Chapter Text
Zero and Jude have welcomed the passing of time.
Six months ago, Zero proclaimed his love for Jude by kissing him courtside in front of 25,000 screaming Devils fans in the aftermath of their Championship win.
Now? They are no longer the Kings of L.A. or its most high profile power couple.
Surprisingly, Zero is OK with their new status.
TMZ, Just Jared and the other gossip rags along with the sports networks have left them alone (for now), too busy waiting in the wings for the next Devils’ scandal to rise up from the ashes.
While Zero loves basking in the spotlight he is over all the scrutiny surrounding their relationship as he and Jude try to adjust to normal everyday life – and whatever normal is for them has yet to be determined.
It’s the middle of October, with the NBA season home opener next week at the Devils Arena, followed by a long run of scheduled away games over the next two weeks that includes a trip to Boston to play their arch rivals the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Pete has been relentless with the brutal practice regimen as the pressure is building to repeat another Championship. Zero’s mind has been focused on nothing but training, practice and being the league’s MVP this season.
Jude is just as busy in his EVP role with constant meetings, securing sponsors, babysitting Lionel and everything else that relates to the Devils everyday operations. His work load has taken on new heights of exhaustion and seemingly working every day that ends in a ‘y’. With their busy schedules Jude and Zero look forward to winding down in the late evening with five-star take out followed by working it off in the bedroom.
As Zero puts it to Jude with a wink while flashing his signature grin, “The way I see it, it’s an extra workout with multiple benefits for both of us.”
Jude chuckles at that ridiculous comment but goes along with it because he is having just as much fun. Who is Jude to refuse Zero’s hard, muscular body pushing him onto the bathroom tiles, kissing him all over his body during a hot, steamy shower or crawling on top of him in bed for a night of passion filled with multiple orgasms. Jude never thought sex could be this amazing until Zero rocked his world.
It’s early Monday morning as Jude enters the kitchen to fill up his travel mug with coffee before heading out to the arena. Jude is sore (in a good way) and bleary eyed from not getting much sleep due to a long night of passionate sex in which Zero wanted to explore beyond the bedroom. He vividly remembers Zero unbuckling his belt to drop his pants to his ankles then bending him over the kitchen island – Jude’s arms stretched out over the cool, granite countertop moaning in ecstasy as Zero lapped at his hole before slowly sliding into him. The one casualty being the fruit bowl Jude knocked off the countertop in the throes of passion shattering glass everywhere. He can still see little particles of glass that he missed during the clean-up glistening on the floor as he smiles to himself at the memory.
Jude never realized how flexible he could be until Zero became more creative in utilizing stationary objects beyond the bedroom in their energetic love-making giving way to Jude’s new appreciation for bathroom countertops, the back of the couch and Zero’s weight bench. Jude wonders what Zero has in store for them next and how much more he can handle.
Jude gets through the brutal morning drive commute with its usual gridlock making him late once again getting to the arena. He’s turning the key to his office door when he hears Lionel calling out to him from her office further down the hallway.
‘Shit,’ he thinks.
Jude goes to see her, taking a seat in a plush chair opposite her spotless desk looking around at the new décor. After ousting Oscar and becoming Devils team owner, Lionel did a major Hollywood style renovation and immediately disposed of anything Oscar related. This included his large, intimidating mahogany desk and all the overbearing dark, medieval like furniture.
As predicted Lionel lays out the never ending laundry list of everything she needs Jude to get done prior to the Devils’ season home opener next week. With the caveat she will be right by his side to help him in every way possible.
‘Sure she will,’ Jude thinks as a migraine starts to settle in his head.
Lionel’s already downed two Bloody Mary’s by the time the meeting’s over and Jude’s travel mug of coffee is long gone. He is actually thinking of joining Lionel as she makes another Bloody Mary but reluctantly decides against it knowing he needs to be sharp for his upcoming vendor meeting. After two more long meetings with potential sponsors it is one-thirty and Jude is mentally drained and hungry. He heads out to the Playground to grab a bite to eat and clear his head. While sitting discreetly at a table in the back enjoying a Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt and one of his favorite IPA’s his phone rings - the caller ID reads… ‘Mom’.
Jude takes a quick swig of his IPA before he reluctantly answers.
“Hey Mom,” Jude tries to sound upbeat knowing full well he is in the dog house.
“Jude, have you forgotten I exist? We’ve gone from talking every day during the off season to a weekly call and periodic texts now that the NBA season is about to start.”
“I’m sorry. You know how crazy it gets this time of the year with the season home opener next week and my responsibilities as EVP.”
Jude can hear her dramatic sigh over the phone. “Yes, Jude,” she huffs out. “I do know how it is this time of year for you. Since Lionel took over the team, I never see you. I’m ready to call her and give her a piece of my mind for working you to the bone. But still, that’s no excuse not to call or even text your own mother to let me you’re still breathing.”
Jude rolls his eyes. He’s thankful his mother can’t see his facial expressions and wishing he had something stronger than an IPA in front of him. He knows she is right but doesn’t want to dig himself further into the crater he has already dug by making lame excuses for not calling or texting more regularly. He goes quiet waiting for her guilt trip to end so they can move on from this part of the conversation.
Surprisingly, she switches gears.
“Jude, have you spoken to Zero about Thanksgiving? I have yet to meet the love of my son’s life.”
Jude’s eyes widen at the thought of Zero meeting his mother.
He pauses; trying to come up with a good excuse knowing it’s futile but gives it his best shot.
“You see him all the time on television… isn’t that kind of like meeting him?”
After hearing what he’s just come up with Jude mentally kicks himself knowing it was a stupid thing to say.
Zero meeting his mother is long overdue. She has been relentless in asking Jude to bring him back to his childhood home in rural Anoka, Minnesota to meet her.
He knows how hard it was for Zero to admit they were in a relationship, and so far, all signs point to him not being quite ready to take things further. Meeting his mother and his entire family is the next big step in cementing their relationship. This goes beyond the glitz and glamor of what the rabid fans see when they are out in public trying to do normal couple things and on television walking the Red Carpet at events.
Jude has tried on more than one occasion to ease into the ‘my mom wants to meet you’ discussion but each time Zero finds a way to derail the conversation. Jude knows his routine. He starts off by pulling Jude closely into him, chest to chest, gazing intensely into his eyes, pressing his hand on the small of Jude’s back while kissing slowly up the side of his neck, then ghosting his tongue across Jude’s ear before kissing him passionately. Jude naturally gets lost in the kiss and the intoxicating sandalwood scent of Zero’s expensive cologne and the need to be closer. Next thing Jude knows they’re both desperately clawing at each other, shirts coming off, belt buckles coming undone and pants dropping to their ankles. Zero springs into action going down to his knees, teasing Jude with slow, tortuous licks along the side of his aching shaft, driving Jude crazy with lust before Zero takes his cock into his mouth. With the sensation of Zero’s mouth, and Jude pulling at the short strands of hair on Zero’s head moaning in ecstasy, the topic of meeting his mother has long been forgotten.
Since their kiss was broadcast on national television Jude knows it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened…the meeting of the two most important people in his life. The dam is starting to crack and about to burst. His mother is going to keep coming at him like a Pitbull and Zero is going to continue blocking the conversation about meeting her with sex. Tension creeps up Jude’s back, slowing to a halt with an all too familiar sensation. His neck stiffens as he loosens his tie, feeling like a human ping-pong ball bouncing between a rock and a hard place.
His migraine is slowly coming back as he snaps back into reality at the sound of his mother’s voice.
“Jude, I don’t count seeing Zero in games on television or his post-game interviews as a formal introduction. This would be the perfect time to have him meet me and our family. Remember, we host Thanksgiving and it would be nice to have you both here.”
He quickly takes another swig of his beer before responding and wished he had a scotch on the rocks instead.
“Mom, I haven’t brought up Thanksgiving to Zero. It’s…it’s complicated.”
“Jude, I don’t know how complicated it can be to ask your boyfriend to meet me and join our family for Thanksgiving. After kissing you in front of millions on national television, he doesn’t appear to be the shy type and obviously doesn’t care what others think. If you feel uncomfortable asking Zero this very simple question, give me his number and I’ll be happy to call him myself.”
The last thing Jude wants to do is to give his mother Zero’s personal cell number. She knows no boundaries and would be relentless in constantly reaching out to him as Jude knows from personal experience.
His mother has perfected giving Jude the ultimatum. If he didn’t do what she asked, she would force his hand, get emotional or put the full court press of guilt on him that always makes him cave.
Jude has to admit he’s learned a lot from his mother and has become just as good at this ultimatum tactic. He remembers how he forced Zero’s hand with his own ultimatum as he tried to side step him on his way out of his apartment to meet up with Danny at Ahsha’s party. How Zero stopped him from leaving, putting his strong hand on Jude’s chest, and unexpectedly pulling him into a kiss that led to the most amazing sex of his life. Jude shudders in amazement every time he thinks about that fateful turn of events that led to where they are today.
Jude sighs. “Mom, I’ll ask Zero tonight when he gets home from practice.”
“Now that’s my Jude,” she says pleasantly. “I’ll expect you both to be here Monday so I can have some quality time with you and hear all about your relationship. On Wednesday, we’ll start getting everything ready for a houseful the next day for Thanksgiving.”
Jude takes a deep breath, knowing he has no rebuttal. “Okay… we’ll be there sometime late Monday.”
Jude suddenly feels his stomach flip for accepting on Zero’s behalf. He knows this is not going to be an easy conversation with Zero’s aversion to meeting anyone’s parents. Jude feels like he is standing on the train tracks of a locomotive speeding towards him and powerless to jump out of the way. He has to ease Zero into this conversation that has been avoided for too long.
“I can’t wait to see you and finally meet Zero. Oh…and Jude, I understand Zero wanting to keep his real identity out of the public but please let him know that when it is just the three of us in our home I’m certainly not calling him Zero so let him know that I will be calling him Gideon.”
Once she saw their kiss on national television she was calling and texting Jude non-stop. When Jude called her back the following day she was happy for Jude he had found someone. Jude was relieved she didn’t disown him like Oscar did for being gay. She also insisted that ‘No mother would name their child Zero’ and asked about his real name. Jude figured there would be no harm in letting her know Zero’s birth name.
“Got it. I’ll be sure to let him know.”
“Love you, Jude.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
Jude hangs up, still staring at his phone and takes another deep breath. While he enjoys hanging out with his family on Thanksgiving, he is not sure how Zero is going to deal with the craziness of his family on his mother’s side. Jude’s mom is from a large Irish family and one of nine siblings. Every time they get together it reminds him of the movie, ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding,’ only with an Irish flare.
Jude smiles to himself, shaking his head at the thought of his families’ theatrics.
Having Zero meet his mother along with his entire family for Thanksgiving is going to be interesting to say the least. But Jude has a plan to make it the best Thanksgiving Zero has ever had.
+
At Zero’s coming out party, Jude inadvertently found out he has a younger sister named Laura. Jude was initially shocked, but not surprised Zero never mentioned her. Every time Jude peels back another layer of Zero’s past it confirms just how much of a survivor he is and Jude loves him even more… if that’s even possible.
If Jude wants to learn more about Laura he is going to have to go from EVP to detective and carefully drill Zero for more information. One evening over take out with ESPN on in the background, Jude subtly mentions Stuart, his Private Investigator to Zero. He has used him on occasion for Devils related business and believes he would be a good resource to help find Laura. Zero’s eyes flicker then go dim quietly staring off into the distance before dismissing the conversation and focusing back to the sports highlights on television.
Jude feels the pain in his eyes and is not going to give up that easily. He lets it go for now but needs to help Zero find Laura.
+
A few nights later, they are lying comfortably in bed both propped up against the headboard. Jude is scrolling through his phone red flagging work emails he needs to deal with tomorrow morning. Zero is posting more photos of them on Instagram from a recent Devils charity event they attended when he suddenly turns to Jude and asks him for Stuart’s number.
Jude looks over at Zero with a warm smile. “Yeah…sure.”
‘It’s a start,’ he thinks.
+
It’s been over a week since Zero reached out to Stuart to track down Laura. One day after practice he gets a call from him to meet up at the Playground. Zero and Jude are huddled at a table in the back when Stuart reveals he’s found Laura. She is living in Boston in a co-op with her roommate, graduated from Boston University, works at a Social Services agency in Cambridge and drives a white Volkswagen Beetle. Stuart hands Zero a manila folder with all the details and leaves after Zero pays him handily for the information. Jude watches Zero slowly open the folder. The top page has Laura’s phone number, address and a recent photo. Zero runs his fingers over Laura’s photo. She is attractive with blonde hair, blue eyes and a smile as bright as Zero’s. The resemblance between him and Laura is remarkable, and anyone would know right off they’re siblings.
Zero’s eyes start to well up as he closes the folder.
“It’s ok, Gideon. This is great news.” Jude rubs his hand softly across Zero’s forearm. “When are you going to call her?”
“I’m not.” Zero says. “She’s doing good Jude. Why disrupt her life and drag her into a media shit storm. Besides, why go down that dark road of bad memories coming up. She was eleven when we were split up. I still have that memory of our last day together. She was crying when the social workers took her away from me. ”
“Gideon, she’s your sister,” Jude says softly. “Why did you go through all this trying to find her if you had no intention of contacting her?”
Zero goes quiet staring down at his hands sitting on top of the folder.
“Call her,” Jude says, putting his hands over Zero’s. “You can create new, happy memories.”
“Jude, just drop it, okay.” Zero’s eyes go dark, and he pauses like he wants to say more then gets up abruptly.
Jude watches him with concern as he walks over to the bar, deciding it’s best to let the subject go for now and wait until Zero’s less emotional. He opens the folder, takes out his cell phone and snaps a picture of the top page with Laura’s address, number and photo. The Devils will be in Boston the Sunday before Thanksgiving for their first away game of the season. Jude plans on flying out to be with the team. He starts strategizing a way to secretly meet Laura and convince her to come to his childhood home for Thanksgiving and reunite them.
Jude feels like he is up to his waist in quicksand as the plot thickens.
The first hurdle is Zero’s avoidance of meeting his mom every time he tries to approach the subject. Even more so now that Jude told her they would be there for Thanksgiving. He has to figure out a way to approach Zero and ask him to go home with him to meet his mom and spend Thanksgiving with his entire family.
The second hurdle - pending Zero saying ‘yes’ to the first hurdle is convincing Laura to meet him and getting her to commit to flying to his childhood home in Ankora, Minnesota for Thanksgiving to reunite with Zero.
Jude’s faced bigger hurdles than this. He’s negotiated multi-million dollar contracts with NBA star players, secured major endorsement deals and numerous sponsorships with vendors getting them on board with the Devils.
‘How hard can this be?’ he thinks.
Even though Jude knows he has his work cut out, he is always up for a challenge and determined more than ever to get Zero to meet his mom and reunite him with Laura.
“When did my life turn into a Hallmark movie,” he mumbles to himself.
Jude stares over at Zero in the distance watching him down another shot and knows he needs to get his plan quickly in place. Time is of the essence.
+
Since Zero found out about Laura he has become more closed off, distracted and often deep in thought. With the start of the NBA season next week Zero is doing his best to focus on basketball. Drowning out thoughts of Laura as Jude continues to nudge him to call her.
“Jude, for the last time, I’m not calling Laura,” he says agitated.
Zero turns away abruptly walking towards their bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. He lays down, closing his eyes trying to forget about Laura and the haunting memories of her being taken away from him.
It was a week before Thanksgiving. The Department of Social Services that oversaw the foster care system realized there were too many children under the so called care of Leo and Carla and needed to remove a few of the children to be placed with other foster families.
Zero later found out it was Carla that pushed for Laura to be removed from the home.
Zero still remembers the heartache that clenched his chest suffocated him like it was yesterday. The social worker mentioned they would be separated temporarily and she would be back for him. Gideon knew deep down this was a lie. His gut was telling him he would never see his little sister again. He tried to keep up a brave front for Laura’s sake telling her, ‘I’ll see you again soon’… never forgetting that last day they were together holding each other tightly. The sound of Laura’s voice screaming ‘Gideon’ and the waterfall of tears streaming down her face as he watched her get dragged off into the car with the social worker.
He bravely waved goodbye to Laura, tears streaming down his face as well when the car was no longer in sight. From that day on when it came to Thanksgiving he had nothing to be thankful for… his only family was gone and he was all alone.
+
Zero is a master of putting on a good front, masking his true feelings. He gets through the holidays generally intoxicated…before Jude he’d be seen at every high profile holiday party imaginable with whomever he was casually dating or just screwing at the time to forget the constant loneliness he felt. Even though he has found love with Jude his memories of Laura become more intense over Thanksgiving, fueling the loneliness that continues to take up space in his head from all those years ago.
In order to cope with these painful memories Zero does what he knows best to mask the pain. He buries himself in additional shooting drills after practice, coming home from the arena after nine every night. He knows the constant physical exhaustion will help keep his mind off Thanksgiving and the holiday doldrums that generally follow up until New Year’s.
Jude softly knocks on the bedroom door. He doesn’t wait for a response. Just opens the door and enters slowly. He notices Zero lying down on his side of the bed, arms behind his head propped up on his pillow leaning back against the headboard, staring straight ahead.
Zero breaks out of his trance and looks softly over at Jude who is standing in place in the doorway. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a dick lately…shutting you out …it’s just,” he pauses. “…finding Laura stirred up some bad memories of her being taken away from me I buried over a decade ago.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Jude says as he makes his way over to the bed to sit beside Zero.
“Not really. But I know you’re not going to let it go,” Zero smiles weakly.
Jude takes Zero’s hand into his. “No, I’m not.”
Zero’s eyes begin to dim. “Carla pushed to have Laura taken away from me a few days before Thanksgiving to be placed in another foster home,” he pauses and looks down at Jude’s hand intertwining with his. “I never saw her again Jude. This time of year is hard for me. I…I just want to get through it by playing ball and focusing on us.”
“Gideon, I’m sorry what happened to you as a kid. Living in that shitty foster home with Leo and Carla and losing Laura.”
Zero huffs out a deep breath. “I miss her.”
“Call her,” Jude says again, looking down at their joined hands then glances back up at Zero.
Zero gazes at Jude with sadness and defeat in his eyes.
“I’m not ready to do that. Maybe someday Jude, but not now.”
“Okay, but don’t wait too long, she’s your family.” Jude says, squeezing Zero’s hand tightly.
“You’re all the family I need.”
Jude leans in giving Zero a chaste kiss and pulls back as they stare at each other in silence.
He figures this is good of a time as any to approach Zero with the question he has been avoiding.
“I have a problem,” Jude says, his eyes dropping back down to their joined hands. While Zero is glad to be moving on from this conversation about Laura, he is worried at the expression on Jude’s face. Ready to help him through whatever is troubling him…probably some unrealistic request from Lionel he needs to make happen at next week’s Devils home opener or more of Oscar’s endless bullshit.
“Spill,” Zero says, his deep blue eyes laser focused on Jude.
Jude just wants to get this over with…like ripping a Band-Aid off a cut.
“My mother wants to meet you,” he blurts. “She is expecting us to be at her house for Thanksgiving.” Jude is watching Zero’s eyes widen as his eyebrows arch up to his hairline. “I caved…told her we’d be there the Monday before Thanksgiving to visit and help her prepare for a houseful of my family.”
Zero’s mouth slowly drops open.
The words ‘absolutely not’ get stuck in his head and all he can do is swallow down the lump in his throat. This was the last thing he was expecting Jude to say.
Zero knows Jude is close to his mother. He’s never been in this situation of meeting anyone’s parents and the thought of meeting her absolutely terrifies him.
Zero goes quiet.
‘How much has Jude told her about him? About them? Has she read anything about him in the tabloids? Does she know about his Bible thumping days, parading around with Jelena Howard, the prostitute scandal, his bad-boy reputation and now out and proud?’ Even Zero can’t keep up with all his past personas, indiscretions, lies and scandals he’s been caught up in.
He is well aware of Jude subtly approaching the subject of ‘when are you going to meet my mother’ the past few months and he has done a good job of avoiding the conversation by seducing him with sex. Up until now it has worked like a charm. Zero knows his past has consequences. Consequences he now has to face when meeting Jude’s mother.
Zero takes a deep breath, and tries to approach the situation with some semblance of calm. The fear of rejection begins to overwhelm Zero, rearing its ugly head in his mind. The thought of meeting Jude’s mother brings back painful memories of his own abandonment. His mother leaving him and Laura in a broken social services system filled with far too many unwanted and forgotten kids. With the exception of Laura, Zero had never felt loved growing up. The day Laura was taken away from him to be placed in another foster home he made sure the mask to shut everyone out was securely in place. Zero was never able to trust or let anyone get close to him until Jude came along and chipped away at his veneer and Zero unknowingly conceded. Jude has been the only one to see beyond the mask of Zero…and find the soft-hearted Gideon underneath.
Zero breaks out of his thoughts gazing back at Jude with a soft expression. He knows how important this is to Jude...another defining moment cementing their relationship. “I’m not one that backs down from anything thrown at me… and I’m not going to start now.”
Jude’s eyes light up.
He reaches out with both hands cupping Zero’s face. “Once she gets to know you, gets to know Gideon she is going to love you like I love you,” Jude says with a soft smile.
Zero feels an overwhelming rush of love in his heart and suddenly pulls Jude in for a passionate kiss.
Jude moans, melting into the kiss loving the feel of Zero’s soft lips on his own.
Zero pulls back slightly, pressing their foreheads together. “You’re the only person that I would ever do this for… Minnesota, here we come.”
“I love you Gideon,” Jude says, releasing an appreciative sigh.
“I love you too, stupid. Now let’s have some fun,” Zero smirks, as he starts to unbutton Jude’s shirt. “You better have a lot of energy. It’s going to be a long night for you.”
“Bring it,” Jude says grinning as he removes his shirt.
+
Three weeks have passed since the season home opener. The Devils are on a hot streak, winning all eleven games and have been unstoppable. It’s a great feeling and the team is on an all-time high. Although, Pete still hasn’t taken the pedal off the gas and he’s working the team harder than ever during practice followed by hours of watching game film. Pete wants this win bad against their Boston arch rivals to keep their winning streak alive.
It’s five o’clock Saturday morning. Before Zero gets out of bed and into the shower he gives Jude his own morning wake-up call (who needs an alarm clock?) disappearing under the sheets swallowing Jude’s cock and sucking him off with gusto. With Jude now fully awake and satiated from the amazing blow job, Zero gets up chuckling on his way to the bathroom to take a shower. Jude watches Zero and his perfect, muscular ass enter the bathroom and immediately follows to return the favor.
Once dressed and ready to head out, Zero pulls Jude to him as they say their goodbyes with a passionate kiss. Jude reluctantly pulls away breathless as Zero heads to the front door turning slightly to look at Jude with a wink and closes the door behind him. A few minutes later, Jude hears Zero revving the engine of his Aston Martin as he drives off to the arena to meet the Devils bus waiting to take the team to the airport for their early morning flight to Boston. Once they land Pete has the team scheduled for a three o’clock practice session at the Boston Garden in preparation of Sunday’s game.
Jude is taking a later flight and will catch up with Zero at the hotel restaurant later on for dinner. In the meantime, with the three-hour time difference between the East and West coasts and Zero off to the arena, Jude contemplates making the call Zero has refused to make.