Finally I am back! Enjoy the latest instaalment! ^^
Buffalo’s playing you tonight. You need to be on your game. Their goalie has been spectacular during this past month and you and he have a history. Michael will be expecting you to beat him, and so will the team.
You’re downing half your water bottle in preparation for what you know is going to be a good game, wiping your lip after you stop drinking. You’ve been changed for at least an hour longer than your team mates, but they’re used to that sort of dedication and obsession with perfection from you.
Evgeni throws you a questioning look as you sigh and you wink at him, nodding at the door out of the locker room and grinning. Reassured, he grins back, nodding in response.
You and he are going to be the last to leave the locker room, as always, you know. He always pulls you aside so you and he can get a last minute feel for each other’s technique. It’s a miracle method that usually results in those maneuvers that suggest you read each other’s minds.
He grasps your shoulder with twinkling eyes, tuning into you the way you’re tuning into him. You can barely feel the touch through all the padding and spandex you’re wearing, but that’s not the important part. The important part of this is feeling Evgeni’s energy, as odd as it may sound.
You’re just about to let go of his hip where you’re touching him when he gasps and drops his hand from your shoulder.
“Ev?” You question, lifting a brow in wonder.
He says nothing, only points behind you, looking somehow haunted.
You whirl around and immediately see the cause for his unease. Standing in the doorway as the door to the locker room swings shut behind him is Alex, and in his hands are a bouquet of roses and a box of Hershey’s chocolates.
You almost want to laugh at how ridiculous it is to see something like this, but your heart is pounding too hard to even allow humor. You step completely away from Evgeni and closer to Alex, urgent questions buzzing in your head like so many fireflies about why he’s here and what he’s doing with those horribly cliché gifts in his hands.
“Hey,” he says. It’s then you notice he’s not smiling. He actually looks a little like you have been in the mirror each morning. Distraught, heartbroken, kind of dead inside. It’s a tiny repayment for all you’ve gone through, but it’s something.
You nod to acknowledge you’re actually going to interact with him this time. “Hey.”
You can hear Evgeni wisp by you as he walks out of the locker room to give you both your privacy. You’re not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, because privacy and Alex haven’t benefited you much in the past, but if those offerings in his hands are anything to go by, that may change.
He thrusts his arms toward you holding his presents and you nod again, taking them from him and sniffing the flowers as you place the chocolates on the bench. If this doesn’t work the way you’re hoping (and it has a high chance of not doing so), you’ll need those chocolates later.
“What are you doing here?” You’re the brave one now in this…can it even be called a relationship?
Anyhow, it’s quite a change, and you’re not sure you’re ready for it.
He looks nervous. You have made the Great Alexander Ovechkin nervous. You could sing in triumph. The tables have turned so completely it’s like they were never upright to begin with.
“I want to say sorry,” he says quietly, and you have to blink in confusion and shake your head a bit. Did you hear him correctly? Is he apologizing?
“Do you really? Do you even know what you did wrong?” No harm in checking if he’s doing what you want or what he knows is right.
He bites his lip and uncertainty flashes in blue eyes that are already darker than usual. “Um…”
You sigh and your shoulders slump. You should have known it was too good to be true, this change of heart.
He sees your disappointment and words come flying out of his mouth that stop your entire system cold.
“I…I’m sorry because I like you and I not want to hurt you by being with others…”
You stare at him incredulously. Did he really say that?
Your strongest impulse is to forgive him and for a second, you want to give in.
But then you look down to think and your eyes come upon the chocolates. You remember what your thought process involving him was only a mere few minutes ago and all of the fury, the hurt, the betrayal comes back.
You nod to the flowers in your hand and the chocolates on the bench. “What’s with the candy and flowers?”
He blushes, actually blushes. It’s a sight to see if you’ve ever seen one. “I watch romance movie many nights to see how I win you. They tell me this work.”
Okay, so you concede, that’s a point to him. That’s definitely dedication, at least, and flattering dedication at that. Could he really want you that badly?
It must be more, as he says.
Something in you is reluctant to forgive him still. You smell the flowers again and flick your eyes between the two gifts, rapidly deciding what to do.
“What else have you got to say for yourself?” You finally ask, and nod with satisfaction at the eloquent and necessary question you’ve come up with.
He does something unexpected. He takes your hands gently in his and tugs you over to the bench to sit with him.
You’re breaking quickly. He’s completely turned around and it’s easily tearing down your defenses.
“I vow you are one and only lover forever,” he says quietly, rubbing your palms with his calloused fingertips.
You meet his eyes with wavering determination to hold your heart away from him and are surprised to see they’re totally sincere. They’re clear blue and lit with an inner glow that you recognize from having seen it before he executes a skilled move on the ice. He really wants you to believe him.
You do, but you just can’t let him have you yet.
He needs to suffer first.
“I don’t want you, Alex. Not anymore.”
His face falls, and with it, his hands from yours.
***
Oh, how I adore this chapter. I read it about a billion times before I posted it. I hope you like it too! Leave me some love? :)
You’re downing half your water bottle in preparation for what you know is going to be a good game, wiping your lip after you stop drinking. You’ve been changed for at least an hour longer than your team mates, but they’re used to that sort of dedication and obsession with perfection from you.
Evgeni throws you a questioning look as you sigh and you wink at him, nodding at the door out of the locker room and grinning. Reassured, he grins back, nodding in response.
You and he are going to be the last to leave the locker room, as always, you know. He always pulls you aside so you and he can get a last minute feel for each other’s technique. It’s a miracle method that usually results in those maneuvers that suggest you read each other’s minds.
He grasps your shoulder with twinkling eyes, tuning into you the way you’re tuning into him. You can barely feel the touch through all the padding and spandex you’re wearing, but that’s not the important part. The important part of this is feeling Evgeni’s energy, as odd as it may sound.
You’re just about to let go of his hip where you’re touching him when he gasps and drops his hand from your shoulder.
“Ev?” You question, lifting a brow in wonder.
He says nothing, only points behind you, looking somehow haunted.
You whirl around and immediately see the cause for his unease. Standing in the doorway as the door to the locker room swings shut behind him is Alex, and in his hands are a bouquet of roses and a box of Hershey’s chocolates.
You almost want to laugh at how ridiculous it is to see something like this, but your heart is pounding too hard to even allow humor. You step completely away from Evgeni and closer to Alex, urgent questions buzzing in your head like so many fireflies about why he’s here and what he’s doing with those horribly cliché gifts in his hands.
“Hey,” he says. It’s then you notice he’s not smiling. He actually looks a little like you have been in the mirror each morning. Distraught, heartbroken, kind of dead inside. It’s a tiny repayment for all you’ve gone through, but it’s something.
You nod to acknowledge you’re actually going to interact with him this time. “Hey.”
You can hear Evgeni wisp by you as he walks out of the locker room to give you both your privacy. You’re not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, because privacy and Alex haven’t benefited you much in the past, but if those offerings in his hands are anything to go by, that may change.
He thrusts his arms toward you holding his presents and you nod again, taking them from him and sniffing the flowers as you place the chocolates on the bench. If this doesn’t work the way you’re hoping (and it has a high chance of not doing so), you’ll need those chocolates later.
“What are you doing here?” You’re the brave one now in this…can it even be called a relationship?
Anyhow, it’s quite a change, and you’re not sure you’re ready for it.
He looks nervous. You have made the Great Alexander Ovechkin nervous. You could sing in triumph. The tables have turned so completely it’s like they were never upright to begin with.
“I want to say sorry,” he says quietly, and you have to blink in confusion and shake your head a bit. Did you hear him correctly? Is he apologizing?
“Do you really? Do you even know what you did wrong?” No harm in checking if he’s doing what you want or what he knows is right.
He bites his lip and uncertainty flashes in blue eyes that are already darker than usual. “Um…”
You sigh and your shoulders slump. You should have known it was too good to be true, this change of heart.
He sees your disappointment and words come flying out of his mouth that stop your entire system cold.
“I…I’m sorry because I like you and I not want to hurt you by being with others…”
You stare at him incredulously. Did he really say that?
Your strongest impulse is to forgive him and for a second, you want to give in.
But then you look down to think and your eyes come upon the chocolates. You remember what your thought process involving him was only a mere few minutes ago and all of the fury, the hurt, the betrayal comes back.
You nod to the flowers in your hand and the chocolates on the bench. “What’s with the candy and flowers?”
He blushes, actually blushes. It’s a sight to see if you’ve ever seen one. “I watch romance movie many nights to see how I win you. They tell me this work.”
Okay, so you concede, that’s a point to him. That’s definitely dedication, at least, and flattering dedication at that. Could he really want you that badly?
It must be more, as he says.
Something in you is reluctant to forgive him still. You smell the flowers again and flick your eyes between the two gifts, rapidly deciding what to do.
“What else have you got to say for yourself?” You finally ask, and nod with satisfaction at the eloquent and necessary question you’ve come up with.
He does something unexpected. He takes your hands gently in his and tugs you over to the bench to sit with him.
You’re breaking quickly. He’s completely turned around and it’s easily tearing down your defenses.
“I vow you are one and only lover forever,” he says quietly, rubbing your palms with his calloused fingertips.
You meet his eyes with wavering determination to hold your heart away from him and are surprised to see they’re totally sincere. They’re clear blue and lit with an inner glow that you recognize from having seen it before he executes a skilled move on the ice. He really wants you to believe him.
You do, but you just can’t let him have you yet.
He needs to suffer first.
“I don’t want you, Alex. Not anymore.”
His face falls, and with it, his hands from yours.
***
Oh, how I adore this chapter. I read it about a billion times before I posted it. I hope you like it too! Leave me some love? :)