Chapter Text
January 2020 - New Years’ Day - Luca’s house
“I think the key’s supposed to go in the lock,” Charlie murmured, kissing Luca’s neck as his boyfriend struggled to open his front door. “Do you want to have sex in the rain because that’s where this is going if you don’t get a move on,” he said, moving his head up slightly to kiss the other man’s jaw.
“I can’t concentrate when you’re…” Charlie wrapped his arms around Luca, never stopping kissing him and took the keys from him, slotting them easily into the key hole and opening the door.
“When I’m what?” he asked slyly, turning Luca around and backing him up into the house, kicking the door shut behind him. He knew Luca’s sister was out of town and Luca’s parents weren’t home as his own parents were hosting their annual New Years’ Eve party that they had attended every year since they started when he’d moved from England to Zurich five years ago. They had the house all to themselves.
Charlie pressed Luca up against the wall of the corridor, kissing his boyfriend passionately. Luca turned them around, so Charlie was against the wall instead and as the lights came on, he pulled back and stared at his boyfriend, taking in his soaking wet hair sticking to his forehead and his giddy, drunken smile, knowing he probably looked exactly the same. “I love you,” Luca said, unable to stop smiling. He wasn’t sure whether it was the alcohol making him brave or that his feelings were so strong he simply couldn’t keep it to himself anymore.
Before Charlie had a chance to respond someone cleared their throat beside them. Both men froze, fear flooding their faces.
“Luca I’m not sure that’s appropriate,” his mother stated, poorly attempting to hide her disgust.
Luca couldn’t speak, he just stood there staring at his parents as his father stared back and his mother was looking anywhere but him.
“Mr and Mrs Haas I’m so sorry,” Charlie started.
“Charlie, I think you’ve done enough, you can leave now,” Luca’s dad said, arms crossed, taking a step forward.
“Mr Haas–”
“We need to talk to our son in private, I’m sure your parents are expecting you home. Who knows what they’d do if they found out about this nonsense.” Mr Haas muttered the last bit, though it was unnecessary because he said it loud enough for everyone to hear it anyway.
Charlie turned to Luca, tears in his eyes. He wanted to apologise but he knew it wasn’t his fault. He wanted to grab Luca by the hand, run out the door and never come back. He knew Luca didn’t like it here anyway, he was working his arse off on the ice every spare moment he could get, to try and get to the NHL. And he was going to, he was fucking good at hockey, not that his parents would know anything about that, they hadn’t come to a single one of his games in three years. Why did they get a say in who he loved and how he loved them when they didn’t know a single fucking thing about his life?
You know what, he didn’t want to run away, he wanted to stay exactly where he was by Luca’s side and give Mr and Mrs Haas a piece of his mind.
Luca could see Charlie’s anger forming. He knew his boyfriend wanted to say something to his parents but things were bad enough already without Charlie helping to dig the grave a little deeper. “I’m sorry, just go,” Luca said quietly in English.
Luca and Charlie talked a lot in English. It started on Charlie’s first day at Luca’s school. Luca had been told they were getting a new student from England and as the best English speaker in his class, decided it was his duty to befriend the new kid. It wasn’t until a month into their friendship that Luca realised Charlie spoke perfect Swiss-German. The boys continued to talk in English though as they soon realised that Luca was substantially better at English compared to his classmates and nobody knew what they were saying, so they could talk about anything they wanted, including their shared love of art, something the other children didn’t understand at all.
Luca’s parents could read English but they weren’t very good at understanding it when spoken, especially if the boys talked quickly. This is why Luca chose to talk to his boyfriend in this language now.
Charlie seemed to catch on, understanding that this was his way of telling him that Charlie staying would worsen Luca’s punishment, he glared at his boyfriend’s parents, before looking back at Luca, silently begging him to let him stay.
“Please,” Luca whispered, still in English, his voice breaking. The tears in his eyes threatened to spill down his cheeks as his boyfriend reluctantly left.
“Luca what on earth are you thinking?” Luca’s father asked. “Do you really think you’re going to get far with that hockey thing if you are… are taking part in this… this ridiculousness? You’re not a child anymore, you have to stop acting like one.”
Luca just stood there. What was there even to say? It’s not like either of his parents would listen to him anyway.
“Now sweetheart, I’m sure Luca’s just going through a rough patch at the moment. I’m sure we can get him someone to talk to. You know, sort all of this stuff out and move past it. There are people who do that sort of thing. Didn’t Isabella’s friend go through a similar phase? Her mother sent her to a summer camp type place and just like that she was back to normal. I’m sure we could organise something similar. And I think you should come to church with us this Sunday. I'm sure they can fit you in for a confessional and maybe we can even talk the priest into asking people to pray for you.”
“There is nothing wrong with me!” Luca shouted. He was getting fed up with this, it was getting ridiculous. His whole life he had tried to fit into the box his parents had attempted to shove him into. He wasn’t theirs to mould anymore, like his father said he wasn’t a child anymore, he didn’t have to sit here and be punished like one.
“Luca, do not shout at your mother like that!” Luca’s father shouted back, equally as loud.
“I do not need to be fixed! I don’t need your stupid conversion therapy or your prayers or your god. I love Charlie. I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. I’m gay and I’m in love with Charlie, what is the fucking problem with that? Isabella brought her boyfriend home the other day and you didn’t even bat an eyelid–”
“This is not the same as that,” his father scoffed.
“Why not? I do the exact same thing and suddenly I’m a sinner? It doesn’t make any fucking sense!”
“This is different. She brought home a respectable young man, you came home kissing one of your friends, as a way to announce being a… homosexual.” The man looked physically pained to say that.
“I wasn’t trying to announce anything, you were supposed to be at the party,” Luca said, exasperated.
“Oh so you were going behind our backs? How long have you been lying to us?” his father asked, accusingly. 2 years. “Have you been lying so you can keep us paying for that hockey thing you do? Because we are not paying for that anymore.”
“For god’s sake it’s not about money. And it’s not lying if you never fucking asked. You don’t give a shit about my life and you never have.”
“Luca you are being unreasonable, let’s just all calm down.”
“No Mother, if you gave one shit about me you would open your fucking eyes and realise that your son is in love and maybe, just maybe if you supported him for once in your life, you’d actually realise how fucking happy he is.” Luca stormed past his parents and up the stairs towards his room muttering, “or was.” as he went.
“You better not think you can stay here tonight after the outburst we just witnessed. There will be no homosexuals under my roof,” his father boomed up the stairs.
Luca ignored him as he grabbed the nearest bag and started shoving any clothes he could find in it. He put the art supplies Charlie had gotten him for his birthday in the bag too before grabbing his hockey gear and storming back down the stairs.
His parents were still there glaring at him, he could feel their eyes burning into his back as he slammed the front door shut behind him.
Shit. What was he supposed to do now?
“Luca, are you okay?” Luca knew that voice. He dropped his bags on the floor, in the middle of the street and immediately burst into tears. His boyfriend wrapped his arms around him as Luca sobbed into his shoulder, muttering incomprehensible apologies as Charlie squeezed him tighter. He didn’t even know what he was sorry for, just that he was sorry.
“Come on, we’re going back to my place, I’m going to get us some ice cream and we’re going to watch The Lego Batman Movie on repeat until Will Arnett’s dulcet tones put us to sleep, okay?”
Luca just nodded, a hint of a smile threatening his lips. He loved his boyfriend.
Charlie’s house
“I’m proud of you, you know,” Charlie said just as Robin ripped off his trousers and started singing on screen. When Luca looked over questioningly at his boyfriend, he was looking at him like he’d been admiring him the whole movie. “I know you didn’t exactly come out the way you planned and I know it didn’t really go great,” understatement of the century, “but you were brave today. You stood up for yourself. I could not be more proud.”
“Thanks, I guess. I don’t feel very brave, I feel like I should have just sucked it up for a few months until I can go to the draft. Wait, how did you know I stood up for myself?” Luca asked.
“I was standing like right outside your door, I heard everything, you guys weren’t all that quiet.”
“Oh,” Luca said, the conversation fizzling out as they went back to watching the movie. Charlie could tell that Luca didn’t really want to talk about it anymore, at least not tonight but he had one more thing to say first.
“You can stay here, you know. And not just for tonight I mean like, until you go get drafted. And if you don’t, not that you won’t of course you will but like, worse case scenario, you can stay here after too.” Charlie scratched the back of his neck looking down, awkwardly. “You don’t have to of course, you can find your own place I don’t mind–”
“Yes,” Luca interrupted.
“Wait, yes to finding your own place or yes to moving in with me?”
“The second one, if you’ll have me.”
A random hotel room in America - June
“Hey Schatz what’s up?” Luca said, putting the phone up to his ear as he closed his hotel door behind.
“What’s up with me? What’s up with you, number two draft pick? You know what, I'm changing your name in my phone to that.”
“You really don’t have to do that and I’m fine.”
“Fine!?!? Is that all I’m getting? I’m half way across the world when you get picked second for the NHL draft and you’re just fine? You got drafted to the Centaurs, you’re going to play with Ilya fucking Rozanov and you’re just fine?”
“Yeah I guess. I don’t really know what’s going on to be honest. The whole process is a bit of a blur and I just don’t think it’s really sunk in yet.”
“That’s understandable. I was watching and I didn’t have a clue what was going on half of the time. All I know is that I have the best boyfriend in the whole wide world and now I can brag to everyone that he is going to be the best ice hockey player in the NHL.” Charlie announced, beaming into his phone even though they were only on voice call.
“I highly doubt that Charlie, but thanks anyway,” Luca said smiling.
“Just you wait and see baby, just you wait,”
March 2021 - Ottawa - Ottawa Centaurs vs New York Admirals
It was only halfway through the first period when Luca spotted them in the crowd. His heart stopped. Luca had not seen any member of his biological family since being kicked out of his home last year and he did not want to see them now. But there they were, glaring at him from the stands. He was so taken aback he didn’t see the player from the other team skating straight at him slamming into the boards.