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ilyasorokinn · 1 year ago

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the perfect father , elias pettersson

note, this was originally written for jacob markstrom but i decided to rewrite it for someone else. just a personal thing. also, this fic is part of the "home with the petterssons" series. check out this masterlist for more. timeline: this takes place between february 2021-october 2021 pair, elias pettersson x reader summary, y/n and elias manage to keep a huge secret from the world during quarentine. warnings, children/kids, pregnancy, covid/quarantine, a little cheesey word count, 3873 words

(gif not mine)

The NHL schedule was confusing during the regular season, but now you were even more confused with the 2020-2021 season underway. So, to make things easier for you, Elias bought a calendar with your favorite animals and filled it out with all the dates of games.

The calendar really came in handy when planning your doctor's appointment. You had a hunch about what was causing all your sickness and it wasn't a cold.

So, you called the person you knew you could rely on, the one person who would give you the advice you needed to hear and would give you the cold hard truth even if it would hurt.

Holly Horvat.

She did indeed give you the cold hard truth and confirmed your suspicions. She also stayed on the line with you while you booked your appointment.

In the meantime, to ease some anxiety and nerves, you went to the store and grabbed as many pregnancy tests as you could fit in your hands. You purchased them and rushed home as fast as you could.

You sat on the closed toilet lid, head in hand as you waited for your timer to go off. Those two minutes felt like hours. You didn't ever understand that feeling before, but you did now. Time really did go slower.

You and Elias had been together for almost five years, engaged for less than a year, and everything was great. You were great. You had talked about babies briefly, but you talked about it as if it was something in the distant future. After marriage, after a few years more in the league. Clearly, life doesn't always go the way you want it to.

When the timer went off, you jumped out of your skin. You pulled your hands away from your eyes and flipped the tests over, inhaling as you looked at all of them.

"Holy crap." You muttered.

“I’m home!” Elias announced a few hours later, walking into the house. He found it strange that Luna, your dog, didn’t immediately run up and greet him. He followed the sound of the TV into the living room, where he found you fast asleep, and Luna curled up around you.

He smiled, turned off the TV, and draped a blanket over you, but not before kissing you on the head. He made his way into the bathroom to take a shower. He was waiting for the water to warm up a little when he spotted something sticking out of the trashcan.

He pulled it out of the trash and his eyes widened. He dug deeper into the trash, not even caring that he was digging into the trash, and looked at all of the tests in front of him, "Holy..." He covered his mouth in shock before he ran as fast as he could to the living room.

He dropped them on the coffee table then shook you awake, "Y/N." He called out, continuing to shake you before you turned around.

"What?!" You snapped, turning around, about to snap at him again, but you stopped when you noticed the tests sitting on the table, "Oh..." You looked back up at Elias, who was looking to you for confirmation, "Surprise." You gave him a nervous smile.

"Really?" He broke out into a smile, and when you nodded, he jumped onto the couch with you and wrapped you in his arms. You hugged him tighter, kissing his cheek as he pulled away, "Are you okay? Do you need anything?" He frantically asked, cupping your face and then looking down at your stomach.

"No, I'm okay." You smiled at his sudden panic, but stopped and thought about it, "Actually..."

"Anything." He stated before you could finish.

"Anything?" He nodded, "That's a lot of responsibility, Mr. Pettersson." You joked.

"I can do it." He nodded.

"If you say so." You shrugged, before listing off the things you wanted at that very moment, which he grabbed from the kitchen with no hesitation.

Because your plan to surprise Elias was spoiled, you changed your appointment to a day when Elias would actually be home. When that day finally came, Elias woke up before you and made breakfast big enough to feed a small family.

While you ate, you pointed off to different dishes you didn't want and he gave them to your next-door neighbors, who were thrilled and excited by the Swedish dishes Elias had made.

When it was finally time to drive to the doctor's, he was bouncing off the walls of the car, barely able to contain his excitement, "I really can't go in with you?" He frowned as you slipped your bag onto your shoulder.

"I'm sorry." You pouted, "But I'll ask if I can FaceTime you." You promised.

"Okay." He perked up a little at that, "I love you. Say 'hi' to the baby for me." You smiled, leaning over to kiss him.

"I will." You gave him a salute then were on your way in. You waited anxiously, texting Elias the entire time while you waited.

"Pettersson." You stood up, dropping the magazine sitting in your lap and garnering a few looks from the other people sitting in the waiting room.

"That's me." You announced. The nurse offered you a warm smile and nodded, gesturing for you to follow her. She led you into an empty room and instructed for you to sit down.

"Is this your first time?" She asked, typing a few things into the computer.

"Is it that obvious?" You laughed nervously.

"It's okay." She gave you a smile that let you know she knew what she was doing. After she asked her questions, she quickly took some tests and rushed them off to test. And that left you by yourself in the complete quiet. And in that time, everything started to sink in.

You were pregnant.

You didn't know how much time had passed, you were so stuck in your own little world, but someone knocked on the door, and that shook you from your thoughts. A woman you presumed was a doctor popped her head in and gave you a smile.

"I'm Dr. Rowe, it's nice to meet you." She reached out and shook your hand before she made her way over to the small sink, "Y/N, right?"

"Yes." You nodded. She snapped on a pair of gloves and then sat in the chair next to the big bed-table thing next to you.

"So, we got your results back, and congrats, Mrs. Pettersson, you are pregnant." She told you. You let out a breath you hadn't known you were holding and a choked laugh, "Now, I know this is a little overwhelming, so if you need a minute..."

"I'm good." You shook your head, "I'm ready."

"All right, well, I'm going to walk you through what I'm going to do then do it, is that okay?" She smiled when you nodded again.

True to her word, she walked you through what she was going to do, step by step. She then grabbed all the tools she would need and helped you lie down.

"Can I call my husband? Would that be okay?" You asked.

"Of course." She nodded. You whipped out your phone and immediately dialed Elias' number.

"Is it time?" He asked, picking up before the first ring was over. You and Dr. Rowe laughed.

"Yes." You nodded, flipping the camera around as she squirted jelly onto your stomach.

"All right, let's find a baby." She moved the wand around your stomach. Both you and Elias watched in fascination as she moved the wand and a little blob showed up on the screen.

"Is that-?"

"Your baby." She nodded. Neither you nor Elias could say anything as you stared at the screen in pure awe, "Would you like to hear the heartbeat?" You felt yourself nod and heard Elias say 'yes' immediately again.

She pressed a button on the machine and you were in awe all over again, "Elias..." Was all you managed to say through the tears. A silence enveloped the room, the only thing filling it was the heartbeat of your baby, a sound you had decided was your new favorite.

"Would you like some pictures?" Dr. Rowe asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes, please." You nodded.

You walked out of the doctor's office 10 minutes later, sonogram in hand. You made it back to the car and looked at Elias, "It's real."

"We're actually having a baby." He tearfully smiled.

After your appointment, all Elias could talk about was seeing your little baby in a little Pettersson jersey and how cute it would be, so before he came back, you decided to make part of his dream come true.

When Elias finally did have to leave for the little stint of away games, you decided that would be the perfect time to enact your plan. You went to the team store and got a little baby jersey customized, almost crying in your car when you pulled the jersey out of the bag and finally got a look at it.

As soon as you got home, you wrapped the jersey with your nicest wrapping paper, slapped the prettiest bow you owned on it, and began the countdown until Elias would be home.

He wouldn't be home for a few more days, and when he came home, you heard him before you saw him. He came through the door, looking disheveled.

"I'm home." He hummed, dropping his stuff where he stood and making his way over to you quickly, "Did I miss anything? Are you okay? Do you need anything?" He spoke frantically.

"Okay, you need to breathe." You laughed, "I'm fine. We're both fine." You reassured him, "Why don't you get changed and come back out here? I have something for you."

"This feels backwards. I should be bringing you gifts." He laughed.

"Just go." You pushed him towards the bedroom. You waited patiently, trying to keep your excitement at bay. When he finally came back into the kitchen, he looked at the bag on the coutner confused.

"You used the pretty wrapping paper." He pointed out, eyeing the gift suspiciously, "You only use that when it's a good gift."

"Just open the gift, Elias." You told him snappily. He raised his hands in surrender but opened the gift. He froze when he caught a glimpse of the tiny jersey.

He picked up the jersey and held it up so he could look at his name sprawled on the back of it, "Y/N..."

"You talked so much about the baby wearing your jersey, so I got one made." You told him, making your way over to him, "Are you okay?" You asked, worried when you saw he was frozen in place.

"This is perfect." He said, his voice so quiet you almost didn't hear him.

"Oh, Eli." You cooed, wrapping him in a hug.

"Cakes here!" Elias shouted from the door. He shut the door with his foot and carried the cake to the kitchen where you were waiting for him.

You looked at each other nervously, not because the cake was bad, but because you were finally, after months of waiting, going to know the gender of Baby Petey, and that thought filled you with both joy and anxiety.

"You ready?" You asked. He nodded, "All right." You took a breath and set up your camera while Elias grabbed the cake cutter from one of the drawers, "Pettersson family gender reveal." You clapped in front of the camera, imitating one of the movie clappers.

Elias pulled the cake out of the box and you both inhaled sharply. He set it down and his hand hovered over the cake cutter. You grabbed his hand and together, you held the cutter.

"One, two, three." You counted down together, then cut into the cake. When you pulled the slice out, you burst into tears.

"A boy!" He cheered, dropping the cutter and wrapping you in a hug, unable to fight his own tears so you stood in your kitchen, crying tears of joy together at the thought of your unborn son.

With all the guys away on a roadie, one of the girls decided to have a little get-together at her house so you could all watch the game together.

When you knocked on the door, instead of it being the host, it was Gunner Horvat, who must've seen you through the video camera and ran to the door before anyone could stop him.

"Hi, G." You laughed, "I don't think you're supposed to open the door without an adult." He simply stared at you but raised his arms, wordlessly asking for you to pick him up, "I missed you, too, bud." You laughed when he wrapped his arms around you.

"Let her get in the door, Gun." Holly laughed, grabbing the bag in your hand so you could hold onto the child more easily. She led you to the main room where a few other girls were already.

"Surprise!" They all shouted. You gaped in shock at the scene in front of you. Instead of being a little watch party, there were baby decorations all around the living room and kitchen.

"What the heck?" You gasped, tears filling your eyes as you looked at all the other girls.

"Elias told us you were a little bummed that you couldn't have a gender reveal party, so we decided to throw you a little shower." One of the girls explained with a smile.

"This is so sweet." You smiled tearfully. They led you over and grabbed some snacks before leading you to the living room where a small mountain of presents sat, "Wow."

"We might've gone a little overboard." They all laughed. Before they started, they made sure you had everything you needed and wanted before you began.

You opened so many things you didn't even know you needed but all the other mothers told you you needed. The last present was smaller than the others but they all looked excited for you to open.

You pulled out an exact replica of your special denim jacket with 'Pettersson' on the back. Everything was the same, even down to the special patches you had put on it.

"Wow." You gaped, at a loss for words as you turned the jacket around to look at every detail.

"Do you like it?" You could hear the worry in her voice.

"I love it. It's beautiful." Your eyes filled with tears again, and they all crowded you in a big hug.

It was really late. Way too late for you to be up late. It was almost 3 in the morning, and you were awake. Why you may ask? Because the baby wouldn’t stop moving, plus she was craving food.

You knew Elias was asleep. It was evident by the loud snoring. Instead of trying to fall back asleep, you got out of bed. As soon as your feet swung over the edge of the bed, Luna was up and standing next to you.

You smiled when she trotted alongside you towards the living room. By the time you made it to your destination, you were a little tired, but the overwhelming hunger outweighed the tiredness. So, you turned on the TV, before making your way into the kitchen. You grabbed an armful of different snacks and headed back to the living room.

You settled on the couch, the dogs curling into you on each side. You got through half an episode when you heard footsteps coming down the stairs, “What are you doing up? It’s almost 3:30.” Elias rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he made his way over to you on the couch.

“I was hungry, and couldn’t sleep.” You shrugged. He gave you a tired smile and carefully sat down next to you.

“Why didn't you wake me and tell me you were hungry?”

“You looked peaceful, and I just didn’t want to wake you.” You told him.

“I wish you had told me.” He yawned, and you chucked.

“I’ll be sure to do that next time.” You nodded.

"How's baby?" He asked sleepily, leaning his head on your shoulder.

“He doesn’t know when it’s time to play and when it’s time to sleep.” You told him, looking down at your bump and rubbing it.

“And how are you?”

“I’m really tired.” You admitted, looking over at him. When you finally met his eyes, he could see how tired you really were.

He grabbed your hand and pressed a few kisses to it. He grabbed the chip bags surrounding you and took them back to the kitchen. By the time he got back, your eyes were drooping, and you were on the verge of sleep.

“Come on. Let's get you to bed." He got off the couch and helped you get up too. He placed a kiss on your head before leading you down the hallway, back towards your bedroom.

He helped you get situated back in bed, tucking you in and making sure you were comfortable. He then climbed in next to you, "Sleep well." He whispered, caressing your cheek. He made sure you were asleep before he fell asleep.

Your due date was a few days away, and both you and Elias were getting very excited. Every day, you would wake up, and waddle down the stairs where Elias was already making breakfast. You would sit at the kitchen island, and the two of you would talk about the dreams you had the previous night.

You would spend most of the day lounging around the house. Either watching TV, reading books, going for drives, organizing the house again, it was the same thing every day.

Then, after dinner, the two of you would go out for a walk with the dogs. It was really the only outside interaction you would get all day unless you went out to the backyard.

The night was no different. After dinner, you grabbed your jackets and leashed up the dogs. All throughout the day, you had stomach pain. You brushed it off all the time as stomach pain. Elias usually walked ahead because he had quicker strides, but never too far because he was protective.

You were walking in silence when a sharper pain hit you, and you let out a pained noise. That caught Elias' attention, and he whipped around, “What is it? What’s wrong?” He asked, cupping your face with one hand, while his other went down to your stomach.

“I-” Before you could finish, you felt a wave of liquid trickle down your leg, “I think I’m going into labor.” You winced. You looked at him and saw all the color drain from his face, “What are you doing?!” You hit him in the arm when he didn't move, “We gotta go.”

That snapped him out of it, “Come on, baby. Let’s get you to the hospital.” He helped you walk, well waddle, back towards the house, “Breath baby, breath.” He kept telling you and placing kisses on your temple.

“He's beautiful,” Elias whispered as he leaned down over your shoulder to look at the newborn.

“He's perfect.” You smiled at him, cradling your son closer to your chest. Leonardo Michael Pettersson was perfect in every way. When you called and told Brock that you had given Leo his middle name, he almost cried.

Elias had been nothing but supportive throughout the whole process. He waited on you hand and foot, the same way he had all throughout your pregnancy, getting you whatever you asked. He even let you curse at him, and squeeze his hand which was the least he could do.

A few hours after birth, you had fallen asleep, leaving Elias and the baby alone. Elias was sitting in the chair next to your bed without a shirt, cradling little Leo to his chest. He had read somewhere that skin-to-skin contact was good for babies, so he figured he would give it a try. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the little baby.

“We’re so happy you’re here.” He whispered. Leo couldn't understand a word he was saying, but he looked up at him with his big blue eyes. His blue eyes, “We waited so long for you, and now that you’re here, you’re gonna be so spoiled.” He pressed a kiss to his chubby cheek.

“You’re already so loved. You have aunts and uncles who are so excited to meet you.” Somewhere in between his conversation, you started to wake up, but kept your eyes closed, “And of course mommy and I are so happy you’re here.” He added.

You continued to listen to Elias talk to Leo, and it warmed your heart. You knew, from the moment you told him you were pregnant, and he started taking care of you and telling you not to lift a finger, you knew he was gonna be a great father.

And boy were you right.

5 months later, February 2022

After months of waiting, you finally got the clearance for Leo to a game, and Elias was thrilled. You slipped the little Pettersson jersey on him, a surprise Elias didn't know you had in store for him.

You bundled him up in a blanket, and even got a little beanie with the number 40 embroidered on the top of it, "Papa is so excited for tonight, and you probably won't remember anything, but it's such a big night." You whispered as you got Leo ready.

You parked yourself in front of the arena, standing alongside a few of the other girls and their kids, as you waited for the guys to skate out.

When they skated out, Elias did his usual skate around the ice, tossing a few pucks over the glass to a few fans, and shooting at the net a few times, before he finally skated around to where you were standing.

You couldn't help but smile when you saw the smile on his face. His face showed nothing but pride as he watched Leo sleep. He blew you a kiss, then blew a kiss at Leo, who blissfully continued to sleep.

He tossed a puck over and one of the guards standing in front of the ice caught it and handed it over to you, "Thank you." You smiled at the man, slipping it into the bag and gathering your stuff.

After the game, and an OT goal from Elias which he chalked up to dad strength in a post-game interview, you finally met up with him in the parking garage.

"I'm so proud of you." You wrapped him in a hug before he could get into the car, "An overtime goal." You cheered.

"I had my good luck charms with me." He beamed, kissing your head and then kissing Leo's. When he pulled away, he finally noticed the jersey and gaped, "It's the jersey."

"It felt fitting for his first game." You shrugged with a smile.

"It's perfect." He picked up Leo carefully and cradled him to his chest, kissing his head again, "I love you." He leaned down, leaning his forehead against yours.

"I love you, too." You hummed, leaning up to kiss him.

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paladin--strait · 4 months ago

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paladin's 100 follower celly and new request list!! ✨

ahhh thank you so much for 100 followers! im so happy 🥳 and on my birthday too?? its like a gift 🎁 but, i hope that you guys like these prompts and the people i chose but if you have anybody that you want me to write for or a different prompt you wanna read you can still send it in and i'll see what i can do!

I love you all so much! keep reading to see the prompts and the people for your requests! ⬇️

the people who you request for are referred to as "name" in the prompts. and sorry, but none of these will be NSFW. even though i read it sometimes, im not comfortable with writing it just yet. all fics written will be under the tag "paladin's 100 follower celly!" make sure to check it out and drop a follow to see when a new fic comes out!! ❤️

some will be written in headcanon form and some will be in fic form! but let me know which one you want it in! ❤️

please let me know if you want the reader to be plus size, i'll happily write it for ya!

current request status: open!

✨ prompts!! ✨

1 - "I'm sick, don't get near me" "I don't care"

2 - "I want you to meet my parents." "but we just met!"

3 - crying in his arms

4 - him crying in your arms

5 - "listen to me, everything is going to be alright."

6 - "I'll take care of you."

7 - "they didn't deserve you."

8 - sugar baby x sugar daddy

9 - "I'm gonna be here for you whether you like it or not."

10 - bodyguard!(name) x reader

11 - sunshine!reader x (name)

12 - lazy morning

13 - team staff member x (name)

14 - comparing hand sizes

15 - cooking for his team (athletes only)

16 - cooking for his parents

17 - meeting his team (athletes only)

18 - (name) x baker!reader

19 - reader brings cookies or cupcakes for players team after a huge win (athletes only)

20 - reader gets hurt and (name) takes care of them

21 - wearing another players jersey (athletes only)

22 - (name) cooks for reader and it goes terribly wrong

23 - (name) cooks for reader and its good

24 - reader cooks for (name) and it goes terribly wrong

25 - reader cooks for (name) and its good

26 - reader hosts a suprise party for (name)

27 - rival player chirps player about reader, player goes crazy (athletes only)

28 - reader is a ref for the nhl, slowly falls for player (athletes only)

29 - reader cooks for (name)'s friends

30 - reader's child takes a liking to (name)

31 - reader is a storm chaser

32 - reader meets (name)'s pet and the pet loves reader

33 - reader watches an episode of her and (name)'s show without him knowing

34 - (name) comforts reader in a storm

35 - reader and (name) go to a pet store and reader convinces him to buy them a pet

36 - going to the eras tour with them

37 - going to a nba game with them

38 - going to yours/his little siblings sports game

39 - hairstylist!reader / doing his hair

40 - he teaches you how to play hockey (athletes only)

41 - reader compliments their eyes

42 - reader is a florist

43 - reader is a coach for a pee wee team

44 - teacher!reader

45 - coaches daughter

✨ nhl players! ✨

matt rempe

jack hughes

luke hughes

quinn hughes

trevor zegras

jamie drysdale

sidney crosby

cole caufield

nico hischer

timo meier

dawson mercer

andrei svechnikov

arturs silovs

sergei bobrovsky

matthew tkachuk

brady tkachuk

auston matthews

igor shesterkin

connor bedard

jeremey swayman

andrei vasilevskiy

stuart skinner

marc andre fleury

nico daws

jacob markstrom

aleksander barkov

brock boeser

j.t. miller

macklin celebrini

leo carlsson

mason mactavish

david pastrnak

artemi panarin

✨ other fandoms! ✨

tyler owens (twisters)

javi (twisters)

boone (twisters)

daryl dixon (the walking dead)

rick grimes (the walking dead)

carl grimes (the walking dead)

negan smith (the walking dead)

eugene porter (the walking dead)

abraham ford (the walking dead)

(there may be more added later)

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swissboyhisch · 2 years ago

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That Scar Hurt By The Way

Pairing: Nikita Zadorov x Reader

Summary: In a world where everyone has a soulmate link, you happened to luck out with a pain link.

Word Count: 1424

Warnings: None I think. It is an AU though.

Request: From ANON I need soulmate and or were! fics so bad any player!😍😍🥞🥞

THE MASTERLIST JOIN THE TAGLIST HOCKEY DISCORD

Soulmates. A term used to describe two people who were meant to be with each other. Can be used platonically but more common when referring to romantic relationships.

No-one knows when it began but these days, people were born with a link to their soulmate. There were different links you could have. Marks shared by the two. Person A draws on themselves and it appears on person B. One is singing/listening to a song and the other can hear it. Some have a measure of how much danger their partner is in.

You were born with the pain sharing and matching scars link. Growing up, you’d have random bruises popping up on your body. At random points through the years, you’d feel bursts of pain before the bruises arose. They became more frequent in your later teens and early adulthood. And more painful.

There was one instance in particular that you vividly remember. 7th of November 2019. You were going about your day, teaching one of your grade 10 classes, when you felt something hit you in the face. Your hands flew to your lip. The pain was extensive.

“Miss!” One of the girls shouted as the class watched you hunch over.

“Are you okay?”

You worked up the courage to pull your hands away from your jaw. Blood. And a lot of it. “I–”

“I’m going to get Miss Allen.”

Julie, one of your students, helped you to your desk and handed you the trash can. The pain became too much. Vomiting despite trying to hold it in. Your students whisper, worried about you. The sound of heels rushing to your class made you groan.

“Okay guys,” Lily, your colleague and close friend, called. She clapped her hands to gain the class’ attention. “Can you please make your way next door to Mrs. Harrison’s class. She knows you are coming. Hurry please.”

Lily made her way over to you, towel in hand. You looked up at her. “Hi.”

“Hey, you look like you took a puck to the face,” She jokes.

You hold the towel to your face wound and give her a glare. “Thanks.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital,” Lily states. “I have Hayley covering my class. And Nick is coming to pick up your class.”

15 stitches later and some strong medication helped you push through. That’s the day that won't leave your mind. You now have a permanent scar over your chin and lip that you try to cover daily. Makeup has become your best friend. Since then you have struggled with your self image. Men would cringe away, disgusted, when they saw the scar.

Despite your quite obvious soulmate link, it was years after that event that you had met him. Nikita Zadorov. A Russian NHL defenseman for the Calgary Flames. Six foot five. Brown hair. Chocolate brown eyes.

You moved to Canada to teach recently. Better pay. Calgary to be precise. And one day at the end of the school year, you had to cover for a PE class. You were told it was going to be an easy cover since there were a couple guests coming to talk to the grade 10 group. A couple of hockey players. Sure, you had watched hockey but not to a crazy extent. The class though… excitement. It was all they have been talking about for weeks. God forbid having these students after this period.

“I have your guests here,” One of the office ladies called as she entered the gym.

In walked three guys wearing Calgary Flames merch. You smile, offering your hand and name.

“Tyler Toffoli.”

“Jacob Markstrom.”

Then he stepped forward. I mean it was hard not to notice him. But the first thing that caught your eye was the scar on his jaw. One that happened to match yours. “Nikita Zadorov.”

“Hi…” Before you could shake his hand or say anything else the students started coming in. “Guys come sit down and you’ll get to talk to them at the end of class.”

“And signatures?” One of the boys asked.

“Yes. And signatures.”

You got to sit at the back watching over the students and observing. You needed to find out more about the tall defenseman. Without you noticing either, Zadorov kept glancing at you. The class finally got to question time where they were firing off all types of questions, about hockey, about the team. But one piqued your interest.

“How did you get that scar?” One of the students asked Zadorov.

The man chuckled, “I got a puck to the face back at the start of the 2019-2020 season.”

Thanks to his words, you were thrown back into that memory. The pain. The healing process. You were basically 100% sure he was your soulmate. But there was one way of confirming it. Pain. A pinch to your arm. Nothing too extreme but it was enough to make him jump in surprise. One that you noticed.

The bell rang, indicating the end of the period and the start of lunch. The students finally left, and you went forward to thank them for coming in. They were staying for the last period to talk to another class, but you wouldn’t be covering.

“Thank you for today. The kids loved it,” You hummed. “It was an honour.”

“I don’t want to be annoying, but do you have a scar on your lip?” Toffoli asked.

It caught you out. Too nervous to say anything. “I mean yeah, I got it years ago. Puck to the face. You know the drill.” You didn’t mean to say the puck bit, but you couldn’t think of any other excuse. Bloody Lily and her joke.

“Same as me,” Zadorov smiled.

“Yeah…”

“Soulmates,” Markstrom grinned.

Zadorov pinches himself without you realising. You didn’t jump but you rubbed where he pinched. “You are my soulmate.”

“I think so… That scar hurt by the way.”

Neither of you could believe it. Your soulmate.

“Can I see it?” Zadorov asked shyly. He remembered how badly it hurt. To know you also felt it. God that hurt him more than the actual injury. “The scar I mean.”

You guided him to your class where you could have the conversation in private. The other two dropped off at the staff room for some lunch. You sat down at your desk and pulled out your makeup wipes. Using your phone camera as a mirror, you wiped off your makeup covering the scar.

“May I?”

After agreeing, Zadorov’s hand comes to cup your jaw. Sparks filled your bodies, the soulmate touch. So gentle. Lightly ghosting your skin. His thumb grazed the scar. The dented lines across your lips and down your chin. One scar matching his.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, feeling his heart break once more.

When it first happened, he was aware that his soulmate was experiencing this at the same time. The pain accelerated because of this knowledge. Every time he looked in the mirror, he imagined what it would look like on another person. His soulmate. But to finally see it on them, the pain returned. He did this to you.

You smile softly, “It’s okay.”

“15 stitches,” he muttered.

“7th November 2019.”

Zadorov, still cupping your jaw, leaned in. Pressing his forehead to yours. “Tell me about it.”

“I was teaching back in Anchorage. End of the day. A grade 10 class. They’re probably scarred for life. Just feeling that sudden pain, hunching over covering my lip and jaw. But that pain had me vomiting. My friend had to take me to hospital. She even made a joke that it was like I took a puck to the face.”

“Well, you did,” Zadorov offers, “Kind of, anyway.”

Your class door opened and there stood your favourite colleague with Toffoli and Markstrom behind her. “When they said Zadorov had met his soulmate and it was the PE teacher, was a little shocked thinking it was Mr. Paulson for a hot sec.”

“Yes Big Z,” Toffoli grinned, messing with the defenseman’s hair.

Zadorov pushed his teammate away with a roll of his eyes. “Leave us alone.”

“Can’t do sadly, bell is about to go so we have to head to the gym.”

You got an expectant look which made you shake your head. “I’m not covering for the next class. I have one of my own.”

“Can I see you after?” Zadorov asked.

“I hope you’d want to,” You laugh.

“Out of all the soulmate links to have, we have this. But I’m thankful it’s you.”

TAG LIST:

@findapenny @mp0625 @hischierhaze @11zegras @lvrzegras @francesfarhadi @cixrosie @daisysthings

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matthewtkachuk · 3 years ago

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runner - jacob markstrom

Fear of commitment threatens to end you and Jacob before you've even properly begun, but not if Jacob has anything to say about it

pairing: jacob markstrom x reader

warnings: commitment issues, self-reflection disguised as fic, mentions of mental illness (vague, but its there!), do i really need to put angst as a warning anymore?

word count: 1.1k

a/n: this was written for my beloved @danglesnipecelly last summer when she was sad because i love her and would take a bullet for her. @antoineroussel told me to post it before ordering pizza and doing the dishes, but i don't listen well so i ordered food first <3 to my beloved readers and anons...ily. also i've never seen this gif before and it makes me wanna d*e but in a h*rny way

You’re a runner.

Not in the traditional sense, no. You never ran track, never beat anyone in the hundred meter or any number of meters for that matter. Never tried out for cross country, don’t have a trophy or a medal.

But you’ve been running since you were fifteen. From your home life, from your friendship dramas, from your own destructive internal monologue, from every boy who has ever told you sweet little lies. Commitment isn’t something you’ve been good with. Expectations placed on you from a young age coupled with terrible coping mechanisms and declining mental health: only a few in the long list of reasons why settling down with the same person for the rest of your life is so terrifying.

And so you hadn’t - settled down, that is; throughout the years, you ran through men like mani-pedi nail colors. Giving them a glimpse of you, enough of you to entice them and bring them to your bed and sometimes even into your life for a time. But never had you let someone get in close enough to see who you really are, or even close enough for enough time to begin to scratch at the surface.

Until Jacob.

Until six foot whatever of handsome and kindness and pure, unadulterated joy steps off the plane in Calgary and right into your heart. As a good friend of Annica’s and with your parents on the other side of the country, you’re invited to join her and Elias and their new guest for Christmas celebrations. You don’t expect much more than amazing food and the familiar feeling of being the redundant third wheel of a fully functional bicycle. That’s the thing about Jacob, though, from the minute you met him until the very last you'd let yourself know him, he shattered every expectation you had.

Despite his own quiet nature and initial shyness, the two of you catch on like a house on fire - burning quickly and brightly, leaving Elias and Annica to feel like the outsider looking in on something special. You let him kiss you that first night and you don’t stop letting him. It’s laughter that lasts long enough that your sides hurt, silly grins and lingering touches, conversations that make you feel like you’ve known him your entire life and not a few short days. Christmas comes and goes and you leave that apartment with a beautiful bracelet from Annica and a new number in your phone with the promise of something more weighing heavily on your heart.

Jacob’s confident but never cocky, never so sure of himself that it comes at the expense of your feelings. He is nothing if not respectful of your boundaries, never pushing to a point that’s invasive, but not content to let you sit in your negative feelings when they come. It’s like a sixth sense, the way he comes around just when you need him to. There’s never a real formal conversation about the feelings that twist and twine between the two of you like the ribbon of the gifts you’d brought the Christmas you’d met. Yet you find yourself in his bed, and in his arms, and in his jersey waiting at the end of every home game all the same. It’s you he falls into and you he calls on the road and you who comes to mean more to him than he ever thought possible.

It’s also you who gets scared.

There is never a real formal conversation about your feelings but you find yourself in love with him all the same. All your life you’d run, keeping men at arm’s length and never an inch closer and yet here had come this beautiful Swede and shattered your walls alongside your expectations. From everything you’d ever known about love, everything you’d ever read or been told, love was supposed to be this beautiful, freeing, all-encompassing feeling. There’s nothing freeing about the panic in your chest as you take in the apartment you’ve all but moved into without a single discussion. There’s no freedom in your toothbrush alongside his, your shoes in the entryway, or your keys on the counter. Nor the books on the nightstand on your side of the bed that you still haven't gotten around to reading, or the flowers you’d dried and pressed between their pages.

He’s never actually asked you for something more, but you love him and there are pieces of you all over this apartment and it’s all too much. It’s all too much and so you do the only thing you’ve ever been good at.

You run.

It’s surprisingly easy to pack the pieces of you that litter the apartment. You’re as quick as you can be, knowing Jacob could return at any moment, but it’s not enough

“What are you doing?” His voice cuts through the silence and your own internal monologue that you’ve been struggling with for hours. It’s almost comical, because what other reason would you have for your suitcase open on his bed with everything you had ever brought into this apartment haphazardly shoved within. He must come to the conclusion on his own, because his next words are: “Please, stay.” It’s so honest, so earnest, it stops you right in your tracks. You don’t turn around, don’t really trust yourself to.

“Jacob-” It’s barely his name that escapes your lips, more of a wounded noise barely resembling the syllables.

“I don’t know what’s going on in that pretty little mind of yours but just stay and we can talk this through.” He sounds so sure, so confident in the words he speaks that you hesitate for a moment.

Because no man has ever fought for you like this, content to accept the pieces of you that you offered and moving along when you no longer offered them. You should have known that Jacob would be different, that he was different. No one had ever managed to get this close, even your closest friends were still kept inches from you. Only Jacob had infiltrated your defenses with a vigor and a covertness that you’d never seen it coming until he was firmly pressed against you.

“Talk to me, baby, please,” he all but begs. Every part of your brain screams at you to ignore the plea, to finish shoving your things inside that suitcase and go. But your heart, your traitorous heart that beats for him and him alone whispers to you, calls to you. What if? What if this time you don’t go. What if this time you open your heart and lay out your every insecurity for him to see and judge.

You’re a runner, but this time you hang up your running shoes and face life head on as you sit beside him on the large sectional and let him in.

#nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #nhl blurb #jacob markstrom fic #jacob markstrom imagine #jacob markstrom imagines #jacob markstrom blurb #jacob markstrom x reader #shelb writes

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typical-simplelove · 2 years ago

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Strangers -> Jacob Markstrom (as part of the Alternate Universe to Peter Pan)

Summary: The prologue to Body Language and Peter Pan. The night that started it all and brought you into Matthew’s and Jacob’s lives. The night that Matthew and Jacob fell in love with you, told from Jacob’s point of view.

Author's Note: This is another installment of the Happiness Begins Series and the Peter Pan Universe! In terms of the Happiness Begins series, this is a stand-alone, but in terms of the Peter Pan Universe, it might be beneficial to read the two fics linked in the summary. I'm tagging @2manytabsopen because you are my true motivation to continue this series! I hope you enjoy this installment, and please, let me know what you think!

Word Count: 4.3k (including song lyrics)

Warnings: explicit!female reader; mentions of alcohol; Matthew's an ass in this

With his eyes trained on the end of the aisle, Jacob’s attention is captivated by the tunes of the song that was picked out. Anytime now, she’d be stepping out, and at that moment, Jacob’s life is going to change once again.

I came here looking for another excuse To run away from something beautiful It's like it's driving me closer to you Every step back pulls me right back to you

Walking into the bar, the boys take their regular tables in the back as jackets cover chairs. They play a few quick rounds of rock-paper-scissors to determine the designated driver and who was to pay for the first round of drinks. Once those people were designated, the group takes their seats and set in for a night of drinks and hanging out.

“What brings you out tonight?” Matthew asks, probing Jacob. “You don’t come out often.”

Jacob glances at Matthew for a second before he trains his attention on other guests walking around the bar.

Matthew was right; Jacob didn’t go out often. Although it was fun, he’d much rather spend the night at home on the couch watching a movie with a glass of wine or under the blankets with a good book. Recently, though, spending the nights in his apartment on his own was starting to get boring. There was no one there with him because, well, he was alone. Sure, Jacob liked being single and didn’t have any major issues with being single, but sometimes, only hearing his breathing or the only sounds in his apartment being the quiet local traffic drove him crazy. Jacob was craving some acquaintance or companionship other than his teammates that happened to stop by after practice.

What Jacob really wanted was someone to share his life with. He wanted someone to have and to hold. He wanted someone to be there when he left or when he got home (or to come home to him). He wanted someone to laugh at his silly jokes. He wanted someone’s laughter to echo through the apartment.

Jacob wanted a life partner.

All those thoughts swirled in Jacob’s mind as his focus trained back on Matthew. “Just wanted to try something new. You know, get out of the house. Broaden my social circle.”

“What, are we not enough for you?” Matthew teases, a glint in his eyes.

“You know what I mean,” Jacob responds, holding back an eye roll. Matthew opens his mouth to say something else, but thankfully, drinks were forcefully placed on the table, stopping Matthew from talking.

As conversations build up across the table, Jacob returns to his normal wallflower state. It wasn’t that anyone was leaving him out; he just wasn’t really in the mood. If Jacob was going to go out in this atmosphere, then he really had to be in the mood, and currently, he wasn’t in that mood. Jacob kind of regrets going out. All he wanted was a nice glass of wine, to sit on his couch, and relax. Maybe a movie on the TV, too. Just anything but here.

His eyes dart up when he notices everyone at the table has stopped talking. Jacob’s eyes follow their eye line and notice them starting at a group of girls that walked into the bar. Just like that, Jacob’s life changed forever.

She was standing there, fiddling with the hem of her shirt, as she let herself soak in the atmosphere.

Jacob’s eyes scanned over the top half of her body—the only half visible from where he was sitting. That’s when it all made sense. He finally knew the person that would complement his body and fit in the crevices perfectly. He finally knew the person that would never fail to put a smile on his face. He finally knew the person that would make the ridiculously cheesy sitcoms and rom-coms bearable. He finally knew the person that Jacob risk it all for. He found the person that he’d conquer the world for. He found the person that he’d give it all up for.

The world and Jacob were moving because they had to, but now, Jacob’s world was spinning the way it was supposed to. It finally made sense.

“Woah,” Matthew says under his breath. Woah, indeed, Jacob thinks to himself, knowing that Matthew was probably talking about the same person. Matthew looks at his friend and says, “What do you say? Should we go over together?”

Jacob doesn’t say anything. He just stares ahead at the girl. How was he supposed to talk to her? “I’ll go over in a bit.”

“Did you want me to make you an introduction?” Matthew asks, slightly teasing.

Jacob shakes his head. “I’ll be fine.”

That’s a lie. Jacob couldn’t do it. He knew he wouldn’t be able to do it. Who was he kidding? Jacob was frazzled and flustered, and he hadn’t even talked to the girl yet. What was he to do?

Jacob sat at the table, gripping his drink as he watches Matthew walk up to the group of girls. The entire group was filled with beautiful people. Matthew could have picked anyone, but he went with her, with you. When Jacob saw you smile at Matthew, his heart fell to his stomach. You were supposed to be smiling at Jacob. Jacob was supposed to be the one who elicited that smile from you. Jacob was supposed wrapped around your finger, not Matthew. Jacob was supposed to be enamored with your personality and aura, not Matthew.

It was supposed to be Jacob, not Matthew, but it ended up being Matthew because Jacob was too chicken. Jacob let the person who he knew would change his life slip through his fingers. He messed it up, and Jacob knows he’ll never be able to have the chance again.

How did Jacob let himself mess up so badly?

Time stands still and it's only us What we feel started way before we ever touched Just imagine only us Yeah, you found me right before I'd given up

It was four days later, and Jacob was still reeling from seeing you for the first time. How did Jacob find someone so perfect for him, yet he couldn’t even talk to them? How did Jacob find the person he’d feel immense pride and joy to bring home to meet his mother, yet they don’t even know he exists? How did Jacob finally find the person that makes all the love songs and poems and sonnets make sense, but he couldn’t even muster the courage to talk to them?

It was frustrating, to say the least.

Jacob has spent his entire adult life assuming that when he met the one, things would work out according to plan and in his favor. Jacob never thought that one of his teammates would feel the same pull that the person had and gravitate towards them first. Jacob thought he’d be able to talk to them, and then everything else would make sense and work out for itself.

How did everything get blown to pieces in a matter of seconds?

Oh, right, Jacob didn’t have the courage to talk to you, but Matthew did. Matthew always seemed to have the courage to talk to someone else. Normally, Jacob didn’t care, but then it was you that Matthew managed to talk to first. It was you, bright eyes and smile, who got Matthew’s attention instead of Jacob's. It was you, and he wished that he didn’t clam up and stand there, frozen. If he could do it all over again, he would.

“So, you got lucky last night. Again.” Jacob hears someone say to Matthew. Jacob rolls his eyes, not wanting to hear about another one of Matthew’s escapades.

“It was fun,” Matthew says, a smirk covering his face. He eyes Jacob knowing that Jacob wanted the same person. “I don’t normally hang out with the same girl more than once, but—”

A few hoots and hollers fill the locker room. That’s when Jacob realizes who Matthew is talking about—you. You captured Jacob’s attention like a fisherman setting his net out to sea. Your radiant smile lit up his life like a spotlight. You slowly became everything to Jacob, yet you’ve never even spoken to him.

Jacob doesn’t notice the sneaky glance that Matthew gives. Matthew knows exactly what he’s doing, but having no reaction out of Jacob isn’t what Matthew wanted.

“Jacob, any fun plans last night?”

That little shit.

“Nope,” Jacob grumbles. He hurries out onto the ice before anyone can comment on his mannerisms.

He’s skating around the ice to try to clear his thoughts. He doesn’t know why he’s acting like this. He hasn’t spoken to you. He’s only looked at you from across a bar. How’s that for depressing?

In movies, when it’s love at first sight, both parties fall in love. In this case, though, only Jacob fell. Only Jacob fell head over heels for you. Jacob doubts you even looked at him at all that evening.

Even if Jacob had a chance with you, he knows he could never take it. There was an unspoken code, and if Jacob tried anything, he’d be breaking that code.

For all intents and purposes, Jacob has to find a way to forget about you even though he knows you’re the one.

I just saw the lightning strike Knew it right then when I looked in your eyes And I said to myself, "It's no surprise we ain't strangers" Strangers tonight Must be from a different life Been here before and it just feels right No, this ain't the first time for you and I, we ain't strangers Strangers tonight

During warmups before a game, Jacob doesn’t normally scan the crowd. He gives a few quick glances to see if there are any young kids who he can give a stick or puck, and that’s it. Jacob tends to focus on warming up and leaves the crowd and that interaction for during the game.

This time, though, something was drawing him to scan the crowd. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for or why he’s so drawn to that one section.

As he’s skating around, Jacob’s eyes keep going to that one section of seats. Why is it striking him tonight? As per usual, it’s filled with fans. No one struck him out of the ordinary. That is until he saw a familiar head of hair. He knows that hair. It’s been plaguing his dreams and thoughts since that first night.

You.

You were there. At the game. A game that Jacob was at. A game where Jacob was currently getting ready for.

In a matter of seconds, seeing you knocked all of the wind out of him. He continues his motions, but as he looks over at you again (you have yet to notice his obvious staring), he trips and falls.

“You good man?” someone asks as they skate over to a fallen Jacob.

He nods. “Just lost my footing for a second.”

The player nods and skates off. Jacob’s grateful that they didn’t ask why Jacob fell. What was he supposed to say? Yeah, the girl that one of our teammates is dating or kind of seeing is here. Did she distract me? Yes. Why? Oh, because I’m in love with her, too. Why didn’t I go talk to her that night? She distracted me, and I couldn’t even open my mouth to breathe she was so captivating.

Jacob has to get a grip on his thoughts. This was no line of thinking to have before a game. It was an important game, and if Jacob wasn’t at the top of his game, he couldn’t protect his teammates, his family.

Still, though, Jacob is watching you from the corner of your eye. You must have brought a friend because you’re chatting and laughing away.

The minute that Jacob gets a glimpse at your smile, all the loud cheers and noises of the crowd fade away. There’s a faint ringing in his ears as he watches you laugh along to whatever your friend was saying. A faint smile crosses Jacob’s face and a blush warms his cheeks as he thinks of what it would be like to be the one on the other end of that smile. That laugh. Those warm eyes. His heart bursts just thinking about it. What would it be like for Jacob to make you smile? What would it be like for Jacob to make you laugh? What would it be like for Jacob to look into your eyes as you talked? What would it be like for Jacob to wake up to your smiling face each and every morning?

Jacob’s taking a few practice shots off his teammates, but the roaring sounds of the crowd still haven’t returned. He’s still in a daze, acting on autopilot, as the shots come at him. He’s able to stop many of them. He’s not acting dull, but he’s not as sharp as he could be. Jacob can’t tell if you being there is a good thing or a bad thing. Good thing? Jacob gets to see you. Bad thing? You’re distracting but a good distracting. Good thing? Jacob gets to see your smile.

Yeah, it was an overall good thing for you to be there.

When the time comes for the team to skate off the ice, Jacob tries to huddle around the back. This way, if he trips when he sees you, fewer teammates will tease him about it.

Jacob’s staring at you as the file of the ice. He so badly wants to catch your eye, but what would he do if he did? Would Jacob wink or smile? He could barely breathe and you were a couple of hundred feet away. Jacob has no game when it comes to you. You just make him too nervous.

He’s sitting on his spot in the locker room as the coaches are talking. Should Jacob be listening? Sure, but it wasn’t anything new. As long as Jacob showed up and played hockey, he’d be alright. His thoughts continued to wander to you. He should really get a grip on his thoughts. How would he be able to play the game properly if you were sitting there? Would he be able to get his head in the game?

Jacob’s still on autopilot as the team makes their way back on the ice for the anthem. He’s excited to see you again, even if you don’t see him.

His eyes look up to find your familiar face and head of hair, and when he does, his heart falls. A ringing sound echo through his ears as dread fills his stomach.

You’re wearing a Tkachuk jersey.

Jacob doesn’t know why he’s so upset at seeing you in a Tkachuk jersey. Obviously, Matthew would invite you to a game, and of course, you’d be wearing Matthew’s jersey. But Jacob wanted you to be there for him. Jacob wanted to be the reason why you were sitting in the arena.

He shakes his head. That wouldn’t happen. Of course, Matthew got the girl because what girl would ever want a guy who can’t even get the nerve to talk to her?

You say my name like it's been on your lips Familiar in ways I can't explain You got a heart that I know I can miss Hold me like that and pull me right back again

“Who’s that?” Jacob asks. He wasn’t familiar with who the girl was sitting at their table at dinner. She was pretty, but Jacob had no idea why she was there or who she was there with.

“What?” Elias asks, quizzical.

Jacob nods his head at the mystery girl. “Her.”

Elias shrugs. “I don’t know her name, but she’s here with Matthew.”

“But what about—” Jacob trails off. He doesn’t have to repeat your name. Elias knew. Johnny knew. Everyone in this whole damn universe knew that Jacob had feelings for you. There wasn’t a single person on this planet who could look at the way Jacob looked at you and say it was as “friends.” It was impossible.

Whenever Jacob saw you with Matthew, he pushed his feelings aside. After all, if Jacob being with you wasn’t how things were supposed to turn out, then he’d want you to be happy. And if that was Matthew, then Jacob guesses he could be okay with it even though Jacob would never let a sister or daughter of his anywhere new Matthew. Jacob knew Matthew’s tendencies to date and sleep around; Jacob doesn’t understand how Matthew doesn’t get lonely or doesn’t want to find that someone.

“I guess she wasn’t invited?” Elias answers, pulling Jacob out of his thoughts.

Why wouldn’t Matthew invite you? Jacob’s never seen you in fancy, cocktail outfits, but he just knows that you’d be the most stunning person in this room. If Jacob had brought you as his date, he knows that he wouldn’t ever be separated from you. You were just too radiant.

Jacob knew that Matthew wasn’t a commitment person. He tended to just have short flings here and there, but this was different. Matthew had the most spectacular person on this planet—someone who could make Jacob the happiest person ever—and he refused to see it. Matthew refused to see who was right there in front of him, and instead, he found solace in his bachelor tendencies.

“Yeah, but—” Jacob trails off once again in a matter of seconds. He doesn’t have to finish his sentence. Elias understood. The other team members understood. If Jacob had you, he’d never let you go. What he doesn’t understand, though, is why Matthew can’t see it? Matthew has the love of Jacob’s life right in front of them, yet he can’t see it. He can’t see the life he’s missing out on by messing around with other people.

“Why is he doing this to her?” Jacob mumbles, not sure if his friend heard. Elias did, though, and gives his friend a side-eye. What was Elias supposed to say? Matthew’s heart and mind were wired differently. While Jacob saw someone who’d make him happy for the rest of his life, Matthew saw the same person as short-term happiness. Matthew’s head was so far up his ass he didn’t realize what he had right in front of him.

“He’s going to hurt her so much,” Jacob mumbles once again. He shouldn’t be saying any of these sentiments out loud, but he needs someone to hear them. Jacob could stand watching you with his teammate (even if it were Matthew) if it meant that you’d find happiness and wouldn’t be heartbroken. What Jacob couldn’t stand was Matthew stringing you along. Matthew was giving you bread crumbs to keep you going back to him. No matter what, the little crumbs Matthew would give you would satisfy you. Jacob didn’t blame you; Matthew was a catch. You, though, could do so much better than Matthew and his ways. Jacob doesn’t think he deserves you either, but Jacob could be so much better to you than Matthew.

Although the notion hasn’t been addressed, everyone who knows Matthew knows that the girls he’s “seeing” don’t know that they aren’t the only ones. Some do realize that it’s not a forever thing with Matthew, but some don’t. They take the bread crumbs that Matthew has to offer and spin them into a fairytale romance. Jacob can’t blame them, though. Matthew is a charmer and is good at the game. Someone can go from being strangers to Matthew to thinking he’s the light of their life.

What about Jacob? He might not be as boisterous or cocky or there. He might tend to be more quiet and reserved, but that doesn’t mean Jacob doesn’t have as much to offer. That doesn’t mean that he can’t make someone happy. He can. Jacob can make someone so happy if he had the chance. He’s been waiting his entire life to find that person who would be the one that would change his life. He finally did, but instead of Jacob getting the girl, Matthew did. And when Matthew gets the girl, Jacob knows he won’t ever get the girl.

Jacob can give a whole loaf of bread, but instead, you take the breadcrumbs.

And Jacob knows that as you continue to take those breadcrumbs, your heart will get more and more vulnerable until Matthew shatters it.

Jacob only hopes that you won’t cut him out of your life when that happens.

Time stands still and it's only us What we feel started way before we ever touched Just imagine only us Yeah, you found me right before I'd given up

One day you were there, and the next you weren’t. One day, Jacob was calling you to see when you were free to watch that book-to-movie adaptation you were going on and on about, and the next Jacob can’t get a hold of you.

Jacob wasn’t shocked when Matthew brought another girl to the Gala, but he was disappointed. Every time that Matthew brought a different girl as his date to various events or nights out, Jacob prayed and begged a higher being that Matthew would see you. He would see how amazing you were, and how much he was missing out. Only Jacob saw that, though; Matthew never seemed to notice what he had right in front of him.

That could be the only reason why you weren’t picking up the phone. However, Jacob wasn’t at fault. It wasn’t Jacob’s fault that Matthew brought a different date and you were hurting because of it. All he wanted was to tell you that everything would be okay, but would it?

And then one day, you left. One day, you were there, and the next, you were in Toronto. You didn’t even tell Jacob. He had to find out from Annica and Elias. For being best friends, it wasn’t fair that you didn’t tell him. Jacob thought you’d tell each other everything, but then you left Calgary, never to return, and didn’t tell him. You didn’t have the heart to tell him. That, somehow, hurt worse than you blocking him and not picking up his calls.

Then, you called. You were in Toronto, only moving a few days ago. He was ignoring your calls for a few days, but then he couldn’t take it anymore. Every time he saw your phone number, his heart lurched. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he finally picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

But then you hung up. Jacob sighed. Maybe you weren’t ready. But then you called again. There was some yelling and some tears. Mostly, though, Jacob realized he wasn’t angry at you anymore. You talked to each other, and Jacob realized that all the love he has for you wouldn’t fade. With you in Toronto, maybe you’d finally realize how much Jacob loves you.

Two years after that first phone call, Jacob got the best news he’s ever received. You were back. You’re back in Calgary, and you want to see him. After discussing plans on when and where to meet up, he finally saw you. You were just as radiant and beautiful as the first day he met you.

And just like that, a happy routine followed just like before. You were there. He was there. And Jacob had his best friend back. And he was okay with that.

Until he told you. He was drunk, lonely, and wasn’t thinking straight. When you left him after his confession, his heart pooled and tears fell from his eyes. This time, he knows he lost you for good because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

But then you showed up at his door with your own admissions of love.

“I love you, Jacob Markstrom, and if you don’t listen to me and let me love you, I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next day,” you pleaded.

And with that, everything made sense. You loved Jacob, and he loved you.

Finally, it seemed, Jacob got the girl, and there wasn’t a greater feeling in the world.

I came here looking for another excuse To run away from something beautiful It's like it's driving me closer to you Every step back pulls me right back

The past few years of his life flashed behind his eyes as he watched you begin your descent down the aisle. The train of your dress flowed behind you as you took each step. Jacob knew you were stunning and beautiful. Seeing you, though, in the white dress didn’t level to how he’s seen you before.

When you were at the end of the aisle, Jacob took your hand in his and escorted you to where the officiant was standing.

He looks at you with a shy smile. It was just like the first Jacob saw you, but this time, he had the girl, and he was nervous because he had the opportunity to cement the seal. He was going to spend the rest of his life with the love of his life.

It may have been painful, but finally, Jacob got a happy ever after. And he got the girl, too.

Jacob went from being an absolute stranger to being your best friend to being the cause of your heartbreak to being the person you couldn’t spend the rest of your life without. It all made sense, and it was all worth it.

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matsbarzal · 3 years ago

Note

can I please request nsfw 14 with Jacob Markstrom?

nsfw 14. "seeing you with their baby... god the things it did to me."

pairing: jacob markstrom x fem!reader word count: 1.5k warning: minors DNI, 18+, nsfw, smut, bit of a breeding kink if you squint

Jacob knew he was screwed the moment he watched Gio’s wife place their baby in your arms. Jacob knew he was doomed when he watched her wrap her small fist around your index finger, eager to hold on for as long as she could.

You had spent a large duration of the evening with her cuddled into your chest, weaving your way in and out of the groupings of people as she held on. Jacob had found himself peering at you every chance he could get, watching as you interacted with people, helped set up things and held the baby in your arms simultaneously. To put it into words, he couldn’t keep his eyes or his mind off you the entire night.

When the party was finally dwindling down and people were slowly showing themselves out, he was quick to find you handing the baby off, a small peck to her head and a tiny tickle to her arm. He said a quick goodbye to all the teammates he could find before placing his hand at the bottom of your back, directing you towards the car he had parked hours before.

“Did you have fun tonight?” Nodding your head towards him, you smiled brightly as you reminisced on your night.

“Wouldn’t have spent it any differently. Sad when I realized it was probably Gio and Laur’s goodbye party, especially with the draft coming up, but guess we’ll find out.”

Pursuing his lips slightly at your words, Jacob hummed as he focused on the road in front of him. He still couldn’t get the picture of you holding Gio and Lauren’s baby out of his head, his knuckles turning white as he gripped onto the steering wheel, the speed of the car picking up the closer and closer the two of you got to your home.

It wasn’t that the topic of kids hadn’t come up in the past year, far from it, the topic had come up more than once, the two of you agreeing that it would happen when it happened. You weren’t actively trying to prevent it, but you also weren’t consistently trying to make it a reality, and Jacob didn’t realize how much he wanted that life for the both of you until tonight.

You could see the stiffness in your boyfriend’s arms, the white of his knuckles and the sternness of his face as he finally pulled into your driveway, a look of concern crossing your face as you observed him.

“Everything okay?”

Humming, Jacob nodded his head as he tried to loosen the tenseness in his body, a serene smile crossing his face as he looked over at you. “Course, just ready to get inside.”

Nodding your head in understanding, you followed his lead as he made his way out of the car and towards the garage of your home. You were pulled out of your thoughts when you felt him pull your body flush against his, a hungry look evident in his eyes.

“Seeing you with their baby… God the things it did to me,” groaning as he nuzzled your neck, peppering it with little kisses and small bites. You felt the butterflies instantly erupt inside of you as Jacob eagerly pushed his thigh in between yours.

“Oh really?” Humming in confirmation, he continued his assault on your neck, his hands pushing up the sides of your shirt as he gently began to knead the skin, slowly making his way further up.

“Why don’t we go make one of our own then, hm?”

Pulling back from you almost instantaneously, Jacob gave you a look of confusion before a small smirk begin to take over his lips at the seriousness of your face and the comment you had just dropped. Before you even had time to think, he was grabbing your arm and pulling you up the stairs and towards your bedroom.

The moment the door shut behind you, your back was pressed against it and Jacob’s lips were on yours, hungrily swallowing every moan and groan you made into his mouth as his thigh once again slotted in between yours. You could feel your body grinding down against him, his thigh moving slowly back and forth, urging you to press down and grind against it.

Your hands were in his hair, lightly tugging on the ends as Jacob slowly peppered kisses down your chin, to your neck and eventually to the valley in between your breasts. He made quick work of your shirt and bra, his hands instantly cupping them as his lips continued to press kisses down.

He barely gave you a moment to think before his hands were moving and his mouth was replacing their previous spot, his lips wrapping around your nipple as his tongue gently flicked back and forth. His now free hands slowly caressed down your stomach, effortlessly popping the button and tugging the pants down your legs.

Quickly kicking them off, Jacob moved his head so that his lips could wrap around the opposite nipple as his fingers snaked their way to the apex of your thighs. An evident grin crossing his face at your reaction, your body bucking towards the feeling of his fingers gently pushing your panties to the side and sliding a digit through your folds.

“Oh, someone’s a little wet, hm? Didn’t take long to get you all hot and bothered, baby,” quirking an eyebrow towards him, you moved your own hand to gently palm at the obvious tent in his shorts, a large smirk crossing your face.

“You’re one to talk, baby.”

Rolling his eyes, Jacob barely gave you a moment to breath before he was dropping down to his knees, one of your legs instantly thrown over his shoulder as he pushed your panties completely to the side. The first swipe of his tongue through your folds had you groaning, and the first touch of his tongue to your clit had you gripping his hair in your hands, trying to push him even closer.

Jacob obviously got the memo.

Pushing a digit into you, his tongue eagerly began its repetitive motions against your clit in rhythm with the finger that was pumping in and out of you. His tongue flicked against you, his lips eagerly pressing against your folds as he lapped at your pussy, the small groans falling from his lips sending instant shivers up your spine and pushing you closer and closer to that peak that you knew was coming.

Jacob knew you were getting close, the tighter and tighter you gripped his hair an obvious indication of how close you were getting. The orgasm ripped out of you, your body shaking as he attempted to hold it in place against the door and continue his ministrations until you came down from your high.

Pulling back from you, the Swede placed a gentle kiss against your pelvis as he moved up, a large grin on his face. He basically tossed you on the bed, his hands making quick work of his shirt and shorts as he crawled on the bed behind you, a predatory glint in his eyes.

“You ready to make a baby, pretty girl? Want me to finally put a baby in you, hm?”

All you could do was nod at his words, the euphoria from your orgasm just minutes before still taking over your head.

“Please, baby. Please fuck me, please.”

Obliging, he pushed your legs open and slowly pressed the tip of his cock to your clit, running his member through your folds as he attempted to coat himself in your wetness. Pressing himself to the front of you hole, you both groaned as he pushed himself all the way in. His lips met yours in a heated kiss as his lower body began to move, not wanting to waste any time or effort.

Every pump, every push, every thrust had you groaning into his mouth, your nails eagerly pressing into his back as the man above you moaned.

“Gonna make you all mine, pretty girl. Give you everything I have ta’ give,” his thrusts were becoming more erratic the quicker his pace picked up, the groans falling into your lips as your tongues battled for dominance.

You felt his body stutter, his pelvis pressing against yours as a long-winded groan fell from his lips, his fists digging into the sheets behind your head as he rode his high down. You felt his body slowly deflate as he allowed his weight to lightly drop on top of you, his head pressed against the pillow beside yours as he tried to regain his breath.

Jacob stayed like that for a moment before moving, his cock slipping out of you as he gently flopped himself down beside you, reaching over to the nightstand to grab the box of tissues so he could help clean you up.

“Think that one’s gonna do the trick?”

Shrugging your shoulders, you just smiled as you gently weaved your hands through his hair while he cleaned up between your thighs.

“Even if it wasn’t, we can keep tryin’.”

note: i truly could not stop thinking about this one so i HAD to write it. marky could do whatever he wanted to me whenever he wanted so <3 hope you enjoy!! thank you for sending one in <3 this all ended up a lil longer than a blurb but w/e

#jacob markstrom #nhl fic #nhl blurb #nhl drabble #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey blurb #hockey drabble #hockey imagine #jacob markstrom x reader #jacob markstrom fic #jacob markstrom blurb #hockey writing #nhl writing #jacob markstrom imagine #nhl smut #hockey smut #minors dni

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harlowhockeystick · 3 years ago

Note

“Take me back” and “I’ll take care of you” w Marky!!

contains: a n g s t, cuss words, gn reader

#there weren't a lot of things that jacob hated. but there were a few that he hated, and he thought about them every day. he hated that he lived so close to you- within walking distance. he hated that every day, to and from the arena, he passed by your house. he hated that every day he was reminded of the heartbreak he caused you, and himself. so, in a way, he hated himself most of all.

so, jacob had decided he had enough. he had enough of what he had done to you, had enough of reminding himself of how he messed up, and had enough of reliving it every day. jacob decided he was going to go over to your place and spill his heart out to you, something he was good at. (that was one thing you had to commend jacob on, he was always good at sharing his feelings).

after downing a couple shots of liquid courage, he walked out his front door and walked the block from his front door to yours. the cold calgary air biting at his skin and blowing through his body, some snow spitting out of the clouds and falling onto the ground.

he finds himself on your front porch, scared to ring the doorbell. he knows you're home, it's before nine on a friday. he knows you don't have work on fridays and you prefer to stay home on your days off, but he also knows that you still wake up early because you're used to it.

he eventually rings the doorbell and feels his heart rate incline. when the door opens he sees you, in a large sweatshirt and a pair of pajama pants that you've had for so long they have shrunk in size and have a few holes around the hips. you have a pair of fuzzy socks on, ones that don't match. he's reminded of the many mornings that he woke up to this very sight, or the times where he would walk through your front door and you're sleeping on the couch wearing baggy- but warm, sleeping clothes.

"hi," he says, bright blue eyes looking down at you. he tries to figure out what you're thinking, what thoughts you have going on behind those eyes of yours. he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his flames hoodie, keeping eye contact with you.

you step aside, allowing him to walk into the warmth of your house in order to get out of the cold winter air. you know why he's here, though. you were honestly surprised it took him this long to make his way down to you. having been broken up almost a month now, you expected him wanting to talk with you two weeks ago.

"i want to talk, if that's okay with you." he says respectfully. jacob somehow always seemed to make his large, six foot six frame seem incredibly small. even though he towered over you, you never felt intimidated around him.

"yeah, that's fine." you responded, walking past him into your kitchen to continue making breakfast. he sat down at your kitchen table, pulling out a chair and watching you do your thing. he didn't know where to start, he knew what he had to say but at the same time, he didn't know what to say at all. the words were on the tip of his tongue but his tongue was tied.

"i'm sorry, Y/N." he starts, slouching in the wooden chair and watching you as you moved throughout the kitchen. "i know, i've already told you that over the phone, but i wanted to say it in person. i'm sorry for what i did to you, for how i treated you, for everything i didn't do."

jacob admitted to his wrongs. that's one thing you were waiting on, admitting that he wasn't the best boyfriend. he was a great guy, but sometimes he wasn't the best boyfriend. he was forgetful at times, could be a little chippy, and he would at times be a little lazy when it came to boyfriend things.

but you were willing to be forgiving. you were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, you couldn't imagine the mindset of being a professional athlete and how many things that he has on his mind. at some point you had to draw a line. maybe it was a right person wrong time, with jacob. but he wasn't willing to accept that fate.

"but, i came here to ask you to take me back." you were a little stunned at his plea. you thought that your ship had sailed with him, hence why it took him a month to come see you in person. he had done a skillful job ad avoiding you, considering you lived about three hundred feet away from each other.

he stands up and steps closer to you, leaning back against the island. you turn around and bite your lip nervously, making eye contact with him. he's sincere, he meant every word he said.

"take me back, and i'll treat you like you deserve. i'll take care of you, i'll be there for you. i'll be a good boyfriend, i'll go to all of the things and be at all of the work parties. i'll do it." his tone is desperate and his body language is fragile. he looks like he's going to fall apart at any given moment. the bags under his eyes can speak for that.

"jacob i-"

"i know that i messed up. i know i was a dick and i know that after i was a complete and total dick to you, you probably don't want me anymore. but i want you so bad, Y/N. i want you more than anything. i miss you, so bad."

you're conflicted. you miss him too. you miss his warmth in the morning underneath the sheets, and how he would pull you against him with his long arms. you miss his commentary during movies that you never asked for, but you always liked no matter how many times you say you didn't. you miss the way he would hug you, how he always waited until you let go first to drop his arms. you missed everything about him.

but on the other hand, you remember how he left you. he left you, a sobbing broken mess. without a warning in the world he broke your heart and left. you remember the tears you poured out over that man, the many wine bottles and taylor swift albums you went through because of the hurt he caused you.

"i don't know, jacob. i don't know if i can, right now." you respond, turning the burner off and putting your pan of scrambled eggs on the back burner to cool for a minute. you turn around and are met with a somber look from jacob, his eyes have turned a little darker and a light frown had come upon his face. "but... i might be willing to work on it a little bit."

"yeah?" he responded, standing up straight and putting his hands back into his hoodie pocket. you nodded your head and turned back around to pour the eggs onto a plate. "can... can i hug you?"

without hesitation you wrapped your arms around his middle, and he dipped his head to rest on top of your own. it was the most complete you've felt in a long time, feeling the warmth of his body against yours. hearing his heartbeat as your head rested against his chest.

though you might not be sure about getting back with jacob for the moment, you can be fine with just working on things for now.

blurb tags: @nylwnder @lorrmorr @owenpowerstapejob

#j's writing #jacob markstrom #jacob markstrom imagine #jacob markstrom x reader #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #calgary flames

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laurenairay · 4 years ago

Note

I would love “Why are you wearing my sweater?” with Jacob Markstrom please

Thanks for requesting this one @dutch-tv-fan! This is so soft and sweet, exactly what I needed today.

Also tagging: @danglesnipecelly – I’m only borrowing your man K! 😘

“Why are you wearing my sweater?”

Waking up to an empty bed on your day off was not what you had imagined. Instead of your beautiful big boyfriend lying next to you, his tattooed arms wrapped securely around your body, his side of the bed was empty, the sheets only lukewarm. He’d been up for a while, clearly. Where the hell was he?

With a groan you pushed yourself upright, stretching your arms luxuriously above your head with a yawn. As you slowly rolled your head from side to side, stretching out the kinks, you realised there were sounds coming from outside the room. Sounds like…clanging pans? Was Jacob cooking?

The smile that spread across your face felt stupidly wide, but you didn’t care. That man was ridiculous and wonderful and why couldn’t he still be in bed with you so you could show him how much you appreciated that?

You slipped on a pair of soft leggings, eyes scanning the room until you spotted something that made you smile. Jacob’s favourite sweater – soft, warm and far too big for you. The sleeves came down over your knuckles, the hem at your mid-thigh, and the neckline gaping wide. Normally you’d wear clothing of his like this for comfort, for warmth, but this morning you had a different intention.

Because there was nothing that riled Jacob up more than seeing you in his clothing, and you wanted nothing more than to bring your boyfriend back to bed. Win-win, right?

Shuffling down the hallway, your suspicions were confirmed when you spotted your boyfriend in the kitchen, stirring something in a pan on the stovetop, making you smile again. So sweet. Well, the fact that he was shirtless, displaying his sculpted torso brazenly, reminded you why you came out here in the first place.

“Someone’s been busy,” you teased, leaning against the arch of the doorway.

“Someone’s meant to still be in bed,” he groaned, although his smile was fond.

You giggled, taking a couple of steps into the room, making him look at you properly. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, a pleased smile spreading across his lips.

“Why are you wearing my sweater?” Jacob mused, taking the pan off the heat. Smart man.

“Because it smells like you,” you said, honest and simple.

Like the soap he uses, like his everyday light aftershave, like his laundry detergent, like a man. Like him. Why wouldn’t you want to be consumed by that?

The awe-struck look on Jacob’s face made you giggle, the neckline of the sweater moving to reveal your bare collarbone…and that you weren’t wearing anything underneath it. His expression shifted to one of devastation (in the best way) and you slowly walked over to him with a smile on your face. The fact that you could still blow his mind like this after all this time…well, that definitely felt good.

“Everything okay baby?” you asked sweetly, resting your hands on his bare waist.

“You’re killing me here,” he whined, making you giggle again, “All I wanted to do was treat you to a nice breakfast in bed, and then you turn the tables on me looking like that,”

Bare-faced, messy hair, no doubt with pillow creases in your skin…but his. You grinned, lifting a hand to trace of the bare skin of your shoulder that was currently on show, only making him whimper.

“It’s just a sweater, J,” you said simply, a hint of teasing in your voice.

“You damn well know it isn’t,” he said shortly, making you laugh, delighted at how easily he was affected.

“I can take it off if you want?” you said, faux-innocently.

But the moment that you reached for the bottom hem of the sweater, Jacob quickly gripped both of your hands in his. Hah. Too easy.

“You teasing minx,” he growled.

“Are you going to do something about it, hmm?” you grinned.

“Oh I’m going to teach you a lesson alright. Right after you get back into bed and let me bring you breakfast like I planned,” he said firmly.

How you loved this soft-hearted man.

You pouted, trying to protest, although you knew it was a lost cause by the sparkle in Jacob’s eyes. He knew the game was up, that he’d won – like you were ever going to say no to him.

“Fine, fine, ruin my fun,” you sighed, winking at him to show you weren’t mad.

“We’ll have fun, I promise you that,” Jacob smirked.

The look in his eyes sent a shiver up your spine in the best way. Yes, that was more like it. You leant up on your tiptoes to press a gentle kiss to his lips, smiling as his hands squeezed your hips gently, before breaking away.

“Don’t be too long?” you said softly.

“Of course,” he nodded, smiling down at you warmly.

You smiled back before moving to walk away from him – then a thought popped into your head, making you smile even wider. As soon as you were around the corner, out of his eyesight, you slipped his sweater over your head, leaving you in just your leggings.

“Hey baby?” you called out.

“Yeah?”

You threw the sweater through the doorway, grinning as you heard it land on the ground, laughing as you heard him curse loudly, knowing the image he now had in his head. This was going to be one hell of a morning.

#my writing #lauren turns 30 blurbs #jacob markstrom #yeah so i kinda want all of this #what a sweet man #prompt list blurb #jacob markstrom blurb #jacob markstrom fic #jacob markstrom imagine #jacob markstrom x reader #hockey writing #hockey blurb #hockey fanfic #nhl writing #nhl blurb #nhl fanfic

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zackcollins · 5 years ago

Text

autograph || jacob markstrom

masterlist

Author’s Note: I was listening to music while I was taking a shower earlier. I got random inspiration from one of the songs that came on. I was honestly debating with myself whether or not to write it today. I wasn’t exactly in the best writing mood and wasn’t sure that end result would be good. I ultimately decided to write it (as you can tell). I decided that it was best to write it while the idea was still fresh in my mind. I hope I still did a well enough job while not being at 100% performance capabilities today. GIF credit goes to keeklee!!

Warnings: Alcohol consumption and mentions of being drunk. Nothing is overtly graphic or described in great detail. I tried to keep it on the tamer side just to be safe. If you need to avoid that, I understand and stay safe out there!!

Translation: There is one Swedish statement in this fic. It translates to “My darling.”

Word Count: 1.5k+

Inspiration: Autograph by Dallas Smith

Additional: The reader is feminine this time! Since I wanted a little more representation in my fics, I made the reader bisexual. She is mentioned to have had a girlfriend in the past. As for Markstrom’s response to finding out that information I’ll say one thing: I saw my fucking opportunity and I took it. I hope both of those things are okay and I hope you enjoy this!!

Jacob had been your best friend for years. You met when you were catering to one of the Canucks various events. He had spilled some of his wine on you when Henrik had bumped into him while rushing to grab the last of the Swedish meatballs before Edler could. He had apologized profusely and even offered to pay for the dry cleaning of your outfit. That’s where your friendship began.

All these years later, your friendship was going strong as ever. He was currently over at your apartment, sitting on your couch and drinking a beer. You were in your kitchen, chopping some onions and carrots to add to the soup you were preparing for dinner. Just as you added the chopped vegetables to the pot, you noticed Jacob walk over to the island and take a seat at one of the barstools.

“You know,” he paused, taking a drink from his beer bottle. “I bet you were the homecoming queen in high school.”

“What makes you think that?” You walked over to the sink, pumped some soap onto your hands, lathered them together, and turned the tap on. You put one of your fingers under the stream of water to test the temperature. Satisfied that it was acceptable, you placed both hands under and started rinsing them.

“You’re gorgeous,” Jacob chuckled. You heard him place the beer bottle on the island briefly before he picked it back up and took another drink. “You’re the girl everyone from a small town like yours would dream about. I bet every boy was lined up in whatever old blue jean fashion you guys wore to be your boyfriend.”

Turning the sink off and grabbing a paper towel, you dried your hands off before turning to face Jacob. You leaned back against the counter and crossed your arms over your chest.

“I was the homecoming queen,” you said, smiling.

“Who was the homecoming king?” Jacob asked, taking another sip of his beer.

“My girlfriend at the time. Her name was Amanda.”

Jacob smiled and raised his beer in salute. “Cheers. I’ll drink to that, bro.” As proof of his statement, he put the bottle to his lips and drank whatever was left inside of it. Making a satisfying sound he wiped his lips with the back of his hand when he was done drinking.

“You know,” Jacob started, pointing the bottle toward you. “I’d change your autograph.”

Raising a questioning eyebrow, you frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’d put my name on you,” Jacob replied. When you continued to look confused, he sighed and placed the beer bottle on the island. “I want to put a big ring on your left hand. I want everyone to know that I’m the lucky one that has Heaven’s girl on my arm.”

Bringing your hand up to your face, you covered it. You felt a soft heat rising along your cheeks and the tips of your ears. You spread your fingers and looked at Jacob through the slats. He was smiling fondly and his eyes were showing signs of love and one too many beers.

“I want to take you to the edge of town and get on one knee,” Jacob continued, using his hand to move toward the direction of town he was speaking about. “I really want to change your autograph, (Y/N).” He chuckled, running a hand through his hair.

You brought your hand away from your face and smiled weakly at Jacob. The thing about this was you had been having more than platonic feelings for Jacob for a couple of years; you wanted to be his girlfriend more than anything. Hearing him say he wanted to marry you was making you feel things to you that you didn’t know you could feel. Your stomach was tied in all kinds of nervous knots; your heart rate was rivalling that of a jet going Mach 10; your face was burning with the passion of a volcanic eruption. You felt so strongly about this that you wanted to rush across the kitchen and kiss Jacob as passionately as you could.

“Jacob,” you started, voice strained from your nerves. “You’re a little drunk. You don’t mean any of this.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Of course I mean this! You’re a star in my world. I want you on the hood of my car,” he motioned out the window, presumably in the direction of the parking garage, “so you can blow me kisses like they do in the movies.”

Sighing, you walked across the kitchen to sit on the barstool beside Jacob. He lit up and leaned his head onto your shoulder. You wrapped your arm around his shoulders and squeezed him closer before placing a kiss to the top of his head.

“You should really let me change your autograph,” Jacob said, voice faltering a little. “I want to propose to you at sunset at the ocean on the edge of town. I want to give you a big ring that you customize to make it uniquely yours.”

Swallowing thickly, you rubbed along Jacob’s upper arm. Jacob hummed and nuzzled in closer to you. He sighed at that moment, voice soundly slightly wet. You lifted his head with your other hand. Looking into his eyes, you noticed that he was crying. Sitting him straight up, you took both thumbs and wiped the tears away. Jacob grabbed your wrists and rubbed along the pulse points soothingly. You shivered and leaned into the touch.

“I want everyone to know that you’re mine,” he said, bringing one of your wrists to his lips and kissing it gently. When he felt you shiver again, he smiled and brought the other wrist to his lips and kissed it. You shivered a third time and leaned into the sensation. “I want to skip dating and just go straight to marriage. The team says we act like a married couple as it is.”

You felt your heartbeat hammering in your ears. Jacob’s team had become a second family to you in the years you had been friends with him. All the players that had come and gone were like the siblings you never had growing up. They meant the world to you--almost as much as Jacob did. If they said you and Jacob acted like a married couple there was no question that it was the truth.

“We should talk about this when you haven’t had 4 beers,” you said. Your mouth felt dry as the words left your mouth. Every part of you hadn’t wanted to say what you had said but you knew it had to be done. You knew this conversation was one that needed to happen when Jacob was sober enough to understand the ramifications of what he was asking for.

Tears fell silently down Jacob’s face as he looked at you with a blank expression. Despite that, he nodded. “Yeah, yeah. You’re right.” He grabbed your cheeks and gently soothed his thumbs across them. You shivered for what felt like the thirtieth time and leaned into the sensation. “Just know my opinion won’t change when I’m sober.” He leaned in and planted his lips against yours.

You sat there, frozen for a moment. Jacob tensed against you and started to pull away. You quickly brought your hands up to cover his hands. You pressed firmly, holding him in place. Jacob relaxed and leaned back into the kiss. At that moment, you started moving your mouth fluidly with his, trying to keep up with his languid pace. It was a pace that you weren’t used to for kissing. You were used to vigorous, passionate kisses. This was languid and soft. You reminded yourself that Jacob had consumed 4 beers and that had probably slowed down his motor functions enough to affect his kissing abilities.

When you pulled apart, Jacob was panting slightly and had some hair stuck to his forehead. You took one of your fingers and brushed it aside. Jacob hummed and leaned into the touch. You smiled softly and kissed his forehead. Jacob chuckled and kissed the tip of your nose.

“Mrs. (Y/N) Markstrom,” he said, grabbing both of your hands and interlacing your fingers. “Has a nice ring to it, right?”

A soft feeling rushed through your veins. It did have a nice ring to it. You bounced the name around in your head a few times while Jacob looked at you expectantly. The longer it bounced around up there, the better it was starting to sound. You swallowed thickly and nodded at Jacob. Jacob grinned and took one of his hands away from yours to reach into his pocket. A moment later, he placed a jewellery box on the table.

“I’m going to go sleep off the alcohol,” he said, motioning toward the guest bedroom. “You look that over and we’ll talk in the morning when I’m sober.” With that, Jacob leaned over and pressed a kiss to your temple before he slipped off the barstool and walked to the guest bedroom.

You were left sitting there, staring at the box. You hesitated a moment before you opened it. The necklace inside made your heart and stomach swoop simultaneously. It had a simple heart charm with two distinct words engraved on it:

Min Älskling

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freerebelmentality · 5 years ago

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Its the most wonderful time of the year

AN: Ok, I know this took me a really long time to get this done and FINALLY HAVE THIS POSTED. But I ran into personal stuff and finally my laptop broke and I got it fixed and now I have it. YAY!!! Anyways this was requested during the time of the World Junior Tournament when it was hosted in Vancouver. I am so sorry but I finished it. Anyways!!! The request was “Can I request a Jacob Markstrom fic/imagine? They’ve been dating for a while until the world juniors happen. He’s off for a very long road trip and reader stays behind in Vancouver. She decides to attend a few games then attends throughout the duration of the tournament. Jacob tried calling and texting but she just doesn’t hear her phone. He thinks she’s cheating and when he gets back he distance himself from her. Until she straightens everything out. Is that too much?”

********************************************************************************

Word Count: 2,885

Its the most wonderful time of the year. The World Junior Tournament is whats wonderful and taking over the cities of Vancouver and Victoria.

Which means the Canucks will be off on a long road trip and that also means your boyfriend will be away as well.

Its Christmas Day and you spend as much time with your boyfriend as you can along with his family. Its not every day he sees them and you’ve always loved his moms company.

“Y/n do you want to come with me on this road trip?” Jacob asks while his family is surrounded the both of you in the living room.

“I would love to but I think I will just stay behind and catch up on some work” you reply wishing you would tag along for the road trip

“Its going to be a long one, you think you will be able to handle it?” his mom asks looking to you.

“I think I will survive these two weeks without him. At the same time I get to spend time with you and my family” you reply while giving a smile to Lena.

“Alright, that sounds good to me. I’ll call as much as I can and we can FaceTime” Jacob replies while wrapping his arm around you.

After dinner is done and you help clean the kitchen with his mom and sister in law. When done the cleaning, you make the coffee and bring out the cake you made.

A treat before going to bed and having to say good bye to your boyfriend the next day.

You look to his sleeping form and smile to yourself. As you smile it begins to fade, a reminder in just a few hours he will be off on a very long road trip and how you debated about packing as well.

“No, I really need to catch up on work” you thought to yourself as you roll over and go to bed.

You feel an arm pulling you closer and being wrap around the person you love. Oh how you were going to miss this.

You wake up early the next day, you wake Jacob up as well and he begins packing. You walk out of the room to prepare breakfast and coffee.

You make a plate for your boyfriend while you see his mom walk into the kitchen

“Is Jacob getting ready?” Lena asks while getting herself a cup

“Yeah, he is just packing and Im getting this plate ready for him” you reply and you hear someone walking into the kitchen

“There are my two favourite women” Jacob says as he gives his mom a side hug and gives her a peck to the forehead.

He goes towards you and does the same

“There is my favourite man in the world” you reply while giving into the embrace

“Are you just about ready?” you ask while finishing up your coffee and food

“I am ready, my bags are by the door” he replies while placing his cup and plate into the sink.

He gives them a rinse and places them in the dishwasher but you were going to do the dishes. Anything to pass time.

You also thought about cleaning the whole house. One day wash the walls in the living room, The next will be the windows, the next will be washing the walls in the rooms. Again just to pass the time.

“Ok we better get going. Mom you coming?” Jacob asks looking to his mom

“No, I will just say my farewells from here. Take care son” she says while giving him a hug.

His brother and sister in law come down and say their farewells as well along with with his niece. Oh how they looked cute together.

Once the both of you get to the airport is when you see the other wives and girlfriends saying their farewells.

“Last chance to change your mind” he says while looking to you.

“I’ll wait for you here” you giggle while hugging him

“Alright, I’ll call once we get to our hotel” he says while giving you a kiss

“I’ll be waiting” you reply and give into the kiss

“You two are gross, get a room” Jake Virtanen says as he passes by the both of you.

“Oh be quiet or else I will hip check you” you teasingly reply.

He gets a chuckle out of that playful threat.

“I’ll keep an eye on him for you” Jake says while giving you a hug

“Thanks” you reply while pulling away from the hug

“Babe, make sure he stays out of trouble” you tell Jacob as he gives you a nod and a smile

Ever since moving to Vancouver with Jacob, you became really close with Jake. He reminded you of your younger brother and have always remained close with Jake.

He saw you as an older sister he can go to whenever things or life got him down. Or just simply to hang out.

“Well I better go” Jacob says as he gives you one more good bye kiss

You melt right into the kiss and felt a little sad cause its going to be the last for the next two weeks. But you are willing to wait until he got back.

You wait until the plane flies off, like any other time you have dropped him off and waited until the plane was in no sight.

As you see the plane fly off and disappear into the air is when you stood there for a bit longer and finally drove off.

You went back to the house and hung out with his family. You always loved spending time with them and when it was time for them to go back to Sweden, the house felt a lot more emptier and more lonely.

Your family came and went as well and that got you down a little.

Finally you buried yourself in a ton of paper work that needed to be, you didnt have enough time before going on holidays.

Once you completed the work is when you went into the office and filed them away. Your boss is in the office as well, finishing up things before the new year.

“Y/n, finishing up a few things as well?” she asks as she enters your office

“Yes, I didnt have time before going on holidays and now that everyone is gone. I thought I would bury myself in work” you reply while finishing up the filing

“I always knew you are committed” she replies with a smile on her face

She always knew she can count on you to get the work done but never over worked you. She always wanted to give you the time to rest and come back to work refreshed.

“I have these hockey tickets my husband purchased and none of us arent going to be in the country. So I was wondering if you wanted them?” she asks in hopes you would put them into good use

“World Junior tournament tickets?” you ask rather quickly

“Yes they are and have good seats” she replies while pulling out an envelope

“Sure, I think I will put these to use. My friends are coming for a visit and now I have something to entertain them with” you reply while taking the tickets from her hand

“Good, I was getting worried because everyone else either got them or going away” she says with relief

She leaves to head home and get ready to leave for the holidays. You leave as well and go home.

You go to the bus station to pick up your friends that are coming for a visit. Finally go to the airport to get another friend. It felt good to have the house full again, even if that meant only for a few days.

The comes as the first game of the tournament starts, Its game day for team Canada and you were glad you took the tickets from your boss.

“Y/n, Im still surprised your boss even gave you tickets for the tournament” your friend Shandy says while looking at the line up to get into Rogers Arena.

“I am just as surprised as you are. I am so happy for these too” you reply thinking about giving your boyfriend a quick text that you are at the game.

You forget when your friends begin talking about other things that are going on with their lives and the line begins to move.

Finally you and your friends get to your seats while the guys went to get drinks and snacks.

“Y/n, the only one who never drinks when we come to visit” Gabe says as he hands you a water you asked

“Well someone needs to be the designated driver for your drunk asses” you reply thinking back to those times.

“Thats right and why you’re always the smart one” he replies while looking to you.

Finally the game begins.

Jacob tries calling, leaves messages and texts bu they go unaswered.

“Still trying to get a hold of y/n?” Jake asks looking to Jacob

“Yeah, I guess she really buried herself in work” he replies while placing his phone in his pocket amd walks away from him.

He takes a walk by himself to get rid of the ugly thoughts he has of you.

“No, she wouldnt do that to me. No” he thinks to himself while sitting on a bench in a park. He sips his coffee

The unanswered phone calls, texts and facetime have gone throughout the two weeks. Jacob is convinced you are with someone and cheating on him most of the time.

His other teammates and friends from other teams have tried convincing him that you would never do that to him and never got that impression from you at all. But he still isnt convinced. He appreciates the talks though but thoughts still linger.

You and your friends continue going to games, hanging out and checking out the rest of Vancouver. Along with whale watching.

Your phone died and never got the chance to charge it or just completely forgot about it cause you also went to work.

The tournament has come and gone.

Now it was time for your boyfriend to come home. Finally.

You asked one of the other girlfriends when they were landing home and she gave you the time. You drive to the airport 45 minutes early before the expected arrival. You were getting excited for Jacob to finally come home.

“Oh crap, I better charge my phone now” you finally remember and begin charging it.

As your phone begins to charge is when it comes to life, text messages are coming through, voice mails. Sixty text messages and countless of voice mails, which is full. You read every text and begin to feel bad for not charging your phone sooner.

Half of the text that consists of I miss you, good night and I love you. The other half is what are you doing?, why havent you texted or called back?, What are you up to? Is there someone else?

“Fuck” you mutter to yourself

You see the plane land after going through your voice mails and deleting everything. You needed to explain yourself to Jacob.

Finally the plane comes to a stop and finally the guys exit the plane.

Jake sees you first before Jacob can even notice his surroundings.

“Hes not happy with you right now” he says and gets into his truck

You go towards Jacob and give him a big hug, he returns a weak one and begins putting his stuff in the car. As the both of you get into the car, its silent.

“Before we go, can I explain myself?” You ask breaking the silence

“Please by all means” he replies with a stern voice

He really doesnt look happy right now

“Shandy and them came into town and we attended the world junior tournament” you reply while looking to him

“But why couldnt you just return my texts or phone calls” he asks while driving away from the airport

“Because I completely forgot to charge my phone the minute it died. Well until today just before you landed” you tell him looking to him in hopes he will forgive you.

“If you even did go to the games. Where did you even get the tickets? They were all sold out” he says never taking his eyes off the road

“I got them from my boss. Her and her husband were going out of the country for the holidays and she didnt want those tickets to go to waste and gave them to me” you reply while keeping your attention on him

He is beginning to feel a little better but the feeling of you seeing someone else isnt fading. He wants to believe but something else is tugging away.

The rest of the ride was quiet, being at home was quiet and eating dinner was quiet. Going to bed was quiet.

Going to bed without telling each other ‘I love you’

No kisses good night.

Just went to bed

Quiet

As the days go by you feel hes drifting away from you. The more you explained, the more he didnt believe a word you said. Nothing

At work wasnt great either. You were distracted and everyone can see that.

Your phone begins to ring and you see its Jake. You slide across the screen to answer it.

“You: Hey Jake

Jake: Hey, how are you?

You: Not so great

Jake: Yeah, I figured

You: Thanks

Jake: You arent the only one

You: Right

Jake: You free for lunch?

You: Yeah, since my person isnt going to pick me up nor will he answer my calls or texts

Jake: I know, Im outside your office building”

He hung up on you and you just smiled as you got up and got your jacket. You walk out of the building and get into his truck

“is he talking to you at least?” you ask once you get into his truck

“Nope, not a single word” he replies pulling away from the building

“He thinks I knew that you were messing around but I tried explaining that you wouldnt. I also mentioned that I didnt know nothing and tried convincing him you did absolutely nothing” he adds while looking for a place to have lunch

“This hurts” is all you say and the ride goes silent

He sees the hurt of your face and he doesnt like what he sees. He hates seeing his best friend, his sister hurting. He hates it.

Finally the day ends and the thought of going home was just dreadful. You didnt like the silence at home.

You walk into the house and you see Jacob in the kitchen.

“Y/n can you come into the kitchen please” he says as soon as he hears the door open

Your heart begins to race.

“I am so sorry” he says while looking to you.

You look up and tried not to form any tears

“Shandy called me and she told me everything. I am so sorry for not believing you and pushed you away” he continues while coming closer to you.

His arms wrapped around you felt amazing, finally feeling complete again and finally just being close to him. After so long of being ignored and not touched.

You were already beginning to feel as though the both of you were over and you feared he was going to ask you to move out.

Thankfully he didnt.

A tear streams down your face and you release a soft sob

“I know you said you werent seeing anyone, its just I had this feeling at the pit of my stomach that you were cause you werent answering my calls or anything. That nagging feeling wouldnt go away and I was stupid” he continues while he still holds you in his arms

“I was getting scared that you were going to ask me to move out” you whisper while pulling away from him

“No. No” he says while looking to you.

“I am so stupid, I should have listened to you but no. I am so sorry” he continues

“You arent stupid. You were just scared as I was. I dont want to lose you” you tell him while looking into his eyes

“I dont ever want to lose you either and Im sorry that I drifted from you. I feel incredibly stupid for doing that. I placed myself in a lonely position by doing that” he says while placing a light kiss to your forehead.

The more the both of you talked it out, the more everything started to feel less empty, lonely and more understanding.

“From now on, Im charging my phone right away then waiting till way later to charge it” you say while giving him a kiss to the lips.

“Yes. Or else next time Im kicking your ass to the curb” he jokingly says with a smile

Oh how you loved his smile, the dimples were always your weakness.

“Do you promise?” you ask as you chuckle as well

He pulls you in closer and kisses you. He loved being close with you and he always felt complete.

#jacob markstrom #jacob markstrom x reader #jacob markstrom fanfic #jacob markstrom fic #vancouver canucks #canucks #reader insert #reader #world junior tournament #forgotten request #jacob markstrom request #anonymous #nonnie #anonymous request #request #fic request

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2-fast-2-curious · 2 years ago

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No one asked for this but it’s my birthday so...

[M4F] Happy Birthday To You

[Friends to Lovers] [Listener’s Birthday] [There You Are] [Cake?] [Why So Sad?] [Confession] [Kiss] [L-Bombs]

#Christine's birthday week #christine recommends audios #jacob markstrom #x reader #smut #calgary flames #hockey #NHL Hockey #Hockey Players #Hockey Fanfiction #hockey smut #nhl #nhl fanfiction

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hockeyshmockey · 3 years ago

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masterlist

yall idk how to make these but with the amount of f1 stories I have in my drafts I felt i should try.. this doesnt have any of my stuff from before the end of 2021 so sorry about that

Requests are open! especially for f1 :)

updated 3/18/2023

f1 driver stories, insta aus, blurbs

charles leclerc

champagne

5+1 times charles and alysia run into each other. charles x oc

blurb

post imola feels. charles x oc (alysia favale)

I gotta feeling

you surprise charles in bahrain. charles x reader

midnight call

charles gets a late night call from you. charles x reader

lord perceval

you’re a youtuber. 5 times charles ended up in your videos, and one time you’re in his. charles x youtuber!reader

Pierre Gasly

wags (habs)

pierre dating a professional tennis player. pierre x oc

style

hadley takes over styling pierre, he joins her in a youtube video and everyone knows they’re in love. pierre x oc

ig au 2 3

celeb yn insta edit

daniel ricciardo

ig au 2 3 4 country singer yn

this is it

sasha is at the Aus GP and can’t be more in love with this honeybadger. dan x oc

sydney

daniel and his wife have a baby. dan x female reader

lewis hamilton

sugar

lewis likes to spoil his girl. lewis x female reader

untitled

Lewis Hamilton is a loyal brit through and through. what happens when he meets the youngest member of the royal family? lewis x oc

untitled

lewis surprises his girlfriend at her fashion show. lewis x model!reader

ig au singer!yn au

she’s safe with me

request that went a lot sadder than anticipated!! prompt idea: lewis in a relationship with someone who has a good relationship with their dad. the ending would prob be like “don’t worry, i’ll keep her safe & happy just like you did, she’s in safe hands.” PLS. lewis x fem!reader

mick schumacher

crazy girl

mick and his childhood friend In love, thats it. mick x oc

embarassing

mick meets someone and gets a date in the most interesting of ways. mick x oc

bare with me

based on this request! Heyy would you please write a part 2 of crazy girl (mick story) where they end up talking about the kiss and their feelings? Cheers love xx. part 2 to crazy girl. mick x oc

max verstappen

familial ties

5 times max and isabella ricciardo annoy daniel with their relationship + 1 time he thinks he can get over it. max x ricciardo!oc

champion

max wdc win smut. max x female reader

my girl

max goes looking for a fight after bahrain. max x oc

insane

jos and anna verstappen get into an altercation. time for max to step it up. max x fem oc

wing men

the moment when max has a crush and the paddock tries to help wing man. max x oc

insta au (characters from familial ties)

burning up

request: can I please request an at-home dinner date w/max where he makes food but is useless so you take over (he’s happy to watch tho bc he’s so in love) or you make food from the start as a sweet gesture or something, will leave the choice up to you! just absolute fluff and cuteness all around. max x reader

lando norris

day in the life

ciara goes through old quadrant videos and decides recreate one. lando x ofc

untitled blurb

lando coming home to you after a race. ln x reader

streaming

you wake up and Landos streaming. Lando x reader

insta au

carlos sainz

meddler

natalia norris and carlos sainz just need a push in the right direction. carlos x norris!oc

insta au

regrets

after meddling to get his sister and former team mate together, Lando may have regrets (4+1). part 2 to meddler. carlos x norris sister!reader

sebastian vettel

love report

sebastian vettel? notorious flirt. what happens when his future wife is a reporter? seb x fem oc

nhl player stories, insta aus, blurbs

erik johnson

new number

you meet ej at a bachelorette weekend. ej x female reader

story

the ej x landeskog!sister moment I feel like I needed. ej x fem oc

cale makar

ig au

meant to be

cale makar x reader

jacob markstrom

baby fever

olivia is obsessed w her sister’s baby and jacob wants one. jacob x oc

jamie oleksiak

ig au

tyler seguin

sunshine

tyler with a pregnant reader

#masterlist #f1 imagine #nhl imagine

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typical-simplelove · 3 years ago

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Body Language - as a part of the Alternate Universe

The Peter Pan Universe

Good Things Series

Summary: Jacob kept his feelings for you idle and silent while you were with Matthew. After Peter Pan and your departure from Calgary, Jacob can’t help but hate his teammate. When you move back, though, Jacob can’t stop the feelings that escape his heart.

Author's Note: Here's the first part of the Alternate Universe and the Peter Pan Universe! Although you don't have to read Peter Pan or Let Me Get Over Her (linked in the first link above), it's highly advised. I hope you enjoy this and the little Universe I've created!

Warnings: explicit!female reader; Matthew being an asshole; fighting between teammates; implied sex; sexual innuendos; alcohol;

Word Count: 7.7k

Don't tell me everything's alright No, I don't have to read your mind 'Cause your body language is giving you away

He continues to dial your number and prays to any and all higher beings that you pick up. He needs to talk to you as if his life depended on it. You were his lifeline and the only thing that kept him sane on some days. If you didn’t pick up the phone, Jacob doesn’t know what he’ll do. He needs you to pick up the phone.

When you don’t answer for the eighteenth time, Jacob throws his phone onto his couch in frustration. He understands why you’re angry. He understands why you don’t want to associate with anything to do with the Flames or their players, but Jacob was different. You and Jacob were friends; you had a connection that nothing could sever, or so he thought.

He doesn’t know what you aren’t answering the phone. He has no recollection of doing anything wrong. As far as Jacob was concerned, he didn’t do anything to upset you or make you angry. That was Matthew’s department. Why you still continue to be with Matthew infuriated and confused Jacob.

It was just after midnight after the charity event, and Jacob knew he should have brought you. You would have made the evening so much more fun, but you were with Matthew. Or kind of with Matthew? You had feelings for him, but Matthew was too much of an idiot to realize what was standing right in front of him. Jacob knew, though. Jacob could see how great and amazing of a person you are, but you continued to do whatever you did with Matthew. It pained him to see Matthew going to the charity event tonight with a different girl who wasn’t you. He knew that Matthew didn’t care about you in the way you cared about Matthew. Jacob only wished you realized who was standing right in front of you.

Jacob opts to stop calling you. Maybe you’re asleep. Or, it’s a Saturday night, so maybe you’re out with your friends. Yeah, that makes sense. This satisfies Jacob’s mind, so he decides to get ready for bed. Jacob hopes his mind will settle to allow him to sleep.

The next morning, when Jacob wakes up, his hand goes immediately to his phone to check and see if you responded to his texts or called him back. You didn’t. There’s nothing in form of communication from you. In response, Jacob goes to Instagram and sees if you possibly posted on Instagram about your evening. Immediately once the app is opened, Jacob sees the photos posted by the Flames. He takes a moment to look through the photos when his eyes land on the group photo they took last night. Annica, Elias, him, Matthew, and another girl. Another girl whose waist was adorned by Matthew’s hand.

No wonder you’re not picking up the phone. You must think Jacob is complicit in hurting you. If Jacob is seen with this girl in photos, then he must have known about it and still tried to convince you that Matthew likes you. Jacob immediately swipes to your DMs and clicks your profile. He immediately types out a response, but when he continues to get the error message, Jacob knows you blocked him. He has no way of reaching out to you, no way of communicating, and no way of telling you he loves you.

At that, Jacob’s pounding heading from the hangover starts. The adrenaline must have worn out and allowed for the pain to overtake his body.

Jacob throws the phone on his bed and trudges to his kitchen for water and Advil. His eyes are blurry with tears as the terms of the situation hits him. He heads into the shower and turns the water to boiling hot. He’s in pain emotionally, so he wants his body to feel pain, too. Jacob can ignore the emotional pain if his back is burning from the heat.

Matthew’s an attractive guy; Jacob understands why you like Matthew. He understands why you kept on going back to Matthew; it’s not a mystery to him. What Jacob doesn’t understand is why you continued to go back to Matthew when Jacob was right there. Jacob was there to laugh and talk and smile with you. He was there when Matthew let you down, and yet, you still went back to Matthew.

Jacob knows that he’s being irrational in his anger. He’s not angry at you. Jacob’s angry at Matthew. He’s angry that Matthew let go of someone so amazing and left you in pain. Jacob can’t imagine the pain and sorrow you’re going through. He saw the way you looked at Matthew, and that love doesn’t fizzle out overnight. He understands why you blocked Jacob—and probably everyone to do with the Flames. It all makes sense.

All the anger and regrets and what-ifs are flowing through his brain.

What if Jacob told you he loved you months ago? What if Jacob went up to you first when they all saw you at the bar? What if Jacob admitted his feelings? Would you have run away? Would you have told Matthew? What would have happened?

The only thing Jacob knows that can make him feel better is seeing you and getting dinner with you. You’re the only thing he wants. The nights that Jacob knows you were with Matthew, Jacob spent them dreaming and wishing you were with him. He loves you, and because you picked Matthew—which isn’t your fault—and Matthew treated you terribly, Jacob lost his best friend but also someone he loved.

Jacob knew it was futile to ever think there would be a future with you. Your relationship would have ended two ways—you with Matthew or leaving Matthew and never talking to anyone in the Flames organization again. It was the reality, but Jacob still let his mind wander to the possibilities in the quiet of his home and bedroom. He wandered during the moments where you were both alone and hanging out. He let his mind wander, and Jacob hates himself for letting it continue.

Jacob loves you so much, and now it seems like he’s never going to see you again—as a friend, too.

. . .

“What is the matter with you?” Jacob yells as he walks up to Matthew in the locker room.

Matthew gives Jacob an unamused look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“How ‘bout I remind you? You’ve spent the last year treating Yn like absolute shit. It’s obvious how much she likes you, yet you continuously screwed up. You were an absolute pig to her, and now she’s not talking to me.”

“Why do you care?” Matthew questions. “It’s not like she’s that important to you.”

Jacob takes another step towards Matthew. “She’s my best friend, so of course she’s important to me.”

“Clearly she doesn’t think the same if she’s ‘apparently’ not talking to you.”

“She’s not talking to me because you hurt her so much that every sight of someone from our organization makes her sick!” Jacob yells.

“Again, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Jacob shakes his head. “My best friend isn’t talking to me, and it’s your fault?”

“How the hell is this my fault?” Matthew’s voice is loud and angry, and everyone in the locker room is now looking at the commotion and wondering if they should get involved.

“You hurt her. You led her onto thinking you wanted more when you didn’t, and now, she’s not talking to me because she’s upset and heartbroken.”

“I’ve never led her on.”

Jacob scoffs. “Yes, yes you did.

“Why do you even care? She’s just your friend. You can make more friends,” Matthew diverts. His eyes go wide at the realization. “You like her.”

Jacob takes a few shocked steps back. “No, I—”

“No, no you love her, and that’s why you care so much. You know that you couldn’t have her as a romantic partner, so you resulted in being her friend.” Matthew takes a step closer to Jacob. “You know she’ll always want me instead of you, so you let her be your friend. This isn’t just because she’s not talking to you. No, this is because the person that you love isn’t talking to you anymore.”

Jacob doesn’t say anything. He just stares at his younger teammate.

“You love her, and you know you’re never going to have her because, at the end of the day, she’ll always want me more than she’ll want you.”

Matthew is being a pest; he knows it. Matthew is taunting Jacob, and Matthew loves every single second of it.

Jacob walks up to Matthew and pushes Matthew. In shock, Matthew stumbles a bit and a few teammates help him find his footing. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jacob grumbles.

“No, I do, and I know I’m right.” Matthew has a taunting smirk on his face. He’s always known that Jacob might have feelings for you, but Matthew also knows that he was using you just in his time of need. You and Matthew weren’t in a relationship, so by all means, if Jacob wanted to take you out on a date, Jacob could, but because Matthew can see how angry and pissed Jacob is, Matthew isn’t going to let that happen. Although he normally only stirs shit on the ice, whatever this is is significantly more satisfying.

Jacob lunges toward Matthew, but teammates separate the two. A trainer walks into the locker room at the commotion and stands between the pair.

“I don’t want to know what’s going on between you two,” the trainer begins. “You’re both done for today. We’ll see you at tomorrow’s practice where I hope these issues will be resolved.”

Jacob stares at Matthew and his stupid smirk. Jacob nods and angrily walks out of the locker room. He knows he shouldn’t have said anything or confronted Matthew, but you’ve been out of his life for only forty-eight hours and Jacob misses you like crazy already. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do if the last time he saw you for the rest of his life was last week.

. . .

Three weeks after moving to Toronto and abandoning the life you had in Calgary, you finally felt ready to start unblocking a few people. You started with Annica and Elias. They always were some of your favorite people. Often, they’d invite you for dinner or to hang out so Jacob wouldn’t be a third wheel. Jacob! You left Calgary without saying goodbye to Jacob. Oh, that was the one thing you forgot to do in your haste to leave Calgary.

You glance down at your phone and wonder if it were appropriate to call him right now. As much as you didn’t want to admit it, you missed Jacob’s voice. You missed talking to him and listening to his soothing, accented voice. Mostly, though, you missed Jacob, so you called him.

You call him for three days hoping each time you called, you’d finally get a response. On the third day, you pick up the phone. You knew you weren’t going to get a response, but you wanted to call him anyway. You kept telling yourself that if he didn’t pick up, then it would be the last time you called. It never was the truth. You were hoping that eventually, he’d finally pick up, and you’d be able to talk to him.

“Hello?” you hear from the other side of the phone. It takes seconds for you to react, but it’s not in the way you thought. Your eyes go wide as you pull the phone back from your ear and see that Jacob actually picked up the phone. In sudden haste, you hang up the phone and drop it onto your couch. You probably shouldn’t have done that. All you’ve wanted these past few days was for Jacob to answer the phone, and when he finally did, you couldn’t even say a single word from him when you heard his voice. You opted to ignore the fact that Jacob’s voice sent a chill down your spine—a welcome chill that you couldn’t quite place. A chill that you were going to ignore for the time being.

Picking up the phone once again, you dial Jacob’s number and hope he’ll answer again.

“Are we actually going to talk?” Jacob says after barely one ring.

“Yes, no, I don’t know,” you rush out as you hear your heartbeat in your ears. Blood rushes to your face in embarrassment at your words.

“You know, for someone who’s been calling me constantly the past few days, I’m surprised that you hung up the phone the minute you picked up.”

Now you were extremely embarrassed, and Jacob wasn’t even sitting in front of you. “You know, it’s not polite to keep declining my calls. What if I were in an emergency and needed help? What if I were dying?”

“I doubt you’d call me because you fled from Calgary without saying goodbye,” Jacob responds bitterly. He sounds sad, almost heartbroken. You decide not to read into that too much. That wasn’t a topic you were going to stress over at the moment.

“Jacob, I’m sorry,” you apologize. “I wasn’t thinking straight, and it wasn’t like I meant to forget to say goodbye.”

“It really hurt when you didn’t answer my calls and I had to hear from Annica that you moved away. I know that the two of you are friends, but it hurt to find out that you told her instead of me, your best friend.”

“Jacob, you have to know that it wasn’t because I was mad at you or anything,” you begin to explain. “During the past few weeks, my vision has been clouded with tears and my thoughts bombarded with headaches from dehydration and crying too much. It just slipped my mind as I tried to pick up the pieces of my life and move on.”

“Am I a part of what you’re moving on from?” Jacob’s voice is deep, sorrowful, and sad. He doesn’t want to hear your answer. It doesn’t matter if you say no, he’s not because you weren’t there. Jacob was talking to you on the phone instead of on his couch face to face. Even if you say you’re not lumping Jacob in with the life you’re trying to move on from, it will still feel like it when Jacob can’t see you every day.

“Of course not, why would you think that?”

“Because you’re in Toronto and not in Calgary! You’re so far away from me, and all I want is to have dinner or lunch or breakfast or just to see you, and I can’t do that because you’re on the other side of the country. Do you know how much it pains me to know that my best friend isn’t anywhere near me anymore?”

“Jacob—”

“I understand you got hurt and your heartbroken, but that doesn’t mean you get to hurt every single other person in your life.”

“Jacob, I wasn’t thinking! I just needed to leave because I was so miserable and sad. It was a game of do I cry all my sorrows out or do I drink them away at nine in the morning. I needed to leave to feel better. I didn’t leave to hurt you or anyone. I did what was best for me because I couldn’t stand the city anymore.”

“You’re right, you weren’t thinking and hurt more people that hurt you.”

“If you’re just going to yell at me, I’m going to hang up. I don’t want to do this with you. Jacob, I want to talk to my best friend and apologize for not saying goodbye. I wasn’t thinking and I just needed to do what was best for me. If you’re going to belittle me and make me feel worse than I already do, then I’m hanging up and I’ll call when you’re not angry at me anymore.”

“I’m not angry anymore,” Jacob says softly. The minute he heard your voice, Jacob knew the anger was gone. It was soothed with just the sound of your voice, and he knew that immediately once he heard your voice. He was upset and angry before and let those feelings get to him again. The truth is, he hasn’t been angry about this in a while now. It just all burst out when he finally picked up the phone. Jacob could never stay angry at you regardless of how badly you hurt him or frustrated him. He couldn’t ever stay angry at the person he loved most in the world. He loved you, and he knew that he could never stay angry at you. He loved you too much.

“Really?” you ask meekly. That wasn’t the response you were expecting.

“I just miss you and just lashed out at you.”

“I might be in Toronto, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of each other’s lives. We can still talk and text and FaceTime. When you’re in Toronto, I can meet you for dinner or a game or something.”

“Yeah, that’d be perfect,” Jacob replies. He knows that’s all he’s going to get. He knows he deserves more from this friendship and you, but he doesn’t care. He’s slowly getting you back into his life and that’s more than he could ever be grateful for.

. . .

Taking a deep breath, you pick up the phone. You listen to it ring as you stare at the pile of crushed boxes near the door. When the phone rings for the fourth time, you prepare yourself to start unpacking the cutlery for your kitchen.

“Hello?” Jacob answers. You let a deep breath you didn’t know you were holding. You really didn’t want to unpack the cutlery yet.

“Hey.”

“Is everything okay? You sound nervous.”

“Yeah, no yeah, I just have some news.”

Jacob nods but doesn’t say anything. He knows you can’t see him, but in the past two years where you’ve been in Toronto, Jacob’s been waiting for a call like this where the news you had could break his heart more than you moving away ever possibly could. “Is this good news?”

“Yeah, I think so. I think you’ll be really happy to hear it.”

This is where Jacob has to prepare for the heartbreak all over again. You’re going to tell Jacob you’re dating this other guy, or worse, engaged to him. Jacob wants you to move on from Matthew, but in all Jacob’s fantasies, he’s the one you move on with.

“You know how when I moved away from Calgary two years ago and didn’t tell you?” you begin. You rub your hand on your thigh to calm you down and ease the sweat.

Of course, he did. You shattered his heart into a million pieces, and he’s surprised that it’s finally been mended. If this news is what Jacob thinks it is, then he’s never healing. You were his endgame, and if you didn’t think so, then Jacob wasn’t going to push you, but he knows he’ll never love anyone as much or quite like he loves you. “Yeah, why?”

“What if I said I’m back?”

“Back where?” Jacob asks. The only thought on his mind has been that you were going to be announcing a new relationship that he didn’t even have the moment to ponder if the news were different.

“In Calgary? Where else?”

“Wait, you’re moving back to Calgary?” Jacob asks as he leaps up from the couch in excitement. He was sitting in Annica and Elias’ living room hanging out when you called, so the couple insisted he picks up the phone right there. They liked watching him talk to you because a happy smile overcame his face and all the tension in his bones and muscles faded. It was a reaction that only you brought out in him, and it was nice to see their friend happy.

When they heard Jacob’s exclamation, Elias and Annica halted their conversation and stared at their friend.

You laugh. “Well, moved back, past tense. Three weeks ago.”

Jacob lets out a deep laugh and uses his free hand to run it through his hair. This was not the news Jacob ever thought he was going to get but it was the best news he’s ever heard. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I could have helped you unpack and all that.”

“I know, but I needed to do this on my own, Jacob. There was no malicious thought behind not telling, I just needed to overcome the worries and fears I had on my own.”

“Do you still need help unpacking?”

“No, I only have the kitchen left which will take me who knows how long, but I want to see you, Jacob.” Only seeing Jacob once or twice a season when he was in Toronto was not enough for you. No amount of FaceTime or calling or texting could make up for not having your best friend right there in front of you.

“Yeah, me too,” Jacob says softly with a smile. “Whenever you’re free, let me know.”

“Definitely,” you answer with a smile. “Um, I have to get back to unpacking, but I’ll let you know, okay?”

“I’ll see you,” Jacob answers and hangs up. Jacob stands there in Annica and Elias’ living room in a daze. He pinches his thigh to make sure this wasn’t a dream. It’s not. You’re really back. He knows that this isn’t going to mean you and Jacob will end up together, but his best friend is back.

“She’s back in Calgary?” Annica asks. You and Annica were close, too, so you being back in Calgary would her friendship with you would be more than texting and FaceTime.

Jacob’s smile grows wide. “She’s back.”

. . .

Jacob straightened his tie as he waited for you to show up at the restaurant. He knows that you’re not going to stand him up, but the worry is still there. Jacob hasn’t seen you in a while, and he’s hoping that nothing goes wrong. He’s not ready for him to almost have you back in his life only for you to leave again.

He’s not sure why he picked such a fancy restaurant. Would it have been better to have gone somewhere more casual? Familiar? Would his home have been a better choice?

Jacob doesn’t have much time to contemplate his choices further as he sees you walking towards the table. He wills the warmth on his cheeks away as he soaks you in. You look good, really good. You look healthy and happy and a large smile graces your face as you see your best friend for the first time in months.

“Hey,” you greet as you remove your jacket and reveal the soft orange dress you’re wearing. Jacob is in a trance as he stands to greet you. He pulls you into a hug and holds you tightly as he reminds himself this isn’t a dream and actually happening.

“Hi,” he whispers, and you scrunch your nose in comical questioning. “You look beautiful.”

You smile. “Thank you. I bought the dress here in Calgary. It was the first splurge since moving back.”

“Well, it was the right purchase,” Jacob says and continues to stare at you. He couldn’t believe you were actually standing in front of him.

“Should we sit?” you ask as you stifle any giggles. You didn’t see awkward and nervous Jacob often, but when you did, it amused you beyond belief. The one thing, though, you’ve never been the one on the other side of his awkwardness.

“Oh, yeah,” he says and motions for you to sit, first. He pushes in your chair once you’re seated before sitting across from you.

“I haven’t been here in a while,” you remark as you glance down at the menu and instantly see your favorite meal.

Jacob glances up at you after glancing at his menu and smiles at you. You’re here. You’re real, and Jacob isn’t ever letting go of you again.

He knew this was real, but he couldn’t believe it. You were there sitting in front of him in Calgary, not in a restaurant in Toronto.

Later that night when Jacob is driving home, he can’t wipe the smile off his face. It was amazing getting to talk to you again and just have his best friend back. He thought the two years where you weren’t in Calgary would wipe the feelings away, but he knows that’s not the case. He’s just as in love with you as he was all those years ago. He’s never going to stop loving you.

. . .

“Can you please move your legs?” you whine as you slap his legs.

“To where?”

“Literally anywhere else other than where I want to sit,” you clarify.

“Maybe you should have bought a larger picnic blanket,” Jacob teases as you roll your eyes.

“For your information, I bought a normal-sized picnic blanket. It’s not my fault that your legs are ginormous.”

“That’s not the only thing that’s ginormous,” Jacob mumbles under his breath. He’s not sure if you heard him, and he’s not sure why he said it. You heard him, though. At his comment, your face was in flames as you understood the context of his words.

“Can you pass me the cooler, please?” you ask meekly, still trying to recover from Jacob’s comment. It was a nice day in Calgary. You wanted to take advantage of the nice day, so you forced Jacob to go on a picnic with you.

“Here you go,” Jacob responds as he hands you the cooler. You begin to pull out the things you brought. Sandwiches, chips, water, and pasta salad. You both immediately pick the meals you wanted and start to eat in silence. “Hey, guess what?”

“What?” you ask and turn your head to your friend. Jacob’s back is to the sun, so when you look, at him, the sun is in your eyes. You’re squinting as you look at your friend. Jacob can’t help but smile and giggle at your face. Your eyebrows and nose are scrunched as you block the sun and look at him; he can’t help but notice how cute you look in this situation. You ask again, “What?”

“You’re cute when you look at me like that,” he says as he bites his lip. Your face was warm with the sun shining on your face, but with Jacob’s comment, your face only got warmer. Why was he having this effect on you? He’s never had this effect on you.

“Is that what you wanted to ask?”

He shakes his head. “Did you know that Calgary has the sixth most used library in the world?”

You snort. “What?”

“It’s true,” Jacob insists.

“How do you know that?”

“I Googled it,” Jacob says through giggles.

“Of course you did,” you say and turn your head away from the sun.

Jacob notices can’t help but say, “maybe next time we should let me pick the outside activity.”

You vehemently shake your head. “Not a chance.”

Jacob laughs. Yeah, he’ll let you pick the activity for the rest of his life.

. . .

“What’s your dilemma?” Jacob asks as you’re scrolling through an online store. You’re sitting at the other side of the table, and Jacob notices the scrunch of your eyebrows.

“I need to find a dress for a work function, but I don’t like any of the ones I see,” you explain.

Jacob pulls the empty chair next to him out and pats the empty seat for you. You get up and take your computer and sit next to him. Jacob rests his arm around your shoulders as he leans in close to look at your computer screen. You ignore the heat that rises to your face when you feel Jacob’s arm around your shoulder. “Show me what you have.”

You begin to swipe through the options you have. Jacob doesn’t comment as he just looks on at your choices. “I like this one the most,” you say when you get to a navy blue dress. “It doesn’t have my size though.”

“What about that blush one? That was pretty. I’m sure you’d look amazing in that one.”

You nod and begin to click through the tabs to find the dress Jacob was talking about. “Yeah, I like that too, but I want to actually go try it on in the store.”

“Then let’s go,” Jacob promptly says and rises from where he’s sitting. You ignore the wave of sadness that overcomes your body when you realize Jacob’s arm wasn’t on your anymore.

“Go where?”

“To the store so you can try on the dress.”

“Jacob, I don’t know.”

“We’re literally not doing anything. In like an hour, we would have moved to the couch to watch a movie and order takeout.”

“And you have an issue with that?” you ask teasingly.

“No, but you said you need a dress, so let’s get you a dress.”

“Jacob—”

“I’ll pay for the dress,” Jacob suggests.

“No, you’re not paying for the dress.”

“Whatever, can we just go?”

You sigh. “Okay, fine.”

Thirty minutes later, you’re standing in front of a rack of dresses with Jacob at your side also rifling through them.

“How about this one?” Jacob asks as he holds up a gold dress that would show just a bit too much skin for a work event.

“I’m looking for a dress for work, Jacob, not a wedding or bachelorette party.”

“Try it on, though, you never know when you’ll need a dress like this.”

“I do, though,” you respond. “Never.”

“It’s a shame,” Jacob teases. “You’d look hot in it.”

“Remember, work function dress, okay?”

“Yeah,” Jacob grumbles. He’s trying his hardest to find a dress that would make you stand out, but with each dress he comes upon, Jacob knows you’ll look amazing and beautiful wearing.

Somehow, though, you and Jacob manage to find four possible dresses for you to choose from—Jacob tried to throw in the gold dress but you stopped him. He was sitting on a chair in the waiting area of the changing room with your jacket laid across his lap with your purse in his hand hung between his legs. If anyone were to walk by, they’d assume Jacob was your husband or boyfriend who took his partner shopping.

“Here’s the first one,” you say as you walk out wearing a red dress. When Jacob saw you, he nearly dropped your purse. You were gorgeous in the dress, and if this is how beautiful you looked in this dress, all the other dresses were going to kill him. You smile at his response. “Do you like it?”

“You look amazing,” Jacob gawks.

You smile bashfully. “Yeah? Should I buy this one or should I try on the others?”

“Definitely try on the others.”

You walk out a few minutes later in an emerald-green dress. This one you liked. Out of all the dresses, this one was your favorite, and you were leaning towards this one. “I like this one more than the red.”

“I think you look great in both, but I agree, this one is better.”

“I’ll take that into consideration,” you say and walk back to the changeroom. A moment later, another couple enters the area and a man sits next to Jacob similar to how Jacob was sitting.

“Shopping with the girlfriend?” he asks.

Jacob almost says that you’re not dating, but he stops himself. “Yeah.”

“First time?”

Jacob nods. “First time.” And only time.

“Hopefully you make a ton of money because the moment she realizes she has her lifetime shopping partner, you’re going shopping with her for the rest of your life.”

Jacob was going to respond, but you walked out, and Jacob’s jaw drops. You were in the gold dress. Jacob didn’t know that you threw in the gold dress, but now that he’s seen you in it, he knows his life has been changed for the better. “Wow.”

“Good wow?” you ask with a smile.

“Very good wow,” Jacob responded. He reaches into his pocket for his phone to take a photo.

“Oh, don’t bother, I’m going to buy the dress, so don’t worry about it.”

“You’re going to buy it?” Jacob asks.

You nod. “You seemed adamant about this dress, so since I dragged you along, I might as well buy this one. I like the green, so two dresses today!”

Jacob nods with a smile. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” you answer softly.

Ten minutes later, you’re rifling through your purse for your wallet as the clerk scans the green and gold dresses. Just as you pull the wallet out and grab your credit card, the clerk hands Jacob your bag and says, “thank you for your purchase, sir, we hope to see you again soon.”

You stare up at Jacob in shock as he leads you out of the store. “I could have paid for my own dresses, you know.”

Jacob shrugs. “Just treating my girl.”

You smile softly at that and try to understand the butterflies that escape. Jacob’s never called you that before, but now that you’ve heard it and experienced what it does to your body, you never want him to call you anything else.

. . .

A smirk overcomes Jacob’s face as he takes a sip of wine. “How about truth or dare?”

You groan as you glance at the already empty bottle of wine and the half-empty second bottle. “I don’t know.”

Jacob’s smiley when he’s drunk and seeing his smiles and giggles are enough to convince you to play. “Please?”

“Okay,” you say knowing there was no way Jacob wasn’t going to get his way. “You go first.”

“Mm, okay, truth or dare?”

“Truth?” you answer.

He shakes his head. “Who’s your best friend in the world?”

You snort. “That’s your question?”

He drunkenly laughs. “I don’t know anything else. Just answer the question!”

“You’re my best friend, Jacob,” you respond with a smile and sip your wine. “Okay, your turn, truth or dare?”

“Okay, truth.”

You smirk. “Tell me something you’ve never told anyone before.”

“A secret? Interesting, very interesting,” Jacob says and thinks. Currently, he has no sober thoughts and the only thing going through his mind is that he wants to tell you. It’s been eating at him alive for way too long. All these years, Jacob’s sat with how much he loves you, and now, he’s going to tell you. You and Jacob are incredibly drunk, and Jacob’s sober version of himself knows he shouldn’t do this. At the moment, though, sober Jacob is nowhere to be seen. “Come here.” He ushers his hand scoots over to you. You cross your legs and angle your face close to his.

“Like this?”

He shakes his head. “No, your forehead should be touching mine,” Jacob clarifies, and you do as he says. Your forehead is on his, and you’re both breathing in the same air. You take shallow breaths as you realize the proximity of how close the two of you are.

“Your answer?”

Jacob looks into your eyes and back down at your lips. You’re so close. If Jacob moves a centimeter closer, his lips could be on yours. Jacob is so close to you that he can kiss you. If Jacob moves his face just slightly, then all the dreams and fantasies of having his lips on yours can be reality. You’re just so close to him. “I’m in love with you.”

The wide smile on your face drops. Shock overcomes your features as you suddenly pull back. That wasn’t the answer you were expecting. “What?” You were very sober now. Jacob, too, it seems as he realizes his mistake. He shouldn’t have said that.

“No, I, I don’t know why I said that,” Jacob quickly backtracks as he sees you start to get your things to leave. “Actually, I do know. I’ve been in love with you the minute you walked into that bar the night you met Matthew. I’ve loved you for all these years as I watched you be with Matthew and move away and then move back. I love you, and I know you probably don’t feel the same way, but I can't live in this world where you don’t know anymore.”

“I have to go, Jacob, I’m sorry,” you say, and with that, you sprint out of Jacob’s apartment. Was this the last time that Jacob ever sees you again?

. . .

Annica was taking you out. She claimed you and her needed a girl’s night without the guys. You’ve had this night planned for weeks now, but after what Jacob said to you, a girl’s night was the last thing you wanted. You almost forgot about it, but when Annica showed up at your door at 1 PM with everything needed to stock a spa, you realized that you could use the self-care.

You managed to go the entire day without talking about or mentioning Jacob, and it was exactly what you needed. You’re not sure if Jacob told her what happened, but if he did, she’s good at hiding any anger she might have for you.

It was nearing 7 PM, and Annica was in your guest room getting changed after you did each other’s hair and makeup. You had no idea what dress you were going to wear but figured there was something in your closet that would be suitable. That’s when you saw it. You saw the gold dress sitting on its hanger and shining perfectly for tonight.

That’s when you broke down. That’s when all the tears and anguish and anger and sadness all come flooding to you. You missed him. You missed Jacob more than anyone could ever know. You missed his smile. You missed his laugh. You missed his ability to make you happy and always put a smile on your face.

You never realized the butterflies in your stomach and the heat on your face and the wide smiles on your face were love. All these ways that Jacob made you feel. You thought it was all best friends being best friends, but now you know. It’s love. You love Jacob, and he loves you, too, and you’ve absolutely messed that up with him.

You love Jacob, and that thought is enough to send more tears streaming down your face. You love Jacob, and when he told you, you ran out of his apartment.

You’re crying at the missed opportunities. You’re mourning the could haves and should haves and the would haves. You’re mourning a relationship you never knew you could have. You never thought of Jacob romantically because it was weird that Jacob was friends with Matthew. This was the first time you’ve thought of Matthew in a really long time. All this time, it was never Matthew. It was always Jacob. Always, always Jacob.

Annica finds you a few minutes later, clutching the gold dress as tears run down your face. She runs over to you and holds you in a giant hug as the tears continue to fall. Once they begin to subside, Annica runs into your bedroom to grab you a box of tissues.

“He bought me this dress,” you say randomly once Annica is seated back next to you. “I needed a dress for a work function, and he took me shopping. I told him I could buy the dresses on my own, but he still bought them for me. When I asked him why he bought the dresses, he called me ‘his girl’. He’s never called me that before, but I remember thinking that it was the only thing I wanted him to ever call me. I love him, Annica.”

“Oh, babe,” Annica says as she hands you a tissue.

“He finally told me how he feels, and now, I think I’ve ruined it. It took me all this time to realize that I loved him. All those years before I moved, it was always just Matthew on my mind because I thought I loved him. Jacob was just my best friend, but then, well, you know what happened. Then I moved back and Jacob continued to just be my best friend, and then I started feeling things that I thought it was just friend things. Jacob then tells me he loves me, and I run out of his apartment because I don’t know how to react. Man, this sucks. I’m sitting in my closet crying about my best friend who I love as more than a friend who I’m sure wants nothing to do with me anymore.”

“I highly doubt that,” Annica reassures. “He’s been in love with you for so, so long. You running away from him isn’t going to change that. I’m like one-hundred percent sure that he thinks you’re the one for him. Babe, he loves you more than anyone or anything.”

“Yeah, but—”

“No, buts. He loves you, and if you tell him, it’ll only make him significantly happier. I can promise you that Elias and Jacob are having this same conversation at our home. He loves you, and he’ll never stop loving you.”

“You think that?”

“I know that,” Annica assures and chuckles.

“I’m really not up to going out tonight,” you say through your own chuckles as you wipe your nose.

“That’s more than fine, we’ll get drunk on your couch.”

You smile. “I’d like that.

. . .

The knocking echos through Jacob’s apartment as he sits on his couch and wills himself not to move. He knows it’s you on the other side of the door because you’re the only one who’d constantly knock on Jacob’s door when no one was answering. You also called ahead, so Jacob definitely knows it’s you.

He sighs. He can’t keep listening to this. Jacob walks over to the door and opens it. “Go away, I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Jacob, please,” you beg, but he shuts the door in your face. He could barely take you breaking his heart the first time when you left, but when you ran out of his apartment the other night, Jacob could barely survive. You were Jacob’s entire life, and when he realized you didn’t love him as much as he did, his heart shattered.

“No, I can’t do this again,” Jacob says as he opens the door again. “When you left the first time, you broke my heart entirely. I know that’s not your fault because you didn’t know how I feel and you were nursing your own heartbreak, but when you left the other night? When you know the facts? I don’t know how I’m ever going to get over that. I know we can try to be friends, but we really can’t. I love you too much, and you hurt me too much to ever get back to being friends. I can’t.”

“Jacob, please, just listen to me!” you scream and push Jacob into his apartment and past him.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Jacob says.

“I really don’t care,” you reply. “When I left, I was hurting and broken. I didn’t even know you were an option to love. I just wanted to feel happy, be happy, and feel myself again. When I moved back, you helped me love my home city again. You helped me get back on my feet. You, Jacob, are the reason why I learned to love my home again. I never realized that it was actually me loving you than it was loving this city.”

“Don’t, don’t pretend.”

“Jacob, can’t you just listen to me? I love you, Jacob. I love you more than I could ever possibly imagine.”

Jacob takes a step towards you. “Don’t just stay things because you want me back.”

You shake your head and sigh. “I’m saying the things I feel. Do I want you back in my life? Yes. Do I love you? Yes. Those two separate thoughts can and do coexist. I love you, Jacob, and I don’t think I can go another possible day where I don’t tell you and love you.”

Jacob softly whispers your name.

“Why won’t you let me love you, Jacob?”

“Because you don’t,” he whispers.

You shove Jacob in frustration and angry tears start to pool around your eyes. “I love you, Jacob Markstrom, and if you don’t listen to me and let me love you, I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next day.”

“Why now? Why tell me now?”

“Annica and I were going to do a girl’s night a few days ago, and I was going through my closet to find something to wear. Jacob, I saw the gold dress you bought me, and I broke down. I didn’t have you in my life for three days, and I couldn’t take it. I thought everything I was feeling over the past few years was just friendship things, but it’s not normal for my heart to race and my vision to go blurry when you’re around. It’s not normal for me to want to hug you and hold you and smell you and never let go. Friends don’t do that. Jacob, I love you, please let me love you.”

“I love you,” Jacob whispers. “I love you more than you could possibly know.”

“Then let me love you, Jacob,” you whisper and take a step closer to him. You wrap your arms around his shoulders and lean your head against his. “Please, let me love you. I love you so much.”

“Okay,” he responds and closes the space between you, and places his lips on yours. “Only if you let me love you.”

“Always,” you say and kiss him. You weren’t ever going to let Jacob go. Never again.

Good Things Taglist: @stars-canucks, @besthockeyfics, @sydnikov, @nilspettersson, @puckbunnyforsway, @lam-ila (Join the Good Things taglist here!)

Jacob Markstrom Taglist: @joelsfarabees, @stars-canucks, @ilyasorokinn, @maximoff-xmen, @sunshinegiroux, @sixmapleleafs, @2manytabsopen, @boqvistsbabe, @no-pucks-given, @fanficrecsby-e, @iwantahockeyhimbo, @heatherawoowoo, @islesnucks, @mandypants95, @plds2000, @goalision, @besthockeyfics, @localhockeygirl, @ddayyuu, @ghostyjosty, @bb-nhlqueen7, @lam-ila, @laurenairay, @trashforbarzal (Join the hockey taglist here!)

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matsbarzal · 3 years ago

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The blurbs are sooo good!!! Can i request number 5 from the song prompts w marky!? ❣️

songs #5. could i be yours in the morning? i’m tired of counting down streetlights - yours in the morning (patrick droney)

pairing: jacob markstrom x reader word count: 1.2k

Things had never been inordinately easy when it came to Jacob. He was an enigma, his thoughts and feelings a riddle to you throughout the duration of the game you continuously played; while also being a breath of fresh air, something so different that the remainder of the city of Calgary just… didn’t have to offer.

It was strange the first time you met, his eyes practically boring holes into your head from across the small, empty park. Jacob’s dog’s leash wrapped around his hand; the pup eager to get a good sniff at everything he could get his little nose into; including you.

One second the leash was wrapped around Jacob’s hand, the next the pup was eagerly pouncing on your legs, undoubtfully excited to get the chance to interact with someone other than his owner. At a heightened time in the middle of a pandemic, it was difficult for new owners to socialize their dog’s, especially when said owner was a professional hockey player who was required to follow a stipulation of extra rules.

Jacob had apologized profusely when he realized, his hands trying to tug the overexcited dog from your lap.

“No, no. It’s totally okay, he’s the sweetest little thing. Probably trying to convince me to get one of my own,” you had said, your eyes smiling up at the incredibly attractive man in front of you, his tall, yet muscular body covered by an expensive-looking coat.

Every day following, the encounters were almost the same; you would spend the early morning in the park, Jacob’s pup, or Axel as you been told, actively seeking you out on their morning walks. Especially since you had begun bringing his favourite treats along with you to the small park.

It had taken Jacob all of six run-ins to ask for your number, and days of texting to muster up the courage to ask you if you’d be willing to meet him early to take Axel for a walk; citing the fact that he was sure the dog adored you more than him.

Jacob had kept quiet about his occupation at first, eager to get the chance to know someone who wasn’t intent on knowing him for his position in the sport. It had taken you inquiring about his weird travel schedule for him to come clean, admitting that it was nice talking to someone about something other than hockey, that it was something he didn’t get to do often, especially as a goaltender.

You had made it your mission to ignore the aspects of his job, opting to talk about anything else you could. He told you about his hometown, and all the beautiful things Gävle had to offer, his eyes lighting up every time he had the opportunity to talk about it. You had told him about your hometown, your family, the people you grew up with, everything you could think of. The Flames goaltender had listened intently, always eager to listen to you and the sound of your voice.

It had never gone past your early morning walks, you never wanting to disrupt the friendship you had with the man, and Jacob not being able to build up the courage to ask you if you’d be willing to do something… as more than friends.

That is, until Elias began insisting on being able to come on his early morning walks, intent on finding out what would entice his friend to stay out in the cold morning air of Calgary every day that they weren’t on the road. The fellow Swede almost cackled when he realized it was because of you, his hysterics masked by an overbearing grin and incredibly kind pleasantries.

The moment the two Swede’s got home, it took Elias all of an hour to convince his teammate and friend how imperative it was that he ask you out on a formal date. Not just an early morning walk through a park.

“I was wondering if maybe you’d like to grab a coffee?”

Looking up at him quizzingly, you tilted your head to the side. “For our walk? Absolutely. It’s getting a little chilly, wouldn’t mind something to warm us up, stay here, I’ll go grab it.”

Elias had threw his head back with a groan when Jacob relayed what had happened to him, citing that he needed to be more specific next time. But next time was slow to come, the Flames having one of their longest stretches of travel games in a row, your next walk with the Swede and his friendly pup delayed.

“Here! I’m pretty sure this is what you had me order for you last time, so I hope it’s right,” Jacob was surprised when you offered him the warm travel cup of coffee, a pleasant grin taking over his face.

“Order looks right on the side, sötnos.”

“Ouu, Swedish words, eh? Think it’s only fair if you’re planning on teaching me the whole language, otherwise I’m just sitting here in the dark, and you could be calling me rude names for all I know,” he had laughed loudly at your words, Axel zipping around his legs at the sound.

“Promise it’s not a rude name, I would never call you anything rude. How about we go and drop Axel off at my house, and we can go grab a real cup of coffee? I’ll teach you all the Swedish words you want.”

“May end up sitting there for a while then, pretty sure we won’t be able to get through an entire language in one day.”

Things had continued from there, the walks continued, but you started spending more time together outside of them, Jacob letting you into his small bubble; his time focused on you when it wasn’t focused on hockey.

There had been kisses shared, but nothing beyond that; you had spent almost all your free time together, but there had never been a mention of what you were, what you were evolving to become. And it was starting to get frustrating, confusing even.

“Jacob… I hate to ask this, but I can’t keep sitting here confused anymore, wondering what’s going on,” looking at you with a puzzled look, the Swede urged you to continue, a kind smile upon his lips.

“I just, what are we? Are we dating? Friends who kiss and spend all their free time together? I’m just confused.”

You had watched his eyes shift into a look of confusion, bewilderment and then eventually a small, teasing smile had taken over his lips.

“I forget that sometimes I’m not the most obvious about how I feel, or what I want. I’m not one to really keep my heart on my sleeve, but I kind of figured we were dating, or at least seeing each other. Because I would like to date you, if you want to date me. Counting the streetlights after I leave your apartment at night is only nice for so long, it would be nice if I could see your face in the morning as well; hear the rasp in your voice, learn the breakfast foods you like, cuddle up to you at night.”

It was of course, an easy yes.

note: AH thank you so much for your kind words, im so glad you like them! thank you so much for requesting, and i hope you enjoy <3

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laurenairay · 4 years ago

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2) “You’ve been avoiding me, why?” with Jacob Markstrom please!🖤

Here you go @danglesnipecelly – thank you for letting me borrow your man! 😘

This is the last of my prompt list blurbs so I hope you’ve all enjoyed them!

“You’ve been avoiding me, why?”

Drinking always had repercussions. You knew that, not even because you were no longer young and naïve. Sure, your tolerance had gotten better over the years, but the amount of time you went out partying had decreased in turn, so it all balanced out. And by that, it means that casual drinks were absolutely fine, but one big night out would knock you off your feet.

And now, one of your newest friendships was suffering because of your dumb actions.

Three weeks ago was Elias’s birthday. Annica had invited you as you were one of their neighbours and you’d grown quite close with her over the past couple of years since she and Elias had moved to Calgary. Through them, you’d met Jacob this year…and you knew the moment that you saw him that you were in trouble. No-one should be that tall, that handsome, and that sweet – it just wasn’t fair. Luckily you’d managed to keep your heart eyes to yourself (although you had a feeling that Annica had her suspicions) as well as keeping your cool around him…until the party three weeks ago.

You’d managed to make excuses to avoid group gatherings, only meeting with Annica when it was just the two of you, but she had begged you to come to the casual party Elias was throwing at their place tonight, and you hadn’t found it in your heart to tell her no, even though you were dreading facing the man you’d made a fool of yourself in front of.

It had only taken 30 minutes before you found yourself cornered by Jacob in the kitchen.

“Finally, I thought I’d never get you alone,”

You cursed under your breath before looking up at the Swedish giant with a nervous smile, making Jacob frown slightly, before his face smoothed out.

“You’ve been avoiding me, why?” Jacob asked softly.

Was there any point in lying?

Probably not.

It’s not like he didn’t know…

“Because I made an absolute tit out of myself last time I saw you?” you offered, smiling wearily.

Jacob laughed, making you wince, but he just shook his head.

“That’s why you’ve turned into a ghost? I thought I’d done something wrong!” Jacob mused.

Oh god no, that was the furthest thing from the truth.

“You were wonderful. It was me who was a dumb drunk mess,” you grumbled, face flaring with heat.

“You were not the drunkest person there – so far from it. And you weren’t a mess…you were cute,” he insisted.

Cute? No, he didn’t mean it like that. You sent him an unimpressed look but he just grinned back at you. Where to even start?

Even just thinking about the events of the night three weeks ago made you cringe so hard. The evening had started well, don’t get you wrong. You’d worn a cute flowery dress and put your hair up in a pretty braid, with a little light make-up to finish off the look. Annica had greeted you with a big hug and a large glass of white wine…and that’s where the night went downhill.

In short, you’d gotten absolutely smashed on white wine with Annica.

Wine drunk was a different level – while you knew that you definitely weren’t the only very drunk person that night, everything you’d done…ugh. Not okay.

“What do you remember from the night?” Jacob asked, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Everything, unfortunately,” you grumbled.

“It can’t all have been bad,” he teased.

Hah. That’s what he thought.

You admit, it started slowly. A bottle of wine shared between you and Annica got you started on karaoke (who brought the machine with them, you had no idea), with a whole queue of people continuing after you.

Then came the second bottle of wine – when you’d finished that, a lot of other people were drunk too. Elias himself was so drunk that he fell off the sofa laughing at something that Noah had said. And instead of helping him up, you and Annica had sat behind him and braided his hair, each of you having a spare hairband around your wrist to secure the two messy braids (and you were certain Jacob himself had taken a few photos of the braiding session).

You knew you’d eaten after then. And drank some water too. But that didn’t stop you from getting drunk-teary as Milan’s wife showed you the cutest new photos of her kids (they were just so cute!). Drunk-teary, like seriously. Thankfully you hadn’t full-on cried but that was bad enough. Annica had saved you from that…by dragging you into the kitchen and pouring you another glass of wine.

This devolved into the two of you going back and forth, telling each other you’re so pretty, no you’re so pretty, until Elias and Jacob stopped just watching in amusement and interrupted the love fest, with Elias taking Annica outside into the backyard for some fresh air, Jacob just getting you some more water.

As you recounted it all to Jacob, the smile on his face only grew.

“None of that was bad! I told you so – you were happy drunk and no-one thought bad of you, I promise,”

“I wish I could believe you,” you sighed.

“Anyone that remembered anything, which was very few people because vodka was flowing heavily, only thought it was cute and funny, I swear,” Jacob grinned.

The way that he kept insisting, the way that he kept repeating that you hadn’t made a fool of yourself, gave you a spark of hope. Maybe?

Then his face went serious, making your stomach fill with butterflies.

“And do you remember what you said to me?” Jacob asked softly.

You swallowed heavily. There it was. How could you not? It was why you’d been avoiding him.

“Yeah, I do,”

When he’d gotten you the water in the kitchen, you’d told him he was the most handsome man you’d ever met. With the biggest drunkest smile on your face. You wish you had Annica’s memory-loss bliss, but unfortunately the memory was seared into your brain. You could only thank your fairy godmother that instead of doing anything even more stupid, you’d just skipped off to find your friend afterwards.

But being here with him now, knowing in your gut that he remembered everything too, that gave you the heaviest feeling in the pit of your stomach.

“You said I was handsome. The most handsome guy you’d ever met,” he said.

Almost word for word. Wow. Fantastic. Just what you needed. Even just hearing the words said out loud again sent another hot rush of embarrassment flooding through your body, and it was all you could do not to shudder.

“Yeah I’m well aware. Can you just forget it, please?” you sighed.

But Jacob shook his head, confusing you. What? “Why would I want to forget?” he asked, frowning.

“Please, J, it’s embarrassing as hell and I’d like to still be able to show my face around here,” you pleaded.

Why was he being like this?

But then he stepped closer to you, impossibly closer, one hand rising to cup your face. You inhaled sharply as his thumb stroked over your cheekbone, unable to look away from his beautiful blue eyes.

“Why would I want to forget the most beautiful woman I know, telling me that I’m the most handsome guy?” he said seriously, towering over you in a way that took your breath away.

He…you…what?

“You can’t just say that,” you murmured, feeling helpless, but in no way that you wanted to be rescued.

“I mean it. I’m not just saying it either. I wish I told you sooner,” he said firmly.

“Jacob…” you whispered.

You trailed off, unsure of what to say. Did he mean it? Did he really mean it? Jacob saw the uncertainty mixing with hope on your face, and licked his bottom lip nervously. The thumb that had been stroking over your cheek brushed over your bottom lip, making you gasp.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked quietly.

Even though the two of you were in public, in the open kitchen, it felt like you were in your own little world. You were completely consumed by him.

“Yes,” was all you could whisper in reply.

Jacob wasted no time in leaning his head down to press his lips to yours. You couldn’t help but whimper as he kissed you firmly, no hesitation, no nerves, just kissed you over and over and over until your head was spinning.

And then he broke away, making you gasp for breath, heart racing even more at the intensity in his eyes, the wet shine on his lips.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long,” he murmured.

You just clutched at his shirt, your knees feeling weak, words escaping you. He’s wanted to kiss you? Was this really happening? Jacob could see how overwhelmed you were, his eyes desperately searching yours for any sign of discomfort, but he found only surprise. So he took a deep breath to settle his nerves.

“Let me take you out on a date. Let me show you how beautiful I think you are,” Jacob asked softly, smiling hopefully.

The smile that spread across your lips felt ridiculous, but you couldn’t stop it. “I would love that,” you replied, smiling shyly.

Jacob just grinned before ducking his head to kiss you again, his hands travelling down your body to clutch at your waist as your hands slid up around his neck. This all felt like such a dream, a wonderful impossible dream. But there was no way you could’ve imagined the way his body felt pressing up against yours, or the way his tongue sent shivers down your spine. This was better than any fantasy, and you couldn’t wait to see how it played out.

#my writing #prompt list blurb #jacob markstrom #jacob markstrom blurb #i too would definitely tell marky he was handsome while drunk #thanks for letting me borrow your man K!#jacob markstrom fic #jacob markstrom x reader #jacob markstrom imagine #prompt lists #hockey writing #hockey blurb #hockey fic #nhl writing #nhl blurb #nhl fic

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