(no subject)
Title: You Are My Signal Fire (Part 36)
Characters: Andrew Raycroft / Ian White
Word Count: 1200
Rating: PG-13ish, swearing
Setting: Steinbach, Manitoba
Disclaimer: I don’t own these players, nor do I know their sexual preferences. The whole thing is a work of my imagination. The title is part of the lyrics from snow patrol’s song ‘Signal Fire’.
Ian’s POV
“Alright I’m going to pick up Andrew now, I’ll be back in a couple hours.”
“I’ll come with you,” my dad offered getting up from in front of the television where my parents were watching some sitcom.
“It’s okay dad you don’t have to…”
“I just thought you’d like the company for the drive…but if you’d rather be alone I understand.”
“No! Company would be great! It’s just getting late that’s all.”
“So it’s settled then let’s go.”
The ride there seemed short somehow as I chatted to my dad about what I’d really been up to all summer. Even though he was still in shock about finding out about me and Andy he seemed eager to know what was going on. I was so happy to know that he still loved me and he wasn’t going to turn me out of the house. Manitoba wasn’t quite as liberal as Ontario when it came to these things and I had definitely been worried.
As we stood in the terminal waiting for him I had to laugh at how nervous my dad looked. I smiled turning to him, “Just relax dad. You’ll like him I know it.”
“Is he good enough for my Ian, I’m still not sure.” He chuckled, “That still sounds strange somehow.”
Finally I saw Andrew making his way over to us, dressed in simple casual clothes; a tee, some cargo shorts and a baseball cap. Typical Andrew, I wouldn’t have it any other way though. I hugged him as he greeted us, restraining myself from kissing him in front of my father as this would be awkward enough as it was. As he relinquished his grip on me he turned to face my father, extending his hand, “Er…nice to meet you Mr. White. I’m Andrew.”
My dad studied Andrew for a minute or two, an increasing feeling of unease in my stomach until he finally broke into a grin and shook his hand in return. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it happening right in front of my face. “Good to meet you boy. Let’s go home.”
He grabbed Andrew’s bag from him, swinging it over his own shoulder and leading us out to the truck. Andrew still looked unsure about this whole thing, so I grabbed his arm and dragged him along behind my dad out to the parking lot, trying to smile at him reassuringly.
The car ride home was a little awkward, my dad questioning Andrew about various aspects of his life. Do you smoke? What do you want to do after hockey? Where does your family live? How do they feel about your “situation”? We were sitting in the back seat so my dad could only see our faces in the mirror and I grabbed his hand and squeezed it to try and comfort him. He would squeeze particularly hard when there was a question that made him uncomfortable, in which case I would help him out or promptly change the subject. It was a good system.
I had asked my dad not to say anything about Dustin and he hadn’t liked it but kept his word. I was going to tell Andrew, because secrets were bad for relationships, I just needed the right time and now wasn’t it. I hadn’t really done anything. It was one kiss. It meant nothing, but I didn’t want to mess things up now that they were going well enough. Maybe I didn’t have to tell him…it was just one kiss.
Andrew was staying in the guest room and I snuck down the hall into his room so that we could talk. As the door creaked open he sat up in bed, “Took you long enough.”
“Sorry,” I whispered as I closed the door slowly, “My dad’s a really light sleeper. Had to wait until I could hear the snoring…that sounds so lame. I’m 23 years old for god’s sake.”
He laughed and swung back the covers so I could get into bed with him. He was just wearing a pair of pyjama pants and I immediately had my hands on the warm skin of his chest and stomach. “Ah, you waste no time.”
“Actually I’m just cold. I don’t think it’s a good idea to…you know…with my parents right there…after they just found out.”
“Agreed. I’d be afraid that your dad might stab me with a pitchfork.”
I rolled my eyes, “We’re not that country.”
“If you say so,” he hugged me closer to him, “I missed you.”
“Me too.” He kissed the top of my head, and I remembered how I had almost cheated on him (again) with Dustin. I suddenly felt like crap as all the happy, excited feelings I had been feeling earlier disappeared. Before I could think too much about it though, he spoke.
“God, Vesa is such a douche bag. I don’t know how I’m going to restrain myself this season from kicking his ass.”
It was almost comical how mad he was, but I stopped myself from laughing at him. “Yeah. He’s kind of unbelievable. I know you will kick his ass though,” I patted him on the stomach, “On the ice though. He really tried to kiss you?”
“Yeah! Well he did. He was all smug about it too, like ‘Oh no one can deny me.’ What an asshole. Asking me to ‘welcome him to the team’ because I’m a good lay, which I gotta ask…are you spreading that around the locker room?”
Now I really did laugh, “No, I swear I wouldn’t. He must have heard it somewhere else. Maybe it was Patrice,” I offered "…or I’m assuming you were with people before Patrice.”
He shrugged, “I guess I had my fair share of one night stands. Might have been Joe…”
“As in Joe Thornton?” I asked incredulously, “Seriously?!”
“What? Oh come on don’t look at me like that…it was one time…in my rookie year.”
“Yeah but Joe Thornton?” Looking up I saw that his cheeks were tinged slightly red.
“Shut up.”
“Was it good?” I asked giggling.
“Not really…we were drunk and well…I didn’t really enjoy it in any case.”
“Aw poor baby.” I was rewarded with a quick shove off of his chest for my smart ass remark as he inched away from me.
“Don’t be a jackass,” he muttered moodily.
“Okay, I’m sorry.” I crawled back over to him, kissing him gently on the lips as he pretended to be angry with me. Just when he was beginning to give in to me, “So you like the older guys hm?”
“Ian!”
I laughed, “Alright. I really am sorry this time. I was just kidding.”
“So what were you up to before I got here?” he asked, yawning and laying back on the bed.
“Oh you know,” I rested my head on his shoulder, “just practicing and stuff…just really boring stuff.”
“Mmm.” I knew he was only half-listening at this point, because the minute Andrew’s head hit the pillow he was usually out. Leaning in I planted one last kiss on his stubbly chin before cuddling up to him to go to sleep myself…it had been a long day after all.
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