The Providence Bruins' training facility buzzed with pre-season energy, prospects and veterans alike filtering in for their medicals. Harper adjusted the collar of her new team jacket—Providence Bruins Athletic Training Staff embroidered beneath her name and credentials. Six months into her role as Associate Head Athletic Trainer, and sometimes it still felt surreal.

"Morning, Dr. Reid."

She smiled at Dr. Moore, who had become both mentor and friend since recommending Harper for the position. "Morning. The new recovery protocols are showing promising results."

"I saw your presentation at the Sports Medicine Conference last week." Dr. Moore's eyes twinkled. "Quite the stir when people realized you were the athletic trainer from that championship story."

"Former scandal, current case study?" Harper laughed. "I'll take it."

They'd turned her experience into something positive—her dissertation on maintaining professional boundaries while optimizing athlete care had already been cited in several medical journals. Sometimes breaking the rules led to writing better ones.

"Dr. Reid?" One of the new prospects hovered uncertainly in the doorway. "Coach says I need clearance before practice?"

"Of course." Harper switched seamlessly into professional mode. "Let's get you checked out."

She was halfway through the examination when familiar footsteps entered the training room. She didn't need to look up to know it was Wes—his presence still sent that same flutter through her chest, even after all this time.

"Carter." She kept her voice professionally neutral. "You're early for treatment."

"Wanted to set a good example for the rookies." His eyes held that private smile that was just for her. "Show them how to respect the medical staff."

A few of the veterans nearby snickered. The team had long since accepted their relationship—even found it amusing how strictly they maintained professional boundaries in the facility, given that everyone knew they went home together at night.

"Very responsible," she said dryly. "Take a seat, I'll be with you shortly."

She finished with the prospect before turning to Wes. His knee had healed beautifully—her careful protocols combined with his dedication resulting in what the Bruins' head coach called "a career-defining comeback." The scouts who had doubted him were now praising not just his play, but his maturity in handling the injury.

"How was dinner with your dad last night?" he asked quietly as she checked his range of motion.

"Good." She smiled, remembering. "He's still getting used to seeing me in Bruins gear instead of Briar University colors, but he's proud. Of both of us."

The change in her father had been gradual but profound. Weekly dinners, long talks about hockey and medicine and life. He'd even started dating again—a professor from the university who made him laugh in a way Harper hadn't heard since her mother died.

"Did you tell him about the house?"

"Not yet." She fought back a grin. They'd just put in an offer on a colonial in the suburbs—walking distance to the training facility, with a yard big enough for the dog Wes kept talking about getting. Another step toward their future together.

The training room filled with more players arriving for morning treatment. Harper moved efficiently between cases, aware of Wes watching her work even as he chatted with teammates. They'd found this balance somehow—professional distance when needed, intimate closeness when they could.

Later, after her shift ended, she found him waiting in the parking lot.

"Dinner?" he asked, pulling her close now that they were away from professional spaces. "The team's meeting at O'Malley's to celebrate Rodriguez getting called up to Seattle."

"Perfect." She leaned into him, feeling the solid warmth of his chest. "Though we should probably tell them about the house first. And the other thing."

His hand drifted to her stomach—still flat, but holding their newest secret. Too early to share widely, but something that made their future feel even more real.

"They're going to be insufferable," he grinned. "The whole team will want to be godparents."

"Pretty sure Diego already called dibs. He texted after I mentioned the doctor's appointment."

"Of course he did." Wes laughed, the sound warm in the evening air. "Remember when he hated us?"

"Remember when everyone hated us?"

"Not everyone." He kissed her softly. "Just everyone who mattered."

She smiled against his lips, thinking of how far they'd come. From stolen glances in the Briar training room to building a life together. From broken rules to new understandings. From scandal to success story.

---

"To Dr. Reid!" Hayes raised his glass later that night, the rest of the old Briar team following suit. They'd gathered at their usual spot after the game, celebrating Harper's PhD and Wes's two-goal performance.

"And to Carter," Diego added with a grin, "for somehow convincing her to keep putting up with him."

The team laughed, the sound warm with shared history. They'd all moved forward—Diego playing for Hartford, Rodriguez in the ECHL, others pursuing careers beyond hockey. But the bonds forged in that championship season remained.

"Speaking of putting up with him." Coach Reid appeared beside Harper, eyes twinkling. "When are you two making it official?"

Harper touched the ring on her finger—simple, elegant, given in the quiet of their apartment rather than some grand gesture. But there was another secret too, one still too new to share, resting just beneath her heart.

Later, walking home through the Providence night, Wes took her hand.

"Happy?"

She thought about their life together—their careers thriving, the house waiting for them, the future growing inside her. About all the rules they'd broken to get here, and all the ones they'd learned to rewrite.

"More than," she said simply.

Because they'd built something real in the space between rules and exceptions. Something strong enough to weather scrutiny, distance, and the pressures of their careers.

The next morning would bring more patients, more protocols, more professional boundaries to maintain.There would always be people who questioned their story, who thought love and medicine couldn't mix.

But they'd proven them wrong. Built something stronger than skepticism, more lasting than gossip. But they'd learned when to hold the lines and when to let them blur. When to be Dr. Reid and Mr. Carter, and when to just be Harper and Wes.

Because some rules were meant to be reconsidered.

Some boundaries were meant to be redrawn.

And some loves were worth fighting for, even if they started in all the wrong places.

Especially then.

In the end, it wasn't about breaking rules or keeping them. It was about finding the courage to question them, the wisdom to know which ones mattered, and the strength to build something better in their place.

They had all of that. And more importantly, they had each other all because they crossed the line.

Sometimes that was all the medicine anyone needed.

# The End