Poker Face

So I'm pretty sure this is like, the second to last chapter. It's almost done!!!

Okay, I’m not gonna drag the next part out. We lost. Detroit won the Stanley Cup. The guys were devastated, you could see it all in their faces. Callie and I waited outside the locker room for the longest time, just waiting. I’m sure the boys were lagging anyway, but Therrien was probably chewing their asses out too. A lot of guys filed out, and we talked with a few of them. Finally, Jordan walked out.

“Hey,” I greeted softly. He just responded with a small, sad smile and gave me a quick hug. Callie embraced him and ran her fingers through his hair. She opened her mouth to speak, but he raised a hand up to stop her.

“I know, I know. Please don’t give me the speech,” he smirked. She smiled back and they both turned to me. “Are we giving you a ride then?”

“No I’m waiting for Kris,” I told him. He looked at me strangely.

“Uh…he left,” Jordan stated. Callie shot me a look.

“What do you mean?” I asked dumbly.

“Well, earlier, when he was waiting for you to arrive, he told me what he was going to ask you,” Jordan explained. “Then when I asked him how it went he said you didn’t answer.”

“I tried!” I interrupted. “I was a little stunned at first but when I tried to tell him he wouldn’t acknowledge me.”

“Well, regardless, after the game, he said something about not being able to get the two things he wanted the most. Then he busted through the back doors,” Jordan told us. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “So…you’ll be wanting that ride then?”

“No…I brought my own car,” I answered. “Thanks though. I’ll see you guys later.” We exchanged goodbyes and I made my way to my car. I debated going to Kris’s or just going home, and if you’ve learned anything about me by now you know I drove around town re-routing myself every time I changed my mind. In the end, I drove to Kris’s.

I rang his doorbell and waited. And waited. And waited. I tried again, but still nothing. I had only driven around for a little over an hour, so he couldn’t be asleep yet. I was about to leave when I heard a loud bang from inside.

I turned the handle, and it was actually unlocked. I walked in and shut the door behind me, making sure to lock it this time. “Kris?” I called out. No answer, but I heard clanging in the kitchen, followed by glass shattering. “Kris?” I repeated a little more urgently as I walked to the kitchen. I pushed the door open and saw Kris sitting on the ground, attempting to clean the glass.

The room smelled like alcohol, and sure enough when I looked up there were bottles open all over the place. I looked back towards Kris and saw him bumbling around on the floor, and I noticed his hands were cut from the glass. “Kris,” I said, rushing toward him. I squatted down next to him and grabbed his hands, pulling them away from the shards he was still attempting to pick up. He tried fighting me a little but I kept his wrists in my grip. “Leave it,” I ordered softly. I rose up and pulled him with me. He stumbled a little but I managed to get him over to the sink. I turned on the water and got the stuff I’d need to clean his wounds.

“What are you doing here?” He slurred. Funny, the last time he was drunk he asked me the exact same question. I continued to bandage him up and surprisingly he didn’t resist.

“How did you manage to get this drunk so fast?” I inquired. He breathed in deeply.

“Easy. I drank a lot of alcohol,” he remarked.

“Fair enough. Why?” I wrapped gauze across his palms.

“Why?” He looked at me incredulously. “Because I lost the Stanley Cup and the woman I love both in the same night.” He yanked his bandaged hands away from me and plopped down at the kitchen table with his head in his hands. Instead of answering him, I started to sweep up the floor. After a while I felt his eyes on me, so I looked up. “You’re beautiful,” he said simply.

Suddenly his phone started ringing. He reached over to the counter and grabbed the cordless off the base, not without swaying a bit. “Allô?” I took this opportunity to get all the glass up from the floor. Once I was finished I stood in front of Kris and waited for him to finish up. After a few more moments he said goodbye to whoever he was talking to and hung up.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“None of your business,” he stated. I bit my lip and nodded, because he was absolutely right. I started walking for the door but he reached out and brushed my arm. I stopped and looked at Kris, who looked at his hand confusedly. “I could’ve sworn I had you there,” he muttered. He moved his hand to actually grip my arm this time and stood up. “Anyways I’m sorry about that…Jordan was the one on the phone. He was just checking in.”

“That’s okay Kris. You were right though. It wasn’t my business,” I assured. He stepped forward and let his head fall on to my shoulder. “Let’s get you to bed.” He just replied with a grunt so I led him out of the kitchen and to his room. Which, was no easy feat let me tell you. Once I did get him in his room I sat him on his bed, and he immediately flopped back to lay down.

I laughed slightly and shook my head, taking off his shoes and socks. He was already in sweatpants, so I figured he could just stay in those. I grabbed his arms and pulled him up into a sitting position so I could remove his shirt. He stared at the wall behind me, like he was in a daze. Once I had his shirt off I turned to look, and saw he was staring at a Pittsburgh Penguin Stanley Cup 2008 Promo Poster.

“It’s really over, isn’t it?” he muttered. I sighed and turned back to him.

“At least until next year,” I offered.

“We were so close. So close,” he said, flopping back down again. I pulled his blankets down and shifted him so he was laying the right way, and then I covered him up. “Are you staying?” He asked. I looked up at him, and realized it didn’t matter whether or not I answered. He was already asleep. I smiled and went into his bathroom, where I filled a cup of water and got two aspirin for when he woke up in the morning.

I was probably going to stay, but more than likely I would sleep downstairs or something. I cleaned up around his house a little before I finally convinced myself to go to bed. I grabbed one of his shirts and threw it on as pajamas, and laid on the couch. I watched TV for a bit and before I knew it I was out cold.

The sun shining on my face through a window eventually woke me up. I looked at the clock, which read ten A.M. I quietly made my way to Kris’s room to check on him. He was still sleeping, so I went back downstairs into the kitchen. I decided to make a big breakfast, hopefully to lighten Kris’s spirit’s a little. I made pancakes, eggs, and sausage, and was frying up some bacon when I felt a hand on my lower back. “Smells good,” Kris stated. I smiled at him and he returned a sad one. He went to the fridge and poured himself some orange juice.

“Coffee should be ready soon,” I told him. He just nodded and sat at the table. “Did you get the aspirin?” He just nodded again, staring at his orange juice. Once I was done with the bacon I popped some bread into the toaster. I made us plates with all the food and while I waited for the toast I poured us two cups of coffee. I put butter, ketchup, and syrup on the table, along with whatever else I thought we’d need. Once everything was ready I set my plate on the table and then set his plate and mug in front of him. He just gazed at it for a bit. “Eat,” I smiled while spreading butter on my toast.

“I’m not really hungry,” he said. I looked up at him, dumbstruck. Kris was always hungry.

“Oh. Okay,” I said, a little hurt. I spent all that time cooking and he doesn’t even want it. I got up and reached for his plate, trying to decide what I was going to do with all that food. Before I could take it away he grabbed my wrist.

“Leave it…maybe I’ll pick at it or something,” he shrugged.

“I don’t want to force you or anything,” I quipped. He just frowned at me so I sat back down in my seat and stared at my plate. Suddenly I wasn’t very hungry either. I sipped my coffee and glanced at Kris, who was just looking at the table.

“Sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have made breakfast without finding out if you were hungry or not,” I apologized.

“It’s fine,” he responded. What? Okay, I’ll admit, the only reason I apologized was because I thought he was going to say something like ‘Oh, it’s not your fault. Since when have I ever not been hungry?’ Psh, whatever. I started eating my food, partially because I didn’t want it all to go to waste and partially because I was hungry again. I noticed Kris start to pick at some things, and eventually he ate most of it. I cleared the table and started doing the dishes. “Thanks for breakfast. It was good,” he said.

“Yeah,” I responded. I heard him sigh and get up, and after a few moments of not hearing anything else, I figured he left. I jumped when I felt his breath tickling my ear.

“I like your shirt,” he whispered, pecking my neck. He stepped back and leaned against the counter next to me. He began to dry the dishes and put them away. When I was finished washing I helped Kris put everything away. I put the plates away in a cabinet above the counter and when I turned around Kris was right behind me.

He put his arms around either side of me and rested his hands on the counter, trapping me. I glared at him and he sighed. “Listen, I’m sorry I’m acting weird today, I just…I’m confused.” My gaze softened a bit and he continued.

“After loosing last night, I’m already upset, and normally that breakfast would have cheered me up but I’m not entirely sure what you’re doing here.”

“Like I was going to leave you in the state you were in,” I remarked, holding up his bandaged hands. He pulled them out of my grasp and turned away from me.

“Well I’m fine now so you can leave,” he said.

“Kris,”

“No, Jaime. I’m so sick of this…this back and forth bullshit we’ve got going. I’m so tired of trying to keep up with it,” he sighed.

“You’re tired? Are you kidding me? You’re the one who’s back and forth! I’m the one who is waiting for you to make up your goddamn mind,” I informed him.

“Exactly. You’ve been neutral practically the whole time,” he accused. “The reason I’m so up and down is because I’m trying to judge how you feel about me but I can’t read you!” He finished his rant by glaring at me, and after a few moments all we did was stare at each other. I didn’t know what to say, and I think he could tell, because soon his gaze softened and he looked at the floor. “Look,” he sighed. “I know we both have feelings for each other and stuff…but maybe it’s best if we just cooled it for a while, you know?” I looked at him quizzically.

“Cool what, exactly?” I inquired. He began stuttering around for a while before he just shrugged.

“You know…this,” he said, pointing between the two of us.

“This…relationship that we never really had to begin with?” I prompted.

“Er…yeah,” he said slowly.

“Right…” I nodded, exiting the kitchen.

“Jaime, c’mon. Don’t be mad,” Kris called, following me.

“I’m not,” I said, heading for the front door. “I have to go.”

“No you don’t.”

“Okay fine. I want to go,” I opened the door and glanced back at him. He was just watching me leave. I continued walking out and he stood in the doorway behind me.

“You know,” he stated, causing me to look up at him before entering my car. “You wonder why I don’t commit to you when you’re always the one walking away from me.” He shut the door soon after, leaving me standing there.