Chapter Text
The penalty box was never where you wanted to start a game out. Sitting in the sin-bin 2 minutes into the first period was a one way ticket to sore muscles and an hour in Coach Dennis’s office getting chewed out for punching a guy into next Tuesday. But what else was he supposed to do? Just sit there and let that fucking biggot lean across from him on the faceoff circle and call him a faggot?
No thank you. Brandon thought as he sat there counting the seconds til he could open the doors of that clear glass box and skate his way back out onto the ice. When his 4 minutes were up he made his way back to Detroit’s bench and braced himself for the onslaught of ridicule he’d be receiving from his teammates and coaching staff. He was only a first year rookie after all, punching that center for using a slur at him probably cost him a whole lot more than 4 minutes.
“Hey Brandy, great hit man, what a way to open the game.” Brandon's thoughts were interrupted by his right wing linemate, Zachary Levett. Zach was one hell of a forward, probably the best Brandon had ever played with. He had a tendency to support any bad decision Brandon made on the ice and in their day to day lives. He was definitely a terrible influence.
“Thanks but I probably shouldn't have done that, Coach is gonna have my ass at practice on Tuesday.” he said.
“No way man, I’m sure whatever that guy said deserved the punch” replied Zach.
Brandon nodded in response. He also knew that if Zach knew who Brandon hooked up with in his spare time he’d probably call him a faggot or cocksucker too. He never considered himself gay, he liked sleeping with women too, really he liked sleeping with anyone who was willing. He was not ashamed of this fact but he knew keeping it a secret at least from his teammates and coaches was easiest for his career to continue.
“Come out with the guys and I tonight” Zach suggested.
“I don't know man…”
But he persisted, “You have to bro, we are only in Chicago, like twice this season, and I know it's one of your favorite road cities.”
He was correct, Brandon absolutely loved the night life in Chicago, he just didn't want to go out with the team. They tended to gravitate more towards angry and hostile, not fun and giggly when drunk, as you could imagine the bouncers were not fans of 10-12 bulky, drunk hockey players, being rowdy and, usually harassing women.
Brandon sighed and shifted on the bench, usually he’d be all for it but his sister despite hating hockey, had decided to come watch tonight and he had been missing her like crazy lately.
Coach leaned over to him and said “If I put you back in, you better not lose your fucking shit for no reason, you hear me”
“Loud and clear sir” Brandon turned to Zach as he rose and told him “My sister came to the game tonight so I’m gonna meet up with her after anyway”
They hopped the boards for the line change and Zach flashed him a smile “No worries man!” he said as they dispersed. This was gonna be fun.
*****
The win was celebrated heavily in the Detroit locker room as was any other, but tonight felt more charged for some inexplicable reason.
“What’s your plan tonight Brandy?” Harv nudged him from the adjacent cubby. Harvey Murdock was only three draft years ahead of him but that did not show. He looked about as old as a cherub and stood at about 5’ 10”. He was an absolute menace on the ice. The first line center for the Detroit Otters also had the top scoring average in the league. It really was no surprise the team held him in high regard.
“I was gonna get a bite with my sister.” answered Brandon. Brandon considered Harv his best friend, yes he was pretty close to Zach, but Harv knew deeper secrets than Zach did.
“Awe, Steph showed up! That's awesome man, I know how much she hates these things.”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen her in a few months. I’m kind of excited.” Brandon said.
“As you should be, I would be stoked to see my mom at one of these lame things.” Harv chuckled. “She hates hockey so much, but I think she likes it because I like it too.”
“Zacko! Catch!” shouted someone on the other side of the room, as the most foul smelling pair of socks came flying across the room in the two men's direction. Brandon barely had time to duck before the socks shot right over his head and landed right in Zach's cubby. It had been about 10 minutes since they walked off the ice and most guys had already showered and were actively getting dressed. But Zach was staring at his phone still in his gear, with an unreadable expression on his face.
“Are you all good Zach?” Brandon asked sincerely.
Zach snapped out of his stupor and said “Um… Yeah man sorry.” and stood up to take his gear off.
Brandon’s brows drew together in concern, he was unconvinced. That easy way Zach carried himself usually had melted away into this hard outer shell. It didn't seem right to him.
After Zach left to shower he leaned over to Harv and said “Keep an eye on him tonight, call me if anything happens.”
“Definately, what do you think happened?” Harv inquired.
Brandon sighed and said “Who knows, but just make sure he lays off the hard stuff alright, that shit never ends well.” All Brandon could do was sit and wait for the call because inevitably he would be getting one. He knew Zach's brother was a fucking leech. The guy could not hold a job for the life of him. Their parents were not exactly in the financial situation to help out either. So Zach was pretty much using his paychecks to pay for their lives, while they gave him nothing in return. Zach had unloaded all of this on him while drunk one night at Brandon's apartment. Brandon never told another soul this information. It was not his business to tell.
As soon as he was fully dressed and said his goodbyes, Brandon went to find his sister. And as he expected when he walked out to the parking lot, he saw Stephanie leaning up against her old beat up jeep in a pair of sunglasses and a nice pair of bootcut jeans. As soon as they locked eyes a warm smile spread across her face. He really hadn’t seen his twin in four months. He missed her like crazy. Brandon all but sprinted across the parking lot and embraced her.
“Oomf” she exhaled as they hugged, “I missed you too.”
He pulled back to look at her face, she wore the same exhausted expression she always had but with more piercings than the last time he saw her.
“I love the septum. It looks edgy.” he complimented.
“Thanks,” she reached up and touched it. “Mom was a little less than thrilled when she saw it”
Steph said in a tone very much mocking their mother “‘Who is going to hire you as a lawyer with that thing in your nose’”
Brandon laughed and added “Well you know no one wants to hire someone with scary tattoos.”
They both giggled in unison. Madison Wiebe was quite an opinionated woman when she wanted to be.
“Okay, I’m starving, where are we planning on eating?” said Brandon.
*****
After they had ordered from the food truck his sister heavily recommended, they sat on two park benches and chatted about mundane things.
“So hows, Jess, was it?” Brandon inquires.
“Jen, so close buddy, but no that lasted about three weeks and she told me she was ‘straight’” Steph emphasises with air quotes. “When she told me that I said, ‘Yeah and I’m a pro at sucking dick, are we both gonna keep making shit up?’”
Brandon winced “Probably not the best thing to say”
“No, definitely, she slapped me and stormed out, I think she blocked me. I haven't heard from her since.” She shrugged, “I kept the cat though.” Steph always had a way of shrugging gigantic shit off like it was no big deal, water off a loon's back. She was probably the most sincerely unaffected person he had ever met. When he came out to her she said “Yeah, what's the big deal? I like women. Pass me the salad.” and that was the end of the conversation.
Brandon felt his phone buzz with a text on the bench next to him, he sighed and looked down at it. He decided if it was urgent enough Harv would call.
Steph and him sat and ate and talked for the next 45 minutes with the periodical buzz from his phone that he pointedly ignored. Then the inevitable call came through. Harv seemed a little out of breath. There was so much noise in the background that Brandon could only hear a few words.
“Brandy, he’s not looking too good bro, he started a fight with Cooper. His chest sank at that. Brandon hated Bruce Cooper with his whole chest. The guy was a racist homophobic asshole, but he was on their team so he had to be tolerated at the very least.
“Okay man get him back to the room and make sure he keeps his damn mouth shut til I get there.” he hung up and looked at Steph.
“Let me guess, Zach?” she said with a knowing look.
“I…”
“Dont defend yourself, he’s one of your best friends. I need to get up for class in the morning anyway.”
“I love you, text me when you get home so I know you're safe.” Brandon said as they hugged.
“I will, your hotel is like a block away so get to jogging.” He turned on his heels and started jogging toward the hotel.
Thankfully he arrived in the lobby at the same time Harv and Zach did. Harv was holding Zach up by the armpits, and shushing him violently. Zach kept mumbling undecipherable things under his breath. As Brandon approached he could smell the liquor and noticed a split above his eyebrow that was still relatively fresh.
“What happened to ‘Keep an eye on him’’ Harv, jesus, he looks like his wife left him last night and took the kids.” Zach giggled.
“You're cute,” he slurred.
Brandon's heart squeezed a little at that.
“I don’t know bro,” Harv defended, his green eyes going wide, “I went to get water for tweedle dumbass over here and when I came back, Cooper and him were swinging on each other. It was af fucking madhouse man. I barely got him out before the bouncers came over.”
“Coopers, a jackass, I’ll take him back to the room, thanks for calling Harv.”
Zach mumbled something under his breath that sounded like “Brandy shoulda punched him"
“Alright, you are drunk off your ass.” He took Zach from Harv and wished him a good night. He corralled him over to the elevators and hit the up button.
Zach's head found his shoulder and nestled in, Brandon purposefully ignored the same squeeze in his chest he had felt moments earlier as they stepped in the elevator and pressed the 4.
He reached his hand over and smooshed Brandon’s face between his index finger and thumb, making mushy sounds in the process. This was definitely getting into unusual drunken behavior from Zach. They both needed to lay down and go to bed. Zach was still mumbling unintelligibly but was being quiet so Brandon let him as they got to their room. He set Zach down on the bed and got him a bottle of water from the mini fridge.
“Drink this, slowly,” when he tried to guzzle it.
“You are so nice to me Brandy, you are way nicer than my brother was to me.” Brandon blinked down at him. What did he mean?
“He was so mean to me when we were younger, he used to kick me, when I was sleeping, and then laugh when I woke up crying.” Zach looked up at Brandon with a dopey smile on his face, like this was a treasured childhood memory and not a tortured abuse story at all.
It must have shown on Brandon's face because then Zach said “What, what did I say?”
“Nothing bud, you just need to lie down and go to sleep, okay?” Brandon said. They both settled into opposite beds, and Zach mumbled “I wish you’d sleep with me, instead of all those random guys you bring to your apartment Brandy.” Brandon shot up in bed and whipped his head over to look at Zach.
“What did you say?” he said but Zach was already fast asleep.