#NHL DRaft

[chicletsbian]

absolutely baffled duckling

[puckinghischier]

The 7th Year

Nico Hischier x fem!reader

summary: reader wants to celebrate Nico’s 7 year anniversary of being drafted to the Devils

notes: i really wanted to post this on his actual draft anniversary but i’m a slacker and didn’t finish it in time, so here it is now. it still counts cause it’s still draft week, right? anyways, i hope you enjoy and happy reading! 🫶🏼

[4.4k]

“Jack, it’s all wrong!” you cry out, looking at the orange cake sitting in front of you.

“Listen, we can fix it. I can run down to the nearest grocery store and have them make me a new one really quick,” Jack tries to reason with you, attempting to avoid the incoming meltdown.

Today was Nico’s seven-year anniversary of being drafted to the Devils. You know it’s an in-between milestone, most people celebrating every five years, but you didn’t care. You weren’t with him two years ago, having only been dating the hockey captain for a little over a year, so you were determined to make a big deal out of this milestone instead.

Your apartment was decked out in every tacky, red or devil related decoration imaginable, from cardboard cut-outs of Nico littered throughout the large living space to a custom ‘pin the horns on the nico’ party game you ordered for the occasion.

“Jack, I special ordered this cake four months ago, because the bakery he likes had a waiting list almost six months long for their cake decorator. I literally told them I’d pay extra if they could have it done by today,” you shut the lid of the cake box, not wanting to look at the orange monstrosity any longer.

You had sent them several reference pictures of what you wanted done, confirming with them last week that they had the correct pictures and color scheme.

“Well, at least they got the logo right?” Jack tries again, watching you run your hands through your recently curled hair.

People were set to start showing up any minute now, and you were panicking about being ready in time for Nico’s return home in a little over an hour. You barely had time to shower and make yourself presentable after spending all day transforming your apartment into a Nico museum.

All of his trophies and medals from childhood up until now are displayed on various surfaces around your shared apartment, action shot posters are taped on the living room walls, taking the place of your decorative pictures, and several of his old jerseys are on display in shadow boxes propped up in the high-top chairs that usually sit around the small table on your balcony, but are currently placed in various spots around the large room.

“Yeah, sure. The logo says Devils, but the colors say Flyers,” you mumble, pinching the bridge of your nose, trying to stop yourself from crying off your fresh make-up.

Jack had been a trooper today. Luke too. The two of them had shown up to your apartment not even twenty minutes after Nico left with Jesper and Timo this morning for their early tee time. They helped you decorate and arrange your entire apartment, ran all over Hoboken with you grabbing last minute stuff for the evening, and Luke is out right now picking up the catering order that was supposed to be delivered but somehow got marked for pick up.

Your phone starts ringing in the middle of your deep breathing moment, trying to calm your nerves.

“Luke, please tell me you have the food and are on your way home,” you answer the phone, praying Luke is calling to check in and not to give you bad news.

“Yeah, I got it. On my way now. Just calling to check and see if you need anything else while I’m out,” he tells you, the sound of his car door shutting heard in the background.

You breathe out a sigh of relief. At least the food is taken care of, you think to yourself. “No, I think we’re good. I double checked everything before I got in the shower. And Jack has been setting stuff up while I was getting ready. Just please get here in one piece with the food before I have a small stroke,” you attempt a joke, but your tone sounds more strained than anything.

“Aye Aye, Mrs. Captain,” you hear through the phone, picturing the small salute Luke is likely doing right now.

You chuckle out a goodbye and hang up your phone.

“So, am I good to go get changed now, or do you need me to talk you off a ledge right now?” Jack asks you, treading lightly.

You send him an unamused glare. “No, I think I’ve done everything I can do until Luke gets here with the food. Go, change. Shower if you need to,” you wave him off, grabbing the cake on the counter in front of you and walking to place it in the large fridge.

“Alright, but if I hear the balcony door open I won’t hesitate to run out here butt naked to make sure you’re not trying to make an escape,” he sings out as he walks out of your kitchen, turning down the hallway towards your guest bathroom.

You flip him off even though he can’t see you, a smile on your face nonetheless.

Thirty minutes later, Jack is showered and dressed and a few of Nico’s teammates have shown up, decked out in the t-shirts you had ordered and distributed to everyone.

Each of Nico’s teammates are wearing a shirt with his picture from his draft on it. No matter who you were looking at, Nico’s smiling baby face, devils hat on his head and devils jersey pulled over his formal attire, with one finger pointed in the air to signify his being picked first overall, was looking back at you.

You thought it would be funny to have Nico walk into a surprise celebration with his face staring back at him from nearly everyone in attendance, and when you pitched the idea to his teammates they were all for it.

You had ordered your own shirt with Nico’s face on it, too. Although, yours was one of the shirts in the WWE style, overlapping, various pics of Nico making up the design.

As the time got closer to Nico coming home, more and more of his teammates and their significant others showed up, ready to surprise their captain.

Ten minutes before Nico was due arrive, you get a call from Jesper.

“Hey, you guys almost here?” you answer, walking away from the noise of your living room.

“Yeah, leaving the bar now,” he tells you, pausing to bid someone in the background goodbye and ringing out ‘thank you’ a few times as he walks out of the bar.

Jesper and Timo were tasked with keeping Nico busy and away from home today. It started with their game of golf, but quickly turned into an additional eighteen holes and trying to kill time at the clubhouse bar when their games went by far quicker than they anticipated.

Around lunchtime, Timo called you and told you Nico kept saying he was going to bow out early to come home and spend some time with you, but you begged them to find a way to keep him occupied. You ended up having to send him a message, telling him you were out with a friend for a quick lunch before a fake nail appointment that turned into a real one once he asked to see what design you had chosen this time. Which is why you were late getting ready, having to leave Jack to decorate the apartment during your impromptu salon trip.

Most of the time you love that Nico is so invested in your relationship. He always wants to spend time with you, going with you to hair and nail appointments, following you around like a puppy when you go shopping, and simply sticking around the house on days when he has nothing planned just to catch up on your latest reality show obsession he always gets hooked into.

Today, though, you wish he was a little more apt to spending time with his friends. The amount of ‘I miss you’ and ‘can’t wait to come home and binge love island!’ texts you got today made you love him even more – if that’s even possible – but also made your anxiety sky rocket each time, because you know if he wanted to, he would simply leave in the middle of his plans with Timo and Jesper, no amount of convincing able to keep him there.

“Alright, don’t forget your shirts,” you start to remind him. You turn your body to look behind you, hearing a chorus of “Lukey!” and “Moose!” ring out, signaling Luke was finally back with the food. “Hey, I gotta go Jesp, Luke just got back with the food. Be safe!” you rush out before hanging up, making your way back into the small crowd.

You weave through bodies until you reach your kitchen, watching Luke attempt to sit down the large disposable trays.

“Luke, please don’t drop those,” you run over to him, helping him slide the heavy food onto your kitchen island.

You unstack the pans, making sure each one is unharmed and an appropriate distance from the edge of the counter.

“C’mon, Y/N, have a little more faith in me than that. I can carry a few trays of food,” he tells you, dramatically flexing his arms at you.  

You roll your eyes at the curly-headed giant. Checking the time on your phone, you figure you have enough time to try and set up the food a little bit before Nico gets here. Opening the various pans, you freeze.

“Luke…what is this?” you ask him, a cold feeling washing over you.

Luke furrows his brows at you, peeking over your shoulder from his spot behind you. “The food you asked me to get? Is this a trick question?”

You dropped the flimsy lid, condensation from the hot dish flying everywhere.

When you were thinking about what food you wanted to have for the party, you knew it would be in the off-season, the Devils losing their playoff spot pretty early this season. So, you figured it would be a good time to order a few pans of his favorite dishes from his favorite Italian restaurant.

You ordered a pan of their lasagna, chicken parm, and a large pan of a steak and pasta dish specific to the restaurant. You had called them to confirm this morning, which is how you found out it was marked as pick up instead of delivery, causing Luke to have to drive forty-five minutes one way in order to grab the food.

What you were unaware of, however, is the fact that this restaurant, apparently, also caters an array of vegan options.

When you opened the three pans, you were met with a large pan of what looked like roasted cauliflower with tomato sauce, eggplant boats covered in pesto, and what looked like breaded and baked zucchini. 

You had no issue with vegan food, some of it being some of the most delicious food you’ve ever eaten, but this is not at all what you envisioned surprising Nico with.

“I ordered lasagna, chicken parm, and steak pasta. There is no chicken, parm, steak, or layered noodles in front of me right now,” you try to keep your tone even and calm, knowing it’s not Luke’s fault.

“I swear, they handed me the box of food that had your name on it. I even checked the receipt and everything,” Luke defended himself.

You can feel the tears welling up, despite your attempt at taking big, deep breaths to avoid your emotions getting the best of you.

When the first tear falls over, the rest come crashing out before you could even stop them. You bring your face to your hands and start sobbing, upset that you couldn’t have everything be perfect for such an important day for Nico.

“Hey, don’t cry,” Luke coos as he wraps you in a hug, your face still hidden by your hands. “You’re going to ruin your make-up. You don’t want to greet Nico while looking like a little raccoon, do you?” you let out a chuckle at Luke’s words, his attempt at cheering you up working for a quick moment.

You bring your hands away from your face, sniffling and trying to carefully wipe your eyes. Luke keeps you trapped in a hug, giving you a few moments to collect yourself before stepping back, rubbing your arms instead.

“I just wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted Nico to walk in here and see all of his friends here, ready to celebrate him. I wanted to surprise him with his favorite meal and his favorite cake from his favorite bakery, since he doesn’t ever get this stuff during the season. But instead he gets an orange cake and a vegan dinner,” you huff, gesturing to the food in front of you.

“Well, he’ll definitely be surprised,” Luke attempts another joke, this one earning a sarcastic laugh instead of a genuine one. “Listen, we can fix it, okay? We’ll call the place and get a refund then order a few pizzas, alright? It’ll be fine. Everyone likes pizza.”

He bends his knees so he’s eye level with you, trying to gauge your reaction to his suggestion.

You look over to the food on the counter, bringing a sliver of your bottom lip in-between your teeth, mulling the idea over in your head.

“Yeah, we can do that. Everyone does like pizza, don’t they?” you try to convince yourself pizza will be fine, you could just take Nico out to dinner for his Italian food later this week.

“They sure do. And lucky for you, I have the best pizzeria in Hoboken on speed dial. I’ll make them do a rush order for their favorite customer,” Luke winks down at you, stepping away to pull out his phone and make the last-minute order.

You cover the food in front of you back up, picking up each tray and tossing them in the trash can at the end of your island, knowing that a group of hungry hockey players wouldn’t want three trays worth of vegetables to eat for party food.

You stand in the middle of the kitchen, trying to compose yourself and wipe away any mascara residue when Jack comes running through the open doorway, frantic eyes landing on you.

“Y/N, what’s wrong? Why do you look like you’ve been crying? Jesper just texted and said they’re on the elevator on their way up,” he rushes out, walking towards you to make sure you’re alright.

“Catering mishap, Luke’s ordering pizza now. Don’t worry, I’m fine. Go grab him, quick,” you suddenly perk up, nerves bubbling in your stomach.

As you follow Jack out of the kitchen and make your way to the front of the small crowd at the end of your entry way, all you can think about is hoping Nico likes what you’ve done. You hope he doesn’t think the decorations are too tacky, or that the shirts are weird. You hope he’s okay with eating greasy pizza and orange cake. You hope he likes the custom Halifax and Devils split jersey you plan to gift him later to represent where he started and where he is now. Overall, you just hope he understands how proud you are of him.

You see Jack and Luke walk up beside you out of the corner of your eye, matching with the rest of their teammates that are surrounding you. Luke leans down to whisper “Pizza’s ordered, it’ll be here in twenty,” into your ear before standing back to his original height and facing forward, waiting on his captain to walk through the door.

You’re suddenly hit with a thought about how thankful you are for the people surrounding you. For Jack and Luke who dealt with your demanding and crazy self today, talking you off of ledges and running around doing your bidding all day long. You’re thankful for the teammates that showed up today, ready to celebrate the captain they love almost as much as you do. You’re thankful for Timo and Jesper, making sure Nico stays in the dark about the surprise, doing everything in their power to keep him out of your hair until this moment.

You’re so incredibly thankful that the universe has allowed you to not only love someone as kind, loving, and special as Nico, but that he loves you back just as much. You also gained an entire family through Nico, his teammates treating you like one of their own, showing you just as much love and care as they do him. You’ve found some of your best friends through him, Jack, Luke, Timo, and Jesper being four of the best people you’ve ever had in your life.

The sound of the front door opening distracts you from your sentimental thoughts. You see Jesper enter first, his Nico shirt looking a little out of place paired with his golf pants. Nico follows him in, blindfolded. You have to stop a snort from making its way out, not knowing Timo and Jesper were going to resort to blindfolding him. Timo follows a step behind Nico, hands on his shoulders, guiding him and preventing him from bumping into anything.

Timo guides him to a few feet in front of you, stopping him before dropping his hands from his shoulders.

“Alright, Cap, you can take your blindfold off now,” Jesper tells him, him and Timo quickly stepping over to where you stand, joining the rest of their team.

Nico reaches up the untie the blindfold on his head. “I swear to god, if you guys did this just to mess with me and take me to another bar I’m going to kill both of you. I told you I just wanted to go home to Y/N-“ Nico stops mid-sentence when the cloth falls into his hands.

A loud, “Surprise!” rings out around the room, Nico’s eyes darting to each person, then down to their shirts.

You stand there, smiling at his shocked face.

“What-“ he starts, but stops, speechless at the scene in front of him.

You step forward the few feet to him, his gaze finally landing on you.

“Happy draft anniversary, baby,” you tell him, smiling up at him.

He looks down at you, eyebrows furrowing. You can tell he didn’t remember what day it was until this moment, his eyes looking around the room again, understanding settling in on the choice of shirts.

“You did all this? For me?” he asks, a smile taking over his face as he looks down on you.

“Well, duh,” you tell him. “Your seven-year draft anniversary is a big deal, you know?”

He beams down at you, the amount of love in his eyes enough to nearly knock you down.

“I love you, you know that?” he asks, wrapping his arms around you, pulling your body close to his.

“I think you’ve told me once or twice,” you tease.

He rolls his eyes at you, bringing his lips down to meet yours. The kiss is innocent and sweet, considering most of his team is stood behind you, but it was enough to cause a feeling of warmth to wash over you, all the way down to your toes.

When you pull back from the kiss you can’t help but to keep smiling at him. “Alright, go greet your teammates now. I’ll find you later,” you tell him, patting him on the chest as you step back.

Nico gives you a wink before he walks over to his friends and teammates, making his way through hugs and handshakes.

You mostly sit back and observe for most of the night, splitting off from the festivities when the pizza was delivered, placing it in the kitchen and announcing everyone to just serve themselves.

You make your way around your apartment, conversing with Nico’s various coworkers. You cross paths with Nico a few times, each time he tried to whisk you away to your shared bedroom, but you insisted he have a good time with his friends, there’ll be plenty of time for the two of you later. You stick around Jack and Luke some, but finding yourself in a corner talking to Nicole, Jesper’s girlfriend towards the end of the night.

“Y/N, seriously, this is great. I wish I would have thought of something like this for Jesper. Nico hit the jackpot with you,” Nicole compliments.

Your cheeks redden. “He deserves it. I mean, he left everything he’d ever known in Switzerland to come here and pursue this. And look how well he did for himself,” you turn to look over at him standing with Jonas and Erik, Jonas attempting his turn at pinning the devil horns on the large poster of Nico on the wall.

You’ve always been amazed at Nico’s bravery and determination to pursue this dream, knowing how hard it was for you to move just a few states away from your family, much less halfway across the world. He proved every single person that told him he wouldn’t make it wrong, not only getting drafted, but being the first overall pick. And now he earned his captaincy on top of that, proving he’s not only a phenomenal player, but an even better teammate and leader.

“I think he did very well for himself, and not just in reference to hockey, either,” she tells you, leaning over and placing a hand on your leg to emphasize her point.

You look down, not particularly knowing how to respond to her compliments.

“Hey, Y/N, want us to stick around and help clean up,” you hear a voice ask you, turning around to see only Jack, Luke, Jesper and Timo remaining.

Nico walks over to you as Nicole stands and joins Jesper.

“Nah, you guys head out. We’ll call you tomorrow if we need any help,” Nico answers for you, standing behind you and placing his hands on your shoulders, giving them a light squeeze.

“That’s code for ‘get out you goons, I’m trying to be alone with my girl right now,’” Jack says, earning a chuckle from the group.

You and Nico walk everyone to the door, saying your goodbyes before shutting the apartment door and turning around to observe the state of your apartment.

“Don’t even think about trying to clean anything up tonight. You’re not lifting a finger for the rest of the night,” Nico threatens, slipping his arms around your torso from behind, burying his face in your neck.

“C’mon, at least let me clean up the cups your lazy teammates didn’t throw away,” you pat his hands, starting to walk him over to start picking up the red, plastic cups.

“Alright, but after that we’re going to the bedroom and aren’t leaving until this time tomorrow,” Nico points a finger at you as he separates from your body.

The two of you gather all of the stray cups, bringing them into the kitchen to throw them away. You notice the empty pizza boxes, breaking a few of them down while asking Nico to put the leftovers in your fridge so they don’t ruin.

“What’s in the box?” he asks, grabbing the white cake box and dragging it out of the fridge.

“Oh no! I totally forgot about the cake!” you exclaim.

“You bought me a cake?” Nico opens the box.

He looks up at you, amusement in his eyes. “Schatz, why did you get me an orange Devils cake?”

You groan, bringing your hands up to rake them down your face.

“It was supposed to be red, but the bakery fucked it up and I didn’t know until they delivered it,” you explained, walking over to stand next to him as he looks between the cake and you.

“The catering was messed up too,” you continued. “I tried to order your favorite dishes from that Italian place you like, but they sent a bunch of vegan dishes instead, so Luke had to order pizza last minute.”

Nico lets out a laugh at your confession. “So, you threw me a draft anniversary party with an orange cake and vegan food?” he teases, closing the lid to the cake box and turning his body to face you.

You give him a pout. “Don’t make fun of me, I was trying to be nice to you.”

This earns another laugh, Nico placing his hands on either side of your pouting face.

“You could have thrown me a party with water soup as the entrée and ice cubes as appetizers and I would still think it’s the best party I’ve ever been to, simply because you planned it,” he tells you, looking down into your eyes.

“You meant it? You enjoyed yourself tonight?” you ask him earnestly, that small seed of worry making its way back into your brain.

Nico doesn’t answer, he leans down to kiss you for the second time that night. This time, though, he wasn’t as slow and sweet as he was when you had an audience.

His kiss isn’t rushed, but with his tongue slipping its way into your mouth, it quickly turns into a partial make-out session in your kitchen.

He pulls back once the two of you need to come up for air, resting his forehead against yours.

“I had a blast tonight. The shirts were a nice touch, by the way,” he smirks at you.

You let out a giggle, thinking of how funny it was when he registered all of his teammates were wearing his face on their chest.

“Thank you, seriously,” his tone turns serious. “I can’t even begin to explain to you what this means to me. I just wish I could’ve had you by my side from the start.”

You look at him through his long lashes, not being able to think about anything except for how much you love him at this moment.

“Well, you’ll have me until the end of it. Or until you get sick of me, whichever comes first,” you joke, causing Nico to pull his forehead back from yours.

He uses his hands that are still on your face to tilt your head up to look at him. “Not possible. If anyone gets sick of anyone around here it’s going to be you getting sick of me, because I never want to be anywhere but by your side.”

You just stare up at him, shaking your head in a no motion, the intensity of his stare taking any words from the tip of your tongue.

You both just stand there, staring at each other for what feels like hours, but was really just a few moments.

“Enough of us just standing in the kitchen, I think it’s time we take this little party to our bedroom so I can really show you how thankful I am,” he breaks the silence, his eyes going from love to lust before you could even blink.

He doesn’t give you a chance to respond, just throwing you over his shoulder while you squeal, carrying you to your bedroom. As you pass all of the decorations on the hallway walls on your way to the bedroom, you’re already thinking of how you can make year eight’s anniversary even better, especially if Nico is as thankful next year as he proves to be this year, thanking you over and over and over again once you reach your bedroom.

[hugshughes]

IM LITERALLY LIKE GOING CRAZY WAITING FOR U TO POST HARD LAUNCH LIKE GOING FERAL

Hard Launch C. Bedard.

Connor Bedard x fem!reader

synopsis - Connor has kept your relationship under wraps for a while just because he knows how crazy people can be; what happens when he knows he needs you right next to him at the draft?

wc - 2.1k

contains - cursing, reader has anxiety/is anxious, Connor picks at the skin around his nails, a ciwyw by taylor swift reference (sorry), probably some inaccuracies when it comes to like how the draft goes, kissing, fluff.

an - this was supposed to be posted a few days ago but when i proofread it i absolutely hated it so i started over! sorry about the inaccuracies related to the draft and how it works, i had to put a few things that probably aren’t true for the sake of the story. also!! when i reply to comments i have to do it from my primary blog which is @hugshughesy so i’ll reply but it won’t say like creator i don’t think. i’ve been like rereading this and i hate it might delete soon feeling silly. i hope you guys like it!!

-

“Baby, you have to stop doing that.”

You grab Connor’s hand and slip it into yours, partially because you just love him, and mostly to get him to stop picking at his cuticles. He blushes at your concern, looking over at you sheepishly.

“Sorry, just nervous.” You nodded, laying your head on his shoulder. He and you both. Although, Connor probably had a little more to be nervous about than you, seeing as he’s gonna be the #1 draft pick tonight and be blasted on the tv screens of millions.

You were more nervous about the fact that you’d never been seen with Connor before, no one knew he was off the market, and when they saw his golden girl sitting by him tonight at the draft, the 14 year old girls were definitely gonna track you down like FBI agents.

You’d seen all the fan accounts, ones with bios that would read, “Connor’s girlfriend (real)”. And those made you laugh, but you also saw the hostile people that would threaten you and say terrible things and they didn’t even know you actually existed.

“Well, everything will be okay because one, we already obviously know you’re gonna go #1 because you’re just like the best. And two, your family is here, and your friends are here. And they all love you so so much Connie.”

“What about my girlfriend, y’think she loves me?”

You giggled at his question, furrowing your eyebrows and letting out a ‘hmmmm’ as if you were thinking about the answer.

“Actually, I think she loves you the more than anything else.”

Connor laughed now, wrapping his arm around your waist, which you initially accepted as an act of love, but then your boyfriend start tasing your sides.

You squirm and squeal, jerking around in Connor’s hold, not until you quite literally roll yourself off the hotel bed are you free. You look up at him from your place on the floor, an unamused look displayed on your face. While Connor’s expression is quite the opposite, as he giggles to himself.

“I tell you how much I love you, and you just throw me on the floor? Wow.”

He laughs louder at this, his bright smile melting your heart.

“I didn’t throw you on the floor, you did that to yourself.”

He holds his arms out for you, grabbing your hands and pulling you back up on the bed.

“Well, you still haven’t even told me you love me back so.”

“You know I love you the most. I know you know that.”

You do know that, as surprising as it would be to someone that’s seen his awkwardness and shortness in interviews and things like that, Connor is very expressive with his love for you. He always shows you how grateful he is for you.

“Connor! Gotta start getting ready soon, cameras will be in here in 30!”

His mom shouts from the adjoining door between the two hotel rooms his family was currently in. He shouts back an affirmative then sighs, laying back on the bed.

“Everything’s gonna go perfect Con, you’re completely surrounded by people who love you so much, and I know it’s a huge event, but there’s no need to be nervous baby.”

He looks at you, he practically has hearts in his eyes, he gives you a smile. He nods and sits up, standing to go grab his garment bag with his suit.

While he went to do that you went into the bathroom, making sure he didn’t mess up your makeup you’d just done messing around with you. It was still perfect, thankfully, and you closed the door to put your dress on.

You changed, then fixed your hair, you’d gotten it done a few days before, so you could do it quickly on draft day.

You touch up everything, lastly taking off your necklace with a gold heart as the charm and taking out your new gold ‘C’ necklace. Wearing his initial meant more than “belonging” to him, it was because he’s your boy, the boy who knows you.

Connor walked into the bathroom, suit pants and button up on. He practically had hearts in his eyes when he saw you. He wraps his arms around your hips and leans down to lay his chin on your shoulder.

“Wow, gorgeous. You look fuckin’ perfect.”

You feel heat envelop your face, giving Connor a big smile.

“I have a little something to show you. Nothing special, but I think you’ll like it.

He nods, looking at you expectedly. You show him the necklace, and the hearts in his eyes double in size. He looks from the necklace to you, and then back down again.

“Are you serious?”

The hope in Connor’s voice was apparent. He was in awe at the idea of you wearing his initial. You knowing and showing your love for him gets him so happy. When you nod at him, his smile grows. He helps you put it on, then turns you around to look at you.

You looked perfect, so, so gorgeous. You left the bathroom, sitting on the bed to put your heels on. The Bedard family minus Connor was in the other room now, talking. You fastened the buckle on your last heel, and Connie sits next to you, leaning his head on your shoulder.

“Everything’s gonna change after tonight, can feel it.”

Connor whispers to you, you can’t be much comfort to him though because the second you’re about to try, his mom comes through, letting him know the camera guys are here.

He sighs and nods, going to stand up but not before you kiss his head, giving his hand a squeeze. You stayed where you were as you watched Connor enter the other room, closing the door behind him. He knew you were already on edge and he didn’t want your anxiety to spike earlier than it had to.

After about 20 minutes Madisen texts you that it’s time for everyone to go. You grab your wallet and exit the room, seeing the Bedards and a few off-duty cameramen already in the hallway. Connor’s hand was gripping yours the whole way to Bridgestone.

You guys were finally in your seats after almost an hour. You were sat in between Connor and his mom, much to your dismay. You felt it was only right for Connor to sit by his family with you on the end but he whined and whined until his mom urged you to sit next to him.

Right now you knew there were many cameras on you, your leg bounced at the thought. Connor brushed his hand over your knee, whispering your name. You snap out of your thoughts, jerking your head towards him.

“Are you alright baby?”

Your eyes soften at his question, smiling and nodding at him. You pat your hand on his that covers your knee.

“Y’know, just a little nervous that everyone’s about to see that you’re my mega-hot boyfriend.”

He laughs at that, his grip on your knee tightening. Your free hand moves to the charm on your necklace, holding it tightly.

“Well, I think everyone’s gonna be confused about how I have such a hot girlfriend.”

It was your turn to laugh, you could feel the nerves prickling at the back of your neck slightly fade as you looked at your boy.

“Well, I think that number one draft picks are super hot, so.”

He looks at you with a big smile, his eyes soft and full of adoration, he brings his hand up and pushes your hand from your necklace, fingers brushing over the ‘C’ sitting on your chest.

Before you know it, the draft begins to start and the Blackhawks are on the clock. You and Connor’s legs are bouncing in sync, but you can’t help but look at him with a smile. It obviously doesn’t take long before Kyle Davidson is up at the podium.

“And with the first overall selection of the 2023 NHL draft, the Chicago Blackhawks are very proud to select, from the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, Connor Bedard.”

He smiles so bright, so big. He stands up and you follow, he engulfs you in a huge hug.

“Thank you so much, I love you so much.”

You say it right back to him before he moves to hug the rest of his family and friends. When he walks past you again to get out to the aisle he takes you by complete surprise, kissing you in front of everyone. That was quite the way to hard launch your relationship. He quickly pulls away and goes to bro hug Adam. Your eyes completely widen, quickly turning your head to look at Madisen, who is laughing at your shock, and her brother’s boldness.

You would’ve never expected Connor to do that, you’re guessing the adrenaline got to him, but wow. You recovered from your moment and clapped as you watched your boyfriend strut up to the stage, shaking hands with the Blackhawks staff and sliding on his jersey.

You hold his mom’s hand as you feel tears rushing your waterline. You’d known Connor since you were both 10 and watching him up on the stage was definitely overwhelming.

You guys sit and celebrate the other picks and after about an hour you all were out somewhere on the inside of Bridgestone arena, waiting for Connor to finish up promotional stuff.

He comes out from a hallway and the smile on his face is absolutely heart melting. He hugs his family before he makes his way to you, hugging you very tightly.

“Connor Bedard. What was that?”

He smiles proudly, kissing you once again, just longer and harder. Once he pulls away you’re dazed, a love-struck look in your eyes, and if you could, you would have hearts in your eyes.

“I don’t even know, just felt like kissin’ you, and I think I was on like an adrenaline rush or something.”

You laughed and nodded at him with an amused look, cupping his face with your hands. His family absolutely loved you two, they had been waiting for the day you guys admitted you liked each other since the 2018 8th-grade dance.

They saw how you brought Connor out of his shell, and how incredibly happy you made him. You declared where you would be attending college the night of the draft lottery, for no apparent reason of course. The University of Chicago was a school you were always interested in, but Connor in Chicago meant that much more to you.

After hours of hanging out and celebrating you guys were finally back at the hotel. You showered after Connor finished up and then after you were standing at the sink, pajamas on as you did your skincare.

For the second time that day, Connor came into the bathroom, wrapping his arms around you. You looked at him through the mirror, smiling softly. Connor looked at you and saw everything he wanted. He felt so excited to be able to have you with him in the Windy City. He knew he was only 17, but thoughts of you being his wife crossed his mind.

You finished up in the bathroom and you both went back out to the room, the door between the two rooms you had was ajar, allowing his parents to keep watch of you two if they needed to. They trusted you both deeply, but you were still two teenagers sharing a bed, so.

You both snuggled up on your bed, and you scrolled through Twitter and Tiktok looking at things about the draft and Connor and your relationship. You had become a small meme among the hockey girl fandom, the video of Connor kissing you and then your reaction going viral.

There were so so so many kind comments, commenting on your beauty and smile, and how happy you made Connor look. He was very happy with how the night went, which made you happy obviously.

You both eventually fell asleep, only after whispering for hours about how everything is gonna be in Chicago, how much fun you think it’ll be. You played with Connor’s hair while his breathing slowed, his grip around you tightening.

You knew that no matter where Connor went, you would go too as long as he wanted you there. And he always would want you there. You were everything to him, you and hockey were what kept him going.

[suburbanbonfire]

welcome to the big leagues, boy

(prints here)

[nottodayjustin]

June 25th 2024 best hockey tweet(s) of the day

[peachhcs]

new and old faces

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

samy meets a new friend at the 2024 nhl draft and picks up some old ones along the way

2.5k words

i also rewrote this 3 different times so hopefully it’s good. here’s the fic of samy meeting beckett and macklin & becoming besties & also some jealous will while they’re broken up still at the draft! i’m excited to make them closer because i think they’d get along really well :) (also sorry i post at such awk times)

au masterlist

samy squeezed herself past a group of people lingering by the main entrance and stumbled right through the front doors onto the busy sidewalks of las vegas. she breathed out, taking a moment to get over everyone packed into the sphere right now, but her bliss didn't last long when she realized there were people pushed against the barricades trying to get glimpses of what was going on inside by watching the screen light up as different draftees were announced.

"hey! is that samy hughes?" someone called her name causing everyone else to look in her direction. when the fans recognized her face they started going crazy for a picture or an autograph.

usually, the girl wouldn't mind, but right now she just needed a second alone, so she muttered out an apology before racing off to a place much quieter than this. she made it around the back where it was a lot less crowded and fans weren't standing on the sidewalk. another sigh of relief escaped samy's lips and for a moment she wondered why she thought she could manage this by herself.

technically, she wasn't going to be by herself. her and will talked about going to this year's draft together many, many months ago and of course the thought of breaking up didn't cross their minds when they bought the tickets. somewhere in there was will and they were supposed to sit together, but samy managed to pull some strings so she wouldn't have to and she hasn't seen him all night. not yet anyways.

she quickly tried pushing any thoughts of will away because he didn't matter and samy could do this by herself. she just needed a second to breathe away from all the people in there.

when she thought she was okay to head back in someone on one of the lower steps caught her attention. she thought it was a fan or something, but she saw the badge laying beside them and how they wore a freshly pressed anaheim ducks jersey meaning they definitely weren't a fan. actually, they looked nothing like a fan and samy quickly recognized them as one of the newest draftees: beckett sennecke.

the brunette stood dumbfounded for a moment. did she approach him or just leave him be? but then again, she worried why he was out here by himself, so samy decided to carefully walk up behind him.

"you okay?" she spoke up making him whip around in surprise.

he met her gaze, "oh, shit. yeah. sorry. i'm fine," he stumbled over his words realizing samy hughes stood feet away from him.

"are you sure?" samy raised her eyebrow, not really believing him.

"yeah. i just..i needed a second," beckett answered, but it didn't sound too convincing.

"yeah, you and me both. mind if i sit?"

the younger brunette nodded, moving over so there was more room on the step and samy sat down. another small sigh escaped her lips while the two sat in silence for a few moments. both of them seemed unsure of what to say because samy didn't want to prod if he didn't want to talk about it while beckett was just shocked samy hughes was sitting this close to him.

"my first year i was at the draft for quinn i was super overwhelmed. i think i was about..12 or something and i'd never seen so many people in one place before, so i get that all of this can be overwhelming at times," the girl started talking just because she couldn't sit in silence anymore.

"wow, that's young," beckett mumbled in almost disbelief that samy was that much younger than quinn.

the hughes laughed, "yeah, i know. then i did it two more times, but at least for luke we were in the comfort of our own home."

"i don't know, i don't think it's hit me yet that i'm now like..a member of the nhl and i went 3rd overall," the boy smiled a bit.

"you definitely looked shocked up on the screen. congratulations by the way. i think the anaheim ducks picked a good one," she met his gaze, beckett's face instantly flushing at the compliment.

"thanks, that means a lot coming from you. i didn't even think you knew who i was," he admitted shyly while samy chuckled again, her gaze falling back on the busy streets of las vegas in front of them.

"oh come on, you're a pretty big deal in the ohl. i've seen some of your highlights online," her words made beckett's red cheeks even worse because how could someone like her even know about someone like him who was just a hockey player from toronto.

"jeez, thanks. i guess you're a pretty big deal too," beckett managed making samy shake her head.

"i mean, not really. not as big as my brothers."

"well either way, i think you are. i think a lot of people think you are."

his words were endearing because samy didn't hear them a whole lot. she really didn't think people paid that much attention to her, but it was cute beckett thought so because then at least one person saw her as someone a part from her brothers who were definitely big deals.

"i guess i knew this would be a lot, but i didn't think it would be this much. all the press and sudden things i have to sign just kind of got to me and i needed a second. my mom's been calling me, but i've been ignoring her messages," beckett finally opened up more, his voice becoming small.

"hey, i get it. this is a lot and it's okay that you need to take a second. i would too if thousands of people are watching me walk down to a stage after just getting drafted. last year, i think will, ryan, and gabe took a second to themselves during the night because it was a lot," samy reassured the younger boy that he didn't need to explain himself. she's been doing this for four years now and she totally understood that these players weren't gonna have a happy face all the time throughout the night.

"i'm actually kind of glad you came out here because i think i would've started really overthinking if you didn't," beckett laughed a little while samy's expression softened out.

"i know it's corny to say this, but you're gonna be in good hands. if you know trevor zegras, he's close with jack, and i know he'll make sure to take care of you or i'll tell him too if he doesn't."

"wow, thanks. i'll keep an eye out for him then. say you recommended me," that made both of them laugh out loud.

"you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but what made you not choose hockey because i know you were pretty good," beckett asked after they fell into a quick, comfortable silence.

"uh..i guess just that i started really falling in love with soccer as i kept playing. something just called out to me when my coach said she could see me going far, so i picked it up full time and stopped playing hockey competitively," samy shrugged a bit.

"well, you're super good at soccer. i've seen some of your highlights too," the two shared a smile.

one of the back doors bursted open, startling samy and beckett as they spun around, "found him! where have you been?" macklin came through the door with a few other boys on his tail, specifically teddy, cole, zeev, and will.

samy quickly adverted her gaze before she met will's. "oh, hey. sorry. needed some air. i ran into samy," beckett stood up.

"samy hughes? no way, we've been trying to find you since this started," teddy chuckled, quickly bringing the girl into a quick hug.

"hey, it's good to finally run into you guys," she smiled, going to hug cole and zeev as well.

will hung back, putting himself into conversation with macklin so samy didn't have to awkwardly hug them in front of everyone. "how've you been?" teddy wondered.

"i've been good. doing a bunch of camps and stuff, so i've had a fairly busy summer," samy focused her attention on the three boys so she wouldn't look over at will only feet away from her.

"we've just been finishing up ntdp before getting ready for college," cole explained for the three of them.

"i can't believe you guys are gonna be in college already. i remember you guys being babies with everyone else," the youngest hughes teasingly squeezed their cheeks making them push her hands away.

"alright, alright. it wasn't that long ago. you know macklin celebrini, right?" zeev nodded towards the other brunette standing with them.

she looked over at the boy who smiled with a shy wave, completely ignoring will standing right beside him where he was most definitely looking at her now, "yeah, i do. you played for canada in the world juniors, right?"

"yeah, that's me. it's good to officially meet you," the two of them exchanged a quick handshake.

they all started talking with one another, catching up with samy while will lingered in the back. his hands were stuffed deep into his pockets while he watched his friends talk up his ex either poking at her or joking around while they spoke. he tried not to, but his jaw clenched seeing them be so up close and friendly.

will swore that even though he loved them, they always flirted with samy last year whenever she came up to watch the games and the worse part was that she indulged in it every time. will knew samy wasn't that kind of person and she was just super friendly, but the guys knew what they were doing and they knew will liked her, yet they flirted with her right in front of him like right now.

and that really irritated the blonde.

what irritated will even more was how good samy looked. her skin was glowing underneath the harsh lights of the sphere and just everything about her made the hockey player weak at the knees. her hair, her dress, her makeup, everything. will's eyes couldn't leave hers no matter how hard he tried looking away and swallowing his urge to pull her away from all of them.

she wouldn't even look at him. as soon as he stumbled outside with the others, she avoided his gaze and sure, he deserved that, but it still hurt real bad.

zeev was probably the worst one as he grabbed samy's arm whenever she made a joke that made him laugh. he knew everything from will, yet here he was flirting with his ex as if he wanted her.

"will, get over here!" teddy exclaimed and now everyone's eyes were on the blonde. he shuffled his way towards their group between cole and zeev, but across from samy. her eyes were anywhere but him.

"we need to all hang out again. i miss this and being with you guys," cole smiled a bit sadly making the others frown.

"maybe i can see if you guys can come up for the lake house later on? i think that would be fun and i can get the other guys there too," samy piped up and all the guys quickly agreed with her.

"that would be awesome. personal invite to the hughes lake house? count me in," macklin said making everyone laugh.

"i'll ask my brothers, but i'm sure they'll say yes," the girl grinned.

that idea prompted them to start talking about what they'd do when they were there, but will felt like he was physically going to throw up hearing all this talk and thinking about these guys being close to samy in nothing but a t-shirt and her bathing suit. the blonde couldn't think about them eyeing her and he couldn't do anything about it because they weren't together anymore.

he grabbed at zeev's arm, pulling him away, "we should go back in."

"yeah, sure. guys, wanna head back in?" the darker-haired boy called to the others.

they all simultaneously agreed and followed each other back into the crowded arena, trying to stick close together so they wouldn't lose one another.

"you okay? you look angry," zeev wondered out of earshot from the others.

"fine," the blonde muttered because he wasn't gonna get into it about his ex girlfriend when she was right there.

"are you sure?"

"yeah, i'm fine. let's just go back to our seats," will almost snapped. zeev threw his hands up in defense.

"shit, what's gotten into you?" his words blew steam from will's ears as he spun around in the crowd. the two of them stopped while the others were still a ways behind.

"what's gotten into me? you're fucking flirting with my ex girlfriend like i'm not right there!" will let the anger and jealousy get the better of him.

zeev's face twisted, "what the hell are you on about? we weren't flirting with her."

"yes you were. i could see it with my own eyes," will argued back.

"why does it even matter anyway? she isn't your girlfriend anymore. she's your ex," zeev crossed his arms.

"that doesn't mean you can flirt with her! ever heard about bro code?"

"oh fuck off. you're not even dating her anymore and she doesn't even wanna talk to you. sorry she's our friend still, too," they were now arguing in the middle of the arena and people were starting to look.

"yeah, but you've been flirting with her since dev program! even when you knew i liked her!" will's yelling caught the attention of everyone else including samy and the guys behind them.

the other four slowed to a stop while will's face burned hot red in embarrassment. zeev didn't know what to say, eyeing the others behind them. "dude, come on. let's not do this here," the boy tried pulling will away before the others caught on.

"just leave me alone," will mumbled, storming off into the crowd.

samy met zeev's eyes, trying to read what just happened. the younger boy's face burned a little bit too as he avoided everyone else's gaze.

"we're gonna go back to our seats," he mumbled before disappearing as well.

"what happened?" teddy wondered since they were too far behind to hear what the argument was about.

samy had a small inkling, but she wasn't gonna say anything in front of them. even though they were broken up, she could still read will like the back of her hand and she knew jealousy when she saw it. it was clear on the blonde's demeanor, especially when his eyes never left her when they were outside talking.

"i don't know. where are you guys sitting?" samy changed the subject, hoping they'd just drop it too.

"i have more press to do, but we can all meet back at the hotel later?" macklin suggested and the others liked that idea.

"you get 'em tiger!" cole shook macklin's shoulders before the brunette disappeared into the crowd.

"we're sitting high up, you can sit with us if you want?" teddy suggested to samy and beckett.

the two nodded and quickly disappeared into the crowd while samy's scanned for will who couldn't be seen anymore because he disappeared into one of the bathrooms to calm himself down before he exploded on everyone.

[enlightining]

beckett sennecke hearing his name being called

[smittyscurls]

Smitty x Sharks Fans in Vegas

[thehuggybearslover]

Me when Bob lost the Vezina yesterday:

[misschino]

[hugshughes]

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 - 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐍 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐒

𝐓𝐖𝐎 - 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐛𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 - 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝! 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝.

𝐰𝐜 - 𝟐𝐤 𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐡𝐡 𝐢 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 - 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐭!

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 - 𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩! 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐦 𝐛𝐪𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤! 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐡𝐡𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐑!!! 𝐈𝐌 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐆𝐆𝐆𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒! 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐎𝐇 𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐎 𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐎 𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐎 𝐈𝐌 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀 𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐎 𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐒 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑!!! 𝐟𝐲𝐢! 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭!

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 - 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨��𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 - 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 - @alwaysclassyeagle

-

real life! january 15th, 2024. 11:49pm EST

"Everyone's gonna hate it."

"Will you shut the fuck up please?"

You gigged, throwing your head back. You were in your living room of your New York house, surrounded in a group of friends and family. Your brother and sister-in-law had even come out all the way from Seattle. You sat crisscrossed on the rug, your phone bussing relentlessly against your thigh. The album dropped in 11 minutes.

You stood from your spot on the rug, sliding across the hardwoods in your socks to the kitchen. You opened your fridge and pulled out the bottles of champagne, alcoholic and not, you'd picked for the album drop.

You heard your name called from behind you, turning around and seeing your big brother.

"Oh hey!"

"Hey. It's stupid and sappy but I just wanted to tell you I'm really proud of you for this. So impressed that my little sister is way more popular and talented than me."

You giggled, your heart warming.

"Thank you, seriously. And you could probably be a famous tiktoker or something, just drop my name and immediately you get a million views!"

He rolled his eyes, barking out a laugh, coming around the counter. He grabbed the four bottles from the counter and left to go back to the living room. You quickly grabbed enough glasses for the group, carefully juggling them all in your hands as you walk back to the living room.

Released songs of yours were playing from the surround sound system in the living room, a countdown clock on the TV. There was just over 5 minutes left until everyone had your album.

Your friends sung along as Cruel Summer ended. You smiled at the amount of love filling the room. The smile that graced your face faltered when you heard the opening of The Cut That Always Bleeds. It was one of your most famous songs, but still hurt to hear, even more so to sing.

'cause if you're gonna leave, better leave, better do it fast. can't live a little longer sitting on your lap.

Your best friend stiffened upon hearing the lyrics, turning to find you by the door. She gave you a distressed look, mouthing, 'wanna turn it?' to you. You shook your head, giving her a forced smile. It was your song anyway, you couldn't hide from it.

You shook off the feeling the song gave you, setting all of the champagne glasses down.

"Okay, five minutes left! Um, I just want to thank you guys for coming! You guys are my favorite people and my biggest supporters. So yeah, thanks!"

Your friends all made noises of agreements, your sister-in-law hugging you.

"I know this song hurts you, girl. But shit, are your vocals something else on it."

You giggled, grinning widely at her. She was one of your favorite people in the world. You'd known her since you were 15, and she and your brother were both 19.

"I love you. Oh wait, I have a secret to tell you!"

Her eyes widened, nodding eagerly at you.

"Tell me now!"

You leaned closer, whispering into her ear.

"Deluxe version of Persuasion drops February 1st."

She pulled away from you, jaw dropping.

"You're joking! Are you serious? Oh my gosh!"

You giggled, nodding repeatedly at her. She was the second person other than your recording/producing crew and your agent who knew. Only your best friend, who now sat across the room giving you a smirk, also knew.

Someone shouted '90 seconds!' from across the living room, causing your skin to prick with goosebumps. Shit, were you nervous. Cruel Summer began when there were roughly 45 seconds left until the drop, making you feel better.

You watched as the timer ran down, an uncertain feeling running through you. Sure, you were so excited to be releasing new music. But, some of the song were personal, some were about Mat.

Your living room erupted as the clock hit midnight, your best friend jumping to grab the TV remote, opening the Apple Music app and searching for Persuasion. Your friends hugged you, cheering as your brother handed you a champagne bottle to pop open. You messily poured tall glasses over your coffee table as you heard Happier Than Ever start playing from the TV.

No one except for you, your manager, and your producers had heard Persuasion all the way through. Even your best friend had only heard a few of the tracks. She made it so the lyrics were on the TV, and your friends watched intently as the song played.

You stared at the TV, downing your second glass of champagne when you caught pitiful glances when you heard 'You clearly weren't aware that you made me miserable.' Everyone in the room knew the details of your relationship with Mat, clearly.

Your best friend's smile widened at Happier Than Ever ended, knowing her favorite of the few she'd heard was next. All-American Bitch. She stood from her place on your couch, sauntering over to you. She pulled you up from your spot, beckoning all your friends up to the carpet. When the base drops, they all start dancing around, jumping up and down. They look uncoordinated and silly, but it's sweet all the same. You give up your cool girl front and sing along, dancing with no cares.

You all danced and sang as the album kept playing. By the time Teenage Dream came on, you laid on the couch with your head in your drunk best friend's lap. It was nearing 1am as you walked your friends out to Ubers.

You sat on your couch alone after sending your brother and sister-in-law to bed in the guest room. The album was now only quietly playing on loop from the TV, Memories echoing through the first floor. You shut off the TV, grabbing your phone for the first time in a little while. You saw texts from many of your friends, family, and a couple from your manager. She congratulated you and said to call her in the morning. She had only sent it a few minutes before so you quickly texted back, asking if she wanted to call tonight.

Your phone started ringing, and you quickly swiped to answer.

"Hi!"

"Hi love! The album is already going off! There's so much love for it! And I wanted to let you know that we let Ellie stay up to listen and she loved it."

Ellie was your managers 7 year old daughter, and one of your favorite people.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so glad, I'll have to talk to her about it soon. And yeah, I mean I just picked up my phone for the first time since before the drop and wow, I'm like completely blowing up."

"Because this album is to die for!"

You giggled, your manager's British accent always made you smile.

"Oh right! The reason I need to call you. So, I know this is a lot, and I know you might not want to and that's completely fine."

She paused, your eyebrows scrunched. Huh?

"But, I just had some people reach out earlier tonight and the NHL has invited you to be one of the celebrity coaches for the NHL All-Star Series."

Holy shit. What? The NHL wanted you?

"Seriously? Holy fuck."

"I know, I know. Obviously Mathew will be there but I think it would be a bad bitch move personally. You'd be on Team Hughes is what they told me, and you'd perform during halftime at one of the games."

"Okay, that's so crazy. Wow, um-"

Your manager cut you off before anything else could leave your mouth.

"Oh, also! Can't believe I forgot, but, Tate is also doing it! The celebrities get announced in a couple days. The 20th I believe, and your invitation was pretty last minute because whomever was set up to be there before had to drop it. I understand if you don't want to, but it'd be good for the album, and your brand."

You were unsure, but the voice in your head was screaming fuck Mathew Barzal and you decided to agree with it.

"You know what, yeah! This'll be fun, I mean I still love hockey. I didn't let him ruin it for me. And if Tate's going that makes two singers with less famous NHL exes as celebrity captains."

"Yes! Awesome, I knew you'd want to. I'll confirm with them in the morning. I love you! Persuasion is amazing and beautiful. Goodnight sweetheart."

You told her you loved her and goodnight before hanging up. Holy shit, you were seriously doing this.

-

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Liked by NHL, and 75,826 others

yourusername Persuasion is out now! I cannot believe the immense support the album has already recieved! Thank you all so so much, you are my everythings. Hopefully Persuasion can comfort the lonely and help explain me! I love you all, more to come soon ⭐️🤍🫂

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26 minutes ago

taylorswift I'M OBSESSED

tatemcrae MY BABY SO TALENTEDDDDD

user1 what is the NHL doing here?

haileybeiber Mamaaa❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

yourusername added to their story!

twitter

[rowdyluv]

More of Macklin from the combine 🥹

i believe i have found my 1st adoptee of this draft. he is just too precious

[nottodayjustin]

June 28th 2024 best hockey tweet(s) of the day

[callsign-bubbles]

from pasture to slaughter - m. a. (2024)

photo credits - dave sandford / dave sandford / abbie parr / george walker iv / bruce bennett / NHL on youtube / kevin sousa / bruce bennett / adam hunger / michael chisholm / melanie bedard

I WROTE MY OWN POETRY FOR THIS ONE, YOU FUCKS

[darthbenn]

has this been done yet

[paigehughes28]

Yall can’t tell me they don’t looks like they could be twins or ATLEAST brothers(Left-Jamie Drysdale, Right-Jett Luchanko)