#Best Party Room In Toronto

[hairmetal666]

Eddie stands at the bar, sipping at the whisky in his glass, eyes flickering over the crush of bodies and dark mahogany. He's at a premier party at TIFF, doesn't remember what movie it's for, is supposed to "mingle" according to his agent. And sure, he's charismatic, got a big personality and a loud mouth, but he's not good at networking; resents having to perform when he's not playing a role. Resents it more that he's an Oscar nominated actor, that his work doesn't stand for itself.

And then there's the Steve Harrington of it all. Heartthrob. America's Sweetheart. The boy next door. He's across the room, deep in conversation, but his eyes--they keep finding Eddie, scanning him with unmistakable heat.

They starred in a movie called Dying on the Pass. Played life-long best friends who became elite chefs and opened a restaurant together. The movie follows the dissolution of their friendship as the stresses of pursuing a Michelin Star drive them apart. It was a critical and commercial hit, cue awards noms, and offers pouring in, and--

Steve Harrington is his bed.

They promised, when filming wrapped. They swore it was the last time. They promised--

They basically shared a hotel room during awards season, woke up tangled together every morning.

They spent a torrid weekend in Atlanta after Steve wrapped on a Netflix action movie.

Six months after, they had a quick, furious fuck in the bathroom at a club in London.

Dangerous, stupid, but no one caught them. And here Steve is in Toronto, surrounded by press, staring at Eddie like he wants to eat him.

Eddie tries to ignore it. But every time their eyes meet, warmth pools low in his abdomen, and he wants.

They meet up eventually, pose for a couple of pictures, Eddie trying to ignore the way his skin tingles everywhere that Steve touches. Steve slings an arm around his waist, lets it linger.

After, Eddie goes out for a smoke, the patio blissfully deserted. He's half way through his cigarette when Steve steps out the sliding door, wrapping his hands in Eddie's hair, pulling him into a kiss. The cigarette drops as he grips onto the other man, a whimper slipping from his lips.

He should stop this, they're outside, anyone could see, and Steve isn't out--isn't--he's straight to the entire world, the straightest man alive. And Eddie, he's open about his preferences, identifies as queer, though lately he's been more interested in men--in one man, specifically-- and Steve isn't out, isn't ready to be and--

"Come back to my room?" Steve asks. Their mouths are still pressed together.

"Uh-huh," Eddie answers.

Steve whispers his room number before disappearing back inside. They're in the same hotel, on the same floor, like the universe wants them to keep hooking up. But Steve is being reckless.

Eddie goes to Steve that night with every intention of telling him they need to stop, to slow down, that they're going to get caught and he knows Steve isn't ready, but he doesn't. He doesn't that night and he doesn't two months later when they bump into each other in Venice, or four months after that in New York, or--or --or

It's dangerous, impulsive, too many close calls for them to keep it up and then--and then he's at a house party in the hills, an industry thing, the host is a wannabe big shot producer trying to get in good with the Hollywood elite. Steve is out of town. In Europe filming or maybe Australia for some event or--

Striding through the party, eyes locked on Eddie, and they're in a hallway, in a hallway where anyone could see them, but Steve is kissing him. They're kissing and it's rough and possessive and it stings.

Steve pushes him through double-doors, to the room at their backs, and Eddie wants to protest, to remind him they don't know if it's empty. But Steve is tugging the tie out of Eddie's hair, digging this hands into the now loose curls, and Eddie whines, lets himself be lead.

He's pushed against a table, and in the weak light from the windows, he realizes they're in the dining room. Steve grinds against him, muttering, "missed you so much, baby. God, it's been too long. Need you so bad."

Eddie moans, shifting to press more against Steve. "Missed you too, sweetheart, fuck."

They're kissing and Eddie's high on it, on Steve, can't get enough.

There's a loud burst of laughter outside the door, and reality smashes back into focus.

"Stop," he whispers to Steve.

Steve does in an instant, stepping back. Even in the darkness, Eddie sees the confusion and hurt mingling in the squint of his eyes, his light frown.

"Steve we--this is dangerous. There are people everywhere. Anyone could come in. There's a TMZ guy here, and we--need to be careful."

"Fuck," Steve breathes. "Eddie I--fuck." He presses his hand over his mouth, eyes squeezed shut. "I can't get enough of you, man. Whenever I see you I just--I don't think--I see you and I want you so bad it hurts. Once every few months isn't enough. Hookups aren't enough. And I know that's not what we agreed to, and--"

"Steve," Eddie gently cuts him off. "I'm crazy about you. It hasn't been hookups for me for--" ever, it had never been, but he shakes his head instead of saying that. "But we've been reckless, sweetheart, and I don't want to see you hurt."

"It's not fair to you, though, right? Hiding and sneaking around with me."

"You need time, Steve. You deserve to come out on your terms, when you're ready. And if that means we're not public for a while, then we're not."

"What if I'm never ready?" He whispers. It breaks Eddie's heart, but it's a fair question for a man who got famous as an angelic child star in a series of fantasy-adventure movies before playing a quarterback with a heart-of-gold on the CW for seven seasons. He's always kept up a squeaky clean image, never in trouble, name rarely in the tabloids.

"Then we'll deal with it together."

"Okay," Steve whispers. A smile spreads slow across his face. "I'd like that."

--

Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson are seen around town together often. Getting lunch, at parties, shopping. In an interview Steve says that Eddie's his best friend, they do everything together. There's speculation online, of course, but it's pretty quiet. So, they go to premiers and award shows and events together.

A year goes by and it's easy, light, fun. They're in love.

Eddie's messing around on his guitar, not with any intent just for the joy of it. He's on the loveseat in the office of their apartment--their apartment. Steve is in the kitchen, he thinks, or puttering in the garden.

They haven't talked about Steve coming out; haven't needed to.

"Hey," Steve says from the doorway. Eddie jumps.

"Hey yourself."

"It's Bi Visibility day."

"Is it now?" He's not sure where this is going

"I want to come out."

He puts the guitar down. "You sure?"

Steve nods. He doesn't seem nervous, just calm and steady.

"How do you want to do it?"

He crosses the room, climbing onto Eddie's lap, making Eddie laugh. "Works for me." Eddie gives Steve's ass a playful squeeze.

They start kissing then, Steve snapping pics on his phone randomly as they make out.

Steve won't let Eddie peak as he crafts his Insta post, not until it's done and live for his 15 million followers.

The picture he picked, it's a soft kiss, mouths open but lips only just brushing, noses pressed together in a sweet little bump. But the thing about, the thing that makes Eddie's stomach swoop, is the way they're both smiling, the way it's obvious just how in love they are.

Steve's captioned it with the words "Witness Me" and the bi flag.

He pulls his boy into another kiss, says, "Hey,"

"Hmm?" Steve doesn't pull away.

"Wanna go be visibly bisexual with me in the bedroom?"

Steve hops off his lap, strides across the room, turning to flash Eddie a devious smile. "Thought you'd never ask."

[lacesoflove]

NOW SHOWING: HURTIN’ DEEPLY

₊˚❀.ೃ࿔

Rating: angst + mild nsfw

Warning: will be taken down for a rewrite to become of a fully fledged series ‼️ mentions of negative mental health, insecurity and substance abuse. also Y/N and Hamzah don’t even talk directly to each other in this lmfao. Brief mentions of religion and Catholic school

A/N: couldn’t think of a title of this but i thought of the song Not You Too from Drake a lot when writing this so that’s the title now 😭

YOUR LIFE HAD ITS WAYS OF SPITING YOU.

You couldn’t entirely fault the universe or God (if you still believed in one anyway), even if you tried your hardest to. Whilst the traps had been set like a predetermined force of nature, you had allowed yourself to fall into them like the hapless fool you had kept proving yourself to be.

And once again, even as you fought against yourself and your fates, you found yourself in another entanglement, this time taking the form of a crowded house party in downtown Toronto with all those people and all their Pinterest-chic outfits and all the loud obnoxious 2010s top 100 hits. You were one replay of Hotel Room Service away from killing yourself, and with the depression blooming in your body, you weren’t quite sure how serious you were with that notion.

In a dull attempt to soothe the irritation, you took a final swig from the red cup nursing your vodka Red Bull. It had quickly deteriorated in taste, going from ‘I’m going to have the best evening of my life!’ to mulling over every life choice you had ever made, with one of said choices being across the room.

His body leaned over hers, and even through his thick mop of curls (the same curls you had remembered tenderly running your hands through in the morning, as the blinds filtered the sun through, casting a warm glow against his honey-browned skin), you could see the puppy dog gaze he held for her as his hands ran up and down against her slim back. She should have been you, and this wasn’t supposed to be the new normal. And suddenly, all at once, you had a void where you should have had a heart.

You placed the disappointingly empty cup on top of the sound system (you had remembered him mentioning he wanted to get one; at the time he didn’t have the funds to— I guess he did now) and decided that the new all-consuming task of the evening would be locating your friend Aisha. Truthfully speaking, you knew where she was—fucking some podcast bro, names of her former exes spilling out from her mouth in place of his—the sad part was that the dude was probably too coked out to notice. It didn’t really matter that you knew that if you walked to the guest bathroom to the right of the front door, you’d find her in a position that went against the very religious ideals that your Catholic girl’s high school had imparted on both of you; what mattered was that it would distract you, maybe even better than the vodka did.

Unfortunately, getting to Aisha meant going past him, and going past him was the new equivalent of death. You’d much rather live, so you decided to head to the kitchen.

It was dim and empty, besides one boy in the corner, his face illuminated by his phone screen. You ignored him and headed to the six-pack of drinks on the counter. You opened a can and downed it fully. It tasted like summers forever ago and peaches. You decided to go for another one.

“Woah—�� the boy from across the kitchen exclaimed. Suddenly, you realized how sad you must have looked, armed with one and a half empty cans of alcohol and a face riddled with anxiety.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to look like an alcoholic,” you said, with a nervous chuckle, setting the cans down.

“Nah, it’s chill,” he said. He cocked his head, and his eyebrows knit together—you were familiar to him in a way he wasn’t entirely sure how. You could say the same.

“What’s your name?” he asked; it was a bit pointed but not exactly mean.

“Y/N,” you responded, and you saw him still looking at you in confusion. The bells remained unrung. “My nickname is Dovie or Dove, though.”

As if exclaiming bingo, his brown eyes widened as if he could suddenly place you to someone, and you were hoping it was not him.

He snapped and pointed his fingers at you before asking the ill-fated question, “Do you know Hamzah?”

In an idyllic world where you were the heroine, free with your own tongue, you would have slyly remarked how you wished you didn’t know him—unfortunately, you were not. What you were instead was a girl permeated by suffering and immense heartbreak—so instead, you settled your response with, “Yeah, I do—well did, anyway,” followed up with a quick “do you?”

“Well yeah, I’m Martin; his friend. Me and him do YouTube together,” he replied.

Suddenly, you could place the boy’s face onto the YouTube thumbnails that would occasionally pop up on your YouTube feed, which you’d often have to ‘pre s not interested’ on. Aisha always pestered you to block the channel, but you could never bring yourself to do it.

You were unsure what to say, really; part of you wanted to pry and ask him everything about what Hamzah thought of you, said about you; instead, you settled on asking about Aisha.

“Um, so anyway, have you seen a blonde chick?” In totally seamless (at least that’s what you told yourself) fashion, you managed to get the conversation away from him.

“Unfortunately not,” Martin said with a head shake. “The only blonde here I know is my girlfriend, Mandy.”

You noticed how a small smile crept up when he said the word girlfriend. It was cute in a way that reminded you of how sick you were with your loneliness. You wondered if your loneliness radiated off of you, like a contagion.

“Ah, well, I’m sure I’ll find her,” you whispered under your breath.

Through the open archway of the kitchen, you could see him from the other end of the living room, seating on the couch, smiling and chuckling with the same girl, who was standing, from earlier. His hands inched up her legs, her smooth, buttery legs. Legs that you never had and weren’t yours. You had remembered when he done the same thing to you when you were still together. The way he tantalised you with the idea of public sex as he fiddled with the lace of your underwear, turning the small bow on the front in between his fingers as he pressed soft kisses on your inner thighs in front of a room of intoxicated people. You remembered him leading you from the main leading room and throwing you against the bed. You giggled. He smiled. You had remembered the feeling of total completeness as he entered you. You don’t think you’ve ever been fucked with such purpose and love since then. You wondered if he made love to the girl the same way. Snapping out of your trance, you supposed this was the part of the evening where you finally decided to go collect Aisha and you’d both go home together, and she’d quarrel with you about how you should’ve “gotten your man back,” and you would’ve retorted with some lie about how you’d moved on. But the universe always found a way to ruin you in a new way, and Aisha sent you a text about how she had gone home safely. You didn’t even bother to open the message in full, only reading the first few parts of it on your notification screen.

AISHA: Hey bb <3 going w a guy! Text me when you get back and how your…

When you stared up from your phone, Martin was staring at you, concerned. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, no, my friend just went home—with some douchebag, I’m sure. I should leave too.”

“Do you need someone to walk you back home or at least out of the building?” Martin asked, his voice laced with concern.

“I can manage; I’m a big girl, after all.” That elicited a nervous but gentle chuckle from both of you. You gave him a small wave of goodbye before you set to leave, but you were disrupted by his voice again.

“Hey, um—Y/N?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you responded.

“He’s sorry,” he said.

“What?” You turned around, confused.

“He’s sorry,” he repeated.

“All he ever tells me about you is that he’s sorry,” Martin explained.

You weren’t exactly sure what to do with that information, but it felt like there was a lump in your throat, and as long as you were in this—no, his—apartment, you would suffocate in your own misery. All you could do was nod before leaving the kitchen.

As you left, you passed through the crowded living room. Sometime during your being in the kitchen, the living room had become somewhat of a small-scale mosh pit. You bumped into multiple bodies on your way out; it didn’t really bother you—you just wanted out—until you bumped into him. His brown eyes locked with yours.

And in the following moments, you realised two fundamentally devastating truths at once.

You were still in love with him, and seeing his face this close might make you fall in love all over again. And secondly, he hated you with every fibre of his being. You saw this in the way his eyes crinkled with disgust, the way in which his smile faltered ever so slightly, and in the way he distanced himself. The last part you weren’t actually sure of; the girl he was with earlier seemed to have taken him away. In that case, he wasn’t protesting, and either way, he didn’t seem to want to get any closer to you.

As he disappeared as quickly as he bumped into you, you took that as your final cue to leave.

You made it to the street and hailed a taxi. It smelled rich and perfumed with the faint hint of food. Part of you thought of what you were going to eat when you got home; another part of you ruminate over the girl’s legs, how Hamzah was so enamoured with them. How thin they were. You decided to get to bed hungry—it’s not like you were that hungry, right?

You opened iMessages and shot a text to Aisha.

YOU: Text me in the morning; also, next time maybe don’t invite me to my ex’s place for a party, then leave me at said party.

You frowned. Too hostile. You added a couple heart emoticons at the end before shutting your phone and dropping it into your brown leather bag and as much as you wanted to let your head rest against the window and let the vibrations of the car lull you into a light sleep - you were disturbed by a text.

HAMAZAH (Blocked Contact): We need to talk.

₊˚❀.ೃ࿔*:･

Sincerely, Mackie

[shmaptainwrites]

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 [𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍]

PAIRINGS — James Wilson x fem!Reader

SUMMARY — James has a huge crush on his labmate, the only question is how long will it take him to ask her out? (Answer: it's longer than you think)

WARNINGS — cancer mentions, patient death from cancer, drugs, alcohol (don't be mistaken this fic is tooth-rotting fluff)

NOTE — Okay this fic has come up from my compulsory need to elaborate on anything Canadian so if you ever wanted to see James at McGill, this fic is most definitely for you! Also I guess it's indirectly mentioned that reader was raised in Quebec, but obviously doesn't have to be "Quebecois" for this to work

Pronounciation — Jian = Chyehn

James chewed on the inside of his cheek as he walked up to the Stewart Biological Sciences Building on McGill campus. For some reason, it was so much more intimidating now that he was actually a student. During the tour he had his mother’s reassuring hand on his back, his father’s words of comfort that he would most definitely be accepted when he applied. 

Now that he had made it, he had to prove he belonged, but it could have been worse. His friends at Harvard and the University of Toronto had told him so. He was getting the best of both worlds, a prestigious school and, hopefully, not as much pressure as the rest of them. 

Without loitering any longer, he made his way inside and looked around to find the right lecture hall. It couldn’t possibly be that hard, could it?

After his first semester James had realized he’d made a few mistakes. One was living in a French speaking part of town without knowing a lick of the language, but that one was the easiest to deal with. The others were more in the realm of the amount of sleep he was getting and underestimating how much content the professors could shove down their throats in 14 weeks. 

He was more than happy to return to New Jersey for the holiday break to rest and recuperate before going back to the winter wonderland hell that was Montreal, but this time he was confident he would be more prepared. 

And for the most part, he was. He got enough sleep, partied responsibly (except Fridays, he partied hard then), always submitted his work on time and maintained his good GPA, making up for his poor fall semester. What he didn’t expect, however, was a distraction. 

When you walked into the room James watched you curiously, he thought maybe he’d seen you somewhere before, but he couldn’t quite place it. Besides, you were much more interesting than watching his sample boil for another five minutes. 

You came and took a seat next to him, taking out your safety goggles and lab notebook from your bag before shoving it under the table. 

“You’re sample’s boiling over,” you said, but James didn’t register you were talking to him at first, still looking at you in a slightly dazed manner before you physically pointed to the beaker, making his eyes go wide as he frantically turned down the heat and removed it. 

“It’s a wonder you passed the lab safely quiz,” you teased and James blushed. 

“Good thing I don’t want to be a chemist.” 

“Oh, and what do you want to be then?” you asked, preparing your own sample for boiling. 

“A doctor,” he shared with a little more confidence. 

“Any specialty in mind or just a doctor,” you said, doing air quotes over the word. 

“I’ve been shadowing some of the researchers in the Life Sciences Research Complex and I think oncology might be a good fit for me.” 

“Yeah, as long as you don’t have to boil cancer cells you should be fine,” you assured him. 

“What about you?” he rolled on the balls of his feet as he continued his experiment. “Or are you all talk?” 

“Pfft, you think I’d be here if I was all talk?” you asked. “No, I want to be a medical researcher.” 

“Maybe you should do some shadowing in the LSRC then.” 

“No thanks, I think I’ll stick to my job there.” 

“Your job?” James looked at your wish surprise. “Aren’t you like 18?” 

“Almost,” you smiled. 

“How did you manage to get a job there? They barely let undergraduates in the labs, let alone be responsible for anything.” 

“It’s nothing fancy,” you assured him. “I just do cataloguing for now, but it's a good experience.” 

“Still,” he raised his brows, “you must be like a prodigy or something.” 

“Again, no,” you shook your head. “Just someone who goes after what she wants.” 

There was a comfortable pause where you both took down your distillation set ups and began working on the filtration portion of the experiment. 

“So what’s your name, anyways?” you asked, looking over at him. “Hey, look, clamp it this way,” you demonstrated and he followed your lead, seeing how much more stable the glassware was afterwards. 

“Thanks,” he smiled. “I’m James.” 

You told him your name and continued your work again in silence.

Chemistry labs quickly became the favourite part of James’ week. 

Ever since that lab, James began to see you in all his classes. On more than a few occasions, he’d had to steal notes from his friends on account of forgetting to pay attention. It became an easy thing to tease him about, so his friends began calling him heart-eyes, because who was he kidding, he had a crush. 

“Get your head out of your ass, heart-eyes, I am not giving you my notes again,” his friend, Carlo, shoved his arm and whispered harshly as he could see him getting distracted. 

“Sorry,” James shook his head and began scribbling down what he had missed, his eyes darting back and forth from the board and back to you. 

“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Pierre asked him after class. “Don’t you talk all the time in the lab?” 

“More like I stare at her and she says stuff to make it not awkward,” he cringed at his own actions. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Every time I’m with her I can’t string together a sentence, and– Jesus Christ you should have seen my face last week! Full on red, like I can’t even be subtle about it!” 

“Yikes,” Jian grimaced. 

“It’s bad, I know,” James assured. 

“And this is why we call you heart-eyes,” Carlo patted James on the back. 

“Yeah, say it a little louder, maybe she’ll hear you,” James said sarcastically. 

“Who’ll hear you?” the group of boys heard a voice behind them and all their eyes went wide as they spun around and saw you. 

“No one!” Jian was quick to answer in the least nonchalant way possible, making the rest of the group, especially James, stare daggers at him. 

“It’s not no one,” Carlo attempted to save face. “Just… this girl back in uh New Jersey that James’ got the hots for,” he gained confidence with every word of the sentence before adorning a smug smile on his face and patting James yet again on the back. 

“You’re afraid a girl in New Jersey will hear you?” you looked curiously at James but he just stared blankly at you. “So you call him heart-eyes?” you instead turned your attention to his friends and they nodded. “That’s cute, maybe I’ll call you that too.” 

“Sure,” was all a red faced James could get out before you excused yourself to head over to work. 

Pierre was trying very hard to keep a straight face while you walked away and James slapped both Carlo and Jian upside the head. 

“What the hell was that! Could you not have been more obvious, Jian? And Carlo, a girl back in New Jersey? Now she thinks I’m pining for someone else!” 

“On the plus side, maybe she’ll think all your blushing around her is a circulation issue,” Pierre shrugged. 

“You guys are the worst,” James shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets, continuing to walk along the path to one of the libraries. 

“No, we just saved your ass,” Carlo caught up with him. “However terribly, but if we didn’t say anything you would have stared at her with your mouth open like a trout.” 

“Carlo does have a point,” Jian agreed, “At least we bought you a little time to get your act together.” 

James sighed, “You guys have too much faith in me.”

“You said that when I started to teach you French and you’ve come a long way with that,” Pierre said. 

“Yeah, sure I went from saying nothing to being able to say Je m'appelle James et je ne parle pas français.” 

“And what a handy sentence that is when you don’t speak French!” Pierre grinned and James couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head. 

“Okay, I’ll try and get my act together and ask her out…and learn more French.” 

“That’s the spirit!” Carlo patted his back. “Now let’s go get a drink and relax.” 

“Maybe after we study for our physics midterm?” James nudged his friend and Jian nodded his head in agreement. 

“Fine, I guess if we have to,” Carlo sighed. 

“Not everyone is naturally good at kinematics, Carlo. Take pity on us mere mortals who have to study,” Pierre responded, eliciting a chuckle from his buddies. 

James was quiet as he thought to himself. If he could get a B on this physics test, maybe there was hope for him getting his act together after all.

—

Summer break rolled around faster than James had expected. While Jian went back to Richmond, Pierre over to Quebec City, and Carlo to Chicago, James was left alone in Montreal, working to help pay his tuition for the next year. Being an international student was no joke. 

He would have gone back to New Jersey, but the positions he applied to in Montreal paid more so it wasn’t a hard decision to make. 

His parents would come visit him for some time in July, but for the most part he was alone. 

On late nights, he’d make his way to the McDonald’s in the neighbourhood, not knowing enough French to go anywhere else nearby. At least there, most of them spoke enough English to take his order, and if not it was really easy to point to the menu. 

“It’s already done?” he asked. 

“Give us some credit, hein. We knew you were coming, we had it ready.” 

James chuckled and handed him the money for the order, exchanging it for the bag which he took to a table and sat down. 

As he was pulling out his fries from his bag he heard the chime of the door and looked up curiously to see who was coming at this time of night. 

He stopped what he was doing when he recognized you, watching as you dug through your purse and spoke to the cashier in French. You both laughed about something James couldn’t quite catch and a little while later, after you had paid they handed you a bag and an ice cream cone when James heard you say something about ‘deux cuillères’ taking the utensils they gave you and turing straight towards James’ table, pulling out the chair across from him and sitting down. 

“I thought you lived in New Jersey,” you said. 

James was still stunned that you had noticed him and couldn’t find the words to speak. 

“Hey, heart-eyes?” you waved your hand in front of his face. “You okay?” 

“Y-Yeah,” he nodded, distracting himself by pulling out his burger from his bag. 

“So why aren’t you in Jersey?” you asked. 

“Work. I got a job here, it paid better.” 

“Hmm,” you hummed thoughtfully while eating some of your fries. “And all your friends?” 

“Back with their families, unfortunately for me,” he nodded. “W-What about you?” 

“Oh, I live here,” you shrugged. “In this neighbourhood actually.” 

“You live here?” he asked. 

“That’s what I said,” you nodded. 

“And so that’s how you know French?” 

“Every kid in Quebec learns French, it’s kind of a non-negotiable,” you shared. “I gather that’s why you’re eating here.” 

“Yeah, Pierre didn’t manage to teach me enough before he left,” he sighed and started to eat his meal. 

“I could teach you if you want. I’m taking a little break this summer so I have some spare time,” you offered. 

“Oh, I don’t want to-,” 

“James, you’re gonna have a shitty summer if you don’t say yes.”

He couldn’t argue with that, it would be nice to communicate more with the people who lived around him. 

“Okay, sure, but I’m warning you, I’m a terrible student.” 

“I used to tutor one of my siblings, trust me it can’t be worse than that,” you laughed. 

You chatted a little more, finishing your meals but not before you handed James a spoon. 

“So this is cuillère then?” he asked. “I-I overheard you talking to Jean.” 

“Yeah, your pronunciation isn’t bad either,” you nodded. “Here.” 

You pushed the ice cream cone between you and began to eat it with the spoon. James had a bit of a sweet tooth and wouldn’t be one to refuse dessert so he began to share the ice cream cone with you. 

“So, are you missing your girl in New Jersey?” you asked and James cursed internally, trying to come up with a lie to tell you. 

“Um, no not really,” he shook his head. “I don’t think we would have worked out anyways.” 

“Oh, so are your friends still calling you heart-eyes?” 

He nodded his head, thinking it was better not to say anything in case he gave himself away. 

“It’s good that you recognized you wouldn’t work out before you asked her out,” you said, “Couple guys wanted to go on dates with me this year, but just didn’t seem like the right fit. Plus, I don’t really think I’m looking for anything like that right now.”

James nodded his head again, silently eating the ice cream. 

“Ever been in love, James?” you asked. 

“That’s a really loaded question to ask someone you cornered in a McDonald’s at 11 P.M.” 

You ignored his response and continued, 

“I haven’t, it seems like such a big thing, how would you even know if it was love?” 

James looked up at the ceiling, silently asking God to not let him say something stupid, 

“I think most of the time it comes on gradually, maybe you won’t even know it at first.” 

“So you have been in love,” you confirmed and he shrugged his shoulders. 

“I…I don’t know. Maybe I have.” 

“That’s not a very straightforward answer.” 

“Then maybe I haven’t. I feel like if it was love, you’d figure it out, eventually.” 

You pursed your lips and nodded your head. 

“I hope I get to fall in love,” you smiled softly to yourself. “Seems nice.” 

“Yeah,” James agreed. “It does.” 

—

A few years later… 

“So how did it go?” Jian asked, as they sat around James’ small living room. 

“It…could have been better,” James sucked in some air through his teeth, recalling a recent memory from earlier that afternoon. 

“What the fuck James! You scared the shit out of me! I could have broken the hemocytometer, do you know how much that shit costs?!” 

“Sorry!” James quickly apologized and dropped his books down on the nearest surface to help you clean up, making you look up again at him with disdain. 

“In the BSC? Really? Now we have to resterilize and all the specimens I have in there are as good as compromised.” 

“Shit,” James muttered under his breath, he was usually so much better in the lab, but the second he was with you he became a bumbling mess. “I-I’ll take care of the BSC, I’m so sorry.” 

You sighed and removed your gloves, pinching the bridge of your nose. 

“It’s not just boiling water we’re dealing with anymore, James,” you said a little more calmly than before. “You’ve gotta be more careful, okay? I’m not losing my job over this.” 

James nodded his head and went to grab the things to sterilize the biological safety cabinet and grab the new specimen from the fridge. So much for trying to get a job at LSRC to impress you. 

“I was not built to be a researcher,” James shook his head. 

“I mean, it’s not that big of a screw up, you fixed it eventually, didn’t you?” Pierre asked.

“Yeah, but not until after a thorough amount of embarrassment.” 

“I thought girls found clumsy guys endearing,” Carlo commented. 

“Not when the girl is determined to become the leading medical researcher on the continent,” James sighed. “Maybe taking this job was a bad idea. From what I can see she hasn’t even changed her opinion on dating, she hasn’t been with anyone these past three years.” 

“Do you hear that?” Carlo removed his feet from the coffee table and placed them on the ground. “You’ve been in love with her for three years and haven’t done anything about it.” 

“Who said I was in love with her? And sure, maybe I haven’t made a move, but I learnt French!” James tried to defend himself, pointing to Pierre. 

“That’s not as good of a comeback as you think it is,” Pierre shook his head. 

“I know,” James hung his head low and sat on the couch between Pierre and Jian. “We’re gonna graduate in a year and she’s not gonna know I’m in love with her.” 

“So you are in love with her?” Jian looked over at his friend sympathetically. 

James leaned back and used the heels of his palms to cover his eyes. 

“He’s gonna have a meltdown, don’t ask him that,” Pierre shook his head. 

“God, I do love her!” he exclaimed like he was just finding it out for the first time himself. 

“What did I say,” Pierre sighed. 

“Can I make it stop?” James looked over at his friends who all shrugged. “I am so screwed.” 

“This time, I think we agree with you,” Carlo took a sip of his drink. “Good luck, man.” 

James squeezed his eyes shut, he would definitely need it. 

—

The year passed to graduation and James was still sitting on his feelings. It was much too late now to say anything. You’d already been accepted to a graduate program through your work with the LSRC and James had passed his MCAT with flying colours and was on his way to medical school at Columbia. 

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was going to miss Montreal, the city had grown on him during his time there and a part of him wished he could stay. 

His friends were also ready for the next stages in their studies, all going to different places across the continent to get their other degrees, with, of course, the promise to stay in touch. 

James didn’t know what the next little bit of his life had in store for him, but he hoped regardless of where he ended up, maybe he’d be able to make up for his missed opportunities. 

The years of medical school, once started, passed faster than James expected them to, and by the end of it, much to his own surprise, he’d also gotten married. 

You were almost all but forgotten in the back of his mind, but time continued to play its games. 

Medical school turned into a specialization in oncology, and a divorce. Then residency and a marriage. Then a second divorce. Then another marriage and more recently a position at a hospital in his hometown, on the board and a well respected oncologist and a few new friends…and a third divorce. 

“House, I’m not asking you to let them all sleep in your apartment, it’s just a dinner for one night, we’ll be out and about for the rest of the time that they’re here,” James sighed. 

“Can’t you just cancel?” House asked. “Divorce seems like a pretty good reason to get out of a reunion.” 

“See, the thing is, I’d rather not be miserable and see my friends instead, and they bought their tickets months ago. Please, House, I’ll do the dishes for a week.” 

“A month,” House said. 

“Two weeks,” James negotiated and House nodded, so they shook on it. 

“Good, now that I’ve done you a favour, you can do me one,” House smiled, but the kind of smile that was conniving, like he had something up his sleeve all along. 

“I paid you in chores for my favour, who says I owe you anything?” 

“Unless you want me to call your friends and cancel for you, you’ll do it,” House continued to walk the hospital’s hallways hobbling with his cane. 

“What is it?” James sighed, catching up with him. 

“We have a patient and he doesn’t speak very good English, but he does speak French. You went to McGill didn’t you? Must have picked up some of the love language.” 

“Unfortunately for me in this case, I did,” he nodded. 

“Perfect, come with me now,” House motioned with his head to the patient’s room and James trailed behind him. 

When he entered the room, House motioned for him to begin speaking. James hadn’t spoken a lot of French since his undergrad so he was definitely rusty, but he supposed it was better than nothing and began to explain that he would be helping with the translation.

“Erm, Bonjour, je suis Dr. Wilson, je vais aider Dr. House avec la traduction.” 

The man looked at James strangely before saying. 

“You’re an anglophone, but you speak French like you’re Quebecois.” 

“I um did my undergraduate in Montreal, I learnt how to speak there,” James responded back in French. 

“Hmm.” 

James could tell this wasn’t going to be fun. Some of the French held quite a bit of hate towards Quebec, who knew why, but his accent definitely wasn’t going to help him in this situation. 

House got James to ask some routine medical history questions and a few things about his symptoms all the while James had to filter out all the insults that were coming his way with regards to his “poor use of language” and “unintelligible accent”. 

When he could finally leave the room, James let out a string of French curses under his breath, still thinking in the other language. 

“House, why can’t you just get a proper translator?” he asked. “I’m terrible at this.” 

“Cuddy said something about making a big purchase recently and being currently unable to do so, especially since you put that you speak French in your resume. Bet you’re regretting that one now.” 

“Yeah,” James nodded his head. “Big time.” 

They began to walk towards the elevator to go to the cafeteria for lunch, when James decided to inquire more about Cuddy’s big purchase. 

“Oh, she said something about money this, medical research that,” House shook his head, “You know I stopped listening the second she wouldn’t give me what I wanted.” 

“She hired a medical researcher,” James said aloud, chewing on the words, “I wonder who she-,” 

His train of thought was cut off when he saw, near the elevator, a face he hadn’t seen since graduation day at McGill. 

Quickly, unable to think of anything else to do, he ran into the administrative area and hid crouched down behind a photocopier. 

House watched his friend curiously before walking over towards him and leaning against the copier asked him if he’d gone insane. 

“No, I just, um, remembered I needed to copy some patient files,” he lied. 

“You don’t have any with you,” House said. 

“I faxed them from my office,” he lied again. 

“I think I need to go get Foreman, clearly you’re having a neurological breakdown,” House said. 

“Can you just stop making it obvious I’m here?!” James exclaimed in a whisper. 

Unfortunately for him, as you were walking past, his harsh whisper made his location obvious, causing you to look down and see his familiar face. 

“Oh my God, heart-eyes, is that you?” you asked with a smile and James pressed his lips in a thin line and nodded. “What are you doing down there?” 

James became speechless and suddenly he was an eighteen-year-old back in his chemistry lab. 

“He’s checking to see if we need more toner,” House said, lying for his friend, but James knew that was all he would get out of him. “Well, that’s my cue to leave, you guys have fun.” 

You reached down and offered James a hand, helping him back into a standing position. 

“I haven’t seen you in so long,” you commented. “Like since we were-,” 

“22,” James filled in and you nodded. 

“Yeah,” you bit your lip before asking him how he had been. 

“Oh, you know,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I-I’m assuming you’re the medical researcher Cuddy hired?” 

“That would be correct,” you smiled. 

“Why did you choose to work here? I thought you were some big hotshot in Canada?” 

“I am a big hotshot, which is why I wanted to come to a teaching hospital. I thought maybe it would give more opportunities to teach other people what I know. It’s a win-win. I get to do what I want to and the hospital gets grant money from my research,” you explained. “It looks like you got where you wanted to be too, Mr. Oncologist.” 

“Actually it’s Dr. Oncologist,” he joked and you laughed, making his cheeks go red after hearing the sound.

“I missed having you around, James. We should catch up sometime,” you suggested. 

“Yeah sure,” he nodded. “I-I’d love that.” 

You excused yourself, needing to go introduce yourself to a class of medical students, waving goodbye to James, leaving him stuck in his tracks for a few moments before he could gather his senses again and head downstairs for lunch. 

—

“We could have rescheduled if this was too much, man,” Carlo watched James as he brought a large roast to the table for them to eat. 

“See? What did I tell you,” House rolled his eyes and James gave him a disapproving stare. 

“No, I wanted you guys to come, we’ve been planning this for months. I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of it,” he assured his friends. “Plus, we know how hard it is to nail down Pierre, I swear you are always travelling. Every time we talk you’re in a different country.” 

“That’s the life of a parasitologist,” he shrugged and helped James by beginning to cut the roast. 

“And Jian, how’s the wife and kids?” 

“They’re good,” Jian smiled. “Mei started first grade in September. Becky and I are both up for promotions at the hospital, so I can’t really complain. Although I think Carlo can.” 

“Seriously it’s not that big of a deal,” Carlo groaned, “Sure yeah, pharmaceuticals are more flashy than biophysics, but that doesn’t mean that my research wasn’t better.” 

“Well if it was better why did William get the award?” James asked and Carlo just flipped him the bird. 

“Didn’t we go to school with him?” Pierre asked. 

“We did?” James raised a brow. 

“Yeah, for a year, from Toronto, huge stoner. Hated being there and did literally no work, but still managed to get honours,” Jian explained. 

“Sounds like my kinda guy,” House commented and James rolled his eyes. 

Just as they continued to dish out dinner, House’s pager went off and he sighed, excusing himself from the table while practically threatening James to leave him some food. 

When House left, James’ friends saw their opening and began their personal line of questioning. 

“Hey, James, are you really okay?” Jian asked. 

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” James asked in return. 

“You’re getting a divorce,” Pierre said. “Seems like a pretty good reason to not be okay.” 

James shook his head, 

“Yeah sure, it’s a shitty situation,” he admitted. “Did I imagine myself at this point in my life with three failed marriages? No, definitely not. Can I do anything to change it? Also no, and right now I really wouldn’t want to change it.” 

“Can we ask what happened?” Carlo queried. 

“She cheated on me, then left me,” James said simply. 

“Forgive me,” Pierre said. “But you seemed a lot more upset when we talked over the phone last week. What changed?” 

James looked down at his plate and cut into his roast, thinking about what Pierre had said. It was true, even earlier today he was sulking about, that was until he ran into you. 

“I swear,” James started, “if you guys make a big deal about this I will murder you all,” he used his knife to point at all of them and they nodded, swearing their silence. “I’ve got heart-eyes again.” 

“You met someone new?” Jian asked and Carlo shook his head. 

“No, he re-met someone old. Tell me, did your hospital recently hire a medical researcher?” 

James nodded his head and the table was about to erupt into a loud chorus of comments when James gave them a look and they all restrained themselves. 

“James, I’m being dead serious when I say this, but you should have married her,” Pierre insisted. “I never saw you look at anyone else the way you looked at her.” 

“Probably explains the three divorces then, doesn’t it? I was still in love with her the whole time,” James sighed. “It’s going to come up eventually, seems like a pretty big indicator that I’m not good at relationships.” 

“Who knows, maybe she won’t care,” Jian offered. 

“What was it like when you saw her again?” Carlo asked, looking for any opportunity to tease his friend. 

“How do you think it was? I could barely talk, I was a nervous wreck, and blushing like crazy,” he shook his head at the thought of it. “I could literally feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I feel like a middle school girl every time I’m near her.”

“Who knows, maybe she still thinks you have circulation issues,” Jian shrugged and the table laughed. 

“What I would give to stay here and watch this play out,” Carlo sighed and leaned back in his seat. 

“Knowing James, you’d have to be here for ten years before he made a move on her,” Pierre raised a brow and James threw a piece of potato at him. 

“If you ever do get the guts to ask her out, call us. We’ve made bets on this,” Carlo added. 

“Real comforting, guys,” James ate a bite of the roast. “I thought this was supposed to be my pity party.” 

“Not anymore,” Jian shook his head. “You’ve got heart-eyes.” 

This time around, James thought maybe he didn’t mind the nickname as much as he used to. 

—

“I would think they’d get you your own office at this point,” James commented as he entered his office, seeing you sitting at his desk, eating a pre-packed lunch. 

“Beats me,” you shrugged and continued to eat. 

“So you’ve decided that invading my office is your next best bet?” 

“Oh hush,” you waved him off with your fork. 

“Well, excuse me for wanting to come to a safe place after being verbally assaulted by House’s patient,” he sat on the opposite side of the desk and leaned back in the chair. 

“Verbally assaulted?” you asked. “By a patient who isn’t even your own?” 

“He doesn’t like the way I speak French,” James rolled his eyes. “I’m translating while they’re treating him since the department used all its money hiring you.” 

“What can I say, hotshots cost a lot of money.” 

“You know, you could do the translation, probably much better than I can,” he noted. 

“I could, but you probably need the practice more than I do, chèri,” you scrunched your nose in a cute mocking way and James could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks yet again. “You still keeping up with that posse of yours?” you asked, changing the subject. 

“Yeah, they all flew in to visit a few days ago, we’re gonna go out tonight,” he said. “Do you…maybe want to join us?” he suggested. 

“I don’t have plans, as long as they’re okay with it I’d love to come,” you smiled. 

“Oh trust me, they will definitely be okay with it.” 

—

Later that night, James was drinking deeply from his glass while he watched his friends stare blankly ahead at you. If he looked anything like they did all those times his words were caught in his throat, then he hoped to spontaneously combust right then and there. 

“Heart-eyes, I thought you said they were okay with me coming?” you leaned over and whispered to him. 

James put down his glass and nodded his head. 

“They are okay with it, right?” 

Snapping out of their daze, the three men nodded their heads and finally began professing assurances that everything was fine. 

“It’s just… you said James invited you?” Jian asked with furrowed bows. 

“Yeah,” you nodded. “He mentioned you guys were in town and getting together tonight and asked me if I wanted to join.” 

James bit down on his tongue trying not to say anything, but also gave his friends a look to shut up before they gave anything away. He knew what was running through their minds, they were wondering how the hell he’d gotten the guts to ask you to come, but there was one fundamental difference between tonight and any other time he could have possibly asked you. This wasn’t a date, therefore, there was no pressure. 

“Maybe you could tell them what you’ve been up to since they last saw you?” James suggested. 

“Oh, um, well, I got my master’s degree and doctorate at McGill, both for research in cancer biology-,” 

“Cancer biology?” Pierre interrupted. “I don’t remember you mentioning you were interested in that.” 

“I-I wasn’t initially,” you admitted. “Just after spending more time in the LSRC and a few other irrelevant things I decided it was the best fit for me to focus on.” 

“You and heart-eyes make a pretty good pair then,” Carlo raised his eyebrows suggestively and took a sip of his drink. 

“I guess we do,” you chuckled. “As long as he leaves the research to me. We all know what he’s like in the lab.” 

“I resent that,” James protested only before saying, “but I do deserve it.” 

“It’s a miracle he hasn’t had a medical malpractice suit,” Pierre added. 

You asked the boys about where their various careers had taken them and how they were each doing. The conversation stayed pretty normal until the topic changed to relationships, starting with Jian’s wife and family back in Vancouver and Pierre’s husband who was currently in Australia doing research on some massive insect. 

“What about you Carlo?” you asked. “Anyone special in your life?” 

“Nah,” he waved his hand. 

“What about the mom of the kid who pet sits for you?” Jian asked. 

“That kid charges me per animal, per size. If I were to date his mom he’d probably charge me for dating her too, and I don’t think I can afford his price,” he shook his head and the table laughed. 

“James, you’ve been quiet,” you said. “Nothing to share?” 

James nervously took a sip of his drink and looked over at his friends for help. 

“James hasn’t had the best luck in love,” Pierre settled on. 

“Oh, haven’t found anybody, that’s not a big deal,” you assured him. “I haven’t either.” 

“Well,” Carlo said in a high-pitched voice. “It’s not exactly that he hasn’t found anybody.” 

“So there’s someone-?” 

“I’m divorced,” James blurted. “Three times. Or soon to be three anyway.” 

“Oh,” you paused and tried to think of the right thing to say, but for the moment settled on nothing while Pierre changed the subject. 

After the visit was over, James offered to walk you to your car and you accepted. The walk started off in silence, but you decided to break it. 

“You know, I hope you find the right person eventually,” you said. “It’s unfortunate things didn’t work out three times.” 

“Yeah,” James nodded in agreement. “I-um, do you ever think about that conversation we had, in the McDonald’s by my apartment?” 

“Sometimes I do,” you admitted. 

“Looking back on that, I wonder if we ever really loved each other. If we did this probably wouldn’t have happened. We would have fixed things, worked on ourselves instead of just…giving up.” 

“So I guess you still haven’t fallen in love yet?” you asked, but he stayed silent. “Whoever it is, I’m sure things will find a way to work out for you.”

“The moment may have passed on that,” he said with his hands shoved in his pockets and looking down at the ground. 

“You never know, James. Sometimes life has a funny way of surprising you.” 

—

James watched as his colleagues and a few of the students from the university left the lecture hall while he continued to sit in his seat, watching you walk up towards him. 

“Don’t you have patients or something?” you asked. “You’re at all of my lectures.” 

“Doesn’t it seem appropriate for an oncologist to attend a cancer biology lecture?” he asked as you sat down next to him. 

“I suppose so,” you sighed. “Doesn’t explain why you weren’t taking notes though.” 

James looked down at his empty hands and cursed a little internally. 

“It’s okay,” you assured him. “I don’t mind the staring, it reminds me of school.” 

“You noticed?” he asked. 

“You weren’t very subtle,” you chuckled. 

“Yeah, not one of my strong suits,” he blushed, embarrassed. 

“Do you wanna go grab lunch before your break is over?” you asked and James nodded, standing up and offering you a hand to get out of your seat. 

You went to the cafeteria, running into his friend House who managed to get his food paid for by James, yet again, before leaving to go back up to his office and work on another differential diagnosis with his employees. 

“Did all the guys get back home safe after their trip?” you asked, digging into your food. 

“Carlo and Jian are back home, Pierre went to go be with Ollie in Australia.”

“It must be hard not living near them.” 

James sighed and nodded his head. “It’s a balance. When they’re being annoying, it’s great that they don’t live here and when they’re not, it sucks.” 

“Spoken like a true friend,” you chuckled. 

“What about you? Do you still keep in touch with people from school? During any of your degrees?” 

“Not really,” you shook your head. “After my undergrad I became so laser focused on my school I didn’t pay attention to relationships that much outside of my family. Starting to regret it a bit now.” 

“Kind of hard to have a good conversation with cancer cells,” James said sarcastically and you shook your head. “Do you like it in New Jersey so far?” 

“Not as much as back home,” you admitted, “but it is nice to have a friend here.”

“Yeah, Jersey is…an acquired taste,” he settled on, making you laugh, but your laughter was cut off by the sound of his pager, and he looked down to see what the message was before quickly standing up. “Sorry, I have to-,” 

“Don’t worry,” you assured him. “I’ll pack up your food and bring it to your office.” 

“Thanks,” he nodded and you waved goodbye as he ran off out of the cafeteria and to the oncology floor to go help one of his patients. 

—

James didn’t find himself walking around the campus often, but when he did it was usually because he had to clear his head. With everything that was going on in his life, in addition to the circumstances of this case, he was taking it harder than normal. 

He had left his coat in his office as the hot New Jersey sun was already beating down, his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes following his feet as he took his steps forward. 

He didn’t notice you sitting on a bench as he was passing by. Curious as to his state, you stood up and went to meet up with him. 

“Hey James, are you okay?” 

Your voice pulled him out of his thoughts almost instantly. He stopped to look up at you, seeing the concern reflecting in your eyes. 

He took his hands out of his pockets and motioned for you to walk with him. 

“I lost a patient today,” he explained. “He was 11.” 

“Oh, James, I’m so sorry,” you said softly. 

“In med school you learn pretty quickly if you don’t find a way to deal with what you face every day the result is never good,” he said and you noticed him chewing on the inside of his cheek, “but it was just too sunny outside. How could it be sunny on a day like this?” 

You didn’t say anything initially, only intertwining your hand with his and giving it a light squeeze which he returned. 

“You know, I think it’s probably okay, every once in a while, to let yourself mourn your patients. Just like everyone else. You have a uniquely difficult job, James, and no one would hold it against you if you need a minute to adjust.” 

James stopped walking and you followed his lead, only to have him let go of your hand and pull you into a tight hug. You easily wrapped your arms around his neck while his arms were around your waist. 

“You’re a good doctor, James,” you mumbled. “I know, even if you don’t quite believe it right now, you did everything you could to help that young boy and make him more comfortable.” 

You could feel him nod his head, clearly not trusting himself to say anything at the moment. 

Neither of you wanted to let go, but you knew that you both had work to get back to. James had other patients he was responsible for and you had some work to do in one of the hospital labs. 

So silently, hand in hand, you accompanied each other back to the hospital, grateful for each other’s company. 

—

“I swear, if I stay there any longer I’m going to go mad,” James whispered to you under his breath as you walked along the halls of the hospital with him to help him run some tests for a few patients. 

“What was it this time?” you asked, huddling in closer, waiting for him to spill the beans on why living with his best friend was becoming unbearable. 

“He keeps pranking me,” he began to explain and you could see how frustrated he was just by his hand movements. “Last night he thought of the genius idea to put my hand in warm water while I was sleeping and-,” James stopped himself, realizing he’d divulged too much, just as your eyes went wide. 

“Oh my God you didn’t wet the bed did you?” you asked in a chuckle and James quickly covered your mouth saying, 

“Shh! The whole hospital doesn’t need to hear you!” 

You couldn’t hold in your laugh, muffled by James’ hand over your mouth and his cheeks were a bright cherry red. 

Eventually you pulled his hand away and said, 

“You definitely need to get out of there. That’s criminal.” 

“Exactly what I’m saying,” James agreed. 

“Hey, why don’t you come over to my place tonight?” you suggested. “We can watch a movie or something together.” 

“That sounds like exactly what I need right now,” he nodded his head. “What time?” 

“Come over at eight, it’ll give me some time to get snacks and get ready.” 

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” he held out his hand and you took it shaking it firmly. 

Later that evening while James was getting ready, House watched him curiously. 

“I still don’t believe that you blowdry your hair,” he said loudly over the sound of the appliance. 

“Believe it or not, I do,” James responded. 

“It just seems so pointless, your hair is messy anyways,” he crossed his arms and James gave him a look. 

“My hair looks fine, yours on the other hand could use a trim and about a billion other things,” James retorted.

“So, is this a date?” House asked, changing the topic. 

“No, it’s not a date,” James shook his head. “It’s an opportunity for me to get away from your insanity.” 

“Are you sure it’s not a date?” he asked. 

“What makes you think it's a date?” he finally gave in and turned around to face his friend, turning off the blow dryer. 

“Well if you asked her if you could come over, probably not a date, but if she offered…” he shrugged his shoulders. 

James shook his head, he didn’t want to allow himself to believe it was true, because if it was, he’d probably overthink things and make a fool of himself. 

“It’s not a date,” he reiterated and House stopped pressing, seeing as his friend would not be reasoned with. 

James finished fixing his hair and grabbed his keys and a coat before stepping out of the door. 

It didn’t take him long to drive to your house and when he knocked at the door he heard shuffling inside before the lock clicked and you opened it. 

“Hey! You got the dress code memo,” you joked, pointing to his McGill sweater and then back at yours. 

“I thought you might like a blast from the past,” he smiled and you invited him inside. 

As he entered he noticed the array of pillows on the couch, blankets draped over arm chairs, and books piled on every surface possible. To top it off, the house was currently only lit by lamps allowing a warm orange hue to fall over the space. It made James’ shoulders relax and he could even feel his nervous heart rate slow. 

“Do you like it?” you asked. “I am by no means an interior decorator, but I tried to make it feel cozy so it’s nice to come back to after long days at work.” 

“I do like it,” James nodded. “A lot. It feels like a home.” 

“Perfect, that’s exactly what I was going for,” you smiled. “You’re the first guest I’ve had here, you know?” 

“Really? No fancy dinner parties with the hospital board?” 

“No, not yet,” you chuckled. “Unfortunately, this guy in the oncology department keeps taking up all my time.”

You grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the couch. 

“But don’t worry, I don’t mind.” 

After he took off his coat, you both sat down next to each other, James extending his hand along the back of the couch and you naturally sat right up next to him, leaning forward to grab the remote and turn on the movie. 

“What did you pick?” James asked. 

“Just some random horror movie,” you said. “I heard it’s really cheesy.” 

“We’ll see about that,” James raised his brows and grabbed the popcorn from the table, putting it in between you both. 

You pressed play once you were both settled and tossed the remote to the side of the couch, curling your legs up and waiting in anticipation for the movie to begin.

It didn’t take long for the horror plot to begin, jumping right into the satanic murders and supernatural deaths. Just as you had predicted, it was cheesy, but that didn’t stop you from being startled whenever something popped up unexpectedly on the screen. 

Both of you were lulled into a false sense of security during what seemed like a quiet part of the movie, then, all of a sudden, the killer jumped into the frame with a loud change in the soundtrack, causing you to shriek and move towards James, also feeling him jump slightly from being startled. 

You both looked up at each other and laughed at the ridiculousness of your collective fright. 

“You’re supposed to be the calm one,” you elbowed him. 

“I know it just-Jesus!” James found himself inadvertently closing his eyes and wrapping his arm around you as if it would give him some protection from what was on the screen. 

You laughed again and leaned closer into his side, patting his leg to assure him it was safe to open his eyes again. 

“You must enjoy torturing me, that’s the only explanation for this,” James looked over at you and you shook your head. 

“Come on, heart-eyes, you think that lowly of me?” 

James couldn’t stop the smile that creeped past his lips, “No, of course not.” 

“Good, that means I still have the upper hand,” you moved your head to look back at the TV, but not before James tickled you in retaliation for your words. 

It took a moment, but you eventually surrendered and moved your focus back to the movie, still feeling a little warm from your laughter. 

You grabbed some of the other candies and snacks from the table, holding a gummy bear up for James to try and he did without so much as a second thought. 

“Still have a sweet tooth I see,” you offered him a different candy which he ate again and nodded. 

“You don’t want to know how many cavities I’ve had.” 

“Here,” you handed him a wrapped treat. “This one’s special from home.” 

“Maple candies,” he smiled. “They don’t make ‘em like they do in Montreal.” 

“They were your favourite, right?” you asked. 

James looked over at you again curiously, “You remembered that?” 

“Of course I did,” you shrugged. “Oh wait, look,” you pointed to the TV before grimacing and covering your eyes, but still peeking through your fingers. “Ew!” 

James just smiled at you, finding it harder and harder to resist the urge to kiss you, the thought bringing a warm sensation to his stomach. 

He settled instead on doing what he’d been doing forever: staring at you with heart-eyes. 

—

James tried to fight a yawn as he grabbed one of the many books on the shelves in his office, taking it to his couch and sitting down next to you. 

“You don’t have to do this, James,” you told him. “You probably have to be back tomorrow morning, you should go home and rest.” 

“No, no, it’s fine,” he insisted. “You look in here for that article I was telling you about and I’ll start proofreading.” 

There were many papers and files strewn around the couch, you couldn’t remember when you first came in, but James never seemed to mind when you worked in his office instead of your own. 

“Are you sure?” you asked. “I feel like I brought a tornado in here.” 

James looked up from your paper and nodded his head. 

“Now hush and let me read.” 

“Sorry, sorry,” you chuckled, opening the medical journal he had handed you, flipping through the contents until you found the article title he had mentioned. 

James had a pen in his hand, scribbling down annotations on the side, correcting a few typos and grammatical errors. 

For the most part, he was able to follow along, but at one point, the words became so incoherent he tapped you to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. 

“What does this say here?” he asked. “I-I don’t know if my eyes just stopped working, but what does stirring in sugar and eggs have to do with this trial treatment?” 

“Oh my God,” you grabbed the paper and looked at it closer. “I must have accidentally copied some of my mom’s cookie recipe on here before changing documents. What in the world is going on with me?” 

Maybe it was the exhaustion settling in or some other things James couldn’t quite pinpoint, but he felt himself letting out a chuckle that grew a little longer, and longer until it was a full blown laugh. 

It was an honest mistake, and arguably not that funny, but you’d be hard pressed to convince him of that in that moment, and instead, seeing the silliness of the situation, you joined in.

Eventually, when the laughter died down, you and James both leaning far back against the couch, he turned to you and apologized. 

“I’m sorry, I should probably read this when I have a bit more sanity.” 

“Don’t be,” you patted his leg. “I can always use a good laugh.” 

With your heads still turned to face each other, you suggested to pause the work and resume it another time, to which James agreed. 

You both continued to sit there in silence, looking over at each other and James caught a glimmer of something in your eyes and had to blink a few times to make sure it was still there. It was a soft look, a little dazed, like you were happily daydreaming about something far off. It took him a moment to realize it, since he had been the one giving that look, he’d never really had a chance to see it for himself. 

You had heart-eyes. 

And more importantly, you had them while you were looking at James. 

With a sudden boost of courage, fuelled by lowered inhibitions, he started by asking, 

“Have I ever told you why my friends call me heart-eyes?” 

You tilted your head a little, following his lead and sitting up straight. 

“Wasn’t it because of that girl you had a crush on that was from here?” 

James opened his mouth and then shut it, shaking his head. 

“There was never a girl from Jersey,” he admitted. 

“Why would they say it was a girl from Jersey if there was…” as you said the sentence you slowed down, the realization dawning on you. 

“All the staring makes a bit more sense now?” he asked. 

You blinked a few times, “I just thought you were really awkward,” you said. 

“I was, but if the staring didn’t give it away the blushing really should have done it,” he chuckled. 

“I thought you had a circulation issue!” you exclaimed and James burst out laughing, of course you did. “God, James, why didn’t you say anything?” 

James shook his head, “I could barely string out a coherent sentence when I was around you. Makes it a little hard to say anything.” 

“Makes me wish I had said something,” you said, feeling your own cheeks heat up at the admission. 

“Y-You would’ve said something?” 

Now it was James’ turn to be surprised. 

“I think most of the time it comes on gradually, maybe you won’t even know it at first. That’s what you said to me, but that eventually, if it was love, I’d know it.” 

You reached out and held James’ hands in your own. 

“I should have said something. I could have said something. We could have had so much more-,” 

“James,” you whispered, interrupting him and he stopped. “Shut up and kiss me.” 

James wasn’t going to waste another second, removing his hands from your to instead gently hold your face, bringing you closer to him so he could finally do what he had been dreaming about since he was 18 years old. 

The dim light of his desk lamp, the papers crumpled beneath and around you, the way you moved closer and slid into his lap, his hands now on your hips and your fingers snaking through his hair, it all melted into one and if you let yourselves imagine, just a bit, the lamp became a light in the library; the papers became unfinished homework assignments and lab write-ups, and you hadn’t missed a second of the time you could have spent together. 

Your kisses soon turned slow and repetitive and neither of you wanted to pull away, living in the moment like it was your last. 

“When…did you realize…you loved me?” you asked between kisses, moving away from his mouth, instead letting your lips find their way across his jaw and up to his temple. 

“Our last year of school,” he paused your kisses so he could kiss you properly again. “Carlo said something and-,” he shook his head and sighed. “I realized I was going to leave without you ever knowing how I felt and even though eventually I thought maybe I’d stopped loving you and started to love other people…I just kept trying to fill that space that only you fit in.” 

“First year of my master’s for me,” you rested your forehead against his. “Suddenly you weren’t there anymore and I really wished that wasn’t the case.” 

He tilted his head up to meet you in another kiss that was far too easy to melt into. Neither of you had any complaints and you knew you’d never get tired looking into his heart-eyes.

@cuntyvicodin

[4drianaaaa]

u should do hamzah and y/n meeting for the first time after being online “friends” and one thing leads to another if yk what i mean

ohhh ur a genius and I just know Hamzah would be so nervous and obnoxious AH

Skin 2 Skin | Hamzahthefantastic

cw; nsfw 18+ , & fem reader!

🤍: you looked at the window outside your Uber as you looked at the dusk sunset of the Toronto sky eager to finally meet the only person you came to this party/trip for, Hamzah

You and Hamzah have been friends since last year and would almost every night be on FaceTime or on call just listening to each others presence. You liked him a lot. And you’d often think about how things would be if you dated but obviously you always thought he just liked you as a friend and flirted with you just to not make him seem like an asshole. Obviously he likes you too.

He’d always space out to you yapping to him as his thoughts wondered into both of you living in the same apartment and him just wanting his hands all over you.

You anticipatedly hoped out of your Uber and into your hotel. You smooth sailed through the reservation desk as you entered what would be your new home for the next week. You finally got a message from the host making sure you got picked up and were in your room.

Half-a-hour later

You finished up your makeup and sprayed some perfume as you were now out the door into another Uber. This time the traffic caught up and you were gonna be a couple minutes late,

“Ya from here?” Your Uber driver questioned “hm, um no. Im just visiting friends!” You replied as he nodded his head “yeah the traffic gets bad here, especially in Toronto.” He added as you scoffed “I could tell”. After a couple small convos you finally made it to the house. You called Hamzah to walk you in the party.

“Hello? Are you okay? Are you here?” He yelled through the phone “yes I’m here- come outside it’s cold” you said as he hung up, you looked up as you saw him standing there. Your pupils expanded as you noticed how taller he was in person, how his curls laid perfectly around his hat, and how he would easily tower you. “Hamzah!” You exclaimed running towards him as you wrapped your arms around his neck as he placed his hands on your waist carrying you off the ground because of the height difference “you’re so tall! You looked so short on camera” you teased as he pat your back “whatever” He rolled his eyes as his stomach fluttered with butterflies just talking to you in person “okay get off me now” you said jokingly as you pushed him off of you “you know you love me y/n” he smirked as you thanked the amount of blush on your cheeks was covering the actual heat radiating off of your face “okay let me meet Martin now, I’ve had enough of you” you followed him into the party.

After meeting Martin and Mandy and talking for what seemed forever you and Hamzah decided to leave the party a bit early and going to walk around the city a bit just to get to know it a bit better

“Why did you even come here?” He questioned “I don’t know I should have stayed at home huh?” You said sarcastically as he blew raspberry “just say you wanted to come see me” he smirked “this is not rizz” you laughed “oh you wanna see rizz?” He joked “NO” you walked away from him as he chased you and wrapping his arm around you

You agreed to meeting Peter at Hamzah’s apartment as well as stealing a jacket or two just to survive in the chilly Toronto weather, he unlocked his door as he opened the door for you. He showed you around his apartment as he led you to his room scanning through his hoodies.

You were now laid on his bed as one of your legs hung from the edge of his bed. You looked at how his fingers slid through the hoodies and how his figure was huge, you bit your lip at the things you’d do to him as you squeezed your legs together trying your best to achieve some sort of friction. You couldn’t help but call his name “Hamzah-“ he cut you off “I got these two” he said setting the hoodies beside you, you fought over the fact you just wanted to tell this man how you felt about him. How you enjoyed conversations with him and how you wished for this day to come and just confess your feelings “what’s wrong? Are you okay?” He questioned sitting beside you as you sat up “Hamzah, I don’t know if this will ruin us but- I really like you, like a lot” you looked at his pink lips as they spread into a smile “I’m glad Im not the only one- I like you too.” He placed his hand on your thigh that slowly rode up to your waist, you looked down at his hand and back to his eyes and lips

His lips crashed into yours as you felt yourself getting hotter by the minute

He slid his hand up to your waist as you placed your hand on the side of his face. Your small groans and moans made his pants grow tighter as your lips parted from each other, “I- wanna keep going? I can stop if you want.” He panted as you nodded your head as you nipped at the apple of his cheek “I really want you inside of me please Hamzah” you whispered into his ear as he laid back onto the headboard of his bed as you crawled on top of him feeling how hard he was just by making out with you “fuck- you don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do this” he whimpered as you took off your top leaving you in your bra as he practically drooled “then show me” you smirked as he kissed your exposed chest leaving passionate hickies all over your neck and chest. His hands traveled all over your back as he unclipped your bra as his eyes immediately turned to yours asking for permission as you nodded. He kissed your exposed tits as his tongue swirled around your nipple as you felt your self grinding on his lap “fuck!” You yelled as his hands slithered to your neck lightly gripping it, you felt your panties get wet as you ran your fingers through his curls

He picked you up and threw you under him as he left a trail of kisses down to your button on your pants. You impatiently watched him take your pants off slowly as you just him inside you. He throw your pants leaving you in your soaked panties as you turned red from embarrassment “mf-so wet” he licked his lips as he kissed your inner thigh “please, please Hamzah!” You whined as he giggled as his hot breath teased you even more.

He slipped the side of your panties off as the cool air sent shivers through out your whole body as you gripped on to the sheets of his bed. “Fuck y/n, you look so pretty from m’ere” he smirked as he kissed your wet dripping cunt making you curse under your breath. This man was sending you to a whirlwind of lust. His mouth did pleasures on your pussy as you felt yourself coming all over his lips and nose. “You taste so sweet baby” he licked his lips once again as his lips intertwined with yours. You tugged at his shirt wanting it off as he swiftly took off his shirt as well, he fidgeted with his pants as he slid off his boxers as well. Your eyes widened at the length of his aching member contemplating how he was gonna go all in on you. He pumped his aching cock as his spilling tip fondled over your heated core “you tell me when to stop. I’ll go slow ‘kay?” He grunted as you nodded as you wrapped your arms around his neck as he slowly entered inside of you causing you to already almost come undone as he was halfway down “how’s that?” He panted as your mouth widened “keep going”.

He finally thrusted into you fully as you dug your nails onto his back, “holy shit!” Your moans filled the room as he slowly thrusted in and out of you. His lips laid on top of you as his groans vibrated. You felt your self already riding your high as you panted under him with every thrust. “Want me to keep doing baby? Yeah?” He groaned as you whined under him. As you finally adjusted to his size he decided to start going faster as he repeatedly hit your spot “fuck- oh my god yes please Hamzah! Fuck” you left scratches on to his back, “yes! Fuck Hamzah I’m gonna fucking come!” At this point you didn’t care about the neighbors and how loud you were. You were seeing stars. “Yes baby just come all over my fucking cock like you’ve always wanted to- yes” he panted.

You came undone all over him as you felt his warm seed inside of you. He panted as he kissed your forehead “you did so good, so good” he groaned as he pulled out as your mixed come spilled out of you “how did we get here” you laughed as you covered your face with a pillow as he laid beside you “I don’t know but I don’t regret it” he teased as he laid on your chest slowly dozing off.

-

[cranberrv]

so high school

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ in which you run into your high-school sweetheart, darrel curtis.

( a/n : this isn’t my best work but not every piece has to be my fave! hope u cuties enjoy nonetheless, sorry i have no idea how to write darry )

his brown eyes met yours from across the classroom for the first time since grade 12.

your heart sank. you thought darry would’ve left by now, started his career as a successful football player or something even better, but he was standing in your classroom, still in tulsa.

your entire teenage years flash before your eyes — running on the field to kiss the quarterback, playing kiss marry kill, driving to parties, meeting his family. he looked the same.

darry’s eyes widen as he sees you. he elbows ponyboy. “you did not tell me that y/n l/n was your geography teacher.” he whispers.

“you’d of freaked if i had told you, man,” ponyboy whispers back.

tonight was parent-teacher interviews. one of your best students was ponyboy curtis, little brother of your high-school sweetheart. they were greasers, and you were a soc, but that never stopped you from going over to their house everyday, back when you were bittersweet 16.

“darry curtis,” you say softly, smiling gently. “long time no see.”

he avoids your gaze, his cheeks glowing pink. “yeah, nice to see you, y/n.”

“feel free to take a seat,” you offer, and they sit in front of your desk.

you begin talking about ponyboy — his incredible grades, your insistence on him participating more, assuring darry that ponyboy has a high chance of getting into a good post-secondary school.

you look at darry again. you have to address the elephant in the room — it would be weird not to. “this is weird, isn’t it?” you ask, voice soft. “i mean, we met in this school, and now i’m teaching your younger brother.”

“yeah, i guess so,” he agrees. “i honestly thought you would’ve left this dump by now, you always talked about wanting to move to new york city or toronto or somethin’.”

“yeah, plans changed.” you shrug. “i thought you would’ve moved by now, too.”

“plans changed,” he repeats, quoting you. you smile at him.

“what have you been up to since high school?” you ask him. “still play football?”

“i roof houses.” he answers. “but yeah, sometimes i fool around with football. not as much, though.”

“you were good,” you compliment.

“thanks,” he answers. he is never this awkward, what is happening? “you still into reading and history and stuff?”

“yeah,” you answer. “i mean, ponyboy can tell you, i never shut up about it when i’m teaching. always got a new book to talk about.”

and there we go. the conversation is back to ponyboy. “oh, that’s nice. pony only talks good about you. just never pieced together that it was you.”

“yeah, well, guess you thought i would’ve been gone by now.”

“guess so,” he agrees. “glad you’re not.”

you smile at him.

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

the following weeks, you’d notice ponyboy talking to you a bit more whenever he could in class, talking to you about darry. and when you walked into the DX, sodapop asked if you were “darry’s chick,” and you had no idea how to respond.

flowers started blooming at the local park in your neighbourhood, so you decided to take a walk and pick some to decorate your classroom and decorate them for spring.

everything reminded you of him — you walked past a small punch of pink tulips. he got you tulips for your grade 11 semi-formal. he got them for a discount at the gas station, it was all he could afford. they were beautiful.

while you were walking, you spotted a gang of greasers. darry was with them, he was the tallest and stuck out like a sore thumb among the pink and yellow flowers and blossoming trees.

sodapop and ponyboy spotted you instantly, catching your eye and then telling the rest of the gang that you were here. they all excitedly started pressuring darry to go talk to you. you overheard the giggles and you couldn’t help but smile to yourself.

darry walked up to you after a few moments of resistance. you looked stunning — your hair gently waving in the warm breeze, a handful of wildflowers in your grasp. and you were smiling at him!

“hi darry,” you greet. he starts walking beside you, leaving his friends behind.

“hey, y/n,” he says. his voice is deeper than it was when you knew him. “it was real nice seein’ you at ponyboy’s parent-teacher thing.”

you agree, and then he speaks again. “i just, uh, wanted to talk to you about something.”

“what about?” you ask with a tilt of your head.

“okay, so i know we dated back in high school and stuff,” he starts. “it was real fun. we had some good times.”

“yeah, we did.” you agree.

“do you want to try again?” he asks you. his muscular body and his intimidating looks would be nothing if you heard how he was speaking now. it felt wholesome, shy, like how he asked you out in high school.

you take a second to think. you remember how you felt when he took another girl to prom 3 weeks after you broke up, you remember how that hurt you and how you wanted to kill him. but you remember watching shows with him on saturday nights, you remember kissing in the backseat, you remember his mom, mrs. curtis, kissing you on the cheek the first time you met her. you remember cheering when he got a touchdown, you remember him kissing tears off your face when he got hurt in a rumble. you remember the good and the bad. and when you look back up at him, you feel so high school.

“yeah,” you say softly. “i would love that, darry.”

[ayedafuq]

Hamzah imagine I’m sorry god

POV: You got invited up to Toronto by your friend (Y/F) who hangs in the same circle as the Slushy Noobz crew, u n Hamzah meet at a party, get a little too tipsy, and you flirt just a taaaad .

——

(Y/F) : bitch come out the room and DRINK

Currently hiding away in her room (where I’ve been a freeloader for the past 2 days), I see Y/F’s text to come and join the pregame she’s having in her living room. She moved from our hometown to Toronto, a place I haven’t been before this, and I’m visiting her for the week. I came up on Wednesday and after our playful time catching up together for the past two days, she decided it’d be a good idea to go out with some of the friends she made. She currently has about 8 people in her living room playing drinking games, and I’m sitting on the floor staring into her full body mirror, ready to go to the bar, nervous as FUCK about meeting her friends.

After ignoring her text for approximately 30 seconds, she comes into the room. “OOOO GURRRRL YOU LOOKIN GOOOOOD” she says. I know she knows I’m nervous.

“Wait close the door” I say to her, and she does. “Dude, what if they don’t like me.” My anxiety is clearly getting the best of me.

“Fuck do you mean what if they don’t like you? You’re quite literally my twin. If they don’t like you then I’ll KNOW they secretly don’t like me. And they love me, so chill the fuck out. Get up” she picks me up out off the ground and pulls me out into her living room.

“Guess who’s heeeerrrree” she says to the group, and they all start to cheer. “There she is!” One of the girls says. A guy chimes in, “The visitor has arrived!”

Y/f drags me around the party to share names, my nerves subsiding. Everyone here is really nice. Why was I even worried?

“Hey, I’m Mandy. I work at the animal shelter with y/f. I’ve heard so much about you!” The girl says. I reply telling her I’ve heard about her too. “Y/f says the only reason she goes there is to pet animals and hang out with you” I tell her. “Yea sounds about right, I do the same thing.”

Me, Mandy and Y/f chat for a couple minutes sharing some laughs and stories, until the guy who chanted earlier and his friend come up. “Y/n, this is my boyfriend Martin. And this is Hamzah, avoid him.”

I give my hellos and introduce myself to Martin. We banter for a quick second before I turn to Hamzah. “Hellooo, I’m Y/n.” I give him a quick smile he returns. “Hey Y/n, how do you like Toronto so far?”

Before I can even answer, Y/f interrupts. “I’m gonna need you guys to shut up and grab a drink. We’re leaving for the bar in 30, and me and Y/n still need to demolish half the party in flip cup. Grab two seltzers from the fridge” she tells me. “You better lock in, I told everyone you never miss a flip.”

—

Two hours later and we’re at the bar, and it’s safe to say I’m feeling preeeetty nice. Her friends are so sweet, and I can’t help but feel so happy that she found these people.

Mandy, y/f, Hamzah and I are standing by a high top table, and I take the liberty in sharing some stories of me and y/f from parties in high school.

“When I tell you I turned my head for 3 seconds and y/f was gone, I mean it. I’m running through the party like a chicken without a fucking head, looking like a maniac asking everyone where she is. Mind you, I’m like 17 and hammered, so I was probably acting like the hulk.”

“Jesus Christ y/n don’t..” she says.

“After 10 minutes where do I find this bitch? Asleep in this random bitch’s closet with her head, quite literally, in a bucket.”

Hamzah and Mandy are cracking up. “You didn’t even know who threw the party?” Hamzah asks between laughs.

“Not a fucking clue. Y/f felt right at home though” I say, giggling myself.

“Girl I hate you, but yea I did. That bucket was my crib. Need to go to the bathroom?” Y/f asks me.

I tell her I’m alright for now, and Mandy tells her she needs to go so they scurry off together.

“Wow, so you guys have been friends for a while huh?” Hamzah says, still smiling from the story.

“Yea, we’ve been through a lot together. She’ll never get rid of me I fear” I say back.

“Damn, that’s awesome. Y/f is super cool, I’m happy she moved up here. When’s it your turn?” He says, his smile becoming more of a smirk. It hasn’t gone over my head that this kid is fucking adorable, but hes been acting pretty shy all night. The sly comment took me by surprise.

“Man I wish I could. It’s been on my mind a lot since she moved here” I reply.

“What’s stopping you?” He asks.

“I guess I’m just scared. It’s a big move, and she’s got the balls to do it. I’m not sure I do.”

“I felt the same way too, I pretty much hauled ass across the country of Canada at 18. I lived out of my car for a bit actually, it was a nightmare. I’d do it all again though, it was the best decision I’ve made. If I could do it, a pretty girl like you could too.”

Pretty girl?

“Pretty girl?” I say back, a little smug. The drinks are getting to me I fear.

“I’m sorry, was that weird?” He gets a little shy again. I giggle to let him know it wasn’t.

“Not at all. Thank you, pretty boy” I playfully shove his arm. I cringe in my head. I gotta be fucking kidding.

“Pretty boyyy I see I see” he says with a smile. “You think I’m a pretty boy?”

“Only a little bit. Like, this much” I pinch my fingers together the closest I can without having them touch.

“Well, thiiiis pretty boy” he mimics my fingers, “thinks you should move to Toronto thiiiis much” he separates them a little more. “Because he’d like to see you more thiiiiis badly” he separates them as far as he can. Damn, he has nice hands.

“Wow that’s pretty badly” I respond. Thank god I have makeup on because this cheesy shit might be making me blush.

“Yea, it’s alarming. Think about it, pretty girl” he tilts his head towards me playfully as he says pretty girl, getting a little close and then backing his head away swiftly. His smirk is fully activated and the eye contact we’re making is pretty hot. I smile back at him with my tongue touching my canine (do yk what I’m talking about like that lil sexy smile), tilting my head slightly to the side as if to say oh, ur flirting with me, noted. and just as I’m about to respond, y/f and Mandy return from the bathroom.

“Stop harassing her Hamzah she’s never gonna want to come back” Mandy says. “Come on, we’re gonna go back to y/f’s and play drinking games. This bar is boring.”

Hamzah follows after Mandy, glancing back at me quickly with a cheeky smile before turning his head. Y/f gets in my ear.

“Hamzah likes you. Mandy can tell. She told me in the bathroom.”

—-

Okay guys hi this is like so bullshit but I was feeling playful idk I hope you enjoyed if you made it this far

-ayev

[leafs-lover]

Happy birthday!

I didn’t pick a prompt but had an idea for Auston with one of his daughters? I can use something cute/ fluffy and want to see him being a girl dad😍

Daddy's Girl - A Too Far Gone One-Shot

A/N: This is very delayed, and I'm sorry about that. This is a bonus chapter set in the future, after the timeline of TFG. It can be read as a stand-alone piece.

Warnings: None - just pure fluff, maybe some minor spoilers if you haven't been following the asks?

Series Masterlist

Word Count: 2,700

Auston loves coming home from road trips. He always has. Years ago, in the start of his career, leaving wasn’t so bad because there was nothing waiting in Toronto except a cold and empty condo. The most he missed was his own bed, some of the restaurants he’d grown to love.

Now he doesn’t care about the bed but who is waiting for him in it. It is not the food being served, but the smiling faces that surround the table. So, when the plane landed at 1pm and Auston knew the house was going to be empty for a few hours, he did what any logical person would do. He dropped his bag at the door, loaded Felix into the back of his car, and set out to spring his children from school.

Only, he couldn’t break all his kids out. Taylour had a math test and Tia would scold Auston if he made him miss that (even though Taylour would appreciate it), and this would be a real scolding not the fun kind he spent days missing. Maddie was having a class party, and even though she was a huge Daddy's girl there was a small possibility she would want to stay in class and Auston didn’t want to subject himself to that kind of disappointment. Even worse, if she said yes and left early, Auston knew she’d be disappointed come tomorrow when all her friends were talking about the party she missed. Benjamin was struggling to adjust to school and make friends, he had been all year. Auston knew that as much as he wanted to see his son, it was best for him to stay put. On top of that, he largely favours Tia, he often is reluctant to join in with Auston’s shenanigans, what if today was one of those days? That left Quinn, and even though she loved daycare, she was his partner in crime, always willing to do anything he suggested.

Auston put his car into park and left it running with the heat on low. He stepped out into the crisp Toronto air then muttered a curse word under his breath. He quickly shoved his hands into his pockets and tucked his ears into the collar of his coat.

He should have brought a beanie; Tia would have made him wear a beanie. 

The snow crunched under his feet as he walked through the parking lot. Before he even reached the door he could hear the room kids – excitedly screaming, laughing. For a moment Auston felt guilty, pulling her from the fun solely because he didn’t want to spend a few hours alone, but her face lit up brighter than a Christmas tree when he stepped into the room, and it reassured him it was the right decision. 

“Daddy!” She squealed. Excitedly, she jumped up and down a few times, her blue Cinderella dress (the one Tia spent three nights working on instead of sleeping because Quinn kept asking when it would be finished) sways side to side. The tiara atop her honey-blonde hair caught the light the moment she took off running for Auston. 

“Hi Quinnie Bear.” Auston welcomed her, immediately wrapping his arms around her small body, and placing a kiss on her temple.

“I mith you Daddy!” She kissed him back, with a wide toothy smile stretched across her face. 

“I missed you too.” Auston tossed her playfully into the air, electing a shriek, then brought her in for another tight hug. “I missed you so much Quinnie!”

“How much?” She probed. Her sweet innocent voice makes his heart flutter -she, like all his kids, has that effect on him. 

Keeping Quinn on his right hip, Auston stretched his left arm out as far as it can go. “This much,” he told her.

“That’s a lot.”

“Mhm.” Auston nodded and kissed her temple once again. “What are you up to?”

“Making Fwostee.”

“Making Frosty?! Can I see?”

“YES!” She immediately and enthusiastically agreed.

Auston set Quinn down and she quickly wrapped her tiny hand around two of his fingers, then tugged him toward one of the tables. They stopped at her workspace, and she released his fingers, then pointed to the chair. “Sit,” she demanded of him.

From the outside, Quinn looks nothing like her parents. Her hair is light and straight, where he and Tia have dark and curly, her eyes are hazel – sometimes looking more of a green – and again, theirs are both dark. He can look at any of her three siblings and immediately see himself or Tia in them, but when he looks to Quinn, he struggles to see any part of them. Then she puts her hand on her hip, has a sassy comment, orders him around with a sweet yet devious little grin, and Auston instantly knows that is Tia’s daughter. 

So, just like with her mom, Auston does what she says. Even if that means folding himself into a tiny plastic chair where his knees are taller than the table. Even if he is worried about the structural integrity of that tiny plastic chair as it creaks and sinks with his weight because it was made for three-year-olds and not the stature of a professional hockey player, he promptly sits in the chair without so much as a hesitation. 

Quinn reaches out to the desk, grabbed a mess of construction paper, then shoved it into his hand, and smiles.

“You didn’t make this.” 

“Yes, I did,” she is quick to protest.

“No way! This is the best snowman I’ve ever seen!” The snowballs are misshapen and boxy, the black blob on what Auston assumes is the head, looks nothing like a hat and the “buttons” are just a bunch of scribbles. There are three eyes glued and the nose that should be carrot shaped, is misshapen, but at least orange. “This was made by a professional.”

“No Daddy,” she giggled. The sound instantly made Auston smile. She brought her face closer, and pressed her forehead against his, staring directly into his eyes, she dropped her voice to try and sound serious. “I made it.”

“You made this?” Auston held the snowman up to get a better look at it. “You, Quinn Leigh Matthews made this?”

“Mhm.” Quinn proudly nodded. “Look at the eyes.”

“I see –“

“They move!” She squealed. Grabbing the snowman, she flipped it upside down, the black pupil of the googly eye moving with her.

“I see that. This is going on the fridge tonight.”

“Yay!” She jumped into his arms, the smile on her face somehow continued to get wider.

“Do you want to stay at daycare, or want to get some hot chocolate and take Felix to the park with me?”

“I want to go wif you daddy!” Her face scrunched as she gave him her signature grin, his signature grin. One of the few physical traits she took from him.

“Okay. You get your boots and I’ll talk to your teacher.”

The conversation with Quinn’s teacher was quick, they were accustomed to Auston sneaking her from daycare early. Like every time before, they reminded him that Tia specifically said Auston wasn’t to pull her from daycare early (she knew him far too well), and just like every time before, Auston rolled his eyes said he wasn’t going to listen to Tia (even though history had taught him otherwise). Quinn’s teacher just laughed, like she did every time Auston said that, then she wished them a good afternoon, and Auston went to gather her belongings.

Auston found Quinn sitting in front of her cubby with her purple butterfly boots on the wrong feet. He knelt down in front of her, set the snowman on the bench, then tugged at the Velcro to switch the boots around. As he reached for Quinn’s coat, he felt his watch vibrate - he knew who it was, didn’t take a genius to figure it out - but of course he flipped his wrist, saw Tia’s name and the beginnings of her lecture, and laughed. What was he supposed to do? Sit at home for three hours in an empty house?

He slipped his thick, muscular arm through the straps of Quinn’s sparkly pink unicorn backpack, fisted her jacket, then scooped Quinn up. When the door opened, he felt her nuzzle into his chest, and he tightened his grip. There was no point putting her jacket on to walk twelve feet to the car, only to take it off for the car seat, but he still hated the shiver that always erupted following the temperature change.

“Felix!” Quinn shrieked when she saw his head sticking out the window. The pup let out an excited whine. Over the low hum of the engine they could hear his tail eagerly smacking against the seat. “Daddy is taking us for tweats!” She told him through the window as she scratched behind his ears. 

**

It took a bit to get her in the car seat. Felix kept wanting to be close to her, which lead to him sitting in the car seat, licking her face, and lots of laughter. If Auston didn’t know better, he’d think Felix was the one who went eight days without seeing her.

The drive was short and Quinn had a million things to tell Auston, most of which she told him during their daily FaceTime or video updates Tia would send, but he didn’t mind. He loved listening to her excitedly ramble about everything that happened while he was gone, the highlights of her days. It was less than twenty minutes, but the only time Quinn wasn’t talking was when she was laughing because Felix had snuck in a kiss or two. Even in the drive-thru while Auston was ordering she didn’t let up for a second.

With the vehicle off, Auston opened the back door and squeezed himself in. He gently shut the door behind him to keep the heat trapped inside, then turned to Quinn. He softly brushed some hair behind her ear and let his thumb rest on her jaw while examining her face. He knows it isn’t possible, but every time he comes back from a road trip the kids look different, older somehow.

“Alright,” his voice cracks. 

Smiling through the pain of being gone, he unbuckled the car seat, gave Felix a few pets, then turned his attention back to Quinn. She had jumped out of the car seat, so Auston held her coat out for her to slide her arms into the sleeves. He zipped it up, wrapped a scarf around her neck, then rummaged around her unicorn backpack for the pink sparkly beanie shoved to the bottom. “You have to wear a hat sweetie; your ears will get cold.” 

“But my tiara.” A large pout formed, and her words were barely over a whisper. 

“You can put it back on when we leave.” Auston offered, but the faint quiver in her lower lip told him that wouldn’t be acceptable. “What if I wear it for you at the park, then you can have it back when we’re done.”

Quinn takes a second to think it over, her lips slowly curling in the process. She nodded, then reached up and got to work positioning it on his head. “You’re a pwetty pwincess,” she said.

“Not nearly as pretty as you.” Auston pulls the toque over her ears. “You’re the prettiest princess ever.” Quinn blushes and sways gently from side to side, then gives Auston a quick kiss. “You ready, Quinnie the Pooh?”

She laughed at the nickname, like she always does. “Can I hold his leash?”

“Of course.” Auston kissed the tip of her nose.

He helped Quinn out of the car and waited for Felix to jump out to shut the door. Stacking their hot chocolates, he held them in one hand and passed Quinn the leash. Like he is with all of the kids, Felix was gentle. He didn’t pull or yank even though he wants to sprint ahead, he stayed right beside Quinn, matching his pace to hers. Auston reached over the fence and popped the latch, he waited for the two of them to step in before letting it close. He bent down and unclipped Felix’s leash, looked at Quinn, then nodded. 

“Go pway Fewix!” She squealed. 

The energetic pup took off and ran to a tree, then the bench, and a garbage can, carefully sniffing everyone. Quinn reached up for Auston’s hand and the two of them moved to the bench. Auston sat down first and placed his hands under her armpits, helping her up beside him, then passed her Felix’s ball which immediately caught the pups attention. He scurried over, then jumped up and down, tail rapidly wagging from side to side. And when Quinn threw it a few feet he eagerly retrieved it and dropped it on the ground at their feet.

“Good boy.” Auston told him. This time he throws the ball quite a distance, working to burn off some of his energy. “Is that good?” He chuckled at the hot chocolate moustache on his daughter's upper lip.

“Mhm.” She beamed. “It’s the best hot chocowate ever.”

Auston bent down and once again retrieved the ball, then tossed it to the other end of the park. “Sure is, princess.” After a few of his tosses, trying to tire him out, he passed the ball to Quinn. She quickly accepts and throws it, smiling, even though it only went about six feet.

Felix bit down and a loud squeak erupted through the ball. His tail excitedly wagged, and he wandered back to them, dropping it at their feet once again. Auston hands the ball to Quinn, who had set her hot chocolate on the bench, and threw it again, shorter than the time before. After the fourth throw that barely had Felix moving, Auston took the slobbery ball and launched it to the other side. 

A loud, whistling wind enveloped the park, the branches creaking with every gust. A shiver erupted through Quinn’s tiny body, and she curled herself into her bright pink jacket. Auston scooped her up and tried to use his large body to shield the wind, sharing his body heat with his tiny daughter.

Felix dropped the ball at his feet and when Auston didn't immediately move to pick it up, Felix barked, then knelt his head down and rapidly wagged his tail from side to side, barking again.

“So impatient.”

Auston shook his head, smirking towards the youthful pup. He bent down and collected the ball and tossed it. “You want to go, Quinnie bear?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I like spending time wif you Daddy.”

Auston melts and tightened his grip, bringing her in as close as possible. “I like spending time with you too, Quinnie, but it’s a little cold out.” Auston said. Even though he is keeping one eye on Felix to ensure he doesn’t get into trouble, he can’t help but notice the rosiness in her cheeks and the tears clinging to the corner of her eyes. 

“No, Daddy, I not cold.” She promptly replied. But like her mother, she is a terrible liar.

“Daddy is getting cold.” Auston told her, knowing the only way to make her leave would be with a small fib.

“Oh, no. Daddy okay?” She asked, then brought her tiny little hands up and cupped his ears, attempting to shelter him from the wind. 

“Thanks Pumpkin.” Auston smiled sweetly at her. One of the things Auston had noticed of his youngest child was her selflessness. She was always checking in on her siblings when they were sick, and whenever he would huff or Tia would let out a frustrated sigh, she would immediately ask if they were okay. She picked up on their subtle cues, sometimes Auston thought she could sense things before they did.

“How about one more throw each, then we go home and watch a movie?”

“Tweee more.” She offered.

“Two.” Auston laughed when her entire face scrunched up before she emphatically shook her head no. She really is her mother’s daughter. “Fine,” he huffed. “Three more, but you can’t tell your mom I kept you outside in the cold.”

Her signature grin exploded on her face. “We get ice cream too.”

It’s Auston’s turn to showcase that signature grin. He can already hear Tia’s hushed whisper as she once again tells him all the reasons, he shouldn’t be pulling Quinn from daycare, does he really need to compound that by ruining her dinner? His move already has him “on thin ice” as Tia will undoubtedly tell him, one that has him dangerously close to not touching his wife that night, is it worth cementing that for a bowl of ice cream?

He glances down ready to deny his daughter's simple request, then he sees those wide hazel eyes practically glowing with hope, and sighs. There is no way he can say no to that face. 

“You won’t tell your mom?”

“No.” She shook her head, the devious grin on her lips says otherwise - Quinn cannot keep a secret. 

“You got yourself a deal, Quinnie-Bear.”

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[winterchimez]

Nonsense | Jacob Bae

SUMMARY: never would you have thought that joining the music club is where you would develop an abnormal crush on your senior/club president Jacob Bae. so when the university's annual school performance is around the corner, you have decided to give a shot to confess your feelings in the most extravagant way possible.

PAIRING: senior!Jacob x junior g.n!reader

GENRE: fluff

WARNINGS: pg-13, kissing, yall this is just pure tooth-rotting fluff

WORD COUNT: 4,473

A/N: we're back with another fic for the emails i can't send fwd: collab that i'm doing with @heemingyu 😉 shoutout to both sana & @sungbeam for beta reading & helping me out with this one!! love you both loads 💕 also, lowkey this was written for you @zzoguri aka cobster's future, i hope you'll enjoy this (and may this somehow be a little something for you during your hectic times ily my moni forever!! ❤️)

It was finally the summer holidays, and you were ecstatic as you heard the sound of a vehicle driving right onto your front porch. You had been waiting for this moment since you got the news during the new year and counting down the days on your calendar without fail every day.

Once you heard the engine stop, you immediately ran out to the door to jump right into the person’s arms which were already opened wide, fully expecting your demeanour. 

“Yujin! I’ve been waiting months for you!” You shrieked as you hugged your cousin tight, rubbing your cheek against hers. 

Both you and Yujin were raised together by your grandmother back in Vancouver, and things took a turn when your parents eventually got a promotion up in Toronto, causing you to move far away from your family. Because of that, you don’t get to see each other often anymore, the most being once every 2 years when your parents will try their best to make time to attend the Christmas parties held annually at your grandmother’s house. 

Yujin was like your long-lost sibling; even though you were cousins, you both felt there was more to that. Ever since you both have gotten your very own mobile phones, you both promised that you would FaceTime each other almost every other day. You knew everything about one another—from each other’s darkest secrets to how much money you stole from your parents' wallets when you were younger to buy that vinyl you have been eyeing for the longest time. 

But lately, things have been a bit too chaotic for you both to keep up the promised ritual. Since you both started university, it was hard to make plans, especially when studying in different courses, which also meant different timetables and classes. During the weekends, the both of you would often be occupied with either school events or at your local pizzeria as your part-time job. Hence, texting was the primary source of communication between you two.

And besides that, something crucial had happened to you lately, and you couldn’t wait to spill the beans to your cousin. 

Once you had helped Yujin unload her stuff from the car and moved it up to your room, you quickly made yourselves feel comfortable by cuddling together on your sofa bed. 

“So, tell me. How has life been for you?” you asked, blinking your eyes, trying to give her a pleading face because you wanted to know about everything that had happened lately. 

“I’ve been promoted to being part of the student council at my university! Oh, and then there’s also me actually acing an exam that I clearly did not study for because I was up all night that past few weeks playing Genshin Impact. Oh, and then there was this adorable guy from my campus who I think kind of has a crush on me because he always glances in my direction, like you know? That stare? And then—” 

“Woah woah, slow down, tiger,” you had to pause your cousin because clearly, she was dumping all of the information without giving you time to process them individually. With that, the both of you chuckled, hands placed onto your stomach as you began to laugh a little bit too hard until it started to hurt. 

This was what you had missed so dearly, and you couldn’t help but put on this genuine warm, soft smile on your face as you looked into Yujin’s eyes. 

That was until she squinted at you. 

“Whatever you’re doing right now is creeping me out real bad, so I suggest you stop that.” 

You slapped her arm. “Rude.” 

“Fine. What about you then? I’m sure your time at the University of Toronto has been a wild ride for you.” 

“About that…I have something I need to consult you for,” you lowered your head and voice to a minimum, which got your cousin's ears perked up and was prodding your arms, wanting to know the details. 

“Oh my god, did you just finally have your first kiss?”

“W-what? No! I mean, at least not yet….” 

“What do you mean not yet? So do you have a special someone in your life right now?”

With a deep sigh, you took one of the pillows lying on the floor and threw it in Yujin’s direction, causing her to hug the pillow tight as she laid her head down gently to rest on it. 

“Buckle up, babe. It’s going to be a long story.” 

Flashback

“God, why do I have to sign up for this?” 

You stomped your feet to the ground as you looked at the paper, which read: “Applications for extra-curricular activities such as clubs are mandatory for all students, commencing on April 2023.” 

Your university had been pretty lenient over the years, and they had never once forced students to participate in clubs if they chose not to, understanding that some of them had make-up classes for their courses or were just busy with their thesis and side jobs. Most of the students in the university themselves took on part-time jobs, such as working in the school’s cafeteria and library, to earn a little bit of pocket money to survive.

So, when they decided to change the rules after the previous headmaster resigned and was replaced by a new one that everyone did not like, she chose that both coursework and extracurricular activities played a crucial role in one’s graduation. 

Left with no choice, you stood before the bulletin board, trying to find a club that suited your taste. 

“Screw Mrs. Kim.” You huffed. 

“Look, Y/N. It can’t be too bad. It’s just a club. After all, nobody said you have to be super committed to it,” Your friend Keeho sighed, looking at how you beat yourself up over such trivial matters. 

“You don’t understand, Keeho. This means I will have less time at home because I will have to leave to work my shifts at the pizzeria right after clubs. What is going to happen to my games and k-dramas?” You whined. 

“If you want to graduate from university, you’re going to have to choose one now.” Knocking some sense into you, he gave you a pat on your shoulder before walking away towards the opposite direction, heading to his club.

You turned to look back at the bulletin board once again, scanning through all of the posters and flyers that were scattered throughout. After a minute or two, your eyes finally landed on this one cream-coloured flyer, and you sighed before checking the location once more before heading to your destination. 

“This is the only option that will work for now.”

“Hello?” You called out, but the room was empty as you opened and peeked your head through the door. Thinking that you should try again, you entered the room and looked around. 

There was nothing here but a ray of sunshine shining through the glass window into the empty room, and the sunlight landed directly on the lone black piano at the corners of the room.

Maybe playing it for a while wouldn’t hurt at all.

You slowly approached the piano and opened it up as you made yourself comfortable, sat down, and got into the rightful position, gently laying your hands on the keys. Immediately, you started playing one of your favourite pieces of all time, Summer by Joe Hisaishi. Unbeknownst to you, your body began swaying along with the music, enjoying the moment you were in. 

That was until a clap made you stop your tracks.

“Wow, that was some excellent playing right there.” The male gave you a round of applause as he slowly approached you, causing you to jump right up, looking all flustered. 

“I-Umm—I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to play the instrument without approval—” 

“Oh no, no! The piano is free for anyone who wants to play, so you’re all good,” he reassured you, causing you to calm your fast breathing down by placing a hand on your fast-rising chest. 

As he finally reached where you were standing, he posed a question directly at you. “Is there anything that I could help you with?” 

It was there, and then you took in his facial features as the sunlight shone from his face. His soft fluffy brunette hair, those doe-like eyes, and how mesmerising it was as he smiled. Adding onto the fact that he keeps smiling in the best way possible, your heart starts to flutter. 

“Umm, hello?” He was now waving his hands over your face. 

Oh, right. You were supposed to sign up for a club. What on earth were you thinking, Y/N?

“Y-yes! I’m here actually to umm…sign up for the club,” you said reluctantly, a little bit too shy with your answer. 

That was when the male’s eyes widened, and he did a little jump to indicate how happy he was to hear that from you, and he quickly extended out his hands to you, giving you a handshake.

“But of course! We are always open to new members joining the music club! Oh, pardon me, where were my manners? You can call me Jacob.”  

“Y-Y/N.” You replied.

It has been around two weeks since you joined the music club, and everything has been going smoothly for you. Thanks to Jacob (who turned out to be the club’s president), he has helped you so much in trying to get you to blend into the crowd and with other musicians, creating a very safe and warm atmosphere for everyone. 

It was also then that you noticed what kind of a person he was. He was very gentle, yet suitable to be a leader. The tone of his voice and the way he handled things fairly and reasonably made everyone respect him and want to perform alongside him. 

From what you have heard from the club members, Jacob would lead the team to busk at the city centre once every two to three weeks, which was where they would earn some money that served as their reward as they went out to celebrate once in a while at the local party scenes such as the bars. 

Thanks to his guidance, the university’s music club eventually garnered enough audience from the school and the public to the point that they have been invited to perform multiple times throughout the year. You have heard that even local communities such as the orphanage and childcare facilities would often ask Jacob and his team to function for the underprivileged ones, and they would gladly volunteer, even if it were for free. 

There were a few times when you stayed behind to help Jacob close up the music room (more like you were trying your best to spend much time with him as much as you could), and it was when you decided to ask him about his thoughts and the way he did things around here. 

“Music just means so much to me, and I would gladly perform every day even if I had to. It’s not about the money; it can be great as a little side income, but what matters most is that I do this because I am passionate about it,” he replied, clearly stating his goals and reasons well. 

Ever since that conversation, you notice more in detail how he did things or even when he performed. Just as he said, he was passionate—it didn’t matter if things were hindering his way, he would still make way for it. 

No matter how burnt out he could be from his coursework or side job, he would always place the music club first, making sure that not only he enjoyed the whole process but also the club members as well. 

Slowly, you began to admire him for not just his good looks but also his personality. It was as if he was this fine perfect gentleman that had just entered your life easily, and you couldn’t stop thinking about him each day. 

It was the way he was always smiling with others, the way he would sometimes sit at the piano and play a duet with you, the way you both were guitarists, so one of you would either offer a fun little duet session after club hours, even up till writing song lyrics together. 

And how there was one time he unintentionally got his arms around your waist when you slipped from the wet, freshly-cleaned wooden floor from the club, and he caught you in time. 

That was something that you have thought about all the time ever since it happened. 

As the weeks progressed to months, the little spark in your heart for him eventually grew, and it just kept getting bigger each time you saw him in the same club room. 

And that was when you knew you were in big trouble.

End of flashback 

“Damn, you're whipped,” Yujin concluded after listening to your story. 

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you this, Yujin. I’m so screwed.” You buried your head in your palms, the slight headache becoming more prominent now. 

“Hey, what’s wrong with liking a senior? I’d say it’s your time to shine and confess to him.” She reassured you by gently rubbing your back before you slowly lifted your face up. 

“That’s because I think I might be in too deep,” you mumbled. 

“And how exactly did you come up with that conclusion?” 

“Do you ever start stammering and slur your speech when they get close to you like they’ve not done anything, but somehow you just can’t converse like a proper human being.”

“Oh.” 

“When they literally tell you how they absolutely love your eyes and loved making them roll?”

“Okay. Go on.”

“And that you actually finally got their contact number and literally named them ‘do not leave me alone’?”

“Hold up, let me see.”

Reluctantly, you fished out for your phone in your back pocket and scrolled through your contact list until you found Jacob’s. As you click into it, you nervously hand your phone to your cousin, praying internally that she will not drop another diss to make you feel worse than you already are. 

Do not leave me alone ❤️‍🩹. That was exactly what was written for the club president’s contact name on your phone. 

“Damn, Y/N. I never would have thought you would be so delusional. I’d like to think that you’re far worse than I am,” Yujin declared, turning your face into a bright red tomato again. 

“I know, Yujin! And I have never felt this way before. That’s why I needed your validation.” You were practically doing somersaults mentally right now, wishing that you could take it all back, but at the same time, you needed to let out your inner feelings too.  

As Yujin handed your phone back to you, she raised an eyebrow before posing you a question. “So, what exactly do you intend to do from here on?” 

“There’s this upcoming music festival at my university this weekend, and I will be performing on stage.” 

“Oh, that’s great—”

“And I’m going to perform a song I wrote specifically about him,” you blurted out. 

That made Yujin shut her mouth as she tried to process what she had just heard. “Wow, Y/N. You are literally going all out on this.” 

“I just need a way to get this off my shoulders somehow, Yujin. And it’s now or never,” you said. 

“Will he realise that you are trying to serenade him, though?” Yujin asked as she placed her hand on your shoulder. 

“Success or not, I will still do it. And then I’ll completely forget that I’ve ever written this song ever again.”

It was finally Friday night, and the auditorium hall was filled with students, lecturers, and outsiders. Peeking from the backstage, there was this nervousness in the pit of your stomach, and you were now trying your best to rethink your actions. 

What exactly had made you even decide to sign up for the concert in the first place had remained a mystery for you, and looking back now, you swore you would’ve thrown a cold bucket of water over you to wake you up from your insanity. 

But it was too late to turn back now, as it would be your turn on stage in a few minutes. After the previous performer finished his chosen song, the MC briefly introduced you and your contributions to the music club before finally inviting you onstage. 

As you entered with the white guitar you had gotten for Christmas a few years prior, you tried your best to search for Yujin amongst the crowd—sure enough, she was sitting right at the side, waving her hands enthusiastically to cheer you on. You couldn’t help but flash a smile back. 

And finally, you decided to find the man of your dreams, and he was sitting right in the middle section along with the other club members. He gave you a clap just like the rest of the audience did and mouthed out a few words that you couldn’t grasp. Perhaps he was just saying “all the best,” as one would as they support their fellow members.

When you finally reached where the microphone stood, you adjusted yourself before positioning your fingers along the instrument's strings and introducing the piece you were about to perform. 

“This song was written by a special someone in the crowd tonight, and whoever that it may be, I hope this song speaks to your heart and that you mean a lot to me. Without further ado, enjoy.” 

With a few strums from the guitar, you gathered enough courage to smile before singing into the microphone. 

I’ll be honest.  Looking at you got me thinking nonsense. Cartwheels in my stomach when you walk in And when you got your arms around me Oh, it feels so good 

Instantly, you noticed several people from the crowd starting vibing along with your song as they naturally swayed their bodies from left to right, enjoying the melody and rhythm your song produced. 

I had to jump the octave I think I got an ex, but I forgot him And I can’t find my chill, I must’ve lost it I don’t even know, I’m talkin’ nonsense  I’m talkin’, I’m talkin’ 

When you peeked from the corner of your eye, you noticed how Yujiin practically stood up, clapping her hands along with the rhythm. Naturally, the people around her joined in, as did the crowd from the middle and far left section. 

God, were you so grateful for that, so much so that you were trying to hold back your tears. 

I’m talkin’ all around the clock I’m talkin’ hope nobody knocks I’m talkin’ opposite of soft  I’m talkin’ wild, wild thoughts You gotta keep up with me I got some young energy I caught the L-O-V-E How could you do this to me?

I’ll be honest.  Looking at you got me thinking nonsense.

With one final strum, you ended the performance with a bang, and you got the crowd to give you one of the loudest cheers you have heard throughout the night. Some have even given you a standing ovation, and you swore that tears were about to form in your eyes. 

You quickly redirected your attention to Jacob, and he did the same, standing up while giving you that sweet honey smile that you’ve grown to be obsessed with, clapping along with the rest of the audience. 

Thank you for existing, Jacob Bae. I hope you can hear my thoughts through this song written specifically for you. 

With a final bow, you quickly exited the stage.

You were sitting on a bench at a park near campus, opening the bottle of sparkling water you had gotten from one of the nearby vending machines.

You met up with Yujin right after the show and told her how you wanted some time alone just to wind down and digest everything that had happened. You reassured her that you wouldn’t be gone too long and would return as soon as possible. Thankfully, your cousin understood the message and agreed so long as you did not venture far away nor leave her alone too long exploring your campus. 

With a sip of the water, you couldn’t help but smile as you looked up into the skies filled with stars on a clear night like today. The secret was finally out, and a burden was lifted from your shoulders, so you could just sit back on the bench and relax a little bit. 

That was until a voice brought you back to reality.

“Mind if I join you?”

You jolted up from the bench to see the man you were trying to serenade, and immediately you felt the heat rise towards your cheek, and you began stammering again. 

“Y-yes, o-of course!! Umm..g-go ahead!!”

As he sat next to you, you naturally shifted slightly away from him and ducked your head down as you began to rub your palms around the water bottle you were holding back and forth. Jacob noticed your demeanour, and he couldn’t help but giggle as he saw the redness of your face becoming more prominent.

Because he had always known how you have been having a crush on him.

To break the ice, he devised a simple conversation to help you loosen up a bit and break off the tension. 

“I really like your guitar, Y/N. It’s just the right shade of white, and seeing it reminds me of elegance and simplicity but in an attractive way.” 

“U-uh, thanks! It was gifted to me as a present—”

“Just like you, Y/N.” 

Wait, what?

Did you just hear that right? Or is your mind playing tricks with you? Maybe the after-effects of adrenaline from the performance got you thinking nonsense. But you had to make sure. 

“I umm…I beg your pardon?”

“I said what I said, Y/N. I know you have a crush on me.”

Oh no.

“How I make you feel all giddy and excited every time I talk to you.”

Oh, hell no. 

“And I’m going to guess that the song you just performed was directed towards me.”

Lord Jesus, take the wheel. 

At this point, you felt as if you were receiving dozens of arrows shooting right into your heart one at a time, and you were just about to pass out. What you thought was a simple crush became way too apparent to the point that your love interest has already known since day one. 

This is the most embarrassing shit ever. 

You quickly recollected yourself by sitting up straight and clearing your throat before responding properly. 

“Ha-ha, I guess I-I was too obvious!! I-I’m sorry if I might’ve made you un-uncomfortable in any way—”

That was when Jacob interrupted you. “What makes you think I was uncomfortable by all of this?”

Jacon now inches a few spots closer to where you were, and your butt was glued shut on the bench because if you were to move any further, you would end up falling straight onto the grass. 

Oh, good lord. 

“I’m actually grateful for you, Y/N. I think it’s the first time anyone has ever felt that way about me,” he smiled. 

That was when you blinked your eyes. “W-what, really? How can people not fall in love with you—” You clasped your hands over your mouth as soon as you said the “L” word. 

He chuckled. “I don’t know. People have always seemed to view me as a good friend but not a potential love interest. I haven’t had one since a long time ago, and that made me rethink if I could ever date again.”

Gently he laid his hands onto yours that were situated on the bench as he turned his full attention to you now. 

“And funny enough, I’m pretty sure I have feelings for you too. The moment I saw you playing Summer on the piano that first day we met, I knew there was something different about you. And I am so glad that eventually we got close to one another.”

After that, Jacob finally took in a deep breath before turning his direction back to you, which made you gulped for a second. “I think it wouldn’t be fair for me to not give you a proper response to your confession to me, no?” 

Oh, god. It’s here. “S-so…what are your thoughts, Jacob? Was the song okay?”

“Y/N. It was far beyond just okay. It was a masterpiece, and I loved how quirky you are with the lyrics. It was something else, but it suited my taste.” 

As he finally intertwined his fingers with yours, he inched his face closer to yours until they were centimetres apart. 

“I accept the proposal, Y/N.” He smiled.

“Y-you…you do?” You asked weakly as if you were already not melting enough from the tension and heat. 

“Will you give me a chance, Y/N?” There was this glistening in his eyes, and he looked exactly like Puss in Boots from the animation that both you and Yujin loved watching when you were kids.

“If you’re ready to deal with me, of course,” you stammered. 

He gave you the biggest smile before pulling you into a warm embrace. “More than ready, Y/N.” 

As you sunk into his embrace and took in his scent, you rested your chin upon his shoulders and stayed just like that briefly before Jacob broke off the hug and gently grabbed both of your shoulders, his eyes now landing on your lips. 

“May I?” 

Without giving a proper answer, you immediately shut your eyes, indicating that it was a yes in your books. Jacob chuckled at that for a while before leaning in to give a peck on your lips. 

The sweet moment was then ruined by a ruffling noise coming from behind as both you and Jacob turned towards its direction. Sure enough, you found your cousin Yujin emerging from one of the trees with her phone in hand, recording the whole session. 

“Now, that is what I call a successful indirect confession!” She exclaimed. 

“Miss Ahn Yujin don’t you even dare—” you quickly threatened her before you took off running towards where she was, and she did the same but ran away from you instead. 

“You will be sleeping on the streets tonight!” You yelled.

“Try me, Y/N!” She replied. 

Jacob watched as the two of you began chasing each other around the park, and he couldn’t help but giggle as he laid back and propped one arm on the bench, just admiring everything about you. 

“Little did you know Y/N, that you also got me thinking nonsense about you all day every day.”

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[lukesvangelista]

𝐖𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊ˡᵉ⁷⁷

in which luke is your brother’s best friend.

warnings; pining, heavy make out session (but not quite smut), going after a sibling’s friend, little bit of an age gap (but totally legal i promise)

The music from the party throughout your house pulsed in your ears, your eyes blinded by the flashing lights that your older brother Max had set up in the living room. Luke was back in Toronto for the summer after his season with the Preds ended, and your brother thought there was no better way to celebrate than by getting black out drunk on a Friday night.

While a house party wasn’t your usual scene, you had to hand it to him - he had gone all out. In the middle of your kitchen island, a makeshift bar had been set up and boasted an array of drinks—beer, seltzers, and, of course, hard liquor. Nearby, your dining table was practically collapsing under the weight of takeout and finger foods. Laughter erupted as groups formed and dissolved, the animated conversations blending with the rhythm of the music.

Some guests, half of whose names you didn’t even know, gravitated towards the packed living room, where couches provided a safe place for French kissing and unfortunately, much more. The thought of what could go down on those couches practically made you sick, and you wanted nothing more than to find respite in a quieter area. So, naturally, you gravitated to your room.

Luke was in the kitchen talking to Max when he noticed your disappearance. It was fairly early in the night, but Max had already had one too many, and as much as Luke loved his best friend, he would rather be spending time with you. He wouldn’t admit to anyone, but the hardest part of Luke’s time in Nashville this past season was his lack of seeing you, “Hey, Max, I’m gonna head to the bathroom, alright? I’ll meet you back here soon!” Luke shouted over the music blasting, but Max was too busy to notice, so he slipped away easily enough.

Once in your room, you collapsed on your bed, quickly reaching over to shuffle a random playlist. You were trying to focus hard on the lyrics of “Lovers Rock”, but the truth is that you couldn’t keep your mind from wandering to the brown-haired boy downstairs.

It’s no secret that from preschool and onward, Luke Evangelista and your older brother Max had been inseparable, their friendship an unbreakable bond forged over girls, shared secrets, countless adventures, and most importantly (to them), their hockey careers. They had always been the perfect balance of humor and seriousness, hard work and slacking off, and, when it came to you, kindness and smallmindedness.

With three years between you and Max, he had always viewed you as the annoying little sister. Growing up, you didn’t have many friends, which meant that oftentimes, you would ask to hangout with him and Luke. And, oftentimes, that question would lead to Max slamming his bedroom door in your face. Luke, however, was different. Whenever he would come over and see you alone while Max was off doing something else, he would always offer to tag along. He would ask you about your favorite movies, songs, and books, and would even let you join some games of street hockey and pond hockey when the weather was nice. It didn’t take long for you to grow comfortable with Luke, his presence as an older brother figure becoming all too familiar in your life. Yet, amidst the comfort and familiarity, subtle shifts began to occur as the two of you grew older. A lingering glance here, a touch that lasted a moment too long there—small, almost imperceptible signs that something more profound was stirring beneath the surface.

Luke had been Max’s best friend for as long as you could remember. Growing up, he was like another brother to you, always around, always apart of your family. But recently, something had shifted. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it had started, but your feelings for Luke had changed. And, if you weren’t mistaken, his feelings for you had changed as well.

And Max knew nothing of it.

The sound of footsteps outside of your door made your heart skip a beat. A gentle knock followed, and you knew who it was before he even spoke.

“Y/N, it’s Luke. Can I come in?”

You froze, but tried to hide it as best as you could, “Sure,” you replied, trying to keep your voice steady.

Luke opened the door and stepped inside, closing it softly behind him. He looked around your room, a place he had been countless times over the years, but tonight felt different. “I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Luke spoke softly, nodding toward the direction of your phone.

“You’re not interrupting,” you assured him, sitting up slowly to pause the music. He smiled softly, gently asking for permission to move closer. You nodded.

He took a seat on the edge of your bed, a little closer to you than he ever had before. Turning his head to look at you, he sighed, “I just wanted to talk.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, a look of slight confusion etched across your face. It wasn’t rare for Luke to hang out in your room whenever he wanted to get away from tons of overwhelming activity, but this was different, and quite honestly made you a little nervous, “About what?” you asked, your curiosity piqued.

He rubbed his thumb across his nose, which had forever been one of his nervous habits. Throughout your guys’ childhoods, you had noticed it countless times - when he and Max performed in the fifth grade talent show, when he watched Canada win gold at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and when he was called up to play for Nashville for the first time. But you had never noticed it as intensely as you had in this moment, “About us,” he said, his voice just barely above a whisper.

Your heart raced. You had been hoping for this conversation for the longest time, but were now suddenly terrified of it. Nervously, you made eye contact with him, flames of his own anxiety dancing in his warm brown eyes, “What about us?”

Luke looked at you, sincerity extinguishing the anxious fire that was previously burning in his eyes, “I’ve been feeling something for awhile now, and I think you have too. I just… I just don’t want to hide it anymore.”

You felt a rush of relief mixed with nervous excitement as you struggled to process Luke’s words. Nashville Predators star Luke Evangelista just admitted his feelings for you. The boy that you had known since you were two years old had just admitted his feelings for you. Your older brother’s best friend had just admitted his feelings for you. You smiled quickly, replying almost instantly, “I feel the same way, Luke. I’ve been terrified to say anything because of Max.”

Luke nodded, his thumb dropping from his nose as his confidence began to grow more and more by the minute, “I know. But he’s not here now, and I don’t want to waste any more time pretending.”

With those words, the space between the two of you seemed to disappear. Luke leaned in slowly, giving you plenty of time to pull away if you wanted to. But you didn’t. Instead, you closed the distance, your lips meeting in a tender, hesitant kiss.

The kiss deepened, and soon the two of you were lost in each other. Luke’s hands gently cradled your face, and you ran your fingers through his wavy locks, pulling him closer. Every touch, every movement felt electric, charged with the intensity of your guys’ long neglected feelings.

For a moment, you pulled apart, breathless. “Are you okay?” Luke asked you, his forehead resting against yours.

You nodded, a shy smile playing on your lips, “More than okay.”

Luke kissed you again, this time more passionately. The two of you fell back onto the bed, your bodies pressing together, all of the noise of the world outside of your room fading away. It was just the two of you, both you and Luke finally giving in to what each of you wanted.

Time seemed to stop to stand still as you explored each other, learning the curves and lines of each other’s bodies, memorizing the taste and feel of each kiss. It was as if the both of you were making up for all the moments that you had kept your feelings hidden.

Eventually, you lay side by side, tangled in each others arms, your breathing slowly returning to normal. Luke brushed a strand of hair from your face, his eyes filled with a mixture of affection and wonder.

“This changes everything, doesn’t it?” you murmured, your voice soft.

Luke sighed, pressing a soft kiss to the top of your head, “Yes,” he agreed. “But I think it’s for the better.”

You traced your fingers on his bare chest as you nodded, speaking quickly, “I don’t want to tell him just yet.”

“Then we won’t,” Luke reassured, his fingers intertwining with yours, “we have all the time in the world, pretty girl.”

You nodded, feeling a sense of peace and security wash over you. The two of you would have to navigate this new situation, figure out how to tell Max, which scared the hell out of you (and Luke, but he wasn’t going to admit that to you at this moment). But in that moment, all that mattered was that you and Luke were together.

As you drifted off to sleep, wrapped safely in Luke’s embrace, you knew that whatever the future held, you would face it side by side (even if that meant forcing Luke out of your house through your bedroom window, or having an escape route at all times for the time being). And that was more than enough.

a/n; special thanks to @babygirlboeser for proofreading!!

[whore4hockeymen]

Jealousy

~Trevor Zegras~

y’all don’t understand what this man does to me

no hate the Willy in this, I’m absolutely in love with that man, I just needed a guy to use. he’s portrayed as an asshole but i don’t actually see him like this lol.

TW: Fighting, Cussing, Not full-blow smut but very suggestive at end

word count: 1433

Trevor’s POV

Trevor was thankful for having a drop-dead gorgeous girlfriend, but at times like these, he wished that he could put a plastic bag over your face. No, not just your face, your whole body. The two of you were at a media party with the Toronto Maple Leafs, just before the game that was tonight. And you had decided to wear the most mouth-watering, toe-curling, hottest dress ever, which he definitely made a note to thank you for later.

However, the dress drew the wandering eyes of too many people that Trevor was comfortable with. He gripped your waist, slightly embarrassed of the territorial feelings he had over you. But he worked goddamn hard to get you, he wasn’t letting you go. Unfortunately, Trevor was pulled away for an interview and you gave him a kiss before leaving to the bar.

“Are you confident in the game tonight?” The interviewer asked.

Trevor nodded, “Oh yeah for sure, I’m not saying the Leafs are bad, but I think we’ve honed our skills enough to beat them.”

The interviewer continued to talk, but Trevor’s eyes wandered away to you at the bar, talking to Troy Terry’s fiance and laughing. He went to look away, but saw William Nylander stride up to you and do a blatantly obvious sweep of your body. Trevor tightened his fist, but said nothing and kept watching the interaction between you and Nylander. He watched as Nylander stood a little too close to you for comfort and brushed his hand against your arm.

“Yeah that’s it,” Trevor said, ignoring the protests from the interviewer and walking over you. He draped a protective arm over your shoulder and plastered on a smile, “Hey baby,” he said to you and turned to William, “Hey Willy.”

William smiled, “Hey Trevor, I was just talking to your beautiful girlfriend here.”

Trevor’s teeth clenched, “Ah, well we best be going now, see you on the rink.”

He steered you away from Nylander and out of the room, you turned and draped your arms around his neck, his hands coming to rest on your hips, “I’m gonna go home and change and be right back for the game,” you said, smiling up at him.

All of Trevor’s annoyance sweeped away at the sight of your smile, “Aw, but I like this dress.” He laughed as you rolled your eyes and gave him a quick kiss, turning around to leave, “Wear my jersey, yeah?”

You grinned, “Always!”

A few hours later, the arena was filled with fans, chatting, and music. Trevor grinned as he did his warm-ups, he always loved the atmosphere of the games, and the fact that he saw you sitting up at the glass wearing his jersey made him happier.

The first period kicked off smoothly, with Troy scoring the first goal, but Matthews scored a goal at the last second. The second period was similar, Vatrano scored a goal and so did Marner. It was in the middle of the third period where things started to get rocky, Nylander had scored a goal and they kept pushing offense.

The puck flew to the boards and Trevor quickly skated over, but William was also there, the two of them struggling over control. That’s when everything went downhill.

“Your girlfriend is a looker eh? Mind if I have a hit?” Nylander said with a cocky smirk.

Trevor’s head snapped up, he barely even noticed Troy come in and take the puck, “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

William leaned in, “I said, I want to fuck your girlfriend,” he pronounced each word slowly. That’s when Trevor lost it, he shoved William back into the boards and pinned him there, ignoring the shouts from the players on the ice.

“Keep talking Nylander, I dare you,” Trevor said, his hands starting to visibly shake.

“Why are you being so defensive Zegras? Scared that you aren’t pleasing her enough? Hey, maybe I can make her scream my name and you can watch to take notes.”

Trevor shoved him again and threw his stick down, taking off his gloves and throwing the first punch. William responded by taking off his own gloves and fighting back, launching himself at Trevor. The referees tried to get in between them, but he shoved them away. William landed a good hit on Trevor, he could feel his lip split open and start to bleed. He smirked and wiped at the blood with his thumb, proceeding to hit William in the jaw. Their helmets had come off by now, laying discarded on the ice. After a few more hits, and a little bit more spilt blood, the refs were able to rangle them away from each other.

-

Reader’s POV

You’ve seen Trevor in plenty of fights, but you had never seen him that mad before. You couldn’t hear what Willy said, but it sent your boyfriend into an absolute frenzy. The rest of the third period went by in a blur, with the Ducks being able to score two more points and winning the game.

Soon enough, you were driving the car back home with Trevor in the passenger seat, completely silent. You could tell he needed to cool off, so you gave him space. Once the two of you got to your shared apartment, he went straight into the bedroom and you went into the kitchen. You decided to grab him an ice pack for his busted lip and went to the bedroom. He sat at the edge, hands holding his head.

“Trev,” you said softly, he looked up at you and you walked over to him. Sweeping his hair back with one hand and gently pressing the ice pack to his lip with the other, “Are you ok?” He didn’t answer, he just stared at you for a moment before removing your hand gently. He stood up and grabbed your waist, guiding you back until you hit a wall, “Trev?” you asked.

Suddenly, his lips were on yours, tasting slightly like copper. He deepened the kiss, softly biting your lower lip and slipping his tongue into your mouth. Your hands wander up to his hair, tugging on it slightly, to which he hummed in approval. A tap on your thighs signaled you to jump up and wrap your legs around him, you could feel him pressing against the area that was getting increasingly tense.

You tugged at his hair again as his lips wandered down your jaw line and to the soft spot between your shoulder and neck, definitely leaving a mark there, “Trevor, please,” you whined, hips pressing into his.

He smiled against your neck and went back up to attach to your lips. He turned the two of you around and placed you onto the bed, kneeling just above you. You watched in fascination as he took off his shirt, revealing his toned abs from his years of being an athlete. You immediately ran your heads down his chest and across his stomach, never tired of exploring every inch of it.

You went to take off your own jersey, but was stopped by his hands grabbing yours, “Keep it on, I like it on you.”

You smiled as he dipped for another kiss and slowly started to inch his way down your body. He went to slide down your leggings and panties, with your help kicking them off. Your legs trembled in anticipation as he stayed there at the base of your shins.

He picked your leg up slightly and pressed a soft kiss to it, “You’re all mine, you got that?”

You whined as his lips traveled up your leg to the inside of your thigh, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Unfortunately, he stopped there, teasingly drawing circles with his fingers on your other thighs.

“I asked, you got that?” he said again. You nodded your head, just wanting him to move his mouth a few more inches. He hummed against your thigh, an agonizing feeling, “Use your words sweetheart.”

He looked up at you through his thick lashes, “I’m all yours,” you said.

He smirked and finally moved, you ended up saying that phrase a lot that night.

[equallyshaw]

connor bedard x k hughes au! ↳ team parties & karaoke shenanigans

↳ part of the Connor bedard x kailey hughes au - star crossed lovers (: ↳ au masterlist !

↳ takes place after 4 months of friendship, at an end-of-the-year party for the Blackhawks in April. (April 2024) ↳ quinn mention ! warnings: none! word count: 2.0k

it was not as if kailey had been dreading this night for a few weeks at this point, but she was nervous. she was nervous that somebody would recognize her and she'd be out to her brothers. well, the only person with real connection would be alex vlasic but him and jack didn't even speak to one another anymore. something kailey had taken issue from the gecko. anywho, it was now a quarter past 6 and connor would be picking her up any minute now. she had just put the last gold earring in her ear when she heard a knock at her and her best friends beccas apartment. she quickly exited her room and headed over towards the door, and opened it to see connor dressed remarkably dashing. she smiled widely, allowing him to walk in. "woah." connor said pulling her hand in his, and making her do a small twirl. she blushed profusely, letting a small giggle out. "you don't look half bad yourself." she hummed, leaning in closer. he met her without a second to lose, and pulled her in for a quick peck. "you almost ready to go?" he questioned, as she leaned away. "yes! just need to grab my jacket and purse." she said going to grab it, from the counter. he extended his hand out for her, and she quickly took it before they walked out.

_

the two swayed softly to the music, as they stood talking to some of his teammates and their partners. "holy shit, you don't say?" she heard to the right of her and her eyes instantly went wide. she looked over along with connor, and she saw mackenzie entwistle grinning like a cheshire cat. "oh this is so not happening." she said trying to hide behind her hand. "baby hughes!" mackenzie said laughing, as he stopped right next to them. "i swear to god mack..." she said already feeling the dread of him finding out about them. "what's going on?" connor asked, genuinely confused. mack laughed along with his girlfriend, layla. "please please don't say anything!" the littlest hughes begged. connor continued to look between the two before mack spoke up, "her oldest brother quinn and i used to play back in toronto growing up. him and i are still friends. that's why missy here is freaking out." he said ruffling her hair a bit. she pushed his hand away, and shook her head. "don't worry hughes, i wont say a thing." he said pretending to 'lock' his lips and throw away the key. layla then spoke up, "i promise ill make sure he doesn't say a word." and kailey smiled. "thankyou layla." she said and the girl nodded back.

"so youve known vlassy and macker for years, huh?" connor questioned and she looked up at him. "hmm, unfortunately, my brothers presence can be felt throughout north america." she hummed before finishing her drink. connor looked at her, questions swirling his mind. he'd remember to ask about what she meant, at some point.

"we should do karaoke!" tessa, alex vlasic's longtime girlfriend said from across the hightop table. kailey groaned, leaning her head back into connors shoulder who just laughed in response. "please kailes!!!! we have too!" tessa said already standing up, and jumped in place a few times. kailey groaned before she felt connor place his hands on her hips, squeezing just a bit to make her tickling. "fine!" she said as her hands went to cover his, she shook them off of her and glared at him. she playfully pointed at him, "don't you dare." she grinned as he held up his hands in innocence. "what should we sing?" kailey questioned, with the two walking up to the karaoke booth. "ouu! what about don't stop believing?" tessa questioned, and kailey nodded. "perfect!" she said as they selected the song, and they heard the familiar chords of don't stop believing begin. the two turned around to the group, which began to make their way towards the stage.

tessa pointed at her to do the first bit of lyrics, "just a small town girl livin' in a lonely world." she sung like it was second nature. having heard it so many times growing up, she didn't need the lyrics. neither did tessa. the two belted out the rest of the song, with the crowd beginning to clap at a certain point. tessa and kailey were having the time of their lives, up there. connor looked on with adoration, watching as kailey let loose and went all in on the song. the two finished off on a high note and the team let them know how much they loved it. the two of them laughed loudly, both of them ready to exit the stage. "wait!!!! encore!!!" the group demanded, and the two shook their heads. they'd had enough attention to last them for a few years. "wait, bedsy get up there!" nick foligno demanded, pushing him towards the stage. "bedsy bedsy bedsy!" was chanted, as tessa pulled him up before he could decline. he playfully glared at nick who held a wicked smile, watching the young rookie squirm. "which song?" kailey questioned, and connor walked over. they scrolled for a minute before deciding on, summer nights from grease.

and those two put on a show, with connor coming out of his shell even more.

connor could never find the exact words to use, but he was incredibly grateful for this one. kailey brought out everything good about him, brought him out of his comfort zone and shell. before her, he would have never gotten up there for karaoke. he would have never taken on the song's role with anybody else, but her.

the boys ate it all up, making sure to get enough videos and pictures for future blackmail bait.

the two finished the performance, with kailey in his arms. the look on their faces was pure amusement, wonder, and adoration for one another.

_

a little while later the couple were sending their goodbyes and hugs to the teammates and wags. she would miss some of the girlfriends and players, mostly the younglings. including kevin korchinski, lukas reichel and phillip kurashev. the two then headed over to nick foligno and his wife, janelle who had opened up their home and arms for connor from the gecko. and once kailey came along, janelle took the youngest hughes under her wing too. their home had become a sanctuary for the two, and gave connor much-needed normalcy in his chaotic life. janelle pulled the girl into her arms, "we'll let you know what happens, im sure nick will tell connor as soon as he knows." she said to kailey who nodded. nick was still in conversations with the team to either extend or retire, and come in for a role within the front office. but whatever happens happens, connor will forever look up to the historic player and cherish their friendship. nick and kailey quickly hugged, "good luck with finals!" he said as they parted. she nodded, thanking him before the older couple walked off.

"did you wanna walk back or get a car?" connor asked as the two were putting on their coats. kailey looked down at her heels, and connor laughed. with a smile on his face while taking her hand, "car it is." he hummed.

awhile later the two headed up to her apartment. they stopped right out of her apartment door, and connor took ahold of her hand once again. "thankyou for tonight, for making me so comfortable getting up there with you. and thankyou for putting up with my teammates." he finished with jokingly, and she grinned. "ofcourse, thankgoodness i have had much practice in the department." she teased. "you sure you don't want me to come over tomorrow and help you study?" he questioned as he pulled her into his arms. she shook her head, "no its ok. becca is here with me. besides, you have an apartment to pack up mr." she said smoothing long sleeve shirt. he shook his head, "yknow when somebody typically offers their unsolicited help and free help might i add- they usually take up the offer." he teased and she laughed heartedly.

"good to know, ill let them know when i could really use the help." she said coyly, and he stuck his tongue out. "yeah yeah yeah bedard." she said tapping a hand to his chest a few times before sliding in her key, she opened it and set down her bag and heels right next to the door, before resuming her embrace with connor. "promise me you'll call me when you take breaks or when your done?" he questioned, and she nodded. "i promise. honors scout." she hummed and he shook his head with a smile. "well i wont keep you anymore, but thankyou for tonight." he said softly. her heart swelled, as she nodded. "thankyou for tonight, and for being you." she smiled before she leaned in for a kiss. he met her halfway, savoring this kiss. he wasn't sure when they would see each other again. he had offered to finish the semester with her, but she told him to go home. and when the littlest hughes was serious, there was no getting her out of the mindset. they pulled apart, and she pecked his cheek real quickly before stepping inside her apartment. "let me know when you get back." she said and he nodded leaning in once more, and in the next moment he was gone.

becca was on the couch, when she walked in. "how was it?" she questioned her best friend and all kailey could do was smile. "i did karoake." she hummed, laying down on the couch across from her. "wait what? the kailey hughes sang in front of people?!" becca gasped, and all kailey could do was blush. "yep. did don't stop believing with tessa, summers night connor, and paradise dashboard with him too." she said as chucked a pillow at becca. "oh im SO asking tessa for proof." she grinned, quickly texting tessa. kailey groaned as she heard her phone go off from the other room.

she made her way over, and saw that it was quinn. she accepted the facetime, and headed over towards her washroom to take her makeup off. "all dressed up? where did you go?" he asked as she propped her phone against the mirror. she rolled her eyes playfully, "nowhere. just with becca." she said taking her micellar water and putting some on a cotton pad. "alright. well mom wanted me to call about our trip in june to upstate new york." he explained, and she nodded. she knew that middle july was when she was going to see cconnor in vancouver; though the family had no idea about him or the trip. she was gonna lie and say it was with becca, knowing they'd take her word for it. she also had a sliver of hope, that she'd tell her brothers beforehand, but needed it to be the perfect moment. "i can arrange your flight with mine - kails." he said grabbing her attention. she looked at the phone, and gave him a small smile, and she went back to focusing on her skincare. "sorry, long night." she lied, wiping her face from her face wash. he nodded, continuing on with the itinerary for the trip. she sniffled, before yawning. quinn continued to speak but looked at his sister, inspecting her demeanor. she was out of it, sort of. she seemed dazed from exhaustion and dazed from whatever she had done that evening.

he was about to speak again, but received a text message from Mackenzie. he opened it up curiously, and saw two videos, with what appeared to be kailey and some guy. "can i call you back tomorrow morning? im really tired." kailey said pulling quinn from his thoughts, "ofcourse. love you kiwi." he smiled. "love you too q, night." she said before hanging up. he pulled up the messages back up, and clicked the first video. it was kailey and connor bedard, singing summer nights & then paradise dashboard. she looked completely free, and so relaxed up there with him. it looked as if she had let her guard down in front of them, and quinn was happy that she had found that. she had found - even by association - a group of people that had nothing to do with him or his brothers, and looked like she adored by all.

his brothers - well more specifically jack - could never see this video. not until kailey brought up connor on her own.

hope you all enjoyed! please like and reblog if you did (:

[letsgetrowdy43]

can you please do something with the prompt “I've known you since... forever. I can't imagine my life without you" for luke hughes? <3

Liquor Fueled Kisses

He was ignoring her, he’d drunkenly kissed her at the party following the boy’s win at the Littler Caesars arena for ‘Duel for the D’.  He had been on a winner high, and the tequila flowing through his bloodstream had given him just the right amount of confidence he’d lacked for years.

She was his childhood best friend, the girl he had met in Toronto while his family was living there, who had vacationed with him every summer at lake Michigan ever since their meeting, the two of them both committing to Umich in hopes of being reunited for good.

She’d been dancing with the boys when Luke had pulled her away from the group, her arms wrapped around his neck as they sang along with the slow song playing over the speaker. He slowly leaned in and captured her lips on his as they continued to sway to the music. 

It was sweet, it was warm, but mainly it was a mistake.

Luke had never meant to reveal to her that he had some sort of hidden crush on her, that was a secret he was willing to take to the grave in order to keep their friendship intact.

That led us to this moment, she showed up on the sophomore’s doorstep after a week of ignored calls and texts that had been left unanswered.  “Hey Yn, what brings you here” Dylan opened the door with wide eyes, all of the boys knowing that Luke had been locked up in his room with anxiety about the whole situation. “Hello Duker, I haven’t been here in a week and the house is a mess,” she said with a dry laugh looking over at the mess of dishes on the counters and dirty clothes around the kitchen and living room. “We haven’t had our resident mother here in a week, we’ve been dealing with divorce just as horribly as you have” Mark joked making her brows furrow, watching as Mackie slapped the boy in the arm for the unneeded comment.

“Luke and I are still friends?” she deadpanned. “Have you ever really been just friends?” Ethan said skeptically, “just think about that for a moment”

She swallowed harshly and looked around at the boys, “I never said I just wanted to be just friends, he’s the one that made it awkward”  All of the boy’s jaws dropped, their faces breaking out into smirks as Mark pulled her in front of Luke’s door, “talk to him. Fix it. Tell him what you just told us,” he knocked on the door and ran away from the room.

“Duker this is like the fourth time-“ Luke opened the door aggravated, but his expression grew soft as he saw her standing in the door frame, “oh” “I think we need to have a talk,” she said as he ushered her into the room, shutting the door behind her. “Yeah, probably”

She sat down on the end of the bed, as he sat in his previous spot, “we kissed” she said quietly. “We did” "And I get that you think it was a mistake,” she said as his brows furrowed, “so please stop ignoring me and let’s just pretend it never happened,” she said quickly looking up for him to give her some sort of sign that they were okay

“Do think it was a mistake?” He asked looking up at her. “Do you want me to be truthful?” He picked at the skin around his nail, nervously, as he looked back down “I never want you to feel the need to lie to me” She took a deep-breath, “then no I don’t think it was a mistake, it actually meant a lot to me” she awkwardly turned to Luke, trying to see any sort of reaction on his face.

Luke sat stunned for a second, nodding but no words left his lips as he stared at her, “but that doesn’t mean that it has to happen again, I just want us to be good again, talking at least” he was still silent. “I've known you since... forever. I can't imagine my life without you,” her eyes filled with tears as she stared at him, “so just say something, please.”

“You never asked me if I thought it was a mistake, you just kinda assumed” “Luke, you ignored me like the plague for a week, I’m pretty sure I know when someone regrets their drunken actions” “Ask me” She wiped her eyes and looked over at him, rolling her eyes as he smirked back at her, “Luke do you think it was a mistake” “No, I think it should’ve happened much sooner than it did”

Her worried expression dropped as a smile broke out on her face, “you’re such a dick, you had me really worried there” she said moving up from the bottom of the bed to sitting face-to-face with him

“So if I were to kiss you again you’d be okay with it” “I’d probably want you to do it again, and again, and again some more” She grinned as his hand cupped the plush of her cheek and pulled her face closer. “Good cause I was thinking the same thing”

[spine-buster]

So High School ft. Adam Cole | Chapter 3

Because he sat on the outside seat, Austin was always delegated to the right earphone, and because she sat on the window seat, Violet was always delegated to the left earphone.  It became a habit for her to just hand him an earphone the moment he sat beside her on the bus.  Likewise, it became a habit for him to begin asking more about her, or her day, or what sorts of things she was studying at St. Anne’s that were different than what he was studying at Lancaster West.  They’d talk about their other interests – hers: student council, the author Zadie Smith, Seventeen magazine, and the TV show The O.C; his: the Lancaster West wrestling team, hanging out with his friends, Rolling Stone magazine, and the TV show One Tree Hill.  Violet promised to start watching One Tree Hill, and Austin The O.C.

Austin was excited to learn new things about Violet.  He noticed himself looking forward to getting on the bus now and spending that time with her in the mornings and afternoons.  He began to notice just how confident her voice and demeanour was.  He noticed the freckles that dotted her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.  He began to stop and look back at her before entering the front doors or Lancaster West High.

Violet was excited to learn new things about Austin.  She noticed herself looking forward to seeing him get on the bus and spending time with him in the mornings and afternoons.  She began to notice just how articulate and dynamic he was.  She noticed the crinkle of his eyes whenever he’d smile or laugh at something she said.  She began to wave to him slightly when he stopped and looked back at her before entering the front doors of Lancaster West High. 

Despite how much they were opening up to one another, Violet always felt Austin was holding something back.

***

Violet was giddy as she walked with her girlfriends towards Julia Steinbreaker’s house for her birthday.  She told her parents her birthday party would be on the main floor while her parents were up in their bedroom, but Mr. and Mrs. Steinbreaker’s parents were really in Florida for the weekend.  She had a curfew of midnight.  Julia’s brother was a senior at St. Augustine College and some of his friends would be there, too.  It was going to be the best.

When she and her friends walked in the house, they were greeted with loud music and a bunch of their friends and acquaintances.  Word must have gotten around – that, or Julia’s brother told a lot more of his friends than Violet though, and those friends told their friends.  Some other girls from St. Anne’s were there, and there were others she knew attended Lancaster West and other public schools in the city.  She and her friends walked into the kitchen, already eyeing some of the boys.  She grabbed a Diet Coke and cracked it open.  Her friend Beth grabbed her hand and led her through the house to the family room where she spotted Julia’s older brother hanging out with his lacrosse team buddies.

And then she saw Austin.

Violet stopped dead in her tracks when she did.  Beth almost dragged her but stopped when she noticed her staring at someone.  “Austin?”

He didn’t see her at first.  But when he did, his face was just as shocked as hers.  “Violet?”

“Hey!” she exclaimed, letting go of Beth’s hand to approach him and hug him.  Well, this was new.  This was the first time they had acknowledged each other outside of the bus.  They couldn’t even do this in a grocery store with their mothers present just a few weeks ago.  Austin hugged her back, trying not to smile too much and lose his cool.  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“My buddy Travis is friends with Julia’s brother from their soccer team or something, so a couple of my buddies and I came,” he explained.  “Julia – St. Anne’s, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, yeah of course,” Violet nodded her head, trying not to feel too overwhelmed.  He existed outside of the bus.  He was real.  “What a small world, eh?”

“That’s the Toronto poking through, isn’t it?” he quipped.

“Who’s this?”

Austin and Violet whipped their heads towards Beth, who was looking between them with raised eyebrows.  “Beth, this is my friend Austin,” Violet said.  She couldn’t believe she’d just said those words out loud to another person.  My friend Austin.  “He goes to Lancaster West.  We take the bus into the city together.”

“Hello, Austin who goes to Lancaster West,” Beth smiled wryly.  She looked back at Violet.  “You didn’t tell me you had friends at Lancaster West.”

Violet watched as Austin’s smile dropped a little at the way she said Lancaster West.  Like the school was riffraff.  Like it was beneath them to have friends there when it most certainly wasn’t.  “Well I do,” she said.  “We’ve been taking the bus together for forever.”

Beth’s eyebrows rose.  Before she could respond, a boy yelled her name and presented himself in front of them, to which Beth jumped into him excitedly to hug him.  Violet and Austin gave each other a quick glance.  Beth soon focused her attention back on Violet.  “Violet, this is Carson, the guy I was telling you about.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“What are you drinking?” he asked.

“Just a Diet Coke.”

“You’ll definitely want some rum with that,” he smiled.  “Are you a Malibu or Morgan girl?”

“No no, no rum for me,” she shook her head.  She’d had alcohol before, but in the presence of her parents.  They’d ship her off to a convent if she got home and they smelled rum on her breath, especially considering she had lied to them to come to the party in the first place.

“Oh come on, I know you St. Anne’s girls love to party,” he pushed.  “Nobody’s gonna tell Jesus, I swear.”

“I’m alright with my Diet Coke, really.”

“Think of it as unholy water.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“I could even pour it right into your mouth—”

“—She said no,” Austin piped up.  Everybody involved in the interaction looked at him.  “Just leave it.”

“Whatever,” Carson rolled his eyes, putting his arm around Beth’s shoulders.  “You want some vodka?”

“Yes please.”

Beth left with Carson, leaving Violet and Austin alone with one another.  She bit her bottom lip before meeting his eyes.  “Thanks Austin.”

“No problem,” he said.  “I hope you came with other friends besides her.”

Thankfully, she did, and before long she was able to introduce Harper and Abigail to Austin, who were much more friendly than Beth had been.  Austin even introduced them all to the friends he came with, and soon they were all talking and having fun together.  Austin went to the kitchen to get Violet another Diet Coke, and when he came back, she saw he hadn’t opened it.  She smiled to herself.

The house got more crowded – people from Lancaster West, who Austin said hi and spoke to, and some more girls from St. Anne’s.  There was a boy from St. Augustine College’s student council that Violet knew and had a crush on, so tried flirting with him to no avail.  Harper and Abigail paired off with some boys they met.  Some rowdy boys started a drinking game, which encouraged so many others to be obnoxious.  Soon enough, with Harper and Abigail paired off, Violet found herself alone, so she went back into the kitchen to get another Diet Coke.  There, some boys in Lancaster West soccer t-shirts began talking to her.  She was polite and engaged in the conversation, but she really wanted to find Harper or Abigail.

“How about I get you something to mix with that Coke,” the taller one said, grabbing the mickey of vodka he’d brought to the party from the pocket in his jeans.

“Oh no, that’s okay.  I’m not drinking.”

The guy chuckled, glancing at his friend.  “Of course not.  Come on girl, you need to loosen up.”

“I’m perfectly fine, thanks.”

“You know, you’d be hotter if you weren’t so stuck up.”

Violet immediately went red.  “What?”

“You St. Anne’s girls are all the same.  Stuck up daddy’s little rich girls.  Maybe if you took off your fucking chastity belt you’d be better.”

Violet was speechless, her jaw gaping open from not knowing what to say.  With her cheeks already red and her eyes already watering at just how rude the boys were being, she tried to think of something, but couldn’t.  Her emotions were getting the best of her.  Her embarrassment was getting the best of her. 

“Quit being such fucking assholes and leave her alone,” she suddenly heard Austin’s voice from behind her.  She couldn’t even spin around to look him in the face, instead waiting until he appeared at her side.

The boys suddenly seemed more nervous than before.  “Au—Austin—”

“Fuck off,” he warned, scaring them enough that they left the kitchen.  He looked her in the eye, noticing the redness in her cheeks.  “Are you okay?”

Violet felt so embarrassed.  She gripped on to her Diet Coke before backing up to lean against the counter, averting Austin’s eyes.  “I’m fine,” she told him unconvincingly.  “I—I lost all my friends.  They’re all off drinking or with boys.”

Austin saw her body language, saw how defeated she looked, and most of all, how she looked like she was on the verge of tears.  “Hey, this party kinda blows anyway,” he said, getting slightly closer to her.  Want to go somewhere else?”

She finally looked up to meet his eyes.  She’d never been more grateful than in that moment.  “Yes please.”

He nodded once.  “Meet me at the door.  I’ll grab your jacket.”

Violet did as she was told, going to put on her shoes.  Austin appeared with her jean jacket and they left the house inconspicuously.  It was already dark out, but not late – she still had at least two hours to go until curfew.  Austin watched Violet carefully, making sure she was okay, and that she wouldn’t burst into tears at any given moment.  Clearly those guys had struck a nerve.  Once they walked down the driveway and to the sidewalk, he noticed that a few tears had escaped, the wiping of her nose a tell-tale sign, too.  He hated seeing her so emotional about stupid comments some stupid boys made.  “You want to go to Francesco’s?” he asked suddenly, before his mind even realized what he was doing.

“You…you mean the pizza place?”

He nodded.  “There’s no reason those assholes should ruin your night,” he offered.

She nodded shyly, and they began walking down the sidewalk side by side.  After only a few strides, though, she stopped dead in her tracks.  He looked back at her to see what was wrong.  “You don’t think I’m stuck up, do you?” she asked.

“No, I don’t,” Austin’s voice was gentle.  There was a moment of silence where they just stared into each other’s eyes.  Austin hoped she believed him, because he really meant it.  “I think you’re the furthest thing from stuck up.”

Violet nodded, resolved, and began walking again along with him.  They were quiet as they made their way towards Francesco’s, and it was Austin who took the reins once they walked in anyway.  He walked them over to a booth where they sat opposite each other and ordered them both a slice of pizza and a root beer float.  Violet noticed some of the other patrons in the restaurant – a few older couples, probably out on date nights; a big group of high school seniors who were lively but not loud or causing a scene; other local kids in and around their age minding their own business.  She wondered what she looked like to them.

“Can I say something?” Austin asked suddenly.  She didn’t see it because she was people watching and in her own head, but he had been staring at Violet the entire time.  She nodded.  “I think you’re way too smart and way too cool to let what those guys said make you feel this way.”

She cracked a smile for the first time in what felt like a while.  “Thanks Austin.”

“And no offence,” he continued, “Harper and Abigail seem fine, but that Beth girl is a piece of work.”

“Yeah.  I know.  You don’t know the half of it,” she said.  “We became friends in our freshman year because we were in the same math class, but we’ve been growing apart, especially this year,” Violet explained.  “She’s just been…changing.  I mean we both have.  But we’re going in the opposite direction, and I don’t know how far we can stretch before it snaps, you know?”

“It doesn’t seem like you’re anything like each other.  I try to give everybody a chance, but the second she opened her mouth I didn’t get a good vibe from her.”

Violet was silent.  She knew exactly what he was referencing – the Lancaster West comment.  “I know, I know.  I didn’t—I didn’t like that comment she made.  I thought it was really awful of her to say it the way she did.”

“If anybody should be called stuck up, it’s her.”

Violet smiled again.  Their waitress brought them their pizza and root beer floats and Austin automatically took a sip out of his.  They spoke about their friends and other people at the party, giving each other notes.  Who to avoid.  Who was alright.  Everybody knew the teenage years were a minefield for social interaction, so it was nice to get advice from someone else.  The taste of the pizza perked up Violet, and soon she and Austin were laughing together again.  Conversations about friends turned into conversations about school and teachers, and conversations about school and teachers turned into conversations about parents.

“Are your parents already talking about university like my parents are?” Violet asked.

Austin shrugged.  “We’ve talked about it, but they’re not pushing it down my throat or anything just yet.  Are yours?”

Violet nodded her head.  “When your dad’s a university professor it’s kind of inevitable.  I mean, when both your parents are as educated as my parents are, it’s kind of inevitable,” she said.

“Do they want you to go to UPenn?”

“It’s the easiest because we would get discounted tuition.  But my top choices are UPenn, Georgetown, and Boston University, though I’m probably gonna apply to so many more,” she explained.  “They have the best programs for what I want to study.”

“Which is?”

“I want to go into speech language therapy like my mom,” she said, which made Austin smile.  “What about you?  Have you thought about universities or what you want to study?”

Austin stayed silent for a bit.  “I uh—well, I kind of like history, so I was thinking of that, but I don’t—I don’t know if I like it enough to want to pursue it so seriously, you know?”

He was nervous.  What was he nervous about?  This was a normal conversation between two normal teenagers – surely it wasn’t making him so nervous he couldn’t form a coherent sentence?  She tried to ignore it.  “What about universities?”

“Well, places like what you said are kind of, like, unattainable for me.  Marks wise but also money-wise.  I mean, anywhere I end up going, I’ll, uh, have to take out student loans.  Not looking forward to those.”

It was so clear to her now.  She didn’t want to pry, but they were friends now, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.  She didn’t want Austin to lie to her.  “What aren’t you telling me?” she asked.

Austin looked her in the eye before taking a deep breath.  He needed to get it out of the way now, before their friendship went any further.  It wasn’t exactly an out for her, but she needed to know because it was what motivated him – everything he did was to reach this goal.  He’d rather the judgement come now.  “I want to get into pro wrestling,” he said finally, letting the words linger.

Violet was unsure what he meant at first.  “You mean, like, the Olympic wrestling team?” she asked, knowing he was on the amateur wrestling team at Lancaster West.

“No,” he shook his head.  “Pro wrestling—like WWE.  Wrestling on TV.  It’s—it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since I was nine years old.”

Austin watched Violet’s face carefully.  He watched and waited for confusion, or a brow furrow, or a scowl at the idea of becoming a pro-wrestler instead of going to university.  It wasn’t exactly a normal career choice, and it definitely wasn’t one a high achiever such as Violet or a parent would approve of – his own mother didn’t.  But instead of confusion or a scowl, he watched as Violet’s face came to a realization with a twinkle in her eye.  A giant smile overtook her face.  “Austin…” she began, almost speechless.  “That is so cool.”

It was now him who was confused with a brow furrow.  “Really?”

“Are you kidding?  Of course,” she assured him.  “All everybody else around me can talk about is AP grades and SAT scores for their programs.  That is so different than what everybody around me wants to do, and it’s so cool that you’re so passionate about something that’s so unique that you want to pursue it like you do,” she said, and she meant it whole-heatedly.  She hadn’t quite met anybody like Austin before, and she was so glad he helped her on the bus that day.

“You think so?” Austin asked.

She nodded enthusiastically.  “I think you’d be really good at it.  You’re a very articulate speaker.  I don’t know much about wrestling but I think that’s part of it.  What’s your plan to do it?”

She listened intently as Austin spoke enthusiastically about what he had to do to achieve his dream.  He had very clearly researched every minute detail beforehand and knew the steps to get there.  The wrestling foundation, which is why he joined the wrestling team; the training at a school in a city near them like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh or even Washington D.C.; making a name for himself on what he called “the indies” before a big company like WWE signed him.  His explanation was detailed and meticulous.  The more he told her, the more she envisioned it for him, the more she wanted it for him, too. 

Austin spoke so much and for so long, long after their pizza slices and root beer floats were finished, long after most of the other patrons left Francesco’s and it was just them in their own little world.  They paid and left, and it was only then, walking out into the briskness of the night that Austin realized how late it was.  He looked at his watch and it read 11:40.  His curfew was midnight.  Neither of them wanted to leave.

“I’ll walk you home,” Austin offered without having to be asked.  There was no way he was going to let her walk home alone at this hour of the night anyway.

“Aren’t you—isn’t your curfew midnight, too?”

“I—yeah—but it’s okay—”

“—Hold on,” she said, reaching into her Coach wristlet.  She pulled out her cell phone.  He had completely forgotten she had one of those Blackberry Pearl cell phones.  Just like her iPod, he was shocked to see it.  There was such a different between them.  “What’s your home phone number?”

He told her, and she dialled it.  He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t know why.  His gut trusted her already.  “Hi, Mrs. Jenkins?  My name is Violet Schwarzkopf, I’m one of Austin’s friends,” she began to say in a very, very polite voice.  “Um, my friends all ditched me at the party and Austin offered to walk me home, but I live on Mulberry Street and I know he has a curfew and—and—I was just hoping he won’t get in trouble for being home a bit late.  I don’t want to walk home alone this late at night.”

Austin almost laughed, but settled on a shit-eating grin.  He didn’t want his mom hearing him laughing and getting any ideas.  “Thank you so much Mrs. Jenkins.  I promise this won’t happen again for Austin.  I’m sorry for calling so late.  Goodnight.”

Austin continued smiling at her and she put her phone back in her wristlet.  “You’re like the mom whisperer.  I need you to talk to her all the time.”

Violet chuckled.  “Let’s go.  My parents aren’t as nice.”

They reached her house on Mulberry Street in just about fifteen minutes, with a comfortable five minutes to spare.  Austin knew he shouldn’t have been shocked at the size or the grandeur of it, but he still was.  As one of Manheim’s few historic streets, almost all of the houses were like this.  But Violet’s was even more so, and the front garden was meticulously maintained, too.  Standing on her front porch, they looked at each other.  “Thank you for making this night so much better than it started,” she said.

“You’re welcome.”

She moved to stick her key in the door, and was about to walk in, but hesitated before turning back to face him.  “I meant what I said at Francesco’s.  I think you’d be amazing at pro-wrestling.  I wasn’t just saying that.  Everything you told me just sounds so cool and I’m, like, rooting for you, you know?  Especially if that’s your dream.”

He smiled, practically blushing.  “Thanks, Vi.”

She then did something that he wasn’t expecting: she reached in and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders tightly.  He hugged her back before she pulled away.  “Goodnight Austin.”

“G’night, Vi.  I’ll see you on Monday.”

She opened the door and he got a quick, dimly lit glance at the interior of her house – its hardwood floors and big front mirror and fancy lamp that was lit on a fancy entryway console.  So different to his grandma’s house, which didn’t exactly have any fancy lamps or entryway consoles.  He turned away once he heard the door lock, walking down the driveway before looking up at the house one last time before deciding to run home.

He could use the cardio.

[misshoneyimhome]

Too lost in you

Tags: soft!Auston; Auston Matthews x reader; blurb;

A/N: so this is completely stolen from the movie "Love Actually", the scene where Juliet finds out about Mark's feelings for her - I only altered it a bit ❤️

If you haven't seen the movie, you've missed out on a classic! 😉 or you're too young to be here... or I'm too old to be here 😂

-

Baby, I'm too lost in you Caught in you Lost in everything about you So deep I can't sleep, I can't think I just think about the things you do I'm just too lost in you

*

It was a few weeks after Mitch and Stephanie's wedding, and you were eager to get your hands on the videos Auston had captured throughout the day and evening. You knew he had taken some fantastic shots.

However, when you approached Auston about seeing the videos, he seemed hesitant, leaving you puzzled.

Your relationship with Auston was far from close. He had never made an effort to get to know you, even though you often found yourselves at gatherings or parties with the Toronto Maple Leafs crowd. He rarely engaged in direct conversations with you, and any time you were left alone together by accident, it never lasted more than a couple of minutes. Compared to many of the other guys, Auston was practically a stranger to you.

Despite this, you had heard through the grapevine that Auston had the best videos from the wedding. Given your close friendship with Stephanie, you and some of your girlfriends had decided to embark on a little project for her – some heartfelt video content.

As days passed with Auston avoiding your calls and messages, you decided to take matters into your own hands. And you knew he was at home, thanks to a tip from Mitch.

*

“Pecan pie?” you excitedly offered, holding the box containing the pie in your hand, as Auston swung the door open.

Auston was taken aback when he opened the door to find you standing there. Clearly, he hadn't anticipated your unexpected visit. He had likely thought that ignoring you would keep you at bay, but your determination had led you straight to his doorstep.

“No, thanks,” he replied softly, frowning a little.

“Thank god,” you said a bit nervously. “It would have broken my heart, if you’d said yes.” You offered him a friendly smile.

“Alright well,” he spoke. “Lucky you.”

“Can I come in?” you asked, again showing your excitement.

But Auston hesitated. “Oh well, eh…” he said, but you slowly began to enter his condo. “I was busy-“

You knew he was trying to avoid you again, so you decided to stand firm and complete the mission.

“Well, I was just passing,” you interrupted, as you kept walking into the living room of his condo. “And I thought we might check that video thing out. I thought I might be able to swap it with some pie or… or maybe, Munchies?” you cheekily suggested, pulling a snack bar out of your pocket, offering Auston a cute smile.

“Actually, I was being serious,” he said, as he faced you standing in the centre of his living room. “I don’t know where it is,” he shrugged - “I’ve poked around and-“

“Auston,” you interrupted him once again. “Can I say something?” you said in your sweetest voice possible.

“Yeah,” he looked a bit down into the floor.

You took in a deep breath before speaking. “I know you’re Mitch’s best friend… and I know you’ve never particularly warmed to me,” you added again a little nervous.

Auston moved slightly avoiding eye contact as you spoke. He tried to indicate that he'd want to say something.

“No, don’t argue,” you added, and he straightened with his cap. “We’ve never got friendly, but I just wanted to say that I hope that it can change, I’m nice, I really am, apart from my terrible taste in pies, and it would be great if we could be friends,” you basically blurted out.

Auston looked directly at you before he again turned his look away a little, awkwardly tugging his hands in his pockets.

“Absolutely… Absolutely,” he replied softly, still awkwardly moving in his place. He paused for a few seconds.

“… Great,” you simply said, and turned to look in another direction as well, sensing the awkwardness between you.

“Doesn’t mean we’ll be able to find the video though,” Auston quickly added as you started to move around in his living room, him quick to follow you. “I had a real search when you first called and I couldn’t find any trace of it, so…”

He was right behind you as you were looking around at the mountain of photos and USB-sticks lying on his coffee table.

“Well, there’s one USB here that says, ‘Mitch and Steph Wedding video’,” you said as you picked up the little plastic item with a small white label on it. “Do you think we’re on the right track?” you offered him a friendly smile again.

“Oh yeah… well, wow…” he said, acting a bit surprised, trying his best to keep his cool facade. “That… that could be it,” he said, tugging on his cap again, as you sat down onto the sofa and plucked it into his already turned-on laptop.

“Do you mind if I just,” you said as you were already preparing to play it.

“Ehm, I probably already deleted the content…” he quickly said, trying to you stop you from what you were doing. “Or maybe there’s just a lot of hockey videos on that one… oh”

But you had already pressed play and the video was about to start. Auston stood a few steps away from you, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop what was about to unfold.

“Oh bingo,” you said as the music played and the video of Stephanie walking into the beautiful wedding scene started to show. She was slowly walking down the flowery scenery, and a couple of the guests were captured as well, looking all mesmerised at her.

Auston was still just fumbling with his hand as he was standing next to you, also looking at the screen.

“That’s lovely,” you added softly. “Oh well done you,” you gasped as the video of the wedding continued to play. “Oh, that’s gorgeous.”

The video showed a few close ups of Stephanie in her absolutely stunning wedding gown, her hair and make-up all perfectly done. “Thank you so much Auston, this is exactly what I was hoping for.”

Auston held his arms tightly close to his body, as he took a hand to his forehead.

The video started to show a few shots of the guests, where you were captured in several of them. You smiled as he had caught your best angles and you could really see your amazing outfit and make-up, which you had spent weeks on perfectioning.

“I look quite pretty,” you lightly chuckled, as more shots of you were running over the display. You smiled. The video was amazing.

“You’ve stayed rather close, haven’t you,” you chuckled, turning your head to look at Auston, who’s expression was turning a little sad, and he’d started to blush.

But you didn’t notice. You simply laughed and turned back to face the screen.

And his heart dropped as the video was getting closer to the end.

In this very moment, he could cry - scream and crawl into a whole. He knew what was coming.

You smiled as the soft music kept playing, but you started to notice how all of the videos were of you. From a distance, zoomed in. From different angles, and different times during the night. When you were posing with the girls, when you were dancing with some of the other guests, and when you were eating a bite of the cake.

In fact, all of the shots were of you.

The soft music kept playing, and you were about to say something, when you slowly realised… it was all about you.

You stared at the laptop screen as the final videos continued.

Auston had only taken video shots of you during the evening. No one else - but you.

You slowly turned your head to look at Auston, but he was just starring at the screen with wide eyes and lightly biting down on his fingers.

You could tell there was something going on inside his head.

You’d found out.

Even the final shot of Stephanie and Mitch waving goodbye to the crowd, was of you.

You bit down your bottom lip. “They’re all of me…” you said with a low tone of voice.

“Yeah… yeah… yes,” Auston softly replied.

You watched it to the end. And then the music stopped.

You sat there. On his sofa. Speechless.

“But” you stammered. “You never talk to me… you always talk to everyone else”.

Auston didn’t say anything, just simply shrugged.

“You don’t like me,” you added, offering Auston a puzzled expression.

He was blinking several times, looking away from you before he said something. “I hope it’s useful.” His voice was low and nervous. “Don’t… show it around too much… it needs a … bit of… editing… look, I’ve got to get to… a…lunch, early lunch - you can just show yourself out, ‘kay…” he said, then walked away from you, before stopping again. “It’s a… self-preservation, you see,” he added before he walked out into the hallway, and out of the door.

Leaving you baffled and alone on his sofa.

[hallowedbe]

a gust of wind makes you pull your jacket closed; notes of fire (not smoke, but flame), amber cologne poorly masking pineapple kush, spray paint, and sweet candy fill your nose. you think you hear beverly hills by weezer playing in another room. ah — it must be briar.

BASICS:

full name: briar sutton nickname(s): bri, b  age: twenty-three  gender: non-binary pronouns: he/they  sexuality: slut date & place of birth: december 04 in toronto, canada  occupation: piercing apprentice at eternal ink & part-time student at makah community college  faceclaim: d'pharaoh woon-a-tai notable characteristics: shaggy hair down to his shoulders, baggy shirts and even baggier jeans, a plethora of piercings (his ears, their tongue, his eyebrow, their bottom lip), a helluva puppy dog face, skin that's way too clear for the amount of junk he eats, constant need for movement (drumming on desks, tapping his foot -- shoutout adhd) traits: charming, juvenile, mischievous, playful, so unserious holy shit, aimless similar to: rodrick heffley (diary of a wimpy kid), percy jackson (percy jackson & the olympians), yu nishinoya (haikyuu), kurt wagner (x-men), naruto uzumaki (naruto) aesthetics: skateboarding down the beach boardwalk, a bag full of spray paint, grinning after you've gotten a bloody nose, torn up vans, high-top converse

BULLET POINTS — TW DRUG USE, DEALING, & GENERALLY ROUGH FAMILY DYNAMICS

– born to a single mother in toronto, canada, briar never knew his father. he was the product of a frat-party-fueled one night stand months before, and their mother wanted nothing to do with the man after that. a woman who believed she could take on the world, she thought she could handle a baby, too – even at the ripe age of 20. – what she couldn't have expected was the postpartum depression that would wrack her body when briar was born. she managed to push through, but it wasn't easy. he was colicky, then he was needy, then so hyperactive she couldn't catch up with them. this was around the first time she'd realized she'd bitten off more than she could chew (and around the time briar would tell you she began to resent them, if you asked) – constantly exhausted and barely out of the throes of mental illness, briar's mother knew she couldn't do this alone anymore. finally, she took up her family's offer to help raise briar, and moved them both to los angeles at age five, just in time for school – and god, did it take a village to raise them. briar never did particularly well in school; not for lack of smarts, because he had plenty. but he didn't learn the way other kids did, and no one was willing to stop and figure out why. they fell behind quickly, and in order to keep him from falling through the cracks, constant tutoring sessions began to replace the sports he'd liked to do, all for what he deemed useless because he just didn't get it.  – briar became kind of a "lost cause" to schools quickly, but never to his mother. she moved him from school to school, whenever he'd get in trouble at one – he'll tell you this only made the resentment worse. – briar falls into the wrong crowd fast. feeling outcast by the authority figures at his school, he finds his own community. late nights skating, tagging, and doing some type of drug are frequent. so are the pained looks from their mother when they come home as the sun rises once again. – they move to bearhold at age 17 after a blowout fight with their mom. they were going nowhere fast, she worked so hard for him and he's throwing it away. his grandparents, his aunts & uncles all tried to get him to stay, but he couldn't do it. – he leaves with one of his childhood best friends (and their other half, though he'd never say that). she had family in bearhold -- in an effort to not impose, briar crashes with his older cousin & her boyfriend, two core figures from his childhood he'd kept in touch with when they had their own move. he had no clue what he was going to do, but the couple struck a deal; he stays in school and actually tries to do the work, and he can stay with them. so, he finished up high school (albeit a year or so late). now, he's got a piercing apprentice spot at eternal ink and is part-time in school...doing something. part time weed dealer, too but it’s to raise money ‼️‼️ at the end of the day, briar tells himself he can't keep disappointing everyone in their life. even if they dig their hole deeper. – he's a ridiculous flirt. owns several pieces of merchandise with "i <3 milfs" on it. really annoying.

– WHACKED with a case of severe adhd that does in fact affect every area of their life. diagnosed like as of four years ago. don't talk to them. they're medicated. (muns interpretation of this is based off of my own but pls let me know if anything i'm saying sounds wrong or fucked up etc etc)  – loves spray-painting & tagging. adrenaline junkie. his tag is "makwa", which means bear (specifically the black bear) in the ojibwe language. it was the nickname his mother and relatives called them growing up. tags rich houses and big company buildings often -- "eat the rich" in a person – always doing something with their limbs; tapping their fingers, bouncing their leg, fiddling with their hair. like the energizer bunny on crack – practices "california sobriety". is high often, says it calms him (someone take that shit away from him thanks) – doesn't really like alcohol, though, because he "doesn't like how it makes him feel" – will drink ten virgin pina coladas in one sitting, though – doesn't drive, prefers to just skate everywhere or take the bus. economic king – will never cut his hair beyond a trim. either wears it down or up in some kind of ponytail/bun combo. braids are rare; he enjoys wearing them, but doesn't love the work of doing them – very close with his grandparents (especially his grandmother) still. calls her at least three or four times a week. many of his fondest memories are connected to her. – talks to his mom maybe once a month. neither of them want to unpack what happened. – almost always able to talk his way out of anything. boyishly charming to an annoying degree. – enjoys an occasional crop top.

[mattybraps10]

Roommates | Joseph Woll x OC

Summary: Jane Cambell is Mitchell Marner's best friend, and when he asks her to let the rookie goalie stay in her guest room, who is she to say no?

Word Count: 1704

By: M

Mitch and I had grown up next door to one another. There wasn’t a birthday party, school event, or family function where we weren’t together. We were inseparable. So, when Mitch got drafted to the Leafs, it made sense for me to follow him and attend the University of Toronto. I loved being around the team and doing homework at practices. I was thrilled to interview Mitch for my final papers, to spend time with him again. Once I graduated, I went on to work for the team, Mitch and I stayed close. When Mitch met Steph, I was overjoyed. She was perfect for him, but it left me with more time to myself. Something I didn’t understand what to do with. I found myself wandering aimlessly after work, never having plans. 

When Mitch told me the team had called up a new goalie, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Since he had recently moved in with Steph, he had asked me if the new guy could use my spare room until he got on his feet. I, of course, said yes. Mitch had always been a great judge of character and if he felt comfortable letting him stay with me, then I felt comfortable. What I didn't expect, however, was for this man to come through the door with lego boxes stacked above his head. And like… goalies are tall, but I couldn’t even see his face.

“Hey! Thanks for letting me crash, let me just set these down in the room and we can properly introduce ourselves…” He said, his voice muffled by the many boxes in front of him.

“Oh yeah of course, um it's the door to the left of the TV.” I replied, stepping aside so he could walk in. It took him about five minutes to set the boxes how he wanted them, the echo of fallen boxes and muttered curse words heard throughout the apartment. 

“Can you help me grab my bags? I don’t really have that much stuff yet… I mean I’m not really new to Toronto but I just lived with teammates when I was on the Marlies so like…” He said, rambling on as he stepped back into the main room. His blue eyes caught mine and he quickly lost whatever thought he was about to share. Like seriously are piercing blue eyes mandatory to be on the Leafs? Because, wow.

“I’m Joseph… Uh Woll… yeah. But I mean most people call me Joe haha…” He said, his left hand scratching the back of his neck and holding his other out awkwardly.

“Jane, but my friends call me Janie.” We shook hands. Joe and I found our rhythm easily. He would leave before I got up in the morning and I would meet him at the office for lunch before going to meetings. We’d head home together on off-days, laughing about anything and everything. I felt like that missing piece I’d been searching for had been found.

The hard-part was always away games. Joe and Mitch would spend weeks away, traveling for games whilst I was left in a mostly empty office, planning future events and booking flights. When the boys are away Steph and I usually grab dinner and talk, but I was hesitant to have to answer questions about my relationship with Joe. He and I had gotten increasingly close and several of his teammates had picked up on some of the underlying tension on my end. It was clear to me, at least, that Joe wasn’t interested in me, despite what Kniesy kept saying. Kniesy and Joe are pretty close, but I can’t help but feel like he’s just messing with me. Plus, I mean I don’t even know what Mitch would do about me dating a teammate of his. I mean he was always protective growing up, purposefully keeping me from his teams. The one time I did go out with someone from his team, we realized we’d be better off as friends, which is how I ended up with Matthew Tkachuk as my fantasy football teammate. 

I decided to go to dinner with Steph anyway, as I wanted to catch up with her. When I sat down across from her at the restaurant, my phone started buzzing. I mouthed, “hold on” to Steph as I stood up and answered the phone.

“This is Jane Campbell speaking…”

“No I know, Janie it’s me, I- I just needed to hear your voice” The voice on the phone, Joe, said clearly out of breath.

“Joe what’s going on? Are you okay?” I started panicking, why was he calling me. He never calls.

“It’s. I’m fine. I just- Did you see the game?” I hadn’t. I was so busy getting ready to see Steph and finishing work, that I’d completely forgotten to tune in.

“No- I- Tell me what’s happening.” I felt like screaming, what wasn’t he telling me? The walls felt like they were closing in.

“It’s Kniesy.” Two words that first had me breathing a sigh of relief and then feeling guilty as the walls crashed in once again.

“Okay,” I took a breath, “okay. What do you need from me? What happened? I’m with Steph. Do you need me to get there?” 

“Just stay on the phone please. He’s. He just collapsed. I mean the hit didn’t look that bad but I guess it was? I- I don’t know Janie. I don’t know.” A sob erupted from him as he tried to keep himself composed. Where was the game again? I could have sworn I’d written it down somewhere… I looked through my bag, dumping the contents on the table in front of a concerned Steph.

“Are you still there?” His voice almost whispers, having been wrecked by his sobs.

“Yeah, I’m here Joey. Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.” The nickname escaped me before I even knew I was saying it. Shit.

“Joey?” His quiet voice still shaking.

“I- I mean…”

“No- I- Uh- I like it- It just caught me off guard that’s all.” His smile was clear even through the phone.

“Okay wait- The game’s in Buffalo right? Let me just… I’ll see you in a few hours, okay? What hotel are you in?” I blurted out, before I could even process what I was saying. All I know is that Joey needs me and I want to- no, have to- be there. 

“You don’t have to come, I mean it’s fine. I’ll be fine.” He rushed, trying to convince me not to go, but it was too late.

“See you in a bit Joey, bye.” I quickly said, trying to hang up.

“I L-” I hung up.

“Okay Steph, I gotta go. I- uh- I’m so sorry, I’ll venmo you for the salad.” I said, grabbing my coat from the back of my chair and shoveling everything back into my bag.

“Is everything okay?” Steph said, panicking.

“Yeah, Joe’s worried about Matthew, apparently he got hurt during the game. I’m just gonna fly out to Buffalo to be with him.”

“You and Joseph, huh?” She said, winking, “I mean I told Mitch y’all were a good match, but he didn’t think it would happen this quickly…”

“Oh- Um. No, we’re not together. I mean- I don’t think he even likes me like that… Not that I like him or anything.”

“Mhm, and he called his ‘platonic roommate’ for comfort when his best friend got hurt, and, said ‘platonic roommate’ is flying to another country to check on him… Okay!”

“That’s exactly what’s happening. Plus, New York is barely another country.”

“Sure… Sure. Have a nice flight Janie.”

“Thanks.”

The flight went quicker than I expected. I sat in my seat, my knee bouncing as I waited to see Joe. I was still unsure of what happened to Matthew, but if Joe was worried, so was I. The little pest had started to grow on me.

I rushed into Joe’s hotel, asking the front desk to let me through. Joe had let them know I’d be coming and to let me in. When I got to his door, I took a breath before knocking.

“Janie, thank god.” He said, opening the door and scooping me into a big hug.

“I’m here Joey, I’m here.” He stiffened at the nickname as he released me. 

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Nothing… I- I just like when you call me Joey, that’s all.” He said, letting me into his room. 

“How’s Matthew?” I asked, grabbing his hand for moral support.

“The doctor said he’ll be okay, just a concussion. It just really scared me, you know? I mean one moment we were laughing about him asking a girl out, and the next he’s on the ice.”

“A girl?” I asked, waggling my eyebrows.

“Yeah, I mean it feels silly now but he wants to ask the barista at the coffee shop by the rink for dinner.” He smiled, squeezing my hand.

“That’s such a good idea omg! Not silly at all, I mean she’s really pretty and nice.”

“It just got me thinking, you know? Like what if he wasn’t okay? What if he never got to tell the girl? It feels so trivial to worry about rejection at this point.”

“But he will get to tell her Joey. And she’ll say yes and it’ll be great and they’ll be together!” I’m not sure where he’s going with this, but I’m doing my best to reassure him that Kniesy and the Barista will get together in the end.

“Will they?” He asks, furrowing his brows.

“Of course, if they’re meant for eachother, it’ll happen.” I smiled, looking up at him, my hand still in his.

“Will we?” He asks.

“Will we do what?” I ask, confused.

“Will we get together?” He asks and my stomach flutters. 

“Joey?” I feel like I’m hallucinating there’s no way he means what I think he means.

“Jane. Janie. I love you. Every moment we’re apart is like I'm drowning and you’re my air.” He grabs my face, angling my eyes up to his.

“Joey… I love you too.” I closed my eyes as our lips met, fireworks erupting as the butterflies dissipated from my stomach.