#s.crosby

[hockeychatstea]

I would buy that Sidney would find someone younger to have kids. Look at Chris Evans. His dating history showed him dating women in his age group and then boom he married a woman 15 years younger than him and he's been very vocal about having kids prior. Tale as old as time with these dudes who are pushing 40.

This is unfortunately true lol I would hope sid is a better guy than that, but again, we don't really know him, so 😬

[puckthedrama]

re: the Sid and Kathy marriage debate

I feel like that it really isn't a big deal that Sid and Kathy aren't super public or married. Not everyone wants to be in the spotlight like she would be, and she doesn't owe anybody anything about her life unless she wants people to know.

Plenty of people live common-law too, some of my own family included, except that they gave each other rings so we all thought they were married, but I digress. Since they have been together for so long, I feel like this is a conversation that has come up more than once. Marriage isn't for everybody, and that's fine, so saying that she 'deserves better' just because they have been together for so long and not getting married is a little disrespectful in my opinion. Maybe it was her that didn't want to get married, who knows. It affects none of our lives and doesn't really matter

This is just my two cents, not trying to start an argument at all

-alberta anon (same as before)

☝🏻on sidney crosby & kathy!

thank you for sharing!

[ohmyeyesmyeyes]

IT'S NEVER OVER | s.crosby

Sidney Crosby and Nat Brooks loved each other once. They'd loved each other through the most crucial parts of adulthood: Sid becoming a hockey superstar and Nat leaving for college in New York.

And then it fell apart.

But perhaps the most painful part of it all was that they still understood each other. Years had passed, and with that came breakups, marriages, failed relationships, changed careers...they'd lived completely separate lives for fourteen years, strangers in every sense of the word. They were different people, but the very core of their soles were still tangled.

Sometimes you just needed a little bit of courage. And what did it matter if they'd lost each other during the race if they crossed the finish line hand in hand?

note: f!oc x sidney crosby; exes to lovers/second chance romance; single mum trope

sneak peek | prologue | pinterest board

chapters

prologue

if anyone asked sid, he wouldn't say that he liked pittsburgh more after meeting nat. no, that would be absurd.

chapter one - of all people

nat was about to repaint her house when she got the call from the school: evan had another scare. sid had been coaching a small group of kids from a local school when one of them was pulled out by the school nurse. the next time he'd see him, evan would be sitting on the reception desk with nat...the nat brooks, of all people.

chapter two - rex records

coming soon!

chapter three - girl talk

coming soon!

chater four - carnegie museum of natural history (i don't know what you like because you kept saying you weren't bothered)

coming soon!

chapter five - untitled

coming soon!

epigraph

" i will love you if i never see you again, and i will love you if i see you everyday

i will love you as we find ourselves farther and farther from one another, where once we were so close that we could slip the curved straw, and the long, slender spoon, between our lips and fingers respectively

i will love you until your face is fogged by distant memory. i will love you no matter where you go and who you see, i will love you if you don't marry me. i will love you if you marry someone else and i will love you if you never marry at all, and spend your years wishing you had married me after all, and i must say that on late, cold nights i prefer this scenario out of all the scenarios i have mentioned. that is how i will love you even as the world goes on its wicked way."

an excerpt from lemony snicket: the beatrice letters

<all photos taken from pinterest>

[double-j]

*STARDUST REBLOG CHALLENGE NOVEMBER WEEK 4 MASTERLIST*

[FOR ALL FICS, CHECK THE STARDUST REBLOG CHALLENGE TAG]

*reminder to please heed the author’s warnings on individual fics!*

~ splitting the list up into weeks this month because the post editor has been giving me a hard time ~

feel like i was MIA from tumblr so much this last week and have so much catching up to do next week ahhhhhh

TGM: JAKE HANGMAN SERESIN FICS

forever winter from @hufflepuffprincesse

operation apollo p. 10, p. 11, p. 12, & p. 13 from @sunlightmurdock

no words from @a-reader-and-a-writer

$1 and a tube of lip balm (from the douche bag jar series) from @jupitercomet

my girl p. 1 & p. 2 from @/ereardon

a little bit of christmas from @/archivallyfound09

leaving (from the best benefits series) from @writercole

the professor p. 12 & p. 13 from @/topguncortez

i'll carry my bags just until i can hold you again p. 3, & p. 4 from @theharddeck

double tap (a re-read because it is perfection) & sfumato from @rolycolysficrecs

baby, i'm high octane p. 1 from @laracrofted

more hearts than mine p. 9, & p. 10 from @fandomxpreferences

what to expect prologue from @/topguncortez

green with envy from @imjess-themess

conveniently yours p. 1 & p. 2 from @thesluttyarchivist

hold on loosely from @wombtotombx

TGM: BRADLEY ROOSTER BRADSHAW FICS

my future in you p. 13 & p. 14 from @/sunlightmurdock

"man, fuck that guy. go show her what she's missing" from @topguncortez

the deployment diaries p. 8 from @roosterforme

come back p. 10, p. 11, & p. 12 from @ereardon

one for the history books p. 14 from @pisupsala

hard hitter from @bradshawsbitch

TGM: ROBERT BOB FLOYD FICS

annie's song from @/topguncortez

in a twist from @thebirdandthebee

TGM: MISC. FICS

something in-between p. 6 from @archivallyfound09 (love triangle w/ jake & bradley)

safe zone prologue, p. 1, p. 2, & p. 3 from @/sunlightmurdock (love triangle w/ jake and bradley)

ivy p. 3 from @perpetuelledaydreaming (love triangle w/ jake and bradley)

NHL FICS

that which we are, we are p. 4 from @spine-buster (n.mackinnon)

to sail beyond the sunset p. 4 from @/spine-buster (s.crosby)

BINGO

[miracleonice87]

Just sent in NateMac... OR 2or8 with Sid, you pick lol

It's on this holiday they decide to try for a baby (2) - with Sidney Crosby 🎄

from m’s winter prompt list 2021

a/n: she kind of a heavy one, y’all. fun and sweet turned passionate and weighty. typical M shit, you know.

word count: 2,617 (this got outta control and will def be the longest one of these blurbs lol - still four blurbs remaining!)

warnings: swearing, alcohol, children, talk of pregnancy / starting a family, allusions to sex / fertility, Sid wanting to be a dad(dy) which def needs a warning

_____

It was Christmas Eve at the Crosby house, the third you and Sidney had spent together as a married couple. With a Christmas Day blizzard threatening your original plans to spend the short break from hockey in Nova Scotia with Sid’s family, you had called an audible and decided to stay in your own home this year, playing host to the other guys and their families who, too, had remained in Pittsburgh. You had cooked an impeccable turkey, thanks to your grandmother’s trusty recipe, and baked no less than six dozen cookies for everyone to decorate throughout the evening, ensuring that the kids had plenty to take home “for Santa” that night.

Sid had quickly shifted from being disappointed about the change in your holiday plans to excited about sharing the holiday with his teammates, their partners, and particularly, their numerous children, an aspect that hadn’t yet been added to your and Sid’s dynamic, but something that you both privately thought you should consider changing, and maybe sooner rather than later.

Excited about the idea of having small children around, Sid had dug through the basement to find his old board games – Battleship, Monopoly, and Candyland to name just a few – and had pulled his deck of cards from his travel bag to ensure that the kids had plenty to do in your normally kid-free home. What was more, he set out for a quick Target run and came back with not only a Starbucks peppermint mocha for you, but several bags of stockings. You smiled softly when he began to empty the bags onto the ottoman, curling up on the arm of the couch beside him.

“Who are all those for, love?” you inquired, quickly glancing to your mantle where only three stockings hung – yours, his, and his beloved, aging “puppy” (as he still called her) Sam’s.

He threw you a lopsided grin over his shoulder and pointed to each of the stockings.

“Alex, Victoria, Nikita, Hunter, Brayden, Caden, and Emersyn,” he rattled off, naming each of the children who would be at the house in just a couple of hours. “Then, I got tags to hook on each of them so we can write their names,” Sid said, his sheer delight about having the kids at the house on Christmas Eve contagious. “I just thought it would be nice. Might make them happy.”

You smoothed your hand over the nape of his neck and leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

“That’s sweet, babe,” you cooed, your nails scratching softly at his scalp. “This will definitely make them happy. They’re gonna love it.”

Sid preened. “You think?”

You nodded, nuzzling your nose against his temple. “I know so,” you assured, squeezing his shoulder before getting up from the couch to continue your preparations for the party. “That’s why you’re the best Uncle Sid,” you pointed out with a wink. “And why you’ll be the best dad.”

Though you’d said it casually before turning toward the fridge to start assembling the charcuterie board, Sid couldn’t help but beam, staring after you as you went about your task. He rubbed his thumb over the soft fleece of the stocking he held, looking wistfully at the decoration and dreaming of the day he’d be able to add another to your mantle, for a little one of your own. Or two. Or forty. However many you’d let him.

But there would be plenty of time for that. And so for now, Sid picked up the tags and a marker and set out to assign each young guest a stocking, all while dreaming of those Christmases to come.

Hours later, a festive frenzy had fallen over the house, replacing the quiet coziness of just the two of you together with your senior pup. After a thoroughly enjoyed dinner, the kids chased each other through the entire main floor and tossed plush faux snowballs in every direction, the guys donned matching Penguins Santa hats as they sipped on egg nog and hot toddies, and the partners huddled in their sweats and Uggs, glasses of wine in hand as they giddily caught up with one another.

All was as it should be, until a distinct thud echoed from the hallway, followed by immediate whines coming from one of the littlest of the group, Victoria, and a round of “ooh”s and groans from the dads who had watched the unfortunate collision unfold. Victoria’s little head had evidently caught the corner of the wall as she tried to turn into the living room to make her escape from big brother Alex who trailed behind her, now looking remorseful and concerned.

“Uh oh. Saw that comin’,” Sid mumbled as he swiftly rose from his perch on the couch, the nearest to the scene of the crime, and made his way to Victoria. Just as he reached her, her cries hit a screeching peak, but Sid was undeterred. He gathered the crying girl he loved so much into his arms, easily lifting her by her elbows, and stood rubbing her back.

“I know, V,” he cooed. “That really hurt, didn’t it?”

Victoria nodded against his shoulder, swiping at her wet eyes with the backs of her little hands. Sid pressed a kiss to the side of her head, cradling it gently in one hand.

“I didn’t mean to!” sweet Alex insisted, his high voice trembling from the tears in his eyes. Sid immediately shook his head.

“We know you didn’t, bud. It’s nobody’s fault,” he assured, smoothing a hand over Alex’s dark hair as the boy bashfully wrapped himself around Sidney’s legs.

Catherine lifted her brows, giving you a look. “Damn, he’s good,” she muttered from behind her wine glass, Natalie snickering beside her.

“Yeah, don’t take this the wrong way, babe, but that was kinda hot,” Megan Carter concluded with a cackle, earning a poke in the side from you as you handed an approaching Kris an ice pack, reading his mind.

“Don’t start,” you warned through your teeth, though the smirk on your lips gave you away as you gazed back at Sid once more.

Sid was now seated on the step with Victoria on his lap.

“Can you show me where it hurts, V? Hmm?” he asked just as Kris approached with the compress, squeezing his little girl’s calf affectionately as he, too, crouched to her level, though he knew she was in capable hands under the care of Uncle Sid.

Victoria nodded, then sat up from Sid’s hold and pointed to her forehead, where, sure enough, there was already a bump forming. Thankfully, though, no skin had been broken nor further injury inflicted.

“Ouch,” Sid said softly, affirming the girl’s pain. “Well, it’s gonna hurt for a little bit but the good news is, I think you’re gonna be okay. And you’re just as beautiful as ever,” he said warmly, making Victoria giggle.

“Merci beaucoup,” the girl said quietly, throwing her arms around Sid’s neck. He hugged her back with a bright laugh as your eyes met his over her shoulder, and he threw you a wink.

“Pas de problème, ma chérie,” he replied, letting go of Victoria as she turned toward her dad, hugging him and accepting the ice pack before seeming to forget about the incident just minutes later, though the tenderness of your husband’s reaction to it stayed with you much longer than that.

Later in the night, after a few board games, when the kids finally started to wind down and slowly find their way to the living room, Megan tapped their family’s copy of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” which Caden had brought in tucked under his arm as if it were his prized possession, announcing as he laid it on the coffee table that it was tradition in their household that someone read it each Christmas Eve, no matter where or with whom they celebrated the holiday.

“So, who should read the story to us tonight, guys?” Megan asked, raising her brows at the kids as they glanced around the room.

It was little Emersyn whose eyes landed on your husband and who raised a chubby little finger to point toward him.

“Oh, you want Sid to read to us?” Megan asked, Jeff smirking beside her.

“Me?” Sidney asked the little one, surprised that of both of her parents and all the others in the room, it was he who she had chosen.

Sure of herself, Emersyn nodded. And not only that, but with a coy smile, she slid down from the couch, pulled the book from the table, and made her way to Sid, raising her arms his direction as an invitation to him.

His heart melting, Sid obliged, scooping Emersyn up and settling her on one side, just as you curled into his other, your hands rounding his bicep as you took in the sweet scene right before your eyes. And, from the corner of them, you spotted other wives, namely the ones with children, cooing over the moment, too, from where their hands covered their mouths. You gave the girls a knowing glance as Sid opened the book and began to read, his concentrated, animated tone evoking a warmth in your belly.

“'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house; not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there…” he spoke, lifting his eyebrows to emphasize the prospect of Santa’s coming arrival. You grinned, settling your head on his shoulder just as he curled his free hand around your thigh with an affectionate squeeze.

“The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads,” he continued, and at that portion, you heard him swallow thickly, taking a quick breath to steady his voice before he went on. “And ma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,” he read.

“Ma and Pa right there,” Jake muttered from behind his glass of bourbon with a nod toward you, making Bryan and Jeff chuckle.

Though you playfully narrowed your eyes at them, Sid murmured a, “damn straight,” that knocked the smile from your lips in favor of a straight line, shocked by his sentiment in front of the group. The girls giggled around the room and you felt your face heat as you buried your face in the crook of Sid’s neck, while he went on as if it were nothing.

The rest of the story captivated you far more than it did the children, if only for the way Sid engaged them all with his intonations, character voices, and sound effects, making them bubble with laughter and mimic him excitedly. Sure, he was entertaining them, but he had you absolutely mesmerized. His being attentive to any and all children around him was nothing new, but this… being huddled together in your home, cozy in front of the fire on Christmas Eve, Sid with a toddler on his lap and more little ones settled around him on the couch and at his feet on the floor, not to mention the way he had cared so lovingly for Victoria… this made you ache. Made you yearn. Made it so easy to picture future scenes just like these, but instead of his teammate’s children, they would be your own. Sidney’s own. Yours and Sidney’s.

You remembered Kelsey and Kayla and Megan and Catherine and more telling you that when you were ready, you would know. And when he was ready, you would know. Call it (future) mother’s intuition, call it a biological clock. Whatever it was, you felt it stirring within you, sending a message you had never quite heard this loud or clear.

It was time. You knew it was time.

And from the look in Sid’s sparkling hazel eyes as he read the final, classic, “But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight, ‘Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night,’” then looked down at you, you were more certain that he knew it, too.

After that, as much as Sidney had enjoyed the day with a full house, he just wanted to be alone with you. Craved it. That singular focus he was famous for was pointed only, fully, at you. After he’d finished reading and the two of you had bid your goodbyes, he could hardly get the last of the guests – the Letangs and the Malkins, to neither of your surprise – out of the door speedily enough before he closed it behind them, then turned toward you and blew out a frazzled breath he seemed to have been holding for hours now.

“Do we even need to talk about it?” Sid asked, his steps toward you from the door quick and determined.

“No.” You barely had a moment to breathe out the word before he captured your lips in a searing, longing kiss, his hands squeezing needily at the flesh of your hips, a hungry groan leaving his lips and vibrating against your own.

“Do you even know how much I adore you?” Sidney whispered against the shell of your ear before ducking his head to trail his tongue along your neck, eliciting a gasping moan from your throat.

“I do, Sidney,” you whispered, cradling his head against your skin. “I swear I do.”

He pulled back to take you in, his nose just centimeters from yours, as he searched your eyes.

“Do you even know how badly I want to see you as a mother?” he asked, pressing his hips into yours as a whine fell from your mouth. “How much I want to give you children? My children? Our children.”

You swallowed hard, wrapping your arms around his neck. “Show me,” you offered in a whisper, lips closing around Sidney’s earlobe as your teeth grazed the soft skin there. “Please.”

___

Hours later, long after midnight had struck, signaling the start of Christmas Day, Sid lay with his head against your bare shoulder, his fingers mindlessly tracing shapes on your lower belly. You decided to take the quiet moment to voice your primary fear about entering this next phase of life.

“It might not happen right away, Sid,” you whispered, voicing it to your husband as much as yourself. “You know?”

Sid nodded, lifting his head to settle it on his pillow and meet your eyes.

“I know, babe,” he assured firmly. “That’s okay. However long it takes, it’s okay. I just… we’ll make it happen. One way or another. Alright? I promise you that.”

Tears blurred your vision before dripping down your temple, swept away in moments by Sid’s knuckles.

“Okay,” you concurred, knowing better than to think you needed to ask if he was sure, if he was certain, if he knew the full extent of what he had just vowed. You knew. You knew he knew. He was Sid – he always meant it.

“Now, with that said, I need you to promise me something,” Sid said, slowly stroking your cheek with his thumb. You nodded. “I need you to promise me that you won’t put pressure on yourself to make this happen right away. Or ever. Okay? Whether it happens right away or it takes longer than we thought, I need you to take care of you first. Can you do that for me?”

You nodded again, folding yourself into his arms where he held you reverently, kissing the top of your head.

“Promise,” you mumbled, your face smushed against his neck. “I love you, Sidney.”

You felt Sid smile. “I love you so much.”

[bunny-anastasia]

some penguins blog called crosbys girlfriend a cover up for something? him being gay idk

why are y’all like this 💀💀 don’t look that deep into things it’s rude and terribly nosy in a different sense then everything else around here hahah. but really the topic of a players sexuality should stay off these blogs unless it is publicly known and simply asking if they are seeing someone

[kittyjoestar]

Don't really like the pens but sidney crosby with a dog is so soft???

only reason why it’s my pfp he looks so soft

[eclipsemedia]

Most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse?

Going to go out on a limb here and say that Nathan Mackinnon and Sidney Crosby could survive it. But together.

[tysegs]

Do you ever miss Crosby & McKinnon bc I do EVERYSINGLEDAAAY

i find myself watching their tim hortons video just because so fuck yeah i do lmao

[hockeychatstea]

I vaguely remember a few blogs saying that they heard from an insider that Sidney is just using his current gf as a placeholder until he retires, and that he plans to marry and have kids with someone young. I’m not sure where I saw it, but I know that that seems to be a consensus amongst people.

Oop 🫢 that would be so messed up, dude

[puckthedrama]

brad calls kathy wife out of respect…sidney is not married and as captain of his team it would be no benefit to his character to hide the fact that he’s married. he could still hide and deny her the same way he does now even if they were married but he doesn’t because they aren’t. the times that ppl see her in the background or off guard in other wag videos she’s not even wearing a basic wedding band. in private wedding photos that were accidentally leaked by a wedding photographer at a wedding both kathy and sidney attended there was a group picture of literally all the couples at the wedding and sidney was in the middle by himself. then a photographer posted a pic of them two in the picture and one of the wags contacted the photographer saying sidney would respectfully like the picture removed. another time sidney was posted near kathy in the background of a holiday pic and the wag deleted the pic and posted another version of the pic with sidney photoshoped out. that man is not married. and im not a kathy hater. i feel sorry for her and hope she realizes its not worth it. shes 40 and as a woman deserve better

☝🏻on sidney crosby & kathy!

[double-j]

*STARDUST REBLOG CHALLENGE OCTOBER WEEK 1 PART 1 MASTERLIST*

~10/1 to 10/5 cause there were too many links for the full week in one post lol~

[FOR ALL FICS, CHECK THE STARDUST REBLOG CHALLENGE TAG]

*reminder to please heed the author’s warnings on individual fics!*

~ reposting september and october by week because the links were only working on mobile ~

TGM: JAKE HANGMAN SERESIN FICS 

sugar daddy jake blurb (from the look away universe which you need to read!) from @fuckyeahhangman​

aftershocks from @enchanting-eloquence​

grounded p. 1 & p. 2 from @/enchanting-eloquence

party of two p. 2 from @wombtotombx​ 

daddy kink from @callsign-phoenix​ 

a little out of the ordinary p. 1 & p. 2 from @mayhem24-7forever​ 

slow burn p. 4 & p. 5 from @ereardon​ 

the agreement (from the best benefits) from @writercole

can’t fight the feeling from @imjess-themess​ 

take it easy from @oncasette

who did this to you? from @justfandomwritings​ 

out of the blue, clear sky p. 1 from @theharddeck​ 

formal wear from @topguncortez

TGM: BRADLEY ROOSTER BRADSHAW FICS

evangeline (afterglow p. 3) & the red dress (p. 4) from @jupitercomet​ 

faking it p. 6 from @tongue-like-a-razor​ 

is it working for you? p. 10 & p. 11 from @roosterforme​

a safe place to land p. 1, p. 2, p. 3, p. 4, & p. 5 from @thesewordsareallihavetogive​

my future in you p. 6 from @sunlightmurdock​ 

hands of steel from @hotgirlmav​

ceasefire p. 2 from @/sunlightmurdock 

a little out of the ordinary from @/topguncortez​

inconceivable from @rolycolysficrecs​ 

trouble in paradise p. 16 from @/sunlightmurdock

rooftop dreamin’ from @katcoquette

the relationship experience p. 1 & p. 2 from @notroosterbradshaw​ 

nipple play from @/topguncortez

phone sex from @stranger-nightmare​ 

flightless bird p. 1, p. 2, & p. 3 from @thatlovinfeelin​ 

TGM: ROBERT BOB FLOYD FICS

quit from @/writercole​ 

dial tone from @/oncasette​ 

i heard screaming from @/oncasette 

TGM: MICKEY FANBOY GARCIA FICS

your fanboy from @princessmisery666​ 

sex toys from @wildbornsiren​ 

weak for your love from @moonlight-prose

TGM: MISC FICS

all you get from @/writercole (polysquad)

can you keep a secret? from @/writercole (just giggles among the squad)

almost there from @/katcoquette​ (reuben payback fitch)

shibari from @/topguncortez (robert bob floyd x reader x jake hangman seresin)

nowhere to run from @/topguncortez (nick goose bradshaw)

slut from @evansrogerskitten​ (bradley rooster bradshaw x reader x jake hangman seresin)

unholy from @/moonlight-prose​ (bradley rooster bradshaw x reader x jake hangman seresin)

night drive from @hederasgarden​ (bradley rooster bradshaw x reader x jake hangman seresin)

airtight from @/wildbornsiren (polysquad)

something in between p. 1 from @archivallyfound09​ (love triangle w/ bradley rooster bradshaw & jake hangman seresin)

NHL FICS

fling p. 1 from @pucksalotguys​ (s.crosby)

to love again p. 3 from @/pucksalotguys (s.crosby)

illicit affairs from @typical-simplelove​ (m.tkachuk)

smut prompts 35 and 44 from @hoesforthecanes​ (a.svechnikov)

that which we are, we are p. 1 & p. 2 from @spine-buster​ (n.mackinnon)

OUTER RANGE/RHETT ABBOTT FICS

branded p. 1 & p. 2 from @3tabbiesandalab​

come in from the storm from @fknmoonmoon​ 

greatest love story from @marvelandotherfandomimagines​ 

the trouble with books from @/hederasgarden

i’ll be your fantasy from @/hederasgarden

sacred oasis from @wyn-n-tonic​ 

beautiful and shiny from @/wyn-n-tonic

[miracleonice87]

I Should Probably Go To Bed

with Sidney Crosby (feat. Nathan Mackinnon)

a/n: based on the song by Dan + Shay. phew. this was a tough one for me to write but also a cathartic experience. this one is for @pucksalotguys for @antoineroussel's winter fic exchange. I appreciate both of their, and everyone else's, patience as I missed the deadline because of being sick as a dog. I hope you enjoy, my friend! (this gif is a lot smilier than the story itself but I just freaking love it.)

warnings: swearing, alcohol, mention of breakups / angsty themes, mention of driving after consuming alcohol (don't drink and drive, kiddos)

word count: 3.4k

_____

You were doing this for Nate.

That was what you kept reminding yourself as you drove to the most popular, most routinely-crowded watering hole in your hometown on the night before Christmas Eve — one of the busiest nights of the year for the bar scene in the usually sleepy Cole Harbour.

“It’ll be good for you,” Nate had said when he called a few hours ago. “It’ll be fun,” he continued. “Besides, even if it’s not, this is about me. I’m only home for three days and I want my best friend to come out with me.”

You’d had to chuckle at that last attempt, which you knew he was only half kidding about.

Only your best friend since preschool could convince you to ditch your pajamas and leave your parents’ cozy living room in favor of meeting him out for drinks on one of his only visits home during the course of his hockey season. Only he could lure you out into the snowy night to be surrounded by former high school mean-girls-turned-multi-level-marketers and guys who would never have given you the time of day as a sixteen-year-old but were now paying attention to you at twenty-six, sans glasses and braces and braided pigtails. Yes, certainly only Nathan Mackinnon could persuade you to join him out on the town when you knew that your greatest love and your most devastating heartbreak could feasibly walk through the doors of the same establishment as you at any moment.

Because not just one of Cole Harbour’s own fabled hockey superstars had played a role in your life – Nathan, the first, as your lifelong best friend.

But the other, the elder… Sidney Crosby had fallen in love with you the first time he met you when you were eighteen years old, and since that meeting, neither you nor Sid had spent one single day without thinking of the other.

Though, these days when you thought of him, it was with an ache in your soul instead of a flutter in your pulse.

Because it, quite simply, hadn’t worked out. And neither of you was necessarily to blame. You were together for years, with you relocating to Pittsburgh after college and happily, if dutifully, playing the role of the girlfriend of the captain. But after two years of that, as much as you adored Sid and couldn’t picture your life without him, you couldn’t help but feel as if there was more life to be lived for you. And Sid just wasn’t ready to put hockey on the back burner in order to fully commit to you, to become your husband, to potentially become a father. While you understood his position and would never ask him to give up his dream… you had never known such devastation.

And so, suddenly you found yourself giving your boss permission to put your name in the running for a promotion – one which would require you to relocate to your design firm’s Toronto office and leave Pittsburgh behind. And the next thing you knew, you were doing exactly that – packing your bags and leaving your keys on the kitchen counter and watching Sidney’s eyes flicker in terror and regret as you said, “I love you more than anything, but I just can’t wait for you forever.”

Sid had been heartbroken. Nate, shocked. Your parents, flabbergasted. Your friends, stunned.

It had been over a year now. A year of trying to convince yourself that you were better off without him. That you’d be happier without him… eventually. Even if, right now, it still hurt to breathe.

Besides that, you had now successfully avoided Sidney for an entire year, an impressive feat considering your parents lived just three streets apart, and that you both traveled home to visit your families whenever you could. Though it guilted you to admit it, you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t been attempting to plan your trips during times of the year when you assumed he wouldn’t be nearby, because you unfortunately still remembered his yearly schedule like the back of your hand. Christmas, though, was one of the times when the chance that you could cross his path was much higher.

But, you tried to convince yourself, it was unlikely that Sid would show tonight. You assumed he was in town, too, of course, but like Nate, his time with his family in-season was so limited, you doubted he would leave their presence.

On top of that, anyone who knew Sid, especially you, knew that bars weren’t completely his scene – specifically not when they were overflowing with the holiday masses, making it difficult for him to monitor whose eyes may or may not be focused on him and whom he may or may not be speaking to and how much he may or may not be drinking. He had always been more than guarded when it came to his public behavior – he knew that, for better or worse, like it or not, he was an example to the next generations of young hockey players, and, even more unfairly, subject to intense scrutiny and often impossibly high standards. But no one could ever hold him to a standard as high as he held himself.

So, you talked yourself into it. You texted Nate an “I’ll meet you there” after you’d hung up the phone and thought it over for a while. He responded simply with the “🙌” emoji.

And now, here you were… doing this for Nate. After being greeted warmly by one of the giant bear hugs Nathan Mackinnon was famous for, you found yourself sitting on a barstool next to the most (or maybe second-most… sorry, Nate) popular and sought-out part-time citizen of Cole Harbour. As fans and acquaintances floated to and away from Nate, your eyes drifted across the crowd of strangers and lovers whose innocent displays of affection made your stomach turn because not so long ago, it was you and Sid in the middle of a busy bar, his hand pressed protectively to your back, his lips near your ear as he told you a joke through an ornery smile, making you giggle and smooth a hand over his chest as you beamed at him. The memories were so tangible it was as if you could reach out and touch him in your mind.

But he wasn’t here, and for that, you were both glad, and sorry. You attempted to settle yourself with a deep inhale before turning to Nate, who had just scooted a pint glass your way. You thanked him and took a sip of the lager – a local brew which you had tasted on Sid’s lips many times, those memories as real to you as the flavor on your tongue. You forced the thought from your mind and instead focused your attention on Nate, who was now slyly sliding his phone into his pocket, the tight smile he offered you causing you to narrow your eyes at him.

“So, um,” Nate began gingerly, clearing his throat as he swiped a fingertip at the condensation forming on his glass. “Sid’s on his way.”

Despite the name having rolled around in your head endlessly for as long as you could remember, Nate speaking it in this moment, when you had tried your damndest to talk yourself out of the possibility of seeing him, had set off every alarm in your brain, every ounce of your fight-or-flight response, your every nerve ending.

“You motherfucker,” you mumbled halfheartedly, taking a gulping swig of your beer.

“No, listen, I didn’t invite him,” Nate said, holding up a hand in innocence – scout’s honor. “I knew better. Plus, he never comes out anymore. But Mike told him everybody was here so he just texted me to tell me he was coming.”

You nodded slowly. You believed Nate – in twenty-two years of friendship, he’d never given you one single reason not to. But that didn’t stop the normally manageable weight that laid constant on your chest to suddenly become so heavy it threatened to crush your lungs beneath it. Your breathing became shallow, uneven. You knew what you had to do.

You hopped off your barstool, surprising Nate as he turned to you mid-sip.

“No, no, don’t leave!” he pleaded, grabbing ahold of your hand where it held fast to the bar, the other already flagging down the bartender to pay your check. Nathan sighed. “Fuck, I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.”

You shook your head. “No, really, you should have,” you said with a chuckle devoid of any humor. “I really, I… I should quit while I’m ahead. I was feeling okay before this and I… I just can’t be here when he’s here, you know?”

Nate sighed again, reluctantly withdrawing his hand as he allowed you to gather your coat and bag, then lay down cash to cover your tab and tip. Nate silently refolded the bills you’d just produced and tucked them back into your bag, which you barely registered as you threw your scarf around your neck and buttoned your coat.

You glanced at his hand, rolled your eyes, then leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek, ignoring the doleful gaze he had fixed upon you.

“Love you, Mack,” you said. “Thanks for the drinks. I’ll talk to you.”

“Love you,” he muttered, squeezing your hip protectively. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Please text me when you get home safe.”

You nodded. “Promise,” you said quietly, the wheels in your mind spinning faster than your feet could carry you out of the bar. “Bye.” And with that, you turned away from him and, hopefully, toward your escape route.

The chill in the air assaulted your cheeks as soon as you stepped back through the doors, and you inhaled deeply, trying to regain that semblance of confidence, of comfort, of “I’m over him” that had taken so long to find. You’d built it up enough to sustain you for the night, until Nate had uttered Sid’s name, and the moment you heard it, it was as if your bubble had burst. Pop. All your efforts from the past year-plus went swirling down the drain.

And all it would take was seeing Sidney’s face and you’d forget why you’d been trying so hard to get over him in the first place.

You hurried to your car and pulled out of the parking lot with no hesitation, the relief of not having run into Sid on your way out mixed with a distinct feeling of dissatisfaction at the same fact. At the first red light you hit, a groan left your lips at the thought, and you rested your forehead against the steering wheel for a moment. But the second you closed your eyes, it was Sidney’s image you saw in your mind’s eye, which sent your head snapping up and shaking off the image. Or, at least, attempting to.

Mindlessly, you drove the familiar route through the quiet downtown streets, back toward the residential area of town where your parents had lived in the same house since their first year of marriage, where your bedroom had seen you play with Barbies, read Seventeen magazine issues cover-to-cover, listen to Taylor Swift CDs on repeat, move to and from college dorms, sneak Nate in through the window to watch Jersey Shore after your parents had gone to bed, cuddle and laugh with Sid in the happiest days or your relationship, and, most recently and most painfully, cry over losing him.

You sighed deeply as you pulled up your driveway. You couldn’t wait to get out of these stupid clothes, take off your makeup, crawl into bed and ignore your phone for the next… oh… twenty-four hours? Or ten years, maybe.

You just needed to go to bed.

You dragged yourself out of the car and trudged up the drive, careful of the freshly fallen snow that had covered the same places your dad had just shoveled mere hours before. As you pressed the fob to lock your Jeep and turned back to be sure the lights signaled a locked car, you spotted a silver Range Rover slowly following the path your tires had just laid through the snow on your street. Your breath hitched, and tears immediately sprung to your eyes.

Turns out, you hadn’t been able to escape that other hockey star after all.

You could’ve run inside. You could’ve shut and locked the door behind you and completely avoided his unexpected presence. You could’ve… maybe even should’ve… just gone upstairs and gone to bed as you’d just been longing to do.

But once you’d laid eyes on him in the driver’s seat, looking as devastatingly handsome as he ever had, if not a little tired and a lot sad… you simply couldn’t. Your feet stayed frozen in place, and not for the ice and snow beneath them. You were under Sid’s spell, just as you’d known you’d be if you were to ever see him again, face-to-face. Here he was in your parents’ driveway, cutting his engine and exiting his car, his eyes never leaving you, and you were right back to where you’d been more than a year ago.

And all that your brain could get your mouth to speak was a half-assed accusation.

“Do not tell me Mackinnon called you,” you said dryly.

Sid rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly, taking tiny steps closer to you before halting a good ten feet away. “No, actually, I uh… I was running late – procrastinating leaving my house, if I’m being honest – and I got in the car to head to the bar but… before I even knew where I was going, I was pulling down your street.”

You crossed your arms, trying to shield yourself less from the frigid air and more from that unsettlingly, brazenly honest confession that had just left his lips.

“Oh,” you said softly, slowly rocking back and forth from the heel to the toe of your boots. You had little else to offer in the way of words.

“How are you?” Sid asked earnestly.

You tipped your head back, sighing and sending your breath up into a cloud of white that evaporated into the night.

“Why are you here, Sid?” you asked, shrugging dramatically before your hands slapped to your sides. “Hm? Why are you doing this right now?”

He nodded, and you knew he sensed and, more importantly, understood your frustration and confusion. Hell, if anyone was feeling as frustrated and confused as you, it was him.

“I know I should probably leave you alone, but I…” he sighed, shaking his head as he looked down at the ground. “I just can’t.” He met your gaze, a faraway look in his eye. “I miss you so much,” he said, his voice cracking just a touch.

You scoffed. “Okay, Sid,” you said sarcastically. “You must just be, like, drunk right now, or whatever, and- and- and saying shit you don’t mean.”

Sidney lowered his brows, giving you a skeptical look. “When have you ever known me to say anything I don’t mean?” he asked, rhetorically, because without speaking it, you both knew that the answer to that was never. “Besides, I haven’t had a drop to drink.”

Well… he had you there. You grew more flustered at how fucking composed he was, like always. It always bothered you when he was so together and you were so undone.

“But why are you saying all of this now?” you asked, the volume of your voice rising despite the desperate quiver accompanying it. “What is this going to change, Sidney?”

So few people called him Sidney: his mother, his grandmother… you. Hearing his full name, just as you had heard his nickname from Nate just minutes ago, evoked something in him that nothing and no one else could. He felt known – even when it was spoken with a heavy helping of angst and sorrow.

“I want this to change… everything,” he eventually admitted.

And the floodgates opened. Slow tears tracked down your cheeks and neck, drying in the scarf around your neck. In the dim glow of the moon and the few streetlights above, he saw that you had begun to cry, and he took a few hurried steps your direction. He had always hated seeing you cry.

“Please,” you cried, the word coming out in a choked sob that surprised you and Sidney equally, his eyes wide and shocked as your normally impenetrable exterior began to fall around you. You inhaled a shuddering gasp and held out your palm to him, halting his movements toward you. “Please don’t say something you’ll regret. I can’t… my heart can’t take any more. If you come closer, I know I won’t have the self-control to walk away. Please, Sidney.”

He inhaled deeply, carefully contemplating his next move. He continued to come closer, ever so slowly, as you swiped at the pesky tears escaping your eyes. His focused gaze was the only thing keeping your knees from buckling beneath you, and you waited for his next words with baited breath.

“If I tell you that I mean it… because I do,” he spoke emphatically, “And if I say that I won’t ever regret it, because I won’t… If I say that, can you let me in again? Please? Can you at least try?”

He was mere inches from you now, those honest hazel eyes piercing through your being like no one’s ever had or ever would. You knew intuitively that the pull you felt toward him was more than a false “spell” or a fleeting hypnotism. He was here, and he was real, and he was asking for you, asking for forever. Just as you’d pictured in your mind’s eye every night for the last year. And who were you to deny him that? To deny you both that?

You took him by surprise once more when you pulled him in by his coattails, staring up at him with volumes of emotion scrawled across your expression.

“Try to let you in again?” you repeated with a scoffing laugh. You grasped his hand and placed it on your chest, wrapping your fingers tightly around it. “I’ve never been able to get you out, Sid. Out of my head, out of my life, out of my heart.” Sid cupped your cheek tenderly with his other hand and you saw tears shimmering in his eyes as he beamed at you, trying to etch this moment in his mind for all eternity. “So stay,” you whispered. “Please.”

His smile grew inexplicably wider as he leaned in to kiss you at long last. You wrapped your arms around his neck and realized you held your whole world in your arms once more. Each of you was finally back where you belonged.

_____

The next morning, when your dad saw Sid’s car in their drive and your mom spotted his shoes in their foyer, because he’d shed them the second he walked in the door upon your invitation inside, like the perfectly polite Canadian boy he was, no matter how anxiously he longed to have you back in a bed next to him… they shared a knowing smile.

When she went back upstairs to prepare for the day, she expected your door to be shut and even locked, and would have respected your privacy. Instead, she found the door slightly ajar, you and Sid on top of your covers, fully clothed, a throw blanket covering the two of you where you lay between Sid’s legs, your head on his chest, his torso slightly elevated for the pillow propped up against the headboard. The faintest smile was on Sid’s lips, and though you were deep in slumber, the type of rest that can only come when you’re sleeping safely in the arms of the one you love, she could see the peaceful expression on your face and thought that she had never seen you look more content.

And, soon thereafter, as Nate pulled up to your house with Timbits and a French Vanilla capp in tow, an apology for scaring you off by his admission about his fellow hockey star who never did show up to the bar the night before… a smile stretched across his face when he spotted that familiar Range Rover parked behind your car. As he turned around to head home, he happily decided that breakfast could wait.

[tysegs]

fuck marry trade mcdavid crosby wilson

SHIT ok so the 6 year old cayl that wanted to marry cros when she grew up is giving me one dirty fuckin look so i’m gonna have to go w him

fuck: wilson (repeatedly thanks)

trade: cobknob mcdeeznuts

[hockeychatstea]

On another blog some people were wondering if Crosby will actually marry his long term gf.

I think once he retires, he will

[puckthedrama]

I honestly think there’s a very high possibility that Sid is married and just super private so the media doesn’t know. In an interview a few months ago Brad Marchand called Kathy Sid’s wife. Brad and Sidney are longtime friends so if anyone would know it would be him

☝🏻on sidney crosby & kathy!