#devils13

[ahockeywrites]

between the fog, i see you

pairing: nico hischier x fem!reader requested? yes rating: 18+ warnings: smut, oral (f! receiving), mentions of the devils lettuce, alcohol consumption, smut under the influence, unprotected sex (please wrap it before you tap it) if you like it, please reblog :)

Sweat, alcohol and weed were all that you could smell as you made your way through the copious amounts of bodies who were in your way. Smoking may have been outlawed inside buildings, but it didn’t stop people from bringing their vapes into the club where you were trying your best to find your friends. Sophie said that she had found a booth where some of her brother’s friends were nursing beers after their game. You hadn’t watched it but were aware of the score. The Devils had won the game 8-4 and the captain had a hat trick.

You liked Nico, or at least you did before he ignored you the whole night when you went to one of the Devils’ charity nights with Sophie’s brother hanging off your arm. The pair of you were strictly platonic and you only agreed to tag along if you could bring her brother to your upcoming fashion show where you were showcasing designs to various sportswear companies and having an actual athlete there would help you out.

From that moment on, Nico did everything in his power to ignore you. You were buying a round of drinks? Suddenly he didn’t want one. You were hosting a party? Suddenly something came up and he was too busy to attend.

The crush you had on him when you first met had dwindled down but never disappeared. It was still there. You always found a way to watch the game when you weren’t in the studio and enjoyed when the social media team posted photos of their captain. The way he rallied the team to work in tandem with each other. His sweaty hair that you imagined running your hands through. The photos did something to you that you refused to admit, even to yourself.

Lights shone down over the table that Sophie was sat at and she was deep in conversation with Nico. His hair looked slightly more golden than usual, but you put that down to the lighting and haze at which you were looking at him with.

Jack was the first to notice you and jumped up to give you his seat before Sophie pushed a glass with some concoction in it towards you. It was a no-brainer for you to pick it up and down the rest of the glass.

The booth filled quickly with large hockey bodies and after a lot of pushing and shoving, you ended up three shots deep, sat next to Nico Hischier. The exact man you didn’t want to be near in any capacity, let alone slightly intoxicated.

Someone handed you another drink before Dawson brought you into a conversation about the new clothing you had designed. You loved talking about your work and it was your dream to continue designing clothes. It just so happened that your supervisor at college had a way to get you into working in sportswear manufacturing so following an internship at a manufacturing plant, you had started developing clothes for athletes. Having Sophie as a friend and her brother as an athlete, it made sense to start your research with him and then branch out.

It was after another round of drinks when you started becoming a little more loose lipped, talking about how your ex-boyfriend just wasn’t good enough for you and how you were considering going back into the dating pool. Just dipping your toes in, not looking for anything serious just yet. But you had Sophie to blame when she brought up, in front of everyone, that he had never given you an orgasm and that you’d never had one before.

Your cheeks flushed red, and you hid in whoever’s chest was beside you. You couldn’t be here for this discussion. When you resurfaced, you saw shocked faces.

Fuck.

Nico was the one who was sat next to you. Nico’s chest was the chest you had hidden in. Your eyes widened. You couldn’t be here anymore.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” you announced, still looking at all the shocked faces. “I’ll be right back.”

You didn’t even wait for the guys to move; you climbed over them and ran to the bathroom. Fuck. You looked at yourself in the mirror. To the average person, you looked fine, great even. To yourself, you had fucked up royally.

The man who you had a crush on, the man who hated you, now knew that your ex had never brought you to climax, and parts of your highlighter were now on his fitted, black t-shirt. The one that exaggerated his biceps and allowed you to see parts of his tattoo. The one that he sometimes used to wipe sweat off his forehead with and then a slither of his abs were on show.

You turned the faucet on, waiting for the cool water to come out so you could put some on the back of your neck. There was no way in hell that you were going to splash some on your face because then that would make it look like you had been crying. Only a few tears had come out and due to the waterproof mascara, you put on before coming out, it hadn’t run. Yet.

Bass thumped through the bathroom you found yourself in, but it was quieter in there. it gave you time to compose yourself, pull yourself together. You waited to catch your breath before standing up and checking that your outfit was clean. Who knew what had gone on in this bathroom before.

A knock on the door threw you off and you walked over to it to see if it was another patron waiting for it. You heard your name being shouted over and over through the hard wood.

“If you don’t open this fucking door, I’m going to kick it down,” the voice commanded. Fuck, whoever that was knew how to control with words.

“Alright fine,” you conceded, unlocking the door and allowing whoever it was to enter the bathroom.

You were shocked when you saw Nico on the other side and even more shocked when he closed the bathroom door behind the pair of you and locked it. His eyes were dark and if you looked closely, you would have seen the fire behind them.

He was infuriated. How did your ex have a woman like you but never made you feel how he could. He had been infatuated with you from the moment he met you but thought you were dating his team mate so were naturally off limits. But when it came out tonight that you were single and looking to start dating again, all the reigns had gone from him. You hiding in his shirt was the last straw. Your head being so close to his cock made him turn feral.

One of his hands made its way to your shoulder and the other to your hair, bringing a loose strand of it behind your ear. Nico’s body towered over yours and he brought his lip to the shell of your ear.

“That bastard of an ex-boyfriend,” he kissed your ear between words, “never got you to come.” His kisses moved from your ear to down your neck, sucking occasionally. “Speak princess,” Nico encouraged you.

“No,” your voice wobbled as you spoke back. “He didn’t.”

“It must be a shame,” his hands moved lower to rest on your ass which was accentuated by your leather skirt, slowly grabbing the cheeks. “To never have a man make you come, want to make you come. Want to make you scream for him. Want to make you see stars over and over and over again.”

Your eyes rolled back as Nico found the spot on your neck that no other man had found so quickly. He sucked hard as your head lulled to the side, the feeling of heat building between your legs was impossible to ignore. You had to refrain from asking him to move his hands because you couldn’t look needy in front of Nico, in a dark club bathroom. Could you?

“Please,” you whimpered, the words barely audible over the music pulsating through the room. His gaze pierced yours as he moved a hand up the curves of your body, coming to rest on your bra-less chest. A bra wouldn’t have worked with the outfit, and you hadn’t expected to end up in this position.

Nico’s thumb ghosted over your nipple and a whine escaped your lips, asking for more.

“Please what, princess?” He asked with a smirk on his face. Nico knew exactly what you wanted, you wanted him between your legs; hand, cock, or tongue. He wasn’t picky at all, anything you wanted, he would happily give.

“Want you,” you got out through deep breaths.

“You’re in luck,” the Swiss man smiled. “Want you too.”

His lip collided with yours, his tongue tasting of the whiskey he was sipping on earlier. Nico took no time in pulling down the front of your shirt as the kiss turned heated, exposing your breasts to the cool, bathroom air.

“Been thinking about these since we first met, fuck,” his mouth wrapped around one of your nipples, sucking again. A moan escaped from your lips, but you didn’t care. You were too caught up in the moment.

Your hands finally found a place to rest, in Nico’s hair pulling and tugging every last strand. This wasn’t going to be the sweetest hookup you’d had, but it certainly was going to be the hottest.

Nico’s kisses began to head south, over your shirt until he reached the waistband of your skirt. It was short and tight, and Nico could have come at the sight. It wasn’t until he swiped two of his fingers between your legs that he realised you had no underwear on.

“A skirt this short and no panties?” The captain questioned with a cock of his head. All you could muster up as a response was a nod. “Once I get started princess, I won’t be stopping unless you say Islanders.” The smirk on his face was back as he made you repeat the safe word. All because he got his hat trick past the Islanders tonight. If you had a little more sense in you, you’d have rolled your eyes and walked out. But there was something about this side of Nico that you wanted to see more of. Needed to.

Two fingers pushed into you and the feeling was beautiful, the callouses on Nico’s fingers, the way his palm found your clit. The everything. He kissed with the same rhythm as he worked you open with his fingers, only stopping once to take his fingers out and lick them, tasting you on him.

“You’re delicious,” he whispered before lowering his head to between your thighs. “Just a taste,” Nico winked before diving into your pussy.

Turns out that just a taste meant bringing you on the edge of orgasm three times before announcing that when you were going to come, it was going to be on his cock.

“Just fuck me already Nico,” you complained as he expertly undid his belt then yanked down his trousers and boxers, exposing his hardened cock.

“Turn round, hands on the wall,” Nico commanded, flicking up the skirt over your ass. You obliged, realising that the wall was actually a mirror and you’d be able to see everything he did. Fuck, he knew what he was doing.

Kisses were peppered up and down your neck as Nico’s hands started massaging the muscle of your ass. It felt relaxing and you leant into his touch, egging him on.

A slap to your butt brought you out of that state of relaxation and you felt Nico’s cock sitting between your legs, collecting your wetness to use as a lubricant. It took everything in his might to not slam himself into you but somehow, he refrained, teasing you.

Your ass moved back onto his lower abdomen and started grinding, you needed friction, something to make this feeling go. It felt like you needed to let go, to have something push you over the edge. It was unusual but your body started moving of its own accord.

“Does my girl want my cock?” Nico teased, lining himself up with you. You nodded in response and twisted your neck so that you could get the right angle to kiss him again.

Nico pushed his hips up towards yours, sinking himself fully into you as he continued to kiss the moans you made as he stretched you out inch by inch. He was longer and thicker than your ex and as he started moving in and out you could feel him reaching areas that no one else had.

The stretch burnt beautifully and all you could do was let Nico piston his hips into you, leaving no mercy. Expletives left your mouth as though it was a prayer as he continued to snap his hips up and down. A hand moved around from your ass to grasp a nipple and he rolled the pert bud between his fingers.

You cried out in pleasure, not knowing what the feeling in the bottom of your stomach was. Your body felt as though it was on fire, tingling throughout. Your breath became shallow and sped up and Nico knew exactly what to do.

Continuing to thrust into you was the easy part, the hard part for the captain was getting you to open your legs that little bit more so he could find your clit once more.

“Princess,” Nico groaned breathlessly. You moaned as he stilled inside you. “Put your foot up on the basin,” his free hand pointed in the direction he wanted. It took you a moment to respond but a hard slap on your ass brought you back to earth and when he told you what he wanted you to do again, all you could do was oblige because Nico had you wrapped around his little finger.

“Good girl,” he whispered in the shell of your ear before pulling your hair back to make you look into his eyes, and it sent shockwaves down your spine. No one had ever called you that before, but you liked it. You really liked it.

“Next time I’m fucking that ass,” Nico’s finger circled around your tight hole but moved it to your clit and started rubbing tight circles on the bud. When he started moving his hips again, that feeling of something building up started again.

“Fuck,” you moaned, head lulling to the side. “It feels like something is gonna break soon.”

He couldn’t come before you, not when he came into this bathroom to make you come. It wasn’t meant to be anything other than an orgasm but when he tasted you, he couldn’t help himself. Your walls tightened around him and he could feel himself teetering on the edge of release.

“Good,” Nico spoke with authority. “Relax and let go,” he commanded, and you listened. Your legs started to tremble, and you could feel your eyes start rolling into the back of your head. “That’s it, princess,” Nico coached. “Such a good girl.”

Something snapped inside of you, and everything went black for a split second. This feeling of euphoria was nothing you had felt like before. This was what cloud nine felt like, ultimate pleasure and relaxation. Everything and nothing at the same time. The pleasure continued in waves as you felt Nico continue to pound into you.

Deep grunts filled your ear, and you knew what was coming next. Your ex always reached orgasm but never got you there and Nico who had never even touched your arm had you coming on his cock at the first attempt.

Nico’s hips stuttered and you felt his warm release inside you.

Shit, you had come back to reality. Had you just fucked Nico Hischier in a club bathroom? Apparently so. Had the aforementioned man just given you your first orgasm? Yes.

You had to get out of there. Not just the bathroom, not just the club, potentially the city. You had to get back to your apartment.

The mirror showed a woman royally fucked and there was nothing you could do about it. Your hands moved to flick your skirt back down and you walked out of the bathroom leaving Nico speechless.

[hookingminor]

isn’t it strange? - nico hischier

a/n: this took so long to finish and once again not sure if I even like it but I will perhaps make a bonus epilogue to post later if I get inspired <3 if some things seem vague (re: family dynamics and details like siblings and parents) it’s because I wanted to make it as ambiguous and universal as possible, though this does center around a relatively close-knit family on the reader's side

word count: 12.7k (good god y’all)

warnings (18+): smut (unprotected), minor alcohol mentions, wedding antics, close family dynamics

teaser / part one

-

Things were awkward to say the least when you arrived at the large house your family had rented for the week.

It was awkward when Nico picked you up to take you to the airport, your favorite coffee and breakfast sandwich in hand when he greeted you at the door. As always, he turned up earlier than expected, leaving you to invite him in while you scrambled to collect the rest of your things.

The drive had eased some of the tension since you had nearly half an hour to chat on the ride over. A portion of the time was spent catching up on the last month though you both kept details vague, but most of the conversation centered on your family and the itinerary for the week ahead of you since you wanted Nico to be prepared.

Nico had met your immediate family many times before over the course of your relationship since he chose to spend holidays during the season with you and your family because he couldn’t make trips back to Switzerland with hockey going on all the time, but this was the first time he would be meeting your whole family: all the nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, everyone extended. It was a week sure to be filled with intrusive questions about your relationship and future together.

By the time you had your bags checked, Nico surprised you with upgraded first class seats from the coach ones you had purchased all those months ago.

“I asked you on this trip as a favor,” you quipped when he flashed the tickets before you with an amused smile that you did not return. “You shouldn’t be spending any money on this. Or me.”

“Who said this was for you?” He smirked. “I’m used to a life of luxury on private team planes. I don’t want to spend the next four hours with a kid kicking the back of my seat and you hogging the armrest.”

The tone of his voice let you know he was joking, but you half believed the excuse.

“Plus, you’re going to have to deal with your family for the next five days. I think you deserve to have at least a few hours of comfort before all this goes down,” he added after a moment.

“You’re too kind for your own good, Nico, you know that?” You replied with an agitated huff, taking the ticket with your name from his hands. Who were you to refuse a first class ticket you knew was nonrefundable?

“You did say that was one of my most lovable qualities.”

“And sometimes most infuriating,” you grumbled. “I’m paying you back for this later.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure.” Both of you knew full well Nico would never accept a repayment.

The flight got delayed an hour due to air traffic, and you hated to admit you were extra thankful for the first class seats as you sat and waited for the runways to clear when suddenly Nico grabbed your right headphone to pop it into his own ear.

“What are you listening to?” He asked when the podcast started back up.

You waited a few moments and allowed the audio to play where the hosts where in the middle of describing a gruesome murder. “True crime,” you stated when they finished their story.

Nico never had the stomach for all the horror and gore you were fascinated with, though he tried valiantly to get into the same interests as you. More times than not it led to terrifying nightmares or unwanted paranoia or tenuous nausea.

“I always hated these,” Nico said, but he made no move to remove the headphone while the story continued on.

“That’s because you scare easily and get nightmares,” you chuckled. After the third time Nico woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night after watching a horror movie with you, you declared him unfit to watch any more (something Nico was eternally grateful for.) He would do anything for you, and if that meant sitting through awful movies and documentaries that scarred him, he would do it, but he was glad he didn’t have to.

“Nightmares were never so bad when I woke up next to you.” Nico let his eyes fall shut after the plane settled into a cruising altitude.

“Speak for yourself.” The corner of your mouth tugged into a smile. “You were always sweaty and clung to me like a koala.”

Nico’s own lips quirked up at the mention of his clingy bedroom tendencies but said nothing more, and within a few short minutes he was fast asleep, which was another quality you envied him for: his ability to pass out whenever and wherever.

-

You were grateful it was well into the evening by the time you made it to the rental home. The hour-long taxi ride gave you some time to unwind from the plane ride and figure out some last minute logistics before launching yourselves into a busy week. And it helped that you weren’t bombarded at the dinner you expected to be at but sadly had to miss.

Your parents greeted you at the front door, tackling you both in hugs before your father went to handle the luggage while your mother squished Nico’s cheeks and made comments about how he needed to eat more.

Nico wooed her with that dazzling smile of his that had her heart melting every time, complimenting her on her new hairstyle and giving her a big hug. Your dad clapped him on the shoulder in one of those fatherly squeezes, commending him on the past Devils season. Before you brought Nico home, your father never dared to follow New Jersey Devils hockey like any respected person would, but Nico easily converted not only your dad, but your entire family into Devils fans.

They traded some commentary on the playoffs currently going on as you entered the home before your mom showed you to the room you’d be staying in and updated you with the arrival times of your siblings the next day.

The conversation didn’t last long considering it was almost ten in the evening and they wanted to give you time to settle in. Plus, it was past their bedtimes as middle-aged adults and they were more interested in getting some sleep themselves than catching up with you right now.

“Are you sure you’re okay with being here?” You asked after your parents left, lounging on the bed while you waited for Nico to finish up in the bathroom.

“Of course I am,” he replied, flicking off the light switch before slipping under the covers. “I like your family. They always make me feel welcome.”

“That’s because everyone’s in love with you,” you chuckled. “You’re, like, every parent’s wet dream.”

Nico laughed, having heard you say some iteration of that same phrase multiple times over the years you dated. It was insane how much your parents loved Nico. Every time you brought him home, he stole the show. Your little cousins flocked to him like moths to a flame, and all the guys loved being able to discuss sports with a professional athlete even if your family wasn’t a hockey one. He had a stomach the size of an elephant and could eat his weight in food that your aunties made, and he was an even better complimenter and flirt. Your older brother adored him and your younger sister fawned over him. Hell, even the grocer at the local supermarket asked you periodically how Nico was doing when you came home to visit.

There wasn’t a single person he couldn’t win over. Both in your family and in life. He was just that perfect.

“Besides, having your mom’s cooking at least once this weekend will be worth all of this,” he added after a moment.

“You say that when you’re so clearly the favorite here.” You slid under the covers and pulled them up to your chest.

“What can I say? Moms love me.”

Everyone loves you, you thought.

“Goodnight, Nico,” was what you said instead, rolling onto your side and away from Nico. You hoped that if you didn’t have to look at him, your mind could forget that he was right next to you, but it was a fruitless attempt. Not when his body was denting the mattress just a few inches away and you could practically feel his heat radiating across the distance.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he replied while settling himself deeper into the sheets.

The situation gave you flashbacks of the end of your relationship when you were still sharing a bed but acted like you were strangers. A pit settled in your stomach at the memories of Nico coming home late and crawling into bed without so much as a goodnight kiss and where you pretended to be asleep so you didn’t have to ask him about his day.

You pushed the thoughts aside and burrowed yourself deeper into the bed. If anything, maybe you could come out of this weekend as friends. You could only hope for the best.

-

“What’s for breakfast?” You asked, entering the kitchen where your mom and dad were already bustling around cooking.

Nico followed in behind you while you peered over your mom’s shoulder at the stove where she was flipping chocolate chip pancakes. Your lips turned down in a frown, but you didn’t say anything.

Turning around, you spotted freshly cut strawberries in a bowl on the counter, and another glance in a different direction showed turkey bacon slices resting on a plate. All of the dishes were Nico’s favorites.

“Is there anything for me here?” You scoffed teasingly when you saw your dad poaching eggs in a pot just how Nico liked.

“You’re not the guest here,” your mother replied with an eye roll. “We have to be good hosts.”

“Right. It’s not like Nico’s stayed with us multiple times and knows what to expect.”

“Oh hush, you know you’ll eat it anyway,” your mom said.

“Would’ve preferred waffles,” you mutter under your breath, which earned you a light hit with the nearby dish towel.

“This is all wonderful. Thank you so much. You guys didn’t have to go to all this work,” Nico stepped behind you, pulling you back into his body before you started arguing with your mom.

“And that’s why he’s my favorite,” your mom gushed with an affectionate pat to Nico’s cheek. “Help yourself.”

You rolled your eyes at your mom’s blatant favoritism, but Nico only smiled down at you and wiggled his eyebrows in amusement. He knew your parents loved him, arguably more than they loved you, and he was by far the favorite significant other between you and your siblings.

Your mom smacked your hand when you tried to plate your food first, reprimanding you to let Nico go first, who stood grinning and on the verge of laughter at your put-out face as you waited for him to finish.

“Now you’re just being an ass,” you said, snatching some bacon from Nico’s plate because he thought it would be funny to take them all.

“Careful,” Nico whispered as he leaned in closer, “or I’ll tell your mom you’re being mean to me.”

It was too early in the morning for your stomach to be filled with butterflies at Nico’s close proximity, so you teasingly shoved him to the side to put some space between your bodies. You were only given a short reprieve before Nico joined you at the table and pressed his thighs flush against yours underneath the table.

You tried not to think about his thigh against yours or the jokes and stories he shared with your father or the way he helped himself to all the extra leftovers your mom insisted on giving him because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. And you especially tried not to think about how your heart rate sped up when Nico reached up to wipe a smudge of jam at the corner of your mouth.

Yeah, it was going to be a long day and an even longer week.

-

When you first agreed on Nico accompanying you back home, you both decided that the less time you spent lying to your family, the better. It was hard to avoid spending any time with them due to the fact that it was a family wedding, so when the opportunity came up to run some last minute wedding errands, you jumped to volunteer yours and Nico’s time.

While you loved your family, the day had been full of a lot of interacting, and tomorrow would be even more taxing when the rest of your extended family arrived. And then your brother and sister stopped by to catch up with everyone, and you were faced with another onslaught of questions about when you and Nico were finally going to settle down.

“If you’re waiting for permission, you know you already have it,” your brother had joked, clapping Nico on the shoulder with a laugh.

It didn’t help that Nico was absolutely incredible with your brother’s kids, tossing them in the air and letting them hang from his back like he was a human jungle gym. His ever-lasting energy devoted to playing with your niece and nephews only had your sister-in-law nudging you with her elbow and commenting on just how good Nico was with kids.

“He’ll be a great dad in a few years, huh?” She smirked. Laura loved Nico because she thought he was good for you and also because every time you brought him around, she always got a few hours of peace while he entertained them. “You don’t even know how excited they were in the car that they got to hang out with Uncle Nico today.”

You laughed at her comment though it lacked genuine feeling. You weren’t sure you even wanted kids in the future, but the remarks about how everyone loved Nico only stung more when you knew you didn’t have him anymore and that he wasn’t yours.

You practically had to drag him out of the house after a hectic lunch when your father asked if anyone wanted to check in on the vendors in town to make sure everything was still in order. Your family was great at asking too many questions and insinuating that they were waiting for Nico and you to get engaged yourselves, and the atmosphere was starting to become stifling.

“You okay?” Nico asked the second you stepped out the front door to take a deep breath.

A hand raised to cup your cheek before you could reply, and Nico met your eyes with a worried look.

“Yeah, sorry,” you sighed. “I just didn’t think I’d feel this bad about lying to everyone. I’m sorry you have to deal with all their dumb comments.”

“I’m okay, I promise.” Nico engulfed your face with both hands now and scanned your eyes for reassurance. “Why don’t we take our time in town? We can say something went wrong so we needed extra time to handle it and we can get dinner or something after so you can have some time to breathe.”

Nico honestly didn’t mind the inquisition from your family. Over the years, he’d become used to their fun-loving and sometimes invasive nature, but he knew they meant it all with love. They cared about both of you deeply, and it was endearing to hear that they still did. It warmed his heart and filled his body with such an intense longing that, for brief moments, Nico would forget you were actually broken up.

Those moments were usually when he caught you laughing with your sister at something and you’d glance over at him for a split second before turning away. Or when your niece would quietly whisper to him to ask if he could braid her hair, to which Laura would reprimand her for bothering Nico but he gladly entertained her anyway. Or when your mother took him to the side to ask about when they’d be flying back for Thanksgiving, and Nico’s initial reaction was to give her an answer instead of deflecting.

He especially felt it now with his hands warming your face as he watched your brows draw together in anxiousness, and Nico knew he needed to get you away from the house as quickly as possible.

“Yeah, okay, let’s do that please.” Your shoulders release some tension on your next breath to calm yourself down.

The drive into town settled your nerves the further you got from the home, and you were feeling more at ease when you rolled up to the flower shop your cousin enlisted for the wedding.

The florist was a lovely elderly woman who gushed over Nico immediately.

“The girls in your family have some real luck with gorgeous men, huh?” She blushed when Nico shook her hand, instantly feeling the charm of a handsome young man.

She ushered you to the back where she had started assembling the table pieces, blue iris and white hyacinth bundles scattered across her workspace. “My daughter will be in tomorrow to help me finish the rest, and we will be there early Saturday morning to drop them off and help set up if you need it.”

“They’re gorgeous,” you complimented, taking one complete bundle in your hands to inspect it. “Really, they’re incredible.”

“Oh, thank you, sweetheart,” the woman smiled, evidently proud of her own work.

She showed you around the rest of her shop after you were sufficiently confident that the flowers were taken care of, delving into the history of the store that she opened thirty years ago with her husband.

A phone call from the dress store had you excusing yourself and stepping outside while Nico finished up inside, and you thanked the lady again for her help.

Nico joined you on the sidewalk after a few minutes, the bell above the door alerting you of his presence as he bid farewell to the florist with a bright smile. A singular red tulip stem was between his fingers, and he held it out for you to take like it was a precious present.

“Ruth thought red seemed like your color,” Nico said. “I agreed.”

“Ruth knows me well.” You took the flower from Nico and brought it to your nose to sniff it.

Nico cleared his throat. “So what’s next on the list?”

“The tailor said the dress would be another hour before we can pick it up, so we should probably check on the cake and catering.”

You ran all over town with Nico, popping from shop to shop and checking on all the orders on your list.

The caterer ran through the list with you three times when you arrived, double and triple checking the vegetarian and special diet options and numbers while simultaneously having you try a few samplers to make sure everything was how it should be: a task that Nico was all too willing to participate in.

The cake decorator had barely begun baking the cake by the time you got there, so there wasn’t much to check in with, though she also had no concerns at the time and even sent you home with a complimentary slice for making the trip out there.

“Last thing on the list is picking up the dress. Emily said she had her final fitting earlier this week, so it should all be good to go.”

It was still early in the day by the time your cousin’s dress was tucked safely in the backseat of the car, and Nico could feel your hesitation behind the wheel when you realized it was time to head back.

“Hey, are you hungry? I’m starving,” Nico said. “We should get something to eat before we go home.”

“My mom is probably making dinner as we speak,” you chuckled, not opposed to the idea of skipping out on family time.

“She’s got the grandkids and your siblings. We’ll just say it was my idea and that we wanted some alone time. You know she’ll never get mad at me.” His lips pulled into a smirk. It was true. Nico walked on water in your mother’s eyes.

“Well, when you put it like that…” A smile slowly spread across your face. “Should we play a round of restaurant roulette?”

“You know me so well,” Nico laughed, already pulling up the list of nearby restaurants into his google search.

Restaurant roulette was something you often played when you were dating and couldn’t decide on a place to eat. It was your own way of discovering new restaurants and also how you made decisions when you were both too stubborn to agree.

Back in New Jersey, you had a list of all local restaurants and would randomly shuffle them and draw a number to decide which one you’d be going to, but in a town you weren’t familiar with, a random google search would have to do.

Nico didn’t show you the phone, viewing the list of places on his own and counting the total number of restaurants before asking you to pick a number.

“One through eleven, which will it be?” He asked.

“Four,” you answered.

Nico smiled wickedly before punching in the address.

The surprised restaurant turned out to be a Western country bar like one straight out of the movies. It was an odd choice of restaurant to be in a town that was most certainly not a small country town, but like every restaurant roulette choice, you embraced it with open arms.

You embraced the grizzly men sitting at the bar drinking glasses of dark liquor and the old, bearded bar owner serving the drinks. You even embraced the sticky booth table with the flickering light above.

The waitress was definitely a high schooler who would rather be doing anything than serving the two of you on a Thursday evening, but you figured she had no choice but to be there if you were going by the way she called the bar owner ‘grandpa’.

The menu, which was surprisingly long given the small establishment, had everything from fried appetizers to salads to steak. “There’s no way they can be doing all of this right,” you commented as you perused. It was nearly two full pages just of food and another full page of drink options.

“What do you think are the safest options?” Nico asked.

“Not the grilled salmon… or any fish option for that matter,” you replied.

When the teenager came back, you stuck to a simple burger while Nico chose a chicken sandwich, hoping that the bar at least had good classic bar food and handed the menus back.

Nico took your mind off your family while you waited for your meals, delving into updates on his family and his plans to go back home in the next couple of weeks.

“Is everyone doing okay? Your mom and dad? Siblings?” You asked.

It dawned on you then that you hadn’t spent much, if any, of your time together this week asking Nico about his life and his family. You’d been so worried and focused on your own issues that you neglected to check in with him.

Whereas Nico had met your family multiple times, you only had the privilege of meeting his when you traveled to Switzerland with him in the summer, and even then it was difficult for everyone to be together with his siblings both involved in sports. There was the rare event of his parents spending a week in New Jersey just last year, and that was the last time you’d heard news about them now that you thought about it.

“Everyone is good,” he answered. “They ask about you sometimes.”

Nico’s family liked you just fine from what you could tell and from what he would tell you. They weren’t given as many opportunities to hover and ask questions like your family did with Nico, but they were always welcoming when you visited. You had a good enough relationship where you would talk to his sister and mother separately on your own every now and then, though that had slowly fizzled out along with yours and Nico’s relationship.

For the most part, though, they only had Nico’s word to go off of when they developed their opinions on you, and Nico never had anything bad to say about you. Even when you were fighting or didn’t see eye to eye, Nico would never bad mouth you behind your back.

The waitress arrived with your dishes in record speed—a perk in ordering in a place that rarely seemed busy—and you were pleasantly surprised by the quality of them.

“I take back every bad thing I said about this place. I would definitely get this burger again,” you announced, polishing off the crisp fries on the side.

“I think this might be the best chicken I’ve ever had in my life.” Nico all but moaned around his sandwich, sending zings through your body at the melodious sound.

“How long are you going to be back home for?” You coughed awkwardly, trying your best to ignore the heat flooding your body by turning the conversation to something mundane.

“Till practice starts up again, hopefully,” he replies, dousing his own fries in an abundance of ketchup. “I already postponed going back because of this new trainer I’m seeing, so I want to stay there as long as possible.”

“You make me feel like a bad daughter because I’m here wishing this weekend was over so I can get back to Jersey,” you chuckled.

“Yeah, but your parents are coming to visit you in a couple months anyway.” His remembrance of your parents annual NJ trip just to see you stirred something inside you. “I get tired of my family when I’m home too. I think everyone does. Too much of a good thing sometimes, you know?”

Boy, did you. There was always a pang of guilt every time you thought about how you didn’t want to be around your family that made you feel like a disgrace or unworthy, so it was nice to hear you weren’t the only one who felt that way.

“Thanks for saying I’m not a bad person,” you said after a moment. “Even though this entire week has been based on lies.”

“But you’re lying because you care about them, so the pros outweigh the cons here.” You weren’t quite sure if you believed that, but Nico always said everything with conviction that you couldn’t help but mooch off his confidence.

“Yeah, maybe.” Perhaps the pros did outweigh the cons in this case, not to mention the lying saved you from unnecessary pity and coddling which was fun for no one, but that small bit of guilt still lingered in your chest despite all your attempts to settle it.

-

With a terrible turn of events, you woke up the next morning with a painful migraine. The few rays of light coming in through the blinds had you turning your face into the pillow and squeezing your eyes shut.

It was a rare occasion that you were overcome with debilitating migraines like this, but when they happened you knew you wouldn’t be moving for the next few hours at the very least. At most, you’d be out the entire day if you didn’t follow the very specific ritual and medications that you finally figured out to cure the headache.

The only bad part about following your migraine ritual is that it was hard to get yourself up to get the things you needed when your head was in splitting pain.

Curling the pillow around your head to block out the sounds of clanging pots in the kitchen, presumably your mother making breakfast, you let out a muffled moan at the overstimulation.

The moan had Nico stirring awake beside you.

Your migraines weren’t so rare an occurrence that Nico couldn’t immediately pick up on what was going on, but it had been months since your last migraine as far as Nico could remember.

“Oh no,” Nico said quietly, rubbing a hand across your back. “Is it your head?”

You let out another pained moan as an affirmation.

Your body was curled into a fetal position and burrowed under the sheets with the pillow wrapped around your head, and Nico kept his hand running softly over the fabric of your shirt in gentle circles for a few moments while he woke himself up and threw himself into mom mode.

“Wait here a minute, I’ll get you a towel for your eyes.”

The sound of curtains rattling against the rod let you know Nico was trying his best to close them despite the fact they wouldn’t completely block out the light. Then he shuffled off to the bathroom to find a washcloth to soak in ice cold water before coming back to you.

“Roll over, honey,” Nico instructed quietly, making sure to keep his voice as low as possible so as to not irritate your migraine further.

With your eyes still pinched shut, you rolled onto your back, and Nico placed the cold towel over your eyes.

“You don’t have any of your pills or stuff here, do you?” He asked, stroking your leg through the blankets.

“No,” you croaked out. “I need my ginger ale.”

“I’ll make a run to the store and get your things, okay? Think you can hang out for an hour?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“I guess not.”

“Then drive fast, please.”

Your mother didn’t blink twice when Nico asked if he could borrow a car to drive to the nearest pharmacy to gather your migraine medication and items you needed. She was mildly worried about your condition since you planned on having family over for a barbecue in the afternoon, but she also knew the best way to cure your migraines was to get you the ingredients you needed.

“Would you mind making her a cup of coffee while I’m gone? Be sure to give it to her with a glass of water too, and she’ll ask for cream and sugar but don’t give her any because she needs black coffee for it to actually help her.” The instructions fell from Nico’s mouth in a hurry, and he shocked himself when he realized that he still knew this small tidbit of you. Knowing you was like riding a bike, Nico thought. He didn’t think he’d be able to forget you if he tried.

Your mom’s eyes sparkled with adoration at Nico’s order. “Should I make her any food?” She was half asking because she did want to help you if she could, but the other half of her just wanted to see what Nico would reply.

He didn’t disappoint. “Not now, no. She always takes some buttered toast with her pills and ginger ale, but I have to go and get that stuff first. I don’t need to get any bread, do I?”

Your mother shook her head, and suddenly Nico felt sheepish. Which he shouldn’t have since your family still believed you were dating, but in all the family events you took him to, he didn’t think he’d ever shown so much affection for you then than he did just now.

“You better get going,” your mother said, smiling at the blush slowly creeping across Nico’s cheeks.

The trip into town and back took forty-five minutes since Nico sped as much as he could without raising suspicion and enlisted the help of a teenage clerk to show him where everything was so he didn’t waste any time looking.

He had everything you needed: cold pack for your head, pills for the migraine, eye mask to block out the light, ginger ale for whatever magical purpose it worked on you when you were sick, and the few obscure snacks you absolutely needed to eat when the headaches hit. Some of your rituals were weird and Nico didn’t think they really helped in any medical sense, but he also knew that if you skipped even one step you’d be out for the entire day.

You hadn’t moved an inch since Nico left, and he found you in the same position with your cold towel no longer cold. The coffee cup was nearly empty on the nightstand, which was the best Nico could usually get out of you since you detested plain black coffee.

“You didn’t drink any water,” Nico noticed and tutted his disapproval while he unloaded the rations from the grocery bag.

You grunted your own disapproval as Nico divided up the proper amount of pills for you to take. He placed the pills in one hand and the glass of water in the other hand, and you took them gingerly, moving as little as possible to swallow them.

“Toast time,” you whimpered.

“I’ll go make it in a minute,” Nico said. He eased the towel from your face and patted your skin dry before sliding the eye mask over your head and then the cold pack on your forehead.

Things started to look up after you blindly ate your toast that you washed down with a glass of ginger ale when Nico gently maneuvered your body until your head was in his lap so he could massage your throbbing temples.

“You don’t have to stay here. You should go help my parents get ready for the barbecue later,” you said. “I’ll probably end up taking a nap soon anyway.” As good as the massage felt, it wasn’t Nico’s responsibility to care for you anymore, and you already felt bad enough for everything he’s done for you this trip.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind,” Nico replied, sending a flurry of butterflies through your stomach.

“Yes, I feel bad enough already. Please go do something more fun than this,” you groaned and attempted to push him off the bed, though with your depleted strength it was a gentle nudge at best.

Nico didn’t put up much of a fight after that, knowing you well enough to understand that you meant what you said and also needed to be alone to recover. It only took a few minutes after that for you to fall back into a dreamless sleep, hoping that when you woke up that this migraine from hell would be gone.

-

Even after years of bringing Nico around, it still baffled you how well he fit into your family. It baffled you in general just how well-liked he was by everyone.

After sleeping off the migraine and chugging another glass of water with pills, you managed to peel yourself from bed to join your family out back. You kept on a pair of dark sunglasses as an extra precaution, and even with the shades shielding your face, you still managed to lock eyes with Nico the minute you stepped outside to greet your mother.

In a motherly fashion, she patted your cheeks in her hands and checked for any sign of distress on your face before declaring you were well enough to fetch more fruit from the kitchen. Across the yard stood Nico, who was currently playing goalie for your tiny cousins’ soccer game, and he flashed you a bright smile at the eye roll intended for your mother.

After grabbing another bowl of strawberries for the patio table, you strode across the grass to check in with your ‘boyfriend.’

“Auntie!” Your niece crashed into your legs before you got within ten feet of Nico.

“Hey, bug.” You scooped her up in your arms and continued on your path.

“Are you going to play with us?” She asked hopefully, batting those long lashes she got from her mother.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to embarrass Nico by scoring too many goals on him,” you replied, causing her to erupt in a fit of giggles.

“I’ve already scored five on him!” She held up all five fingers right in front of your face.

“She’s on the way to the Women’s National Team, I’m telling you,” Nico confirmed from the goalpost. “You sure you don’t wanna take a shot?” He asked. Then he dove dramatically to the side on a shot by another cousin of yours, easily letting the ball through his side.

There was a cocky smirk on his face, put there to intentionally rile you up as he added an extra eyebrow wiggle. And if it weren’t for the cheers and screams of six kids under the age of ten yelling for you to do it, you would’ve passed. But you were nothing if not competitive and easily swayed.

You set your niece back on the ground and one of the kids kicked the ball over to you. You’d played these silly backyard games with your family in the past and with Nico, and you knew enough about how he played hockey to know he preferred his left side over his right.

By no means were you a soccer superstar, especially compared to Nico who played two-touch with the team before every game, so you banked on him acting predictably.

“I’m not going easy on you,” he said as you dribbled the ball in front of the goal.

“When have you ever?” You quipped with a smirk of your own.

He bent his knees and got into position, which was a funny image considering the goal wasn’t all that big to begin with. You kicked the ball between your feet a few times to get a feel for it before you took off towards him.

His eyes zeroed in on the ball, intently tracking its movements as you went in on the right side. Your foot reared back to kick before you passed it to the left, a move Nico expected and followed easily. At the last second, right when he committed for the dive as your leg swung back, you spun around and kicked the ball back to the right.

With Nico on the ground, you let out a victorious laugh, taking your sweet time in squaring yourself up to take the shot into the open goal.

Choruses of cheers sounded behind you, both the kids and adults from the patio chiming in as you raised your arms in celebration. Nico laughed from his position on the grass, sitting on his ass with arms resting on bent knees.

“You thought I’d go for your weak side, huh?” You asked, strolling over to his hunched figure.

“Nice shot,” he said, rubbing his hands off of dirt.

You extended a hand towards Nico to pull him up, but you underestimated Nico’s pettiness and sore loser attitude because the next thing you knew you were on the grass too and half rolled under Nico’s body.

“Sore loser,” you laughed underneath him.

Nico’s smile was almost as bright as the sun shining above him, illuminating him in a golden halo that had your breath catching in your throat. “You’re a sore winner,” he remarked, poking your side.

The sweet moment only lasted a second longer before your nephew was jumping on both of you, inserting himself in the middle and effectively starting a dogpile of tiny children. One by one they tackled you until Nico was completely blocked from your view, replaced by cherub cheeks and sweat.

“Okay, okay, I think that’s enough for now,” Nico’s voice sounded from above you somewhere, and you got a brief peek of your cousin hanging from his back like a monkey.

Gently, he moved the kids to the side and off of you all while balancing the kid clinging to his shoulders until he could extend a hand to you.

Your cousin jumped off when Nico bent down to help you up, steadying you with both hands while you pushed to your feet. Fingers picked at pieces of grass and leaves sticking out your hair, and you brushed off the dirt dusting Nico’s shirt.

“Are you feeling better?” He asked, removing a smudge from your cheek with his thumb.

Summer always looked good on Nico. The sun did wonders to tan Nico’s skin and always made his brown hair look lighter, and when the light caught his eyes they resembled melted honey.

You cleared your throat and stepped out of his hold. “Much better. Thanks again for everything this morning,” you said. “I’m going to get some water.”

It had been so long since you had Nico’s hands on you, or his attention for that matter, and you momentarily forgot how intoxicating it was to be near him: to have his scent surrounding you, to have his arms around you, to have his eyes on you and looking at you like that. It messed with your head.

“You and Nico are so adorable,” an aunt commented while you helped yourself to a glass of water.

“Thanks,” you replied with a tight smile.

“And he’s so good with kids,” another aunt chimed in.

Nico had started a game of keep away with the kids, acting as the monkey in the middle that they were trying to keep the ball from. “Yeah, he is,” you said, your tone genuine.

More comments about Nico’s suitability came into the conversation, but you pushed them out. It was getting easier with the passing days to ignore them and all their comments because even if you weren’t together anymore, they were all true. Nico was a good person and he did treat you well before everything fell apart. He was good with kids and caring and compassionate. Hell, he’d agreed to this weekend knowing the stress it would put on him, but he did it because he was inherently good.

But damn was it going to suck breaking the news to them in a few months.

-

Emily held the latter still while you stood on the highest rung, hooking the string lights along the wooden beams across the ceiling and looping them intricately per your cousin’s instructions.

“You can do this yourself, you know,” you huffed after her third ‘no, not like that’ order.

“I’m the bride. What I say goes, remember?” She smiled sweetly below you. “Besides, you’ll be the one calling the shots soon enough when it’s your turn. You can get your revenge then.”

The ladder step slips out from underneath your right foot, and you go stumbling downwards. Emily gasps below you while you scramble to find purchase on the metal rungs, clinging your arms around the side and catching yourself on the third step.

“Oh god. Are you okay?” Emily asked, coming to steady you with her hands after you stopped moving.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you grunted. There was probably going to be a bruise on your thigh after this ordeal.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something?” Emily questioned. She paused for a moment then gasped. “Oh my god. Did Nico bring up marriage or something?”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “No. Not exactly.”

Confusion settled over her face. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” you said quickly and pulled yourself up slowly. “Do you wanna hand me the other end of the string lights?”

“What’s going on, Y/N?” Emily held the lights firmly. “Is something wrong with you and Nico?”

You hesitated, biting your lip in contemplation while she waited for a response.

“You know you can talk to me, right?”

And maybe it was the soft tone of her voice or the concerned look in her eyes, or maybe it was the combination of an exhausting week of lies and deceit taking its toll on you, but you broke at her words.

“Nico and I broke up,” you replied, slowly climbing back down until you were on solid ground.

“Broke up when? When did you guys get back together?” She asked.

“Broke up almost two months ago,” you answered. “We didn’t get back together.”

It took Emily a minute to process your words, her mouth opening to respond before shutting again. Her eyebrows drew further together and she crossed her arms. “What do you mean you didn’t get back together? What’s he doing here then?”

“I asked him to come back with me as a favor,” you said sheepishly, averting her gaze.

“Oh, honey,” she cooed softly. Grabbing your hands, she led you over to one of the dinner tables set up for the wedding and sat you down. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Everyone loves him,” you scoffed. “I already told everyone he was coming, and it’s not like I can fake a hockey emergency in the middle of the summer. I didn’t want to take any attention away from you with everyone pitying me.”

“Why’d you break up? Did he do something stupid?” Her eyes turned sharp. “Do I need to kill him for you? What did he do?”

“Nothing,” you said. Her eyes narrowed in challenge. “Promise.”

“If it was nothing then why’d you break up?”

“Honestly? I don’t know,” you sighed. “It was like we fell apart, I guess. I don’t know. We just stopped caring about each other’s lives. He stopped calling when he was away from home, and I stopped waiting up for him at night. We stopped going on dates and making time for us. It was like the spark died and we didn’t know what we were doing together anymore.”

“And he still came back? It doesn’t sound like he stopped caring about you if he did that.”

“He’s a good guy. You know him.”

“I do know Nico, and I know he’s a terrible liar. I haven’t seen him upset or uncomfortable once this week being with you. I wouldn’t have even been able to tell you two weren’t still in love.”

“Well, he loves you guys.”

“He loves us because we’re your family,” she pointed out. “What about you? Do you still care about him?”

“Of course I do.” There was no hesitation in your answer. “It’s just—”

“Weird.” You both said at the same time.

“You know, when David and I took a break, I thought we would never get back together. I was twenty and thought I had my whole life ahead of me. And looking back, the space was good for us. I don’t think we would still be together now if we hadn’t taken that year apart and figured some stuff out about ourselves,” she confessed. “You’re young, and sometimes you need time apart from someone to discover what you truly want.”

“This week with Nico has been so confusing,” you admitted. “It’s like he’s the perfect boyfriend from when we first started dating. He took care of me the other day when I got a migraine and helps my mom cook dinner and remembers small things about me. He even went to town with me to run all your dumb wedding errands and didn’t complain. The way he’s been acting this week makes me question why we even broke up in the first place.”

She hummed quietly beside you.

“What’s that look for?” You asked.

“What look?” She smirked.

“Just say what you’re thinking, Em.” You rolled your eyes. “I know you’re dying to give advice.”

“It’s not my place to tell you what to do,” Emily started cautiously, “but I do think he still cares about you.”

“But do you think Nico’s it for me?” You played with the hem of your shirt, pulling at a loose thread.

She shrugged. “Who’s to say? I’d like to think so because I love him, but I also love him for you. I’ve never seen you light up like you do when you’re around him, and he’s always looking at you like you’re the North Star; always somehow knowing exactly where you’re at in a crowded room and always gravitating towards you whether or not he realizes it. Even now he still looks at you like that,” she remarked. “If you guys find your way back to each other, it was meant to be. And if you don’t, he’s not the end of your world. Either way you’re going to be okay. I’m sorry you felt like you had to lie to everyone this week.”

It was your turn to shrug. “It hasn’t been the worst, I guess. Definitely better than dodging everyone’s ‘so what happened?’ questions. Knowing dad, he’d probably lie and say he never liked Nico to make me feel better even though I’m sure he would date Nico himself if he could.”

Emily laughed at that, nodding along to agree with your statement. “If it gets too much, feel free to dip out tomorrow whenever you want. I know everyone can be a lot sometimes.”

You squeezed her hand in acknowledgement. “Thanks, Em. We’ll be fine though. Just two more days, right?”

-

Later that evening everyone had gathered in the barn reserved for the reception, the one you helped set up earlier that day with your family. Save for the tablecloths and centerpieces, everything was in place and ready for the big day tomorrow.

The rehearsal dinner consisted of just your close family for tonight and gave both David and Emily’s side time to mingle and get to know each other before the eventual ceremony while also thanking everyone for their help in planning and setting up for the wedding.

Once the best man and maid of honor speeches were done and everyone had eaten and the rehearsal dinner was finished, more drinks started flowing and a few more impromptu speeches were given. They were nothing scripted or long, mostly just family members extending their congratulations to the happy couple, but you still weren’t prepared by the time the microphone made its way to you.

Nico patted your thigh encouragingly as you stood up.

“Emily was my best friend growing up. She snuck me desserts from the kitchen when I was a kid and taught me how to tie my shoes. She even took me shopping for my first thong when I was in high school and was too scared to ask my mother.” Everyone chuckled while your mom shook her head at you. “She was always someone I looked up to and aspired to be: a successful career woman and a loving partner.”

“I’ve known David since the first time I caught them kissing in the driveway when he dropped her off at Thanksgiving, and Emily gave me five dollars to promise not to mention anything to the family. I was thirteen,” you said. “And throughout the years, I got to watch them grow as individuals and as a couple, and I couldn’t imagine a better man for my cousin. Even when they broke up in college, Emily always told me she’d marry him, and she was right.”

“I’ve been so blessed to grow up with incredible role models and literal couple goals, and everything I could hope to have in a relationship one day is what they have. So congratulations guys, I love you both.”

You felt unexpectedly uncomfortable when your speech concluded, heat rising to every surface of your body as you collapsed back into your seat. Nico’s hand immediately reached out for yours, squeezing reassuringly as the next person took the mic from you. You were scared to meet Nico’s eyes, opting to take a large drink of your champagne before casting him a sidelong glance.

His eyes were soft and full of emotion, a tight smile on his lips as he squeezed your hand again. You okay? His face asked silently, concern etched across his features.

Not in the slightest, you thought, but you managed to send him a tight nod anyway.

“Nice season this year, by the way, Nico,” your aunt gushed after the final speech ended.

You knew it was only a matter of time before someone brought up hockey as it was a popular topic around your professional athlete boyfriend. As far as you knew growing up, your family didn’t even like hockey and two years later they were experts in all things Devils. Well, all things Devils past 2015. Your parents had even called Nico when he was promoted to captain to tell him congratulations.

“You guys are definitely heading in the right direction,” your uncle chimed in.

“Thanks.” Nico nodded his appreciation. “We still have a long way to go, but we just take it one day at a time.”

“Heartbreaking way to end the season, though. Sorry about that,” your aunt sympathized with a frown.

She was referring to all his injuries, which had remedied themselves just in time for the end of the season to roll around, but sadly it wasn’t enough for them to get into a playoff position.

“Not as heartbreaking as Y/N’s year though,” your mom said, causing you to straighten your  spine in defense.

“Damned West Coasters,” your dad huffed. “If they didn’t want my baby, they don’t deserve her.”

Nico sent you a sideways glance, a question in his eyes that he didn’t voice because if there was anything Nico learned in the last few years, it was how to read your social cues. So he played along with the family until he could corner you later.

“Yeah, it was a shame.” He took your hand comfortingly, giving it a reassuring squeeze before bringing it to his own lap.

Thankfully, the conversation didn’t linger on you much longer before your uncle was launching into a different story about something completely unrelated like the annoying neighbor he had that didn’t know how to properly trim hedges or understand property lines.

Nico’s gaze shot back to you briefly, one that you met with a sheepish expression and you understood what he was saying immediately.

We’re not done discussing this.

-

“You should’ve told me.” Nico’s soft voice jolted you back to reality, disturbing the silent night you were taking comfort in.

You escaped the party as quickly as you could to take a breather outside, finding solace in the empty patio porch out back while the party continued on inside.

“What difference would it have made?” You chuckled humorlessly.

A glance over your shoulder revealed Nico standing in the side exit, the door shut behind him and secluding you from the party. His hands were in his pockets as he leaned casually against the wood, tie undone around his neck and hair disheveled.

“It wouldn’t have changed anything either way.” You mindlessly drummed your fingertips on the railing.

The back porch overlooked nothing but vast, empty land, but the real sight you were here for were the stars. In the city, the stars were so hard to see sometimes, but out here in the country they lit up the sky like a million tiny fireflies.

“Maybe not,” he shrugged, pushing off the side to walk over to you. “That doesn’t mean you should’ve gone through it alone.”

He came to a stop next to you at the rail, mimicking your stance identically. “I didn’t even know you wanted to do all that, and I’m not even sure I fully know now what it is you wanted. You never mentioned it to me.”

It was your turn to shrug now. “I didn’t know either,” you said quietly. By the end of your relationship, it wasn’t like you and Nico talked much about what was going on in your personal lives. “Besides, I didn’t think I’d get into the program, and I didn’t. It was some respected company in California that would’ve taken up six months of my time. There was no point in getting anyone’s hopes up. I only told my mom because she always bothers me for information and telling her about the partnership seemed safer than talking about our failing relationship.”

“When did you find out?”

“Mid-April.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Even when we had all our shit going on I still cared,” he questioned.

“Honestly?”

“Always.”

“I didn’t want to bother you,” you admitted. “I knew you had your own shit going on with the team and injuries, and I didn’t want to add to your stress. It’s not like we were close at the end. It didn’t seem fair to dump my shit on you too.”

You fiddled with a piece of some chipped paint. “And I was embarrassed,” you added. “I put in all that hard work in my application for nothing. They didn’t want me. I was disappointed in myself.”

“Oh, honey,” Nico said. With one movement he took your fidgeting hand within yours.

You still refused to meet his eyes, ashamed of the tears that began welling there. It had been three months since the rejection email came in, and you thought you were over it. You really did.

Nico shifted your body to face his, bracketing you in between him and the railing. One hand tilted your chin up to meet his gaze while the other held your waist comfortingly. Those butter soft eyes of his only made the tears threaten to spill over. This is exactly why you didn’t tell him. You couldn’t handle the pity.

“And now you feel sorry for me.” You let your head fall forward to his chest in defeat.

“I feel sorry you went through that all alone.” He stroked your neck gently. “Had you told me, I would’ve said you’re not a disappointment and you shouldn’t feel embarrassed. From what I heard it was highly prestigious and selective. To be in the final round is an achievement itself. And there’s always next year, right? Other programs? You’re not a disappointment.”

They were words you needed to hear but hated to admit it. It’s one thing when your parents told you ‘oh, well you did your best sweetheart’ because they were obligated to support you, but it was another thing entirely when the love of your life was comforting you.

“Thanks,” you croaked, lifting your head slowly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“I’m sorry I was a shitty boyfriend and that you felt like you couldn’t tell me,” he apologized.

“I’m sorry I was a shitty girlfriend,” you said. “I should’ve put in more effort to fix us.”

“Hey, we were both to blame.” His thumb ran over your cheek in soothing circles. “I miss you though, you know?”

“Yeah,” you sighed wistfully, knowing the feeling well. “I do know.”

“We weren’t so bad together though, were we?”

“No, but we weren’t great either, Nico,” you chuckled. “Remember all the late nights and unread texts and missed dates?”

“I try to remember all the vacations and post-game celebrations and midday movie marathons.” He smiled weakly.

“It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t all clouds and thunderstorms either.” His index finger tilted your chin up just the slightest. “Would it be bad of me to say I wanted to kiss you right now? You looked really pretty tonight, and I don’t know if I told you that.”

“Yes.” It came out breathy and didn’t help your case in trying to dissuade him, but you made no indication to move away from him either way.

The telling smirk on his face said he knew what you were thinking. You wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss you. So you did.

Damn the consequences that would come from kissing your ex that was pretending to still be your boyfriend, he looked too good in his dress pants and baby blue button up with the top two buttons undone, giving you the slightest peek of his chain underneath. You grabbed the back of his neck with your hand and crushed your lips to his.

It was full of passion and urgency, both of you making up for the two months apart and overcome with the emotions the wedding atmosphere brought out.

Nico deepened the kiss with a slide of his tongue into your mouth, claiming you with the force of a man possessed by need. Hands dropped to squeeze your ass. “It’s probably even worse if I suggested we get out of here, huh?”

“Terrible idea,” you confirmed, taking a moment to catch your breath before going in for another kiss. “Let’s go now before someone comes looking for us.”

The short drive back to the rental house was a blur with Nico speeding along the back roads to get home as quickly as possible just in case any of your family members decided to check out of the party early.

You shuffled to your shared room in the dark, bumping into the wall nearly three times on the way there, and locked the door with a click behind you. Walking Nico backwards, you knocked him onto the bed and clambered on top of him in a frenzy while working your fingers on the rest of his buttons.

His hand guided your mouth back to his as you worked on his shirt, shoving it down his arms after untucking it from his pants and throwing it to the side carelessly. The hem of your dress rode up your thighs as you straddled Nico’s lap, shamelessly grinding yourself along the bulge of his pants to pull a pained groan from him.

“We should probably talk about this,” Nico managed to grit out, eyes casting upwards towards the ceiling in agony.

“We can talk later,” you said, tugging the rest of your dress up over your hips to give you unrestricted access to rub your barely covered pussy against him. “I need you so bad.”

Nico was hard as granite under you, and you watched him visibly gulp as he considered his options. The more logical part of his brain knew you should discuss sleeping together before doing it and the repercussions it would have on your relationship, but the reckless part of his brain couldn’t get over how beautiful you looked above him and how good you felt on him.

Future Nico could deal with the fallout. Present Nico needed to be inside you before he combusted.

You raised an eyebrow in question, waiting for his go-ahead.

“Fuck, okay. We’ll talk later.” Your hands immediately went to his belt buckle and zipper. “You’re still on birth control, right?”

You nodded your response, taking his cock out of his pants and giving it a couple tentative squeezes. Nico gripped your hips tightly as he released a loud moan, and you gave him another leisurely pump before rising above him, shoving your panties to the side, and lining him up with your entrance.

Nico guided you onto his length until he was seated to the hilt and your thighs made contact with his. You palmed his shoulders as pleasure rang through your body.

Fingertips dug into your ass when you tried to move. “Give me a second.” His voice was raspy and breathless. “It’s been a couple months, and fuck, you’re tight.”

You tried not to think about him not having sex in a couple of months and the implication that he probably hadn’t fucked anyone since you, but your walls reflexively clenched around him at his words.

Instead, you busied yourself with another kiss, tangling your fingers in his soft locks and taking his slack mouth in yours.

You waited for Nico to shift beneath you to let you know he was ready before rolling your hips forward and off his cock just to sink back down when you rocked back. Synchronous moans left both of you at the drag of Nico’s cock along your walls, and his hands found their home on your hips to help move you the way he wanted.

It’d been so long for you, since you and Nico broke up, that every slide of his cock into you had you spiraling towards that edge in record time; especially when one hand grasped your tit and worked your nipple between two fingers and the other hand fell to stroke your clit in determined circles.

“You close?” He asked, lips brushing against your ear when you leaned down for another kiss.

You gave him a tight nod, eyes falling shut while you focused on the exquisite feeling of him filling you up. Picking up your pace, you bounced harder atop him to bring yourself closer to the edge. A few more thrusts had you cresting that hill, an unrestrained whine mixed with a moan leaving you as you came on Nico’s cock, your walls fluttering and pulsating around him while the thumb on your clit strummed you perfectly.

After your grip on his chest loosened, Nico was flipping you onto your back in a smooth movement, and he hitched a leg over his hip while he pounded you this way. His breath was heavy in your ear as he chased his high, taking only a few more thrusts before he halted and then came inside you.

His moans always sounded so pretty when he came, and mixed with the way he lightly bit your shoulder as he finished, it sparked a second, smaller orgasm to wash over you.

Once Nico came back down, he captured your lips in another kiss; this one softer and slower than your previous ones. Then he slid out of your dripping cunt and rolled to the side in a boneless heap.

You both laid in silence, catching your breaths while you each waited for the other to say something first—to burst the euphoric sex bubble and have reality set back in, but it never came. Wordlessly, you got up from bed and used the bathroom to dress for bed. Nico followed in your steps when you climbed back under the covers and came back shirtless and in a pair of clean boxers before tucking himself in beside you.

Neither of you said a thing as Nico folded himself around your back, nestling himself nice and cozy against you and wrapping an arm around your middle to pull you in deep.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he whispered with a kiss on your shoulder.

“Goodnight, Nico,” you repeated back, making yourself comfortable in his hold.

‘We’ll talk tomorrow’ was the unsaid conclusion you both came to that neither of you minded. But for tonight, you’d enjoy what you had.

-

Emily stole your breath walking down the aisle, the long white train of her wedding dress catching the red rose petals as she drew closer to the altar. You all raised out of your seats when the music started playing, standing with Nico in a row near the front with your brother and his family on your other side.

The weather was perfect for an outdoor July wedding, the clouds providing just enough cover to keep the heat from becoming sweltering. A long white carpet extended through the aisle that led to a beautiful floral altar overlooking a large expanse of fields.

Nico stood on the edge of the row, giving him a view of everything: the bride, the altar, David tearing up underneath it, but the most important view for Nico was you.

Your skin glowed in the afternoon rays, which also illuminated the pale yellow dress you wore, transforming you into sunlight itself. He couldn’t help but let his eyes flicker back to you despite his efforts to watch Emily walk down the aisle, but nothing compared to how pretty you looked beside him.

He was even more grateful when you were finally seated and you took his hand in yours, resting them both on your thigh. Your intertwined fingers rested comfortably throughout the ceremony, and at one point you even allowed your head to fall on Nico’s shoulder as your eyes filled with tears at their sentimental vows.

Nico produced a tissue he had tucked away for this specific purpose, handing it to you and watching adoringly as you blotted your eyes carefully. Maybe he even took a risk and kissed your temple softly when you were too busy cheering at their walk back down the aisle.

There were a lot of questions unanswered and more problems that needed to be resolved after last night’s slip-up, but Nico was just thankful you didn’t run screaming from him when you woke up in his arms this morning. In fact, you indulged him in a few minutes of conscious cuddling before pulling away to get ready for the day.

And maybe he was seeing things, but Nico swore your stare lingered on him for longer than normal over breakfast pancakes and that you nudged his foot with yours under the table, but he could’ve also been delirious and shamelessly hopeful.

Even at the reception, you sat closer to him at the table than you did the night before, occasionally letting your elbows knock together or letting your thighs brush momentarily. You didn’t shy away from his grasp like you normally did when you mingled with other guests, seamlessly introducing him as your boyfriend to strangers and leaning in closer to his touch. And when Nico pulled you onto the dancefloor, you twirled happily in his arms for three whole songs, whatever awkwardness that had been surrounding you all week was gone for those ten glorious minutes.

“Stop staring at my cake.” Nico laughed. “Just go get another piece.”

After burning off all the calories from dinner, you settled back down for dessert and easily tore through your own slice of cake. And Nico knew you had your sights set on his slice now.

“You took the largest piece. I’m not hungry enough for a whole slice. I just want one more bite.” You batted your eyelashes at him. “Please.”

Nico rolled his eyes but scooped up a chunk of cake on his fork and held it in front of your face. You gladly opened your mouth to take the bite. He watched with heated eyes as you licked the remaining frosting off your lips, and without overthinking his next move, he leaned forward and captured your lips in a kiss.

It was chaste and sweet and only lasted a second before Nico pulled back, the sweet taste of icing now coating his mouth.

“Nico…” Your voice was strained, your eyes downcast.

“Let’s take a walk,” he said, standing up abruptly.

The night was winding down already, a couple people had already left the reception and those who remained were well on the way to getting drunk. You looked around hesitantly.

“Come on.” Nico held his hand out for you to take. “No one will mind us leading a little early. Besides, we have some stuff to talk about.”

“I guess we do, don’t we?” You took his hand and let him lead you away.

Nico gave you the opportunity to say goodbye to Emily and David, but you skipped on telling the rest of your family lest they try to convince you to stay.

The July air had chilled significantly since the afternoon, but it was a welcome cool compared to the stifling air in the barn.

Nico’s hand still held yours as he steered you towards the backyard area, leading you down a cobblestone trail that continued into a thick copse of trees.

“I don’t think this is the way back to the house,” you commented as you traveled further into the woods, the trail illuminated by the occasional lamppost stuck in the ground.

“I figured this would be easier than trying to talk it out at the house with your parents and family there. And I found this cool spot when I was helping your dad set up yesterday.”

The destination came into view just a few short minutes later, a small wooden gazebo in a garden clearing, completely vacant and adorned in hanging lanterns. In the middle rested a large bench.

You both sat on the old bench, close enough to still hold hands but not nearly as close as you were back at the reception. The chirping of cicadas engulfed you from all sides while you sat in silence, internally debating how to address the situation.

“So I was—”

“We should—”

You nodded for Nico to go first.

“Last night was incredible,” he started, glancing down to your intertwined fingers. “For me, at least. This whole week with you has been great, really. Your family, the wedding, you, everything. I wanted to know if it was as good for you as it was for me.”

“Yeah. It was,” you admitted with a sigh. “It has me all different kinds of confused if I’m being honest.”

Nico’s chin tilted down in agreement. “Yeah. I know.”

Another silence filled the air between you.

“I think this week made me realize how much I missed you. How much I missed us,” you said. “And not us at the end where we didn’t even want to be around each other but us before everything went to shit.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever missed anyone as much as I’ve missed you these past months,” he confessed. “What do we do? What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. We can’t go on like it is now, and we certainly can’t go back to how it was. I don’t know what other option is left.”

“Then we’ll start over.”

“Nico…” you scoffed. “We already know everything about each other. We can’t just start over.”

“Who says we can’t? You said it yourself we can’t exist like this and we can’t go back. The only other option is to start over. It’ll be our version of a do-over,” he said.

“And how would that even work?”

He shrugged. “We start from square one. Start with the dates and weekly phone calls and go on from there. I’ll give it some time before I ask you to be my girlfriend and then you’ll start spending the night. Slowly you’ll infiltrate my apartment like you did the first time by leaving some extra clothes around and bringing your own throw blankets.” He grinned as he reminisced. “We’ll do it all over and do it right this time. We’ll talk when shit gets hard and not let other obligations monopolize all our time.”

Nico lifted his arm to sling it around your shoulder, all the while keeping your hands connected. You leaned into his embrace and rested your head on his shoulder.

“What happens if I want to apply to another program that takes me away from New Jersey?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but now that I know that’s something you want, we can work out a plan. God knows I have enough money to fly you back whenever you want, and we’ll always have the summer. It’ll be a temporary problem that’ll require a temporary solution. Past that? Who knows, but we can figure it out.”

“You sound pretty confident for a guy who ignored my text messages for days on end just a few months ago,” you chuckled.

He laughed at your joke and pressed a kiss to your temple. “I’ve done a lot of growing up,” he teased. “But it’s like you said with David and Emily. They needed their time apart, but you always knew they were meant for each other. I think you’re meant for me and maybe that was supposed to be our time apart.”

“How philosophical and romantic of you,” you remarked with a smirk.

“It’s the wedding vibes,” he replied. “And don’t act like you weren’t crying earlier at the vows.”

“Only if you admit they made you tear up as well.” You had seen the slight sheen of tears in his eyes after the ceremony.

Nico elected to ignore your comment. “So what do you say?”

“To starting over?” He hummed in acknowledgement. “You really think we can do it?”

“I don’t know, to be honest, but I think we have a much better chance than last time. And we’ll never know until we try, and I really want to try with you.”

You gave it a moment to ruminate. There was no doubt it wouldn’t be easy, especially since you knew that you did want to leave New Jersey at some point, but somehow even that fact didn’t bring you down. Maybe knowing everything you knew from last time would set you on a better path this time around. And there was no way to know unless you tried.

“Okay,” you said softly. “Let’s give it another try.”

“Really? You want to?”

“Yeah. I do. I want this with you.”

You looked up at him then, gazes connecting and a mutual compromise was reached. One more try.

“Should we get back to the party?” You asked, after a considerable pause of longing stares.

“Not yet,” Nico answered, and then he leaned forward to peck you sweetly. “I wanna spend a little more time here with you. We can count this as our first date.”

[ahockeywrites]

you could try one ig edit posting for nico hischier & sister hughes please please please 😍 i love ur edits

Your wish is my command :) recs are open :)

ynhughes: serving on the ice, streets and the sheets

tagged: nicohischier

_quinnhughes: ew

↳jackhughes: ew

↳lhughes_06: ew

↳ynhughes: wtf bros

↳_quinnhughes: didn’t need to know that sis

user101: eurgh, he’s so hot

liked by ynhughes

nicohischier: :)

tagged: ynhughes

ynhughes: happy wife, happy life

↳_quinnhughes: I’m sorry what???

↳jackhughes: yo bro, you might be my captain, but I’m throwing hands

↳lhughes_06: what jackhughes said

↳nicohischier: guys, there’s just the one ring there… PLUS I ASKED YOU ALL??

yourbestfriend: he did so well *cries*

↳ynhughes: I know you helped him pick it out 🙄

↳nicohischier: so what? ynhughes?

↳ynhughes: nothing hubby 😘 nicohischier

user5739: wedding of the century incoming

[hookingminor]

omg "do you think the moon is jealous of how pretty you are?" with tipsy nico ???

“Do you think the moon is jealous of how pretty you are?”

-

You blamed PK for the drunken mess of your boyfriend. Mixed with Nico’s already lightweight tolerance and constant negging from PK, it didn’t take much to get him drunk, and you cursed PK’s name the entire ride to the bar.

The call came an hour and a half ago from Nico asking if you’d come pick him up soon, interrupting your own night out at a friend’s house. It was decided that before Nico went out, one of the guys would drop him off back home, but after one too many drinks, your boyfriend was ready to tap out early.

Luckily, he was more coherent in person than he was on the phone when your friend dropped you off at the bar, and you presumed someone had been pumping him full of water while they awaited your arrival.

“Y/N—” PK opened his arms for a hug.

“Uh-uh,” you tsked, avoiding his body and moving directly to Nico. “Sweet talk won’t work this time, Subban.”

“It was an honest mistake! Cap can’t handle his liquor,” he shouted his defense but you ignored him.

You found your boyfriend sitting in a booth, a glass of water between his hands with hooded eyes. “Oh boy,” you sighed wearily.

Nico’s head perked up at your voice. “Y/N.” He smiled immediately when his glazed-over gaze met yours. “What’re you doing here?”

“You called me, remember?”

It was clear Nico didn’t remember, but he had no protests when you led him out of the bar and towards the direction of his apartment, which was, thankfully, a short fifteen minutes walk away. Well, it’d be closer to twenty-five with the pace Nico was going.

Your boyfriend kept tripping over the sidewalk every few minutes, getting lost in the night-sky above you and forgetting how to move his feet.

“Babe, we gotta keep going,” you reprimanded him for the fifth time.

While he was stumbling occasionally, he wasn’t incapacitated by any means, but he still had to lean on you for support. His arm slung over your shoulders and yours wrapped around his torso, you steered him along.

“The sky looks so pretty tonight,” Nico said, letting his eyes focus on the pitch black night again. Pitch black except for the few scattered stars and crescent moon. “Do you think the moon is jealous of how pretty you are? You’re so pretty, you know? The prettiest person in the entire world.” He finished his sentence by placing a sloppy kiss on your cheek.

The compliment had your stomach twisting at its sweetness, and you squeezed Nico in response. “You’re the cutest boyfriend ever, do you know that?”

“Yes,” he answered confidently, and you laughed at his inebriated honesty.

“I’m going to feel like shit tomorrow, aren’t I?” Nico asked a few minutes outside his apartment.

“Yeah, babe, you are.”

“Never listening to PK again,” he groaned.

“Should’ve never listened to PK to begin with,” you chuckled.

[hookingminor]

isn't it strange? (coming soon) - nico hischier (teaser)

a/n: little teaser/prologue for my nico series that will be coming soon after I finish up my josty one (hopefully soon but my body has been ridden with sickness and I'm dying, so sorry guys) this is just a prologue to set the stage and part 1 will pick up where this leaves off :)

word count: 1.2k

summary: what's the worst that could happen when your ex joins you for a wedding back home?

loosely used the song strange by celeste for some inspo :)

-

There was nothing more humiliating than calling to ask your ex boyfriend to attend a wedding back home with you because you were too embarrassed to tell your family that you’d broken up with the man they all adored. It would just lead to questions of ‘why?’ and pitiful looks as they tried to be supportive, and you didn’t want the attention on you. Not when your cousin was getting married. You wanted to disappear into the background and just enjoy a few days with your family.

In all honesty, you were too busy mourning your break up with Nico that you forgot all about the wedding until your cousin texted you a week before you were due back home saying she was so excited to see Nico and you again. Nico and you. Nico’s name was intentionally put first in the text message because your family loved him that much, even your extended family.

Your heart dropped at the message when you read it, and you had no idea how to explain to them that you’d called it quits. It wasn’t either of your faults, or maybe it was both of your faults, but things started fizzling out recently and that fire had died down. 

You really hoped the end of the hockey season would rekindle that love and that maybe it was just the stress of the season taking its toll on you, but two months into the summer nothing had changed. He spent his time training or back in Switzerland, and you had no desire to accompany him. You spent your time working and with friends, and Nico had no desire to ask for some of your time. You’d both been pulling away since the new year started, and you found yourself enjoying the time alone when Nico was away on road trips rather than waiting in agony for him to be back home. Calls started coming in less frequently, and neither of you worked to remedy it.

It really was nobody’s fault. Maybe you both got too comfortable or too busy to put in the effort, but when June rolled around, you could both feel the end was near. And your premonitions came true when Nico showed up on a Wednesday afternoon saying that you needed to talk.

You didn’t cry when he said he thought you should break up because you were expecting it. Hell, you had been considering breaking up with him yourself. It wasn’t messy and there were no screaming fights or tears of passion, but you were still heartbroken. Being with Nico took up the last two years of your life.

Two years that consisted of trips together, meeting each other’s families, celebrating holidays together, countless hockey games and rough nights, sleepovers and early breakfasts; it hit you a lot harder than you thought it would when it was all said and done. But even after all of that, there was no resentment. Only sorrow filled you while you contemplated your failed relationship. Two years was a lot of time to get to know someone. To fall in love with someone.

And you did love Nico. Greatly. You just weren’t quite sure if you were still in love with him, but you cared for him deeply and it still felt like a part of your heart had been carved out and taken with him when he shut your front door behind him.

Needless to say, you weren’t excited to ask him if he’d still be willing to fly back home with you with the tickets you’d bought a year ago when you were first alerted of the wedding. The worst thing he could do was say no, and you knew Nico wouldn’t be cruel or rude about it, but it was embarrassing nonetheless.

“Y/N?” Nico’s confusion was clear when he answered the phone. He didn’t expect to be hearing from you in this manner. “Is everything okay?”

Your stomach flipped at his immediate concern. That was Nico, always kind and caring and putting others before himself even if you weren’t on the best of terms. “Everything is fine,” you reassured him quickly. “I’m sorry to call you out of the blue like this. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine. How are you?” 

No better time than the present to just jump right into it. “Good, good…” You started hesitantly. “I hate to do this to you, but I need to ask you something… If you’d be willing to do a favor for me?”

There was no pause before Nico responded. “What is it?”

“My cousin’s wedding is next weekend, the one we bought tickets for last year, and I haven’t gotten around to telling my family that we’re, uh, not together anymore. I don’t really want to make the entire week about me and have them worried, so would you be willing to still go with me? It’s just, well, you know how my family is and how much they like you. We don’t have to do anyth⁠—”

“Of course I’ll come with you.” His easy agreement had you stopping abruptly.

“Are—Are you sure? I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do, and I know it’ll be awkward but—”

“It’s okay,” he chuckled across the line, cutting you off again. “We’re not embittered exes who can’t stand the sight of each other. You know I love your family, and I still care about you. I’d be happy to spend the week back home with you.”

“You won’t feel weird pretending that we’re still dating?” You bit your lip in worry.

“It’ll be fine,” he replied. “I’m sure we’ll be busy for most of the week anyway, right? I can manage five days.”

“We’ll have to share a room.”

“I’m quite aware of that.”

“My family is going to keep asking intrusive questions.”

“After two years I’m used to it,” he laughed.

A silence fell between you two.

“You’re really sure you’re okay with this?” You questioned again.

“I promise you I’m okay with it,” Nico confirmed. “What time is the flight again?”

“Eleven in the morning next Wednesday.”

You and Nico made plans for him to swing by and pick you up at eight that morning to head to the airport together before he asked a few questions about your family, any updates he needed to be aware of since he hadn’t seen them in six months, things he needed to pack and be prepared for, the color of your dress for the wedding so he could match his tie, and he even asked if you wanted your usual breakfast before flying out.

Everything in your body missed hearing his voice when the call finally ended. In your month apart, you’d been so busy dissecting where you went wrong in the relationship that you hadn’t focused on how much you missed Nico. It was a deep yearning, a nostalgic feeling taking you to happier times, and when you heard his laugh it felt like a part of you was coming home.

Maybe this week wouldn’t be so bad after all. If anything, maybe you could actually come out of this situation as friends. 

[hookingminor]

state of grace (taylor’s version) - nico hischier

these are the hands of fate you're my achilles heel this is the golden age of something good and right and real

A loud commotion had you startling awake in a panic. Your first instinct was to reach across the bed for Nico, but your hand met nothing but cold sheets. Your heart rate spikes when you hear another clatter, and you scramble out of the bed and carefully open the door.

No lights were on in the apartment, but your fear only lasted a few more seconds after you heard your boyfriend mutter a pained ‘shit.’ Your head falls against the door frame with a relieved sigh before you exit the bedroom to find Nico.

You flick on the hallway light and stumble into the kitchen, catching Nico, quite literally, with his hand in a cookie jar.

“What are you doing? It’s after three in the morning.” Your voice was thick with sleep and your eyes hadn’t fully adjusted to the light, but you could spot the tipped over jar and disorganized chairs you assumed he kicked on his trek out here. “Why aren’t there any lights on?”

“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you,” he explained. “I just wanted to get a snack.”

“A snack this late? And sugar nonetheless? What’s going on?” Nico rarely ate sweets during the season and when he did, it was a tell-tale sign he was in some sort of crisis. He also slept like a baby most nights, especially by your side, so it wasn’t normal for him to be up this late wandering around.

“Nothing’s going on. I’m just hungry.” He took a large bite of a peanut butter cookie.

Slowly, you approached him and inserted yourself between him and the counter. You wrapped your arms around his middle and flattened him with a stern look. “You haven’t touched these cookies since I made them,” you stated. “What’s wrong, baby?”

Nico hated when you cornered him like this and forced him to look you in the eyes because he knew he couldn’t lie to you. He didn’t want to lie to you. So he always avoided it when he could because he hated bothering you with his problems.

“I’m just sick of sitting on the sidelines all the time, that’s all,” he confessed after a moment, shoving the remaining half of the cookie in his mouth and averting your gaze.

You frown at his answer and pull him closer. “How long have you been thinking about this?”

“A few days.” He shrugged. “Since my latest injury.”

“Nico, you’ve been home for nearly a week,” you sighed. “You should’ve said something.”

“You know I don’t like bothering you with my stuff,” he replied half-heartedly.

“And you know it doesn’t bother me,” you said. “I love you and want you to share things with me. You want me to do the same, right?” Nico nodded.

“Then tell me when you get stuck in your head, and I’ll help pull you out of it. Now what’s on your mind?”

“It just fucking sucks,” he said in a rush. “I’m supposed to be leading this team, and I can’t even play a few games without being taken out for some type of injury. I’m exhausted, babe. I just want to fucking play with the guys and be the captain they chose me for. I feel like I’m messing all this up for them.”

“You’re doing just fine, Nico. You’ve only been doing this for about a year now. There are bound to be some rough patches, but it doesn’t make you any less of a captain because you physically can’t be there sometimes,” you said. “You’re always at the rink when you can’t skate and go over tapes and all the other hockey semantics I don’t quite understand. Your team knows you’re there for them.”

“I know,” he admitted. “I just want to be healthy, and it sucks.”

“I know,” you sympathized. “Just focus on yourself right now and when you’re back next week, you’ll be ready to go. You’re doing all you can, Nico. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“I love you, you know that?” He said, draping his arms around your shoulders. He pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“Yes, I know,” you mused. “And I love you too. Stop carrying this all by yourself.”

“I’m working on it,” Nico whispers into your skin. “You make it easier, though. You’re like my Achilles heel, I can’t keep anything from you. Then again, I’ve always had a soft spot for you.” You couldn’t help but smile.

That much was true. In your entire time of knowing Nico, before you started dating and during, he could never hide anything from you. It was like all his walls came down around you even when you weren’t trying to break in. Just the slightest pestering on your end had him confessing things he’d never told anyone else. His entire heart and soul were in your hands, they always have been.

“Come on then,” you said. “Skipping out on sleep isn’t gonna help your worrying. And I can’t sleep without you.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” he smirks. “I am sorry for waking you up, though.”

“You can make up for it by sleeping in late with me tomorrow.”

He sighs deeply. “You drive a hard bargain, babe, but I think I can agree to those terms.”

[hookingminor]

#18 dialogue with nico hischier from the holiday prompt list! please :))

18. “You have snow on your eyelashes, looks cute.”

send me requests :)

-

Snow was falling freely by the time you exited the Christmas market, arm linked with Nico’s while your free hand held a way too expensive hot chocolate.

Your first date had gone as perfectly as any first date could. The entire night passed by with easy conversation and light-hearted jokes and you’d even convinced him to buy the most ridiculous looking hat a local vendor was selling. You snagged a few ornaments yourself to decorate your tree at home with later along with a homemade pie to bring to your friend’s Christmas party.

Nico convinced you to skate with him for a solid half hour despite your protests that you couldn’t skate, though you managed to make it through with only falling once and Nico made it up to you by treating you to the decadent and famous hot chocolate before you left.

He amused you with family holiday stories as he walked you the fifteen minutes to your apartment, and you exchanged a few of your own, delving into the family tradition you had of drunk karaoke. By the time you reached your complex, you were actually sad the night was coming to an end. You hadn’t so much enjoyed a date in what felt like years.

The hot chocolate was long gone when you slowed to a stop in front of your door, and you tried to conceal the dejected look on your face when you turned to face Nico.

White flakes of snow clung to his black beanie, his cheeks holding a warm blush from the cold.

“I had a really good time tonight,” Nico said, a tender smile on his face.

“Me too,” you agreed. “We should do this again sometime.”

“Yeah?” He asked, hope laced in his voice. “I’d like that a lot.”

“What is it?” Nico asked a moment later after you’d fallen silent, noticing an odd look on your face.

“Nothing,” you replied. “You have snow on your eyelashes, looks cute.” Instinctually, he raised a hand to brush them off, but you stopped him before he could.

“It’s cute,” you repeated, holding his gloved hand in yours.

“Cute enough for me to ask for a kiss goodnight?” He asked, pulling your body closer to his by your hand.

A smile tugged at the corner of your lips at his cheesy line, but you allowed your arms to wrap around his waist and he held you close.

“You’re lucky you’re cute enough for me to overlook that horrible line,” you laughed.

“I gotta work with what I got,” Nico chuckled, lifting a hand to cradle the back of your head.

He waited for you to lean in first before closing the rest of the distance and softly pressing his lips to yours. You could faintly make out the mint chapstick he’d reapplied numerous times throughout the night in the kiss. Nico kept it chaste but sweet, pulling back after a few short moments.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?” He said, nuzzling his nose against yours.

“Okay,” You whispered back.

Nico leaned back in for another brief kiss and pressed one last one on your nose before stepping out of your embrace.

“Tomorrow,” he called out as he backtracked down the sidewalk.

“Tomorrow,” you nodded, a dopey grin on your face and an unfamiliar tingle in your lips as you watched him disappear around the corner.

You unlocked the door and made your way up to your apartment, your smile never fading as you unpacked your ornaments and hung them on your tree. As you dressed for bed, the pinging of your phone momentarily distracted you.

Nico: So I lied

Nico: I couldn’t wait until tomorrow

Nico: When can I see you again?

You tucked yourself into bed, shooting messages back and forth between Nico until you both fell asleep. Something about him had you looking forward not only to the next day but every day after that.

[hookingminor]

Nico looks like he would love having you cum from riding his thigh but only if you let him hold your hip and control your rhythm while you be a good girl hold on to him and let him do the work

Like ALWAYS wants to be the one to make you cum

putting more below the cut bc this is nsfw fr

nico isn't like controlling controlling in bed but he likes to have control and have a say over when you orgasm like he's not one to hang it over your head (usually) but he likes to tell you what to do to get yourself or himself off like maybe he doesn't have enough time to thoroughly fuck you before leaving for his workout and he's got those basketball shorts on and you just really need to cum so he's pulling you on his lap and guiding your hips against him while you chase your high but he's setting the pace and tempo and it's not quite fast enough to get you there so you're dropping your head into his neck and crying out for him to let you cum and he's whispering encouragements in your ear bc you can come like this and he's determined to get you there at this pace so he just talks you through it until you're soaking his thigh while you clench around nothing and mewling into his neck and he just rocks your hips through it

[hookingminor]

Nico just screams breeding kink to me ngl

guyssssssssss. Whyyy would you say that to me when you KNOWWWW breeding kink is my middle name???? Like do you want me dead,,,,?

putting this below a cut bc I'm sorry

like nico can be rough like let's get that out of the way he's not opposed to hitting it from behind and pulling your hair or wrapping a hand around your throat BUT his absolute favorite way to take you is always slow and deep and intimate like he wants your hands intertwined and your leg wrapped around his waist and maybe a pillow underneath your back to tilt your hips just right while he fucks you nice and deep like his thrusts are punctuated and his fingers are digging into your thigh so it's still rough in a sense but he just loves having you that deep BECAUSEEEE he loves to come deep inside you like stuffed to the brim with his cum until it's leaking out of you and then he's fucking it back into you with his fingers (or his cock if you give him 10 minutes to recover) like he knows he should clean you up afterwards and that you should shower but he just wants to keep you in his bed like that and filled with his cum always like yeah that's just how he loves to fuck you deep and hard and slow with a hand on your stomach so you can feel him there and just leave you full afterwards while he soaks in the sight of his cum dripping out he's not coming anywhere if it's not inside your cunt

[hookingminor]

going wine tasting with nico and when he's a little bit wine drunk he starts telling you how much he adores you 🥺

nico is for surreeeee a lightweight like poor baby cannot hold his alcohol I imagine he gets really clingy and affectionate and just hangs on your every word like you're literally getting a tour of a magnificent vineyard and nico is just making moon eyes at you the whole time barely even processing the fields just looking at you like a lovesick fool and telling you how pretty you are etc etc he's a drunk lil idiot

[hookingminor]

I want nico to blindfold me and whisper german in my ear pls

ok but say you don't know any german and pick up on stuff through nico but of course the first things you really absorb is the dirty talk (I do not know german so I'm not gonna insert poorly translated stuff) but he's calling you terms of endearment and saying filthy things so when you're finally able to repeat some of the stuff, it's your guys' signal to get the fuck out of wherever you're at so he can rail you like just imagine whispering dirty german into his ear at a dinner with your hand on his thigh??? imagine you forget that maybe there's another player on the team who also speaks german and you say something maybe a little too loud about how wet you are and how badly you need him in german and the teammate just chokes on his drink and his eyes bug out and you shrink in embarrassment??? but nico's laughing about it??? then dragging you out the door thirty seconds later with an innocuous comment to the teammate telling him to keep his mouth shut????

[hookingminor]

OH GOD I NEED TO KISS NICO'S THIGHS, STAT

men are literally so fucking easy and I fully believe nico is sooooo easy especially when it comes to thigh kisses before a bj (like any kiss (re: neck kisses) he's folding on the spot) but thigh kisses before a bj does him in like the anticipation and build up of you kissing his thighs and teasing him beforehand is probably enough to get him to come imo

[hookingminor]

This is so random but ive had this thought for like two days and i have to tell someone.

Nico gives me the vibes that he would love to travel with you because, besides the fact that he loves you, he has a goal to fuck you in every country.

def seems like the kind of quiet freak to have a sex bucket list actually that he doesn't really tell u about at first until u stumble upon the notes app in his phone and see check marks by things but yeah he loves vacations w you bc it's basically synonymous for sex fest and he just cannot get enough of you on vacation idk what it is that air just hits different for him and he has to fuck you like what else is he to do ??

[hookingminor]

kinda want nico to rail me while I'm wearing a sundress because he couldn't keep his hands off me

obsessed w the idea of nico being quite shy and reserved when it comes to your relationship like he's not one at all to talk about the details of your relationship especially in the bedroom and he's pretty quiet on the pda end usually until the time comes where you're out at a team bbq in a sundress that keeps riding up with the wind and showing off your thighs so he always finds himself tugging you into his side bc he has to have his hands on you or if you're sitting at a table his fingers are playing with the hem and slipping underneath and no one's ever seen nico so touchy before and when y'all dip out early bc he just has to have you but he isn't gonna fuck you in his teammates bathroom everyone knows why

which then leads to him probably bending you over his car the second you're parked in the garage back home because that's as far as his restraint would allow him

[hookingminor]

A THOT...massaging Nico's thighs after he has a rough game and you can tell that it's really helping him relax and feel better but ALSO...turning him on...👀👁👀

def starts with him on his stomach and you're massaging the backs of his thighs before he's flipping over and you're doing the fronts and every time your hands inch higher he can't help but get turned on bc you're getting closer and closer to his dick and maybe you accidentally brush against it bc it's right there and he can't take it anymore so he's pulling you up to straddle him which eventually leads to riding him (and you do all the work bc his thighs are sore and he needs to rest) 😵‍💫🫠😩

[hookingminor]

Just Nico's entire existence gets me in my feels. But um also like thinking about him leaning in closer and closer and then blushing and smiling before he goes in for a kiss...yeah

😵‍💫 he def gives off the vibes of guy who gets lost in your eyes while you're talking and he just can't help himself from leaning in closer as you keep talking until he's basically breathing the same air as you and you're like ? is something wrong and he's just got the dumbest lovestruck look on his face and he waits until you've finished talking (bc he's respectful) to kiss you senseless like he just loves getting lost in your eyes he's gotta kiss you