*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP* 
Leo’s hand smashes the alarm clock button as a he rolls over and checks the time 
“8:30” *ugh….* His eyes close for a second before they open again, knowing he can’t go back to sleep because if he does he won’t get back up. He gets out of bed and changes from his night clothes into shorts and a baggy but light t-shirt. “another fucking day” he mumbles to himself before ambling out of his small bedroom into his apartment. It’s quiet there, he’s been living alone for a little bit now but it’s still slightly uncanny to wake up remembering your parents aren’t in the house with you. A small meow is heard as his cat Scumrat sits at an empty food bowl. “I know I know. I’m coming.” 
Leo opens his phone and checks the group chat. 
‘Gym 9:30?’ He texts into it, they don’t always workout together but sometimes it’s nice to have the company around when you do. The offseason can get lonely sometimes. 

"We're busy today” the first text comes through from Froya Solberg, speaking for her twin Sonja as well.  
“Meeting.” Is all the response he gets from Juan Tymer. ‘What kind of meeting does this man have?’ He thinks to himself.
“I’m not in town :(“ From Abdi Smokes.

He grabs the cat food from the cupboard and fills Scumrats bowl, and the cat instantly starts eating. “Fat fuck” he says chuckling to himself. He waits for the last response from Celeste Desjardins but doesn’t get it. After waiting a little bit Leo checked the clock and started packing his gym bag, going to be a solo day. It happens sometimes, it doesn’t matter too much. After packing he gets in his car and drives to the gym. As he’s walking into the gym a familiar face is standing at the door, 
“You’re 5 minutes late.” Celeste quips at him 
“You no respond.”
“You expect me not to be here?” They say with a smug grin on their face. “Let’s go thorn” 
“I still hate that nickname.”
“I know. That’s why I use it.” 

The gym session goes well. As well as leg day can really. As they’re walking out Celly stops 
“Soooo… your birthday?”
“Yes. Still party.” 
“We really have to go to Montreal for it?”
“Valters has huge house, will be great.”
“I know but it’s Montreal.” Celly jokes 
“Yeah yeah.” Leo laughs as they keep walking. Once they reach their cars, Celly shouts out one more thing 
“WERE GOING TO DENNY'S BEFORE!” 

A week passes, the same routine everyday it feels like. Wake up, gym, eat. The middle of the day is sometimes more interesting. A golf trip or autograph signing for Citadelles fans makes that part go quickly, but after that he has to go back to his place and waste the time before he goes back to sleep just to wake up and do it again. Today is different though, Leo is turning 21, he lives in Canada so it doesn’t really matter but it means once he goes to Chicago he can drink now. A knock on the door wakes him up before his alarm even goes off, 8:17. “Who the fuck…” He says under his breath as he quickly changes and goes to the door. He opens it and the twins Froya and Sonja are standing there “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” They both exclaim before taking their turns giving Leo a hug. 
“So early.” 
“It’s a special day!” Sonja replies before walking in past Leo, “you need to clean up a bit honestly.” She says as she pokes around the apartment. Leo just turns to Froya who has a slightly embarrassed face but mostly finds her twin’s comments funny. 
“I was planning on cleaning before-“
“I'M HERE TOO!” Celeste shouts as they enter the apartment 
“Why are you all- I  said 10!” 
“Boringgg” Celly answers. 
Abdi would show up around 9:45, and Jaun at exactly 10. 

 “They’re here early.” Juan says as he enters.
“I know.” Leo replies 
“Happy birthday brother.” The two of them hug and they get their small talk for the day in. 
Eventually after passing the time together, the 6 of them leave to go get lunch. Where else but Dennys. The 6 of them walk in and are almost instantly seated, a slight celebrity status with them whenever they’re in Quebec, especially at the Dennys.
“Sooo. Are we doing it?” Froya asks the table 
“What?” Leo asks. He thinks for a second. “Oh no. Do not”
“Too late!” 
Leo looks over horrified as a line of servers walk over to them. He sighs in disbelief.
The happy birthday song starts and he sits there awkwardly as the other 5 join the servers in singing him happy birthday. A Dennys Grand Slam is placed in front of him. 
“You planned this ahead? We just sat down” Leo asks 
The whole table looks guilty, they all knew. “At least I’m not paying.” He says with a smile. 
The rest of the table gets their orders and food. They spend a while there, just talking about their lives and catching up. It’s not easy to talk to people for this long for Leo, but it is easy with them. 
Once they’re done they pay, leave their tip, and get ready to leave. 
“We’re off to Montreal now.” Abdi says sarcastically.
“Why do you guys hate Montreal so much?” 
Abdi, Juan, Sonja, Froya, and Celly all just look at each other before Celly responds.
“Patriotes suck.” “Fair enough.” 

They rented a van for this occasion so they could take one vehicle to Montreal. Juan hopped in the drivers seat and Leo into the passenger. Froya and Sonja filed into the back seats while Abdi and Celly took the middle ones. The drive to Montreal was fun, music blaring and them all singing along. After the nearly 3 hour drive, they pull into the driveway of the Denisova household. 
“Damn this kind of a nice house” Abdi remarks.
“Yeah I don’t know where he gets the money.” Leo answers.
They get out of the van and walk up to the front door, before they can knock a woman opens the door. 
“Leo! Happy birthday!” She says giving Leo a hug, he hugs back and feels a slight bump in her stomach.
“No way.” He says 
“Valters didn’t tell you?”
“No??” He answers confused. 
Valters walks up behind his wife “oh yeah, Marie’s pregnant. Happy birthday!” Leo just stands shocked for a second before giving Valters a hug as well.
“I’m actually heading out.” Marie says, grabbing a bag sitting next to the door. “Not to leave your party right away but I’m going to my parents.” 
“I’ll see you around I guess.”
“Bye!” 

Marie walks out and eventually drives away, as Valters walks them into the house. The five of Leo’s friends look around admiring the house before Celly speaks up
“Where’d you get the money?” “Celly…” Leo says, slightly embarrassed. 
Valters chuckles “the agent business pays well, plus the wife brings in a lot from her consulting firm. She’d have to explain it. I don’t get it even after the 100 times she’s explained. Something about the blockchain?” Valters shrugs as he leads them into a large room with a bar. “Important question. What’re you guys drinking? You guys get the good stuff before everyone else shows up.”
“Everyone else?” Leo asks 
Froya walks up beside him, “oh yeah, we invited a bunch of people.” She smirks.
“Great.” 
Valters is already in progress making a Long Island Iced Tea, he knows Leo has gotten into them ever since moving to Quebec. “You five?” 
“You got Riga?” Juan asks. “What kind of question is that, I have like 20 bottles, take one.” 
Juan smiles and walks behind the bar grabbing a black bottle of Riga Black Balsam. Valters finishes up the Long Island and hands it to Leo. “You’re either making the next one yourself or going to your regular vodka mix.” 
Leo laughs at that and takes a sip from the drink. 
“Can I just any fruity cocktail? Anything you have that’s easy to make is okay” Froya asks. 
“Of course.” Valters replies.
 Sonja walks up next and just gets a bottle of wine to herself. 
“Abdi?” 
“Just tequila and lime please.” She says. Valters nods before looking at Celly. “Knowing you-“ he says chuckling, “it’s gonna be something crazy.” 
Celeste laughs before shaking their head. “Nope, you got Jager?” 
Valters grabs the bottle “straight Jager?” 
Celeste then pulls up a bag that no one saw them carry in “nope.” Everyone looks confused as they unzip it and pulls out a can of Moxie. “I’ll mix it myself!” 
“Americans.” Valters says laughing 
“Mainers.” Juan says which gets a laugh from everyone else. 

The six of them start drinking while Valters joins them, not drinking too much. Eventually as the night passes, more and more people show up to the party and it really starts to get going. Someone starts playing music and the energy shoots up after that. Leo is bombarded with happy birthdays and hugs from so many people he didn’t know were going to be there. Troy McClure makes an appearance and Leo gives him some slight friendly banter about Czechia leaving UCORCAL. A lot of Quebec City players and alumni show up and catch up on what their personal endeavors have been during the offseason. Nevek Kove arrives and gives Leo another hug. “I can’t stay long, but I was in the area and thought I’d say hi I guess.” Nevek says. 
“So I’m an afterthought?” Leo says teasing. 
“Oh yeah. Last on the list.” Nevek teases back. 
In the heat of the party Leo looks over and sees someone just kind of standing in the corner, they didn’t say hi to him. Or to anybody else really, it’s Viktor Hargreeves. Leo looks away for a second before turning back and Vik was gone. Like a ghost.
Leo sees other faces from around the J. Simo makes an appearance for a little while and so does Oranje Kohne. A lot of his UCORCAL teammates are there for a little bit and some others he’s just bonded with. 
Rand Al’Thor makes a small appearance, gives Leo a happy birthday, and then a playful(Maybe?) “Fuck you” to Valters before leaving. Sung is there, Demir Bellona shows up, almost everyone Leo is even somewhat friends with is there for a little while. 
After several hours the party winds down, mostly everyone is gone, and the six original guests are very drunk. Leo finds Valters and they sit down to have a little chat 

“You’re gonna be a dad.”
“Yeah I know. It’s crazy to think about.” Valters says smiling.
“You excited?”
“Of course I am. It’s a crazy feeling. I’m excited nervous, I’m like… all of the emotions about it, except mad or sad not those ones” 
They laugh.
“Do you want kids?” Valters asks seriously. “I know you’re still young but I knew I wanted one when I was your age.”
“I… I don’t know. Maybe?” 
“Once you meet the right person you’ll know.” 
Leo takes a sip of his drink. “If.” 
“Oh come on man, you’re a good looking kid. It’s bound to happen.”
“Maybe…” he replies 
“You gotta have someone right?” 
Leo hesitates before shaking his head and taking another sip.
“Really? I mean come on.” 
“I’m focused on hockey.” 
Valters gives him a ‘are you serious right now’ look. “I mean from what little I’ve seen with you guys, I can tell how you look-“
“Shut the fuck up.” Leo says in Latvian extremely seriously. He takes a longer drink. 
“Leo, you have to be honest sometimes. Even if it’s for nothing it’s better than doing nothing.”
“It’s different.” He says 
“Just, let yourself be happy. Okay?”
Leo doesn’t say anything. 
Juan stumbles over “LEO!” He shouts “I heard. You can play the guitar.”
Valters smirks. 
“Show us.” 
“There’s no guitar here so even if I-“
Valters smiles again.
“Fuck.” 
“I’m going to go to bed. You six keep drinking, don’t die.” Valters said, patting him on the shoulder before heading up the stairs. Leo walks into the living room and there’s a guitar resting on a chair. The four others are all very drunk and waiting for Leo to play them a song. 
“Ok ok. I don’t know many popular song, I listen to smaller stuff so I learn smaller songs.”
The five of them don’t care. 
“Okay okay sure.”

Leo plays them a song called Satellite by Dan Warren, his singing voice isn’t the greatest but it’s not bad either. Eventually the song is done and they all sit in a circle together and talk about drunk people stuff. 
“Sooo… how long did it take for you to tell us apart?” Froya asks Leo. 
“Maybe a week or two? I just kinda learn who who.” 
“How so?”
“I don’t know, I just can tell. I don’t know how to describe it.” 
Abdi doesn’t seem to be in the conversation too well, she turns out to be the first one to tap out for the night as she gets up and heads to one of the guest rooms. The other five keep drinking. Froya seeming the most drunk out of all them left. Leo looks over and sees Celeste’s bag is empty. 
“Holy shit Celly. There were like 20 cans in there.”
“Yuppppppp…..” they reply. 
“I think… I need to sleep.” Froya says standing up before falling down onto the floor. Leo and Juan look at each other in agreement as Leo goes to pick her up and bring her into a spare bedroom and tuck her in for the night. 
“Make sure she’s on her side.” Juan says
“Yeah I know.”
They walk back into the living room and Celeste seems to have found their way into a bedroom or something, who knows where they ended up. Juan walks away to use the restroom.
“So. What were you and V talking about?” Sonja asks.
“Latvian stuff.” 
“Oh come on.” She prys 
Leo looks slightly embarrassed but doesn’t answer. 
Juan makes his way back before picking up his bottle and drinking from it again. The three chat for what seems like 10 minutes but 2 hours pass. Sonja eventually reaches her limits. The three walk to the bedroom where Froya is already fast asleep and Sonja jumps onto the bed with her.
“It would be funny if I woke her up.”
“Don’t do that.” Leo says, laughing quietly. “She needs her rest.” 
“Finee.” Sonja says as she lays down as well. Leo and Juan walk back out. 
“We only have a year left together.” Leo says.
“We still got IIHF after.” 
“No, I meant all of us. It’s crazy. I don’t want to lose them, you know?”
“Yeah. It’ll be hard.”
“At least we can all see each other on days off I guess.”
Juan nods. “We probably should sleep too.” Leo thinks. “We’re out of bedrooms. You can sleep on the couch. I’m used to floors when I’m drunk.” 
“You sure?”
“Positive.” 

Juan falls asleep on the couch as Leo lays on the floor, staring at the ceiling for who knows how long just thinking about the night. Eventually he drifts off to sleep. He’s eventually woken up by the smell of cooking in the kitchen. He gets up and almost falls over, still slightly drunk from the night before. Marie is back and is cooking breakfast for everyone left. “You have a good party?”
“Yeah.” He replies and sees Juan already drinking coffee, looking like he didn’t even drink anything the previous night. Envtually Abdi gets up.
“You good?” Juan asks
“Stellar.” 
Celly is the next to rise as they enter the kitchen. “Marie, you're too kind.” Marie smiles at them. 
Sonja and Froya are the last to join, Froya barely able to stand. Leo looks concernedly as they enter. 
“Is she?”
“She’ll survive.” Sonja says. “I’ve seen worse. Maybe not worse but similar.” 
Valters make his way down as well and they all sit at the table and eat together. Not much talking goes on as most of the table is too hungover to do much talking. Eventually they get done eating and pass some extra time with each other. When the clock hits 11am the six Citadelles get up and get ready to leave. 
“Thank you again Valters.”
“Anytime. You’re a great kid.”
“Thanks. You’re a great friend.” 
The two hug again and Leo joins the rest in the van as they head back to Quebec City.

At least now we know which twin handles alcohol better Joking aside, it was a fun read. Loved it.

" Maybe someones er... they don't like me but... because i'm too good, i don't know why. "