Chapter 29

Ruthanne's Point of View <3

Kris dropped me off at my house and went back to his apartment, instead of staying like he planned. He said he needed to just go be alone again and think about things. He's always thinking about it and he's getting more depressed by the day. I ate some cheese on crackers and talked to my mom a little bit about how the cruise went. I did manage to get a little tan today so she was jealous of that. I showed her my souvenirs then at 11:45 went up to my room to try to get to sleep. Of course it took forever to fall asleep. I'm so used to being in a big bed, with Kris and here I am, in my little single bed, all alone. I wake up early, and I hadn't slept well. Instead of putting the clean clothes away like I should I just dump all of my clothes into the hamper and leave it like that. I grab a few sweaters, a few t-shirts and a few other tops that I like, for my trip to Montreal. I take all the jeans that I didn't have on the cruise and stick them in the suitcase too. I hang out with my family until like 2:00, then say I have to go to Kris's to get a few more things ready. "Bye. I'll miss you." I kiss my mom on the cheek before leaving for the second time in 2 weeks. I have to admit that while I can't stand my family's controlling habits, they've done really well letting me do my own thing since graduation. I get to Kris's at about 2:30 because traffic was decent. I take the elevator to his floor and find his door. I knock a couple times and there's no answer. "KRIS!" I say loudly. There's shuffling inside and then he opens the door. "Hey." He says, sounding and looking sleepy, his hair all tangled and messy. "Come in." "Hey," I give him a hug, letting go of my suitcase to do so. "I'm all ready." "ok. I'm not. Help me?" He looks at me hopefully. As if I would say no anyways. He wraps his arm around my waist and leads me to his bedroom where his nasty brown suitcase is laying open on the bed. "K." I say as he walks over to his dresser. He holds up outfits for me to judge, and then judging on my reaction, throws them into the suitcase, or back in the dresser. He grabs a black suit and automatically folds it then lays in the suitcase. I packed a black outfit as well, just in case. "alright. All packed." he says, folding over the lid to the suitcase and zipping it up. "thanks." He leans over and kisses me. "welcome," I say, smiling. "we've got," Kris looks down at his watch. "3 hours til we need to be at the airport." "Mmk. Let's do something before we leave." I say, not ready to leave Pittsburgh again, just yet. "Wanna go get something to eat?" He says. "I haven't eaten anything all day. "ok." I say. "Cheesecake Factory?" I ask him. So we go, and eat and blow time until it's time to go to the airport. Getting on the plane is easy, no stupid little things to get in the way. Our flight is smooth and we're in Montreal before we know it. It's nice how time flies when you're with someone you love. It takes forever to find Kris's parents car and when we do, both our suitcases don't fit in the trunk of the tiny thing without smushing them. Finally, we get it all in and we pile in the back. We're all introduced in a couple minutes and they seem nice enough. I hope they like me... Driving through Montreal for the first time, I'm amazed at the sights, even at night. It's so beautiful. It doesn't take long to get back to his parents' house and I wonder if we'll be hearing planes go over all the time. We moved from where I used to live because we had that problem. I'm following Kris into his bedroom when he says "oops.. you're gonna be in there." He points across the hall. I frown quickly, then turn around, pulling my suitcase behind me. I guess I won't be sleeping with Kris, unless it's not like a rule. Long lonely nights for Ruthanne. That's not why I'm here, I remind myself I set my suitcase on my bed then go to Kris's door and knock. "Hey." He says, pulling me into him and kissing me. "How are you?" "Good." I say, kissing him back real quick. "Yeah?" He says, kissing me again. "Except for the fact that I'm not sharing a bed with you. I could hardly sleep last night." He kisses me yet again. "My parents didn't know whether you'd be more comfortable in there, or in here." He says. "Oh." I say. "well, can I come in here with you?" "Sure." I smile and hug him then pull away to grab my suitcase from the other room. When I come back, I eye up Kris's bed. It's a double, thank heavens. Big enough for the two of us. I hug Kris again. "I'm so happy to be here." "it is nice." He says, "especially with you here." I smile again and he says, "my parents are gonna go to bed soon." He says. "D'you want to go downstairs and hang out?" "um. sure," I say, just happy to be with Kris.

Caitlin's Point of View ;)

I wake up and feel more alone than ever. It's so empty without the buzz of the cruise ship, and Sidney right beside me. Out of habit, I look at my phone. Before I turn it on, I see my reflection on its screen. I look like a fuzzy mess, hair sticking up all over the place.
It's 10:15 and I've got 3 texts. Sidney, Ruthanne, Brittny?
Sidney: Hey darling, how'd ya sleep? Call me. <3
Ruthanne: Made it to Montreal, sorry I didn't call or anything.. it was late. :) ttyl. miss ya already! <3
Brittny: So.. how was that cruise?

I shake my head, and try to believe what I'm seeing. Brittny. Texted me? About the cruise?
I dial Sidney's cell phone, still confused. He wanted me to call, after all.
"Hello?" Sidney says.
"Heyyy." I say happily.
"Good morning sleepy head. How'd ya sleep?" Sidney asks.
"Good." I say. "well, not really, but. yeah," we laugh and then I say, "Brittny texted me about the cruise?"
"Weird. What'd it say?" Sidney asks.
I repeat the text and he's confused about it too. "Maybe she meant just what she said," I say. "I'm not going to answer it of course," we laugh again. "What're you doing today?"
"Sleeping." Sidney says. I can hear the smile in his voice and I smile too.
"I'm packinggg." I whine. "Help me?"
"packing for what?" He asks, then figures it out. "Oh yeah. I'll come over later. I still have to unpack."
"Ok. As long as I get to see you," I laugh at myself. I've become totally dependent upon him. But I guess I can't be blamed. He's only the nicest, and the hottest guy to ever walk the earth, and I was stuck in a cruise suite with him for an entire week.
Sidney laughs and says, "talk to ya later Caitlin."
"bye!" I say, still smiling, then hang up. I go downstairs to eat breakfast.
My mom greets me, "mornin hon. There's breakfast in the microwave." I walk over to find some waffles and bacon. A weird combination, I think, but yummy nonetheless. It's still warm so I don't bother to reheat it. I hate the chewy consistency microwaving things gives them.
"How were you while I was gone?" I ask my mom, "anything happen?"
"nope. We were good. Everything was great. I did get calls from a few of your friends. I wrote them down here." She picks up a notepad from the end table next to her recliner. There's a list of names filling up most of the page. Brittny's is on it, twice. Why would she call if she knew I was going to be on a cruise?
I ponder it for a second, then decide I'll ask Sidney later. I can't help but feel Brittny's up to something. But I'm almost positive she can't get between me and Sidney.
I hang out with my mom, and play with my new lap top some more until like 2:00. I really need a shower, so I go upstairs to what is basically my bathroom to get washed up. It's about 3:00 when my phone buzzes because Sidney's calling me. I take a break from blow drying my hair to answer it.
"Hey."
"I'm coming over. Now." Sidney says, sounding stressed.
"Ok?" I say, a piece of hair falling in my face and distracting me.
"Yeah.. See you soon. love you." Sidney says.
"ok." I say, after he already hung up. "weird." I say to myself, and in the back of my mind I have this niggling thought about Brittny being behind his stressed tone, but I disregard it, thinking all drama between us and her is over.

Chapter 28

Ruthanne's Point of View <3

I wake up on the edge of the bed because of the ship's stupid horn thing. Kris is nowhere near me. I sit up, scared for a moment. Kris is on the other edge of the bed. I lay down next to him and try to sleep again. I can't, because I don't know what time it is, so I have to roll all the way to the other side again to get my phone and check. 9:14. The ship's scheduled to dock at 2:30, so I roll back over to Kris to try and get some sleep.
I wake up again, in Kris's arms this time, at 10:45. "Hey."I say sleepily, looking up at him. He's propped up on his elbow, looking down at me.
"Good morning," he kisses me then gets up out of bed. "Are you all packed?"
"um. I think so." I say, getting up to look in the dresser and under the bed one more time. Sometimes, my clothes end up in weird places. One time, Caitlin and Sidney came over and I had to kick a bra under the bed before they noticed. I find it there, and put it away.
"How'd that get there?" Kris asks me, one eyebrow raised.
"You." I lie, even though that's how it got on the floor in the first place.
"oh." He laughs half-heartedly.
I get up and walk over to him and give him a hug. He looks at me funny. "My, you're in a good mood this morning." He says.
"I only get to go to Montreal with my favorite person in the world. I'm just glad I get to be there." I say. Kris kisses me.
"I'm glad you're coming with me. It'll make things a lot easier. You'll get to meet my parents." He says, smiling again.
"I can't wait." I hug him again, and then go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, really hoping my mouth wasn't nasty when he kissed me. Of course his wasn't. He ALWAYS gets to be perfect. ugh. "Are we going to breakfast?" I ask him as my stomach growls.
"Only if you want to." Kris replies, breaking into his suitcase again for a decent outfit. Living out of a suitcase didn't work for him, he never got to the bottom and instead wore a lot of dirty clothes this week.
"We're going then." I say. "I'm starving."
"ok then." Kris starts changing while I finish brushing my teeth and washing my face. I pull my hair up into a messy bun, not in the mood to contend with it right now.
"How cute." Kris laughs at me when I come out. I'm wearing ugly stained grey shorts and an old softball t-shirt. All of my hair is on my head. I'm sure I look hilarious. I just glare at him and get some more decent--but comfy--clothes to change into.

After breakfast, Kris and I still have a lot of time to kill. For some reason, I haven't ended up with a glorious tan this week, so we head out to sun bathe, like it would help now. At about 1:00 the little intercom system starts talking and never shuts up. they're all telling us how we should be ready to leave, and how things are shutting down. so we go find Sidney, Caitlin and Max to pass the rest of the time. We hang out til it's time to leave.

At the air port Caitlin had to have some kind of weird souvenir that would set off the x-ray machine that we have to put our shoes and everything else through. So we stand there, holding up the line while trying to explain what useless thing it is so it doesn't get confiscated. Finally, after like an hour she gets it back. If it were me today, I would just tell them to keep it, but I guess that's the only souvenir she got.
So, because of that ordeal, we get on the plane in a bad mood. I lean on Kris. "Uhhh." I sigh.
"Tired?" He looks at me, with that know it all look on his face.
"stressed." I try to say. But I really am tired.
"Riggghhhhht." Kris says. He grabs my hand and says. "Go ahead and sleep."
I love pictures of what's outside the plane, so I hand him my camera. "Take pictures.Since you got the window seat." I tell him.
"Fine." He says "It's not like you could take them while you're sleeping." He laughs. I just smile, still leaning on him.

I wake up just a little bit before we land. While I'm leaning on Kris, he's leaning on me, so I can't sit up. My neck has a crook in it and I'm really uncomfortable. I hear his soft snore above me. Great, he's asleep.
"Caitlin?" I say, to see if she's awake.
"Yeah?" She looks back at me.
"Get Sidney to say something to Kris." I point up at him.
Sidney totally defeats the point of me not wanting to wake him up. "Hey, you. Yoohoo, Ruthanne needs you to sit up buddy." Kris sits up, groggily.
"Sorry, love." He says, then leans against the window. We laugh and I lean back in my seat to enjoy some music before we get to Pittsburgh. I missed home, but I'm gonna miss the sun more, I think. Especially in Montreal. Then again, it wouldn't matter where I was, as long as I'm with Kris. <3

Caitlin's Point of View ;)

Boarding the plane in Florida was an experience. I got into an all out argument with a guard about my little souvenir thingy. It took us over an hour just to get on the plane.
Landing was a lot easier, and Philippe Boucher was there with a van to pick all of us and our luggage up. Kris and Ruthanne sat in the front 2 seats, me and Sid in the very back. There were suitcases stacked all the way up to the window in the back and then we had to stick some up front.
"You guys packed a lot. Jeez." Philippe says. "How did you even carry all this?" He loads another one into the van.
Ruthanne and I are notorious over-packers. We laugh quietly, a joke between us, then laugh a little louder when we realize we're both laughing. it happens to us all the time. The guys just look at us like we're crazy, so we stop. Philippe just takes us all to Mario's where most of our cars are. Kris's and mine, Max's and Sidney's are there, at least.
"I think I'm gonna go home and unpack I say, tired." Unlike Ruthanne and Kris, Sidney and I were too caught up in conversation on the flight to sleep. I never get tired of talking to him.
"I'll go with you." Sidney says. "I still haven't met your mom and dad."
"Yeah. Right." I say, not minding a bit that he wants to come over.
Ruthanne's over on the other side of the room talking to Kris. "See yinz later." She says. "well, maybe." she comes over and gives me a hug before walking back out the door we came in. "I'll try to come see you tonight or tomorrow, before I leave, at least.
Sidney and I follow after a short conversation with Mario. He wondered how the trip went, and wanted to see our awesome tans. Mine's considerably darker than Sidney's. I made a point to get some sun, while he wore a lot of sunscreen.
Sidney takes me home and I introduce him to my parents, who were also big fans before I started dating him. I told them both they had to act normal when they met him. They tried, really hard but I could tell they wanted to blurt out a bunch of questions. Sidney and I head up to my room with my suitcases after that.
"Thanks for the help Sidney." I hug him after all my clothes are successfully put in the dirty hamper or my closet.
"No problem." He says, sitting on my bed with me.
"I'm gonna miss you tonight." I whine in his ear.
"I'm gonna miss you too." Sidney says, hugging me close.
"How will I sleeeeeeeep?" I groan.
"Oh you'll manage darling. I know you." We both laugh at what he said and how he said it. He couldn't believe that he said "darling" and I thought his face was hilarious. Plus, I will probably be able to sleep.
"Stay for dinner?" I ask him. We hadn't eaten since lunchtime and it's 10:00 now.
"Sure." He says. We walk back downstairs and find that my mom had made some chipped ham sandwiches for dinner and that we had to make our own. I kind of groan, too used to being served all the time, but I'm almost glad to be back to reality. That week long cruise was great, but I can only be pampered so much.
Sidney leaves at like 11:00 because my parents are ready to go to bed and they don't go to sleep while guests are still in the house.
It takes me over an hour to fall asleep and I finally manage to do it at 1:30, because that's the last time I looked at the clock.

Chapter 27

Caitlin's Point of View ;)

After dinner Sidney and I went back to our suite, got bored and went on a walk. The warm, salty breeze was kicking up and felt so good. That'll probably be the thing I miss the most about going back. It's funny how used to something you can get in just a week.

Today Sidney and I went to breakfast again. "tomorrow we're going home, you better unpack when we get back."
"Yeah." I nod, taking a bite of my pancake. "unlike you.. I didn't live out of a suitcase." I motion toward his wrinkled t-shirt.
For the first time on this cruise, someone recognizes Sidney. A blonde girl in a tight tank top walks over. "Sidney Crosby?" She looks at him.
"um.. yes?" He looks up, confused, already used to being anonymous like the rest of us.
"OMG!!!" She yelps! "oh... sorry! Could I have an autograph. Are there other Penguins on the ship!?" She freaks out, much like I would if I wasn't dating Sidney.
"uh.. sure.. " Sidney says. The girl randomly has a Sharpie in her back pocket. Unless she was planning this, that is. Sidney signs his napkin and hands it to the girl. She does a little dance and then asks again.
"Is there any other Pens on the ship!?"
"Um. no." Sidney says, covering for Kris and Max. Unless she sees them tomorrow getting off the boat, she'll never know. I just sit there, trying not to laugh. The girl takes another look at Sidney before walking away.
I laugh out loud after she's gone. "What?" Sidney asks.
"That's hilarious." I say.
"It happens all the time." He replies.
"I bet it does. It's just funny." I say, laughing again at the blonde girl.
"You just better remember that you would have done that had Ruthanne not set us up." He says.
"I wouldn't be here!" I say back.
"You know what I mean." We laugh and go back to eating.

Back at the suite I say, "ughhh I don't want to go home. back to reality." I throw another tank top into my cute yellow suitcase.
Sidney laughs. "Yeah." I fold the outfit I'll be wearing tomorrow on the ride home and that's it. I'll get all my essentials tomorrow cause I still need those.
I plop on my back on the bed and sigh. "This was a lot of fun."
"Yeah it was." Sidney sits next to me and leans down to kiss me.

Dinner rolls around before we know it and Ruthanne and Kris didn't want to go out for dinner tonight. So Sidney, Max and I went together. It's getting easier and easier to be around Max and not care, although I can tell he still likes me.
We eat quickly and then run back to Ruthanne and Kris's suite to ask if they wanted to hit the hot tub just one more time before we left. The decide that it'd be ok to have a little fun, even though Kris's predicament makes it a bit harder.
We end up having a great time. Kris doesn't talk much, but I can tell this kind of distracting relaxation is helping him. He always just sits there and thinks about it. Poor Kris. Poor Ruthanne. It's getting late and Ruthanne's about ready to fall asleep on Kris's shoulder so they head in. Max says he's gotta go pack, but we know he just doesn't want to be awkward by staying with us. So Sidney and I sit and soak, having a good time talking and playing.
I yawn, and Sidney notices. "We should head in," he whispers in my ear."
"I don't wanna," I whine, "I'm warm." Between being with Sidney and the warmth of the hot tub, I'm just about as happy as I can be. I have totally forgotten all of life's difficulties and my enemies back home. I lean on his shoulder and sigh. He wraps his arm around me again. The wind blows and I'm cold again. "OK, let's go." I stand up and grab my towel.
"haha, not warm now are you!?" Sidney says, getting out of the water himself. I grab up my towel, the breeze hasn't stopped and I'm really cold now. Sidney grabs his towel and I run to him. He wraps his arm around me and we head back to the suite for the night.


Ruthanne's Point of View <3

Caitlin and Sidney finally convinced Kris to get out of our room and do something. I think it really made him feel better for a little bit. We walk around a little bit, enjoying the fresh air, and ten go back to our room. I was pretending a little bit, to be tired. The hot tub was nice, but the breeze made it cold, so I wanted to do something else.
"I'm leaving the day after tomorrow." Kris tells me. "My parents got the plane tickets all ready, for us to fly out of Pittsburgh. if you want to wait til tomorrow to ask, or call your parents tonight." Kris says, going into the bathroom with his sleep pants to change.
"Umm. this is all really short notice. I'll call tonight. I hope they'll understand." I say, going to my bedside stand to get my phone. I've got a few texts, but they're not important, from people back home. I'm not worried about that type of thing right now. I just want to go to Montreal. I look at the clock, 10:30. We're in a different time zone, crap. What time is it back there?
"Kris?" I ask.
"Yeah?" He says, peeking out the door, a toothbrush in his mouth.
"What time is it back home?"
"uhhh.. somewhere around 11:30?" He says, not sure. I don't know whether my parents will be up or not, but I feel like I have to call now.
It rings three times before my mom answers. "Hello? Ruthanne?" She says, sounding quite tired.
I step out of our suite so that Kris doesn't hear the conversation. "Mom?" I say, "Kris's best friend died, and he wants me to go to Montreal with him the day after we get back." I cut straight to the chase, because my mom hates it when I lead up to things.
"Ok?" She says. "When are you guys going to move into your apartment?"
"I think Caitlin wants to wait for me to come home from Montreal," I say. I know they paid for like three months of rent, but the complex owner agreed that it wouldn't count until we started moving in.
"Ok. Are you going to come home, or are you going to stay with Kris?" My mom asks. I'm going to Montreal! I try not to be to excited, it's not for a good thing.
"I want to come home, but I don't know what time our flight leaves. I'll ask Kris." I say, going back into the suite.
"Kris?" I look at him. "What time does the flight leave to Montreal?"
"8:30 in the evening." I repeat the information to my mother and she says it would be smart to come home and switch my summery cruise clothes for some warmer ones. I hadn't even thought of that.
We say goodbye and I run to hug Kris. "I'm going to Montreal with you!" I say, squeezing him tight, even though my arms hardly reach around his whole body.
He hugs me back, happy, but not excited like me. "yay." He says, smiling down at me and kissing my forehead. I'm going to Montreal!

Chapter 26

Caitlin's Point Of View ;)

The next morning I realize we only have 2 days left. I sigh, not wanting to get back to reality. Sidney is awake when I get up, but barely. He's laying beside me trying to open his eyes. "We only have 2 more days." I say, feeling sad.
"isn't it sad?" He looks at me, touching my cheek. "I don't want to leave."
"Me either." I say. "But I do want to get moved into that apartment."
"Mmmmm." Sidney says, "will you want help?" He asks quietly.
"I dunno. We're not moving that much. It has everything, appliances, furniture. I guess it's pretty nice." I say, "you might come see it though?" I ask him, hoping he will.
"Sure." He says.

We go to breakfast at 9:30, enjoying one of the last days of meals being served to us. "So.. what to do?" he asks.
"I have no clue. I don't want to go swimming," because I think that's really what mad me sick. That and maybe stress and exhaustion. I sigh.
"Yeah." He says.
"I know!" I kinda have a spastic moment. "Let's go to the arcade." I say, calming myself down. That's one of the only things we haven't done yet.
"sure." Sidney says, wrapping his arm around my waist.
At the arcade, it's kinda crowded. Sidney and I wait in lines to play some of the more popular games. We end up playing the racing games on motorcycles that you have to lean and whatnot. It was fun. But it was so crowded we left after a while. It seemed like more and more people kept piling in and nobody was leaving. So we did.
"That was fun." I say, leaning on him.
"I thought so." He says. Instead of going right back to the suite like we usually do, we decide to just wander around the ship and see if we did miss anything fun.
We play around and people watch like we do. It's funny how absolutely no one recognizes him. Back home, he would have been mobbed.
Out of the blue on our way back to the suite, he leans down in my ear and says, "I love you." I smile and turn and wrap my arms around his neck.
"I love you too." He kisses me and we head back.

Ruthanne's Point of View <3>

Kris and I lay in bed for hours after we woke up. I roll over and kiss him. "Kris." I say.
"huh?" He looks at me, his eyes red and his hair tangled.
"I'm gonna miss you." I say sadly.
He looks away. "I know." I hear him whisper. "I'm gonna miss you too." I lay my head on his shoulder. "would you be allowed to come with me?"
"I dunno." I say. My parents have always been kind of controlling. "I hope so."

We don't go out anywhere together. I go get food and bring it back to the suite. Kris won't eat very much and I'm feeling worse and worse as he does. The only way I can imagine how he feels is if like, Caitlin died while I was away. It's terrible to even think of how I would feel, so I stop and go back to trying to make Kris feel better.
At like 5:00 Caitlin knocks on the door between our suites. "Come in." I say. Kris lays back on the bed and folds his arms under his head, staring at the ceiling.
Sidney and Caitlin both come over. Caitlin sits with me on the couch and Sidney goes over to Kris. They talk quietly for a while, I can't hear what they're saying.
"So.." Caitlin says, always feeling like she has to say something. "How's Kris?" She asks.
"I don't know. He won't talk, Like someone I know." I sigh, glaring at Caitlin.
"I'm sorry! I always feel so stupid when I'm upset. Like it's the stupidest thing, but it still drains me." She explains.
"I know." I say, putting my arm around her shoulder. "I still love ya."
"That's good to know." She says. "Love ya too." She hugs me back.
"So." I say, wanting and not wanting to tell Caitlin about how I might be in Montreal. For a month. "Kris is going back to Montreal. He might be up there for a while, visiting family, NHL interviews, the funeral." I whisper really quietly. "And he was thinking about taking me with him..." I trail off, seeing the looks of confusion, then understanding flash across her face.
"ok." She says, hugging me again. "I don't know if I want to move in without you though." She says. "I'd be scared to."
"I know. I would too." I say. "You always have Sidney."
"I know. But he'll get busy. I know he's taking time out of his summer to be with me."
"Caitlin the summer just started, the season just ended. OF course things are gonna come up, and I'm sure you're gonna be put in that equation, but, just don't stress about it." I make my crooked smile, feeling smart after explaining that to her. She doesn't argue, which is abnormal, so I think I made my point.
Sidney comes back over to the couch and says, "you all want to go to dinner? I convinced Kris."
"Yeah." We both say, standing up.
Dinner is good. We all go back to our own suites. I sit with Kris again. "You ok?" I ask him. He nods, sitting up and petting my hair back, looking into my eyes. A little bit weirded out, I look down.
"Do you want to come to Montreal with me? For sure?" He asks me slowly.
"Of course!" I say, meaning it too.
"Ok." He says. "I want to be there to ask your parents with you." He says. "I think. They'll let us."
I smile at him, leaning into his hard chest. "Oh Kris." I say, "I love you." Because it feels right and I don't know what else this can be called.

Chapter 25

Ruthanne's Point Of View <3>

"Sooo. What happened?" I look at him, concerned and still a little confused.
"umm.. Well, one of my best friends died." He chokes on his last couple words, tears springing to the corners of his eyes.
I quickly put my hand on his in the middle of our table. "I'm so sorry." I say.
"He died. In a motorcycle accident." A tear falls down Kris's cheek and I feel so heartbroken, just seeing him so sad.
We don't talk for a couple of minutes. Kris takes that time to recover himself. "I'm sorry." I say again.
"It's ok." He says.
Kris hardly eats dinner. Neither do I. We don't talk anymore, just eating in silence. I wonder briefly how Caitlin is. I sent her a text earlier. I wonder if she responded. But I don't have time to think about that because before I know it, Kris is breaking down again. He must have tried so hard not to do that earlier. Keeping it all inside is what Caitlin does, and that's what gets her so exhausted. From what I've seen, Kris just gets irritable.
"You wanna head back?" I ask him quietly.
"Yeah." He says, nodding his head solemnly.
He lays down on the bed when we get back and I sit beside him, not knowing whether he wants to be comforted, or left alone. "Why don't you and Caitlin have a girls' night out?" He asks, confirming my suspicions about him wanting to be left alone. I nod and walk over to the couch to get my phone. I read the one text I got from her. She's sick. Great. Now what?
I text her back to see if she's over it yet. Sometimes that happens. I figure I'll give it a shot.
Hey.. sorry you're sick. Kris suggested having a girls' night out. you up for it?
I sit on the couch waiting for a reply even though I could walk right out my door and knock on theirs. I figure if she doesn't reply in 5 minutes I'll try that. And if that fails, I'll come in here and watch TV or cuddle up to Kris and try to make him feel better or sleep or something. I'll find something to do. She doesn't reply so I walk out the door, make a quarter turn and knock on their door. Sidney answers it after looking out the peephole. "Hey." He says.
"Hey." I say back. "Kris suggested having a girls' night out.. is Caitlin up for it?" I ask him instead of going to her. It wouldn't matter what condition she was in, she'd probably want to do it.
"I don't know..." Sidney says kind of warily, turning around. "Come in." He motions with his hand. I follow. Their suite is the exact same thing as ours, with different art on the walls.
Caitlin sits up when she sees me come in. "Hey." She says, sounding tired, like she just woke up. "What's up?" I ask her.
"ah, nothing. I'm feeling a little bit better." She says.
"Up for going out tonight?" I ask her, half hoping she'll say yes.
"Ehhhh.." she says. "I don't know. Probably not. tomorrow?" She looks at me hopefully. That kind of thing is right up her alley. She loves a good party. Way more than I do at least.
"It's fine.." I say. "do you mind if I stay over here and watch TV though? Kris needs some space." Sidney turns like he wants to know more, but I don't say anything. He probably thinks we're having some kind of relationship problem if he doesn't already know about Kris's friend.
"Sure." Caitlin and Sidney say at the same time.
"I'll be right back." I say, and head back to my suite. It hadn't been more than 20 minutes since I left, but Max was already there beside Kris when I came in.
"Hey." He says.
"Hey." I say. "Caitlin's sick. I'm gonna head over there and spend some time." I think he wants to be alone. I mouth.
"Yeah." Max says aloud. Kris is still sitting there, staring off into space. I don't think he would have heard us if I did say that out loud, but, I don't want him to be offended. I grab my phone just in case anyone decides to text me, although I doubt anything will happen. The only texts I get are from the four people in these 2 suites.
Then I turned to Kris and said, "I'm going to head over there and hang out for a while. If you want, you can come." I say hopefully. He just sits here. Max nods and I head back to their suite through the door between the rooms instead of the outside one. I forgot it was there.
"Hey." They said again.
"Hey," I say again. It's not awkward. They just know that I am upset because Kris is and I know Caitlin doesn't want to get too far into it. I don't know about Sidney.
Sidney comes around and sits on the couch with me when he thinks Caitlin's asleep again. "You ok?" He asks.
"Sure." I say. "I just hope Kris is. He was really terrible yesterday."
"I know." Sidney says, putting his hand on mine in a comforting way.
"thanks." I say, then turn back towards the TV. It's not ok that my boyfriend's friend just died. It's not ok that he could be away for a whole month. A tear comes to my eye and I try to wipe it away before Sidney sees it. Of Course I Fail. He sees it.
"Is it cause he's gonna be away for so long?" Sidney asks.
"yeah." I reply, another tear springing to my eye. I don't want to cry in front of Kris, or Sidney, or anybody.
"It'll be ok." Sidney puts his hand on my shoulder. "He was thinking about taking you. To meet his family and stuff. Don't tell him I said anything."
I quickly feel a little bit better. "Really?" I say dumbly, thinking again how I wanted to get all moved into that apartment.
"Yeah." Sidney says.

Caitlin's Point of View ;)

I wake up and my head is spinning. I feel like I"m going to puke again.. MAX is here? I don't remember that happening, but Ruthanne, Sidney and MAX!? are sitting on the couch. I sit up. Sidney looks back. "You don't look so good." he gets up and walks around the couch to me.
"I don't know.." I say. My head has stopped spinning from sickness, and more from confusion now.
"Are you ok?" He asks, looking concerned.
"I need a shower." I say. Max and Ruthanne laugh.
"She's fine," Ruthanne says laughing at me. I look in the mirror across from our bed and see my hair, imagining myself saying that. It's hilarious. Great. My shorts and everything else are very twisted when I get up and Ruthanne laughs some more. I go to the bathroom to get in the shower.

I come out and everyone's still on the couch, laughing about something or other. I feel a bunch better and I'm really hungry. I sit on Sidney's lap since there's no more room on the couch. "Where's Kris?" I look around.
Everyone just looks at each other. "He's still in our suite," Ruthanne says, frowning.
"Wha-why?" I look at her suspiciously.
"Um. He's dealing with something." She says, giving me that look. The I-don't-want-to-discuss-it-right-now-you-better-not-say-anything-else-look. I nod and lean back onto Sidney.
"You're awfully cuddly." He says, wrapping his arms around me and putting his chin on my shoulder. I smile. I still feel really tired, but that's what I get for sleeping the whole day and a half away.
"I'm hungryyyy." I whine, looking up at the clock and not caring what time it is.
"She's definitely better," Ruthanne says, still cracking up.
"What do you want?" Sidney looks at me from behind.
"A peanut butter and jelly sandwich." I smile.
Sidney chuckles in my ear, but lifts me up as he stands, saying "ok." He walks over to the door and grabs his shoes. "Be right back." He says and heads out. I smile and lean back on the couch where the seat is warm in the place he sat.
"Sooo." I say, feeling awkward without Sidney.
"Feeling better?" Max jokes. We all laugh, and I nod.
"I'm so glad too. That was really nasty." I say smiling again. I can't help it. I just can't stop. There's too much to be happy about.
I had temporarily forgotten about Ruthanne's dilemma, not even noticing her "happy" smile.
"Hey." I say to her. "Fill me in!" I whine.
She frowns, but shouldn't she have known better? "Kris's friend died in a motorcycle accident." She says. "He's gotta go to Montreal for a while." Her eyes well up and I regret bringing it up.
"Why are you over here then?" I ask her.
"Kris said he needed some time to sort things out." She says.
"hmmph." I wouldn't want to be alone in a situation like that. Ah well, I'm not Kris. We go back to laughing and joking til Sidney comes in.
"It took me forever to get someone to make this." He says, holding the sandwich up. "You'd better enjoy it." He jokes and hands it to me.
"Thanks." The sandwich is good and we all sit around, trying to have a good time. Trying to keep Ruthanne distracted. Kris eventually comes in looking tired and disheveled. we look at the clock. It's like 12:30 now.
"Sorry," Ruthanne stands up. "see you tomorrow." She doesn't give Kris a chance to say whether he came to visit or to get her. She just stands and takes him back through the door between our rooms.
It's just me, Sidney, and Max. "I'm gonna get ready for bed." Sidney says. "I'm exhausted." Max stands up.
"I better go then, I guess." He says, and walks toward the door as Sidney walks into the bathroom and shuts the door.
"Hey." I say. "thanks for coming over. I wish I could have been awake for more of it." I apologize.
"No problem. You needed your rest!" Max says.
"See you." I say awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.
Max gives me a funny look, then leaves. I go to the bathroom with Sidney, where he's brushing his teeth. I do the same.
"Feeling better.. for real?" Sidney asks me. I nod. Almost all the nausea is gone. I don't feel like I'm going to puke!
And even though I slept all day, I go to bed and fall asleep in the warmth of his arms easier than ever.

Chapter 24

Ruthanne's Point Of View <3

I'm not tired when we get back to the suite, just happy. Kris turns on the TV like he usually does, just for background noise, I guess, cause he never watches, or changes the channel.
"poor Caitlin." I say, plopping down on the sofa.
"what?" Kris says, looking at me funny.
"Can't you tell she's upset?"
"She looked perfectly happy to me." Kris says, still looking at me funny.
"She gets really tired when she's depressed or has a dilemma." i explain. He still looks at me funny. "I should go talk to her."
"Stay here. I'm sure she's asleep already." He says, putting his hand on my leg and sitting beside me.
I nod, still concerned. Caitlin's always been on this emotional rollercoaster. With her, everything is in extremes. So I tend to try and take care of her. I think it annoys Kris. I lean on him and watch the screen, not understanding anything.
"You want to go out for a drink?" He asks.
"Alcohol?" I look at him.
"Um... yeah." He says, looking at me like I'm dumb.
"Uh, Kris, I'm only 18, besides, I've never really drank before." I say, feeling really dumb.
He sighs and sits back again. "Whatever. It's fine."
"Kris?" I look at him. "What's wrong?" He's been acting funny for a while now. I don't understand why. I can't remember anything I did.
He sighs again and shakes his head, watching TV. "nothing." He says quietly.
"Hey.. how 'bout that drink?" I say, standing up and grabbing his hand. It's funny how I feel like I'll do anything for him.
"You just said 'no'." He looks at me.
"I changed my mind." I look at him and his expression lightens, from the intensely annoyed face to the gentle kind one that I love.
We go to the busiest bar we could find, it was at the bowling alley, actually, so he could order 2 drinks and get away with letting me drink. "please don't get me anything too strong." I whine in his ear, regretting my choice to even come. The flashing lights on the dance floor are making me dizzy and I don't feel like being in here anymore. The initial excitement is gone.
He brings me back something a weird color in a little cocktail glass. "I told him not to put very much alcohol in it." He hands it to me.
"What is it!?" I look at him.
"a martini." He says, pointing at the olive at the bottom, making me feel stupid, yet again. I nod and hope for the best, hoping he really did get me something that's not strong. I don't understand why I suddenly don't trust him.
I don't drink any, looking at him as he downs his first shot. "What's wrong Kris?"
He looks at me again, a weird look in his eyes. "Nothing. I told you."
"hmmph." I say, setting down the glass and kinda looking away. He walks up to get another drink without saying anything.
I stand there alone in our little corner. I don't want a drink. I don't want to be here anymore. Kris is making me nervous. He comes back after a minute. "I want to go back to the suite." I say, drink in hand again. I would feel bad if I didn't drink any of the drink he bought me so I took a gulp, draining the glass halfway.
"Go ahead," he says. "I'll see you later." He grabs my hand, making me doubt all my fears, and squeezes right before I head through the crowd back to the main deck outside. It's chilly outside despite the warm breeze. I wish I would have brought a sweater. Walking back to the room alone, I feel like I'm in a horror movie. All the festivities going on around me and then there's me, walking alone back to my room.
When I get there I don't know what to do with myself so I go get in the shower and get ready for bed. I'm in my sleep pants with a toothbrush in my mouth. It's been about 45 minutes since I left. Kris comes in, a bit drunk.
"Hey." I say.
"Hey." He says back.
"Feel better?" I ask him, knowing something was wrong and wanting to bring up the point again to try and get it out of him.
"There was nothing wrong." He says defensively, clenching his jaw and his fists.
"Hmm." I say, walking back into the bathroom to finish brushing my teeth before I go to bed.
I go to bed and lay on my side without saying anything else to him. I'm asleep before he ever gets in bed and I don't care. I don't want to smell his nasty alcohol breath anyways.

Caitlin's Point Of View :)

I wake up happy despite my dilemma last night and my upset stomach. I feel really sick. I probably won't see Max all day, so that's comforting. One less problem to face.
"Sidney?" I roll over, looking for him. I look at the alarm clock. 1:30. I gasp, wondering how I slept that long. "Sidney?" I ask again. He turns around from the couch to see me on the bed.
"good morning sleepy head." He says, getting up and coming over.
"Don't touch me." I say, sounding a little bit more agitated than I mean to. "I mean, I feel really sick.. I don't want you to get it."
"Sorry." He says, settling for sitting next to me rather than kissing me like he intended to. "So.. what kind of sick?" he asks.
"My stomach."I point at it just as it does another one of those flips that are making me feel like I'm going to vomit. "ohhhhhhh"I get up and try to stagger to the bathroom. Sidney stands and helps me immediately, not really knowing what to do. When I'm laying over the toilet he holds my hair. I love my Sidney.
"Thanks." I say. "I'm sorry." I say, embarrassed, rinsing my face off and getting down my toothbrush
"Why be sorry? It's not your fault silly." He hugs me. I look at him, really not wanting to give this bug or whatever it is to him.
"It's probably from going swimming in that pool." I whine. I can't help but lean back into his strong arms. He kisses the top of my head.
"It'll be alright." He hugs me gently and I'm glad. My stomachs still not up for much.
"I have some Tums in my bag, but I don't think it'll help much," I point at my bag through the door in the next room. Sidney helps me back to the bed even though I don't need it and goes to get the tums. My phone goes off. I reluctantly grab it off the shelf, not in the mood for texting.
Sidney brings me the tums and I throw one in my mouth, grimacing at the disgusting chalky taste. "Thanks." I croak. He laughs and lays next to me. I don't open the text, instead, just turn the ringer off and put it back on the bed stand.
"Are you hungry?" He looks at me. I shake my head. "I can go get you some soup or something simple. Crackers? Anything?" I shrug.
"Crackers. Maybe." I say.
He nods and says, "Be right back." Before heading out the door, he runs to the bathroom and grabs the trash bin, setting it on my side of the bed. "Just in case," then he runs out the door. I go back to my phone, which rings again as he walks out the door. Weird that I'm not getting texts except now, when I'm awake.
2 messages
I think there's something wrong with Kris. He's acting funny and he went out and got drunk last night. :( From Ruthanne. I tap in my reply.
I think there's something wrong with me. I just puked my guts out. Sorry about Kris. You can come over if you want, but I don't want to give this to you. :P
the next one's from Max. Weird
Hey. I'm sorry things are so weird between us. Don't think I don't notice. I'm sorry that I like you so much. I can't help it. How are you? we haven't talked. <3
I tap in yet another "sick" reply
yeah.. it's so awkward. I just don't want to hurt Sidney, you know? It comes out more like I'm on Max's side and I'm just pitying Sidney but I don't fix it. I'm absolutely miserable, I just puked my guts out. Sidney just went to try and get me crackers. :P
I put my phone back on the night stand and close my eyes. I wish for sleep but I just lay there, miserable. Max texts me back right before Sidney comes in. I turn off the ringer and leave it on the stand.
"I had to get soup to get the crackers. That's what took me so long." Sidney says, carrying a tray in.
"Oh." I kinda croak.
"I thought I would eat the soup part and give you the broth. It sounds like you have a frog in your throat." Sidney says. I also hadn't realized he was so caring. So, motherly, almost.
"aww." I say, closing my eyes again. I just want to sleep.
I fall asleep to Sidney's voice after taking just a little bit of broth. When I wake up Sidney's right there beside me, looking worried.
"sorry." I say, turning to look at the clock again. It's going on 4:00 now.
"It's fine. You're sick. You need rest." Sidney says, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

Ruthanne's Point Of View <3


Kris and I don't really do anything all day. There's still that tension between us since I keep asking him what's wrong. He'll never tell me, but I still feel concerned. At like 5:30 we decide to go out to dinner and we're trying to act all normal when we both know things aren't. I hate that. But I feel like it's the only way to go.
Suddenly though Kris says, "I'm sorry I acted funny last night, but something happened back home that really confused me and made me mad. When we get back, I have to go home to Montreal." He explains.
"Oh." I say, dumbfounded. "Sorry." I feel really bad for bothering him so much. "How long will you be gone?" I ask.
"Maybe a month? It depends." He says, frowning.