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In the end, it was his own fault.
It wasn’t a snapshot taken from behind the bushes, taken by a neighbor trying to make a buck. It wasn’t a slip up by one of his teammates, not remembering to keep it secret. It wasn’t caused by his evil ex-boyfriend coming out, and in the process revealing that Jack Zimmermann, hockey protégé, wunderkind, and legacy liked boys.
In the end, it was all Jack.
***
saraahhhh @ZimmBoneMe Jun 6
For those who missed the hockey drama earlier RT (lock emoji): so Jack Zimmermann just liked some tweet that said “like this tweet if you’re bisexual.”
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hockey robot @kennysgirl Jun 6
@zimmboneme I CALLED IT. I bet those rumors about him and Parse are true, too.
***
Jack’s morning was relatively dull, in the grand scheme of things. His alarm went off at five-thirty as it usually does, he woke up in the arms of his boyfriend as he usually does, he played around with his phone for a little bit, and then snuck out for his usual morning run. It wasn’t until he got back and found Eric wide awake, aggressively making quiche, long before his usual eight am wakeup time. Something was wrong.
Jack ran to Bitty’s side, gathering his boyfriend up into his arms, pulling Bitty’s head to his chest. “What is it, mon lapin?” Eric aimed his big brown eyes up at Jack, who reached to wipe away his tears.
“It happened,” Bitty said calmly, but with a shaky voice. “You’ve been outed, Jack. I’m so sorry.” Bitty’s tears started back up, and he scrunched his face into Jack’s chest, not noticing Jack’s mouth open or his eyes fill with panic.
***
You Can Play Project @YouCanPlayTeam Jun 6
We would like to take this moment to remind everyone that people should be allowed to come out on their own time, in their own terms.
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You Can Play Project @YouCanPlayTeam Jun 6
Unless someone plainly states their own gender, sexuality, etc., we should respect their privacy and keep speculation to ourselves.
***
Bitty came back into the room with a wet towel, wiping the neverending sweat off of his boyfriend’s brow. Jack usually showered right after his run, but the news of his outing left him stuck on one of the barstools in his kitchen.
“PR says you have two options that will get you out of this with little to no damage,” Georgia said, her voice sounding tinny though the phone’s speaker. “Option one is you unlike the tweet, we act like it never happened, and we keep you out of any conferences for a few weeks. It’s not like you speak much in them anyway, so nobody will really care.”
At Jack’s silence, Bitty spoke up. “And what’s the other option?”
“Well, that one is a little more complicated. They’ll take over Jack’s account, like a bunch of random things, and then follow a bunch of random, incriminating accounts. Then, after a few days, we delete it all and you post a tweet about having your account hacked.”
“Well,” Bitty chirped, “why can’t we do both? Mr. Zimmermann here seems to like both.”
“This is not the time, Bittle,” Jack said, running his fingers through Bitty’s hair, just to mess it up. “I think we have another option.”
***
“Are you sure about this, hun?” Bitty said, straightening his bowtie in the locker room mirror. He put his hand on Jack’s shoulder, looking towards the door to the media room. “You know you don’t have to do this if you’re not ready, right? Just because I’m out doesn’t mean you have to be. I can be… in… for you.”
Jack looks at Bitty with sad eyes, “you can, but you shouldn’t ever have to. I love you, Eric. I love all of you. I love sweet, Southern, cheerful you. I love that you’re silly and entertaining and obsessed with the internet. I love that you are unapologetically gay and proud of it, no matter what… and I don’t ever want to be the reason you hide that.”
“Jack, I just want to be sure that you’re ready…”
“Bitty, I’m ready to spend the rest of my life with you. They can accept me or not, but you’re it for me. And I refuse to hide you or myself any longer.”
An intern peeks her head into the room then, headset on and clipboard in hand. “Are we ready, Mr. Zimmermann? We’re all set for you.”
***
The Players’ Tribune @PlayersTribune Jun 8
ICYMI: @JZimmermann1 opens up about himself, his anxiety, and his love life.
playerstribu.ne/ZmanComesOut
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Bob Zimmermann (hockey stick emoji) @Bad2ThaBone Jun 8
I couldn’t be prouder of my boy. He’s twice the man I could ever be.