Breaking The Ice

Lucky Day

TJ's POV

The entire room was engulfed in silence as Harry and Coach stood before us, having just finished explaining what had happened to Louis and what that would mean for the team. Everyone was shocked into silence, nobody with any idea of what to say. Niall and Shawn both looked over at me, as if they needed me to confirm it, before I just nodded and sighed. Harry and I hadn't told them because Coach had asked to be the one who broke the news, and I was glad to see they didn't seem to be upset about it as they hung their heads and tried to process it.

Despite the division in the team and all of the bullshit that happened, my brother was well respected as Captain due to his ability to stay on good terms with everyone no matter which side they were on. He'd managed to walk the line of being my brother and feeling the need to defend me while still doing his duty as Captain and listening to both sides. On top of that, he was still one of us no matter how people felt about him, and it was obvious that his absence would be felt.

"So, he's out for the season? Like for good?" Rex asked, concern laced into his words as Coach nodded to confirm. "Fuck."

"I can't believe this, poor Tommo." Chase sighed.

"I want you all to know that when I spoke to him he was in positive spirits, and I've asked him to come on as a consultant as soon as he feels ready. He is still very much a part of this team, and we will all get through this together. We need to just help him through this and be thankful he's alright." Coach said.

A collective sigh left everyone as they still tried to process it all, some of them turning to look at each other, others looking at me, and the rest of them looking up at Coach. I knew they were all thinking the same things, how devastating it would be if they were no longer able to play, what it would mean for our chances at winning the cup without one of our best players, and if it was okay to be happy about it if we did. It left everyone feeling bad for their friend who's dream was slipping through his fingers, and wondering what it meant for their own.

"I've talked to him since this all happened, and I promised him we were gonna get through this the best way we know how." Harry began, standing in his place beside Coach at the front of the room. "We're gonna take this to the ice."

I looked around the room as he spoke, every single person with their eyes fixed on him, their sad faces all looking to him for inspiration. They looked to him for some kind of reassurance that our season hadn't just gone to complete shit, that even without the familiar leadership of my brother they would still have someone to take charge and get us to where we all wanted to be.

"Tommo loves this game. It means everything to him, and he doesn't have the ability to play it right now." Harry sighed, his own feelings about Louis not being there showing through. "But we do. We get to play, and we are not gonna take that for granted. We are gonna get out there, every game, and we are gonna play our fucking hearts out. Every second that we get to play we're gonna honor him, and what he means to this team, and we are gonna bring that fucking cup home for him if it's the last thing we do."

Claps and cheers erupted in the room as everyone accepted the sentiment of Harry's words, and his eyes shifted to me. I knew part of him felt extremely guilty for having to be the one to take Louis' place, for doing the job he was supposed to be doing, and because of that I knew he needed to feel like he had my blessing to do what needed to be done. I shot him a soft smile and nodded as Coach clapped him on the back, and he nodded at me in return.

The fact that Harry and I were both experts at burying our feelings and hiding the way we felt from the rest of the world had seemingly worked out in our favor, since we'd both managed to be able to keep things completely normal since our conversation two days earlier. Nothing seemed overly weird, we interacted pretty much the same way we always had, and the return of the boys from break made everything seem normal.