Archive of Our Own

1

Holger saw the tweet without anyone even having tagged him yet. The impact of being far more online than he should be. It wasn’t going to stop him, though.

[Screenshot of a section of the Barcelona tennis draw, seed 5 marked as H. Ruud]

wow congrats holger on the name change

When he scrolled further, Holger found an apology tweet from the official Barcelona Twitter account.

We are aware of a mistake in the draw. This has now been fixed. We apologise for the mistake.

Holger wasn’t particularly offended by the mistake. He mostly just found it funny. Before he could think too much, he took a screenshot of the first tweet he’d seen on the subject and sent it to Casper, hoping that he’d find it funny as well.

He and Casper were, friendly. He didn’t think that they were friends, didn’t think that Casper would call them friends, but they’d put the worst of it behind them as they’d spent a little longer together off the court. He didn’t really know Casper’s sense of humour, or much else about him outside of his tennis, but he didn’t think he’d be offended by the tweet.

By the time he got a response from Casper, Holger had honestly forgotten about the tweet, having seen so many other things since then that it had slipped his mind.

Casper: If you wanted my name, all you had to do was ask

Holger stared at the text, trying to read into the thirteen words Casper had sent. He could just be reading into the words, but it almost felt like there was something there, just below the surface. Maybe Holger was just hoping, but it didn’t feel like something a straight guy would say to someone they were barely friends with.

Obviously, no one ever said it, but Holger had never gotten any signs that Casper was gay, outside of pure hope. Holger knew that he was gay, and presumed that he wasn’t the only gay man on the tour. This was the first time he was truly wondering if Casper was one of them.

He didn’t want to leave Casper’s message unread, but he couldn’t immediately think of an answer. Figuring that Casper wouldn’t be the type to be waiting by the phone for a response, especially not from Casper, he had time.

Holger: I think that mine is better. Maybe you should take mine

He wasn’t sure if that was a little bit too much, but he sent it before he could overthink it. On the surface, it wasn’t anything too bad. Hopefully, Casper wouldn’t be offended.

It took a while before Holger got a response to that. Something which he was desperately trying not to read into or worry about.

Casper: I don’t think so. Mine is definitely better

Holger didn’t know what to say to that and there wasn’t the same underlying tone as Casper’s first message. Holger found himself doubting the situation and wondering if he’d been imagining things in the first place. Scrolling up slightly, he read Casper’s first response again, but he kept coming to the same conclusion he had the first time. It sounded like Casper was flirting with him.

In the end, he didn’t reply. He just couldn’t figure out what the right response was or what Casper was thinking. It was easier not to. And he didn’t get the impression that Casper needed an answer.

He didn’t think much more of it until he ran into Casper in Barcelona. Thankfully, whatever mistake had been made in the original draw with his name had been completely remedied and every reference to him was with the correct name. Seeing it on Twitter was one thing, but Holger wasn’t sure how he’d react when dealing with it in person.

“Still going by Holger Rune?” Casper asked when he saw him.

Having very much not been expecting the reference, it took Holger a second to figure out what Casper was talking about. When he did, he smiled, “As I told you, I think that it’s the better name.”

Casper shrugged, “If you think so.”

“I do.”

“If you ever want to change it, let me know.”

It was almost the same conversation they had over text, but hearing it come out of Casper’s mouth was different. Holger tried not to let his confusion show on his face, but Casper still sounded a little flirty. And now it wasn’t a one-time thing. Casper was doubling down on what he’d said before.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Holger said, wanting to see where Casper would take that.

“You know where to find me if you want to start towards changing your name.”

Before Holger could figure out what to say to that, Casper walked away and quickly disappeared from sight.

Holger was more confident in his opinion that Casper was flirting with him. He wasn’t certain, couldn’t be certain without outright asking. Holger didn’t know what to do with that information.

He liked Casper. He certainly found Casper hot. But, doing something about it could make things messy if it went wrong. Holger didn’t think that Casper was the messy type, definitely a term people would use him over Casper. But, even if neither of them meant it, dating someone else on the tour came with risks.

Holger didn’t know if those risks were worth it. He didn’t think that said anything about Casper. He thought that Casper was worth the risk. He didn’t know if he was worth the risk for Casper.

Everything just felt him feeling a little weirdly restless and unsure. He’d love the idea of dating Casper. He just wasn’t sure if he should. And as impulsive as he normally was. This wasn’t something to be impulsive about.

2

“Casper, we are ready for you. Can you come with us, please?”

Holger didn’t bother to look up from his phone as he continued to wait. If he had been paying more attention, he would have realised that Casper hadn’t played today and had no reason to be in the room. No one would be expecting him to be here or be wanting Casper to come with them. But, he was exhausted and just wanted to keep scrolling and not have to engage his brain.

“Casper, we are ready for you,” the voice got firmer, but Holger continued to ignore it.

Footsteps came to a stop in front of him, and the same voice spoke, “Casper, please come with us.”

Holger looked up and found a man expectantly looking at him. With how slightly out of it he was feeling, Holger couldn’t figure out why he was looking at Holger like that.

“I’m not Casper,” Holger said, finally figuring out something about what was happening.

The man at least looked embarrassed. “Sorry, Holger, we are ready for you.”

Despite the whole wrong name debacle, Holger wasn’t actually complaining about the outcome. The sooner he got through his post-match press conference, the sooner he could leave and go nap.

Thankfully, he was very much who was expected by the press and no one else called him the wrong name. He wasn’t sure if his brain could have handled dealing with that again.

He was so exhausted that he completely forgot about it as soon as he left the building. It had been a long couple of weeks and it was really starting to get to him. And it wasn’t the same going back to a hotel room rather than his own bed. Despite years of travelling and the tour under his belt, he wasn’t sure he’d ever fully get used to it.

Thankfully, the nap did help and when he woke up, he felt better. With the stress of the schedule, and with how long and important slam matches were, Holger purposefully didn’t have any plans for the rest of the day. He’d won his match and he’d have time on the practice court tomorrow. The rest of today was just about recovery and starting the preparation for the next match.

Making the most of his time alone, Holger stayed curled up in bed and just scrolled on his phone. It was only when a clip of Casper’s last match came up on his feed that he was reminded of the earlier situation.

Figuring that Casper would find it funny, Holger decided to tell him about it. He considered messaging it to Casper, but couldn’t quite find the right words, so resolved to wait until he saw Casper in person. He wasn’t waiting long as he saw Casper as soon as he entered the arena the next day.

“Hey Holger, how are you?” Casper greeted.

“Well, I got called Casper yesterday, so pretty bad,” Holger complained.

Casper laughed, “What happened?”

Holger telling him the story only made Casper laugh more, especially when he learned just how many times the man had called Holger Casper.

“I guess we know who out of us is more memorable,” Casper teased once he managed to stop laughing.

“Yeah, laugh it up,” Holger rolled his eyes.

“I’m just saying, clearly my name is the better one. If you want it, all you have to do is ask.”

Holger still couldn’t fully figure out Casper’s tone. But, this time, Casper didn’t walk away. He just earnestly stared at Holger.

“And if I do want it?” Holger asked, unable to help himself.

“You’ve got to take me to dinner first.”

He still wasn’t certain of Casper’s intentions. Wasn’t sure if Casper meant dinner as more than just friendly opponents. Something about Casper’s expression gave Holger hope that it meant more, but Casper hadn’t outright said anything and Holger wasn’t sure he was brave enough to actually ask.

“Where do you want me to take you to dinner?” Holger continued, still unsure if it was just a joke.

“Your choice,” Casper told him. “Just know that you need to impress me if you want my name.”

Holger didn’t know how to continue it from there and Casper didn’t wait for anything more, walking away. It could all be a joke still, but Holger wasn’t certain. It didn’t sound like a joke when the words came out of Casper’s mouth. And that was how Holger somehow ended up sitting in a slightly upscale restaurant with a slightly dressed-up Casper sitting opposite him.

“What did you mean by this dinner?” Holger asked once they’d ordered and the menus were taken.

Casper shrugged, betraying some of his own uncertainty for the first time, “What do you want it to be?”

“It feels like a date,” Holger admitted and it was true. Even without either of them having actually admitted it yet, it had already felt closer to a date than just a dinner for two friends.

“It does,” Casper agreed as his smile grew, “I’d like it to be a date.”

“So would I.”

With that settled, dinner was more relaxed than Holger expected. He and Casper might have been friendly for a while and had spent some time together off the court. This was still the largest period of time they’d spent together, especially alone. Tennis barely came up as they mostly talked about their respective lives off the court.

Holger had been physically attracted to Casper for a while. Those feelings weren’t new to him. Now, Holger was quickly learning just how much he wanted to spend any amount of time he could with Casper. He wanted to learn everything he could about the other man and just get to do anything with him. For a first date, the strength of the feelings were overwhelming, even when he took into account that he already knew Casper before the date.

“We should do this again,” Casper proposed when they left the restaurant hours after they’d arrived.

“We should,” Holger easily agreed.

“And you might have impressed me a bit, but not enough for me to give you my name yet.”

Holger laughed at the throwback joke. He was glad that the change in their relationship hadn’t completely ruined their slightly joking nature. Holger hadn’t wanted to lose that, he just wanted more. And after tonight, it felt like he could get to have more.

3

Holger really thought that he’d moved past getting confused for Casper. It hadn’t happened in a while and he figured that everyone had finally gotten over the confusion.

All of that to say, when it happened again, he was even more thrown than he had been the last few times.

In Holger’s opinion, the umpire wasn’t doing a good job at managing the crowd noise. Each time Holger was serving, the crowd wouldn’t quiet until well after he was already in place and then they’d start back up again between first and second serves. Between that and the general jeering from the crowd, Holger was starting to get annoyed. Normally, Holger liked to frustrate the crowd and play it up, but it was getting disrespectful at this point.

“I’m just saying, that the noise is getting even worse,” Holger told the umpire in the changeover.

“Casper, you need to deal with it. They aren’t interfering with the point.”

Holger stared at the umpire as his brain stalled out, “I’m not Casper.”

“Sorry, Holger, you just need to deal with it,” he repeated, not sounding that sorry about getting Holger’s name wrong.

Holger found himself getting more annoyed, now both at the umpire and the situation, but he’d realised that nothing was going to change. The umpire didn’t care and the crowd wasn’t going to become respectful under Holger’s demand. Giving in, he sat down on his bench and tried to calm down for the rest of the sit down. The fact that he’d been called Casper again wasn’t helping him settle. Normally, he found it mostly funny, but today it was truly grating on his nerves.

The crowd didn’t get better for the rest of the match, but at least he didn’t get called Casper again. Technically, that was because he didn’t speak to the umpire again, but at least he called out the right name when calling the score.

Despite the win, Holger left the court feeling annoyed. Everything about the match had been annoying. He absolutely had not played his best and the final score was much closer than he should have been. Between that and the crowd antics, he was annoyed. At least he’d won. He’d have been extremely pissed off if he’d lost.

By the time he’d properly cooled down, he was less annoyed, but there was still a hint of irritation prickling in the back of his mind. Now, he wasn’t annoyed so much about the crowd, but by once again getting called Casper. He still couldn’t see the funny side of it today. He didn’t know why. There was nothing particularly different about today’s mistake from previous ones. For some reason, though, he was still annoyed.

Maybe it was just ego. A reminder that he was somehow not memorable enough to have his name remembered.

He didn’t want to feel jealous of Casper, not when things were going so well between them. But, there was something irritating about constantly being mistaken for the same person, like they were somehow better than him. Maybe he shouldn’t be reading into it. Maybe it was nothing. But, it kept happening.

By the time he’d properly cooled down and started preparation for his next match with his team, it was starting to get late. He needed something to eat and then to go to sleep. Hopefully, tomorrow he’d wake up in a better mood. Feeling ever so slightly self-destructive, Holger declined all the invitations from his team to eat together and ignored a message from Casper. He just felt like being alone. 

He’d just finished eating dinner when there was a soft knock on his door. Holger sighed, knowing who’d be on the other side. He could ignore it, but that was probably just digging a bigger hole for himself. There was a brief pause in the knocking, and Holger thought for a moment that they’d given up and left, but then it started up again,

Sensing that he wasn’t going to go away, Holger climbed out of the bed he’d been eating dinner in, and headed for the door. Opening it, he found a very concerned-looking Casper standing on the other side.

“Are you alright?” Casper immediately asked as he stepped forward into Holger’s room.

Not wanting anyone in the hallway to overhear them, Holger let Casper further into the room so the door could shut behind him. “Why?”

“We had plans tonight and it’s not like you to cancel them.”

Their plans had only been room service and then spending the few hours before bed together. But, Casper wasn’t wrong. Despite both being professional tennis players, their schedules aligned far less than one would expect. And even when they were in the same place, it was for their job. Private time together was rare and normally Holger treasured those hours and would do anything to get to spend more time with Casper.

“Just feeling tired,” Holger lied, not wanting to put his bad mood on Casper when it really wasn’t his fault.

Casper’s worried expression only deepened, “Everything alright?”

“Just think that I need to sleep more,” Holger continued to lie, desperately wanting Casper to leave before Holger’s patience ran out and he said something he couldn’t take back.

Unfortunately, Casper did the opposite as he stepped into Holger’s space and pulled him into a hug. Despite everything else, Holger relaxed into his touch, letting himself melt into Casper, tucking his chin over Casper’s shoulder. Casper’s hand slowly stroking his back helped release some of the tension and stress in his head.

When Casper started moving, pulling Holger with him, Holger let it happen. He let himself get pulled into bed, still tucked in Casper’s arms. Casper didn’t say anything as he just continued to slowly stroke Holger in a calming motion. It might have still been too early for sleep, but it didn’t stop his eyes from closing.

He woke with a start some time later, not even having really noticed that he’d fallen asleep. There was still a warm weight pressed up against him and Casper’s hand was still drawing abstract patterns on Holger’s side. Holger let out a deep breath as he catalogued himself. The impromptu nap had helped him, but he still didn’t quite feel like himself.

“Do you want to talk about what was actually bothering you?” Casper asked after a few moments of silence.

Of course, Casper hadn’t bought his earlier lies, “I don’t want to bother you.”

“Holger, I always want to be bothered by whatever is annoying you.”

Holger knew that, but it still took a moment for him to get the words out of his mouth and he had to look away from Casper to actually say it, “I got called Casper again today.”

“Oh.”

“It’s getting frustrating.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Holger said, already feeling bad for how he’d treated Casper when it was true. It really was not Casper’s fault.

Casper brought a hand up to Holger’s hair and gently stroked it. “I’m still sorry. It’s not easy.”

That burst something in Holger. He didn’t quite cry, but he had to let out a couple of shaky breaths as he attempted to settle him and relax into Casper’s touch. Tomorrow, maybe, he’d go back to finding it funny and he could return to joking about it with Casper. Today, he was still frustrated.

As much as he’d wanted to be alone, and as much as he hadn’t wanted to see Casper, his being here had helped Holger. At least with Casper’s arms around him, he’d be able to properly sleep tonight.

4

The next time Holger got called the wrong name, he was nowhere near the tennis court. He was at one of the last places he expected to get confused for Casper. He was at the bank, a bank he knew for a fact that Casper didn’t bank with.

He wasn’t particularly excited to have to be here, but three phone calls hadn’t resolved his issues and entering a physical branch himself was the last resort. He knew that he was officially an adult, but having to deal with this reminded him of how protected from normal problems he was at times. He’d never had to deal with this like this before, and he was already tired. It was probably a reminder that he should thank his Mum more for everything she did.

“Mr Ruud, I’m sorry, but this is not something that we can help you with here,” the man serving him, Scott, from his name badge, told Holger.

“First, my last name is Rune, not Ruud,” Holger started.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“And two, I’ve called you three times already and it still hasn’t been resolved. I just want someone to fix it now. I don’t care how long it takes.

“Again, Mr Rune, I’m sorry about calling you the wrong name. Let me just talk to my manager and see what I can do.”

Holger shrugged it off. He’d been completely run around in circles regarding his actual issue that he couldn’t find the energy to be annoyed by being called the wrong name. And, there was something about being referred to by Casper’s last name which was completely different to being called Casper. He didn’t mind being called Ruud in nearly the same way that being called Casper had started to seriously annoy him.

While he waited for a bank employee to come and talk to him, he found himself daydreaming about Ruud actually being his last time.

He and Casper hadn’t seriously talked about marriage. At least not yet. They’d been together almost two years and their relationship had been serious for that whole time. Maybe it was the time to start talking about the next steps, and marriage was certainly one of them. Maybe Holger had never really thought about it, given the unconventional nature of their jobs and the changes that were placed on a relationship. Now, with no one around and nothing but time, all Holger could do was think about it.

He liked the idea of being married. And he liked the idea of being married to Casper even more. Casper was who he could see himself spending the rest of his life with and at some point, that would mean marriage. He didn’t know if he’d actually want to take Casper’s name, not sure he wanted to deal with everything that would come with that, but he liked the idea of being tied together.

“Mr Ruu-, sorry, Mr Rune, thank you for your patience,” Scott opened when he returned, “I have spoken to my manager and we’ve got your issue resolved now. You should see it reflected in the next few hours.

“Thank you,” Holger said, skipping past the almost wrong name. It was easier to just move on and not prolong his time here.

After confirming that there was nothing more he needed done, Holger was able to escape. As soon as he was safely home and alone, Holger called Casper.

“Hey,” Casper greeted when he picked up, “How was the bank?” Holger had complained enough about it already for Casper to know what his plan for the day had been.

“Well, you are talking to the new Mr Ruud,” Holger laughed.

There was a long pause as Casper tried to understand what Holger had said, “What?”

Holger laughed before spilling the story.

“And you find it funny?” Casper confirmed.

“I like the idea of being called Ruud more than Casper.”

There was another pause, but this one felt different, like Holger had completely thrown Casper’s world out of alignment, “You want that?”

Holger deeply wished that Casper was here so that he could see Casper’s expression and not just have to deal with just his voice, it wasn’t the same. But, he’d opened the can of worms, and now he couldn’t leave it alone, “I wouldn’t say no.”

He heard a heavy gulp from Casper, “I like the idea of you with my name on you.”

In the back of his mind, Holger was formulating a plan to find some old gear Casper had with his name on it and surprise Casper with it. He didn’t know what Casper would have, tennis clothing not normally named like that, but he was sure that he could find something. He liked the idea of showing himself off in Casper’s clothes, but if it had Casper’s name on it, that would be the icing on the cake.

Today, was not for that. Today was for this conversation that, without either of them actually saying it, was about marriage.

“I like the idea of us being together forever like that.”

“Fuck, Holger, you can’t say things like that when I can’t kiss you.”

Holger laughed, “I guess you’ll have to save it for when we see each other next.”

If, after they hung up, Holger sent Casper a teasing photo, well, that would just be for Casper to know. And if Casper did jump him the next time they were alone and leave slightly possessive marks on Holger’s skin, well, that would just be for Holger to know.

5

“Game, Ruud leads 3 games to 2.” Before either Holger or Casper could say anything in confusion, the umpire spoke again, “Sorry, Rune leads 3 games to 2.”

Laughter echoed around the stadium. Holger glanced over at Casper and saw a hint of a smile on his face. Holger just shook his head when he caught Casper staring at him, slight smile on his own face. He didn’t mind that much and the umpire had immediately corrected his mistake. It was closer to a slip of the tongue instead of truly mistaking Holger for Casper. 

Holger forced himself to refocus as he sat down, tuning out everyone else. It had been a good moment of laughter in a serious match, but he really wanted to win.

Holger wanted to win all the time, but he could admit an extra edge since he and Casper had started dating. He wouldn’t fully rub it in or anything, but he especially wanted the bragging rights over Casper until they played next. With their relationship, they did a good job at mostly separating on court and off court, but they were both professional tennis players. Tennis could never fully go away. It gave matches between them a little more competition.

The umpire didn’t get Holger’s name wrong for the rest of the match and he also didn’t accidentally call Casper by Holger’s name either. Thankfully, the most important announcement of Holger’s name when the umpire announced him as the winner was correct.

“Good game,” Casper told him when they approached each other at the net.

Holger was thankful that while they weren’t publicly out, they had publicly healed their relationship and Holger could get away with a half-hug. It wasn’t kissing Casper or anything, but it was at least better than just a polite handshake. 

“Good game,” Holger repeated before he had to let go of Casper and step forward to shake hands with the umpire.

Holger didn’t really get to see Casper again until he was knocking on Casper’s hotel room door. He’d caught a couple of glimpses of him in the cool-down room and the locker room, but it wasn’t the same. He just wanted some time alone with his boyfriend and now he finally got it.

“Congratulations,” Casper said with a genuine-looking smile when he opened the door. Holger might have won, but Casper had played well. He shouldn’t be too disappointed in himself.

“Thanks,” Holger smiled as he stepped into Casper’s arms. 

Both of them were pretty exhausted, so Holger was happy to just climb into bed with Casper and spend the last few hours of the day curled around each other.

“Do you have any plans for after the tournament?” Casper asked Holger.

“Not outside of training,” Holger replied, having not entered a tournament next week, “Why?”

“Good, then I have a surprise for you.”

“What is it?”

Casper laughed, “That defeats the purpose of the surprise.”

That didn’t stop Holger from needling him and trying to get any details out of Casper. Unfortunately, Casper was firmly staying tight-lipped and wasn’t spilling anything. Whatever he had planned, he wasn’t telling Holger anything yet. Holger eventually just had to give up asking, as it was completely fruitless and just wasting the little time he had with Casper. And as much as he wanted to know anything about the surprise, Holger would have to be patient. 

Holger stayed the night in Casper’s hotel room, but when he left the next morning, he then didn’t see Casper again until after he’d lost. Casper had no reason to hang around and had flown home before Holger’s next match.  As soon as he was alone after he’d lost, he was texting Casper.

Holger: Surprise?

Casper: I’ll see you in Monaco 

Holger was now even more interested. He and Casper didn’t live together, didn’t even live in the same city. It wasn’t to say that Casper hadn’t been to Holger’s apartment, he had a key after all, but he wasn’t in Monaco all that much. 

As he made the journey home, he privately speculated what Casper might be planning, but he had no idea. Normally, Casper wasn’t the big romantic gestures kind of guy, so Holger had nothing to base this on. That was being slightly mean to Casper when Holger wasn’t that guy either. They’d both quickly realised after they first started dating that they’d rather spend a quiet evening in than go anywhere for something big or crazy. 

As soon as he unlocked his front door, he was greeted by Casper standing there. Pushing past the strange feeling of being greeted upon entering his own apartment, Holger kissed Casper before asking the most important question, “What do you have planned for us?”

“Do you need a shower and a nap after travelling?” Casper asked instead of answering Holger’s question.

Holger pouted, not wanting to be patient anymore, wanting to know the surprise now. “Shower, yes, nap, no,” he decided when Casper continued to refuse to give him any details.

Casper nodded before pressing a quick kiss to Holger’s cheek, “I’ll see afterwards.”

“You sure that you don’t want to join me?”

“Not this time.”

Holger pouted more at that, before heading for his bedroom to dump his bags. As he walked through the apartment, he tried to see any hints towards Casper’s surprise, but there was nothing to see. Everything looked exactly as he’d left it. Being completely impatient now, Holger rushed through his shower and returned to Casper as quickly as he could. 

“Now what?” he asked Casper on his return, feeling admittedly much better after washing the travel grime off.

“Time to go then.”

“Go where?”

“Still a surprise.”

“You are enjoying this too much,” Holger complained at the wide smile on Casper’s face.

Casper kissed him, “Not long to wait now.”

Not long ended up being a slightly lengthy drive. Despite still being impatient, Holger didn’t actually mind. He could relax into the passenger seat and let Casper drive him and they could talk. Holger certainly couldn’t complain about getting more time with Casper.

He still didn’t know what he was expecting Casper’s surprise to be, but he was a little surprised when Casper pulled up in front of a small cottage-type building.

“What is this?” he asked.

“We’re staying here tonight. Thought that it would be nice to have as much of a getaway as we can during the season. I’ve already cleared it with your team. And I packed you a bag.”

Holger deeply appreciated both the thought and the effort. A quiet night away from everything else sounded perfect at this point in the season. Following Casper into the cottage, he found a well-done-up interior with everything looking warm and cozy. 

“There’s one thing I wanted to show you first,” Casper told him, leading him out the back door onto a small porch with beautiful views of the forest surroundings.

As Holger took everything in, he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning to face Casper, he found his boyfriend down on one knee. 

Before Casper even got a word out, Holger already had happy tears in his eyes. He couldn’t wait to say yes.

“Holger, I love you so much, and you are who I want to spend the rest of my life with. Will you do me the honour of becoming Holger Ruud for real and marry me?”

Holger didn’t even have to think about his answer, “Yes.”

He then reached down to pull Casper back to two feet so that he could frantically kiss him. He’d never been so relieved that they were alone and he could make out with Casper without risk. 

“You haven’t even looked at the ring yet,” Casper said between kisses.

Holger didn’t want to stop kissing him, but he figured he couldn’t fully call himself Casper’s fiancé until the ring was on his finger. 

Letting go of Casper, he could finally look at the ring still safely tucked in it’s box. Holger wasn’t a big ring guy, but he liked the simple silver band Casper had chosen. It was all he really needed.

Holding his hand out, he let Casper slip the ring onto his finger. The happy tears from earlier returned and he had to bury his face in Casper’s neck for a second to pull his emotions back in check. 

“Holger Ruud?” he asked once he’d calmed down, still clinging on to Casper but with his head now slightly lifted out of Casper’s neck.

Casper laughed, “You said that you’d take it. You can’t take it back now.”

“What if I want you to become Casper Rune?” Holger asked just to be contrary.

“We’ll just have to fight over it then.”

Holger couldn’t keep fighting it, needing to be honest, “I’d love to be Holger Ruud.”

Casper kissed him, “I’m already looking forward to it.”

+1

Holger had never been one who spent any time thinking about his wedding. Before Casper, he hadn’t even thought about ever having a wedding. But, now, after far too much planning for what was a relatively small event, standing in front of their friends and family, Holger never wanted anything else.

Before the ceremony was complete, Holger had shed a couple of tears, which had prompted Casper to do the same. 

“Do you, Holger, take Casper to be your lawfully wedded husband?” 

“I do,” Holger easily confirmed.

“And do you, Casper, take Holger to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“You may now kiss your husband.”

Holger was more than happy to step forward and do just that. The rest of the wedding was a blur. All Holger could truly remember was not wanting to separate from Casper at all. They’d just gotten married, he wanted his new husband as close as possible. It felt weird after all the effort so many people had put in, but Holger was deeply pleased when the night was over and they were heading for the honeymoon suite. 

“Should I carry you over the threshold?” Casper offered.

Holger laughed, but then Casper did sweep him up in his arms. Holger could never get over having, well, now a husband, who could pick him up. As cheesy as it was, he liked it when Casper did the little romantic things like this for him. 

“Mr Holger Ruud, welcome to our suite,” Casper said as he carried Holger inside.

Holger grinned as he wrapped his legs around Casper’s waist, not letting go of him. He didn’t think that he’d care about a piece of paper, but he liked thinking of Casper as his husband. He liked being officially tied together far more than he expected.

Casper fell backwards onto the bed, taking Holger with him. Holger stayed lying on top of Casper, letting himself truly relax for the first time all day. While the wedding had basically gone as planned and, in Holger’s eyes, had been perfect, it had been a lot. It was nice to tuck his head into Casper’s neck and inhale his scent as he pressed Casper down into the mattress. Underneath him, he could feel Casper’s breathing slow as he relaxed as well.

“We should get out of our suits at some point,” Casper suggested.

Holger sighed, “I don’t want to move.”

Casper laughed, but didn’t make any moves to get out from under Holger. Before Holger knew it, his eyes were closing and on his first night with his husband, he fell asleep on top of Casper still completely dressed.

Unfortunately, while they might now be married, they still had to consider their respective careers and that currently included not living together. They would at some point, but not yet. It did mean that despite the off-season, they didn’t get to spend all that much time together. And before Holger could do much about it, the season was starting again and they were both extremely busy.

As was often the case with the start of the season, Holger had interviews to deal with. Normally, it was pretty mundane questions about his offseason and thoughts on the upcoming season. And it made them not the worst interviews of the year. Plus, being a sit-down piece and not with him just having finished an intense match was also easier than others.

“I’m sitting down with Holger Ruud--- oh, I’m so sorry, that’s not your name.”

Holger had a chance to be a slight menace and he couldn’t stop himself. “Legally, it is my name now, but I'm still going by Holger Rune to make things easier.”

His interviewer’s jaw dropped open as she very much hadn’t expected his confession.

Holger hadn’t sat down planning on coming out. But, he also wasn’t completely throwing Casper in it either. They’d talked about coming out and agreed that they’d like to come out at some point soon and stop hiding their marriage. If there was a good opportunity to say something, they would. Holger just hadn’t expected the perfect opportunity to come so quickly.

When he didn’t get an immediate follow-up question, Holger continued, “Casper and I got married back in December.”

“Congratulations,” she smiled, snapping out of the shocked stupor Holger had put her in, “You took his name?”

“Well, everyone kept mistaking me for him, so I figured I should just make it official.”

“Holger Ruud does sound good, doesn’t it?” “It does,” Holger agreed. 

He might still get annoyed by being fully mistaken for Casper, but he liked being Holger Ruud. And now he would be for the rest of time.