Breaking The Ice

Do It

"We could, but you'd miss them too much and keep inviting them to sleep over."

"Fair point." I laughed as I climbed off him and pulled him out of bed.

I stood there in his t-shirt as he pulled a pair of sweats over his legs, hating the idea he was so stressed and wishing there was more I could do for him. It was always ridiculous to me that he couldn't see how talented he was, or how respected he was as a player, and the idea of his entire career hanging on one game was incredibly unrealistic for a player of his calibre.

But I knew it wasn't just about his future.

Harry felt like we all had something to prove. He wanted to show them all that, after everything we'd been through, we could fight our way back to the top and our hard work would pay off. He wanted the team to be rewarded for how well we'd come together, how we'd put aside our differences for the common goal. We all wanted the cup so bad we could taste it, but it meant more to Harry than that.

I think for Harry the cup was more of a symbol than anything. Winning it would be confirmation that everything he'd done to move on from his past, to right his wrongs, was successful. He wanted to make something of himself, to take care of his family the way they'd taken care of him, and to make the people who believed in him feel like it wasn't wasted energy. I knew there would always be a part of him that carried that guilt with him, that he would never fully forgive himself for his sister's death, but he'd come so far and finally found a way to accept that mistakes were made and it was nobody's fault that he was forced to live without her.

Through the charity work he'd been doing he'd raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help people like Abby, his grades were the best they'd ever been since he arrived in the states, and his relationship with his family was stronger than ever. He was the version of himself he'd strived to be for so long, and winning that cup would be the only way that he'd ever believe his work had paid off. Making it to the NHL was the only way he'd feel like he'd come far enough, that he hadn't completely blown his shot, because without reaching that goal he'd always be reminded that he could have gone all the way if that night had never happened.

I knew there was a part of him that wanted it for me as well. We both knew that I only had one guaranteed championship game left in my hockey career, and losing it would not only be devastating but leave me with no possibility of ever winning another one. All of the boys had opportunities to move forward and keep playing, to win more championships or Stanley Cups, and that just wasn't on the table for me. I knew Harry wanted to let me go out with a bang, leave my career on the top, so I would always have that to hang on to.

We both knew that this team was special, that we would never play on this exact same team again. Hockey was a tentative thing, with the likelihood of injuries or trades, changes always being made to rosters that players had no way to control. Our team that season may not look the same the next, and while we knew we'd learn to love anyone new who came, they weren't there fighting the way we'd all been. We all knew that this team was special, that we were a family, and what we'd overcome together was something that no team had ever done in the history of the league. No team had ever come back the way we had, never survived a season like we did, and we deserved that win. We wanted our names together on that list forever, where they belonged, because despite our differences we'd become a family who'd fought side by side to do what everyone said we couldn't.

We had one game, one shot, and none of us were about to waste it.

"About time." Niall rolled his eyes as Harry and I entered the kitchen, just as he held out a plate in our direction.

I was a bit surprised to see how many people were standing around our table, and had I known that half the team was coming over for breakfast I probably would have put pants on.