Death of a Bachelor

When Alex passed the puck to his teammate, Brad, he immediately knew he had made a mistake. Brad was definitely closer to the goal than he was, but he completely disregarded how close his teammate’s check was. The puck was stolen less than a second after it last touched his stick, and Alex was groaning at his poor move. He kept up his pace, not wanting one bad mood to slow down the whole game, but he could certainly tell how their constant streak of mistakes was affecting their team. Alex’s teammates were being lazy, and it was clearly shown when their opposing team kept possession of the puck for almost the entire final third of the game. It was only college hockey, but Alex wanted his team to do well, because it was the main reason he was going to his school. It reflected bad upon him when his team lost, and he realized the other boys probably felt the same pressure, as well. He focused on the way his skates scraped the ice, on the way he was holding his stick, and most importantly, on wherever the puck went. Alex tried his hardest to play his part, but when the opposing team scored the goal that put them in the lead with only a minute left in the game, Alex knew it was pointless. This game was their ticket to the finals, but it was clear they would not be making it there this year. A shove from behind pulled him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to glare at the other player. He vaguely remembered being pushed around by the same person earlier in the game, as he was a defender, and Alex played up front.

When the buzzer went off, Jack saw the heads of the opposing team fall, as his own teammates began throwing off their helmets and bringing it into the center to celebrate. He quickly joined them, pushing past a couple people before finding himself wedged between two of his friends, laughing for no apparent reason, and generally enjoying himself. By the time the winners had stumbled off of the ice, almost everybody else had cleared out of the rink. They took another few moments to pop open Jamie’s bottle of ‘just in case we win’ champagne, a few boys getting sprayed by the liquid, before it was passed around and became empty quite quickly. A decision was soon made that they needed more alcohol, and the team decided to meet out front to go get beers somewhere else to celebrate some more. Unfortunately for Jack, he had a prior commitment to pick up his sister later on that night, per request by his parents. That meant no drinking, and it also meant no hanging out with his team in general. Jack stayed behind until all of his friends cleared out of the arena, only then deciding to head into the changing rooms to get changed before he left. Walking casually down the halls still dressed in his gear, he did not notice the boy coming the other wait, until he bumped into him.

“Watch it,” the stranger almost growled, obviously annoyed.

“Whoa,” Jack chuckled, turning around, “Calm down, buddy.”

When the other boy looked up, Jack was met with a slight snarl, slumped shoulders, and tired eyes. Beyond that, he also noticed how particularly cute this stranger was. He had light, tossed brown hair and petit features, a stark contrast to Jack’s own dark, almost black, hair, and rather large features. Speaking of that, he was also tiny in general. As he was a fair bit shorter than Jack, Jack was surprised he had not noticed him on the ice. It was funny how their bulky gear made them all look the same, regardless of size. Looking at Alex, Jack wondered how somebody could be so thin and cute, rather than awkward and lanky like himself. Eyes flicking down the the number on his bag, Jack recognized him as one of the other team's best players, and even remembered shoving him once or twice.

“Are you always such a jerk?” The brunet said, spinning on his heels to make his way down the hallway once more, before Jack was speaking to him again. He obviously recognized Jack, as well.

“Depends,” Jack retorted, “Are you always in the way?”

“Fuck off,” the stranger scoffed, turning around and stalking back toward Jack. “What do you want?”

“Nothing,” Jack shrugged, “You're the one who's still talking to me.” Without a word, the brunet boy ahead of Jack was making his way back out of the rink, obviously still offended.

“Hey hey hey,” he called, jogging back up to the boy who had stopped in his tracks, “I’m sorry, alright? Good game.”

“You too,” his opponent said, shuffling around to face him once more, voice hesitant, as if he did not really believe Jack’s efforts, “Congratulations, and good luck.”

“I didn't mean to be rude,” Jack continued, “I’m in a good mood, is all, which sometimes translates into being an ass. I get that you're pretty bummed out.”

“I know,” the other boy nodded, “No worries. My name’s Alex.”

“Jack,” Jack responded, and Alex took a moment to really take him in, as he had not really looked up much in the past minute or so. He was striking, something about him would not let Alex look away. That's why, when Jack was taking off his jersey a couple seconds later, he was giving Alex a weird look.

“Oh,” Alex mumbled, “If you want to go change, I can-”

“It's fine,” Jack interrupted, “Just hot. I don't really want to go in there.”

“Why not?” Alex raised an eyebrow, trying hard to keep his eyes connected with Jack’s.

“I’m having fun out here,” Jack replied, goofy grin cancelling out the serious look in his eyes. Alex noticed him looking him over, in fact, he had been noticing it throughout the entirety of their conversation.

“Okay,” Alex hummed, “Alright. So, uh, how long have you been playing?”

“Can I kiss you?” Jack asked suddenly, stepping toward Alex. For some reason, the way he registered Alex’s eyes on his chest spoke louder than the boy’s actual voice. “That's not really an answer to your question, sorry. Just an idea.”

“It's fine,” Alex whispered, “And, yeah, I guess you can.” Within seconds, Jack has Alex’s jaw cupped in his hand, and their lips were pressed together. Alex could feel the heat that was still radiating off of Jack, and he wondered where this was going. Stepping back, he asked, “Do you normally do this, ask to kiss people you barely know?”

“I'm feeling victorious,” Jack shrugged, pulling Alex by his belt loops back into the changing room with him.

Notes

hey guys!!

if it isn't already clear, this is going to be a compilation of unrelated one-shots. it's going to follow the track listing of the album, and they're all going to be jalex (because i'm a big baby and i won't write anything else) :^)

as well as this, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades and Ocean Avenue (those are link to mibba because i'm lazy but they're on this site too) are also be updating frequently!

please let me know what you think, as i haven't written any of the others yet! i do realize this is pretty short and vague, but it's my intent to make most of these just over 1000 words.

thanks for reading <3

listen to victorious here