Hello beautiful people, please forgive me that I haven't updated this story in like 2 months, but I got sucked into another fandom and I've been getting ideas for stories with that ship, but I'm back! (hopefully😂) there's a chance that I'll write a few stories about the other fandom so my head doesn't explode 😂 (it's NCIS LA, if someone is interested) but I'll try my best to try and finish this story ASAP, and also write more Jisbon stories, (please don't hate me😅)
And I hope you enjoy this chapter!
"How did you know Charlotte had a school trip today?" He had to ask.
"Oh, I have a few older students from her school in my class and we were supposed to have practice today but they canceled it because of the trip and they said that 4 classes were supposed to go and Charlotte's class was also mentioned so I figured she's going too."
"Hmm, smart." They chuckled again and the rest of the drive was filled with comfortable silence.
They got to Jane's house and he immediately made his way to the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?" he asked when he heard Lisbon come in behind him.
"Um, I just drank my coffee not long ago so I think I'd like some tea if you have any?"
"Of course I have tea! I have like 10 kinds, which one would you like?"
"Uh, I'm not really a tea expert so I'll drink whatever you make me."
"Tss Lisbon, if you're like this with everyone, sooner or later you'll get poisoned by someone," Jane teased as he prepared the cups with the tea.
"Haha, you're such a cop sometimes."
"Well If you haven't noticed till now, I am actually a cop…" Jane teased back.
"Oh you know what I mean, stop teasing!" But she was smiling when she said that.
They sat down on Jane's couch in the living room and slowly sipped their tea.
"So…how did you get into hockey?" Jane asked after a few comfortable moments.
"Oh, I was playing hockey since elementary school, at first it was for fun, you know just a hobby after school but then I got better, I got into a team in high school, met some friends that were also playing and then got accepted to a team after high school and played in a professional way."
"And what happened after?" Jane asked but he saw the shadow pass over her face and mentally face palmed himself.
"Ah damn, Grace mentioned that it's a dark memory and I shouldn't ask, I totally forgot I'm sorry."
"No, no it's okay, I'm surprised that Grace didn't tell you the whole story."
"Oh no, she's extremely loyal, she wouldn't do that to you, she just told me that it was a dark place and that you'll tell me yourself when you're ready. You don't have to tell me now, I don't want to push you or anything."
"Oh no you're not pushing me, I want to tell you, I just never know how to start."
After a few moments Lisbon took a deep breath and began. "So like I told you, my high school friends and I got into a professional team and stayed there. We were really good and we won almost every game. My parents were so proud of me, of us, that they were there at every match along with my three younger brothers. Then one day they weren't there, I didn't think much of it, I thought that something came up or there was traffic or something like that, I was too busy concentrating on the game. When I got out of the shower after the game, I saw that I had 15 missed calls from my dad, I called him back and I found out that my mom had died. They were in fact running late and there really was traffic, and my dad was supposed to pick up my mom from work with my brothers but my mom called him to go to the stadium and that she'll take a cab. She took the cab, but the driver was drunk and maybe also high and the police told us that he either didn't see the turn or just didn't care and he slammed into the car that was coming from the opposite way, both were dead right after the collision, the driver of the other car survived but he had some major injuries.
After that day everything went downhill, my brothers refused to study or to care about school, the teachers complained every day, they got bullied daily. My dad started drinking, at first he was the depressed drunk, he came home from work, drank a few beers and cried himself to sleep, then he became a violent drunk, but he only destroyed things, like the remote, the TV and things like that, but then he started to beat up my brothers, at first it was just some bruises but he took it too far one day, he broke my brother's nose and punched him in the eye so bad that he couldn't see, I got a call from my other brother crying and having a panic attack while the other one was trying to calm the injured one down. I called the cops and the ambulance while I hurried to our house. The police arrested my dad and the ambulance took my brother to the hospital.
He was fine a few weeks later but none of them were okay mentally after that. And all this was happening while I was out somewhere playing hockey, I haven't been there for my brothers and they were traumatized by their own father, after that I quit playing, I moved here from Chicago with my brothers, luckily I still had some money from hockey so I was able to get them into a new school where no one knew about our history, I bought them new supplies, new clothes, stuff like that but I knew that the hockey money won't be always there so I found a job as a waitress for a while and then I found out that this club is hiring coaches for the kids so I applied and I got the job. You know I didn't go to college, so hockey is all I know basically, I didn't have any other choice if I wanted to take care of myself and my brothers. And it worked out. I managed to take care of us all, now my brothers are all grown up. One is married, one has a daughter but is single and one has a serious relationship, and here I am, teaching kids a sport that I love. Life's pretty good so far."
Jane had been silent the whole time she was talking and he was still speechless. "That's…I…Lisbon that's…wow."
Lisbon chuckled a little. "Yeah something like that."
"I'm so sorry all this happened to you and your brothers and I know that I can't really know what it feels like but I think you made the right choice that you left the team to take care of them because they finally had the life that they deserved and now they're all adults and they're happy and I think that they'll be grateful forever for this, for you."
Lisbon had a few tears in her eyes. "Yeah well, I'd like to think that I helped them a little to be what they're today, and I'm glad that they all stayed here and that we're still incredibly close with each other."
"Do you know what happened with your dad, if you don't mind me asking?"
"He got out of prison a year later for good behavior, he didn't even contact me or the boys, which is probably for the best and then a few weeks later a police officer called me that they found him dead on the floor in the bathroom, choked by his own puke. I'd like to think that he deserved it, I don't mean to sound rude or be ungrateful for him, I know that mom's death really destroyed him, but it destroyed us too, that doesn't make it okay to beat up his own children."
"You're so right Lisbon, and you're not rude, you're angry at your father that he wasn't able to take care of his own children and that in a way, he was only thinking about himself." Jane replied and took her hand.
"I'm sorry, talking about it always makes me so emotional even after all those years," Lisbon said as she wiped yet another teardrop.
"Hey, it's okay Lisbon, cry as much as you need, it's the best to let it all out, you'll feel better."
"Are you really a cop? Because you sound more like a therapist to me," Lisbon joked a little and he chuckled. "I'll be whatever you need me to be, Lisbon," And he meant it.
