Confusion And Understanding Chapter 27

So I know I said that I would be taking a short break on my other story and I meant it but I had this chapter 3/4 of the way done already and I couldn't resist finishing it. Hope you guys like it!


Mel's Pov


I had shown up at my dad's door without warning and he let me in without asking any questions. I sat on a chair in the kitchen and watched him go about his routine of making himself breakfast. It was comforting to know that while my life was a complete mess that at least some things hadn't changed. He sat a plate in front of me and sat down with his across from me and started to eat. I could only move the food around on the plate, my stomach was such a mess that I knew if I ate anything that I would probably just get sick.



" So does you being here have anything to do with the fight that Jordan and his teammate had in that night club last week?"



I should have known that he would have heard about it. It was probably front page news here in the bay. I found myself telling my dad everything that happened that night and in the days following up to me sitting here.



" You should have seen the look on his face. I can't even describe it but it was scary. I still haven't talked to him and then I went to make sure that Max was okay and he kissed me and told me that he meant everything he said and now I'm just confused. "


I could feel the tears coming on but I was tired of crying. I tried to hold them in but it didn't work. I felt them start to fall and my dad got up and came around the table. He kneeled in front of me and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned into his shoulder and cried so hard that I could barely breath. He patted my back and all of a sudden I was five years old again, crying because a boy had told me that I couldn't play with them because I was a girl. After a few minutes the tears finally slowed and I pulled away feeling slightly embarresed. He patted me on the shoulder one last time before he got up and went back to his seat.

" I think that when you love someone that it is easy to put them on a pedastal but honey no one is perfect and they will fall eventually. I think that's why I took your mom leaving so hard. I had this image of her as the perfect women and the pressure just got to be too much. Now it's up to you to decide if you can forgive him for not being the perfect guy that you want him to be."

God he was right. I had always painted this picture of Jordan as being this perfect guy and the minute that I had seen the side of him that wasn't perfect I had done what I always did. I ran away.

" What about Max dad? I can't stand the thought of hurting him." I said as I thought about what had transpired between the two of us in his living room.

" I don't know what to tell you sweetie but eventually you will have to make a choice. I don't know him but I do know you and I can tell that you care about him or this wouldn't be affecting you so much."

I still didn't know what to do so I excused myself and went to the bathroom. I splashed some cold water on my face and I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. I was too pale and it made the bags under my eyes even more pronounced. I looked like a junkie with my skin so pale and the bags under my eyes looking even more pronounced because of it. I went to lay down even though it was pretty early in the morning. My body was tired but I couldn't get my mind to shut off long enough to go to sleep. I thought about the two men and tried to figure out not only how I felt about them but why.

Max's pov

I knew that she was gone and I knew that I was mostly to blame for it. Sid had dropped of the envelope with my name written on it in her handwriting . I put it off for a little while but I finally sat down and opened it. It said that she was going home and that she would get a hold of me when and if she wanted to and that I wasn't suppose to try to contact her. More importantly it said that she wanted to make sure that Jordan and I were at least nice to each other, if not for her than for the sake of the team. I could tell that it was important to her that we at least fix things to the point where we could at least practice and play togeather again. I was going to see how that was going to go since I was finally able to go to practice after all most two weeks. I had already met with Mario and gotten a lecture from him about behavior that made the team look bad and I knew without being told that if they had to pick between a fourth liner and a selke award winner that I wasn't going to come out on the good end of it. I'd fucked things up in a way that I had never thought possible. I picked up my phone and went through my contacts. I stopped when I saw a number that I hadn't called since the situation had happened. I knew that Bridgette had found out about why I had gotten the shit beaten out of me and ever since I didn't have it in me to call her, even though I did really feel bad about what I had did to her. The sad thing was that I was actually really starting to like her and she was a great girl that didn't deserve how I had treated her. My finger hovered over the green dial button but I saw what time it was and if I didn't hurry I was going to be late for my first practice back and I didn't really think that it would make a really good impression.

Jordan's Pov

I got to the arena early and started to put on my gear. I knew that Talbo was suppose to be in today and I was dreading having to interact with him. I had already gotten the lecture from Sid and Mario about how we needed to get past this so we could function as teammates at least and I knew that it was important to Mel so I was going to make every effort to make that happen. I looked up as I heard Tanger say something in french and I looked up to see Talbo walk into the room with his hockey bag slung over his shoulder. Our eyes met across the room and I expected him to be pissed, or maybe even proud but instead I saw a look that I swore almost looked hurt. Tanger and Flower went to his stall and started to talk to him and he broke the eye contact to concentrate on what they were saying. I stopped what I was doing and I decided to be the bigger man and the whole room went silent and I felt every single pair of eyes follow me as I made my way over to where he was standing. I could see his body tense the closer I got and he didn't take his eyes off of me for one second. Marc stepped forward like he was trying to make sure that nothing was going to happen again.

" It's okay flower. I just need to talk to Max." I said placing extra emphasis on the word talk. He didn't say anything for a few seconds but he must have believed me because he grabbed Tanger by the arm and they both moved away.

" Look. I'm sorry for the way that I acted but fuck man, I had just overheard you tell my girlfriend that you dreamed about fucking her and it just made me crazy." I said as a way to explain my actions. I expected him to be pissed at me but instead he just let out a defeated sigh

" You don't have to apologize. I probably would have done the same thing if the situation were reversed." He admitted as he sat down on the bench in front of his stall.

" I'm starting to think that this is Karma's way of getting back at me for being such a manwhore all of these years. The first girl I ever love and not only does she love someone else but it's one of my teammates." he said as he shook his head like he couldn't believe it. I wanted to be mad at him for admitting that he loved her but I really didn't have it in me anymore. I wasn't even sure that it mattered because she might very well decide to not come back and then we'd both be out of luck.

" I'm not sure that we can ever go back to being friends like we were before all of this but we need to be able to play well togeather for the sake of the team." I said as I looked at him for a reaction

He nodded his head in agreement and I got back up. I guess things were as okay between us as they could be. I turned around to go to my stall to finish getting ready and I saw Sid look between the both of us. I gave him a small smile to indicate that everything was alright and as I quickly threw the rest of my gear on and got out on the ice. For the first time in two weeks it felt like things were starting to get back to normal and it was like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. Now I just had to wait and see how the other important thing in my life was going to play out and I hated that I had no control over it.