#. who does auston open up to and why is it mitch

[3416]

to think about mitch being so open about wanting to be picked and preferred and included..... so earnest about it that he's lovingly teased (and can deal it right back).......... meanwhile auston is Not open about it, too Chill.... doesn't seem to have a preference yet. you just know it's something he wants.....

[svechnikovvv]

fighting major

pairing: auston matthews x fem!reader

warnings: SMUT, profanity

summary: seeing auston heated & get into a fight was something you never knew you needed

a/n: first smut 🫣 also, this takes place after aus got his fighting major against stamkos. this also isn’t proofread, so yeah

masterlist: here

i was sat in one of the suites, watching the game with steph. i glance down at my phone to check the message my mom sent me when steph starts hitting my arm.

“what is it?” i look up and see that auston is currently brawling it out with stamkos on the ice.

“holy shit. he’s never faught before” i place a hand over my mouth as i watch the two tussle for a minute before they’re separated. auston received a fighting major and is sent to the penalty box while stamkos skates off somewhere. i’m speechless because this is auston’s first nhl fight. sure, he got drafted years ago, but he’s never fought anyone.

“things must’ve been serious for him to drop the gloves.” steph jokes and i laugh with her, still focused on my boyfriend. seeing him angry out there kinda turned me on. i clench my legs together and continue to watch the game. once auston is back out on the ice, im back to cheering for him. i mentally chastise myself and focus my attention back onto my boyfriend.

before i know it, the game ends with a leafs win. steph and i embrace one another in a hug and head down to the tunnel to wait for tweedledee and tweedledumb. soon, mitch and majority of the guys come out.

"aus is in the locker room taking the game pretty rough," mitch says, walking over to steph and i and my brows furrow. they won so why is he beating himself up over it?

"is it just him?" mitch nods and i make my way to the locker room door that i had familiarized myself with. i open it and give the door three knocks.

"are you decent?" i hear a faint 'yeah' and then i walk further into the room. i see auston sitting in a cubby with his head hanging in his hands. he's shirtless, but has on a pair of shorts. i walk over and take a seat in the cubby beside his, gingerly placing a hand on his shoulder.

"aus, what's going on?" he finally looks up and his eyes meet mine and i can see the anger in them.

"i'm going to fucking kill him, y/n." i never thought auston would ever talk about someone this way, but apparently there's a first time for everything.

"who?"

"stamkos." whatever he said had to have started the brawl.

"what'd he say?" auston breaks eye contact and looks at the floor.

"he was calling you a cheap piece of ass and saying how you're no better than a slut." i'll admit, the words stung a bit. to be perceived in that way? it was awful. however, stamkos got his karma.

"i couldn't just stand there and let him say that shit. who the fuck does he think he is? you don't talk about other guys' girls. it's just not fucking right." i massage between his shoulder blades as he goes on his rant.

"aus, baby, it's over now. right? you guys whooped their asses and handed it to them. he got what he deserved." auston shakes his head

"y/n, it doesn't matter if we beat them. he shouldn't have talked about you like that. you may not care, but i sure as hell do.” i think if this were any other situation, i’d be making a big deal over it. but seeing how auston cared so much and how it made him mad was bringing that same warm feeling in my stomach back.

i place my free hand on his thigh and feel him stiffen slightly before relaxing.

“i appreciate the fact that you care, but i promise you it’s fine now.” he nods, but i can tell that it’s still bothering him. i get on my knees in front of him and his brows furrow as he looks down at me.

“what’re you doing?” i give him a straight face

“judging by the tent in your shorts, i think you know exactly what i’m doing.” he does a quick glance around

“what if someone walks in?” i shrug my shoulders, placing my other hand on his other thigh.

“don’t be so shy now, matthews. where’s that guy i saw out on the ice?” i see his pupils widen a little bit before he smirks.

“right here, baby” i smile back and move my hands upwards to the waistband of his shorts. he lifts up his hips enough for me to slide his shorts and underwear down and off his legs. when they’re discarded, i look back at auston to see his hardened dick. i lean forward and trail kisses down his torso, starting at his pecs and i make sure to tease him.

“don’t be a tease, y/n.” auston whines and soon, im at the base. i slowly lick a stripe up his cock and i stop once i reach the tip. i take my thumb and spread the precum around his tip. i then take the head of his cock into my mouth and i hallow my cheeks, breathing in through my nose. i hear auston let out a gasp when i take him in my mouth and it makes me let out a hum of satisfaction.

i lick at his slit, also making sure to get underneath his head. i swallow more of him, placing my hand on what i can’t fit in my mouth. i do this for a few minutes and when i pull away, a string of saliva hangs from my chin. i wipe it away with my hand, looking at auston.

“why’d you stop?” auston then laces his hands through my hair at the nape of my neck and pulls my mouth back to his cock. he then starts to fuck my mouth. i look up at him through my lashes and see that his head is thrown back and his eyes are screwed shut, mouth agape as panting leaves his mouth.

“almost there, y/n.” he continues to thrust his hips harder before he stills and i feel his warm cum shoot into my mouth, hitting the back of my throat. after he came down from his high, he pulls himself out of my mouth.

“swallow,” he says and i do as told, then opening my mouth and showing him. he places a hand on my cheek and pulls me in for a kiss. i feel him hum into it before he pulls back.

“good girl. now stand up” i get up and he pulls me to him by my hips. “take your pants off” when did this become him bossing me around?

i take my pants off and set them with his. auston stands up and makes me sit in the cubby. he gets down on his knees and angles his dick at my entrance. i feel him rub himself up and down my folds. without a warning, he slowly slides himself in, stretching me out with his girth. i can feel him touch my cervix and i’m already clenching around him.

“tight already baby? i just got inside” he pulls his dick back and pushes himself back in slowly like when he entered me. he continues this rhythm for a while. he then takes his thumb and applies pressure to my clit, rubbing it softly. i throw my head back and i feel like i’m on cloud 9.

“oh my god, aus. feels so good”

“yeah?” i nod my head

“use your words, baby”

“yes. god, yes.” i hear him let out a deep chuckle and his pace quickens just slightly. i could feel the coil in my stomach coming and i knew that i was close to cumming.

“don’t cum yet, pretty girl. wait for me” i hum and i don’t let go just yet.

“okay, let go.” auston says and i feel him release inside me as i also cum. my eyes are still closed as i’m still coming down from my high when i feel auston roughly slide himself back in. it takes me aback and i let out a loud gasp.

“auston, oh my god.” a couple moans slide out of my mouth. he pulls his dick out and rams it back in.

“lift your hips for me baby” i do as told and auston continues to pound me, the newfound angle feeling amazing.

“you take me so well, pretty girl. you’re doing amazing” he places his thumb back on my clit and if i were to die right now, i’d die a happy woman.

“just like that. so good.” i’m sure that if someone were to walk by, they’d definitely hear the skin to skin contact.

“i’m close aus”

“not yet princess, wait it out.” i start to whine and get impatient. i’m seconds from saying fuck it and cumming anyways.

“aus, please”

“i know baby, i know. ‘m almost there” he continues to roughly pound into me, no doubt bruising my hip with his hard grip on it.

“okay, cum for me” those four words were all i needed to hear as i let myself go for a second time. i feel my legs shaking and i can also hear auston panting. he pulls out of me and the familiar warmth from him is gone, but only temporarily. he then picks me up and sits back down in the cubby. he places me on his lap.

“ride me” i sit up long enough to grab his cock from underneath me and place him at my entrance. once i feel his head, i sink down onto him, eliciting a moan from him.

“now rock your hips.” he places both hands on either of my hips and i move forward and backwards. i start to grind on him and i pick up my pace a little and both of us are breathing heavy and no doubt sweating. he was hitting every sweet spot and it felt like pure euphoria.

this time, i don’t wait for his permission, i cum anyways. but he continues to move my hips forward and backwards as he rides out his high, making me cum again. that’s what, four times already?

once he’s finished and i am, we sit like that for a while, just panting and basking in each other’s embrace. he tilts my chin up and gives me a passionate kiss.

“i love you,” he then pulls me up and tells me to stay where i am. he grabs his underwear and shorts and slips them back on. he looks around and finds a clean rag that they must’ve had as an extra and cleans me up.

“i love you most, auston” once he was finished, i put my pants and panties back on, and stand up. however, my legs felt weak and i was a bit wobbly.

“that good?” i look over at auston and he’s smirking

“you made me cum enough times to have a hatty, so i’d say yes.” he laughs and throws an arm around my shoulders.

“fix your hair babe, or else they’ll know that we just christened this locker room.”

tags: @jhughesl0v3r @marsmcgroarty + that anon who asked for it 🙏

a/n: posting this to satisfy you guys

[broadstbroskis]

take my hand, wreck my plans | william nylander

a/n: if you’ve been around this blog for a while, you’ve probably seen me talking about “willy fake dating fic” for quite a bit now...well here she is! settle in for a long read (the longest i’ve posted in one go before) and i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it! so so so much love to literally every single person who cheered me on while writing this, but extra special thanks to @denis-scorianov​ and @danglesnipecelly​ for all your love and support

also shoutout to my girl tswift for the title, evermore still slaps

word count: 21.5k

It’s right in the middle of the busiest hours of the day when Steph’s text comes in, which means Aubrey barely even reads the message. She sees the words dinner and Friday and responds that she’ll be there, and then goes back to trying to fix the clusterfuck of code that one of her coworkers messed up earlier in the morning before her project has to get sent off to a client at the end of the week.

By the time Friday comes around, she’s only just managed to fix the code but the project is finished enough to send off as a first draft, so Aubrey races over to Steph and Mitch’s place after work, knowing she looks frazzled as hell from the look on her best friend’s face the minute she enters their kitchen. “Sweetie.” Steph says, then bites her lip. 

The feeling is mutual to Aubrey, because she’s giving Steph the same once over that Steph’s giving her. She’d arrived from the office, which took casual Friday to the extreme, in her favorite leggings, denim jacket, and converse- still enjoying the last bit of summer before Toronto turned to fall. Meanwhile Steph was dressed up for the evening in jeans and a flowy top. Her hair was done, her makeup looked beautiful; nothing about her screamed casual dinner at home. Certainly not like the messy ponytail Aubrey was rocking, after running over from work.

“Wine?” Mitch offers, breaking the silence, and Aubrey nods immediately, forgetting entirely about...whatever is going on here in favor of the alcohol she’s been needing since she arrived at the office today.

Mitch pours a glass and offers it out, but honestly, fuck that; Aubrey reaches for the bottle instead and takes a sip. “Nope, listen, these motherfuckers-” And then, she cuts herself off abruptly as she catches sight of the single most beautiful man she has ever had the pleasure of even having in her field of vision, leaning against the counter.

“No, go ahead.” Blondie grins, and fuck that, of course, he’s got the most beautiful smile too. “These motherfuckers, what?”

“Fucked up a huge project at work this week.” Aubrey finishes, pretty lamely, compared to how heated she’d started that sentence. 

“Gonna start throwing that at Matts.” Blondie grins again. “Anytime he fucks up a pass to me. This motherfucker.”

“Heh.” She laughs, lifting the wine bottle in a cheers-esque manner, and then, not knowing what else to do, she takes another large sip.

Blondie is still grinning when Aubrey brings her bottle back down and Mitch is doing a very poor job of hiding a laugh, but it’s not hard to see that Steph’s making murder eyes that Aubrey pointedly ignores, so Steph turns her attention away with a sigh. “What’s up, Will?”

“Oh, uh, Matts and Alison nominated me to see if there was anything we could do to help.” Will says smoothly.

“We?” Mitch raises an eyebrow, at the distinct lack of we that arrived with Will.

“Well.” Will shrugs, like that should explain everything, and maybe it does, because Mitch only snorts.

“We’re okay.” Steph jumps in. “We’ll all be out soon.”

Will nods, and leaves Aubrey with one last grin, before he turns and heads out towards their back patio, which must be where dinner is taking place, but as soon as the door shuts behind him, Aubrey turns to round on Steph and Mitch. “What the fuck?”

“Me, what the fuck?” Steph, her best friend since grade school, knows exactly what she’s talking about. “You, what the fuck?”

“This was a setup?”

“You didn’t know?” Mitch cries, turning immediately to his girlfriend and looking incredibly offended.

“Yes she did!” Steph defends. “I literally texted you: Mitch has a single friend we think you’d get along with if you’re interested. Are you free friday for dinner? We were thinking of having you all over. And you said: sounds good I’ll be there.”

“Well, in my defense, work was a dumpster fire this week and I really only skim-read that text.”

“Well now I know why you showed up like that.” 

“Rude, Stephanie.” Aubrey sticks her tongue out at her best friend, grinning immediately afterwards, because Steph’s her best friend and she’s the only one she would let talk to her this way. “Just for that I’m not using a glass the entire night.”

“Not like your first impression could get any worse.” Steph deadpans.

“Meh.” Mitch shrugs. “It’s Willy. He’s done way worse.”

Steph sighs, pinches the bridge of her nose, and then looks over. “Could you use your one free hand then to take a second bottle of wine out then please? For the rest of us who’d like some, to share?”

Aubrey grins. “Gladly.”

That this was meant to be a setup couldn’t be more clear to her as the three of them make their way out to the porch with more drinks and some snacks. Mitch and Steph have dragged some of their comfier patio furniture around the firepit; there’s a couple curled into each other on one of the couches, an empty one with Mitch’s favorite type of beer on the table next to it, and one seat open on the couch that’s occupied by Will. 

Aubrey shoots Steph a look as Steph practically leaps back onto the empty couch, and then she slips herself into the empty seat next to Will. That level of distinct lack of chill is really her thing, thanks Steph.

Steph merely grins back, formally introducing her to everyone around them. And okay, their friends are cool- like Aubrey knows they are; she’s met more than a few of Mitch’s hockey friends before. She’s many-a-time fifth-wheeled dinner with Mitch and Steph and Matt and Syd. She, Mitch, and Steph still had a group chat going with a bunch of Mitch’s old teammates from the Knights. Hell, Strome and McDavid had joined Mitch in playing with her and Steph on their families’ summer softball team last summer.

But she just can’t seem to understand what they see in Will that they think he’d be good for her. Like sure he’s nice enough, and obviously good looking, and like, yeah she has a good time while she’s there, but like, sparks? Nothing. 

Regardless of the lack of sparks between them, it is a fun night, and she curls up in one of the guest rooms in Steph and Mitch’s that night, fully planning on laughing at them the next morning. 

Except, the next morning, Mitch is already gone for practice and Steph’s first question is, “So when are you going to see Will again?”

Aubrey frowns. “Uhh I don’t know. Probably whenever you have us both over for dinner again?”

Steph frowns back. “What?”

“What what?”

“You didn’t, like, give him your number? Make plans? Anything?”

“Why would we?”

“Because he’s perfect for you?”

Aubrey gives her a look. Was Steph even at the same dinner that she was? They, like, barely interacted; Will chatting more with Auston and what’s-her-name or Mitch and Auston, and her with Steph pretty much the entire night. “Perfect for me? Seriously? That’s the guy you think is perfect for me?”

She huffs. If Aubrey didn’t know her best friend better she’d think she was offended, but, well, she does. “Yes!”

“No!”

“I mean, at least give it a shot!” Steph needles.

Aubrey pulls a face. “Why? So we can break up and make things super awkward at anything you and Mitch throw for the rest of your lives? No thanks.”

“I’m telling you.” Steph says. “Perfect match.” But she drops it after that, suggesting brunch, an offer that Aubrey immediately agrees to.

-----

It’s a quick stop for Aubrey to pop home to change and pick up her roommate, Erin, before the three girls head over to what’s long been a favorite brunch spot, laughing as Aubrey and Erin watch Steph fire off a series of snapchats to Mitch featuring her bottomless mimosas- her favorite way of asking to be picked up on his way home from practice.

Erin laughs so hard she almost snorts mimosa out her nose as Aubrey and Steph recap dinner from the previous night, but once she recovers, she hits Steph with a look. “I am begging you to invite me to this next time, solely so I can watch the two of them interact.”

Aubrey gasps as Steph laughs. “Rude!”

Erin giggles, beginning to recount the date she’d gone on last night-her fourth with this guy from the gym she belongs to-and Aubrey finds herself nodding along with Steph in all the right places, as friends should, happy that Erin’s happy, especially after her shitty last boyfriend, and eager to meet this guy for more than the five minutes he’d shown up at their door. 

Her story is interrupted-for Aubrey, at least-by the vibration of her phone, and she checks the text from an unfamiliar number, rolling her eyes when she sees the message.

hey this is will, followed by an amount of emojis that could only actually be from Mitch. 

hi mitch. She sends back.

lol. Comes the response. sorry.

you don’t have to apologize for mitch. i’m familiar

Will reacts to that with a haha and then it’s a while before she checks her phone again, enjoying brunch with her girls and laughing at the look on Mitch’s face as he comes to pick Steph up and realizes he’ll be driving her and Erin back as well.

he’s really found his place between annoying and relentless. Will’s texted, when she checks again a little later, at home on the couch and pleasantly tipsy, deciding what to Netflix with Erin.

that’s his sweet spot. Aubrey sends, and then points halfheartedly at The Office on the screen, well on her way to a post-brunch nap.

-----

Aubrey knows Mitch and Steph well enough to know that’s not the end of it, and sure enough, the subtle (and not so subtle) hints keep coming. But luckily, training camp is about to begin, and so even if they do keep coming, Mitch, and by extension, Will, are both too busy for Mitch and Steph to push anything too crazy on her and Will.

Until suddenly the season begins, and even though things are still crazy for them, suddenly they’ve got days off or afternoons free and she finds that the subtleness of the hints becomes gradually less subtle.

jesus fuck. Will sends one afternoon and she laughs at it immediately, even as he continues typing. tell steph i’m sorry but mitch had to go.

She laughs loudly, which earns her a look from her nearest coworkers. right there with you.

considering just lying and telling him i already took you out last week to just get him off my back jfc. 

tried that already. knew i was lying right away. Aubrey sends back. She appreciates him trying, but come on. That was like, the first thing she tried.

well, Will sends, and then those annoying three dots appear and disappear about four times, before he finally finishes. let’s just go somewhere then and get them off our backs.

time and fucking place. She replies.

-----

Aubrey meets Will at a bar that’s close to her work, a couple days after that text exchange, just in time for the end of happy hour. He’s got a drink in front of him already, that he quickly finishes when the waiter comes to take her order, so he can order another one while she orders one of her favorite cocktails, before it becomes full price again at the start of the next hour.

“You know, I thought Mitchy would have been more…” Will trails off, looking thoughtful, but then continues after a moment. “Smug, when I told him we were going out tonight. What’d Steph say?”

“Oh don’t get me wrong. They’ll be smug to each other.” Aubrey tells him, confident that the two of them are at home right now boasting about the fact that they were right. “But if they think we’re actually on the same page now and they say anything that I hear, that would be the end. Downward tailspin, cut my hair six inches, new tattoo, you name it.” 

Will laughs. “So it’s like that?”

She nods. “A little lacking in some impulse control.” She holds her thumb and index finger up to him, with about 10cm of space between them, to show him just how poor it is, and Will laughs again. 

“Guess I’ll just have to wait for a nice, big I told you so tomorrow.” He says.

Aubrey snickers. “One a day for the next few weeks more like.”

Will shrugs. “Meh, I’ll figure something out to give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“We should.” Aubrey nods absentmindedly, as a comment she’d made to Steph right after the initial dinner comes back to her. 

“Should what?” Will frowns. 

“Give them a taste of their own medicine.”

“Where are you going with this?” Will asks curiously.

Aubrey grins, as the idea starts to form. “A tragic break up to make things so awkward for the two of them that they’ll regret setting us up in the first place.”

Will pauses for a long moment, but then he grins and leans toward her. “I’m listening.”

-----

Steph is bouncing when Aubrey walks into their weekly Thursday barre class. She’s sure she knows why, but Aubrey gives her a strange look anyway when she slides in next to her. “What?”

“What?” Steph repeats. “Seriously?”

Aubrey laughs. “Use your words, Stephanie.”

“Bitch, you know what I want.” Steph says, which makes the woman in front of them turn and give them a scandalized look.

Aubrey giggles. She’d really just wanted to annoy Steph a little but that was totally worth it all. “Yeah I know. It was good. Like whatever.”

“I hate you so much.”

“I’m going to see him again!”Aubrey protests. “What more do you want from me? I’m not going to like, profess my undying love for him after one date. I’m not Mitch.”

“It was like, our fifth date, and he didn’t profess his undying love for me! He just said he loved me!” Steph huffs as Aubrey snickers. She laughs about it now, they all do, a thing she teases both of her friends about, but she vividly remembers the panic Steph had been in coming home from that date. 

“Well.” She says, grinning. “I guess I’ve got four dates to go then. Or maybe Will does.”

“Will’s too chill to do anything like that.” Steph decides, just as their usual instructor enters. “Ridiculous shit is definitely more your move.”

Aub thinks back to her date with Will the other night, where they’d carefully crafted an entire narrative to start this fake relationship, and fights back a grin, because she’s pretty sure Will can be just as ridiculous. He just does a better job at hiding it. 

-----

Just after noon one day, a few weeks into her arrangement with Will, Aubrey’s phone buzzes and she more than welcomes the interruption from the current project she’s working on.

need a favor. Will’s sent, followed immediately by, please.

sure, what’s up?

His name pops up on her screen next and Aubrey frowns, swiping to accept the call. “Hey.”

“I’m downstairs.” Will says and she frowns, both at the skipped greeting, and at his words.

“Of my office?” She blurts.

“Yeah.” Will says, like it’s the most casual thing in the world, and Aubrey pushes her chair back abruptly.

“Uh ok. I’ll be right down.” She’s already pushing the button for the elevator, waving off the coworker calling after her, asking if everything’s okay. 

Will’s waiting outside, with two cups of coffee in hand, and even though he’d said that he was, Aubrey’s still kind of surprised to see him. He passes her one of the cups in his hand and she takes it, thanking him as she does. “So what’s up?”

“I need a favor.” Will says, starting to walk, and Aubrey follows easily, sipping on the latte he’d brought her. 

She laughs. “You said. What do you need?”

“The team’s got this thing on Friday.” Aubrey gives him a look, because she knows what the thing the team has on Friday is, Steph’s been talking about it for a few weeks now, and it is not as casual as Will is throwing it out to her right now. “And I think I need you to come with me.”

“Do you though?” Aubrey says. “Do you really?”

“I tried for you not to.” Will admits, shooting her a grin, which she appreciates. “But, well, it’s a thing I would have brought any other girlfriend to and then Mitchy opened his mouth too…” He trails off.

“So find a dress.” Aubrey sums up.

Will nods. “Please. I’ll pay for it.” He adds, but she brushes it off. 

“If we’re still stuck in this for Blue and White, you can buy me a dress then.” She grins, and Will returns the grin.

“Deal.” 

-----

Fixing her curls one last time in the mirror by the door, Aubrey grabs her clutch and runs downstairs to meet her Uber. She’s late, not like super late, but more so than she’d  hoped to be, even after texting Will that she was running behind with work and that she’d have to meet him at the venue probably, if he didn’t want to be late.

She shoots off a text to him when she gets in the car, letting him know she’s on her way, and makes polite chatter for a few minutes with her driver, leg bouncing anxiously until he pulls up to where she needs to be.

Will’s standing outside the door when she pulls up, like he’s waiting for her as if this was an actual date, looking at something on his phone in the meantime, which gives Aubrey a minute to take a peek at his suit. He looks good; she might not have any desire to actually date Will, but she can absolutely admit to both herself and anyone (including Steph) that he’s probably the most objectively attractive human she’s ever met, and the suit only ramps that up. It’s custom made, perfectly fitted, a navy blue that brings out his eyes, and maybe a little more casual than some others she’s seen but in a good way. 

His choice in suits makes her feel better about what she’s wearing. Aubrey’d been trying to work off what Steph was wearing, while making sure that what she'd picked out wasn’t overly fancy for the evening or too similar to what Steph had already chosen, ending up in a knee length dress with a sheer high neckline. 

“Hey!” She smiles, catching his attention, mildly disappointed that he doesn’t even flinch in surprise, only looks up as smooth as can be and returns her smile.

“Hey.” He slips his phone in his pocket, reaching out for her hand.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” Aubrey says immediately, that terrible feeling of letting anyone down instantly relieved when Will waves her off. 

“You haven’t even missed the entire cocktail hour.” He says and she feels her eyes widen as he nods solemnly. “Yeah, it’s like that.”

“Our first stop better be to get me a glass of wine.”

Will laughs, pressing the button for the elevator. “Wouldn’t dream of it being anywhere else.”

Will refreshes his own drink as well, and selects a red wine for her after Aub hems and haws over the options for a minute, a choice that she almost can’t bring herself to take a sip of once the glass is in her hand, for fear that she’ll never be able to drink another Malbec again, guessing this one is well out of her price range based on name and bottle appearance alone. (She takes a sip anyway, it’s as delicious as she’d expected).

Will’s smiling, as if waiting for her reaction, like there’s not a wine she doesn’t like (well, chardonnay, but like, even that she’ll drink if it’s all that available). “Should we do this?” Aubrey asks him, ready to watch him be roasted by teammates for the evening, and he nods, hand moving to the small of her back, leading her deep into the crowd.

But for all the shit he claims to have taken recently about her, they must be on their best behavior, out in public. Everyone he introduces her to is nothing but friendly; the few people she’s met before this event greet her with smiles and open arms, welcoming her into the fold. 

“Are you sure these are the same teammates you warned me about?” She asks Will, when they have a minute to themselves, just finishing up a long and very nice conversation with Justin Holl, Jake Muzzin and their wives, and thinking of the series of texts he’d sent her this morning about “all these assholes.”

“They’re being nice, just for you.” He insists. His arm is still at her waist; it’s barely left there all night. 

“Ugh, so I grew up with seven siblings and I’m not even going to be able to use the skills I got from that to throw down?” She jokes. “What was the point?”

Will actually stops walking for a second, drawing her into him quickly when she stumbles, not expecting the abrupt stop in walking. “You have seven siblings?”

Aubrey nods, wondering if she should bother getting into her family dynamics right now, and settles for a short version. “On my mom’s side, yeah. My parents divorced when I was a baby, and they both remarried. My brother and I have more siblings from both of them; it’s just like a whole thing with my dad.” She winces.

Will’s grinning again, though, like he didn’t even catch it, and he points to himself. “One of six.”

“Oh my god!” She blurts out excitedly, before she can help herself. There’s not many people she knows with sibling counts even close to hers, step and half siblings including, let alone a family like Will’s. “See, you get it!”

“Get what?” She hadn’t even realized that Mitch and Steph had approached them, until Mitch pokes in nosily.

“That younger siblings are actual monsters.” 

“You talk to your sisters everyday!” Mitch frowns, because he doesn’t get it; he never has.

“Yeah, your point?” Aubrey gives him a look as the others laugh around them. “That’s literally what having younger siblings is, and you just don’t know it because you are one.”

“Shots fired.” Steph nudges him.

“You’re the younger sibling too!” he nudges her back.

“Mmm, traditionally, Aub and I count all our siblings together, soo.” She trails off, laughing at the look on Mitch’s face.

Aubrey’s nodding; their families had grown up so close that it wasn’t uncommon to see Steph and her sister hanging around with Aubrey and her brothers, from the time they were children, all the way until today. “That’s why when Cam starts driving me crazy when she’s here next weekend, I’m just dropping her at your place. Basically the same thing.”

“Ohh, so she’s definitely coming?” Steph asks, eyes wide.

Aubrey nods. “Confirmed it with my mom today, I’m going to meet her halfway.” She pauses for the briefest of seconds. “Want to come?”

“Yes! Coffee on the way?”

“Obviously!”

“Yeah, Will and I are definitely going to sit this one out.” Mitch nods firmly.

“You weren’t actually invited, but okay.” Steph pats his shoulder mock-comfortingly. “But we should all do dinner when we get back!”

It takes everything in Aubrey not to show the internal panic on her face. She’s insanely close with her sisters, despite the age gap- she’s close with all her siblings, the brothers that she’d grown up probably terrorizing their parents together and the younger ones that terrorize them all now. It was probably unrealistic to think she could make it through “dating” Will without him meeting any of them, especially knowing how close Steph is with them too. “Yeah, that would be fun.”

She feels Will squeeze her side gently, almost comfortingly, but before they can get much further with this conversation, someone’s coming around and asking them to find their seats for dinner, so they split off to their tables, with promises to make plans for the following Friday over the next few days.

-----

Will’s quiet on the drive home after dinner, in his very expensive car, which is fine because Aubrey spends that time marveling over it. Like, she knew he was boujie, but, wow. 

“Is your sister staying all next weekend?” Will asks, abruptly interrupting Aubrey’s caress of the soft leather of the seat beneath her legs.

“Hm? Oh yeah.” She nods. “Cam’s been a super pain since Kayls started high school this year since she’s still back in junior high, but worse since Kayls just got invited to her first high school party and it’s next weekend.” She sees Will’s wince out of the corner of her eye and laughs. “Oh my god, you don’t even know the half of it! When I texted Cam to invite her up next weekend, she was like why would I want to come hang out with a bunch of old people like you anyway?” 

Will’s laughing and Aubrey’s jaw drops until he shares, “When I was home last summer, my youngest sister made me drop her off at a friend’s house three doors away because I wasn’t cool enough to be seen with.”

She actually laughs at that- if Will, an actual professional hockey player, isn’t cool enough to be seen with, then who is?- but the attitude is so familiar.  “They’re super close, Kayls and Cam, and like I kinda get why Cam’s being super annoying about a lot of shit. Like, I know she feels like she’s being left behind. But god, does she have to take it out on the rest of us?” She shakes her head, clearing both the thoughts and a piece of hair out of her face. “It’s just the age, my mom and I talk about it all the time. They’ll be nice again in a few years.”

Will glances over at her briefly with a look of panic on his face, before flicking his eyes back to the road. “That’s not really a comforting statement. As someone with three younger sisters,” He clarifies. “Not someone meeting yours this weekend.” Aubrey giggles. “But actually, I was wondering what your plans were with her on Saturday night? If you wanted tickets to the game for you guys?”

“Oh!” Aubrey blinks in surprise. “That would...that would actually be really nice. She’d like that.”

“Yeah?” She can hear the smile in Will’s voice.

“Well, she’d like the flex on all her friends on Monday.” Aub admits, knowing that her sister could probably care less about actually seeing a Leafs game. “And on the boys, they’d be super jealous.” At his glance, she clarifies. “Cam’s a triplet.”

He mutters something under his breath and she giggles again; she’s pretty sure that was Swedish and she can guess what it was. “But they’re not coming?”

“Not this weekend.” She confirms. She is definitely not hosting all three of Cam, Tyler, and Danny for the entire weekend. No way, no how. “But once they find out you’re offering tickets? I’m sure my phone will be ringing.”

“You know where to find me.” Will shrugs, pulling up in front of her building. “Thanks for coming tonight.”

Aubrey grins at him. “Fooled Steph and Mitch no problems.”

It feels like it takes a second for the comment to register with Will, but when it does, he returns the grin. “Yeah, no problems.”

-----

Steph waits until they are well on the road to meet her mom and both sisters (because in a surprise twist that everyone saw coming, a high schooler got grounded and a party was cancelled) sitting in stop and go traffic, before bringing up what Aubrey knows she’s been dying to ask. “So how’s Will?”

“Fine?” She responds, before she remembers that she’s supposed to know these things and hastens to finish. “It’s been a busy week with like, work and this shit, but like, he’s good.”

Steph makes a noise, like she’s unsatisfied with that answer and Aubrey gives her a look after she’s braked with the masses, waiting for it to pick up again. “But, like, how are the two of you?”

Ah. Ok. So that’s what this is about. “We’re good.” She assures Steph, absolutely certain her best friend is going to see right through her. “Just like, figuring shit out, you know? It’s still new.”

Steph’s nodding. “I mean, it wouldn’t be if you’d just gone out when Mitch and I first brought you to dinner…”

“Stephanie.” Aubrey says warningly, picking up speed, probably with too much hope that the traffic has cleared.

“Fine!” Steph laughs. “I know, I can’t say I told you so to you or you’re going to panic and break up with him and probably dye your hair and get bangs or something, but like. I’m super happy for you guys. You were so cute last week.”

“What?” Aub says blankly, because she really doesn’t have much else to say, but it doesn’t seem to matter, because Steph’s on a roll now.

“Like, Will couldn’t take his eyes off you the entire night.” She continues. “It was super cute; he kept, like reaching for you, you kept finding him.” She taps Aubrey’s leg excitedly. “Ok, I know I said I wouldn’t, but I’m too fucking excited and I knew you’d be perfect for each other, I knew it.”

“Oh, look! There’s a tattoo place right at the next light.” Aub says loudly, even though she has no intention of getting a tattoo right now- all four of her tattoos were impulsive decisions and the three threats she’s made since she’s gotten in the car feel like far too much thought, not to mention the time crunch they’re on to get back for dinner-but it does serve as the threat she intends. Steph clearly has no desire to try and talk her out of getting one today and switches the topic to something she just saw on the Insta of one of their friends, which lasts them until they pull into the parking lot that’s serving as the meeting point.

“Aub!” For all that Cameron pretends she’s too cool for everything, just like every 14 year old Aubrey can remember, she throws herself at Aubrey the second that Aub and Steph get out of the car. 

Aub squeezes her back, wondering when she got so tall. “Hey Cammie.” Cam swats at her as she pulls back. She hates that nickname, the one that Aub and her three older brothers have called her basically her entire life, but they’ve never stopped, no matter how much their youngest sibling had begged. “Where’s Kayls?”

“Here!” Kaylee huffs from next to their mom, who’s chatting with Steph, has been since she hugged her the minute she got out of the car. 

Aubrey’s eyes narrow, taking in the sibling who looks most like her. “Is that my sweater?”

“No.” Kaylee says too quickly to be true. “Are we ready? We have dinner plans, right?”

“Meeting Aubrey's new boyyyyfriend.” Cam sings, and Aubrey shoves her hand in her sister's face. 

“Not if you’re going to act like that, we don’t.”

“Girls.” Their mom pauses, mid-reach for Aubrey, to give her youngest two daughters a full-on mom look. “Be nice.”

Aubrey laughs at the looks on their faces, before clutching at her mom. “Hi momma. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Her mom squeezes. “Thanks for this gift.” She whispers and winks because Aub knows that her mom loves all eight of them dearly, but these two in particular are driving her nuts right now. “See you Sunday, at Luke’s.”

“Bye, I’m sure I’ll call you ten times before tomorrow!” Aubrey waves at her mom as she gets in her car, sliding back into the driver’s seat of her own, where Steph, Kaylee, and Cam are chattering to each other as they buckle their seatbelts. 

It’s just as she’s pulling back onto the road that Kayls gasps. “Aub, I think I forgot to pack toothpaste.”

“Ohh, me too!” Cam realizes.

Aubrey exchanges a look with Steph quickly. It’s not looking promising that she won’t be making a call to her mom, to talk her off the ledge.

-----

“What do you mean, you didn’t bring pants?” Aubrey rubs her temples as she stares at her sister.

Kaylee shrugs. “I forgot to pack them.”

“I forgot shirts.” Cam calls from the bathroom, where she’d just showered. “Can I borrow one?”

“Did you bring anything?” Aubrey asks wearily. “Toothbrush? Underwear?”

“Of course I brought underwear.” Kaylee huffs, sounding legit offended, like she didn’t forget to pack pants on a weekend trip away.

“Well excuse me for thinking you might not have, since you didn’t bring anything else!”

Her phone buzzes on the nightstand again; it’s got to be the third or fourth time, but she’s honestly been so caught up in her sisters that she hasn’t had time to check. “Just, like, grab whatever from the closet. We’re already late.”

Sure enough, it’s Will texting, letting her know he’s downstairs. be down in a few, She responds, not bothering to go into the whole pants story. “Girls! Three minutes!” She grins at their shrieks, packing a couple things into her purse and laughing to herself as she listens to them get ready. “Kayls! Cam!”

“We’re ready!” They rush out together, Kayls dressed in a pair of her favorite jeans and Cam in one of her favorite sweaters-how they always manage to find her favorites is ridiculous-but they don’t have time for her to make them change. 

“Ugh.” Aubrey just says instead, ushering them out and locking it behind her. “Come on, Will’s been waiting.”

“Will’s here?”

“Yes?” She frowns at the two of them. “Where else would he be?” But Kaylee and Cam are already giggling to each other, enough for her to roll her eyes to herself as she leads them out to Will’s car, knowing it’s definitely too much to expect them to just be cool.

“Hey.” Will greets, as she slips into the passenger seat.

“Hi.” She returns, smiling at him.

“Uh, hi?” Cam says impatiently from the backseat. Will laughs, but Aub gives her a look.

“It’s been literally two seconds. Could you, like, chill?”

“Nope!”

Aub side-eyes her again, but turns back to Will. “These are my sisters, Cam and Kaylee.” They greet him eagerly, a sentiment he returns, and then spends the entire car ride to the restaurant where they’re meeting Steph and Mitch at answering every question they ask with absurd patience. 

“Oh, I smell garlic.” Kaylee says, once Will has dropped his car off with valet. 

“It smells delicious.” Aub corrects, because it’s definitely heavy on the garlic, but it smells heavenly. 

Will smiles over at both of them, though Aub’s not sure if he means it more for Kaylee or her. “This is one of my favorite restaurants.”

“Really?” She blurts out, before she can stop herself, and he nods, reaching for her hand. 

“Great food.” He confirms. “Come on; Mitch and Steph are already here.”

That certainly serves to get her sisters moving-all her younger siblings have stopped being impressed by Mitch but they still love seeing him just as much as they love seeing Steph- and they push their way into through the doors quickly enough that Aubrey rushes to catch up to them, not trusting them alone, and tugging Will along with her.

Cam and Kaylee have already found Mitch and Steph, already chatting away with the two of them, like they didn’t just see Steph two hours ago in the car, and Aubrey and Will slip into the last two seats at the table. 

“You good?” Will nudges her as they sit. 

Aubrey nods. “Yeah. Pretty good.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Pretty good.”

“Well, Frick and Frack may legitimately drive me crazy this weekend but.” She shrugs. “We’ll see.”

“What happened to dropping them off with Steph if they drove you too crazy?”

She laughs. “God, if only, Will. If only.”

“Will!” Kaylee interrupts, looking up briefly from her menu. “What’s good here?”

“Will! What’s this mean?” Cam adds and Aubrey takes a deep breath, even as Will looks like it’s his absolute pleasure to walk them through the names of some of the different dishes on the menu. 

“Wine, please.” Aubrey requests from the waiter, the second he arrives at the table. “Literally, anything you’ve got.”

But Will waves that off, ordering a bottle of red for the table, in perfect French. “Show off.” She grumbles at him quietly and he grins at her from over the top of Cam’s menu, before he goes back to helping her out.

From her other side, Steph’s hiding her own smile, or rather, doing a very poor job at hiding one. “What?” Aubrey presses.

“Nothing.” Steph says. “Just happy to be having dinner all together.”

“Well that’s bullshit.” Aubrey calls her out, at the very blatant lie; Mitch snorts into his hand to cover his laugh. “But always happy to be having dinner with you too.”

Steph beams, clinking her wine glass with Aubrey’s the second the waiter fills them both. “Again, tomorrow, pregame?”

Aub looks over at her sisters, who have moved away from asking Will menu questions and are, instead, asking him questions about the bun in his hair. “Assuming you aren’t bailing me out of jail instead? Sure.”

-----

Aubrey Dupont: we’re going to do apps with steph pregame but want to say thanks again for tix tonight! want to do dinner again with us after if you’re free? 

Will Nylander: i’m free dinner sounds good 😁 it’ll be late though once I get out

Aubrey Dupont: that’s fine! Id say breakfast but we’ve got to leave pretty early tomorrow to get to my brothers to knock a wall down!

Will Nylander: ….holy shit cam was serious

Aubrey Dupont: 😂😂lollll yeah they’re opening up the dining room and living room! We’re all going out to take the wall down, we’re supposed to meet Steph and Mitch and then head out

Will Nylander: lol does mitch know? he booked us a tee time Sunday 

Aubrey Dupont: stfu he did not😂 lol he probably just doesn’t want to get iced that early

Will Nylander: haha what??

Aubrey Dupont: hahaha the first time steph brought him home to meet our families, it was my parents Christmas Eve party, my brothers iced him like three times in the first hour. He was so trashed he couldn’t even walk back next door to Steph’s house. 

It’s just like a thing we do, all our siblings and he was not prepared for it at all 😂

Will Nylander: sooo if I left one in his locker this week, how much trouble would you be in?

Aubrey Dupont: lol a lot but it’d be worth it, you should 100% do that

Mitch Marner: we’re knocking down a wall tomorrow wtf why didn’t you tell me? I’ll brave a Smirnoff to knock down a fucking wall. What time are you and Will picking us up?

Will Nylander: i fucked up, sorry

-----

“That’s really cute!” Zach Hyman’s wife smiles as she hands Kaylee her phone back. 

“Thank you.” Aubrey mouths to her, as Cam and Kayls flock to the phone to check out the pictures she’s taken of them, and Alannah smiles at her knowingly. Aub’s sure she’s got sisters of her own. 

“I’ll see you soon.” Alannah promises. “We should do dinner soon, the three of us, next time the boys are out of town.” And then she’s pushing her way toward Zach before Aub can respond to anything.

“Not a word.” Aubrey says warningly to her sisters, as Steph snickers, thinking of how picky the two of them are about pictures almost always.

“These are actually really cute though.” Cam says, like she even means it.

“Yeah, she did good.” Kayls adds, sliding her phone back into her purse.

“So happy they meet your standards.” Steph says dryly.

“They are the ones to meet.” Kayls flips her hair and it’s all Aubrey can do to fight back a laugh. She honest to god forgets how funny they are sometimes, when they’re driving her as crazy as they are now. 

“You’re too much.” Aubrey tells her and Kaylee grins, looping her arms around Aub’s shoulders and squeezing tightly. “Okay, now you’re really too much. You’re suffocating me; get off! Look,” She nudges Kaylee away, noticing quickly that Mitch has appeared recently- without Will, but with Auston-and tries to draw her attention there instead. “Mitch is here, bother him instead.”

Kaylee peers over. “Honestly, who even cares about Mitch? I’d rather bother Will instead.”

Mitch’s jaw drops as Steph and Auston laugh, but Aubrey feels the tension immediately in her shoulders. “Jesus Christ, could you just say thank you to Will so he doesn’t think you’re a literal monster like the rest of the world does?”

“Thanks, Will!” Kaylee and Cam chorus, and she glares at them right up until she feels a presence at her side and realizes he’s actually right there. 

“It was great to have you guys here this weekend.” Will smiles at them, sounding absolutely sincere, not a hint of sarcasm. 

“We had so much fun.” Kayls is already gushing before Aub can even turn her death glare to her. 

“What’d you guys do today?” Will asks her and again, it’s the sincerity that gets Aub, like he actually cares to listen to her sisters tell him about the brunch place that she and Steph took them to this morning, the stores they hit afterwards, a few of their favorite spots, before they had to go home and get ready for the game. 

He’s sweet and attentive, asking all the questions that he should and nodding in all the right places. “You guys still want dinner?” He asks, probably as soon as he can find a time to interrupt. He’s got to be absolutely starving after that game.

“Yes.” Aubrey answers for them all; she doesn’t really care what her sisters actually have to say on the matter. If Will’s hungry, they’ll eat right now whether they want to or not.

“Can we go back to that bakery we went to earlier, first?” Cam asks, and Aubrey straight up glares at her, but before she can even say no, Cam’s already whining to her. “Oh my, god, seriously? Stop, Aubrey!”

“Ryan, like, swears you’re fun; I just don’t see it.” Kaylee adds, about their brother, the one just younger than Aub.

And like, Aubrey knows they’re just trying to get under her skin, but like, Jesus Christ. “That’s because Ryan’s an actual adult and whenever you two come up here I have to be your literal mom, because you forget to bring toothbrushes and pants and use manners!”

“Take like four deep breaths.” Will says, in that chill way he is about basically everything, and immediately Aubrey feels her glare swing over toward him. That’s basically being told to calm down and there’s literally nothing fucking worse than that, doesn’t he know that?

Probably not. He’s probably never been told to calm down in his life. Jesus, what was it again that made Steph think he was perfect for her?

Mitch, probably recognizing that Aubrey’s about to lose it, pulls Cam into his side for a one-armed hug, mentioning that he’s starving, which at least cues Kaylee into the fact that Will might be too. “Yeah, dinner does actually sound good.” Her eyes flicker over to Will first, before landing on Aubrey, and only when Aub sees the flicker of remorse in them does she actually take that breath that Will had mentioned. 

“What time are we meeting in the morning?’ Steph asks, and Aub knows she’s looking to smooth over any potential blow up.

“9:22.” She deadpans, laughing at Mitch’s face.

“It’s supposed to be a nice day!” He protests. “I wouldn’t have made a tee time if you two had told me we were knocking down a wall! I had to hear it from Willy! What’s this shit?”

“Kicked out of the group chat again.” Aub shrugs, even though she knows well and truly that he hasn’t been- and won’t be again until sometime early spring, when someone does it symbolically for a day as they do every year.

“I’ll kick you out of the group chat.” Mitch says childishly, as Steph tries to collect him, Auston already ready to leave, and promising Aub that they’ll make plans later that night about the next morning.

“Will, where do you want to take us tonight for food?” Kayls asks, as they part ways in the lot.

Will looks a little startled. “Oh! Uh, what-where do you guys want to go?”

“We want to go where you like to eat.” Cam says. “We’ll eat anything.”

Will looks at her for confirmation and Aubrey nods; none of them are picky eaters. “Sushi?” He suggests and both girls nod excitedly, racing off towards Will’s car. “See?” He nudges her as they walk to catch up. “They’re fine.”

She glares up at him; he bumps her again and then again, repeatedly until she smiles. “They’re not awful.” She agrees, especially now that they’ve reminded her just how nice they can really be, at times.

Will’s grinning, matching her own smile. “I know you love them.”

“Don’t call me out like that, William.” He mimes zipping his lips and she laughs. “Ugh, you dork. Let’s go eat.”

-----

Kayls and Cam are in peak hurricane form, only barely dressed and nowhere near packed and ready to go, when Will texts to announce that he’s arrived to pick them up in the morning, so Aub just responds with her apartment number and tells him to come up.

He arrives at her door a minute or two later, with a guest in tow. “Mitchy invited him.” Will explains sheepishly, as he and Auston make themselves at home at the breakfast bar in her kitchen.

“Sorry to just, like, crash.” Auston adds.

Aubrey blinks at them. She feels like Will, of all people, should know better. “There’s legit eight of us; we adopt strays all the time.” He cracks up at that; they both do actually, and she smiles, just as Kayls shouts something about Cam stealing her leggings, from where they’re still in her room gathering her stuff.

“They’re not even yours!” Cam shouts. “Aubrey, tell her I got them first.”

“Well I was planning on wearing them!”

“Well you didn’t say that!”

“It’s just like being at home.” Auston says, smiling fondly enough that Aub laughs. “Make sure you check the straightener before you leave or they’ll fight about who forgot to turn it off in the car.” And then she straight up cackles; that’s a fight she knows well.

Auston and Will are both laughing as well, even as she hears her sisters shout for her. She ignores it, running her hands over her temples and turns towards the cabinet. “Coffee?” She asks them, and they both laugh as a muffled shout can be heard.

“Please.” Will says and Auston agrees so she pours mugs for them both, making idle chit chat, interrupted occasionally as they wait for her sisters to finally appear and be ready to leave. 

They do, eventually, far later than Aubrey would have liked, and late enough that she’s grinding her teeth about it, loud enough that Will nudges her gently when she passes him to get her coat. He’s right though, it’s not like they’re in a rush to get out to her brother's house, but she’s anxious enough by that point to get moving that she doesn’t even realize what Kayls has taken from her closet to wear until they’re all climbing into Will’s backseat. “Oh my god, what are you wearing?”

“They’re literally yours!” Kayls snaps back and that’s not a lie, but it’s not what Aub’s got issue with either. It’s the absurdly clashing patterns in her leggings and oversized long-sleeve.

“I never wear them together.”

“That’s because your fashion sense is basic a-f.” Kayls pronounces each letter individually and Aub knows, she knows that Will and Auston are laughing at the look of disbelief on her face, even if she can’t see them. “You should take some tips from Will; his is on point.”

“Thanks, Kayls!” Will beams at her through the rearview mirror.

Aubrey ignores him. “Will’s homeless, that’s why he dresses like that.” She deadpans, which he protests immediately even as Auston cracks up.

“You’re not homeless.” Cam says to her, and it’s the fake innocent thing that does it for Aub. “Will could live with you.”

Aub pulls a face even as Auston just laughs even harder and Cam stares at her like she’s waiting for an actual answer. “Walked right into that one.” She mutters to herself, as Will meets her eyes in the mirror. He’s fighting back a grin; she can see the laughter in his eyes. “Will, coffee at the next Tim’s, please?” She’s going to need one to get through this.

Will’s full on grinning now, but he pulls off at the next exit in search of coffee and hands over his credit card before she can even object. The rest of the ride to her brother’s house feels like it passes in a flash, Kayls and Cam tumbling out of the car to greet Luke practically before Will’s even put it in park. 

The only thing that stops Aubrey from having a complete heart attack is the immediate sense of calm she feels from no longer calling herself in charge. Luke’s here; he can deal with this shit now.

She feels Will laughing at her as they exit the car. “I thought you’d be more nervous.” He says, as they walk toward her brother, side by side, with Auston.

She snickers. “For what?” And then leans herself into Luke for a hug. “Hi!”

“Jesus, what’d you give them before you brought them here?” Luke returns the hug. 

“Literally anything that would shut them up.” She says, dead serious, and then introduces Will, and Auston, almost as an afterthought. 

Luke is friendly and welcoming, like she knew he would be. They’ve never had the overprotective sibling relationship she hears about from people. They’re too close in age, only a year apart in school; or too close in general, sharing too much as they grew up shuffled to their dad and stepmom’s every other weekend for their court-mandated time. She’s never doubted that he has her back, but he lets her live her life, no matter how stupid the decisions she might make (though he’s certainly not shy about telling her when he thinks she making one).

“Fitz and Steph and Mitch here yet?” She wonders, as they walk inside, the chatter between her sisters and sister-in-law already evident.

“Running late.” Luke says. “But Ryan’s upstairs sleeping. He stayed last night.”

She grins at him, contemplating running up to wake him, but in the end decides against it, settling for following the sound of her sisters’ voices into the kitchen. Rachel’s standing at the counter, setting out snacks and listening patiently as Kayls and Cam detail their entire weekend to her.

“-Will got us tickets for Saturday’s game-”

“-we ate at this amazing sushi place-”

“Rach!” Aubrey interrupts, tugging her sister-in-law away from Kayls and Cam, who are talking over each other. “Come meet Will.”

Rachel sends her a grateful look and immediately turns her bright smile at Will and Auston, introducing herself to them both and offering them drinks. By the time that she, Luke, and Aub finish getting drinks for everyone, Ryan’s coming downstairs, rubbing a hand over his face sleepily, and the introductions begin all over again.

Then Aubrey and Steph’s parents come in with her two youngest brothers, which cues another round of that, and then finally, Steph, Mitch, and Fitz roll in, which has Aubrey cackling when Auston leans over and whispers. “You didn’t tell us your brother is Little Fred?”

“What the fuck are you on?” She frowns at him, but Will’s got the same look on his face.

Will nods over at Fitz, the stepbrother who’d been in the same grade as her growing up and one of her best friends for about as long as she could remember. Said brother is currently trying to mess up Cam’s hair with one hand, while fighting one of her triplets, Tye, for the last danish. “He’s come out with us a few times, I guess with Mitch? He looks like Fred.” She gives the two of them a look. Literally the only thing her brother and their goalie have in common is red hair. Will shrugs. “Little Fred.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” She declares. “The bar is so low.”

“Must be.” Ryan nudges her side. She hadn’t even heard him come up beside her. “Dating you and all.” 

She flips him off and he grins; Ryan’s actually the sibling closest in age to her, with the way all their birthdays work out, but from Luke to Ryan, all four of them are close and when Steph and her sister were added in there as well…well, the group chat gets chaotic.

“Hey!” Her mom snaps her fingers at them. “I don’t want to see any of that today.” And Aub can feel it in her face, the look she’s giving back to her mom, like certain that she’s not serious, because, honestly, has she met any of them? She peeks over at Ryan; he’s fighting back a laugh and that’s all it takes for her mom to lose it, the seriousness on her face quickly turning into a laugh.

It’s enough to get them all moving though, toward the wall they’re going to be tackling today, where they’re divided into teams by her stepdad and Steph’s dad, the only two who competently know what they’re doing.

“Ohhh!” Cam says immediately drifting towards the power saw. “Can I use this?”

Will pulls it away from her hands before she has the chance to even touch it and Aubrey’s calling out to her stepdad. “Mike! Are we stuck with these people all day?”

“Yes.” Her stepdad calls back; he’s already showing Tye and Danny how to demo their end of the wall.

Aub looks at Will and immediately mouths, “I’m sorry,” but he’s already loudly laughing at her. She kinda hates that he’s laughing at her, but she hates even more how contagious his laughter is.

-----

It’s a little past dinner time and Aubrey’s exhausted, too tired even to take her empty pizza plate to the kitchen trash can from where she’s sitting on the family room floor. 

Around her, the rest of her family is in a similar state. Ryan’s actually asleep on one end of the couch, and on the other end, Auston’s half-heartedly grumbling at Derek Carr and the Raiders, while Steph’s lying across Mitch’s lap on the other side of the room. It’s about as quiet as they’ve all ever been, even Mitch and her sisters, which is how she knows they’re all exhausted.

Next to her, Will’s been quietly munching on a plate of fries since he finished his pizza a while ago. Aubrey reaches over and steals one from him. “Hey!” He protests.

“You’ve had the whole plate!” She thought she ate a lot; she honestly doesn’t know where he puts it all. “I just wanted a couple!”

“A couple?” Will repeats and Aubrey nods with a grin, reaching out and swiping another one from the plate. “Keep this up and we’re going to have to stop for second dinner on the way home.”

“I could probably eat again by then.” She rationalizes, stealing another. 

Will laughs, sliding the plate over a few inches toward her, and Aubrey grins triumphantly. It’s quiet for a minute, or mostly quiet, the only sound for the next minute Auston moaning about a fumble, and Kaylee and Cam asking a question about it and then giggling to each other about it before they even get a full answer to it. 

It’s Auston’s perplexed face that reminds her and she nudges Will as she goes in for another fry. “Hey.” She bumps him again, grabbing his attention. “Thanks.”

Will hums, sounding almost confused, and glances over at her. Every time Aubrey thinks it’s impossible for him to be more good looking, he proves her wrong; and always doing the most innocent things. He’s just looking at her, with this tiny little smile, but the light’s catching his eyes and they look impossibly blue and gentle, so soft like the rest of him does right now, in a way he almost never publicly is. “For what?”

“For putting up with my sisters all weekend and their increasingly ridiculous comments.”

Will laughs and he’s so close that she can feel the vibration. He’s leaning back against the wall again, but his head’s tilted a little, just barely leaning against hers, and Aub leans into it a little as he starts to talk. “My two youngest sisters play this game, every time we go to the airport, yeah? After we’ve said goodbye and everything. It’s like this competition between them, for who gets the last touch. And they’ll like chase me down as far as they can until I get to security, back and forth between the two of them…”

Aubrey’s already giggling, picturing the scene. “Same shit, different day,” She summarizes the weekend.

He flicks his finger across her nose and she giggles again. “Bingo.”

-----

It’s only when they’re back in the car and on the highway back toward Toronto after stopping for sushi for a second dinner that Auston says, sounding entirely too casual to actually be casual, “So, like, what’s really going on here with you two?”

Aub feels her stomach drop and it takes everything in her not to look at Will, who of fucking course, plays it enitrely cool. “What do you mean?”

Auston leans forward, from the middle seat in the back, which he’d generously offered to take so that she could sit up with Will even though she’d insisted he’d want the leg room up front; she’s starting to wonder if there was more to it than that. He gestures between the two of them. “It’s just, like, not how you usually are with girls.”

Will’s head whips back to look at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He demands.

“Will!” Aubrey hisses. “Eyes on the road.”

Auston’s cackling as Will turns his attention back to driving, but continues to eye him up through the rearview mirror. Aubrey twists in her seat; she can still stare him down. “So anyway,” He continues. “There’s that. And then, I mean, I was in the car with him when you literally texted him your apartment number. That was pretty sketch.”

Aub swings her gaze over to Will. “It came over Bluetooth.” He defends. 

She pats his thigh. “Stick with hockey, kay?”

He laughs, and when she looks back at Auston, he’s laughing too, but he’s also got this thoughtful look on his face. “So anyway, what’s going on?” He presses.

“Steph and Mitch.” She says finally, after exchanging another look with Will.

“Ah.”

“That’s it?” She frowns at him. “That’s all you have to say?”

“Well, I mean, I’m sure there’s more to it, but like, I have met them before.” Auston grins when she and Will both laugh. “So what’d they do now?”

“Do you have an hour?” Will drawls.

“I have beer upstairs.” Auston offers, since they’re basically pulling up to his apartment, and since Will looks over at her for confirmation, Aub barely even takes a second before agreeing.

“Any wine?”

-----

It’s actually kind of crazy how relieving it is for someone else to know about her and Will, outside of the two of them. Aubrey hadn’t even realized how much it was weighing on her until it’s not, until the three of them had spent three hours laughing about it, recapping the entire thing and then just laughing about nothing.

She notices right away that it's equally relieving to Will, that the two of them will drift over to Auston when the team does something together, or that she’ll get a snapchat from one of them from the road that features Will and Auston off doing something ridiculous.

Steph calls her out on it one day, when the two of them are at a game one night. “I did not introduce you to Will for the two of you to spend time with Auston.”

“You ditched me last night!” Aubrey protests, but really, Steph’s not wrong. That was one time, because Mitch’s brother wanted to introduce his new girlfriend to them, and she’s been out here avoiding invites like it’s her job.

Steph continues like she didn’t hear a thing. “I introduced you to Will so that we could have great couples’ friends and hang out all the time, so why aren’t we?”

“I thought you introduced me to Will because we’d be perfect together?” Aubrey bitches and Steph gives her a look, so Aubrey promises that she and Will will do dinner with her and Mitch again soon.

Dinner soon, to Steph, apparently means that weekend, and Aubrey finds herself in Will’s car again, with a bottle of wine and a plate of dessert, driving out to Etobicoke on Friday night. “I like that I’ve claimed this seat now.”

Will laughs. “What?”

“It’s always set where I want it to be!” She grins. “Perfect leg room!”

Her phone buzzes as Will laughs again, but it only takes a quick glance at the screen to click back out of it. “You okay?” Will asks.

“Huh?”

“You just got real quiet, real quick.” He says, turning onto Steph and Mitch’s street. “Everything alright?”

Aubrey huffs out an aggravated breath, trying to decide what, if anything, she wants to say. “My other dad is being...my other dad.”

“Oh?” Will parks in their driveway and she huffs out another annoyed sigh as her phone buzzes in her pocket, knowing it’s just her half-brother again with more shit about their dad. 

“He’s like…” She gathers her stuff and tries to find the words as they walk inside. “I don’t even know. Everybody’s been freaking out since some lady tagged him in a bunch of pictures on Facebook last week but my siblings are at dinner with him right now and they asked him about it and he told them he’s not seeing anyone.”

“Wait, seriously?” It’s the first thing Steph says to her; Aub’s been bitching to her about the whole thing for a week now and she’s more than familiar with her issues with her dad. 

“Yes!” She cries. “My sister asked if he was seeing anyone, he said no. I guess one of the boys asked if he’d taken any trips lately, because of the pictures, and he said no. So he’s just straight up lying and I don’t know why!”

“Maybe,” Will says. “He’s not actually lying.”

Aubrey pats his arms gently. “You’re new here, so I’ll let that terrible thought pass.”

Will looks taken aback but she can barely spare a thought for that as Mitch says, “Maybe he got secret-married again and is just waiting until you’re all there to tell you-OW!” Steph elbows him hard and he grins anyway. “What? I’m just saying!”

“I already went to therapy once this week, Mitchy.” Aub mock-glares at him. “I cried for three hours and only didn’t dye my hair blue because Steph came to pick me up for the game. I don’t need to go again. Keep that shit to yourself and get me some wine.”

Mitch laughs; he’s equally familiar with her post-therapy routine and her feelings for her dad. “Alright fine.” He says, but there must still be something on her face because Will’s hand comes to rest on her shoulder right after that and he rubs it gently for a minute before he comes to sit next to her.

Conversation turns lighter after that- to Mitch’s brother’s new girlfriend, who Steph liked and Mitch thought was only okay and then to Will’s sister’s new boyfriend, who he hates-before they’re all more focused on food and a game later in the evening. 

It’s easy to ignore her phone buzzing when Aubrey and Mitch are dominating Steph and Will at Codenames (or calling cheaters, because Will and Steph most definitely are), but much harder to ignore in the car when she and Will are alone again, and Aub barely even notices when Will doesn’t make the turn for her place, instead just driving straight to his place.

“Oh.” She says quietly when he finally parks and they’re in the garage, instead of just pulling up out front of her building, like he has been recently.

“Didn’t want you to dye your hair blue tonight.” Will deadpans and Aubrey laughs, surprised that it’s kind of watery. 

“Fair, it was definitely a risk.”

Will smiles at her gently. “I’ve been told my guest room is supremely comfortable.”

Aubrey raises her eyebrows; she can siphon out the source of that one. “I hear your brother has pretty shitty taste.” She says and he laughs, that loud one he’s got that she can’t help but smile at because it sounds so ridiculous, but Aubrey’s already getting out of the car, ready to follow him up before he can see.

Will’s condo is pretty much everything she expected- a lot of modern pieces, a lot of white, very Scandanavian- but there’s plenty of Will in it as well. A lot of family pictures. Some hockey stuff-both Leafs and Team Sweden-but not an overwhelming amount. 

She’s still looking at some of the pictures (he looks so much like his mom) when he returns with a couple glasses of wine, and she accepts hers with a gracious smile. “Thank you.”

“We’ve been at this long enough for me to know that wine’s your thing.” He jokes and she laughs.

“I meant for bringing me here.” She shoves at his shoulder; annoyingly enough he doesn’t even move. “I definitely would have done something stupid.”

“What are friends for?” Will smiles and there’s that annoyed feeling again, maybe even more so than just a minute ago, tugging at her stomach, for really no reason. They are friends now, in pretty much every sense of the word. They hang out, they text, they do all kinds of things. It’ll actually probably be hard for her, to not be friends with him, or at least pretend to be, when they have to “break up” for a bit to annoy Steph and Mitch. 

“Yeah.” Aubrey says and it just sounds off so she takes a sip of her wine right away so he can’t see whatever her face is doing. “If you were really my friend, you’d let me borrow some sweats to sleep in. You know. Since you kidnapped me to bring me here.”

“Ohh, I don’t know if we’re that close.” Will says, but he’s laughing as he walks toward his room so she knows he’s kidding.

It’s a pretty quiet night between the two of them once they make themselves comfortable, just chilling on the couch and watching Netflix, and Will’s not stingy with his pours so Aubrey pours herself into his guest room a little tipsy, and maybe that’s why she texts him from bed. You were right, your guest bed is pretty comfortable.

*Supremely* comfortable. Told you so 😜

-----

Aub’s still in Will’s absurdly comfortable guest bed when her daily FaceTime call with her sisters comes in and she answers it without thinking. “Hey.”

“Where are you?” Kaylee asks immediately. “That’s not your room-oh my god, are you at Will’s?” She blurts and Aubrey wants to smack herself.

“That’s Leafs stuff!” Cam exclaims, popping her head into the frame. “You never wear Leafs stuff! Oh my god, do you live there now?”

“Back up, calm the crazy.” She’s cutting off this spiral before they’ve got the story of her and Will eloping spread to her entire family. 

Kayls pouts. “You never let us have any fun.”

“I do not want a call from Grandma this afternoon asking me why I got married to the blond hippie from the Leafs because you two can’t keep your mouths shut and she saw one bad picture.” 

Cam’s jaw drops in outrage. “That’s so rude, we would at least send a good picture out! Like she’d know how hot he really is; there’d be no need to google and accidentally come across a picture of him in a Sugo hat.”

That’s it. She’s up for good now. Aubrey throws the blankets off herself and sits up off the edge of the bed, rubbing her temples in hopes it’ll make her tiny hangover headache go away. Limited success. “You googled him?”

“Of course we googled him!” Kayls says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Aub, oh my god, he’s got-”

“I’m leaving this room right now.” Aubrey warns; she’s already at the door. “Stop talking about him like he’s not here.”

Cam immediately launches into a story about a couple of the girls on her field hockey team and something that had happened at practice after school yesterday, a story that she’s still detailing when Aubrey walks into the kitchen to find Will also looking into his phone with a fond look on his face as a loud jumble of voices shout back to him in what she can only assume is Swedish.

“Coffee’s back there.” He points, greeting her with a smile. “And mugs above it.”

“Thank you.” She’s pretty sure, from the expression on his face, that he knows how much of a lifeline that’s about to be for her.

“Hi Will!” Kayls calls and Aub glares at her, but Will calls back a greeting in return before returning to Swedish, but definitely in an argumentative tone.

It’s a couple more minutes of that-listening to Will speaking in Swedish and going through her usual morning nonsense with her sisters-before Will lets out the smallest groan and then looks at her. “My sisters want to say hi.”

“Oh.” Aubrey says, surprised more than anything.

And before she can really say anything, Cam adds. “Yes! Then we can talk with Will!” Which is how she finds herself sitting next to Will with his dog curled in her lap, both their phones in front of them, speaking with her sisters and two of Will’s sisters.

It’s pretty much maximal chaos, but when they both end their calls a few minutes later, Aubrey’s still smiling as she runs her hand through the dog’s fur and Will’s laughing to himself. “Mmm, good luck to you.” Aub nudges him, easy enough to do since she’s still sitting flush up next to him. “When they’re in town next month. They’ve probably all followed each other on Instagram by now already. Best friends in no time.”

“Gonna be busy with games.” Will says weakly. “Practices, media things. Think it’s gonna be your problem.”

“Like hell.” She laughs, shaking her head when he joins in and doesn’t stop. “Oh my god, that was not that funny!”

“Just thinking of all the ways they’re going to torture us when they’re all together after they’ve spent the last month talking shit about us in a group chat.” Will says, somehow still laughing about that, because he’s literally the most chill person on the planet. Like of course he’s not even bothered by that.

“I don’t have enough food in me to deal with that thought.” Aubrey declares, laughing decidedly less at the thought of actually meeting Will’s family. In person. Where they’ll have to actually see her and see what a farce this is. “Feed me.”

Will shrugs. “Let me change and we’ll grab brunch.”

Aub looks down at the very large sweats she’s borrowed to sleep in. “We’ll stop first, yeah?”

“Depends on how hangry you are.” Will calls back, already walking away.

She pulls a face at his back at that one. She’s actually pretty hungry, but like, she’s not dumb enough to go out to brunch with him in a walk of shame. Not when there’s already a group chat forming about her on Instagram. She doesn’t need Leafs Twitter coming for her too.

-----

It’s easy to settle in a routine from there; meeting Mitch and Steph for dinner a few times, joining Steph for games and then leaving with Will for a second dinner after, and easily splitting off to spend time with her own family and friends or catching up with them when Will is off on road trips. 

It’s so easy to settle into a routine like that, a relationship routine, that she lets herself get lulled into a false sense of security, the message from her dad catching her off guard completely one day.

“What’s wrong?” Will asks, when they’re at dinner after a game. It’s their thing now; pick a restaurant and grab some food right afterwards before he drops her off at home. It’s a nice way to wind down actually; she usually looks forward to it.

Tonight though, Aub has been uncharacteristically quiet since they met up and she was a downright bitch earlier when she and Steph were fighting about something. Like, she knows they’ll forget all about it tomorrow, but still. She owes her best friend coffee at the least. “Hmm?” She looks up at him, barely hearing his question. 

“What’s wrong?” He repeats, giving her a look before she can fight him against answering.

She pushes her food around a little-very uncharacteristic for her, and she can tell even Will’s picked up on that. “My dad wants to meet us all for dinner this week, which means he probably did get secret-married again.”

“Oh.” Will makes a face and Aubrey returns it, laughing when he contorts his even worse. “And that’s-I mean-again?” He finally settles on and she nods, ready to drop this bomb.

“It’ll be wife number six, but secret wedding number three.” She says, delighting in the way his jaw drops. “This is just, like, what he does; he just announces he wants to have dinner with us and then shows up and is like and here’s my new wife, like it’s super casual, and then we all wonder why I need therapy when he’s out here hiding wives and families like it’s a fulltime job.” She finishes, only realizing how heated she is about it when she looks up to find Will staring at her with wide eyes.

“Um.” Will starts.

“Sorry.” Aub hastens, flushing.

“No!” Will says. “No, don’t apologize at all, you can, like, share whatever you want. I just...I got like half of what you just said.” He gives her an apologetic look. “Missing a big chunk of this story.”

“Right.” Aub nods, pretty proud of how calm she sounds. Dr. Seth is going to be so impressed with her next week. “Sorry. We haven’t talked about the two secret families he was hiding when I was growing up. Ok, I’ll back up.”

“He what?” Will cries, but Aub waves him off, diving into the whole history of her dad, her half-siblings, and her step-moms...as well as their various divorces. 

“...and that brings us to now.” She takes a sip of her wine thoughtfully; Will has long since drained his and refilled. She’s pretty sure she didn’t miss anything. “And dinner that’s going to be an absolute disaster.”

“Do you want me to come?” Will offers.

“No!” She says immediately. That’s like-god, that’s the worst idea ever. They do not need to get her greedy father involved in this, who’d take one look at Will and see dollar bills. She’s accepted that she can’t change the way her dad treats her (after many years of therapy); she’s got another dad who loves her and it’s not fine the way her dad doesn’t remember her birthday or what she does for work or pretty much anything important about her, but it is what it is. But like, she’s not going to subject Will to it. “It’ll be-fine.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You think so?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “But thanks anyway.”

Will purses his lips. It’s clear that he doesn’t love that answer, but he doesn’t say anything more on the subject, asking her instead if she wants to split a dessert, as if he doesn’t already know the answer to that question, and Aub, grateful for the change in topic, even agrees to let him pick this time.

It’s a rare gift.

-----

Aubrey knows she had a little too much to drink at dinner with her dad, but she’s not so drunk that she can’t recognize that this is Will’s door she’s standing in front of, knocking loudly and repeatedly. 

She has only a moment to contemplate that-that it’s here she chose to come to after yet another disaster dinner, instead of Steph’s or her brother’s or back home to her own place-before Will’s opening the door, the confusion passing quickly over his face when he realizes it’s her.

“Hey.” He beams and steps back, silently inviting her in, but Aub doesn’t want him to go further away from her. That’s why she came here. “Whoa, hey!” Will says, as Aub steps in the condo and presses herself against him. “Are you-” He lets out a strangled choke as she tiptoes up and loops her arms around the back of his neck. “-okay?”

“Peachy.” She says, pulling him down to kiss her.

It’s not really a great kiss; Will’s kissing her back for a moment, and then pulling back. “Wait-”

“No.” She whines, leaning in for another, and he does it again, caught up for a moment in kissing her, but then it’s like his thoughts catch up to him and he breaks it.

“Aub, we shouldn’t- we aren’t-”

And like why shouldn’t they? They’ve been doing this fake relationship for a while now and not able to hook up with anyone else because of it. He’s objectively the hottest person she’s ever seen. There’s no reason that’s coming to her right now that says she shouldn’t. “We’re friends now!” Aubrey says, running her palms over his shoulders. God, why weren’t they doing this the entire time? “Right?” And Will nods, slowly, but it’s a nod, “It’s fine, friends hook up all the time.” 

“You really want this?” His thumb brushes her cheek as she nods and only then does he pull her back in for a kiss.

-----

If Aubrey thought Will’s guest bed was comfortable, it’s really got nothing on his actual bed. She rolls over, curling into the pillow a little more and opens her eyes to see the sliver of sunlight coming through catch the edge of Will’s face, that one piece of hair that’s sticking up that should be unattractive, but is totally not.

It’s really just unfair.

The sound comes from behind her and Aub jumps when she realizes it’s Will’s alarm going off.  It seems like it barely even fazes him; he just reaches across her and silences it; his arm falling across her when he drags himself back.

“Hi.” She smiles.

“Hi.” Will laughs and it lights up his whole face; she can’t help the hand that comes up to trace over his features. “Come on, that’s not fair.

“What’s not fair?” Aubrey asks innocently, trailing her nails down his chest.

He groans. “I have to go. Skate.”

“You don’t have to go.” She pouts and he groans again.

“You’re making it really hard to have to.”

“Good.” Aubrey giggles, only stopping when Will shuts her up with a kiss.

“Really hard.” He repeats as she rolls her hips into his.

“Fine.” She sighs, flopping onto her back, and she knows the move does exactly as she’d intended when his eyes go right to her chest. “I guess I’ll just have to stay here in bed until you get back.”

“Please do.” He insists, leaning over to kiss her again. “Fastest skate ever.” Will promises.

“You can’t control that.” Aubrey reasons, even as Will’s shaking his head at her while he climbs out of bed.

“Fastest skate ever.” He repeats.

She can’t really confirm or deny that it is; but when he does return, pulling her out of a doze by jumping on top of her, there’s coffee on the table for her too. It’s cold by the time she gets to it.

-----

“You guys are being weird.” Steph comments one night, as Aub’s cheering after Will scores a tie-breaking goal. 

“What?” Aubrey gives her a look. “What do you mean?”

“You and Will.” Steph says, like it should be obvious. “You’re like-” She breaks off, making a noise of frustration.

“You’re in the honeymoon phase.” Alannah supplies helpfully and Steph lights up.

“Yes!” She cries and Aubrey glares over at Alannah but she merely smiles back. “But it’s like, you’re back in it? Like, you weren’t for a while and now...you can’t take your hands off each other again!”

Aubrey doesn’t really know what to say to that. She’s not denying that she and Will have been all over each other ever since that first night they slept together. She can’t even remember the last time she went to her apartment for anything more than to pack clothes and she’s lost track of the number of times she’s reached out for him only to find Will already reaching for her.

But before? She can’t think of any moment where they were ever like they are now. Like there’s too much space between them even when she’s right next to him. Or this pull that brings her toward him no matter where he’s at.

But she doesn’t...she doesn’t know what to say about that. Because it���s not like anything has changed between them. They’re still friends; they still laugh and joke as usual, still gossip about their friends together, are still just waiting to drop a big break up on Mitch and Steph. 

Nothing’s changed, even if maybe, she thinks, something has.

So she shrugs at Steph and says, “We’re just happy. Is that so bad?”

Steph beams and leans her head against Aubrey’s shoulder, and like, Aub knows that’s exactly what she’d been hoping for since she introduced her to Will, but Aubrey still feels like something wasn’t right about what she said.

-----

Aubrey tugs on the Nylander jersey that drapes over her frame as she and Will walk into the hospital conference room. “Are you sure about this?”

“It’s tradition.” He grins. “Stop playing with it.”

“That’s what she said.” She says as dryly as she can, managing to keep the face until he laughs, and then she cracks up with him. 

That’s how the two of them walk into the conference room where the team is meeting; laughing so loudly that everyone stops what they’re doing to turn and look, but she and Will only get a bunch of fond smiles before everyone turns back to their own conversations.

Steph gives her a knowing look when they approach hand in hand, which Aubrey ignores pointedly. “You didn’t warn me we’d have to actually go things wearing this dumb jersey when you plotted to get us together.”

“Oh I didn’t?” Steph says innocently as Mitch and Will sputter in protest. “Must have slipped my mind.”

“Dumb jersey?” Will nudges her.

Aub shrugs, looking up at him with a cheeky grin. “It’s a little big. Might have some trouble getting out of this thing.”

Will grins. “I’m sure some help can be arranged.”

Mitch feigns gagging. “There are children around.”

Wills hand drags up her side briefly-too briefly- as he grins at Mitch. “Where, Mitchell?” But he backs off and Aub does too, both of them catching up with teammates and wives and girlfriends around them.

Or they back off a little, but Aub still finds herself drawn int0 his orbit, especially once they start splitting off into groups to move through the hospital to go see the kids. His hand will brush against hers as they move between rooms; she’s bumping her shoulder against his arm comfortingly as they talk with parents.

It’s not very subtle, but they don’t need to be. Except…

“What is going on?” Auston hisses at her, in passing, as he’s about to step inside the room Will’s just about leaving.

“Nothing.” Aub says innocently, but Will reaches for her hand when he leaves, opting for a fist bump with Auston instead, and Auston’s eyes widen, but Aubrey tugs Will along before he can say anything. “Come on, let’s grab some water real quick!”

The diversion doesn’t last long; Auston catches up to her only two rooms later while Will’s in talking hockey with a little girl and she’s waiting outside, leaning against the wall. He joins her, looking in as well for a moment, before looking over at her. “This is a terrible idea.” Auston says flatly.

“You were on board with it!” Aubrey hisses, trying to keep a smile on her face.

“That was before I realized you guys were sleeping together. Now it’s going to backfire and go to shit.”

Aubrey frowns. “Why?”

“Why?” Auston repeats, like he can’t even help himself. “Oh my god, you don’t even-” He stops abruptly. 

“Don’t even what?” She prompts, when it’s clear he’s not going to continue.

But he doesn’t continue. He just rubs his temples for a minute and mutters under his breath. “Fuck me, how do I have to be the smart one here?”

“Hey!” Aubrey protests, offended. “I am always the smart one.”

“Not right now.” He says cryptically. “And it’s hard to tell who’s being dumber: you or Willy.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Aubrey frowns, but Auston’s already walking away. “Auston!” He ignores her. “Auston!”

“Hey.” Will’s reaching for her arm gently. “What’s wrong?”

Auston’s out of sight now anyway. “Nothing.” She shakes her head, clearing her thoughts and then looks up at him. “Next room?”

-----

“What are you doing Friday?” Aubrey looks up from scrolling through her family’s group chat; Will’s peering at her from across the island.

“Nothing.” She says, after thinking about it for a minute. “What’s up?”

“We play my brother on Saturday.” He says and the shoe doesn’t drop until he adds, “So my parents and sisters are coming in for a bit. Watch the game. Do early Christmas. Hang out a bit.”

“Oh.” She bites her lip. It shouldn’t-it shouldn't be weird. He survived a whole weekend with her sisters, he’s met her entire family; they’ve gone out a few times with varying numbers of her brothers since then. It just...feels weird now.

Will eyes her carefully for a second but continues. “They come in early Friday morning and I made dinner reservations for that night, if you want to come with us.” 

He says it super casually, the way he is about pretty much everything, but she knows him well enough now. There’s a little hopeful tone at the end of it, almost like a question even though it’s not phrased as one. “Yeah.” She says, and even though she’s already nervous about this dinner that’s literally days away, it’s worth it to see the smile grow across his face. “I’d love to come with you guys.”

“They’ll be excited.” Will says, which really undersells just how excited his sisters actually are when they do roll into town later in the week.

Daniella throws herself at Aubrey the second she walks in the door, chattering excitedly about meeting her, and spending the weekend together, and dinner that night, all before Aubrey can even put her purse down. She doesn’t know what her face is doing but whatever it is is bad enough that Will says something to his sister in Swedish and follows it up with a glare when she giggles something back to him.

It works though; Daniella detaches herself, but she does stay close, almost bouncing along next to Aubrey as she steps further inside. “Come on.” Will nods toward the kitchen. “My parents are in here.”

Fuck, his parents. She takes a deep breath. “Cool.”

He grins. The panic must definitely be showing on her face, but his sister just keeps talking through it- Aubrey can relate- or Daniella just doesn’t notice it in her excitement. But Will does, still grinning at her, and she brushes against him purposefully with her shoulder as she goes to follow Daniella, only for him to grab her hand as she passes.

“You don’t have to be nervous.” He squeezes her hand and the only thing that stops her from frowning is his sister. It’s kind of a harsh reminder of the circumstances that she is meeting his family under, the details behind what’s happening here, and that someday-probably soon even- they’ll go back to...well, she hopes that they’ll at least still be friends. 

Even if they stop hooking up.

Danielle goes right up to Stephanie in the kitchen, the two of them whispering to each other in a way that immediately reminds Aub of Kaylee and Cam, enough that she has to fight back a laugh. But it’s Will’s parents that really draw her attention. Michael and Camilla are exactly how she’d pictured from every story Will’s ever told her, full attention on her as soon as she and Will enter the kitchen.

“This is Aubrey.” Will introduces.

“Hi!” She smiles, hoping it’s bright and warm enough to hide her nerves. 

And it works- or more likely, Will’s parents are as perceptive as he is- because they jump right into chatting easily with her. 

She loves them immediately.

They’re warm and friendly, like they’re welcoming her, even though they’re the ones who spent hours on a plane recently. Will’s mom- Camilla, she insists- draws her into a conversation about her family right away- “William told me you have many siblings as well.” “Mum!” “Mum, they’re the best!”- which keeps them going for a while until Michael reminds them they have a reservation to keep. 

“You can keep talking at the restaurant.” He teases Camilla, who’s glaring at him. “Some of us are hungry!”

She rolls her eyes at him- a look that is so similar to one Aubrey’s seen Will make a thousand times- but it serves to get all of them moving. They do keep talking at the restaurant, Camilla shoving her own son out of the way to pull Aubrey in the seat next to her, and Daniella sliding in the seat on her other side before Will can grab it, only for him to mutter something to her in Swedish, sending her quickly sliding over to the next one.

Dinner seems to fly by but it’s actually a few hours later that they’re returning home, pulling out a bottle of wine for a night cap. Aubrey’s just about preparing to go home to her own place before Will’s mom stands up and kisses the top of her head, right in line with all her own kids, promising to see her in the morning, and then the night wraps up and Will’s pulling her into his room, like it’s any normal night.

“Are you-” She trails off abruptly as Will walks right to the closet, like no strange thing. But, what did she even want to ask? Are you sure you want me to stay? It’s not going to be weird if I do?  

“What’s up?” Will pops his head out of the closet.

“Nothing.” Aubrey shakes her head, moving to brush her teeth. She’s not even sure she knows where that question was going; she can’t explain why tonight feels weirder than any other night that she’s climbed into his bed before.

It does though, and that’s made even more evident by the way she tosses and turns once they climb into bed and turn the lights off, settling in on what’s become her side of the bed, right after she brushes her teeth and runs through her nightly skin routine.

It feels like it shouldn’t be so hard to sleep- it’s been a long day, following a long week, preparing for Will’s family to arrive, but she can’t seem to get comfortable and her thoughts are racing.

She rolls over again, facing Will this time, only to find him looking at her with amusement. “You okay?”

“Can’t sleep.” She admit, biting her lip

Will grins, pulling her close. “I can fix that.”

“I’m not having sex with you while you’re parents are here!” Aubrey hisses.

“No?” Her breath hitches as his fingers dance lower down her stomach and then-

“Will!” She laughs, as he gently pinches a ticklish spot.

“Shh!” He’s grinning, she hates him so much. “My parents are-”

“Don’t say it.” She says, surging up to kiss him so he can’t finish that sentence. God, she hopes his walls are thick.

-----

“Stop.” Aubrey hears Will right outside the door. “Go away.”

She can hear one of his sister’s respond, but the actual words get lost in the chaos of her own sisters’ FaceTime, which she’s wrapping up as she lies in bed. It’s loud enough outside that she knows Will’s family is awake already, bright enough that she probably should get up, but she’s too comfortable to make herself move.

“Daniella!” She hears, followed by something in Swedish just as the door opens and a blonde head pokes in.

“See! She is awake!” And that’s all the warning she gets before Daniella is jumping up right next to her.

“Daniella!” Will snaps again, but Aubrey’s already sliding over to make room for her.

“She’s fine.” She assures him, wrapping her arm around Daniella’s shoulders as she cuddles in close.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Daniella says to her brother, not bothering to pull herself away from Aubrey’s iPhone screen, where she’d barely wasted a minute before jumping into chatting with Kayls and Cam. 

Will’s leaning against the dresser and shaking his head in amusement, watching as Aubrey manages to finish up her call (a task much harder with Daniella in her ear, calling just as much nonsense back as her sisters do), but there’s a soft smile on his face that Aubrey almost can’t bring herself to look at, so she starts twirling her hand through the ends of Daniella’s hair. 

“I can’t believe you two.” Daniella huffs, and she’s so much like Will, just loving her hair played with; Aubrey tries to hide her grin because she knows he’d fight her on it if she had to say it out loud right now. “Not even inviting your sisters here for the weekend.”

“Why would we invite ourselves into that kind of roast?” Will says dryly. “The two of you are bad enough.”

“Like you’re not going to talk about us anyway,” Aubrey adds. “I’ve seen the receipts.” She teases. “I know you talk about us on instagram.” 

“You talk about us on instagram?” Will demands immediately.

“No.” Daniella says, unconvincingly.

“They talk with my sisters every day.” Aubrey whispers to him and laughs when he turns his outraged face toward his sister, who avoids his gaze completely.

“Seriously?” Will cries.

Daniella shrugs. “We have a lot to say.”

“I’ll give you a lot to say.” Will says, mock-threateningly, before throwing himself on the bed on her other side and poking his finger in her side until she’s laughing so hard that she’s begging for him to stop. He does, after one last poke, which Daniella returns with a pout. “Go get dressed.” Will nudges her. “Or Aubrey’s going to go to brunch without you.”

“Aubrey wouldn’t do that.” Daniella says confidently, standing to leave. “She’s nicer than you.” 

Will barks out a laugh. “Is she?”

Both Nylanders turn to look at her, just as she’s swinging her legs out of bed and Aubrey shrugs. “I wouldn’t leave your sister behind.” She says, grinning when Will laughs and Daniella’s got her phone out of her pocket before she even leaves the room.

-----

Will and Alex are close. Aubrey knows this. She knows they talk pretty much everyday whether it’s texting, Facetiming, or even actual phone calls. They’re brothers, sure, but more than that; they’re best friends.

And maybe that’s why it’s hard not to shrink under Alex’s gaze the second they meet. It’s not that he’s not friendly when Will introduces them, returning the smile she gives him.

It’s just that his gaze feels piercing in a way that none of the rest of his family did. It feels like Alex sees through all of her but more than that; he’s studying all of her and doesn’t like what he sees.

God, she doesn’t know what she’s going to do if Alex doesn’t like her.

She tries to be bubbly and bright, more listening than contributing to this conversation that’s mostly just brothers catching up. She knows that dinner later, and at their early Christmas celebration tomorrow, will really be when she gets to make her big impression on him. 

“Willy!” John Tavares calls, looking apologetic about the interruption. 

“Be right back.” Willy pats her arm gently before jogging down the hall and now Alex’s full attention is on her. Now she can’t help but shift her weight from foot to foot, even as Alex smiles at her. “So, Aubrey, huh?”

She fights back the urge to bite her lip. “Yup.”

“It’s exciting to finally meet you.” He grins and Aubrey’s jaw drops a little. “Will talks about you all the time.”

“He-he does?” She asks quietly. It’s about the most unexpected thing Alex could have said to her.

Alex bursts into laughter. “Uh yeah.” He says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, but before she can press anything further, Will’s back, slinging his arm around her shoulders and squeezing her into his side tightly. 

“Ready for second dinner?” Will presses a kiss to her temple.

“Always.” Aubrey leans into him, ignoring the knowing look that Alex is sporting currently and the feeling in her stomach that doesn’t quite feel like butterflies.

-----

Aubrey tries to give it a few days after the Nylander’s leave town, hoping the feeling in her stomach will calm itself, but when it’s been a week and it hasn’t settled, she’s forced to admit that she’s going to need outside help.

Can you let me in? She sends, when she’s sure she’s outside the right door.

Open. Come in. 

She frowns at the response, opening the door. “I don’t love that!” She calls as she walks deeper in the condo. “You should really-” She stops abruptly, as a blonde whips her head around to glare at her and Auston stares at her wide-eyed. “Oh!”

“Oh?” The blonde repeats, kind of mockingly, but also seething, and Aubrey doesn’t really know what to do, so she looks over at Auston, who’s pointedly avoiding both of their eyes. “Unbelievable.” She shakes her head, shoving past Aubrey and only when the front door slams does she hear Auston breathe.

“What the fuck?” She asks him immediately, “You could have just said no, it wasn’t a good time to come over!”

“I wanted her to leave!” He protests. “I tried everything! She even volunteered to come take Felix on a walk with me!”

Aubrey cackles, barely managing to compose herself at Auston’s glare. “Well, go and get his leash. We can walk and talk.”

She gets quickly distracted by Felix’s excitement for a walk, snapping like twenty pictures on her phone, before Auston finally prods her about the reason she even wanted to meet today. “So what’s up?”

She takes a deep breath. “Am I in love with Will?”

“Are you in love with...are you fucking kidding me?” Auston responds immediately, looking at her like he had that day they were at Sick Kids- like she’s completely missing something that everyone else knows.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” She says reasonably.

“Oh my fucking god.” He says, sounding distressed. “Don’t you have, like, a therapist for this shit? How did I get drafted for this?”

“I mean, yes, I do, but I haven’t gone into the details of it with Dr. Seth before this and I don’t think an hour would cover it.” She says; she’s thought about that already. Auston rubs his temples. “Stop that.” Aubrey chides. “Your hairline is bad enough.”

“Well you’re not helping!” Auston cries. “Jesus Christ, am I in love with Willy? Where the fuck have you been?”

“Egypt, I guess.” She says and he stares at her flatly until she explains. “Denial?”

“Fuck off, I hate you so much. Oh my god.” He groans. “Willy would have laughed so hard at that, fuck you.”

The worst thing is that she knows he would have. He’d have laughed and laughed and laughed, his eyes crinkling and his smile bright and warm, so loud that she couldn’t help but join in.

“Holy shit.” Auston says quietly, watching the smile on her face. “You’re really in deep.”

“Ugh, yes.” Aubrey groans, covering her face. “I hate it. I hate these feelings. I hate not knowing. I hate-”

Auston cuts her off, choking out a laugh. “Not knowing? Not knowing what?” And then he chokes again, once he looks over at her. “Not knowing if Will-” He stops abruptly looking like he’s got a secret that he shouldn’t be telling. “Come on, you aren’t this dumb.”

“You’re being serious?” She says quietly, looking over at Auston hopefully. 

He avoids her eyes, bending down for a minute to pet his dog, but Felix absolutely betrays him by trying to run towards a new smell on a nearby bush, giving him absolutely nothing to look at instead of her. “I mean, come on.” Auston gives her a look. “Don’t make me say it.”

“Did he say it?”

“No.” Auston shakes his head, tugging gently on Felix’s leash to turn around. “But Aub, really? He brought you to meet his whole family.”

“He met mine too.” She reminds him. “And so did you!”

Auston shakes his head. “You...you just don’t see how he looks at you.”

Aubrey bites her lip, but she can’t resist asking. “How does he look at me?”

Auston doesn’t even have to think before he responds. “Like the rest of us aren’t even in the room.” 

“Oh.” She says quietly, looking down at the ground. Felix is just trotting away happily, like Aubrey’s entire world hasn’t been flipped on its axis. 

Auston, at least, seems to recognize the effect of what he’s said. “Look, even if you’re not ready to talk with him, just, like, look at the guy. You’re not in this alone.”

She’s definitely not ready to say anything, but, well, she could give that a try. Just try and see what Auston sees.What everyone sees apparently. “Alright.” She agrees.

“I won’t say anything.” Auston adds. “You two can figure this mess out on your own.”

“You’re the best.” Aubrey declares, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

“I know.” Auston smirks, pulling Felix’s leash out from under her feet.

“Jerk.” Aubrey laughs, shoving his shoulder gently. “If you didn’t have the second best dog in the world right here, I’d push you harder.” She crouches down to scratch Felix’s ears, only for Auston to pull him out of her reach.

“Second best?” He cries, outraged. “Nuh-uh. You don’t get to pet my dog after that kind of disrespect.”

“I just ranked your dog above Zeus!” She protests. “But Pablo’s my boy.”

Auston releases his hold on the leash a little and Felix trots over toward her arms as he teases, “I thought we just agreed Willy was your boy.”

“Yeah, well,” Aubrey scratches behind Felix’s ears, smiling as his tongue lolls out. “Man’s best friend.”

-----

Will’s acting funny when Aubrey sees him the next day.

She only catches him for a few minutes before the game, when they briefly cross paths at his place when she goes to pick up a jacket she left there, and she doesn’t know how to explain it, but something just seems...off.

It’s like...he barely looks at her when she’s in there digging around what’s become her side of the bed and then he brushes past her, muttering something about how he needs to go and for her to just lock up whenever she’s done, which would be fine, except he usually waits for her if she’s around when he leaves so they can walk out together.

Something’s just off.

“Are you sure you didn’t fight about anything?” Steph frowns at her, later that night. “Even like a small, stupid thing that maybe you brushed off? Because you do that.”

“No!” Aubrey swears. “At first I thought he was just annoyed about the book, because the book I’m reading right now takes place in Sweden, so like every few pages I ask him if it’s real? Or what it’s like?”

“God, you must be the most annoying girlfriend.” Steph giggles.

“Don’t even, I know everything about you and Mitch.” Aubrey pokes her and Steph giggles again, admitting defeat. “But no! He wouldn’t even look at me! Something’s up!”

Steph purses her lips. “That is weird.” She admits. “It’s very...not Will.”

“No!” Aubrey cries. “Will doesn’t sit and let things stew! He doesn’t care enough about what people think about him for that.”

“So why is he acting like this then?” Steph asks and Aubrey blows out a frustrated breath.

“I don’t know!” She says. “And I just want him to tell me what’s going on.”

The rest of the game is fairly uneventful for the two of them, slipping quietly out of their seats after the win and chatting between themselves and a few other friends as they all wait. One by one, the boys all make their way out of the locker room, and Aubrey frowns as even Auston and John walk out, stopping briefly to chat with her, before even they go, until finally, finally, Will steps out, his face flickering when he sees her. 

“Hi?” She says, a little annoyed.

“Hi.” Will says, like nothing’s just happened, like he didn’t just do a double take of the worst kind at her mere presence.

“What’s wrong?” She frowns, reaching out for him and gently sliding her hand on his forearm.

“Nothing.” There’s no other word for it; Will flinches. 

“Will.” Aubrey breathes as he shrugs off her arm.

“It’s nothing.” He repeats. “I’m just tired.” Which is so clearly a lie and she frowns, ready to call him out, but he reaches for her hand and says, “Let’s go eat,” with such finality that she doesn’t really know how she’d bring it up.

All she knows is that his hand feels cold in a way it never has before and the silence they sit in at dinner is like nothing she’s ever felt with him, even before they started sleeping together.

-----

“Merry Christmas!” Cam throws open the front door dramatically before Aubrey, Will, Steph, and Mitch have barely even shut their car doors. “Come on, you’re late!”

“Oh boy.” Aubrey mutters and she hears Steph and Mitch laugh.

Will, however, is as quiet as he’s been all drive up to her parents for their annual Christmas Eve party- as quiet as he’s been all week, as he’s been since whatever happened- and it makes her wonder why he even came. She’d told him he didn’t have to come if he didn’t want to; he’d just given her this tiny smile and asked her what time they had to pick up Mitch and Steph.

“How are we late?” Steph asks, as all four of them start yanking off coats and scarves the second they walk in the door. “None of the neighbors are even here yet!” 

Cam huffs at that bit of logic and turns on her heel, walking away from them as they laugh, which cues Aubrey’s brothers into their arrival. Tye and Danny poke their heads around the corner of the wall, calling for Mitch immediately to show them how to do something on a new video game, but right away they’re thwarted by their mom. “Later.” Mitch whispers to them, as Tye and Danny grin, following the four of them into the kitchen. 

In the kitchen, they find Aubrey and Steph’s moms working in tandem- the way they always have on Christmas Eve- to finish the appetizers and set food out. They stop only briefly to greet their daughters and their daughters’ boyfriends, and to direct them on where to put the desserts they brought, before they’re shooing them all right back out.

“Dads in the basement?” Steph asks, like they all don’t know the answer already, and Danny nods, leading the way down the stairs, where Fitz and Ryan have already started a beer pong game against Mike and Tom.

“Shotty next.” Mitch calls, while he waits for Aubrey and Steph to say hi to their dads.

“You gonna be able to walk back next door?” Fitz snorts out a laugh.

“That was one time!” Mitch protests. “Nobody warned me how much drinking there was on Christmas Eve!”

“It’s like we hadn’t spent the last four months together before that.” Aubrey deadpans, focusing more on watching Will greet her stepdad with the same enthusiasm as he had her mom, and her brothers, and Cam.

But then, he comes back to her side, and when she goes to tangle their fingers together, his hand stays limp, just kind of letting her do what she wants, not returning the gesture at all, instead of pulling her closer like he used to.

“Guess I thought you two were the anomaly.” Mitch teases. “Then I learned I’d have to bring my A game all the time.” 

“Yeah buddy.” Tom says, looking over at his daughter’s boyfriend right after he sinks Fitz and Ryan’s last cup. “Who’s with you?”

-----

By the time Mitch and Will get demolished in beer pong, Aubrey and Steph are fighting back a laugh at their dads’ light buzz already going and the neighbors have started to arrive, which brings a temporary pause to pong play for more introductions.

The neighbors all love Will, which, of course they do. Aubrey’s not surprised at all. He’s funny and charming and personable, just has this air that draws people in, and every one of her mom’s friends finds her at some point after they meet Will to gush about how wonderful he is.

“Yeah.” Aubrey says, almost helplessly to Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Morris, as she watches Will with Kayls and Cam across the room. “He’s pretty great.” They smile knowingly at her, Mrs. Jones winking as she passes, leaving Aubrey to watch them with a fond smile on her face.

It’s Will who notices her staring first, because of course it is. Kayls and Cam are oblivious to everything around them. He catches her eye, still laughing about whatever they’re talking about, and there’s a second where his smile grows when he sees her, a second Aubrey feels a grin growing across her own face.

And then it all stops abruptly as something flashes over Will’s face, and as quick as the grin was there, it’s gone.

Aubrey frowns and watches as Will returns to talking with Kayls and Cam again, but notices the smile on his face seems forced now. She wants...well, she doesn’t know exactly what she wants, but she’s tired of not knowing what’s going on with him.

“Hey.” Fitz nudges her shoulder. “It’s too early for you to be sad about going to your dad’s tomorrow. Come take a shot with me.”

“I-” It’s not that. She starts to say, but stops herself. Today’s not the day to try and tease out whatever’s going on with Will. Whatever it is could wait until after Christmas. “Yeah, sure.”

Fitz grins, leading her over to the makeshift bar, corralling a few friends as they go, but by the time he starts pouring, the crowd around them has gotten bigger. Will’s standing next to her, but the space he’s left between them feels so purposeful, and it only makes Aubrey frown as she listens to Fitz’s Christmas toast, as he cheers to a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, to good friends and great family. “And a way too cool future brother-in-law.” He jokes. “Don’t fuck this up, Aub!”

“Yo!” Mitch protests loudly as Aubrey feels the breath get stuck in her chest. 

She can’t even look at Will, so tense she can hardly bring her shot glass up to her mouth. The alcohol barely even burns and she knows it’s not because she’s too drunk to taste it; the numbness of her brother’s comment still stinging, and it’s well after she’s deposited her shot glass on the counter that she realizes, “Where’s Will?”

Mitch frowns, looking behind them. “He was right here, wasn’t he?”

Aubrey nods slowly, trying to stand on her toes and search for him. “Can you just-” She starts.

Steph’s right on her wavelength. “You look up here; we’ll check downstairs.”

Will is nowhere to be found on the main floor, so she heads upstairs and finally finds him in the room they’d thrown their bags in earlier. “Hey.” She breathes out a sigh of relief. “There you are.”

“Here I am.” Will says quietly. He’s in front of the taller dresser, looking at the bulletin board covered in pictures from high school and college- one of the few relics left in the room from when it was hers before her mom refashioned it into a guest room. 

“I’m sorry about Fitz!” She blurts. “He didn’t mean any-”

“We should be wrapping up soon, right?” Will says abruptly, interrupting her.

“What?” Aubrey frowns, shocked. That is...not at all what she thought he’d say.

“This?” He gestures between the two of them. “Like, Mitch and Steph definitely think we're a thing. Can call this off soon?”

“Um.” Aubrey tries to breathe but something’s definitely restricting that ability. “We…what?”

“We can stop this pretending.” Will says, like it’s obvious, and Aubrey feels her stomach drop. This...this was all pretend to him. “Do that break up that’s going to crush them. The whole reason we did this.”

“Right.” She swallows the lump in her throat. “Uh yeah, we can do that.”

Will shrugs. “Cool.” He says, and then turns and walks away, leaving Aubrey standing there wondering where exactly she went wrong.

-----

“Ok.” Steph snaps her fingers and only then does Aubrey look up from the Leafs vs. Calgary game that her best friend invited her over to watch that she’s paying absolutely no attention to- and hasn’t actually been able to focus on all night. Her best friend is standing in front of her, holding a new bottle of wine, and looking concerned. “I’ve asked for your glass like four times now. What’s going on?”

Aubrey bites her lip and holds her glass out. If she’s going to do this, they’re both going to need refills. “I have to tell you something.”

Steph frowns immediately but fills Aubrey’s glass and then her own. “Uhh, ok? What’s up.”

Aubrey doesn’t know whether she needs a deep breath or a sip of wine to settle her nerves. She goes for both. “Will and I aren’t together.”

And maybe...maybe that was the wrong way to phrase it, because Steph’s face just falls. “I’m so sorry, babe.” She says, reaching out and rubbing Aubrey’s arm. “I really thought-” She shakes her head and Aubrey’s still trying to figure out what she said wrong, what she can say to make her see what she really means. “Are you okay?”

“No.” Aubrey says and Steph looks like she wants to reach for the wine bottle and pull her in for a hug at the same time, until she continues. “No, I mean; Will and I aren’t together now because we were never really together at all and no, I’m not okay either, actually, now that you mention it.”

Now Steph frowns uncertainly, like she doesn’t know what to say. And that look? The one on her face right there? If it didn’t feel like her heart was already breaking, she’d be cherishing that look.

Now she can’t even enjoy it.

“You’re going to have to explain this one to me.” Steph says, her voice carefully neutrally.

So Aubrey does- beginning with the night that Mitch and Steph had had them over and her and Will’s plan to get them to stop nagging, to when they’d started sleeping together, to how it felt like they were together for real and on the same page, right up until they weren’t.

“I wanna be so mad at you right now.” Steph says, after a long silence.

“You should be.” Aubrey admits. “I would be.

“Well, you’re making it really hard looking so sad.” Steph glares. “And being so dumb.” Aubrey’s jaw drops, even if the callout is probably well deserved. “Will looks at you like you are the center of the universe. He looks like his entire day has gotten better every time you walk into the room. For God’s sake, he willingly met your dad on Christmas last week! You cannot honestly tell me you think he doesn’t really want to be with you!”

“He told me he wanted to stop!” Aubrey cries. “He was the one who said we should do the breakup!”

“Well if you don’t want to, then tell him!” Steph dares.

“Stephanie.” Aubrey frowns. 

“What?”

“I can’t do that!” Aubrey hisses.

“Why not?” Steph pours another glass of wine for herself and then passes the bottle over. Aubrey accepts eagerly. “Did Will tell you why he wanted to stop this...dating thing?”

“...no.” Aubrey sighs. It’s another thing that’s been driving her crazy.

“So ask him.” Steph says plainly. “And tell him you don’t want to stop.”

Aubrey bites her lip nervously. “But what if he says no?”

“Honestly the worst thing that happens here is that you still break up.” Steph says gently. “But this really just sounds like a matter of you two actually needing to talk about where you stand. Will’s not a mind-reader, Aub; he can’t have known you didn’t want to stop things, especially if this was all your idea in the first place.”

Ugh, she’s right. “I hate everything about this.” Aubrey sing-songs. “Including the fact that you even introduced us.”

Now Steph grins. “You do not hate that we introduced you. You just hate feeling vulnerable.”

That’s too accurate to address, so Aubrey flips her off and reaches for the wine again.

-----

Will picks her up for the Leafs annual New Year’s Eve party and it’s unfair because no one should look that good dressed in black pants and a sweater, but there’s Will waiting by the car with a beanie on his head and a pea coat left open, for maximal torture is the only reason Aubrey can think of.

“Hi.” She breathes, running across the street to him as best she can in her heels. 

It takes him a second to respond. “Hi.” He says finally, opening the door for her. “You uh, planning on blinding us all tonight?” He teases, once he slides into the backseat of the uber with her.

Aubrey giggles at the lame joke as she looks down at her glittery skirt. It’s such a lame joke but she’s just so relieved he even made it. That they still have dumb things to laugh over. “Hmm, over-under on how many of us are wearing something sparkly tonight. 10?”

“Over.” Will answers immediately and she giggles again.

The ride doesn’t take long so it’s only a few minutes before they’re pulling up to the club, where they run into Travis Dermott and his girlfriend exiting their uber at the same time. “Nine more.” Will whispers in her ear, as Kat turns to greet them, and they both catch sight of a sparkly tank under her jacket.

“Hush.” Aubrey bites back a laugh, but only barely, before she pulls Kat in for a hug. Inside is about as loud as she’d expected but once they all step upstairs into the VIP section roped off for them, it’s easier to hear, easier to think, and easier to breathe.

Or at least, it is for a moment. She can feel Will’s eyes on her from across the room, where he’s at the bar ordering drinks for the two of them, and she and Kat have gone to say hi to more people.

“So, uh.” Steph says, in lieu of hello. “I don’t think Will’s being weird anymore.”

When Aubrey turns and follows Steph’s eyes, Will’s still looking at her, unashamed in his gaze or getting caught. He winks back at her, grinning when she smiles at him. “No.” She says slowly. “I guess not.” Steph just grins at that, kind of smugly, and Aubrey huffs at that, turning away to greet Morgan and Tessa behind her.

It’s not long before Will returns with drinks, still grinning as he pulls her immediately to the dance floor. He pulls out some of his most ridiculous moves and Aubrey laughs, harder and harder the more she drinks, and then finally falling against him after he and Mitch attempt the Toosie Slide together. 

“Why are you laughing?” Will demands, wrapping an arm around her waist and taking her hand, leading her into some weird kind of slow dance, even as the song changes into something by The Chainsmokers.

“I just like seeing you like this.” She grins.

His brow furrows. “Like what?”

“Just-” She doesn’t know how to explain it. How open he is right now, how loose and easy and warm he looks because he’s just able to be himself, and how happy she feels to be with him, especially when he’s like this. “Just happy, I guess.”

Will grins again and presses a loud kiss to her temple, that she barely has time to giggle at, because he says, “Always happy to be with you,” like it’s the most casual thing in the world. 

And Aubrey gasps in shock, but she doesn’t think Will even notices, because he’s dipping her back over his arm right after that and then she’s too busy laughing again.

-----

Steph flops down on the remaining couch seat and ignores the look that Auston sends her in favor of fanning herself with her hand. “Sure.” He says dryly. “I’ll move over a little.”

“Would you? Thanks.” She snickers and he shakes his head fondly at her.

“How about you?” He looks over at Aubrey. “Gonna squish me in the corner even more?”

Aubrey’s already settled herself on his other side, on the edge of the couch. “Nah, I’m good here.” She bumps her shoulder against his.

“Is it even possible to squish you in the corner?” Steph muses.

“Why are you squished in the corner?” Aubrey asks, confused. “What, you couldn’t find a date for New Year’s?”

“I make it a point to not bring dates to holiday parties.” Auston says and Aubrey’s jaw drops.

Steph’s snickering into her palm though, so it’s clear this particular brand of assholery isn’t unfamiliar. “Holidays and events.” She cackles. “Keep those expectations low.”

“Although now that I know that all it takes to make a girl leave is to just have you walk in my house the next morning…” Auston trails off thoughtfully.

Aubrey shoves at his head, ruffling his hair on purpose, but she can’t help but laugh along with him. “Don’t you fucking dare. I’ve got better things to do than that.”

“Like what?” Steph says, too innocently to be real. “Will?”

“I’m leaving.” Aubrey stands, as Steph and Auston both laugh. “I don’t have to listen to this.”

“Is noon good tomorrow?” She hears Auston call after her, while Steph cackles next to him. “How about 12:30?” She flips him off over her shoulder, without looking back, instead pushing her way around Fred and his new girl, to find Will where she’d left him at the bar with Mitch.

But at the bar, she finds only Mitch, who’s looking a little confused. “Where’s Will?” She asks.

“Um.” Is all Mitch says and Aubrey frowns immediately. 

“Mitch, what happened?” Aubrey says flatly and Mitch caves right away.

“I don’t know!” He says. “We were just ordering drinks, watching you guys, everything seemed fine, and next thing I know, he was walking away!”

“Well where did he go?” She asks impatiently, barely waiting for Mitch to point before she’s shoving her way through the crowd.

It feels like she circles the entire building before she finally finds Will, and it’s more like she happens to run into him than she actually finds him, which just annoys her even more, enough that she grabs his hand and pulls him outside to a spot far enough away that it’s quiet enough to talk.

It’s not quiet- it’s still New Year’s Eve and there’s people all around them going up and down the street- but it’s far enough from the door that they can’t feel the music anymore, at least. 

Will’s staring at their hands, still linked, but he’s not saying anything, and even though she’s the one who dragged them out into the cold, he’s the one who started acting weird in the first place, and she feels her annoyance grow. “I thought we were having a really good time tonight?”

Will sighs. “We were.” He pauses. “I was, at least.”

“Ok, I was too.” Aubrey says slowly. “So, what happened?”

Will sighs again. “Look, it’s fine, like this was never supposed to be a thing with us, yeah? I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at me. I’ll get over it.”

She’s so confused. “Get over what? Why are you mad?”

“I saw you,” Will says. “Coming out of Auston’s one morning. I was driving past, after practice on my way home.” He shrugs, almost casually, but she can see in his face how hurt he is. “And like, we were never supposed to be a thing.” He repeats and she frowns. Why does he keep saying that? “So I’m not mad at you and I can’t even be mad at him. But I saw you and Matts together and I knew I liked you more than you liked me.” He shrugs again, trying to play off his words as light as casual, but Aubrey’s trying to put the pieces together of what he said. “I know you’d rather be here with him tonight, but that’s why I can’t do this anymore.”

“Oh my god.” She breathes. “You’re so dumb.”

“Hey!” Will protests.

“We’re so dumb.” She corrects, because, really, it’s the truth. “I was at Auston’s that day because he was the only one who knew about us at the time and I needed to talk to someone about if I’m in love with you!”

Will doesn’t move for a second, the longest second of Aubrey’s entire life. “Where, uh, where’d you land on that one?” He asks, like he’s kind of nervous for the answer.

And Aubrey can relate; there are butterflies in her stomach, even though she’s positive she knows how this is going to end now. “Pretty strongly in favor for.” She says and Will beams, that bright smile that lights up his entire face. “I didn’t get to tell you earlier, but I’m always happy to be with you, too.”

“That’s good.” Will says mildly, and Aubrey grins, waiting for the rest. “Because I really love seeing you smile like that.”

Her jaw drops a little. She’s not upset about what he said at all; it’s just so not what she expected him to say. And in that moment of silence, Will grins down at her once more, before leaning down to kiss her.

-----

It’s late the next morning by the time Aubrey tumbles out of bed, yanking a t-shirt of Will’s over her head. Will’s been up for at least an hour already, and she kisses his cheek as she passes, giggling as he lightly pats her ass in return.

“Coffee’s still warm.” He says.

“I still love you.” She teases. “That’s not changing just because you kept the pot warm.” Will flips her off and returns back to the game he’s playing on his Switch. “Have you seen my phone?”

“Near the front door.”

Most of her stuff is still by the front door, thrown hastily down when they’d come in late last night. Her phone’s still got a little battery left, filled with messages from late last night and earlier this morning, but one in particular catches her eye.

Steph LaChance: i told you so 😉

[woah-were-halfway-there]

Mia’s First Game

A/N: as requested, here’s the little blurb that I originally was going to post the other day but didn’t. Enjoy!

Masterlist

Word Count: 2.2k

With Mia being born at the end of January and the Leafs' season getting cut short at the beginning of May that year after a brief playoff run, she still hadn't been to a game. She was only three months old when the season finished, and although the thought of taking her to one of the games definitely crossed your mind, with how she was in the routine of falling asleep around 7pm every night, it just wasn't possible. However, as summer came and went, you knew you'd be taking Mia to her first NHL game to watch her dad once the season started back up again, and you were pretty excited about it.

The original plan was to take Mia to the Saturday game after the first home game of the season that took place earlier in the week. Auston's family was flying into Toronto on the Friday, so you and Mia would go to the game with them the following evening. However, shortly after Auston left to head down to SBA for the home-opener, that changed.

While talking on the phone with Steph, who was getting ready with a couple of the other wives and girlfriends of players, you became convinced not to spend your night at home. The girls booked a booth at SBA to all get-together and watch the game as a way to celebrate the new season starting, and of course, you and Mia were invited. But you kept declining because you were so set on attending Saturday's game, although you really had no reason not to go to both.

At eight months old, Mia was full of energy, and you knew she'd have a ton of fun hanging out with the other girls that she's come to know, all while cheering on Auston and the rest of the guys. You weren't sure why you didn't agree to just go in the first place regardless of whether you'd have to leave a little early and take Mia home, but the more you talked to Steph, the more you became convinced that you should.

However, with you being, well, you, there was no way you were going to start getting ready without talking to Auston's family first, seeing as you knew they were excited about going to the game with Mia on Saturday. They immediately told you not to worry about them and to go have fun with your friends, but not without mentioning how they'd be watching for Auston's reaction to one he realized you and Mia were there.

The thought of seeing your husband's surprised expression after noticing that his two girls were at the game made you smile, and you became even more excited as you quickly packed up your things, then grabbed Mia and left to go over and get ready at Steph and Mitch's place.

About two hours later, you and Mia were all dressed in your matching Matthews jerseys and were ready to go. It was great catching up with all the other wives and girlfriends that you hadn't gotten to see since your wedding at the end of July because after that, you got sucked into everything involved with moving from the downtown condo to your new house. You also met and welcomed some of the new girls that recently moved to Toronto with their man for the new season as well, all of whom were lovely.

Mia was having a great time too, and just by seeing how happy she was, you knew that you made the right call about going to the game. But, soon enough, it was time to go. After the whole group took some pictures in their jerseys, including Steph stealing Mia for some pics with her goddaughter, you all headed downtown together so you could watch your guys in action.

Upon arriving at the arena, your whole group went to the suite that was booked out for you girls to drop off your things, then you, Mia, and Steph headed to the Platinum Club so the three of you could be let up to the glass one warmups started. You chatted with a worker who was going to escort the three of you to the rinkside just as the Leafs took to the ice, as Mia babbled away in your arms and took in her surroundings.

Soon enough, the team was announced, and the crowd started going wild. You and Steph then followed the worker down the hall and walked right up the glass before waiting and watching as the guys took the ice. You could hear fans nearby talking and mentioning pointing out that Auston's wife and daughter were there, which made you a little nervous because Mia has never really been so in the public eye before. But, your nerves soon melted away.

"Mom, they're wearing Matthews jerseys like us," You heard a small voice speak up, then glanced over to where two kids were sitting with their parents. The little girl appeared to be maybe six or seven. Meanwhile, her brother seemed a bit younger. With how she was glancing up at who you assumed was her mom, obviously looking for a response, you knew that she was the one who mentioned the jerseys.

"Yes, honey," the mother replied. "That's Auston's family. They're here to watch the game just like we are."

Your heart swelled so much watching their interaction, and you could feel yourself getting a little emotional because of it. Steph chuckled slightly as she watched you but also had to admit that it was all pretty cute too.

Then another voice spoke up.

"Is this your little one's first game?" An older man who was sitting in the row behind the family asked you.

"It is," you confirmed with a smile, then glanced down at your daughter. "Except we decided to come last minute, so her dad doesn't even know we're here yet. Can you say hi, Mia?"

Mia squealed in response, then got all smiley, which made those sitting nearby laugh and awe a bit at just how cute she was.

"Your daughter is beautiful," a different woman stated, making you feel even more emotional than before.

"Thank you," you responded. "I still haven't fully accepted the fact that she looks more like Auston than she does me, but I'll get over it."

"Speaking of Auston, here he comes," said another person, but you didn't even get the chance to see who because you were turning back around to face the rink just as your husband skated down from centre ice and took a shot on net.

He scored, then skated over to the boards a little bit behind the net to where Mitch, John and Willy were all standing. They talked for a few seconds before Will's gaze drifted in your direction until he spotted you, Steph and Mia, a smile stretching across his mouth as he did so.

Will then nudged both Auston and Mitch, then pointed to where you were standing so they could see too.

Upon locking eye contact with you, Auston's face lit right up, and it wasn't long before he and Mitchy were both skating over to the corner.

There was no way the two of you would've been able to hear each other through the glass, so instead, Auston gave you a look as he approached, showing that he was surprised to see you there. He also expressed that he wasn't mad about it as he winked at you and grinned cheekily.

Once the two guys reached the glass, they started waving at Mia, and much to your surprise, she immediately recognized them even in all their hockey gear.

"Da-da," she said and then reached towards the glass. Acting fast, you shifted her in your hold and lifted her so that she'd stand on the little ledge around the boards and be face to face with Auston. "Da-da!"

Mia's smile grew even wider as she stared at her dad and banged on the glass a little bit while he waved at her and blew her kisses. You then looked at your cousin as he stood next to your husband and couldn't help but smile at how he was smiling so widely as he watched Mia and Auston.

Mitch then looked at you and gave you a knowing look as if to say you better not leave before he gets the chance to see his goddaughter after the game. You nodded in understanding, which made his smile grow even wider.

However, soon enough, the moment had to come to an end because Auston and Mitch both had a game to play. It wasn't until then that you noticed the Leafs photographer only a few feet away as well and knew that he had just captured that little moment forever.

Auston and Mitchy then waved bye to you, Mia and Steph before going back to the rest of the team to finish up their warmups and get ready to start the game.

Mark, the team photographer, then approached the three of you to show you the images he took. There was one of you holding Mia while facing the fans with your backs to the camera that showcased your Matthews jerseys, another of you, Mia and Steph, all standing together looking very happy as you waited for your guys. And then the last one, which was probably your favourite, was a closeup of Mia and Auston as they smiled at each other through the glass, then had you in the background looking at the two of them and smiling fondly. It was adorable, and Mark assured that he'd send the pictures to you and Auston once he edited them.

After that, the three of you headed back to the booth, but not without saying bye to the Leafs fans you chatted with and told them you hoped they enjoyed the game.

Everyone welcomed you back excitedly at the suite before you all settled in and got ready to watch your guys play their first game of the season.

The Leafs ended up winning, which had the energy in the arena feeling insane but in the best way possible. On top of it, Auston scored two of the goals, which helped result in the team's 4-3 victory over Calgary.

By the end of the game, Mia was very tired. However, she wasn't getting fussy. She just continued fighting so hard to keep her eyes open and enjoyed her time being around people she was comfortable within this entirely new setting.

As everyone began clearing out of their seats, your whole group went back down to the Platinum Club and waited for the guys. Steph carried Mia all the way there, but after a few minutes, Mia began reaching for you because whenever she got exhausted, she only wanted her parents and would become overly snuggly.

Once you took her from Steph, she immediately clung to you and leaned against your shoulder while you assured her that you'd be going home very soon.

A few minutes later, the guys started filing into the waiting area, all happy to see their significant others and families as they greeted them after their big win. As you waited for Auston, you spotted Mitchy first, and he wasted no time coming over to say hi to Mia but was also very respectful of the fact that she was exasperated.

Not long after that, Auston entered the room and smiled so wide again once he laid eyes on you and Mia.

"There's my girls," he greeted happily as he approached the two of you, then took Mia from your hold, awing as she let out a yawn and immediately snuggled against him. "You tired, mini?"

"She's very tired, but she's trying hard to stay awake at the moment," you explained, then smiled as Auston wrapped his other arm around your waist and pulled you in for a kiss.

"And how are you feeling, baby mama? This was your first big night out with Mia, and I must say, you both sure made my night by being here."

You rolled your eyes at his baby mama comment but couldn't help the blush that burned your cheeks at the rest of what he said.

"You're making it sound like I don't have a life, babe. But I'm good. Really glad I decided to bring Mia out tonight. We had a lot of fun, didn't we, sweet girl?"

Mia didn't respond. You didn't expect her to, especially with her minimal vocabulary. Instead, she mindlessly brought her hand up to her mouth and began sucking on it, then using her other hand to rub her cheek. She'd been teething like crazy lately, and those actions were what she did when her mouth was beginning to bother her.

You and Auston looked at each other knowingly after that because you both knew how if she were in discomfort, mixed with how she was already so exhausted, things would get real messy real soon. So, without even having to agree on it, you both started saying your goodbyes and headed home.

Deep down, you knew that night would probably be a little rough with Mia and trying to get her to sleep comfortably, but you weren't worried. You were so content and knew that Mia also had a good night out, so it was worth it. And besides, you didn't have to do it alone. Auston was there too, he wasn't going anywhere, and you knew you'd get through whatever else your little family needed to face together.

[josieskriverx]

well, it’s vegas, after all || jolex

LOCATION: The Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada. 

TIME: Saturday, May 15th, 2021.

FEATURING: Alex Galchenyuk @agally94, the Toronto Maple Leafs team. Mentions of Bill Skarsgaard @bigskars

What the hell had just happened?

Josie’s head was pounding, she was naked, under the bedsheets of a huge bed in what she begged, hoped and prayed was her own room, or at least a room at the Venetian in Vegas. Her feet were killing her, and frankly, her legs weren’t really all that great either, the sheer movement of bringing them together under her was sore as well. At least she appeared to have had a good time, right? Because even if she couldn’t remember a damn thing of what had happened, a smile landed on her face that she couldn’t wipe off. Bringing her hands to rub at her eyes, she squished them shut before opening them again and running her fingers back through her messy head of hair. She felt hair pulling on her left hand, as if it’d gotten caught on something, maybe a knot on her finger. Bringing her hand down and out of her hair, she saw it. 

A ring. At least two times the right size. Clearly not hers.

Fuck. A pit in her stomach opened and started swallowing all of her organs in.

“Oh no” She murmured. What the hell had happened last night. She’d partied with the boys the whole night, she never imagined she’d get so close to some of the Leafs, memories of Mitch dancing with her and twirling her around until she almost fell on her ass. Finally seeing Alex let loose a little bit. Auston being a pain in the- No. Please, no. Please no The sheer thought of having married Auston Matthews in a drunken stupor had Josie’s stomach turning around, nausea gurgling up and forcing her to get out of bed with the bedsheet wrapped tightly around her body and run to the bathroom to empty all she had in there. Sitting down by the toilet, the model felt a tear run down her face. She’d never been this drunk, she’d never done anything like this. Why would she ever loose control and take it this far. Memories of the conversation she’d had with Bill all those days ago now made it seem like it had been just yesterday. Las Vegas, huh? Fucking Vegas. But sitting by a toilet would do nothing to either solve this or at least get to the bottom of it. Maybe it wasn’t Auston. Maybe it was someone else. Mitch? Where is this guy, by the way? Shouldn’t he be there too? Had he noticed what he’d done and ran away? Was she gonna have to hunt the guy down, track every Elvis that married two drunk idiots last night?

She tried to push it all out of her head as she flushed the loo and stood up, walking lazily towards the bed. On her way back, she looked down at the floor and saw traces of clothes. The dress she’d worn, the shirt and pants her husband had discarded... Fuck, who had she married? Wrapping the bedsheet tighter, the model bent down to the pants, lucky to find a wallet inside of it. 

Please, God, let it not be Auston. Please, let it not be Auston was all her mind could muster and make up in its confused haze.

She pulled out a credit card, and down in raised letters, it read:

GALCHENKYUK, ALEXANDER AL

And just as her mental world was starting to re-build itself from a collapse, she heard the door open, her big doe eyes staring at her... Well, her husband.

“Hey” 

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 33

A/N:  Hope you guys enjoy this one...⛪️

August 7th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was nervous as fuck.  

It was Game 4, less than 24 hours after giving up a 3-0 lead, and the Leafs were on the brink of elimination.  The boys were quiet.  Focused.  Only had one thing on their mind.  They didn’t want to leave the bubble.  They wanted to prove everybody wrong – everybody.  Their coaches.  Their bosses.  Their fans.  Their haters.  The media.  Themselves.  This was their opportunity to show everybody what they could do.  

Aberdeen couldn’t even think about it without trembling.  She never in a million years thought hockey would make her feel this way.  It didn’t help the love of her life was a major part of it.  And it didn’t help that Alec had texted her early this morning.

Looks like the boys might cost you a writing job if they get eliminated early.  Not many shenanigans to get up to in, what, ten days?  Article might be a bust.

I’ll have 10,000 words written for you as promised was what she texted back.  She didn’t want to stroke his ego, play along with his games, or have him think she wasn’t going to produce just because he thought they might leave early.  It didn’t matter to her.  Even if they did leave early, she could still do it.  She knew she could.  She knew she had to, because she couldn’t blow this opportunity.

They morning had been anxiety-ridden at best.  She hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep, tossing and turning after getting off the phone with William, and then because of the text, she was barely eating breakfast.  Apparently, it was noticeable to the boys, because John had come over to her table and brought her a plate stacked fruit.  “If we can eat, you can eat,” he said as he set it in front of her.  Mitch ended up coming to sit across from her at the table, and John took the other seat.  William approached, standing six feet away, and Auston too.  They were congregating, which made her even more nervous.  

“Thanks,” she mumbled, forking a strawberry and putting it into her mouth reluctantly.  “You guys aren’t nervous?” she posed the question to all of them.

John shrugged.  “We know what we need to do.  We just have to go out there and do it.”

Aberdeen didn’t know how he could be so calm, as the captain of the team.  Then again, he was John fucking Tavares, and calm seemed to be his middle name.  She nodded her head.  “I don’t mean to be a nervous wreck.  I’m just not used to playoff hockey, as you can imagine.  This is all new.  I never knew I could feel this way about a sport.”

That made John laugh a bit.  “Not about a sport, but definitely about a book, right?”

She couldn’t help but smile slightly as she forked at a piece of watermelon.  “Definitely about a book.”

“How’s the article coming along?” William asked.

Aberdeen almost dropped her fork on her plate.  All the guys turned their heads towards him at the same time skeptically, then towards her at the same time, their eyebrows furrowed.  Her body felt like it was on fire.  She hadn’t told anybody about the article – except William, of course.  She assumed Brendan sort-of-kind-of knew since he set her up for it, but she hadn’t said anything to him.  William was the only one who knew.  Her cheeks flushed red.  

“What article?” Mitch asked, turning his head back and forth between the two of them once more.

“Yeah, what article?” Auston asked.

“It uh, it’s—um, it’s a thing for Toronto Life,” Aberdeen stuttered out.  

“Toronto Life?!” Mitch repeated excitedly.  

“Yeah,” she nodded slowly.  “Brendan uh, Brendan put me up for it.  It’s, like…an audition.  I don’t know.”

“An audition?  So like if it’s good they’ll publish it?” Mitch kept asking questions.

“Basically, yeah.”

“Well what’s it about?”

Aberdeen gulped.  “Um, life in the bubble.”

The boys looked taken aback for a brief moment.  She knew they were trying to hold back the emotion, but she could see it in their eyes.  She wondered if they were thinking the worst now.  She wondered if Auston was looking at her and thinking that all she wanted to do in this bubble was get a scoop like Steve Simmons.  She wondered if Mitch was looking at her and thinking that she was going to write some scathing article about how he was being paid $10.8 million to not show up in the playoffs, like most articles were saying.  She prepared for the worst, honestly.  She really did.  Because she knew these guys had been betrayed before.  She knew the media were constantly down their throats.  She knew all they wanted was a little reprieve from that.  And now, someone they knew, someone they worked with – someone they trusted completely – was writing something about life in the bubble?  When she was in the bubble with them?

“Life in the bubble, huh?  So, like how we play video games the entire day ‘cause we can’t do anything else in here?” Mitch asked.

Her stomach was in knots.  But that follow-up from Mitch was definitely not was she was expecting.  Truth be told, she didn’t know what she was expecting – anger, maybe?  Caution?  Suspicion? – but it definitely wasn’t Mitch saying that.  “Something like that,” she said.  “I’m trying to, like, capture how hard it is for you guys to be in here.  How hard it is to be away from your families.  How you guys are…you know, human, and not just hockey players.”

Mitch smiled.  “I think it’s gonna be a great article, then.”

“How’d William know?” Auston asked.  “How’d he know before any of us?”

William knew he had to think fast.  “I saw her writing it the other day when we went out to the gym,” he said.  He had approached her on the sidelines that day for a brief minute or two, during a break in his workout, so if anyone was paying attention and saw them, it was an entirely plausible scenario.  “She told me what she was writing.”

“Why didn’t you tell any of us?” Auston asked him.

“Because it was Aberdeen’s news to tell, not mine,” William said.

Auston looked towards Aberdeen.  “You’re not writing, like, gossip about us, are you?” he asked.

“Auston, what the fuck—” William began.

“Buddy—” Mitch intervened.

“Hey now—” John piped up.

“No no, it’s fine,” she waved the boys off, staring directly at Auston.  She knew exactly where Auston was coming from.  She knew he trusted her.  He admitted so during the phone call when his Covid-19 story became national news.  She knew she had to be one hundred percent honest with him if he was going to have no qualms or suspicions about this article.  “They want me to.  They want me to write about shenanigans.  The stereotypical stuff.  But I’m not.  I refuse to.  I wouldn’t…you guys know I wouldn’t do that to you.  And I mean…I—I haven’t told them yet that I refuse to pander to that shit, but they’ll know when they get my article.”

Auston’s entire demeanour softened at her words.  It was like his entire body relaxed.  He knew – he always knew – he just needed the affirmation.  But then he realized what that meant.  “But then what happens if you don’t get the job because you don’t give them what they want?” he asked.  

Aberdeen shrugged.  “Then I have keep looking for writing jobs at other magazines.”

Then and there, he realized what was on the line for Aberdeen.

***

As Aberdeen wallowed in her room, she was nervous.  As she showered before the game, she was nervous.  As she did her hair, she was nervous.  As she got dressed, she was nervous.  As she opened her door and walked out into the hallway, meeting some of the guys, she was nervous.  When she got off the bus and the team went one way while she, Brendan, and Kyle went another, she clutched at her iPad pro.  She looked at the boys one last time, catching Willy’s eye, before the disappeared down the hallway, where no doubt a photographer was waiting to get pictures of their outfits before they went into the locker room.

As she sat in the box with Brendan and Kyle, as always, she saw Brendan look her way.  “Don’t even think about asking me how it’s gonna go tonight,” she said before he could even open his mouth.  

He held his hands up in front of him.  “Excuuuuuuse me.”

“I’m so nervous.  I barely ate today,” she elaborated.

“Somebody get Aberdeen a Coca Cola,” he called out to no-one in particular.  “She’s gonna need the sugar and the caffeine or else she’ll crash by the third period.”

She couldn’t believe how light-hearted he was being.  She didn’t know if it was some type of coping mechanism or if it was because he was generally in a good mood.  “How can you be so…calm?  Such a jokester?”

Brendan shrugged.  “If I was doom and gloom all the time, I wouldn’t still be president.”

***

Aberdeen was on the verge of tears.  

Cam Atkinson had scored in the first period.  Vladislav Gavrikov scored in the second period.  Her heart was heavy.  Her stomach was in knots.  And now, the impossible: she was watching Jason Spezza fighting.  The last person who should be fighting.  A part of her understood what he was doing, somewhat – trying to fire up the guys – but the other part of her kept asking why the fuck does he have to do this?  Where the fuck are they?  Why aren’t they playing?  WHY AREN’T THEY PLAYING?!

“I can’t believe they’re fucking doing this to him,” she mumbled under her breath through gritted teeth as she watched Jason skate off the ice.  Her knuckles were white for how tightly her hands were in fists in front of her mask.  Her leg was bouncing uncontrollably.  She couldn’t believe what was happening.

“What was that?” Brendan asked, apparently hearing her, his own voice indiscernible but also just…void of any emotion.  

She glanced at him quickly before shaking her head.  “Nothing.”  She looked over at Kyle.  She couldn’t tell what he was feeling, either.  What was it with these men and being so stoic?  

She pressed the palms of her hands together and intertwined her fingers.  “God, if you love me…” she began, mumbling into her hands.  “If you love me, God, don’t let them go out like this.  Not.  Like.  This.”

***

Boone Jenner scored in the third period.  It was 3-0.  This was it.  

Aberdeen had to come to terms with the fact that they were leaving early.  She had to come to terms with the fact that the boys would lose, again.  They’d be out of the bubble.  She knew that was probably a silver lining, but these guys so desperately just wanted to play hockey and play hockey and win, and for them to crash out like this was just going to be the worst.  They’d never hear the end of it.  Bee McTavish told her about last year, about how they lost to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 and how hard it was on the boys, particularly Morgan, and how awful the media was to them, and Aberdeen didn’t want to think about what the media would say now.  She didn’t want to think about what they’d say about Fred.  About Mitch.  About Morgan.  About John.

About William.  

But just as Aberdeen came out of her thoughts, she noticed something weird on the ice.  It wasn’t the regular line out there.  Sheldon was doing something different.  It was…well, it seemed to be the nuclear option.  All the top goal scorers were on the ice.  William, Mitch, Zach, Auston, and John.  Hustling all over the ice.  Passing the puck.  Shooting at the net.

And then, with just less than four minutes left, William scored.

Aberdeen jumped out of her seat and screamed.  The boys celebrated briefly, but they knew more work needed to be done.  She looked over at Brendan, who wasn’t blinking as he looked down at the ice.  She looked at Kyle, who wasn’t blinking either.  

“Please God…please…” she whispered to herself.

Sheldon kept out the nuclear option.  They were young.  They could do it.  

John Tavares scored only forty seconds later.  

“Holy fucking shit,” Aberdeen stood up from her seat, saying her words loud enough for Brendan and Kyle to hear.  “Holy fucking shit.  Holy fucking shit.”  

She barely breathed a single breath for the next two and a half minutes.  She was standing with her hands over her mouth over her mask and her body was completely still as she watched every move on the ice like a hawk.

William, to Auston, to Zach, who scored to tie it at 3-3.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!” she screamed as the boys really celebrated on the ice now.  She banged her fists on the counter in front of her as she watched Zach jump on top of William as all the boys on the ice huddled together excitedly.  She swore she heard some happy swears from Kyle, and she definitely heard some happy swears from the extra players who were sitting in the seats right below them where the seat covers ended.  She barely remembered the period ending.  

“They’re gonna fucking do it,” she said to no-one in particular.  “They’re gonna fucking do it.  They’re gonna make a comeback.”

Everything was a blur as Aberdeen sat back down into her seat.  The overtime period.  The lines.  The minutes.  She felt like she was in the twilight zone – some alternate universe where time stood still and nothing else mattered besides hockey.  Not even just hockey – nothing else mattered besides this game and what was happening right here, right now.  Seven minutes into overtime, Morgan drew a tripping penalty.  An enraged Nick Foligno was sent to the penalty box.  The puck dropped.  It was passed.  Marner to Tavares.  Tavares to Matthews.

Auston let it rip and scored.

“WHAT!!!!!  WHAT!!!!!” Aberdeen screamed louder than she ever had in her life as she jumped up from her seat like a rocket and threw the pen she was holding out into the stands.  She began pumping her fist in front of her and pointing out onto the ice.  “THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, BABY!  THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!” she shrieked, her jaw somewhere between her face and the floor but her smile taking up her entire face.  Then came the excited, can’t-believe-what-I-just-witnessed high pitched uncontrollable laughs.  She looked over to Brendan and Kyle.  They were stoic.  She liked to believe they already freaked out and she missed it.

“Down 3-0 in the third period!” she screamed at them.  “Down 3-0 in the third period!  Can you believe it?!”

“What are you doing waiting up here?  Go down there,” Brendan said, nodding his head towards the exit.  

Aberdeen bolted out of the box and rushed towards the locker room as quickly as her feet could take her.  Once she got there, she saw the boys filing in, screaming ‘Woooo!’s and ‘Let’s fucking go, baby!’s.  William entered the locker room first.  He noticed her standing in the room almost immediately and rushed over to her.

She held her breath.  

He picked her up and spun her around, causing her to squeal until he set her down.  He was wet and sweaty and she could see the droplets of sweat dripping down his face but God if he didn’t look incredible and like the perfect human specimen.  “Let’s gooooo!” he screamed once he set her down.

“Let’s gooooo!” she repeated, noticing more of the boys make their way in.  Clifford.  Spezza.  Kerfoot.  Barrie.  Kasperi.  Hyman.  Engvall.  Rielly.  Tavares.  Holl.  Dermott.  Everybody.  Everybody.  They all came in screaming and did the exact same thing that William did, lifting her up and spinning her around excitedly as they continued to scream and go their stalls and start stripping in front of her.  They probably weren’t allowed to do that – they definitely weren’t allowed to do that, be that close together – but it didn’t matter right now.  Nobody cared.

“You guys gave me a fucking heart attack!” she yelled at them, clutching her heart as she looked around the room at all of them.  She saw a couple of them giggling as they undid their hockey tape and threw it into the garbage.

“Wouldn’t have been a Leafs series without one!” Morgan joked.

Sheldon walked into the room and high-fived Aberdeen.  Then Auston walked in and the boys started screaming and yelling all over again.  “Let’s fucking goooo, Aberdeen!” he screamed as he picked her up too, one last twirl, before setting her down.  “Let’s fucking go, baby!” he screamed to everyone in the room.

It was at that point that Brendan and Kyle walked into the room.  Aberdeen composed herself as much as possible as she faded into the background, watching Sheldon give his post-game speech.  Everybody looked so happy.  So excited.

They could fucking do this.

***

Aberdeen was typing like a furious mad woman in the Notes on her phone.  She wanted to write – needed to write all the authentic feelings that were in the air right now as she waited on the bus for everyone.  She needed to remember this moment.  Every single detail of it.  What was said.  What was heard.  The smiles.  The spins.  How she was still dizzy.  

“Hey Aberdeen!  You made it on to TV!” Mitch yelled from the middle of the bus.

Everyone’s head popped up, and she watched as all the guys already on the bus took off their headphones.  “What?!” she shrieked.

“They caught you celebrating in the box!” he said, turning his phone and showing her the video.

Aberdeen heard all of the boys get up out of their seats and crowd behind her to watch the video.  She noticed the Sportsnet logo on the bottom of screen first and foremost, then listened as she heard the announcers describing the scene, which they replayed in slow fucking motion.  “I think that young lady is indicative of most of Leafs Nation right now!” she heard Jim Hughson’s voice as the video showed her jumping up from her seat and throwing her pen.  The boys behind her were howling as they watched, and when she began pumping her fist in front of her, they laughed some more.  Slightly embarrassed, Aberdeen buried her head in her hands and shook her head.  “It’s always me!  Why is it always me that gets caught doing these things?!”

“The camera loves you, Aberdeen!” Mitch giggled.  

“It happens to all the wives and girlfriends at some point,” Morgan said as most of the guys went back to their seats on the bus.  

“But I’m not a wife.  Or a girlfriend!”

She could tell Morgan was smiling behind his mask.  “Not yet,” he mumbled to himself, shrugging.

Aberdeen turned red.  She sat back down in her seat and continued typing away on her phone furiously, making sure nobody saw her skin hue.

***

It was only when everybody got back to the hotel when Aberdeen had to stop typing, but by then, she was sure she’d gotten every feeling.  Everybody was still buzzed as they rode two at a time in the elevator up to their floor, and she could still feel the energy even when she was bottled up in her room – like everybody else – and it was eerily silent after just having been so loud.

She had just finished changing into her pajamas when she heard her phone buzz.  She knew it was William texting, so she grabbed her phone immediately, ready for his request to FaceTime.

open ur door really slowly so it doesn’t make any noise

Her eyes bulged out of her head.  She set her phone down and rushed over to her door, not bothering to look out the peephole, but doing exactly what she was told.  She opened it slowly, carefully, making sure not to make a peep.  She looked out into the hallway, down to the other wing, and saw William’s head popping out of his own room.  He rushed out, closing the door quietly before rushing over to her wing.

“William,” she whispered.  Her heart was beating out of her chest.  He was not allowed to do this.  He was not allowed to do this.  She watched as he made his way over.  “William what are you—”

She was silenced by his slipping past her and into her room, putting his hand over hers to shut the door slowly so it didn’t make a clicking sound.  When it was closed, she tried one more time.  “Willy—”

Her attempt was futile.  He crashed his lips against hers, wrapping his arms around her as he squeezed her against his body, so much so that he could lift her up in his arms and she could wrap her legs around his torso.  He stuck his tongue down her throat.  She moaned out at the sensation before realizing that he was walking them into her bathroom – her bathroom that faced the open area in front of the elevators, and not facing or sharing a wall with her room neighbour.  He kicked the door closed with his foot before setting her down on the marble vanity sink, her legs still wrapped around his body keeping him close.

“Take this off,” he mumbled as he tugged violently at her pajama shirt, almost ripping it as she shoved her off her body and threw it across the bathroom.  She pulled on his t-shirt too, throwing it in the same direction as they crashed their lips against each other’s again.  

“We’re not supposed to be doing this,” she whispered out after he bit down on her bottom lip and pulled it away from her.  “You’re not supposed to be in my room.  We’re breaking the rules.”

“Isn’t that half the fun?” he quipped, a small smirk on his face.  Aberdeen could feel her body get hot – hotter than it already was.  This was so wrong.  So wrong.  He wasn’t supposed to be in her room.  They weren’t supposed to be touching.  They weren’t supposed to be kissing.  They weren’t supposed to be doing any of it, yet here Aberdeen was, her body heating up and her core getting even hotter.  She scratched her nails down William’s broad and toned chest as he kissed a trail down her neck and to her breasts, sucking and biting down at her nipples gently, causing her to gasp out.

He immediately put his hand over her mouth.  Her eyes went wide.  He looked up at her from where he was at her breasts.  “You can’t be too loud or else we’ll get caught.”

Oh my fucking God.  Now she really felt her body light up like a fire.  She whimpered slightly.  “But Willy—” she tried to mumble against his hand.

“Shhhh…” he cooed.  “Can you be quiet, Aberdeen?  Can you be quiet while I fuck you?”  He was waiting for an answer.  She felt a shiver run up her spine.  She nodded her head.  “That’s my girl.”

William continued paying attention to her breasts before kissing his way back up to her lips and sticking his tongue down her throat again.  Aberdeen ran her fingers through his hair and tugged on it slightly before scratching down his back and pulling down his trackpants and underwear.  He did the same to her, letting his fingers play with the wet folds of her pussy until he heard whimpers from her again.  “Quiiiiiet, Aberdeen,” he cooed once more, bringing his hand that was just playing with her pussy up to her lips.  

She grabbed his hand in both her hands and sucked his fingers into her mouth.  “I’m not going to be able to,” she whispered, shaking her head.  

William pulled her off the marble vanity, grabbing her hips and spinning her around so her back was against his chest.  They were able to see each other through the mirror.  Aberdeen watched as William’s hand snaked around her body and down to her hot core again.  “You’re going to have to be quiet or we’ll get caught,” he whispered huskily in her ear as he played with her core again.  Her legs were shaking at the feeling.  She gripped on to the vanity.  

“Fuck me raw, Willy,” she begged.  She had her own tricks up her sleeve.  If William was going to play this game, she was going to play hers.  She watched his reaction in the mirror and could see his pupils dilate.  “I started birth control.  It’s okay.”

“You what?”

“I started birth control a month ago.  It was supposed to be a surprise but—”

“—Aberdeen—”

“—Please Willy,” she begged, her voice breathless.  She could feel his hard cock against her body and was so desperate for it, she didn’t care how wrong this was.  “Fuck me raw.  Fuck.  Me.  Raw.”

He bent her over the vanity.  She stuck her ass out and kept her eyes on him through the mirror, watching as he positioned himself at her entrance, sliding into her easily.  She cried out at the sensation, feeling his hand almost automatically cover her mouth to silence her.  When he began moving in and out of her, the sound of their flesh smacking together, she didn’t know if she should close her eyes to revel in the feeling of his slick, hard cock filling her up, or if she should keep her eyes open to watch him fucking her hard and fast through the mirror.  She chose the latter.  She and William had had many sexual escapades before (sexcapades, if you will), but nothing had been as hot or as raw or as dangerous as this was.  The exhilaration of doing a completely banned act – banned since they figured out they were working together, even more so banned now – was giving her the ultimate rush.  

His hand was still over her mouth as she arched her back and William pulled her back against his chest.  She could feel herself getting close, and when William’s other hand snaked around once more to play with her clit, she tried to cry out but couldn’t.  “Are you gonna be quiet when I make you cum?”

She shook her head.  “I won’t.  I can’t.”

He thrusted into her harder, trying to make a point.  She whimpered again and his hand somehow tightened around her mouth.  “Are you gonna be quiet?” he asked again.  She looked at him through the mirror, seeing the absolute fire in his eyes.  She knew what he was looking for.  She knew he would tease her and tease her and tease her until she agreed to what he was asking.  She nodded slowly.  He smiled.  “Good.”

He quickened his pace, harder and faster and rougher than before, and Aberdeen continued to watch them fucking through the mirror until she could feel closer and closer to her sweet release.  Eventually, her legs began to shake, and she could feel an intense orgasm rush through every single inch of her body.  She tried to stay as quiet as possible, but the feeling was too much, and her whimpers escaped her, though they were much quieter than the usual vocal performances she usually gave when she and William had sex, and though William still had his hand over her mouth.  At the sound of her stifled whimpers she could feel William’s hot cum spill inside her.  The feeling was hot and raw and simultaneously everything she imagined it would be and feel like but also completely new and unlike anything she could have ever expected.  His own small grunts escaped his mouth as he felt himself empty inside of her, revelling in the feeling of filling her completely.  He eventually let go of her mouth, and her body bent over against the marble vanity again, unable to stand up straight due to the long, intense orgasm.  He tried to catch his breath as he continued to watch her body shake, the last of her orgasm rushing through her.  He could see her chest rising and falling from her trying to catch her breath.

It was a few minutes before Aberdeen and William could regain their breaths.  He slipped out of her slowly, and she whimpered again at the loss of him, still bent over the vanity, though she could still feel a slickness between her thighs.  She felt his body bend too, his chest on her back, and felt him kiss her shoulders delicately.  She craned her neck to get a look at him.  “I better get a writing job soon.  I don’t think we’re gonna be able to hold it back for much longer,” she whispered.

William giggled – a low, rumbly giggle from his chest as he smiled and continued placing kisses on her shoulder.  “I agree,” he whispered back.  “We gotta make sure you get that Toronto Life job.”

She bit her lip.  “Did it feel good for you?”

He nodded.  “Of course.  What about for you?  Did it feel different?”

“It felt fucking amazing,” she nodded.  “It…it did feel different.  I…you’re the first one I’ve ever let fuck me raw,” she admitted.

William nodded in understanding.  He knew what she was really saying – that this was, at least physically, the ultimate form of trust, and he was the only one in her life, ever, who she trusted that much.  “We can keep doing whatever you’re more comfortable with,” he said.

“I liked this.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to go back,” she giggled slightly.  

William smiled.  He pulled her back upright and, at that point, she could stand on her own again.  She spun around so she was facing him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down to kiss him.  They stood in her bathroom kissing for a while until William pulled away slightly.  “I love you so much,” he mumbled.

“I love you too.”

“Sorry I made you break the rules…yet again,” he smiled mischievously.  

Aberdeen winked.  “Isn’t that half the fun?”

[willykappymarnsmatts]

Angels Like You (Can't Fly Down Here With Me)(Chapter 4)(A. Matthews/M. Marner)

Mitch and Auston roll into practice together and park next to the same entrance they do every single practice. Business as usual, even though all Mitch wants to do is crawl back into bed and cry or actually murder someone with all the conflicted feelings he has. Auston being at his place this morning has made it slightly more bearable though. Just his presence makes everything seem kind of okay, and as they get out of the car, it’s almost as if he reads Mitch’s mind and puts his hand on his thigh and squeezes gently, in an effort to comfort him enough to stop him from actually vibrating with nerves. “You gonna be okay? I can always tell Keefe you’re too hungover, or sick, or whatever you want the story to be.”

Mitch’s breath catches, which he blames on Auston forcing him out of his head so suddenly, not on his touch, and smiles a bit, but shakes his head. “I’m okay. Honestly. I think this is the best thing for me right now, to just continue life as usual.”

Auston knows he’s lying, knows Mitch well enough to tell when he’s not being totally honest, but he smiles at him anyways and nods. “If you need anything just tell me, alright? Anything.” Auston actually might jump in front of a bus with how overly affectionate he knows he sounds, but Mitch smiles slightly and glances at Auston before looking back down at his lap, and he forgets to be disgusted with himself. They drag themselves out of the car and as they grab their bags, Will comes up from behind them and pushes himself between the two of them, an arm around each of their shoulders.

“Morning, boys,” Will starts, all too energetic and bubbly for the tense air around them. It breaks the grey cloud looming over Mitch’s head a bit, though, but when he visibly perks up Auston’s heart clenches. He’s happy, of course, but almost jealous it wasn’t him to snap him out of it.

Why couldn’t it be him?

“Morning, Will. How ya doing, bud?”

“Great, actually.” The two of them trail off into a conversation about Will’s exciting morning, leaving Auston to berate himself. He wants so badly to be William at this moment. The jealousy he feels makes him want to vomit. He actually might be sick, because what the fuck. It’s his two best friends. It’s not like Mitch even likes him back, never mind loves him the way Auston does. He has no fucking right to be jealous, but he can’t help it. Mitch is his entire world, and he’d kill to just put a smile on his pretty face, and Will is able to do it in the first two seconds of them seeing each other. He doesn’t want anyone to make Mitch as happy as he does, and it's gross and disgusting and toxic but he can’t help it because it’s how he feels. He hates it, but it’s the truth.

Mitch notices his silence and when they sit down next to each other in their stalls, he tries to ask him what’s up by knocking their knees together. Auston just shakes his head and bites his tongue, swallowing down the three words he wants to say more than anything to save himself from the embarrassment and disappointment he knows he would feel for the rest of time if he was actually honest about this. It’s the one thing he knows he can’t share with Mitch, and it’s the one thing he wants to the most. Mitch just nods, pauses for a second, then starts without looking up at Auston right away.

“Will invited us over to his place for dinner tonight. Said his apartment’s been empty with Kap gone, and I haven’t been over there in a while…” The guilt that displays itself all over Mitch’s face is more than enough to have Auston nodding his head in agreement, even though he knows exactly what Will is planning to do as soon as he has the two of them in a room together with him and no fans or teammates or staff to see. He just does not have the energy for it today, but who could say no to Mitch. “Cool! Awesome, I’ll, uh, I’ll tell him we can go, then. What time do you want me to pick you up?”

It has to stop, Auston knows that. The two of them have been driving each other around since rookie year, and it’s probably part of what led to all of his messed up feelings. Spending so much time with each other, it’s bound to happen to at least one of them, and the one ended up being Auston. So it has to stop. “I can drive myself, you know.” He doesn’t mean for it to come out as snide as it does, because when would he ever purposely try to hurt Mitch, but the second the words leave his mouth he regrets all of it.

“Oh,” Mitch nods, looking like someone just sucker-punched him in the gut. “Uhm, yeah, I know. I just thought that, since I usually pick you up to go to things, I would. But if you don’t want to, that's fine. Yeah.” He shoots his gaze to the floor, unsure of what to do now. He wasn’t expecting it to be that big of a deal, but now he feels like he’s suffocating.

Auston’s chest hurts so bad he could scream, and even though his heart is saying to lighten up and back off, when he opens his mouth, his tone stays the same as before. “I just think we should give each other some space sometimes. It’s not like you’re my boyfriend or anything.” He spits the last word and actually cannot physically remove the disgust from his face. What the fuck is wrong with you?! Relax!

Mitch doesn’t look up right away, but nods and bites his lip. Auston gets up and starts putting his stuff from his bag into his cubby, and out of the corner of his eye he can see Mitch unsure of what to do with himself, playing with his watch absentmindedly while he chews the living hell out of the inside of his cheek. He continues to watch him while he gets up from his place and stands up next to Auston.

“What is up with you lately, man?” Mitch suddenly bursts, his voice raised a level louder than anyone else in the room. The entire team falls silent, and Auston knows for a fact that usually that would make Mitch calm down, chill out, because despite the fact that he has an A on his chest and has the centre of attention in most rooms he walks into, he still forgets what he wants to say as soon as he has the room’s attention. He continues right on, though, without a second thought about who’s listening. “You’re on and you’re off. You show up to my place all ‘I love you I care about you you don’t need her’ and now you’re snappy and rude. What the fuck have I done to you to hate me so fucking much that when I’m already down, you act like I’m fucking stupid and don’t notice you look miserable when you’re around me?!”

Auston turns towards Mitch, but when he sees the look on his face, any comeback that was on his lips dies right there. He’s seen that look on him, pointed towards the opposing player on a faceoff, or towards a ref after a stupid call against his team, and heartbreakingly towards himself in the mirror after a game he feels like he lost. Auston’s always been the one to wipe that look away, to tell him everythings going to be okay, to calm him down and remind him there’s absolutely nothing wrong with him. That look has never been pointed towards him. Never.

Will stands up then and starts towards Mitch, looking frantically back and forth between Mitch and Auston, looking for Auston to tell him what to do. Auston just stares at Mitch, tongue in cheek, so Will tries to butt in. “Hey, Mitch, I think we should chill out a bit, eh?” “Get the fuck away from me Will. I need to know what his fucking problem is.” Mitch shoves Will to the side, and even though he could’ve easily stood his ground, he backs away a step, not leaving his side completely. Will looks up at Auston, completely unsure of how he’s supposed to help in this situation. Auston thinks his lungs might have actually collapsed because he suddenly can't get a breath in. John makes his way over to the three of them from the other side of the locker room and puts his arms on Auston’s biceps, knowing his tells for when he needs right there, in his space, to calm him down before he implodes. He turns him away from Mitch and forces Auston to make eye contact with him, to look away from Mitch. “Shower, Aus?”

He doesn’t respond, but numbly follows his captain to the showers without looking back to see Will push Mitch into his seat and sit next to him with an arm around his shoulder, all the fight evidently escaping Mitch’s body. “Suit up and ice in two minutes, boys,” John announces to the team before leaving the room.

The door to the showers swings shut and John walks over to where Auston is leaning against a stall door. “What just happened?”

He didn’t even feel like crying two seconds ago, but with his captain so close to him, looking at him like he’s a wounded puppy, he can’t keep it together anymore. John stays right in front of him, doesn’t flinch when Auston’s shoulders start to shake and the tears start to stream down his face.

“I love him, John,” Auston admits, defeated. His shoulders slump and he doesn’t really look at John, instead staring at his hands, his slides, John’s shoulder. “I love him, and he doesn’t love me, he’ll never love me the way I love him, and I think I might die. I actually think it might kill me, how much I love him.” John just shakes his head, looking sadder than Auston has ever seen him, and pulls him into a tight hug. He holds him there for a couple seconds, until Auston grunts a little and steps back. “Yeah, I, uh, I love him more than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything. Love isn’t even a big enough word to describe the feelings I have for him. But he, uh, he doesn’t love me, and I don’t really know how to get over it.”

“Oh, kid, you don’t.”

“What?” Auston was expecting some sort of advice, maybe an ‘I know’, not a fucking death sentence.

“You don’t just ‘get over it’, kid. It doesn’t work that way. I’m sure you’ve had girlfriends you’ve ‘loved’, and you ‘love’ your dog, and your team, but this is a totally different thing. I believe that once in your life, you meet someone who changes the way you see the world. They take everything you think you know, throw it in the garbage, and reteach it to you. They show you what true, unconditional, absolute love is. You feel like you can’t breathe when you’re without them, and you only feel truly complete when they’re next to you. You can’t imagine your life without them. That’s your soulmate, and if you don’t end up with them, you might ‘move on’, you might meet someone and get married and have kids and have your dream life, but you’ll never truly forget them. They’re your one big, true, epic love.”

“Is that you and Aryne?”

John nods, smiling a little, but remaining somber. “Yeah, it is.”

“Is that, uh, is that me and Mitch?” “I think so, buddy. And if he doesn’t feel the same, it’ll feel like it’ll kill you, but I promise you you’ll survive. It’ll be hell, but you will get through it, and you will be happy again. Maybe never as happy as you are when you’re around him, but close. And if he does feel the same, you’ll be happy as long as you’re with him. Even when the entire world feels like it’s crumbling down around you, he’ll be there, and it’ll make everything kind of okay.”

Auston is unsure how to respond, how to say something even close to as emotionally intelligent as John. “What should I do?” he asks.

“I can’t tell you that, bud. All I can tell you is he is your one true, epic love, and if you let him slip away before ever telling him how you feel, you will never, ever forgive yourself.”

Auston nods and leans in to briefly hug his captain, then shakes his entire body out, takes a breath, and goes to strap on his skates. Mitch is his soulmate. It’s something he’s always had an idea of, something he always thought might possibly be true, but to hear someone else say it out loud, to hear the actual words spoken by his captain of all people, it convinces whatever part of him was holding out on the thought.

Mitch is his soulmate.

Mitch is his soulmate.

He doesn’t know if Mitch feels the same. In fact, he’s almost sure he doesn’t. But if he doesn’t say anything, he’ll regret it for the rest of his life. He pauses where he is, bent over, tying his skate laces. He sits up with his hands on his knees and looks at John, who’s across the room, tying his own laces. “I have to go.”

“And do what?” John doesn’t look up, but Auston knows he has his full attention.

“I just have to do something. I have to tell him, I think, but it has to be perfect, because he’s perfect. I have to, uh, I have to go,” Auston trails off and starts taking off his skates at lightning speed. John look up at him briefly, a small smile on his face.

“Don’t worry about anything, Aus. I’ll take care of Keefe.” Auston nods without looking at his captain, his mind spinning, but completely and utterly focused on the one thing he knows is true.

Mitch is my soulmate. I am utterly in love with Mitch Marner.

And I’m gonna teach him what real love is.

[beauvibaby]

who cares - f.andersen

a/n: I had to repost bc the tags didn’t work 🥺

word count: 1.9k

I slipped my dress on, not being able to fully zip up the back, I sighed, gathering the last of my accessories, and carrying my heels by the straps, my feet padding down the hard floors quietly. I was about to pop my head around the corner to get Freddie’s attention, needing him to fix the back of my dress, but my ears perked up as I heard my name being mentioned between him and Auston. I leaned against the wall, “she’s so young, it’s hard.” I heard Freddie speak up, my smile faltered, I was waiting for a but and the sentence to continue but it didn’t, his words hung in the air for a while. “That’s never bothered either of you before.” Auston pointed out and I could hear some shuffling, and I panicked rushing quietly back down towards the room. I slipped my heels on before walking back towards them, making my presence known as they patiently awaited me for a fancy maple leafs press event. “Freddie, can you zip me up?” I called softly, not wanting my voice to give me away. I stood sticking my head out, holding my dress to my front as they glanced over, “yeah.” He mumbled with a smile, approaching me, and I gave him one in return, forcing the words to the back of my mind, but who was I fooling, they kept replaying in my head, over and over. She’s so young, it’s hard. He’d never said anything like that, for goodness sakes, I was supposed to be moving in with him this summer, we had planned it as I was graduating college. It was perfect to me, and I thought it was too him but now I wondered. “You alright, baby?” Freddie whispered after he zipped my dress up, his hands lingering on my shoulders as the straps fell into place. I grimaced are the pet name that he’s always used, suddenly feeling like it was an insult rather than a term of endearment. “I’m okay.”

Stephanie and I were huddled up together watching as the guys lined up to do interviews, I was anxiously shifting on my feet, “I’ve tried to bite my tongue, but, there’s something clearly bothering you.” She sighed, I was undoubtedly the closest with her out of everyone’s girlfriends. I glanced over at her, “what did he do? Do I have to hurt him? I can make Mitch stay quiet.” She rushed her words, instantly picking up that I was angry at Freddie. “He didn’t do anything, actually that’s kind of the problem.” I admitted and she furrowed her brows, shooting Mitch a smile when he met her eyes, she looked back towards me. “I overheard him and Auston talking, Freddie said something about me being so young, and how it’s hard. Then I heard them moving and panicked.” I explained, fiddling with my freshly manicured nails. “Oh girl, I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that. He’s all about you, every time I see him and you’re not there it’s always ‘y/n did this’ or ‘I wish y/n was here’. He’s pathetically in love with you.” She assured me, but of course her words couldn’t fully sink in as I told myself even she had to have her doubts. “I’m 22, he’s 30, it’s never bothered me or really anyone that knows us, but suddenly he’s telling Auston how hard it is?” I sighed, glancing up as I felt his eyes on me, he was looking at me, to anyone else he would’ve looked blank, or tired. But to me, I could tell he was trying to figure out what was going through my mind, his eyes darted between mine, trying to see if I was upset over something. I forced a smile onto my face which eased him up a little bit as he continued down the parade of reporters. “You should talk to him, you guys have never let this stop you before. Why start now.” Steph gave me her last words of assurance as Mitch started approaching, she met him halfway, placing a kiss to his cheek as she walked off with him. I took the few short steps to the waiter who had a tray of champagne, “thank you.” I mumbled taking the glass, and pressing it to my lips nearly instantly. “Yes ma’am.” He responded, I could feel him give me a once over. I turned away from his gaze feeling uncomfortable, I smiled as I saw Freddie approaching me. “Hi.” I sighed in relief, even though those thoughts still danced around my mind. I laughed as Freddie out a hand slightly lower on my back than he normally did in public, I could tell he was shooting the waiter a look. “Don’t be so jealous.” I teased, lacing our fingers together.

He let a soft chuckle past his lips, “says the one who gets pouty when someone else wears an Andersen jersey.” He tsked, I rolled my eyes softly. “Hey, I used to be one of those girls, I know what they’re saying about you.” I reminded him and a pink tint crept up his neck as he ordered a drink from the bar. “Y/N?” Freddie asked after a short silence, I looked up from my flute glass, “yeah?” I replied, glancing at his hand that subconsciously started squeezing mine tighter. “You’re awfully quiet tonight, is everything alright?” He murmured, giving the bartender a silent thank you with the nod of his head as his drink appeared in front of him. “I’m fine, let’s just enjoy the night.” I assured him, adjusting the tie around his neck for a moment. He gave me a hesitant look but knew I wouldn’t budge so he dropped it and we started mingling the night away.

***

The elevator ride up to Freddie’s apartment was quiet, dare I say awkward, something I had never felt around him. Neither of us were tipsy, both barely finishing our one alcoholic drinks of the night, not feeling like being inhibited tonight. He held the door open for me and I walked in, sighing in relief when I could finally remove these heels. “Baby-“ I cut him off with an unintentionally loud sigh and he raised his eyebrows at me. “Yes, Freddie?” I bit back my tone, my voice coming out soft and tired instead. “I was just going to say that you looked beautiful tonight, and thank you for coming with me.” He explained, watching me cautiously. I looked him over, feeling guilty as I never complimented him on his look tonight either. “Of course, you know I’ll always go with you to these things. You looked very handsome tonight.” I responded, walking over to give him a quick peck. He cupped my face, gently keeping me in place longer than I had planned but I began to melt into him. “My love,” I gave in at his words, he knew that was the way to get me to open up, he had stumbled across it on accident one time, trying to get me to calm down when I was panicking over a finals exam. Ever since then he’s reserved it for moments like this, where he was genuinely worried for my wellbeing, knowing something was clearly bothering me. “Did someone say something tonight?” He questioned when I silently looked up at him, my eyes a little shiny with tears. I nodded my head, pulling my bottom lip into my mouth, he raised his eyebrows, waiting for me to tell him what happened. “I heard you and Auston talking while I was getting ready.” I admitted and he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why would that upset you? What did you hear?” He looked genuinely confused, I stepped out of his gentle hold giving him a soft glare. “She’s so young, it’s hard.” I repeated his words and his face fell, “is that all you heard?” He questioned. I nodded, looking to my feet, “I didn’t want to say anything because I thought it would only make you realize again how much younger than you I am.” I admitted, hating myself for saying it as I looked up and saw his face, I assumed what I had said was true when he broke into a small smile. “It’s not funny, I can’t believe you’re laughing!” I gasped, turning away to walk towards the bedroom, needing to be away from him. I heard him following me, “y/n, I’m laughing because you didn’t hear everything I told Auston.” Freddie explained, grabbing my hand and I spun towards him with a few silent tears on my face. “Hey,” he murmured, frowning when he saw how genuinely distraught I was, “baby,” I flinched at the name once more and his face went completely blank, “don’t cry, please don’t cry.” He sighed, wiping my tears with the pads of his thumbs. “Why not? I just told you my biggest fear and you laughed.” I knew I was guilt tripping him but I didn’t care. “Wait, that’s your biggest fear?” He looked taken back by my words. I nodded softly, “losing you is my biggest fear.” I muttered, inhaling sharply when he tackled me to the bed in a hug.

“After Auston said it never bothered either of us before,” he paused making sure I was fully listening to him. “I told him it would never bother me, but I was worried about people making you feel bad, I was worried you’d think I’m holding you back.” He told me and this time I was the one who was confused. “Freddie, why would I think you’re holding me back?” I slowly sat up, forcing him to sit beside me. “Because you’re 22, you should be out going to parties, and doing what normal college students do, but instead you’re going to my hockey games every weekend, and staying in because I don’t want to go out to every bar in town.” I let a laugh fall from my lips at his words, much like he had done to me. He gave me a look and I stopped, “honey,” he rolled his eyes at my choice of name, I always did it to poke fun at him, but it never failed to get a smile out of him. I moved to be straddling him, as best as I could in my dress, “I fell in love with you because of all those things, I don’t like getting drunk every weekend, I don’t like being surrounded by all those perverted men in bars,” I paused letting a chuckle fall from his mouth, I rested my forehead against his. “I wouldn’t change a thing about you, about us, who cares what people think? I love you and I love staying in every weekend with you, and I love going to your hockey games, and wearing your jersey. I love everything about us.” I sealed my statement with a kiss, and he circled his arms around my waist, pulling me as close as he possibly could. “I love you.” He muttered against my lips, I smiled moving to hide my face in his neck, he did the same to me. “So does this mean I still get to move in?” I teased, pressing a chaste kiss to his neck. “You didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easy did you?” He responded, I laughed against him, “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you earlier, we could’ve had much more fun at the event if I had.” I sighed leaning back in his grip, he shook his head, “I should’ve talked to you too.” He shrugged it off, not wanting to ruin this moment. “But I can think of a few ways to liven up the night a bit.”

Taglist: @literarycharleton​ @thathockeygirl​

[sixmapleleafs]

having fun? // frederik andersen

Summary: A somewhat complicated past makes bubble life a hell of a lot more interesting

“Holy shit” you mumbled, your body was still buzzing from the three orgasms you’d just given yourself and your heart was beating so fast you could actually hear it. You didn’t think it would be this hard to keep quiet yet the bite marks on your arm told a different story, wiping your fingers off you silently cursed yourself for not packing your vibrator and there was no way you were going to get your roommate to just drop it off at reception for you to collect later. In all honesty you didn’t think you’d need it, everyday was incredibly busy and being a physical therapist for the leafs meant you were being summoned left, right and centre. That being said, there was also a lot of down time where the boys would go off to play video games, your coworkers would go to FaceTime their families and you’d be left to entertain yourself. You’d also made the mistake of thinking you’d be able to spend this much time with him without needing some type of release.

It had been almost six months since you’d had his head between your legs but that didn’t mean the image wasn’t burned into your brain. It had been the reason you were seeing stars about five minutes ago after all. You huffed in annoyance as your body returned to normal, you hated that you were so attracted to him and you hated that since he’d spent the night at your place no other guy had been able to get you off. He was the best you’d ever had, not to mention the biggest and it seemed as if no other man would ever be able to compare. If you were being honest, you didn’t really want anyone else but you couldn’t have him and you had to accept that. Your career was more important than a little crush and now that you were literally stuck together you didn’t want to risk anyone finding out.

Deciding on a shower before bed you hopped off the bed towards the bathroom, you had to attend a practice very early the next morning and you already knew you would hit the snooze button until five minutes before you had to be there. Steam quickly filled the small bathroom, fogging up the mirror a little. A dramatic sigh fell from your lips when the hot water hit your skin.

-

Freddie’s phone landed on the bed with a slight thud, the container of food in his hand was still warm and smelled amazing but the thought of eating alone in his room every night kind of put a damper on his mood. Reaching for the tv remote his head snapped up at the sound of a familiar moan, immediately he looked over at the wall as if he’d be able to see through it somehow. His first thought was that he’d misheard, chances were it wasn’t a moan and just a random noise from something or maybe it was his brain playing tricks on him, wishful thinking of some sort. But then it happened again. He knew exactly who was on the other side of the wall, of course he did, a mix up at the hotel had been a blessing in Freddie’s eyes. A wave of jealousy washed over him as he sat the container down on the desk in the corner of the room, there was no way you were in there with a guy was there? Was it one of his teammates? Someone from the teams staff? A player from another team? The questions were flooding Freddie’s brain and he could feel his blood start to boil, if only the season hadn’t been cut off and he hadn’t of headed to Arizona with Auston then he’d probably be the one fucking you. Before he could process what he was doing his phone was in his hand and he was typing out the message.

Having fun?

-

Scrolling through your notifications the next morning you almost spat out your coffee, you were stood at the back of the locker room ‘listening’ to Sheldon give his daily speech about working on issues and staying safe so your near death experience had caught the attention of a few players near you. “Everything ok?” Mitch questioned, unintentionally drawing the attention of the entire room over to you. You nodded claiming you were just drinking your coffee too fast, everyone nodded and turned back to Sheldon including yourself which meant you missed the smirk plastered on Freddie’s face.

The message haunted you throughout the entire practice, having fun? What does that even mean? Did he hear you last night? But you did everything you could to be quiet? You tried your best to focus on the boys and listen to the senior physical therapists when they pointed out how the way certain players approached each other would make them vulnerable to a variety of different injuries if it was a real game and their opponent didn’t stop before colliding with them. You nodded along but you couldn’t help thinking they were just trying to give you something to think about during practices since you had to sit there everyday and watch essentially the same thing over and over again. Being in the bubble and not playing any games yet meant there were no injuries or players to help since everyone who’d been selected was fit and healthy. You did help Robertson a few times with ways to help the general aches and pains that came with playing against men twice his age, but other than that you were simply watching until you were needed which hopefully wouldn’t be any time soon.

Sheldon called you over once the boys had skated off the ice and you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, you hadn’t seen anyone fall or get hit. He greeted you as you fell into step along side him, he was heading towards the locker room which meant he needed you to assess a player. “Andersen has been complaining about his shoulder, I don’t think it’s anything serious but I’d like you to just talk with him and maybe take a look just in case” he explained. Your mouth went dry at the sound of his name and you opened and closed it a few times before finally telling him it would be no problem at all. “Everybody decent?” There was a collective “yeah” and then he was calling you in and directing you over to Freddie’s stall, as if you didn’t know where it was already.

“I hear your shoulder has been bothering you” Freddie saw right through your attempt to remain professional, he knew what you really wanted to say was more along the lines of, what do you mean am I having fun? but he played along nonetheless. He explained the ‘problem’ as the other guys started leaving the locker room, the equipment managers and coaches following them until it was just you two.

“So was it anyone I know?” His question caught you off guard, you swallowed the lump in your throat before turning to him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” you tried to play it off but he just scoffed making you roll your eyes.

“Are we really going to play this game? Come on y/n I already know you were with someone last night” he said standing up, you’d forgotten how tall he really was and his size plus the look he was giving you was very intimidating but you couldn’t deny the tingling between your legs. He was so close to you that you could practically feel the anger radiating off of him.

“Why do you care so much?” You folded your arms over your chest, raising an eyebrow when you saw his gaze flicker down for a split second. “Are you jealous Fred?” You taunted, secretly loving the way his fists clenched and his breathing got heavier at the lack of information you gave him. He let out what could only be described as a growl before he was lifting you up and turning around so you were now stood on the bench in his stall.

“You’re loving this aren’t you? Getting me all worked up over the thought of someone else fucking you” he rested his hands on your waist, slipping the hem of the leafs shirt you were wearing between his fingers as he looked down at you. You hooked your arms around his neck, now at a height where it was easier to look him in the eye.

“Like I said Fred, I have no clue what you’re talking about. I wasn’t with anybody last night” your tone was suggestive and from the look of relief on Freddie’s face he caught what you were saying.

“Oh really?” His tone was much lighter now, he looked less like he wanted to knock a guy out and more like he was enjoying where this was going. You hummed in response sending him a suggestive smile.

“It was just me. All alone...” you trailed off moving your hands up to the curls at the bottom of his neck, subconsciously moving yourself closer to him. He wrapped his arms around you so there was no space between the two of you. Suddenly you were pushing him off you jumping down from the bench and making yourself look busy.

“Y/n. What’s the diagnosis?” Sheldon said as he entered the room, Freddie’s face relaxed as he realised why you’d pushed him off you. Sending you a quick wink when his coach wasn’t looking. Needless to say, you weren’t surprised when he was knocking on your door in the early hours of the morning.

[squidneysidney]

William Nylander - Friendzez

Word Count: 2,409

Requested

Thank you, 

SS

You hit the yellow level 5 button in the elevator, trying to balance the two grocery bags filled with food for the hungry hockey players. William called last night while studying for an exam to tell you few of the guys would be coming over the next day and for you to join. You put up a protest, knowing you’d be pulling an all-nighter to pass this test on Monday. To your dismay, he couldn’t take no for an answer. So here you are with salsa, chips, and drinks requested by Willy earlier this morning.

Walking up to Willy’s door, you knock and wait for someone to open it. No one comes, so you knock again. You are greeted back with yelling from the other side. Rather than knocking again, you put the bags down and search for the key Willy had given you to look after his apartment during long road trips. You open the door to see Auston, Mitch, Travis, and William sitting in the front room watching the latest basketball game.

“Anyone care to get the door once in a while?” You chuckle at the guys. Lugging the bags into the apartment.

“Hey you’re here,” William greets you with a hug and a kiss on the check, “and with the snacks.”

“You did call me earlier to ask me to bring them”, following Willy into the kitchen. “Hey boys, good to see you.”

“Hey!” a chorus of yells returned to greet you. Their eyes never leaving the game.

“Thank you for coming, you know it is never complete without you here,” Willy says pouring the chips into a bag.

“You know I can never say no to you William. Although, I am very sleepy. I was wondering if I could take a nap in your room until the game is over.”

Willy looks up at the tv before answering me, “You weren’t kidding when you said that it was going to be an all-nighter were you? Yeah, that’s fine, the last quarter just started so you’ll have sometime to get a nap in. I’ll wake you up when it’s over. Thank you for the snacks again.”

“No problem. I’ll probably have to study a little bit more tonight too. I’ll be good after I get some shut eye, thank you.” You hug Will from behind as you walk out of the kitchen into the hall way where his bedroom is located.

You fall asleep rather quickly, getting three hours of sleep will do that to a person. Though, you always end up falling asleep quick when it comes to Willy’s bed. There have been many times that you decided to sleep in his bed rather than your own when he is gone on long road trips.

You feel much better after a cat nap, though, you could have definitely have gotten more sleep had the boys not been yelling. It was a regular thing to hear the boys yell when watching a game, no matter the sport. You get up out of the bed and straighten out the blankets before walking out to meet them.

“Dude, come on. Just admit that you like her already. It’s so obvious, you aren’t fooling anyone.” You can here matts talking to one of the boys. Being curious who he was talking to, you slowly walk out of the room.

“Guys, how many times do I have to say this? I don’t like her. We are just friends. I don’t get why you guys think I like her.” William says, running hand through his hair. It was obvious that he was getting frustrated.

“I don’t get why you just won’t admit that you like her. She’s a cool person and you guys get along. She basically lives here with you,” Mitch says, trying to calm the swede down. You still don’t know who they are talking about. Surely Will mustn’t like who they are talking about. He would have told you before the boys would even know.

You are being slightly biased though, secretly harboring a crush on Willy yourself. Ever since meeting him a few years ago, you have been stuck. The blue-eyed blonde has always been at the forefront of your relationship life, hoping one day that he would notice you the way you noticed him. You have always been there for him, after bad games, sickness and nursing him through injury.

“It’s just not like that with Y/N,” Willy responds with a shrug.

Your heart falls into your stomach, confirming what you have always known to be true. It hurts a lot more hearing it come from his mouth instead of you telling yourself. There was always hope when it came to Will but now you know the solid truth. William doesn’t like you. Not like that.

“Give us one reason why you don’t like her like that then,” This time it is Travis coming in to interrogate the blonde. Your ears perk up at the question.

“I don’t know? For one she’s not my type. She’s, she’s boring. I keep her around to help with my parents constantly asking when I’m going to get into a relationship. I just lie and say that I’m for when she is ready. In reality, I will never see her like that. The only thing she does outside of my friends is go to school. Don’t even get me started on how much she complains about a test or something. She doesn’t have a life. I always feel suffocated with her.” Willy lets everything out on the table, not letting anything hold him back about how he truly feels about you.

“So, you wouldn’t mind me going out with her then?” Matts asks, trying to get a rise out of the blonde.

Will chuckles, “Please do, at least it will get her off my back for once.”

He looks at the boys shaking his head when you come out from behind the wall with tears streaming down your face. The boys seeing you before William can, their eyes going wide.

“How,” You ask trying not to choke on the sob that you are holding in, “How could you talk about me like that? After everything that I have done for you? After all of the phone calls that I get from you! Asking me! No, not even asking, begging me to come over after games! I do have a life William! You are just so smothering that I can’t even live it without you wanting me to be here with you. You are a coward Nylander.” You run out the door before anyone can respond to you. As you run down the hallway to the elevator, you hear your name being called. Clicking the yellow button repeatedly, you look back to see Will closing in on you before the doors slide open. Jumping in, you continually push buttons to get the door to shut.

As the doors shut you realize that all you have is your phone in your pocket, having left your keys and purse in Wills room. Not having a way home, you call the only person that you could think of.

“Hello?” their voice comes through the phone; curiosity being laced through their voice.

“Hey, I’m sorry for calling but I really need a ride and I don’t have anyone else to call.” You say, trying your best to not sound like you have been crying.

“Send me your location and I’ll be right there.” Keys are heard through the line before they hang up.

William wasn’t wrong when he said that you didn’t have a life that didn’t involve him. Most of your time was spent with Will, at Wills game, or studying. You never thought of yourself as boring though, you thought that he wanted you around. At least that’s what it seemed like to you.

Before you know it, Morgan’s car is pulling up in front of the apartment building. As you get in the car it is evident that you have been crying. Mo notices upon first glance.

“Home?” Morgan asks as he pulls away from the building. A nod is all you manage to give in response. “Are you going to tell me what is going on?” he asks after a moment of silence.

“It’s nothing, I am probably over reacting. Nothing for you to worry about Mo,” you look at him with a small smile.

“Cut the crap, that was the weakest smile that I have ever been given.”

“I just over heard Willy talking to the boys about me,” you said with a sigh as you continue, “They were talking about how William doesn’t like me. Not to mention that I am boring and suffocating.”

Morgan’s head snaps in your direction, eyebrows furrowed. “He didn’t say that did he?”

You give Morgan a ‘Would I be making this up look?’.

“You know he doesn’t mean any of that right? The boy must have been pushing his buttons. Will thinks the world of you. He always asks if you can tag along with everything we do.”

“Well apparently not Mo.” You say as he pulls up to your house, “Thank you Mo, I really appreciate it.”

Mo gives you a nod with a sad smile on his face before driving off. You slowly climb up the stairs of your apartment. Reaching your door, you lift the welcome mat revealing the spare key you keep just for emergency.

It has been a few days since you have seen or spoken to any of the boys let alone William. He has been texting and calling non stop since that day. Every so often, you will get a text from one of the boys asking you to hear Will out.

You aced the test that you have been studying for and all you want to do is tell Willy. His voice saying how suffocating you are plays in your head. Knowing that you probably will never be able to have a relationship like that with him again.

A knock at your door pulls you off your couch, opening the door without thinking who it could be. You are met with the blue eyes that you have come to love.

“Um, you forgot this the other night. Thought you might need it,” he says, lifting your bag and keys in hand.

“Thanks” You grab the bag, starting to close the door before a he sticks his arm out preventing you to shut it completely.

“You know that I didn’t mean what I said,” His eyes full of sincerity, “The boys were just annoying me when they kept asking if I had feelings for you. I just said anything that would get them off my back. Nothing that I said was true to how I feel.”

“That doesn’t make it-“

“No, no that doesn’t make it okay but that is the truth. I never would have said that had I known that you were standing right there. The boys just know how to get under my skin sometimes.” Will looks down at his feet, not looking at you.

“At least Auston is honest to everyone about his feelings. We are going out next week after his schedule calms down.”

Williams head snaps up to look you in the eyes, gauging whether or not you were telling the truth.

“You can’t go out with him.”

“And why can’t I? You don’t think that someone as boring as I am can work out with someone like Auston?” You cross your arms, waiting for his response.

William shakes his head, “No, that’s not why you can’t go out with him.”

“So why can’t I?” you counter.

“Because,” You wait for a response. “Because, you are meant to be with me. There is no one that you belong with other then me. Especially not matts, he will never treat you how I would. He will never love you the way that I do. He will never notice how you tap your nose when you are close to finding the answer to a question. He won’t know to buy you coffee at that coffee shop down the street to get you out of bed after you studied all night. Because no one in this damn world will see you how I see you. I’m sorry for what I said, there is not enough words in English or Swedish to explain how sorry I am for what I said. But please for the love of god, do not go out with matts.”

“How do you know that I wouldn’t know how to treat her?” Auston says, coming into view behind you.

Willy is shocked looking between the two of you with his mouth open. “What? Matts, what are you doing here?”

“Asking y/n out obviously. You said that I could so I came over to see how she felt.” Auston throws an arm around my shoulder.

“Stop it,” you push his arm off your shoulder laughing, “you are going to break him.”

“Alright, sorry. I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity.” Auston shrugs walking out of your apartment, chuckling to himself. “Willy, I’ll see you at practice.”

“No, you don’t” William grabs the back of Auston’s shirt pulling him back in front of him.

“Willy! Let him go, he was just joking. We aren’t going out. Auston came by to explain what happened. Now calm down.”

“So, you two aren’t?” Will looks as confused as ever.

“No man, but it was one way to get you to admit your feelings,” Auston shakes his head, walking away from the two of you.

“Were you really going to fight your own teammate just because you thought we were dating?” You ask in disbelief.

“Yes, yes I was. I was already close to losing you once and it was the worst few days I have ever had. I wasn’t going to risk losing you again. Give me a chance, not as friends, give me a chance to take you out. To prove to you that I can treat you better than any man could.”

“Trust me Willy, I know that you can.” You say with a smile on your face.

“So, you forgive me? You’ll let me take you out?” Wills famous smile evident on his face.

“Yes, I forgive you Willy. I will always forgive you William.”

Willy runs to you, lifting you up. You both giggle, happiest either of you have ever been.

[shoot-the-oneshot]

What’s missing : chapter one

Series summary: The team thinks Auston needs a bodyguard after a series of close calls, he hates the idea until he sees a interview with a girl and her dog that find missing people and falls for her at first sight. Maybe it’s his turn to find what was missing.

Auston Matthews x reader

“Are you really watching that video again? Bro that’s just sad!”

Mitch yelled, gaining the rest of the guys attention on Austons computer.

“Is he watching that interview with that girl again?”

Rolling his eyes at chirps, he pauses the video. He know it’s almost obsessive with how often he’s watched it. But she was beautiful and amazing at her job, he couldn’t help it. But if anyone asked he was just impressed with what they do.

“Will you both shut up so I can hear!”

Pressing play, ignoring the reporter only seeing her, the police vest she was wearing matched her dogs vest perfectly. Barley hearing Williams quite mumble of ‘like he doesn’t have it memorized’ only hearing her voice.

“My name is Ashley banks, I’m sure you all remember the amber alert earlier this week for Boyd Harris and I’m here with the very special team that found him Y/n and her furry partner Riot, who found the miss boy in only two hours. Let’s hear the story from the hero’s themselves. Y/n, what can you tell us about when you got the call?”

He was familiar with reporters and their boring questions, but he wished she would ask Y/n a thousand more just so he could listen.

“Well Ashley, we are under contract with the police department here and we have the highest success rate for missing people so this wasn’t anything new for Riot and I.

He got separated from his family on a hike and when they couldn’t find him we got called in. We got his scent from his car seat and I let Riot do his job, we found him two miles away from where they last saw him and we brought him back to his parents.”

“Wow, and when you say under contract with the police what does that mean?”

“I personally trained Riot for search and when the police found out about our high success rate they brought us on, being a smaller town they don’t have the budget for a k9 team so when they need assistance with missing persons, drug search or finding a suspect that got away we get called in. We have the uniform and a badge but we aren’t trained for police work.”

“Well we are glad that we have you both and thank you for your time, now back to the studio with Ryan for weather.”

“Dude, just message her and say hi.”

“What am I going to say Will? Hi, We’ve never talked but your dog is cute and I like cute dogs, so we have that in common. That’s stupid I wouldn’t even message me back!”

While the two players bicker back and forth an idea pops in Mitch’s head. It will either help his friend on many levels or Austin will hate it with a passion. Either way Mitch had to talk to Dubas.

———————————🐺——————————-

“Police with a k9 if you run you will get bit!”

You yelled over Riots barks and growls. Holding him back by his vest while he lunges with excitement. When the suspect takes off despite your warning you released the dog.

He was no match for Riots speed, who quickly took him down and holding him in the ground until you and a few back up officers caught up. Calling Riot off, praising him with his favorite toy. While the rookie officer in the bite suit got up. It was training day for the K9 department aka you, so you were both at the academy with officers watching and volunteering when you needed someone to search for, or in this case for bite work.

“Y/L! Chief wants you in the office.”

“Uh oh somebody’s in trouble!”

Mocked Jim, rolling your eyes, shoving him into the fence. Laughing as Riot gives a sharp bark when Jim tries to push you back.

“Mess with the dog get bit Jim,”

You sang, walking through the boring white hallway, for being a police station it looks a lot like a hospital. Knocking on the chiefs door, getting waved in.

“You called for me sir.”

Standing by the door Riot at your side eyeing the two men not wearing a uniform, why would anyone wear a suit here?

“Actually I did, pleasure to meet you, I’m Kyle Dubas, that is my assistant Peter, and to get to the point I’d like to offer a job.”

Shaking both of their hand, looking between him and your chief. Confusion written all over your face.

“Are you from another department?”

“Not exactly, why don’t you sit.” Kyle said, waving to the third chair surrounding the desk. “I’m a GM for the NHL team the Toronto maple leafs, and I’m looking for a bodyguard for one of my main players. I think you and Riot would be perfect.”

“Toronto Canada?”

“We understand you’d be losing your job and moving away from you family, but you will be well compensated.”

It was Peter that spoke then. You did love hockey but you weren’t exactly a cop, you didn’t know much about being a bodyguard.

“Y/L, it’s a great opportunity. Go to Toronto give it a few months if you don’t like it you can come back here.”

And just like that you were on a flight to Toronto.

The sound of your foot tapping echos through the hallway as your eyes dart around. You had to admit it’s pretty cool seeing this part of the area.

“So what we wait here?”

You asked Peter who was standing beside you, leaned against the wall outside the conference room where they were trying to convince Auston he needed a bodyguard before pulling out the “big guns” as Pete called you.

Not looking away from tapping on his phone he sighs.

“Knowing how stubborn he is it won’t be long.” Just as he finished talking yells erupted from inside.

“I said I don’t need someone following me around! You can’t give me a week without bringing this back up!”

Peter raising his eyebrows giving me a ‘I told you so’ look. Pausing as we hear Dubus walking towards the door to open it.

“You might change your mind after you see who they picked out.”

Mitch teases causing Auston to groan.

“I don’t care- Y/n? I mean Hello!”

He chirps, wide eyed as you walk through the door. He couldn’t believe it, there you were just five feet away.

“Matthews,” You hummed, looking around the room at a bunch of people you don’t recognize but one was copying Peters smirk perfectly. Your words might have been short but in your defense you weren’t exactly used to needed approval before you started a job.

“You’re, shes the bodyguard?”

Auston continues to choke as Marner mocks him.

“I know right! Why do you get the hot one?”

He laughs barely dodging Austons hand as he whipped it back towards his head.

“So what do you say about having a bodyguard now?”

Kyle asked, not getting an answer as the man in question stares blankly. While they talked you got a good look at Auston, tall dark and handsome exactly what you’d expect of a hockey player.

“You know Kyle, if you really think I need a bodyguard then who am I to argue. Is there anything I need to sign, how does this work?”

Well he changed his mind quickly, how odd and you didn’t miss his friend and Peters smirks either. As you all take a seat to finalize some details. Kyle already gave you the run down. You’ll take Austons spare bedroom, and basically be glued to his side 24/7 only when he’s at practice that’s when the other bodyguards or security train together. After the paperwork was signed, Auston offered to take you back to the hotel to get your stuff and Riot.

“So you’re a bodyguard?” His deep voice rasps out. As you walked through the parking garage.

“No, my K9 and I are police, but Mr. Dubas said our training as patrol and search and rescue work makes us more valuable then just a bodyguard.”

You really didn’t understand his thinking but your chief was right. This was a good opportunity and could be fun, so why not give it a shot.

[hockeyblogg]

covetous - f.andersen

Author’s Notes: Hiya, someone requested I rewrite Covetous but with the other ending I had planned & it didn’t take much thought to realize I wanted it to happen. So, here it is! (it will be multi-part) Hope you enjoy !

Fred didn’t want you to meet his teammates.

Which, yenno, hurt, considering you’ve been dating for about a year now.

Yeah, I know. A whole ass year.

But standing here, in Auston’s kitchen, with Freddie’s arm on your side and Auston’s back retreating from the room, you realize why he’s been putting it off.

OR

The one where Auston tries to steal Freddie’s girl.

The day started off great, you and Freddie got up and had breakfast together and you made plans to go to a few shops downtown and try to get some summer clothes, but while Freddie was in the shower he got a message from the group chat that he and the boys were in, knowing he wouldn’t mind, you check it.

Johnny T: hey guys, don’t forget we have the team dinner today at 1, and I want everyone to be there, it’s our last one before the season ends.

Mo: got it.

Kappy: yeah yeah we know

Marns: hey fredster, this time bring your girl, Steph keeps bugging me to meet her

Willy: yeah Fred, what’re you hiding anyway?

Kappy: her, obviously

Johnny T: the invite includes her too Freddie, like always

So, it’s not just you. You think and put his phone down.

You walk into the bathroom and start to get ready, and once you’re almost done with your makeup, Freddie shuts the water off, stepping out of the shower and giving you a smile.

He comes up and wraps a towel around his waist, reaching for his toothbrush and you finish applying your lip gloss then question him, “How come you didn’t tell me there was a team dinner today?” He furrows his eyebrows, “How’d you find out?” You shrug, “Your phone kept going off, I thought it was important, but it was just the group chat.” Fred spits out the toothpaste and sighs, “I just didn’t think you would want to go, we made plans already.” You huff and make your way back to the bedroom, “How come you’re so against me meeting everyone? By the looks of the group chat, you’re the only one who doesn’t want it to happen.”

Freddie finished brushing his teeth and walked out of the bathroom, “I don’t mean to be elsker, I just, don’t know.” You stand up and hand him his phone, “It’s been long enough Fred, I want to meet them.”

You walk into your closet and change your clothes, opting for a pair of jean shorts and a nice white flounce sleeve shirt, tucking that in and putting on a belt. You try to decide which shoes to wear and go for your black and white plaid heeled ankle boots. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you walk back out and tell Freddie you’ll wait for him downstairs, grabbing your purse and leaving the bedroom.

Freddie sighs and looks at his phone.

5 new messages.

Marns: C’mon big unit, you can’t read our messages and just not reply

Mo: we didn’t mean to offend you, we just want to meet her

Kappy: some more than others...👀

Auston: shut up kappy

Johnny T: enough guys, this is why he doesn’t want to bring her.

Freddie frowns at his teammate’s messages, debating on actually going or not. He thinks about what could happen and he thinks of you, when he thinks of you, he feels ridiculous, you’re his girlfriend, he’ll be introducing you as his girlfriend, everyone knows you’re his, and you always remind him you’re his. You love him, nothing will happen.

Glancing down at his phone once more, he types out his reply, going into the closet to change.

Big Red: We’ll be there, no funny business.

Three hours later and a couple shopping bags in the back and you’re on your way to John and Aryne’s house to finally meet the team and their SO’s. You’re a little nervous but from the messages you’ve seen this morning, at least you know that they want to meet you too. You take Freddie’s hand in yours and he brings it to your mouth to place a kiss on top. You smile fondly, “I love you Freddie.” He glances at you and smiles back, “I love you too dronning.”

Little did you know how much your words reassured him.

“Fred’s here!” You both heard from the other side of the door, waiting for someone to open it. You huff a laugh and Freddie shakes his head, “They’re a little chaotic.” You nod, giggling, “Good to know.”

The door opens and Aryne comes into view, greeting you both with a smile, “Hey Fred, this must be Y/N! I’m Aryne, it’s very lovely to finally meet you.” She pulls you in for a hug and you smile, “It’s so nice to meet you too.” She steps to the side and lets you both in, and you look up to see almost everyone standing in the living room, ready to introduce themselves. Fred leads you into the room and you’re pulled in for many hugs, and handshakes from his teammates and their girlfriends/wives.

Steph, Aryne, and Audrey pull you away and you all grab some wine and they start getting to know you. Freddie gets pulled in conversation with some of the boys and soon enough you both end up spending at least an hour without each other.

You’re out of wine then and ask where you can get some more, and Steph perks up, “Oh in the kitchen, I’ll come with you.” You nod and slip away from the circle and you both end up chatting a little bit by the island.

“So yeah, we all were wondering when we would finally see you at one of these things, us girls are already planning girls days we can have, oh and since we finally have your number and social media, we can officially add you to our group chat.” She chats and you nod, “I’ve been wondering too, and I’ve been bugging Freddie for the past few months, I’m glad I got to come, you all are very sweet and welcomed me pretty quickly.” She waves her hand, “Of course, you’re pretty much like family now.”

“Hey Steph, Mitch was looking for you.” You hear someone say and you both turn your heads to see Auston, “Don’t worry, I think I can manage to keep her company until you come back.” Steph nods and says a quick, “Be right back” as she leaves the room.

You smile at Auston and he smiles back, “We hadn’t gotten the chance to talk after meeting, and I’ve been meaning to compliment your shoes.” You look down and back up, “Thanks, I wasn’t sure of them because of the occasion but decided that they make a great first impression.” Auston nods, “I agree, and besides, with fashion, you can never go wrong.” You shoot him a smile and nod, “Yeah, go big or go home, right?” He laughs, “Exactly.”

You stand there for a second and he speaks, “So, Fred tells me you went shopping today?” And that’s how you got caught up in a twenty-minute conversation about bold fashion choices and overly expensive clothing.

Freddie was almost done telling John about his and your offseason plans when he notices you’re not with the girls anymore. Shaking it off, he finishes his story and makes an excuse about needing another beer. John lets him go, pulling Willy into conversation.

Fred checks his watch and widens his eyes at the fact that he hasn’t seen you in almost two hours after you’ve arrived. Going up to Aryne and Audrey, he asks, “Do you guys know where Y/N is?” Audrey speaks, “Yeah, her and Steph are in the kitchen.” He nods and kind of calms, making his way into the kitchen, but when he sees you’re definitely not with Steph and with someone he wanted you to steer clear from, his heart rate picks up again and he squares his shoulders as he walks up to you and Auston.

You’re telling Auston that you were planning on going to the mall with one of the girls when you feel an arm around your waist, pulling you into their side. You turn away from Auston and smile when you see that it’s Freddie, “Hi bubba.” Fred smiles, “Hey min elskede, whatcha been up to?” You gesture to Auston, “I was just going to ask Auston which one of the girls would want to accompany me to the mall tomorrow, you know, since you’ll be in that little meeting thing with Sheldon and Kyle.”

Auston doesn’t even wait for Freddie to say anything, taking up the opportunity, “Actually, funnily enough I was planning on going to the mall tomorrow myself, maybe I can accompany you.” You tilt your head slightly to the side, “Oh okay, that’d be fun, and maybe you can give me fashion advice.”

You’re only joking, making friendly conversation and the seriousness in Auston’s voice catches you off guard, “Trust me, you won’t need it. You’ll look good in everything.” You laugh awkwardly and Freddie clears his throat, “Well in that case, I’m sure she won’t need you to go with her if she knows what she’s doing.” You look up at Freddie and his face is set in a harsh glare toward Auston, and when you look at Auston you notice he’s smirking.

After another beat of awkward silence, you clear your throat and decide to speak up, “I’m sure Steph wouldn’t mind coming with me, I’ll just ask her.” Your words seem to knock the two men out of their silent brooding toward each other and they both look down at you, Freddie seeming relieved and Auston looking dejected, “Oh I see, maybe next time then.” You curtly nod, shooting one smaller smile and he turns away.

As you’re watching his back retreat from you and Freddie, you evaluate their actions in your head and suddenly it’s like a light bulb going off in your head, “Fred…is this why you didn’t want to bring me to these things?” Freddie sighs and takes your hand, leading you into the hallway, away from everyone.

“Listen min elskede, it’s not that I was ashamed of you, or that I wasn’t serious about this or anything, I’ve put it off because I didn’t want you to meet him. Somehow, when we first got together and I told the boys about you, they found your Instagram. When Auston saw your photos he immediately thought you were beautiful, well I mean who wouldn’t, but anyway, I just didn’t want him to pull anything and I thought I would be safe tonight, guess not.”

Your face falls at the sadness in his eyes and his tone, reaching up to place your hand on his cheek, “Freddie, no matter what he does, what he says, I’m yours. Yours. I only accepted his offer to the mall because I thought he was being friendly. If it means that much, I won’t go.” Fred nods and sighs, “Maybe I am being too dramatic, and I know you two wouldn’t do anything. If you really want to, you can go with him. I’m not about to be one of those guys that doesn’t allow their girlfriends to do anything.”

You blow air from your nose, “If it makes you uncomfortable, and you know you can’t trust someone, then you can tell me if you don’t want me to go with them anywhere, it’s not being controlling, it’s being mindful of the situation.” You explain to him and it gets him thinking.

Can he trust Auston? Can he trust that he won’t try anything? He knows he trusts you; you hadn’t given him any reason not to, and the more he thinks about it, Auston hasn’t given him a reason not to either, maybe he’s just giving him a hard time. Auston could just be teasing him for making the boys wait for so long. They’re teammates, he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the team.

So, with that last thought in his head, he looks down at you and kisses your forehead, smiling softly, “If you want to, you can.”

You smile at him, “Are you sure?” Fred nods, “I’m sure min elskede.”

Hearing his words, you reach up and place a kiss to his lips, “Thank you Freddie.” He hums, “No need to thank me.”

And just like before when he saw you talking to Auston earlier, as you both walk back to the living room, he catches Auston’s eye, who breaks it momentarily to rake over your body, before returning to Freddie’s eyes and winking, his heart rate picks up and he’s glaring back at Auston.

and once again, he’s rethinking his previous words.

[hockeytrashgoblin]

Ice Cold ~Part 6

A/N: The second part of the night! There’s probably going to be a lot of days/nights where I upload two parts at a time so I can get to the final part by halloween!

I was aware of voices but I couldn't open my eyes. They were hushed voices but I still heard them. I couldn't distinguish at all though who it was. I was vaguely aware that my ears were ringing and that it smelled like William a little bit. As I laid there I was becoming more aware and started shifting. All the voices stopped when I turned over and groaned.

"Where am I?" I mumbled.

"Hi (y/n), would you like some water?"

"No, where am I?"

"You're in my house, it's Morgan by the way."

"Why am I here? Where's William? Is he okay?" I asked panicking, trying to sit up. A cool hand pushed me back to lay down.

"William is perfectly fine, not a scratch on him."

"How is that even possible?"

"I can't tell you that right now."

"You guys really are pulling an Edward Cullen on me."

"Do you want me to get Will? You two should talk before the rest of us."

"Where is William?"

"He's in the other room talking to Auston."

"Oh God..I'm gonna ruin everything again." I said tears slipping out.

"You aren't ruining anything. I'll go get him for you."

"Thank you Morgan." I smiled at him through the tears and he smiled back, rubbing my shoulder before leaving the room. William came in almost immediately.

"Hi baby."

"You better start explaining."

"Can you at least tell me how you're feeling first?" He said sighing.

"I'm fine. Confused as fuck and mad that you weren't here when I woke up."

"I had to talk to Auston. I needed to calm him down. He doesn't want me to tell you any of what I now need to."

"Stop beating around the bush Will. Why am I not dead? Why are you not dead?"

"You already have a pretty good idea of how. You weren't that far off when you brought up Edward Cullen."

"William stop fucking around and just tell me! If you love me like you say you do please just tell me without the half truths."

"Fine. I'm a vampire. Is that better?" He growled making me flinch. His face softened immediately.

"I mean yeah. I'd rather have the truth." I tried to sit up and he pushed me back down. "For God sakes can you let me up so I can look at you? I promise I'm fine." 

"I'm sorry, I'm incredibly worried."

"I just want to look at you William. Please?" He let me sit up this time but just sat incredibly still and quietly. "I have some questions."

"I figured you would. I'm really nervous for this. I don't know why, Morgan has seen how this plays out."

"Then don't be nervous."

"What if you hate me?"

"What if that's never gonna happen?"

"What are your questions?"

"Well okay how come your eyes are normal?"

"They aren't. We all have contact lenses, I have red eyes when I'm thirsty but blue when I'm fed so to keep it consistent we wear them."

"Can I see what they look like without them?"

"Of course. I despise wearing these things anyways. It'll be nice to not have to wear them with you anymore." He took them out and blinked at me with red tinted eyes. "I don't know what they look like right now, I hope not too frightening."

"They're red around the edges that's all. They're kinda cool."

"Kinda cool? Never had that reaction before." He said with a laugh.

"Alright so are you indestructible? It seems like yes."

"Pretty much. Twilight got that part right. Rip apart and burn the pieces. Nothing else can really harm us at all physically and we can't get sick."

"That's good!" I said nodding. "How old are you?"

"I have a different story than most. I was born this way. I only age until mid twenties then I stop."

"How does that work?"

"My parents are ancient vampires. Old royalty can give birth to vampire children. We age a little slower than human children but then we stop forever."

"So your family is pretty powerful then?"

"Are you afraid?"

"No why?"

"Your heartbeat sped up."

"You can hear that?"

"I can hear everything your body does." I blushed making him speak up again. "I'm sorry was that too much? I just want to be completely transparent."

"No, no, you're fine. I want to know everything!"

"Okay I just wanted to make sure. I don't want to overwhelm you."

"I can handle it."

"I know you can, I just worry."

"Are you guys all..you know?"

"You can say vampires (y/n). We don't mind. But yes the 5 of us all are."

"I thought so. You guys were really cliquey when I first met you."

"What do you mean?"

"You always just stuck together. When everyone broke away into smaller groups it was always you 5 and everyone else."

"Oh. Yeah I suppose we do, do that."

"Anyway you didn't answer me. How old are you guys?"

"I've been alive for 36 years but I'm only the equivalent of 24. Morgan is almost 100 years old."

"So Morgan's the leader?" I asked and he nodded before continuing.

"Kappy's almost 70, he joined Morgan about 20 years ago. He was a wild one, I'll let him tell you the story since I know he's been dying to."

"I'd like to hear about it!"

"Auston is around the same age as Kasperi. He was alone until he joined us when he got here. Mitchy is the baby, he was only turned 3 years ago."

"That must be so hard for him. Living with so many people around?"

"It was at first but he's better now."

"That's good. So did they get that part right? Newborn vampires are out of control?"

"Not as bad as twilight makes it sound." He said with a smirk. "But for the first couple months the thirst is intense."

"How did you find your way to Morgan?"

"I didn't like the way my parents worked, how they behaved. They were drunk on the fear people had for them. I don't want to scare people so I ran away when I was about 16 human years old. I started playing hockey and moved to Canada. I got picked up by the leafs and now here I am. I met up with Morgan when I got here in Toronto, I knew of him so I was looking for him."

"What happens to you guys if one gets traded?"

"We just go. We come back here for the off season. A couple years separated is nothing in the grand scheme of things."

"It sounds so simple." I teased.

"It's really not. I'm glad you know now though, that's going to make it much simpler."

"How come you told me?"

"Well I couldn't exactly leave it after my little display outside last night now could I?" He asked snorting.

"Well no but Mitch said you've been arguing with Auston because of a secret you wanted to tell but he didn't. So obviously you've been planning this."

"This is going to sound crazy."

"Crazier than all the rest of this? Try me."

"So you know how Morgan sees stuff?"

"Yeah. Hey do any others have gifts like that?"

"Mitchy can read minds when he stops his hyper shit and concentrates. Other than that none of us can. There are hundreds of powers out there though."

"That's cool!"

"Yes indeed." He murmured smiling warmly at me.

"Stop making my brain melt." I said giggling pushing his shoulder. 

"Anyway back to what I was saying. Morgan saw you coming."

"He saw me?"

"Well he saw you with me."

"What do you mean?"

"Vampires have soulmates. Which sounds nuts because we don't have souls but that's the only way to put it. We're kind of like penguins, stay mated for life. We only have one so if it doesn't work out, that's it and we're alone."

"Oh wow no fucking pressure then!" I said sarcastically.

"Anywaaay." He drawled rolling his eyes with a small smile. "After I joined his coven I guess you'd call it, he started seeing my future. You're in it every step of the way." He finally looked into my eyes at that last part and I melted completely.

"Oh wow."

"Your heart is beating fast again. You're anxious, why?"

"I'm um.. a little overwhelmed I guess?"

"Why?"

"Well I wanted to be around for a long time and I felt like that would happen but to know that you've seen me there.."

"Technically Morgan saw you there. I didn't see anything, I just feel it. I feel very strongly for you."

"I love you." I said moving up the bed to hug him. He was stiff for a minute but then relaxed and held me softly. I pulled back with a smile on my face. "I'm not gonna break if you hold me a little tighter than that."

"I just don't want to push you or anything. This is a lot to take in, I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"William I'm not. Can't you see that? I don't care what you are. I love you and I know you're not going to eat me so it's okay."

"I was wondering when what I eat would come up."

"I'm not worried about it. As long as I'm not in any danger I couldn't care less. You don't demand to know what I eat usually." I said eyeing him up.

"Well if you weren't so stubborn and would eat as much as I know you need to I wouldn't have to ask! You don't take care of your body the way I want you to."

"Whatever I'm trying."

"I know, love. You're doing good."

"Anyway since it's been brought up I am curious about what you eat."

"I eat mostly animals. We all do. Probably twice a month but we need human blood too once a month or so. We use blood bags instead of people. As I said I don't want people scared."

"Wouldn't it be better warm?" I slapped my hand over my mouth in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry ignore me."

"No, I want to know what you're thinking." He pulled my hands down and looked at me pouting with a big smile spreading across his face. "I love it when you blush. You look do cute with red cheeks."

"Stoooop!" I moaned blushing harder.

"Blood is better warm but that's what we get from animals. We don't want drinking human blood to be pleasant."

"That is fair enough."

We were quiet for a minute as I took in what he was saying. I couldn't say I was surprised at all. The way these boys acted and played the game was a little unbelievable. And the way they all looked. Barely human, more angelic looking than anything. I started thinking back at all the weird things like him hearing my phone vibrate in the bar, how fast he got to my house when I was scared, how he never really ate, how he was never cold. It all started making a lot of sense.

"Have I scared you?"

"Are you dumb? I'm not scared of you." I asked giving him a weird look.

"I just wanted to check. Do you think you'd be okay to go talk with the rest of the boys?"

"I'm fine babe. Are you ready for me to go talk with the boys?" I could tell by the way his eyes momentarily went wide that my question caught him off guard.

"Everything I just told you and you're concerning yourself with me?"

"Always." I said taking his hand in mine.

"I'd like you to know if I could blush I would be right now." He said quietly.

"Cute." I said pecking his lips.

"I am worried about you talking to them."

"Why?"

"I'm worried mostly about Auston. He's still mad that you know."

"Auston can fucking bite me." I said bitterly without thinking. "Shit wait no no i don't want that at all I take it back!"

"You're so funny. As if I'd ever let anyone else bite you." He said in a teasing tone.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait! You're planning on biting me?!"

"Not anytime soon. And I'm not planning it at all. Morgan said that he sees that it's your idea completely. You beg for me to do it."

"Not the only thing I'd beg for." I mumbled.

"What?"

"What?" I asked pretending I didn't say anything.

"I literally hear everything (y/n). I know exactly what you said. And you might not want to think stuff like that. I kinda asked Mitch to listen in to see how you would take everything."

"Are you kidding me?! Oh my God!" I smacked my forehead as if that would get the image of me on my knees begging William out of my head. It didn't. I was just more aware of those thoughts which made me think of them more. "I hate it here!" I yelled dramatically falling back on the bed.

"It's not a big deal, he's used to it."

"Yes it is!"

"He's not going to judge you."

"He will!"

"No I won't." Mitch said walking into the room and flopping down on the bed beside me.

"Uuugh." I groaned covering my face with a pillow.

"Nice to see you again too. Willy Morgan wants to talk to you. Something about Aus' bullshit probably."

"Alright. I'll be back soon, love." He got up and left leaving the room silent.

"So you know now huh?"

"Yup."

"You still want us around?"

"What the fuck do you mean?" I pulled the pillow away from my face. "Of course I still want you guys around."

"Sometimes it takes some time to come around that's all. Morgan's girlfriend took forever. She wouldn't see us for like 6 months because she was upset and felt betrayed. You just never know. Well unless you're Morgan."

"So she knows too?"

"Yup she knows everything."

"Does your girlfriend know?"

"No Steph has no idea. I don't think I'll ever tell her honestly."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you some other time."

"Do you think he was wrong to tell me?"

"Absolutely not. Seeing William happy is the best! He hasn't seen what Morgan has seen but I have. Sorry for snooping, it was just exciting! I couldn't help it."

"What does it look like..?" I asked quietly.

"It looks like complete happiness. Everything you've both ever wanted in life is going to come to you. It's kind of really fast moving from here though."

"Do I end up like you guys..?"

"I don't want to tell you the details of your future." He said carefully after considering for a second.

"I don't want to know everything I just want to know if I'm gonna get old and ugly while he stays gorgeous.. " I blushed and Mitch laughed.

"That's such a silly thing to worry about! Don't worry. You're not going to get old and gross. But that's all you're getting from me!"

"That's good enough for me." I said as William walked back in.

"Are you ready to see the guys? They want to talk to you, especially Morgan."

"Yeah sure." I said getting up walking over to him. I hugged him tight around his waist and leaned up to give him a kiss. "Let's go."

"Uh yeah sure." He took my hand and led me down the hallway of the spacious house. I took in my surroundings with awe. The house was beautiful. A perfect balance of dark and light. There was modern furniture but a lot of antiques surrounding it all. When he brought me around the corner I saw all the guys sitting there. Even Mitch which surprised me but then I realized that these guys were faster than anything. Auston looked salty, but he always did.

"(Y/n) please sit." Morgan said with a smile, gesturing to the love seat across from him. I did as I was told while William and Mitch sat on either side of me. "How are you feeling?"

"Um I'm okay. How are you guys?"

"We're well."

"Speak for yourself." Auston mumbled while Morgan sighed.

"For the most part we're well. You've learned a lot of new information today."

"Yeah I have."

"How do you feel about that?"

"Not bad. I have a lot of questions but I don't think I'm in danger so I'm feeling good I think."

"I'm surprised she didn't go into shock." Kasperi teased.

"Come on give her some credit!" Mitch defended. 

"Yeah Kas come on. I'm tougher than that."

"You realize that you knowing this is a big deal don't you?" Morgan asked.

"Of course I do!"

"You realize that means you can't tell anyone right? Not even your dumb photography friend? And especially not your reporter friend?" Auston spit out.

"Obviously I would never ever do that Auston."

"Girls tell secrets."

"Not one like this!"

"How can we know that?"

"Auston you're honestly being ridiculous right now. I would never do that to you guys." I looked at William who was avoiding my eyes. I grabbed his hand desperately trying to keep tears out of my eyes from the confrontation. "Will, baby, you know that don't you? That I would never hurt you and your family like that?"

"I'm a little worried."

"What?!"

"See if he's worried, I should be too." 

I just stayed quiet. Ripped my hand from William's, wiped a tear roughly from my cheek, and crossed my arms. William tried to hold my hand again but I pulled back.

"Don't."

"Guys she's not going to say anything." Mitch said, sounding bored with the whole thing.

"(Y/n) why don't we speak in private?" Morgan said carefully.

"Okay." I got up despite William's protest and went with Morgan to his office.

"I'm sorry about them. They're both idiots." 

"I feel like I'm in trouble in a principal's office." I said laughing with him.

"Well I promise you aren't in trouble at all. I don't know how much William has told you about me.."

"Um he just said you were the oldest, the leader, and that you can see the future but he never elaborated on anything."

"Everything I see is definite. There are no areas where it changes. What I see is what happens. I've never been wrong in my hundred years. This is why I'm so sure that you won't tell anyone anything."

"Even if you didn't see it I'd never tell. It's not my secret to tell."

"The boys are just worried. It's been a long time since we've told anybody. The last one was my girlfriend 2 years ago. The last before that was 65 years ago. Auston and Kasperi have had some bad experiences. Mitch isn't worried because he can see inside everyone's heads. He can see how your mind works, he knows like I do. In fact I can tell you the next time you willingly on your own tell someone about vampires and it's not for another 20 years."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"There will be a time in approximately 4 months that you will say something."

"I don't think I'd share that but I'm not willing to bet against you that I won't. I'm sorry that I do that."

"It's nothing to be sorry about. When you do it, it's out of necessity, survival."

"I'm still sorry."

"I'm sorry that William is being untrusting. It seems Auston has gotten into his head."

"Not a big deal." I shrugged.

"It is. Trust is the most important thing. To know you're not trusted is a punch in the stomach." I raised an eyebrow at him and he continued. "When I got with Tessa and told her everything she didn't trust me right away. She thought I was going to feed off her or change her without permission. It was incredibly difficult."

"It all worked out though right?"

"Yes of course! I promise things will smooth over between you and William."

"Thank you Morgan. I really appreciate it."

"I'm going to let you go since we all have places to get ready to be soon. Mitch will drop you off at your home."

"Thanks. Good luck at the game tonight."

"Thank you. See you later."

"Bye." I let myself out. I didn't like to be told what to do but something about the authority in his voice made me not question or talk back. Mitch was standing down the hall a bit.

"Hey, you ready to go?"

"Absolutely. No offense but I don't want to be here right now."

"That's totally fair. I'm sick of hearing Auston's thoughts right now."

He started towards the door and I followed as close behind as I could manage. Once we got outside I was in awe. I always loved the forest and this was taking forest living to another level.

"How come you're sick of hearing him?"

"I'm always pretty sick of hearing him these days."

"Is it my fault?"

"What no! That's actually a welcome distraction. He's hiding something from me." 

I was looking out the window as we drove but that shocked me enough to look at him. I was very confused and he could probably tell because he snickered at me.

"How the fuck could he do that?"

"He's had experience with people like me. He knows how to block thoughts from me. It's so annoying bro."

"I'd like to learn that." I said thinking back to what William said earlier.

"(Y/n) I couldn't care less what you want to do to William or have him do to you. Be as kinky as you want. I'll tell you what I'm into if that'll help?"

"Uh maybe next time." I said laughing with him.

"In all honesty I could probably help! If he's not doing it right I could tell him how to do it better."

"As sweet as that is Mitchy, I think I'd rather see how he fucks first before I call in mental backup."

"You guys haven't fucked yet?"

"No. He didn't want to while there was still secrets."

"That's nice of him I suppose. I could never do that."

"I like that he's patient. I've been through a lot of bad stuff with men.." before I could stop thinking Mitch interrupted me as we pulled into my driveway.

"I'm so fucking sorry that happened to you." He pulled me into a hug and I let a tear slip out.

"It's okay, it's done."

"It might be done but it haunts you. Have you told Willy?"

"Not yet. I will before I sleep with him though. I don't want secrets either. But now I don't know if I even should. If he can't trust me, can I trust him?"

"Auston is in his head. That's literally all it is. Wills deep thoughts know and trust you. His surface thoughts are frazzled."

"Well he's being shitty and can honestly just get fucked." I said making him laugh.

"That's fair."

"I'll see you guys tonight!"

"We'll be listening for you."

"Sorry what?" I asked half out of the car.

"William is going to want to know when you get there. So he's gonna listen for your voice and I'll be listening for your thoughts. Just to calm him down."

"Well in that case I'm gonna talk shit and think get fucked the whole time." I said laughing with him.

"I can't wait to play hockey with an angry William."

"See ya." I got out of the car and went to my house. I cried a little but then got ready to go.

[frederikandersens]

Broken Promises (2) (Frederik Andersen)

A/N: here’s the sequel to Broken Promises! I’m so excited people are enjoying my writing I never expected this🥺 this one is mainly for @hockeyblogg since she requested it and it got my creative juices flowing, thank you for requesting a part two🥺💜

Warnings: none. But we do have a soft! Freddie

Word count: 1715

After the get together at Mitch’s home a few months ago, you had been spending almost everyday you could with the boys, even hosting your own get together at your place.

Freddie everyday since had been checking in on you to make sure you’re doing okay, and he genuinely cared and would often call you if anything was wrong.

You debate whether or not going through the Timmie’s drive-thru in your pyjamas - or jogging pants and t-shirt - and decide to put a bra on since the shirt was a little tight fitted. You order your usual double-double and make your way back home, admiring how empty the streets are right now, admiring the view of the buildings and the sunrise.

Making your way back up to your apartment you sit on your couch that felt far too comfortable so you try to distract yourself by watching Cody Ko, because who doesn’t watch Cody Ko? He’s hilarious.

After drinking your coffee you look at the time, 8am, and decide to get ready for the day until you get a text from Mitch.

Mitch:

Hey, need you to come over today. Dress kind of okay, I guess

Y/N:

Wear what???

Mitch:

Like a casual dress or something

Y/N:

Ok? Is mom and dad coming down or something?

Mitch:

No

Just listen to me please

Y/N:

Ok calm yourself Mitch

Mitch:

Smh🙄

You raise your eyebrow at the text, trying to figure out why Mitch needs you dressed up so fucking early in the morning.

You put out a really nice black dress that shows off your curves in all the best ways. You also weren’t the biggest fan of makeup so you just settle for that glowing, fresh face of yours and fix your hair to your preference. Mitch knew you absolutely hated when he’d keep secrets from you, this happens a lot so maybe he wanted to take you out for dinner? Y’know, to get along as brother and sister for once.

Y/N:

I’m On my way!

Wow that autocorrected way too enthusiastically because I am not excited at all

Mitch:

First of all, ouch

Second of all I’ll meet you outside

You grab your car keys quickly looking into the mirror and hyping yourself up a bit just in case any of his boys were there, you wanted to be as confident as possible around them. Wanted to give off that “I’m a bad bitch” vibe.

You don’t see any cars beside Mitch’s as you pull into the driveway, “uh, why are you wearing a suit?” You ask Mitch, the guy looked like a waiter, “just because, also put this on” he hands you a scarf, “Mitch, my hair” you gesture, “oh right, keep your eyes closed, do not fucking open them at all, got it?” He says strenly, “ok” you throw your hands up and close your eyes as he guides you to his car.

You try to focus on the feeling of where you were driving in hopes to figure out where you were going, but you had no clue. Mitch wasn’t dumb, he knew not to take the usual route to wherever you were going.

“Ok, don’t open your eyes, I’m gonna come get you” Mitch says, “yes sir” you sigh waiting for Mitch to open the door, he grabs your arm and walks you into whatever building you were in, “hey man, it’s us” he buzzes into someone’s place, “who?” You ask, “shut up” he says.

Walking you into an elevator and getting stares from people in the elevator with you he’s quick you reassure them that your his sister and he’s bringing you to a surprise, and you can’t help but laugh at that awkward encounter.

As the doors open he walks you down what you can only assume is a hall, “don’t open your eyes yet” he holds his hand over your face as he opens the door with the other hand.

“Mmm, are those candles? They smell good!” You say, “ok, open” he says.

You open your eyes and see Freddie standing in front of you with a bouquet of roses, he was in a navy blue suit and did he ever look hot. The pants were tight around his thighs and you couldn’t help but look, and the jacket fit well to the point you could see the size of his arms. The lights in the apartment were dimmed, light coming from candles that were lit all around the kitchen, some scented, some not.

“Holy shit” your jaw drops, “I know we’ve never talked if we had feelings for eachother or not, but I have feelings for you Y/N, and I’m not sure if you’ve noticed. I really wanted this to be as romantic as possible but I’m actually really nervous because they’re all staring at me” he points at Mitch, Auston, and Morgan, you laugh as you brush a piece of hair behind your ear, “and you’re also really beautiful, I just can’t handle it” he says, “so I guess what I want to ask is” he takes a deep breath, “will you be my girlfriend? And also help me eat all of this food” he points at the grilled cheese, “I’m sorry, I literally paid them to cook and this was all they did, I wanted this to be more roman-”

You place your hand on his arm, rubbing it to reassure him, “Freddie, it’s amazing, I love it. And of course, I’d love to be your girlfriend” you smile, “grilled cheese is one of my favourites so I guess it looks like you hired the right chef” you laugh, wrapping your arms around him you can physically feel him relax, “you look beautiful, by the way” he whispers, “you look very handsome” you look up at him and smile.

“Hey, hate to break the moment but your food will get cold” Mitch whispers, both you and Freddie shoot daggers in his way and he’s quick to shut up.

“Okay!” Auston claps his hands together, “our job is done!” He puts his shoes on and walks out of the door.

“I’m sorry he was here, he wouldn’t leave” Freddie whispers, “it’s okay” you mumble into his chest.

“Morgan, I know we’re supposed to wait to turn on the soft flowy music until after they eat but I think this is gonna last awhile” Mitch whispers and Morgan’s quick to nod and turn on some cute song, “do we eat the grilled cheese?” He whispers back to mitch, “yeah why not” they grab the plate and sit on the island.

“Dance with me?” He asks, you nod wrapping your right hand with his.

His left hand finds its place on your hip and your left hand found his shoulder. Your bodies were so close together and you felt so small compared to him - felt so safe - you could get used to this. There was a lot of passion behind Freddie and yourself and you know it would never fade because of how you two first met.

Mitch was quick to post a snap of you two, a couple seconds on you and Freddie before flipping the camera around to him and Morgan cheersing with their grilled cheese and Mitch throws up a peace sign followed by a soft laugh from them.

Eventually your eyes lock with Freddie’s, faces just inches apart and you feel your cheeks heat up. You were unable to look away and Freddie slowly places his forehead to yours, pressing a kiss to your nose that you felt for moments after, craving his lips on yours for the last few months, you don’t even think before you kiss him. Morgan and Mitch gasp and Mitch was quick to get a photo on his phone, it turned out to be a beautiful photo.

Your arms were holding just below the collar of his jacket and both of his hands were on your waist, “holy shit” Morgan whispers. These guys really knew how to ruin a moment, but since you had Mitch doing that your whole life, you knew how to ignore it.

Once you finally realize what was happening your heart rate began to pick up, his lips felt so good on yours, they were slightly chapped but it was hard to tell as your chapstick was quick to wear off on his lips too.

Both of you were completely swept up in the passion, and completely forgot about Morgan and Mitch watching you two make out.

Pulling away from the kiss the two of you look at each other and smile. Since there was no meal to eat you throw out the idea of watching a movie or something with the boys ands Freddie, and they all like they idea so you all agree on just watching Friends.

“That dress can’t be very comfortable” Morgan says, “yeah no, not to watch tv in anyway” you laugh. Mitch had a pair of jogging pants with him and offered them to you, but you told him that he could keep them to change into since he was in dress pants but he insisted, “did you happen to bring a hoodie with you too?” You ask, “you can have one of mine” Freddie says as he goes up to his room and comes back down with his nike hoodie that he seemed to wear a lot.

After you get changed you walk back out and a smile was plastered on your boyfriends face - oh god, did that ever sound amazing to call him that - “what?” You laugh, “nothing” he opens his arms for you and you cuddle into him.

The feeling of his warm body against yours made you feel so small and so protected. His arms wrapped around you and you bury your head in his neck, his scent bringing you to a sense of peace you’ve never been at before. You look up at him and move your hand to trace his jawline, he looks down when you do and smiles, “what?” He asks, “I’m just admiring you” you whisper, he just smiles and kisses your head. And from then on, you knew Freddie would always be the one, no one could ever love you the way he does.

[woah-were-halfway-there]

Can you write a little fluffy piece of you and Auston in present time with being separated because of covid and all

Here you are my dear! It turned out longer than anticipated but oh welllll

Word count: 1.7k

Quarantine sucks, to put it simply. Places are closed, events have been cancelled, everyone is expected to stay home unless it’s essential to leave, and to make it all worse, you and Auston are spending it in different countries.

A week after the NHL announced the suspension of the remainder of the season, Auston flew back to Scottsdale. Seeing as this was before things got too intense, you still had to work and insisted that he go without you. Your office had plans to shut down by the end of that week as a precaution for the pandemic. After that, you knew you would be off for at least two weeks, so the plan was for you to fly to Scottsdale to be with your boyfriend then; but that never happened.

The severity of the situation got real bad real fast, and you were no longer able to travel. Therefore, you ended up having to stay in Toronto alone.

Auston remembers getting the text saying you had cancelled your flight as if it just happened yesterday. He had just woken up, that three-hour time difference between the two cities not helping the situation at all, and was quick in calling you to ask why.

“Aus, you should see the news,” you explained to him. “It’s a whole mess out there, and it only seems to be getting worse. Places are closing down, people are buying ridiculous amounts of toilet paper, and the government is advising that people don’t travel. Trudeau is closing the border, babe. I want to be there with you; I really do. I miss you so much already, but I don’t think I should leave Toronto just yet. Surely, this won’t take too long to blow over, and I’ll be there sooner than we both know it.”

Clearly, that was a bold assumption for you to make because over two weeks have gone by, and the two of you are still separated.

Auston still cannot get over the fact that you got stuck, and alone of all things. He hasn’t stopped beating himself up over it either. In Toronto, you don’t have a roommate to hang out with, seeing as it’s just you and Auston that live in your unit, and that alone only has made him feel so much worse about everything.

With social distancing, you can’t just go over to Mitch and Steph’s like you usually would either. Although it’s gotten to the point where the two have invited you to just stay with them until this all blows over, you keep saying no out of fear that you may have come in contact with the virus and could pass it on to them. That just wouldn’t be fair.

So, all that you really can do now is suck it up and try to make the most out of your isolation, even though it’s really hard sometimes. And god, do you miss your people. Without there being much to do other than the odd thing for work; all you’ve done is clean the condo, get groceries when you need them, watch a lot of Netflix, talk with Steph all while trolling Mitch in the comments on his Twitch streams, and of course, FaceTime you boyfriend as much as possible.

Regardless of how hard you’ve tried, you just haven’t been able to develop a routine you feel motivated enough to stick to. It’s a depressing time. So, the fact that you’re flopped on your bed, staring at the ceiling, with a half-empty bottle of wine resting next to you on the bedside table, and Champagne Supernova blaring from your Bluetooth speaker late on a Friday night; really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. You’re in quarantine; you’re allowed to mope.

Completely and utterly bored with your current situation, you roll over onto your side to grab your phone and wine from the table. Ignoring the empty wine glass that was there too, you settle on taking a swig right from the bottle and smiling sadly at the adorable picture of you and Auston that’s set as your lock screen. The image was from last summer when the two of you were on vacation with his family and just makes you feel so warm and fuzzy on the inside, even though it makes you long for how easy times were before all of this.

Great, another wave of depression.

Shaking your head clear of the intruding thoughts that decided to creep into your mind, you unlock your phone and start scrolling through social media… again. After opening Twitter and quickly getting bored with the content on there, you move to Instagram to see what the people and celebrities you follow are up too on there, only to be met by a picture posted by your boyfriend as soon as the app loads.

“No, why!?” You groan and flop onto your back again dramatically. You’re lucky the bottle of wine you’re holding is almost gone, or else it probably would have spilt everywhere with your dramatics, which you’re aware of, but really couldn’t care less about. After a moment of just laying there in silence, you eventually sit back up to take another sip of wine before setting it on the table and unlocking your phone, so you can really take in this new picture.

Everything about the picture feels like a direct attack. Not only is the scenery stunning with the beautiful Arizona sunset in the background, the image also consists of Auston looking fine as hell, shirtless, wearing one of the many snapbacks he owns to keep his hair out of his face, all while supposedly ‘discovering portrait mode.’ Honestly, how dare he?

You just can’t seem to look away. It’s such a good picture and man does it make you miss him even more. Without giving it a second thought, you close out of the app and open FaceTime, suddenly overcome by an intense feeling of neediness.  

Luckily for you, it doesn’t take long for him to answer the call.

“Hey, babe,” he greets before taking a sip of water and plopping down onto his couch. He’s still shirtless, wearing the same snapback, and the sun is still clearly setting out the large windows behind him, which makes it clear that this is a very new picture you just experienced, and you’re unsure if that makes you feel better or worse. “What’s up?”

“I miss you,” you pout and let out a sigh. “So much. And then you had to go and post that on Instagram, which was just rude on your part in complete honesty.”

“Sorry,” he chuckles and shakes his head while you roll your eyes at him. “I miss you too. How was your day?”

“Kind of not great,” you tell him honestly. “I’ve been feeling pretty down.”

“Ah, so that’s why I can hear Oasis playing.”

“They’re on my sad girl hours playlist, alright? What do you want from me?”

“I know they are,” he laughs again, but it isn’t long until his expression grows serious. “And nothing, other than for you to talk to me about what’s bugging you. What’s going on?”

Damn, he knows you well and is so good at easing into these types of conversations.

“It’s just,” you start and take a deep breath in hopes the tears you already feel pricking your eyes don’t decide to overflow. “I miss you, and our friends, and how life was before all of this. I know it’s only been two weeks, but Aus, I feel so alone. And don’t you dare try to blame yourself for that, ok? You’ve done so much for me already even though you’re so far away and honestly, just talking with you helps a lot. It reminds me that I’m not alone. That there’s a lot of people out there who love and care about me, it just sucks so bad being stuck here and it’s messing with my mental health quite a bit.”

“I know, babe, I know,” he soothes and lets out a sigh. “I want nothing more than to be with you right now. Whether that be here or there, I wouldn’t care. I just miss you so much, and I’m so sorry you’re feeling the way that you do. I know that me telling you all of this may not mean much seeing as I’m in a different freaking country, but I mean it. I love you and am always here to talk if you want to.”

Now you’re crying.

“I love you a whole lot.”

“Oh, no, please don’t cry, I-,” he apologizes, but you just shake your head.

“No, it’s ok,” you tell him and use the sleeve of his Maple Leafs sweater you’re wearing to wipe away the tears that broke free. “It feels good to let it all out, you know? Thank you for making me feel comfortable enough to do that.”

“Of course, anytime,” he assures you softly. “I’m always here. And I hope you know that as soon as we’re out of this, you’re not leaving my side. If you thought you could get sick of me before, just wait until we’re back in the same place together.”

“I could never get sick of you, Aus,” you chuckle and shake your head at how dramatic he’s being.

“If quarantine has made me realize anything, it’s never to take the time I get with you for granted ever again,” he explains, making your heart swell with affection. “I mean it.”

“I know,” you reply and smile at him. “The feeling’s mutual. I can’t wait to see you in person again.”

“Me neither. Going to hold on to you a little tighter, that’s for sure.”

He goes on to ask about the positives of your day, and you spend the next little bit telling him all you’ve accomplished in your free time and asking him about his day. After a while of chatting with your boyfriend, you eventually crawl into bed while remaining on the call, and attempt to watch an episode of Ozark together.

You end up falling asleep while on FaceTime, and Auston can’t help but smile at the peaceful image of you sleeping on his phone screen. Knowing he should probably start getting ready for bed soon too, Auston quietly reminds you that he loves you and hangs up before sending you a sweet text to wake up to and forcing himself to think about how all of this will be over soon and he’ll be back with you in no time.

[hockeyboistrash]

ring | m.m

summary: Your boyfriend is acting strange and you think he’s forgotten your anniversary. That’s not the case though

The spot beside you was cold when you woke up, your boyfriend nowhere to be found. You perked up a bit to see if he was in the kitchen but it was silent though. Normally you wouldn’t have been concerned as Mitch usually woke up before you to go to the gym, leaving you a message. Today was your anniversary though so it was strange that he wasn’t here. You tried to not think too much into it, going downstairs to get yourself a drink. After half an hour you decided to call him. "Hey babe." Mitch answered, picking up on the second ring.

"Hey." You returned. "I woke up this morning and you were already gone."

"I was going to text you but I didn’t think it’d be this long. Matts needed help with some girl issues." He told you and you couldn’t help but let out a giggle.

"And he asked you?"

"Rude." Mitch gasped, faking offence.

"I can come round and help if you want." You suggested.

"No!" He exclaimed. Everyone was shocked by the outburst with Auston mouthing 'real smooth'. "I just mean, you just woke up. Besides we should almost be done."

"Okay then." You said knowing that your boyfriend was acting strange but deciding not to ask him about it at the moment. "I’ll see you later?"

"Yeah." Mitch said. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The moment you hung up Auston burst out laughing. "What was that? They’re going to know something us up now."

"I don’t know. I panicked. Besides I didn’t think I’d be here more than an hour."

"It’s here somewhere okay." He told his friend who wasn’t convinced.

"You said that over an hour ago." Mitch said. "How do you even lose a ring in the first place?"

"It’s not lost. It’s just misplaced." Before he could respond Morgan came through the front door.

"Breakfast is here." He said, oblivious to the conversation that was happening before he interrupted. He soon realised when he saw Mitch's expression. "Still not found it?" Him and Auston both shook their heads. "You’ve got till tonight to find it." Morgan tried to be positive.

"We could just get another one." Auston suggested but was met with the shake of heads.

"I can’t just get another one. This is my grandmothers ring." Mitch groaned, flopping onto the couch bringing his hand over his face. "What if they say no?" His voice was quiet but his two teammates heard him clearly.

"Y/N loves you. They’re not going to say no." Morgan assured him.

"It’s nauseating how much they love you but Morgan's right. Y/N won’t say no." Auston added. "Now lets go find this ring."

-

When you hung up the phone you shot your friend a text, replying to them. It’s wasn’t long before they called you. "What do you mean you think Mitch has forgotten your anniversary?" They asked you immediately.

"He wasn’t here when I woke up this morning and he hasn’t said anything. No flowers, no text, nothing. I was just on the phone with him and he didn’t mention a thing." You told them.

"While that does sound like he’s forgotten this is Mitch we’re talking about. He’s never forgotten before. Hell, even when he’s on a roadie he makes sure you have a good day and promise to take you out when he gets back." You thought about it and knew they were right. Mitch hasn’t forgot before so why would he this year. "He might just be doing something tonight and that’s why he hasn’t said anything because he’s awful at keeping secrets." You laughed because it was true your boyfriend could not keep anything from you ruining many surprises he’s had for you in the past. "And if he has well he’s going to regret it because we’re going shopping."

-

You were in your shared bedroom trying on the outfit you got today when you heard the door open letting you know Mitch was home. You walked out of the room and over to him, hugging him from behind. "Happy anniversary, babe." He greeted, turning around and pressing a kiss on your lips.

"Happy anniversary." You returned, taking the flowers from his hands and smelt them.

"You look amazing." Mitch said, his eyes raking over your body.

"I should probably change." You said trying to get out of his arms only for him to tighten his grip.

"Don’t. It’s perfect." He whispered against your lips. "We should get going."

"Where are we going?"

"It’s a surprise. Here." Mitch said handing you your coat. You put it on and took his hand as he lead you out of the apartment. Instead of pressing down on the elevator he pressed up making you look at Mitch who only smiled at you. You trusted him so you didn’t question him. "Okay, close your eyes."

You followed his request and let him guide you to wherever he was taking you. As he opened the door you felt the cold breeze hit you. "Wait are we on the roof?" You asked but Mitch didn’t reply leading you a few more steps.

"You can open them." He told you. Your eyes widened when you saw the set up and the view behind it.

"Mitch." You breathed, in awe at everything he’s done. You couldn’t believe you actually considered that he forgot.

"I wanted to do this somewhere special. I thought of the different places we’ve been and came up with this." He started, gesturing to the roof. "There is so many memories we’ve made together in this city, too many to pick a good one from, and I hope we can continue to make even more. Y/N, I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

"Yes." You nodded, wrapping your arms around Mitch ignoring the tears that are now falling freely. "I love you." You said, your forehead against his before you kissed him.