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hockey-fics · 22 days
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Sometimes I forget how long I've been following you until I read an old fic from you and it's already liked 🤣
Honestly, when I was putting my masterlist together yesterday even I forgot I had written like half of it hahaha
also, thank you for sticking around for so long!!
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hockey-fics · 23 days
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take your time! the most important thing is that you are doing well!! your actual job and wellbeing are way more important than you writing here even tho we all love your writing! take care of yourself ❤️
You're so sweet, thank you so much for the message, you have no idea how much it means to me!!
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hockey-fics · 23 days
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hi!! i just discovered your blog and i was wondering if you have a masterlist? i tried finding one but i couldnt :// xo
I just put together an updated masterlist and pinned it, so it should be at the top of my blog. Thank you for the message!!
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hockey-fics · 23 days
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Masterlist
Updated as of: March 6, 2024. Please let me know if any of the links don't work/are incorrect.
(Listed in alphabetical order by first name)
Colton Parayko
Neighbours
My Forever
Brock Boeser
Is There an Us?
Not Overstepping
Rather Forgive You Than Lose You
A Perfect Celebration
Next Summer
Jack Hughes
Gin, Tonic, and Tequila Shots
Something About Red Wine
Jamie Oleksiak
Two Too Many
Broken Promises and Forbidden Relationships
Jeff Skinner
Seeing Other People
Joel Farabee
Three Wishes
Josh Anderson
Like Having You Here
The Magic of Weddings
Kevin Hayes
Crossing Paths
A Long Month Alone, Together
Still Regret It
Mathew Barzal
Missing Piece
Matthew Tkachuk
Hockey Players are Bad News
Does He Know
Always You
Me or Him
One Drunk Night
Then Everything Changed
One Big Charade
Nathan MacKinnon
When We're 25
Nico Hischier
A Love Worth Changing For
Nolan Patrick
Swipe Right
Hot Chocolate and First Kisses
Rather Be in Philadelphia
Final Sumer at the Cabin
Travis Konecny
Prove You Wrong
Do Better
Trevor Zegras
Hard to Forget
Quinn Hughes
No Flirting at Trivia
That Night in Michigan
That Week in Vancouver (pt. 2 of That Night in Michigan)
Rose Coloured Glasses
The Summer It All Changed
Vince Dunn
Just Once | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four |
Not Enough
Fresh Start and a Familiar Face
Perfect Night
Should Have Seen it Sooner
Sick of It
Instagram Official
Misc:
Andre Burakovsky and Tyson Jost
Soy Lattes and Red Wine | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Choose Your Ending: Tyson Jost | Andre Burakovsky
Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost
Couples Trip
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hockey-fics · 1 month
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I know that I said I would be writing more but if I’m being honest I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep that up. I work a very intense and heavy job and it’s been a little extra intense and heavy lately and I haven’t really been in the mood to write much. I’m very sorry!
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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That Night and That Week are so good!!! The emotional turmoil and the shifting dynamics you created were amazing. Thanks for sharing your writing 💕💕
thank you so much, you have no idea how happy this makes me to hear! I’m so glad you liked them!!
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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final update on part 2: it's posted and now I'm logging off for a while before I panic and delete it
quick update because I don't want people to think I've just disappeared, I'm currently 4,000 words into part 2 of That Night in Michigan!!
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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That Week in Vancouver ~ Quinn Hughes
(Pt. 2 of That Night in Michigan)
"You can just keep believing whatever you want to believe if it makes you feel better about the way you treated me."
Word count: ~11,800
Warnings: some toxic behaviours (primarily arguing), drinking, language, smut.
A/N: there is a small potential for a part three, I have an idea for it but it depends on how motivated I am to keep going with this as a series. It's already gotten much longer than I ever intended it to.
“Do you have time to talk?”
There’s a silence that falls over the line that makes your heart race, your hands growing clammy. He had answered the phone at the very least, you had to hold onto some hope that he would be willing to have a conversation. It wasn’t a big ask, you didn’t need all day. You just needed a few minutes, a few minutes that could determine the outcome of your entire relationship.
“Quinn?” you whisper, unable to sit in the silence for any longer. 
“I don’t really have time,” Quinn tells you, his voice distant and cold. 
“Oh,” you mumble, your eyes prickling with tears. “When, um…when would you have time?”
“I don’t know,” Quinn replies quickly. “Things are kind of busy right now.”
Your breath catches in your throat and you blink quickly, trying to stop the onslaught of tears coming to your eyes. “Quinn, please,” you plead. 
“Sorry,” Quinn mumbles. “I’m sorry, I have to go,” he croaks, the first indication that this wasn’t as easy for him as he was making it seem. 
Before you have the chance to say anything else the call ends, your heart sinking with it. Pulling your knees to your chest you feel a few tears slip from your eyes. “Fuck,” you mutter under your breath, tossing your phone onto the couch beside you. Wiping the tears from your face with your sleeve you struggle through a few deep breaths, your breath catching in your throat each time. Was this really how it was going to end? A lifetime of friendship. Years of feelings. All of that to end without so much as a conversation. 
You don’t know how long you sit there until eventually your body is so exhausted from crying that you climb off the couch, heading straight to bed. At least if you were asleep you could silence the never-ending stream of thoughts about you and Quinn. It doesn’t take long till you fall asleep that night, sleeping till late the next morning. 
When you finally pull yourself out of bed you take a shower, your body numb as you go about some sort of normal routine, unsure of what else to do. Standing in front of the coffee maker in your kitchen you stare at the drops of coffee splashing into the slowly filling pot. Your phone vibrates on the counter beside you and you glance over at it, opening the text message from Luke. 
‘if I get a dog would you look after it when we’re on the road?’
Sighing you read the message before locking your phone, setting it back down again to pour yourself a mug of coffee. As you’re stirring some cream into it you hear your phone vibrate again. 
‘at least turn your read receipts off if you’re going to ignore me’ 
Picking up your phone you quickly send him a message back. ‘sorry, just not having a great day’.
A second later your screen is filled with an incoming FaceTime call from Luke. Groaning quietly you slide to answer it as you walk into the living room. “Hi,” you say quietly, flopping down onto the couch. 
“What’s wrong?” Luke asks, skipping past a greeting. 
“Nothing,” you mumble, fiddling with a loose thread on the blanket that was tossed over the back of your couch. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Alright,” Luke drawls, clearly not convinced. “So will you look after my dog?”
You can’t help but giggle, rolling your eyes. Luke was always there for you when things weren’t going well, even if he didn’t always know the appropriate responses to your emotions. “I don’t know if you’re even responsible enough to take care of a dog when you are home.”
“I am,” Luke defends quickly. “I just have to feed him and walk him.”
“And train him and brush him and take him to the vet and the dog groomer and make sure he’s getting enough exercise.”
“Yeah, yeah, I can do all that,” Luke says with a shrug. “I think it’ll be fun.”
“Sure,” you say with a quiet laugh. “I’ll look after him when you’re on the road if you get a dog.”
“Thank you,” Luke replies, smiling happily. “Now tell me why you’re so sad.”
Sighing loudly you toss your head back dramatically, staring up at the ceiling. “Quinn won’t talk to me,” you state quickly, knowing that if you didn’t just say it you wouldn’t be able to get the words out. “I called him last night, he won’t talk to me.”
“What did he say?”
“Literally nothing,” you mumble. “He said he didn’t have time to talk and he’s too busy to talk later.”
“He’s just upset about you and Holtzy,” Luke explains, as if you were completely in the dark as to why Quinn didn’t want to talk to you. 
“I know, Luke, I’m not an idiot,” you exclaim, eyes flooding with tears again. “Sorry…I just…I don’t know what to do. I miss him.” Reaching up you quickly wipe away the tears that had pooled under your eyes. 
“I know,” Luke mutters, nodding slowly. “Are you doing anything today?” 
“Not really,” you tell him honestly, shrugging it off quickly. 
“Get ready, I’m going to pick you up.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere, Luke,” you mutter, sighing quietly. 
“You just want to sit there and cry alone all day?”
“Oh my god,” you whine, shaking your head. “Leave me alone.”
“I’ll be there in like forty-five minutes,” Luke tells you, hanging up before you can argue against it. 
Sighing you pull yourself off the couch, finding an outfit for whatever this mysterious outing was. You busy yourself getting ready until Luke texts you, telling you he was there. Hurrying out of your apartment you find him idling on the street in front of your apartment building, hopping into his car. “Hi,” you greet, pulling your seatbelt on. 
“Hey,” Luke replies, waiting till you were situated in your seat before pulling back out onto the road. “Do you want like a coffee or something?”
“You’re trying really hard, aren’t you?” you tease, giggling quietly. 
“Yeah, I don’t want you to be sad,” Luke tells you. “But if you keep making fun of me I might stop.”
“No, please don’t,” you laugh. “Yeah, I’d love a coffee.” 
Luke takes you to your favourite coffee shop, after you gave him step by step instructions of how to get there. With a latte in hand you climb back into Luke’s car, still unsure of where he was planning to take you. 
“Where are we going?” you ask. 
“It’s a surprise,” Luke tells you with a mischievous smile. 
“I’m scared,” you joke, taking a sip of your coffee as you look out the window, trying to figure out where you could possibly be headed. 
Shortly after Luke pulls into the parking lot of a large building, your eyes focusing on the sign out front. “You’re unbelievable,” you laugh, looking at the animal shelter in front of you. 
“Come on, you know that seeing dogs is going to cheer you up.”
You follow Luke out of the car and towards the building. “We’re not leaving here with a dog, Luke,” you warn, stepping inside as Luke holds the door open for you. 
After talking briefly with the woman at the front counter she guides you through the building to the dog kennels. “Looking to expand the family?” she asks with a friendly smile.
“What?” Luke asks cluelessly. 
“No…we’re not, um, we’re-,” you begin. 
“Ew,” Luke mutters. 
Looking over at him you narrow your eyes, scoffing. “Well you don’t have to act like it would be disgusting,” you joke. “We’re just friends, he’s looking for a dog, I’m just the designated pet-sitter.”
“Well it’s always good to have a pet-sitter lined up,” she says uncertainly. “Anyway, I’ll leave you two to take a look, let me know if you have any questions.”
Walking over to one of the kennels you look at the tag on the door, reading it over. “Muffins,” you gush, looking at the small dog in the kennel. “His name is Muffins,” you repeat. 
“Muffins is ugly,” Luke mutters from behind you, staring at the little dog with scraggly fur, bulging eyes, tear stains on his white fur. Reaching over you playfully whack Luke’s arm. “Don’t be mean to Muffins,” you scold. 
“Look at this one,” Luke says, drawing your attention away from Muffins and to the large lab in the next kennel over. 
“You’re so predictable,” you tease, reading the description of Dewey the lab. The two of you wander along the rows of kennels, fighting against falling in love with each and every one of the dogs. By the time you were leaving that afternoon you were covered in dog fur, no longer quite as sad as you had been when you woke up that morning. 
Sitting in the car with Luke he scrolls through the pictures that he had taken of the dogs, clearly wanting to go back in and adopt one right then and there. Leaning over you look through the pictures with him, stopping him when he gets to a picture he took of you and one of the puppies. “Can you send that to me?” 
“So you can post it on instagram?” Luke teases. 
“Shut up,” you wine, rolling your eyes. “Yes.”
Luke chuckles, sending you the picture before setting his phone down. “What do you want to do now?”
“I don’t know, you’re the one who dragged me out.” Saving the photo to your phone you open instagram, adding the picture to your story with the caption ‘puppies really do make bad days better’, tagging Luke in the corner. 
“You’re so dramatic,” Luke says, pulling out of the parking lot. “Are you still going to pretend you didn’t have fun?”
“No,” you say, shaking your head. “Thank you, Luke…I do feel a bit better.”
“Good.” Luke turns down another street, seemingly on the way back to your apartment. “Quinn’s just an idiot,” Luke says suddenly. “He’ll come around, I promise.”
“I don’t know,” you mumble, glancing over at Luke. “I think this is different.”
“Why?”
Shrugging you look down at your hands, fidgeting with your fingers. “Because he’s never been like this before. He’s never been mean to me before, he’s never said things like…that.”
“What did he say?”
“He basically called me a whore…I mean, not directly, but it was easy enough to figure out what he meant. He said that I don’t think about anyone other than myself and that he’s done with me.”
Luke is quiet for a few seconds before looking over at you when he stops at a red light. “What?” he finally mutters. 
“Yeah,” you whisper, sniffling quietly. “Maybe it really is just time to move on. I just…I love him so much, I don’t know…it’s hard.”
“He’s an asshole,” Luke mutters under his breath. “I didn’t know that’s what he said to you,” Luke admits. 
“I didn’t really want to talk about it,” you tell him with a shrug. “I mean, I guess maybe he’s right, maybe I was flirting with everyone, I don’t know. I’d take it all back, it never even meant anything to me, I didn’t realize it was affecting him like that…I just…I just want him back. Maybe things will never be more than they were before, maybe we’re not meant to be together or anything but to lose him altogether, as a friend…I can’t handle that.” You hadn’t even realized how quick your breathing had grown, tears streaming down your cheeks. “Sorry,” you mumble, wiping the tears from your face. 
“You’re fine,” Luke assures you, glancing over with a smile so full of pity that it makes you want to hurl yourself out of the car. “Can I, um, can I do anything to help?”
Choking out a breath of laughter between your shaky breaths you shake your head. “No, I don’t think anyone can do anything to help.”
Luke turns into the parking lot of your apartment building, pulling into one of the visitor spots. “Well can I at least come hang out for a bit?”
“I’m not going to say no,” you tell him, picking your purse up from the floor of his car. “But you really don’t have to stay just because I’m sad.”
“You know that I actually like spending time with you, right? I don’t know why you’re acting like I’m doing you a favour.”
“I just don’t think that I’m that fun to be around right now.” Climbing out of his car you fish your keys from your purse, guiding Luke into the building. 
“Remember when I had the flu and you spent like a week taking care of me?” Luke asks as he watches you press the button for the elevator. “Was I fun then?”
“I mean it was kinda funny,” you say with a playful smile. “I would never have expected a little flu to take you down so easily.”
“It was bad,” Luke defends, chuckling as he leans against the wall of the elevator. 
A few minutes later the doors slide open and you guide Luke to your apartment, kicking off your shoes and heading for the couch. Luke joins you a minute later, grabbing the remote from the coffee table. “What do you want to watch?”
“You’re actually going to let me pick?” you ask in shock. 
“You’re the one who’s sad,” Luke reminds you, handing the remote to you. 
You pick your favourite show on Netflix, pulling your legs up onto the couch and curling up in the corner. You watch the show in silence for a few minutes before looking over at Luke, watching him type something on his phone. “Do you think he ever loved me?” you whisper, a feeling of shame washing over you for even asking the question, of wanting that reassurance. 
Luke is quiet for a minute, as if he wasn’t sure how he should reply, like you were a ticking time bomb waiting for the next thing to set you off. “Yes.”
Nodding slowly you turn your attention back to the tv, your vision blurry as you stare through a layer of tears. You didn’t know what else to say, didn’t want to talk about anything else yet you didn’t want to talk about it either. So you remained silent, watching episode after episode till you were beginning to drift to sleep. 
“Hey,” Luke whispers, gently shaking your shoulder. 
Inhaling sharply your eyes fly open, glancing around in a tired shock. “Hm?” you hum. “What time is it?…How long was I asleep?”
“A few hours,” Luke tells you with a shrug. “I’m going to go home now though, I have practice in the morning. Do you want to come? I’ll give you my bed again.”
Shaking your head you sit up, blinking tiredly. “No, no, that’s okay…thank you though.”
“Are you sure? Are you going to be okay alone?”
“Luke, I’m fine,” you assure him, swinging your legs off the edge of the couch. Standing up you pull him into a hug, resting your head on his shoulder. “Thank you for coming over today. Text me when you get home, okay?”
Luke waits for you to pull away first before saying goodbye, heading out to drive back to his place. After waking up a bit more you find something for dinner, calling your best friend to talk, needing to get out of your head. You end up talking with her for most of the evening before heading to bed rather early, the intense emotions of the last couple days catching up with you.
The next morning you wake up early, trying to keep yourself busy so that you didn’t fall into the same sadness that you felt the day before. You couldn’t spend the rest of your life wallowing. After having breakfast you take your coffee and grab your laptop, heading to the living room to sit on the couch. You pay a few bills before opening your email, your eyes narrowing in on one email from 1:46am. 
Flight Confirmation. 
Nervously clicking on it you scroll down, confusion building when you see that it was indeed a flight booked under your name. Then your eyes fall to the destination. Vancouver. Glancing at the date you realize it’s for next weekend, your heart racing. 
Picking up your phone you dial the number of the only person you thought would be buying you a flight to Vancouver. You listen to the dial tone for so long you begin to wonder if he wasn’t going to answer at all. 
“Hi?” Quinn mutters, his voice groggy and tired. 
Looking at the clock you realize how early it still was in Vancouver. “Shit, sorry, did I wake you up?”
“It’s fine,” Quinn mumbles. “Did you get the email?”
“Yes,” you whisper, your eyes not leaving the screen of your laptop. “Why?”
“Because I’m sorry,” Quinn says quietly. “I’m sorry I was such an asshole to you, I shouldn’t have treated you like that and I want to see you. If the date doesn’t work I can change the flight, just let me know when, I figured you have weekends off so I thought it would be better to pick a weekend but I know the flight is Friday morning so if you can’t leave that day I can just-.”
“This weekend is perfect,” you interrupt. “I’m sorry too, Quinn, I never meant to hurt you.”
“It’s okay,” Quinn assures you. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too,” you reply, not expecting your voice to grow shaky in the way it did. “I can let you get back to sleep now.”
“No, it’s okay, I was going to get up soon anyway.”
“Okay,” you whisper, still staring at the flight details on your laptop screen. “You didn’t need to buy me a first-class ticket, Quinn.”
“It’s the least I could do,” Quinn tells you quietly. “You’re going to let Luke get a dog?”
You can’t help but laugh at the question, pushing your laptop off your lap and curling up on the couch, staring out the window across the room. “I can’t really stop him…you’re his big brother though, maybe you should talk him out of it,” you tell him. “How long has he been talking about this?”
“Not long,” Quinn mumbles. “We talked yesterday.”
“Oh,” you whisper, wondering if wanting a dog was the only thing that Luke talked to Quinn about. “About a dog?”
Quinn is quiet for a little too long, your palms growing clammy, realizing that the answer probably wasn’t yes. “About you,” Quinn finally admits. “I um, I saw the Instagram story and called him. I just, uh…I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“And he told you I’m not?” you ask, though it was more of a statement than a question. 
“Not exactly,” Quinn replies. “He did make sure that I knew I was an asshole…not that I didn’t already know that.”
“If you already knew that why have you been refusing to talk to me, Quinn?”
Quinn sighs heavily, silence falling over the line. “Because I was hurt,” Quinn mumbles. “I was hurt and jealous and I don’t know…I just didn’t want to admit that. I’m sorry.”
You wanted to forgive him, wanted to tell him that it was okay. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t okay the way he treated you in Michigan, it wasn’t okay the way that the situation had played out since. Dismissing it, telling him it was fine, you knew that wasn’t going to help the situation. You needed to talk about it, to really discuss it. Maybe he was right in booking you the flight, maybe this just wasn’t a conversation that you could have over the phone. 
“What should I pack for Vancouver?” you whisper, doing your best to change the topic. 
Quinn hesitates a moment, clearly taken aback by the 180 degree change in the conversation. He tells you the plan for the weekend, primarily just that he had a game on Saturday, though he assured you that you didn’t need to go if you didn’t want to. You told him you did, making a mental note to add an outfit to wear to the game to your list. 
You talked on the phone for nearly an hour before Quinn had to go, not wanting to be late for practice. You spend the rest of the day preparing for the week ahead, grocery shopping, meal prepping, laundry, all the chores that kept your mind busy. 
The week went by slowly, each work day feeling never-ending. The closer you got to your 6am Friday flight the closer your anxiety gets to overtaking your excitement. Of course you wanted to see Quinn, wanted to make up for the months of not even speaking to each other. But you also knew that the point of this trip was to talk about what had happened, a conversation you were dreading having. 
Friday morning you wake up at 4am, collecting your luggage and climbing into an Uber half asleep. You’re not fully awake till you’re on the plane, the six hours ahead of you seeming like they were going to stretch on forever. 
By the time you landed in Vancouver your heart was hammering so heavily you were worried you might just drop dead of a heart attack right then and there. Your hands were shaky and clammy as you wiggled your carry-on out of the overhead compartment. You follow everyone off the plane, down the long hallway and to the arrivals area of the airport. 
Weaving your way through everyone around you stopping to greet their loved ones your eyes scan the crowd of people still waiting. When your eyes land on Quinn you nearly stop walking altogether, your heart stopping for a moment. Three months of not even talking to him made it feel like years of not seeing him. Hesitantly you force yourself closer, not knowing what to expect when you get to him. But as soon as you’re close enough Quinn has his arms around you, pulling you close against him. 
“Hi,” you whisper, fingers curling into the fabric of Quinn’s hoodie. 
“Hi,” Quinn replies, pressing his lips to the top of your head. “How was your flight?”
“Really good,” you reply. “I’ve never flown first-class before.”
“I’ll make sure you only ever fly first-class from now on.”
“Stop,” you giggle, shaking your head. “A seat on a flight is good enough for me…especially if it means I get to see you.”
“I love you,” Quinn whispers in a way that makes your heart skip a beat. You had been telling each other you loved each other since childhood. In the same way that you told Jack and Luke that you loved them. But your love for Quinn was so different and you weren’t sure what his admission of love entailed. “Should we go get your suitcase?”
“Y-yeah,” you stammer, nodding quickly, thankful that Quinn had said something to break you from your train of thoughts. Heading to the baggage carousel you wait till you see your suitcase, dragging it off the carousel. 
Quinn swoops in quickly, taking your bag from you. “Ready to go?” Quinn asks, gesturing towards the door. 
Nodding you follow Quinn through the airport and out into the cool air outside, rain drops hammering onto the sidewalk. “People weren’t lying about how much it rains here,” you comment. 
“You can wait here, I’ll bring the car around,” Quinn offers. 
Shaking your head you step closer to Quinn. “No, it’s just rain, I’ll survive.”
Quinn slides his jacket off quickly, wrapping it around your shoulders. 
“It’s okay,” you whisper, your eyes locking with his as he keeps his hands on the jacket wrapped around you. You slide your arms into the sleeves when you realize Quinn is not about to take the jacket back. “Thank you,” you tell him, pulling the fabric around your body. The jacket smells like Quinn, his body wash or cologne or maybe just his laundry detergent, but whatever it was it was it felt comforting, familiar. 
Quinn picks up your suitcase again and you follow him through the parking lot, quickly climbing into the dry car. Quinn is in the driver’s seat a moment later, starting the car before looking over at you. “Thanks for coming.”
“I just want to figure this out,” you say quietly, pulling your seatbelt on. Glancing over at Quinn for a moment before you turn your attention back to the drops of rain landing on the windshield. “I can’t lose you, Quinn.”
Quinn reaches over, his hand sliding into yours, squeezing it gently. “I know I fucked up, but I promise you that I’m not going anywhere.”
Sniffling quietly you nod slowly, not entirely sure you believed him. Sure, you were here with him now. But it seemed so easy for him just weeks ago, to tell you that he simply didn’t have any time to talk. 
“I’m sorry,” Quinn adds, squeezing your hand again before shifting the car into drive, pulling out of the parking spot. 
You remain silent through the entirety of the drive, your mind racing with thoughts that brought tears to your eyes. You knew what was coming. You knew you needed to have a real conversation about what had happened in Michigan, about what was going to happen now. But you didn’t know how it would go, didn’t know what Quinn would say about it, and you were scared that somehow, someway, it would only make things worse. 
When you get to Quinn’s apartment building you follow him inside, sliding his jacket off your body and hanging it in the closet by the door. You had never been to his apartment before, almost all of your time together was spent in Michigan. 
“Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat or drink?” Quinn asks, walking into the kitchen.
Shaking your head you rest your hands on the counter, looking over at him. “I think we should talk.”
Quinn nods, sighing quietly. “Yeah,” he mumbles, nodding towards the living room. “Should we go sit down?”
“Sure.” Turning around you walk to the living room, sitting on one end of the large couch. Lifting your legs onto the couch you pull them to your chest, wrapping your arms around them in an attempt to comfort yourself. “I don’t really know what to say,” you admit. 
“Me neither,” Quinn agrees, sitting on the edge of the couch, leaning forward, eyes focusing on the living room floor. “I know it’s not an excuse but I was so drunk that night,” Quinn begins, glancing over at you. “And I see the way people look at you, the way everyone just falls for you, which I get, but, I don’t know…it’s hard. Seeing you with Alex that day, on the dock, I was jealous,” Quinn rambles.
Nodding slowly you dig your fingers into your legs, forcing deep breaths into your lungs. “But you didn’t have to be so mean to me, Quinn. We could have just talked about it.”
“I know,” Quinn replies quickly, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t have said those things to you. I shouldn’t have treated you like that. I don’t have an excuse, I was hurt and drunk.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” you whisper, your eyes prickling with tears again. You had never cried so much in such a short period of time, had never expected to. “You know that, right?”
Quinn shrugs, his elbows resting on his knees, leaning forward to stare at the ground. “Yeah, I mean, I guess.”
“Quinn,” you croak. “What do you mean you guess? I promise the last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you.”
“Then why did you do it?” Quinn snaps, turning his head to look over at you. 
“I-,” you begin, shaking your head. “I don’t know, I really didn’t mean to, nothing I said or did with them meant anything, it was just-.”
“No?” Quinn interrupts with a scoff. “Nothing you did with Alex meant anything?”
“It wasn’t-,” you begin before getting interrupted again. 
“Don’t lie to me,” Quinn interjects. “I’m not that fucking stupid. I saw your stories with him, I know when you were going out with Jack and Luke that Alex was there too. I know you went home with him after you guys went out drinking. If you’re going to sit there and tell me that none of that meant anything then maybe none of the stuff you said to me meant anything either.”
“That’s not true,” you plead, eyes glossy with tears. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Quinn. I’m sorry, I really am. Yeah, Alex and I were hanging out but that doesn’t mean what I said to you wasn’t true.”
“If it was true you wouldn’t be fucking one of my friends,” Quinn mutters. 
Swallowing heavily you wipe away your tears, shaking your head. “You’re such an asshole,” you mumble under your breath. 
“I’m the asshole?” Quinn snaps. 
“Yes,” you exclaim, dropping your legs off the couch and standing up quickly. “You called me a whore, Quinn. You said such horrible things and now you have the audacity to get mad at me when I started spending time with someone who actually was nice to me after all that.”
“I did not call you a whore,” Quinn defends, staring up at you from where he was still sitting on the edge of the couch. "I would never say that."
“Maybe you didn’t use that word but how do you think I would take you telling me that I’m flirting with everyone, that I want the attention of every single man around? Do you know how bad that hurt, Quinn? You’re telling me that you’re not sure if you believe I didn’t mean to hurt you but you’re not acknowledging how much you hurt me.”
Quinn is quiet for a few seconds, his eyes falling back to the ground, not looking you in the eyes. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Maybe you should have thought about someone other than yourself then,” you tell him, repeating his words from that night in Michigan back to him. Maybe you shouldn’t be so petty. Maybe you should have been the bigger person. Maybe you should have let it go. But your heart was racing, your hands clammy, your mind scattered in a million directions and a part of you selfishly wanted him to feel the way you felt that night. 
Quinn visibly flinches in response to your words, inhaling deeply. “I’m sorry,” Quinn breathes out. 
You were already on your way towards his front door, body moving faster than your mind. Grabbing your purse you toss it onto your shoulder, yanking the same jacket Quinn had let you wear earlier off the hanger in the closet. 
“Where are you going?” Quinn asks, hopping up from the couch and hurrying over to you. 
“I don’t know,” you tell him honestly, spinning towards the front door. Your hand lands on the door handle just seconds before Quinn is wrapping his hand around your wrist. “Don’t,” you mumble, yanking your hand away from him. “And for the record, I didn’t sleep with Alex. I’ve never fucked any of your friends. But you can just keep believing whatever you want to believe if it makes you feel better about the way you treated me.” Yanking the door open you head out into the hallway, finding the stairs and hurrying down them. 
Outside the rain is still pouring heavily from the sky and you begin walking quickly, continuing till you find a coffee shop. Inside you pull the soaking jacket from your body, laying it over your arm and heading to the till. After ordering yourself a coffee you find a seat tucked away in the corner of the coffee shop, watching the cars passing, the rain drops bouncing off the sidewalk. 
You’re not there long before your phone begins vibrating. First with a call from Quinn. Then a text message. Then a couple more calls and a few more texts. Sure, you probably should have replied, but your mind was still racing a million miles an hour. All of your thoughts were so incredibly cloudy that you didn't even know what to say if you were to reply.
Eventually, long after your coffee cup is empty, your phone rings and this time it’s Jack. Sighing you slide to answer it, bringing the phone to your ear. “Hi,” you say quietly. 
“Hi,” Jack replies with an audible sigh. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” you tell him honestly, fiddling with the cardboard sleeve on your paper cup. 
“Where are you? What’s going on? Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m in a coffee shop, Jack, I’m perfectly fine.”
“Quinn is freaking out,” Jack tells you. “Can you please just call him?”
“No,” you mumble, watching a man walking by with his dog, the dog’s hair plastered to their body with rain. “I want to come home, Jack.”
“Oh my god,” Jack groans. “You two are so fucking annoying.” 
“Fuck you,”  you whisper, glancing around to make sure nobody in the quiet coffee shop could hear you. “Why would you say that? I haven’t done anything.”
“Both of you need to get over what happened in Michigan,” Jack tells you. 
“Tell him that,” you mutter, rolling your eyes to nobody but yourself at that table. 
“I did,” Jack exclaims. There’s a few seconds of silence after he says it, unable to think of anything to say. Because he was right, you both needed to be honest. You both did and said things you wished you hadn’t, both made mistakes. “Do you want me to book you a flight home?” Jack finally asks. 
“No, it’s okay…thank you though.”
“So are you going to go back to Quinn’s place or do you want me to book you a hotel room?”
“I could book my own hotel room if I wanted to,” you tell him with a quiet sigh.
“You’re always complaining that you’re broke,” Jack comments.
“I know how much money you make, Jack, I’m broke in comparison.”
“I’m never buying you drinks again,” Jack replies with a chuckle. 
“Please,” you say with a giggle. 
“If you go talk to Quinn and figure out whatever is going on with you two and leave me out it, then I’ll consider buying your drinks when we go out again.”
“Fine,” you whine playfully. “What do I even say to him?”
“I don’t know, just go talk to him. I’m sure you two will figure it out.”
“I’m scared,” you admit. 
“Why are you scared?” Jack asks, a sudden intensity in his tone.
“What if he never forgives me?”
“Just go talk to him,” Jack sighs. “He’s losing his mind right now, just go talk to him.”
“Fine, I’ll go back,” you groan. Standing up you pick up Quinn’s jacket from the back of the chair, pulling it on. “I’m sorry you had to get involved in this,” you tell Jack, picking up your empty coffee cup to toss it into the garbage on the way out the door. 
“It’s fine,” Jack assures you. “Just figure this out, okay?”
“Okay…we’ll try,” you tell him. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Good luck,” Jack says. 
“Thank you,” you say with a sigh, stepping outside. “Bye, Jack,” you say before hanging up. Hurrying through the rain you make your way back to Quinn’s apartment, stopping outside to text him to let him know you were back. 
Quinn is down in the lobby a second later, letting you inside. “I’m sorry,” Quinn says as a greeting, reaching over and pulling you into his arms. Your jacket is soaked, seeping into the fabric of his hoodie.
“Let’s just go upstairs,” you mumble, though if you were being honest the last thing you wanted to do was let go of him. 
Quinn pulls back, guiding you back into his apartment. You’re quiet as you pull off the jacket, kicking your shoes off a second later. Following Quinn back to the living room you slowly sit down, sighing quietly. “I talked to Jack.”
“I figured,” Quinn mumbles, sitting down across from you. “I’m really sorry.”
“Me too,” you mumble, looking across the couch at him. “I-,” you begin, eyes filling with tears again. “I don’t know how to deal with this, Quinn, I can’t lose you. I love you so much. I don’t know…I don’t know what to do.”
Quinn slides closer to you, pulling you into his arms. “I love you too,” Quinn tells you, pressing his lips to your forehead. “You’re not going to lose me. I’m not going anywhere, okay?” Nodding slowly you clutch at Quinn’s arms, holding him tight against you. “I’m sorry for everything I did, everything I said. I promise I’ll never talk to you like that again. I don’t expect you to forgive me right now, I know what I did was horrible.”
“I do,” you whisper, pulling back to look up at him. “I do forgive you, Quinn. I know you’re sorry, I really do. I just need you to stop holding me flirting with other people over me. We weren’t together. I’m sorry that I didn’t realize the way it was making you feel, I really am. But I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I wasn’t doing it to make you feel bad.”
Quinn reaches down, taking your hands in his, squeezing them gently. “I know we weren’t together, I know you weren’t doing anything wrong and I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” you whisper, reaching up to wipe away a few tears that had slipped from your eyes. You weren’t even sure why you were crying anymore. Relief, exhaustion, an overwhelming level of emotions. “What now?”
Quinn shrugs, glancing over at the TV. “Do you want to go somewhere? Or do you want to just stay here and hang-out?”
“Stay here,” you tell him laughing quietly. You didn’t need a mirror to know that your eyes were swollen and red, that your skin was splotchy from all the tears you had shed. “If that’s okay with you.”
“Of course,” Quinn assures you, reaching over and picking up the remote. He hands it to you before leaning back on the couch, watching as you turn the tv on. “We can order dinner too, just let me know when.”
Picking up your phone you look at the time. It had been a long day but you were still shocked to see that it was nearing 6pm already. You pick a show, watching an episode before the two of you order dinner. The rest of the evening goes by quickly, most of it spent in relative silence as you watch a few more episodes of the show you had put on. 
Eventually Quinn shows you to the guest room and you change into some pyjamas before settling into the bed. You fall asleep easily that night. Maybe it really was just because the bed was so comfortable, but you’re sure there was more to it than that. 
When you wake up the next morning Quinn is already gone for morning skate, a note on the kitchen counter letting you know he would be back that afternoon. The note also told you that there was coffee in the cupboard and to help yourself to anything else you wanted. You were almost certain he bought the coffee specifically for you, something you confirmed when you found it unopened in the cupboard. After making yourself a cup you head to the living room, watching TV while waiting for him to get home. 
The sound of the front door opening draws your attention just a little after 12pm. “Hey,” Quinn greets, walking over to sit on the couch next to you. “How was your morning? I didn’t want to wake you before I left.”
“It was good, I slept in, that bed is really comfortable,” you tell him, moving closer and wrapping your arms around him. You rest your head on his shoulder, feeling his arms circle around you, pulling you closer. 
“It’s not bad,” Quinn says with a chuckle. “My bed is better.”
“Are you bragging? Because I am your guest and that’s kind of rude,” you tease, pulling back slightly to look into his eyes. 
“Maybe a bit…but I’m not stopping you from sleeping in it with me so I don't think it's that rude.”
“I don’t know, the last time I slept in a bed with you seemed like the beginning of the whole disaster,” you joke. 
“Too soon,” Quinn chuckles, shaking his head. He stands up and reaches down, taking your hand and pulling you to your feet. “Come on.”
“Where?” you ask, though you’re in his bedroom before he has the chance to answer you. You watch him lay down on one side of the bed, gesturing for you to take the other side. Walking over you lay down beside him, rolling onto your side to face him. “It is really comfy,” you admit. 
“I wasn’t lying,” he tells you with a chuckle. "I do need to have a nap before the game though."
"That's why you brought me in here? To break the new sthat you need to have a nap?"
"Kinda," Quinn admits. "And because I did actually want to brag about the bed."
Rolling your eyes playfully you sit up, looking down at him. "Okay, Grandpa. What 24-year-old gets this excited about a bed?"
"It was expensive," Quinn exclaims.
"I'm sure it was," you reply with a giggle. "Do you want me to tuck you in for your nap before I go or are you okay all by yourself?"
"Get outta here," Quinn jokes, shaking his head.
Giggling you climb off the bed, heading back to the living room to continue keeping yourself busy for the afternoon. It wasn't hard, after an episode of your favourite show you head to the bathroom, finding a towel and hopping into the shower. By the time you're out of the shower Quinn is already up, startling you as you step out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel.
"You scared me," you breathe out, clutching the towel to your naked body.
"It's my apartment," Quinn says with a chuckle. "Why are you not expecting me to be here?"
"I thought you'd still be napping. Must need a lot of beauty sleep to look that cute," you tease, stepping past him towards the bedroom.
"We can't all just be naturally cute like you," he comments before you disappear behind the closed door of the guest bedroom. It was such an insignificant comment but you couldn't stop your stomach from filling with butterflies regardless.
Later that afternoon you're in the bathroom, running your fingers through your hair, fixing it slightly. Your eyes shift over your shoulder, seeing Quinn appear in the mirror behind you. Your lips curl into a soft smile, eyes drifting up and down his body. Quinn was always attractive to you but you were more used to Quinn in a t-shirt and shorts at the lake than Quinn in a suit before a game. 
“You look good,” you tell him, turning around to look at him. Leaning back against the counter you watch Quinn walk closer. “Very handsome,” you add, running your fingers over the lapels of his suit jacket once he’s close enough to you. 
“You look good too,” Quinn mumbles, his hands landing on your hips. 
You feel your breath catch in your throat, swallowing heavily. “Can’t believe this is the first time I get to see you play in Vancouver.”
“Hopefully it won’t be the last,” Quinn replies, stepping close enough to cause your heart to hammer heavily in your chest. “You sure you’re going to be okay to get there alone tonight?”
“I’m positive,” you whisper, your eyes flicking down to his lips. Your heart was hammering so fast in your chest you were sure it was about to burst. “Good luck tonight,” you whisper. 
Quinn smiles softly, leaning in a little closer. “Thank you,” he mumbles, his lips nearly brushing against yours. You could feel your breath catch in your throat, your hands running up his chest, resting you arms over his shoulders. Just seconds before your lips touch his your phone rings loudly on the counter beside you, making you jump. 
Laughing you pull back, pressing your hand over your heart. “Oh my god,” you breathe out, reaching over to silence your phone. “Sorry,” you add with a sheepish smile. “Really ruined the moment there.”
Quinn chuckles, leaning in to kiss your forehead quickly. “I’ll text you later, okay?”
You couldn’t deny the disappointment you were feeling that the moment really was ending this way. But you knew that Quinn said he was already running late and you weren’t about to make him any later. “Okay,” you whisper, watching him turn around and head out of the bathroom. 
You order yourself dinner after Quinn leaves, hanging out by yourself until you needed to head to the arena. The sky is dark already as you climb into the Uber outside Quinn’s apartment building, pulling your seatbelt on. 
“Going to the Canucks game?” you Uber driver asks you, looking at you through the mirror. 
“Yeah,” you tell him with a nod and a friendly smile. “First Canucks game here.”
“First game ever?”
You can’t help but laugh, shaking your head. “No, I’ve been to a few before. Never in Vancouver though.”
“Oh, really? Who’d you see play before?”
“Mostly the Devils,” you tell him, realizing the more information you gave the more you would need to explain. “I’m just here visiting a friend.”
“You’re from New Jersey?”
“No, I live in New York now.”
You watch him glance back at you, clearly not following along. “Something against the Rangers?”
“I guess you could say that,” you tell him with a shrug. You’re at the arena shortly after, heading in and finding your seat.
The game passes quickly, your attention on Quinn throughout the entirety of the game. It was different than watching Jack and Luke play. It felt more intense, like the outcome of the game would somehow be an indicator of the outcome of this entire trip.
When the game ends and the Canucks win with a score of 4-2 you can't help but feel a mixture of relief and happiness. It really did feel like a good omen of sorts.
You wait around the arena after the game, doing your best to fill the time till Quinn was ready to leave. You scroll though Instagram, liking post after post till you hit the point of not having a single new thing to look at. Eventually Quinn finds you, pulling you into a tight hug. 
“Congratulations,” you whisper, not pulling back. “You’re even more impressive to watch in person.”
Quinn laughs at your comment, shaking his head. He had always been humble, refusing to accept your compliments. “Do you want to go out for a drink or something? I know it’s kind of late but you flew all the way up here, I don’t want you to just have to stay in my apartment the whole time.”
Giggling you lean up closer, your hands on his shoulders. “I’d be fine staying in your apartment with you the whole time.” You lean in a little closer, lips almost brushing against his. “Doing anything with you,” you whisper. 
“You coming out with us or what?” someone calls, making you jump back from Quinn, turning in the direction of the voice. 
Quinn places his hands on your hips, pulling your body back against him. “No, I think we’re just going to do our thing.”
The man in front of you chuckles, shooting Quinn a knowing look. “Sounds good, man, see you later,” he says before heading off in the other direction. 
Giggling you spin around, looking up at Quinn. “Well, where are we going for drinks?”
Quinn reaches his hand down, sliding it into yours. “It’s a surprise,” he tells you. Guiding you out of the arena and to his car Quinn opens the passenger door for you. You climb into the car, pulling on your seatbelt. A few minutes later you’re on your way, heading downtown. 
The lounge Quinn takes you to is small and intimate. The table you’re seated at is equally as intimate, tucked away in the back of the restaurant. Opening the menu your eyes scan over the options, more specifically the prices on that menu. Glancing over at Quinn you watch him look at the menu himself. It wasn’t that you didn’t have the money for the drinks, you just never would have picked a place so expensive yourself. You had also never seen this side of Quinn. You weren’t oblivious, you knew he had money. But you were so used to him with a bottle of some middle-of-the-road beer he picked up at the liquor store on the way to the lake house that you could barely picture him ordering a $25 cocktail.
“Do you know what you’re going to get?” Quinn asks before looking up from the menu, an uncertain smile on his face when he realizes that you're already looking at him. “What?”
“Nothing,” you say, shaking your head as you look back to the menu. “No, I’m not sure yet. What are you getting?”
“A sazerac, probably,” Quinn tells you with a shrug, the menu already closed letting you know it was most likely more than just probably. 
“What’s that?” you whisper, your eyes scanning the menu again.
“Whisky,” Quinn tells you with a quiet chuckle. “Kind of like an old fashioned.”
“Right,” you drawl, nodding slowly. You couldn’t say you were that familiar with the old fashioned either but at least you knew what it was. “I think I’ll try the clover club.”
A few minutes later you order your drinks and you lean back in your chair, gazing across the table at Quinn. Was this a date? You hadn’t even stopped long enough to consider that possibility. You had gone out so, so many times before that you didn’t think the suggestion to go out this time was anything different than that. 
“What are you thinking about?” Quinn asks uncertainly. 
“You,” you whisper, with a small shrug. “Us,” you add a moment later. 
“What are you thinking about us?” Quinn presses, leaning a little closer. 
“I don’t really know,” you admit, glancing down at the table for a second. “Do you think there’ll ever be an us to really think about?”
Quinn swallows heavily, silence falling between the two of you as he stares across the small table at you. His silence makes you nervous, shifting in your chair under the intensity of his gaze. “I hope so,” he eventually tells you. 
“I-,” you begin, your sentence getting cut short as your server returns with your drinks. She sets a coupe glass in front of you filled with a pink liquid, three perfect raspberries balanced across the top of the glass on a cocktail skewer. “It’s so cute.”
“It’s fitting,” Quinn says, picking up his glass and taking a drink of his own cocktail. 
You can’t hold back your smile at Quinn’s comment, rolling your eyes playfully. “Okay, Casanova,” you tease. 
“Am I not allowed to flirt with you now?” 
Giggling you shake your head, “of course you can,” you tell him before picking up your glass and taking a sip. It’s stronger than you expected, catching you off guard as you slowly set it back down. Maybe that’s why they were so expensive. “I asked for some time off work before I came out here,” you say suddenly, watching Quinn closely, trying to gauge his reaction. Of course it had been presumptuous of you to take the time off before discussing it, but you had the vacation days anyway and you had assumed two days probably wouldn’t feel like long enough. 
“Yeah?” Quinn says, reaching over and taking your hand, running his thumb across the back of it. “Does that mean you’re staying longer?”
Shrugging you stare down at your interlocked hands. “Depends if you want me to stay.”
“Of course…I don’t want you to leave yet,” Quinn tells you with a reassuring squeeze of your hand. 
“Good, because I don’t want to leave yet either,” you tell him. Picking up your glass you take another sip of your drink, the liquid going down a lot smoother now that you were expecting it. 
The two of you sit there at that table for hours, over multiple drinks and a couple appetizers. Your conversation is comfortable, the issues that had brought you to Vancouver in the first place no longer seeming so heavy or intense. Quinn pays the bill at the end of the night and your previous thoughts about the possibility of the evening being a date come flooding back into your mind. 
Walking back into Quinn’s apartment you kick off your shoes, sliding your jacket off. “Thank you for tonight,” you say as you hang your jacket in the coat closet. 
Quinn glances over at you, eyebrows furrowed. “Thanks for what?”
Shrugging you lean against the wall behind you. “I don’t know…taking me out, showing me a bit of Vancouver, paying for the bill.”
“It wasn’t a big deal,” Quinn assures you. “I wanted to.”
Reaching over you take Quinn’s hands in yours and pull him in front of you. “Just take the thank you, Quinn,” you whisper. 
“Okay, fine…you’re welcome,” Quinn mumbles, staring down at you. 
There’s an intensity in the moment, a heaviness in the air. Your heart was racing so fast, stomach filled with butterflies. The apartment is silent, so silent you begin to wonder if Quinn can hear it all. The shakiness in your breath, the hammering of your heart in your chest. The apartment is dim, lit by a single warm lightbulb a few feet away. Your eyes gravitate down to his lips and this time you don’t care how obvious it is. 
He begins to lean in and your patience quickly wears thing, fingers grasping at the fabric of his shirt, pulling him down to press your lips to his. His hands land on your hips, pulling them closer to him, your shoulder blades pressing back into the wall. Sliding your hand up you tangle your fingers in his hair, your tongue brushing against his. His grasp on your hips tightens, a quiet moan slipping from your lips. 
Your mind was hazy, your emotions overwhelming. Your body was begging for more, his hands on your body felt intoxicating. Sliding your arm over his shoulder you lean your body further into him, desperate to be as close to him as you could, desperate for more. When you pull away it’s to catch your breath, steady the racing of your heart. “I love you,” you whisper against his lips. 
“I love you too,” Quinn replies, pressing another gentle kiss to your lips. He’s smiling when he pulls back, reaching down to take your hand. He guides you into the living room, sitting down and pulling you down beside him. He places his hand on your thigh, fingers just a little too high for your mind not to be filled with less-than-PG thoughts. “Do you want to watch a movie or something?”
“I, um, y-yeah,” you stammer. Quinn knows what he’s doing and you can tell by the smirk on his lips as he hands you the remote. Taking it from him you put something on the TV, the very first movie you could find that seemed alright. 
You’re not watching the movie long before you feel Quinn’s fingers move on your thigh, a heavy breath escaping your lips. Your eyes flicker down to this hand, watching him brush his thumb on your leg. When you turn your attention to Quinn you see that he’s not watching the movie at all, his eyes are locked on you.
Pushing his hand off your thigh you swing your leg over his body, your hands resting on his shoulders as you lean down to kiss him. It’s fast and eager, your back arching as you roll your hips forward. 
“Fuck,” Quinn breathes out as he pulls back. “Baby, you’re…,” he begins, cutting himself off with a strangled moan. You didn’t need him to finish the sentence, you knew what you were doing when you felt him growing hard beneath you. 
His hands slide underneath your shirt, his fingers warm against your skin as he slides them up your waist. Pulling back you let him tug your shirt off, dropping it onto the ground beside you. Quinn leans closer, pressing his lips to yours as he unhooks your bra. You feel your bra come undone and you pull back. Your eyes lock with Quinn’s as you slowly slide the bra down your arms. It wasn’t like it was the first time he had seen you naked, but this time it was different. This time you were inviting him to do far more than just skinny dip with you. 
Setting the bra down Quinn places his hands on your waist, sliding further down towards the edge of the couch. Leaning in your lips lock with his again, your body begging for more. “Quinn,” you whimper against his lips. 
“Yes, baby?” he mumbles, his hands exploring your body, sliding to your hips as he tugs you in a little closer. 
“I need you…please,” you whisper. 
He doesn’t need you to say anything more, standing up and pulling you with him. He leads you into his bedroom, pushing you across the room till the backs of your thighs hit the mattress. Laying back on the bed you gasp in surprise as he lifts you further onto the bed, hovering over you as he unbuttons your jeans. “Quinn,” you gush. 
“What?” he asks with a smirk, pulling your jeans down your legs as you lift your hips to make it easier.  
“I just didn’t expect…this,” you tell him, sitting up as you push his shirt up his torso, letting him take over and toss it aside. 
“I can slow down,” he offers, running his hands down your thighs. 
“No,” you say quickly, giggling at your own eagerness. “Please, don’t,” you add. 
Quinn chuckles, nodding as he leans down, pressing his lips to your inner thigh. He moves further up your thigh, and each time his lips brush against your skin your body jolts with desire. Slowly he pulls your underwear down your legs, letting them drop onto the floor. Your breathing is heavy by the time his tongue brushes against the spot that you had been nearly begging for. 
“O-oh,” you gasp as he flicks his tongue over your clit. You weren’t sure what you were expecting but whatever it was you weren’t expecting it to feel this good. 
Your fingers tangle in his hair, back arching as you moan loudly. “Fuck,” you breathe out, breathing heavily. His hands wrap around your thighs, your fingers curling into the fabric of the comforter on the bed, trying to keep yourself still as waves of pleasure rip through you. 
Your body flushes with warmth, desperate to reach your climax as your hips begin to squirm. Quinn presses his arm against your hips, stilling them as his tongue flicks against your clit. “Oh fuck,” you whine, moaning loudly. A second later your muscles are tensing, waves of pleasure ripping through your body. “O-oh my god,” you cry out, flinching away from his tongue when the sensation grows too intense. “Okay, okay,” you mumble, hands cradling his face as you tug him back to your lips. Pressing your lips to his you kiss him deeply, your legs wrapping around his torso. “Please,” you whimper.
“Please, what?” Quinn teases.
Your breath leaves your lips shakily, eyes locked with his. “Please…I want you inside of me,” you plead. 
Quinn leans in, kissing you gently before climbing off the bed. You watch him open the nightstand, grabbing a condom. You reach over, taking his hand and pulling him towards you, till he was standing in front of where you were sitting on the edge of the bed. Looking up at him you unbutton his pants, slowly pushing them down. 
“Fuck,” Quinn breathes out, his hand on the back of your head, fingers weaving into your hair. You slide his underwear off a second later, your hand wrapping around his erection. Leaning down you swirl your tongue around his tip, taking him into your mouth a second later. He lets out a shuttering groan, his fingers grasping at your hair. “Holy shit,” he mutters. 
You take him as far into your mouth as you can each time you bob your head up and down, suppressing your gags as your eyes well with tears from the sensation. You can feel the saliva building in your mouth, wrapping your hand around the base of his cock, the saliva dripping down onto your fingers. Moving your free hand to Quinn’s thigh you readjust on your knees, the hardwood floor below you is not particularly comfortable, but the quiet groans he’s making make it worth it. 
A few minutes later Quinn pulls back and you wipe your lips with the back of your hand, staring up at him. “You’re so beautiful,” Quinn mutters, running his thumb along your bottom lip. He leans down to kiss you again, gentle and slow. 
Pulling back Quinn opens the condom, sliding it on quickly. Scooting back on the bed you reach up, grabbing his hand and pulling him down on top of you. He kisses you passionately as he slides his hand between your legs, fingers brushing over your entrance before slowly pushing one finger inside you. He moves slowly at first, brushing up slightly, sliding another finger inside you a minute later, your moans growing in volume. 
He pulls his hand back quickly, wrapping around his dick, sliding himself inside you. It’s slow at first, almost teasing as he watches you beneath him, moaning quietly. “Oh my god,” you whimper, your hands grasping onto his shoulders. “You feel so good inside me,” you whisper as he picks up the speed, each thrust sending waves of pleasure through your body. 
Leaning up Quinn places his hands on the backs of your thighs, gently pushing your legs back further. Sliding your hand down you run your fingers over your clit, Quinn watching you for a moment as your moans grow in frequency. “Oh, fuck,” Quinn groans, tipping his head back to look up at the ceiling. “I’m close.”
Your fingers pick up speed when you hear Quinn say he’s close, bringing yourself to the brink of orgasm just a moment later. As your body is overtaken by the familiar tensing of your muscles you cry out in pleasure, your free hand wrapping around Quinn’s bicep, fingers digging into his arm. 
Quinn finishes just a minute after you, groaning as his thrusts slow in pace, slowly pulling himself out of you. He leans down and kisses your forehead gently before pushing himself off the bed, heading towards the bathroom as he takes off the condom. 
Laying on the bed you stare at the ceiling, trying your best to catch your breath. It had been awhile since you had sex in general but a very long time since you had sex that felt that good. Your hand rests on your bare torso, rising and falling with each heavy breath. You turn your head to the side when Quinn returns, tugging on a pair of underwear before sitting on the bed beside you. “How are you feeling?” he asks. 
“Good,” you tell him with a giggle. “Really good.”
“Good,” Quinn echoes with a chuckle, leaning down to quickly peck your lips. “I’m going to get us some water, do you want anything else?”
Shaking your head you sit up, tugging your underwear back on. “No, just the water would be great.”
“I’ll be right back,” Quinn tells you, kissing your forehead again before leaving the bedroom. 
Pulling the blankets back you slide under them, realizing just how tired you really were. Quinn returns a minute later, setting a glass of water on the nightstand beside you. He joins you in bed, reaching over and pulling you closer. His fingers brush against your back, your arm resting on his chest. 
“Was tonight a date?” you whisper. 
A soft breath of laughter leaves Quinn’s lips as he tips his head up to look at you. “Well I thought it was but that’s kind of embarrassing if you didn’t.”
Giggling you lift your head, looking up at him. “I didn’t know but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want it to be.” Rolling over you slide one leg over his body, straddling him as you lean in, your lips hovering over his. “We can call it a date but I don’t usually kiss on the first date and look at where tonight went,” you joke. 
“Well I’m definitely looking forward to the second date then,” Quinn replies with a chuckle, his hands on your hips as he rolls you off of him to hover over you. “I’ll make sure you know it’s a date next time,” he says with a smirk, kissing you gently. “Get you some flowers or something.”
“Ooh,” you say with a giggle, running your fingers along his arm. “I love flowers.”
“I’ll get you all the flowers you ever want.”
“I didn’t expect you to be so romantic, Quinn,” you tease, leaning up to peck his cheek. 
Quinn shrugs, settling onto the bed beside you. “I’m not normally.”
Rolling your eyes playfully you shake your head. “Okay…whatever you say.”
“I’m being serious,” Quinn assures you with a quiet laugh. 
Turning your head your eyes meet with his and you realize he’s not joking. “Well please don’t stop, I like it.”
“I won’t,” Quinn promises, leaning over and kissing your forehead gently. 
Smiling softly you curl in closer to Quinn, letting your eyes fall shut as you feel the steady rise and fall of his chest under your hand. It doesn’t take long for you fall asleep in his arms, feeling an overwhelming sense of contentment that extends into your dreams, lulling you into a deep sleep.
Your eyes flutter open the next morning, rolling onto your side in the dim bedroom, the blinds blocking out the early morning light. “Good morning,” you whisper when you watch Quinn’s eyes open, turning on his side to face you. 
Quinn reaches over, brushing your hair behind your ear. “Morning,” he mumbles with a tired smile. “How’d you sleep?”
“Really good,” you whisper, unable to contain your own smile. “Did you sleep okay?” Rolling onto your stomach you move closer to him, resting your arm on his chest. 
“Yes,” Quinn replies, his hand sliding down to rest on your lower back. “Was last night okay?”
“More than okay,” you assure him, drawing imaginary shapes on his chest with your fingertips. “What do you want to do today?” you ask him, knowing it was one of very few days where he wasn’t doing something for hockey. 
Quinn shrugs, brushing his thumb along the skin of your lower back, sending a shiver of pleasure up your spine. “Anything as long as it’s with you.”
“What a coincidence…that’s also what I want to do today.”
You spend most of the morning in the apartment, not going more than a few minutes here and there without touching each other in some manner. Brief kisses here and there, a hand on your back, your arms wrapped around him. The afternoon brings you out of the apartment and into the streets of Vancouver, Quinn showing you around the rainy city. 
You spend the rest of the week at Quinn’s apartment. Watching movies on the couch, making dinners, going to another one of his games, afternoons spent at his kitchen table working through projects your laptop. You spent a night alone there when he had a road game, curled up on the couch in one of his t-shirts, watching the game on the TV in his living room. Everything felt so comfortable, so normal. Like this was the life you were supposed to be living. Just you and Quinn in an apartment together. 
But no matter how good it felt you knew it wasn’t going to last. You had to go home, had to get back to your job and the classes that you were barely keeping up with online. It didn’t matter how much you wanted to continue living in this blissful state with Quinn, it just wasn’t reasonable. 
Your time in Vancouver had to come to an end, the time slipping by so much faster than normal. Before you knew it you didn’t have another day or even another night together.  
You force a deep breath into your lungs, the lights in the airport feeling too bright, the air a little too cold, the bustling of people a little too loud. “Well,” you whisper, blinking quickly as you glance around, at anything and everything but Quinn. You were certain that if you looked at him a little too long you wouldn’t be able to keep it together. “I, um, I guess I should go…don’t want to miss my flight,” you mumble, though if you were being honest you wouldn’t be too upset if you did miss your flight. 
Quinn nods, reaching over and pulling you into him. The two of you stand there in silence, neither one wanting to pull back, not wanting the inevitable to happen. “I’m going to miss you.”
Sniffling quietly you curl your fingers into his hoodie. “Me too,” you whisper, pulling back just enough to look up at him, your hands still on his arms. “Don’t get too busy that you can’t talk to me when I call,” you joke, a sad breath of laughter following. Reaching up you wipe away your tears as you take a small step back. 
“Never,” Quinn assures you, a clear hesitation as he lets you go. “Have a good flight.”
“Thank you,” you whisper, slowly turning around and heading towards the security line. You don’t look back, didn’t want him to see the stream of tears that you had been holding in all morning running down your cheeks. You fight through your emotions till you're through security, finding yourself a seat to hide away from the rest of the world as the sleeves of your hoodie grow damp with the tears you’re wiping from your face. 
Who would have thought that leaving on such great terms would be just as hard as leaving thinking you were never going to see him again. 
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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I still have a little left to write but it's going to be around 11,000 words and I don't even know if I like it but I cannot bring myself to re-write it at this point
quick update because I don't want people to think I've just disappeared, I'm currently 4,000 words into part 2 of That Night in Michigan!!
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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I know that based on the topic of this blog I should say something about the sexual assault case. That said, I want to acknowledge right now that I probably won't be saying much.
The subject is very triggering to me due to some stuff I've been through in the past. I find that when I talk on this subject I end up coming at it with a lot of emotion, particularly anger, which isn't always super helpful for having a fully productive conversation.
Please don't take my silence on the subject to mean that I don't care, because I really do.
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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PLEASE I NEED AN UPDATE ABOUT THE NIGHT IN MICHIGAN. IT WAS SOOOO GOOD
it's coming!! I don't want to let anyone down so I'm really trying to make it great!
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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THAT QUINN FIC WAS EVERYTHINGGGGG
thank you!! I'm so glad you liked it!!
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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quick update because I don't want people to think I've just disappeared, I'm currently 4,000 words into part 2 of That Night in Michigan!!
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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PLEASEEEE do a part 2 to that night in michigan
I will!! I'm just working on another request I got a while ago then I'm going to write part 2!
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hockey-fics · 2 months
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That Night in Michigan - Quinn Hughes (mostly)
You can feel your eyes prickling with tears, your heart racing. Quinn had never spoken to you in that way before. Never in a million years would you have expected Quinn to speak to you that way.
Word count: ~9,100
Warnings: drinking
There were few things you could count on to be stable in your life. One of the few things that you could count on were summers with the Hughes family. Your parents were close with Ellen and Jim, close enough to receive an open invite to the summer home every year. From as early as you can remember your summers were spent on that same sunny lake in Michigan. 
You grew close with Luke, Jack, and Quinn over all those summers. It was on that lake in Michigan that some of your best memories were made. Countless hours splashing around in the lake, learning to paddle board, and water ski. You had your first sip of alcohol one year and your first time getting drunk a couple years after that. Late nights spent around a kitchen table playing round after round of whatever board game you were into that year.  
During those summers your feelings for Quinn changed. At some point he went from the friend you spent every summer with to the boy you spent ever summer with who you also had a crush on. Every year your feelings for him grew deeper and deeper. As time went on and you graduated from high school, with your confidence growing, you started to act on your feelings. In small ways, flirtatious comments here and there, compliments that were a little more than just friendly. But nothing more ever came from it. 
After everyone had graduated high school the summers at the lake house changed. When Quinn and Jack decided to purchase the house for themselves it changed even further. Visits weren’t as long or as frequent, but you looked forward to them just as much as you did when you were a kid. 
This year Quinn had invited you to the lake house for a week in August, when he would be there with his brothers and a group of friends that for the most part you didn’t know. Of course you agreed and after booking the time off work you made the journey to the lake house. 
Pulling into the driveway you hop out of the car, the hot air hitting your air-conditioning cooled skin like running into a brick wall. After pulling your few bags from the backseat of your car and lugging them up to the front door you push it open, music playing from somewhere in the house. 
“Hello,” you call out, pulling your bags inside and shutting the door behind you. Kicking your shoes off you turn your head when you see a figure appear next to you. 
“Hey,” Luke greets, walking over and pulling you into a hug. “Took you long enough.”
“Some of us take the speed limit as more than just a suggestion, Luke,” you tease. 
“You’re so boring,” Luke jokes, reaching over and picking your bags off the ground. You follow after him to the room you had spent many summers in, tossing the bag you were carrying onto the bed. “We’re out back when you’re ready,” Luke tells you before leaving you alone in the bedroom. 
Rifling through your bags you pull out a bikini, quickly changing into it before tugging your shorts and t-shirt back on. If you remembered one thing about the lake house it was to always be ready to be in the water. Heading through the house you follow the sound of music and chatter from the patio, stepping outside a few minutes later. 
“Y/N,” Jack cheers, a bottle of beer in his hand, though you could have guessed without the obvious indicator that he was a few drinks in. 
“Hi Jack,” you laugh, walking behind the chair he was in to lean down and wrap your arms around him. “Starting a little early?”
“It’s summer,” Jack defends with a chuckle. “You’re actually starting late.”
Standing up straighter your eyes scan the group of mostly unfamiliar faces till they land on Quinn. You can’t stop the smile that spreads on your face as Quinn gets up, walking around the table to pull you into a hug. “How was the drive?” Quinn asks, his arms still firmly around you. 
You can’t help but let out a sigh of contentment being in Quinn’s arms. “It was long.”
“I told you to just fly in and I’d pick you up,” Quinn reminds you. 
“I know, I just didn’t want to interrupt,” you tell him. 
“It wouldn’t have been an interruption,” Quinn says, pulling back from the hug. “But now that you’re here, do you want a drink?”
“Yeah, sure.” Turning around you follow Quinn back inside and into the kitchen, watching him pull the fridge open to show you the options. “What would you like?”
Your eyes focus on the selection, a teasing smile growing on your face. “Maybe one of the vodka sodas that I’m guessing you bought for me.”
Quinn chuckles, grabbing a can from the previously unopened box of vodka sodas. After handing it to you Quinn leans against the counter, his eyes focused on you. “It’s been awhile, hey? Feel like I’m missing out when I see you hanging out with Jack and Luke.”
“Well you’re the one who moved all the way to Canada,” you tease. “They’re only a half hour drive from me, you’re like…a hundred.”
“Forty-four, actually…I’ve checked.”
“Oh, sorry, just a short forty-four hour drive, I’ll be sure to pop in for a visit more often.”
“I’ll just come see you in New York instead…probably be more fun than Vancouver.”
“Yeah, you can stay with me in my four hundred square foot apartment,” you joke.
“Sounds cozy.”
Reaching over you take Quinn’s hand in yours, pulling him through the kitchen to stand just in front of you. “I don’t mind getting cozy with you.”
“I definitely need to make a trip then.” 
Before you have the chance to say anything else you see someone walk into the room and you pull back from Quinn, looking over at him. “Hi,” you say to the man who you had never met before. 
“Hey,” he greets, setting an empty can down onto the kitchen counter. “You must be Y/N.”
“I am,” you tell him with a friendly smile, wishing you knew his name in return. 
“This is Holtzy,” Quinn tells you, nodding towards the man. 
“Alex,” he interjects with a smile. 
“Nice to meet you, Alex,” you tell him, watching as he grabs another drink from the fridge. “You play with Luke and Jack, right?” you ask, putting the pieces together. 
“Yeah, I do,” Alex replies, his smile widening. “They never let me come with them when they go to New York to see you.”
“What?” you laugh, shaking your head. “Why not?”
“They said you didn’t invite me.”
With a quiet scoff you roll your eyes. “Well you’re always invited, and if they say otherwise you can tell them to take it up with me,” you tell him.
“Oh, I will, I need a local to show me around New York.”
“Local might be a stretch,” you tell him with a giggle. “But I’ll show you around anytime.”
You watch Quinn step away from you, heading towards the patio door. “Guess we’re going back outside,” you say to Alex, glancing back at him. “You coming?”
Alex nods, following you back outside just a couple seconds after Quinn. Finding an empty seat beside Luke you settle in, joining into the conversation a few minutes later. The rest of the day slips by quickly, conversation flowing easily as you catch up with Quinn, Luke, and Jack and get to know the others that were there. By the time the sun had set there was a definite buzz in your body from the alcohol. Half of the group had piled inside to play a few games of pool, others already calling it a night and heading to bed. 
With everyone but you and Quinn gone from the patio the energy was different. Quieter, calmer. “I’ve missed you,” you say to Quinn, taking a sip of your drink. 
“I’ve missed you too,” Quinn echoes. “How’s New York been?”
You’re quiet for a few minutes, thinking through the last couple years of living in New York. “It’s been good,” you tell him with a shrug. “I mean moving there by myself…it’s a big city, it gets lonely sometimes, you know?”
“Yeah,” Quinn breathes out. “I get what you’re saying.”
“Lonely up there in Vancouver?”
Quinn shrugs, glancing out at the lake for a second. “It feels lonely when I go back after being with everyone down here. But it’s not bad, it’s not like I can really complain.”
“You can complain,” you assure him. “I’m not going to tell anyone that the twenty-three year millionaire professional athlete is complaining about living in a beautiful city in Canada.”
“See, I can’t-.”
“I’m joking, Quinn,” you interrupt, laughing as you stand up to walk over towards him. Sitting down on the couch next to Quinn you wrap your arm around his shoulder, leaning into his side. “I know you’re close with your family, I get it.”
“It’s not just them,” Quinn whispers. “I miss you a lot too, you know?”
Pulling back slightly you look into Quinn’s eyes, your heart hammering in your chest. “That’s good, because I miss you a lot too.”
You watch his cheeks redden, his eyes diverting away from you. Giggling you reach over, your hands cupping his cheeks as you turn his head to look you in the eyes again. “Look who’s blushing,” you tease. 
“You love this, don’t you?” Quinn asks, his hands wrapping around your wrists to pull your hands from his face. 
“Yes,” you giggle, leaning in to press your lips to his cheek. “I think you do too.”
Before Quinn has the chance to respond you hear the sliding glass door open and you pull away from Quinn, turning to look over at the door. 
“We’re going for a night swim,” Jack tells you, reaching down and grabbing your hands, tugging you up to your feet. “You coming?”
Your eyes fall to your hands, where Jack was still holding onto them. “I guess so,” you tell him with a breath of laughter. Turning around you look down at Quinn, nodding towards the lake. 
“Next time,” Quinn tells you. “I’m kinda tired, I’m going to head to bed, you know where my room is if you need anything tonight, okay?”
You part your lips, ready to try to argue for him to come with you before deciding against it. “Okay,” you finally say before heading down the back steps of the patio and down the dock. The water is illuminated by the moon in the clear sky and you peel off your t-shirt and shorts, tossing them onto the ground. 
Luke is the first one to get in the water, followed quickly by Max and Gavin. You were one of the last, hesitating around the edge of the dock when you feel a set of hands grasp at your arms. “No,” you shriek in surprise, not wanting to be pushed in. 
“Sorry,” Alex laughs, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you back a couple feet from the edge. “I wasn’t actually going to, I’m sorry.”
Your hands land on his forearm, giggling quietly. “It’s fine, you just scared me,” you breathe out. “Are you coming in?”
“Yeah,” Alex tells you, stepping back to pull his shirt off. Your eyes trail down over his body though it wasn’t as discreet as you had hoped, when your eyes meet with his again there’s a smirk on his face. “Like what you see?”
“Yes,” you reply quickly with a feigned confidence that you hoped would mask the embarrassment of being caught checking him out. Before he has the chance to say anything else you hop into the water, the cool temperature a shock to your system that is slow to dissipate. 
The night swim doesn’t last long. The cold water zaps the warm buzz in your body and forces you to climb out of the water and into the comfort of a well worn-in beach towel. After saying a round of goodnights to everyone still up you make your way to your designated guest room, changing into a pair of pyjamas and falling asleep far quicker than you had anticipated. 
When you wake up the next morning the house is quiet, the air is cool, everything feels serene in a way that you hadn’t felt anywhere else before. Tugging on a hoodie you leave your room, stepping quietly through the house in order to not wake anyone up. In the kitchen you pull open a few cupboards till you find some coffee, brewing a pot of coffee while scrolling on your phone. 
“Morning.”
Lifting your head you look over at Quinn, smiling softly. “Good morning,” you reply, shuffling over to pull him into a hug. “How’d you sleep?”
Quinn wraps his arms around you without hesitation, running his hand along your back. “Pretty good. How was the swim?”
“It was quick, I didn’t last long,” you tell him, receiving a chuckle from him in response. You never were one for long night swims. When you were younger it was primarily because the darkness of the water and stillness of the night would freak you out and no matter how much you tried to put your fears aside you would end up getting out long before everyone else. As you got older the fears subsided, being replaced by a distaste for the cold water in the cool evenings. You stay in Quinn’s arms till you hear the distinct hissing sound from the coffee pot telling you that the coffee had finished brewing. “Do you want some coffee?”
“Still don’t like it,” Quinn tells you. His eyes follow you around the kitchen as you find yourself a mug, pouring yourself a cup of the steaming liquid. “Want to sit outside?”
Setting the pot back into the maker you pick up your mug, following Quinn out onto the back patio. Settling into the corner of the patio couch you pull your legs up onto the couch, turning to face Quinn on the other end of the couch. “I wish I could just stay here forever.”
“You could,” Quinn tells you, reaching over and setting his hand on your leg. “I’m not going to tell you to leave.”
“But you wouldn’t be here and that’s at least seventy-five percent of the reason I like being out here.”
“What’s the other twenty-five?” 
“Probably like twenty percent the lake and five percent Luke and Jack,” you joke. 
Quinn chuckles, shaking his head. Of course you were joking, Jack and Luke were some of your closest friends, you grew up with them, they were like family. But there was definitely a bit of truth in the joke, your feelings for Quinn were different, you had accepted that long ago. “I knew I was the favourite.”
“Yeah? How’d you figure that out? Was it maybe when I told you that I had a crush on you?”
“I think you have a crush on everyone.” You want to think the comment is a joke, that it doesn’t mean anything. But you can’t ignore the way Quinn’s eyes fall towards the ground as he says it, the way his voice grows quieter. 
“That’s not true,” you insist, shuffling across the couch to sit next to him. “I’m serious, Quinn, I’ll kiss you right now.”
Quinn’s lips curl into a smile, shaking his head. “You’re so funny,” Quinn mutters with obvious sarcasm. 
“I’m not joking,” you exclaim, shifting onto your knees to fully face him, your hands cupping the sides of his face. “I will.”
“What’s stopping you?” Quinn’s eyes drop to your lips and you inhale a sharp breath, your heart racing in your chest. What was stopping you? The potential to ruin a lifelong friendship was definitely high up on that list. 
“I don’t know,” you whisper, leaning in a little closer. The moment felt like it had slowed down, every sensation in your body heightened. Before you have the chance to move any closer the sound of the door whipping open causes you to clamber back away from Quinn. 
“Shit, sorry, was I interrupting something?” Luke asks, but the smirk on his face tells you he isn’t really that sorry about it. 
“Nope,” you reply quickly, staring down at your hands to hide the way your cheeks had suddenly grew hot. 
“Are we still going out on the boat later?” Luke asks Quinn, the smirk not wiped from his face. 
“Yeah, whenever everyone gets up,” Quinn tells him, clearing his throat nervously. “I’ll um, I’ll go make sure everything is good to go,” he adds, hoping up from his seat, heading towards the dock without a moment of hesitation. 
“So, you are you two….you know?” Luke asks you as you get up to head inside with him. 
“No,” you tell him honestly. “Maybe if you hadn’t ruined it though,” you add with a playful whack to Luke’s arm. 
“Do it in your room next time then,” Luke replies as you head through the house towards your room. 
“Our rooms share a wall, are you sure about that?” 
Luke wrinkles his nose at your insinuation, pushing you towards the bedrooms. “Go get ready to go on the boat, I don’t want to think about this anymore.”
It doesn’t take you long to change into your bikini and a pair of shorts, grabbing a few things before making your way outside and down to the dock. 
Stepping onto the boat you set your bag down, taking a drink from the cooler before claiming your seat across from Quinn who was in the driver’s seat. After everyone settles in you head out into the middle of the lake, the sun high and hot in the sky. A round of rock-paper-scissors settles who got first dibs on water skiing. You spend the majority of the afternoon alternating between watching whoever was water skiing and talking with those who weren’t, though you had to admit you were giving most of your attention to Quinn. 
You had just finished watching Luke take his turn water skiing when Dalton steps in front of you, blocking the sun that you were comfortably warmed by. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a turn?”
“No,” you giggle, shaking your head. “I’m so bad at it, it’s embarrassing.”
“Come on, you can’t be that bad,” Dalton replies, a mischievous smirk on his face. 
“Yes, I am,” you assure him. “Now can you move? Your blocking my sun.”
“You’re already burnt, I’m doing you a favour.”
“I am not,” you exclaim with a giggle, pulling your sunglasses off to look at the skin on your arms. It’s tinged with a slight redness and you let out a quiet groan. “Well are you at least going to help me put more sunscreen on then?” you ask Dalton with a teasing smile. 
“I’ll help you put sunscreen on any time.”
Standing up you grab the bottle of sunscreen, handing it to him before turning around and pulling your hair over one shoulder. 
“Do I only get to do your back or can I help with the rest?” he jokes. 
“Don’t push your luck, Dalton,” you tease, flinching when the cold sunscreen hits your back. After he’s done with your back and shoulders you take the bottle back, continuing onto the rest of your body. When you lift your head your eyes meet with Quinn and before you have the chance to so much as smile he’s looking away, his expression cold and distant. Furrowing your eyebrows you try to figure out what had caused that reaction, flopping back down into your seat with a sigh. 
You stay out on the lake for another couple hours before heading back in, Quinn easily docking the boat. You gather your belongings, taking your empty cans with you as you head up from the dock to the house. Your skin was sticky with a mix of sweat and sunscreen, forcing you to head straight for the shower. The water is refreshing, as are the clean shorts and t-shirt you pull on after it. 
Back outside you find Quinn on the patio again, almost in the exact same spot you had been so close to kissing him just that morning. The air is still hot, the summer sun slowly beginning to dip lower over the horizon. Walking over you sit on the wicker arm of the patio chair he was in, resting your arm on the back behind him. “Do I have competition?” 
“Hmm?” Quinn hums, tipping his head back to look up at you, squinting against the sun. 
You nod towards his phone, still unlocked and in his hands. “Just seem pretty focused on your phone.”
Quinn shakes his head quickly, a breath of laughter escaping his lips. “Had to keep myself busy while you were in the shower.” 
“Could have come joined me,” you tell him with a playful smirk. Sliding from the arm of the chair you set yourself down onto Quinn’s lap, resting your head on his shoulder. 
“Stop,” Quinn groans, his cheeks growing redder by the second. You had to admit it, you liked how flustered you could make him. 
“If you insist.” Tugging your own phone out of your pocket you unlock it, heading to the app that consumed an ungodly amount of your free time. You scroll through the for you page on TikTok, enjoying the way Quinn’s chest would rumble with laughter underneath you. He would never admit that he enjoyed just sitting around watching TikTok with you but he didn’t need to say it for you to know it was true. 
Eventually talks of dinner disrupt your time with Quinn and you reluctantly pull yourself out of his lap to let him take the lead on dinner. You’re pretty sure someone else could have manned the barbecue but you take it as an opportunity to get off social media as well.
Wandering inside you find Dylan in the kitchen, chopping romaine lettuce with all the skill of a preschooler. “Do you need some help there?” you tease, resting your elbows onto the kitchen island and leaning down onto it. Your eyes move from the lettuce to his eyes, a playful smile on your lips. 
“Am I not doing a good enough job?” Dylan asks with an uncertain chuckle, looking down at the lettuce in front of him. 
“Well, I can’t say it’s the method I would use,” you tell him. 
“My skills are not in the kitchen,” Dylan confesses, setting the knife down next to the cutting board. “But I have plenty of skills.”
Standing up straighter you walk around to the other side of the island, pushing him a few steps away from the cutting board and picking up the knife. “Like what?” 
“Hockey,” Dylan replies quickly. 
“Yeah…you and everyone else here,” you tell him, tossing a handful of chopped lettuce in the salad spinner. “I mean, aside from myself.”
“Tough critic,” Dylan says with a laugh, leaning against the counter beside you. “Beer pong.”
“You and everyone else here…including myself,” you tease, turning your attention from the lettuce to look up at him. 
“I like that confidence,” Dylan says, walking to the fridge to pull something out of it. When he returns he sets the can next to you, a vodka soda. “You’re on my team if we play then.”
“Deal,” you say, picking up the can and opening it. “You sure know how to win me over.” You take a quick sip of the cold raspberry flavoured drink before getting back to work, getting the salad prepped. By the time you finish the salad and the drink Dylan got for you Quinn is back inside with a plate full of cooked steaks. 
His eyes shift back and forth between you and Dylan as he sets the plate down and for the first time you realized just how close you were standing to Dylan. “I’ll go tell everyone dinner is ready,” you say before quickly scurrying out of the room. When you return to the kitchen Quinn already has his dinner, sitting at the kitchen table with Dylan. Grabbing your own dinner you claim the spot beside Quinn before anyone else has the chance to. “Thank you,” you whisper to him, letting your hand fall onto his thigh under the table. 
“Of course,” Quinn mumbles and you swear his eyes shift down to your lips for a split second. But it’s so quick and you were already tipsy and perhaps you were reading things wrong.
After dinner you help clean the kitchen while a group sets up a table for beer pong, a suggestion made by none other than Dylan. He quickly claims you as his partner and you find yourself at his side again. You manage to hold your own through the game, sinking your ball in the last remaining cup on your opponents side. 
“Holy shit,” Dylan exclaims, wrapping his arms around your waist and lifting you up in a celebration. “You weren’t lying,” he adds as he sets you down, his hands lingering on your arms. 
“I’m in college, Dylan, of course I’m good at beer pong,” you tell him with a giggle. 
“Very impressive,” he says, handing you a ping pong ball for the next round of the game. 
You play a few more games before giving up your spot. Heading to the fridge you get yourself another drink, popping the can open and taking a large sip. When you turn around you nearly run into Quinn, jumping slightly. “Hi,” you breathe out. 
“Hey,” Quinn replies, his hand falling on your hip as he guides you away from the front of the fridge to get a drink for himself. “How many have you had?”
Rolling your eyes you shrug in response. “Does it matter?”
“Guess not,” Quinn mutters. You watch him take a step away, leaning back against the kitchen counter, his eyes focused on anything but you. 
You remain silent and still for a few minutes, your mind processing his sudden coldness towards you. You follow his eyes, watching the beer pong game with him for a few minutes. “Want to go outside with me?”
Quinn finally looks over at you, hesitating for a second before nodding in agreement. Weaving your way through the house you step outside with Quinn, the night air still warm, the sounds inside the house fading as Quinn pulls the door shut behind him. “Are you okay?”
“Hmm?” you hum, nodding a second later. “Yeah, yeah, I just wanted to spend some time with you.” Walking to the edge of the patio you lean against the railing, focusing on the gentle lapsing of the water against the shore. Quinn moves to stand beside you, resting his forearms on the railing beside you. “You’ve been quiet today.”
“Don’t have a lot to say, I guess,” Quinn mumbles. 
Sighing you lean over, nudging him gently. “Are you not having a good time?”
“I am.”
“Are you sure?” you ask, turning to face Quinn. 
“Yeah,” Quinn repeats, looking over at you, smiling softly. 
Reaching over you grab Quinn’s hand, pulling him away from the railing. “Come with me,” you say before guiding him to the stairs of the patio and down towards the lake. 
“What are we doing?” Quinn asks, hesitation clear in his voice. 
“Do you not trust me?” you ask, stopping just before the shore gives way to the lake water. 
The sky is clear and the night is illuminated by the moon and stars above you. It’s hard to make out the details around you but you can see the uncertainty on Quinn’s face. Giggling quietly you look out towards the water before turning your attention to Quinn. “We’re going to go swimming.”
“I’m wearing jeans,” Quinn tells you, shaking his head. 
“Take them off,” you suggest with a playful smile, your hands grasp the bottom hem of your t-shirt, tugging it over your head. Tossing the shirt onto the ground you stare over at Quinn, waiting for him to make the next move. 
You watch as he moves his hands to unbutton his jeans, kicking his shoes off before sliding them off his body. Quickly you shimmy out of your shorts, setting them with your shirt before reaching your hands around your back, unhooking your bra. 
“Oh, woah, I, uh, what are you, um, what are you doing?” Quinn stammers, looking up the yard towards the house. 
“Nobody’s watching, Quinn,” you whisper, slowly pulling your bra off, holding your arm over your bare chest as you drop the bra beside your clothes. 
Quinn’s chest is rising and falling a little quicker now, palpable hesitation in his movements as he takes off his shorts. Standing in silence he looks over at you, neither of you making the next move. “Are you going to keep going?” you finally whisper. 
Quinn pauses for a second before sliding his boxers off, his eyes locked with yours, watching to see if you’re going to let your eyes wander. You pull your own underwear off a second later, turning towards the water and stepping into it. The cool water lapses against your ankles and you let out a shaky breath. “It’s cold.”
“You’re the one that wanted to do this,” Quinn reminds you, taking your hand and pulling you along with him further into the water. You skin is covered in goosebumps, each step into the lake cooling your body further and further. 
“Fuck,” you whisper as the water reaches your chest, your nipples hardening. “I’ll go under if you do.”
“Deal,” Quinn chuckles, letting go of your hand as he dips lower into the water. 
“You first,” you say, hugging your arms tight around your body. 
“No way,” Quinn exclaims. “You’re not going to do it.”
“Yes, I will,” you retort, though you can’t stop yourself from smiling, a tell tale sign that you were lying. “Fine,” you huff. “On the count of three.”
You count down to three, ducking under the water and resurfacing as quickly as you could. Reaching your hands back you push your hair back behind your ears, giggling as you look over at Quinn. His eyes fall to your now exposed chest and you can feel your heartbeat speeding up. “Sorry,” he mutters when he realizes that you had noticed. 
Reaching over you take Quinn’s hands, pulling him closer. “I don’t mind,” you whisper, glancing down to his lips. 
Laughter catches your attention, looking up towards the shore, a few people now standing on the patio. “Shit,” you whisper, looking back to Quinn. 
“I’ll go get us some towels, just stay here,” Quinn says, swimming back towards the shore as you pull your arms up in front of you again. 
When he gets closer to the shore the sound of his body moving through the water catches the attention of the guys on the patio. “What are you-,” Jack begins to ask, his voice shifting to laughter as he spots you. The laughter mixes with teasing whoops coming from the three on the patio as Quinn pulls on his shorts and heads towards the house. 
He returns with a couple towels, opening one up for you as you hurry towards him. When you get closer he wraps the towel around your body, holding it up till you had it secured around you. “Thank you,” you whisper, staring up at him. Your skin is covered in goosebumps again, droplets of water slipping down your bare arms. “They’re watching,” you add a moment later, as Quinn begins to lean in closer. 
“Right, yeah, um, we should head in,” Quinn mutters, stepping back and gathering the clothes from the ground while you head for the patio. 
“Invite me next time, hey?” Max comments when you get closer, his words drawn out and cloaked in a drunk tone. 
“Alright, that’s enough,” Jack mutters to him, elbowing him to get his attention, shaking his head to let him know he was serious. 
Your cheeks are hot as you scurry by and up to your room as quickly as you could. You hadn’t thought this part of it through, feeling so exposed as you hurried through the house full of people in nothing more than a thin beach towel. With the bedroom door closed behind you you’re able to let out a breath that you didn’t realize you were holding, changing into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, your skin still cold to the touch from the lake. 
Laying down on the bed you find your phone, no longer in much of a partying mood. A few minutes later there’s a quiet knock on the door and you sit up, looking towards the door. “Yeah?”
“You okay?” Quinn calls through the closed bedroom door, making you laugh softly. Of course he wouldn’t barge in, though he had just seen you naked so it felt unnecessary to be so concerned about your privacy. 
Standing up you walk over to the door, pulling it open and leaning against the doorframe in front of Quinn. “I’m okay,” you assure him. “A little cold.”
“Should I remind you again that it was your idea?” Quinn asks with a smirk. “Are you coming back down?”
“I don’t know, I think I might call it a night,” you say with a shrug. 
“Do you want to do something else? We could just watch a movie or something.”
“Yeah, sure.” Pushing the door open further you step out of your room, following Quinn down the hall to his bedroom. Crawling onto the bed you turn your attention to the TV as Quinn flips through the menu to get to Netflix. Pulling the blankets back you slide underneath them in an attempt to warm yourself up. 
“You’re going to fall asleep,” Quinn says, sitting on the edge of the bed as he scrolls through the movies available on Netflix. 
“I am not.” 
“Okay,” Quinn replies, though it’s clear that he doesn’t believe you.  
After deciding on a comedy Quinn lays down next to you, his arm around your back as you lay your head on his chest. Quinn wasn’t wrong about you falling asleep, your eyes feeling heavy for awhile before you drift to sleep, long before the end of the movie. 
When you wake up again it’s the next morning and you’re in almost the same spot you fell asleep the night before. Your arm is slung over Quinn’s torso, his chest rising and falling beneath your head with each heavy breath. Slowly you pull yourself away from him, careful not to wake him as you slip out of the bed and leave his room. You mind is hazy, racing with thoughts of the night before. How badly you wished you and Quinn had just a few more minutes alone in the lake. But maybe it was for the best. Ruining your friendship in one drunk night might not have been your best move. 
You spend most of the morning alone in the living room, watching tv till everyone begins pulling themselves out of bed. “So, how was your night?” Jack asks, flopping onto the couch beside you, a teasing smirk on his face. 
Rolling your eyes you shrug in response, glancing into the kitchen where Quinn was chatting with Luke and Dylan. “It was fine.”
“Oof,” Jack replies with a chuckle. “Just fine? That’s gotta hurt Quinny’s ego.”
“We didn’t hook up, Jack,” you mutter, staring at your hands as you twist a ring around your index finger. 
“Really? I thought when you guys were-,” he begins before shaking his head.
“No,” you whisper. Dropping your legs from where you had them pulled up in front of you onto the floor you pull yourself to your feet. “I’m going to go outside for a bit.”
“Are you okay?” Jack calls as you walk towards the back door. You nod in response but you don’t say anything more. 
You walk outside and keep going till you’re at the end of the dock, dropping down and dangling your legs over the edge of it. The sky was gloomy, the day overcast. Sighing to yourself you lean back on your arms, watching the ripples on the surface lake for awhile. 
“You look kind of sad out here by yourself.”
Looking over your shoulder you smile at Alex as he walks up the dock, lowering himself down beside you. “I’m not.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” you tell him, laughing quietly. “Just thinking.”
“About?”
“Things,” you reply, looking down at the water. 
“Mysterious,” Alex says with a chuckle. 
“Oh yeah, I have tons of secrets.”
“Tell me one.”
Turning your head you look over at Alex, smiling playfully. “Well then it wouldn’t a secret, would it?”
“Fine, tell me something about yourself that isn’t a secret.”
“What do you want to know?”
“What are you taking in university?
“I’m majoring in psychology,” you tell him. “Minoring in dance.”
“Dance?” Alex asks, surprise clear in his voice. 
“Do I not look like I know how to dance?”
Alex hesitates for a second, his eyebrows furrowing. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. It’s cool, I just didn’t know people did that.”
“Danced?” you tease. 
“Well I don’t,” Alex defends. 
Pulling your legs up you hop to your feet, reaching your hand down towards him. “Get up.”
“Why?” Alex asks, drawing the word out. 
“Because you’re going to dance.” Taking your phone from your pocket you put on some music while you wait for Alex to get up. 
“I really don’t know how to dance.”
“Lucky for you I’m a pretty good teacher,” you tell him, reaching over and taking his hand. Pulling him closer you place one of his hands on your waist, grabbing the other one and holding it up. You walk him through a basic box step, barely able to contain your laughter as he messes up time and time again. Eventually he gets it down, at least close enough that it looks like you’re actually dancing. “See, you can dance,” you tell him. 
“Do you think I could get a minor in dance?” he jokes, lifting his arm up and spinning you around. 
“Well that was pretty impressive, so maybe,” you tell him with a giggle. “Want to head back? You can show everyone your new skills,” you tease. 
“No way I’m dancing for those guys.” Following you back down the dock you walk inside with Alex, everyone hanging around the kitchen table, cards in hand. 
Walking over you stop behind Quinn, sliding your arms down from his shoulder to his chest, leaning down to look at the cards in his hand. “What are you playing?” you whisper.
“President,” Quinn mutters. “You’ve never played before.”
“How do you know?” 
“Because you told me you only ever play cards when you’re here and I’ve never played with you,” Quinn replies cooly. 
“Alright,” you mutter, realizing he wasn’t about to explain it to you either. Sighing you pull back, walking into the living room to take your spot on the couch again. Had you really read the situation between you and Quinn that poorly that even what happened last night was an overstep?
By the time dinner is being made the drinks have started flowing again, the kitchen loud with laughter as dinner is haphazardly thrown together. You keep to yourself for most of the evening, suddenly feeling out of place. It was the first time you had ever felt uncomfortable at the lake house, the place that had always been a safe haven for you. 
“Are you going to be a loser and sit by yourself all night or are you going to come hang out?” Luke asks, hovering in the doorway of the living room. 
Reaching over you grasp a pillow tossing it at him. “Don’t be a dick,” you mutter, watching him easily catch the pillow, tossing it back onto the couch. 
“Sorry, I was joking,” Luke replies, raising his hands defensively. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing.” Pulling your legs up onto the couch you wrap your arms around your knees, leaning your head on them. “It’s just…Quinn.”
“What did he do?”
“Nothing,” you whisper. “It doesn’t matter, Luke, just go back and hangout with everyone else.”
Luke sighs loudly, walking into the room and dropping onto the other end of the couch. “You know I’m not going to just leave you. Tell me what he did, I’ll beat him up.” You can’t help but laugh at the comment, turning your head to smile at Luke. “You know I could.”
“I know,” you reply, giggling quietly. “Come on,” you say, standing up and nodding for Luke to follow you. You weren’t about to let him sulk with you just because he didn’t want to leave you alone. Leaving the living room you head back into the kitchen, getting yourself a drink before stepping onto the back patio where everyone had moved to. Finding a seat you do your best to stay engaged with the conversation but you can’t stop yourself from sneaking glances at Quinn every chance you could. 
The sky is completely dark before you know it but you’re still not able to shake the sinking feeling you have about Quinn. When you see him stand up you watch him go inside you take the chance to talk to him alone and hop to your feet. Inside you close the door behind you, walking towards the kitchen. 
“Quinn,” you whisper, stopping in the doorway to the kitchen as you watch him slam back the contents of his cup. “Can we talk?”
“About?” Quinn mutters coldly, pulling the door of the fridge open before yanking out a bottle of beer. 
“I, um, I just,” you stammer, watching him pop the lid of the bottle off. “Did I do something wrong? I just feel like you’re upset about something or upset with me or, I don’t know, I just-.”
“Just don’t like when you can’t have the attention of every guy around?” Quinn mutters, his words slurred. 
Your eyes widen, a shaky breath leaving your lungs. “What?” 
“Don’t like hearing the truth?” 
“What are you talking about, Quinn?” you exclaim, folding your arms across your chest, your fingers digging into your arms. 
“I’m talking about you fucking flirting with everyone…then you tell me you have feelings for me but that’s obviously bullshit. Especially after last night, like what the fuck, Y/N? I’m done with this…with you.” 
You can feel your eyes prickling with tears, your heart racing. Quinn had never spoken to you in that way before. Never in a million years would you have expected Quinn to speak to you that way. “I-,” you begin, though you weren’t even sure what you were planning to say. Reaching up you wipe away a couple tears that had pooled under your eyes. “I wasn’t…it wasn’t like that Quinn, I wasn’t flirting with everyone-.”
“You were,” Quinn interrupts.
“Stop,” you breathe out, shaking your head. “Please, Quinn, please just listen to me,” you plead. Your breath was catching in your throat, desperately trying to hold back your tears. “I really like you Quinn, I’ve had feelings for you since I was twelve, I love you Quinn…I’m in love with you.”
“Yeah?” Quinn mutters coldly. “Seems like if that was true you wouldn’t be flirting with other people right in front of my fucking face.”
“Please,” you whisper, tears streaming down your cheeks. “I’m sorry, it never meant anything, I didn’t think it was a problem, I-.”
“Maybe you should have thought about someone other than yourself then,” Quinn snaps. 
“Why are you being so mean?” you croak, choking back a sob. 
You watch his expression soften, a silence falling between the two of you that feels tense and uncomfortable. You swallow heavily, waiting for him to say something, anything. But he doesn’t. You stand there, silent and still as Quinn turns around and walks out of the room. With your vision still blurry with tears you walk in the opposite direction, opening the front door and sitting down on the steps to the front of the house. It’s quieter on this side, the night air drying the tears on your cheeks as you stare up at the clear sky now full of bright stars. 
You don’t know how long you’re sitting there, but it was long enough that the sound of the door opening behind you startles you. Turning your head you look up at the figure behind you. 
“Oh, hey,” Alex says, car keys jingling in his hands as he closes the front door behind him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” you reply quickly, wiping away the few tears left on your face. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Alex hesitates for a second before taking a step down the stairs and lowering himself down beside you. “You sure?”
Sniffling quietly all you can manage to do is nod, staring straight ahead of you into the dark driveway. Alex slides his arm around your shoulders, clearly not believing your terrible lie. Tipping your head to the side you rest your head on his shoulder, allowing yourself to take in the comfort he was offering. “I’m going to go home tomorrow,” you finally whisper. 
Alex squeezes your shoulder gently, waiting a couple seconds for you to continue. “Why?” 
“It’s not a big deal,” you tell him, which was another lie and you’re fairly sure that Alex knew that. “Quinn and I, we, um, we just got into a…a disagreement, I guess.”
Alex nods slowly, running his hand along your arm gently. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” you admit. “You don’t have to sit out here with me moping either, I don’t want to ruin your trip.”
“You’re not ruining anything,” Alex assures. “I’m leaving tomorrow so I wasn’t planning on being up late tonight anyway.”
“Did you get into a fight with Quinn too?” 
Alex laughs, shaking his head. “No, I came a bit earlier with Luke and Jack so I was planning to head out early too.”
“Exciting things happening in Newark that you can’t miss?” 
“Maybe not Newark but New York is pretty close and if you’re going to be there then there’s definitely exciting things I wouldn’t want to miss.”
“Are you flirting with me, Alex?” you ask, lifting your head from his shoulder to look into his eyes. 
“I have been all week…took you long enough to notice,” Alex informs you with a soft smile. 
Your breath catches in your throat, your eyes focusing on his. You were used to casual flirting, flirting when it didn’t mean anything, when it was fine if it went unnoticed. Something in this moment felt different. “Sorry I didn’t, um, I don’t know…I’m not actually good at…this.”
“At what?” Alex asks, eyebrows furrowed. 
“Flirting,” you whisper. 
“No, I think you’re pretty good at that,” Alex says. His laugh afterward lets you know it wasn’t a serious comment but it still felt like a slap in the face. 
Nodding slowly you do your best to discreetly wipe away the tears that had pooled in your eyes again. “Yeah,” you whisper, staring at the night sky. “I guess not the flirting…the feelings part of it.”
“That’s okay,” Alex assures you with a shrug. “That part’s not as easy.”
“You can say that again,” you whisper. 
“That part’s not as easy.”
Turning your head you look over at Alex, taking in his playful smile. You can’t help but laugh at the joke, shaking your head. “So, you wanted a local to show you around New York?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“How about Wednesday?”
“Wednesday would be great.”
A few days later Alex had made the trip from Newark to New York, exactly as you had agreed. After meeting him at your apartment the two of you grab a coffee before heading on a walk. Snapping a quick picture of Alex, walking down the road with an iced coffee in his hand, you post it to your Instagram story, captioning it in your typical humorous style. ‘He wanted the local experience…first stop is to see the subway rats, any other suggestions?’.
You spend the rest of the day together, showing Alex around the city and getting to know each other in a way that you didn’t have the opportunity to at the lake house. After spending the day out and about you ended the evening with take out and a couple bottles of wine at your apartment. 
“This is where you live?” Alex teases as he sets the takeout you two had picked up on the counter in the small kitchen. 
“Don’t be mean,” you laugh, opening the kitchen drawer to find a wine opener for the bottle you had bought. “It’s so expensive to live here and it’s just me so I don’t really need a lot of space anyway.”
“I’m just joking, it’s cute,” Alex tells you, watching you pour a couple glasses of wine, taking one as you hand it to him. 
“Cute,” you repeat, taking a sip of the wine. “You’re just saying it’s small in a nicer way.”
“Well I can’t lie to you, it is small.”
“At least you know that I don’t think size matters,” you tell him with a playful smile. 
Alex’s eyes widen, his eyes falling to your lips for a second before a nervous breath of laughter escapes his lips. “I, uh…do you think that’s something I’m worried about?”
Giggling you take another sip of your wine, letting your eyes trail up and down his body, as if you were really pondering the thought. “There really is only one way to find out, Alex.”
Alex exhales loudly, his hand clamping around his glass of wine as he takes a large gulp of the cool white wine. “Are we at least going to have dinner first?”
“Fuel up,” you tease, pulling his meal out of the bag and setting it down on the kitchen island. Walking around to the other side you slide onto the barstool, taking your own food. 
You make small talk through dinner, but it never for a moment feels forced or unnatural. You talked about his life growing up in Sweden, about his family and his friends. You talked about school, about what your plans were in the future. You talked till the bottles of wine were empty and the clock was nearing midnight. 
“I should probably get an Uber or something,” Alex says, picking his phone up from the coffee table. 
"You can stay here, that’s quite a long Uber ride,” you offer. “The couch is pretty comfortable, or so I’ve heard.”
“I don’t want to get in the way.”
“You wouldn’t be,” you insist, standing up and taking the empty wine glasses to the kitchen. “I’ll grab you some blankets and stuff.”
“Thank you.”
After gathering some blankets and pillows you head to bed yourself. Alex spends the night and much of the next day at your place. He’s back in New York a few days later, coming to karaoke night with your friends. A week later you spend the day in Newark with Jack, Luke and Alex. When the season started you were in Newark for most of the Devils home games, cheering on not just Jack and Luke but Alex as well now. 
“What’s going on with you and Holtzy?” Jack asks, sitting across his living room from you. You had spent the night in Newark after going out for some drinks with them after a game one night in early October. 
Looking up from your phone you shrug in response. “I don’t know…nothing.”
“You two aren’t together or whatever?”
“No, I mean, I…we’re…I don’t know what we are,” you stammer. “Why?”
Jack groans and tips his head back, staring at the ceiling. “Quinn was asking.”
You’re silent for a few minutes, nervously fiddling with a loose thread on your sweater. “How is he?” you whisper. You hadn’t gone this long without talking to Quinn for as long as you’ve had a cellphone. You wanted to, you wanted to talk to him, but after the way you left things at the lake house you didn’t know if you should reach out. 
Jack glances around the room, lips parting as begins to say something before stopping himself. “He’s fine.”
“Okay,” you whisper, your eyes prickling with tears. You weren’t sure where the emotions were coming from. You had been upset about the situation, sure. But you hadn’t expected that hearing he was doing fine without you would hurt so much. “That’s good,” you croak. 
“Oh my god,” Jack groans, noticing your tears. “He’s not,” he admits. “I don’t think he’d want me to tell you that but this thing with you and Alex…he’s not happy about it.”
“Well he’s done with me, so I don’t know why he would even care,” you mumble under your breath. 
“Jesus,” Jack breathes out, shaking his head. “What are you talking about? What happened that night in Michigan?” 
“He, um, he made it clear that he didn’t like my behaviour and he’s done with me,” you say quietly, swallowing heavily as a few tears slip from your eyes. 
“He’s not done with you.” Jack stands up and closes the distance between you and him, sitting down and wrapping his arms around you. “Why don’t you call him tonight?”
Sighing you rest your head on Jack’s shoulder, not agreeing to call him but not saying no either. Maybe it was what you needed. At least then you could have an answer, if you and Quinn were ever going to be friends again you knew you needed to talk about it. 
You head home that evening, sitting in your apartment and staring at the black screen of your turned off tv. You didn’t need to put anything on, your mind was doing enough to keep you preoccupied. Eventually you reach over, picking up your phone and finding Quinn’s contact. Hesitantly you dial his number, lifting your phone to your ear as you listen to the dial tone. 
“Hello?” 
Your heart hammers heavily in your chest at the sound of his voice, a shaky inhale filling your lungs. “Hi,” you whisper. “Do you have time to talk?”
816 notes · View notes
hockey-fics · 2 months
Note
part one is 9,000 words so it might take me awhile to edit
fic idea/request - quinn hughes
giant sleepover at the lake house. quinn has a secret crush on a close family friend that grew up with the hughes. the girl likes q too and makes it known but she’s also a natural flirt towards everyone too so q doesn’t think she’s fr about her liking him.
she’s always sitting on q’s lap and kissing his cheek and he’s always flustered whenever she does that but lately he’s been pulling away and being mean so one night when they’re alone she asks why he hates her and he basically calls her a wh*re and she’s heartbroken and admits her feelings & how she’s in love with him and they get in a huge fight. this can be a two parter where they make up in pt 2 but after their fight she’s been all over another guy *in my mind it’s holtzy* and yeah the rest can be up to imagination
I'm working on this one right now. It's already pretty long so I'll probably split it into two parts so I can get the first half out sooner.
23 notes · View notes
hockey-fics · 2 months
Note
fic idea/request - quinn hughes
giant sleepover at the lake house. quinn has a secret crush on a close family friend that grew up with the hughes. the girl likes q too and makes it known but she’s also a natural flirt towards everyone too so q doesn’t think she’s fr about her liking him.
she’s always sitting on q’s lap and kissing his cheek and he’s always flustered whenever she does that but lately he’s been pulling away and being mean so one night when they’re alone she asks why he hates her and he basically calls her a wh*re and she’s heartbroken and admits her feelings & how she’s in love with him and they get in a huge fight. this can be a two parter where they make up in pt 2 but after their fight she’s been all over another guy *in my mind it’s holtzy* and yeah the rest can be up to imagination
I'm working on this one right now. It's already pretty long so I'll probably split it into two parts so I can get the first half out sooner.
23 notes · View notes