Problems With Love

Chapter 47

Kristen' POV

I'm starting to get really worried about my brother. It's been almost a week since our mom died. He hasn't eaten anything. He isn't playing well. Missing passes, bad passes, missing scoring opportunities by a landslide, taking stupid penalties, being offsides a lot. He just can't get his head in the game.

"Kris are you ok?" I ask as we drive home from a practice. "Yeah I'm fine," he responds. "Are you sure? You just don't seem like yourself," I say. He's quiet. "I just miss mom," he says. "I know I do too," I say fighting back tears.

Kris's POV

Kristen and I leave for our moms funeral today. It really sucks. She wasn't that old. Only 55.

It's quiet on the drive to the airport. Kristen has her Beats on and just stares blankly out the window. I noticed something though. I don't think she ever cried about our mom dying. Yet she's clearly depressed about it.

When we're in line for security I ask her, "Kristen I've noticed something. You haven't cried since mom died. Why?" She sighs. "I don't know. It's just that you've always been there for me when I needed it and even if something affected you and made you cry you sucked it up and was strong for me and I thought I should do that for you now," she replies looking at the ground. "Kristen you don't have to. It's ok to cry," I tell her hugging her.

The plane ride seemed really long. Kristen and I both just listened to music, and I think Kristen cried herself to sleep while leaning on me. Eventually I fall asleep too.

When we land we go and get our luggage and meet our dad, who takes us back to the house. I climb in the back with Kristen. No one really talks. "Hey Kristen, um I have to tell you something," my dad says. "I'm sorry for treating you like crap for pretty much you're whole life. I don't know what took me so long to notice or say something. Your mom is too. She never got the chance to say she was sorry but she is. A few days before she died she broke down about it but was too weak to call and talk," he says.

Kristen doesn't say anything. She just breaks down in tears. I slide over into the middle seat and hug her. I start to cry too.

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I wake up around 10:30 the next morning. It's the day of the wake. Words can't describe how much I don't want to do this.

There's a knock at my door. "Hey wanna come skate with me?" Kristen asks opening the door. "Sure. Meet you downstairs in a few," I say getting out of bed.

I quickly get dressed just throwing some shorts and a hawks shirt on. I grab my skates and stick and run downstairs. I see Kristen and my dad sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. My dad just has coffee and Kristen has a small bowl of cereal and tea. "Morning," I say pouring myself some cereal. "Hey," my dad says distantly. I can tell he's depressed.

Kristen and I clean up after breakfast. "Hey dad we're going to the rink for a while," Kristen says grabbing her skates and stick. "Ok. Don't forget the wake starts at 4. I can just meet you guys there," he says.

We grab our skates and run out to the car. It really sucks because we have to take mom's car. We throw out skates and sticks in the back and get in the front. I drive.

We're actually really smart and have a pair of skates and some sticks at our parents for when we visit. Since we live in Lethbridge, Canada, it would take us like a whole day to drive and that's driving the whole way through. That would just suck so yeah we always fly.

When we get to the rink we grab our stuff and walk inside. Its really weird to be back here to be honest. This is basically where my career started. This is where I learned to play hockey. "Wow," I hear Kristen say. "This brings back so many memories," she says.