Harry's POV
The room was silent.
You could feel the desperation in the air, the overwhelming need for change and direction, and not a single one member of the team made a sound as I stood before them. Twenty pairs of eyes watched me eagerly, all waiting for me to say something, anything, to reassure them that we still had a chance at the one thing we'd all been fighting for. They needed to hear the words, to be told that we hadn't lost our shot, and that I would do everything I could to get us back to a place where we could still come out on top. We were well aware that not a single thing had gone our way all season, but I knew in my gut that was about to change.
This wasn't like any other typical hockey season. In the NHL if a team has a rough season, missing the playoffs or falling short of any real success, they regroup and come back next season with a new plan. We all knew that it wasn't that simple for us, that our futures and childhood dreams hinged on our college careers, and we didn't have contracts or agents that would keep us on the roster regardless of how we performed. For most of us, we only had a few short years to prove ourselves, to show those in charge that we were capable of playing at a higher level, and I wasn't about to let that slip through any of our fingers.
"Alright, guys." I started, clearing my throat. "I know that there's been a lot of things going on in this room for the past few months, we've all struggled and been fighting our own battles with our own shit going on, and we haven't always been on the same page when it comes to certain things."
I heard the soft sighs, watched the slight nods as I spoke, and was pleased to see that they at least appeared to be listening to what I was saying. It was clear that we were all exhausted, both mentally and physically, and the fire we once had to win had somehow become just a flickering light that could go out at any second. We had hit a pivotal point in the season, where we had no choice but to make a decision about our future. We could either push forward and fight like hell to get back to the top, or we could give up and spend the rest of the year focusing on school and how to be stronger next year.
"No matter what has happened, I think we can all agree that we've been absolutely fucked over with all these changes, it's been stressful and confusing and made everything harder, and I think we're all tired. I'm tired of losing, of feeling like I'm helplessly watching our season circle the drain, and worrying what the hell is gonna happen to us next year if it does." I said, my frustration clear in my voice. "I don't know who they're gonna bring in, what's gonna happen on the coaching side of things, and I have no control over that. But I do know that if any other team had been dealing with half the shit we have, they would have been out of the running a long time ago."
"Amen." Niall chuckled, shaking his head.
We were ranked 17th out of 20 teams. We'd fallen so far that winning the cup was almost laughable, since we'd have to win every game we played for the next month just to make the playoffs. It seemed like an insurmountable task, but we were nothing if not resilient.
"We've survived, you guys. We can do this. I believe in this team, I know what we can do, and we can still make it to the finals." I said, my determination strong. "But if we don't come together now, if every single one of us doesn't get on board, we might as well forfeit the rest of the season."
"Fuck that." Mac scoffed. "Not happening."
Everyone in the room seemed to echo his sentiment, agreeing with the shaking of their heads, all of us feeling like we'd come too far, been through too much, to just throw in the towel like that.
"I don't care what happens out there, up in the offices of some university executives who don't know shit about hockey, what the media or papers have to say, or who they decide to bring in as coach. In here, in this room, and on that ice, it's us. We're the ones out there risking everything, running the plays, taking those hits. We've taken those loses, put up with all this bullshit, not them. We may not always get along, or like each other, but we're family. No matter what has happened up until this point, we win and lose together. We don't have a coach, and as Captain I will step up, but I need a commitment. I need everyone on board before I even attempt to pick up the pieces and put us back together."
"We're in, Cap. Whatever we gotta do, we're in." Chase said, earning nods from everyone else.
I looked around the room, trying to determine just how receptive some of them were to what I was saying, and I have to admit I was a little surprised to see that everyone seemed open to finally letting shit go. I could see it in their eyes, the shift in their mindsets, that fire returning as they looked to me to lead the way as their Captain.
"I'm fucking tired of losing, bro." Matt sighed. "We were running shit until Tanner showed up."
"I just wanna win, I don't care how." Rex agreed.
"Then I'm gonna do my best to give us a fighting chance." I reassured them. "But I'm gonna make changes, and things are gonna get mixed up again, and I need everyone to work together. Let's not bullshit each other, TJ isn't going anywhere. No matter how you feel about it, it's not changing, we can't be fighting about it anymore. Lines are gonna change, and we're gonna need every single one of us to win this cup. If we all didn't have something to bring to the table, we wouldn't be here. We've all got strengths and weaknesses, and we need to play to them. If anyone has a problem with that, I want you to speak up now. No judgement, just put it out there."
The room was quiet as I looked around, my eyes landing on Mac and Timmons who just nodded, and I felt relief come over me for a reason I wasn't exactly sure of. I suppose it was because maybe they realized they cared more about winning than getting rid of Teej, and that in itself was a breakthrough.
"This is gonna take a lot of extra work. We have to win every single game, we have no room for mistakes. We've got school on top of all of this, other commitments. But I want everyone's input, we're a team on and off the ice. We need to be tighter than we ever have, if that means study groups, daily team meetings, whatever it's gotta be."
"Whatever it takes, Styles. 100%" Timmons nodded, and I scanned the room one final time for any signs of disapproval.
But I didn't find any.
"Alright, let's do this then." I sighed, walking over to the white board.
They all got up to follow, pulling up their chairs behind them and sitting themselves down, intently listening as they waited for me to begin to explain our plan of action. I think we all knew it wasn't gonna be an easy task, but if Tanner ever did anything for us it was remind us that at the end of the day we've all been through everything together. We'd all fallen down the rankings week after week, seen loss after loss, and ended up back in that locker room together. We were each other's only shot. We just didn't realize it until then.
"First things first, I think we need to designate some assistant Captains." I said, looking around. "I want everything to be a team decision from now on. I will obviously make the final call if there's a disagreement, but no more of this dictatorship bullshit we've been dealing with. So, we're gonna assign two assistant captains, and I want everyone to vote."
"Sounds fair." Shawn shrugged.
"Alright, I personally wanna nominate Lundy." I said, watching the shock cross everyone's face, but no more than Lundy himself.
Everyone turned to look at him, clearly just as shocked as he was, considering that he and I hadn't exactly seen eye to eye, and his reign as Captain was in the middle of the worst point in our season. I wasn't particularly nominating him because I valued his leadership, but I knew there was a few things that it might accomplish. Firstly, I knew that he would have the support of some of the most difficult players if there were to be an issue, and secondly I thought it may contribute to the overall sense of moving forward with unity.
Everyone knew that if I could bury the hatchet with Lundy, I really was putting the team first.
"I uh...um..." Lundy started before I interrupted him.
"By a show of hands, does anyone object to Lundy being assigned the first spot as assistant Captain?"
I had to stifle a chuckle when I saw Niall and Shawn both attempt to raise their hands and Liam and Teej simultaneously each smacked one of them back down, knowing that if I went out of my way to nominate Lundy there was a bigger reason behind it.
When nobody else raised their hand, I motioned for Lundy to come and stand next to me, patting him on the shoulder as he approached.
"Alright, one down, one to go." I nodded. "Anybody else have someone they wanna nominate?"
"I think Payno." Niall announced.
"Yeah, me too." Shawn agreed.
"I nominate Sexy Rexy." Chase smiled, leaning over to shake Rex by the shoulder.
I waited for a few minutes as everyone seemed to agree with either Liam or Rex, both of whom I agreed would be a great asset to have in more of a leadership position, but mostly I was just glad that everyone seemed to be giving their input and not arguing about anything.
"Anyone else?" I asked, scanning the room for any more prospects.
That was when Lundy cleared his throat beside me and said the last thing any of us expected him to.
"Teej." He said, the room falling silent as everyone stopped and looked at him, wondering if they'd heard him correctly before he repeated himself. "I nominate TJ."
It was then that all the eyes shifted toward Teej, the look on her face somewhere between complete shock that Lundy even acknowledged her presence, and horror at the idea that anyone would think she'd been a good assistant captain. I shifted my eyes shifted to Liam, who simply mouthed what the fuck?
"Okay." I smiled to myself, trying not to look too amused. "So we've got Liam, Rex and TJ. Anyone wanna explain the reasons for their nomination?"
It was silent for a few seconds, the shock of Lundy nominating Teej seeming to hang in the hair, before Niall shook his head and piped back up.
"I mean, I nominated Payno cause he's the responsible one and always does the mature thing." He shrugged. "But so does Rex, and so does Teej. So I'm happy with whatever."
"Yeah, same." Chase shrugged.
I turned to Lundy, who was looking at Teej, waiting for him to offer his reasoning.
"I think she's earned it." He said simply, shifting his eyes to look at me before he turned to the rest of the team. "Let's be honest, she's in here training a hell of a lot more than the rest of us. She knows more about the game than we give her credit for, and I think that being a woman she might think differently than the rest of us and have another perspective. I think...if we're gonna move forward we gotta do it right. No more fighting, so...it's a peace offering, I guess."
I smiled to myself as I felt Teej glaring at me, knowing I couldn't look at her or I would have laughed out loud. I could practically hear the thoughts running through her head, screaming at me to not let them nominate her, and also wondering what kind of alternate universe we'd found ourselves in.
"Nothing against Payno or Rex, I just think in the spirit of going forward, we give ourselves the best chance to win, and I don't think any of us can deny that Teej plays a massive part in that." Lundy said before turning back to me. "But it's your call, Cap."
"It's not my call, it's a team decision." I said. "We'll take it to a vote."
I smirked as I felt the death glare being shot my way, knowing that the last thing Teej wanted was to be placed in a position higher than anyone else on the team. I thought back to the reasons why she'd initially told me she thought she'd never be a good captain, and some of them were valid, but she'd grown a lot since then and Lundy was right.
She always saw things differently than the rest of us.
"Alright, by a show of hands who votes for Liam?" I asked, scanning the room to see nobody had raised their hand, noting the anxiety all over Teej as she did the same. "Rex?"
Once again I watched as nobody raised their hand, a few heavy sighs leaving Mac and Timmons as they looked up and Lundy, the three of them seeming to have a silent conversation. Teej looked around the room, once again seeing nobody had cast a vote yet, and turned to me with wide eyes as she realized what was about to happen.
"Okay. Teej?" I said, trying to contain my smirk, keeping my eyes fixed on Mac and Timmons.
I chuckled as I watched her try to shove Niall and Liam's hands down as she sat between them, Niall just shoving his free hand into her face to hold her back. Every other hand in the room slowly lifted as I looked around, Mac and Timmons both letting out a large sigh before they reluctantly did the same.
"I guess that's that, then." I said. "TJ, get up here."
She clenched her jaw and shot me a look as Liam practically shoved her out of her seat, before she came to stand beside me. I could feel her annoyance with me practically radiating off her, and it took everything in me not to smile down at her.
"Well, now that we've sorted that out." I said, clearing my throat so I didn't laugh. "Let's get to work."
"I hate you." Teej mumbled as she turned and headed back to her seat, plumping herself down and crossing her arms as Liam threw his arm around her.
We spent the next few hours rearranging the lines back to what they were before Tanner changed everything, with a few minor tweaks here and there. We worked out an increased practice schedule, sorted out how we could support each other to ensure we kept our grades up, and went over our weak areas. Every single one of us actively participated in discussion, gave their opinions and input, and I knew that without a doubt we were all committed to our common goal.
All we had to do was carry out our plan.
I dismissed the team after a couple of hours, knowing Teej, Lundy and I could sort out the rest of the logistics, and the three of us continued to review tapes of our competition and develop plays to shut them down. It was surprising how well the three of us worked together, but I suppose anything could be that simple when we focused on just the game. I think that was what Coach Bell had always tried to instill in us, that if we just played the game and focused on that, we wouldn't have time to focus on any of the other shit.
"I think we can run these plays tomorrow in practice, see how they turn out. We've gotta get readjusted to our old lines quickly." I sighed, throwing my pencil down on the table in front of me, starting to feel the excitement wearing off and the exhaustion taking over.
"Yeah, I think we've got a solid plan. We just have to pull it off." Lundy chuckled. "In theory, I think it's good."
"If we can just get enough practice in before next game I think we'll be alright. We have a shot, let's not waste it." Teej agreed.
"I think that's enough for today, you guys can take off. I'll clean up and shut everything down." I said, a yawn escaping me as I stretched.
"You sure?" Lundy asked.
"Yeah, I got it. Go get some sleep, you're gonna need it." I laughed.
He smiled as he said goodnight to Teej and I, before he turned and left the room. He wasn't out of sight more than ten seconds before Teej reached over and smacked me on the arm.
"What you do that for?" I chuckled, knowing the answer as I turned to see her glaring at me.
"How did you let this happen?!" She practically squeaked as I rolled my eyes at her, getting up and starting to put the chairs away. "You know this is a disaster, right?"
"It was a team decision, spaz."
"But you're Captain, you could have vetoed the nomination!" She said, following me.
"TJ, that would have defeated the entire purpose of doing it as a team." I laughed. "You can't be mad at me, I'm not the one who nominated you, and I didn't even have a vote. If you wanna be pissed at someone, blame Lundy."
"Harry, this isn't funny!" She said, whining.
"I mean, it's kinda funny." I smiled over at her, which she didn't seem to find amusing.
"I'm serious." She said, the familiar tone in her voice making me sigh as I pulled up a chair for each of us and sat her down.
"Alright, lay it on me." I said as I leaned forward and looked at her. "What about this is freaking you out?"
She sighed as she looked over at me, the voice in her head obviously bringing up things she'd been trying to work on, knowing that I already had the answer to my question.
"You already know." She said, throwing her head back. "Why am I like this?"
"Because you care." I said softly, reaching forward and putting my hand on her leg. "Teej, Lundy wasn't wrong. You know more about the game than most of this team, and you see everything in a way that we don't. You did earn this."
I watched as she closed her eyes and took tried to take a deep breath, before she opened them and looked right at me.
"But what if he is wrong?" She asked. "What if I'm not the right person for this, and that causes more problems, and then we start losing and-"
"Stop it." I laughed lightly, shaking my head at her. "Lundy nominated you, but the team voted you in. They trust you, Teej. No matter what happened before now, all the extra shit off the ice that's gone down, when it comes to getting back on top they trust you to help get us there. You've spent your whole life just wanting to be seen as another player, to overcome all the bullshit, and today you did that."
"What do you mean?"
"You were voted in because they saw you as someone who could help us. That's the only reason. You offer something else that Liam and Rex don't have, and I don't mean your female perspective, I mean your knowledge of the game. They made you assistant captain because you deserve it, not because you're a woman, or for some political agenda. You were voted in because you were the best person, because your knowledge and your talent will help get us there. And that's it. When you strip down all those doubts in your head, just remember that it's that simple."
"I...I'm trying." She said, her voice shaking slightly. "And I'm sorry that you have to keep dealing with me being like this, I just..."
"You care." I smiled.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Babe, that's my favorite thing about you." I said as I reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. "You care so much about this team, about winning, that you're terrified that you'll do something to mess it up for us. What I need you to realize is that without you, we have zero chance. We all know that, and we just need you to know it too."
"I just wanna play." She said. "I didn't wanna be involved in all the decisions and stuff."
"But we want you to, we need you to. We won't win without you, on or off the ice."
"I'm so annoying." She sighed. "You're supposed to be my boyfriend, not my therapist. I hate that I'm like this."
"Teej, stop." I laughed. "I seem to recall more than one occasion where you've had to talk me down, given me the kick in the ass I needed."
"That's different."
"Why? Because it's me that's the mess, not you?" I laughed. "Just accept it, babe. We are who we are. And I'm not going anywhere."
I nodded as I leaned forward and kissed her head, just as the door to the locker room burst open, and a familiar voice came booming into the room. Both of our heads snapped to look toward the door, our mouths hanging slightly open as the last person we expected to see appeared with a shit eating grin on his face.
"I'm back, bitches."
I think we were both too shocked to move, sitting there in the middle of the room in those chairs, before we slowly turned our heads to look at each other. It began to sink in as I watched the smile cross TJ's face, before she jumped up and practically threw herself into his arms.
"Oh my god, what are you doing here?!" She squealed as she pulled away from him, inspecting him as he readjusted himself on his crutches.
"Figured you fools could use some help from an old friend." Louis grinned.
"Fuck, it's so good to see you in here mate." I smiled as I hugged him, overwhelmed by the sight of him back in the locker room. "Are you back at school now? For good?"
"I suppose I am." He smiled as I stepped back from him and threw my arm around Teej, who was practically shaking with excitement.
"I can't believe you're here." She said, tears pooling in her eyes and she hugged him once again, burying her face into his neck as she held onto him. "You said you wouldn't be back at all this year."
"Gonna take a lot more than a busted leg to get rid of me, little sister." He said as she sniffled against him. "Please don't cry, you know I hate it."
"I know, I'm sorry." She laughed lightly as she pulled away and wrapped her arms around my waist. "It's been a long day."
Louis looked up at me, slightly concerned like something bad may have happened, and I figured I'd give him the good news.
"The team nominated your sister as assistant captain, and she's the only person on earth who would see that as a bad thing." I chuckled.
"It's about fucking time!" Louis said with a big smile, poking his sister with one of his crutches. "Just accept it, you psycho."
"I'm trying!" She laughed. "What about you, though? Are you sure you're ready to be back?"
"Teej, I've been ready for months. I'm going crazy." He said. "One more week on crutches and then I'll be good as new, kinda."
"Well, it's a good thing, cause we could use you around here." I told him. "We've got one hell of a fight in front of us."
"I've got your back, obviously." Lou smiled. "Speaking of which, I also have some news."
Teej and I smiled at each other as the door to the locker room opened and my uncle walked in, flanked by one of the greatest sights I'd ever seen, making me almost weak in the knees with relief.
"TJ, Harry." Uncle Mike said with a smirk.
"Coach Bell?" Teej gawped.
"Hey, kiddo." He smiled as he hugged her, both of us practically frozen in place. "How you doing?"
"It's so good to see you, you have no idea." She said, smiling up at him. "We miss you so much around here."
He smiled back at her before shifting his eyes to me, stepping toward me for a hug and a firm pat on the back before he pulled away and went to stand beside Louis. He put his arm around him, giving it a squeeze as he looked back at us, looking almost as happy to see us as we were to see him.
"What's going on?" I asked skeptically, trying not to get my hopes up. "I mean, it's great to see you but I'd be lying if I said I'm not praying it's because you're back."
Coach Bell took a deep breath and let it out, before both he and Louis turned to look at my uncle, who clearly was the one with all the information.
"Well, as you guys know I've been searching far and wide for a new Coach." He said. "I think we all know that Coach Bell is impossible to replace, but unfortunately his health will not allow him to continue as the head coach of this team."
"Oh." Teej said, and I could practically hear her heart sinking the same way mine did.
I did my best to hide my disappointment as I looked down at her, clearing my throat and trying to refocus.
"So does that mean you found someone else then?" I asked. "Coach is here to handover the team to them or something?"
"Not exactly." Uncle Mike smiled, looking over at Coach.
"Look guys, I would love nothing more than to come back, trust me." He sighed. "But I'm not getting any younger, and if I come back and my ticker doesn't kill me, my wife will."
We all chuckled as he shook his head at himself, just so happy to see him that we were hanging on his every word.
"But I care too much about this team to see you guys tank the season, and it's been hell watching you struggle the last few months, so I called up Dean Richards and told him that I personally wanted to find a replacement Coach." He explained. "I said I'd be around for consulting purposes, but since I can't continue as head Coach, I'd find the next best person for the job."
I can't explain the bittersweet feeling that washed over me, knowing Coach wasn't coming back but that he would personally be selecting our new coach. I knew he would look out for us, want what was best for us, and to know that he would be still somewhat involved was like music to our ears. I felt the weight slowly lifting from my shoulders, and for the first time all day I felt like we were gonna have some help.
"So, did you find somebody?" Teej asked hopefully. "Do we have a new Coach?"
"Yep." He grinned as he threw his arm around Louis, clapping him on the shoulder. "You're lookin at him."
I felt confusion cross my features as my eyebrows pulled together, before I looked over at Teej and saw that she was just as perplexed as I was.
"Louis?" She gawped. "Are you telling me Louis is the new head Coach?"
"Not exactly." He chuckled. "But for the most part, yes."
"I'm sorry, I don't get it." I said, barely able to wrap my mind around it.
As far as I knew, to be coach you had to have some kind of degree, as well as a considerable career under your belt. We all knew that Louis was an extremely talented player, and he had been an amazing leader as Captain, but he in no way met the requirements to be Head Coach of a college team.
"So, let me explain this." Uncle Mike chuckled. "Louis does not meet the criteria to be officially hired as Head Coach for numerous reasons, and he is still technically a student here."
"I know..." Teej said slowly. "So how can he be Coach?"
"Well, Coach Bell has graciously agreed to mentor him. We will re-hire Coach Bell as Head Coach, with Louis as Assistant Coach, however Coach Bell will simply be overseeing Louis." He explained. "Once the hire is in, Coach Bell can choose to structure his team any way he chooses."
"It's pretty simple. I give Tommo the reigns, stay out of the doghouse with the wife, and I'm here if he needs me." Coach Bell nodded. "But I have complete faith that he can handle it, and I won't be stressing about it all."
"I can't believe this." Teej said breathlessly. "I don't....I don't even know what to say."
"Say thanks for saving our asses, Coach Tomlinson." Louis grinned.
"You are out of your god damn mind if you think I'm ever calling you Coach." She scoffed.
"I see we're off to a great start here." Coach Bell chuckled. "But fortunately, none of this is my problem."
"Or mine." Uncle Mike smiled as he clapped Louis on the back.
"Good to see you two." Coach smiled at Teej and I. "Tommo, I expect my daily update tomorrow night."
He squeezed Louis' shoulder before Uncle Mike escorted him out, shooting me a wink on his way before they both disappeared down the hall and the door closed behind them, leaving the three of us standing there.
"I can't fucking believe this." Teej laughed. "I don't even know how to feel about it."
"Oh please, this is like the best thing that ever happened to you." Louis smiled as he threw his arm around her. "Now you can see me every day and I have the authority to boss you around, it's like your biggest dream come true."
"More like nightmare." She rolled her eyes.
I smiled as I watched the two of them, reminiscing on all the days before everything turned to shit when the two of them would bicker constantly back and forth, and suddenly realized how much I missed it. I let them continue their banter for the next few minutes, just watching and smiling, remembering just how much fun the three of us used to have.
Because if there was one thing I knew above all else, it was that the three of us together was something no other team had ever been able to shut down.