#gabe looks like he just caught me doing something bad and he's like “HA! GOT YOU BITCH!!” i'm sorry gabe it will happen again 😔👌✨

[zaceouiswriting]

The Football Stud

Character: Gabe x male reader, (mentioned) Scott McCall

Universe: Teen wolf

Warnings: Smut: degradation, humiliation, choking

Author's Note: I finally finished one of my smaller works, and for some reason, it had to be smut—though that's a problem for another time. Since I haven't written smut in a while, I'd love to hear from you all if it's okay and if you liked it as much as I hope you would.

You were bent over the counter by the sinks in one of the school's bathrooms, your head pressed against the surface by strong, immobile hands. At the same time, hard thrusts from behind slammed you in a harsh rhythm against the same counter. You would surely be bruised soon enough, but you didn't care.

"Fuck," a deep voice yells from behind you. "Why are you still so damn tight?" he asks, a smug tone in his already arrogant voice.

That was a good question. He's been forcing himself on you for months now, ever since he caught you staring in the locker room after gym class one day. You couldn't take your eyes off his perfectly muscular body or the big, thick, limp penis he unashamedly showed off to everyone before you got in the shower.

Back then, you never thought he would fuck you, or any guy, for that matter. But you'd be lying if you said you didn't like it in some ways; feeling his hands all over your body, his sharp, brutal eyes constantly staring at you, even in class, only for him to tap your desk in the middle of class as he passes by, signaling you to follow him so he can fuck you wherever he wanted.

"You fucking faggots are all the same!" he continues, his humiliating, degrading words driving you to the brink of lust-fueled madness. "You stare at me and drool over my body like I'm just a piece of meat," his words become a little slurred, "but I'm not like you, nothing more than a hole that needs to be filled by a real man!"

You couldn't deny his words. After all, you were desperately attracted to him. You were in the same class your entire school career, watching him grow from this scrawny, whiny little boy to this handsome, muscular flirt. Rumor has it that he's a real stud who apparently fucked his way through the cheerleading squad and most of the other girls in school, something you never could have imagined.

Even though he is brutal to you, you feel honored to be the one this man completely destroys. And even though you are the same age as him, you don't feel like you deserve to be called a "man" compared to him.

While you were lost in thought, the other suddenly grabbed the back of your head and pulled it upwards so that you had to look at him through the mirror while your upper body was still pressed to the counter surface by his big, strong other hand.

"Look at yourself!" he commanded, his face grim, as if he were doing something disgusting, but his rhythmic thrusts did not let up or slow down in any way. His rock-hard cock pulsed violently against your inner walls. "What do you see?"

When you finally did as he commanded, you saw your eyes red with tears, your mouth wide open, and your head was in complete euphoria. The sheer size of his cock alone gave you more than just pleasure, although it still hurt a little, but not as bad as the first time when he almost ripped you to pieces when he fucked you dry. You couldn't walk for nearly a week after that.

If you were honest with yourself, you felt and looked pathetic for letting yourself be taken advantage of by this stud who will surely play college football and maybe even go pro. Yet all you cared about was being his toy, even though you wanted more. You were satisfied that you were at least something to him, even if it was just his sperm vault that was regularly filled with his hot cum. But as a side effect, he was also fucking your brains out at the same time, which made you wonder who was really taking advantage of whom.

A sharp pain, worse than the cock trying to stretch your inner walls, snaps you out of your thoughts. As your eyes focus, you see a large red mark on your face. It's not the first time he's hit you, but you've been a good boy, just like he wants, so this time, it hurt you more than just physically.

"Don't look at me like an innocent slut!" His harsh words make you even sadder. Suddenly, he holds you tight, grabs your hair roughly, and pulls you towards him. "You know I hate it when you don't look and act like my little whore, so what's wrong?"

With tears in your eyes, you didn't want to, but you spoke anyway. "Why did you hit me?"

With a look of contempt you've never seen before in his mysterious dark orbs, he looks down at you like you're an idiot. He rolls his eyes in annoyance; it's almost playful, only to push you back to the surface harshly, immediately picking up his rhythm but thrusting into you harder than before. He was so brutal that you cried out involuntarily, only to see him grinning like a psychopath in the mirror; then you knew it was all intentional.

“That’s right, bitch, scream my name,��� he yells euphorically, visibly happy about the pain he is inflicting on you.

Contrary to what he thought you would do, you gathered all your strength and covered your mouth with your hands, visibly angering him. Even though you knew he would punish you for it, you thought it was fair since he didn't answer your question. But when you saw him gritting his teeth, you almost broke down and did it anyway because you wanted nothing more than to be his good boy. After all, he always treated you nicely when you were good to him, but you had to make something clear right then.

He, on the other hand, was already at the end of his tether, slamming his hands onto your bare waist and holding it in a grip that would undoubtedly leave you with more bruises. But you didn't even care, too scared because you already knew what was coming next.

Slowly he pulls his cock out of your abused hole, all the way to the tip, and with a devilish grin, maintaining eye contact, his hips suddenly snap forward. The force pushes you to the mirror while the pain causes your arms to fall like cooked noodles at your sides. You didn't even notice how you finally let out a primitive scream, as your brain was already mostly incapacitated.

“Gabe!” You finally shouted so loudly that everyone in the surrounding classrooms could hear it, even if you didn't know it yet.

“Louder!” Gabe orders you in an icy tone, perfectly concealing his prior pure excitement.

And as ordered, you scream his name so loudly that your voice breaks. Through a veil of tears, you see Gabe's grin in the mirror; it's eerie, almost dark, like the smirk of a murderer.

But suddenly, Gabe leaned forward; his thrusts became a little sloppier. His hot breath tickled your neck, but despite the way he treated you, you were not afraid; on the contrary. If he ordered it, you would worship the ground he walks on. Carefully, he took your chin between his fingers and forced you to make eye contact with him again.

"Now tell me," his deep voice echoed in your soul, sending not only shivers through your entire body but your brain exploding in pure ecstasy, "who owns this hole?" He moved his cock slowly in and out, making it clear that he meant your loose asshole.

Feeling his cock suddenly throb viciously, you moaned his name. As you watched his face become even more smug and confident, you realized what a stud he had become, knowing full well that he was superior to everyone else. Your already rapidly beating heart nearly jumped out of your throat.

"And who owns you, slut?" He pronounced the degrading name prominently and slapped your left butt cheek so hard that you knew you would have another bruise there in the morning.

Immediately after the slap, he stopped his thrusts to hear your reaction, knowing without a doubt that your response would not be the result of pure lust controlling you.

Out of breath, it took a while, but when you saw Gabe's waiting look, you swallowed hard. 

"You, Gabe," you finally managed to choke out, your words almost drowned out by your heavy breathing.

To you, your whispered words felt like a promise, an invisible contract that you will probably never be able to escape. Yet you didn't mind.

"Who?" Gabe asks again, his grin becoming sinister, his hand tightening around your chin while his other hand quickly begins to clamp around your throat.

"You, Gabe!" you squeaked with all the strength you had left. Your voice echoed through the bathroom, but you couldn't stop; you repeated his name like a mantra.

Even Gabe seemed surprised when you started to cry. It wasn't because of the pain, at least not physically. Although you never minded being just a hole for him, something inside you broke in that moment; you suddenly realized that there would never be anything more, no matter how much you wanted it to be.

Even with all your heartache, a moan suddenly erupted from you. Your mind became foggy almost instantly as something struck deep inside you.

Through the mirror, you saw Gabe standing upright again, his letterman jacket hanging halfheartedly over his shoulders, his perfectly fluffy, styled hair in disarray, but most striking were his facial features, stern but compassionate. Despite his look, he first gently ran his rough fingertips—due to all the training he does—over your soft back until he forced you where he always said you belonged: bent over and wide open for him. Like a good, obedient slut.

“You’re so tight for me,” he murmurs, his voice slightly trembling.

Just from his voice, you knew he was close to coming, even though he hadn't fucked you in almost a minute. Suddenly his thrusts became faster, distracting your mind from your emotional turmoil as he endlessly pushed his cock against your prostate to the point you couldn't control yourself anymore. Your hands twitched at your sides, clenching them as if you were searching for something to grab onto; you gasped like a bitch in heat until your limbs fell back onto the counter, your head bouncing off it a second later.

"Fuck, I'm close... I'm clo- Fuck!" Gabe's deep voice echoed off the bathroom walls as his body stiffened.

You felt copious amounts of cum filling your insides to the brim as his sweaty hands pressed deeper into your flesh.

But as you feel this wonderful, warm, thick sensation, your body gives in to exhaustion and knocks you out on the spot.

When you awoke from your short nap, you saw a shadow standing over you. You looked around anxiously and found yourself on the floor, lying on his letterman jacket. When you felt the soft fabric under your overstimulated cock, you came a third time in less than twenty minutes.

As you turned your head ever so slightly, you saw something you never thought possible. There stood Gabe, wiping your ass. He looked disgustingly at his hand as he wiped his cum off and out of your hole. However, when he caught your eye, his annoyance turned to anger.

"Fucking faggot," he mutters, clearly dissatisfied. "Can't even take it up the ass without passing out, pathetic whore."

A feeling of shame began to grow within you. It only worsened when he stood up, washed his hands, and simply walked towards the door. You could have sworn you heard your heart breaking at that moment.

“Your jacket.” Your voice was just a whisper, but Gabe halted anyway, his hand already on the doorknob.

"Don't think anything of it," he presses through clenched teeth. "I don't want your worthless sperm on it." He pulled a disgusted face again and even went so far as to spit right at your feet. "I would never want anything back from such an easy slut like you."

You lowered your head and nodded, understanding that he didn't want anything you touched. But despite everything, he didn't leave the room. Gabe sighed heavily. You saw out of the corner of your eye how he wiped his face, looking somewhat displeased and defeated simultaneously.

"Tomorrow morning, same time, same place," he mutters dejectedly. Your head snaps up, unable to believe you heard him correctly. You're amazed at the warm face he showed you for the first time. But he must've realized his mistake as his face twisted to anger again. "You're just a better slut than most girls, but if you pass out again, I'll hand you down to the rest of the football team. Got it?"

You nodded happily, unable to hide your euphoria, which caused Gabe to chuckle darkly, but you didn't care. For the first time, he actually saw you as more than just a hole, upgrading you to one of his sluts, which was better than being just a piece of meat, and maybe there's hope for much more in the future.

Lost in your dreams, you didn't notice Gabe finally leaving the bathroom. You lay there for another minute before finally gathering your clothes strewn throughout the room and putting them back on, even though they were gross.

The second you stepped out of the bathroom, Scott was outside the door asking if everything was okay.

You knew he meant well, but it pissed you off. He's always on your case, wanting you to give up on Gabe, but at the end of the year, you were both going to different colleges anyway, so you wanted to use this time to at least get fucked properly. With a scowl on your hardened face, you told him you were great, pushed past him, and went to find your friends, ignoring all of Scott's attempts to pry deeper into your business.

[Masterlist]

[youcouldmakealife]

LBTE: Jared (138-139)

Vancouver!

138. Change of Scenery (Redux)

Original Change of Scenery was Jared heading back to Edmonton, so he’s got to say he likes this one better.

Bryce is more nervous than Jared’s ever seen him.

Okay, maybe not like, as nervous as he was stepping out of the car and offering his hand to Jared’s dad after he caught them with Jared’s hand in his pants, or the wrung tight anxiety of the final days of trade negotiations — which, holy shit no wonder — but it’s close, Bryce practically vibrating out of his skin as they get ready for media day. If Bryce tries to fix his hair one more time —

He wants them to like him so bad. Like, never wanted it more, and that’s saying something, because Bryce desperately wants to be liked.

“I want this to be my team, you know?” Bryce says. “Like, we’re going to be here for awhile, and—”

He wants them to like him SO BAD.

Jared kisses his scrunched up forehead. “They’ll like you. Just like. Be Bryce. Real Bryce. Real Bryce is great.”

Excellent advice from someone who otherwise does not consider himself an authority on making people like you. But as someone who doesn't like other people and is still pretty fucking charmed by Real Bryce, he has experience on this one.

They’ve made ground rules: they’re going to go to team stuff separately, at least to start. Revisit later, but right now Bryce will go in alone and Gabe will pick Jared up, which he started doing last season for Environment Reasons, like they aren’t flying in chartered planes on the regular. They’re not going to sit together on the plane either, Jared back in the rotation with Gabe, who goes between him and Dmitry depending on if he wants chill company or not.

Eating together at dinners, that’s fine, because it’s not like, a partner thing, so Jared will continue to eat with Gabe and Bryce will join. They’re not going to lean into any media about a bromance. They don’t need to like, stick together twenty four hours a day, they get to spend more time together than they ever have, so team time’s like, different. Will some teammates figure out they’re together anyway? Probably, judging by the past, but they’re going to do their best to avoid it, and just take it as it comes.

And no sleepovers on the road, Jared doesn’t care how much Bryce pouts about it.

No matter how old and jaded Jared gets, he still remains terribly naive about certain things. It’s so cute that you think there won’t be any sleepovers on the road, Jared.

“He went ahead,” Jared says. “We figured we’d like, come in separately for a bit, be like, subtle.”

Gabe and Stephen exchange a look. Jared’s not sure what it’s meant to convey, but it succeeds at annoying him.

I think we all know this look conveys ‘our boy somehow still thinks they can be subtle’.

“I know,” Gabe says. “Just — don’t get your hopes up about not getting caught? The guys aren’t dumb.”

“I know,” Jared says.

“And you’re kind of obvious,” Gabe says.

“I know,” Jared mutters.

Stop bursting his bubble by stating facts, Gabe.

“Oh my god, are you like, momming and dadding me right now?” Jared says.

“Are you the mom?” Stephen asks.

“I think I’m the mom,” Gabe says.

Gabe is 100% the mom. In their parenting of this sullen teenager and in his role as an A on the Canucks. He’s also totally the mom friend. He accepts this.

“You guys fucking suck at hiding your relationship,” Stephen says. “And yeah, yeah, that’s at me and Gabe’s, safe space, but it took Gabe, what, thirty seconds?”

“At least a minute,” Gabe says.

“It took Gabe fifteen seconds to figure out you guys were together the first time he met Bryce,” Stephen says.

Stephen accurately assuming Gabe is being diplomatic with this minute business.

“It’s best not to lie to the children,” Stephen says. “Santa’s not real, neither is the Easter Bunny, you two are going to get caught.”

Jared rolls his eyes.

“The hockey gods probably exist though,” Gabe says.

“Oh, absolutely,” Stephen agrees.

They 100% exist. Because this is my ‘verse and I say so.

“They don’t,” Jared mutters.

“If they didn’t you wouldn’t be on the same team as your husband,” Stephen says.

Jared cannot retort, because ‘no that’s because his agent and him did some pretty unethical shit to make it happen’.

Excellent use of brain to mouth filter here. Also it’s ‘he and his agent’. Grammar fail.

“He’s sulking, Gabriel,” Stephen says.

“Yeah, he does that,” Gabe says.

Excellent use of brain to mouth filter by Gabe not pointing out that Stephen is prone to that himself. But he's generally good at the brain to mouth filter thing.

Jared scowls out the window.

“Chin up, Math,” Gabe says. “You’re about to see your husband.”

Jared bites his lip hard so he doesn’t smile. He doesn’t think it works.

Gabe’s a good hockey mom.

“I wonder what his nickname’s going to be,” Stephen muses. “Since they’ve already got a Marksy.”

Bryce was indeed Marksy on the Flames (Marcsy?). But Gabe’s got dibs in Van.

“Probably something skill related,” Gabe says. Clearly he is uninterested in ceding the Marksy name. “Maybe military? Snipeshow, Gunner. Or something tactical if they figure out early that he’s got a killer hockey IQ.”

Jared gives into the inevitable smile.

Gabe nailing it here — Bullet it is. And a bit of a self-referential thing with the tactical names for the titles of early IJ(aoe).

Also Jared continues to be such a sucker for Bryce’s hockey IQ, and such a sucker for people that aren’t him noticing and admiring said hockey IQ.

“What’s his middle name?” Stephen asks.

“Justin,” Jared says.

“BJ?” Stephen says. “Yeah, you two keep that to yourselves.”

“No kidding,” Jared says.

“BJ,” Stephen snickers, and Jared has the sinking feeling that Stephen is exclusively going to refer to Bryce as BJ from now on.

That would be so CHILDISH, Jared. Obviously he will carefully save it for the moment that it will annoy Bryce the most, like an adult.

he fiddles around on his phone and waits, enduring a crushing hug from Dmitry Kurmazov and an even more irritating hair ruffle before Dmitry unceremoniously crashes Gabe’s interview to do the same thing to him in front of laughing reporters. Gabe endures it with much more grace than Jared. Jared supposes he’s used to it after a decade on the same team.

Gabe, getting a hug from one of his closest friends after not seeing him for months: :)

Jared: Wow, good work enduring that indignity, Gabe. I don’t know how you do it.

Jared leaves him to it, endures another hug from Dmitry — he just saw him —

Hugging Jared Matheson twice in 24 hours if you aren’t a) Bryce Marcus or b) it’s literally just Bryce Marcus but he’ll endure it from Elaine he guesses... is like petting a hissing cat. Watch your hands.

echoes Gabe’s ‘good to see you again, Bryce’ when Bryce’s introductions land in their corner.

Gabe rolls his eyes at Jared.

“What,” Jared.

Bryce: Hey guys.

Gabe: Hey, Bryce, good to see you again.

Jared: …YES. GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.

Bryce:

Gabe:

Jared:

Bryce: Okay I’m gonna—

Gabe: Good idea.

It’s all of twenty minutes into training camp before Bryce has made a friend.

Jared eyes him.

Dmitry says something, and Bryce dissolves into giggles.

Jared’s eyes grow narrower.

“Glaring at your liney because he’s making your boy laugh is not being subtle, Math,” Gabe murmurs right into his ear.

Jared glowering in the corner, horrible visions of more Dmitry in his future in his head.

It’s off ice stuff in the morning — Coach is big on team-building, and Jared would roll his eyes but the Canucks are a close-knit team, so it seems to work —

Jared implying that he isn’t rolling his eyes anyway and that’s a lie.

Gabe elbows him again. “Math,” he says.

“Hm?” Jared says.

“Please don’t tell me that’s your handwriting over his heart,” Gabe says, low

Gabe and Stephen give Jared this whole ‘don’t get your hopes up about not getting caught’ speech and Jared neglects to inform them Bryce has a TATTOO OF HIS NAME? There will be so much kvetching to Stephen later. Over his HEART, Stephen. These boys say they don’t want to come out and then he gets his a tattoo of Jared’s name on his HEART. What is the MATTER with these kids?

It still gets to him, a low punch in the gut when he sees it, but then, it’s only been a few weeks since Bryce snuck out and got the tattoo. Would Jared have vetoed it if Bryce asked first? Absolutely. Is Jared kind of stupidly obsessed with it? Also the case.

Jared is embarrassed and horny about it.

“Don’t tell Stephen,” Jared says.

“No way Stephen doesn’t watch an interview and put two and two together,” Gabe says. “Sorry.”

If he doesn’t tell Stephen who will he complain to, Jared? Do you want Gabe to EXPLODE?

“He tattooed your name on his chest and you two think you aren’t going to be caught,” Gabe mumbles, more to himself than Jared.

Gabe continues to be in utter disbelief.

Jared gets a ride back with Gabe after training camp, starts making them dinner, because if he doesn’t start now it’s not going to happen. They got bag skated at the end of the day. Bag skating’s always hell, but at least when it’s a punishment you feel like you’re atoning for something. Bag skating at the start of training camp’s a fitness gauge, nothing more, but it still feels like a punishment.

Bag skates are getting rarer and rarer, both during the season and during training camps, but under Travis Green the Canucks were indeed bag skated every training camp. Somebody always pukes.

“My legs feel like lead,” Jared says.

“Sit, I’ll take over,” Bryce offers, and Jared takes him up on it, though he does drag the chair closer, half to keep Bryce company, half to backseat cook because he doesn’t trust him. He hasn’t earned it.

Extremely valid.

“I can’t believe he manipulated you into free babysitting within one day of meeting you,” Jared says.

To be fair, Bryce offered.

“You aren’t tired,” Jared accuses.

“I’m tired,” Bryce says.

“You don’t look tired,” Jared mutters.

Bryce kisses the top of his head.

Jared absolutely livid that Bryce isn’t tired. And Bryce remembering that training camp Jared is like an angry hedgehog.

“Went pretty well for a first day,” Bryce says.

“Shh, sleeping,” Jared mumbles.

“You’re kind of mean when you’re exhausted,” Bryce says, but like, fondly.

“Shh,” Jared repeats. “Sleeping.”

Angry hedgehogs are adorable.

“He wasn’t tired after the bag skate,” Jared says.

Gabe gives him an incredulous look.

“I know,” Jared says.

“Maybe he’s just better at pretending?” Gabe asks.

“He isn’t,” Jared says. “We hate him.”

“We absolutely hate him,” Gabe agrees.

Bryce and Dmitry are giggling about something when they get in.

Jared glares at them and then slowly gets into his gear.

ONE DAY. One day before Bryce makes an enemy in the Canucks locker room. It is his husband.

139. Proving Ground

Jared’s sure plenty of them mocked Bryce when he was the enemy, but they’re pretending butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths now that he’s their guy.

I believe this is legally required of all homers.

They’re a good group of guys. Jared may not hang out with any of them other than Gabe and sometimes Dmitry if he tags along, but that’s not an indictment of his teammates, just personal preference.

Jared hates 99.99% of people, so don’t take it personally.

It isn’t even halfway through preseason before Bryce has a buddy on every line. He sits with Gabe and Jared at meals sometimes, but just as often he’s off talking with his lineys, or laughing with the rowdy group Jared keeps his distance from, sometimes sitting with the vets, talking strategy, is even chatty with the coaching staff.

Look at Bryce Marcus making friends everywhere he goes!! He’s trying, but he’s not desperate, and that makes a big difference. As does the locker room a) not being toxic AF and b) not having particular expectations for him, other than ‘scores lots’, they hope.

Bryce, in lieu of Marksy, which belongs firmly to Gabe, becomes Bullet to the Canucks room. It’s a pretty lazy nickname — alliteration, yeah, Bryce has killer accuracy, a snapshot that comes off his stick before you can blink, skates faster than his size would indicate. Marksman with a bullet, shot like a bullet, fast like a bullet, sure. Accurate. Lazy, though.

Sounds kind of like you like it, Jared.

They need to practice him with his new line in actual game situations, and there’s no better place to see how he’s going to stack up against his former team than against said team, so Jared suspects they’re saving his first appearance against the Flames for the drama of it all.

Coaches do not use ‘the drama of it all’ as a factor for player deployment. Though they should.

Julius plays his ass off that night, a giant pain — Jared’s still going to read Bryce the riot act for cross-checking him that hard, if he injured Julius Jared’s going to be pissed

Cross-checking Jared’s friends is only acceptable after a hat trick minimum.

“I barely tapped him,” Bryce mutters.

Jared pulls his phone out.

“Okay I more than tapped him!” Bryce says, while Jared goes to twitter to find a gif as counter-evidence.

Why would you blatantly lie to Jared and not expect him to immediately pull receipts.

“You wouldn’t cross-check Chaz,” Jared says. So that just leaves Julius and Raf and like, Gabe and Stephen, and Raf’s in the East, Gabe’s his teammate, and Stephen’s a civilian now, albeit one who deserves a whack or two sometimes.

“I might,” Bryce says, but not with any sincerity. He’s too soft for this sport.

Stephen definitely deserves to be cross-checked.

Also you can’t bitch about Bryce cross-checking your friends and then call him soft for not cross-checking one of them, Jared.

The game against the North Stars is also a blowout — they’re getting on their colt legs in the rebuild, and there’s indisputably talent there, but it’s fragile. The Canucks grind that immaturity in their too-young-to-shave faces.

These aren’t our Rookie Detectives — in fact, Roman’s the only one in Minny at this point (not counting Mike). Liam’s in Detroit, Harry and Victor playing NCAA, Val in Russia, Connie in the WHL (he hasn’t even been drafted yet). But soon!

Bryce is still pouty in the morning; he stole the Eeyore cup for maximal glumness and everything.

Love that max glumness for Bryce involves Jared’s cup. What does this mean, Jared? Surely, Jared says, it’s because Eeyore’s on it, not for any other reason.

“Obviously this is so you get your first against the Flames,” Jared says. “Divine retribution and all that.”

“Fuck the Flames,” Bryce says, brightening up.

You had Bryce at ‘divine retribution’.

Hell, Bryce isn’t nervous, humming over breakfast, cheerful in a sort of bloodthirsty way, like he can’t wait to humiliate the Flames.

Divine retribution!!

Warm-ups don’t help. Bryce sticks like glue to the home end, pots shot after shot on Salazar, back firmly to the visitors’ side of the ice, posture tense. Gabe gives Jared a significant look as they’re filing back into the locker room, but Jared can’t exactly go over to Bryce and say what he wants to, do what he wants to, wrap a hand around the nape of Bryce’s clammy neck, press their foreheads together, tell him he has this. Anything that would actually help Bryce would be the sort of obvious that might get picked up on.

Jared is probably right that they wouldn’t be able to make any moral support from Jared look ‘bro’ enough, but also Bryce clearly needs it right now. So cue Gabe’s significant look.

Gabe’s the last one to get to Bryce, gets him in a headlock in the hall, and Bryce is still grumbling about it when he steps onto the ice, fully distracted as he skates over to the blue line. Jared taps Gabe’s knee on the bench, and Gabe taps his right back.

Gabe’s got his back. Both their backs.

The second seems to be more of the same. Halfway through the game they’re still knotted at 0-0, and Jared can count good chances on one hand. For both teams. Combined. At this rate it’s going to be the worst of all worlds — a goalie battle without the show-stopping saves, a physical game without the big hits, a tight fought tight defended cleanly played boring ass game.

Woo, the trap. When you want to win, but you don’t want your fans to enjoy it.

Thankfully the Canucks’ first line makes the executive decision to break the stalemate just as Jared’s wincing and trying to take that thought back, like he’s cursed the team with it

For someone who insists he’s not superstitious, Jared sure thinks about curses a lot.

Bryce gets a secondary assist on a power play goal, the start of a tic-tac-tip, and that’s all they need to win it. Bryce with a point in every goal, Bryce’s goal the game-winner, and he’s absolutely mobbed when they get off the ice, teammates with claps on the back and media impatiently waiting at the doors to mob him themselves, but not before he has to go right back out for first star of the game.

Divine retribution!!! (And a very motivated player.)

He replies to a very kindly worded demand for a celebratory dinner from Elaine when he gets back to their condo, listens to a voicemail from his dad, who enjoyed a Flames loss for the first time in his entire life, judging by the gleeful malice in his voice, is finishing up a surprisingly decent dinner from the meal service they’re trying out when the front door flies open.

It’s good that Jared recognises that Elaine being polite and friendly doesn’t make that any less of a demand. Also — friendship with Flames over, Canucks are Don’s new best friend.

“Jared!” Bryce calls, like he hasn’t seen him in days and can’t wait a minute longer. Jared can hear him taking off his shoes, mostly because they hit the wall with two thuds.

“Jared!” he says again when he sees Jared at the kitchen island. Which is like, visible from the front hall, it’s an open concept place. Jared was right there the whole time.

Jared did you see!!!!

“Shut up,” Bryce says, still very cheerful about it.

“Make me,” Jared says. It’s not a hat trick or anything, but he thinks a three point night deserves something, let alone a three point night against the Flames. That’s like hat trick level spite.

“Do I need to?” Bryce asks. “Or are you going to do it because that goal was hot as fuck?”

Finally Jared can find Bryce’s goals hot without being conflicted about that because it was against his team. Truly big for him.

“Cocky,” Jared says, but it’s not exactly a hardship. Well, a bit of one, because he can’t keep giving Bryce shit if he’s got his dick in his mouth, but Bryce did the Canucks like, a service. This is team building. Offering an incentive for good play. Building positive habits.

What, do YOU want the A, Jared?

Apparently Bryce is coasting on endorphins after a hell of a night — and who could blame him — because he doesn’t actually occupy Jared’s mouth all that long. Jared is not the only one who gets off on Bryce’s goalscoring, apparently.

“Fast as a bullet,” Jared murmurs against his hip, then, “Ow!”, because Bryce, even come dumb, is still completely capable of landing a stinging flick to his ear.

He’s such a shit that Bryce knew that was coming eventually. Bullet was prepared.

[calritchie21]

can you imagine eliana x drew full angst like it gets so bad they break up for like 3 days and they both are suffering like eliana is going through it drew is shit at practice and games so their friends make a plan to get them to talk it out they talk they make up fluff and smut….. YOU DIDNT HEAR THIS FROM ME

a week since ellie broke up with drew, both of them were not doing well at all, drew’s been shit at practice, ellie has not done any of her assignments and just wants drew but she can’t have him and same goes for him

knocking on his door, drew opens it letting ellie go inside, “hi bubs.” she rands on her tippy toes giving him a kiss but he swerved that heading back to his bed

“what was that for.” Ellie asks frowning her eyebrows, nothing, “drew why aren’t you talking to me.” she goes and sits on the bed beside him but he didn’t move to pull her into him like he usually does

“where were you the other night, hmm.” drew asks slightly pissed off

“i was in my room, doing an assignment, you know this.” ellie asks confused, he shakes his head

“no.”

“Andrew don’t tell me no whenever i was studying all night got out once to get water THEN you came over.” she says getting off his bed getting slightly frustrated

“someone caught you cheating.” Her eyes widen, how could he think that

“U know damn well i would never cheat andrew fortescue, what in your damn mind thinks that i would ever do such a thing.” she begins to tear up

“you were laughing with a guy and touching his arm.” Drew seethed

“Oh my god, That guy- you know what i’m done i’m not even going to explain it to you because it’s not worth it.”

“No Eliana Brielle i wanna know if my GIRLFRIEND WAS cheating on me because you looked very fucking friendly with him.”

“I WAS NOT FRIENDLY DREW I TRIED PUSHING HIM AWAY BECAUSE I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE,” She yells about to open the door, he opens up his mouth, “i don’t like being accused of cheating drew, you know this and you just need a break.” she hiccups

“Are you breaking up with me.” he scoffs, she nods her head not giving any other answer “ellie i’m sorry.” he pleads

“no, just- just leave me alone.” she closes the door full on crying back to her room, drew throws his pillow on the floor letting out a frustrated cry.

“hey why did i see ellie run out crying.” Jacob asks coming into the room

“non of your fucking business.” drew grumbles annoyed wiping his tears away

“no drew shes like my sister, what the fuck did you do.” jacob says

“one of the boys sent me a pic of it looked like ellie was cheating.”

“CHEATING ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY, dude you’ve lost your mind, you thought that sweet girl who is so uncomfortable around people thinks she would cheat,”

“my mind went to something else ok fowler.”

“No i’m done with you, now i’m gonna a go see your girlfriend.”

“Ex-“ that caused jacob to laugh and become more angry

“i don’t blame her, have a good night fortescue.” he closes the door

__

ellie has locked herself in her room for the past couple days, jacob, will and ryan have been delivering food and snacks to her and avoiding drew at all cost. especially at practice. But today she decided to go take a walk with Ryan back from class, she didn’t realize drew was walking the same way as then until ryan grabs her shoulders and turns her around

“why did you do that.” Ellie asks

“Forts was heading our way.” ryan gave her a sad smile

“oh.” she mumbles, “i’m gonna head back.”

“you don’t want coffee.” ryan asks she shakes her head leaving

__

one week since the breakup,

“i’m about to kill him if he doesn’t get his shit together.” Coach Brown states seeing drew throws his stick on the ground of frustration, will sighs

“i’ll straighten him out coach trust me, he’s going through a hard time.”

“better do it soon or he’s suspended for a game.” Will nods his head heading towards Ryan and jacob and gabe

“we need to figure out a plan, ellie has barely eating, not going to classes and i’m getting worried, coach told me drew will be suspended if he doesn’t play right.”

“How is this gonna work out because ellie doesn’t want to talk to him.” Ryan raises his eyebrows

“she does, she just can’t bring it up or will tear up again and i hate seeing her cry so the plan is to bring her over and leave them to talk.”

“that’s a stupid plan.” Jacob says

“that’s the best i have, you got something fowler? no didn’t think so.” Will sasses

__

“do you want to come over tonight.” Will texts ellie, she replies

“not in the mood.”

“don’t make me come get you, i have your favourite food.” she sighs getting up out of bed, throwing on one of drew’s hoodies that still smells like him making her tear up slightly, she slow walks over to the dorms, opens the door catching drew’s eyes immediately

“i’ll grab the food and leave.” ellie mutters, Ryan grabs the bag before she can even reach it, “ryan.”

“No you two need to talk it out.”

“no i’m fine.” drew says getting up from the bed.” ryan puts his hand out b blocking him from leaving.

“talk now,” he says sternly, “goodbye.” the door clicks shut, drew sighs laying back down while ellie kicks her feet.

“i’m sorry.” drew mumbles, ellie looks at him giving him a tight lip look, he sighs, “i’m sorry for accusing you of cheating”

“but you did it anyways.” ellie manages to speak up

“I apologize for thinking that you did and how my teammates are assholes and didn’t tell me the proper story, i’m sorry that i put that insecurity on me and you which you do not deserve baby and i ruined that one thing. i’m so sorry baby for getting frustrated when i should’ve let you speak instead of not letting you.” drew says tearing up, “i was being a complete idiot and should’ve realized and not payed any attention to what they were saying about you.” ellie let’s put a sob

“i’m sorry for breaking up with you.” she lets out

“it’s not your fault baby, i deserve it.” he says

“you did but i miss you so much.”

“c’mere.” he crocks his fingers, she walks over to him standing in between his legs, he lifts a hand whipping her tears away, “i missed you so much too, i hate being broken up, i love you so much eliana brielle.”

“i love you too drew.” she quivers in his hold, he picks her up lifting her so she can straddle his lap

“my beautiful girl.” he mumbles against her lips, causing her to blush holding onto his beck tightly. He takes of his shirt throwing it somewhere in his room, then takes off her shirt and with one snap of his fingers of her bra is off.

rolling over so he’s ontop, he places delicate kisses onto her neck and chest drew.” she whimpers

“hmm what is it baby.”

“i need you.”

“you need me, how bad.” he smirks

“so so bad.” she mewls out as his fingers went inside of her

“atta girl.” he whispers against her clit sucking it causing her to buck her hips up, his hands went to her hips holding it down. 2 orgasms later he lifts his head up giving her a kiss making her taste himself, “such a good girl for me.” he says, “are you ready.” she nods her head squeezing his hands as he inserts himself into her, she lets out a moan

“fee- feels so good.” she cries out, he kisses all over her chest

“i missed this so much, god i miss you, never again leaving you.” he grunts out

“i-“ she whimpers cant form a word

“i know baby, being such a good girl.” he says, “you got one more for me.”

“i cant.” ellie says squeezing her eyes tightly

“yes you can.” one more thrust and she’s seeing stars while drew pulls out of her cumming on her stomach, “all mine.” he gives her a short kiss before getting up and getting a wash cloth, he comes back and once he reaches to her she slightly flinches

“too sore.”

“baby i just need to wash you, i know your sore but it’s for a second ok then cuddles.” she nods her head spreading her legs again so he can clean her up. once he’s done that he puts on his shirt and underwear on her and him with grey sweatpants getting back into bed.

“i’m so lucky to have you ellie baby.” drew says moving hair off her forehead

“i’m lucky to have you.” she yawns snuggling up to him, “kiss.” he leans down giving her a kiss and closes her eyes

__

past 1am, jacob comes back into the room seeing ellie laying ontop of drew as he’s just rubbing her back keeping an eye on her

“everything all good.” jacob asks

“yeah everything’s all good.” jacob nods his head

“ever pull that shit again fortescue we will not be friends again.”

“I promise not to do it ever in my life, she’s with me for the long one.” Drew says kissing the top of the sleeping girls head.

[raes-secret-pjo-account]

You Are In Love

Chapter 1; working part time waiting tables

Pjo mortal au.

Percy works at Friendly's, and he meets a very pretty girl there.

(First chapters are kinda bad lmao just stay with me.)

PERCY

Hi my name is Percy Jackson. Right now I'm working at Freindly's with my mom who also works there. My younger sister, Estelle is home with my step dad. Now you may be wondering "Percy, where is your real dad?" If your talking about Gabe he isn't my dad. He died of "mysterious circumstances" Paul isn't my dad either. My dad if a fisherman. My half brother Tyson lives with him. I work with my mom. Her boss loves me so he let me work there.

I was doing my thing waiting tables when I went to the front stand to cover for Nancy who called sick for the 100th time this week. A party of 3 walk up to the podium. A punk looking girl with short hair and a leather jacket. A scrawny looking boy with goat-ish features I recognized him from my environmental science class. I think his name was Grover. And then I saw her. A girl with blonde hair and Grey eyes. She looked like a disney princess. I was so caught up in her beauty that I had to get snapped out of it by Grover who loudly cleared his throat.

"OH um hi welcome to Friendly's how many?" I said as I had many times.

The girl in the leather jacket chimed in, "three," she told me unconvinced.

I grabbed 3 menus and led them to a table. "So can I get you any drinks to start with?" I asked smiling at the blonde girl. She didn't say anything only stared back at me.

The punk girl responded, "Can we have a second?" I nodded and I went to talk to my mom at a different table.

"Hi Percy how you doing?" She asked with a warm smile and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Hey um mom do you know who that blonde girl is at table 4?" I asked sheepishly. She looked over and saw her.

"I don't know everyone in New York Percy," she responded, "but she is pretty you should go talk to her."

I smile and give her a quick peck on the cheek before going to wait another table. I went back to their table and asked again what they would like to drink.

"Coca-Cola" says the punk girl.

"Water please" Grover asks.

"Strawberry milkshake," the girl says.

As I write down their orders I notice the blonde girl has a Yankees cap next to her.

I smile, "Yankee's fan," I ask her. She looks up at me and smiles. Her smile is so pretty.

"it was my mom's I'm from Virginia," she explained.

"Oh that's cool. I'm from Manhattan so go yankees!" I replied awkwardly and we both laughed half hearted and then I walked away and gave there order to the cooks. I left to go wait on other tables but I couldn't help but continue glancing at her.

I returned with their drinks, "alrighty Coca-Cola for the punk, a water for the guy in my class, and a strawberry milkshake for the princess," before I continue I would like to add that I give all the customers funny nicknames. It's my gimik people love it, but the princess comment was entirely on accident.

"What did you just call her?" The punk girl asks looking slightly annoyed. I couldn't tell if my face was red or not but I tried to explain.

"oh its like my thing I call people by like names or something it adds like character I guess. . ." I didn't sound very convincing. The punk girl glared at me. I looked at the blonde girl and she was looking away from me and drinking her shake.

Suddenly Grover chimed in and broke the silence, "you are in my class aren't you, environmental science right?" He asked with a warm welcoming smile that reminded me of my mother's.

I smiled back and spoke, "yep it was a required course for marine biology,"

"oh cool!" Grover chimed, "I want to go into the environmental science field, I want to research clean energy, we got to save the planet you know," he sounded very enthusiastic about it.

"Yeah man!" I agreed, "thats really cool, my name is Percy," I said holding my hand out,

"I'm Grover, he said taking my hand and shaking it with the same exact warm smile as before. In that very moment I knew that Grover would be my best friend someday. And I was absolutely right.

"PERCEUS JACKSON!" I heard my mom shout as she walked over, "you have other tables to wait young man! You can't just stay at this one," I heard the blonde girl snicker.

"Okay," I said and turned back to their table, "I'll be back," I winked at the blonde girl and went to go wait my other tables with a smile on my face.

A little bit later, the punk girl stopped me as I walked by their table, "hey Perceus," she grabbed me and lulled me to the table.

"it's just Percy but how can I help you," I asked.

"We're ready to order," the pretty girl says. I take there order down,

"would you like a refill on any drinks while I'm at it?" I ask as I reach for the girl's empty cup.

"I didn't say I wanted a refill~" she notes teasingly,

"well I just thought you might want another shake, on me," I reply and try to mimic the warm smile my mother always wears and she just looks at me and chuckles, "be my guest."

After a little bit I came back to their table with their food I handed them out to each of them and handed the pretty girl her shake, "here you go princess," I said with a warm smile again. She rolled her eyes at me.

When they left I got a 15% tip plus some. I went up to my mom, "hey remember that table with the pretty girl?" I ask her.

She chuckles, "you mean the princess?" I must have blush cause she laughed some more "Yes what about it?" She asks as we get ready to close up.

"Well I got a really good tip from them, and that guy with them is in my environmental science class maybe I can ask him about that girl."

I Continued closing up before my mom places a light kiss on my forehead, "sure, thing Percy, I think it's good for you to get back out there, I mean after the whole thing with Rachel an-"

"do we need to keep talking about that?" I cut her off. Incase you didn't know Rachel is my ex. She and I broke up over a big thing. She and I are still friends but it's kinda awkward since then.

My and my mom clocked out of work and went home. I lay in my bed and went to sleep. You'll think I'm crazy but in my dreams I swear I saw glimpses of that girl and me, in a boat floating through a dark tunnel, somehow we were kissing underwater, I saw her fudo flip me, I saw us covered in blood and dirt in some kind of dark pit. Some reason it felt familiar. Like some kind of distant life I used to know. Go ahead you can call me crazy but I swear I saw these memories go by like they actually happened.

When I woke up I was determined to find out more about her

[epickiya722]

Hi,.....if you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from BNHA? Amd why do you love them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Sorry if you've answered this question before....If you've answered them before, do you mind changed the amswers to Sk8 series....(Again sorry if I'm asking too much)....

Thanks so much for your blog, love reading them ......

HOW DID I ALMOST FORGET TO ANSWER THIS, WTH, KIYA?!

Anyways!

Okay, I'll do 3 since I also want to answer for SK8! First, BNHA!

My favorite characters are (and should be no surprise to anyone who has been following my blog long enough 😆)...

Miruko - hands down she easily became my favorite the moment she graced her presence in the story. She's the #5 Pro Hero who just hops around and kicks ass. She's a "no nonsense, let's get this done" character and I have to applaud Sakaya Kinoshita and Anairis Quiñoes for providing such great voices for her. Both women really put "I'm a badass and I know it" into voicing Miruko. There's also the fact that rabbits are one of my favorite animals.

Midoriya - He's unique to me. He has a range that I like. He could look like he couldn't hurt a fly and then the next he looks out for blood. His green curls and freckles are nice touches to his character. He's sweet, kind and has a sharp mind. But he's also stubborn, quick to anger, irrational. Out of all BNHA characters, he is the one I do relate to the most when it comes to having emotions. Again, I'm applauding voice actors here because Daiki Yamashita and Justin Briner bring Midoriya to life on the screen for me. I could not imagine any other voices but theirs for the sub and dub, I just can't.

Rock Lock - I'm giving Rock Lock love here because he just doesn't get enough of it. He's one of the few adult characters that really did bring up a good point about the kids in season 4 and yet does recognize their potential. He immediately gave me Dad vibes and I was right that he was indeed one. Which is another element to his character I love. He thinks about his family, he is really a softie. I love that for him. When he thought about making it back to his wife and son, I teared up a little. And I'll bring race into this for a bit because it is not often we do get Black characters in media with a softer side, let alone in media not created by Black people. So it was nice to see an actual family man with a job like his where it doesn’t affect said family in a bad way like Endeavor's does or even Captain Hero's in Vigilantes where he was having some martial problems. He's #1 Dad and husband in my book and I take no arguments on that. Also, anytime he talks I gotta to listen. Again, yes, voice actors, Yasuhiro Fujiwara and Gabe Kunda, love them. And his quirk, I actually love that quirk. It's a fun one.

Now for moments!!! Again, doing just three. And I'm sticking to just the anime here to avoid spoilers.

Ya'll already know I'm going to say the Miruko vs. High End Nomus fight. Out of all the fights in season 6, that is one of the best ones. Even leading up to her being Shigaraki's containment. I was actually surprised that made it on one of the recent Watchmojo anime videos for anime fights that caught the audience by surprise or something along those lines. Of course, not mad about it because oh my gosh, just watching her kick ass in a purple lit setting really just... I loved it so much.

I gotta bring up the dorm room episode here. It's one of the episodes I can rewatch and not get tired of it. There's so many funny moments in that episode and to be more specific my favorite scene is when they got to Tokoyami's room. From him trying to stop them from checking out his room, be overpowered because it was 2 to 1 and he is still fairly small (doesn't even have muscles until later) to the showcasing of the room. His room is my favorite. Gothic setting with black and purple lighting? Hell yes! I also love his "GEEEEET OOOOUT!" Don't blame him.

For the third one... hm... I have a lot of moments I like and I'll pick season 4 for this since not a whole of people talk about that season. And I'll choose... okay, when Eri finally smiled. That scene actually made me cry, did it. She's been through so much and all it took for her to smile was to see Midoriya on stage and have a fun time. Honestly, every time Eri smiles I want to or actually do cry. I did it in Mirio's flashback of his when she smiled at him in season 6. She's just so precious!

Now onto SK8 the Infinity! Starting with the characters which was hard to do because I do love them all as a whole.

Reki - he's literal sunshine who really has some great artistic skills. And out of all the characters, his design is my favorite out of everyone else's. I would wear his hoodies and I love how he wears many colors. He had a signature outfit, but he does change his clothes and his aesthetic is something I would wear. I am a sucker for colors and hoodies. Also, love hearing

Sketchy - Yes, that little pet is a favorite. He's just so freaking adorable??? Sassy little creature.

Nanako - Langa's mom is just so amazing. That woman really is just trying her best to be a good mom and you know she really does love her son and her late husband. She reminds me of Inko, Midoriya’s mom. Just a woman who has a kind heart and wants nothing but her son to be okay and safe.

And now for moments!!

The beach episode is overall is a favorite. I love that episode as a whole. It was a very funny episode... then episode 7 happened. I never thought the number 7 would betray me.

I really love that part where Reki and Langa were fixing skateboard, it's such a sweet moment.

The part in the epilogue with the Kyan family! As a big sister, it warmed my heart seeing another big bro Reki moment with the twins! IT WAS SO ADORABLE!!

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: ML Season 5 episode 3 Destruction

(Spoilers below)

-Marinette was watching Alya's video on the ladybug and Alya caught her in 4K. She knew Marinette is worried and is sleeping over. This is good friendship

-Gabriel still being a bitch. Forcing the Kwami to help

-So learning about the rooster. He cant just copy the powers of other Kwami. So at least he isnt THAT broken.

-The kwami are totally trolling him. I love it.

-Xuppa my lovabale monkey child. KEEP TORTURING HIM

-The Kwami family defend themselves against the abusive Gabriel. HOW ABOUT YOU LEARN GABE!

-Nice Try Gabe. But their owner IS LADYBUG. Fu being smart made sure to say the guardian was LADYBUG. Look at that. Fu was actually being smart with that.

-Oh no, Gabe is using them like GOOGLE MAPS!!!

-Sabine in Pajamas... Nice

-Damn it, Tom is adorable. I will not interfere... for now Tom.

-Something seems off. What present?

-Did Marinette think this far ahead?

-OH DAMN! This is smart! They planned in the event Hawkmoth ever got one of them. Well played.

-Alya shows up and is like "I caught you creeping in 4K Hawky!"

-"Hey thats censorship." That made me giggle

-Xuppa my sweet boy. You are now my third fave kwami

-Now we at the Ice Rank

-And wipe out.

-The ice skating guy just like "Here you go sir". Like it isnt the villain of Paris.

-Gabe thinks he is being clever. Side note, this look he has is growing on me. Except the ears...

-This guy just took a selfie with Monarch like it will get him cred

-Hawk-Penguin? HE F***ING WISHES

-HE TWEETED IT. AMAZING

-And now the wax meuseum

-ITS A TRAP! Well done.

-42 Halfwit Street. This is the donkey drawing of oblivio for season 5

-And IT WAS THE REAL CHAT NOIR

-Oh cataclysm, and tied to him. THEY GOT HIM.

-TAKE THE MIRACULOUS OFF OF HIM NOW!!!

-the kwami think they are free. But its episode 3, way too early.

-LADYBUG STOP THE MONOLOGUE! You are leaving yourself open!

-Well at least he didnt try to escape during that.

-Damn, Gabriel ate a cataclysm to escape!

-Oooo, that looks painful! Damn. He deserves it

-You know what, I will give Hawky props, I didnt think he would actually do it.

-Oh s***, Chat noir feels guilt. Baby boy no. He doesnt count as people, dont feel bad.

-Well, this is Gabe's fault.

-SO THIS WAS ALL A FLASHBACK EXPLAINATION TO ALYA?!

-So marinette came up with a plan in case this happened. So this is what she did. Thats a clever plan. (I wont explain it, watch it, its clever)

-Simp noir is canon and a key part of the plan. Brilliant.

-It is cute to see this more playful side of Marinette, explaining the plans

-The kwami deserve a reward for their acting

-I love seeing how they planned the pose.

-So Marinette out here playing 4d chess. She only never expected Gabe to cataclysm himself. So I dont blame her.

-I am with Alya that plan was brilliant

-The alyanette juice is great

-Wait a minute. THIS HAPPENED BEFORE MULTIPLICATION?!

-OF COURSE IT DID, SO WAIT, EPISODE 26 OF SEASON 4, SEASON 5 EPISODE 1, AND 3 ALL HAPPENED IN THE COURSE OF A DAY?!

-Oh that is a nasty mark you got their Gabe. But you deserve it.

-Oh no the ring making process is really messed up

-HE MELTS THEM AND THEN MAKES THEM RINGS

-Nathalie, why are you helping him?

-Gabriel really making these rediculous bling for the sake of elaborate BS

-All to hide his cataclysm, he decided to look like a sterile tampon

-And The rings give him a new suit

-I do think the transformation leading to it looks cool. But its crappy costume

____________________________________________________________

OKAY I HAVE THOUGHTS!

So I think this episode was well written, it had drama, it had comedy, and it had lasting consequences.

I like that Gabriel didnt get out of this unscathed.

I do find it fitting in the timeline a bit weird... But aside from that. I dont mind it

8.5/10

I still think Evolution is the best episode of season 5 so far. But this one is pretty good.

I think leaks or not, I will be willing to watch the episodes and judge them on their merit, not just the leaks

[whatshername86]

Chapter 3 - Nyx “The Investigation”

Warnings:  Bad Writing, Non-Con, Rape, Cheating?, Mind-Control, Gas-Lighting… Chapter 3 – The Investigation

 Summary:  Not everything is what it seems.  Nyx pulls her head out of her ass and starts asking the right questions.  Really, I’m just getting into the plot.  

Gabe cringes at the statement before taking it in.  ‘What do you mean?’

Nyx hushes him with a wave of her shaky hand ‘Natasha doesn’t like penetrating sex.’  

And she didn’t.  It was different with fingers or a tongue, but a strap was something Natasha wasn’t comfortable taking.  Nyx respected that and never pushed further than Natasha was comfortable with.  When it came to the bedroom Natasha would wear the strap, but she would never be a receiver of anything longer or thicker than Nyx’s fingers.

It was Natasha’s favorite strap because of what she would do to Nyx.  Not the other way around.

‘It’s a no-go area in the bedroom’

Nyx’s breathing is starting to rapidly increase as she thinks about all of the possible scenarios.

Gabe clears his throat trying to focus Nyx.  ‘Are you sure that you saw…’ He makes an off handed gesture. ‘You know...’

For a man in his early fifties its comical him being all awkward regarding sex.  Any other time, Nyx would be laughing at his expense.

‘I’m positive. It’s not something that I would forget.’  

It should have been a signal.  I should have known something was very wrong.

These were the only thoughts repeating in her mind.  

But the most important question, came to the forefront of her mind.  What the fuck is going on?  And what happened to Nat?

Nyx hisses out ‘The witch’

Nyx moves her hands quickly and starts typing.  Her focus is on the computer screen.  Completely ignoring Samson who is still sitting right next to her.  Until she barks out.

‘Commander I’m going to need all of the information we can get our hands on concerning Wanda Maximoff’ she looks up from her screen before stating in a clear voice, ‘I’m going to need you to reach out to your contacts in the ops community, Sir.’

Gabe knew it was Nyx’s mission voice.  She had been her own team lead for roughly five years now.  It appears that it is time to work.  And it was best to leave her to it.  

It also troubled him given Nyx’s revelation.  He had grown a soft spot for the ex-assassin over the years and doesn’t want any harm to come her way.

And if he is understanding all of the pieces that Nyx has put together.  Then there is no place on earth that will protect the witch from Nyx or the unit.

Nyx spends hours searching online and through military intel for information on the Maximoff’s.  But she is hitting roadblocks almost at every turn. She knew that Stark had covered up her Ultron involvement.

Probably due to some guilt trip Rogers presented to Stark.

But with the Hydra data leak a few years back Nyx thought that she should come a crossed at least something by now.

The data dump.  

What a mess.

Natasha and Rogers got caught up in the chaos that Peggy Carter and Fury created.  And of course, Fury entrusted all information pertaining to S.H.I.E.L.D. too Rogers on a thumb drive.

Rogers didn’t even know what to do with a thumb drive.

For some reason Rogers refused to call Stark or any other tech savvy contact.  Instead, what does he do.

He brings in his jogging buddy.

Then makes the decision with Fury to release all S.H.I.E.L.D. data files on the web.  These files would include employee records, mission reports, informant names, residential information, financial information and more.  

When that is going on Rogers was planning on crashing the Triskelion air ships as soon as each take off.

No surprise that Maria Hill followed Fury’s lead.  But at that point Natasha already had her world shook by the Hydra organization being exposed within the walls of S.H.I.E.L.D.

She turned to the only person she could trust.

Luckily Nat got ahold of me. Once she gave me the details of what was happening and what Fury and Rogers planned.  I immediately gathered the team.  Samson coordinated with the military and extraction groups for the innocent agents, families and contacts held under SHIELD’s witness protection.  Also, additional resources to clear out the surrounding area of the Triskelion’s.

I had gathered a few groups to bring in the S.H.I.E.L.D. field agents out on missions that had no idea of what was about to hit them.  A mass alert went out to all S.H.I.E.L.D. employee, families of all employees, informants and witness prior to the dump. Encouraging each to relocated to a safe location or populated environment.

We had contacted Stark’s AI. To perform a preemptive filter of the information being released online.  Ensuring that the data being release was Hydra and Hydra only.  The AI could work much faster than any human being ever could.  Stark was still recovering from surgery at the time.  He couldn’t do much but oversee the filtering of the data that Jarvis was conducting.

Nyx couldn’t understand why Rogers would risk so many lives.  

Fury was in a clean house mind set.  Start anew.  Just a plain asshole.  Trying to cover his own tracks while starting again somewhere else.  While everyone else is dealing with the chaos, he’s in hiding.

But that wasn’t an excuse for Rogers.  

Natasha was heartbroken with the Hydra fiasco.  

She had thought that she was doing good.  Making a positive difference with the lessons that the red room had taught her.

It took months for Natasha to regain her confidence in herself.  She started questioning everything that she thought she believed. With constant and steady reassurance from Nyx.  Natasha slowly regained her purposes.  

That included her dedicating more of her time with the Avengers.

She started spending a larger portion of her time at the Tower to be close to the team while still having the Banner angle going.  She also had, to keep an eye on Rogers.

Apparently, the Winter Soldier is in fact James Barnes or better known as Bucky.  This was another point of contention with Rogers that I had harbored.

Nat had told me of her experiences in the red room over the years.  That included a few of her interactions with the Soldier.

Natasha feared him, that was plain to see.  But refused to tell me why.  Her hesitation was enough for me to already be wary of the guy.  Natasha isn’t afraid of anyone.

While Rogers came and went from the tower on his search for Barnes with his puppet Wilson.  

Natasha refused to add any new detail or leads to Rogers’s search.  Nat knew that Barnes had killed Tony’s parents.  Nat and Rogers had found out at the same time while talking to Zola.

Steve had told Natasha that he would be the one to tell Stark.

Which reassured her.

Nat never really had a good history with Stark.  A large portion of the animosity was due to the mission Natasha was conducting when they first met.  She was undercover as a legal aid turned assistant at SI.  The smoke and mirror routine that Fury demanded to be done didn’t win her any favors with Stark.

The profile, that was submitted under Nat’s name was a joke.  

Another tool for Fury to use to hook Stark in.

I believe that Fury forgets that not everyone needs to be manipulated in order for them to perform tasks or agree to certain things.  

Fury has a problem; he looks at everything and everyone as pieces that need to be moved to the next stage.  Withholding all of the information and only hinting.

 With a frustrated growl Nyx pushes back.

Nyx is coming up empty with her search.  But she is recognizing a certain coding pattern a within the web.

Friday.  Stark’s work has a particular flow to it.

But why would Friday scrub the web on all information related to the witch.

An AI wouldn’t do it on its own.  It has to be because she was ordered to perform the cleanse.  And Nyx knows for a fact that there are four people with that level of access to order such a task.  Stark, Potts, Rhodes and Rogers.  

Potts & Rhodes would rather send Maximoff to prison than protect her.

Stark had already done his part with providing PR and protection from Ultron.  But would he go further…

Rogers definitely would. Wanda is a delicate flower in his mind.

The lot of them needs phycological help if they truly believe that woman is a delicate little girl.

Nyx did get a few leads.  

With Sokovia still in the process of rebuilding.  The government intelligence agency of the country has been under attack from outside intelligence hackers. 

 But the local government had started investigating rumors surrounding Strucker known base.  

Locals had been afraid for years but once Strucker was known to be dead, they slowly started opening up.

What information that is found in the system is corrupt and will take time to decode.  

And take a lot more skill than Nyx has.

She’ll have to direct the material to the DEMI’s teach expert.  

Moments later, Nyx sends the compressed files off to Sparks.  The DEMI’s techie.  Along with a list of specific items to dig into.

·       What are the limitations of Wanda’s Mind Powers?

·       The illusions are a known component.  What else can she do to one’s mind?  

·       What are the limitations on her telekinesis?  

·       Are there any known ways to block the mind power?

·       How close does she have to be to her target?

·       What is shown in her psych eval?  

·       Where are her mission reports with Hydra?  What do they include?

·       Doctor records, from the experimentations?  

·       How did she learn her skills?

·       How long has she had the powers?

·       Does she have a known history of violence?

·       Family history?

·       Find me all recent activity on the Avengers. Specifically, Rogers and Maximoff. Start tracking Natasha Romanov’s location 24 hours a day.  

·       Find me a loop-hole for Stark’s AI, Friday.

·       Wiretap the Avenger’s phone and data activity

·       Money coming in and out of the compound

This list should get the IT data techs busy.

Nyx makes herself an additional list for herself and Samson:

·       Schedule meeting with Stark & Rhodes.  Determine their level of involvement with the witch.  Gain insight into her powers and personality.

·       Start surveillance on Natasha.

·       Begin surveillance on Wanda once the range of her power has been determined.

·       Discuss counter measure

·       Power suppression options

·       Determine who Wanda’s alias are

·       Contact Clint to determine if he has noticed any behavioral differences with Natasha

And so, it begins.

[matthewtkachuk]

we should just kiss like real people do w josty

ily b

pairing: tyson jost x reader

warnings: fake dating

word count: 1k

we should just kiss like real people do

You’re not quite sure how you got here, perfectly manicured fingernails curled around Tyson’s bicep, and a dress that cost more than your rent adorning your figure. You’re friends, certainly, in the way that you’re friends with Mikko or Nate or all the others. But it’s not Mikko or Nate or all the others whose arm you’re hanging off of, nor is it any of their words that you’re hanging on to.

It’s Tyson’s arm curled around your shoulders or your waist, or his hand pressed to the small of your back or laced with your own or holding your thigh beneath the table. It’s his lips pressed to the shell of your ear, whispering about nothing, or to your temple or your forehead or your cheek. Tyson whose gaze is heavy on you no matter where you are - whether it be by his side, near the bar, or with your other friends.

Your laugh is the one causing the corners of his mouth to upturn in a grin, your hand he presses a champagne flute into, your waist he holds with the tenderness of a man in love as he leads you to the dancefloor.

Maybe it’s not the how that is the question, as you had certainly been there when he’d asked. One moment you had been minding your own business at work, the next Tyson Jost was causing a tizzy with a large floral bouquet, the previously on good terms admin assistant glaring at you from behind him. When you’d agreed to be his date to this gala while under the guise of being his girlfriend you hadn’t totally considered all the things that could go wrong.

But it’s you, halfway in love with the man you’ve only ever called a casual friend, acting like you can’t see the knowing grins of all your friends and the residual leering glares of some of the women at this event. It’s you, realizing that you were knee deep in all the things that could go wrong.

Maybe it’s the why, as you have to remind yourself constantly that it’s all pretend, especially when left to your own devices with a few of the better halves while your pretend-date as the likes of Susanna and Charlotte cooed over your newly minted, totally fake, relationship. Why did you agree to do this? Why did he want you to pretend to be his girlfriend, would it not have been enough to just come as his friend? Why you? Why did it hurt so bad to have to acknowledge that it wasn’t real?

Mel knows it’s fake, you panic as Tyson’s captain’s wife pulls you to the side later. A million and one excuses and rationalizations run through your mind but you forget every single one of them as she just tuts and shakes her head softly, “what are you doing?” She doesn’t like the way you squeak out that you’re just heading for another drink, sighing heavily and repeating herself. “I meant what are you doing here, tonight, with Josty.”

“We’re dating?” you answer her in the most unconvincing tone. She looks kind of like you just told her you don’t think Cale deserved the Calder, or like you’d grown a second head when you weren’t paying attention. There’s no need for her to speak in order to get more out of you, all it takes is a single glare and you can’t help but feel a little bit bad for Gabe in the moment. She looks on with sympathy while you explain the situation as best as you can with only your one-sided knowledge.

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” she warns finally, but it’s not like she really had to do that, you’ve known since you walked into the venue that you were walking a very thin line. Her warning serves very little purpose other than to reignite the anxious energy bubbling in your stomach. Looking past her shoulder, you spot Tyson looking at the two of you, and when his face lights up with a grin you recognize just how screwed you really are.

Later in the evening you find yourselves caught in the crosshairs of a few of his teammates. You get the distinct feeling that you’re not in on the joke, like Tyson has spent the majority of his time away from you being harassed and chirped by his teammates. It’s not that shocking, knowing the boys, but the way Sammy crows something about it being ‘about time already’ is. You don't have time to ponder it or worry about the implications, because suddenly you’re being goaded into kissing.

There’s a panic in your eyes that you can’t quite tame, not even as you meet Mel’s similarly alarmed face or as you gaze into Tyson’s much calmer expression. He lifts his hand to press into your neck and mumbles something that sounds a lot like ‘relax’. “We’re just kissing, like real people do,” he whispers before making good on his promise. It’s chaste and sweet but fuck is it everything you didn’t even know you were hoping for. The rest of your friends leave you alone after the prompted kiss, but you can’t stop thinking about it as you excuse yourself to go take a breather outside.

Maybe you shouldn’t be surprised that Tyson follows you, but you are. The night air is quiet if not a little cold, and so you just stand side by side shivering for a moment. A thousand questions flitter through your brain. Why did you bring me here? Why did you ask me to pretend to be your girlfriend? Why did you kiss me like that? You’re not sure you’re capable of expressing all of those thoughts, and so you settle for a simple “Why?”

There’s no one to be pretending in front of, but that doesn’t stop him from curling his hands around your waist and pulling you in close rather than answering your question. Truth be told the question dies on your lips when he presses his to yours.

You want so desperately for it to be real that you grip the lapels of his suit jacket and pull him in even closer, but it all comes crashing down the more you focus on it. “This isn’t real,” you whisper as you pull away.

He just shakes his head, “we’re real people,” and kisses you like they do.

[percabethfeelsfandom]

Writing Prompt AU: Childhood Best friends to Lovers

PART 1: Age 6 

Percy doesn’t realise he’s in trouble until the girl he’s sitting by has gotten up to her feet, her face as red as the curls on her head. 

“You’re too close to me!” She cries at him.

Percy frowns at the space between them, which in his opinion is quite enough but he mutters a sorry and backs away a bit more, bringing the tools he’s playing with closer to him. Sand flies towards him as the girl throws a fistful in his direction. 

He sputters and scratches at his eyes trying to stop the stinging, but all it does is irritate it more. 

“Hey that was mean,” he says, careful not to raise his voice too much. His Mom always taught him that raising your voice is only meant for emergencies and final warnings.

She keeps glaring in his direction until the force of it is so strong that Percy is compelled to get up and leave the sandpit, even though he’s been working on his sandcastle since the beginning of the break.  

He mutters another sorry and goes to the monkey bars, where his friend Grover has been hanging by his legs. 

Percy is trying not to cry as Grover prods him in the shoulder asking him if he’s okay. 

“The girl in the sandpit was a bit mean,” he finally answers and shrugs his shoulders as if it’s not a big deal. But it feels like one.

“You should tell on her,” Grover says with a frown. Instantly Percy shakes his head. 

“No way. I’m not a snitch. You know what happens to people who snitch.” 

Grover sighs and drops from the monkey bars, watching as Percy climbs precariously over the tops of the metal rods. But Percy isn’t worried, he’s a pro at the monkey bars. 

“Mean people should get in trouble,” Grover points out, but Percy shrugs again. 

“Maybe she’s having a bad day, my step-dad Gabe has bad days and sometimes he’s a bit mean, but it’s not all the time. She’s might not be mean all the time.”

~

Percy’s words come back to bite him in the ass later in the year because it seems as though Nancy Bobofit is always having a bad day when it comes to Percy because she’s always in the corner of his eye glaring at him. 

Sticking her leg out when he goes past her to get to the coloured pencils, causing him to trip, and pointing and laughing at him with her friends while he tries to stand up. Grover is by his side, pulling him up and urging him to tell on her but Percy shoots him down each time with a firm shake of his head. 

It’s when Percy is reading something out loud in class that he finally reaches his limit. 

“An o-owl is a brid...bird,” he feels his face heat up as he hears hushed giggles from the back of the class. He refuses to look up but he knows that it’s Nancy’s group. He straightens and focuses on the words on the page, even as they swim and squiggle. 

He continues through the passage, gripping the paper tightly. He hates reading in front of the class more than anything. More than anything in the world and he wants this to end now. 

“They sleep at night, make-making them,” he squints at the sheet, and his hands shake as he struggles to read the word. 

“Take your time Percy it’s okay,” his teacher said from the front of the room, a smile on her face. 

He looked up at her and nodded before looking back at the page, but tears had started pooling in his eyes, making it even harder to read. 

“Noc..Nocter..Noc…” He sighed deeply and scrunched the paper in his hands a bit. 

“Oh my god, he’s so dumb. He can’t even read.”

The voice was perfectly clear in the silent room and Percy finally dropped the paper and sat down, crossing his arms and putting his face in his hands. He heard Grover whisper his name softly but he shook his head, still not lifting his face. 

Percy could hear his teacher speaking from the other side of the room, “Nancy that wasn’t very nice, please apologise to Percy.”

There was a scoff and then the sound of a chair scraping against the ground. 

“Percy, Nancy has something she’d like to say to you.”

Percy lifted his head but didn’t raise his eyes to Nancy keeping them trained on his scuffed shoes and the bright colours on hers.  

“I’m so so sorry I hurt your little itty bitty feelings, Percy. I hope you learn how to read soon.”

Percy clenched his fists and pushed his head back in his hands. He kept his mouth clamped for the rest of the day, and refused to even talk to Grover when he called out to Percy. 

He just wanted today to end, but Nancy had other plans. 

He was leaving the school building when she popped out from the side, a wide grin on her face. Another girl and boy flanked her sides as she stared him down. Percy felt a pit in his stomach and tried to back away.  

They continued walking towards him, like a predator approaching their prey. Every instinct in Percy’s body was screaming at him to run, but he felt frozen on the spot. 

“Look it’s Percy ‘I can’t read’ Jackson. He’s so dumb.”

Nancy’s words were poison in Percy’s ears, and he felt his face burn in shame. Percy hung his head, avoiding Nancy’s eyes as she and her friends made a circle around him. He knew he wasn’t dumb, he knew that, but hearing her say it, and remembering that moment in class. It was hard not to believe it. 

They didn’t step any closer but Percy still felt like he was being suffocated. 

Nancy pressed closer and got in his face until he backed into one of her friends. He tripped over his feet and fell to the ground. He tried to stand but the boy pushed him by the shoulders, forcing him back down. 

Percy tried to push them off but the girls grabbed him by the arms and held him in place. Tears pricked his eyes as he struggled, but three against one wasn’t a fair fight and he was shaking with fear. Too many hands were grabbing at his clothes, tugging on his backpack, and jeering in his ear. He stopped trying to get away and instead tried to cover his ears and face as their voices grew louder. 

“I think he’s going to cry. What a baby.” One of the girls drawled as she laughed in his ear. He turned his face away from her so that she couldn’t see the tears that started to fall. He wanted to leave. He wanted to leave NOW. 

“I’ll give him something to cry about,” Nancy said, and Percy looked at her in fear. Her lips were curled in a cruel smile as she pulled out a can of coke and started shaking it. 

“Please just leave me alone,” Percy whispered. Nancy paused as if to think about it then shook her head firmly. 

“I don’t think so.”

She aimed the can towards him and began opening it. 

An arm shot out from behind her, grabbing her by the shoulder and shoving her to the ground. In doing so she also aimed the can away from Percy’s face. Instinctively he pulled free from the people holding him and ran for the gap in the circle he was trapped in. 

He didn’t turn back until he was safely out and watched as a girl, around his age with wild curly hair ripped the can from Nancy’s hands and pulled the tab aiming at her face, letting the drink explode in Nancy’s face. 

Nancy screamed as she tried to get away from the explosion, but the girl stood out of reach and emptied the can over her head. When Nancy tried to stand up, the girl stepped closer and pushed her back, forcing Nancy to fall onto her butt. Percy’s eyes widened in awe, but he slapped a hand over his mouth to stop from making a sound in case the girl turned on him. She aimed part of the drink towards Nancy’s friends as well so that they got caught in it, but Nancy got the brunt of it, leaving her red hair soaked through and her face sticky with brown liquid. The can rolled to the side as the girl dropped it and she stared at Nancy’s friends as if daring them to come forward. 

When they didn’t make a move to oppose her she smirked. 

“If I see you messing with him again I’ll find you,” she said and promptly turned on her heel leaving Nancy and her friends staring at her in fear.  

Percy closed his mouth, realising that he was watching her and started to follow her even though she made no move to check on him. He scrambled to his feet and fell into step with her. 

“Thank you,” he breathed. She shrugged and blew a curl from her face. Her cheeks were pink as Percy kept pace with her. He had a bus to catch and he was going in the opposite way that he needed to, but he needed to know who this girl was. 

“Whatever.” 

“I’m Percy,” he said, holding out a hand. She stared at it for a moment, before pausing her quick pace and shook it firmly. Her hands were a bit sticky with the coke, but she was very strong. 

“I know, we’re in the same class.” 

“Who are you?”

“Annabeth. I can be your new best friend.”

This made Percy frown. He already had a best friend, and Grover was awesome. When he told Annabeth this her cheeks darkened but she didn’t back down. 

“A person can have more than one best friend. I have Thalia already, but I can be your friend too.”

“Why?” 

“Because it looks like you need it. Any more stupid questions?” This time it was Percy who felt his face warm-up, he wasn’t allowed to use bad words, Annabeth was already infinitely cooler than him for doing so. 

“That’s a bad word,” he pointed out, but he didn’t really care. 

“Do you want to be my friend or not?” Annabeth repeated. Her grey eyes were like a storm and Percy found himself nodding without even thinking about it clearly.

“Yeah. Okay, I’ll be your friend.” Percy decided and nodded again to reaffirm it. Annabeth was a little scary but she had helped him when no one else had. 

“Good.” Then she smiled, and Percy felt his steps falter a bit. She was kind of pretty when she smiled. 

[fanfics-for-the-hockey-fan]

A Lie to Love - Nathan MacKinnon

This is for @antoineroussel Summer Fic Exchange. I had the wonderful @broadstbroskis!

I had so much fun writing this fic and reading everyone else's work, I love getting to see so many great writers sharing their work on this site. This is also one of the longest pieces I have written in a very long time, as I was writing this I had a million other fic ideas pop in my head so many those will get written some time soon.

***

I just sat down on my couch, just getting home from work when someone started knocking on my apartment door. I was hoping to ignore it and it would go away, unfortunately they kept knocking. I groaned as I got up, decided how much I was going to curse this person out. “What-” Right behind the door was Nate, giving me a nervous smile.

I had met Nate through his teammate Gabe, I babysat for Gabe and Melissa on a regular basis. Nate showed up one night that I was watching their daughter looking for advice from Melissa. I was able to help him then he hung out with me until Gabe and Melissa came home. Since then I could expect him to show up at my apartment at least once a week for dinner, and we were close friends after I had to save him from a laundry emergency that first night I met him.

“I’m so glad you’re home. I need a huge favor.” Leaving the door open I headed back towards my couch, I knew Nate would follow me and close the door behind him. Once I was sitting on the couch again Nate pulled my legs onto his lap.

“Last time you asked for a favor I ended up with the flu.” Which was true, he had asked me to help out at a learn to skate event that was outside in December. It had been a cold and foggy day, and two days later I was down for the count.

“I brought you soup! And tissues for we left for that road trip.”

“You brought me one box of tissues and two cans of tomato soup.” Nate raised an eyebrow like I had proven his point. I threw a pillow at his head before speaking again. “I’m allergic to tomatoes!”

“Oh, I’m an idiot. Sorry. But I still need a favor.” I really wanted to just say no, ask Nate to leave and go to sleep until I had to go into the office tomorrow. But I knew I was going to say yes before I even found out what he needed. “Please Ruth.”

“What is this favor?”

“I need you to be my fake girlfriend.”

“That was not what I was expecting you to say.” That got a small chuckle out of Nate but he also looked nervous. “Why do you need a fake girlfriend?” Nate was in a ‘single and loving it’ stage of life, he just wanted to play hockey and hang out with his teammates.

“An executive on the team has been talking up his daughter for like the last two years. I’ve been able to brush off the hints he has been throwing at me, luckily she doesn’t live here. Today he came up to me when I was heading out for the day, talking about how his daughter is coming into town and how we should get dinner together so I can get to know her. I thought I could brush it off as a one off dinner, say we there was no connection and then she would be gone. Easy, ya know?”

“Not really. But continue.”

“Apparently this isn’t just a visit for her, she is moving here. And going to work for the team on the social media team.”

“That must have ruined your plan.” Nate nodded and I knew I was going to agree to his crazy plan. “So how did all this lead to me needing to be your fake girlfriend?”

“I panicked and said I had a girlfriend.”

“And I’m the only girl you hang out with that isn’t related to you or in a relationship with a teammate.”

“You are also one of my best friends and the one person I trust every part of my life with. I know this is a lot to ask, I know this is bigger than asking you to help with a skating event. This is a change to every part of your life, and lying to a lot of people.”

“I’ll do it.” Nate’s jaw actually dropped like he couldn’t believe I was agreeing to do it. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”

“Thank you, thank you so much. I know this is a huge ask, I really do.”

“Before we talk about details, I need food and wine. Not necessarily in that order.” I ordered food and pulled out the biggest wine glass I had. As we waited for the food, we came up with a plan and story to tell everyone. We decided to stick with the cliche story of best friends who decided to fall for each other.

“Um, what about kissing? And other PDA?” Nate’s cheeks flushed as he asked the question and I knew it wasn’t from the wine. “I don’t want to do anything you are uncomfortable with.”

“Let’s just start with hand holding and that kind of stuff.”

“Yeah, okay. That sounds good.” Our food was delivered then, Nate going to the door and coming back with the bags of food.

“How much do I owe you?”

“Don’t worry about it, you can think about it like this is our first date.” I nod and start eating once we decided on something to watch. This felt normal for us, eating take out and watching whatever hockey game Nate was able to find. After we finished eating Nate helped me clean everything up before he got ready to leave. I walked him to the door, hugging him tightly as he let out a sigh of relief. “I don’t think I will ever be able to repay you for doing this. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t worry about it Nate, I’ll always be there when you need me.” I closed the door behind him, hoping that I wouldn’t regret agreeing to fake date my best friend.

Nate’s pov

I had been ignoring my phone since I pulled into the parking lot at Ruth’s apartment building, knowing that asking Ruth to do this would make or break our friendship. When I left her apartment I was hopeful that this wouldn’t be the end of our friendship. But I also knew it was only going to make my feelings for her grow. I realized within a month of knowing Ruth that I had feelings for her, and I had almost told her a dozen times a year since then.

I checked my phone when I got home, I had four missed phone calls from my captain and nearly a dozen texts. I skipped over looking at all the messages and just called him. “Nate, why did I hear you say that you are dating someone? Mel has been questioning me since this afternoon because she heard you say to someone that you are in a relationship. She is pissed that I didn’t tell her about it. Which is hard to do considering I had no clue.”

Before I could answer I heard Mel’s voice. “MacKinnon, you better tell me who you are dating.”

“Uh, Ruth-” There was a loud squeal on the other end of the call and then I heard Landy trying to shush his wife.

“When were you going to tell us this?” Gabe asked after it got quiet. I wanted to tell them the truth, we had talked about it. We eventually decided that we wouldn’t tell them the truth because Gabe was the worst gossiper on the team.

“It’s only been about a month, we wanted to make sure this was going to work before we shared it with anyone. We wanted to wait even longer but one of the executives was trying to set me up with his daughter.”

“Alright. I guess that is enough information from now. We can always ask more questions at that fundraiser on Friday night.”

“Oh shit.” That caused Gabe to laugh at me.

“You didn’t tell her about that yet?”

“No, we weren’t going public yet so I figured that I would just go by myself. But I guess I need to tell her about that now and see if she is willing to come with me.”

“That is a big first outing, good luck with that buddy.” Gabe hung up and I knew that I needed to tell Ruth about Friday but when I left she had mentioned she was going to crash as soon as I left. I figured I should go to bed now and deal with everything tomorrow.

***

I was getting ready to knock on Ruth’s door when it flew open and Ruth was standing there looking shocked. “Nate! What are you doing here?” Her eyes then looked at the coffee cup I was holding, one that I had brought for her. “Oh, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“You only ever bring me my favorite coffee order when you have bad news.”

“I-Landy reminded me last night that we have a black tie fundraiser on Friday night.”

“And now that our supposed relationship is public, you are expected to bring your girlfriend with you.”

“Yeah. I am sorry, I never meant to make your life this complicated.” Ruth took the coffee from me, taking a sip before locking her door.

“I know what I signed up for Nate. I need to get to work, walk with me to my car.” I followed her through the hall of her apartment, waiting for her to yell at me. “What is this fundraiser for? And what kind of dress do I need?”

“It’s for the children’s hospital. We do it every year, they book a huge ballroom and it’s a lot of rich people. The Avs don’t run this fundraiser but all the sports teams in town donate a bunch of stuff to them to auction off and the team likes us to go so the people are more willing to open their wallets.”

“And yet that doesn’t tell me what kind of dress I need, or what time this thing is. Or any of the other million things I need to know to get ready for this thing.”

“I’m not sure about any of this, every year I go by myself. I can have Mel call you?”

“That sounds good. I have to go now, I have a project that was assigned to me yesterday that is way behind schedule. So thank you for the coffee and I’ll see you later.” I watched as she got into her car and drove away.

Ruth’s pov

By the time lunch came around I was buried under a pile of work, I hoped that if I could work through lunch and stay a little late every day this week that I would be caught up by the end of the week so I could focus on the lie at this fundraiser. So when I saw that Melissa was calling me I knew my plan was about to be derailed. “Hey Melissa.”

“I am going to ignore the fact that you didn’t tell me about you and Nate. And I am also going to save all of my questions for later, Nate told me that you need a dress for Friday. I can be at your office in 10 minutes, we can go shopping during your lunch hour.”

“I am so behind on a project that was just given to me this morning and it was already so far behind because the guy who was incharge of it before me was an idiot. I don’t have time to take a lunch break this week.”

“But Nate gave me his card to buy your dress with.” I knew I would regret what I was about to say but I didn’t have another option.

“If I tell you what size I wear, can you just get me something?”

“Absolutely!”

“Thank you. As much fun as I think shopping with you would be, I just can’t leave right now.”

“I get it. Send me a text with your sizes and I’ll find you the perfect dress.”

“Because my brain is a mess right now, I wasn’t supposed to babysit on Friday right?”

“No, my parents are in town this week. They are watching the kids. There is no way you are getting out of this event.” A part of me was hoping that I would have that as an excuse to not go but with that option gone I started to mentally prepare myself for Friday night.

***

“Thank you for letting me get ready here.” I said to Nate as he let me into his house. “And thank you for letting me crash here tonight.”

“Of course, it makes more sense this way. I also have your dress, Mel wouldn’t let me look at it when she dropped it off on Tuesday. I figured you can use my room to get ready, it has more counter space for whatever you need.”

“I’m not kicking you out of your bedroom and bathroom.”

“It’s not kicking me out when I volunteer to use the guest room. C’mon, let me carry your bag.”

“How long until we need to leave?”

“I have an Uber scheduled for 75 minutes from now.” I nod, knowing that I could make that work without having to rush too much. Once Nate headed into the guest room I started to unpack what I would need for now. Grabbing a towel before going to figure out the shower, which was far more high tech than anything I had ever seen in a shower before. I wrapped the towel around myself and went to find Nate. “Nate?! How do I work your futuristic shower?” I only stuck my head out in the hall to yell and luckily he heard me from the guest room he was in. A few seconds later he came out in only a loose pair of shorts, laughing at me. “Don’t laugh at me, your shower has a computer screen!” I opened the bedroom door so he could come in, watching his eyes widen when I saw I was only wearing a towel. As he came in to turn the shower on for me I took the time to look over him. When he turned to show me how to change the temperature and turn it off I knew he caught me checking him out. Nate was such a beautiful person, inside and out. I knew that fake dating Nate had the potential for my true feelings to come out and I was trying to convince myself that this wouldn’t end with the death of our friendship.

“Need anything else?”

“Nope.”

Nate’s pov

It took every ounce of willpower to not kiss Ruth when I saw her standing in my bedroom in just a towel, and then when I caught her checking me out I was really tempted to tell her the truth. I knew that this fake dating would just cause more pain for me but there was nothing I could do about that now. I took a colder shower than I had originally been planning to take but after that was done I got my suit on, just a dark grey suit so that hopefully I wouldn’t clash with whatever Ruth was wearing.

Just as I finished getting my shoes on there was a knock on my door. I opened it and was immediately speechless. The deep green dress looked amazing on her and I am pretty sure that my jaw was on the floor. As she moved in the dress I saw the large slit on the one side that showed a lot of her leg. “Can you zip my dress?”

“Y-yeah.” Ruth turned so her back was to me, pulling her hair to the side so I could tug up the zipper before whispering. “Perfect.”

“I should be ready in just a few minutes.”

“Yeah, I just need to come grab a tie. I wanted to wait until I saw what color your dress was.” Ruth nodded as we both heard into my bedroom, I headed straight for my closet and by the time I came out with my tie on Ruth was standing at the end of my bed smiling. “You look amazing.”

“You do too.” I walked over to Ruth, both of us looking at our reflection in the mirror. “We make a good looking couple.”

“I don’t think I can do this.” I froze after those words came out of my mouth, Ruth looking at me with wide eyes.

“O-okay, um, I’ll go grab my stuff and get out of your hair.” Ruth went to turn and walk away from me, but I gently turned her around so I could tell her the truth.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” I cupped Ruth’s cheek, locking eyes with her. “I have had feelings for you for so long. Probably since a month after I met you but I was scared to tell you. And then we became friends and I didn’t want to make things weird, so I kept it a secret. But I also fell for you more as we became closer friends. So I think a part of me decided to say I was dating someone because I want to be dating you. For real.” Ruth didn’t say anything, just took a step closer and pressed her lips to mine. “I, what just happened?”

“Everything you just told me, I feel the same way.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Now kiss me for real.” That I could do, I kissed Ruth like I had wanted to do for years. We only stopped kissing when a car horn sounded in my driveway. “I think I need to fix my lipstick.”

“I would say sorry but I’m not. I’ll go to the car if you want to fix your lipstick.” Ruth nodded, stepping back while smiling at me. “Just so you know, this isn’t our first date. I will be planning that for next week and it is going to knock your socks off.”

“As long as you are there, I can’t wait.” I kissed Ruth one more time before healing downstairs to tell the driver we were almost ready. I also couldn’t keep the smile off of my face, I couldn’t believe what started out as a panicked lie turned into a chance to date my best friend for real.

[wolfieslae]

"liam saved theo from his never ending nightmare so theo saved liam from himself"

it’s no surprise to anyone, i’m a tiny bit obsessed with thiam.

when theo first arrived to the show i liked him already, i felt like he was an interesting character with an interesting backstory, i wanted to learn more. the more i did the worst it got but i kept thinking he was interesting and i liked seeing how he was able to plan his take on the pack. he managed to insert himself in the life of the characters and turned it around, when his plan failed, he still got his pack but ended up killing them all, i admit, kinda real bad, and then he got drag down to hell.

during the fifth season we found out that when he was ten he was manipulated into thinking his older sister – tara – wanted him to have her heart, because his had a genetic disorder. he believed the dread doctors when they told him they could make him better and he killed his own sister – taking her heart. he then left with them and was raised by them, raised believing that power was all that mattered and that he would be nothing and no one without it.

in season six episode six liam and hayden decided to bring him back because they needed his help with a supernatural creature in town, while hayden was more resistant, liam did not hesitate to smash kira’s sword into the ground and free theo, saving him from his never ending nightmare at the same time.

very rapidly we understood that whatever power theo might have stolen from his chimera pack – more specifically josh – he wasn’t in possession of them anymore, he was back to "classic theo" part coyote and part wolf. after he helped with the ghost rider, liam and hayden locked theo in the holding cell at the sheriff station. theo wanted out and liam wanted answer, they made a deal and liam broke the sword and with it any chance of theo going back to hell, his never ending nightmare.

when they needed him more, liam and stilinski broke theo out of jail but unfortunately the sheriff was taken and only theo and liam were left, leaving them no choice but to work together to flee the ghost riders. they – liam – had one goal, lure them away from scott, lydia and malia who were trying to get stiles back.

the both of them ended up at the hospital where, and i quote, liam said "when the ghost riders find us, i’m not gonna do anything for you, i’m not gonna help you, i’m not gonna save you, i’m gonna do exactly what you’d do to me, i’m gonna use you as bait". we all know he did not keep that promise, in fact, while fighting with a ghost rider, he pointed a gun at the one theo was fighting and shot, saving his life in the process. to "pay him back" and maybe prove that he wasn’t as bad as liam made him out to be, theo offered himself as bait.

while we all thought he had been taken in the hunt, we found out he hadn’t when out of nowhere he came back and saved liam from one of the ghost riders at the school, leaving liam able to get on with his god awful – but working – plan to get into the hunt.

while theo later on fought at the side of scott, malia and peter, he was forgotten and left alone. obligated to live in his car.

we found that out on season six episode twelve, where i noticed that the deputies coming to wake him up seemed to always wear a different uniform, did theo move around? or is the beacon county just, that big?

he was shot and didn’t come back until three episodes later (not gonna lie, these were the three most stressful weeks of my life).

when in episode twelve we found out he was living in his car, we also found out that he might have been the first target for the anuk-ite. thankfully, theo caught the spider early and got rid of it before it took his body and with it, his life.

when he came back in episode fifteen, he was hang up and tied to an electric fence in gerard and monroe’s headquarters. along with two other werewolves. when he thought he was free, he ended not being and was taken into custody.

during episode fifteen, when nolan was caught trying to sneak into the sheriff station liam automatically recognized him as the one who tried to make him shift in front of the whole school by beating him up. by scott’s reaction we understand that he might not have told him. but some of the shots during this scene were interesting, showing liam on the first plan with a close-shot accompanied by a blurry theo in the back. we understand why in the next scene that they share, in the bathroom.

theo confronts liam about what is happening, saying he will not risk his freedom. while liam first manages to stay calm during the discussion, he looses control when talking about brett and lori’s death. he punches theo before heading out and saying "i’m still working on my anger".

while we don’t know what happens between episode fifteen and episode sixteen, we understand that something might have clicked in liam’s brain, because, while he reacted poorly, theo seemed to be the only one noticing that something was wrong with liam. could this be why he brought him with him at the zoo? maybe.

it could also be because theo seems to be able to handle liam. theo has a past and liam knows it, theo doesn’t shy away in front of danger and maybe this is what liam needs at the moment? someone who will not hesitate to get in the way to stop him from doing something stupid?

there is also a line in this episode where theo says "i’m not dying out here because you want pay back against a kid who kicked your ass" and while i have no recollection of anyone explaining to theo what happened in the prior episodes with nolan and liam, maybe someone did between episode fifteen and sixteen, liam perhaps?

the car conversation is also interesting because now theo knows how bad liam has it with his anger, and the fear the anuk-ite brings is not helping "people only feel one emotion at a time liam". he also knows liam needs help "you brought me here because that thing that came out of the wild hunt is affecting you too" at this moment theo has already made up his mind, whether liam wants his help or not, he is going to get it.

and funny enough, liam doesn’t seem that resilient – oh he is yes – but not so much because deep down he knows he needs it, he also knows that whatever technique theo uses, it seems to be working because in episode seventeen, during the locker-room scene, liam calms down a bit too quickly for my liking (wrong i absolutely loved that).

theo uses reversed psychology and makes it to seem like liam would turn into a murderer, into someone like him "i’m the one with experience here", theo even uses "we" so that liam can feel more of a "bad person" because of what he might do. but in the end, it works and liam calms down.

now here is my favorite part, right after that liam asks theo "why do you keep trying to save me" and while theo answers something so dumb i don’t even want to mention it, i know it’s because liam saved him first and now theo feels obligated to return the favor (well, he does seem to enjoy it anyways).

theo can be seen in the next episode, number eighteen, right at the beginning, in the animal clinic with scott, liam and mason.

mason agrees with theo and liam doesn’t seem to like it, everything he says to or about theo seems to come out as an insult, but why? they seemed to be getting along well in the prior episode? finishing each other sentences when showing the dead bodies gabe brought them to to scott and malia? maybe because he’s starting to realize he might need theo more than he thought? and he doesn’t want to acknowledge it?

either way, theo and mason are sent to the tunnels to find aaron. they are both clearly uncomfortable being with each other but theo even more because the tunnels are where everything started and he surely does not want to stay or be here at all.

mason ends up hurt, and theo decides to try and take his pain away. first of all, great decision, it shows that he is trying to change, that he at least knows he can do it at some point and wants to. unfortunately he isn’t able "you can’t take pain if you don’t care". theo still decides to stay with mason while waiting for help.

the next time we see theo, it’s at the beginning of episode twenty, the finale. he is in his car, driving to somewhere on the phone with scott.

here are some details that don’t sit right with me. their phone call lasted twenty six seconds. there is no way theo answered the phone, got in his car, and drove to what seems to be the highway in twenty six seconds, so where was he going? was he leaving town because of what had happened with mason in the tunnels or liam’s sneaky comments at the clinic? because even after all his efforts, he is still not being accepted and knows he probably never will? probably. but i’m glad scott called and asked for his help.

he got to the hospital and saved liam’s ass – again might i add.

then, there is what is for me, their most important scene, for their relationship but also for their own character’s arc.

the elevator scene.

where they promise each other they weren’t gonna die for each other. where they lie their ass off.

i have a theory about this scene. remember the look? yes that one, the famous look down. based on my calculations, it is way too low to be directed to liam’s lips as people believe it to be, no, i think it’s directed to his chest, most importantly, his heart. because liam lied, and theo heard it. now of course theo lied too but he’s a professional he knows how to keep his heart steady.

and of course liam knows that theo knows because the look gives it away, which is why he accepts to fight with him (and damn, they make a pretty good team! i mean, that back roll? come on!) and i think in that moment they understood that no matter what, they can’t hide from this anymore, whatever this is (my money’s on anchor with a touch of love).

but in that moment i knew. i knew that because liam allowed himself to get help from theo, allowed himself to be anchored by theo, he anchored theo too. he gave him a reason and the opportunity to stay on the right path, on the path to redemption. and in that moment theo realized that he mattered, that he had a purpose.

can we also quickly talk about the small shot of theo flinching at the sound of the gun going off? when has he ever done that? he was literally raised by the dread doctors, he’s not afraid of anything, but not knowing if liam was on the other end of that gun shot scared him.

now we all know that part of why theo was able to take gabe’s pain was because he saw himself in him, the kid who trusted the wrong people and suffered the consequences, just like he did. but part of why he was able to care was because liam cared. liam gave theo a reason to care.

and this is why i love them so much. because their relationship, again, whatever it is, is special. it’s unlike any we’ve ever seen in the show. it’s important because it takes into consideration who they are on their own. it doesn’t exist just to add a relationship or a story-line to the show, it exists to fit on their own story-line, to make them better people.

as the title says, liam saved theo from his never ending nightmare so theo saved liam from himself (and fell in love with him in the process).

they are so important to me because i like when relationships have meaning, and theirs seems to be just that, meaningful.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

In the Neighbourhood

Warnings: nonconsensual sex, very lightly edited

This is dark!Andy Barber and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: After your grandmother breaks her hip, you volunteer to look after her as she recovers but her neighbour is a bit too friendly.

Note: @lokislastlove​ thinks I won’t call her out anymore but I’m calling her out and you should too. Always blame her.

Thank you. Love you guys!

As always, if you can, please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3

Your grandmother’s house never changed. Nestled between two larger homes and with grass as green as the next, it was as perfect as any along the suburban sprawl. Inside, the same framed pictures of your mother and your aunt and uncle, those of you, your siblings, and your cousins, and family members you only saw at reunions. All of them far away. All of them keeping her company only in the still images. None of them coming to care for her; none but you.

You didn’t mind so much. With two degrees under your belt, you were ready to start your novel as you pondered a third. Your online transcription job was easy enough to travel with and you loved your grandmother. The least you could do was help her out in her recovery. A broken hip but otherwise okay. She couldn’t do much from her wheelchair and you feared a worse injury if she tried.

You moved in on a Sunday. The family next door, the Barbers, were the perfect picture of a suburban clan. Andy introduced himself and his wife, Laurie, and their quiet son, Jacob. Then they asked if your grandmother, Lucille, was coming to their barbecue that afternoon and invited you along with her. Your grandmother confirmed that she didn’t want to miss out on Laurie’s potato salad because she’d tripped on a rug.

So you wheeled her over, careful as the grass slowed the chair, and you angled her through the open gate. You seemed to be the last to arrive. The air smelled of searing beef and swirled with the buzz of voices. You stood behind your grandmother’s chair as you looked around nervously and a plump woman with short curly white hair approached.

“Darla!” You grandmother greeted. “You’re back from your little getaway.”

“Arn was keen to come home,” The woman smiled up at you and back to your grandmother. “I heard you had a bit of an incident.”

“Oh, still spry, but the damn doctor has me ‘takin’ it easy’,” You grandma sneered. “I’ll be up at it before long. This is my granddaughter, you remember her, don’t you?”

“I do,” Darla smiled though you barely remembered her. “So sweet of you to come down to look after our Lucille.”

“It’s nothing,” You said. “I owe her. I spent too many holidays on campus.”

“That you did,” Your grandmother chided. “But do go on and socialise, dear. There must be someone here your own age. Or closer to. You can’t be lettin’ yourself get caught up with us old biddies.”

“I’m fine,” You chuckled. “Really.”

“You go. Get something to drink.” You grandmother snapped her fingers. “Mingle!”

You huffed but left her with Darla and another woman, you were certain her name was Betty, passed you on her way to join them. You looked around. The wives were in their clusters and the men drank from brown bottles as they laughed and talked about sports. You didn’t know about children or baseball. 

You went to the end of the table, just by the barbecue, a cooler open and waited as a young boy claimed a can of Orange Crush. You reached inside and took out a grape soda. The lid of the barbecue closed and you turned to face its master; Andy smiled as you blinked at him.

“That’s the kid’s cooler,” He said. “There’s a mini fridge in the garage if you want something stronger.”

“I’m good with this,” You cracked the can. 

“I thought you were a college girl,” He said as he set down his long spatula.

“Graduated.” You assured him. “Never was big on the scene though.”

“Really?” He lifted a brow. “I kinda miss it.” He stepped around the barbecue, closer to you. “It was a while ago now but it was fun. You know,” He put his hands on his hips as he looked across the yard. “I was in a frat with Carson over there,” He nodded to skinny man holding a bottle of water amid the sea of brown glass. “We got in quite a bit of trouble. Maybe I wrote a few of my exams drunk but didn’t do much harm.”

“Oh yeah?” You said dully. “What do you do now?”

“Law. Assistant district attorney.” He preened. “But don’t worry, I can still have fun.”

He winked and you squinted at him. He was an old man trying to relate to a youth. There was what, ten, fifteen years between you? Wasn’t that much, really, and yet it was.

“Legal fun,” You suggested.

“Well, the immoral isn’t always illegal,” He mused. “So… Miss Graduate, you have a job lined up?”

“I work online for now but I’m writing, too.” You shrugged. “Nothing fancy but it’ll do for the time being. Until my grandma’s better.”

“That’s a nice thing you’re doing,” He said. “You know, not a lot of people I know my age would drop everything to go care for family.”

“Least I can do,” You sipped from the can. “She always did make the best lemon meringue. It has its perks.”

He chuckled and backed up as he grabbed the spatula again and opened the barbecue.

“Offer stands,” He called over the smoke. “Beer’s in the garage.”

“Thanks,” You smiled and slowly walked away. This was like that party you’d spent hiding on the porch; awkward as hell.

🏡

The first two weeks passed swiftly. You woke up, made breakfast for your grandmother, her usual oatmeal and tea, then you spent a few hours working online, then lunch, an hour of writing, a walk through the neighbourhood, some alone time, dinner, and then some nightly crime dramas with your grandmother. Each day was identical to the last and you felt the vaunted slog of suburban life.

It was Saturday. You needed to get out. Your grandmother even encouraged it. A few hours at the bar, drinking, dancing, you returned with a guy, Gabe, you met there, hushing him as you snuck him in the front door. 

The house was dark as you climbed the stairs carefully and ushered Gabe into your bedroom. You closed the door and grabbed him as you stumbled to the bed. It was messy, hurried, and desperate. Entirely regrettable as you laid staring out the window at the sky after. You didn’t have time to ask him to leave before he started snoring.

You slept for a few hours and woke as the sun began to rise. You poked the stranger you knew as Gabe until he woke up and you threw his clothes at him before you dressed. You peeked into the hall and waved him out behind you. You led him down the stairs and to the front door. He left you with some empty nicety and you hid your wince. It wasn’t your first one night stand but it was definitely the worst.

“Fun night?” You turned as Andy descended the steps of his porch and opened his car door.

“You work on Sundays?” You grumbled. You hoped he hadn’t seen your regret walking away.

“Not usually but I got some hours to make up.” He dropped his briefcase in the back seat and closed the door. “I know that guy. Pretty sure he’s still on probation for the molly he was dealing at the mechanics.”

“Ugh, no.” You covered your face. “You saw?”

“I got a bit curious as I was finishing my coffee.” He pointed to the window with lacy curtains. “Great view just above the sink.”

“So you’re one of those neighbours?” You crossed your arms.

“I seem nosy but really I’m just looking out for you.” He opened the driver’s side door and planted his hand on the roof of the car. “Look, you don’t know the people around here. I’m just trying to help.”

“Well, I won’t be seeing him again.” You retreated to the door and stopped there. “Boring, to say the least.”

“Heh,” Andy scoffed. “Really?”

“Not that it’s any of your business.” You rolled your eyes and stepped inside, closing the door with a snap. You went to the bottom of the stairs and looked up. “Hey, grandma,” You called as you began to climb. “You ready to get up?”

🏡

At the end of the next week, you took your grandmother to her check up. Her recovery was on track but she had a long way to go. The doctor was optimistic that at her next appointment, she’d be ready to use her walker more often.

As you helped her out of the car and got her settled in her chair, you ignored the roar of the mower in the next yard. You’d seen Andy as you drove up. He was pushing the machine back and forth across his already perfectly manicured yard; shirtless. As you turned to push your grandmother up the walk, you couldn’t help but notice that he was in great shape for his age. For any age, really.

“Hey,” He yelled over the motor and shut it down. “How’s it going, ladies?”

“Andy,” Your grandmother chimed. “Great! Doc says I’m doing well.”

“Mmhmm,” You mumbled, still slightly embarrassed over your last interaction with the man.

“Well, seeing as I’m already out here and you already had such a busy day, I could do your lawn while I’m at it?” He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and you quickly tore your eyes away from his chest. 

“Oh, you’re too sweet,” Your grandma giggled. “It’s so hot out here.”

“I don’t mind,” He insisted. “Laurie’s gone to see her parents with Jacob so I’m just trying to keep myself busy.”

“Twist my arm, why don’t ya?” Your grandmother shook her hand. “Fine! Sweetie,” She reached back and tapped your hand. “Let’s go make some lemonade for this young man so he doesn’t overheat.”

Andy smiled and you nodded at him awkwardly. You wheeled your grandmother up the newly installed ramp and inside. She ordered you to the kitchen and directed you to the lemons hidden in the crisper.

“The juicer is just under there.” She pointed to the cupboard, “And you’ll want to add some sugar.”

“I know how to make lemonade, grandma,” You said as you pulled out the pitcher.

“That Andy’s a nice man,” She said. “So helpful… handsome too. It’s too bad you’re so young… and he’s so married.”

“Stop,” You warned. “You said the same thing about your doctor.”

“Yes, but he’s a doctor. He’s rich.” She snickered. “And not married, just not into your type.”

“Grandma,” You snipped. “Really.”

“I don’t know how your mother ended up with you.” She said. “She was such a little troublemaker.”

“Trust me, I’ve heard,” You said as you washed the lemon juice from your hands and added water and sugar to the pitcher. “I think her stories were more a warning.”

“Too smart for your own good,” She tutted as you mixed the lemonade.

You went to the cupboard and grabbed some ice cubes from the freezer as you set a glass on the counter. You poured the lemonade and gave her a sour look. 

“You think you can look after yourself for a few minutes?” You asked dryly.

“Girlie, I was taking care of you while you were in diapers,” She narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, how the tables have turned.”

“I don’t wear diapers,” She hissed as you neared the door. “Yet.”

You went out the front door as Andy pushed the mower across the yard just along the walkway. He stopped and looked over at you. He shut down the motor again and neared you as you came down the steps to hold out the glass. He thanked you and took a big gulp before he handed it back.

“You know, I didn’t mean anything,” He said. “The other day. Sometimes… I say stuff without thinking.”

“It’s… whatever.” You shrugged and set the glass on the rail of the porch. “No hard feelings.”

“I just got a hot tub. Just gotta hook it up and it’s ready to go.” He said. “You should stop by later. Get a soak in.”

“No, I don’t think so.” You stood at the top of the steps. “I don’t wanna leave grandma all alone. She wants to watch Casablanca tonight. I promised we would.”

“Maybe another night.” He offered. “You work so hard. You deserve a break.”

“Maybe,” You said evasively as you turned and crossed the porch. You glanced back as you opened the door and he was still looking at you.

“Lemonade’s good.” He smiled. “Thanks.”

🏡

You finished lunch and left your grandmother to her puzzle at the dining room table. You went upstairs to change the shirt you’d spilled mustard down; it was all you could smell. You tore off your shirt and tossed it on the bed. You rounded the bed to the dresser that sat just below the window and opened the draw. Movement caught your eye and you looked up across the space between yards.

Andy’s eyes met yours through the windows. You’d never realised they were adjacent, let alone so easy to see through. He wore a towel around his waist, freshly showered and his gaze strayed for just a moment. You blanched and pulled out a shirt and covered yourself with it. He smirked and tilted his head. Then he winked and a shiver went through you.

You grabbed the curtain and closed it so forcefully you nearly bent the rod. You backed away and put the shirt on properly. Surely, he was being funny. A tense, awkward moment. What else could he do but make a joke? Well, it wasn’t a very good one.

🏡

You stayed inside for the better part of a week. Aside from your walks with your grandmother and a trip to the grocery store, you kept your curtains closed, and hid yourself away. Maybe you’d built it up in your mind but you were just set off-kilter by the wordless interaction. Since, you felt as though you’d been walking a tightrope, too afraid to look down.

But that night, your grandmother wanted to sit outside. It was warm and the nights were shorter; later. You wheeled her out, a book on her lap, and as you made to skirt back inside, he appeared. Andy had impeccable timing. It made you wonder if he was watching you; if he had been for much longer than you knew. Well, now you were just being paranoid.

“Hey,” He stood at the edge of the yard. “Beautiful night.”

“Sure is,” You grandma replied. “I’ve got a new book and I’m ready to enjoy the breeze.”

“Oh, a new book? What’s it about?” He asked as he neared tentatively.

“Another scary one.” She cracked the cover. “Or so I hear. Skinwalkers taking over a whole city.”

“Ah, spooky,” He commented and looked at you. “And you?”

“Writing. Inside.” You said evenly.

“I figured since it was so nice, I was finally gonna try out my new Jacuzzi,” He said. “I just… I did promise you a soak so I thought maybe--”

“Eh, I don’t know.” You neared the door. “I really should try to get some writing done.”

“Nonsense, dear,” Your grandmother intoned. “You’ve been on that computer all day. You should go, relax.”

“Really, I--”

“Laurie might join us. She’s inside doing some work.” He piped up. “She wouldn’t mind the company.”

“Go on! I’m getting sick of ya anyway,” Your grandmother snorted. “You could stand to loosen up.”

“Grandma,” You huffed.

“Go get changed,” She ordered and smiled at Andy. “She’ll be over shortly.”

You blinked and tried to hide your irritation. You went inside before Andy could notice and you stormed upstairs. You weren’t even sure you’d packed a suit. You searched through the dresser. The curtains were still drawn tight. You found your old pink bikini with the white flowers. Really? It had to be that one?

You changed, reluctantly. It couldn’t have covered less of you. You found a tee shirt and pulled it over. You descended the stairs again and stepped out on the porch.

“Thanks for that, grandma.” You scowled.

“I can see why you were never popular,” She laughed. “Go. Have fun. This old lady can handle herself.”

You stomped down the steps beside the ramp and stopped at the border of the yards. You sighed and went to the gate, it was open in expectation of you. You heard the whir of jets before you entered. Andy was just beside the hot tub, testing the temperature with his hand as you stood across from him. He looked up and gave a crooked smirk.

“Andy,” The back door opened and Laurie appeared. “Oh, hey.” She smiled at you before turning back to her husband. “I’m gonna pass. Gina’s not going to make it in tomorrow so looks like I’ll be up all night.”

“Damn, that’s too bad,” Andy said. “More tub for us I guess.”

“Yes, love you too,” She said dryly. “You enjoy yourself. And don’t leave that thing on all night.”

“Yes, honey,” He said before she shut the door. “Love you.”

You swallowed. Your mouth was dry. Maybe you had been a bit presumptuous. Andy climbed into the jacuzzi and lowered himself into the warm water with a sigh. You hesitated to get closer but you did. He watched you, expectantly. You grabbed the edge and tried to will yourself in.

“You’re wearing that?” He nodded to your tee.

“Yeah,” You lifted your leg over the side.

“You don’t gotta be shy,” He grinned.

You paused and frowned at him.

“I’m joking,” He said. “The other day. That was… funny. Bad timing.”

“Mhmm,” You drew your other leg over and carefully sat.

“You met any more cute guys?” He asked suddenly. You squinted.

“What?” 

“Not much to do around here, you know? Pretty boring.”

“No. I don’t--” You sputtered. “I don’t think it’s a very good idea. Once my grandma’s better, I’ll be going.”

“Still, it’s lonely.” He said softly. 

“What do you care?” You asked, harsher than intended. 

He was quiet. He leaned back and looked over at the house then back to you. He exhaled and spread his arms over the edge.

“So… that toy you hide in your night table? You always use it or you ever just… feel yourself?”

Your heart sank. You felt as if you would choke on air. Had you imagined his words?

“What did you just--”

“Took you long enough to catch on,” He said. “Got a good view of you when I can’t sleep but… not anymore. Too bad.”

“Andy,” You stood and the water splashed around you. “You-- You’re-- Laurie, she--”

“I haven’t fucked her in months. This is what she does.” He sat forward and caught your hand. “She works. All the time. I try and she… just doesn’t want to.”

“Let me go.” You struggled with him. “You’re disgusting. You’re married!”

“Me? Fucking awful some young girl strolls into town and tries to seduce a married man? What would grandma think? And Laurie? She’s not one to sit back and be humiliated.” He tugged on you. “I have a reputation around here. You’re just a stranger, and apparently one, who fucks strangers.”

“What are you talking about?” You nearly slipped as he spun you back to him. “You’ve been watching me and--”

“I’m just a neighbour looking out for you,” He pulled even harder and your feet slid across the bottom of the jacuzzi, forcing you to catch yourself on him. “Like I do all my neighbours. They would confirm as much.”

“Get--” You grabbed his arm as it snaked around you. “Andy! Laurie--”

“Doesn’t give a fuck and if she came out, well, she’d only realise what’s she’s pushed me to.” 

You wriggled as he held you to him. He drew your leg over his so that you straddled his lap. You pushed on his chest and grunted.

“You keep it up and everyone will hear. Even sweet old nana.” He snarled. “I saw you looking at me that day… when you brought me lemonade.”

“No, no,” You rasped.

“I’m old, not that old,” He purred. “As you can obviously see.”

“Let me go. Please.” You begged. He was too strong and your arms only ached from pushing against him. “Andy--”

“Shhh,” He grabbed your chin with his wet hand and pulled you close until your lips almost met his. “In this town, rumours travel. It might be old news that you left a bar with that dumb kid but now, it’s evidence.” His hand slipped down your neck and squeezed. “Such a bad girl.”

“No one would--”

“They have no reason not to believe me,” He rolled up your wet shirt with his other hand. “Annie across the street, she likes gossip. She’s seen you flirting with me, at least that’s how she told it to Laurie but you know, my wife just laughs it off. And now she’s no doubt seen you come into my backyard in just this.” He pulled your shirt higher. “And her mind is going wild.”

“I can’t--”

“How long did he last? A minute? Less?” He snarled and his other hand slipped down to draw your shirt up. You kept your arms down as you tried to resist. “Bet you could wait to use your little toy.”

“Stop,” You pleaded.

“Get your arms up.” His voice was deep and dangerous. “And stop your whining.”

You stopped and stared at him. His blue eyes burned into yours and sent a shiver through you. His fingertips pinched your hips as they crawled under your shirt and he pushed it higher.

“You don’t shut up and someone will hear, sweetie,” He warned. “Up.”

He tugged until you raised your arms. A wave of bile rose in your chest and you let him peel away your wet shirt and reveal the skimpy bikini beneath. He dropped the cotton over the side of the tub and his hands grazed the triangles of your top.

“Cute,” He hummed. “You hiding this from me?”

You were quiet, sickened. With him, with yourself. You knew you couldn’t fight, wouldn’t. You remembered the barbecue and how you’d been the odd one out. Recalled how Andy had talked to almost every person there. Everyone loved him and no one knew you.

“Mmm mm mm,” His fingertips walked around your neck and he picked at the knot behind your neck. The straps loosened and he let your top fall and expose your chest. 

He bent to bury his face against you and nibbled along your tits. You looked, startled, to the back door. It was still shut. A light glow from a bedroom above and the distant beat of music escaped through the slightly opened bedroom window. Another light died on the first floor and was replaced by a second on the top floor, reflecting against yours on the other side. 

You quivered as Andy took a nipple in his mouth and sucked. You felt it in your core as his hand cupped your other tit. He reached beneath you and played with the edge of your bottom. He drew you back as he leaned against the side of the tub and lifted his pelvis, and you with him. He tugged on his shorts and sat back down.

You felt hollow and a cloud of panic filled your stomach. You struggled against you and he bit you. You squeaked as his teeth threatened to break the skin and stilled. He parted and looked up at you.

“Be a good girl,” He felt beneath you and began to stroke himself.

“Please--”

“Shhh,” He turned his hand and hooked his fingers in your bottoms, pulling them aside. “It’s okay, sweetie.” He rubbed his tip against your folds. “It’ll be good.” He drew you to him and angled you over his dick. “Better than ever before.”

He forced you down and your lips formed an o as he entered you. You latched onto his shoulders without thinking and he pushed you to his limit. His lips and teeth returned to your chest as he once more began to toy with you. You quivered as he began to rock your hips.

The water swished around you, swirling and slapping against your skin. You held your breath as you tried not to cry out. You hissed as you dug your nails into his shoulders and let him guide you. Despite yourself, despite everything, it felt good. It felt wonderful. He was right and you were weak.

“You like that?” He nuzzled your throat. “Is this what you think of at night, huh?”

You bit your lip as he kneaded your hips and kept your moving.

“I think of it all the time,” He muttered. “All the time. Maybe…” His breath caught and he groaned. “Maybe I could offer to take you grocery shopping, hmm? We could have some fun in the car…”

“Andy…” You whimpered. “No, we can’t-- not again…”

You grasped his wrists and tried to push yourself off of him. A semblance of sanity returned to you as you looked him in the face. His eyes were dilated and dusky. He was entranced; incorrigible. You struggled as he held you down.

“This is wrong--”

He shoved you off him as his lip curled. You stumbled back and caught yourself on the other side of the tub. The water splashed as he stood behind you and grabbed your arm. He turned you over and pushed you over the siding, a jet blowing against your pelvis.

“Doesn’t feel wrong to me.” He growled.

He held you down with a large hand between your shoulders as he pushed your legs apart with his knee. He pressed against you and searched for your entrance, swiftly impaling you. You choked down a mewl as your hips crashed into the wall of the tub. He leaned his weight on you entirely as he rutted into you without relent. You were certain someone would hear the clapping of flesh or the stir of water all around.

“You’ll do what I want, when I want,” He sneered. “And from what I can tell, you’ll like it.”

“Andy--” Your voice fizzled as the pressure mixed with the steady stream of the jet as it hit your cunt. 

You held in a moan as you hung over the side of the tub, the blood pounding in your head as you panted wildly. You covered your mouth, afraid you would cry out as the coil inside you twisted and twisted. Your legs quaked as you orgasmed.

Andy’s hand gripped your hips and he pulled you back against him, again and again, using your body easily. You slid back and forth over the side and he bent over you, crushing you against the tub. He growled in your ear and his thrust jolted your body.

He pulled out suddenly, still looming over you as he stroked himself against your bikini and pressed his damp beard to your cheek as he shuddered. His hot cum spilled out onto the wet fabric and dripped down your thigh as he eased himself through his climax. He sighed and pushed himself from atop you, falling back into the water heavily.

You stayed as you were for a moment. Stunned. Shakily you stood and fixed your top and pulled your bottom straight. You couldn’t look at him. You climbed out of the tub and walked unsteadily across the grass.

“Ah, that was relaxing,” He said. “Come back anytime.”

You ignored him and continued onto the gate.

“Oh, and it’s supposed to be a cool night,” He called after you. “You should keep your window open.”

You slipped through and the gate creaked behind you and closed with a metallic click. You shivered as you kept to the side of your grandma’s house and entered through the back. You didn’t want anyone to see; you were certain they would know if they did.

[irelanddesires]

Ny Början- Chapter 1

Pairing:  André Burakovsky x reader

Warnings: Fluff, eventual smut, hockey violence, domestic violence (in the beginning), idk probs more.

Summary:  With the help of a group of unsuspecting heroes you are saved from a toxic relationship. One of your saviors goes above and beyond anything you could ask for. A friendship is forged and after awhile feelings happen. Could ths be your happy ending? 

A/N: Hi I’m trash and this idea has rolled around in my head for w e e k s. I’ve played hockey for a really long time and the Avs are my team... Burky happens to be my hockey crush so I figured I would share this. IDK what it is but this challenged me a lot and I can’t write a guys perspective to save my life ffs. Dialogue is hard my doods. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think! 

Going to the club was the last thing you wanted to do. Between working two jobs and trying to stay on top of your classes it didn’t leave much free time and you didn’t want to spend that sparse time dealing with drunk people and loud music. Your boyfriend, Matthew, had insisted that this was exactly what you needed after the week you had. At this point you both had been there long enough to see friends call it a night and you were pretty sure that Matthew was one drink away from making a fool out of himself. 

“Matt, can we please go?” you asked, hoping that he would finally agree. 

“Loosen up! We never get to spend time together. Let’s enjoy this!” he practically yelled. 

“We’ve been here long enough. It’s late and I have an early shift tomorrow.” you urged. At this point you wanted to go home, get out of this dress and crawl into bed. Nothing at this bar held your attention. Matt’s had grabbed your arm, his face inches from yours.

“I said no. We’re not going anywhere. I’m not finished here.” he ground out. 

The look on his face left little room for argument and was quite scary. Matt was usually a nice guy, the perfect boyfriend, but after drinking he could become a totally different person. Matt had never hit you but the emotional toll it took on you could be just as painful as a physical blow. After the week you’ve had of working 12-14 hour days just to come home and clean before passing out just to do it all over again made you throw all caution to the wind. You wanted to go home for fucks sake, not be here. 

You snached your arm from his grip, looking him in the eyes, “I’m tired, I’m going home. You can stay if you want but I’m not.” 

Before he could say anything you spun on your heels and marched out the side door that led to a less busy street. You hoped this would give you some peace and quiet as you ordered your Uber. Just as you tapped the app to get an Uber the door behind you swung open. Matt stumbled through the doorway and onto the sidewalk with you. 

“You can’t leave me,” he said. 

“Matt, I’m going home to sleep. I don’t care what you do.” 

“I said no!” he roared. Before you could comprehend what was happening your head snapped back and you were pushed against the outside wall of the bar. The brick dug into your skin as you tried to struggle against the hands holding you there. 

“Why don’t you ever listen to me you bitch.” he said as his fingers dug into your throat, “If I tell you to do something you fucking do it!” 

Panic seized your chest as his hands circled around your throat. The throbbing in your head forgotten about as your fight or flight instincts kicked in. You tried to kick him as hard as you could but it seemed like he wasn’t phased at all by it. Your hands grabbed onto his, your fingernails digging into his skin trying to get any distance between his hands and your throat. Just as spots began to dance around your vision the same door you both had exited from swung open and a group of people spilled out. 

Before you could try and scream for help one of them turned around and spotted you. His face went from relaxed and playful to murderous in seconds. You didn’t have time to gather your thoughts before he was charging both of you, shoving Matt off of you. You fell to the ground in a pile, your muscles felt like jello but your brain screamed at you to run. Looking up at the situation happening in front of you all you could see was the back of the stranger that had come to your rescue. His friends had caught on quick and made it over to stand around you too, like shields between you and Matt,  as you gathered yourself. 

“Is there a problem?” One of them said, the voice sounded like it came from the one that had charged Matt but your brain couldn’t comprehend everything that was happening. 

Matt stumbled to his feet before looking at the mystery men. “Mind your business” he slurred. 

“I don’t think so. You want to get to her, you have to go through us.” a voice called out. 

For a moment it looked like Matt was considering it. His eyes scanned each guy before landing on you. 

“This isn’t over you fucking bitch!” he yelled before turning around and making his way back into the bar. 

The door didn’t have time to shut all the way before one of your saviors crouched down in front of you. His hazel eyes searched your face, “ Are you okay?” he asked 

As much as you wanted to tell him your entire body felt weighed down, you bit back your weakness,

 “I’m fine.” you said as you began to try and stand. It took a couple tries to get your feet under you. You tried to use what energy you had to stand, you were nearly there when your legs went to give out. Hands caught you around your waist and pulled you the rest of the way up. 

“You don’t look fine” the mystery man said and he held onto you, carrying the majority of your weight. “Look, let me get you somewhere safe and I can take you home”

You looked at him, searching his face for dishonesty. At this point you figured that someone, or a group of people, that came to your rescue surely couldn’t be bad people. You silently agreed for his help with a nod of your head. 

The rest of the time you spent with the group of them went by in a blur. They all talked amongst themselves in whispers, every now and then you caught words. At one point you caught the name “André” and you assumed this was the name of the guy holding you up. Before long a car pulled to the curb and your stranger opened the door for you before helping you inside. None of the other guys followed so you assumed they were getting their own Uber. 

The ride was silent for a few moments before his voice broke through, “I’m André by the way” 

“Y/N” 

“I didn’t know where you would want to go so I figured you could come to my place and then decide what you want to do,” he said. 

You looked at him and nodded, whispering a “thank you” as you settled into the seat. You shouldn’t feel comfortable about going home with a guy you just met outside a bar but for some reason you felt safe with him. He gave off a genuine arua of concern and wanting to help. Before you could think about it too much your world faded to black and you let your exhausted and battered body rest. 

_______________________________

Having a night off from hockey was rare. What was even more rare was being able to have a guys night with some of the team. Most of the time when games weren’t being played or practice were being held, everyone would go their own ways. Some would spend time with their significant other, some would spend time alone or some would visit family if the break was long enough. 

Tonight a few of us had decided to let loose and bar hop across Denver. Usually this time of year the weather was starting to get cooler which made bar hopping more of a chore. Tonight however, the weather was perfect which gave us plenty of reason to have some fun. 

The first bar we went to was picked by Miko. He said this was the best bar in Denver with the hottest chicks so more than a few in our group were eager to get there. 

The outside of the building was modern with sleek black walls and the walls that weren’t stone were see-through glass. Through the windows we could see people dancing with lights strobing through the air.

 We quickly made our way inside and were ushered to a VIP section, one of the many perks of playing professional sports was getting recognized when out since it usually led to getting a more private area. The captain of the team was with us so of course we were bound to be recognized. 

We all bounced around from group to group chatting and drinking. Some of the guys had found partners to dance with while the rest of us just hung out. Time passed and we all were eventually some level of intoxicated, some more than others. Nate brought up the idea of heading to the Pur, a rooftop bar with a chill atmosphere. A group of us thought that was a great plan. The constant bass and flashing lights got old as the night wore on. 

The five of us; Gabe, Nate, Miko, Gru and myself headed toward the back door. We hoped we could escape quietly and back doors were usually best for doing that. 

The heavy door swung shut behind us as we spilled into the cool Denver night. A noise caught my attention, turning my head to see who else was out here, I was met with a scene I wasn’t expecting. A man had a woman pinned to the side of the building. Her feet dangled off of the ground and her hands gripped his that were circling around her throat. Time seemed to stop and instinct took over as I rushed to them. Before I could comprehend what I was doing my fist was sailing through the air, connecting with the man's face before he fell to the ground. The girl slumped to the side of the building in a heap. Concern for her swam through my body but I knew this guy had to leave before I could help her. 

The man stumbled to his feet. By now the guys had joined me, putting ourselves between the pair. 

“Is there a problem?” Gave asked

“Mind your business” the man mumbled. 

Rage burned through my body and it took everything in me to not pummel this guy. 

“I don’t think so.” I called out. 

The man took a moment. His eyes scanned each one of us. He must have eventually decided he was outnumbered and didn’t want to take his chances. 

“This isn’t over you fucking bitch!” He yelled before stumbling through the door we had just come out of. Relief flooded me now that we didn’t have a fight on our hands. A whimper from behind me had me turning and dropping to my knees. 

“Are you okay?” I asked. My eyes scanned over her checking for major injuries. Her breathing hitched as she tried to push herself up to stand. Halfway up her legs seemed to give way. Before she could tumble to the ground I grabbed her, hauling her to her feet and holding as much of her weight as I could. 

Her hands tangled in my shirt holding on for dear life. There’s no way she would be able to make it home and I didn’t trust leaving her like this with a stranger. Looking around the group of guys, Gabe was the first to speak up. 

“What’s your plan? Get an Uber?” He asked. 

“Yeah, I think I will take her to my place. I have a spare room she can sleep in and she can figure out something in the morning” 

The guys nodded in agreement. No one wanted to leave her alone right now. Especially not with her angry boyfriend, or ex boyfriend I hope, on the loose. 

“I’ll get you guys an Uber,” Gru piped up. 

“Thanks” I muttered, turning my attention back to the girl clinging on to me. 

The rest of the wait was quiet. No one talked about going anywhere else for the night. I’m sure at this point everyone wanted to go home and decompress from what had happened. Before long the Uber pulled up and I shuffled us around to open the door. With some adjustments I was able to sit her down and close the door before nodding to the guys and making my way around the car to climb in beside her. 

The driver took off immediately, glancing in the rear view mirror between the two of us. We didn’t make it far before i turned to her, 

“I’m André by the way” 

Her sad eyes met mine and for a moment I didn’t think she would say anything until I heard a whisper. 

“Y/N” 

Her voice sounded awful and the emotion behind her eyes told me how exhausted she really was. 

“I didn’t know where you would want to go so I figured you could come to my place and then decide what you want to do,” I told her. 

She looked at me again before croaking out a “thank you”. The rest of the ride was quiet. Once we arrived at my place I figured out why it was quite. At some point during the drive Y/N must had fallen asleep, her head was leaning against the window and her body was curled right around herself. 

I climbed out of the car and went to her side. Carefully I opened the door, catching her head when it went to fall. Surprisingly she didn’t wake so I slid my arms under her lifting her out of the car and pulling her against my chest. 

Unlocking the door and navigating through my apartment while carrying another person was harder than I would have imagined. I made it to my guest room and laid her on the bed. Not wanting her to wake up uncomfortable I took her shoes off before covering her with blankets and shutting the door on my way out. 

I settled on the couch with a beer from the fridge before releasing the breath that seemed stuck in my chest. The last thing I thought about before drifting off was the broken girl sleeping in the other room.

[fics-of-culture]

Nightmares and Angels

Requested by anonymous

Summary: The littlest Winchester has been experiencing hallucinations and nightmares of her brothers covered in blood. Can a certain whiskey eyed angel come to the rescue?

Words: 2,123

Warnings: Blood, Hallucinations, Nightmares. Reader has PTSD. Possible misrepresentation of mental illness. (I personally don’t have many experiences with PTSD or hallucinations so take everything here with a grain of salt.) 

It was late. And you found yourself milling around the bunker. Again. Trying to find anything to occupy your time with in order to avoid going back to your room. You were positive that if you went to bed you’d have nightmares. You’d been having them a lot recently. Along with some other... issues that you’d yet to address. Today had been especially difficult for you in that regard. Your older brother Dean had been in the kitchen making dinner when you had another one of your ‘attacks’ as you called them. 

“You want bacon on your burger?” Dean turned away from the veggies he’d been chopping to face you. You were seated at the kitchen table, nose buried in a book and just enjoying your brother's company when he had asked. Being caught off guard by the question, you let out a little ‘huh?’ “The burger.” Dean repeated. “You want bacon on it or- Ah shit!” He exclaimed suddenly. You stood from your chair to check on your brother when you saw it. A steady trail of red streamed from his thumb onto the cutting board. Apparently Dean had nicked his finger while he was distracted. You froze in place. Images flashed rapidly before you as Dean grabbed a towel to stop the bleeding. You watched in horror as the blood seeped through the towel. Slowly, it continued to spread until it was running as a steady steam down his arm pooling around his shoes. You took an unsteady step back, priming yourself to run out the door when a pair of fingers snapped in front of you. Dean was staring at you with concern. Hand wrapped in a towel completely devoid of blood. “I said can you get me a bandaid?” Dean asked. Watching you curiously as you stood there. Shaking off your latest trance, you gave Dean a sharp nod before turning to locate your first aid kit.

It wasn’t always like this. Some days were just worse than others. You had gotten so accustomed to seeing your brothers steeped in blood that you had started to see it even when it wasn’t there. Your brothers didn’t know about this. No one did. And you intended to keep it that way. They always looked as though they had the weight of the world on their shoulders and you couldn't bear to stress them out more with your personal problems. You sighed as you wandered into the kitchen. It was empty now. Your brothers had gone to bed hours ago, meaning you could roam around freely without your brothers worrying about why you were up so late. Knowing you’d be awake for a while longer, you decided to brew some coffee. You were pouring yourself a steaming cup of coffee when you heard wings flap behind you.

“Is that for me? Oh sweetheart, you shouldn’t have.” Gabriel speaks in your ear as his arms wrap around you to pull the cup out of your hand. You roll your eyes as you turn to face him. You cross your arms as you stare at the angel who has been your best friend since he’d been ‘brought back to life’. A smug smirk graced his lips as he kept your beverage from you.

“Gabe, that drink does not have nearly enough sugar for it to be for you.” You sass him as you reach out to take your cup back, but he continues to withhold it from you. 

“I’ll tell you what, you give me a little sugar right now and you’ll get this drink back.” You cross your arms and groan in annoyance as the mischievous angel taps a finger to his cheek. “Come on hon, one little kiss and I’ll stop buggin’ ya. Besides, I’ve been gone for weeks! Don’t you wanna welcome me home?” It is true that he had been gone for quite a while. He and Cas had been working overtime in heaven trying to keep the lights on. Uncrossing your arms, you sigh in mock defeat as you step closer to give your favorite angel a kiss on the cheek. He lets out a dramatic gasp as you give him a quick peck. You turn your face slightly to hide the blush spreading on your cheeks. If Gabriel notices your sudden bashfulness, he doesn’t say anything.

“You only get a kiss because I did miss you.” You mutter quietly. Gabe gives you a soft, genuine smile. “Now can I have my drink back?” You raise your arms and make little grabby motions with your hands as you wait for Gabe to give your drink back.

“Hell no!” He basically shouts, showing no concern for the other sleeping tenants of the bunker. He swiftly raises his right hand and snaps the coffee out of existence. Your arms fall to your sides as you regard your friend with a look of betrayal. You open your mouth to whine at him before being quickly cut off. “You have any idea what time it is, sugar? You don’t need coffee. You need sleep.”

“You promised you’d give it back.” You said, giving Gabriel your best pout. Maybe your patented Winchester puppy dog eyes would distract the angel from the lateness of the hour.

“Honey.” Gabriel’s voice was suddenly lacking that playful tone from before. “I know you and the rest of the mystery gang are used to burning the midnight oil, but you need to take care of yourself. Are you guys even on a case right now?”

“No.” You muttered quietly. “But!”

“But nothin’ sweetheart. You gotta go to bed. Unless there's something you’re not telling me?” Gabriel had suspected that something had been up with you for a while, but damn if you weren’t a tough cookie to crack. You just huffed out a little sigh before saying goodnight to Gabriel and heading to your room. You were certainly not interested in explaining your lack of sleep to Gabe. You figured that you could probably get away with loading up Netflix on your laptop and staying up a bit longer, but Gabe was right. You desperately needed sleep. Chuck knows you’d been lacking it for the past couple weeks. You resign yourself to your fate as you get ready for bed. Maybe with Gabe in the bunker, the dreams won’t be so bad you think to yourself as your eyes slide closed.

-

Sam was suddenly woken to the sound of your screams. His bedroom being situated directly across from yours gave him the benefit of being the first one to hear your destress. In less than a second, your brother sprung up from his bed, blankets violently tossed to the side as he rushed toward your room. Once he was in the hall, he shouted once for Dean, but didn’t linger to wait for him. Instead, Sam burst into your room, shotgun in hand. Expecting some sort of intruder, Sam was caught off guard when all he found was you screaming and writhing blindly on your mattress. 

“Y/N!” Sam shouted your name as he rushed to your side. Jostling your shoulder in order to wake you, your brother watched in horror as your eyes opened suddenly, falling upon his face. Instead of his presence soothing you as he thought it would, you instead jerked away from his touch and let out a scream of what he could only describe as haunting despair. From your perspective, you weren’t seeing your sweet brother Sammy as you normally would. Instead, you watched as your brother’s face was covered in blood and contorted in anguish. Desperate to get away from this haunting image, you pulled away from his grasp and pinned yourself to the headboard of the bed. As far away from your concerned brother as possible. Vaguely you recognized that he was speaking to you, but you couldn’t pull away from your panic long enough to hear him. All you could do was stare at the blood pouring down his face, repeatedly jerking away from him each time he tried to touch you or otherwise get near you. A few moments later, you were curled into a ball on your bed when the door swung open once more. It was Dean. He stood there staring at you with a worried expression similar to Sam’s, apparently having heard the ruckus you’d made. But you couldn’t focus on that. All you could see was the copious amounts of blood dripping from what appeared to be a stab wound right where his heart was. Just like when Sam approached, you jerked away from Dean when he got near you. You were unable to do anything in this moment other than tremble and sob at the horrific images of your bloodied brothers before you. You truly tried to calm yourself, but nothing seemed to soothe you. And the presence of your brothers were just making your stress worse. You couldn’t get the picture of your blood soaked brothers out of your head. Subconsciously, you desperately cried out to the only being you thought might be able to save you. You didn’t even register the new presence in your room until you felt the bed dip. Your head jerked up, frantically searching for the new intruder when you saw Gabe. He wasn’t covered in blood or half dead. He was just your Gabriel. You let out a little cry of relief when you saw him. Instantly moving to crawl into his lap for comfort.

“Hey hon, what’s going on?” You hear him whisper as he wraps his arms around you. From your spot in his lap, you couldn’t see the confusion and worry on his face as he tried to figure out what was happening.

“I can’t- I can’t make them stop!” Your voice sounds pathetic to you as you speak frantically. Gabe runs his hand through his hair, not entirely sure what to do. 

“What’re you talking about? What won’t stop?” His hand falls to your head and he lets his fingers card through your hair as you whimper into his chest.

“The hallucinations! I can’t make them go away.” With your head buried in his chest, you don’t see the grim look Gabriel sends your brothers. Your brothers turn to share a look as if to say ‘Did you know about this?’

“What’re you seeing?” He turns his attention back to you. He kept his voice gentle as he spoke to you, not wanting to spook you more than you already are.

“Sam and Dean. Covered in blood. Oh God make it stop.” The trickster was positive he felt his heart break when you said this. He knew you’d been having some sort of problem that you weren’t sharing with him, but he never imagined it was anything this severe. And according to the shocked looks on your brother’s faces, they hadn’t known either. He sucks in a breath and steadies himself, wanting to be confident for you.

“Look again.” He speaks calmly. And you pull away to look him in the eyes for the first time since he arrived. You let out  a little ‘what?’ He’s patient as he speaks to you. “Look at your brothers again. It’ll be okay. I promise.” Hesitantly you do as he says. You turn your head to look at Sam and Dean as they stand helplessly in the corner of your room. Clearly unsure how to help you. To your shock, they looked completely normal. A little ruffled from getting out of bed so suddenly, but they didn’t have a speck of blood on them.

“Ho-how?” You can’t wrap your head around the sudden change. 

“A little angel magic. As long as I’m here, you won’t have to worry about those pesky images.” You let out a little sob as you hugged him with renewed vigor. Gabe cuddled into bed with you and when you seemed calm enough, your brothers left the two of you alone. Dean was grumbling a bit about leaving his little sister alone with the trickster but Sam just shoved him out of the room. You were sure that they were going to have a long talk with you tomorrow, but for now they seemed content to just let you relax.

“Gabriel?” He let out a distracted ‘hmm?’ as his fingers continued to comb through your hair.

“Stay with me tonight?” You spoke so quietly that if Gabe hadn’t been an angel, he wasn’t sure he would’ve heard you.

“Anything for you, sweets.” The two of you made your way under the covers. You laid your head on Gabriel’s chest and slowly allowed yourself to succumb to sleep. Knowing that for the first time in months, you would be getting a peaceful sleep.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

I love that we as a fandom have declared the clem comic an noncanon lmao. i'm curious tho, do you believe clem will get a new love interest? do you think it will be amos or someone else?

Yeah, gotta love seeing a fandom come together to agree on something.... even though that something isn't exactly invoking happy feelings, y'know? Like yeah, the comic sucks and at this point I doubt the trilogy will be much better unless Tillie suddenly starts to understand Clementine and makes some impossibly massive improvements..... but it's nice to see all of us mostly getting along?

As for the whole love interest thing, I'm like 98% sure that Clementine's going to get a new girlfriend in the comics. That's my prediction.

During the dumb xpo thing, Tillie talked about how she's excited to explore Clementine as a queer character in the apocalypse and considering Tillie's other works, I will bet literal cash that Clementine gets a new girlfriend. I don't think Amos will be the love interest, and if he does end up being that for Clem or if Clem gets a boyfriend, then I will genuinely be shocked.

.....Y'know what, I need to get this off my chest and this seems relevant enough-

I was talking with my roommate about this the other night actually. I told her all about my predictions for Clem getting a new girlfriend and how annoying this whole comic is, but also how annoying people are being to Tillie over this and like.... everything is a mess.

My roommate, who knows that literally everything is wrong in the 12 page comic and who I told about the xpo where Tillie talked about Clem being queer is important, asked me how I would feel if she ended up getting Clementine's canon bisexuality wrong, and what if she decides to make Clementine a lesbian?

And like...... I actually stopped what I was working on because this wave of dread crashed through me at the thought of that, and I could actually imagine it happening because she already got everything else wrong and if she hasn't actually played the games and is pulling this shit out of her ass.... I can't even describe to you the feeling I felt...

I want to believe that Tillie would at least know and respect the fact that Clementine is a canon bisexual. From what I've gathered, Tillie herself is wlw and I don't believe she would erase a bisexual character. She knows that Clementine is a queer character. Clementine's bisexual.

Like obviously, if I'm right and Clementine gets a girlfriend, she'll still be bisexual. Nothing will ever change that.

But I'm going to tell all of you this right now because just thinking about it upsets me.... if for whatever reason, if Tillie Walden actually erases Clementine's bisexuality and makes her a lesbian in the graphic novel trilogy while "exploring what it means to be queer in the apocalypse," I'm done.

I will have nothing left for Tillie. I will no longer support anything she does. I won't condone harassment towards her because that makes you just as shitty, but I will absolutely call that bullshit out and then never support her again. I will never talk about the comic again because how dare you think you can get away with that and still expect me to waste brain cells on your comic? Hell, I will probably be so fucking livid that I'll drive my ass all the way to barnes and noble just to return the books I bought of hers.

Dramatic? Yeah, but y'know what? I've never really touched on this outside of a few "Clem being bisexual is important representation and we love it" but her being bisexual means so much to me. It truly does, I mean.... after the dumb "btw Javi is bi, we just wrote him straight and threw in a line of flirty dialogue with jesus so we can have our cake and eat it, too-- the straight homophobes will still buy our game and the lgbt+ community will love us, win win," I cannot explain the joy I felt when Clementine was written as a bisexual woman and that she was given two love interests that meant so much to the players.

Like.... I dunno, I never got any real bi rep in games or books or movies, especially bi girls, when I was a teen trying to figure shit out. In jr high and high school, I could never find stories that has bi women as a lead because I was too afraid to look anything up. I didn't wanna be caught reading/watching things that were lgbt+ because I had a shitty boyfriend at the time and our friend group were heavily religious and judgmental. My best friend [who I haven't spoken to for years now] was one of those people who claimed to support lgbt+ people.... but also once told me that she thought lesbians were okay but gay men were lowkey gross and probably only into other dudes because girls wouldn't date them. Oh, and I'll never forget the time she told me that bi people don't actually exist because you either like one or the other.

That's a great thing to here from the best friend you've know since you were an infant after you've realized that you aren't only attracted to boys.

But now I'm out of that environment and I haven't talked to anyone from high school since I graduated, and I've felt more free to intake all the things I wish I could've before...

I just.... Clementine is important to me for a lot of reasons. I've played these games forever, I've gotten to watch her grow for years, and she's just so well-written and amazing in tfs, and the fact that the writers wanted to write her as a bisexual woman means so much, I just.... even though it's not canon, I can't help but take this disaster of a comic personally. Just from those 12 pages, everything about Clementine is destroyed and it sucks. It hurts..... but I'm still not holding anything against Tillie herself. Her comic is bad, but that doesn't mean she's bad..... however, erasing Clem's bisexuality would be the last straw for me.

.....This turned into a rant. Sorry about that. You asked a simple question and I dumped my life story on you but I dunno, I needed to get that off my chest because it's been bothering the back of my mind.

I do wanna add once more that I don't think Tillie's actually going to do that... she should know that both Louis and Violet are canon love interests, plus Clementine canonically had a crush on Gabe in ANF. I think if she's going to get anything right, it'll be the fact that Clem is bi.... I'm just expressing a major fear I have and what it would do to me, and others, if it happened..... y'know?

[ghstandpucks]

Cutting Edge ~ Nathan MacKinnon Ch. 9

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well! Sorry this chapter took forever! But I hope you enjoy it! I have the rest of the series planned out, and it should be about 6 more chapters. I’m excited about where it is going and I hope you are too! Stay healthy, safe, and enjoy! Let me know what you think! Tags are open!

Prologue Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5 Ch.6 Ch.7 Ch.8

The following Wednesday you were at practice. Bednar had the team gathered in a semi-circle as he informed them of the upcoming schedule before the holidays. “Oh and Coach Y/L/N. In case you didn’t know, we are playing Anaheim this Sunday,” Bednar turned back toward you.

           “Oh yay!” you said, clapping your hands together quickly. You couldn’t help but be excited to see some of your friends on the Ducks again. As soon as you said that though, you had many unapproving looks shot at you from the team. “I mean, oh no?”

“Who are you really rooting for Coach?” Tyson called out.

           “You guys, obviously,” you stated flippantly. “I know how they skate and I know how their skating coach skates so we got this.” Bednar chuckled.

           “I was going to ask if there is anything we should know about your time with the team?” he asked, and you looked at him questioningly.

           “No?” you said, confused at where he was going with this.

           “Just asking. Hockey players make comments and I would like for us to be prepared if they say anything about you,” he explained.

           “Oh,” you said, and thought for a second. “To be honest, I was mostly just around them for a quick showcase, charity events, or galas that they had. I have a few good friends from the team but I don’t think they would really say anything. I was more like everyone’s little sister when I was with them,” you said and everyone nodded. “Oh! If you hear the term ‘little dove’, that’s me.”

           “Little dove?” Gabe asked, and you shrugged.

           “A few called me little duck at first. But then after a showcase at one of their events I had performed in this greyish-pink dress and Getzlaf started to call me little dove. The rest of the team just followed along,” you explained. You caught eyes with Nate, and he smiled softly. You had just told him about that nickname last week when he saw a comment on your Instagram post from Hampus Lindholm. You had posted a funny picture from practice of Tyson laying flat on the ice and you doubled over laughing at him because he had seemingly tripped over nothing. You accompanied it with a caption of how the team always seems to brighten your day with a laughing emoji. Hampus commented “We feel so betrayed little dove.”

           After practice that day, Nate was over at your apartment after having gone to the store to get stuff for dinner. You wanted to cook that night, so he thought it was only fair if he bought the groceries. Since the two of you had started dating, you tended to stay in at his or your place, not wanting to fuel rumors. A picture of the two of you dancing at the gala was posted recently, the media team not thinking much of it, but oh boy did it spread like wildfire. While your fans thought it was cute, Nate’s fans were a mix. You were starting to see how vicious some hockey fans could be.

           You were finishing the shrimp for shrimp scampi when Nate came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist. “I have a question,” he mumbled into the hair at the top of your head. You hummed, encouraging him to go on. “What do you want for Christmas?” he asked. You smiled, forgetting that it was already December.

           “Nothing,” you said simply.

           “There has to be something,” Nate stole a shrimp from the pan and you batted his hand away. He chuckled and kissed your cheek. You finished the dish, turned off the stove, and turned to face him.

           “Well, there is something,” you smiled up at him. Nate smiled back at you, raising his eyebrow in question. “A unicorn.” Nate’s face fell and you couldn’t help but laugh.

           “Seriously Y/N?”

           “Actually, in all seriousness, I want a unicorn that poops rainbows. But I know those are hard to find,” you laughed as Nate rolled his eyes at you. He maneuvered you away from the stove and lifted you onto the counter, standing in between your legs.

           “Why are you being difficult?” Nate asked, humor in his voice.

           “Well what do you want for Christmas?” you asked, smiling widely at him. Nate shrugged.

           “I don’t need anything,” he said.

           “It’s not about what you need. What do you want?”

           “Nothing.” Nate smiled mockingly at you.

           “You can’t say nothing and expect me to tell you something!” You laughed. The conversation went on like this for another 10 minutes, neither one of you giving in. You kept up with wanting a unicorn, much to Nate’s dismay. He knew he wasn’t the most romantic, and really wanted to get this right with you. Since he wouldn’t tell you anything though, you didn’t budge either. It seemed like you had both met your match when it came to stubbornness.    

           A while later, Nate had just got out of the shower and you were finishing putting the dishes away from dinner. As you turned your lights off and made sure your front door was locked, you looked out the window and immediately smiled. It was snowing. Running into your bedroom, you started to grab your big coat and a beanie, shoving your feet into a pair of boots. “Going somewhere?” Nate asked as he walked out of the bathroom, highly confused.

           “It’s snowing outside! Let’s go!” you squealed, throwing his shirt and sweatshirt at him.

           “This isn’t the first time it’s snowed since you’ve been here Y/N,” Nate chuckled, but continued to get dressed to go outside.

           “Yes, but it usually happens when I’m sleeping or at the rink! I haven’t been out while it’s snowing yet!” You bounced around your room, continuing to check the window to make sure snow was still falling.

           “It’s just snow,” Nate said, finally finishing putting his shoes on. You grabbed his hand and pulled him to your front door.

           “Yes, but I’m from Southern California! I always had to drive to the snow. I want to go outside while it’s coming down actually!” You grabbed your keys and left your apartment. Nate allowed you to drag him along, silently amused at your excitement. Luckily for the two of you, your apartment building had a secluded courtyard in the middle so you didn’t have to go out front to the main street. This allowed Nate and you not to worry about being seen together this late at night. That would definitely be the source of more speculation.

           Once outside, you giggled with excitement and ran to the middle of the empty courtyard. Looking up toward the sky, you stuck your tongue out to catch the snow as it came down. Nate walked up beside you and grabbed your hand. You took out your phone and had Nate take a picture of the two of you, realizing you really didn’t have any. What better way to commemorate your first snow in Colorado than with Nate? After spinning around all excited for a moment, you walked back over to Nate and wrapped your arms around him, burying your face into his sweatshirt as your nose was starting to freeze. Nate held you close to him, looking down and tilting your chin up so you met his eyes. He chuckled softly at your red cheeks and nose, leaning down and fitting his lips to yours. The two of you stood there for a moment, lost in a blissful bubble you had created.  You pulled away slightly and shivered, the cold starting to get to you. Nate smiled softly and kissed your forehead. “Let’s get you inside before you freeze,” he muttered, taking your hand and leading you back up to your apartment. Once back in your apartment and in your pajamas, you crawled into bed and over to Nate who was already laying down looking through his phone. You cuddled into his side and weaved your legs with his.

           “Jesus babe! Your feet are freezing!” he jumped slightly, putting his phone down. You laughed but didn’t move.

           “Poor circulation from tying my skates too tight over the years. Sorry,” you giggled. Nate shook his head, but didn’t bother moving. If being with you meant dealing with cold feet, he didn’t think that was a bad price to pay.

~ ~ ~

           Sunday had arrived and it brought with it the Ducks. You were currently standing by the bench with the other coaches as the team was warming up. You had just finished talking with Bradie Tennell, the skating coach for the Ducks. The two of you were on the Olympic team together and had become good friends. She let you know that the team had been good to her so far, and that made you happy. You were leaning against the board when Ryan Getzlaf skated up to you.

           “How are they treating you, little dove?” he asked, and you smiled at the familiarity of the name. The question didn’t surprise you; he had always been protective. You were young and talented when you first started to skate in Anaheim, and some of the rookies took interest in you. Being so focused on making the Olympic team though, you barley noticed. The captain announced one practice that you were off limits, and they complied. After that it seemed the whole team had become extra protective of you.  

           “Good! They’re a good group. I like it here,” you answered honestly. He nodded and looked back out over the ice.

           “Is that why it looks like I’m about to get in a fight with 29 tonight?” Ryan smirked at you. You found Nate on the ice and smiled at him, and the tension in his jaw seemed to release as he went back to what he was doing. Nate knew you were friends with the Ducks and figured some may go talk to you; but he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy that they could talk to you so openly and no one would question it while the two of you had to date secretly.

           “He’s just protective like you are,” you tried to laugh it off, but Ryan gave you a look that said you were not fooling him. You smiled sweetly and he shook his head.

           “Whatever you say little dove,” Ryan said and skated off.

           “Be nice!” you yelled after him and he let out a laugh.

           “Will you stop fraternizing with the enemy Coach?” Tyson asked skating into the box.

           “Just for you Tyson,” you winked at him.

           Later, the third period had just began and the teams were tied. The whole game had been a back and forth with scoring. A few times when one of the Ducks would skate by, they would say hi, wave, or wink at you. The winking seemed to happen only when Nate was on the bench, and you were wondering if Ryan had said anything. You needed to work on being a better liar.

           Nate was on the ice when Hampus Lindholm skated by before a face off. “You know, we were all sad when Y/N left us to come here. I would think she’s a good coach,” Hampus judged Nate’s reaction. Nate side-eyed him, but didn’t say anything. “She’s cute too,” Hampus pushed a bit further. The Ducks’ captain had said that chirping about Y/N was off limits, but he had also said he felt it may get under MacKinnon’s skin. When you talked about being friends with some of the Ducks, Hampus was one of them. He didn’t want to be disrespectful toward you, but he thought it would be fun to see if he could push the center’s buttons. Nate took a deep breath and continued to ignore him. “You know she was my date to a charity event once,” Hampus continued. Nate did know this; you had told him you went as friends since you were going to the charity also. He knew it was nothing, he knew Lindholm was trying to dig at him, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t bother him. When the puck was dropped, Nate threw himself into the defenseman, promptly flattening him out on the ice.

           Nothing was called and the play kept going, but you stood behind the bench with wide eyes. What had just happened? You were so distracted in your own thoughts that you hadn’t realized the buzzard had gone off, signaling an Avs’ goal. Turning your attention back to the team celebrating at the end of the ice, you saw them all gathering around Nate. Of course you had missed it. That was the only score of the third period, the Avs winning 3-2.

           After the game and interviews were done, you had said bye to some of the guys and Bradie. Nate had asked if you wanted to stay at his place that night, so you made your way to his apartment. You texted him that you were there, and he told you the front was unlocked. Upon walking into his apartment, he called you over to the couch where he was laying down and pulled you down on top of him. You gave him a quick kiss, then settled your chin on his chest, looking at him expectantly. “So,” you started. Nate knew where the conversation was going.

           “You really did just go to the charity thing with Lindholm as friends, right?” he asked, furrowing his brow a little.

           “Yeah, that’s all it was. Why?”

           “He said you were his date,” Nate shrugged and started to play with your hair, twisting and untwisting a strand around his finger.

           “As friends. I have no feelings for him whatsoever,” you explained, then realized why he was asking you to clarify. “Is that why you hit him so hard during the game?” Nate averted his eyes from you, slightly ashamed he let what Lindholm had said get to him. You giggled, knowing that was the issue. “Nate, babe. There was nothing there, nor will there every be anything there. And that goes for the rest of everyone. Don’t let it get to you okay,” you said, kissing him softly. You pulled away and rested your palm against his cheek. “Plus, he’s not my type.” That perked Nate right up.

           “So, what is your type?” he wrapped his arms around you with a smirk.    

           “Big, burly, 6-foot Canadians with blue eyes who are just as stubborn as I am,” you smirked at him. Nate rolled his eyes, but laughed and pulled you in for another kiss. He flipped the two of you so that your back was to the couch now with him hovering over you. Nate started placing quick kisses all over your face and you giggled as his stubble tickled your neck. The two of you stayed like that for a while longer before ordering take out and getting ready for bed.

~ ~ ~

           The holidays fast approached, and you were thankful the team had four days off for Christmas. You had already booked a flight back home for the morning of Christmas Eve, and would be flying back to Denver on the morning of the 26th. For you, going home was easy as it was only a two in a half hour flight. You had booked it when you first got the schedule back in September. You were starting to feel bad that not everyone on the team would be going home though, Nate included. If you had known that you would have been in any sort of relationship, you may have opted to stay as well. When you brought this up to Nate, he told you not to worry about it, and that he would even take you and pick you up from the airport.

           On the 23rd, you and Nate had just got back to your apartment after having dinner with everyone who was still in town. Since there were multiple people going, you figured nothing would come of it to be seen out with Nate in public. The two of you were still keeping your relationship from mostly everyone on the team, so it was easy to act like you had been at practice. To anyone who didn’t know, it just looked like you two were good friends.

           You showered and put your pajamas on, setting out your present for Nate on the coffee table and finding a movie to watch while he showered. You had settled on watching a Hallmark Christmas movie, because who doesn’t secretly love the cheesiness of it all? Nate sat down next to you on the couch and pulled you into his side. Placing a blanket over the both of you, you settled into watching the movie, pointedly trying to ignore the Christmas gift bag he had set down on the coffee table next to your gift to him.

           After the movie, you turned the tv off and just enjoyed being in each other’s company. The only lights on were the Christmas lights from the fake tree you had set up, and other Christmas lights you had decorated with. Your apartment looked a bit like Christmas exploded in it, but it made you happy and Nate laugh. You made some hot chocolate, and sat back down facing Nate. Handing him his, you took a sip and set your mug down on the coffee table, in turn picking up your gift to him. “Present time!” you sang, handing him the gift. You weren’t sure what he would think of it, realizing it was difficult to buy for someone who seemingly had everything he wanted.

Nate unwrapped the gift, and smiled upon taking it out of the box. It was a wooden watch, one that you had found on Etsy. It was a dark stained wood that you had engraved on the back of the watch face. As Nate turned it over in his hands, he smiled wider and chuckled. You were able to convince the designer to engrave a hockey skate and a figure skate. Above the skates read “Merry Christmas” with the year, and both your initials. “I know you already have a watch, but I thought the wood was neat and I was excited when the person said they could engrave the skates on it, and…” you were cut off from your rambling by Nate pulling you into a sweet kiss.

“It’s perfect Y/N. Thank you,” he whispered, placing a kiss on your forehead and admiring the thoughtful gift. He set it down and handed you the gift bag. You smiled while you took the tissue paper off the top, feeling fabric at the bottom of the bag and took it out. You laughed, seeing the familiar burgundy and blue. Holding it out in front of you, you saw the 29 on the arm, turning it around to see ‘MacKinnon’ on the back. While you unfolded it though, a smaller box fell into your lap. “I know you can’t wear it to games, but I wanted to get you my jersey,” Nate explained as you slipped it on over your pajama top.

“Thank you,” you said, blushing slightly and turning your attention to the box. Opening it up, you saw the most beautiful, small and delicate figure skate charm you had even seen. It was gold with diamonds encrusted into it. Taking it out of the box, you noticed it was attached to a delicate gold chain as a necklace. You turned it over in your hand, feeling something on the back of the charm. You giggled, noticing a ‘29’ engraved onto the back.  “Nate, it’s beautiful.”

“I thought you could at least wear my number to games this way. If you don’t like it we can go get you something else,” Nate looked at you unsure, and you shook your head.

“Help me put it on?” you asked, and turned around. Nate deftly clasped the necklace together. “How does it look?”

“Perfect,” he said, and you grinned at him.

“I love it, thank you,” you said, and leaned in to kiss him. What was an innocent gesture quickly turned heated as Nate pulled you onto his lap, you straddling him. Your fingers carded through the hair at the nape of his neck as his hands pushed the hem of the jersey and your pajama shirt up, gripping your hips. You pulled back after some time, needing to take a breath and maneuvered yourself to where you were sitting in Nate’s lap and leaned your head on his shoulder. Nate chuckled, kissing your forehead.

“Maybe it’s a good thing you can’t wear my jersey to games. I don’t think I could concentrate,” he mumbled. You giggled and pecked his neck, the both of you settling back down.

The following morning Nate drove you to the airport. Thankful for his tinted windows, you kissed him quickly before anyone would figure out who the both of you were and grabbed your bags. “Merry Christmas Nate,” you said, slipping out of the car.

“Let me know when you get home, okay?” he said with a soft smile, and you felt your heart tug at the thought of leaving him for a few days. It struck you that this was the first time since September you wouldn’t be around him almost every day.

“I will,” you returned his smile. Nate quickly reached over the center counsel for your hand, bringing it up to his lips.

“Merry Christmas Y/N,” he said lightly, realizing the same thing you were. You grabbed your bags and smiled, waving as you shut the door and headed into the airport. Nate made sure you were inside the building before he took off, not being bothered by the honks he was receiving from annoyed holiday travelers.      

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