Fic: Perspective (Hockey, P.K. Subban, Alex Galchenyuk/Brandon Prust, 1800 words, Teen)
Summary: P.K. comes home from a date one night to the TV on low and Brandon sitting on the couch with Alex stretched out asleep next to him, Brandon's hand resting in her hair.
Story on AO3
P.K. doesn't know there's anything wrong about what's going on across the room until Chucky's voice gets loud as she says, "You're not chirping. You're being mean."
"And you're acting like a little girl who can't handle playing with the big boys," Prusty says, just as loud, and that is way over the line.
P.K. goes over there and says, "Okay, everyone to their own corners," and pushes Prusty away from Chucky.
"Fuck you," Prusty says. "You're not even the captain."
"I'm not going to take that personally," P.K. says, "because I know you're just being an ass. Cool down."
Prusty heads for the showers, and the rest of them give him a wide berth until he's left the rink.
*
P.K. heads over to Prusty's the next day because Prusty chirps everyone all the time, but he's rarely mean about it and always backs off when it becomes clear he's gone too far.
Maripier opens the door. "What are you doing here?"
P.K. smiles at her charmingly. "I came to see Brandon."
A series of expressions cross her face, and she settles on angry. "He didn't tell you," she says flatly. "He doesn't live here anymore."
P.K.'s smile freezes on his face. "Uh," he says. "I'm sorry."
Maripier nods sharply at him and closes the door.
P.K. texts Brandon while he's walking to his car: Funny story. I came over to see you and found out you don't live here anymore.
He sits in his car and waits for a minute, and then gets a text back with a hotel name and room number.
The room, when Brandon opens the door and lets P.K. in, is filled with suitcases and a couple of boxes.
"It's temporary," Brandon says when P.K. looks around. "Just until I have time to find a place."
P.K. looks around again. "I have a spare room."
"You hate living with people," Brandon says.
"I'm not offering it to you permanently," P.K. clarifies. "This is a temporary arrangement so you don't spend the whole season living in a hotel. And there's a condition."
"Of course there's a condition," Brandon says, arms crossed over his chest. "What is it?"
"You have to apologize to Chucky," P.K. says. "She's not the woman you're mad at."
Brandon deflates a little. "Yeah, okay," he says. "You want me to do that now?"
"I know you're good for it," P.K. says. He waves at the room. "Pack your stuff up. I'll go get a luggage cart."
*
P.K. doesn't hear the actual apology, but he sees Brandon and Alex hug it out before practice, so he doesn't worry too much about it. A couple of days later, at Brandon's request, he makes sure everyone else knows Brandon and Maripier broke up and Brandon doesn't want to talk about it. He also gets Brandon drunk at home one night and lets him cry and shout his way through the worst of how he feels.
*
It's about a week after Brandon moves in that he asks if he can invite the Gallys over to hang out.
"Hey, man," P.K. says, "as long as you're living here, it's your place too, so have whoever you want over."
Once P.K. gives his blessing, one or both of the Gallys are over a lot. Mostly they're playing video games or watching terrible movies with Brandon. Sometimes P.K. joins in and sometimes he declines to spend his time on the kinds of things they watch.
*
P.K. comes home from a date one night to the TV on low and Brandon sitting on the couch with Alex stretched out asleep next to him, Brandon's hand resting in her hair. P.K. raises his eyebrows.
"She fell asleep," Brandon says. "I can wake her up and send her home."
"No, man, it's cool." P.K. gets a blanket out of the linen closet and drapes it over Chucky.
"Why did you let me sleep on the couch?" she complains in the morning while P.K.'s making them eggs. "That's not comfortable."
"Watch it," P.K. says. "My couch is very comfortable. I chose that couch because it's so comfortable."
"Not comfortable to spend a whole night on," Chucky says. "And not wearing a bra. You could have woken me up."
"I was being nice by letting you sleep," Brandon says. "There's an extra toothbrush for you, and you can borrow some clothes if you don't want to do the walk of shame to practice."
Alex flips him off, but she stops complaining about P.K.'s couch and leaves the room. She and Brandon are close enough in size that his shirt doesn't look out of place on her, and she's very polite when she thanks P.K. for breakfast.
*
Alex takes to sleeping over occasionally, and P.K. is there the night that Brandon nudges her when she's almost asleep and asks, "Do you want half the bed? I'll loan you pajamas so you don't have to sleep in your bra."
She smiles softer than P.K. has ever seen her smile at anyone and says, "Yes."
Brandon doesn't look at P.K. while he and Alex walk to his room, and P.K. manages to keep his eyebrows from creeping up his forehead.
"It's not-" Brandon says when he comes back alone a few minutes later.
P.K. holds his hands up. "You don't have to explain to me, man."
"She's just a teammate," Brandon says.
"Whatever you say."
In the morning, Alex looks better rested than when she's slept on the couch, and P.K. wouldn't guess that the pajamas she's wearing aren't hers if he hadn't heard Brandon make the offer.
*
P.K. calls out to whoever's tapping at his hotel room door to come in. He has it propped open to be friendly even though he mostly wants to hang out with Carey.
Gally pushes the door open. "Have you seen Chucky? It's getting late, and she's not answering her phone." There'd been a little fuss, at first, about them sharing a room, but both of them had insisted on Alex being treated like any other rookie, and now it's just part of how things are.
P.K. sighs and stands up. "No, but I might know where to find her." He waves at Carey to stay put and heads out into the hall. He doesn't know for sure which room is Brandon's, but he knocks on the door to the one with a pair of room service trays outside it.
Brandon opens it just a bit and peers out at them. "Yeah?"
"Chucky in there?" P.K. asks.
"Yeah," Brandon says. "She's asleep."
P.K. looks at Gally. "Good enough?"
"Yeah, sure," Gally says. He gives P.K. a weird look after Brandon closes the door, but if he has any questions, he doesn't ask them of P.K.
*
P.K. has pretty much been staying out of whatever strange, codependent thing Brandon and Alex have going on, but it still makes him pause when he goes looking for extra toilet paper in Brandon's bathroom and discovers that not only is there a toothbrush for Chucky on the counter, but also a box of tampons under the sink.
"I'm going to start charging you rent," he chirps the next time Chucky's over for breakfast.
"You don't even make Prusty pay rent," she protests.
Brandon elbows her. "Shhh. You're going to make him charge us both rent."
*
P.K. comes home one evening to the usual sounds of the TV coming from the living room, but instead of Chucky or Chucky and Gally asleep on the couch, Alex is straddling Brandon and they're making out. One of Brandon's hands is in Alex's hair and the other is up the back of her shirt, and P.K. can't even see where Alex's hands are. It's not that he didn't see the possibility of this happening, but P.K. really didn't expect to see it actually happening right in front of his face.
He must make a noise, because they break apart and look at him, both of them clearly embarrassed.
P.K. waves a hello and keeps walking past them to his room.
Brandon knocks on his door a little while later, and P.K. opens it with a grin. "What's up? Are you out of condoms?"
Brandon flushes a dull red, which is not a thing P.K. expected to see. "No, she went home. Um."
P.K. holds up his hands. "You're both adults. Mostly not my business. You're not just using her as a rebound, right?"
"No," Brandon says. "No, I wouldn't."
"I don't think you would," P.K. says. "Just wanted to check. No sex in the common areas."
"Oh, fuck you."
"I'm serious," P.K. says. "Keep it out of the common areas. What you do otherwise is up to you."
*
Surprisingly, Alex sleeps over less than she did before. One afternoon, Brandon doesn't come home after practice and comes back later to tell P.K. he found a place and he's moving out.
"You know you don't have to," P.K. says. "You can stay through the end of the season if you want."
"Thanks, P.K.," Brandon says. "But I'm good. Alex likes the new place, too, so we'll get out of your hair."
P.K. laughs. "Don't let me stop you from setting up a love nest with your lady." He knows he's asking for trouble, so he doesn't even mind the headlock Brandon puts him in for that one.
*
If they can win this game clean, two points, they'll secure their playoff spot. P.K.'s doing his best, working hard on the ice, urging the guys on. They get close, and then they're down to the last ten seconds, tied, so close, and then Chucky gets one in the back of the net, and that's it, they're in.
P.K. turns up the music once they're in the room after that, starts the dance party. Everyone's all over Chucky, hugs and cheek kisses and high fives for her.
"We're gonna get you so laid tonight," Nate crows.
Alex laughs. "I don't need you to get me laid."
"Come on Chucky," Nate says. "Don't you want to get laid?"
Alex smirks. "Oh, I'm going to get plenty laid. I just don't need your help with it. And I don't think my boyfriend would like you trying to hook me up with randoms."
There's a raucous reaction to that.
"Oh, should I be scared of your boyfriend?" Nate chirps. "Is he a real tough guy?"
"Something like that," Prusty says from right behind Chucky.
Alex grins and turns toward him. They kiss to a chorus of catcalls and chirping from the rest of the guys.
Well, at least P.K. doesn't have to keep it a secret anymore.
Story on AO3
P.K. doesn't know there's anything wrong about what's going on across the room until Chucky's voice gets loud as she says, "You're not chirping. You're being mean."
"And you're acting like a little girl who can't handle playing with the big boys," Prusty says, just as loud, and that is way over the line.
P.K. goes over there and says, "Okay, everyone to their own corners," and pushes Prusty away from Chucky.
"Fuck you," Prusty says. "You're not even the captain."
"I'm not going to take that personally," P.K. says, "because I know you're just being an ass. Cool down."
Prusty heads for the showers, and the rest of them give him a wide berth until he's left the rink.
*
P.K. heads over to Prusty's the next day because Prusty chirps everyone all the time, but he's rarely mean about it and always backs off when it becomes clear he's gone too far.
Maripier opens the door. "What are you doing here?"
P.K. smiles at her charmingly. "I came to see Brandon."
A series of expressions cross her face, and she settles on angry. "He didn't tell you," she says flatly. "He doesn't live here anymore."
P.K.'s smile freezes on his face. "Uh," he says. "I'm sorry."
Maripier nods sharply at him and closes the door.
P.K. texts Brandon while he's walking to his car: Funny story. I came over to see you and found out you don't live here anymore.
He sits in his car and waits for a minute, and then gets a text back with a hotel name and room number.
The room, when Brandon opens the door and lets P.K. in, is filled with suitcases and a couple of boxes.
"It's temporary," Brandon says when P.K. looks around. "Just until I have time to find a place."
P.K. looks around again. "I have a spare room."
"You hate living with people," Brandon says.
"I'm not offering it to you permanently," P.K. clarifies. "This is a temporary arrangement so you don't spend the whole season living in a hotel. And there's a condition."
"Of course there's a condition," Brandon says, arms crossed over his chest. "What is it?"
"You have to apologize to Chucky," P.K. says. "She's not the woman you're mad at."
Brandon deflates a little. "Yeah, okay," he says. "You want me to do that now?"
"I know you're good for it," P.K. says. He waves at the room. "Pack your stuff up. I'll go get a luggage cart."
*
P.K. doesn't hear the actual apology, but he sees Brandon and Alex hug it out before practice, so he doesn't worry too much about it. A couple of days later, at Brandon's request, he makes sure everyone else knows Brandon and Maripier broke up and Brandon doesn't want to talk about it. He also gets Brandon drunk at home one night and lets him cry and shout his way through the worst of how he feels.
*
It's about a week after Brandon moves in that he asks if he can invite the Gallys over to hang out.
"Hey, man," P.K. says, "as long as you're living here, it's your place too, so have whoever you want over."
Once P.K. gives his blessing, one or both of the Gallys are over a lot. Mostly they're playing video games or watching terrible movies with Brandon. Sometimes P.K. joins in and sometimes he declines to spend his time on the kinds of things they watch.
*
P.K. comes home from a date one night to the TV on low and Brandon sitting on the couch with Alex stretched out asleep next to him, Brandon's hand resting in her hair. P.K. raises his eyebrows.
"She fell asleep," Brandon says. "I can wake her up and send her home."
"No, man, it's cool." P.K. gets a blanket out of the linen closet and drapes it over Chucky.
"Why did you let me sleep on the couch?" she complains in the morning while P.K.'s making them eggs. "That's not comfortable."
"Watch it," P.K. says. "My couch is very comfortable. I chose that couch because it's so comfortable."
"Not comfortable to spend a whole night on," Chucky says. "And not wearing a bra. You could have woken me up."
"I was being nice by letting you sleep," Brandon says. "There's an extra toothbrush for you, and you can borrow some clothes if you don't want to do the walk of shame to practice."
Alex flips him off, but she stops complaining about P.K.'s couch and leaves the room. She and Brandon are close enough in size that his shirt doesn't look out of place on her, and she's very polite when she thanks P.K. for breakfast.
*
Alex takes to sleeping over occasionally, and P.K. is there the night that Brandon nudges her when she's almost asleep and asks, "Do you want half the bed? I'll loan you pajamas so you don't have to sleep in your bra."
She smiles softer than P.K. has ever seen her smile at anyone and says, "Yes."
Brandon doesn't look at P.K. while he and Alex walk to his room, and P.K. manages to keep his eyebrows from creeping up his forehead.
"It's not-" Brandon says when he comes back alone a few minutes later.
P.K. holds his hands up. "You don't have to explain to me, man."
"She's just a teammate," Brandon says.
"Whatever you say."
In the morning, Alex looks better rested than when she's slept on the couch, and P.K. wouldn't guess that the pajamas she's wearing aren't hers if he hadn't heard Brandon make the offer.
*
P.K. calls out to whoever's tapping at his hotel room door to come in. He has it propped open to be friendly even though he mostly wants to hang out with Carey.
Gally pushes the door open. "Have you seen Chucky? It's getting late, and she's not answering her phone." There'd been a little fuss, at first, about them sharing a room, but both of them had insisted on Alex being treated like any other rookie, and now it's just part of how things are.
P.K. sighs and stands up. "No, but I might know where to find her." He waves at Carey to stay put and heads out into the hall. He doesn't know for sure which room is Brandon's, but he knocks on the door to the one with a pair of room service trays outside it.
Brandon opens it just a bit and peers out at them. "Yeah?"
"Chucky in there?" P.K. asks.
"Yeah," Brandon says. "She's asleep."
P.K. looks at Gally. "Good enough?"
"Yeah, sure," Gally says. He gives P.K. a weird look after Brandon closes the door, but if he has any questions, he doesn't ask them of P.K.
*
P.K. has pretty much been staying out of whatever strange, codependent thing Brandon and Alex have going on, but it still makes him pause when he goes looking for extra toilet paper in Brandon's bathroom and discovers that not only is there a toothbrush for Chucky on the counter, but also a box of tampons under the sink.
"I'm going to start charging you rent," he chirps the next time Chucky's over for breakfast.
"You don't even make Prusty pay rent," she protests.
Brandon elbows her. "Shhh. You're going to make him charge us both rent."
*
P.K. comes home one evening to the usual sounds of the TV coming from the living room, but instead of Chucky or Chucky and Gally asleep on the couch, Alex is straddling Brandon and they're making out. One of Brandon's hands is in Alex's hair and the other is up the back of her shirt, and P.K. can't even see where Alex's hands are. It's not that he didn't see the possibility of this happening, but P.K. really didn't expect to see it actually happening right in front of his face.
He must make a noise, because they break apart and look at him, both of them clearly embarrassed.
P.K. waves a hello and keeps walking past them to his room.
Brandon knocks on his door a little while later, and P.K. opens it with a grin. "What's up? Are you out of condoms?"
Brandon flushes a dull red, which is not a thing P.K. expected to see. "No, she went home. Um."
P.K. holds up his hands. "You're both adults. Mostly not my business. You're not just using her as a rebound, right?"
"No," Brandon says. "No, I wouldn't."
"I don't think you would," P.K. says. "Just wanted to check. No sex in the common areas."
"Oh, fuck you."
"I'm serious," P.K. says. "Keep it out of the common areas. What you do otherwise is up to you."
*
Surprisingly, Alex sleeps over less than she did before. One afternoon, Brandon doesn't come home after practice and comes back later to tell P.K. he found a place and he's moving out.
"You know you don't have to," P.K. says. "You can stay through the end of the season if you want."
"Thanks, P.K.," Brandon says. "But I'm good. Alex likes the new place, too, so we'll get out of your hair."
P.K. laughs. "Don't let me stop you from setting up a love nest with your lady." He knows he's asking for trouble, so he doesn't even mind the headlock Brandon puts him in for that one.
*
If they can win this game clean, two points, they'll secure their playoff spot. P.K.'s doing his best, working hard on the ice, urging the guys on. They get close, and then they're down to the last ten seconds, tied, so close, and then Chucky gets one in the back of the net, and that's it, they're in.
P.K. turns up the music once they're in the room after that, starts the dance party. Everyone's all over Chucky, hugs and cheek kisses and high fives for her.
"We're gonna get you so laid tonight," Nate crows.
Alex laughs. "I don't need you to get me laid."
"Come on Chucky," Nate says. "Don't you want to get laid?"
Alex smirks. "Oh, I'm going to get plenty laid. I just don't need your help with it. And I don't think my boyfriend would like you trying to hook me up with randoms."
There's a raucous reaction to that.
"Oh, should I be scared of your boyfriend?" Nate chirps. "Is he a real tough guy?"
"Something like that," Prusty says from right behind Chucky.
Alex grins and turns toward him. They kiss to a chorus of catcalls and chirping from the rest of the guys.
Well, at least P.K. doesn't have to keep it a secret anymore.