WIP Amnesty: Alex comes out (Hockey, Alex Galchenyuk/OMC, Anna, 400 words, Teen)
I had a plan for this story. Then I only ever wrote the first scene. The idea for this grew out of my fascination at Anna taking on many of the public support duties other players' wives or girlfriends take on (Twitter cheerleading, charity work). The structural idea was for this to be split into three sections with each section including three alternating povs - Alex, Anna, and the boyfriend (whose name and details I never came up with). Here's the basic outline:
Prologue (one scene each)
There was a guy at the party Alex went to on Saturday. Not a guy he knew, maybe someone's friend or cousin, or someone one of the guys goes to school with. He was nice, and funny, and Alex ended up in a dark corner under the basement stairs making out with him.
"Where is everyone?"
Alex looks up from where he's been mindlessly petting Leo while he thinks about kissing the guy from the party. He didn't even hear Anna come out of her room. "Mom and Dad went out to dinner," he tells her, "and Nail and Ilya went to a movie."
"You didn't want to go with them?"
Alex shrugs.
Anna frowns. "Are you feeling okay?"
Alex doesn't necessarily mean to tell anyone anything about it, but since Anna's his best friend, what he says is, "I think I'm gay."
Anna just stares at him for a moment, like she didn't understand what he said, and then she looks worried and sits down next to him and puts both arms around his shoulders.
Alex tips his chin down to rest on her arm. "Don't tell anyone."
"No," Anna says. "Of course. I would never." She hugs him tighter. "Are you okay?"
Alex brings his hand up and clutches her forearm. "I don't want to lose hockey."
"You won't," Anna says fiercely. Her fingers dig into Alex's shoulder just as tightly as he's digging into her arm. "We'll figure it out. You won't have to lose hockey."
Anna never lies to him about important things. Alex relaxes his grip on her arm and takes a couple of deep breaths. "What about Mom and Dad?"
Anna doesn't answer right away. "We'll figure that out too," she finally says. "I don't think they'll stop loving you, but it might be difficult for a while." She hugs him close and leans her cheek on his shoulder. "The rest of the family's going to be worse, but we'll figure it out."
It's a lot easier to think about when he knows Anna's on his side. They sit there quietly for a few minutes while Alex takes shaky breaths in and out.
"Are you hungry?" Anna asks when Alex is breathing evenly again. "I can make us something to eat."
"Yeah, sure," Alex says. He always needs to eat. He catches Anna's wrist when she stands up. "Thank you."
Anna bends over to kiss the top of his head. "Love you."
Prologue (one scene each)
- Alex comes out to Anna
- Anna makes it clear to the Habs people that she is the public support for Alex for charity work and other related things.
- The boyfriend brings up being out to Alex early in their relationship. The boyfriend is so out he can't go back into the closet even if he wanted to and people are going to figure it out if they keep dating much later.
- Alex navigates what it means to be an openly gay NHL player.
- Anna slowly turns over all of the public support duties to the boyfriend and has to figure what to do with her life now.
- The boyfriend moves in with Alex and navigates what it means to be the partner of an NHL player.
- Alex is totally settled in his life as an out player. Maybe this is 24CH visiting their house, or doing some sort of event to support queer kids who play hockey, or talking about the boyfriend in an interview after winning an important game.
- Anna is totally happy in her own life. Maybe this is a look at her entrepreneurial business or modeling or her with a boyfriend she brings to family dinner. I never quite figured out exactly what Anna's life would look like.
- The boyfriend is wholly part of the world of hockey player partners. Maybe this is him welcoming the partner of someone who just got signed/traded to the Habs to the group.
There was a guy at the party Alex went to on Saturday. Not a guy he knew, maybe someone's friend or cousin, or someone one of the guys goes to school with. He was nice, and funny, and Alex ended up in a dark corner under the basement stairs making out with him.
"Where is everyone?"
Alex looks up from where he's been mindlessly petting Leo while he thinks about kissing the guy from the party. He didn't even hear Anna come out of her room. "Mom and Dad went out to dinner," he tells her, "and Nail and Ilya went to a movie."
"You didn't want to go with them?"
Alex shrugs.
Anna frowns. "Are you feeling okay?"
Alex doesn't necessarily mean to tell anyone anything about it, but since Anna's his best friend, what he says is, "I think I'm gay."
Anna just stares at him for a moment, like she didn't understand what he said, and then she looks worried and sits down next to him and puts both arms around his shoulders.
Alex tips his chin down to rest on her arm. "Don't tell anyone."
"No," Anna says. "Of course. I would never." She hugs him tighter. "Are you okay?"
Alex brings his hand up and clutches her forearm. "I don't want to lose hockey."
"You won't," Anna says fiercely. Her fingers dig into Alex's shoulder just as tightly as he's digging into her arm. "We'll figure it out. You won't have to lose hockey."
Anna never lies to him about important things. Alex relaxes his grip on her arm and takes a couple of deep breaths. "What about Mom and Dad?"
Anna doesn't answer right away. "We'll figure that out too," she finally says. "I don't think they'll stop loving you, but it might be difficult for a while." She hugs him close and leans her cheek on his shoulder. "The rest of the family's going to be worse, but we'll figure it out."
It's a lot easier to think about when he knows Anna's on his side. They sit there quietly for a few minutes while Alex takes shaky breaths in and out.
"Are you hungry?" Anna asks when Alex is breathing evenly again. "I can make us something to eat."
"Yeah, sure," Alex says. He always needs to eat. He catches Anna's wrist when she stands up. "Thank you."
Anna bends over to kiss the top of his head. "Love you."