For the first time this season, Moss is able to catch a ride back home with Tye after a game. The two of them hold hands over the center console, blissfully recapping the events from the night.
When they get back to the house, the couple showers and gets ready for bed rather than staying up to celebrate like they would much rather do. A good nights rest is needed since Tye has to be up early the next morning to get on the plane and travel to Houston for game six.
They are now settled in bed, Moss laying between Tye's legs and leaning against his chest, when they finally decide to check their phones.
Moss had told his boyfriend on the drive home that the group retook the WAG picture and he gave the girls the green light to post the photos on social media. Tye, who had already anticipated that this would happen, just smiled and squeezed Moss' hand in acknowledgment.
In the present, they have decided to go through Moss' phone first.
Tye is resting his chin on the smaller man's shoulder as the phone turns on. Before he goes to unlock it, Moss sees that he has tons of calls, texts and Instagram follow requests.
"Looks like everyone wants a piece of you right now, sweets," Tye jokes when he sees the vast amount of notifications on his phone.
Moss snorts at this, "Yeah- I'm sure it's my natural charm that has everyone reaching out right now and nothing else."
He goes straight to his texts, already knowing the first person he needs to respond to.
mom<3
Hi honey. Please give me a call when you can.
If you don't feel comfortable talking right now, I understand.
Please know that your father and I are proud of you and would like to meet with you and Tye again under different circumstances.
Love you<3
"Well.... that's a good reaction from your parents. Right?" Tye asks while his thumb rubs soothing circles on Moss' hip.
Moss' fingers hover over the keyboard trying to think up a suitable response to his mom's sincere messages.
"I wasn't expecting them to hate me or anything, but I'm kind of surprised that they're asking to re-meet you as my boyfriend."
To: mom<3
Thanks mom, love you too<3
I'll give you a call tomorrow
After he hits send, Moss turns his head slightly to look up at Tye, "Maybe you should text your parents too, before we get back to anyone else."
"Yeah," Tye agrees with a sigh while taking out his phone and holding it so they can both see the endless amount of notifications that show up on his screen as well.
"Looks like I'm also pretty popular," he jokes lightly while scrolling to his mom's contact in his texts
mama **bear emoji**
Tye Elliot Martel!
You have already come out to your family. Why did you not tell us you had a boyfriend before announcing it to the world!?
Everyone and their mother has been trying to contact me tonight. I haven't responded to anyone because I have no idea what is going on in my own son's life apparently!
You will call me IMMEDIATELY when you see these messages, young man!! **angry face emoji**
Moss can feel Tye's heart racing from where he is pressed against him.
"Should we call her right now? It's almost midnight...." Moss trails off.
With a shuddery breath Tye responds, "I might send a text apologizing and tell her that I'll FaceTime her tomorrow. She usually has trouble staying up to watch our games anyways so she's probably asleep by now."
To: mama **bear emoji**
I'm so sorry mom. I promise I'll call you when I land in Houston tomorrow<3<3<3
Almost as soon as Tye sends the message, his mom's contact picture pops up, signaling an incoming FaceTime call.
"Fuck," Tye exhales before answering.
Moss doesn't have time to register that he will be virtually meeting his boyfriend's mom for the first time when she pops up on the screen. He sees himself slouched against Tye in the tiny box in the corner of the phone and quickly tries to adjust his posture while running a hand through his hair in an effort to make it look semi-presentable.
"Hi mom-"
Tye is cut off by the blonde woman on the screen who looks to be in her fifties, "Why is my son hiding this handsome young man from me? You must be Moss- I'm terribly sorry for his manners. I thought that I taught him better than this."
Letting out a laugh, Moss responds, "Hi Mrs. Martel, it's so great to meet you. I'm sorry we didn't reach out to you sooner."
"Oh honey, you're lovely. I'm just happy to officially meet you," Mrs. Martel smiles warmly at him before looking back at her son. "Let me go find your dad. He needs to meet your boyfriend as well."
Tye groans in embarrassment, leaning his forehead against Moss' shoulder.
Mr. Martel is quiet, but kind as he introduces himself to Moss. He seems tired, dressed in his robe and ready to go to bed. Mrs. Martel makes sure he doesn't fall asleep yet and instead stays on the phone listening to her interrogate the two boys on their relationship.
Tye explains how they met in the locker room at the beginning of the season and his parents are intrigued by Moss' brothers also being on the team. Thankfully, they don't press the subject when Moss and Tye noticeably skirt around questions involving the Kettler brothers.
Mrs. Martel is much more forgiving when they tell her that this is Moss' first relationship with a man. They talk about how they didn't want their relationship to be a big spectacle, but also didn't want to keep it a secret. His mom is sympathetic as they explain how they felt that the WAG picture was the best way to introduce their relationship to the public.
They have been talking on the phone for over an hour when Tye yawns and says that he needs to go to bed so he doesn't oversleep and miss his flight to Houston. His parents say their goodbyes after stating that they'll be visiting soon so they can meet Moss in person and also watch some games from one of the next playoff series (Tye half jokingly, half seriously scolds them for possibly jinxing their chances to move on to the next round by saying this).
When they hang up, Tye finds his sister's contact to look at her angry messages next.
evelyn bevelyn **sunglass face emoji**
I'm gonna kick your ass
What's the point of being your older sister if you're not gonna tell me important shit like this
Moss seems way out of your league btw
"Evelyn can be such a pain in the ass, but she's definitely going to like you," Tye mumbles sleepily after reading her passive aggressive texts.
"She seems cool," Moss can feel his eyes getting heavy.
To: evelyn bevelyn **sunglass face emoji**
Fuck off
I'll call you tomorrow
-
They fall asleep before they can scroll through social media together and see what the public has to say about their relationship. Moss wakes up to an empty bed and reads the text that Tye must've sent him after he left the house.
Tye>:) <3
Hope you slept well!
Call me if you don't want to look at social media by yourself:)
Moss doesn't want to find out what everyone thinks of the two of them by himself, but he also doesn't want to make Tye drop everything just to look at Instagram together. He's a big boy, he should be able to handle looking at the comments on his own.
To: Tye>:) <3
Slept fine but was cold when I woke up:/
I think I'll be okay going through Insta on my own today
Tye>:) <3
Alright.... I'm here if you change your mind
Also, I'm doing a presser later to confirm our relationship and the PR person recommended that I request that no further questions be asked about us during the playoffs
To: Tye>:) <3
Very professional wording lol
Good luck!!<3
Pulling the gray, faux fur blanket tight around his shoulders, Moss finally gathers the courage to click on the Instagram icon on his phone. He filters through his follow requests and makes sure to follow back all of the WAGs before navigating to Addie's profile.
As the captains wife, Moss assumes that she probably has the most followers and therefor the widest reach to the fans.
Selecting her most recent post, he can see that she put up eight pictures total.
The first one is the WAG group photo where they are all facing the camera. She also put up the one showing the back of their jackets as well as some selfies that she took with the girls and shots of the ice from the suite. The fifth picture is her and Moss in the parking garage before they walked into the arena.
Taking a deep breath, Moss goes to the comments.
bouldfan08: WHAT
itslol1aaa: is martel dating that guy??
h0ck3ysam: @itslol1aaa I think so but did you see his name?!?! I'm pretty sure he's related to the kettlers lollll
melanie_evanss93: Such a lovely night! #GoBould #BFFs
trev_is_here212: yoooooooo
martyfan12345: @h0ck3ysam I NOTICEED THAT TOO!!!! I THNK THATS THEIR OLDER BROTHER JEOKWNFPWJENF
Everyone seems pretty confused in the comments, but Moss is just happy that nothing completely horrible is being said. A lot of them are trying to figure out if he and Tye are dating, close friends or if this is some odd prank that they're pulling on the fans.
Unsurprisingly, they are also connecting the dots that he is related to Shane and Eli. More people seem to be interested in this piece of information than Moss had originally anticipated.
The general consensus among the fans seems to be that this is all purely speculation until Tye decides to address it. Moss is both amused and flattered by the respect that the majority of the people are showing.
He makes sure to screenshot some of his favorite Instagram comments reacting to Addie's post and sends them to Tye.
-
"Hi everyone, thank you for being here today. I would like to quickly address the speculation going around after some pictures were posted on social media last night."
"First and for most, the playoffs are my main focus right now. The boys and I are in the zone and ready to get a win tomorrow so we can move onto the next round. I'm not trying to cause any distractions and my teammates will back me up on that."
"With that being said, I would like to confirm that I am in a relationship with a man. His identity is not a secret and we, obviously, don't plan on hiding from the public. However, I would like to ask for respect and privacy on his behalf. His intentions are not to be in the spotlight and he should be able to attend and enjoy games like the other significant others get to."
"I request that no further questions or comments be made about this particular part of my personal life. Again, my focus from now until the offseason is completely on the playoffs. Thank you again for your time. Have a great day and go Boulders."
Sportsnet: Boulders defenseman Tye Martel confirmed to be the second openly LGBTQ+ player in NHL history