Part Ten
Title: You Are My Signal Fire (Part 10)
Characters: Andrew Raycroft / Ian White
Word Count: 1616
Rating: PG-13, swearing
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’.
|| Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9 ||
Practice was brutal, everyone’s emotions were high as we sat listening to Maurice give his last speech of the season. I looked around the locker room. Some of these guys weren’t going to be here next year, either their contracts would run out and they’d be free agents that might not get picked up by the leafs again or they could be traded. Maurice finished his speech with some reassignments to the Marlies. “Newbury, Ondrus, Pohl, White and…Williams.” He looked at his clipboard, “You will join the Marlies in their last few games. Good Luck in the AHL boys.”
After practice, I found myself over by Ian undressing for the showers, “Did you get my message?”
“Yeah…I just didn’t have anything to say about it.”
“Do you want to grab some dinner after? So we can talk about this.”
“I don’t know what do you think, is Jeremy going to be there or photographers or anyone else…because I mean if there are going to be people around you won’t want to be seen with me.”
I glowered at him, “You know that’s not what I mean, I just wanted to be careful. I guess I’m a little afraid of the media ever since they tore me apart after I was practically benched in Boston and then they traded me without a second thought.” I shrugged, “But it turns out that this was a good move. Now I’m the number one goaltender and you know…if I hadn’t been traded I never would have met you.”
He snorted a disbelieving laugh, “Spare me the melodramatic bullshit. I’m going to have a shower.”
Matt came up to me from across the room and rubbed my shoulder, “Give it time man. You guys will get over this little bump. Then maybe we could double.” He winked at me and walked off to the showers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ian continued to ignore my calls, so I decided that the only way he was going to talk to me was to force him to. So I decided to go to a Marlies game, the first one I’ve ever seen of my future team mates. I snuck in right before the game, I managed to get a front row seat when the ticket collector saw who I was.
“Right this way Mr. Raycroft.”
“Shh…don’t say my name too loudly.” This was the last place I wanted my name heard, an arena full of hockey fans…Toronto hockey fans. Especially after we just lost our playoff spot.
I sat down pulling my hat down low over my eyes to avoid being recognized. The announcer called out the names of the Marlies as they stepped out onto the ice, as I saw Ian I felt my breath catch in my chest. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was excited to see him after a week and half or if it was because I was nervous about how this talk was going to go down.
The announcer started up again, “Join Ian White in the Marlies’ Alley after the game for autographs.” I’d forgotten that they had a player each game who stayed and signed things to improve fan-player relations.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Ian the whole game; his graceful strides down the ice made by his short but muscular legs, his precision and his puck handling got the puck out of the Marlies zone quicker than most and his pinching in at every opportunity as he pushed his way to an assist on the Marlies lone goal of the evening.
I couldn’t understand why he didn’t get more ice time with the maple leafs, he was amazing. Of course, my opinion was a little biased. I suspected that I liked this guy so much, he could have been the worst player in the NHL and I would still tell him he was amazing.
The game ended with another Marlies loss, it was unfortunate because they had worked so hard. The look on Ian’s face at another loss made my heart break a little inside, I hated seeing him upset. The Toronto Marlies stalked off the ice, backs hunched in disappointment as the Manitoba Moose celebrated on the ice.
I made my way into the halls with the rest of the crowd, fighting my way over to the Marlies Alley where the line-up was already about 40 people long to get Ian’s autograph. I’d wait, though. I’d wait forever to talk to him.
I looked down at a bunch of seven year old boys in their timbits jerseys, holding ian white posters that they had been giving out earlier before the game. He was the featured player for today. I realized I didn’t have anything for him to sign. Hm…I looked down and noticed one of the kids had two.
“Hey kid.” He turned around, “Can I have one of those posters…I’ll give you…” I thought about what I could give him in trade, “my hat…I’ll sign it and everything.”
The kid looked confused for a minute, and then he seemed to realize who I was. His face lit up like a kid at Christmas, “I can have your hat!”
“Sh…keep it down though, it will be our little secret. I don’t want anyone else to recognize me.”
He smiled, shushing himself with his little fingers, “Okay!” He handed over the poster of Ian, I grinned at him taking off my maple leafs hat and taking the black sharpie from his hand signing the brim.
“Thanks a lot kid, you’re a life saver.”
“No…thank you Mr. Raycroft sir!” And with that he excitedly turned around and told his friends who he had just seen and put the hat on his head, which was about three times too big and came down over his eyes.
They all turned around at once, and I shushed them too. They all agreed to be quiet if I would sign their jerseys. So I obliged willingly. In the mean time we had already got to the front of the line and the boys were getting their posters sign, as they walked away I heard one of them shout, “This is the best day ever, Ian White AND Andrew Raycroft autographs!”
Ian looked up from the poster he was signing at me, and handed it to the last kid.
“I’m such a big fan of yours Mr. White sir…could you please sign my poster?” I pushed it across the table to him.
He signed it and rolled it back up handing it to me, “I can’t talk right now Andy.” He motioned for the next person, but I stopped them.
“I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”
He frowned, “Fine then. Meet me outside by the players entrance when I’m done all this.”
I grinned, “See you then.”
As I waited outside I unrolled the poster, I noticed that he wrote something over his signature and his number 7, “Always with you. With love, Ian White #7 ;) “ I grinned again rolling up the poster. This one was definitely getting framed.
I waited for about half an hour, sitting out by the door. I ruffled my hair with boredom making it stick up all over, just as the door opened. Ian stepped out in his dress clothes as was required of us when we came and left from games. He looked so good, I just wanted to tear off those proper looking clothes.
I stood up from where I sat, “You haven’t been returning my calls.”
“I didn’t want to,” he said coldly.
“I think you did,” I moved closer to him, “At least that’s what this poster says.”
He grinned sheepishly, “I was hoping you wouldn’t read that.”
I stepped even closer so we were barely a foot apart, “Of course I would. You mean a lot to me. I mean I waited in line for 20 minutes to get your fucking autograph. Even gave away my favourite hat.”
Ian shuffled his feet, “Apparently I don’t mean enough to you for you to stick up for us.”
“I’m an idiot. I never should have suggested this break, cause I’ve been miserable without you.”
“You know, I would have stood by you if we had been found out. I don’t care if the whole world knows, as long as we’re together.” He shook his head, looking at the ground, “I guess you just don’t feel the same.”
I stepped up to him and kissed him hungrily, having waited too long to kiss those lips. He brought his hands up to my chest to push me away, but stopped, giving into the kiss. I let our lips part long enough to say, “That’s what you think. But this is what I know.”
I kissed him again, pushing him back against the door, my tongue parting his lips, his meeting mine half-way. We were really getting into things until…whack! The door opened pushing us both over.
Jeremy walked out the players exit, looking at us both lying on the ground. “Oh, sorry guys. Didn’t realize someone was standing behind the door. Oh hey, what are you doing here Andy?”
“Um…just coming to see how you guys play when you don’t have us big boys to help you out.” I got up off the ground, holding my hand out to help Ian.
“Haha very funny. This was an off game for us. Anyways, my girlfriend’s waiting at home. I’ll see you guys later!” He ran off to the parking lot.
“How about we take this back to my place?” I suggested, letting my hand graze his cheek.
He closed his eyes, pushing his face into my hand, “I thought you’d never ask.”
*** BTW the game is made-up, for any people who like their fics to have the facts straight, I'm just using it to further my plot.
Characters: Andrew Raycroft / Ian White
Word Count: 1616
Rating: PG-13, swearing
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’.
|| Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9 ||
Practice was brutal, everyone’s emotions were high as we sat listening to Maurice give his last speech of the season. I looked around the locker room. Some of these guys weren’t going to be here next year, either their contracts would run out and they’d be free agents that might not get picked up by the leafs again or they could be traded. Maurice finished his speech with some reassignments to the Marlies. “Newbury, Ondrus, Pohl, White and…Williams.” He looked at his clipboard, “You will join the Marlies in their last few games. Good Luck in the AHL boys.”
After practice, I found myself over by Ian undressing for the showers, “Did you get my message?”
“Yeah…I just didn’t have anything to say about it.”
“Do you want to grab some dinner after? So we can talk about this.”
“I don’t know what do you think, is Jeremy going to be there or photographers or anyone else…because I mean if there are going to be people around you won’t want to be seen with me.”
I glowered at him, “You know that’s not what I mean, I just wanted to be careful. I guess I’m a little afraid of the media ever since they tore me apart after I was practically benched in Boston and then they traded me without a second thought.” I shrugged, “But it turns out that this was a good move. Now I’m the number one goaltender and you know…if I hadn’t been traded I never would have met you.”
He snorted a disbelieving laugh, “Spare me the melodramatic bullshit. I’m going to have a shower.”
Matt came up to me from across the room and rubbed my shoulder, “Give it time man. You guys will get over this little bump. Then maybe we could double.” He winked at me and walked off to the showers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ian continued to ignore my calls, so I decided that the only way he was going to talk to me was to force him to. So I decided to go to a Marlies game, the first one I’ve ever seen of my future team mates. I snuck in right before the game, I managed to get a front row seat when the ticket collector saw who I was.
“Right this way Mr. Raycroft.”
“Shh…don’t say my name too loudly.” This was the last place I wanted my name heard, an arena full of hockey fans…Toronto hockey fans. Especially after we just lost our playoff spot.
I sat down pulling my hat down low over my eyes to avoid being recognized. The announcer called out the names of the Marlies as they stepped out onto the ice, as I saw Ian I felt my breath catch in my chest. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was excited to see him after a week and half or if it was because I was nervous about how this talk was going to go down.
The announcer started up again, “Join Ian White in the Marlies’ Alley after the game for autographs.” I’d forgotten that they had a player each game who stayed and signed things to improve fan-player relations.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Ian the whole game; his graceful strides down the ice made by his short but muscular legs, his precision and his puck handling got the puck out of the Marlies zone quicker than most and his pinching in at every opportunity as he pushed his way to an assist on the Marlies lone goal of the evening.
I couldn’t understand why he didn’t get more ice time with the maple leafs, he was amazing. Of course, my opinion was a little biased. I suspected that I liked this guy so much, he could have been the worst player in the NHL and I would still tell him he was amazing.
The game ended with another Marlies loss, it was unfortunate because they had worked so hard. The look on Ian’s face at another loss made my heart break a little inside, I hated seeing him upset. The Toronto Marlies stalked off the ice, backs hunched in disappointment as the Manitoba Moose celebrated on the ice.
I made my way into the halls with the rest of the crowd, fighting my way over to the Marlies Alley where the line-up was already about 40 people long to get Ian’s autograph. I’d wait, though. I’d wait forever to talk to him.
I looked down at a bunch of seven year old boys in their timbits jerseys, holding ian white posters that they had been giving out earlier before the game. He was the featured player for today. I realized I didn’t have anything for him to sign. Hm…I looked down and noticed one of the kids had two.
“Hey kid.” He turned around, “Can I have one of those posters…I’ll give you…” I thought about what I could give him in trade, “my hat…I’ll sign it and everything.”
The kid looked confused for a minute, and then he seemed to realize who I was. His face lit up like a kid at Christmas, “I can have your hat!”
“Sh…keep it down though, it will be our little secret. I don’t want anyone else to recognize me.”
He smiled, shushing himself with his little fingers, “Okay!” He handed over the poster of Ian, I grinned at him taking off my maple leafs hat and taking the black sharpie from his hand signing the brim.
“Thanks a lot kid, you’re a life saver.”
“No…thank you Mr. Raycroft sir!” And with that he excitedly turned around and told his friends who he had just seen and put the hat on his head, which was about three times too big and came down over his eyes.
They all turned around at once, and I shushed them too. They all agreed to be quiet if I would sign their jerseys. So I obliged willingly. In the mean time we had already got to the front of the line and the boys were getting their posters sign, as they walked away I heard one of them shout, “This is the best day ever, Ian White AND Andrew Raycroft autographs!”
Ian looked up from the poster he was signing at me, and handed it to the last kid.
“I’m such a big fan of yours Mr. White sir…could you please sign my poster?” I pushed it across the table to him.
He signed it and rolled it back up handing it to me, “I can’t talk right now Andy.” He motioned for the next person, but I stopped them.
“I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”
He frowned, “Fine then. Meet me outside by the players entrance when I’m done all this.”
I grinned, “See you then.”
As I waited outside I unrolled the poster, I noticed that he wrote something over his signature and his number 7, “Always with you. With love, Ian White #7 ;) “ I grinned again rolling up the poster. This one was definitely getting framed.
I waited for about half an hour, sitting out by the door. I ruffled my hair with boredom making it stick up all over, just as the door opened. Ian stepped out in his dress clothes as was required of us when we came and left from games. He looked so good, I just wanted to tear off those proper looking clothes.
I stood up from where I sat, “You haven’t been returning my calls.”
“I didn’t want to,” he said coldly.
“I think you did,” I moved closer to him, “At least that’s what this poster says.”
He grinned sheepishly, “I was hoping you wouldn’t read that.”
I stepped even closer so we were barely a foot apart, “Of course I would. You mean a lot to me. I mean I waited in line for 20 minutes to get your fucking autograph. Even gave away my favourite hat.”
Ian shuffled his feet, “Apparently I don’t mean enough to you for you to stick up for us.”
“I’m an idiot. I never should have suggested this break, cause I’ve been miserable without you.”
“You know, I would have stood by you if we had been found out. I don’t care if the whole world knows, as long as we’re together.” He shook his head, looking at the ground, “I guess you just don’t feel the same.”
I stepped up to him and kissed him hungrily, having waited too long to kiss those lips. He brought his hands up to my chest to push me away, but stopped, giving into the kiss. I let our lips part long enough to say, “That’s what you think. But this is what I know.”
I kissed him again, pushing him back against the door, my tongue parting his lips, his meeting mine half-way. We were really getting into things until…whack! The door opened pushing us both over.
Jeremy walked out the players exit, looking at us both lying on the ground. “Oh, sorry guys. Didn’t realize someone was standing behind the door. Oh hey, what are you doing here Andy?”
“Um…just coming to see how you guys play when you don’t have us big boys to help you out.” I got up off the ground, holding my hand out to help Ian.
“Haha very funny. This was an off game for us. Anyways, my girlfriend’s waiting at home. I’ll see you guys later!” He ran off to the parking lot.
“How about we take this back to my place?” I suggested, letting my hand graze his cheek.
He closed his eyes, pushing his face into my hand, “I thought you’d never ask.”
*** BTW the game is made-up, for any people who like their fics to have the facts straight, I'm just using it to further my plot.