WIP Amnesty: Student/Professor Briouxs (Hockey, Danny Briere/Claude Giroux, 1900 words, Teen)
At one time, this was going to be a story, but I only wrote a small part of it at the beginning and one scene from the middle.
Claude's just opening James's text saying he's going to be late when he walks into Meier's Ice Cream. He texts back, eating all the ice cream myself loser, and looks up from his phone to see that the only other people in the place are Danny and three boys, who must be his kids.
Danny turns away from the counter to say something to one of the boys, and then glances up and smiles when he sees Claude. "Claude."
"Hi." Claude waves at the kids when they all look at him too.
"This is Claude," Danny tells his kids, in French. "He's in one of my classes." He introduces the boys too, and Claude puts the names to the faces. The older two look like younger versions of Danny, and Claude can see him in the youngest too.
The boys are polite, and they all shake Claude's hand, but then they're right back to the important task of choosing ice cream flavors. Danny flashes Claude a smile and steps back to stand with him while the boys peer through the glass.
"It takes them at least fifteen minutes every time we come here."
Claude laughs. "Do they always get the same thing anyway?"
"Caelan does. Cameron gets something different every time. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be avoiding unhealthy foods during the season?"
Claude would flip him off, but there are kids around, and as much as he wants it, their relationship isn't quite at that level. "It's been a long week. I had a killer paper due."
Danny laughs. "I haven't read it yet, but I'm sure you did fine."
"I hope so."
One by one the boys choose ice cream flavors, until only Danny's left. "Amaretto in a cup," he tells the girl behind the counter, and he hands over his credit card to pay for it.
Carson makes a face. "Amaretto is the worst flavor. What are you going to get?"
Claude puts on a thoughtful face. "I might get two scoops of amaretto."
"Gross!"
Claude laughs. "Maybe not, then. I'm waiting for a friend anyway."
Cameron seems intent on licking at his ice cream, but Caelan pauses to join their conversation. "Do you know anything about hockey?"
"I grew up in Canada," Claude tells him. "I know everything about hockey."
"No one knows everything about hockey," Caelan says.
"I know a lot."
"Claude plays," Danny says. It draws Claude's attention to him; he's been trying not to watch Danny's mouth as he eats.
"You do?" Carson asks.
"Yes. I'm here on a hockey scholarship."
"You must be pretty good," Carson says.
"The coaches think so. You should come to a game sometime. I'll introduce you to the guys if you want."
Caelan turns to ask Danny, "Can we?"
Danny says, "We'll see." He's smiling a little, which Claude thinks has to be a good sign.
The bell over the door jingles just before a body slams into Claude's back and an arm comes around his chest. "G! Are you terrifying people with your hair, or are these autograph seekers?"
Claude rolls his eyes. He can see Danny retreating back into professional distance at the reminder that, compared to Danny, he's still a kid, just one of his students. He wishes James had been just a little later.
"This is Professor Briere and Caelan, Carson, and Cameron," he says, switching to English for James's sake. "My roommate James." He meets Danny's eyes, willing him to know that there isn't anything more there.
James stops hanging all over him to shake Danny's hand and say, "G talks about your class all the time."
Cameron saves Claude from any further awkwardness on that score by asking, "Why do you call him G?"
"Because his last name is Giroux," James says. "G is a lot easier, and real hockey players always have nicknames."
Danny laughs - it's genuine, but there's still the distance that wasn't there before James showed up - and shakes his head. "All three of their teams are going to stop answering to their own names within a week. Come on, boys, let's go sit at a table outside. Nice to meet you, James. Claude, I'll see you in class next week."
The bell jingles as they leave the shop. Claude doesn't turn around to watch them, but he does order the amaretto and imagine what it would taste like in Danny's mouth.
*
Thompson sticks his head into the locker room where most of them are still giving interviews to the local papers or just reliving their win. "G," he calls. "You have some fans."
Claude nods his acknowledgment, answers a last question from the university paper's sports reporter, and ducks out of the locker room. There are always people in the hallway, players' families who make it to games, girlfriends, people without access to the locker room but who want to ask questions anyway. And today, two feet away, Danny and his boys.
Carson sees him first. "Claude, you were awesome!"
Claude is deeply aware of the fact that he hasn't had a shower yet. He's still sweaty, he has a baseball cap jammed over his hair, and while he's out of his pads, he's still wearing just his skin-tight Under Armour. Danny doesn't seem to mind; Claude doesn't think he's imagining the way Danny looks him up and down or the flash of heat in Danny's eyes before he tamps it down.
"You're really good," Caelan says, and Cameron asks, "Will you show me how to do that fake you did?"
Claude grins at all of them. "Thank you," he says to Carson and Caelan, and to Cameron, "Yeah, if we ever get some ice time together."
Cameron tugs on Danny's arm. "Can we play hockey with Claude?"
Danny says, "Maybe," with a smile tugging at his lips.
Cameron seems satisfied with that for now and asks Claude, "Are you going to play in the NHL?"
"If they'll take me," Claude says. "I graduate this year, so I'm hoping to sign with a team after the season's over."
Caelan asks, "Why didn't you play Juniors?" with a mildly suspicious look on his face. "Aren't you good enough?"
"Caelan," Danny warns.
Claude waves his concern away. "Probably, yeah, but my parents and I decided it would be better if I went to college first. This way, even if I get injured and can't play hockey, I have a degree."
"That's stupid," Carson says. "If you play in the NHL, you'll make tons of money and you won't have to do anything else."
"Juniors is a risk," Claude tells him, both because he and his parents had this conversation over and over when he was younger and because he doesn't know if Danny wants him encouraging his kids away from college. "If I'd gotten injured and couldn't play, then I wouldn't have made it into the NHL, and if I decided later that I did want to go the college route, I wouldn't have been eligible." Claude grins at all of them. "College isn't that bad. Your dad gives really hard tests, but it's a good experience."
"You sound like Dad," Caelan grumbles.
Claude looks up to find Danny smiling at him. Claude smiles back and tamps down the urge to flirt even more than that.
"You want to meet some of the other guys?"
The boys chorus a yes, and Claude sticks his head into the locker room to make sure there isn't anything kid-unfriendly going on before he takes them in and introduces them around.
Danny hangs back with Claude and lets the boys pester Claude's teammates with questions. Caelan asks at least three of them why they didn't go the Juniors route, Carson asks a lot of skill and equipment questions, and Cameron asks Reemer if anyone on the team is better than Claude. That makes everyone in range laugh, and Reemer points out their other top players.
Danny tells Claude, "If you're not careful, you're going to end up running skills clinics for all three of their teams."
Claude's too conscious of the fact that they're still in public to get as close to Danny as he wants to, but he does lean in a little closer. "I wouldn't mind."
Danny smiles at him, so soft and fond that Claude has to take half a step back so he doesn't kiss him. Danny's smile fades a bit, but he says, "You're a good man, Claude," before he rounds up his kids and they all thank Claude for showing them around.
"G," Reemer calls from across the room as soon as Danny and his boys are gone, "get cleaned up or I'm not buying you a beer."
Right, because he got the game-winning goal so someone else should buy his drinks. Claude calls back, "You know you're not going anywhere without me," finishes undressing, and heads for the showers. Drinks with the team will be good, even if he wishes he were going home with Danny and his boys instead.
*
Claude gets the email on a Tuesday.
"I know you're busy," it says, "with hockey and school, but the boys have been pestering me nonstop to ask you if you'll play hockey with them. Maybe an afternoon?"
It isn't signed, just Danny's name and a gmail address at the top.
Claude's careful when he writes back, sends only his phone number and, "Call me to set it up."
*
Claude's phone rings when he's on his way home after practice, with a number he doesn't recognize. He picks it up anyway, and a warm rush of pleasure runs through him when it's Danny on the phone.
"I don't want to impose on your time," Danny says.
"I don't mind," Claude says before Danny can say anything else. "The boys are great."
They compare schedules - Danny doesn't want to disrupt the boy's usual routine too much, and Claude has an away game over the weekend - and settle on Sunday afternoon.
There's a moment after they decide on a time when Claude just listens to Danny breathe.
"I'll see you on Sunday," Danny says.
Claude wants to keep him talking, but he just says, "Yeah, see you Sunday."
*
[There would be a lot of story here, including Claude signing with the local NHL team wherever this takes place.]
*
Claude calls Danny after graduation, after dinner with his family when he's supposed to be going to bed to catch an early flight tomorrow.
"Congratulations," Danny says when he answers the phone. "You looked good walking across the stage."
"Thank you," Claude says. "I didn't see you."
"There were a lot of people there," Danny says gently. "And I had to get to the department ceremony."
"I would have introduced you to my family."
"I would have liked that," Danny says after a moment. He sounds sincere enough that Claude asks what he really called to ask.
"Have dinner with me. I'm going home with my family tomorrow for a couple of weeks, but when I get back. Have dinner with me."
"Claude," Danny says, and it sounds like he's going to turn him down.
"I'm not your student anymore," Claude says.
"But you were," Danny says. "And you just graduated."
"I went on dates this semester," Claude tells him. "Nothing serious, just dinner or drinks. But if anyone ever asks, I was dating other people until I graduated."
"Claude," Danny murmurs, and that time it doesn't sound like a rejection.
"Dinner," Claude says. "When I get back."
Danny still doesn't say yes. "A couple of weeks is a long time."
"I'm not going to change my mind." It might have started as just a crush on his hot history professor, but somewhere between office hours and getting to know Danny and his boys away from the confines of the campus, it became so much more than that.
"Call me when you get back," Danny says, and that's as good as a yes.
*
[There would also be more story here to get to the happy ending.]
Claude's just opening James's text saying he's going to be late when he walks into Meier's Ice Cream. He texts back, eating all the ice cream myself loser, and looks up from his phone to see that the only other people in the place are Danny and three boys, who must be his kids.
Danny turns away from the counter to say something to one of the boys, and then glances up and smiles when he sees Claude. "Claude."
"Hi." Claude waves at the kids when they all look at him too.
"This is Claude," Danny tells his kids, in French. "He's in one of my classes." He introduces the boys too, and Claude puts the names to the faces. The older two look like younger versions of Danny, and Claude can see him in the youngest too.
The boys are polite, and they all shake Claude's hand, but then they're right back to the important task of choosing ice cream flavors. Danny flashes Claude a smile and steps back to stand with him while the boys peer through the glass.
"It takes them at least fifteen minutes every time we come here."
Claude laughs. "Do they always get the same thing anyway?"
"Caelan does. Cameron gets something different every time. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be avoiding unhealthy foods during the season?"
Claude would flip him off, but there are kids around, and as much as he wants it, their relationship isn't quite at that level. "It's been a long week. I had a killer paper due."
Danny laughs. "I haven't read it yet, but I'm sure you did fine."
"I hope so."
One by one the boys choose ice cream flavors, until only Danny's left. "Amaretto in a cup," he tells the girl behind the counter, and he hands over his credit card to pay for it.
Carson makes a face. "Amaretto is the worst flavor. What are you going to get?"
Claude puts on a thoughtful face. "I might get two scoops of amaretto."
"Gross!"
Claude laughs. "Maybe not, then. I'm waiting for a friend anyway."
Cameron seems intent on licking at his ice cream, but Caelan pauses to join their conversation. "Do you know anything about hockey?"
"I grew up in Canada," Claude tells him. "I know everything about hockey."
"No one knows everything about hockey," Caelan says.
"I know a lot."
"Claude plays," Danny says. It draws Claude's attention to him; he's been trying not to watch Danny's mouth as he eats.
"You do?" Carson asks.
"Yes. I'm here on a hockey scholarship."
"You must be pretty good," Carson says.
"The coaches think so. You should come to a game sometime. I'll introduce you to the guys if you want."
Caelan turns to ask Danny, "Can we?"
Danny says, "We'll see." He's smiling a little, which Claude thinks has to be a good sign.
The bell over the door jingles just before a body slams into Claude's back and an arm comes around his chest. "G! Are you terrifying people with your hair, or are these autograph seekers?"
Claude rolls his eyes. He can see Danny retreating back into professional distance at the reminder that, compared to Danny, he's still a kid, just one of his students. He wishes James had been just a little later.
"This is Professor Briere and Caelan, Carson, and Cameron," he says, switching to English for James's sake. "My roommate James." He meets Danny's eyes, willing him to know that there isn't anything more there.
James stops hanging all over him to shake Danny's hand and say, "G talks about your class all the time."
Cameron saves Claude from any further awkwardness on that score by asking, "Why do you call him G?"
"Because his last name is Giroux," James says. "G is a lot easier, and real hockey players always have nicknames."
Danny laughs - it's genuine, but there's still the distance that wasn't there before James showed up - and shakes his head. "All three of their teams are going to stop answering to their own names within a week. Come on, boys, let's go sit at a table outside. Nice to meet you, James. Claude, I'll see you in class next week."
The bell jingles as they leave the shop. Claude doesn't turn around to watch them, but he does order the amaretto and imagine what it would taste like in Danny's mouth.
*
Thompson sticks his head into the locker room where most of them are still giving interviews to the local papers or just reliving their win. "G," he calls. "You have some fans."
Claude nods his acknowledgment, answers a last question from the university paper's sports reporter, and ducks out of the locker room. There are always people in the hallway, players' families who make it to games, girlfriends, people without access to the locker room but who want to ask questions anyway. And today, two feet away, Danny and his boys.
Carson sees him first. "Claude, you were awesome!"
Claude is deeply aware of the fact that he hasn't had a shower yet. He's still sweaty, he has a baseball cap jammed over his hair, and while he's out of his pads, he's still wearing just his skin-tight Under Armour. Danny doesn't seem to mind; Claude doesn't think he's imagining the way Danny looks him up and down or the flash of heat in Danny's eyes before he tamps it down.
"You're really good," Caelan says, and Cameron asks, "Will you show me how to do that fake you did?"
Claude grins at all of them. "Thank you," he says to Carson and Caelan, and to Cameron, "Yeah, if we ever get some ice time together."
Cameron tugs on Danny's arm. "Can we play hockey with Claude?"
Danny says, "Maybe," with a smile tugging at his lips.
Cameron seems satisfied with that for now and asks Claude, "Are you going to play in the NHL?"
"If they'll take me," Claude says. "I graduate this year, so I'm hoping to sign with a team after the season's over."
Caelan asks, "Why didn't you play Juniors?" with a mildly suspicious look on his face. "Aren't you good enough?"
"Caelan," Danny warns.
Claude waves his concern away. "Probably, yeah, but my parents and I decided it would be better if I went to college first. This way, even if I get injured and can't play hockey, I have a degree."
"That's stupid," Carson says. "If you play in the NHL, you'll make tons of money and you won't have to do anything else."
"Juniors is a risk," Claude tells him, both because he and his parents had this conversation over and over when he was younger and because he doesn't know if Danny wants him encouraging his kids away from college. "If I'd gotten injured and couldn't play, then I wouldn't have made it into the NHL, and if I decided later that I did want to go the college route, I wouldn't have been eligible." Claude grins at all of them. "College isn't that bad. Your dad gives really hard tests, but it's a good experience."
"You sound like Dad," Caelan grumbles.
Claude looks up to find Danny smiling at him. Claude smiles back and tamps down the urge to flirt even more than that.
"You want to meet some of the other guys?"
The boys chorus a yes, and Claude sticks his head into the locker room to make sure there isn't anything kid-unfriendly going on before he takes them in and introduces them around.
Danny hangs back with Claude and lets the boys pester Claude's teammates with questions. Caelan asks at least three of them why they didn't go the Juniors route, Carson asks a lot of skill and equipment questions, and Cameron asks Reemer if anyone on the team is better than Claude. That makes everyone in range laugh, and Reemer points out their other top players.
Danny tells Claude, "If you're not careful, you're going to end up running skills clinics for all three of their teams."
Claude's too conscious of the fact that they're still in public to get as close to Danny as he wants to, but he does lean in a little closer. "I wouldn't mind."
Danny smiles at him, so soft and fond that Claude has to take half a step back so he doesn't kiss him. Danny's smile fades a bit, but he says, "You're a good man, Claude," before he rounds up his kids and they all thank Claude for showing them around.
"G," Reemer calls from across the room as soon as Danny and his boys are gone, "get cleaned up or I'm not buying you a beer."
Right, because he got the game-winning goal so someone else should buy his drinks. Claude calls back, "You know you're not going anywhere without me," finishes undressing, and heads for the showers. Drinks with the team will be good, even if he wishes he were going home with Danny and his boys instead.
*
Claude gets the email on a Tuesday.
"I know you're busy," it says, "with hockey and school, but the boys have been pestering me nonstop to ask you if you'll play hockey with them. Maybe an afternoon?"
It isn't signed, just Danny's name and a gmail address at the top.
Claude's careful when he writes back, sends only his phone number and, "Call me to set it up."
*
Claude's phone rings when he's on his way home after practice, with a number he doesn't recognize. He picks it up anyway, and a warm rush of pleasure runs through him when it's Danny on the phone.
"I don't want to impose on your time," Danny says.
"I don't mind," Claude says before Danny can say anything else. "The boys are great."
They compare schedules - Danny doesn't want to disrupt the boy's usual routine too much, and Claude has an away game over the weekend - and settle on Sunday afternoon.
There's a moment after they decide on a time when Claude just listens to Danny breathe.
"I'll see you on Sunday," Danny says.
Claude wants to keep him talking, but he just says, "Yeah, see you Sunday."
*
[There would be a lot of story here, including Claude signing with the local NHL team wherever this takes place.]
*
Claude calls Danny after graduation, after dinner with his family when he's supposed to be going to bed to catch an early flight tomorrow.
"Congratulations," Danny says when he answers the phone. "You looked good walking across the stage."
"Thank you," Claude says. "I didn't see you."
"There were a lot of people there," Danny says gently. "And I had to get to the department ceremony."
"I would have introduced you to my family."
"I would have liked that," Danny says after a moment. He sounds sincere enough that Claude asks what he really called to ask.
"Have dinner with me. I'm going home with my family tomorrow for a couple of weeks, but when I get back. Have dinner with me."
"Claude," Danny says, and it sounds like he's going to turn him down.
"I'm not your student anymore," Claude says.
"But you were," Danny says. "And you just graduated."
"I went on dates this semester," Claude tells him. "Nothing serious, just dinner or drinks. But if anyone ever asks, I was dating other people until I graduated."
"Claude," Danny murmurs, and that time it doesn't sound like a rejection.
"Dinner," Claude says. "When I get back."
Danny still doesn't say yes. "A couple of weeks is a long time."
"I'm not going to change my mind." It might have started as just a crush on his hot history professor, but somewhere between office hours and getting to know Danny and his boys away from the confines of the campus, it became so much more than that.
"Call me when you get back," Danny says, and that's as good as a yes.
*
[There would also be more story here to get to the happy ending.]