Teamwork

Julia doesn't see them for over a month.

Getting ready for midterms, having the Thanksgiving holiday, and then actually going through midterms has kept her more than busy and by the time school lets out for Christmas break on the nineteenth, she's absolutely exhausted, wanting nothing more than to go home and sleep for the next three days straight. Melissa is already home from work when Julia gets back to the apartment and she kicks off her heels before slumping down in the chair across from her roommate with a heavy sigh.

"No pilates class tonight?"

Julia groans just at the thought and shakes her head. "I don't even wanna think about pilates tonight."

"Thank God," Melissa sighs in relief as she sinks down further into her spot on the sofa.

"I'm ordering some pizza, taking a hot bath, then going to bed at eight o'clock like the old lady I am."

"That sounds like an excellent plan," Melissa agrees. "Can I get in on that pizza?"

Julia calls in their order before she heads down the hallway to take her bath, knowing that it'll be about thirty minutes before their food is delivered. She takes a hot bath with one of her Twilight LUSH bath bombs and doesn't get out until Melissa is knocking on the bathroom door to let her know that the pizza has arrived. After throwing on some sweatpants and a warm thermal, she rejoins her roommate in the living room and they eat their dinner together as they watch reruns of Say Yes To The Dress. Julia's phone chirps as she pops a green pepper into her mouth and when she picks it up, she sees that it's a text from Tom.

come over on sun.?

Can't, I'm supposed to hang out with my friend Bryce. What about tomorrow?

away game in nj. next weekend?

School's out for Christmas break so I can do weekdays

mon.???

what time?

we have a game so before or after. up to you
hey you wanna come to the game? we can hang after

Julia stares at her phone for a few moments and sighs as she looks up at her roommate who's very seriously invested in the bride on screen's decision between lace and satin. "Wanna go to a hockey game on Monday night?"

Melissa tears her gaze away from the television to give her a confused look. "Since when are you into hockey?"

"I'm not into hockey necessarily," Julia shrugs. "Tom just asked if I wanted to come see them play then we're going to hang out after. Come on, come with me!"

"They don't wanna hang out with me," Melissa laughs, wagging her eyebrows knowingly.

Julia rolls her eyes, but can't help blushing a little. "Oh shut up. You're going."

"I still have to get up early on Tuesday for work though. We don't all get two weeks off for Christmas, little miss teacher!"

"Too bad," she laughs and she shakes her head at her roommate as she picks her phone up off her thigh and goes back into Tom's message thread.

That sounds great

-

Julia's never seen a hockey game in her life. She knows nothing about the sport, except for that classic stereotype of scary Canadians with no teeth, but she also knows that that's obviously not always true, considering she's gotten on very personal terms with two Canadians who have excellent smiles and aren't the least bit intimidating. Verizon Center is easy enough for the girls to navigate since they had attended a Kings of Leon show there earlier in the year, but the atmosphere is immensely different. There are already hockey fans everywhere in their various jerseys and tee shirts but the most popular seems to be Ovechkin so Julia makes a mental note to look for him and watch his game on the ice later.

The seats Tom got for them are ideal for seeing all the action, directly behind the goalie and back a few rows. Melissa seems bored already, but Julia's actually really excited to see what exactly this whole hockey thing is about and she also can't wait to watch Tom and Mike in action. She decides to go and get a couple of beers while they're waiting for the game to start, but the line at the concession stand is super long and by the time she gets back, both teams are all out on the ice and in the benches and the National Anthem is blasting through the sound system. She quickly makes her way back down to her seat and hands one of the beers over to Melissa as the song ends and the whole arena cheers.

When the game first begins, she tries to keep finding Mike and Tom even when they're on the bench but by the end of the first period, she's decided it's much more fun to watch the actual game and she gets excited every time they go out on the ice. Melissa still seems kind of bored with the whole thing, checking her watch every so often, and spending more time looking at her phone screen than watching the game. Neither of them have ever really been interested in sports, aside from Julia's attendance at baseball games thanks to Bryce, but she has to admit that hockey is surprisingly exciting with its fast pace and so much constantly happening. Mike and a player from the Ottawa team get sent off for ten minutes on game misconduct calls and then the Capitals score, followed by an Ottawa goal and another Washington goal, and then the second period is over and Julia's practically bouncing in her seat from all the excitement.

"I can't believe you're actually enjoying this," Melissa chuckles from beside her. "You're the last person on earth, besides me, who I thought would ever like this sport and here you are all giddy and smiley. I blame those boys."

Julia shrugs but she can't keep the grin off her face as she thinks about the two boys who are the reason she's actually at a hockey game. Seeing Mike all worked up and pissed off really works for her and she knows it's going to be tough to fight the urge to pounce as soon as she sees him after the game (if she sees him). "I guess sports are just more fun when you know the people playing them."

"Well I know Bryce, but that didn't stop me from falling asleep at that last game we went to in September. Total snooze fest."

"Oh God, that was so embarrassing," Julia groans. "I swear to God, if that ever happens again, I'm gonna boob punch you so hard."

Melissa laughs at her best friend's threat. "Then don't make me go! You know I hate sports."

"Who else am I gonna go with? You're my only friend."

"Aww," Melissa coos, a teasing smile on her face as she throws her arm around Julia and pulls her in for a side hug. "You poor, lonely, friendless little nerd."

"Get off me," Julia grumbles half-heartedly as she removes herself from Melissa's hold. "I'm all you have too, ya know."

"I know. Why do you think I'm sitting here at a hockey game on a Monday night? No more friends with better offers."

Julia can't help but laugh. "You're an asshole."

"I am," Melissa agrees. "But you love me anyway."

"God help me, I do."

The teams return to the ice for the third period, but there are no more goals and only one more minor penalty so the Capitals end up pulling out the win over Ottawa. Julia and Melissa take their time making their exit from the arena and they wait as long as they can right inside the doors before security starts trying to clear out the building. Tom texts her after he's showered to let her know he'll be done soon so she makes the long trek to the car with Melissa so she won't have to walk alone. They're only in the car for a few minutes before he calls to ask where he should come to get her and luckily the parking lot has pretty much emptied out in the time that they've been waiting.

Soon, a really nice black Jeep pulls up next to them and she says goodbye to Melissa, making her promise to text when she's home safe, before she climbs out of the passenger seat and gets into another. It's only Tom inside, so she figures Mike must have other plans for the night. He leans over the console to give her a quick peck on the lips, which is surprising but completely adorable.

"So how'd you enjoy your first hockey game?" he asks, making sure Melissa leaves okay before he pulls out of the parking lot.

"Not bad," she shrugs nonchalantly, but when he glances over at her, she grins. "I never knew sports could be so exciting."

"Wait, I thought Latts said you have some pro baseball ex boyfriend."

"Yeah, so?"

"You don't think baseball's exciting?"

Julia can easily tell by his amused expression and tone that he's delighted to learn this. She rolls her eyes playfully. "Baseball can be exciting, sure. But hockey's just so...physical."

"Exactly," he smirks, wagging his eyebrows ridiculously.

She shakes her head at him and reaches out to turn up the radio volume a few notches so that they can actually hear the music playing. She quirks a brow at him questioningly when the song that hits her ears is that of a one Luke Bryan. "Canadians actually like country music?"

Tom laughs. "I can't speak for all of Canada, but Me and Latts do. Why, do you like it?"

"I've been known to enjoy it from time to time." And by that, she means all the time. She and Melissa both surprisingly enjoy the genre, even going to a couple of concerts over the summer.

They spend the rest of the ride back to Arlington in relative quiet, her singing along softly to the songs on the radio and him constantly smiling about it while he periodically peeks over at her. Melissa texts when she arrives home as promised and by the time Julia has replied and put her phone back into her wristlet, they're pulling down into the garage at Tom and Mike's building. Tom politely greets the older couple who step onto the elevator with them and the four of them ride up to Tom and Mike's floor in silence, Julia silently thankful when they finally step off into the hallway. She could feel them judging, like they knew.

She takes off her boots at the door, setting them out of the way so that Mike doesn't trip over them when/if he comes home later. She sheds her coat as she walks further into the apartment, laying it on the ping pong table before she goes over to flop down on the sofa. Tom follows right behind her, stretching out over the entire length of the sofa and partially on her lap, making himself good and comfortable. He hadn't grabbed the remote or anything and he isn't about to get up now to retrieve it so they just kind of sit/lie there quietly for a few minutes. Julia brushes her fingers through his shaggy hair, still damp from his shower at the rink.

"Tired?"

Tom only grunts in response and presses his face into the side of her thigh.

"Wanna just go to sleep?"

He says nothing, but he slowly pushes himself up from the sofa and offers a hand to her once he's standing. She takes it and lets him pull her up before she follows him down the hall to his bedroom. Tom wastes no time ridding himself of his tie and then his jacket, button down, and slacks and Julia doesn't bother asking permission before she goes over to his closet and grabs one of his shirts that she can wear to sleep in. She quickly replaces her blouse and jeans with the blue tee but when she looks down at it, she laughs and shakes her head.

"I can't believe you actually own this. What a douche."

Tom pulls the comforter back before he looks up at her and he grins when he sees the 'I Love BJs' printed in big white letters across her chest. "That looks good on you."

Julia rolls her eyes as she pulls down the comforter on the other side and settles in, pulling the covers up over her bare legs. "Bryce would kill me if he saw me wearing Toronto apparel."

"Good thing I'm the only one seeing you like this then," he says, flopping down next to her and pulling her into his body. She smacks his bare chest playfully but lets him tug her closer, enjoying the warmth radiating from him as she snuggles up to him. When she tilts her head up to look at him, she finds him watching her with a small smile on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing," he shrugs. "You're gorgeous."

She just blinks, staring at him for a moment before she cracks a smile and reaches up to brush her fingertips against the line of his jaw. "So are you."

Tom ducks his head down to press a simple kiss to her lips before he gets up to turn the light off and when he returns to the bed, Julia's got her back to him. He crawls under the covers with her, throwing his arm over her waist and she scoots right up against him, her back pressed up against his chest. She gets herself comfortable, making sure to wiggle around a little just for him before she settles and she can feel the big, warm hand that was spread over her hip slowly slide under the fabric of the too big tee shirt she's wearing.

"You're supposed to be going to sleep," she reminds him, glancing over her shoulder even though it's too dark to make out his face now.

"I am," he promises. "Just getting comfortable."

The hand continues its journey upward, slipping smoothly over the plane of her stomach before finally stopping to grab her breast. Tom nuzzles his face into the back of her neck and lets out a heavy sigh, indicating that he's now achieved his appropriate level of comfort and Julia lets out a laugh. "This is you getting comfortable?"

"Mhm," he hums quietly, squeezing her a little then gently brushing his thumb across her nipple and her breath hitches as he presses a kiss into her hair. "Night."

-

As is always the case when she's sleeping somewhere besides her own place, Julia wakes up early and when she tries to move out of Tom's arms, he wakes up too. And she'd done nothing but tease him in their sleep by nearly constantly pushing her ass back against his crotch, so they end up having lazy morning sex before finally dragging themselves out of bed. She pulls Tom's tee shirt back on over her rumpled mess of wavy hair before she emerges from his room and he follows in nothing but his black boxer briefs.

Mike's sitting at the kitchen counter eating cereal and reading the newspaper but when Julia gets close enough to him, she can see that it's actually just the comics section and he's embarrassingly amused by the Garfield strip. He looks up at them when they enter and Tom goes over to the dishwasher to remove two clean bowls, leaving Julia to suffer under Mike's gaze alone. Mike smirks at them both and shakes his head as Tom pours them each a bowl of honey nut cheerios and then demands Mike to pour some milk into them while he retrieves some spoons.

The three of them eat their cereal in relative silence, nothing but the hum of ESPN turned down low in the living room and the sound of Mike slurping the remainder of the milk from his bowl. When Julia gets finished, she immediately goes to wash her bowl at the sink, despite their protests, and then she goes back into Tom's room to change into her clothes from the night before. When she comes back out into the living room, Mike's gone over to lie on the sofa and watch tv and Tom's putting the cereal box away.

"You're leaving?" he asks when he looks up and sees her picking up her jacket from the ping pong table. "You have today off, don't you?"

"Yeah, I just figured I'd, ya know, get out of the way since you guys have to get ready for your game."

"We packed yesterday so we just have to shower. If you don't mind waiting, we can drop you off at home on our way."

"My apartment isn't on your way."

"So?" He pauses to wait for her to challenge him again but after a moment she just sighs in resignation. "Alright, I'm gonna go shower."

While he does that, Julia goes over to sit with Mike in the living room, leaning her head back against the sofa cushion and closing her eyes while she listens to Mike grumble about a play from the football game that he'd recorded that came on last night. Tom's out after a quick ten minutes and Mike exits out of the game, deleting it from his DVR altogether since he's unhappy with the results so far, before he gets up to go take his turn. Julia flips through the tv channels until Tom finally joins her on the sofa after dropping his duffel by the door, all dressed up in his nice suit and a baby blue tie that makes his eyes look even brighter. They only make out a little until Mike emerges from the back with his bag, politely requesting that they "stop sucking face now."

Julia pulls her boots back on at the door and follows the boys down to their building's garage until they stop at Tom's Jeep. Mike lets her take the front seat, disregarding her protest as he tosses his bag into the back and slides in after it. He seems just as surprised that she likes country music as Tom had and somehow makes it into a singing competition in the twenty minute drive to Georgetown. Julia of course wins because Mike can't sing to save his life and by the time they pull up at her apartment, she's got tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.

Tom kisses her before she opens the passenger door and Mike just rolls his eyes at the two of them until they stop. She turns around in her seat to grin at Mike, challenging him to another competition, before she says goodbye and good luck to both of them and then slips out of the car. Tom watches her go until Mike takes her place in the passenger seat with a ridiculous, shit eating grin on his face and Tom looks at him like he's gone insane. "What's wrong with you?"

"You like Julia?"

"What?" Tom laughs. "No. Not like that. No way!"

"You sure?"

"Latts, if I liked her like that, you think I'd be sharing her with you?"

"Alright, man," Mike says skeptically. "If you say so."

"I don't like her," Tom insists.

"Fine, I believe you," he concedes, holding his hands up in surrender. "Now let's go, Coach'll kill us if we're late."