“WHAT THE FUCK?!

”
Albert yells off the balcony. Two figures dressed in green and black start gasping,
giggling and whispering in french while they run as fast as they can. They carry a
huge as box with them and as they turn a corner it becomes even more apparent that
its a camera.
“Fuck!” He hits the railing, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Albert hits temples. He can barely
contain the sheer rage, the anger about his own stupidity. He could have expected
that! What the hell did he think would happen, going outside during a worldwide
shitstorm against him?
“What happened?!” Spot comes hurrying out from inside where he just told Niamh good
bye.
Albert and Race turn to him.
Racer speaks first, his voice still trembling, “We— someone— I don’— I mean I
di’n’— an‘ I— we were—but then they— I- Someone jus‘—“ he points in the rough
direction their paparazzi ran and gestures around.
Spot steps forward fast and cups Races face in his hands, “Woah, woah, woah,
chronological order?”
“I was jus‘… trynna comfort him an‘ then- an‘ we kissed— I was jus‘— I wanted ta
help- an‘ then— it worked an‘ then we kissed— jus‘ short, an‘ then… I don’—“
It just all happened so fucking fast…
“Fuck, someone took a fuckin‘ picture, Spot! They musta been fuckin‘ there the
entire fuckin’ time and heard every-fucking-thing and then they fuckin‘ took a
fuckin‘ picture, Fuck!” Albert shouts, breaking down against the wall.
Oh shit.
Two panic attacks
One Spot
What will he do?

He runs inside to the front door, leaving them alone, “Niamh wait!”
“Did I faget someth’n‘?”
“No, jus’ hurry!”
“Can’t you guys be left a lone for twenty fuckin‘ seconds?”
“Niamh, please!” Spot pleads and she understands this is serious, “They’se both
panickin‘ ‘nd,”
She has to calm HIM down too now before anything,
“No, I don’ have time, if we wait another five minutes, they won’ be able te stop
anymore—“
“Spot. Shut the fuck up and listen te me. If YOU wait anodder five minutes, you
won’ be either so ye gotta calm down first so we can handle this together, okay?
’Cause either it’s two fe two or three fe one. And I Can. Not. handle three
panickin’ 20-year-olds alone okay?” She holds his head to her chest, “You’se
important too. Ye gotta stop puttin’ their needs before yer own or ye gonna end up
where ye were a few years ago. I already siad that exact thing like half a minute
ago, I can’t believe I’m already repeatin’ it… one…two…one-walk with me- two… one…
two… there ye go. Ye good ta go?”
He nods, having caught himself and they both just start sprinting.

Race is weird.
Apparently kissing is a very good way for him to slow his breathing because it
forces him to stop.
And as fucked up as that may be -Spot isn’t about to deny him that.
And apparently older sister magic also works on people who aren’t your younger
sibling because Albert is peacefully sleeping in her lap right now.
Spot pulls back, “That was way too fuckin’ easy.”
“Tell me about it…” Race giggles, “Like when a panic attack is inevitable but the
author is too lazy ta write another one…”
“Pffth, yeah ‘nd they’se very aware so they include it by ye sayin’ that!” Spot
grins.
“Mh but not aware enough, ‘cause now that they put that explanation there -yer
sayin’ it-, it looses its effect ‘cause now the reader knows.” Race nods knowingly.
“Except what if they’se just very SELF-aware and mock themselves right now?” Spot
smirks.
“Or maybe they’se just trynna say allat stuff, so much back and forth, so the
reader don’ know what ta believe anymore…”
“Mhh, kinda like a Ronny-Paradox?”
Race nods.
“Or maybe, you twose just huge complete fuckin’ idiots.” Niamh chimes in, playing
with Alberts hair.
“That’s exactly how an author would end that situation…” Race whispers in Spots ear
and they giggle.
“Oi, dickheads, what’re ye two talking ‘bout me?”
“You stealin’ our boyfriend tha’s what!” Spot laughs and Albert lifts a lazy hand
to show he’s there. Niamh jolts, fully thinking he’s asleep and that properly wakes
him up now, “Shit, sorry…” she mumbles and tries to get him to sleep again.
“Actually,” Spot stops her, “do us the favour of not havin’ te carry ye?”
Albert gets up to go to the bedroom. Niamh gets up to, thinking her job is done but
Albert drags her with him, yawning, still tired but not enough to fall asleep that
easily again. She laughs and puts off her leather jacket again.

“Damn, she actually has him wrapped around his finger…”

“You mean her finger?” Spot asks
“Technically yes… but I ain’t sure who’s got who here, so I said it like that—“
“But that would imply, that she got him te wrap himself around his own finger…”
“We seriously need sleep.” Race laughs.
“Yeah, no fucking shit!”

After finally getting Niamh out of their ridiculously comfortable bed, Spot thanks
her again and hugs her. He tells Race he’s gonna come to bed a bit later, just
wants to make some more calls. And he does make the calls. But then he gets caught
up in researching whether you can track back paparazzi pictures and whether you can
report them.
And he falls asleep just when the picture first goes online. Needless to say,
things are about to turn the fuck around.

Albert wakes up to his phone buzzing. He grumbles and takes it. Then his blood runs
cold. “No, no, no, no, no”
His sudden movement and hurried tapping and scrolling after that makes Race stir.
Race, catching his reaction, feels his heart skip a beat, “What?” He comes up
behind him to see what he’s staring at,
His guess was pretty much correct…

He sighs and tosses his phone on the bed. It slides down the pillow and tumbles off
the mattress with the momentum build by that.
Crack
Albert groans.
“What the fuck” Spot says, “What happened?” He asks as he comes through the door.
“Spot! Where were you?”
“Mh, fell asleep on the couch…” he mutters “What happened?”
“‘Ts… my phone…” he points, “It fell.” He sighs and starts getting up but Spot
beats him to it.
He hesitates to give him the phone back though, “Oh it’s got two cracks, that ain’t
— Oh…” he stares at the screen.
Albert looks alway.
“Gen-Z-News got you? Fuckin’ hell, this really is getting out of proportion.”
“Yeah…” he shifts with a sigh.
Race sinks back into his pillow with a groan, pressing another one into his face.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Spot…”
He takes out his own phone to get an idea of the damage, “‘Albert DaSilva off the
market???’” He reads, “Devils made clear: no off-ice-drama appropriated.”
“Wait what?!” Albert gets up to him, really, really close to crying.
“There’s gotta be some way te spin this…”
“Spin what? Theres nothin’ ta spin- I-“ Race says hopelessly.
“I dunno, Race, thats what PR is for.”
“Spot, I broke my contract, there ain’t no spinnin’ that. It’s out there. Everyone
knows now.” Albert sinks against the wall in the corner with his face in his hands.
“Albert, that wasn’ in ye contract. Ye contract jus’ says that you weren’ allowed
to make ye relationship public!”
“Exactly! And I did!”
“No, Albert, ye di’n’ do shit. Stop blamin’ yeself fe everythin’, fe fuck’s sake!”
Albert looks down and gives him a little, “Sorry…”
“No.” Spot groans even more, “Stop apologisin’!” He sighs, “Look this ain’t ye
fault.”
“Yer right,” Race chimes in, “It’s mine.”
“What?!” Albert hisses.
“I kissed yer on a balcony where anyone could see at the fuckin’ olympics.”
Thats when all hell breaks loose to the point where they actually shout at each
other.
They argue and argue about who’s fault it is, or isn’t, until even Niahm’s had
enough and, no one even notices she even entered the apartment until she get in the
middle of them, “SHUT UP!”
Silence.
“I’m trynna sleep but I can hear ye THROUGH the fuckin’ walls.”
“Niahm, the picture, it’s out.”
“Yeah, no shit, dickwad! Shoutin’ at each other and ruining ye relationship ain’t
gonna put it off again! And blaming yourselves ain’t helpin’ ‘cause we all know
that this ain’t anyone’s fault, of anyone in this room.”
They all look at the ground a little bit ashamed.
“‘M sorry fe shouting…” Spot says.
“Me too.” Albert sighs.
“Sorry for blamin’ myself…” Race earns a smack on the back of his head. “Okay,
okay! I’m sorry fa shoutin’ too. I….” He sighs, getting more serious, “I don’ want
our relationship ta be ruined…”
“Interrupting this here, just to prevent ye guys from make-up-fucking before we’ve
actually figured this out.”
“Niahm!” Spot hisses and all three of them blushed.
“Shut up, Spot. Albert, turn ye notifications back on.”
“How’d ya—“
“Well how’d ye think? There’s nothin’ coming through, it’s completely silent
meanwhile mine is going insane and I’m ‘just’ ye boyfriend’s sister. So yours
should be blowin’ up. Use ye brain. Turn on ye notifications.”
Albert does and his phone dies immediately. He sighs, “Great.”
“Good job, Niahm.” Spot too, gets smacked on the back of his head now.
Niahms phone rings with Lisas number. She picks up?
“Yes-…- Yeah, it did -…- yeah, right here, I’ll give him the phone!” She hands him
the phone.
“Yeah?”
“I HAVE BEEN CALLING YOU FOUR TWO HOURS!”
He holds his phone further from his ear with a wince.
“My notifications blew up, Lisa. They just made my phone die within like two
seconds.”
“Yeah, I figured when I suddenly got directed STRAIGHT to the mailbox.”
He sighs, “Look, I’m sorry-“ (Niahm and Spot both hit his arm a little) “- ‘m
sorry,” he says with a stern glare at them, “I know I broke my contract—“
“WHAT!? Don’t tell me you actually believed that?? ‘Of the market’ my ass. Your
contract doesn’t say that! Besides, Putting you off the team now would be simply
self-destruction for the devils. Not only are you one of the best newbie players
there are, you’re also the first and only homosexual male one on the team so firing
you would be such obvious homophobia we’d be cancelled immediately.”
Albert rolls his eyes -great. That’s why they’re not firing him. Wow. Not making it
worse at all. Also not homophobic at all to use him for that- “Ah…”
“Albert, we weren’t gonna. Besides, even if that were in youth contract, this isn’t
you fault. Like at all. But uh….” Her tone shifts uncomfortably.
“What?” Alberts eyes widen and he puts the phone on speaker.
“You do have to officially come out. Preferably by confirming your relationship. We
uh… already talked to Spots PR and… uhm so they insist on uhh… look, Spot’s gonna
stay out of it. You’re gonna come out as gay but not as polyamorous… confirm your
relationship to Race but not to Spot.”
They don’t say anything.
“You’ll be the ‘victim’, forced to come out against your will.”
The silence hangs heavy.
“I’m sorry…”
“Uh… yeah. ‘Ts okay. Not your fault. Thanks.” Albert hangs up.

He frowns with a clenched jaw.

Spots frowns and blinks a bunch of times.
“Shit…” Race whispers, sitting back down on the bed.
“Yeah, shit.”
“I’m really sorry you guys. I’ll uh… leave you alone for a bit.” Niahm says.

For a minute or two, they just stare in the air without moving.

Albert shakes his head.

There’s gotta be some way to…
To what even?
To escape this.
But how?

Race fidgets. Presses his nails into his skin.

He doesn’t wanna hide Spot.
Or deny him.
Even less when he’s not doing the same with Al.
He doesn’t deserve to be excluded.

Spot takes deep breaths.

It’s okay.
This is necessary.
He can do this.
It’s not like they have to break up.

“Thats….” Race breaks the silence.

“Yeah…” Albert agrees.
Spot nods.
“So a couple…” Albert has trouble believing it, honestly.
“Yup,” Race makes a popping sound, “As in two.”
“As in not three…”
“It’s definitely gonna make things easier.” Spot says.
“Yeah, but the wrong things,”
“Al, it ain’t like we’se actually breakin’ up. We’ve….” Race hesitates with a sigh,
“We’ve been secret so far… so this is honestly just…”
“Easing it off a little.” Spot finishes.
“But it ain’t! We’ll still always have ta pay attention! We have ta pay even more
attention now, because now we can’t jus’ go with not doin’ anythin’! We’ll have ta
pay attention to who it’s with, in’ when. We also can’t do too little cause they’ll
think it’s a setup. We still have ta act close, like roommates or friends do. In’
we always flirted as a joke so we have ta keep doin’ that if we don’ wanna attract
more suspicion. But I also flirted with Race so they know it wasn’ jus’ a joke back
then. In’ we have ta make up a new way of doin’ that ‘cause it’ll be weird if we
flirt the same way Race in’ I do, ‘cause only one is meant t be platonic…..Besides,
I don’ wanna hide one of ya. It’s bad enough ta hide ya both, but don’ ya think
it’s gonna be totally shit for ya?Watchin’ us be couple-y in’ not be able ta join.
I don’ wanna leave ya out like that!”
Spot nods, “I do. ‘nd it is. But that’s only when we’se in public.” It’s clear he’s
just trynna make this better for Albert.
“And yer don’t really have a choice, Al…”
“If we don’ do this everythin’s just gonna get worse.”
“It’s still fucked…”
But it doesn’t matter. He still has to do it.

Albert charges his phone and copy-paste’s the text that Lisa prepare for him into
twitter. She told him he could adjust it to sound more like him.
He looks at it for a second, hovering over the ‘post’ button.
“I can do it if yer wanna…” Race says, next to him.
“No. No, it’s okay… I just need a moment.” He hesitates and makes a few adjustments
to the statement- not all of which are meant to make it sound more like him…
He takes a deep breath and shakily hits ‘post’.
It doesn’t even take ten minutes for GenZ-news too post about it.



He stares at his phone with a clenched jaw, “I should tell ‘em directly…”
“What?”
“This is jus’ writin’. It ain’t authentic.” He frowns
“So what? Whatcha wanna do instead?”
As an answer, Albert takes out his laptop, opens twitch and types clearing shit up.
He hesitates and deletes the last part; Clearing things ups

He sighs. “There.“
Spot, leaning against the doorframe again, nods.
Albert groans, rubbing is temples, “I gotta address that in person…” he sighs.

Later that night, Al sets up his stream, using his phone as a camera and
microphone.
Race joins him, “Yer okay?” He sits down next to him on the bed.
He nods.

They go live a little before the plan.

4:24 pm CET they start rolling.
He puts on the “starting soon” scream for not so long, as to gather a bunch of
viewers but not loose them again immediately.
“Yo, yo, yo.” He says as he finally decides to start, “Okay, so I know I said I
woul’n’ stream in Paris, but I think we can all agree that there’s some shit that
needs ta be addressed… oh wait they can’t see ya…” he adjusts the camera so Race -
and Spot in the background- are in in the frame. A few comments greet them. “I’m
sure ya already seen, but in case ya just been completely off social media in the
past 24 hours: it all started with this insta-story… well it started a bit earlier
but I wanna keep this short. Basically after a bunch of other stuff happened, that
added to the beliefs, this story finally convinced the internet I was queerbaitin’.
Honestly I kinda get it, paired with a bunch of things that happened before, I
guess it did come off that way. And as you now know, that wasn’ the case.” He takes
a deep breath and tries to sound steady as he says, “I’m gay. And I have a
boyfriend!” He holds up his and Race’s hands and they both purse their lips a bit
awkwardly. “After those accusations -I’ll be honest- I really, really di’n’ wanna
come out. But unfortunately…” he has to keep his voice from getting passive-
aggressive. Lisa already gave him a whole speech about his post, “that decision was
taken from me…”
Noticing Allie’s voice is breaking, Race chimes in, “Yesterday, Albie and I were
discussinm what ta do after this, on the balcony of our suit in Paris. Albert
was….” He eyes him, unsure of whether he can say this online, “….uh… on the verge
of panickin’…”
Well saved.
“…So he needed some air. I was trynna comfort him a bit and after he calmed a
little bit…I, uhm… I kissed him.” He squeezes Alberts hand.
“Which is somethin’ you shouldn’t be nervous ta confess… unfortunately, a person
who got wind off the whole thing, was nearby. They must have known where we were
stayin’ in’ that that wasn’ far away. We were outside, but it was almoist dark in’
we had other things ta think about, so naturally, we didn’ really see it comin’….”
“Long story short: the photo went viral, and Alberts PR team told us it’s useless
to keep quiet.”
Spot throws him a mini-glare, looking up from his phone.
“Now, we don’ want ya ta send hate ta the people who posted that. Please don’ do
that, they made a mistake and I hope they learn from it, but no one deserves ta get
that biga shitstorm comin’ their way….Anyway I confirmed it all. But I thought it’d
be better ta address this in person… well as much as it’s possible. I just don’
think a text of twitter post, does justice to the authenticity this deserves.”
“This is where we let our walls down a bit further. We still deserve our privacy.
But we figured, now that that’s out, we might as well tell our story… or at least a
part of it. The part of our relationship.”

“Lmao not spot third wheeling in the back”

“I do wanna put a disclaimer here and give ya’ll a general trigger warnin’ here,
‘cause there’s a bunch of crazy things that happened in relation ta that. We’re
gonna talk about some sensitive topics, and not just homophobia and that kinda
stuff. More. So if ya can’t handle those things ya may wanna tune out fa now. We
are gonna answer some questions later.”
“Hey, guys, I’m gonna go over to Niahm for this bit. I really don’ care ta hear
this story AGAIN.” Spot turns to the camera “They tell their romantic love-live
shit ALL. THE. TIME. It’s so annoyin’!”
“Doofus…” Albert says.
“We’re gonna practice so I’ll probably not be back fe a bit” He winks and Albert
blushes, throwing him a glare as he leaves.
Race begins, “So we met when we were like eight or nine I think. I was the only one
except the teacher and Tommy who knew A.S.L. ‘cause my grandpa was deaf and learned
American sign instead of Italian sign. So thats what he thought his children and
theirs. Anyway we immediately bonded over that…”
“We got together when we were seventeen… honestly it was a bit like a teen movie
drama. The biggest part not being some uhh… big love triangle or something…” it’s
not technically a lie, “But instead us having to deal with understanding we’re not
straight. It used to be a running gag, that Race and I were the only straight
people in our friend group, which was a lot smaller back then, and… I dunno if it
was the same fa yer, but personally it made me kinda forget that thats just a joke.
Like I fegot that me not bein’ straight was a possibility…But uh… the same day we
got together I got a call from my cousin and stepbrother, Morris. Ya might know him
from some of our stories and… oh on that note, shout out to Mo, ya should all go
listen ta his music. Anyway. So he told me that my mom was in the hospital. That
was the first and last time I saw my aunt, or they saw their mother. It was a lot.
—-“
And so they tell the story. Well half of it. Or should i say two thirds of it?

After half an hour or so they decide they wrap it up.

“A’ight so we have another half hour fa questions, that sound good?”
“Someone asked why we aren’t talking about Spot. That’s ‘cause he’s… uh… not part
of the story.”
That’s the first lie of the stream, Albert realises.

“Aren’t you ashamed to stream again after that?”

Albert can only hope that the person is talking about the queerbaiting stuff, not
the being gay stuff. He doesn’t think they are though. Either way, “Hey do we have
a Mod online?” He asks

“Lmao ive been there dont worry it’s just a phase”

Oh boy

“Uh any other questions?”

“Why didnt you came out sooner”

“‘Why didn’t you come out any sooner’? I think we made that quite clear, chat…”
Race says with an awkward chuckle.

“Any plans on getting serious??”

“Are you planning on getting married??”

“Are we plannin’ on gettin’ married. We’re actually kinda more or less engaged…well
we have promise rings.” They hold their hands up again.

“Oh going out and proud now i see”

“Why are there two???”

They pointedly ignore that last one.

“What about kids in the future”

“Isnt race trans??? He could have your child…”

— “Thats assuming albert as a gay guy is even okay with sleeping with race lol”

Albert can’t help but blush a bit, “Uh… we haven’t really thought about kids yet…“

“Lmao hes blushing like they havent even done it yet!”

“Pretty sure race already transitioned…”

“Okay now, chat, what did we say about keeping this respectful?” Race chimes in,
“‘How long have you been together?’ So I’m twentyone and Albert is twenty and we’ve
been dating since we were seventeen. Which was in 2019. So it’s been, uh… four,
soon ta be five years. Two of which we’ve lived together.”

“Race is an amazing person albert is lucky to have him”

“Thank you for being honest with us, Albert. It’s not easy to come out, especially
under these circumstances. We appreciate your bravery.”

Race can’t help but smile at that.

“Not you too!!! Why is everyone pushing that agenda nowadays??”

They both cringe a bit.

“Whats the deal with spot? Is he still in the picture? Why arent you talking about
him?”

“Again, guys, this is about us, we’re not talkin’ about anything else unrelated
today.”

“I’m so sorry you had to come out this way. You didn’t deserve this. 💔”

“Why are people so obsessed with celebrities’ personal lives? This is private
stuff!”

He can’t help but think about how high the odds are that these same people were
spamming hate to him the day before.
They try to filter it, but the bad comments stick out.

"Gross, why’d you have to bring this gay shit into hockey?"

"Dont care. Didnt ask. Stop shoving this shit down our throats."

"This is disappointing. Not because you’re gay, but because you lied to your fans!"

"You shouldve just stayed quiet no one cares that you're gay"

Albert clenches his jaw, “‘How did Spot react?’ Uh pretty good actually” he clears
his throat. He didn’t think before choosing to read that one out loud. “Anyway we
were here ta answer some questions not ta be spammed by homophobia, so I think
we’ll wrap this here. Thanks ta anyone who actually listened in’ uh… yeah… good
night, mornin’ or afternoon wherever you are!”
He goes offline and sighs, slumping back on the bed.
“Well, that went shit.”
“Oh, really, Race? Did it? I di’n’ even notice!”
“Woah, this isn’t my fault!”
“I know… I’m sorry. I’m just so tired…”
Race blinks, then sighs and lays back with him too, “I am too. But isn’ it kinda
relieving too?”
“I mean… yeah, I guess. At least one part of myself I don’ gotta hide anymore…” he
turns to lay on his side.
Race does too. Their noses are almost touching. His thumb brushes over his
knuckles.
“But it’s that relief that’s so exhausting, yanno? I don’ give a shit ‘bout
homophobia. But that relief is so weirdly exhaustin’… which doesn’ make any sense,
but….”
“No, I know what yer mean. Even though it really, really doesn’….”
Albert breathes a chuckle and just looks at Race for a moment, “Hey, thanks fa
being there fa this…and fa agreein’ ta allat.” he whispers.
“Hey, of course…” Race squeezes his hand. This time gently, not as urgently as
before. He presses a kiss to his nose.
Albert pulls him down and taps his own mouth, “Ya missin’, sweetheart…”
Race chuckles low and kisses him, his fingernails tracing his arms.
Albert spontaneously decides to pull Race on top of himself. His hands resting on
his hips, he fidgets with the hem of Race’s shirt.
Race lays his Hands on Albert chest, under his shirt. Albert tilts his head but his
grin is quickly cut short by Race smashing their lips together and pushing his
shirt up until he’s barely even wearing it anymore.
Race grins into Alberts mouth, but squints and pulls back. He stays like that for a
second or two before making a decision. He turns them around, much to the surprise
of Allie, who yelps and gently smacks him on the head.
“Idiot.”
Racer chuckles, “That’s jus’ whatcha get…” he trails off, distracted by Albie
licking his lips. He pulls Albert in by the neck, his hands travelling up in his
hair.
“What the fuck just happened?” Al whispers, “We were sulkin’ miserable like two
seconds ago…”
“Shut up. Who cares?”
Albert traces Race’s collarbones, making him squirm just a little. He grins and
bites his lip.
A sheepy blush creeps on Race’s face. He turns them around again.
”I don’ get you…”
”I changed my mind, okay!”
Albert chuckles.
Race traces Alberts jaw with his lips softly and he closes his eyes, leaning into
it.
Alberts fingers tangle right back into Race’s hair where they belong, tugging
slightly as their lips move together with an energy that neither of them expected
after this stream. Alberts sneaks his hands under Race’s shirt. It grows faster,
more… well… more urgent, more heated, their breath coming faster and Albert can’t
help but want Race closer.
Closer.
Even closer than he already has him. Which is barely possible. It keeps growing
more intense, more passionate, as if they weren’t both about to fall asleep right
then and there just a minute ago. Race pushes the hair on Alberts neck aside with a
little smirk.
Bastard.
He kisses and caresses his skin softly, pressing his tongue against all the little
bites he leaves. He whispers against his neck, sending shivers down Albert’s spine.
”I love you.” Albert breathes.
Race smiles and kisses him again, ”I love you too, Albie.”
Alberts lips part into the kiss and Race finally, finally tugs at Alberts shirt,
making him sit up, so Race can take it off.
Their exhaustion is as if magically swept away, giving space to something that’s
very much the opposite of exhaustion- possibly exhaustING, sure. But definitely not
exhaustion….