All Chapters of Hearts on Ice: Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

The next morning started slow. Coach dropped an announcement on the group chat and all the players made their way to the bus.Nikola and Elias sat close to the window while Lukas and Viktor sat slightly far apart. Coach noticed but didn't care even one bit. He stretched out his hands and everyone seemed to pay rapt attention.“We're playing with maniacs today…” his eyes hopped from face to face before he continued, “it's just training… but people will be eliminated.”Nikola wanted to speak but Coach cut him short.“Not teams. Players.” And they all looked concerned. “No one's going to be on the bench. You're all playing.”Each player looked themselves in the eye. They hadn't gotten to the training center but they were already scared.Coach's voice tore through the silence, smashing through their negative thoughts immediately.“Don't panic. They're human”And as soon as they got there, Coach was forced to eat back his words. These players weren't human, they were animals. Fast, agile a

Nobody talked much after that. The rink slowly emptied and players disappeared one by one. Bags were lifted, skates were carried away and voices gradually faded until only a few teams remained.Coach was speaking to another trainer about something regarding Lukas while Nikola sat on the bench looking emotionally damaged and Joshua still seemed haunted by the scoreboard but Lukas wasn't listening to any of it.Because when he thought he forgot, he saw him again. The boy.The one who had knocked into Viktor, then smiled brightly and apologized like it was nothing. To his boyfriend.He was across the rink now, taking off his gloves. Someone beside him said something and he laughed… that same stupid laugh and Lukas frowned.He remembered Viktor falling, remembered the sharp sound he made and remembered how his entire body had stiffened before he raised him up.Then, the boy looked up and their eyes met. Neither looked away and the noise around them suddenly felt very far. The boy blinked

Lukas still hadn't moved.He stood there staring at the ice while his chest rose and fell too quickly. His gloves suddenly felt too tight and his stick felt heavy and around him, practice continued.Somebody scored, somebody laughed and somebody shouted instructions but all of it sounded far away.Because truly, If this was now his best, he was disappointed.The words replayed once in his head, then again, then again.BANG.A puck hit the boards beside him and Lukas blinked. Then another sound came—a whistle.Long, sharp and everything stopped. Everyone looked up and Coach stood near the bench with both hands in his pockets."Enough." Nobody moved, so the Coach looked directly at Lukas."Get over here." Lukas obeyed immediately and the others followed. Nobody looked particularly alive. Nikola looked confused, Joshua looked stressed and Sam looked tired but Viktor looked worried.Coach looked at all of them one by one, then he spat."What the hell am I watching?" Nobody answered and Co

When they got to the apartment it was strangely quiet. It wasn't caused by sadness exactly… just exhaustion.Bags were abandoned near the door, helmets sat on the floor and somebody's gloves had somehow ended up on the kitchen counter. Nobody cared enough to move them and too many people were in Lukas' apartment. Nikola was lying face-down on the couch. He hadn't even gone to his room to change, he hadn't moved.He looked dead.Joshua dropped onto the floor beside him while Sam disappeared into his room without saying a word. Elias took off his shoes and sighed like he had aged fifteen years.Lukas sat down heavily while Viktor settled beside him tired, but nobody talked.They had made the roster and nobody looked happy because tomorrow still existed, because tomorrow meant more eliminations. Again.PING.But nobody bothered to move.PING.Still nothing, then Coach called Lukas and stretched lazily to answer it.“Hell–” Coach screamed and Lukas pulled his phone away from his ear.“Re

The second practice somehow went worse. Not hockey-wise… socially. Because apparently none of the three spoke the same language.One of the new players kept speaking rapidly and nobody understood him, another looked equally confused, simply nodding at things that absolutely did not require nodding.Coach looked tired already."What did he say?" Nobody knew and the player repeated himself. But he just stood in silence. Coach looked around."So that was why y'all played trash.” Coach smacked his head. “Can anybody understand him?" Nobody spoke at first, then quietly."I can." Everybody turned and Aiden raised his hand slightly. Like he was shy. Coach paused."You can?" Coach asked."A little.""A little what?""The language."Coach blinked."What?" Aiden shrugged like it was normal."I know some." Then he turned and spoke to the player. The player lit up immediately and started talking. Aiden nodded, then looked back."He says he thought practice started in twenty minutes… so he wasn't p