Let’s Ruin The Friendship
Title from Demi Lovato’s song “Ruin the Friendship”
Ah, okay. So I blame this ficlet entirely on @nomorelonelydays, her lovely anons, and @secret-sidgeno-writer for this post. Got me feeling some kind of way about these soft hockey boys.
“Bye, G. I’ll see you at practice tomorrow.” Sidney calls out, as he leans against the frame of his front door, watching as Geno makes his way down the front steps and folds himself into his sleek sports car.
Sidney can feel his heart beating fast and his chest tightening as Geno disappears down his driveway. He lets out the breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding, and steps back inside, closing the door against the cool night air. Sidney leans against it heavily, pulling out his phone and dialing Flower’s number with barely a thought to how late it is, even in Vegas. The dial tone sounds thunderously loud in his ears. His breath is coming faster and faster as his mind races. After what seems like forever to Sidney, the line connects.
“Hello?” The familiar voice sends waves of calm through him. He takes a deep breath and tries to focus on the words being said. “Sid? Is everything okay, mon ami?”
“Yeah,” Sidney clears his throat. “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, I just… I’m just having a bad night.”
“Was he there tonight?” Flower asks, voice soft. Sidney’s silence gives Flower the answer he was expecting. “Sidney,” Flower says gently, “You can’t keep doing this to yourself. It’s not healthy.”
“It’s fine,” Sidney insists.
“It’s not fine. You’re not fine, and you haven’t been ever since you started doing… whatever this is you’re doing with Geno.”
“Flower, please, don’t start.” Sidney sighs, suddenly feeling the exhaustion from a long day wash over him. He pulls himself up and makes his way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you?” Flower says, voice taking on a harsher tone. “Do you, Sid? Because all I see is you making yourself miserable. It’s been years, Sid. You need to tell him how you feel, or let it go, man.”
“You know I can’t, Flower. I can’t risk it. I can’t risk ruining our friendship, or our hockey. Geno and I, we help each other out, we hook up because it’s convenient. This way neither of us has to worry about TMZ or Deadspin.”
“I know that’s what you tell yourself, but Sid, maybe if you told him how you feel…”
“Absolutely not.” Sidney cut Flower off. “He doesn’t feel the same way, and I can’t risk making things tense between us. Not now, not after all these years. He would have said something by now if it meant anything to him.”
“And what makes you so sure? You sure as hell haven’t said anything.”
“It’s not the same. He can have anyone that he wants. He’ll find someone eventually that he wants more with, so I’ll just take whatever he’ll give me until that happens.” Sidney murmurs, tossing the empty water bottle in the recycle and making his way upstairs.
“You’re right, you know” Sidney takes a sharp inhale at Flower’s words, but Flower keeps talking before Sidney can respond. “Geno could probably have anyone he wanted, but who does he keep choosing, Sid? You. He chooses you, over and over. How can you not see that?”
Sidney remains quiet, not quite knowing what to say to that. He strips his shorts off and crawls back into the already rumpled sheets, phone still tucked against his ear. He takes a deep breath, breathing in the scent of sweat and sex and Geno still lingering in his bed.
“Look, mon ami, I can’t tell you what to do, but I can’t keep watching you suffer either. Promise me you’ll at least think about it.” Flower finally says.
“I will. I’ll think about it. Thanks, Flower.”
“Good. Don’t make me fly over and kick both of your asses.”
Sid huffs out a short laugh, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
There’s nothing worse than losing a playoff game to the Flyers on home ice. Things just hadn’t gone their way. Passes that should have connected but didn’t, unlucky bounces, bad calls by officials, a hundred little things that could have been different if he had just been better.
By the time he gets home Sidney wants nothing more than to fall straight into bed, but he can’t. He’s just too keyed up. He settles in to review some gametape, making notes for the next practice. After what feels like the thousandth replay, he gives up and goes upstairs to take another shower, hoping that might help settle him.
Just as he’s about to step out of his clothes his phone chirps from where he’d left it on the bedside table. He glances at the clock hanging on the wall and can only think of one person that’d be texting him at nearly two in the morning. Sidney lets out a heavy breath as he steps around the bed and grabs his phone.
U up? Sidney reads the text from Geno and chews on his bottom lip as he contemplates if he’s up for a hookup tonight. His emotions are already stretched thin, and he’s not entirely sure he could handle watching Geno leave once he got what he came over for. On the other hand, it would be a great way to work out his anxious energy.
In the end, his poor track record for being able to say no to Geno wins out. He sends back a simple, Yeah.
On my way. Geno replies almost immediately.
Sidney sets his phone down and makes his way back downstairs to wait for Geno, deciding to forgo a shower for now. He busies himself by picking up and straightening the living room from his earlier tape review until he sees Geno’s headlights streaming in through the front windows. Sidney feels his heart rate spike at the sound of the front door opening as Geno lets himself in.
“Sid?” He calls out as he makes his way through the dark foyer to the living room. He stops in the doorframe and drags his gaze up Sidney’s body, finally meeting his eyes.
Sidney feels heat pool low in his belly and licks his lips. Geno’s eyes follow the path of Sidney’s tongue across his lips and he clears his throat. “Is already late, Sid. You make me wait all night?” Geno says, a smirk forming on his face.
Sidney rolls his eyes. This is familiar territory for them. He grabs onto Geno’s wrist as he walks by and pulls him up the stairs towards his bedroom.
Sidney is still breathing hard, and he feels that bone-deep exhaustion that only comes after good sex. He doesn’t want to move ever again, or at least not for the next several hours. To be perfectly honest, all Sidney really wants in that moment is to do is turn over and curl into the warmth of Geno’s body.
“Sid best,” Geno jokes breathlessly, a grin on his face as he smacks Sidney’s bare ass.
And just like that, this is all more than Sidney can handle right now. This is nothing more than a hookup to Geno, a way to blow off steam. And Sidney, he knew that going into this, and he’s been on board with it for the past ten years, but sometimes, sometimes it just hurts more than other nights.
“I’m… going to go get cleaned up,” he says as he hops out of bed, grabbing and pulling on his boxers on his way to the ensuite bathroom.
He closes and locks the door behind him and braces himself against the sink, focusing on taking deep, even breaths. He looks up at his reflection in the mirror and winces. God, he’s pathetic. Sidney turns the tap on cold and splashes the water onto his face.
Flower was right, he can’t keep doing this to himself. He feels completely raw, hollowed out, and exhausted. He wants more. He already knows what it’s like to fall into bed with Geno, but he wants desperately to know what it’s like to wake up next to Geno too. He wants to know what it’s like to be held in his arms, and to feel safe and cared for. His heart aches with how much he wants that.
That’s not what they do though. But maybe… maybe they could. Maybe Flower was right about the other thing too. Maybe it was worth a shot.
Just the thought of ending things with Geno, of being nothing more than teammates, it sends a stab of pain through Sidney’s chest. No, that definitely isn’t an option. He can’t lose Geno, but he knows he can’t keep this up either.
Well, that settles it then. He’ll tell Geno how he feels and hope like hell that Flower was right about Geno feeling the same way. With one last deep breath and another glance at himself in the mirror, Sidney opens the bathroom door. His breath catches in his lungs though, as his eyes sweep through the empty room. The bed is empty, rumpled sheets mocking him. Geno is gone.
The faint sound of the front door opening downstairs startles Sidney out of his thoughts. When his brain finally catches up, he swears and sprints down the stairs with only one thought running through his mind, He can’t leave me again. Not this time. He reaches the door, flinging it open just in time to see Geno unlocking his car door, seconds away from leaving.
“Geno, wait!” Sidney says, hurrying down the steps until he reaches Geno’s car. His breath is coming fast and he shivers, only now realising that he’s still just in his boxers. “Stay. Stay tonight,” Sidney breathes, looking up and Geno through his lashes.
Geno stares at Sidney for a long moment, like he is trying to make sure he heard him right.
Sidney feels his face heating up in shame the longer that Geno stays quiet. “Um, I mean… It’s late, G, and I um, I have a guest bed made up if you… want it.” Sidney tries to backpedal awkwardly.
Geno reaches towards Sidney’s face, but stops halfway. “Don’t want that, Sid.”
Sidney feels his heart stop and ducks his head, blinking back the tears that spring to his eyes. Of course Geno doesn’t feel the same way. Flower was wrong.
“Right,” he clears his throat. “Yeah, no, for sure. Sorry. Just thought I’d offer, but um, I’ll just head back inside then.” Sidney stammers out, keeping his head down as he turns to make his retreat.
“NO!” Geno says, grabbing ahold of Sidney’s wrist and tugging until Sidney’s stumbles back into Geno’s chest. Geno maneuvers himself so that he’s facing Sidney and cups Sidney’s face in his hands, tilting his chin up. The soft light of the moon highlights the tears that had already spilled over, and Geno gently brushes them away with his thumbs. “No,” he says again, softer this time. “Not what I mean. I mean… what if I’m not want guest bed? What if I’m want to share your bed?” He can feel Sidney’s breath catch.
“That’s fine by me,” Sid whispers, finally looking up to meet Geno’s eyes. He rises up on his tiptoes to place a soft kiss on Geno’s lips.
Geno groans and wraps his arms tighter around Sidney’s waist to pull him closer and deepen the kiss.
Standing there in his driveway, in his underwear, Sidney realises that this, right here with Geno, is worth risking everything. “Let’s ruin the friendship” he says against Geno’s lips.
Geno huffs out a laugh, ushering Sidney back towards the house. “I’m ruin more than just friendship tonight” he smirks, grabbing a handful of Sidney’s ass.
“Oh my god, G, that was terrible” Sidney giggles as they make it inside and close the door behind them.
“Mhm… you love it,” Geno murmurs, pulling Sidney against him once more.
“Yeah… I kind of do.” Sidney says softly as he melts into Geno’s arms, leaning up to kiss him again.
When Sidney pulls back, lips red and swollen, cheeks flushed, Geno just can’t stop himself. He pulls Sidney in again and kisses every part of him that he can reach. He kisses him, and kisses him, and kisses him some more until all Geno can feel is the fluttering of Sidney’s lashes against his face and his own thundering heart against Sidney’s chest.