Aaron was thousands of miles away, but when he opened his eyes again, they landed on the camera and—Zack was absolutely sure—on him.
Zack was spellbound. The broadcast was, somehow, live—who here cares that much about figure skating to turn this on?—and he had to stay and watch. Aaron took his bows and skated to the edge of the ice where he was instantly pulled into a massive hug by Brendan. Sitting in the kiss and cry, Aaron's leg jiggled with nervous energy while Brendan chatted animatedly with him, clearly trying to distract him from the interminable wait.
When the scores came up, Zack still wasn't well versed enough in the intricacies of the scoring system to be able to understand what it all meant, but he did understand the big "Current Standing - 2nd" beside Aaron's name.
Zack had been trying so hard to stay away from everything figuring skating; hockey was so much safer for his heart. So he had no idea how many skaters were left or when the free skate was. And oh, how he wished he did. Before he could find any of that out, though, a boarding announcement crackled over the airport's PA. "Final call for flight to Minneapolis−Saint Paul, final call—"
He had to sprint back through the concourse to get on the plane before the doors shut.
ZACK HEAVED A SIGH of relief as he pulled into the driveway of Marie’s house, already feeling more at ease here than he had anywhere in Miami.
When he stepped out of the car the air was crisp with the promise of winter. Even that was welcome, in its way; cold was an indelible part here of life in the Twin Cities. Marie was in the front yard, raking the last of the leaves, though she stopped to return his wave.
“Welcome back,” she said as Zack unloaded his bags from the trunk of the car—another rental; his own car wouldn’t arrive from Florida for another few days.
“It’s good to be back,” Zack said.
“Wonderful. I’m glad you made it in one piece,” Marie said. “But now that you’re here,” she gestured with the hand not holding her rake. “I can tell you, it’s time for you to find a new place.”
“I....” Zack rocked back on his heels, stunned. He’d just spent a week closing out his life in Miami, and he’d just landed back in the Twin Cities. He knew his three-month lease extension with Marie was just about up, but he’d been vaguely hoping she’d let him stay on longer again. “Why?” He couldn’t help asking.
“Because if you’re going to be hanging around here for a while longer, and I suspect you are, you need a more permanent place than my in-law apartment,” Marie said. “I need my in-law apartment for actual visiting skaters who are not functional adults who should be allowed to be totally on their own.”
Which Zack could surely appreciate, and yet.... “I’m not sure I’m a functional adult who should be allowed to be totally on my own,” Zack said, trying to lighten a moment that was wildly unbalancing.
Marie put a hand on her hip and looked him over. “That makes two of us. But my understanding is that you’ve been trying to fix that?”
“Yeah?” That much, at bare minimum, was true.
“Great,” Marie nodded firmly, like that settled the matter. “Then you get to make room for some competitive skater or other who has never lived entirely in the real world or on their own.”
“Okay.” he said. There was the direct communication his therapist was always trying to encourage. And then there was this. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No. Stop looking guilty like that. And this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact you were seeing Aaron Sheftall. To be clear.”
Zack hadn’t known he was capable of blushing; apparently, in front Marie at least, he totally was. “You knew about that? You never said.”
“Pretty sure I heavily implied I knew, but say anything? Why would I? You’re both adults. It’s none of my business.”
“Even for the gossip?” Off-kilter as he felt, Zack couldn’t help teasing.
Marie winked at him; the gesture felt oddly anchoring. “Even for the gossip. Your secrets are safe with me.”
“All right. So like...now, or?”
Marie scowled at him. “Would I kick you out like that? No. But you’ll thank yourself if you’re in a place of your own by the new year. If you need help looking, you know where you can find me.”
And with that, Marie went back to her raking, leaving Zack feeling more discombobulated than ever.
AT HOCKEY PRACTICE the next morning Zack was pleased to find that he hadn’t lost too much ground. He’d only been in Florida a week, but that had been the longest he’d been off the ice since he’d started. He even remembered not to keep looking over his shoulder to see if Aaron was passing by on his way to his own practice; after all, Aaron was still in Russia.
“Hey, glad to have you back!” Matt said cheerily as they eased off their padding and unlaced their skates in the locker room. “How was Miami?”
“Complicated,” Zack replied honestly.
“Well, you did a lot of hard work there. You should be proud of yourself,” Matt said earnestly.
“Calling 1-800-Got-Junk and also telling my parents off wasn’t exactly hard work. Unpleasant, but.”
“Still. You did it and you should feel good about that.”
“Maybe once I get caught up on sleep.” At the very mention of it, Zack had to stifle a yawn. “But I’m glad to be done. Finally. But then I got back here and Marie told me I needed to find my own place.”
“You should!” Matt said enthusiastically. “A whole new start and all that. Do you know where you want to move? My building might have an opening; I can ask. And we’ll all help you move,” Matt said, speaking to the team
