Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Forecheck

Moss scoffs at this explanation, "That's ridiculous. All of you have looked great these past couple of games. He just wanted a reason to fire the team up before playoffs."

"Very true, Coach Kettler," Tye mumbles into his sweatshirt.

"You should take a nap. Maybe we can order Chinese food later if you're in the mood for it," Moss suggests.

Tye turns so his cheek is now resting on Moss before responding, "I was thinking we could go to the movies later and get dinner after."

"Yeah? Is this going to be our first date then?" Moss asks with a smile on his face.

Turning his head and looking up to meet Moss' eyes, Tye smiles back at him, "If you don't count any of the other not-date dates, then yes. This will be our first."

"Can't wait," Moss breathes out and continues to brush his fingers through Tye's hair.

-

They hold hands over the console of Tye's car on the drive over to the theater, but keep a respectful distance as they enter the busy AMC. It's a good thing they do too because as they're asking the worker at the counter for two tickets to some new comedy being shown, a group of teenage boys excitedly approach Tye.

Tye indulges the group for a couple of minutes during which Moss takes their picture for them. After playing photographer for the group, Moss finishes the transaction with the worker at the counter and pours a mixture of the blue and red slushy flavors into their cup. He then hovers awkwardly outside of the growing crowd that has formed around his boyfriend. He can't look at his phone to pass the time because he's holding their popcorn in one hand and slushy in the other. There are too many people by the counter for him to be able to put anything down while he waits.

Eventually, Tye spots Moss over the heads of the group surrounding him and promptly says his goodbyes, stating that they want to find decent seats before the theater fills up. He then walks over to Moss and grabs the popcorn and slushy out of his hands.

"Sorry about that- I'll hold these and you can handle the tickets," he smiles down at him.

After getting approval from the ticket taker, they find their theater and grab seats towards the back. Their screening isn't too busy, but they don't feel comfortable reconnecting their hands, especially after Tye was just spotted by the gaggle of boys in the lobby. The two of them are stiff the entire movie, suddenly afraid of people recognizing Tye and analyzing how they interact.

-

Once the movie ends and they are back in the car, Tye grabs his hand and apologizes profusely, "I'm so sorry, MoMo. I didn't mean to be weird or secretive about us, but I wasn't sure if you'd be comfortable being close after I got recognized in there."

"Hey, it's fine- really," Moss reassures him. "All of this is so new to us. I'm fine with not making anything public right now. Eventually, I'd like to be more open so we can enjoy ourselves a bit more when we go out, but I'm okay with not rushing anything right now."

"I'll make it up to you. This wasn't exactly the ideal first date that I wanted to take you on," Tye sighs defeated.

He pauses for a moment before asking, "How would you feel about having dinner at the house tonight instead of the original plan?"

"That's fine with me," Moss agrees to the change.

Their hands are still connected over the console as Tye navigates his way out of the parking lot.

"Good, because I think I have an idea to make up for that flop of a date," he seems enlivened by whatever plan he's devised in his head.

"It wasn't a flop- I still enjoyed the movie," Moss argues, giving his hand a light squeeze.

Tye smiles and squeezes his hand back in retaliation.

"It was a flop, sweets. That's alright though because we're going to have more fun with my new idea anyways."

"Fine, but now I'm expecting to be blown away," Moss says in a faux serious tone, unable to stop the smile from slipping onto his face.

"I'll try my hardest," Tye concludes with a smirk, not willing to divulge anymore information until they get back home.

-

Tye sends Moss away to the bedroom while he works on whatever last minute date idea that he's come up with.

An hour goes by before Moss' stomach starts to rumble with hunger. Checking the time on his phone, he sees that it is now 6:48 PM.

To: Tye>:) <3

I'm getting hungrrryyyyyy

Can I come down soon??

A response comes two minutes later.

Tye>:) <3

Just finished up!

You can come downstairs now:)

Moss rolls off of the bed he's been lounging on and practically hops down the stairs.

He sees Tye standing in the kitchen with a basket next to him on the counter. Tye is holding a blanket in the crook of his left arm and a bottle of wine in his right hand. Moss understands context clues enough to figure out that they are having a picnic.

"A picnic. Nice idea," Moss praises, walking over to see the contents of the basket.

Tye grabs the basket before he can peak inside and shifts everything that he's holding to his left arm while offering his right hand to Moss.

Moss grabs his hand and lets Tye lead them out to the back patio.

"Thanks, I thought this might be a bit more exciting than eating inside like we normally do. Plus, this way we won't be interrupted by random strangers like we could be in a restaurant."

He leads them to the outdoor fireplace which is already burning and then lays down the giant blanket that he brought out with them. He grabs the outdoor pillows that were previously placed on his patio furniture and arranges them so it's more comfortable for the two of them to sit on the ground.

While Tye busies himself with the arrangements, Moss opens the basket and starts taking out some items. On the left side of the basket, he finds two nice plates, two stemless wineglasses and couple napkins. He laughs when he opens the right side of the basket and spots several slices of homemade pizza individually wrapped in pieces of foil to keep them warm. Moss also takes out a container of strawberries that he assumes his boyfriend threw in with the intention of loosely sticking to his diet plan.

"What? I was panicking trying to whip something together. Pizza seemed like the most logical food to make here," Tye justifies with a grin.

Looking up at him after preparing their plates of pizza and strawberries, Moss replies, "It's perfect. Thank you, chef."

They eat their meal and drink their way through the fancy bottle of white wine. The sun has officially set and Tye turned on the outdoor bulb string lights strung up around his back patio.

Moss is laying with his back to Tye's chest while Tye leans against the wicker sofa next to the fire that is still burning bright.

"Do you think it's possible for you to get approval to work remotely for a week or two?" Tye questions softly. "I really want you to be here for the start of playoffs."

Both sets of their fingers are interlocked and rest on Moss' stomach. Sitting by the fire full of pizza and wine, Moss has never felt so warm despite the ever-present chill in the early March air.

"I can ask my boss. He likes me so I think I can maybe get him to agree to a week," he contemplates aloud.

Tye hums happily in response as they sit in a comfortable silence watching the fire in front of them and the mountains in the distance.