Know You're Not Alone

It had been a week since I started officially living with Kris. I still had yet to tell him the real reason as to why I'm no longer in the dorms. With that being said, I'm loving living here. I get to wake up to his beautiful face every morning and wonder to myself as to what I did to get so lucky.

Seeing as it was the morning, and Kris was gone to a skate, I decided to take the time to think of what to say to him. While I made myself breakfast, I kept running scenarios through my head. How I wanted our talk to go, how I thought Kris would react, all that stuff.

I managed to frantically clean the majority of the house before Kris came home. Not that it needed a thorough cleaning, but I just needed to get my mind off of any negativity that could come out of my talk with Kris. Just as I finished the bathroom, I heard my cell phone ring. I ran to find it, not knowing where I put it down. Finding it just about to fall in the sink in the kitchen, I grabbed it.

"Hello?"

I stopped in my tracks. I listened with wide eyes as the dean's secretary talk.

"Hello Kaitlyn. I'm sorry that this phone call is late, but I'm calling to inform you that you are allowed to return to classes."

I swallowed hard, not knowing what to say. "Oh…ok. I had already gone to my classes yesterday, but thank you for the phone call."

"Also, about your meeting with Dean Gilmore, does tomorrow at 1:00 work for you?"

"Yeah, I have a class that finishes at 12:30, so that works fine."

"Okay, Dean Gilmore will look forward to seeing you. Have a good rest of the day, Ms. Timberlake."

As I hung up the phone, I kept re-living the phone call in my head and then thinking about how I was going to tell Kris. I heard a door open and knew that there was no avoiding it anymore. I had to tell him.

"Hey, baby. How was your morning?" He walked up and placed a soft kiss on the side of my head. I gave him a soft smile.

"It was okay. I cleaned a little bit, but other than that it was nice."

He looked around the living room and I saw his eyes grow a little wide. I guess I cleaned a little more thorough than I had thought. He moved his game back to me with a smile. "You have any classes today?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I have one in about two hours."

I tried to tip-toe around him, avoiding his gaze as much as I could. I was trying to be subtle, but I couldn't get away with anything with Kris. He knew me too well.

"Okay, spill it."

My eyes grew wide and I finally looked at him, hoping that there was still a way around this. "What do you mean?"

He sat on the couch and patted the spot beside him. I didn't move, I just looked at him. "Kaitlyn, until I told you to spill it, you've been avoiding looking me in the eyes since I got home. I've noticed you've been a little distant since you moved in." He stood up from the couch and placed is hands gingerly on my arms. "What is going on in that pretty little head of yours? Is it moving in? Did we do this too soon?"

I shook my head. "No, it's not that, exactly."

I heard him sigh. "Well, what is it? I can't read your mind. I can read your body language, but not your mind." He placed a finger under my chin and moved my head up slowly so he could look into my eyes. "Talk to me," he whispered.

This was it, I thought. The moment of truth. I sighed and moved away from him. I didn't want to look at his face when I told him. I knew how happy he was to know that we were living together. I didn't know how he would take the real reason why.

"I got kicked out of my dorm." I said with my back to him.

"What?" I heard his footsteps creep up behind me, so I took a few steps forward.

"Maria made this big spiel to the RA and got me kicked out of the dorm."

"So," I cringed, hearing the emotion in his voice. "Are you saying you didn't move in because you wanted to?"

I felt my heart break and my throat went dry. I couldn't come up with any words. I finally turned to face him and his eyes matched the emotion in his voice.

"No, I was honestly trying to get Maria kicked out, but she had already stuck her lies into the RA's head, and it backfired on me."

Kris shook his head. "I don't get it. So, this whole week, you haven't wanted to be here?"

I walked up him, shaking my head. "No, that's not what I'm saying. I just knew how happy you were that we were moving in together that I didn't want to tell you that I was kicked out and this was my only option." I placed a hand on his cheek. "I'm happy here, believe me. I now get to wake up next to you for at least 300 days of the year. Why wouldn't I want that?"

I saw a smile finally crack on his face, but it quickly faded. "I still don't know why you didn't tell me."

"You were so happy, how would you honestly feel if I told you that I'm moving in, not because it's my choice but because I have nowhere else to go?"

"Well, I don't know, but at least you wouldn't be hiding the truth for me," he again, looked around the living room. "And judging by how you went all 'crazy maid' in here, I can tell that it was bothering you to keep it from me."

I nodded. "It was, but I just wanted to keep you happy."

He sighed and pulled me in for a hug. "Just talk to me, that will keep me happy. Sure, it may hurt at time, but at least we can work through the hard times together."

I pulled away lightly, "speaking of hard times…"

"Oh no," he looked down at me with more sadness in his eyes, "there's more?"

"You know how I haven't been going to classes until yesterday?" He nodded. "I have a meeting with the Dean tomorrow at 1:00."

"What's it about?"

"Well, apparently, having a sexy hockey player for a boyfriend and having him come into your dorm once after hours is a bad thing. Oh, and I've been missing a few classes lately, so it's probably to talk about my GPA."

He gave me a light squeeze, and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. "Well, regardless of what happens, I will be here for you. I can't promise that I will clean the house as well as you, but I can…order in some delicious food."

I smiled and pulled him for a kiss on his waiting lips. "I love you, you know that?"

He smiled at me, then his face turned serious. "Wait, were you talking to me or my hair?"