Soft, small flakes of snow fell from the sky in every direction, gently piling up into layers on the hard ground beneath her feet. She quietly continued along her path, down the softly illuminated sidewalk of Nova Scotia. The streets were empty, the sidewalks deserted in the small town. A glance at her watch revealed the time to be 11:30. She took a deep breath of the cool, winter air, steam rising up around her rosy complexion as she slowly exhaled. She had always enjoyed late night walks such as these. She could recall as a teenager slyly creeping down the stairs and out of the front door after her parents had retired to bed for the night. It was times like these she could truly think without interruption or just savor the beauty and serenity of Cole Harbour.
As she strolled down the snow covered sidewalk, she stopped for a moment to gaze into one of the store fronts along her path. A hockey stick and puck lay in the right corner of the well lit cabinet, a pair of gloves and mouth guard sitting to their left. As her eyes scaled across the length of the display, they came to an abrupt halt as her gaze met the middle of the case. Hanging underneath the glow of two spotlights was a black and gold jersey. The lights shone down upon six white letters carefully stitched across the back of the jersey. The last name of a league's savior, the pride and joy of a town, the hero of a city could all be read among the six letters. But in the light of Cameron Wilson's blue eyes, the letters signified a person much different.
Sidney Crosby was not a famous hockey player or the savior of the NHL to her. He was not just the pretty faced captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins or the hero of her hometown. He was not the human highlight reel or the rock star hockey player who could only dream of escaping the media. Sidney Crosby was the boy with the crooked grin who lived a few houses down the street. The boy that had once contemplated a career as a hairdresser over a career as a hockey player. The boy she had to remind everyday he was going to be something big because he never thought he was good enough. The boy that laughed at all of her stupid jokes and the same one who always made her laugh with his corny lines. The boy that she spent her summers with. The boy she spent everyday with. The boy that she called her best friend. The boy who was never seen more than a footstep behind her. The boy that was there with open arms every time a boy broke her heart. The boy who broke her heart.
She stood staring into the large case for a few moments more, the memories piling into her mind
as fast as the snow piled onto her shoulders. She quickly batted away the stray flakes of snow that had caught on her long lashes, at the same time batting away the memory that was never far from her mind. She turned from the case, walking back in the direction of her house.
A stack of Christmas movies layed on the coffee table to the left of her, as she sat cross-legged on the couch, her eyes glued to the television screen. She clutched a steaming cup of hot chocolate in her hands as she recited Hermie's lines.
"I want to be a dentist. It's fascinating work. Molars.. bicuspids." She pulled the blanket resting across her knees closer to her neck as she glanced outside at the snow whirling past the window. She was thankful she had gotten back to the house before the snow storm had picked up. As she began to sing along to the Misfit song, she heard a knock at the door and jumped up from the couch.
"Coming!" She quickly removed the chain from the door, unlocked it, and opened it to come face-to-face with someone she prayed she would not have to.
"Um, hey, Cam," Sidney smiled sheepishly from the light of the front porch, his dark curls adorned with thousands of tiny snowflakes.
"Uh. Hey, Sid. Come on in." She moved back a few steps to let him in the door. She wondered why he had picked tonight to come. The wind was whipping, the snow seemed to be coming down faster with each second, and it was even colder than normal. As he finished taking off his shoes, she lead him into the living room. She cursed herself, remembering that the only source of light was coming in the form of a candle. She motioned for him to sit down.
"Do you want anything to drink or eat? Mom made tons of cookies."
"That's alright. I'm good," he smiled, taking a seat on the couch.
"Rudolph and hot cocoa? You'll never grow up," Sidney laughed, bringing a smile to Cameron's face.
"You have a problem with Rudolph and hot chocolate, big shot?" She smirked, nudging him as she sat down next him on the couch.
"What if I do?"
"Then tough luck, kiddo."
"You're such a bad ass. But you know, now that I think of it I could go for some of your famous hot cocoa."
"Famous? Now you're just sucking up. Rip on my Rudolph and you expect me to make you hot chocolate?"
"Pleaseee," he begged, pushing his lower lip out into a sad, puppy dog face.
"Fine. Come on," she smiled, walking toward the kitchen.
Cameron tried her best to remind herself of the wall that she had built between Sidney and herself. She tried to remember how she had felt that morning when she realized he had left. She had even tried to remember the words scribbled across that tear stained note hiding beneath her bed. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not. It was as if all of the hurt, all of the pain, all of those memories had vanished when she saw his soft smile standing at her doorstep and try as she might, she found it impossible to hate him.
"So where are your mum and dad?" He asked, breaking the silence.
"They're at a conference in Quebec City. They were supposed to be flying home tonight, but their flight was cancelled because of the snow storm."
"Are you serious? It's Christmas Eve."
"Yes. Business is business, you know," she replied in low tone, mocking her dad.
"Are they going to be home sometime tomorrow?"
"They're not sure yet. It all depends on how long it takes for the storm to pass over. Which judging by the last weather report I watched, I'd say it's a safe bet that they won't be." Cameron placed a mug of hot chocolate on the counter in front of Sidney and pulled out a chair next to him.
"You're not spending Christmas alone," he stated bluntly, leaning over the counter top.
"And who do you suppose I'm going to spend it with. Those dust bunnies over there in the corner?"
"You could spend it with my family," he answered quietly.
"Sidney, no. I don't want to butt in on your Christmas."
"You wouldn't be butting in. No one deserves to spend Christmas alone."
"No. I'll be fine. Really. Now let's go in the living room. These chairs are so uncomfortable." With that, she got up from the chair and headed towards the living room, leaving him sitting alone at the kitchen counter.
Sidney watched for a moment as Cameron walked in the direction of the living room. He wished for just once that Cameron would swallow her pride and let her guard down, but she never did. She had always been independent, stubborn. She hardly ever let anyone in, let them know what she was feeling.
"Are you coming or are you going to sit there by yourself?" Cameron questioned from the doorway, interrupting his thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm coming," he replied, picking himself up from the chair.
"You have Sing Star?" Sidney half laughed.
"Um, yes. It's amazing. You're just jealous because you can't sing." Cameron spat back, haughtily.
"Excuse me? I'm pretty sure my singing skills blow yours out of the water any day," Sidney shot back.
"Was that a challenge I just heard, Mr. Crosby?"
"You know it."
As Cameron set the game to shuffle and hit play, she smirked viciously at Sidney.
"You do realize you're going to get your ass kicked, right?"
"Pshh. You wish."
The opening line of Joe Nichols, "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" began to run across the bottom of the screen and Sidney started to sing, never hitting one note correctly. Cameron laughed hysterically as Sidney whipped his hoodie off and swung it in circles above his head while "singing" along to the chorus. He sauntered over to her and sat down on her lap, slipping his socks off and throwing each of them over his shoulders to fall on Cameron's head. His voice cracked high above the proper octave and she continued to giggle uncontrollably as he slyly slid his belt off, swinging his hips from side to side. He dropped the belt beside his feet then, winking at her as he sang the last verse of the song.
"And that's how it's done, my friend," he grinned, placing the mic on the coffee table.
Cameron rolled off the couch, shaking with laughter on the hardwood floor.
"So I win?" He smiled, hovering over top of her.
"I really don't think I could follow that up, so I'll just let it go," Cameron laughed, sitting back down on the couch.
"You still have this picture?" Sidney smiled over at her, holding a wooden picture frame in his hands.
"Yeah," she laughed. She stared over at the picture. It was a photo taken of the two of them when they were only six. It was sunny, summer day in July and their families had decided to have a picnic at the lake nearby. Their parents had told them both to sit at the picnic table close to where they were grilling until the food was ready. Being kids, they both grew tired of sitting and got up from the table when no one was looking. Their parents began to panic when they realized they were gone and ran around the park looking for them. Ten minutes later, they spotted them on the dock near the table they had been sitting at. They were holding hands, smiling as they ran back towards them.
"Mom and Dad refuse to ever take it down. They love it. I moved it up to my room once just to see what they'd do. They yelled at me for moving it and ordered me to put it back."
"Those were good times," Sidney smiled, his eyes still fixated on the picture.
"Yeah, they were... ah, I love this song."
They had both forgotten that the Singstar was still shuffling through songs and Kenny Chesney's, "Anything But Mine," was now blaring through the speakers of the television.
"When did you become such a country fan?"
"I don't really know, to be honest with you. I just kind of fell for it, I guess."
The room fell silent as they both listened intently to the song. It was soft, easy... the perfect summer song, the perfect summer love song. And now as they each let the lyrics sink in, everything was coming back.
"I've really missed you, Cam," Sidney spoke quietly, his soft, hazel eyes locked on hers.
