. He simply smiled and shook his head at me as I continued celebrating my victory.

[Sidney's P.O.V.]
For once it didn't matter to me that I didn't win. I watched Carrie as she celebrated, running down the line of my teammates, smacking all of their hands as she went, jumping around like she'd won the Stanley Cup. I couldn't help but smile at her. I loved her energy, the way she carried herself, everything. She glanced back at me as she ran and sent me that smile. God that smile. I wanted so badly to be able to find that face and that smile staring back at me everyday. And I hoped that was the way it would be.

[Carrie's P.O.V.]
I finished my victory lap and smiled back at Sidney. He was gazing back at me, that grin already covering his full lips. I loved it. I wanted to be able to see it everyday. I wondered what he was thinking about, if he felt the same way I did about him. I could only hope so. I'd heard from Trisha Yearwood that what's meant to be will always find a way. Maybe this was meant to be.