#calgary flames x reader

[swissboyhisch]

That Scar Hurt By The Way

Pairing: Nikita Zadorov x Reader

Summary: In a world where everyone has a soulmate link, you happened to luck out with a pain link.

Word Count: 1424

Warnings: None I think. It is an AU though.

Request: From ANON I need soulmate and or were! fics so bad any player!😍😍🥞🥞

THE MASTERLIST JOIN THE TAGLIST HOCKEY DISCORD

Soulmates. A term used to describe two people who were meant to be with each other. Can be used platonically but more common when referring to romantic relationships.

No-one knows when it began but these days, people were born with a link to their soulmate. There were different links you could have. Marks shared by the two. Person A draws on themselves and it appears on person B. One is singing/listening to a song and the other can hear it. Some have a measure of how much danger their partner is in. 

You were born with the pain sharing and matching scars link. Growing up, you’d have random bruises popping up on your body. At random points through the years, you’d feel bursts of pain before the bruises arose. They became more frequent in your later teens and early adulthood. And more painful.

There was one instance in particular that you vividly remember. 7th of November 2019. You were going about your day, teaching one of your grade 10 classes, when you felt something hit you in the face. Your hands flew to your lip. The pain was extensive. 

“Miss!” One of the girls shouted as the class watched you hunch over.

“Are you okay?” 

You worked up the courage to pull your hands away from your jaw. Blood. And a lot of it. “I–” 

“I’m going to get Miss Allen.”

Julie, one of your students, helped you to your desk and handed you the trash can. The pain became too much. Vomiting despite trying to hold it in. Your students whisper, worried about you. The sound of heels rushing to your class made you groan. 

“Okay guys,” Lily, your colleague and close friend, called. She clapped her hands to gain the class’ attention. “Can you please make your way next door to Mrs. Harrison’s class. She knows you are coming. Hurry please.”

Lily made her way over to you, towel in hand. You looked up at her. “Hi.”

“Hey, you look like you took a puck to the face,” She jokes.

You hold the towel to your face wound and give her a glare. “Thanks.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital,” Lily states. “I have Hayley covering my class. And Nick is coming to pick up your class.”

15 stitches later and some strong medication helped you push through. That’s the day that won't leave your mind. You now have a permanent scar over your chin and lip that you try to cover daily. Makeup has become your best friend. Since then you have struggled with your self image. Men would cringe away, disgusted, when they saw the scar. 

Despite your quite obvious soulmate link, it was years after that event that you had met him. Nikita Zadorov. A Russian NHL defenseman for the Calgary Flames. Six foot five. Brown hair. Chocolate brown eyes. 

You moved to Canada to teach recently. Better pay. Calgary to be precise. And one day at the end of the school year, you had to cover for a PE class. You were told it was going to be an easy cover since there were a couple guests coming to talk to the grade 10 group. A couple of hockey players. Sure, you had watched hockey but not to a crazy extent. The class though… excitement. It was all they have been talking about for weeks. God forbid having these students after this period.

“I have your guests here,” One of the office ladies called as she entered the gym. 

In walked three guys wearing Calgary Flames merch. You smile, offering your hand and name. 

“Tyler Toffoli.”

“Jacob Markstrom.”

Then he stepped forward. I mean it was hard not to notice him. But the first thing that caught your eye was the scar on his jaw. One that happened to match yours. “Nikita Zadorov.”

“Hi…” Before you could shake his hand or say anything else the students started coming in. “Guys come sit down and you’ll get to talk to them at the end of class.”

“And signatures?” One of the boys asked. 

“Yes. And signatures.”

You got to sit at the back watching over the students and observing. You needed to find out more about the tall defenseman. Without you noticing either, Zadorov kept glancing at you. The class finally got to question time where they were firing off all types of questions, about hockey, about the team. But one piqued your interest.

“How did you get that scar?” One of the students asked Zadorov.

The man chuckled, “I got a puck to the face back at the start of the 2019-2020 season.”

Thanks to his words, you were thrown back into that memory. The pain. The healing process. You were basically 100% sure he was your soulmate. But there was one way of confirming it. Pain. A pinch to your arm. Nothing too extreme but it was enough to make him jump in surprise. One that you noticed.

The bell rang, indicating the end of the period and the start of lunch. The students finally left, and you went forward to thank them for coming in. They were staying for the last period to talk to another class, but you wouldn’t be covering. 

“Thank you for today. The kids loved it,” You hummed. “It was an honour.”

“I don’t want to be annoying, but do you have a scar on your lip?” Toffoli asked.

It caught you out. Too nervous to say anything. “I mean yeah, I got it years ago. Puck to the face. You know the drill.” You didn’t mean to say the puck bit, but you couldn’t think of any other excuse. Bloody Lily and her joke. 

“Same as me,” Zadorov smiled.

“Yeah…”

“Soulmates,” Markstrom grinned.

Zadorov pinches himself without you realising. You didn’t jump but you rubbed where he pinched. “You are my soulmate.”

“I think so… That scar hurt by the way.”

Neither of you could believe it. Your soulmate. 

“Can I see it?” Zadorov asked shyly. He remembered how badly it hurt. To know you also felt it. God that hurt him more than the actual injury. “The scar I mean.”

You guided him to your class where you could have the conversation in private. The other two dropped off at the staff room for some lunch. You sat down at your desk and pulled out your makeup wipes. Using your phone camera as a mirror, you wiped off your makeup covering the scar.

“May I?”

After agreeing, Zadorov’s hand comes to cup your jaw. Sparks filled your bodies, the soulmate touch. So gentle. Lightly ghosting your skin. His thumb grazed the scar. The dented lines across your lips and down your chin. One scar matching his.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, feeling his heart break once more.

When it first happened, he was aware that his soulmate was experiencing this at the same time. The pain accelerated because of this knowledge. Every time he looked in the mirror, he imagined what it would look like on another person. His soulmate. But to finally see it on them, the pain returned. He did this to you.

You smile softly, “It’s okay.”

“15 stitches,” he muttered.

“7th November 2019.”

Zadorov, still cupping your jaw, leaned in. Pressing his forehead to yours. “Tell me about it.”

“I was teaching back in Anchorage. End of the day. A grade 10 class. They’re probably scarred for life. Just feeling that sudden pain, hunching over covering my lip and jaw. But that pain had me vomiting. My friend had to take me to hospital. She even made a joke that it was like I took a puck to the face.”

“Well, you did,” Zadorov offers, “Kind of, anyway.”

Your class door opened and there stood your favourite colleague with Toffoli and Markstrom behind her. “When they said Zadorov had met his soulmate and it was the PE teacher, was a little shocked thinking it was Mr. Paulson for a hot sec.”

“Yes Big Z,” Toffoli grinned, messing with the defenseman’s hair. 

Zadorov pushed his teammate away with a roll of his eyes. “Leave us alone.”

“Can’t do sadly, bell is about to go so we have to head to the gym.”

You got an expectant look which made you shake your head. “I’m not covering for the next class. I have one of my own.”

“Can I see you after?” Zadorov asked.

“I hope you’d want to,” You laugh.

“Out of all the soulmate links to have, we have this. But I’m thankful it’s you.”

TAG LIST:

@findapenny @mp0625 @hischierhaze @11zegras @lvrzegras @francesfarhadi @cixrosie @daisysthings

[haddonfieldwhore]

bad idea - matthew tkachuk

flames!matthew tkachuk x draisaitl!fem reader

summary: in a bad mood after losing to calgary, your brother is a dick to you. you decide to get back at him with a little bit of help

warnings: mention of injury/fighting, language, implied smut, crying inside that i wrote anything oilers related

word count: 1.8k battle of alberta 2018

in all your years of watching your older brother leon play hockey, you were sure you had never seen a game as rough as this one. you knew it was to be expected; the game was advertised as the ‘battle of alberta’ for good reason, the edmonton oilers and the calgary flames quite literally going to war on each other from the very second the puck dropped. you weren’t the biggest hockey fan, but you rarely got to see your older brother with his busy schedule, and were looking forward to hanging out with him after the game.

it wasn’t even two minutes into the first period before leon laid a huge hit on calgarys matthew tkachuk, the younger player hitting his head on the ice as he landed and leaving the game for the time being.

while you were cheering for your brothers team to win, as were your friends and family sitting in the crowd next to you, you found yourself hoping that the calgary flame was okay. you would be crucified if you said it out loud, but you found the flames player kind of cute, and always enjoyed watching him play; despite the rivalry that seemed to be brewing between him and your brother. your eyes always ended up on him whenever he was on the ice, and you found it hard to look away. you were pretty sure that tkachuk was only a year older than you, and you found yourself breathing a sigh of relief when he returned to the game, seemingly uninjured.

as the game went on, edmonton had a two nothing lead, but after many more fights, (most of them involving tkachuk in some way) and four goals from calgary, the game was over.

‘this is gonna be a fun drive home,’ you thought as you walked out of the stands to find leon. you had to wait for awhile for the team to change and shower, and you were growing tired waiting around for your brother. your friends and family being bummed about the loss was not helping the time go by faster as you stood around awkwardly while they caught up with eachother.

it was around thirty minutes later that leon finally emerged from the hallway that lead to the visitors dressing room, greeting your group unenthusiastically.

“hey,” you replied, and he merely grumbled in response, barely paying attention to the fact that you were there; and it stung. leon greeted your parents and friends without much more warmth but still you suddenly felt invisible as he talked with them and not you. you hadn’t seen him in months, and he couldn’t even say hello properly? and to make matters worse, your parents had already seen him before the game.

“leon-“

“let’s go,” he mumbled, his jaw clenched as he bumped into your shoulder with his, causing you to stumble slightly.

maybe you were being overly sensitive, but no one seemed to notice how cold he was being; either letting it go because the team lost, or perhaps you were just expecting a warmer greeting from your big brother.

you tried to grab his arm to keep up with him as he walked away, but he pulled it away and shot you a glare.

“i know you’re pissed, but it’s not my fault you guys lost.”

“so it’s my fault?” he countered, and you sighed.

“that’s not what i said-“

“that’s what you’re thinking though, isn’t it?”

“no, leon!” you sighed, trying to remember how he was feeling right now. “if i had known you were gonna be such a sore loser i wouldn’t have come.” he had never been this grumpy after a loss before.

“then maybe you shouldn’t have,” his jaw clenched again, and you could tell from his expression that the conversation was over. you stopped walking while he continued down the hall, your parents catching up to you, oblivious to the argument between you and leon.

“you know what, i’m gonna catch up with you guys tomorrow,” you said, faking a yawn. your family had planned to go for dinner after the game while you were all in town. the oilers had a day off tomorrow, and you hoped by then your brother would be in a better mood.

“are you sure, honey?” your mom asked, and you nodded.

“yeah, i’ll just get a cab back to the hotel. i don’t think leon’s really in a celebrating mood so i’m sure he won’t care. i’ll see you guys in the morning,” you said, before hugging your family and watching them leave the saddledome.

you sighed as you stood in the now nearly empty hallway alone, and before you could do the smart thing and actually take a cab home like you said you would, your felt your legs begin to carry you in the opposite direction.

your feet slowed outside of a certain closed door, fiddling with your hands nervously as you lingered outside the flames dressing room. just as you were deciding that the players had probably already left and began to turn back, the door opened.

after one quick look at your jersey, branded with the oilers logo and leon’s number, matthew tkachuk shook his head with a slight laugh.

“i don’t know how you got back here, but if you’re looking for him you have the wrong locker room,“ he said pointing at your jersey.

“and if i’m looking for you?” you replied, and he looked you up and down again, slower this time as if actually taking in your appearance, not just your wardrobe.

“depends why you’re looking for me. if you’re going to stab me or something for beating your team-“ he joked.

“relax, leon’s my brother; you don’t have a security issue,” you laughed, and he smiled slightly. “and i promise i’m not here to stab you,” you raised your hands in surrender.

“that’s a relief,” he laughed, a more genuine smile on his face this face this time, and you realized that he was even cuter in person. his long curls were messy, still slightly damp from the shower, and he stood quite a bit taller than you. his expression changed as the words ‘brother’ and ‘leon’ clicked in his head, and he crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles flexing under his shirt. “so why are you looking for me?”

“i… uh,” you stuttered, not having thought this far ahead. “i don’t know. i kind of felt bad that my brother hit you so hard, but i guess you got him back in the end,” you said, your gaze falling to the floor. matthew had gotten a few good hits in on leon during a fight later in the game.

“well, i appreciate the thought, but i’m okay. and yeah, i guess we’re even; for now.”

“does that mean you wouldn’t be interested in doing something that would really piss him off?” you asked, looking up to meet his blue eyes, his eyebrow twitching upward slightly with intrigue.

“why do i get the feeling you’re hoping i am interested?” he took a step closer, and you could smell his cologne now. “big brother do something to make you mad?” he asked, and you found yourself smiling, despite the fact that he was teasing you.

“that’s irrelevant,” you rolled your eyes playfully, taking a step closer so you were only about a foot apart now as you looked up at him. “besides, i’m thinking as much as i would like to get him back, it’s probably best he doesn’t know what i’m thinking right now.”

“yeah, i’m sure he wouldn’t be too happy to know his sister was waiting for me after the game,” he agreed, his eyes travelling up and down your body again.

“leon and everyone left already. i told them i was going back to my hotel room…”

“will they notice if you’re not there?” he asked. and you shook your head with a smile. “then i think we could make a quick detour first..” he trailed off, throwing an arm over your shoulder and leading you down the hallway. “here, don’t want to draw too much attention to yourself.” he threw his suit jacket over your shoulders to cover your jersey as the two of you snuck out of the arena and to his car.

“embarrassed to be seen with me?” you teased as he opened the passenger door for you.

“i was more thinking about how it might look to the paparazzi if they happened to stumble upon us leaving together.”

“wouldn’t that be the scandal of the season,” you laughed as he started the car and drove out of the parking lot and towards his house.

you were barely inside the door before you were trapped between it and his body, matthews hands holding your waist firmly.

“you sure you want this?” he asked, his hips pressed against yours as you stared up at him. “it’s probably a really bad idea…”

“i thought you liked breaking the rules?” you smirked, placing your hands on his chest and sliding them upwards to tangle in his hair.

“hmm i have been known to do that,” he leaned down to capture your lips with his, and tou tugged on his hair as his hands slid under your jersey, bunching the material up. “either way, edmonton jerseys are forbidden in my house so this has to come off,” he smiled.

•

“so not that i care, but was this just to piss your brother off?” matthew asked as he walked back from the bathroom after getting cleaned up, dressed in just his sweatpants.

“sounds like you care a little bit-“ you teased, covering yourself with the blankets on his bed.

“i don’t!” he laughed, and you shook your head with a smile as he handed you a t-shirt to wear.

“mhm,” you hummed. “i’ll be honest, i’ve thought you were cute for a while. pissing leon off was really just a bonus.”

“good to know you weren’t just using me-“ you threw a pillow at him and he laughed as he caught it, crawling back into bed next to you. “okay, i kind of used you just as much, so i guess we’re even. i do love any chance to make your brother angry, but i think that this might be my new favourite,” he said before he kissed your lips.

“agreed,” you smiled, reaching over to grab your phone as it began to buzz on his nightstand. leon’s name appeared on the screen, and you rolled your eyes as you answered it, gesturing for matthew to be quiet.

“hello,” you said plainly, still a little mad at him despite how good of a distraction you’d had for the last two hours. you could see matthew moving closer in your peripheral vision, and you felt his breath on your ear.

“i’m sorry,” leon said on the phone held to your other ear, and you sighed, your breath catching as you felt kisses up the side of your neck. you froze as matty nibbled at the skin of your throat, leaving a light bruise behind as you tried not to make a noise.

“yeah, you were kind of an asshole. i’m kind of glad you lost, actually,” you said, and it was half true.

matthew had to stifle a laugh as he laid down next to you, covering his mouth with his hand.

“i wish you had come to dinner. we missed you,” leon sighed.

“it didn’t seem like you missed me very much earlier,” you replied. “i’d appreciate if you didn’t take it out on me when you lose.”

“i know, i’m sorry. i’ll see you in the morning?” he asked.

“yes, i’ll be there for breakfast. goodnight leon.”

“goodnight,” he replied, before ending the call. you tossed your phone aside as you hit matthew playfully on the shoulder.

“do you know how much trouble we would be in if we got caught?”

“i thought that was the half the fun?” he smiled, crawling on top of you and kissing your lips.

“maybe i’ve decided i want to live to do this again sometime.”

“i like that idea.”

disclaimer: all screenshots, events, and/or interactions depicted in this are a work of fiction. i have no association with any parties mentioned

[angelwithdemonictendencies]

when my hands were caked with dirt at the foot of the grave, you loved me still; ask atrocity of me and see how i tremble with willingness at the sound of your voice.

mt19 x reader: everyone loves to be taken care of.

(warnings: blasphemous filth, oral sex/fingering (m on f, another exception!), unprotected penetrative sex (m on f), kind of oral fixation (have you seen the state of that mouthguard), hair-pulling (bring back the curls), lots of praise and tension and all that nonsense, lots of talk about alcohol, also a lot of emotions! (be warned about those damn emotions! this one has a similar vibe to my qh43 og snakes one, i think), idk just please be warned, don’t read if you’re not 100% sure.)

(long a/n: my favorites - when i tell you i got carried away (again).  but how could i not, when mt19 could not even play in the final cup game because he broke the bone that protects his heart?  when poetry like that calls, you have to answer.  the playoffs inspired me, mt19 inspired me, enough that i created this fictionalized mt19 character that is basically a bunch of insecurities personified.  and the other character is just more of those in bartender form (i loved my bartending years! but they gave me a lot to think about!).  so, sorry.  this one’s a little sad, sometimes.  but you guys seem to like the sad shit, so i hope you like this.  apologies if i get caught up in the theatrics, at times.  we haven’t done a takeaway in a while, so here’s one - you deserve to be chosen and loved and taken care of because you’re you, not just because you’re around.  on a less serious note, can you tell how infatuated i am with mt19′s tooth gap?  yeah, i know, i made it too obvious, i need to relax.  i got a couple okays on the princess name, so if you don’t like it, you should have said something.  am34 is up next, i’m thinking some classic older brother’s best friend, we’ll see if the muses are kind to me.  please let me know what you think, i think i’ve made it obvious that your interaction means everything.  also you guys literally should have seen me trying to figure out the physics of fucking against a barstool, it was legitimately ridiculous.  gif is not mine.  sending so so so much love to you and your snakes.  go canucks.  see you soon.  be your own first choice.

meeting new people simply came with the job of bartending.  new faces filtered in and out of your bar like wisps of fragrant smoke, most of the time too fleeting to truly remember, never mind get to know.

however, the first day he entered your bar, a peculiar feeling hovered around you: the feeling that you already knew him, deeply and personally.

of course, you recognized him and his small group of teammates from the games that constantly played on the screens above the bar, but this was different. you couldn’t quite place the reason behind the feeling, not yet.

he didn’t approach the counter right away, but it was a saturday night, a busy one, so you were constantly being pulled from one patron to another, barely noticing the passage of time as your hands seemed to never stop moving.

but at some point, there he was, sitting at one of your stools, looking at you like he had all the time in the world, a confident, just bordering on arrogant smirk slanting across his face.  you didn’t have the presence of mind or time to appreciate the rest of him, not right now.

but you were paid to treat all customers the same.  and at the end of the day, that’s what he was, at least then.  just another customer on a busy, hectic night.

“what can i get you?” you asked as you mixed a drink for the party at the other end of the counter.  your voice was steady, knowing, friendly, but only just.  

his smirk deepened as he leaned forward.  “all business for the princess, hm?”

your brow furrowed in confusion before you realized where the name had come from.  you absentmindedly adjusted the plastic tiara a birthday party had given you earlier that night - the group of girls around your age had gushed about how delicious their drinks were, how you had made their night, how you just had to have it, how it would look so pretty with your hair.

they were sweet, and they tipped well, so you didn’t push the birthday girl’s hands away when she slid the crown from her head and onto yours, even smiling a bit at the gesture.  it was hard not to smile at women being girls again, and you loved the opportunity to be apart of it.

“princess is my side hustle,” you said to him now, keeping your tone even as you poured the colorful drink you were mixing into two glasses. 

he made a face that you couldn’t decipher before leaning on one of his hands.  “well, listen,” he started, to which you raised a brow.  you didn’t like being told to listen - you just did, it was something you were good at, and being told to made you not want to anymore.  he nodded to the group he came in with.  “my friends over there bet that i couldn’t get your number.  want to help me prove them wrong?”

you turned to drop off the drinks before running his words over in your mind.  you were hit on all the time, another part of the job.  people were attracted to being taken care of, and it was your job to take care of them, which always led to some misunderstandings, some one-sided crushes, some regulars that tipped much more than they needed to.

but something in your stomach dropped at his wording.  you didn’t like it, not at all.

“did they?” you asked, actually focusing on his face for the first time that night as you ran a rag over the counter.  his eyes were blue, so, so, blue, and almost comically confident, unwavering.  as was his smirk, his full lips so perfectly placed and practiced, not quite like a natural habit but more like a learned one.  

and then there was the brutal cut of his jawline, only made more prominent by his scruff of facial hair.  the way his hair curled over the tops of his ears, a youthful but not juvenile look.  his long lashes, elegant nose, flushed complexion, it was a little too perfect, at least for you, right now.

all of his features together appeared more like a masquerade ball mask, not a real, genuine face.  it was off-putting, this actor in front of you, the one you had seen on television so many times.

he hummed in affirmation, smirked deeper. 

you sighed.  “that’s too bad,” you said, to which he gave you what looked like his first genuine expression of the night - one of confusion.  “i only give my number to people who ask for it because they want it.”

you had long ago learned your lesson about being the person someone spent time with in order to please someone else.  it never ended well.

his brow furrowed in further disbelief, complete lack of understanding, maybe a bit of shock, but you only tossed the rag aside and grabbed a glass.  “now, how about a drink?”

he didn’t respond for a second, searching your face for something, maybe an explanation, less probably a spark of remorse.  you let him.  you weren’t going to budge on this, not tonight, not for him.

he shook out of it, literally, a small shake of his head before the mask was back on, in full strength.  “yeah, sure.  just an ipa, whatever you’ve got.”  he addressed you by the name on your name tag, an act you normally hated, but didn’t mind so much now, in his deep tone.

you gave a small grin as you filled a tall glass.  “thank god,” you started.  “after the million mixed drinks i’ve had, you might just be my favorite customer.”  you set the glass down on a paper napkin in front of him, only meaning to meet his eyes for a second.

once you did, though, you did a double take, now trapped in his gaze, completely transfixed on the pure hope you found there, so devastatingly poorly hidden.  this, this was genuine, no mask to be found.  the innocent hope lit up his eyes, his face from within, exposing an almost childlike expression that had you so deeply intrigued.

“yeah?” he asked, his voice no longer oozing with arrogance but instead with something you knew well.  unbridled wanting.  hope, hope, hope.  he might as well have the word please scrawled all over his face in thick marker.

you felt your lips curl up at this new discovery, this crack in his exterior that gave you a sense of deja vu.  “yeah, matthew,” you said, a little slowly, letting the rest of the bar melt away for a second.

this moment felt hot, sticky, like you were both suspended in amber, neither willing to be the first to break eye contact.  

but moments don’t last forever, and suddenly one of his friends was slapping him on the shoulder, saying something loudly about taking too long.  you weren’t really listening as you watched his face again harden into that confident expression.

he ordered a round for his friends, and the moment was gone, lost in the neon light, and you were soon pulled again to another patron, the chaotic rhythm of saturday night overtaking you again.

you didn’t see him for the rest of night, caught up in your work.  towards the end of your shift, though, you happened to look up, towards the door, urged by some magnetic force, and found his gaze awaiting yours right before he walked out of the door.

a real face, a real look, unveiled and vulnerable, swimming with heat and hope and a million other dangerous things.  an expression so true that you had to look away from it’s veracity, complete candor.  when you looked up again, he was gone, and you assumed that would be the last time you saw him.  

so, a couple nights later, deep into your shift, you almost dropped the glass in your hand when you turned and found him sitting on that same stool at your counter, looking up at you expectantly with those storybook eyes.  

“matthew,” you said, softly in greeting, almost a question, confused at his presence, especially on a weeknight, without his teammates.  alone, seemingly.

“princess,” he responded, an imperfect smirk playing across his mouth, revealing more teeth than he had the previous night - enough that you could see the gap between his two front, a little detail so beautiful you might have sighed. 

“no crown tonight,” you responded, half smiling.  

“it was never the crown,” he said, to which you gave a slight shake of your head.  it didn’t hide your shy delight.

“where are your friends?” you prompted, slightly suspicious.  

something that looked like hurt flashed ever so briefly across his eyes.  “they’ll be here, princess, don’t worry.”

you shrugged.  “wasn’t worried.  just wondering why you’re here alone.”

your last word seemed to strip him entirely, lay him bare in front of you, completely vulnerable.  you regretted it immediately, felt almost mean.

“but i guess you’re not alone, right?  you’re here with me?”  you gave him a smile, tried to will one out of him, too, half-succeeded.  “ipa?” you asked, eager to bring this interaction back within the boundaries you were familiar with, ones you could control.

“whatever you’ll give me,” was his odd reply, one that had you scrunch up your face instead of reaching for a glass.  “ipa works.”

your voice was laced with confusion.  “i know it works.  what do you want, though?”

again there was that child-like look in his eyes, veiled by a thin film of doubt, uncertainty.

and somehow you thought you knew what might have been holding him back.  you shifted forward, leaned on your elbows, closer than you had been to him before.  “what if i promise you’ll still be my favorite, hm?  will you tell me then?”

you watched his gaze dip down to your mouth as you spoke, linger there before meeting your eyes again.  not like you minded, much as you wanted.  a spark of warning fired in your stomach.  don’t get too close, it mumbled, you can’t fill anyone’s void.

unfortunately, it was hard to deny the utter satisfaction you felt when he looked at you like this - like you had wiped away all the bad things in the world.

but then hands landed on his shoulders, loud greetings between friends exchanged, ripping you both out of the moment.

“now i know why chucky wanted to come back here,” one of them said eventually, looking at you with a gleam in his eye you didn’t quite like.  “i remember you, beautiful.”

“shame,” you said, “i don’t remember you.”

he put a hand over his heart like he’d been hurt, but his smirk was brutally arrogant, almost animalistic.  “how about we make sure you don’t forget my name again, yeah?”

you rolled your eyes.  “matthew, come get your dog,” you said as you grabbed a couple more glasses and began to pour the same drinks they had ordered the other night.

“you want me to start barking?  ‘cause i will,” the persistent teammate pushed before turning to his side.  “but it seems like you’re the one she’s got on a leash, matthew.”

you watched his face carefully as you slid the drinks their way, interested to see what would win out - the desire to maintain his mask around his friends or whatever was building between you two.

you bit your lip as you watched the internal struggle play out across his face, shooting a pleading look your way for a millisecond.

you decided to throw him a bone, put his friends in their place.  “i meant to tell you.  i put your game on yesterday,” you said to him.  

“did you?” he asked, so blissfully hopeful.

“yeah,” you said, leaning forward again, letting yourself get a truly greedy look at him.  “but i like you better in person.”

you reveled in how desperately pleased he looked by your admission.  

“we were playing too, you know,” someone said, half laughing.

“were you?” you asked, a theatrically confused expression on your face.  you shrugged.  “don’t think i saw you.  maybe i was distracted.”

one of his friends laughed.  “don’t feed him, beautiful, he’ll just keep coming back.”

but you didn’t even look at whoever said the comment, instead completely locked in on matthew, and he on you.  

“god, i hope so,” you said, barely more than a whisper, only meant for him.

just something you said, a true thing, and yet he did.  every couple of days you would look up and there he would be, on that stool at your counter, looking up at you.  sometimes his friends would come, and sometimes they wouldn’t, and on nights he was playing you would always put the game on the television where you could best see it, so you could best see him.

and despite everything he did, everything he said to you, which screamed longing and interest and want, you were surprised every time he came back.  surprised that his interest in you didn’t wear off after the first couple indulgences, like it seemed to with everyone else.

but, then again, matthew struck you as the kind of person who could make a home out of anything, anyone - like the kids who would cry if someone tried to come into their treehouse, as if the magic of the place was defined by it being all for them.  

sometimes this job made you feel like a building with a revolving door, so many faces fading immediately as they came into your life.  it felt so good to have whatever this was, this constant, even if that warning voice tried to convince you it wasn’t real, it wouldn’t last.

one night, when you put his away game on, he was picking fights, antagonizing the other team, all the while chewing on that abused mouthguard, which never failed to catch your attention, send a little shiver down your spine, make you wonder what those teeth would feel like on your bottom lip, your fingers, your neck.

this night, though, the officials had had enough, and handed him a game misconduct.  he skated off the ice, into the tunnel, chants and boos echoing through the arena so loudly that even the television cameras caught their strength.  

still, when the camera focused in on matthew’s face, there was nothing but that cocky, knowing smirk, that one that he had showed you the first day.  that fake one.  you narrowed your eyes at the tv, felt your stomach turn at the fact that he could be two people at once.  how could you ever trust him that way?  how could you ever believe that he really, truly, wanted you?  that warning voice compressed into a lump that settled in your stomach.

the lump was still there that next night, and so was he, there in his usual spot, right before you were about to close.  “missed you, princess,” he said, those blue eyes so full of meaning.  

and you hated how those words meant so much to you.  “yeah?” you asked, wiping down the counter.  “what’d you miss?”

you expected the answer that so many people in your life had given you before: how they liked how you made them feel, how you paid attention to them.  nothing about you, rather something that said more about them.  

so you were stunned when his gaze dropped to you lips and stayed there.  “think i started to dream about your smile,” he said, and you may have sighed, just a little, as you felt your cheeks flush.

“did you watch me?” he asked, that spark of hope lighting up his face in a silent plea.  

you nodded slowly, remembering the game.  “wish you had stayed on the ice longer.”

he shrugged, the motion emphasizing the muscles in his shoulders and neck.  you pretended not to notice.

“why do you smile when they hate you?” you asked, your head tilted in genuine curiosity, recalling his face as he made his way down the tunnel.  

there was that mask again.  “i love it.”

“you don’t,” you said, shaking your head slightly, watched him swallow.

“what?” he asked.  you could have imagined the smallest shake in his voice.

“you don’t.  you do that other smile you do.”  you didn’t tell him your theory, that you knew if a crowd booed loud enough, maybe he could close his eyes and pretend they were cheering, instead.  pretend it was love.

he made a sound that was half-laugh, half-scoff.  “what other smile?”

you bit your lip, unsure how to explain it.  you reached your hands forward, paused for a moment as his eyes widened, so flooded with want.  that beautiful second of expectation before a first touch, the first of what you inherently knew would be many.

“like-” you put your hands on his face, ever so lightly, moved his lips until that cocky smirk was opposite you.  “like this.”

“like this, princess?” he asked through your fingers, his breath on your palms, and heat thrummed in your stomach.  

you nodded slowly, reluctant to take your hands off of him.  “and my favorite one is like this,” you said, moving his lips again until you were satisfied with the replica smile you had created, toothy and wide and beautiful - until you realized he was smiling at you like that anyways, without any manipulation.

you grinned back at him, melted at the simmering heat and longing in his eyes.  before you could question it, you let yourself tap one finger to his front teeth, feeling the gap there, that imperfect feature you had most loved when you first saw it, felt your throat tighten at the way he was looked at you, the way he let his mouth just barely close around your finger.

a feather light motion that made your next breath come out shaky before drawing yourself away.  you hadn’t realized just how close you had drifted towards him, even with the counter between you.

you glanced at the clock on the wall, surprised to see it much later than you expected.  “i need to close,” you said, clearing your throat.  “i need to count the register.”

“okay.”  he looked dazed.  maybe in a cartoon there would have been pink mist or little hearts floating around his head.  

you tried to collect yourself, ignore the phantom of his lips around your finger, a ghost of a kiss, a promise, a plea.

you gave a shake of your head.  “i need to sit there.  the register unlocks from that side, in front of your chair.”

your stomach dropped at the sudden darkness his eyes took on, so much so that you knew you would give in to whatever he said next.  

instead of getting up, he pushed his hips up and back, spread his legs apart, settling deeper into the seat.  “seat’s open, princess,” he said, and the confidence in his voice, all over his face, it wasn’t fake, it wasn’t a mask.

it was real, genuine, set ablaze by your touch.

you looked around.  you were closed, everyone was gone on this monday night, except the owner, a lady older than sin who was mopping in the corner, and who was known for minding her own business.

there was nobody to judge you there, nobody to punish you for giving into this, exactly what you wanted.

time felt like jelly as you made your way around the counter, paused for a beat in front of him before he helped you up onto his lap by your waist, faced you towards the register drawer, let his arms rest around your middle.

“this okay?” he asked softly, his breathy rasp warm on your neck.

you breathed out a yes, slightly overwhelmed by all of this touch at once.  his chest behind you, radiating heat, his thighs firm below you, thick arms around you.  here he was, everywhere, all at the same time, and after only interacting with a counter between you, this felt almost absurdly perfect, forbidden.

so perfect that it took every semblance of your concentration to unlock the register drawer, to push the rise and fall of his chest to the back of your mind, to ignore how your own body seemed to melt into his, relax completely, an utterly miraculous contrast to the stiff, constantly active way you usually were at work.

“still okay?” he asked as he rested his head on your shoulder.  you could feel his facial hair through your thin shirt, smell his cologne, knew you would smell like it, too.  his thighs flexed underneath you, and you could have moaned.  you were having trouble focusing on counting, never mind answering his question.  

he rumbled with a laugh you felt more than heard.  “princess?”

“still okay,” you managed, “but you have to be still.  i need to count.”  

you felt him nod and smile into your shoulder as you got to counting, the rhythm of the bills eventually lining up with the rhythm of his breathing against your back, so peaceful and right that maybe, eventually, you both would have fallen asleep like this.  

“finished,” you whispered when you were done, organizing everything back where it needed to go, soaking up the last few moments of his touch for that night.  

“already?” he asked, although it had probably been half an hour.  

you hummed, pushed yourself up and off of him, even as his hands continued to reach for you, his gaze hungry.  

so hungry it scared you.  you still didn’t quite know if he just wanted someone, or if he wanted you, if he would have acted this way for anyone who asked the right questions, gave him the attention he craved, saw through his mask.  

hungry, hungry, hungry, and what scared you most was that you knew that you weren’t hungry for just anyone.  only for him.  and that question of reciprocation, it was like injecting ice into your blood.

“it’s late,” you said.  “you have to go.”

if he was hurt, he didn’t show it, seemingly completely fine with taking things however slowly you wanted to.  “okay,” he said.  “may i have your number, please?”  there was your favorite smile.

you smiled, despite yourself.  “why?”

maybe it was the late hour that caused him to misspeak when he said, “because i want you.”  he quickly realized his mistake and flushed, only just.  “it!” he corrected, looking like a kid with chocolate he wasn’t supposed to eat schmeared all over his face.  “i meant i want it.”

you fluttered at his mix-up, delighted that maybe he meant what he said.  enough that this time, you didn’t deny his request.

it was a while before you saw him again in person, as he had back to back games and then several away contests before coming home again.  but, like always, you put him on the screen by the bar, feeling yourself warm every time the camera caught his face.

one night, a late night, a couple hours after one of his games had ended, you looked up and you saw him at the doorway.

a bad feeling immediately bloomed inside you.

it had been a tough loss, close until the end, and one of his stupid penalties had forced a power play goal in overtime for the opponent.  worse, this result had been crucial for their playoff bid.  it wasn’t looking good. 

you had not expected to see him tonight - he usually didn’t come by on game nights, only on nights off.  and he didn’t look right as he stood under the neon signs at the door, he looked off.  he looked drunk.

his speech was slow and slurred, making you cringe.  after a couple of years at this job, oh, how you hated drunk people.  oh, how you never wanted to see him like this, so at the mercy of something as truly stupid as alcohol.

and even more so, how you hated to see him drink himself stupid, how you wanted to make everything all better.  you signaled for the bar-back to cover for a moment.

you walked around the counter and approached him.  “matthew,” you began, “what’s going on?”  you tentatively touched his forearm before grabbing one of his hands, wrapping it in both of yours, bitterly aware that he was not present as you were.

“oh, princess,” he said, stumbling just a bit into your grip as you pulled him outside.  he mumbled something you couldn’t hear before laughing, but the laugh was cruel, devastated.

when you were outside, the only audience was the small group of smokers that always hung around the front of the bar.  you took his face in your hands.  “tell me what happened.”

“what happened?” he said slowly.  “what happened?” he repeated, maybe asking himself.  “ruined it, always ruin it, ruin everything.”  his voice came out like a haunted childlike sing-song.  it made your heart shatter.

you looked in his eyes, still holding his face.  “you do not ruin everything, okay?  you just need to go home and sleep this off.”

“princess, princess, always tryna’ make me feel better,” he slurred, letting the whole weight of his head rest in your hands, your fingertips touching the wisps that curled around his ears.  he stumbled forward into you.  “need to kiss you, yeah?  make me feel better.”

you dropped your hands from his cheeks as if you had been scalded.  if your heart wasn’t broken before, it was now, as you pushed his chest away while he leaned forward.  you felt tears begin to prickle on your waterline.  

of course, he wanted you now, when he was begging to be taken care of, when he was outwardly desperate to be reassured, when his vision was probably so impaired that he couldn’t really even see your face.  

of course he wanted you now, when you could have been anyone.

“one of our cabs will take you home,” you said, trying to hide the wobble in your voice as you waved one over, barely able to look at him.  

he pouted.  “what?” he said, teasing, but there was a bite to his tone.  “don’t like me like this?  not your favorite anymore?”

you didn’t have the energy to scoff.  “don’t be mean.  sober up.  goodnight.”  you opened the car door for him, forced him down into the seat.

“don’t you want to kiss me?” he pressed, looked up at you, like he had before so many times from his barstool.  like he had so many times, when it had been different.

oh, how they love to be taken care of.  and look at you, taking care of them.  desperate, foolish girl.

and even now, you couldn’t bring yourself to lie, to say no.  “ask me when you’re not out of your mind.”  you shut the car door and turned away, wiped your eyes with your sleeves quickly and methodically before taking a breath and getting back to the bar, to your job.

but you were a shell of yourself for the rest of the night, his words repeating over and over again in your mind.  make me feel better.

so you blocked his number that you had just added, sighed of relief when one of your colleagues mentioned his team was headed away for a long stretch on the road.  a week and a half without him.  surely, completely isolated from him, you could forget about what happened.

and you half-believed that, until you came into work that next day and realized you would not be completely isolated from him at all.

right next to his stool there sat a bouquet of flowers and a red jersey, folded up.  you already knew what name was on the back.  you stood still at the entrance, reluctant to approach the offering.

“left it earlier,” the owner called from across the room, sweeping.  “i told ‘m to fuck off, but he wouldn’t.”

“thanks anyways,” you said.  

“i asked him why not,” she continued, the barest hint of a smile on her thin lips.  

you furrowed your brow, confused. 

“asked why he wouldn’t fuck off,” she said, “took him a second.”

you breathed out a laugh.  

“said you didn’t know how much he cared, yet.  and he needed you to know.”

you swallowed.  “that’s nice of him,” you said, running the words over in your mind.

“not everyone deserves your second chances,” she said.  “but i don’t let just anyone in our bar before we open.”

the words settled between you like diamond dust.  the owner finished sweeping and left.

you approached the gift, found a note sitting on top of it in terrible handwriting.

i’m sorry, it read, i’m back next thursday.  i’ll ask you then.  you wondered briefly what he was going to ask you before you recalled what he had said to you that night when you put him in a car.  your inability to fully turn him away.

you took a shaky breath as you read the last line of the note.

even if i’m not your favorite, you’re still mine.

your stomach fluttered, surprising you.  so simple, and yet those words meant everything to you.  that even when he got nothing from you, he wanted you still.

you hoped and hoped and hoped he meant it, and you believed it enough that you put the flowers in a vase and wore the jersey for each of his game days.

thursday came faster than you thought it would, probably because of how nervous you were.  in this time apart, anything could be true.  he could mean what he said, he could want you and only you, you could be counting down the minutes until finally kissing him, touching him how you so desired.

deep down, you were so deeply afraid that when he showed up, if he even showed up, that dreamy facade would be broken, and instead all of your greatest worries and insecurities would be realized.  

throughout your whole thursday night shift, you were jittery, versions of how tonight could play out flashing through your mind.  

the entire night flew by, until eventually it was time to close, and you tried to ignore your heart sinking.  maybe this version of tonight, the one with you alone, maybe this one was for the best.

you counted the register, began to mop, waved goodnight to the owner as she left for the night and reminded you to lock up.  

you did your final wipe-down of the counter, feeling the devastation begin to finally set in.  you scrunched up your face, told yourself you wouldn’t cry on your bar top.

“princess.”

you looked up, and there he was, draped in neon light, and for a second it looked like sunlight streaming in through church stained-glass windows.

the sentiment didn’t seem altogether different.  how many prayers had been answered at this bar?  how many homemade temples had been elicited?  how many haphazard gods?

“didn’t think you were coming,” you said as he made his way over to you, sat down on his stool, exactly the same dynamic as that first day, but there was no one else.  only you and him.

“it’s my fault you ever had a doubt,” he said, looking up at you with those blue, blue eyes, an ocean of apology.

you nodded, tossed the rag aside, rested your forearms on the counter and looked at him, eye to eye, and waited for him to say something.

“i’m sorry,” he said simply, and there was no mask to be found, only genuine regret.  “i’m sorry i showed up here the way i did, i’m sorry i embarrassed you at work, i’m sorry i made you feel like just another person.”

you felt your heart stitching itself back together, however painful the process.  he gently took your hands in his, warm and rough and firm.  “you’re not just another person, okay, princess?”  his voice was rough. 

your exhale was choppy, so forced you had to close your eyes for a second.  how long had you waited to hear somebody say that to you?

“you didn’t embarrass me,” you whispered.  “i could never be ashamed of you.”

he gave the smallest laugh, shook his head.  “even now, that’s what you focus on.  how i’m feeling.”

“only because i care about how you’re feeling,” you said, almost defensive.

“you gonna let me care about how you’re feeling?” he asked, his thumbs tracing circles on your palms.  

you stayed quiet, bit your lip, searched his eyes for an trace of doubt, falseness, didn’t find any.  only a slowly simmering flame, drowning in want.

“you’re too far away,” you whispered.

“i’ve always resented this counter,” he said with a hint of a smile. 

you gave a small smile back as you walked around the bar top, finally stood in front of him, exhaled before sitting down on top of him, your legs straddling his hips, your faces only a breath apart.  you clasped your arms around his neck, leaned forward into his chest as his hands settled on your hips.

“ask me,” you all but begged.

his voice was a low rasp, his gaze syrupy with lust.  “don’t you want to kiss me?”

you nodded, and he smiled, and then you were leaning forward, finally capturing his lips in a kiss that felt like neon light and television static and a million pleases, all finally answered with of course, anything for you.

you let yourself melt into his chest, tangled a hand in his curls, felt his grip tighten on the flesh at your hips.

he smiled into your mouth when you ran your tongue along the gap between his front teeth, groaned when you began to move your hips back and forth across his lap.  

you tugged at the curls at the nape of his neck as you felt him grow harder beneath you, to which he bit down ever so lightly on your bottom lip, the feeling even better than what you had imagined all those times you had watched him gnaw on his mouthguard.

he used his grip to set your hips into a rhythm as you ground down on his lap.

“want to taste you so bad, princess,” he breathed into your mouth.  “let me take care of you, yeah?  just want to make you feel good.”

you nodded feverishly, tugged at your clothes as he lifted you off of his lap and rested you back onto the counter.

laid bare for him, you become aware of how wet you already were, perhaps the result of all the waiting, the questioning, the wanting that had existed between you both since the beginning.

he groaned at the sight of you.  “fuck,” he rasped, “so wet already, hm?”  he ran a finger through your folds, brought it to his mouth and sucked.  “who’s this for, princess?”

“for you,” you whimpered, so eager for him to touch you how you wanted.  “for you, matthew.”

“all for me.”  you could hear the satisfaction in his voice before he leaned forward and began to tease you with his tongue, forced a choked moan from your throat.  

one of your hands braced the counter for stability while the other shot forward of its own volition, grasping a handful of his curls, making him grunt.  the noise vibrated through you.

“fuck,” you bit out, overwhelmed.  he pressed his tongue flat against your clit, making your hips push up into him and your grip on his hair tighten.  “fuck, you’re good at that.”

you felt his smile as he pushed two fingers inside of you, began to move them in and out slowly while continuing to tongue your clit.

you moaned loudly as your eyes rolled back, the combination of sensations making it hard to control your breathing, stop your back from arching up off the counter.  

he brought his other hand to your stomach and pressed down, cementing your hips down into the bar top, intensifying every shock of pleasure, immediately bringing you impossibly close.  “fuck, i can’t,” you whimpered, your hand grasping for sheets that weren’t there.  “can’t, shit, so close-”

he lifted his head up, thumbed your clit while curling his fingers slightly inside of you.  “gonna cum for me?” he cooed.

you nodded, eyes scrunched shut.

“cum, then, princess,” he pressed.  “make a mess for me, hm?”

that building wave finally crashed over you, and you gave him exactly what he wanted, reveled in the fact that you could.  

you caught your breath, let out a weak exhale, opened your eyes when you felt him press a light kiss against your hip, on the side of your ribs, up to your collarbone, finally on your lips.

pressed against you, you could feel every inch of him, so hard, immediately making you hungry for him again.  “more,” you pleaded simply.

“yeah?” he rasped against your lips.  “want more of me?”

you palmed his cock in reply, making him hiss, helped him move his clothes aside.  “need to feel you inside me.”

he shifted you off of the counter and against his stool, which you immediately bent over and rested your forearms on.

he groaned, pumped his cock once, twice.  “tell me this is okay, princess.”

you nodded.  “please fuck me, matthew.”

he did as told, pushing inside you entirely, barely giving you any time to adjust before he set a brutal pace, practically splitting you in half.

“holy fuck,” he choked out as you stretched around him.  “shit, you’re so perfect for me.  bein’ so good, princess, stretching for me so well.”

you moaned as you began to adjust to his size, every part of you still so sensitive from your last orgasm.

he built up his rhythm, forceful and deep but never so much that it hurt, only a pleasant pressure that began to build inside of you.

“so deep,” you whined, your voice muffled by your own arm, “fuck, feels so good.”

he grunted in time with a slow thrust in response, making your eyes squeeze shut at the sensation.

“want to see you,” he rasped, hooking one hand around your thigh and flipping you around before pushing back into you, so that now your back was against the stool, your front facing him, one knee bent.  he groaned when your eyes met.  “fuck, like that.”

you reached one arm up to his shoulder for support, rested the other one back against the stool.  your thighs began to shake from the stimulation, making you clench down on him harder, urging another deep moan from him.  

time disappeared as the rhythm of you both continued, so lost in the feeling of him and his noises, so perfect and better than anything you had imagined.

at one point, he brought one of his hands to your clit, began to tease you again with his thumb, while the other hand braced the back of your neck.

“hm, look, princess,” he said, his voice rough with wear, as he forced your gaze down to where your bodies met.  “watch me fuck you, yeah?”

you whimpered at his crudeness, couldn’t tear your eyes away from the sight in front of you, his cock thrusting into you, his hands willing you to the edge again.

he let out a choked laugh.  “oh, you like that, hm?  feel you close.”

“fuck, i’m so close, matthew,” you whimpered, feeling your legs give out.

“‘s okay, princess, ‘m there too,” he mumbled, his motions becoming less controlled.  “cum with me, yeah?  want to feel you cream on my cock.”

you did as he asked, spurred on by his words, the overstimulation.  you felt him reach his high with a groan, warm inside of you, his body collapsing against yours.

you held each other close for several long moments, the only noise between you satisfied breaths and shallow heartbeats.  the air was warm, so peaceful, and you bit back a smile at how this bar was now forever changed - this peace would never leave.

you felt his facial hair scratch gently against your shoulder as his head rested there, so content to simply have you close.  

it could have been a lifetime.  it was probably a minute or two.

he was the first to speak.  “so,” he said, drowsy and sweet, “you guys still open?  how’re my chances of getting a captain and coke?”

you smiled.  how far you had come from the man with the mask asking for anything, maybe an ipa.

if please had been written all over him before, x’s and o’s were now, in pastel pink.

“anything for my favorite,” you said, and he kissed just under your ear.

fin.

[huggybug]

Would you please write one with either Matthew Tkachuk or Tyson Jost where you get in a fight and you try to leave the house but he won’t let you, like “I know we’re fighting but I need to know you’re safe” 🥺 thanks!

her crazy’s beautiful to me - matthew tkachuk

word count: 1.5k words

it’s my first fic back! who’s excited? me! title from beautiful crazy by luke combs because i was listening to it and i started thinking about matthew so then i came to write this:) anywho.. please enjoy and (as always) feedback is greatly appreciated

“You can’t just expect to get away with this Matthew!” You groaned in frustration.

“I’m not trying to get away with anything!” He exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air.

“You’re telling me you didn’t hang around a group of girls all night when you were in LA?” You ask, looking him dead in the eye.

You knew that he did. You saw the pictures that were all over social media. How could you not? You family and friends were all sending them to you, to make sure you saw exactly what your boyfriend was up to on the last stop of their road trip.

There weren’t exactly incriminating. He was sitting at a table with Johnny and a couple other guys, the girls were standing next to the table, leaning in a little too close for your liking but ultimately, they weren’t doing anything wrong.

“Babe, seriously ask any of the guys. I didn’t do anything” He tried to defend himself.

“I don’t want to ask the guys Matthew! I don’t want to ever be in a position where I have to ask someone whether my boyfriend cheated on me or not” You were done. He had been defending himself ever since he got home last night and you were able to escape it today, you went for a workout and then a facial before going grocery shopping, anything that kept you out of the house and away from Matthew.

It was a preventative measure. You weren’t sure what you wanted to do. As frustrating as this situation was, you were sure that it wasn’t something to end your three year relationship over but at the same time, you weren’t ready to kiss and make up.

There was a lot of things you wanted to say… more specifically yell but you were holding back. You knew that if you did that, Matthew would come right back at you. It was the one thing you loved and hated about your relationship. You and Matthew were just like on another; overly emotional and hot headed at your worst times.

Your friends said it was a recipe for disaster. That two people who were so alike would never work together, that you’d end up ripping each other apart within weeks but you didn’t. Your relationship was incredibly healthy and it always has been. Then again, you’ve never seen pictures of him surrounded by girls in a club before.

“I was with all the married guys, if I was planning on picking up girls, why wouldn’t I be with the single guys?” It was a fair point, convincing even but you didn’t want to think about that. Your emotions were building up and you were about to explode at him.

“I don’t want to think about this anymore, I have to get out of here”

“Please just let me explain” He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t want to hear it Matthew”

“But-”

“No! Just get out of my way” You huff, trying to move past him but he’s body blocking the door.

“Hey, I know you’re mad at me but I need to know you’re safe” His eyes are wide, staring at you and you can feel your resolve start to dissolve. “Please don’t go”

“Matt…” You said softly.

“Don’t run away… go to our room or I’ll go and you can stay out here. I’ll give you safe, just… please don’t leave, I need you to be safe” You looked past him to look out the window. Calgary winters were no joke, the snow was coming down hard and you knew you wouldn’t get far in your car anyways.

“Fine just… give me some time” You turned and stalked off to your bedroom, closing the door behind you and dropping down onto your bed.

…

Three hours. You were sitting on the edge of your bed, staring at the wall for three hours. You thought about a lot. About Matt, about you, and finally about your relationship.

You were leaving the room with a very different mindset than what you entered it with. It was quiet in the apartment when you walked down the hall. The living room was dark, there was only a small lamp on which made you barely able to make out your boyfriend who was sitting on the couch, head in his hands as his elbows dug into his thighs.

“Matthew?” You mumbled, your voice coming out a lot smaller than you’d anticipated. His head shot up as you flipped another lamp on so that you could see a bit better.

“Hey” His voice was rough, he cleared his throat and you finally met his eyes. They were red and a little swollen. He had been crying.

You took a deep breath before sitting next to him, leaving a decent amount of space between you two. “I was ready to leave” You let out with a breath and you could feel him freeze beside you. “When I walked into that room, I was ready to start packing my stuff and go”

“And? Why didn’t you?” He was avoiding eye contact but you could hear the quiver in his voice.

“Because I realized how stupid it would be. I realized that I love you too damn much to pack up and leave” You sighed. “Do you know how I felt when everyone we know was sending me those pictures? Sure, they weren’t exactly bad but still… do you understand how that made me feel? I was so embarrassed Matt! Embarrassed that first of all, you were out doing god knows what while you’re on a trip for work and secondly, that everyone seemed to know about it”

“I know… fuck! I’m so sorry, I know it was shitty and I wish I could’ve told you before those pictures came out but I seriously didn’t think it was a big deal. Those girls… they just came over and they weren’t even there for five minutes, I swear!”

“I just feel betrayed. Maybe I’m being dramatic, I don’t know. I just don’t like it, I hate how I feel about you right now and I hate that I can’t stop picture you in that club with those girls” You thought you had figured out how you felt back in your bedroom but suddenly, talking to Matt has brought even more feelings up for you and now you’re stuck trying to work through them in front of him.

“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it” He looked up at you and your heart sunk at the sight of him. He looked absolutely wrecked. “I swear, I’ll do anything. I can’t lose you”

You knew he was looking for an answer but you weren’t sure what to say. “I don’t want you to have to do something for me to stay”

“Then what do you want!” He raised his voice and you shrunk back. “I’m sorry” He ran his hands over his face.

“No, I deserve it” You were being unfair, you knew that. “I just want to go back to normal, I want to be okay with you going out to bars when I’m not there because I’m being ridiculous right now and if you say nothing happened, I want to believe you”

“You’re not being ridiculous” He said quietly.

“Yes I am!” You groaned. “And you shouldn’t have to try and make me feel better when I’m being crazy”

“Stop” Matthew reached for your hands hesitantly, taking one in both of his. “You saw a picture of me in a bar with a group of girls with no context, you didn’t know what was happening. You have every right to freak out”

You could feel tears falling from your eyes which made you want to laugh. “You… you are too understanding, Matthew Tkachuk”

He smiled softly. You took a deep breath in attempts to focus your thoughts.

“I don’t want to leave”

“Good” He affirmed.

“I trust that nothing happened. I trust you” You felt vulnerable just saying it, like he could use it to his advantage somehow, as if he would ever do that.

“Thank you” He said cautiously. “I love you and I promise, if anything did happen, I would have told you” You believed him. It’s not like he’s ever given you a reason not to.

“I love you Matt, so much and I’m sorry that I flipped out” You sincerely apologized but he just shook his head.

“You always have every right to freak out on me okay? I know I might mess up on dumb stuff like forgetting anniversaries or something but I promise you, I would never do anything to jeopardize our relationship”

“I know” You nodded, pressing your forehead against his as he leaned in. “Thank you”

He chuckled. “For what?”

“For understanding. For not letting me leave. For being the worlds greatest boyfriend to a crazy lady. Pick one” You say and he laughs.

“I’m lucky to call you my crazy lady”

[chickensaladquinnfan]

Flames of Desire

Authors Note: ChatGPT writes some GREAT fanfic. Let me know if y'all want the next part<3

In the heart of St. Louis, the clash between the Calgary Flames and the St. Louis Blues was reaching its climax. Among the fervent crowd, Y/N's eyes were fixed on the ice, her excitement matching the intensity of the game. She was there with her best friend, their cheers blending with the roar of the fans.

Unbeknownst to Y/N, Kuzy, the skilled forward for the Flames, felt a surge of adrenaline coursing through him as he skated onto the ice. His focus was unwavering, but amidst the sea of faces in the stands, one stood out—Y/N. Her smile lit up the dimly lit arena, captivating Kuzy in an instant.

For years, Kuzy had harbored feelings for Y/N, drawn to her presence like a moth to a flame. Yet, the timing was never right, their connection always slipping through their fingers. But seeing her now, amidst the electric atmosphere of the game, Kuzy couldn't shake the feeling that this might be their moment.

As the game unfolded, Kuzy's gaze kept drifting back to Y/N, his heart beating faster with each glance. Despite the intensity of the match, he found himself yearning for something more—a chance to finally bridge the gap between them.

In the stands, Y/N couldn't tear her eyes away from Kuzy, his skill on the ice mesmerizing her. With each powerful move, he embodied everything she admired about him—strength, passion, and determination.

As the final minutes of the game approached, the tension in the arena reached a crescendo. With a burst of energy, Kuzy led his team to a thrilling victory over the Blues. The crowd erupted into cheers, but amidst the chaos, Kuzy's eyes found Y/N once more.

Determined to seize the moment, Kuzy arranged for someone to bring Y/N to a secluded spot outside the locker room. And as she stepped into the quiet corridor, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Kuzy waiting for her.

Their eyes met, the unspoken words between them echoing in the silence. In that moment, surrounded by the echoes of victory and the promise of a new beginning, Kuzy and Y/N knew that their long-awaited reunion was just the beginning of a beautiful journey together.

[ilyasorokinn]

new beginnings , matthew tkachuk

note, this is so sad. i don't even know what to say. i don't know if there is anything to say. hope you enjoy. pair, matthew tkachuk x reader summary, matthew tkachuk gets traded to the florida panthers. warnings, children word count, 1183 words

(gif not mine)

"Where's Florida?" Olivia asked.

You had just told Olivia and Jamie you were moving from Calgary to Florida. Max was still too young to understand what was happening, so he was in his crib taking a nap.

You pulled out your phone and showed both of them on a map where you'd be moving, "That's so far." Olivia looked like she was gonna cry. Matt frowned, pulling her into his lap.

"I know, but think, we'll get to go to Disney World all the time." Of course, you and Matt were sad to leave the place you had called home since you were 18, but you knew it was time to go.

That seemed to brighten her mood a little, "But what about Charlie?" Although there was a pretty big age gap between Charlie Coleman and Olivia, they were still best friends.

"I'm sorry, Livey." Matt offered her a sad smile. She pushed herself off his lap and ran into her room, closing the door carefully. You looked over at Matt, a worried look on your face.

He looked just as nervous, "What about you, Jam? What do you think?"

"Disney?" He asked.

"Yeah, we'll get to go to Disney World a lot." Matt nodded.

"Yay!" He clapped his hands. Clearly, he was more excited than his sister.

"All right, I guess we have our answer." You smiled optimistically.

-

Olivia had been in her room for almost 3 hours, which was a record. You let her be alone because it was a lot of change to wrap your head around at 5 years old.

"All right, I'm gonna check on her," Matt announced, standing up from the kitchen table.

"You sure?" You asked.

"Yeah, I can do it." He nodded, making his way up to her room. He knocked on her door before pushing the door open, "Livey?"

"I don't want to go." She sniffled, letting him know that she had started crying.

His heart broke as he laid down in her small bed next to her. He picked her up and held her in his arms, "I know you don't. I don't want to either, but aren't you excited to go somewhere new? You're gonna make so many new friends."

"But Charlie." She pouted.

"How about this? Every time I have to come back here for work, you can come, too and you can see her."

"And can we come back during breaks?"

"We'll see." Matt smiled.

She was warming up to the idea, "Okay."

"Deal?"

"Deal." She nodded.

"I love you." He squeezed her a little tighter and kissed the top of her head.

"Love you, too, daddy."

-

The day after the trade was announced, you, Matt, and all three kids flew down to Florida. He took pictures with staff, held a press conference, and lastly, the team gifted all three children with new merch for your kids.

You tried to ignore the cameramen in the room and focused all your attention on Jamie and Olivia in front of you, "Look at how cool it is." You showed them the new jersey.

"Cool." Jamie nodded, his eyes wide as he took in every detail of the jersey. He raised his arms and you slipped the jersey on him.

Olivia observed it a little while longer, but raised her arms and let Matt slip the jersey on her. You held Max in your arms, a little Panthers jersey of his own, as you posed for the cameras all around you.

When you got back to your home you were renting till you officially moved in, Keith and Chantel were there. You had a surprise in store for the kids, so they were going to watch them while you got their surprise.

"All right, we'll be back soon. Be good for grandma and grandpa." You kissed Olivia's head as you headed towards the car.

"Bye-bye." Jamie and Olivia waved.

"Bye." You both waved.

-

A few hours later, you were pulling back into the driveway, your special surprise asleep in the backseat. You carefully picked up the surprise from the backseat while Matt gathered everything else you had picked up.

You unlocked the door, "We're home." You sang.

Jamie and Olivia ran to greet you and gasped when they saw the surprise in your arms, "A puppy?"

"Surprise." You smiled, bending down and letting them pet him and introduce themselves. The dog's tail hadn't stopped wagging since the moment they started petting him.

"Is he ours?"

"He's all ours." You nodded.

"What's his name?"

"What do you want to name him?"

Jamie and Olivia looked at each other, and whispered back and forward before turning back to you, "Woody." Jamie stated.

"Woody?" They both nodded.

"All right, well welcome to the family, Woody."

-

True to his word, when Matt played the Flames, he came back to Calgary with you and Olivia. Your parents flew into Florida to watch Jamie and Max.

You had a couple new jackets gifted to you from the Panther's partners, but decided to switch it up and wear an old Flames jacket in support.

When you walked out of the bathroom wearing the jacket, Matt let out a laugh, "What? Is there something wrong with my jacket, Matthew?"

"Nope, not at all." He shook his head, a smile on his face as he pulled you into a brief hug and pressed a kiss to your head.

Before meeting up with the Coleman clan, you waited in front of the glass for Matt. The Flames were first to come out, and the first person who spotted you by the glass was Elias Lindholm, and he skated up to you with the brightest smile on his face.

A few more players came up to greet you. The only people who knew of you coming to the game were the Coleman's, so seeing everyone else was a surprise.

Matt eventually came out and spotted you easily. He skated over and tossed a puck over. It was part of your tradition. Every game the kids came to, he made sure to get each of them pucks.

This game was no different.

After your glass traditions, you found your seats, and Charlie and Olivia reunited, giving each other big hugs. You hugged Jordan, "Oh, it's so good to see you. FaceTime does no justice."

"Oh, I've missed you too. So glad we were able to come. You'll have to come down to Florida sometime."

"Off-season, you'll be seeing us a lot." She laughed, "And we'll have to do a group Disney trip."

"For sure." You nodded.

"And nice jacket." She ran her finger over the jacket.

"Thank you, thank you. Had to represent." You laughed.

After the game, you met up with Matt by the guest locker room, before making the all-too-familiar trekk towards the home locker room.

"Just the people we were waiting for. The Tkachuk's." You were pulled into a million different hugs as each player and partner pulled you all into hugs.

"Gotta say, haven't missed ay of you." Matt joked, a smile on his face.

"Feelings mutual, chuck." You all laughed.

-

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[ taglist ]

[nylwnder]

mine, yours | matthew tkachuk

gif by 9116

a/n: this is my entry to @antoineroussel ’s summer fic exchange 2k22!! this piece is for @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69 who was my lovely match!! i hope you like it nat, tried my best to make this as angsty as i could (still new to the trope), i hope you enjoy <33333 also to everyone else, this is my first non-leaf player fic so i hope you can enjoy it as well!

warnings: SMUT, fem!oc, my take on trying to make this angsty, right person/wrong time, exes to lovers, soft!matthew, mutual pinning

word count: 2.3k

“maybe we need time to figure ourselves out first?” venus said, bouncing her leg and looking at the ground. “i just know that i wanted to make sure i had everything in line so i could focus on you, focus on us.”

matthew nodded, resting his head on her shoulder. “you’re right. i need to get used to this whole nhl world, and you deserve the time of finishing school and finding your perfect internship.” she smiled at him, appreciating his understanding of her proposal.

“promise me that you won’t forget me, yeah? if life really changes when we go our own ways, and maybe you meet new people… just know that i loved you so much. and i’ll support whatever it is that you choose to do.” venus nodded as matthew spoke, her eyes getting blurred with the many tears that began to build up.

venus knew it was going to be hard to let him go. not have him even in those few minutes of free time the two of them had. though all the while she knew it was best, that a better relationship would come with time. she wanted matthew, and she hoped that even with any circumstances that would arise, she was going to do everything to have him by her side one day or another.

“i’ll say the same thing to you” she says, letting out a small laugh. he looks at her with melancholic eyes, “oh baby, i won’t forget your sweet sweet face”

—

they were phantom fingertips. ones that knew all the places, all the ways to make one crumble under their touch. they were ones that venus knew all too well, ones she pictured for all those years. the ones she ached for day by day. his soft lips, warm breath by her ear. “mine, all mine.”

she woke up, hearing that the plane would land in a few minutes. she sighed, relishing in the series of dreams she had throughout her nights. the ones she hadn’t stopped seeing since she was that 19 year old girl thinking if she made a mistake by letting him go. if maybe she needed him more than anything. if he was the only way she could function.

she’d be closer to him than ever today. closer to her fantasies when she stepped onto the ground that is calgary. she didn’t know if she should be excited or nervous. he could be far from the man she last saw. a girl already standing beside him. laughing in his ear with his arms wrapped around her tightly. she knew that they could always have started to make their own lives between the time apart.

though her thoughts were halted as the taxi dropped venus off at her parents house. a black g-wagon was parked on the driveway behind venus’ father’s car. she knew the meaning of the car to a particular someone but her mind flew past the fact that it was parked in her driveway. as she walked into her childhood home, she heard voices mingling further in.

“i’m here mom, dad!!” venus announced as she made her way to the kitchen. “my darling, you’re home!!” her mom greeted her with open arms. she smiled as her mother took in her presence. “your father is in the living room, why don’t you say hello” she says, venus nodded and made her way over. though her father swooped the girl into a hug before she’d even made it through the hall. “hello sweetie, so great to have you home now!” he says, “i’m so happy to be back! i’ve missed you both”

“why don’t you greet our guest in the living room” her father says. it wasn’t until he parted away that venus’ chocolate eyes widened at the sight of some untamed brown curls that belonged to the boy of her dreams. her heart began to race, she hadn’t seen his soft face for four years.

matthew’s eyes lit up at the sight of venus. her dark brown hair curled around her face beautifully. they both couldn’t help but smile. as he was about to greet her, before he could speak, venus couldn’t think of anything else to do but lunge in his arms. his warmth, scent, build and husky voice in her ears is what she daydreamed for years. for all one could say, it was her determination to complete her goals so she could come home to him. the one thing she was still missing.

“hi” she says, “hello love” he says, his blue eyes taking in the only person he’s had in his mind. though day after day he was still filled with doubt on whether or not she'd take any interest in him once she came home. if she’d found that perfect person for herself while matthew was away.

“matthew here was just visiting us as he usually does,” venus’ mother said, as she looked at the two of them. venus looked at matty, curious if he really made daily visits to her parents home. “but he has practice to head to, right matthew?”

“yes mrs. burkley.” he said, though he kept his eyes fixed on the girl who kept her hands tugging at his sweater. “i gotta go” he said quietly, venus nodded though didn’t make a move to back away from him. “will you still be joining us for dinner tonight?” mrs. burkley asked matty as he finally forced himself to move away from venus even though his whole body ached to hold her till he couldn’t no more. “of course,” he says, venus’ eyes bright at the proposal. “wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

—

around dinner time, matthew didn’t take long before arriving. he wore a dress shirt and some dress pants while venus decided to wear a summery-ish dress that flowed around with her every step. conversation consisted mostly of how perfectly venus’ internship - for a renowned advertising organization - was in new york. matty also shared his highlights of his career of being a professional hockey player for the flames.

though the both couldn't help but hint that everything was perfect except for a part of themselves. the part that knew not having each other made for everything not being enough to bring themselves to true satisfaction. that it wasn’t until they could lie together, legs tangled, bodies as close as humanly possible, and sharing all the sweet nothings that they longed to hear from one another. it isn’t until then, that their hearts would shine as purely, beat as naturally, as they should.

—

a few days had passed since venus’ initial arrival back home. matthew had asked her if she wished to go see one of his games. obviously saying yes maybe a bit too quick than she should’ve, matty sent her the tickets with a slight chuckle escaping his lips. she sat and watched that evening, seeing him skate as swiftly as he always did. before their time apart, she had only watched some of his rookie games when her uni schedule allowed her. though when she was away she’d taken a few nights to watch some of his games, but she had really forgotten how amazing the feeling of being in the arena with all the fans felt.

the game ended, as matthew and the flames won. she waited for him by the lockers, his teammates, old and new, greeted her with kind smiles. “glad you’ll keep him company now. he hasn’t stopped talking about you, it makes us sick.” one of them said to venus, she turned to the man before he walked away.

“wait, do you mean he doesn't have a girlfriend? like at all?” venus asked. even if early this morning she was looking back at all the signs of any possible care matty still has for her, her doubt couldn’t help but stick in her head and distort her thoughts. she wanted nothing more than to find out the truth, “i haven’t seen him even look in a girls direction.” he laughed a bit in which she smiled back.

“venus! how’d you like the game?” matty asked as he jogged to her. she smiled, “so fucking cool!! forgot how much i missed seeing a live game.” he grinned before taking her to his car in the large parking garage. “i have something planned out at my place, if you wanna come over?” matthew asked, fiddling on the steering wheel as they headed out to the nighttime streets of downtown calgary. “sure, i’d love that”

the ride wasn’t too long to matty’s place. venus took her time admiring the feel of exploring the semi empty streets of this beautiful city. the way she used to skip through the puddles of the spring rain and laugh with matthew by her side. snacking on something so mediocre that the two of them just couldn’t help it. matty could see her smile as she drifted through her thoughts, it couldn't help but make him all warm inside. but he thought about who it was that she was dreaming of? if it was the man who’s waiting for her back in new york?

they made their way inside matty’s place, where candles and a pre-prepared meal sat waiting for them. her heart fluttered at the scene in front of her, matthew taking off his suit jacket and venus’ sweater while she stood looking at every itty bitty detail. she spinned around to him as he threw them aside. her eyes skipped from matthew’s eyes to his lips and it took all her confidence to make their lips meet.

after kiss and kiss and kiss, matty didn’t think much before he scooped venus up and made their way to his room. he placed her gently on the bed, her fingers tied in his curls. he chased for her lips as she fell back on the comfy mattress, his hands holding her sides.

“w-wait, venus” matthew spoke, breaking the blissful link of their lips. venus gave a soft whine but she looked into his sad eyes and composed herself from matthew’s toe-curling kisses. “yeah?” she asked, he looked down from her now worried face. she became concerned if she did something wrong, if there really was anything holding them back from being with each other.

“nick. your mother said you’re dating a man named nick back in new york. are you really?” he asked quietly. venus snickered, “my mother never pays attention, does she?” matthew furrowed his brows. “nick? yeah just a guy from my internship who asked me out on one date. just one.”

“you don’t want to go out on more?” matthew asked, pushing a possibility that venus never paid mind to. “matty, i couldn’t feel a single thing for any of them. for anyone who tried to spark a conversation.” matty nodded, surely knowing the feeling, “and- a part of me never wanted to. i kept having this fantasy that when i’d come home, i’d finally get what i always wanted. a particular person who so happened to make it to my parents house before me.”

he smiled, his hands softly beginning to rub her sides. “nick by the way…. well you remember that guy that tried to speak to taryn at any time he could, and brady was like millimetres away from beating him up?” venus said smiling and playing with the collar of mattys dress shirt. “yeah, at the st. patty’s party” she nodded, “yeah well,” she bounced her brows and giggled. “he looks like that? no way” he said, giggling with her. “the resemblance is uncanny. but yeah, my mother is always exaggerating everything, you should know that by now.”

matty nodded, “please she made it seem like a 2 year relationship. but a part of me really did believe it. that you really did move on from what, a childhood crush-” her hands made their way to cup matthews face, “matty i made you a promise, i wasn’t going anywhere.” venus could feel all the uncertainty and hesitation fall from his shoulders. “and i told you i was never going to forget your sweet sweet face”

she smiled, tugging at him to kiss her already. when the two of them broke the kiss for air, a smile crept up at the corners of venus’ lips. “the question is, whether we eat or well, continue in here. what do you think?” matty smirked, laying a teasing kiss on her lips, “i think we’ll work up an appetite later, no?” matty says, pulling a giggling venus up so she could straddle his lap.

“i missed you” venus spoke, letting her arms hook around the back of matty’s neck. “i missed you more, trust me”

shirts ripped off, pants unbuttoned, underwear slipped down. it took no effort to feel like the love filled kids who couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. who couldn’t mask the groans or whines from slipping past their kiss swollen lips. or couldn’t help getting their fingers tangled in each other’s hair, searching for anything to ground them from their euphoric state.

nails scratching against matthew's back, marks taking shape on each other’s neck, a trail of wet kisses leading to venus’ throbbing cunt. she could have sworn that she needed to pinch herself to see if she really was feeling his tongue this time. but now that she tugs at his curls, a tight grip of his hands keeping her thighs from squeezing around his head, she didn’t feel anything but ablaze.

there was such a hunger of having matty fill the void inside of venus. matthew couldn’t count the amount of times he would do anything to feel her wet pussy flutter around his length again. to have her leg hooked up and over his shoulder, just to hear her gasp when he pushed in for what seemed impossibly deeper.

matthew’s warm breath moved from hovering over venus’ neck to her ear. her mouth nipping at his shoulder while his hips harshly bucked into hers. “mine, all mine” he whispered, kissing her jaw.

“all yours” venus whined out, pulling him in for a kiss.

[ join my taglist if you enjoyed reading! : click here <3 ]

[thomasschabot]

hello! can i please get a cold cut combo on whole wheat w matthew tkachuk, he cheats and you find out everyone knew except you (family, teammates, wags, close friends)

so excited to get a taste of all of the sandwiches!

you got it sweet pea 😌 matty t isn’t actually in this but it’s fine because it’s about the agnst ya know?

welcome to c's deli :))

It’s a slap in the face when you find out. 

You’ve been in St. Louis for the entire offseason, landing not even two days after Matthew’s exit interview, but despite that you’ve barely seen your boyfriend’s family. It’s been a busy few months, with Matt being his extravagant self and flying you and your girlfriends somewhere tropical every few weeks for a weekend and taking frequent golfing road-trips with his father and brother. Truth be told you haven’t spent much time with Matthew, but after the troubling season he had you understand steam needed to be blown off and relaxation was at the forefront of his mind. 

After knocking twice on Emma and Brady’s door, knuckles rapping on the frosted glass panel set into dark mahogany, you twist the handle and step inside. “Hello!” you sing-song, slipping off your sandals and wandering farther into the house. 

“Babe!” the blonde squeals, wrapping her arms snugly around your midriff. “It feels like forever since I last saw you.”

In reality it’s only been a week, and during the season you go months without each other’s company, but during the summer the pair of you typically spend almost every day together. “I know,” you sigh, “But you’ve probably seen Brady even less! I can’t believe they went on another golf trip.” Your eyes roll for good measure to show that the absence of Tkachuk men in the city is getting to you a little bit. 

Emma’s head cocks to the right slightly, her brow arches, and a puzzled look crosses her features. “What do you mean? Brades’s is upstairs.”

Immediately after the words leave her mouth she goes pale but doesn’t try to correct herself. Emma’s aware of her grave mistake and flinches slightly when your face hardens. 

“How many golf trips have there actually been?” 

The sound of blood rushing through your body is all you hear, and taking her silence as an omission of guilt, you bound up the stairs two at a time and slam open the door of the gaming room you knew Brady would be in. You’re hysterical as you scream at him, asking a million questions faster than the speed of light, but the most common one is why didn’t you tell me?

Brady’s quiet, lets you scream until your lungs give out, and is smart enough to not try and console you. Despite your relatively short time on Earth you aren’t stupid — you know Matthew is a young, attractive professional athlete with a big ego and that there was always a possibility of infidelity. You just thought the people you cared about would be kind enough to tell you if it happened. 

All your questions are answered in time, including who knew (everyone) and how long (almost two years), and once the interrogation is over your bones feel heavy. You’re so angry, so full of rage it would be all-consuming if it wasn’t for the exhaustion you also feel. A line was crossed by everyone you thought loved you and there’s no doubt you’ll have to start over somewhere new. The fact that Matthew cheated and everyone helped cover it up is too much to bear, and you’re overcome immediately with the notion to get the hell out. Of Brady’s house, of St. Louis, of any place that holds memories of laughs shared with Matthew. 

Disgust is the only emotion you feel, and when you turn around to look at the couple you thought would be the maid of honour and best man at your wedding no tears fall. Instead, a scoff comes from deep within your throat before you look Emma in the eyes. 

“I wouldn’t have thought twice about telling you if it was Brady was fucking someone else and I found out about it.” Her eyes slip down to the floor, and you try desperately to twist the knife as far as you can. “Guess when it eventually happens I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

You’re gone before a response could fall upon your deaf ears, in the car and slamming it into reverse without regard to any possible oncoming traffic. You’re on the warpath, rightfully so, and all you want to do is confront Matthew. It’s a race against the clock as you’re sure Brady called him as you as you were out the door, but there’s a small part of you that believes if you drive fast enough he won’t be able to escape. 

The driveway and house are empty when you arrive, the farthest thing from a shock, but you’re so pissed off you kick your tire. Soles bounce harmlessly off the rubber, and you decide you won’t give Matthew the satisfaction of trying to make the situation better. You won’t allow him to placate you, draw you back in with infectious giggles and empty promises. No, the best thing you can do is disappear without a trace and force him to live with the fact he lost the only thing in his life that can’t be replaced. 

That’s exactly what you do, and only as you drive in the opposite direction of where home once was do you allow a tear to slip. 

place an order here x

[barzal-mat]

is anyone interested in a chapter two of homesick?

read chapter one here!

[2-fast-2-curious]

No one asked for this but it’s my birthday so...

[M4F] Happy Birthday To You 

[Friends to Lovers] [Listener’s Birthday] [There You Are] [Cake?] [Why So Sad?] [Confession] [Kiss] [L-Bombs]

[rosesvioletshardy]

Friendships Could Never Equal Relationships

sad that this may be the last thing I get to write for a while because I have to be at school full time and put all my focus into that but i finally got to write a piece with Matthew

pairing: matthew tkachuk x gn reader

# of words: 1,322

warnings: mentions of drinking (everyone is of age), mention of sleeping together (nothing explicit + of age)

requested: yes

matthew tkachuk masterlist

masterlist

Matthew was the type of guy that anyone could’ve asked for. He did everything in his power to make sure that you were always happy and that there was never a dull moment in your life. The two of you had known each other for a bit when you were younger but then you both started to part ways as Matthew wanted to focus on his hockey career and you wanted to focus on school and finish getting your degree. 

Even though the two of you weren’t as close as you were when you were children, it didn’t mean that your friendship was over. You both kept in touch and if either one of you were nearby, you’d always try to make plans on days off. You also kept in touch with each other's families seeing how close the two of you were growing up and had pretty much joined each other's families.

It wasn’t until the summer after the most recent Calgary Flames playoff run where they had lost in the conference finals and had been eliminated. You knew it would take him a few days before he went back to being his old self again seeing how well he did in the regular season up until the post season and in playoffs. 

Summer in St. Louis with you was something that Matthew was looking forward to as he wanted to forget about everything that happened. He still remembers how the team couldn’t tie the game up before the third period had expired after a silly penalty cost them and the other team ended up tying it on their power play. You had left Calgary a week before him so he and the rest of the team could do their last interviews of the playoffs and finish getting ready for the off season. 

“Hey, how are you doing?” you asked him as he walked up to you to give you a hug. He didn’t say anything besides hide his face in his neck before pulling away and taking a deep sigh

“Part of me is relieved that my body can rest” he started

“But…” you asked knowing he had more to say

“If I hadn’t have taken that stupid penalty and try to fight then we’d be in the finals, one step closer to the cup.” he mumbled, trying his hardest not to cry thinking it was his fault

“Hey, it wasn’t your fault. They were trying to get under your skin and you did what you had to do to defend yourself. You played your ass off every game and you helped your team reach the semifinals. This isn’t just on you.” you had to tell him the two of you walked over to the luggage claim and grabbed his stuff before heading back out to your car.

The trip to his house was quiet. You knew that he didn’t want to talk about anything for a while until he settled down. As much as he loved them, he told his family he didn’t want to talk about the game until later in the offseason or when he’s getting ready for training again. The one thing he did want to talk about with his mom was you. He’s loved you for as long as he can remember and he finally thought that this summer was going to finally be the summer where he confesses his love seeing that you aren’t dating anyone after your last breakup nearly a year and a half ago. He knew you wanted to take a break from dating and during the season and he respected that. you would always talk to him about the dates you had gone on but could never stick with anyone or they didn’t seem like the person that they first were. The two of you were open about who you were dating and would often help each other when it came to asking the person out. He remembers the one time where he liked someone so much that you had suggested making them a cake to ask them out to the dance but you had to make it because you didn’t trust his baking skills and knew chantal didn’t want to see her oldest child ruin the kitchen. He didn’t realize he was daydreaming until you put the car into park and had to shake his shoulder.

-----

Matthew, Brady, and you had decided to go out later that night after spending some time with their family to see some friends that they haven’t seen in a while during the season.

“So matty boy, anyone new in your life?” jason had asked matthew seeing he’s been quiet all night and wanted his friend to speak up

“No, no one seems to find me interesting enough to keep up with me” matthew answered and taking a sip out of his beer

“But what about-” jason had tried to ask, confused before he got cut off by matthew himself

“Like I said. There’s currently no one” 

You didn’t know what he was talking about and was a little confused as to why he didn’t want to talk about what Jason wanted to talk about. You looked over to Brady for some help but he just shrugged not knowing about the situation. The night was packed and loud, especially when the news got out that Matthew and Brady Tkachuk were back in town. After a while people realized that they wanted to be alone and hang out with their old friends and later left. 

Matthew had drank several beers by the time that you were starting your third drink. The two of you started to feel the effects of alcohol before Matthew and Brady had heard the opening to Mr. Brightside and you knew what was about to happen as soon the look of shock and excitement got written all over their faces. Brady went to the dancefloor with his girlfriend as Matthew looked over to you and held his hand out signaling that he wants to dance with you. Taking his hand, he smiled and led  you out to where everyone else was and started to sing, more screaming the lyrics before you joined in laughing at him and his love for the song.

It was near the end of the song before the two of you stopped dancing and stared at each other, deeply in the eyes. His green eyes, now dilated due the amount of alcohol he had consumed throughout the night, were staring right into your eyes, emotions filled and running through his body before his eyes glanced down to your lips. Slowly leaning in, his lips captured yours, you started to run your hands through his hair as he brought you in closer. Pulling away, foreheads still touching as the two of you tried to catch your breaths, suddenly capturing each other's lips again.

-----

The next morning you woke up and you instantly recognized the room. It was Matthew's room in the apartment that Brady and Matthew shared during the off season. You looked around to find yours and Matthew's clothes on the floor. Everything started to run through your mind as to what happened and why it happened. Everyone had known you liked Matthew, and everyone knew Matthew liked you, but neither one of you made a move to further your relationship. Slowly moving his arms away from your waist, you had tried to slip out as quietly as you could but Matthew had felt your movement and woke up.

“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice groggy with a hint of curiosity

“Home. I’m sorry”

“Wha-What? Why?” 

“I’m sorry Matthew” you started as you gathered your clothes to put them back on

“This is a one time thing” you whispered stopping at the door but loud enough for Matthew to hear before opening his bedroom door and leaving the apartment, leaving Matthew there shocked and hurt

[swissboyhisch]

My Jersey

Pairing: Nikita Zadorov x Reader

Summary: After a little rain comes sun... And thunder. Thunder in the form of a six foot five Russian defenseman.

Word Count: 1389

Warnings: Shitty Bruins fans, harassment, some puck bunny comments, borderline sexual harassment, but also hinted sexual stuff at the end!

A/N: I love Zadorov and there is NOTHING on him anywhere. He's so cute as well. Easily the best dressed player in the league. Have you seen him in those suits... WOW. If anyone has any fic recs for him... PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME! Or even just to talk about him, feel free to send in something or message me. I'm always happy to discuss him.

THE MASTERLIST JOIN THE TAGLIST HOCKEY DISCORD

You, adorning your Zadorov jersey, shuffled along the rows of the Saddledome. You had a glass ticket that was next to the penalty box for the Flames. But for now, it was time to watch their warm-ups like many of the other fans. Around you was a large group of older Boston Bruins fans already in their seats. The way they were eyeing you made you nervous. The Flames players skated out for warm-ups skating past where she now stood. 

“What are you? Some kinda puck bunny?” Someone questioned from behind you. At first, you weren’t paying attention, but a tug on the back of your jersey pulled your eyes away from warm-ups. “Hey Zadorov slut.”

You turned to them after them tugging hard enough to cause you to stumble back into the seat behind you. “I’m just a fan, can you please stop?”

“What’s the accent, huh, sweetheart?” One of the other older guys questioned. 

“Leave me alone please.”

The grey-haired guy wouldn’t let go of the sleeve of your jersey. Even though you struggled and pulled. The last thing you wanted to do was ruin the brand new Zadorov jersey. No-one around them was coming to your aid. You looked around, hoping someone would help you cause it was like he wasn’t stopping. A loud sound from behind you startled them. The guys doing the harassing looked past you. You turned to see the 6’5” Nikita Zadorov standing against the glass glaring at the group. 

“Don’t touch her,” He shouted, slamming his fist against the glass.

They seemed to listen to the Flames defensemen because they didn’t speak to you for the rest of the warmups. At the end of the 15 minutes, Zadorov came over with a puck in his glove. He smiled and pointed to you. He chucked it over the glass. You flipped the cold puck over in your hand, the Flames logo staring up at you. The kids nearby got excited but were sad when you caught the puck. One thing you hated was seeing the sad kids and there was one girl that stood in front of you that was also wearing a Zadorov jersey. 

“Here you go sweetheart,” You smiled, passing her the puck. 

The young girl got so excited jumping up and down and holding it out to show her parents standing nearby. You smiled and laughed as the kids were all bouncing at seeing a Flames puck up close. By the time you looked up from the kids, the team had skated off the ice and back to the changerooms. 

“Thank you for that,” A woman’s voice spoke up.

You smiled at the girl’s mother. “It’s all good.”

Everyone started moving to their seats after warm-ups ended. After buying a coke from one of the food stands, you moved to the opposite side of the arena and found your glass seat. Right next to the penalty box. You watched on as the stadium filled with fans becoming the ‘Sea of Red’. Something that was exciting to witness for yourself. It wasn’t long before the teams returned to the ice ready for puck drop. You were ready to watch the Flames win.

Marchand knocked into Markstrom making the ref call goalie interference. But that wasn’t enough. You watched as Zadorov skated to drop the gloves with Marchand. 6’5” vs 5’9”. Not exactly fair but that didn’t matter to a defensemen protecting his team. He screamed something in the Bruin rat’s face as he shoved him away from the crease.

“Get him!” the guy beside you shouted.

The ref stopped and sent them both to the sin bin. You watched as Zadorov skated to the one right beside you. He was pissed off and helmetless from the fight. He looked… sweaty. And sexy. He caught your eye and smirked at you. Whether he remembered you from before the game or not didn’t matter.

Calgary came onto the ice, waving thank you to the fans still in the crowd. The final score was 5 to 3 with Flames winning. Each player had something they were throwing to the fans. Some had pucks, t-shirts or hats. Many kids were back down against the glass but you just stood at your seat. Making sure to take pictures before you leave. 

Zadorov spotted you in the crowd once more. Paying no mind to the people around you. He grabbed a puck and skated across the ice. Standing before you, he held up the puck once more and made sure you knew to keep it. After you nodded he flicked it over the glass. 

You flipped the puck over in your palm again. Just like before the game. This time, on the other side of the puck, was an instagram handle. One that you didn’t recognise written in silver marker. 

“Me?”

Zadorov smirked and nodded. Tyler Toffoli bumped into him, the pair sharing a laugh. The other members of the team were heading off the ice. Zadorov sent you one more smile before the pair left the ice. You sat back down, knowing the three stars were yet to be announced. While you waited, you pulled out your phone and opened instagram. You searched the handle and a simple account popped up. A private account to be precise. As you requested to follow him, the announcers started the star presentation. Toffoli, Zadorov and Lucic were the three stars of the game which was awesome to witness. 

You followed people out of the Saddledome and continued your path down the street into the city where you occasionally went for post-game drinks. After a win like tonight, it seemed like many people had the same idea as you. You ordered your drink and found an empty table to perch yourself at. People watching was the entertainment for the night. Drunk girls dancing like nobody was watching. When in reality everyone was watching them twerk. Guys arguing over something stupid. It was like most of your solo nights out at the bar. 

“Well I didn’t think I’d see you out tonight,” A voice spoke up over the music. It was the certain Russian accent you’ve heard only in interviews.

The seat across from you was pulled out and Zadorov settled himself into it. Over the music the hollers of his already tipsy teammates could be heard. If either of you looked in the back corner of the bar, his friends were posted up. All celebrating tonight’s win against the Bruins.

“Well I decided to stop by on my way back to my place,” You respond.

Zadorov holds out his hand, “Nikita.”

You slipped your hand into his and shook it, yelling your name over the music. “So, Z…”

“A nickname already?”

“There are like 5 other Nikita’s in the NHL,” You state, “I need to differentiate them all.”

The smirk that came across the Russian’s face should have been illegal. “Yet, my name is the one on show across your back.”

“Is that how it’s gonna be?”

Zadorov chuckled, “It’s definitely a sight for sore eyes. A sexy woman wearing your jersey… It’s something most men dream of.”

Two drinks were placed on the table between the pair of you. Both looked up to see Toffoli already retreating back to the corner. Upon closer inspection, they had gotten your order correct. Zadorov was drinking what looked like stereotypical Vodka but anything was possible. Knowing athletes, a majority don’t like to drink during the season. 

“Well…” You smirk, “I originally wanted Tkachuk’s jersey but he was traded to Florida before I could buy it. Don’t you think it would have looked good on me?”

Upon hearing your words, Zadorov slid his hand up behind your neck. Gently pulling you closer over the table so he could whisper into your ear. “How about we go back to yours and I’ll make it so the only name you say is the one across your back?”

“Hm… Try me,” I retort, sending him a sly smile.

“Let’s get going shall we.”

“Sure thing Tkachuk replacement.”

On the way out of the bar, once out of curious eyes, Zadorov pulled you close and hand settled on your ass. Giving it a squeeze. “Just you wait baby. The only thing you’ll be wearing is my jersey as I make you forget everything but my name.”

TAG LIST:

@penny4yourthoughts @mp0625 @hischierhaze @11zegras @lvrzegras @francesfarhadi @cixrosie @daisysthings

[haddonfieldwhore]

hands to myself - matthew tkachuk

matthew tkachuk x reader

summary: you love watching your best friend play hockey, and he loves that it brings out your overprotective side

warnings: mentions of blood, language, one use of y/n, i think this one is gender neutral? idk it’s 3am

word count: 2.1k

you knew from the start that this game was going to get messy; maybe not tkachuk brawl messy, but close. the panthers were playing the flames, matthews former team, which always made for an interesting event. while you loved supporting your best friend, and tried to go see as many of his games as you could, it stressed you out beyond belief, only made worse by the fact that he had gotten injured at the end of last season. you knew he was a big boy, and could handle himself, but watching him have his sternum broken - and then play a game after - made you cringe a little harder everytime he got hit from then on.

if matthew had thought the lecture from his mother about playing while injured was bad, it was nothing compared to the hell you had unleashed when you found out; but he knew it came from a place of love. you had been by his side through his entire recovery, and it had made the two of you even more inseparable than you already had been.

it was still early in the first period when things started to get rough between the two teams, and you watched as matt was hit alongside the boards, and he stood up covering his mouth with his hand. to your surprise, no whistle blew, even as matthew shouted at the ref that there was blood, the contrast of the red dripping onto the white ice making it hard to miss. so it’s going to be that kind of night, you thought. the game was in calgary, and you were disappointed to see the linesmen showing favour to the flames so quickly into the game. matthew skated off to the bench, still catching blood in his hand as it fell from his lips, which you could read as he spat a ‘fuck off’ at one of the calgary players as he chirped him on his way past the florida bench. his eyes scanned the crowd and met yours, laughing despite the pain it caused his lip as you mouthed “what the fuck” at him. you knew damn well if matty had been the one to draw blood, there would have been a penalty, and he probably would’ve got the extra two minute minor as well.

as the game went on, you tuned out the sound of calgary fans cheering as one of their players slammed matt against the boards, and your body tensed instinctively as you heard the crash. he stood up with no visible damage, not hesitating to chirp the guy who had hit him. you knew getting hit was part of the game, but the amount of comments you saw online constantly celebrating when matt got hurt - or wishing worse injuries upon him - angered you beyond belief.

yeah, matthew was known to be a bit of a jerk on the ice, even you could admit that. but you couldn’t believe just how nasty and cruel some of the things people said were, which is why you had learned to stay out of comment sections, to protect your peace as much as possible. protecting your peace however, did not extend to you deciding to wear a tkachuk jersey into an arena of calgary fans, and you had been feeling the dirty looks from the surrounding population all night. you paid them no attention, keeping your focus on the game, growing more frustrated with each penalty the refs didn’t call on calgary.

after being tied for most of the game, the flames pulled ahead in the third, and you yelled in frustration as the officials awarded them a goal, despite their player missing the empty net thanks to floridas player, deciding that it was a trip and it would have gone in if not for the interference. you saw matthew swearing on the bench in frustration, and then watched him lead the team to the locker room as the time ran out in the clock, calgary securing the victory.

you met up with him outside the locker room a little while later, and your eyes landed quickly on the split in his bottom lip, the wound seemingly having opened up again in the shower.

“hey,” you said, as he pulled you into a hug, his body still warm from the game.

“hey,” he sighed. “are you ready to go? i can’t wait to get out of this place.”

“that makes two of us,” you laughed. matthew was very competitive, and you were sure the fact that his team hadn’t beat calgary since he was traded to florida was weighing heavy on his mind right now.

•

you walked into your hotel room, matty following close behind you, as you had invited him over to hang out for a bit. you were travelling with the team for a few days on this road trip, and while you were sharing a room with nina, nicks wife, you were sure she would be spending the night in his room with him. as you suspected, the room was empty, a note on the dresser confirming your suspicions. matt watched as you pulled the jersey with his number on the back over your head, leaving you in a tank top as you folded the jersey and tossed it on top of your suitcase.

“anyone give you shit for cheering for us?” he joked.

“i’m sure they did, but i was too busy watching to make sure the refs didn’t let anyone kill you out there,” you said, half joking.

“i’m fine, you worry too much,” he shrugged it off, but you could tell he was still a little pissed about the game.

“stop giving me reasons to worry about you,” you countered, walking over to where he was sat on the end of the bed. matthew began to reach for your hips as you stood between his legs, before he let his hands drop beside him, rethinking the action. “hang on- your lip split open again.” you walked into the bathroom, his eyes following you the whole time.

something about the way you always got so worried about him during games made his heart skip a beat. he thought back to one time you looked like you were ready to get onto the ice and fight someone for hitting him particularly hard into the boards, and there was still a lingering smile on his face when you walked back to him with a damp washcloth in your hand. you stood between his legs again, tilting his chin upwards slightly with your hand as you softly wiped the blood from his lip. this time, he allowed himself to rest his hands on your hips, and you didn’t think anything of the gesture; you were always clingy with eachother and often cuddling or touching in someway.

“sorry-“ you said as he pulled back, wincing slightly as you dabbed at the blood that had begun to dry on his mouth. “i can’t believe they didn’t call anything for this-“

“yeah,” he mumbled, not fully paying attention as he was too busy admiring you as you focused so intently on cleaning the injury.

“we both know damn well they would have called a penalty on you for the same thing.”

“maybe i have my reputation to blame for that.”

“or the linesmen were playing favourites. you know, maybe if you wore your mouth guard properly-“

he dug his fingertips softly into your sides, interrupting you and causing you to finally notice that his hands were on you.

“don’t start with that,” he laughed. “thank you.”

“anytime. but try not to make a habit of getting bloody, okay? even if it’s kinda hot,” you teased, and he raised an eyebrow.

“is it?” he asked, pulling you closer until you straddled his lap, and you froze; you hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“i- uh…,” you stuttered as he took the washcloth from your hand and tossed it onto the floor, before his arms wrapped around you again making sure you didn’t fall. “matty-“

“you know, it’s kinda cute when you get all over-protective?”

“i’m not overprotective-“ you argued. “i just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“is that why you look like you wanna kill anyone who checks me into the boards? i can take a hit, you don’t have to worry about me so much,” he insisted for the thousandth time. you placed your hands on either side of his face, looking at the bruise that was beginning to form around his lip. you pushed the curls at his forehead back with your fingers.

“is it that noticeable?” you laughed, and he smiled, falling back onto the bed and pulling you with him. you laid next to eachother, looking up at the ceiling.

“no, i mean, only a few of the guys tease me about you being my personal security detail-“ he teased, and you whacked his chest with one of the pillows.

“matt! that’s not funny!”

“okay okay, only verhaeghe does-“

“matthew!” you pleaded, and he laughed.

“i’m joking. i appreciate how much you care about me,” he said honestly.

“i just hate that there’s nothing i can do to stop you from getting hurt. and that there’s people who would celebrate it if you did.” you sighed, and he rolled into his side to look at you, a puzzled look on his face.

“why does that matter? i mean, who cares what they think?”

“i don’t know, i just-“ you sighed, not sure of what to say. “i love you matty, and i don’t want anything to happen to you.” matt’s blue eyes met yours before he pulled you into his arms, tucking your head under his chin as he held you tight.

“i love you, too. try not to worry about me so much, okay? and maybe i’ll try not to piss so many people off so you don’t have to.”

“okay, let’s not be unrealistic here-“ you teased.

“hey,” he cautioned, and you both laughed. “get some sleep, okay? and seriously, i’m okay.”

“okay,” you sighed, snuggling into his chest as he pulled the blankets over your tangled legs. “goodnight matty. i love you,” you mumbled sleepily. you felt him press a kiss to the top of your head, and he winced as it stung the cut on his lip, but he smiled anyway.

“goodnight, i love you too,” he replied, and he meant it even more than you knew.

•

in a room down the hall, sam bennett woke up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. he looked across the room to see the other double bed still neatly made, the blankets untouched. he ran a hand over his face, cursing as he wondered where his roommate was, because he clearly had not slept here. he scrolled through his phone and sent a text to matthew, asking where he was, before he got dressed and went out in the hallway and nearly ran into nick.

“morning. do you know where chucky is?” he asked, thinking maybe nick had seen his missing roommate, but he shook his head. nina appeared behind her husband, the two of them on their way to the lobby for breakfast, when she pulled a room key out of her purse.

“i have a feeling i know where we’ll find him.”

sure enough, after hearing no response to a few knocks on the door and a handful of text messages, the trio entered your room to find you and matt still curled up in bed together, both fast asleep. it wasn’t an unusual sight, and nina smiled at the two of you before dragging to two men out of the room and back into the hallway.

“see, he’s safe,” she laughed, as the three of them made their way to grab breakfast.

“should’ve known they’d be together,” sam shook his head. “do you think they realize they’re in love with eachother?”

“you’ve known them longer than i have, what do you think?” nick replied.

“maybe,” he shrugged.

“what if they’re already dating and just haven’t told anyone?” nina suggested.

“while that would explain the death stares y/n was throwing at the ref last night, i don’t think chucky’s that good of a liar.” sam decided. they all agreed, laughing as they came to the conclusion that if you were in fact together, matthew would never shut up about you; more than he already didn’t.

oblivious to the discussion going on downstairs, matt stirred softly, a smile spreading across his face as he looked at you in his arms. if he could wake up to this everyday, he would, the sound of your soft snores and the warmth of your arms as you clung to him making his heart rate speed up. while it was clear to everyone else, it was anyone’s guess how long it would take the two of you two realize you were in love with eachother. until then, matt was content with being the guy you were overprotective of, and that wasn’t gonna stop anytime soon.

disclaimer: all screenshots, events, and/or interactions depicted in this are a work of fiction. i have no association with any parties mentioned

[hockeyboysimagines]

The Battle of Alberta

A short blurb featuring Brady Tkachuk

Warnings: some language, fluff. Mentions of alcohol.

I have been so MIA, but seeing Brady so excited I had to write this.

“This is gonna be SO LIT!” Brady screeched as he shook Hallie by the shoulders. The entire Tkachuk clan had flown in the day prior and was seated around their house. Thomas was outside with Taryn and Keith, and Matthew was chatting with his mom, leaving her with Brady, who was buzzing. He’d been bouncing off the walls since the previous day, more excited than she’d seen him in a very long time. It was both funny and annoying and she realized why she never wanted a sibling. He’d woken everyone up at the ass crack of dawn with his antics and she was exhausted just looking at him.

The Battle of Alberta had Calgary buzzing under normal circumstances, but in the playoffs?

Things had been insane. A virtual sea of red could be seen everywhere they went in the days leading up to game 1, which would take place tomorrow evening. Calgary as a whole, was on fire. But no one was quite as excited as the Tkachuk’s.

“How much coffee have you had today?”

“Fucking none-“ he slapped a hand over his mouth and looked around for Thomas.

“He’s outside, but nice censorship.”

“My bad. I always forget he’s only 3 because he’s just so rad. Kid takes after his uncle.”

Hallie rolled her eyes and chuckled before Brady spoke again “Are you excited? This is your first playoff series after all.”

“Of course she is.” She glanced over her shoulder to find Matthew behind her smiling “She’s excited to see all of this out on the ice.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and winked, as two spots of pink appeared on her cheeks.

“Don’t ruin my buzz.” Brady said frowning and then made a noise of disgust “Seriously though this is awesome and I’m so pumped.”

“You mentioned.”

Brady slapped Matthew on the shoulder and made his way loudly through the house and outside, presumably to find the rest of the family. Matthew took a seat next to Hallie. She sometimes found herself just staring at him, like she couldn’t believe she was here with him. It seemed like so long ago she was dodging him as much as she possibly could, and now she couldn’t imagine life without him.

“So listen-“

“No.”

“I what? I didn’t even-“

“No.”

He smiled a little and let out a breathy chuckle, shaking his head “How did you even know what I was going to say?”

“You we’re going to say “Hey babe can we get it in tonight? And the answer is no.”

“Whyyyyyy?-“ he whined slouching against his chair.

Hallie glanced around over her shoulder and lowered her voice “Your whole family is staying in our house, and our child is sleeping on a bed in our room.”

“So? We can be quiet.”

“Quiet isn’t in your vocabulary.”

He giggled and reached a hand forward to run his fingers through her hair, which now fell just below her chest. He made sure to let his hand slide slowly down her breast, her breath hitching in her throat.

“Damn you.” Hallie whispered. Matthew smiled at her and pecked her on the cheek, before he stood and disappeared through the house.

Hallie turned back and suddenly a wave of nausea washed over her and for a brief moment she thought she might vomit. She subtly slid off her stool and walked towards the bathroom attached to their bedroom. It was cool and quiet and she leaned against the wall, heart thudding and stomach churning as she tried to keep it down.

It was an all too familiar nausea, one she’d felt before. She’d been putting off taking a test for weeks, mostly because she knew the answer but mainly because this wasn’t a distraction Matthew needed. But she had to know for sure.

She kept a stash under the sink, in a tampon box. She pulled one out, shimmied her jeans down and sat to pee, setting it on the counter and finishing while she waited.

It took less than 30 seconds for the test to finish.

Positive.

Two pink lines, unmistakable there in the tiny oval on the pregnancy test.

She sighed.

This wasn’t good. Matthew had been laser focused on the playoffs, and he didn’t need to be worrying about another baby right now. She carried the test from the room and sat on the bed, still staring. She was happy, but also not and it was a very confusing feeling.

“Hey Hal what are-“ Brady threw open the door and his eyes zeroed in on the pregnancy test “Holy shit!” He exclaimed, hands flying up to his head.

“SHH!” Hallie took two large steps forward and slapped a hand over Brady’s mouth. She thought she’d locked the door behind her, and she felt a panic set in.

“Okay I’ll be quiet.” He mumbled behind her palm, hands up in surrender. When she removed her hands he smiled so large his face could have cracked “Are you pregnant?”

Hallies lip trembled and she nodded, handing him the test.

“This is fucking awesome!” He whispered gleefully, but then stopped when he saw her face “Are you crying?”

“It’s not the right time. He has so much going on, and he’s been playing so well I don’t want-“

“Hallie are you kidding? He’s gonna be so excited! Remember how he was before Thomas was born?”

“I just don’t want to add any stress for him right now. Plus we still haven’t gotten married.”

“This is the good kind of stress! Who needs to get married anyways. This is so exciting!!!” He swept Hallie into a bone crushing hug, eyes closed and still smiling “I’m so glad your my sister-in-law. Now.” He stepped back and as gently as one who was as inebriated as he was could, wiped the smeared mascara from under her eyes “I’ll go stall so you can pull yourself together. It’ll be our secret okay?” She nodded and he gave her another hug before he left the room, stumbling only once when he bounced off the doorframe.

Hallie took a deep breath and eyed the red playoff jacket hanging on the back of the chair. She slipped it on, turning to the side. Her stomach was still flat, not even a hint of a bump showing yet so she wasn’t going to give herself away by wearing something loose or baggy. She would act totally natural until the playoffs were over. No reason to rock the boat.

Right?

*********

The saddledome was louder than Hallie had ever heard it, as she and Taryn followed Brady and Emma. Carly was already sitting with the rest of the Tkachuk’s, some of whom she had met for the first time. She had tried to remain as cool and collected as possible. She realized as she walked that a lot of people were looking at her, and it dawned on her that the fire red jacket and TKACHUK in large white lettering was easily recognizable as a wag playoff jacket. She smiled and held her head a little higher. It made her proud to be wearing this name across her back.

She couldn’t wait to have it as her own last name.

“I need beer.” Brady said suddenly, stopping short and causing them all to slam into him from behind. They watched and giggled as Brady stuffed a beer can into each pocket and held a third in his hand, shoving his wallet into Emma’s purse.

“Braeden!” Chantelle scolded him as they sat down in their seats. Thomas was seated on her lap, smile so large and bright as he looked around, waiting for Matthew to come out on the ice.

“Mom I’m thirsty!” He said as he cracked one open and took a small sip. Keith rolled his eyes and reached over to grab Hallie’s knee.

“Are you okay?”

Hallie blinked and nodded slowly “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?” He glanced around and then spoke lowly “Something seems off.”

“Thomas hasn’t been sleeping much lately, you know. Playoffs.” She said trying to keep a straight face. Taryn, Emma, Brady, Chantelle or even Matthew would have accepted that as a reason and moved on, but Not Keith.

“Don’t lie to me. I raised these morons-“ he gestured at a very drunk Brady, and Matthew’s face, which had appeared on the Jumbotron as he spoke “What’s going on?”

Hallie bit her lip and swiveled her eyes towards the rest of the group and then back to Keith. He stared at her for a moment before he cleared his throat.

“Does anybody want anything? I need to get a water.”

“I’ll come!” Hallie jumped up “I need to pee.” She and Keith headed down the steps and out on to the concourse before he turned to her, making sure they were out of earshot.

“I’m pregnant.”

Keith’s face went from concerned to confused before a large smile stretched across his face, and Hallie was reminded for a moment how much Matthew looked like him.

“Oh my goodness. No way!” He grabbed her shoulders and then pulled her in for a hug “Does anyone know?”

Hallie wiped at a tear and nodded “Yeah Brady found out on accident, but that’s it.”

“Why are you crying?”

“We aren’t even married yet Keith I-“

“Ah who needs marriage.” He waved his hand but his smile was wide and his eyes were twinkling.“How far along are you?”

“That’s what Brady said. I’m not really sure. 12 weeks? Maybe less. I just found out two days ago.”

“Well no one will hear it from me, but-“

“I promise after the series I’ll tell him.”

“Good. Now, I have to go buy something so we don’t look suspicious. Come on.” He gave her hand another tight squeeze and together they walked through the concourse.

************

It was a hard fought 5 games but the Flames just couldn’t pull it off. A horrendous call at the end of game 5 may have tipped the scales and forced a game 6 but they would never know.

Brady during that time had become an internet sensation, his wild antics in the crowd and die hard support of his brother was nothing short of endearing to both fanbases.

The Tkachuk’s hung around for a few days after the playoffs ended to help Matt and Hallie pack up the house and begin to get ready for the journey back to St.Louis. Hallie didn’t have a plan, but she was winging it at this point. She wanted the announcement to be special, and Matthew had been so down about the elimination to Edmonton she wanted it to lift him up, and not stress him out.

She slipped on a black sundress, stowing the test in the pocket and made her way outside, taking a deep breath and plastering a smile across her face.

The air was warm and the sun had begun to set over their backyard. The drinks had been flowing, and the mood was light on the last night in Calgary. The team was there, the family was there and this would be the perfect time to let the cat out of the bag.

She made her way to the porch and glanced at Brady who smiled and nodded. She cleared her throat, gaining the attention of a few people, but most were too involved in their conversations. Brady however wasn’t having it.

“Hey! Hallie’s trying to talk shut up!” She rolled her eyes and chuckled remembering this going similarly to the first announcement.

“I just wanted to say, it’s been a pleasure having you all, and although we didn’t win this series I do have some good news.”

She found Matthew in the crowd and smiled. He was looking at her strangely, a small smile on his face.

She pulled the test out of the pocket of her dress and held it up “I’m pregnant!” She squeaked.

A large roar sounded and Matthew’s mouth fell open.

“No fucking way!” Noah yelled, slapping Matt on the back “Congrats buddy!”

“This is so exciting!” Carly screeched, rushing forward to hug her, followed by Johnny who she clung to, unsure if this might be one of the last times she was able to hug him.

“Congratulations.” He whispered in her ear, squeezing her tightly.

“I knew it first! Guess we know who the favorite is huh?” Brady said elbowing Taryn gleefully.

She accepted hugs and cheek kisses from various family members and teammates until only Matthew himself was left, still rooted to the spot dumbfounded.

“Are you mad?” She whispered, approaching him slowly.

“Am I-what? Of course not. I’m just shocked, we were so-“

“I know I just. I want you to want this.”

“I want this. I want all of this. All of this with you.” He reached forward and pulled her into a very long kiss.

“Hey there are children present!” Johnny yelled. Hallie felt a tug on her dress and pulled away, to find Thomas smiling up at her.

Matthew scooped him up and showed him the test “Hey buddy do you know what this means?”

He shook his head and Matthew smiled at him “It means your gonna be a big brother!”

Hallie smiled and let her hand drift over her stomach. She couldn’t feel the baby yet, but it was in there.

Another perfect piece to her perfect family.

But she had another surprise.

A surprise that involved an early gender blood test.

“A big brother to a little sister.” She said.

[huggybug]

can you do 56 with matthew tkachuk for dilf day?

happy dilf day!

56. “You do realize what time it is, right?”

“Holy shit!” Brady screamed as the family waited outside the locker room for Matthew.

“Brady! Language!”

“Sorry” He grimaced at his mom before looking down at your daughter who was too busy talking to Taryn to hear him anyway.

“That was the most stressed I’ve been so far” Chantal laughed as you agreed with her.

“And it’s only round one” The entire Tkachuk family had been travelling between Calgary and Dallas for this series and as exciting as it was, it seemed like it had gone on forever, you were all glad that it ended with a win.

“There he is!” The hallway fills with cheers as Keith and Brady attack your husband, Taryn joining soon after when your daughter sees her dad is finally out and she drags her aunt over to congratulate him.

“Where’s my congratulations kiss?” You snort when Matthew escapes his family and appears at your side with your daughter on his hip.

“Congrats Matty, great game” You plant a quick kiss on his lips, keeping it pg, staying aware of his family surrounding you. No matter how long you’ve been with Matthew and how much he pushes for it, you tend to keep the pda to a minimum.

“That’s it? Jeez a nice goal in the series winning game and that’s all I get?” You smack his arm as everyone laughs around you. Leaning up to kiss his cheek, you whisper a promise of ‘later’ in his ear which is enough to shut him up for now. Everyone’s talking over each other but your eyes stay on your daughter who seems to be falling asleep in Matthew’s arms.

“Should we go for ice cream?” Matthew asks your daughter who’s eyes light up at the suggestion. It was funny, the usual post-win celebration was going to the bar but obviously with your daughter around, that wasn’t going to happen.

“We can take her back, you guys should go out with the team” Chantal offered but Matthew was quick to turn her down.

“Nah I want to celebrate with both my girls” He pokes your daughter’s belly which makes her giggle and squirm in his arms.

“You do realize what time it is, right?” You ask him and turn your phone for him to see it was almost midnight, way past your daughter’s bedtime.

“Babe, we just won the series, she’s fine” You look at the little girl who was struggling to keep her eyes open and laughed a little.

“Can you stay awake to get some ice cream lovey?” You ask her, running your hand down her back and she shoots up at the mention of ice cream again.

“Mhm I’m not even tired Mommy” You shake your head while laughing as Matthew fist bumps her.

“Fine but only because you won” You grin when Matthew cheers with your daughter.

[typical-simplelove]

Strangers -> Jacob Markstrom (as part of the Alternate Universe to Peter Pan)

Summary: The prologue to Body Language and Peter Pan. The night that started it all and brought you into Matthew’s and Jacob’s lives. The night that Matthew and Jacob fell in love with you, told from Jacob’s point of view.

Author's Note: This is another installment of the Happiness Begins Series and the Peter Pan Universe! In terms of the Happiness Begins series, this is a stand-alone, but in terms of the Peter Pan Universe, it might be beneficial to read the two fics linked in the summary. I'm tagging @2manytabsopen because you are my true motivation to continue this series! I hope you enjoy this installment, and please, let me know what you think!

Word Count: 4.3k (including song lyrics)

Warnings: explicit!female reader; mentions of alcohol; Matthew's an ass in this

With his eyes trained on the end of the aisle, Jacob’s attention is captivated by the tunes of the song that was picked out. Anytime now, she’d be stepping out, and at that moment, Jacob’s life is going to change once again. 

I came here looking for another excuse To run away from something beautiful It's like it's driving me closer to you Every step back pulls me right back to you

Walking into the bar, the boys take their regular tables in the back as jackets cover chairs. They play a few quick rounds of rock-paper-scissors to determine the designated driver and who was to pay for the first round of drinks. Once those people were designated, the group takes their seats and set in for a night of drinks and hanging out. 

“What brings you out tonight?” Matthew asks, probing Jacob. “You don’t come out often.”

Jacob glances at Matthew for a second before he trains his attention on other guests walking around the bar. 

Matthew was right; Jacob didn’t go out often. Although it was fun, he’d much rather spend the night at home on the couch watching a movie with a glass of wine or under the blankets with a good book. Recently, though, spending the nights in his apartment on his own was starting to get boring. There was no one there with him because, well, he was alone. Sure, Jacob liked being single and didn’t have any major issues with being single, but sometimes, only hearing his breathing or the only sounds in his apartment being the quiet local traffic drove him crazy. Jacob was craving some acquaintance or companionship other than his teammates that happened to stop by after practice. 

What Jacob really wanted was someone to share his life with. He wanted someone to have and to hold. He wanted someone to be there when he left or when he got home (or to come home to him). He wanted someone to laugh at his silly jokes. He wanted someone’s laughter to echo through the apartment. 

Jacob wanted a life partner. 

All those thoughts swirled in Jacob’s mind as his focus trained back on Matthew. “Just wanted to try something new. You know, get out of the house. Broaden my social circle.”

“What, are we not enough for you?” Matthew teases, a glint in his eyes. 

“You know what I mean,” Jacob responds, holding back an eye roll. Matthew opens his mouth to say something else, but thankfully, drinks were forcefully placed on the table, stopping Matthew from talking. 

As conversations build up across the table, Jacob returns to his normal wallflower state. It wasn’t that anyone was leaving him out; he just wasn’t really in the mood. If Jacob was going to go out in this atmosphere, then he really had to be in the mood, and currently, he wasn’t in that mood. Jacob kind of regrets going out. All he wanted was a nice glass of wine, to sit on his couch, and relax. Maybe a movie on the TV, too. Just anything but here. 

His eyes dart up when he notices everyone at the table has stopped talking. Jacob’s eyes follow their eye line and notice them starting at a group of girls that walked into the bar. Just like that, Jacob’s life changed forever. 

She was standing there, fiddling with the hem of her shirt, as she let herself soak in the atmosphere. 

Jacob’s eyes scanned over the top half of her body—the only half visible from where he was sitting. That’s when it all made sense. He finally knew the person that would complement his body and fit in the crevices perfectly. He finally knew the person that would never fail to put a smile on his face. He finally knew the person that would make the ridiculously cheesy sitcoms and rom-coms bearable. He finally knew the person that Jacob risk it all for. He found the person that he’d conquer the world for. He found the person that he’d give it all up for. 

The world and Jacob were moving because they had to, but now, Jacob’s world was spinning the way it was supposed to. It finally made sense. 

“Woah,” Matthew says under his breath. Woah, indeed, Jacob thinks to himself, knowing that Matthew was probably talking about the same person. Matthew looks at his friend and says, “What do you say? Should we go over together?”

Jacob doesn’t say anything. He just stares ahead at the girl. How was he supposed to talk to her? “I’ll go over in a bit.”

“Did you want me to make you an introduction?” Matthew asks, slightly teasing. 

Jacob shakes his head. “I’ll be fine.” 

That’s a lie. Jacob couldn’t do it. He knew he wouldn’t be able to do it. Who was he kidding? Jacob was frazzled and flustered, and he hadn’t even talked to the girl yet. What was he to do? 

Jacob sat at the table, gripping his drink as he watches Matthew walk up to the group of girls. The entire group was filled with beautiful people. Matthew could have picked anyone, but he went with her, with you. When Jacob saw you smile at Matthew, his heart fell to his stomach. You were supposed to be smiling at Jacob. Jacob was supposed to be the one who elicited that smile from you. Jacob was supposed wrapped around your finger, not Matthew. Jacob was supposed to be enamored with your personality and aura, not Matthew. 

It was supposed to be Jacob, not Matthew, but it ended up being Matthew because Jacob was too chicken. Jacob let the person who he knew would change his life slip through his fingers. He messed it up, and Jacob knows he’ll never be able to have the chance again. 

How did Jacob let himself mess up so badly?

Time stands still and it's only us What we feel started way before we ever touched Just imagine only us Yeah, you found me right before I'd given up

It was four days later, and Jacob was still reeling from seeing you for the first time. How did Jacob find someone so perfect for him, yet he couldn’t even talk to them? How did Jacob find the person he’d feel immense pride and joy to bring home to meet his mother, yet they don’t even know he exists? How did Jacob finally find the person that makes all the love songs and poems and sonnets make sense, but he couldn’t even muster the courage to talk to them? 

It was frustrating, to say the least.

Jacob has spent his entire adult life assuming that when he met the one, things would work out according to plan and in his favor. Jacob never thought that one of his teammates would feel the same pull that the person had and gravitate towards them first. Jacob thought he’d be able to talk to them, and then everything else would make sense and work out for itself. 

How did everything get blown to pieces in a matter of seconds? 

Oh, right, Jacob didn’t have the courage to talk to you, but Matthew did. Matthew always seemed to have the courage to talk to someone else. Normally, Jacob didn’t care, but then it was you that Matthew managed to talk to first. It was you, bright eyes and smile, who got Matthew’s attention instead of Jacob's. It was you, and he wished that he didn’t clam up and stand there, frozen. If he could do it all over again, he would. 

“So, you got lucky last night. Again.” Jacob hears someone say to Matthew. Jacob rolls his eyes, not wanting to hear about another one of Matthew’s escapades. 

“It was fun,” Matthew says, a smirk covering his face. He eyes Jacob knowing that Jacob wanted the same person. “I don’t normally hang out with the same girl more than once, but—”

A few hoots and hollers fill the locker room. That’s when Jacob realizes who Matthew is talking about—you. You captured Jacob’s attention like a fisherman setting his net out to sea. Your radiant smile lit up his life like a spotlight. You slowly became everything to Jacob, yet you’ve never even spoken to him.

Jacob doesn’t notice the sneaky glance that Matthew gives. Matthew knows exactly what he’s doing, but having no reaction out of Jacob isn’t what Matthew wanted. 

“Jacob, any fun plans last night?”

That little shit. 

“Nope,” Jacob grumbles. He hurries out onto the ice before anyone can comment on his mannerisms. 

He’s skating around the ice to try to clear his thoughts. He doesn’t know why he’s acting like this. He hasn’t spoken to you. He’s only looked at you from across a bar. How’s that for depressing?

In movies, when it’s love at first sight, both parties fall in love. In this case, though, only Jacob fell. Only Jacob fell head over heels for you. Jacob doubts you even looked at him at all that evening. 

Even if Jacob had a chance with you, he knows he could never take it. There was an unspoken code, and if Jacob tried anything, he’d be breaking that code. 

For all intents and purposes, Jacob has to find a way to forget about you even though he knows you’re the one. 

I just saw the lightning strike Knew it right then when I looked in your eyes And I said to myself, "It's no surprise we ain't strangers" Strangers tonight Must be from a different life Been here before and it just feels right No, this ain't the first time for you and I, we ain't strangers Strangers tonight

During warmups before a game, Jacob doesn’t normally scan the crowd. He gives a few quick glances to see if there are any young kids who he can give a stick or puck, and that’s it. Jacob tends to focus on warming up and leaves the crowd and that interaction for during the game. 

This time, though, something was drawing him to scan the crowd. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for or why he’s so drawn to that one section. 

As he’s skating around, Jacob’s eyes keep going to that one section of seats. Why is it striking him tonight? As per usual, it’s filled with fans. No one struck him out of the ordinary. That is until he saw a familiar head of hair. He knows that hair. It’s been plaguing his dreams and thoughts since that first night. 

You. 

You were there. At the game. A game that Jacob was at. A game where Jacob was currently getting ready for. 

In a matter of seconds, seeing you knocked all of the wind out of him. He continues his motions, but as he looks over at you again (you have yet to notice his obvious staring), he trips and falls. 

“You good man?” someone asks as they skate over to a fallen Jacob. 

He nods. “Just lost my footing for a second.”

The player nods and skates off. Jacob’s grateful that they didn’t ask why Jacob fell. What was he supposed to say? Yeah, the girl that one of our teammates is dating or kind of seeing is here. Did she distract me? Yes. Why? Oh, because I’m in love with her, too. Why didn’t I go talk to her that night? She distracted me, and I couldn’t even open my mouth to breathe she was so captivating. 

Jacob has to get a grip on his thoughts. This was no line of thinking to have before a game. It was an important game, and if Jacob wasn’t at the top of his game, he couldn’t protect his teammates, his family. 

Still, though, Jacob is watching you from the corner of your eye. You must have brought a friend because you’re chatting and laughing away. 

The minute that Jacob gets a glimpse at your smile, all the loud cheers and noises of the crowd fade away. There’s a faint ringing in his ears as he watches you laugh along to whatever your friend was saying. A faint smile crosses Jacob’s face and a blush warms his cheeks as he thinks of what it would be like to be the one on the other end of that smile. That laugh. Those warm eyes. His heart bursts just thinking about it. What would it be like for Jacob to make you smile? What would it be like for Jacob to make you laugh? What would it be like for Jacob to look into your eyes as you talked? What would it be like for Jacob to wake up to your smiling face each and every morning? 

Jacob’s taking a few practice shots off his teammates, but the roaring sounds of the crowd still haven’t returned. He’s still in a daze, acting on autopilot, as the shots come at him. He’s able to stop many of them. He’s not acting dull, but he’s not as sharp as he could be. Jacob can’t tell if you being there is a good thing or a bad thing. Good thing? Jacob gets to see you. Bad thing? You’re distracting but a good distracting. Good thing? Jacob gets to see your smile. 

Yeah, it was an overall good thing for you to be there. 

When the time comes for the team to skate off the ice, Jacob tries to huddle around the back. This way, if he trips when he sees you, fewer teammates will tease him about it. 

Jacob’s staring at you as the file of the ice. He so badly wants to catch your eye, but what would he do if he did? Would Jacob wink or smile? He could barely breathe and you were a couple of hundred feet away. Jacob has no game when it comes to you. You just make him too nervous. 

He’s sitting on his spot in the locker room as the coaches are talking. Should Jacob be listening? Sure, but it wasn’t anything new. As long as Jacob showed up and played hockey, he’d be alright. His thoughts continued to wander to you. He should really get a grip on his thoughts. How would he be able to play the game properly if you were sitting there? Would he be able to get his head in the game? 

Jacob’s still on autopilot as the team makes their way back on the ice for the anthem. He’s excited to see you again, even if you don’t see him. 

His eyes look up to find your familiar face and head of hair, and when he does, his heart falls. A ringing sound echo through his ears as dread fills his stomach. 

You’re wearing a Tkachuk jersey.

Jacob doesn’t know why he’s so upset at seeing you in a Tkachuk jersey. Obviously, Matthew would invite you to a game, and of course, you’d be wearing Matthew’s jersey. But Jacob wanted you to be there for him. Jacob wanted to be the reason why you were sitting in the arena. 

He shakes his head. That wouldn’t happen. Of course, Matthew got the girl because what girl would ever want a guy who can’t even get the nerve to talk to her?

You say my name like it's been on your lips Familiar in ways I can't explain You got a heart that I know I can miss Hold me like that and pull me right back again

“Who’s that?” Jacob asks. He wasn’t familiar with who the girl was sitting at their table at dinner. She was pretty, but Jacob had no idea why she was there or who she was there with. 

“What?” Elias asks, quizzical. 

Jacob nods his head at the mystery girl. “Her.”

Elias shrugs. “I don’t know her name, but she’s here with Matthew.”

“But what about—” Jacob trails off. He doesn’t have to repeat your name. Elias knew. Johnny knew. Everyone in this whole damn universe knew that Jacob had feelings for you. There wasn’t a single person on this planet who could look at the way Jacob looked at you and say it was as “friends.” It was impossible. 

Whenever Jacob saw you with Matthew, he pushed his feelings aside. After all, if Jacob being with you wasn’t how things were supposed to turn out, then he’d want you to be happy. And if that was Matthew, then Jacob guesses he could be okay with it even though Jacob would never let a sister or daughter of his anywhere new Matthew. Jacob knew Matthew’s tendencies to date and sleep around; Jacob doesn’t understand how Matthew doesn’t get lonely or doesn’t want to find that someone. 

“I guess she wasn’t invited?” Elias answers, pulling Jacob out of his thoughts. 

Why wouldn’t Matthew invite you? Jacob’s never seen you in fancy, cocktail outfits, but he just knows that you’d be the most stunning person in this room. If Jacob had brought you as his date, he knows that he wouldn’t ever be separated from you. You were just too radiant. 

Jacob knew that Matthew wasn’t a commitment person. He tended to just have short flings here and there, but this was different. Matthew had the most spectacular person on this planet—someone who could make Jacob the happiest person ever—and he refused to see it. Matthew refused to see who was right there in front of him, and instead, he found solace in his bachelor tendencies. 

“Yeah, but—” Jacob trails off once again in a matter of seconds. He doesn’t have to finish his sentence. Elias understood. The other team members understood. If Jacob had you, he’d never let you go. What he doesn’t understand, though, is why Matthew can’t see it? Matthew has the love of Jacob’s life right in front of them, yet he can’t see it. He can’t see the life he’s missing out on by messing around with other people. 

“Why is he doing this to her?” Jacob mumbles, not sure if his friend heard. Elias did, though, and gives his friend a side-eye. What was Elias supposed to say? Matthew’s heart and mind were wired differently. While Jacob saw someone who’d make him happy for the rest of his life, Matthew saw the same person as short-term happiness. Matthew’s head was so far up his ass he didn’t realize what he had right in front of him. 

“He’s going to hurt her so much,” Jacob mumbles once again. He shouldn’t be saying any of these sentiments out loud, but he needs someone to hear them. Jacob could stand watching you with his teammate (even if it were Matthew) if it meant that you’d find happiness and wouldn’t be heartbroken. What Jacob couldn’t stand was Matthew stringing you along. Matthew was giving you bread crumbs to keep you going back to him. No matter what, the little crumbs Matthew would give you would satisfy you. Jacob didn’t blame you; Matthew was a catch. You, though, could do so much better than Matthew and his ways. Jacob doesn’t think he deserves you either, but Jacob could be so much better to you than Matthew. 

Although the notion hasn’t been addressed, everyone who knows Matthew knows that the girls he’s “seeing” don’t know that they aren’t the only ones. Some do realize that it’s not a forever thing with Matthew, but some don’t. They take the bread crumbs that Matthew has to offer and spin them into a fairytale romance. Jacob can’t blame them, though. Matthew is a charmer and is good at the game. Someone can go from being strangers to Matthew to thinking he’s the light of their life. 

What about Jacob? He might not be as boisterous or cocky or there. He might tend to be more quiet and reserved, but that doesn’t mean Jacob doesn’t have as much to offer. That doesn’t mean that he can’t make someone happy. He can. Jacob can make someone so happy if he had the chance. He’s been waiting his entire life to find that person who would be the one that would change his life. He finally did, but instead of Jacob getting the girl, Matthew did. And when Matthew gets the girl, Jacob knows he won’t ever get the girl. 

Jacob can give a whole loaf of bread, but instead, you take the breadcrumbs. 

And Jacob knows that as you continue to take those breadcrumbs, your heart will get more and more vulnerable until Matthew shatters it. 

Jacob only hopes that you won’t cut him out of your life when that happens. 

Time stands still and it's only us What we feel started way before we ever touched Just imagine only us Yeah, you found me right before I'd given up

One day you were there, and the next you weren’t. One day, Jacob was calling you to see when you were free to watch that book-to-movie adaptation you were going on and on about, and the next Jacob can’t get a hold of you. 

Jacob wasn’t shocked when Matthew brought another girl to the Gala, but he was disappointed. Every time that Matthew brought a different girl as his date to various events or nights out, Jacob prayed and begged a higher being that Matthew would see you. He would see how amazing you were, and how much he was missing out. Only Jacob saw that, though; Matthew never seemed to notice what he had right in front of him. 

That could be the only reason why you weren’t picking up the phone. However, Jacob wasn’t at fault. It wasn’t Jacob’s fault that Matthew brought a different date and you were hurting because of it. All he wanted was to tell you that everything would be okay, but would it? 

And then one day, you left. One day, you were there, and the next, you were in Toronto. You didn’t even tell Jacob. He had to find out from Annica and Elias. For being best friends, it wasn’t fair that you didn’t tell him. Jacob thought you’d tell each other everything, but then you left Calgary, never to return, and didn’t tell him. You didn’t have the heart to tell him. That, somehow, hurt worse than you blocking him and not picking up his calls. 

Then, you called. You were in Toronto, only moving a few days ago. He was ignoring your calls for a few days, but then he couldn’t take it anymore. Every time he saw your phone number, his heart lurched. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he finally picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

But then you hung up. Jacob sighed. Maybe you weren’t ready. But then you called again. There was some yelling and some tears. Mostly, though, Jacob realized he wasn’t angry at you anymore. You talked to each other, and Jacob realized that all the love he has for you wouldn’t fade. With you in Toronto, maybe you’d finally realize how much Jacob loves you. 

Two years after that first phone call, Jacob got the best news he’s ever received. You were back. You’re back in Calgary, and you want to see him. After discussing plans on when and where to meet up, he finally saw you. You were just as radiant and beautiful as the first day he met you. 

And just like that, a happy routine followed just like before. You were there. He was there. And Jacob had his best friend back. And he was okay with that. 

Until he told you. He was drunk, lonely, and wasn’t thinking straight. When you left him after his confession, his heart pooled and tears fell from his eyes. This time, he knows he lost you for good because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. 

But then you showed up at his door with your own admissions of love.

“I love you, Jacob Markstrom, and if you don’t listen to me and let me love you, I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next day,” you pleaded. 

And with that, everything made sense. You loved Jacob, and he loved you. 

Finally, it seemed, Jacob got the girl, and there wasn’t a greater feeling in the world. 

I came here looking for another excuse To run away from something beautiful It's like it's driving me closer to you Every step back pulls me right back

The past few years of his life flashed behind his eyes as he watched you begin your descent down the aisle. The train of your dress flowed behind you as you took each step. Jacob knew you were stunning and beautiful. Seeing you, though, in the white dress didn’t level to how he’s seen you before. 

When you were at the end of the aisle, Jacob took your hand in his and escorted you to where the officiant was standing. 

He looks at you with a shy smile. It was just like the first Jacob saw you, but this time, he had the girl, and he was nervous because he had the opportunity to cement the seal. He was going to spend the rest of his life with the love of his life. 

It may have been painful, but finally, Jacob got a happy ever after. And he got the girl, too. 

Jacob went from being an absolute stranger to being your best friend to being the cause of your heartbreak to being the person you couldn’t spend the rest of your life without. It all made sense, and it was all worth it. 

I just saw the lightning strike Knew it right then when I looked in your eyes And I said to myself, "It's no surprise we ain't strangers" Strangers tonight Must be from a different life Been here before and it just feels right No, this ain't the first time for you and I, we ain't strangers Strangers tonight