Chapter Text
After 4 weeks of quiet relaxation and mind-blowing sex, they have to head back to the city. They pack up and go back to Luca’s apartment. There is just under a week before Cliff has to head back to Boston and they are both contemplative and slightly blue over it. They always knew that this wasn’t reality, but it was going to be so hard to be apart for great lengths of time after being together for 2 whole months. They have been talking a lot about how they can make it work. The biggest thing is going to be honest communication and effort from each of them. This is not a summer fling - they both know it. They both know that this could be it. This is their person.
Luca looks up from his book when the door buzzer goes off. He climbs out from under his boyfriend and calls down to the doorman. Apparently, there are some packages that have been delivered. Luca darts out and a few minutes later returns with 4 boxes in his arms. He looks like a kid on Christmas. The first box contains the things he ordered for Ava and Emmy. Cliff’s heart swoops as he hears why Luca wanted to buy them presents and why he chose the things he did. The next 2 boxes arematching mahogany frames for the paintings that he had done – one for each of them. The dark wood matching both of their rooms well. Luca hesitates before he hands the last package to Cliff to open, hoping that it isn’t crossing a line. He starts to ramble that he knows Micah is Cliff’s nephew and that he is just the boyfriend and… he doesn’t have to worry though, because when Cliff sees the Centaurs shirt for Micah, with Haas across the shoulders, he bursts into tears. This thoughtful man is a part of his soul-family – there is zero doubt about it.
It is Wednesday now. The party at St. Simon’s is on Friday and Luca has to be back in Ottawa for an afternoon practice on Monday. So, they are going to head to Boston tomorrow and Luca will fly back on Sunday evening. Today, as promised, Cliff and Roz have made plans for some late afternoon drinks and then Luca and Shane are going to join them for supper at their favourite sushi restaurant downtown. Before he heads out, Cliff makes Luca cum until he feels like he no longer has any bones in his body. He leaves Luca on the bed and moves to the bathroom to clean up before going to meet Ilya. He looks in the mirror and swears under his breath. There is no way he can cover the mark on his neck wearing weather appropriate clothing – Roz is going to tease him mercilessly.
Luca kisses Cliff goodbye and chuckles at the obvious bite mark on his neck. Cliff in turn swats him on the ass before he turns to leave. A few minutes later Luca’s phone bings.
Shane
Hey, got a proposition for you
Luca
??
yeah
what’s up
Shane
I have been asked to teach a monthly yoga class at the queer youth centre.
Wondering if you wanted to come over for me to practice teaching?
You could be my student.
I am a bit nervous because I usually just do my own thing.
Luca
that’s cool
i would love to
Shane
Bring your stuff to change into and we can go to supper from here
Luca
{thumbs up emoji}
Luca gives it another five minutes for his bones to reform in his body and then cleans up in the bathroom. He throws on his workout clothes, packs a duffel with his clothes for dinner and drives over to the Hollanov house. Shane has an awesome yoga set-up in the basement and they spend the next hour stretching and posing and breathing. Shane is an amazing teacher. He really shouldn’t worry about the upcoming class. Without Luca realizing, Shane snaps a pic of him in a rather provocative plough pose and promptly sends it to Cliff. When their yoga session is finished, Luca slips into the guest bath and has a quick shower and gets dressed into a short-sleeved blue linen shirt, that matches his eyes and a pair of khaki shorts. Even he will admit that he looks like a snack. He rejoins Shane by the kitchen island where they enjoy a nice glass of crisp white wine before they have to leave for the restaurant.
When they meet up with their men, Cliff looks like he wants to devour his boyfriend, more than he wants sushi. The photo that Shane sent is really unfair when they have to keep polite company for the next hour or two. They end up having a really nice dinner and Ilya and Shane promise to take care of Luca when Cliff goes back to Boston. Luca protests that he is a fully grown man, who can take care of himself, but really, he is touched that Cliff is worried about him. They decide that it had better be an early night because they are driving to Boston early tomorrow morning, so they make their leave and head back to the apartment.
When they get back from the restaurant, Cliff promptly asks for some naked yoga time to see what Luca learned. He happily obliges and they end up going to sleep a whole lot later than they had planned.
They will arrive at Cliff’s apartment mid afternoon on Thursday the 27th. Luca has been in his head for the entire drive. He really wants to make a good impression on Cliff’s team mates and has had his mother’s voice in his head saying “Never go to a party empty-handed, even if they insist!” He scrolls his phone for ideas of what he might take that he could make in the limited time that he has.
Luca knows that Vic is having the party catered so he isn’t sure that regular party food would be appreciated, so he decides on either a dessert or something for the hosts to enjoy the next morning. He remembers these amazing lemon tarts that his sister made last time he was home, so he messages her. Once he has the recipe, he places a grocery order to be delivered to Cliff’s apartment. He adds 2 bouquets of fresh cut flowers as well - one for Cliff and one for St. Simon’s wife.
The first thing Cliff does when they arrive, is throw on a load of laundry and then find his hammer and hang the painting in his bedroom. Not where just anyone dropping by could see, but also not discreetly hidden either. Luca blushes at the sight of his own naked form on the wall of the sparsely decorated room. Cliff turns to him and pulls him into a filthy kiss that holds the promise of another passionate night.
They pull apart only when they hear one of their stomachs growling. They order in Thai food since neither of them feel like cooking the food that the house keeper had stocked in the fridge before they arrived. The food and the ingredients Luca ordered all arrive at the same time and the lovely doorman brings both bags up to the penthouse for them.
Cliff looks at the bags from the grocery store with a quirked eyebrow. Luca explains that they are making something to take to the party and that the flowers are gifts. He wants to make a good first impression. Cliff smiles as he pulls his man into a warm embrace - tucking his stubbled chin into Luca’s neck. Luca giggles as the whiskers tickle his neck.
He starts looking through the cupboards for something to put the flowers in but the only option is a beer stein. Luca makes a mental note to buy his boyfriend a vase because these aren’t the last flowers he plans on buying. He wants to spoil the man - wants him to always know how much he is loved.
After supper, Luca pulls up the recipe for the shortbread tart shells. He thinks that getting them done tonight and making the filling in the morning would be best, so he enlists Cliff’s help. An hour later they have 4 dozen mini tart shells in tinfoil cups cooling on the counter. Cliff somehow has more flour on him than on the countertop so Luca grabs a tea towel and starts brushing him off. Cliff grabs his wrist and pins him up against the counter kissing him within an inch of his life. Luca pulls away and says “bedroom” before turning to sprint off, leaving Cliff to chase after him.
They wake up late and sore in all the right places. The only thing they have to do today is finish the tarts and pick up a bottle of wine for the party, so they decide to go another round before crawling out of bed. Then the shower turns into shower-sex before they finally get dressed for the day.
Cliff starts juicing lemons and Luca gets all the other ingredients organized. They work together well and the curd is perfect – glossy and tart and sweet. Luca leaves some of the tarts plain, tops some with a fresh raspberry and the rest with a bit of whipped cream. Being domestic in Cliff’s kitchen feels nice. It makes Luca all warm and tingly. It feels like he belongs - alongside this beautiful man doing normal everyday things.
When they return from their shopping trip, they curl up on the couch and eat some leftovers while watching a baseball game. They automatically fall into their assigned positions with Cliff’s head in Luca’s lap and Luca’s hand in his hair.
Finally, it’s time to head over to Vic’s house. Cliff has given his boyfriend a rundown of who will be there and what to expect. Luca isn’t the most outgoing, but isn’t nearly as shy as he once was. He is looking forward to meeting the people Cliff cares about – his work family.
When they walk through St. Simon’s door, they are greeted with whoops and hollers from the Bears that are gathered. It appears that they are the last to arrive. Conners immediately clocks the mark on Cliff’s neck and comments that Luca must be the prettiest vampire he’s ever seen. That gets a laugh out of everyone and has Luca blushing despite himself.
Luca takes the flowers and tarts to Meg in the kitchen and offers to help anyway he can. She just smiles and then yells at Cliff that he better not fuck this up because this one is a keeper. Luca just might spend the whole evening a bright shade of pink - which is okay by Cliff because it reminds him of their flirting all last season and that makes him both hard and happy.
Just as Cliff imagined, Luca fits in with his friends seamlessly. It’s like he belongs. It’s a thought that Cliff has been having a lot in the past few weeks. He belongs in my bed. He belongs on my couch reading his book. He belongs at my side while I prepare the food kit that was delivered for supper. He belongs with me.
Cliff is pulled out of his thoughts when Brad Hammersmith flops down beside him on the couch. He looks Cliff right in the eyes like he is searching his soul for something and doesn’t say anything for what seems like an eternity. Then he tilts his head and says “He might be it, huh? Who would have thought. But I like it for you.” Then as quick as he appeared, he stands up and leaves.
The night is great. Everyone loves the tarts and keeps teasing Cliff about turning into a domesticated house-husband, instead of the party-boy man-whore. Of course, conversation eventually turns to the upcoming season. They are all excited to get back on the ice. Cliff’s excitement is tinged with sadness though. Luca has to leave the day after tomorrow. He will get on a plane and go home to Ottawa. They will talk all the time and they have invested in some long-distance toys to keep “in touch” with each other, but they won’t be in each others’ arms for weeks at a time. Cliff knows it won’t be forever. He also knows that he can’t play forever - his shoulder isn’t recovering after games as quickly or as well as it used to. Maybe he should start thinking about an after-hockey plan. A plan that has him closer to Luca.
Vic sees the far off look on Cliff’s face and puts his arm around his shoulder pulling him in tight. He tilts his head towards Luca, who is deep in conversation with the WAGs. He has played with Cliff for all of his career and he has seen him at his best and his worst - he tells Cliff as much. Then he tells him that this peace that he sees is something that he has never seen before and to do whatever he can to hold on to it.
Luca wanders over to join them. He thanks Vic for inviting him as he has enjoyed the evening very much but thinks it might be time for them to go. “You get him for the rest of the season but I only have him for the next 36 hours”. He winks at Vic and it’s Cliff’s turn to blush. Vic claps them both on the shoulders and wishes them a good night.
Luca pulls Cliff into a deep and passionate kiss as they wait for their Uber. They both know the clock is ticking down and they need to make the best of the time they have together. As Cliff climbs into the back of the car and pulls Luca into his lap, a tear threatens to fall but he decides it can wait. He is going to love the fuck out of this man until he puts him on the plane on Sunday afternoon.