THIRTY-SEVEN

I called Sylvie the second that my plane touched down in Pittsburgh. "I'm back," I said simply as I made my way through the airport and to my car.

"Finally," she replied, sounding exasperated. "Do you need someone to come get you at the airport?"

"No, my car's still here."

"Alright. Hey, you should come over. Marc and I are leaving the arena right now, and we're having a few people over. To celebrate, you know. Six-two win over the Leafs. Not very surprising, but a win's a win."

"How many is a few people?" I asked. I wasn't in the mood for a big party, but I did want to see Sylvie and apologize face-to-face.

"Umm, well, Colby and Lauren, Max and Dominique, and probably Jordan."

"And Sidney." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Sylvie admitted after a moment's hesitation. "Him too."

"I don't know, Syl…"

"Aw, come on. Don't you want to see everyone after your little impromptu vacation?"

I slid into the driver's seat of my car and sighed. I would have to face them all eventually—I couldn't keep avoiding my friends just because of Sidney. And this would be a good chance for me to apologize to everyone. I wouldn't have to stay very long…just make an appearance and then I could make an excuse about being tired and leave.

"Okay," I said. "I'm on my way."

"Yay!" Sylvie replied. "We'll see you in a few!"

I drove slower than usual to Marc and Sylvie's house, because I didn't want to be the first to arrive. I was dreading seeing everyone, but especially Sid and Colby. I knew Colby would torment me to no end about my "impromptu vacation," as Sylvie put it. I was more concerned about Sidney's reaction, though. Sylvie said he was worried about me—would he be glad to see me or would he completely ignore me?

I exhaled forcefully as I pulled into Marc and Sylvie's driveway. The first car I saw was, of course, Sidney's black Range Rover. I put my car into park and thought about turning around and leaving, but it was too late. Sylvie was running outside to meet me.

"Karine!" she called, wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

"Hi, Sylvie," I laughed.

"Just a warning, Colby is ready to give you a hard time," Sylvie said as she led me in the house.

"Of course he is. I wouldn't expect anything less from Colby."

The second I walked in the door, Colby was all over me. "The prodigal daughter returns!" he yelled from across the room. "Come here, Karine." He bounded across the room and pulled me into a hug. "Honestly, girl, what were you thinking? Who visits their parents?" he asked sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. "Sorry I worried everyone."

"Nah, we overreacted," Colby replied. His voice became quieter and he leaned in closer. "We were just worried after…you know, how things were between you two at Bugsy's party."

"Yeah, well, that had something to do with me going to Montreal," I admitted quietly. My eyes flickered to Sidney, who was sitting next to Jordan and trying very hard to ignore me.

"That's what we thought," Colby replied, also looking at Sidney. "But hey, no harm done, right? You just gave us a little excitement." He winked at me and returned to Lauren.

I stood near the doorway awkwardly. Apparently Max noticed how uncomfortable I was, because he motioned to me from his perch on the couch facing the wide-screen television. "Karine, come play NHL 08 with me."

"I'm really bad," I warned him, but still took the controller without argument. At least it would be a momentary distraction from how uncomfortable I was being in the same room as Sidney.

"I'm the Habs," Max declared as he selected my favorite team.

"Hey, I'm always Montreal," I whined.

"You can be the Penguins," Max suggested as I scrolled through the list of available teams. "It should be interesting to see how bad you can make us all look," he joked with a wink.

I sighed. "Fine." I pressed the 'x' button and waited for the game to load.

I glanced at Sidney, who was still sitting motionless on the other couch. His gaze met mine and I instinctively looked away.

"Hey, pay attention!" Max ordered. "We're starting!"

My heart jumped as I realized I was playing as Sidney. I miraculously won the faceoff and unsteadily skated to the opposite goal, only to lose control and slam Sidney into the boards by my own power. There was a pause as the game cut out and showed a clip of Sidney doubled over on the ice. He was escorted off and we returned to faceoff position.

"Damn, Sid," Max commented, "it didn't take her long to take you out."

I inhaled sharply as Sidney left the room without a reply.

"Ah, shouldn't have said that," Max said, looking at me apologetically.

"It's fine," I replied in what I hoped was a controlled tone. The rest of our game passed quickly, with Max winning by a five-goal margin. "I told you I was bad," I said with a shrug as I passed the controller to Jordan. I looked around the room and saw that Sidney had still not returned. I muttered something about needing a drink and went into the kitchen, hoping I would find him there.

I faltered momentarily as I saw Sidney leaning against the kitchen island with his back toward me. I reached for a glass and cleared my throat.

"Hi," I said as he spun around to face me.

"Hi." There was an uncomfortable moment of silence and I busied myself with making a drink, just for something to do. "What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded as he moved toward me.

I swallowed hard and looked into his angry, yet still beautiful, brown eyes. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

Sidney shook his head. "I shouldn't care. I know it shouldn't matter to me where you go anymore. But I thought you'd gone and done something stupid because I was such a jerk to you at Bugsy's."

"So you admit you were a jerk."

"What else am I supposed to be, Karine?"

"You said we could be friends," I replied quietly as I averted my eyes to the floor.

Sid clenched his teeth and took another step towards me. "Do you know how impossible that is for me? I can't be just your friend."

"Yeah, 'just friends' would never work. I…I still care about you. A lot. And I'm sorry for everything. At the time I thought I was doing what was best, but I couldn't have been more wrong. If you don't want me around anymore, just say so. You won't have to see me again," I said quietly. I thought my heart was going to burst through my ribcage…I was afraid of his answer. If he said he wanted me gone, that would be it—I would have to walk out of Marc and Sylvie's house and never go to another game or party.

Sidney opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a very drunk Lauren stumbling into the kitchen. I raised my eyebrows—she couldn't have been here for longer than half an hour and she was already smashed. "Karine!" she shouted as she staggered to us. "Never go to Montreal again okay? Sidney was pissed!" she slurred.

I glanced at Sid. His cheeks were flushed slightly, probably from a combination of anger and embarrassment.

"Maybe you should go find Colby, Lauren," I replied. I wasn't in any mood to put up with her.

"Colby…is…" Suddenly, her expression changed. Her face became ghostly white and a blank expression passed over her as she leaned forward and vomited all over Sid and me.