#and also a bit of a git sometimes but shhh | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

spine-buster · 5 years ago

Text

t h e c o l o u r o f a c o n s t e l l a t i o n | elias pettersson

Summary: Life comes at you in moments. Elias and Svea are on solid ground now. Back in Vancouver after an idyllic time in Sweden, they are faced with personal decisions that will affect their future together – both on separate and different paths professionally, though personally their connection is stronger than ever. Many things are up in the air, but one thing that Svea and Elias know for sure is that they will always be together. So how hard could those decisions be?

Word Count: 15k

A/N: This is the final part of “The Space Series” although there will be an epilogue (because this bitch loves an epilogue). It’s a bit more piece-y than I wanted it to be, but at the end of the day I’m still proud of it and I hope you enjoy! We need more Petey love around here!

PART ONE - MADE OF OUTER SPACE // PART TWO - LIPS LIKE THE GALAXY’S EDGE

Svea got the text message from Grace while she was in class. I’m here to pick you up. Don’t ask questions. And don’t check your notifications.

Svea did as she was told, but that didn’t mean that her heart wasn’t beating out of her chest as she left her seminar room and saw Grace’s Porsche at the bottom of the steps of the building. When she approached, Grace reached over and opened the car door. “What’s going on?” she asked, sliding into the passenger’s seat and clutching her messenger bag against her chest.

“The stupid media picked up your stupid boyfriend saying he has a girlfriend on a stupid camera, and now it’s everywhere,” Grace explained in an annoyed voice, signalling to rejoin the road. She was very clearly annoyed, judging by how fast she rejoined the other cars and by the rev of her engine. “You know, for such a quiet guy he’s got a big mouth.”

“And how do they know it’s me?” Svea knew how stupid that question sounded the millisecond after it left her mouth. She and Grace gave each other the exact same knowing look, one that said absolutely everything that needed to be said between the two of them. It began happening as they grew closer, and now, it happened almost all the time. “Never mind. Why can’t I check my notifications?”

“Because God knows what’s going on in your DMs right now,” Grace warned. “Anyways, what do you want to do? Go shopping? Go for a manicure? How about we go for a manicure so you can’t check your phone.”

Svea couldn’t help but laugh. She knew Grace was protective – had been since that night she came over to Elias’s place with Pippa and Svea was making sausage stroganoff – but this was taking it to a whole other level. “Do you think it would be that bad?”

“If it’s anything like what I got from Brock’s fan club, then yeah, it’s pretty awful,” Grace said. “And I’m serious – manicures? You’re going to have to start getting them regularly if you want to be a hot shot lawyer,” she winked. “Or, I don’t know, the speechwriter for Chrystia Freeland or Justin Trudeau. Whatever you choose.”

***

When Svea walked into hers and Elias’s apartment later that day, after she’d been pampered with some Starbucks, a manicure, and a pedicure, and even a cheeky mimosa by Grace, she found Elias lying down on the couch scrolling through his phone. She put down her bag in its usual spot before walking over to him and lying on top of him without warning. After an entire day without him, she wanted to get close to him, to feel every inch of him.

Elias smiled as she nestled into him, ditching his phone and paying complete attention to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. When he kissed her, she sighed into the kiss, knowing that she was home and in her favourite place: the place where she felt the warmest, the most protected, the happiest she ever could feel – in his arms, of course. And as they continued kissing on the couch, not bothering to stop for air – because really, who needed air when you were kissing the love of your life? – Elias shifted their bodies so Svea was on her back, and he was on his side perching himself up with one arm while the other snuck under her button-up shirt. With his hand gliding against her bare skin and his tongue down her throat, Svea moaned slightly. Elias took the opportunity to start unbuttoning her shirt to expose her bra.

“Elias…” she breathed out.

“Shhh…” he kissed along her jawline and down her neck. His hand groped her breast. He pushed the fabric of the cup down and began kissing along the curve of her breast until he reached her nipple, sucking on it gently. Her back arched up to him. “I missed you,” he finally hummed.

“I was gone for eight hours,” she huffed out as she felt his tongue slip along her skin. Her breath hitched in her throat as she felt him move towards her other breast. She was gone at least a few hours some days because of classes, so it wasn’t like her absence was out of the ordinary.

“Too long.” He sucked on her other breast. When he heard her moan again, he kissed a trail back up to her lips. Eventually, he grabbed at her wrist – the one wearing the bracelet he got her in Stockholm – and placed a kiss on the inside of it tenderly. She was trembling by the loss of his lips on her skin, but she smiled at the gesture. “Hello pretty girl,” he cooed playfully.

“You’re the worst,” she huffed again, annoyed this time.

“How was your day?”

She couldn’t believe she was sprawled out on their couch with her shirt unbuttoned and her bra pushed down with her breasts exposed and Elias was asking her how her day was. He was playing a game and she knew it. “Besides the fact that I still don’t know what I’m doing with my life? Fine,” she said. “How was your day? I heard microphones are really strong these days.”

Elias closed his eyes and groaned. He buried his head in her chest and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m an idiot sometimes. Brock told me that for such a quiet guy I have a big mouth.”

Svea snorted at the reference. For all that Grace and Brock liked to say Svea and Elias were the same person, she and Brock were astoundingly similar as well. “Grace said that too.”

“Well, you know how they are,” he said, resting his chin against her chest, in the space between her breasts.

Svea ran her fingers through his hair. “It’s fine, Elias.”

“Is it though?” he asked, worried. “I don’t want anybody to bother you. Not now, not ever. But especially this year when you have so much to figure out.”

“They’ll just be noise. They’re not a part of my life,” she assured him. “Not like you.”

Elias sighed, moving up and nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. He inhaled sharply, smelling her scent that he loved so much. She smelled like everything he loved about her – flowers; vanilla; lavender; the saltwater waves of the Baltic Sea crashing again the Swedish shore; the crisp Swedish air during an early morning, though now it was later in the day and they were in downtown Vancouver. She was magic to him, made of the moon and stars, and he wanted to keep her safe and happy as much as possible now that it was out in the open, however unwillingly, due to his big mouth. “I love you,” he mumbled.

“I love you too,” she said easily. Easily because she knew – it was the only thing she was certain about in life these days. “Can you do me a favour?”

“What’s that?”

“Can you keep using your tongue, Elias?” she asked boldly, a small smirk playing on her face. She was getting more confident with all of this – not just their new situation, but the activities that accompanied their new situation. She felt safe and listened to and respected and catered to whenever she was in bed with Elias, always satisfied. Elias, for his part, was also getting more confident with everything.

“Oh?” he arched his brow at her words. “Keep using my tongue, eh?”

“Eh? Canada’s really getting to you.”

“Mmm,” he mumbled, kissing her chest. “Let’s git er done,” he put on an accent.

Svea burst out laughing, shaking her head and pushing him away like she was disgusted with him as he tried to continue to kiss her. She began wiggling to get out of his grip. “Nooooo no no no no, not after you said that with that accent!” She knew his teammates were responsible for that bit of lingo coupled with the accent, and while it was hilarious, she wasn’t exactly happy with it. She knew Elias would use it constantly now.

“Come ooonnn!” he begged, laughing and grabbing at her body so she wouldn’t wiggle away.

“We lost the moment the second you put on that accent!”

>< >< >< >< ><

Svea loved the UBC campus. It was so beautiful, with enough old buildings to make it feel regal but enough new buildings to make it feel modern. And the trees – God, the trees – the campus was full of lush trees, so many and so close to the water. When she was stressed, she could always take a walk down the coast and admire the Pacific Ocean, the mountains in the distance, and the crisp British Columbia air. After being at UBC for going on four years now, she understood why her mother loved it here so much; why it was so hard for her to give up when she moved to Sweden to be with Svea’s dad; why she constantly talked about it growing up, like it was some magical place not fit for the real world. Svea understood now. She thought the same things. She didn’t think she’d ever be lucky enough to experience the things that her mother did growing up in Vancouver, but she did; she got that experience now, in university, with her own love of her life.

Despite all the stress in her life and the looming decisions she had to make, she at least had that: Elias, the love of her life.

As she grabbed her coffee from the barista and made her way to the seminar room, where she’d spend two hours learning about global uprisings, she thought about the decision she’d have to make this year. On the one hand, she could go to law school – another three years of school, articling, and then pass the bar (all hopefully in British Columbia), and then she could join a firm or open her own. She was already prepped and signed up to write the LSAT. On the other hand, she could apply to the Masters of Public Policy and Global Governance program – another year and a half of school, gain her Masters, and then hopefully work in politics, but in the background, like a chief of staff or a senior advisor or even a speechwriter. She had all the prerequisites and knew she could get in.

But which one did she want to do?

Svea settled into her seat beside her friend Devansh, greeting him with pleasant conversation while taking out her laptop, notebook, and textbook, flipping it open to the chapter that she knew the professor would be lecturing about. Her big decision seemed to be the only thing she thought about these days besides Elias. But the more she thought about it, the more stressed she got. And the more stressed she got, the more—

“So, like, you’re dating Elias Pettersson?” her friend Francesca asked as she plopped down into the seat beside her dramatically. Instead of grabbing her notebook and laptop out of her bag like she usually did, she was intently focused on Svea who was sipping on her coffee innocently.

“Wait – Elias Pettersson, like from the Vancouver Canucks?” Devansh perked up once he heard the name being tossed around. “That can’t be…that’s not…no.”

“Wow, Dev,” Svea deadpanned.

“Wait – you are?” his eyebrows raised.

“H-How did you know?” Svea focused back on Francesca, still perky, still not taking out her laptop, still not taking out her notebooks.

“So apparently Petey said something on camera? And this journalist from the Vancouver Sun, like, scoured his Instagram and his tagged photos and found your profile kept popping up tagged in pictures with him, so the two and two were put together, and there’s an article about it on their website today! It came up as a notification on my phone!” Francesca held up her phone as if it was still there. It wasn’t – it was full of Snapchat notifications, but the point still stood. “I mean, they’re right, aren’t they? Svea Nilsson…you are dating Elias Pettersson?”

Svea was mortified. Elias had the common sense to just say he had a girlfriend out loud, not broadcast her name for the microphones to pick up too, but they’d found her profile anyway – by stalking his, essentially. She thought things would die down, especially because her profile had always been private, and though she did get some intense DMs like Grace knew she would, there wasn’t a bombardment and she’d just deleted them all without looking at them. Now that her name was published in a newspaper, she had an entirely new problem on her hands.

She noticed Dev and Francesca were still waiting for an answer. “I…yeah, I’m dating him,” she said meekly, not wanting to say too much.

“How did you even meet him?” Francesca asked. “I mean, no offence, but you don’t exactly come out with us a lot.”

“He’s my childhood best friend,” she said, immediately putting an end to the notion that she’d met him at some bar. “I…I grew up with him. We’ve been best friends since we were three and he essentially followed me to Vancouver because I came here first. He’s the person I live with and—”

“Wait – you live with him?!” Dev was shocked at her revelation. Svea was always pretty secretive of why she never moved into a place near campus after first year, and always eluded questions as to how she was able to afford a pricey apartment in Yaletown. Now he knew. “You live with him and that’s why you live in Yaletown?”

“Yeah. We…” she stopped herself, not wanting to reveal too much. “It’s…I’m dating him, okay?”

“Svea, this is huge,” Francesca’s tone was a mix of serious and excited.

Francesca said it as if Svea didn’t know how much of a big deal it was that she was dating the biggest star on the Vancouver Canucks. Svea knew how much of a big deal it was. Clearly. If people from newspapers were stalking Elias’s profile to see who she was, it was a big deal. It was just that, Elias, as a person, wasn’t a big deal to her. He was her best friend. He wasn’t the star first line centre. “Yeah, I know.”

“Massive,” Dev commented too. “Well I’m happy for you if you’re happy, Svea.”

“Secure that bag, girl,” Francesca quipped.

Before Svea’s jaw dropped, and before her brain could function to say anything to Francesca, their professor walked into the room and greeted the class loudly, thus ending their conversation. He almost immediately started lecturing.

Svea began typing, and Francesca was scrambling to get everything out of her bag.

>< >< >< >< ><

“It’s ready, pretty girl,” Elias called from the kitchen as he finished stirring the pasta in its sauce. He looked over at Svea sitting at the dining room table, head in a giant textbook that looked menacing to him. She looked so concentrated and focused on what she was reading, but when she heard his voice, she looked up momentarily. She let out a loud sigh.

Elias remembered back to the summer, back in Sweden, when they went to Emma Gardner’s dinner party and he was intimidated by Soren’s supposed ‘smarts’ and how emotional he got by it all the next morning. When they came back to Vancouver and Svea began her last year of university, he wanted to change things. As much as they resolved the issue right then and there, he knew he needed to do more – and he was willing to do more. He was making a big effort to be in the know – not exactly to understand everything she was studying, but to at least know what it was. Now that he was with Svea, he wasn’t the most important person in his life anymore – it was her. He needed her to know that. He made sure to show it to her every day, through his actions, his words, and his priorities when he was away from hockey.

When he brought the plates over, he wouldn’t set hers down in front of her until she kissed him. The textbook was cleared by then, off to the side where she didn’t have to look at it while she ate with him. When they came back to Vancouver and she began her last year of university, she wanted to change things. She made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t be distracted by school work during meals, especially meals with Elias. She could tell Elias was making a huge effort to know more about her studies, and she wanted to reciprocate. There was no way she wouldn’t put in the same effort he was into the relationship. Now that she was with Elias, she wasn’t the most important person in her life anymore – it was him. She needed him to know that. She made sure to show it to him every day, through her actions, her words, and her priorities when she wasn’t engaging with school.

“Everything okay?” he asked as he settled into his seat across from her after their kiss.

She nodded her head. “Just reading about the Cuban Revolution.”

“Is it interesting?” he asked.

“Interesting enough,” she shrugged. She began digging into her pasta in vodka sauce. Now that Elias had finally mastered the art of cooking some pasta, and didn’t over or undercook it every time, she could enjoy him making dinner at least once or twice a week now. Though the first time he cooked ravioli was an absolute fucking shit show (there was spinach and ricotta floating everywhere in the pot because he left them in too long and they all burst open), he’d gotten the hang of penne, spaghetti, and fettucine. “How was the gym with Brock?”

“Same old,” he answered, eating his pasta. “Grace told him how much you were screaming at the game the other night.”

Svea snorted. She’s almost embarrassed herself by how much she was screaming and swearing. She didn’t know what came over her. “It was pretty bad. I’m surprised she left with me, to be honest. She wasn’t even that loud, and you know how she gets.”

“I can’t believe it took Vancouver to get you to scream at my games,” Elias quipped.

Svea laughed, but the comment panged her a little bit. Growing up in Sweden, she was always at his games, but her head was, as Brigitte so lovingly put it, ‘always in a book instead of in his lap’. It wasn’t that she didn’t care – because she did, she knew how much hockey meant to Elias – it was just that she had different interests. But she was always there; she always supported him. Suddenly, she wondered if that was enough. “Did…did that make you mad?” she asked softly.

“Did what make me mad?”

“Me being quiet at your games growing up. Me having a book in the stands and reading in between periods,” she said. He knew because the girls told him as a means of gossip. “Like, did you hate it?”

“Of course not,” he furrowed his brows. “Why would I hate that?”

“I don’t know…”

“Svea, I hate nothing about you,” Elias said. “Not even the fact that you’ve started to talk in your sleep sometimes.”

“I do not.”

“Yes you do.”

“Then what do I say?”

“Oooooh, Elias, right there.”

She kicked him underneath the table, but he was ready for it, grabbing her foot with his free hand. “You’re an ass,” she sneered.

“So you don’t have wet dreams about me?”

“You wish,” she stuck her tongue out like a child, causing him to smile and laugh.

“For what it’s worth,” he began, trailing his hand up her leg, “I didn’t care about any of that. You reading at games or whatever. You’re your own person, Svea. I don’t care what anybody said. The fact that you were there was enough for me – like, the fact that I could see you in the stands with my family or whatever. When you made it back to Vaxjo after flying in from Vancouver, and you watched me score that game winning goal and then surprised me on the ice – Svea, that was, like, one of the greatest moments of my life. And it wasn’t because I’d just won the championship. It was because you were there for it.”

Svea smiled. Elias knew to say all the right things, but what was better than just saying them was knowing that he meant them, fully and completely. “I love you, Elias.”

“I love you too, Svea. More than anything,”

There was a comfortable silence between them as they ate dinner, Svea’s foot still propped up in Elias’s lap after she’d tried to kick him. “Are you going to be able to come to the game on Saturday?” he asked once they were almost finished.

She nodded. “I’ll finish this reading tonight easily and I’ll be back yelling in no time.”

“Good,” he smiled. “I like it when you’re loud.”

She kicked him again.

***

“Brock reminded me that Grace is setting the date soon for the next Parkinson’s gala,” Elias said later that night, after dinner and after clean up and Svea finished her reading and after they cuddled on the couch and after they watched a few episodes of Jeopardy at Svea’s request like an old married couple. They’d gotten themselves ready for bed and Svea watched as Elias fluffed up their pillows while she pulled the covers back.

“That’ll be fun,” Svea said. “Every time we’ve gone it’s been a blast. I can’t wait.”

“And we have Dice and Ice again this year too. I wonder if they’ll make me play Family Feud again,” he mused as they both got into bed.

Svea giggled. “Maybe this time you can announce to six hundred people that you finally have a girlfriend – oh wait, you already did that a few weeks ag—HEY!”

Elias pulled her into his body in one quick tug and wrapped his arms around her, peppering her face with kisses as she began to laugh at the sensation. He flipped her around so she was beneath him. “Yeah yeah, I’ve got a big mouth, I know,” he mumbled against the skin of her neck as he bit down on it gently.

“Mmm,” Svea hummed, enjoying the feeling like she always did. “How about you remind me what else you can do with that mouth.”

A low chuckle erupted from deep within Elias. “With pleasure,” he smiled devilishly. Almost immediately, he shoved her old t-shirt (technically, his old t-shirt) up and over her head and moved down her body. He hooked his fingers into the hem of her shorts and pulled them off too, watching as he saw a smirk appear on her face. “What’s got you smiling, pretty girl?”

“You,” she purred. “I’ll always regret waiting so long to be with you. We could have had so much more time together.”

Elias brought himself back up, placing a tender kiss on her lips. “Don’t regret that. We have the rest of our lives together, pretty girl. We always did.”

Svea smiled, pulling him down by the neck to kiss him again. The universe knew that them being together was always endgame; it just took them longer to realize. She liked Elias’s optimism – not focusing on what was in the past, but instead focusing on the future. “Elias…” she mumbled in between kisses.

“Hmm?”

“Show me I’m yours,” she whispered. She knew it would set him off completely, just like it did the first time, just like it did subsequent times since. “Show me I’m yours, Elias.”

He audibly groaned, slipping his way back down her body before forcing her legs apart and lowering his face between them, lapping and sucking so expertly that Svea was squirming within no time. Her pants and callouts of his name only fueled him as time went on, and when she ran her fingers through his blonde hair and tugged on it, he let out his own groan.

“Fuuuuuck,” she breathed out, tugging on his hair even more. “You’re so…your tongue is so good Elias.” He moaned at the sound of her voice, the vibrations causing her to squirm even more. He brought his arm around her thigh and held her hips down. It made her huff out in slight frustration. “Elias.”

His only response was to push down harder. Her response was to pull his hair as tight as she could and squeeze his head between her thighs. All the while, he kept up his movements, looking up at her with his striking, beady blue eyes. “You taste so sweet, pretty girl,” he mumbled against her wet lips. “So sweet for me.”

“Elias—”

“Are you gonna cum on my face, pretty girl?”

Svea nodded her head fervently. “I’m so close.”

“Mmmmm,” he hummed, the vibrations yet again making her squirm. “Cum for me, Svea.”

Svea arched her back, and after a few short moments, she was screaming out his name, squeezing his head in between her thighs even tighter than before. Elias kept lapping until she calmed down, sucking up the last of her juices before looking up at her again. “I could taste you all day, pretty girl,” he mumbled against her lips, the last thing he did before moving up her body and placing open-mouthed kisses and dragging his lips along her stomach and up to her breasts.

“I need you inside of me right now,” she said, her breath hot and frantic as she moved to wrap her legs around him.

“So impatient,” Elias mused.

“Fuck me, Elias. I can’t wait anymore.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. When she felt him enter her, quickly and in one swift movement, she dug her nails into the skin on his shoulder blades and almost immediately rocked her hips against his, trying to get him even deeper. “Svea…” he groaned out, feeling how deep he was inside of her. “Svea…fuck, you’re desperate, aren’t you?”

She nodded. She couldn’t help it. She was desperate. She was always desperate for him. Desperate for his voice, his touch, the sound of him, his smile, his laugh, how he filled her up, how he felt above her and beneath her – everything about him. “You like it when I’m loud, right?” she asked.

Elias’s eyes bulged for a moment. “Y—Yes.”

“You want me to be loud?”

His pupils dilated. “Yes.”

“Let me ride you.”

Svea wrapped her arms around Elias so he would stay inside her before he turned onto his back. She quickly got comfortable, adjusting slightly, and Elias brought his hands up and their hands intertwined, letting her lean against his elbows so she had something to brace against. When she began to rock back and forth slowly, he let out a groan. “You feel incredible, baby,” Svea said as she quickened her pace slightly.

“You do, too,” Elias said quickly. She began to moan loudly, like she knew he wanted and liked, and she could see his eyes practically roll to the back of his head. Elias liked knowing that it was him who made her feel this way. As she continued her noises, he didn’t know where to focus – her hips, her breasts, her eyes, how his cock had disappeared inside her – but he knew that everything felt good. He was left speechless by everything.

She led his hands to cup her breasts, but he had other ideas. Instead, he used his arms to push himself up so he could kiss them instead, his hands on her back. He remembered back to their little rendezvous at the lake during Midsommar, what she’d done and the quiet confidence in which she’d done it. He had obviously never done anything like that before. “When we get married these are going to be all mine,” he mumbled against her breasts, licking at the space on her chest where he remembered his cum covering her.

“They already are,” Svea mumbled, lost in the feeling. She brought her hands up to run through his hair so she could tug on it and so he could look her in the eye. When he was, she said what she wanted to say – what she knew he wanted to hear. “I’m all yours.”

Elias smiled. “I’m yours and you’re mine.”

“I’m yours and you’re mine,” Svea repeated.

They kissed, wet and sloppy, and Svea could feel herself getting close again. She dug her nails into the skin at the nape of Elias’s neck. When he felt her walls tighten around him, and heard her cries of pleasure at the feeling, he came completely undone as well. They clung on to each other, riding out their highs for a long as they could until they finally settled down, their breathing laboured and shaky, their chests heaving less and less as the time went by. Neither let go of each other. There was no need to.

Elias slipped out of her slowly, and Svea whimpered at the loss of feeling him fill her. He wrapped his arms around her as he fell back slowly, laying them on the bed. They stayed close, wrapped in each other, giving each other quick, soft kisses. “I love you,” Elias mumbled, his voice tired.

Svea smiled slightly. “I love you too.”

>< >< >< >< ><

An advertising executive must schedule the advertising during a particular television show. Seven different consecutive time slots are available for advertisements during a commercial break, and are numbered one through seven in the order that they will be aired. Seven different advertisements – B, C, D, F, H, J, and K – must be aired during the show. Only one advertisement can occupy each time slot. The assignment of the advertisements to the slots is subject to the following restrictions: • B and D must occupy consecutive time slots. • B must be aired during an earlier time slot than K. • D must be aired during a later time slot than H. • If H does not occupy the fourth time slot, then F must occupy the fourth time slot. • K and J cannot occupy consecutively numbered time slots.

Svea read over the logic puzzle three times, breathing harder every time. She wrote the requisite lines and letters. She moved on to the first questions.

1. Which of the following could be a possible list of the advertisements in the order that they are aired? a. BDFHJCK b. CJBHDKF c. HBDFJCK d. HDBFKJC e. HJDBFKC

Svea tried not to panic as she tried to work out the first question based on the parameters presented to her. When she took at her answer, then at the options, none of them matched. She tried again. No match again. She tried not to panic irrationally, but when she tried a third time, she still couldn’t get the right answer. She felt her cheeks heat up and her eyes start to well. No. No. There’s no crying in doing logic puzzles. She moved on to the next question, seeing if she could at least solve that one, but she couldn’t. Okay, back to question one. She tried a combination one more time and finally, finally found a match, so she circled the option.

She checked her time. Six minutes had passed, and she had five more questions to answer based on this logic puzzle alone. On the LSAT, they got about eight minutes per entire puzzle and four puzzles, for a total of around 35 minutes for this section. So she was severely behind. Like, severely. She looked at the note in the margins of her book.

This is generally considered one of the easier questions.

Svea whimpered. Audibly. She felt a few tears falling down her cheeks as she tried to move on to the second question, realizing it was now predicated upon the answer from the first. Seven minutes. And based on the wording of the question, her answer for the first one was wrong. It wasn’t even possible.

She let out a sob.

Eight minutes. She’d officially already failed this section of the LSAT.

As she tried to wipe her tears away with the backs of her hands, she heard the lightest knock on the door. As she looked over, she saw Elias’s head peek through the doorway, a bowl in his hands. “I brought you some raspberries,” he said softly, closing the door behind him. “How’s it going?”

Svea shook her head and started to cry again. “Elias…”

“Heeeyyyyy hey hey,” Elias cooed, rushing over to her and putting the bowl on the desk. He pushed out her chair, moving it so she was facing him, and knelt down in front of her. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“Elias, will you still love me if I fail?”

“Svea—”

“Be honest,” she interrupted. “Will you still love me if I fail the LSAT and don’t get into law school and don’t get into grad school and just become a bum? Will you?”

“Svea, don’t say stuff like that,” he said, running his hands up and down her thighs trying to sooth her.

Svea shook her head fervently. “I’m dumb. I’m so dumb,” she whimpered out.

“You know you’re not dumb, Svea—”

“But I am!” she exclaimed. “I couldn’t even do this logic puzzle in time. I had eight minutes and I couldn’t do it. And it’s one of the easier ones! Imagine me sitting in that room trying to write the LSAT and I can’t even get past the logic puzzles!”

“Shhhhh,” he cooed, bringing his hands up to cup her face. He began wiping her tears away with the pads of his thumbs, still kneeling in front of her. “Svea, you know that I love you more than anything. I’ll love you no matter what.”

“Even if I fail?”

“You won’t fail. But even if you fail, yes, I will still love you,” he nodded, knowing it was what she needed to hear right now. She wouldn’t have dropped it if he didn’t say those words.

“And here you are, bringing me raspberries like a good boyfriend and I can’t even get a log—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Elias warned. “Svea, it’s fine. You’re probably just very tired. You had a day full of classes, then homework, now this. I bet when you have a fresh and well-rested brain tomorrow, it will be much easier for you.”

Svea whimpered again, wrapping her arms around Elias and squeezing him against her chest. He was such a good boyfriend, always bringing her snacks or water or tea without her even having to ask, and she was just being a blubbering mess. She’d missed some of his games lately due to her studying and she felt horrible about it, and it all led to this: he was the one still comforting her about the long-term goal of why she was even studying in the first place.

“And Svea?”

“Hmmm?”

“You know I’ll always love you. You know that you’re going to be successful. This is just a little bump, that’s all.”

She took a moment to consider his words. She knew he was right, but it took her a while to digest. She hated that it did – that it took her so long – but her mind was off right now, overtired and overworked from a full day. “Maybe I should go to bed,” she mumbled as her head rested in the crook of Elias’s neck.

Elias didn’t even have to say anything. All he did was move to pick her up, her arms wrapping around his shoulders and her legs wrapping around his torso, and he carried her across the apartment to his bedroom, now their bedroom, with her face still tucked. He could feel her tears on his skin, and when he lay her down gently on the bed, he made sure to wipe the rest of them away before he began undressing her, helping tug her shirt off and pulling off her jeans, leaving her in just her underwear. He did the same quickly, stripping down to his boxers before climbing into bed and pulling the covers over them.

They gravitated towards each other in bed like they always did, Elias wrapping an arm around her and Svea tangling their legs together. He began running his fingers gently through her hair and could hear her sigh, like she was letting out all her frustrations, all her nerves, and all her stress. “I love you, pretty girl,” he said softly as he continued his motions, knowing that it would soothe her, calm her down, just like it did for him when she did so. It was one of the best feelings in the world, when he thought about it.

“I love you too, even when I’m in my own head too much,” she responded, her voice soft and almost a whisper, but there was enough there. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

>< >< >< >< ><

Back in her global uprisings course, Svea took a moment to stretch as the professor gave them a five minute bathroom and coffee break. She debated on whether or not to go down to the main floor and get a coffee and croissant, or just stick it out until lunch time. She made sure to save her notes before she closed her laptop.

She’d finally gotten the hang of the logic puzzles and was doing them like crazy now. She’d seen advertisements on the bulletin board on the main floor for LSAT prep classes, and she wondered if she should take another round of them, even though she’d taken them last year as well. But then she had the fact that she needed to finish her application for her Master’s. There were a few more things to do on the supplemental application and some other things she needed to perfect before submitting it. She’d need someone to look it over. She needed to make sure the professors she’d asked to be references actually wrote their letters. She needed to—

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Francesca asked suddenly, snapping Svea from her thoughts.

“I’m thinking about the LSAT,” Svea decided to be honest with her. “The LSAT and my application to grad school.”

“The LSAT? Grad school?” Francesca asked like it was the most absurd thing that Svea was continuing her education and applying to these programs. “What’s the point, Svea?”

Svea furrowed her brows. “What do you mean what’s the point? I want to work in law and politics. You know that.”

“I mean, what’s the point when you’re with Elias now?”

Svea’s body stiffened at Francesca’s words. “What do you mean? I have to make a living, Francesca.”

“Do you? Do you really? Isn’t Elias gonna be signing, like, a huge contract at the end of this year? Do you honestly think you’re going to need to work to support yourself for the rest of your life when he’s going to be making, like, ten million dollars a year? Minus endorsements? I mean doesn’t he already support you?”

Svea was taken aback by Francesca’s line of questioning, and, to be honest, deeply hurt by it as well. Did Svea give off the airs and graces that she was fine with being a kept woman? Had she ever made it seem like she didn’t want to do anything with her life? That she didn’t care? She didn’t think she did ever. But for some reason, Francesca was bringing it up. “Francesca, I can’t let my boyfriend support me for the rest of my life.”

“You can’t? Because I can,” she quipped. She said it in a joking manner but Svea knew she was completely serious. The next line of questioning confirmed it for her. “I mean, does Elias have any teammates? Brock Boeser maybe? Or is he still with that Gillespie girl? The billionaire?”

Svea furrowed her brows. She didn’t like the direction this conversation was going, and she didn’t want Francesca anywhere near Brock or Grace. “They’re still together. He’s madly in love with her,” she mumbled before turning away from her and back to her laptop.

“Damn. Should’ve told me you were dating Elias earlier so I could’ve jumped at the chance.”

“Hmm,” Svea hummed, just to acknowledge what she said. She began typing something so Francesca would leave her alone.

When class was finished, Svea took out her phone and immediately texted Elias.

I’m going to be the most horrible housewife on the planet

Svea wtf are you talking about

Francesca said today I didn’t have to apply to law school or grad school because now I have you to take care of me It was the stupidest thing I think I’ve ever heard

Not even thirty seconds later, her phone began to ring. When she picked it up, Elias didn’t even greet with any formalities. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, too,” he said. “I mean, who says something like that?”

“Someone who wishes she was kept, I guess. I mean, she asked about Brock afterwards and I had to break her heart and tell her that he’s still madly in love with Grace.”

“What do you mean kept?”

“It’s a saying. It’s like a girl who has a nice and lavish lifestyle because of a rich man,” she explained.

Elias was silent on the other end trying to understand what Svea was explaining to him. “Did she just call you a prostitute? Or one of those sugarbaby things or whatever?”

Svea snorted. “In her own way, probably. I mean, when you think about it…” Svea tried to joke, seeing the humour in the situation, finally. Elias did pay for most things and Svea did enjoy a nice, comfortable life because of it – an apartment in Yaletown, access to a luxury car, an $8000 gold bracelet screwed onto her wrist…

But that didn’t mean she was kept. They were equal partners in their relationship. There was no power dynamic. Elias didn’t do those things and provide her with what he did because he wanted to control her, or because he wanted to have sex with her, or because he wanted to keep her at home all the time doing nothing besides looking pretty and being ready in bed for him. He did it because he genuinely loved her, because she was his best friend, his soulmate, his sun and his moon and his stars, and because he could, because what the hell else was he going to do with all this money? Spend it on himself? He already did that and there was a ton left over. Who better to spend it on than Svea?

“What is it with everyone trying to get into our business? We’re happy this way. It works for us. What the fuck does it matter?” Elias asked. “And why is everybody so obsessed with money?”

“It makes the world turn, Elias.”

She heard him huff on the other end. “Just…don’t worry about what she says. It doesn’t matter. You’re going to law school or grad school or you’re doing what you want to do and that’s that.”

“Why did I have to love debating in high school? Why did I have to like law and politics? Why couldn’t I have loved to bake and like…I don’t know, opened up some hipster coffee shop here or in Stockholm and just made coffee and cake and cookies all day?”

“Because then you wouldn’t have been Svea,” Elias said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You would have been someone else. And I don’t know who that someone else is, but it’s not you.”

And he was right. He was so fucking right that Svea was taken aback by the simplicity of his words but just how deep they were; how they hit the nail right on the head and how they were just so…right. She wouldn’t be the same person if she never debated, if she was never a precarious kid checking out books at the library. She wouldn’t be the same person if she had baked cakes and cookies and opened some hipster coffee shop with vegan treats made exclusively from organic ingredients. She wouldn’t be the same Svea. She wouldn’t be the Svea Elias loved. She wouldn’t be the Svea her friends loved. She wouldn’t be the Svea her family loved, that Elias’s family loved. She almost teared up for how right he was. “Thank you, Elias,” she said softly, not knowing what else to say.

“For what?”

“For loving me the way I am.”

She could practically hear him smile bashfully on the other end. “I love you for the way you’ve always been, too. And the way you’ll be.”

She knew he would. That was the best part.

>< >< >< >< ><

Svea clicked send.

Your application to the University of British Columbia’s Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs has been received. You will receive a confirmation email with your application number shortly.

She took a deep breath. Now she waited.

***

Svea clicked send.

Your application to the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia has been received. You will receive an email shortly confirming your application.

She took a deep breath. Now she waited.

>< >< >< >< ><

“It would be chic to wear black, right?” Svea asked Grace as they scoured through the racks of dresses at Holt Renfrew, the iconic upscale Canadian department store, looking for something to wear to the upcoming Dice & Ice fundraiser the Canucks held annually. Grace loved to shop, and she was good at it, so Svea was confident they’d find something to wear.

“Well, it’s always chic to wear black,” Grace said as she pulled out a beige coloured, skin-tight dress. She took a good, long look at it before deciding it wasn’t the one and pushing it back in. “But you need to spruce it up a bit.”

“Spruce it up?”

“You’ve got a great body and you need to show it off. You’ve been wearing your knit sweaters for so long that I’ve forgotten what your boobs look like, Svea.”

She snorted. Leave it to Grace, the professional dancer with the near perfect body, to mention her boobs. “Grace, I barely have boobs.”

“Doesn’t matter. You can still show off your figure. It’s to die for. And I’m sure Petey would love it.”

Well, that was true. Svea kept that in her mind as they continued to look through racks and racks of dresses, never quite finding the right one, though they pulled some to try on just in case. Grace always had something to say about the dresses Svea pulled – “You’re going to look like my uncle’s fourth ex-wife if you wear that” or “That looks like something a retired art teacher would wear”. Svea couldn’t help but laugh. She was thankful to have Grace along for this ride since Grace had a sense of style and what would look good on her body; if she wasn’t here, Svea wouldn’t probably end up picking a dress that made her look like a 17th century peasant woman from Croatia ready to milk the cows. As Grace would say.

They verged into the designer departments. Grace picked out a dress from Dolce and Gabbana, and handed one from Gucci to Svea. They checked in Yves Saint Laurent and Versace but there was nothing. Chloe. Louis Vuitton. Celine. Miu Miu.

“What about this one?” Svea asked, pulling out a gorgeous dress from the Miu Miu rack.

From down the line, Grace looked up. “It’s black.” Svea took it off the bar completely, holding it against her body, showing its crystal-studded top. “Ooooooooh,” Grace’s jaw dropped at the detailing. She immediately let go of the dress she’d pulled out and walked over to Svea. “Now that’s a good one.”

“You think?”

“Mhm,” she nodded her head fervently. “Let’s go try these all on now. I need to see that dress on you.”

The first few dresses Svea tried on and modeled for Grace didn’t “work”, according to her. There was something off about them – a hemline, a cut, the fact that it made Svea look like a nun – that sent them back on the hanger. But when Svea put on the Miu Miu dress she pulled, even just seeing herself in the dressing room with it half on, she knew it would look good. “Um…I think I’m going to need to take off my bra for this one,” she called out to Grace is the dressing room beside her.

“Then take it off.”

“There’s gonna be a lot of side-boob. I’m not sure that’s appropriate for a gala raising money for children…”

“Nothing a little double-sided boob tape can’t fix,” Grace retorted. “Now get out here so I can see.”

Svea pulled back the curtain. When she did, Grace’s jaw dropped. Grace was standing in a beautiful dress of her own, but she didn’t even care – her full attention was on Svea now, and the dress she was wearing. “Oh…my…God,” she gave Svea a complete up-down, a giant smile forming on her face afterwards. “This is perfect. This is it.”

“But what about this?” Svea moved to show Grace her side profile.

“Like I said, boob tape. But we’ll bring it to a tailor as well. We want this thing pinched in and showing off that body.” Grace approached her, moving them so that they stood in front of a mirror together with Grace behind her. Svea could feel her hands on the low backline of the dress. Grace tugged on it. “See?” she said, getting Svea to look in the mirror. Even just the simple pinch covered up some of the side boob – enough that Svea felt more comfortable and more appropriate. “Now imagine what my tailor can do. This thing will fit you like a glove when he’s done with it.”

Svea nodded her head. She did look good. And she had a feeling Elias would like the open back and the fact it would be tight. Elias liked her in anything but her dressing up did something to him. He would treat her as a present he needed to unwrap. “Is there any point in trying on anything else?” she smiled.

Grace smiled back. “No way.”

***

“D’you ever think about marriage?” Grace asked suddenly as she and Svea ate lunch at Coast, raw oysters in between them arranged perfectly on a platter.

Svea was taken aback by the question, which was posed out of the blue. She thought anybody would be, all things considered. “Uh…sometimes. Why?”

“I just think of you and Elias a lot. And Brock and I, obviously, but more so you and Elias. Because, like, we both know you guys are going to get married one day. I mean, so will Brock and I…but…I don’t know. Do you ever just think of what marriage will be like?”

Svea knew what Grace was trying to get at. In her own roundabout way, she was expressing a deep-rooted fear. Not of marriage in and of itself – the act of it, of getting a legal document and signing it and being attached to a person through marriage – but the dynamics of it instead. How to make it work. Communication. Trust. Traveling. Schedules. Children. Her parents notoriously didn’t speak to each other after their horrible divorce and used her and their lawyers as pawns. She got along well with her step-brothers and all was well and fine now, as an adult, but divorce traumatizes kids. “I do.”

“What do you think your marriage with Elias will be like?”

“Comfortable,” Svea said without any thought. She felt the need to clarify. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. I just mean that like…I think it will be easy. Easier. We’ve known each other our whole lives and our relationship is already strong. I don’t think that signing a document and becoming husband and wife will drastically change anything in our relationship.”

“Because it’s bound to happen,” Grace said.

“Exactly,” Svea nodded her head. “Like I know it will change, but not by much. And Elias and I talk about what we want and what we want to do, and we sort of just, like…already know. So it’s not going be this, like, seismic shift. He’ll still be Elias. He’ll just be my husband, Elias.”

Grace nodded her head. She thought long and hard about what Svea was saying. She envied Svea, somewhat, because she also had good role models in her parents to base a marriage off of. Grace didn’t really have that luxury – though she had her mom and her step-dad now, but that was different. Because after everything that happened in the divorce, Grace couldn’t look at marriage the same way. “Do you ever look to your parents and what they went through?”

“Somewhat. I mean my mom uprooted her whole life for my dad. She moved to a foreign country and learned the language and brought up two daughters in a small town…I don’t think they would have lasted if she didn’t know my dad loved her unconditionally like Elias loves me now,” Svea explained. “I mean they obviously weren’t perfect but they provide a great example. Same with Elias’s parents. I think they provided a good example for him.”

“When I think about my mom and dad, and what happened with them, it doesn’t make me scared about Brock and I, because I know we’re different,” Grace began. “But what gets me scared is, like, the possibility. Like there’s always a possibility we could end up like them.”

Svea shook her head. “You can’t wage your happiness on a possibility, Grace,” she said sternly. “If we go by that logic, of possibilities, that means there’s a possibility that Elias would cheat on me and break us up.”

“That would never happen. Elias would never do that to you.”

“Exactly,” Svea said. “You and Brock are nothing like your parents. So let me ask you the same question. What do you think your marriage with Brock will be like?”

Unlike Svea, who answered with one word in a heartbeat, Grace thought about it for a while. It wasn’t because she wasn’t confident in their relationship – she was – and it wasn’t because she couldn’t see herself married to Brock – she could – but it was more so because what she had with Brock was indescribable. It had all happened pretty quickly, but everything about it felt right, and felt like it was supposed to happen. Marriage would feel the same way. Having kids would feel the same way. “Comfortable,” Grace repeated Svea’s word. “Because he gives me a sense of comfort than no-one else has. He makes me feel safe and happy all the time. And because we want the same things. We always have.”

Svea smiled. “See? Comfort isn’t a bad thing. Not everything has to be a rollercoaster.”

Grace nodded. She knew Svea was right. She just wished she didn’t have such bad examples to base a marriage on. Svea was wise and knew these things because she had good examples. “Has Elias ever brought up marriage?”

Svea smirked slightly, grabbing her water to take a sip so she could avoid the question. Grace wiggled in her seat excitedly, knowing the answer based on her response. “In passing, mostly. We were in bed once, too.”

“Oh God, did he propose once when you two were having sex?”

Svea snorted. “No, thank God. Nothing awkward like that. It was more so, like…” she trailed off, wondering if she should even say anything. She told Grace pretty much everything these days. “When we get married, so and so…” she mimicked Elias’s voice.

“Ah, I get it,” Grace nodded. “I once gave Brock a blowjob so good he called me his wife afterwards.”

Svea burst out laughing, which caused Grace to laugh as well. Both of the girls had to wipe away tears and take a drink of water before they could resume talking. “Brock would totally do something like that,” Svea commented.

“I know. He’s so predictable,” Grace rolled her eyes playfully. “Is it weird these things happen with our boyfriends during sex? I swear they only share one brain cell.”

“They definitely do, but we love them for it.”

>< >< ><

“Do you want to marry me?”

If Svea was a dog, her ears would have perked up like someone was opening the treat bag. She and Elias had finished dinner and had been cuddling on the couch when Svea thought they needed a snack and went to go microwave a bag of popcorn. The question didn’t make her nervous because she knew the answer. If anything, she wondered what exactly it would lead to. “Of course I do.”

“Now or eventually?” he asked again.

“Eventually,” she answered.

“Why not now?”

Svea poured the popcorn into the bowl. “Because I don’t know what I’m going with my life yet, and I think it’s important to establish that before I get married.”

“So if you establish it, we would be able to get married?” he asked, using her logic.

“Eliiiiaaaaas…” she elongated his name, taking the bowl and bringing it back to the couch. He sounded like a four year old with all of his questions. “What’s this about?”

“I’m just wondering when we can get married,” he said like it was so simple.

“Why are you wondering that?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Elias, we’re only twenty-two,” Svea said. She wanted to turn the tables. “And besides, do you want to marry me?”

“Of course I do.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re my soulmate,” he said automatically. “Because I love you more than anything. And we waited long enough to get together, so why wait to get married?”

“Elias…” she whispered. Instead of sitting down by his side like she had been, she straddled his lap. It brought them much closer, of course, and Svea could look at him face-to-face. She brought her hands up to cradle his face. “Listen to me. I love you. I want to marry you. There’s no doubt in my mind about that, okay? None whatsoever. But there are a lot of things happening this year between me and my future and you and your contract,” she said. “I feel…I feel like once all of that is…I don’t know, settled, then we can start seriously think about getting married. And I can’t do that when everything is up in the air with me.”

Elias moved into her touch, eventually nodding his head. He looked so cute and his lips were so pouty, Svea felt like kissing him right then. But she knew she couldn’t until they finished their very serious conversation. “I just don’t want to wait. I’ve already waited too long for you, you know?” he asked.

“I know. But I’m not going anywhere.”

“You better not be,” he mumbled, leaning forward to rest his head against her chest. She moved her hands so one was still cradling his face while she ran her fingers through his hair with the other. “I hope you don’t think I’m pressuring you or anything.”

“You’re not.”

“I just really want to marry you. I really want you to be my wife. I know it’s probably stupid of me but I don’t care how young we are. I would’ve married you at eighteen.”

Svea smiled. “If we hadn’t denied our feelings for each other we probably would have been dumb and done it,” she laughed. “But you’ve gotta get me a ring first.”

“Oh, that’s no problem. I’ll make sure the ring is bigger than your eyeball.”

“And you still gotta kneel. I want the whole kit and kaboodle. I don’t care that I know it’s happening. You still have to kneel and ask me.”

She felt Elias smile against her, giggling slightly. “I plan on it. I meant it when I said that time in Stockholm wasn’t the last time I would kneel in front of you.”

“Good,” Svea smiled.

“But we can still get a pet, right?”

Svea snorted. She was very, very, very well aware of how much he wanted a pet. With Diesel, Whiskey, and Tequila far away in Sweden with Fanny and Emil, he had limited access to animals. And after spending practically the entire summer with them, he was desperate for some animal contact. Grace bringing Pippa around was always nice, but it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t cuddle with Pippa whenever he wanted. Pippa wasn’t at his home. “Elias.”

“What if I brought home an iguana one day?”

“No,” she said loudly, pulling away from him so his head wasn’t on her chest anymore. He had a cheeky smile on his face. “I told you to stop sending me reptiles to adopt.”

“But what if—”

“If you bring home an iguana or a reptile or God forbid a snake, you’re not allowed to marry me anymore.”

“Whooooooaaaaaa whoa whoa hey hey hey, let’s not get crazy here,” he held up his hands. “Okay, I’ll stop sending the reptiles. But that means I can send you more dogs.”

“Okay, deal,” she smiled, finally getting her opportunity to kiss him. “You’re lucky I’m already crazy for you, because you’re gonna drive me crazy.”

“Hmmm,” he hummed happily, snaking his hands up her shirt. “I’m crazy for you too. And I can think of a few crazy things we can get up to right now.”

>< >< >< >< ><

“Elias—”

“—Svea—”

“—Elias we’re already late—”

“—Pull up your dress—"

“—Eli—oh, oh Jesus,” Svea felt herself getting pushed against their bedroom’s glass window. Elias was behind her pulling her dress up and bunching it around her hips. She could hear the buckle of his belt clink as he rushed to get it unbuckled. “Elias—”

“Bend over.”

She let out a hot sigh as she did what she was told, trying to grip onto the glass as she bent over slightly, her ass sticking out and grinding on Elias’s already hard member. She could feel his hand on her ass, slipping her lace panties to the side. She’d bought them specifically for tonight. No set, because she wasn’t wearing a bra (only boob tape, as per Grace and her tailor). She’d planned on surprising Elias after the gala but he apparently had other plans. She felt his fingers play with her folds, letting out a mewl at his teasing to get her wet, eventually slipping two fingers inside of her, causing her to cry out. “That feels good, Elias,” she whispered, looking back at him.

“You like that?” he asked, to which she nodded her head. “You think looking that sexy in this dress wasn’t gonna make me do this?”

She smiled slightly. “I knew it would. Just thought you’d be able to wait,” she smiled devilishly.

“Nuh uh,” Elias shook his head, curling his fingers and making her visibly shiver. “No waiting. Can’t wait.”

“Then fuck me already.”

Elias entered her with such force that they crashed together against the glass. Svea let out a loud moan as he filled her up, feeling his hot breath right behind her ear as her own hot breath fogged up the glass in front of her mouth. She absolutely loved the feeling of him filling her up – always had, always would – but this was different. This was hot and fast and raw and rough, and she liked it, God did she like it. “Fill me up, Elias,” she breathed out. “Fill me up and fuck me.”

He crashed into her hips again, and she sent out another shout. His body pressed up against hers gave her little room to move but she liked it. Another crash. Another shout. Another crash. Another shout. On and on and on, the more shouts and moans escaped her body without her having any control over them. On and on and on, she got louder with each passing one. He could see her knuckles turning white from trying to grip the glass unsuccessfully. “You like being fucked like this?” he mumbled into her ear.

“Yeeesssssssss,” she nodded.

“How much?”

“So much,” she breathed out. “I love it when you fuck me hard, Elias. I love it. It’s so good. It’s so fucking good.”

It wasn’t meant to last long – rendezvouses like this never did – and so with a bite of the neck and an arch of the back and a slip of Elias’s hand around to her core, rubbing and teasing, Svea came undone, coming loudly and shaking as she tried to keep her balance. She could feel his breaths shorten, and soon after, he came inside of her, hot and wet and causing her own orgasm to last longer. As they tried to catch their breaths, Svea could feel Elias’s lips on the open skin of her back, placing soft, tender, loving kisses along it as they came down from their highs.

Elias’s lips moved from her spine to her shoulder blades and along her neck. “I love you,” he whispered softly, placing a quick kiss on her jawline.

The fact that he was still inside her made it that much more tender to her. With her skirt still bunched up and the heat still pulsating in her core – evidence of what they’d just done – it was a nice bring-me-down, a return to reality for Svea who had just been seeing stars thanks to her boyfriend. “I love you too.”

When he softened and he finally slipped out of her, she whimpered as she always did at the loss, though she knew that more would be waiting for her later. She adjusted her underwear upon hearing Elias’s belt clink again. After rearranging themselves, they looked at each other to see the other perfectly well-kept, as if Elias didn’t just fuck her against the window. Elias had a smile on his face – a proud one, not one filled with lust like minutes before. “We should get down to the car,” he said, though neither of them bothered to move. “You do look beautiful,” he added.

“We clean up well,” Svea smiled back. She stepped forward to help him arrange his tie and collar.

“I can’t wait to see you in a wedding dress,” Elias said, looking down at her.

Svea looked up. “Yeah?”

He nodded, clasping her hand in his. “Yeah.”

***

“Svea, you look fantastic!” Jacob Markstrom smiled as he bent down to hug her. Almost the entire team and their significant others had sad variations of the same thing to her as they saw her, so she knew she had picked the right dress. She and Elias were one of the last couples to arrive, but it seemed like things were running slightly behind schedule anyway because of people trying to find their seats in the giant room. It saved them, really.

“Thanks Jacob,” Svea smiled. “You look quite dapper yourself. A change from the scruffy bear you turn into when we’re back in Sweden.”

He let out a hearty laugh before moving on to greet Elias. Svea looked around the room to see it already almost full of people mingling. The stage was lit up in blue and green lights, and the DJ was playing music in the background of everything else that was happening. There were already food stations open in the middle of the room. Svea wondered if the boys could eat before they had to go their designated stations – she knew Elias and Brock were going to be set up in the photobooth part just like last year. That meant she and Grace could gossip and get a good talk in before dinner, where they would inevitably be separated at different tables.

About five minutes after Svea and Elias arrived, Brock and Grace did too. They made their rounds with the team. When Grace approached Svea, she gave her a good up-down. “You look phenomenal,” she said before going in to hug her. “Was Petey able to keep his hands off you?” she whispered in her ear.

Svea giggled. “No.”

Grace nodded knowingly as she pulled away from the hug. “Brock wasn’t either.”

Soon, the boys were called to their “stations” and Grace and Svea found their tables before going to the bar. A lot of people were approaching Grace because they recognized her from her father, and they asked questions about her and her initiatives and her uncles as Svea stood awkwardly with her, barely acknowledged or subtly acknowledged with just a nod of the head. Grace knew how to work a room, so it was fine, and she tried to include Svea into the conversations as much as possible, but people weren’t interested in her as much as they were interested in Grace. It was fine. Grace came from a prominent family of billionaires who were famous in Vancouver for their philanthropy. Svea was just…Svea. To be honest, she somewhat liked it. She could never be in the “limelight”, so to speak, as Grace was. That’s why if she went into politics, she’d be an advisor. There was no way she’d run for public office, even though she could debate better than the best politicians.

At one point, Svea and Grace unfortunately got stuck with quite the…character. Young, brash, and somehow invited to a gala that benefitted children, he was making jokes left, right, and centre. Most of them inappropriate. Both girls wished he noticed their awkward laughs and buzzed off, but such was not the case. He just had to chat up the daughter of Hamish Gillespie.

“You girls having a good time?” Brock’s voice was heard suddenly as he crept up behind them, putting his hand on the small of Grace’s back. Elias wasn’t far behind, smiling slightly.

“Whooooa ho ho! Brock Boeser!” the man exclaimed, doing one of those slap-shaking of hands boys always did with each other – if they were friends. Brock had no idea who this man was. “What’s up, Boes? Just talking to your girl here about where the Gillespie’s are donating money next.”

“Hmm, really?” Brock said, eyeing Grace and seeing the look she was giving him. “You’re talking to Grace about it?”

“Yeah, your girl.”

Elias watched as Grace rolled her eyes. “I was just about to say it’ll probably be another arts centre somewhere,” she said curtly.

“And what about you?” he nodded his head towards Svea. “Raya, was it?”

“Svea,” she deadpanned.

“Svea’s looking to do public policy and work in politics,” Elias interjected, saying the information proudly.

The man laughed out loud. Like, actually laughed out loud upon hearing the news. “You gonna be a political husband, Petey? The Good Husband? Like that TV show?” he joked.

“I don’t get it,” Svea interrupted before Elias could respond. She knew what she had to do: she had to use the technique of playing dumb and not understanding the “joke” in order to have someone awkwardly explain why they thought their racist/sexist/misogynist/ableist “joke” was funny, thus shining a light on their horrible character. She could bask in the awkwardness of them stumbling over their own words and seeing how truly ridiculous and stupid they really were. “Can you explain that to me?”

She watched as the man’s face fell slightly. “Oh, you know,” he tried to play it off. “It’s just a joke.”

“What’s the joke?”

Now his face really dropped, but he still tried to keep a smile on his face, which just made him look completely like that Chrissy Teigen meme. “It’s just…you know…”

“I don’t know.”

The man shifted awkwardly on his feet. “Petey doesn’t need his girl working in politics,” he said. “What are you even gonna do in politics anyway? How’s Petey gonna feel about that? Having his girl running around with a bunch of politicians?”

“I’m not exactly sure where you’re going with this,” Svea said. She couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. “What exactly are you trying to achieve? Please explain to me how having a successful wife is so threatening to a man’s ego?”

“Does he need the trouble?” he continued. “You can’t be out there…you…I mean, shouldn’t you just do what all the other wives and girlfriends do? Be with the kids and tend to the house like a good wife? Petey is the important one here.”

Svea was so shocked her jaw didn’t drop. She closed her jaw, curtly, and closed her mouth, curtly, out of fear of saying something she might regret. It was Brock who had to intervene. “I think it’s best you leave now,” he said as calmly as possible.

“I—It’s not—”

“Leave,” Grace stressed.

The man scoffed and walked off. Svea could feel Elias grab her hand and squeeze it. He had an angry look on his face, understandably, as he watched the guy walk off, back to his table and back to his group. Elias would make sure to walk by the table to see the company they came from so he could make a complaint. “What a fucking asshole,” he mumbled.

“What a crock of shit,” Grace piped up even louder than Elias. She looked up at Brock. “Can we kick him out? I’m serious. Can we go speak to someone so he’s thrown out? Let’s go.”

“It’s fine,” Svea said.

“But Svea—”

“Honestly, it’s fine,” she stressed. “I’m going to be a woman in politics. This won’t be the last time somebody is going to make a comment like that.” Grace was still visibly mad. So was Brock. But they listened to Svea’s wish and didn’t pursue it any further. “Let’s go sit.”

***

Despite the man’s horrible comments, Svea forgot about them for the duration of the gala and had an amazing time. There were some hilariously funny moments that the organization put the players through, and Svea was laughing almost the entire night. She had some great talks afterwards, as well, with Jacob and Troy and Bo and Holly, and when the night ended, she was tired but happy as she and Elias made their way back home. Grace suggested they go for late-night pizza but Svea was too tired. They promised Grace brunch the next morning instead, which was readily agreed upon.

“I appreciate that you don’t expect that life from me,” Svea whispered as she stood in their bedroom in front of their mirror, Elias behind her unzipping her dress. She’d already been to the bathroom to wash off her makeup.

He knew exactly what she was talking about. He honestly wondered when she was going to bring it up. They’d been through this discussion months earlier when Francesca made her comments. He couldn’t believe they had to put up with them again. “I know you do,” he said from behind her.

“I just…I haven’t gone to university and pursued a life and career in public policy or law just to be called your girlfriend and become…become a…a trophy wife! A wag!” her anger was coming through now. “And I know I shouldn’t be angry and—and I’m not, I swear, because I know how ridiculous he was, but I…still.”

“I get it. It’s okay,” Elias said as he finished unzipping her dress. “You know I’d never want to dull your shine, Svea. I never want you to settle for anything you don’t want because I know you don’t want me to do that either.”

“You don’t…” she stopped herself, thinking if she should even ask the question, since he posed the same one to her when they were in Sweden after the entire Soren debacle. “You don’t think I’m holding you back, right?”

“How would you?” he asked, his tone showing he thought it was the most absurd idea on the planet.

“From like, doing stuff with your friends. Going out, having fun…I don’t know Elias. Normal guy stuff. Normal hockey guy stuff,” she clarified.

He’d been shaking his head since her first word. “No,” he said definitively. He dress fell to the floor, leaving Svea standing in front of the mirror in just her lace underwear. “I see what some of my friends and teammates have gotten up to on the road and I don’t want that for me. The only things I want in my life are my family, hockey, and you. There’s nothing else I need.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” he nodded. “You keep me grounded, Svea. I don’t need to do that shit when I have you at home.”

“I just don’t want you to miss out,” she said.

“I’m not missing out. Trust me. I still have my fun but I have it on my terms.”

Svea internalized his words and nodded her head. She turned around and began helping him undress, undoing his tie and the buttons on his dress shirt before moving to his belt, the clinking of the metal reminding her of their previous activities just hours ago. “I know that you love me. And you know that I love you. I just want to make sure you’re living the life you want because I know you want me to live the life that I want. Which is why I’m comfortable with telling you the next thing I’m going to say.”

“Which is?”

“If we get married, we’re not having kids anytime soon. I’m not even entertaining the idea,” she said, looking him straight in the eye. “Like, it’s not on the table. It’s not an option. I’m going to school and I’m working. And when I’m ready, we’re having kids.”

Again, Elias was nodding from the beginning of her first words. “I’m fine with that. I—yes, I’m fine with that.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive,” he kept nodding as she pushed his dress shirt back with her hands, letting it fall to the floor as well. “There’s no way I can even think about taking care of a kid right now anyway, so there’s no way I’m gonna do that to you. I wouldn’t put that on you while I go live my dreams. You have to live your dreams too.” He bent down slightly to give her a light kiss on the tip of her nose. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

That night, as Svea was on top of him, under him, on her hands and knees for him, spooning him, and everything in between; as every orgasm coursed through her body from the top of her head to the tips of her toes like a tidal wave, leaving her a shaking, moaning, mewling, whimpering mess, she was shown time and time again how much Elias loved her, how much he adored her, how much he would do anything for her; and she was shown, more than anything, that they were in this together.

>< >< >< >< ><

Dear Miss Nilsson,

Congratulations! We are pleased to offer you acceptance into the Peter A. Allard School of Law…

***

Dear Miss Nilsson,

Upon review of your application, we are pleased to offer you acceptance to the University of British Columbia’s Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs…

>< >< >< >< ><

“Stella! Stella! Speak!”

“Brrrrrrrraaaaark!”

“Gooood girl, Stella!” Svea gave her a treat. “Okay, now twirl!” she did the hand motion, and Stella spun around and sat down when she was finished. “What a good girl you are, Stella!”

“RrrrrBARK!”

Svea watched as Elias came up behind Stella and picked her up in one swift movement, swooping her up in his arms as he brought her up to his face. He snuggled his face into hers, her wet nose tickling his skin before she started licking his face. Svea laughed at the sight, and soon Elias was laughing too because Stella wouldn’t stop. “You’re just like mommy, Stella.”

“HEY!” Svea opposed, pinching him on his side and causing him to wince. “That’s not very nice.”

“It’s true though.”

“So what if it is,” she mumbled as she watched their puppy continue to lick his face. “We should put her harness on her now if we’re going to take her to the park.”

“But before that,” Elias said, placing Stella back down on the floor before walking over to their fridge. He bent down to open the freezer and took out a bottle of champagne. Stella waddled over to him, trying to see what else was in the freezer. “What’s that?” Svea asked as he set the bottle down on the counter. It was an expensive bottle too – he’d really gone all out.

“You didn’t think I’d just give you that necklace to celebrate you getting into your programs?” he asked with a smirk on his face. He took out two champagne flutes from a cabinet and set them down on the counter.

Svea touched the necklace sitting pretty around her neck – the Cartier Love necklace in yellow gold with diamonds, of course to match her bracelet that she hadn’t taken off since. “Elias…”

“And I know you still have to think about which one you’re going to choose,” he said as he took the foil off the top and began to uncork the bottle, “but we’re still going to celebrate. Because you’re my Svea, and I love you more than anything.”

Svea bent down to pick up Stella and cradle her in her arms as Elias poured the champagne into the flutes. “I did choose,” she said softly. “I came to the decision mentally, like, half an hour ago and I was going to tell you at the park.”

“Oh yeah? And?” he asked as he finished pouring.

She took a deep breath. “The Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs.”

Elias smiled from ear to ear, handing her one of the flutes to hold. He stepped towards her and wrapped an arm around her, cradling her and Stella against him. “To you, my pretty girl,” he said softly as he looked down at her. “My moon, my stars, my Svea.”

>< >< >< >< ><

@ThomasDrance: BREAKING: Elias Pettersson has signed a contract with the Vancouver Canucks. More to come shortly.

@ThomasDrance: Sounds like a long-term deal. Elias is staying. Canucks fans rejoice.

@ThomasDrance: Somebody on the media beat just screamed. Another danced. One is just smiling as he’s staring down at his phone. Just in case you were wondering how happy the people of Vancouver are.

>< >< >< >< ><

“You guys want to meet up on…let’s say Saturday?” Svea asked Grace on the phone. She was lying on the couch with Elias giving her a foot massage and Stella sleeping on her chest.

“Yeah, of course. Pippa down!” she asserted. “What were you thinking?”

“We kind of want to go super-fancy,” Svea said, knowing that Grace would be able to help with that. “Like, really nice outfits. And I want Brock in a suit.”

“I’ll make reservations at Hawksworth,” Grace said like it was the easiest thing in the world – because it was for her. Everyone else would need to wait weeks. But not her. “And I’ll stuff Brock too-many-cookies-gut into a suit, no problem.”

“Make the reservation for 1:30 in the afternoon. But can we meet at 11?”

“Of course…” Grace said. “Why so early?”

“For Stella. We need to show you something with Stella.”

>< >< >< >< ><

Elias waved Brock down outside once he noticed his car. Elias was dressed in his best suit, one he’d know he’d never wear again from now on. He watched as Brock parallel parked the car on the street. Grace got out first, wearing a very pretty and fitted yellow dress with a boatneck and cap sleeves, looking especially elegant. Her hair was sleeked back into a low bun, and she had a pair of high-heeled sandals on to complete her look. Brock followed behind her, wearing one of his particularly well-tailored and fitted black suits, shiny new shoes and a skinny tie.

“Why’d you make me dress up?” Brock asked as he approached Elias, adjusting his jacket so he could button it up.

“You know I like seeing you in a suit.”

Brock winked. “I do, but you see me in one almost every other day. Why my best suit?”

Elias didn’t have the opportunity to answer, because Svea came up from behind him to hug Grace and Brock. They both bent down and kissed Stella as well. “Do you guys mind if I leave my jacket in your car? It’s getting a bit hot out,” she asked as she began unbuttoning her trench coat.

“Yeah yeah, of course,” Brock nodded, moving to open the backseat door for her.

When Svea handed the handle of the leash to Elias and took off her trench coat, she had everybody staring. She revealed the dress she was wearing: plunge V-neck, frilled outline, sequin-embellished waistband, flowy skirt.

White.

“Wait…” Brock held his hand up, not bothering to close the backseat door even though Svea was finished throwing her jacket in the back. Finished and waiting. He had a confused look on his face. But then it suddenly hit him. “Are you guys getting fuckin’ married?”

Svea smirked. When Grace saw, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Brock looked at Elias, who was now smiling and laughing at Grace’s reaction. “Are you fucking joking?” Elias shook his head. “You guys are getting fucking married?! Right now?!”

“Yup,” Elias finally nodded his head. “You and Grace are our witnesses, and you may or may not need to FaceTime in our parents and siblings.”

If it was possible, Grace screamed even louder before jumping up and down and lunging herself at Svea, who was ready to catch her and hug her. Brock and Elias watched as she kept changing “ohmygodohmygodOHMYGOOOOODDDDD” over and over again before she finally had the wherewithal to grab Svea’s left hand. When she did, she saw Svea’s ring: a beautiful yellow gold pave ring with a sapphire halo around the centre diamond – a giant round cut that took up most of Svea’s finger. She gasped at the sight of it. “Oh my God this is stunning,” she said, inspecting it before turning to Elias. “You picked this out?”

“Wow Grace. You don’t have faith in me?” Elias smiled.

She turned to Svea. “Our men have no taste. You have to tell me who picked it out.”

“HEY!” Brock protested. “I have taste!”

“We went to the jewelry store together. I chose the diamond and he said to get it bigger—”

“—Good—”

“—and then I wanted the pave band. But it was Elias who actually suggested the sapphires in the halo.”

Grace nodded. “The sapphires make it. They truly do.” She gave Elias another look. “Good job Elias.”

“Thanks Grace.”

“So are we gonna do this thing or what?!” Brock asked, clapping his hands together. “Let’s get married!”

***

The picture was simple, and taken by Brock. In it, Elias and Svea stood on the steps outside Vancouver City Hall. They stood side by side, and were holding hands. Svea held her bouquet by her hip, and in Elias held the leash for Stella, who was sitting in front of them, smiling at the camera. They were smiling, too. Formal smiles, mostly, but in Elias’s unabashedness, and in Svea’s absolute pure joy.

Elias posted a simple caption.

💒

***

@of_pettersson: The Church of Pettersson could have married you!!! Alas, we bestow best wishes to you and your bride!

@peteyfan40: pettersson married? What a way to ring in his contract!

@canucklehead406: gotta love that the first thing elias does after signing a contract is get married. Remember that ice and dice when he said he’d never had a girlfriend? What a change

@vancitybaby: ok, so I’m not the only one who think elias looks super cute with his new wife and puppy, right? Like I basically sobbed.

@ThomasDrance: Signs a contract, gets married. Bride is childhood best friend Svea Nilsson. Congrats to Elias & Svea. Bright things are in their future.

@BBoeser16: So happy for my two best friends and to have been there with them <3

@gracegillespie: I love love. Congratulations to Elias, Svea, and Stella.

>< >< >< >< ><

Elias and Svea cuddled on the couch. Svea was in Elias’s lap and Stella was sleeping in hers. Elias placed a kiss on Svea’s temple. “I love you so much, Svea.”

She smiled. “I love you too Elias.”

For at least a moment, everything was perfect.

202 notes · View notes