The kiss lasted a few seconds, a few seconds Adam was in heaven, before he pulled back and immediately cast his eyes to the bed, not nearly brave enough to look Jesse in the eye.

"What was that?"

Jesse had been staring at Adam in shock for a good while before he remembered how to form words.

Adam stumbled over his words nervously, certain he had just ruined the new friendship he had just achieved with Jesse.

"I...I...I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking. It will never happen again. I'm so sorry...I can't belie..."

His rambling was interrupted by Jesse's lips being pressed against his.

Adam's eyes widened in shock but quickly closed again as he simply let himself enjoy the kiss.

This time, when they pulled back, they were both grinning. It was again Jesse who spoke first.

"I had no idea..." "Me neither," Adam responded quietly.

"I...I know I haven't exactly been the nicest person in the world to you since you joined the Ducks, but that was just because I didn't want to see any of my teammates get hurt...and...mostly...because I've had these feelings for you for so long...and they've just gotten stronger and stronger...even though I didn't want them to." Jesse let out a deep sigh before he continued. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that...I like you. I really like you, Adam."

In that moment, Adam had to admire Jesse. He could tell Jesse was nervous, probably not nearly as nervous as he was, but still nervous, but he said everything with a seriousness and conviction that amazed Adam. He was starting to believe Jesse was this passionate about everything that was important to him.

"I like you, too. I have for a long time. From even when I was on the Hawks. That was one of the reasons I hated when we would pick on you guys. You have to know that I hated that, Jesse. I hated myself for it. We had no reason to be mean to you guys and yet we did whatever we wanted. And when it was you that we picked on, it killed me. I felt sick to my stomach...because I already liked you so much."

Jesse looked surprised at first. He couldn't believe Adam had liked him even back when he was on the Hawks; but then a soft smile formed on his face.

"I believe you. I guess we both did things we regret, but it's in the past now. We're all good. We can just start from here. So, does this make us...boyfriends?"

"Yeah. Boyfriends works for me. So...what do we do now?"

Jesse smiled and leaned in to kiss Adam again.

They spent the next hour kissing and talking, just relaxing as they both reveled in the new direction their relationship had taken. They had decided that for now they wouldn't tell anybody. They wanted to keep it to themselves for a while. When he felt comfortable enough, Jesse would tell his dad first. He knew his dad would understand. They'd wait to tell Adam's parents, though. Adam was ashamed to say that he knew his father wouldn't react well. He rushed to assure Jesse that even though he was going to wait to tell his parents, he wasn't ashamed of or embarrassed by him. Jesse again surprised him, though. He understood and was more than willing to wait to let Adam's family know.

Eventually Adam's mom came back up, telling him that Jesse had to leave because he needed his rest. Adam rolled his eyes but relented. As they said their goodbyes and Jesse left the room, they both knew they had never been so happy.

They spent the following weeks seeing as much of each other as possible. Jesse visited Adam every day until he was able to leave the house. Once he was, they would meet up at parks or by the lake and just relax by themselves, talking, kissing, just spending time together. They would have loved to play hockey one-on-one, but Adam's doctor...and his mother...weren't quite confident enough to trust him on a pair of skates yet.

When they heard that Coach Bombay was going to tryout for minor-league hockey, they were surprised, but happy for him. When the team all showed up to send him off, Jesse and Adam arrived together and stood side-by-side. When Adam called Coach a cake-eater, Jesse let out a face-splitting grin and laughed to himself.

He had rubbed off on Adam more than he thought.

TBC