#zack collins x tyler heineman

[zackcollins]

hard to love || z. collins/t.heineman

masterlist

Author’s Note: Hi!! I’m back with my first fic in what feels like an eternity. The fact that it’s an rpf fic about a rarepair my brain thought of for probably no reason in the middle of that shitshow of a Leafs game last night is something I can probably write a whole dissertation about. But, I’m not gonna and say I did because I don’t think I actually have it in me to write that many words about anything. Anyways! Tyler GIF credit to anotherhockeypage; Zack GIF credit to yours truly.

Warnings: A shoulder injury takes place in this fic (it’s to Zack). There is description of what the injury feels like as well as the use of a makeshift sling. If any of that bothers you, feel free not to read this. Feel free to let me know if I missed anything else and I’ll warn about it for you!

Word Count: 1.2k (literally on the nose LOL)

Title: Hard to Love by Lee Brice

Additional: If you found this by Googling yourself, are in this yourself, or know someone in this, please click back. No harm was meant in the creation of this fic. It’s a work of fiction that was inspired by the fact that Tyler was once an ice hockey goalie for the Jr. Kings in his youth. As for the jerseys I had them both wear... you’ll get a cookie in your ask box if you know why. Anyways! I hope you enjoy this and feedback is always appreciated and welcomed!

Tagging: @donttelltheelff​

As Zack stared down Tyler coming in on a breakaway, he prepared himself in the net. He was trying to remember everything that the aforementioned Tyler had taught him. Don’t commit too early. Don’t overcommit. Stay with the play. It sounded simple enough but seeing how fast Tyler was rushing at him, how he was moving the ball along the pavement... everything was suddenly becoming too much to handle.

Tyler made a move to Zack’s right; Zack moved with him. Apparently, Zack had forgotten one of the rules—don’t commit too early—because Tyler quickly moved back to his left and shot the ball towards the top corner of the net. Zack, in desperation, threw his arm out to try to stop Tyler from getting the goal. As soon as he had done that, he felt something in his shoulder snap in the wrong direction. Instead of stopping the ball as he had intended, he fell to the pavement and groaned in pain.

The ball clanked off the crossbar and deflected into the garage door behind the net It ricocheted back and plunked Zack in the back of the head before it rolled into the net. He barely registered the sound of Tyler cheering because the sound of the pain ruminating in his ears was incredibly intense.

When something touched his non-injured shoulder, Zack jolted in surprise. He had been so lost in his pain that he has forgotten that he wasn’t alone. When he looked up to see who it was, he relaxed when he realized that it was just Tyler. Zack felt something pull tight in his stomach when he saw that Tyler looked genuinely frightened and concerned.

“Zack? What’s wrong, bud?” He asked as he squatted down.

“My shoulder,” Zack said, using his good arm to motion to where it hurt. “I felt something snap when I reached for the ball.”

“Can you sit up?”

Zack nodded as he did as instructed, trying his best to keep as much pressure off of his injured shoulder as he possibly could. Tyler looked at Zack’s shoulder and manipulated it in every possible direction to test its mobility. The entire time, Zack hissed and groaned in pain because it felt like his muscles were going to explode from the pressure that was being put on them.

“I think you snapped your latissimus dorsi muscle,” Tyler said after a few minutes. He laid Zack’s arm flat against his chest. He took off the LA Kings Jonathan Bernier jersey he was wearing and tied it around Zack’s neck like a makeshift sling. “You’ll need to wear that until we can get you into the team trainers.”

“Fuck, alright,” Zack replied as he slipped his arm carefully—and painfully—into the makeshift sling. “Thanks, man. You seem to know your shit. I didn’t realize I was friends with a genius.”

Tyler chuckled as he helped Zack stand up from the pavement. “I was a goalie and that means a lot of weird injuries. You learn a lot of medical jargon from that.”

“Still, man. I’m a catcher and you get some weird ass injuries from that too. Doesn’t mean I know what the hell a latiwhateverthefuck is.”

“Yeah, yeah. I think it’s well-established that you’re mentally adjacent to something a trailer park cat dragged in out of the dumpster.”

Zack huffed in bemusement as he and Tyler walked from the driveway to the front door. Tyler opened it and motioned for Zack to go first. Nodding his thanks and smiling, Zack walked through the door and into the foyer of his house.

“That may be true but you know you still love me all the same.”

“In, um, more ways than one, bud.”

Stopping dead in his tracks, Zack turned around to face the other catcher. He had barely heard what was said because Tyler had inexplicably slammed the front door; it felt to Zack like that had been strategic, almost like Tyler didn’t want Zack to hear him. When Zack looked at Tyler to gauge his reaction, he, predictably, looked scared out of his mind. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was rubbing at his forearms and shifting nervously from foot to foot as he seemed to be trying to look anywhere but at Zack.

“Did you just...?” Zack asked, a dumbfounded expression on his face.

Tyler nodded in response. He had stopped shifting from foot to foot. Instead, he had taken a couple of steps back towards the door, his face looking like he was ready to burst into tears at any moment.

Blinking owlishly, Zack pointed at himself with his hand that wasn’t in the sling. “Feelings... for me...?”

“If that makes you uncomfortable, I can ask for a trade,” Tyler said, his back now flush against the door.

“If you do, I’m asking for a trade to the same team because the way I feel for you is well beyond ‘strictly bros.’”

“It wouldn’t be the fir—excuse me?”

Zack chuckled as he held his hand out. He raised an eyebrow and gave Tyler a rather pointed look. The other catcher nodded so Zack took that as his permission to step forward and into Tyler’s personal space. As soon as he did, Tyler dropped his head against Zack’s good shoulder. Zack pressed a soft kiss to the top of Tyler’s head as he used his free hand to feather his fingers along the skin on Tyler’s side. He smiled into Tyler’s hair when he felt a shiver run up his side at the touch.

“I feel the same way, Ty.”

“Thank you,” Tyler said, though it was muffled by the All-Star Jack Campbell jersey Zack was wearing.

“I think I can honestly say,” Zack paused to press another kiss to the top of Tyler’s head, “this is the first time someone has thanked me for having feelings for them.”

Tyler lifted his head to look at Zack. Zack swallowed thickly when he saw that Tyler’s cheeks and eyes were wet. He grabbed the cuff of his jersey sleeve and took it to wipe away the wetness on Tyler’s face. Tyler responded by grabbing Zack’s wrist and pressing a soft kiss to the inside of it. A warm sensation blossomed at the point where Tyler’s lips met his skin; that made Zack sigh contentedly as he brought his thumb up to run it along Tyler’s cheek.

Smiling, Tyler turned his head ever so slightly and pressed another kiss to the inside of Zack’s wrist. The same sensation blossomed on his skin at the kiss; this time, Zack responded by leaning forward and pressing a kiss to the other catcher’s temple. That made Tyler sigh and wrap one of his arms around Zack’s midsection as he dropped his head back against the good shoulder.

“When you’ve been as unlucky in love as I have,” Tyler said with a sigh. He patted Zack on the back a couple of times before continuing. “You learn to be thankful when something finally goes your way.”

“I’m not like anyone you’ve dated before, man.”

Tyler lifted his head and looked at Zack with a genuine smile. “Why do you think I’m thankful?”

[zackcollins]

~*~ Blog Info ~*~

General Info

Hi! You can call me Robin-Tyler, R.T. or Robbie!

My pronouns are: she/her, they/them, or he/him

I’m okay with being referred to with masculine, feminine, and neutral gendered terms.

I live in the ancestral and unceded territory of the Aamjiwnaang people (Ontario, Canada).

I’m 24 years old. Minors are welcomed to unfollow/block me because I will sometimes post more mature content.

I  will tag anything triggering with “tw (trigger)”. If I miss something,  don’t be afraid to tell me. I’ll gladly add whatever someone feels needs a warning.

This is mainly a sports blog based around hockey and baseball. My favourite teams are the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Toronto Blue Jays

You can find information about some personalized tags, fanfic, and the current state of my masterlists under the cut!!

Babygirl Info

Hockey: Jack Campbell (#babygirl crazy catman), Tyson Jost (#babygirl chromatica), Cole Caufield (#babygirl small coffee), Mitch Marner (#babygirl wall bouncer), Mikko Rantanen (#babygirl peanut egg burger), Josh Anderson (#babygirl bench dresser)

Baseball: Zack Collins (#babygirl trailer trash), Tyler Heineman (#babygirl jr king), Cavan Biggio (#babygirl mimic), Bo Bichette (#babygirl man bun), Matt Chapman (#babygirl chapstick), Ross Stripling (#babygirl chicken strip), Ryan Borucki (#babygirl free elf), George Springer (#babygirl lovebug)

M*A*S*H: Father Francis Mulcahy (#babygirl himbo priest), Maxwell Klinger (#babygirl section 8), Margaret Houlihan (#babygirl cinnamon candy)

X-Files: Fox Mulder (#babygirl spooky), Dana Scully (#babygirl doctor fbi)

Babyboy Info

Hockey: Frederik Andersen (#babyboy pastry), Erik Källgren (#babyboy babygoalie), J.T. Compher (#babyboy jimothy timothy), Nick Suzuki (#babyboy small coffee enthusiast), T.J. Brodie (#babyboy mayor of chatham), James Reimer (#babyboy optimus reims)

Baseball: Kevin Gausman (#babyboy powdered donut), Randal Grichuk (#babyboy rocky mountain bird), Danny Jansen (#babyboy sports goggles), Alek Manoah (#babyboy mamas boy), Adam Cimber (#babyboy joe dirt), José Berríos (#babyboy mouthguard), Brian Serven (#babyboy love child), Jack Suwinski (#babyboy almighty), Trevor Richards (#babyboy silver fox)

M*A*S*H: B.J. Hunnicutt (#babyboy anything you want), Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce (#babyboy last of the mohicans)

X-Files: Alex Krycek (#babyboy fbi double agent)

Mass Effect: Kaidan Alenko (#babyboy biotic child)

Babyperson Info

Hockey: Alexander Kerfoot (#babyperson ivy leaguer), Cale Makar (#babyperson movie pun)

Baseball: Luke Maile (#babyperson mailbox), Jordan Romano (#babyperson canadas closer)

due South: Benton Fraser (#babyperson wolf tamer)

Other Info

Other content you may see on this blog includes:  M*A*S*H, due South, X-Files, Zelda, Mario, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, Mass Effect, animals, Marvel, food, nature/plants, paranormal, and just anything I find interesting/appealing.

I sometimes write fanfiction. Right now, the fandoms I write for are  hockey, baseball, M*A*S*H, X-Files, due South, Mass Effect, and Marvel.  And, for reference, I write/take requests for self-inserts and ship pairings. The ship pairings include hockey and baseball rpf so do with that what you will.

I’ve had a rough mental time recently, so I’m changing my URL to, hopefully, get some much needed happiness. I’ll fix the masterlists once I’m feeling back to my old self. Sorry for the sudden change. I just need this for my own mental well-being.