Work Text:
From the moment Scott came out and became the first openly gay hockey player, he knew that many things would change.
He saw several videos of fans burning their Admirals jerseys, saying how disappointing and inappropriate it was, along with various other hateful comments. Scott was prepared for this. It was always what he feared most when he came out.
But what he wasn't prepared for was the love and support he would receive. Much more than the hate.
After kissing Kip on the ice, Scott received numerous emails and messages. Some were from fans saying how Scott coming out was very brave and meaningful to them, most were messages from young fans, teenagers, and that was what moved Scott the most. Knowing that he was helping these young queer people, who loved the same sport he loved, not to feel alone was incredible.
But these were only messages he received online. He didn't know the faces of any of these fans, had never spoken to them in person, and, obviously, that didn't take away from the importance of all these messages, but Scott still found it hard to believe that he was really receiving so much support and that he served as an inspiration by being who he was, without hiding anything anymore.
One of the turning points that made him really understand and realize how he had helped so many people was when he and Kip were having dinner at a restaurant and two teenagers crossed their path.
...
“Have you decided what you're going to order?” the waiter asked after Scott and Kip had spent a few minutes looking at the menu.
The two had gone out to dinner at a restaurant, nothing fancy, just to enjoy each other's company somewhere different. To enjoy the fact that Scott no longer needed, or wanted, to hide.
It was so nice to be able to go out with Kip like this, to be able to have dinner with him, hold his hand, kiss him in public, and not have to worry about who might recognize him. Scott loved it. He loved Kip.
“Scott, take a discreet look, but there are two teenagers who haven't stopped staring at us since we sat down at this table,” Kip said, leaning in a little and whispering.
Scott tried to turn his face as discreetly as he could and saw two boys at a table a little further away from them who turned their faces away the second they noticed Scott's gaze.
“Maybe they're your fans?” Kip asked.
“Maybe, I don't know, teenagers scare me a little, I never know what to expect, maybe they were fans and after I came out they burned their T-shirts.” Scott replied doubtfully, turning again and seeing the boys whispering as they tried to look at them discreetly again.
“I hope not,” Kip said with a sad smile.
Scott smiled and took Kip's hand. “It's okay, maybe they're just fans who are surprised to see me. Let's enjoy our dinner.”
Kip smiled and nodded in agreement, and soon the waiter approached with their orders.
...
When they were a few blocks away from the restaurant, they heard their names being called and turned around to find the two teenagers running to catch up with Scott and Kip.
“Scott! Kip!” one of the boys exclaimed, stopping in front of them and bending over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
“Hey! I told you not to run so fast,” the other boy said as he approached, not as tired.
“What if we lost them? When else would we have this chance?” said the boy who had apparently caught his breath, and the other rolled his eyes but agreed with a small smile.
“Can we help you with anything?” Kip asked, making the two seem to realize they were in front of Scott and Kip.
“Oh yes, yes, sorry, can we take a picture with you? We're big fans, my name is Victor and his name is Jack,” said the boy who had run faster, pointing to himself and then to the other boy when he said their names.
“Oh, of course you can,” Scott said, smiling. So they really were fans, thank goodness.
The two took a photo with Scott and another with Scott and Kip, smiled at their phones when they saw the results, and thanked him for the photo. When Jack put his phone back in his backpack, Scott noticed a small hockey stick pin along with a rainbow flag. Maybe these teenagers had more in common with Scott than it seemed.
“Have you guys been into hockey for a long time?” Scott asked, curious about the two boys.
“Yes, for a long time,” Victor replied, his smile suddenly fading. "We both played on our school's hockey team and it was a lot of fun, but when we realized we liked each other and started dating, we decided it would be better to leave the team. We love hockey, but we didn't think it was a place that would want us there."
Scott felt his heart tighten when he heard that, and at the same time that Kip reached out to hold his hand, Jack did the same with Victor.
“The boys on our team and our coach didn't understand why we wanted to quit out of the blue, but we just said we didn't like playing anymore. We didn't want anyone to know we were dating, so we kept it a secret for about a year,” Jack said, but then a smile spread across his face. “But then you kissed Kip.”
“And we realized it wasn't just us,” Vitor continued. “Of course, we knew we weren't the only gay boys who played hockey, that was impossible, but no one ever talked about it, until you, Scott, and when we saw you kissing Kip, we thought that maybe hockey could be a place for us after all.”
"We decided to try to talk to the team to see if we could come back, and we were really afraid of their reaction, but we were lucky to have such a great team. They're our family. When we told them we had left the team because we were dating and were afraid of what they would think, they just hugged us and said it was okay. We know that not all hockey teams are that accepting, but we were lucky with ours," Jack added.
“Yeah, I was lucky too,” Scott said, remembering how the Admirals supported him.
“Now we're back playing on the team, and some other boys have also come out. We were never alone, we just needed the courage to find out, and you gave us that courage, Scott, so thank you very much,” said Vitor, extending his hand for a handshake, but Scott found himself pulling the boy into a hug. Soon after, he hugged Jack too.
“That's great, I'm so happy to know you have that support. Please don't give up hockey if it's something you really enjoy, this place is ours too,” Scott said, and the two boys agreed with smiles.
“Thank you so much, Scott. We'll let you two enjoy your date. Thank you, Kip, too. You guys are amazing,” Jack said, and the four said goodbye.
Scott watched them walk away and smiled at Kip as they turned and continued on their way to the apartment.
Scott held back tears as they walked, while he showered, while they got ready for bed, but everything fell apart when they were both lying in bed, Kip reading his book and Scott fiddling with his phone.
A notification indicating a tag pulled Scott away from the video he was watching, and when he clicked on it, he saw that it was an Instagram story posted by Jack. It was the photo that Jack and Vitor took with Scott and Kip. Written, along with the tagging of their profiles, was “look who we found today” with several heart emojis. Scott smiled and liked the story.
Scott wasn't much of a social media user, but after he started his relationship with Kip, he began using it even more, even learning the term “stalking,” which was what he started doing on Jack's profile.
He didn't have many posts, and scrolling down, he saw a black and white photo of a hockey stick with the caption “last game.” The photo was from a year ago and seemed to be from the moment the two boys decided to leave the team. The comments consisted of several questions about why Jack and Vitor suddenly stopped playing. There were no answers.
There were other photos, some with Victor, but they seemed to be just photos of two friends having fun. Scott scrolled up and saw a post with a photo of Scott and Kip kissing on the ice. Scrolling to the side, the other photo in the post was of Jack and Victor kissing, also on the ice, probably where they played hockey at their school.
Scott felt the tears come back with a vengeance and his heart warm.
The last post was a photo of their team. But not just any photo. They had had a “pride night” and in the photo all the boys had colored ribbons on their sticks and smiled happily at the camera. The caption read, “Hockey is for everyone, I'm happy to be part of this amazing team.”
Scott already felt the tears rolling down his face, but when he opened the comments, he started to cry for real.
@... best team in the world!!!
@... you and Vitor are the best couple!
@... I love you guys
@... that game was incredible
@... everyone say “thank you Scott”
Kip was startled when he heard a loud sob coming from Scott, and when he turned around, the man's face was covered in tears as he looked at his cell phone.
“My God, what's wrong, love?” Kip asked worriedly as he sat down and pulled Scott into a hug.
“I love you, Kip. Thank you for coming into my life.”
After Scott stopped crying, he would explain why, and it would be Kip who would start crying, but at the moment, Scott was only concerned with kissing Kip as his heart warmed at the realization that he really did have a lot of support and how things had changed.