Know You're Not Alone

As I left my class, I could feel the tensions building in my chest. I walked down the hall and heard giggling behind me. I brushed it off, thinking nothing off it. That was, of course, until I heard my name. Turning my head, I saw Maria standing there with a few of her friends. She smirked at me and put her manicured hands on her hips and began to walk beside me.

"So, what now? You gonna offer the Dean an autograph from your superstar boyfriend to up your GPA?"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I don't have time for this, Maria."

"So, you're not denying it? Wow, that's low."

I stopped in my tracks. "You know what? I'm really tired of your bullshit. You bribed the RA to get me kicked out and now accusing me of using my boyfriend's status to get ahead in school? You need to grow up."

She smiled. "I wanted you out, and I always get what I want."

"Well, it looks like you did me a favour. You may have gotten me out of the dorm, but you will not get me out of the school."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked back at her friends. "Let's go, girls. I've had enough of this piece of trash."

I scoffed and kept on my merry way. I wasn't about to say anything more to Maria. She didn't deserve any more of my time. I approached the Dean's office and I felt a lump form in my throat. Walking through the door and up to his receptionist, I could feel my hands begin to shake. The older lady behind the desk smiled at me.

"Hi there, do you have an appointment?"

I nodded. "Yes…um, Kaitlyn Timberlake?"

She looked down at her computer before looking back up at me.

"Ah yes, I see you here. Have a seat. Dean Gilmore will be with you shortly."

I smiled and walked over to the waiting room. While sitting in there, I pulled my phone out. I sent Steph a text, asking if I could call her a little bit later. Before I was able to wait for a response, I heard a door open.

"Miss Timberlake?" I looked over and saw an older man, who I could only believe was the Dean and stood up. He gestured me to walk into the room he had just left. As I did so, he followed behind me, closing the door.

"So, Miss Timberlake, I had your attendance brought to my attention. But I understand, you're having complications with your living accommodations as well?"

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Well, the living accommodations issue has been handled. I no longer live in residence. My attendance, however, is completely my own fault. I was dealing with my living accommodations the wrong way and taking it out on my schooling."

"So, I'm not exactly sure what you're asking of me."

I shook my head. "I'm not asking for anything. I was told the day that I got evicted from my dorm that I was going to have a meeting with you. I don't truly understand this whole thing myself."

Dean Gilmore slowly nodded his head before looking down at a file in his hands, which I could only imagine was mine.

"Okay, so I think I remember why this was scheduled. You were caught letting your boyfriend into the dorm room after hours, is that correct?"

I nodded. "Yes, it is. But, honestly sir, I don't see why it had to come all the way to you. I mean, this could have been dealt with between myself and my RA."

"I agree, Miss Timberlake, but it seems that he asked our meeting to happen. I find this very odd. So, what I'm going to do, is have a little meeting with your RA and see just what this is all about. In the meantime, are you interested in moving back into residence?"

I sat for a moment, wondering which would be better, stay with Kris or come back to the dorm. Almost on instinct, I shook my head.

"No, I'm much happier at my new location. I can still make it to my classes and don't have to worry about drama that sometimes surrounds roommates."

He chuckled at that. "Smart choice, young lady. Okay, well I see that you're back in classes now. I don't see anything that tells me to punish you or anything. I will, however, check in with your old RA and find out exactly what was the reasoning behind you being evicted. One little indiscretion should result in a warning, at most."

I felt a huge weight just lift off my shoulders. I stayed seated, not knowing if I should wait for a signal to get up. Dean Gilmore looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Was there something else?"

I shook my head and began to stand up. "No, no sir. Like I said, I wasn't exactly sure as to why I was coming to see you in the first place."

He stood up and shook my hand. "Well then, have a great day Miss Timberlake."

"Thank you, sir. You as well."

Leaving the building, I felt a wave a relief wash over me. I had begun to second guess whether or not I would leave Kris' place after just moving in. I was happy with Kris, but I wasn't sure whether or not it would be better for me, school-wise, to stay. Looking down at my phone as I approached my car, I saw that Steph had responded to my text, but that Kris had called me as well. I texted him and told him I was on my way home. When I got buckled in, I set my phone up and dialed Steph's number, putting her on speaker.

"Hey, how did he meeting go?" I heard after three rings.

"Better than I thought, actually. He had no idea why I was even there at first."

"Really? Huh. Some Dean you got there."

"Ha ha! No, as it turns out, my old RA asked for me to meet the Dean. But, he didn't think that me letting Kris in once after hours should be grounds for my eviction from the dorm or me getting a meeting with him."

"Well, no shit. It was stupid for you to be kicked out. Did he say anything about you going back into residence?"

I sighed, thinking back to my answer to the Dean's question. "Yeah, he asked me if I wanted to go back into the dorms."

"And? What did you say?"

"Well, I said no, but I'm kinda re-thinking it."

"Are you not happy there? I thought you and Kris were good."

"No, we are. It's just, I don't know. I'm worried about my schooling. With Kris' schedule, and how I was when he left on the first road trip. I'm scared that I won't make it to a lot of my classes if I stay. I don't want my schooling to suffer because I turn into a lovesick weirdo."

"I wish I could live with Sid, but I understand your point. Maybe just talk to Kris about it. I mean, you do sound a lot happier now than you did when you were living with that thing you called a roommate."

"Ha. Yeah, I saw her again today, but I didn't let her phase me."

"Good. Don't let that bitch get to you. What are you doing now? Going home?"

"Yeah, I'm done with school for the day. I'm thinking of going to the game tonight, but I don't know."

"Do it! It'll be fun and get you out of the house."

"Yeah, I'm just about to pull in, I'll think about it."

"I don't want you to call me during the game. If you do, I will be angry at you!"

I chuckled. "Oh no, I'm shaking in my boots. Okay, I'll talk to you later."

"You should be scared! Ha ha. Okay, wuboo. Please think about the game."

"I will, I will. Wuboo too."

I hung up the phone and slid out of my car. Walking through the front door, I could hear other voices. I was unsure as to what I should think at first, so I quietly walked towards the kitchen, where I assumed the noises were coming from. When I made it to the doorway, I saw Kris standing there with Marc-Andre and Vero. I was so happy to see them again. I walked right up to V and pulled her into a hug.

"Kaitlyn, it is so good to see you! It's been too long!"

I nodded. "Yes, it has! What are you guys up to?"

Kris put an arm around my shoulder and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. "Well, Flower and I were going to head over to the arena now, and Vero was…"

"I was thinking we could a mini-girl's day before we head over to the game."

I thought back to my phone call with Steph and her willing me to go to the game. I smiled at Vero.

"That sounds perfect! Exactly what I need today."

After the boys left, Vero and I got ready to go out for an late lunch.

"Where do you want to go?" V asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't care, I'm up for anything."

We got into my car and Vero directed me where to go.

"So, Kris told you 'ad some problems at school."

"Oh, not with school exactly. My roommate was a bitch. She bribed my RA to get me kicked out."

Vero gasped. "Really? Why would she do that?"

"I don't know. She's a Flyers fan, but that can't be the only reason."

I heard V chuckle as she pointed to a parking spot. "Oh, you never know. That could be all it is. Did she ever Kris?"

I nodded as we stepped out of the car. "Yeah, once. I brought him in after hours. That was the only thing I did wrong."

Vero put her hand on her chin. "Well, she may just be jealous of you. Either way, you're better off now."

I smiled. "Yeah, I think I am."

Vero and I were seated and enjoyed an amazing meal. We talked about what we were going to wear to the game and if we should make any plans after.

"Oh, I don't know if I can do anything after the game. I have a class early in the morning."

V nodded with a small smile. "That's fine. We 'ave all season to do stuff. School comes first."

I smiled back at her as the cheques were brought to the table. We paid and left a quite generous tip, seeing as the service was amazing.

"We 'ave to bring the boys back 'ere sometime."

"Yeah, the service was great and the food was delicious. I'm definitely coming back."

When we arrived back at mine and Kris' place, we still had a couple of hours before we had to be at the arena.
"Did you need to change before the game or anything or are we just staying here?"

"We'll just stay 'ere, if you don't mind. I was thinking we could give this place a little more feminine touch."

I looked around the living room and saw that there was still a lot of Kris' stuff, but not so much of mine. I didn't mind it, really, but I could see what Vero was saying. I turned to her with a nervous smile on my face.

"I guess we could do that."

She walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

I nodded quickly. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"No you're not. Sit. Talk."

I sighed and sat down. "I don't know. I guess I just haven't wrapped my head around the fact that I actually live here."

"But didn't you live here most of the summer?"

I nodded "Well, yeah. But I always knew that I was moving out."

"Hmmm. Well, what if we just put a few things of yours up and see how you feel? If you don't like it, then we can put it back."

I thought about it for a few seconds before responding. "I guess it couldn't hurt to try."

V smiled and jumped off the couch, clapping her hands. "Yay! I love decorating. Now, where do we start?"
I couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm. Her attitude about this was kinda rubbing off on me as I felt myself get more at ease as we put more stuff out. After about an hour, we had almost the whole living room redecorated. We left a lot of Kris' stuff there, but just added a little "Kaitlyn flavour," as Vero called it. She was just smoothing out a throw blanket that she put on the back of the couch.

"There, 'ow does that look?"

I looked around and had to admit, I felt better. "I like it. I just hope that Kris will."

"Oh, honey, he will. He wants this to be your home as much as it is his."

I smiled and looked at the time. "Okay, I'm gonna quickly get changed and then you wanna head to the arena?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Sure."

We got the arena just before the crowds began to pour in. The arena was packed. I was happy to finally go to a game again and feel the atmosphere of the crowd. The boys played well for their home crowd, winning 4-3 against the Dallas Stars. After the game finished, Vero and I made our way to the family lounge to wait for the boys to come out of the dressing room.

When I spotted Kris, I couldn't hold back my smile. I loved him in a suit. He walked up to me and placed a soft kiss on my lips.

"Great game, babe."

"Thanks, I'm glad you could make it."

"Well, Vero and I did a little sprucing at the house before we came here, but we made sure we made it in time."

He smiled. "Sprucing, eh?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not sure if you're gonna like it."

"Well, I'm sure I will. Let's go home and find out."

He wrapped an arm around my waist, as we walked out of the family lounge, waving to the boys and their loved ones as we left.

We arrived home and I felt my nerves build up again. I was happy with what Vero and I did to the living room, but Kris' pending reaction made me nervous. We walked through the door and I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see his face when he looked around. I felt him grab my hands, giving them a light squeeze.
"Open your eyes," he whispered. I shook my head, which resulted in him chuckling lightly.

"C'mon, Kaitlyn. Open them."

Finally, I opened them and saw him smiling at me. "Is this what you and Vero did?"

I nodded slowly, still scared of what he might say. Taking me by surprise, he leaned in and placed his lips against mine. "I love it," he whispered as he placed his forehead against mine. I smiled.

"Really? You don't think it's too much?"

He pulled away and let out a dry laugh. "No, of course not. Before this, it was just my living room." He gave my arm a slight tug, gesturing me to follow me. He led me to the couch where he stopped and put his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. "Now, it's our living room, and I couldn't be more happy."