Chapter Text
“Oh my god, it’s him.”
“No way, he’s not tall enough.”
“I’m telling you, that’s…”
“Shhhhh…”
Ed hunched his shoulders and tried to disappear into his jacket as he and Stede made their way to their seats. The brush of Stede’s lips on his ear sent a little shiver down his spine and he huffed out a reluctant laugh when Stede whispered, “I can’t take you anywhere.”
“I should shave my head. If I looked like an egg, no one would recognize me,” Ed grumbled.
“My egg.” Stede petted a hand down Ed’s back and he relaxed into the touch. Of the many things he loved about Stede, the way he coddled Ed when he was feeling pouty was close to the top. He was a grown man, an athlete, someone people recognized for his strength, and sometimes he needed someone to pet him and tell him it was ok to be a little bit pathetic.
“They’re probably still pissed about that shot,” Ed said with a sigh as they sat down and he saw several people craned around to get a look at him.
“Mmmm,” Stede hummed, a note of skepticism in his tone. “None of these people look mad.”
“I cost us the cup,” Ed said for what was probably the millionth time.
“First of all, no you didn’t. Second of all, that was three years ago and no one is thinking about that cup.” Stede gestured at the ice where the players were warming up. “They’re thinking about this one.”
Ed spotted Louis and he felt a grin crack through his sour mood. “I cannot believe the season our kid is having.”
“Yeah,” Stede whispered, and it was Ed’s turn to pet his hand down Stede’s back.
“You ever wonder what would have happened if he’d ended up with the Sharks?” Ed asked and Stede actually shuddered.
“Can you imagine Ned Low mentoring him?”
“Please, that hack.” Ed let his eyes follow Louis until he skidded to a stop next to the bench to confer with Coach Vane. “I think it doesn’t matter where he ended up though. He was always going to be great.”
“I think it matters,” Stede said thoughtfully and Ed turned his head to see Stede’s face soft with fondness. “He blossomed with you. And look at him now.”
“MVP, baby,” Ed shouted, earning a low cheer from a few of the people sitting near them.
“Let’s not count our chickens before they hatch.”
“They’re his chickens,” Ed pointed out, laughing against Stede’s mouth when he cut him off with a kiss.
“You’re ridiculous,” Stede murmured with his nose still squished against Ed’s.
“You’re Ed Teach, right?” Someone asked from the aisle near them and Ed looked over Stede’s shoulder at the guy standing there with his hands on his hips.
“I am, yeah,” he said with a sigh, readying an apology for the goal he’d missed in the last game of his career.
“Man you’re a fucking legend!” The guy’s face split into a huge smile. “Can I get a picture?”
“Uh…” Ed looked at Stede who just smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “Sure, yeah. That’d be cool.”
It turned into an impromptu photo session and Ed’s cheeks ached from smiling for dozens of selfies. People were clapping him on the back and telling him about plays he didn’t even remember being part of, reciting his stats back to him, telling stories about their favorite games. Ed was getting antsy as puck drop neared, ready to be back in his seat, but there was a woman hanging back, looking too nervous to push through the people clustered around him.
“Hey.” Ed gestured for her to come closer. “You want to grab a quick photo?”
“Oh….sure.” She managed a weak smile and flapped her hands before fishing her phone out of her pocket. Ed threw an arm around her and grinned at the two of them on her screen. The shutter clicked, and before Ed could pull away, she squeezed her arm around his waist tighter. “My son plays hockey.”
“Oh yeah?”
“He um…” She blinked like she realized she was manhandling him and quickly let him go. “He came out to me the day after your press conference. He said you made him feel brave enough to be honest about who he was.”
Ed felt like the wind had been knocked out of him and he just gaped at her. She wrung her hands together like she was worried that she’d said the wrong thing, forging ahead nervously. “And then when Louis came out a few months later, then Adam after that! Oh we both just cried and cried. You made the game safe for him and I’m just so…”
Ed pulled her into a hug and hoped that no one was looking at him. “You tell him I’m proud of him,” he whispered. When she pulled back, her eyes were shining with tears.
When Ed shuffled back to his seat, Stede was watching him, his brow furrowed with concern. “Is everything alright?” Once Ed was seated, Stede cupped his face in his hands and smoothed his tears away with his thumbs. “Is this a good cry?”
“Yeah.” Ed leaned in for a quick peck. “I don’t think you realize what you did for people just by being you.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“Loved me, made me want to be as brave as you.”
Stede’s lips tightened against his teeth and his eyes grew suspiciously shiny. “Can you relax? We’re at a hockey game. We’re supposed to be feeling manly feelings.”
Ed let his mouth fall open in mock offense. “How dare you, all my feelings are manly feelings.”
Stede wheezed out a laugh. “Fair point.”
Ed swore up and down he’d never been this nervous during the games he’d played during his career. But here watching Louis fight to lead his team to victory? Ed was a basket case every time the Kings missed a shot or took a penalty or let a goal in. No matter what happened, he was proud of Louis, he always would be. But he wanted this for Louis. He wanted tha parade and the accolades and for the whole damn world to see that Louis Bonnet was the greatest hockey player in the game.
“God look at him,” Ed shouted when Louis got checked hard and recovered gracefully. “Like he was fucking born in skates.”
“You can’t imagine our shock on the day he was born,” Stede said dryly.
“Fuck off,” Ed said, grinning as he lightly shoved Stede’s shoulder.
Ed spent most of the game half sick, wracked with nerves, and then suddenly he just knew. As Louis made a final drive towards the goal while the seconds drained away, he knew without a doubt that the puck was going to sail right into the net.
“He’s got this!” Someone shouted from behind Ed.
“You're god damn right he does,” Ed shouted back, his eyes glued to the action. The horn sounded, declaring that the goal was good and suddenly hats were flying out onto the ice. Louis threw his head back and laughed, looking out over the crowd to wave to the thunderous ovation for his third goal of the game.
The clock stopped at 23 seconds while the hats were cleared from the rink and Ed felt like he was holding his breath. They were so close, the score was 3-2. They just had to keep the Hurricanes at bay.
“I can’t look,” Ed groaned, sinking into his seat and burying his head in his hands.
“You have to!” Stede dragged Ed back up to his feet.
Ed opened his eyes in time to watch the Hurricanes center take a shot that landed uselessly in the glove of the goalie just as the clock drained down to nothing. Louis threw his hands up in the air and everyone started screaming.
“We won the cup,” Ed said numbly, then looked at Stede with wide eyes. “We won the cup! Holy fucking shit we won the cup!” Ed had been there on the ice in the moment when the Kings brought it home both times before, but there was nothing, nothing that compared to watching Louis getting mobbed by the team while confetti rained down and the fans screamed and cried.
Stede jerked Ed in by the front of his jersey and kissed him. It tasted a little salty and Ed wasn’t totally sure if he was crying or if Stede was, but then Stede dipped him way back and his head spun and he didn’t care who was crying.
“I think this is the best moment of my entire life,” Ed yelled over the noise around them, and Stede let out the most delighted laugh Ed had ever heard.
“Better than when you won?” Then Stede tried and failed to look offended. “Better than our wedding?”
Ed was unapologetic. “You knew what I was.” He grabbed Stede’s chin and held him, looking deep into his eyes before he claimed Stede’s mouth in a hard kiss. “Tied for first then.”
Stede was bubbling over with happiness, practically glowing with it. “You’re forgiven. Let’s go congratulate our kid.”
Confetti rained all around them and the incessant cheering had hardly quieted at all since the final horn. Ed looked down at the ice where Louis was being mobbed by his teammates. With Stede at his side, watching Louis in his moment of triumph, he was overflowing with love and pride. He had never felt more like he’d won.