Disclaimer: I do not own the Mighty Ducks.
Summary: I know this has been done a million times, but I got inspired by the RPG I'm a part of (edenhall on LJ) and decided to write my take on the Bash Brothers' relationship. It's my first Mighty Ducks fic, so please let me know what you think (even if you think it sucks)!A week had passed since Portman and Fulton had begun their secret relationship. Or at least they thought it was secret. It had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the team that the two enforcers were even closer than they had ever been. Ken, in particular, had his suspicions that the two boys were now more than friends. He spent a lot more time with his two 'Bash Brothers' than anyone realised.
Ever since the Goodwill Games, the three had been firm friends with Portman and Fulton looking out for Ken as though they were really brothers. The two of them had discussed on more than one occasion whether they should tell Ken about their relationship, but each time, they could never convince themselves fully that it was a good idea. They were sure that it wouldn't make a difference to Ken, but there was still something stopping them from revealing all. They just couldn't put their finger on it.
This meant that when the three of them were hanging out, Fulton and Portman had to remind themselves to limit physical contact between them. Occasionally one of them would forget and would leave his hand on the others' shoulder for a second longer than was would be considered normal, or would hold eye contact for a fraction longer or they would keep a wrestling hold locked in for longer when they were wrestling each other rather than Ken.
None of this escaped Ken's attention and he would often smile to himself. It was obvious, to him at least, that his friends cared a lot for each other. He wouldn't go so far as to assume that they were in love with each other because he didn't know the full story. He did assume though, that they would both kick his ass if he mentioned anyth9ing to anyone else on the team, so he was quite content with staying quiet and simply observing until they decided to tell him otherwise.
He looked over at where they sat in the locker room before practice, their heads bent close together as they talked earnestly about something. Fulton glanced in Ken's direction and caught his eye. Ken instantly busied himself with tying his laces. He had a feeling he should have been more discreet in his observations. Sure enough, when he glanced up, Fulton was making his way over to Ken while Portman laced his own skates up.
'Uh oh', muttered Ken under his breath as Fulton sat down next to him.
'Me and Portman were going to watch a movie after practice. You wanna join us?'
Blinking, Ken replied 'Uh…yeah, sure. What movie?' He definitely hadn't expected that. He'd thought Fulton was coming to chew him out about eavesdropping. Granted, Fulton was the calmer of the two, but he could still get pretty aggressive when he was angered and Ken didn't want to take any chances.
Fulton shrugged. 'Whatever we pull out of the closet first. Oh, one more thing…' Ken froze. Did Fulton have an ulterior motive for asking him to watch a movie with them? He quickly put that thought out of his head as he realised Fulton was still talking. '…no-one else is invited. We thought it'd be cool to have just the Bash Brothers there. We haven't done that for a while.' Fulton grinned at Ken as he finished speaking.
Suppressing a sigh of relief, Ken grinned back. 'That sounds cool. Want me to bring anything?' he asked as Fulton stood up to go back to his own seat. He turned and shook his head at Ken.
'Nah, just come with us straight after practice. We'll swing by your room to dump your gear and then we'll go watch the movie.'
Nodding, Ken went back to tying his skates. 'Sounds good to me. Let's get practice over then.'
Chuckling to himself, Fulton sat down next to Portman again and they resumed their conversation as they finished up getting ready for practice and headed onto the ice.
Two hours later and the three Bash Brothers were showered and changed and on the way to Ken's dorm room. They were walking in silence. Practice had been particularly gruelling as they had an important game that weekend and Coach Orion wanted to be sure they were ready for it.
They came to Ken's room and he quickly threw his gear inside, deciding he would worry about it later. Fulton and Portman's room was not too far away and they reached it quickly. The two of them dropped their bags in a pile as they walked through the door, leaving Ken to step over them. Portman threw himself onto his bed as Fulton disappeared into the closet to find a movie. Pulling out the first one he laid his hands on, he backed out of the closet and put it into the DVD player. Picking up the remote, he sat down next to Portman.
Ken decided against sitting with them. The beds were barely big enough for one person the size of either Fulton or Portman, let alone two, so he figured he would be safer if he sat on Fulton's bed. There was less chance of falling off, or getting knocked off if his friends decided to engage in one of their impromptu wrestling matches.
As Ken was making himself comfortable, he noticed his two friends having a whispered conversation, which seemed to be getting rather heated. 'Uh…guys? Is everything alright?' he asked cautiously.
After a few more whispered words, Fulton sighed and turned away as Portman, who was laid down, rolled over to face Ken. 'Kenny, we're your friends, right?' he asked.
'Yeah, my best friends.' Ken nodded, wondering where this was going.
Portman took a deep breath before speaking again. 'If we told you we were dating, would we still be your friends?'
Ken looked at them and realised that, although Portman was lying down, facing him, and Fulton was sat up facing the TV, their hands were linked and Fulton appeared to be squeezing Portman's hand as though his life depended on it.
Ken smiled. 'Of course you'd still be my friends! Why wouldn't you be?'
At his words, Fulton turned back towards him, a smile on his face, and he had loosened his grip on Portman's hand, but didn't let go completely. 'You mean that?' he asked.
'Of course I mean it. Just because you two are gay and dating doesn't mean anything's changed. All it means is my suspicions were right.' Ken grinned at them as he laid back against Fulton's pillows.
Portman propped himself up on his elbow. 'You had suspicions?'
Ken nodded again. 'Yeah, and I don't think I was the only one. You know, you weren't very subtle.'
Fulton looked worried again 'Really?' he asked, unconsciously squeezing Portman's hand again. Portman rubbed his thumb over his boyfriend's knuckled as way of comfort.
'Don't worry Fult. I don't think any of them have actually given it much thought. Certainly not enough to gossip about it, anyway.' said Ken, hoping to reassure the slightly smaller of the two boys sat across from him. 'You really need to think about telling them though. I don't mean right now, but sometime in the near future. They're your friends. This shouldn't change that.'
Portman sat up and pulled Fulton into a hug. 'Kenny's right, man. We need to tell them. They have a right to know.' he said, pressing his lips close to Fulton's ear.
Fulton sighed as he allowed himself to be hugged. 'I know. I guess I'm just…worried that they won't take it well, or that they're going to judge us.'
'I seriously don't think you'll have anything to worry about when you tell them, but don't do it until you're ready. I'm sure it took a lot of guts for you just to tell me, but I'm honoured that you trust me enough to tell me.' Ken said with a smile.
'Well, you're our best friend, aside from each other, we thought you should know first.' Portman grinned at him.
Ken noticed that, although they weren't hugging anymore, Portman's left arm was still round Fulton's waist and his right hand was resting lightly on Fulton's knee with Fulton's own hand covering it. Ken smiled a little. Now that he knew about their relationship, they were a lot more relaxed around him. He suddenly realized he might be staring and cleared his throat a little. 'So, uh, are we watching this movie or what?'
Portman and Fulton laughs. 'Yeah, man. Sorry about all the seriousness there.' Fulton replied, hitting play on the remote. He and Portman were both relieved that Ken had taken the news so well. It had raised their confidence for telling the rest of the team, but they decided they still weren't ready for that step yet. They settled down to watch the movie, with Portman distractedly stroking Fulton's hair. They would worry about telling the rest of the team later.
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