Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Guts of the Ice

Tye is the first player on the ice for practice the next day. He's tossing some warm up pucks at the empty net when Shane skates over to him. The centerman has a frown firmly planted on his face when he comes to a stop next to the shooter. "Mo told our mom that he wasn't 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?" Shane is gradually looking more and more frustrated the longer this conversation goes on.

"We want to have you both over to talk." He sends the last remaining puck to the top left corner of the net.

"About what?"

Letting out an irritated sigh, Tye then turns to look at the forward badgering him with questions. "You'll see," he grunts out.

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 agitated tone. "I canceled our plans so I could hang out with you, who I see pretty much 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 a one time thing. We'll make sure to not mess with your schedule after this, eh?" With that, Tye skates away to where some of the other defensemen are hovering around waiting for the coach to tell them what drills to run.

As he skates away he hears Shane mutter, "Fucking ridiculous."

-

It's a workday, but Moss has made time to step away from his computer and make lunch for his brothers and Tye. Trying to stay conscious of their strict diets, he prepares sandwiches with wheat bread, deli meat, cheese and veggies. As he sets the last plate on the table, he hears the garage door signaling that Tye is home.

His boyfriend greets him with a peck on the cheek and asks, "How're you feeling?" Tye knows that he has been nervous about coming out to his brothers. "I'm fine," Moss says, but even to him it sounds like a complete lie. They don't have time to unpack his shaky response as they hear the doorbell ring, causing him to jump skittishly. The gesture further shows his uneasiness towards the situation and makes Tye give him a look of concern.

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. "You promised us lunch," Shane calls over his shoulder. Moss has to suppress a laugh when he makes eye contact with Tye and sees how annoyed he already looks at the middle child. "Yeah—I made you guys some sandwiches. Help yourself," Moss replies, following after him.

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 turns to Eli and asks, "How did you enjoy playing in your first playoff game, E? You looked great out there." Eli seems grateful for the conversation starter, clearly also uncomfortable with the atmosphere around them at the moment.

"It was sick, dude. The fans were going crazy the entire time and I felt like I was flying out there. Your buddy here was the star of the show, though," he gestures to Tye, seemingly trying to lighten the mood with his response. "I'm so ready for game two," Eli concludes with a boyish grin on his face.

Shane has only taken one bite of his sandwich and doesn't waste any time after Eli wraps up his response before jutting into the conversation. "So why did you invite us here? Marty wouldn't tell me shit at practice today." He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest as he looks at his older brother warily.

Moss gives him a fleeting look of panic at this and receives an encouraging hand squeeze under the table in response. He clears his throat as he looks at his brothers before answering. "Tye and I started talking a couple months ago. We've been friends for a while and made things official about a month ago....We're dating."

Eli's cheeks are stuffed full of sandwich and his eyes are blown wide with surprise, obviously caught off guard by this information. The youngest Kettler looks over at Shane who has a blank look on his face. Not wanting to overthink their reactions, Moss continues speaking, "We decided that we're gonna tell the team soon, but I wanted to make sure that we let you two know first."

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, his chair scraping loudly against the wooden floors as he does so. 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 knew that there was a chance that this would go south. Pessimistically, he had put a roll of foil out on the table in preparation for his brother's possible abrupt departure. Grabbing at the roll of foil, he robotically rips off a piece and hands it to Eli so he can wrap up the rest of his sandwich. It only keeps his jittery hands busy for so long before he is forced to listen to Shane's harsh words.

"You've been such a dick this entire season, Mo. You just can't let us have our moment—you always need the fucking attention, don't you?" Shane spits out venomously. His face is beet red with indignation. "Congrats on letting Marty get in your pants, though," Shane's voice drips with sarcasm. Moss feels shame and embarrassment for the first time since he and Tye have gotten together. He can't help but wonder if coming out during Eli's rookie year is selfish—he never meant to steal the spotlight from him.

Tye stood up in the middle of Shane's yelling, his cheeks now dark with rage. "Out," he demands threateningly as he pushes the two boys towards the front door where Eli hurriedly puts on his shoes. Shane never took his off in the first place so he stares Tye down at the front door while he waits for his younger brother. Eli's shoes are on, but untied as Tye ushers the two of them out the door. He can hear his boyfriend muttering angrily to Shane in a way that's probably purposeful so Moss doesn't hear what is being said. This attempt is futile considering Tye's voice slowly begins to rise to the point where everyone in Tye's neighborhood can most likely hear what he's saying.

"Don't worry about us reaching out again, you fucking clown," Tye's voice fades in and out of his ears. "You can head over to your fuck-buddies place now. 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!"

Tye is now shouting at Shane as he and Eli climb into Shane's car. "YOU'VE GOT THE EGO OF A PLAYER MUCH MORE SKILLED THAN YOURSELF! YOU'RE A THIRD LINE WINGER ON A GOOD DAY!"

After slamming the door shut, Tye walks back into the kitchen. His face switches from anger to concern when he spots Moss who looks to be in a state of shock. The smaller man is cleaning up the table with shaky hands as silent tears run down his cheeks.

Moving at the speed of light, Tye embraces him in a vice-like grip and sways them back-and-forth. "Oh, sweetheart," he whispers, "You didn't deserve that. He's a fucking idiot." His boyfriend speaks the quiet words into his hair as they move slowly. "You're too good for your family. Too good for this world. Too good for me." These words break Moss from his frozen state as he finally begins to sob into Tye's chest.