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When Michael stepped out into the driveway of the Toffoli household, what he didn’t expect to see was his teammate and ride to the rink, Sam Dickinson.
Well, actually he did expect to see him, considering he was his ride to the rink.He just didn’t expect to see him looking like…this.
What is ‘this’ you may ask?
Bald.
Those gorgeous dark brown waves that fall perfectly in the way of his eyes, that Michael had daydreamed about running his hands through and pulling on as Sam swallowed his dick, gone.
Ok he wasn’t completely bald, not like ‘head so shiny I can see my future in it’ bald. Just a buzz cut. The kind of bald that just left enough hair for one’s head shape to be up to the imagination, but not quite enough to be of any calibre of grabbing material.
And Michael was having an internal breakdown about it.
You see, no one could deny that Sam had been blessed with perfect hair genes, but Michael was worse than the average person. Since the first time he saw Sam take his bucket off in the OHL and loosely shake his hair loose before running a hand through it, Michael had been crazy about the dark locks that once adorned his teammate’s head.
He must’ve stared for longer than he thought, because Sam’s voice rung through the rushing voices in his head.
”You like it, Mike?” He asked sounding amused, but Michael couldn’t really form a coherent response. Man, this was really damaging him more than it should be.
”Yeah..?” It cam out more like a question than a statement, but Sam seemed content.
”Buzz cut’s are like everything right now, thought I should jump on the trend, eh? I quite like it, might buzz it again when it grows out.” He said admiring his…bald…head in the car window.
Michael had to physically restrain himself from yelling ‘No!’ in his teammate’s face. Instead he just nodded and made a noise of somewhat agreement while opening his door and sliding into the car seat.
This was going to be a struggle.
———
It was actually so much worse than Michael thought it would be.
He still hadn’t gotten used to it by the time it was midday, and every time he saw Sam without his helmet or a hat, it felt like he would physically jump out of his skin in shock.
No one else in the team seemed to care as much as him.
Well, no one else in the team was knee deep into a teenage girl style crush on their teammate. Except maybe Will and Mack. But not the right teammate, not the one who just brutally executed his best physical feature.
It only got worse as the day went on, Michael took a nap in the afternoon to regenerate before the match that evening, and he had literally dreamt of the feeling of Sam’s soft hair flowing through his fingers as they kissed on centre ice.
Yeah. Cringey as fuck. He knows. But what goes on in his head is for himself and himself only. And anyway, it was only a dream, it’s not like he actively imagined that happening…
Michael’s for you page was infected too, edits made by fans mourning the loss of Sam’s hair as well, each picture and filter that flashed in front of him to some Mitski song sending another flash of pain into his heart.
He liked them all on his burner account and saved them to a new collection appropriately titled “my dead wife” with said dead wife being Sam’s hair. Obviously.
It actually got so bad that Sam himself asked Michael if he was ok because he had been “looking like Eky when he doesn’t have Swedish candy on hand” in the exact words of the culprit of his mood change.
———
You —> William Eklund
You
what do you do to survive when you
don’t have Swedish candy with you?
William
what
i usually have Swedish candy w me bro
are you trying to warn me
is this a threat
You
what? no??
but like when there’s the rare occasion that you
don’t have any, what do you do?
William
buy Swedish candy.
You
what if you can’t buy any
William
why are you hate criming me bro
what did i do to you
You
nothing
ok wait
so imagine you had your Swedish candy, and
then someone brutally rips it out of your hands
and throws it into a fire
William
uhh
You
but the catch is, it’s the last Swedish candy in the world
because of a shortage and you can’t get anymore for
at least 4 months
what would u do
William
damn bro idk
probably slap the dude who took it
and then eat other candy and imagine it’s Swedish
candy
You
ok thanks bro
cya
William
np
———
Michael tried to follow Eky’s advice as well as he could. He wasn’t going to go and slap Sam of course, and the advice was made about candy, but he could still adapt it somewhat to fit his situation.
Whenever he saw Sam he tried to imagine him still with his long hair instead of his buzz cut, even though it was difficult to do so, it helped a little bit.
He also pretended sometimes when it got really bad that his own hair was Sam’s as he carded his fingers through it. He often did both at the same time, instinctively running a hand through his own hair while talking to and looking at Sam.
Call him Quinn Hughes with how he was hallucinating the ghost of his teammate’s hair all the time.
He also remembered that it wasn’t permanent, and that eventually Sam’s hair would grow back even if it took a while, as long as Michael prevented him from shaving it all off again.
When he was sitting on the couch of the Toffoli household with Cat and Toff, Cat spoke up questioning whether Michael was ok, just as Sam had done a couple of days prior.
He wasn’t properly focusing, so almost revealed himself when he replied “Yeah, just missing it” to Cat.
She looked at him confused and asked what “it” was, and thankfully he came up with the reasonable answer of home, blaming it on missing his family and friends a bit. Cat comforted him accordingly before changing the subject to what she validly thought was better but in reality it was exactly what Michael didn’t want to talk about.
”How’s Sam? We haven’t had him over in a while?” She asked Michael, knowing that they were probably each other’s closest friends on the team.
”Oh, yeah he’s fine. Buzzed his hair a little while ago.” He replied probably sounding a little too strained for the context of the conversation.
”Yeah the kid’s are all buzzing their hair these days. I actually quite like it.” Toff chipped in, Michael silently prayed that the older man wouldn’t directly say that to Sam and inspire him to repeat his actions once it had grown out.
Was he seriously the only one who really didn’t like this buzz cut trend?!
”We should invite him over again, maybe for dinner tomorrow. I feel like I haven’t seen that boy in ages.” Cat said, muttering that last part almost to herself. Tyler nodded, agreeing to ask Sam at practice the next day.
———
Unsurprisingly, Sam had gladly accepted the offer, and would be coming over that evening.
By the time the doorbell sounded, Michael felt as though he had not had anywhere near enough time to prepare himself. But he had to go out there and try his hardest to not look like a kicked puppy.
The actual dinner went fine, Sam was sitting next to Michael which meant he didn’t really have to look at him much throughout the meal.
The same applied to when they were huddled around the coffee table playing card and board games, laughing at the natural competitive natures of the three men which came from their years of hockey.
As they were beginning to wrap up, Cat checked the time and looked out the window before turning towards Sam with a concerned look adorning her face.
”Are you sure you want to drive home, Sam? It’s absolutely bucketing out there and it’s already well past midnight. You can stay here for the night if you’d like?” She offered.
”Thanks, Cat. But I really wouldn’t want to bother you to set up the other guest room for me.” He replied, but Michael’s silent celebrations were short lived.
”Oh nonsense, it’s really no problem. But if you are really worried about it I’m sure Michael would be happy to share with you.”
Michael agreed, feeling obliged to. Not that he didn’t want to share a room and bed with Sam, in fact he would really like that, it was just that he couldn’t trust himself not to say something stupid.
Unfortunately, he was now stuck with that risk as Sam leaned over while wrapping an arm around him, and said “Thanks, Mikey” in an overly sweet, joking tone.
Within a few minutes they had all packed up their stuff, said goodnight and headed off to their different parts of the house, Sam and Michael towards the back door to the guesthouse, and Cat and Toff to their room.
Michael knew he was being slightly distanced once the two of them were alone, hoping Sam would just blame it on tiredness, but of course he didn’t.
”Ok seriously, Mike. What’s wrong? You’ve been acting so different and weird lately. Is it something I did or said?” Michael felt his heart crack slightly, his best friend sounded so hurt, because of him.
”It’s nothing.” He just said in response.
”Oh come on.” Sam said slightly frustrated now, “I know it’s not nothing. You’re acting like I took something from you without knowing it.”
”You kind of did.” He muttered before he could stop himself, eyes going slightly wide as he realised what he just said.
”What? I did?” When Michael didn’t say anything Sam pushed further, “What did I do?”
”Nothing, it’s stupid.”
”No, it can’t be stupid. Come on, I can’t fix it if I don’t know why it is.” You can’t fix it even if you do know what it is Michael thought, but sighed and responded anyway.
”Fine! It’s your hair. It was so perfect with how it was longer in the back and fell in gorgeous waves over your forehead, and it looked so soft and I just wanted to run my hands through it and admire it all day, but no! You shaved it all off before I got the chance to!”
Sam didn’t respond so he kept going.
”But it’s stupid, because it’s your hair and you can choose what you want to do with it, but also please please just let it grow out again because it looked so much better and honestly I miss it so much that it’s actually almost unbelievable.”
He finally looked up, right into the eyes of his friend. After what felt like forever, Sam huffed out a relieved sigh and suddenly pulled Michael into a crushing hug which was gladly accepted by the younger man.
”Oh thank god.” He chuckled into Michael’s shoulder before pulling away and looking at him again. “I was so scared that I had done something to hurt you and ruined our friendship. I’m sorry, Mikey.”
”No! Don’t apologise, I’m the one who should be sorry I overreacted and shouldn’t have treated you like that.” He said sheepishly.
”Ok, enough apologies for one night, let’s get into bed, hey?” Michael nodded I’m agreement before heading over to his side of the bed and sliding under the covers, shuffling over to meet Sam in the middle, who immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
”Look, I know I said that I overreacted, but seriously, please just let your hair grow out and don’t buzz it again. It looks so much better, and trust me it’ll bring in all the ladies.” Michael insisted.
”Alright, I’ll believe you on that one. But why would I need to attract the ladies when I’ve already got you right next to me in bed?” He said pressing a kiss into Michael’s hair where the other man laid his head on his shoulder.
Michael giggled at that, shifting his head more onto Sam’s chest as he pushed deeper into the contact.
”Hm, I agree with that.” He responded before the light was switched off and they both settled into sleep.
———
Anyway, soon enough Sam’s hair had grown back to it’s original length and Michael finally got the chance to run his hands through his now boyfriend’s dark brown waves.
Yeah, this was turning out to be pretty good after all.
Except for the fact that Eky was still scared that Michael was gonna steal his Swedish candy. But whatever. He’ll deal with that another time.