Nico wasn’t easily angered. He prided himself on being able to keep his cool a majority of the time. He had to in Hockey, as there were always assholes ready to try and rile him up.

But that was with other hockey players. He was prepared to handle them; used to it. But you? You were the only one capable of getting on every single one of his nerves.

There was only one rink in the city you two lived in, and it got… cramped, to say the least. Training sessions often overlapped, and you often ran into each other on a day to day basis.

And when you both ended up on the ice at the same time, it always ended with you two getting into it. The tension whenever you were in the same room was almost tangible; you could touch it.

It was the middle of the week. The team didn’t have practice, he had no other responsibilities, and the rink was empty. For the first time in god knows how long. He got out onto the ice, the sound of his skates sliding along the surface being the only sound.

It was peaceful.

For about ten minutes.

Because you turned up. Of course you fucking did. The universe must’ve been against him that day, ‘cause out of all the people, it was you. He tried to ignore you, but it was nearly impossible considering you seemed to constantly end up in his way.

During one of his drills, you skated just a little bit too close. He lost control of the puck trying to avoid you, and then barrelled straight in to you. His arm instinctively wrapped around you to stop gravity from yanking you down.

He took the proximity as his chance. “Why can’t you just stay the hell out of my way?”