#i watched like the last 3 canucks games because my friends were

[vilefixations]

i don't really go here so enlighten me please: why do all the hockey girls who like a goalie always also like all goalies in general. like are they all the same vibe or do they just think it's a cool position

[verycoolusername1]

Maybe It Was Fate

Summary: During the 'hughesbowl' as fans may call it, you are caught in a trance that is Quinn Hughes... unaware that he is your coworkers' oldest brother.

Quinn Hughes x photographer!reader

A/N: I was debating whether to make this nico or quinn as the love interest and Quinn won in the end(nico does have a cameo however)- This was also supposed to be posted the day of the hughesbowl, but stuff came up so here it is now!!

AND I'M CHANGING THE SCORE IN THIS BECAUSE WHATEVER HAPPENED ON OCTOBER 30TH, 2024 DID NOT HAPPEN WHATSOEVER

It's a shock to you that you work with professional athletes, considering you hated sports as a kid. Even now, you still don't know what's going on in hockey. With the players too fast around you, it's hard to keep your eye on one player.

It was the 3rd period, the score being 5-3, the Canucks slowly but surely catching up.

You held your camera in hand, watching the big screen to keep focus... that was until someone catched your eye. You couldn't see his last name, only his face and man was he pretty.

He had green eyes flickered like sunlight within the leaves as he looked up. You could run your hand through his brown locks for days if given the chance.

You shook your head, he was most likely a player on and off the ice. You knew that without a doubt, knowing all about Jack's relationship with women(due to being best friends) but you couldn't help but wonder, would it be different with him?

The fans becoming louder as the game came to a close, the devils capturing the win. You snapped your camera a couple of times towards the devils and secretly took more of the mystery man.

You turned your camera off and it held loosely around your neck as you waited outside the locker room, waiting for Jack to take you home.

You had your back towards the door as you flickered through the photos that you took, your cheeks heating up when you saw the man again. He has a 43 just like Luke but you didn't think anything of it, players share the same numbers all the time. It was just a mere coincidence, right?

"You got all my good sides right?" Jack asked, you quickly turned the camera off.

"Jesus Jack, warn me next time gosh." You hit him on the shoulder.

He only shrugged in response. "Can't really text in the locker room."

You rolled your eyes. "You're actually an idiot."

"Only act like it to make you look smart." He muttered under his breath.

"And what are you two arguing about now?" Luke approached the two of you.

"They called me an idiot!" Jack exclaimed.

"They must have been reasonable to do so." Nico chuckled as he walked past you three. "Don't kill eachother please!"

"Make no promises cap!" You snapped a photo as he looked back at you with a smile.

"Oh Y/N! We want you to meet someone." Luke began to drag your arm in the other direction.

"And before you groan out a half assed reply, I think you'll really like him." Jack added.

You were now beginning to regret telling Jack that you wished you could put yourself out there again considering you haven't been on a date in two months due to your conflicting schedule.

"Do you two know him or-" You looked between the two of them.

"Oh yeah we do." Jack answered. "Very well."

"What does that even mean?" You narrowed your eyes at him, Jack chuckles in reply.

"Trust me, you'll like him." Luke eased your worries.

You finally stopped and Luke dropped your hand as you realized.

"He plays for the canucks? They just lost tonight. I'm sure the last thing he would want to do is go on a date with someone that works for the devils." You explained.

"Well he likes us and we play for the devils sooooooooo you'll brighten up his mood. Ha get it cause you're a photographer and the camera flashes." Jack stopped explaining the joke when he was met with your stern face.

Luke cleared his throat. "There he is now."

You snapped your eyes to the door and realized that was the man that took your breath away moments before just as he is doing now.

"Y/N this is Quinn, our brother. Quinn this is Y/N, the person we've been telling you about." Jack introduced the two of you.

"Brother? He's your brother?!? You guys never told me you had a brother!" You made a mental note to swear at Jack later, with no audience.

"Oops?" Luke giggled. "See Quinn, look they're a photographer. Show them some photos you took tonight." He encouraged.

You quickly shook your head. "No I couldn't possibly do that, I-I mean I still have to edit them and wait..." You looked down to your neck strap and saw that your camera was gone and in Jack's hands.

All three hughes brothers looking at the photos.

"Wait no!" You exclaimed but it was already too late you assumed, Jack was looking at you with a knowing look while Luke and Quinn were shocked.

"How come he gets all his good angles and I don't even one photo?" Luke asked you, in a mocking tone.

"I was distracted," You looked away, embarrassed.

"Yeah because you were too busy looking at our brother." Jack remarked, jokingly.

You rolled your eyes. "I didn't know he was your guys brother."

"I think these look nice, thank you." Quinn finally spoke, looking you in the eyes.

"Oh um you welcome. It's nothing really, it's just kind of my job." You shrugged.

"Then you most definitely picked the right career choice." He smiled softly at you.

Jack and Luke were nowhere to be seen, seemly left the two of you alone for a while.

Your face flushed at his words, he held the camera in his hands handing it out for you.

"You're gonna need this to edit all those photos of me." He joked.

"And I'm gonna need your number to send you all those photos." You held the camera and its neck strap, putting it in your bag.

"Well that was bold, Y/N." He chuckled not nonetheless gave you his phone so you can type out your number, he sent you a quick text.

"It was nice meeting you Quinn, it's getting late. I would head home but Jack seemed to have disappeared." You looked around.

"I can take you home." He offered. "He obviously went to the bar with the team."

You looked up at him and smiled. "I would like that."

[hughesybear]

Canucks thoughts 11/09/2024 (I was at this game! photos & video along with thoughts below cut)

It was certainly an exciting game, even if it wasn't exciting for my team! I borrowed some jerseys from a friend, and I think they're cursed, because every time they've been worn to a Canucks game the Canucks have lost. We're hoping that they can be redeemed this season!

My brother was at this game, and he's pretty new to hockey so I was explaining a lot of things to him. Somehow he got the Oilers and the Canucks confused and started clapping when the Oilers opened the scoring, despite the Canucks wearing the black skate and me wearing a black skate jersey right next to him and us having watched the Canucks warming up in the black skate for 15 minutes. This man is 21 years old. He also correctly observed that “Quinn seems like a low-key dude,” so I showed him the video of Vinny failing to hype Quinn up on the bench lol

I took so many pictures and videos, but I focused mostly on Petey and Quinn. I'm glad I got to witness Petey's best game of the season so far (first multi-point game!) and a Petey goal :)

Petey and Quinn had a moment (pictured below) where they were both down on one knee facing each other looking around, and I also got a video of them practicing one-timers and saucer passes:

One last peteyquinn moment before my actual thoughts:

Let's look at the positives first! This was Petey's best game of the season by far. He was exerting more of the control on the game that we've come to expect from EP40, and he was uncorking slappers and wrist shots that had much more velocity on them (he had his first 90+MPH shot today!). For the first time this season that I've noticed, he was getting offensive zone deployment over Miller (who got more defensive zone deployment), which is a pretty good indicator of how Tocchet is feeling about his two 1Cs during any given game. Each game there are more steps in the right direction, and more signs that he's climbing back to the player we know he can be. Both sides of his two-way play were on display this game. He made a stellar play in front of his own net reading a pass to McDavid and poking a sure goal off his stick, and his work in the offensive zone, some welcome flashes of chemistry with DeBrusk, and his notoriously strong hand-eye coordination led to the 3-1 goal that felt like it should have been a turning point in the game. Right after that, his line had another strong shift which the third line (aka Life Line 2.0) was able to build off of, pulling off some nifty passing to scramble the Oilers' defence and leave Hronek wide open in the slot for the 3-2 goal. See what happens when you apply consistent offensive zone pressure, Canucks? Why can't you do that regularly?

That's pretty much it for the positives. I miss Brock Boeser dearly, and it looks like the Canucks do as well. Tocchet chose to run 11F and 7D for this game, which resulted in lines shuffling around and very little consistency for the Canucks to build off of. Apparently it was because one of the defencemen was dealing with something and Tocchet wanted to have a good PK, which I suppose I understand if the other option was having Juulsen, Desharnais, or Brannström in a top-4 role, but it still hurt the Canucks IMO. They struggled to establish a consistent, heavy forecheck, and the lack of pressure in transition led to the Oilers being able to break the puck out of their own zone way too easily. The Canucks' forward group should have feasted on a bottom four that looks like Stecher, Dermott, Emberson, and Kulak, but alas.

Miller especially struggled without his longtime linemate, registering a 16.67% CF% and 4.44% xGF% 5v5. When he was on the ice 5v5, the Canucks were outshot 0-8 (and out-attempted 3-15). Yikes. He's most likely playing through an injury that kept him out of most of the preseason, but that doesn't excuse what he does on the Arvidsson goal that makes it 3-0 Oilers. Quinn smoothly enters the offensive zone with possession and drops the puck to the right side where Miller and Garland are supporting the entry. However, instead of making the safe play and helping the puck get through to Garland who's right behind him, Miller bats it straight into the middle of the ice for no reason, where four Oilers and zero Canucks are waiting to turn the play the other way. Instead of backchecking and tying up Arvidsson, which he was in the best position to do so, Miller just sort of gives up on the play, which you really can't do if you're the centre on your line. An unhindered Arvidsson skates right into the slot and puts it past Lankinen. Miller's play is due to receive more attention soon, especially since it's starting to become reminiscent of his play during the first half of the godforsaken 2022-2023 season.

It was another night where the Canucks struggled to effectively defend the guts of the ice, and defenders were puckwatching instead of finding bodies and tying up sticks. I was actually explaining icing to my brother, and was talking about how Juulsen had iced the puck, when Juulsen left Perry open for a tap-in. rip. Not much else to say other than they need to clean their in-zone defence up again, and focus on keeping the chances to the low-danger perimeter.

Overworking Lankinen was always a concern, since he's never had a starter's workload in his career, and this game seemed to have confirmed that. After the 5th Oilers goal, Lankinen started letting in some uncharacteristic softies, leading to Tocchet's first Canucks goalie swap that hasn't been injury-related. Šilovs' SV% has risen above .800 on the season because he stopped four shots, which is kind of hilarious.

It feels like the coaching staff wanted to get Šilovs some more action before a possible game on Tuesday instead of repeating the mistake of sending him in against the Devils after not playing for two weeks, which is why Šilovs played a game for the Abby Canucks today. He was solid - the only goals scored against him were off cross-seam passes that the big club has barely permitted this season, and he had a .920 SV%. With that win, he has his first win of the 2024-25 season! That's pretty unfortunate, but he could have an opportunity to get his second one very soon with the big club.

Let's end on a positive note! By scoring on that meaningless power play at the end of the game to cut the Oilers' lead to 7-3, the Canucks accomplished four things:

Inflated their power play %

First Petey multi-point game since March 23

Made the Oilers tied for worst penalty kill in the league (-15 goal differential)

Made Skinner have a sub-.900 SV% in the game

If moral victories are a thing, petty victories are too. Hopefully the Canucks can redeem themselves against Alberta teams at home in their rematch against the Flames on Petey's birthday!

[svechnikovvv]

lovestruck

pairing: quinn hughes x fem!reader

warnings: profanity, as usual

summary: going to that umich game one night would change your life forever.

a/n: something sweet for the quinn girlies <3 i absolutely adored writing this. BUT CANUCKS WON OT AGAINST SAN JOSE. ROUND OF APPLAUSE EVERYONE

masterlist: here

*f/n means friend name*

i'll never forget the time i first met quinn. the night felt like a scene from the romance books i read.

***

i decided to attend a umich hockey game because i was starting to get tired of reading the same highlighted words over and over. the exam isn’t until another month, so i still have plenty of time to study.

once i was ready, about fifteen minutes pass when my dorm room opens and my roommate f/n walks in.

“i’m so glad you agreed to go to this game with me” she said as she sat down

“yeah, well, figured it was time i get out and do something.

“come on,” she grabs my hand and heads towards the door. “we need to get going now if we want good seats.” i lock the door behind me on our way out and we’re on our way to the rink.

when we arrive, there’s already a good amount of people here.

“looks like everyone and their mom is already here,” she says, causing me to laugh. we get out and head inside.

“wait, don’t you have to buy tickets?”

“i already bought them” i pause and look at her

“you were going to make me go even if i said no, weren’t you?” she nods and i playfully roll my eyes, following her into the stands. she managed to get us two good seats by the penalty box. perks of student discount.

today, michigan was playing boston so this was going to be a good game. we arrived early enough, per f/n's request, to “watch them practice.” but i know she just wants a front row seat to eye candy.

this one guy who kept skating past us locked eyes with me a couple times. from what i could see, he was a nice-looking guy.

“number 43 is totally eye-balling you,” f/n leans in and whispers to me.

“do you know his name?” i ask back and she shakes her head no. for a second, he turns, and i see the name ‘hughes’ across his back. she gasps.

“i do know him! he’s in my stats class. smart as hell, too” she nudges me at the last part and a small smile is on my face.

“well what’s his name?”

“quinn” i nod and continue to watch him skate around gracefully as he shoots a couple of warm up pucks in the net. i check my phone for a brief second and f/n starts hitting my arm excitedly. i give her a puzzled look.

“he’s coming over here,” she whispers and i look up to see that, sure enough, he’s skating in my direction. he comes to a halt in front of the tempered glass and he smiles at me.

“can you catch?” i let out a small laugh, nodding regardless. he tosses a puck over the glass and i catch it. he gives me a wink then skates away. i turn it over and scoff.

“that smooth fucker”

“what?” f/n looks over my shoulder and i show her the puck.

###-###-###

call me (;

-quinn

“he did not!” she whisper shouts and i nod

“you better text him. or call him.” i hold up my hand

“scouts honor,” she rolls her eyes and the stands start to fill up more and more. meaning, the puck is about to drop.

it’s halfway through the first period when quinn scores a goal. his next actions are what get to me. after his little celly he does, he skates by and points at me.

“he just fucking made a goal for you,” she says. “y/n, if you don’t make a move, i fucking will. god damn, what does a girl need to do to get laid around here? apparently nothing.” i laugh at her rambling and the game resumes after quinn's goal.

sometime in the second, one of michigan's players was penalized and sent to the box.

"what the actual hell? boston cross-checked one of our players. but let's just kiss their ass because they're angels and can do no wrong." i say, quite upset with the uncalled penalty. i hear a deep laugh and look to my right and see the player on our team that was sent to the box laughing.

"give them hell"

"if the ref doesn't, i sure will" he laughs again

"i'm will"

"y/n" the two minutes then end and will waves goodbye before heading back onto the ice.

"he seemed nice," f/n says and i look at her

"you want him, don't you?"

"what gave it away?"

"everything," i say and turn back to watching the game.

michigan ended up winning and f/n and i screamed our lungs out at the victory. while we were getting up to leave, will skated over and tapped on the glass. i looked up and he pointed in the direction of their locker rooms.

"i was told to tell you to wait out by the locker room" he then skates off and f/n shakes my arm excitedly.

"i bet it was mr. scored-y/n-a-goal. he took one look at you and now he's addicted."

"please. i just met the guy"

"that's not stopping him, is it?" she gives me a look and then tells me she'll be waiting in the car listening to sad adele songs.

i weaved my way through the crowd, finally getting through the cluster of people. when i arrive where i need to be, there's a tall, what i'm assuming, security man standing there.

"can i help you?"

"yeah, uh, will told me someone wanted me to wait for them outside the locker room?" he doesn't budge which makes sense. he probably thinks i'm trying to get free eye candy.

"uh huh. and i'm beyonce" i squint at him and tilt my head to the side slightly.

"i don't remember beyonce having a moustache." i see his jaw clench and i cross my arms back, mirroring him.

"believe me or not, i was asked to be here."

"so was every other girl that tried to use that." i point a finger at him.

"listen pal-" i'm cut off by a door opening and quinn walks out and he looks between the guy and i. he takes in the security man's hard expression and laughs.

"relax, sully. she's here for me" he throws an arm around my shoulders and sully's face drops slightly. i smirk victoriously. quinn then looks at me, smiling softly.

"you got my message?" i nod

"come on, i've yet to hear your voice. but the way will said you were flaming boston, i need to hear you talk." i laugh and when i'm done, i speak.

"to be fair, boston deserved it," he laughs and a big smile is on his face.

"i could listen to you talk forever," he says and i shy away slightly.

"i never caught your name," he says

"y/n" he repeats it to himself and smiles.

"i can get used to saying that. say, y/n, are you free saturday at seven?"

"let me check my calendar," i pull out my phone, but before i even turn it on, i shove it back in my pocket. "yep. seems like i'm all yours"

"you won't regret it," he says, walking backwards to the exit, a dopey smile on his face.

"i better not, hughes!" i call out and shake my head, a smile on my face as i head to the car where f/n was waiting. as i approach the car, i can hear the faint tune of all i ask by adele playing and i let out a quiet laugh.

i knock on the passenger window and she jumps slightly, but looks at me, then unlocking the door. i slide in, immediately met with warmth.

"you stayed true to your word," i tell her and she nods, resting her head on the steering wheel. in the act of doing that, she accidentally laid her head on the horn and she was quick to bring her head back up.

"please tell me something happened so i didn't have this sad session for nothing." i laugh and nod

"he asked me on a date saturday." her eyes light up and her demeanor changes quickly.

"this is amazing for you! i'm so happy for you, y/n" i give her a soft smile and then break the silence.

"but don't worry, f/n. you'll always be my number one. still gotta stick to our plan on fleeing america and becoming the gay wine aunts." she nods

"damn straight. i refuse to let a man take you away from me." i laugh and shake my head.

***

i smile fondly at the memory and quinn softly chuckles from the kitchen.

"what's got you all smiley over there, huh?" i stand up and walk around the island and wrap my arms around his neck, looking into his eyes.

"reminiscing on the night we met. you were a little flirt back in college." he playfully places a hand over his heart.

"you really have a way with words." i hum

"only for you my love" his cheeks go red at the pet name and he rests his head on my shoulder. i find it so adorable when he gets all bashful over the small things. we stay standing there in each other's arms for a while before quinn brings his head back up and looks at me.

"making a move on you that night is something i'll never regret."

"and saying yes to that date is something i'll never regret for as long as i'm still breathing." he smiles and i place a hand on his cheek. he then dips his head down and gives me a kiss and when he pulls apart, he has a love-sick look in his eyes. i'm sure mine hold the same look.

after quinn cooked us dinner, we headed to bed. the two of us were just lying there in the dark, my head rested on his chest.

"marry me." quinn says, breaking the silence. it caught me off-guard and i sit up and look down at him. although it was dark in the room, the moonlight coming in through the curtains shone on his face, illuminating his features.

"you're serious?"

"as serious as i'll ever be" i lean down and pepper kisses all over his face and i can hear his laughs and feel his warm arms around me.

"i would love to marry you, quinn."

"is that a yes?"

"absofuckinglutely" he laughs

"now let's go to sleep... future mrs. hughes."

BONUS:

quinn and i settled down after his impromptu proposal. it was around two in the morning and quinn was already asleep when i started to softly giggle.

"why're you laughing?" quinn groggily asks from behind me.

"i just thought of a new nickname for you," i continue to quietly laugh to myself at the thought that randomly appeared in my head.

"what is it?" his tone is laced with sleep and i laugh one more time before saying the ridiculous nickname i created for him.

"quinoa" i erupt into another fit of laughter and quinn sleepily groans.

"y/n, it's two in the morning. go to sleep" i quiet down and feel quinn's arms go around my waist, pulling me to his front and i eventually fall asleep.

tags: @goldenbrokenheart

a/n: i am absolutely exhausted, but i wanted to get this published (:

[greazyfloz]

Bend Til We Break - Chapter 5

Chapter (1) (2) (3) (4)

Smut

The next day all I can think about is what Hanna had to tell me last night. Was it about Quinn? It had to be. Why wouldn’t she tell me after I brought up Quinn? Should I even question it? What if it’s nothing? I shake the thoughts and go back to work. 

After work as I walk to my car I finally convince myself to ask her. If it’s nothing, it’s nothing but at least I’ll know why she distanced herself from our friendship. I shoot her a quick text and she answers quickly before I get to me car.

Y/n: Hey! What did you want to tell me last night?

Hanna: Hey

Hanna: honestly, I made it sound worse than it seemed. Promise it is nothing! 💜

Y/n: call me, I don’t believe you

I texted her back before driving home. She finally called me while I was parking into my spot in my apartment's parking garage. I turn my car off once parked and answer the call. “Hey” I speak through the phone.

“Hi” Hanna says, “I promise you it really isn’t anything”

“Well you wouldn’t have said anything, please, is it about Quinn?”

“Not really, kinda. I was just going to say that- remember last summer when I was hooking up with Josh?” she says and I hum, “Well, I became closer with Quinn and it became hard to be friends with both of you because I felt like being around him was betraying you?”

“I mean I kinda figured Quinn would be there if you were hanging out with Josh in Ann Arbor… Why didn’t you just tell me last night?”

“Well I didn’t want to rub in that I was in communication with Quinn all last summer while- I guess you guys are in a rough patch” she explains, deep down I don’t believe her but I don’t have the energy to push further.

“So, you and Josh?” I say trying to change the conversation

“Short lived… Again” she chuckles through the phone

“Not again?! What happened?”

“Another girl on his mind” she says

We continue to catch up as I make my way up to my apartment. Once I reach my apartment I tell her I have to go, and that’s when she randomly brought up Quinn.

“Okay well I am just getting home now, but call me whenever. I missed talking to you” I say

“Okay, sure, but Y/n?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t take Quinn back. I promise you are better off without him”

“What do you mean?” I say pausing in the front entrance of my apartment

“He just doesn’t miss you like you missed him” she says, “don’t look to closely into it Y/n, just take my advice”

“I mean that’s pretty cryptic, elaborate please”

“Josh would tell me stuff that’s all”

“Okay then, well I better get going” I say and we say our goodbyes before I throw in a random microwave dinner for supper. 

I bring my dinner over to the tv and turn it on to see the Canucks playing the Jets tonight. I decided to keep it until I was done eating, but ended up watching the whole game. Quinn played horrible. The team lost 7-3 and Quinn was on for 4 goals, 2 of them being turnovers. 1 of the goals he wasn’t on for he was in the penalty box, serving a stupid penalty. 

I continued my normal daily routine of work, home, cooking, maybe gym, maybe go out with some friends, maybe watch a canucks game for the next week or so. I muted Quinn so his texts weren’t giving me any notifications and the only time I allowed myself to read through them was at night. 

It has now been a week since I last spoke to Quinn in person, so seeing him at my door when I arrived home from work was definitely a surprise. “How do you even get into the building” I ask him rolling my eyes as he turns around to see me coming the other direction down the hall.

“Can we talk?” he says ignoring my question and I put my key in the lock on my door. 

“About?” 

“I broke up with Kaitlin” he says. So Kaitlin was her name I think to myself as the lock pops and I turn the nob to my front door pushing it open. I walk in without answering him. And he follows me in, “I broke up with her as soon as I got home that night”. 

“I want to- I wanted to be the only one Quinn, not the other women” I say walking into my kitchen as Quinn follows behind me and I turn to look at him as he speaks.

“You weren’t the other women. She was just a placeholder when I got lonely. I only ever wanted you.” Quinn says to me as I bite the inside of my cheek before nodding. 

“You could have had me” I say, shaking my head thinking about the time I waited for him to just call or text me or something, “I wanted you for so long, and you can’t stand that I’m finally over it. I am finally moving on” I say tears stinging my eyes

“I want you, that’s all I want. I won't be able to get you off my mind”

“I’m sorry Quinn, but I can’t do this anymore” I say looking down at my feet and I hear Quinn shuffle closer to me

“One last kiss, then I guess I am gone” he says resting his hand on my shoulder. I look up and look into his brown eyes and I’m lost as he leans in a little closer and I cave.

Our lips meet and the kiss becomes so in sync as it get deeper and deeper. We begin making out before Quinn lifts me up taking me to the bedroom. 

Once in the bedroom I slide down his body and onto my feet instantly taking my shirt off as he does the same. We quickly undress ourselves fully before engulfing in each other's arms to continue to make out, while waltzing over to the bed. I sit down on the edge of the bed and Quinn continues making out with me. He lifts me up a bit so he could comfortably get on top of me. He begins kissing down my neck as he fumbles around trying to line himself up with my entrance before slowly sliding himself in. 

He continues to thrust but they are softer so he was able to continue to lean down and kiss my neck. “Quinn” I breathe out a moan. He continues thrusting inside of me before he pulls himself out and goes to the bathroom to finish. 

I hear the bathtub water start to flow, so I make myself over to the bathroom. Quinn looks over at me once I get to the frame and gives me a soft slime before pulling me into the bathroom with him. I wrap my arms around him and he does the same. We sit there without saying a word just in each others arms until Quinn pulls away to stop the water. He then holds his hand out for me to take, “coming in” he asks and I take his hand.

I sit between his legs in the tub as Quinn lays back with his eyes shut. I look up at him, “what are you thinking about?” I ask him. 

“You” he says, sending shivers through my body. Then it hits me, he shouldn’t still be here. I sit in his arms though not sure if I want him to leave yet or not, “You okay?” he asks me, “you’re tense”.

“I just- I- Sex isn’t going to fix all of our problems Quinn” i say and he sighs

“I know, I really meant just a kiss. I couldn’t leave though. I am so, so, so in love with you it hurts” he says. I breathe in and pull away from his chest so I can stand up and get out of the bathtub. I leave Quinn there grabbing a towel and going into the bedroom. Quinn soon follows looking at me questionably.

“Last chance” I say walking towards him, “This is your very last chance!” Quinn smiles at me, and my serious expression softens slightly. 

“Okay” he says

“Okay” I say and he presses his lips to mine suddenly then pulls apart

“Can I call you my girlfriend again then?” Quinn asks taking me aback

“How do I know you are serious?”

“Move in with me”

[kiwiana-writes]

Why are the kings the best nhl team?

jrvaeioupgjvaeiorupjgveiouapjgaeoru HELLO FRIEND WHO READ MY PINNED POST. I'm writing this while watching us tied 1-1 edit: now leading 2-1 edit: now leading 3-1 against the Canucks.

I could talk about Gretzky, but only something like a third of his career points were with the Kings, so let's focus on the now and not the only player to have a number retired NHL-wide, shall we? We set a record for most road wins to start a season in December, which was pretty cool, but honestly a big part of why I love the Kings is because we're kind of the underdogs. We're a West Coast team, not one of the original six, in an area of the country that doesn't exactly have a lot of ice a lot of the time 🤣 But we're SCRAPPY. We have a depth to our bench that is genuinely fun to watch. 18 players have at least 10 points this season and 12 of those have at least 20, including a rookie who got a grand total of four games at AHL level before being called up two days before the season opener and has 22 points to his name (and whose debut game is what made me create the 'hockey bf henry' google doc lmao).

Speaking of rookies, we take the time to develop them. Everyone was shitting on Byfield last year, but he's absolutely smashing it this season: 51 of his 84 points over four seasons are from this season, and he's right up there with Kopi/Fiala/Kempe for players who are driving us towards playoffs.

We've got the third best goals against in the league despite having a goalie on IR (but it's Copley, so it's fine 🤣). We've also got the best penalty kill percentage in the league—we don't believe in letting a little thing like having less players on the ice be an excuse for letting the other team score lmao.

But honestly, it's mostly the chrome domes. The more people complain about how stupid they look the more I fall in love with them.

[matsbarzal]

can I please request angst #14 with Petey??

angst #14. "are you going to talk to me or?"

pairing: elias pettersson x reader word count: 1.3k warnings: angst (happy ending)

Elias Pettersson knew he was good at lots of things. He knew he was a good person, a good friend, an even better hockey player. But the one thing he wasn’t good at? Understanding what he had done to upset you.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have a relatively good understanding of the stupid things he did, he knew he had made plenty of mistakes in your relationships, easily fixable ones, really. Except this time.

It had been almost four days of complete radio silence, no text, no call, no FaceTime’s, nothing. You had sent him a thumbs up the moment he landed and told you he had landed, and no response since. Elias could easily tell you had been on your phone, snapchat stories and twitter likes popping up on both his feeds every now and then, but he could not fathom why you hadn’t texted him in days.

You had fought hundreds of times before, little spats here and there, petty arguments that just turned into nothing when he brought home your favourite food, but never an argument to the extent that you wouldn’t even text him.

“You alright over there, Petey? Lookin’ a little queasy… oh shit that rhymed, look at me go,” trying to ignore Brock was even more difficult than trying to understand why you weren’t texting him, especially when said blonde was his best friend and could pick up on every social cue Elias was giving off.

“Fine, yeah.”

Shrugging his shoulders slightly, the Swede thumbed through his phone, bringing up your contact card and then exiting out every few seconds. “Y/N still not texting you? You sure you didn’t do anything before we left?”

Tossing the phone onto the table in front of him, Elias groaned as he tried to rack his head for what he could’ve done wrong before leaving Vancouver. There was a multitude of things it could be, there was a spat right before he left the apartment, an argument over moving the cars, which somehow turned into him suggesting that the two of you should get a dog.

The Swede couldn’t pinpoint an exact moment in your last two days with one another where he might have upset you to the point of not speaking.

Halfway across the country, your eyes had barely left the box you had found sitting in Elias’ top drawer since he left. It was all you could focus on, your eyes constantly moving to find the little black box that you had moved to the top of the dresser, its closed lid haunting you, taunting you the more and more your eyes peered to it.

Elias hadn’t made any indications that this was what he was pushing towards, you hadn’t even realized he was considering this. Two years into a relationship, you knew it was possible, but you just didn’t realize how possible.

You loved him, you’d be lying if you said you didn’t, but did you love him enough to get married? Maybe. But add in the constant bickering, the continuous fights, the never-ending spats that had no regular conclusion and usually just consisted of some form of idiotic makeup in the hopes the both of you would forget about what you were arguing for anyways.

The silent treatment may have been petty, all of Elias’ texts going unanswered, snapchats only being sent back every time the timer would appear next to your streak. You knew it was childish, and was probably terrifying your boyfriend, but your brain couldn’t fathom what to do, couldn’t fathom what you wanted.

The game against the Canadiens had been explosive, the Canucks losing horrifically, and Elias’ play just an even bigger catalyst to the team. It was the first game you had watched where he hadn’t played his best, the turnovers were consistent, his numbers were down, his penalty minutes were even higher than usually.

And you knew there was a large possibility you were the main cause for his deterioration of play.

Pulling up your phone from its spot stuffed under the covers, you scrolled until you reached his contact name, the little blue dot beside it just an indication of how many messages had gone unanswered in the last few days. Before you even had the chance to send a message through, his contact name appeared at the top of your list.

are you going to talk to me or am i going to come home to an empty apartment tn? not sure what i did wrong but this isn’t fair

You could feel the guilty instantly seep through your body at the text message, your eyes welling up with unshed tears at the message that came through. Elias was your best friend, the epitome of everything good in your life, and something about that just terrified you.

i’ll be here when u get home, ‘Lias. have a safe flight xo

A large sigh of relief left the Swede’s lips when the three bubbles popped up under your name, an even bigger sigh leaving his lips when you said you’d be home when he got there. He allowed his phone to drop in between his legs, his eyes focusing on the iPad in front of him, currently playing reruns of New Girl, your favourite show to watch together.

Almost six hours later, you heard the sound of the lock clicking, the door swinging open to reveal a dishevelled and thoroughly exhausted-looking Elias Pettersson.

“So, are we going to do this now? I told Brock to set up his guest bedroom, I’m not arguing all night so let’s just get this over with,” his keys were tossed onto the centre island, his eyes never leaving yours as you tried to rack your brain for what to say.

“I found the ring… in your top drawer.”

Your stomach turned as you watched the array of emotions fly across Elias’ face; confusion, frustration, anger, sadness, everything smoothing together before he placed a stoic look across his features.

“You freaked out and ignored me for almost five days, because you found a ring in my drawer?” The scoff fell from his lips almost beautifully, his features twisting into annoyance as he looked at you.

“I just… I didn’t know how to react. We argue about everything, ‘Lias. We literally fight about the colour of the sky, and you’ve already bought a ring?”

Moving so he was sitting on the couch opposite of you, the Swede turned so his entire body was facing you, the stoic look now turning into a look of concern.

“Y/N… we fight about everything because that’s just how we are. Our fights have never, ever turned into anything serious. We argue with each other because we both never want to be wrong, that shouldn’t be a reason for you to freak out and not want to marry me one day, my love. Just because I have the ring doesn’t mean I want to get married tomorrow. It’s my grandmother’s engagement ring, Emil let me have it for the day I eventually propose to you. I didn’t buy it, it’s been sitting in that drawer for ages.”

You could feel the embarrassment settling in your stomach at his words, your stomach turning as you tried to think of a response. The only thing you could muster up was an apology, your eyes never leaving your hands as they twisted amongst each other.

His body moved closer to yours, one arm wrapping around your back as he gently pulled you into his side.

“You don’t need to apologize, just maybe instead of going ghost, argue with me instead? Since when are you one to hide your feelings, especially something like that?”

Shrugging your shoulders at his words, you felt his lips press against the crown of your head gently, his hands squeezing your side as he did so.

“Pinky promise that you won’t do that again? Scared the shit out of me and Brock, and Brock never gets scared.”

Pushing your pinky finger towards him, he wrapped his own around yours with a smile small, his head pressed against yours as he squeezed your pinky with his own.

“And quit going through my drawers, nerd.”

“Don’t leave your clothes in the dryer then and I won’t have to put them away for you, Pettersson.”

note: thank you for requesting this!! i hope you enjoy, and it's everything you wanted. it's not too angsty, and it has a happy ending so hopefully that's perfect. <3

[hugheshugs]

it'll be a wednesday | q. hughes

inspired by sabrina carpenters "skinny dipping."

summary: you and quinn ended your friendship a while ago and you haven't talked to him since. one wednesday, things start to look up

pairing: quinn x clumsy!reader

word count: 1.9k

taglist: @heatabovejakey @idfan21 @boeswhore // join my taglist here :)

note: i'd change "clumsy!reader" to "barely clumsy bc i didnt know how to write it!reader" but i hope u enjoy <3

you know you shouldn't be thinking about it. you know you shouldn't be thinking about him, but obviously you are.

it's been a year since the two of you last spoke, your most recent conversation being less of a talk and more of an argument in your garage. it was stupid then and it's stupid now. you haven't been able to stop thinking about what could have been something beautiful.

your friendship with quinn was the most cherished part of your life and it's been quite hard to forget. you know he doesn't think about you anymore and it hurts because you haven't stopped caring for him as much as you did before. if anything, your care and concern for the sweet boy is only ever growing.

having arguments in your garage was your thing. the harsh words you two threw at each other for days on end were long forgotten and you couldn't care less about the cruel things he said, his venom laced insults not affecting you in the slightest. it was years ago, you figure, so obviously you don't care about it anymore but even then, you dropped the matter as soon as he walked away.

if you could take it back, you would. it doesn't matter who was right and who was wrong, what you guys had was forever. your heart yearns for him and you hold onto the hope that somehow, he might just come back to you.

you could easily find him. it isn't hard to find a canuck on a game day, you just don't want to overstep your boundaries. you both walked out of each others lives willingly and you walking back into his would just stir up unnecessary emotions and drama.

if you do it accidentally, however, that's a different story.

the server behind the counter of the coffee shop gives you a sharp look after you carelessly knock down the sugar container at your table and you sink into your seat. you give her a sheepish smile before you clean up your mess.

what a pitiful sight it is, for the baristas to watch you come in every wednesday all by yourself, just for you to sit on your phone for hours on end. it's yours and quinn's old tradition. you two used to come in every wednesday, usually around 3pm and stay until closing. well, an hour before closing — you didn't want to make the workers upset.

it would seem boring to the rest of the world but for you two it was your haven. you'd disconnect, bask in each other's presence and hide from the shadows of darkness lurking in the corners of your minds.

unfortunately you had to remove the "disconnecting" part, seeing as you no longer have someone to connect with. you have friends who continuously offer to come sit with you but you decline every time. you feel guilty but this is reserved for you and quinn, and he's the only person who can give you company on your regular wednesday coffee stops.

it's funny because you don't actually like coffee. quinn excitedly introduced you to this cozy café on a wednesday afternoon, sometime in 2019. it was the first time you guys were hanging out together and you didn't want to tell him about your dislike for coffee so you put on an act. you didn't know what to get because you never drank it so your smartly asked him to order you his favourite drink.

to your surprise, he ordered a basic oat milk latte. you didn't like it but you pretended you did and after a couple more coffee runs with him, you had to confess. he simply smirked and told you he knew of your dislike towards the drink, wondering how long it was going to take for you to admit it. it's the only coffee you ever drink now and you only drink it here, on wednesdays.

you make it a priority to keep your tradition alive since he left. maybe you do it because of your own selfish reasons, you never really think about why. it just helps you feel closer to him and that's all you want. it reminds you of quinn.

you won't force him back into your life but if by some miracle, if some magical force decides to put him back in your path, you won't let him slip away again.

sighing, you purse your lips while waiting for your latte. its more sweet than bitter to be sitting here with the ghost of quinn, but bittersweet nonetheless. you could say it over and over again, you'd scream it to the world if you had to; you want nothing more than to just talk to him again, to be with him again. it doesn't even have to be for long, a simple run in would do.

it's been over three hundred sixty five days. more than fifty two wednesdays and he hasn't once—

"oat milk lattes for quinn and y/n!"

you look up from your phone and think, there's no chance it's him.

you rush up to the barista to grab your drink, running so fast that your stomach bumps into the counter.

your face scrunches up and you hear a low chuckle behind you. "still as clumsy as ever, hm?"

you try to keep your cool, turning around as you hold your drink and give quinn smile. if only he could hear what's going on in your mind. he knows you well enough to see the cogs turning in your head and you don't realize he can tell how happy you are to see him.

"hi, y/n," he reaches over to grab his drink, his arm brushing lightly against yours. you almost scold him for not wearing something warm but stop yourself. how is he not turning into frosty the snowman? he's wearing a t-shirt in 3°.

"hi! hi quinn, how are you?" you say a bit too excitedly, crossing one foot over the other.

his lip curls upward the teeniest bit but you catch it, the expression warming your heart. "i'm great. how's your family, how's your sister?"

your lips jut forward, slightly accusingly even though you're over the moon that he still cares about your family after all this time. does he not care about how you're doing?

"they're great, happy as ever! maya's being maya, she'll be excited to hear i caught you again!" you don't realize what you're saying until you take a moment to pause.

"i mean, not that i actually caught you, and not that i'm totally gonna tell her that i finally met you again after over a year of coming here every wednesday just to see you— because i won't," you ramble, a red tint casting over the apples of your cheeks.

forgetting your legs are crossed, you take a step and shriek as you tumble forward. if quinn hadn't grabbed your shoulder on time, your precious oat milk latte would be burning his skin and you'd be speeding him to the hospital.

"woah! i'm sorry," you apologize quickly, balancing on your two left feet.

"no worries, just don't feel like getting burned on game day. green would be pissed," he whistles quietly.

your brows knit together. "and how would he feel about you drinking an oat milk latte right now?"

his mouth parts slightly and he glances at the table you two used to sit at before turning his gaze back to you. "what he doesn't know won't hurt him. and speaking of oat milk lattes, when did you start drinking them? last i heard, you only drank them because you wanted to impress me."

"well, maybe i am trying to impress you," you say without a second thought. his eyes crinkle and his head tilts slightly at your words.

you try to facepalm with the hand holding your drink and the lid smashes into your forehead, a red mark forming upon your skin. you find yourself growing embarrassed at how you're acting around quinn and chew on your bottom lip, shifting your weight from one foot to the other.

"you've been coming here every wednesday?" he questions, noticing the self consciousness gnawing at your chest.

your face pales. "um, no! why would i—"

"yes she has!"

you look back at the barista who rat you out and glare at her with the meanest look you can possibly muster. it isn't very much but you hope it gets your point across — as if you weren't the one who had already confessed it to him.

"i just come for my oat milk latte," you reply, the floor suddenly looking more interesting than usual.

"the oat milk latte you never liked?"

"mhm."

you hear a soft sigh and look up at the brunette adoringly. you notice the small bags under his eyes and his messy hair but you appreciate it, and him, every way you can. you'd say he looks different from when you last saw him but you'd be lying if you say you don't watch all his hockey games just to keep up with him.

"is it because we used to?" he asks, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"as much as i'd like to say no, i'm not a very good liar," you admit and he smiles, shaking his head at your antics.

"it's been over a year since i last came here. i don't know why i decided to come today.. and it just happened to be a wednesday," he says teasingly.

you bite your cheek at his amused expression, unable to hide the smile making its way onto your face.

"this was really nice, seeing you again. maybe we should do this on purpose sometime?" he asks a bit hesitantly.

you perk up at this, accepting his offer with whatever it entails as you nod your head quickly. would you guys hangout or would it be a date? where would you guys go? what would you do together?

"and we can forget about the arguments in your garage.." he scratches the back of his neck. "which i'm sorry for, by the way."

you shake your head immediately, refusing to hear an apology. "no, we were scared little kids who had our whole lives ahead of us. it didn't make sense back then so it doesn't make sense for you to say sorry."

"kids? we were like nineteen. you're just saying that because you don't want to apologize," he snickers at you and you let out a shushed gasp.

"maybe i don't, there's no problem with that," you shrug as your mind almost turns fuzzy with pleasure.

your eyes lock with his for a minute, both of you reminiscing on the good times and the bad ones you shared. if only time could go backwards so you could fix what was broken.

anyone would be foolish not to see the love you two still hold for each other. in this sense, you and quinn couldn't be more blind.

"we won't sit at our old table, i promise," he speaks, breaking the silence.

you look up at him through your eyelashes, scrunching your nose in confusion and tilting your head. "what do you mean?"

"it'll be a wednesday," he gives you one last smile before stepping back and walking out of the café.

you're astonished as you stand by yourself, wondering what the hell just happened. a fresh start, maybe? is he coming back next week.. for you?

whatever it was, you don't care. all you know is that quinn hughes is finally back in your life and you won't let him slip from the tip of your fingers once more. you'll hold him in the palm of your hand until you know he'll hold you tighter in his.

it will indeed be a wednesday.

[brockadoodles]

Gumbo, Football Sundays, and Christmas - q. hughes

AN: this was totally named something else before, but honestly I like this name better. So here’s holiday Quinn floof to celebrate the return of my main squeeze, the quinn to my brock, the oh so wonderful, @pettypetey​ If any of you are mean to her, its on sight, ily kyn <3

Word Count: 3759

Warnings: None :)

You carefully walked over to the couch where Quinn was sitting on his phone with two hot bowls in your hand. You cleared your throat to grab his attention, handing him the steaming bowl of your favorite homemade potato soup, something that his trainer would absolutely kill him for eating, yet he did anyway because you made it and he openly admitted that it was one of his favorite things. Quinn couldn’t cook to save his life, something that you had attempted to remedy when you became friends and found out that he got most of his meals from the rink or the Tanev family. But after one night where he spilled an entire pot of gumbo on your kitchen floor, you settled for doing the cooking or letting him pay for takeout whenever he came over, sparing your poor floor from another huge mess and your own sanity over wasting that much time on food only to not be able to eat it. 

You sat down on the couch next to him, your thigh pressed up against him due to the nature of how small your old Ikea couch was. You set your bowl down on the coffee table and picked up the remote, scrolling through the various options on TV until you spotted a marathon of cheesy Christmas movies listed on the Hallmark channel. 

“I’m absolutely not watching a Christmas movie with you, it’s not even thanksgiving yet,” Quinn frowned as you moved through the various options on the tv, each movie title becoming a worse holiday-related pun as you scrolled further into the depths of the Hallmark channel. 

You glared at him and for a moment you contemplated why you were even such good friends with someone who clearly had no sense of what Christmas joy really meant. Obviously, you knew that he didn’t celebrate Christmas, but you also knew that he knew how much comfort these movies brought you. You used to spend hours watching them in November and December with your dad as a child, and when you moved to Vancouver, that quickly became one of the things you could do that reminded you of home.   

“Quinn I will absolutely kick you out of my apartment,” you warned, queuing up one of the movies whose premise was likely about some small-town person who needed to save their business and the way that happens was through a Christmas miracle. It didn’t matter how similar or terribly low quality these movies were, you loved them and happily watched them consistently as early as September each year. Quinn should have considered himself lucky that you waited until November before putting one on with him there. 

“You would never,” he smirked at you, wrapping an arm swiftly around your waist and pulling you into his chest. Quinn was always affectionate with you, something that you had found yourself readily falling into. You would never admit it to him but Quinn was your favorite person, and as the months had progressed his affections have sparked daydreams in your head of what it would be like if he took it one step farther with you. 

The two of you sat in silence next to each other as the opening credits of the movie began to play as you enjoyed the warm soup. It was what you considered the perfect November evening, your favorite movies, your favorite meal, and your favorite person all in one sitting as the rain fell outside of your apartment. 

You pulled the dark green throw blanket over both of your bodies as the movie continued to play, Quinn rolling his eyes and audibly groaning at the cheesy dialogue that was happening on screen. 

“Shhhh, I’m trying to distract myself from you,” you whacked him in the chest, feeling his body vibrate softly as he laughed at you. He grabbed your hand, focusing on playing with your fingers lightly, sometimes threading his own through them. His actions were causing a flutter in your stomach and a blush to rise on your cheeks each time he held your hand in his, and the movie was offering no distraction from him. 

Quinn was a constant for you, a presence that was always there whether that meant in your mind and heart as you thought of him, or physically there on your couch watching Christmas movies with you just because you asked. He had been your friend since he started playing in Vancouver, the two of you frequently running into each other at a hole in the wall Chinese place near your apartment. Somehow the chance run-ins had become Sunday nights in his apartment where he always had your favorite fried rice and football queued up for you provided he didn’t have a game of his own. 

Quinn fussed around with your fingers and hand for the entirety of the movie, if someone were to ask him to summarize anything that had occurred over the last two hours that you were nestled into his chest, he simply couldn’t do it. He couldn’t focus on the movie, or the white noise of cars passing by outside and the rain steadily pouring down, all he could focus on was your hands and your breathing as you watched the movie. Quinn hadn’t admitted it to anyone, probably not even fully to himself yet just how attached he was to you. You were his favorite person, by far. His quiet demeanor never seemed to bother you, and you had the ability to calm him down yet challenge him when he needed it. You never made him feel like he was Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks, instead, he felt like just Quinn with you, a feeling he only ever experienced when he was back home with his family in Michigan. It might not have been obvious to him, but everyone else knew he was as in love with you as someone could be with a person they weren’t actually with. Even his mom asked about you frequently, smiling as he would tell her whatever mundane thing about you that he had thought of that day. You were the only person he willingly let this close to him, and people noticed. 

“What time is it?” You groaned, moving from his lap. Your back was slightly stiff, and you were kind of warm as you peeled the blanket from both of your bodies. The tv was turned off, and the sky outside was pitch black. Quinn slowly opened his eyes, a soft and sleepy smile on his face as he pulled you back into his chest. 

“Sleep time.” He hummed. You laughed softly and pressed your hands into his chest. 

“Come on, let’s go to bed, q.” 

A few weeks later, after American Thanksgiving had come and gone, you found yourself surrounded at a small table with some of the other young Canucks at a holiday charity event. Quinn had practically begged you to go with him to the fundraiser, complaining that he had no idea how to decorate gingerbread houses, and if you weren’t there to help him then Brock and Petey would never let him hear the end of how ugly he ultimately would turn out. You agreed pretty quickly, rolling your eyes at his concern and reassuring him that he shouldn’t feel bad even if his was the ugliest gingerbread house of the entire group.

Quinn was entirely out of his element as the kids tossed around various candies and made a mess at the table you were all sitting at together. His eyes were wide and he was quietly focussed on his own tragic house. You watched him try to concentrate on building a roof, struggling to hold in your laughter, and Brock and Elias relentlessly teased his efforts. 

“Look Quinn, mistletoe!” Quinn shot a look to Brock instantly at his words, his eyes shooting daggers into his friend as he held mistletoe up above the two of you. You sat there in shock, silently hoping that Brock would simply let this whole thing go without a fight so that you wouldn’t end up embarrassed and hurt. Unfortunately for you and him, the kids instantly jumped at the chance of forcing you to kiss, almost all of them egging it on and making kissy faces at the two of you.  

Quinn swore he was going to force Brock and Petey to block 50 of his shots next practice for how they were acting. It was bad enough that the kids were hounding him to kiss you, but he didn’t need it from his friends who knew about his long harbored crush on you. You took it all in stride though, a slight blush to your cheeks that Quinn found himself melting even moreover. It also didn’t help that you were there, wearing one so his jerseys, his name on your back. He wanted to kiss you, but the last thing he wanted was for you to think that it was all the accumulation of these pesky kids bullying him into it. 

Quinn tried to brush off the attempts at pushing the two of you together. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to kiss you, he did, but he wanted it to be under his own terms and a moment that was more special than at a fundraiser event with a bunch of children and Brock watching. He shook his head at Brock, mouthing for him to cut it out. Brock was having none of it though, knowing that a kiss was a long time coming between you and if Quinn wasn’t going to make the move quickly, then he was going to take advantage of the situation and attempt to get things moving between you. About every guy on the Canucks roster had about had enough of Quinn talking about how much he liked you without doing anything about it, and Brock saw the opportunity and took it. 

“Pucker up kids, there’s mistletoe now. You can’t break the Christmas law that is mistletoe,” Brock smirked, hanging the mistletoe above both of your heads. He knew exactly what he was doing, and Quinn wanted to smack the not so subtle smirk off of his face.

You grabbed his arm, turning to face him with a soft smile on your face. You almost felt bad for him, sensing how uncomfortable he was at the situation, but something about the way he was carrying himself had you hoping that maybe he did want to kiss you and that had you fluttering with excitement as you leaned in. Quinn just looked at you nervously, unable to react as you quickly grabbed his face, and softly pressed his lips to yours. The kids cheering in the background, and Elias and Brock smirking at the success of their efforts. It was almost too much, but he found himself grabbing your cheek and kissing you back, his heart beating so fast and loud he was sure that you would hear it. 

You smiled into the kiss, pulling back with a bright crimson shade present on your cheeks, a wide-eyed Quinn in front of you. For a moment you thought maybe you had messed everything up, maybe Quinn had absolutely no feelings for you and that’s why he was looking at you like he looked at most other people who he didn’t know. But it didn’t take Quinn long to smile and grab your hand, lacing your fingers together and going back to decorating the tragic gingerbread houses sitting in front of you, a soft smile present on his face the rest of the afternoon. 

Quinn has debatably taken your ugly Christmas sweater idea a bit too seriously, so seriously in fact that you were genuinely impressed when he came to pick you up in a dark green holiday sweater, complete with a reindeer and light up antlers on his chest as you opened your front door. You laughed a bit, shaking your head as you took him in. You found it sweet that he made the extra effort, knowing that you were in a bad mood and probably just wanted to cheer you up. You wordlessly grabbed your bag and locked your door, following Quinn quietly out to his car. 

The drive to Bo and Holly’s was quiet, Quinn focused on the dark roads as he drove. You watched out the window, looking at the shiny pavement that was slick with the steady rain that Vancouver knew for the majority of the winter. Things with Quinn had felt weird since you kissed him under the mistletoe, you couldn’t explain the shift because as much as you hoped the kiss would show him your feelings for him, he never brought it up. You supposed that you were partially to blame, you could have put your heart out there with him, but you also felt like you had already done that by kissing him those weeks ago, and him not saying anything only sank your heart further. So instead of dwelling on it, you tried to enjoy your time with him as usual, pushing your feelings to the side in hopes that in time they would evaporate and you would be okay just being his friend again. 

You fumbled around in your bag as he parked outside of the Horvat’s house, flicking his light-up sweater on with a soft smile as he moved to unbuckle his seatbelt and get out of the car. 

“Quinn wait.” You started. You reached out and grabbed his thigh softly, pulling your hand back quickly when you realized what you were doing, your nerves bubbling up into your chest. You pulled a small wrapped box from your bag, fiddling with it in your hands as he watched you carefully. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as you handed him the present. 

“Happy first day of Hanukkah.” You smiled. Quinn grinned at you in response, his heart softening at you remembering. Not that he thought you forgot, but you were after all parked outside of his captain’s house, dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters, about to attend the annual Canucks Christmas party. So while he didn’t think you forgot, it meant a lot to him that you vocally remembered and thought of him enough to get a gift. 

Quinn carefully unwrapped the present and shook his head as he pulled the item from its box. He ran his hand over the keychain, the New Orleans Saints logo clear as day on the charm. 

“I should have known not to expect something serious.” He joked as he put the keychain on his keys, a small act that caused butterflies to rush into your stomach. 

“Yeah well, your taste in football sucks so I had to remind you who you should be cheering for.” You replied, smirking slightly at him. Quinn leaned over the center console, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek so quickly that you were sure you didn’t even have time to take one breath as he pulled away. Your eyes were wide and your mouth slightly parted at his outward display of affection, no sign of him thinking anything of it. You gulped a bit as you tried to hide the blush on your cheeks. Quinn didn’t say anything, instead, he smiled and climbed out of the car, waiting patiently for you to grab the punch you made and join him on the short walk to the front of the house, the moment between you quickly passing as you headed into the party. 

You walked into the home, smiling in awe at how beautiful the decorations were. Your eyes wandered around the room, stopping on the huge tree in the living room, covered with red and green ornaments and lights. The whole house smelled like fir, and it was warm and inviting as you starting noticing the various players and their families who were scattered throughout the room. 

Holly led you into their kitchen to help you get the punch set up for the rest of the guests. She took the large pitcher from your hands and set it on the counter. Quinn had been pulled another direction from you and was now talking with Elias in the living room as you were in the kitchen with Holly. You were a little nervous being alone with her, having only met her a handful of times at various events that you had gone to with Quinn. But she offered you a friendly smile and the first glass, which helped your nerves settle. 

“Ah, Mrs. Huggy! You’re here!” You heard from behind you, an audible gasp at the nickname escaping from your lips as Jake slid up behind you and hugged you. You quickly turned out of his grasp and shot him a glare, glancing past him in hopes that Quinn hadn’t heard his friend call you that. 

“Jake! Shut up!” You whispered harshly, whacking him lightly in the chest. He just laughed at you in return, leaving you alone in the kitchen with a now smirking Holly and a tint on your cheeks that you were hoping would go away before Quinn came back to find you. You took a long sip of your drink, resigning yourself to the fact that this night was probably going to be long, and you definitely needed the liquid courage to get yourself through it. 

About an hour and two drinking games later, you found yourself tipsy and less nervous around Quinn and your friends, them seemingly forgetting about your unrequited crush in favor of arguing who got to have him as their beer pong partner, something that Quinn was shockingly undefeated at. 

You walked into the kitchen, bypassing Brock who was leaning against the counter, typing away on his phone. He didn’t notice you as you walked by him and over toward the drinks that were on the counter, refilling yours and taking a moment to yourself. You didn’t notice that Quinn had followed you into the room, jumping slightly when you heard his voice coming from behind you. 

“Hey so remember when you kissed me?” You nearly choked on your drink, the contribution you had decided to bless the party with, a punch that only came out during the holidays, containing what you could only describe to people as 90% alcohol and a 10% chance of blacking out. You were only on your third cup, not near inebriated enough for this potential conversation with Quinn. The truth was that you of course remembered kissing him, the feeling of it had been cycling around your brain since the charity event last week, but he never brought it up with you, so you were forced to pack your feelings back up into a tightly taped box, hoping that one day you could pull said box out and give it to him properly. 

Quinn however had consumed almost four cups of your famous Christmas party punch, sending him well on his way passed tipsy and onto the train towards the loud drunk you rarely saw from him. He had wanted to kiss you again, a secret tucked deep in his chest that was bubbling up to the surface with the more drinks he had. He took in your appearance, your hair was down and you had a slight blush to your cheeks from your makeup, the Christmas sweater hanging from your body was stupid and endearing and all he could think about was tossing it onto the floor. 

“Mhm, yes I do remember something of that sorts happening, Quinn,” you said, smirking softly at him, a complete act to hide your growing nerves. Quinn smiled the widest drunk smile you’d ever seen, and you couldn’t help but appreciate how cute he was. 

“Can I kiss you this time?” He asked, loud enough that Brock turned his head from where he was standing, a few feet away in the kitchen as he was on his phone. He raised his eyebrows at you, smirking a bit before turning and walking out of the kitchen, leaving you and Quinn to yourselves as your heart beat faster in your chest. You gulped back the rest of your drink, setting it down and stepping toward him. Quinn’s hands instinctively went to your waist, pulling you in closer with a lazy smile on his face and a soft expression in his eyes. 

“You gonna kiss me or what, Quinn?” Your heart was pounding so loudly, you were thankful for the chatter coming from the kitchen, someone yelling about winning what must have been that round of beer pong. Quinn smiled at you and it only made things worse, the moment feeling like it was hanging in time as you waited not so patiently for him to press his lips to yours again. You almost thought you were imagining the entire thing as he grabbed your cheek, leaning in and closing his eyes. As soon as his lips touched yours you melted into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck and tugging softly on his dark hair. You smiled into the kiss, not caring who was watching because all that mattered was Quinn. 

Quinn pulled back and continued to hold you, a blush evident on both of your cheeks and smiles that were big and wide. You buried your head into his chest and he kissed your head, no words needing to be spoken between you, it was like you both knew exactly what the other person wanted to say. You knew how Quinn felt, and he knew how you felt, your hearts practically beating in each other’s ears as you shared a not so private moment in the kitchen, a cheesy Hallmark movie type ending that you loved. 

“In case it isn’t obvious, I really like you.” Quinn murmured, running his hand softly along your hip as he looked down for your reaction. You leaned up and kissed him once more, smiling into it and squeezing him gently. 

“I like you too, even if you hate Christmas movies and have terrible taste in football teams.” You said, earning a laugh out of your favorite person. The two of you spent the rest of the party stealing drunk kisses together, your minds fuzzy with the not new feelings but new ability to express them openly with each other, regardless of anyone else’s opinions or comments. Quinn was absolutely your favorite person, and you couldn’t believe you were finally getting to be with him in the way that you had wanted to for months, even with his stupid reindeer sweater on. 

[puckinghell]

Before You Go | Jacob Markstrom

Summary: Lyrics: “And I know it makes you laugh, if I say it first would you say it back? // I don’t know how to say I love you before you go” Words: 4.3k Note: my fave @danglesnipecelly​ wanted a Jacob fic and what K wants, K gets. So here it is! Excuse my sadness about the trade. Not proofread, we die like men. 

--

It’s the most cliché way of meeting someone.

Later, you wonder if your friends are even going to believe you when you tell them. You wouldn’t, if the roles were reversed; you’d make a joke about them watching too many romantic comedies. But you don’t even like romantic comedies, and yet here you are.

“This isn’t good,” the guy says, a frown on his face. He pushes the elevator button a few more times, and you nearly snap at him.

It’s not suddenly going to start working because you keep jamming on the buttons.

But, well, you’ve seen him a few times before: not enough times that you think he lives in your building but maybe someone he visits often. And he’s never been anything but nice, saying “good morning” and smiling at you, holding open the door, remaining completely unbothered when you spilled coffee over his very expensive looking shoes.

You don’t know his name, but he seems like a nice enough guy, so you don’t yell at him. He’s also really hot, but that has nothing to do with the fact that you don’t yell at him.

“I think we’re stuck,” he says. There’s a hint of an accent there, one that you can’t place.

“You think?” you repeat, dryly. You let your eyes travel to the little screen telling you what floor you’re on. It’s been saying ‘3’ for way too long.

“Fine.” The guy laughs. “I know we’re stuck. What I don’t know is what we’re going to do about it.”

“I’ve seen enough action movies to know that there’s no way we’re gonna climb out of here.” You shoot him a pointed look, fixing your gaze on his arms – which are massive. “Although, you might be able to. Me, not so much.”

“I wouldn’t leave you here,” the guy scoffs, and it’s almost annoying how genuine he seems about it.

“So then we wait, I guess.” You slide down the mirrored wall of the elevator. If you’re stuck here a while, you might as well sit down. The guy seems to agree, because he sits against the opposite wall.

“So what’s your name?” he asks, and you introduce yourself. He does, too: his name is Jacob, and he’s originally from Sweden, which explains the accent. But he lives in Vancouver now and one of his friends lives in this apartment building.

“Oh, Alex!” you exclaim, when he tells you his friend’s name. “He’s very nice. He helped me build a table once when I just moved in.”

It was an IKEA table, so it was only fair that the only Swedish guy you knew helped you build it. Although you suppose he’s no longer the only Swedish guy you know, now.

“I’ve seen you around many times,” Jacob says, after some gentle ribbing about Alex’ table building techniques. “Too many times to only now learn your name.”

It’s a feeling you recognize. Jacob’s voice is nice and calming, and you think it’s only his kind blue eyes that are keeping you from having a freakout about being stuck in an elevator.

“I guess if it’s meant to be, the universe will find a way for two strangers to get to know each other,” you tell him with a small smile. You’ve never believed in serendipity before, but if there ever was a time to start…

“So it’s all up to us now to see where it goes,” Jacob says.

And you suppose if you had to get stuck in an elevator you’re glad it’s with him.

--

If it was serendipity for you to meet, it’s fate how well you fit together.

Jacob is everything you could want in a partner. In fact, if someone had asked you to design your perfect partner, you probably would’ve come up to someone awfully close to him; the only exception being that he wouldn’t have a job that takes him away from you so often.

Dating has never been fun for you, before. Relationships as a whole as a can of worms you’ve never been tempted to open, but you’ve been seeing Jacob for a few months now and you can feel the clock ticking.

He’s not pressured you, hasn’t even mentioned it, but the thought weighs heavy on your mind: if you don’t soon put a name to what you have, you might lose it.

And that’s the last thing you want. Dating has never been fun except now it is, because dating Jacob is just like hanging out with your best friend, who is really hot and you also like kissing and having sex with. And relationships are scary but when you’re with him, it doesn’t feel like that.

Nothing feels scary, when you’re with him.

“So I’m leaving for the California trip tomorrow.” Jacob takes a sip of his drink. His eyes are glued on the movie you’ve been watching, even though it’s not a very good movie: you’ve lost your attention long ago.

“I know.” You know because you’ve put the Canucks schedule in your phone, but you don’t tell him that. That seems like something you maybe shouldn’t do. Like a girlfriend thing to do, and you’re not that.

“It’s gonna be a long one,” he continues. His voice is almost too casual, and you don’t buy it for a second.

You’re gonna miss him, too. But you don’t really know how to say that. Instead, you move a little closer, lay your head down on his shoulder. His arm is curled around your body and the weight of it is comforting.

And suddenly you can’t do it anymore. You feel too safe and comfortable and good to imagine Jacob coming home and not asking you over right away, and you know you have to talk to him if you want this to last.

And you do. God, you do.

“I actually kinda wanna talk about something,” you force yourself to say. Jacob veers up as if that’s exactly what he’s been waiting for; maybe it is. He surely knows you well enough.

He switches off the movie and turns halfway, so he’s facing you. It’s harder, that way, to speak, so you fix your gaze on your hands.

Jacob’s hand comes into view, as he carefully takes one of yours and laces his fingers through yours.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” he hums, and you tell him. You don’t want to, but you do, because you can’t bottle it up any longer.

“I really like you. And I’ve been wanting to ask, or, talk about… What this is, between us. Or what you think it can be, I guess.”

Jacob’s voice displays only curiosity when he answers. “This is hard for you.”

It’s not a question. It’s a statement, but you know there should be an explanation from you anyway. He deserves to step into this knowing what he’ll get, and it’s hard because there’s a chance he decides it’s not worth it.

That you’re not worth it, too hard and too messy and too many skeletons in the closet. It’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done, maybe, to open up to him like this.

But if it was ever the right time to roll the dice and try, now would be it.

“I’ve not had a lot of good, healthy relationships in my past to look back on,” you admit. “My parents had a really messy marriage until they got divorced, and my previous relationships have been somewhat of a shit show, if I can say that. So I think… It’s just kinda hard, to open myself up to that again.”

“I understand,” Jacob says softly, and you can tell from his voice that he means it. “But you think you wanna try?”

“Yes.” It’s not a hard question to answer. “Like I said, I really like you, and, well, I think what we have could be really special. So I wanna try.” You finally look up to send him a small smile. He smiles back, eyes filled with fondness and understanding.

“But you have to give me some time, okay?” you ask. “Allow me time to try. And to figure it out.”

“All the time in the world,” Jacob agrees easily, and when he leans in it’s not scary to kiss him, to feel his hands travel across your skin, the warmth of his mouth on yours. If anything, it feels right.

--

You’re already in bed when your phone buzzes, the expected FaceTime call coming through.

“Hi,” you smile, as soon as you answer. You know the smile probably doesn’t quite reach your eyes, not after the day you’ve had – but the connection is kinda blurry so hopefully Jacob won’t be able to tell.

Jacob frowns. “What’s wrong?”

Well. So far that idle hope.

“How did you know?” you huff, immediately letting the façade go. You were going to ask him about his game first, but now there’s no use. There’s no way he’ll wanna talk about that when he’s noticed your mood.

“I know you,” he answers easily, and that’s true.

Suddenly, your heart squeezes with how much you miss him. You wrap your arms around yourself, balancing the phone on your knees, and thread your fingers into the soft worn cotton of a shirt that definitely doesn’t belong to you.

Carolina is very far away, and you feel it when you look at the screen. It doesn’t feel the same, with Jacob’s face blurry and unable to feel the warmth of his skin.

“Hey,” Jacob says, softly. “Talk to me.”

He moves and you can see more of the environment behind him now, the hotel room bland and generic as most hotel rooms are. You wonder if he misses home when he’s there, or if he’s been around the world so much no place really feels like home. Maybe those generic hotel rooms are familiar to him like a home, too.

Vancouver feels like home to you, most of the time. But it’s not where you’re from and none of your family lives there, and that makes it hard sometimes.

“Is Vancouver your home?” you ask Jacob. The question probably comes out of nowhere but it doesn’t seem to faze him: at the very least he doesn’t show it.

“Yes,” he says. “Sweden is, too. I think I have many homes.” He cocks his head to the side, seemingly staring into your soul even all the way from Carolina. “Why?”

“I guess I just miss my family,” you tell him. “My sister broke up with her boyfriend and she’s really sad and I just wish I was there. We’ve been talking on the phone, but…”

“But it’s not the same,” Jacob hazards a guess, and, yeah, that’s pretty much what it comes down to.

“You know,” he continues, in a tone of voice that betrays nothing about the fact that he’s about to say something incredible, “Vancouver became a little more like home to me when I met you.”

In books and movies, they always talk about the butterflies in your stomach when you first realize you love someone. But it’s nothing like that, for you. It’s more like a tsunami of light flowing through your veins, lifting a heavy weight from your shoulders and replacing it with the comfort of a warm blanket.

And you wanna say it, say those three little words that mean so much.

“I…” you start.

“I loved him, Y/N,” your sister had said, just hours earlier. “How could someone I love hurt me so much?”

“I miss you.”

A tiny smile adorns Jacob’s face, almost like he knew what you were going to say anyway.

“Yeah,” he says, “I miss you, too.”

--

It has happened so many times that Jacob is starting to poke fun at you, a little bit.

“Don’t you just love sweet potatoes?” he’ll say, one eyebrow lifted and too much emphasis on the word love.

You know it’s stupid, okay. You know you’ve been with Jacob for way too long to still not have said those words. It’s a miracle, really, that he’s let you get away with it so long. Any other person would probably have long ago dumped you. Or at least gotten very mad.

And you don’t really know why it’s so hard for you. It’s not like you don’t love him. In fact, you love him with your whole heart, and every single day he does or says something to remind you of it. You’ve thought it at least a million times: God, I love you.

But something dark and twisted, deep inside your heart, tells you that it’ll only be true if you say it. If you say it, you open yourself up to the kinda hurt that’s come to everyone you know that has said it before.

Your parents, who got divorced. Your sister, who got her heart broken. Every single friend that’s called you crying about someone they loved. Every single previous heartbreak that’s left everlasting scars on your heart.

And it’s not like you really need to say it. Things are going well, with Jacob, and he doesn’t seem too bothered by it. Apart from his teasing remarks, he seems completely content.

Maybe he feels it when you kiss him, maybe he sees it in your eyes.

Sometimes, you come so close. So many times, you’ve almost said it. But every time you almost do, you don’t.

You think he notices, most of the time. A tiny smile will form on his face and sometimes he’ll even laugh out loud.

“But if I said it first, would you say it back?” he’ll ask sometimes.

“Of course I would,” you’ll say, but he never tries it, and you think that might be because he knows you’re lying.

--

And then the world gets turned upside down.

You guess you knew there was a pretty decent chance he wasn’t staying in Vancouver. But it was too painful to think about: every time you did, it nearly turned you dizzy and nauseous with worry.

If Jacob wasn’t staying in Vancouver, you’d have to think about what would happen to your relationship. And that wasn’t something you wanted to think about, because he became such a big part of your life you honestly don’t know what would become of you if he left.

But then you have to think about it, because it happened.

Calgary.

You’d never known one word could break your heart this much. And you’ve never hated one city as much as Calgary.

Almost in a daze, you make your way through Vancouver to go to his house. His house, that so much felt like yours before: it doesn’t anymore, and when you step inside you feel like a stranger in a familiar place.

Jacob appears in the hallway, having heard the click of the front door and your sneakers against the hardwood floor. His face is blank, devoid of any emotion, and you know that means he’s hurting.

He’s always smiling, usually, happy almost to a fault. He carries losses with great dignity, never complains, never gets angry or upset. He shakes things off like they slip away from his shoulders.

It’s something you’ve always admired about him, because things stick to you like you’re made of velcro.

This time, though, you can tell you’re not the only one hurting.

“I’m…” you start, but you cut yourself off. I’m sorry doesn’t seem like the right thing to say, and you don’t really know what else you could say.

Wordlessly, Jacob opens his arms, and you gratefully step into them, burying your face in his shoulder. It’s minutes before he speaks.

“At least it’s still in Canada?”

You can tell he’s trying to keep positive, as he always does. But there’s very little to be positive about, here. Calgary might be in Canada but it’s still so far away, and you wouldn’t see him for weeks on end…

“What about us?” you ask, words whispered against his shirt. It’s a surprise he hears you, but he does, and he pulls away immediately, frowning down at you.

“What do you mean?”

You swallow. It’s hard to get the words out but it’s something that needs to be talked about because his move could be imminent: you have no idea how long he’s planning to stay in Vancouver now that he doesn’t have to.

“What’s gonna happen to us if you’re not here?”

Jacob takes a step back, recoils like he’s been stung. It’s not immediately clear to you why he reacts like that, until he speaks.

“I wasn’t aware that anything had to happen to us.” His words are sharp and his face is still blank, but it’s the carefully constructed blank that tells you he’s hiding his true emotions.

You laugh, but it’s humorless. “You’re going to be in Calgary, Jacob. And I’m here.”

“I was gonna ask you to come.”

His words hit you like a tsunami, and for a second you’re rendered speechless. In that second, Jacob continues.

“I thought… We’ve been together for a while, you’ve said you’re not attached to Vancouver. You don’t like your job here. There’s no reason for you to stay here.”

And there’s a reason to go to Calgary, clearly. One very good reason.

But…

But if you go, and things go wrong, you’ll be in a foreign city with nobody. You don’t have friends there, you don’t have a job, or an apartment.

“Y/N.” Jacob’s voice is a little shaky. “Do you love me?”

There it is, the question that you wished to never answer. It lays between you like a heavy blanket of fog, blurring any connection there is.

For the first time, you’re not so certain about your future anymore.

Your future was supposed to be here, in Vancouver. You’d find a better job and in time, you and Jacob would move in together. He was supposed to be a Canuck forever and this would be where you’d raise your family. You’d get a dog, and a house with a garden.

And there’s no reason any of that couldn’t happen in Calgary, but. What if it didn’t? Suddenly you can only see yourself sitting on the floor of an empty, tiny studio in Calgary, snow outside, and nobody to talk to.

Apparently your silence has lasted too long, because Jacob speaks again, more forceful this time.

“Because if you love me, we can talk about this. We can figure something out. You could move with me now or later, or we could do long distance. We can make it work.” He pauses. “But if you don’t love me, maybe that’s just a waste of time.”

You love him. You love him with everything you have and everything you are. But there’s so many thoughts whirling through your brain, so many scenarios that could end so very badly.

And if you’re hesitating, maybe that means it’s not enough.

“I see.” Jacob takes another step back. Something calm has come over him now, a quiet resolve that the decision has been made. “In that case, please leave your key when you leave.”

And you open your mouth; you’ve gotta say it, you want to say it.

But Jacob’s footsteps are heavy as he retreats up the stairs and your feet are nailed to the floor. It’s impossible to move until at least ten minutes later, when you drag yourself outside.

The door closes behind you, the keys laying on the table in the hallway.

Tears are rolling down your cheeks, but you barely notice it. Nor do you notice the cold or the rain.

There’s so many things you don’t know, but if there was one thing you could’ve changed, you would figure out how to tell him you love him before he goes.

--

It’s been 4 days, 5 hours and 20 minutes since you left Jacob’s house and with it, his life.

Not that you’ve been counting. In fact, you’ve done everything you can to distract yourself from counting: eating ice cream, watching movies, calling your sister.

During one of those phone calls, she says something that pretty much shakes the ground you stand on.

“Just because you didn’t tell him you love him, it didn’t change much about how broken your heart is right now, did it?”

Of course, you told her everything: your sister is your rock, your best friend, the only person that knows all of your secrets.

“Uhm,” you say, eloquently, as you let the words sink in. She’s right.

Damn it.

Your whole relationship with Jacob, you’ve been worried about this. About heartache. Because from the very start, you knew how amazing he was, how precisely right for you. And losing him has always been the thing you were most scared of.

Sure, you were afraid to say those three words: but it was because you were convinced it would change things. Like something would shift inside you when you did, and somehow it would bind you to him more, ties that would tear in the most hurtful way when it ended.

But now it’s ended, and you’re hurt. You don’t think you could be more hurt, by anything in the world.

Including if you’d told him you love him, first.

And after everything he’s done for you, everything he’s put up with, after the way he so fearlessly loved you even when you refused to give him that back, he deserves to know.

“I’ve gotta go,” you tell your sister, and she laughs.

“Good luck, babe.”

It’s only two days until he leaves.

You probably shouldn’t know that, anymore. You lost the right to know those things when you didn’t tell him the one thing he needed to hear. But you couldn’t just let him go without at least knowing he was gone, so you’d texted Petey and he told you.

Not happily. You’re not surprised Petey is mad at you. He’s hurting too, probably, but not like you.

But then, that’s partly your own fault.

It’s weird, to knock on Jacob’s door. You haven’t done that in God knows how long, ever since he got you a key. You remember his grin when he handed it to you, shrugging his shoulders.

“It feels as much like your place as mine, by now.”

And it did used to feel like that, but not anymore. You wonder if it still even feels like Jacob’s: surely he’s been packing his stuff, maybe even already shipping it to Calgary.

You don’t get to think about it more, because the door opens.

Jacob looks… Well, he looks good because he’s too good looking to not look good, but he looks tired. Worn out, even: dark circles under his eyes and the blue orbs contain no trace of the sparkle you’re so used to. When he sees you, he frowns.

“Y/N?” he asks. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

It’s ridiculous: after all of this he shouldn’t be asking you what’s wrong, he shouldn’t be worried about you still. He should slam the door in your face or maybe yell at you some more.

But he doesn’t. He wouldn’t. Because he’s the best person there is and he loves you, and you’ve always known it but he hasn’t known the same in return, and..

“I love you.”

You blurt out the words before you can fully process it and you can tell that he wasn’t expecting it, either. His eyes widen and his mouth is a little slack, and for the first time since you’ve met him he looks completely at loss for words.

So you just keep talking.

“I was so scared to tell you that, because somehow I thought if I didn’t say it it wouldn’t hurt so much when it went wrong. All I’ve known is love going wrong, and I guess I thought if we didn’t call it that maybe that would stop it from hurting. But now it’s gone wrong anyway and it hurts so much and I realize it couldn’t hurt more, so I might as well say it.”

You take a deep breath.

“I guess this isn’t the right way to say it, or the right time. But I had to say it now because you’re leaving and I can’t have you leave without knowing. I had to say it before you go.”

Jacob looks at you, and suddenly he’s smiling. Despite everything, it’s enough to make you smile back.

“Now,” he says, “was that so scary?”

“Terrifying,” you admit. “So, I said it first.”

“I guess I’ve got to say it back?” Jacob hums, and then he’s stepping forward and kissing you.

Now you know what they mean in the movies and the books when they talk about butterflies.

“I love you.” He whispers the words against your lips between kisses. “I’ve been loving you. I will continue to love you.”

When he pulls away you take the opportunity to bury your face in the crook of his neck.

“I don’t want you to go to Calgary without me,” you mumble. It’s easier, now, to say it: what you’ve been thinking. What you’ve been wanting. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Jacob answers without even pausing to think. “You don’t have to. Remember what I said?”

“If I love you we’ll figure it out,” you remember, and you can hear the smile in his voice when he speaks.

“So?”

“I love you,” you tell him, again, and you know you’re gonna tell him again and again and again and again.

“Then we’ll figure it out,” he promises.

And you believe him.

[brock-boeswhore]

there NEEDS to be more nils höglander please, i’d read anything about him at this point🥺🥺

Unexpected丨Nils Höglander

Word Count: 1.3k

Summary: You attend a Vancouver Canucks backyard summer party and meet the Canucks rookie for the first time, what will form when playing a classic childhood game?

A/N: Höggy is so underrated on here, it’s insane!! And this is my very first fanfic, so of course it’s gonna be about the little Swedish pepper pot!! Thank you so much Anon for helping me kick off this blog in style!! <33

Don’t forget to like or reblog and drop a follow!

It was a beautiful summer day in Vancouver to throw a backyard party, and that’s exactly what Holly and Bo Horvat decided to do. The boys had just been eliminated from the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and with the off-season and the possibility of trades looming, they had decided to get everyone together one last time before everyone went their separate ways during the summer. Most of the Canucks players and their significant others were hanging out in Holly and Bo’s backyard with drinks in hand. And being extremely close friends with 2 of the Canucks young guns, Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes, meant that you had been introduced to the players and their better halves a long time ago. You had grown close with many of the players and their significant others, particularly Elias Pettersson who had quickly become one of your many close friends. All of the ladies had welcomed you as an honorary WAG and you never looked back.

So here you were hanging by the pool wearing your favorite blue summer dress that grazed the ground with a White Claw in hand. You were walking around with Belle, Quinn’s girlfriend, by your side introducing her to everyone for the first time. She had a very bubbly and loving personality, just like you, which made it very easy for her to get along well with everyone. At some point the newlywed, Micaela Gaudette, and Holly had joined the two of you, as you all discussed your summer plans. It wasn’t long before the topic of conversation shifted to something a lot more lighthearted and goofy. Micaela had shown the three of you the video from her wedding where Adam attempted to give her a lap dance but proceeded to kick her in the face. This caused Holly to double over in laughter grasping onto Micaela’s arm to steady herself, while Belle let out a lighthearted giggle not feeling extremely comfortable about laughing at her newfound friends but finding the video hilarious. You on the other hand had thrown your head back in pure laughter and delight.

Unbeknownst to you the newest Canucks rookie had entered the backyard and joined Elias, Quinn, Brock, and Bo. The five of them watched on with amusement written on their faces as the 4 of you all laughed while looking at something playing on Micaela’s phone. Bo and Quinn watched with pure love and adoration at how happy their significant other looked, while Brock and Petey made mental notes to tease you on how you had reacted. Nils was absolutely captivated with how the sun hit your face and your body and how your laugh and smile brought out your seemingly carefree persona; everything about you entranced him and made him want to introduce himself to you.

The laughter between the 4 of you eventually died down and when it did, the group of boys had joined you all with Quinn walking behind and wrapping his arms around Belle. Brock shot you a look with a light chuckle over how smitten Quinn looked around Belle, while Petey came up from behind and wrapped you in a hug while he rested his chin on the top of your head in an attempt to silently make fun of your height. It’s then that you took notice of the brunette and how he had a light scowl etched on his face, you offered him a light smile in hopes of brightening his mood and it seemed to have worked. Eventually just about everyone at the party had joined your group and indulged in a group conversation. You and Nils had started to drift away from the large group in hopes of being able to formally introduce yourselves.

“Hey I don’t believe we’ve actually met before, I’m Y/N! You must be the infamous Nils Höglander, I’ve heard a lot of great things about you from all of the boys, especially Brock and Petey” you exclaimed cheerfully.

“Oh yup that’s me! It’s great to meet you Y/N'' he replied with a gentle smile on his face. “So ughhh you’re dating Petey right?” he asked you as politely as possibly not wanting to come across as jealous.

“Oh my god nope I’m definitely not dating Petey, I’m not dating anyone actually. I’m just here cause I’m really close with just about everyone.” You replied with extra exaggeration on the word ‘definitely’ when you had mentioned Petey’s name.

Nils wasn’t able to respond to your remark before Brock called you both over, but he did offer you a genuine and toothy grin while you made your way over to where Brock was standing. The group had decided on a large game of hide of seek. The only rule was that if you were a hider you could run and hide anywhere public within a 3 mile radius of Bo and Holly’s house. The seekers ended up being Thatcher, Brock, Petey, Micaela, Holly and Quinn. They had decided to give you all a 3 minute head start, and with that everyone took off their separate ways except for you and Nils who had opted to stick together for the round. You had lifted the skirt of your dress so that you could run easier without it dragging and slowing you down, and Nils chuckled at your actions which, in turn, caused you to laugh as well.

You and Nils eventually found the perfect hiding spot on the side of an abandoned building that was just within your given boundaries and shared a little giggle, but there was a shimmer of adoration towards the other in both of your eyes. At that exact moment you both heard Brock rounding the corner, you froze and stared at Nils with your eyes wide and jaw dropped. However Nils had a much better reaction than you as he grabbed a hold of your hand and led you towards some large empty trash bins which you both hid behind. After you had both caught your breath following the sudden scare you started to hear Brock getting closer and closer to you both yet again. And as it turns out Nils, ever the dork, isn’t exactly the best at keeping quiet because the next thing you know he’s busting out in a fit of giggles while tears start to trickle out from his eyes.

While you’re turned to Nils trying to shush your dork of a friend who’s currently collapsed on the floor from his laughter outburst, Brock stealthily rounds the corner of the garbage bins and sneaks up behind you while he yells out a very thunderous “BOO!” Which resulted in you letting out a terribly high pitched shriek.

“Y/N/N WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, WAKE UP TORONTO?” jokingly yelled Brock who’s now in the middle of a laughter fit with you and Nils.

“I swear everyone back at the house could’ve heard your ear-deafening shriek…. EEEEEEE” Brock wheezed out before he mimicked you.

At this point Nils is still on the ground and absolutely losing his mind, and you and Brock both share a look because you just know there’s no bringing him back to reality anytime soon. So Brock then starts to lift Nils off of the concrete so the 3 of you can start to make your way back to the party, and once Nils is on his feet he grabs ahold of your hand and starts a light conversation as you all start to make your back to the party with Brock trailing closely behind not wanting to ruin your shared moment with his teammate.

Once you get back to the party everyone is already there and waiting for the three of you. There’s a healthy mixture of hoots and hollers because you and Nils passed through the backyard gate hand in hand, and snickers because as Brock had previously sworn- your shriek was heard at the Horvat backyard party. After everyone FINALLY let you and Nils live down your public show of affection and your soon to be infamous shriek, the party went on as normal but not without you exchanging numbers with the Swedish rookie and planning your first real date!

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 24

February 29th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was laying in her bed looking at her phone.  

A special Blueprint had been uploaded to the Leafs’ official YouTube page and their official website titled “Family Birthdays”.  Filmed perfectly.  Cut perfectly.  Produced perfectly.  It was only two minutes long and featured all the guys.  But the main feature was her.  

The video began as Sheldon’s speech did, except the camera wasn’t on him – it was on Brendan and Aberdeen watching him intently.  When he called out Jason’s name and Jason walked in with the cake, Aberdeen watched her own face drop and change and contort.  The camera cut to some of the guys singing – Willy and Tyson and Auston, then Zach, then Travis – and then back to her once they began cheering.  Brendan started his speech.  The camera cut to some more players.  Then it showed her speech.  The last thirty seconds of the video featured snippets of afterwards – the music playing and the guys dancing, most of them with cake in their hands; Auston shoving a giant piece of it into his mouth; Tyson grabbing Aberdeen and dancing with her to the more upbeat song like they were in the 1950s and at a party.  The closing clip was one of Aberdeen smiling from ear to ear, then one of Brendan smiling from ear to ear too as he stared directly at her.  The Blueprint logo came up on the screen.  It was over.

Aberdeen had never appeared prominently in a video from the Leafs before.  She was in the background of some of the Blueprints, usually always with Brendan and once with Kyle and Peter, but she was mostly anonymous.  Now, with this video, she was known: she was named, shown, shown dancing, and it was clearly evident she’d been with the organization for a while and that the team loved her.  To anybody watching, she seemed ingrained within the institution that was the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The fans seemed to love it – the team had won the game, after all, and had a successful Florida road trip because they also won against Florida on Thursday 5-3.  The fans thought it was cute.  She thought it was cute, too, but wondered now if people, especially people throughout the NHL, would actually recognize her instead of just walking by and ignoring her unless she stood beside Brendan.

Regardless, she went about her morning routine – washing her face, brushing her teeth, doing her hair, putting her moisturizer on.  She fed Minerva and applied her makeup.  It was a Hockey Night in Canada tonight against the Vancouver Canucks, but Brendan was letting her leave after the first period for her birthday party.  A bunch of friends were coming over for pre-drink before they left for Toybox, the nightclub where she’d be having the party (everyone she knew and loved would be there except for Siena, who couldn’t come because of school).  There would be at least twenty of them.  They’d all pitched in to get a table and bottle service.  It would all be very fun, and considering Aberdeen’s clubbing days would probably come to an end soon (serious job, serious boyfriend, serious ambition to be a writer), she wanted it to be very fun. 

Lou was taking Brendan to a dentist appointment that morning, so Aberdeen was planning to just walk to work herself.  She could get in a little later than usual – around 9:45 or 10 – since Brendan wasn’t going to be in either.  So she took her time.  She made herself breakfast.  She turned on the news.  She cuddled with Minerva.  She admired the birthday gift that arrived from Willy last night when she got home from work – he had somehow managed to track down and buy a first edition copy (literally a la 1895) of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, her favourite play.  He did good.  He did damn good.  Between the ring at Christmas and this, Aberdeen couldn’t believe he did that good.  

She took out her phone.

Hope you have a good practice this morning ❤️

thank u minskatt

Are you still in bed lol

love u and yes lol

love you too

don’t judge me

After a while, with time going faster than she liked, Aberdeen put on her coat, hat, scarf, and boots and made her way downstairs.  When she opened the doors of her building, she noticed a guy in a grey Canada Goose jacket and a tan messenger bag smoking almost right outside the door.  She’d never seen him before.  It was entirely plausible that he lived in the building, but he wouldn’t have come down to have a smoke.  She figured he was probably waiting for someone, and went on her merry way.

As she walked down the street, she texted on her phone and made sure to avoid any ice on the sidewalk.  The cold air gave way for a quiet morning – there weren’t a lot of people out walking.  It was also because it was later than usual morning “rush hour”.  From behind her, she heard someone cough extremely loudly – one of those loud smoker’s coughs that could be heard from a mile away.  She looked behind her.

It was the guy from outside her building.  

She felt a shiver run up her spine, and it wasn’t from the cold.  Okay.  Maybe she should give him the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe he had finished his cigarette and was walking the same way she was to his work.  Maybe they had the same route.

Maybe she should take a detour, just in case.  

She turned a corner.  It was technically the wrong way – well, not a wrong way, but it was less direct and a route that made her commute maybe five minutes longer than usual.  She waited about a minute before looking back again.  He turned the corner too.  She felt the shiver run up her spine again.

She turned another wrong corner onto Wellington Street.  Waited a few moments.  Looked back.  

There he was.  

She felt her heart beat increase rapidly.  She was being followed.  She was being followed.  She was freaking out.  She had no idea who this guy was, what he wanted from her, nothing.  She had no clue.  She increased her pace and looked for a storefront amidst all the bank buildings, and she thanked the Lord when she saw a Starbucks.  She climbed the steps and went inside.  It was pretty busy, but not busy enough that she’d be lost within the crowd.  She waited to see whether the man would just walk by or stop.

He stopped in front and lit another cigarette.  

She couldn’t believe this was happening to her.  She tried to steady her breathing as much as possible as she took out her phone and called the one number she thought to call.  

“Minskaaaaaatt, what are you—”

“—Willy?” Aberdeen asked frantically into the phone.

William noticed her tone immediately.  “What’s wrong?”

“Willy I think someone’s following me.”

“Following you?” his tone was dead serious.  

She arched her neck to look out the window and saw the guy was still there, pretending to type away on his phone.  “I—I left my apartment this morning, and I noticed this guy standing outside with a messenger bag smoking and—and I didn’t think much of it, but then I started walking down the street, and he started following me.  And so I started to walk down a different route to work just in case but he—he kept following, and now I’m in the Starbucks at York and Wellington and he’s standing outside pretending to be on the phone but he’s waiting for me and—”

“Stay right there.  I’m going to come get you.”

As if her heart wasn’t already beating rapidly out of fear, now the pace increased tenfold.  She’d called him because he was her boyfriend, because he was the first person she thought to call, but now she realized how much of a grave mistake that was.  “No – no – Willy, you can’t.  Brendan will know and—”

“Stay there and don’t leave.”

“Willy—no, Willy—” she tried, but he had already hung up the phone.  She couldn’t think straight.  She was freaking out, and not just because she was getting stalked by someone.  She should have called Brendan first.  Or Jason, or—

Well, she could text them.  She pulled up Brendan’s number first.  She hoped he’d see it before Willy could do anything.  I’m at York and Wellington Starbucks.  I am being followed by someone.  Can you please come and pick me up?  She pulled up Jason’s number, too.  I’m at York and Wellington Starbucks.  I am being followed from my apartment.  Please get someone to help me.

As she waited, nobody texted her back.  She started to become nervous.  She even sent a few more texts to Willy about getting someone to help him and calling Brendan to help deal with it but he wasn’t responding, and it just made her more nervous.  Jason – never one to leave her on read, even for the simplest of messages – hadn’t responded.  She wondered if he was already driving to practice.  Or with Jen.  Or with his girls.  Or at their school.  Or—

The man still wasn’t leaving.  

Aberdeen gulped.  She didn’t know what to do.  She couldn’t stay in this Starbucks forever even though it seemed this guy would wait that long.  If she left and continued her walk to work, should she acknowledge him?  Should she ignore him?  Should she call him out for following her?  And besides, how in the everlasting fuck did he know where she lived?!  She felt a pit forming in her stomach.  

But she went outside anyway.  Before she did, she started a video on her phone.  As she pushed open the doors from the Starbucks, she watched out of the corner of her eye as he saw her and locked his phone.  As she walked by him, he kept it in his hand.  She began to walk away, down the steps and onto the sidewalk, and she pretended to adjust her hair in her hat.  She saw he’d taken a step forward.  Her heart was racing, but she stopped walking.  She turned towards him boldly, cradling her phone against her chest so it wouldn’t seem like she was recording him.  

When he noticed that he’d been caught, a smile adorned his face.  It was probably nice in everyday life, but considering the circumstances, it was the creepiest thing Aberdeen had ever seen.  “Hey,” he greeted her with a friendly, pleasant voice.  “You know, I saw you in that Blueprint video where the Leafs bought you that birthday cake – you’re Aberdeen Bloom, aren’t you?  Brendan Shanahan’s personal assistant?” the man asked.

Aberdeen found it extremely weird that this man knew her last name.  “How do you know where I live?” she demanded.

“I just overheard the guys talking about it one night and made an educated guess,” he shrugged his shoulders, like it was the most natural thing in the world.  It made Aberdeen’s blood run cold.  “You must recognize me from the media scrums.  I was wondering if you’d like to answer a few questions for me.”

She didn’t recognize him from the media scrums, although she was sure he was there.  Having probably exhausted his good rapport with the players due to his actions (if they were anything like this), the next best thing for him was to terrorize her.  “No.  I don’t speak to the media.  You need to go through—”

Suddenly, a car pulled up to the curb, the tires shrieking against the pavement.  Another car followed just as quickly, shrieking against the pavement as it also grinded to a halt.  From the second car, William barely waited for it to stop before he got out of the passenger’s seat.  Jason followed him from the driver’s seat.  “Get in the car,” William said firmly, not even looking at her.

She noticed Brendan get out of the backseat of the first car, and came to the realization that it was the town car – Lou was driving, waving at her to get in.  “Aberdeen, get in the car,” he echoed William’s sentiments.  “I’ll deal with this.”

She ran towards the town car, opening the door quickly and stuffing herself into the backseat.  She stopped the video on her phone as she watched through the window as Brendan approached the man, who had his hands up and was shaking his head like he wasn’t doing anything wrong.  She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.  “Are you okay, Miss Bloom?” Lou asked from the front seat.  

“I’m okay,” she said.  “Just a bit spooked.”

“Mr. Shanahan freaked out when he got your text.  Almost had a heart attack, I think.”

Aberdeen nodded absent-mindedly, still watching through the window as Brendan looked like he was berating the man.  William looked exactly like he did the night she got hit by the glass – so angry but unable to formulate words – and she couldn’t tell if the redness on his cheeks was due to the cold or his anger.  Jason looked equally as angry, his head moving between Brendan and the man like he was watching Djokovic verses Federer.  When Brendan, William, and Jason dispersed back towards the cars, the man who had followed her was calling out towards Brendan in objection.  Brendan ignored him, and so did William and Jason.  He kept screaming, and Brendan kept ignoring.  

Aberdeen watched through the side mirrors as William and Jason got back in their car.  Brendan opened the backseat door and she turned her head to look at him as slipped in.  Lou began driving the second the door was closed.  “When did you notice him following you?” Brendan asked immediately.

“He was outside my building,” she revealed.

“Outside your building?!” he demanded.  He pulled out his phone.  “I—I’m calling Steve.  No media availability for practice.  None.”

“Brendan—”

“This motherfucker,” he seethed, ignoring Aberdeen’s voice.  “This motherfucker is never getting into our locker room again.”

“Brendan, I don’t care about the locker room,” Aberdeen chastised him.  “He knows where I live!”

“I already called the police.  They’re meeting us at practice,” he revealed.  “I already told them we’re drafting up a peace bond.  And if that fucker even thinks about contesting it, I’ll be out for blood.”

Aberdeen was trying to make sense of what he was saying, but it wasn’t registering in her head.  She’d heard Siena talk about peace bonds before in relation to something she was learning in law school, but Aberdeen couldn’t connect the dots right now.  “What—what’s a peace bond?” she asked.

“It’s essentially a restraining order,” he explained.  “Some of the players actually have them for some people or fans but we’re not going to get into that right now.  All you need to know is that he won’t be able to be anywhere near you, your apartment, work, nothing.  I’ll push for an entire kilometre away from you.  I don’t care if the fucker has to move.  He won’t get anywhere near you ever again.”

Aberdeen calmed down considerably as Brendan spoke, though she was still on edge.  “We…we can do that?”

“Yes.  It’s the—fuck!—it’s the same old story with some of these fucking clowns.  Can’t get what they want in the locker room so they go after office stuff and see which one breaks first.  It’s never enough – whatever we give them is never enough.  All for some inside scoop.”

Aberdeen saw how angry Brendan was about this.  It was like the Ethan situation all over again.  It was different in that, with Ethan, Brendan was calm but she could see the rage inside of him.  Now, she saw the rage both inside and outside.  “I just want to make sure I’ll never have to see him again,” Aberdeen said.

“You won’t,” Brendan seethed.  “I’ll make sure of it.”

***

Aberdeen didn’t exactly like talking to cops – she didn’t think anyone did – but there were two waiting at practice when she and Brendan got there.  They waited for William and Jason to get there, and once they arrived, they all went into a private room to give statements.  Aberdeen showed the cops the video she took.  It played at least seven different times, and each time, she watched William across the table getting redder and redder.  Except this time, he was more vocal.  “Is it possible we can do more than just a peace order?  I mean can’t we press charges?”  “This guy is an obvious threat to the team’s safety if he’s approaching office staff to try to get exclusives on us.”  It was all very…clinical.  She didn’t know the word to describe it.  But Brendan was adamant on the conditions of the peace order, and was adamant that they go even a step further than what some of the guys had because she was a young female.  What surprised her the most was when Brendan called up the guy – literally right from his phone – and the cops read out the peace bond.  This was still in front of William and Jason.  The guy fought back a little bit but Brendan was having none of it and threatened him with court.  The guy had no chance but to accept the conditions of the peace order.  He agreed to sign it.  He agreed to every condition.  The cops would take care of him signing it and filing the peace order with the RCMP.  

It was barely noon.  

When the police left, Aberdeen thanked them politely and watched as Willy and Jason did too.  She noticed William’s eyes on her as she heard Brendan thank them and offer to walk them out.  Then she saw Jason was looking at her too.  “Can I talk to you?  Alone?” he asked.

“Yeah.  Of course.”

She followed him to an empty hallway – one she had walked down hundreds of times while working the practices.  Jason made sure nobody else was around before he started speaking.  “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded her head.  “Just a bit spooked, as you can imagine.”

“Listen, I know you’ve got your parents’ place but my door is always open too if you or Kasha don’t feel safe in the apartment for the next little bit,” he offered.  God, she still needed to tell Kasha.  She still needed to call her fucking parents.  They were going to have a fit.  “You know Jen wouldn’t mind.”

“You’d add another girl to your house?” she tried to joke.

“Don’t joke about this,” he said, his voice so serious Aberdeen almost felt back for cracking the joke.  ��Do you want to stay at my place?  Do you feel safe?”

“No.  And yes,” she said.  “No I do not want to stay at your place, but thank you for the offer.  And yes, I feel safe.  I mean, I feel safe right now, knowing that if he breaks that peace bond, he can go to jail.  That’s what’s making me feel safe right now.”

“It should.  It’s serious business.”

“Do you understand how lucky I am that the cops took it seriously and got it done within hours?  Because I guarantee you if it was just me filing the complaint, they wouldn’t have taken it seriously,” she said.  “They only took it seriously because of Brendan and him going apoplectic, and you know it.”

“I do know it,” Jason nodded his head.  “I’ve known it every day since my old teammate’s girlfriend had to get the exact same thing down in Dallas against a group of crazy girls who wanted to sleep with her boyfriend and threatened to show up at their house and suffocate her in her sleep.”

Okay, so apparently this was pretty commonplace.  Well, at least in hers and Jason’s lives.  While it wasn’t a crazy fangirl, he at least still understood where she was coming from.  “I guess I’m lucky he only wanted an inside scoop, I guess.”

Jason shook his head.  “I almost had a fucking heart attack when I saw that message.  You don’t even understand.  I was walking and I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around and started running to my car.  That’s when I saw Will.”

Ah, yes.  William.  She wondered where he was right now.  She’d have to find him after this conversation.  “Yeah.  I was shaking so much that for some reason, his name was the first to pop up.”

Jason stayed silent, nodding his head.  She could tell he was biting his tongue, wanting to say something, deciding whether or not it was worth it.  “Listen…I know…I know I shouldn’t even be asking this, but there’s nothing going on between you and Willy, is there?”

Aberdeen held her breath.  She had to lie to Siena.  She had to lie to Kasha.  Now, she had to lie to Jason.  It would have been inevitable, but she wished she didn’t have to, mostly because she respected him so much and knew how much he cared about her.  “No.  I just…we’re close – kinda – and listen – his crush isn’t exactly a secret, but it’s not like I’m doing anything while I’m working here,” she said, stumbling over her words a bit.  “I would never jeopardize my job or my career like that.”

“Right.  I know.  Sorry,” Jason kept nodding, now a bit bashful that he even brought it up.  “I just…you let him know, you know—”

“Because we’re close,” she reiterated.  “We’re practically the same age.  And because he’s the only guy around my age on the team who has even just some of his shit together because of the way he grew up.  I mean, I didn’t call Auston or Kappy for a reason.”

“Yeah.  Yeah, of course,” he actually cracked a smile.  “I just—sorry, Aberdeen.  I didn’t mean to be—”

“It’s okay, Jason,” she wished he’d just dropped it, because the more he dragged it on, the more she had to lie to him, and the more it killed her.  

There was a moment of silence before Jason spoke again.  “Kappy would have probably taken you to an oyster bar,” he quipped.

Aberdeen snorted.  She began laughing one of those silent laughs as she shook her head.  “You’re probably right.”

***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Earlier today, a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization was followed from their residence to 50 Bay Street.  It is of the utmost importance that members of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization are allowed privacy in their personal lives and are not stalked, followed, and harassed on their way to employment.  Due to the unacceptable actions, we have terminated the media credentials and locker room access of the individual involved in the incident, and they will never be allowed back into our locker room.  We encourage those in the media to review the acceptable guidelines policy given at the beginning of each season.  Legal action has already been taken against the individual.  We will not be answering any further questions.

***

“She what?!” Zach Hyman was in disbelief at what William announced to the room.

“Who was it?” John asked.

“Are they pressing charges?” Tyson demanded.

“There’s already a peace bond – it’s like a restraining order,” Jason explained.  “He can’t get within, like, a kilometre of her or the arena without her pressing charges and him going to jail.”

The locker room was in disbelief at the news that Aberdeen had been stalked on her way to work that morning.  They knew the media could be crazy, they just didn’t know they could be that crazy.  To target a young female member of the office was unheard of.  Usually they were the ones being stalked, not the office staff.  “Is she okay?” Zach asked.  

“She’s doing fine.  She’s Aberdeen.  For what it’s worth I think she’s keeping it all in, just like last time, but that’s neither here nor there,” Jason said, alluding to the Ethan situation.  “It all happened so fast this morning.  That’s why nobody had to do media after practice today.  Brendan suspended it.”

William watched as Auston shook his head.  “That girl’s being put through the fucking ringer, dude.  First the Ethan thing, then that scar, now this?”

“I’m surprised she stays with us,” Tyson commented.

“I don’t.  She loves us,” Mitch spoke up.  “Just like we love her.  This is just…a series of unfortunate events.  Like that book series.”

“You read books?” Auston quipped.

Mitch punched him in the arm.  “So I get why she’d text Jason,” Mitch continued, looking at William.  “But why you?”

William shrugged.  “How would I know?  She was probably shaking and her hand slipped while typing.  Would you be calm in that situation?”

Jason had heard that before.

***

“You’re not scared?” William asked over the phone, sitting alone inside of his car, still in the parking lot after practice.  Everybody had left long ago, but not him.

“A little bit, but I’m not letting it take over my life.  I can’t let it take over my life,” Aberdeen replied, her voice calm.  She was probably talking to him from the employee washroom back on Bay Street.  “If I let the fear take over, I wouldn’t do anything.  I wouldn’t be able to do my job.”

“But this isn’t that type of fear.  This is someone stalked you on your way to work fear.  This is someone hit you with a glass because they hated your boyfriend fear.  This is—”

“—that was a freak accident—”

“—This is a different type of fear, minskatt.  I can’t stand seeing this happen to you.”

“Willy, I couldn’t stand to hear those guys in the bar chirping you, either,” she said.  “You have to trust me when I tell you that it freaked me out and scared me but there’s a peace order now and it’s been dealt with.  I’m not going to let it take over my life.  Remember what you told me?  I’m not what happened to me.”

William took a deep breath to stop himself from getting emotional.  His girlfriend was handling this much better than he was – that was very clear.  “I just love you so much,” he whispered.  Aberdeen could swear she heard his voice crack slightly.  “I don’t ever want to see anything bad happen to you.  It kills me because I can’t help you right then and there.  I can’t even touch you.  It’s hard.  We have to do this instead.  This is the hardest part of keeping this all a secret.”

“I know.  I know,” she agreed with him.  “But you have to trust me.  You trust me, right?”

“With my whole heart,” he responded.

“Then you need to trust that I’m okay.”

***

@reporterchris:  The member of the Leafs organization who was followed from their residence was a woman.  Shanahan, Dubas, & co. are taking this extremely seriously.  Rumours are the team is quite upset too.

@reporterchris: Organization is not naming names for obvious reasons.  But they do tell us the member is doing fine, was not hurt or injured, and continues to perform her full duties with the team.  Org is treating this as a one-off scary episode, but did not want to take chances.  

@reporterchris:  Team is a bit standoffish tonight, with good reason.  Though the culprit is not in the room, players coming out for media availability aren’t as forthcoming as usual.  

***

“Oh my god, there is literally no room to breathe in this thing,” Aberdeen said as she sucked in her stomach as Kasha zipped up her jumpsuit.  She looked at herself in the mirror and had to admit the jumpsuit looked phenomenal on her.  It was skin tight, hugging her body in all the right places and actually made it look like she had some semblance of cleavage, and showed off just the right amount of skin for a February night.  Her long hair cascaded down her back, her makeup was immaculate besides the patch near her scar where she couldn’t put any on, and her heels gave her that extra bit of confidence to pull off the look.  

“You’ll be able to get some alcohol in,” Kasha joked as she finished zipping.  “Or else bottle service was a bust.”

“Bottle service is never a bust,” Aberdeen said.  “I’m just gonna make sure the pre-drink is worth it too.”

Aberdeen had decided against telling Kasha tonight about the stalking earlier in the day.  It just wasn’t the right time, because she knew Kasha was incredibly excited for tonight, and because Aberdeen didn’t want to think about it either.  Much like the Ethan situation, she didn’t want it to creep up in her mind when she was supposed to be having a good time.  She’d tell Kasha tomorrow, when she was hungover.  She’d also tell her parents tomorrow, because if she told them tonight, they’d probably show up to the pre-drink and lock her in her room.

As their friends began arriving, the drinks started flowing.  People brought their own, and of course Kasha and Aberdeen had some booze in stock, and Kasha made sure to take pictures – “thirst trips, Aberdeen, thirst traps!!!!!” – before things started to get too hectic and too alcohol-fuelled.  Evan came, and Masani came, and Tom, and Christian and Gavin and Zach, and Delilah and Ariana and Sloane, and Jude surprised her by coming in from McMaster, and she was surrounded by so many friends and posing for so many group photos that her mind really didn’t think of what happened earlier, and she was happy, really happy, and wanted to have the best time.

They practically fell out of their Ubers and into the lineup outside Toybox, but Masani spoke with the bouncer and he let them all in and they made their way to their reserved table.  Kasha pulled her out onto the dance floor and Aberdeen began moving her body to the beat of the music.  She’d look over her shoulder every now and then, making sure nobody was him, but after the first few times, she came to the realization he wouldn’t be there, and she really let loose.  Kasha was telling everyone who would listen that it was Aberdeen’s birthday so they’d buy them drinks.  Aberdeen accepted them.  Most people asked about her scar.  She told them.  A few guys flirted with her.  She shot them down.  Many more stared at her in her jumpsuit, their eyes filling with lust.  

Then one pair caught her eye, because she could recognize those baby blues anywhere.  

He was across the dance floor, staying a safe distance away from her and her party, but he was still keeping a watchful eye.  Not possessive, not domineering, not jealous or envious or untrusting – just watching.  She wanted him around her; she wanted him behind her so she could grind on him; she wanted him in front of her so she could dance with him; she wanted him close to her so she could wrap her arms around him; but she couldn’t.  He was there and she was here, and that’s where they had to stay.  

Don’t even hav to drunkt text you tonigt when you’re alreadfy here she texted him, downing the last of her vodka soda.  She looked towards him to see him taking out his phone.  It was only then that she noticed Rasmus approaching him with a drink, Kappy too already sipping on his own.

just wanted to make sure everything was ok after what happened today

omg is that rasmus isn’t hew like 12 how didf the bouncer let him inm who did youi pay

u look so sexy

do you know this placve can we sneak away

don’t think that’s the best idea

why not

kasha kappy rasmus

Oh right.  Kasha.  They needed to keep this a secret from Kasha.  And Kappy.  And Rasmus.  Aberdeen’s drunk brain wasn’t thinking very straight right now.  Would Kasha notice if she snuck away for…however long?  Would Masani?  Would any one of her friends?  Were they already too drunk to notice, too drunk to care?

“Who are you texting?” Kasha asked.

“Nobody,” Aberdeen answered absent-mindedly.  She typed out her last text message before locking her phone.

i want your fingers inside of me

“Let’s go back to the booth,” Kasha whined as she grabbed Aberdeen’s hand.  “My feet huuuuurt.”

They made their way through the crowd and up the steps.  Aberdeen looked back to see William looking down at his phone, biting him bottom lip.  He locked his screen and put it in his pocket with an irritated look on his face.  She got him.

The rest of the night was fun.  William stayed away, which meant none of her friends interacted with him or Kappy or Rasmus – even Masani didn’t see him, which was good because if she did she most certainly would have bullied him into giving her Alex’s number since she’d been calling him “the best lay of my life thus far” since June.  She danced some more with her girlfriends, drank some more, got some more drinks bought for her, got asked about her scar some more, and took more pictures in the booth and on the dance floor.  The announcement for last call was the only reason they left, stumbling out of the club at 2am like good twenty-somethings having the time of their lives.  Aberdeen drunkenly hugged every one of her friends before they left in their taxis or Ubers, even placing a huge kiss on Jude’s cheek for coming in all the way from McMaster to join them.  She, Kasha, and Evan got into a taxi together, with Kasha even taking some last-minute pictures of her posing in the back of the taxi, even though Aberdeen thought she probably looked like a mess.  

When she got her phone back, she opened the front-facing camera and used her arms to push up her boobs, snapping a quick picture of her cleavage and herself biting her lip before quickly sending it off to Willy.  Kasha was too busy on her own phone to notice, and Evan was trying to make friends with the driver.  Almost immediately, she saw the three dots pop up.

the next time i see u alone, ur gonna pay for this

😇

 do you wankt sokme more

are u comfortable with that?

She posed again, doing much of the same, except this time she made it a video.  She pressed send.

fuuuuuuck ur so fucking sexy

im sry i do not have boobies

😂

u have beautiful boobs 

perfect for my mouth

Aberdeen smiled.  She held her breath.

i love yourf mouthj on my boobs i love your mouth onb my pussyt

i love my mouth on ur pussy too

where is rasmus is he in bed

FOCUS ABERDEEN

“ABERDEEEEEEEN!” Evan called out loudly, drunkenly.  It was only then that she realized that the taxi had stopped and that Evan and Kasha were already out of the taxi, waiting for her.  “Let’s goooo!”

Instead of just opened her door, she crawled across the backseat like a baby giraffe just finding its legs and got out that way.  She thanked the driver and told him it was her birthday before she closed the door.  Evan made sure they got into the elevator.

minskatt?

in elevator no shawarma this time when i gety backj into my room i willk send more pics

😍

do you like my butt

yes i do

i like my butt toop do you wankt pics of my butt

i want whatever u will give me

Evan also made sure they got into their apartment just fine.  Aberdeen immediately kicked off her heels and escaped to her room, closing the door.  The feel of her feet out of her strappy heels and on the laminate floor brought her so much joy.  She faced her full-length mirror and took one last picture, posing with her ass out before she sent the picture to William.

for you and only for you

fuck baby can’t believe how hot u look

let me take off my jumpsuit i have sexyt underwear onm

Aberdeen put her phone down and somehow, someway, got the zipper on her back down low enough that she could shimmy out of it.  The second the skin tight jumpsuit was off, she felt an even bigger sense of relief and comfort than she did when she took off her heels.  Every organ in her body felt like it was settling into their rightful place and not squeezed in by the jumpsuit.  It felt nice.  It felt so nice that she sat down on her bed.  And when she sat down on her bed, the comforter felt so soft against her skin.  Then she saw her pillows.  She fucking loved her pillows.  So she lay her head down on them.  Her eyes became heavy.  Her breath steadied.

that’s so hot baby do u wear them at work too Aberdeen? minskatt? hahahahahahaha goodnight minskatt

[saint-patrice]

thank you @kureally​!💛

pretty surprised that this isn’t one i’ve done already, but the day has come and i would invite you all to join me in delving into some photos of the canadian hockey spectacle known as travis konecny!

see here for other posts like this one! i am also taking requests for ‘em :)

this photo is a good one to start with, as it provides the essential information you need to understand travis konecny as a person. apparently his brother calls him a “city slicker,” but this is him in his true form - in camo, with fishing equipment and associated fish, looking objectively pretty fucking bad. the comment is from his teammate and certified best bud nolan patrick, who we will discuss more later. additionally, his instagram account no longer exists because he is diametrically opposed to having a social media presence, and throws his phone in an ontario lake for 4 months every offseason. presumably.

in addition to all of that, he is pretty fucking good at hockey. and yes, this is the same person as above, this time looking rather nice and representing the philadelphia flyers at this year’s all star game

(via @jakeoettinger​) from when he broke his tooth and we all were collectively screaming about it in our own unique ways until he got it fixed. this was right before the asg, and i remember the visceral fear that he might not do anything about it and we’d have to watch him do all the media stuff looking like a battle-scarred little rat. his fucking face, man

here he is, doing his very best impression of a cardboard cutout of himself. if you have any brain cells to spare, please send them philly-ward. this man is in dire need.

this is teeks with aforementioned Best Bud Nolan Patrick. this is a real photo of them at a real wedding (claude giroux’s, not their own), posted on nolan patrick’s real instagram, with the real caption “what a wedding date”. there is nothing else to be said.

although he is a great hockey player, tk has a reputation on the ice mainly for never shutting up. this is one of many instances of teeks running his little rodent mouth at the opposing team, and usually what he says makes little to no sense but we love to hear it anyway. the video of this is so delightful, i’d recommend giving it a watch

hockey talent must be inherent to the genome, as teeks is the second cousin of bo horvat (captain of the vancouver canucks). they are generally pretty different people but they look like two separate pieces of trash from the same dumpster here so… who’s to know?

(via @manybumblebees​) travis’ draft report listed him at 5′10, and he has continued to be recorded as such throughout his career. however, as just about  anyone with working eyesight will tell you, this is absolute fucking horseshit. oskar lindblom, with whom he is cellying here, is 6′1 for comparison. if that looks like a 3 inch height difference to you, i don’t know what to say 

5′10 or not, he is - by his own admission - a pretty small guy, so you think he’d generally try to avoid physical altercations, or mess with people his own size. on the contrary! here he is, having the time of his life messing with 6′3, 215lb mikhail sergachev (tk listed at 175lb). fuck it, ragdoll mode engaged.

i wasn’t kidding about the brain cells - how do you lose your shoes on a plane!!!

(via @gabelandeskog​) travis is the flyers’ “hockey is for everyone” ambassador this year, and this is him with pride tape on his stick for YCP warmies, which is like, real nice

can rats swim???

(via @chirpedtooth​) another thing of note is that he is like…. too small for nhl equipment apparently?? and so he tapes his sleeves with stupid fucking orange tape to make sure they don’t get in the way of his little raccoon appendages. whatever works, man

look at this fancy little child in his pea coat facing some adverse weather conditions!!! pre-2016 travis konecny is never not funny

(via @callejarnkrok​) despite his general shenanigans and tomfoolery, travis is perhaps a nice canadian boy at heart. here he is checking on nolan, who has been sidelined with a migraine disorder this season, at the team’s picture day. the more i think about it, the more this is unbearably fucking tender, actually. going to go lie down in a dark room about it. see y’all in a bit

this is his (nice? horrid? it’s up to you) little duck tattoo on his bicep. just thought this was important to include

this footage plagues my entire fucking existence. i measure my time in Before I First Witnessed This and After I First Witnessed This. it’s the last thing i think about at night and the first thing i think about every morning. and in between times, it frequently appears in my dreams. i cannot accurately verbalise how much i hate this

(via @for-that-cotton-candy​) just gently skating up to your pal,, hip-checking your bud to let him know that you’re there because he can only see you when he’s looking down,,,, just letting him know that you’re there and you love him a whole lot,,,,,,,, that’s hockey, baby

some would describe his face as “highly expressive” or “easy to read,” but i personally think “malleable” might be more appropriate. here he is 😛✌🏻ing with teammates travis sanheim and shane gostisbehere

(via @phillymyers​) is now a good time to mention that this little untoasted piece of bread didn’t know how to blow a kiss?

mandatory puppy photo!

(via @chirpedtooth​) literally no idea what the fuck is going on here, all i know is that he is wearing a pink scrunchie on his wrist, and that it is an awful lot to deal with

and that, my friends, is a brief introduction to travis konecny! i hope you enjoyed this in one way or another, and if you are currently thinking “i don’t get why everyone likes him” - just give it 3 weeks of mild to moderate exposure to tk content. you’ll see.

[dripkingpetey]

untitled-j.markström

I didn't even intend to post this at all, I was just writing this cause I was bored and really missed marky but @passthehockeyplease​ made me post it so enjoy this poorly written+not proof read fic?( idk if you can call it a fic) I know nothing really makes sense especially since the reader is playing in the nhl and it is a female reader but just go with it haha. anyways I hope you enjoy :) (also, please do not come at me for any mistakes lol)

warnings:swearing+alcohol I think

2002words

You couldn’t believe it when you saw the notification on your phone. “Jacob Markstrom has signed with the Calgary Flames to a 6x6 contract!” Feeling a wave of emotions flushing through your body as your best friend, Jacob called you. You did possibly the worst thing, smashing your phone across the room as you bursted into tears of angriness and sadness. “What the fuck.” Was all you managed to mumble.

You couldn’t believe it, your bestfriend leaving the team you had spent years together on, without even telling you he was considering the offer. You heard a knock on the front door and you knew it was him, you walk to the peep hole of your apartment door to see if you were correct and you were. “Jacob go the fuck away I’m not talking to you.” You mumbled, just to the point where he could faintly hear you. “Please, just let me in. I can explain it.” The familiar calming Swedish voice rang from the other side of your front door as you hesitated whether you should let him in or not, quickly pulling your hand away from the doorknob you realized what you were doing. You latched the chain lock on your front door which you have never done before and Jacob heard it, he knew you didn’t want to talk but he had to talk to you, he had to tell you what was happening. But you never watched to see his face or anything of him ever again, hoping he would just leave Vancouver without talking to you and giving you and explanation and that’s exactly what he had to do. 

“Y/n you can’t just do this, you both miss each other and you know he had to sign with them.” Brock tried convincing you to talk to Jacob but it wasn’t working. Brock and Elias are the only people you’ve seen since then, Elias stayed in Vancouver with you for the off-season as Brock went back to minnesota but recently returned for the season. “I can’t just do what?” You questioned angrily. “Do whatever I want without saying anything? Well seems like I’m not the only person that did that right?” Brock was shocked by your words, he knew you were hurt but not this much. “Yeah, I do miss him. But what the fuck can I do Brock, there’s no way he’s going to come back and play for Vancouver and there is absolutely no way that I’m playing for Calgary, him and I’s friendship is over wether we like it or not. End of story.” You started tearing up as you said that. Brock moved over in hopes to comfort you since he didn’t know what to say. “I don’t want to kick you out but I have to, I need time to myself right now.” Brock understood and gave you a quick kiss on the head as he walked out the door, pulling out his phone to text Jacob what happened. “You hurt her, really badly.” Was all Brock managed to type. 

-

Tomorrow was the first game of the season and you just so happen was scheduled to play against Calgary, groaning as you saw the schedule since you knew you were gonna have to see Jacob. It wasn’t unusual for the season to start off with a road trip, so you started packing. Cleaning out your hockey bag since it was a tradition for you to do that at the start of every season, you saw something. “Markys hoodie,” You mumbled as you picked up Jacobs hoodie, he gave it to you last year while you were on a road trip in New York but you remember it like it was yesterday. You picked it up and put it on, remembering how big he was and the way the sweater absorbed your body, you knew you were going to regret it as the memories came back. Finding yourself crying once again, you picked yourself up and finished packing before you hung the hoodie back up. 

The hoodie ended up haunting you for the rest of the day, even though it was sitting in your closet, it was the only thing you saw whenever you even looked in the direction. You missed him, too much. You would be lying if you said he wasn’t occupying your brain 24/7, you knew it was so bad when you were driving to meet up with the team for the first game and all you could think about was not being seat mates with Jacob anymore. “Are you sure she’s okay?” Bo whispered over to Elias as you pulled into the parking lot, putting on sunglasses to hide your puffy eyes. “She isn’t, and none of us know what the fuck to do.” Elias quickly whispered before you made your way over to the guys and hugged Bo. “Hey,” You smiled as Bo returned the hug. Bo was always like a big brother to you, you told him about any problems you had but not this one. You don’t know why telling him didn’t cross your mind but you knew that Brock and Elias definitely told him as he pulled you into a tight hug. “Hey y/n.” He smiled at you before helping you with your luggage. “Are we ready for the first road trip of the season guys?” Bo exclaimed trying to hype you guys up and it worked. You unzipped the puffer jacket you had on over your hoodie as everyone got seated, it was unusually cold that day in Vancouver but you were glad to be going to a city that was even colder. 

You realized you didn’t have a seat mate this season which you tried to take as a good thing, it meant you could sit with anyone as long as they wanted to sit next to you. It also meant that you could sleep more comfortably and you took advance of that right away, falling asleep with your legs stretched out to the empty seat beside you as soon as the plane elevated into the air.

“She smells like Jacob.” Bo said quietly to Elias, not wanting anyone else to hear. “I know, I don't think she saw him so I'm guessing she has his clothes and was wearing them.” Elias responded right away in the same level of voice. They exchanged a look at each other, knowing that they had to help you somehow.

It was the next day, you tried to not think about Jacob which resulted in you working out at the hotel gym that the whole team was staying at. “Hey, keep some energy for the game tonight.” Bo joked, which was really because he was concerned about you but he didn’t want to let it show.  “Oh I’m fine,” You said quickly while panting. “See, just working out a bit to stretch the muscles and be even better for the game.” You lied, it was to get your mind off of Jacob. Bo took a quick peek around the gym to see if anyone was around before he started speaking again. “Listen y/n, I hate to ruin your mood but I know what your thinking about. It was hard for everyone and I know especially on you but you know I’m always here to talk if you need someone.” You nodded at Bo’s words as he later on encouraged you to go upstairs and get ready for the game and that’s exactly what you did. You braided your hair tightly after the cold shower you took to wake yourself up, the braids were a signature of yours. Whenever there was an important game you would braid it up for good luck and it worked this time, outscoring Calgary 9-3 it was a win for the Canucks. It was hard seeing Jacob on the ice and especially not in Canucks gear but you did it, without crying or letting your emotions take over your brain. 

“Yeah I’ll head back to the hotel for tonight, I’m super exhausted.” You said as you declined the invite from the guys to go out and they all groaned, but they knew not to ask you again. You quickly found yourself being the only one in the locker room, heading out with your stuff when you accidentally bumped into someone. “Oh my god, I’m so sor-” You cut yourself off when you saw who you had bumped into, Jacob. “Sorry- Y/n?” Jacob also cut himself off when he saw you, he didn’t know what to say. “Please stay, and talk to me.” Jacob begged as you started to walk away but you stopped. “What is there to say Jacob? You’re ‘sorry’ that you didn’t have a choice? We both know damn well that you could’ve told me first, or even anyone else. But no, you didn’t even try to talk to me till the news was out.” You said sternly and you could see the emotions on his face. “I thought you were my bestfriend.” You mumbled as you started tearing up, not letting him say a single thing as you walked away to the hotel. 

It was safe to say you were a wreck, not even noticing the tears that were streaming down your face until you saw a reflection of yourself in the tv of your hotel room. Finding any alcohol you could in the hotel mini fridge, you drank it all. Knowing it was going to cost lots but who cares, it took a second for the alcohol to set in but you knew you were going to wound up throwing up by the end of the night. You don’t know how but Jacob ended up at your door, you saw the surprised look on his face when you opened immediately. He was surprised partly because you opened, and partly because you were drunk. “Can I please come in?” Jacob asked as your brain sobered up a little and you knew what you were doing, leading him in as you sat down on the bed. “They forced me to sign the contract, I wanted to stay in Vancouver.” Was the first thing Jacob blurted out, you were confused at how he was forced but you let him explain. Jacob started talking about everything before you cut him off. “Shut up and kiss me.” You whispered as you moved closer and Jacob was confused but he kissed you, knowing that he wanted to kiss you as well. You had been waiting for this kiss forever, even though you always addressed Jacob as your bestfriend, you knew deep down that you liked him. “Fuck,” Jacob mumbled as he pulled away from you, almost tearing up. “I missed you, so so fucking much.” Jacob mumbled before noticing the weird taste in his mouth, it was all of the alcohol you drank prior to him arriving. “How much did you drink?” Jacob asked with a deep tone of concern in his voice as you laid your head on his chest. “All of those.” You mumbled, pointing your index finger at the pile of mini bottles on the table. “Oh shit,” He quietly cursed to himself knowing that you were going to be very drunk when all of the alcohol finally hits. It took awhile but in this moment you were absolutely blackout drunk, throwing up in a trashcan beside the bed as Jacob held your hair back and got you some water. “I’ll go get you some water.” Jacob said as he rubbed your back softly and you laid back down, you took a big sip of the water before thanking him. “I can’t stay in Vancouver without you, I miss you.” You mumbled while tearing up at him. “Its gonna be alright.” Jacob held you tight in his grip and kissed your head as you drifted off to sleep in his arms, completely forgetting about the awkwardness and what’s going to happen when you woke up.

[himbeaux-on-ice]

Who are your top five NHL teams and why?

Ooooo this is fun! Thanks anon!

Short list:

Habs ❤️🤍💙

Pens 🐧

Canucks 🌈🌊

Caps 🦅

Leafs 🟦🍁🟦 (no really! I know I don’t talk about them much but its true!)

Over-wordy explanations/backstory for my relationship to each of these teams below the cut for those interested!

Montreal Canadiens. My dearly beloved Nana, who half-raised me, is a lifelong diehard Habs fan who grew up listening to their games on the radio and then later as an adult watching them duel with the Leafs on Saturday nights on a black-and-white tv (also a BIG Carey Price stan). Needless to say she rubbed off on me immensely, and I remember saying to myself at some point “well, if that’s Nana’s team, that’s gonna be my team too” and it stuck for life. I also had a friend in middle school who was a RELIGIOUS Habs fan who also worshipped at the altar of Jesus Price in those early 2010’s, so I heard a LOT about all of that every lunch break as he argued with friends who were Pens and Bruins fans lol. We went on the Bell Centre tour during the annual 9th grade French class trip to Quebec, and while I was mostly focused on getting to the gift shop to buy Nana a souvenir, I swear my friend’s eyes were the size of quarters the whole time lmao. (Would LOVE to go back now that I care a lot). Basically the Habs are the closest thing to a local NHL team our region has bc we get their broadcasts (though people choose their own team allegiances for various random personal reasons), and I grew up absorbing through osmosis both the legends of yore and the latest updates on whatever Carey and PK and the lads were up to. (Also I’ve been quietly in love with Price myself since at least the 2014 Olympics lol. My first best fav ❤️) Bottom line the Habs are My Team, the “I’m gonna be here even when it sucks, even when players move on, this is attached to me in a way I can’t quite explain” team that every hockey fan has in their heart. GO HABS GO!

Pittsburgh Penguins. If you were an elementary school kid in Nova Scotia when Sidney Crosby was first released and up through the 2010’s, you had two options: love him, or hate him, but you better accept you’re gonna be hearing about him a LOT. I settled on “vague fondness” and followed Sid from a newspaper-scanning distance and vaguely rooted for him because when he brought the Cup home it felt like we all won. And like I said, lots of passionate Pens fans in my grade school classes to hear from (he’s also the only non-Habs player my Nana likes lol). Then I got into hockey properly last year and learned about Geno beyond just knowing his name, and my chronic affection for large loveable Russians got combined with my longstanding vague “I hope the Penguins win” feelings and my “time to get the full story on the Sidney Crosby’s Penguins narrative I only ever watched from a distance” research, in a manner not unlike the creation of the PowerPuff Girls ([chemical X] etc etc lol) to create a potent adoration for this team that rocketed them to second place in my heart. Also the fandom is just so damn fun and makes such great content, and that definitely feeds my level of engagement with the Pens!! Sometimes, when I want an emotional pick-me-up I watch one of their last 3 championship films just to remember what joy and optimism is — I would love to be present as a real-time fan for another adventure like that. With how much I know about them and how much I care, they’re my #2 for sure. I love those flightless fucks!!

Vancouver Canucks. So I started watching live NHL hockey games last summer around I think game 2 of the Habs’ first round series against the Flyers (I saw Price’s “Miracle Save” on twitter while following along bc I was intrigued by the fact that they made it through the play-ins, and was like “OKAY NOW I GOTTA SEE THIS SHIT LIVE”). That was really fun! Riiiight up until the Habs got eliminated. :/ And I was like “well, shit. I’m enjoying this hockey thing too much to stop now. who else is still around I can root for?” And the Canucks were the last Canadian team still in it, and there was buzz about their miraculous first-round win but also uncertainty I believe Markstrom had *just* got injured. So I started watching, ended up witnessing the Bubble Demko Miracle unfold live, had my heart charmed off me by “whatever the hell those two lil blonde bitches have going on” and a delightful underdog story, and here I am. Hitched to the Canuck wagon whether I enjoy it or not. Here for whatever happens! (Doesn’t hurt that I love me some Elton John too 😉)

Washington Capitals. I’m a person who is more likely to be really engaged with a team that has super interesting personalities, characters, and narratives around it — and my GOD are the Capitals good for that. I absolutely definitely started down this road with that mic’d up video from the 2018 final of Ovi telling Nicke “after me, I give it to you baby!” re: the Cup. Like I can pinpoint that there was a day I saw that for the first time in a gifset, squinted at the screen, said “you’re fucking with me...”, went to youtube, watched it be for reals, and was like “well. now I need to know more about ALL this.” After watching games and learning more about the team, I really enjoy the Caps’ “big dumb found family of stone-cold total weirdos” energy, their fun collective chemistry, their Cup story, etc. And oh BOY the fandom is fun during game lb’s! I love all the in-jokes and player nicknames, our delight with the quirks of our colourful wonderful broadcast crew (shoutout Wine Uncles & Co), the way we cheer for record-breaking milestones like they’re a first NHL goal! Being a fan of the Caps AND the Pens can be a bit awkward sometimes, and the team certainly has its blemishes, but my heart is big enough for two Metro teams for sure, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Toronto Maple Leafs. So like, as you can imagine from my previously described upbringing in Hab Land, “haha Leafs suck” is a punchline I have long been familiar with and trained to recite. I got a solid 3 days of laughter and entertainment out of the whole Zamboni Driver Saga last February, oh boy did I ever. But the thing is.... I have the Leafs to thank for the fact that I watch hockey now. See, the entire reason I started paying proper attention to the playoff bubble last summer was because one day, I happened to see the phrase “WHAT IS HAPPENING” trending at 16k tweets on twitter, and clicked on it like “huh?”. Turns out the Leafs were in the middle of their miraculous 3-minute comeback against Columbus and the country was losing its mind. And when they won, I was like “huh... the Zamboni Team is doing THIS??? I may have to start paying attention to this playoffs thing, because if they go All The Way I think that might be the only thing funnier than the Zamboni Incident”. Aaaaand when they immediately lost the next game and were eliminated I was like “lol, sounds about right” and was then immediately distracted by news of the Habs winning the play-in round. So then I spent several months watching playoffs and forgetting about the Leafs. And then one day in early October, looking on YouTube for more hockey to watch after the playoffs ended, I stumbled across something called a Hat Pick, and boy I actually enjoyed this shouty man’s sense of humour and takes on the game... and then when I ran out of Hat Picks and Dangits I watched some Trade Trees, which pulled back the curtain on the business side of the game... and then I discovered LFR’s, which were good background noise for doing tasks... and then I was recommended the episode of the Steve Dangle Podcast about Mitch Marner and The List... and next thing I knew I was listening to more of this podcast, because I found Steve and the guys to be insightful and funny and there was no hockey to watch, and I was trepidatious about accidentally stumbling into the more toxic corners of hockey fandom if I branched out for other content... and, well. If you spend enough hours listening to people passionately analyze every facet of a team, shout and cheer over a team, make fun of that team, nearly cry over that team... it’s really REALLY hard to not start to care about it. Leafs analysis was basically how I learned most of what I’ve learned about hockey this past year! And kudos to Steve and Adam and Jesse, their passionate investment in the Leafs and great content has got ME invested in the Leafs mainly because I want to see things go well for them. I want Charlie Brown to kick the football! I love a triumph over adversity story! Also, I think if the Leafs did Do The Thing it would basically be the combination of “Cubs win the World Series” and “Raptors are the champs” and I wanna watch the city of Toronto go fully apeshit from a safe distance. I don’t adore many their individual players as much as I do some other teams higher on this list, and I still laugh far too much when things go super comically impossibly badly for them, but I am actually pulling for the Leafs!! I want to see it all pay off for them. I want them to go all the way. Gimme that “LEAFS WIN!!!” (Unless it’s against someone above them on this list lol)

[brockboser]

Prince Charming and the pauper PT #1

AN: this is my first fan fic so let me know what you think and if you want another part! Suggestions are always welcome

Words: 2,400

About: Brock Boeser finds an unexpected love intrest....

YOUR POV

It was a pretty normal December night in Vancouver, Cold and snowy and all I wanted was to be hanging out with my friends around a fire drinking hot chocolate but of course I was stuck at work.. My name is Y/N I’m 22 years old and I work full time as a waitress at the Parlour in Yaletown. Now normally my shifts went by slowly and painfully, each day an exact copy of the day before with the occasional cute boy or maybe even a celebrity but for the most part my days blurred together as one. Work all day, sleep, repeat just so I could afford to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, part of me didn’t mind, Vancouver really was an amazing place to live.

Today however was different. Every year the Vancouver Canucks hold their end of year dinner party here at the Parlour, I’ve been lucky enough to avoid it at all cost. Unfortunatly for me my luck has run out and I was scheduled to be one of 3 waitresses serving their party. Some girls would kill for this opportunity, serving rich professional athletes, but not me. I’ve served my fair share of hockey players and they all turn out to be assholes who don’t know how to leave a tip.

BROCK’S POV

I couldn’t really believe that this was my third end of year dinner as a Canuck, time has gone by way too fast. It was almost 6PM, I was waiting for Quinn to pick me up, he said he would be here by now and If we’re late I will beat his ass. He knows how much I hate being late. As if on que I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. The Screen read “Huggy Bear” I chuckled to myself as I am still thankful that isn’t my nickname and I answered the phone. “hey you here?”. “Yeah hurry up, Green will kill us if were late” Quinn said so fast I barely caught what he said and the line went dead. I said goodbye to Coolie and Milo and I made my way to Quinn’s car.

Once I got into Quinn’s car it was only a 5-minute drive to the restaurant. Yaletown was our favourite place to get food, they have way too many places to choose from but the Parlour was one of the best. We walk up to the host and let her know we’re here for the dinner, she escorts us to the back room where the rest of the team was already seated. You could hear the boy’s voices echo through the whole restaurant. Guess that’s what you get with 20+ drunk men at one table. “yo that host was smoking, I’ve seen her here before and she was definitely interested in you” Quinn teases me but I do my best to ignore. Not to be cocky but girls tend to flirt with me all the time but on the contrary to what people think I’m not a player. I don’t flirt unless I’m interested which I never really am because it’s hard to know people’s real intentions when you’re a professional athlete, besides I’m not really looking for anything right now. I leave the flirting up to Jake.

5 minutes go by and we all finish looking at the menu, I always get the same thing a BBQ burger with a hey y’all as my drink but doesn’t hurt to look. As I put the menu down I notice three women walk into the room, we all drop our tones so we can tell the waitresses our orders. Two of them are the same as last year but one I did not recognize but wow she was beautiful and I don’t say that lightly.

YOUR POV

6PM rolled around quicker than I would’ve liked but I just wanted to get this dinner over with. Once we knew all the boys were seated and ready to order we went into the room, notepads in hand. We decided we would split the table in three and make it easier for ourselves that way. I’m not a hockey fan but I don’t live under a rock and I do recognize most of the boy’s I’m serving. I go from left to right, and to my surprise the orders are basic and the drinks are all beer which makes my life a lot easier and on top of that they all seem to be pretty nice. I finally reach the last two boys in my section of the table. Both look somewhat younger. One has dark brown curly hair with dark circles under his eyes, I don’t recognize him, he orders a burger as well as a beer, I furrow my eyebrows debating whether or not to ID this boy as he barely looks 17 but I decide against it as I know it would embarrass him and probably cost me a good tip. As I’m writing down his order I notice the boy sitting next to him eyeing me. I look up and make direct eye contact with two very blue eyes staring at me. I shift my feet and he look away. That’s Brock Boeser I recognize him from my friends fangirling over him last time we went to watch the hockey game. My stomach twists and I suddenly got nervous. He was kind of hot. I take a step away from the tired looking boy closer to Brock to take his order. “W-What can I get for you” I stuttered slightly, and I NEVER stutter when taking orders. What was wrong with me this boy isn’t anything that special, although his hair does flow kind of nicely. “Um can I please get the BBQ burger and a Hey y’all” he said softly. “yeah good choice, can I please see your ID?.” As soon as those words left my mouth I instantly regretted them and I felt my cheeks get hot “my bad umm don’t need to see your ID never mind  I’m just going to go put these orders through” I said before I practically ran out of the room more embarrassed then I have ever been. I just asked BROCK BOESER for ID and not the 17-year-old looking kid sitting right beside him, I am such an idiot. I walked to the kitchen and put in the orders and just prayed he would still tip me. As I waited, I felt my mind drifting to him I had to shake it off as 1) I was at work, I have to be professional and 2) hockey players are bad news.

BROCK’S POV

The whole room went silent, and then everyone erupted into laughter and proceeded to tease me about what had just happened. “Mr. Sensitive getting ID’d sitting next to Quinner that’s classic” Taney shouted across the table. I felt myself smile as I thought about what had just happened, I could tell she was flustered and it was standard practice to ask for ID although I do look about 30. She ran away with the orders before I could even ask for her name. she was beautiful, long blonde hair, blue eyes and a lot shorter than me I’d say about 5’4 I couldn’t stop smiling and the boys started to notice. “ouu Boes is day dreaming” Petey joked “at least ask for her name” he said while giving me a nudge “yeah yeah I will” I replied

About 25 minutes went by and we were all a few drinks in, the girl still hadn’t returned I assumed she was avoiding me. Next thing I know the food starts to get brought in.  A part of me really hopped she would come back just so I could admire her again and maybe ask for her name. Moments later I see her long blonde hair turn the corner. She’s looking at her feet avoiding all eye contact. She approaches me and places the plate down in front of me and starts to walk away. All the boys were looking at me, waiting for me to make a move and ask for her name but I couldn’t seem to speak. “Hey miss!” I heard Petey yell. She turned around and looked at me and just as fast looked away and towards Petey. “Brock over here wants to know your name” he smirked and I felt my heart sink and bile rise to my throat, did he seriously just throw me under the bus like that. I was pissed. At first she didn’t say anything, she just stood there like she didn’t know what to do but her eyes shifted to mine as she said “ Y/N, my name is Y/N” and just like that she was out of the room before I could even ask her anything else. My emotion soon turned from happy to pissed off really quick. “Way to throw me under the bus Petey, she probably thinks I was talking about her now or something” I scoffed and sank into my chair like a child. “you should be saying you’re welcome, if I hadn’t said something you never would have”. Part of me knew he was right. I’m pretty shy and reserved and I like to keep to myself unless I know you.

YOUR POV

Did that really just happen. Did Brock Boeser really want to know my name or were his teammates just messing with me? Either way I can’t seem to stop smiling. I came into this night wanting nothing to do with it or these boys and all of a sudden the one boy I find attractive in there wants to know my name?.

The night is coming to an end, I’ve avoided the room as much as possible, I’ve been in and out grabbing plates and refilling drinks, no more comments have been made just many stares. We’ve made eye contact once or twice a small smile included but my time is up and it’s time for the bills. I go around my side of the table one by one receiving a very drunk thank you from each of them until I get to Brock. Apart of me wants to say something but knows its unprofessional. I hand him the card machine, brushing hands as he takes it from me and we both look at each other. Het lets out a small laugh, I could tell he’d had some drinks but not nearly as many as the rest of the boys which weirdly made me feel relieved. He puts his passcode in and hands me back the machine, I take out the receipt and notice he tipped me 200$. As he stands up to put his coat on I say to him “You must’ve made a mistake, it says you tipped 200$ maybe you mean 20$?” he turns to me a flashes a smile “No mistake you deserve It” I almost felt like crying of happiness as 200$ to me means a lot more then to him. “oh, wow um thanks you so much, I hope you have a good rest of your night” I say barely being able to suppress a smile.

“yeah about the rest of the night, I’m having some friends over and I wanted to know if you wanted to umm maybe join?’ he said somewhat hesitantly. Almost as if he was nervous.

“I finish shift in an hour” I replied more confidently then id expected. “oh, great okay here’s my number text me after for the address” he replied almost surprised I had said yes. I tried to keep my cool but inside my stomach was doing flips. Brock Boeser what are you doing to me…..