Chapter Text
It’s been exactly one year since Nicholas Robertson has been drafted onto the Toronto Maple Leafs. Something he’ll always be immensely proud of. Except for the fact that he’s only played in three games, one being a scrimmage, and another ending short in an injury. Nick has craved nothing but respect from his teammates, enough to go to the big guys about it.
"Hey coach can we talk?” Nick approaches his coach, Sheldon Keefe, with only one intention, and he plans on not leaving until the goal is achieved.
“Robertson, sit. We can talk.” Sheldon closes his laptop and points to a chair across from a desk. Nick follows his coach’s orders, and sits across from him. “What would you like to discuss?”
“What do I have to do to prove to you I can hold my own out there?” Nick doesn’t hesitate to let Sheldon know immediately how this meeting is going to go. Sheldon is immediately unimpressed with how blunt Nick has decided to be
“Listen, Kid. You’re still only 19 and you have plenty of time to climb the ranks around here. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Besides the possibility of being traded.”
“Of course there is always a chance of that happening, however we like the chances you have around here. With a bit of practice, of course. Again, you’re just a kid, and we have guys with much better stats that deserve to be out on the ice.”
“I don’t have stats because I never play!”
“Don’t raise your voice at me Robertson. You’ll play when Kyle and I decide you do.”
Nick stands up, unsatisfied of where this meeting is going, and storms out slamming the door behind him. He gets back into the dressing room, where most of the guys have gone home, excluding a few stragglers. One including his “mentor” Zach Hyman.
As soon as Nick, quite aggressively, grabs his bag already packed and ready to go out of his stall, Zach is already behind him ready to calm him down. “Hey kiddo, what’s up? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t fucking call me kid! I’m not a fucking kid, I’m nine-fucking-teen! I’m an adult!” Nick lashes out a Zach from all the pent up anger of his previous conversation.
“I’m sorry, Nick what’s wrong?"
“It makes no sense why I don’t have a fucking roster spot! I’ve scored both games I’ve played! I’m working my ass off! I can’t help it that I'm smaller than the other guys!”
“Nick you have to be patient. We all go through periods where we have to prove ourselves. It’s not gonna happen over night. We all have to work our asses off all the time. Our spots aren’t permanent, don’t give up just because you haven’t gotten a more permanent spot on the roster yet. I promise, you are a good player. I have my eyes on you at all times, and I can see how much you improve everyday. You’re gonna be a star on this team one day.” Zach places a hand gently on Nick’s shoulder to ensure the message. The last thing Zach wants to see is his rookie giving up before he barely even started.
“Alright boys can we hurry up,” John announces walking out of the shower, “I really need to get home.” Everyone immediately starts to pack up quicker, not wanting to upset their captain.
Zach sighs, trying to finish up his conversation, “Listen Nick, sometimes it takes a little bit of… convincing to get your way around here.” Nick nods, mind now racing about how many ways he could think of to convince whoever he needed to to finally get out onto the ice. Ultimately, he comes up with a list of people he has to go through to get what he wants, and his first target: John Tavares.
If Kyle is the brains of the team and Sheldon is the heart, this makes John the only other place men think from, their core. Now all Nick has to do is figure out how to get to John, so the heart and head will listen.
Nick goes home that night, and plays through video compilations of John’s plays and interviews trying to figure out how to get into his head, possibly impress him on the ice. After watching video after video, Nick realizes that John isn’t gonna budge easily. Nick realizes he needs to get into John’s head consistently, but how exactly is the question.
When Nick finally goes to sleep that night, his mind is constantly filled with the videos of John. With thoughts of how fast he skates, how quick he thinks, how stoic he is, how aggressive he can play without throwing a punch, how big his muscles are, how defined his jawline is, how his thighs look in tight pants, how other things look in tight pants. Nick decides to give in to the temptation of his burning desire.
The next day is an off day, thankfully on Nicks part. After what he did the night before, facing John would not be an easy task. Nick calls his buddy Zach right after waking up, after a couple rings, Zach answers. A baby can be heard crying in the background.
“What do you need, kid? I’m trying to put Theo back to sleep.” Zach doesn’t sound too happy with the surprise call.
“Sorry. Can I come over?” Nick doesn’t want to bother the Hyman’s but this is a matter that needs to be spoken in person.
“Yeah sure, but please knock. I don’t want the baby to wake up again.”
“Yeah no problem. It is kind of important just a heads up.” and with that statement being left in the air, Nick hangs up before he can even get a reply.
Nick gets ready and heads immediately over to the Hyman’s, without even stopping to get some breakfast.
When a knock on the door is heard, Zach answers almost directly after. “Hey Nicky, come on in. Make yourself at home.”
Nick walks in, sitting politely on the couch. The whole house smells like baby powder and whatever they had for breakfast earlier that morning. Zach follows suit, and sits next to Nick on the couch. Close enough to feel the warmth of each other’s body heat, but not quite close enough to touch. “So, what’s bothering you that you had to come over Nicky?”
“I’m bisexual.” Nick practically vomits out, with no time to even think.
“What?”
“Well, at least I think I’m bisexual. Please don’t tell anyone. You’re the only person I trust. Please don’t be mad. I promise it has nothing to do with you.”
“Nick, calm down.” Zach puts a hand gently on Nick’s shoulder, “I won’t tell anyone I promise. What brought this up?”
“J-JT…” Nick admits barely above a whisper.
“What?” Zach slowly removes his hand from Nick’s shoulder, “You can’t seriously have a crush on your captain… he’s like 30 and married with a baby Nick.”
“I don’t have a crush on him I promise!”
“Then how the fuck- oh. Um… I mean you are a teenager… I remember when I was your age. Maybe you just… got confused. Or just had an intrusive thought.”
“Zach, it was clearly and thoughtfully about JT. I feel fucking horrible about it already, okay. I don’t need you to make me feel worse right now.” Nick sighs, releasing the tension from his shoulders, “Just, what should I do?”
Zach looks away trying to think of some actual good advice, before speaking without thinking first just in case what he said could possibly hurt Nick. “I wouldn’t tell him for one.”
“Thanks Zach because I was gonna tell John Tavares I jerked off to him!”
“Okay yeah no, um sorry, that was obvious... “ Zach takes some more time to think, “Maybe just, try to think about a girl you like as soon as you start thinking about JT… Maybe that can help.”
Nick just nods in response. Alannah walks into the room holding a babbling Theo in her arms. “What are you boys talking about?”
“Nothing important, just hockey.” Zach lies on his feet, not wanting to expose anything Nick didn’t want anyone else to hear.
“Well, I’m going to target with Theo because he told me we need to go to target.”
“Theo told you that?” Zach asks light-heartedly to his wife.
“Yep.” She replies, bouncing the baby up and down, “He told me he wanted to go to target. Well he actually telepathically told me that, but I have a motherly instinct.”
“Okay, don’t buy anymore candles please. We have 14 in our bathroom.”
“No promises,” She announces as she walks out the door grabbing her purse on the way out.
Zach just smiles and shakes his head facing the floor.
After throwing ideas back and forth with each other for a little over an hour, Nick decides to embrace his sexuality as much as he can without telling anyone, and changing the subject to something embarrassing every time he thinks of John.
A couple days pass, and Nick still has no idea how he’s going to get in John’s head, while simultaneously trying to keep John out of his head. However, every time Nick thinks of something he could do, it turns into a fantasy. And after his fifth day in a row thinking of John every time he goes to sleep and every time he wakes up, Nick accepts the fact that he might have a small crush on his captain, John Tavares.
The next day, they have morning training. Which just so happens to be Nick’s least favorite type of training. Being the typical teenage boy he is, all Nick wants to do is sleep until noon. But alas, Nick eventually rolls his way out of bed and down in the kitchen for some breakfast.
After a quick plate of whatever carbs he could find around the house, Nick manages to emerge out of his apartment on time, and with a cup of iced coffee.
The practice was long and tiring for everyone, but especially for John Tavares. Which prompts him to mention to Joe Thorton, who sits next to him in the dressing room, “It’s been months. Being a dad is great and all, but I am so stressed out, and getting absolutely nothing in months is literal fucking hell.”
“Once he’s old enough to go to school, it’ll get a lot easier. Just have to deal with quickies until then JT.” Joe reassures him, or at least tries to.
“I don’t think I can wait that long, and quickies aren’t gonna do much for Aryne. I just wish I could find a babysitter. But, it’s so hard to trust anyone with my baby.”
Nick realizes that now is his chance. John is desperate, and being his babysitter is the perfect excuse to get into his head. Maybe, if he can get close enough, he can even bring up John talking to Sheldon and Kyle about possibly getting some ice time. “I can babysit for you, I’m great with kids.” Nick interrupts.
“Nick, you are a kid. How do you expect me to trust another child with my child.”
“JT come on. One, I'm not a kid anymore. Two, you’re desperate and I’ll do it for free. I can even start tonight if you’d like. I have no life outside of coming here.” Nick can feel Zach staring intensely at him from across the room. But, Nick decides to ignore it. Maybe Zach will let him live this down one day.
John sighs, “Fine, I’ll text you my address. Be there at 6:00. Clear?”
“Yes captain. I’ll be there at 5:45.”
John nods, “Good.”
After everyone leaves, Nick is in his car. Trying to get his stuff situated before driving home to get himself ready to deal with a toddler overnight. While deciding on a playlist, he hears a knock on his window, and it’s Zach.
Nick rolls the window down, “What’s up Hyman?”
“What’s up?”
“I asked you first.”
“Nick you-” Zach sighs running his fingers through his hair, “You volunteered to babysit for John, why? I thought you said you were trying to get over him.”
“I am! I promise! I just, you said I needed to convince them I belong here, and why not start at the base and move up the tiers from there. I get John convinced so he can help me convince Sheldon and Kyle. It’s a perfect plan, and I thought I was going to have to beg. This opportunity was in front of me, so I took it. I promise I’m not trying to be a homewrecker. He’s straight anyways.”
“Nick… He-” Zach shakes his head, “Never mind, have fun. Don’t get hurt. If you need any baby advice, don’t hesitate to call.” Zach walks away, and Nick is left to wonder exactly what Zach was going to say the entirety of his ride home.
Between the long few hours between practice and Nick’s new babysitting job, Nick has managed to over think every possible outcome of walking into his captain’s home. To the point where at 5:45, when he’s standing at the door, Nick can’t even raise his hand to knock. Instead, he just stands there. John’s house is nice. Smaller than Nick expected it to be, but it’s charming for a rich man’s home. It’s made completely out of stone brick, and the windows and door look vintage. There’s almost no privacy except for a couple of hedges on either side of the house separating it from their neighbors. It’s strange to Nick that the captain of one of the most popular hockey teams in Canada lives in such a small suburban area. Nick doesn’t know what exactly he was expecting. But, he knows for sure, it wasn’t this.
Before Nick can get the courage to knock, John’s wife, Aryne, answers the door. “Hey, you must be Nick. John mentioned you would be coming. Come on in!” Aryne moves out of the way of the doorway, and Nick walks into the home. Immediately awestruck from what the home looks like from the inside, Nick has barely any time to think process all the beautiful white, tan, and grey decorations before John is already greeting him from the stairway. “Hey kid, thank you so much for doing this for us.” John is wearing his usual gameday attire, which is exactly what Nick cannot resist.
“No problem,” Nick says quietly, trying not to let his eyes wander down John’s body. Opting to look around the house from right inside the doorway.
“Jace is upstairs in the playroom. Let’s go meet him so it’s easier for him when we leave.” They walk upstairs, Nick taking note where all the different doorways lead to. Nick also can’t help but take note of all the pictures that frame their wall of all the places they’ve been to, and pictures of their happy little family.
Of course their family is happy, Nick thinks. Why wouldn’t it be happy?
The walk into the playroom and Jace is in there as expected playing with some wooden trains on the floor. “Hey, JJ, we brought you over a new friend to play with, do you wanna say hi?”
“No.” Jace says immediately going back to playing with the trains on the floor.
“He’s shy. Jace come on, Nicky came all the way out here to play with you.” Jace looks up at his father, waddles over there, and hugs his leg tightly. “See, Jace, Nick is a nice boy.”
Nick squats down so he’s eye level with the scared toddler, “Hey buddy! Wanna show me your cool trains?” Jace hugs John’s leg even tighter. “Awe, Jace it’s okay. I’m actually pretty cool. See look,” Nick walks over to where Jace was playing previously, and starts playing with the trains purposely wrong so Jace can come correct him. Which is exactly what Jace does.
Jace waddles back over and steals the train from Nick and puts it on the track, “Awe man, yeah your right kid that makes so much more sense.” This makes John smile.
“You have my number if you need me, He’ll be hungry in about an hour, diapers and wipes are in his bedroom, and he likes to watch this Blippi show on youtube if he starts crying.” John says slowly backing out of the door. Nick just nods as John leaves, leaving Nick with Jace.
After struggling to keep up with a toddler for 4 hours, Nick lays on the couch holding Jace laying on his chest watching the show John told him to watch.
The next morning arrives quite quickly, and Nick is asleep on the couch with Jace still asleep on top of him when John and Aryne arrive back home.
“Awe, Johnny, look at how cute,” Aryne whispers, not to wake up Nick or Jace. John smiles, walks over, and picks Jace slowly out of Nick’s arms. Nick stirrs barely, before going back to sleep, and John takes Jace back upstairs into his crib. When John returns, he tells his wife to head upstairs and he will meet her up there in a minute. Aryne does.
John sits down on the long part of the sectional, careful to not wake Nick. He reaches down, brushing a small piece of hair out of the tanned boy’s face. He can’t help but smile at the sight of his teammate in such a soft and vulnerable state. John also can't help but notice the way Nick’s eyelashes lay ever so softly across his cheek bones, and how he is still slightly flushed, even when away from the ice. John reaches out and lightly slides his thumb against the boy’s cheek bone. Nick’s lips curve into a small smile as well, his eyes fluttering open at the sensation. His expression immediately turns into shock.
“John?” Nick's voice still cracked from slumber.
“Nicky,” John whispers, “It’s morning, you have to wake up.”
Nick sits up slowly, rubbing at his eyes to adjust to the light. John tries to hold back his smile, Nick is just so soft that John can’t help but crack a small one. “I guess, I’ll head home, I’ll see you at the rink later.” Nick does exactly that, and heads straight home.
It’s not that Nick didn’t want to bring up the favor to John, but he figured that he should wait a little longer until asking him to talk to his boss about anything. Nick is willing to play the long game, as long as he knows there can be a certified outcome. John and Kyle are close, he can see it in the way they interact. He knows if he has John on his side, it won’t be hard to get Kyle to follow suit. The only true issue is convincing Sheldon that he’s a good enough player, especially now that his knee is healed.
The babysitting begins to become a weekly event. John and Aryne go out to dinner and get a hotel, while Nick stays back with Jace. It helps that Jace has become fond of Nick, and constantly asks where Nick is. John was quite impressed with the impression Nick left on his kid, and continues to let him watch him. After almost a month, Nick decides to finally make his move.
“So, John, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?” Nick asks, holding Jace on his hip in the Tavares’ kitchen.
“What is it, kid?” John and his wife are ahead of schedule, and Nick is earlier than he usually is, so John decides to not be an asshole.
“I was wondering if you could possibly talk to Sheldon and Kyle about me, and maybe some of the guys on the team too?” Nick avoids eye contact, not wanting to see how John reacts to practically being used by a nineteen year old, “I just feel like I have some potential, and I also am tired of being treated like a baby.”
“I’ll talk to the guys, but you want me to talk to Sheldon and Kyle to get you more ice time?”
“Yes…”
“Nick, it’s not that easy. You have to prove yourself, like actually prove yourself. The last game you played, you got an injury. I don’t think they’ll be playing you for a while.”
“That wasn’t even my fault, how does that make sense? They played Muzzin right off his injury during the bubble.”
“That’s different, Muzzin’s one of our best D-men we have. We have a lot of good forward talent Nick. You just have to prove you’re better than them.”
“How the hell am I supposed to do that when I barely get any ice time? Everyone keeps telling me how I need to be better than the other guys, but I can’t prove I’ve gotten better without playing more often.” Nick starts to get angry with John.
“I’ll talk to them, but you’re gonna have to give me one hell of a good payment for this.”
‘I’ll do anything John, I promise. I’ll skate suicides for an hour, I’ll baby sit Jace whenever you want me to, I- I- I’ll take your clothes to get dry cleaned, I’ll clean your house or your car, or your house and your car. Please John, I-”
“Nick, I’ll let you know when I think of something,” and with that, John leaves with Aryne. Nick’s mind left to race and wander. The night follows as normal. Nick chases Jace around the house trying to keep him out of anything he could get hurt with, and John spends his night with his wife.
The next weekend, however, is different. Nick is told to come over, as usual, with the thought of babysitting Jace alone for the whole night. Although, when Nick arrives, something is different than the usual routine. Aryne is gone, and John is seated on the couch, Jace playing on the floor. “John, um, where’s Aryne? Why are you still here?”
“Nick, please sit down.” Nick sits down next to John, anxious to see why John is here without Aryne in sight. “I’ve thought of some ways you can, how you say, repay me for my services.”
Nick can’t help but giggle at the way John is acting so serious, “Okay captain, shoot.”
“Aryne’s mom is sick, she has to go home for a couple weeks, minimum. I was wondering if you could possibly keep the bed warm while she’s away, for say.”
“You,” Nick cannot believe the words coming out of John’s mouth, “You want me to…” Nick lowers his voice to a whisper, “Sleep with you?”
“I guess you could word it like that, yeah.”
“But, what about my apartment? I have to pay rent whether I’m there or no.”
“Don’t worry about it, she should be home before the end of february. I just don’t do well in hockey when I’m alone, and you need my assistance.”
“So, am I just sleeping next to you… or…”
“Nick…” John shakes his head smiling, “Nicky you are so... innocent.”
“Wait, you- you wanna,” Nick whispers so Jace can’t hear them, “you wanna have sex with me?” John just nods, as if the answer was obvious, “John, I- I’m a virgin. I haven’t even had my first kiss, unless you count kissing a girl on the playground in first grade, but other than that I’ve never done anything with anyone. I really don’t think this is a good idea. I’m not really, what you could say, the right candidate for the job. I have, like, no resume.”
“Nick, you’re telling me you are nineteen years old, and never even had your first kiss?”
“No, I was just waiting for someone special, or like a special moment, or anything really. Someone to be attracted to me would be nice as well.”
John slides his hand carefully across Nick’s cheek, threading his fingers softly through the hair on the side of Nick’s head. “John, what ar-” Nick’s question gets cut off by John’s lips lightly brushing against his own, stealing his first kiss right from under him. Nick wants to protest, but decides against it, letting himself melt into John. And when they pull away from each other, Jace is staring directly at them.