Eleven.

Rae's POV

It's been four days since Sidney left my apartment. In that time, I've tried desperately to stay busy, which really isn't hard for me. I've picked up extra shifts at the café while on Christmas Break, knowing that as soon as the next semester starts, I'll be required to attend Penguins home games and even travel for away games. This will also be my last semester of college, so I know that if I can get through the next couple of months unscathed, everything will work out.

I mean unscathed in a number of ways; firstly, I'll obviously have to get through my final classes and then pass my boards and more importantly, find a job. Secondly, I mean Sidney.

He's dangerous for a number of reason he's oblivious to. I thought that if we could just be friends, he'd eventually get bored and leave me alone, like I desperately needed. Although, after the last time I saw him, I'm not so sure I did a good job at keeping the previous boundaries intact.

Sure, that night was mind blowing, a fact that I don't think Derek will ever let me forget, but it also changed a lot. Obviously, just friends between Sidney and I will be even harder for me to obtain now, because when I look at his strong hands, I'll always remember the way his fingers played me like a harp. I also do not have the "drunk" card to play this time, because believe me, I remember every moment.

Yes, Sidney is dangerous.

We're at the slower part of the morning shift when I see him walk into the café. My eyes go wide as I scuffle around the corner, hoping he didn't see me quite yet, as I busy myself refilling the drinks I had just picked up from one of my tables. I watch from around the corner as Derek walks up to Sidney and they start talking. I'm mortified when I hear both of them laughing; who knows what Derek said to him. When I finally decide that I can't stall any longer and that my table is waiting for their drinks, I take a deep breath and round the corner.

I see Derek sitting him at a table for two in my section and feel my heart drop; he's unavoidable now. Sidney's eyes lock on mine and I smile before scurrying over and giving them their refilled drinks and then going into the back again, where I meet Derek.

"You've got a little prezzie sitting in your section," Derek says, winking at me and feeling proud of himself, before throwing the dirty dishes he just collected off an empty table into the sink.

"I can't go out there," I whisper yell at him, throwing my hands up in then air.

"Oh, honey, you have to," Derek responds, obviously annoyed. "He asked for you."

"Who asked for her?" Kelly, the owner of the café, asks while stepping around the corner. Derek gets a devilish look on his face before pointing around the corner with enough sass to make all the local cheerleaders jealous.

"No, don't look!" I yell, but it's already too late. Kelly peeks her head around the corner, smiles and then waves. "Did he see you?" I ask, completely mortified as she nods her head.

"Nice," Kelly responds while nodding her head in reference to Sidney. "Why exactly don't you want to see him?" I open my mouth to respond, but Derek beats me to it.

"Because he rocked her world a couple of nights ago," Derek interjects, making some very provocative hip gestures.. I glare at him, feeling about two feet tall as Derek and Kelly laugh before giving each other a high five. I'm about to argue when he speaks up again. "Don't even try to deny it, I heard you, baby girl. Those walls are paper thin."

I put my hands up, covering my face as the two of them laugh again at my expense.

"Oh my gosh, she's not denying it!" Kelly yells, making them both laugh harder. "Why are we hiding from him exactly?"

"Because he's 'off limits'" Derek responds for me.

"He plays for the team my internship is through," I add, trying to plead my case. Kelly nods her head once. "So you understand?" I ask, hoping at least somebody gets the problem, because Derek definitely doesn't.

"Why you're hiding from him? No," she laughs. "He's just built like an athlete, that's what I understand."

Kelly walks back to her office, leaving Derek and I alone. I lean back against the wall, letting my head just rest there as I continue to have a mental break down.

"What do I even say to him?" I ask aloud, more to myself than to Derek.

"Why don't you start with the truth, babe?" he replies, reaching up and pulling my face down so our eyes meet. "Tell him that you missed him."

Sidney's POV

She walks around the corner a couple of minutes later, straightening her apron in a nervous fashion as she approaches me.

"Hi," she greets simply, smiling and waving to an elderly couple as they leave. "Do you know what you want yet?" she continues, referring to the menu in my hands.

I think about telling her exactly what I want, but know that isn't an option, so I decide to play nice instead. "Yeah, I'll take the number two and a coffee."  A big smile crosses her face while she writes down my order. "Is there something wrong with the number 2?" I ask.

"No," she responds, shaking her head. "The stuffed French toast is great, I just figured you for more of a 'bacon and eggs' type of guy, that's all. Do you want your coffee black?" I nod my head yes as her eyes nervously glance up at me. "Okay, I'll be right back."

She stops by her other tables, checking in on them before going and putting my order in. As she's doing that, Derek almost appears out of no where.

"I think you're probably a good enough guy for her," he says casually with a shrug of his shoulders, looking over at Rae, who is now walking back toward us with coffee and food in hand. As I'm trying to figure out if that's an actual compliment or not, he continues. "Don't give me a reason to think otherwise."

Rae comes over and sits my food down in front of me as the front door is opening and new customers walk in. Both Derek and her smile and greet them as to two young guys pick a table and sit down.

"Oooooo," Derek whispers with a waggle of his eyebrows. "I've got this one, babe," he says to Rae, who chuckles, but nods her head.

"I can't believe I didn't realize he was gay," I respond, taking a drink of my coffee. Rae finally turns toward me and just smiles. Just when I finally think we're alone, I see someone walking toward us with another plate of food.

"Hi, I'm Kelly," she greets, sitting the food down opposite of me. "Sit down Rae, you can take a break and eat." Rae looks like she's about to argue, but Kelly directs her attention to me first. "The stuffed French toast is her favorite," she says with a smile. "Sit down, Rae," she says again, moving her over toward the chair. "I can watch your tables for fifteen minutes."

Rae sits down as told, shaking her head while picking up her fork. "People are very subtle around here, if you didn't notice," she scoffs, smiling before taking a bite of food.

"I don't mind," I respond, shoveling some food in to my mouth as well; she's right, the stuffed French toast is amazing. She tenses a little, only nodding in response. Unfortunately, I feel that most of the time, I only see the real Rae when we're locked in her apartment.

"How was the road trip?"

"It was okay," I tell her, shrugging my shoulders. I look up to see her looking back at me intently. "I didn't really get to do much with the team. I had to take back exits a lot and pretty much stayed in my hotel."

"Crazy Canadians in full force, I guess?" she laughs.

"Something like that," I smile. "Vancouver was probably my favorite stop." She nods her head once, giving up zero information about her hometown, which I find odd as I realize that I don't know far enough about her.

Rae's POV

"When next semester starts you'll get hour wish," I tell him, quickly changing the subject from hometowns. "I'll be at all the home games and even travel with the team."

"That's not the same," he admonishes. "You'll be working. And I'm sure you'll have strict rules for me on the road trips anyways."

"Part of the time, yes," I reply, taking another bite of food and ignoring his last comment. "I don't think I'll get to see much of you otherwise, so at least it's something."

"Am I getting dismissed?" he asks. There is a smile on his face, but a part of me knows he's asking a real question. And to be honest, I don't know if I am trying to dismiss him or not.

"I'll be in my last semester of classes, I'm just saying I don't know how much free time I'll have."

"What a slut time is," he replies, catching me completely off guard. He smirks before continuing, "she screws everybody." He reaches into his coat pocket, pulls out my kindle and slides it across the table, pink case and all. "I stopped in today to return this. I didn't know when I'd get to see you again, and I figured you must have missed it."

"You really read one?" I ask after being completely quiet for what must have felt like forever to him. He nods his head, looking me directly in the eyes.

"I promised you I would," he says quietly, gently shrugging his shoulders as if it isn't a big deal; but it is, and his nerdy Fault in our Stars reference means more to me than he'd ever know. "And besides, it sounds like I've had a little bit of more free time than you have," he smiles. "This isn't stressing you out, is it?"

I gjve my head one shake, not know what part of 'this' he's referring to; school, work, internship, or him.

"I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend," I respond with a smile.