Warnings: Angry men, Bad dates, alchol consumption
Summary: your best firend Matt rempe is fed up with your horrible taste in men and finally confess how he feels.
Notes: this woman truly gives me the best ideas. also i wrothe this while in had a migraine so truly if its bad don't tell me because i love it.
TikTok - Make Your Day
word count: 2.1k
He wanted to be there to pick up the pieces this time. After several failed first dates that had you coming back in tears. He decided to stake this one out. Admittedly just him alone following you and your date around for hours was a little creepy but it was from a place of care and love. Plus he had tried to get maya your other best friend to tag along but she had to work so. Here he was as the bar of bar number 4 grumbling to himself about how stupid this man's hair looked and how he would never make you bar hop on a first date or in general if you did not want to. Which clearly by your body language and the look on your face you were done with the bar hoping.
This was bar number four and no amount of liquor was taking the edge off the pain in your feet from your shoes. They were totally impractical shoes for a bar but you hadn’t expected to really be doing bar activities. In your foolish little brain you had assumed it would just be a meet up spot before heading out to dinner or even just getting dinner at the bar and somehow you had gotten roped into bar hoping.
Eric, your date, wouldn’t stop going on and on about football or his ex girlfriend. Which were by no means making this experience any more pleasant. You sighed as he walked away to go get another drink. As you let your head gently drop to the table you tried to decipher how you would either end this date or broach the topic of not leaving this bar. As you brought your head up you locked eyes with your best friend Matt Rempe at the bar.
You knew he had been following your pair since the start of the date and it brought you a sense of safety and comfort. Matt honest to god definitely had a foot on the man you were out with which was laughable because his dating profile said he was 5’11” which was definitely far from the truth. Matt’s face was stuck in a scowl that caused you to grimace. You could tell your best friend of 13 years was not at all impressed with the man. To be honest neither were you, but when the man you truly wanted was your 6’9” professional hockey player best friend all men were dulled in comparison.
As he came back with no drink in hand you found yourself wondering why you could never find a man interested in hockey. It was always football or basketball or baseball. While you didn’t mind baseball your little Canadian heart forever had an undeniable love for hockey.
“Hey are you ready to go?” Eric asked, coming back to the table.
“Where?” You asked politely a soft hopeful smile on your lips. Hoping somewhere quieter would be involved. He scoffed, it was soft but it was there nonetheless. Hell you would even take up the offer of going back to his place as long as it was not another bar.
“The next bar.” He said with the slightest hint of irritation that had you shrinking in on yourself a little bit. You had no idea he’d be such a douche in person. Your eyes flicked over to Matt quickly.
“Do you mind if we stay here?” You asked softly, playing with the rings on your fingers. “My shoes are really hurting my feet from all the walking and I'd love it if we could just get to know each other for a minute.”
He went from 0 to 100 in seconds and you had never been more thankful for Matt being near.
“It’s not my fault you wore the wrong fucking shoes.” You were taken aback you had not expected this response. “Ruining my night because you can’t choose the right things to wear for a date”
“I suggest you politely apologize and walk away while you still can” Matt said with some much assurance and a deadly calm that your blood ran cold for the stupid man before you.
“I’m sorry who the fuck-“ he caught off quickly as he turned around as was meet with nothing but Matt’s broad chest. A small giggle almost slipped out as you realized you were right with your assumption that Eric had lied about his height.
“Like I said I suggest you apologize and walk away while you still can” Matt ever so eerily calm with you knew hid the true anger underneath. Eric turned back to open his mouth gapping like a fish for a few quick heart beats before trying to scurry away like the rat he truly was. Matt quickly snatched him by the back of the shirt and hauled back in front of you.
“Last time I will ask nicely. Apologize.” Matt stated this time voice rougher, anger slowly leaking through. Eric nodded quickly and gulped.
“I am so sorry Y/N for the way I have behaved. I just realized I forgot to walk my goldfish and need to leave right now. I hope you have a great night.” With that sorry excuse of an apology, Matt let him go and let him scurry away. With his attention on you, you felt a multitude of emotions.
Thankful he was here. A slight hit of annoyance at the way he handled it. Love for this man that would never, could never, be released. You laughed softly. His eyes squinted at you for just a second before he muttered "I'm glad you find this so hilarious.” He swept his hand in his hair willing himself to calm down. He couldn’t tell what he was more angry about, your horrible taste in men, the sorry excuse for men you seem to have found an endless supply of, or the love he held for you deep in his chest. So much love that it hurt. Wanting needing aching to love you the way you deserved. “That guy was a douche. Lets go.” He said gruffly truly not wanting to take his anger out on you. He just had to get you home then he could go to the gym and run or run to the rink and skate or run to the other gym for the punching bag but the bottom line was he had to get you home.
You still see it though. the stiffness in his shoulders, his jaw clenched. His hands balling and unballing into fists. His clipped words. He quickly strides up to the bar to pay his check.
You hopped off your stool and shoved your arms into your coat knowing the November air would freeze you to the bone. You followed behind him trying to keep pace with his quick long strides. You grimaced as you waited for him to pay his check. The pain reigniting in your feet.
“Do you want to get an uber?” he asked softly trying to mask his anger. You shook your head not wanting to inconvenience him further tonight you knew you weren’t far from the apartment and the walk wouldn't be too bad. He shot you a questioning look before laying his arm over your shoulder and walking you out the door.
The walk was silent; it wasn't quite awkward; you could just feel the anger radiating off of him. His long legs moved way faster than yours and walking like this wasn’t feasible for long. He slowed his stride to give you some relief but you still shrugged out of his grip. The tension is just a little bit too much for you.
As the walk continued you slowly fell further and further behind him. Eventually he stopped for you to catch up. When you caught up. You used his arm to steady yourself and take your shoes off.
“What are you doing?” he grumbled looking down at you, clutching his arm as he used his other one to help steady you. You flipped your hair to the side and looked up at him. The pain and the cold giving you a little bit of attitude.
You stared at him for a second annoyance and irritation etched on your features. “What does it look like I'm doing Matt” sarcasm edging your tone as you let out a deep breath after you slipped the first heel off. “I’m taking my shoes off” He scoffed and frowned. Before slipping off his jacket and throwing you over his shoulder. You yelped in surprise as you hadn’t realized what was about to happen. He covered your legs with his jacket as he fiddled with the strap of your shoe to get it off.
“Shoe” he demanded, reaching around for the one in your hands.
“No you barbarian. Put me down.” You wiggled track to get down but his grip tightened around your legs.
“You’re trying to walk the cold New York City streets barefoot” he chuckled, “and I'm the barbarian. This wouldn’t be happening if you had let me order an uber”
“I didn't think we were really that far from the apartment. I didn't want you to waste your money. We’re not that far now, we're like a block I can walk Matt put me down.”
“No,” he said sternly. “First you keep going out with these ridiculously mediocre men. Then you insinuate any money I could spend on you is a waste and now you’re trying to walk the New York City streets barefoot in November. What’s next y/n truly what's next?” He asked the questions almost like he was asking himself.
But you had no answer, you weren’t sure what to say especially because his words hit a nerve and you wanted nothing more than to stomp away from this conversation like a toddler but you were stuck on this gigantic man’s shoulder. So instead you crossed your arms and didn’t dare add a response.
Truthfully he was okay with the silence, not sure what else to say without coming off angry with you or completely laying his heart on the line. He wasn’t sure how that would be received or what you would say. But he knew the pain of keeping it in was better than the pain of you not feeling the same or of losing you as his best friend.
Finally as they make it home. He sets her down in the living room and tosses his keys on the side table by the door. “I don’t know why you’re so mad. I didn’t ask you to be there. I didn't ask you to carry me home i was fine.”
“Were you y/n were you really fine. What if he had gotten angry. What if he slipped something in your drink. What if in your slightly intoxicated state someone harassed you on the street. There is so much that could have gone wrong tonight or any other time you go out with these pieces of shit men that treat you in no way you deserve to be treated and I’m here. I’m always here waiting to pick up the pieces to make it better. Begging the universe that maybe one day you’ll wake up and give me a chance. b-”
You don’t think you had ever moved so fast the second the words left his mouth you reached for him crashing his mouth to yours. You swear time simply stopped, it was everything you had wanted in life. His big calloused hands gently cupped your face as yours gripped at his henley to keep him here. You had no idea that he felt this way that all this time your feelings were being reciprocated.
You went to pull away to continue the conversation but he groaned and dropped one hand to your waist. Pulling your body closer keeping you pinned against him, his mouth stuck with yours.
“y/n” he whispered as he finally pulled away, gently gasping for breath just like you were. His forehead rested gently against yours. Your eyes fluttered upon softly meeting his. Desperation blowing his pupils wide. You slid a hand up his neck to cup his jaw. You poured as much longing and love as you could into the next words you uttered softly.
“I love you Matt Rempe. As more than a friend always have always will.” your eyes desperately searched for any sign this wasn’t real that this was a figment of your demented imagination. All you found was a smile so big it brightened his gorgeous brown eyes in a way you hadn’t seen in so long. A brightness laced with hope, love and relief.
He swept you up on his arms, pulling you against his body, letting out the biggest sigh of relief you have ever heard. “I love you too. Always have, in a way, friends don’t I always will.
Warnings: talks of infidelty and a shitty ex husband. as always my cringy writing
Summary: your son's class had a special visitor. Which prompts a new obsession with the Boston Bruins.
word count: 4k
Notes: no hate to Nick Blankenburg. I just picked a random single defenseman. I also know nothing about him sooooo. Sorry Nick Blankenburg, I'm sure you are a great guy. Also my timeline doesn’t really match with his NHL career but just deal with it. There will probably be a part two that is if i can get the thoughts out of my head.
“Momma, can we go see a hockey game?” he asked from his spot at the kitchen island. Drawing a dinosaur in his notebook.
“Bud your dad doesn’t come to town for a few months,” you smiled at him softly. You had gotten married young. Swept up in a whirlwind romance with a young NHL defenseman, Nick Blankenberg. Things hadn’t worked out, he was unfaithful amongst other problems. You got pregnant at 21 very quickly after your marriage. You could never regret your son, River. You’ve been separated for 3 years now and you couldn’t be happier. You wish you could have stayed for your son but you knew this was better in the long run.
“I know but i wanna see Mr. Wotherspoon.’’ He says coloring in the dinosaur he was drawing. You furrowed your eyebrows, you weren’t aware he knew any of the Boston Hockey players.
“Mr. Wotherspoon?” you asked.
“Yeah he came into our class today. He’s a defenseman like daddy” he stated matter of factly.
“And you wanna go watch him play. With me?”
“Yeah momma, we only go watch when daddy plays. I wanna go watch Mr. Wotherspoon play.”
“Okay baby I’ll look into tickets for ya.” That wouldn’t be hard your best friend was a season ticket holder for the Boston bruins. She was always your emotional support when you went to watch Nick play at TD Garden which was the little bit of hockey you allowed yourself these days. Not that you had completely cut out hockey after your ex husband. You still went to watch him play for your son but hockey was usually playing in your house as it was one of your sons current obsessions. Granted you had been born and raised in Massachusetts, so supporting the bruins ran in your blood. Nick wouldn’t be happy about River supporting the Bruins but you would deal with that yourself.
“Can I put hockey on mommy?” he asked, looking at you.
“Of course you can” you smile at him “i’m gonna finish dinner okay”
~~~~~~~~~
A week later and you, your best friend Mikayla and your son were at TD garden for warm ups. You helped your son make a sign in an attempt to get Parker's attention. It was some silly sign about wanting a puck. You were recognized by some of the wags and were catching up with them. Your son was standing there mesmerized as per usual when Parker skated over with a big smile. He gave River a big wave. He noticed you behind the kid and sent you a wink before tossing the puck over the glass. You caught it, seeing his signature on the puck you smiled. Dropping down to your son's level and handed him the puck. “Look Riv he signed it” “that’s so awesome” he beamed at you. Before waving enthusiastically at Parker who was still watching the two of you. He had a questioning look on his face as you were with Katrina Marchand, Danielle Coyle, and Mayson Carlo.
—------
Brad and Charlie skated over and started talking to Parker while waving to their wives and kids.
“That’s Blankenburg’s ex-wife and kid,” Brad said, nudging parker. “Did Blankenburg get traded? They're usually only here when he is?”
“No look, they're here for spooner” Charlie joked poking fun at Parker. Charlie had a wide grin on his face.
“Oh spooner,” Brad joked before going back to warm up.
“It’s not what you think,” Parker yelled after Brad. “I met her kid when i went to do that school thing” He blushed and looked at Charlie. Who was still grinning like a kid in a candy store. As he moved closer to the glass to the group of wives and kids.
—-------
You could only hear part of the conversation through the glass and all the noise in the arena. You looked at Katrina.
“Any idea what that was about?” you ask
“Knowing my husband he’s probably picking on parker” she said with a big smile
“Oh one hundred percent” Mayson said looking back at you two as Brandon had finally skated over.
“It’s not anything, don’t let them make it out to be anything please. I don’t want poor Parker having to deal with Nick for this. River met Parker in class a couple weeks ago and thought he was so cool and wanted to see a game that he didn’t have to divide his attention between his dad and his new idol.” you rambled out, as your son bounced in front of you watching all the players and talking with the groups of kids.
“Where are you sitting?” Danielle asked
“Mikayla is a season ticket holder, were right behind the penalty box”
“Well if you ever wanna hang out in the box let me know and i’ll get you in” Katrina said giving you a hug. “Aww thanks Katrina, I’m sure River would love it”
All the girls gave you a hug and took their kids back to the wag section of the rink as warm ups were coming to end. You looked down at your son who was still beaming watching the Ice. The Bruins were playing the Columbus Blue Jackets, your ex-husband's previous team. Some of the players who recognized you and River waved. You guys hurried back to your seats quickly before puck drop. You watched the game with an unmatched sense of joy filling your bones. He was singing along with the songs and yelling along with fans and auntie kay.
~~~~~~~~
“You took my son to a Boston Bruins game??” Nick asked, you felt his fury even over the phone. Though you tried to stay on the down low your appearance at the game was still known. You were at least glad it was being aired out and not just your interaction with the players.
“Yes Nick, he asked to go. I'm not denying these things to our son” you rolled your eyes.
“He couldn’t have waited another two weeks until i’m in town?”
“Nick, talk to your son. Don’t just get mad at me about this. I didn’t drag him there he wanted to go, he asked, I obliged. One of the players came in and to his class a few weeks ago and he thought he was cool. It’s really not that big of a deal so calm down or you're not talking to him tonight.”
He huffed out a breath on the other side of the phone. You sighed, you wished he could just move on. Your son loved hockey in general. It didn’t matter who he was watching, your kid loved the game just like his dad and you just wished Nick would see that. “Okay can i talk to River now” “yes you can. River!” you called down the hallway to his bedroom “your dad’s on the phone.”
~~~~~~~
You guys had a routine for hockey days when Nick was in town. You made lunch for the three of you, while Nick spent the little free time he had in the morning with River. After lunch Nick left to go do the rest of his pregame routine and you got River to take a nap, before you left for the rink. You let River take a small nap. You had wanted to surprise him by taking him to the rink early to see the B’s drive in and hopefully get a chance to see some of his dad’s teammates too. You knew it would piss Nick off but you couldn’t care any less then you already did. Your priority was what river would not what your crappy ex husband thought.
So here you were outside TD garden talking to some of the guys as they rolled in. Next to Parker, River had decided that Mason and Brandon were also his favorite players. River waved enthusiastically at the big SUV as it rolled up. Mason, John and Matthew inside.
“Hey little dude,” John greeted from the driver's seat. “Your parker's friend right?” he asked, looking at the both of you.
“ ‘Friend’ is a loose term there”. You smiled at the younger guys “River met him at school and decided he was now a Boston fan.”
“Mason, you're one of my favorite players,” River pointed to the redhead in the passenger seat. Mason cracked a wide grin.
“Heck yeah little bro knuckles” he reached his arm out the window for the boy in your arms. You picked him so, River could bump his fist with the redhead stretching across the car and Matthew stuck his head between the boys from the backseat. “What about me and john?” he asked with an exaggerated pout. River got shy in your arms and tucked his head into your shoulder. You laughed softly.
“He’s all about defense men, tell em rivs. Tell them about your dad” you poked his side softly. He shook his head vigorously against you. “Thanks for saying hi guys good luck out there” you smiled at them you waved and grabbed one of rivers hands goofily waving at the boys animatedly your big hand wrapped around his. Next a sleek black truck pulled up and rolled down the window to reveal Parker.
“Hey bud, It’s Parker look” you poked him again and his head turned shyly to look at the man in the truck before lighting up with a big grin.
“Hey River,” he said with a wide grin, “River's mom.”
“I’m Y/N” you introduced, yourself sticking out your hand.
“Nice to meet you, Y/N.” he smiled and shook your hand. “River what’s this not my jersey this time.” he frowned animatedly at your boy. You were an interesting pair. River in a small preds jersey and you in your Wotherspoon jersey.
“Nope,” River said proudly with a smile, “Daddy's playing tonight. Which means i gotta root for him”
“Hey but your mom’s got it on” he winked at you again, which caused you to blush. “Wanna take a picture?”
“We would love to.” you grabbed your phone and snapped a photo of the three of you. “Thanks Parker” you smiled at him “good luck out there avoid Nick if you can”. He laughed a beautiful bubbly sound that had butterflies taking flight in your stomach.
“Not sure that’s possible” he smiled “every time i’ve played him he’s got some dumb chirp to antagonize me, which ends up back firing on him. As he’s the one who usually drops gloves first.” you bit your lip and nodded listening intently.
“Parker, will you come to my game this weekend?”
“When is it little dude?”
“Sunday” River smiled wide with hope filling his eyes.
“It just so happens that i think i can make that” He answered promptly “that is if that’s okay with your mom?’’ he looked at you. Hope clearly etched in the lines on his face.
“Um, are you sure? I know how demanding your schedules can be, we don’t wanna impose?” you bit your lip with a soft frown. “I’m sure if you are” he smiled “i can only think of one other way i’d like to spend a sunday”
“Okay” you beamed at the man. You exchanged numbers and he was on his way into the game. Later as you made your way into the arena you received a text from an unknown number.
You look good in my jersey.
You smiled at his shameless flirting. Finally meeting up with Mikayla inside the arena you nudged her and showed her your phone wordlessly. Her jaw dropped and she laughed.
“Get it girl” she nudged your arm and chuckled. You guys got your snacks and made your way down to the rink. You laughed and shook your head. “No, I swore off hockey players, remember.”
The game was pretty typical until the third quarter. When Parker and Nick got in a scrum that ended in them both getting 5 minute majors and Parker flipping off Nick as they were separated. You chuckled at the man's antics and his guts to do that to your asshole of an ex husband. “He’s gonna get fined for that” you winced at kayla next to you laughing her ass off.
“I’m sure it was worth it” she was still chuckling as she righted herself in her seat. “You know you could help him” she wiggled her eyebrows at you “repayment.”
“I know it's not what you meant but that’s a funny idea.” you pulled out your phone and opened venmo. Finding Parker’s venmo with his phone number, you sent him 500 dollars titling it fine with a thumbs up emoji and laughing faces. You could only assume you had added some heat to an already vicious rivalry. Though Nick may not appreciate it, Parker got River instantly out of his shell and you appreciated that more than the world could ever know.
The night passed pretty ordinarily, you laughed at your ex husband and he showed up on your doorstep with a black eye. To which he glared at you and harrumphed his way into your living room where River was waiting to get a little bit more time with his dad.
—--------
By the time Saturday night had rolled around you forgot about River inviting Parker to his hockey game Sunday morning. Until you received a text late Saturday night.
P: Where should I meet you for his game tomorrow?
Y: Are you sure you still wanna go? We would understand if you don’t.
P: Are you kidding, I told River I would go. No amount of mediocre fights is gonna make me break my promise. Even if the result in some pretty hefty fines and some bad media attention.
Y: Okay I can come pick you up if you want.
P: Okay sounds good.
You had to be at the rink pretty early and felt bad for Parker that you had to wake him up so early after a game last night. No matter to him it wasn’t that big of a deal. Honestly he was way more excited than he should be to hang out with you for hours and watch a peewee hockey game. From the moment he had laid eyes on you he was enthralled.
After all, he barely knew you. Yet he had spent countless hours since seeing you at that first game. Wondering about your likes and dislikes and pet peeves and daily routines. How it would feel to wrap you up in his arms and to dance with you in the kitchen. To cuddle on the couch watching movies with River. To get to occupy the space next you and take up your time.
“I wish we had time for coffee” you yawned next to him on a bench. Sleep had evaded you last night. Instead your brain decided to overthink how today would go with the handsome man next you.
“Want me to go grab some?” he asked, yawning after you. “I don’t mind at all and truthfully could use some myself.”
“That would be wonderful. I’ll text you my order” you smiled, pulling your keys out of your bag.
He nodded, taking your keys and was on his way. Parker was out of practice in the dating department. Barely making time to have casual hookups. He was more focused on his game and trying to succeed. Being 27 and yet to play a full NHL season he was desperate to succeed. Not that he was happy with where he was at but being sent back and forth between the NHL and AHL, and constantly being scratched could hinder a man’s ego.
But he wanted that with you. He wanted to come home after long games and road trips to you and River. He wanted long days between his practices and games and River’s practices and games. Honestly the longing made his head swim. He couldn’t recall the last time the pressure of wanting someone to like him had sat so heavy on his chest. Groaning he rubbed his sternum and let out a sigh getting in your car. He had to adjust about everything possible, after all you were at least half a foot shorter than him.
You smiled as you saw Parker making his way to you. Arms full with donut boxes. You laughed softly as he set them down next to you.
“What’d you do buy the whole store” you laughed, the awe was evident on his face a sound he wished he could play on a loop. He wanted to keep making you laugh most of all just making you smile. He knew he was staring, stuck enraptured with the sound before he shook his head and finally smiled back. The attention had made you the slightest bit self conscious. Nobody had looked at you that way in a long while. It made your chest ache.
“N-no” he stammered “hopefully just enough to treat some of the other parents and coaches” you smiled at the thoughtfulness. A big grin broke out on his face mirroring your own.
“That’s very kind of you. Want me to split the cost with you?” you asked sheepishly.
“No need. I got it”
You guys went about the morning watching the littles warm up, chit chatting softly. When the game finally started you were excited to have someone to watch with, someone who was just as excited to watch River as you were. It was now the first intermission and the game was tied at zero.
“Shit” Parker mumbled looking at his phone, eyes wide with shock and dread. “I'm so sorry I have to take this.”
You shook your head and mouthed ‘no worries’ as he answered the call and stood up walking away. Can’t be a good call with a reaction like that you had thought to yourself as scrolled through your instagram. Preoccupied with Parker's call and hoping everything would be okay. Parker’s name caught your eye in a caption as you scrolled quickly past. Curiosity got the best of you as you scrolled back up and watched the interview with Bruins head coach Joe Sacco. The interview in question seemed to be flaming Parker for the fight with Nick. You rolled your eyes and scrolled away again. Hockey fans were quick to make a big deal out of nothing. It was a simple fight nothing more couldn’t they just move on.
You finally noticed Parker walking back five minutes into the second period, hands stuffed in his coat pocket. Looking well over a little annoyed now.
“Everything okay?” you asked as he sat back down. He took a long pause taking a deep breath. “You don’t have to tell me you just seem really upset. So I wanted to check in.” you rambled to the silence looking into his eyes.
He stopped you putting a hand on your thigh. “Management isn’t happy with me for that fight with nick.” he let out a sigh “we thought it would just blow over as a simple fight but i guess, Nick made a comment about me antagonizing him or playing dirty really something dumb that lots of media is having a field day with. Now they want me to figure out how to fix this amongst some other problems in my reputation” he put finger quotes around the last statement.
“Fix what?” you asked, anger leaking into your voice “something my dumb hot head ex husband did. That’s unfair. You really didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Apparently I did” he laughed half heartedly.
“How can I help you fix this?’’
“The nick thing I’m honestly not sure. You know him better than I do, I've hated the guy forever. The other thing that’s pretty complicated and I'm not sure you wanna help.” he smiled sheepishly. What had he done that had become so messy. You stayed out of hockey gossip as much as you possibly could. But you wanted to help. You could see the tense of his jaw and shoulders. Practically watched the gears turning in his head as he tried to figure out some way to fix this. His disappointment and anger seeped into every part of his body.
“There’s gotta be some way I can help.” you smiled softly and placed your hand on his, where it rested on your thigh. His eyes widened in shock as if he just now realized where his hand had been since he had sat down. You tried to not let the soft giggle out but it escaped anyway. “Tell me what else is wrong and let me decide if it's too much for me to help with, yeah?”
He paused for a moment and shook his head in thought before letting out a big sigh. “This is dumb but I'm also getting some bad media attention because of a few women I've slept and gone out with,” he blushed.
You frowned. If you were being quite frank this man didn’t seem like someone who should have all this negative media attention. But you knew the way puck bunnies and even hockey fans ran with whatever they could to stir up trouble. You liked him. A lot and though you hadn’t spent a whole lot of time with him you knew he was special and definitely not deserving of the bad press he had gotten. It always sucked when good players got the short end of the stick for media attention.
“Date me” you blurted out running with the thought that had literally just popped into your head. Without second thought it was out of your mouth. He looked at you with confusion wrinkling his brow, but hope seeping into the tension he froze with. Frozen like a deer in the headlights he started at you. “I mean like fake date me. I have an amazing image and I'm a successful business woman. I can try to do some damage control and make whatever bad press you’ve had, stay in the past.”
“Are you sure? How would that even work?”
“We’d meet with our Pr teams to get everything hammered out via contracts and NDA’s and whatnot. To the public we’d be a couple that simply met and fell in love. We can hammer out all the dumb stories and questions everyone’s gonna ask over dinner. The stories will have to be real convincing and we’ll go on some dates and be spotted by fans.”
“You’re certain about this?”
“I mean yeah. You get along with river. He likes you so I don't have to worry about that. I honestly don’t have anything to lose if this goes sideways. So low risk high reward for me.” you smiled intertwining your hand with his where it still rested on your thigh.
“You think this will work?” he asked
“Truly we don’t know how many celebrities and athletes are in PR or contracted relationships so all anyone can do is speculate. Unless they have proof no one will really care honestly. I mean look at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce a shit ton of people believe they are in a PR relationship but a crap ton of people still support and love them.” you went on and on listing all the reasons you thought this would actually work better than he thought.
“You’re not scared that it won’t work?” he was full of endless questions as excited as he was for the opportunity to be around you more he was fucking worried. His reputation was bad enough. How would this mess it up more? He wanted to take the risk for this but more than anything he wanted all the fake shit to go away. He was sick of the image he had been given though it lacked truth it had begun to define him and how he lived. More than all that however he wanted you. He would accept that this was how he could have you. How long would this last? How long could he truly keep up the act? Without a doubt he knew he would fall in love with you. Was it worth the risk? He hoped so because he was gonna take it. You opened the door he was gonna barge right on through.
“Joeyyyyyyy” you call through the apartment. You drop your keys and bag at the table by the door before slipping out of your shoes.
“In the bathroom baby” he hollers back. You smile knowing you timed your drive over from your apartment to his just right. Meaning he was just getting out of the shower after arriving home from practice. You had a mission for the day. There was a trend going around in tik tok to one of Sabrina Carpenter's new songs and you were determined to get him to do it with you. You were sure it wouldn’t take much convincing. He loved to do the dorky little things you asked him to. Bonus points because this one would show off all the work he continuously puts in on his body.
“How was practice, love?” You ask, finding him in the bathroom. Towel around his waist you smile at him from the doorway.
“It was good pretty easy today” he comes your way before stopping in front of you leaning over to place a kiss atop your head.
“Ready for your game tomorrow night?” You ask wrapping your arms around his perfectly toned waist. You knew it was something he was proud of. The work he had put in for his body to look the way it does. He smiles that gorgeous smile of his
“I’m always ready but grub’s starting tomorrow night” he gives you a small pout. You perk up on your tiptoes to give him a kiss.
“Mmm thats a bummer” he shrugs, turning to head to his closet. “Sooo i had a thing i wanted to do with you” you flop onto the bed grabbing your phone from your pocket to pull up a video you had saved to show him.
“What’s that?” He asked from inside the closet
“There’s this silly tik tok i wanted to make with you, you’d get to show off your muscles and be cute” you offer rolling onto your back as he walked out of the closet. Now clothed, he stopped in front of you running a hand through your hair”
“Okay baby i’ll do it”
You squealed springing up from your spot on the bed. You grabbed his hand to pull him to the living room.
“Okay it’s simple. I’m gonna cue you and you're gonna pick me up and set me on your shoulder” he nodded following along with what you were saying “would you like to see a demonstration?”
“It seems fairly self explanatory he stated watching you bounce with excitement in front of him “but just to make sure i dint fuck it up yeah”
You opened your phone pressing play on the video. As it played on you watched his expression. When it looped his eyes looked up to find yours.
“Okay so i have a question before we do this?” He stated nodding towards your phone.
“Do you want me to lift you by myself or do you want to jump? Because I can lift you no problem, I just gotta know what you’re comfortable with, pretty girl” he wrapped his arms around your waist lifting you off the ground and placing you on the kitchen counter.
“I want you to do what you are comfortable with that wont put you at risk of hurting yourself” you state, lacing your arms around his neck.
He leans his head down to nuzzle into your neck. “Lifting it is” he mumbles into your skin. You hum in agreement knowing he’s made up his mind and won’t change not that you are complaining. You stay like that for a few minutes wrapped up in each other as he presses soft kisses to your neck. He taps your hip three times.
“Let's do this so we can go eat lunch. I'm starving” he says with a patient smile as he pulls away from you. Joey lifts you off the island, setting you back down on the ground. You get your phone set up and place him in frame before starting the countdown. Getting yourself into place he puts his hands on your hips. Your height difference is accentuated by the angle of the camera. You cue tapping on his hand and he lifts you onto his shoulder proud goofy smile in his face hand wrapped around your ankle to keep you steady. A simple display of affection and protection. Instead of keeping you up there for the whole video length he surprises you by pulling you down into a bridal carry and placing a kiss on your lips. You can’t help but giggle as you hear the video play in the background. You love this silly man and things he does to put a smile on your face.
Author's Note: i've had this idea for a while. this shit is sad so please be aware. I’m sad so i guess i’ll let y’all finally have this.
In another life. In another life we hadn’t met in Alaska. In another life my dreams hadn’t been so big and unachievable. In another life I was the one who got to leave. In another life we left together. In another life we fell in love in a place where we could both succeed. In another life my mother wouldn’t be sick. In another life I wouldn't be so sad, angry, and anxious. In another life he was mine forever and always.
You were no stranger to the pain and the fear. Your mom had been sick since you were around 5. Around that same time you had started kindergarten, and met a small boy with the sweetest smile and the most gorgeous brown eyes. He had made all of the pain and the fear and the anxiety not feel as insurmountable even at the age of 5. You had been so thankful all your life from that point forward of the small boy with the sweet smile and gorgeous brown eyes. As you grew up together in the wild of Alaska, you began to become inseparable from elementary school to middle school. When he asked you to be his girlfriend the summer between 8th grade and freshman year, you had prayed and prayed that you could keep him for all of your time.
~ Kindergarten ~
“Hi,” he said, sitting down in the grass with you. “Why are you over here by yourself?”
“I’m picking daisies for my momma” you said with a small frown.
“Can I help?” he asked with a smile that made you smile.
“Okay” you nodded. “I'm hoping that if I gather enough when I go see her today she can show me how to turn them into a crown.”
The boy scrunched up his nose. “How do you turn daisies into a crown?”
“I don't’ know” you mumbled and shrugged your tiny shoulders “but my momma does it and i want her to show me”
You guys sat in the recess field for the rest of your outside time picking daisies and accumulating them in the front pocket of your overalls. “I’m Y/N” you said after the bell rang you both got up to go back to class
“My names Jeremy,” he said with a bright smile, “I'll see you tomorrow. Y/n”
Your mom had eventually taught you how to make the little flower crowns you had loved so much. You tried and tried but had little patience for it and didn't pick up the knack for making them until well into your fifth grade year of elementary.
~ Fifth grade ~
You sat in the field like you most usually were, book in hand but mostly preoccupied with thoughts of your mom who was sick again. You had attempted to distract yourself with the book, but it wasn’t working. You had noticed the daisies and dandelions in the field around you. You plucked them trying to accumulate the ones with the longest stems. You started on the crown trying to slow your racing thoughts of your mother and how small and frail she looked back in the hospital.
“There you are butterfly” you heard his voice call. “Should've known better to look anywhere else”
Your best friend since kindergarten and now rather tall lanky young boy plopped down next to you. You gave him a soft smile that barely met your eyes.
“Whatcha got there?” he nodded to the almost complete crown in your hands. You had been so wrapped up in your thoughts and breathing in the proper way to attempt to lower your anxiety. You hadn’t noticed that you had finally gotten in almost completely done.
“Your crown for being the bestest friend in the world” you laughed at the way his nose scrunched at your grammatical error.
“Are you coming to the rink after school?” he asked, It was a Wednesday and Wednesdays were hockey practice free for the young boy but he liked to get in some practice and work on his skating.
You shook your head, you hadn’t told him about your mom being back in the hospital yet. Saying it made it a reality and you wished you could avoid it for as long as possible. Your best friend had noticed the way your hands hadn’t stopped moving, playing with the flower crown, since he had sat down. He had especially noticed the way your face fell at his question.
“Is she bad again?” he asked softly, grabbing your hand. Casual affection had always been his thing. Hugs all the time to any friend. A winning goal and good play on the school basketball court. You nodded your head looking away from him and out through the field.
“It’ll be okay, butterfly. Your momma’s really strong, she'll get through it again. You’ll get through it again.” he said, watching you softly. Big brown eyes filled with so much love for his best friend.
He was right, she was a strong amazing woman. But you were eleven and terrified of losing your mom. Another cancer diagnosis was on the horizon. This one more terrifying than the last. You understood it now, you wish you could go back to being five like you were with the last diagnosis. The ignorance that came with being so young, not completely understanding how sick your mom was, and how real it was that you could lose her.
~ Eighth grade~
It was gonna be a great year, your mom was healthy. You were about to be a high schooler. You were dating your best friend, your favorite person in the whole entire world. You were laid out on the bank of the river, you were supposed to be fishing with him. Which you had done earlier but right now you were just appreciating everything you had right now. You mom, your dad, your best friend, his family, the sunshine on your skin, the river rushing next to you.
“What do you want to do when you're older you asked him?” laying back on the towel listening to him in the river
“Hockey. Hockey is the only path I will expect for myself” he said with a soft sigh and came to sit next to you on his towel. “What about you butterfly?”
“A doctor” you smiled at him. “That is the only path i will except for myself, i’ve wanted it since the first time momma got sick”
“Look at us as ambitious as ever,” he smiled, looking down at you. “Any thoughts about where you wanna go to college yet?”
“Any place that will give me a scholarship and keep me close to you”
~ Senior year~
Your mom was sick again this time, leukemia. It would break his heart almost as much as it would break yours, but you couldn’t go. You had to stay. You had no clue how long she had. You had no clue if she could beat this one. You couldn’t ship off with him to Maine and the other lower 47 like you had been dreaming of. You didn’t know how you could go on without him. Over fifteen years of being his best friend and taking on all this together. You didn’t want to hold him back. As much as you wanted to get out and live your dreams. They were nowhere in reach. His on the other hand were right there, he had been away playing for team usa in juniors and you knew in your heart that he would make it to the NHL. His dreams would become reality. Yours on the other hand were drowning under anxiety, medical debt and the love for your mother. She wouldn’t be happy with you backing out of school, and doing what you loved. You would make it work. You’d go to community college online to get a degree at least, get a job and help your dad with bills and your mom and whatever you could. You hate that it cost you him, but when you love something sometimes you have to let it go. It was his last day of a quick trip, to watch you graduate, and you had to do it now or do it over the fun when he was back in the lower 48 for the draft. It was late at night just you too in the backyard next to the fire under the stars. Peaceful silence, he had just finished telling you about a hike he took in south dakota while playing there.
“Jer,” you said softly, moving out of his arms to sit facing him. “I can’t go to maine. Mom’s sick again, and dad needs me here. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left and missed out on time with her.”
Tears started filling your eyes. You looked up at the sky trying to blink them away.
“Hey it’s okay i understand. We can do long distance. This will work Butterfly, we can make it work. I love you so much y/n/n, it’ll be okay. Your mom will be okay. I know it.” his hand gently caressed your cheek wiping away your tears and forcing your eyes to meet his. You shook your head softly and bit your lip.
“I think we should break up” you choked out tears flowing faster.
“No y/n you don’t mean that” he said with a sad smile on his face. “We can and we will make this work. You gotta give it a chance. I’ll make it big and I can help take care of you and your mom and your dad and eventually you can have your dreams come true. Come on y/n/n we can do this” tears had started brimming in his brown eyes.
“I can’t do this Jeremy. I don’t wanna hold you back. You’ll be out there busy with hockey and school and life. And I'll be here busy with my mom and school and working and my dad. Please Jer let’s not drag it out. I love you so much, and when you love something sometimes you have to let it go to prove that it’s yours.”
“Stop that’s silly, I am always yours. I will always be yours. You know that, I know that. I have known that since i was five years old in a field at recess, please” He had tears flowing free now. You hated this. You felt like you were dying like the light and air was being stolen out of you. Like the world was disappearing out from under your feet. “This isn’t what you want, butterfly please.”
“Of course it’s not what I want,” you said, standing up exasperatedly. “I want to love you for the rest of my life, I want a healthy mom, I want to be a doctor so I can fix what’s wrong with her. But it's what we, It’s what I need Jer. I need to know that you're out there living your life to the fullest. That i’m not here holding you back. Please just please this is what’s best” tears were streaming down your face.
“Okay” he said with a sigh. “If that’s what you want then okay” he stood up. Wrapping his arms around you as you broke down in his arms both your bodies shaking with the pain and tears. “I love you” he mumbled into your hair, placing a kiss on your head. You tried to say it back, through choking sobs but his arms were gone from around you before you could get them out. Alone in your backyard you sat down on the grass near the firepit, fingers playing with the grass. “I love you too” you whispered to the darkness.
It was hard but you kept living. His absence left a giant hole in your heart, but it slowly got better. Here you were 4 years later, you had gotten your associate's degree. You were working your ass off, trying to help your mom and dad pay bills and debt and save enough for you to eventually get the degree you really wanted. It was crushing weight that made your chest feel heavy. You never thought you were ever gonna get there.
Eight years later from the initial leukemia. Eight years since you let Jeremy Swayman go. You could see your mother slipping away, you knew she did not have much longer. Here you were in the hospital room with your mothers small frail hand clasped in yours. There was a soft knock on the door.
“Come in” you said softly, a nurse walked in with a large bouquet of flowers.
“These were just delivered.” she said, setting them on the counter on the far wall.
“Is there a card?” you asked, getting up, pulling your cardigan tight around you.
“There are several,” she smiles softly. Leaving you in the room with the soft beeping of the monitors and your mom’s light breathing. You sighed, grabbing the cards. On was addressed to you and one was addressed to your mother. You opened the envelope, finding a full letter and a check for 3,000 dollars.
Butterfly fly away.
I signed a really big deal the other day and had some money to spare. Don’t hate me for it, butterfly. You never could’ve held me back. Go live your dreams. I paid off your mom’s bills and would like to pay for you to go to school. Become a doctor y/n i will always believe in you. I love you.
Forever and Always,
Jeremy Swayman.
Ps. the check is for whatever you need to get to wherever you want to go to school and whatever else you may need. When you need the tuition money give me a call.
Tears were streaming down your face. You were aware of the deal he had signed. It's all any Boston fan could talk about let alone any one in town. He was the town’s pride and joy. You couldn’t believe eight years later he was still thinking of you let alone wanting to do something this big. You had thought he had a girlfriend, she was a strong woman if she was okay with this. You needed to call your dad, you needed to tell him. You needed to figure out what you were going to do. Where you were going to school you would never pass this up. If you couldn’t have him, maybe one of your dreams could come true.
Okay I’ve had this sitting in my head since Lauko came back to the bruins and I can’t write it myself. You and Lauko were dating but he got traded to the Wild so he broke up with you. Then you find out he’s coming back to Boston. Angst and a fluffy ending? Pleaseeeee
Come back. Be here.
Pairing: Jakub Lauko x Reader
Warnings: angst, my writing, swearing, heartbreak
NOTE: Okay I know he got the call while he was at a film festival in czech but it didn’t fit my naritavie so i changed it. but just ignore that. I had so much fun writing this thank you for the request. Làsko means love in czech.
word count: 4071
It wasn’t something you were expecting. Your boyfriend of almost a year, professional Czech hockey player Jakub Lauko, a member of the Boston Bruins, had gotten traded. He got the phone call while the two of you were making dinner. You instantly felt the shift in his energy. Anger, sadness, fear, disappointment all rolled off his body in waves as he walked back into the kitchen. Shoulders tense, eyes downcast, frown splaying over his lips.
“Lásko” he drawled softly. You looked up your eyes meeting his somber ones. The green is dark and brooding, reminding you of the forest during a storm. Deep green clashing with his dark pupils. Emotions so clear, something is wrong. “I just got traded…” he exhaled a deep breath. He looked back down at his phone again. The words hit your ears but it was almost as if they had no meaning. “to minnesota.”
Your grip tightens on the spatula in your hand so not to drop it. Your mouth falls open, not sure what to say. You guys had been foolish not to discuss this happening sooner. It was the Unfortunate reality of dating a hockey player. The trips, the time away, the unexpectedness, all came with the territory. Still it felt like the rug had been ripped out from under you. You have gotten used to your routine. Days split between his and your apartments. Finding time for date nights, and lunches and workouts together.
“Làsko please say something” he walked over to you. Steady hands wrapping you up pulling you close to his body. You were far from steady, so unsure of what was gonna happen next. You couldn’t possibly pick up and just move to minnesota. And you knew he would never ask that of you, but you wanted to. You wanted more than anything to stay with him to keep watching him play and chase his dreams. A deep ache had blossomed in your chest. What was gonna happen next?
“It’ll be okay, we'll figure it out, yeah?” you tried so hard to keep your voice steady but no matter how hard you tried the wavering fear and sadness crept in. “I wanna go with you kuba, but you know i can’t”
You pulled away, teeth gnawing at your bottom lip. Hands fiddling with each other, the anxiety settling in and starting to take over. He’s gonna find someone better in Minnesota. Hell it was a worry when he was set to head back to Czechia in less than a week. He would find some Czech girl or another girl in Minnesota that would fit his lifestyle better. That made things easier and not more complicated. That was able to drop everything and move halfway across the country with him, or hell even out of the country.
The anger was a quick flash in his eyes, but you knew he wasn’t angry with you. You knew he was angry with the timing and the long move that would be so hard to make things work. Between his and your schedule making this work was hard but oh so worth it even in the same city. You could not imagine him in another state. The sadness quickly took over in his eyes. “I know làsko, let’s not think about it right now, let's just finish dinner and enjoy each other now and figure it out later.”
The words should have been a warning. You should have seen it coming. He wasn’t one to push a problem off, tackling it head on so it didn’t snowball. The second warning should have been the extra training sessions. Long hours at the gym and the rink even in the ring. He was gone, absent. Now looking back you saw the signs. He was coming to terms with his decision. You wouldn't ever know how bad this hurt him. He dealt with it the way he knew how. Fighting, training, skating, working, pushing, trying to forget.
You had gotten tired of the space choosing to show up at his apartment. He hadn’t asked for help packing or even brought up the trade, not that you had spoken to him much since he’d found out. You’d been standing at the door for five minutes. The second you’d arrived the dread pooling in your stomach. Finally you knocked, to your despair no answer so you waited just a couple seconds before knocking again. This time you heard him padding around, it wasn’t late enough for him to sleep so he must be playing games. Call of duty or Fifa or whatever game of the month.
You sighed and you heard his footsteps reach the door and he paused. “Kuba” you called out “please let me in please.” The locks clicked and the door opened to reveal him. Hair messier than usual, deep bags under his eyes so dark they could be bruises. His hand rested on the doorframe as you took in his state. Knuckles scabbed over. Muscles taught under the gray t-shirt he was wearing. You could see a bruise peeking out from the leg of his shorts right above his knee.
You didn’t look any better than he did, that is the bruising definitely made him look worse for wear. But he usually was covered in bruising of some kind.
You wanted to fuss and take care of him like you did during the season when particularly bad fights arose. Icing his bruises, massaging his neck and back. Caring for him like a mother hen was in your nature and it always was reciprocated ten fold when you needed help.
You had tripped in the gym and got a pretty gnarly bruise on your shin. He fussed and cared for you like you had broken the leg and not like it was just a bruise. To which you knew he dealt with a new one at least every other day. You had whined for him to let you go back to life as normal. You were okay, it was just a little tender and besides you had dealt with worse.
“Kuba” you whispered, reaching up to stroke his cheek. Your hand settled on his cheek for just a split second. He grabbed your wrist, not hard but not quite gentle, a perfected pressure as he pulled your hand away.
“y/n” he choked out. The pain etched onto his face. You felt it then you knew what was coming. He was leaving you, and not coming back in any way. He was putting his shield up and pushing you away. He didn’t care enough to try. Tears brimmed in your eyes as you felt him release your wrist.
“No, don't say it. Don’t do this Jakub, we can do this, we can make this work." The begging started before you had time to process. You didn’t wanna beg you knew he had made up his choice and the last thing you wanted was to actually let him go “please kuba please”
Tears fell steadily down your face. Thankful you hadn’t put on makeup to come over here. You shook your head still silently pleading. “I can’t y/n. I can’t put you through this. I’m already gone so much, we were already struggling to find time. Please, I'm doing this for you. I love you. I’m sorry but I've made up my mind. This will wreck you and be torturous, and I can't sit by and watch you go through that. It’s the same reason I never asked you to quit and do this full time all the time. You deserve the life you want Y/N and I can't give that to you.”
His words sucked. Not just because they hurt but because he was right. Granted you were more worried about watching how he’d take the long distance than how you’d handle it but you swallowed the lump in your throat and tried to go on.
“Maybe in another lifetime under different circumstances. Maybe at the right time,” he sighed and closed his eyes leaning into the door. “Please, for me” he knew you were gonna keep fighting and he looked so exhausted so broke down. You conceded
You blew out a breath, the anger bubbling to the surface, how dare he decide what you can and can’t handle. A decision so altering to both of your existences. He just chose to quit, to give up. If it was that easy for him then fine you’d handle it and move on.
“If that’s what you want” the sadness creeping back into your tone. You turned sharply on your heel and left. You had nothing dignified left to say. It was either gonna come out as a petulant child or some of the angriest words you’ve ever said. The tears came back quickly. Falling hot and fast brimming with your sadness and anger as you left the building.
With the tears and sadness blocking your vision you didn’t see the tears building in his eyes. This was the last thing he wanted but more than anything he wanted you to succeed and see you happy. He knew he had to let you go. He watched you walk away, a few stray tears falling. He whispered one last i love you as he watched you round the corner.
The next few months passed in a blur. You threw yourself into work. So determined to erase the beautiful determined goofy man you had fallen in love with. He haunted you around every corner, following the edges of all the shadows. He was a constant thought in your head, some reminder somewhere. It was getting unbearable and you knew the worst was yet to come.
Hockey season was right around the corner and as a born and raised Massachusetts girl you knew getting through this season was gonna be brutal. Not getting to watch your favorite man play for your favorite team. Not to mention you had actually made friends with some of the guys and cutting them off had hurt just as bad as losing Jakub. Some of them had reached out still trying to be friends and support you through this. You hadn’t accepted no need to hurt yourself or anyone else in this.
You were not shying away however. You had wallowed enough. If you wanted to get over this man you knew you had to do the last thing you wanted to do and go head first into all the reminders and memories.
Which would be how you found yourself on the front side walk to TD garden. Auto pilot had kicked in and carried you through the motions to get you. Scary in itself but scarier still was the arena right in front of you. Memories before, during and after games.
You wished you were here supporting him, wearing his jersey cheering his name. Screaming the loudest when he scored a goal, cheering him on when he dropped the gloves. You wanted nothing more than for things to be different. Hell it didn't even have to be here you just wanted to be supporting him. He had claimed so much of you in such a small time. You wanted it all back.
But at the same time you didn’t. You understood now why he did it. While you were still angry you had very little input into the decision, you still loved him more than you had ever realized. He was so silly and loving and tender and he packaged it up in this rough hockey player exterior. He was one of the best things to ever happen to you. You weren’t quite sure yet how or when but you were certain you were meant to be together and things would work out okay.
The game was less horrible than you had expected. You got through it, you cheered on your friends and finally texted some of them back. You hadn’t expected any of them to respond but you still told them good luck, told them you were at the game and saw how wonderful they played.
You were pleasantly surprised that almost all of them had responded and even some of the WAGs whom you haven't texted sent you messages. Inviting you out with them before the next home game. Parker, your favorite of the crew, had invited you out with them tonight. You had politely declined the invite out tonight. Exhausted from the day in general but also the emotional turmoil. You had accepted the invite out before the next game.
You were proud of yourself and the little self exposure experiment as you made your way out of the building. You smiled softly as you were greeted by the glow of the city as you walked to your car. Frowning softly as the memories creep in. Walking down the Boston streets exploring the city you had loved for so long and showing Jakub all your favorite places. He in turn showed you some of the things he had discovered in the city. Things and places that had not been on your radar but you loved them all the same. The care and attention from him understanding what would make you happy and what you would like.
You tapped back into the present as you passed the bakery you guys frequented. It specialized in European desserts run by a Swiss man and his Swedish wife. It had everything from simple American chocolate chip cookies to Swiss chocolate tarts to french macarons to czech kolache. The kolaches were so much better than the ones typically produced and found in America. A little bit of everything really and everything better than the next.
You made a mental note to come back later this week. As you hadn’t been in the shop since well before you, Lauko had broken up. The couple had always been so kind and friendly. You knew a smile and a pastry from them would help heal your broken heart a little more.
Moving on got easier everyday. You were no longer staying inside by yourself as much. Happy and content with friends once again. It was getting easier to breathe. You weren’t anxiously peeking around corners expecting to find something that brought on an unwelcome onslaught of memories. You went to hockey games not nearly as much as before. You visited the little bakery. You went on walks through the places and parts you had frequented together.
You still dreamed of him. Of him staying here. Of life where you could be okay giving up what you had worked for to be a simple hockey wag. No shade to them, you loved most of the wags you knew but you knew the life wasn’t easy. Putting everything on the line for a man who would be gone well over half the time. Following him wherever the game may take him. You dreamed of a life where you were able to pick up and move to Minnesota with him. Where you guys were finding your footing together in that state.
For better or for worse you were still keeping up with him, mainly just how he was playing as that was all you had access to without bugging your friends about him. You knew Minnesota’s season was getting off to a fantastic start. Win after win fighting for what they wanted. You also knew that he wasn’t exactly peachy keen. You could see the way he was struggling on the ice. Dropped passes, more fights, brutal turnovers. Then came the injuries. He was one of the first before the injury bug took hold over there. One after the other someone went down and came back for just a couple of games just to go right back to the IR.
You missed spending healing time with him. You dotting and coddling, him fussing and pretending to be perfectly fine. Cuddle sessions full of board games, video games and movies. One weekend with just some mildly bruising that you had convinced him to relax for you had also convinced him to read the lord of the rings to you in Czech.
You barely understood the language at all. But the tone and cadence of his voice was so soothing you could listen to him speak all the time. You knew a few key words and phrases. Not even enough to carry a conversation, but just enough to not be completely clueless. You remember being surly into his side. Watching him more than looking at the words on the page as he read them to you.
“Làsko” he purred, “being stared out makes it hard to read.” he finished the sentence with a chuckle. Putting the book down and pulling you more into his lap. You squirmed trying to get out of his lap for fear of hurting him. His hold tightened around you as he tucked his face into your neck. “Stay. I like having you close and besides I’m not nearly as hurt as you think I am.” His lips grazed your skin. You let out a sigh of contentment and concession. Running his finger through his hair. Your favorite mess of tangled curls. It was on the longer side right now as you had begged him not to go get a haircut yet. He hummed against your skin as your nails softly scratched his scalp.
This weekend the Bruins are playing against the Minnesota Wild at home. Which meant Jakub would be back in town. You had planned not to go to this game. You went about your usual morning routine. Stopping at your favorite coffee shop. You should have expected to see him here. He had shown it to you.
There he was a plaid suit covering his body that you knew like the back of your hand. His green eyes widened in surprise. You felt both like you were suffocating and taking your first full breath of air in months. You smiled and made your way over to the line.
He was waiting at the pick up counter. You felt his eyes on you the whole time. Watching your every move. It felt like the gentlest caress down your skin. One of your favorite feelings and you savored every second before you moved your attention from the menu board to him. He gave you a soft smile before the barista came over and called out his name.
He leaned over the counter and said something to her you couldn’t hear. The coffee shop noise drowned out the timbre of his words. He was positioned with his back towards you so you couldn’t read his lips either. You sighed as you watched him pull out a bill and hand it to the girl. Before he nodded a thank you and grabbed his coffee.
There was another man with him whom you were just taking notice of. Just slightly shorter than Jakub. Similar European features, if you had to guess your money was on russian. The nose and eyebrow structure is a dead giveaway of slavic descent of some kind. You smiled at both of them.
You waited in line politely. Sending prayers to the hockey gods that they had a good game. You smiled as you reached the register. You ordered your coffee and went to grab your wallet when she handed you a gift card.
“The man in the suit said to give you this” you smiled at her. Blushing softly you grabbed the card and pulled a ten out of your wallet and shoved it quickly in the tip jar. “thank you” said softly as she handed you the receipt.
You went over to the pick up counter politely waiting once again. You wished you had the chance to talk to him. But running into him was enough for the day. You grabbed your cup when she called your name.
“Have a good day at work. -JL” was written on the side of your cup. You smiled at his message. Simple yet still made butterflies erupt in you. Coffee paid for, for a while and a good day message. It let you know he wasn’t over this either. He was doing what he thought was best. Not what he wanted.
The next month passed in a blur. You only attended one game in that time but did meet some of them for after game gatherings, and lunches here and there. Trade deadline was approaching quickly. You could tell all the boys were on edge. Hell the whole city seemed like it was on edge. Holding its breath for what was to come. The team was having their worst season in years.
On Thursday evening in march you got a soft knock on your door. A pattern that made your heart stop. A pattern on Lauko used. You would not let yourself get hopeful. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Stupidly distracted by your thoughts you hadn’t checked the peephole.
So when you opened the door to the tall handsome man, you had been so desperately trying to get over. You stood there shocked, unsure if this was real. A big goofy grin spread over his face.
“y/n” he said softly, “i am so beyond sorry for leaving. I don’t ever wanna do this without you. The last nine months have been absolute torture. If you take me back I promise I won’t leave completely” you know what his words meant and you let go of the door and sprung up into his arms.
He caught you with ease as you folded yourself into him. “Kuba, I’ll go next time. If there is a next time. I’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out.” you weren’t giving up on your profession you looked into all the stuff you would need to do to move at the drop of a hat again and had slowly started doing them. You wanted them both and you knew he would do whatever to make it happen
He walked steadily into your apartment. Kicking the door shut behind him and plopping down on the couch. Arms tightly wrapped around you. “I play like shit without you. Ya’know?” he chuckled softly
“Oh I know I was keeping up. You caught a few injuries. Seems like the whole team did.” you moved back from his shoulder looking at his face. His arms released you as his big hands gently cupped your face.
“I’m serious. Y/n I wanna make this work no matter what it takes. I want to come home to you whether that’s here in Boston or wherever I may end up. I want you to be a part of my life no matter what. I understand that you have hopes and dreams and goals and I never want you to give those up. But I want to be a part of them. I wanna watch you do all you want and more and be right there by your side supporting you through it all holding your hand.” he stroked your cheeks gently as the words poured out of him.
Love shone brightly in his eyes as he stared straight into your own. A smile graced him as he professed his love for you. Your heart melded back together fused by his words and gently caressed. The care and love that seeped into your body. “I know I hurt you by letting go so easily and I will try every day until the day I die to fix it. I want this làsko. I want you more than I want anything in the world”
A few stray tears dropped down your face and you tucked yourself into him again. “Don’t leave like that again, Kuba and you will fix it all you already have my heart it has always been yours”
Warnings: this is intertwined with several pieces I have posted already. Many text threads and a SMAU. this is not edited i am sorry.
Summary: y/n Wotherspoon and Mason Lohrei’s accidental love story.
Note: this does not have an ending yet, I can't seem to get it written but I thought the other 6,000ish words deserved to live somewhere else so enjoy. Hopefully I will finish it soon
Note pt2: For all intents and purposes Trent Frederic will always be a bruin therefore I am not trading him in my story if that bothers you go read something else. Love you bye thank you for reading.
word count: 6k
He is your ball of sunshine on the darkest days.
When surrounded by grumpy hockey players most of your life, you had learned to be kind and friendly out of necessity. Your brothers are both hockey players and it seemed like you were surrounded by them at all times. From your young teens you had sworn them off. First it was because they were all older and had little to no interest in their friend's little sister then it was because most of them were jerks.
Case and point you attempted to date a hockey player your senior year of high school and he was undoubtedly an absolute douche, and played with your heart like a toy. You had committed to Boston University for your Freshman year of college eager to get out of your hometown and make a name for yourself outside of your brothers’ hockey careers.
Now if you were being quite honest you picked Boston because it was close to your brothers versus being across the continent and in another country. You knew it was silly attempting to get away yet somehow still staying close. Just a couple hours drive to bother either of them when you were having a bad day.
You had not expected when your older brother Parker was traded to The Boston Bruins at the end of the 22-23 season. The biggest downside was him starting in the AHL affiliate for the bruins spending most of his time in Providence, Rhode Island. Not that you minded, usually the guys on the AHL teams were closer to your age so maybe you could make some friends this time around.
You had after all made a decent amount of friends at BU, even a few hockey players. The train ride was always peaceful with a chance to catch up on reading or homework.
It wasn’t something you had expected, you were used to them ignoring you and wanting anything to do with you. You hadn’t expected that when he got traded and became a part of the Boston Bruins, which also happened to be the city you were going to school in, you would make friends with these boys let alone friends your age.
When he was in New York that group genuinely had not wanted anything to do with you. You didn’t mind all that much. New York sucked and if it weren’t for your brother playing there you wouldn’t have cared at all. You were a Vancouver and Boston girl through and through.
The most surprising turn of events was falling for the tall green eyed man, with red hair, a wicked smile and a great sense of humor.
—-----------
One of your brothers first games in Providence you had gotten hit on by one of his new teammates, Fabian Lysell, and no fault to him Parker had left out that you would be at the game tonight.
So later that night when you were waiting for your older brother by his car in the parking lot. Fabian and the other boys were surprised by the pretty girl waiting. “Parks” you yelled running to your older brother of 5 years and he scooped you up in a hug.
“Oh shit” you heard somebody mutter around you “oh shit what?” Parker asked, spinning around and setting you back on your feet facing the group he was with.
Fabian blushed “I think I hit on your girlfriend earlier” and your jaw dropped.
EW no gross they thought you were his girlfriend.
“Woah woah woah” you and Parker said in unison. His eyebrows pinched in repulsion and anger. “First she is not my girlfriend, she’s my little sister you asshole. Second, you hit on my little sister.” You could hear the fury in his tone but you were a little preoccupied taking in the group of men before you.
There were 5 of them excluding your older brother. They were all staggering heights clearly all from different places and all wildly different looking. Fabian who you had met at the game. A pretty blonde man with a gorgeous beard who was unfortunately the brunt of your brother's anger at the moment. Based on his accent you could tell he was from somewhere in europe. There was a tall bulky man with a full beard. Another tall man, this one lanky with red hair and striking green eyes. A man just slightly taller than your brother with longer brown hair. Lastly on the other side of Fabian was a man similar to his height with pretty curly brown hair and small amount of scruff.
“Will you stop being such a grump and introduce me to your friends” you lightly swatted your older brother's arm. “Georgii Merkulov, Fabian Lysell, Justin Brazzeau, Mason Lohrei, and Frederic Brunet. Guys this is my little sister Y/N who is completely off limits and I will hunt you all down if anything arises. Y/n/n these are my idiot teammates.” you politely waved at them finally matching them to who you had been watching on the ice.
“Do you wanna go grab dinner with us?” Mason asked politely, “Spoons didn’t tell us you would be here but that’s no reason why you can’t come hang out.” He smiled at you big, bright and beautiful and you swear you could feel your heart shatter right then and there.
You agreed to dinner and the night proceeded, at a small burger joint in town. All the guys were funny and really welcoming and kept asking all sorts of questions.
From there your life had changed every time you ended up at a game there was a new guy you met and became friends with. Matthew Poitrais and John Beecher kept filtering in and out of Boston and Providence. For you it was nice to have an excuse to be at way too many hockey games.
Whether that be in providence or in boston. For the guys it was nice to have another friend in the in between of AHL and NHL life. Mason had quickly become your favorite though you had kept it quiet.
Your life quickly became a circus ring, juggling school, all the different hockey games, group hang outs and whatnot. While you were lucky enough not to have to work. You had very little free time.
—---------- [nov 23]
“You should pull over,” you said, looking out the window dreamily.
“Why?” he asked, glancing at you, face lit up only by the dashboard and the slight amount of moonlight.
“So I can look at the stars,” you stated and looked at him gazes entertaining for a heartbeat before he looked back at the road.
“Look for somewhere I can pull over” He sighed trying to hide the grin on his face. You lit up like a christmas tree and nodded quickly eyes on the road. Racking your memories of this drive to where he could possibly pull over.
“There should be a spot right up here” you said and he slowed down. You guys were one of the only cars on the road so you weren’t super worried about the speed you were slowing to. He pulled off the road and put your car in park. You hopped out quickly and looked up as he shut off the car somewhere behind you. You gazed at the stars amazed you loved them so much it was the only thing you hated about living in the city. Well that and traffic but you had learned to make the best of time in traffic when you first moved to boston. You heard mason gasp softly near the left of you. You dropped your eyes from the sky, only for them to meet his and he cleared his throat and looked back up.
“So beautiful’’ he murmured, eyes trained at the sky. You took him in the soft glow of moonlight. Barely bright enough to see. His head tipped back, the long column of his throat exposed. You couldn’t see his face but you knew what you would find there. You had spent a significant amount of time discreetly memorizing the boy beside you. Messy reddish brown hair that flipped flop between the two colors depending on the light. Gorgeous green eyes that shined anytime he smiled. A smile so bright and jaw dropping. Beautiful smile lines around his mouth. You hummed in agreement and looked back up at the stars. “Makes me miss wisconsin.” he said.
“It makes me hate living in the city. You know the stars we’re looking at could exist in any time period. The way the light travels we are looking at these stars in the past essentially meaning some of them could currently be exploding or simply dying out and me and you we’d probably never know” It was a fact you had learned as a child on a mission to memorize as many constellations as you could and find them in the night sky. You don’t know why even now it has been so comforting, but sometimes the world just felt like so much and the stars, the stars helped you feel a little smaller in a good way.
“That is both comforting and mildly discomforting at the sametime” he said with a small chuckle. You wish you could see his face right now. The joy as it spread across his features and smoothed it. The slight confusion with a hint of discomfort probably drawing his brows together and puckering his lips. The awe that was evident in his voice.
You guys stayed on the side of the road for another twenty minutes. Somewhere near the state line of Connecticut almost but not quite half way through your journey home. You pointed out constellation after constellation and told some dumb space jokes.
“I am freezing” you groaned from your place on the hood of your car. “Ready to go?” you asked, content with your stargazing time and ready to wrap up all cozy in your bed.
“Yeah” mason reached out his hand to help you off the hood of your car. A small, reliable and cute honda civic. You stretched and got back in and the rest of the journey was filled with simple conversation. It was always easy with him. You could switch from subject to subject as easily as the clouds rolled through the sky.
“I’ll walk you up” he said, getting out of the vehicle with you as you finally arrived back home. “Okay” you agreed softly. The late night finally catching up with you as you stifled a yawn on the way up to your apartment. In the lighting in the elevator you could see how tired he was. In the slow blink of his eyes. The way his shoulders were drooping slightly making his tall lanky form hunch.
“Stay” you said looking up at him leaned back against the elevator wall. “You’re clearly very tired, you can stay in the guest room.”
“Parker won’t like that baby spoon,” he said, making you roll your eyes.
“Parker doesn’t like a lot of my decisions, come on I'm not trying to sleep with you. I’m trying to make sure you don’t crash while on the road because you're so exhausted from me dragging you to Hartford on a Thursday night.” he smiled softly at your little rant. “Besides, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“Okay” he sighed “i’ll stay”
—-------- [jan 24]
M: Hey, what are you doing?
Y: about to order dinner. you?
M: Come over I bought stuff to make taco bowls for me and potsy but he got sent back to prov and this stuff is gonna go bad.
Y: heck yeah i’ll be there in 10 minutes.
It was the small things like this that had you falling in love with mason. He had known you would be home alone as both Potsy and Parker got sent down leaving each of you to fend for yourselves. You never minded cooking until it came to cooking for one. It was exhausting. You enjoyed home cooked yummy delicious meals but left overs were the bane of your existence. You could eat it once warmed up but after that the food might as well be diseased you weren't gonna eat it a second time reheated.
Moments like this where it felt like gravity pushing and pulling you back together. Moments where he understood you in the most underrated way. How even across town he knew you hated cooking and eating alone, even if it was coincidence. What you didn’t know was that he had not bought the ingredients for him and Matt but as an excuse to get you to come over. He wanted you in any way he could have you. An ache in his chest anytime he thought of you a longing that would not go away. With Parker's rule he would have you in any way he could even if meant just as friends.
—----------- [march 24]
This was most certainly not supposed to be happening let alone like this. You were out with some BU friends, celebrating the end of some dumb group project that was worth way too much of your grade. You felt his presence as soon as you entered the bar.
That ever imposing pull that made it so hard to stay away from him. This was your group's second bar of the night so you'd already had a few drinks. You weren’t quite drunk but you weren’t just tipsy. You spotted him at the bar, a pretty blonde under his arm. You wanted to high tail it out of there right as soon as possible, but as if nothing was amiss your friend shoved a shot in your hand and another white claw. You threw back the shot chasing it with the white claw.
He was off limits you couldn’t ever have him. It was Parker's stupid rule that you had been trying so hard to respect. You knew you shouldn’t want him but he made your chest ache, butterflies erupt in your stomach and your thighs clench. His pretty green eyes that reminded you of a sunny day picnic or the forest with the light seeping through. A smile so genuinely lit up not only his whole face but the room. The tall goofy boy had captured a piece of your heart and he didn’t even know it.
You had no claim to him at all; it shouldn't cause your stomach to drop when you heard his laugh ring through the bar at something the blonde girl said. His head turned to the side and you quickly averted your gaze. You knew somehow he knew you were here and found you in the crowd. You could feel his eyes on you; the gentle caress of sunlight in spring.
You would try your damndest to pretend he wasn’t here right now and to pretend like you didn’t know he was here.
The next hour was tortuous as you got more intoxicated. It was hard to steal covert glances at him. Twice you had caved and met his gaze when you felt his eyes on you. Both times he had a stern look on his face, a mix between disappointed, surprised, and jealousy maybe. You weren’t sure it wasn’t something you had seen on his features before and you were sure you could decipher it sober but you were far from that and you knew he was too.
Was he disappointed that you were here? Was he disappointed in the blonde girl he wasn’t paying much attention to? You wish you could know what was going on in his head right now.
As you made your way to the bar, you noticed the blonde girl wasn’t to be found. Mason was still in the spot he had been in when you came in. You made your way over to him still a good distance away.
“Having fun?’’ he murmured from behind you, way closer than you had expected. Causing a shiver to race down your spine from his proximity.
“Loads” you said unenthusiastically. You focused your attention back on the bartender as she made her way over. “Hey, can I have sex on the beach please” you smiled at her sweetly.
“Put her drinks on my tab please. All of them under Lohrei” he said gruffly, leaning into yours so the bartender could hear him. She shot him an annoyed, possibly disgusted look. She most likely knew he was here with another girl.
“What about the girl you're with?”
“She left like 45 minutes ago spoonzy. I told her it wasn’t gonna work out”
“The bartender probably thinks you're a douche.” he cracked a big grin at you. The first one you’ve seen all night since you heard his laugh through the bar.
“That’s okay. She doesn’t know me”
“Half the city knows you mason”
“Maybe but no one at this bar has recognized me yet besides you and maybe one way to drunk dude” the bartender finally brought back your drink and you thanked her with a smile.
“I’m going back to my friends now. You’re more than welcome to join.”
“No it’ll make it harder to get you outta here with me” You jaw dropped at his words. The forwardness words he probably didn’t mean he’d just had a healthy amount of liquid courage.
“Mason” you said exasperatedly.
“Come home with me spoonzy” he looked down at you. His hands gently move to your hips. As he pulled his lip in between his teeth.
“How much have you had to drink macy?”
“Far less than you.”
“Let me sober up and think about this. Thank you for buying my drink” you smiled and moved out his grip and back to your friends. He watched you walk away, arms crossed. He hadn’t quite meant for the words to come out, but he did want you more than you knew. He wiped a hand over his face and went back to his stool at the bar. Watching the other patrons gaze mostly fixed on you.
It was nearing 2 am now and you had stopped drinking two hours ago. The last drink you ordered you passed off to a friend in the group, and having been chugging water like you’ve been in the desert for six months. You could feel his eyes on you periodically throughout the night and when you caught him at a moment where he wasn’t looking at you. You could see the worry in his posture. Was he worried you didn’t want this? Was he worried that he fucked up your friendship? Was he worried what would happen if Parker found out?
Watching him as his eyes flickered around the room before landing on you. You met his eyes and nodded. You could see the tension seep from his body. His shoulders relax and his leg stops bouncing up and down. You faked a yawn and looked at your friends.
“Hey guys, I think I'm gonna head out. Thanks for the fun night.” you smiled and hugged each of your friends. Micheal, the designated sober person of the group tonight and stopped you before you turned away to pretend to go pay your tab. “Do you want me to wait outside with you for an uber” he asked
“No, I'll be okay. I'm pretty sober and I called it in advance so I wouldn't have to wait outside, in the cold.”
“Okay be safe”
You made your way towards the door before you veered off to stop at the bar and pretend to pay your tab. You sigh as the fresh cold air hits your skin. His tall form leaning against a light pole.
“y/n are you sure? You wanna do this?” he asked, clearly nervous. The looseness of being intoxicated clearly out of his system. You pulled him down by the sides of his coat and smashed his lips to yours. His body melted into the kiss as his hands snaked around your waist. The whole world stilled. Dropping into blissful silence. He felt like home pressed against your body. Warm and sweet and perfect. He tasted like beer and safety.
“I’m sure red” you broke away and mumbled softly against his lips. He nipped at your lips as the sound of a car pulling up popped your glorious little bubble.
“This is us then” he said, pulling open the car door for you. You dropped down inside, he slid in after you. You tucked yourself into his side as he wrapped his arm around you. You tilted your head back to meet his eyes.
“If this is just for tonight, Parker can’t ever know. No one can ever know. I value your ability to breathe enough for the both of us.”
—------------ [april/may 24]
You could not stop thinking about him. You thought the one night would help. Yet here you were making group dinner with mason in your apartment. Thinking unholy thoughts about his hands while you watched him chop vegetables.
The way they felt against your skin. Holding your hand in the uber on the way to his apartment. Caressing your face. Running through your hair.
“What’s up with you?” Matt asked, sliding into the seat next to you at the kitchen island. The rest of the boys were in the living room tucked around the corner. It was just you and mason in the kitchen until potsy swooped in. You looked up at Mason who raised an eyebrow at you. Indicating he had been wondering the same thing.
“What?” you asked, distracted by the thoughts you should not be having about your friend in your kitchen at 5pm on tuesday.
“What’s up with you?” he said slowly. “You’ve been all spaced out and barely here for like weeks?” you heard Mason gently chuckle from the stove before he recovered and cleared his throat. He had a little inkling of what had you so checked out.
“Nothing,” you said, a little annoyed. Then you relaxed and let out a sigh, trying to hold your metaphorical cards close to your chest. “Just finals, that's all it’s just finals. I’m sorry if I've been a little distracted.”
“Okay” Matt sighed and resigned to the fact that whatever was truly wrong or on your mind you weren’t gonna share with him. He turned and went back to the living room.
“You don’t need my help do you?” you asked Mason who was leaning on the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen near the stove. Your words and tone clearly indicated you weren’t exactly offering help but willing to help if he needed it. His brows furrowed but he shook his head. “Cool, don't burn the apartment down. I’m going to my room.”
Things hadn’t been awkward between the two of you. It was easy to carry on like normal for the most part. It was just tense. You hadn’t been able to spend any time alone together. Except for small miniscule moments like the ones just now in the kitchen. Not that you were complaining you weren’t sure what you would do if you had been alone with him. You had been so lost in your thoughts. You hadn’t noticed him trailing behind you. Until he slipped in your room and pulled you into his arms. You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you had been holding. Before his lips met yours.
“I can’t stop thinking about you’’ he mumbled against lips. You pulled away and looked up at him. A big goofy grin plastered on your face.
“Thank god, because I can't stop thinking about you.” your hands fisted in the material of his shirt. He smiled, running a hand through his hair.
“My house tomorrow night?” he asked and you nodded. He kissed you again, softer this time less urgent.
“go before you burn down the apartment or we got caught” you chuckle and peck his nose. He laughed softly and slipped out of your room.
There were a few more hookups before caved and asked you to be his girlfriend. With the end of the season approaching you hadn’t wanted to tell Parker you knew he would freak out, and the last thing the team needed was animosity and emotions running high because of you. He had agreed, honestly he may have had a good four inches on your brother but that didn’t stop him from being scared of the defenseman. Mason was a lover, at heart and not a fighter, and wanted nothing to do with your older brother's protectiveness.
—------------ [nov 24]
Here’s the thing you had planned for your trip for thanksgiving break around your older brother, Tyler’s schedule. You were gonna go visit him in Calgary then head home to Vancouver.
What you hadn’t expected was that you actually convinced Mason to hop on an airplane to meet you in Vancouver. The Bruins thanksgiving break wasn’t long but it gave you just a little bit of time to enjoy each other’s company in your home city.
The one full day you had together you were showing him some of your favorite spots in Vancouver. Enjoying a quiet lunch in a small cafe, just the two of you and not many worries of being recognized or bothered.
It was a typical cafe design. Warm wood and grey palette. Small tables tucked in various corners. A bar seating area lined the side window looking out onto the cold Vancouver streets. You and Mason were tucked in a corner, your back towards the door, him facing the door.
“Mason?” you heard the undeniable voice of Jake DeBrusk call out from the general direction of the doorway. It would be just your luck that an Ex-bruin would come into the cafe when the two of you were in it. You winced and ducked your head a little bit. There’s a few players and ex-players that probably would not be able to identify you in a crowd. DeBrusk was not one of them.
You’d had a close relationship with his girlfriend and he was pretty friendly with your older brother. The two of you had spent your fair share of time together.
“Hey man” Mason said standing up quickly moving swiftly to stand behind you as a bit of a precaution, but both of you knew Jake would want to be introduced to whomever Mason was with.
“What are you doing in Vancouver?” Jake’s voice was closer and you heard the undeniable movement of that casually dude hug greeting most men, especially hockey players, did.
“I um-” mason was floundering and you knew it. You guys hadn’t prepared any sort of story at all. You really thought that your chances of seeing someone were so slim that you didn’t worry about it. You could picture it clearly on Jake's face as he noticed that Mason was with someone. The little bit of confusion as he put it together with Mason's hockey schedule. Mason’s face as he turned a bit red, nervousness getting the best of him. “I came to visit a friend.”
“Care to introduce me”
“No” “no?”
You cursed yourself and the turn events. You took a deep breath and stood up, turning around to face the two men. Only to be met with Mason’s back as he shielded you completely.
You tucked your hand around mason’s bicep and peaked around him. A sheepish smile on your face. “Hi Jake.” mason took the slightest step to the side so you were more in view. Jake’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “You kinda already know her” Mason said sheepishly tucking you into his side.
“Holy shit baby spoon” he reached out to wrap you in a hug and you willingly let him. You could totally play this off as Mason just visiting you but you knew Jake would see the lies clearly written everywhere between the two of you. You were in Mason’s Buckeyes sweater, his name stitched on the shoulder. Hickey peeking out of the collar of said hoodie.
When Jake let you go you knew he was gonna start putting puzzle pieces together and you had to beg him not to tell your brother as quickly as possible. “I won’t tell him. Quit panicking” Jake said as he pulled away. You heard Mason exhale loudly, then he moved to sit back down.
“Mia’s in the car you have to explain, and she’d kill me if I saw you and didn’t tell her. I’ll be right back”
You sighed and sat down as well. Seeing Mia would be nice and having someone who knew would also be nice.
“You really think he’s not gonna tell Parker?" Mason asked, reaching for your hand across the table. You nodded and bit your lip, “I’ve viewed Jake kinda like an older brother. He’s not protective and crazy like Parker though. He’s more level headed and understanding like Tyler.”
Mason nodded, “Scoot over, I'm gonna grab chairs for Mia and Jake.” He released your hand and stood up to grab the chair from the table next to you. You scooched your chair over to his side of the table, also moving your sandwich and latte.
Just as you sat down you heard the door jingle signalling someone entering. You looked up to see Mia walking through the door and you got up excitedly as she rushed over to you.
“Oh my gosh look at you!” she squealed “I saw the red on Instagram and oh my god it looks killer! I’ve missed you so much!” she wrapped you in a tight hug before letting you go to say hi to mason.
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” Jake said from the chair across from Mason. “That you do. I wanna know EVERYTHING!” Mia smiled and sat down.
“Not everything. I do not wanna know everything” Jake said quickly, draping his arm over the back of Mia’s Chair. A grimace slightly took over his fingers. Which made mason chuckle and he wrapped your hand with his.
“There’s really not much to it.” Mason said, looking at you. Love shining brightly in his eyes. Your favorite of his smiles on his face, love and appreciation clearly lining his features. You smiled back at him brightly.
“It really just kinda happened” you looked back at your friends. You didn’t quite know how to explain it. It was simple but so much at the same time. It was the moments he listened to you rant about school, jamming to Taylor Swift on trips to AHL games, it was stargazing on the side of the road, it was him remembering your coffee order or your drink at the bar. It was the little moments sitting in the car listening to him tell you about his sisters or growing up playing hockey, his silly jokes and telling you the dumb stuff he and his friends have done.
—----------- [feb 25]
If you were being quite truthful you weren’t entirely sure how you got here. Wrapped up in a boy you most certainly should not be kissing and it for sure would not be the last time you kissed him either. Mason Lohrei had somehow become your favorite person on the planet. It wasn’t that much of a surprise he had a truly remarkable personality. He was funny and sweet and soft and kind. He was just the last person you had expected to fall in love with in the sea of Boston Massachusetts.
Which is where it ultimately got more complicated. You were off limits to each other. Yet here you were in mid february and it's been almost a year since this thing had begun and ultimately the hardest time you had hiding it. You were both so busy and it was getting exhausting not being able to be with him the way you wanted.
Stuck in a limbo of group hangouts and weekly dinners and stolen glances over glasses of wine surrounded by teammates. And honestly you hated it. You hated your brother for his dumb rules and his stupid over protectiveness.
You wanted to love this magnificent goofy bright boy loudly so loudly they could hear, see and feel your love for him on the other side of the world. You knew it wasn’t smart this thing you had begun your brother was going to lose his shit. Which would be why you started with your oldest brother, who was yes overprotective but understood you were a grown woman who could make her own choices about life let alone someone she wanted to date.
Trapped in a stolen moment you pressed against the counter. Mason towering over you, his hands bracketed your hips using his body to cage you here. Parker was upstairs in the shower giving you guys just a moment before the rest of the boys and ultimately himself bombarded your few moments.
“Hi i missed you” you mumbled against his lips. “You saw me yesterday” he smiled, pulling away. “Yeah but i didn’t get to see YOU yesterday” you said, sticking your hands in his hoodie pockets, emphasizing the word you. “I saw my friend Mason, not my boyfriend Mason.” “You're silly” he smiled at you and tucked your hair behind your ears and pulled you in for another kiss.
You sighed into the kiss. Hiding this was getting exhausting and you wished you could just tell everyone. A knock at the door broke your moment and you slipped out from mason to go answer it.
Jeremy and Alessandra stood on the other side of the door. You smiled at them as you welcomed them inside, giving them both quick hugs.
“ Your lip gloss is smudged,” Alessandra said as she hugged. Your eyes widened. You had totally forgotten that you were wearing lip gloss before kissing mason. Which meant that most likely Mason now had a slight sheen of lip gloss on his lips. You prayed that Jeremy and Alessandra didn’t notice before you could tell him.
“Hey guys” you heard Mason greet them as he rounded the corner from the kitchen. You quickly spun around to see how bad the lip gloss was. Jeremy let out a chuckle. “Nice lip gloss” Alessandra said humor laced in her tone. Both yours and mason’s eyes widened.
“Shush” you said and quickly wiped off mason’s mouth. “Go back out the door” you opened the door and ushered them out mason following you.
“Please please please don’t tell parker” you and mason said in unison. Jeremy and Alessandra smiled at each other.
“We saw you guys at the Halloween party. Way more than friendly. From then I had my suspicions since then but I wasn't completely certain, but I had a few small things that had me pretty sure you guys were sleeping together at the least” Alessandra explained and your jaw dropped. Before you turned and lightly whacked mason’s arm.
“I told you someone was gonna see us” mason smiled apologetically and rubbed the back of his neck. “So that means you're not gonna tell Parker right?” they both shook their heads.
“But you owe us lunch and the story” Jeremy said smiling and pointing his finger at the two of you.
“Done,” Mason said and wrapped his arms around you. “Now we gotta go inside before the others start appearing or park gets out of the shower and wonders where we all fucking went”
Summary: Y/n is a famous singer with a not so secret crush on joey daccord. Based on my SMAU.
word count: 1.1K
Notes: i wanted to make this longer but that was not working for me so :(
You would be lying if you said the song hadn’t started as a joke. Your ex was a big sports fan. He followed them all, but hockey was his favorite so you had gotten pretty into the game as your relationship progressed. The main problem was his insecurity as you gained popularity, he continually brought up the argument that you were going to leave him for a sports player. Then you understood why he was worried about you leaving him for someone better because he was cheating you with some b-list actress. Jokes on him the songs he inspired skyrocketed your fame. Then your team thought you’d play into the bit of one of your biggest songs from your newest album. Good Graces the most popular line being ”Break my heart, and I swear I'm movin' on with your favorite athlete”. While touring you ended the night in one of that city's sports jerseys. Famously you never wore a current player’s jersey, they all had your last name on the back and your favorite number. You made it a point to only do two hockey teams though. His favorite Seattle Kraken and his least favorite The Toronto Maple Leafs. Finally having some time in your schedule while touring you found yourself at a Seattle Kraken game. Clad in Joey Daccord’s Jersey which you would be wearing at your concert tomorrow night on stage. It was your idea at a grand gesture to shoot your shot. You’d always found the man incredibly attractive, not to mention he was your ex's favorite player. You were feeling incredibly spiteful recently which had prompted the recent events in your life. Most notable today. You had spent some time with your team to get yourself not only on Kraken’s radar but Joey's as well. Tweets about his performance in a game. Arranging for you to read the starting line up to the guys in the locker room to also get some one on one time with them and invite them to your concert the next night.
“Okay I’m not gonna lie to you guys, I'm nervous about this. Before I read the starting lineup I wanted to let you guys know you're all invited to the show tomorrow.” You blushed standing in the center of the locker room slip of paper in hand with the lineup. You had your best friend with you for moral support. “Vip access” you smiled at them as they let out a cheer.
“Don’t be short stack, we love you already” Jaime Oleksiak said from his spot. You chuckled at the nickname, in all fairness everyone was short to the 6’7” giant. “I’ll pay someone on the other team to go after you” you joked with a smile.
“Okay we got number 19 Jared Mcman, number 10 Matty Beniers, and number 7 Jordan Eberle. Defense number 6 Adam Larsson and number 62 Brandon Montour. Last but certainly not least number 35 Jdac." The boys clapped and cheered in between each name. You looked up to see Grubauer nudging Joey out of his thoughts.
“Okay now can i get some pictures with you guys?” you asked knowing both Kraken media had wanted the photos as well as your own PR team. The boys got up to meet you in the center of the room. “Wait hold on i gotta take off my jacket” you turned to your body guard and unzipped the big leather jacket you were wearing it had a bedazzled kraken logo on the back. Revealing a bedazzled Daccord jersey you were wearing like a dress. Taking pictures first as one big group then in smaller groups and one on one with some players. chit chatting with the boys and exchanging phone numbers and social media handles with a few. Finally the goalie tandems turn, Joey and Philip wrapped their arms around your shoulders both their tall frames towering over your smaller body. As the boys thanked you and turned to go back to getting ready you stopped joey.
“Wait this is awkward but I had another photo I wanted with you.” you asked, hand on his wrist. “Anything you want you can have” he finally said something to you having been pretty silent since you entered the room. You blushed and tried to escape the moment waving your best friend over. She was wearing a Grubauer jersey bedazzled like yours, but she also held a jersey with your last name on it for Joey to wear. You were still blushing over his words as he chuckled at the jersey presented to him. He slipped off his hoodie and slid on the new jersey. You couldn’t help but stare as he changed and your best friend snickered at you. You elbowed her in the side as Joey turned to throw his hoodie in his stall. You instructed Joey through the pose you wanted for the photo backs to the camera heads turned to display the back. You demonstrated the pose before looking at him, your eyes locking for a moment as he stared at you intensely. He was in the middle of you and y/bf/n. Then you took one facing the camera with big smiles on your faces.
“Thanks Joey.” you smiled at him, your agent handing you your phone. “You look good in my jersey” he whispered to you, wrapping you in a hug, before turning and walking away. You momentarily forgot what you were even doing thinking about being wrapped in his arms.
“Kick some ass out there boys, me and y/bf/n are gonna go find buoy” you hollered leaving the locker room. You heard wolf whistles and some chirps called to joey and you could only imagine what chaos you had just caused.
Finally you were sitting in your seats. Getting ready for puck drop and to experience the game. You were currently on your phone making an instagram post. Some photos from the night. A simple dump of one of you in the stands, a picture of the ice and a photo of joey. With the caption “break my heart and i’m moving on with your favorite athlete 🩵🩷. As planned buoy made a cheeky comment and then found you during the game and y’all caused some chaos around the stadium.
Beiners: I gave Joey your number. You’re welcome!! Super excited for the show tomorrow.
The game had just ended a 6-3 loss to Colorado.
You hadn’t known one of the youngest members of the team would come in clutch as a wingman but he was completing tasks your pea brain had forgotten about. Before you had the chance to respond to matty and new text came in.
"There's an axolotl on the pink stairs, is an axolotl supposed to be there” you were singing softly to yourself while making lunch for you and Mason. Softly singing the tik tok song stuck in your head while you chopped tomatoes for the pasta you were making. Mason’s eyebrows quirked up and he walked into the kitchen. He smiled at you being silly.
“Whatcha singing?” he asked. You practically jumped out of your skin, you dropped the knife clutching your hands to your chest. “Oh shit did you hurt yourself i’m sorry” he rushed to you looking at your hands and you whacked his arms softly.
“no you scared the crap out of me” you let out the breath you were holding.
“I’m sorry, love. I didn’t mean to. I’ll try to be louder next time baby”
“It’s okay honey.” you smiled at him and wrapped your arms around him.
“You looked adorable singing whatever you were singing” he wrapped you up in his arms and you sighed contently. His fresh and masculine scent filled your nostrils.
“It’s a little tik tok sound that got stuck in my head.” you tried to move out of his arms but his arms stayed firmly locked around you as he dipped to lay his head on your shoulder. He groaned in protest as his grip tightened and you giggled.
“Mase i’m trying to finish lunch” you wiggled in his arms. He loosened his hold to let you turn around. His large body still encasing yours, you went back to cutting the tomatoes.
~~~~~~~~~
You hummed the little axolotl song stuck in your head from tik tok. You were sitting on the bathroom counter doing your makeup.
“Baby, will you help me with my tie? I can’t decide which one for today” he walked in with a purpley blue flower patterned tie and a light blue satin one. You continued to hum your song on repeat as you looked at the options. He was wearing his basic black suit with a white undershirt. The top three buttons unbuttoned as he was still getting ready.
“Still got that song in your head.” he smiled, skin wrinkling around his mouth and eyes.
“Yeah” you laugh “it's like that double wide song everytime i almost get it out of my head, another video using it pops up. I think you should go with the blue one. It works with your eyes today.”
“Okay” he said, popping his collar and fixing his shirt before he got his tie on.
~~~~~~
“there’s an axolotl on the lawn chair
is an axolotl supposed to be there .”
You sang the song softly as you made yourself a cup of tea. Mason leaned in the doorway of the kitchen watching you peacefully moving around, seemingly unaware of him watching you. You had your back turned as you put the kettle on the stove before opening the cupboard and grabbing your tea box.
“if you ask an axolotl if they’ll be back tomorrow
a penguin waddles in and then the axolotl’s gone”
He had half a mind to pull out his phone to record you softly seeing in his kitchen looking so perfect in his space.you stopped singing as you grabbed your mug from the cupboard.
“I can feel you watching me” you purred peeking over your shoulder at him.
“Can’t help it when I have such a pretty girl singing in my kitchen. Will you finish the song please” you both chuckled lightly, as you went about still making tea. You finished the last verse as he softly hummed along from his spot on the wall.
You moved through the kitchen cup of tea in hand. You met him by the wall.
“We’ll see you tomorrow” you finished before raising up on your toes and pecking him on the lips.
~~~~~~
This time it wasn’t you with the song stuck in your head. You could hear him from the kitchen singing the song softly as he made you a cup of tea. You smiled softly at his deep voice singing the silly little song that had taken up so much of your brain the past week. He stopped and you frowned before he made his way into the living room. He handed you the mug and sat down next to you. You draped your legs over his lap.
“there’s an axolotl at the front door
is that what the welcome sign is there for
if you ask an axolotl if they’ll be back tomorrow
a penguin waddle in and then they both sing you a song”
You smile brightly as he finishes singing the song with you.
“We’ll see you tomorrow” you finish and move to straddle his lap, kissing him softly “I love when you're all soft and goofy with me” you mush and play with his hair. His deep chuckle rumbles out as he blushes. You kiss his cheeks before tucking yourself into his chest.
“Only for you my love” you can hear the smile and happiness leaking through his tone as he places a kiss on your head.
