Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Guts of the Ice

Tye is the first player on the ice for practice.

He's been tossing some warm up pucks at the empty net for a couple of minutes when Shane skates over to him with a frown firmly planted on his face.

"Moss told our mom that he wouldn't be able to make it to Denver for at least another week," Shane says warily with furrowed brows. "Why is he at your house right now?"

Without looking at Shane, Tye continues to shoot at the goal as he responds, "He was able to come in earlier than expected."

"Why are you making us come to your house after practice?" Clearly still confused, Shane is gradually looking more and more frustrated the longer their conversation goes on.

"We just wanted to have you both over to talk," he sends the last remaining puck to the top left corner of the net.

"About what?"

Sighing impatiently, Tye turns to look at the forward badgering him with questions, "You'll see."

Shane huffs out an unamused laugh, his frown looking noticeably more pronounced than when he first approached Tye only a minute or two ago.

"Y'know- I had plans to meet up with a situationship after practice," he reveals in an annoyed tone. "I cancelled our plans so I could hang out with you, who I see practically every day, and my brother, who I saw enough of growing up."

Seething at this comment, Tye decides to put an end to the conversation before he blows up on his boyfriend's aggravating little brother.

"It's one lunch. We'll be sure not to mess with your schedule after today."

With that, Tye skates away to where some of the other defenseman are hovering around waiting for the coach to tell them what drills to run.

As he's skating away he hears Shane mutter, "Fucking ridiculous."

-

It's a workday, but Moss is preparing some sandwiches on whole wheat bread with a lot of deli meat, cheese and veggies for the three hockey players who will be here soon. As he plates each of the sandwiches and sets them on the table, he hears the garage door signaling that Tye is home.

Tye greets him with a peck on the cheek and asks how he's feeling. He knows that his boyfriend has been nervous about telling his brothers since they put this plan together yesterday.

"I'm fine," Moss says, but even to him it sounds like a compete lie. The doorbell rings right after this causing him to jump skittishly, further showing his uneasiness toward the situation.

Nevertheless, the couple goes to the door together to greet their guests. Eli gives both Moss and Tye a bro hug whereas Shane simply slaps Moss on the back before walking ahead of everyone into the kitchen.

There is a distinct awkwardness in the air as they all sit around the table. Moss' stomach sinks thinking about how close he used to be with his brothers. He's never felt like such a stranger around them in his entire life.

Attempting to break the ice, he asks Eli how he enjoyed playing in his first playoff game. Eli seems grateful for the conversation starter as he tells him about his experience so far and says that he can't wait for game two tomorrow.

Shane has only taken one bite of his sandwich and doesn't waste anytime after Eli wraps up his response before asking why the two of them were invited over for lunch.

Tye squeezes Moss' hand under the table encouragingly after Moss gives him a fleeting look of panic. He clears his throat and replies, "Tye and I have been friends since the beginning of the season. We've been talking for awhile now and started officially dating about a month ago."

Eli's cheeks are stuffed full of sandwich and his eyes are now wide as saucers. The youngest Kettler looks over at Shane who has a blank look on his face.

Moss continues, "We decided that we're going to tell the team soon, but I wanted to make sure that we let you two know first so you're not caught off guard."

Taking a gulp of water to wash down the bite of sandwich in his mouth, Eli begins to say, "Congratula-"

He is abruptly cut off by Shane who noisily stands up out of his seat, the chair scraping loudly against the wooden floors. The middle child is shaking his head as he yanks at Eli's chair, getting him to clumsily stand up as well.

"Go ahead and announce your relationship," Shane scoffs. "I'm sure it won't be a giant distraction for the team at all."

Moss robotically hands Eli a piece of foil to wrap the rest of his sandwich in, seeing as they will likely not be staying to finish lunch.

"You've been such a dick this entire season, Mo. You just can't let us have our moment- you always need the attention. Congrats on letting Marty get into your pants, though," Shane spits out venomously, his face red with indignation at the situation.

Tye's cheeks are similarly dark with the rage he's currently experiencing. He stood threateningly in the middle of Shane's response and is now pushing the two boys toward the front door where Eli hurriedly puts on his shoes. Shane never took his off so he's staring Tye down at the front door while he waits for Eli.

Ushering them out, Tye mutters to Shane in an attempt to keep his words from Moss' ears. This attempt is futile since he's able to hear most of what is being said anyways.

"Don't worry about us contacting you again, you fucking clown," he makes out as Tye's voice fades in and out of his ears. "You can head straight from here over to your fuck-buddies house. Didn't mean to make you miss your appointment- see if she can get that stick out of your ass while you're over there."

Giving up on keeping his voice down, Tye shouts at Shane as he and Eli climb into Shane's car.

"YOU GOT THE EGO OF A PLAYER MUCH MORE SKILLED THAN YOURSELF! YOU'RE A THIRD LINE WINGER ON A GOOD DAY!"

Tye slams the door shut and walks back into the kitchen where Moss looks to be in a state of shock. He's cleaning up the table with shaky hands while silent tears run down his cheeks.

Moving at the speed of light after spotting him, Tye embraces Moss in a vice-like grip and sways them back and forth. He whispers apologies and praises into the top of his head as they move slowly. Moss eventually breaks from his frozen state and sobs into Tye's chest.