Chapter 25

They returned to the group, Killer carrying five cups, Penguin four, and Bonney her own and a bag of chips. Six of the group were leaning over the table, in a heated discussion, while Bartolomeo was turned around, back resting against the table and facing the ice rink. Cavendish was still showing off his figure skating skills, and he had attracted quite an audience by now, as several skaters had stopped to watch him, and some others were watching him from the side lines. Killer had to admit, he was pretty good at what he was doing.

"Finally!" Helmeppo said when he saw them. "What took you so long?"

"Yeah, 15 minutes are about up," Bartolomeo agreed, without taking his eyes off Cavendish.

The three of them exchanged a look, and it took a few seconds before Killer answered. "They had only one hot chocolate machine, so it took forever." He still couldn't believe they had just come out to a bunch of strangers. It felt like it had been a dream. He really hoped it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass.

They handed out the beverages, and everyone started to drink gratefully – the drinks weren't that hot anymore. They sat down and neither Penguin, Bonney, nor Killer talked about what had happened in the canteen anymore, now that they were among people who knew them again.

Killer watched how Cavendish finished his graceful dance and got a small applause of the people who had been watching him – except from Bartolomeo, who just stared. Cavendish gave his audience a charming smile, after which he skated towards the side of the rink, where their group was sitting. Bartolomeo quickly turned around, placing his legs underneath the table, and looking right at Killer.

"What?" he barked.

Killer looked confused at him and shrugged. "Nothing…" Just because Bartolomeo was suddenly looking at him, didn't mean he'd been judging him or anything. Killer had been looking at Cavendish as well.

It didn't take long before Cavendish had reached them and sat himself down next to Bartolomeo. The green haired boy gulped down the last of his cocoa and crumpled up his paper cup to toss it aside. "Time's up, let's play the next round."

"Don't be like that, Bartolomeo," Cavendish said, after which he leaned towards him and whispered something in Bartolomeo's ear.

Killer couldn't hear it, but didn't really care either. He did notice the color of Bartolomeo's face began to complement his hair, though.

"Not the whole world revolves around you, Cabbage!" Bartolomeo wanted to stand up, but the table was in the way, and he was forced to sit down again. He shoved Cavendish to the far end of the bench, so he could throw his feet over it to the other side again, almost hitting Cavendish with his skates. "Come on everyone, get your skates back on, we're starting again." With that, he walked to the ice and skated towards the hockey field again – which was fortunately still free. Cavendish huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest while he watched Bartolomeo go.

Killer watched the scene before him with raised eyebrows. What the hell was that about? He noticed the rest of the group was staring at them as well. Next to Killer, Penguin's gaze moved towards him, giving him an amused smile that seemed to imply something that Killer didn't quite understand. Killer cocked his head slightly, trying to figure out what Penguin meant with that smile, but his boyfriend just chuckled and shook his head.

"Let's get ready," Penguin said, and kicked off his shoes to exchange them for his skates.

Killer decided to let it rest. Penguin's friends were a weird bunch, he decided. He quickly got into his skates as well and the group was ready in no time, leaving a displeased looking Cavendish behind at the table.

Killer's team decided to let Bonney and Helmeppo switch positions this round, to see if they'd have a better defense that way – according to Helmeppo himself. Killer could see Bonney was a little offended, but he saw a determined look in her eyes, making Killer smirk. She'd probably want to try to score more than Helmeppo had done the first twenty minutes.

The other team hadn't switched any positions, and the group decided to let Shachi and Bonney do the face off this time. Uni looked behind him, towards the bench they had just sat at. "Cavendish," he called out. "Can you drop the puck for us?"

Cavendish looked at them, an uninterested look in his blue eyes, arms still crossed. "No thanks. I don't feel like getting hit by your clumsy handling of those sticks. I think I'll take a little nap."

"No, you won't!" Bartolomeo yelled from the other side of the field.

A smirk crept up Cavendish' face. "Try me."

"I want to see your eyes open at all times!" Bartolomeo pointed his hockey stick at him, as if to let him know he was watching him.

Once again, Killer wondered where the hell he had gotten himself caught up in. It was obvious by now that the group was already acquainted with Cavendish before this day, but Killer didn't understand what kind of power play Bartolomeo and he had going on. Nor did he particularly care.

"Can't we just place the puck in the middle and count down?" Killer suggested.

"Yeah, that's what we usually do when we don't have anyone to drop it," Shachi agreed.

Penguin counted down, and the face off began. Within no time, Bonney had gained control over the puck and started to dash forwards, Killer following her. Penguin immediately threw himself between them, but Bonney passed the puck to Coby instead. Killer advanced past Penguin, because of which there was room for Coby to shoot the puck towards him, and Killer immediately passed it to Bonney again. However, Clione intercepted it, and passed it to Shachi, who started a counterattack.

Both teams were pretty good at defending, this time, and Killer's team was doing slightly better overall than the previous round. For several minutes, no team came close to scoring.

Suddenly and out of nowhere, Bartolomeo cursed loudly. Killer looked at him in surprise, and quickly followed his gaze towards Cavendish. The blond figure skater was leaning against the table with his eyes closed. A second later, they snapped open, a creepy wide grin on his face, and he disappeared from his place on the bench.

Penguin, who had just conquered the puck, let out a surprised yelp when Cavendish appeared next to him and stole his hockey stick right out of his hands. It was just a second that Killer saw him, before he took off with the puck, passing Killer before he'd noticed it.

"Stay out of our game, you asshole!" Bartolomeo yelled, sounding slightly panicked, as he saw Cavendish nearing.

Without effort, Cavendish passed between Helmeppo and Coby and went straight for the goaltender. As soon as there was no one between him and Bartolomeo anymore, he shot hard at the goal.

Surprisingly, Bartolomeo managed to block it, and the puck bounced right back at Cavendish, who immediately tried again.

"Stop that, you two-sided freak!" Bartolomeo shouted as he blocked another attack. Cavendish didn't give up, and tried again and again. The whole group was watching them in astonishment.

"This happen before?" Killer asked Penguin, who seemed kind of lost without his hockey stick in his hands.

Penguin sighed. "Once, as far as I've seen. Apparently, Cavendish' alter ego comes out when he's tired," he explained. "He is not much of a conversationalist, and very much a fighter, so don't try to stop him."

Killer watched with raised eyebrows how Cavendish finally managed to score, and the figure skater turned around with a victorious, albeit creepy grin on his face.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Bartolomeo came for him.

Most of the group now just seemed to be waiting patiently until it was over, some getting slightly annoyed by the interruption of their game. No one seemed to count Cavendish' goal as a score for their team.

Cavendish looked over his shoulder at Bartolomeo, and moved his hockey stick quickly through the air until it landed at the back of Bartolomeo's knees, just before the latter could reach him to strangle him. Bartolomeo fell to the ice with a surprised cry.

Cavendish just looked down at him, before making his way between the other players again at full speed. Killer barely saw what happened, but Penguin ended up with his hockey stick back in his hands. However, he lost his balance and stumbled forwards.

Killer saw how he fell towards the ice, and his instincts immediately kicked in. He quickly moved towards his boyfriend and caught him underneath his arms. Penguin stayed on his feet, but bumped into Killer, who then held him firmly in place. "Gotcha," Killer said softly.

When Penguin seemed sure he wouldn't fall over anymore, he looked up at Killer, their faces suddenly very close. He smiled. "Thanks."

Killer held on to him, just in case, while he lost himself in those beautiful eyes for a second, his heart beating loudly. Damn, why did Penguin do so much to him?

"Ohh, that's what you meant with that emoji, Shachi," Clione's suggestive voice broke their spell.

Killer abruptly let go of Penguin and snapped his head towards Clione and Shachi. The latter stood with his back towards Killer, but Killer saw him making wild hand gestures at his throat towards his teammate who had just spoken to him.

Clione looked from him, to Killer, opening his mouth, but abruptly shutting it again before he could say anything. Shachi turned around slowly, to face Killer, who was staring at him with murderous intent. What the hell had Shachi said? What emoji? To what conclusion had Clione come because of that? It'd better not be what Killer feared it was.

When Shachi caught him staring, he quickly averted his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, Clione," he blurted out. "It was just a stupid joke. It meant nothing." He carefully glanced at Killer again.

"Uhuh," Clione said, sounding like he didn't believe a thing of it. "Okay."

Killer had to restrain himself not to grab Shachi by the collar and drag him off the ice to make sure he wouldn't say anything stupid anymore. He knew it had been a bad idea to let him in on his secret. But if he acted upon it now, it would only draw more attention to him. So, he decided to let it rest for now, but mentally promised Shachi he would talk to him later.

Meanwhile, Coby had helped Bartolomeo up and tried his best to hold him back, so he wouldn't go after Cavendish, who had taken his place on the bench again as if nothing ever happened, snoring softly. They decided to resume the game, ignoring the goal Cavendish had made, and returning the puck to where it was when he had interrupted the game.

Killer had a hard time concentrating though, because the short interaction between Clione and Shachi had left him worried. When their second break came and the group went toward the benches again, Killer put his hand on Shachi's shoulder before the latter could get off the ice. "Shachi," he spoke sharply but calmly, and he saw Shachi stiffen. Good. "Can I talk to you for a moment." It wasn't a question, of course.

From the corners of his eyes, Killer saw Penguin look worriedly at them, but Killer decided to leave him out of this. "Alone," he added, both so Shachi would follow him, and Penguin wouldn't.

Shachi nodded and followed Killer to a quieter part, and they came to a stop between two stands, where nobody could see them. Killer pushed him softly against the wall as to not hurt him, but to make sure he knew who was in power here, and looked threateningly at him. "What did you say?"

Shachi looked up at him, surprising Killer with the amused grin on his face. "I know this is how you got into Penguin's pants, but it won't work on me."

Killer narrowed his eyes, annoyed that Shachi was mocking him. He brought his face closer to Shachi's, making sure it came across as threatening, not flirty. "What did you say to Clione?" He asked again.

The smile quickly left Shachi's face. "Nothing, I swear."

"Then why was he first talking about 'mystery friends' and does he now act like he's figured it all out?" Killer continued his interrogation. "He said something about an emoji?"

"It was just a joke I made in the group chat! I didn't tell them about you!" Shachi defended himself.

"Show me the message," Killer commanded, his face still only inches away from Shachi's.

"No," Shachi said, meeting his gaze head on. Then he pushed him back. "Get out of my personal space."

In turn, Killer pushed him harder against the wall. "Show me the message. If it's nothing, it's no problem to show it to me, is it?"

"Ever heard of a thing called privacy?!" Shachi scowled at him.

"If it's about me, I think you owe it to me to show me," Killer pressed. He wasn't going to let him off so easily. "Besides, if it was in the group chat, I can just ask Penguin to show it to me if you don't. I'm sure he won't think it's a problem."

Now Shachi narrowed his eyes. "Don't think you know him better than I do. We've been friends forever; you know him just a few weeks." He crossed his arms. "Don't think he'll do everything you ask, just because he let you touch his dick."

Killer felt his face become hot. How many details had Penguin shared with his friend? Killer shook his head, ignoring the comment. "If you want me to trust you, just show me the message!" Killer said impatiently.

"That's not how trust works, asshole!" Shachi spat back. "I was giving Penguin the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not sure I understand what he sees in you anymore. It must be purely physical attraction, 'cause it's not like you're pleasant company."

"Fuck you!" Killer pushed Shachi even harder, before taking a step back and inhaling deeply to calm himself. He thought of Penguin, and what he would think if he knew Killer was fighting with his best friend. He could just imagine his disappointed face. Killer sighed deeply. "Listen, I don't want to be arguing with you. We obviously both care about Penguin a lot. I just want to make sure you don't tell anyone about me, or even hint at me being gay. Is that clear? 'Cause if I hear anyone found out about it because of you…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not telling anyone." Shachi still scowled at him. "But I'm keeping your secret because Penguin asked me to, not for you." He took a deep breath as well. "However, I can't help it if people find out about it because you are practically hugging each other in the middle of the hockey field while staring into each other's eyes like two lovesick idiots. Anybody could come to the right conclusion like that."

Killer stared at him. Was that how it had looked? Had it been his own fault that Clione now suspected something? Had the others seen them like that as well? No one else had said anything, but…

"'Cause that's what you two are," Shachi continued. "Lovesick idiots." A slight smile crept up his face. "I'm happy for Penguin, though I hope you treat him with a little more respect than you treat me. But seeing the way you look at him…" He shrugged. "I'll give you one more chance."

Killer scoffed, a blush on his cheeks. "I'm not lovesick, and it's not like I need your approval," he said, but his mind was elsewhere. Was it really so obvious in the way he looked at Penguin? Could people really see Killer liked him just from the way he was watching him? It worried him a little. He hadn't been aware he looked at Penguin differently than he looked at other people.

"Hey, you're not fighting about me, are you?" Penguin's voice came from above them. When they looked up, they saw Penguin lean over the fence of one of the stands they had hidden between.

Killer exchanged a quick look with Shachi, before smiling at his boyfriend. "No," he said reassuringly. "We're all right."

TBC~!

I'm sorry for the amount of bartodish in this chapter 🙈 I couldn't help myself. But if you don't like them, don't worry, they won't me more than a mention in the rest of the story. Anwyay, next chapter will be completely focused on our main pairing again 😏😉