Title: Life's Work, Life's Love
Author: Faith Elizabeth
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This was written for entertainment purposes only and not profit was made.
Summary: [slash] Adam and Charlie are two of the NHL's brightest stars. While spending their spare time coaching inner city kids, they catch up with old friends and learn that even the strongest love can be stretched to thin.
Authors Note: This isn't my usual fandom but I recently read some very good MD stories and got inspired. Go figure.
Authors Note for chapter one: I don't actually watch Oprah so forgive me if it doesn't go with the actual show. It was just the only show that I could think of that would put this kind of thing on it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have a very special guest with me today, he is an amazing young man with an incredible story. Please welcome the captain of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Charlie Conway!"
Charlie took a deep breath and walked out on to the set. He smiled and waved to the audience and hugged the host lightly. Taking a seat in his designated spot, he smiled and said his semi-scripted greeting. "Wow, it is such an honor to be here. I never imagined that I would be sitting next to the great Oprah Winfrey!"
"You really are a sweet one aren't you?" Oprah smiled. I've been a fan of yours since you played in the Junior Goodwill Games 15 years ago."
"Ooh, don't say that. It makes me feel old," Charlie winced visibly and then chuckled lightly. "I remember those games like they were yesterday."
Oprah laughed in response. "And that was only the beginning of your career. All of team USA received scholarships to the prestigious Eden Hall Academy in Minnesota, where you graduated with honors and earned scholarships to many Ivy-League universities. You played for Yale. Earned a degree in psychology and at the age of 22, were drafted to play for the San Jose Sharks."
"When you say it like that I think of someone else's life," Charlie responded sheepishly.
"Really?" Oprah gave him a quizzical look. "How do you look back on your life?"
He looked at the ceiling for a brief moment before recalling his past. "I think of a little boy whose whole life revolved around hockey. I think of a group of kids struggling through less that perfect home lives to make something of them selves. I think I'll always be the boy who had more knowledge about hockey then actually skill," Charlie gave a quiet laugh. "I look back and remember struggling with homework until 2am and getting up at 5am for extra practice. I remember naps at lunchtime and study sessions after school just to maintain the B's I needed to stay on the team and the A's I needed to show my team. To my dieing day, I'll tell you, I never would have made it through high school or university if it hadn't been for my friends. When I look back on my life," he paused for a moment," I see a lot of hard work and a great reward."
"Wow," Oprah then turned to the audience, "We'll be back with more of Charlie Conway." And the show cut to commercial.
Taking a deep breath, Charlie slouched back in to his seat. "You're doing great. Stay calm and be open and you'll do fine. I s there anything we can get you?" Oprah sensed his nervousness.
Charlie responded with a rueful grin, "Not unless you can get Banksie here in the nest 30 seconds."
Oprah laughed at that. "Sorry, no can do. But if it helps, we are showing a clip in a minute."
The director cut them off with a loud, "Quiet on set! We're on in 5, 4, 3, ."
"Welcome back. We are here today with a very special young man. He is 26 years old, the youngest captain in the NHL, he is a volunteer minor hockey coach, and he's openly gay." Oprah turned back to Charlie, "How long have you been openly gay?"
"It'd been 10 years now. I came out just before my sixteenth birthday."
"That's a long time. What was it like for you, coming out at such a young age?"
"It was. interesting." Charlie gave a lopsided grin. "I had known that I was gay since I was 12 but I dated a few girls during my first few years at Eden Hall, so that took a little explaining but over all, I was really lucky. My mom and coaches were really supportive and my team, was incredible. I don't thonk I could have done it without the Ducks."
"You're referring, of course, to the Eden Hall Mighty Ducks." Oprah the asked a question she already know the answer to," I understand you are in a long term relationship?"
That brought a real Charlie smile, "Yes, I am. I'm very deeply invested in a long term relationship with Adam, my high school sweetheart.. and he's probably dieing of embarrassment now that I've called him that on television."
Oprah chuckled at that and then turned to the camera, "We've got a clip that will show you exactly what he means by that."
The Clip opened with a scene of Charlie and Adam walking hand in hand, away from the camera and down a path around a lake. "We were 8 years old when Adam and I first met. There was a distinct class difference between our families but the only thing that mattered to us was that we could both play hockey. And it was though the miracle of hockey that I found my best friend and my soulmate."
The clip changed to a scene of Charlie (in a replica of his original Ducks jersey) and Adam (in a replica of his Team USA Ducks jersey) playing a game of one on one in a deserted arena. Charlie's voice was replaced by Adams soft tones. "When Charlie first came out, I think it affected me more than anyone else.. And not just because he was my roommate," he laughed quietly as the scene switched to one of Adam leaning against a large pine tree. "I never considered the possibility of being gay until I found out that my best friend was. Finding out that Charlie was gay made we question a lot of things. My own sexuality for one. For 3 months I did some intensive soul searching and ended up more confused than ever. So, I talked to the one person I knew I could trust, the one person who could give me the answers I needed. Funny thing was, Charlie didn't have the answers. They were always inside of me, he just brought them to the surface."
The scene changed once again, this time to the image of Charlie and Adams kitchen, where the pair where making blueberry pancakes and teasing each other with their usual mirth. "Things weren't always this easy with us," Charlie addressed the camera. "We started dating during our senior year of high school and stayed together through university. Heck, Adams the reason I went to Yale!" Adam game Charlie a loving hip check. "And it was such a heart break to go to one of the best school in the country?" he said sarcastically.
"Seriously though," Adam added, "Our studies and practices took a lot out of us and being hockey players, we faced a lot of bigotry and homophobia." Charlie casually laced his fingers through Adams. "It was really tough on our relationship but we made it through. Unfortunately, we didn't have the strength we needed while we were on opposite sides of the country."
Adam shifted so that their shoulders touched, "We knew that a long distance relationship would be hard but with all the media hype and the stress of our careers, we just couldn't do it anymore," Adam trailed off slowly. "We were apart for a year and a half. Banksie had been my best friend for years so we were still close in that sense but it wasn't until he was traded to L.A. and I to Anaheim that we were able to work out our problems." Charlie continued for him. Adam smiled softly, "We are closer and stronger now than we've ever been."
The pair turned back to their pancakes for a moment before Adam suddenly turned back to the camera, "If I know my Spazway, he'll be silently freaking out by the time you show this. Spaz-babe relax, I love ya and I'll meet you in Boston." Behind him, Charlie rolled his eyes and grabbed a handful of flour. "Yo Cake-eater, catch!" as Adam turned, Charlie threw the flour, which landed all over Adam's face. "You'll pay for that Conway!" Adam threatened as he started tickling his boyfriend and the clip faded to black and the show went to commercial.
A small smile permeated Charlie's face as he lightly shook his head and muttered, "God I wish he were here."
"You really love him don't you?" The realization suddenly hit Oprah. Adam really was Charlie's whole life.
There was a moment of silence before Charlie answered. "Yeah, I do."
They sat in silence, absorbing the magnitude of what Charlie had just said, until the show came back from its break.
"I'm here with Charlie Conway, captain of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Charlie, you are a volunteer minor hockey coach. You and a few other players from the Mighty ducks and the Kings have teamed up to coach a team of 8- 10 year olds from on underprivileged neighbourhood. What inspired you to organize this?"
"Umm," Charlie paused, "A lot of things really. When I was a kid, back home in Minnesota, I grew up in a single parent home and my mom had to work all the time just to pay the rent and put food on the table. Most of my peewee team was the same way. If it hadn't been for Coach Bombay, I would probably be living in the same neighbourhood I grew up in and wasting the future my mom worked so hard to give me. Playing hockey gave me confidence; it gave me a reason to be the best that I could be. I just wanted to give some other kid the chance and the reason to try and to succeed." Charlie stopped and then started again, "I wanted to make a difference in someone's life. Adam, Adam grew up in a wealthy family but he felt the difference it made in himself and in the rest of the team when someone was willing to give is a chance and he wanted to be apart of that. So, we organized and put together a team of inner city kids and we spend most of our free time coaching them.
"When the guys from our teams heard about what we were doing, they donated money, equipment and time to help us keep the team going. In fact, Josh Lando, Kris St. James and Leo Tills of the Mighty Ducks and Tom Rics, Jim Olsen and Sergei Sicura from the Kings are in the process of building two more teams like ours."
"You've done an incredible thing. I understand that you are also in the process of becoming an NHL qualified coach?" Oprah asked.
"Yes, I am. I've wanted to be a coach ever since the Junior Good Will Games and I'm making that dream come true."
"Good for you," Oprah turned to the audience, "Unfortunately for us, Charlie has to catch a plane in less than an hour." She turned back to Charlie, "It has been a pleasure to have you here."
"It's been great to be here. Thank you for having me on your show," Charlie replied.
"We will be back in a few moments," Oprah sent the show to commercial.
As soon as the cameras were off, Charlie stood, shook Oprah's hand and quickly excused himself, "It really has been great to be here but if I don't leave now, I'll miss my plane."
"It was a pleasure to have met you Charlie," Oprah said honestly. "You are a great person."
Charlie smiled, "Thank you," and exited the set and then the building.
Author: Faith Elizabeth
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This was written for entertainment purposes only and not profit was made.
Summary: [slash] Adam and Charlie are two of the NHL's brightest stars. While spending their spare time coaching inner city kids, they catch up with old friends and learn that even the strongest love can be stretched to thin.
Authors Note: This isn't my usual fandom but I recently read some very good MD stories and got inspired. Go figure.
Authors Note for chapter one: I don't actually watch Oprah so forgive me if it doesn't go with the actual show. It was just the only show that I could think of that would put this kind of thing on it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have a very special guest with me today, he is an amazing young man with an incredible story. Please welcome the captain of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Charlie Conway!"
Charlie took a deep breath and walked out on to the set. He smiled and waved to the audience and hugged the host lightly. Taking a seat in his designated spot, he smiled and said his semi-scripted greeting. "Wow, it is such an honor to be here. I never imagined that I would be sitting next to the great Oprah Winfrey!"
"You really are a sweet one aren't you?" Oprah smiled. I've been a fan of yours since you played in the Junior Goodwill Games 15 years ago."
"Ooh, don't say that. It makes me feel old," Charlie winced visibly and then chuckled lightly. "I remember those games like they were yesterday."
Oprah laughed in response. "And that was only the beginning of your career. All of team USA received scholarships to the prestigious Eden Hall Academy in Minnesota, where you graduated with honors and earned scholarships to many Ivy-League universities. You played for Yale. Earned a degree in psychology and at the age of 22, were drafted to play for the San Jose Sharks."
"When you say it like that I think of someone else's life," Charlie responded sheepishly.
"Really?" Oprah gave him a quizzical look. "How do you look back on your life?"
He looked at the ceiling for a brief moment before recalling his past. "I think of a little boy whose whole life revolved around hockey. I think of a group of kids struggling through less that perfect home lives to make something of them selves. I think I'll always be the boy who had more knowledge about hockey then actually skill," Charlie gave a quiet laugh. "I look back and remember struggling with homework until 2am and getting up at 5am for extra practice. I remember naps at lunchtime and study sessions after school just to maintain the B's I needed to stay on the team and the A's I needed to show my team. To my dieing day, I'll tell you, I never would have made it through high school or university if it hadn't been for my friends. When I look back on my life," he paused for a moment," I see a lot of hard work and a great reward."
"Wow," Oprah then turned to the audience, "We'll be back with more of Charlie Conway." And the show cut to commercial.
Taking a deep breath, Charlie slouched back in to his seat. "You're doing great. Stay calm and be open and you'll do fine. I s there anything we can get you?" Oprah sensed his nervousness.
Charlie responded with a rueful grin, "Not unless you can get Banksie here in the nest 30 seconds."
Oprah laughed at that. "Sorry, no can do. But if it helps, we are showing a clip in a minute."
The director cut them off with a loud, "Quiet on set! We're on in 5, 4, 3, ."
"Welcome back. We are here today with a very special young man. He is 26 years old, the youngest captain in the NHL, he is a volunteer minor hockey coach, and he's openly gay." Oprah turned back to Charlie, "How long have you been openly gay?"
"It'd been 10 years now. I came out just before my sixteenth birthday."
"That's a long time. What was it like for you, coming out at such a young age?"
"It was. interesting." Charlie gave a lopsided grin. "I had known that I was gay since I was 12 but I dated a few girls during my first few years at Eden Hall, so that took a little explaining but over all, I was really lucky. My mom and coaches were really supportive and my team, was incredible. I don't thonk I could have done it without the Ducks."
"You're referring, of course, to the Eden Hall Mighty Ducks." Oprah the asked a question she already know the answer to," I understand you are in a long term relationship?"
That brought a real Charlie smile, "Yes, I am. I'm very deeply invested in a long term relationship with Adam, my high school sweetheart.. and he's probably dieing of embarrassment now that I've called him that on television."
Oprah chuckled at that and then turned to the camera, "We've got a clip that will show you exactly what he means by that."
The Clip opened with a scene of Charlie and Adam walking hand in hand, away from the camera and down a path around a lake. "We were 8 years old when Adam and I first met. There was a distinct class difference between our families but the only thing that mattered to us was that we could both play hockey. And it was though the miracle of hockey that I found my best friend and my soulmate."
The clip changed to a scene of Charlie (in a replica of his original Ducks jersey) and Adam (in a replica of his Team USA Ducks jersey) playing a game of one on one in a deserted arena. Charlie's voice was replaced by Adams soft tones. "When Charlie first came out, I think it affected me more than anyone else.. And not just because he was my roommate," he laughed quietly as the scene switched to one of Adam leaning against a large pine tree. "I never considered the possibility of being gay until I found out that my best friend was. Finding out that Charlie was gay made we question a lot of things. My own sexuality for one. For 3 months I did some intensive soul searching and ended up more confused than ever. So, I talked to the one person I knew I could trust, the one person who could give me the answers I needed. Funny thing was, Charlie didn't have the answers. They were always inside of me, he just brought them to the surface."
The scene changed once again, this time to the image of Charlie and Adams kitchen, where the pair where making blueberry pancakes and teasing each other with their usual mirth. "Things weren't always this easy with us," Charlie addressed the camera. "We started dating during our senior year of high school and stayed together through university. Heck, Adams the reason I went to Yale!" Adam game Charlie a loving hip check. "And it was such a heart break to go to one of the best school in the country?" he said sarcastically.
"Seriously though," Adam added, "Our studies and practices took a lot out of us and being hockey players, we faced a lot of bigotry and homophobia." Charlie casually laced his fingers through Adams. "It was really tough on our relationship but we made it through. Unfortunately, we didn't have the strength we needed while we were on opposite sides of the country."
Adam shifted so that their shoulders touched, "We knew that a long distance relationship would be hard but with all the media hype and the stress of our careers, we just couldn't do it anymore," Adam trailed off slowly. "We were apart for a year and a half. Banksie had been my best friend for years so we were still close in that sense but it wasn't until he was traded to L.A. and I to Anaheim that we were able to work out our problems." Charlie continued for him. Adam smiled softly, "We are closer and stronger now than we've ever been."
The pair turned back to their pancakes for a moment before Adam suddenly turned back to the camera, "If I know my Spazway, he'll be silently freaking out by the time you show this. Spaz-babe relax, I love ya and I'll meet you in Boston." Behind him, Charlie rolled his eyes and grabbed a handful of flour. "Yo Cake-eater, catch!" as Adam turned, Charlie threw the flour, which landed all over Adam's face. "You'll pay for that Conway!" Adam threatened as he started tickling his boyfriend and the clip faded to black and the show went to commercial.
A small smile permeated Charlie's face as he lightly shook his head and muttered, "God I wish he were here."
"You really love him don't you?" The realization suddenly hit Oprah. Adam really was Charlie's whole life.
There was a moment of silence before Charlie answered. "Yeah, I do."
They sat in silence, absorbing the magnitude of what Charlie had just said, until the show came back from its break.
"I'm here with Charlie Conway, captain of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Charlie, you are a volunteer minor hockey coach. You and a few other players from the Mighty ducks and the Kings have teamed up to coach a team of 8- 10 year olds from on underprivileged neighbourhood. What inspired you to organize this?"
"Umm," Charlie paused, "A lot of things really. When I was a kid, back home in Minnesota, I grew up in a single parent home and my mom had to work all the time just to pay the rent and put food on the table. Most of my peewee team was the same way. If it hadn't been for Coach Bombay, I would probably be living in the same neighbourhood I grew up in and wasting the future my mom worked so hard to give me. Playing hockey gave me confidence; it gave me a reason to be the best that I could be. I just wanted to give some other kid the chance and the reason to try and to succeed." Charlie stopped and then started again, "I wanted to make a difference in someone's life. Adam, Adam grew up in a wealthy family but he felt the difference it made in himself and in the rest of the team when someone was willing to give is a chance and he wanted to be apart of that. So, we organized and put together a team of inner city kids and we spend most of our free time coaching them.
"When the guys from our teams heard about what we were doing, they donated money, equipment and time to help us keep the team going. In fact, Josh Lando, Kris St. James and Leo Tills of the Mighty Ducks and Tom Rics, Jim Olsen and Sergei Sicura from the Kings are in the process of building two more teams like ours."
"You've done an incredible thing. I understand that you are also in the process of becoming an NHL qualified coach?" Oprah asked.
"Yes, I am. I've wanted to be a coach ever since the Junior Good Will Games and I'm making that dream come true."
"Good for you," Oprah turned to the audience, "Unfortunately for us, Charlie has to catch a plane in less than an hour." She turned back to Charlie, "It has been a pleasure to have you here."
"It's been great to be here. Thank you for having me on your show," Charlie replied.
"We will be back in a few moments," Oprah sent the show to commercial.
As soon as the cameras were off, Charlie stood, shook Oprah's hand and quickly excused himself, "It really has been great to be here but if I don't leave now, I'll miss my plane."
"It was a pleasure to have met you Charlie," Oprah said honestly. "You are a great person."
Charlie smiled, "Thank you," and exited the set and then the building.