by purpleatheist
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Mine :-)
Summary: The team plays their first game and Park and Chris have a useful conversation.
Notes: I'm really, really unsure about how this turned out. I don't think I like how easily Chris and Park had that conversation. It wasn't forced writing, I was pretty much not even thinking about what I was typing and letting them do most of the work, but it still seemed...forced. But I'm leaving it the way it is. I'm sure they'll have problems at some point.
Getting back to the ice sucked for the first week, when I was a little weak and got out of breath pretty easily, but I was back in shape and skating with everyone else pretty soon. And not a moment too soon, because we went home for Christmas for a little over a week, and came back to the start of our actual competition.
The first game was January 4th. We were taking on a Florida team who was ranked middle-of-the-road nationally and would be a good gage of where we stood. I was actually pretty calm, standing in the locker room, watching everyone else finish dressing. Billy and Dame were talking quietly with each other. Damon looked serious as usual, and Billy's perpetual grin let me know he was ready for this game. My North Carolina boys were all involved in their own pre-game rituals, familiar to me, and comforting. Most people seemed to be quiet, too, which was good. I didn't mind a noisy locker room, but the peace was nice.
"Ready, Park?" That was Stormy, standing next to me, smiling at me. Chris and I had talked a lot more lately, and at first I chalked it up to just his 'A' and the necessity of talking to the captain. But he seemed to genuinely want to spend time with me. He didn't have to stay in the hospital with me, or come by between practices every day when I couldn't skate to give me a reprieve from the Billy and Dame Makeout Hour. And I was drawn to him, too. I wondered briefly if my feelings were a little less than...friendly, but decided that right before a game was not the best time to be analyzing them. Later.
"Yeah, let's get moving," I answered. "Come on, boys, hit the ice," I called. We walked down the tunnel and onto the ice, skating leisurely at first, getting a feel for the Florida arena.
I was robotic through pre-game stuff, not doing anything fancy. No reason to give them a reason to target me right off. Before I realized it, it was game time. I was taking the opening faceoff, and skated to center ice, nodding a greeting to my opposition. I looked at my guys, Billy and Dame familiar on my wings, Stormy and Michael Fischer getting that way on the blue line. Kev banged the posts with his stick and settled down.
"Let's have a good game, boys," said the ref, and we were off.
I won the faceoff cleanly, sending it back to Fish on the line. He and Stormy passed laterally a couple times, then went up to Billy who bolted down the wing. He surprised the forward but was tied up by the defender at the blue line and dumped the puck into the far corner. Dame battled his defender in the corner, and they stayed tied up, so I came in to help. Dame managed to slide it down the side of the boards, and I picked it off, spinning towards center. In a moment, I took in the positions of everyone on the ice: Billy hovering on the near side, Stormy on the left point, Fish hanging back in the neutral zone, Dame heading towards the net. I controlled the puck through the Florida zone easily, dancing between defenders sticks, tying them up. Before they realized what I'd done, I was in front of the goal, with a good angle. But the goalie had been paying attention and was watching me, and he'd be tough to score on. The others were regrouping, coming to cover me and leaving me with a nice lane to Billy. Well, nice if that guy would move just a little towards me...I faked a shot, he moved, and I slid the puck to Billy, who hit the back of the net.
Suddenly all the pressure was off. We'd done it. Less than a minute in and we'd already shown that we were ready for competition. Dame was mauling Billy on his goal, and everyone hit my helmet. "That was beautiful, Parker," Storm said to me, his face bright, and I patted him on the head as we changed lines.
"That's great, boys," Coach Brown yapped. "Don't get overconfident. You've got 59 minutes of hockey left. Let's do it again."
We did do it again. And again. And again. After 60 minutes of play, the tally stood at 7-0. Despite pressure from their offense once they got over their surprise, our defense was stifling, and Kev wasn't letting anything by. Meanwhile, my line was responsible for four goals. Billy picked up another and Dame and I each tallied one. Plus Stormy picked up a goal while we were out there, making us all +5. Not bad for the first game.
Coach's post-game speech calmed us down a little, since he reminded us we were playing a Northern California team ranked 5th in the nation next, but we were still jubilant. We were good, and we could tell. We were really good.
"Oh, that was fun." Chris Storm was sitting next to me on the floor as we watched my Hurricanes play on the hotel TV. Kev was with Sarah and Billy, my fourth roommate, had gone out somewhere with Damon. Stormy and I were left alone.
"Yeah, it really was. They won't all be that easy, though."
"Don't get all captain on me, Park. I know that. I'm just enjoying the victory."
I grinned at him. "Me too." His wild hazel eyes stared into mine, his crooked grin in place, and I could feel my heart jump. Oh, God, he was-
"Park?" he whispered suddenly.
I jumped. "Yeah."
"I have a confession."
"What's that?"
"I have...I'm...I like you. I have a crush on you."
"Storm?"
"Yeah?"
"I have a confession, too."
"What," he said, breathless.
I raised my hand, trailing it down his face, playing with a stray strand of red-brown hair. Then I kissed him. He whimpered and reached out with one hand to cup the back of my neck and keep me close. The other arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer against him. "I'm sorry," I whispered, when we broke. "I've found myself...over these last few weeks...having a crush on you, too."
"Park," he said, his left hand stroking my hair. "Cool," this was accompanied by a wide grin.
I kissed him again, settling easily in his lap. He was taller. "Wonder when Billy and Kevyn will be back?"
"I don't care," he said, hand still playing with my hair. "It doesn't matter if they know."
"Still...want to go for a walk?"
Smiling at me, he took my offered hand, which I then didn't drop. "Ok."
"There's a nice beach right next door," I said, and he leaned in for another kiss before opening the door. "That's the good thing about Florida."
"That was too easy," he muttered, once we were walking down the beach, the waves crashing to our right. "Too easy."
"What was?"
"Our - us. Isn't it supposed to be hard?"
"Wasn't for Billy and Dame, either. It'll be hard later, I'm sure."
"I really like you, Park."
"I know. I knew...you visited me so many times when I was sick. I'd never really talked to you before. I found myself liking you more and more. Before I knew it, I'd passed from like into love."
"I'm glad you did."
"Me too." I stopped our progress and turned to him, resting my hands on his hips. He was smiling, and looking supremely happy. In the gentle moonlight, I kissed him again, deeper this time than before. His return was equally as hungry, and I wondered if we'd get back inside anytime soon, like by curfew. Then I realized that I didn't really care.