Status: I'm sorry, guys. I'm so busy with uni coursework and I have major writer's block. I promise you I'll finish this, and I assure you the sequel's actually partly written! <3

I Left The Lights On So You Stumble In Devotion

Hide Out From the Ones You Know Will Love You Too

Evgeni was surprised when Sidney took a seat next to him when they were finally in the dressing room preparing for the evening’s game; everybody in the dressing room had their eyes on the two of them, watching anxiously for another fight. Nobody was sure about the last fight, the teammates gossiping amongst each other afterwards worse than school girls. Brooks Orpik ended all of the rumours, glaring at everybody with his huge eyes when they mentioned Evgeni’s name.

“Gotta win this, guys.” said Sidney loudly, his voice mostly hitting Letang in front of Evgeni. “C’mon Geno.”

Evgeni smiled, nudging Sidney with his fist while continuing to waddle on skates behind Kris. It hadn’t nearly hit him yet that they were back in the Cup finals; it felt nostalgic to look up at the beaming sea of red in the stands.

Thirteen minutes into the first period, Evgeni’s heart dropped; watching as Brad Stuart scored the first goal of the game against them. The tension grew on the bench, a grimace forming on the faces of the team; they just didn’t want things to feel too much like last year. Evgeni frowned, watching as the puck would get shot and bounced and aimed so closely towards the opposing team’s net.

Finally, Evgeni worked hard enough to get a slap shot on Osgood, mainly out of frustration; he hadn’t expected to get a goal. Fedotenko flicked his wrist to get the rebound into the net, the sound of the buzzer echoing off of the ice as he skated over with credible speed and a euphoric yell. They grabbed at each other, momentarily the five of them, yelling despite the looks of hatred coming at them from the crowd.

But then Franzen scored, followed by Abdelkader in the third period. Evgeni couldn’t meet the eyes of players on Detroit as they skated past the bench; their faces lit up with wide eyes and victorious grins. He was envious, wishing that he knew how it felt to win the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs; in the very back of his head he could gather every sense from how it felt last year, making him feel more miserable than he had before.

“Zetterberg had his hand in the fucking crease to get that puck.”

Sidney was angry and Evgeni didn’t have to hear him yell across the dressing room to figure it out; he could see the look that Mario was giving Sidney as he came off the ice and passed him before entering the room. Evgeni couldn’t figure out if his anger was because of the loss of the first game or if it was because of how Mario and Bylsma were acting.

“Only game one.” mumbled Evgeni, his deep voice sounding too low for anyone to pick up on.

But nobody heard him, not even Sidney, so he went back to undressing. What was done was done now, and even though he could nearly cringe at the thought of having the last series of the playoffs ending like it did the previous year, it really was only game one. There was probably no chance of getting Sidney to look at him, let alone talk to him. For a second he almost wanted to punch him again, just for making him think that there was any possible way the incredibly fucked up situation they were in would work out.

Marc Andre Fleury was probably one of the quietest, sitting silently on the edge of the bench. Evgeni could hear everything Marc wanted to say without Marc opening his mouth, and he enjoyed having these wordless conversations, even if they didn’t always say what he wanted to hear. Evgeni thought to himself ‘It’s not his fault’.

***

Having ended up keeping Brooks as a roommate, Evgeni was unsurprised at himself laying sleepless on his bed; Brooks was on the bed next to him, curled up and cozy while snoring louder than Evgeni would have ever thought possible. He was tempted to throw something, but figured that it would be pointless for both of them to lay sleepless.

The thought of having to replay Detroit the very next night nearly scared Evgeni, especially when he thought of how tired he was going to be in the early morning before practice; it was optional, but he disliked missing practices. He was determined to be on top of his game, wanting to hold up his record for points.

Evgeni decided to go for a walk, trying his best to silently slip out through the hotel door without waking Brooks; he doubted that Brooks would awaken if it were possible for him to sleep through the noise he produced out of his own body.

The hall of the hotel was slightly warm, almost feeling as though it were a bit humid. It was nearly June now, which seemed oddly late for hockey. He passed by the ice machine and the multiple vending machines, all of which were making homely buzzing noises that sounded oddly familiar to Brooks’ snoring. He felt a bit out of place, roaming through the hotel halls at such a late hour of night; he passed door after door, wondering which one of his teammates were occupying it.

“Geno?”

Evgeni turned slowly, his mind not working fast enough to be able to determine whose face belonged to the voice. He hoped it wasn’t Bylsma, hard enough that he nearly felt his stomach tie itself in a knot while he rotated.

“Billy.” Evgeni was pleased to notice it was Bill Guerin stepping out of his room, his movement almost mimicking Evgeni’s.

“Sid’s such a light sleeper, afraid I’d wake him.” His head tilted back towards the door.

Evgeni took notice how gentle his voice sounded, almost as though he were talking lowly so there wouldn’t be any chance of Sidney hearing his voice through the door.

“So, what’re you doing out here?” asked Guerin curiously, his left eyebrow slightly arched over his eye. “Nothing wrong?”

“No, everything is good.” muttered Evgeni, suddenly feeling awkward for having left his room. “Can’t sleep.”

“Me neither. I keep replaying last night in my head.”

“Bad game.”

“Yeah, but it’s not over yet.” reminded Guerin, trying to smile.

Evgeni nodded, glancing back down the hall at his door. There wasn’t much to say, especially since the two didn’t spend much time conversing; Guerin was usually Sidney’s talking buddy since he’d gotten traded to Pittsburgh. Evgeni wondered if Sidney had told him anything, assuming that Billy had to have heard something from the rumours that crept around their dressing room whenever he and Sidney weren’t in the room.

“So… you’re with Brooks tonight?”

“Yes.” Evgeni made a face to express his frustration, becoming heedless to Guerin’s chuckles.

“He snores a lot, doesn’t he?” He continued to laugh lightly. “You know, you need your energy for tomorrow, we can switch rooms if you want.”

Evgeni looked at him, curiously and nervously, wondering if he was serious. There was a look on his face that made Evgeni nearly die on the spot, showing fully well that he may have been talking to Sidney about Sidney’s current problems. It was calming to look at his face, somewhat looking as though he held a certain amount of wisdom like Evgeni saw in Gonchar.

“Really?” Evgeni’s voice sounded shaky; he quickly closed his mouth as he realized he’d been standing there staring at Billy with it open for what felt like minutes now.

“Really.” assured Billy, shrugging his shoulders.

Evgeni looked Billy up and down, noticing that he was already dressed for bed, much like himself. He gave Billy his room key as Billy shoved his own into the door, motioning for Evgeni to enter. Evgeni kept the same amount of grace as Billy did, moving quietly into the darkly lit room. He was unsure of whether or not to wake Sidney, just to let him know he was there; but as he shut the door quietly behind him, he realized Sidney was sitting up in his bed.

His hand lay on the lamp on the bedside table, his eyes squinting as they adjusted to the low light in the room. Evgeni tried to smile, but instead found himself awkwardly standing next to the door while remaining speechless.

“Where’s Billy?” muttered Sidney, his eyes wandering over to the empty bed next to him.

“My room.”

“But why…” Sidney’s voice trailed off, still looking sleepy as he sheepishly smiled while rolling down the sheets in his bed.

Evgeni walked over, his body feeling completely stiff as he lowered himself into the warm sheets that Sidney had been sleeping in. Sidney’s body was extremely warm, one of his legs curled over Evgeni’s as Evgeni shut off the lamp; he was feeling much more snug under Sidney’s arms, even if he still felt restless.

“We’re going to get in trouble for this.” whispered Sidney, his head nestled down on Evgeni’s shoulder.

“Only sleep.”

Evgeni’s stomach tightened as he felt Sidney’s lips against his neck, a wetness lingering against his skin even after his lips had been removed. He rolled over, assuming that he was face to face with Sidney; he could almost make out his nose in the darkness, the lines of his puffy, pink lips.

He wasn’t sure if Sidney was asleep or not, staying silent as he listened to the rhythmic breathing coming from the man next to him; his arms grazed across Sidney’s chest, his right hand wrapping around Sidney’s waist. He could feel a grin form on Sidney’s face when he moved closer, pressing his lips against Sidney’s jaw before placing them on his lips.

Evgeni could hear a muffled ‘goodnight Geno’ coming from Sidney, his leg wrapping around Evgeni’s again. Evgeni smiled to himself, putting the thoughts of the loss earlier that night in the back of his mind as he hauled the sheets closer to his body.
♠ ♠ ♠
I wrote all of this while sitting here with 'Between The Bars' by Elliott Smith on repeat.
I realize I'm... nearly three games behind in the schedule, but I'm trying to space it out since I'll probably be ending this series when the playoffs end.