ok soooo in my warped fic-canon head mattmcdrai has such a compelling love triangle storyline...
where in alberta leon and matthew met and fucked around and what started on ice turned into a passionate eat-play-love kind of thing.
leon was physically attracted to matthew and found him fascinating. he loved beating matthew on the ice and f*cking him off the ice. leon was young but very confident & comfortable with his identity, being european and all, which made him even more attractive
matthew was so in love with leon bc he's so cool and composed and handsome and don't give a fuck. he was more talented and objectively a better hockey player and better human in every sense of the word
they messed around for a couple of seasons, until matthew dropped the DTR bomb after plenty of drinks and asked if they were dating
he thought leon would say no and that'd be it. end of his endless self tortune
but leon said, "if you say so"
and then ... enters connor mcdavid aka youngest captain in the history of the oilers. he is a generational talent, the best player the league has even seen, quiet, polite and soft-spoken, and above all, a very, very, nice person. he was everything that matthew was not.
but unlike his precociousness in hockey connor is perpetually one step too late to everything else in life, like buying his own apartment, fashion, sex, and gay awakening
matthew always knew mcdrai was a thing and that davo and leo hang out a lot but never thought of it as anything other than on-ice partnership until they got closer and closer in real life. it wasn't like he was fighting for leon with connor, but in the back of his mind he'd wondered why leon wouldn't be jealous of connor, and why connor's pure talent in hockey has not doomed their friendship like it had with all his other childhood friends. they seem unbreakable.
in a wave of uncertainty and self doubt, matthew would lose a bet, buy a ring, propose to leon in a drunken post-win haze
he expected leon to say no again, but leon said "why not"
bc he liked matthew enough to envision some sort of life with him, where matthew would eat all the junk food and be the stupid loud american on their clandestine european trips and make fun of leo for his taste in music and never able to learn german but could probably charme his way through with leon's family anyway (once he's ready to tell them about him. one day he will.)
so mattdrai were like engaged, but they fought constantly, and would say the worst thing to each other, not talk for weeks, but somehow one person would manage to reach out and they'd make up (with lots of sex) and that person is usually leon. it was toxic af yet intoxicating
the entire time matthew was kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop, because he knew he wasn't it for leon, because how could leon, talented and confident and charming and LOVED, possibly be in love with matthew
after a particular bad fight & getting eliminated by the oilers in the playoffs, matthew was sick of losing in calgary and sick of watching leon drift further and further away, matthew broke up with leon
leon tried to call him, but he learned that matthew had traded himself to florida and that was it for them.
leon thought matthew didn’t love him or alberta anymore.
matthew thought he loved leon too much to survive another day.
leon mailed back the ring. it was a cool black opal bc it's leon's birthstone and matthew knew leon would make fun of him for believing in the astrology sh*t but did it anyway
and ofc the ring won't fit bc he didn't know leo's ringsize
leo said he'd get it resized but never did. just like about everything else in their relationship. he was never enough for leon not only in the hockey but any other sense of the word, really
what he needed now, is winning. prove to himself that he’s worth every bit the name he was born with
then life presented its greatest irony after matthew got traded to panthers he played hard and won lots, played through injuries. they beat the oilers in the cup final and got himself a ring, a ring he was proud of, a ring he earned
leon got together with connor during the summer. after the mattdrai breakup leon had much time to sit back and reflect. he's so much better this time. connor is not the most communicative person but leon would always find him and see right through him. connor also knew about leon and matthew and strangely didn't feel any which way about it. he's not the jealous type. there's a very quiet confidence in him that leon finds so, so charming and irresistible. in his plays, sure, but in their love life too.
like hugging leon and showing him that he cared about him, doing all the cute and dumb things for him, with him.
oh, and being the first one to say i love you.
it's like he's never seen the worst side of love and couldn't even believe it if he did.
so leon says it back.
leon would do with connor all the wholesome things he never had time for with matthew, like bundling up in front of the bonfire, going on ski trips in secret, watching the same film three damn times bc connor likes it…
and connor learns german on plane rides and calls leo on facetime to force him to practice with him till he's conversationally fluent.
the most important thing is that, they never, ever, ever take whats on the ice off the ice. relationship is a safe space for them.
and leon told his family about connor. they were supportive. they love him.
matthew and leon never met up after the cup final. leon didn’t it’d be weird and thought connor probably would have minded
and matthew didn’t because he wouldn’t not stop himeself from looking at leon. couldn't even look at him in the eyes when they shook hands.
the post-win summer washed away all the feelings and for a second life was good, he was winning, and having the best time of his life.
then he heard the news that johnny passed away.
he got a call from a number, not saved into his contacts but the number he'd never forget.
it's leon (connor actually made him call matthew, because no- it wouldn't be weird, he said).
they exchanged niceties. leon said i'm sorry, for the first time. matthew said it was fine, johnny would be proud of him. he cracked a few jokes about his playing times with johnny in alberta. just some good fun memories.
then he hung up before leon and cried and cried.
he beat leon again in the SCF the next year. and at the olympics. matthew thought winning would magically fix everything well guess what, it didn’t. it never will.
okay....... i think it’s so very compelling that for whatever reason leon always left his worst side to matthew, the snarky comments, the uncharacteristic rage, the punch on the face, and always left his best side to connor - the mutual compliments and respect, the quiet assurance and confidence in each other.
it pains me as much as rejoices me to think that in this fictional storyline leon had probably unknowingly took away all the lessons from his relationship with matthew so he could be better next time for connor. and he was.
and all matthew could do was to stand by and watch himself destroy just about the only good thing he had in life.
