Breaking The Ice

Difference

Harry's POV

I rubbed my hands over my face as I made my way to the kitchen, yawning as I flipped on the kettle and leaned against the counter, trying to wake myself up and mentally prepare for what the day might bring. It had been a long few days, Teej and I had crashed pretty early the night before, and I think we all knew that by the time we got up there was a good chance word would be out about Tanner.

We all knew it was coming, and we'd just been doing our best to stick together and prepare for what it might all mean. I wanted to let her rest as long as I could, knowing she needed it, and just took a few minutes for myself to get my thoughts together and try to be as ahead of it as I possibly could.

Aside from what it might all mean for Teej, Tanner's departure would mean a lot of uncertainty for the team going into a crucial part of the season and I knew that as captain it would be my job to reassure the them that we'd make it through the drama and still have a chance at the cup. We'd all worked so hard, put up with a lot of changes and chaos in the locker room, and it would be my job to rally the troops if we had any chance at surviving the season.

There was no way of knowing who they would replace Tanner with, but just about anything was a significant upgrade since they couldn't possibly do any worse. Whoever they brought in would have a huge mess to clean up, and I didn't doubt that a lot of the quality coaches either already had jobs that late in the season or would steer clear of the disaster that we'd become under Tanner's leadership. As Captain I knew I would need to work closely with them, to fight for us harder than ever before, all while ensuring that they gave Teej the respect and playing time she'd rightfully earned.

I heard the front door open and Liam appeared in the kitchen a few seconds later, still sweaty from his run as he noticed me standing there, a nervous look crossing his face. I instantly knew what it was, and took a deep breath as I waited for him to tell me.

"Hey, bro." He said as he made his way to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "There's uh...media outside."

"Figured." I sighed, closing my eyes and shaking my head, hoping Teej would sleep as long as possible and get some well-deserved rest.

"They came after me as soon as I turned the corner, I could barely get through. I can't even imagine what it's gonna be like if Teej tries to leave." He said, his worry for her obvious in his tone.

"Well, I suppose we should turn on the news and see what we're dealing with here."

Liam nodded as I threw my teabag and some milk into my mug, grabbing the kettle and adding the water, before we made our way to the couches just in time to see Niall and Shawn coming out of the bathroom together.

"What the hell are you two doing up?" Liam asked, obviously shocked that either of them were up before noon.

I looked over at them, noticing that they both had rubber gloves on their hands, Shawn holding a mop and Niall clutching the bucket we kept all of our cleaning supplies in. Liam and I exchanged a glance as we put it together, wondering what kind of alternate universe we'd slipped into, before we turned back to look at them.

"Are you two...cleaning?" I gawped, never having seen the sight in my life.

"You've gotta be shitting me." Liam laughed.

"Hey, we've cleaned before okay!" Niall defended.

"When?"

"I don't know the exact date and time, Styles." He rolled his eyes at me. "I know I don't do it a lot, but I have done it."

"What's the occasion?" Liam asked, chuckling to himself.

The two of them looked at each other, almost like they were hesitant to say the real reason, before they sighed and turned back to ace us.