Chapter 93

By the time the men were home long enough to take a breath, almost another month had past. Sid and I were in a great place in our relationship and I had my best friend back. Life was good. Lily had spent a good part of the time that the guys were away trying to devise a foolproof plan for the demise of the bimbo. I gotta give the girl credit, she came up with some pretty brilliant ideas, but me being me; I was having second thoughts.
"You are far too nice for your own good ya know that? Sometimes I can't even believe we're friends!" she told me the night before the guys came home.
"You're friends with me because you need someone to be your conscience," I replied only half joking.
"I don't need a conscience because I never have any regrets."
"Come on Lil, I know you better than that. You have to regret at least one thing you've done in that torrid past you have?"
She thought about this for a minute before saying "You're right! I do have one regret."
"Only one?" I quipped. "Please, I'm dying to know what it could be," I said rather sarcastically.
She looked at me, smiled the most evil grin and blurted out "I should have fucked Max when I had the chance."
"Lillian Marie Norman!"
"What?"
"Could you be more crude?"
"Lighten up Beks."
"I don't need to lighten up, and for the record, nothing would make me happier then you and Max getting together, but we still have one problem."
"Not if you take my advise and stick it to the bitch."
"Lil, if I go out of my way to make her self destruct, I'm no better than her plotting behind Max's back. I'd much rather let things play out and see what happens."
"And risk her making a move on your man? You are fucking crazy!"
"You're forgetting one small detail here Lily; I was so angry, I did too at first."
"What's that?"
"I'm worried about nothing. It doesn't matter what Brittany says or does to try and get Sidney; he is not going to be a willing participant. He loves me. He's not going to let anything happen that shouldn't."
"Okay, where's the real Bekah? You know, the one who never thinks anything good will happen; the one who is lacking in self confidence; the one who swore up and down that she would never fall in love...ever. Where's that girl?"
"It's amazing what the persistence and love of a good man can do isn't it?"
"Oh hell no! You did not just say something that cheesy!" she laughed as she threw a pillow at me.
"I know it's cheesy, but it's true. If Sidney hadn't been so persistent, and so understanding of everything from my past to my relationship with Max, I never would have come out from under that dark cloud. He is truly the most amazing person I've ever met. I don't know what I ever did to deserve him, but I thank my lucky stars every day that I have him."
"I love you Beks, and that's sweet and all, but seriously...stop. You're gonna make me puke."
"I know, it's disgusting, but I can't help it! I love him and he loves me. I trust him completely. There is no way that he'd let anything happen and I don't want to give him or Max a reason to be pissed at me. If I play games and they find out...neither of them would forgive me and I am not going to take that chance."
"So we're just gonna let it be and see what happens?"
"Exactly. The bimbo can ruin her own life, but she's not going to ruin mine."
"So what happens next?"
"Sidney and I are having dinner with them tomorrow. I think it will be very interesting."
"What aren't you telling me missy?"
"Sidney gave Max the go ahead to tell Brittany that I am his girlfriend."
"WHAT!!!" Lily shrieked. "I thought you guys weren't going to tell anyone?"
"Well, Sid and I talked about it after Max and I made up. We figured that if we're going to be spending time with them, she'd start to wonder why we were always together. Plus, I think it will be a good first test; ya know to see what her reaction is."
"Oooooh that is a great plan!"
"We'll see what happens at dinner tomorrow!"



"Did I ever tell you how proud I am of you?" Sidney asked me in the car on our way to the restaurant.
"Proud of me? For what?"
"For swallowing your pride and apologizing to Max even though you're right," he said kissing the back of my hand that he was holding.
Did he just say I was right?
"What do you mean even though I'm right?"
"Beks, I know you wouldn't lie about something this big. I'm sorry I never told you that before. I was in a tough spot. I was trying to support my friend and my girlfriend and I didn't do a very good job at either."
I couldn't think of anything else to say except "I love you."
He grinned and said "I love you too."
"I'm sorry Sidney," I said quietly.
"For what?"
"For being so angry with you for not believing me."
"I didn't know you were angry with me."
"I tried very hard to hide it. I already lost Max, I couldn't bare loosing you too."
"You are never going to loose me Beks," he said kissing my hand again. "I'm here for the long haul; for better or worse."
Did he seriously just spew part of a marriage vow to me?
"Well lets hope there's no more worse. I've had enough worse for a lifetime."
"I'll second that."
"Hey, has Max told Brittany about us yet?"
"No, I think he's planning on doing it tonight, so we could be there."
"Why would he want us to be there?"
"I might have mentioned to him that I'd like to be there to gauge her reaction...you know for future reference when we start telling peopl.e."
He had this look on his face that I couldn't read at first. Then that cheeky grin appeared across his beautiful lips and instantly I knew. I knew this was his way of 'supporting' me. He was making sure I was there so I could see her reaction. He was anticipating a negative reaction too
I smiled at him satisfactorily.
"I love you," he whispered.


Once again Max and Brittany beat us to the restaurant. They both stood as Sidney and I approached and I couldn't help but laugh to myself watching her fuss with her hair and smooth her dress; a dress that was bordering on inappropriate for the kind of restaurant we were in.
Sidney shook Max's hand and gave the bimbo a polite kiss on the cheek. She blushed. I got the typical french greeting from Max and we took our seats. Max ordered a bottle of champagne when the waitress came by to take our drink orders.
"Champagne? Maxie, what's the occasion?" I asked.
"Nothing really, just a coming together of new friends and new loves," he winked at me. "Which one of you want to do the honours?"
Sid and I looked at each other and he knew exactly what to do.
"I guess I will," he said as the champagne arrived.
"Brittany I must apologize to you."
She looked like a deer caught in the headlights and stumbled over her words.
"M...me? Wh...why are you apologizing to me?"
"I was less than truthful with you when we first met."
"I don't understand."
"You asked me if I had a girlfriend the last time we had dinner and I'm afraid I wasn't exactly truthful."
"Oh?"
Sidney put his arm around me and you could see the colour drain from her face.
"Bekah and I have been together for a while now. We haven't told anyone except for a few close friends and family because of all the media attention it would get. Seeing as how it's my rookie year and there's been so much hype surrounding me, I have alot to prove and if the press or anyone else found out I had a girlfriend, it would be a huge distraction. Not to mention the poor boys."
"B b boys?" she stammered.
"Yes, Alex and Jake, Bekah's two boys. If our relationship became public it would completely shatter their world. Keeping their lives the same as it was before I met Bekah is the most important thing to us. I'm sure you understand the need to keep our relationship private."
For a brief moment I was almost positive her head was going to explode and I was enjoying every second of it.
"So why are you telling me?" she said when she was able to find her voice.
"Because you are Max's girlfriend and he is Bekah's best friend so we'll be spending alot of time together. Wouldn't you start to wonder why Bekah and I are always together if we didn't tell you?"
"P-r-o-b-a-b-l-y" she said very slowly.
"Well now you won't have to wonder. I trust that you will keep this information to yourself...as a personal favour to me?"
Her eyes lit up at Sidney's words. "Yes."
"Good. Thank you," he said giving her a wink for good measure, to which she giggled like a school girl. "It would be very unfortunate if word got out. With the limited number of people that know, we would know exactly who leaked the information. So, now that that's out of the way, who's hungry?"
I had never loved Sidney more than I did at that moment.

Chapter 92

It had been 4 days since I left my last message for Max. I still hadn't heard from him and I was starting to lose hope. The team was getting ready to leave for a 10 day road trip and I was extremely grumpy for both reasons. The rift between Max and I was beginning to take it's toll on my relationship with Sidney. He refused to talk to me about it anymore and it was really starting to bother me, though I couldn't tell which was annoying me more - the fact that he was giving me no information about Max whatsoever, or that my own boyfriend didn't seem to believe me either. We agreed that today, our last day together for 10, would be just the 4 of us; me, Sid and the boys - and not one word would be said about Max. We were going to pick the boys up from school, cook dinner and watch a movie - The Mighty Ducks of course! Sid had managed to transpose his obsession for those movies on to the boys too. I really needed to find a different hockey movie for these boys to watch! We were just getting ready to head out to get the boys but when I opened the door I was...stunned.

My hands clasped over my mouth and starring into those eyes after so long left me speechless. When I was able to find my words the only thing that came out was "oh my God!"
"Bonjour bijou," was his only response and I had trouble making it out. For about 30 seconds all we could do was stand and stare at each other, feeling awkward until instinct kicked in. We wrapped our arms around each other and held on for dear life. I held him so tight and so close to me I was sure I was suffocating him but at this moment I didn't care - my best friend was in my arms again and I was never letting go.

"I am so, so sorry," we both said in unison through our tears.

"I hate to interrupt but Beks, we have to go," Sidney said quietly. The look on our faces left no room for interpretation and Sid took the hint.
"I'll be back in 20," he said sneaking past us out the door.

I led Max to the couch hand in hand, afraid if I let go he'd slip away again. He looked tired; huge bags had taken up residence under his beautiful blue eyes, and if I wasn't mistaken, I'd swear he'd lost weight.
"Maxie, I am so, so sorry. I was out of line. I never should have..."
"Shhh," was the only thing he said as he pulled me into his chest. I closed my eyes and hoped that would stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks. I seriously didn't think I had any tears left after all the crying I'd been doing over the past month, but these were tears of happiness, so it was different.
"Mon petite bijou," he whispered placing a soft kiss on my forehead. That was all he said. We sat in silence until it was broken by the ringing of the phone.
"I'll let the machine get it," I said as he loosened his grip on me.
"It could be important," he said.
"Just for the record, nothing is more important than this right now," I replied reaching for the phone.

"Hello?"
"Hey, it's just me. I have the boys and I'm going to take them back to Mario's for dinner so you and Max can have some time together okay?"
I was happy, yet sad at the same time. "But this was supposed to be our night together before you left."
"Beks, you need this right now. You need to fix things with Max so we can all be okay. We'll be back right after dinner and we can still do the movie okay?"
"You are seriously the best boyfriend ever. I love you so much."
"I know you do. I do too ya know," he said being careful not to say anything revealing in front of the boys.
"I know. See you soon."
I hung up and turned my attention back to Max.

"Where were we," I said sitting back down next to Max. "I believe I was apologizing."
"Stop. I don't want anymore I'm sorries from you. I need to apologize to you bijou."
"But you didn't do anything. I caused this; me, not you."
"That's not true. I was stubborn and pig headed and stupid. I asked for your opinion and then got pissed off when you gave it to me."
"You had the right to be pissed off. I said awful things that I had no right saying and making judgements I had no right making. I should have trusted you and your judgement. The mere fact that you like her should have been good enough for me. I was scared and I was stupid."
"Scared? What were you scared of?"
"Losing you."
"Losing me? Ah baby, you could never lose me," he said putting his hand on my cheek.
"Really, cause what do you call the last month?"
"Stupid and ancient history. It's done and over with and I don't ever want to talk about it again."
"Just like that? You don't even want to know why?"
"I can be a very forgiving guy," he smiled. "And you just told me why. You were scared, end of story."
"You forgive me?"
"Of course bijou. I love you."
"I love you too," I said wrapping my arms around him again. "I missed you so much Max."
"Not half as much as I missed you," he whispered. "You're my best friend Beks. I need you. I have been miserable this past month and I don't ever want to go through this again."
"Me neither. I've been so miserable, even the boys are afraid to be around me, and Sid; I'm surprised he stuck around."
"The kid is not going anywhere Beks, you can trust me on that one. He loves you way too much."
"Speaking of love...since we wiped the slate clean, how 'bout you tell me how things are going with that girlfriend of yours."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. This is what best friends do."
"Okay, well things are...good I guess."
"You guess?"
"Yeah well, this last month has been tough. I haven't been really in the mood to do much so things have been moving along slowly."
"Slowly?"
"Yeah. we've had dinner a few times, gone to a couple movies, that's about it."
"Has she been to any games?"
"No, doesn't like hockey remember?"
"Right. She could still go to see you though."
"She doesn't feel comfortable going by herself and she doesn't know any of the girlfriends yet."
"Well, maybe we can convince her to come with me."
"You? Alone? With Brittany?"
"Clean slate remember? Seriously Max, I didn't give her a fair chance and if she's important to you, then it's important to me to get to know her."
"Well, yeah sure, why not!"

'Thank god he bought all this crap. And thank god he didn't ask me why I lied about hearing her on the phone. I don't know what I would have done.'

The next hour and a half flew by but over that time period, I found out that Max had not slept with Brittany yet. Some kind of record? Hell yeah. I was thrilled that he hadn't had sex with her, but at the same time, I felt a deep sadness. Max obviously really, really liked this girl if he's been hanging in there for a good two months now and he still hadn't gotten any. It just reassured me that I was right; she didn't really like him so she wasn't giving it up(brownie point for her for not being a complete puck slut I guess). But I felt sad because I knew that if he liked her that much, it was only going to hurt that much more when the truth was revealed. I guess it's a good thing he'd have his best friend there to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart.