(Hockey BxB) Whistle In The Wind

-𝐈𝐕-

╔══《"I'm always pushing you away 》══╗
from me, but you come back, with gravity."

       It seemed like Aksel and Lucien had officially used up all their words for one night. After practice, they had all stopped by a local diner for dinner. It was the only good, cheap restaurant in town. Late nights at the rink often led to dinners at this diner.

       Practice had ended with a hard fall for Aksel, and he spent dinner complaining about his sore hip. According to him, 'a kid skated into him.' According to Lucien--who had watched from the stands--Aksel wasn't looking where he was going and skated backwards into the kid.

       Váli could only sympathize for the kid, knowing how bad that must've hurt. Aksel's ran into him before, when they once tried to practice on the same rink together. Aksel was strong on his own, but with the addition of his hockey pads, getting hit by him was the equivalent of being hit by a truck.

       Váli had never been hit by a truck but he assumes the pain is comparable.

       The salad in front of him remained half eaten, as he looked around at Aksel and Lucien's plates. They always get fatty food. Today's choice was chicken sandwiches. Their plates were now empty, the only trace of food once being there was the grease stain left over on their treys.

       It had been an inside joke that the two of them were like dogs, licking their plates clean. The banter between Luc and Aksel continued as they paid and headed back into the truck. Once inside however, the air shifted and the three of them silently agreed to not speak. Soon enough, Aksel leisurely pulled into the driveway of Luc's spacious suburban farm house.

       Goodbyes were uttered as he left. Stopping to look back, Lucien waved to Vál, a grin accompanying his face. The car returned to voicelessness as Aksel strategically reversed and drove away. Through his window, Váli watched Luc open his front door, not so gracefully lugging his backpack and hockey bags through the opening.

       The time on the dash read 9 p.m., the sun having long set with the winter afternoon. Not all days at the rink ran late, but around competitions, Váli often stayed late while Aksel and Lucien grabbed dinner and did homework at the rink.

       A chill rushed through Váli's spine, causing him to shiver as he held his arms tight to his chest.

       "When did you and Luc become friendly?" Aksel spoke, breaking the silence.

       Stunned, Vál tried to form a response, "Det var bare en bølge (It was just a wave)," he faltered looking out the window, hoping his brother wouldn't see the tint on his cheeks in the darkness.

       Scoffing, Aksel didn't respond. "Don't steal my best friend," he huffed in faux annoyance.

       "Næh aldri (Nah, never)," Vál gently intoned before the conversation died off into nothingness. The ride from the Cordes to the Lien households' was short. Short enough for the brothers to return home at 9:05, only five minutes after dropping Lucien off.

       Not waiting for his brother to grab his bags, Váli rushed inside. By now, he had little time to shower and get ready before bed and before he would be expecting a call. Am I gonna call him? Or will he call me? Vál overthought.

       On most Fridays, Váli enjoyed staying up decently late. Would we hold off on facetiming until right when we would fall asleep? Would we start early and just be silent for a couple hours? Would we talk?

       All at once question after question came to Váli. Every 'what if' scenario running through his mind. Ding!

       Looking around, Váli recognized the sound as his text ringtone. Wrestling with his hoodie pockets, he retrieved the phone expecting the text to be from Nora--who he had been ghosting all day.