famous last words | s. crosby

2; pins & needles

The pair walked down the halls in awkward silence while Sidney occasionally directed her where to go. The occasional glaces came from either of the two; Sidney almost mesmerized at how petite the girl was next to him. She was tiny in stature; he'd guess the lower end of 5'0", if that. Her bags, which were thrown lazily slug across her shoulder, looked two times her size, and like the were going to pull her plummeting straight towards the ground. If a strong gust of wind blew through the building, it'd have taken her with it.

"USA Figure Skating, eh?" He asked, noticing the embroidered logo on her black jacket.

"Hm?" His words, ironically for the second time that day, had ripped her out of a trance. She glanced down at her jacket before looking back up at Sid, "Oh, yeah. That's right."

Elliott sounded tense, uncomfortable even. It could've been the quietness that possessed her words as she spoke or perhaps it was the slight New England-esque accent in her voice. She shifted the bags around as she walked, teetering to the side but quickly regaining her balance.

"So, what I've gathered so far is you're obviously a skater and I'm guessing you're from the States?"

Elliott had always been a shy kid and always came across as a little cold. Having gone to only one year of public school, she'd grown up around mostly adults, so naturally she didn't talk much around anyone her own age. She nodded her head, following Sid into what looked like a mixture of a weight room and a doctors office. Inside, there was a woman who introduced herself as one of the teams physicians and was quick to begin gathering supplies after examining the cut. Four stitches— maybe even five, according to the doctor, would be needed for the cut to heal effectively. She handed Elliott a gauze pad to hold against her chin before walking out of the room.

Elliott climbed onto one of the exam tables, and settled into a criss-cross'd position as she looked over at Sid, "You don't have to sit around and watch me get stitched up, y'know."

"I know I don't, but I wanna be nice. And in case, I dunno, you want some water or something. You wouldn't have to get up and get lost trying to find the water. I know this place better than my own house." He shrugged as he leaned against the counters, still looking over at Elliott. They held eye contact for a few, brief seconds, until the physician walked back into the room with a plethora of needles laid out on a plate. 

It didn't take long for Elliott to squirm at the sight; she was subtly chewing on her bottom lip, her eyebrows furrowed at just the thought of the needle sewing up her face. Sid was quick to notice the sudden change in her facial expressions and practically leaped to the side of the table, "You don't like needles, do you?"

"Oh god, it really that easy to tell?" She sounded almost disheartened at his comments, though a quiet laugh managed to slip past her lips.

He nodded, a gentle smile overtaking his cheeks, "Unfortunately for you, yes. But I think I have a way to get your mind off the needles, alright? I'm going to tell you a story." 

"A story? I'm not a child." Elliott repeated, her eyebrows raised as she listened to the doctor's orders and leaned her head back in preparation for stitches, shutting her eyes as she waited for Sid to start his story.

"A story. It helped distract me from the needle at my face when I got stitches as a kid." He paused, waiting for the doctor to start suturing Elliott's chin. He saw Elliott's face make the 'oh-what-the-hell' look and her shoulders ever so slightly move before the doctor began. As soon as she began, he took in a sharp breath, a wide smile present on his face, "Okay, here we go. Once upon a time, right? There was a princess who lived in a not so far off land and spent her days skating her heart out. She was a very well taught skater, may I add. Her townsfolk just loved to watch her preform. Her kingdom was the ice; she was soon to rule all, and no one could take her away her palace. But! There was also a prince. He, too, was heir to an ice palace. Thought the prince mistook his place, and over estimated his power in comparison to this ice princess. He disrupted the princess and caused her a hell of a lot of trouble."

While he told his story, Elliott opened up her eyes and peaked at the captain who stood next to her table. He was pretty, wasn't he? He was tall, his facial features seemed to— oh. He was looking at her. She was quick to close her eyes again; desperately hoping he hadn't seen her silent admiration. He had seen every bit, but let it go unmentioned, though a smirk overtook his face as he continued on with his story.

"So, in the end, y'know after he caused her this trouble; the trouble of having her face all beat up from the prince's harsh actions, the prince, since he didn't have a kingdom to rule that night, decided he was to treat the princess to dinner. All the princess had to do was say yes."

As the doctor finished up the last stitch, Elliott opened her eyes once more, a grin settling in on her cheeks, "Wait. Hold on. The story. Are you asking me on a date?"

"If we're gonna be technical, I asked you to dinner," Sidney tilted his head slightly as he spoke, "But, if that's what you wanna call it then be my guest. How about I pick you up at seven o'clock, tonight?"

Dumbfounded at the sudden shift in atmosphere, her face lit up, "Well, uh, yeah. Okay. That sounds pretty fantastic."

"There's a place called The Carlton; it's pretty nice, so dress up, alright? I've got to get back to practice, but I'll give you my number so you can give me your address."

Elliott nodded as she reached into the pocket of her jacket, promptly handing her phone over to Sid. He typed in the numbers and soon handed it back to Elliott, "And it's set. I'll see you a seven."

She stared down at her phone; at her newly acquired contact. It took a few seconds for her to comprehend what had happened. Just as she finally came to terms with it, Sid popped back in, for one last comment, "Oh, and don't you think about standing me up, alright?"

"Ah, well, I don't know..." Sarcasm intertwined itself within her accent as she rolled her eyes to the side, "I'm just so busy nowadays. Y'know, 'the grind.'" She made air quotes with her fingers and it wasn't long until she busted out into a short fit of laughter. She nodded, "Alright. I won't stand you up."

He, too, was smiling. "I'll see you at seven, El."

Author's Note
Alright, so, I just gotta mention how proud I am of the Pens. I've been following the team since I was fuckin' conceived and I barely remember the '09 win. I cried as I watched that clock tick down to 00:00 and I get chills just thinking about watching the boys jump off that bench to celebrate. I've seen the ups, the downs, the trades, the gains. Like many of you, I've watched the In The Room episodes, the pre-game interviews, the post-game, too; it's been a tough ride for all of the boys. I can't tell you how much I love the '15-'16 team... like, y'all. It's crazy. No one deserves this as much as every single guy on that team. They went through one hellava season. They defied all the fucking odds. I could go on & on about these boys, but I don't think anyone wants to read me ramble about them. 😅
So, in conclusion, to all the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, congratulations.
And to the players; you boys deserve this.
— Love, just another Pens fan.

(P.S. y'all better get ready... you better believe I'm gonna write an entire chapter (or hell, two, even) solely dedicated to June 12, 2016. But, all the mushy-gush aside, thanks so much for the read! Leave your likes, comments, or whatever!!)