Smitty in Drag â 1589 Words; summary: a halloween costume, some alcohol, and two idiots. what could go wrong? ao3
Banana Bread â 1235 Words; summary: The first time Mack hears anything about banana bread and alphas is in the locker room after practice. ao3
The One Where Willmack Bully Kids on Dress to Impress â 1153 Words; summary: Will and Macklin like to play games on their iPads. Will being on IR isnât going to stop that. ao3
I Wanna be Your Girlfriend â 12,397 words; summary: The first time Mack ever actually notices the blonde girl is at a BU v. BC game. She must have stopped long enough for her brother Aiden to notice and skate over. ao3
And For My Last Trick â 1308 words; summary: âŠIâll make sure you hate me so you donât care when I ruin it. Smitty can tell something is wrong. He always can when it comes to Mack. ao3
Mattgabe
Three Apples Tall â 614 Words; summary: It was well know that Matthew Rempe was a little shit. The alpha was too mischievous for his own good, but made up for it with how much he cared. ao3
not so much the mack-lucy agenda as will-henry agenda.
will is the kind of hopeless romantic who would spend every day making mack fall in love with him, because he couldnât bear the thought of not having him in his life.
i love how one side of people are like lets see what actually makes sense in the context of the story while others are like actually we just want to see our fav getting babied and romanced
not hating on either its just funny to me
thatâs so real. i love the discourse and im super excited to see what other things people may be thinking!
all of this marine vet discourse is reminding me of a fic i read a few months back where leno goes to work with will and mack on a marine lab as a way to work on scientific communications for his thesis(?)
idk it was really good tho⊠i need to find itâŠ
Look, I donât know the premise of 50 first dates to be honest so I wonât speak on that but while Will may be Bostonâs princess I feel like people too often forget that Mack is 1000% Canadaâs princess!!! Just look at the Olympics.
this new 50 first dates discourse is actually so funny and such a breath of fresh air ngl so thank you!
also Mack is defo the pursuer because Will does all their little date planning shit irl anyway right like with the tiktok consultations and finding the restaurants and cafes etc that they go to
so itâs a bigger declaration AND more romantic when Mack does it because itâs out of the ordinary
But you're asking for a 50 First Dates AU right? I implore people to read the summary of it. The womanizing marine veterinarian has to LEARN how to romance someone for the first time in his life because he suddenly cares for someone. That's Mack! And that someone is a whimsical art teacher who feels betrayed over being lied to over memory loss and the one person who wants to help process it is the vet who becomes enchanted. That's Will! I think Mack learning how to romance someone while also being the person Will learns to trust again because Mack desperately wants to help while falling in love with him. Mack would definitely put his 10 year research on hold and almost give it all up just for Will. So I definitely think Will should definitely be Lucy đââïž
ehhhh i still agree with will as the pursuer. he is 100% the romantic out of the two and would plan the most extravagant thoughtful dates. also have we seen them on the bench? we call will the princess but mack is the one who gets princess treatment from will. he would definitely be the type to pull out mack's chair for him to sit and open the passenger's side door for him. he's just very sweet like that!
Okay but Mack isnt the pursuer??? Have we not seen this man follow Will everywhere and demand his attention and literally gets huffy if he's speaking to someone else??? Did we forget him becking Will over in front of everyone during warmups??? This is the same man who pushed TOFFS arm off Will's back during a celly so Mack could put his own there. I think if it was anyone else Mack wouldn't be the one pursuing, but since it's Will he 100% would!
will the romantic planner would 100% be the one wooing mack-lucy. i canât see mack going to all that trouble, heâs def less of the pursuer and more of the type who waits to be pursued
see and i totally get that, but im thinking. will is bostonâs peopleâs princess. and mack moves there for college, right, and people (leno and gabe ) care about will a lot and are suspicious of this new guy and just want will to be okay.
and this is totally just me having half baked thoughts, so this may not make any sense, so i totally appreciate your thoughts!
summary: âŠIâll make sure you hate me so you donât care when I ruin it.
Smitty can tell something is wrong. He always can when it comes to Mack.
read it on ao3 here
notes: hello!! this work is a bit experimental, so it may not be super great, but i think its a super important topic to touch on in any sort of capacity.
if you or anyone you know is struggling, you can reach out to the US national suicide and crisis lifeline at 988 (im not sure of what the others outside of the US are, but if you know them, feel free to comment them!!!)
In the wise words of shoulder check: reach out, check in, make contact. even just making a small call or complimenting someone could help a lot.
and donât be afraid to reach out if you are struggling.
Smitty can tell when something is going on in Mackâs head. He pretty much has always been able to. They spend so much time together that it would be crazy to suggest that he canât recognize the small tells in his friendâs behavior.
These, however, are not small tells.
Willâs eyebrows furrow as he watches Mack snap at Toff, not joking around like he usually is.
Toff seems to think heâs still joking and shoves the brown haired boy playfully. Instead of being met with a joking shove in return, Toffâs eyes go wide as he is slammed into the boards, Mack yelling at him as he does.
Will immediately makes his way over, pulling the younger boy away by the back of his practice jersey.
âHey, hey! What the hell are you doing, Man?â He asks, raising his voice to make sure he has Mackâs. attention, âHey, Macklin! Listen to me! Whatâs your problem?â
Mack pulls himself out of Willâs grasp, skating towards the other end of the ice.
Mackâs combativeness doesnât end there. He picks a fight with pretty much everyone there, causing the rest of the team to eye him warily and with a hint of frustration.
Even Will isnât safe from the anger radiating from his friend. He gets shoved and pushed 7 times. He counted.
Mack is the last person into the locker room after practice is done, but Will waits.
He has a feeling he needs to.
Mack storms into the locker room, completely missing Will who is still sitting there. He beelines his way towards the showers, angrily stripping out of his gear. He turns the water on as hot as it will go, gritting his teeth as he stands under it.
Will silently watches, his concern growing.
Itâs only when Mack begins to dig his nails into the pink skin of his forearm that Will clears his throat and makes his presence known.
Mack jumps, his eyes wide. He drops his arms back to his side quickly.
Will moves forward slowly, eyeing the sheer amount of steam coming from the water from the shower head.
He clears his throat, âYou should turn that down. Youâre going to burn yourself.â
Mack sucks in a breath, making no move to fix the water.
Will is still for a moment before he steps forward to turn the temperature down himself.
Mackâs hands shoot out to stop him.
âNo!â He says loudly, his voice echoing off of the walls of the showers, âDonât! I need it that hotâŠâ
Will pauses, eyeing him warily.
âMack, your arms are pink. Youâre burning yourself,â He says slowly.
Mack sucks in a breath, but again makes no move to fix it.
âI know,â He says.
Will purses his lips. He turns the shower off entirely.
âYou should get dressed.â
Mack nods, finally leaving the shower and drying off.
Will watches him. He starts walking towards the locker room, hearing Mack follow. He waits a second before turning around and starting to talk.
âOkay, whatâs going on?â He asks, âThat shit today during practice? Not cool. And not normal.â
Mack stares at him for a minute, his eyes seemingly taking Will in.
Then his bottom lip trembles and tears fill his eyes.
Will startles at the sight, and even more so when the tears fall and Macklin lunges forward to wrap his arms around the blonde man. Will freezes for a second, but wraps his arms around Mack tightly.
He can feel Mack beginning to sob, and he rubs the brunetteâs back.
âHey, hey. Talk to me,â He says, âWhatâs going on in your head?â
Mack canât talk, too busy taking shuddering breaths and sobbing into Willâs shirt.
âBreathe,â Will says softly, âSlowly, okay? In⊠and outâŠâ
Will continues this until Mack matches his breathing, the sobs subsiding for now. He looks down at Mack.
âWhatâs going on?â He asks again, voice softer, âWhy were you biting everyoneâs heads off?â
Mack bites his lip.
âIâm going to mess up,â He says.
That makes Will pause, looking at Mack curiously, âThatâs okay. Everyone does. Itâs⊠Itâs being human.â
Mack shakes his head.
âNo. Not like this. Iâm⊠Iâm supposed to be this great thing thats going to make everything better for the team, but Iâm not,â He says, âI feel like Iâm not doing anything to help⊠Iâd just⊠Iâd rather theyâre pissed at me than disappointed.â
Will is quiet, sensing more to it.
âI just⊠Iâd rather they hope I get traded or⊠hit by a bus or something than feel bad for me and what Iâm not able to do,â He continues quietly.
That makes Willâs eyes snap open.
âMacklin.â
The way he says it makes Mack look up at him.
âPlease tell me youâre not planning on hurting yourself,â He says.
Mack is quiet, but he shakes his head.
Will looks at him. Really looks at him.
âDo you promise?â He asks, âAnd I mean really promise?â
Mack nods.
Will lets out a breath.
âYou know people donât want that, right?â He says, âThe team wants you here. Yeah, they were pissed that you were snapping at them, but they were worried. They want to make sure youâre okay.â
Mack doesnât meet his eyes.
âI mean it,â Will says firmly, âThe outcome of the season doesnât rely on you, and everyone knows that. Itâs a team effort. Theyâre frustrated with how things are going, too, but they arenât blaming you.â
Mack doesnât respond verbally, but Will can see his bottom lip begin to shake again.
Will pulls him in tightly, not caring about the fact that Mack is still undressed and slightly damp from the shower. That doesnât matter right now.
âCome on. Letâs get dressed, okay?â Will says, âWe can get food and youâll stay with me for a bit.â
Mack thankfully doesnât argue.
The car ride is quiet and Will hates it. He misses Mack talking a mile a minute about anything and everything.
He pulls off to a parking lot, turning to look at Mack.
âIâm making sure youâre okay,â He says, âYou canât⊠You canât make me hate you. I donât care. I want you to be okay. I donât give a shit if you âruin it.â You canât leave me.â
His voice cracks on the last part.
Mack inhales sharply. His bottom lip starts to tremble again, but hes not self conscious about crying this time. He canât be when tears are already streaking down Willâs face.
âI canât lose my best friend,â Will says, voice cracking.
Thatâs what tips Mack over the edge. His own tears start to flow.
The two of them cry with each other for a few minutes before Will sniffles and wipes his eyes, Mack following suit.
âYou donât⊠You donât need to tell me everything if you donât want to,â Will says, not looking at Mack, âBut Iâm here if you need to talk. I want you to be okay.â
Mack nods.
âThank you,â He says. He hopes Will can hear how much gratitude the two words truly contain.
Will is quiet for a few minutes.
âReach out, check in, make contact,â He says after a moment, âThatâs for the, uh, Shoulder Check thing. I remember seeing something about it. I, um, I started reading up on it recently. I can send you some stuff if you want. There were some good articles about stress and healthy ways to cope with it⊠Just let me know and I can send it your way.â
The conversation is dropped after that.
Mack appreciates it. He can see how much attention Will is paying without being suffocating about it. It makes him want to start crying again, and heâs sure Will would start as well.
They go and get sandwiches, Will not leaving his side. Heâs grateful for it.
