41: Terms and Conditions, Sprints and Confessions

HÅKON

Rocket and I manage to convince Nico that we could just go back to the regularly scheduled workouts with the rest of the team. She seemed to think that was fine but left us on our own to create an alibi, which, as you would probably expect, was spotty. We just said we were helping out the equipment managers.

I later realized that this was not at all believable because I've been with this program for going on seven years and not once have the equipment managers needed help. Hell, I've only talked to them one on one maybe like twice.

I'm too giddy to give a shit what the rest of the team thinks of our weird absence. I'm too focused on the way that Rocket's lips felt on mine twenty minutes ago, how he can't stop looking over at me in the middle of reps and how he's blushing just as much as I am. I can't bring myself to care what the rest of the team feels about this when my reaction to it is so overwhelmingly good for once in my life.

"Oh thank god," Rocket says the second Fen finishes up his work out and leaves the weight room. He's still halfway through a set.

"Don't 'oh thank god' just yet, bud." Nico sticks her head into the weight room. "I still want to make you do sprints for missing out the end of the run sprints."

"No," Rocket whines, absolutely not excited about that prospect. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Nico says. "Just a couple short sprints and I gotta go over a couple things with you two about all this." She waves between us. "Though I absolutely love that you found each other, there's things that are going to have to be mentioned."

"Media." I sigh.

"Sorry," she offers.

Rocket finishes up faster than I do and then spends the next ten minutes hovering over me while I do a last set of hip bridges, excited about how much my weight has gone up in the last few months but also not so excited because it's making me sore all over.

Eventually I decide to slack off on my cool down exercises and follow him, with shaky legs, down to the open gym space that the Bauer practice center happens to have. It's ridiculous the stuff this rink manages to have all over the place, you'd think for an organization that basically failed for fifteen years that the facilities would be horrible but they're actually really fancy. Bauer has three rinks and a small goalie rink, then a big gym space and an insane weight room.

Rocket seems to be in the same type of sorta shaky sorta happy kinda stumble all the way down to the gym.

"Here for punishment." Rocket announces. Nico looks up from her phone.

"Basics, three suicides, you know the lines you need to do and then a cool off." She waves at the floor. "I'm going to be out here on a call so don't goof off too much." She opens the call with: "hey Dan." Clearly talking to Dan Hadley, the general manager. Yes, he's related to Bernie and Jorgen.

Rocket yawns, looking out at the gym, then he looks at me. "Race you?"

"Buddy-" I try to stop him but he's off, sprinting toward  the red line.

"This isn't a fair race!" I call after him, trying by best to catch up.

"Sure it is, you didn't start when I said race and now I'm in the lead." He takes off toward the next line just as I'm reaching the endline. HIs long legs and agile frame give him one hell of an advantage on the straight away but I can get off the lines easier and I'm catching up slowly.

"That's now how races work!" I argue.

"Sure it is, you're just no fun." He passes me in the other direction. "I do have to ask a question, though, HÃ¥ks,"

"What?" I pant, sprinting after him. He's gaining because I'm tired from the workout but I refuse to give up that fast.

"Are we dating? Is that what happens now?"

"Are we really talking about this now?" I tap the end line on the other side and head back on the long sprint.

"Yeah, I see no better time." He passes me in the other direction. "I mean, we're here, together, alone."

"Mostly alone, Nico's outside."

"Nico's on a phone call." He shrugs, giving me a high five as we pass again. "So are we dating yes or no? I just wanna be able to tell my mom I have a boyfriend, that would be cool."

"Yes, please." I respond. "You can call me your boyfriend if you want."

"So, we're doing the whole thing, mutually exclusive, dates, kissing, all that shit?" He's clearly out of breath but that ADHD brain of his can't do one thing and that's shut up. Not even while he's asleep.

"Yep." I pant. "Dating."

"Okay, I'll be honest with you because I'm not sure you got it when I said it earlier, I've never done any of this before." he starts off on the second full suicide while I'm tapping the last line on my first.

"Yeah, you said that, but I didn't pay attention really, what do you mean by it?" My lungs are screaming but I can't not ask now that he's put it on the table for me. "Like, how much experience do you lack here."

"I've only ever had week long relationships and those were either with girls or in like early elementary school. Kelly is it and then I had a kindergarten girlfriend but we both know that doesn't count."

I screech to a stop, staring at him as he runs. "You're going to tell me that... that... was your first? And I didn't do anything special for that? And I didn't know?"

"Listen," he stops on the other side. "I didn't want you to do anything you wouldn't have done if you knew. At this point, at twenty three and a fucking pro athlete it's straight up embarrassing that I've never had sex."

I let out a breath, sucking it in as fast as it came out to try to get some damn oxygen into my body. "it's not embarrassing."

He gives me the weirdest look. "Are you kidding? Yes it is! Steph lost his fucking virginity like three weeks after we became friends, yours was gone when you were still in high school, Fen lost his at what, sixteen? I'm literally twenty three and your the first guy I've ever kissed. My rice purity score is in the fucking nineties."

"Who-" I pause. "I'll tell you one god damn thing right now, Miloš, one thing I need you to drill into that tiny hyperactive brain of yours. Virginity means fucking nothing and I'd take mine back to be able to lose it to you in fucking seconds. I'm sick of people acting like it's a big deal to have sex. It's not, it's just a thing that people do. Your self worth should not revolve around it, it's barely relevant in the grand scheme of things, hell, I was blind drunk when I lost mine, I don't remember a single detail. You need to stop thinking you're going to be taken less seriously because you lack experience in one spot. I can't play a banjo but I could tell someone if they were holding it upside down. You've never been in a relationship and yet you coached me into approaching it the right way."

He just sighs, sitting down on the floor, staring at his hands. "It's just embarrassing."

"It's not!" I throw my hands in the air. "Rocket, please, god, you're so stubborn."

The door creaks open. "Alright, thanks Dan, yeah, got it." Nico hangs up to see me with my hands on my hips, standing a full gym apart from my boyfriend who's sitting on the floor and picking at something on his hand. "Arguing? Already? That's a record."

Rocket sighs. "It's nothing."

"Nico, please tell Rocket that virginity is a complex and that he shouldn't be embarrassed by it."

She thinks about it. "While I can't say it's entirely a complex because it is a really important first and kinda shapes a little portion of your life, I can tell you that it's fucking stupid. I lost mine to Fenrir halfway through last year, blackout drunk."

Rocket's head dips further. "At least I won't be drunk, I guess."

Nico takes three strides over to him and smacks him upside the head. "Literally what could you have done about it? Why does this matter to you so much?"

He frowns. "I don't know, it just feels like relationships are the one thing that I haven't done and everyone else has done. I'm just confused."

Nico looks up at me. "Mr boyfriend do you want to say anything about that?"

I scratch the back of my head. "I swear to god, Rocket, you're going to piss me off."

"Not help-"

Rocket stands up, cutting off Nico. He dwarfs her from standing, a full nine inches between the two of them, the same difference her and Fen have. "He's right."

"Wh-"

"Thank you." I grumble. "I honestly don't care that you've never done this before because let's be honest, I haven't really either. I've done relationships and I've done shit with men but I haven't ever done both so this is a learning experience for both of us."

Nico raises her hand. "about that learning experience."

We turn to her.

"Nothing on social media, nothing announced to the media, nothing public at all unless you've got some sort of clearance or you're ready to deal with what comes after that. The NHL isn't exactly receptive of you guys and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. I love you guys and I love that you've got each other but you need to now be mindful of where you lie with everything. You're going to have to follow in Fen and I's footsteps and keep everything as minimal as possible. Fen and I had to sign a contract with the team when we got together and I'm pretty sure once you guys tell Bernie he's going to make you do the same."

"A what?"

"Non-disclosure contract." Nico says. "Means that if you break up, you can't suddenly act different. Basically restricts you very very closely to what's allowed for your relationship and what's allowed in the case that you end it."

Rocket glances over at me. "I think we're going to give each other a test run before we go make this legal."

Nico nods. "Fen and I did the same thing for a while, just to make sure we could handle each other around work and all that." She puffs out her cheeks. "And, you know your limits with each others bodies, we're approaching playoffs quickly and I can't have any messing around beforehand. If you could put off any physically hindering activities until further notice, that would be great." She gives us an awkward thumbs up. "Anyway, that's... it."

"Uh," I mumble. "Thanks?"

"Yep." She answers shortly. "Hit the showers, I'll see you two tomorrow afternoon at one for a fun practice."

"Really?" Rocket seems excited by this.

She laughs. "Yes, and make sure your boyfriend stretches when he gets home, can't have him responding badly to the weight jump."

"No problem." Rocket looks over his shoulders and wiggles his eyebrows at me.

"See you two tomorrow." Nico waves and then parts ways with us. I follow Rocket to the locker room showers, stripping our shirts inside the door and then pants and all that.

The concept of hockey showers is the funniest thing to me. I know for a fact that hockey guys tend to be homophobic but then they try to pass of one room showers with no walls as a bro thing?

Rocket clearly does not have a bro style shower in mind. He's kissing me against the tile wall in seconds.

"Shower fast, then my house." I mumble. "Race you."

***

'cause you're my painkiller,

for when my brain gets bitter,

you keep my close,

when i've been miserable

painkiller - ruel

***

ANyway I wrote this in an hour and I only really planned to post the scene that comes next and forgot that I needed a filler. Anyway.

Next chapter up probably on monday but I might surprise you and post it sooner ;)

-rabid