#and I hate when they do it to the Av’s players especially

[lenacopperleaf]

I’m feeling very Roy Kent about these announcers

[offside-the-lines]

Am I Ready (To Be Loved) | Nathan MacKinnon

Summary: Nate is not known to be impulsive, especially when it comes to love. So what happens when he gets a crazy idea while hungover the day after the Avalanche Stanley Cup parade. a/n: Happy Holidays folks! My first fic back (on this new blog) is a reworking of a fic I wrote for my Winter Prompt request last year (for @fallinallincurls). Thought I needed to start somewhere. This is obviously set in 2022 because I can't stand the idea of the avs squad being different. It also features some of our fave tropes. Pairing: Nathan McKinnon x Female!OC Words: 8K Warnings: alcohol Requests: Open | Masterlist

Charlotte hated these fancy functions. The schmoozing and the small talk were things that made her feel like she was going to crawl out of her skin. No matter how much she would normally enjoy conversation, this just felt fake. And she knew how ridiculous it was. She worked in media. She was always in front of cameras. She took this job knowing this was a requirement. It doesn’t change the truth that, at her core, she would rather be on the couch watching some TV show on Netflix.

Although this wasn’t the first formal event she’d ever been to, this was the first Colorado Avalanche donors’ function. It didn’t help that she had only been working as a correspondent for Altitude TV for a few months; so many knew her name and her face, but no one really knew her personally. So, it was just smile, small talk, comment on the Avs, rinse and repeat.

After an hour or so of this, she was feeling done. Heading to the bar for a drink and found a cocktail table in the corner of the room, tucked near the obscenely large Christmas Tree, where she could just stand and watch. Charlotte looked around the room and wondered how long she had to stay before it was not inappropriate to leave.

“Hate these parties too, eh?” a familiar voice rang beside her.

Despite her shattered solitude, the voice brought out a smile on her face. “What do you mean? I don’t hate this?” she replied, not putting in much effort to hide the sarcasm in her voice. She turned to face the voice and the sight almost startled her a little as she felt her face warm. There stood Nathan Mackinnon in his perfectly tailored navy suit, eyes shining in the dim lighting. She takes a drink quickly to distract herself, reminding herself to be a professional.

“Sure,” he chuckled, “hiding in a dark corner isn’t avoiding the party, Charlotte.”

She shrugs as she turns her eyes back to the party.

“Don’t worry,” he whispers in her ear, making her neck tingle a little, “I really don’t like these parties either. I would rather be at home on the couch with my dog watching TV.”

As he leaned back to sip his drink, she turned to him in surprise. “Oh yeah? Like what? More hockey tape?”

After a bit of light banter, they find that they have the same favorite show, much to Charlotte’s surprise. In the dim corner of a fancy event, they are quoting their favorite lines to each other, trying their hardest not to burst out laughing, hiding themselves behind their drinks so as to not draw too much attention at such a fancy event. Charlotte’s laughing so hard she snorts a little, causing Nate to look at her in surprise before continuing to laugh even harder, drawing some looks from the donors and teammates closest to them. After a while, when they both finally calm down, she feels herself relax a little.

They stood in a comfortable silence for a few more moments before Nate spoke up again. “You know, Charlotte. You ask me questions all the time, but I don’t think I really know anything about you other than your name and your job title.”

“I mean, I only really ever ask you questions about the game or the team,” she responds.

“Yeah, but I’m sure you already know everything there is to know about me,” he said pointedly, but softly. He had a point; it was her job to know as much about the players as possible.

“Okay, I know about NHL Hockey Player, Avs’ Center, Forward Extraordinaire Nathan “Nate the Dogg” Mackinnon,” she says, flashing her hands in front as if to signal an imaginary banner, “I don’t know Nate “a dude who sits on his couch with his dog watching dumb shows” Mackinnon.”

“Alright, that’s fair,” he responds deep in thought. “Fine, how about we play 20 questions? You ask me a question; I ask you a question.”

“How very high school, Nathan,” she pauses to think about it. She wasn’t really sure how to feel about this new friendship. On the one hand, it is her job to get to know the players. Although, she was pretty sure that the fraternizing was only supposed to be in professional contexts. On the other hand, her heart was beating so hard that she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. And at the end of the day, it was Nathan Mackinnon, and he wanted to get to know her. Besides, she knew that he didn’t really date anyway, so she felt safe that there was one of them keeping their feelings in check. Eventually, she responds with a nod, “Sure.”

“Okay!” He said excitedly, his blue eyes lighting up, “Where are you from? Where did you grow up and go to college and stuff?”

“Nathan, that’s two questions. Should I deduct points from you?”

“There are points now?”

“I’m just kidding.”

And so, they went back and forth getting to know each other, talking animatedly, and laughing heartily, until they got through the 20 questions each. At one point, they had migrated to a table to continue sitting down because Nate noticed she was shifting on her feet from the heels. Charlotte was pretty certain that Nate now knew her better than anyone else in Denver.

Eventually, EJ came over and tapped Nate on the shoulder at which point she looked up and realized that most of his teammates and donors had left and they were a few of the last people remaining in the event space.

“Hey,” EJ smiled at you in his signature toothless way, “good to see you’re having fun, Charlotte.”

“Thanks, EJ,” she smiled back.

“Mac Daddy, you’re kind of my ride home, so… are you ready to leave?” EJ said laughing and looked at Charlotte, “I don’t think I’ve ever had to pull Nathan here away from a party before. He is usually begging me to leave.”

Nate bumped his elbow into EJ, not drawing much of a response, as he quickly looked away from her. She could have sworn his cheeks were turning a little pink, but that could also be the lighting.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s late and I want to be up for morning skate tomorrow, unlike you lazy idiots,” Nathan grumbled standing up.

She stood up too, only now realizing how tired you were. “Yeah, damn, it’s late. Well, I had a great time talking to you Nathan,” sending him a warm smile and a nod, “EJ. See you two later.”

As she started walking away, she heard some whispers behind her before Nate called out, “Hey, Charlotte, you good to get home? I mean, do you need a ride?”

“Oh, um… Actually… Sure. That would be nice. Thanks!”

She saw EJ whisper something in Nate’s ear before he was quickly shoved away. Suddenly feeling awkward, she trailed behind them quietly to Nate’s car. As soon as it was in sight, EJ called shotgun and started making a run for it, slipping a little on the ice, making Charlotte and Nate snort with laughter.

Nate offered a hand to guide her across the slippery ground and opened the car door for her, keeping his hand on her as she climbed in. She directed Nate to her apartment, thanking him and EJ quickly as she left. Once she got into her apartment, Charlotte leaned against the door and just smiled for a bit.

*          *          *

Meanwhile, in the car, EJ was basically yelling at Nate.

“Dude, you dog, what was that?”

“EJ, stop.”

“No, I’m serious. I’ve never seen you talk to someone for that long. Not even Barrie or Sid.”

“She was easy to talk to. And it was a good way to get through the event.”

“Nate, don’t give me that bullshit.” EJ’s voice is rarely serious, but it is now.

“I don’t know what to tell you, dude.” Nate shrugged.

The rest of the ride to EJ’s house is quiet and as Nate pulled into the driveway, EJ finally spoke up again, “Tell me you at least got her number.”

“Shit,” Nate let out under his breath before he could stop himself.

“Oh my god, you idiot. You didn’t get her number.”

Nate let out a groan and tapped his forehead firmly on his steering wheel in frustration. As EJ shook his head, and said his goodbyes, Nate’s head was whirring with thoughts. There was no smooth way to ask for her number now. It’s like he missed an exit on the freeway and there was no way off now. The alcohol and the adrenaline meant he didn’t sleep much that night and, for the first time in a very long time, he didn’t make it to the optional morning skate, much to the surprise of everyone.

The rest of the season flew by as the team soared through the playoffs. Nate kept thinking about ways to ask Charlotte for her number but just couldn’t stop overthinking it and psyching himself out; eventually deciding to table the topic until after the season was over to focus on the Cup. But he reveled in every intermission or postgame interview where they got to talk, or the little conversations they would get to have in the arena or on the plane. Occasionally, he’d even slip in a hug, taking in her perfume, under the guise of celebration.

The gossip had now spread through the group — not surprising since EJ has never once kept a secret — and had been an ongoing chirp for Nate. It didn’t help that at the two galas since, Nate was the first one there excitedly scanning the room, but Charlotte wasn’t at either. He’d learn she was covering the Nuggets or the Rapids those nights and would then leave as early as possible.

It got even harder to not think about her as he neared the end of the season, where every phone call with his mom would eventually turn to his cousin’s wedding in the summer and whether he was going to bring a date. Family weddings were the one time he felt he couldn’t leave early, forcing himself to endure the suffering that was being single in your late twenties and watching people be in love. Not to mention all the comments and questions: wanting gossip, wanting a date, feeling sorry for him.

*          *          *

Charlotte was happy with the casual platonic friendship that she had found with Nate. She always looked forward to talking with him at games because he was always more relaxed with her than the other boys, even occasionally giving her a sweaty hug after a good, exciting win. Her co-workers had made some comments about how unusual it was, but she just chalked it up to them knowing each other better now.

The job kept her busy, busier than anticipated. And it felt like the year had flown by before she found herself at the celebration gala for the newly crowned Stanley Cup Champions. The atmosphere was different from the last event she had been to. That one was for schmoozing. This was only for celebrating. The energy in the room was intoxicating and she had a big smile plastered to her face as soon as she walked in.

Charlotte made her way through the crowd and congratulated everyone she saw and recognized. Eventually, she stumbled into Gabe.

“Congratulations, Gabe!” you yelled.

“Lotteee! Thank you!” he yelled back, pulling her in for a tight hug before spinning her around. He was so drunk, but he did look unbelievably happy. When he finally put her down, he grabbed her by the arm and very dramatically whispered in her ear while pointing, “Nate’s that way.”

She looked at him confused and surprised, but he didn’t let her say anything before not so gently pushing her towards Nate. And she didn’t protest, because when she finally saw him, she felt her heart speed up again. He looked jubilant, swaying slightly with EJ, face pink and hair messy. She had learned over the last month or so that she really liked the way he looked with the playoff beard.

Charlotte wasn’t sure whether to disturb whatever EJ and Nate were doing, but once EJ saw her, he let out a screech so loud she had no choice but to turn toward them. “Charlotte! Lotte! Lott Ness Monster! Come here!” But once you got here, he immediately left, vanishing to leave her standing in front of the very flushed Nathan Mackinnon.

“Hi Nathan, congratulations! Well deserved. It’s been an absolute privilege watching you this season,” she said, unsure what to do as her heart kept racing faster at the way drunk Nate was looking at her.

“Oh, stop with that professional speech and give me a hug,” he slurred, pulling her in tightly.

She chuckled and let herself enjoy the warmth and the firm contours of his body against her before forcing herself to pull away. He only let her get so far, leaving one arm still wrapped around her shoulders.

“It’s nice to see you enjoying yourself at an event like this,” she said softly.

“Well, I had to! You weren’t at the last two of these, so I had to find a way to entertain myself with EJ,” he said, pouting. She had certainly never seen him pout, but she was even more surprised that he noticed and cared.

“Oh! Yeah, I had work. Sorry.”

“I know. Who even cares about the Nuggets.” he mumbled under his breath before throwing his head back and yelling a quick “GO AVS!” that was followed by a loud round of cheers. After a few seconds, he piped up excited again, “Are you enjoying yourself today?”

“Um… I think so! It’s nice to see everyone so happy and energetic.” Her eyes scanned the crowd, smiling until she caught Gabe and EJ staring and pointing at them. Before she had the chance to ask Nate what that was about, he was pulling her towards Mikko on the other side of the room.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of drinks, laughs, and the warm firm feeling of Nate’s arm around her shoulders. With each passing drink, she found herself leaning into it more. She was sure her face was so red that it rivaled JT’s hair. But if the boys noticed, which they were too drunk to notice, they didn’t mention it. And even if they did, she doesn’t remember.

*          *          *

The next morning Nate woke up with the worst hangover of his life. He had collapsed on top of all his sheets fully naked, and so he also woke up with a slight feeling of shame and dread at what he might have done the night before. When he finally reached over to check his phone, it was blowing up with messages.

gabe the babe (INCOMING): dude did nate finally hook up with the lott ness monster

JT (INCOMING): omg nate, you have to tell us if you did

mooseman (INCOMING): he definitely did, did you not see how he literally didn’t stop touching her the whole night

Nate buried his head in his sheets and groaned, trying to rack his brain for memories of himself being an idiot around Charlotte last night. But he was drawing a blank. After minutes, he finally lifted his head again and opened a private text to EJ.

Nate Dogg (OUTGOING): ej, please tell me you remember if I did something stupid last night

EJ (INCOMING): yeah. you did.

Nate Dogg (OUTGOING): FUCK what did I do

EJ (INCOMING): you didn’t take lotte home with you you fucking idiot

Nate Dogg (OUTGOING): what

EJ (INCOMING): you just fucking disappeared in an uber without even saying goodbye. and EYE had to make sure she got home okay

Nate Dogg (OUTGOING): oh, well it could’ve been worse

EJ (INCOMING): HOW

EJ (INCOMING): HOW COULD IT HAVE BEEN WORSE

Nate Dogg (OUTGOING): idk if I did something stupid or said something bad

EJ (INCOMING): dude, you have got to ask her out, you two clearly like each other

Nate Dogg (OUTGOING): i have no idea what you’re talking about. we're just friends. we just work together. like you and me

EJ (INCOMING): YEAH RIGHT DOGG if you were touching me all night like that, we would be having a very different conversation ;)

EJ (INCOMING): please tell me you at least have her number now

Nate paused and thought back to the night before, but it was such a blur he didn’t know. But when he looked in his contacts, her number wasn’t there.

Nate Dogg (OUTGOING): nope

EJ (INCOMING): you are so fucking hopeless. i hope you find a pair at home this summer so you will finally do something about this crush

EJ (INCOMING): or maybe when we come back in the fall, she won’t be so single anymore and it won’t matter

Nate felt his stomach turn and he groaned. The hangover finally hit him but he was typing a sarcastic response when another message interrupted his thought.

Sarah (INCOMING): congrats again bro! are you bringing someone to the wedding?

Nate (OUTGOING): wow, really cutting to the chase this morning.

Nate (OUTGOING): and no.

Sarah (INCOMING): what you’re telling me a stanley cup winner can’t find a date

Nate groaned again and muffled a scream in his pillow. He knew that his sister and mom would not drop this subject from the moment he got home. He knew that they would probably try to set him on dates, or worse introduce him to every single woman at the wedding. He lay there, head on his pillow, for a long time, until finally, he had an absolutely insane idea. An idea that can only come to someone after the happiest day of their life followed by the biggest hangover of their life.

Nate (OUTGOING): fine, I’ll bring someone

Sarah (INCOMING): OH MY GOD WHAT WHO

Sarah (INCOMING): NATHAN RAYMOND MACKINNON IF YOU’VE BEEN DATING SOMEONE THIS WHOLE TIME AND HIDING IT FROM ME, I’LL KILL YOU. I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU’VE WON.

Nate (OUTGOING): nope, not telling

Sarah (INCOMING): you are a child and i hate you

Nate (OUTGOING): I love you. See you soon.

Sarah (INCOMING): URGH

Sarah (INCOMING): Love you too. I’m calling mom.

*          *          *

Charlotte woke up with a splitting headache and the room spinning at 6 am. And despite how horribly she felt, she couldn’t get back to sleep. She could still feel Nate’s arm on her shoulder, and his lips against her ear as he whispered something unintelligible, and the scent of his cologne lingering on her hair would waft into her memory every few seconds making her heart skip. She was absolutely certain that he was more drunk than she was, and that he was a touchy drunk. She felt even a little guilty for taking advantage of his touchiness, getting as much as she could last night.

After a few hours of being unable to get back to sleep, she peeled herself up and drew herself a bath with a cup of tea. She still wasn’t able to stomach food yet, but she felt her body relaxing in the warm water, finally letting Nate slip from her mind. Eventually, she got up and padded around the house thinking about the long summer ahead. It was her first summer with not a lot of work to do, and since it was her first year in Denver, she also didn’t really know many people or have any concrete plans.

She had just sat down at her computer to research ideas when she heard a buzz on her apartment intercom. She looked down at her phone confused, but there were no texts there from the few friends she had made so far.

“Hello?” she stutters cautiously into the intercom.

“Oh my god, thank fuck,” a familiar voice rang back, “it’s you. I’ve been buzzing every apartment and I swear your neighbors think I’m a crazy person.”

“What?”

“Um. Oh. Sorry, Charlotte. It’s Nate.”

She was stunned silent. Stunned and confused.

“Um… Nathan Mackinnon…” He filled the silence nervously, “You know… From the Avalanche.”

That snapped her out of her trance as a laugh bubbled out of her. “Oh my god Nathan, I know who you are. Sorry. I was just confused. How do you know where I live?”

“Um, well when we first met, I dropped you off here. So, I made the gamble that you still lived here and just buzzed every apartment to see.”

“Oh. Wow,” she says, stunned, confused and flattered, “Um, is everything okay?”

“Ah, yeah.” He paused. “You know, I just realized how dumb this was. I’m really sorry to disturb you—”

“No!” she says louder than she intended, “No, Nathan, wait. Let me buzz you up.”

“Oh, okay, yeah! Thanks!”

She paced around her entryway, thoughts racing. The door knocks still startled her, and as she walked over, she looked down at her sweatpants and realized there definitely was no time to change and prayed she looked okay.

“Hi, Nathan,” she smiled, opening the door, “Um, do you want to come in?”

“Oh, sure,” he hesitates and makes a gesture to hug her before chickening out, pulling away and stepping past her.

“So, what brings you to my humble abode today?”

“Your apartment is cute.”

“Thanks. It’s not NHL superstar level, but it’s pretty good to me.”

He chuckles and leans a hip on the kitchen island, stuffing his hands into his pockets. His eyes were firmly trained on the ground. She wasn’t really sure what to say, so she moved behind him to start making them both some tea. He studies her as she moves around and wonders how it’s possible she looks so good in your sweatpants and messy bun when he feels like his entire guts might just drop out of his body.

Eventually, he spoke up, “Um, so I realized I didn’t have your number.”

This made her laugh, a proper belly laugh. “What,” she manages to get out, “you came all the way here because you don’t have my number.”

“Well…” he hesitates, “Yeah. I mean, I never asked for it I guess.”

“Okay, do you want it now?” she was still laughing.

“Um, yes?” He was shifting on his feet, rubbing his neck with his hand, leaning awkwardly on the countertop.

“Okay,” she reached a hand out.

He looks at her confused and gives it a slap.

“That was for your phone, silly. Not for a five,” she was laughing even harder now. And his cheeks turned bright red as he handed her his phone, not meeting her eyes. She passes the phone back to him along with a cup of tea, “There you go. So… What was the huge rush? You could’ve emailed me or something for it.”

He paused and laughed, “Honestly, I didn’t even think of that. I guess my brain doesn’t work very well when I’m hungover.”

Charlotte took a seat next to him on the kitchen island as they sipped their teas.

After a few minutes, he clears his throat. “Actually, that’s not why I came over. I mean it, but it isn’t the main reason.”

“Okay?” she encouraged.

“I had a really stupid idea and it was stupid at the time, but now I’m here it’s even dumber. So, I’ll just settle for the number.”

“Okay, Nathan, you can’t just say something that cryptic and not tell me.”

His face went bright red again and he shuffled in place. “No, it’s okay.”

“Okay, no. You don’t get to interrupt my hangover recovery and not tell me why.”

He sighed and looked away. After a while, he mumbled under his breath very quickly, “Fine. Icameheretoaskyouifyou’dcometomycousin’swedding.”

“What?” she said, not sure if she misinterpreted the mumbles or if she was dreaming.

“Um… Well, my cousin, back in Nova Scotia, is getting married in a few weeks. And my mom and sister keep bothering me to bring someone. And I just had this stupid idea. Because you’re the only person I’ve had fun with at those big events. So, this morning, in my post-Stanley Cup alcohol delirium I thought Hey, I should ask Charlotte if she wants to help me survive a social event and get my parents off my ass about not having a date? So here I am. But obviously, that was insane. So don’t worry about it.”

Charlotte looked at him, mouth open, in shock for longer than acceptable, and felt her own cheeks redden. A little lightheaded, before she could really stop to think, she responded, “Sure! I mean why not? What’s the harm in me going? I don’t have any plans.”

His head snapped up to meet her eyes for the first time in a few minutes and Charlotte is captivated by the way his sharp blues light up in response. It was when she saw the smile take over his face and her heart sped up that she knew this was probably a huge mistake. But a mistake she didn’t want to take back.

*          *          *

“So, how long have you two cuties been dating?” the fifth person in a row asked. Charlotte wasn’t sure if this was an aunt or a family friend, but she forced the smile back on her face as she responded.

“Oh, we’re not dating. We work together, kind of.”

The lady looked between the two of them, and Charlotte could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickle again as she was acutely aware of Nate’s hand resting on her lower back.

“She’s here as my date, yes, but we aren’t dating. We’re just good friends,” he replies gently but firmly, the same way he had been doing all weekend, before changing the subject.

But she was lost in thought. She had been here for a few days, and she had to admit that Nova Scotia was beautiful, and Nate’s family and friends were wonderful. Despite not knowing Nate super well, she had never felt out of place. He had always made sure she was included in conversations, explaining anything that felt like an inside joke. She thought back to all the times she had met a boyfriend’s family — there hadn’t been that many, but enough to know that this was far better than any of them did.

Nate had been awkward and hesitant at first, jumping away every time he touched her by accident on the plane ride over and flinching when their knuckles brushed when he went to help her grab her luggage. But he slowly allowed himself to loosen up a little, reading her lack of discomfort as a good sign. He always prided himself on acting like a gentleman; even though women complained that he was stiff and unromantic, he tried. He found himself putting in an extra effort to hold open the door for her, to pull out a chair for her, to offer an elbow as she walked on the uneven pavement.

If Nate was in his head about every move he made, Charlotte was ten times more in her head. They had only really spent time together at work and work functions. And she wasn’t sure if that’s why something felt different here, more intimate, or if she was just imagining it. She was starting to feel like he was going out of his way to touch her; laying a hand on her knee when they were sitting next to each other, tapping her elbow to show her something, keeping a hand on her back when they were standing.

She had tried her hardest not to lean into his touch every time, but she couldn’t deny the comfort his large hand on her back felt—god, was his hand always this large. It was never too low as to be intrusive; just resting chastely on her mid back to remind her that he was there and was ready to take a break from the socializing at any point.

Whether she was imagining it or not, it was starting to drive her insane. Her skin constantly felt buzzing and hot, tingling in the places he touched, electrified in the places closest to him that craved his touch.

Nate’s low voice in her ear startled her out of her thoughts.

“Hmm?” she responded as she felt her neck and ear flush with the brush of his lips on her ear.

“Oh, I was just asking if you want to go for a walk,” he murmured, “you’re looking a little overwhelmed.”

“Yeah, sure,” she breathed, her voice coming out a little shaky with how close his tall frame was to her.

And so, she reached out and took his extended elbow as they slipped out of the rehearsal dinner and wandered down to the waterfront in silence.

“I can totally see why you love it here,” she finally said.

“Hmm?” he hummed.

“It’s beautiful. The water. With the lights reflecting. And all the beautiful trees. And the fresh air. I can understand why you love coming here in the summer.”

“Yeah, it’s truly something,” he looked over at her with an unreadable expression on his face, but his eyes were warm and soft. It looked like he wanted to say something for a second before he shook his head and looked away. “I’m glad you came with me. You make these big events bearable.”

“Just bearable, Nathan?” she laughed, trying to break the tension in the air she couldn’t really explain. And his chuckles were quick to join hers in the warm summer air.

And just like that, they fell into a comfortable rhythm again, laughing and chatting. Eventually, he walked her back to the hotel and their adjoining rooms.

“Well, here you go, m’lady,” he joked, letting his arm fall from her for the first time in a while. He began to turn towards his room but hesitated for a second before turning back and pulling her into a tight hug. She let herself melt into the hug, embracing the warm buzzing feeling in her chest as she felt his larger frame engulf her. He didn’t let go when she thought he was going to, instead whispering in her ear, “Thank you.”

“Thank me for what, Nathan?”

“For coming with me. For being so good with my family, even though they keep asking intrusive questions. For just being you,” he said, pulling back. They were standing so close together that she could see every shade of blue in his eyes as they looked at her intently. She swore she saw his eyes flicker to her lips briefly before the smallest sharp intake of breath he tried to hide as he untangled from her. She could feel her body ache a little as her cheeks burned.

She didn’t know if it was the glasses of wine or the dizzying tension, but before she could stop herself, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Of course, Nathan,” she murmured, “good night.” She smiled as she turned away and opened her hotel room door as quickly as possible.

She didn’t dare to take a peek back at him, but if she had, she would have seen his eyes wide, and cheeks flushed in shock. Instead, she quickly ducked into the room, shutting the door behind her, leaning back against the cold wood, and closing her eyes. What the fuck am I doing, she said to herself, Nate is a sweet guy, who I work with. I’m just doing him a favor. And he clearly thinks I’m just a good friend, as he keeps saying to everyone. Get it together.

She walked away and started getting ready for bed. It took her a long time to fall asleep that night, tossing and turning as her mind raced through the moments of the day, all the little touches and glances and the sparkle in Nate’s blue eyes.

 *         *          *

The following day was the wedding, and the morning passed comfortably despite neither of them acknowledging the moment they both wanted to talk about so badly. Soon, she found herself sitting beside him in the church, watching the beautiful bride stand next to her adoring groom.

While the ceremony went on, Nate was having a hard time staying out of his thoughts as the celebrant talked about love and marriage and as the happy couple exchanged adoring words with each other. It was not that he hated weddings, not at all; in fact, he loved them. He loved the celebration and the emotion. But as the years went on, it became a stunning reminder of what he did not have. With every wedding and every failed relationship in between, he felt more alone, like maybe something was wrong with him.

Charlotte noticed that Nate seemed emotional, lost in his thoughts. She had no idea what was going through his mind, but she could sense that he was troubled. At some point during the ceremony, when Nate found himself particularly emotional, he had reached his hand over and grasped hers. She had to try hard to hold back the small gasp that threatened to escape her lips. But seeing his troubled expression, she squeezed his hand. And, inexplicably to her, his hand never left hers, not during the rest of the ceremony, or the walk over to the cocktail hour space. He only reluctantly let go to help her to her seat once they got to the reception.

Although they both enjoyed the reception food, they had both been so deep in their own thoughts that their conversation with the table was stilted and almost awkward. Eventually, as the night wore on, and the gentle fuzz of liquor started to take over, they both started to relax. Nate, after starting and stopping for almost 15 minutes, finally asked her to dance; his heart rate racing as she excitedly nodded yes.

Which is how they found themselves on the dancefloor for over an hour. At first, it was awkward. They were standing a foot apart, dancing independently; she, laughing at Nate’s horrible dance moves, and Nate, feeling electrified by the way her body moved. Eventually, they got closer and closer together until they were swaying in each other’s arms to some horrible Mariah Carey song, making snide remarks in each other’s ears and not caring how obnoxiously loud they were laughing at the jokes.

A few drinks later, their inhibitions were lowered enough that she found herself with her back against him. His arms wrapped firmly around her waist as she leaned into his warm, towering figure. Both of them were no longer sure if they were intoxicated by each other or the drinks, but they did not really care. After they were grinding to a Doja Cat song, she swore she felt something press against her back, but she was not sure as Nate swiftly excused himself to use the bathroom.

And that’s how she found herself at the bar by herself.

“Nate really likes you, you know?” she heard a voice say beside her. When she looked over, she saw his mom giving her a knowing glance.

“Oh, Mrs. Mackinnon, we’re just friends,” Charlotte managed to choke out, despite feeling her throat tighten.

“I know, sweetie, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be more there,” she smiled, laying a soft hand on her forearm. She had never felt herself sober up faster.

“I appreciate that, but we do work together,” she strained.

“Please, call me Kathy,” she continued, not acknowledging Charlotte’s weak protest. And when she did not respond, Kathy added, “You know, I’ve met a number of his girlfriends, and he had never looked at them the way he looks at you. Or even treated them the same way. He’s barely left your side since you got here.”

“Kathy, I’m sure that’s not true. You have raised an amazing son. I’m sure he is just as kind to anyone.” She could feel her cheeks feel heat as she started scanning the room, desperate for Nate’s return.

“Sweetheart,” Kathy spoke softly, “I have been married for many years. There is only one reason a person looks at someone the way he looks at you, and that’s love. If you feel the same way, you should tell him. Don’t stand in the way of your own happiness, dear. Life is too short.”

She smiled as her husband came to stand next to her; and before Charlotte could protest again, she gave her a gentle hug before walking away, leaving her standing there with her head spinning at her words.

Charlotte gripped the edge of the bar and downed her drink in one go once the bartender handed it to her, earning an eyebrow raise. She jumped and let out a little squeak when she felt a warm hand press into her back.

“Woah, it’s just me,” Nate joked before he met her eyes and his brows furrowed, “are you okay?”

“Um, yeah,” she croaked out stiffly.

“Are you sure?” he stepped in closer which only made her stiffen more, “You seem… I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable?”

“What?” she tried to say calmly, although it came out an octave too high, “What makes you say that? Nope. I’m fine.”

He furrowed his brow more and leaned back, confused, before removing his hand from her back and stuffing them in his pockets. There was a twinge of sadness in his eye as he looked around, unsure what to do. “Okay, then. Do you want to go back on the dance floor? Or I guess not. We could sit back at our table?”

“Yeah,” she said awkwardly, finding a normal tone again, “Table sounds good.”

They sat in silence for a bit, just watching the other guests dancing, both deep in thought. She was stuck thinking about what Nate’s mom had said. If she thought about it, she could totally understand why an outside observer would see their relationship as something more than friends. But if Nate had feelings for her, why did he so insistently refer to her as his “good friend”? And even if he did like her, she wasn’t sure about the implications for her job. Was she going to get fired? Probably not, if she was upfront with HR. But she was new to the city and relatively new to the field. What if people started to see her as the girl who ‘goes for the stars’ or the girl who’s ‘just here to get in some rich athlete’s pants’. She had worked too hard not to be taken seriously now. And maybe if things worked out, it would eventually blow over. But if it didn’t work out… If it didn’t work out, she wasn’t sure what would happen, but she felt it would be bad.

Meanwhile, Nate was panicking; combing through every moment of the evening, trying to find where things went wrong. He was finally feeling like he had an idea of how she felt. Like maybe if he told her his feelings, she would reciprocate. Did he go too far with the dancing? Was Drunk Nate too caught up in the moment and did something inappropriate and unwanted? Nate was never much of a verbal processor — he preferred to stew on things first, —  and maybe it was the remnants of the alcohol lingering in his system but he felt the words trying to bubble up in his chest. He didn’t even know what the words would be; maybe words to explain how he felt about her, to make sure he didn’t do something wrong, to make sure she was okay.

When she finally felt the grip on her chest loosen and the thoughts begin to slow a little, she snuck a quick glance at Nate. His jaw was set firm, and brows furrowed. He was staring into the crowd on the dancefloor, but he was clearly not watching them. He looked tense, and she could see the panic she felt reflected on his face. She found herself reaching out and taking his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze; a move that clearly surprised him as he jumped a little before smiling and relaxing into it.

“Nate, I’m actually getting kind of tired. I’m thinking of heading back to the room. Did you want to stay longer?” she said gently.

He squeezed her hand back and gave her a small smile, although the worry hadn’t left the contours of his face yet, “No, I’m actually ready to head back too. Come on.” He pulled her onto her feet.

They took the ten-minute walk back to the hotel in relative silence, tethered together by their interlocked hands. Nate spent the whole walk back planning his speech; he was going to tell her how he felt because he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Holding hands with her just felt so right. But for her, despite how nice it felt, it caused an overwhelming sense of panic to rush back through her. It was nice. It was too nice. It was going to ruin everything.

Stepping out of the elevator, the words escaped her lips before she had the chance to hold them back. “Nate, I think this was a mistake,” her voice was barely above a whisper. He froze beside her and managed to choke out a “What?”

“Nate,” she said, pulling her hand away from him and backing towards her door, “This is giving me a taste of what I can’t have. And this friendship… I don’t think I can do this.”

“What are you talking about?” he replied, still stuck in the spot where she left him, his voice louder than he had intended.

“The touching, the holding hands, the being sweet… It’s too much,” she said, unlocking the door, not meeting his eyes.

“What—” he repeated, his voice cracking at the end. Her mind didn’t process that the pain she felt was echoed in his voice.

She sighed, stepping into the doorway, “I can’t do this, Nate. Because if we keep doing this, I’m going to fall in love with you. And I can’t do that while being your ‘good friend from work’. So, I’m going to bed. Good night.” She finally met his eye as she stepped back to shut the door, barely registering the way his face flickered from hurt to confusion to shock to hope.

Charlotte rested her forehead against the door and let out a shaky breath. She could feel the tears form and slide down her face. She tried to convince herself that it was the right move, but the only thing she could hear in her head was the sound of Nate’s mother’s voice saying ‘Don’t stand in the way of your own happiness, dear. Life is too short.’ What if Kathy was right? What if protecting herself from pain was causing more pain itself? What if it would work out? As she stood there, she listened for movement on the other side of the door, but she heard none. Was that hope she saw in his face there? If it was, what did it mean?

Before she could finish the thought, she heard shuffles and a rapid knock on the door that startled her. She didn’t know why, but she opened it without hesitation.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I did something earlier that made you uncomfortable. I'm sorry if I'm crossing a boundary now but I would never forgive myself if I didn't say this," he said, looking at her with concern. When she nodded, he continued speaking.

He confessed to her that he had never been this person before, love-struck and irrational. He had always been calm, detached, and calculated, but with her, he couldn't help it. He couldn't help being rash, like inviting her to the wedding or reaching out to touch her and be close to her.

She had told him that she couldn't do this because she was scared of falling in love with him, but he revealed that he might already be in love with her. He had been saying that she was just a friend and a colleague because he was scared, but he had never felt this way before and was afraid he would mess it up.

During the wedding ceremony, he looked around at everyone and realized that he had won the Stanley Cup this year, but he still felt off. He kept thinking about her - how her laughter made him want to make her laugh again, how her smile warmed his chest, and how he could still feel the tingle where their skin had touched even after she left.

He admitted that he had never been sure if he had truly been in love before, and maybe this was it. He thought they owed it to themselves to find out because he believed she might feel the same way. He knew it might not be the most rational decision, but it was everything he had to say.

Feeling a shaky breath escape her lips, she heard the voice in her mind, "Don't stand in the way of your own happiness, dear. Life is too short." For the first time on this trip, she felt her mind still and smiled as she closed the distance between them. With her chest pressed to him, she looked up at him, admiring his soft and nervous blue eyes. She reached up to cup his neck and met him in a kiss.

The kiss was gentle and soft at first, as she chastely felt their bodies slot together; his hands finding her waist, and hers fisting his suit jacket to bring him closer. After not long, she felt Nate run his tongue along her lip and she allowed herself to deepen the kiss, conveying the emotion that was hard to put into words. The feeling of his firm hands against her waist and his muscular body against hers again made her feel as though she were on fire. And she had to admit, she liked this quite a lot. Eventually, they disconnected and rested their foreheads together as they took in the moment.

“So, are you going to say something?” Nate whispered.

 “Yeah, uh, ditto,” she whispered back, giggling slightly.

“That’s it?!” he leaned back in mock horror, “After I poured my heart out, that’s all you have to say?” She could see a smile tugging at his lips.

“Well, I think for the first time in your life, you have spoken enough words for both of us, Nathan,” she laughed as she gave his chin a little pinch, drawing a laugh from him as well. She leaned back in to place another firm kiss on his lips before saying, “I like you a lot too. Like a lot a lot. It scares me. But, as the kids say, you only live once, and I need to stop being scared and just see where this goes because I think I might be in love with you, Nathan, and I need to find out if I am.”

He smiled broadly; it’s the smile she loves, the one where his nose scrunches a little and she can see the genuine happiness on his face. And as their lips rejoined, she slowly started to pull him back into her hotel room.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” he says, disconnecting their lips briefly.

“Uh, right now? Sure, I guess,” she raised her eyebrow.

“Why do you always call me Nathan? Everyone always calls me Nate.” The question catches her off-guard and she laughed as she continued dragging him into your room.

“I was trying to remind myself to stay professional and not fall for you,” she laughed as she felt the back of her legs hit the edge of the bed.

“Right…That worked so well, I’ll have to remember that one for the future, Miss Charlotte,” he laughed back before kissing her again so deeply and passionately that she forgot whatever retort was on the tip of her tongue.

[player1064]

reverse of ur outed!gary fic: Jamie comes out early in his career (all aggressively "so fucking WHAT??!!" about it). Cue closeted gary (who still hates scousers) trying (and failing) to ask for tips on coming out whilst still playing.

Jamie doesn't realise Gary's gay until they're proper friends, YEARS after retirement

I've been thinking this one over trying to work out how I wanna do it and well anyway today I finally sat down to write it and uh at what point does a drabble stop being a drabble and start being just. a fic. bc this one comes in at 1.2k words so like. hi!

---

“Is Neville staring at us again?”

“I mean –” Stevie quickly glances back over his shoulder, “—yeah, he is, but he’s always had that sort of –” he looks at Jamie and widens his eyes in an imitation of Neville’s default glare, “—y’know, he’s just stare-y. ‘s probably nowt to do w’you, don’t be so vain.”

Except, all day Jamie feels eyes burning into the back of his head, and every time he turns around Neville is there, pretending he’s not been looking straight at him.

It’s Jamie’s first England camp since coming out, and until now he’s been so safely wrapped up in the bubble of the Liverpool dressing room that he’d almost forgotten that the rest of the England squad, especially the Mancs, are fucking dicks. Always have been, and among the Mancs there is none more dickish than Mister Manc himself, Gary fucking Neville.

He’s always ignored the Liverpool players, has always shot glares at them from his little huddle of friends, but Jamie’s pretty sure it’s worse this time around. And only one thing has changed, so.

Homophobic little prick.

Neville may always be surrounded by his little gang but Jamie is too, he’s got Stevie and Mickey and Redders, so he doesn’t have to make any attempts at civil conversation and everyone can just go on ignoring each other, both on and off the pitch.

(And people wonder why it’s been so long since England won a trophy.)

But then Jamie sprains his ankle during five-a-side, and he’s fine, really, but he’s sent off the pitch to the treatment room.

The treatment room, where Neville – who’s done his calf or his hamstring or his who-gives-a-shit – is going through his physio exercises.

Neville stops when he walks in and, surprise surprise, he stares, his lips pressed tightly together.

“Carragher,” he bites out in greeting.

“Neville,” Jamie responds with a curt nod. “Don’t worry your ugly little head, I’ll just go back to my room. Can’t do much to me ankle ‘sides rest it, anyways.”

“No, you should – I mean, you can stay. Makes no difference to me, like.”

“Fine. Cheers, then.”

He limps over to the mini-freezer that holds the ice packs, then hops up onto a bench and rests his foot on a cushion.

Neville keeps staring at him, the whole time.

“’s not catching, y’know,” Jamie grumbles.

“Wassat?”

“Bein’ gay. So you can stop fuckin’ lookin’ at me like that, ‘s not like I’m gonna try anything. Not w’you, that’s for sure.”

Neville blinks a few times. “That’s not what –” he scowls. “—yer not special, y’know, just ‘cause you like suckin’ dick. Yer not special at all, are you, how many minutes’ve you played for England now?”

“Fuck off, you’re the one who won’t stop starin’ at me. ‘scuse me for not wantin’ to get beaten up by some skinny Manc.”

“I’ve not been starin’.”

“You fucking have. I’d ask if you ‘ave a crush but I think I’d rather take the beating, thanks.”

Neville scowls again, his cheeks flushed, and then he storms out of the room.

Jamie doesn’t speak to him again that international break.

*

“’ve I got somethin’ in me beard?”

Gary must not have realised he was staring, because he blinks and ducks his head, mumbles a “sorry, Carra,” just like Jamie knew he would.

Because Gary’s always staring, it’s just what he does. Jamie’s used to it by now, that intense focus of his. It’s almost nice, sometimes. Flattering.

They’ve finished shooting for the day and are sat in a pub near the Sky campus. Jamie’s just finishing his third pint, while Gary’s still nursing his second. Probably for the best, really, he can be such a lightweight.

Case in point: Gary suddenly turns all serious, frowning at Jamie and saying, “Carra,” with all the same gravity as if he’d used his full name.

“Yeah?” Jamie asks lightly, because who can be bothered with all that.

“Carra, why d’we never talk about it?”

“Talk about what, Gaz?”

“Me ‘n’ you.”

Jamie splutters into his drink. “You what?”

He must be going insane, is the thing, because he’s pretty sure Gary’s just asked –

“About me. ‘n’ you. And whatever that might’ve – meant. Back then, I mean, obviously not – obviously not now, ‘m not –”

“Gary, what the bloody ’ell are you talkin’ about?”

Maybe it’s the alcohol, or the lighting, but Gary’s flushed a delightful shade of pink. He stares down at where his hands are resting on the table, fidgeting.

“Why’re you makin’ me say it, I were young, it – it’s embarrassing.”

Jamie waits, arms crossed.

“Ugh, fine,” Gary huffs eventually, “since you’re insistin’ on bein’ all obtuse, James, fine. We’ve been workin’ together for years now, I’d like to think we’re friends, and I were just wonderin’ why you’ve never mentioned the crush I used to have on you, in England days. I mean, I know you wouldn’t – like, I am aware, that I’m not – y’know? But you tease me about everythin’ else, I never understood why not that, too.”

It takes a second, to process.

You can’t blame Jamie for that, surely, because what the actual fuck. Like, what the fuck.

Gary’s staring at him again, expectant. Nervous, maybe.

What the fuck.

“You –” Jamie starts, because he worries if he doesn’t say something soon Gary might get all wobbly. “You – Gary, you what?”

Gary’s flush deepens.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I know it’s – I know I weren’t exactly your type, back then. Or now, I s’pose, though, ha, don’t think I’m really anyone’s type, am I? Y’don’t need to rub it in, I were just wonderin’ why y’never mentioned it.”

“You –” Jamie tries again, still unable to get past his first sticking point. “Since when d’you like men?” Since when did you like me, he wants to ask, but that seems like far too dangerous a territory for three beers deep on a Wednesday night.

“You what, Jamie? ‘ve you been hit in the head?”

“I could ask you the same! You’re straight!”

“D’you need me to call a doctor? Straight, Jesus. Me? ‘m fucking gayer’n you, I’ll tell you that for free.”

“I – we’ve been workin’ together nearly ten year, why’d you never tell me?”

“Why the fuck would I ‘ave to tell you, you’ve known since 2004!”

“What do you mean, I’ve known since 2004, d’you not think I’d know if there was another gay footballer in the prem, or ‘re you forgettin’ all the shit I went through just because I was the only one.”

They’d not even been friends in 2004. They’d been barely civil, even when they were teammates at England. When the fuck would Jamie have had the chance to –

“Oh my God. ‘re you telling me that whole fucking nightmare of an international break you spent glaring at me like I’d killed your nan was because you fucking liked me?”

“You didn’t know?” Gary screeches. “You’re the one who said it!”

“Oh my God,” Jamie repeats. “We could’ve been doing this for twenty fucking years.”

“What, arguin’? I think you’ll find we –”

Jamie kisses him, both as explanation and because sometimes he really needs to learn when to shut up.

[crow-talks-hockey]

end of season opinionated rankings of nhl teams

so i'm now completely settled into being a fan, ofc there's still more to learn about all teams, but it's nearing the end of the season so i wanted to do this again for funsies and give explanations this time :3

colorado avalanche- my family team, overall i love them the most and i'm the most attached to them idk why necessarily

pittsburgh penguins- oh boy did this team grow on me, mostly because of my good friend @beagss , i've learned to love them very dearly but i also have no clue how it happened lol

carolina hurricanes- this team is just fun and generally good, i'd be okay if they didn't make it too far unlike with the pens or the avs but it's still great seeing them succeed cos i really like the team and j think they're super underrated

seattle kraken- my family's secondary team+ they have burky so i can't not like them, and their vibe is immaculate too. i also have grown to like many of their players such as matty or geekie or mccann

minnesota wild- i like their players and they have flower, which is nice to see him on a team i generally like. i don't like them when it comes to being division rivals with the avs, but out of all teams in our division i like them the most and can tolerate them cos they're cool

calgary flames- they have good vibes honestly, idk about most the players but they have naz now so i have a soft spot for them. they're chill with me i guess :)

edmonton oilers- this one's weird because they're a team i'd say i love to hate when it comes to playing them, but i also want them to succeed?? like, i like their players and mcdavid and drai deserve a cup at this point tbh. they seem alright, very middle of the road as far as how i feel about them because it tends to shift day to day for me.

vancouver canucks- some people i follow like them a lot and they seem pretty cool, i want them to do well. i also like their players and overall i feel like they deserve to be treated better lol, they really got to me after the horvat trade and the bruce situation.

new jersey devils- i love so many players on this team ngl. it's nice to see them doing well this season given their less than great past. also my good mutual @toothlessdudebros is a big fan, so how could i possibly hate them?

buffalo sabres- another team i just want to do well, especially with the players they have. another huge reason? josty. that's it. just jost lol. (miss you king)

toronto maple leafs- oh you guessed it. i want them to make it past the first round, i feel bad at this point. they have a great group of guys that i've come to like quite a lot. as much as i like to poke fun at leafs fans, it does have to suck and i know the feeling

ottawa senators- they have a bright future i think, i like brady tkachuk and a few other guys there so i'm rooting for them a bit.

tampa bay lightning- another team i love to hate. i like their players, but playing against them is the worsttttt and it makes me wish florida would sink into the ocean forever lmao. you have to respect the back to back runs thiugh, definitely what i've looked to as a hopeful avs fan. there's some things that really annoy me about them, but i'm more lenient to say i'm okay with them than not.

arizona coyotes- idk about y'all tbh, i am aware of your existence but like are you really there??? if ykwim. i had some guys i liked there but they all got traded lol. most mid team ever, also what on earth is that arena???

washington capitals- you guys have some players i like, especially in kuemper (miss you) so you're alright. idk about ovi, also the old pens vs caps rivalry has made me less than lenient to be alright with y'all' lol. still have a legend there tho, so i gotta respect it a little bit.

new york islanders- bad cos of the rivalry(?) with the pens, but i like barzal and now beau is there so it's alright. some people i follow like them, so they're just okay

florida panthers- matthew tkachuk. that's the reason i like you. and i guess barkov is ok too. but honestly who *really* likes florida anyway? bring my boy ratthew back to calgary. please.

winnipeg jets- morrissey is cool? also jesse from bardown likes you guys and he's cool so you're alright with me. other than that? not much to say lol

anaheim ducks- should have kept the purple and teal jerseys smh. bring them back. do it. i dare you. other than that there isn't much to say since they've just been bad lol. i like zegras tho :))

columbus blue jackets- who the hell places an nhl team in ohio? i always forget you exist i'm not gonna lie. i'd be okay if you guys got bedard i guess???

san jose sharks- why are there three californian teams, it's worse than florida lmao ':] karlsson is your only redeeming factor.

chicago blackhawks- i... don't like y'all? idk the vibe just isn't right. being bad also just doesn't help the situation of me not liking you, sorry blackhawks fans. the avs have the superior toews anyway.

detroit red wings- old avs rivalry instinct says not to like y'all. larkin is the one redeeming thing, but being located in detroit might as well cancel it out

montreal canadiens- i know lots of people sympathize with you but.. idk i can't. i like lots of the players but, the vibe is so meh that i can't really bring myself to care :/

la kings- again, why three californian teams??? doughty and fiala are alright, but in the end i think i'm still salty over some avs and pens and canes losses lol

new york rangers- your fanbase gives off the complete wrong vibes for a team that hasn't won a cup in a hot minute. i know there's some good rangers fans out there, but man the view i have is so skewed from seeing bad fans. please prove me wrong. i like some players tho, if that's anything :>

dallas stars- weird. goofy. but in a bad way? idk how to feel about you guys... but i don't get the best vibes, also the avs and stars are division rivals and that doesn't help it at all lol

nashville predators- playoff hatred leftover from last year+ the duchene betrayal and karma *reassuring thumbs up* :)

boston bruins- shared family dislike. how are y'all so good? criminal. terrifying. gotta respect it... but i simply don't wanna <333 if it's anything's, i hate you less than i did at the start of the season.

philadelphia flyers- pennsylvania rivalry=bad. also youre vibes are just so.... off. i also am not a john tortorella fan

saint louis blues- i could write an ESSAY on why i despise y'all. the fanbase vibes are all off and your only redeeming quality is in kyrou but that is way overshadowed by how much i hate b*nnington with a burning passion.

las vegas golden knights- tbh idk why i hate y'all so much, i just do. i simply loathe y'all. always have, probably always will. sorry but not sorry

[stopgapsolution]

My teams for the 2023-24 season as of 2/12/24

Tags for this year

Duckies lb

bolts lb (need a hated team since I'm pissed at the bruins)

Preds lb (O'Reilly and I need a second western team)

Wings lb (trying to be more supportive of the home team this year)

**Eat shit avs

**Eat shit sharks

**Eat shit leafs

** means they will only be used when my teams play against them otherwise I pretend they don’t exist

as always avs, leafs, sharks, panthers, auston shitthews and ratchuk are extremely hated by me and I will insult them frequently especially when I have to suffer through watching them against my teams and blogs for these teams/players have a 99.9% chance of getting blocked because I don't want anything to do with them at this point

[nicohischier]

do you know why a lot of people hate the blues?

im not sure about the reason others hate the blues, but i can tell you mine?

my reason for hating the blues (and probably a lot of peoples reason, but i cant speak for them), outside of hockey team rivalries, just boils down to my hatred of binnington to be honest.

for one, he has a history of making racist tweets (which i believe he has since deleted) and brushing it off as him trying to be funny. i surprisingly can't find much about this, to be honest. it might be because i'm not looking hard enough or it's because there simply wasn't much discussion over his comments.

also for a more personal reason for why i hate the blues/binnington (and more in-depth, since there's not shortage of footage of binnington being a piece of shit on the ice), he just has a really bad personality? he HATES losing and he's not afraid to take it out on another player. like when he recently got suspended for two games for punching ryan hartman in the face while still wearing his blocker (after the wild scored), or when he punched jason zucker in the face when zucker was chasing the puck behind his net which set zucker into the boards (while the pens were up 3-1), or when he swung his stick at nazem kadri's head (when the avs were up 3-1), or when he dogpiled on top of elias pettersson after the canucks scored (and after the game he sorta implied it maybe had to do with pettersson winning the calder instead of him because he feels he deserved it more).

honestly you can check out this timeline i found if you want because it has the video evidence of most (all?) instances of binnington being unsportsmanlike and having a terrible temper.

it's not that i don't think players are allowed to get angry and upset about losing, but when you start doing the things that binnington has been doing it starts to get dangerous and that's when i can't have respect for a player (to say nothing of the racist tweets). especially with the zucker hit, tbh. there's a reason your teammates call out a warning when they see a guy come up behind you when you're against the boards; it can be dangerous to get slammed into the boards if you're not expecting it! and zucker was not expecting binnington to hit him in the face. when he went sliding into the boards it could have ended zucker's night (or longer) because binnington can't handle losing a game.

there is a difference between guys in the league who are pests and who talk shit and aren't afraid to get into fights with people, and guys like jordan binnington, who acts like a child when things don't go his way and is clearly willing to resort to dangerous plays out of frustration.

i don't think i really hate the blues so much as i hate binnington and, as long as he's on the team, i will never be able to support the team. prior to binnington i was actually pretty neutral towards the blues, so.

[rosesvioletshardy]

TELL ME ABOUT A FEW OF YOUR FAVORITE HOCKEY TEAMS. IDK ANYTHING ABOUT HOCKEY BUT WANNA GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER. SO I'LL START WITH THIS

okay! (this is weird because no one that i know and are firends with have ever asked me about this so this is amazing)

so to start off, i have 5 teams (which a lot of people hate (mainly dude hockey bros) and they are the colorado avalanche (avs), new york islanders (isles), carolina hurricanes (canes), philadelphia flyers (flyers), and calgary flames (flames)

i'll just tell you a little about each team since i don't want to make this like a whole ass fic

(putting a cut because i accidently wrote a lot)

the avs are the recent 2022 stanley cup champions for the first time since 2001 after a long season and finally making it passed the second round after 3 years of losing in the second round. they have an amazing group of guys and are all brothers to each other, it's lead by gabe landeskog who was named the youngest captain in nhl history but is currently on ltir. we have amazing players and were lucky enough to get cale makar in the 2017 draft with the 4th pick and acquire artturi lehkonen during the trade deadline in march and he was a big help with the playoffs as well as cale

the isles were pretty much the first team i started to like when i first watched the nhl draft in 2015 and thought their now star player, Mathew (Mat) Barzal was cute. the team is pretty much filled with a bunch of veteran players and everyone on isles tumblr loves the 4th line which people in general call "the identity line" but we all call it "the dilf line" because dilfs pretty much

the flyers, they're a lot. last season they fired their head coach and we had a replacement but with him they kept going on losing streaks, not doing so good, etc. so this off season, they hired a coach who not everyone is a fan of, i think he's eh because he's actually making them be good but at the same time he hates it when younger players in the league try to do something cool. the only player that a lot of people hate is tony deangelo because he's a racist so whenever he scores we call it a ghost and don't acknowledge him at all. the only thing that sucks with this team sometimes is the injuries since we've lost a lot of core guys due to them

the flames are the only canadian team i like and they're doing decent this season but also not good which sucks because our goaltender last season had nine shutouts and you think acquiring jonathan huberdeau and mackenzie weeger from florida while losing matthew tkachuk and johnny gadreau to columbus would make up for it but it's been a battle, especially losing johnny and matthew, but we have nazem kadri who was on the avs and won the stanley cup with them so that's also a plus

and lastly the canes. i was happy we got rid of the racist but upset when he went to the flyers but we ended up getting brent burns from the san jose sharks so that makes up for it. a lot of friendships on this team like all my other teams, andrei svechnikov and pytor kochetkov, who have a little brother / older brother relationship especially because andrei helps pytor a lot with translating since he knows little english. there's also sebastian aho and teuvo teravainen (who's currently on ir which sucks), and so many more they have a great twitter admin that's truly amazing. at the end of home games if they win, they have something called a "storm surge" where they gather at center ice around the logo forming a circle, clapping their hands slowly then quickly before they do something like skate and hit the boards etc. here's a video from 3 years ago of all the storm surges if you want to see

[kait16xo]

Dance Moms: A New Era: Thoughts (Episode 10/S1 Finale)

I FINALLY GET TO SEE THE NATIONALS GROUP AS GOD INTENDED LETS GOOOOO!!

Excitement aside, I have to issue a MASSIVE trigger warning for death (specifically drug related/fentanyl linked deaths). This is not a light episode, so watch it at your own risk. And with someone you love and trust if you feel you cannot watch this episode alone.

They also talk about Lorena Bobbitt which is gruesome but kinda discussed less somberly so take that as you will

Spoilers under the cut :) if there’s another season I’ll be recapping it for sure

* Oh shit we’re right where we left off

* “Her cousin overdosed” WHY IS ASHLAN MAKING ME SAD A MINUTE IN 😭 oh I just wanna hug my girl

* BULLSHIT PLACEMENT FOR AUDREY. BULLSHIT.

* Mina should’ve been on the top actually 🤷🏻‍♀️ no hate to Gina but didn’t she underperform according to Glo?? 🤨

* Glo has a good point but isn’t pyramid supposed to be based on the previous episode? Not the whole season??

* I’m so ready for Ashlan to show Glo tf up

* Oh interesting 🌝 Kaeli’s back

* Now I’m not the biggest empath but I don’t think Audrey’s as big of a fan of Gina 💀

* WHY WOULD THE DIRECTOR OF THE COMPETITION TEXT GLO SAYING THEY WERE CRYING AND THEN AGREE THAT THEY SHOULD BE?? Didn’t know Lifetime’s roster of child abusers worked directly for Starpower now

* Audrey throwing them under the bus mad quick 💀 not much of a team player despite comforting Gina 🤨

* I know NO ONE was expecting Ashlan to be the lead, but given she has experience with the topic she deserves that opportunity to grieve. I’m rooting for her.

* Y’all are seriously still going to grill on Ashlan for having a lead when she has an emotional connection to the story 🤨 jealousy is a disease

* Putting them in a body bag quicker based on how much they underperform feels like some morbid sacrifice lol

* Ope- there goes Bellatrix

* Roxce baby…not right now. Back it up a notch. Like, a lot of notches

* Kaeli’s just like “well shit…I missed a lot”

* “Can I go to the bathroom now?” Audrey you comedic timing diva

* It’s nice to see Glo have fun amidst a grueling nationals practice

* BELLATRIX DOING THE JOJO DANCE WAS SOMETHING I DIDN’T EXPECT BAHAHA

* Roxce gives some good pep talks

* And then there’s Min trying to get a tired Mina to do crunches

* CANDY JOY AND CANDY SWEETS GETTING THEIR OWN LOWER THIRD IS SO FUCKING FUNNY BAHAHAH

* I agree so hard with Lisa and Leslie. Audrey knows how to perform 100%

* Almost 298 is an incredible score especially for a junior solo (in reference to Ave Maria)

* Every time I hear this music (I See Red) I think of 50 shades idk why

* Min and Jing talking shit in their native tongue took me clean out

* Oh scissorhands gloves where tf have I seen these before? :/

* Bella is so pretty

* Gina’s story works well for her but I’m not feeling this solo just yet

* I feel like I’m gonna sound racist but why are the only two Asian moms so insufferably hard on their kids? Like I get you’re trying to help but can you let them do things on their own please? The other moms seem a lot more chill (and then Lisa is just…Lisa)

* “Are you perfect?” “I’m not” “Then why do you expect me to be perfect?” SPEAK ON IT GINA 🗣️

* Well, at least Jing is *attempting* to comfort Gina. Definitely awkward though LOL

* Aww Ava’s here with Jeanette :) also I love that the throwback clip didn’t have that fuckass blue filter on it

* I’m the same age now that Ava’s brother was when

* I hope the person who gave Devon the pill is in fucking prison rotting. Ava was only 18 and SHE found her brother dead. That’s fucked.

* Ashlan needs to stop making me tear up. The hug between her and Ava is such a beautiful bonding moment between girls and dancers of different generations

* Only I’d go from tearing up to giggling at Gina and Audrey being goobers

* Ashlan morning breathing on her mom LMAO

* “Audrey why do you think you’re gonna win?” “Because I’m great” oop-

* Audrey girl I wouldn’t throw stones in glass houses regarding back tucks

* Audrey’s so mature looking for her age. I never realized how tall she was either.

* Oh Audrey’s contacts are CUNTYYYYY

* It feels so weird hearing Audrey’s legal name LOL

* “That was cool as shit!” Me, like several times during Audrey’s solo

* I could never be a competition judge because all these poor kids would hear is “that was cool do it again”

* Oh Audrey’s “one girl” was def Gina cmon now

* Gina’s such a good technical dancer

* Gina did really good but she probably could’ve brought more emotion—I agree.

* They think Audrey is the clear winner but I think both were on the money

* Tammi hasn’t lost her shit this bad since like e2. Holy fuck.

* “Jing and Tammi are both dumb bitch” based as fuck Min. This scene is literally saved to my camera roll

* It’s okay maybe one day Lisa will learn there is no point talking to her child before she goes out to dance. Not today, but someday

* Having the moms write their kids names on the bags is DARK. No mother should have to even THINK about losing her child

* We sure hope these girls and moms have the best setting spray on the market 💀

* I forgot Min’s son passed. Way to make this poor woman grieve again.

* Ava’s hair is so pretty

* You could hear a pin drop in that auditorium if Ashlan’s crying was THAT loud. Absolutely impeccable performance

* Ashlan acted the fuck out of that. It would be Glo’s loss to cut her after that.

* BROTHA?? 5TH?!

* And Gina didn’t even place? Are these judges mentally present??

* Okay so the judges remembered how to do their fucking jobs for the group thank god lol

* I feel like a proud mom for Ashlan. Watching her grow as a person and a dancer and GLO FINALLY GIVING THIS KID SOME PRAISE!! This is my daughter now sorry Lisa

* “I beat Gina!” Girl u got 5th pipe down

* I’m sorry does Tammi have Audrey’s contacts in the confessional? LMAO

* “But we’re still proud of Gina bc she worked her butt off!” That’s a team player right there

* Bella and Ashlan doing their lil jumpy jump aww

* I just know Ashlan’s lil soul is BEAMINGGGG good for her

* So we don’t even get to see who come back this season?? Rude

[comphyjost]

seeing lots of posts who do not like Vegas - just wondering you can give a brief explaination as to why? I know they screwed Flower but I don't know anything about them really

oh boy there’s a lot 😅

— there’s a lot of things that the vegas golden knights are hated for. and yeah, part of it is due to the immediate success that they found when they first joined the league after their expansion draft in 2017 going all the way to the finals and continuing to make the playoffs…but there is a lot more to it than just that.

— from my understanding, its rooted in that, the fan base, the players themselves, the management, the social media, and the disloyalty to their players.

— to start off: the fan base. and like any fan base in any sport, there are fans that suck. they have a way of taking something so fun like enjoying a sports team and turning it into something completely different. and that happens, that’s fair, people are like that. but there becomes a certain point. and yeah it’s true that not every fan in a sports fan base is like that. but in the case of the knight the interactions a lot of people have in vegas at the games or anywhere else or online have proven the reason a generalization of that they’re insufferable.

— one incident that comes to mind while i write this before bed is last year in the playoffs when a vegas fan took an avs fan flag. and wouldn’t give it back and it started some fighting i believe. that’s just an incident i know of because i’m in the avs news cycle kinda online.

— i have heard other stories of instances. i won’t comment on them though because i don’t have any information on them other than the rumor. like i said all sports teams have insufferable fans and not all of them are like that in those fan bases that come off as entirely unbearable, but as a whole that’s the consensus the rest of the nhl’s fans have developed as you can see online.

— next, the players themselves. i wanna start this off to say, not all teams have all great players. and i’m sure there is a lot of people who have different opinions on the dirtiness of a player. but on vegas, they had reaves for years (he’s on the rangers now) and he was known to be dirty for the way he played the game, head hunted, and continually did it again and again. there’s also kolesar with the bowen byram hit which was a dirty play.

— a dirty play doesn’t necessarily make for a dirty player or a dirty team, but it kinda does when it seems to happen again and again with many different players behaving this way, it become a culture around that team that other nhl fans can see. that’s all i’m gonna say about this.

— the management. god i could say so much. the stashing of players on LTIR like tampa did. don’t even get me started on that. there has been so many moments, but what really bothers me is their coach and how shitty he can be not just to other teams and the comments he makes, but also to his own team.

— which brings me to the disloyalty to their players. i mean look at what happened with MAF and how they treated him after everything he did for them. also now look at how they’re treating robin lehner. like do you just hate goalies?

— you can even look at how they treated evgenii and didn’t even regard his no trade list and their was that big issue surrounding him during trade deadline. the social media even made a tweet about how they recognize the league’s decision and welcome him back after trying to trade him to a team he couldn’t legally be traded to.

— oh for sure, it was supposed to be a joke and come off as one like with nick fury in avengers, but it doesn’t come off as one with that history especially knowing the joke finishes with ‘i have elected to ignore it given it’s a stupid one.’

— because their social media has a history of being offensive and annoying with fans of opposing teams. i have never seen another professional team’s social media behave the way they do. they ruffle feathers in all the wrong ways.

— an example that comes to mind that i just posted about is when they took the avs playoff slogan and tweeted it using ‘descend as one’ instead of ‘ascend as one’. that was really rude and classless.

— this wasn’t brief at all, but i hope it gives you a basic rundown of things. if you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask! i’ll have more time to answer tomorrow or friday.

— on that note, goodnight and fuck vegas! the evil has been defeated ❤️

[peniswentz]

Okay, I never thought I would do this lmao but I gotta because honestly they lost me. I can't even be emotional about it. They're just gone.

I don't know how to start this, because I don't know what to say. This is one of the best groups I've been a part of. Everyone here is so welcoming, so funny, and just it was always so enjoyable. It really fucking sucks to get stabbed in the back though, like what Don did by signing you know who. I knew they were going to be stupid, in terms of morals, sadly every team is. But I didn't expect it to be this bad. I liked this team since I was 12, when I found out who my favorite nhl player was (sebastian aho), and I hate to just go like this. Since I was younger I promised myself to be loyal to the teams that I like, that I wouldn't quit them no matter what. This was so expected but unexpected, that I just don't know what to do. I don't understand how I love this sport so so much, but as an lgbt POC, it just won't love me back. I feel so unwelcome here at times, even if it's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to bring people together. Why is it doing the opposite to me? I spend every day watching as many of my team's games, especially, I pay attention to every trade and signing, and I love to talk about every aspect of this sport, so why won't it just welcome me? The canes signing DeAngelo feels like I just got punched in the gut over and over. It makes me remember that this team, and this league, doesn't CARE. I considered quitting being a hockey fan, and I still am. But one thing is for sure right now. I'm saying goodbye to the canes. I loved everyone on this team so dearly. All of them. It sucks to see them go just like that and it sucks for me to stop watching them. I wish (the remaining ones) the best in their careers. But, I hope the fo, and people responsible for this signing to take place, the worst. I hope to see the canes be at the bottom of this league as they deserve. I hope they realize at some point how bad of a decision they made. I hope Ethan Bear the best while he's there, and it absolutely sucks to see what's happening. Everything feels like a slap in the face right now. I'm not gonna be here in canes lb anymore, and I hope this crew knows how much I respect and appreciate them. I'm in other lbs too (avs, leafs, sometimes pens, though probably more now that I'm... Not here.), so I hope to see at least some of you there maybe. Thank you guys for being awesome though🖤❤

[trashcatsnark]

Oh, let me continue the subject of the jealousy of these two. You're saying that Johnny isn't the type to hold back when it comes to emotions. And it really is. But... there is a moment in the game when V talks about his exes or about stupid compliments in a conversation with River. And Johnny doesn't say anything. I would write it off as a scenario move, so as not to shift the focus from the River. But this isn't the only time Johnny ignores events in this quest line. See the second question

Part 2 for context:  So... I continue. Do you remember the moment when you watched brain damage and lost consciousness, when you and River were searching for clues about the mayor's murder? Johnny never ignored the moments when V passed out. Here River comes to the rescue, and you would think that he knows that there is someone to help and nothing to worry about ...But in similar situations with Judy and Panam, he would appear and deliver his moralizing remarks or make snide comments. 🤔

Personally, I do believe this is sort of a meta issue. I’ve talked about it a little bit before in a general post; how given his characterization, Johnny does not in my opinion talk as much as he should. In a more comedic example, I mentioned how could anyone honestly look me in the eye and say that Johnny wouldn’t have a comment on the guy with the exploding penis implant????  Like Johnny is majorly characterized as a guy who can’t leave well enough alone and always has something to say; yet theres a fairly large percentage of gigs and missions and moments where you’d think Johnny would have something to say and he doesn’t. There’s also times where lines are blatantly reused and in a jarring way.

Like, I could be wrong, but I think they reuse him saying “There it is” with both V getting Nibbles and a man committing suicide in a gig. Like????? 

Meta wise, I do think it’s partially a fear of over incorporating Johnny to the point players found him annoying. Because even now, some people find him irritating and wish he’d talk less. So, that could be a factor. The idea of not sidelining love interests is a factor of course. While, he has commentary through out each love interests questlines. He always does mostly bugger off during the romantic lead up and the actual kiss then sex. Because well, it might be a bit of a buzzkill and if you’re trying to get laid and Methed Out Future Keanu Reeves is yelling at you from the corner of the room. I mean, it’d probably enhance my experience but some people aren’t into that. 

As for why stuff like, him ignoring V getting zapped by the braindance in River’s quest. I’ve always thought that was ooc. Like, short of potentially the bd having fried him up for a bit, kinda like the emp blast does when V and Panam take down the AV. But overall, over and over again, Johnny is shown to be the first one there when V gets hurt. Even if its to yell at them for going into the toxic water or he waits a beat to appear once Panam is done looking over V. 

And that could be because they potentially again wanted to give more attention to River or... and I always hate to get into this sort of discourse, cause I know it aggravates some people. It was an oversight, something not caught, something not thought of, just because to be fair...River has the least polished questline of the love interests. The male love interests in general imo were sidelined more. But, River A) has the least amount of quests to build up to his romance, B) is the most easily missable love interest since he’s not even required to meet for the secret ending the way Kerry is. and C) this could just be my own personal experience, maybe cyberpunk 2077 provides unique bugs for everyone, but his quests are the buggiest for me.

And to be perfectly clear, this is not me being a dick to River. Do, I think some aspects of his character are kinda tone deaf, sure, but I like River. I think he’s a sweetheart, who’s usually pretty stiff, but has his cuter jokey moments and is a puppy dog underneath.  I love doing his quests because they’re truly very emotional, being able to help his family. Like, being able to save Randy is one of the best feelings in the game to me, knowing you saved him and so many other young boys. That’s why it honestly breaks my heart to see how little polish and attention his quests were given. From the calls glitching, him not staying on comms in the first quest, Johnny in my game doesn’t even give the dialogue warning my V about River wanting to sleep with her, like it just does not show up for me, The cobbled together family photo. The weird pacing of the romance that goes from 0 to a 100. Randy’s face glitches and clips through the mask when you’re saving him. Like the concept, the investigation, the intense stakes, and the emotional impact of his quest are all so good; but CDPR just did not in my opinion take enough time with it. 

So, maybe they didn’t bother to script and put Johnny in that scene despite it being something he’d most definitely pop in for; cause they just didn’t take their time with it like they could have/should have. 

And in regard to Johnny in universe and talking; while like I said he’s more upfront and direct with his anger and side comments that he uses to hide his real feelings. I do think, especially if its post oils field convo, a part of him tries desperately to bite his tongue and just sit with his feelings if he think its best for V. In the more love dovey romance moment with River, I could see him being like, “okay, V wants this, as much as it pisses me off, V deserves to have some good in their life” and tries to hold back and be good and then five seconds later “CANT BELIEVE YOU’RE GONNA MAKE ME FUCK A COP” cause he can only behave for so long. 

And I do wanna note; I am by no means consider myself a Johnny Silverhand expert. I’ve said this before, his characterization and just him as a person can be very messy, very all over the place, and contradictory at times. He can try to kill V and then the next day pop up to chat with them in a diner and be like “why aren’t you happy to see me?????? you still mad?????? its been a whole ass 5 hrs since I told you to kill yourself and bashed your head into a window, gotta learn to let shit go dude.” So, sometimes I worry I’m making him ooc, but its fun nontheless, so. 

[chriskreider]

[image id: a screenshot of a conversation from the Steve Dangle discord

message from discord user Drewsway, “Boy there are some Ranger fans that really don't like that I said JT Miller was traded away for reasons that go far beyond the quote AV thought he was lazy unquote narrative lol”

reply to this message from discord user steph, “wait, eyeballs emoji, elaborate on this, because i always just assumed it was a clearing cap space thing plus lowkey tanking for the mini rebuild”

message from discord user Drewsway, “Yeah I can elaborate a bit. First, let me preface with obviously I'm not CJ (NHL reporter Chris Johnson) or Elliotte Friedman or anything. I'm not a professional writer, journalist, insider, etc. That said, through some connections I've made doing the Blueshirts Breakaway work I do and thanks to the fact I personally know someone worked in the Rangers front office for a number of years, I do get some inside info that most do not. One more caveat here: yes it is 100% possible JT Miller has done a lot of growing up, and I might just be being an asshole for being hesitant to giving up real assets for him because of things that happened when he was in his early to mid 20s.All that said, the way JT Miller was described to me when he was traded from the NYR to TB was, quote The epitome of what is wrong with much of hockey culture unquote. He was entitled, a brat, treated staffers like shit and like he felt they were beneath him, and threw a temper tantrum whenever things didn't go his way. He also was pretty openly resentful early on to the success of his teammates, especially in the Torts and early AV years when he felt a player that was worse than him was getting opportunities he felt he quote deserved unquote. Beyond that, he was a total club rat and got into sticky situations multiple times. Now, if i were a rich athlete in NYC in my early 20s I'd be a club rat to. It was much more than that. He was kind of the epitome of that steroetypical male jock from a bad 80s movie that felt like women should be bowing down at his feet and should just be grateful he'd even look at them, much less talk to them. There also are 2 incidents of bar fights that NYR PR had to help sweep under the rug. One i was told was he punched a bartender. Lastly, his teammates grew to really not like him. After he was traded, he went on record and made that comment that the NYR locker room was toxic and he was glad he was dealt. I was told emphatically that no, the room was not toxic, it's just that everyone hated him.”

“So, like, in the grand scheme of things relative to the absolute shit we see with NHL players, by no means is he the worse or anything. And yea a lot of this is along the lines of what can happen when you're just a fantastic athlete your whole life and get spoiled because of it. But, all of this led to the NYR just having enough of him, and were looking to trade him away because they grew tired of his act.” 

/end id]

so. do we believe this or what

[ghostbassist]

16 and 20 with Luke? Fluff please?

My Favorite Pillow

Masterlist

Requests

Add yourself to my taglist

Etsy

Pairing: Luke x Reader

Prompt 16. “You’re strangely comfortable to lay on.” Prompt 20. “Are those my clothes?” 

Warnings: A little suggestive content maybe?

Summary: Movie night at your house turned into you waking up to Luke laying on you the next morning. 

A/N: Hi, I don't know if you guys figured this out yet but in my universe for the 90s, Trevor never was in the band. Also I kind of made up their favorite snacks and movie because why not? Much Love 🌻

Movie night with the band was a regular occurrence. This normally happened when the boys had a stressful week. Reggie’s parents wouldn’t stop fighting at all, Alex’s parents wouldn’t even look at him, and Luke was still constantly fighting with his parents. 

Your house was always the boys safe haven, besides the garage of course. Whenever the fighting got too much, Reggie would show up at your house and sleep in the hammock in your room, cuddling your stuffed llama. Luke would show up every once in a while and just rant to you about his family and it would normally end with him laying on your lap and your hands in his hair. Alex would only come around if it was dire, he hated burdening people with his issues.

Hence, the movie night becoming a thing. Your parents had always loved the boys and treated them like their own sons. One night every week, the boys would all come over and you four would watch movies in your room. Most likely, the movie would be a happy one that Reggie picked out. Tonight was no different, each of the boys had an especially hard week, so you went to the store and picked up some things.

“I know you guys have had a really bad week, so I went and picked up some of your favorite snacks. Reggie, I got you some popcorn and m&ms. Alex, I got you chocolate covered pretzels. Luke, I got you a bag of sour cream and onion chips.” You say tossing out the snacks as each of the boys sat down in their usual spots. “I also knew you guys would want a funny movie so I got Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls!” Whipping the disc from behind your back and tossing it at Alex to throw into the player. Walking over to your bed, you notice that Luke it sitting in your spot. “Sir, you need to move or at least move over.”

“Your bed isn’t that big and I always sit on the floor.” He answers whining before a thought pops in his head. “Wait, I have an idea, just lay down and trust me.” You think for a second before deciding that he can’t do that much harm and laying down. Reggie hits the lights as Luke makes his move to sit back down, but instead of sitting down next to you, he lays down on you. “See, now we’re both comfortable.” 

“You’re only comfortable because you get to lay on her boobs Luke, now  shut up the movies starting.” Alex says throwing a pretzel at him. You nod your head in agreement but decide what the hell. About half way through the movie everything started to fade as sleep overtook you.

Waking up the next morning would have been pretty pleasant if it wasn’t for the 17-year-old snoring on your chest. Looking around you noticed that Alex and Reggie had left, most likely to get food downstairs. Trying your best not to wake Luke up, you move his head to the pillow and stand up stretching your body. Glancing down at your shirt only to see a stain where Luke had drooled while he slept. 

Luke had started keeping some clothes here a few months ago when the fights started to get worse, so you walked over to the drawer where you kept them and put on one of his shirts and a pair of his joggers. Walking out of the bathroom, you were startled to see Luke sitting up rubbing his eyes.  

“What time is,” He stopped speaking halfway through his sentence as he saw what you were wearing. “Are those my clothes?” You nod as you finish brushing your hair.

“Well one, I was your pillow last night and two, your drooled on me. So yeah, I stole some of your clothes.” You say turning back to your mirror to make sure that your hair looked good.

“I’m sorry for that, but in my defense, you are strangely comfortable to sleep on.” He says as he changes his shirt to a cleaner one, not bothering to change his pants seeing as none of you were probably leaving today.

“Duh, one of the good things about having a bigger chest is natural pillows. Why do you think my dog lays on me all the time, or my baby cousin?” Shrugging you walk downstairs to join the others as Luke shakes his head and follows behind.

Taglist: @peachyxdream @lavenderthrills @noncannonships @bakubitchie27 @whyworry27 @dpaccione @lolychu @marinettepotterandplagg @avs-hart @losertron5000 @pinkflowercassy @owenandthefantoms @camihoran00 @morganayennefertyrell @camihoran00 @twist3dtinkerbell @kaitieskidmore1 @thexhotmess @brithedemonspawn @itskindyl@mggpleasedontlookhere@talksoprettyjjx @sunsetcurve-h @whats-up-aubz @kiss-themoongoodbye @jjsharmony @epikskool @whatever-happens-imma-stand-tall @savinoursanity @butterflycloss @caitsymichelle13 @moviesbooksandfandoms @hemmingsness @mysteriouseyes427

[burkymakar]

Seeing people blindly defend and make excuses for their shit team really made me wanna come and congratulate the fuck outta you for calling out the Avs for every bad thing they do, we really do need more people like you around here <3

omg thank you but i’m not special i’m just a hockey fan with too much time on her hands who loves to research things. 

like the way i see it is: i love this sport. I love so many of the players. But it’s so hard to support the league and some players when they’re bigoted. And I want to see change, and you enact change by educating, caring and discussing. 

Like I wouldn’t be so vocal about all of this if I didn’t, at my core, love hockey. I want to see the sport I love improve and be a welcoming place for all. 

and i love the Avs, Canes, Flyers and now canucks (thanks @swedeonmarky) but like they’re not perfect. They have their problematic players, they have their issues within their organizations (like the Avs especially with their Bl*e Lives Matter flag on the ice for example). But I don’t think spreading hate is the way to inspire change. 

Bigots won’t be able to drive me out. And I want to be here to support players and fans of color so they know they deserve to have a place here free of hate. 

[catboygretzky]

to answer this anon!!!!!!

OKAY a list of each reason i think [insert team] should win/why they look like contenders -

STARTING WITH ROUND ROBIN (THIS IS GOING TO BE VERY VERY LONG):

boston: reasons they’re contenders - bc they’re good. reason they should win - N/A bc i hate them.

tampa bay: kinda those ‘i never really think about you but apparently you’re good?’ teams. i think it would be WILD if a florida team won idk i can’t say i want them too but it would be kinda quirky if they did. also they have to stay in hotel x and like? the spite from that may just mean they’re contenders

wsh: see boston.

flyers: contenders because they were on a madcore streak, tho obviously that was months ago. a lot of young talent, mayhaps not a great deal of experience which may have an effect on how well they do. a lot of emotion behind their game, especially with the whole ‘oskar strong’ business (see dupuis, c 2016). also i love them and want giroux to win a cup.

blues: see boston and wsh.

avs: contenders because they have a LOT of talent. i think nate mac is one of the best forwards in the league (nate for hart 2k20) but he’s not their ONLY talent, which is important. again, not a great deal of playoff experience but only so many teams and players DO have that. (but, then again they have multiple cup winners on their team, after all) also i love them.

vgk: i’ll be honest. i feel nothing re: vegas. like, i have no desire to watch their games but i do appreciate how extra and flashy they are and i would kill for flower BUT the fact that they ALMOST won already and haven’t been around long is pretty swaggy and i think that would be cool. also i want flower to have another cup.

dallas: well, i love them and want old man pavs to get a cup. i think their defensive game is SUPER strong and they have two good goalies, which will help with teams that rely on offense. they also have a great deal to prove, and that can really help a team win.

QUALIFYING NOW (I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD BE LONG):

pens: ok i’m not even saying this as a pens fucker, but i think if i had to choose a team to win RIGHT NOW it would probably be pittsburgh. obviously, we don’t truly know, but bc these playoffs are fucking strange, the incredible amount of playoff experience will REALLY come in to play. guentz is back as well, and he’s known for fucking it up madcore in the playoffs. they also have a LOT of depth. ALSO I WANT OLD MAN PATTY MARLEAU TO HAVE A CUP MORE THAN ANYONE IS THAT SO WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE NARRATIVE!!!!!!!!!!! AND I WANT SID TO HAVE MORE CUPS THAN PK*NE!!!!!

canes: again, i love them and therefore that’s the only reason i need. they’re fun and quirky and they give off good vibes. they have a LOT of talent as well, and while a lot of their talent is quite young their captain is already a cup winner (also i want jordy to win another cup).

isles: they’re.......well they’re average and i don’t REALLY want them to win but i want ebs to have a cup bc it’s what he deserves. also mat barzal’s nostrils deserve a cup. but mostly ebs.

leafs: ok i would like to preface this with ‘it would be very sad if the cup the leafs won was a fucked up one like this’. they have a LOT of talent, obviously, but they really need to get it together fdsjkgh they rely on offense WAY too much, their defense/penalty kill is - well. i don’t want to be rude, but they need to work on that. a lot. i LIKE the leafs, i do!!!!! but there’s a reason they don’t get past the first round, and it’s bc they haven’t shown the GRIT that’s needed for the playoffs. i do wish them the best tho. do it for steve dangle’s new baby!!!!!!

blue jackets: another team i never think about like, ever, unless they’re playing my teams. they don’t.....idk they don’t stick out to me at all but zach werenski has a mullet now so there’s a reason. 

panthers: like tampa, a florida team winning would be sexy bc florida needs the serotonin right now. they should win bc they meow to each other sometimes. is there any other reason than that? 

rangers: see boston, blues, and caps, minus the part about them being good. BUT! i do love a bit of mika and would be pleased for hank obviously, he’s the king u feel. 

habs: ok carey price is my dad and they should win just for him. also the narrative of ‘they sucked so bad but still managed to get into the playoffs’ is kinda fun. i can’t say they’re contenders, but must reaffirm that i love carey price.

oilers: hooo boy. again, i do like the oilers. i want davo to get a cup, i would kill for ethan bear, yamamoto, and ryan nugent hopkins. i think they have a LOT of talent, but like the leafs.....defense, man, defense. they rely on mcdavid and draisaitl and that won’t cut it for the playoffs. AGAIN, I WOULD BE HAPPY IF THEY WON.

preds: i would never go out of my way to root for the preds, but the fans seem to have a fun time ya know? the fans have a fan time and therefore they should be able to have a fun time. they’re...they’re not BAD, but i wouldn’t say ‘PREDS WILL WIN’. they have a lot of fight in them, tho

canucks: again, i love them and isn’t that enough? they have a LOT of (young) talent (ie petey, brock, huggy, etc), and while that’s going to be great for the future, there is the possibility that the lack of playoff experience can be a hindrance. tho a lot of their young talent went to uni, so they have experience in THAT regard. DO IT FOR GUNNAR AND GUS HORVAT AND BROCK’S HAIR.

flames: my feelings in regards to the flames can be summed up by saying ‘i only care about them when they go feral v the oilers’. B U T i love johnny hockey and think he and ratty matty’s handshake is cute. also i have a soft spot for matty, but not big enough that i’d root for them.

jets: god, i truly just do not care about them at all. i tried, but i simply couldn’t do it. there are certain players i like, though! and would be pleased if they won a cup! but i simply feel nothing. i appreciate their morals, though!

wild: another team i simply........never think about. they’re not super good and i have no reason to want them to win, but maybe that’s a good reason for them to win! my apathy! i do love a staal, tho

yotes: see rangers. i hate them and they suck.

hawks: see rangers and yotes. they shouldn’t even be in the playoffs i stg.

[ur-not-reddie]

I Think I’m Okay

chapter three

chapter one, chapter two

pairing: reddie

word count: 1541

warnings: none, just fluff :)

prompt: best friends to lovers

modern day AU, aged up to 18

-

"I'm so sorry," Richie says as he makes his way off of Eddie. 

"It's okay," Eddie says as he stands up. "I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie?" Richie's face instantly lights up. He loves movie days or nights with Eddie more than anything. It's times like these where they're the absolute closest; always bundled up with one another. Richie nods his head vigorously as a wide smile spreads across his face. Eddie laughs at Richie's adorable excitement. "Which movies?"

"Well," Richie says as he grabs Eddie's hand and leads him to Eddie’s room. "We have to watch Stuck in Love because that's our movie and we watch it every time. I was also thinking maybe Call Me By Your Name, The Last Song or Disney movies, umm..." Richie trails off. 

"So stupid, cheesy flicks?" Eddie laughs lightly. 

"Yes," Richie says sheepishly as he bows his head in shame. Eddie continues to smile at the other and grabs all the movies off of his movie shelf. Yes, Eddie Kaspbrak does own all of these stupid, cheesy chick flicks and more. He's a sucker for romance. Eddie turns on his TV and DVD player, putting the first movie in. Their movie. The two climb into bed, under the covers, and make themselves comfortable. About forty five minutes into the movie, Richie starts to grow antsy and a little pissed off. "This shit is such bullshit!"

"What?" Eddie asks and turns to the boy as confusion masks his face. 

"This is all so unrealistic," Richie whines. "I mean, the popular girl falling in love with the nerdy guy. The cynical girl falling for the sweetest guy ever, who reminds me a lot of you." Richie adds quickly. "And the ex wife crawling back to her husband who waited for her for two years! None of that happens in real life." Richie finishes his rant and turns so that he's looking at Eddie. 

"You don't believe in love?" Eddie's voice shakes slightly as immense sadness builds in the pit of his stomach. Any hope of him and Richie ending up together is thrown out the window, or so he thought. 

"No," Richie pauses. "I don't know. When I see Ben and Bev together it gives a little bit of hope, but I just don't know." 

"Are you still bitter over Stan?" Eddie asks softly, afraid of Richie’s answer.

"What gave it away?" Eddie gives Richie a sympathetic smile. "Sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not. I just never thought he'd do something like that, you know? Especially with Bill. I mean we were all so close and then one day I find Stan and Bill practically fucking each other! There's no way I'd ever forgive either of them. Bill even knew that Stan and I were dating and he still went and did shit like that. It's so fucked up." Richie's on the verge of tears as he relives his traumatic past relationship. 

"I know, Richie, I know." Eddie says as he wipes away a tear that seems to have escaped Richie's eye. "No one deserves that. You don't deserve that. You deserve so much better than what Stan gave you. Richie, you deserve the whole goddamn world! I want you to feel loved." Eddie says softly as he slyly slips his hand into Richie's, lacing their fingers together. 

Richie squeezes Eddie's hand softly as he rests his head on the other boy's chest. Richie wants to give Eddie the whole goddamn world as well, more than anything. Richie doesn't care what he does and doesn't deserve. All he cares about is what Eddie deserves. Richie likes to think that Eddie deserves him, but he feels as if he's not even close to good enough to meet Eddie's standards. Richie continues to cry silent tears while Eddie's other hand gently plays with Richie's dark hair. They stay silent and bundled up like that until Eddie's mother knocks on his door. 

"Eddie-Bear?" Sonia asks, the two boys separating as quickly as they can. "Eddie, what on earth are you doing home so early?" She opens the door slowly.

"There was no AV club so Richie said he'd drive me home," Eddie lies to the best of his ability. Richie smiles and gives a little wave. "Is it okay if he stays the night?" he asks politely.

"As long as it's okay with his parents," she looks at Richie who gives her a quiet 'yes'. She nods her head and leaves the two boys alone once again.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Richie asks, slight anger behind his tone. 

"Because I want you here,"

"My mom," Richie looks away. "She'll be pissed." 

"Look at me," Eddie grabs Richie's chin and lifts it down so that he's eye to eye with Richie. "I want you to be safe, okay? You're safe here. Please stay." Eddie begs as Richie throws himself into Eddie's arms. Richie whispers 'I love you' but not loud enough for Eddie to hear, Richie barely hears it himself. 

The two of them settle back under the covers and tangle themselves up with each other again. Their legs intertwined, Richie's head on Eddie's chest and fingers laced back together. Later that night, the two decide to go out for pizza and, of course, milkshakes. They talk a little bit more about Stan, Bill and Richie's mother. Eddie hates these topics but he knows that it's good for Richie to get it out because if it weren't for Eddie, Richie would be keeping it all bottled up. 

"It's whatever though," Richie says as he stands up and pushes his chair in. 

"No it's not," Eddie says and looks at Richie with sad eyes. Richie shrugs his shoulders and heads out the front door of the restaurant. "Richie!" Eddie yells and runs after him. "Please stop." he says, standing in front of Richie once he's caught up with him. Richie crosses his arms and hangs his head low. 

"What?" he asks softly. Eddie sighs, trying to think of the right words to say. He uncrosses Richie's arms and holds his hands. 

"Look," Eddie pauses. "I-I-I love you okay? And I want the best for you. I hate that you keep degrading yourself because you're not nearly as bad as you make yourself out to be." Eddie lets go of Richie's hands and wraps his arms around the taller boy's neck, Eddie standing on his tiptoes. "I wish that you would see what I see." 

"And what's that?" Richie asks, Eddie leaning his forehead against Richie's.

"An amazing person," Eddie smiles. 

"You're ridiculous, Eds." Richie says, pulling away and walking ahead again. 

"You are!" 

"Okay, okay." Richie throws his hands up in defense and rolls his eyes playfully. Eddie walks after Richie again, but falls behind, not walking next to the other. They walk in silence for a bit, both of them lost in their thoughts. The way that Eddie feels about Richie is the same exact way Richie feels about Eddie. Richie knows that Eddie doesn't see himself as good either. He wants to show Eddie that. He just wants to love him and show him real love. "Eddie?" Richie asks and turns around. 

"Yeah?" 

Richie slowly walks up to Eddie, stopping a few inches away from him.

 "I, umm," Richie trails off and locks his dark eyes with Eddie's lighter ones. "I just-" Richie cuts himself off due to his lips connecting with Eddie's. He doesn't think about it as a wave of immense courage washes over him. Eddie doesn't have time to process it by the time Richie pulls away. Eddie's mouth hangs slightly agape as the thought of The Richie Tozier kissing him cycles through his mind. Richie feels like he just made the biggest mistake of all time. Eddie picks up on this, so he gently cups Richie's face and kisses him back. The kiss is soft and not too desperate. 

"Why'd you do that?" Richie asks breathlessly as Eddie pulls away. 

"Because I fucking love you, you stupid idiot." Eddie smiles and kisses Richie once more. 

"You do? Why?" Richie laughs. 

"Just shut up and kiss me," Eddie demands and Richie doesn’t hesitate to do so. The two decide to head back home, but only make it as far as Richie's car as they are attacking each other with desperate kisses, making up for wasted time and missed opportunities. 

"Holy fuck, I wish we did this a lot sooner." Richie says as he sits Eddie on top of his lap, in the driver's seat. 

"You have no idea," Bill breathes. 

"Oh baby, I've got a fucking clue." Richie slips his tongue into Eddie's mouth. The two go at it for god knows how long until their panting starts to fog up Richie's car windows. "We should probably head back home, it's getting late and I don't want your mom to worry." 

"But I don't want to stop," Eddie wines. 

"Trust me, we will continue this once we're back." Richie smirks. Eddie climbs into the passenger seat as Richie starts the car. The two hold hands on their journey back home, and in that moment, the two fall deeper and deeper in love, if that were even possible.