New Jersey wins game seven against Boston in their Conference Finals to move on to face the Boulders in the Stanley Cup Final.
Both New Jersey and Colorado are tired and clearly playing through injuries but, despite this, compete like their lives depend on it. Each team wins a game in Jersey and again in Colorado. Tied 2-2 in the final series, Colorado loses while away, but wins at home.
Time seems to be moving both excruciatingly slow and fast over the next couple of days. The players are exhausted and just want to finish the series which makes time seem to crawl by. However, the teams also find that the days are flying by in an adrenaline-pumping, nerve-wracking haze.
Tye can't sit still when he's off the ice, even with the ache in his left ankle and persisting back pain that will surely catch up to him in the offseason. His body and mind need near constant stimulation leading up to the final game. Media helps to physically keep him busy, but it also causes him to overthink how he's playing which results in waves of anxiety that he bottles up and pushes aside.
Attempting to calm Tye's nerves has been Moss' number one priority during the final series. He learns proper massage techniques to help with Tye's back pain, he prepares healthy and delicious meals that are approved by the team nutritionist and he's almost always making pointless conversation to distract Tye when he starts to look lost in his own thoughts.
Tye obviously notices all of Moss' supportive gestures and tells him over and over again how grateful and lucky he is to have him during this playoff run. His anxiety is still not great, but Moss has certainly made it a lot more manageable. He has even started calling Moss late at night during away games when he has trouble falling asleep because his voice seems to be the only thing that calms him down at the moment.
Moss is nervous, but excited for the final game. No matter the outcome, he is quietly happy for the playoff chaos to come to an end very soon. While he is incredibly proud of Tye and the team for making it as far as they have, he can't stand seeing Tye in this state of distress much longer.
Thankfully, tomorrow is game seven of the final series which will determine the winner of the 2023-2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The last game will take place in New Jersey which is where all of the players and their loved ones are currently located to watch in person.
Having just flown in a couple of hours ago, Moss is now walking back to the hotel after eating lunch with Melanie and Roksana. The hockey players have to sleep in separate rooms from their partners who are staying on a different floor, but the BWAGs are all present for the final game of the playoffs nonetheless.
"I felt like a teenager again- it was crazy!" Melanie exclaims with wide eyes. "I was sweating bullets thinking I was going to get us caught. If someone saw me go into John's room and he got in trouble for it.... I would never forgive myself."
"So dramatic. I walk to Sasha's room and pass many Boulders and no one says anything," Roksana replies cooly.
Both Melanie and Roksana had flown in earlier than Moss, so Ev and Sasha convinced them to break the team rules to sleep in their respective rooms on the players floor. Moss probably would have done the same thing if he had been in New Jersey the day before as well. Alas, he and Tye had to instead settle for a FaceTime call where they both fell asleep while still on the phone with each other.
Gasping in surprise at this information, Melanie turns to the Russian woman, "How can you be so nonchalant about that? If the coach or someone higher up on the team saw you, Sasha could have been benched for the final game!"
"Very silly," Roksana laughs, "no one is benched for game seven. Is all empty threat."
Moss laughs along at their exchange while Melanie is clearly still shocked by Roksana's boldness.
They're walking into the lobby when Shane appears.
He looks like he is about to head out the door before he makes eye contact with Moss. Melanie and Roksana suddenly go silent and subconsciously step closer to Moss in a protective manner.
"Hey," Shane offers weakly while holding a hand up in greeting.
"Hey," Moss responds while continuing towards the elevator with the girls, but halts in place as Shane speaks again. "I'm heading to a coffee shop that's only, like, a two minute walk from here. Do you want to come with?"
Moss is surprised that Shane is speaking to him at all, let alone inviting him to hang out.
He's most perplexed, however, by the nervous tone in his younger brothers voice. Eli's made fun of the way Shane speaks before, saying that he sounds like a wannabe-frat-boy with the way he drawls his words out slowly. In their current conversation, Shane's normal overly-nonchalant tone is nowhere to be found, which is honestly very concerning.
"We just had coffee at lunch and are meeting up with some of the other girls now," Melanie grabs Moss' arm and gently tugs at him to keep moving, but Moss resists her pull.
"Um- I can go for some more coffee," he says to Shane before turning to his two friends. "I'll catch up with you and the others when I get back."
Melanie and Roksana hesitate at his insistence on letting him go somewhere alone with Shane.
"You sure, Mossukha?" Roksana questions, giving him one last chance to get out of the impromptu coffee invite.
He smiles warmly at her, "Yeah. I promise we'll be quick."
They both look at him and then glance at each other for a moment before tentatively making their way to the elevator. Melanie shouts for him to text when he's back in the hotel which he promises to do as the elevator doors close on them.
Moss and Shane then walk silently to a coffee shop that is only a block away from the hotel. Shane orders a black coffee while Moss gets a cold brew. After retrieving their drinks, they sit at a table in a secluded corner of the shop. Moss doesn't move once he's sat, but stares warily at Shane who takes a long sip of his drink before speaking.
"So the team doesn't fuck with me," is how Shane chooses to start off the conversation. Moss doesn't react to this, wanting Shane to expand on his statement instead.
"After Tye and I duked it out in the hotel back in Houston, they all knew something was wrong. Like, a lot of them heard what we were arguing about and those that didn't hear probably heard the rumors about what happened. Tye and Eli stopped talking to me off the ice. The only times we spoke were when it had to do with hockey and the team definitely noticed this."
Moss still doesn't move. Not even to take a sip of his cold brew.
The ice in his drink is going to melt soon which will water the coffee down and ruin it.
"Everyone loves Tye. He's arguably been the best defenseman in the league this season, not even taking into consideration the heater he's been on for the playoffs, and the team respects the hell out of him. Hockey is a team sport and all that bullshit, but we wouldn't have made it this far in the playoffs without him basically dragging us here. When he came out to the team, it somehow united everyone even more. They all were so supportive of him and made it known that they have his back."
Shane's face looks paler than it ever has. He usually has a year-round golden glow to him despite his two main places of residency being Michigan and Colorado.
"After what happened at the hotel, the team walked on eggshells around me. They all saw how comfortable Tye was when he would talk to Eli and noticed how he would never even look in my direction. The mood of the locker room lightened up when we started winning again, but no one really talked to me anymore. It got even worse when I was put on IR. I wasn't playing with the boys and no one missed me."
Moss has been staring at Shane this entire time, but Shane refuses to make eye contact.
"The team and the WAGs got to know you and they all really like you. Especially after they saw how happy you make Tye. It seemed like the more that they got to know you, the more they hated me."
Fidgeting with the sleeve around his coffee, Shane takes a shaky breath before continuing.
"I've been injured since the end of the first round and have been sitting on my own in the team's suite in each city we play at. The boys only started acknowledging me again when Tye made an effort to talk to me sometime in San Francisco. I'm assuming you're the one who told him to do that, by the way, because he definitely didn't seem to be happy about it. After he did that, the others weren't back to being super friendly with me, but they were at least sort of talking to me again."
Moss thinks back to San Francisco when he had begged his boyfriend to be cordial with Shane. He's happy to hear that Tye actually followed through with his promise to talk to the lonely boy around the others so they knew not to ignore him anymore.
"While alone on IR, I had time to think about everything that's happened so far. I went through recent texts and old texts, looked at the pictures on my phone and spoke with Eli. I- um.... fuck, this is embarrassing."
Taking off his backwards baseball cap, Shane runs a frustrated hand through his messy hair before putting the hat back on.
"I cried in front of Eli and he had to calm me down like I was a toddler or something. We talked about how I've been acting and I just.... I just feel so much guilt and embarrassment. You're my big brother and you have only ever been kind and supportive of me my entire life. Except for that time you elbowed me in the face for eating the last popsicle, but that's unrelated, I guess."
Laughing wetly, Shane finally looks at Moss. His eyes are filled with unshed tears and Moss is stunned by the series of events happening at the moment.
"Tye was right. My ego got too big too quick. At first, I was just excited to make the big leagues and bring in some cash instead of just spending all of mom and dads, but then I got comfortable in my role with the team. I became so hyper focused on improving my game. When Eli was drafted to the Boulders, I felt like I needed to show off to him since I had a couple of years of NHL experience to bring to the table. I was unstoppable when I signed my first contract with the team after my ELC. I also knew for a fact that it was more than you would ever make, even with your college degree."
Moss is saddened by this information, but Shane clearly looks ashamed and on the verge of tears admitting this.
"I actively made an effort to stop responding to the family group chat and you, specifically, because I wanted it to look like I was busier and more important than the rest of you. When you and Tye told us about your relationship.... I felt like I no longer had the upper hand. I knew that you would overshadow me by being with the best player on the team who was willing to become the second publicly out NHL player in history for you. I threw a hissy fit and tried to bully you into ending your relationship which you did."
Shane seems to be caught up on the timeline of events that Moss is aware of.
"I've been selfish and a complete nightmare to be around. I don't expect you to forgive me after everything that I've said and done, but I want you to know how sorry I am. For trying to make you feel like shit, for not supporting you and for making you break up with Tye. I wish that he could've landed a few more punches in Houston.... it would've made me feel a little better after all of the shit that I put you through."
Moss has silent tears streaming down his face by the time that Shane finishes speaking.
He takes a moment before getting up on shaky legs and walks to the other side of the booth. Shane looks up at him with watery eyes and Moss wraps him in the tightest hug he can muster up. They both muffle their sobs into each others shoulders as they embrace. The barista, who can probably see them from where she's stood cleaning the steamer at the counter, must think they look insane.
Leaning back, Moss looks at his younger brother who has always been so confident and sure of himself. At the moment, however, he looks like a complete wreck.
Shane has a red, swollen face with tear tracks running down his cheeks and snot gathering in his nostrils. His blue eyes looks even more piercing than usual with the red rings around them. The sandy blonde hair contained beneath his backwards baseball cap normally falls in princely waves but is now static-y and wild sticking out every which way. He also looks small. Eli dwarfs both of them, but Shane still has a good four inches on Moss. Right now, Shane looks absolutely childlike in his current state.
"I'm not gonna to lie to you and say that everything's okay. The things that you said and did cut really deep," Moss' voice cracks when he finally speaks. "But I appreciate you coming to me and trying to make this right between us."
Shane nods his head in understanding.
"It's gonna to take a minute to be able to trust you and to want to be around you again, but I'd really like for us to work on it. I want us to be friends again, like how we used to be."
Still crying, Shane continues to nod along, "I totally understand. I promise, I'll spend the offseason making things right between you, me and Tye."
Moss offers him a tired smile at this.
"I'm not sure if you and Tye have plans for this summer yet, but you both should visit the family lake house for a bit. That would be a great place for all of us to start over and try again."
"Tye wants us to go to his parent's place in Calgary at some point, but we'll definitely make plans to stop by the lake house as well," Moss assures his brother.
They hug again and Moss hears Shane sniffle into his neck.
Trying to bring some cheer to their depressing conversation, Moss jokes, "I'm glad we were able to make up before the Boulders win. I'd hate to rain on the Stanley Cup Parade."
"Jesus Christ," Shane chokes out another wet laugh while gently shoving his big brother.