All Chapters of Hearts on Ice: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The locker room was loud when they walked in, full of noise and careless laughter, bodies moving, people changing, lockers slamming, someone shouting about the last goal like it was still happening.And Lukas…he barely heard any of it.His head was still on the ice…still on him.He tugged off his gloves slowly, jaw tight, breathing heavier than it should’ve been. His knuckles were still tense, like he hadn’t let go of the game yet.“Reiner!”He ignored it first.“Lukas!”It was closer now and he turned,CRACK.The slap landed clean across his face, sharp enough to echo. His head snapped to the side, heat blooming instantly against his skin and silence dropped.No one moved.“What the hell—”But Viktor didn’t wait, his fist came next…fast and direct, connecting with Lukas’s cheek with a heavy sound that made a few people flinch. Lukas stumbled back, boots scraping against the floor as his mouth leaked blood and he still didn’t hit back.And that was his mistake.“You think this is funn

Klaire let out a small laugh, but there was nothing for her to be amused about.“…wow.”Her eyes moved between them again, slower this time, like she was still taking it in and accepting it even if she didn’t want to.“You could’ve just said that,” she muttered. “When you realized I had feelings for you.”“I am now,” Lukas replied even flatter.Another awkward silence followed then she nodded once, sharp and final. “…right.” She stepped back slightly...it was not dramatic or loud. Her voice was tired, like she was done.“Good luck with…whatever this is,” she said, a weak smile on her face. It didn't quite reach her eyes. Lukas didn’t respond and he didn’t stop her. She turned and walked away slowly. The door closed and just like that, it was over.Silence followed but it wasn’t the heavy kind from before…this one felt…different, like lighter, but still heavy.Lukas didn’t move immediately. His hand was still resting low on Viktor’s waist, fingers spread like he hadn’t even realized he

The change didn’t come loudly. It wasn’t even a fight or some dramatic scene that everyone could point at and say that’s where it went wrong. It was quieter than that…subtle…just like Viktor himself. It would have been unnoticeable to anyone else, but not to Lukas.Because he felt it immediately and it lasted days.Later that day, by the time he got to school, Viktor was already there. Not waiting this time, not leaning against the gate like he used to. He was standing with a few teammates, listening to something Sam was saying, nodding occasionally and he even laughed once—low and brief—but it was still there and that alone felt strange.Lukas slowed down as he approached, his eyes fixed on him, waiting for that moment…that instinctive glance, that tiny shift in Viktor’s expression when he noticed him, yet…it didn’t come.Not even a tiny flicker.Lukas walked past them, close enough that their shoulders could have brushed if Viktor had just moved a little. He didn’t talk, he didn’t p

Lukas didn’t sleep properly. His dreams had taken another form…now, Viktor didn't fight for him, he watched him and that broke something in Lukas every time. Now, when he wakes up, he's too exhausted from fighting his dreams to fight anything in the actual world and it wasn't very pleasant.He woke up again, tired and sweaty, he lay there for hours, staring at the ceiling like it held answers to everything but it clearly didn’t have. Every time he closed his eyes, Viktor’s voice came back, cold and calculating.‘You only come back when I pull away.’It didn’t leave his mind, nothing Viktor said or did ever left his mind. Not even when the morning came.By the time he got to school, he already looked irritated. His jaw was tight, his steps uneven, like he had been arguing with himself the entire way there, his clothes were still sharp. If just anyone had seen Lukas, it wouldn't be a shocker to them. His mind raced and his eyes searched but instead of Viktor, he saw her.Klaire.She wa

The room had finally gone quiet. Their tears and laughter had been put to a pause and it was not the awkward kind of quiet they used to sit in after a fight, not the one that was filled with things unsaid…this one was…soft and heavy in a different way. Safe, almost.Viktor lay on Lukas’s chest, his head tucked just under his chin, fingers lazily tracing nothing in particular against his skin. The ring caught the light every now and then, small glints that pulled Viktor’s attention back to it like he still couldn’t believe it was real. Like he still could accept they had become official. Lukas had his own ring on too and Viktor's eyes couldn't stop looking back at them both.Lukas’s arm rested around him, loose but present, his thumb moving slowly against Viktor’s side without thinking about it. They hadn’t spoken in a while; the last time they did was to cry and they were fine with the silence. They didn’t need to speak…they just needed to exist. A few moments later, something shifted