Author’s notes: Will Tommy finally tell Jochen how he feels, or will he bail? And what about Jussi? It’s a chapter full of surprises and kisses! ^__^

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Looking to the German forward beside me, I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. Finding the right words were crucial, as not to goof up my point and come off making a different point than I had originally intended. In my mind, I ran over the words that Sasha told me when she came over before the St. Louis game. She was right: I didn’t fall in love with him only if he would love me back; I fell in love with Jochen because of his personality. "Uh, Jochen…"

Jochen smiled, and put a hand on my knee. "Don’t hurry if it’s important, Tommy. You don’t ever rush the important, personal stuff."

I nodded, smiling inside. "Thanks," I mumbled. Another deep breath. I can do this. After all, this is what I wanted, right? "Jochen…what you’ve done for me, with the press, and in the dressing room, it means a lot, and I just don’t know how to say this without it being like a huge bombshell, but—"

"Just say it; trust me, it’s the best way to get anything out," Jochen advised, totally unaware of what I was about to say.

Again, I nodded. I looked him dead in the eyes, and said, "Jochen Hecht, I love you. I don’t mean like a brother, or as a team-mate, but the other way…I don’t know when I fell in love with you; but it just became more evident when the Olympics were over. When you stood beside me both publicly and in the dressing room," I said, staring at the soda-sticky floor rather than his face anymore. "What do you say to that? I. Love. You."

** Jochen **

I was shocked. There’s no other way to say it. I didn’t expect those words to come out of Tommy’s mouth. But they did. What do I say to that? Aren’t I in love with him too? My mouth opened, and I tried to say something, but nothing came out. This happened several times before anything coherent came out. "Tommy…I—"

As soon as those two words came out of my mouth, I saw Tommy’s face fall. His blue eyes looked off to the ice, and I could see that his mind was racing. "H-hey, it’s all right. Y-you don’t have to say a-anything. A-after all, I couldn’t expect f-for you t-to feel the same way. I j-just wanted to get it out…" he stammered, cracking his knuckles quickly. "I-I’ll just see you later, J-Jochen." He got up to leave, very slowly.

‘Ah! No! Don’t go!’ I wanted to yell, but nothing coherent would come out of my mouth. Seeing as though words wouldn’t work at this moment, I stood up, face-to-face with Tommy, and grabbed his shoulders, and kissed him. I kissed Tommy Salo. On_the_lips. And it felt good. Really good. As the kiss ended, I looked at him, and smiled. "I’m glad you said it, Tommy," I whispered, brushing back his hair. "Because I feel the same way." I saw his eyes light up like I had never seen them before, and smiled. "See? You never know what happens until you just say it."

Tommy couldn’t keep the grin from his face. "Have you been talking to Sasha?"

"Surprisingly, no," I laughed. "But I’m glad you did. Otherwise, I would’ve missed my chance to kiss the guy I fell in love with."

** Tommy **

I am beginning to think I’m in a dream. Jochen just told me that he loves me. ME. This has to be a dream. "This is a dream," I muttered, still not believing that this was actually happening. Jochen grinned and pinched me. "Ow!!"

"You’re not dreaming, Tommy Salo," Jochen told me, kissing me gently on the lips. "Isn’t this the best gift to receive before a six game, eleven day road trip?"

I nodded my agreement. "And, it’s the best way to get over everything that’s happened. Thank you Jochen."

He grinned. "It was my pleasure, Tommy." And then, to end the day that had started off not so well, Jochen kissed me again. It was everything that I had thought it would be, and much more.

** Jussi (ya saw this coming, didn’t you?) **

I stood frozen at the other end of the arena, seeing Tommy and Jochen kiss. I was on my way to tell Tommy that I would be the starting goalie in the game against Buffalo; and to tell him how I felt. But then I happened upon them kissing. A lump formed in my throat, and I staggered back into the shadows of the hallway.

Now everything clicked. The medal stealing stunt, the post-Belarus/post-Nashville talks, why didn’t I see that Tommy only had eyes for Jochen Hecht? I wouldn’t cry, though. Eric told me that I didn’t fall in love with him on the condition that he would love me back. And strangely, I’m all right with it. But the pain still stung. Sighing deeply, I turned around and headed back to the dressing room. On the way, I noticed a tear had escaped my eye, and as soon as I noticed that, I ran into Janne. "H-hey Janne."

Janne’s eyebrow was raised. "Okay, now I know something’s wrong. You never call me ‘Janne’. It’s always been ‘Niinimaa’. Hey, what’s with the waterworks, kiddo?" He wasn’t that much older than me, but Janne always loved to refer to me as ‘kiddo’.

"It’s nothing," I tried to get past him, but Janne blocked me. Again, I tried to get out of his way, but he continued to block me. "What do you want?"

The platinum haired Finn looked at me sternly. "I want to know why you were crying. You normally don’t cry for random reasons, and I want an answer." I saw that his eyes were full of concern, and not full of their usual cockiness.

"It’s Tommy," I confessed, quickly wiping the tear from my eye.

"What about Tommy?" Janne pressed, not harshly, but gently, which surprised me. I hesitated, and Janne put a hand on my shoulder. "You can tell me, Jussi. Hey, after all, we’re Finns, right? We gotta stick together."

I smiled. Somehow, his smile made me feel a lot better, and I nodded slowly. "This is going to sound completely out of the blue, but I saw Jochen and Tommy kissing—" Janne’s eyes widened, and before he could comment, I continued: "And I had been harbouring these feelings for Tommy, and so it was…"

"Say no more," Janne whispered, and bit his bottom lip a little. "I know how it feels. To love someone so much and then to see them have eyes for someone else, it’s completely devastating."

Now my interest was spiked. "Um, if I may ask, who was this person that captured your heart, Janne?"

Janne looked at me square in the eye, and whispered: "You."

My eyes widened tremendously. Janne loved…me? If he was serious, he did a hell of a job making sure no one knew. Then again, I was paying attention to only Tommy. My mouth opened and closed a few times before any sound came out. "M-me?" I echoed.

Janne nodded slowly, and swallowed. "Yeah, kiddo, it’s you. I fell in love with you, Jussi Markkenen. I know when I did, and it was the first time you came to Edmonton, and when you recorded your first shutout in your first game. That’s when I fell in love with you. But I didn’t want to freak you out in your first year here; so I kept my mouth shut. For what seemed like forever I wanted to tell you, and it seems strange coming from me, but I couldn’t find the words. Then…then I saw how you looked at Tommy. And, to be honest…it broke my heart. But I didn’t let it phase me…after all, you can’t control who you fall in love with."

"Did anyone know?" I whispered, my voice completely soft at this point. "Or did you keep this to yourself?"

The platinum Finn blushed. He blushed. "Toddy knew. He found me staring at your picture one time…I think it was during that game against Ottawa where all the fights broke out in the third; and he walked in at the intermission, and saw me staring at your picture. But, he kept his mouth shut, which I’m thankful for."

"J-Janne…I had no idea," I whispered, reaching up with a shaky right hand to the left side of his face. Before I knew what I was doing, my lips were pressed against Janne’s, and he responded, bringing his arms around me. It was gentle, and definitely passionate. "I’m sorry for not seeing it earlier…"

Janne’s smile widened, and he ran a hand through my hair roughly. "All is forgiven, kiddo. I hope this restores your confidence for your start in Buffalo."

"It did that Janne, and so much more," I told him, "thank you…"

He looked at me with a puzzled look. "Thank you? For what?"

I smiled. "For loving me."

Janne’s face broke out into a grin. "Kiddo, you have no idea how corny that sounds! Now c’mon, we gotta get ready for our flight tomorrow to Buffalo!"

Fifteen feet away, Sasha and Eric stood wide-eyed. They saw Janne and Jussi of all people lip-locked in the hallway. Sasha turned to Eric. "Did you know about this?" Sasha asked.

Eric shook his head. "I had no idea about Janne and Jussi. This is weird to see, because he told me that he had feelings for Tommy."

Sasha’s eyes widened. "Tommy? You mean—Oh no! Doesn’t he know? Tommy is in love with Jochen!"

It was Eric’s turn for his eyes to be as wide as saucers. "Jochen? I didn’t know Tommy was…when…?" He sputtered for a few minutes, and finally stopped trying to make sense of it. "So, Tommy loved Jochen, and told you, and Jussi told me he was in love with Tommy. But we just saw Jussi and Janne kiss. I’m totally lost."

"That’s not a new thing," a German voice spoke up, and the pair turned to see Jochen and Tommy walking up to them, all dressed to go outside. Sasha and Eric’s eyes widened, and they looked to each other, then to the newly brought together pair. "What got you out of the loop this time?"

Eric pointed to the two of them, then to where Jussi and Janne were a few moments ago. Tommy’s eyebrow arched, trying to piece together what Eric was trying to tell them. Jochen began to mirror Eric, as if that would help the mystery. Sasha finally broke the silence and the confusion. "We just saw Janne and Jussi kiss," she blurted.

Jochen and Tommy’s eyes widened. "Are you serious?" Tommy asked, clearly taken aback. "I have to say, that one came out of left field."

"What’s even more out of left field is that Jussi was in love with you, Tommy," Eric suddenly blurted.

Tommy’s eyes were as wide as saucers. "Jussi…loved me?" He had the same look on his face like in his team photo. "And now he’s with Janne?"

Jochen snapped his fingers. "Todd told me something about Janne and Jussi before, and now I remember! Todd found Janne staring at Jussi’s picture during the second intermission of the Ottawa game. I didn’t think he was serious, so I forgot about it."

Sasha looked as if a light bulb was suddenly lit above her head. "That’s why he looked so moody after games! I’m surprised I didn’t see it before."

Eric rubbed his chin. "There’s nothing we can do about it now; as if there’s anything to change…they seem to be happy together. Now, we have to get ready for our flight to Buffalo tomorrow." The quartet nodded, and followed the Canadian medallist out of Skyreach Centre.

** Jussi **

I was excited, because it was my first back to back start in the NHL, and because it was such an alive atmosphere here in Buffalo. Todd Marchant’s a local boy, and so he was going on about that pretty much the entire day. Janne was the least likely person I thought would have an interest in me, much less be in love with me. But it was true, and I personally have not felt happier than when it was just the two of us, the two days we had been together. While this was running through my head, I snapped back to reality as two Sabres came barrelling down the ice, with Eric and Janne right on their tails.

Immediately, I got ready, as more of our guys and Sabres came down into the Oiler zone. Satan fired a shot, and I blocked it with a kick-save, then the rebound came to Warrener, and he fired through the crowd of people, but I got the shoulder up to deflect it away, and Mike Grier cleared it away. A double deflection and I kept this a scoreless game. It was a huge lift.

As the period game to a close, McKee came down the ice, with Jason Smith and Ryan Smyth coming after him. He fired a shot, and I blocked the initial shot, but the rebound was huge, and Zhitnik found the puck and wired it, but I blocked it, then pounced on it as Woolley was on the doorstep. "You’re on my glove!" I yelled, and he quickly hopped off, as I gave the puck to the referee. The period ended with Ryan getting a good chance on Burin, but getting denied.

It was hard to see, but Todd had the puck, and Ryan was doing what he did best, sticking his butt into Biron’s face. Todd did this funny little spin thing, shooting the puck, and all I saw was Ryan dislodging the net, and Daniel (Cleary) putting his stick up. Did we score? I couldn’t see, and neither did the referee, so they went upstairs. It appeared that the puck bounced off McKee’s hip, then Ryan’s skate before the net came off.

We waited for a good five minutes before the referee gave the call that it was a goal. I looked over to the Buffalo bench, and Lindy Ruff wasn’t that phased. I was surprised. Glancing over to the Oiler bench, I saw Tommy, staring off into space. Laughing, I realised that now he knew how I felt on the bench: bored as hell. As we got the goal, the guys cheered, and our spirits were lifted. It turned out they gave the goal to Todd, with assists to Ryan and Jason. "Good job Toddy!" I yelled, and he heard me, laughing.

Protecting our lead, we kept the game 1-0 after two periods, and any shots that the Sabres put my way were bad angled, but I kept them out of the net. "Coming up BIG!" as the guys would say. It felt really good, and I knew I was going to do great in this game. Everything was just going so right.

Mike Comrie drove around Jason Woolley, and from where I was standing, he backhanded a shot off Martin Biron’s shoulder. The rebound, as I saw on the numerous replays, fell into the crease and went in off the skate of Mike, whose momentum carried him into the net, bulldozing Biron.

"Again?" I asked, voicing everyone in the building’s feelings as they went again to the video goal judge. After a good ten minutes, it was again ruled as a goal. Two in one night? I could remember watching the Dallas/Edmonton game when the referees disallowed three of the Edmonton goals. I wasn’t complaining, though. Ruff, though, was livid, and slammed the gate of the players bench three times yelling to the referee.

It was just the momentum we needed, as I stopped everyone of the shots, with Rem and Eric blocking the shots. Just 43 seconds after Mike’s goal was allowed to stand, Todd was given a gift by one of the Buffalo forwards, and backhanded it into the net, giving us a 3-0 lead. There was nothing they could do, and as the period ended, we had snapped a three game losing streak, and were on the winning road.

Everyone jumped off the bench and skated towards me, congratulating me. Tommy skated up, and patted me on the head. "You did great," he praised, and I grinned, thanking him. Janne skated up, and gave me a big bear hug.

"Great work, kiddo," Janne praised, clapping me on the back. "We’re going to give Tampa Bay a run for their money!"

I nodded. Even if I didn’t get the start on Wednesday, I couldn’t be more happier than I was right now. A shutout, and a great guy. But I had a feeling, that this wasn’t going to be the end of this little adventure. And I wouldn’t want it to end either.

-TBC-