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“I know we can’t kill Mitch’s boyfriend,” Willy said, walking into the Player’s Lounge, “but I think we should kill Mitch’s boyfriend. Or at least disappear him.”
Auston and Freddie shared a look before Auston said, “What’d he do this time?”
“He stood Mitch up,” Willy replied, “And when Mitch called him to see where he was - after an hour of waiting for him - he told Mitch that he and his friends had gotten tickets for the Raptor’s game and that the game had sounded more fun that the movie night they had planned. I spent last night with Mitch, watching him pretend he was fine.”
Auston grimaced. That was bad. Not the worst thing the guy had done, but… He really didn’t get what Mitch saw in the guy.
Andrew was in Med School at University of Toronto. Mitch had met him the year before while out with the team and fell hard. And Andrew just seemed to enjoy having a star of the Leafs think he was the best thing since sliced bread. He always had this smug look on his face when he came with Mitch to anything, arm always around Mitch’s waist a touch too possessively to be out of affection.
“We can’t disappear him,” Freddie replied.
“Maybe we can’t,” Willy responded, “but Nicke is married to Ovi and Ovi definitely knows someone who can.”
“Who can what?” Mitch asked, walking into the room and looking like he got little to no sleep.
“Hook us up for a private jet for Bye Week,” Willy replied, getting a snort from Auston and an eye roll from Freddie.
“Cool.”
And Willy and Auston shared a look as Mitch shoved himself between Freddie and Auston on the couch and curled into the goalie, who wrapped an arm around him and sent Auston a smirk. Auston rolled his eyes but crossed his arms and huffed.
Willy didn’t pretend to understand what that was about.
“You okay, Marns?” Freddie asked softly, running a hand through Mitch’s hair.
“No,” Mitch sniffed, “David blew me off last night. I would have understood that he wanted to go to the game with his friends, but… he didn’t even tell me until I texted him to see where he was.”
“You could just break up with him,” Auston replied.
Best friend privileges, Willy supposed. Everyone on the team, to some degree, saw Mitch as a bubble they needed to keep from popping. Everyone but Auston. Auston was the only person on the team who didn’t treat Mitch with Kid Gloves to any degree.
“But I love him,” Mitch replied, lips pouting a little in the unconscious manner they did - usually when he knew he should do something he didn’t want to do.
“Mitchy,” Auston sighed, pulling him off of Freddie, “I just want you to be happy. And… David is an asshole.”
“Just because you don’t like him -”
“There’s a reason I don’t like him, Mitch.”
“What -?”
“He treats you like shit. You… you don’t deserve that.”
“I… I need to think about it.”
“He’s never going to fill the Connor shaped hole in your life.”
And Willy glanced at Freddie just to make sure the goalie was also confused.
“I’m not looking for someone to replace Connor,” Mitch’s voice had an edge to it as he pulled away from Auston.
“Yes, you are,” Auston replied with a similar edge in his own voice, “You’re looking for someone to love you the way you want Connor to - as if Connor doesn’t already feel the same way about you.”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” Mitch muttered, looking at his lap.
“Fine,” Auston responded, “Chucky mentioned he called you the other day. He tell you his plan?”
Mitch laughed and the mood dispersed and Willy would never get over how they had that ability with each other.
“Yeah,” Mitch grinned pulling his phone out, “he sent me a picture of the ring and everything. His mom is helping to teach him how to make Robby’s favorite meal and he’s actually planning out a speech.”
“You think Robby will say yes?”
“Duh,” Mitch rolled his eyes affectionately, “They look at each other like they’re the only two people on the planet. Have since they first met.”
More members of the team trickled in and conversation pinged around various other topics, but Mitch still looked sad - if Willy looked hard enough.
“Come on,” Auston pulled Willy through the hotel lobby.
“Where are we going?” Willy asked, probably should have asked before Auston pulled him out of his room but there wasn’t time.
“We’re meeting Connor before he goes to meet up with Mitch.”
“Oh. Why?”
“Because Connor may be the only person who can talk any sense into Mitch.”
“What?”
“He’s not listening to me so I have to pull out the biggest gun in our arsenal.”
Willy only had time to shrug before he was shoved into the Uber.
The ride only lasted about ten minutes and they honestly probably could have walked it but Auston was lazy off the ice and Willy had gotten used to it.
McDavid was sitting in the back of the coffee shop when they got there, focused on his phone and barely even looked up at them when they sat down across from him once they got their drinks.
“How’s Mitchy?” Auston asked, a small smirk on his face.
“He’s trying to figure out what I have planned for us tonight,” Connor replied, a fond look on his face and Willy almost rolled his eyes - God, he was worse about Mitch than Auston.
“Aren’t you doing a movie night?”
“I’m taking him to dinner before,” Connor replied.
“Anywhere in particular?”
“There’s a new diner that opened recently,” Connor set his phone, “I haven’t been, but they’re supposed to have those monster milkshakes and I know Mitch will be all over that.”
“He’s been wanting to go the place like that in Toronto with the boyfriend,” Auston nodded, “David’s been too busy blowing him off for them to go.”
“Auston -”
“Connor.”
“No one has ever been able to tell Mitch what to do.”
“But you’ve come the closest.”
“I’m not tell Mitch to break up with David.”
“Connor -”
“No. Mitch needs to make his own mistakes.”
“I know that but -”
“But nothing. When he decides to break-up with David, it’ll be because he decided to.”
“So you’re just gonna let him keep getting hurt over and over again?”
“Auston,” Connor sighed, “if I could protect him from ever getting hurt, I would. But… sometimes the most we can do is be there for him.”
“But -”
“Trust me,” Connor cut off Willy’s argument, “I’ve known Mitch for a long time. Telling him to do anything will just cause him to double down.”
“If -”
“Look, I’m going to talk to him about it tonight,” Connor fixed them both with a look, “but I won’t be telling him to do anything. I want him to be happy more than anybody. I want him to be with someone who actually deserves him. I know that David isn’t that person but nothing good will come from me telling him that.”
Auston and Willy shared a look and Connor glanced at his watch, “I have to go pick Mitch up.”
He started walking away and then paused and turned around, “Mitch is stronger than you give him credit for.”
“What do you think of David?” Mitch asked, taking a bite of one of the monster cookies on the top of his cookie dough shake.
“I haven’t met him,” Connor replied, stealing a spoonful of the shake. He was supposed to meet him the last time the Oilers were in Toronto but David had canceled because he had wanted to go to a party with his friends. Connor instead spent the night cuddling Mitch and eating pizza from the truly awful place that Mitch and Dylan insisted was good. Conner knew better than to argue with Mitch, especially when he had Dylan on his side.
“But what do you think about what I’ve told you about him?”
“Mitch.”
“Connor.”
“You want my honest opinion?”
“Always.”
“You could do a lot better. He… from what you have told me about him, he doesn’t deserve you.”
“Auston thinks I should break up with him. So does Willy. Zach and Freddy won’t say they think that, but they do. And -”
“I’m not going to tell you to break up with him.”
“What if I told you that wherever I go out with him and his friends, he ignores me? Usually makes me shove into the backseat? That he flirts with other people in front of me all the time?”
“I would say that you deserve someone who treats you like you mean the world to them. Not like you’re a second thought.”
“What should I do?”
“Mitch -”
“If you were me, what would you do?”
“I would break up with him,” Connor sighed, “but just because that’s what I would do -”
“I asked you for advice,” Mitch replied, “it’s not you telling me what to do.”
“I want you to do what would make you happiest. Whether it’s breaking up with David or staying with him.”
“I… I think I’m going to break up with him,” Mitch dipped one of his fries into his shake, “I just… he’s blown me off more often than not.”
“If that’s what you want to do.”
“Also…. I think I was… trying to use him as a replacement for someone.”
“Auston?”
Mitch’s eyes flicked over to Connor and noticed his expression had turned slightly guarded, like he was bracing himself for Mitch’s answer.
“No,” Mitch replied and Connor relaxed.
“Who?”
Connor tried to appear casual with his question, stealing a fry from Mitch’s plate.
“I think you know.”
And Connor did know. They had come close to being something so many times throughout the years they had known each other. But they backed away for varying reasons. The last time they had backed away, Mitch had said ‘if two people are meant for each other, they’ll find their way back to each other’.
“Let me know what you decide?”
“What will you do about it?”
Mitch gave him a calculating look and Connor smiled softly and said, “Something I should have done a long time ago.”
“I’ll let you know,” Mitch smiled, breaking off a chunk of cookie and handing it over to Connor.
Connor took it with a laugh.
The night was spent cuddled up on his couch once they finished dinner, Mitch starting off curled into his side and ending up sprawled over his chest. And Connor never wanted it to end.
But morning came around and he had to drive Mitch back to the hotel.
“I’ll call you,” Mitch promised.
“I’ll be waiting,” Connor replied.
Mitch shot him one last grin before he slipped out of the car.
“I’d wait forever for you,” Connor whispered once the door was shut, waiting until Mitch had disappeared into the hotel to pull away from the curb.
After the game that night, a barely squeaked out win, he stepped out of the locker room, Auston was waiting for him.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to tell Mitch to break up with David,” Auston crossed his arms.
“I didn’t tell him to,” Connor replied.
“What did you say to him? Because yesterday he was content to let David walk all over him.”
“He wasn’t content. He just needed to talk it over with someone who hadn’t loudly and frequently tried to tell him what he should do,” Connor responded, “And… he asked me what I would do. And I told him. The rest is up to him.”
“He broke up with David right before getting on the bus,” Auston replied.
Connor was prevented from facing the full shock by Mitch coming around the corner and launching himself at him.
“Good game, Mouse,” Connor whispered, wrapping his arms around him tightly.
“I’ll call you when I get home,” Mitch replied, “I have something to tell you.”
“Auston spilled the beans already,” Connor laughed.
“I’ll call you,” Mitch replied, pulling away, “I… I don’t want to jump right into something right away.”
“You really think there will be something to jump into?”
“If you want there to be?”
“I’ll be there waiting. All in if you want me to be.”
Mitch smiled and kissed his cheek, pulling away when Auston mentioned they had five minutes to be on the bus.
And Connor stood there, watching Mitch leave until Leon bumped him.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” Connor grinned, “Pretty great actually.”
Mitch stayed true to his word. He called Connor a week later, the night he arrived back in Toronto.
And it was another week until they saw each other again in person.
Connor headed to Mitch’s place straight from the hotel.
Mitch lit up at the sight of him, wrapping his arms around Connor’s neck and kissing him.
“We’re really doing this?” Mitch breathed, resting his forehead against Connor’s.
“If you want us to be,” Connor replied, wrapping his arms around Mitch’s waist.
“Connor, I’ve wanted that for six years.”
Connor kissed him again and Mitch pulled them both into the house.
Pulling back he murmured, “I’m sorry I made you wait so long.”
“It’s on both of us,” Mitch replied, “We both made mistakes. The important thing is that we’re here now. Right?”
“Right.”
“We’ve got a lot of time to make up for,” Mitch wiggled his eyebrows and smirked.
“But first, go get changed. I’m taking you out for dinner.”
“Davo, you’ve already woo’ed me.”
“You deserve to woo’ed everyday.”
Mitch whimpered and kissed him one more time before backing up and heading to his room to change.
Connor would spend every day the he could continuing to woo Mitch.
Because that’s what Mitch deserved.