When Worlds Collide

chapter nine.

chapter nine. Vomit Talk.

third person POV

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The charity game had officially started and Astrid was nervous to say the very least. Her stomach was turning in knots thinking of how bad this game could go and seeing the open drive, she knew it was gonna be a long game. Mac had lost the opening puck drop to Carson which tanked his ego massively. "Get your head in the game, MacBentley!" Nico shouted at his teammate, confused and furious over Mac's rare mistake. During the entire first period, Hammarström continued to correct Mac's form and positioning on the ice which threw all of the coaches off. Luke and Henrik shared a nervous glance before the Swedish male noticed his daughter taking pictures of the game and decided to figure out for himself what was going on.

"SJ, be honest with me right now. What's wrong with him?" Henrik asked his daughter, coming up beside her as she snapped some action shots.

"Huh?" Astrid questioned, lowering her camera and turning her attention to her father. "Who?"

"You know who," Henrik gave his daughter a stern look, "Mac. What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, maybe he's just having a rocky start after how last game went with Hammarström getting on him afterwards?"

"You know something," Henrik pressed, being able to see how nervous his daughter was acting. "What's up with him?"

"I dunno," Astrid shrugged, "maybe he's worried he'll be shipped back to Canada and he's got the yips or something."

"With his massive ego?" Henrik scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can sense it's more than that. Be honest with me, please, SJ. I won't tell him you told me." Astrid thought about it but knew she couldn't snitch on Mac. She knew he was going to get in trouble sooner or later and didn't want to speed up the process. The Svenssons froze in shock as they witnessed Mac staking backwards, away from the centre ice where the puck drop was occurring. "What the hell is he doing? Is he broken or something?"

"He's giving them something unexpected," Astrid muttered, remembering her idea for him to shake things up and confuse the opposing team- granted this was not an idea she had in mind.

"Oh my," Henrik ran his hand over his face as he watched Carson win the puck drop with ease.

"Go Mac!" Astrid banged her hand against the plexiglass panel as he stole the puck from Carson swiftly and raced down the ice towards the goal.

"What is he doing?" Henrik pressed his daughter once more, "if there's something you know, you need to tell me right now. The game depends on it..."

"He's probably thrown off by Carson being here. They're major rivals, mortal enemies even."

"There's something else, I can feel it," Henrik stated, not fully believing the idea his daughter presented to him. "I want a better answer by the time the second period starts, do you hear me, Astrid?" The ash blonde let out a sigh as she watched her father walk away from her and head back towards the bench. Henrik walked up to Luke and whispered, "Mac ever play nervous?"

"Never," Luke shook his head in disbelief, "I don't know what's up with him."

"SJ knows something but won't tell me," Henrik muttered back lowly. "Something is definitely up between him and the other team."

"Mac, stay out of there!" Luke called out to his son as he watched him square up with Carson, who had just trucked Sam- the innocent goalie. Mac was the first to chuck his stick to the side causing Carson to smirk and copy his actions.

"Oops, my bad," Nico taunted Mac, wanting to provoke him and in which he did achieve. The male MacBentley twin pushed Carson causing them to both grab onto one another's sweaters.