***Stevie's POV***

"We're going to the gold-medal game."

Ordinarily, I would be very very frustrated with Brendan by this point, considering that he's said that about a million times in the past few hours, but....we're going to the gold-medal game. I still can't get over it myself. "We sure are," I finally say, grinning.

Shanny flops onto his bed. "We could win a gold."

"If we beat the U.S.", I say cautiously. "We have to keep focusing on the game."

He rolls his eyes. "Always a captain, aren't you, Stevie?"

"Damn straight." I say with a laugh

"Wouldn’t it be awesome to go home with the gold, to laugh at Chelly and Hull..." Brendan says, closing his eyes and apparently getting lost in the fantasy.

"That would be cool. Or you know, we have a lot of Canadians on our team..." I smirk. "Not like I need it or anything, but you could pick up a lot of respect if you brought the medal home for our country."

A groan from the other bed. "Oh man, that would be awful. You as the captain AND having the medal? Dandy and Boyd and all of them will be following you around like little ducklings."

We both laugh, and after a few more minutes and small talk, we go to bed, trying to get enough rest to mentally prepare for the agonizing wait tomorrow.

***

He's stalking me. He has to be. He's following me around with these wide brown eyes, walking everywhere I go. I take a step, he takes a step. I stop, he stops. Finally, I spin around to glare at him. "Why are you FOLLOWING me?" I yell.

Boyd just stands there with his hands clasped in front of him, eyes wide in adoration. "Because I LOVE you!" he exclaims. "And I want you to take me, my man-lover..."

I start to back away. "No, no we can't do this...."

Boyd frowns. "Why not?"

"Because...because..." I turn and run away. I burst through a door...

......and I find myself in some kind of lounge. It's smokily lit with a scattering of round tables draped with white tablecloths. There are only about three other people in the room, spread out at the different tables.

All of a sudden, a waiter appears next to me. "Over here, Mr. Yzerman." He leads me to a table near the front of the room. I follow him without questioning and sit down, trying to catch my breath.

The other people in the room spontaneously burst into applause, and I look up and realize that I'm sitting in front of a stage, and that the curtain in front of the stage is opening. From somewhere near the ceiling, a voice booms out "Prepare yourselves for the musical stylings of....BOYD!"

The curtain opens fully to reveal someone standing on stage wearing a sparkling silver dress. Their blonde hair is twisted in an updo and they stand tall in high heels. The stage lights blink on and piano music starts to play. The blonde picks up a microphone and starts to walk forward on the stage and sing.

Loving you is easy cause you're beautiful
Making love with you is all I wanna do

I blink. The blonde is coming right towards me, staring into my eyes. It... it's Boyd, except it's not, it can't be, because he...she...it is wearing a dress, and has long blonde hair, but....it has to be. It's him.

Loving you is more than just a dream come true
Everything that I do is out of loving you

Boyd sits down on the edge of the stage, mere inches away from me. He's still looking right at me as he sings. I'm not sure whether I'm horrified or turned-on by the whole thing. Wait...this is BOYD...this is so wrong...

And every time that we oooh I'm more in love with you

He finishes the song, smiling brightly at the applause he gets, then slides effortlessly off the stage, walks over to me, and sits down in my lap. "Hi Stevie," he says brightly.

"Uhm, hi." I shake my head. "Boyd, what's going on?"

He tilts his head, his face full of innocent confusion. "What do you mean? Didn’t you like my singing?"

I'm totally flustered. "Well yeah, I liked it, but..."

He throws his arm around my neck. "Oh good! I'm so glad!" He giggles. "It was all for you, you know."

"For me? Why?"

Another giggle, and Boyd leans closer to whisper in my ear "Because I want you to take me with your hockey stick of love..."

I stand, dumping Boyd off my lap. "No, Boyd, we can't do this, this can't happen..."

"Stevie!" Boyd yells. I start to back way, but he yells again "Stevie, wake up!"

"Wha..." My eyes snap open, and I see Brendan standing over me, his hands clutching my shoulders. "What the hell is going on?"

Brendan steps away from me, and I realize I'm in my room in the Olympic village, not some strange lounge. "You were dreaming," he tells me.

I shake my head. "Damn, that was insane..."

Shanny sits down on the edge of my bed. "You said Boyd's name."

"I did not."

Brendan grins. "You did so." He ruffles my hair, and I glare at him. "Give it up. You like him."

I shake my head. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure. Sure I don’t." He gets up and goes back to his own bed. "Sweet dreams, Stevie."

I roll my eyes. "You too, Shanny."

"Hopefully they'll be about Boyd."

I toss my pillow at him. If it wasn't enough I'm having crazy dreams, now I have him to deal with.

Great. Just great.

At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
and a freight train running through the middle of my head....
- Bruce Springsteen, "I'm On Fire"

Part 5 | Part 7