Steve
I'm not going to lie, the text from Liz asking me to come over before we all head out to Pony's first hockey game feels a lot like I'm being set up for an ambush. I know for a fact that Darry has tried a bunch of times to get a hold of Pony who has refused to answer him back, I insisted that he at least keep talking to Liz to let him know that everything is good. I sigh internally pausing before I ring the buzzer, and then I wait when I hear a voice and then a laugh that I would know anywhere, I chuckle before hitting the buzzer. Liz pulls it open, "Steve hi honey." She greets giving me a hug before stepping aside so I can come in, "Everyone is in the living room." I grab her arm stopping her,
"Liz I'm gonna be straight with you, if this is going to turn into some FBI level interrogation I'm out." I warn, she shakes her head,
"It's not I promise." She says with a gentle smile, I have to grin when my assumptions are correct and I see Two-Bit laying on the couch when I walk in, he had shot me a text about a week ago saying that he was finally off probation, and was going to try and find a way to come visit.
"Well if it isn't Stevie." He says standing up before pulling me into a huge hug, "How you been?"
"Can't complain." I reply as he lets me go, I nod at Darry who is sitting in his normal seat before taking a seat on the couch. Darry clears his throat and I know it's coming,
"How is he?" He asks, I can see the concern all over his face, he looks like shit, like he hasn't slept in days, and for a second I'm back in Tulsa when everything hit the fan. I shake my head clearing the thoughts,
"He's good." Darry looks at me, "Dar I swear to God he's good. Going to school, going to hockey, I'm making sure he eats something other than junk-food."
"See I told you he's fine." Liz assures him patting his knee,
"Is he still seeing her?" Darry asks, I look at Liz before calming saying,
"I'm not talking about Payton." I reply, there is no way I'm going to tell Darry that she's been over practically every single night, and that there are nights I know for a fact that she didn't go home, instead spending the night with him. Two-Bit is watching the two of us like he's at a ping-pong match.
"I just...I heard from Soda." I cut him off,
"No disrespect here, but I don't give a shit what Soda has to say." I tell him, Soda had reached out to me a few times, and to me it seemed he was trying to get information about what was going on with Pony and Payton.
"What the hell have I missed?" Two-Bit wonders out loud, "Speaking of pretty boy where the hell is he?" He asks Darry, who without realizing it makes a face,
"He's with Kate." Liz answers for him, "Her brother is on the JV team and apparently he's going to be sitting with her family." I can tell this bothers both her and Darry.
"He's missing Pony's first game for some chick?" Two-Bit questions the fact that he seems something wrong with this speaks volumes, normally Two-Bit is as easy-going as they come, but this seems to have hit a chord with him as well. No one says anything for a minute or two before Liz looks at her watch,
"We should go, JV plays first and then Varsity, and from what Robbie's mom told me if we don't get there early we'll never find a parking spot." She pauses, "Steve you can ride with us if you want." I stand up, grabbing my coat that I had thrown over the couch,
"Sounds good." I reply following everyone out the door and to the garage attached to the apartment building.
Liz
It's a good thing we got there early, I think to myself as we wind our way through the throngs of people, I had heard from a few of the hockey mom's that, hockey is the big sport and everyone turns out, originally we hadn't planned to watch JV but I was told that if we didn't we'd never find a parking spot, the JV hockey team is basically the opening act for the Varsity team. Thankfully the team does give family reserved sections, I am almost relieved when I found out that JV family has their own section on the other side of the rink. The further away from Soda and Kate I am the better, this past week has done nothing to redeem either of them in my eyes. Soda had tried a few times to try and get me to acknowledge how wonderful Kate is for telling us about how horrible Payton is, and each time I ignored him. "Does Pony know everyone is coming?" Steve questions from the seat next to me,
"I told him that you and I would be here and I wasn't sure about everyone else." Two-Bit coming had been meant to be a surprise, as soon as we found out he was out on parole and was able to leave the state, we had sent him plane tickets to fly out, knowing how much him being here would mean to Pony. Steve nods, as he watches the ice as the JV team comes out, I lean over closer to him, "How is he really?" I almost whisper, Steve turns to look at me,
"Liz, I promise you he's fine." He tells me, "I wouldn't lie to you." I know this is true like it or hate it Steve is going to tell the truth, "It's good that Darry came," He pauses, "I know Pony will appreciate that." I turn slightly as someone sits in the seat next to Steve, he turns as well, "Hey Pay." He greets, two men take the seats next to her, I immediately recognize them as her dad and Uncle Josh, I've learned a thing or two about hockey living with Pony, and they are two of his favorite NHL players I've watched a ton of their games on YouTube with him.
"Hey." She replies, she gives me a smile, "Hi Liz." I reach across Steve patting her knee,
"Hi honey." Out of all of this she's the one I feel the worst for, she has done nothing to deserve any of this, and from what I've gathered from what Steve and Pony she's been taking everything extraordinarily well, I'm not sure if I was in her shoes and I heard what Kate said about me I'd be as calm. "How are you?" I ask, she nods brushing a piece of her hair that escaped from her ponytail back behind her ear.
"I'm good." She replies with a smile, if she's faking it she's one hell of an actress, she pauses, "I'm sorry, have you met my dad and uncle?" She asks me,
"I don't believe we've had the pleasure." Her dad says leaning over her, "Greg Cooper." He says shaking my hand, before Josh who is on his other side does the same. I do the introductions, all except Steve who already knows them. "Nice to meet you all, Pony's a great kid." Greg tells us, "Got a lot of talent." He adds and Josh nods his head in agreement, and I swear you can see the pride beaming off Darry's face.
"Coming from you both that's awesome to hear." Darry tells them, I know when Darry got the job as a foreman for the crew working on all the new fitness centers going up he had met Greg briefly, and had been totally star struck, but it seems that the press is correct that both Greg and Josh are really just regular guys. I had gotten a bit of their background info from Pony who was amazed at how similar their backgrounds were to his, and that just fueled the fire in him to try and go pro even more. A part of me wonders how much Greg knows about the current situation and how much Payton has told him, to his credit if she has he is doing a great job of not acting like it. I glance up as someone from the Varsity team skids to a stop in front of us leaning on the wall,
"Hey." He greets, as Payton moves to give him a hug, Darry nudges me,
"See?" He practically hisses, "Kate was right." I elbow him in the ribs and make the shushing sound, Steve looks at both of us and shakes his head slightly.
"Mom couldn't make it?" Whoever this is asks Payton, her dad leans forward messing up his hair,
"Sorry buddy she couldn't make it, her flight got delayed." He tells him, Josh leans forward holding up his phone,
"We're going to Face Time her as soon as the game starts so she can watch." Steve leans closer to me and says loud enough for Darry to hear it,
"That's her brother Sawyer." He says, Darry immediately looks ashamed and quickly starts watching the JV game.
"Cool." Sawyer replies, "I'll see you after the game." He starts to skate the other direction and pauses, "Shit, oh shoot I mean," He says correcting himself after he sees the look Greg gives him, he reaches under his pads and pulls out a piece of folded paper, "This is for you Pay." He says handing her the paper, he smiles before skating to the other side going into the tunnel on the opposite side.
Payton
I know everyone is looking at me, dad is trying to act like he's not the least bit interested in the paper Sawyer just handed me but he's doing a piss poor job. Even Steve who is on my other side is giving me quizzical looks, until Liz nudges him and shakes her head. I excuse myself to run to the food stands, knowing that will give me some sort of privacy to read whatever it is he handed me, I get out of the arena and lean against one of the walls, taking a deep breath inhaling all the smells that go along with a hockey game. A mix of cold ice, popcorn, and greasy fried food, growing up going to NHL games it's become one of my favorite combinations of smells. I pause unfolding the paper, and smile to myself when I recognize the handwriting, and my heart flutters when I read the three words on the paper,
"I love you."
I sigh folding the paper back up putting it in my back pocket, I pause a second peering back into the arena, the second period just ended at the JV game so I have some time. I take a left and head towards the locker rooms, I know for a fact by now the Varsity team will be in the tunnel they always go out and watch the last period of the game, it's some sort of long standing tradition that goes back since before my dad and Uncle Josh went here. Sure enough by the time I make my way to hallway that turns into the tunnel out to the ice they are already starting to line up with more players spilling out of the locker room, I get lucky when Pony spots me immediately and heads in my direction.
"Shouldn't you be sitting down?" He asks, looking down at me, in skates he's probably pushing 6'4 and I barely hit his chest.
"I was." I tell him, he grins reaching to push a piece of hair behind my hear, "I got your note." He nods,
"Sorry about this morning." He says quietly, "I just have some issues getting close to people, and I never planned on feeling this way about anyone, especially not this quickly."
"You don't need to apologize." I reply, Coach Edwards walks by winking at me with a knowing smile,
"Not too long Curtis." He tells him, Pony nods, the front of the line has just started moving out of the tunnel I can hear the cheers,
"I'll let you go." I reply, I stand up on my tip-toes, wrapping one arm around his neck my fingers playing with his hair, he leans over softly pressing his lips against mine. "I love you." I whisper my lips barely touching his, I can feel the smile as he replies,
"I love you too." He gives me another kiss before letting me go, I wait till the entire team is on the ice before I head back to my seat.
Pony
Coach Edwards smacks me on the back as I pull my shoes back on, "One hell of a game Curtis." He tells me, I can't help but grin. I didn't except much for my first game, so I was definitely surprised by the four goals I scored. I can't take all the credit, though it was a team effort.
"Thanks." I reply, I finish getting dressed and grab my stuff heading out, from what I was told basically all family gathers outside the tunnel after a game. Sure enough I spot Liz as soon as I come out, she grins as she wraps me up in a hug.
"Pony, my God you were amazing." She says, "I think I screamed myself hoarse." She adds coughing for good measure.
"Thanks." I reply, "I'm glad you came." I tell her honestly, I sigh when I see Darry walking towards us, I could pretend all I want that I'm indifferent that he came but that would be a lie, I can't get a word out before Darry has me in a tight hug, no words need to be spoken. I am still mad as hell at Soda but it's really hard to stay mad at Darry and this week going out of my way to ignore him has sucked. He lets me go and I feel a hard clap on my back,
"Look at you kid, you must have grown five or six inches since I seen you." I turn around, and I can't help but grin when I see Two-Bit he hugs me, "Where the hell did you learn to play hockey like that?" He questions releasing me from his grasp,
"You know here and there." I reply, Steve smacks me hard on the back,
"Nice game kid." He says with a grin,
"Thanks." I reply, I pause a second when I see Payton a few feet away talking to Sawyer, she catches my eye and smiles, after a few seconds she comes over lightly putting her hand on my back, I watch Darry waiting for the explosion I'm sure is coming,
"I just wanted to tell you great game." Payton tells me, "It was nice seeing you all again." She adds smiling at Liz. I pause, before I wrap an arm around her, she looks up at me clearly surprised, we've been pretty non-existent with any sort of PDA mostly because I know for a fact that Kate is watching every single thing we do so she can report it to Soda who can then make sure that he tells Darry. Since she hasn't been able to give him any information since it doesn't exist she's resorted to making shit up. I take a deep breathe and look at Darry,
"Before you say anything, I'm not going to lie to you." I say, "I've been seeing Payton this week." Darry doesn't say anything but he sure as hell doesn't look surprised, "I want to be with her, and I'd much rather be with her with your approval and not going behind your back." I say, "But it's your call either you are good with it or you're not, but I'm not going to stop seeing her." I stop talking leaning down surprising Payton when I press my lips against hers, my arm tight around her waist. I pull away and can't help but grin at the bewildered look on her face.
"I should get going. Call me later?" She asks, I nod giving her another kiss, she smiles and walks away towards her family.
"Why don't you come home and we'll talk?" Darry says almost cautiously, as if he's treading deep water and not sure if he's going to drown or not. I nod,
"Sure." I reply, Liz smiles at me wrapping an arm around my waist as we all head towards the car.