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Will Smith was quiet, and Macklin Celebrini was the most talkative person you would have ever met. How the two became best friends was a mystery, but it just happened. Between practices, rooming together, and many good and bad games, a friendship bloomed between the two that was difficult to describe. They were just them. Will and Mack, Mack and Will. Smith and Celebrini.
But the problem was, Will wasn’t just quiet, he was silent. No one in the locker room, or even Macklin himself, had ever heard Will talk. Macklin had caught on pretty quickly when they were at rookie camp and he had strolled up to Will, his usual bubbly self, trying to strike up a conversation.
“Hi, I’m Macklin. Even though you probably already know that since we are rooming together and we played against each other in college, but it’s nice to meet you!”
Macklin was met with silence and Will’s stare. He noticed the slight tremble in his hands before Will grabbed his phone out of his pocket and typed something into the Notes app before turning it around. Just two words on the screen, but enough to speak volumes.
*Hi Macklin.*
Macklin wasn’t sure how to react, but he still smiled. The fact was, he wasn’t going to let anyone feel unwelcome. They were all going to be playing as rookies in San Jose in September.
After a particularly grueling training session, Macklin made it back to the hotel room where Will was already sitting on the bed, still sweaty in his practice top and shorts. He took out his phone again, and this time Macklin heard a mechanical voice echo out from the phone, clearly some type of text-to-speech.
“You can have the first shower if you want.”
When Macklin glanced at Will, he was nervously fidgeting, his leg bouncing up and down.
“You’ve been here all this time. I’m sure you feel disgusting, so go on. I don’t mind,” Macklin replied.
Will simply nodded before grabbing his stuff and heading to the bathroom. Macklin walked over to the other bed that was unoccupied by Will and dropped his stuff on it. He laid down and scrolled mindlessly on TikTok.
It was about twenty minutes later when he heard the shower switch off and the door click open. Macklin flicked his gaze up to where Will was walking out of the bathroom with a towel slung low on his hips. That’s when Macklin realized how attractive his teammate really was, with dirty blond hair now dripping from the shower and piercing blue eyes that looked haunted by something, like his brain never switched off.
His eyes dropped down to Will’s chest, carved out with abs and muscles only an athlete has. He finally realized he was staring and dragged his gaze away, looking back up at Will, who was already staring at him. Will just nodded toward the bathroom as if to say it was free, but there was a flush on his cheeks that hadn’t been there before.
Macklin’s shower was slightly quicker, but by the time he got out, Will had already switched off the light and was curled up in bed, breathing lightly. Macklin sighed as he dragged himself into his own bed, putting on his headphones with the white noise he could only sleep to because his life was always full of noise. He figured with Will Smith, it would be different though.
The weeks following training camp went quickly, but what everyone noticed was Will and Mack’s friendship blooming. It started with all the late nights they stayed up texting each other, then coming over to each other’s houses as they settled into San Jose. Will still did not speak, though, either using his notepad or text-to-speech to communicate with Mack. Sometimes they wouldn’t communicate at all and would just enjoy each other’s presence, sitting on the couch watching one of their movies.
It wasn’t long until their first NHL game came around the corner, Will picking Mack up like he always did, the team chirping them as they walked in together. Will looked unfazed, like always, cool and collected. But no one could deny the slight blush that would creep onto Macklin’s face every time someone mentioned him with Will.
While most didn’t understand their relationship because they couldn’t wrap their heads around yapper Macklin Celebrini hanging out with the silent rookie, their chemistry on the ice was just as great as it was off. They had their own special way of communicating, even with just a tap of the stick across the ice, but by halfway through their rookie season they could just read each other.
Macklin still felt guilty, though, that he couldn’t truly communicate with his best friend. That was until one day after a game when Macklin was waiting for Will, as he usually did. But when he walked around the corner, his heart jumped in his chest when he noticed Will signing to a deaf fan.
Macklin had no clue Will could sign, but seeing the smile on his face after he came back from the fan was something Mack wanted to do. Put that smile on his face. So over the next few weeks, he put himself to work, searching up and taking all the online classes on sign language he could until he could understand the basics. His signing wasn’t great, but he was able to understand a good bit.
So one day, while him and Will were eating breakfast at the kitchen table after one of their late-night movie marathons that ended with them sprawled asleep on the couch, he stood up and grabbed Will’s plate before tapping the table to get his attention. It didn’t feel right to talk in this moment, as he wanted to embrace the silence Will lived in constantly.
With a slight shake to his hands, he signed, *Was breakfast good?*
Will’s eyes filled with shock as he stared at Mack.
“I-I’m sorry,” Macklin rambled out. “That was probably insensitive and I...”
Will grabbed Macklin’s wrist gently before signing back.
*Yes. It was great. Thank you.*
Macklin guessed that “thank you” meant more than breakfast, but he didn’t say anything about that.
“Will, my signing isn’t great, and I can understand more than I can do it, but I’m going to try my best for you, okay?”
Will nodded back, his eyes slightly glossy.
And that’s how the next few weeks went. Macklin’s signing was never perfect, and they had their ups and downs, but he tried, and Will smiled more, and their connection only grew. It was clear to everyone how much these boys really cared for each other. Even if everyone didn’t truly understand, everywhere Mack was, Will was. Every team dinner or outing, you could find them huddled up in a corner, Macklin doing all the talking and Will signing back.
The team would give Will a tough time sometimes, but Macklin was always there. Especially after Will took a hit in a game and ended up being out for weeks and missing multiple games. Macklin had gotten into his first fight that game, letting his fists do the talking. Everyone could see how much Macklin Celebrini cared for Will Smith.
But sometimes Macklin thought he cared more than everyone knew. Even Will himself.
The truth came after a late-night conversation between the two, where Will finally decided to tell Macklin the truth about why he was so quiet.
“When I was younger, I had really bad social anxiety,” he signed. “But it wasn’t just that. Sometimes my voice sounded too loud, too much for my head. Everything already is too loud, and my own voice made everything worse, along with my anxiety and a lot of issues in high school with bullies. It’s just really difficult for me to talk. I feel like I’m constantly living in my own head. It’s just too much for me to handle.”
Macklin understood. He always did, just tugging Will into a hug.
“You’re amazing, you know that, right, Will? You’re so strong, and your bravery inspires me.”
He let his hands linger on Will for longer than what was friendly before pulling away. He couldn’t love his best friend like that, even when he had already fallen so hard it physically hurt his chest. Will would never see him as more than a friend, and that’s what he had to be for Will, his rock during all this and his protector when he couldn’t speak up.
It was after another win where Will had scored two goals, the locker room buzzing from its usual post-game energy. Macklin was sitting in the stall next to Will, who had his noise-canceling headphones in. No one questioned it at this point, even if no one knew the reason why. That was until today.
Supposedly, Nick Leddy, someone who had never really fit into the locker room, spoke up.
“Seriously, Smitty? You score two goals and just sit in the corner without celebrating? Like, is there something wrong with him?”
The locker room went silent.
Will still heard it. His brain was programmed to pick up every little sound, so unfortunately he had heard the chirp, even if he tried to tell himself it was just normal locker room banter. Macklin noticed the way Will’s hands tightened around his skate laces he was untying.
“See? He’s still ignoring us.”
“Weirdo,” Nick grumbled under his breath, but still loud enough to be heard across the silent locker room.
It was like a switch had flipped in Macklin as he stormed across the locker room, grabbing Leddy by his collar and slamming him against the lockers.
“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but keep your mouth shut about Will. He never did shit to you, you jealous prick.”
He pushed him back against the lockers again before Toffoli pulled Macklin back.
“Alright, Mack, c’mon. He’s not worth it,” Toff pleaded before dragging Mack back to his cubby.
The locker room went back to being chatty, but it never felt normal again. People were more careful now. Macklin just gathered his stuff and stomped out the door, Will trailing behind him. Reading Mack’s body language, Will grabbed his hand once they got into the car and started caressing his thumb against Mack’s palm. Macklin could feel the tension finally leaving his shoulders.
They had a quiet evening, lacking Mack’s usually talkative self, him only signing if he really needed to communicate. Him and Will decided to go to sleep early. Today, Mack just slipped into Will’s bed. It wasn’t unusual for the two to nap together or sometimes fall asleep in the same bed after staying up too late, but today Macklin just needed the comfort.
After only a year of knowing Will, he felt like he had known him for a lifetime, especially knowing nights were when it was the worst for Will, when his mind would get too loud and hurtful for him.
They hadn’t been lying in bed for long when Will tugged Macklin toward him and buried his head in Macklin’s shoulder. It was only then that Macklin realized Will was crying silently, tears soaking through Mack’s shirt. Macklin immediately flicked on the bedside lamp before whispering,
“Will, baby, what’s wrong?”
Will glanced up at Macklin, his eyes still red-rimmed and glossy, but there was something else in them. Something that looked oddly like realization.
That’s when Will tugged Macklin toward him and crashed their mouths together, kissing him for the first time, but not the first time he had thought about it.
Macklin groaned into Will’s mouth, pushing past his lips and tangling their tongues together. Will tasted like the minty toothpaste he always used and kissed like how he did everything in life, calmly and softly. It wasn’t heated, just full of pure desire and...
“I love you,” Will whispered breathlessly against Mack’s mouth.
Macklin’s eyes widened for just a second before he whispered back, “Fuck, I love you too, Will. So much.”
Maybe they were silent, but their love for each other was the loudest thing they had ever felt.