#5671

To say Kailer missed Ryan would be an understatement. It’s like someone chopped off his arm and left it 2,000 miles and a whole other country away. All the while Kailer hasn’t stopped bleeding, the wound fresh as the day it tore through his body, the pain never fading.

They’re doing their best. They face time everyday, text almost constantly — Kailer’s never had a diary but he’s turned his text thread with Ryan into a near constant play-by-play of his every waking thought and movement. The thing is, Kailer is a physical person. He’s like a baby, if he can’t see something he forget it’s there. So he works hard to keep things going with Clouder. Even if it’s been months since they’ve touched, hugged, kissed.

God, Kailer wants to kiss him.

The first Oilers-Red Wings game of the season doesn’t come until January. The week leading up to it Kailer is bouncing off the walls with anticipation, threatening to vibrate out of his skin if the day doesn’t come fast enough. It doesn’t help that they have three days off before the game, leaving Kailer stuck with his thoughts. Klim keeps him grounded, distracted. If there is one good thing that came from the trade, it’s that he got to keep Klim.

It’s even harder when he knows Ryan is in the same city, the Oilers flying in from Chicago late. He lets Ryan rest, because he knows they wouldn’t be getting any sleep if they were together. The next day he has practice, but so do the Oilers, coming in to use the rink right after him. Kailer can feel him there, an alarm going off in his head saying he’s here! he’s here! the love of your life is within touching distance!

The moment practice ends, Kailer is sprinting off the ice (as much as he can sprint in skates) toward the visitors locker room. He can here the sound of chatter getting louder and louder, only for it to suddenly stop when Kailer bursts in, all eyes on him.

But all he sees is Ryan.

If this were a movie, the music would be swelling as Ryan rises to his feet, him and Kailer stepping forward as fast as they can until they meet in the middle. When they were still on the same team, they did they’re best not to engage in too much PDA in the locker room. But Kailer couldn’t give two fucks right now.

He launches himself at Ryan, who gathers him in his arms, smiling his toothless smile into the kiss. Kailer almost feels like crying, worried that this is a dream. But Ryan is warm and solid under his palms. He smells like Ryan, tastes like Ryan. It’s him, him, him. Real as the heart beating in Kailer’s chest just for him.

Ryan rests his forehead against Kailer’s when he pulls away, grinning and panting into the little space between them.

“I missed you,” Kailer says.

Ryan presses a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Missed you too.”

They stay like that for as long as possible, until the real world pops the bubble surrounding them.

“You’re lucky you’re not on the team anymore or that would be a major fine, Yamo,” Leon teases.