You Could Make a Life by Taylor Fitzpatrick

Author:Taylor Fitzpatrick [Fitzpatrick, Taylor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor Fitzpatrick
Published: 2015-12-21T05:00:00+00:00

ix. a pressing wait

Being out is perhaps not as bad as Dan was bracing himself for. Marc does all the interviews Dan won't, because he's big on positive role models and someone speaking out for the kids, an accepting world. All stuff that Dan should probably care about more, he admits, but mostly he just wants everyone to leave him and Marc alone.

Dan gets dragged to charity events all summer. His role there is simple: he lurks beside Marc like a bodyguard, while Marc charms everyone around him and Dan glares at any potential threats, because he may as well embrace the role.

There's a lot of articles about them, ones Dan won't read but Marc does, gets himself worked up and slams around the kitchen while making himself a smoothie, slams around the bathroom while he's brushing his teeth. If Dan could keep Marc from reading them, he would, but Marc isn't easily dissuaded from doing anything he wants to do. Case in point: the fact that Marc's actually out at all.

For two days straight Marc rants about an article linking his on-ice production to whether Dan is on the roster or not, and finding a positive correlation with Dan being injured or called down and Marc's points per game average. Dan just finds the stats interesting, though he hopes it doesn't lead to some diehard Leafs fan coming at him with a tire iron.

Marc goes down to New York towards the end of summer for the kind of media glad-handing he hates, with a lot of photo opportunities of him and the Commissioner, who he hates even more. "Thought Gervais was trying to keep this shit out of your contract," Dan says, when Marc's packing a bag.

"Yes, well," Marc says, then stops.

"Well?" Dan asks.

"They had leverage," Marc says.

"Okay, you've totally lost me," Dan says.

"It is a business," Marc says. "A player asks for something, you ask for something in return."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dan asks, and then, because he's not stupid, "Fuck, seriously?"

Marc shrugs.

Dan gapes. "Marc — " he says, finally.

"Not a big deal," Marc says, and when he's in NYC, beside the Commissioner, he's all smiles.

But all and all, despite the articles, the general media interest, the fact that apparently management blackmailed Marc into something he was openly against doing until they discovered Dan was a bargaining chip they could use against him, it's mostly the same summer as always. Toronto as home base, with periodic visits to Montreal; training, specifically targeted to strengthen Dan's ankle, at first, then the cardio, strength, shinny mix, like always. And stupid fundraisers, but Dan keeps his mouth shut about them, especially after Marc returns from New York.

When they get back to the preseason, the guys are also mostly the same as always, though three of them (three!) come to Dan to say they had suspected, Buchanan just smirks and clasps Dan's shoulder, and Larsson finally gets to complain about the injustice of how they all got to be oblivious while he kept walking in on it.

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