Fic: Let's Get Serious (Hockey, Fred/Tyler Seguin, Andrew Ference, 3700 words, Teen)
Summary: Five times Andrew Ference acts like Tyler Seguin's big brother and what that means for Tyler's relationship with Fred.
Notes: For ninja_orange because we were talking about Ference being Segs' big brother and also Segs and Fred legit dating. Thanks to lakeeffectgirl for helping me figure out the first section.
Story on AO3
1.
Tyler loses at credit card roulette out to lunch with some of the boys. They all laugh it up while he has to hand over his card.
"Some days you lose," he says to Dougie, who's so new they didn't make him throw his card in the hat. "But it all comes around. Next time it's going to be one of these boys paying for the rest of us."
"We'll have to get better at cheating," Krejci says with a smirk.
Tyler rolls his eyes and slips his card into his wallet. "Like you could."
There's a lot of chirping all the way out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk where everyone goes their own ways. Tyler's parked next to Andrew, so they head down the street together, and Andrew elbows him.
"Are you keeping old keycards in your wallet, or are you staying in a hotel?"
"Still in a hotel," Tyler says. "Wasn't sure it was really going to happen when I got back."
"I told you it was," Andrew says.
Tyler shrugs. "Yeah, but we thought that before and it didn't happen."
"I never told you it was going to happen for sure," Andrew says, and then, "You'd have to live with being woken up by a four-year-old, but we have a guest room if you need somewhere to crash for a while."
Tyler laughs. "Thanks for the offer, but we looked at places a couple of days ago, so we're moving in at the end of this month. Something like that."
"We?" Andrew asks. "Were you FaceTiming your dog to get his opinion?"
Tyler laughs. "No, but that's a good idea. I'll have to do that next time. I'm getting a place with a friend." Tyler doesn't stumble over the words, and the cold air is probably enough to explain away how red his cheeks are. Andrew doesn't seem to notice anyway.
"It's not Dougie, is it? You should leave his Boston education to the D-men."
"No," Tyler says. "Not Dougie. But Marchy and I are definitely teaching him about Beantown."
"We'll see about that."
*
Tyler has a meeting with PR and has to check in with his strength coach, and then he ends up hanging around with some of the boys who are also still at the rink, and then he has a couple of errands he wants to run, but when he's finally done for the day, he texts Fred, Where ru?
Fred sends back a selfie with enough detail behind him that can tell he should head for Fred's place and not the hotel.
He has keys, so he lets himself in. "Honey, I'm home."
"That's going to get old fast," Fred says. It doesn't stop him from kissing Tyler back or from pulling Tyler down onto the bed with him. "How was your day, dear?"
"Awesome." Tyler resettles them on the bed so Fred's lying half on him and he can put both arms around Fred. He can't stop smiling. "Being back with the boys is the best feeling in the world."
"The best? See if I ever blow you again."
Tyler laughs and kisses Fred. "You know what I mean." He rests his clasped hands in the center of Fred's back. "I told one of them I'm moving in with a friend."
"Yeah?" Fred tips his head up, so his chin is digging into Tyler's chest. "They're going to know that. They're going to be over and shit."
"I know," Tyler says. That's not the part that's bothering him. He rubs his hands over Fred's back. "But you're not just my friend."
"Baby," Fred says, "you're not just my friend either."
Tyler laughs, and Fred kisses him.
"It's going to be awesome," Fred says. "No matter who you tell people I am."
2.
Andrew and Krista usually invite Tyler over for dinner a couple times a season. He likes it. The kids are great, and Andrew and Krista are lots of fun. He doesn't want to turn invitations down, but this season is different. This season they're already playing a compacted schedule, and combine that with Fred's hockey and school schedule, and Tyler's calendar is more complicated than he ever could have imagined.
"Come on," Andrew says, nudging Tyler in the lounge. "Come over. You know Krista loves you, and the kids want to see you."
Tyler hesitates, and risks a glance around the room. There are a lot of guys hanging around. "Can I get back to you on that?"
Andrew looks at him like he knows there's something going on. "Okay," he says slowly. "But don't leave it too late."
"I won't." Tyler smiles and holds a hand out to fist bump Thorty as he comes by.
He doesn't have to worry about it, because he ends up talking to the trainers after practice, and then he calls Fred on his way out, and when he goes to the parking lot, Andrew's waiting just inside the doors.
"What is it?" Andrew asks. "You love coming over."
"I do." Tyler looks around, but they really are alone and he can trust Andrew, so he takes a chance. "Can I bring someone?"
Andrew raises his eyebrows. "Like a date?"
Tyler nods.
Andrew's eyebrows stay up. "Yes," he says. "I didn't know you were dating anyone that seriously."
"Yeah," Tyler says. "Fred. The, uh, friend I moved in with."
There's the barest moment before Andrew says, "Fred? You're seriously living with a guy named Fred?"
Tyler relaxes and shrugs. "It's actually Alfred."
"Alfred," Andrew says. He snickers and throws an arm around Tyler's shoulders. "I hope he likes kids, because I'm going to tell Ava and Stella his name and that they should ask him about it."
"Yeah," Tyler says, "he'll like the girls."
*
Andrew buzzes them up and is waiting in the open doorway with the girls when the elevator doors open.
"Hi Tyler!" Ava rushes forward to hug him.
"Tyler!" Stella runs after her.
"Hi, girls." Tyler hugs both of them. "This is my friend Fred."
They both shake Fred's hand very solemnly.
"Daddy says your name is Alfred," Ava says.
Fred looks at Tyler, who shrugs. He did warn him.
"My name is Alfred," Fred says, "but most people call me Fred."
Ava takes his hand and pulls him toward the door. "Can I call you Alfred?"
Fred shoots a look at Tyler and says, "Yes."
"Alfred!" Stella says. She takes Fred's other hand, which doesn't leave him with any hands to shake Andrew's.
Tyler puts his hand on Fred's back and says, "This is Fred. Fred, Andrew. He's Ava and Stella's dad."
Fred raises the hand Stella's holding in a sort of wave.
"Hi, Fred," Andrew says. He smirks a little. "Alfred. Come on in."
"We're making pizza," Stella says.
"Let them take their coats off first," Andrew says.
Tyler takes Fred's coat from him and hangs them both on the hooks inside the door while the girls drag Fred into the kitchen.
"You've been replaced," Andrew says. He puts his arm around Tyler's shoulders. "It's just because he's new and exciting."
Tyler laughs and goes with Andrew into the kitchen where the kids are already trying to explain how they make pizza to Fred. Krista leans around the counter to hug him, and she nods at Fred with an approving smile.
Tyler smiles back at her and goes to rest his hands on Fred's shoulders. Fred smiles up at him for a second before the girls insist they help with the pizza.
3.
Andrew's at the bench with one of his sticks, so Tyler has to lean against the wall and wait for his turn.
"Beautiful morning for practice," Andrew says.
Tyler shrugs. "I guess."
Andrew looks up. "You okay?"
Tyler shrugs again. He's standing right where he can see if anyone's coming, and there's no one around, so he says, "We had a fight."
Andrew looks around too before he asks, "You and Alfred?"
"Yeah."
Andrew makes a noise that doesn't mean anything except that he heard Tyler, and he goes back to what he's doing with his stick.
Tyler fidgets with his stick for a moment, tugs his pads a little better into place. "He does this thing where he takes off his pants and plays guitar. He was doing it last night, and I got, like, three texts with pictures."
Andrew turns and looks at him with both eyebrows raised. "And you're embarrassed to be seen with him?"
"And he's hot," Tyler says. "And what if other people see that, and then they go for him?"
Andrew stops messing with his stick and leans on it as he looks at Tyler. "My wife is way hotter than your boyfriend. I'm gone a lot, and the girls are in school during the day. There's a lot of opportunity for her to cheat on me, but I trust that she won't. And she trusts that I won't, even though I'm away from her a lot. You have to have trust in a relationship, especially when you're playing hockey and traveling every week. Otherwise it's never going to work."
"I guess," Tyler says. "But what if there's someone else who can, I don't know, be here all the time?"
"Trust," Andrew says. "And you should probably talk to him about it. Without whatever yelling you already did." He picks up a roll of tape and taps Tyler on the shoulder with it before he goes through the door.
*
Tyler goes over and hangs out with Marchy for a while, and it's kind of late by the time he texts Fred, Be home in fifteen. There's a chance Fred could be out, or he could still be mad enough to ignore Tyler or tell him not to come home, but he texts back, k, less than a minute later, so Tyler heads home.
Fred's sitting on the bed in his room - the one they don't use but keep set up so no one asks questions, with all of the furniture from Fred's old place - back against the headboard, legs stretched out in front of him, textbook on his lap. "Hi."
Tyler sort of smiles at him. "Hi." He leans against the wall and shoves his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk."
"You really were," Fred says.
Tyler winces. "You just- You're so hot and I don't want someone else to, like, see that and seduce you or whatever."
Fred puts his book down. "My super hot boyfriend is one of the best hockey players in the world. What makes you think I'd go for anyone else?" Tyler doesn't get to answer before Fred keeps going. "All they're going to get out of seeing me without my pants is jealous that you have such a hot boyfriend."
Tyler bites his lip around the beginnings of a smile. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. Come on, people see you half-naked all the time. Are you going to let one of them seduce you?"
"No." Tyler takes his hands out of his pockets. "So we're good?"
Fred gets off the bed, and Tyler takes a step away from the wall to meet him in the middle.
"Yes," Fred says. He tilts Tyler's head down. "I forgive you for being a stupid, jealous douchebag."
Tyler would protest, but Fred's right and, more importantly, kissing him, and Tyler's not going to interrupt that. That's the kind of thing he wants to keep going. But then Fred pushes him away when he tries to get his hands under Fred's shirt.
"No. I have to finish this reading first."
"No," Tyler says, and he goes for the spot on Fred's neck that always gets him hot. "You can do your reading after."
"I'm going to fall asleep after." Fred pushes Tyler away. "Like, twenty minutes, tops. You can keep your clothes on and sit with me." He sits down on the bed and picks up his book.
Tyler doesn't really want to keep his clothes on, but he doesn't want Fred to fail out of school either. He goes around the bed to get to what was always his side and sits down next to Fred. When Fred holds up an arm, Tyler scootches over and slouches down a little so he can put his head on Fred's shoulder.
4.
"Do you think it'd be okay if I told the rest of the boys?" Tyler blurts it out to Andrew when they're the only two on the bikes for a minute. The privacy won't last, but they probably have a minute or two.
"About Alfred?"
Tyler nods.
Andrew looks thoughtful for a moment. "Probably. Tim's gone - that's going to help - and I don't think anyone else will be too awful about it." He looks at Tyler. "I could be wrong, and telling them means other people are likely to find out."
"Yeah," Tyler says, "I know. But, like, we know everyone else's wives and girlfriends. I just think it would be cool if I could bring Fred to things."
"Like Looch's thing next week."
"Yeah. I was thinking, maybe."
"It's your choice," Andrew says, "but if you want to, you should tell them before you just show up with him."
It's good advice and Tyler's already talked to Fred about it, so a couple of days later when everyone is around and McQuaid has an arm around Dougie's shoulders and is telling him, "You don't have to bring a date. Seguin over here hasn't managed to find anyone to drag to one of these things," Tyler says, "Um, actually I was thinking about bringing someone. My, um," he looks at Andrew, who nods at him encouragingly, "boyfriend. If that's okay with everyone."
"No shit," Bergy says after a minute of silence. "And you didn't tell your lineys about it?"
"I knew," Marchy says, and shrugs when Bergy looks at him. "He likes me better."
Tyler's getting a few looks, but no one's actually objecting, and then Looch says, "I'll tell Brittany you're bringing a plus one."
Tyler's shoulders go down and he says, "Cool, thanks."
Andrew claps him on the back on his way past him to the door.
Tyler smiles at him and says, "Thanks."
*
Looch opens the door when Tyler rings the bell. "Segs! Come on in." Looch hugs him and says, "And the boyfriend."
Tyler says, "This is Fred. Fred, Looch."
Fred shakes Looch's hand, and it's just the first of what feels like an endless round of introductions as Tyler gets shoved around the room so everyone can meet Fred. They do get a couple of beers at one point, which makes it just a little easier. Also, no one's a jerk about it, except Andrew who announces to everyone he's standing with that Fred's name is Alfred.
"It's a solid name," Fred says with a shrug. "And your kids liked it."
That gets a chorus of laughter, and Tyler bumps his shoulder against Fred's and keeps it there.
It's an evening thing with food and stuff, but no kids, until Tyler's laughing at Marchy and Looch comes up to them with the baby.
"Here," he says, and he practically shoves her at Tyler. "Almost everyone else has had a turn. Don't think you're getting out of seeing how beautiful my daughter is."
Tyler's careful when he takes the baby, and he shifts his arms like Looch tells him to. "Hi, Valentina." She's tiny, and mostly she blinks up at him. But she is beautiful, and Tyler spends a minute just looking at her.
Fred leans his cheek on Tyler's shoulder. "I think my biological clock is ticking."
Tyler laughs, loud enough to startle Valentina. He rocks her a little to get her to settle down. "Your biological clock?"
"Yeah. Not, like, now or anything. It's a faint ticking. But someday, maybe, yeah."
Tyler turns his head to look at him. "Really?"
"Mmhmm." Fred looks at Valentina, then at Tyler. "Now I know why girls go crazy over dudes holding babies."
"Okay, that's enough." Looch swoops in to take Valentina away from Tyler. "No using my daughter to pick up dudes."
Tyler slides his hand down Fred's arm to hold his hand. They don't usually, but this is a kind of public place where it's okay. "He's already my boyfriend. I don't have to pick him up."
Fred squeezes his hand and then smirks and says, "You could if you wanted to."
"Not using my daughter." Looch is frowning in that way that makes him look dangerous.
Fred loses the smirk and starts laughing, and then Tyler doesn't have to try to look serious anymore and he starts laughing too, and Looch scowls at both of them and says, "Fuck you. You two deserve each other."
5.
Tyler wanders into the lounge and sits next to Andrew on the couch, but he waits for Andrew to acknowledge him because he doesn't want to interrupt if he's busy or something.
Andrew puts his phone away. "What's up?"
"When did you know you wanted to marry Krista?"
Andrew raises his eyebrows. "The first time I met her. I know it's cheesy, but I knew. I think you can't ignore that kind of connection."
Tyler worries at his lip for a second. "If you knew then, when did you talk to her about it?"
"Well," Andrew says, "we kind of talked about it a lot. About our future together. I was in Pennsylvania and she was in BC training for a couple of years, so we had to talk about it if we were going to stay together. Eventually we decided we were ready to get married, so we did." Andrew looks at him for a long moment. "What's with the questions? You thinking about Alfred?"
"Yeah. We're already, you know, together and living together and whatever. But I don't want to, like, take that for granted, or have him think I do or that it's not, like, really serious."
"You know marriages are public record," Andrew says mildly.
"I know." Tyler fidgets and he's probably turning red all over his cheeks. "I don't want to, like, do that part of it right now. Just talk to him about it. Maybe ask him."
"No one else can tell you if it's the right thing or the right time," Andrew says, "but you seem solid, and if you're doing it because you want to be with him forever, that's a good reason."
"I do want that," Tyler says. More than just his cheeks are turning red now.
"Then good luck," Andrew says. "If you decide to do it, let me know how it goes."
*
Tyler thinks about it for a while, even more than he did before, because he wants to be absolutely, totally sure this is what he wants. After a couple of weeks, where he and Fred have a couple of minor arguments but work them out like grown-ups and Tyler misses Fred even more desperately than he misses either his dog or his own bed when they're on road trips, he's sure.
They're hanging out at home on an otherwise normal Tuesday the night he brings it up. They make dinner together since they both have time for it, and Marshall hangs out in the kitchen with them getting underfoot.
Tyler puts plates on the table and Fred rummages in the silverware drawer and asks, "Do you want to watch something while we eat? I downloaded Walking Dead."
"No," Tyler says. "We can watch that later."
Fred tosses a couple of forks on the table and they sit down.
"I was hoping we could talk," Tyler says when they're almost done with dinner.
"Have you been somewhere else for the last," Fred glances up at the clock, "half hour? We've been talking."
"Not that kind of talk," Tyler says. "A, like, relationship talk."
Fred narrows his eyes. "What kind of relationship talk? A 'stop stealing the covers' kind of talk or a 'we moved in together too fast' kind of talk?"
Tyler fiddles with his fork for a minute before he puts it down and makes himself say it straight out. "A 'do you want to get married someday' kind of talk."
Fred drops his fork. It clangs against the table, but they both ignore it. "Do I want to get married?"
"Yes," Tyler says. "To me."
"Obviously to you," Fred says. "You want to get married?"
"Not right now," Tyler says. "But, like, yeah. I mean, I want to be with you, and I want people to know that, and have it be official and legal and stuff someday."
Fred looks at him for a long time before he says, "You watch too many chick flicks."
"Come on," Tyler says, "I'm serious. I love you" - it's not the first time he's said it, but they don't say it a lot, and it makes his cheeks warm to say it now - "and I want to be with you forever. If that's what you want."
Fred takes his hand. "Yes, that's what I want, but we're way too young to get married."
"We don't have to do it now." Tyler holds on tight to Fred's hand. "We probably shouldn't now, anyway. I don't want to be, like, the poster child for gay hockey players. But I want to someday."
"Okay." Fred surrounds Tyler's hand with both of his. "Someday." He shakes Tyler's hand a little. "But I expect a real proposal then. You're going to have to get down on one knee and buy me a ring."
Tyler leans across the table to kiss him. "I'll buy you a ring someday. I promise."
They don't watch Walking Dead because they leave their plates on the table and stumble upstairs to bed to have sex instead.
Later, while Fred's brushing his teeth before bed, Tyler texts Andrew, He said yes!!!! before he checks to make sure his alarm is set. When he switches back from the alarm, he has a text from Andrew that says, Congratulations! with a smiley-face. Tyler sends a row of smiley faces back, and is still grinning when Fred comes to bed.
Notes: For ninja_orange because we were talking about Ference being Segs' big brother and also Segs and Fred legit dating. Thanks to lakeeffectgirl for helping me figure out the first section.
Story on AO3
1.
Tyler loses at credit card roulette out to lunch with some of the boys. They all laugh it up while he has to hand over his card.
"Some days you lose," he says to Dougie, who's so new they didn't make him throw his card in the hat. "But it all comes around. Next time it's going to be one of these boys paying for the rest of us."
"We'll have to get better at cheating," Krejci says with a smirk.
Tyler rolls his eyes and slips his card into his wallet. "Like you could."
There's a lot of chirping all the way out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk where everyone goes their own ways. Tyler's parked next to Andrew, so they head down the street together, and Andrew elbows him.
"Are you keeping old keycards in your wallet, or are you staying in a hotel?"
"Still in a hotel," Tyler says. "Wasn't sure it was really going to happen when I got back."
"I told you it was," Andrew says.
Tyler shrugs. "Yeah, but we thought that before and it didn't happen."
"I never told you it was going to happen for sure," Andrew says, and then, "You'd have to live with being woken up by a four-year-old, but we have a guest room if you need somewhere to crash for a while."
Tyler laughs. "Thanks for the offer, but we looked at places a couple of days ago, so we're moving in at the end of this month. Something like that."
"We?" Andrew asks. "Were you FaceTiming your dog to get his opinion?"
Tyler laughs. "No, but that's a good idea. I'll have to do that next time. I'm getting a place with a friend." Tyler doesn't stumble over the words, and the cold air is probably enough to explain away how red his cheeks are. Andrew doesn't seem to notice anyway.
"It's not Dougie, is it? You should leave his Boston education to the D-men."
"No," Tyler says. "Not Dougie. But Marchy and I are definitely teaching him about Beantown."
"We'll see about that."
*
Tyler has a meeting with PR and has to check in with his strength coach, and then he ends up hanging around with some of the boys who are also still at the rink, and then he has a couple of errands he wants to run, but when he's finally done for the day, he texts Fred, Where ru?
Fred sends back a selfie with enough detail behind him that can tell he should head for Fred's place and not the hotel.
He has keys, so he lets himself in. "Honey, I'm home."
"That's going to get old fast," Fred says. It doesn't stop him from kissing Tyler back or from pulling Tyler down onto the bed with him. "How was your day, dear?"
"Awesome." Tyler resettles them on the bed so Fred's lying half on him and he can put both arms around Fred. He can't stop smiling. "Being back with the boys is the best feeling in the world."
"The best? See if I ever blow you again."
Tyler laughs and kisses Fred. "You know what I mean." He rests his clasped hands in the center of Fred's back. "I told one of them I'm moving in with a friend."
"Yeah?" Fred tips his head up, so his chin is digging into Tyler's chest. "They're going to know that. They're going to be over and shit."
"I know," Tyler says. That's not the part that's bothering him. He rubs his hands over Fred's back. "But you're not just my friend."
"Baby," Fred says, "you're not just my friend either."
Tyler laughs, and Fred kisses him.
"It's going to be awesome," Fred says. "No matter who you tell people I am."
2.
Andrew and Krista usually invite Tyler over for dinner a couple times a season. He likes it. The kids are great, and Andrew and Krista are lots of fun. He doesn't want to turn invitations down, but this season is different. This season they're already playing a compacted schedule, and combine that with Fred's hockey and school schedule, and Tyler's calendar is more complicated than he ever could have imagined.
"Come on," Andrew says, nudging Tyler in the lounge. "Come over. You know Krista loves you, and the kids want to see you."
Tyler hesitates, and risks a glance around the room. There are a lot of guys hanging around. "Can I get back to you on that?"
Andrew looks at him like he knows there's something going on. "Okay," he says slowly. "But don't leave it too late."
"I won't." Tyler smiles and holds a hand out to fist bump Thorty as he comes by.
He doesn't have to worry about it, because he ends up talking to the trainers after practice, and then he calls Fred on his way out, and when he goes to the parking lot, Andrew's waiting just inside the doors.
"What is it?" Andrew asks. "You love coming over."
"I do." Tyler looks around, but they really are alone and he can trust Andrew, so he takes a chance. "Can I bring someone?"
Andrew raises his eyebrows. "Like a date?"
Tyler nods.
Andrew's eyebrows stay up. "Yes," he says. "I didn't know you were dating anyone that seriously."
"Yeah," Tyler says. "Fred. The, uh, friend I moved in with."
There's the barest moment before Andrew says, "Fred? You're seriously living with a guy named Fred?"
Tyler relaxes and shrugs. "It's actually Alfred."
"Alfred," Andrew says. He snickers and throws an arm around Tyler's shoulders. "I hope he likes kids, because I'm going to tell Ava and Stella his name and that they should ask him about it."
"Yeah," Tyler says, "he'll like the girls."
*
Andrew buzzes them up and is waiting in the open doorway with the girls when the elevator doors open.
"Hi Tyler!" Ava rushes forward to hug him.
"Tyler!" Stella runs after her.
"Hi, girls." Tyler hugs both of them. "This is my friend Fred."
They both shake Fred's hand very solemnly.
"Daddy says your name is Alfred," Ava says.
Fred looks at Tyler, who shrugs. He did warn him.
"My name is Alfred," Fred says, "but most people call me Fred."
Ava takes his hand and pulls him toward the door. "Can I call you Alfred?"
Fred shoots a look at Tyler and says, "Yes."
"Alfred!" Stella says. She takes Fred's other hand, which doesn't leave him with any hands to shake Andrew's.
Tyler puts his hand on Fred's back and says, "This is Fred. Fred, Andrew. He's Ava and Stella's dad."
Fred raises the hand Stella's holding in a sort of wave.
"Hi, Fred," Andrew says. He smirks a little. "Alfred. Come on in."
"We're making pizza," Stella says.
"Let them take their coats off first," Andrew says.
Tyler takes Fred's coat from him and hangs them both on the hooks inside the door while the girls drag Fred into the kitchen.
"You've been replaced," Andrew says. He puts his arm around Tyler's shoulders. "It's just because he's new and exciting."
Tyler laughs and goes with Andrew into the kitchen where the kids are already trying to explain how they make pizza to Fred. Krista leans around the counter to hug him, and she nods at Fred with an approving smile.
Tyler smiles back at her and goes to rest his hands on Fred's shoulders. Fred smiles up at him for a second before the girls insist they help with the pizza.
3.
Andrew's at the bench with one of his sticks, so Tyler has to lean against the wall and wait for his turn.
"Beautiful morning for practice," Andrew says.
Tyler shrugs. "I guess."
Andrew looks up. "You okay?"
Tyler shrugs again. He's standing right where he can see if anyone's coming, and there's no one around, so he says, "We had a fight."
Andrew looks around too before he asks, "You and Alfred?"
"Yeah."
Andrew makes a noise that doesn't mean anything except that he heard Tyler, and he goes back to what he's doing with his stick.
Tyler fidgets with his stick for a moment, tugs his pads a little better into place. "He does this thing where he takes off his pants and plays guitar. He was doing it last night, and I got, like, three texts with pictures."
Andrew turns and looks at him with both eyebrows raised. "And you're embarrassed to be seen with him?"
"And he's hot," Tyler says. "And what if other people see that, and then they go for him?"
Andrew stops messing with his stick and leans on it as he looks at Tyler. "My wife is way hotter than your boyfriend. I'm gone a lot, and the girls are in school during the day. There's a lot of opportunity for her to cheat on me, but I trust that she won't. And she trusts that I won't, even though I'm away from her a lot. You have to have trust in a relationship, especially when you're playing hockey and traveling every week. Otherwise it's never going to work."
"I guess," Tyler says. "But what if there's someone else who can, I don't know, be here all the time?"
"Trust," Andrew says. "And you should probably talk to him about it. Without whatever yelling you already did." He picks up a roll of tape and taps Tyler on the shoulder with it before he goes through the door.
*
Tyler goes over and hangs out with Marchy for a while, and it's kind of late by the time he texts Fred, Be home in fifteen. There's a chance Fred could be out, or he could still be mad enough to ignore Tyler or tell him not to come home, but he texts back, k, less than a minute later, so Tyler heads home.
Fred's sitting on the bed in his room - the one they don't use but keep set up so no one asks questions, with all of the furniture from Fred's old place - back against the headboard, legs stretched out in front of him, textbook on his lap. "Hi."
Tyler sort of smiles at him. "Hi." He leans against the wall and shoves his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk."
"You really were," Fred says.
Tyler winces. "You just- You're so hot and I don't want someone else to, like, see that and seduce you or whatever."
Fred puts his book down. "My super hot boyfriend is one of the best hockey players in the world. What makes you think I'd go for anyone else?" Tyler doesn't get to answer before Fred keeps going. "All they're going to get out of seeing me without my pants is jealous that you have such a hot boyfriend."
Tyler bites his lip around the beginnings of a smile. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. Come on, people see you half-naked all the time. Are you going to let one of them seduce you?"
"No." Tyler takes his hands out of his pockets. "So we're good?"
Fred gets off the bed, and Tyler takes a step away from the wall to meet him in the middle.
"Yes," Fred says. He tilts Tyler's head down. "I forgive you for being a stupid, jealous douchebag."
Tyler would protest, but Fred's right and, more importantly, kissing him, and Tyler's not going to interrupt that. That's the kind of thing he wants to keep going. But then Fred pushes him away when he tries to get his hands under Fred's shirt.
"No. I have to finish this reading first."
"No," Tyler says, and he goes for the spot on Fred's neck that always gets him hot. "You can do your reading after."
"I'm going to fall asleep after." Fred pushes Tyler away. "Like, twenty minutes, tops. You can keep your clothes on and sit with me." He sits down on the bed and picks up his book.
Tyler doesn't really want to keep his clothes on, but he doesn't want Fred to fail out of school either. He goes around the bed to get to what was always his side and sits down next to Fred. When Fred holds up an arm, Tyler scootches over and slouches down a little so he can put his head on Fred's shoulder.
4.
"Do you think it'd be okay if I told the rest of the boys?" Tyler blurts it out to Andrew when they're the only two on the bikes for a minute. The privacy won't last, but they probably have a minute or two.
"About Alfred?"
Tyler nods.
Andrew looks thoughtful for a moment. "Probably. Tim's gone - that's going to help - and I don't think anyone else will be too awful about it." He looks at Tyler. "I could be wrong, and telling them means other people are likely to find out."
"Yeah," Tyler says, "I know. But, like, we know everyone else's wives and girlfriends. I just think it would be cool if I could bring Fred to things."
"Like Looch's thing next week."
"Yeah. I was thinking, maybe."
"It's your choice," Andrew says, "but if you want to, you should tell them before you just show up with him."
It's good advice and Tyler's already talked to Fred about it, so a couple of days later when everyone is around and McQuaid has an arm around Dougie's shoulders and is telling him, "You don't have to bring a date. Seguin over here hasn't managed to find anyone to drag to one of these things," Tyler says, "Um, actually I was thinking about bringing someone. My, um," he looks at Andrew, who nods at him encouragingly, "boyfriend. If that's okay with everyone."
"No shit," Bergy says after a minute of silence. "And you didn't tell your lineys about it?"
"I knew," Marchy says, and shrugs when Bergy looks at him. "He likes me better."
Tyler's getting a few looks, but no one's actually objecting, and then Looch says, "I'll tell Brittany you're bringing a plus one."
Tyler's shoulders go down and he says, "Cool, thanks."
Andrew claps him on the back on his way past him to the door.
Tyler smiles at him and says, "Thanks."
*
Looch opens the door when Tyler rings the bell. "Segs! Come on in." Looch hugs him and says, "And the boyfriend."
Tyler says, "This is Fred. Fred, Looch."
Fred shakes Looch's hand, and it's just the first of what feels like an endless round of introductions as Tyler gets shoved around the room so everyone can meet Fred. They do get a couple of beers at one point, which makes it just a little easier. Also, no one's a jerk about it, except Andrew who announces to everyone he's standing with that Fred's name is Alfred.
"It's a solid name," Fred says with a shrug. "And your kids liked it."
That gets a chorus of laughter, and Tyler bumps his shoulder against Fred's and keeps it there.
It's an evening thing with food and stuff, but no kids, until Tyler's laughing at Marchy and Looch comes up to them with the baby.
"Here," he says, and he practically shoves her at Tyler. "Almost everyone else has had a turn. Don't think you're getting out of seeing how beautiful my daughter is."
Tyler's careful when he takes the baby, and he shifts his arms like Looch tells him to. "Hi, Valentina." She's tiny, and mostly she blinks up at him. But she is beautiful, and Tyler spends a minute just looking at her.
Fred leans his cheek on Tyler's shoulder. "I think my biological clock is ticking."
Tyler laughs, loud enough to startle Valentina. He rocks her a little to get her to settle down. "Your biological clock?"
"Yeah. Not, like, now or anything. It's a faint ticking. But someday, maybe, yeah."
Tyler turns his head to look at him. "Really?"
"Mmhmm." Fred looks at Valentina, then at Tyler. "Now I know why girls go crazy over dudes holding babies."
"Okay, that's enough." Looch swoops in to take Valentina away from Tyler. "No using my daughter to pick up dudes."
Tyler slides his hand down Fred's arm to hold his hand. They don't usually, but this is a kind of public place where it's okay. "He's already my boyfriend. I don't have to pick him up."
Fred squeezes his hand and then smirks and says, "You could if you wanted to."
"Not using my daughter." Looch is frowning in that way that makes him look dangerous.
Fred loses the smirk and starts laughing, and then Tyler doesn't have to try to look serious anymore and he starts laughing too, and Looch scowls at both of them and says, "Fuck you. You two deserve each other."
5.
Tyler wanders into the lounge and sits next to Andrew on the couch, but he waits for Andrew to acknowledge him because he doesn't want to interrupt if he's busy or something.
Andrew puts his phone away. "What's up?"
"When did you know you wanted to marry Krista?"
Andrew raises his eyebrows. "The first time I met her. I know it's cheesy, but I knew. I think you can't ignore that kind of connection."
Tyler worries at his lip for a second. "If you knew then, when did you talk to her about it?"
"Well," Andrew says, "we kind of talked about it a lot. About our future together. I was in Pennsylvania and she was in BC training for a couple of years, so we had to talk about it if we were going to stay together. Eventually we decided we were ready to get married, so we did." Andrew looks at him for a long moment. "What's with the questions? You thinking about Alfred?"
"Yeah. We're already, you know, together and living together and whatever. But I don't want to, like, take that for granted, or have him think I do or that it's not, like, really serious."
"You know marriages are public record," Andrew says mildly.
"I know." Tyler fidgets and he's probably turning red all over his cheeks. "I don't want to, like, do that part of it right now. Just talk to him about it. Maybe ask him."
"No one else can tell you if it's the right thing or the right time," Andrew says, "but you seem solid, and if you're doing it because you want to be with him forever, that's a good reason."
"I do want that," Tyler says. More than just his cheeks are turning red now.
"Then good luck," Andrew says. "If you decide to do it, let me know how it goes."
*
Tyler thinks about it for a while, even more than he did before, because he wants to be absolutely, totally sure this is what he wants. After a couple of weeks, where he and Fred have a couple of minor arguments but work them out like grown-ups and Tyler misses Fred even more desperately than he misses either his dog or his own bed when they're on road trips, he's sure.
They're hanging out at home on an otherwise normal Tuesday the night he brings it up. They make dinner together since they both have time for it, and Marshall hangs out in the kitchen with them getting underfoot.
Tyler puts plates on the table and Fred rummages in the silverware drawer and asks, "Do you want to watch something while we eat? I downloaded Walking Dead."
"No," Tyler says. "We can watch that later."
Fred tosses a couple of forks on the table and they sit down.
"I was hoping we could talk," Tyler says when they're almost done with dinner.
"Have you been somewhere else for the last," Fred glances up at the clock, "half hour? We've been talking."
"Not that kind of talk," Tyler says. "A, like, relationship talk."
Fred narrows his eyes. "What kind of relationship talk? A 'stop stealing the covers' kind of talk or a 'we moved in together too fast' kind of talk?"
Tyler fiddles with his fork for a minute before he puts it down and makes himself say it straight out. "A 'do you want to get married someday' kind of talk."
Fred drops his fork. It clangs against the table, but they both ignore it. "Do I want to get married?"
"Yes," Tyler says. "To me."
"Obviously to you," Fred says. "You want to get married?"
"Not right now," Tyler says. "But, like, yeah. I mean, I want to be with you, and I want people to know that, and have it be official and legal and stuff someday."
Fred looks at him for a long time before he says, "You watch too many chick flicks."
"Come on," Tyler says, "I'm serious. I love you" - it's not the first time he's said it, but they don't say it a lot, and it makes his cheeks warm to say it now - "and I want to be with you forever. If that's what you want."
Fred takes his hand. "Yes, that's what I want, but we're way too young to get married."
"We don't have to do it now." Tyler holds on tight to Fred's hand. "We probably shouldn't now, anyway. I don't want to be, like, the poster child for gay hockey players. But I want to someday."
"Okay." Fred surrounds Tyler's hand with both of his. "Someday." He shakes Tyler's hand a little. "But I expect a real proposal then. You're going to have to get down on one knee and buy me a ring."
Tyler leans across the table to kiss him. "I'll buy you a ring someday. I promise."
They don't watch Walking Dead because they leave their plates on the table and stumble upstairs to bed to have sex instead.
Later, while Fred's brushing his teeth before bed, Tyler texts Andrew, He said yes!!!! before he checks to make sure his alarm is set. When he switches back from the alarm, he has a text from Andrew that says, Congratulations! with a smiley-face. Tyler sends a row of smiley faces back, and is still grinning when Fred comes to bed.