Breaking The Ice

Multiple Moments

Harry's POV

"Shit, nice shot Mouse." Niall laughed as we watched Shawn and Liam take their turn skating toward the net, Teej coming to stand next to us in line.

We'd taken to holding our own practices at the frozen lake near campus since Teej was still suspended for a few more days and Tanner was taking his sweet time reinstating me. He'd given me some bullshit about how he'd made changes to the roster to accommodate my suspension and he needed time to sort it out, but I suspected he just wanted to enjoy a few more days with Lundy as Captain because he knew once I got back I'd be voicing my opinion about how he was destroying everything we had worked for.

I was pretty bummed about it, feeling like after everything that had happened I just needed to get back the one thing that made me feel normal, and in some ways I felt like it was all catching up with me and I was just mentally and physically exhausted. I knew I could probably have used the couple of days off to get my head straight and get some rest, but I hated sitting on the sidelines while I watched my teammates struggle. Tanner had made so many changes to the lineup and roster that all of the chemistry we once had among the lines, the familiarity of knowing who to look for across the ice or the style of play from your linemates, was gone. Everyone was just doing the best they could, but we were consistently dropping in the rankings, and if we didn't pick it up in the new year there would be no chance of getting back on top and our entire season would be a wash.

I was doing my best to be positive, not wanting the rest of the team to see just how worried I was about it, trying to lead them in a way where the impending failure of our season didn't worry them enough to affect their play. I was putting on a brave face for my teammates, but not playing was fucking killing me.

On the bright side, the pending charges against me had been dropped and my name cleared so I was at least allowed to move back into my room in the dorm, and that allowed me to spend time with my roommates and work out in the athletic building like everyone else. Still, things hadn't been the same for us so we took it to the lake to get some sense of normalcy amidst the chaos. People still had a bunch of questions about where I'd been, and keeping the whole investigation under wraps had been a group effort between myself and everyone who knew.

"You guys think we've got a chance tomorrow? Washington has one of the best defensive lines in the league right now and we're seriously fucked on first line offense." Liam asked as we took a water break.

"Well...we're gonna give it our best shot, but without Styles and Teej we've got way less chance of getting the goals we need, and Lundy will be front and centre to turn over the puck every chance he gets." Shawn said, shaking his head before he threw his head back and squirted water into his mouth. "It was bad enough losing Tommo, but now our entire first line is obliterated."

I looked over at Teej, who just hung her head as guilt took over her features, and I knew she'd been beating herself up for getting suspended. Everyone had reassured her time and time again that they weren't upset about it, but I knew she was feeling bad that she had let Lundy annoy her to the point where the rest of the team would suffer in her absence.

"We had it, you guys. We had the fucking cup in the bag, it was ours. We were set, and Tanner just strolls in here and took it from us. We're all working our assess off to keep up with the changes, but he keeps making them. Last game I forgot he'd swapped Mac out for Timmons and I passed it to the red cause that's where Mac always is, but Timmons was on the other side and I turned it over. Shit like that happens every game, we just do shit out of habit and end up losing." Rex said, his frustration obvious.

"We've got three more games until Christmas break, guys. We'll take the time to regroup, I'll talk to Tanner, just hang in there. We're not out of it yet." I said, doing my best to reassure them that we could fight our way back to the top.