I Can't Do It Alone

Kris quickly turned the alarm off, trying to make sure to not wake Tia up. She had a hard time getting to sleep the night before, scared about the stalker and his letter and pictures he had delivered, and Kris didn’t want to wake her now. He rolled over to look at her, and seeing that she was still sound asleep, he smiled to himself before climbing out of bed.

He walked into the bathroom, taking a quick shower and brushing his teeth, before walking back into his bedroom, putting on a pair of sweatpants and a Pittsburgh Penguins t-shirt. He looked at the clock on his bedside table to see that he needed to be at the arena in a half an hour for practice. He glanced at Tia, who looked very peaceful, and smiled.

He ran out into the living room, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, and he scribbled a note to Tia, explaining that he had practice and for her to make herself at home, and that he would be back in a few hours. He then grabbed his bag and keys, walking out the door, quietly shutting and locking it behind him.

As he walked into the locker room, he could hear Max telling someone about his argument with Brooklyn, and how he wasn’t going to get married right now. As he looked around, he realized that he was talking to Sid, and Kris couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Max when he said something about Brooklyn getting pregnant on purpose.

“Seriously, what is wrong with these two girls?” Sid asked.

Kris began putting his pads on as he looked over at Sid. “You’re kidding me, right?” he asked him.

“About what?” Sid questioned.

“You’re blaming your problems on Brooklyn and Jocelyn?”

“Who else would we be talking about?” Max asked.

Kris rolled his eyes, continuing to put his pads on before bending down to put his skates on. He continued to listen to Max and Sid go back and forth, debating on who had a worse relationship at the moment, and Kris couldn’t stand listening to it anymore. “Will you guys shut up?” Kris yelled. “There are people that have worse problems than you!” he exclaimed, walking out onto the ice.

“Hey, Tanger!” Sid yelled as he and Max followed him. “Wait up!”

“Tanger!” Max called. Finally, Kris stopped, turning around towards them. “What was that about?” Max asked him.

“Yeah, did you and Tia get into a fight or something?” Sid asked.

“No!” Kris exclaimed. “Unlike you two, I’m not a complete and total idiot!”

“Then what’s wrong?” Sid asked as Coach Bylsma came out onto the ice, splitting the boys up into their respective lines and defensive pairings, so Kris couldn’t answer him.

Throughout practice, Kris could hear Sid and Max once again arguing over who had the worst relationship problems. By the time practice came to an end, Kris was furious at the two of them. “You two realize that all your problems could be gone if you two would just apologize to Brook and Jocelyn, right?” Kris asked them as they walked into the locker room.

“Apologize?” Max asked. “We didn’t do anything wrong,” he argued.

Kris rolled his eyes, quickly walking to the shower, just wanting to get back to Tia as fast as possible. He needed to know that she was okay right now.

He walked out, a towel wrapped around his waist, and walked to his locker, putting his boxers and sweatpants back on.

“Are you in a hurry?” Max asked him.

“Yeah, I kind of am,” Kris admitted.

“What’s going on?” Sid asked him. “And don’t say nothing. You’ve been acting weird all day, and now you’re in a hurry to get out of here. You’re usually the last one out of here,” Sid pointed out.

“I just want to go home and check on Tia,” Kris told them, figuring he might as well tell them the truth. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he shouldn’t have said them, though, knowing they would take them the wrong way.

“Go home and check on Tia?” Max questioned. “Tia’s at your place? Wow, you two didn’t take your time in taking your relationship to the next level,” he joked.

“Yeah, you’re going to end up like Max here, if you don’t watch out,” Sid added, patting Max on the shoulder, earning a glare from Max.

“It’s not what you think,” Kris told them.

“Then what is it?” Max questioned.

“Tia got a letter and a package last night,” he told them.

“What did the letter say?” Sid asked.

“Something about him being angry because she’s cheating on him with me. And, then he went on to say that I don’t love and treasure her like he does, and that one day soon they’ll be together,” Kris told them.

“And, do I even want to ask about the package?” Max asked.

“It was full of pictures of Tia,” he stated.

“Pictures of Tia?” Max questioned. “What do you mean? Like, he’s following her and taking pictures of her?”

“Yeah, he’s a full-blown stalker. I mean, you could tell by the pictures that he’s been following her around. And, he knows that she’s dating me. So, it has to be someone she knows. But, we can’t figure it out,” Kris told them.

“How has Tia been dealing with all of this?” Sid asked, concerned for his friend.

“Well, she didn’t want to be left alone last night, not that I can blame her. So, I took her back to my place. I left her a note when I came here telling her to stay there. And, I told her last night not to go anywhere without someone going with her,” Kris explained.

“That’s a good idea,” Sid pointed out. “God, she must be so scared.”

“Yeah, she is. And, that’s why I just want to go home and make sure she’s okay,” Kris told them.

“Why don’t we go with you?” Sid suggested. “I mean, I want to see her, too. And, we should let her know that we’re there for her.”

“Yeah, she should know that we’re here for her, and that we’re not going to let this crazy guy get anywhere near her,” Max added.

“I’m sure she’d like to see you guys,” Kris told them. “Let’s go,” he said, grabbing his bag out of his locker and walking out the door, ready to go see Tia.