Jack comes out to his parents as transmasc at 13 years old. His parents are so supportive. Alicia immediately takes her son shopping, because "If you're going to wear men's fashion, you're going to do it right." Sadly, that doesn't really stick, and Jack still has the horrible fashion taste of a white jock, but he does get clothes that work for him.
At that point, Jack was playing coed hockey. But a few years later, Jack's reaching the age that he has to join a gendered team if he wants to play competitively. And Bad Bob knows his son, and his drive, so he sits him down for a talk. He essentially tells him "If you want to play hockey seriously and competitively, it's going to be hard, I won't lie to you. But you absolutely have the drive and skill, and I will support you every step of the way. No hockey club is going to want to be the place that denied Bad Bob's son the chance to play, and I know you might hate that, but I absolutely will use it against homophobes."
And so Jack continues playing hockey on mens teams, with the support of his parents. And it does suck sometimes, because people aren't nice to those different than them. But Jack loves hockey enough that it doesn't matter, so he powers through.
Then the Q happens. Jack may be closer with his father, but the pressure of being a trans athlete adds to his anxiety, along with the whole thing with Kent. The overdose still happens, and Jack still quits hockey for a while.
But eventually, he comes back to sport he loves so much. He starts off by teaching. This is how he finds out that his dad has been working on a charity for queer kids to learn to play hockey in an inclusive environment. He becomes a coach for the organization, and relearns how to love hockey without all the transphobia and pressure that made him quit in the first place.
Then Samwell happens, and honestly its really refreshing for Jack and Bad Bob both for Jack to be playing competitively in an inclusive environment - the Samwell hockey team takes the "maybe more" part of the "1 in 4, maybe more" slogan a bit too seriously. It does take the rest of the team an embarrassingly long time to realize Jack is trans though, outside from Lardo. He's had top-surgery at this point, and you can see the scars: the team is just oblivious.
And then suddenly college is over. And Jack thinks that hockey is probably over for him, because the NHL isn't that inclusive. But then he gets a call from George Martin, who's seen how he plays, and thinks its time for Hockey to modernize. And Bad Bob immediately jumps right back into the fight for his son. After all, you don't tell hockey royalty that his son can't play when he's good enough to be scouted. (George and Bad Bob become fast friends - Jack is mildly terrified.)
And so Jack becomes the first trans player in the NHL, thanks to an incredibly supportive dad and a very dedicated GM. He and Bitty still have their mid-ice kiss, which still garners a lot of attention because it's two men kissing at center ice, even if everyone already knows Jack is queer.
And slowly but steadily, the NHL becomes more inclusive, all because Bad Bob Zimmerman loved his son enough to fight for him.
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maybe it's time | 1,512 | gurlsrool
Summary: “I think I…” he bites his bottom lip and looks at Maple and the leftover blueberry pie on the counter and the quilt thrown over the couch and Lardo’s painting on the wall and says, “I think I’m going to marry him someday.”
The One With the Blackout | 1,693 | orphan_account
Summary: There's a power outage in Providence, and Bitty is trapped in an ATM vestibule with Jack freakin' Zimmermann. Who, as it turns out, is not there to mug him.
Stripped Down, Unplugged | 1,912 | orphan_account
Summary: The bylaws stood strong for eight years before Jack Zimmermann and his crew got Cute.
(see more recommendations below!)
I just smile, I go ahead and smile | 2,013 | Mizzy
Summary: Jack has no game when it comes to Bittle. It's a good thing Bad Bob's around to give his son a helpful shove in the right direction.
Four Times Jack Failed at Flirting With Bittle (And One Time He Wasn't Terrible At It) | 2,167 | somehowunbroken / @somehowunbroken
Summary: Jack's got this flirting thing down. Or, no, wait. No, he totally doesn't.
Perpetual Motion | 2,332 | annundriel / @annundriel
Summary: Bittle thinks he’s joking at first, when Jack offers to take a selfie with him.
Every Now and Then | 2,432 | sunfair / @northerndownpour
Summary: Eric Bittle is a successful pop-country recording artist. Jack is an NHL player and a big fan.
Dares You to Change | 2,763 | PorcupineGirl
Summary: Jack has imagined this moment so many times. The reality is so much harder.
"Zimmboni, you have friend here to visit! Out in hall." Tater exclaims as he comes into the locker room. "He says is from college?"
make this house a home | 2,805 | bleep0bleep / @bleep0bleep
Summary: With the prospect of an empty Haus for Thanksgiving, Jack invites Bitty over to his new place in Providence. As friends, of course.
brought to you by | 2,971 | HalfFizzbin / @halffizzbin
Summary: Jack Zimmermann is the new face of the franchise. Unfortunately.
All the Love in the World | 3,005 | alocalband / @alocalband
Summary: Bitty’s hands are shaking. He has five missed calls from Jack, two from Chowder, one from Lardo, and an astronomical number of yet to be viewed text messages.
It’s not that he hasn’t been checking his phone, it’s that every time he’s picked it up at an alert, all he’s been able to do is stare at it. Which is what he’s doing now, as he waits for his mother to finish speaking with the doctor at Coach’s bedside.
Passing Notes | 4,189 | marswithghosts
Summary: Jack Zimmermann is charming, and Bitty enjoys the way he writes the B in Bittle. He knows he’s being stupid, but his life consists of seventh graders and baking pies; he’s allowed to have a little bit of a fantasy.
the slow pace of geologic time | 4,258 | westernredcedar / @thewesternredcedar
Summary: Jack looks at her and then puts her luggage down and leans in, grabs her into a full-body hug, right there on the sidewalk, holding her so close. She can’t remember when he last hugged her this hard. “He told his parents. About being gay. About us,” he says into her shoulder. “They were awful.”
through the crowd | 4,488 | kirkaut / @kirkaut
Summary: The notification sound isn’t the one that he’s got assigned to Jack, which is why he doesn’t feel any panic when Holster hums an agreement and leans over to peer at Bitty’s phone screen.
At least, not until Holster says his name in the tone of a person with a slowly growing suspicion. “Bitty,” he says, very expectantly. “Who is ‘Good Robert’, and why is he blowing up your phone?”
Maple-Flavored Pie Hearts | 4,842 | ofherlionheart / @theonesyouthinkyoulove
Summary: “Well, if you’re making people breakfast now, I’m more than happy to accept,” Shitty says brightly, hoping to cajole a smile out of Jack.
Jack smacks away Shitty’s hand when he tries to steal some bacon. “I’m not,” Jack says, scowling. “I’m teaching that freshman how to get protein into his diet.”
“Which one?” Shitty asks, already knowing the answer.
november | 5,046 | antoineroussel / @bostonbruiins
Summary: Jack was ready, so ready. He'd never been more ready for anything, except maybe an NHL contract.
He was so totally not ready at all.
Man of Honor | 5,301 | esterbrook
Summary: Bitty has to live the rest of his life with the knowledge that yes, Jack Zimmermann cries at weddings, and looks good doing it.
is it too late now to say sorry | 5,330 | magneticwave
Summary: I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS, Eric types furiously into Twitter. THIS IS LIKE RENAMING LAKE WOEBEGONE “LAKE SCOTT WALKER.” // Or, the only person in the entirety of Canada who is upset about Jack Zimmermann’s first Stanley Cup is Eric Bittle, and by God is every single one of Eric’s 160,000 Twitter followers going to hear about it.
To Even Fall | 5,636 | perihelionic
Summary: Sometimes Bitty sleeps in Jack's bed. It's not a thing, until it is.
and so all yours | 5,858 | orphan_account
Summary: It’s not exactly taboo to let other people see your soulmate’s first thought about you, but now, standing two feet away from the guy who spent the last five hours making him feel inadequate and small, he doesn’t really want to remind anyone that even his own soulmate doesn’t believe in him.
better than I know myself | 5,876 | Mizzy
Summary: Jack's not very good at noticing common threads. So it takes him the longest time, over a year, before he realizes what's been different in the Haus. It's not something that's present, so much as something that's missing. And it's this: that Bittle calls everyone pet names.
Everyone but Jack.
Duffle Bag Guy | 7,643 | cablesscutie / @cablesscutie
Summary: ‘You keep dragging suspicious sacks up to and down from your apartment and I don’t know what your deal is or why I still wanna bone you’ AU
the road leads back to you | 9,160 | nightswatch / @zimmermaenner
Summary: Bitty meets Jack Zimmermann on 5 AM on a Sunday morning after someone set their grilled cheese on fire in his dorm. He doesn't really expect that they'll become friends. Or that he'll become friends with an entire hockey team.
a tale of love and how it finds you | 10,587 | nightswatch / @zimmermaenn
Summary: Bitty sees Jack Zimmermann almost every morning, but he’s never said a single word to him. Honestly, Jack Zimmermann probably doesn’t even know that he exists.
Catfishing for Dummies | 12,001 | andquitefrankly / @andquitefrankly
Summary: Eric Bittle hadn't planned on signing up for online dating. It was just something that had happened after a drunken night with his friends. He also hadn't planned on messaging the super obvious catfish masquerading as Jack Zimmermann. And he definitely hadn't planned on possibly falling in love with him.
One More | 1,596 | facewithoutheart / @facewithoutheart
Summary: “That’s… uh. That’s my phone. I should–”
“One more,” Bitty whispers into Jack’s open mouth, his hands turned to fists in Jack’s open graduation robe, asking a question Jack aches to answer. “One more, please.”
i'd never want from the cherry tree | 2,535 | milominderbinder / @milominderbindered
Summary: Bitty's been sent flowers. His friends think this means the guy who serves macaroni in the cafeteria is in love with him.
Bitty thinks this might mean he's dating Jack Zimmermann. Unfortunately, he's not sure. Jack is very hard to read, okay?
A Tolerance for Pain | 3,782 | uniqueinalltheworld
Summary: It makes sense, his mother tells him when he's nine: Jack's such a physical person, of course his indicator would be his soulmate's pain. Jack doesn't have anything to say about it, really, he just scowls and winces as his soulmate falls down again. Alicia Zimmermann, whose heterochromia reversed itself upon laying eyes on Bob for the first time, because she’s more passionate about visual media, pats him on the shoulder with a completely insufficient amount of sympathy. Jack's backside is sore for months as the falls keep happening, and he can only think that somewhere, his soulmate must be learning how to skate.
almond croissants and strawberry pie | 4,633 | thewalrus_said / @thewalrus-said
Summary: Bitty first hears the hammering on his shop door at precisely 5:17 in the morning on an already-warm Thursday in July.
He’s content to ignore it—the dough he’s kneading won’t shape itself into sandwich rolls, after all—but it proves to be remarkably persistent. Precisely six minutes of knocking later, he hears someone yell, “Come on, I know you start baking at four in the morning! Let us in!”
Cornucopia | 5,201 | Sakon76 / @sakon76
Summary: Bitty's kitchen skills aren't just preternatural. They're downright divine.
By the Light of the Moon | 7,507 | ereshai / @ereshai
Summary: Something is stalking the students of Samwell University. Nothing bad happens - until a member of the hockey team turns up dead. Freshman Eric Bittle starts using the campus Safe Walk number to make sure he gets safely back to his dorm at night and gets drawn into the Samwell Men's Hockey team's quest to find their murdered teammate's killer. He understands why they're doing it, but why are they so weird?
Got Your Pack | 9,030 | MapleleafCameo / @MapleleafCameo
Summary: In hindsight, Eric should’ve figured it out sooner. The signs are all there. When he decides to go to Samwell, he assumes the ‘one in four; maybe more’ means something significantly different. At least it's not a cult. He hopes.
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