✓ 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐄𝐌𝐌𝐀 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, charlie conway

10 | ice cream with iceland

"Hey, Jules," Emma says, giving Julie an encouraging hug when she skates out onto the rink. "Good luck. You can do this."

"Sending in a woman to do a man's job? Don't break a nail," one of the Iceland players jeers, approaching Emma and Juli.

"'Men' meaning you guys?" Emma mocks. "Dream on, you baboons."

"I'm sorry, boys, But can you help me with my pads, please?" Julie asks.

Emma smiles with a glint in her eye. she knows what Julie's up to.

The boys lean down, but Julie shoves them to the ground mercilessly. The ref calls it, and says it's intent to injure. Emma and Julie fist bump and part ways.

Emma starts to get annoyed with the game. Even Fulton's masterful shot is easily blocked by Iceland's goalie. What are they going to do?

Emma obtains the puck, which is almost intercepted by two Iceland players, but she dodges them and passes it to Adam. He loops around the net and scores a goal. In the midst of Adam's cheering, the player slams his stick on Adam's wrist, causing him to groan in agony.

"Oh, Banks, are you okay?" Emma asks frantically, cradling his wrist. The other Team USA players pepper him with similar questions.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

With that assurance, they leave and cheer with words of he scored! But Emma stays behind as Adam pulls off his glove and inspects his injury.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Emma persists.

"Yeah, really. It's fine, Em."

"Okay."

The game continues and Charlie almost scores, but he trips and flies face first into the net. This is embarrassing. Emma goes over to help him, kneeling down in front of him.

"My goodness, first Adam, now you. Are you okay?"

Before, Charlie would have shoved past her, saying he didn't need her help. But things were so different now.

"Yeah, that was just kind of humiliating," Charlie groans, getting up.

"Mhm, I'm sure."

"Wow, this game sucked," Charlie comments, shaking his head.

"It's okay, Char. You played well," Emma consoles, taking off his glove and lacing her fingers with his.

It's feels as if Charlie's breath has completely come to a stop. He could be slowly dying from lack of air and he probably wouldn't notice. He can't tell if the clamminess of his hands is because of the warmth of the glove or his anxiety.

"Twelve to one," Bombay rants. "Twelve to one. You know what word comes to mind when you think of that? Hm? Pathetic!"

The room is engulfed in silence.

"You guys were brought here to play hockey."

"What about you?" Jesse inquires.

"What about me, Jesse?"

"We were brought here to play hockey, And you were brought here to coach. But the reality is that you watch the games like a spectator, maybe yell your head off a little bit, and then it's all hair gel and photoshoots and walking around in suits like there's a stick up your ass," Emma says, crossing her arms.

"Coach Stansson knew everything about us," Julie adds. "They were ready for us."

"Yeah, and to what Emma said, you spend your time driving around in convertibles, talking to those sponsor fools," Luis says with dismay.

"Or hangin' with the Iceland lady," Fulton chimes in. "We saw you two Saturday night."

"What?" Emma yells. She's not sure if she should be annoyed or if she should whip out a video camera and a bucket of popcorn like she's watching a soap opera.

"Eating ice cream with the enemy, huh, coach?"

Charlie stares at Bombay with a look of betrayal. Emma traces her thumb over his hand and puts her other hand on his back in an attempt to comfort him. She knows how much he looks up to Bombay.

"Hey. Hey, What I do is none of your business. It that clear?"

"Wow," Emma says. "That was weak, coach. You didn't even bother addressing anything we said. And when it comes to us, and your team loyalty, yes, it absolutely is our business."

Everyone starts to take off their gear in annoyance.

"Don't take those pads off. Everyone stay in your gear. We have practice," Bombay commands.

"Tonight?"

— ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ —

CLARA'S CORNER

oh, my goodness, i just had the most amazing revelation: d1 charlie and emma are so mirroball and gold rush coded that i totally regret not putting it on the playlist. you know, in the sense that emma did everything to make everyone love her so she wouldn't feel alone. she was a reflection of those around her and their wants, and charlie was the one person who was skeptical about that.

this is so perfect that i'm going to add it to the playlist even though it doesn't even apply to them anymore.