nothing kills you slower than letting someone go - matthew tkachuk
Your first Christmas in Calgary without Matthew proves to be more dramatic than you’d imagined
pairing: matthew tkachuk x reader
warnings: angst angst angst, a shitty breakup, shitting on the calgary transit system and also the weather, tumblr user matthewtkachuk finally taking on the matthew tkachuk florida trade
word count: 3.1k
happy (early) birthday c, i love you so so so so sos ososos os much you deserve the absolute fucking world and i would kill anyone for you, all you have to do is ask. big thank u to @antoineroussel as always for proofreading, even if i decline her changes 50% of the time.
@ryngrvs bingo spaces used: exes to lovers, "you're killing me", argument scene, unresolved angst, forced proximity
“You’re killing me.”
It’s spoken by the head of curls poking out from beneath the cream duvet that may or may not be attached to your boyfriend. He’s enjoying the perks of a rare day off, while you’re stumbling around the bright room getting ready for work at the ass crack of dawn.
“I’m sorry, Matty, I’ll turn the light off as soon as I finish getting dressed.”
“Or you could stop getting dressed and come back to bed,” is his muffled reply. He stretches with a loud groan, peeking out at you from beneath the covers for a moment before dramatically squeezing his eyes shut and covering his head once more.
“Would that I could, baby. Would that I could,” you tell him, tossing on a shirt from your large walk-in closet and finally, mercifully, turning off the light. It’s a short walk back over to the bed where you unceremoniously yank the covers away in order to give him a short but sweet kiss goodbye. “Love you, see you later.”
His responding ‘I love you’ sounds more like a promise than a parroting of your own words back at you.
Life in Calgary is good, perfect even one might say. Just you, Matty, a cute apartment with a good view—what more could a girl ask for? Except for maybe a milder winter and a physical confirmation and representation of the future you think you’re heading toward.
Six months later, at his brother’s engagement party, Matt is traded to the opposite side of the continent and you’re moving into the spare bedroom of your friend’s apartment. Your view? The brick of the building next door and the shambles of a life you’d no longer get to lead.
-
Calgary’s always been cold, but it’s even colder without Matthew to warm your bed or your apartment or your life. Apparently the mid-December cold snap has temperatures dropping below that of even the North and South Poles. Once upon a time that would mean extended mornings together in bed, warm and cozy under covers until you would successfully guilt trip him into giving you a ride to work.
These days you have to wake up a full hour earlier than you used to in order to take the notoriously unreliable Calgary transit system, shivering in the uncovered bus shelter while you wait and wait and wait for a bus that may never come, and cursing your manager for being the ultimate boomer, afraid of letting his staff work from home.
It’s one of those days when your bus is a full half an hour late and the windchill could best be described as ‘fucking cold’ when you get an unexpected text message.
Busy?
It’s Annika, Elias’s newly minted fiance if instagram is to be believed, and one of the girls you had been closest to when you’d existed within the stratosphere that was the Calgary Flames. It’s unexpected but not unwelcome or unrealistic, seeing as she’s checked on you here and there in the months since your split.
No, but yes and also kind of in a pickle...
Ten minutes later, there’s still no sign of your bus, but a different mode of transportation presents itself in your old friend behind the wheel of an SUV.
Your shoulders are shivering and your teeth are chattering and you’re 99% sure your lips are blue when you catch a glimpse of yourself in the window reflection before climbing in.
“You’re an absolute lifesaver Ann,” you gush the moment you’re situated in the passenger seat, pleasantly surprised when the seat warmer is already warm and toasty beneath your ass.
“What are friends for, right?” she gleefully replies, signaling before turning back onto the icy street.
Christmas music plays lightly through the car radio, filling the silences between the two of you catching up on the past few months.
It’s pleasant and warm—so, so incredibly warm thank God—which should have been an indication that a bomb was about to be thrown your way.
“Come to our Christmas party,” Annika blurts out with a complete and uncharacteristic lack of poise. You’re ready to tell her all about the multitude of ways that’s a bad idea when she continues, “Just listen...”
It takes a lot to convince you that a Christmas Party being hosted at the house she owned with Elias is how you want to spend your valuable free time. Partially it’s the promise of free booze, partially it’s the way your chest aches when you think of all the friends you lost when your relationship went to shit, but mostly it’s the assurance that it’s neither the Official nor Unofficial Flames Christmas party and it won’t be just players and their significant others present.
That, and the fact that Annika went out of her way to pick you up in the freezing cold at seven thirty in the morning and give you a ride when Calgary Transit had let you down so spectacularly.
You let her talk and don’t give her an answer until she’s dropping you off in front of work.
“So, will you come?”
“Of course I’ll come, thanks for the ride, Ann.”
The wide smile on her face should make your frozen heart melt a little, but you’re too busy focusing on the dread you feel deep in your stomach.
-
You knew it was going to be a bad day when even your gimmicky weather app told you it was so cold you were better off staying at home.
But you’ve spent enough time sitting at home, staring at your four walls and wishing for a better outcome. Besides, you’re not going to let anyone down, especially not after knowing the pain of the ultimate let down that was Matthew Tkachuk and everything he’d promised you and then failed to deliver.
The only one you’re impressing is yourself these days, which is your justification for the thirty minute long shower where you let a hair mask soak into your ends and exfoliate your entire body despite being under no pretenses that anyone but you would benefit from it.
And okay maybe the thought of ending up in the background of someone’s Insta story is motivation enough for you to spend that extra bit of time on your hair and makeup, and to choose the jeans that make your ass look great and the shirt that does the same for your tits. It’s a secret that will remain between you and Anastasia Beverly Hills.
A loud cheer is sounded when you walk through the front door of the Lindholm home after a short Uber ride.
“You and Matthew broke up, not us,” Elias tells you after pulling you in for a big bear hug. It takes everything you have in you to not give into the wobbling of your lower lip at his words. Maybe it wasn’t fair to avoid this world and everything that came with it for fear that it would prevent your broken heart from mending itself piece by piece. These were good people who you cared for and who cared for you in return, people who only had your best interests at heart.
“I promise I’ll quit hiding in Chrissy’s apartment,” you reply quietly before letting Annika lead you away to introduce you to some of the new faces around the room.
Ashley Kadri is every bit as glamorous and kind as your friend talked her up to be, and her husband is much of the same, letting you gush about how amazing his cup run with the Avs had been last season.
You can take the girl out of the hockey relationship, but you can’t take the hockey out of the girl.
It’s all going well and reminding you of how much you used to love being a part of this world when it predictably goes to hell again.
Securing another drink means walking past the front door to head towards the kitchen, and you can’t tell if it’s a good or bad thing that it’s here, away from prying eyes, that you run into the last person you expected to see in Calgary ever again outside of a game situation.
“What are you doing here?” Matthew asks, stunned by the mere presence of you in his former teammate but forever friend’s home.
“What am I doing here? Me? What the fuck are you doing here?” you snap back angrily, but even you’re not sure exactly what you mean by ‘here’. Canada? Calgary? Lindy’s entryway? Your fragile, shattered heart?
Torn between bursting into tears and strangling the man in front of you, you’re saved from the decision by Elias appearing out of nowhere with a robust “Chucky!”
Annika’s guilty face behind her fiance tells you Matthew’s arrival is not unwelcome nor unexpected.
“I need a drink,” you whisper quietly, ignoring Annika’s attempts to gain your attention.
Much like he hadn’t when he left, you don’t spare Matthew a second glance as you leave.
You’re not sure if it’s a cruel twist of fate, or the result of your not-so-kind-hearted friends’ meddling that has you sitting next to Matthew at dinner. He spends most of it trying to get your attention, but you focus on Jacob and talking his and his girlfriend’s ears off about her pregnancy.
At some point between stuffing your face with mashed potatoes and none-too-gracefully reaching over Matthew to grab seconds to avoid having to engage in conversation with him, his leg brushes yours. The sensation has your skin feeling like it’s on fire through your jeans, and you react accordingly, flinching away like you’ve been burned.
Later, you’re sat in a circle with a group of Annika’s friends, listening to them drone on and on about some great opportunity that, for some reason you can’t quite put your finger on, has you imagining the shape of a triangle.
Realizing you’re going to need more alcohol to get through the conversation, you excuse yourself and run right into the very person you’ve been avoiding all night.
If you were stronger, less heartbroken still, you would look him right in his eyes and dismiss him without much more than a callous, offhanded comment of his name. You’re not, and you are, and so you just stare up at him, feeling as though all of the oxygen in the room has been sucked out.
He manages to say your name though, and the sound of it is so bittersweet on his tongue. Equal parts sounding like it belongs there, and like it should never be spoken by him again.
“Can we get out of here? Talk?”
Annika’s friends are staring with far too much interest, not even pretending like they’re not eavesdropping and so you storm away to a much quieter spot down the hallway.
Spinning on him, you say, “I didn’t drive, and I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Please? I really want to clear the air, and I can’t do it with all of my former teammates breathing down my neck.” He seems sincere enough, even if the very sight of him has your body breaking out into a nervous sweat, and you’re pretty sure you feel the beginning of an allergic hives reaction breaking out along your arms.
“You should have thought of that before you ambushed me at their party.”
“I didn’t know you were going to be here, I promise. Lindy invited me, and I couldn’t just turn him down.”
You know the feeling well, not wanting to let Annika down was seventy five percent of the reason you were here tonight, too. Something about the way that makes you feel has you agreeing, “Fine.”
“If you really want, we can take separate Ubers,” he offers, and you realize the notion is ridiculous, but you still consider it for half a second before you sigh so deeply you feel it in your bones before rattling off your new address. He looks shocked, and you realize when he opens the app on his phone, the old address is still saved as Home.
“You didn’t think I could afford the condo after you left did you? I can't even afford to live by myself, Matthew,” you snap at him.
“I didn’t realize—“
“Yeah there’s a lot you didn’t realize, Matthew.”
The full name moniker that slips from your mouth slices right through his bravado as he viscerally winces.
Your ride comes quickly, but the actual ride itself seems to take an entire hour as the blue Toyota Camry with the Flames license plate weaves in and out of traffic. It makes you wonder if the car really belongs to Carl, your Uber driver, as he casually has a conversation with Matthew without any fuss.
Normally, you go out of your way to make others feel appreciated, but you can’t even find it within yourself to thank Carl when he pulls up at your apartment, simply jumping out from the car before it’s even fully parked.
Matthew takes in his surroundings carefully, critically, as he looks at discarded needles on the ground in front of you and the gang sign graffiti a few buildings down from yours. It makes you angry—no, makes you furious—as you watch him judge your surroundings. As if he had any reason to care about where you rested your head at night anymore.
You still don’t say anything though. Just let that anger stew and simmer, bubbling below the surface as you buzz into the lobby and then up the elevator.
“You wanted to talk? Talk.” You cross your arms and glare at him, impatiently and involuntarily tapping your foot on the cheap laminate flooring.
He looks lost, panicked, like he didn’t think he would even make it this far. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t know what to say?” You’re in disbelief, truly. He shows up in your city, at a party you’re at, and demands to speak with you privately at your apartment and he can’t think of a single thing to fucking say to you? “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I didn’t think it would be like this,” he says, elaborating further when your look of disbelief only grows. “Seeing you again. I didn’t think it would be like this.”
“You made it like this! You left me behind like I was nothing, like we were nothing.”
He winces as the truth leaves your lips. “I know, and I’ve regretted it ever since. From the moment the door shut behind me for the last time, I’ve regretted it.”
“Then why? Why did you do it? Why did you leave me?” The feeling brewing in your chest can’t be pinned down to just one emotion; it’s sadness and anger and hurt, but it’s something else too. Something you can’t put your finger on but it burns like cheap whiskey down your throat.
“I couldn’t ask you to leave Calgary, everything you have is here.”
That’s it? That’s his excuse? Deciding for the both of you what was important to you, what you would want?
“I fucking hate Calgary! It’s so fucking cold and it snows all the time and you’re not there anymore!”
He’s on you in a second, cold hands curved around your jaw and hot mouth on yours. Your back hits the wall, and you think a picture frame falls, but you can’t bring yourself to care. Gripping and pulling him closer, your hands can’t settle on a place, roaming and feeling, re-committing every curve, every sharp edge of his body to memory.
It’s a mess of teeth and tongue, whining and panting and a thrumming need until his mouth breaks free of yours, trailing down your neck.
You come back into yourself then, back into the harsh memory of his packed bags and his back as he walked away from you and everything you had to offer. “Stop…Stop!” You push him off of you. There’s barely any effort put into it on your part, but he flies off of you like you had herculean strength.
One of his hands is tangled in the hair atop his head, while the fingers of the other are pressed to his lips as if in disbelief.
“I’m sorry, I-”
“What? It was a mistake? An accident? I don’t want to fucking hear it! What is wrong with you?” It takes everything in your power to keep the tears from falling, though you’re sure your watery gaze betrays you. Your arms are wrapped around you, almost as if you could physically hold your broken pieces together.
“I’m just sorry,” he replies, resigned in a way you can’t ever quite remember him being. “I’m just sorry and I miss you so fucking much.”
You laugh then, loud and cruel and sharp. “Apology not accepted.”
He says your name, quiet and wounded, almost like a prayer, a plea.
Swallowing the lump in your throat you reply, “You didn’t even ask me to come with you.”
“Would you have?”
“Yes.”
“Would you come with me now?”
“Absolutely not.”
He looks shocked then. Like it’s inconceivable that you’re not willing to drop everything for him, five months after he left you behind without so much as a second glance. Like he thought he could just show up in Calgary, at Elias’ party, like nothing was wrong and you would follow him back like a lost puppy.
The day after your breakup? Absolutely. The week after? Maybe. But you had five months to learn to be okay without the man standing in front of you, and no shitty apology or burning kiss was going to change that.
“Calgary may be cold and miserable, but it’s predictable. I know exactly what to expect—fucking cold from October to May, and a little less cold for the rest of the year. You? I have no idea what you’ll do next. And that used to excite me, used to make me think you were just passionate. But now I don’t trust you, and I don’t think I ever could.”
“I’m sorry, I—”
“I think you should go.” When he doesn’t even blink, your mouth twists into a horrible grimace as you lose control of yourself and the floodgates holding back your tears burst. “Fucking leave! You’re killing me here, Matty.”
You’ll never know if it was the tears or the nickname you let slip past your lips, but he leaves. And you’re not sure you’ve made the right choice, but he made the wrong one first and you’ll never forget that.
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Ok I’m ososo sleepy and don’t have brain cells but um. If u have things u wanna share but don’t get the chance to, I’m makin grabby hands. Otherwise I’m nappin in ur ask box :P
This is gonna be a long post of silly little fun facts so here's a readmore.
Merrin doesn't glow if the sun is up. It only glows with the moonlight.
Althea's dreamjob is trophy wife. Her second dream job is adult toy tester.
Calmet knows the name Alacard. They have no idea who he is.
Mortal's phone home screen is a picture of Barbie sleeping. His lock screen is a close up of her eye that's so zoomed in it's unrecognizable as an eye but he knows what it is.
Rimmer is an absolute disaster gay who's type is something he'll only admit to while under the influence.
Vladir isn't attracted to Syhren's current body she's tied to.
If a quad of Veketi's ever hurt him, Liegia would kill them at risk of her own life. However, if they hurt her while he wasn't around but they clearly make him happy? She'd hide that fact and take it to the grave.
Liliac's favorite flower is actually dandelions.
Angela regularly shows up to work in her husband's shirts and has to change because she realizes she got dressed tired and the oversized shirt is restricting her movement.
Helsin has almost broken his wrist by stimming a little too hard too long.
Nerola has no confidence that anyone will stay with her- except for her moirail. If there ever was a day he'd leave her it would break her completely. She also will let anyone do anything to her in trying to make friends.
Koreki can track scents via tasting them. His tongue can expand to almost a foot long.
Bailey, despite working at a bar, is a lightweight.
Beatrx's vision is slightly blurred due to her unusual pupils.
Xennaa would regularly leave needles around by accident while she was working on projects and still wanted to be a seamstress, which left Trisin with no more than 4 foot scars.
Harvey is a vegetarian because he hates the taste of blood. He loves to pretend to be a vampyre.
Cutlas will wear anything but shapewear.
Airika regularly performs for small crowds of lowbloods for free. She dreams of starting a school of ballet for the less fortunate.
Nemasu can't read.
Ginesa is life long friends with Kala.
Trisin can make all 6 irises look individually.
Sadhbh never disconnects her legs, even when home alone.
Espoir's current Favorite Person is Feashe, and neither of them know if it's romantic leaning.
Maxton refuses all interviews except during a competition, and then only accepts those done by the official casting crew.
Gefgor's voice is incredibly low baritone.
Vravei, although themed with snakes, lusus was actually a luna moth.
Salzaar could be any weight she chooses, but is most comfortable with what's seen currently.
Hearts loves filling in for trapzee best and filling in for Dimple least.
Dimple has 3 replacement noses on her at all times.
Alexie has only spoken to two trolls in the last sweep.
Jugular once confused regular brownies with edibles and proceeded to have the worst night of her life completely sober.
The body Syhren's currently in was once named Girlie.
Davosi's pupil shape makes their distance judgement terrible.
Tsubuu doesn't like talking walks on land- being too far away from her ship gives her terrible anxiety.
Doppio watches e-sports to relax. She has a favorite streamer but he doesn't know it's her because she chats on a throw away account to not draw attention to herself.
Feashe wears her hair in buns because it's the easiest hairstyle to do that she thinks balances out her horns.
Esstoc likes to find quiet places to read books alone. Recently he found one that had a mutant girl sleeping- so he stayed until she woke up just to make sure she made it back safely.
Neyire's fashion sense has been the same since she was a wriggler.
Velosi will wear anything for the right price.
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