An Infinite Kind of Love - A 300 follower celebration fic - Matthew Tkachuk x ofc
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Title: An Infinite Kind of Love
Author: Tory / @tkwrites
Relationship: Pre-established: Matthew Tkachuk x Sophie (ofc)
Warnings: Other than mentions of a not great biological father, it’s all fluff.
Summary: Matthew and Sophie get married!
Word count: 3,800
Comments: I hit 300 followers way back on July 12 and set up this poll to determine the fic I would write in celebration. We’d just passed the 4th of July, and I had a very specific idea for Matthew and Sophies wedding because of it.
This fic has actually been finished for about 3 weeks, but I was worried people would be upset if I posted it before the latest Quinn and Sarah Snapshot went up. So, here it is.
I hope you enjoy seeing Matthew and Sophie get married! If you did, please consider commenting, reblogging, or sending in an ask. I love hearing your thoughts about my writing!
Also we're just going to pretend the suit in this photo is navy because I couldn't find a photo of Matthew in a navy suit other than last years NHL Awards suit, which is not a suit for a wedding.
An Infinite Kind of Love
A Matthew and Sophie Fic
“Can someone get Matthew?” Sophie asked.
“Of course.” Taryn darted out to run across the courtyard.
When she got back to the suite, Matthew was running in after her.
Gwen was naked to the waist and yelped.
He slapped a hand over his eyes. “Sorry! Sorry! Soph?”
She rushed to him, pulling him out onto the balcony. “It's safe,” she said, nudging his hand down.
The late afternoon sun turned her into nothing more than a silhouette. He had to blink a few times before she came into focus. She'd changed from the short ivory colored dress she'd worn to brunch into a set of loose satin pajamas. Her hair was in rollers, and even with brows that looked too heavy without the rest of her makeup done, she still looked beautiful.
“What's wrong?” he asked, his hands automatically going to her arms, rubbing up and down. He didn't think it would actually happen, but thoughts of her calling off the wedding had still weaseled their way into the back of his mind when Taryn raced into the groom's room telling him Sophie wanted to see him.
“Nothings wrong,” she said, looking into his face. Despite only wearing a t-shirt and shorts, he looked fresh faced, and handsome. He and the boys had gone to the barber shop after brunch, and they'd done his hair so his curls were perfectly set and defined. It took all her willpower to not run her fingers through them. They’d also given him a straight edge shave, and she could tell how soft his cheeks would be without even touching them.
She preferred a bit of scruff on him, but he'd insisted he'd rather be clean shaven, saying he didn't want to look like a Muppet on their wedding day.
“Plus,” he'd said with a mischievous glint in his eye, “don't want to give you any beard burn,” before rubbing her cheek with his stubbled jaw.
She’d laughed and told him she didn’t mind.
“What's up?” he asked now, looking relieved.
“I just wanted to see you,” she said, stepping into him and wrapping her arms around his chest.
As his arms enclosed around her, she felt his chuckle at the same time she heard it.
“I missed you, too,” he said. With the rollers, he couldn’t tuck his face into her hair the way he liked to. He settled for resting his lips on her forehead.
“For being our wedding day, we don't see very much of each other,” she said.
While they’d had a brunch with many of their wedding guests before coming to the ceremony venue to get ready, they’d slept apart the night before and spent much of the morning away from each other. Then, they were supposed to be apart until the first look and the ceremony. It felt incongruous. This was a celebration of their union. Shouldn't they be together?
“I know. It's bullshit,” he whispered.
“What aftershave did they use?” she asked. He smelled fresh like cut grass and mountain air.
“I'm not sure. I picked it because I thought you'd like it.”
The simpleness of the act and of his thoughtfulness made her a little weak in the knees. “It smells really nice.”
Matthew closed his eyes, drinking in the feel of her body pressed to his, her breath on his neck and her nose in the soft spot under his jaw. Knowing that he'd picked right made pride swell in his chest.
“I'll ask them and get some,” he said.
Pulling back, she leaned up to kiss him.
It wasn't anything extravagant. It wasn't a kiss that made him break into a hot sweat or one that brought him to his knees. It was loving and soft. There was tongue, because with Sophie, there was always a little tongue.
They kissed a few more times before she pulled away to find a look of adoration on his handsome face as he smiled down at her.
Caught in the moment, they stayed that way for a few beats longer, just staring at each other until someone cleared their throat.
In the back of her mind, Sophie knew they were all in the room, but it was still a bit shocking when they looked over to find all her bridesmaids, both of their moms and the wedding photographer all gathered around the balcony door.
“You guys are so cute,” Gwen gushed.
There wasn't much about their wedding that was traditional. Instead of the usual noon, 2 or 5 o'clock ceremonies, their ceremony was set to begin at 8:30 so it would be dark enough by the time they kissed. They served a cocktail hour with food before the ceremony, at which the bridal party, minus the bride, mingled. After the vows, they were headed to a late-night reception with food trucks, cocktails, and partying.
With 20 minutes to go before the ceremony, they all snuck off to a more secluded part of the garden. The groomsmen insisted they wanted to do a first look with Sophie. It turned into a whole thing: groomsmen along with Keith and her stepdad Greg. Then Matthew would come in and join them to get his own first look.
Sophie was hidden behind a trellis in another part of the garden with both of their moms and her bridesmaids.
Her mom grabbed her hand to stop her from nervously pulling at her dress, and Sophie felt butterflies attack her stomach.
Before the bridesmaids went out to join the guys, Taryn wrapped her in a tight hug. When they parted, she held Sophie at arms length to look her over. “Matthew’s gonna shit himself,” she said, tone full of a kind of teasing approval Sophie never experienced until she’d met Matthew. Their family teased, but mostly, it was all in good fun. It was rarely the kind of needling teasing she got from her dad as a child.
Once she’d tried it on for the first time, Sophie couldn’t stop thinking about Matthew seeing her in this dress. She’d had it custom-made, pieces of a few dresses stolen and sewn together to make exactly what she’d wanted. The bodice had a plunging neckline that narrowed between her breasts, so it wasn’t all that scandalous and floral embroidery that cascaded down onto the A-line skirt. It was simple and understated, just left of center enough to make it unique and just off white enough to be flattering. If the color were a little darker, it might be called blush.
She knew Matthew would love it because she loved it. That was just the kind of guy he was. But Taryn’s reaction still made her insides fizz like champagne.
Upon a prompt from their wedding planner, Sophie walked out.
The groomsmen were lined up, facing away from her.
They turned around when the photographer, who was standing off to the side with full view of everyones reactions, gave the signal.
As Sophie watched, a broad grin spread over every face. Greg and Keith both started crying, which she hadn’t expected. Keith pulled his glasses off so he could wipe his eyes.
Greg rushed forward to gather her into a hug. His chest shook with sobs as he whispered, “thank you for letting me be here.”
“You’re the best dad, Greg. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Matthew’s one lucky son of a bitch,” he said, wiping his eyes. “I’m so proud of you.”
She hugged him again, squeezing extra tight.
Her brother followed. “You're so pretty, Soph,” he said.
“You look really handsome in your suit,” she said, wiping at her own tears that had finally spilled over.
He worked his thumbs under his suspenders and puffed out his chest.
Their laughter was loud and raucous as she struck a pose of her own.
When it was his turn, Keith gathered her into his barrel chest and lifted her off the ground in a bear hug.
She let out a surprised little squeak and giggled as her feet kicked out behind her.
“I don’t know —” Keith had to stop to wipe his eyes again after he set her back down, “I don’t know what Matthew did to get on your good side, but I’m sure glad he did.”
“You raised a good man,” she said, patting him on the chest as they parted, “that’s what he did.”
He gave her a watery smile and went back to Chantal and Taryn, slinging an arm around each of them.
“Matthew’s gonna lose his mind,” Sam whispered in her ear as they hugged.
She giggled, hoping he was right.
And finally (finally, finally!), Matthew was walking down the garden path next to Brady, looking as nervous and excited as she felt and so handsome in his navy blue suit. He had his Louis Vuitton belt on. Even though she thought it was a little distracting to wear to a wedding, he insisted it was his signature piece and couldn’t go without it. She found an indulgent smile on her face, glad he was wearing something he loved so much. At least she’d convinced him to wear real dress shoes and not those ridiculous mules he’d been sporting to the arena all season.
Sophie came into view, and all at once, Matthew felt tears sting his eyes. He’d known he would cry. He knew there was no hope of stopping it. He loved her so much, and this whole day had him all discombobulated. This wasn’t even the first time he’d cried, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last.
After today, he would be her husband. Her husband. He would be her husband, and she would be his wife. And —
She was wearing the most beautiful dress he’d ever seen. Simple and elegant and completely Sophie. A strong pang of longing, love, and nostalgia pulled through him when he realized her lips were even painted the same pink they had been on their first date.
She was perfect.
“Oh my god,” he said, awestruck as they joined the group.
She knew he would probably do that no matter what she was wearing, but it still felt good.
Brady stepped forward and gathered her into a hug. “You look beautiful, Soph,” he said before going to stand with Emma, wiping a few tears from his eyes as he leaned down to whisper to her about how much this reminded him of their own wedding.
Finally standing in front of her, Matthew was at a loss for words. Eventually, he just said the thing that kept running through his mind. “Holy Shit.”
Everyone around them laughed.
Matthew continued to stare silently as everyone else headed back to start ushering the guests into the ceremony seats.
“I don’t…” he paused, trying to articulate the words. He wasn’t sure there were words for what he was feeling. “Fuck.”
She burst into laughter. “Is that good? Or bad?”
“Good,” he said, half of his mouth tipping up in a smile. “You’re –” he blinked a few times, “you’re so pretty, Sophie.”
Heat flushed into her cheeks. “Thank you. I think you look really handsome.”
“You don’t mind the belt?” he asked, tone and eyes teasing as he hooked his thumbs behind it.
“Nope,” she stepped forward and threw her arms around his neck. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he said into her hair, getting a mouth full of hairspray. He turned to lay his cheek against it instead.
“I can’t believe it’s finally here.”
“I know,” she whispered.
His phone buzzed in his pocket at the same time he saw her mom walking down the path that led from the ceremony.
“It’s time for me to go,” he whispered.
Tightening her arms around him, she resisted nuzzling into his shirt, knowing she’d get makeup all over the starched white material.
“I’ll see you in a minute,” she said, pulling back to look into his face.
He dipped down to drop a quick kiss to her lips. “See you in a minute, my betrothed.”
He’d started calling her that after some venue asked him if he and “his betrothed” would be attending a catering tasting together.
“Soon not to be,” she said with a wink.
He laughed, stole another quick kiss, and hugged her mom before jogging to meet Brady, who was waiting at the end of the path.
Sophie asked her mom to walk her down the aisle. She thought the idea of a man giving a woman away was archaic anyway, but especially after her dad left, she vowed never to have a man walk her down the aisle at her wedding.
So when the music started to play for their bridal party, an instrumental version of Here Comes the Sun — requested by Matthew because he called Sophie his ray of sunshine and they were heralding her entrance — she and her mom walked to the end of the pathway that was serving as their aisle.
Everything looked beautiful. Matthew was standing with their officiant — someone he grew up with who was now a pastor — under a large trellis, covered in a vine of blooming jasmine. The small white flowers (another reason her dress couldn’t be white) stood out against the mens dark suits and the lilac of the bridesmaids' dresses. Everything was bathed in the gentle golden glow of the candles, lanterns, and fairy lights strewn throughout the garden. It was like walking into a dream.
The song she would walk down the aisle to began, it’s jazzy, guitar playing softly from the speakers hidden around their guests.
The officiant instructed everyone to stand, and they did, turning to look at her, as she and her mom stopped at the end of the sidewalk.
While everyone looked at her, she looked at Matthew. Watching his smile and his breathless excitement as she made her way to him. He was even bouncing on the balls of his feet. Her own heart ticked in her ears, and she concentrated on the song lyrics in an effort to keep herself from running to him.
When we were strangers
I watched you from afar
When we were lovers
I loved you with all my heart
But now it's getting late
And the moon is climbing high
I wanna celebrate
See it shining in your eyes
Because I'm still in love with you
I wanna see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon
Watching Sophie walk down the aisle, her lips painted the same color pink they were on their first date, it felt a little like watching her walk through their history. He was outrageously glad to be on this side of it, having won her trust and love and finding himself in a situation where he had the chance to be with her forever.
Her mom hugged her and went to sit with Greg.
Sophie took the last three steps to stand in front of Matthew by herself. She was ready to take this last leap, eager to no longer do this life on her own.
The officiant invited everyone to sit and began talking about matrimony. She missed most of the speech, too busy thinking about the vows she’d written and watching Matthew. The navy suit made his eyes a deeper shade of blue than usual.
Finally, after what felt to Matthew like forty minutes, though it couldn’t have been more than five, they were invited to read the vows they’d written.
“When we agreed to write our own vows, I made Soph promise to let me go first so I didn’t have the pressure of trying to follow her.”
Sophie and the crowd laughed. Matthew noticed his mom wipe a tear from her cheek. His dad put an arm around her.
Taking in a deep breath, Matthew closed his eyes for a moment before looking back to the printed piece of paper Brady had handed him.
“Sophie,” he began. His voice wobbled a little. The way she was looking at him made him feel light-headed. The culmination of the day coming together and seeing her looking so beautiful in her dress was too much. Truth be told, he was a bit shocked he was even still standing.
She took his free hand, and the grounding in her touch centered his breathing.
He looked at her and began again.
“Sophie, if I tried to articulate all the ways I love you, I’m pretty sure we’d be here for several days because I don’t think I could ever find the right words.”
The audience awed.
“So instead of that, I wrote down some of the things I love about you, and what I’ll try to be for you, and you’ll just have to put up with the words I’ve got.”
She snorted, and he heard Brady laugh behind him.
“So here goes. I love that you make me quiet.”
Tears pressed behind her eyes. She hadn’t expected him to go for the jugular right off the bat.
“Most people know I have a pretty hard time shutting up,” he paused, listening to his dad laugh, “but you taught me the value in quiet moments, and I love that I fell in love with you in them. I love that I get a side of you no one else does, and I love that you trust me enough to show it to me.”
A few tears leaked out and slid down her cheeks. Gwen slipped a tissue into her hand, and Sophie smiled gratefully, pressing it to her lashes to stop her mascara from running.
“I love that you love my family and that I feel like I could be with you forever, and we would never get bored. I love that we’ve created our own little ecosystem and that it thrives because we’re both invested and working on it.”
His mom was crying into a handkerchief.
“I can’t promise that I’ll always be this good looking.”
The suddenness of the joke made Sophie bark out a sudden laugh, much too loud over the amplification system. Her hand slapped over her mouth to quiet the sound, and he laughed indulgently, as if that was the exact reaction he’d been going for.
“But what I can promise is this: that I’ll always try to protect you, except when it comes to spiders.” He paused for the laughter to die down, “That I’ll always do my best to be present when I’m home, and that I’ll always listen to and help you achieve your dreams. Most of all, I promise that I won’t ever stop trying to earn and deserve your trust and love.”
He folded the paper up. His mom was crying, as was Emma. He was pretty certain Taryn would be tearing up, too, but he couldn’t see her with the way the bridal party was standing. He wanted to end it in some fancy way like he knew she would, but he didn’t know how, other than to say, “I love you and I can’t wait to start this new chapter with you.”
Sophie wiped her nose and dabbed at the tears in her eyes. “I love you, too.”
She sniffed and swallowed, trying to get her bearings.
“Matthew always tries to tell me he isn’t good with words,” Sophie said, giving him a wry look as her fingers squeezed around his, “but I think you all can be the judge of that.”
He laughed.
She coughed gently to get some of the tears out of her voice. “When I started writing my vows, I couldn’t think of anything but love. I’ve been trying to understand it my whole life. When I was a kid, I thought I had to parcel out my love to make sure it didn’t run out, and other people had to do the same. Matthew, although you didn’t teach me that there’s an infinite amount of love in the world, you did prove that infinite love exists in a way I had never experienced before with a man.”
Now he was crying.
“I’ve always felt a little on my own,” she explained, “a little too quirky to be loved in that big infinite way.”
The audience was listening, wrapt. This was exactly why he didn’t want to go after her. Not only would he be a mess, there would be no way he could possibly follow her words.
“The last thing I expected in life was for this muscle-bound, curly-haired, rough and tumble hockey player to not only understand my quirks but to embrace and encourage them.” Her voice trembled. “I’m forever grateful I can take down my walls with you, Matthew.”
He took the tissue Brady handed him, unashamed, and wiped the tears from his eyes.
“And for your patience and consistency, even when I can be skittish and uptight.” She paused, listening to her half of the audience twitter.
“I promise I’ll kill the spiders,” she said, and he laughed along with the rest of their guests. “And I promise to never be unreasonably jealous of your job. But most of all, I promise to always be honest and to love you in the infinite way you showed me was possible.”
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to lean in and just lay one on her. Tradition be damned. He pressed his mouth to hers, mumbling how much he loved her against her lips. When he pulled back, her eyes told him how much she loved him in return.
The officiant led them through the traditional “til death do us part” stuff, and they exchanged rings. It was a strange thing to feel the weight of the band on his finger, but Matthew had never been so glad to have something tying him down. It felt like he might just float away without it.
“You may now kiss the bride,” the officiant said with a wide smile.
Matthew’s hand slipped up to cradle her jaw, and he looked into her eyes as the fingers on her left hand tapped out five beats on the back of his arm.
And just like they rehearsed, just like they planned, just like Ryan said it would happen, the moment their lips touched, fireworks screeched to life behind them, screaming into the sky and exploding in a fan of sparks and color and sound.
It was perfect.
It was this video, first showing their faces as they looked adoringly at each other and then cutting back to catch the fireworks igniting the moment they kissed, that Matthew shared on his Instagram.
It’s been fireworks from the first kiss, and we’re still going strong.
To read all my fics, check out the Fanfiction Masterlist
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Okay. This is maybe going to sound weird, but I feel like I can credit Obey Me with helping me finally understand that I'm nonbinary.
I had been thinking about it for a long time already, but there was something about having the game refer to MC as they and just the general gender neutrality of MC that felt right.
And then I got to explore that a little more with my MC Ciaran who is nonbinary. It's no surprise that I process things best when I write about them, so having a character like that really made a difference for me. Just gave me the space to think about it and sort of immerse myself in the way it felt.
I'd always left pronouns off of everything, but as I started writing more fanfiction for Obey Me, I decided to put mine in my bio as they/them. It was kind of another experiment. Nobody I know irl follows me on Tumblr, so I could just try it out and see how I feel. (I honestly don't have a preference - all pronouns are acceptable.)
So last weekend I came out to my parents. They were confused, but supportive and listened to everything I had to say about it. Since I don't actually have a preference for my pronouns, I told them they can use whatever they like.
Then I went home and I was looking at stuff on Facebook. I saw that Instagram had an option for pronouns, but Facebook only had an option to change your gender. So I changed it to nonbinary. I didn't notice anything changing on my profile since I didn't have gender displayed anyway, so I left it and went on with my life.
I got a text today from my sister that was a screenshot of our relationship on Facebook that now said I was her "sibling (gender neutral)."
When I tell you I panicked...
I never planned on telling my sister. Since I don't have a strong preference when it comes to my pronouns, I didn't feel the need to tell her to call me anything other than what she's always called me. Because I knew she wouldn't accept it. I knew that if I told her, she would be against it.
I never actually came out to her as bisexual either, for the same reasons.
I told her I was just messing with the Facebook settings and that I didn't see any changes, so I didn't know it was going to change our relationship like that.
She said it wasn't a big deal to her but that she didn't want to call me "they/them."
I told her that's fine because I don't have any pronoun preferences so she can call me whatever she wants.
And I have to say, she's just lucky that it turned out that way. I honestly don't have a preference and I'm fine with all of the options. But if I did have a preference. If I did want her to call me they/them. She wouldn't. She wouldn't support me.
And I can't say I didn't know this, but it still hurts. And I didn't mean for her to find out at all, let alone through some stupid Facebook setting.
She called my mom and asked her about it. Now my mom is the best. I've always been able to tell my mom anything and everything. So my mom told her a little bit about what I said when I told my mom about being nonbinary and why I felt that way. But then my mom suggested my sister call me and ask me. And my sister was like no I don't care I'll just send a text.
And I know that she only sent a weird text like this because she's being passive aggressive. If she really wanted to know, she could have just asked me directly, even over text. But instead she sent me a Facebook screenshot?
Normally I would say it doesn't matter. We're not close for a lot of reasons, though it really just boils down to me never being the person she wants me to be and her telling me as much. So eventually I was just like okay I get it you don't like me then I'll stay away.
BUT. I have two nieces. And I love those girls so much. And I don't want to lose them because their mom can't accept me for who I am.
So if she asks me directly, I will tell her the truth. I'm nonbinary and I'm not going to lie about it. I'm not going to try to hide who I am so that she'll accept me.
But I'm not going to volunteer any information, either. I told her she could use whatever pronouns she wants and that might be good enough. If she doesn't ask anything further, then we can stay in this limbo where we both know the truth, but nobody has actually said it, so we can pretend it isn't a thing.
That way I can still see my nieces without them thinking I don't like their mom. I don't know if she would cut me off from them entirely over this, but it's possible. So I can avoid that, too.
I'm just feeling kind of down about it. I wish she could just love and accept me the way that I am. And I know I'm lucky that my parents still do.
And maybe this is weird, but having Obey Me actually makes me feel better about it? Just because I know that if those characters were real, they would love and accept me just as I am.
And now I'm crying lol.
Anyway, I'm sorry for this long post and for getting really personal, but this has just been weighing on me and I needed to get it off my chest. I figured my fellow Obey Me fans would understand.
And if there's anybody else out there struggling with something similar, please never compromise who you are just because someone else doesn't know how to love you.
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