Three.

“Could you not be so obvious about your obsession?” I asked Liam when we got into Erin’s car.

“Shut up, Grace.” He said.

“Back me up, Erin.” I said.

“I’m not getting in the middle of this.” She said.

“I’m just saying.. talk to some of the other guys.” I said.

“What? Like Sidney Crosby? I think you got that covered.” He said.

“What?” I said confused.

“You two were talking for awhile..” He said

“Yeah, because you were talking to Brooks. What did you want me to do? Just watch you and stand in a corner?” I asked. Like what was his problem? I was just being nice.

“I’m just saying.. it looked like you were interested.”

“No, Liam. It looked like he was interested.” Erin said.

“I don’t think so, Erin.” I said and then she pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. When we got out, I went to Erin.

“Hey, could you keep the cancer thing on the dl.” I said to her.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t tell anyone. Could you make sure Brooks won’t either?”

“He won’t. And Grace..” She said.

“Yeah?”

“Its okay to like someone other than Liam.” She said.

“I know..” I said a little confused on why she would say something like that.

“I just don’t want you to be oblivious to something that is right in front of you because of Liam.” Erin said.

“Thanks, Erin. But, I’m fine with how things are with me and Liam.” I said. We then walked into the restaurant and found the guys waiting for us. I ended up sitting between Sidney and Liam.

“So you guys go to school here?” Max asked us.

“Yeah, Pitt Nursing.” I said.

“Grace wants to be a doctor though.” Liam said.

“What kind of doctor?” Sidney asked.

“Oncologist.” I said.

“Why go to school to be a nurse then?” Jordan asked.

“Back up plan. I can just take extra classes to get into med school.” I said.

“She has it all figured out.” Liam said.

“Seems like you two are close.” Max said.

“You have no idea how close they are.” Erin said.

“Erin.” I simply said.

“Whats that about?” Sidney asked me. Everyone else was in another conversation.

“It seems like everyone won’t let me and Liam just die. We aren’t together anymore, that’s just how it is, but I don’t need to be reminded how good we use to be. I don’t need everyone to still act like we are this perfect couple, because we aren’t.” I whispered.

“Did you guys date for a long time?” He asked.

“Like two years.. it was all just bad timing.” I explained.

“So do you volunteer at the hospital a lot?” He asked a little later.

“Atleast once a week.” I said. “I didn’t mean to be rude when I met you that day.” I said.

“you weren’t. It was refreshing to know that you said what was on your mind.”

“Its kind of my curse. I don’t have a filter. I just say whatever comes to mind.” I said laughing.

“Literally, she does. It is kind of annoying.” Liam said.

“Yeah, lets not get started on all the things you do that are annoying. Like never putting the dishes in the dishwasher, or leaving every light on in the apartment!” I said to Liam.

“you two live together?” Max asked.

“Yeah, unfortunately.” I said.

“You love it.” Liam said.

“Your parents are letting you live together and you use to date?” Sidney asked.

“Our parents insisted that we live together.” I said.

“The only reason we came to Pittsburgh was to be together.” Liam said.

“Yeah, that really worked.” I said a little upset. “Excuse me.” I said getting up and leaving.

“Liam..why do you have to do that?” Erin asked.

“I’ll go talk to her.” Liam said.

“How about I go talk to her?” Sidney said and he got up. I went to the lobby of the restaurant. I was sitting on the bench when I saw Sidney come over.

“Are you okay?” Sidney asked me.

“Yeah..” I said.

“You don’t look like it.” He said.

“You don’t understand. Me and Liam.. it will always be me and Liam. He still acts like we are dating sometimes but he doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want to be together. He just likes the convenience. He likes the thought of me and him. He likes how it was.” I explained.

“I don’t really understand.. you came to school here to be with each other?” He asked. I could tell he was really confused by it all.

“We met in Pittsburgh, a fluke encounter. We were 16. We lived in two different towns. He lives close to Pittsburgh, I live like 90 miles away. We decided it would be right for us to go to school together in Pittsburgh, because that’s where it started for us. Little did I know, it would be the end for us as well.” I explained.

“Maybe you should just get away from him.” He said.

“I don’t want to get away from him. He is my best friend.. I just. I don’t know.” I said.

“It doesn’t matter. Thanks for checking on me, Sidney.” I said giving him a small smile.

“Do you want to go get coffee with me? Or go do something?” He asked.

“Like now?” I asked.

“Well it seems like you are mad at Liam, and you are right. I don’t understand your relationship. I don’t even know you, but I would like to know you. I could always use another friend who doesn’t care about who I am.” He said.

“Oh, right. You play for the Penguins.” I said absentmindedly.

“see, you forget. I like that.” He said.

“Yeah, well I could always use another friend whose name is not Liam.” I said laughing.

“So coffee?” He asked.

“Yeah..” I said. “We have to go back to the table though.” I said.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked looking at me when we got back to the table.

“I’m fine.” I said.

We got up to leave and Liam pulled me to the side.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“It’s fine Liam.” I said.

“Jordan asked if we wanted to hang out at his apartment tonight?” Liam asked me.

“Jordan invited you?” I asked.

“Yeah, he is really cool. He is like our age and his girlfriend is in town.. it seems fun.” He said.

“I’m actually going to go with Sidney for coffee. But you go with Jordan, I’ll text you.” I said.

“you are going with Sidney?” He asked.

“Yeah? Go with Jordan. Have fun.. I’ll see you later.” I said looking at him. Then he went with Jordan and I went with Sidney.

“So, tell me about yourself. All I know is that you want to be a doctor, you know Erin, you volunteer, and you have a weird relationship with Liam.” He said.

“I love starbucks. Its kind of crazy, Liam makes fun of me.” I said laughing.

“You talk about Liam a lot.” He said.

Sidney’s POV

I don’t really get her and Liam. There has to be more than what she is telling me. I mean even Erin knew something about them. Its like they have this weird bond, that no one is saying. He’s more than just her best friend, it seems like she is still in love with him. Of course, my luck! I find a girl who is chill, likes to help people, isn’t phased by me being a hockey player.. and she is hung up on some jerk.

“I’m sorry.. its just habit. We are together all the time. We volunteer together a lot of the time, we live together, we have the same classes.” She said.

“He seemed like a jerk today.” I said. As soon as I said it, I knew I shouldn’t have. The way her face looked after I said, I knew I struck a nerve.

“That’s not fair, Sidney. You don’t even know him and me and him.. we have this weird thing we do. We just make fun of each other.” She said.

“I’m sorry..” I said.

“So tell me something other than that you are like the world’s best hockey player.” She said laughing. I like her laugh. It is like a nervous laugh. I think sometimes when she doesn’t know what to say or what to do, she just laughs. Its really cute.

“I’m a normal 20 year old.” I said.

“Yeah, that just is the best at what he does.” she said laughing again.

“ I just play hockey. I don’t like the attention, it just comes with it.” I said.

“Yeah.. I get it.” She said. It seemed like she genuinely wanted to know things about me.

“So are you a hockey fan?” I asked her. I didn’t know what I wanted the answer to be.

“Not really. I watch the games with Liam, sometimes. He loves hockey. He played in high school (well until he got sick, but I left that part out.)” She said. “I do love hockey movies, though.” She said smiling.

“Did you play any sports in high school?” I asked her. I just wanted to know more about her.

Grace’s POV

“I played basketball and volleyball until my junior year, then I had to quit.” I said. After I said it, I thought about what I said. What if he asks me why I had to quit? I didn’t want to tell him about cancer yet. It seems like I can’t even say anything because everything leads back to cancer. I never noticed that before. I never noticed how much cancer really is a part of my life.

“Why did you quit?” He asked me.

“Oh you know.. I don’t know actually.” I said lying. I felt bad lying, but I just met him. I didn’t owe him anything, yet.

“So, can I ask why you and Liam broke up?” He asked me.

“He cheated on me.” I simply said.

“And you are still best friends and you live together?” He said a little shocked.

“Me and Liam had a very intense relationship. It was more intense than I think we even realized. He went away with some of his guy friends right before we were about to start college. He called me and just said he wasn’t ready for this. He loved me and would always love me, but it was too much. He later told me that he fooled around with some girl.”

“You forgave him?” Sidney asked.

“Of course. He is Liam. He was right, it was too serious for the both of us.”

“I can tell by the look in your eyes that you would still be with him, if he wanted to be.” He said.

“Maybe, who knows. It doesn’t really matter because we aren’t together.” I said.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” He asked.

“Wow, 20 questions?” I said.

“I’m sorry.. I’m just trying to figure you out.” He said.

“I don’t have a boyfriend. What about you?” I asked him.

“No girlfriend. Hard to find a girl that likes me for me and not for my hockey title.” He said.

“Yeah, that would be hard.” I said.

It didn’t seem like we were in that coffee shop for that long. But, I looked at my watch and 2 hours had past.

“Liam is going to kill me!” I said.

“What?”

“I told him I would text him later.” I said.

“He is with Jordan, it doesn’t matter.” He said.

“You are right..” I said. I knew I had to stop acting like Liam was my whole world.

“Do you want to go over there?” He asked me.

“Are you going?” I asked.

“Yeah, it would be better if you come.” He said.

“I’ll go, but you have to promise to talk to Liam. You would like him.” I said once we got in the car.

“Do you think it would be okay if I got your number? I mean just so we could talk or something..”

“I’m glad you asked because I always think about asking people but I get scared.” I said laughing.

“Yeah, I usually don’t. But, I figured it would be easier to do it now before we get to Jordan’s and Liam is watching you like a hawk.” He said.

“Liam doesn’t watch me.” I said correcting him.

“He does, you may not see it. But everyone else does.” He said and then we exchanged numbers.

There was something about Sidney. Something that was so raw, that I liked. I liked talking to him, and I liked the fact he didn’t know what I had gone through. I liked that he didn’t feel bad for me. That was the worst part of people knowing you had cancer. Everyone feels bad for you, I don’t need people’s pity. I just wanted to know that Sidney liked me for who I was now, not what I went through then. I was just hoping Liam wouldn’t be a problem. But, I guess.. the question will always come down too.. If I could be with Liam or someone else, like Sidney, who would I choose? For now, I think I would choose Liam, which means I don’t like anyone enough.. yet.