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If Jamie were a real romantic, he’d have been watching Tyler sleep so he could see the exact moment Tyler’s eyes blinked open. Jamie wasn’t a romantic, he was a hockey player, so he was playing games on his phone. When Tyler coughed, he shoved his phone back into his pocket and shifted over.
“Hey, you’re in the hospital. It’s 6am. They had to put you under while they they fixed your leg. You’re probably out for the rest of the season.”
“Fuck,” Tyler mumbled, groggily, and Jamie understood that sentiment at least so snorted and shifted his chair closer.
“Yeah, next time maybe remember that legs don’t twist that way.”
“Didn’t do it on purpose,” Tyler slurred, blinking.
“Sure, that’s what you always say,” Jamie said. He let himself reach out and grab Tyler’s hand. Tyler was high as shit on painkillers anyway, probably would be for a while, so Jamie’s be able to get away with more than he usually did. With wearing his heart on his chest just a little more. “Want the doctor? Some ice.”
“Ice,” Tyler slurred, gripping Jamie’s hand. Jamie nodded then pulled back, went to get it. He probably should call the doctor but it wasn’t like there was anything else the doctor could do about the fact that, for a while there, Tyler’s leg had been going the wrong way and Jamie wanted this minute. Just this one minute to quietly freak out and hold Tyler’s hand and feed him ice chips. Then he’d be cool again.
Tyler’s eyes had drifted closed by the time Jamie got back, but when he squeezed Tyler’s hand he opened them again and blinked up at him.
“Jamie?”
“Yeah,” Jamie said, leaning against the edge of the bed.
“You went?”
“Getting you some ice, remember?”
Tyler looked confused for a second, then blinked. It was kind of adorable in that Jamie hated seeing Tyler so out of it but at the same time it kicked every fucking protective instinct he had into overdrive.
He grabbed an ice chip and held it up to Tyler’s lips and Tyler parted for it easily, then grimaced a little when he actually got it into his mouth.
“Jamie,” he slurred around the chip. “It’s cold.”
“Yeah, it’s meant to be,” Jamie said, not bothering to hide his find grin. He normally had to be so careful around Tyler. Tyler was better at people than him and Jamie had always tended to wear his heart on his sleeve. He tried really fucking hard to not draw attention to how he really felt about Tyler but sometimes the feeling was just too big in his chest.
“Jamie?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you decorate?”
Jamie glanced around. Yeah, he’d maybe gone overboard a little bit, but he was never great at moderation when it came to Tyler. It was just, there were in Christmas break now and Tyler wasn’t getting out of this bed any time soon and what use were decorations in Jamie’s living room anyway?
“Yeah. I thought… is it too much?”
“Nah, man,” Tyler was smiling, all drugged up and dopey. “I fucking love it. You did it for me?”
“Nah, I did it for the other guy in here with a broken leg.”
Tyler swatted at him but he was high and slow so it was easy for Jamie to dodge back out of the way. It did leave Tyler’s hand hanging in mid-air, though, so it just made sense for Jamie to grab it again. To squeeze it as he moved it back to Tyler’s side them not let go.
“Hey, you want another ice chip?”
“Nah,” Tyler grumbled. “This is really nice, Jamie.”
“I’m glad you like it. I just, this is going to suck for a while, okay, but not everything has to.”
“I thought this was going to be our cup year.”
“I hoped so too,” Jamie admitted. It felt easier to say when Tyler probably wouldn’t remember it. “You need to rest, okay. Then you’ll be better and come back.”
“And show them all?”
“And show them all,” Jamie promised, though they probably wouldn’t. They were already not doing great and Tyler being out wasn’t going to help. But he’d do everything he could to make sure the team was still there for Tyler to come back to, still winning games.
“Hey, Jamie.”
“Yeah?”
“Stay here until I wake up again.”
“Sure, Tyler,” Jamie said, squeezing Tyler’s hand gently. “I’ll be here.” He’d already turned off his phone and was ignoring a million other things he should be doing, but he could hold out the world a while longer. Especially when Tyler smiled at him like that, so sleepy and so honest.
“Good,” Tyler grumbled, sleep creeping over him. “I love you.”
Jamie’s heart stopped. “Tyler?”
“When I’m better, you should remind me I said that then kiss me. I really want to kiss you.”
“I…”
“Promise me,” Tyler said, eyes suddenly sharper than they had been so far, though that wasn’t saying much. “You’ve gotta, Jamie. When I’m better, you’ve gotta kiss me.”
“I… okay.”
“Say you promise.”
“I promise.”
“Good,” Tyler said, relaxing again. “I wanna always kiss you, okay?”
“Okay,” Jamie whispered. Tyler nodded again, eyes growing heavy and, fuck, he was so high. He probably hadn’t meant any of that. Hadn’t understood what he was saying. He clearly hadn’t really taken in what Jamie had said about injuries and time out, but…
What if he had meant it.
In the flickering of the Christmas lights, Jamie watched Tyler drift back into sleep. Once he was sure Tyler was asleep, he lent in and kissed him once gently on the forehead, before settling down to hold his hand again. And he hoped.