#auston/mitch was another good one

[allylikethecat]

Omg okay I need to check out MattDrai, my fave ship so far has been Kane/ Toewes, sooo many good fics but I'm realising it's maybe just the height difference thing for me? Haha

I've for sure read my fair share of Kane/Toewes or 1988 as I believe we used to call it lol There isn't going to be any height difference with MattDrai - Matthew and Leon are literally the same height 💀 BUT the enemies to lovers and "I'd get off the ice" is just SO GOOD. Love to come across more Hockey RPF humans in The 1975 fandom! Maybe one day I'll actually... finish my MattDrai fic that I haven't updated since August 😂

Thank you so much for sending this ask! I hope you had a great day and that you are having a wonderful week!

❤️Ally

[luvhughes43]

emotional bruises | luke hughes x matthews!reader

luvhughes43 masterlist🌷

request: what ab a fic where reader and luke have been dating for a long time, say high school sweethearts. reader is the youngest sister of auston matthews (and by association, mitch marner). say after a win one night (or for any other reason) reader and luke go to a club. at said club, luke goes off with his friends and ignores reader. a random guy starts talking to reader and after seeing her talk to a random guy luke gets mad at her. they start fighting and after a bit of fighting reader calls auston to pick her up/rant or whatever and after hanging up/picking her up auston or mitch calls quinn or jack to talk some sense into luke and then reader and luke work through their problems

word count: 1.8k

it happened once you and Luke got back to michigan after Lukes season ended. a few of his university teammates were in town visiting, so everyone decided to go to a club now that everyone was finally legal. 

you of course went with the boys, having been dating Luke while he was at umich so you knew and were friends with all of the boys. usually, when you went out with Luke he was very attentive to you, but not tonight.

Luke's laugh echoed through the already loud club. you watched on from the sidelines as the group of friends chatted, sending you small glances every few minutes from the corner of their eyes. you were standing behind Luke who was standing in a circle with the guys. 

“I’m going to go get a drink!” you raised your voice so Luke could hear you, but he didn’t respond. you nodded your head in embarrassment and went over to the bar. 

The bar was crowded, and it took forever to get your drink. Luke hadn’t even looked in your direction, and you were dreading going back over to the group of boys. 

time went by and you just stood there next to the guys, no acknowledgement from Luke or anyone else for that matter. 

“Luke? do you wanna go dance?” you finally got the courage to ask, pulling on one of Luke’s sleeves so he’d look at you.

“uh, no not right now i’m talking to ethan” he barely glanced at you as he was talking to you. a minute later he shakes your hand off his arm and you feel your heart fall to the pits of your stomach. 

It's not like you were a clingy girlfriend. you understood that Luke wanted to spend time with your guys’ friends, but you wouldn’t let him just ignore you. you guys had been together since forever, and Luke had never acted like this. granted, he wasn’t much for pda but he always made sure to show you affection in other ways. 

you took another 10 minutes of Luke's dismissal before deciding to go off on your own. you didn’t even tell him you were leaving the group, you didn’t think he’d care anyway.

“we’re matching!” a girl shouted at you, grabbing onto your hands and pulling you into her group of friends. you laughed, your feelings of hurt fading away as a group of girls easily accepted you into their circle. 

you and your new friends all sang and danced together, and you were finally feeling like the night was turning out to be good. 

“hey, i’m going to go get another drink!” you shouted to the group as the taylor swift song you were just screaming too faded into another song. 

“hey! can you get me another beer?” the girl who originally seeked you out asked and you easily agreed.

as you were waiting for your drinks, a man approached you trying to make small talk.

“how are you doing tonight?” the dark haired brunette asked you as he leaned across the bar. 

“I’m fine, how are you?” you replied, looking in the bartenders direction to see how much longer your drinks would take. 

“I’m good. could be better though,” the guy smirked as he shifted his body to be angled towards yours.

“oh okay…” you trailed off awkwardly. you usually didn't have to talk to guys at bars because Luke would always volunteer to get your drinks for you but… here you were.

“okay?” the guy chuckled as he copied you. “what? you not interested or something?” 

“Uh no i have a boyfriend,” you squirmed. clearly uncomfortable with this whole interaction. you craned your neck to try and look for Luke, but you couldn’t see him through the crowd of people jumping around on the dance floor.

the man just laughed more, “yeah? I’ve heard that one before”

you honestly felt frozen as he moved closer to you, the drinks the bartender just placed in front of you easily ignored. 

“no please, i really do have a boyfriend hes…” you whipped around to try and catch a glance of Luke but he was nowhere to be found.

“Baby, you don’t have to play hard to get i'm right here” the guy moved even closer to you and you quickly tried backing away.

“what the fuck?” Luke interrupts the guy's speech angrily. 

The unnamed man was going to say something but Luke quickly interrupted, “y/n?? what are you doing?” Luke questioned you instead of the guy, causing the guy to smirk.

“ohh damnn… i didnt realize she was your girl she never told me!” the guy lied, his admission making Luke frown at you.

“Luke what? he wouldn’t leave me alone! I was literally looking for you,” you started but Luke cut you off.

“Yeah sure. Lets just go” luke grabbed one of your arms, pulling you away from the bar and to the outside of the club. 

you were so utterly confused. 

“why are you being so mean to me tonight?” you asked, feeling the start of a burn rise in your throat.

“are you seriously questioning me right now? you were literally just talking to some man at the bar!” Luke argued, clearly upset at you.

“like i said Luke, he was the one pursuing ME” you argued back, completely tired with how your boyfriend was acting tonight.

“yeah whatever, let's just go home” he rolled his eyes at you, tugging on your arm to take you back towards his car.

“no! you're being such a jerk to me!” you pulled your arm roughly from Lukes grasp, leaving him to just stare at you.

Luke ran a hand frustratingly through his hair. He sighed before continuing, “just get into the car y/n”

your chest was heaving as you slid into the passenger seat.

when you got back to the lake house you immediately set your things up in the empty guest room while Luke was in the bathroom. luckily for you, off season just started so there weren't many people at the house. 

As soon as you got settled, you we’re picking up your phone and calling your brother Auston Matthews. 

“Auston?” you croaked when you heard the call connect.

“y/n? whats wrong?” you heard Auston sit up in bed at your upset tone.

“Luke and i fought and he- and,” you cried, explaining all of the night's events to your brother who was absolutely fuming.

“I'll take care of it y/n don’t worry,” Auston said as he pulled your boyfriends contact up on his phone.

“Aus no!” you cried out, making Auston stop what he was doing. “I'll talk to him later, I just wanted to get it all out” you cried again, making Auston soften. He hated when you were so upset. 

“Okay, i won’t say anything to Luke” he relented, coming up with other strategies to yell at Luke to fix things. 

you ended the call ten minutes later and by pure coincidence Luke was knocking at the door.

“y/n i’m sorry about tonight i just…” Luke trailed off and you scrambled out of bed and pulled the door open.

“I don't want to talk to you right now,” you admitted with confidence. all of your sadness had run out and all you were left with was anger.

“y/n please, i’m sorry about tonight it was a misunderstanding and-”

“no seriously Luke, i don’t want to talk to you” 

you two went back and forth for awhile before Luke finally admitted defeat and sulked off to his bedroom. 

you got adjusted to the guest bedroom bed, eyes closing when you heard the familiar ring tone of your brother's best friend. 

“Mitchy?” you asked, and he hummed in reply.

“Aus told me what happened and I just wanted to see if you were okay. He didn’t tell me details or anything but he said you were pretty upset so…” he trailed off and you smiled softly. Mitch Marner never failed to amaze you. He was such a kind friend to not only your brother but to you as well. 

“I’m just upset… Luke was ignoring me all night and then he…”

“and then he what?” mitch questioned to which you gave him the full run down. 

By the time you finished re-explaining everything and Mitch was done giving you his advice, you were well and truly tired. 

As soon as the call ended you instantly drifted off to sleep.

When you woke up, there was a large bouquet of flowers on your night stand. They were pink peonies, a gift Luke usually got you when you were upset or having a bad day.

You messaged Luke to come meet you in the guest room. 

“I’m so sorry y/n,” Luke apologized as he rushed into the room and closed the door behind him.

“Flowers aren't going to fix this Luke. You really hurt me last night and I don't even think you understand” you began, already getting irritated. 

Luke listened intently to everything you had to say. “At first you ignored me the whole night! and then some guy is being a creep and you accuse me? As if I was the one to do something wrong. You didn't even ask if I was okay! You grabbed at me like I was a child” you tried not to raise your voice as you felt the hurt creep back into your heart.

Luke wholeheartedly agreed with you. He sat down next to you on the bed and you both talked about everything that went down last night.

“I was honestly just jealous that you were talking to somebody else… I get really protective over you and I know I had no right to act the way I did last night. I feel awful” Luke started, apologizing again and trying to explain his side of things. “There’s no excuse for me ignoring you. There’s no excuse for anything I did last night” Luke continued and you nodded along. you found it hard to forgive him, but you promised you’d work on your forgiveness. Luke wasn’t one to get angry at you like that, and it had shaken you up.

Later that night you got a text from your brother.

Auston: did your boy apologize to you yet?

You: what?? I told you not to talk to him? Wtf

Auston: I didn't talk to him… I talked to Quinn instead

You: ??? why

Auston: because you were upset last night and I dont want u to be upset

Auston: especially over some boy

you shut your phone off turning over to Luke. “Your brother told you to apologize to me this morning?” you asked the curly headed boy.

“No. He just made me realize how much I fucked up. your brother messaged Quinn actually,” Luke admitted sheepishly. 

You honestly didn't know how you felt about your brother talking to Quinn and then Quinn talking to Luke. You wanted Lukes apology to be genuine and to come from himself.

Luke must've picked up on your feelings because he frowned and held one of your hands, rubbing the side of it with his thumb.

“I really am sorry,” he whispered and you nodded, leaning into his side. You let Luke’s apologies and reassurance lure you into sleep.

[marnerparty]

austin with an ‘o’

Auston Matthews x reader best friend!Quinn Hughes x reader

yourusername

Liked by user1, alekmenoah_6 and 22,322 others

yourusername 34 on the ice, #2 in my 💙

View all 276 comments

austonmatthews 2!?!?

yourusername right

austonmatthews who the hell is 1?

yourusername sidney crosby

austonmatthews that’s a joke

yourusername sorry babe 🤷🏼‍♀️

user1 the best leafs fan!

marner_93 low blow. aren’t you engaged?

yourusername mm not quite

marner_93 still!?

yourusername yep

austonmatthews i’m getting there okay

yourusername until then sid > aus

marner_93 I have to agree

williamnylander made the cut 😎

yourusername when do you not??

austonmatthews this is true, sometimes it’s more you than me

jackhughes my game next right?

yourusername well …

jackhughes don’t say what I think you might

yourusername okay I won’t

user2 what a great couple

Liked by austonmatthews

_quinnhughes see ya Friday!

yourusername damn right

jackhughes this is what I was afraid of 😔

_quinnhughes at least it’s me and not luke!

lhughes_06 rude

marner_93 I’d like to make the cut next time please and thank you

yourusername anything for you mitch

austonmatthews why do I feel like I’m a lot lower than 2 in your heart?

yourusername it’s only sid above you babe, I swear

yourusername

Liked by jackhughes, marner_93 and 24,668 others

yourusername quinner the poser & quinner the player

Tagged _quinnhughes

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canucks what a game! hope you had a great time!

yourusername how could I not!

_eliaspettersson last call?

yourusername never

austonmatthews 🤔

yourusername inside joke

_eliaspettersson really had to be there

_quinnhughes I was there and I don’t get it

yourusername stop Quinn you’re about to cause a problem for me

lhughes_06 thank you for blessing us with that 2nd photo

_quinnhughes it’s an action shot

jackhughes sure Quinn

yourusername you or Luke score goals tonight Jack? didn’t think so

trevorzegras time for a ducks game

user1 does she just know everyone in the nhl???

yourusername I have a lot of friends!

austonmatthews I miss you

yourusername babe I’ve been gone a day

austonmatthews one day too long 😔

yourusername you’re about to be on an 8 day roadie aus

austonmatthews don’t remind me

austonmatthews

Liked by williamnylander, nhl and 73,559 others

austonmatthews had to snag her before another hockey player could

Tagged yourusername

Comments on this post have been limited

yourusername I can’t wait to have your last name❤️

austonmatthews I love you so much

breyana_matthews ahhh I’m getting another sister! congrats you guys 🫶🏻

yourusername I love you 🥹

austonmatthews thanks Bre ❤️

marner_93 about damn time

yourusername that’s what I’m saying

mapleleafs someone pop the champagne! congrats!

Liked by yourusername

williamnylander I’m about to have a stroke I’m so happy

yourusername love you will!

justinbieber dude! congrats!

austonmatthews thanks man!

yourusername fangirling

user1 [insert that should be me by Justin Bieber]

jackhughes my yn🫶🏻 I’m so happy for you

yourusername jack you can’t make me cry

ynmatthews

Liked by _quinnhughes, bunting27 and 33,665 others

ynmatthews finally able to change the insta 🤍

Tagged austonmatthews

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nhl to the Matthews’! 🥂

Liked by ynmatthews

user1 Congratulations!

austonmatthews Mrs. Matthews 🤍

ynmatthews has a good ring to it eh?

lhughes_06 she’s been in Canada too long

ynmatthews do better w/ your next comment

lhughes_06 omg yn I’m so happy for you, congratulations, thanks for having me!

ynmatthews better

_eliaspettersson LAST CALL

ynmatthews NEVER

austonmatthews STILL DON’T GET IT

jamie.drysdale we killed the line dancing

ynmatthews let’s go to a rodeo

trevorzegras w/ me too?

jamie.drysdale 🤨

ynmatthews we’ll think about it

user2 this won’t last

_quinnhughes so happy I could be apart of your special day

ynmatthews you guys are my brothers quinny 🫶🏻

mapleleafs yn got moves?

ynmatthews give me a contract and I’ll show you my skills on the ice

marner_93 legend has it she beat Auston in a one on one before

ynmatthews legend also has it he didn’t speak to me for a week because it happened on our 2nd date

austonmatthews yeah, and let’s not forget my name in your phone was ‘Austin’

ynmatthews because who spells Austin w/ an ‘o’!?

alexandriajmatthews there’s never been a prettier bride❤️

ynmatthews love you Alex! You & Bre are the real reasons I became a Matthews 🥰

austonmatthews as far as I’m concerned they didn’t get down on one knee

bunting27 couldn’t have a break from hockey even for the wedding?

ynmatthews guess where my honeymoon will be 😐

austonmatthews Toronto!

ynmatthews

Liked by jackhughes, williamnylander and 37,449 others

ynmatthews well . . .

Tagged austonmatthews

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austonmatthews

Liked by breyana_matthews, mapleleafs and 102,665 others

austonmatthews Hudson Mitchell & Stetson Quinn Matthews ❤️

Tagged ynmatthews

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trevorzegras TWINS!?

ynmatthews twins!

user1 no way

marner_93 no you guys didn’t

ynmatthews we did!

austonmatthews we love you man!

marner_93 you guys I’m crying

williamnylander it’s true, I’m here, he is

mapleleafs 2 more for our squad!

Liked by austonmatthews

breyana_matthews HOW DID YOU KEEP THIS A SECRET!?

austonmatthews good one, right?

breyana_matthews I’m so happy ❤️

ynmatthews you’re the best Bre🫶🏻

jackhughes talk about strength! yn’s a beast! can’t wait to meet them

austonmatthews she really is

ynmatthews love you Jack! thank you ❤️

_quinnhughes is this for real?

ynmatthews the realest quinner :)

_quinnhughes how’d you convince Auston?

ynmatthews we used the names of the two people closest to us. he got to choose one and I did too :)

austonmatthews it wasn’t a hard decision! you’re part of the fam Hughesy

user2 Auston calling Quinn Hughesy 🥹

Liked by ynmatthews

nhl already have 1/3 of a team!

williamnylander will they get to six?

austonmatthews 👀

ynmatthews let’s stick with 2 for now 😭

jamie.drysdale I call babysitter!

ynmatthews hate to break it to you, but we don’t live in the same country

jamie.drysdale there’s the summer

ynmatthews when we won’t need a babysitter ... ?

jamie.drysdale yn, work with me here

ynmatthews how about just a visit!

jamie.drysdale flight booked ✔️

austonmatthews I’d trust Jamie the most to be honest

jamie.drysdsle 🥹

lhughes_06 congrats you guys!

austonmatthews thanks kid!

ynmatthews 🫶🏻

[equallyshaw]

come back to me. | matthew knies.

•

Warnings: light swearing, sad stuff, slightly acknowledges toxic and abusive parent. harassment and bullying.

Word count: 2.2k

italicized is russian.

——

amelia watched from across the across the dinner table, that was a mixture of players and their partners. it was american thanksgiving and the two had been invited to auston's place to celebrate the holiday with the other american's on he team, and a few canadians joined as well. matthew was laughing at whatever mitch had said, as amelia was in her own world; as she had been the entire evening. the two had fought on their way over about something stupid that pissed matthew off. with matthew going a little too hard at the girl who had just uprooted herself over the thanksgiving break to be with him. throughout the evening, she minded her business talking in bit's to some of the other wags, while matthew was having a great time relieving some stress.

it was around 11 now and she was quite tired, the flight getting to her and all she wanted to do was go to bed. she began her dissent towards matthew, and auston smiled widely as she walked up to the two of them. "hey...hope the food was decent. not much of a cook but tried my very best." auston said and she smiled, "it was really good! don't sell yourself to short." she said easing his anxiety. he nodded, and then excused himself to get himself another drink. "hey..do you know when you want to leave?" she questioned and matthew shrugged. "well id like to get going soon, I've had a long 24 hours." she said hoping he'd take them home. "you can take my keys, and go back. I'm gonna hang with the boys." he said pulling out his keys and pushing it into his hands without meeting her eye. she nodded, swallowing back tears. "alright." she said raspy, fighting back tears. she set her cup down in front of him, turned around and headed towards the door to retrieve her coat.

she exited into the night, without daring to say goodbye to anybody. she was embarrassed and pissed off. she quickly sped off back to his apartment on the other side of the city, debating if she should stay and try to fight it out with him or leave. she was sick of the constant cycle the two had had since senior year back in arizona. they were up when they were up, and then low when they got low. she was sick of him being immature and not taking responsibility for his actions or comments. after replaying the fight from that evening, she knew that she had to go home.

matthew got dropped off two hours later, to an empty house. "amelia?!" he asked jogging down the hallway. he saw that her suitcase was gone and the keys left on his dresser. he cursed himself, pulling out his phone. it went straight to voicemail, and so he began texting her. apologizing for that night and apologizing that he did not go home with her. apologizing for not talking through everything, and she read them all. but she never responded.

•

it just so happened that the leafs were in town at cristmas time, and amelia was hoping that she would not run into him since the two lived down the block from one another. and had since they were in preschool. it was around 9 am on the 24th when she heard laughing and voices talking loudly downstairs, and she sighed knowing it was probably the knies here for the annual christmas eve breakfast the families had had for years. she pulled her comforter over her head, trying to block it all out. she did not hear the knocks from the hallway, her mom letting her know the knies were there. and that one in particular wanted to speak to her privately. "amelia ann!" her mom said pulling back her comforter a bit, and amelia fought. she fought until she saw matthew step in. she sighed and sat up defeatedly. "ill leave you two." her mom said slipping out and amelia sighed throwing her hair up in a messy bun. "yes, matthew?" she quipped looking at him, really looking at him more than she had had in months. he sighed sitting down on her bed in front of her, "i was an idiot-" she cut him off, "damn right you were. you made me look like an ass leaving without you matthew! you fucking embarrassed me in front of people i barely know, do you know how that made me feel, huh? huh!?" she said getting heated, and he took it all in. his eyes filling with tears, as he looked at her. "this- this keeps happening matt, we're good and then we fight and its like the whole world is ending. its exhausting and i don't want to to keep doing this shit. we don't even talk anymore...and when we do it becomes a problem! its like were scared and apprehensive to, and im sick of it. we never learn, and were never going to are we?" she rambled feeling a few tears fall down her olive skin, cheeks. matthew sniffled, wiping his tears away.

he sighed, "but i dont want to let you go mia. i don't want too. youve been my best friend practically our whole lives, my constant person through everything and most important my first love who i want to be my final love." he said pausing to wipe his eyes. watching him do so, broke her heart, and grabbed ahold of his hand, both their lips quivering. "i - i can't be with somebody that i don't love..i don't love this version of you matty, i don't like this version that hurts me with words and sly comments thinking ill just take it. others might, but not me. i wont take what my mom took for so long. I'm not being a doormat or a punching bag and i know it isn't intentional matt, i know but it still hurts nonetheless." she said placing her other hand on his cheek, tears fully streaming from both. he remembers. he remembers her rocky childhood, her dad always going after her mom physically and psychologically, it was hard for the girl understandably. so many sleepovers took place at the knies, at the drop of a hat. and he knew that she promised herself years ago she'd never be in a relationship like that. before they got together, she vowed to herself and when they got together, matthew promised and vowed to never turn into her father. and he wasn't but she had grown nervous recently.

"i love you my love." she whispered placing one last peck on matthew's lips, before he stood up and walked out. she fell back onto her bed and sobbed. she lost her first love and best friend in one moment. it was going to be a long christmas break.

•

it was now the beginning of june and amelia was spending time on her mom and step dad's lake house, finally through her junior year of college and she was quite happy with the way it had finished. once her and matthew had broken up, she refocused on her studies and focused on her friends around her at school, something she had been lacking at the beginning of the school year. she was laying out on the boat they had. around march she began seeing a guy, she thought merely was a fling. though it had turned in to so much more, and it had meant a lot to the both of them that they took the weekend to spend out on the lake. amelia sat up, looking over at anthony and smiled who caught her staring. she leaned over and pecked him, moved a few inches up to look at him. she pushed back his long front locks, and kissed him again. he was completely different than matthew, in the best ways. though every once in a while, she thought about where here and matthew's relationship could have been but quickly dismissed those thoughts. she moved back onto her back, before deciding it was time to jump in. anthony skipped a song on the shuffle, and it was 'i wanna dance with somebody.' and she felt her body go numb. that was her and Matthews song, the uptempo version by whitney houston and a slower cover that was found. she skipped the song and wannabe by the spice girls came up, and she stood up giggling. she took off her sun hat and looked back at anthony who had sat up, and as she turned around she caught sight of a familiar boat that she knew all to well. she knew it was his parents, and she knew it was him on the boat. she quickly jumped off the boat, anthony followed suit behind her. he came up behind her and pulled her into his chest, and she rested her head on his shoulder briefly before heading back to the boat as her phone dinged. she hoisted herself up, and took a glance down at her phone. she sighed seeing it was from matthew. she deleted it and helped anthony up into the boat. "hey, im not feeling very well." she said wrapping herself in a towel, and Anthony nodded. "lets get back to the house." he said kissing her temple and taking the two back to the house.

it was about 30 minutes later when anthony left and she made her way back to the boat, to talk to matthew. he was in the same area as before, and she got over as quickly as she could. matthew could see the girl speed over, as soon as saw her figure making her way out. "can i help you matthew, or do i need to go find somebody to help you?" she screamed at him as soon as she came up next to him. he only chuckled, "why do you feel inclined to comment on my relationship, huh?" she screamed at him. "so what if I'm out here on my parents boat with him, its not illegal y'know!" she screamed at him again and he just took it all in. "you find this amusing, don't ya?" she said crossing her arms in front of her, "but its understandable. i broke up with you, i broke your heart and you're still upset about." she said without thinking. she saw the change in his mood, and stepped back. nervously. "obviously mia, obviously I'm still upset! how can you throw away three years in mere weeks?" he questioned standing up now. "you didn't even give me a chance to grieve mia! you didn't give me a chance to process everything before you went on and started posting it!" he screamed at her, and she looked down and sighed. he shook her head, "i had to move on matty, i had too! if i showed people that i had moved on, maybe then they wouldn't find the need every second to harass and bully me through dms matt! i had to show the world i moved on, even if i wasn't completely. all the while knowing it would hurt you, i had to. i just had to." she said biting the inside of her cheek. matt was taken back by her comments, were people still dming her hate?

"im sorry that i broke your heart, i really am...but you gave me the opportunity to do so matty- so many." she said with her chin hitting her chest as she began to cry. matthew's heart broke, before he climbed over the boats to her. once she felt his arms wrap around her, she began to sob. "you hurt me matt, i had to leave. i had to protect myself." she whispered and he nodded, chin hitting her head. "i know baby, i know." he whispered back, feeling his own tears begin to form. "i still love you so much mia, i never stopped and truthfully never will." he now sobbed and that warmed her heart, because she felt the same. she looked up at him, and the two stared at one another - taking in each others presence. "come back to me mia, come back." he said softly, and she nodded. it was if the question, "really" was written over his face and she nodded again. he smiled widely before pulling her in for a kiss. tasting one another's lips as if they'd never kissed before. ones that held history and so much pain and yet, so much love. they moved in synch, their arms wrapping around one another. the pulled apart after a minute and breathed heavily.

"i love you." he hummed as he wrapped his arms around her waist, looking at the mountains that lined the lake, now as the sun was setting. "i love you too, my love." she whispered back before leaning back to kiss him. the two boated back to their respective docks before matthew walked over towards her parent's house. "took you long enough." the two heard as soon as they walked in. both sets of their parents sat at the dining room table eating dinner. "oh." mia said shocked, while matthew blushed. "nice little show yall put on." his dad said, "the neighbors were invested." her dad added and the mia turned to put her face in his chest. "sit down and eat, foods getting cold." his mom said and the two made their way over.

——

ahh hope you all enjoyed! pls like and reblog if you did--- id appreaice it 🫶🏻

Random tags: @cuttergauthier @slafgoalskybaby @hockeylvr59 @hockeyboysarehot

[3416]

Why the Leafs should give Matthews and Marner a chance to play together

by Jonas Siegel | November 19, 2017 | The Athletic

MONTREAL — Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner werewaiting a while for this opportunity.

You could feel it in the excitement of the two youngest Leafs after they not only got to play together for the first time all season on Saturday in Montreal but connect on a couple goals in their team’s sixth straight win.

“Obviously me and Mitchy have a pretty good relationship off the ice – Marty as well,” Matthews said of himself, Marner, and Matt Martin, the third member of a trio Mike Babcock concocted in the second period of a 6-0 win. “Kind of gives you a nice spark when you play with a couple of your buddies that you don’t really get to play with a lot.”

Babcock threw cold water on their excitement pretty quickly. He said he planned to revert back to the line combinations he started with against the Canadiens when the Leafs hosted Matthews’ hometown Coyotes on Monday night.

But maybe the Leafs coach should give it a chance.

Matthews and Marner, for one, seem eager to pursue the connection. Both said they were curious about what it would be like to play with the other having barely done it so far in their young NHL careers. The two were on the ice together for just under 71  5-on-5 minutes last year and just over 11 minutes this year before Saturday night.

Both have also played consistently on separate power-play units.

“Yeah, of course,” Matthews said, when asked if he was intrigued to play with Marner. “We got a little bit of time together last year and never really – we made some plays and had a lot of fun, but I don’t think we ever really scored a goal so it’s nice to get out there with him and obviously create some offence and put some in the net.”

The pair are close. The kind of pals who drove to the rink together all of last season (though not this season with Matthews moving places). The kind who play video games and wear matching throwback suits — complete with fedoras. The kind who famously sang along to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” on the bench at about this time last year. The kind who finish pre-game warmups by passing pucks back and forth to one another before exiting the ice in near-unison.

“We’re very close with each other,” Marner said. “It’s exciting when you get out there and get to play with those guys.”

The connection might just work, too.

Marner hadn’t registered a single assist on Matthews’ first 50 goals in the NHL before setting up two (No. 51 and 52) against the Habs. He delivered a bullet backhand pass to set up the first one and added another when the American ripped his 12th of the season past backup Antti Niemi.

“I think when we first got together the chemistry wasn’t really all there,” said Marner, born four months before Matthews in 1997. “But I think in the third period we kind of turned it around and got back to what we wanted to do and got the puck towards the net.”

Though they’ve ripped off their longest win streak since Dec. 2014, it’s not as if the Leafs have been beating down the doors of the opposition, especially when it comes to the offence. They weren’t quite struggling with 15 goals in the previous five games (three on the power play), but they weren’t really electrifying either — especially without Matthews, who was playing his first game since Nov. 6 on Saturday.

“I think what our guys are finding is last year a lot of our games were way looser than this year. The opposition plays way tighter against us; there’s less room and so it’s harder for you,” Babcock said of the offensive grind prior to the game against the Habs.

What also had become evident before Matthews sat out four straight with a mysterious upper-body issue was a diminished connection between himself and William Nylander. Babcock actually broke up the duo in a Nov. 4 loss to St. Louis only to reunite them again two nights later.

Nylander had zero goals and only three assists in his previous eight games with Matthews (Oct. 23 – Nov. 6) and while the 20-year-old, who’s up to 21 points in 17 games, was still producing, he did so almost in spite of Nylander, who finally broke an 11-game goal drought on Thursday.

It’s also worthwhile for the Leafs to see what kind of chemistry exists between Matthews and Marner if only to answer lineup questions — both now and later.

(Photo by Mark Blinch via Getty)

Marner has only ever played with one centre consistently in Toronto and that’s Tyler Bozak, who might well be gone after this season. Since it’s unlikely that the Leafs other 20-year-old teams up with Nazem Kadri in a matchup role, Babcock might as well see what’s there with him and Matthews. The Leafs coach leaves himself only one centre otherwise (Bozak) for Marner to play with.

Then there’s the potential future in which Nylander slides over to centre and plays without Matthews — something that gets easier in theory if another winger finds chemistry with the team’s No. 1 centre.

Constructing a lineup with Matthews and Marner together is a little dicey, but if Babcock is willing to separate Leo Komarov from Kadri (a pairing he’s used almost without exception in recent years for defensive purposes) then something like this might work:

Zach Hyman – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner

Patrick Marleau – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander

James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Connor Brown

Matt Martin – Dominic Moore – Leo Komarov

Both Matthews and Marner are hoping their coach gives it a shot.

“Obviously it’d be nice to stay with him,” Marner said. “We’ll see what happens though.”

*Advanced stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick

(Feature photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

[bunting27]

i’ll be good, i promise. w auston 🤓

impressions ✏︎ a. matthews

bunting27's 100 follower celly !

a/n: semi long gap between posts because my contact tried to jump out of my eye like a thousand times while i was writing this

prompts: “i'll be good, i promise"

wc: 0.5k

taglist: @nylwnder @kenanlotus0

✏︎

when auston had confided in mitch about a girl he had been seeing, he was not expecting his best friend to immediately suggest a double date. it had been a while since auston had considered anything serious like he had been with her, and mitch had been waiting for the moment that he would meet someone who could be auston’s potential life partner.

auston brought it up casually with y/n that same night, and she agreed, though her face clearly wavered and she looked uncertain. she wouldn’t quite say they were at a serious stage, but she guessed auston had assumed differently.

she wasn’t opposed to it at all, she was more shocked that auston was even viewing her that way to begin with, since most of their time together so far had been physical. this would be their first official date, even.

she was more than happy that he wanted more with her, but in her eyes, meeting mitch was a bigger thing than auston made it out to be. 

they spent ninety percent of their winter together, and even some of their offseason, and she’d guessed they were close enough that one another’s opinions certainly mattered when it came to new partners.

her nerves skyrocketed even more when she discovered that this wouldn’t be a casual friendly meetup sort of double date, but one where she would have to dress nicely and go out to a fancy restaurant.

“you look off, sweetheart. you good?” she nodded slightly, looking up at him through the bathroom mirror as he zipped up the back of her dress and then held her hips.

“s’ just that you talk about mitch all the time, don’t want to make a weird impression” auston smiled, leaving a kiss on her shoulder and then turning her so they were actually looking at each other

“i think his impression will be that you’re hot, and smart and funny, and i really, really like you so he has no choice but to be ecstatic about your entire existence” she smiled into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his lower waist, looking up at him through her eyelashes

“you think?” he hummed, rocking her back and forth and giving her a kiss on the forehead 

“let me take your mind off things, yeah? if you can be good for me all night, behave yourself, we can do anything you want when we come back home. how’s that sound?” she bit her lip and began fidgeting with the chain around his neck, breaking eye contact as she thought about it with red cheeks.

“can you be good for me tonight? so mitchy finally shuts up about me getting myself a girl?” she nodded into his chest, running a hand through his hair.

“i’ll be good, i promise” she whispered and he grinned, cupping the back of her neck so she’d look back up at him.

“start thinking of your reward, then, sweetheart. cause i don’t think this dress is making it much further than the front door when we come home” 

[crow-talks-hockey]

alright. haven't done one of these in a while. here's my top players in each area. (not just this season, but CONSISTENTLY the best in said area)

goal scoring: auston matthews. this one really shouldn't be hard to answer i mean, come on.

points: connor mcdavid, but some others i think are close depending on the season. good point getting is going to come from his play no matter what though.

well-roundedness: nathan mackinnon; he's an excellent passer, scorer, play maker. just all around such a top tier player. both physical and speedy. he is THE blend

defense: cale makar. another obvious one lol. he's just generational. you can't stop him.

goaltending: i'm going to go with andrei vasilevskiy still. just consistent and reliable from what i've seen. he gets the praise for a reason. many goalies are very close though. it's hard to really weigh this one because of how much tending fluctuates year to year

speed: connor mcdavid/nathan mackinnon. both are incredibly quick and actually have a lot closer numbers on average and for their top speed than a lot of people know. their play style is very different but both deserve to be known as the fastest guys out there.

pest behavior: now i'm not talking rat behavior. i'm talking about the ability to propel your team to glory by absolutely irking the opponent. so i'm going to go with matthew tkachuk mostly because he's a better player and pest combo than marchand is. marchand is more rat, matthew has higher playing level.

playoff performance: i'd love to put crosby here, but right now it's wire thin between nathan mackinnon and leon draisaitl. as far as pure scoring and points in the playoffs, it goes to leon. when it comes to the ability to drag a team to a win? i give that part to nate. i always talk about both of them together when mentioning this topic though, so i suppose it's a tie

passing: now THIS one goes purely to leon draisaitl. don't get me wrong there's guys that are close, but holy fuck ain't no one out there passing the way he is. he's excellent at it.

shot (speed/hardness): elias pettersson no comment it's insane argument over

shot (deadliness): david pastrnak, probably :]

defensive forward: patrice bergeron... probably aleksander barkov now, from what i've seen. i'm not very educated on this topic but he seems to trend into this category when talked about often.

defensive defenseman: i'd say devon toews, my favorite underrated king. sorry if this pisses some fans of defenseman off but he doesn't get the credit he deserves. he's very good defensively.

offensive defenseman: either erik karlsson or cale makar. they're always putting up good numbers. it's hard with the regression in ek's season but in his prime? idk. i'd probably still give this one to cale though.

offensive forward: connor mcdavid. shocker lol

skating: there's so many but this also trends in cale's direction for me. i don't think i've genuinely ever seen better edges. maybe datsyuk? either way lmk if there's better skaters out there but.. i'm picking cale again apologies apologies

best player: controversial but this one is a very tight race between mcdavid and mackinnon. again lol. it just depends what you're looking for. they're so much closer than people think but it's hard when their styles are so different. i say mcdavid still for this one, but nate deserves his spot at that "number two" because it's sooooo close. they're both incredible

bonus silly ones now :)

bitchiness: leon draisaitl

hair (not flow, just general amount of hair) : mika zibanejad

shit at media: everyone. congratulations you all get blue ribbons of participation!! you.. you tried!!

goober levels: mitch marner

inseparability: sidney crosby and evgeni malkin and kris letang

weirdness in goalie terms: marc-andre fleury but also all of them

honorable mention picks...

best veteran: we all know. it's sidney fucking crosby and don't even get me STARTED on him anyway

best captain: gabriel landeskog. truthfully but also i'm biased hence why it's here not mixed in with alllllll the others lol

hope you enjoyed my mania

*honorable mention players include mikko rantanen, quinn and jack hughes, adam fox, roman josi, more goalies than i can mention, ovechkin for goal scoring, andrei svechnikov, and so many more because guess what! this league is insane! i could talk about the talent of them all for hours! seasonally or consistently. i love raving about them all. it's very hard to just choose A guy for each category. not enough people see how close many players are to each other in skill levels in my opinion, but then again this is just for fun lol. feel free to debate me i don't mind

[tradetobest]

do u still think abt the golf au bc i would pay billions for you to infodump about it…

YEs i love thinking about this au so much thank you so much for asking me about it anon ilysm....

(under the cut bcs it feels a bit long to me)

this was my first act as a hockey fan it has such a special place in my heart.... i thought about it while i was in class and sorted everyone into categories Definitively. thank you for making me do this. of course some of the things i have these guys do you Shouldnt Do on a golf course, and like this is Super unrealistic but i love having my fun ok…. just Good Vibes… (also, im generalizing “clubhouse” as both people who work as servers at the course’s restaurant and the people who help golfers with carts/clubs/etc and all that. i did Not work there At All so it just makes it easier for me to loop them…. imagine they just like rotate around or something….)

OK… so…. starting with the two who started it all, mitch and auston.

i dont ever think i ever totally explained what mitch and auston's roles were besides surface level stuff so!! mitch is a member of the turf team at the golf course, which are basically the group of people who go around and cut the grass and do the landscaping and all of that. like ice crew, but just for the golf course.

auston is like. i don't know. some sort of moderately rich guy. maybe he's Auston Matthews or maybe he's just rich, i have no clue. all that matters is he golfs. maybe he's a professional golfer. of course, i imagine everything in this au as happening at my course, but tbh it works at any course...

(now, of course, one of mitch's friends works at the clubhouse, and tells mitch every time auston is sitting there looking for him... willy nylander youre a real one)

just imagine mitch driving around a work truck with a rake, a bucket of sand, and a leaf blower in the back and auston (dressed prim, and proper, white pants white shoes white hat purple shirt all nice) literally falling all over himself to talk to him. loitering all over just Hoping that Maybe mitch will drive by and he can rope him into conversation. meanwhile when mitch sees willy he’s like “yeah auston’s so cute but like idk if he’d ever go for me” and willy is like “yeah you have no fucking idea”

i used to have to do this task which was just. watering all of the flowers near the clubhouse and i can imagine mitch doing that and like surroptitiously glancing over his shoulder to check if auston is around or watching or something… just some good old fluffy pining yk…

i have a like Whole Ass procreate file w everyone sorted into lil groups so here’s some little tidbits …

i think i mightve talked abt this in another post but sid (crosby) and claude (giroux) both work for turf and are both Incredibly Competitive about it in the most insane way ever… im talking “you take half the course i take half the course and we see who finishes faster” (starting at 6am ish) mowing competitions and theyre both done at 8 on the dot…. insane people shit…. they did it with bunkers ONCE and claude tripped and fell into a bunker and broke his wrists so they do not do that anymore o7….

in honour of my boss feeling like my dad i put patty marleau and matt martin in turf…. they do rough mowing in honour of the two guys at my course who Only did rough mowing…. big ass machine

the thing to know about guys who are higher up on the turf echelon is that not only do they all know each other but they also went to school for it… turf school…. all this to say top grad of turf school Sidney Crosby got some little ducklings and thats how Connor McDavid (top turf school grad) got to this course…. we love that for him

shoutout to other guys who also have fun little romance stories but who arent mitch and auston, including but not limited to:

connor mcdavid, who keeps getting his work paused by these three golfers, which always makes him grit his teeth and smile softly at them, because Holy Shit Let Me Get Back To My Job Please. matthew tkachuk (son of Great Golfer Keith Tkachuk) seems to take joy in interrupting connor while he’s in the middle of something, jack eichel always catches him bent over and sweaty trying to shove the wheels back onto a greens mower for one of the kids, and leon draisaitl stands on the side to wait until connor’s at least done a pass to ask him something. matthew jack and leon can be seen at the clubhouse after they finish a round, head in hands, because connor is oblivious to their flirting. maybe they should try learning the names of different types of grass.

jamie drysdale (uni student staying with his grandparents over the summer) always comes to the clubhouse for breakfast with them, which absolutely delights bored server trevor zegras… too bad the summer has to end some time! lol! anyway

tyler bertuzzi (turf) seems to always have dirt under his fingernails, some mulch and woodchips stuck to his shorts, scuffs on his knees, and a dirty ass sweater on. dylan larkin (clubhouse) finds him INCREDIBLY endearing.

brady tkachuk (son of Great Golfer Keith Tkachuk) when he’s not driving his brother around so he can try and find connor (“seriously, matthew, he looks busy” “no, it’ll be fine, look—”) is smiling sweetly at the fumbling german waiter who always engages leon in rapidfire german conversation. tim, his nametag says, and brady would love to have more than a few word conversation with him. maybe he should interrupt leon’s brooding time with matthew and jack and ask him to teach him some german.

if you want to communicate with the turf team’s mechanic and don’t want to be asked “where sid? tell him—” you should bring sid with you to see him. however, if you do bring sid, you will have to watch him and said mechanic do Weird Flirting for a good 30 mins before your question is answered. this is outside of the Weird Flirting they do anyway, all the time. if a day goes by without sid twirling his hair kicking his feet over some shit geno said to him earlier in the day has the day really gone by?

followup turf/clubhouse Flirting (I CANT BELIEVE I ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION THEM IYKYK) tyler seguin, Pretty Boy Galore, and his loud, bubbly, and all consuming obsession with quiet doe-eyed turf worker jamie benn. now thats what i call oblivious. “yeah i flirt with jamie all the time but he just thinks its a joke haha he couldnt want me i know that like have you seen him?” “yeah tyler flirts with me but he’s just joking he doesn’t mean that he could never like me like that have you seen him?” and all that good good shit… tyler sees jamie take off his shirt once because it got soaked and loses his mind.

jack hughes (brother of turf guys luke and quinn) absolutely has the biggest crush on his coworker, fellow clubhouse worker nico hischier. once nico got wet in the rain and soaked through his white work shirt and jack almost lost his fucking mind. absolutely twirling his hair kicking his feet.

both pairs of bruins that i like (bergeron/marchand and swayman/ullmark) are fun little golf tandems. me when i get a hole in one and hug and twirl around a kiss my golf partner. what if we kissed in the front seat of a golf cart. and all that.

finally… honourable mention to john tavares (golfer, has his own labelled golf cart at a course in toronto… love that for you king….) kris letang (turf) and marc-andré fleury (clubhouse) who get to listen to sid moan and groan about geno, and self jarvis (turf) who is completely out of place among the other teams included in this au but i love him so hes here lmfaoo

anyway. yeah. i have LOTS of ideas about this au if you couldnt tell and anon i am SO happy you asked abt it… sorry it took me a few days i have to write like most days for school this semester and its leaving me Very Little time to do anything but reblog posts and draw matty and woller. MATTY AND WOLLER. oh my god i cant believe i almost forgot them uhhh…..

matthew knies and joseph woll are….. both turf workers maybe… yeah. call that lets talk while filling divots on the course or raking bunkers. what if we kissed in the rain while shovelling dirt and seed mix into small holes over and over again. Them

OK IM DONE FR NOW. thank you so much sorry there are no visuals i have written this mostly in class now but if you want to know more or if you want me to elaborate on a specific dynamic (or add some people, because god knows these are just the guys i know/like) or want visuals for anything i can 100% provide, might just take a bit again haha… ilysm anon you made my week

[sergeifyodorov]

WE DO HAVE TO MENTION GENO AND LEON..... WE DO WE DO WE DO. oh the narrative. it's got me

(also where does mitch fit into this. who is the mitch of that gen)

wait i cant read. saw a geno mention and blacked out mitch and nicke which. oh god the narrative manifests even now /2

no actually lets break two curses one stone. connor bedard can be free from the one two punch career long rivals and partners narrative and we over here at the canucks can be free from our general ailments and curses too. and the sun can shine on vancouver for a change /3

im answering the FIRST three of these in one go u will get the other thesis in a diff post. it is sidgeno and mcdrai because those are two centres who are on the same line and the same unit and one of them is the weird other guy and one of them is the goodboy captain and it is nickeovi and 1634 because one of them is the loyal quiet centre and the other is the loud effervescent winger and you have a generational goalscorer AND a legendary playmaker in there. and also the aforementioned sid-davo and ovi-auston parallels. of course.

now the FIRST thing about that dollface bedsy is that not only. not Only is he fundamentally different from sid and davo in play style (a volume shooter instead of any kind of playmaker, to start) is that he is ALSO different in terms of personality. in vibe. no nose-to-the-grindstone sidney-esque blue-collar honesty, no softspoken davo shyness. he's all fire. fundamentally a merger of oviauston glam with siddavo hometown heroism.

the SECOND thing is that we're at like. Year One of his myth here. all things in good time. maybe chicago will stumble into another high pick and make off with bedsy's betrothed. fingers crossed that doesn't happen and he makes a break for it

[broadstbroskis]

choosing you | william nylander

a/n: rolling in late (as usual) for @antoineroussel winter fic exchange! demi, thank you for running such a wonderful fic exchange, as always! you are an angel among us for organizing this!

i had the absolute pleasure of writing for @nylwnder. i was so so SO excited to write this for you darling! i hope you enjoy!

-----

“I’m going to be alone forever!” 

Nobody even turns to look when Will throws himself in the booth. At one end, Auston and Morgan are talking about their plans for the Raptors game this weekend while Tessa tries to shove her way to Morgan’s other side to join a more interesting conversation. 

Jordan and Mikey and Marissa and Alex are next to them, comparing cute stories about their dogs. Occasionally, they’ll catch Mitch’s attention and he’ll sneak a peek at whatever picture or video has been pulled up and then throw a comment in about how Zeus is the best dog ever, before jumping right back into the debate that he’s having with you, Steph, Justin, and Audrey about which would win in a fight, a gorilla or a grizzly bear. 

“I don’t know how you don’t choose bear!” Justin repeats, even as Audrey is shaking her head at him.

“Hello?” Will whines, leaning against you. “ Did anyone hear me?”

“Being overdramatic?” You pat your hand against his, kind of patronizingly, but this type of behavior from Will isn’t really anything new. “We heard. We just don’t believe it.” You pivot right back into the debate. “Let that gorilla take a swing at ya, buddy. That’s how you don’t choose bear.”

“Thank you!” Audrey cries.

“I got people 6ft tall coming at me everyday! Bring it!” Justin throws his hands up in a challenge.

“You’re both crazy!” Steph looks at you and Audrey and shakes her head.

“People survive bear attacks!” You argue.

Mitch nods. “Gorillas are fucking savage!”

“Oh you know this from all your personal experience hanging out with gorillas?” Steph asks.

“How-how did we get here?” Will frowns, still draped over you and begging for attention.

“Well we somehow started with whether you’d rather fight the one horse sized duck or one hundred duck sized horses.” Justin explains. “But obviously, that’s-”

“-the horse sized duck.” You all chime in together.

“Oh, of course.” Will says, like your obvious conclusion was the one everyone would have reached (it should be).

“And it spiraled from there.” Audrey says.

“I, too, am spiraling.” Will tells her and she immediately fights back a laugh. “Because I’m going to die alone.”

“I guess we have to do this, then?” Justin sighs. 

“You are the married couple who’s supposed to like, have your shit together and offer good advice.” Mitch says.

“Hold up, we did not sign up for that!” Audrey says, as you and Steph laugh. “We’re like, the fun older siblings that you still get in trouble with. John and Aryne are your stable adults.”

“Can we get back to me?” Will jumps in quickly, probably worried that’s about to start another tangent.

“What’s to get back to?” You ask him. “Break ups suck. Get yourself a drink, and then a lot more, and you’ll feel worse in the morning at first, but then a little better.”

Audrey laughs at what’s become your time honored method for getting over breakups. “It just takes time, babe.” She tells him, which just makes Will look murderous. “You’ll find the right girl eventually.”

“I saw a meme the other day that everyone meets their soulmate by the time they’re like 22.” Alex turns and adds in. “So maybe you already have.”

“That was a meme?” Marissa frowns at him.

“Well nah, the meme was about like, not wanting to dive down that hole again or something.” Marissa gives Alex another look that has you all laughing. “It was funnier when you saw it, okay!” Alex protests.

“Mhmm.” She says, entirely unimpressed and Alex pulls his phone back from Mikey to start scrolling through instagram for it. 

“Finally, something helpful.” Will says, finally pulling back from you.

“What?” You ask, looking over to him, sure you heard him wrong. “What’d you just say?”

“That’s it. I’m going to go back and date all the girls I’ve already dated.”

“What?” You repeat, sure that your face is doing...something.

“That’s what Kerf just said!”

“I don’t-I don’t think that’s what he said at all.” Steph says, looking around her, like she’s waiting for confirmation from the rest of you.

“How did you get that from what he just said?” Justin asks. 

Will doesn’t even look phased at either of those comments, barreling on. “It’s genius. I’ve already found the right girl. I just have to figure out which girl I’ve dated is the right girl.”

Audrey bites her lip to fight back a laugh, but when she speaks, she’s looking directly at you. “Maybe the right girl is closer than you think.”

You send a glare at her across the table, but thankfully, Will seems too focused on figuring out what he wants to drink to try and figure out any cryptic clues she might have been trying to drop to him.

-----

“Audrey was right!” He announces to you the next afternoon, when he lets himself in your apartment after practice.

“About what?” You frown, barely looking up from your laptop and the spreadsheet you’re trying to fix.

“The right girl being closer than I think!”

Your heart stops and your head flies up. Will’s grinning back at you. He looks soft and rumpled after practice, arriving to your place in sweats and a hat, wearing his glasses, and looking like he’s ready to crash on your couch and stay there (you’d let him- you’d let him do that and more, ugh these feelings were the worst), but this? Him coming here and saying this so suddenly? It’s-

“I just ran into Jess at Starbucks!”

You close your mouth. Of course, it wasn’t you. Of course Jess was the first of the girls to re-return, and that he managed to casually run into her no less. 

“That’s awesome!” You manage. “Did you-did you grab coffee with her?”

He nods, then moves his hand back and forth. “Well, kinda. For a few minutes. She had to run to a meeting. But we’re going out later this week for real.”

It’s kind of nice to still be able to duck into your laptop and pretend the reason for the lack of smile on your face is because of work, not Will’s tall, beautiful, smart, could-be-a-supermodel ex-girlfriend. “That’s great.” You tell him and he smiles back at you, before going to make himself comfy on your couch until you’re ready to do something for dinner-a routine that’s as old as your friendship since he came to Toronto. 

It’s begun. You text Steph and Audrey.

Please live text us this disaster. Steph texts back and Audrey immediately follows it with a flaming dumpster gif. 

Jess. Is all you send back and they simultaneously text back a string of gasping emojis, which is pretty much on par for how you think this is going to go.

-----

Will throws himself on your couch dramatically hours after his date with Jess, which would be funny if you couldn’t tell he was upset. 

“What happened?” You ask, fighting back a smile. It’s not that you wanted him to have a bad time. It’s just… you’ve seen this film before. You can guess the ending.

“I don’t know.” He sighs. “It started off fine, I thought, and then she started saying how happy she was that I finally realized I was better than the rest of my friends, and that we could make this work now because of that.”

“Hm.” You say noncommittally, because none of what’s coming out of his mouth from Jess is a surprise.

He sits up at that, looking at you, kind of shocked and kind of mad, and that does surprise you. “You knew?”

“Will!” You shake your head. “Everyone knew. She didn’t make it much of a secret how much she disliked us.”

His jaw drops. “Was I the only one who didn’t know?” You nod. “And you all didn’t tell me?”

You shrug. “Well. We really didn’t think she’d last as long as she did.”

“That’s not really an excuse.” He frowns.

“You’re right,” You acknowledge, because it’s true and you and Steph and Mitch and Auston had all talked about it since. “But it took us a while to realize how different she was around you and us and by the time we did…” You trail off. “You guys had broken up. We didn’t think it’d be an issue again. We never held back after that.”

“Oh you certainly didn’t.” Will mutters, and you know he’s thinking about Abigail and everything that had been said when he’d brought her to meet you all for the first time.

“We’ve found our center!” You cry. “We’re better now!”

Will lies back down, resting his head against your leg and your hand goes to rest in his hair. Will loves having his hair played with and this is the least you can do for him. “You tell yourselves that.”

You brush some hair back from his face, smiling at how content he looks with his eyes closed and the small smile on his face. “I don’t have to, the group chat will do it for me.”

One of his eyes pops open. “There’s a group chat?”

You scratch your nails through his hair, which is probably dirty pool, because he loves that. “Shh, don’t worry about it.”

-----

Steph invites you and Audrey over for a bridal party planning session one evening and Mitch is absolutely gleeful when you walk in the door. 

“Do you know, did you hear?”

“Ugh.” Is all you have to say, reaching for the wine Steph’s already pouring you.

“Come on, man, read the room.” Audrey lectures.

“You do!” He cries, ignoring her completely. “Come on, tell me.”

“I’ve been sworn to secrecy.” You tell him, enjoying the look on his face at that.

He scowls. “We’ve been trying to get it out of him all week. He won’t say shit.” You cackle and he flips you off, grinning as he makes his goodbyes, off to Auston’s with Zeus for the dogs to have a “brodate.”

“Can you really not say?” Audrey whispers, once he’s left, as if that’s not just something you’d said to fuck with Mitch.

You nod. “It’s Alex.”

“Shut up!” Steph cries immediately. 

You raise your eyebrows as you take a sip of wine.

“Is he there now?” Audrey asks. “Like with her? Or at hers?”

You nod.

“Why didn’t we turn this into a reality show?” Audrey wonders aloud. “Forget Leaf to Leaf, the production team has a better purpose this year.”

You crack up, promising to keep them posted when you hear from Will, and with that Steph pulls a book of color samples out.

-----

“Is it me?” Will stares at you expectantly, watching you make yourself coffee the next morning, so you pour a second mug and pass it over to him.

“No.” You assure him. “Well, maybe.” He glares at you. “But really only in this case.”

He huffs. “Why didn’t this one work then?”

You burst into laughter. “Because she’s basically your brother!”

The sight he makes at that- frozen, with his mug halfway to his mouth, jaw dropped just a little- is incredible. It’s so rare that moments like that happen and you have a camera ready to capture them.

Luckily for you, you’ve got your phone in hand already and somehow, have the wherewithal to drop into the camera app and snap a picture.

“Delete that!” He says immediately.

“Never.” You stick your tongue out at him, already texting it to your group with Steph and Audrey. Caption this. 

No thoughts head empty. Steph comes back immediately. 

Audrey’s just as quick. When you can’t remember if you turned the straightener off before you left home.

SO close. You send back, even as Will tries to steal the phone from you. But it’s actually “when your best friend had to be the one to tell you that your ex and your brother are the same person down to their NAME”

Will’s stopped trying to make a play for your phone by the time you get a response back (Steph’s laugh and Audrey, queen of the gif as usual) but he’s looking at you like he’s thinking. “You-you-”

“Yes?” You ask patiently, sipping your coffee.

But there’s not a lot to say on that, you think. Even when Will and Alex had first broken up, he hadn’t been able to give you all much of a reason why at the time, just that for all they had really gotten along in so many ways, something had just seemed off about it-and she had agreed, he’d said- so they’d mutually parted ways. The parallels between her and his brother had been obvious, you thought, and you know it wasn’t just you who saw them.

“You just ruined that whole relationship.” Will says.

Apparently not obvious to Will, though.

“You were already broken up!” You protest.

���No, you ruined my memory of it.” He says with a completely straight face, which he somehow manages to keep for another minute before you realize that he’s fucking with you entirely. 

-----

Brooke arrives back into Will’s life the same way she left it last time- in a whirlwind of drama.

“She did what!” Audrey gasps and you turn the volume down quickly, eyes scanning over the waiting room around you.

“She hit him with her car!” You repeat, looking down at the FaceTime call. “I’m literally at the hospital now, waiting to hear from the doctor.”

“Jesus Christ.” Audrey’s shaking her head in disbelief. “That boy.”

“I mean,” You defend, the need to stick up for Will bubbling up inside you. “It’s not, like, his fault.”

“Not at all, but you’ve got to admit, he does get himself into some wild situations.” She hums. “Auston’s dated some real winners but even he’s never been hit by a car.”

“I-“ You don’t have much of a response to that. “He didn’t get like hit by her car; she just clipped him.”

She gives you a flat look. “That’s what you’re going with?”

“There’s the doctor.” You say lamely, and even though it’s not a lie, you can tell she can see right through you and that you’re thankful for the excuse by the knowing look on her face. “Gotta go.”

“Mmm.” She gives you another look. “Alright babe, you go make sure Will’s okay. I’ll be ready for you with the wine later.”

A nurse brings you back, smiling and chatting politely with you until you reach the area that Will’s been waiting in for a few more tests. At first, you think the bay is empty, but then you realize there are actually two people in the room.

That they’re just sitting that close.

Brooke’s hands are laced with Will’s and there are tracks of mascara running down her face. She doesn’t acknowledge you at all, even as you check in with Will and how he’s feeling, as the doctor gives him a clean bill of health and tells him to follow up with the team doctors tomorrow.

“You ready to go?” You ask Will, and somehow, someway, you already know what’s going to happen next, before Brooke even speaks.

“Actually, Will and I are going to go grab lunch.” She says smoothly. 

Your face freezes, hopefully in somewhat of a smile, but you couldn’t say at all what it was actually doing. Will untangles one hand from Brooke’s to squeeze your shoulder gently, reassuringly, as he passes, and he gives you a smile. “I’ll come see you tomorrow.” He promises, as she pulls him out of the room before you’ve even realized what’s happened.

Definitely going to need that wine. You send Audrey once you manage to collect some thoughts and realize that you’re left alone in an emergency room that wasn’t even for you.

That bad?? You can practically hear the shock in her voice.

Arguably worse. You send back.

Man. She sends. There is something about Brooke.

You don’t respond to that. There’s just something about Brooke, is right 

-----

When it’s been about a week since you’ve seen Will in person, you text him. 

Everything okay?

Everything is great! Why? Wait are you okay? He sends back right away.

Just haven’t seen you in a while! I’m good!

He likes that message and even though he’s sure to text you more frequently after that, you still don’t actually get to see him.

You end up on Audrey Holl’s couch one day when the boys are away, head in Steph’s lap as she openly laughs at you.

“You’re a mess.” Audrey says.

“That’s not news!” You pout at her. “Can you tell me how to get my best friend back, please?”

“Have you just...asked him?” Steph asks. “You sound a lot like Will right now.”

“You take that back!” You poke her leg. She’s sitting far too close to you to be saying things like that.

Steph and Audrey both laugh at that though, but it’s Steph that replies. “Again. Have you asked him to hang out with you recently?”

Your silence answers that.

“Maybe,” Audrey pours another serving of wine in your glass. “You start there.”

They only laugh at you for another few minutes before helping you draft a text to Will, asking if he’s free to hang out when he gets back from his road trip. 

It doesn’t take Will long to respond at all, confirming plans with you the day after they get back, and you settle into girls’ day feeling better than you have since Brooke came back into your lives.

-----

“I’m sorry!” Will hastens to say, but he’s balancing two coffees in hand as he kicks your door shut behind him, so you’re inclined to forgive his lateness. “My-well, it was a whole thing.”

“I was going to give you five more minutes before I sent out a search party.” You laugh, accepting the cup he offers. “Is everything okay?”

He nods. “Yeah.” Then he sighs. “I’m just happy to be here, I’ll say that.”

“Me too.” You blurt out, before you can stop yourself. “I’ve missed you!”

Will just grins. “Me too.” He says, as his phone buzzes. He looks at it, makes a face, and slides it back into his pocket. “Ready to go?”

“For breakfast still?” You throw your hand over your heart dramatically, smiling wider when he grins. “A man after my heart.”

“I know better than to let you go hungry.” Will teases. “This is really for my safety, you see.”

“Mmm.” You nod. “Yeah, uh huh. Nothing to do at all with the pancakes voted best in Toronto only last month.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Will feigns innocence and opens the door to your Uber, ignoring his phone buzzing again. “I would never make a list ranking all those places in order of menu and aesthetic to try them all and see if they’re appropriately rated.”

You’re still cackling as he climbs in beside you, confirming the restaurant for the driver. “You are absurd.”

He shrugs. “You love me anyway.”

You fight back a smile and just shake your head at him, mostly to stop yourself from blurting out that yeah, you do.

Will’s phone starts buzzing again though, and then curiosity stops you from saying anything stupid. You watch as he barely glances at it before ignoring the call and then shoves it back in his jacket pocket and then he changes the subject so quickly you don’t even have time to ask him about it.

It keeps happening though, all throughout breakfast-Will’s phone buzzing with calls and texts and him ignoring it with subject changes or funny quips. You have your suspicions by the fifth or so time it rings, but you don’t get a chance to confirm them until Will gets up to go to the bathroom and leaves his phone behind. 

Brooke’s face has appeared on his screen three times by the time he comes back and it’s ringing again when sits back down. Once again, Will barely looks at it as he ignores the call, but this time you frown. “Do you need to go?”

“Nope.” He says, and you can hear the annoyance in his voice. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

“It doesn’t sound like someone else wants you here.” You say coolly.

“Well, she doesn’t want me to do a lot of things.” Will mutters.

“Then why are you with her?” It comes out before you can stop it and from the look on his face, the outburst surprises Will as much as it does you. “I didn’t-”

“No, go on.” He says and the silence that follows is the most awkward the two of you have ever sat through.

“I just don’t want you to be unhappy.” You say, finally. “If Brooke is who makes you happy, then great! It’s just- whenever you’re with her, you don’t seem like yourself.”

“I’m fine.” He smiles, but it doesn’t quite as bright as usual, and it feels like prime evidence that something isn’t right.

—--

It’s barely a few hours later when you hear the pounding on your door and you begrudgingly pause your twentieth rewatch of New Girl to go answer it.

“Hi?” You step back to let Will in. “Did we have plans again?”

“No.” Will shuts the door behind him. “I just-”

“Oh.” Your face falls. “Oh no. Brooke?”

“Yeah, but-”

You cut him off. “Aw, Will, I’m so sorry!” You loop your arms around him in a hug, which he quickly returns, squeezing tight. 

“You’re not.” He mutters into your hair.

“Well.” You fight back a smile into his shoulder. “I mean, I’m not sorry it wasn’t Brooke, but I am sorry it didn’t work out. I know how hard you’ve been trying.” You start to pull back, but he keeps his arm around you.

“She asked me to choose.” He says into your hair and you’re pretty sure you heard correctly, but still, you have to ask him to repeat it. “She asked me to choose. Her or you.”

“Oh.” You bite your lip and try to bury your face in his shoulder again. “Um, how-what did you-.”

Will lifts your chin up with his fingers, carefully looking you in the eye and stopping you from looking away. “There’s no choice, okay? I choose you.”

“What?” You breathe.

“I choose you.” Will repeats. “I choose you. I’ve been choosing you this whole time and I’ve been too dumb to see it. I’ll always choose you.”

“Will.” You breathe out, and for the first time, you actually see him look nervous. 

“And I hope, maybe, you’ll choose me too.” Will adds softly, so softly that if you weren’t as close as you are, you aren’t sure you would have heard him.

“Always.” You smile, and that’s all you get to say before Will kisses you.

[tojisun]

im not very knowledgeable when it comes to hockey, particularly not canadian hockey, but i've noticed a lot of people seem to not like austen matthews, why is that??

my love i will try to be impartial as i am a big fan of auston matthews but even then, take everything i say with a grain of salt. not only that, but im still not as intimate with the Leafs franchise to understand the whole reason but here's what i do know:

not including leon draisaitl's recently signed contract, auston matthews is currently the highest paid player in the NHL. a lot of people think he does not deserve it because he is (apparently) not a good enough of a player to earn what he is paid.

they said that he is inconsistent. he is an aggressive player in one game, then he is 'quiet' in another. this inconsistency has of course long-term ramifications both in the regular season and the playoffs. it is this reason why people didn't like it that he became the next, and current, captain of the leafs.

i have seen many fans, like as in leafs fans, wish it had been william nylander who had been made the next captain because they believe that willy can push the team farther than matty can.

apparently, he never gets his hands dirty which means that according to them, matty doesn't do a good job at defending his team if need be (causing a scuffle, basically.)

these are kind of the centric reasons i've been exposed to as i navigate myself around the franchise. but here's a flipside to it:

(again, this is based on hearsay) toronto is difficult to impress. the leafs are one of the titans of hockey, housing incredible players and even the cup multiple times in its franchise history. their expectations are difficult to meet - they can and do turn on their own players because they demand better than good.

that is not to say that auston matthews is the only one who faces the vitriol - hometown hero mitch marner gets it too.

despite all that, auston matthews is an exceptional player. last season, he scored 69 goals in the 81 games he's played. in his debut game, he sunk in 4 goals. he shoots from the left but also forces a goal from the other side, which forces a goalie to make a difficult adjustment. he is quick to change a shot from scoring to making a rebound, and he is able to rally the puck from their zone to their offensive zone.

also? he's hot. as hell.

i hope this answered your question!! im pretty sure i said a load of nothing because i wrote this in one seating but yea!

(now if im asked about mitch marner. well. id need a page break atp)

- this is a monologue from a part-time hockey fan, and a full-time yapper <3

[marnerparty]

lost dog

Mitch Marner x Matthews!reader

ynmatthews

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ynmatthews found this adorable dog in the Toronto area! Please let me know if it’s yours!

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user1 adorable

yourbestfriend why do animals always find their way to you?

ynmatthews right!? I must be Snow White

yourbestfriend maybe you’ll find your prince 😏

user2 you’re kidding right?

ynmatthews about . . . ?

user2 you should know whose dog this is

ynmatthews sorry??

williamnylander Mitch is shitting his pants right now

ynmatthews Mitch?

austonmatthews i’m embarrassed to be your brother

ynmatthews i’m so confused

austonmatthews if you came to my games and met more than one of my teammates you’d understand

williamnylander don’t listen to him, he’s a being a bitch. it’s our teammates dog

user3 when she’s Auston’s sister and doesn’t know Mitch freaking Marner

ynmatthews sorry! i’m not a hockey person!

marner_93 you are a life saver. check your dms please!

user4 imagine getting dms from Mitch Marner

williamnylander yn’s living everyone’s dream rn

ynmatthews

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ynmatthews dog returned ✅

Tagged marner_93

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marner_93 can’t say thank you enough! Zeus was sad to see you go

ynmatthews so glad I could help!

user1 a friendship I didn’t know I needed

yourbestfriend prince?

ynmatthews nope

austonmatthews 👀

williamnylander now you’ve met another teammate!

ynmatthews funny will. i’m laughing

austonmatthews if you would just come to your first hockey game the joke would end

williamnylander ^^^

calemakar first leafs game*

ynmatthews cale it was a secret 🤦🏼‍♀️

austonmatthews I KNOW you didn’t go to an avalanche game as your first NHL game

ynmatthews but cale’s my bestie 🥹

austonmatthews I’M YOUR BROTHER

user2 the Matthews are hectic

austonmatthews yn’s hectic*

ynmatthews Auston’s hectic*

marner_93

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marner_93 i think she’s been using me for my dog for the last 2 years

Tagged ynmatthews

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ynmatthews ofc I am!

williamnylander that view 🤩

marner_93 right?

austonmatthews hey guys, older brother here! just wondering when you were going to tell me you snuck off to mexico?

ynmatthews where have you been Auston?

marner_93 did we sneak?

ynmatthews def sneaked

austonmatthews 😮

yourbestfriend not your prince?

ynmatthews shut up

marner_93 king*

user1 I’m so happy for them

calemakar and she’s still only been to an avalanche game 😎

user2 even after 2 years!?

Liked by ynmatthews

ynmatthews

Liked by calemakar, yourbestfriend and 23,765 others

ynmatthews okay, I’m a hockey person now :)

Tagged marner_93

View all 334 comments

yourbestfriend YN WHAT!?

ynmatthews IK

yourbestfriend now would be the time where you say…

ynmatthews yes, you were right. he’s my prince :)

calemakar i’m so happy for you matty ❤️

ynmatthews i love you my cale💙

marner_93 🤍🤍

ynmatthews i’m so in love with you Mitch Marner

williamnylander I remember when you didn’t even know his name

ynmatthews yeah and everyone made sure I knew how much of an idiot I was 😂

user1 last name upgrade

Liked by ynmatthews

austonmatthews so happy for you guys

ynmatthews love you bro 💙

marner_93 thanks for your blessing Auston ❤️

ynmatthews you asked him for his blessing?🥹

calemakar marry him immediately

Liked by marner_93

marner_93

Liked by nhl, austonmatthews and 45,398 others

marner_93 we’re pretty good at this sneaking around thing

Tagged ynmatthews

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calemakar YOU DIDN’T

ynmatthews we did

marner_93 only Zeus knew :)

williamnylander now you can’t be my favorite Matthews :( but congrats nonetheless

ynmatthews I was your favorite? 🥹

williamnylander duh

ynmatthews Mitch, buddy, we gotta talk

user1 plot twist: Mitch becomes a Matthews

Liked by ynmatthews

yourbestfriend I wish I was angry but this is so you. congrats my love

ynmatthews love you long time ❤️

nhl cheers to the Marners!

Liked by marner_93 and ynmatthews

austonmatthews and after everything you two get eloped

ynmatthews you’re shocked?

austonmatthews nope

mapleleafs I think this means she’ll finally be catching a game!

ynmatthews 😐

williamnylander oh that’s good

bunting27 congrats to you both!

marner_93 thanks man!

ynmatthews it means a lot mikey!🤍

ynmarner

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ynmarner & to think w/out Zeus I wouldn’t have Mitch 🤍

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user1 who would’ve thought

austonmatthews he would do yoga

ynmarner i’ve asked him not to tbh

marner_93 that’s false

ynmarner mitch you’re my husband now back me up

austonmatthews well he was my teammate first 🤷🏼‍♀️

marner_93 bros before hoes

ynmarner divorce

austonmatthews he’ll get through it, not a big loss

calemakar okay I feel the need to step in

ynmarner please do I’m sad

marner_93 she’s sitting across from me giggling

ynmatthews 😮

williamnylander wow marriage is starting off great you guys

yourbestfriend remember all of the “20 mile runs”

austonmatthews why is that in quotes?

yourbestfriend 😳

austonmatthews yn?

ynmarner take a guess at how many miles away Mitch’s house was from mine . . .

austonmatthews shut the front door

yourbestfriend she shut Mitch’s often!

mapleleafs Zeus is such a good boy!

ynmarner the best!

user2 how long do we think this lasts?

marner_93 forever and ever and ever

ynmarner

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ynmarner because we really needed one more secret to keep . . .

Grayson Auston Marner 💙

Tagged marner_93

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[leafs-lover]

Too Far Gone - Part Fifty One

A/N: There was supposed to be another cute/fluffy part before this but I figured you were getting bored of all the softness and decided to mix it up.

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of drinking, talks of mental health - anxiety, a little angst

Series Masterlist

Word Count: 5900

Coming home Auston is beat.

It wasn’t a particularly long trip, only gone for three nights, but for some reason he just feels mentally drained. He has for weeks.

The first time he noticed was the Sunday morning of the All-Star weekend. He spent the days before taking Taylour around the city, bringing him to the dressing rooms to meet the players (he was only really interested in Fred and Mitch) and all the mascots, they watched the skills competitions and games with his family. It was a great couple of days in St. Louis, so great Auston posted a picture of Taylour to his story for the first time, ever. You couldn’t see his face, could barely see any part of him with the puffy jacket and toque he had on, but something about it felt good. Even though there were press releases where Auston acknowledged he had a kid, a couple interviews where he’d casually say “my son” in an answer, it felt as if he was hiding Taylour from the world. He didn’t want Taylour to grow up and think he was embarrassed or ashamed of him because that couldn’t be further from the truth - media and fans haven’t shown they deserve to see that part of his life.

It didn’t come without consequences. Thousands of messages on Instagram, screenshots ending up on every other social media platform, but Auston didn’t worry about any of that. He only concerned himself with Tia’s response, and the heart emoji showed she was okay with the decision.

On the Saturday night he, Fred and Mitch ventured out, along with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Matthew Tkachuk, Mat Barzal and a few other players. They had dinner and drinks, then they had shots. They shared stories of themselves and other players in the league. They all talked with a group of women; Fred ducked out early to go home with one of those women.

At 1:30, Auston climbed into bed and opened his phone. He ventured to Instagram and watched Tia’s stories – who spent the night out with friends celebrating her first official sale. She was practically bursting out of a low-cut, tight, emerald green crop top, her skirt was short and her boots stopped just below the knee. Auston saw and loved the outfit, that wasn’t what he focused on. His favourite part was how happy she looked.

Once he watched all of Tia’s stories, Becks started to play. He watched every single one of hers, smiling at the videos of Tia dancing - a few drinks always unleashed her quirky side. He even watched the one where she was in the background, talking to a blonde at the bar while Becks fumbled around with the camera, trying to focus on Camille and Emily who were singing wildly off-key to The Backstreet Boys. Auston laughed, he could practically smell the alcohol through the screen, or maybe that was his own.

He woke up early, surprisingly without a hangover. He FaceTimed Tia to confirm the plans to pick up Alex and Taylour at Pearson. In that moment he felt fine, then he tried to make plans for them to celebrate as a family, and it felt like she blew him off. She fed him something about being busy with school (midterms were coming up), working at the store and getting the order out. Auston understood and didn’t push it, but it just kept happening.

Any time he’d see her he’d casually bring it up and she always had a reason not to. It felt like pulling teeth. There were thirteen days where Auston was in Toronto and didn’t have a game, that she could have picked from.

The only reason he got her to a restaurant was because he told Taylour it was her birthday, and she couldn’t say no to him. He tried to tell himself it was all in his head; Tia was actually busy and not ignoring him. The dinner fell on her reading week, and she should have been somewhat more relaxed. She could barely look him in the eye, and 90% of what she said was ‘hmm’ or ‘yeah.’ It shouldn’t have been that hard.

That was when he knew Tia was shutting him out. He didn’t know what caused it, everything on the surface seemed to be going well. She had a few more sales, she aced all her midterms, and when he asked Becks, she laughed him off and said she’d never seen Tia so happy.

She wasn’t upset or letting her mental health deteriorate. She wasn’t grappling with knowing Kylie lived on the other side of town, she wasn’t searching either of their names on Twitter or Tumblr. She had a problem with him.

Their usually playful banter was gone. FaceTime’s where they’d spend the entire time talking because Taylour was asleep completely stopped. Instead, he’d get texts that said “Taylour’s asleep, can’t talk.”

Days either dragged on or went by in a blur. He couldn’t focus on what people were saying or doing around him. When he stepped on the ice he managed to tune it all out and play hockey, but once the gear came off Auston shut down. The more she pulled away the more he felt himself fade. At this point he doesn’t what he needs to feel better, if anything can even help, but he needs something to bring him out of the haze.

His bag lands with a heavy thud by the door, he is too bothered to carry it to his room. He kicks his sneakers against the wall and tosses his keys on the small table a few feet away. With his head down he slips his hand into the pocket of his hoodie and lights up the screen. Defeated when he doesn’t see Tia’s name on the screen.

He’s so out of it, moving robotically, that he doesn’t even recognize the sounds coming from his living room. The clattering of plastic and faint giggles. He rounds the corner and Taylour drops one of the cars for the Paw Patrol tower which causes Auston’s head to snap up. So perplexed by what is happening he doesn’t even attempt to welcome the tiny body barreling his way; instead, Taylour runs right into his leg.

“Taylour?” Auston calls out, wondering if this is real.

“Hi, Daddy!” His entire face is glowing.

“What are you doing here?” Auston bends down and picks him up, bringing him in for a tight hug.

“I’m playing with my tower,” Taylour simply explains. 

“Yeah, I see that,” he lets out a quiet laugh, knowing his son doesn’t really understand the question. “Is your mom here?”

“Mhm.” Taylour nods.

“Where is she?” Auston gently pokes his side to prompt him further.

“I don’t know.” Taylour squirms and lets out a soft giggle, one of Auston’s favourite sounds. “Maybe the kitchen.”

She isn’t. Apart from the coffee pot that’s half full of cold coffee, there is no evidence she was ever there.

“I’m going to find her.” Auston kisses Taylour’s temple as he lowers him to his feet. “Then I’ll come play with you.”

“Okay, Daddy!” He emphatically nods.

Auston waited for a second to watch Taylour, worried that if he blinked Taylour could disappear. Even though he heard his voice, smelt his hair, and felt his touch, he still couldn’t believe it was real. Tia long ago was given a key, but only used it those couple days at Christmas. In fact, she rarely even comes to his apartment. He is the one with a car, it makes more sense for him to drive ten minutes than for her and Taylour to sit on a bus for almost forty minutes.

When Auston finally accepts this is real, Taylour is there and not some incredibly vivid hallucination, he turns around and walks back toward the door. He once again leaves the bag by the door, then ventures down the hall. He first stops at Taylour’s room, but she isn’t there – the bed is made, perfectly, with tight corners, pillows and stuffed animals neatly arranged – she was there at some point.

He pokes his head in the spare room, the bed is made which again could be Tia, but nothing else is out of place. There isn’t a hairbrush or face cream on the dresser, there is no sweater folded on the bed – left out for when she inevitably gets cold – and the faint scent of her perfume doesn’t linger in the air. The bathroom too is empty, along with the laundry. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she wasn’t there.

Then he hears it.

A mumbled curse word, followed by a loud clattering sound coming from his closet.

He has spent hours in her room, slept in her bed every night for months, but he can’t remember a time Tia was in his. Auston is so fixated on how peculiar everything is, he ignores the mountain of clothes on the various pieces of furniture, the Rubbermaid totes overflowing with sneakers and stacks of hats on the dresser.

Tia is so fixated on what she is doing she doesn’t even notice him. Pieces of wood, rods, and bags of screws and bolts scattered around. His drill is pushed to the corner and a pencil is tucked behind her ear, holding back her chestnut hair that is simply blow-dried. She is on her hands and knees, hunched over a set of Ikea instructions, spinning a screw in her hand.

“Who puts two screws in the same bag without labeling them,” she utters. “They are the exact same, but one is longer, how do I know if this –“

“What are you doing?” Auston leans against the doorframe, his voice drawing up her gaze. 

“I thought I had more time.” She drops the instructions and flicks her wrist to glance at the watch, then looks back up at him. 

“To remove all the clothes you dislike?” He queries, joking slightly. 

“Not enough time for that,” she dismisses teasingly, then turns her attention back to the instructions. “I’m trying to install these organizers.” 

Reaching down he grips her wrists and forces her to her feet - the only way to get her full attention. “Why are you installing organizers in my closet.”

Her eyes drop to the side. Tia doesn’t have the strength to look in his eyes and tell him. Wave after wave of anxious energy rolls off her. If she had the stomach for breakfast, it likely would reappear. But she couldn’t eat, has barely eaten in days.

“Tia?” Her behaviour does little to settle his nerves, in fact it does the opposite. His heart is pounding and one of his hands is bound in a fist, so tight his nails carve into his palm, but he doesn’t notice. With his free hand Auston grabs her chin and forces her to look his way. “Talk to me,” he pleads, desperately.

“I –“ she whispers, unable to speak with any sort of authority. Her eyes dart all over the place, never meeting his burning gaze until a thumb begins to sweep over her jaw. It’s such a simple touch, something he has done countless times before, and like every time before it works, she is looking at him. His usually warm and grounding eyes are panicked, desperate to be let in, but there is still a softness to them, one that gets her every time.

She rises to her tippy toes and wraps her arms around his neck. Her fingers tug at the baby hairs on the nape of his neck she lets out a soft sigh following the first brush of their lips - she missed the way he felt, the way he tastes. She tries not to think of the million ways this could end badly. She tries. And for a moment everything is amazing, perfect even. She swears Auston returns the kiss, which is all she needs to sink into it and tug on his curls a little harder.

Then Auston pulls away.

A wide and sweet smile is pressed to her face, she rises to her tippy toes again. This time Auston pushes her down to the floor and takes a step back, creating space between them.

“Tia?”

Auston is frozen. He was confused enough by her behaviour the last few weeks; he doesn’t even know where to start processing this. Did it actually happen, or is this still a very vivid hallucination?  

Her face twists into a mix of embarrassment and disappointment. She gasps. Horrified. Absolutely horrified. “I…I am so sorry,” she quickly fumbles out. What has she done?

She takes a step over an assembled drawer and tries to maneuver around him when he throws an arm in front of her stomach. Tia tries to swat at Auston’s arm, she can barely handle his concerned gaze, there is no way she can allow his touch.

“Please,” she croaks. A lump in her throat blocks the oxygen from reaching her lungs.

“Tia.” He almost laughs, how could she think he’d let her go?”

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

Auston’s voice is scarily calm. “But you did.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, just explain.”

Auston feels Tia lean back on her heals and his arm drops, the two of them stand just inches apart. The air that sits between them is heavy, so much that needs to be said but not enough words to say it. 

Neither one knows how long they stand there. Seconds bleed into what feels like hours. Breathing in the same air, barely able to hear the others shaky exhales over the pounding of their own heart. Tia uses all her strength to not crumble then and there. She never saw it going like this.

“Mommy!” Taylour’s voice ruptures the silence. “Mommy!” Two little feet pitter on the wood floor, and his voice getting louder. “Mommy, can I have a snack?”

“You want a snack?” Tia waits until he is in the closet to speak.

“Yes please!” He bashfully smiles.

“Okay.”

This time Auston let her go, he had to. He took a minute to compose himself as best he could, and when he finally emerged the kitchen was quiet. Taylour was sitting on a barstool, shoveling yogurt into his mouth and Tia had her back to him. She was gripping the counter tight, and her feet looked tethered to the floor.

Auston carded his hand through Taylour’s hair as he walked by, earning a muffled giggle. Then he walked over to Tia and found her biting on her thumb nail. Her face was white, but she is deep in thought.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?”

He sweeps he hair back behind her shoulder, providing him a better view of her face. She jumps at the contact.

“Nothing.” She whispers out, barely able to think straight. 

“You don’t kiss me like that and not talk about it.”

While it was unexpected and left him confused, it was the kind of kiss Auston could have gotten lost in. Her lips were soft yet warm and the sweet moan she let out almost caused his heart to explode. He could have spent hours exploring her, letting them fuse together. It reminded him of the kiss she surprised him with on their first date, the kind of kiss that used to keep him up at night. Unfortunately, over the last year it’s been the kind of kiss that has accompanied pain.

“I said it was a mistake,” she practically hisses.

“Tia.”

Auston grabs her by the shoulders and spins her around. She says nothing.

“Whether you want to or not, we are talking about this.”

She says nothing.

“Tia Grace Adams!” He finally speaks with authority, so much so it surprises them both.

“I like you okay!” The words come out before she has a chance to stop them. Hot embarrassment floods her face, only getting worse when his shoulders fall and eyes flutter closed. She wishes she said anything but that; surely she could have made up an excuse if she tried.

“You like me?”

Tia just nods.

She spent days trying to convince herself didn’t have feelings for him. And for a moment she believed it, then she made her first sale, he was the first person she told. The next night while out with her friends, Tia kept looking to the empty seat at the end of the table, she found herself wishing he was sitting in it. And later when Brody with his charming smile and charismatic personality approached Tia at the bar, she could only notice the ways he wasn’t Auston. Everything she did, grocery shopping, walking to get a coffee, she kept wanting him to be there, and every time something happened, no matter how big or small, she wanted to phone and tell him.

She hoped if she kept blowing him off he’d give up on the notion of taking her. He didn’t. He kept asking, anytime he saw her, and she couldn’t keep coming up with reasons to say no. Being around him was suffocating, but in the best way possible.

It took her a little bit, but she finally admitted to Heidi she had feelings for Auston. Heidi just smiled, in a way that said she already knew that but was happy Tia came to that conclusion. They spent the next few sessions talking about that and what Tia wanted. Now that she had admitted her feelings it was easy, she wanted Auston.

“You like me.” Auston repeats after a shaky breath. He takes another and then another, then pushes all the air out of his lungs and runs a hand down his face. Stroking over the stubble on his chiseled jaw, he breathes deeply again.

“Yeah.”

“You like me.” 

He blinks in disbelief.  

She nods. 

Auston doesn’t know why he is so dumbfounded by Tia’s admission. He held out hope for months she would tell him this exact thing, but as time wore on, he accepted this wouldn’t be the case. This shouldn’t be happening. 

“You like me.” 

“Can you say something, anything other than that,” she pleads. 

“I just…I don’t know what else to say,” he answers dejectedly, making her heart sink. “I wasn’t expecting that.” 

“Sorry for kissing you out of the blue –“ 

“I handled that better than this,” he scoffs.

“Daddy.” Taylour tugs at the hem of his shirt and looks up at him with beady brown eyes. “You play with me now?”

Auston looks down at Taylour and nods. “Yeah. That I can do.”

**

Tia had no idea what to do once Auston walked into the living room with Taylour. She didn’t want to talk, he begged her to only to repeat the same thing over and over then walk away. He sat on the floor and accepted the Skye figurine Taylour handed him. He put her at the top of the tower and sent her down the zipline. He pressed buttons and even laughed at some of the things Taylour said, he seemingly forgot about everything that transpired between them.

He didn’t.

He couldn’t.

It was all he could think about.

Taylour created some wild fictional story, a mystery they needed to solve. He would move the cars back and forth, give Auston instructions and laugh. Auston pressed the buttons to turn on the sound effects, he’d move Skye from point A to point B and smile whenever Taylour glanced his way. But he could not do anything else.

At some point a ministick was shoved in his hand, it took the ball hitting Auston’s ankle three times before he made an attempt to join in. Even then the ball would bounce over his stick or roll by because he just could not focus on it. His mind was caught on a loop, replaying Tia saying, ‘I like you’ and him…saying nothing.

Tia hoped that because her heart had been yanked from her chest, the rest of the day would have been blur. She felt it all.

Heidi tried to prepare Tia for the possibility Auston wouldn’t feel the same way, but Tia never considered that a possibility. In her mind, there was no way he didn’t. If she ignored the late-night FaceTime’s when Taylour is asleep, the kisses they shared, the way he looked at her and the fact he repeatedly told her that he loved her (never that he was in love with her, but Tia could read between the lines) there was still Fred. Every time he has seen her in the last three months, he has made a point of calling her out for having feelings for Auston. If Auston didn’t feel that way about her, why did his best friend care so much?

She played this situation out a hundred times and not once did it end this way. Every single time he kissed her back, said he had been waiting to hear her say that, and their clothes on a bedroom floor.

The door was barely closed before the phone was in her hand. It took everything for her to not fall apart sitting on a barstool in her ex-boyfriend’s kitchen, she couldn’t take anymore.

“Yeah.” Abby huffs into the phone after seven rings. Tia didn’t expect her to answer, they haven’t spoke in weeks. If the situation were reversed Tia wouldn’t answer, but she always let her ego get in the way.

“I kissed him Abs, I just...I kissed him.” Tia fumbles out, frantically pacing around the mess of clothes in Auston’s room.

“You kissed him?” The sound of running water stops on the other end, then wood scrapes as Abby sits down to focus.

“Yeah.” Tia admits. 

“That’s amazing Tia, I’m so hap –“ Her friend’s voice softens, Tia can feel the warm smile which only makes this worse.

“He stopped…he pulled away…” Tia’s voice trembles.

“What? Why did he do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“What happened?” Abby asks sternly.

“I kissed him, and he kissed me back. Then he just stopped. He seemed confused when I said I liked him, like I suddenly had two heads.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Abby laughs. “Why would he be confused when you say you like him but proceed to kiss you?”

“I told him after the kiss.”

“Tia,” Abby groans and lets her head fall. “What did you do?”

“I…I don’t know.”

Tia’s voice snaps. Warm tears well in her eyes and as she lets out a shaky exhale they begin to fall. Abby doesn’t say anything, she just listens to Tia cry through the speaker. Five minutes later, when she has a sliver of composure Tia starts to tell Abby what happened.

“I’m proud of you,” Abby says after minutes of incoherent rambling when she can finally piece it together.

“I ruined everything,” Tia laughs through the pain.

Subconsciously, Tia brings her left hand up and bites at the hangnail on her thumb. She frantically blinks, hoping to rid the tears from her eyes.

“That’s not true, you just surprised him.”

“Gee, you don’t say?”

“How long did it take for you to get to that conclusion?”

“I told Heidi a couple weeks ago… but you know it’s been way longer than that.”

Abby laughs to herself, the closest she’s going to get to you were right.

“Mhm, and don’t you think Auston deserves more that five seconds to draw a conclusion?”

Tia sighs and falls back onto bed. Abby is right, of course she is. Tia allowed herself time to get to this point, and as much as it may hurt, shouldn’t she give Auston the same courtesy?

“What do I do now?”

“You need to talk to him and let him know this wasn’t an impulse. That you spent weeks processing your feelings, discussed it in therapy before doing anything. You tell him to take his time and that you aren’t expecting an answer right away.” Tia continues to nod through the speaker, if only she put her ego aside maybe this could have been avoided.

“What if he doesn’t feel the same way?” Tia shudders at the thought.

“There is nothing you can do.” Even though it’s not the answer Tia wants, Abby doesn’t sugar coat it. “If that’s how he feels, I help you pick up the pieces.”

Tia releases all the air in her lungs. She knows should have considered this from the beginning, but she knew if her mind was allowed to wander to the possibility, she never would have had the courage to tell him. Now all she can think is how arrogant and ignorant she was to have thought that way.

“Tia?”

“Yeah?”

“You have to stop hiding.”

Tia took a few more minutes to gather herself. She sat on the edge of the bed and thought about what Abby said, tried to remember what Heidi had told her – considering she spent the entire time Heidi talked thinking I won’t need this, it proved to be a little challenging.

With a deep breath to settle her heart, Tia reached for the handle. She thought the slight breeze from the door opening was going to knock the air from her lungs, but what did was Auston, standing inches away, about to open the door from the other side.

“Oh.” Tia gasps. “Sorry.” She shakes her head. “I’m just –“

Auston jumps, just as surprised to see Tia. He knew she ventured down the hall, but once again, he didn’t expect to find her in his room.

“Okay.”

Auston shuffles to the side to let her by. They don’t say anything. They don’t even look at the other. Auston’s brows are drawn together, and he has no colour left in his face, still in a state of shock over everything that has transpired over the last four hours. Tia can only wonder how long he stood at that door, and how much he heard.

**

Auston and Tia moved somewhat robotically after that. She had been gone so long Auston made lunch, she couldn’t eat. She took the plate and placed it in the fridge, then made herself small, curled into a corner of the couch.

Tia heard the shower start, then stop a few minutes later. She heard faint muttering as he maneuvered the various bins and piles trying to find something. She heard plastic scrape along the floor, banging and cursing as he stepped on something that shouldn’t be on the floor. He wasn’t putting anything back, he did not have the mental capacity to look at Ikea instructions, but he needed space to walk and space to sleep. He spent some time stacking all the pieces for the closet storage system together in a pile, so they were out of the way but wouldn’t get misplaced. He closed the Rubbermaid totes, stacked them and left a few pairs of shoes on top for easy access. He pushed everything into corners, against the wall, and threw piles of clothes that were left scattered around on top.

He found Tia’s bag, open, in his room. He left it where it was and set her pajamas on a beside table. He left her hairbrush and toothbrush in the bathroom, set the couple hair elastics he found in a pile. The more he moved around the more he realized this wasn’t an impulse. There were enough clothes in her bag to last almost a week, the three hair elastics and products in his shower indicated she had been there for a few days, not just in his apartment but in his room.

Hours went by and neither one had said anything. Tia knew she should be the first to speak. She wanted to tell him everything. She just sat on the couch, picturing his response.

I’m sorry Tia.

I don’t feel the same way.

This isn’t a good idea.

Too much has happened.

We’re better off as friends.

I’m seeing someone. She’s great, I think you’ll like her.

I’m sorry.

Her heart breaks as those words ring in her ears. She is dizzy. Tears burn her eyes, and she fights to keep them at bay.

Auston heard her sniffling. A lot. It took every ounce of strength to not scoop her up and hold her tight. The heavy silence and suffocating tension broke him, it shouldn’t be like this. They shouldn’t be like this.

After dinner (another meal Tia didn’t eat), Taylour wanted to watch a movie, and on went Toy Story 3. He smiled and laughed and after everything, would turn to one of them with wide eyes and a big grin asking, did you see that? Auston always answered, smiled and tried to sound enthused. Tia, she could barely acknowledge him.

It scared him to see her like this and he hoped it was temporary. He’s met this version of Tia before, but always hoped that’d be the last time. This version of Tia is reminiscent of the one who stopped caring and hadn’t showered for days, her hair was tangled, laundry and dishes were piling up and she didn’t even care. This is the Tia from right after the article came out, the Tia from September that tried to fight through an insurmountable amount of pain alone. The previous times he met this version he was partially to blame, this time it was all on him.

He did this to her.

He broke her.

The credits began to roll long after Taylour fell asleep. Trailers for similar movies appeared and they watched them all. Then the Disney home screen reappeared, and they sat, staring at it for what felt like hours (it was less than three minutes) before Auston slithered out from underneath and carried Taylour down the hall.

As if Tia’s anxiety wasn’t through the roof, that was the moment it all started to become too much. Her palms became clammy, and heartrate began to accelerate. No matter how hard she tried to focus on it, she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.

Up until this point there was a reason to not talk about it – Taylour. Now that he was asleep, there was no buffer, Tia couldn’t hide her crippling anxiety and fears, she couldn’t avoid the heartbreak anymore. He deserved honesty, but she didn’t think she could handle his. At least not right now.

“You like me?” Auston asks, taking a seat beside her. If Tia didn’t know better, she’d think that’s all he could say. 

“Yeah.” She replies, as if that’s all she can say.

Tia finally turns and looks at him, the first time in hours, and that’s when she realizes he looks like hell – heavy dark bags linger on his hollow cheeks, he twists the watch on his left wrist round and round. His nostrils flare and he chews on the inside of his cheek, a nervous tick.

“I’m sorry for kissing you, for just throwing this at you. I know it’s a lot.” As she turns to look at him her hand fans over his thigh ever so briefly. He flinches. It’s small, barely noticeable, but it’s there. Tia would have missed it if she hadn’t become an expert at reading him, something she wishes she wasn’t. “I’m sorry.” 

“How um…how…” Auston clears his throat and lets his shoulders drop. His eyes are trained ahead, he tries to think of how best to approach this. He needs to be delicate, tug at the string until it slowly unravels. “Are you still taking your meds?” 

Neither delicate nor slow. 

“Every day.” Tia nods. She wishes that wasn’t his first response, to assume her mental health had collapsed. “Heidi actually thinks we can start cutting my dose back soon.” 

“That’s good,” his response is barely a whisper. 

“She’s been telling me to do this for a few weeks now. To tell you.” 

Auston’s eyes widen at her admission. “How long have you liked me?” 

“I only admitted it a couple weeks ago, but Heidi knew before that. She said it became obvious at Christmas.” 

“Christmas!” There is only shock in his voice. “That was two months ago!” 

“Yeah.” Tia nods.

“I feel like I’ve had a pretty good read on you, but you’ve had feelings for me for two months and I didn’t know!” 

“Apparently,” Tia nods again. “I only admitted it a couple weeks ago though.”

“But do you think she’s right? Have you been feeling this way for over two months?”

According to Heidi, Tia has felt this way since before Halloween but there were more pressing issues to focus on. Heidi knew that Tia would only admit her feelings for Auston when she was mentally and emotionally ready to take that step. which is why she left it well enough alone. Maybe there would have come a time where Heidi prompted the discussion, but Tia got there first.

Tia’s face scrunches up in confusion. Halloween, Christmas or two weeks ago, what difference does it make? How is this what he is fixated on?

“Yes.”

Auston flies off the couch before Tia can even react and starts to walk quickly, back and forth, around the living room. He paces, and he paces, and he paces.

His skin flushes and he scrapes a hand through his hair, then along his jaw, and over the back of his neck. He speaks, quietly, incoherently, to himself. He paces, and he paces, and he paces, stumbling over the toys that litter the living room.

Her eyes water and a heavy ball forms in her throat. She lets out a soft sniffle and water droplets begin to stain her sweater. She watches him. She waits.

She doesn’t know for what or how long it will take, but he’ll figure it out. It took him a month to visit after he found out about Taylour, almost another month to decide to be a part of Taylour’s life. She hopes it isn’t as long for him to process this, but she knows that eventually he’ll find what he’s looking for.

“What were you doing in my room?” He comes to a complete stop; his eyes are white with panic. “In my closet?”

“I thought that if we did this,” she points between them, “I would leave some stuff here. A couple pairs of jeans, some shoes. A sweater or two. I was just trying to make space, one thing led to another, and I was building shelves. I don’t know.”

Tia stands up and sniffs, no longer trying to hide the fact that she’s crying. She thought she had learned to accept heartache; she never realized the hardest part would be having to mourn someone who was still in her life. “I’m going to bed. Can you watch him while I’m at therapy tomorrow?” Her voice cracks and Auston just nods in response. “I really am sorry Auston.” She only speaks once she’s almost out of the room, away from him. “I should have done this differently; I was so sure you were going to say yes.”

“I never said no.” Auston whispers, but she’s long gone.

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1634 primer pt. 2 (2023-present)

hey again... since the 1634 primer (2015-2023) was a success, i figured i'd start a newer part two to keep that one from getting too long and unruly, so this will be a continuation starting the summer of 2023! with auston's extension signing him through the 27-28 season and with the contract talks for mitch (and hopefully inevitable extension, knock on wood) coming at the end of the 23-24 season.... i feel that there is a ton of content to come, so let's do it x2:

mitch marner got married on july 29th 2023... auston came to his wedding in canada after skipping other teammates weddings the same summer... here's auston being spotted watching mitch and steph during their first dance (his face...).... auston being in the official wedding video (gifs)... tarps off with mitch yelling in his face.... mitch making sure that auston's in one of the pics he posted in his photodump on ig <3 despite not posting many guests... here's a pic with them, michael bunting, naz kadri, and tyson barrie

last year we got auston calling mitch 'mitchelly' and 'his guy' in our leafs thanksgiving video, but this year we got them all randomly assigning thanksgiving dishes to random teammates (video)... and auston chose to give mitch the apple crumble "because it's actually his favorite" (gifs)

for media day, mitch got roped into a stupid game where you try to roll a coin into a fork... when he sees auston in the bg, he tries to wrangle him into it too... auston's noises of dissent like he's used to mitch trying to boss him around, i rest my case (leafs blueprint ep later showed auston smiling while mitch begged so... i was correct)

in the 2023 bardown callout video, auston turns into a giggly happy mess when mitch comes in the room mid-answer (gifs)... mitch also picked auston as the most likely to rip dress pants bc he's got "big legs" (gifs)... followed by a look that can only be interpreted as him fighting his own demons

auston, mitch, willy, and mo all did this goofy video where auston and mitch pretended to be sobeys workers and were given instructions behind the scenes... mitch sees auston in the outfit and his first thought is immediately "dude you look good as a sobeys worker" (gifs)... and then proceeds to make auston do pushups for fun (gifs). they were also given costumes with matching pb&j hats... and there's THIS picture i still need them to answer for.

all of them also went and did a little crossover with the blue jays... where mitch and auston were still a duo on the baseball field (vid here) (pic)

first glimpse of them playing hockey to start training and of course... they're hovering around each other from the first moment

this little preseason moment where mitch keeps his hand on auston's back for a bit... just to touch him

in the opening game of the 23-24 season, auston matthews scored his 300th career goal (followed by his 301st and 302nd for his 8th career hat trick) with an assist by mitch (who collects the puck for him too), which marks 100 goals he's assisted on for auston if this graphic is to be believed. auston went on to score 2 more hat tricks within his first 8 games, many of his goals being assisted by mitch.

another warmup video where they pass in sync too... and the maple leafs official account calling their warmup a TRADITION

the commentators still never shut up about them.. there have been 4892342 moments where they comment on mitch and auston being able to find each other or being partners out there or having chemistry... here are just some of those audio moments: 'with marner by his side, they'll find each other', 'trying to get that fourth goal for his partner', 'his partner mitch marner'

a leafs blueprint episode revealing they sit next to each other in team meetings.... and auston looks at mitch like he's the sun, but WHAT'S NEW

here's jesse from the steve dangle podcast talking about how mitch and auston are more in sync than normal center-winger combos and how matthew knies fits with them.

auston being so happy about mitch shootout goal the first time AND the second time

a game against nashville where auston was ready to go after a man who crosschecked mitch and where they held hands even though they didn't score themselves (pic) (gifs)

random pics of mitch and auston being attached at the hip during breaks here here here here

auston and mitch... have changed their pregame handshake to something that looks like... they both? kiss their gloves? before highfiving????... see for yourself ... pic by pic of a different day too

some cellies :') here and here and many more to come, im sure

bench moments so far: x x x x

they also still constantly walk into places on the road together as evidenced by this tag i've started and here's a pic from their global series trip where they're getting off the plane together

here's the first part of the primer in case you missed it and here is the @1634archive, where i've got a bunch of pics dewatermarked of them for you to peruse. it'll be updated as the season goes. for misc moments and gifs of 1634 that aren't substantial enough to get bullet points here, you can check out my tags #1634 and #egifs where it'll probably mostly be mitch and auston stuff. if there are any broken links or anything, don't be afraid to shoot me an ask so i can try to fix it!! enjoy!!

updated: 11/14/23

[areyoutherelarry]

Title: Slapshot Through the Heart for 1D Tour de Fic Fest

Author: areyoutherelarry

Summary: Being the third overall draft pick comes with a lot of pressure, pressure that Shawn Mendes feels like he’s cracked under until he joins the Florida Panthers and develops a massive crush on their illustrious captain, Niall Horan. However, now that Matthew Tkachuk, the sixth overall pick from Shawn’s draft year, is joining the team, maybe Shawn overexaggerated his and Niall’s connection, maybe he is the biggest draft bust, maybe he isn’t good for the team at all.

Or the Florida Panthers’ crazy 2022-2023 season but make it a friends-to-lovers Shiall Hockey AU with a dash of Matthew Tkachuk propaganda.

@1dtourdeficfest

LONG appendix below cut (Hockey people and glossary)

NHL People

Matthew Tkachuk- (American) Rat king, nepo baby (his dad played for a long time), loves to start shit and plays very good hockey, thriving in Florida, is so obsessed with his new team, always munching on his mouth guard, went #6 in 2016 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (left)

Mitch Marner- (Canadian) tiny baby hockey player, adorable and smiley very good at hockey, went #4 in 2015 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (right)

Dylan Strome- (Canadian) long-suffering, played with Connor McDavid in juniors, considered somewhat of a bust (I love him don’t come for me), went #3 in 2015 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (left)

Auston Matthews- (American) another great hockey player,, known for being fashionable and ✨cool✨, went #1 in 2016 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (right)

Connor McDavid- (Canadian) long-suffering best player currently in the NHL, known for being boring af, went #1 in 2015 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (left)

Nick Foligno- (American-Canadian) I don’t know much about him, another nepo baby, went #28 in 2006 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (right)

Alexander Ovechkin- (Russian) will probably break Gretzky’s record for # of goals scored, is a powerhouse, considered one of the best hockey players of all-time but people consider him a showboat but like yeahhhh duh, went #1 in 2004 NHL entry draft, won 1 Stanley Cup (left)

Phil Kessel- (American) Ridiculous hockey player but was good, think stereotypical Wisconsin dude and yep you’ve got him, known for drinking Coke and eating hot dogs, went #5 in 2006 NHL entry draft, won 3 Stanley Cups (right)

Connor Bedard- (Canadian) Considered a generational talent like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby but is only 18, hope he isn’t crushed by the Chicago sports ecosystem (I’m from Chicago), went #1 in 2023 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (duh) (left)

Sidney Crosby- (Canadian) One of the best players, hockey men consider him a whiner but boo to them, he is a big weirdo who has lots of superstitions and doesn’t have public social media, an enigma, went #1 in 2005 NHL entry draft, won 3 Stanley Cups (right)

John Tavares- (Canadian) He’s such a dad, considered to have “abandoned” the Islanders, whatever, went #1 in 2009 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (left)

Ryan Lomberg- (Canadian) Lomberghini I don’t know much about him, chirper, went undrafted, won 0 Stanley Cups (right)

Jonathan Huberdeau- (Canadian) Huby I don’t know much about him, regularly leads teams in points, went #3 in 2011 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (top left)

Claude Giroux- (Canadian) Scrappy hockey player who was captain of the Philadelphia Flyers for a long time, such a dad, went #22 in 2006 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (top right)

Paul Maurice- (Canadian) *I’m missing how to find NHL coaches’ headshots so here’s a funny Paul pic* Says this year’s team has brought back his love of hockey, notably quit previously in the middle of the season because he just couldn’t anymore, also played but only juniors because he got hurt, won 0 Stanley Cups (left)

Sergei Bobrovsky- (Russian) Always seems long-suffering, people talk a lot of shit about Bob, went undrafted, won 0 Stanley Cups (top left)

Keith Tkachuk- (American) *This picture is hella old but he looks so much like his kids* Has lots of points because he played lots of games, comes from an NHL family, pretty chirpy even with his own kids, went #19 in 1990 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (left)

Brady Tkachuk- (American) *The head tilt the Tkachuk brothers do* WILL FIGHT, once got bit during a fight, captain of his team has outrageously high number of penalty minutes compared to other captains, nepo baby, the Tkachuk brothers harass and love each other very much, went #4 in 2018 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (right)

Tim Stützle- (German) I don’t know much about him, except he loves doing adorable antics, he and Brady are silly together, hilarious conspiracy that Matthew thinks he’s annoying, went #3 in 2020 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (left)

Thomas Chabot- (Canadian) I don’t know much about him, he hit a teammate in the face with his stick this year accidentally, went #18 in 2015 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (right)

Kris Letang- (Canadian) eternally cursed, this poor man has had two TWO strokes during his career, his dad died not long after he had his second stroke, known for being French Canadian, beautiful, and obsessed with his hair, went #62 in 2005 NHL entry draft, won 3 Stanley Cups (left)

Evgeni Malkin- (Russian) is so moody, will fight you if you irk him just a little bit, also considered whiny with Sid, loves to chirp those he loves, loves jokes and is funny, went #2 in 2004 NHL entry draft, won 3 Stanley Cups (right)

Eric Staal- (Canadian) homophobe, one of four Staal brothers who have played in the NHL, went #2 in 2003 NHL entry draft, won 1 Stanley Cup (left)

Marc Staal- (Canadian) homophobe, one of four Staal brothers who have played in the NHL, went #12 in 2015 NHL entry draft, won 0 Stanley Cups (right)

NHL Glossary (most of this was copy and pasted from around the internet)

The Presidents' Trophy- The Presidents' Trophy is an award presented by the NHL to the team that finishes with the most points during the NHL regular season. Teams get two points for each win, one point for each tie, and no points for a loss

The Presidents' Trophy Curse- Finishing with the best record in the regular season has become a dubious distinction: Only twice in 20 years has the Presidents' Trophy winner gone on to win the Stanley Cup — most recently a decade ago when the Blackhawks beat Boston in the final. Since then, only one team has made it past the second round. 

Captain- In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captain and a number of alternate captains (usually two or three) who speak to the officials when the captain is on the bench. 

BioSteel Camp- The annual BioSteel NHL CAMP is a four-day event where 30 of the top hockey stars and prospects go through both on- and off- ice training as the NHL season start is just around the corner.  

London Knights- The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. 

Memorial Cup- The Memorial Cup is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between the champions of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL), and a fourth, hosting team, which alternates between the three leagues annually. 

Chirp-Hockey insults are known as "chirps.” The basic theory behind any kind of trash-talking is that, by disrupting your opponent's concentration and confidence through chirping, you gain a competitive edge that might just help you win. 

The Show- Many players refer to the NHL as “the show” 

Training Camp- NHL training camp is the period when professional ice hockey clubs gather to prepare and enhance themselves for the next season. It starts before the start of the regular season. 

Development Camp- Development Camp provides an opportunity for  prospects to showcase their talents and show management and staff that they are progressing in the right direction. Players at camp are all looking to prove different things. Some camp goers will be looking to prove they're NHL-ready, some will be hoping to show the staff they've improved on areas of need based on last year's camp, some are looking to be signed and some are looking to make a good first impression, along with much more.

Prospect-  A prospect is typically a player who was drafted and/or signed by an NHL team, and is assigned to a development farm team. These development leagues are the American Hockey League and the ECHL. Besides these minor leagues, draft picks may continue playing for the team that they were drafted from in the Canadian Hockey League (consisting of the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and Western Hockey League), the NCAA, the United States Hockey League, various European leagues such as the Czech Extraliga, Finnish Liiga, German Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Russian Kontinental Hockey League, Slovak Extraliga, Swedish Hockey League, the Norwegian Fjordkraftligaen or Swiss National League.

Messier Trophy- The Mark Messier Leadership Award is a NHL award that recognizes an individual as a superior leader within their sport and as a contributing member of society. 

Selke- The Frank J. Selke Trophy is an annual award given "to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game." The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the regular season.

Waivers- Waivers is an NHL labor management procedure by which an NHL team makes a professional ice hockey player's contract and rights available to all other NHL teams. Other NHL teams "waive" any claim to a player designated for assignment in the American Hockey League (AHL) or designated for release. This means another team could sign that player to their NHL team before they go to the minors. 

Celly- Slang for “celebration” and refers to the expression of joy after a player scores a goal; a celly comes in many forms and can range from a fist pump to sheathing a stick as if it were a sword to belly-sliding across the ice. The degree of celly is typically correlated to the importance of the goal.

Liney- The lines in hockey refer to the different lineups that teams utilize throughout the game. Each line typically consists of three forwards, a center and two wingers on either side of the center, and two defensemen. Usually, teams field four lines of forwards and three lines of defensemen. A liney is a player on the same line.

Cross Check- Cross-checking is “The action of using the shaft of the stick between the two hands to forcefully check an opponent.”

Empty Net- Empty net goals usually occur on two occasions in ice hockey: In the final minutes of a game, if a team is within two goals, they will often pull the goalie, leaving the net defenseless, for an extra attacker, in order to have a better chance of scoring to either tie or get within one goal. OR In the case of a delayed penalty, the non-offending team will often pull their goaltender for an extra attacker in this situation as well. 

Shift- A hockey shift is when a “line” takes their turn to play while the other lines take a break on the bench to rest. Each line rotates about every 45 seconds to keep the game intensity up and give players time to rest.

Holding- Holding is any action by a player that restrains an opposing player by impeding their progress whether or not they are in possession of the puck, or by such action prohibiting their ability to pass, shoot, receive, or otherwise propel the puck.

The Box- The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offense not severe enough to merit outright expulsion from the game.

Powerplay- In ice hockey, a team is considered to be on a power play when at least one opposing player is serving a penalty, and the team has a numerical advantage on the ice (whenever both teams have the same number of players on the ice, there is no power play).

Shoot-out Goal- A hockey shootout is a penalty shot competition used to decide the result of a game that is tied after regulation time and is still tied at the end of overtime. In a shootout, a player starts with the puck at center ice and has a scoring opportunity 1-1 against the opposing team's goalie. The puck can only move forwards. If it moves backwards, the play is considered dead.

Gentleman’s Sweep- A gentleman's sweep is where a team wins a playoff series but loses one game leading to a 4–1 win. It is called a gentleman's sweep under the pretense that it would be rude and unsporting to embarrass a team with a 4–0 victory, so the winning team lets the other team win a game to save face.

Important References

2022 FL Panthers Primer

Matthew Tkachuk Daddy Issues

Hockey Fun Facts

Florida’s Schedule

Shiall Timeline

Dylan Strome Primer

2015 Draft Class

Matthew Tkachuk

[girljeremystrong]

okay. most of the fics I've read have been about Sidney Crosby and Geno. Also a lot about Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. I've gathered from all the fics (even the ones that don't have him in them) that McDavid is like the greatest player ever and like a hockey god. And I've read about your boy Auston as well, predominantly paired with Mitch Marner. My favourite guys are all the guys mentioned above plus Dylan Strome and Willy.

okay there is a lot here to address. first of all yes all of these guys have fucked each other

most importantly though you should know that the greatest player ever and like a hockey god is sid crosby although he's getting older but like.. all these kids wish they were him. and he has 3 stanley cups. and then auston is the greatest goal scorer right now and just all around perfect. mcdavid is okay like he is definitely very good but he's no auston and speaking of auston they are kinda friends but mcdavid is so jealous of auston cause he wishes he was playing in toronto so bad. also mcdavid and eichel they're like compelling but mcdavid is all about his best buddy draisaitl and i will admit they are a pretty stunning hockey duo like i'll say it. they play well together.

auston and mitch are like... there is so much i could say. they are also a great hockey duo and the face of the toronto maple leafs and they were rookies together and they didn't let them play together and they wanted to play together so badly. and then they let them and just everybody was like "look at these two finding each other any time everywhere" and that's that on being soulmates.

sid and geno are also hockey soulmates and they ARE the pittsburgh penguins and they are two of the greatest players and they love each other so much and always have the sweetest things to say about each other and they are wonderful and i love them so much i want them to win another cup together so so bad. hope that in ten years mitch and auston will be the sid and geno of the maple leafs...

dylan strome is a good guy i don't know what else to say about him other than he also has a compelling thing going with mcdavid. also was good friends with mitch who is friends with everybody though for instance apparently mitch and sid are now good buddies? very intresting stuff going on there.

and willy is a prince. just beautiful boy who loves everyone and who everyone loves. he's also very good at hockey and has like points in every game this season bar like three? he's amazing and the team got to go to sweden to play two games and everyone was just falling all over themselves for willy and he played so well in sweden and it was great. i do believe everybody wants to fuck him and i feel he would be very chill about it too he's just that kind of guy.

i like mcdavid and his whole tragic aura he has about him. they put so much pressure on him and he's on such a shitty team but, he has leon. and they play beautifully. i'm saying this because i don't want it to seem that just because i'm salty about people saying he's better than auston (he isn't) that i hate him.

but yeah long story short they have all fucked in all combinations and they are all pretty good at hockey but sid is the best and auston is the best also.