Home Vs. Away 2

"Don't touch him" Elliot said, his voice low and dangerous.

The crowd roared chaosly, across the rink.

The ref blows the whistle sharply.

"Hey! Break it up!"

He skated in fast, squeezing himself between them as other players started crowding in.

Santamario held his jaw, eyes burning.

Jade's chest rose and fell, his fists still clenched. Elliot's eyes were locked on Santamario.

"That's enough! All three of you to the penalty box. Now!" He snapped.

"Ref, you're not even going to hear what happened?" Jade asked.

"Don't try to teach me my job. You three were fighting and that alone makes you serve five minutes in the penalty box" The ref shot back.

"Five minutes? That is too much, we have a game to win." Elliot said, frowning.

"They threw the first punch, ref" Santamario said quickly.

The ref stepped forward. Eyes locked on Santamario, sternly.

"I said Penalty box. Now!"

Titans fans booed loudly.

"LOOKS LIKE TENSION ARE BOILING HOTTER THAN THE ICE AS THE THREE PLAYERS GET FIVE MINUTES IN THE PENALTY BOX" The first announcer bellowed.

Jade removed his helmet, sweat rolling down his face, and skated off towards the penalty box. He dropped onto the bench, dropping his stick.

Elliot followed, sliding in beside him with a quiet, controlled anger still boiling in him.

Santamario came in last, keeping a long distance on the bench. He had a smug look plastered on his face.

"Two men down on your team, one man down on mine. You babies are losing this game" Santamario said.

Jade's jaw tightened, and he glared at him.

"It's not a big deal. The minutes were back on the ice, it's going to be a whole different story for y'all" Elliot said.

Santamario laughed, sharp and bitter.

"We'll see about that" he said, leaning back.

Soon, the ref skated to where they sat.

"You three! Get back into the game." He said.

"No fighting!" He added, warning.

Santamario skates off immediately, not looking back, he joined his teammates.

Jade wore his helmet back, grabbed his stick, ready to skate off but Elliot stopped him.

"Hey" Elliot called, placing a hand on Jade's shoulder.

"We need to work together out there" he added.

"I don't need your help" Jade replied, slapping Elliot's hand away.

Elliot's eyes burned as Jade skated off. He followed, both silently daring each other to prove who is better.

The puck slid towards Tyler Westwood. He eyed the rink and his eyes fell on Jade, he passed the puck to him. Jade caught it smoothly.

Jade spun, making a clean turn as he approached the Bears' goal.

Santamario spotted the puck with Jade, and charged immediately, his stick aimed for a check. Jade felt the rush of air as Santamario skates closer, but he shifted sharply, his skates carving deep into the ice.

The Bears goalie shifted into position, knees bent, eyes locked on Jade, reading his every move.

Jade feinted left, deking the goalie out of the goal post. The crowd cheered as they waited for Jade to take the goal.

Jade smirked slightly, he lifted his stick and passed the puck into the goal post. The goalie tried to recover and catch the puck but it was too late.

For a second everything went silent....

Then the rink exploded, fans cheering loudly.

"INCREDIBLE! RICCIO HAS FINALLY SCORED!" The first announcer thundered into his headset.

"IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME, HE ACTUALLY SCORED" The second announcer agreed.

A few titans players skated towards him.

"Nice one" Tyler said, tapping his stick lightly against Jade's.

"That was clean" Another teammate said, giving Jade a small pat on his shoulder.

Soon, the whole celebration died down and the whistle blew again, signaling reset.

The puck slid across the rink, to the Bears. They caught it, moved aggressively. Jade skated hard, keeping his eyes on it.

Soon, he hijacked the puck. His stick pushing the luck forward cleanly.

Elliot was behind him, waiting, hoping for a pass but Jade ignored him.

Santamario charged at him again. Jade tried to dodge but he was too slow.

Santamario slammed into him from the side. The puck slipped away, loose on the ice.

Jade dug his skates into the ice, catching his balance. His eyes locked on Santamario who already has the puck. The sight of sent a familiar, bitter anger down his spine.

Elliot skated after him. He knew Santamario was a guaranteed outcome. He was a predator who lived for these exact seconds in front of the opponent's net.

Bears fans cheered loudly.

Santamario raised his puck, slammed it against the puck.

Shot.

The puck flew.

The Titans' goalie, Allard's glove went up....

He caught it!

There was a chorused gasp across the rink. For a heartbeat, the game froze. Then the Titans' fans exploded, cheering.

Santamario gritted his teeth in anger. The Titans' goalie had just caught his goal.

Soon, the referee came and blew the whistle for reset again.

The puck slid back to the center. Jade grabbed it fast, he skated hard.

Santamario came at him fast. He tried to collide, to take the puck.

Jade already knew Santamario was behind him with a dirty thought. Just when Santamario was about to slam against him, Jade shifted and Santamario missed.

He flew forward, crashing onto the ice with a harsh thud. The Bears' fans gasped, Titans' fans cheered.

Jade didn't even slow, he pushed towards the Bears' goal. The goalie braced himself.

Jade slowed down, he faked a sharp shift of his stick to the right. The goalie staggered to the right.

Shot!

He took a clean shot to the left, the puck slid past, and found the back of the net.

Goal!

"IT'S A GOAL! JADE RICCIO SCORES AT THE LAST MINUTE" The first announcer bellowed.

"INCREDIBLE!" The second announcer agreed.

The final buzzer echoed, signaling the end of the game.

The crowd erupted, shaking the rink with cheers, claps, stomps and chants. Jade stood there, chest rising and falling.

He removed his helmet, a big smile on his face. He had done it. A few of his teammates skated over, including Tyler Westwood to celebrate with him.

He looked up and saw Santamario storming out of the rink in anger. The corner of his lips twitched into a satisfied smirk.

He smiled in victory.

The cheers didn't follow Jade into the locker room. He walked in first, helmet in hand, sweat still dripping down his face.

He moved to his locker.

He was alone for a moment until the door opened again. Elliot stepped in.

At first no one said anything to eachother and Jade liked it that way.

"Why did you do it?" Jade asked, his voice low.

"Do what?" Elliot asking, frowning.

"Help me. Out there." Jade replied

"If I hadn't stepped in, you'd be flat on your back wondering what hit you" Elliot said.

"You know what? That's always been one of your problems" Jade shot.

"What is?" Elliot raised a brow in confusion.

"You think you have to step in everytime. You think you can fix things, protect people. You think I'm weak" Jade said, his grip tightening harder on his locker.

"I never said you were weak, Riccio" Elliot straightened, his expression hardening.

"You didn't have to, you act like it. I'm not weak, Elliot!" Jade said.

Elliot took a step closer.

"You were surrounded. I had to step in, I would do it for any of my teammates"

"I had it." Jade shit back at him.

"No you didn't" Elliot shook his head

"Next time, mind your god damn business" Jade's eyes flashed.

Elliot ran a hand through his hair.

"You're unbelievable" he said.

Jade scoffed, grabbing his things.

"And you need to stop acting like you can solve everyone's problems." He paused

"Especially when you haven't even sorted out your own family problems" He added coldly.

Elliot went still, his jaw tightening, eyes darkening.

Jade slammed his locker shut and turned to leave.

He only took a few steps when Elliot grabbed him and shoved him against the lockers, roughly.

Jade sucked in a breath, barely having tim to react before Elliot's hand pressed firm against his shoulder, holding him in place.

"I love it when you act tough, pretty boy" Elliot said, his voice low and dangerous. His Italian accent rolled off his tongue.

Elliot had moved to America from Italy when he was fifteen. Most of the time, his English was smooth, controlled but when he was pissed, or when something got under his skin, that Italian accent comes out.

Like now.

Jade tried to wriggle out of his grip, ang e flashing across his face.

"Get off me." He snapped.

Elliot didn't move.

Jade tried again, stronger this time, but Elliot was too strong.

"Elliot, I swear...get your hands off me"

Elliot leaned in slightly, His chest pressed lightly against Jade's back, caging him in. Jade froze for a second, he could feel Elliot's heat.

Elliot leaned in slightly, his lips brushing past Jade's ear.

"Or what?" Elliot murmured, low and dangerous.

"You think you can handle everything alone" Elliot's voice dropped even lower.

"And you keep telling yourself you don't need me" he added softly.

"I... don't" Jade spat, even though his breathing betrayed him.

Elliot let out a short laugh against his ear.

"Liar"

For a second, neither of them moved.

The noise of the teammates approaching the room made Elliot step away.

Jade straightened himself.

The two pretended like nothing had happened.