peachhcs

[peachhcs]

my girl

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

on a similar note of will not playing about samy, here's him comforting her up at the lake house after finding about the ed she's been struggling with all school year & basically making sure she knows she's loved and has a whole group of people for her to lean on in through the tough times

i didn't think i'd make a part 2 to this but i got inspired and this came to me :) (p.s. i know the hughes lake house isn't on lake michigan but let's pretend for the au)

warnings: depiction of ed, mental health struggles, please read with caution if this triggers you

au masterlist | part 1

it was a warm morning on lake michigan. the slow rising sun was the perfect temperature to sit outside and soak up the early morning rays, so that was exactly what samy did. she woke up early this morning and not wanting to wake up will with her constant tossing and turning, she decided to just get up. the girl wandered outside hoping the quiet morning would help refresh her foggy mind.

she sat with a bowl of yogurt jack brought out for her since him and quinn were awake trying to tinker with things that needed replacements after being gone a whole year. the first few weeks back on the lake house were always so like this as her brothers got things up and running again.

unfortunately, the yogurt had hardly been touched for almost an hour now. it sat unmoving in the girl's lap, the thoughts in her brain still running wild with anxieties and what ifs. she didn't know what it was because no matter how hard she tried pushing those thoughts away, they just came back stronger with a way more vicious bite.

you're gonna get fat. you shouldn't be eating this. it has too much artificial sugar. what would will think of you if you gained weight? you're gonna be unconditioned come soccer season.

those were just a peak of what plagued samy's mind on a daily basis.

she forced herself to eat a few bites when luke sat with her knowing she needed to be proving to her brothers that she was getting better even though she really wasn't. that was their deal. samy ate the things they gave her and they wouldn't get their parents involved. it seemed so easy.

oh how wrong the younger hughes sister was.

when luke got up and left samy stopped forcing herself to eat and then another half hour passed without another bite being touched. samy's stomach rumbled for something more, but she just couldn't do it. instead, she needed to move, so the girl left the bowl on the table and decided to head down to the dock.

with it being so early still, the boats wouldn't be out yet, so it'd be the perfect spot to just listen to the quiet splashes of waves hitting against the dock.

will shifted to his other side, expecting to find his girlfriend but finding nothing except a cold space where her body once was. the boy's eyes quickly opened, groaning when the sunlight went right into his vision. he reached for samy's side to check one more time that she wasn't there and when he felt nothing for a second time, he opened his eyes again.

he half expected her to be somewhere in the room, but he quickly realized that she wasn't anywhere close by. will grabbed his phone, groggy eyes reading the time. 8:45am. he knew samy was a morning person, but this early in the summer? her absence forced him up to do a more thorough scan of her room to make sure he didn't miss her somewhere like the bathroom or something.

her phone wasn't on the nightstand though which confirmed to will that she left the room. the blonde frowned a bit as he found a shirt to throw on and pulled a hand through his bed head to go downstairs. he heard some noise coming from the kitchen and will perked up hoping it was samy.

it still wasn't her. quinn and jack glanced his way when he entered. "morning, smitty," jack grinned.

"you're up early," luke commented from the counter.

"have you seen samy?" will's voice was heavily laced with sleep still.

"she was outside last time i saw her. on the deck," luke nodded his head towards the door.

the sharks rookie pressed his face against the glass and frowned again when there was no sign of his girlfriend out there. "not there," he mumbled, but he did see a hardly eaten bowl of yogurt on the table.

"she was out there. maybe she went to do something," luke shrugged.

"all i see is a bowl of yogurt."

will noticed how the three brothers exchanged a glance he couldn't really read when he said that. a mix of worry and something else sat in their expressions, but the younger boy didn't ask because he didn't wanna pry. he knew samy was struggling with her eating disorder, but he hadn't dared to ask yet how bad it was or if she had gotten better at all when gabe told him a week ago. will figured she hadn't made a lot of progress yet based on the full bowl of yogurt outside.

that idea made his heart sink.

will looked out the glass doors again hoping samy was out there somewhere and he just missed her the first time. finally, the blonde spotted a figure all the way down on the dock and this time he knew it was samy.

"i think i found her," the boy mumbled and grabbed a blanket off the back of one of the chairs before making his way outside.

quinn, jack, and luke exchanged another glance but for a different reason this time. they watched as will went down the yard to the water figuring he saw samy all the way down there. "he'll get her better, i know he will," luke mumbled.

"you think so?" jack wondered.

"he will. he's got her," luke nodded.

samy didn't hear will coming until she felt gentle hands wrapping a soft blanket over her shoulders and a kiss on her head. the brunette looked up, somewhat surprised to see her boyfriend above her.

"hi, pretty girl," he rasped still full of sleep.

"did i wake you?" samy wondered worriedly as she watched him sit down next to her.

"no, you didn't," it wasn't a lie, will never heard her leave. his body just woke him up because samy wasn't near him anymore.

"what are you doing down here?" samy hugged the blanket closer to her body.

"i saw you down here," will said simply and samy blushed. "you looked like you could use some company," the boy added which deepened samy's red cheeks.

"you're sweet. i appreciate the company," she leaned further into him and will reached out to wrap his arm around her shoulders. he landed another kiss on her temple.

"sleep okay?"

"yeah, i guess. i felt kind of restless," samy admitted.

"any reason why?" will was never one to pry too much. he always wanted to samy to tell him things on her own without him having to get her to say it which is why he was trying to ease his way into this conversation.

"oh, i dunno. everything. i always got a lot going on in my mind."

"penny for your thoughts?" the little saying made the girl giggle. will loved saying that whenever they were trying to talk but the words weren't coming easy.

samy hesitated for a moment though. she knew she could tell will anything, he was her boyfriend after all, but talking about the eating disorder she's been struggling with the past year actually didn't come easy. she never really spoke to him about it. back at that boston college game, she played it off as everything just overwhelming her even though samy knew deep down that it was inability to eat anything without stressing herself out.

knowing that it was an issue back then and she couldn't even admit it made it hard for her to admit to it now, especially to will because they promised no more secrets.

will caught onto her hesitation. he squeezed her arm and then made her look over at him. "i don't wanna force you to talk about it if you don't want to, but you know i'm here for you, right? i always am," the blonde hummed.

his soft words were almost gut wrenching because samy thought he should be mad at her for not telling him about this and making gabe tell him for her. the brunette ashamedly looked away, struggling to find her words.

it broke will's heart to see her like this. maybe he didn't notice it right away because he didn't see her frequently, but looking at her now, he could definitely tell.

"i feel like i don't know how to get better," the soccer player finally admitted in a whisper will nearly missed it.

he cupped her chin so she'd look at him again, "baby, you are foing to get better. it won't be easy, but you will."

his soft tone brought the tears again and the hockey player's heart broke into a million pieces seeing his girlfriend so distraught. he's never seen her so upset before, but he brought her into his arms nonetheless because she needed that comfort.

"i'm right here. it's okay. it's gonna be okay," he rocked her similarly to how luke rocked her a few weeka ago after finally admitting to her brothers the reality of the situation. will felt her cry even harder into his shoulder.

"you should be like..mad at me for not telling you. you didn't even know," samy pulled back.

"i'm not mad. i'd never be mad. maybe i'm a little upset i didn't know, but this isn't something where you just know. it's there, it's not, it's there, it's not. i'd never be mad at you for something like this, baby," will wiped her tears away with his palms.

"i should have told you sooner or someone sooner..i just..fuck..i didn't even know what wad wrong with me. or maybe i did and i just didn't want to think it was this. god, will, i'm so scared i won't be able to get better," samy buried her face in his chest.

will's known samy her whole life and never once has he heard her become this deprecating about herself. it hurt real bad seeing her struggle, but not being able to do much about it. instead, he hugged her to him hoping the comfort of his arms would ease some of those racing thought for a few minutes.

"you are going to get better, samy, i promise. you have so many people wanting you to get better too. we're all here for you through this."

"what if you start fucking hating me or wanting to break up with me because i gained weight or because i'm so pathetic i can't even eat anything," will knew it was her head talking, but he hated hearing it so much.

"first, you're not pathetic. second, no matter what you do or what you look like, you will always be my girl. nothing can ever change that for me, okay? i love you," will promised seriously. samy flushed, but she believed him. her heart fluttered hearing him call her "my girl."

"what can i do to help you through this? do you want me to make you something every day? eat with you? sit with you while you eat?" will offered options he thought could be helpful.

"maybe eating with me? not that i wanna force myself, but eating with someone helps me eat because i feel obligated to," samy admitted and she knew that was something she needed to work on so eating wasn't some obligation in her mind.

"okay, i can do that. i'll eat with you all summer, even when i'm away," will grinned and the smile on his lips made samy smile too.

"i love you," the brunette kissed her boyfriend's cheek where his slight stubble scratched her lips. she ran her finger along it where will flexed his jaw under her touch.

"i love you, baby. you got a lot of people here this summer looking after you. you're gonna get through this," he clasped her trailing finger into his hand where he brougt it up to his lips to kiss.

the couple stayed out there as early morning became late morning and the rest of the house woke up. jack peeked out of the doors again while a soft smile spread acorss his lips seeing samy and will out there together.

"how is she?" ethan yawned while making his coffee.

jack scraped the yogurt she didn't eat into the garbage, "with will, i think she'll be just fine."

[peachhcs]

samy meeting toffoli and his wife aka his ‘parents’

the first time samy meets toffoli i imagine him being like ahhh so this is the girl you won’t shut up about ever. toff definitely really likes samy which will is glad for because if his biggest mentor hated his girlfriend he’d be pretty sad.

it’s definitely after one of the earlier games when samy’s visiting. will comes out of the locker room with damp hair and his suit thrown back on, hurrying to meet the girl in the middle. she wraps him up in a tight hug, congratulating him on his two goals. mack’s not far behind muttering teasing remarks under his breath before greeting samy in a similar manner.

eklund and bordeleau aren’t far behind that teasing train. will doesn’t care though as he captures samy’s lips in a kiss, on a high still from scoring those two goals. the boys whistle for the rookie while samy gently pushes will away so they’d stop. she still didn’t know the boys too well yet so she didn’t wanna make the impression that she just kissed her boyfriend all the time.

toffoli came out after. the older player spotted them and made his way over. he figured the girl next to will was the girlfriend he heard so much about. samy flushed while will squeezed her hand.

“so you must be the girl i hear so much about,” samy would never shake being “the” girl. she smiled.

“nice to meet you,” she held her hand out. the older man shook it with a similar smile.

“you look just like your brothers. it’s good to finally meet you. i’ve heard a lot,” toffoli said and the girl laughed.

“i hear a lot about you to.”

“she’s the one that gives will all those marks when he comes back after a long weekend,” bordeleau cut in. all of the guys laughed except will who blushed like crazy and slapped his teammate on the arm. samy blushed too and adverted her gaze.

“dude,” will warned.

“hey, i’m just saying what we’re all thinking,” bordeleau laughed.

“we better get going,” will started pulling samy away before any of his other teammates could say anything. she quickly waved to them.

“nice meeting you all!”

when they were gone they looked at toffoli for approval. he raised his eyebrow and smiled.

“oh, he’s so in love with her.”

[peachhcs]

i love all the recent media of Will bc i truly believe he is so unserious and silly about everything except samy. like she’s truly the one thing that gets to him and the only thing he’s dead serious abt. he’s in deeeep with her

oh i 100% AGREE. he is always so so so unserious about everything from the media questions to interviews to just playing around, but when it all comes down to it samy is the one person he will not play about.

someone brings her up in interviews? oh he’s talking seriously about her. someone says something out of pocket about her? he’s defending her until they shut up. like besides hockey, she is the one person he cares the most about and will always put first.

and everyone will always comment about how serious will gets and how in love he sounds whenever samy is brought up but it’s true because he will neverrrr play about her at all. never never never.

[peachhcs]

can you do one where samy and will go to a party in Michigan and Samy gets super drunk and when they get back to her apartment it is just her and will and he is helping samy and she is throwing up and he is helping her and then the next morning she is hungover

i think this ask is from like last summer or close to it (eek so sorry). i've been looking through my asks and landed on this one as i try to answer old ones

i always feel like whenever will and samy go out, he never gets super drunk so he's still sober enough to get them home and take care of samy (also so she never has to worry and can just have fun) -- takes place sometime...this past school year when will comes to visit

au masterlist

the senior hockey house was lively. considering how popular the boys were on and off the ice, their house was always packed anytime they threw a party. it was mostly the girls who tried getting in to talk up one of the players which was always a gamble if they were successful or not because most of the hockey boys were there to have fun.

samy weaved her way through the crowd in search of her boyfriend. she kept getting stopped by someone who wanted to talk to her, so her efforts to find him turned into a 30 minute adventure. there was always a familiar face around the corner like a classmate, a hockey boy, or her soccer teammates that wantd to talk and considering samy got super chatty whenever she was drunk, she always stopped to have a conversation.

will decided to just go to her since he didn't know nearly enough people to get stopped every 5 minutes. he finally found her in the living room talking with tj and tyler. the blonde smiled and silently touched her arm so he didn't startle or interrupt the conversation. the brunette caught his gaze and interrupted herself anyway to greet him.

"ooh, hi baby. i promise i was coming to find you. i got stopped sooo many times," the girl chuckled. the boy's smile grew.

"i figured. that's why i just came to you instead," he kissed her temple. tyler and tj smiled at the affection. at this point, everyone was so used to samy and will that hardly anyone really teased them anymore (besides their closest friends). they were really just "mom and dad" status now.

"i was just telling ty and tj about your season and how you scored like soo many goals in your rookie season," will quickly blushed at the praise.

he never had to worry about leaving samy be at parties because well 1. he trusted her and 2. she just talked about him to everyone she interacted with anyway. he was the same way too, any party he was at in san jose he just talked about his girlfriend the whole time. mack definitely got sick of hearing him yap on about her.

"oh really?" the hockey player chuckled.

"i mean, duh. i gotta brag about you. he's so humble," the brunette smacked his chest and will's smile had never been bigger.

"i honestly can't believe you're a pro now. makes me miss our dev program days," tyler chuckled.

"don't remind me. it goes fast, man. i honestly can't believe it either. i feel like i'm dreaming sometimes still," will admitted.

"i mean you deserve it. you were a fucking beast out there. still are," hearing those words from former teammates made the rookie flush. sometimes when he doubted himself he just remembered how proud his former teammates were of him and why he did this—for them.

"geez, thanks ty. i appreciate that. you are too," the boys continued their small talk while samy finished what was left in her cup. she was buzzing, probably on her 4th drink of the night..she lost count an hour or two ago.

whatever ethan and mark always bought was way better than the cheap alcohol her and hannah got for their wine nights. it got samy drunk pretty fast and she was already tipsy when they got there because her and hannah pregamed with samy's soccer teammates. there were great perks to being friends with the senior hockey players because she always got her friends an in.

tyler and tj let the couple have a moment together since will came over to originally find samy. the girl grinned up at him and will couldn't help but smile back. "hi, pretty."

"hiii, how are you?" she grabbed onto him and he caught her before she stumbled over.

"how are you? drunk?" will could smell the smirnoff on her breath mixed with some type of berry.

"likee yeah. i'm good though. i'm sorry i didn't make it to you sooner. soo many people just wanted to stop and chat. you know me and talking," the brunette giggled.

"i know, you love talking. you think it's maybe time to go?" the shark's rookie wondered just because it was almost 1 in the morning and he knew samy well enough that he knew when she needed to go to bed and stop drinking before she started throwing up.

"okayyy, we can go. i better say bye to hannah and make sure she has a way to get home. and mark and eth so they know i'm leaving," samy determined and will nodded.

"okay, let's find them," with will being taller, he could see through the crowds of people better than samy.

he took her hand to lead her through the house in hopes of finding one of the three people she listed. however, samy was talking to every single person she walked by, sometimes trying to stop completely, but will kept pulling her along.

they found hannah first. she was talking with a few of her gymnast friends, immediately grinning when she saw will and samy.

"hey guys!" the brunette exclaimed.

"hannah!! hey!!" samy jumped into her roommates arms.

"hi pop. what's up?" hannah laughed when she caught the girl.

"will says we're leavinggg. are you getting home okay?"

"yeah, i'll be good. i might go back with georgia and farah," hannah pointed to the two girls beside her.

"you might or you will?" will always needed to confirm the getting home plans.

"she will. we'll get her home okay, don't worry," farah smiled kindly. mark's girlfriend was basically the mom of the group, so she aways made sure the girls made it back home safely. will trusted her and nodded.

"text us," he reminded hannah who nodded.

"will do. take care of her," she giggled down at her roommate again and passed her back to the boy.

mark and ethan weren't far. they were in the kitchen with mostly their teammates now since people were starting to leave. mark spotted the couple first knowing the look meant they were leaving.

"ooh, whats this?" samy spotted a cup of something and picked it up faster than will could stop her. she took a few sips of it before immediately coughing and making a face of disgust.

"hey, don't drink that. i think you've had enough," will took it from her and handed it over to mark who stepped in.

"you guys leaving?" the older boy wondered.

"yeah, i'm gonna take her home. great party, thanks for having us," will nodded.

"you're good to walk her?" mark confirmed and the blonde nodded.

"i'm sure. i'm not even that drunk."

"okay, let one of us know if there's any problems. get back safe," the boys fist bumped.

will took samy by the arm to lead her to the front door. the girl was giggly as they walked, claiming he was tickling her. "baby, that tickles!" she giggled.

"i'm not tickling you, i promise," will hummed.

he would let her go, but he also learned that samy was a runner when she was drunk. if he let go, she'd 100% take off down the street and he did't want her doing that, especially at 1 in the morning.

"do you hate me?" sometimes samy's topic changes gave him whip lash.

"no, why would i hate you?"

"i dunno. you just suddenly decide to hate me?"

"i would never do that, i promise. i love you," the blonde smiled and kissed her cheek again. samy blushed.

"i love you. i love, love, love you."

these were basically their walks home on nights out. samy yapped on about anything that came to her mind and will just listened. he held her arm or her hand to make sure she didn't run off. when will wasn't around to do this, it was usually hannah, mark, ethan, or moldy walking the girl home.

"i'm so drunk right now," samy stated blankly.

"you did drink a lot tonight. you'll probably have a killer hangover tomorrow," will chuckled.

"ugh, don'ttt say that. i can't even think about that right now," the soccer player shook her head.

after another 10 minutes, they were back in samy's apartment. samy kicked her shoes off, feeling a bit more sober after the walk, but the slowing down was making all of the alcohol catch up with her. she was running to the bathroom before will could even process her leaving until he heard the sounds of her yacking in the toilet.

he quickly went to her. she was bent over the toilet, so will pulled her hair back before she threw up in her hair. he tried pretending she wasn't throwing up because his stomach was not that strong to begin with,

"get it all out, baby," he comforted, rubbing her back in soothing circles.

samy threw up 3 more times. whatever was in that random cup she picked up must've been strong in addition to the four or some drinks she had. will flushed the toilet and helped the girl to her feet.

"what do you need? water? food?"

"probably water," the hughes sister mumbled.

will went to the kitchen while samy splashed her face with water from the sink to refresh herself. the throw up definitely sobered her up a bit more, so she was becoming more aware of herself and her surroundings. her boyfriend returned a moment later with a fresh cup of cold water. he leaned against the doorframe to watch her drink it.

"sorry..i definitely went too hard," the brunette flushed.

"don't apologize. you had fun," will quickly shook his head.

he took the cup back from her when it was empty. his next job was helping the girl brush her teeth. he followed her routine—securing her hair back with a headband, wetting the toothbrush before putting the toothpaste on, finding her makeup remover. will had this down to a science.

samy loved turning her brain off whnever her boyfriend was around to take care of her, but as he brushed her teeth for her, she couldn't help but admire him. he was just soo pretty in her eyes, so handsome, so good looking. his little curls were peeking out from under his hat that samy thought about twirling around her finger later.

"okay, spit," he said. she leaned over the sink to spit the toothpaste out and rinse her mouth clean. the next task was her makeup, but that was easy when all the boy had to do was wipe her face off with the wipes.

he was gentle with it. he carefully wiped at her face to get the mascara, foundation, blush, eyeshadow, and eyeliner off. "would younger you think you'd be in this spot right now?" samy asked, kind of thinking out loud as the alcohol wore off.

"what do you mean?"

"like..what would 11 year old us think of us right now?" the brunette giggled thinking of her younger self who absolutely despised the boy in front of her with all of her being.

"i would think younger will would scream cooties and make some snarky remark," the blonde smiled too.

"who would've thought.."

"wouldn't want it any other way though," the hockey player grinned. he threw the wipe out once he was finished and let samy look at herself to make sure he got it all.

"you're perfect at this," she grinned.

they made their way to her room. samy was sober enough to find herself clothes to change into so will dug through his bag for a pair of sweatpants and a different t-shirt. the couple changed and will went to find tylenol and another glass of water for his girlfriend in the morning.

samy climbed right into her bed, glad to be in bed after the long night. will returned with the pills and the same glass he gave her earlier.

"for tomorrow morning," he motioned to the nightstand. samy smiled.

"you're so nice to me."

"i try," will laughed. he climbed into the bed a second later, reaching for the light on his way down to the pillow.

samy scooted close to him knowing how warm he got and how cold she was at the moment despite the blankets on top of them. the boy wrapped his arms around her and samy found his little curls like she knew she would. playing wih his hair was one of her most favorite things to do.

"i love you," she whispered.

"i love you more. sleep well," will hummed.

"thanks for always taking care of me. it means a lot," will's taken care of her for as long as she could remember after nights out and it definitely wasn't going to change anytime soon.

the couple was fast asleep within minutes of one another. will's steady heartbeat put the girl to sleep and her fingers threading through hs hair was what had the hockey player slipping into a deep sleep.

[peachhcs]

begging on my hands and knees everyday for more james and hannah, i’ll take sneaky link era, i’ll take them figuring their shit out, i’ll take their first hangout with everyone and everyone reacting to their boss lady and guy that does what she says dynamic for the first time. i’ll take anything honestly they are my new hyper fixation.

ayeeee becoming active again means answering my month old asks. apologies to whoever asked this so many eons ago 🙏 here's when hannah and james weren't quite public nor official yet and he makes a trip to michigan when samy is away for the weekend for a game and he has to hide in the stands of hannah's meet so no one recognizes him

classes are officially OVER so you all know that means i'm back and ready to supply with new fics and requests. thanks for sticking this out with me through my hiatus 🤗

au masterlist

with samy out in california for a soccer game, hannah had the whole apartment to herself for the entire weekend. her whole plan started as just using the time to study, cleaning up a bit, and just unwinding by herself since the start of the semester had been so hectic.

oh, how fast that changed.

hannah mentioned to james that she'd be alone this weekend, not thinking much of it. the next thing she knew he was texting her telling her he was currently boarding a plane for detroit. it quickly dawned on the brunette that james, her..whatever they were..was coming to michigan. to see her. for the whole weekend.

they would be by themselves for the whole weekend.

it felt so, so wrong to go behind samy's back like that. her and hannah were friends since day one. they told each other almost everything, besides this of course. and hannah wanted to tell samy about james but she just didn't know howm especially when the two didn't even know what exactly they were.

so hannah just decided not to tell samy. the girl would be in california the whole weekend. the younger duke sister would make the apartment look like james wasn't even there when he left sunday morning.

it was just a matter of making sure everyone else in ann arbor would not find out james was there because of her. not that it was hard or anything, but it was already going to be a hurdle because her parents were in town to watch her meet which meant tyler would be there and that meant his hockey friends would be there and that meant hannah needed to make sure james would be as unrecognizable as possible.

"i feel like they're gonna know it's me," james stated as he threw on a michigan hoodie and one of many baseball hats hannah owned.

"i mean..the only person you really know is tyler and maybe he won't see you if you sit far enough away from them," hannah bit her lip though because she was a little afraid of people finding out about her and james.

not because she was ashamed, but more because they didn't even know what they were and agreed to keep it a secret. plus, tyler might rip one to james if he knew he was dating his twin sister.

"hey, don't worry. no one is gonna find out," james caught her worry fast. he cupped her face with his hand, a reassuring look on his features so she would mirror them.

she leaned into his touch, but not too much because she just did all of her makeup. "i know, i know. i think it's just all around nerves."

"you're gonna be awesome out there. i don't know a gymnast better than you," the boy praised earning a blush on hannah's cheeks.

he leaned in to press a gentle, but loving kiss to her lips. he was definitely taking off all her lip gloss, but hannah didn't care. she loved kissing him and seeing his own lips have a shine to them afterwards. sure enough when she pulled away, james' lips were stained with her berry gloss.

"you taste like berries," the boy pointed out.

"yeah, you have some now," she reached up to swipe his bottom lip. the hockey player blushed a bit.

"good," james pecked her lips one last time before letting her go because she had to be at the arena soon.

"i'll see you later. you know how to get over there right?" hannah started collecting her bag.

"yup, don't worry. i'll call you if there's problems."

they exchanged one last goodbye (or more like 2 or 3) before hannah escaped her apartment. she walked with some of her teammates who lived close by, temporarily forgetting about the boy in her apartment as she started preparing for the meet.

the stands were pretty full like usual. michigan gymnastics was quite popular amongst the students, so the girls always got a good turnout whenever they were at home. hannah scanned the stands for her parents and brother during warmups. she spotted them in one of the middle rows and waved. tyler brought a handful of hockey boys with him like usual. she could make out moldy, tj, ethan, mark, and luca who also all waved and jumped up like crazy when the girl saw them.

hannah grinned and without being too obvious, tried finding where james ended up. between all of the other students and michigan fans, it was hard to spot him in the maize and blue.

she almost worried he didn't make it in until she finally found the hat he was wearing on the complete other side of the stands. he was sitting middle, hat pulled pretty low over his eyes, but she knew it was him. a tiny smile graced her lips before looking away so she didn't draw any attention to him.

the gymnast almost felt giddy with the idea of having her..situationship (?) hiding in the stands so he wouldn't get recognized by the other hockey players and student population in general. everyone always knew when hannah was talking to a guy, so this was a first for her.

james' gaze found where hannah's parents and brother was sitting across the stands. he figured that they wouldn't pick him out of the crowd being on the other side, but he kept his hat low just in case and tried to blend in as best as possible. his eyes were on hannah anyway, watching her warm up in her events which seemed like she was all-around today. the hockey player always got nervous when she was all-around because it was more chances she might hurt herself, but he also knew hannah was trained in this and injuries were low chances for the most part.

the meet began shortly after warmups finished. james used the screaming of the student section to also cheer when hannah was anounced. the duke sister waved to everyone with a wide smile and james couldn't help but think how much she fit in with everyone down there. it made sense why she loved it so much because he's never seen such a glow on her face besides right now.

michigan started with vault and james was on the perfect side for a good view of the dismount.

it was no secret how good the michigan girls were at gymnastics. it was why they drew such a big crowd at every meet, but even from vault, james could telll why they were nationally ranked in the top 10 DI college teams. the girls were good.

when hannah's turn came james' gaze never left her. her parents and brother from the other side also cheered her on with excitement. vault wasn't hannah's favorite or specialty, but she was still damn good at it.

she stuck the landing which earned a lot of cheering from her teammates and student section. james jumped up as well, one weight off his chest because the first event was over. the event he was most excited to see bars because it was hannah's favorite and also the one she was really good at. she was a gold medalist in this event. although, it also stressed james out because it was the scariest event in his opinion.

hannah was anchoring the group in bars like usual. james ended up catching her gaze when she glanced in his direction. a soft smile sat on his lips as a small gesture of encouragement. hannah returned it before looking away so no one caught onto who she was looking at. the boy glanced up to where her family was and luckily, no one seemed to really notice who she may be looking at.

when it was finally the brunette’s turn james literally held his breath as soon as she swung on. she was in the air not even seconds later. it made sense why bars was her best event because james had never seen a routine more clean and perfect as hers. she swung through her passes like a pro, hardly even missing a beat as she pointed her toes and straightened her legs within milliseconds of grabbing the next bar. his breath still hadn’t left his chest though because hannah needed to have a successful landing for him to breathe again.

she made her last pass and then geared up to make her dismount. she did three big swings before spinning off the bar and landing square on the mat. she didn’t even stumble or anything as she spun around to signal to the judges that she was finished.

more cheers erupted in the stands for hannah's successful routine and landing, always so elegant and graceful. james breathed easier now that she was back on the ground.

as suspected, hannah got almost close to a perfect score, 9.998 which was around the same as her vault. her teammates clapped her on the back for pushing michigan ahead of their opponents. the girl flushed at all of the praise and people in the stands chanting her name.

the rest of the meet went smoothly and hannah’s near perfect scores earned michigan their win. no wonder why she was an all-around because she definitely proved how good she was at all of the events in general.

james snuck out of the stands before someone started talking to him. he knew hannah would be caught up with her family and brother’s hockey friends so he decided to just head back to her apartment with the spare key to wait for her there. however, the two weren’t as sneaky as they hoped because moldy was the one who pulled the girl to the side to ask about it.

“you got eyes for someone nowadays?” the hockey player smirked. hannah played dumb though.

“what are you talking about?” she laughed.

“i saw you looking at the other side of the stands,” nick nudged her arm, the smirk still on his lips. he was like ryan and gabe were to samy who knew everything about her after becoming so close their freshman year when he loved a floor above her and samy.

“you’re funny,” the brunette shook her head.

“it doesn’t..happen to be one of the bc hockey guys does it?” nick said and hannah snapped her head back to him, shock written on all of her features.

“how did you..”

“i’m not that blind, duker. he’s pretty recognizable,” nick shrugged. “you can always pick out a hockey player in a crowd.”

“okay..well, don’t tell anyone. we’re not even..” hannah trailed off when she noticed the other guys looking in their direction.

“i got you. who’d i even tell anyway?” the taller boy smiled.

“my brother?” hannah said like it was obvious but nick shook his head. he left it at that as he casually rejoined the group while hannah’s parents took their turn congratulating her.

“you did so good, honey! congrats on winning!” her mom squeezed her daughter tighter.

“thanks mom. thanks for coming, it means a lot,” the girl grinned. a lot of the times, her parents had to pick which event they’d be at and most times, they chose dylan or tyler, so it was good to see them here tonight.

“we wanna take you out for dinner if that’s okay? celebrate your win!” sharon exclaimed and hannah grimaced. she knew james would be able to handle himself for a few hours, but she felt bad leaving him alone.

but her parents only came down so much…she’d just text the boy to apologize and promised she’d spend the rest of the night with him.

“yeah, that sounds great,” hannah quickly grinned and pulled her phone out to shoot a quick text.

hannah

got pulled for dinner, sorry!!!

hope you’ll be okay by yourself for a few hours promise i’ll be back soon!!

james

don’t worry i’ll be good!

have fun w ur parents :)

the girl smiled at his text before shoving her phone away and head to dinner with her family and brother’s friends.

—

the group parted ways when hannah’s parents dropped her and nick off by their apartment complex. coincidentally, nick lived in the same building as her and hannah again.

“so, how’d this whole thing start with haggy? i thought you didn’t date?” nick wondered while the gymnast blushed.

“i..i don’t…not really. i don’t know. we started talking over the summer kind of. i guess he’s liked me for..awhile,” hannah explained.

“so it’s like hookup?” it always sounded so bad putting it that way.

“maybe? i don’t know. yeah?” the girl flushed.

“do you like him?”

that was a scary question hannah always hated hearing. whenever someone asked her that it always made her freeze up. she wasn’t someone who liked people in that way. she liked them, sure, but more as something fun and never serious. whatever her and james had thought was starting to feel way different than anything else.

“yeah?” hannah said unsurely.

“that doesn’t sound sure,” nick raised his eyebrow and stopped as they made it to the front door of the building.

“i don’t even really know. you know how i am. i don’t go all in but..something about this is different. i..i wouldn’t mind..going all in,” her words brought a smile to nick’s lips.

“that’s a first coming from you, duker. i respect it though. he seems like a good guy so i’m not worried if something does end up happening,” nick chuckled while hannah shook her head.

they made their way inside to the elevator. hannah pressed 4 while nick pressed 7.

“well, my lips are sealed. i won’t tell,” nick agreed which hannah appreciated.

“i owe you,” she giggled as the door slid open to floor 4. she waved goodnight to nick and made her way down the hallway to her apartment. her and samy had a cat welcome mat at the front door that was dirty from when samy walked in with muddy sneakers after a rainy practice.

it was dark besides a small light from the hallway. hannah quietly shut the door and followed the soft glow to her bedroom. james was already tucked into her bed looking half asleep on his phone. his gaze bounced to her when she stepped into the doorway.

“oh, hey. sorry, i got tired,” he mumbled. the girl smiled.

“sorry to keep you up,” she hummed, kicking her shoes off and dropping her bag onto the ground.

“it’s fine. how was dinner?” james threw his phone down and made room in her bed for her.

hannah crawled in even though her hair was still up and she was in her warm up t-shirt and sweatpants. “it was good. my parents are good. brother is good.”

“good, i’m glad. you did really good today,” the hockey player complimented earning a bright blush on hannah’s cheeks.

“thank you. it was nice finally having you there.”

james smiled, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. his eyes were dangerously close to closing again, but he wrapped his arm around her torso to bring her closer. hannah immediately snuggled into him without a second thought. it was..freeing to not have to worry about someone seeing them in the moment and they had the whole apartment to themselves for another day.

“i should make more spontaneous visits more often,” james mumbled sleepily.

“yeah, you should,” the duke sister agreed. she’d take having him here over anything and that was saying a lot.

the meet wiped her out, so it didn’t take long for hannah to fall asleep once james finally shut his eyes. they stayed wrapped up in one another the whole night.

[peachhcs]

james finding something to crack hannah in her meet day routines so they can talk or smt and it becomes a routine she loves…. also see him starting to send her flowers on her meet days

wait yas i think it would be something so sweet and after he keeps persisting for awhile, she finally cracks and lets him into her little bubble of routine she's crafted so perfectly

i think it would be something small but genuine that hannah really appreciates like maybe just a little facetime when she's getting ready to head to the arena and it finally starts to help her calm down and not be in her head so much because she talks to him while she does her makeup and eats her pre meet snack.

au masterlist

hannah was a girl deeply rooted in tradition. coming from a huge sports family, it started young. her dad made bets on his favorite hockey team, the columbus blue jackets, every year and anytime they played in their home arena, there was four things he always did before the start of the stream: ate two bananas, wore bright orange, knee-high socks, wore the same jersey someone gifted to him way before the kids were born along with the matching hat, and always had to eat a grilled cheese with lays potato chips as his dinner.

that was what led hannah’s dad to believing the jackets would win and if he didn’t do all four of those things, there was no winning—and it was true. in 2019, steve got really sick so he wasn’t able to perform his pregame rituals and guess what happened? the blue jackets lost that home game. now, no matter how sick or healthy hannah’s dad was whenever the team played at home, he needed to do every ritual.

so, it made sense why hannah was so rooted in tradition and why she couldn’t let anyone touch the perfectly crafted routine she made for herself before every meet. james was learning this the hard way, but he was starting to crack her open little by little. after sitting with gabe and ryan’s advice from a few weeks ago, the freshman decided to see what he could do. he really wanted to be apart of hannah’s routine, he just didn’t know how without being too much all at once.

everyone always liked flowers and he knew hannah really loved them, so he started sending her a small bouquet before every meet. he was hoping the little gesture would make her notice how much effort he was putting in to prove that he was really in this for the long run.

one day, hannah facetimed her boyfriend after receiving her second bouquet—usually, it was just a simple thank you text. the boy answered with a smile, “hi, what’s up?” he already saw the slight blush on her cheeks and the way she tried hiding her smile.

“i got your second bouquet. it’s really pretty, thank you. i appreciate these,” hannah showed the bouquet sitting in the middle of her kitchen counter. the boy grinned.

“do you like them?” he wondered because he actually did pick each of them individually every time. he learned the meanings of each flower from his mom, so he really tried to pick the flowers that matched the mood and vibe he was trying to send.

“i love them. you know me so well,” tiger lily’s were hannah’s favorite and she remembered the time he sent her a huge bouquet of them when she was in paris last summer.

“i do know you well,” james smiled. it was just a small something he hoped lifted her spirits knowing how bad her anxiety got before every meet. “how are you feeling?” he knew how she was feeling was given, but he wanted to ask anyway.

hannah shrugged as she walked through the apartment to her room. “okay, i guess. i ate my bananas and i’m gonna start on my hair soon,” the bananas were something taken from her dad. she always thought of him whenever she ate them and they were good for nutrients.

she always tried to have her pre meet rituals remind her of her family and close friends. bananas for her dad, braids for her mom, and little hockey sticks drawn into her tapes for her brothers.

as she started brushing out her hair, james saw the anxiety climb further into her system. he’s learned that whenever hannah started doing her hair the more nervous she became and she started shutting down.

so to hopefully lessen the nerves, james kept talking, “what events are you doing?”

“just bars and floor. coach didn’t put in the usual all-arounds because she wants to try a new rotation,” hannah explained. she parted her hair so she could do four little braids that fell back into a ponytail—a style that looked intricate to some but actually wasn’t as complicated as it seemed.

“both of those routines are killer so i already know you’re gonna do great with those. i can picture perfect 10s,” james’ words earned a blush on the girl’s cheeks.

“wow, thanks. i feel like you’re just saying that though,” she giggled.

“i’d say that whether we were together or not because you do have perfect routines. i mean you went to the fucking olympics,” hearing hannah critique herself so much and so hard was crazy sometimes to james because she was a gold medal olympian. that wasn’t a title just anyone walked around with, especially so young.

“i just get soo in my head,” hannah frowned. james straightened up knowing the girl hardly opened up about this side of herself to him.

"do you have any ideas of what makes you nervous?"

"oh, i don't know..everything honestly even though i've done this so many times before," the girl looked like she was embarrassed to admit that. james hated that though because there was no reason to feel embarrassed about being nervous.

"hey, i get it. would you believe that i get nervous before every time i step onto the ice?"

"really?"

"yup, really. i may not show it all the time, but i'm definitely jittery. maybe it's all the students watching or maybe it's worry i won't play well. it's different each time, but i get it," james explained and for a moment, it calmed hannah knowing this.

she knew how much james cared about hockey and how good he was at it, but hearing him tell her that he still got freaked before every game still told her how much he cared. she also believed nerves were a sign of the care someone had for their sport because they wanted to perform and do well. in some aspects, they were a good thing, but not right now when it only made her spiral deeper into her anxieties.

"the conte is a big rink. i'd get nervous too," hannah smiled.

"i honestly black out when i'm out there. so many fans scream at us but i hardly hear them," the hockey player said.

"gymnastics really teaches you how to block out fans yelling things when you're doing the events. i black out too though."

hannah finished her braids. james watched the way she touched them up in the mirror and then applied the gel that made her her loose ends and baby hairs not stick out everywhere. he liked how concentrated she looked trying to get every little hair.

"okay, how does it look? okay?" the gymnast wondered as she did a small head twirl so the boy could see all of it.

"beautiful," james complimented.

hannah, still not used to the whole praise and constant compliments, blushed again. he always had her blushing like crazy whenever they talked.

"i miss seeing you. when are you visiting again?" she changed the subject as she moved onto the makeup.

"great question. i don't know. when do you wanna see me again?" james smiled.

"whenever you're free. you could come to one of the meets in a few weeks?" the only times james had been to one of her meets was when they were still keeping their relationship on the down low, so having him there as her official boyfriend has still yet to happen.

"i could make something happen," the boys didn't usually get weekends off but maybe he could pull a few strings have someone cover him during a weekend practice so he wouldn't get ripped one too hard by his coach.

the couple continued talking all the way up until hannah needed to get over to facility where she hardly even thought about her nerves because she just kept talking to james. a soft smile was on her lips and she looked a lot more relaxed than when they started the call.

"good luck, you're gonna do amazing like always," james grinned.

"thank you, i appreciate it. it was really good talking to you," hannah kissed the phone to make up for them not being together. the boy reciprocated her action.

"feeling any less nervous?" he asked.

"i am, actually. thank you for the flowers and talking with me while i got ready. it actually really helped," james' heart leapt hearing her say that.

"of course. i can't wait to watch you kill it," he blew her one last kiss.

"i'll text you when it's done," she kissed the phone and that was the end of their call.

obviously, hannah finished up her pre meet traditions when she got to the complex and got taped up, but she was definitely thinking about how she wouldn't mind adding another small ritual to her routine...

it was even one of the best meets she's had this season.

[peachhcs]

omg wait emma is probably beating herself up because gabe changed her perspective on dating athletes and he went and hurt her in some way 😭

ughhhhhh i knowwww my babies 🥲 here's the long awaited part 2 to the crazy part 1 cliffhanger. part 3??? (idr if we emma’s roommate ever had a name so now it’s maya) this has also lowkey just become part of the emma + gabe au

au masterlist | part 1

the next three days were a blur. gabe was on a plane for new york the very next morning after a quick goodbye to his teammates despite some of them flying to new york to be there for his debut in two days. he signed the contract on the plane and then was rushed around for a photo op, gear handling, a snappy introduction to the team, and then he was back on the ice preparing himself for the next game.

the boy hardly had time to think about the breakup which was a good and bad thing. good because he could focus on getting himself ready to debut in madison square garden, but bad because he knew when he had a minute to breathe it’d really hit him.

that wasn’t to say he wasn’t thinking of emma still though. he was. she was a thought in the back of his mind as he was rushed to this and that, always thinking about how much better it would all be if she was at his side doing these photo ops or cheering him on from the side. it actually hurt a lot more than gabe wanted to admit.

it hurt tremendously.

there wasn’t even hesitation as the words left her lips on that phone call. gabe could hardly keep up and the next thing he knew she wanted to break up. he couldn’t even explain himself because she hung up.

god, it hurt so bad.

no one could see him break though. he needed to put on a brave fave for the fans and all of his new teammates. he needed a good first impression which meant he couldn’t be known as the rookie kid who just got broken up with, so gabe swallowed that hurt and smiled as best as he could for everyone now watching him.

right before he stepped onto the ice and did his rookie lap, he wondered if emma was back in boston watching.

she was. on her laptop. the blonde couldn’t help herself as she pulled it up with tears still pooled in her eyes from the last few days. even broken up and mad at him, she was still so, so proud of him. he dreamed of this everyday and watching him finally up there with the big guys filled her heart despite it still being heartbroken.

“are you watching his rookie lap?” maya, emma’s roommate, wondered when she saw the blonde’s laptop.

“yeah..” emma admitted sheepishly. maya frowned though. she hated seeing her roommate so upset, especially over a guy.

“he’s not worth it, em. he couldn’t even tell you,” maya stated. the blonde grimaced.

“i know, i know..i just..he was so nice. he was caring. he cared. no guy has ever cared about me like that before and he did. i..fuck…i really thought he was different. so stupid,” emma shook her head in frustration which made maya frown even deeper.

“he obviously didn’t care enough if he couldn’t even tell you about signing on, but he could tell everyone else. especially samy.”

“samy’s a longtime friend…it makes sense that he told people and not me..i just..i don’t know why he was scared to tell me. i would’ve been so happy for him,” the blonde defended the michigan soccer player. samy was the girl for sure, but she was also the sweetest person emma’s ever met so she’d do anything to defend her.

she knew samy was a longtime friend of the boys, so she didn’t blame gabe for telling samy and not her. it made sense. it just didn’t make sense why he was scared to tell her. emma would’ve been so happy for him too!

“well, he clearly didn’t value your opinion in the decision either. he’s a douche, em. what did you really expect out of a hockey player?” that stereotype always hurt to hear because emma never dated athletes before this and she really, really thought gabe wasn’t like the others.

and he did prove himself. he texted her. he called her. he hung out with her when he was free. he even spent time with her after a long day of classes and practice. emma could almost confidently say he prioritized her above hockey.

almost.

the fans on the video stream started cheering. emma redirected her attention and watched as gabe stepped onto the ice to take his lap in an arena full of fans. she imagined herself there..they talked about it before. she’d be front row wearing his name on her back so the arena knew she was his.

instead, she was in her bed, eyes full of tears because of idiotic decisions.

gabe didn’t have down time until two days later. for the first time since he got to new york, the boy sat down without worrying about needing to be anywhere in five minutes for press or pictures. he was in the comfort of his apartment when it all started to really hit the rookie.

he loved new york. it was everything he dreamed of, but right now it was just him. he didn’t know a lot of people yet so the loneliness crept in fast. he missed the guys back in boston. it was lively in that 8 person suite and now his apartment was so..quiet. he also hadn’t had any time to decorate so things were kind of scattered throughout the rooms half unpacked and half still in boxes.

emma hadn’t answered any of the texts he tried sending to her to get her to hear him out or at least talk again. he was left on delivered which was better than not going through at all because at least that meant she hadn’t blocked him yet.

the boy’s phone started buzzing at his side and his heart leapt at the idea of it being emma, but it wasn’t. it was will.

“hello?”

“perreault, hey! god, i just got around to calling you but congrats on your nhl debut! that’s awesome! you looked good out there,” will smiled through the phone and gabe smiled too.

“thanks, smitty. it’s good hearing from you.”

“i watched the stream for you and lean the other night. super awesome. god, i cant believe we’re all in the pro now,” will laughed.

“it’s hard to believe. doing that lap in msg felt like something from my dreams. i didn’t feel real,” the boys shared another laugh.

“dude, i know right? msg is so insane. i can’t wait to play you next season. i ain’t going easy on you.”

“didn’t even expect it,” at least will always knew how to lift gabe’s spirits without even knowing it.

“how’ve you been though? i got little updates here and there from samy about the game the other night. sucks you guys lost. sorry again,” will changed the subject. gabe figured samy wasn’t going to tell will for him about emma, so it was up to him to say something.

“i’ve been..better honestly. emma and i..she, uh, she broke up with me.”

there was a pause on will’s end.

“wait broke up with you? why?” he exclaimed.

“honestly, i don’t even know. that whole phone call was a blur after the game. she said stuff..i said stuff..”

“dude..i’m sorry. you guys were like perfect,” the sharks player mumbled.

“yeah..i know..” hearing will say that made gabe tear up. him and emma were perfect.

she fit him and he fit her so perfectly. they were so opposite, but in a good way that they balanced each other out. gabe never once thought there was someone better for him because she was for him. she talked his ear off about the new books she reading and he loved it. he loved hearing her talk excitedly about the plot or the characters. plus, whenever he talked about hockey she was always listening to intently. she wanted to learn so much about the sport he loved and that was something gabe had never experienced before. every other girl could care less about the intricacies of hockey.

“shit..i don’t know what to say. are you holding up

okay?” will asked.

“i mean, yeah. as best as i can be. i’ve been so busy, it’s been like not on my mind but i think it’s hitting me.”

“it always hits a few days after. did something like

happen or..i just..i’m in shock,” will mumbled.

“i mean..” the dark-haired boy trailed off for a moment. “i..i may have..pulled a you and didn’t tell her i was signing based on the fate of the game.”

“wait you didn’t tell her? why?”

“i don’t..i don’t know..i got scared? i was scared of her reaction of how fast it could all happen..i meant to i just..i never got around to it and then i didn’t tell her until..the night of the loss. that’s when she broke up with me,” gabe explained that night and the blur it was as soon as the game ended.

“shit, man..that..really sucks. i’m sorry,” will said.

“i don’t know what to do, will. i really miss her,” gabe cried a bit. he’s never called the blonde will unless it was serious.

“have you tried calling her?”

“she won’t answer me. i’m on delivered. i go to voicemail. i wanna explain myself, but i can’t if she won’t answer me,” gabe sniffled.

will’s never heard his best friend so upset before, but he knew the feeling really well.

“what if ryan or another one of the guys tried calling her? talking to her about it?”

“i really doubt she’d wanna talk to them either.”

“it doesn’t hurt to try. ask if one of them could check in with her and explain the situation from your point of view. i know this really hurts, g, but it will work out, i promise.” will said as corny as it sounded. it would work out one way or the other whether it was them getting back together or not. will hoped for the former because he did truly understand the scared feeling of telling close friends about a decision as big as signing onto a professional team.

although, the sharks rookie also knew how horrible it was to keep such a secret from the people he cared most about.

word travelled pretty fast throughout the boston boys when samy and ryan came back to the hotel that night and told them what happened. they were shocked to say the least and in disbelief that emma would just break it off so easily. it was so out of character for her too. ryan and samy knew as much as they did though and didn’t have many answers for the questions plaguing everyone’s mind.

the three days blurred together pretty fast for them too as a few of them traveled to td garden and then to msg for their best friends’ debuts. once they all got back, the reality of gabe and emma’s breakup started setting in and the boys realized just how often they see her around campus and how much she dodged them now.

with ryan gone, someone else had to step up to mediate. drew decided to take the lead after being told he was probably the nicest one on the team and extremely approachable. he was going to try and use that to his advantage after finding emma in the library one day.

him and emma weren’t the closest, but he could confidently say they got along and could always make conversation. drew didn’t want to startle her, but he didn’t know how else to get her attention besides walking up to the table.

his large figure loomed over the small table. emma noticed the shadow and looked up. her eyes widened a little seeing drew.

“uh, hey em,” drew said almost shyly.

the blonde’s face quickly flushed as she almost automatically started packing up her things, “uh, hey. sorry. i can leave.”

“wait, no, no. i-i..i’m sorry. things are probably weird but..i just..i was hoping we could talk?” drew quickly stopped her, a panic stricken expression on his face.

emma raised her eyebrow, “is this how gabe’s trying to talk to me? sending his teammates? i don’t wanna hear it.” she rolled her eyes

fuck. ryan was so much better at this kind of thing than drew was. the taller boy cursed under his breath and tried thinking of a different way to put this.

“he didn’t send me, i promise. none of us really know what happened. he didn’t say anything to us, promise. i just..i wanted to talk. see how you’re doing? we’re all still friends you know outside of gabe being your..was your boyfriend,” drew said softly and emma stoped her movements.

she studied the hockey player, determining if he was being serious or not. when she saw no malicious intent in his gaze she opened the chair next to her. drew smiled.

“i feel like how i’m doing is pretty obvious,” she mumbled.

drew frowned. he should’ve known that was a given. the breakup was still fresh. “i know i can’t apologize for him, but i am really sorry he never told you. that was a shitty move.”

“i just..i don’t get it. i don’t get why he couldn’t tell me. did he think i’d be upset? mad? i wanted this for him and i wouldn’t have been as upset if he just told me before the fact,” emma complained.

“i don’t really know what he was thinking either. i will say he did really wanna tell you, i guess he just..never got to it? or worked up the courage?”

“i just feel so stupid for not knowing and kind of pathetic that i wasn’t included in the discussions. i mean..i like get why samy and hannah knew because like..you guys have known them for like ever, but i dunno..i’m his—i was his girlfriend. i feel like i deserved something?” emma couldn’t believe she was ranting to his teammate, but she talked her roommate to death so it was kind of nice having a different outlet.

“you did deserve to know 100%. don’t think otherwise because you definitely deserved to be apart of the conversation. sometimes i think..certain conversation topics are harder with the ones we love because we know how much more it means compared to talking with people who we're used to..if that makes sense? not saying like..the other guys or samy and hannah aren’t important, but at this point we’re just all like siblings and telling one another stuff comes easy. i dunno, that doesn’t really make sense, but my point is you deserved to know and gabe should have told you sooner,” drew determined and his little ramble made the blonde chuckle.

“no, it does make sense. i appreciate you saying that. i totally get the brother-sister relationship samy has with everyone. i just thought that if gabe couldn’t tell me now then what else wouldn’t he be able to tell me later? i just wanted to save myself that hurt so i broke it off,” emma explained and drew slowly nodded.

“totally get it and totally makes sense. i think too that..maybe as a..freshly 20-year old hockey player that these kinds of decisions usually determine how the rest of our life goes. making it at 20 is not easy. i’m not trying to excuse what he did, but i think he does also deserve some grace too. with playoffs, the tourney, the decision..it can be a lot. it honestly could have slipped his mind too..or he had too much going on emotionally to be able to tell it all to you. either way, if you’re wondering what to do and i know you are, i would wanna hear him out one last time,” it was gutsy of drew to say that to a girl who just ended her relationship with one of his closest teammates, but emma also understood it.

if emma's learned one thing, it was that this group of people cared a lot about one another. she knew drew only wanted what was best for his friend and her, and yeah, sure, emma did consider what could happen if she did talk with gabe one more time. she just worried her feelings would cloud over and she'd give hime a second chance when he didn't deserve one.

"i don't even know what i'd say to him.." the girl mumbled. she didn't really have a lot left to say anyway. she really laid it all out for him on that phone call, mostly because her heart was talking more than her brain and she said some things she probably shouldn't have.

"i mean..you wouldn't even have to say anything. just see what he has to say. i'm not saying he does, but there's a chance he might. i dunno. just suggestions. you both really care about one another and after doing this with will and samy last year, i think we all learned that there is a lot that goes unsaid."

emma remembered hearing about will and samy's breakup last summer. she was at home for most of it, so she was never really around them, but she knew from gabe that both of them tried acting okay when they really weren't okay. she pictured what gabe was doing right now all the way in new york—probably at practice or something fun with his new teammates.

it was almost hard to believe he was upset about their breakup, but then again, she talked really fast on that phone once gabe explained what was happening so maybe emma really didn't know how the boy felt.

"anyway, i'll leave you be. i just wanted to check-in. you know we're always here for you, right?" drew got up.

"thanks, drew. i appreciate it." emma watched as he walked away. she was left with her thoughts again and now that drew brought it up, she had a tempting urge to call gabe back.

maybe hearing him out wouldn't be so bad? but what if she made the wrong choice because her feelings talked for her?

emma thought of samy again and decided that maybe she'd talk to her first to get a perspective who actually went through something like this.

[peachhcs]

samy struggling with a little bit of her ed and Quinn and Jack and Luke are helping her and being good brothers and are by her side

why have i not seen this ask until now omg (starting to respond to my 140 inbox) i kind of strayed off the ask, but it all comes together in the end trust

eds are always such a difficult topic to write about but i think it’s important to also show it’s possible to recover and overcome something so hard with the right support by your side.

warnings: ed, talk of struggling to eat, talk of skipping meals, talk of throwing up, mental health struggle, please read with caution if this is something that's triggering for you

my messages are always open if you ever need a shoulder to lean on❤️

au masterlist | part 2

it was hard knowing what was going on with one another when it wasn’t summer. the siblings didn’t see each other a lot throughout the year except for breaks or spontaneous trips, so the summer was the only true time they all caught up on each other's lives unless they visited.

jack noticed it first.

it was surprising since luke was always the one to notice changes in their baby sister before him and quinn, but with the brunette being back home again after his second shoulder injury, he caught on a lot earlier this time. samy came home for a weekend before finals started to decompress and take her mind off of studying. jack was happy to have company that weren't their parents breathing down his neck and babying his every move (as much as he loved it, it got old fast.)

samy had always been go, go, go, so her rushing out of the house at times and never slowing down was pretty typical. jack understood that part because he, too, was always in and out of his apartment and on the move to do something because he hated being stationary. her being home though was forcing herself to slow down some and because of that, jack finally noticed samy's behaviors he didn't notice before.

it started small and nearly unnoticeable to someone who wasn't as observant as jack could be sometimes. the siblings were eating lunch together. jack was basically shoveling the food into his mouth, and while samy was eating her sandwich, it was only in tiny bites. she mostly played with the crust and chips on her plate to make it seem like she was eating.

"are you gonna finish that?" jack had been watching her play with her food for the past 15 minutes now. most times, the brothes would eat the leftovers she didn't have, but jack knew she never had that much left over.

samy looked up, "i'm pretty much done. you can have it if you want." she pushed the plate in his direction.

for a moment, jack stared at the barely eaten sandwich and broken up chips. samy almost always ate all of her sandwich besides a few bites and the chips were usually cleaned off the plate. it hardly even looked like she ate anything.

jack was not one to say something though. whenever he noticed something not right he was never the one to mention it, so he didn't say anything as samy hopped off the stool.

"are you sure?" the older boy finally asked.

"yeah, totally. all yours," samy smiled and left the kitchen before jack could ask anything else.

the hockey player glanced at the plate one last time before deciding to let it go figuring maybe samy just wasn't that hunrgy at the moment. he was still hungry, so he'd gladly eat the sandwich so it didn't go to waste.

however, the pattern continued into dinner. ellen and jim were making mindless conversation between the four. jack was half listening, mostly because he didn't care for the topic, but also because he had his attention on samy. she was doing the same thing she did earlier where she played with her food with her fork to make it look like she was eating all of it.

the girl did take a few bites of everything, but what jack didn't know was the internal battle she was having within herself. the voices in her head were screaming at her and the anxieties about her exams coming up hadn't eased as hard as she tried to not think about them. samy couldn't handle the idea of eating.

those thoughts had been plaguing her mind for weeks now. she looked at food and wanted to throw up at the mere idea of putting it in her mouth—and she did even when she did eat something.

samy knew it was bad. she knew she shouldn't be doing it..but after awhile, something in her brain was enjoying the way she locked herself in the bathroom after every meal. the starving..it ignited this itch in her brain that she didn't otherwise feel in the offseason. she couldn't stop.

once dinner was over, jack watched as samy scraped what she didn't eat into the trash. she shot him a brief smile, not knowing he'd been watching her at dinner. she disappeared upstairs and the sound of a door closing could be heard. jack knew it was the bathroom door and he suddenly wondered what she was doing in there.

the situation was hard to approach when jack didn't even know if what he was thinking was right. he knew that confronting someone with an eating disorder always had to be treated delicately and if it was the case, he worried he'd set off samy even more.

for now, he decided to let it go. maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought and it was just high stress because of finals coming up. everyone slips up once in awhile and samy was an adult. she knew how to take care of herself. jack didn't need to be breathing down her neck like she was fifteen still. plus, there was a chance he was just looking too deep into things because of how long he's been at home and everything was just more heightened.

so jack let it go.

what a huge mistake.

two weeks later, luke and quinn flew home for a week once the season was officially over to just catch up with family before completely immersing themselves up at the lake house where they had guests coming every week of the summer. samy came home again too and this time, it wasn’t just jack noticing the changes in her behavior.

luke was the most observant out of all of them, especially with samy, so he caught on pretty quickly after hanging around her for a day. she honestly looked even different than when jack saw her two weeks ago. the bags under her eyes had deepened significantly and her dark circles were way more apparent than before. she looked completely exhausted and..maybe even thinner? jack couldn’t exactly place it, but he knew something was different and it wasn’t good.

like jack, the younger hughes brother watched the way samy threw out most of her lunch when she usually ate everything on the plate. it didn’t even look like she took bites of it and by the time luke dared to ask, she left the kitchen to do something else.

that something else was the youngest hughes crouched over the toilet forcing herself to throw up what she had just eaten. at this point, this was routine for samy. she ate a few bites to make it look convincing and then went to the bathroom to get it out of her system. the brunette didn’t even know why she was doing this. it felt good? she’d been living the past few weeks on autopilot and in anxiety because of her finals that she somehow made herself anxious to food. the mere idea of trying to get something down set the girl into a spiral of well what if she ate it and gained weight because she wasn’t playing soccer at the moment? what if she got sick? what if, what if, what if, what if—those two words phrase clouded her mind.

so she couldn’t eat. no matter how hard she tried. no matter how much she knew she needed to, she just couldn’t do it. it was just normal for her now to skip meals. she couldn’t even remember the last time she had a full meal. days? weeks? it was hole she was struggling to get herself out of the further down she went.

luke was worried for his sister though. she was an athlete. she had to eat and she knew it too. the middle hughes decided to go to his brothers to see if they picked up on their sister's behavior too.

"i don't really know how to not be blunt, so i'll just ask. is samy not eating?" luke asked one day when samy was out of the house and it was just him, quinn, and jack.

jack immediately frowned, "you noticed it too?"

"what do you mean too? you knew?" luke looked surprised while quinn had no idea what they were talking about.

"knew what? what's going on?" the older boy quickly asked.

"i noticed when she came home like two weeks ago before finals. i thought it was just stress of finals or something," jack continued without answering quinn.

luke's face hardened, "and you didn't think to say anything?"

"what would i say? hey, you're not eating, what's wrong?" there was an argument brewing and poor quinn was still out of the loop.

"yes! exactly that!" luke exclaimed.

"dude, in case you didn't know, first rule with someone with an eating disorder is that you cannot confront them like that. it will only make things worse," jack argued right back.

quinn finally understood what was happening as he put the pieces together. luke's expression twisted and the anger in his face dissipated as the weight of jack's words settled in the room. eating disorder. saying it out loud made it that much more real and the reality of their sister's situation quickly set in.

"you really think that's what's going on?" the youngest brother wondered softly.

"i mean what else could it be? she's not eating and if she does she's throwing it up. that bathroom door closes upstairs like clockwork every night," jack said and the brothers all exchanged wary glances.

the thought of what to do next was hard. they needed to talk to her, but they had to approach the situation from a non confrontational standpoint. if they came at her too hard about it, she'd probably freak and deny it and neither of them wanted that to happen. luke decided to call gabe and ryan since he knew they were there for samy when she struggled with her mental health earlier in the year and knew how to approach it without putting labels on her that she wasn't ready for yet.

"hey hughes, what's up?" gabe answered.

"hey gp, how are you?" luke wondered.

"i'm good, man. new york's been real good so far."

"that's great to hear. i've seen some of the highlights. it looks like you've been doing awesome. i'm proud of you," luke smiled.

"thanks, luke. that means a lot. congrats on your season too."

it was always so awkward to go from making small talk to getting to the point of the call. luke shifted on his feet as he changed the topic, "hey, so i don't know how to sugarcoat this so i'll just ask. has samy ever mentioned anything to you or any of the other guys about an eating disorder?"

there was a pause on gabe's end.

"eating disorder? no, why? is she okay?"

"i..i-i..yeah? i don't really know to be honest. she's been acting weird and..we think she isn't eating properly and we don't really know what to do. we were hoping you or ryan or someone may know something or how to approach it with her," luke grimaced.

"shit..i..i mean she's never really said anything about that to us. earlier in the season back in like the fall she passed out during her game, but she told us it was just because she'd been feeling overwhelmed with things, but was gonna work on taking more care of herself," gabe explained and luke knew that part. they all thought she was working on taking better care of herself.

"i think she has a habit of not taking care of herself when things get stressful or reaching out to anyone," luke mumbled and both boys frowned at that.

"how bad is it?"

"she hardly eats anything and jack thinks she's throwing up whatever she does eat."

a painful silence fell between the call.

"do you want us to fly out? help you talk to her?" gabe offered.

luke thought about it for a moment. he didn't wanna make the situation worse, but he also knew how much these guys meant to samy and maybe having them close by could help her.

"yeah, actually. if you could," the boy nodded.

"okay, yeah. we'll fly out. i'll call ryan, will, hannah, and all them."

luke knew if anyone could help samy out of something as serious as this it was her family and best frinds that have been by her side since day one.

—

the sound of a dish breaking and glass shattering woke luke up from a dead sleep. he sat up thinking something in his room fell, but when he didn't see anything broken, he pushed the covers off himself and shuffled into the hallway.

he could hear someone cursing downstairs. the door beside him opened and jack's head popped out. "what the hell was that?"

"i dunno. maybe quinn?" luke mumbled sleepily and the two brothers glanced in the direction of quinn's door. it opened as if they summoned him and his head popped out.

"what the fuck was that?" the older boy grumbled.

they knew it wasn't their parents because they were out of town for the weekend. the idea of someone breaking in flashed in their minds until luke's gaze wandered to his sister's door. it was cracked open which meant she wasn't in her room and it was most likely her downstairs making the noise.

"i think i know who," luke said and took the lead down the stairs. the other two followed silently behind him.

there was a soft glow of light coming from the kitchen. luke rounded the corner and like he suspected, samy was struggling to clean up the glass of a plate that must've fallen. remnants of what looked to be a sandwich was also scattered in between the pieces of glass. the girl jumped when she saw her brothers staring at her in the doorway.

"shit, you scared me," she mumbled.

"what are you doing awake? it's 2 in the morning," luke mumbled while jack went go find a broom to clean up the pieces easier.

"i couldn't sleep," samy shrugged like it wasn't a huge deal.

"so you made a sandwich?"

"yeah? i was hungry? late night snack."

jack came back with a broom, but stopped when he saw his younger siblings staring one another down. luke's fear had a habit of manifesting into anger.

"that's funny coming from you," the curly-haired boy said.

"luke," jack immediately warned.

samy's face twisted, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"we know you haven't been eating in weeks," luke spit out.

samy finally hearing someone say that out loud to her made it all set in. the anger the brothers were bracing themselves for from her never came because luke was right. she hadn't been eating in weeks. she ran to the bathroom anytime even a morsel of food touched her mouth. the only thing she thought about was how much she was eating and if she looked overweight. she thought no one noticed yet here were her three brothers were staring at her with eyes full of worry that she's never seen before—and that told her how bad it was because neither of them had looked at her like that before.

instead of speaking, she cried. her eyes watered and the tears started slow until they all poured out at once. the three boys were motionless until luke stepped over the glass to collect her into a hug. he sunk to the floor with her while jack and quinn huddled around the two once the shock was over.

"it's okay, pop. don't cry. we've got you," luke whispered. he rocked her like a baby and it reminded him of when they were younger and he'd hold her exactly like this when jack or quinn were being a bit too mean, except this time he was comforting her from herself.

"it's gonna be okay, i promise. you're gonna get through this."

when the tears settled the boys helped samy back up. she looked like a shell of herself standing there with puffy eyes and self-deprecating thoughts plaguing her mind. none of her brothers have ever seen her like this before. quinn got her some water to clear her throat while jack cleaned up the rest of the broken plate and sandwich crumbs.

"if you wanna talk we're here," luke brushed some hair from her face.

"it's like i can't get out of my own head..like ever. it's easier when i have soccer to distract me, but when i'm not doing anything for weeks on end, it gets bad again," samy explained briefly. her brothers frowned.

"has talking with that psychologist you mentioned helped at all?" jack wondered.

the girl grimaced, "i sort of ghosted her..."

"pop..you know you can't do that. she wants to help you," quinn said.

"i know, i know. i don't really know what it is or why i just can't ask for help," the girl frowned.

"i get it, it's hard. it's never easy, but there's so many people who love you, pop. we don't wanna see you struggle like this. we want you to get better," jack rubbed her arm and the girl leaned into his touch.

"i called gabe. i didn't know how to approach this and i was hoping him or ryan might know. they're gonna come down sooner. he said he'd call will and hannah too," luke explained.

"it was probably better they heard that from you then from me a second time. i appreciate it, moose," samy forced a smile.

"we don't have to get mom and dad involved, but we need to make sure you're going to get better because if you don't, we have to involve them," quinn stated truthfully. the brothers knew it was hard to bring their parents into things, but if this was something that couldn't get better on its own then they would have to tell them.

samy nodded, "i understand."

they cleaned up the rest of the kitchen and helped get their baby sister back into bed for the night. as if they were kids still, they tucked her in and kissed her forehead. when they let her be the three of them exchanged, sad but hopeful glances. samy was probably the strongest one out of the four of them mentally and they knew she could get herself through this. it may be a long road, but they'd stick it out with her for as long as she needed them for.

[peachhcs]

when are you coming out with more will and sammy stuff or the part two for gabe and emma

i've been saying soon for like 3 months now and i'm so sorry it's taken me so long LOL. everything is in my drafts i just haven't had the time to write any of it, but i PROMISE after this week i will be back from my semester long hiatus 🙏

[peachhcs]

firstly, welcome back!! second, cannot believe you just obliterated my gabe and emma heart like that😭😭

i gotta come back with a bang you know 🤩 pt 2 to follow soon..

[peachhcs]

WDYM EMMA AND GABE BROKE UP?!!

😔😔😔 maybe these hockey boys are like every other guy

they’re coming back tho don’t worry! 🙂‍↕️

[peachhcs]

he did the same thing by not telling emma

men and communication = non existent 😣

don’t fear though! gp + emma will return

[peachhcs]

why would gabe do the same thing as will? he knew how it ended up for will and samy?

me when i love stirring the pot in my au's oops🤭

technically gabe didn't do the same thing, emma broke up with him..for reasons undisclosed as of rn unless i make a part 2! (or i just will anyway)

[peachhcs]

keep on dancing…

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

coming out of my hiatus to say that yes, i’ve been keeping up on the news and i can’t believe ryan and gabe are onto their pro careers 🥹🥹 this is not samy + will but i really love writing samy + gabe + ryan’s brother/sister relationship so here’s samy at the regional game in new hampshire where things change very fast when denver eliminates bc (and lowkey cliff hanger at the end lmk if we want part 2)

i also won’t fully be back from hiatus until the semester is done (end of april eeek), but once i’m back TRUST i’ll be back :)

au masterlist | part 2

it really wasn’t looking good as the boys tried pulling for anything they had left in the last period. it was 3-1, bc down by 2 and almost every bc fan in the stands knew they weren’t walking away with a win tonight as disappointing as it sounded.

it was a gutting feeling for everyone. the boys started so strong in the beginning, but the losses hit them fast and hard—first the beanpot championships, not making the playoffs, and now this. with only 8 minutes left, there was no way the boys could scrounge up 2 points to even tie it.

samy stood in the stands getting deja vu from last year’s ncaa tournament where the outcome was nearly the same. they worked so hard to make it to that point and it hurt coming up on the same outcome this time around too.

she knew what this loss would mean once the game finished. she’d been talking with gabe and ryan about it ever since the season started. it started as mere thoughts and considerations, but as the season went on, their decisions became a bit more firm each time they talked and samy knew this feeling all too well.

as soon as that buzzer went off and the time ran out, gabe and ryan would be on a plane to their professional teams in 24 hours to make their debuts in the post season playoffs. oh, how it hurt so bad knowing their time at boston was coming to an end so fast, so soon, and so sadly.

suddenly, samy could see herself standing in a similar arena watching luke play one last time with his michigan teammates before jumping on a plane to jersey.

it hurt more knowing julianne couldn’t make it out and emma was back in boston so neither of them would be here to say one last goodbye. all of the boys’ stuff was packed and sitting in their new places for when this game was done.

the clock ran down like how cinderella had to be back home by midnight. everyone was anticipating it and samy could see it weighing down both boys as they fought tooth and nail for at least one more point. no one even really knew they were signing but her, only close friends and family so the news would be a surprise to a lot of fans.

when the buzzer blared through the arena and the bc fans clapped sadly for their boys samy watched the teams exchange pleasantries. ryan and gabe weren’t huge criers—the only time samy’s seen them cry was last year’s finals—but she saw the tears in their eyes as they skated down the tunnel.

the brunette followed the crowd out of the seats. she texted her brothers the news and then her parents. she knew it’d be awhile until gabe and ryan emerged so samy made herself comfortable in one of the back hallways where they’d appear later. she had the replays up as if it would tell her something that the team could’ve done differently to get those points.

another fifteen minutes passed when samy heard her name, “hughesy?”

she saw gabe and ryan, a soft expression on her features. “hi.”

the girl stood and that’s when she saw how upset the two looked about leaving. she’s known them for quite awhile, yet neither of them have ever looked this sad before. samy opened her arms so one of them could step into her embrace. gabe took the lead and as soon as she wrapped her arms around his large torso, the water works followed and he cried into her shoulder.

samy frowned and then looked at ryan who looked equally as sad but was holding it together for the sake of both of them.

“i know, i know,” she didn’t know what to say, so she comforted as best as she could. her arm stroked his back while her other hand gently rubbed the tension through his shoulders—poor gabe sobbing into her shoulder.

ryan adverted his gaze by turning away slightly. he hated crying more than gabe did and if he ever did cry, he made sure people didn’t see.

“it’s all over. all of it,” the dark-haired boy cried more.

“you played your heart out. you both did. i’m proud of you,” samy looked at ryan too. the taller brunette managed a smile.

“i-i just..fuck. i didn’t even tell emma,” gabe finally pulled away and now it was samy’s turn to be surprised.

“what? i thought you did?”

“i couldn’t bring myself to..i never had the right chance and..i couldn’t hurt her anytime i thought about telling her,” gabe explained the situation and samy’s jaw dropped open.

“gabe.. you can’t not tell her. you're supposed to be on a plane to new york in like..7 hours," samy looked at her phone that read 10:42pm. she knew ryan and gabe were set to head out early tomorrow morning where ryan would go back to boston since that's where the capitals were as of right now and gabe would be in new york.

she couldn't believe gabe didn't even tell his own girlfriend and suddenly she knew that feeling all too well.

"i know, i know..this whole thing has been so hard to think about the closer it got...i thought i'd have more time to tell her if we won.." gabe shook his head. samy and ryan exchanged a glance and the girl imagined emma sitting back home in boston probably blowing up gabe's phone about the loss and how sorry she was and how she had no idea her boyfriend actually wasn't going back to boston tomorrow morning.

"you need to call her," the youngest hughes urged.

"fuck, she's gonna hate me," gabe frowned.

"gabe. you need to call her. don't fuck this all up like will did a year ago," that made the boy snap out of it. the look on samy's face was chilling and one gabe couldn't say no to, so he pulled out his phone and stepped away for privacy.

now it was just ryan and samy in the deafening silence of the hallway. ryan walked a ways until he could sit down on one of the steps that plunged further into the locker rooms. the soccer player silently followed where they sat and stared at the blank wall saying nothing. nothing really could be said because they were both thinking the same thing.

"i can't believe it's over," ryan mumbled.

"you played well. the capitals are going to be real happy to have you. julianne told me how excited she is to visit you in D.C. this summer," samy grinned.

"mm, yeah she's been yapping my ear off about summer. she's planning my whole apartment actually," the two shared a laugh. "it's gonna feel so weird leaving boston again..like for good," the brunette continued.

"for good?"

"i always knew i'd probably come back after dev program, but like this is it. unless they trade me, my new home is washington for however long," ryan explained and samy slowly nodded.

"it's bittersweet. everyone's slowly leaving and monthly reunions will turn into yearly reunions," the soccer player hummed. of course, she'd still visit boston to see drew, aram, teddy, james, vote, and fowler if none of them signed on, but it was going to be different not having ryan, will, and gabe there anymore.

"well, at least we'll always have the lake house to come back to, right? we'll be around this summer, don't worry hughesy. i've been looking forward to this all year," ryan roughed up her arm making the girl's smile return.

summer was so close again and she was really glad she was going into it with will by her side after the events of last summer. plus, this certainly wasn't goodbye forever to the two hockey players. these boys were family and samy knew she'd still be texting them her every thought like an annoying sister from across the country.

"yeah, jack, luke and quinn can't wait to have all of my annoying friends over," the two laughed again. "but seriously, i think you're gonna have a lot of fun in the pro leagues. my brothers will always have your back if you need anything," samy continued more seriously and a small smile sat on ryan's lips which was refreshing to see after the many tears and frowns in the last hour.

"i'm really excited. i think it's gonna be really fun," he agreed.

"one chapter closes to open another. plus, you already know i will be at the games at some point or another. i can't wait to see you two go head to head with will," the girl giggled. one positive note was that next season, the trio's paths were going to be crossing a lot more frequently now that all 3 were in the nhl.

"oh, i can't wait to push that kid into the boards. he already knows i'm not gonna go easy on him," ryan laughed, a genuine laugh, which made samy happy to hear his spirits were slowly lifting.

the friends sat on the step for another good 20 minutes just reminiscing on everything and the possibility of gabe, ryan, and will getting to play for team usa at some point again when footsteps remerged behind them. expecting gabe, they turned around and were not surprised when they saw him, but the look on the boy's face did not look good.

samy immediately got up, "gabe?"

"she broke up with me."

a look of horror flashed on ryan and samy's expressions.

[peachhcs]

gabe and emma would definitely tell each other everything. when i say everything i mean everything. down to the last detail.

YES they totally would. no shame. the guys tell gabe something? oh best believe he’s telling emma. emma’s friend tells her something? she’s already texting gabe and at this point their friends know their business will be shared.

#in my inactive era im so sorry the past few weeks of school have been KILLING me but trust i’ll coming back super soon :)

[peachhcs]

What is samy doing for will’s birthday?

yasss will is 20 today!!!! #feelingold samy flies out to san jose for the weekend to surprise will + managing to get all of his boston college hockey friends over after their game on sunday (trust i had this in the works yesterday i just couldn't finish it) happy belated to will, let me know if you want part 2!!

warnings: underage drinking mention, sex mentioned but not described, that's it??

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"what if he finds out?" gabe's question made samy roll her eyes as she stayed on the phone with him as the eight boys navigated their way through the san jose airport.

"he won't. i promise. the surprise party is set and mack has him distracted all day until it's time," samy reassued the boy probably for the 100th time since they started planning this whole thing.

"do you think he knows you're here? wait, ry, i think we're going the wrong way," she heard gabe mumble something and again, the brunette rolled her eyes. she glanced over at hannah and blaire who looked at her expectantly.

"do i need to come in and get you?"

"no, no. we know where we're going. we can see the exit signs," gabe assured and samy chose to believe him, but if they weren't out in the next five minutes, she was going in to find them.

"to answer your earlier question, i don't think so. he may know i'm surprising him, but he has zero idea you're all here."

samy came up with the plan two weeks ago. she wanted to do something special for will knowing it was his first birthday away from all of his friends and everyone knew she loved surprises no matter what the occasion was. she managed to pull a few strings to get out of practice for a few days and the boys all agreed they'd skip their classes as well monday and tuesday to spend time with will on his few days off. seeing their best friend was way more important than having to do laps across the ice.

"you should go in and get them," hannah mumbled, eyes on her watch. blaire giggled while samy shook her head. they planned the flights so they'd get in within 30 minutes of each other, but now it'd been close to 45.

"i heard that!" gabe exclaimed through the phone.

miraculously, the eight of them emerged from the exit doors, eyes looking for the girls. all of them but gabe and ryan looked shocked at how warm it was in san jose. the older boys spotted her after passing her waving hands two times.

"found you!" gabe exclaimed and hurried towards the three. samy hung up the phone as she embraced the boy.

"hi, good to see you gabo," she chuckled.

"you too, hughesy. hey hannah, hey blaire," the other two girls waved and everyone quickly exchanged hellos.

"i can't believe this is will's everyday. it's boiling," drew pulled at the collar of his t-shirt.

"yeah, i'm sweating my balls off," aram added which earned him a slap on the arm from samy. ryan and gabe helped everyone get their things into the back of blaire's mini van.

"so..some of you may need to sit on the ground..um..just kind of duck your head incase there's a cop. i don't have seats for everyone, sorry," the younger girl giggled nervously.

"oh, you don't have to drive us all there. we can split up and catch an uber too," ryan immediately cut in because he knew the feeling of illegally stuffing people into the car and worrying about getting busted.

"no, i don't mind. i've done it before," blaire shrugged but ryan shook his head.

"no, i don't want you getting in trouble. how many can you fit?"

"like 8 including me?"

ryan scanned the group, his older brother instincts kicking in as he tried figuring out who would be fine getting to the uber by themselves.

"okay, gp you're with aram, teddy, and jacob. the rest come with us," ryan decided.

"okay dad," teddy punched the older boy in the arm. everyone already knew the antics would be through the roof this weekend.

"i'll call it," gabe said.

"everyone else in. party starts at 6 right?" ryan wondered and samy looked at her phone. 3:43.

"less than three hours!" she grinned and could just picture the look of shock on will's face when he saw everyone.

the rest piled into blaire's minivan. drew took the front since he got carsick easily while ryan, samy, and vote got the middle row. hannah and james squeezed into the last row.

"better keep things pg back there," drew eyed the freshman whose face flushed in seconds.

"fuck off fortesque," hannah rolled her eyes.

they were out of there in the next minute since blaire had been taking up a spot in line for way too long now. it was a miracle no one yelled at her about it yet.

"sorry, i know we've hardly even met blaire. thank you for driving us," ryan spoke up.

"it's no problem. i love surprises as much as the next person. you guys are so cool for coming down and skipping class," the brunette grinned.

"he's our homeboy. couldn't leave him hanging," drew joked.

"is hagens teaching you those phrases?" samy eyed the boy behind her.

"i am not!" he defended himself.

"he sends us tiktoks in the group chat," drew admitted.

"fuck off," the younger hockey player complained making everyone laugh.

the rest of the ride filled itself with conversation of catching up with one another and poking a little more into blaire and mack's relationship. the girl happily answered though. she was never too phased by all the questions anymore and she was starting to grow fond of all of these hockey boys she kept getting introduced to.

the boys who hadn't been to san jose yet were gawking out the windows at the big city and warm weather, especially the palm trees. they didn't ever see any of those always traveling up north. samy went to check mack's location and will's. they were somewhere downtown doing things with beckett who was also in on the surprise and drove up for the night. samy strategically changed her location to come from her ipad which she left back in michigan so will wouldn't see her location here. she made the boys do the same thing and left their computers back home, so she was like 98% sure will didn't know any of the surprise.

the marleau's graciously decided to host all 10 guests in their extended house will stayed in, but toffoli agreed to host the party for the night. blaire pulled into the older man's driveway where there were already cars lining the grass meaning the other sharks players were already there.

"holy shit," drew mumbled when he saw the size of the toffoli household.

"damn is this our future life?" vote joked and samy nudged their arms so they'd stop gawking.

"come on, i'll introduce you guys," the soccer player pulled everyone to the backyard where the party was.

they had mostly everything decorated in the time it took to pick up everyone at the airport. eklund noticed the familiar face of will's girlfriend, "is that hughesy! hey!"

he ran to her to give out hugs. the brunette giggled, "hi eck. you know some of them, but here's half of the gang. ryan, drew, also will but we call him vote, james, and hannah who you know already."

"nice to meet all of you. didn't know pup had so many fans," eklund chuckled.

"pup? smitty's been demoted to pup??" drew laughed.

"he hates when we call him that," eklund shrugged, but smiled.

toffoli and bordelau came over to greet the incoming guests. the older man recognized samy and swept her into a hug like eklund just did. "glad you made it here. good to see you again."

"you too, toff. this is half of us. the other half is in an uber on the way," samy reintroduced the boys they didn't know. toff and thomas took turns shaking each of their hands.

"good to know pup talks to more people than his girlfriend and mack," thomas teased.

"you better be writing down these jokes for later," drew nudged ryan's arm.

"come in, come in. we got a few hours, but settle in, make yourself at home," toff invited them in.

the other car rolled in 10 minutes later. samy introduced the last four to will's teammates and now it was just a waiting game. will was supposed to roll in anytime at 6, so the closer it got, the more excited everyone became.

gabe abd ryan properly caught up with the soccer player where they caught her in one of the corners, "hey. thanks for doing all of this. getting us here," ryan said.

samy flushed, "of course, you could never miss something like this. i'm glad everyone could make it," she looked over at the other boys who had no problem immersing themselves into conversation with the sharks players.

"i think they're really happy they're here. we're excited to see will too," gabe chuckled.

"you and me both. i think he's gonna be really genuinely surprised," the brunette nodded. her boyfriend was an easy person to please who never asked for much, but sometimes she couldn't help but give him everything.

mack's text came 10 minutes later simply saying eta is 5 minutes!

"okay, they're almost here! everyone find a place to hide!" samy exclaimed which sent everyone scrambling.

granted, they were outside and the toffoli's didn't have a lot to hide behind, but the boys found corners and slid under tables. samy crouched beneath one of the adirondak chairs with gabe and ryan.

the entire background fell quiet while they listened for the three boys. in the distance, there was some car doors slamming and faint voices coming up the driveway.

"dude i could've just closed my eyes," will complained about something.

"yeah, but what's the fun in that? we won't let you fall," mack chuckled.

samy watched as they came through the gate with a blindfold covering will's eyes so he couldn't see the surprise. mack found her gaze and threw a thumbs up. she coped his action and rehid herself.

mack let the blindfold fall, a huge smile on his features as he saw everyone hiding.

"okay open your eyes," the younger boy said.

will's one eye popped open and then the other when he couldn't see what was going on. he was confused for two seconds until everyone jumped up at once and yelled a very loud "surprise!"

the blonde physically jumped and clutched his chest while his brain tried catching up to what just happened. his gaze flicked across all of his teammates and old teammates staring back at him with huge grins. he landed on samy next and then it all made sense.

"holy fuck," will said almost automatically.

"surprise birthday boy!" gabe jumped forward first.

the two boys embraced in a tight hug. the others quickly joined in for a larger group hug. samy watched them with love and found hannah's gaze. the two girls couldn't be happier that this was their reunion since thanksgiving,

"what the fuck are all of you doing here?" will finally asked when they pulled apart.

"surprising you, duh! you better thank this one," they stepped aside perfectly so it became a straight path to samy. she flushed bright pink, but will didn't waste a second meeting her in the middle.

"i should've known," he mumbled, breathing her in as his face caught in the crook of her next.

a few awh's escaped people's lips, but they didn't care. it'd been too long since they last saw one another.

"i love you so much," will hummed.

"i love you too," samy kissed his cheek and let him go so he could keep making his rounds. once will was caught up with the guys, he was caught up. it wasn't easy to break them apart.

he hugged mack and beckett next for helping with the surprise and then his sharks teammates. samy's smile was wide watching the glow on her boyfriend's features seeing all of his close friends and important people in one place all for him!

she knew he'd take a minute to make his rounds, so she let him have it while she caught up with mack and beckett.

"thank you for helping today," she said.

"of course. a whole day with these two? sign me up," beckett laughed.

"you're definitely getting brownie points amongst the team for this," mack nudged her arm and samy rolled her eyes.

"i like seeing him happy," samy glanced back to where will was excitedly saying hello to all of the boston boys now.

"i don't think he smiles that big unless you're around, so you must be doing something right," macklin teased just a bit.

"i'll take your word for it."

will caught samy's attention and quickly waved her over. the younger boys wiggled their eyebrows before letting her go to where the hockey player was. he clasped his arm around her shoulder as soon as she was near and kissed her forehead.

"wow, it's good to be back together," drew smiled as he glanced around their small circle.

"i can't believe you guys are here," will admitted.

"were you surprised? did you know?" ryan questioned lightly.

"i was and i didn't know, really. i had no idea what was going on. i'm surprised you all kept the secret for this long. especially jacob and drew!"

"i can keep secrets," drew defended himself.

"you have such little trust in us, smitty," jacob laughed.

"and you know what else is coming up? summer! any ideas what our weeks are yet?" aram looked at samy who shot her hands up.

"my brothers are in charge of guests. they're working on it now."

"tell them they can trust us! we did it over thanksgiving," aram continued.

"true! and they know that, so it shouldn't be a problem honestly. i just don't get priority," she shrugged. one of the downsides of being the youngest was that quinn, jack, and luke's friends all got first pick in their weeks.

the party went on well into the night that it started becoming a glow stick party and jumping into the pool. the boys were having way too much fun in the pool once they changed into swim trunks. toffoli was just glad his pool was getting good use out of it.

samy was sitting on the ledge taking a breather and wringing out her hair when will joined her. he was still smiling wide when he looked at her.

"hi," he said.

"hi," samy giggled.

"i've said this a hundred times, but thank you for this."

"of course. you really think i'd let them miss your birthday? you should thank toff at some point too. he may or may not have helped fund some of this trip," the soccer player glanced at the older man hanging out at his table.

"he did not," will was shocked all over again.

"mhm."

the blonde started to get up, but samy held him back, "think of it as a little happy birthday to you."

"but paying for..everyone''s ticket?? that's crazy expensive," will protested.

"and it is, but he insisted even after i tried talking him down. these guys really like you, will," her words earned a blsuh on the boy's face.

he leaned in closer so she'd know he wanted a kiss. she took the hint quickly and sat up to more top reach his lips. they melted into on another, especially after being apart for so long.

will didn't even know if he could pull away if he wanted to. after weeks apart, samy's lips were the thing he wanted to taste forever and kiss forever, but he knew they couldn't. they needed to breathe and that's when he pulled away for a second. longing looks sat on their faces along with the want and need for more though.

"wanna get out of here?" will wondered smugly. samy looked at everyone else way too wrapped up in the pool game of basketball and she knew they wouldn't notice if they snuck off for a few minutes, but toff would see them leave together.

"what about toff?"

"they already know what we do when i come back with a million hickeys and scratches," will mumbled and that made the brunette blush.

she didn't say anything more, but she stood up and let will lead to the way to a bathroom. toff didn't even say anything as they walked by, but he definitely knew what they were up to.

it was safe to say will's never counted down his birthday that way, but he sure wasn't complaining in the slightest. he'd do it all again if he could. him and samy were under the covers once 12:30 hit.

"wish for anything special?" she wondered.

"not really. i didn't need a lot besides new clothes," will shrugged because who didn't like new clothes? especially when he was drsssed up 99% of the time.

"you're a simple guy, i like it," she kissed his cheek.

the boy flushed, but pulled her closer so she was flush against his side.

"best birthday ever, i love you," will smiled.

"i love you, too. gladd we could celebrate together," she squeezd his bicep as a way of telling him she was listening.

they had a long day ahead, so the couple fell asleep fairly quickly and who knows? maybe they did wake up to go a second round at some point during the night. it was will's birthday after all.

[peachhcs]

nothing for smitty’s birthday?

TRUST i have 1 more thing coming!!!!! i have been so behind and have had no time to sit down and actually write something so i'm sorry for missing it :( it was in the works but i got too tired to finish it last night