I mean, I guess

name: Joseph Barnes

age: 21

birthday: March 10, 1999

gender: cis Male

sexuality: Bisexual

faceclaim: Rudy Pankow

height: 5'10

Llewellyn normally didn’t like being around the press– he hated it. But having Joe with him and showing them to the world? He didn’t mind at all. At least, he didn’t mind right now. It would probably get annoying the moment media started following Joe around. “I love you.” He repeated again and pressed a kiss on his partner’s forehead before reaching for his hand. “Let’s go, my love.” The hockey player managed to drag his partner back to the locker area before pushing him towards the wall and kissing him.

“I love you too,” Joe echoed with a bit of a sniffle. He desperately wanted to stop crying because they knew it looked foolish. Lyn was coming out in front of not just the press, but the hockey world, and likely the rest of the sports world as well. This would be a pretty big thing at the end of the day, and instead of looking happy...Joe was crying like a baby. At least Lyn didn’t seem to mind all that much. He was considering all this on the walk back while clinging to Lyn. Thus the push and the kiss were a shock for which Joe let out a gasp an a giggle before folding their hands in Lyn’s shirt.

@hocstarters​

“Not to be forward, well maybe I am but how do you feel about having a coffee with a doctor who’s just had a crappy day?” Gerry gave a half laugh. "Having some human company would be nice right now.”

“That sounds like somethin’ we could do. Just a warning for if you were thinkin’ anything else, I am taken.” Joe was teasing, they didn’t think the other was asking for that reason, but Joe enjoyed saying he had a boyfriend.

Penny: do you want me to look? I won’t tell you what I see if you don’t want

Penny: or you can come over here and we can watch a movie and distract you from anything

Joe: You can if you want to

Joe: I don’t know if I even care what they’re saying, honestly. I have Lyn and that’s the most important part

Llewellyn never thought he would ever have the courage to come out– he had been hiding it for so long that he never thought he would. But he had found the reason to stop hiding and show his true self to everyone. Joe was worth it. Hugging his partner, he pressed his lips on Joe’s forehead and hugged him back just as tightly. The reaction he got from the other man was something he didn’t expect at all, with the crying and the hugs. “I love you too.” He replied, not caring that the media was taking pictures of both of them. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”

Joe wasn’t completely sure why he was crying, but it felt like a combination of happiness, shock, and being incredibly overwhelmed. They pulled away to look up at Lyn’s expression, only to realize how many camera’s were clicking in their direction at that moment. It was something Joe would have to get used to, because he was sure the media presence in his life was going to increase tenfold. That seemed like a thing for later Joe to worry about. “I’m so proud of you, Ellie,” Joe cupped his boyfriend’s cheek with one hand while the other stayed balled in the man’s jersey, “Yeah, let’s...anywhere, as long as it’s with you.”

Penny: how's the media handling it?

Penny: and he didn't say anything to you at all before he did it?

Joe: If I'm honest, I've been too scared to look

Joe: I turned off notifications for all my accounts because I'm afraid people are going to shit on me

Joe: I've basically been making Ellie hold me since we got home lol

Penny: WHAT

Penny: how did that go for him?

Penny: is everything ok?

Joe: I think so

Joe: He made an instagram post that went out at the end of his last game, while I was there

Joe: He was in the media press thing after and just told everybody he was gay and loved me

Llewellyn was restless, sitting down on the chair trying to answer the press questions. He just wanted to be with his partner who probably knew about the post already. Clearly the press had seen his post and the reporter looked like he was about to ask about his sexuality when he heard a door burst open and his eyes had immediately fixated on the person running towards him. Recognizing who it was, he didn’t care that he was cutting off whoever was talking. “Sorry, I have more important matters to attend to. Though yes, I am gay. I am also in a great relationship with my partner.” The hockey player said to the mic before meeting Joe halfway, arms already open. “Hello, my love.”

Joe was openly and obviously crying by the time they got to Lyn, but they were tears of purely shock and happiness. This day felt unreal, and he never believed it would actually come. It almost felt like somebody might wake him up soon, but instead, his body collided with Lyn’s, actually touched him, and Joe realized it was real. “I love you,” they whimpered as their arms wrapped tightly around Lyn’s waist. They pressed their face as close as possible into the man’s chest, both trying to muffle his tears and hide his face a little bit. There was no way the press wouldn’t be trying to get a picture. Joe was literally crashing their media presser. “I love you so much.”

-TIME SKIP-

Llewllyn was in a great mood by the time the game ended– his promise of blocking all the shots coming towards him wasn’t broken and he had gotten the thumbs up that his PR team had posted the picture of him and Joe kissing in their matching pride jerseys. After the game, he had skated towards Joe, fully knowing that his partner hasn’t seen the post online. “We won!!” Lyn stopped right in front of the stands where Joe was and removed his helmet. “I’ll see you at the locker rooms, okay? After press which shouldn’t be too long.” The hockey player wanted to kiss Joe right then and there but his surprise would’ve been ruined.

The game, as always, had been incredible. Joe would have said so even if they had lost, but seeing his boyfriend post a shutout was always better. In fact, Joe had screamed so much that he had borderline lost his voice, but it was worth it. “You did!” He grinned, stepping up to the glass as his phone started to buzz...and buzz...and buzz...they’d have to check it in a minute or two. “Ok! I’ll see you there.” Joe pressed a hand to the glass and walked off towards the locker room. His phone buzzing the entire time as people started to stare at him. it wasn’t unusual, but something was odd about it anyway. They managed to shrug it off, pulling out the device once he was stood in front of the door. His heart dropped at all the notifications, but they clicked on the tag anyway. The picture was self-explanatory, but Joe had to do a triple take to see that it had genuinely been posted on Lyn’s account. They froze for a moment, hand over their mouth to hide a soft sob before they took off towards the press room. It wasn’t smart, but Joe didn’t care. Nor did he stop running until he had his arms around Lyn.

 Lyn watched as Joe changed his jersey, barely stopping the grin he had on his face. He always loves hearing the giggles coming from Joe. “Now we match!” The older man exclaimed as he turned around to show his own jersey. Not like Joe hasn’t seen it anyways. Seeing the coach call out to him already that warm up was starting, he turned back around and made sure that the camera crew he had asked would be there. “I will. I love you too, baby.” He said and then kissed Joe again, much longer this time just to distract him and for the camera crew to take the pictures he was going to post right after the game. “See you later!” 

“We do!” That seemed pretty obvious to Joe, but he thought Lyn’s reaction was damn adorable. Regardless of everything that had happened between them, Joe’s heart swelled ten times its size every time he looked at his boyfriend. He was incredible. “I love when you say that,” Joe allowed himself to be swept up in everything that was Llewellyn Reed, so much so, that he barely realized Lyn was kissing him until he almost lost his balance. They kept themselves up by grabbing the front of Lyn’s jersey. The kiss lasted far longer than they would have ever expected, but it was perfect. “Yeah, later,” Joe blushed brightly and headed to his seat.

“It’s a jersey, Joe. I don’t care what they think.” Llewellyn answered with a shrug. Even though he was still guarded, he had loosen up when it came to his sexuality. Though with Joe, he just thought the other thought it was the same. He was still hiding. “We can match jerseys. It’ll be cute. Please?” He was barely stopping himself from pouting now. “Okay, I’ll even give you all the kisses.” The hockey player leaned down to press three quick kisses on both Joe’s cheeks and then his lips. “Can we match now?”

“I know, but I still gotta ask!” Joe quickly shed the jersey he was already wearing, he had an undershirt on, and pulled the other jersey on instead. It was very well made, almost as well as the real jersey, and it was very comfortable. “It is very cute, but now I demand a kiss,” Joe looked up at Lyn with a little smile and barely contained his giggle when Lyn kissed his cheeks, “I love you.” It was spoken as softly as could be while still allowing Lyn to hear them. The warmup would be starting soon, so Joe knew he’d have to head to his seat soon. “Play well, I’ll meet you after?”

Llewellyn wasn’t afraid of hugging Joe in public– at this point, he didn’t care what people thought. Though Joe didn’t seem to be a big fan of that so he just kept the hug short. Chuckling, he had to stop himself from pulling Joe into a kiss. “Yeah, well, now that I know you’re watching, I have to impress you by blocking all the shots, huh?” It was a known fact that amongst his team mates that Lyn played way better when he was in a good mood and if Joe was there. “Of course. Will you wear my jersey please?”

“Yeah, you do,” Joe agreed as they hugged the jersey to their chest, “I won’t disagree with that.” He wanted to look down at the jersey, but he was afraid to lose his nerve when it came to putting it on. It was difficult to say no to Lyn, especially when he looked so damn excited about it. “Are you sure? It’s not gonna be...I don’t want...people to read into it, if you don’t...you know?” They pursed their lips a little and looked over both their shoulders before turning back to Lyn. “I’ll wear it if you give me a kiss. That’s my deal.”

Lyn seemed more bouncy than usual– he was very excited for what he had planned at the end of the game. Sure, his mood would probably change at whatever the outcome was but he was excited and nothing was going to ruin that. Joe didn’t have a clue whatsoever. “It will be a fun game! I intend to block out all the shots just for you.” He teased as he pulled Joe into a brief hug. “It’s one of our pride jerseys! We get an extra one all the time.” The hockey player had to lie just so Joe wouldn’t think he had other plans. “We can match.”

Even for the briefest moment that Lyn was holding him, Joe melted into Lyn’s chest and grabbed the front of his jersey. They let go as soon as Lyn does, but a sweet smile crosses Joe’s lips. Thankfully, nobody was watching them - or so he thinks - because Joe was weak beyond weak for his man. “I’m pretty sure you block all your shots for me anyway, darlin’,” the pet name was spoken far softer than the rest of the sentence, “Really?” Joe furrowed their brows and hesitantly accepted the jersey and looked over it. The only thing that made him nervous was the name on the back. “You sure you want people to see me in this?”

“I mean, I have a dashcam on the car so it’s not exactly something I could hide. Then there’d be evidence.” AJ was amused, and a bit flattered. This was not what he had anticipated at all, whether Joe was being serious or messing with him. He still wasn’t totally sure. His cheeks flushed at the compliment though, which provoked another chuckle. “I mean, thanks man – right back at ya’. Seriously.” And he did mean that. Joe was definitely charismatic and good looking, despite his shit stirring. “Thanks for not leaving me out, but not so sure your friend would want the extra company.”

“The world works in mysterious ways. If we wanted to make this work, I believe we could find a way.” Joe winked at his friend before chuckling and leaning back against the seat before covering his face with both hands. This was not the weirdest day he’d ever experienced, but it was certainly up there, and getting weirder by the minute. “Thank you! You’re sayin’ that without even havin’ seen me naked, crazy. You could some time, but also maybe not. Who’s to say?” Joe didn’t always know the words that were coming out of his mouth. “Maybe not, but he’s busy for another hour or so.”

Once Llewellyn had an idea inside his head– he would do everything he could to follow through with it. In this case, it was coming out for his partner. Joe, who deserved so much more than Lyn could ever give. Coming out was a small portion of what Joe really deserves. Pride was something that was always significant and he chose the very first day of the month to come out. The team had their pride tape on their sticks and had special jerseys with their names in the color of the rainbow at the back. He requested an extra one just so Joe could have one to wear as well. Bounding over to his partner, Lyn was already wearing his own jersey and holding out the other one. “I’m so happy you could make it.” The hockey player said with a grin. @joexbarnes​

Joe was more than happy to come to the game to watch Lyn. It was a little bitter sweet considering their predicament, but that wasn’t going to keep Joe from watching his boyfriend play hockey. Seeing Lyn so happy made Joe happy, no matter what. “Hi,” Joe grinned shyly, tucking his hands into the sleeve of the jersey he was already wearing to prevent himself from hugging Lyn. Not being in the locker room meant he wasn’t too safe to be open with their affections. “I’m happy to be here,” they replied with a grin of their own, “This’ll be a fun game.” Joe cocked his head as he noticed the thing in Lyn’s hand. He didn’t want to seem greedy, but he was curious. “What’s that?”

Joe: So uh

Joe: Lyn came out

AJ burst into a laugh. He couldn’t help it. That was the last thing he had been expecting to hear. Even if he knew Joe was just messing with him. “Well somethin’ tells me I’d probably get fired if I did right now, don’t ‘cha think? It’s the uniform, isn’t it?” Austin shook his head playfully,  this time laughing alongside the other blonde. His southern accent always slipped back stronger when chatting with Joe. “I do, but it’s a quiet day. Which isn’t a bad thing, but the time is goin’ by so damn slow.” His eyebrows waggled suggestively. “That so? Guess ya’ don’t want me to keep ya’ then?”

“I mean, I’m not sure anybody would have to know. You already pulled me over, maybe it’s just...something you gotta’ do. I don’t fuckin’ know how police shit works,” Joe also burst into a peal of laughter. Sometimes he wished he could create a filter between his brain and his mouth, but one didn’t exist. “No, it’s you. The uniform is hot, but bro, look in the mirror sometimes.” They rolled their eyes and leaned back even further against the driver’s seat. This was a situation he never expected to find himself, but it was actually hysterical. “You’re always free to join if you want, but nah, he’s not free just yet if you’re bored.”