Charlie woke up on Saturday morning to find that Adam was no longer next to him and in his place was a note that said simply 'See you at the game.' He had no time to think about the previous night's events because he hadn't set his alarm and he needed to get to the school to catch the bus to their away game. Jan and his mother had both already left, which meant he'd have to take the bus, which just made him even later.

When he finally arrived fifteen minutes late, Orion was standing outside the school bus with his arms crossed. "Conway, didn't I specifically say ten thirty?"

"I'm sorry, Coach, I had to catch a –"

"I don't want any excuses. Everyone else was here on time. Do you really think it's fair to them if I let you play when they were all here?"

Charlie opened his mouth in shock. "Coach, I'm the captain!"

"And as captain, you shouldn't have been late," Orion motioned to the door. "Just get on the bus,"

Charlie wanted to question him but he knew that it would just make things worse for him. He climbed the three steps and was greeted with dirty looks from the team but no one said anything because Orion was right behind him. Adam was sitting in the very front and he smiled at Charlie when he saw him, but Charlie couldn't find it in him to smile back. He would use the excuse that he was pissed off at Orion, but he knew that wasn't the truth. On the ride to the school, he'd thought a lot about it and those thoughts led to deep shame. He was straight, for God's sake. Why had he done that with Adam? He hadn't even been drunk. Charlie had run through a hundred possible reasons and none of them had many sense to him so his only plan for the moment was to avoid Adam for as long as he could until things starting making sense again.

He took a seat in the very back of the bus next to Fulton and Guy just as the engine started. Russ and Goldberg immediately turned their heads to face them. "Did you hear what happened?!"

For a second, Charlie's heart fell into his stomach and then he remembered that they weren't talking about him. "What?" said Fulton.

"Connie and Luis!" Russ whisper-yelled.

Fulton scoffed, "No way,"

"Swear to God! Luis told Kenny!" Goldberg nodded, confirming the story.

"That's disgusting," Charlie said, but he was grateful there was some gossip to distract him from his own issues.

"And that's not even the weirdest part! It was at her house right after the whole not funny prank," added Goldberg.

Fulton shook his head again. "Why would she do that? Luis is such a pig,"

"Who cares?" Russ nodded to near the front of the bus where Connie and Luis were sitting together. He was twirling her hair around his finger and she was giggling, hitting him playfully. "The Connie and Guy soap opera just keeps getting more and more interesting, wouldn't you say, Guy?"

Guy, who had been noticeably silent, made a face. "Fuck off, Russ,"

Charlie remembered what Connie had said back at her house the day of the prank. "Did you really call her a whore?"

"No! I mean – I called her promiscuous,"

Russ sucked in a breath and squeezed his nose with his hand. "What?" said Guy.

"That's worse than calling her a whore," said Fulton and Russ and Goldberg nodded in agreement. "That's basically like you were calling her that in a nice way which means you thought about it before you said it,"

Charlie knew that Guy would never say a bad word about Connie and that he probably hadn't meant it like that. But still, he felt a rush of defensiveness over Connie and shook his head with the rest of the boys. "Not cool, man,"

"Everyone else has called her way worse! You called her a bitch the other day, Goldberg!"

"She's not in love with me,"

Guy's face softened. "If she's so in love with me then why is she with Luis?"

"Because he's a whore," said Russ.

Guy stared across the aisle at Connie, who looked much happier than she had recently. Charlie remembered the two of them when the Ducks had first started and how Guy used to be able to make her smile like that and he felt sad and nostalgic. He'd been hoping for years that Connie and Guy would get back together and while now it just seemed hopeless, he wanted it now more than ever.

"Whatever," said Fulton, sensing how uncomfortable everyone was getting. "Uh, Portman's getting out Monday. Julie, my mom and I are going over to get him if you guys wanna come,"

"I'm really happy he's doing better," Charlie said sincerely. He felt guilty that he hadn't been there for Fulton as much as he should've been during this time.

"He and the Cat are spending an awful lot of time together," said Russ. "Anything going on there?"

Fulton smirked and said bashfully, "I think he likes her but he's not gonna admit it. Ever,"

Nobody said anything to that out of surprise. They all knew that Portman considered them friends, but he never outwardly showed any sort of affection towards them unless it was on the ice. The prospect of him liking Julie was too odd for any of them to comprehend and therefore, they had nothing to say it.

Meanwhile at the front of the bus, Adam was tapping his foot anxiously and Julie was watching him from the corner of her eye. She and Adam were supposed to meet at the rink at eight thirty to get in some extra practice, but Adam had called her around eight telling her he couldn't make it. Adam turning down practice time was weird in general, but what was weirder was that he was whispering. He had his own line, there was no need for him to be whispering.

"What's going on?" she asked him quietly as the bus passed over a pothole.

Adam was snapped back into reality by the sound of her voice, but he still looked very out of it. "What'd you say?"

"You seem distracted. Did something happen?

He blushed and looked away from her, smiling just the tiniest bit. It was a look that Julie rarely saw from Adam – he always looked anxious or confused. Never happy. Him smiling made her smile and she poked him in the ribs. "C'mon, what's up?"

He shook his head, giggling.

"Tell me," she insisted in a playful tone, but she really did want to know what was going on.

Adam looked her over like he was considering whether or not he could trust her. After about twenty seconds of this, he sighed and leaned in close to her. "I hooked up with someone," he whispered.

"SHUT UP!" Julie said louder than she should have which drew some attention from Dwayne and Ken. Adam shushed her. "Sorry, sorry. Spill."

Adam checked to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "I, uh . . . I mean . . . what do you want to know?"

Julie was too afraid of speaking at all now and she mouthed "It was a boy, right?"

He blushed again and nodded. She covered her mouth and raised her eyebrows, shocked. "But – how? I mean – you're the only – well, not the only, but the only one we know about,"

"I don't know either," he explained. "I still think it was a dream or something,"

"Who was it?"

This time, Adam swallowed hard. Julie knew that he thought that if he said it out loud that it really would be a dream. And then when she thought hard about the word 'dream' she gasped quietly and her mouth formed a perfect O. "Charlie?" she mouthed.

"I'm not saying anything," Adam smirked and turned away, looking awfully proud of himself.

Julie slapped him again, trying to process this. She leaned back against the seat and blew out some air from between her teeth. "Is there something in the water because everyone is getting some this week. I mean, God Damn,"

"I mean – it wasn't like sex sex," he turned back to her shyly.

"Well, then what was it?"

Adam's face reddened completely. It had been a running joke amongst the team for years how uncomfortable Adam got when the subject of sex was brought up. Julie and Connie always insisted that it was just him being polite (and it was, along with him being painfully shy), but the boys insisted that it was him being 'a fag.'

"Would you feel more comfortable if I just guessed?"

He nodded and didn't look her in the eye.

Julie wasn't comfortable talking about sex either but she really, really wanted to know what had gone down. Damn. Adam and Charlie. Charlie and Adam. She couldn't believe it. "Um . . . like . . ." she took a breath, turned Adam's face so she could look him in the eye and said just above a whisper ". . . oral?"

He shook his head.

"Then . . . the other?"

He nodded.

Ever since Adam had accidentally told her how he felt about Charlie freshmen year, she'd paid extra close attention to their interactions. Adam hadn't brought it up again until a few weeks prior, but there had always been signs. Like the way Adam would inconspicuously watch him in class or how he always stayed later than everyone to change so he and Charlie could walk out together. She'd only been paying attention to Adam because Charlie was like the straightest straight boy. He always had a new girlfriend and their sex life was always the talk of the school. But Adam wouldn't lie to her and he wouldn't joke about something like that so obviously she'd been way off. Could Charlie be gay? Was all that he'd said about gay people at that party based on a repressed sexuality? She didn't know whether or not she should be happy about this hook up. It wasn't like it had been some random guy – it had been Charlie, the one person who Adam had ever liked that way. And Adam was so sensitive. Away from the whole romance-only-liking-Charlie-sex-being-a-difficult-subject-for-him thing, Adam rarely really cared about anything. He loved hockey and he was dedicated to his schoolwork, but other than that, it was hard for him to get attached to things. Charlie, however, loved everything. Hooking up with Adam might not be a big deal for him – it might be something that just happened and if he decided it was a one time thing, he'd bounce back. But Adam would be crushed. Julie couldn't say any of this to Adam because she didn't want to upset him but she also didn't want him to get his hopes up. It was a difficult situation all around.

Even once they were inside the Ramsey Rhinos' visitor locker room, Guy couldn't get the image of Connie and Luis out of his head. He'd barely said a word since Goldberg and Russ told him and he didn't care how noticable and obvious this was probably was to everyone. It just didn't make any sense! Okay – it did. Connie was attractive, Luis was attractive. They both enjoyed sex. They were friends. But still . . . what had happened to Connie's not doing it with anyone on the team thing? It wasn't like Luis had taken advantage of her or anything because she seemed so happy around him today.

"You alright, man?" Ken asked him, lacing up his skates.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine," he said unconvincingly.

Just then, Connie, Julie and Adam came in to the room. The three of them were all giggling about something, which just pissed Guy off even further because he was almost positive it had something to do with Luis. He was trying so hard not to watch Connie, trying to tell himself that her and Luis had nothing to do with him but unless Connie didn't look over at him and smirk menacingly, he had no proof. She was currently helping Dwayne get his jersey over his pads – not paying Guy any attention.

"Hey, Guy, can you hand me my bandana?" asked Luis. Anger boiled inside of Guy as the image of him and Connie popped into his head. He felt offended that Luis had the nerve to even speak to him, let alone ask him for favors. It was only when Guy looked across from him at the mirror on the wall that he realized how stupid he was being. He wasn't an angry person. Luis was his friend and he didn't get to have any say about who Connie went around with. He had Alexa, who he loved and would do anything for.

Guy looked down at the floor where Luis's bandana had fell. He picked it up and tossed it over to him.

"Thanks, man,"

Orion came into the room and everyone quieted down once they saw him. He looked around uncomfortably and cleared his throat a few times, "I just want to say – that um . . . I really think we should win this one for Portman,"

No one said anything at first. Fulton looked like he was going to tear up at the mention of his friend and Julie was smiling brightly, but other than that, the awkwardness was apparent. Finally, Charlie stood up next to Orion. "For Portman,"

Orion looked at Charlie like he was trying not to roll his eyes, but he wasn't trying hard enough. It was an act that was easy to see through. "You're still not playing, Charlie," he said.

"But Coach -!"

"You can't let him not play! We've lost two games already!" said Connie.

"We need him!" Ken agreed.

"Well then he shouldn't have been late. I don't make exceptions. You should know that by now," Orion said and turned to leave.

There was an audible groan from nearly everyone. "Nice going, Spazway," said Goldberg, hitting the captain on the side of the head. Charlie ignored him and followed Orion out to the rink, and everyone else followed suit.

Fulton was irritated – not at Charlie, really, but just because he was pretty sure they were gonna lose without him. He really wanted to win this one game, give Portman some good news, and inspire him to keep getting better. A loss was just going to piss his friend off and probably tempt him into finding an outlet to take it out. He didn't express this, though. He never fucking expressed anything.

The Ramsey Rhinos were already skating around the rink by the time the Ducks got to the sidelines. Charlie took a seat on the bench right away in a huff, kicking his foot against the wall. Adam sucked in a breath and decided to go over to him. He was feeling pretty brave after last night.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked quietly, while the rest of the Ducks gathered in a circle.

"Do I look okay, Banks?" It was a far more aggressive tone than Adam was expecting and he was taken aback, so much so, he literally stepped back. Charlie hadn't even looked at him, which was the worst part.

"Oh – um . . . okay. Sorry,"

"Banks! Get over here!" called Orion.

Adam blushed, feeling like he'd just been caught with his pants around his ankles and hurried over. He felt as though everyone could see right through him, like they knew of his indiscretion. This was proven to him by the way Luis moved away from him as he entered the circle and the way Julie had winked at him – and then he remembered that Luis only knew that he was gay and Julie was the only one who actually knew the truth. Unless Charlie had told someone, which by the way he was acting, Adam was pretty sure he hadn't.

"Ready? On three," said Orion, once everyone (minus Charlie)'s hands were stacked on top of each other. "Quack . . ."

"Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, GO DUCKS!" chanted the team. They all clapped – much less enthusiastically as maybe they would've before and anyone who knew Charlie wasn't playing couldn't have blamed them. One by one, the Ducks headed out onto the ice.

"What's this, folks? It looks as if team captain Charlie Conway is sitting this one out!" came the announcer Josh's voice. "With a tough first loss and one of the famed bash brothers out, this is certainly going to be a tough one for the Eden Hall Ducks,"

Julie rolled her eyes as she headed into the goal. Goldberg and Fulton took their places in front of her and turned back to wish her good luck. She didn't need luck, it was the rest of them that did.

Adam stood center on the front line between Russ and Ken.

"We got this, boys," said Russ.

Ken smiled in agreement.

The Rhinos' front line gets ready in front of them. The center is a burly, mean looking guy with huge teeth that stuck out in different directions. He looked at the Ducks and scoffed, "Faggots,"

Russ's mouth opened and half a sound came out, before Ken spoke up before him. "That word is a slur and you sound ignorant when you say it,"

The player in front of Russ chuckled, "Whatever, homo,"

"Lay off the pizza and then talk to us, okay?" said Russ, laughing at his own comment.

The player took a step towards Russ but stopped when the referee stepped between the teams. He gave both boys a look. "Let's have a nice clean game, alright, boys?"

Neither team said anything. The ref looked between the two of them and then rolled his eyes when it was apparent he wasn't getting a response. Adam and the Rhinos' center put both their sticks harshly down the ice. The ref slid his whistle into his mouth and then dropped the puck down on the ice. The sound of the whistle blowing rang throughout the rink.

"Adam Banks with the puck! He slides past Rhinos captain Ron Jeffries without difficulty . . . dives behind defenseman Andreas Swanson . . . and he passes to Ken Wu! Wu passes to Russ Tyler – is it knucklepuck time, folks? – and no! Tyler passes back to Banks, he shoots, he scores!" Announcer Josh's voice informs the crowd with his usual enthusiasm.

Russ and Ken highfived Adam and he felt himself smiling. Looking out into the crowd, he easily found his father talking to two men in suits. This was the exact kind of attention that he needed. The Ducks and the Rhinos headed back to their places. "Nice one, Cake eater!" said Fulton from behind them and Adam nodded a thank you.

The whistle blew again.

"Banks shouldn't get too cocky because right away, Jeffries takes control of the puck! This is Jeffries' second year as a senior at Ramsey High School, here's hoping he graduates this time around, am I right, folks? Jeffries is trapped between the Ducks' defense, Fulton Reed and Greg Goldberg! Without his fellow bash brother, Fulton looks a little lost but hopefully – OH MY! Never mind! Fulton knocks Jeffries to the ground – Goldberg has the puck . . . he passes over to Wu . . . Wu narrowly misses a block from Tom Kessler . . . the puck is slid over to Russ Tyler . . . Tyler is blocked by Kessler! Rhinos with the puck! Johnny Marks is being tailed closely by Banks – Ducks fans will know that Banks has been called the next Wayne Gretzky, lets hope he can make the Great One proud! Banks takes the puck following an excellent block from Goldberg and . . . he evades Kessler and Jack Byers . . . he shoots! He scores! The score is 2-0 with the Ducks in the lead following a difficult start of the season!"

Adam felt himself fill with pride as Russ rubs his helmet and pats him on the back. Orion calls for a line change – the three boys switch with Connie, Luis and Averman.

The ref blows his whistle.

"Les Averman faces off against Jeffries – Jeffries nabs the puck! He misses a block from Goldberg . . . Connie Moreau has control of the puck! She skates past Marks but is stopped by Kessler! Kessler passes to Byers, Byers passes to Marks! Marks has quite a bit of open ice as Averman and Moreau seem to be slacking off a bit and . . . he shoots! He scores," Josh was clearly less excited about the Rhinos scoring, which didn't go unnoticed by the Ramsey teacher next to him who began applauding loudly.

Charlie stood up from his seat and approached Orion in the rough way that he sometimes did when his temper got the better of him. "C'mon Coach, please put me in!"

"Sit down, Conway, you're not going in,"

"But there's scouts out there!"

"Then you shouldn't have been late. Sit your ass down,"

Charlie shook his head and sat back down reluctantly. The rest of the first quarter went by without anything all that interesting taking place. Fulton accidentally took out Goldberg at one point, which led to Orion putting Dwayne in to replace him – much to Dwayne's dismay. Adam scored two more times, with Connie and Ken each scoring once as well. Guy spent most of this quarter on the bench next to Charlie, looking just as pissed off as he, and Charlie knew that it had nothing to do with his lack of ice time. Charlie, however, was trying his best not to look at Adam at all. He was so embarrassed by what had happened the night before and now he was just angry that it had caused him to lose focus and be late for this game. And Adam was out there, completely fine! He was killing it, actually. It pissed Charlie off for reasons he couldn't explain. The one thing he could explain was that he didn't want to be anywhere near Adam right now.

At the start of the second quarter, Orion started Guy at center, with Connie and Luis as left and right wing. Goldberg and Averman couldn't stop laughing at this, and they didn't stop making comments until Julie threatened to tell the cheerleading squad how small their dicks were.

"Guy Germaine takes the puck! This isn't too shocking, ladies and gentleman, Guy has always been one of the best Ducks in this announcer's opinion – Germaine slides the puck to Moreau. Moreau passes to Mendoza . . . Mendoza charges the goal – he's known for his speed . . . he shoots . . . Kessler blocks it! Kessler passes to Swanson, Swanson passes to Jeffries – Germaine intercepts the pass! He slides the puck to Moreau . . . Moreau slides to Mendoza . . . he shoots! He scores! The Ducks lead with 6-3."

Orion lets out a breath and switches the line up straight away, replacing them with Dwayne, Goldberg and Fulton. This line didn't work particularly well either and were replaced by Adam, Averman and Russ. Russ knucklepucking and scoring was the only thing of real note – and right after that, the Rhinos scored twice. It was pretty clear to everyone that Orion wasn't sure if he should put Adam in or not because he didn't want it to seem like he was showcasing him. But all of the Ducks really wanted a big win this time. So by the time the second quarter ended, Julie skated over from her goal and pulled off her mask, "Coach, put Adam back in,"

Adam didn't tell her to stop, but he was clearly embarrassed.

"There are actually other players on this team, you know, Julie," Orion raised his eyebrow at her.

"No Coach, she's right. We want to win. Put Banks in," said Averman. Noises of agreement followed from Fulton, Goldberg and Russ.

Orion looked around at the rest of the team, only to see no one protesting. His eyes flickered to Charlie. "What do you think, Captain?"

Anyone else would've taken this as a sign that Orion really wasn't mad at Charlie, he'd just been disappointed. Charlie, however, just shook his head and shrugged, "Whatever,"
Adam could feel his heart drop. The only approval he really wanted was from Charlie and he clearly wasn't getting it today. Julie sensed his let down and laced a finger around one of his. He squeezed it to let her know she appreciated it.

"Well then, Banks, I guess you're in,"

Ken and Connie both clapped him on the back and wished him luck while the other Ducks all let out similar sighs of relief. It was undeniable that Adam was definitely back on his game after a difficult two weeks.

The third quarter began shortly after with Adam, Ken and Guy all on front line with Fulton and Russ on defense.

"The Ducks are clearly playing to their strengths with Adam Banks, number 99, back on center for the third and final quarter. The last game that Banks played he was thrown out from – a first for the star player. Let's hope that he can get over that and win this one for Eden Hall," said Josh.

Guy laughed sarcastically and looked over at Adam. "You got this, Banks,"

The ref blew his whistle.

"Banks takes the puck! He narrowly misses a shove from Kessler – pretty amateur move there from Kessler, honestly – Reed and Tyler protect Banks from blocks from Byers and Swanson and . . . he scores! The Ducks lead with 8 to 5,"

The only cheer Adam can make out is Julie's amongst the arena. He can't find his father's, but when he looks over, he's chatting it up with one of the men in suits again. Charlie is still sitting there, looking uninterested. Was I that bad? is all Adam can think.

The ref's whistle blows again.

"Kessler has the puck . . . he takes a tough knock from Wu, who's known amongst long time Ducks fans as the third bash brother . . . Germaine with the puck . . . Germaine passes back to Banks. Swanson tries to block but he misses . . . he shoots, he scores!"

Adam didn't know what it was – why he was so on his game today when he was so confused about his current situation with Charlie but he was. And it continued for the rest of the quarter until the Ducks won 11-5. Their fans erupted in applause as the game came to a close and the Ducks rushed to the ice as the Rhinos left with their faces down ("Who's the faggot now?" Russ called after them). Orion actually came over to shake Adam's hand, and he was then enveloped into a big hug by Julie, who was shaking with excitement. Connie and Luis threw their helmets off and kissed each other with more passion than was acceptable. Dwayne, Ken and Russ were all jumping together in a tight knit little circle.

Guy had left as soon as the game ended to go and find Alexa and get out of there. He couldn't bring himself to care about the win, all he wanted was to go home.

Adam was going to go and see if Charlie wanted to talk, but he was stopped by his father, who motioned for him to come over. Adam walked out of the rink tentatively and approached his father with caution, who grabbed him by the neck affectionately. "My boy did great, wouldn't ya say, Earl?"

The man in the suit smiled at Adam and held out his hand. Adam shook it. "Earl Baxter, nice to meet you, Mr. Banks. We've heard quite a bit about you,"

"We is the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, Adam," said Adam's father.

His face went red instantly. "Oh, uh, nice to meet you too, sir,"

"That was an amazing performance out there," said Earl Baxter.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that,"

"You've been playing like that your whole life?"

"Uh . . . well . . . I don't know, I have off games –"

Mr. Banks scoffed. "Don't be modest, Adam. Yes, he's always played like that. Natural talent in this one, but he trains hard. Doesn't slack off,"

Adam couldn't have been more flustered. He hated when his dad talked about him like that. Earl Baxter looked back at Adam and grinned, "Well, Adam, I want you to know that I'm going to continue looking at you for the early draft,"

"The draft of . . . the draft of the NHL?"

He nodded. "You're way too talented to just go straight to juniors. We've been watching you for years now,"

"Wow – th-thank you. I really – just, wow. Thank you so much,"

Earl shook his hand again and handed him a card. "Here's my card. Call me if you have any questions,"

"Thank you – I do. I mean, I will,"

As Earl walked away, Adam's father dropped his grasp on his son's father and laughed happily, turning to him. To anyone else, this would've been the sign of a proud dad, but Adam knew his father well. He knew that all his father was proud of was the fact that he could raise a child that could make it to the NHL. It had nothing to do with Adam, and everything to do with him. His smile quickly turned into a frown.

"You're not to screw this up, you hear me? This could be your big break. Our big break," The emphasis was on the 'our.' "Now we can talk about you not coming home last night at home, but that shit can't happen again. People are watching you now. Important people,"

Adam thought back to last night. "This shit can't happen again" wasn't an understatement. It was pretty clear that Charlie wasn't all that happy with what had happened the night before, even if they hadn't spoken about it yet. He could just tell. He liked to think he could always tell what Charlie was thinking. And as much as he hated to admit it, his dad was right. Hockey was Adam's one true love and it always would be. That was what he needed to focus on.


Author's Note: Sorry this took so long guys! Please review xoxo