I DO NOT OWN ANYONE IN THIS STORY, THEY ARE ALL COPYRIGHTED TO THEMSELVES, THE BUFFALO SABRES ARE COPYRIGHTED TO THE GM JOE -forgot his last name- MY BETA READER IS KAGE2398, CHECK OUT HER STUFF PLEASE.

LOVE,

MILLERXGOOSE SMUT IS SMEXY

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It was a couple of weeks before the NHL season was to start and everyone was anxious to see how well their teams would perform. This anticipation had long ago settled in the city of Buffalo, Home of the Buffalo Sabres.

In the last season they didn't even make the playoffs, so all of their fans had high expectations for them this year. This made the players all the more determined to win; even the event of losing didn't upset them as much as letting their fans down. Although they had lost in the preseason games more than they won, their fans still stuck by them resolutely. The team couldn't have been more grateful for their support.

The practices weren't all that great what with Gaustad out for surgery, caused by his and Miller's short stay in Europe in which the poor man tore something in his thumb. "This is going to be so different with Paul out," remarked a redhead, well his hair was more reddish brown then red in a low voice as they did their laps around the rink. He was dressed in the gear of a forward, fitting his lean and muscled body. As the heights of the players on the team varied, he would count himself of average height.

"Cheer up, Vanek, we'll be just fine." This time, it was a brown-haired man who glanced at his teammate with a crooked smile. Instead of being dressed in the gear of forwards and defensemen, he wore his bulky shoulder pads and leg padding like armor. His gloves further detailed his front as a goalie. Underneath the heavy padding, he was thin and lanky, but as he was one of the tallest goaltenders in the league, his height definitely made up for his lack of muscles.

"That's easy for you to say, Miller!" replied Vanek, and playfully punched the cocky Miller. "Come on now. We don't want to set a bad example for our new teammates!" interrupted another brown-haired man, wearing the same gear as Vanek. Though he was a little shorter than the redhead, he was definitely a force to be reckoned with both on and off the ice.

"Kaleta's right, let's get on with this," Miller said, grinning good-naturedly. Deep down, though, he felt bad that his friendship with Vanek wasn't as strong as it was before his trip to Europe. Upon his return, things simply weren't the same between them. It was a subtle difference, though. Miller suspected none but himself could tell Vanek was acting strangely.

The redhead in question shrugged and went off to talk to Pominville. "What's wrong with Vanek?" Kaleta asked, staring intently at Miller, who shrugged uncomfortably and skated ahead to talk to Lalime.

Lalime frowned at the younger goaltender as he approached. "What am I doing wrong this time?" he asked right as Miller stopped. Taken aback, he blinked at Lalime owlishly. "Who said I was going to criticize you?" Miller asked, now skating next to him.

"You usually do," Lalime muttered. Miller brushed the comment aside and tried to think of something to say. "Can't we just talk? You know, like friends?" asked Miller, casually, to no response. Nostrils flaring, Miller headed over to Kaleta and their new captain, Rivet.

Nodding his head to Rivet, he softly murmured something to Kaleta before Ruff called everyone over. "What was that about?" Rivet asked the enforcer.

"Oh, nothing."

-x-x-x-x-x-Scene Break-x-x-x-x-x-

"Well, that was a good practice. I think we're ready to beat the Habs!" exclaimed Ruff, proudly glancing around at his players. "Who's going to be starting in net?" a voice asked. Miller turned to look at Macarthur.

"Miller will start in net for the first game."

As the players headed to the locker room, conversation once again settled around when Gaustad would be back in play. Miller knew that Paul wouldn't be back until well after their first game, and it saddened him to see his best friend hurt so badly.

He managed to hide it well, the electric feelings between him and Paul. As they were both secretive people, their feelings for each other went undiscovered for the longest time. As time went on, however, Miller found it hard [i]not[/i] to notice the way Paul was acting around him- in the locker room, on the ice, even when they just hung out around town when they had nothing better to do. It was subtle, yes, but apparent.

During those moments, Miller asked himself what was going on though, really, he should have already known. He had friends like that when he was in high school. It was just that Miller never expected Paul to be like them.

Miller's older cousin Kevin would always tell him to 'expect the unexpected.' But even Kevin would never have been prepared for this! With a barely audible sigh, he grabbed his coat after shedding his hockey gear and slowly headed out toward his car. As he stepped out, he overheard his teammates talking about him and told himself to keep walking. He had promised to visit Paul to tell him how the team was handling his absence, amongst other things.

The guy seemed to worry a lot about how the team would perform without him backing them. He worried about everyone; it was a refreshing quality, Miller easily admitted. He especially loved how Paul seemed to worry about him the most.

In the beginning, he couldn't even believe it was true; in his mind, the entire thing was a trick set up by his teammates. The "why" was hard to explain. He played along for a bit and when he finally got sick of it, he told Paul to cut the act. Miller had never regretted his actions as much. Paul had looked so hurt and betrayed… feelings like that couldn't be false. From then on, Miller never doubted that Paul was gay.

The goaltender stopped talking to Paul for a short time after that. He was angry at himself for feeling so guilty over saying something that seemed right at the time. His puzzled emotions were what really held him back, though: he was surely not gay and falling for his close friend. But after steadily ignoring Paul for weeks and noticing how badly it affected the poor guy, he could have kicked himself for being so stupid. After a long talk, Miller and Paul decided to start a relationship together.

"Ry?" called someone from behind him, startling him from his musing. He glanced casually over his shoulder. His brown eyes held a strange gleam in them that made Miller uncomfortable. "What's up, Pat?" Miller asked, digging in his pocket for his keys. "You going to see Paul?" Kaleta questioned, ignoring the familiar greeting.

Miller unlocked his car door before facing Kaleta. "Why do you care?" he asked tensely with a defensive glare. "Just wondering is all," Kaleta replied, shrugging his shoulders with a loose grin and walking away without another word.

-x-x-x-x-x-Scene Break-x-x-x-x-x-

The run in with Kaleta made Miller nervous, to say the least. The way he spoke implied he knew something he probably shouldn't have known, and it got under Miller's skin more than he cared to admit. He thought of Paul. What if Kaleta knew of their relationship somehow? Dread crept through his veins. It was his personal business. They had no right to know.

He finally opened his car door and tossed his bag carelessly over to the passenger seat. The strap caught on the shift. He muttered a curse under his breath and slowly climbed in, sore from the continuous practices his team had been holding. He didn't mind the almost daily practices, but even Miller had to admit it was starting to get very tiring.

While the burn in his muscles made him feel a little accomplished, Miller always felt so guilty when he would fall asleep at Paul's bedside. The damn man never had the heart to wake him up! And he liked spending time with Paul… to have his time with his lover cut in half by such a mundane thing as sleep was somewhat of an insult. Paul had also expressed his concern about Miller falling asleep at the wheel on his way home from the hospital after visiting hours were over. It had never happened before, but Miller decided to be extra careful for Paul's sake.

Yawning, he started the car and let out a low, happy sigh.

It was time to go home.