Status: On Hiatus

I'll Be Right Beside You

One

The entire locker room went dead silent. I saw Cam’s eyes begin to water as most of the guys just stared at her, none of them saying a single word.

“You’re kidding, right?” TK asked, and suddenly cracked a huge grin.

“You’re hilarious Cam; you totally got us!” he added, and a bunch of the guys laughed awkwardly, but it died down soon as they realized Cam wasn’t joining in.

“Right?” Tyler asked, quieter this time, and Cam shook her head.

“No, I’m so sorry – I never wanted to have to lie to you guys…”

“But you did. You’re part of our team Cam, part of that’s trust,” Neal spoke up, and I felt dread in my stomach as Pascal, Brooks, Paul and Matty all nodded.

“Would I have even been a part of this team if I’d told the truth?” she asked, her voice a little louder, and it silenced Neal.

“I can’t believe… you ‘ave kept this from us all this time?” Marc’s voice was quiet with disbelief, and I saw Pascal, Brooks, Sid and Geno’s expressions all soften when they saw Cam fighting tears.

“I know Marc, believe me, I felt awful about it… you guys are the closest thing I’ve ever had to family as a team,” she admitted, and without a second thought Geno got up and engulfed her in a hug.

“Team is supposed to be family, whether boy or girl,” he assured her, and a few tears escaped and slid down her cheeks as she hugged him back. I’d really thought Sid or Marc would’ve been the first one to kind of get over it, but Geno’s just… well Geno.

“You still could’ve told us,” Craig pointed out, and before I could Dan stepped in.

“Craig, if your little girl wanted nothing more than to play hockey in the NHL, and the only reason she couldn’t was because she was a girl, would you not have let her do the same thing?” he asked, and the father’s in the room all stared at their feet. That was a better argument than I would’ve came up with.

“I… I guess,” he allowed, but cleared his throat to continue. “But I would have had her tell her team once she’d kind of made herself a spot there, you know?”

“I didn’t think I’d made a spot here until the end of the season Craig – there’s so many guys who are bigger and stronger than me who could easily replace me on the team,”

“That’s not true,” Sid was the one to speak up this time, and the whole room looked to him as he finally made eye contact with Cam.

“Yeah it is,” she whispered, but he shook his head, and stood up to go and put a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to keep eye contact with him.

“No, it’s not. You came in here and found a place the first practice – you and Staalsy were amazing together, you could score, you could fight for the puck, and you loved being part of this. You fought to be on this team, and I’m pretty sure I speak for all of us when I say we respected you as a hockey player pretty much from the get-go,” most of the team nodded in agreement here, even though most of them still looked apprehensive.

“You could’ve told us then. It might’ve taken us a few days to get over it, but we would have. Now… now it feels like any kind of relationship we’d had with you is falsified, you know?”

“I know, and I really don’t expect you guys to just forgive me. Hell, I haven’t forgiven myself for doing it either. I’ve never gotten close with anybody on any of my teams before you guys – they always made a point of making me feel like I didn’t belong, so I didn’t try to. Here, with you guys, it was different. It didn’t matter that I was smaller, or that I didn’t really check, or whatever. I didn’t expect that, and I just want you to know that anything I ever told you was true – the only thing I ever lied about was being a guy. That and dating Becka I guess, but that wasn’t even my idea. She thought it would help you guys from thinking I was gay and singling me out on the team, like what had happened in a few other places. But everything else I’ve ever said was me,” she explained, the tears flowing freely. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her, kiss her cheeks and tell her everything would be all right. But I was sure the fact that she was a girl was too much to handle for the guys right now, without adding the fact that I’d known for a while and was dating her.

“I understand where you are coming from,” Kris said, and Dan gave him a warm smile as he continued.

“It is your life, non? Your dream, and you did what you ‘ad to so you could get t’ere. We probably all would ‘ave liked to know, oui, but I understand your appre’ension mon ami,” he told her with a small smile, and I sent up a small prayer that at least a few of the guys were going to be okay with this. Some of the others might take a while to come around, but it would be easier with more guys accepting it.

“Thanks Kris,” she managed a smile for him, and he returned it. Matty looked like he was struggling internally, an odd expression on his face as he stared at the floor in the middle of the room. James still looked wary, and Pascal still looked upset at the whole idea.

“I want you guys to know that, regardless of this news, the organization has re-signed Cam to a four year deal,” Dan cleared his throat and started talking. Sid sat down on Cam’s other side, Geno’s arm still draped protectively over Cam’s shoulders. Sid, Geno, Kris and TK all nodded, TK even cracking a smile at her, but the rest of the room was still fairly quiet.

“I know this is a lot to take in – we were just as surprised, trust me. That’s why Cam waited so long to sign a contract – she wanted us to know what we were getting into before we committed to her on the team. But she is part of this team – as you said. Whether she’s a boy or a girl shouldn’t change that – she still plays the same kind of hockey, she’s still just as talented, and if any of you are treating her any differently on the ice you’ll be having a chat with Ray and I. The whole league is going to find out in a press-conference before pre-season starts. I hope you realize that Cam put herself out there by telling you guys first, rather than letting you know when everybody else found out. She told us she wanted to do that because she respected you enough to not blindside you with it in public,” Dan said, making eye contact with everybody in the room, making sure they all understood what Cam had just done. I was glad he was behind her in this decision, because it would have been hell if she’d only had Steve and I.

“It means a lot Cam, that you’d tell us before you everybody else, it really does. It’s just still… a lot to handle,” TK told her, and she nodded.

“I know, I understand. And please don’t feel obligated to act any particular way around me – if you’re upset or mad at me you don’t have to pretend everything’s fine, you have more than every right to be angry with me,” she said, and I stiffened. She didn’t need to make this any harder on herself than she already was.

“But that doesn’t give anybody the right to be an ass about it,” I added, and unintentionally turned the attention in the room to myself. I took a deep breath, because I wasn’t used to being the guy everybody looked to in the locker room.

“Yeah, she didn’t tell us the straight up truth. But she did it because she’s passionate about what she does and she’s determined. Those are things we want in a player, right? We want somebody who’ll do anything for their team, and to do the best they can, and that’s what she did. Sure, you can be hurt or angry that she wasn’t straight up with us from the very start, but don’t be a douche because it was just as hard for her to lie as it is for us to get over being lied to,” I finished, and a few of the guys nodded, happy with my statement. I was glad I hadn’t totally mangled what I wanted to tell them either, as I’d found myself prone to doing when I got nervous.

“That’s all we had to talk to you guys about today. Go home, think on it, and I want you guys back here Thursday ready for practice,” Dan said, and with that left the locker room. A few of the guys shuffled out immediately, but Cam sat frozen where she was. I didn’t want to go to her with everybody in the locker room, so I pretended to inspect my hockey stick as the guys left. Quite a few of the guys – more than I’d expected, anyway – gave Cam a pat on the shoulder or some other form of acknowledgement, which I knew she was grateful for. Steve gave her a long hug, and had a quick conversation with her. Undoubtedly he was telling her that there was always a place for her at his home, and I wouldn’t put it past him to invite her over for dinner tonight either.

It wasn’t long before only Sid, Geno, Cam and I were left, and only then did she run over to me and let me wrap my arms around her and pull her in.

“You’re okay Cam, it’s okay,” I murmured, and then looked over to see Sid and Geno’s jaws both nearly on the floor.

“I’ll explain later,” I mouthed to them. Geno nodded, but Sid still looked like he’s just seen something ridiculous. They both stayed in the locker room until I had Cam mostly calmed down.
“You and Cam date?” Geno asked, being his usual blunt self. I nodded, and was sure Sid’s eyes were ready to pop right out of his skull.

“What?”

“We’ve been together since January,” I told them, and winced when I was sure my Captain was going to pass out.

“And you just KEPT THIS FROM US?” he demanded. I found it funny that he reacted more to the fact I’d hidden my girlfriend from him than the fact Cam was a girl, but I knew now wasn’t the time to bring it up.

“Well it’s not like I could tell you when you all thought Cam was a guy,” I rolled my eyes, making Geno snort.

“Cam, you good for Gronk. Keep him in line,” he gave her a wink, which got a giggle out of her. God, what I wouldn’t do to keep a smile on her pretty face.

“She does,” I agreed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“Sid, you understand, don’t you? We couldn’t ignore what we were feeling, but it’s not the right time for the whole world to know. Not with the stereotype of a woman playing on a men’s team. This needs to blow over first,” I pleaded, and he nodded.

“Yeah, I get it. But we all know Cam got here on pure talent, not because you two are together,” he argued.

“But while it might be obvious nobody will care. They’ll all say I slept my way onto the team. They’ll probably say that anyway,” she quietly informed him, and I nodded, hugging her tighter to my side.

“Hurt them then; make them see the truth,” Geno decided, making her smile again. It was nice to have two of my close friends finally know, because they’d all noticed a change in my behavior and attitude.

“Thanks Geno,” she replied, a giggle in her voice. I smiled down at her, before looking to my two friends. I had no words to express my gratitude towards the tall Russian – he’d taken it all in stride, and I had a feeling Cam would be able to lean on him if she had to as well, similarly to Steve.

“I just… that one’s gonna take a while to sink in,” Sid finally told us, and I nodded.

“Yeah, I get it, but please, don’t tell anybody? We’ll tell all of the guys on our own terms,” I said, and they nodded. Geno got up, and after giving her another hug left. Sid was almost out the door before he whipped around.

“Wait a minute… did Becka know about you two?” he asked, and Cam nodded.

“Of course she did – but I made her promise not to tell Sid. Please don’t be mad at her – we’ve been best friends since we were little, we’re practically sisters. We’d do anything for each other. So please don’t get upset with her because I made her promise to keep my secret,” Cam pleaded, and after a moment Sid nodded.

“That’s actually really nice of her – I mean, to not tell anybody,”

“She’s always been like that – I’d easily trust her with my life,” Cam agreed, and Sid just shrugged.

“I know what you mean Cam. I’ve gotta respect that – not many people would be able to do that, even for their best friend,” he told her, and she relaxed some more as he said goodbye and left the rink.

“Well, let’s go get some sleep, okay?” I asked, noticing how exhausted she looked. Cam nodded, curling into my side as we left CONSOL together.
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So... HERE IS THE START! :D

I really couldn't wait to post this - I have missed this story soo much it's not even funny; this is definitely my all-time favorite story to write!

So I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know what you think!!!