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Leon wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing. He checks the time and hits ignore; there’s no reason anyone should expect him to be awake at 5 am. He groans, wondering why he didn’t have his phone on Do Not Disturb like he normally does, and buries his face under his pillow.
Ten seconds later, his phone goes off again. He’s tempted to throw it across the room. He looks at the name on his screen - Matty - fuck, that explains why it’s ringing. Matty’s one of three people that can bypass Do Not Disturb. His fucking boyfriend forgot about the fucking time zones again. This has to be the twentieth time this has happened since Matthew moved to Florida.
“Matthew, I’m two hours behind you,” he snaps as he picks up the phone.
“I know, I’m sorry, I know it’s early. It’s just - you need to see this,” Matthew says shakily. He sounds like he’s been crying and Leon is instantly awake.
“What’s wrong, liebling?”
“Someone took pictures of us last week and just posted them,” he sobs. “It’s really obvious it’s me kissing a guy. I don’t think anyone knows it’s you yet, and I’m sorry for waking you up but I need you.” He sounds like he can barely breathe.
“What the fuck?”
“Everyone knows I’m gay. My life is over.”
“Matty, your life isn’t over. It’s gonna be ok, I promise.”
“All stars is soon and that’s all anyone is gonna ask me about and I can’t do this, I can’t - people are going to hate me, everyone hates me, Leo.”
“Matty, liebling, it’s ok. Have you spoken to anyone, or just me?”
Matthew sniffles. “Just you. Brady’s called me at least thirty times, I just don’t know how to pick up the phone. I know that sounds dumb.”
Leon winces. “Aren’t you playing the Senators tonight?”
“Yeah, why… oh fuck. Someone’s knocking on my door, I bet that’s him. What do I do?”
“You stay on the phone with me and you answer the door. Listen to what your brother has to say, alright? If he’s an asshole, I’ll fly to Florida and kill him.”
“Well then I hope he’s an asshole so I get to see you sooner than next week.”
Leon laughs as Matthew opens the door. Brady’s voice comes through the phone easily, he must be yelling.
“How could you not tell me? I’m your brother! Did you really think I’d care about this? Matthew, you’re my big brother and I love you. Why didn’t you answer your phone, asshole? I’ve been so worried about you for the past hour. Shit, I’m supposed to call Mom and Dad and Taryn when I got here so they could stop stressing because you’ve been dodging their calls too. They love you too, you giant asshole. Wait, are you on the phone? So you do know how your phone works?”
Leon hears Matthew giggle through his tears. “Yeah, I know how my phone works. I just thought… I was worried… I wasn’t sure how you’d be, I thought you might be mad at me.”
“Well then you were right, I’m fucking mad at you for not telling me sooner. Who are you on the phone with?”
Matthew hesitates. “Um… the guy from the picture?”
“Matthew Brendan Tkachuk, do you have a fucking boyfriend that you haven’t told me about?”
“Um.”
“How long have you been together?”
Leon snorts, waiting to see how mad Brady’s going to be when Matthew tells him. “Like… four years?”
Leon hears the sounds of wrestling and then Brady’s voice comes through the phone. “Are you Matthew’s boyfriend? If you hurt him, I’ll fucking kill you. Wait, why the fuck are you saved in his phone as just the German flag? Holy shit, is this Jimmy? I’ll fucking murder you Jimmy.”
Leon laughs. “I’m not Stützle, but good guess. I’d prefer to not be murdered, honestly.”
Brady’s silent for a long moment as he thinks. “There’s no fucking way. I’m gonna kill you both.”
“Can you at least put him on speaker so I can hear him too, Brades?” Matthew asks.
“It sounds like things are going well there,” Leon says. “Guess I don’t need to fly out?”
“Seems like you don’t, baby,” Matthew says automatically.
“Ew, you two are fucking gross. Seriously, four years and you haven’t told anyone? What the fuck, Matthew.”
“Well, we mostly haven’t told anyone. We were trying to avoid being outed publicly, but I guess that’s over, at least for me. No one’s caught on that Leo’s the other guy in the picture.”
“What the fuck do you mean ‘mostly’? I’m your fucking brother!”
Leon chimes in. “I told Connor because I needed to tell someone, and Johnny walked in on the two of us a few years back. Matty hasn’t told anyone, don’t get mad at him.”
“I’m his brother, it’s my job to be mad at him. Ugh, I need to call the rest of our family and tell them you’re ok. Mom is probably on a plane already.”
“What can I do to make this better, liebling?” Leon asks.
“I don’t think anything. I’m glad Brady isn’t actually mad about things, just about me hiding them. I’m just gonna have to deal with this shitstorm until it passes. At least you don’t have to deal with it, I’m glad no one’s recognized you.”
“Mmhmmm.” Leon’s already got a plan brewing. “So you don’t need me to fly down - you can wait til we see each other in five days at all stars?”
“Yeah, I’ll be ok. I’m glad Brady’s here. I love you, Leo.”
“Love you too, Matty. Call me if you need me, ok? I’m always here for you.”
A few hours later, Connor corners Leon at practice. “How’s Matthew? I didn’t want to call him because I’m sure the whole world is calling him.”
“He’s been better. Brady’s there, they have a game against each other tonight, and aside from being mad about being left in the dark for so long, he’s fully supportive of Matty, so that helps. I wish I was there.”
“Anything we can do to make this less shitty for him? I can’t believe no one’s figured out that it’s you with him.”
“It’s just the back of my head so it’s hard to tell, I guess. I don’t think there’s anything we can do, but I have an idea I’m working on. Nothing you can do, though.”
Connor gives him a long look. “Leo.”
“Connor.”
“That’s a big decision to make so suddenly.”
“I haven’t said anything about my idea.”
“I’m not dumb, Leo. Are you actually gonna?”
“I dunno, Davo, but you can stick around for post-practice media and find out,” Leon says as he skates away.
The media asks him so many useless questions after practice. There’s never much to say at these things, he wishes he didn’t have to do them. At least no one’s called him pissy today. Yet.
“So, Leon, I assume you’ve seen the photos of Matthew Tkachuk? Do you have any comments about that situation?”
“Sure, I think it’s cowardly and disgusting to take pictures of someone and post them publicly for the world to see, especially when that person isn’t out. Outing people is dangerous.”
“You support his sexuality, then?”
“It would be hard not to, considering he’s my boyfriend.”
Everyone is silent for a long few seconds as they process what Leon said. They all start clamoring to ask him questions at the same time.
“So you’re the other guy in the pictures?”
“Yep. Matty’s not the kind to cheat. I was in Florida for a game last week, I guess we weren’t being as careful as we should have been.”
“How long have you two been together?”
“Four years, give or take.”
“Why choose to come out now, when nobody could figure out who was in those pictures with Matthew?”
“Matthew is the love of my life. I figured if I came out, it would take some of the heat off him and make things a bit easier for him. I’d do anything to make him happy.”
“We’re done with questions for Leon,” the Oilers PR person jumps in. “Thanks for your time.”
Leon heads back to the locker room and checks his phone. It’s ringing - Matthew, of course. He answers.
“Hi, liebling.”
“That was so fucking stupid and romantic.”
“What, you watch my pressers now?”
“It’s everywhere, you idiot. It’s harder to miss it than see it. I can’t believe you did that.”
“Are you mad?”
“Only that you’re not here. I want to do so many things right now, but you’re so far away. That was amazing, Leo. I love you so much.”
“Yeah? I love you too. I’m still in the locker room, but I can give you a call once I get home if you wanna tell me about any of those things you were hoping to do…”
Matthew giggles. “Of course that’s the only thing you can think about, and not the part where you, like, broke the NHL.”
Leon shrugs. “If they don’t want to accept us, they can go fuck themselves. I don’t think either of us needs to prove ourselves in hockey at this point. We’re both very, very good. Doesn’t matter where we stick our dicks.”
“Well, if you’re looking for ideas about where to stick yours…”
“Still in the locker room, liebling. Call you in a half hour?”
“Ich liebe dich,” Matthew says shakily.
Leon laughs. “Your pronunciation is shit. I love you too.”
“Why is it when you speak English with an accent it’s sexy, but when I speak German you just make fun of my accent?”
“Because your pronunciation is hilariously bad.”
“Maybe I’ll go find a different German boyfriend who won’t make fun of me.”
“Hmmm, I don’t think you will. You love me too much, and the only other German you know is your brother’s teammate. I’m pretty sure Brady would actually murder you.”
“I do love you too much,” Matthew replies. “Go home so I can call you again.”
“On my way, liebling. Talk soon.”