More Than Friends?

Chapter 20

"Where's Mark?" I ask Craig as he answers the door. I storm right past him not bothering to give him a chance to answer and make a B line for the basement.

When I see he's not int there, I turn around to head back up stairs to check his bedroom, but when I do I notice that Craig is standing in the way.

"Tanner..."

"Where is he?"

"Aren't you suppose to be at that training day?"

"Craig, I need to talk to him." I say, urgency filling the space between us.

"He's not here Tanner."

"Well when is he getting back?"

"I don't know."

"Where did he go?" I poke.

"He left for California."

"What?" I say studying his face so see if he's messing with me.

"Tanner, he left for California the other night. He's gone."

"What?! No! No! I need to talk to him!" I start freaking out and pace frantically back and forth.

"Tanner, Tanner listen, he had to go. He told me about the guy." I instantly stop my pacing and look at him before collapsing onto the couch. My hands start to shake and I try to make it stop but I can't. "He told me about everything Tanner." Craig continues. "The drugs, the alcohol, the guy, he was devastated. I’ve never seen him like that before.”

"I didn't mean to hurt him." my voice shakes.

"But you did Tanner. He came home and cried for hours about it. You really fucked with him and that's not fair."

"You're mad at me."

"Yes, because you hurt my baby brother. But I understand that you've been through a lot."

"YOU DON'T GET IT!" I snap. "No one gets it." I say, this time just above a whisper. I begin to sob.

"It's going to be okay Tan, it is." Craig says as he rushes over to me and wraps be in a hug.

"THEY'RE GONE!" I scream in between sobs.

"Shhh" Craig hushes, he continues to hold on to be and starts rocking back and forth.

"I'm an orphan, Craig. I'm an orphan." I say looking into his eyes before throwing my arms around him and continuing to cry.

***

An hour or so later, I'm wrapped up in a blanket on the couch while Craig brings me a cup of tea.

"This should help with the headache. It's probably just from all the crying." Craig says as he holds out two ibuprofens for me to take.

"Thank you." I say before grabbing the pills and taking them. "I'm sorry about that. It's the first time I really just let it all out and cried that hard."

"You don't need to be sorry Tanner, I'm always going to be here for you. No matter what, I promise."

"I um, I talked to the coach today. He's going to give me another chance on Monday."

"That's great news!" he says is his old cheery self.

"Yeah, hopefully he'll want me on the team."

"He will.” Craig says confidently.

"If he does then I have to go to  Winnipeg, that's where they practice."

"It might be good for you to get away for some time."

"Yeah, games start in a couple of weeks. I probably won't play until the end of the season though, that is if I get any play time this season."

"You work hard. I'm sure you'll get a little bit of time. But you have to tell us when your first game is. We'll have to head out and see you!"

"Yeah, I need my McMorris cheerleaders." I smile sadly, thinking about Mark again. He always loved watching me play, even if soccer was never his favorite sport. And he never missed a game if he was in town, no matter how tired he was, or even if we weren’t getting along.

"He just needs time to clear his head."

"I just want to explain everything to him."

"I know, but that's not going to help him right now. I don't think you should call him."

"I won't. Do you think he'll ever forgive me?" I ask, my stomach knotting as the words leave my mouth.

"Yes. But in all honesty I don't know if you guys will ever be together again." my stomach twists even tighter at this. I exhale deeply as I think carefully about what I'm going to say next.

"I love him."

"I know." Craig says as he wraps me in his arms again. 

A/N: Do you think Tanner should listen to Craig’s advice and not call Mark? Leave me a comment letting me know what you think. Don’t forget to like if you enjoyed the chapter! Happy reading xx.