Ice ~ Bellarke

Chapter Two

Bellamy sucked in a deep breath and pushed himself forward. He cut through an array of pylons and ignored the burning in his calves. He jerked his head up and slapped the ice with his stick, demanding the puck. He pulled down the pass easily and flicked the puck into the net, sending it sailing over the goalie's shoulder. He collected the puck and skated back to the end of the line, urging the boys on as he did.

"PUSH," he called out. "Dig deep, boys- last minute!"

He leaned on his stick and watched the boys skate through the circuit.

"C'mon," he shouted. "Keep the intensity up! Remember, practice how you play!"

He was just about to call time when he heard a high-pitched whistle from behind him. He turned around to see Clarke standing at centre-ice.

"Bellamy," she bayed and touched the watch on her wrist. "It's 4:30."

He nodded and turned back to the boys.

"Alright," he yelled out, "clean up and get to the bench, we're scrimmaging."

The boys promptly stopped what they were doing and started scooping up pucks and pylons. Bellamy watched with a satisfied smirk as they quickly cleared the ice. That smirk turned into a grimace when he noticed two boys standing off to the side and pointing at the figure skaters exiting the rink. Murphy was lining up a shot, his stick swinging back in preparation for a slapshot in the skaters' direction. Bellamy closed the space between them and sent Murphy flying with a hip check.

"Ughh," Murphy groaned from his prone position splayed out on the ice.

Bellamy slid to a stop and stood over him.

"We're not doing that anymore," he said firmly.

"Right," Murphy coughed. Bellamy grasped his wrist and hauled him to his feet.

"Get to the bench," he said and pushed him away roughly. "And if I catch you shooting at the skaters again then you'll stay there."

Bellamy led the boys in a scrimmage for half an hour before turning the ice back over to the skaters.

"All yours," he said as he hopped over the boards, the last hockey player to leave the ice.

"Thanks," Clarke replied and pulled off her skate guards. Bellamy watched her skate out hand in hand with her partner Wells. The music started and the pair sprung into action, spinning away from one another. Bellamy shook his head and started toward the locker room for a shower.

The locker room was rowdy as always. The boys shouted and sang over the sound of the rushing water but Bellamy was quiet. He ducked his head to stand under the shower head and let the hot water beat down on his shoulders. When he was done he traipsed into the change room and sat down on the bench, wiping his hands on the towel drawn at his waist. He pushed his sopping hair out of his eyes and reached for a yellow pad of paper in his bag, ignoring the boys dancing and whooping around him. He scribbled on the pad and then stood quickly to his feet, toweling off and pulling on sweats and a Henley before rushing back out to the rink.

Bellamy rolled his eyes to see Clarke still out on the ice. They'd only been practicing together for a week but she was always the first to arrive and the last to leave. It was past 5:30 and she was just coming off the rink, smiling at the kinder-skate kids who entered as she left.

"Hey," Bellamy grunted and stopped Clarke with a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," she frowned, fixing him with a puzzled look.

"Relax, princess, I won't keep you," he rolled his eyes. "I just gotta ask you about practice tomorrow."

"Alright," Clarke agreed testily. "Shoot."