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arriving home, i dumped all of my hockey gear and school bag near the front door as i made my way to the kitchen.

"hi dad," i said as i pulled a water bottle out of the fridge and opening it.

"erm athena we need to speak..." my dad began until he was interrupted.

"hi sweetie! i missed you!" my 'mother' exclaimed as she appeared from sitting on the couch.

my jaw hung open as my water bottle fell out my hand and hit the floor spilling water everywhere.

"no. no. no." i whispered.

"hi my girl! i've missed you so much, i've come to take you out!" she explained walking towards me.

"no. no. no. no." i spoke louder as tears welled in my eyes and i started walking backwards.

"isabelle stop." my dad finally spoke up standing infront of me.

"what? i want to hug my beautiful daughter!"

"daughter? i think you lost that privilege years ago when you walked out on me! on us!" i exclaimed as tears streaming down my cheeks.

"i didn't mean it baby!"

"you didn't mean it? you left your daughter! your only child! you left dad, with no explanation, you walked out on us remember! you don't have the right to come and walk in and out of my life when you please," i shouted at her.

"she's right isabelle, it's unfair on her, my daughter doesn't deserve this."

"she's my daughter too!"

"the last time i checked i didn't have a mom," i said.

"i'll just go then, i'll see where i'm not wanted," she spoke sadly pretending to wipe her eyes.

"just fucking stop with the emotional manipulation bullshit isabelle! leaving again? that's all you ever do! when you don't get your way you leave! you walked out once, just walk out again, we won't care as much this time." i shouted at her.

"i'm going out dad i'll be back later," i said turning to him as he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"don't be home too late, be safe," he said.

i grabbed a hoodie off the rack and left the house making my way to hans' shop.

"hey athena," hans spoke as i walked through the back door of the shop.

"how did u know it was me?" i questioned with a sad chuckle.

"there's only 3 people that come through the back door, one's out of town and one's already here," he explained.

"charlie's here?" i questioned just as charlie walked through the door holding a tray with cups of tea on.

"hey athena, when did you get here?" he questioned placing the tray down.

"just now," i explained sitting on a chair and pulling my knees to my chest.

"hey, hey, hey what's up?" he questioned sitting on the coffee table in-front of me.

i placed my face on my hand as tears began streaming down my cheeks.

"moms back," i whispered as charlie pulled me into a hug and hans sat on the couch next to us.

"i'm sorry thena," charlie spoke rubbing my back.

after pulling away from our hug charlie sat next the hans on the couch while passing my a cup of tea.

"you're not having a great day either?" hans questioned.

"how could you tell?" i joked.

"i didn't get a position on our hockey team, lost my captain badge and mom came back, all on the same day, i'm just overwhelmed at the moment," i explained.

"better things will come athena, they always do," he said to me with a smile.

"thank you hans," i said hugging him.

after helping around his store for an hour to take my mind off of things me and charlie left to make our way home.

"what are you gonna do about your mom?" charlie asked.

"honestly, i don't know. everything was going so good and as soon as she comes into town everything goes wrong. i just need some sleep right now and put all my focus back into hockey," i told him with a small smile.

"you'll push through athena, you always do."

we finally made it back to my house to find that my mother had left and my dad was asleep on the couch.

we made our way to my room where charlie took his place on my couch and i started getting ready for bed.

after putting some pyjamas on i went downstairs to grab some water, on my way down i saw the house phone flashing to signal we had three unread messages.

message 1

"hi baby, it's les. i'm just calling to check up on you after today. we all know you'll make your way back into your spot on the team, you're too good to be replaced by anyone else. i'll speak to you tomorrow at school, i love... erm yeah bye athena."

message 2

"hi athena! it's connie! i just wanted to let you know that i love you and i'm here for you, give me a call when you can or i'll see you in the morning."

message 3

"hey athena, it's adam. thank you for being so supportive of me making varsity today, not everyone was as happy for me as you were. i'm here for you, you'll be back on the team before you know it."

after listening to the messages a smile appeared on my face after realising the amazing support system that i have around me.

their not just friends, they're family.