Kayden

​I smiled and looked towards the bench to see Rhys on his feet waving at me; our coach was just pacing around, smiling brightly. Even our CEO, Thomas Brown, was on his feet clapping his hands excitedly.

​But the final blow was yet to come. We still had a few minutes and I was ready to make history. I was ready to show the world that had looked down on omegas that we were much more than they had imagined us to be, and so I played harder.

​I and Philip defended every chance the Southbridge Bears got to score a goal. When Damian skated towards us, I made sure he always ended up falling on the ice.

​’’Your tricks from the first game won’t work on me anymore, Damian Fernandez,’’ I had told him the third time he got close to our net. Once the puck was with me, I skated really fast, sliding through their defense.

​My hand started shaking, almost going numb from pain, but I didn’t let it stop me. We had already won, but I still wanted to make history.

​As I skated through the ice, I remembered the day I got drafted, the nights I spent wriggling in pain after taking the suppressants, the day I joined Northern Avalanche and met Rhys, the day I won my first goal as an Avalanche, and now I was on my way to making more history.

​The skates of the Southbridge Bears echoed loudly behind me, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t even look back, and when I was close to the net, I flicked the puck with a casual precision and it sailed through the air towards their net.

​Time went slowly as the Bears’ goalie jumped to catch the puck, but he missed yet again and fell to the ice while the puck slid into the empty net.

​4-1 And my first ever hat trick.

​The buzzer sounded immediately, signaling the end of the war.

​The crowd roared in celebration and, in the blink of an eye, the ice was covered in hats. Hundreds of them rained down from the stands like a tribute.

​I dropped my stick and fell to my knees, the tears finally coming, but they weren’t the tears of the kid in the closet. They were the tears of a man who had finally skated out of his shadows.

​My teammates rushed towards me again, tackling me onto the ice.

​The crowd began chanting my name once again even louder. ’’KAYDEN VALE! KAYDEN VALE! KAYDEN VALE!’’

​’’A performance for the ages!’’ The commentator’s voice boomed. ’’Kayden Vale, a rising rookie, has silenced everyone this season! A hat trick in the finals! This isn’t just a victory, it’s a statement that the world of hockey will never be the same again.’’

​’’Right, Jim,’’ the second commentator’s voice chimed in. ’’You are witnessing history, folks—a championship win led by a rookie. This is the image of the new era of hockey!’’

​My teammates carried me up and started throwing me excitedly in the air. After the celebratory victory, I hugged each one of them; I even hugged Coach Reddick.

​’’You did well, son,’’ Coach Reddick muttered to me.

​’’Thanks, Coach,’’ I responded.

​Then I looked towards the bench where Rhys was standing. He had not joined the teammates, and it was because of his shoulder. When he saw that I was alone, he rushed towards me and I skated towards him.

​We met at halfway and without words, we both leaned in and shared a kiss. It was a short kiss, and as we both pulled away, Rhys pulled me into a hug and I buried my head in his chest.

​’’You did it, Kayden,’’ he muttered, running a hand through my hair. ’’I am proud of you.’’

​I raised my head to face him and shook my head. ’’No, we did this. Without your support, I wouldn’t have been able to do this on my own.’’

​Rhys opened his mouth to speak, but gold confetti began to rain down, stopping him. We both looked up at it and shared a laugh.

​’’Oh well, well, well. If this isn’t the rookie of the season himself,’’ Leo said, walking towards us with his usual composed grace.

​’’Leo!’’ I shouted his name and stepped forward, pulling him into a hug.

​Leo hugged me back and chuckled. ’’You absolute madman, I am proud of you,’’ he whispered, before pulling back. Then he pointed towards the VIP section where the Calders were supposed to be, but there was no trace of Rami anymore. Only Linda, Richard, and Raymond remained.

​’’The king has abandoned his throne.’’

​Rhys and I both chuckled, staring at the Calders. When their eyes met ours, Richard smiled brightly at Rhys but got no response from him, because we looked away almost immediately.

​The last thing I wanted was for any of them to celebrate in the success they had no idea about.

​’’Good riddance,’’ Leo remarked, his mouth twisting into a dark, satisfied smirk. ’’Given the way he was clutching his chest earlier, I can only hope he’s currently experiencing a severe case of acute laryngospasm induced by his own bitterness. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if he suffered a spontaneous esophageal obstruction on his way out. Choking on his own ego seems like a fitting medical conclusion to his evening.’’

​Rhys let out a short laugh. ’’Only you, Leo. Only you would wish a medical dictionary’s worth of pain on a man during a ceremony.’’

​’’I’m a doctor, Rhys. I simply prefer my patients to be people who actually have hearts,’’ Leo replied. ’’I wish the worst for people like Rami Calder,’ he said, chuckling, then gasped when he felt hands around his waist. He turned around to meet Miller’s face.

​’’What is going on?’’ Miller asked.

​I exchanged looks with Rhys and chuckled.

"Just Leo being Leo," Leo said, and we all burst out laughing.

"What?"

We didn’t answer. That only made it worse. He rolled his eyes... then gave in and started laughing too.