My Boy

Niklas groaned as his alarm clock woke him up the next day. It was 7:00 Saturday morning and he had to be at the rink in two hours for his laps. He didn't want to be late, so he forced himself out of bed and put on his gym shorts and a gray t-shirt and went into the bathroom to fix his bed hair. He heard Nova's footsteps and laughed when she sat down right in front of the bathroom door, cocking her head to one side.

"You like my bed head Nova?"

She yipped and started to chase her tail as he combed his hair down in a reasonable manner. Turning off the light to the bathroom, he went to the kitchen and threw a couple pieces of bread in the toaster and filled Nova's bowls with food and water.

"You hungry little lady?"

She threw herself on the floor and wiggled around on her belly. Laughing, he set her in front of her food.

"Well then eat you silly!"

He threw his toast on a plate, slathered it with peanut butter and ate slowly, running thoughts through his mind.

[ i ] Maybe while we're doing the laps I can tell him....[ / i ]

He finished eating and put Nova in her playpen so she wouldn't destroy the house while he was gone.

"Be good girl Nova. I'll be back."

He locked his house, got in his car, and drove to the arena. Climbing the steps, he could see he was an hour early and rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, just great. Whatever, it'll give me time to think of what I'm going to say to him."

He unlocked the Joe and went straight to the locker room. He put on his skates and went straight to the ice. He wanted a few minutes to himself before his captain joined him. It was always so peaceful, just to hear his skates glide across the ice. He looked around to make sure he was actually alone and started to sing.

"Just one mistake, is all it will take to go down in history....."

He stopped dead in the middle of the rink as he saw a shadow in the doorway.

"Still berating yourself over the hit aren't you Kronner?"

Niklas's cheeks were on fire.

"Maybe a little. Can we just get this over with, Zetta?"

His captain smiled.

"Of course we can, but stop beating yourself up over it. We all make mistakes."

Hank quickly got ready and met him on the ice. He gave Niklas a gentle shove and they started their laps. 1,2,10...and so on. By the 12 lap, Niklas was trembling with anxiety. He knew if he didn't tell him soon, he would explode. They didn't stop skating, but Niklas caught his eye.

"Hank, t-there's something I need t-to tell you."

Hank frowned at him, worried about his teammate.

"Whatever it is you need to tell me. You're starting to scare me Kronner."

Niklas blushed.

"I'm in love with you, Hank."

Hank stopped dead in his tracks while Niklas kept on. He had three laps left and then he could be out of there. Hank finally snapped out of it and sped after him.

"You...Kronner I've been waiting for you to say that for years!"

Niklas had just finished his last lap when Hank crashed into him, sending them both to the ice. He looked into Hank's eyes stunned.

"You love me?"

Hank put a finger to his lips.

"Don't speak."

Niklas lay back on the ice as Hank pressed his lips to his. He'd never felt this way before and was glad he had gotten the nerve to tell him. Hank stood back up and held out his hand, which Niklas gratefully took.

"Why don't we go to my house for lunch?"

Niklas grinned.

"Sounds good to me...but may I bring Nova over? She doesn't like to be alone for long."

Hank nodded.

"We'll go pick her up first."

The two held hands and dashed out to their cars.