#Dallas Stars Fic

[ilyasorokinn]

hello my darling, congratulations on 2.5k you deserve it all and more!! 💘💘

could I request “You can’t just act like nothings wrong when it is!” with Roope Hintz!! 🫶🏼

CHEATER, CHEATER, PUMPKIN EATER

thank you bestie! love you <3

21. "you can't just act like nothing's wrong when it is." (from this prompt list, angst)

tw: cheating

for a while, you had an inkling that something was wrong but you didn't want to believe it, so you just pushed it to the back of your mind.

but you can only ignore something for so long.

in the beginning, your boyfriend, cole, was a good boyfriend. he would send you random things at work or bring you presents after work. but somewhere in between the 6-12 month period, something went wrong.

the first red flag was when he would come home at all hours of the night, smelling only slightly of another woman's perfume. it was so faint you almost couldn't smell it, but it was there.

the second red flag was him forgetting date nights, again, using the work excuse. more often than not, you would find yourself sitting alone at a fancy restaurant, waiting for cole to show up, only to look like a fool when he would text you from home, asking where you were.

and the last red flag, which could also be classified as a red billboard, was when he called you another woman's name. you were in the kitchen and he was in the living room.

"hey, cas, could you get me a beer from the fridge?" you froze. you knew, right then and there, he was cheating.

you don't remember leaving the apartment, but somehow you ended up at roope's apartment. it was almost like you were on autopilot.

"so, what'd wrong? why're you acting like this?"

"i think cole's cheating on me," you said.

"you think?"

"i know." you corrected yourself.

"how do you know?"

"he came home a few weeks ago and he smelled like perfume but it wasn't mine. it was one of those really expensive ones. then he stood me up on date night. he wasn't at work, i called his secretary, and he wasn't at home. and tonight, he called me cas."

roope looked upset for you. more upset than you somehow, "how are you so calm? why aren't you like screaming? throwing a fit?"

"i don't know." you shrugged, "do you have cheese? cheese sounds nice." you stood up off his couch and headed for his kitchen.

"y/n, you can't just act like nothing's wrong when there is!" he stated.

"oh, i'm sorry. is there a proper way to react when you find out you've been cheated on? i must've missed that part in school." you glared.

"i didn't say that. i'm just saying he's a cheater, y/n. he's gross."

"i know that, but i don't know what to do." your eyes finally filled with the tears you were so scared to cry.

"here's what we're gonna do. we're gonna go back to your apartment, and we're gonna gather all the stuff you left there, then we're gonna come back here and we're gonna just binge. whatever you want." you smiled.

"you sure you don't mind? i'm kind of crazy."

"well, we all are."

taylor's 2.5k celly!

[senditcolton]

Would It Be Enough?

Knowing their morning routine so perfectly that you already have some of their breakfast/drinks laid out before they get to the kitchen.

part of my Valentine's Day prompts requested by anon | word count: 0.7k | warnings: none!

Dating a professional athlete came with its own unique set of struggles on top of all the other traditional conflicts. You knew that and you agreed to deal with them when you agreed to date Roope Hintz. The conflicts, the hurdles – they all came and you faced them together.

And it worked. It had been working for months now. You two made it work.

However, the only thing that you still hadn’t completely overcome… was the distance. Not the physical distance, like when he was in New York and you were in Texas. It was the distance between the two of you even when you both were in the same city. His career demanded so much of his time and it made you sad that the everyday intimacy that most couples experiences was a rarity.

You wished that the two of you could have casual nights out with no curfew. You wished that he would be able to attend your friend’s parties with you. But more than anything, you wished that you could wake up in the morning with him by your side.

To see the dawning sunlight fall across his skin, to see his blonde hair lit up to the palest of yellows, to watch his bright blue eyes open…

When you had the chance to experience those mornings, they were some of the most magical moments in your relationship. But they were few and far between. Roope would be up and gone, off to morning skate before you even roused from your slumber.

You mentioned your desires to have more of those type of slow mornings with him off-handedly one night. The words were followed by a quick reassurance to Roope that you didn’t hold any resentment towards him. You knew what you signed up for. It was just a wish.

But whenever you wake up to find an empty bed, like you did this morning – the ache in your heart remained.

A sigh escapes your chest as you burrow into the covers for a moment longer. You breathe in, trying to absorb the lingering warmth and scent of Roope that the sheets had trapped beneath them. Another deep breath, another few seconds of holding off the inevitable until you reluctantly throw the sheets off your body. You roll out of the bed, stretching before making your way out of the bedroom.

You walk down to the kitchen, ready to make your daily breakfast, but when you turn the corner, the sight of your insulated to-go cup sitting in the middle of the counter stops you in your tracks.

It was supposed to be in the cupboard. You were certain that you had put it away the night before. It isn’t until your groggy brain registers the white paper bag next to the cup. You walk closer until you are close enough to see the logo of your favorite café emblazoned on the side of the bag.

The piece of paper from your stationary resting on the marble island is the last thing that you notice. You pick up the decorated paper, your eyes dancing over a messy scrawl that you recognize instantly to be Roope’s. You read over the message, your heart softening at every sentence.

Kultaseni [sweetheart], I know that you wish we could have more mornings together. But I want you to know that even though I’m not always the first person you see when you wake up, I hope I’m the first person on your mind. Because you are on mine constantly. I’m sorry being with me isn’t normal. I hope this is enough.

His note makes tears appear in your eyes and you place the paper back down. Your hands eagerly reach towards the paper bag, opening it to find your go-to snack nestled in the bottom. And when you take a sip from your insulated cup, the flavor of your favorite drink dances over your tastebuds.

To anyone else, from the outside looking in, the action may not have seemed like much. But for you, it was enough. It was more than enough.

[starshine-hockey-girl]

Bridge Over Troubled Water- Journey to the Emerald City Chapter Fourteen

Summary- Teddy and Lex head overseas for a romantic trip to Europe

Author's Notes- 4K

@pattiemac1 @dutch-tv-fan @penstxgal1968 @alittlecuddlefish @juuuuuse

July 2019- American Airlines jet

Lex placed his backpack in his first class pod as Teddy sat down in her seat. She smiled and he sat next to her. He smiled and stretched out. The pod offered him ample leg room which would be much needed on the long flight. He looked over and gave a grin, "Did I do well?" 

She sat on her knees on her seat and kissed him over the divider. “This is a great start,” she smiled, “I will warn you. I may have to sneak into your pod for a snuggle session later.” 

He frowned slightly, “You don’t like the pods?”

She shook her head vigorously, “I love the pods. They are so much better than trying to sleep in a regular seat. There is room to stretch and put all of your stuff.” 

“Why do I suspect there is a but coming?” he asked softly. 

“There is a wall between us. It is not really conducive to snuggling. Look though, there is a little seat for me to come visit you or I could just climb on top of you,” she soothed. “It’s my first time flying first class to Europe. I feel so fancy,” she laughed. She hoped that he wouldn’t question her further. 

“How did you fly to Europe before? I know that you have been before,” he asked.

“Well, he who shall not be named and I flew coach when we went to Italy,” she answered. 

“What about when you went for Frankie’s sixteenth birthday?” he prodded. She looked down and didn’t answer. “It was on the jet, wasn’t it? Of course you flew to Spain on a private jet,” he moaned. “I am never going to impress you, Bliss,” he whined. 

Teddy got up and marched around the aisle to the opening to his pod. The aisles were full of passengers walking to their seats. She plopped down on the visitor seat in his pod and poked his leg. “Hey you,” she spoke gently. “You don’t think I am impressed by this trip?. I am not oblivious to how much these tickets cost, plus the cost of hotels and everything else. This isn’t cheap, Lex. I know it and I appreciate it. I know that is a big expense for you and you are not one to throw your money around. However, you are spending it on me because you love me and you value me.” Lex looked up shyly and gave her a grin. “That being said, what impresses me the most is your heart. You have the biggest heart that gives me the biggest love. I appreciate this trip but you impress me the most with the day-to-day stuff. Do you want the list?” she countered. Teddy climbed onto his lap, “You impress me, Lex. You impress me more than anyone I have ever known.” She kissed his cheeks before giving him a full kiss on the mouth. “Say that you believe me, Lex,” she whispered. 

“I believe you, Bliss,” he breathed into her ear, “I believe you.”

“Good,” she said as she sat up and bopped his nose. He smiled as she returned to her pod for takeoff. She held up her hand and he took it into his over the divider. It was their tradition to hold hands during take-off. He leaned forward and kissed it as the wheels lifted off the ground. 

“Hey Lex,” she laughed, “You know what I am really impressed with?”

“No, what?“ he answered. 

“That big dick and how you fuck me with it,” she giggled. 

“Down Kitty Kat- it’s a long flight and there is no way this body can do it in that tiny airplane bathroom” he warned, “but I am glad that you are impressed.”

“Boo. You are a party pooper, Tiger Man,” she pouted. 

“Bliss,” Lex called from the hotel bedroom, “We need to leave soon to make it to the show on time. I know that you don’t want to miss it when the curtain goes up.” 

Teddy examined her reflection in the mirror. She was hesitant about the cut of the dress and the amount of cleavage that was on display, but did have to admit that “the girls” did look spectacular. “Almost done,” she called back. One final glance over and she emerged from the small bathroom. She walked into the room and looked at Lex who was turned away, staring out of the window. He wore the same brown suit as he did in Dallas when they saw Wicked the first time. Teddy bit her lip and took in the sight of his muscular body. Lex turned from the window and stared. His mouth opened and closed a few times before Teddy quipped, “Cat got your tongue, Tiger?” 

He walked over and took her hand into his and spun her around. The emerald green, deep V-necked gown twirled slightly as she moved. “That’s quite the dress, Bliss,” he smiled, “You look fantastic.” His fingers lightly played with her loose curls that were held in a loose up-do. 

“So no comment on Tiger?” she laughed. She had recently given him the nickname during the recent foray into kinkier sex. 

“If I make a comment, then you will say something snappy back and then the next thing you know is that I have you pressed against the wall and we miss the opening number,” he teased.

“Just the opening number?” she joked,

“The whole damn show. You have it memorized so you could probably act it out yourself,” he retorted, “It will save me the torture.”

“Hey,” she said softly, “You are the one that bought the tickets. It was the whole point of the trip. 

 “Yes, I did buy the tickets,” he corrected.“but that’s not the whole point of the trip, Bliss,” 

“What’s the point of the trip?” she asked. 

“You’ll see,” he smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. 

At the theater, he held Teddy’s hand as they ascended the stairs to the theater. His hand was placed firmly on her back as he guided her through the lobby to the bar. They had just enough time for a pre-show cocktail before the show. Lex took notice of several gentlemen giving Teddy double-takes as they chatted in the VIP lounge. She was, however, adorably oblivious to the attention, which warmed his heart. What didn’t escape Teddy’s attention was the subtle looks of envy she received from other women in the well-appointed area. “That’s right, girls- he is all mine,” she teased mentally. 

Lex looked at her and smiled,���What’s going on in that mind of yours? Are you good?”

Teddy placed her hand on his chest and gave him a bashful grin as she peered up at him through her eyelashes. “I am so good, Lex,” she said as she traced small circles on his chest, “I was just thinking how you are the most handsome man in the room and all the other women are looking at you like a snack that they want to taste. However, they don’t have a shot because you are mine.”

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “What other women? I only see one woman.” Teddy grinned and kissed his cheek. “Let’s go before we miss Glinda’s spectacular entrance. We can’t miss that,” he joked. They walked in and took their front row seats. Teddy’s mouth dropped as she sat down. Immediately she grabbed Lex’s arm and rested her head on his shoulder when he took his seat. The music started and the curtain went up. Lex smiled as Teddy sat forward and became transfixed by the show. He pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her as “Not That Girl” began. She looked back at him and smiled. He mouthed “I love you” before she returned her attention to the stage. 

At intermission, they walked back to the VIP lounge for another drink. He handed her a cocktail and smiled at her. Teddy gazed into his eyes and suddenly felt the tears form. “Bliss?” he questioned as he pulled into his body, “Tell me.”

“It’s so different than the first time,” she whispered, “yet it feels almost the same. You were so sweet and kind to me. I fell in love with you that night. I didn’t know it then, but I did.” 

“You fell in love that night? I am sorry that I was slower,” he soothed. 

“It’s okay,” she murmured, “I wasn’t that girl to you then.”

“No, you were always that girl, Bliss. I was too stupid to realize it. I am glad I did before someone else snatched you away from me,” Lex said softly. Suddenly he was overcome with emotion, “Shit, why am I crying?” 

“I don’t know. We have to get it together. We are going to blubbering messes later,” she laughed to lighten the mood. He shook his head in disbelief. Yet, he gladly accepted her offered tissue as “For Good” started. He pulled her to his chest and she sang softly, “But I know I'm who I am today because I knew you.”

Back at the hotel, Teddy carried her shoes as she walked barefoot down the hall to their room. “Hey Lex,” she said quietly.

“Yeah,” he nudged her arm. 

“If I forget to tell you later, this has been one of the best nights of my life,” she mused, “You spoiled me.”

“You deserve it, Bliss,” he replied as he opened the door. Teddy walked past him and paused in front of him. He unzipped her dress and kissed her shoulders. She gingerly stepped out the dress and revealed her thigh high stockings and lace panties. He let out a low whistle as she turned around and gave him a shy smile. “What’s on the agenda tomorrow, Bliss?” he questioned as she walked to the closet to hang up the dress. In the three days they had been in London, each day had been full of museum and bus tours. They had been on the go from morning to night. 

She turned to walk to the bathroom but paused. “Nothing scheduled. I would like to go to Harrods sometime tomorrow and maybe go on a river cruise. Why?”

He walked to her and lifted her up. He cradled her in his arms and walked her to bed. “I wanted to know if we have an early morning.”

She smiled, “Oh, do you have plans?”

“Yeah,” he kissed her tenderly as he put her on the bed, “I plan on making love to you all night.”

She lifted her hips and wiggled out of her panties. She tossed them onto the floor. Her hand went to the stockings. “Leave them,” he demanded as he stripped off his clothes, “They’re hotter than hell.”

“You like?” she grinned as he climbed on top of her. She felt his erection press against her body. 

He moaned as he slid into her waiting sex, “More than like. My God, Bliss…..You turn me on. I can’t think straight.”

“Don’t think, Lex- just fuck,” she kissed his neck as her hips rocked to meet this thrusts.

“Yes ma’am,” he groaned as he hooked her leg over his hip to thrust deeper, “Going to fuck you all night.”

Four days later- Paris

Lex sat on the small bed and sighed. They had just arrived in Paris on an early morning flight from London. He swore that the room looked bigger in the pictures. He had been so proud that he had planned the trip without much input from Teddy. To be honest, he had booked flights and hotels. With the exception of the tickets to Wicked, Teddy had planned the daily itineraries. He couldn’t even complain about them. They were detailed, organized and alternated between a busy, full day of sites and a lazy, unplanned day of relaxation. Teddy called them days to “soak up the culture”. 

Teddy stood in the doorway to the bathroom and smiled. “It’s cozy, Lex,” she tried to make the best of it, “I love it.” She took a step to the window and looked at the Eiffel Tower. “The view is lovely.” 

“Bliss,” he laid back and spread his arms wide. His arm span exceeded the width of the bed. His long legs hung over the edge of the bed.  He sat back up and reached to touch her arm. “It’s tiny,” he whined, “It’s so small.” She turned to look at him and saw the look of misery on his face. 

“Do you want me to get us a different room? A bigger room?” she asked sweetly.

“Can you? You know- work that Teddy magic? he asked expectantly. 

Within the hour, they had checked out of the hotel Lex had selected and were being escorted to their suite in the five star hotel that Teddy secured. There had been a war of credit cards at check-in which ultimately Teddy won. “I have not paid for a single thing on this trip- nothing- so let me pay for the better room. I may have splurged just a bit too,” she insisted. Lex could tell right away the hotel was WAY more expensive than his selection. His jaw dropped as the door to the suite opened up. The large suite was bright and airy. There were Eiffel Tower views from every window. Duplex Suite at Shangri-La Paris

“Where’s the bed?” he asked as the bellman pointed to the stairs which led to a large bedroom upstairs. Even Teddy’s jaw dropped as the bellman opened the door to the private terrace with an amazing Eiffel Tower view. Lex tested out the bed and found it to be large enough. 

Teddy walked out onto the terrace while Lex tipped the bellman generously. He found Teddy and wrapped his arms around her body as she stared at the Eiffel Tower. “Thanks for the upgrade, Bliss,” he kissed her neck, “How far behind have I thrown us off your schedule?” 

She grinned, “Actually we are not behind at all. We don’t really have anything planned until this evening. If you are hungry, I have a few restaurants that I want to try. Other than that we can take a stroll or nap.” She turned her head and winked, “We will need our rest for tonight. I do have a couple of things planned.”

“Lunch and then a nap sound perfect,” he smiled. 

LATER THAT AFTERNOON

“Lex,” she said as he gathered his things and put them in the backpack, “Don’t forget your jacket.”

“Bliss, I am already in a sweatshirt and sweating,” he whined. 

“Just put it in the backpack or don’t whine later,” she responded, “It will be cold down there.” He rolled his eyes and zipped up the backpack, which did contain her jacket. There had been quite the debate in Dallas when Teddy had insisted that Lex bring a couple of sweatshirts and a jacket for the trip. They had proved to be invaluable on some rainy days in England. Why he was balking at wearing them in Paris confused her. 

At the entrance to the Catacombs, a young gentleman held up a sign that simply said “Oleksiak”. Teddy and Lex walked up to him and Teddy greeted him, “Bonsoir, I’m Teddy and this is Lex. Are you our tour guide?” 

He looked up at Lex and said, “Yes, I am. Come with me.” They were led past the line that snaked around the building. Julian, the tour guide, marveled at Lex’s size as Teddy tried to explain that Lex played hockey and not football or basketball. They held hands as Lex followed Julian down the narrow, spiral stairs to the catacombs.

"How many steps are there?" Lex questioned as he struggled to navigate the steps that did not accommodate his large feet. His broad shoulders barely fit in the stairwell.

"131 stairs on the way down," Teddy answered.

"Ugh," he whined.

"If it's any consolation, there are only 112 going back up," she tried to joke.

"Who thought this was a good idea?" he looked back and teased.

"Your beautiful and awesome girlfriend who you love so much?",she answered.

He smiled and pulled her in for a kiss, "It's a good thing I adore you. Hey, we only have 70 more steps to go!"

An hour later, they emerged up the stairs from the catacombs. On the street, Lex stretched his arms high above his head, “Bliss, I will do anything for you but never ask me to do that again. It was torture.” 

“It sounded like a lot more fun on the internet. You're right though. An hour of walking around in a dark, cramped space filled with skeletons? I’ll pass on that,” she sighed, “I am sorry I made you do it.” Teddy folded her arms over her body and scanned the sidewalk. Their driver was supposed to be waiting on them. She looked at her watch and shook her head nervously. 

“Bliss Babe, look at me,” he spoke gently as she paced. She stopped and stared at him. “First, I was being dramatic. It was an interesting history." He walked over to her, "Second, you make everything an adventure. I have never had a better travel companion," he soothed. "Third, I made you watch the damn soccer game at that obnoxious pub so I won't complain about one dud experience." He wrapped her in his arms and she rested her head on his chest. "I didn't mean to upset you, Bliss," he said as he kissed her head.

"At least you didn't almost get in a fistfight here," she laughed. 

Lex smiled, "Hey, the asshole grabbed your ass. I had to protect my woman."

"Chivalry is not dead," she smiled at him. He pushed her hair out of her eyes.  "I'm better now," she proclaimed, "Monthly hormone surge was in effect." He nodded in solidarity.

"Ms. Baxter?" A voice called from the street. Lex tilted his head in question.

"Our next adventure- I guarantee that you will not be hunched over!" She smiled. 

When they stepped out of the car at the boat dock, he smiled. "What are we doing, Bliss?" 

She led down the dock and onto the small boat."I heard that you can see some of the best views of the city from the Seine. We have the boat to ourselves for a private tour."

"All to ourselves?" he said in surprise.

"Well, there is a crew and tour guide so not completely to ourselves," she corrected.

"Oh," he replied with a hint of disappointment, "I was hoping for some privacy."

"Privacy?" She grinned as they boarded the small boat, "How much privacy do you want?" The tour guide led them to the front of the boat past the candlelit table. He then instructed them that they would begin the cruise soon. 

Lex in the cushioned wooden chair and pulled Teddy into his lap. He kissed her temple. "I want enough privacy to make out with my woman if I choose."

"I think that can be arranged," she replied, "We have dinner and the cruise. We end at the Eiffel tower."

"This is fancy, Bliss," he remarked.

"Better than the catacombs?" She asked quietly.

He stretched out his arms and legs, "so much better."

"I redeemed myself?" She smiled.

"Oh yeah," he took his finger to turn her head to kiss her gently. 

"Welcome to the City of Love, my love," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Three days later-Giverny France

Lex held Teddy's hand as they walked along the road between the bus stop and the entrance of Monet's Garden. "So what is the place, Bliss?"

"You have heard of Claude Monet, right?" she started to explain. 

He stopped short and stared at her in disbelief. "Yes, the French impressionist painter- I am a hockey player- not an idiot."

"Sorry," she continued, "I know that you are not an idiot." She walked back to him and kissed his chest. "This is his house and gardens where he painted."

"No shit? Really?" He gazed ahead. "That is impressive. Is it open to the public?"

"Yes," she smiled, "Are you really interested?" Teddy was somewhat shocked after his tepid response to the Louvre.

"Is this about the Louvre?" he questioned, "I was interested in the art, Bliss,  at least for the first two hours of it. I lost interest after the Mona Lisa. That was a complete let down." Teddy smiled at the memory of Lex's disappointment at the size of the disproportionate crowd to artwork size. He read her mind and laughed, "Come on, Bliss! That painting was tiny and I had to elbow through the crowd to get you to the front." Teddy laughed as she remembered how the crowd parted as he walked. His size had the power to speak internationally.

"Then come on Lex. I want to beat the crowd," she said cheerfully. 

Once Teddy showed their pre-ordered admission, they sailed past the line into the house of Claude Monet. Surprisingly it was Lex who spent time reading each and every informational plaque. Teddy stood next to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. 

Finally they made their way out of the house and into the garden. They strolled through the first section before taking the stairs and tunnel to the second section. Teddy gasped when the water gardens came into view. "It's so pretty, Lex" she whispered as she gazed at the wisteria-covered Japanese Bridge.

 Lex pointed to a bench which offered a perfect vantage point. As they sat, his head tilted slightly. "Bliss, why does this look familiar?" He paused and stared again, "Wait, don't you have this? It was in your apartment when we met." He continued, "What happened to it?"

"I got rid of it when I changed apartments after you got traded," she explained and then turned silent again. Lex turned to her, suspicious of her silence. She sat and observed the scenery as tears fell from her eyes. "Bliss?" he questioned softly. She shook her head slowly before she reached for his hand. He readily gave it and squeezed hers tight. He studied her face which appeared serene despite the tears. She wiped her tears and smiled at Lex. He wrapped his large arms around her shoulders and brought her to his chest. He gently stroked her hair as they sat silently. 

"I'm sorry," she finally said in a low voice, "I didn't expect to get emotional. Wow, I can't believe I am actually here. It's like a dream come true."

"You dreamt about coming here?" Lex asked, "You didn't mention it when we were planning. Why?"

Teddy looked away, "It's complicated." She stared at the bridge and then down at the ground. "Frankie loved Monet. When she went to Tech, she had a print of this bridge in her dorm room. After she died, I took it," she rambled. Lex placed his hand on her back and rubbed slowly. "When I moved out into my first apartment, I took it with me," she continued, "At the time, I didn't know much about Monet other than I loved the painting. When things got bad with….." She paused and took a deep inhale, "when he would rage at me for whatever infraction I had committed that day- disagreeing with him or embarrassing him in public. Some days it was breathing. On those days, I would stare at the print and fantasize about what it would be like to be in that world. It looked so beautiful and peaceful." 

"I didn't know that this was a real place. I thought Monet had just painted it from a picture in his mind. It was my mom who gave me a book about Monet for Christmas that I knew it existed," she confessed. She looked at the wisteria and inhaled the scent. "As bad as it was then, there was a part of me that knew I would get here one day. I knew that I would escape and find this place," she sighed. “Then when I got that new apartment, I got rid of it. It was just another painful memory to get rid of like all of the stuff associated with you."

"Bliss," he spoke softly, unsure how to respond. 

"Honestly, I forgot about it until just now," she turned to Lex. She pushed herself into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face into his neck. "In all of those times, when I was dreaming of finding this place, I was alone. I never dreamed that I would have someone to be with me. I thought if I escaped that I would be too damaged for someone to love me."

She looked at his face, "I didn't dare to dream this big. I didn't know that I would find a love this wonderful. I didn't know that we would find each other."

"I forgot about the dream because my reality is better than the dream. I made it Lex. I escaped and finally made it to the place of my dreams," she whispered as she looked into his eyes, "with a man better than I could imagine."

"Are you glad you came here?" He kissed her lips gently.

Teddy turned to take in the breathtaking scenery, "Yes, I am especially since I am with you."

She turned to find him staring at her face. She smirked, "What? Look at how beautiful it is."

"I know it's beautiful, Bliss, but I am looking at my favorite view," he smiled.

"Awwww,” she blushed, “Do you mind if we just sit here for a while. I want to soak in this moment.”

"Maybe we can get a new print? A new one to go along with our new memory?" he asked, "We can put it above our bed."

"I would like that Lex. I would like that a lot," she smiled.

"Me too," he pulled her close. They settled in for a long snuggle.

[19871997]

wyjo top contender for going directly into my pocket

[theemporium]

thank you to the wyatt anon for choosing a prompt!🫶🏽weirdly enough, i struggled with it? but idk if that's just because this is my first wyatt piece or because uni has killed my brain so!! enjoy!!

prompt: standing on your tippy toes, frustrated you can't reach your lover's lips

.

“So, a little birdie tells me you have a boyfriend.” 

You lifted your head, tearing your eyes away from your laptop screen to give the boy on the bench a deadpan stare. 

“Did the same birdie remind you that you’re said boyfriend?” 

Wyatt beamed at your response, his cheeks already flushed from the drills they had been running through the practise session. He looked giddy, an expression that made your chest tight but confused you, nonetheless. He was usually focused when he was on the ice, even during training. 

“The birdie has spent all session gossiping about it,” Wyatt explained as he leaned against the barricade between the bench and the row of seats you were currently sitting on. “The boys are placing bets. First person to guess correctly gets a hundred bucks.” 

You raised your brows in amusement. “And how do they plan to confirm it?” 

“Pretty sure Tyler was just gonna straight up ask you,” Wyatt snorted. 

You hummed, your eyes narrowing in suspicion. “And did you place a bet?” 

Wyatt’s grin widened further. 

Your suspicion grew. “What did you do?” 

“I bet double if I could come over here and make you confess who your boyfriend is right now,” Wyatt announced happily, his eyes glimmering with a hint of mischief. “You’ve given yourself quite a rep, babe, you know? They think you’re impossible to break.”

You snorted in response. 

For someone with a job surrounding social media, you weren’t the most active person outside of it. Not on purpose, not really. Most of your time was spent on the Stars social media accounts that you didn’t really have time for your own, or really care about it enough. A little private Instagram account you posted on once in a blue moon was enough for you.

However, somewhere between being on an internship and being hired full time for the media team, you had grown closer to the boys on the team. It was hard not to when you spent so much of your time with them, travelling from city to city and wasting countless hours with them and a camera in hopes of a few decent shots you could salvage for a post. 

It also meant that because you were constantly poking them for answers to ridiculous questions, they felt the need to do the same to you. And it was through one of these ridiculous questions from Tyler that you accidentally let it slip that you had a boyfriend. And said boyfriend was someone you worked with.

And it had been the main topic of conversation all day, considering it took Tyler all of two minutes before blurting it to the rest of the locker room. 

“So who’s the winning choice?” 

“Eddie on the equipment team.” 

Your nose scrunched a little. “I’ve spoken to him, like, twice.” 

“Miro said he swore he saw you both have a moment,” Wyatt shrugged, pressing his lips together to hold back his laugh. 

You hummed, tilting your head as you watched the way he leaned closer over the barricade. “So, hot shot, how are you gonna get me to confess?” 

“It’s been over four hours since you last kissed me,” Wyatt told you, matter-of-factly. “I think we should change that?” 

You tried to bite back your smile. “Yeah?” 

“Gotta show them who’s your boyfriend after all, right?” Wyatt continued, trying to sound as casual and indifferent as he could. But you could see the way he gritted his teeth together.

“You jealous, Johnston?” You taunted as you placed your laptop to the side, standing up from your seat and walking towards the barricade where Wyatt was still standing. Despite normally being taller than you, the platform the seats were on made you taller than your boyfriend once as he leaned his head back to look up at you, even whilst he was still wearing skates.

“Pfft, no,” he scoffed but his blushing cheeks told another story. “I think you should kiss me so I can prove I’m not jealous.”

You shook your head fondly. “You’re ridiculously unsubtle.” 

“But still cute, right?” Wyatt retorted, trying to close the distance between you, only to huff in annoyance when he realised he wasn’t able to easily reach for your lips. “Get down here.” There was a small pause before he continued. “Please?”

You smiled, leaning down as you cupped his face in your hands and tilted his head back enough for you to kiss him without bumping your head against his visor. It was short and sweet but he still beamed in response when you pulled back.

“Still jealous?” 

“Nuh uh, I’m feeling pretty good,” Wyatt grinned. “Do you think the guys noticed or—” 

“SHE IS DATING JOHNNY?!” 

“THIS SHIT IS RIGGED, I WANT MY MONEY BACK!”

“SOMEONE TELL PAVS TO COME PICK UP HIS ROOKIE, HE’S A CHEAT!”

.

[kitnita]

happy last-stretch-of-baseball-season-before-hockey-season-starts to all who celebrate. can i interest you in an improved take on baseball au robotter?

[diorsluv]

die for you masterlist

( diorsluv 2024 )

[ON HOLD!]

— social media, irl faceclaim ; lola tung

nhl + ntdp!2018 x platonic!figureskater!reader,

robertson brothers x fem!cousin!reader,

trevor zegras x fem!fwb!reader

other tags will be revealed once the complete series is done!

prologue

part 1: ( swear i couldn’t sleep a wink last night )

act i

part 2: ( no point in turning off the lights )

part 3: ( not the same without your head on my shoulders )

part 4: ( growing pains but i don’t wanna get older )

part 5: ( almost like we left it all on read )

part 6: ( couple feelings never laid to rest )

part 7: ( didn’t know that the party was over )

part 8: ( and it’s true that i need you here closer )

acts ii, iii, iv, and epilogue coming soon!

[starshine-hockey-girl]

I love it- great job!

“Don’t call me cupcake in public, I have a reputation!” with Tyler Seguin (1) - from m’s two year tumblrversary prompt list

9 months later and I’m finally fulfilling this request from @starshine-hockey-girl, though the original ask just got eaten by my inbox 😵‍💫 thankfully I remembered who this was for! hope you enjoy after all this time 🫶

- - -

Game 5: Minnesota Wild at Dallas Stars

Stars win, 4-0

You stood scrolling your phone postgame, shoulder leaned against the cool, painted cement block corridor wall deep in the hidden heart of American Airlines Center, across from the entrance to the families room as you waited for your boyfriend to exit the locker room. The corners of your lips automatically pulled upward as you pored over the Stars’ Instagram stories showcasing Tyler’s legendary pregame stretching and warmup routine, followed by the numerous goal celebrations throughout the night, including one of his own. You were so engrossed in your feed that you didn’t hear the sound of footsteps falling down the hall toward you.

“What are you smilin’ about over there?” a deep, unmistakable voice rang out a few yards in front of you.

You immediately stood up straight upon hearing Tyler, tucking your phone into the pocket of your playoff jacket and crossing your arms casually over your chest.

“You, Mr. Four-Goals-in-Five-Playoff-Games,” you retorted. He beamed, now just a few steps away.

“Do I get a kiss for that achievement?” he inquired, the way his one brow quirked above his playful honey brown eyes eliciting a tingle up your spine.

You tapped a finger against your chin and hummed, feigning contemplation. You were now toe-to-toe with your partner, though his frame towered over yours and melted you instantaneously.

“Well, I suppose,” you muttered, barely getting out the last syllable before he dipped his head down to capture your lips with his. The kiss lingered despite the bustle of the surrounding staff and fellow players and families, and you physically had to press a hand to his chest to bring it to a halt, though you wrapped your arms around his waist to keep him close.

“Easy, tiger,” you joked softly, making him giggle.

“Sorry, guess I’m a little keyed up,” he admitted.

“No wonder – you were amazing,” you praised. You pressed a chaste kiss to his neck, inhaling his familiar post-shower scent as you nestled your head against his. “I’m so proud of you,” you whispered against his skin.

He let out a low chuckle and squeezed you appreciatively.

“That’s what keeps me goin’,” he told you sincerely, kissing your cheekbone before you pulled away.

“How you feelin’?” you asked, your hand falling from his collar in favor of rubbing his back through his suit jacket.

He exhaled through pursed lips. “Tired,” he admitted, rolling his head from one side to the other. “Sore.”

You hummed in understanding but couldn’t resist the urge to tease.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go home and run you a bath, cupcake,” you told him, playfully patting his bearded cheek.

Tyler gasped dramatically, smirk on his lips, and he pried your fingers from his face.

“Don’t call me cupcake in public! I have a reputation!” he exclaimed, hand still clasped around yours.

You chuckled devilishly as he turned your hand to press a kiss to your wrist.

“But seriously, thanks for taking care of me, especially this time of year,” he said, allowing your joined hands to fall as he spoke. “Couldn’t do what I do without you.”

You smiled, squeezing his hand affectionately. “Nothing I’d rather do, babe,” you assured him softly. “See you at home.”

Tyler nodded, kissed you one last time, then, with a wink, disappeared down the hallway.

[sc0tters]

The Long Run | Roope Hintz & Miro Heiskanen

summary: when your brother leaves you unattended you end up at home with his teammates.

kinkmas: day one (threesome)

warnings: sexual themes, p in v (unprotected!), oral (m receiving!), spanking, swearing, degradation (mild!), swearing.

word count: 3.55k

authors note: we are kicking off kinkmas big and bold with a threesome. I’m gonna thank @itsnotgray for putting up with this and I hope it lived up to your expectations too! if you want to see the rest of the kinkmas masterlist you can find it all here!

The team Christmas party was always one to remember.

As Tyler’s younger sister you managed to score yourself an invite as you were in Dallas and Kate refused to let you spend the evening alone. The majority of the boys knew you well, you had been there for your brother through everything and when he got traded it was weirdly comforting even if you lived on the opposite side of the state.

For the most part the boys were good to you, little Seguin as they preferred to call you. Some cared enough to take an interest in your life too whilst others just sent you a nod, happy to see that you showed up. Then there were the last two of his teammates Miro Heiskanen and Roope Hintz, aka the unreadables. You weren’t sure how they felt about your presence as they’d just stare at you before they’d say a few phrases in Finnish before they’d leave you there just as confused as before they arrived.

Tonight was no different as the duo stood in the corner swirling their drinks as their eyes didn’t leave you. Maybe it was the fact that you had lost track of how much champagne you had drank two hours ago but you chugged the rest of your drink before you slammed it onto the countertop.

The boys smirked as they watched your red dress cling to your body as your tanned legs walked over to them “hey princess.” Miro smirked at the way your crossed your arms and stared up at them “you wanna tell me why you keep on staring at me?” You cocked your head making their smirks double in size as you were now falling into their game.

Roope smiled “you look real pretty tonight kid.” The compliment made your cheeks turn red as your strong facade quickly turned soft “I do?” You mumbled dropping your hands to your sides “don’t you think so Miro?” He elbowed the younger boy who had been staring.

It was your turn to smirk as you noticed his eyes hanging over the line of your breasts “really do.” Miro nodded as his eyes locked with yours “y/n c’mere!” Tyler called out making you roll your eyes.

Your brother stood in the middle of the room as he ushered you over telling Joel all about what you had gotten up to this year “that’s my cue boys.” You sent them a salute before you made your way over to your brother finding comfort under his arm.

That’s were you spent the majority of the rest of the night capturing the occasional glance from both Finnish boys. It made you laugh as you would do nothing more than send a smirk back in their direction “if you’ll excuse me.” Your voice was soft as you headed towards the bathroom “you enjoying his company?” Wyatt had started talking to you a little over ten minutes ago and as his crush on you was clear you let him made the advances that he seemed to want so badly.

You smirked as you looked at Roope who was leaning against the wall “you getting jealous?” You asked as you walked over to him nearly shutting the gap between you both “why should I be when you’re stood looking at me?” Roope stood up straight making the difference in height between you both larger.

It made your once amused expression turn to a scoff “I’m only here to go to the bathroom.” You mumbled tucking your hair behind your face “it’s over there princess.” Roope pointed to the door behind you as he smiled “I knew that.” You mumbled rolling your eyes as you turned around to head to the bathroom.

Staring at yourself in the mirror you brought your hands through your hair as you thought about how Roope looked at you “fuck me.” You grumbled seeing the panty line that had formed in your dress.

For you it didn’t take long to decide to strip out of your white thong as you bunched it in your hand letting a smirk form on your face as you opened the door up to see Roope in the same spot that he had been before you left “didn’t take you long.” Roope smiled as he crossed his arms watching you come back over to him “I was gonna ask you to hold something for me.” Maybe it was the alcohol in your system but as Roope held his hand out to you dropped your panties into it.

His eyes went wide as he realised what they were “you’re playing a dangerous game princess.” Roope warned seeing clenching his hand “just wanted someone to hold them f’me to surprise Wy.” You lied through your teeth smiling as you wanted a reaction from him. This was truly you making the best out of your unfortunate dress choice “you’re gonna send me to an early grave Seguin.” He groaned making you laugh “maybe that’s all I wanted to do.” You smirked leaning forward to press a kiss against his cheek as your hands ran up his shirt “herra pelasta minut.” Roope mumbled to himself as he watched you walk off back into the party leaving your panties in his hand before he shoved them into his pants pocket.

You managed to avoid him as you stuck with Miro now flirting with the boy “do you really have to go?” People begin leaving the party and it was now the Finnish boys turns “don’t you want to go to Wyatt?” Miro teased as you Roope stood behind you both “you two are never gonna let me hear the end of that are you?” You laughed as you shook your head standing in the corner with the two Finnish boys as they grabbed their coats.

Roope shook his head “was gonna ask if you were sure you wanted to stay with him?” Wyatt stood smiling as he saw you with the boys “I think we could have a great night.” You nodded with a smirk hinting to him about the conversation you had earlier in the night “I could give you a reason to never wear those panties ever again.” Roope’s voice was rough as his breath fanned against the shell of your ear.

Miro watched the conversation unfold as your eyes sparkled “both of you?” It was something that never came across your mind “you want both of us pretty girl?” Miro spoke up again making you nod “then let’s get you out of here before Tyler notices that you’re gone.” Roope took his jacket off as he slid it over your shoulders even as the Dallas winter weather wasn’t that cold.

They were quick to usher you into their Uber leaving you in the middle of the two boys as you all piled into the back of the car “you’re so fucking beautiful.” Miro ran his hand over your knee as you turned to him with a smile “how pretty?” Your tongue ran over your lower lip causing his other hand to cup your cheek.

As his lips went to yours Roope couldn’t help but feel himself grow jealous. The older Fin brushed your hair behind your neck so he could kiss below your ear “be a good girl.” He mumbled softly nibbling at your lobe.

It made you moan against Miro as both boys found their hands on your body. The Uber driver couldn’t help but look to the rear view mirror as it almost seemed the start of a porno. The way your fingers were brought to your lips as you could still feel Miro’s on yours was enough to make both boys feel this sense of bliss.

Roope was grateful that he had put his house into the drop off location as Miros house was another fifteen minutes away “we are close.” You clenched at the drivers words as both hockey players began nipping at your neck “t-thanks sir.” You stammered as your hands went to Roope’s hair tugging at the ends.

The boys got you out of the car quicker than you had gotten into it as Roope pulled out a hundred dollar note from his pocket leaving it as a tip for the driver. You three made it to the door in time for Miro to push you against the wall “is this what you wanted all along princess?” He asked as his thumb drew circles against the end of dress brushing against your thigh “yes M.” You whimpered as you watched Roope fish through his pocket’s quick to grab his keys as he unlocked the door “c’mon you two.”

You gasped as you walked into Roope’s house smiling as he turned on the lights. It was a bold move from you as you reached back to undo the zipper of your dress “Hani don’t you dare.” Roope warned making you smirk as you moved to grab at the straps of your dress.

As the straps came down so did your dress and both boys swore that they forgot how to breathe in that moment “come and get me boys.” Your voice was soft as you spun around and stepped out of your dress and began walking up the stairs.

Your bare ass made them melt as they watched you reach to unclip your bra before it joined the trail of clothes that were on the stairs finally prompting the boys to follow you as Roope took the first step closer to you “you’re playing a fine line Seguin.” He warned watching you smirk as you got to the top of the steps “come make me pay then.” Both boys were going to truly make you regret that statement.

The first memory you had of Roope’s bedroom was how your knees were pressed against his mattress “what are we gonna do with her?” Miro asked as you propped yourself up on your elbows “come get a taste M.” You smirked spreading your legs giving him a view of your soaked cunt.

Roope shook his head stopping in the boy from following your requests “you think you could get away with how you’ve acted all night?” The older of the two boys laughed “turn around and get on your knees.” He ordered making you comply as you stared at the mirrors that lined the other wall of his room.

Miro walked to the other side of the bed as he smirked at you “think it’s about time we finally shut these pretty lips up.” Miro suggested as he brushed his fingers along your jaw “baby you want his cock?” Roope was far more unfiltered as he grabbed at your hips “fuck me like you would one of those puck bunnies.” You watched how Miros groaned hearing those vulgar words leave your lips.

When you spoke to him like that Miro couldn’t deny you of that request as he undid the zip of his pants letting the bulge show causing your mouth to salivate ���you want this?” Miro asked with a smirk as he watched his teammate raise his hand to slap your ass “fuck!” Your moan was cut off as Miro slid his cock into your mouth.

His head dropped forward as his hands gripped at your hair “how many do we think she deserves?” Roope soothed the area of skin as he let out a dry laugh “two for each hour she fucking decided to tease us for.” Miro stared down as you batted your eyelashes looking back up at him “what do we think that Tyler would feel seeing his sister like this?” Roope asked as he slapped your ass again gripping at the piece of skin.

You moaned as your hands found themselves on Miros thighs as you swirled your tongue around his cock “watching your mascara run down those pretty cheeks?” Miro grunted forcing your head to take more of his cock as you breathed through your nostrils as Roope slapped your ass for the fifth time.

The area was tender as Roope finally moved his attention to where you wanted it as his fingers ran over your slit “she liked this.” Miro felt himself begin to start fucking your face as your throat constricted around his cock. It made Roope laugh “yeah cause she’s our dirty little puck bunny ain’t she?” Thinking about the words you once used made your cunt clench as Roope thrusted his fingers into your core “such a wet girl.” He cooed making you whine.

Those sensations made Miro grunt “fuck baby I’m gonna come.” He moaned as he grew close “gonna swallow all of it?” Miro’s question made you moan as Roope teased your clit.

Your head bobbed his cock as your lips were tight around it “d-don’t stop.” You might as well been a starved woman as you hollowed your cheeks out milking his cock as Miro came “shit baby right there!” Miro’s grip on your hair loosened as his warm release coated the inside of your mouth.

As he pulled out a string of his come landed on your lower lip which Miro didn’t hesitate to wipe off with his thumb before he placed his calloused finger on your clit “swallow that and be a good girl for me.” His voice was soft as he began to move his finger in a circular motion. You let your tongue fall out of your mouth showing that you had listened to the younger boys request “look at you finally being a good girl for us.” Roope muttered as he pulled his fingers from your cunt making you whine “shut up and take what I give you.” He warned tilting your head up so he could give you your first kiss from him of the night.

Roope already felt his cock throb against his pants but tasting another man on your tongue made it grow more uncomfortable as it soon felt like he’d be losing a button on that pair “who do you want first?” In the midst of your horniness and desperateness to reach your first orgasm of the night maybe you didn’t notice that it was actually a trick question “you Roope.” You whimpered as Miro leaned down to kiss you.

You note how much softer he was than his older teammate as he pinched your chin “have her ride you.” Roope ordered making you pull away from Miro as you frowned “you want me then you better earn it princess.” The weight of the mattress dipped as Miro crouched onto it.

His hands brushed through your hair as your fingers went to his shirt so you could undo the buttons “eager little girl.” Roope smirked as he undid his shirt too.

The moment of how you landed up straddling Miro’s torso as Roope gripped his cock running his hand along the underside of it “wanna be a good girl?” Roope cooed as you nodded “get on him then.” Watching you grab Miro’s cock teasing your clit made all three of you moan “fuck!” You cried sinking down on his dick as his fingers helped guide your hips down.

Roope didn’t wait long to tap the head of his cock on your lips “open up.” His words were surprisingly soft as Miro let you adjust to his size “so big.” Your moan was muffled as Roope’s cut you off “this mouth is fucking dangerous.” He grunted tugging your hair at your scalp.

Miro began thrusting into your cunt as he lifted your hips up and down “you like us fucking you like this don’t you?” Roope laughed seeing your mascara smudge as your eyes watered “think she’s never been fucked like this before.” Miro’s cock throbbed from inside of you as your cunt clenched around him “such a tight little pussy.” His words made you moan around Roope’s cock as he reached out to lightly hit your clit.

Your hands gripped at Miro’s thighs as you began grinding in an attempt to create more friction “is that what you wanted?” Roope’s fingers tightened in your hair causing your eyes to lock onto his “for us to ruin you for every other boy in your life?” The older boy had to laugh at how you nodded “can’t hear you princess.” Roope was pushing you as he forced you to take more of his cock making your throat feel raw.

Tears clouded your eyes as you nodded “yes fuck!” The words came muffled as you choked on his cock “it’s too easy with you.” Miro and Roope seemed to bounce off of each other “this cunt is heaven.” Miro reminded you that he was behind you as your eyes fluttered.

The boys both grew closer to their highs as one watched your cunt swallow his cock and the other got to feel your tongue swirl around his “you see how good you make us feel?” Roope threw you off as his hand was soft against your cheek in clear contrast to the other that was still in your hair “letting us use you like this.” Your cunt clenched as you moaned feeling your skin feel like it was on fire “is this how you wanted us to be all along?” It was clear that there was a sense of teasing in his words but you still whined as your legs began to shake.

Miro grunted from behind you “think she’s close.” His fingers stayed on your clit pressing against the sensitive nub “you want to come?” You nodded making the boy slide his cock out of your mouth “fucking beg me for it then.” Roope watched as your hand replaced where your mouth once was.

You moaned as your lips fell open “fuck!” You gasped feeling Miro’s hand grab at your ass “that’s not good enough.” Roope grabbed at your jaw “please let me come.” You whined letting your lips form a pout “I’ll be yours I promise.” You begged locking your eyes with him.

Roope nodded sliding his cock back into your mouth “let her come.” All three of you felt yourselves growing closer to your eyes as the walls soaked up the sounds of your moans and the sounds of skin slapping “god milk my cock with your pretty little cunt.” Miro grunted as his eyes screwed shut.

Pleasure fell over the both of you as you came “keep using your pretty little mouth.” Roope cooed watching your face contort as your cunt clenched around his cock bringing his orgasm on “fucking hell!” Miro groaned as he dug his nails into your hips.

Your walls of your core were coated with his release “get her off and hold her legs up.” Roope ordered as both you and Miro slowed down trying to recover from your orgasms “gonna let me come on your cunt too?” Roope asked making you nod repeatedly.

Miro sat up as he had you lean against his back as his cock pressed against your back as he made your legs sit on either side of his “you want to be a good girl for us?” Miro’s voice was coarse as you watched Roope slip his cock out again before he wrapped his hand around it now getting himself to that high.

You moaned pressing your fingers against your clit as you mixed your and Miro’s releases over the area “always.” You cried as Miro pinched your nipples between his fingers “such a pretty girl.” Miro cooed kissing his lips against your shoulder.

Roope groaned “fuck I’m gonna make a mess.” His words made you chew at the inside of your cheek “shit Roo!” You moaned watching his cock spurt his warm release over your slit as you used your hands to spread the sides of your cunt open.

It made feel like you were on cloud nine as his cock pressed against your clit “want me to fuck this into you?” Roope laughed as you caught your lip between your teeth nodding “you’re right about this cunt.” Roope was bigger than Miro as he bottomed you out making you jump “fuck!” You swore as you were still sensitive.

Roope’s lips caught yours as he continued to slowly thrust his cock into your cunt “making sure this all stays in there pretty girl.” His words were husky as the boys kept you in there all night.

Weeks had gone by without seeing either boy in the same way again besides for the few smiles that were shared after games. Truthfully you thought that it was only going to be one night of fun. But as you stood there waiting for your timer to go off you couldn’t help but wonder seeing PREGNANT appear on the test, who the hell is the father?

[wyattjohnston]

weird... he's gonna fit right in 💚

[alchemistc]

goon | bucktommy | chapter five

check out the hockey glossary here (updated through chapter five)

Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four

read Chapter Five on ao3

Eddie pulls into the parking lot still grinning at the recollection of the first time he’d met Evan Buckley, and Tommy can’t help but smile back, all the air in his lungs spent on the breathless laughter he’d expelled on the drive over.

“He actually thought I was there to replace him, or something,” Eddie says, fondly, amusement and affection seeping into his voice, and something clicks, just then. Tommy doesn’t have time to think about it, though, because half a second later Ravi is banging on the passenger window, looking harried.

Tommy rolls it down with one eyebrow raised.

“Closed practice,” Ravi says, with a kind of warning tilt to his expression, and Eddie’s smile evaporates in the drivers seat.

“Shit,” Eddie says, and Ravi nods emphatically.

Tommy’s been here going on three months, and this is the first time he’s even heard a whisper about closed practice. Sure, there are days where fans don’t fill the stands, and days when the media doesn’t seem inclined to make an appearance because there isn’t any story worth telling, but as far as he knows, Bobby Nash hasn’t held a closed practice in at least a few years. Back when he was brand new and fighting an uphill battle for a point or two a week, yeah, he’d definitely heard a few of those stories from guys like McKinley and even a few of the guys who’d been traded, in the following few years, to teams Tommy played for.

But Tommy can’t think of a reason why Nash would want to do that now.

Gerrard had held them for the opportunity to pick on whoever he felt like singling out on a given day, but that’s not Nash’s style.

“He called up four guys from Loveland,” Ravi continues, and next to Tommy, Eddie grimaces.

“Scrimmage?”

Ravi nods forebodingly.

“Shit,” Eddie repeats, and Tommy takes a deep breath, not quite sure if this is actually something to be worried about, or more melodramatics from a bunch of guys who’ve never had to play for the likes of Tortorella or Gerrard. “Does Buck know?”

“Buck’s the one who told me,” Ravi says, and Eddie whistles through his teeth.

“Is he already picking on the Eagles guys?”

“He’s got The List out,” Ravi informs them gravely, and Eddie actually leans forward and knocks his head against the steering wheel, startling Ravi when his forehead hits dead center on the horn.

“What’s the list?” Tommy queries, using the back of his hand to shove Ravi gently out of his way, opening the door before he rolls up the window to allow them to continue this conversation. He’s almost positive this is a late hazing, at this point, but never let it be said that Tommy won’t take any opportunity to let Buck’s team talk about him.

(Fucked, with a capital F.)

“You don’t wanna know about The List,” Ravi tells him ominously, dancing out of the way of the bag Tommy swings out from the back seat before shutting his door behind him.

“Tell me anyway.”

Ravi falls into stride beside him, detailing a nightmarish demon of a man who hazes the new kids and the old hats alike with pop quizzes on regulations and unspoken rules, right before drilling any random passersby with questions about the system they play until he was satisfied they fully understood The Process.

Tommy hasn’t seen a trace of this monstrous demon, but he’s actually kind of looking forward to finding out if this is a real thing Evan Buckley does. It sounds objectively hilarious, and also a little adorable.

It’s been two weeks and Tommy’s gotten a couple texts, a single call, and some heavy looks across a table at team dinner, or the locker room after practie, with no idea what, exactly, he’d said or done to draw Buckley’s ire. He actually thought I was there to replace him, Eddie had said, not five minutes ago, and Tommy takes the rest of the walk (Eddie and Ravi on either side of him looking like they’ve just gotten their marching orders) to reassess the last month or so.

Things had been great, after the All-Star game.

The new guys were still learning the system, which has an admittedly sharp learning curve, and they’d lost a few games, in amongst the grind, but Tommy was skating better, and Buck was pulling off some pretty spectacular shit every night, breaking ankles and running up enough points to throw him into the Norris conversation. McKinley had suggested some line mix-ups that had actually helped the new guys both pick up the pace and start to work within the system as it was designed to work.

Eddie had been making a point to pull Tommy in, inviting him out to places with the team, and sharing his sparse father-son time with Tommy, spending a few extra minutes out on the ice with him on practice days to try to give him some tips on his movement, his edgework, his stick handling skills.

For two and a half weeks Tommy had spent his nights stretching out sore muscles, icing aches and pains, and watching game film on mute, listening to Evan Buckley talk to him on speaker about the perils of simple carbohydrates while he shoveled two-day old shrimp fried rice into his mouth.

And then he’d been left on read for three minutes and barely spoken to him since.

In hindsight, it makes plenty of sense. Hell, he’d joked a million times to himself that Buckley and Diaz lived out of each others pockets; of course, of course Buckley would be upset by the perception that Eddie Diaz could in any way attempt to replace Evan Buckley.

Tommy will talk to him after practice. Maybe take him up on the beer he’d promised to buy Tommy in exchange for a few lessons on keeping his blades planted during a bout. (Nash and Hen don’t need to know he’s giving their star defenseman fighting tips.)

It’s as good a saying shutout with twenty minutes still left in a game.

Tommy isn’t actually paying attention, when it happens. He’s mostly trying to remember what he knows about their penalty kill, how it functions, which point of the diamond he’s supposed to maintain a five foot radius around while the power play unit hammers them with shots towards the net.

He is very firmly not thinking about how flustered he’d felt, walking into the lockers to find a half-dressed Evan Buckley wielding an actual clipboard, going through equipment checks with four Eagles players like Buck hadn’t previously played a game or two with all but one of them. Like the Eagles don’t closely follow the same system the Avs play. Like they’re not fucking professionals, themselves. Nothing about it should have done a single fucking thing for Tommy, and yet, while Buck made his way down the checklist and Wagner and Ivan elbowed each other in amusement as the fresh-faced kid who’d yet to be called up until today seemed to waffle between consternation and the need to prove himself.

Tommy doesn’t have a praise kink. Or a degradation kink, come to think of it.

But he’d suddenly realized he absolutely had a thing for Evan Buckley leaning into the obsessive perfectionism. (He’d had the irrational desire to see what his Google calendar looks like, and had to stuff that away immediately while Wagner waved at him from across the room and received an icy glare from Buck for daring to interrupt.)

He doesn’t see it, is the point he’s trying to make. From the left of his goalie, Tommy takes a puck to the bucket and watches Buckley circle back up to the top of the zone while he blinks away the dull gong-like ringing in his ears, watches Ivan shovel the puck back to Buck and Buck slide left, right, barely keeping it in the zone when he spins away from a poke check, and then Wagner skates right through Tommy’s line of vision, and by the time Tommy repositions himself, Buck is chasing after Eddie, who has the puck and a clean sheet of ice straight to Chim.

Tommy keeps up with Wagner down the ice, Buck chasing ahead of them, and with just the team and coaches in here, Tommy can hear a lot more than he usually can, even in a practice setting— the sound of the guys on the bench chattering away, taking notes on how a PK is actually supposed to function; the slice of eleven sets of blades gliding over the ice; the chirping from Eddie as he taunts Buck, five feet behind him, and Buck’s loud, loud guttural shout a moment before he catches a burst of speed and extends his knee just as Eddie winds back to shoot the puck.

Eddie goes down with a groan of pain, and they all slow, the momentum of the chase propelling them most of the way as Eddie curses, a loud mix of English and Spanish while Buck drops his stick to his knees and sucks in a few steady breaths.

Hen is out on the ice about fifteen seconds later, and things devolve from there.

Eddie flops into the seat next to Tommy, ten minutes into their flight, and Tommy raises a curious brow, eyes darting up from his book when Eddie just sighs. Six rows up, Buckley is making friends with the d-man they’d called up from Loveland, just in case Eddie’s knee acted up and he had to be scratched from the lineup.

It’s the first time in three months that Tommy has seen them sit in separate rows on a flight.

Eddie shrugs half-heartedly when Tommy tilts his head in question.

There’s enough chatter going on that Tommy doesn’t feel the need to pull out his phone and have this conversation through his fucking notes app, but he keeps his voice low, regardless.

“How’s your knee?” he starts, because despite how close they’ve become, he’s under no illusion that he can just dive straight into the “we made your best friend mad, how do we fix it” conversation without some small-talk to ease them into it.

Or maybe they can. “Recovering from Buck’s possessive streak pretty well, actually,” Eddie says with a breathy snort. “Wish his ego would get on the same page as my knee.”

Tommy bites down on the urge to defend him, of all things, but a moment later Eddie sighs.

“That wasn’t fair. Buck is — he gets a little weird, sometimes, about the people that are important to him.” He pauses, fingers tapping against his thigh as he shoots a careful look at Tommy. “I feel kinda bad. All he ever wants is to feel like he’s being included.”

“You’re allowed to have more than one friend,” Tommy intones, and then feels for a moment like walking it back at the lofty tilt of Eddie’s head, his pursed lips, his deadpan expression.

“Buck has about five million attachment issues and three people he trusts implicitly, and one of them has been inadvertently icing him out since he left for the All Star game. He’s second guessing six years of friendship because he didn’t realize dating wasn’t the only thing that could take my attention away from him for more than five minutes at a time.”

Tommy thinks that’s probably an oversimplification, but he gets the gist. “Have you talked to him?”

“Not successfully,” Eddie intones, with a nod towards the back of Buck’s head.

“I’ll talk to him.” Eddie gives him a grateful tap, two knuckles to Tommy’s knee, and shifts back into his seat, stretching his leg out into the aisle. “Maybe wait until after the game. Dallas is only six points behind us and I’d much rather he take a run at Duchene than you, if he doesn’t like what you have to say.”

The chuckle that escapes containment is a little self-deprecating, but Tommy tilts his head back, closes his eyes, and pretends to get some shuteye while he ponders what the hell he’s actually going to say to Buck. After the game.

Letting Buck stay mad is either gonna make or break this game. Tommy hasn’t decided yet, but it’s a running concern, as they go up one, then Dallas ties, then Dallas captures the lead in the closing minutes of the first. Buck is agitated down the tunnel, agitated through intermission, agitated as he lines up for the opening puck drop of the second period, agitated as Dallas mucks things up in the neutral zone, agitated as the refs miss an interference call that he’s been penalized for at least three times in the calendar year, so far.

He’s agitated as he gets smashed into the boards behind Dallas’ net, and agitated as Diaz misses his pass and the puck trickles out of Dallas’ zone, and agitated when Dallas takes advantage and nearly goes up another goal, the puck clanging off the iron before Chimney can scramble from one side of his crease to the other.

Dallas plays a shitty, boring game of keep away, jamming up every play they try to make in the neutral zone, and with two minutes left in the second, Buck takes another nasty hit against the glass, sandwiched between Benn and Hintz with the puck no where close to him. The no call is probably his last straw, when he comes away bleeding with Hintz’s stick still stuck in the padding of his helmet.

Back on the bench, Buck washes out his mouth with water, grimaces as Hen dabs at the cut just to the side of his eyebrow, an uncanny match to the birthmark on the other side of his face, and proceeds to argue with Nash for thirty seconds as the clock ticks down and Nash keeps him on the bench.

Nash has a rule, in these scenarios. They play for the next five minutes, every time, no game too far out of reach because they’re just setting up for the next five, but the important piece is handing off the last five. Whatever happened, whatever will happen, once the previous five are up, they’re done. There’s no changing them, only learning from them.

And Buck is clearly not ready to hand it the fuck off.

With twenty-seven seconds left and the puck once again stuck in the middle of the ice, Buckley and Diaz replace Manson and Girard, and Buck takes about half a second to assess the run Duchene is making towards their zone before he seems to make a decision.

It’s a legal hit, technically speaking. He catches Duchene with his head down, but Buck has both speed and a build up of negative emotion just leaking from his pores, at this point, so when they meet in the middle and Buck locks his elbow, the crash ends up looking more like an explosion of momentum, from Buck’s extended mitt, through Duchene’s chest. Buck stays standing and Duchene goes ass over tea-kettle, legs going out from under him and the puck trickling off his stick right into the space behind Buckley, where Diaz skates over to scoop it up and send it careening through a free patch of ice towards McKinley.

Duchene doesn’t snap back to his skates, right away, and Tommy can’t hear it over the noise of the crowd, but in the moment before Buck follows the puck on it’s way towards Oettinger, he bends to say something that has Duchene seeing fucking red.

Christ.

Tommy supposes he can add another player to the list of people who are gonna throw a fucking target on the number 18.

McKinley ties it up with seven seconds left in the period, but on the skate back to the benches Duchene decides to get chirpy. Buck gets through the glove taps just in time to have his stick snaked out from it’s loose hold by a smirking Duchene, and the shoving match the commences almost gets their entire first line thrown in the box for the start of the third, but it’s Buck that puts them all on notice as they skate back to their own benches.

“You’re a fucking joke, man!” Buck yells, still half-hanging off the sideboards, skate firmly tucked beneath the bench to give him leverage to lean back out and make direct eye contact with Duchene. “Your career is a joke, and you’re an embarrassment to the league. How’s that ring chasing going, Matty? I fucking lit you up, asshole, and I’ll do it again!”

Tommy makes the mistake of staring through the glass towards the Stars bench, where Dumba is staring directly at him. So. There’s that.

Whatever Duchene shouts back is lost to the final whistle and a battle for the puck that Stankoven ends up shoveling into his own zone just to kill off the last few seconds on the clock.

The ire hasn’t left Buck, once they’re in the room. They can all feel it, attitude fucking rolling off of him as they listen to Bobby walk them through his strategy to get rid of this congested mess of a game and get through to the net.

Tommy spends his twenty minutes trying to remember his last fight with Dumba.

It’s a tie game. There’s an edge to be had to winning a territorial fight like this — momentum can swing based entirely on whether or not Tommy’s fist makes contact enough times to fire up his team. The problem is the one player who’s been fired up the entire game isn’t doing shit to generate the kind of momentum they need to break out of this slog of a game and build some fucking offense.

There’s another option. They’re all pissed at the refs, and have been all game, and Tommy’s the locker room guy, the one they look to when their stars have said their piece and the coach has left them to their own devices. If the refs toss him, they’re gonna be amped the fuck up.

Nash would be pissed he’s even thinking about it. Buck might actually pick a fight he can’t win, if Tommy doesn’t play it right. Fighting Dumba won’t work, for this, so he’s gonna have to suck it up and play the villain, ignore the heavyweight fight and go for something gritty and fucking rude.

Benn, then.

It’s been a while since Tommy’s laid out Jamie Benn.

Both benches get warnings from the refs before the start of the third, and Buck blatantly ignores them the moment he’s on the ice, chirping every single black-and-neon green sweater that has a chance of hearing him, missing setups because he’s too busy laying reverse hits and generally being a pest.

Tommy absolutely shouldn’t find anything about this remotely amusing, because if he keeps it up, Dumba is absolutely gonna find a way to challenge Tommy, and everyone else is too frustrated with this new and unimproved Buckley. The problem is, Evan Buckley the pest is fucking hilarious, and the few insults Tommy has managed to catch are not only fantastically amusing, they’re also bitingly specific. Buck’s putting his stats and lore knowledge to good (evil) use.

He’s pretty sure he even catches a slyly worded allusion to cunnilingus that Benn very clearly does not like one bit, but Benn doesn’t have time for retaliation because Buck takes his momentary lapse to pick his pocket and spin into the Stars zone with three Avs on his heels.

The puck pings off the crossbar five different times before the Stars get possession again, and with fifteen minutes left in the game, Dadanov snipes one past Chim into the net.

Tommy can feel the bench deflate.

Dallas shaves another three and a half off the clock by clogging up the neutral zone before Tommy gets an opportunity on the ice with Benn’s line, and he doesn’t waste any time — down a goal with eleven and change left in the game, he doesn’t see a whole lot of other options, and he doesn’t really give Benn the opportunity to not engage.

It takes a bit of maneuvering.

Stripes haven’t called shit all game, from either side, so it’s a risk, either way, and Tommy’s goal isn’t to actually injure Benn, just make the hit look bad enough and blatant enough that they’ve got no choice but to call it. He waits until the puck has been off Benn’s stick for a hot second before he slams him into the boards, and the crowd gets loud.

The whistle blows, and just for the hell of it, Tommy wraps both hands around his stick and shoves it into the middle of Benn’s back when he tries to get back to his feet.

Johnston gets an arm around his neck half a second later, and both linesmen come careening in to break it up.

He’s assessed with five minutes, which isn’t ideal, when that shaves off half their time left in the game, but a minute and a half into the penalty kill Heiskanen takes a chop at Ravi when he manages to get the puck down past the red line, and suddenly they’re four-on-four for at least the middle portion of Tommy’s gamble.

Dallas’ special teams aren’t as good as theirs — not when they’re evenly matched — and when McKinley finds Panikkar with a stretch pass there’s no one in the lane to intercept.

Tie game, with a minute and a half left in Tommy’s major, back to being shorthanded, but there’s signs of life on the bench, and Buck seems to have finally fucking cooled his jets (Tommy spends forty seconds wondering which one of them convinced Bobby to force a Honey Stinger into his hands).

In typical fashion, the moment Tommy’s out of the box, Dallas returns to slowing the game right down, well aware that it’s the easiest way to neutralize the Avs offense, and the minutes chip away while Tommy watches the clock.

On a flyby, Duchene chirps at Buck and Diaz both on the bench, which is ultimately the Stars fucking downfall, even if they don’t know it.

With forty-seven seconds left on the clock, Diaz skates through traffic and gets a saucer pass down the ice to O’Connor, and Lundkvist blows a tire in his attempt to defend him.

The puck sails in right under Oettinger’s blocker.

In the locker room, ten minutes later, Tommy catches Nash’s eye and does his best not to look guilty, but Tommy has studied Nash’s career, and they both know exactly where he’d gotten his ham handed idea from. The expression on Nash’s face tells him everything he needs to know about how quickly he’ll end up a healthy scratch if he tries it again.

Tommy’s still working through his wording, five hours later, when he settles into his room in Boston. Tomorrow’s a rest day, nothing but a coaches meeting on the books, so regardless of how things go with Buck, he’s at least got the advantage of a full day where they’re not required to speak to each other, once Tommy’s said his piece. He’ll give Buck the night, let him sleep off whatever agitation had had him so hot all day, knock on his door in the morning and apologize, maybe convince him to grab another coffee, if the apology goes decently.

And if not, he’ll have the day to lick his wounds and remind himself that he’d absolutely known he was setting himself up to hurt his own feelings.

He’s eternally grateful his trade had happened so early, because he’d heard rumblings on the plane ride over that the Altitude team was planning a half-day of get-to-know-the-new-guys coverage, and he’s already done his thirty-minute sit down with Keefe.

The knock on his door startles him out of his reverie, and when he swings the door open, he doesn’t know exactly what he’s expecting, but it sure as hell isn’t the chagrined, lopsided smile of Evan Buckley, leaning against the door frame and looking contrite.

“Buck. Hi.”

Buck’s chest rises with the deep breath he takes.

“Hi,” he says, and in the dim hallway light, with his shoulders turned in on themselves, he looks suddenly vulnerable and tired. “Can we talk?”

[annieqattheperipheral]

"money on the board" explained

if guys don't ever do it seen as "oh he doesn't care about the guys, the team" rookies are targeted but the more $ you're making the more $ you're expected to put up. gotta do it when you're playing hometown, former teams, family attending, big milestones

$ goes to holiday parties/outings together but can also be designated:

TRS = trainers

TD = team dinner

for the week after the season all the $ is used up partying for days

not just for game wins, can be for specific things:

GWG = game winning goal

"5 hits"

"single guys game" Saturday night games single guys encouraged to put up $ for going out after

fines (not mentioned in this vid but details here and here)

$ amounts:

NHL: min $500

AHL: $50, $75, but usually min $100

examples:

19-20 dallas stars home opener (seguin put up $9,850 after signing his contract for $9.85m)

usual game in an 82 game season

example of a guy's big milestone game (eg. 700th game, put up $700)

[starshine-hockey-girl]

The Dove and The Serpent- Magical Mystery Ride- Chapter Twenty Six

Summary: Teddy and Tyler work together to help Teddy survive a significant anniversary

Author's Note: Okay, I went full-on Lifetime movie with the drama on this one. It's probably not realistic, plausible-blah, blah, blah. I don't care. Teddy and Tyler need a little drama

Warnings- discussions of past abuse, alcohol use, drama for drama's sake

@pattiemac1 @laurenairay @penstxgal1968 @hedoublehockeystix

January 8th- Team Hotel- Winnipeg

Tyler picked up his phone and initiated a FaceTime call with Teddy. He had just returned from morning skate at the Winnipeg arena and was in jovial spirits. The beautiful redhead answered from her desk in her studio. 

Teddy: Hey Sweet One- give me a second to save this video

Tyler: Oh sure, I see your priorities.

Teddy: Bite me Tyler- bite me

Tyler: Oh, I didn’t realize that you were into the kinky shit. Good to know. 

Teddy: Are you trying to torment me right now?

Tyler: No, I am trying to banter with you like we do EVERY DAY.

Teddy: Not in the mood to banter right now. 

Tyler: Why not?

Teddy: It’s that time of the year. 

Tyler: What time of the year? You have me confused. It happens a lot, but explain it to me.

Teddy: It’s almost the anniversary of ……..

Tyler: What anniversary? We don’t have any anniversaries in January. If I remember last January you ghosted me for almost a week. 

Teddy: Yes, I ghosted you the week of the anniversary last year. 

Tyler: WHAT ANNIVERSARY???

Teddy: The anniversary of when Chaz assaulted me the last time- when he put me in the hospital.

Tyler: Fuck

Teddy: Yeah, fuck. I get this way every year. I’m sorry. 

Tyler: When is the actual date? 

Teddy: January 10th. You have a game in Philly. 

Tyler: Why do you know my schedule better than me?

Teddy stared at him in disbelief. 

Tyler: Nevermind. I know why.

Teddy asked: Why?

Tyler: Because of your superior brain and intellect?

Teddy stared again. 

Tyler: What can I do? What can I do to help?

Teddy sighed and spoke: Nothing. There isn’t anything that anyone can do. 

Tyler bit his lip and thought for a moment. He hated to see her in turmoil. Being on the road made him feel powerless and useless to help her. Suddenly a light bulb went off in his brain. 

Tyler: Can I ask you a question?

Teddy: Shoot.

Tyler: Would coming to see me help? You could fly out early and meet me in Philly tomorrow. I can’t be with you all day on the 10th, but I can do at least the morning and afternoon until the game. 

Teddy’s voice cracked: Won’t you have morning skate?

Tyler: I will skip it. 

Teddy asked softly: You would really skip it for me?

Tyler: Of course I would skip it for you. You need me more. 

Teddy: I do need you Tyler. I need you more than I thought I ever would.

Tyler: Is that a bad thing?

Teddy: No, it’s a good thing. You have never let me down. 

Tyler: So we have a plan? I will see you in Philly on the 9th?

Teddy: Yes, I will make the arrangements. 

Tyler: What can I do in the meantime? How can I make it better?

Teddy: Just you wanting to make it better helps. 

Tyler: I love you, Pretty One. You don’t have to do it alone this year. 

Teddy: How did you know that I did it alone last year?

Tyler: Because you ghosted me for a whole week. It was horrible. I forgive you though because you’re cute. 

Teddy laughed: Thanks

Tyler: Do you need the words?

Teddy: Yes, please.

Tyler: Who do I want?

Teddy: Me and only me

Tyler: Who do I love?

Teddy: Me and only me

Tyler: Who is my lady?

Teddy: Me and only me

Tyler: Talk to you after the game, before I get on the plane tonight.

Teddy: Hey Sweet One….

Tyler: Yes Pretty One

Teddy: Thank you. Thank you for not letting me be alone.

Tyler: My pleasure

January 9th- Philadelphia Airport 

Teddy walked through the sliding glass door that separated the terminal from the baggage claim and exit. She had her head down when she heard a voice called, "Teddy….Teddy Baxter!" Her eyes scanned the area for her driver but saw no one in a uniform. Again the voice called, "Teddy…. Teddy Baxter!" In a much louder voice. Something about the voice seemed entirely familiar. She searched again- still no driver. Something else caught her attention- a giant stuffed Teddy Bear. The bear was holding a sign that said "Pretty One." She smiled and  walked toward the bear quickly. 

When she stood in front of the bear, she took notice of the arms and hands wrapped around the huge teddy bear. The arms are covered in detailed tattoos. She leaned her head and looked around the bear. Tyler flashed his signature smile, "about damn time. This thing is heavy." He dropped the bear and pulled Teddy into his arms. "Now here's the Teddy Bear I love," he teased as he kissed her cheek. Teddy smiled at the teddy bear before she nuzzled her face into his neck. "Pretty One? You okay?" he asked.

"I will be. I will be soon," she whispered, "I am here. I am not alone."

"You don't have to be alone anymore, Pretty One," he wrapped his arms around and squeezed her tight.

"Ummm, Sweet One? What's up with the bear?" she asked.

“I don’t know. You tell me,” he said in confusion.

“What do you mean tell you? Why would I know about the bear?” she replied equally confused. 

“You didn’t send it? It was my room when I checked in last night,” he responded, “It had a note too.”

“What did it say?” she questioned. 

“I can’t wait to cuddle with you. Love, Teddy Bear,” he answered.

“Love, Teddy Bear? Really?” she scoffed. 

"Teddy Bear? Like your name?" He joked.

"When have you ever heard me refer to myself as Teddy Bear? Only two people on the planet call me Teddy Bear." she said gently. 

"Oh," Tyler replied, "so you didn’t send the bear?"

“Nope, definitely not me,” she pondered, “Who sent it?”

“Maybe it was one of the guys?” he said sheepishly, “I may have been talking non-stop about how excited I was to see you.”

“You think?” she wondered. It was a plausible enough explanation. She shook her head and decided to get with it. 

“So do you want the bear or not?” he laughed. 

"Hell yes, I want the bear. I want you more though," she teased.

"Good- now you can carry that thing. It's ruining my rep," he laughed as he took her overnight bag from her shoulder.

"What rep is that?" she laughed as she picked up the bear, "a big old softie? A mushy gushy boyfriend?"

"Teddy, I am a badass," he countered. She raised an eyebrow as they walked to the waiting SUV. "Okay, a badass AND mushy gushy boyfriend. What the fuck happened to me?" he admitted. She smiled brightly and he groaned, "You- you happened to me. You put a spell on me."

"Me? Little ole innocent me?” she batted her eyes.

"Shut up and get in the car. It's freezing out here," he gruffed.

At the hotel, Tyler opened the door to his room. He set Teddy's bag on the floor by the window while she set the bear in the club chair. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She rested her head against his back. She looked over and noticed Tyler's bag on the floor. "Ummm, Sweet One- why are your bags in my room?" She questioned.

"Because technically, it's my room," he answered as he walked them over to the bed.

"Is that allowed?" Teddy balked, "I don't want you to get into trouble."

Tyler sat down on the bed, pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her waist "Again, technically it would be frowned upon especially if I don't play well tomorrow. It will give me an incentive to score," he explained. She frowned. "Teddy," he added, "There is a room with your name on it. Nobody is going to come check the beds. I won't get in trouble." He gazed into her eyes and pushed her hair behind her ears. "If I get in trouble, then I get in trouble but I can't let you wake up alone tomorrow. I can't let you wake up alone on the anniversary," he continued.

Teddy leaned forward and kissed him gently. He pulled her down on top of him, "Don't worry, Pretty One," he moaned as she straddled his waist and pushed up his shirt, "Don't worry."

They kissed slowly as Tyler's hands pushed Teddy's sweater over her head. His mouth immediately went to her bra covered breasts. He pulled the bra cups down and began to suck and lick. Teddy's hips rocked against his crotch as she leaned down to give Tyler better access. His hands slid under her skirt and he groaned loudly. "Fucking commando," he growled as he flipped them over onto her back. He looked up as he reached to unbuckle his pants and push them down. The giant bear stared at him. He looked down and back. He muttered under his breath, "Damn bear-quit looking at me. I am trying to fuck here." 

Teddy's head turned and she grinned, "Don't talk that way to Beaux. He is a sensitive soul."

"He has a name already? You bonded quickly there, Pretty One. Make him stop staring" Tyler whined.

"Go, turn him around," she giggled, "turn him around if he is bothering you."

He kissed her hard, "Don't move." He shimmied out of his pants and boxers and hopped over to Beaux and turned the bear around. "Sorry dude, I am not going to get cock blocked by a stuffed animal." He returned to Teddy and kissed her neck, "Now where was I? Oh yes, I was showing my girlfriend what it's like to be fucked by an bad ass."

"Only if I get to sleep with the mushy gushy boyfriend afterwards," purred slowly.

"Your wish is my command," he answered.

LATER ON

Tyler’s fingers slowly stroked her back. She snored lightly as her head rested on his tattooed chest. A soft smile spread across her face. A light moan escaped as she wiggled beneath his touch. “Pretty One,” he whispered, “You need to wake up. It’s time to go to dinner.” She shook her head in defiance. “I made reservations for us….” he hummed out loud. 

“Reservations? Like in a fancy place?” she sat up straight. 

“Yes- that’s why I told you to pack a dress,” he smiled up at her. 

“You’re taking me to a fancy place in Philly?” she poked his abs. 

“Why are you talking like I never take you to any fancy places?” he joked, “I take you to fancy places, Teddy.” 

Teddy opened her mouth to argue. It was true that they did go to upscale restaurants in Dallas, but it was always with another couple or team outing. The last time he had taken her solo was their first date. She smiled at the memory of his nervousness and desire to impress her with the private dining room. 

As if reading her mind, Tyler spoke, “Remember you said that you would be happier doing our thing at home instead of fancy places. You only have yourself to blame.”

Teddy playfully pouted, “Well played Seggy, well played.” She dragged her finger down his rock hard abs. “Where are you taking me?” she teased, “Tell me, tell me, tell me”

“No, I am not telling you,” he laughed, “You will just have to trust me.”

Teddy lifted her leg and straddled his waist. She leaned forward and pressed her chest into his chest and kissed his neck. “You know I trust you,” she whispered, “I trust you more than any other person on the planet.” Her hips rocked against him and she could feel his body respond. 

Tyler wrapped his arms around her waist, “Even more than your dad?”

“Please don’t mention my father while I am dry humping you, Sweet One,” she moaned.

“Pretty One, that’s not dry humping. It feels pretty wet to me,” he returned her moan.

“Going to do anything with it?” she teased. 

He rolled them over so that he was on top of her, wrapping her leg over his hip, “Guess we are going to be late for that reservation,”

“I hope so,” she murmured, “I hope we are very late for that reservation.”

LATER

Tyler held Teddy’s hand as they walked through the hotel lobby. She stopped to put on her gloves before they walked into the brisk night air. Tyler looked especially dapper in his navy wool coat and suit. She grabbed his coat label and pulled him in for a kiss. He smiled down at her, “You are especially smushy tonight. What gives?” 

She gazed into his eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath, “You know I am going to be in my head a lot, especially tomorrow.” She blinked back tears, “I am just thankful that the part of my life is behind me and now I have you. So, yeah, expect a lot of smush from me. I hit the jackpot.”

He nodded solemnly and flashed a smile, “It feels nice to be appreciated. I will take all the smush if I can return it to you. Besides-everyone knows, I hit the jackpot-not you.” He kissed her quickly then grabbed her hand. She wrapped her coat around her as they stepped outside. A shorter brunette man pushed past Tyler, forcing Tyler to turn around. "Hey," Tyler called after doing a quick visual scan to ensure Teddy was okay, "watch where you're going!" The stranger called back, "Sorry Seggy" before slipping into the crowd. The sound of the voice made Teddy stop dead in her tracks. She turned to look for the source, but the man had disappeared into the crowd. Tyler pulled at Teddy's hand and she turned to him, "Everything okay?" 

Teddy gulped and started walking again, "Yeah, just got in my head again. Let's go!" They climbed into the Uber and made the drive to the restaurant.

At the restaurant, Tyler handed over their coats at the coat check before he turned to look at Teddy. She adjusted her dress to emphasize her cleavage. The deep blue velvet fabric clung to her curves with a deep v-neckline and thigh high slit. Tyler licked his lips involuntarily before he again placed his hand in the small back. "What is this fabric? He asked as his hand ran up and down her back. The hostess led them to a small private room. 

"It's called velvet," she giggled, "Did you learn nothing in school?"

"I played hockey so I learned forechecking and backchecking."  His hand snaked around her waist and down her hip. "Can I just rub my face on it?" he asked, "just on the tits?"

"No, you may not motorboat me in public," she chided him.

"Oh so I can in private? Good to know" he retorted.

Teddy's eyes got big as they walked into the room. The room had a fireplace and was aglow with hundreds of lit candles. Flowers adorned the mantle while a low floral arrangement sat in the middle of the table. "Sweet One, what is this?" she said softly.

"Remind you of anything?" He asked.

"Our first date," she smiled.

"Good, it worked," he smiled in return.

"Worked?" She asked.

"I want to remind you of a good memory and not a bad one," he said softly, "It worked, didn't it?"

Teddy smiled sweetly at him. His face looked so expectant and hopeful. His heart was in the right place even if his plan was naive at best. She placed her hand over his and squeezed softly. "That's not the way this works, Sweet One," she explained, "I just can't tell my brain 'don't think about it' as if I can control the thoughts. Random sights and sounds will trigger a memory. It comes in waves."

"But I want to make it better. I don't want you to be in pain," he said tenderly as he brought her hand to his lips, "Tell me what you need."

"I need you to be there when the waves come. I need you to hold me and remind me that I can swim. Sometimes the waves wash over me and I think I am drowning when actually I just need to stand up," she spoke gently, "I can't tell you how much it means to me that you want to make it better. You love me so well, Sweet One."

"I love you so well because you love me so well," he whispered as the server came to take their orders. When they left, Tyler's fingers went to her velvet sleeve, "You need to wear this dress every day. I am obsessed," he complimented, "You have never looked more beautiful."

"It's the boobs," she looked down at deep v-cut neckline and smiled, "but I appreciate the compliment." Their drinks arrived and they got caught up in conversation about the road trip. By the time that dessert arrived, Teddy was walking the fine line between sober and tipsy. The coffee with Kahlua pushed her over the line. Tyler smiled as Teddy relocated from her chair to his lap as he signed the bill. Her mouth went to his neck as he struggled to sign it. "We need to leave to get back for curfew, right?" she asked.

Tyler's hand rubbed the velvet that covered her thigh and smirked. "We need to leave so I can get this dress off of you," he quipped.

Teddy made an exaggerated yawning movement, complete with arm and back stretch. The result was her breasts practically in his face. "You are right," she sighed, "I can't wait to get out of this dress and into some comfy pajamas. I need to get to bed. I am soooooo tired."

Tyler blinked slowly before giving her a nervous smile. She stared back at him blankly. "Pretty One," he squeaked out, "Are you being serious? You want to go to sleep?"

She kissed his cheek, "Oh, you wanted to do something else? Such as what?"

Tyler gently pushed her out of his lap as he stood. He shook his head at her feigned innocence, "No, bed sounds great." His hand found the small of her back that immediately began caressing the fabric again. Teddy grabbed his hand as he guided her to the coat check and then out of the restaurant. In the Uber, she sat as close to his body as the seat belt would allow before resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arm around his waist. He gently stroked her back as they rode in contented silence back to the hotel.

The hotel lobby was full of drunken businessmen and women who were shamelessly flirting with each other without the prying eyes of their spouses. Teddy and Tyler were almost to the elevator when she heard the low call of "Dovey, Lovey Dovey- come here Lovey Dovey." She stopped in her tracks and scanned the elevator lobby. Her breath hitched and her heart raced. It was HIS voice. She knew it and she felt it. Tyler turned around with a smile, "I thought you wanted to go to bed, Pretty One." He looked at her face. The panic had reached into her eyes and her heart raced. She spun around in search of him. "Not yet, Dovey, not yet" the voice called. Teddy's knees buckled and Tyler scooped her back up.

"Pretty One, talk to me," he demanded, "What's happening? Teddy's mind raced. 

The rational side of her brain screamed out loud. "This can't be happening. He can't be here. Why would he be here? You are not in Dallas. How would he find out you are in Philadelphia?" The voices chanted. She nodded and listened. They were right. She was hearing things. She wasn't in danger. She was fine. Tyler was here and she was fine. She turned to him with a shy smile, "I was getting in my head. It's nothing."

Tyler tilted his head, "Are you sure?"  She walked up to him and kissed his cheek. The elevator door opened up and they stepped inside. He walked backwards to lean against the elevator wall. Teddy stepped towards him and he pulled her in tight. "Are you sure I can't convince you not to sleep right away?" he whispered when a male form came into his view. Tyler looked into the man's eyes as he lifted his foot to hit the door close button. "Sorry, man- I am going to do unmentionable things to her in this elevator," Tyler smiled as Teddy's hand reached down and palmed his crotch. The bearded man with dark eyes and curly hair blinked and took a step toward the door before it closed. A chill ran down Teddy's spine. She turned to see her reflection on the metal elevator door. Tyler kissed her shoulder, "It was nobody." 

On the first floor, Chaz stood motionless and stared at the elevator door in disbelief. His Dovey was actually here in Philadelphia and was within his grasp. He smiled and turned to go home to his apartment. He thought to himself, "It is time to clip those wings again, Dovey, and I am going to be the one to do it."

NEXT MORNING- TYLER'S HOTEL ROOM

Tyler groaned as his eye fluttered open and his arm reached to pull Teddy closer to him. Having a warm body next to him on the road was a rare luxury. He planned on making the most of it.Teddy had been too nervous to push the envelope in November, but he had made a convincing argument yesterday so she had stayed to sleep with him. However, when he reached out, there was no Teddy to be found. 

He sat up and looked around the room. Her stuff was still neatly organized on the desk. He twisted his body and saw the glow of the bathroom light coming from underneath the door. "Oh, she's peeing," he thought to himself as closed his eyes again. Within a minute, he was asleep again.

In the bathroom, Teddy paced back and forth. She had been awake for nearly two hours. The first hour she had laid silently next to Tyler and listened to him breathe. She tried to will herself to wrap her body into his arms, but the idea seemed suffocating. She rang in the second hour by taking a long, hot bath. Her mind raced with a memory from THAT night which had emerged from the depths of her memory. "Dovey, you are still mine. You will always be mine. No one else will want you." he had breathed into her ear. The intense pain from the assault resonated throughout her body. She eventually gave up any hope of relaxation in the bath and began her pacing. She checked the time and did the mental math of the time difference. She inhaled deeply and pressed the dial button. On the second ring, Steve, head of corporate security for Baxter Enterprises, picked up. 

Steve: This is Steve

Teddy: Hi, Steve. This is Theordora Baxter, Robert’s daughter

Steve: I know Teddy

Teddy: I remembered that you said that you were an early riser so I hope I didn’t wake you. 

Steve looked at the time. It was currently 5 AM Dallas time and he was in the process of checking the global security alerts. 

Steve: I have been up for a while. How can I help you?

Teddy’s voice got smaller: This may be nothing, but I remember that you said that you would rather me come to you with nothing than take the risk. 

Steve: Yes, I did say that. Tell me what’s going on. 

Teddy: It’s probably all in my head,  but I think that Chaz might be trying to contact me.

Steve’s attention became laser-focused and grabbed a legal pad and pen. 

Steve: What makes you think that, Teddy? Where are you?

Teddy: I am in Philadelphia. I came to visit Tyler for his road game. 

Steve made notes as he listened. 

Steve: Is it unusual for you to visit Tyler on the road?

Teddy: Yes, I have only done it once before. 

Steve: Was there a reason for this visit? 

Teddy: Tyler thought it might be a good idea to get my mind off of the anniversary

Steve: The anniversary of what?

Teddy: The anniversary of Chaz’s last assault- the one that landed me in the hospital. It was  five years ago today. 

Steve scrambled to his computer to log-in to the secure folders. Steve had only been in his role for nine months and only knew high level details about Charles “Chaz” Williams and his abuse towards Teddy. 

Steve: What makes you think that he is attempting contact?

Teddy explained the mysterious bear in Tyler’s room and the two times that she had heard his voice. 

Steve: Okay, Teddy- I am coming to you. I can be wheels up in less than an hour. I should be there in less than four hours. Please text me the hotel details. 

Teddy shakily: Are you sure? It may be nothing. 

Steve: If it’s nothing, then at least I will get a good cheesesteak out of it and we can take in the game together. Now, I will have to update your father. 

Teddy: I would rather you didn’t

Steve: It’s non-negotiable. In fact, everything that I do between now and when I determine Chaz is not a risk is non-negotiable. 

Teddy: Okay. I will see you after ten then. 

Steve: Teddy?

Teddy: Yes

Steve: I am glad that you called. 

Teddy: Me too

Teddy placed her phone on the counter and examined her reflection in the mirror with a cold, demanding eye. She could feel the wave of guilt and shame rising within her. Her father would know. Her father would know that Chaz was potentially back. It would be like reliving that moment when he found out about the attack. The look of shock and horror on his face forever etched on her brain. The voices of anxiety added to the guilt and shame created a cacophony in her brain. Just below the surface of the noise came the small voice that repeated, “Get Tyler. Go to Tyler and ask for help.” She opened the door and stepped into the room. His eyes fluttered with the sound of the door. Once again, he reached for her and found emptiness. He sat up, half asleep, “Pretty One? Pretty One, where are you?”

“I’m here,” she said softly. He turned to look at her and saw her tear stained face. He simply held up his arms and she ran to the bed. Teddy climbed into the bed and clung to him. “Tyler, I’m drowning….. I’m drowning,” she whispered over and over. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I am here and you can swim. Remember you are strong and you can swim,” he assured her. He squeezed her tight and rocked, “You are so strong and you can swim.” He repeated it over and over until her breath returned to normal and the tears stopped. They laid in silence before Teddy whispered, “We need to talk.”

Tyler, "Tell me."

Teddy, "I think Chaz is trying to make contact with me. I have a bad feeling. The last time I felt like this was right before the last time he attacked me."

Tyler rubbed her back as she trembled, "Are you sure it's not your anxiety?"

Teddy, "I think I heard his voice last night. Once when we were leaving the hotel- right after you got bumped. Then again when we were standing by the elevator. The voice used his nickname for me. The nickname he used before he would beat me."

Tyler flinched at the word beat. He spoke quickly, "but your anxiety knows that, right? It could still be a mind fuck."

Teddy looked into his eyes, "Then who sent the bear? Someone from the team sending it is weak at best. Seriously- tell me who would go through the effort?"

The question stumped Tyler. He briefly considered if Benn would do it but quickly dismissed the idea. Teddy and Benn had just established a friendly relationship and ceased fire in their long running feud. Benn would not take a chance on restarting the feud so quickly. Katie would not forgive him. None of the other players could be considered a real suspect. Tyler's brow furrowed as he tried to formulate a guess. "I got…. I got nothing," he finally admitted. "What do we do if he is trying to contact you? He isn't allowed to do that l, right?"

"He could be arrested for violating the protective order. There are no guarantees though," Teddy grimaced, "I don't know what we do if he is trying to contact me, but I knew who to call."

Tyler, "You called someone? When? Pretty One, it's six fifteen. Who can you call this early?"

Teddy answered, "I called Steve, my father's head of security. He will be here after ten."

Tyler, "Holy shit. Why is he coming here?"

Teddy made a face, "For me- he is coming to protect me until he can determine what is actually happening. Most likely there is a team who are currently working furiously to locate Chaz and get eyes on him."

"What am I? Chopped Liver?" Tyler scoffed. She stared at him. "You think I can't or won't protect you?" he spoke softly as he sat up in bed. She sat up and placed her hand on his forearm. "Do you really think that?" he sighed.

"I think you would do everything in your power to take care of and protect me. You have done it so well- emotionally, psychologically and physically you have kept me safe from harm," she kissed his shoulder, "but you are not an expert. You also have a morning skate and a game. You cannot protect me then. Who knows? This may be entirely in my head. We will know more when he arrives."

Tyler pushed her hair back, "so did you sleep at all?" She shrugged her shoulders. Tyler frowned, "What happened?" She shook her head no. "You can't tell me?" His voice suddenly became soft. 

"A memory came back," she whispered, "That is all I am willing to say because it's that horrible."

Tyler kissed her forehead, "How is your anxiety twisting it?"

Teddy smiled sardonically, "Oh, the greatest hits- I am broken beyond repair, I am a burden to everyone around me and nobody wants me." She forced a smile, "but hey, my mind does immediately counter with 'but Tyler wants you' so I am counting it as progress."

"I do want you," he kissed her softly, "You are not a burden and you are fabulously flawed."

"Fabulously flawed?" She laughed.

"Perfect to me," he countered, "others may be slightly more critical. I am blinded by love."

Baxter Enterprises Corporate Jet- Dallas Love Field

Robert Baxter bounded up the stairs to board the private jet. He had received a brief text from Steve thirty minutes earlier that simply read, “Teddy in possible danger. Going to Philadelphia to investigate. Wheels up in thirty minutes.” Robert abandoned his early morning workout and threw clothes together. When the security team heard his footsteps, a hush came over the plane. Robert barked, “What the fuck is going on?”

Steve stood, “We’ll get into details after we take off. Short story- Teddy thinks that Chaz might be attempting to contact her. She called this morning. I believe there is enough circumstantial evidence to take the possible threat seriously. I want to get eyes on her and assess the situation.”

Robert turned the pilot, “Get us into the air. Get us into the air NOW!” 

After take off he turned to Steve, “Tell me that you know where he is. Tell me that you know where that fucker is.”

Steve inhaled deeply and spoke slowly, “No, we do not have a current location for him.”

Robert blinked, “Why? Why don’t you know?”

Steve answered, “Do you want the long or short answer?”

Robert yelled, “I want a fucking answer.”

Steve replied, “Short answer is that we dropped the ball.”

Robert hissed, “We? As in both of us?”

Steve answered, “Exactly.”

Robert balked, “Explain it to me.”

Steve explained, “From what I could gather in the last thirty minutes of searching, at one point, knowledge of Chaz’s whereabouts was maintained by an outside source who provided monthly reports to my predecessor who then reported it to you. It appears that almost eighteen months ago, the relationship with the outside source was terminated and the information ceased. I am not sure if he continued to update you with false information or you ceased to ask for the updates.”

Robert blinked. Steve’s predecessor was Mike Jackson who was an old school security guy before he retired. The timing of Steve’s information seemed correct. Truthfully, Robert couldn’t remember that last time that he had been updated on Chaz. It was long enough that it never became a part of Robert’s weekly meetings with Steve who had been in his role a little over a year. Steve wasn’t maintaining the knowledge because he had never been given direction to do so. Robert had failed to instruct him to do so. Robert kicked himself mentally. He had failed Teddy. She was possibly in danger because he had not kept his eye on the ball. 

Robert was lost in his thoughts when Steve cleared his throat. “Mr. Baxter, we can’t go back in time and fix the past. We just need to work from here. Thankfully we do have vital information and we are working on getting a location for him. We are also working on a plan to protect Teddy. It’s important that you keep your focus here. Can you do that for me?”

Robert nodded his head. “Oh my God, I have to tell Elizabeth,” he thought to himself. She will be beside herself with anxiety. “I’ll tell her when we have more information,”

Wells Fargo Center- Philadelphia

“Hey Seggy,” Todd, the equipment assistant, called out as Tyler walked in with Bishop for morning skate, “The Flyers staff dropped off a package for you. They said that you were expecting it?”

Tyler’s eyebrows raised, “I am not expecting anything. Where is it?”

“I put it in your spot. You better save me some,” he called back.

Tyler walked in, saw the familiar tin and smiled. “Teddy,” he thought to himself. He went over and opened it. Sure enough, there sat two dozen of Teddy’s infamous snickerdoodle cookies. Benn appeared behind him and exclaimed, “Cookies!” He reached over Tyler’s shoulder and snagged a cookie. 

“Hey, those are for me,” Tyler protested as Benn shoved the cookie into his mouth. 

The captain’s eyes widened as he ran to the trash can. He spit out the cookie and gasped, “Water. I need water.” Tyler looked on in confusion as he handed him a water bottle. “What the fuck was that, Seggy? Some kind of joke?” Benn choked out. “If she wanted to prank me, game on,” he spit out. 

Tyler laughed, “What the hell are you talking about? How would Teddy know that you would STEAL one of MY cookies? What’s wrong with them? Teddy doesn’t make bad cookies.”

Benn disagreed, “Those taste like a whole container of salt or something is in them. They are horrible.” 

Tyler looked at the container again. While at first glance it was similar to Teddy’s tins, it wasn’t the same. Her tins were blue with silver filigree and this tin was blue with gold filigree. He took out a cookie and sniffed it gingerly. There was nothing on the smell. He gave it a small lick and tasted the overwhelming flavor of salt. Something was definitely off. He picked up the phone and dialed Teddy. It went straight to voicemail. “She must be getting ready for Steve,” he thought to himself. He shrugged and walked over to the trash can. He almost threw it in the can before deciding to keep it in order to show Teddy herself. 

Team Hotel- Philadelphia

Robert and Steve walked in quickly into the hotel lobby. Robert looked down at his phone and remarked, “We are in the USS Blue Ridge boardroom.” His assistant, Mary, had secured hotel rooms and a conference room to serve as base of operations. The team raced to the room to begin setting up. Inside the room, Teddy paced. She dressed casually in her favorite Tyler hoodie and sweats. The commotion over the team entering the room caused her to look up and lock eyes with her father. “Teddy,” he called to her as she walked to him. He wrapped his arms around her and felt her steel her spine beneath his touch. “It’s okay, Teddy,” her father soothed, “I am here and everything will be okay.”

“Daddio, I didn’t mean for you to come. You have that big meeting tomorrow. It’s a huge deal,” she answered quietly, “We are not even sure it’s him.

“Sir,” a female voice shouted out as she entered the room, “I think I have something.” She walked over with the head of security for the hotel. “This is footage of the delivery of the large stuffed animal to the front desk yesterday morning.” The team gathered around the laptop to watch the footage. The face of the person was obscured when entering the lobby but could clearly be seen while exiting. All heads turned to Teddy in question and she nodded her head in confirmation. It was Chaz. 

“So it was him last night, too?” she asked as the door to the ballroom opened. Tyler walked in, holding the tin of cookies. Teddy reached out her hand to him and he walked quickly to her. He put the tin down on the table and wrapped his arms around her body. She leaned back against his chest. 

Trish, the female security analyst, asked, “What time was it?”

Teddy thought for a second, “It would have been about six fifteen. That’s when we were leaving for our dinner reservation.” She sighed softly. How quickly her world shifted in the span of sixteen hours. Trish nodded her head and pulled up the cameras from that time. Tyler and Teddy entered the shot. They exited the building and the bump could be seen at a distance. A few seconds later Chaz entered the building. 

Tyler leaned closer to the screen, “Wait, that’s Chaz? I know that face. I saw him last night.”

“Yes, when he bumped you,” Teddy agreed. 

“No, it was later,” Tyler corrected, “When we came back. He tried to get on the elevator with us, but I kicked the door close button.” 

“Are you certain it was him?” Steve asked. 

“One hundred percent,” Tyler answered. 

Steve shook his head, “Okay- people we have confirmation that Chaz is in Philly. Now let’s track his ass down.” 

Team went into a flurry of activity. Teddy and Tyler stood by the side and watched for a few minutes. “Sweet One,” she said quietly, “You need to go eat your lunch and take your nap. There is no use getting out of your routine.” After a few minutes of spirited discussion, it became clear that Teddy would not budge from her position. “Please, Tyler,” she pleaded, “It will give me more anxiety for you to be here. Not because I don’t want you here, but I don’t want to mess your routine up.” Tyler gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and headed to the other ballroom to eat with the team. 

Throughout the afternoon, bits and pieces of Chaz’s information began to crystallize. He had started a new job at a local advertising agency in the summer of 2018. Records indicated that he rented a large apartment overlooking FDR park near the Wells Fargo Center. Nothing suspicious could be found on his rarely used social media. He seemed to favor Instagram over all the others. The investigation came to stand still by late afternoon. After conferring, the team decided that while annoying, Chaz posed a limited physical threat to Teddy while she was surrounded by the team. That threat would be severely diminished by Teddy’s quick return to Dallas. Therefore, Steve, Robert and the team agreed that there wouldn’t be an issue with Teddy attending the game, providing she took Trish as an escort. Teddy bristled at the idea but finally succumbed and agreed. 

Teddy and Trish dressed for the game. (Teddy insisted that Trish dress casually for the game as well.) Both heeded the advice of Tyler in wearing plain, nondescript sweatshirts to prevent any trouble from rambunctious Flyers fans. They headed out for a quick dinner before the game at Tyler’s insistence. Robert, Steven and team would pack up the war room and also attend the game. They would depart for Dallas immediately following the game. 

Steve, Robert and team were packing the war room when a floral delivery was brought in by hotel staff. The flowers were delivered to the attention of Teddy. The large vase of white gladiolus and carnations were ostentatious in size and presentation. Robert opened the card and read “Teddy- Thank you for always being the wind beneath my wings. Too bad that you had to have Daddio clip them for you. Why did you call him in to save the day? Didn’t trust Pretty Boy to protect you? Wise decision. You’re still mine, Lovey Dovey”

"Motherfucker," Robert muttered. Steve’s head popped up in surprise. "He is watching us."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

“He knows that I am here which means that he has eyes on the hotel,” Robert quipped, “We’ll be done here in the next fifteen minutes. Keep your eyes open for him but we should be in the clear.”  The remaining computer and equipment were boxed up when Steve’s eyes fell on the cookie tin. “Where did this come from?” Steve asked. 

“Tyler brought it with him from the morning skate,” Robert said, “He must have forgotten when he went upstairs. It looks like Teddy made him some cookies for the game.”

Steve went over and picked up the tin and looked at it with concern. “Call Tyler. I have questions.” Robert obliged Steve’s request and got Tyler on the phone. 

Robert: Hey Tyler, I am going to put you on speaker phone. Steve has some questions for you. 

Tyler stood in the underbelly of the arena and waited.

Steve: Hey Tyler- I understand that you brought a tin of cookies into the ball room. They’re from Teddy, correct?

Tyler: Crap, I forgot about them. I thought at first they were from Teddy, but it doesn’t make sense now. 

Steve: Why doesn’t it make sense, Tyler?

Tyler: Well, first the tin LOOKS like the tins that Teddy uses for her cookies. If you look closely, it’s a different design. Also the cookies are awful. Teddy has never made a bad cookie in her life. 

Robert looked at the tin and confirmed. He opened it, took a bite of a cookie, then spit it out quickly

Steve: What else, Tyler?

Tyler: I don’t know how Teddy would have gotten it delivered to the locker room. First, why would she go to the trouble when we were in the same room together? Second, how would she have access to the building?

Steve’s eyes got wide. Tyler had a point. 

Steve: Tell me exactly what was said to you. 

Tyler explained that a member of the Flyers staff had given it to the equipment manager to deliver it to him. 

Steve: I need you to find that equipment manager. Find them right now. 

Tyler ran in search of Todd. He grabbed him by the arm and shoved the phone in his hand

Tyler: Okay, I got him. 

Steve: Hey Todd, who from the Flyers gave you the cookie tin for Tyler?

Todd: Ummmm, it was Chelsea. She is in charge of their social media. 

Steve pulled out his phone and checked the Flyers website. There it listed Chelsea Thomas, head of social media. He cross-referenced Chelsea on Instagram. 

“Get Trish on the phone. We have a problem,” Steve yelled.

“What’s the problem?” Robert asked. 

Steve handed the phone to Robert in disbelief. “Chaz has access to the arena,” Steve explained. Robert blinked and looked at the photo on Instagram. 

Inside the arena, Teddy and Trish made their way down to the rink for warm-ups. With the spotty service, both were oblivious to their phones blowing up. Trish glanced around the lower bowl of seats for any sign of Chaz. There were none. "Incoming," Trish whispered as a red-head approached Teddy. “Excuse me, aren’t you Teddy Baxter?” she said brightly. 

“That’s me,” Teddy answered warily. 

The red head flashed her badge to Teddy and Trish. “I’m Chelsea with the Flyers social media team. Can you come with me to do a quick bit for Instagram?” she asked. 

Teddy tilted her head in confusion, “Why would the Flyers want to do a bit with me? My boyfriend is the star of the opposing team.”

"We try to get Instagram influencer to participate when they are at games. It can be a great way to building your following," she said cheerfully. Chelsea glanced up at the concourse, “Come on, it will be fun. We can get the Stars in on it too,” 

"Oh, I would have to run it by my brand team first," Teddy shook her head no, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Chelsea pleaded, “Please? I really need you to do this for me.” 

Teddy again shook her head, “No, thank you.”

Teddy turned and focused her attention onto Tyler who smiled and took a running leap into the boards right in front of her. Then he turned with a dramatic flair, placed his hands on his heart and blew her a hiss. Teddy smiled and giggled.

Chelsea slowly walked up the stairs with a sense of dread filling her. At the top of the stairs, a hand reached out and grabbed her arm. “I thought I was clear in my instructions, Birdie,” Chaz hissed, “You were supposed to get the bitch up to me.”

Chelsea turned to him and cried, “Chaz, I tried. I really tried but she wouldn’t come. Please don’t hurt me.”

TO BE CONTINUED

[marblish0220]

Pirate Roope and Cook Jason from “listening through seashells” by dewclaw on ao3

“‘Can you speak? Or are you mute?’ the captain sniffed. A jolt of annoyance shot through Jason.

He wanted to live. Every ship needed a cook, right? Even pirates weren’t an exception.

‘I’m not mute,’ Jason spoke, wondering if he’d regret this, but unable to keep himself from trying, ‘And, yes, I… I’m the ship’s cook.’”

[theemporium]

the ending is a wee bit rushed but it was getting long so here is a random wyatt blurb, enjoy!!🫶🏽

.

“This is a stupid fight, by the way.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“I know, but I am giving it.”

Wyatt paused, lifting his head enough to see Tyler grinning at him, all big and boyish and shit-eating in a way that made the younger boy sigh a little. He was hoping the practice session would run by fast, that hockey would be a nice distraction. 

He was naive for thinking as much the second Tyler got wind of the (arguably stupidest) fight he had with you the previous night. 

“I am just trying to share my wisdom with the youths,” Tyler insisted, leaning against his stick with no care in the world about the drill they were supposed to be setting up for. “You know, be a good mentor and stuff.”

Wyatt frowned. “Pavs literally told me to never listen to a word you say off the ice.”

Tyler beamed. “But we are on the ice.”

“It’s none of your business,” Wyatt eventually huffed, telling himself his cheeks were burning because of the warm up and not because of the conversation. 

“Johnny, kiddo, it’s literally my job to be in other people’s business,” Tyler snorted, using his stick to knock the puck Wyatt was currently fiddling with until it was too far for him to reach anymore. “I’m serious. Are you really annoyed with her over a hypothetical?” 

Wyatt’s cheeks burned even more. “Not when you say it like. There’s more to it.”

Tyler raised his brows. “Just because she picked Roope?” 

Wyatt sighed heavily.

“Johnny,” Tyler said, sounding like a tired father—which, if Wyatt was being honest, was a little off-putting when it was coming from Tyler Seguin of all people. “It was just a funny scenario.” 

“But she chose him over me!” Wyatt huffed.

“The question was who she wanted to swap wardrobes with,” Tyler deadpanned.

“And she chose him!” He repeated. 

“You practically live together,” Tyler added, still blunt as before. “She already steals shit from your wardrobe. She walked in wearing your sweater the other day. Who cares how she answered a random hypothetical? You literally said you would swap jobs with Otter for a game. It isn’t serious.” 

“Yeah but,” Wyatt paused, his lips turned downwards. He knew Tyler was right (terrifying concept) and he knew he was blowing the whole thing way out of proportion. He wasn’t even upset when the whole thing happened. It was hours later, when his brain wouldn’t stop spinning and spiralling and making him second guess everything.

“She loves you, kid,” Tyler said eventually, like he could read Wyatt’s mind. “Just as much as you love her.”

“I—we—she—” Wyatt paused, clearing his throat a little. “We haven’t said that yet.” 

“Oh,” was all Tyler could reply with, at first. A few moments passed as his grin widened, nudging his shoulder against Wyatt’s. “So, that’s what this is about?” 

Wyatt’s shoulders dropped a little.

“And Roope’s wardrobe is related…how?”

“I–It’s not,” Wyatt eventually blurted out. “I don’t even care about that. It’s just—I don’t know! We should have said it by now, right? We’ve been dating for months and, fuck, I see her almost as much as I see you guys. And I’m always going to hers or she is coming to mine and just…”

“Hmm, I see,” Tyler nodded. 

Wyatt swallowed. “You do?”

“Yeah,” Tyler nodded, lightly tapping his stick against Wyatt’s shins. “You’re insecure.” 

“Woah—” Wyatt began but Tyler didn’t let him interrupt.

“Johnny, kid, a relationship isn’t about hitting certain milestones by certain points,” Tyler said and—not that Wyatt would admit it—he was making sense. And it was, once again, a terrifying concept. “There is no right or wrong time to say that you love each other.” He paused for a moment. “Well, I wouldn’t recommend dropping it into conversation after the first date but that’s not a problem here.” 

Wyatt let out a sigh, his attention shifting down at the ice as he lazily fiddled with the pucks by his feet. 

Tyler finally took pity on the boy, tapping his shins once again. “You love her?” 

“Of course,” Wyatt replied instantly.

Tyler nodded. “You want her to say it first?”

Wyatt hesitated a little. “Well…no. I mean, I don’t mind. I just kinda wish I knew she was gonna say it back, you know? What if she doesn’t—”

“Then it isn’t the end of the world,” Tyler assured him with a soft smile. “Even if she doesn’t say it back now—which I highly doubt, by the way, you two are sickeningly cute—that doesn’t mean she isn’t on her way to be in love with you. Might just take her a bit longer to get there. But that doesn’t have to stop you from telling her how you feel.”

“Oh,” Wyatt responded. 

“See? I can give good advice!” Tyler said, puffing his chest out and slapping Wyatt on the back, completely breaking the bubble of seeming like a responsible adult for a few moments. 

“You called me insecure,” Wyatt grumbled.

“And I was right. And then I told you how to fix the root of your insecurity,” Tyler shrugged. “You’re welcome.” 

And there wasn’t much Wyatt could say before the other boy skated off.

Wyatt told himself he wasn’t going to let it get to him any longer, that he was going to focus on the rest of practice and then he would consider everything Tyler had said to him. But truth be told, the boy’s head was racing with a million different thoughts for the rest of the sessions, his shots hitting off the poles and his passes not quite hitting the mark. 

It was a dreadful practice and everyone on the team could see it, but he assumed Tyler must have gotten Jamie to pull some rank because none of the boys mentioned it by the time they all shuffled into the locker room.

He sped through his routine, barely drying his hair with his towel before he was shoving his gear away and half-hazardly throwing on whatever clothes he could to get out of the rink as fast as he could.

If he was smart or even remotely prepared, he would have messaged you to let you know he was coming over.

Instead, he found himself outside your apartment door, pacing and chewing on his lower lip as the seconds passed like aeons as he waited for you to open the door. The door had barely swung open before he was blurting the words out.

“I love you!” 

You blinked, your lips parting in surprise.

“I love you and I don’t care about you choosing Roope’s wardrobe and I am so okay if you don’t want to say I love you back because I trust that one day you will feel the same because relationships aren’t about reaching milestones before certain time stamps,” Wyatt continued to ramble, the words just spilling before he could stop himself.

“Okay,” you murmured, your brows furrowing together as you tried to process everything he just said. 

“I’m sorry, that was a lot. I just—” He paused, taking a deep breath and letting his shoulders drop a little. “I was being dramatic last night and the fight was stupid and…I love you. That’s not just me saying that, I mean it. I love you and I don’t like having stupid fights with you and I don’t like when Tyler is right.”

You frowned. “What does Tyler have to do with this?”

“Nothing,” he waved off with a sheepish smile. “My point is that I love you and I’m sorry.”

“You should probably come in,” you murmured, returning his smile with your own as you opened the door further and stepped to the side. “And for what it’s worth, I love you too. But I feel like we have way more to talk about.” 

But it would be fine, Wyatt was sure of that. 

Because he loved you and you loved him back and, unfortunately, Tyler Seguin was right.

.

[kitnita]

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