Chapter Text
The invitation came on a Tuesday, thrown out casually in the break room like it was nothing. Like Robby hadn’t clearly been building up to it, fiddling with the lid of his coffee cup and glancing at Dennis every few seconds. “So, there’s a Penguins game Friday night. You like hockey?”
Dennis looked up from his phone, surprised to be addressed. He had half expected Robby to just fill up the coffee cup and head back out to the hub. “I’ve never actually watched it before.”
“Perfect!” Robby’s face lit up in a way that made Dennis’ stomach start to do something complicated that he didn’t want to think about more right now. “I mean — it’s not perfect that you haven’t watched it but timing wise. It’s good. They’re playing on Friday and I have an extra ticket and—” He stopped himself and took a breath, “Do you want to come with me?”
Dennis’ first instinct was to find an excuse to avoid going. Robby probably couldn’t anyone else to go and take the extra ticket. Or maybe this was pity? Something about the kind attending taking a quiet resident under his wing because he felt obligated. But Robby was looking at him with such genuine hope that Dennis found himself nodding before he could overthink it. “Yeah that sounds good. Okay.”
“Great!” Robby’s smile was almost bright enough to power the entire hospital, “I’ll text you the details.”
Now, standing outside of the Arena on a freezing Friday night, Dennis was questioning his decision making skills. The crowd surged around him, a sea of black and gold, everyone knowing exactly where they were going while he felt fundamentally out of place.
Then he spotted Robby and something in his chest settled. The grin and wave as he made his way over catching something deep in him.
Robby had dressed up a bit. The jacket and scarf he wore over the jersey looking pretty good on him. His hair was actually styled, and not looking like he had been running his hands through it all day stressing.
“You made it!” Robby came closer and Dennis smiled back at him, seeing him practically vibrating with excitement. “I have the tickets here already — picked them up a couple of weeks ago — so we can just head straight in.”
A couple of weeks ago. Before he had invited Dennis. So he had been planning to go already, someone else in his mind, and that person had probably cancelled close to last minute. Dennis was the back up plan. He told himself that it didn’t really matter if he was. He was here now and he was determined to have a good night regardless.
Robby was already walking, moving with the crowd and guiding Dennis with a hand on his shoulder like he did at work. They stopped by the concession stand and Robby ordered, checking briefly what Dennis wanted before taking out his wallet. He waved away Dennis’ attempt to pay, pressing a beer into his hand instead. “It’s fine, you can get the next one.”
Next one. That made it sound like they would be doing this again.
Their seats were incredible. At least to Dennis’ uncultured eyes — they were near enough to the glass that he would have a good view, could probably make out expressions on players’ faces from this distance. He stared at the ticket stub in his hand that Robby had passed him when they sat down, doing quick mental maths on what these must have cost the attending. “This must have been a lot.”
Robby shrugged, settling into his seat more, “I had the money aside. I’ve just been waiting for the right game.”
The right game. Not the right person. Dennis filed that away, another piece of evidence into the bucket entitled ‘why Robby was just being nice’.
“So, basic rules.” Robby angled himself more towards Dennis, close enough that their knees were touching in the narrow seats. He was pointing at different things as he spoke, “Three periods. Twenty minutes. Five players and one goalie per team on the ice. Score goals by hitting the puck into the goal. “ His eyes flicked to Dennis’ briefly and he smiled, “I’ll explain other bits as we go. It can be kind of complicated?”
Dennis found himself smiling back at Robby despite his nerves. He explained everything without being condescending and checking in with him. "This is really cool actually.”
“Yeah?” Robby’s face transformed when he smiled like that. It had been a smile before but this was somehow more. “I’m glad. I know it can be overwhelming if you’ve never been to a game before but once —”
The lights dimmed, the crowd roared and Robby cut himself off to join in the cheering. The announcer’s voice boomed through the arena. Robby sat forward in his seat, beer forgotten about to the side. Dennis found himself torn between watching in front of him, and looking at Robby.
The puck dropped and the game exploded. Dennis tried to follow along, tracking the puck as it flew across the ice — disappearing into someone’s helmet at one point — but mostly just being caught up in the energy of it. The cold air, roar of the crowd, the way everyone around him was invested in the game.
Then the Penguins scored and Dennis let himself be pulled to his feet, let himself be caught up in the celebration. The entire section was on their feet it seemed, and for a moment, Dennis felt like a part of something bigger than himself.
The crowd made him aware of his body taking up physical space, aware of the temperature and his heartbeat and the adrenaline racing through his veins. The first period ended with the Penguins up, but only barely.
“What do you think so far?”
“It’s … intense.” Dennis admitted, laughing, “Fast. I don’t think I kept up with the puck for half of that.”
“You’ll get better at it. I don’t think I followed anything my first game.” Robby took a sip of his beer, licking his lips afterwards and it was a chore for Dennis to not stare. His expression softened, turning more thoughtful, “I went to my first one when I was still in high school. There was this senior, Andrew. He played hockey. He didn’t really talk to a lot of people, I kept to myself and one day he just came up and invited me to a game.”
Robby’s voice had went quiet, not speaking too loudly about it. The memory had weight, it mattered to him.
“I was this scrawny kid, not really fitting in anywhere and Andrew just took me under his wing, I guess. Showed me one hell of a good team and that you could love something like this just because. Changed my perspective on a lot of things.”
Dennis recognised the look — someone remembering kindness when they had desperately needed it, something that had been a formative moment.
“He sounds like a great person.”
“He was. Is. Last I heard he was travelling around somewhere doing odd jobs.” Robby shook himself and the smile he directed at Dennis had him frozen in place, staring at Robby. “Point is, everyone needs someone to show them it’s okay to … care. Even if that’s a hockey game.”
The words settled between them, heavier than they should have been. Dennis thought about his own time in school, about how his parents had never really understood him and never tried. He would have given anything to have someone like Andrew to take him under his wing when he was still that kid from the old farm down the road. “Folk back home never really … got me?” He said quietly, surprising himself.
Robby’s expression shifted immediately, understanding. “You deserve people who get you, Dennis.”
The cheering started up again before Dennis could dwell on it any longer, but something had taken root in his chest, stubborn and threatening to grow.
The second period was even more intense than the first. The rival team (Dennis couldn’t really keep track of who it was, the Penguins only getting the right name since Robby had mentioned them so often) had taken a lead and the crowd’s energy shifted from celebratory to tense. Dennis found himself leaning forwards in his seat, actually invested now, wanting the Penguins to score again so he could see Robby’s face light up like it had before.
They fell into an easy rhythm. Robby would explain something that happened and Dennis would ask follow up questions, eyes barely leaving the ice.
The Penguins pulled ahead and then were pulled back to a tie again. With five minutes left the atmosphere in the arena had gone beyond tense. Everyone was on their feet, Dennis’ heart was pounding in a way that he was sure had nothing to do with the game and everything to do with how close Robby was now, arm slung around him, their sides pressed together.
With three minutes left he almost couldn’t breathe.
Two minutes left and he could feel the anticipation building.
One minute. And the Penguins scored.
The arena exploded. Robby was yelling, hands in the air and when he reached back for Dennis there was no hesitation, pulling him into a crushing hug and for one moment, one perfect moment, Dennis forgot to be self conscious. Robby’s hand found his and he squeezed, and Dennis squeezed back.
As the final horn sounded and Robby pulled back, looking at Dennis with the biggest smile he had seen. “That was incredible. Did you see that final goal? I just —” This was the happiest and most animated that Dennis had ever seen him, “God I love this team.”
“I can tell.” Dennis said, grinning at him. He couldn’t help it, Robby’s happiness was infectious.
They filed out with the crowd, moving along like they were penguins — Dennis did laugh at himself for thinking of the pun, cheeks turning bright red when he had to explain to Robby what had him laughing. Robby stayed close to him the entire time, almost protective, making sure Dennis didn’t get separated in the crush of bodies all spilling out into the cold Friday air.
Dennis’ ears were ringing, throat raw from shouting more than he had in months. He felt alive in a way he hadn’t in years, pleasant buzzing under his skin.
“This was good. Thanks for coming with me.” Robby said, stepping just out of the way of the crowd, something vulnerable in his voice that Dennis couldn’t quite place. “This was … really great actually.”
“Thank you for inviting me. I had a really good time.” Dennis replied softly, eyes caught on the way Robby’s face lit up.
“Yeah? Good. We should — I mean, if you want to, we could do this again? There’s another game in a few weeks, or we could grab dinner sometime or —” He cut himself off, scrubbing a hand over his face, “Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself a bit.”
“No, I’d — I’d like that.” Dennis ‘ chest felt warm, the heat radiating through his body despite the chill in the air.
They had been slowly moving towards Robby’s car and what happened to be a good spot for Dennis to order an Uber to pick him up. He pulled out his phone to request it, surprised when he had a driver connect almost immediately. He bit the inside of his cheek, trying to quash the swell of disappointment, not quite ready to leave just yet.
“Text me when you get home safe?” Robby asked, hand on Dennis again.
“It’s just an Uber ride home, I’ll be dropped off at my door.”
“Still.” Robby’s hand moved, dropping to Dennis’ lower back, just above his hips. It was steadying. Intimate in a way that made Dennis’ breath catch.
“I’ll text you.” He managed, swallowing.
Robby smiled, hand finally moving away and letting Dennis feel like he could breathe again. “Good, and think about that next game, yeah? No pressure, but I would really like to do this again.”
Robby turned to his car as he saw Dennis’ Uber turn in and Dennis watched him go. His lower back still tingling from where Robby’s hand had been. The entire ride home spent staring out of the window and telling himself that it was just being invited to a game between friends, something because whoever Robby had bought the ticket for had cancelled.
But his back still burned, and he couldn’t stop replaying the evening in his head — the ways that Robby had looked at him, had leaning into him, the perfect seats for a first time, the easy offer of a next time.
He reached home and sent Robby a quick text, ignoring the butterflies as a reply came almost instantly, like Robby had been waiting by the phone.
He lay down in bed, staring at the ceiling and told himself he was being ridiculous. But he fell asleep with a smile on his face, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.
Robby: Looking forward to the next game. I had a great time.