I started this blog because I had too many ideas and thought I’d put myself out there and share it. I’m new to posting on here so please be nice 🙏
I’m open to requests. The following players are the ones I currently write for! The only thing I won’t write is smut, just because I personally feel awkward writing that for real life people.
Pairing: Will Smith x reader & Macklin Celebrini x reader
Summary: You go on a trip to a cabin with your two best friends who are both in love with you.
WC: 1,830
AN: I lost the request that @septembervirgorose made for this, but I’m excited for this little series! This is a love triangle, I’ve never written one before so I hope this isn’t complete ass. Also RIP to sharks ekky 😔
The trip started with 8 people. Then it quickly dwindled down. Cat and Toff had a random grad party to go to. Eky decided to go back to Sweden early. Sam said he wasn't going because his dog ate something suspicious, and of course Misa replied a few seconds later saying he won't make it either.
"Ate something suspicious my ass." You mutter bitterly, staring at the group message. You pull up your other group chat with Will and Mack. You three are the only ones who are able to go apparently.
You: So are we just canceling this thing orrr?
Mack: Nope. Trip is still occurring.
You: Occurring is a big word for someone who doesn't know who Marie Curie is.
Mack: We're still going but maybe the attitude should stay here
Will: I'm driving us.
That was the most Will response ever. No room for discussion or arguments. He's always driven the three of you though, even more so after his Ford sponsorship.
You sigh and start packing the rest of your things.
— the next day at 4am —
"You got shotgun on the way here." You argue with Mack. You both have your hand on the door handle, trying to push the other away with your hip.
"So? I called it before you did, plus the drive here was only 10 minutes. That's nothing compared to the 10 hours we're about to drive for." Mack insists, shoving a bit harder on you.
You open your mouth to yell at him, your anger rising even more at his harsh shove, Will beats you to it though. "Y/n gets the front seat, you guys can switch every-time we stop." Will says as he carefully places the last bag of yours into the trunk. Of course both of them insisted on helping you carry your bags out. Mack got distracted when you ran for the passenger door though.
Mack grunts in disagreement but nonetheless steps back from the door. You don't hesitate to open it and hop in, sticking your tongue out teasingly at Mack.
You two tend to fight like siblings since you've known each other for so long. You grew up in the house next to his back in Vancouver. You naturally became best friends with all of the time you two spent in the backyard together. Your families were so close too that you even went on vacations together as children. So when Mack got drafted to San Jose, you couldn't help but pick a college close to him just so you guys weren't so far apart. There's not been a day that's gone by where you haven't seen Mack. That leads to the sibling-like bickering however.
Rap music flows from the speakers when Will turns on the car. "I gotta change this. I'm not listening to this for 10 hours." You tell Will, reaching over to grab his phone out of the center console.
"Okay, put on whatever you want." He sends you a smile. You smile back, already typing in his password to his phone.
You met Will when Mack met Will. Since you spend so much time with Mack, you spent a lot of time with Will too when Mack started to hangout with him. You admire the kind of gentle spirit that Will has, it's like water to yours and Mack's fire.
"What the fuck? She gets to change the music whenever she wants but I can't?" Mack exclaims from the back. He pounces forward, poking his head between yours and Will's seat, giving Will a dirty look.
"That's probably because he likes me more than you." You respond for Will. You put your palm on Mack's forehead and shove him back into the backseat.
Beside you Will laughs but says nothing. Mack grumbles about how mean you are. You ignore him and search for a song to play.
— 5 hours later —
You wake up to the sound of a door closing. You shoot up anxiously, looking around for the noise. You're in the backseat now, having switched with Mack a few hours ago. You fell asleep after about 10 minutes after Will started driving again. You're not used to waking up as early as you did. Neither are the boys really, but they're more accustomed to early mornings than you.
Will looks in through the window when he notices that you're awake. The gas pumps slowly fills up his tank behind him. You relax back a bit, realizing that he stopped to get gas. Your sleep fog slowly starts fading.
The passenger door opens and Mack pokes his head through. He dumps two energy drinks into the cup holders up front before his eyes meet yours. He jumps a bit, head bumping the top of the car. "Ow, shit!" He lets out a few more swear words.
"There's a roof there, just so you know." You tease him through laughter.
"Ha. Ha. Very funny. I thought you were sleeping still, you scared me." He shoots you an annoyed look. He then reaches into the little plastic bag he has and throws a drink at you. "I got you your favorite." He throws another item at you, it landing right on your lap. "I also got you your usual roadtrip snack."
You sit up a bit straighter, adjusting the pillow behind your back. You're laying across the entire backseat, curled up and facing towards the back. Will originally scolded you for laying in such an unsafe position but you were too tired to care.
"Can we switch again actually? I'm tired now." Mack asks you after a beat of silence, a slight whining tone taking onto his sentence.
"I was going to nap again until at least the next stop." You answer him, letting yourself whine a bit too.
Mack rolls his eyes, closing the passenger door. He starts walking towards the back door. You think for a moment he's going to just drag you out of the backseat and get in himself. Then he opens the door and crawls in, flopping his body onto yours. You groan at the added weight, shifting a bit to get away from his bony knees. "Mack you big lug, get off me."
Mack shakes his head, forehead burrowing deeper into your neck. His hair tickles your cheek and the familiar scent of his shampoo floods your nose. "Just let me sleep." He mumbles, likely already halfway into a deep sleep.
Your stomach flutters at the close contact. You’ve slept over with Mack plenty of times over the years. Even when you were kids you would snuggle like you are now. When you hit middle school that stopped though. When cuddling turned into something romantic instead of something that you do with family, you never did it again. It’s not something you’re used to anymore, cuddling with Mack. At least that’s what you’re telling yourself when your stomach swoons at the feeling of his breath on your neck.
“Absolutely not. I’m getting pulled over if a cop sees that.” Will says immediately when he opens the drivers side door. You swallow thickly, shoving away the thoughts in your brain.
“Shut up Will, no one’s pulling you over.” Mack turns his head to the side to yell at Will. Then his head promptly goes back into the crook of your neck.
You catch Will’s eyes in the rearview mirror. His expression is completely unreadable as he shifts into drive.
— 5 more hours —
Mack parks the car and you let out a sigh of relief. In the back, Will unbuckles and exits the car, dramatically looking up at the sky and shouting words of gratitude that he’s alive. Will let Mack drive for the last hour of the trip, much to your surprise. It was a mistake though because Mack being freshly new to driving is not good to combine with driving through the mountains of Oregon. Will tried to sleep but quickly realized he couldn’t when Mack hit a large pothole 10 minutes in.
“Come on, I’m not that bad. You guys are just dramatic.” Mack scoffs, hopping out of the bronco.
“Dude, my head hit the roof at one point. You can’t drive that fast on such a hilly road.” Will argues, pointing his finger in Mack’s chest.
“That was one time! If you’re not hitting your head on the roof at least once, then you’re not driving right.” Mack’s voice fades as you walk around to the trunk to get your stuff out.
“That’s not how it works! Who even gave you a license? They should be fired.” You hear Will exclaim as you lift your suitcase out of the back.
“Hey idiots, come get your stuff!” You call out to them. They both grumble a bit but nonetheless walk to the trunk and start lifting bags out. Mack of course takes all of his bags in one trip, just so he won’t have to go back out again.
You’re baffled by the hockey player’s strength as you struggle to hoist your suitcase up the stairs of the cabin. “I’ll take it, go get your pillows and stuff.” Will softly says, fingers brushing yours as his hand slides into the handle of the suitcase. He takes it from you swiftly before you can argue. You watch in awe as he effortlessly carries it up the rest of the stairs, even while holding his own bags.
You decide it’s not worth it to even argue with Will. Instead you listen to him and go grab your pillow and blanket from the car.
As you walk into the cabin you stop dead in place at the front door. The whole place is lined with floor to ceiling windows, giving you a good view of the backyard from where you stand. A lake glittering with reflected sunlight stands out back. The porch is huge too, extending into a dock on the water. There’s a fire pit and plenty of chairs to lounge around in.
The cabin itself is huge as well. You suppose it wouldn’t look so big if all 8 people came. Still, the cabin spans many feet, tall oak planks lining the wall, making the whole place feel homey. It’s amazing what that hockey salary can buy. Even though you still insisted on paying for your portion, Mack and Will still paid for the others who didn’t come so that your payment stayed low.
“Hey, I put your stuff in the big room.” Will’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts. You quietly say thank you and climb the stairs to find your room.
In your room, you take a moment to enjoy the moment. The sound of the birds outside, and Mack shrieking as he jumps in the lake, the smell of the wood planks, the coziness of the whole place.
You sigh and toss your phone on the bed. Just you, Mack, and Will. Your best friends. One week. What could go wrong?
You’re pregnant with your boyfriends baby. When you told him, he left you. Now you’re a single soon to be mom. Being close friends with Will, he supports you in whatever way needed. Now is his chance to make you his girlfriend
Two Lines
Pairing: Will Smith x singlemom!reader
Summary: After your boyfriend leaves you when you get pregnant, Will decides he’s going to prove his love to you through his actions.
WC: 3,482
You slide the pregnancy test to Will across the table, your heart beating wildly in your chest. Will looks at the test and then back up at you, his mouth hanging open in shock. You can't help the tears that form in your eyes as you nod. The tears are far from happy however.
"Sam's gone." You say, hiding your face in your hands. Hot tears fall onto your fingers.
It took you a whole month to build up the courage to tell your boyfriend, Sam, that you were pregnant with his baby. When you did, he was speechless. He barely said any words to you. You thought he just needed time to adjust to the news, as anyone would. You're both young and your relationship is fairly new, only lasting about a year before you got pregnant. You expected him to be shocked. What you didn't expect was for him to be gone when you came home from work the next day. All of his clothes were out of your drawers, his shampoo no longer in the shower, even his leftover takeout was gone. You called him about a few hundred times but got no answer.
"What do you mean he's gone?" Will asks after a few seconds. You can hear the angry tone he's taken on. Ever since you met Will, one day on the playground in first grade, he's been like this, protective of you.
You move your hands from your face, folding them together instead. You look at Will through your tears. You watch his face change instantly from angry to sympathetic. "I mean he's not answering my calls and all of his shit is out of my apartment."
Will's mouth pulls into a thin line. He wrings his hands together, like he's holding himself back. He's silent, staring down at the positive pregnancy test. "He knows you're pregnant?" You nod, making Will take in a deep breath. He looks away from the table, his mind clearly running through a million different thoughts. You know Will, and you know he's probably seriously considering murdering or cussing your ex boyfriend out. "Are you going to keep it?" He asks instead, voice growing softer.
You nod again. It's something you went back and forth on for a while but you ultimately decided to keep the baby. You do know that no matter what you chose, Will would've supported you without a doubt.
Will nods softly, confirming your thoughts that he'd support you. "I'll kill Sam." He says, his anger quickly coming back.
"Will it's fine." You say, reaching across the table and grabbing his hands. His fingers are pressing into his palms with so much pressure, it's bound to make marks.
He lets you uncurl his fingers and looks back towards you. "No the fuck it's not. No man ever leaves a woman because she's pregnant. That's so selfish and cowardly. He expects you to raise this child all alone even though he's fifty percent of the reason why you're having this baby?" Will seethes, his face getting redder by the minute. You say nothing, so Will continues. "He doesn't want to be there for the birth? For any of the baby's firsts? I mean it's his blood and partly his responsibility. I just don't understand how he wouldn't want to participate in the baby's life."
His words hit you like a brick. Reality slaps you in the face, hard. You really are about to raise a baby all alone. You'll have to deal with late nights and fussy moods all alone with no support. All while having to juggle your own personal life as well. You were just starting to get to where you wanted in your career, and your relationships were finally at a spot where you wanted them. Now all of that will have to be sacrificed.
You slump over, not even bothering to hide the sobs from your best friend. "I can't do it alone Will."
Will is up instantly, coming around the table to pull you into a hug. He holds your head flush against his stomach, fingers tangling in your hair. Your hands grip his shirt tightly as you continue to sob. "You won't do it alone. I promise I'm here to support you no matter what. I'll be there in whatever way you need me to."
—
Will kept his promise.
The next day he was at your door with flowers and a grocery bag of your favorite snacks.
“You didn’t have to Will.” You gently scold him. He ignores you, sliding past you to go straight to the kitchen.
He moves around your kitchen easily, finding the vase in your cabinet that you love. Funny enough, it’s a vase Will got you a few years ago for your birthday. He fills the vase with water and starts cutting the stems of the flowers. Of course it’s your favorite flowers, you’d expect nothing less from Will.
Will looks over his shoulder at you. “Look in the bag, see what I got you.” He nods to the little paper bag he set on the island when he walked in. You stop leaning against the entrance to the kitchen and walk over to the grocery bag.
You reach into the brown bag and pull out the first item. It’s a bag of chocolate candies that you told Will you were craving yesterday. Your mouth starts to water as you look at them. You send Will a little smile as a thank you. “There’s more.” Will says, sliding the now freshly cut flowers onto the center of the island. He leans a hip on the counter and stares expectantly at you.
You reach in and pull out the second item, a container of your favorite homemade muffins. Will knows their your favorite, mostly because you beg him to bake them for you every week. However, now as you’re staring at the muffins, a wave of nausea hits you. You’re not sure why. You love Will’s baking and you love these muffins. You try to picture the taste of the muffins, hoping that will help the nausea. Instead you feel bile rise in your throat.
You drop the muffins and turn to the sink fast. Will is moving with you, quickly pulling your hair out of your face as you empty your breakfast into the kitchen sink. Will mutters encouragements to you and runs his other hand up and down your back soothingly.
When you finish, you stay leaning over the sink, breathing heavily. Will takes the faucet and washes the remnants down the drain without taking his hand off your back. “The baby doesn’t like my muffins?” He asks, eyeing you sideways.
You can’t help the laugh that leaves your mouth. You shake your head and lean further into Will’s side, thankful for the comfort his body heat offers. “I guess not. I’m sorry Will, it was really thoughtful of you to make me those. I would eat them, but I can’t look at them without wanting to barf.”
Will shakes his head, hand continuing to rub up and down your back. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just have to make you something that doesn’t upset your stomach.”
—
A few weeks later Will insisted on going to your ultrasound appointment. You had told him that you didn’t want to go alone to this one because you were finding out the gender. The appointment is during the middle of the day and all of your friends and family members have work. Will however doesn’t have practice or a game or anything, so he decided to take you to the appointment.
“These seats aren’t very comfortable.” Will comments. He rocks back and forth in the hospital chair, making it squeak loudly.
You send him a warning look, one that he knows well enough to make him immediately stop rocking. You’re about to tell him to knock it off when a small knock on the door interrupts you.
The doctor pokes her head in, sees that you’re lying on the bed, then she comes in fully. The ultrasound monitor trails in behind her. “Hey momma, how we doing?” She asks you, flexing her fingers into adorable pink gloves. You respond by telling her everything is going well. “That’s wonderful to hear. You brought dad today too?” She smiles, eyes closing in on Will beside you.
You feel panic rise up in your chest and you quickly dart your eyes to Will to see his reaction. You don’t know why you’re panicking, you can easily tell the doctor that Will is your friend. “Oh um, no I’m not the dad.” Will responds, a light blush dusting his cheeks. His eyes stayed glued to yours, an unreadable expression on his face. You wish the doctor wasn’t here so you could ask Will what he’s thinking.
The doctor says nothing and gets to work on preparing the ultrasound. If she thinks it’s weird that Will’s not the father but is at the appointment, it doesn’t show on her face.
You can’t help but think about what Will would be like as a father. You know he’d be so caring and he would put his family before everything else. He would teach his kids how to play hockey and baseball and how to make all of his different recipes. If there was anything the kid wanted to do that Will didn’t know anything about, he’d stay up for hours just to study it. Your mind rushes with images of Will holding a baby, reading to a baby, playing with a baby. It does something to you that you’ve never felt before.
The doctor squirts the ultrasound jelly on your stomach, reminding you that what you’re feeling is likely just the hormones talking. “You want to know the gender today, correct?” The doctor asks, eyes focused on the fuzzy screen.
“Yes please.” You didn’t like the idea of a huge gender reveal. You’d rather find out in privacy and not draw a bunch of attention to it.
The doctor takes a few minutes, moving the probe in different spots around your stomach until the steady sound of a heartbeat comes out. Your baby becomes more visible on the screen, making your heart flutter. You hear a small gasp from Will. You feel his hand grab your arm, squeezing ever so gently.
Will looks amazed. His eyes are glued to the screen. You honestly think he’s having a bigger reaction to seeing the baby than you did at the first appointment. You can’t help but smile softly at the sight.
“If you look here, you can see that it’s a boy.” The doctor says, pinky pointing to a little spot on the screen.
“A boy.” You echo her words, smile growing even more. You would’ve been happy with whatever gender, but now that you know it’s a boy it’s a bit easier to picture how he may look when he’s older.
“He’s going to be so loved.” Will mutters, thumb brushing up and down your arm.
—
As the months of your pregnancy pass by, Will spends more and more time at your apartment. You two spent a lot of time together before, but after Will found out you were pregnant, there wasn’t a day that went by without seeing him. At 6 months pregnant, he practically lives at your place. He likes being there most mornings to make sure you have a healthy breakfast. He likes to see you in the evenings too, making sure you’re comfortable and fully relaxed.
One Sunday afternoon he even went out to IKEA and bought a crib for the guest room in your apartment, which is slowly turning into a nursery.
He was sitting on the floor, shirt off to accommodate the July heat, focused on putting together the crib. When you walked into the room with some fresh watermelon for him, you nearly dropped the bowl at the sight. You’ve seen Will shirtless, but something about seeing him so focused on that crib got you heated.
“Hey, whatcha got there?” Will perks up when he notices your presence in the room.
You shake off the feeling you just got and hold out the bowl to him. “It’s watermelon. Thanks for doing this, I really appreciate it.”
Will takes the bowl gratefully, smiling up at you. “I wasn’t going to let you do it, so I kind of have to.” He then shrugs, glancing around at the mess of wood panels and screws on the ground.
You decide to sit on the bed, the one that Will has been sleeping in for practically your whole pregnancy. Your hand instinctively go to your stomach, thumbs rubbing soothingly. You get a little punch from the baby in response.
“How’s baby doing?” Will asks through a mouthful of watermelon.
“He’s doing good, he’s very active today.” You respond. The baby has been kicking you in the ribs all day for some reason.
Will puts the bowl to the side and scoots closer to you. He rises onto his knees in between your legs. His hands instantly go on your stomach as he leans down to talk to the baby. You feel the baby kick you right where Will’s hand is. “Hey, play nice dude. I’m breaking my back to put this crib together for you and I get kicked as a thank you. Not cool little man.” Will talks to your stomach, his lips brushing over the fabric of your shirt. You laugh at Will’s reprimand. Will just grins up at the sound of your laughter.
You’ve loved having Will around. It’s taken off so much of the burden on your shoulders. You know you’d be so stressed without Will’s support. You know if you asked, Will would let you do this all yourself but that’s not the problem. The problem is a few years down the road. When Will inevitably wants to start his own family instead of devote his time to yours. You’ll lose this. The reassurance, the help, the company. You’ll still have Will but not the way that you have him now.
Tears spring to your eyes at the thought. You’ve always loved Will but you’re starting to love him in a different way now. Some nights you lay in bed and think about how lovely it would be to have Will like this permanently. To have him be the father to your child and potentially future children. To have him there as a best friend for life.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Will is quick to notice when you’re upset, he always is. His hands leave your stomach to go up to your cheeks, wiping away the stray tears.
“What if I’m not enough for him?” You whisper. You aren’t questioning your own competence as a mother, you’re questioning how life will be for the baby without a Will in his life. You could find someone who would care for you and your baby, but not like Will does. That scares you more than anything else.
“You’re more than enough. Little man is so lucky to have you as a mom. You’re already so protective over him, and so caring towards him. No matter what you’ll be a great mom.” Will responds, brushing your hair from your face gently.
You grab his wrist to make him look you in the eyes. “I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about him not having you too.”
Confusion flushes over Will’s face. “He’ll always have me. You’ll always have me. I’m always going to be here for you guys.”
You stare at him as your chest pangs with hurt. He sounds so certain and he says it so easily, like it’s so obvious. He doesn’t understand what you’re trying to say. Of course Will is going to be in your life forever, it’s a matter of how he’s going to be in your life. “This isn’t fair Will…” you trail off, sniffling loudly.
“What’s not fair?” He asks, shuffling a bit closer to you anxiously.
“This. You.” You gesture around the room, at the crib and the clothes he helped pick out, at the tiny blankets he folded last night. Will still looks confused so you continue. “You build me furniture, you come to my appointments, you talk to him like he’s yours. You make me feel like we’re a family and that’s not fair.”
Will is silent but you can see his expression change just slightly. He doesn’t move, doesn’t even blink, he just stares up at you.
“You make me wish that…God this is stupid.” You sigh frustratedly, looking to the side instead of at Will.
Will’s fingers gently pull you back to look at him. “Wish what?” He whispers your nickname with such gentleness you almost melt.
You squeeze your eyes shut because you can’t believe you’re about to admit this to him. “You make me wish he was yours.” The confession hangs heavy in the air. “I wish I could keep you. And I wish you were his dad, not Sam. I feel like that’s a terrible thing to say, but it’s how I feel.”
When you open your eyes, Will looks devastated. You expected him to look angry, or disgusted, or even disappointed. Instead he looks like you’ve just ripped his heart out.
“Keep me? What do you mean keep me? I told you that you’ll have me forever.” His eyebrows draw together in confusion, making you let out a bitter laugh.
“Come on, Will.” You mutter sarcastically. You don’t understand why he’s not getting it. “You’ll meet someone eventually, get married, have kids.” You look around at the nursery and think of the little life you’ve built with Will over the past few months. “You won’t have time for us anymore.” Tears fall freely down your cheeks and catch on his thumbs.
Will’s sharp laugh makes you stop in your tracks. “That’s seriously what you think? After all this time?” His voice is rising, showing his clear frustration. You blink at him, now it’s your turn to be confused. “I’m not doing all of this because I feel bad for you or something. You think I’m building that crib because I felt obligated to as your friend?” He asks you.
You shrug because that is what you thought. Will has always been like that for the people close to him. He always gives his all without asking for anything in return. “Well then why are you?”
Will stands up at the question. He now towers over you. You don’t feel intimidated by it though, you could never feel intimidated by Will. “Because I love you. I’ve been in love with you since high school. Since that stupid party where Bridget Miller tried to kiss me but all I could think about was you.”
You feel like a brick just hit your chest. The memory of that party sophomore year of high school comes to mind. You had liked Will all of middle school but then you saw him kissing Bridget and decided that you’d never have a chance with him. You kept your feelings for him strictly friendly after that.
“What?” Is all you can get out.
Will paces back and forth, stepping over the wood panels as he does. “I can’t believe this is happening right now.” You can barely hear him over your heart pounding in your chest.
“You what?” You say a little bit more firm this time.
Will stops and looks at you. He’s looking at you as if he’s analyzing you, committing your face to his memory. “I’ve loved you for years.”
You stand up too. Your whole world is tilting, your perspective on everything is changing. The past 10 years and the memories you’ve made with Will feel different now.
“I was waiting for you to want me in the way I want you.” He says, voice incredibly soft. Your eyes blur with tears again. “I was waiting for years baby. Then when you told me you were pregnant and that Sam left you, I knew I had to stop waiting because I might lose my chance.”
Your hand instinctively reaches out to him. He’s quick to grab your hand and pull you closer to him. “I want to be with you forever too. Not only as a best friend but as your person, as the father to your children. This baby might not be mine biologically but I’ll love him like he’s mine.”
A sob escapes your throat at his confession. “You are my person Will.” You admit, letting him cup your face in his hands.
“And you’re mine.” He presses his lips to yours, making everything feel right. He feels right.
Will has always been it for you, you just had to open your eyes.
Summary: You get jealous when a girl approaches Mack.
WC: 1,359
You try so hard not to care. You shouldn't care, you knew this would happen when you started dating Mack. He's young, rich, and attractive, of course any girl would want him. He looks especially attractive tonight with his black t-shirt that hugs his biceps, and his slightly messy hair. It annoys you that you are not the only one that noticed how good he looks tonight.
You noticed her from across the bar almost instantly. Unfortunately, Mack noticed her too. It was hard not to notice her. She has been eyeing him up all night. Mack only glanced at her once but you still cant help the insecure thoughts that arise. Normally you don't care about the girls who try to get with Mack, but something about her is different. She's pretty in the effortless way, the kind you feel like you could never be. Perfect blonde curls falling down her back, tiny dress that hugs in all the right places, glossy lips, and extreme confidence.
You feel like you look the opposite of her. You're sweating like crazy, your lipstick came off many hours ago onto the rim of your glass, your hair has frizzed up due to the humidity in the bar, and you've been insecurely adjusting your top the whole night. You feel stupid for being embarrsed to be with Mack. Rather, its more like second hand embarrasment for him.
"She's coming over here." You whisper to Mack. You look away from her figure which is getting closer by the second and to Mack. He's leaning sideways on the bar, hand atop the counter, other hand holding your phone that you made him carry while you ordered.
He stops leaning against the bar and glances around cluelessly. "What?" He mutters, still scanning around for who you're talking about. He sees her then, earning a sickingly sweet smile from her.
She slides right up next to him, not even sparing you a glance. "Hey," she says, her hand already coming up to touch his bicep. Mack's face heats up and his cheeks turn pink. "I just wanted to say that you are the most attractive man I've ever seen."
You look away, mostly because you're not even sure what you're supposed to do. Sure, you could tell her to fuck off, but clearly she doesn't care that you exist. She was watching Mack all night and surely she saw him leading you around the bar with his hand on your back, or the kiss he pressed to your temple before you ordered. Yet, she still decided to shoot her shot when its obvious you're with him.
"Are you here with anyone?" She asks. That gets your attention. You look back at the two of them, your chest tightening when you see how close she is to him. Its not even that crowded in here either, that's what makes you the most upset.
Mack opens his mouth to respond right when the bartender calls your name. You turn around immediately, grabbing the drinks before they even hit the counter. You mutter a thanks to the bartender and leave the counter, walking off into the bar. You're not even sure where you're going but you just know that you can't stay there and listen to any more of that conversation. You hate how much this is affecting you. You know that Mack was probably about to tell that girl that he's here with you. You know that she was trapping him in and that he didn't want to be there. You know Mack is so in love with you that he would never even think of leaving you for anyone else. Yet, all you can think about is how damn pretty she was. All other thoughts of reason leave your mind.
"Hey," You hear Mack's voice behind you. You can tell he's chasing after you by the way his voice is getting closer.
"I'm fine." You call out over your shoulder, not bothering to look at him. You beeline for a corner in the back of the bar near the bathrooms, far away from that girl you hope.
"That was super convincing." Mack sarcastically calls out to you. You ignore him and keep walking. Mack catches your wrist before you can go any further. You turn around to look at him. He's still wearing that same blush on his cheeks and his hair is even messier than before. Unfairly attractive. "What's wrong?" He asks, eyebrows furrowing.
You have to restrain yourself from rolling your eyes. Surely Mack is not that stupid? "Nothing." You sigh. Mack gives you a look, one that lets you know that he knows that you're lying to him. You sigh again and chose to look at your drink instead of him. "She was really pretty." You finally admit.
"Okay?" He says, as if he can't understand why that would relate to your sudden attitude.
You realize he's waiting for you to continue talking. "It's just that she looks like...that." You gesture behind him at nothing in particular.
Mack steps closer to you, his face now softening. "Like what?" A hint of confusion is still on his face. You nervously swirl the drink in your hand. "Like someone who should be flirting with you." You don't want to say it but you think Mack gets the gist that you think she looks like someone who should be with Mack, not you.
Mack takes the drink out of your hand and sets it on a table next to you guys. "Look at me." He demands softly. You listen, looking up at him. You wish you didn't because he's looking at you like you're completely ridiculous. "She walked up to me while I was holding your phone. You're wearing my number around your neck. There's no competition here."
You blink up at him, subconsciously touching the 71 charm on your necklace. You feel silly now, its no question who Mack wants. "Oh..." You trail off, not knowing what to say now.
"Yeah. And right after you stormed off I told her I'm here with my girlfriend, and that I don't appreciate her coming onto me." He's fighting off a smile now.
This time you don't contain the eye roll. "I did not storm off."
"You absolutely did. The bartender looked really concerned for you." He says, holding back a laugh.
Despite yourself you also laugh, picturing how that must've looked to the bartender. Mack's whole face softens even more at the sound of your laugh. "Come here." He states rather than asks, one arm already sliding around your waist and pulling you closer to him. "I can't believe you really got jealous." He mutters into your hair.
You hide your face in his chest. "Don't make fun of me." You groan.
"I'm not, I just don't understand it." He shrugs, collarbone rubbing against your forehead.
You pull away just enough to look at him, neck straining to look up at him. "That's because you're you." You purse your lips. Mack has such an electric and gravitating personality, not to mention he's insanely talented and sucessful. People either want to be with him or be him, as cliche as that sounds. Of course he wouldn't understand what its like to perceive that as his partner.
"And you're you." He shakes his head, as if he's in disbelief that you would say what you said. You give him a look of confusion, because you honestly don't know how you could compare to him in that realm. "You're my girlfriend. The love of my life. I know you think you don't deserve me, but sometimes I question if I deserve you. And I hope you stop questioning that now." His thumb brushes over your waist absentminedly.
You're stunned at his words. You honestly have never known Mack to be a big love confession kind of guy, so you know his words must be true. You respond to him with a kiss to his lips, now feeling the weight you were feeling before be lifted off of you.
Will invited you to be his plus one for a wedding. You think you’re his date for the event until he introduced you like a sister. Crushing your hopes and dreams of becoming more with him
Tied in Knots
Pairing: Will Smith x reader
Summary: Will both raises your hopes for something more with him and also crushes it all in one day.
WC: 3,493
AN: this is genuinely the longest fic I’ve ever written, I think something possessed me at 2am while I was writing it. Anywho, enjoy this super angsty fic :)
When Will invited you to the wedding, you tried your hardest to convince yourself it wasn't a big deal.
That failed miserably. Three days before the wedding you nearly lost your mind. Your best friend was working overtime to both calm you down and help you pick out a dress.
"It's just a wedding hun, stop overthinking." Your best friend told you from her spot on your bed. She watches you with an amused expression. You're sprawled out on the floor surrounded by many different colors and fabrics, debating which dress would look better on you.
"It's not just a wedding." You groan in response. You pick up the yellow dress again, holding the fabric of it up against your skin. You don't like the shade of yellow, but you love how the dress fits.
"It literally is. Why are you overthinking so much?" Your best friend asks, catching your eyes in the mirror.
You turn around, throwing the yellow dress her way. "You know why." You snap at her. She doesn't care, she just catches the dress and starts laughing.
You've been in love with Will for a whole year now. Right about when you started working for the Sharks. You bumped into him in some hallway and just started talking. He became a really good friend to you. You meet him for lunch every Friday afternoon and catch up on your week, you also see him every Sunday night and make dinner at his apartment. You've even been tagging along to some of his side quests now too. You got to know who he was behind all of the cameras and reporters, and you couldn't help but fall in love.
About a month ago, at a Friday lunch he asked you if you wanted to go to his cousins wedding with him. You nearly dropped your fork when he asked.
People don't just invite just friends to family members weddings like that. It would make more sense to you if he invited Macklin, with them being way closer than you and Will. No matter how close you've gotten to Will, he is definetly still closer to Mack. If anything, you think he should invite his best friend, not you.
That's what made you immediately think he's asking you as his date. That's also what made your heart leap with hope. Maybe Will was also starting to look at you differently? Maybe he also noticed the lingering touches and too long glances? Maybe the lunches meant something more than just simply catching up? Your mind was filled with all of the hopeful maybes.
"Just have fun, I know how you can get sometimes." Your best friend interrupts your thinking, eyeing you in the mirror. She no doubt could tell on your face that you were overthinking the whole thing.
"Yeah, I'll try." You sigh, going back to trying to pick out a dress.
—
You eventually settled on a slightly flowy, dark blue dress that accentuates your figure nicely. It hugs your midsection and hips tightly, which is making you regret chosing it now that youre standing in front of Will's door. You anxiously tug on the dress, mentally hyping yourself up for this wedding date. If you can even call it that.
The door swings open after you give it a soft knock. Will stands before you, curls tossled to look more put together than normal. If you're being honest though, you like his messy blond curls better. He still looks devestatingly handsome however, especially in his suit. "I like your dress, it looks great on you." Will says, making you snap your eyes back up to meet his. You're hoping he didn't just catch you checking him out.
"Thank you, you look really good too Will." You compliment him back, earning a smile from him. You never fail to swoon at the dimple in his cheek, which you've found out only appears when he's genuinely smiling. The appearance of the dimple now has you feeling weak.
"Come in, I'm actually going to change my tie, so I'm going to be a minute." Will tells you, moving to the side and motioning for you to come into the apartment. You give him a slightly confused look. His tie looks perfectly fine, the grey looks phenomenal on him. He just waves it off, telling you to wait and see as he dashes off to his room.
You step into the apartment, closing the door behind you. You take the moment alone to take deep breaths and remind yourself of what your best friend said. Just enjoy the night.
Will comes out of his room, the collar of his shirt popped up and a new tie around his neck. When he gets closer to you, the color of the tie becomes more visible. Its a dark blue silk tie. It matches your dress perfectly. Your breathing that you just worked so hard to get under control immediately speeds up. He changed his tie to match your dress. You don't even know what to think. You don't know how to feel about it at all. You just stand there and stare at the tie, completely breathless.
"Can you help me? I overestimated my abilities." Will says after a beat. The tie brings out the blue in his eyes so much more, further adding to your stupor.
You have to say something, or at least move. You definetly can't just sit here and stare at him like you are right now. So you nod, tucking your hair behind your ear and stepping closer to him. Your hands hover over his shoulders. You don't even know how to tie a tie, so you're not sure how you're going to even help Will. "I just need you to keep it still while I tie it, it keeps sliding on me." He explains, a small dusting of pink covering his cheeks now.
You nod again, hands gently coming up to hold his tie in place around his neck. Will looks away from you, slowly blinking down at his tie. You can feel his breath pan out onto your wrist, its warm and surprisingly soothing. Will ties the blue fabric in a knot effortlessly. The whole act feels oddly domestic, like you two are getting ready for a dinner date. Like he's yours, and you're his.
When Will finishes knotting the tie you reach up wordlessly and flip his collar back down, tucking the tie underneath it. Your hands linger by his neck just a little bit. The movement of Will's tongue darting across his lips catches your attention. He's looking down at you as if every emotion you're thinking he's also thinking. If you were more sure of Will's feelings for you, you'd wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him right now. But you're not sure. So you step back from him and pin your hands behind your back.
"We should get going." Your words come out quiter and raspier than you intended them to. Will just nods, already heading towards the front door.
—
The wedding ceremony was beautiful. The vows were so heartfelt and thoughtful, it almost made you cry. Will's cousin had picked out the most beautiful venue too. The lush greenery and stone brick of the building makes the whole place feel ethereal.
Now at the reception, as your dancing on the dance floor with Will, joy overcomes you. Will is busting out dance moves you've never seen from him before, pulling loud laughs from you. Will laughs right along with you as you fail miserably to impress him with your dance moves. Will whispers in your ear to look at how his great uncle is dancing, eliciting more giggles from you guys.
A slow song stops the giggles coming from you two. Couples around you take to the floor around you, and single people leave the dance floor, opting to do anything else instead. You think about following the crowd of singles but instead you look back at Will and wait to see what he chooses to do. He's already looking at you, and so he shrugs one shoulder up, extending his hand out for you to take. You can feel the blush on your cheeks as you take his hand.
Will pulls you into him, his arm effortlessly sliding around your waist. His other hand stays interlocked with yours and he starts to sway a bit to the music. He smiles down at you softly. "Thanks for coming with me, I really appreciate it."
You tuck your head shyly, arm wrapping further up his shoulder. "It's really no trouble. I had a lot of fun tonight." You look up at him through your lashes. Will doesn't say anything, he just tightens his hold on your waist.
Then suddenly Will stops abruptly. His hand leaves your back, making you turn to see what he stopped for.
The bride, Will's cousin, stands behind you. She looks radiant in her wedding dress, glowing from the ceremony still. "Will! I'm so glad you made it!" She exclaims, wrapping her arms around Will. He hugs her back briefly, grinning from ear to ear. Her smile looks scarily similar to his, highlighting their similar genetics.
Over his shoulder, she catches your eyes. She looks from you to Will, and down at his tie, then back to you. "Who's your plus one? You have to introduce me." She beams at you, making you instantly feel more comfortable.
Will leans away from his cousin and looks over to you. His hand ghosts over your back again before dropping back at his side. His cousin tracks the movement with her eyes, sending Will a small but noticeable smirk. Will looks to you and you can tell he's hesitating with his answer. "This is y/n," more hesitation from Will, "She's like a sister to me."
The world goes silent. You can hear the rest of what Will's saying but its as if its muffled. He's saying something about how you two met, how he's happy for his cousin, how his career is going. You're not even sure how long the conversation goes on. You just replay his words over and over in your head. Like a sister? Is that really what he thinks of you? Was that whole thing at his apartment just in your head? Was that slow dance just brotherly love?
The worst part is that he could've said that you were friends. Friends leaves room for something more. 'Like a sister' leaves absolutely no room for reading between the lines. It's final, like a sentencing. It's a clear message that you will never be anything more than a sister to him. You feel so stupid that you almost laugh and interrupt their conversation. You can't believe you misread his feelings that bad. You feel embarrassed that you've been so obvious with your feelings towards him.
You can feel the familiar burn of tears in the back of your eyes as you recall every single interaction you've had with Will. Memories that you would think about late at night and hope for something more with him are now tainted. Memories of him smiling down at you with admiration, of him comforting you after a hard day, him giving you gentle touches. You want to burn all of those memories out of your head forever now.
His cousin touches your shoulder, saying how she's glad you came. You try your best to send her a smile as she walks away, being called by a different family member. You can't move from your spot, even as Will softly tells you to come find a seat. The gentleness in his voice is sickening to you now.
"I have to go to the bathroom." You mutter to Will, dashing off in the direction of the bathroom before he can say anything in response to you. You're probably drawing the attention of some people due to how fast you're walking to the bathroom, but you don't care right now. You reach the bathroom and immediately lock yourself in. You're beyond thankful that the bathroom is just a single room, and not full of stalls where other people can hear you break down.
You slide down the door of the bathroom and let out a sob. Your hand flies up to your mouth to muffle the sound. You feel so embarrassed, for so many different reasons. Embarrassed for your feelings for Will. Embarrassed that you ran to the bathroom. Embarrassed that you're crying on the bathroom floor of a wedding. Embarrassed that you're crying this much over a boy. How will you even compose yourself and go back out there? Everyone will be able to tell that you've been crying. You cant just leave either because Will drove you here and you don't want to make him leave before he's ready to. The reality of it hits you all at once, your sobs becoming louder despite your efforts to muffle them.
A knock on the door pulls a squeak out of your mouth. You stay dead silent, hoping that whoever is trying to get into the bathroom notices that the door is locked and goes away. Then you hear your name. "I know you're in there, is everything okay?"
Will.
You debate staying silent but you know Will, and you know he'll keep knocking until you answer him. "I'm okay." You call out to him. You curse under your breath at how terribly unconvincing you sounded.
"Please don't lie to me." Will sighs on the other side of the door. You hear the soft thud of his forehead hitting the door. You choke back another sob, this time you're not even sure why. Maybe its the way you can still feel your heart leap at the sound of his voice. You're too emotionally exhausted to investigate it though. "Open the door, I'm worried about you." Will murmurs, the sentence almost unheard.
You sit there and debate if you should open the door. You're already found. He knows you're crying, he knows you're upset about something, so you really can't hide anything else. Part of you also longs for the comfort that he will inevitably offer you. The other part of you cant stand the thought of him coming in there and seeing you like this and you having to come up with some lie about why you're crying.
Will calls out your name, tone becoming more desperate. That pushes you to stand on shaky legs and open the door for him, despite the absolute war in your head. Will looks you when the door open, his face falling. You step back from the door, allowing him to come in. While he's coming in the small bathroom, you sneak a glance at your face. The tear tracks down your cheeks are stained with mascara, your eyes are bloodshot, red splotches liter your face.
"Why are you crying? Did something happen?" Will asks as soon as the door is closed again. His hands are on your shoulders instantly. You sink away from him slightly, trying to make yourself a bit smaller. You shake your head at him, your face crumpling up even thinking about admitting why you're crying to him. Will's hand comes up to your face, thumbing the tears away. "Please talk to me. Let me fix it, whatever it is." He whispers, sounding just as wrecked as you.
"I don't want to be your sister." You finally answer, eyes closing tight with so much force that it hurts. You figured that you have nothing left to lose. You likely will feel to awkward to talk to him again after tonight, so why not just tell him?
"That's what this is about?" He says, hand falling from your face.
You open your eyes, looking at him through the blurry tears clouding your vision. You're not sure how you were expecting him to respond, but it wasn't like that. You nod, blinking away the tears violently.
"You're crying because I said you're like a sister?" He looks genuinely confused, like he doesn't understand why you're not overjoyed with being compared to having a sibling bond with him. You let out a half sob, half laugh. "Why?" He asks.
You have to step back from him and put distance between you two. You think this is possibly the worst night you've had in a few years. "Why do you think Will?" You sarcastically respond.
You watch the realization hit him. His shoulders fall and his eyebrows pull into each other. His eyes dart around your face. you wish you could read his mind and know what he's thinking. You've never seen his face like this, you've honestly never seen him this quiet either.
The silence is what sends you spiraling. "I know this is weird. I know it will take some getting used to." The word vomit starts before you can stop it.
Will says your name softly.
You keep going because you didn't even register that he was saying your name, embarrassment clouding every sense that you have. Tears fall freely down your face as you continue. "Ill get over it, I promise. I might need some time though. If you dont want to see me at all anymore then I'd understand that too."
Will says your name again, this time successfully catching your attention. You stand there and wait for him to say that he agrees and that he thinks you guys should take a break from the friendship. He doesn't though, he just steps closer to you, hand coming back up to your face. His touch is so impossibly gentle, it makes you choke out another sob.
"I said that because I panicked. I didn't want my family to interrogate you if you weren't also intrested in me, and that's all I could think of that would get them to stay away." This time it's your turn to draw your eyebrows together in confusion. "I was so worried that they'd tease me all night about how obvious it is I'm in love with you. I was worried that if they did, you would get weirded out by it and never talk to me again." He lets out a small chuckle, amused by his own foolish thinking.
"So you don't think of me like a sister?" Your hands instinctively come up to hold onto Will's wrists, grounding yourself and checking to see if this is real.
"No. I would never think about my sister in the ways that I think about you." He admits, making your face heat up at the insinuation of it. "I'm sorry that I'm an idiot and didn't realize sooner that you felt the same way."
His apology makes you laugh. You lean into his touch on your cheeks. You still feel like this is a dream, you'll probably feel like that for a few weeks. You've pictured this moment so many times over the past year but you never thought that it would actually happen. "I'm sorry too, for ruining your night." You say, taking the conversation back to a serious spot.
"You didn't ruin it. In face you just made it a whole lot better because now I don't have to stay up wondering if you like me too." His thumb starts stroking comforting stripes under your eye, wiping away the dried salt from the tears. You sigh happily, staring up into his blue eyes, the ones that match the tie, the ones you can openly admire now. "Can I kiss you now?" He doesn't take his eyes off you. His face inches closer but he doesn't get close enough to lock his lips onto yours until you nod.
The kiss is so much better than you pictured it would be. You think your chest expoded when you felt his lips land on yours, and again when one of his hands flew down to your waist to pull you closer. Will kisses like he loves, gentle but also insanely passionate.
He pulls away and rests his forehead on yours. "I was going to do that earlier when you helped me with my tie." You can't convey the surge of emotion you get from his admission other than kissing him once again. Will deepens the kiss, both hand on your waist, folding around you and caging you into his body. You feel like you cant get enough of him, like you need him in every way possible.
"Let me properly introduce you, yeah?" He whispers against your lips. You nod and allow him to lead you out of the bathroom.
On the way out back to the reception you're not even worried if you have lingering tear tracts on your face, or what people might be thinking since you and Will walked out of the bathroom together, you're just so overjoyed with the outcome of tonight.
"Mom, this is my girlfriend."
AN: Do we like the happy ending? Or should I have just kept it angsty? I debated on how to end it for like a whole day, so lmk your guys preferences 🙏
Summary: a fight between you and Mack causes Mack to be a little bit more aggressive during his game.
WC: 1,725
The rink is colder than normal, making you hug your arms around yourself as you watch Mack skate around during warmups. He's a bit more aggressive than usual, no doubt due to your fight earlier. It was bigger than you’ve had in a while, lasting almost a whole half hour before Mack stormed out of the house. You considered staying home and watching the game on the TV, or not even watching it at all to spite him. Yet here you are, telling yourself that you’re here to support your good friend Will, not Mack. Even though you’re wearing Mack's jersey.
You think back to the fight, sadness hitting you instead of anger now.
-
"It's like you're not even paying attention to me Mack. That's what I'm trying to say." You sigh, hands coming up to rub your tired eyes.
Mack's been gone all week in various places of the country for away games. You barely had time to talk over the phone too because you had midterms this week as well and were thoroughly locked in on studying. When Mack came home yesterday, it was so late that you were already sleeping. You tried to stay up to greet him but failed. You only knew he was home because the kiss he pressed to your shoulder when he got into bed woke you up briefly. This morning you were hoping to get some quality time with him before his game but he spent most of it on his phone, texting Will or watching Tik Tok.
At the sound of your sigh Mack puts his phone on the coffee table and looks over at you with raised eyebrows and pursed lips. He's annoyed, which infuriates you. "Sue me for going on my phone for a few minutes. I was texting Will." He replies to you, tone heavily sarcastic.
You get up off the couch to put distance between the two of you. At this movement, Mack sits straighter up. "You were on your phone all day Mack." You point your finger down at his phone, almost as if you’re blaming the object for this fight.
Mack doesn't know what to say for a few moments, but you can see the anger radiating off of him in waves. "Why are you being so needy?" Mack finally mutters out.
Your chest pangs at his question. He's never hated your 'neediness' before, he even told you it was his favorite thing about you. You know deep down he's just angry and is just saying that to piss you off, but it kind of hurt. "Sue me for wanting to spend actual time with my boyfriend. I missed him." You scoff, mocking his own sentence from a few minutes ago.
"We live together, I ate breakfast with you. We spent plenty of time together in the past 9 hours babe. Why can't you just tell me what you want from me? Why do I have to guess?" Mack's voice raises a bit, stubborn as hell still.
You throw your hands up, palms striking down onto your thighs, creating a loud echo throughout the living room. "Mack, you're not listening to me. I said I want you to pay attention to me. We haven't talked in a week, a whole week! And you were watching highlights all of breakfast and said maybe 3 words to me. Just because we're in the same room doesn't mean we're actually spending quality time together." You raise your voice equally as loud as his.
Mack stands up now to be on the same level as you. He opens his mouth to say something but you cut him off before he can. "Also, I did tell you what I want plenty of times, you just can't use your fucking ears. I told you multiple times that I wanted to talk to you. I asked you multiple questions and you brushed me off every time. You are just being an absolute dick right now Macklin!" You end your rant with your voice so loud it's bound to get the neighbors attention.
Mack's face is red as he stares you down. "I don't need to be insulted right now." He says, taking off towards the front door. He jams his feet into his slides so hard they almost break.
"I don't either!" You yell back at him as he picks up his hockey bag. You get the door slamming behind him in response.
—
The game horn startles you but grounds you back into the present moment. The game has started, Macklin on the starting line up. Right off the face off he's unnecessarily aggressive, slamming into the other team when it's uncalled for, yelling at the ref. You sink lower in your seat, knowing you’re the cause of that. The whole first period consists of Mack getting penalties.
On the jumbotron Mack's reaction to getting a pentalty is on full display. He slams his stick into the glass and yells something at what you’re assuming is the ref.
The second period is worse, the Sharks are losing badly and Mack is not helping. He's checking players, throwing punches like it doesn't even matter who it is, he just wants to punch someone. He gets into a brutal fight, you can see blood trickling down his chin as he skates away from the aftermath of the fight. Later in the second period, from where you’re sitting you can see Will and Mack in a heated discussion on the bench.
By the third period you can tell Mack's anger has subsided a bit. He's no longer yelling or fighting, probably due to his conversation with Will. That boy has magical powers when it comes to calming down Mack. A bit of anger still lingers with Mack however because when he misses a shot, the puck going wide and just missing the netting, he skates towards the goal and bangs his stick on the metal of the goal, the whole thing snapping in half.
You feel watched, some fans recognize you as Mack's girlfriend and ask for a picture. After the picture was taken one of them asks you what got Mack's panties in a twist tonight. That made you laugh actually but you brushed off their question, not needing a headline in the news about your personal problems. Some of Mack's teammates found you in in the stands and would skate by briefly, giving you raised eyebrows.
The game ends, the Sharks losing by a lot. Your anger has now long been worn off, you are now just worried for Mack and feel bad for getting into a fight with him before a game. Based on the way he skated off of the ice, you can tell he is taking this loss to heart, and you feel slightly responsible for it. You follow some of the other WAGs and family members to the waiting area with a heavy heart. The others leave you alone, sensing your anxiety.
--
After waiting a while for post game interviews to be done and for Mack to be done changing and getting done with his shower, the doors to the waiting room finally open and players start to spill out. Mack is not far behind everyone else surprisingly. Usually on the more rough games he takes a bit longer, which you can understand. Mack looks devestatingly gorgeous. His green eyes look heavy with the loss and his lip is pulled between his teeth, something he does when he's deep in thought. His hair hangs damp over his forehead, teal hoodie contrasting it completely.
Mack catches you staring at him and starts running towards your direction, making half of the room stop their conversation to watch him. Panic starts to rise up because you have no idea why Mack is running at you and why he looks so...happy? Mack reaches you across the room and immediately scoops you up into a hug, your feet lifting off of the ground. He doesnt stop moving, but slows down into a walk. His bag is hung off the shoulder you are not draped over. You look up to find the entire room erupting into laughter as Mack carries you out the room and towards the parking.
"Mack!" You try to sound mad but all that comes out is laughter. Your arms wrap around his neck, leaning into his warmth, glad for the comfort it provides after the day you’ve had. Mack doesn't respond to you, just giggles with you, hands gripping your waist tighter. You don't want to ruin the fluffiness of the situation by brining up the fight or the game so you stay quiet, nose nuzzling in his hair near his ear.
Mack reaches the car, lightly setting you down on your feet. His smile fades as he gazes down at you, thumbs rubbing small circles on your shoulders. "Im sorry for the way I acted, you're not annoying, and you're right, I should've spent more quality time with you." He says, making your shoulders drop with relief.
"Thank you Mack, I'm sorry for calling you a dick." You murmur, already stepping closer to him and tucking yourself under his arms, folding your own around his waist.
Mack sighs happily and kisses the top of your head. "I am a dick." He replies with a scoff that makes you giggle a little bit. "Also, we can never fight before a game again, that was actually torture. I was so mad at myself the whole time. I was mad that I said those things to you, and so mad that you were just in the stands probably replaying that over and over again. I know I was." He admits, chin resting on your head.
You squeeze his waist. "I dont like fighting either Mack, we just have to be more patient with each other." You emphasize that you both need to work on things because you can tell that he's beating himself up, but you think you definitely could've been a bit more patient and gentle with him.
Mack hums an agreement. "We'll get there. For now though were getting you home and I am making up for all the time I spent stupidly ignoring you today." Mack pulls away from the hug to open the passenger side door for you, giving you a playful shove towards the seat.
You almost debate going home but Claire's voice in the back of your mind tells you to keep going. The arena is a lot louder than you anticipated. There are a lot more people than you expected as well. Everything around you makes you feel small and very anxious.
You ignore the feeling and push through the crowds. You repeat your seat row and number over and over in your head while scanning for your row. You keep walking until you find your row, which is right up against the glass. Of course Will would get you front row seats.
You find your seat, which is sandwiched between a middle aged man and an elderly couple. You suppose there's probably worse people to sit next to at a hockey game. You take a seat after flashing the elderly woman a smile. She scans your outfit which took you an embarrassingly long time to pick out. You don't have a jersey, not even a sharks shirt or sweatshirt, which made picking out an outfit harder. You eventually settled on a slightly fitted teal shirt and light wash jeans. The old woman sends you a small smile. "You look adorable darling." She says, her hand brushing against your forearm affectionately.
"Thank you." You blush, looking away from her and towards the ice. Your eyes find Will who is warming up. He's laughing at something his teammate is saying, looking impossibly more gorgeous in his hockey gear. He looks up from the ice, eyes immediately meeting yours. His grin deepens and he starts to skate towards you.
Everyone in your section starts cheering loudly when Will comes right up to the boards. People all around you and behind you stand up, waving their signs and asking for a puck. Will just sends you a small discreet wink and looks away to send a puck over the boards for a kid a few seats down from you. With one last look towards you he skates back to his teammate he was warming up with.
You're glad he didn't do anything more honestly. When you were looking for your seat you saw a few girls with signs that clearly showed their attraction to Will. If Will were to give you a puck or try to talk to you, you know it would certainly be noticed. The last thing you need is to be bashed on the internet for talking to a hockey player.
"Is that your boyfriend?" The old woman whispers to you, snapping you out of your thoughts.
"No." You say back softly. The old woman gives you a disbelieving look, one eyebrow raised.
"I saw the way that boy looked at you. If he's not your boyfriend, you should definitely do something to change that." She smiles softly at you before turning away to say something to her husband before you can respond.
—
Will plays with so much speed and talent, it blows you away. For the majority of the game you're on the edge of your seat, gripping the arm rest. You never knew hockey was so interesting. The old lady next you spent the game laughing at your reactions to some of the hits and plays.
At one point you watch Will skate by with speed, handling the puck so well you can't keep track of where it's going. He skates wider, towards your section, you're guessing to get away from the defender closing in on him. Then in an instant his face is pressed up against the glass, the defender checking him harshly. You can't help but stand up from your seat and gasp loudly.
Will recovers from the hit quickly. He turns his head, catching your eyes. You send him a concerned look, trying to telepathically ask him if he's okay. He sends you a wide, goofy smile in response. You finally relax back into your seat, satisfied that he's still skating with the same ease.
"You'll have to get used to that honey." The old lady says, fingers brushing your forearm. You laugh at her words, nodding along. It definitely will be something you'll have to get used to if things continue with Will.
—
The game ends in a Sharks win, Will scoring 2 goals and one assist. You indeed stood up and screamed with the crowd when Will scored the final goal that resulted in the win. Will even pointed at your section when he scored. It was brief, only lasting a few seconds before his teammates jumped on him, but you saw it.
After the team heads out through the tunnel and you bid a farewell to your new elderly friend, you head to the tunnel. Surprisingly, security let you in. You’re assuming Will showed them a picture of you or something.
You’re not sure where exactly to go. The security guard gave you directions to the family room but you think you’d feel awkward standing with family members and wives. So you settled for staying in the tunnel, reading on your phone while you wait.
You’re deep in a new romance novel that a publisher sent you when you hear Will’s voice echo. “There you are.” He says, breaking the long stretch of silence that was suffocating the tunnel.
You jump slightly, phone quickly tucking back into your purse. “Oh my gosh.” You say, breathless.
Will laughs, walking up towards you. He looks effortlessly attractive. His hair is damp, likely from a shower. He’s wearing a grey hoodie and a brown jacket, which looks both insanely comfy and stylish. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. You look beautiful by the way.” He says, smiling down at you.
You shift on your feet shyly at the compliment. “Thank you. And thanks for inviting me, you played really well. It was fun to watch.” You compliment him back, forcing yourself to look up into his eyes.
He chuckles at your words, intensely reciprocating the eye contact. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed having you here in the stands, especially when I was hit into the boards.”
You were kind of expecting him to be a flirt like this. You were basing it off of the hockey romances you’ve read, and imagining his flirting to be similar to some of the main characters. You weren’t expecting his flirting to be so soft however. It feels less pushy than the book characters, yet still confident and it definitely makes you swoon.
“That part wasn’t as enjoyable, it kind of scared me. Does that happen every game?” Your eyes roam him to see if you can detect any sort of injury. You’ve never really cared about a guy this much at such an early stage, it’s completely foreign to you.
“Yeah it happens every game. Don’t be scared though, I’m tough.” You watch him stuff his hands in his pockets, same smirk still on his face.
“I can see that.” You flirt back. Though you’re pretty sure you just look like a jumbling mess.
Will blushes a bit at your statement, the dimple in his cheek popping out more prominently. It’s silent now, neither of you knowing what to say.
“I saw that you finished your book.” He finally says, breaking the silence.
You’re taken back by his words. He must’ve watched the YouTube video you posted. You didn’t post any review on instagram of the book, so he had to have found your YouTube channel. “You watched my video?” You say, your words coming out a bit breathless.
His hand comes up behind his head, fluffing up the hair back there nervously. “Yeah, I watch all your videos now. Mack and I kind of went down a rabbit hole the other night and watched all of your videos. They’re quite entertaining.”
You’re speechless, truly. You don’t know how to respond to his confession. You’re also starting to get a bit anxious at what you might’ve posted that may be embarrassing. You like to be authentic on your channel and so you don’t cut out a lot of clips, instead letting your personality shine through. You like to think it’s how you have such a great fan base, but now you’re regretting it.
“I hope that’s not creepy. I swear it accidentally happened, I didn’t even realize I was watching all of them. I just wanted to watch your most recent one and Mack told me to watch the next one and then we couldn’t stop.” He rambles, seeing your speechless expression.
You let out a laugh, finally snapping out of your mini panic attack. You can imagine how he feels right now. You’d be mortified if he found out that you also went down a Will Smith rabbit hole. You accidentally watched so many edits of him on TikTok yesterday. You might’ve even saved a few, but he definitely doesn’t need to know that.
“It’s okay Will, that’s sweet of you.” You say, softly touching his bicep before you can stop yourself.
Will looks down at your hand, making you quickly retract it. He smiles softly at you, head tilting to the side. You shift on your feet again under his gaze. When he stares at you like that it makes you so incredibly nervous for some reason, but a good nervous.
“Are you free right now? I want to take you on a date.”
Imagine Will Smith where things are awkward after you told him you had a crush. Him not knowing that he’s the crush. He’s jealous and wants to know who the lucky man.
Mystery Man
Pairing: Will Smith x reader
Summary: Will overhears you talking about a crush and spends two weeks trying to figure out who it is, not aware that it’s him.
WC: 1,580
AN: guys part 3 of booking a spot is coming soon, i promise 🙏
Will wasn’t supposed to hear anything.
“I knew you liked him!” Mack yells, after you had told him to be quiet three times before that. That was the perfect moment for Will to walk in of course.
“Who do you like?” Will asks, cautiously walking into the living room where you and Mack are.
You kick Mack in the shin who is sitting across from you on the couch. He yelps and grabs his shin. “No one.” You answer Will, ignoring Macklin’s whining.
Will walks further into the living room, choosing to sit on the chair by the TV. “Oh come on, how come he can know but I can’t?” He gestures to Mack.
You send Mack another dirty look, hoping he can feel your anger from across the couch. You had confided in your best friend about how you were starting to fall for his best friend. Before you confessed to Mack you told him he had to be quiet because Will was in the next room over on a call and might hear. Of course you should’ve remembered that Mack is the opposite of quiet, especially when he needs to be.
Mack straightens up at the dirty look. “It’s not my fault Smitty walked in at the wrong time!” He immediately goes into defensive mode.
You grab the pillow to your left and send it straight at Macklin’s face. “Shut your mouth.” You demand, worried that Mack’s already said too much.
“Who is it?” Will asks again, watching the exchange between you and Mack carefully.
“No one.” You reiterate, trying to send your most convincing smile to Will. Mack snorts, ruining your smile however.
“It’s definitely not no one.” You turn back to Mack, contemplating how you’re going to murder him.
Will goes silent, jaw tight and gaze fixed on you, a curious look in his eye. And the conversation ends there, mostly because you send actual death threats to Mack.
That was the end of it, or at least you thought.
“So what does he do?” Will asks you over breakfast one day. You nearly choked on your coffee at the question.
“What?” You ask when you gain the composure to answer.
“The guy you like.” Will says, that same look from a few days ago on his face. The muscle in his jaw tenses as he waits for an answer.
“Nothing.” You say, settling back into your seat, knees coming up to your chest. Will gives you an unbelieving look across the table. “What if he’s unemployed?” You shrug, raising your coffee to your lips.
“So you admit there’s a guy now?” You stay silent at his question, choosing not to answer. “Also I hardly believe that you’d like someone who’s unemployed. You’re too successful for that.” He adds, making you blush slightly.
You still don’t answer his question, letting the food in front of you be an excuse for the silence.
Then comes the teasing
You’re in the middle of lunch with Will when a man approaches the table you’re at. “Excuse me, you are so gorgeous. I just needed to say that.” The man says, staring straight down at you.
You open your mouth to reply with a thanks but Will speaks before you can. “She’s busy buddy.” Will says, not even bothering to look up from his menu. The stranger apologizes, quickly leaving the table.
“Will! What the fuck was that?” You scold him, sending him a glare across the table. You were going to reject the man anyways but you were planning to be a lot more nice than Will.
Will looks up from his menu finally, completely unbothered by the situation. “I just wanted to make sure you’re still available for the mystery man.”
His comment makes you scoff. He’s been saying petty comments like that a lot recently, bringing up the ‘mystery man’ every chance that he can get. It’s starting to create a little bit of a drift in your friendship because of it. Will gets awkward and quiet whenever you don’t tell him who the crush is. You get nervous and snippy with him whenever he brings it up. A weird tension just hangs between you two constantly now.
“Well maybe I don’t want my mystery man anymore.” You snap at him. Will doesn’t even know he’s the mystery man but you say it anyways as if it will hurt his feelings. Of course you don’t mean it but you’re so annoyed with him you don’t care.
Will takes a sip of his drink and holds his menu up again. Apparently the conversation is over.
Two weeks later the secret is revealed
You’re sitting on the hood of Mack’s car in the parking lot of the arena. Mack went back inside because he forgot something in the locker room, leaving you and Will alone for the first time in a while.
It’s dead silent. You stare out at the empty parking lot. Will leans against the car, crossing his arms. Neither of you want to bring up the big elephant in the room. You refuse to be the one who asks why the friendship is so rocky now.
“Did he reject you?” Will asks, finally breaking the silence.
You sigh, disappointed that it’s just another question about your crush. “No.” You answer him firmly.
“Then why do you look so sad all the time now?” Will scoots a bit closer, his expression a bit softer than before.
You feel your own face soften too. “I’m not sad.” You say quietly, embarrassed that he’s noticed. You’ve been upset that Will is so invested in getting you into a relationship with this mystery man who he doesn’t know is himself.
“Yes you are.” Will says, hand splaying across the hood next to your leg, as if he thought about laying it on your knee but decided otherwise.
You feel bothered by the almost contact. “I’m not, Will.” You say more firmly.
A long silence dulls between you two after your reaction. You stare at Will’s hand next your leg with an intense expression. Then Will lets out a dry laugh and shoves his hands in his pockets.
“I honestly don’t know why I care so much.” He says, walking backwards and away from the car. You sit up straighter at the sudden emotion change from him. “I don’t know why I want to know what he looks like so bad, and I don’t know why you’re so afraid of telling him.” He furrows his brows and shakes his head at you.
You almost laugh at his statement but somehow control it. “Will,” you mumble instead.
“What? I’m serious. You could have any guy you wanted. If you just told him, I bet he’d be yours.” Will sighs exasperatedly. He runs his fingers through his damp post-shower hair.
You’re so tired of the back and forth between you two that you decide to just tell him now. You don’t even think about the potential repercussions, you just blurt it out. “I wish it worked like that. But unfortunately he’s standing in front of me trying to convince me to ask out someone who he doesn’t think is him.”
Will’s stillness is almost panic inducing. You feel your heart beating loudly in your ears. “Oh.” He says, every memory from the last few weeks rushing to him. Every time you dismissed his question, every time Mack refused to tell him, every time you sadly refused his suggestions.
“Will.” You say, already preparing to jump off the car and run away if you need to. You’re definitely regretting your decision to tell him now that he’s so quiet.
“Me?” Will asks, finger pointed at his chest. “I’m the guy you’ve been talking about this whole time?” He questions as if the thought never even crossed his mind.
You think this whole situation would be funny if your heart wasn’t beating so fast. You nervously pick at your fingernails. “Yes.” There’s no point in denying it now. “I mean it wasn’t my choice to talk about it so often, you just kept interrogating me.”
“That’s because I thought someone else had a chance with you.” He says, his face immediately showing that he didn’t mean to say that out loud.
“Wait what?” You ask, hoping down from the car at the realization of what he just said.
“I—” For the first time since you’ve known Will he genuinely looks flustered. A small blush is spread across his cheeks and his eyes are wide. He drags a hand across his face. “This is not going how I wanted it to go.” He groans.
You can’t help the smile that comes across your face. Will notices, making a smile break out onto his own face.
“So do you need me to spell it out for you still?” You tease him lightly.
He shakes his head, stepping closer to you. You breath hitches at the closeness. His hands slowly come to your waist, gently pulling you into him and testing the waters. You respond by wrapping your arms around his neck. He looks at you so gently with those blue eyes that you feel like you’re going to melt right there if you don’t do something. So you rise up on your toes and press a small kiss to his lips. Will immediately deepens the kiss, pulling you all the way flush against him.
“I think I’m starting to understand now.” He murmurs against your lips.
Can you write an imagine where you’re Grace Smith’s best friend who Will falls in love with?
Best Friend’s Brother
Pairing: Will Smith x reader
Summary: Grace plays match maker for her best friend and her brother
WC: 2,038
AN: ngl I saw one of Grace’s TikTok’s and she was in scrubs so I ran with it lol. Which side note, I love her TikTok’s so much, she’s so aesthetic I love it.
You've known Grace Smith for a few years now. She works on the same floor you do, you just never got around to talking to her for the longest time.
That was until there was one particularly bad shift. A patient of yours had ripped her IV out, another patient had puked in the hallway, another was screaming until his voice was raw. That crazy part is that you don't work in a very eventful department, so you were not used to shifts like that one. After the chaos had subsided, you and Grace collapsed into chairs in the break room and recounted the horror stories from that night together.
From that day on she was your best friend. It started as just catching up in the hallway. Then it morphed into drinks after shifts. Then it morphed into staying over at her apartment after a movie night. Now she knows the name of your childhood pet and all of your embarrassing stories.
You have yet to meet her family though. Even though she talks about them constantly. You hear endless stories about how her mother bought a cute new jacket, how her dad helped her make an appointment to get her car fixed, how her brother calls her at least 3 times a week. It's actually quite endearing to you how close she is with them.
That's why you're sweating buckets now. For the first time in your 4 year friendship with Grace, you're finally meeting her family. Her brother is back in town and her family is having a little get together. Her mom, who's apparently heard a lot about you too, insisted that you join.
You have to wipe the sweat off your palms before you knock on the door. You're not even sure why you're nervous, it's just her family, who from what you've been told is really sweet. The door swings open and Grace stands in front of you with a wide smile on her face. "You made it!" She beams, stepping aside to usher you into the house.
You nervously clutch the container of cookies you made close to your chest as you follow her into her dining room. Setting the table is a woman who looks strikingly similar to Grace. Upon hearing the footsteps, she looks up and sees you. Her eyes light up, similar to how Grace's did when she answered the door. "You must be Grace's friend!" She sets down the dish she had in her hand and crosses the room to pull you into a hug. You're a little taken back but nonetheless you wrap your free arm around the woman for a brief hug.
Grace introduces you and then takes the container of cookies from you to set on the table. "Dad and Will are just finishing up right?" Grace asks her mom.
"They should be done pretty soon." Her mom answers, flicking her wrist up to check her watch. You nervously bounce on your toes while watching them interact. "So, how long have you lived in Boston?" Her mom directs her attention back to you.
You answer her question, finding her to be incredibly easy to talk to. This eases your nerves and makes you slowly open up a bit more.
Mid conversation with Grace's mom, a loud bang is heard from the kitchen. You watch Grace's face scrunch up. "What did you drop Will?" She calls out, wandering around the corner and into the kitchen.
"I didn't drop anything important, it's fine." You hear a voice answer. That must be her brother. Grace talks about him so much, you're honestly quite intrigued to meet him. She's often gone for some weekends to go visit him and she always texts you about how he bought her dinner, how he stopped for an hour to sign things for fans.
He turns into the kitchen with Grace and you feel your heart flutter. You’ve obviously seen pictures of him but he looks so much different in person. He’s taller than you expected, standing a few inches taller than Grace. Every single Smith has good hair genetics, you knew that, but his hair looks especially good in person. He looks tan too, which adds to the overall glow of him. You have to look away because you feel guilty for admiring your best friend’s brother like that.
“You must be the famous work bestie.” Will says, forcing you to look back up at him.
You raise your eyebrows, shooting Grace a questioning look. “Famous?” You direct your question at her.
She shrugs, reaching over Will to pop an olive in her mouth. “I talk about you sometimes.”
Beside her, Will gives her a look, shaking his head slightly. “Sometimes? More like everyday.” Grace is unfazed by his dig at her and instead takes a seat at the table. “I’m glad I finally get to meet you.” He says, directing his attention back to you.
“She talks about you a lot too, so I’m glad I got to meet you too.” You answer him, feeling heat on your cheeks. You cut your eyes to Grace again, hoping that you’re not blushing. Grace has often confided in you about how many girls will try to get close with her just because of her brother. You love your friendship with Grace and you’d hate to ruin that.
“Let’s eat!” Graces dad loudly announces, walking straight into the room and dropping steaks onto the table. Everyone complies without any argument.
You sit next to Grace and fall into conversation with her family easily. Her parents ask you all about your life and how you ended up in Boston. You ask them about their life as well, Grace occasionally adding in a few stories about her childhood. You live far away from your parents so the whole night makes you feel a sort of sense of belonging that you haven’t felt in a while.
At the end of the night, when everyone’s full and just swapping funny stories, Grace gets a call and excuses herself. “I think that’s a good time to start cleaning up.” Her mother says, getting up from the table, grabbing plates as she does. Her dad mutters something about needing to clean the grill and also gets up, leaving you alone with Will.
“So did I live up to the hype?” He asks you, peering at you from across the table.
“Depends.” You answer, deciding to clean up the space around you instead of maintain eye contact with him. “Did I live up to the hype?”
You hear Will chuckle. “Yeah, you definitely did.” He answers. You look up at him to see him leaning back in his chair, arms crossed.
“Good.” You answer, feeling a rush of heat at your own boldness. “You did too.”
Your eyes snag on Grace who is standing at the foot of the stairs, smirking at you.
—
“Grace, someone is here for you.” An older nurse announces, popping her head into the break room and out immediately after. Grace sends you a look, eyebrow raised curiously.
“Come with me, I’m scared to see who it is.” She says, grabbing your hand across the table. You squeeze her hand affectionately and nod.
Together you go to the front desk, finding a shy looking Will leaning against the counter. He’s holding a bag in one hand, his head tucked low, staring at his shoes. “Will? What are you doing here?” Grace says, walking right up to him.
He snaps his head up, smile forming on his face when he sees you standing behind Grace. You bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from blushing. Will smiles wider and holds up the bag in his hand. “I made banana bread and thought you guys might want some.”
Grace darts her eyes from Will to you, and then back to Will. Her eyes narrow on the bag. “Oh yeah? Us?” She teases, taking the bag from him regardless.
Now it’s Will’s turn to blush and look away. “I just thought it would be nice. You guys are working a long shift right?” He shrugs, sneakers kicking the ground.
“We are.” Grace answers. “But you never visit me at work.” She says, suspiciously glancing between the two of you.
“Okay, sue me for doing something nice for my sister. I won’t do it again.” He says sarcastically, hands coming up as if he’s surrendering.
Grace rolls her eyes, pushing him gently. “You know what I mean.”
“Okay, I’m leaving. Enjoy your banana bread. It was nice seeing you again.” He directs the last statement towards you, sending you a small smile.
“You too Will.” You give him the same small smile, watching his form head out the door.
You turn back to Grace, choosing to ignore her smirk. The same one you found her giving you at dinner the other night. “Does he bake a lot?” You ask her, hoping she gets distracted and doesn’t bring up the way you were looking at Will.
“Yeah, he loves it. That’s all he does when he’s back home.” She says, looking into the bag. She pulls out a little ziplock bag full of slices of banana bread. She extends the bag to you.
You take it gratefully, feeling how the bread is still warm like it’s fresh out of the oven. “How long is he home for usually?”
She gives you a knowing smile, eyeing you slightly. “The whole summer basically.” She answers, taking a tone to her voice that you’ve never heard before.
You go to ask another question about Will but a nurse down the hallway calls for help with a patient.
—
“Grace? What’s wrong? Why’d you text me SOS?” You call out, frantically banging on her front door. She texted you while you were out grocery shopping with a very ominous “SOS, please come over” so of course you left your cart with everything in it and ran to her house as fast as you could. The whole way there you imagined all different scenarios of what could’ve happened since she stopped answering your texts. You pictured her injured, murdered, kidnapped, everything terrible under the sun.
Grace swings her door open looking perfectly fine. In fact, she’s smiling at you. “Perfect, Will just got here.” She steps to the side, showing you Will who looks equally as confused as you.
“What? You’re not hurt?” You step inside, letting her close the door behind you.
“Nope. You guys are going on a date though.” She says, pointing between you and Will.
“What?” You and Will both say at the same time. You both look at each other in confusion.
“I’m so sick of answering questions about Will. I’m also so sick of hearing about how you find her so gorgeous.” Grace wags her finger at Will, making him blush. Your heart flutters at Grace’s words. “So you’re going to take her to dinner.” She says, dropping Will’s car keys into his hand.
Will looks up at you, a smile taking over his face instead of the blush. “What do you say?” He asks shyly.
“As long as Grace is okay with it?” You ask her. You don’t want her to get mad at you or think that you’re only friends with her because of Will.
Grace rolls her eyes. “I’ve been plotting on you two getting together since I’ve met you that one crazy shift. I can’t picture either of you with anyone more perfect for you.”
That takes you by surprise, making you rethink all of the times she’s told you about Will, and about how Will called you the ‘famous work bestie’ at dinner the other day. So she’s clearly talked you up to Will too. Had she really been planning this that long?
“Stop thinking too hard. Both of you. Go enjoy dinner.” She says, shooing you and Will out of the door. She shuts the door on your face before you can ask anything else.
You turn to Will, finding him already looking at you. “I was honestly trying to find the balls to ask you out for weeks now, so I’m glad she did this.” He admits.
Summary: After not seeing each other for a month you decide to surprise Connor at one of his games.
WC: 1,027
Connor checks his phone a last time before warmups. He's half expecting to see a text from you, which he knows is unlikely. You told him you had been scheduled at work again and probably wouldn't be able to text him until later. He stares at the text you sent him before you started your shift, feeling a pang in his chest.
Good luck, I'll be thinking of you 🤍
It's been a month since he's seen you in person. A whole month of conflicting schedules. Your boss has been working you overtime most weeks and Connor's been flying all over the country for games. Quick FaceTime calls before bed are just not enough for Connor. He misses seeing you in the stands before the game. He misses the hug you would wrap him into after games, no matter a win or a loss. He just misses you.
"Yo, you good?" Frank asks Connor, snapping him out of his head. He shut his phone off and stuffs it in his bag.
"Yeah, I'm all good." Connor lies.
—
You were honestly a little worried that you'd miss the first period. Your flight had a small delay, something with the pilot. Then it's almost as if the Chicago traffic knew you were running late.
You anxiously hurried the security at the United Center when you got there. They weren't too happy with you but you managed to make it to your seat a few seconds before face off.
With your heart beating a million miles an hour you search for Connor on the ice. Of course it doesn't take long. He's taking the face off first. You feel the familiar feeling of anticipation course through you. You missed being here at the games and cheering Connor on in person. You missed the buzz of the arena, the way Connor would skate past your seat and send you a wink. You missed it all.
"Go Connor!" You yell, the sound being drowned out by the crowd around you. You sit down, letting the atmosphere of the crowd carry you.
—
By the second period Connor finally notices you. You watch him as he skates back to the bench, grabbing a water bottle and squeeze some into his mouth. When he turns to put the water away, his eyes drift up and catch yours. At first he looks away immediately but you see the moment he recognizes you because he does a double take.
You smile wide at him and send him a small wave. His eyes light up and you can see his mouth moving but you can't hear him. You read his lips and can make out a "Holy shit!" But that's about as much as you can lip read. He elbows Frank, which makes Frank also look behind him and up at you. Frank sees you, smiles, and then starts laughing at Connor. You let out your own laugh.
There’s a shift change and Connor’s hoping over the boards with that same wide smile on his face.
You watch as he plays the rest of the game with more energy and excitement. He scores goal after goal, even getting a hat trick that results in a win for the Blackhawks. After every goal Connor points his finger out to you in the stands, almost as if he’s dedicating it to you. The Blackhawks fans are going wild, matching Connor’s energy. The whole place just feels electric, and you’re practically buzzing with anticipation to see Connor.
After the game you find your way to the family room, waiting with some of the other WAGs. You catch up with a few of them, thankful to talk to them again after so long.
Eventually Connor comes out, hair damp and clothes slightly wrinkled but still adorning that same grin. He walks over to you so fast that you’re surprised he doesn’t break out into a sprint. “You’re here.” He says, eyes scanning you as if he still doesn’t believe it. The girls you were talking to walk away to give you two some privacy.
You can’t help but laugh. “I am.” You nod, biting back more laughter.
“But you said you couldn’t make it.” His eyebrows furrow in confusion.
“I made it work.” You shrug. You did make it work. The reason you’ve been working so many extra shifts was so that you could take two weeks off to spend some time with Connor in Chicago. At the beginning of the season you noticed the two weeks he had at home and booked your flight immediately.
That’s all it takes for Connor to pull you into him. He holds you tight to his body, your cheek smooshing up against his collarbone. You don’t complain, you just wrap your arms around his middle and hug back just as tight. “I missed you.” You mumble into his shirt.
“I missed you more.” He says softly, all bit of tension now gone in his shoulders. Connor pulls away just enough to look at your face. “You have no idea what that did for me out there.”
“I think I do. You played amazing Con.” You say, earning a blush from him. He doesn’t respond, just leans in and presses his lips to yours. You would melt into the ground of Connor’s arms weren’t around you.
“That’s was the best surprise ever. You have to be at every game now. For the team’s sake.” Connor says when he pulls away. You give him a look and he lets out a laugh. “Okay, mainly for my own sake. I can’t go another month without seeing you.”
“Good because I’m here for two weeks so you better get used to me.” You remark, smirking up at him. You didn’t think it was possible but Connor’s face lights up even more.
“Let’s go! That means we’re winning the next 3 games.” Frank cheers from a few feet away, making the whole room erupt in laughter.
“Seriously, I’m glad you’re here for a few weeks. It means a lot to me.” Connor whispers to you in the midst of the laughter.
You reply with a small kiss to his cheek. “Always.”
Tonight, Mack loses the gold medal. It broke your heart seeing him cry tears of despair, disappointment and shame. He felt like a failure. He let fans down. He let himself down. To you, you made sure to do everything in your power to remind him how loved and valued he is. Tonight you guys are watching his favorite tv shows/movies, bathing with his favorite scented candles/bath bombs, rub his feet/shoulders and cook him his favorite dishes while whispering sweet praises and nothings in his ears.
More Than the Scoreboard
Pairing: Macklin x reader
Summary: You remind Mack that he’s more than the loss after his game against Norway.
WC: 946
AN: kind of similar to my last post, just way more fluffy!
You’ve seen Mack upset before. You’ve seen him frustrated after a hard practice. You’ve seen him annoyed at a loss. You’ve definitely seen him exhausted after long road trips. You’ve never seen him like this though.
The front door barely closed before Mack was breaking down. It happened so fast you didn’t have time to react. He started crying like he was holding it in for hours. Not the kind of crying you’ve seen from him before. Not the silent, only let a few tears slip. No, this was the heartbreaking and painful sobs that seem to have been being built for a long time.
You feel your heart cracking as you pull him into a hug quickly. His head drops onto your shoulder. You wrap your arms around him carefully, feeling him shake under your arms. “Mack…” you whisper, not sure what to say.
“I’m sorry.” He chokes out, his arms tightening around you.
“No, don’t apologize baby. There’s nothing to be sorry for.” You immediately whisper back. Your hand rubs circles into his back, desperately trying to ease his pain.
“I completely blew it.” You can feel the fabric of your shirt becoming damp under his tears but you don’t dare move.
“Mack,” you start to voice your disagreements but he cuts you off.
“I let everyone down. You, my family, the fans, my country.”
Mack had always carried unrealistic expectations of himself. Every win wasn’t enough. Every game there was at least one thing he could’ve done better. Every mistake was made to be something bigger than it really is. You didn’t realize how much he carried until now. He’s too good at hiding it.
“You are not a failure Macklin.” Your voice comes out firm. You just wish he’d see himself from your eyes. All you see when you look at him is pride. You’re so beyond proud of how much work he puts into his sport, of how gentle and kind he is while doing it.
You can feel Mack tense up at the use of his full name, not his nickname. He chooses not to respond however, letting you know that he doesn’t believe you.
—
The first thing you do is run him a warm bath. You’re hoping the bath helps him relax a bit, seeing as he’s still so tense. He listens to your demands for him to get undressed and get in the water. He looks like he doesn’t have the energy to argue anyways.
You sit on the edge of the tub, watching as he stares at the wall in front of him blankly. You sigh and run your hands through his hair, scratching slightly. He closes his eyes, leaning back into your hand.
“Clean up, I’m going to go make some dinner.” You tell him softly. He nods, eyes still remaining closed.
You leave out his favorite outfit for him to put on when he gets out, a pair of gray sweatpants and a sweatshirt he’s owned since high school. Then you scramble to the kitchen to start making his favorite meal. It’s a pasta dish that you begged his mom to send you the recipe for.
You’re halfway through making the sauce when you hear the door to your bedroom open. A few minutes later you feel Mack’s arms wrap around you from behind. His head falls onto your shoulder, wet hair tickling your cheek.
“You don’t have to do all of this for me.” His voice is muffled but you still understand him clearly.
“Yes I do.” You state, turning your head to press a kiss to his temple. He sighs, not bothering to disagree with you which is out of the ordinary for him. Not in a bad way. He just never passes up the opportunity to tease you and bait you into getting angry at him. He thinks it’s cute when you’re annoyed with him.
You spend the rest of your time cooking with Mack wrapped around you. Not that you’re complaining at all.
—
After dinner, you find yourselves curled up on the couch together. You threw on his comfort movie and wrapped him under the blanket with you. His head is on your shoulder, face turned towards the TV, his hands planted on your waist. Your own hands are rubbing soothingly up and down his back, the way he likes it. “You’re amazing, I hope you know that Mack.” You say softly.
Mack just hums, face pressing into your shoulder more. He still doesn’t believe you.
“I mean it. You’re one of the most hardworking people I know.” You pull his hair back and press a kiss to his forehead. “Look at me,” you say gently, tugging on his hair to get him to look up. He does, green eyes peering up at you. “You are so talented and strong and funny and important. You are so so loved as well Macky. You matter to me so much more than a scoreboard.” You say, your own voice cracking with emotion.
A tear slips down his cheek. You’re quick to catch it with your thumb. “You really believe that?” He asks, his voice small and vulnerable.
You pull his face up to yours, kissing his lips firmly, trying to convey your love for him in a single kiss. “Of course I do.” You say breathlessly when you pull away.
Mack’s shoulders relax a little bit. Not all the way, but enough for you to relax as well. You know he still has a ways to go before he can fully let all the pressure off himself. But you at least know tonight he has been able to let go a little bit.
Mack is playing in the world championship today. The biggest day in his career other than getting drafted at 18 years old. You were there sitting with his family along side his girlfriend. You never liked her but tolerated her for Mack. They’ve been rocky lately but you only know that due to Mack telling you everything in his life since you’ve been friends for years. When team Canada lost the gold medal, your jaw dropped and your blood started to boil watching his girlfriend get up and leave. Completely dismissing Mack and his feelings. When you looked back at him, he was already watching with tears in his eyes. What hurt most? Losing the game or realizing he chose the wrong girl?
Wrong Choice
Pairing: Macklin Celebrini x best friend!reader
Summary: After Mack’s girlfriend leaves him after the devastating loss at worlds, he realizes something he didn’t before.
WC: 1,083
You feel your heart drop as you watch Norway cheer on the ice. Your heart drops even more when you see Mack on the center of the ice, staring up at the score of the game with a defeated look on his face. You know how devastated he was at the Olympics. You also know how he was looking at the world championships as a redo of what happened at the Olympics. He’s put a lot of pressure on himself for these world games, feeling as though he needs to live up to the C on his jersey.
You also know how absolutely wrecked he probably is right now. No one works harder than him. He puts in countless hours into training, playing until he is so physically exhausted he can’t move. You can’t count the amount of times he’s called you and confessed how tired he is, how his body hurts, how he needs more sleep. Yet he keeps going, waking up early to train, and going to bed late. To him he’ll never be good enough, and losing worlds will just put him further in that delusion.
No one around you moves. Not Mack’s parents, not his sister, no one. Everyone is dead silent, seemingly thinking the same thing as you. That is until you catch his girlfriend moving out of the corner of your eye. You turn your head to look at her. She’s standing up, grabbing her purse. You dart your eyes to Mack’s mom in confusion. She just shrugs her shoulders, looking as confused as you. Maybe his girlfriend is just emotional?
You watch his girlfriend leave, not even glancing back. She doesn’t say goodbye, doesn’t even look at the ice towards her boyfriend.
You have to restrain yourself from running after her and letting her know what you really think of her. You can’t believe she actually left before the medal ceremony, before awards, before seeing Mack.
You hate her, you have since the moment you met her. She was always so rude to you and to Mack’s family. She’s even more rude to Mack, which he was always too blind in love to see.
At least he used to be in love with her. Lately he’s been calling you sounding so frustrated with her. They fight constantly, Mack tells you about it every time. She expects so much from him, claiming he’s embarrassing her when he doesn’t score a certain amount of goals, he’s not attentive enough to her, he doesn’t post her enough. Everything he does seems to bother her. The past few calls you’ve gotten from him, you can tell he doesn’t love her the way he used to. Which both elates you and makes you upset.
Upset that he is going through all of that in his personal life on top of the things that are happening with his career. It also makes you happy because that means Mack is starting to realize he deserves better.
You push down all of the emotions and look away from her empty seat. Your eyes find Mack again. He’s already staring up at you. His lips are in a thin line and he’s shaking his head. Clearly he notices his girlfriend’s absence. Even from here you can see that his eyes are glistening. Your heart breaks even more because Mack never cries like that in public. Not when there are cameras everywhere.
He turn his back to you, likely to hide his emotions from you and his family. You feel sick at the sight.
—
You’re standing next to his mom outside of the player’s locker room, her hand resting on your shoulder comfortingly. She knows you just as well as her own son. After years of being Mack’s best friend she can read your facial expressions quite well. She knows how worried you are for Mack just based off the way you’re biting your lips.
Players start to come out, some offering small smiles to the family members, some not bothering to hide their feelings. Then Mack comes out. The second he sees his family, he breaks. His dad pulls him into a hug immediately. His mom leaves your side to comfort Mack as well. They both mutter encouragements and apologies to him.
After a few moments Mack looks up. Right at you. The tear tracks on his face make you so irrationally sad. You’d go to the end of the earth to make sure he never feels like this again.
His parents let him go, sensing that he wants to see you now. He walks over to you slowly, just staring at you. You open your arms and he collapses into them. His arms go around your waist and his head buries into the crook of your neck. You wrap your arms around his shoulders tightly, praying he can feel how proud you are of him.
“Thank you for staying.” He mutters through shallow breaths. You can sense the underlying message of his sentence. You stayed, his girlfriend didn’t. You support him unconditionally, his girlfriend doesn’t.
You can’t lie, you’ve imagined life as Mack’s girlfriend. You’ve longed for experiencing what it’s like to hear him say that he loves you, waking up next to him, kissing him. You started to fantasize about it even more when he started dating that girl. You’d fantasize about how you’d treat him better than her, how well you two would fit together. You already do fit together so perfectly.
“Always, Macky, always.” You whisper back. And you mean it as a promise. No matter what happens to you two, you’ll always be there for Mack.
He pulls back just enough to look you in the eyes. There’s a different emotion on his face, one you’re not that familiar with. He opens his mouth to say something. Then he closes his mouth again, tongue darting out to lick his lips. “I think I made the wrong choice.” He says softly.
Your heart is beating wildly in your chest. You’re not sure what he means but your intuition is telling you that Mack just confessed something serious to you. Something that could change your friendship forever.
You don’t ask to clarify, not while his family is standing a few feet away, not after he just lost an important game. You just pull him back in for another hug, your head running with a million different thoughts.
Mack squeezes you tighter, a realization hanging heavy on his heart. It’s always been you.
Summary: Your friend makes you question Wills intentions with you.
WC: 1,988
"Will Smith? Really?" Your friend pulls you out of Will's gaze. You have to look away when he smiles at you from across camp because your insides swish around like a melted snowman.
You look at your friend who has a distasteful look spread across her face. Your smile falters slightly. "How long has that been going on?" She mutters with a scoff. You’re a bit taken back by the venom laced in her tone.
"Oh, um we've been talking for a few months." You shrug, suddenly feeling insecure under her judgmental glare.
"Oh honey," she starts with a bitter laugh, "you should avoid hockey players like the plague, especially Smitty." Her eyes focus on something behind you, presumably Will. She scowls before turning her attention back to you.
Curiosity, anger, and a bit of hurt sparks in you. "Why?" Is all you’re able to get out, feeling too overwhelmed with emotions.
"I dated him, well not really. We talked for about as long as you guys are. Then he just ghosted me. So he might do the same thing to you, heads up." She crosses her arms and looks away from you. Her cheeks are tinted pink and she lets out a small huff. She's clearly still bitter about how things ended between her and Will.
She talked to him? It's silent as you mull this information over in your head. "Hockey players are horrible boyfriends, just remember that." Allison grumbles to you before speed walking away.
From what you know of Will so far he doesn't seem like he'd be a horrible boyfriend. He's really sweet and kind. When you met him in an ice cream shop the week before school started, he was a nervous mess, which was really cute. He definitely didn’t seem like a bad person.
—
"Hi." a boy around your age sits down next to you. You look up from your phone to see this really cute boy. Floppy hair, blue eyes, a wide smile, he's the definition of pretty.
"Hi," you respond, smiling a bit at him. His smile widens. You’re immediately pulled into this guy based off the vibe he gives.
"You're," he pauses to laugh nervously, scratching the back of his neck, "you're really pretty." His eyes finally meet yours.
You’re internally freaking out because this has never happened to you before. Sure you’ve had guys ask you out, but they were never this forward, honestly not this attractive either. Somehow you compose myself and appear less freaked out.
"Thank you." You sit up a little straighter and let out a small laugh. The guy just leans his face on his hand and stares at you. "What's your name?" You ask.
"Will." He responds, still staring at you. You have to cover your face because his staring is making you so nervous.
"Can I have your number Will?" You ask him. He seems to snap out his trance, pulling out his phone.
—
"Hey," Will says softly, hand brushing against your arm. You startle a bit, having been lost in your thoughts. He must've walked over here while you were thinking about the first time you met him.
"Hi." You let out a small smile. You’re still conflicted with Allison's words. Why would he be a bad boyfriend? Even after that day you met him and continued hanging out with him, he’s been the sweetest guy. He’s always so attentive to your emotions and he so kind and gentle. You think he’d make a great boyfriend, contrary to what Allison said.
"Everything okay?" Will's eyebrows furrow and his smile drops. Even though you’ve only known him a few months, he knows you better than most of your closest friends.
"I just," you pause, wondering how much to reveal. "I was talking to my friend Allison," you study his face for a reaction to her name, "she said you guys had a thing," you trail off slightly, feeling embarrassed.
Will's face falls even more. His thumbs rub circles into your arms at your sides and his eyes flicker between your left and right eyes. "I wouldn't really call it a thing. We just talked, nothing more. She didn't even really mean anything to me," He explains almost frantically.
Your heart drops because what if that's how he feels about you? You step back a little from Will, his arms falling to his sides. He notices somethings off because you can see the flicker of hurt flash across his face.
"Oh," you mutter. You want to say more but nothing comes out. It's like your words get choked up in your throat even though you so desperately want to get them out. You want to tell him how much he means to you. You want to hear him tell you how much you mean to him. But you don't, and he doesn't.
You walk away without looking back at him. There's a knot in your stomach that's slowly climbing into your chest and it's screaming for you to go back.
--
The knot hasn't gone away this whole week. With every missed call, every missed text the knot grows larger. You want nothing more than to answer him but everytime you see his contact you think of what he said. She didn't even mean anything to me. You don't think you could handle be nothing to Will.
It hurts you to think about it. You’re not even dating officially but it feels like a break up. He took your life with force, leaving you breathless but wanting more. Your throat closes up at the thought of him. His smile and his warm eyes and his smooth voice. He makes you feel so safe and you’d be devastated if he didn't feel the same.
You would also be equally devastated if what Allison said is true. What if Will is a bad person and wouldn't be a good boyfriend? You just can't shake the feeling that she's wrong though. Everything he's done for you so far has been beyond selfless and caring.
Maybe it's because you’re tired of the constant back and forth in your head. Maybe it's just a deep pill towards him, but you leave to go find Will.
Will gave you the address to his dorm once, just in case. You’ve never been there though because he'd always come to hang out in your dorm. So it's a bit unusual to find yourself in the hallway of his dorm, banging on the door.
The door opens to reveal a mildly annoyed hockey player that is, unfortunately, not Will. The boys eyebrows shoot up in surprise when he sees you. You want to ask why but all that's occupying your mind is Will.
"Will!" The boy yells. Your jaw goes slack with surprise. How does he know you’re here for Will?
In a matter of seconds, Will's head peaks over the boys shoulder. When he sees you, his smile drops. You have to swallow the thick feeling in your throat at his reaction. Will stands before you, gazing at you with a million different emotions that you can't seem to understand. "Hi," he whispers.
"Hi," you respond back. You realize he's waiting for you to say more and to explain why you’re here. You glance around to see that his roommate is looking between Will and you curiously. You tuck a piece of hair behind your ear anxiously. "Can we talk in private?" You mutter.
He follows your gaze and nods his head, cursing a bit. He politely asks his roommate to give you privacy. The roommate nods, slipping behind you to leave. Will pulls you out of the hallway and into the small room. It's small but cozy. Theres books on his desk, hockey sticks leaning against the wall, and a big fluffy blanket on his bed.
"What's up?" Will asks, leaning over you, trapping you in with his arm near your head. You lose your voice because his face gets so close and it seems like he's going to kiss you. But then he pulls away and the door latches shut with a click. You feel slightly embarrassed because of course he was just shutting the door.
"Um, I'm not good at this." You shake your head, already losing your confidence from before. You want the ground to swallow you.
"What's going on sweetheart?" He whispers, eyebrows laced together in concern. His fingers ghost over your arm but he drops it to his side. He's so sweet and you feel like you don't deserve it.
"I'm not good at talking about my feelings," you admit truthfully. When you feel overwhelmed with emotions, you just can't tell people about it. No matter if it's good or bad. It's like the words get caught in your throat. You think, maybe, you’re scared of being vulnerable because you feel like your most sensitive feelings won't be validated.
But that's the thing. You want to be vulnerable with Will. You want to trust him and you want him to trust you. You know that he won't invalidate your feelings but that doesn't make it any less scary.
"I really like you." You breathe out, closing your eyes so tight it hurts. "I like you so much and it scares me so fucking much Will." Your fingers tremble at your sides. You don't realize you’re crying until a heavy teardrop lands on your shirt. "When I'm with you it's like all the bad thoughts go away and I feel like I'm floating. And I don't want it to stop. But I'm so scared that I'm not enough for you and you'll realize that some day and just..." you let out a soft sob and finally open your eyes to look at him.
He's breathing heavily, body rigid, but his eyes are jumping all over your face. You’ve never been more scared in your life. You can't tell what he's thinking and he's not saying anything, he's not even moving. "Say something please," you quietly beg him.
He moves forward slowly until you’re chest to chest. You avoid his face and look at the BC logo on his shirt instead. His hands land on your face, pulling you up to look at him. He leans his forehead on yours, your breaths mingling together. "I really like you." He breathes his response into your mouth before kissing you.
The knot in your chest fades slowly and your entire body relaxes into Will. "I don't want you to feel like you're not enough with me," Will says when you inevitably pull away.
It's hard to look into his eyes when he's so close but you manage. "You don't make me feel like that, I do." Finally calling out your own anxieties feels like a breath of fresh air.
Will’s hands tangle into your hair and he kisses your forehead slowly and gently, like he's trying to take away the anxiety with one kiss. You wrap your arms around his middle and bury your head in the space between his neck and shoulder. "The reason I ghosted Allison is because she was flirting with my roommate whenever I would leave the room. In retrospect, I should've maybe broke things off with at least a text. I can promise you I'm not going to do that to you. You're more than enough for me, please don't be scared of liking me."
You start to cry again, not because you’re sad but because Will's words are so relieving. If it's even possible, you sink further into Will. He lets you lean on him and cry into him. He rubs your back and kisses your hair repeatedly, engraving his words into your head.
"I like you, and I want to work through everything with you. As my girlfriend?" He whispers softly, his voice raising an octave at the end.
"Yes, as your girlfriend." Your smile is squished against his chest.
Summary: Connor stands up for you when he notices you having a bad interaction with a fan
WC: 1,280
AN: guys I want to add an ask button to my profile but I can’t figure out how to 😭
You're standing at the bar, waiting for your drink. You're trying to focus on your phone, but you're only half paying attention. Connor is a few feet away from you, deep in a conversation with one of his friends. You agreed to go out with him tonight to celebrate the off season. It's been fun so far, bar hopping and quality time with Connor that you normally don't get a lot of. However, you are starting to lose steam and are becoming increasingly more tired by the minute. You can see on Connors face that he is starting to get there too.
"Hey," A voice pulls you from your thoughts. You look away from Connor and over to the man that is standing in front of you. You have no idea who he is. Based on the way he greeted you and how he's leaning against the bar counter to look at you, no one else would guess that he's a stranger to you. "You're Connor's girlfriend right?" He asks.
"Yes...?" you trail off, eyes narrowing at him. The way he said Connors name so casually like he knows him rubbed you in the wrong way. You suppose there is a possibility that he does know your boyfriend but you doubt that. You've been dating Connor for a long time and you are very familiar with his friends.
"I knew it. I've seen you around." He states. You wrack your brain for a time that you've maybe met this guy or a time that Connor has maybe shown you a picture of him. You end up blank though. "On like Instagram." The man clarifies.
It makes more sense now that he said that. You assume he's probably just a fan of Connor and saw some of the photos that Connor posted of you. "Okay?" You shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other. You cant tell where this conversation is about to go, making your anxiety spike.
"It must be nice." He leans more into the bar, trapping you into the conversation. You raise your eyebrows at him. "You get to hangout with pro athletes all day, free tickets to the games, VIP. I mean you are living the dream here."
You give him a tight lipped smile and nod. You don't like how he's already starting to paint you as some sort of gold digger. "I'm just trying to get my drink man." You tell him, glancing to the bar. The bartender sees you and comes your way, sliding the drink towards you. You turn to leave but the man traps you in once again.
"Dont be like that, c'mon." His voice comes out more demanding now that he's realizing you're brushing him off. "Im just saying, you don't just accidently end up with a guy like him." He chuckles, the noise sounding anything but pleasant.
You can feel your anger rise at his comment. "Excuse me?" You scoff. Who is he to assume these things about you when he doesnt even know you? And who is he to think he has the right to come up to you and tell you? You turn your head to find where Connor is. You could deal with this on your own without a doubt but your too tired to fight with this man and just want to leave. You meet Connors eyes, which were already looking at you. His eyebrows are drawn in concern as his gaze shifts to the guy behind you. You cock your head to the exit as a way to signal to Connor that you want to leave.
"Yeah, call for him to save you. I think you're exactly like they say you are online. Its not hard to see that you're just with him because he's Connor Bedard. Are you actually into hockey? Or just the money Connor gets from it?" The man rants, face redding with his own anger.
"Im not doing this," you state, trying to find a way past him. The man moves over, once again blocking your way.
"Hey," Connor steps in with a hand on your back. "Do you have a problem?" His voice is too calm and he's staring down this man with an intensity you've never seen before. Not even on the ice.
The man backs up, clealry intimidated, which is funny considering the man has quite a few inches of height on your boyfriend. "We were just talking." The man says, voice going quieter.
Connor glances from the man to you. He saw most of the conversation, saw how the man was trapping you in. He also heard the last comment the man made to you. Now that he's closer he can see the way your shoulders are wound tight and how you're angling yourself a way from the man. The look on your face, the one he knows is pure discomfort, is all it takes to set Connors anger off. "Really? Because from my point of view it looked like you were talking at her."
You've never seen Connor like this in public. Sure, on the ice he can get angry and competitive. In public however, he's always really reserved and tries to avoid conflicts such as this. He would rather not cause a scene and see himself on some TikTok the next day. Right now he seems to have thrown that out the window.
The man scoffs again. "I was just saying what everyone was thinking." You have to hand it to this man for his incredible confidence. You cant imagine saying those things to anyone, let alone strangers.
You can see that Connor is somehow even more angered. The tips of his ears have turned pink and his chest is starting to rise and fall more rapidly. Connor takes a step towards the man, not in a threatening way but in a firm way. "Well you and everyone else are wrong. She told you to stop, so stop it." Connor's voice is low, he's almost on the verge of seething through his teeth.
The man stares at Connor for a minute, stuttering nonsense before he backs off into the crowd. And just like that its over and the man is gone. The noise of the bar returns to you, the music becoming more noticable.
Connor turns to you, his features softening. His hand comes up to cup your arm reassuringly. "You okay?" He asks you, thumb rubbing circles into your arm.
You nod even though your chest is still tight with anxiety. "Yeah, some people are just weird."
Connors jaw flexes at your response. "I hate how people assume things about you because of me." Connor sighs, making you look away from your surroundings and right at him.
"That's not your fault Connor." Now you're the one reassuring him, leaning in closer to him to offer comfort.
"I know, but still," He purses his lips, looking down at you. Neither of you say anything for a second, just let the noise of the bar drown out both of your worries. "You don't have to deal with any of that alone, I'm always here." Connor finally says, thumb coming to a stop on your arm.
"I know," you nod at him. The way he said it made the knot in your chest loosen. He doesn't try to control it or become overprotective of you, he just offers his support. You've always known with Connor that you're never alone and that you don't have to stand there and take anything. That's why you love him, contrary to what the man earlier thought.
"Lets get out of here, I'm tired." Connor says, already guiding you towards the door.
Summary: Mack gets a little bit too competitive while teaching you how to play hockey.
WC: 1884
Mack forgot about 10 minutes in that he was supposed to be teaching you, not competing against you. It definitely started out that way. His voice gentle, hands never leaving your body. Then he quickly realized that you were actually good at skating and it all changed.
"Okay so when were you going to tell me you can skate?" Mack pauses, watching you glide with ease. You turn around and stop cleanly in front of him.
"I distinctly remember telling you I like to skate." You shrug your shoulders. When Mack brought up teaching you how to play hockey this morning, you told him you would enjoy that. That's when you also told him that you used to skate with your best friend all the time and her family when you were younger. You actually got pretty decent at it.
"You never said you were good at skating." He states, eyes narrowing at you. Hes impressed with your skating but he won't say it out loud.
You scoff at his response. "Maybe that's your fault for assuming I'd be bad." You reply, fingers coming up to push his shoulder playfully.
He slides backwards a bit. "I didn't assume anything!" He says, laughter bubbling at the surface. You give him a look that says you know he's lying. "Okay maybe I did assume just a little bit."
You gasp, pushing him back gently again. "Macklin!" You scold. He catches your hand, holding it to his chest, giving you a smile that makes it impossible to stay mad at him.
He slaps his stick on the ice with his other hand and lets yours go. "That just means we can skip the boring part and get straight to the fun stuff." He skates two feet over to the wall and grabs the other stick that was leaning against it, extending it out to you.
You take it from Mack's hand, a grin forming on your face. "Yeah. Or maybe it just means you actually have to be a good teacher now." You tease him.
Mack's eyes light up, something flickering in them that you are all too familiar with. He gets that same look in his eye when you play board games with him. You've seen it when he plays video games with Will. Mack's getting competitive. You can't tell if that means this is going to be fun, or if this is about to become an absolute disaster.
—
Mack starts off easy enough, showing you simple moves. He shows you how to handle the puck while moving. He shows you how to keep it close and in your control. You pick it up quicker than Mack thought you would. Your skating gives you an advantage, making it so you don't have to focus on your feet and the puck at the same time.
You pass the puck to Mack with ease, feeling pride in how fast you've developed the skill. "Okay that was a pretty good pass." He admits, appearing as though he's feeling the same pride.
"Pretty good? When's the last time you've seen talent like this?" You point to yourself. This earns a laugh from Macklin.
"Okay, I think you're getting too cocky now." He places a hand on his hip, other hand moving the puck back and forth on the ice.
You watch the puck, mesmerized by the way he's able to manipulate it. It's easy for him, making you slightly jealous of his skill. "Do you have a problem with that?" You counter him.
Mack gives you a look, his eyes starting to sparkle even more with that competitive spirit. "Alright then, one on one. If you're really as talented as you say you are then let's see if you can beat me." His tone has shifted. He's serious now.
Mack skates closer to you, now circling you, guiding the puck with him. "Talk about cocky." You mumble, bending at your hips slightly, getting ready to take that puck from Mack.
"You're about to lose." Is all he says before he takes off in the direction of the net behind you.
—
You don't lose, at least not immediately. You're faster than Mack anticipated. You're light on your turns and you have this ability to read exactly where Mack plans to go, getting there before him. However, he's still more skilled with the puck and despite your agility he's still faster.
At one point you steal the puck right from Mack. You catch it in his eyes first, the way he looks from the puck to the ice a few feet to the left. Before Mack even begins to move to the left you're there, swiping the puck from him with your stick. You let out a cheer, skating away as fast as you can, slapping the puck into the goal. It's not as satisfying as when Mack does it, but it still went in.
You turn to see Mack looking at you with pursed lips. "Tied." You tease him. Mack's lips go even thinner, pulling impossibly tighter.
"Alright, slight change." Mack announces, his voice echoing.
"I don't like where this is going." You murmur, going to retrieve the puck. You feel Mack watching you as you bend down to get it out of the netting.
Mack rolls his eyes at your mumbled statement. "You're going to learn how to protect the puck with your body." He sounds mischievous, which is usually never a good thing when he's feeling competitive.
You stand up, passing the puck towards Mack. He stops it with his stick when it gets close enough. "Body checking? Really Mack?"
Mack can hear the uncertainty in your voice, sending him into overdrive to explain himself. "No not full checking. Just... use your shoulder to keep me away, don't let me get it."
"Fine, but if you knock me over Mack," you send him a warning glare. He skates closer to you, dropping the puck in the middle of the both of you.
"I won't. I know what I'm doing." He reassures you. Although it doesn't do much to reassure you. You do trust Mack though, so you position yourself in front of the puck.
He lets you take the puck away from him, pressing in on you as you skate away. He's testing to see how well you hold your balance. You lean into him just as much as he is into you, keeping the puck as far away from his stick as possible.
"There you go, don't give me space babe." He praises you, now pressing in even harder on you.
You lean into him harder, trying to push him off of you with your shoulder. You're concentrating on fending him off that you don't notice your control of the puck is slipping. Mack tries to swipe the puck from you. You shift, moving it away from him. He goes for it again, this time putting some force behind his push. You go to counteract his force but his is much stronger than yours, making you lose balance.
You hit the ice before you can even register that you're falling. Your shoulder smacks into the ice, sending a jolt of pain through your side. The stick clatters somewhere in the distance, out of reach. You let out a small pained noise.
"Shit." You hear Mack say, his own stick dropping onto the ice, now forgotten. He's at your side instantly, sliding onto his knees to examine you. "Hey, hey, hey, are you okay?" He asks, voice now small and tight, a huge difference from a moment ago. He hovers his hands over you, almost afraid to touch you. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. Are you hurt?"
You shift, trying to sit up straight. You wince at the pain in your shoulder when you move. You roll onto your back instead, letting the pain come out in waves. You don't think you broke or tore anything, probably just bruised it.
"Don't move." Mack insists, hands now coming up to cradle your head. He moves your head from side to side, inspecting it. "Did you hit your head?" He asks.
"No, I just landed on my shoulder." You try to send him a reassuring smile but end up grimacing.
Mack does not look pleased at all. His lips are drawn into a thin line and he's shaking his head slowly. "I hit you way too hard." He mutters, eyes scanning up and down your body, looking for more injuries. "I just got too carried away." His hand travels from your face to your shoulder to check it out. It's tender when he touches it but not too bad. It's definitely just bruised.
"Yeah, maybe a bit carried away." You let out a giggle despite the pain in your shoulder. You wait for Mack to let out a laugh too and move on but he doesn't. His lips stay pursed as he looks at your shoulder.
"It's not funny." He states, sending you a serious look.
Your giggling dies down. He's upset, more upset than you are. Not that you are upset at all, you honestly should've seen it coming. You can tell Mack's in his head though, probably kicking himself for the whole thing. "It is kind of funny." You move to sit up but Mack is quick to keep you down.
"It's not." He firmly states, ending the argument there. "Let me help you up. Tell me if anything hurts." His fingers curl to the backside of your shoulder, supporting it with his palm. He helps you into a sitting position, even though you don't need help. His eyes are still trained on your shoulder, anxiety swimming in them.
"Mack, I'm fine." You say softly, cupping his jaw with your hand. He looks away from the shoulder to meet your eyes. He's not convinced that you are okay, you can just tell by the way he's looking at you. His eyes are big and rounded and worried.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you like that. I don't like being the reason you're hurt." His voice is so devastatingly quiet, it breaks your heart.
You start drawing small strokes into his cheek with your thumb. You give him a soft smile as you watch him relax a little into your touch. "I know you didn't mean it. Now help me up." You reassure.
He's quick to help you to your feet, hands staying firm on your waist, scanning you again for injuries. You pat his chest to get his attention. "I forgive you Mack, stop beating yourself up." He nods at your sentence. You know you're still in for hours of Mack babying you though. "Hey, next time how about you teach me without trying to win?" You tease him, desperately trying to lighten the mood.
He finally breaks, smile erupting on his face. "Yeah, no promises there." He teases back, squeezing your waist. "Let's get you home, put some ice on your shoulder. I'll run you a bath. We can watch your show. Anything you want tonight babe, it's yours." Mack rambles, cheeks splotching a light pink. You both start skating to the exit, of course Mack keeping you close the whole time.
Summary: After a bad game, Will comes home and complains about his sore back to you.
WC: 771
The Sharks had a rough game. There was lots of fighting and rough checks to our guys. The Sharks ended up losing and you can see the anger and disappointment on their faces at the end.
You know Will might come back home a little upset. You usually let him be for an hour or so until he comes up to you, usually asking for a hug. He likes to decompress by himself after games like this.
You shut off the tv and go to your shared room to read while you wait for Will to come home. You stayed home today because you had some work to finish up. You just put the game on while you did your work.
A few hours later the front door closes and you can hear the thump of Will's hockey bag hitting the floor. Usually you yell at him to put it away but you know being yelled at is probably the last thing he wants so you stay quiet.
Will's footsteps are heard all the way up the stairs. He peeks his head into your room and when he sees you his shoulders drop and his eyebrows relax. He walks into the room and collapses on his side of the bed, laying his head on your lap. This surprises you because Will usually likes his space after tough games.
"Hi Will," you say, running your hand through his damp hair. He mumbles something into your leg. "What? You have to speak a little louder," you tell him gently.
"My back hurts." He says louder this time, pink tinging his cheeks. His breath on your leg makes the rest of your body shiver. You hide the shiver by leaning forward slightly to look at his face.
"From when you got knocked into the boards?" You ask softly, tugging his hair away from his face. Will sighs and closes his eyes happily at the action.
He gives you a small nod in conformation. "Can you rub my back?" He open his eyes to silently plead with them. Will always begs you to give him one, claiming you do it better than anyone.
"Of course." You nod, leaning back again. "Just lay on your stomach." You run your fingers through his hair one more time before he rolls over onto his stomach. He clumsily takes his shirt off in the process.
You get up and straddle him so you’re sitting on his lower back. You trace your fingers down his toned back lightly and admire. His back is probably your favorite thing about him. You just can't explain how incredibly attractive his back muscles are. So you never complain when he asks you to give him a massage.
"Baby." Will mumbles into the pillow impatiently. He's caught you admiring his back. A blush spreads to your cheeks and Will just chuckles at your silence.
You press the heel of your hands into his shoulders, eliciting a groan from him. You’ve done this a few times so you know where Will usually hurts. Usually his upper back, right above his shoulder blades, and also his lower back, along his spine.
You focus on his shoulders for a little bit until he stops making noises out of pain. Then you move to his lower back. You have to scoot back and sit on his butt to get to his lower back. With your thumbs you press into the muscles running along the sides of the spine and massage the knots out. Will sighs into the pillow happily.
Once you’re finished with his lower back you run your hand back up his back, feeling him flex under your hands. You slowly lean down so that you can press a kiss to his shoulder blade. Then you lean down even more so that you’re laying on top of him. "Is that okay? Do you need more?" You whisper softly. You move your head to the side to kiss his cheek. He smiles lazily, cheek bunching up under your lips.
"Yeah, that's perfect sweetheart," Will mumbles tiredly into the pillow. His breathing is getting slower, letting you know he's falling asleep. You kiss his cheek one last time before getting off of him so he can sleep comfortably.
When you settle into your side of the bed, Will lazily rolls onto his side and puts an arm over your waist. "I love you," he tiredly mutters.
You slide your hand up over his chest and over his jaw. You kiss him gently and he kisses back as best as he can, seeing as though he's already half asleep. "I love you too."
Summary: Without meaning to, you and Connor always end up tangled together in the morning
WC: 957
The first time it happened it was completely unintentional. You blamed it on the unfamiliarity of the whole situation. It was your first time staying with Connor in his bed. You had forgotten what it was like to sleep with someone so close to you. You fell asleep on opposite sides of the bed, almost like an unspoken agreement.
You had always valued your space. Especially during sleep. You view sleep as a deeply personal experience that is individual. You like to sleep a certain way and trying to snuggle another person would just mess it up. Connor seemed to completely agree with you, at least that's what he said when he had gotten into bed. You did cuddle before bed, talking about anything that came to mind. But once sleep started to pull you under, you went to your designated sides. It was easy and comfortable, making that first sleepover not seem so scary.
That was until you woke up. When you woke up it was warm. Not in the way that it's warm from the covers or the sunlight peeking in. No, this warmth was the warmth of another person. His arm was draped around your waist, chest pressed casually to your back. His breath came out onto your shoulder, tickling it.
You didn't want to move, much to your surprise. It felt natural to have the weight of his body pressed to yours. To have your breathing in sync. It confused you, made you wonder if you were wrong about sleeping separately.
When you shifted to get away from him, to test if you felt just as comfortable without his arm around you, he reacted. He pulled you back into him, instinctively. Like it was normal.
—
After that it became routine. You started sleeping over more, enjoying the extra time you get with Connor when you wake up. You two had developed a little ritual now.
You climb into bed, maybe starting out wrapped in each other's arms. Sometimes you talk, other times you just let the silence comfort you. No matter how the night starts, you always exchange a quiet goodnight. Connor moves to his side, you move to your side.
Every morning without fail, the two of you end up tangled together. Always with Connor's front pressed to your back, his hold on you tight. Your legs tangle together, making you wonder who caused the bundle. Are you the one unknowingly pressing into him at night? Is he the one pulling you closer to him? You suppose it didn't matter how it happened, it just did.
Usually you never say anything, instead laying there in his arms until he wakes up. He doesn't acknowledge it either. When he has practice, or you have to be up for work, he'll simply press a kiss to your shoulder and get up. On lazy mornings he'll pull you impossibly closer and hold you until the angle of the sun is high enough that you know you have to get out of bed and be productive. Either way, he doesn't bring it up. Maybe he doesn't even notice.
—
One morning you decide you'll be the one to bring it up. This time you had woken up after Connor, a rare occurrence. He was drawing light circles into your hip when your eyes opened. You let yourself adjust to the morning light before turning slowly in his arms.
"Do you do that on purpose?" You ask him. His fingers stop moving, a look of confusion spreading across his features.
"Do what?" He questions, bicep flexing underneath your head.
"This," you motion to the tangle of limbs the two of you are in.
Connor looks down at your bodies, quiet and processing your question. "I thought you did." He finally answers, looking back towards you.
"No, I fell asleep on my side." You point your thumb behind you at your side of the bed.
Connor huffs out a small laugh. "So did I. I don't remember moving here." He states, fingers resuming their circles. It makes it harder to pin it on one person when the both of you are in the middle of the bed. If Connor had been on your side it would be easy to say he was the one doing it. The same would go if the both of you were on Connor's side of the bed, he could easily say it's you.
You feel like you should feel more strongly about it. You had always been so insistent on your personal space. The more you got to know Connor, the more you realized he was the same. Hypothetically, two people who clearly value their personal space should not drift towards each other in the night. You feel like you should feel differently than you do when you wake up tangled in his arms. But you don't, you just feel peace.
"I guess we just end up where we want to be." Connor shrugs a shoulder. That was that. You tucked your head underneath his chin and let the silence flow.
It was the way he had said it so casually, as if it wasn't a big deal, because it's really not. It made your overthinking extinguish.
The fact that you didn't plan to wake up like you did made it better. It was if you knew Connor was meant for you, even in your sleep. And it was as if he was always looking for you, even while sleeping. The soft reality of it made you smile.
Connor stops his circles on your hip and opts for wrapping you up tight in his arms. You press your cheek into his bare chest, relishing in the utter peace that the tangled limbs give you.
