marLIES

Mike Kostka skated along the boards, doing laps around the ice of the Ricoh Coliseum with the rest of the team. He let out a long sigh as he slowed down to watch Ben Scrivens, his secret love.

"KOSTKA! PICK IT THE FUCK UP!" The Marlies Coach, Dallas Eakins beamed from the other side of the ice. "Fucking queerbag." Dally said under his breath.

Mike picked up his pace and skated his heart out. He hated when Dallas yelled at him. He already had confidence issues and being yelled out didn't help it. It was true though, Mike was queer. He liked men. Well he liked a man. That man's name was Ben Scrivens. No one knew about his love, hell, no one even knew he was gay.

The whole team speculated that Mike was gay, though. It was pretty obvious that he was. No matter what Mike tried to do to hid it, his gayness still showed. Mike thought that the whole reason that the Marlies were in the You Can Play video was because of him. But really the team was in it because of the ultimate couple, Screims. Screims was the the power couple of the hockey world. Everyone shipped Ben Scrivens, and the Leafs' goaltender, James Reimer. They were everyone OTP. Mike didn't believe in Screims, though. He was so naive. He thought that Screims was a marketing scheme.

It wasn't just the team that thought Mike was gay. The fans did, too. Often curious fans would kindly ask him through twitter if he was gay, but Mike would start to cry and block them. He would cry for hours on end, and even he didn't know why. He would then call himself a baby and start crying even more. Mike is very emotional.

Mike practiced passing and shooting on the empty net when practice neared the end. He groaned every time he missed the net. Ben skated over to Mike and watched him take frustrated shots. Ben laughed at Mike.

"Hey man, need some help?" Ben offered as he skated over to the empty net.

"Sure." Mike mumbled to himself. By then all of the players had left the ice and Mike and Ben were the only two left.

"Ok, I'm going to call out an area, and I want you to try and hit it, ok?" Ben told Mike.

"Ok." Mike replied. Ben proceeded to call out various spots on the net and Mike began shooting at them. They stayed there for about an hour doing various routines that benefited both Mike and Ben.

“Let's do one quick lap before we finish.” Ben suggested once they finished. He took a few strides before he turned back to look at Mike who was standing there watching him. “C'mon!” Ben said smiling. Mike smiled back at Ben and skated towards him. He was finally getting to spend time alone with Ben, and he was loving it.

Mike and Ben skated at a slow, smooth pace together for a couple minutes. They talked and talked about nothing really but Mike didn't care. As long as he was with Ben. That's all that mattered.

As they rounded the corner coming back to the bench Mike sighed. He knew that his fun was coming to an end. All he wanted in life was to spend time with Ben, be around Ben, and most of all, be with Ben.

They reached the bench and Ben opened the gate and let Mike through first. Ben shut the door behind himself and followed Mike into the dressing room. There they changed and got dressed in their suits. Mike glanced at Ben and his breath was taken away. Ben looked so handsome in his suit. He was stunning. Ben's blue tie matched his bright blue eyes. Mike couldn't take his eyes off of Ben. Ben finished buttoning up his suit and looked over at Mike. Their eyes locked for a few seconds before Mike looked away, embarrassed.

Ben shuffled over to Mike and put his hand on his shoulder. Mike turned to look at Ben. Ben smiled at Mike and said, “Thanks for staying late with me, I appreciate it.”

“No problem.” Mike said, giving Ben a weak smile. Ben smiled back and started to walk away. Mike looked down at his feet and took in a deep breathe. “Ben, wait.”

Ben stopped walking and turned back to Mike. “Yea?”

“Wanna have dinner tonight?” Mike asked softly.

Ben clenched his teeth. “Sorry Mike, I'd love to, but I already have plans for dinner tonight with James.”

“Oh, ok.” Mike said trying not to seem too disappointed. “Well, see you later.”

“See ya, Mike!” Ben said heading out the door.

“Damn...” Mike said under his breath as he hung his head down.