TJ's POV
I could feel the anxiety radiating off Harry before I even opened my eyes.
The tension in his body as I laid next to him was something I could physically feel, and I knew that when I rolled over and looked at him I'd find him staring at the ceiling thinking about all the things that were riding on the championship game.
I sighed as I opened my eyes, finding him exactly how I expected to, eyes fixed straight ahead as he rested his hands on his stomach. I watched him for a second, admiring him as he laid there and smiling to myself at how well I knew him.
"Good morning." I said as I leaned over and pressed my lips to his shoulder.
"Hey, babe." He said softly, turning his head to look at me as a soft smile crossed his lips.
He reached up and brushed a piece of hair off my face, gazing down at me as he often did. Sometimes when he looked at me I could see how much he loved me in his eyes, and it always brought me a sense of warmth that I never quite got used to.
"I love you." I said, the words falling effortlessly from my lips as I looked up at him.
"I love you too, spaz."
I sighed as I moved closer, resting my head on his chest as he pulled me into him, a weighted sigh leaving him as he pressed his lips to my head.
"Everything is gonna be fine, Harry." I told him. "Please don't stress so much."
"I'm trying." He said, throwing his head back against the headboard. "I just...I want this so bad, Teej."
"I know."
I laid there next to him, just trying to let him sort out his thoughts. I knew his entire life was flashing before his eyes, every possible scenario playing out as to what could happen, good and bad. The funny thing about Harry was that I knew he'd stress about the championship all day and night, but the second he stepped onto the ice he'd forget all about it and just do what he did best. It was a lot of wasted energy when we both knew it would leave his mind once his skates were on, but that's just how he was. It was his process.
"I just can't stop thinking about what I'm gonna do if I don't make it, if we lose this game and everything we've all worked so hard for just doesn't mean anything." He said, the stress dripping off his words as he put a ridiculous amount of pressure on himself for no reason.
"Alright, let's get one thing straight here." I said as I sat up to face him, his hand landing on my knee as he looked up at me. "First of all, we aren't losing."
A chuckle escaped him, clearly amused by the simple fact I was stating.
"Secondly, as far as your career goes, this game is irrelevant. There is absolutely zero way you won't make it to the NHL. And third, we have been straight up dominating everyone for the past six weeks, made the playoffs from almost dead last, and nobody stands a chance." I said as I swung one of my legs over his hips and looked down at him. "Now are you gonna just accept the fact that this game is in the bag, or do I need to distract you with sex?"
"I mean...I don't know if I'm convinced yet." He smiled as he leaned up to kiss me, just in time for Shawn to come pounding on the door.
"Alright, lovebirds. Power breakfast, let's go!"
I rolled my eyes as I turned back to Harry, who suddenly looked more annoyed than before.
"Maybe when you make it to the NHL we can get rid of these idiots." I chuckled as I leaned down to kiss him.
"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.
"Here, guys." Rex said as he headed over to the table with a plate full of eggs. "I made breakfast, eat up before it gets cold."
"Thanks." I said as I awkwardly pulled at the bottom of Harry's t-shirt, walking toward the table as Shawn pulled out a chair for me.
Our entire table was full of food, spinach and egg white omelettes, fresh fruit, toast and turkey bacon everywhere as the boys all loaded their plates like they were never gonna eat again. Mac was whipping up protein smoothies in the blender as we all dug in, delivering them one by one as they were ready.
"I could get used to this." I smiled up at Rex as he set a glass of juice down in front of me, never having been waited on in my own apartment like that by anyone but Harry.
Rex just chuckled as he headed back to the kitchen and started washing up the dishes, and the room was relatively quiet despite the sounds of chewing and dishes clanking. I suspected they were all doing their best to mentally prepare themselves, making sure they were focused, the weight of it all sitting on top of our shoulders. It was a strange thing for me, on one hand knowing it was just one game and we'd already accomplished so much just by being there, but on the other knowing how bad we wanted it and feeling like if we lost nothing else we did would matter.
We were competitors, through and through, and we would settle for nothing less than what we deserved. We all knew we could do it, and the only thing standing in our way was ourselves.
***********
The locker room was silent.
We'd all quietly put on all our gear, laced up our skates and thrown on our jerseys, and there was nothing left to do but play.
I looked around the room, a room that used to be full of so much chaos and animosity, and I was overcome with a sense of peace. I don't know that I'd ever seen it so quiet, where everyone was just taking a few minutes to gather themselves, and it brought a small smile to my face at how far we'd come not only as a team, but individually.
Niall was anxiously bouncing his leg up and down as he held his stick in his hand, looking down at the ground. Chase had his eyes closed as he silently prayed to himself, clutching his necklace in his hand as he asked for whatever help the universe could give us. The room was full of lucky charms, little rituals we all believed were good luck, and we all seemed to be doing our best to make sure that none of us did anything to mess up our juju.
Rex had put his gear on exactly the same order as he had the last 15 games, Liam hadn't washed his socks since the playoffs started, which was unfortunately a price we were all paying. Shawn carried his lucky mickey mouse keychain that he got when he was four at Disneyland everywhere he went, tucked safely into his glove for the game, and I had taken my pregame nap in my grandpa's red wing jersey.
I looked over at Harry, who had multiple pre-game rituals he'd already completed, but I knew he always saved his most important one until right before we left the locker room. He was clutching his cup of tea in his hand, looking rather relaxed, and I smiled as I reached over and tucked a piece of his hair behind his ear.
He turned to look a me, a soft smile crossing his lips as he took my hand and kissed the back of it, before he laced his fingers through mine and rested our hands on his leg. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, his own way of letting me know we were in this together, before my brother entered the room and took his place in the middle while Coach Bell stood behind him.
"Well, guys." He smiled. "This is it."
We all nodded quietly, thankful that our pre-game speech was being delivered by one of our own, someone we loved and respected so much. Louis knew what this moment meant to all of us, he was one of us, and he'd led us all back to the top when we needed him. Coach Bell had been there for us of course, but Louis had really taken the reigns, relieved some of the pressure off Harry, and allowed us to focus on hockey again.
"I'm not gonna stand here for ten minutes and go on about how big this is or how much we want this. You know all that. We've all got the same feeling in our guts, we all know how much this means and how hard we've worked to get back here." He started, his eyes catching mine for a moment before he continued. "So, I'm just gonna remind you how many people said we wouldn't be here, how they all wrote us off and said we couldn't do it, that it was impossible and we'd never make the playoffs."
Everyone nodded along, that defiant nature within us coming to the surface, the frustration that fueled our competitive spirit making its way through us as we let the words sink in.
"Hughes bailed on us, said we were the shittier team for having a woman on the squad, talked shit publicly for months." Louis continued. "Tanner showed up and did everything he could to run this team into the ground, took the spots we'd rightfully earned and made us all look like chumps. You guys continued to work your asses off and got nowhere, watching your hard work get you to dead last in the standings, when in the first four months of the season you were so far ahead of the second place team nobody believed they'd ever catch you. Then he was gone, and you were on your own, and you had nobody but each other."
We all looked around at each other, the mutual respect we held for what we'd done together obvious as Rex nudged me with his elbow, shooting me a wink.
"Any other team in this league would have given up." Louis said, his determination strong. "Any other team would have written off the season, listened to everyone who said it was impossible to come back, hung up their skates and called it. But you guys...you looked into the face of every one of those people and you said we're not fucking finished."
"Fuck yeah we did!" Mac cheered.
"You said fuck you and your bullshit opinion, we aren't going anywhere!" Louis said as the energy in the room began to shift. "You put your heads down, you got to work and you fought back every inch they tried to take from you. You skated faster, shot harder, and beat every one of those teams to get your asses right back to the top where you belonged!"
Everyone began to cheer and clap as he continued, hyping themselves up as my brother reminded us just what it was that we'd accomplished.
"No fucking team in the history of this league has ever come back like that, but we're not any other team. We don't quit, we don't take shit, and we stick together no matter what they throw at us. We can beat this team, we have before, and we will win the cup because it's fucking ours. It's always been ours, and all we have to do is go out there and take it."
The room erupted as everyone got to their feet, banging their sticks on the ground and cheering as we got ready to take the ice.
"This is our house, and we're about to show Hughes why he doesn't fucking belong here." Louis said over the cheers. "One game, three periods, and a lifetime of satisfaction in knowing we did exactly what they said we couldn't, because we don't fucking lose!"
I looked up at Harry who was already grinning back at me, before half the team stormed Louis and threw him over their shoulder, starting to carry him out of the locker room toward the ice. A few of us straggled behind as we grabbed our sticks and helmets, and Harry took a deep breath as he turned back to his stall to do his last ritual before he left the locker room.
"Can I do it with you?" I asked softly as he turned to look at me, a bit surprised.
He just smiled and nodded as he took my hand, closing his eyes and bowing his head. I did the same as he took his moment in silence, saying whatever it was he always did in his head, before he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. We both then brought our fingers to our lips to kiss them, before reaching into Harry's stall and placing them on Abby's picture.
"Love you, Abbs." Harry said softly, his eyes looking a little glossy.
"I love you too, Abby." I said before Harry turned to face me.
And with that, both of us tapped our chest twice, kissed the back of our thumb, and held it to the sky.
*************
"Oh fuck, oh fuck, I think I'm gonna throw up." Niall said as he leaned forward on the bench and tucked his head between his legs.
"Don't be so dramatic." I laughed as he shot up to look at me.
"Look at the fucking scoreboard!" He defended as I rolled my eyes at him. "If they don't score in the next two minutes we're gonna win this fucking game!"
"Horan, shut the fuck up! You're gonna jinx it!" Liam yelled from down the bench.
"It's true!" He shouted back. "I can't take this fucking suspense."
"Well you're a defensemen, just don't let them score." I laughed as he shot me a death glare which let me know that's exactly why he was stressing.
The game had been pretty back and forth the entire time, and as much as I hated to admit it Hughes and is squad weren't making it easy for us. However, we were currently up by one with two minutes left, but every one of us knew that a one goal lead in the playoffs with two whole minutes left didn't mean shit.
The sound of the whistle blowing interrupted Niall's breakdown as I squirted some more water into my mouth and Louis called out the next line.
"Teej, Styles, Horan, Payne, Rex, you're up." He said as we all hopped over the bench and onto the ice. "Don't fuck this up!"
I turned back to look at him as he chuckled to himself, and I just flipped him the finger as I made my way over to the face off circle.
Funnily enough, I hadn't faced off against Hughes once all night and one had to assume it was because last time I saw him I kicked his ass. However, with two minutes left there we were face to face and he looked anything but happy about it.
"Hey, Hughesy." I smiled as I bent down and took my position. "How's the family?"
He ignored me as the ref dropped the puck, and I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me as I shot it back to Harry and followed him up the ice. As usual, Harry had been absolutely unstoppable the entire game, plowing past their defense or anyone else who got in his way, his determination obvious as his talent clearly dominated anyone else's. It was funny when you thought about how nervous he'd been, because when it actually came to playing Harry never worried about anything.
He shot it back toward me and I deflected it to Rex, who took a hard shot that bounced off the goalie's right pad. Niall snagged it as it hit the blue line, his eyes scanning an opening to pass it as Harry and I both fought to get away from their defensemen. Without a clear pass option and the looming risk of interception, Niall skated into the zone and absolutely slammed the puck toward the net so hard that the goalie practically ducked out of the way.
The buzzer sounded as I looked at Harry, both of us cackling as we immediately skated over to Niall, who was bent over with his hands on his knees in relief.
"Fuckin Nialler!" Rex cheered as he grabbed him and tapped his head with his glove.
"I couldn't take the fucking pressure anymore." He chuckled.
"Nice shot, bro." Harry smiled as he looked up at the scoreboard to see there was 1:15 left on the clock. "You may have just won this game."
The entire bench was losing their minds as we looked over, slamming their sticks against the wall as they cheered, the excitement obvious as we all took note of how little time was left.
"Alright, don't get too comfortable." I said carefully. "We gotta hold them off, one more minute. Let's do this."
We all nodded as we returned to our positions, glancing around at each other as play resumed. We weren't surprised when they dumped it into our zone and pulled their goalie, leaving them with an extra player. Niall and Liam were solid on defense while Rex, Harry and I did our best to stave off the extra player, diving in front of the puck every chance we could but being careful not to leave ourselves vulnerable.
The pressure was insane, even with a two goal lead, and I could not have been more thankful Niall took that shot. We watched as their offense suddenly switched positions, the five of us trying to figure out what the hell they were doing, before they ran some play that deked up the left side and found a gap between Rex and Liam. The buzzer sounded before I could even process what had happened, and all I heard was the string of profanities that left Harry's mouth.
"What the fuck was that?" I gawped, Liam and Rex just shaking their heads.
"I don't know, but that was one hell of a play." Niall sighed, looking up to see thirty seconds left.
"I lost sight of the puck, I don't even know how they pulled that off." Rex sighed, clearly beating himself up. "Sorry, guys."
"None of that." Harry scolded him. "It was a good play, nothing any of us could do. We're still up. 30 seconds and this cup is ours. We've got this."
We all took a deep breath and nodded, tapping our gloves together as we looked around, and I knew that if we were gonna do this there was nobody else I'd rather have on the ice with me. The five of us were connected, we knew how the flow of the line worked, and if we had a shot at holding them off, we were it.
"This is it guys, we can do this." Rex nodded.
I don't know what it was, but there was a shift in the energy as we stood there, the heaviness of the moment suddenly changing into something more fun as I looked over Liam's shoulder to see the other team. They looked so anxious, miserable even, despite the fact that they had just scored. Normally, a team would be full of hope at that moment, ecstatic that they were still in it, but they looked like they'd already lost.
"Guys they're rattled." I said, shifting my eyes back to them. "They're fucking shook."
"Which means they're gonna get sloppy." Harry smiled.
"There's 30 seconds left, let's just have some fun." I grinned.
We looked around at each other, the same smirk crossing all our faces as we began to laugh, before the whistle blew on their time out and we headed back to our positions. I looked over my shoulder at Harry, who just shot me a wink, and smiled to myself as I took my place in the face off circle.
"What the fuck is so funny?" Hughes scoffed as he saw the look on my face, clearly annoyed with the idea of me being in a good mood.
"You know Cole, there's just something about you losing that brings a smile to my face." I grinned as the Ref dropped the puck and he immediately shoved me backwards and took the puck.
I chuckled as I took off after him, reaching my stick forward and plucking the puck out of his control due to his sloppy stickhandling, and practically danced my way back toward their zone. I heard him muttering to himself as he came back behind me, and I quickly shifted to my left as I saw him lunge for me in the reflection of the boards. The crowd went wild as he jumped to grab me and missed, falling flat on his face as I skated a circle around the net, throwing my head back in laughter as their defensemen looked lost as to what to do.
I glanced up at the clock, seeing it ticking down from 0:15, waiting for someone to try to come and take the puck from me, but all three of their forwards seemed tied up by the rest of my team. Hughes scrambled to his feet to come after me again, but I'd skated quite a distance from him and by the time he got to me I'd already taken a shot.
The buzzer sounded just as he reached me, throwing his body into mine and sending us both flying backwards into the boards, but before I could even react his weight was lifted from mine as Liam and Niall each grabbed him by the arm and tossed him off me like a rag doll. They immediately reached down and pulled me up, Liam tossing me over his shoulder as the entire arena erupted with cheers.
"Did it go in?!" I asked excitedly, knowing it didn't really matter because we would have won anyway.
"Fuck yeah it did! Top shelf!" Rex yelled as Liam put me down and they all jumped on top of me, sending me crumbling to the ice beneath them.
I could barely breathe as they all piled on top of me, but I was laughing so hard that it didn't seem to matter. Everything around me was complete chaos, the sound of the crowd, of my teammates, my own heart pounding in my chest, and by the time Louis instructed them to get off me I had barely registered what happened.
"It went in?!" I asked again as my brother lifted me off the ground and spun me around.
"It went in, Teej. You scored top shelf with two seconds left." Louis grinned. "You're a fucking legend."
"We won?!" I screamed. "We fucking won!"
I instantly began jumping around, just grabbing anyone in a jersey and hugging them, feeling so happy I could fucking burst, every one of us knowing we were in the middle of one of the greatest moments we'd ever have. It wasn't just about the game or winning the cup, it was about what we'd done together as a team, what we'd stood for and how we'd had each other's backs.
We'd all supported Harry through his charity. They'd all supported me and testified against Tanner a few weeks earlier, ensuring he got put away for what he'd done. We'd come together when we had no coach, helped each other keep our grades up, and picked each other up when we'd fallen so far.
I was proud. I was proud of my team, proud of my friends, and truly for the first time probably ever, I was proud of myself.
My eyes scanned the crowd for Harry, suddenly realizing I hadn't seen him yet in the middle of all the chaos, and I found him leaning against the bench watching me with a huge grin on his face. It was almost as if he'd been there waiting for me, watching me celebrate with our teammates and just enjoying the site of it, and I instantly began to skate toward him.
I threw my arms around him as I reached him, both of us spinning around and giggling to ourselves, before we pulled away and looked at each other.
"I told you we don't lose." I smiled.
"And as usual you were right." He chuckled.
"I mean, as much as you hate it when I'm right, you have to admit that this was a pretty kick ass thing to be right about." I chuckled before I gazed up at him. "I'm proud of you, Harry."
"I'm proud of you too, Spaz. For so much more than this."
He sighed as he looked down at me, reaching up and running his fingers down the side of my face.
"I really wish I could kiss you right now."
I did my best to contain the smile that was tugging at my lips as I looked around, seeing the hundreds of eyes on us, all the cameras focused in our direction and all the media waiting with their microphones to get our post-game interviews, before I turned back to Harry and smiled.
"Do it."
A dopey grin crossed his face as he looked back at me, a small chuckle leaving his lips as he seemed amused by the idea.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I mean, unless you're-"
I was interrupted as he grabbed the front of my jersey and pulled me toward him, crashing his lips into mine as the crowd around us erupted. I could feel him smiling against my lips as he wrapped his arms around me and lifted me, spinning me around as I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer. The entire arena was clapping and cheering as we began to hear our teammates joining in, before we were both smiling too huge to even get our lips to connect anymore.
Harry put me down and pressed one more quick kiss to my lips, before he took my hand and lifted it in the air, effectively announcing our relationship. It seemed like the most bizarre thing in the world, but at the same time it felt like such a freeing moment. It felt like the last thing that I was hiding, the last thing I was trying to keep from being judged, and with that small gesture it seemed like I'd finally given up every single thing I had that I was worried about showing the world.
Harry and I both knew that nothing anyone else could say would affect our relationship, and I think we were both glad that we took the time to keep that to ourselves. But we were finished hiding. We weren't about to go commenting on it to the media or anything, but we'd just had the biggest win of our careers and if I wanted to kiss my boyfriend in celebration, I was going to.
It wasn't long before the cameras and microphones descended on us, every single one of us being pulled off for some kind of separate interview, and it seemed all they wanted to do was congratulate me on my goal and ask me about kissing Harry.
"Are you and Styles dating?" One of them asked, and I just smiled as I caught his eye across the sea of people.
"He's a good kisser, what can I say?" I shrugged. "Just a little celebratory kiss among friends."
It was obvious that they were annoyed that I wasn't giving them straight answers, but I also think they knew me well enough not to push. It wasn't long before Harry made his way over and took his place beside me, doing his best to pull me away from the circus.
"Styles, how would you describe your relationship with TJ?"
"She's Gretzky." He grinned as he motioned for us to head toward the locker room.
"What does that mean?!" They shouted as he didn't respond. "Harry!"
Both of us were chuckling by the time we got off the ice, finding ourselves alone in the hallway to the locker room as the door shut behind us, effectively shutting out all the noise. It was a bit strange to go from such a crazy environment into sudden silence, but I think it was a welcome change for both of us. I sighed as we leaned against the walls, Harry facing opposite me on the other side as we just smiled at each other.
"Did we really just do that?" He smiled with a light laugh. "Did that just happen?"
"Yep. We really won." I grinned back. "Feels a little surreal."
"It does." He nodded. "Kinda weird to think about what we're supposed to do now."
"What do you mean?"
"Well we've been working for this non-stop, not doing anything else. It's just kinda like now we've done it...now what?"
A laugh escaped my mouth involuntarily, finding it amusing how his mind worked, how he always had to have something to throw his energy into. Fortunately for him, I knew him too well and had a good idea of what we would both be doing for the next little while.
"We have plans." I nodded.
"We do?" He asked curiously, quirking his eyebrow at me.
"Did I stutter?"
A cackle left him as he threw his head back and stepped away from the wall, coming to stand over me as he placed his hand above my head and leaned into me.
"Nice to see winning hasn't affected your ability to sass me." He said, his breath wafting over my face at his proximity. "I think I've got some plans for us too."
"Oh yeah? What plans are those?"
"You tell me first."
"I can't tell you, I have to show you."
"I like the sound of that." He grinned.
I rolled my eyes at him as I pushed myself off the wall, forcing him to step back to let me past him, before I turned and headed to the locker room. He laughed and shook his head at me before following, throwing his arm over my shoulder as we walked.
*********************
"Oh man, what a day." Harry sighed as he plunked himself down on his bed at 3am, still buzzed from all the celebratory beers we'd had at the pub with the boys. "I'm exhausted."
I chuckled as I crawled in next to him, trying to kick off my boots but failing when I realized I hadn't undone the zipper.
"Help." I laughed as I held my foot toward Harry, who quickly undid my zipper and flung my boot across the room before doing the same to the other foot.
"All done." He smiled as he rolled toward me. "I can think of some other things I plan on unzipping."
I giggled as he leaned down and kissed me, peeling his shirt over his head before looking down at me for a few seconds.
"I thought you were exhausted?" I said, quirking my eyebrow at him.
"I am." He laughed. "But you know I'm never too tired for you. I'm tired of people, of being out and sociable. I just wanna be here with you."
"Good answer." I smiled.
"Besides, if I'm not mistaken you said you owe me a surprise."
"Did I say that?"
"Yes. Yes, you did." He nodded.
"I believe what I said was that we have plans." I clarified. "Did you think sex was our plans? Are we that couple how now has to schedule sex?"
"Hell no." He scoffed. "Well no, yes I thought sex was our plans, no we are not that couple. We will never be that couple."
"Good to know." I said as I sat up, looking around his room for my purse.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"I need my purse." I said as I saw it on the floor and tried to reach over him to get it, almost toppling to the floor before he caught me and pulled me back up.
I rummaged through my bag for the envelope I needed, careful not to show him what I was looking for, before I found it and plucked it out.
"What are you looking for?" He asked curiously.
"This." I smiled as I held it up teasingly as he just laid there comfortably, looking up at me with a look of amusement on his face.
"And what is that?"
"Your surprise."
"I thought it was 'plans'" He said, making air quotes with his fingers.
"Don't be a smart ass." I chuckled as I swatted him. "Just open it."
I tossed it at him, landing on his stomach as he picked it up and inspected the envelope. His brows pulled together before he looked back at me, and I just shot him a look telling him to open it. I was actually surprised how calm I was, knowing how exciting of a moment it would be, but I'd also been carting around that envelope for a week so I guess I'd had time to get used to it.
The room was quiet aside from the sound of Harry tearing into that envelope, before he pulled out the piece of paper and cleared his throat dramatically like he was about to give a speech.
"Dear Mr. Harry Styles, we are writing to inform you that...." He began before his voice trailed off and he instantly sat up.
His eyes frantically scanned the paper for a few more seconds before he flipped it over, almost as if looking for the part where it said it was a joke, before he snatched up the envelope and double checked the sending address. His mouth was hanging open, I could practically see his heart pounding in his chest, before his eyes went wide and he looked up at me.
"Are you fucking with me?" He gawped. "Where did you get this?"
"It may or may not have come in the mail about a week ago, and I may or may not have stolen it."
He just stared at me, almost like he was frozen while his brain tried to process it, before he shook his head and stood up off the bed.
"No, nope." He said. "That envelope was still sealed, you had no way of knowing what that letter said. This is a joke, you're fucking with me."
"Harry, do you really think I'd do that to you?" I laughed. "You honestly think I'd give you this letter and then tell you it's a joke?"
"I don't know, that's-"
"Babe, you're going to the Olympics." I grinned.
"But, I...how?" He gawped. "How could you have possibly known that's what the letter said? What if it was a rejection letter and you gave it to me as a surprise and it sucked."
I laughed as I threw my head back, not surprised at his reaction but still finding the image of that hilarious, before I reached into my purse and pulled out another envelope.
"What's that?" He asked, looking terrified.
"This is how I knew what the letter said." I said, handing it to him.
The other envelope was already opened and all he had to do was pull the letter out, so he hesitantly unfolded the single page and let his eyes scan it before the biggest grin I'd ever seen crossed his face in typical Harry fashion.
He was always more excited for me than he was for himself.
"You're gonna play in the fucking Olympics?!"
Before I could even answer him he'd jumped on top of me, shoving me back on the bed as he bounced around on top of me, shaking me by the shoulders as he kept screaming at me about how I'd been offered a spot on the Olympic team.
"Harry, stop." I laughed. "Get off."
He finally climbed off him as he continued to wave my letter around, standing up from the bed and looking like he was about to jump out of his skin.
"Babe, this is fucking sick." He said. "I'm so fucking proud right now."
"Harry, do I actually have to remind you that I just handed you a letter stating that you are also going to be playing in the Olympics?" I laughed. "Did you really forget that just happened?"
"I seriously, honestly 100% thought that was a joke." He said, pushing his hand through his hair before he picked the letter back up. "You swear this is real? You didn't like just make a copy of yours to fuck with me?"
"How evil do you think I am?!" I scoffed, getting offended. "You made the team, you idiot. Just accept it and show a little bit of excitement."
I watched as realization finally crossed his face, the reality of it finally sinking in as he stared back at me and clutched the paper in his hand.
"Holy shit, I gotta call my dad." He said breathlessly. "I'm...I'm gonna play in the fucking Olympics!"
"Annddd there it is." I chuckled.
"Mate, this is fucking wild."
I just shook my head at him as I laid back on his bed, watching the typhoon that was Harry spin around his room as he let the weight of it sink in. I'd opened mine about a week ago and it had been killing me to keep it in, but my decision to wait to tell Harry until after the game had definitely been worth it.
"Wait." Harry suddenly said as he found his phone, turning to look at me. "We're gonna be on different teams...I'll play for England and you'll play for the states."
"I mean, I'll also play for the women's team and you'll play for men's, so yeah." I said. "Gonna be kinda weird."
He looked sad for a second before he came and sat down beside me, taking my hand in his and kissing the back of it as he looked down at me.
"It might be kinda nice though." He said softly. "I've never got to watch you from the stands before. I can be there watching, paint your number on my face, I get to cheer you on from the crowd instead of the bench."
"Yeah, that's true." I smiled. "We'll both get to experience it together, but still have our own moment."
"And the whole world will get to see what the rest of us do." He said as he leaned down and kissed my cheek. "You're a superstar."
I had to admit I was a little relieved to know that I'd at least get the opportunity to play on some kind of professional stage, and I'd always secretly hoped to play in the Olympics. It was really the only level for women that was recognized, and to be able to share that whole experience with Harry was everything I could have asked for.
"We're going to Tokyo, babe." I smiled up at him.
"Fuck yeah, we are."
*************
THE END.
Ahhhhh I am always sooooo sad when I finish a story! 😭 I'm gonna miss these two so much, but I have other ideas and things in the works that I need to embrace for now.
If you aren't currently following me please do so if you want updates on my upcoming fics, as I am hoping to get the first chapter of my next one "Crossfire" up in the next little bit. I am also hoping to finish A Lifetime of Moments and I'll be reposting Lost Girl as well at some point, so keep an eye out for those! As always, you can DM me if you have any questions or comments you don't want to post publicly, and just a reminder that your comments always keep me motivated to write, so I thank you for those who take the time to do that.
I am taking next semester off school because it's just been too much, so hopefully that leaves me some more time to write. For those of you have stuck with me through these lags in updates, I adore you and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Whether you're a new reader or have been here from the start, I appreciate you taking time out of your life to read, and I hope you've loved these characters as much as I do.
For now, it's onto the next.
Love you, treat people with kindness.
Sarah ♥️