osgood_asitgets / [Hockey RPS - Contrition - Helm/Osgood

Maybe the bear skin rug is a little much. Darren is waiting for Oz to get back from the Joe, where he's been feeling sorry for himself.

When the door bangs open, Ozzie still looks like he hates everything. Darren pulls him in and tries to plant a kiss on his lips, but Oz just averts his face and shrugs him off.

"It will happen," Darren insists. "It will."

"I could've had that last goal. I could've--"

"It's my fault," Darren says, cutting him off. "I screwed up because I was thinking about how amazing you are in goal, and it just... I can't concentrate."

Chris gives him a shifty look from under his eyelashes, like he's torn between being shy over the compliments and wanting to be as sexy as possible.

You know, it works: Darren grabs him again and muscles him down to the bear skin rug in front of their huge TV. It's a recent acquisition--the rug, that is.

When he gets Ozzie down, he sprawls over him, wriggling and twisting until he gets one leg on either side of Oz.

Straddling his lover, he thinks about trying to steal home, but eventually, the expression on Oz's face changes his mind.

He leans down, letting his body fall awkwardly to the side, and uses the strength of his legs to pull Ozzie closer, roll him against his chest.

He presses his forehead to Chris's, and cups the back of his neck. He won't let Chris refuse to meet his eyes--and they lie like that, and the blue of Ozzie's eyes is like an immense vast sky, filled with so many things, but right now, sadness is so prevalent it makes Darren ache.

"I love you," he whispers, stroking his fingers through Chris's short, damp hair. "And I think you're one of the best goalies all time, you know that. No matter what anyone else--"

"I love you too," Chris murmurs back. He holds Darren's gaze willingly now, watching him evenly, calmly. "You're the best thing that's happened to me," he adds softly.

Darren slides his other arm the rest of the way around Oz and drags him in as snugly as he can fit their bodies together. He leans his forehead against Ozzie's again and waits for his lover to close his eyes.

When Oz does, Darren follows suit.

It takes a long, long, breathless moment, but then Chris lets out a sigh, and Darren can feel the disappointment flow out of Ozzie with that sigh.

He knows everything's going to be all right--Oz never lets a loss bother him for long.

But he holds on tight just the same.

That 400th win? It's just around the corner.

fin.

Author's Note: Chris Osgood recorded his 400th win against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 27, 2010.