I Can't Do It Alone

It had been a long night, and Tia just wanted to go home. She had been talking to the police for what seemed like forever. Kris held her in his arms as Tia tried to stifle a yawn, telling a fourth police officer her story. She couldn’t figure out why she had to keep repeating her story so many times, but she did as she was told, hoping to be able to go home.

“Okay, that will be all. You may leave,” the police officer said, and Tia sighed in relief.

She turned around in Kris’s arms, looking at him. “Can you please just take me home?” she asked him, and he nodded in reply. They told the others, who were standing off to the side, waiting for them, that they were ready to leave, and the six of them made their way to the limousine. Halfway there, though, they were stopped by a female voice yelling out to them.

They all spun around to see Amy running after them, throwing her arms all around. “I’m sorry, ladies, but I need to talk to these three,” she told them. “We need to discuss everything that happened so I know what to do about everything,” she told them, only concerned with the publicity that this was bound to cause the Penguins.

Tia instantly looked up to Kris, not wanting to leave his arms. Sid noticed, and looked back at Amy. “Listen, Max and I will stay here and tell you everything, but Kris needs to go,” he told her.

“No!” Amy yelled, clearly outraged. “This all revolves around Kris. I need to know exactly what happened!” she screamed.

“Yeah, and Sid and I will tell you,” Max told her, as Tia clung even closer to Kris. He looked over at the couple and then back at Amy. “You’re not going to get them to stay. So, you can either talk to me and Sid right now, or you can talk to no one. You let us know,” Max continued.

“Fine!” Amy shrieked. “I’ll talk to you two.”

Sid smirked as he leaned down and kissed Jocelyn. “Go home. I’ll be over as soon as we’re finished here,” he promised, as Max said the same thing to Brooklyn.

“Thanks,” Kris told Sid and Max as he and Tia turned around to walk towards the limousine.

Tia woke up the following morning, tangled up in sheets. She rolled over to find herself alone in the bed, and she looked over at the clock to see how late she had slept. When she saw that the clock read 10:47, she immediately jumped out of bed, frantically trying to put clothes on so she could go to work.

Kris heard movement coming from the bedroom, and he ran back there, seeing that Tia was attempting to throw a sweater on, which had gotten stuck over her head. He let out a small laugh, walking over to her and helping her put it on correctly. Tia spun around when she got her head through the hole and looked at Kris. “Why didn’t you wake me?” she asked, trying to put her shoes on. “I’m late for work!”

Kris shook his head. “No, Brooklyn called them this morning,”” he stated.

“What?” Tia asked, confused.

“Brooklyn called your boss this morning to tell her that you won’t be coming in today. I don’t think she told her everything that happened last night, but she told her enough so that she understands. She said that you can come back in whenever you’re ready,” Kris explained.

“Oh, thank you,” Tia said quietly, letting the shoe she had in her hand drop to the floor.

“Tia, are you okay?” Kris asked. “I mean, I know you’re not okay, but…” he trailed off, trying to figure out how to word it the right way.

“Kris, stop,” Tia smiled. “I know what you mean. And, no, I’m not okay,” Tia admitted, tears filling her eyes as she sat down on the bed, putting her head in her hands.

“Tia,” Kris said soothingly, sitting down next to here. “I’m at a loss here for what to do,” he told her. “Just tell me what you need,” he said.

“Don’t leave me,” Tia begged, her mind filled with all the memories of the previous night. “Just hold me,” she whispered, and Kris wrapped his arms around her tightly as she leaned in close.

***

Kris stood in the living room with Sid and Max, trying to keep his voice down since Tia was sleeping in the bedroom. “I don’t want her in the news,” he said adamantly. Sid and Max had just come from talking to Amy once again, and she had told them that she wanted a press conference with Kris, telling everyone what had happened. The Penguins had released a statement today that had told the public that Marcus had been released from the team, but it hadn’t went into details. They wanted to hold a press conference for that.

“I’m sorry to break it to you, but Tia’s going to be in the news whether you do this press conference or not. They’re going to have to release a statement saying exactly what Marcus did,” Sid told him, hoping that Kris wouldn’t be too angry at him.

“What?” they heard a voice say, and all three spun around to see Tia standing there, her mouth wide open. “I’m going to be in the news?” she questioned.

“Tia,” Max started, trying to get her to drop the subject, but she shook her head.

“What exactly is going on?” Tia asked, looking between the three men. “Someone needs to tell me what’s going on right now.”

“Okay,” Sid started. “Amy wants Tanger to do a press conference talking about what happened. She thinks it will go over better if they hear him say it compared to them releasing a statement about what happened,” he explained.

“I don’t get it,” Tia told him. “Why would they want Kris to do the interview?” she asked. “No offense, but none of you know what really happened. I was there for a while before anyone showed up. It doesn’t make sense to have you do a press conference when all you saw was the very ending.”

“Tia, she’s not going to give up on this. Amy’s adamant about having a press conference with Tanger,” Max told her.

“But, if she’s going to have Kris, she might as well have all three of you. I mean, you two know just as much as he does.”

“Tia, I’m not going to do the press conference if you don’t want me to,” Kris told her.

Tia looked up at Max and Sid. “She’s going to make him do it no matter what, right?” she asked, and they nodded in response. “Well, then I want to be there with you,” she told Kris. “And, I want you two to be there, too,” she said, turning back around to Max and Sid.

“We’ll be there,” Sid promised.

“But, Tia, I don’t think it’s a good thing for you to be there,” Kris told her.

“Why not?” she asked. “I already lived through it,” she pointed out. “Nothing anyone asks is going to be worse than going through it.”

“Fine,” Kris sighed, not liking the idea.

***

Tia sat at the long table in between Kris and Sid. Amy had loved the idea of Tia coming to the press conference so much that she had included her in it, after much arguing from Sid, Max, and Kris. But, Tia had finally agreed to it, so now she sat in the seat, holding Kris’s hand under the table. Amy came in front of the crowd saying they would begin the questions.

Tia sat there somewhat in a daze as the reporters kept asking questions. After they had finally finished, she couldn’t remember any of the questions or anything she had said. She felt Kris squeeze her hand, and she looked up to see all three men already standing, getting ready to get off the stage. She quickly got up, following them.

“Tia, are you okay?” Max asked, concerned. She hadn’t seemed like herself during the press conference, not that anyone could blame her after everything that had happened with her.

“I just want to go home,” she told him, and all three nodded, with Kris leading her to his car.