Page 73 of Just a Footnote

Even when Liam has that white picket fence and wife and two and a half kids, Aiden will have this reminder. A reminder of the imitation of love he once had to call his own.

A few days before Christmas,Liam gets injured during a game.

Archer is also playing a game so he doesn’t even know it’s happened. The Oilers game plays on Aiden’s laptop while Liam’s game plays on the television. Aiden watches, heart pounding in his chest, as Liam takes such a brutal hit that he’s terrifyingly still for a few minutes on the ice. Aiden’s eyes search for blood but he doesn’t find any. Coaches and teammates rush to surround him making it hard to see him clearly. Moments later a shaky legged Liam hobbles off the ice with assistance from his teammates, waving to the fans as he leaves, and doesn’t return for the remainder of the game.

That was thirty minutes ago.

Aiden doesn’t know what to do. Does he call him? He looked fine. He must be fine. Aiden sits on the couch unmoving for a solid twenty minutes, frozen in fear, before deciding to call. Vomit threatens to rise into his throat.

The phone rings four times. Aiden almost hangs up, before Liam answers the call by saying, “I’m okay.”

“Jesus Christ,” Aiden swears, laughing a little because he was so afraid.

“They are worried it’s a concussion. But I do have bruised ribs,” Liam quietly explains, but it sounds too dismissive to Aiden’s ears. “They have me on concussion protocol. I can’t play in the next game since it’s only five days from now and the concussion protocol is for two weeks. What the fuck am I going to do for two weeks?”

“Don’t tape your ribs,” Aiden orders him, voice shaking despite his attempt at calm. “It’s not recommended for bruised ribs anymore. And you’re going to rest for two weeks. You’re going to take care of yourself.”

“Okay,” Liam breathes out.

Aiden lays back on the couch, closes his eyes tightly, wondering how he got here. How he got to the point that he’s about to lose his actual shit because Liam Walsh got roughed up on the ice. They’re too far away. If something happened, it would take him too long to get there. Could he even get there? How would he explain to Archer why he’s flying across the country for Liam? He realizes in that moment that it wouldn’t fucking matter though.

“I wish you were here,” Liam admits quietly, sounding so tired and defeated. “I can’t sleep tonight. Just in case.”

“I’ll stay on the phone with you all night,” Aiden says in a rush without thinking. “If you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Aiden agrees.

“Can we switch to FaceTime?” Liam asks hesitantly. “I want to see you.”

Aiden's heart clenches painfully at the request. But he pulls the phone away, pressing the FaceTime button anyway.Moments later, Liam’s tired yet oddly relieved face fills his screen. He’s so fucking beautiful. Hair falls into his eyes but Aiden can still see the green of those eyes staring back at him. Aiden rolls over so he’s laying on his side and props the phone up on his pillow.

“It’s like you’re here,” Aiden says.

Liam smiles, a small smile. His fingers reach out to seemingly touch the screen of his phone. A raw look spreads across his face. Sort of pained. But not from the injury. Aiden again wishes he was there. Wishes he could kiss Liam’s eyelids and hold him as he fights off sleep.

They talk on the phone for hours, not about anything important, just anything to keep Liam awake. Archer comes home late in the evening. He pushes his face beside Aiden’s so that he can talk to Liam.

“Nice hit you took,” Archer says to the Liam on the screen.

“Thank you,” Liam deadpans.

“You on concussion protocol now?”

Liam nods, before grimacing. “Two weeks.”

“Bummer bro.”

Once Archer is satisfied that Liam’s brain isn’t mush, he disappears into his bedroom.

Aiden never sleeps, too concerned with Liam, with making sure he’s okay. They talk about a new book Liam read, the car he just bought last week, his apartment that has the perfect view of the Space Needle. He asks Aiden to visit one day, and Aiden thinks maybe he would, maybe he could, in another life. He likes listening to Liam talk, he always has, it’s a warm blanket over his weary soul. Aiden feels stupid for how long it took him to realize Liam was it for him. Will always be it.

No one else will ever stand a chance.

The weekof Christmas arrives despite Aiden wishing it wouldn’t. The nice thing about the NHL is there are never any hockey games on Christmas. So Aiden gets to spend the day with his twin.

“You’re being weird,” Miles comments after they’ve eaten pizza for lunch and put on an old Christmas movie. “Weirder than normal.”

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