#dad!erik johnson

[holy-puckslibrary]

— 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬.

pairing(s) — dilf!ERIK JOHNSON x ex-nanny!wife!reader (established); REESE JOHNSON (oc) x ex-nanny!stepmom!reader (platonic / familial)

wc — 4.7k synopsis — family weekend forces reese’s worlds to collide. results are… mixed note — i just really love reese. that's it :) and how dilfy does mr johnson look in that gif good lord

the nanny (series masterlist) | main masterlist

content warnings under the cut.

cw — age gap relationship (erik and the reader, established), vulgar college boys with no respect, busy-bodies who cannot mind their own beeswax, possessive!erik, pregnant!reader (not discussed in detail), sweet bby reese in peril :(

REESE JOHNSON has a problem.

It’s the sort of anxiety-trodden predicament that could’ve been soothed into nothingness had he spoken up sooner. He didn’t because he couldn’t. That was part of the problem. 

And now it’s too late—for solutions or comfort.

The teen, now a second-semester freshman at the University of Denver, had long since adjusted to the heightened scrutiny of his family in the early days of your relationship with his father. Everyone online had to throw in their two cents on the “illicit affair.” Even people who didn’t give a shit about hockey (evidenced by their inability to name a single team) felt they had a right to weasel their way in. While irritating and uncomfortable, the harsh reads didn’t bother him for too long because Reese knew the truth.

He also knew how unnecessarily ruthless people could be when they had a screen to hide behind. The son of a prominent figure in professional sports, Reese knew people stared at him through a very particular lens. It veered toward a rosy sheen every so often, but mostly it was smudged glass. Like a fish tank whose walls were muddy with the greasy impressions spectators left behind. Strangers offering commentary on his father’s life, and by extension his too, was part of the gig.

Frankly, the aftermath wasn’t much different than before. Only the subject matter changed. If it wasn’t thinly veiled insults about Erik’s waning career or his prior inability to keep a girlfriend, it was overly critical evaluations of Reese’s prowess or lack thereof and, unsurprisingly, comparisons between father and son. Without fail, the verbiage and tone implied competition, hinting that their healthy bond was only a bit of showmanship to hide the rocky resentment beneath.

This weekend is different. Sure, his teammates and friends had already gotten ample face-time with both of his parents, as well as his kid sister, but never all at once. Though they all did their best to coordinate, busy schedules rendered a revolving cheering section for Reese Johnson. 

This weekend—family weekend—will change that. By some stroke of luck (or a cruel twist of fate, the jury's still out on that one), everyone would be here… together. And that’s not to say he isn’t grateful for their effort or that he isn’t excited because he is. Reese is thrilled to share this new slice of life with his loved ones. It’s just that…

Reese knows how it looks when they venture out into the world.

Not that his dad is exactly old or even old-looking. In the same way you aren’t questionably young. Still, the age difference is noticeable. Before you were more than a nanny to the Johnsons (if you were ever just a nanny to begin with), it was easier for on-lookers to assess the dynamic, and still, albeit seldomly, they would drum up gossip. Things got remarkably more awkward, though, after his father finally plucked up the courage to propose, and increased tenfold once Erik had a gold band to match. It was as if the wedding ushered in the open season on Johnsons.

More times than he cared to count, Reese found himself cupping Josie’s ears to keep his little sister from hearing jeering crowds calling their dad an old pervert and you a shameless gold-digger. No one’s had to explain what a “sugar daddy” is (or why it's the first thing that auto-populates when you plug ‘Erik Johnson’ into Google), but the burden would’ve fallen on Reese if he hadn’t left her in the car while he ran in to grab a takeout order last summer.

But Erik’s eldest isn’t just worried about his family existing outside the warmth and safety of their insulated bubble. His sleepless nights are filled with fear. Fear of the pain and sadness he’ll undoubtedly feel about it all now that he sees you less as his friend and more as a maternal figure.

Reese’s always been protective; it's led to many a fight with his own father and, sometimes, his own sister. He’s the first to rush to your aid and the strongest force in your defense. The habit, however,  strengthened when his perspective shifted as swiftly as flipping a switch. 

Suddenly, you weren’t just his dad’s girlfriend or the person who made him pancakes in the morning. Or the savior who dropped off his English paper because he was in such a hurry he left it on the printer. You were a confidant, someone he called for when he was in a bad spot or when he wanted to see the latest mind-numbingly bad action flick. When he asked his date to prom, it was you he wanted help from. When Reese was sick, your home remedies worked better than anything store-bought or concocted by his dad. When practice ran over, he could count on you to wait up with his dinner hot and ready, the rest of the house already fast asleep. 

For the first time since he could remember, the Dad-shaped gap wasn’t devastating. It hurt like a bitch, but it was bearable because he had another adult—another parent—he could rely on. In every sense of the word, you were his mom.

And no one wants to hear disgusting lies about their mom.

However, Reese hasn’t called you that yet. At least, not to your face. In passing to his childhood friends or when referring to you with Josie, sure, and once or twice over the phone with Erik, but when he calls for you, he uses your first name like he's still your “nanny-kid.” But it's not for a lack of trying. It’s just that every time he thinks he’s worked up the nerve, the three letters catch in his throat like molasses, and he doesn’t know how to make it stop. 

Moments like those are the rare few he wishes he were Josie instead of himself. His jovial spitfire of a sister never missed a chance. During her lunch block with classmates, on the phone with their extended family, to strangers at Avs games, or on the sidewalk, the moniker slipped off Josie Johnson’s tongue like water down a slide. Their dad liked to poke fun, warning her to be careful so as not to wear it out from overuse.

Maybe it was the sister snuggled in your stomach that tightened his throat. The baby that could and would call you “Mom” with little effort beyond mastering the string of sound. The baby that would grow up not knowing you as anything besides her mother. It was a shade of ownership Reese felt hesitant to touch. No matter how desperately he yearned to.

The closest he’s come is penning in the title beneath your name on the lanyard that’ll hang from your neck for upcoming festivities. It was a small gesture. Still, it felt like too much and not enough all at once.

Reese is caught between wanting to honor the bond and all you’ve done with the accurate label and the fear of explicitly acknowledging it stirs in his chest. At least in this limbo of sorts, as cumbersome as it's become, Reese can have what he’s always wanted and keep you in his life without risking capsizing the boat with an awkward declaration. It’s an uneasy compromise, but it's the devil he knows. At least he knows what and when to feed it.

Reese hates that he’s letting his worries dictate his life. It's just… hard. No one tells kids how to navigate gaining a new parent or any of the baggage that unique situation carries. No one tells kids how to trust the position’s new occupant not to follow in their predecessor’s footsteps. In his heart, Reese knows you won’t run. But knowing that doesn’t shut down the nagging voice in the back of his mind. The one that drones on like a broken record, telling him that the burden of the word, knotted with his expectations, will be his family’s unraveling.

He couldn’t do that to Josie. To his dad. Or to you and the little sister you’re carrying. 

So, he’ll stomach it. For how long, Reese isn’t sure. But, for now, he’ll stand on the outskirts of the minefield, bidding time.

"Johnson! Your whole family's coming, right?" Kody, a junior defenseman from Fort Collins, yanks Reese from his downward spiral.

The last place he wants to be right now is out in the world. The last thing he needs is to cannonball himself back into the fishbowl. Even if the phantom audience never spoke to him, sometimes their heavy attention pushing into his back was enough to send Reese reeling.

But he made a promise to make more of an effort. To be more social, to have more fun—to take life a little less seriously. 

In his mind, if he was at school to learn and play hockey, there was little room to wiggle. Sure, Reese has had his fair share of adolescent recklessness and could lean toward boyish immaturity at times, but at his core, he was a rule-follower. A responsibility fiend with a penchant for playing the white knight. A stickler for structure. When given the choice between a teenage dream and a full-grown reality, the freshman chose the latter nine times out of ten. 

Reese Johnson’s moral compass weighs down his back pocket; he feels most at peace when things fit neatly into their proper boxes. Good and bad, black and white. One or the other, never both.

Stress and anxiety exacerbate his mental rigidity. And he’s been so fucking far from zen lately.

Reese would’ve broken the stupid promise if it’d been made to anyone besides you. So, when a few of the upperclassmen on the team appeared at his dorm with an invitation to get pizza, he begrudgingly accepted.

It isn’t so bad. Far from awful this far. Definitely not the worst way to spend an evening. His teammates were alright enough guys, and their girlfriends weren’t as callous as he’d expected. Reese just found it hard to connect with them, a situation that couldn’t be more different than his previous team experience. 

With his childhood friends, it all clicked. Fell into place without much real effort from any of them. There was an awkward period, but it ended within the first month and, honestly, had more to do with prepubescent cringe than anything.

An entire semester came and went, and Reese still felt like an outsider. When he looked out onto the ice, he saw a sea of strangers. They had different interests, different priorities. Inside jokes he wasn’t in on. Ones he wasn’t sure he wanted to be in on. Even their sense of decorum was foreign. He was well-acquainted with profanity and vulgar jibes, but Reese’s neck still occasionally heats at their… colorful chirps.

But maybe this will be a good step, Reese thinks to himself as he clears the nerves from his throat, making room for an answer to Kody’s question.

“Uh, yeah. My parents and my little sister,” he nods. The blip of quiet that follows coaxes out further details. “They’re going to skip the mixer-campout thing tomorrow night because of the baby, but they’ll be at the student fair and our scrimmage the next day.”

It feels odd to talk about his family. The words, somehow both intensely personal and casual at the same time, taste funny on his tongue. Reese’s stomach clenches, suddenly too aware that he’s never really had to do this before, the small talk. Back home, everyone knows everyone. There’s little to talk about by way of mundane facts because there’s no need; it would be incredibly redundant. His friends from home wouldn’t think to ask if his family was coming, nor would they nudge him to share their schedule. They’d just know.

Reese is aware that this is a silly thing to get worked up over, or even care about at all. He knows it’s part of the process. Part of making new friends is letting them know you. Telling them about yourself and your life, and all the people in your life. Especially the ones you love. Offering up bits of yourself in exchange for bits of them. Still, it's unsettling. Like he’s inviting a group of strangers to pass judgment on his unconventional family. 

No one’s said anything, but Reese already feels defensive. 

And rightly so, he’d soon find.

"That was quick."

Lane, a senior forward from some beach town in California, draws first blood. The quip seems innocuous, but the shit-eating grin undermines any plausible deniability. Even without his smug expression, they probably would’ve understood the implication lurking below the surface anyway. 

It isn’t the isolated comment that burns the tips of Reese’s ears. It’s the fact that he’s never spoken about the circumstances or the timeline of your relationship with his father. Reese hasn’t tried to hide anything, but he certainly hasn’t been forthcoming either. For all they knew, you could’ve been Josie’s biological mother. A long shot, but feasible enough if you didn't know any better. 

But somehow, this kid from out of state knew. Knew that, by “traditional” standards, it was a little soon for his parents to be welcoming a new life.

"Can you blame him? Hot young thing at your beck and call?” Kent, a sophomore from outside of Toronto, cuts in before Reese can. 

The lecherous glint in the winger’s tone makes his skin crawl. He doesn’t need to look up from his half-eaten slice of Hawaiian to know his mouth matches Lane’s.

“Fuck, dude. I would've knocked her up before she dragged me down the aisle. But, I've heard Viagra massacres your swimmers, so maybe that wasn’t in the cards for Ol’ Johnson.”

The group, crowded around a hodgepodge of tables, descends into a fit of snickers and profanity.

Reese contemplates leaving until a manicured hand gently squeezes his arm. Callahan Graham blinks up at him, a sweet smile tight on her rosy mouth. Callahan “Callie” Graham, Lane’s on-again-off-again girlfriend of three years. They’re “off” right now, if he’s remembering correctly. Not that it matters. She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t need to. Reese’s chin dips in gratitude.

From across the table, Callie’s roommate, Greer, pipes up over the commotion. “I hope I'm as cute as she is when I'm pregnant."

"Me too," Bree, one of the other girlfriends, sighs dreamily into her Diet Coke. "I couldn't believe how pretty she looked the last time she brought Josie to watch you play, Reese. If I was pregnant and holding down a two-kid fort by all by myself for most of the year, I know I'd look it. But I guess that’s just another perk of true love, isn’t it? Beauty in spite of it all.”

Kent snorts. “True love…right.”

Reese’s molars pinch together. Beneath the table, he picks at his nails. It hurts, but it's the distraction he needs right now.

"It's not like being a trophy wife is a real job anyway, so I'm sure that helps. Just lie back and spread those pretty—"

Reese’s fist finishes Lane’s sentence. As badly as he wants to put it through the douchebag’s face, he (thankfully) had the foresight to direct his anger downward. It was the succinct thwack! of his hand against the table that cut the lewd thought off prematurely. 

Reese is a striking juxtaposition; hardened jaw, sharp eyes, pinched mouth—silent. Only his chest moves. Shallowly, the accent on the exhalations.

For a moment, everything is still. It’s nice. While it lasts.

Kody is the one to crack the ill-fated stalemate. Trepidation peeking through the tiny cracks in his smooth confidence, he approaches like a hunter would an agitated deer, “Loosen up, Reese. We're just having fun. And, if anything, it's a compliment."

Reese openly glares, unconvinced.

Kody persists, deadset on being the one to subdue the beast. “Come on, even you have to admit your dad's locked down a fuckin’ tenner. A real win for Team Geriatric, I’d say. You should be proud of him, kid.”

This isn’t the first time someone’s prodded Reese about your physical appearance. He wasn’t blind. He knew you were attractive, but you’d never entered that part of his brain before. Ever. It's as if his subconscious preemptively locked you away in the same box as his dad and kid sister, or any other family member. But they weren’t asking if he thought you were pretty, not really.

The omnipresent “They” wanted to know if he thought you were attractive the way he thought Pedro Pascal or Olivia Rodrigo was attractive. They wanted to know if he felt the way his dad felt about you. They’re probing for a twisted scandal, a sick taboo love triangle. As if they weren’t already gorging themselves on the age difference or the boss/employee origin story. 

They wanted more. They always wanted more. They wanted to take one of the best parts about Reese’s life and fuck it up.

His teammates are proving themselves no different than the losers populating Twitter.

“She ever read to you a story before bed?” Lane again.

Then Kent, in quick succession. “Tuck you in nice and tight, and come running when you had a nightmare?”

There’s barely enough time between the two to squeeze in a meager answer. Though Reese surmises that’s by design. 

Innuendos are funnier when they have a single target in the audience to fly over. At least, to people with cheap senses of humor. Easy laughs are no accomplishment when they weaponize the feelings of an innocent bystander. Even in his anger, Reese wouldn’t have humored them with a doe-eyed reply of feigned ignorance. It wasn't earned. 

“If I got to spend all of high school being coddled by a rocket, I'd still be milking that shit. Maybe if you had, she would've fucked you instead of your dad."

Reese’s brow shrinks to a contemptuous pinch. It wouldn’t take much for him to be reacquainted with his dinner; it’s already halfway there. 

As he looks over at Kody, he loses what little hope he had that he’d find a place in this friend group. He hasn’t found his people yet, on the team or in general, but Reese is certain they’re not sitting around him tonight.

"How far along's your mom?" Callie seizes the conversation knowingly.

Briefly, her pale eyes slice pointedly in the direction of her… whatever Lane is to her, and then back to Reese, warmth restored.

"Uh, almost seven months? But Josie and I were both late, so Dad thinks we'll have to wait until the end of summer until she's here. Maybe they’ll share a birthday.”

"She?" one of the freshman girls squeals, clutching her companion’s forearm in excitement.

"Yeah," Reese says bashfully, head dipping to conceal the grin tugging the corners of his mouth. The meat of his cheeks ache with joy. “Two sisters."

"I give Johnson Sr. six months before he puts the moves on Nanny 2.0,” Lane’s whisper pierces the lukewarm calm that settled the table at his… Callie’s hand. 

She kicks his shin. Hard.

"You really think the old timer's game is that reliable?" Kent picks up the slack between open-mouth chews.

And Kody is not far behind, “He's decently famous and moderately rich. That was enough the first time, so why wouldn't it work for the second? Or, Junior, maybe this next one can be yours—if you pull your head out of your ass in time, that is."

Reese is done. Has met—no, exceeded his limit. He doesn’t have to sit here and take this. Yeah, it would be better for the locker-room culture if he stuck around, but a boost in morale wasn’t worth the decimation of his pride.

His goodbye is simple but effective. The deafening screeeeech! of his chair sliding back on the linoleum.

The sidewalk is blurry beneath his feet as he trudges back to safety. Whether it's the tears’ fault or how quickly he’s running, Reese can’t be sure. All he knows is that he needs to be as far away from them as possible.

He needs… he needs…

Reese’s fingers tremble defiantly while he fishes for his phone. He continues to fight with them, shoving his key into the door and pushing it open with the other as he scrolls through the call log. He slams the world out and hits the green icon.

“Reese? Are you okay?” your groggy, but no less sweet voice flits through his phone. 

Only two rings. 

Reese’s shoulders melt, comforted by the familiar warmth of what home sounds like. But his mouth remains frozen, stuck. 

You allow a few beats of silence to lapse, giving him ample space to answer if he is able and wants to before speaking again. “Do we need to come up tonight?”

He blinks, attempting to wash away the salty film over his eyes to read the clock above his desk. 1:37 AM, the angry red letters read. 

Guilt seeps into the mix of nasty emotions monopolizing his body. The acidic cocktail begins its ascent of his tender throat.

You shouldn’t be up right now. Not this late, not when his sister’s made you an insomniac for so much of your pregnancy. Not because someone was mean to him.

Reese feels like an asshole. An inconsiderate asshole bothering you with his problems in the middle of the night, knowing you’re already sacrificing your weekend for him.

“Fuck, I’m sorry for waking you and the baby, and probably Dad, too. I—It's nothing, really. It can wait. We can talk about it when it's not, y’know, the middle of the night.”

“Reese, no one sets off the alarm on my Bullshit Radar faster than you do. You wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t urgent. Talk to me, Reeses Pieces. You know I won’t be able to go back to sleep knowing you’re not alright.”

Reeses Pieces. The nickname, said with such casual affection, is like a magic wand.

“Uh— I-I, um… I had a, um, a r-really bad night… and I— and I just really needed to hear y-your voice, Mom.”

It slips out. Slips free. It just… slips into the mix with all the other words like it belongs there, too. And it does. It feels right. Reese feels a twinge of satisfaction. Regardless of the circumstances (and the night he’s had), it happened.

It finally happened.

The floor crumbles a little and gentle flames lick at Reese’s cheeks. His phone feels as though it's floating up and away from his clammy palm. He’s telling his fingers to tighten their grip, to hold on. They hesitate, and when they finally decide to obey, it only makes matters worse. He fumbles, nearly dropping his phone to the floor. The elephant easing down onto his chest is making it hard to focus, to think, to listen. 

“Reese? Did I lose you, bub?”

He blinks himself out of the daze. “Hmm? No, I—I, sorry. I’m here.”

“Oh, Reesey. I was just saying I was glad you called then. I mean, I always love it when you call. Even when it’s to tell me you sent your Airpods through the washing machine. Again.”

Reese barks out a phlegmy laugh.

Note to self: the rice hack only works the first time you let your electronics go for a swim.

Second note to self: this reaction—this non-reaction is better than any teary blubbering or callous rejection. Normalcy doesn’t require a reaction.

“You can always, always call me. Especially when you’re having a rough time. Even when it's the middle of the night. My main priority in life is making sure you’re safe and happy, you and JoJo. And the peanut sitting on my bladder. And the 6’4 blanket-hog snoring like a hacksaw beside me.”

“Maybe we should get Dad a sleep study coupon for his birthday,” Reese teases.

He feels better now. You, and finally being courageous enough to be vulnerable, was the medicine. Reese feels lighter than he has since you dropped him off in September.

You snort. “I’ll gladly pay to see your dad covered in wires. But, as much as I love laughing at his expense when he’s none-the-wiser, that's not why you called. Spill it.”

He does. The spiel tumbles out like an overdue avalanche, and Reese hardly realizes how quickly he’d been talking until he finishes with burning lungs. You listened patiently, letting him get it all out without interruption. You were good about that, knowing when someone needed room to rant more than they needed interjections with guidance or commentary. Reese usually fell in the first category, tonight being no exception.

“…I just don’t get why they found it so funny. Or why they even thought to say it in the first place. It's so...gross.”

He listens to you sigh and knows you’re doing it through your teeth. You’re probably massaging the waves of frustration between your eyebrows, nose scrunched. Josie calls it your ‘Dragon Face’ because of the way frustration contorts your features, but Reese adopted the term into his own lexicon because it almost always appeared when someone threatened the safety of your family. Like him, you’re generous with your protection. Fierce without delay. 

“Because you aren’t them, Reese. You’ve always had a strong sense of right and wrong, respectful and not. And you’re rarely swept up by group-think, if ever. Those things may feel like a curse right now, but I promise they’ll be superpowers one day.”

“I wish I could fast-forward to that day. This sucks,” he groans, tossing himself backward onto his twin bed.

“It does suck. Majorly. Still, even if you had time travel in your vast arsenal of powers, I’d tell you to stay put, Reese. Part of college is learning how to deal with immature people, building up a tolerance for their bullshit as you grow stronger and more confident in yourself.”

“But I’m not strong. I ran away crying like a little baby,” Reese croaks into his pillow. A warm saltiness tickles his eyelashes.

“You removed yourself from a bad situation, and you let yourself feel your feelings in the present tense. Those are both huge wins in my book,” you counter.

Your voice is louder now, stronger. Like coaxing Reese—coaxing your son out of a pit of self-pity breathed all the energy you lacked for the better part of a year back into you. The subtle shift whittles away some of his earlier guilt.

“It takes guts to do that, Reese. Most people spend years trying to learn what you did instinctively. Some people never learn to do it at all. And don’t tell anyone, but I’d put money on Kody, Lane, and Kent being some people.”

Reese snorts. “I know you’re right, but I think what’s actually bugging me is that you guys’ll be subjected to that shit this weekend. It’s one thing for them to say it to me, but it’s another to say it to you or in front of JoJo. I hate that people care so much about us and our business that they can’t keep their mouths shut. If you don’t feel comfortable coming now, I would totally understand. Fuck, if I were you, I’d never visit again. Maybe I could come home this weekend instead?”

“Reese, as sweet as that is, the only thing that’ll stop me from coming this weekend is early labor, not chauvinist pigs.”

“You shouldn’t even have to hear it, though. And besides, won’t smiting college kids stress the baby out?” Reese asks, worry tearing through his voice despite the lighter tone.

“Do you honestly think your dad will let them get more than a couple words out?” you ask through an airy chuckle.

For the second time tonight, someone else speaks before Reese can.

Erik’s voice is muffled and gravelly, but the protective bite—the very same one that took hold of Reese at dinner and you just moments ago—is loud, “They’ll keep their mouths shut if they want to keep whatever teeth they have left.”

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[oeldeservesthenorris]

Slay.

[crow-the-unknown]

i'd just like to point out how much i love one of my lock screens

mon chums :3

[ilyasorokinn]

home sweet home , erik johnson

note, this is dedicated to @comphyjost. i'm sad, you're sad, we're all sad. also, this fic is part of the "life with the johnsons" series. check out this masterlist for more. pair, erik johnson x reader summary, for the first time in 13 years, erik johnson is playing against the colorado avalanche. warnings, kids/children, pain word count, 1516 words

(gif not mine. by @mattymartin <3)

The entire flight back to Colorado, you felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest. It was more of an excited/nervous. You were excited to be back and see all your friends.

Out of all three kids, only one wanted to come back to Colorado with you. Zach was the only one out of the three who wanted to come back, so you decided to let him miss two days of school and fly with you to Colorado.

When the Landeskogs heard you were coming with Erik, they insisted on picking you up from the airport. You still had your house in Colorado, but

You made your way out of the airport, one hand holding your suitcase and the other holding Zach's hand. You easily spotted the Landeskog's car. When the kids saw each other, they ran to greet each other, leaving their parents in the dust.

Melissa did the same and ran over to you, wrapping you in a hug, "All feels right in the world." She laughed.

"I've missed you guys so much." You squeezed her before pulling away and hugging Gabe, "Missed you, too," You smiled.

"How's Buffalo treating you?"

"Cold, but it's good." You smiled, looking back over to your kids, who were talking a million miles a minute as if no time had passed, "It's not here."

"That's for sure." Melissa looped an arm through yours, leaving Gabe to deal with the bags, as she led you over to the car and began catching you up on everything.

You weren't in Colorado for very long, so you spent the day catching up with old friends and doing everything you missed and couldn't do in Buffalo. You had lunch at your favorite restaurant with a few of the other girls, you visited some old coworkers and by that time, it was time to get ready for the game.

When you got home, Erik was also home and getting ready for the game. You smiled at the scene in front of you. It felt like old times, "This feels familiar." You hummed.

"Doesn't it." He smiled, "It's weird, isn't it?"

"A little. I've only been here for a day and it feels strange." You admitted, wrapping your arms around his waist and leaning your head on his back, "You ready for tonight?"

"No." He admitted, "But it's a game, just like any other game." He shrugged with a sigh.

"It is, but it's not." You shook your head, spinning him around so he was facing it, "Have fun tonight, enjoy yourself." You told him, helping him tie his tie.

"I will." He nodded, a smile on his face as he watched you, "You have fun tonight, too." He nudged you.

"I will. In between all the crying and cheering." You joked, wrapping him in a hug, "I'm so proud of you, EJ."

"None of this would be possible without you." He hummed happily.

Later that night, walking back into Ball Arena, you were having an intense sense of deja vu. Everything was exactly the same but felt new at the same time.

You made your way down to the ice with the Landeskog family, who had made a sign for Erik, which made you cry the first time you saw it. After Zach saw it, he decided he wanted to make one too, so you quickly bought supplies and made a simple sign that read 'We love you, dad' and had his number on it.

You waited by the glass, Zach standing in front of you, bouncing on the balls of his feet, the Landeskog family on either side of you with their own signs.

Zach looked up at you, gesturing for you to bend down to his level, "I miss it here." Zach whispered.

You pulled away and smiled sadly, pressing a kiss to his head and hugging him, "I miss it here, too." You hummed, hugging him. You danced around with Zach, waiting for warmups to start.

A cameraman stopped beside you and Gabe, asking if you wanted to be on the jumbotron, and before you could respond, Zach spoke up before you, "Yes!" So, before you knew it, the four of you were on the jumbotron, showing off your signs.

You heard the crowd's reaction to seeing their captain, but then also to seeing Zach Johnson and Linnea Landeskog in the arena. you kept your kids' lives private but not a secret so people knew about them.

You looked around the Sabres side of the warmup ice and saw a good amount of people with signs for Erik, which warmed your heart and brought a few tears to your eyes, "Oh no, it's starting." Gabe teased.

When the guys skated out, you easily spotted Erik. There was a loud cheer that you knew would only get louder as the arena filled with more people. He skated a few laps, spotting you on the 3rd go-around.

He skated up to the ice with a few pucks. He handed one to Linnea through the photo hole and gave Lucas a few fistbumps, then handed one to Zach and two more to you, which you would pack in your suitcase and bring back to Lila and Ivy.

He gave Zach and fistbump and blew a few kisses before skating off. You wiped a few tears as you watched him skate off, "Don't cry." Melissa pulled you in for a hug.

"It's only going downhill from here." You laughed, knowing that the tribute video was coming up later. You stayed for all of the warmups, watching and marveling at all the people.

You made your way up to your seats, where a few of the other girls were sitting. They greeted you the same way Melissa had, with big hugs. You took your seat and took everything in. There was a buzz in the air. It felt like home.

A little through the first period, the tribute video played. The video had barely started, and you were already crying. The video started and played the videos of him getting drafts, his best goals, winning the cup, everything. You were surprised to see a clip of you and him in the montage.

It was a short clip of you running up to him after they had won the cup and let all the families on the ice. You found him in the sea of people and jumped into his arms, hugging him. The audio in the video was a little busy due to the commotion around you, but your voices were clear.

"You did it!" You said, your voice muffled due to you shoving your face into his neck, but the microphone he was wearing caught it.

"We did it, baby.” He corrected you, squeezing you tighter and pressing a kiss to your head before shoving his head in your neck.

The montage ended with a video of celly's and the interview he did with Emily Kaplan after winning the cup and talking about how he thought he would have to retire and how proud he was of the team.

After the 'Thank you Erik Johnson' picture flashed on the screen, he skated away from the bench and skated around, raising an appreciative hand to the crowd, a thankful and proud smile on his face as he looked out into the sea of people.

Your phone was out the entire time, taking a shaky video as your hands shook. You couldn't stop smiling and only cried more when the crowd started chanting, "EJ, EJ, EJ!"

After the game, you made your way down to the locker room with Zach, who had fallen asleep halfway through the third period. You could see his eyes closing and then shooting open every few seconds before he finally crashed and fell asleep, his head in your lap.

You carried him to the best of your ability down to the locker room and waited for Erik. A few of the Avs (7 guys) came down to the guest dressing room to talk to Erik, but when they saw you, they changed directions and made their way over to you.

Eventually, Erik came out, and when he did, they all cheered and clapped for him. He smiled, setting his stuff down and hugging every single one of them. He talked with them for a few minutes before they all said their goodbyes and made him promise he would get lunch with them before he left.

Once they were gone, it left you and Erik alone. You stared at him, an overwhelmed look on your face as you thought about the events of the night, "They're letting me stay at home tonight again."

"Good." You nodded, wanting to spend a night with him before he would be gone again. You wrapped your arms around him the best you could without jostling Zach too much, "I'm so proud of you." You whispered.

"I love you." He mumbled into your hair, pressing a kiss to your hair.

"I love you, too." You pulled away with a smile on your face.

-

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[leafsbabe]

Which sluts give off the DILF-iest vibes? Like, they'd take care of you, pay for everything, make sure you're happy, etc.

okay this is dads and daddies, fathers and men i'd like to make fathers

Erik Johnson

Sidney Crosby

Marc-André Fleury

Gabriel Landeskog

John Tavares

Matt Martin

bonus milf:

Claude Giroux

[tracfone]

The “glados/caroline is chell’s mom” theory sucks and the math does not add up, and let me tell you why:

(Preface: this is going to cover a LOT of spoilers from both games. I would advise turning back unless you’ve finished portal 2)

To start off—i do not believe that test subjects age in stasis. If chell was a child during the specific bring your daughter to work day event (which i do not think so, but I’ll elaborate later), i do not know how she would have the mental faculties to handle the events of either game without freaking out, as she would have aged from a child to an adult in the time she was in stasis, with no time for her to develop mentally. Also, the time between the first and second games is unknown, though it’s definitely….a while, more than just a few months. Had stasis not preserved her, she would either look significantly older or be like, a literal pile of bones. But no, she remains largely unchanged, save for the fact she looks much less haggard and more refreshed:

According to the portal wiki, the time between GLaDOS’s activation/takeover and the events of portal is 12 years; the year this event took place would have been in 1998:

You could also say like, “oh but but her dad could have brought his adult daughter to work!!” but this does not make sense, as…well, just look at this penmanship. You would have to assume chell has horrible handwriting, but this clearly looks like the writing of an elementary schooler:

…but. I also do believe that THE bring your daughter to work day event and the one chell attended as a child were two separate events—likely taking place in two separate DECADES. I don’t know how long it takes to fully extract someone’s brain into a personality core, but it was probably not instantaneous, so I think it’s safe to assume caroline is already dead, and could not have brought her; cave johnson is most definitely dead and his brain is in a robot. Chell refers to her father and cave as two separate people, in any case

EDIT: actually i looked at this image more clearly, and the fact that chell refers to cave at all as someone she's interacted with means that the event she attended must be in the 80's or earlier!!!

(Side note: there is a line in portal where glados mentions that “the aperture science bring your daughter to work day is the perfect time to have her tested”, which you may think is evidence for the theory, and, admittedly, does raise some questions about how cryosleep works in this universe, but for reasons I’ve already stated, I don’t think this means they are putting kids into stasis so they can test as adults, though they may be introduced to the concept at the time and encouraged to apply once they’re old enough. This could also potentially refer to getting “tested” to be uploaded into a robot body)

Here, glados mom truthers, i will throw you a bone for once—savor it, because I’m not done, but according to a reddit AMA thread circa ~2015, ellen mclain admits she thinks the theory is interesting:

…HOWEVER!!

I am going to take that bone back now. In a 2011 panel, when asked if glados really deleted caroline or not, she says (this is me paraphrasing but you can view the whole thing), “…there’s what ellen mclain thinks, and then theres what erik wolpaw thinks. You’ll have to ask him…”. She’s basically saying not to take what she says as hard canon, because what the director says ultimately is what matters. Also in the thread specifically she could have been acting cheeky—see how she refers to herself as….well, herself, and not as glados. She could mean either, i guess, but it really sounds like “chell is my (ellen mclain’s) daughter ;)”. I dont know! It ultimately doesn’t matter, either way. This is me just going off the tone of her other answers

In any case. Back to the main point of the post. At the end of portal 2, glados gives a very bittersweet speech. She tells chell she realized that she was all along her best friend. This….is not something a mother says to her child, unless you happen to be a very suffocating parent who maybe possibly parentifies their child. I know what you might be thinking, and like, I don’t mean to kick dirt all over your experience if your takeaway from this series was “escaping an abusive parent”; i can see why you interpret it this way. Tonally, though, this goodbye speech does not fit a farewell speech from a parent, in my opinion!!! The portal series also is very “show and not tell”—you kind of have to figure out through clues from cave johnson’s recordings what is happening to the employees, and how glados came to be; you aren’t explicitly told it, until glados says that “being caroline taught (her) a valuable lesson”. The story unfolds with a lot of environmental clues, and that’s part of what makes it so engaging, figuring out what’s going on by yourself, by assembling this puzzle in the debris of an abandoned facility. That said though, the single player ending would have been a great time to elaborate on the parent plot IF it were actually a parent plot. At the end of the first game, glados tells you what she did to all the scientists, finally giving you an answer to why the facility is so empty, aside from you and her—portal 2 could have taken the chance to make her say something like, “being caroline taught me a valuable lesson: i remembered who i am, and who you are, my child…I’m so sorry i put you through all this” or [insert whatever tooth-rottingly sweet line you want here]. But they didn’t!

(Side note I think “cara mia addio” is completely unreliable evidence no matter which side of this you’re on, due to the double meaning of the word “bambina” and the fact it is, allegedly, an improvised song. I will not be using it to prove anything, though, i do think we can assume the tone to be of a romantic fondness, if you match it up with the vein “want you gone” was written in)

EDIT 9/7/22: OKAY I JUST GOT THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN ON CARA MIA (thank you so so much @ossyflawol on Twitter for letting me use this excerpt). This is from the portal 2 official guide, the collector's edition. Take a look!:

This post is becoming long and so as not to risk this entire textwall becoming completely incoherent, I’ll cut to my final point: chell was already an adult by the time she was put into stasis

In lab rat, we see a photograph of chell in her profile. It doesn’t really look any different from how she looks in every single other drawing in the comic:

I’m going to go as far as to say that chell was employed at aperture before the takeover. During her boss battle in the first game, glados has this to say:

…this would seem to imply that chell was a part-timer or an intern pre-stasis. Glados lies a lot but I’m choosing to take what she’s saying here to heart

Remember when i said “cara mia addio” doesn’t hold much water, and can’t be used as reliable evidence for anything? Well now I’m the one who lied, because i need to bring it up again. This song is like, the holy grail to those who stand by the mom theory—they say glados is sending her child “away from science” and saving her on the bring your daughter to work day incident. But—please stay with me here, this is where it all falls apart—there is no conceivable way that chell was a “little girl” in 1998, we know FOR SURE she was an adult. To illustrate, let’s see what our old pal cave johnson has to say about this:

During the 1980’s aperture had completely phased out of using people they grabbed off the street (and offering them $60) for testing, and have switched over to solely using their employees. He also says directly after that they plan to discontinue human testing altogether—this evidently did not happen, as there are ten thousand humans in stasis ready for testing. At least, there’s not really any evidence to the contrary: whether glados put all the employees in stasis, or caroline did when she was still human, or whether it happened before cave’s death is ultimately irrelevant, though i doubt it was glados as her current form, because she killed off the remaining staff sans rattmann

EDIT 9/21/22: it is with a heavy heart that, after receiving some more timeline resources, that i am unfortunately going to write off the science project entirely. but this is okay. while the words on the project itself do imply that the time chell met cave johnson would have had to be before the 1990's (and i still think it should be interpreted that way, canon or no), the combine-overwatch portal/half-life wiki has this to say about the bring your daughter to work day incident:

"The untested AI of GLaDOS is activated for the first time as one of the planned activities on Aperture's first annual bring-your-daughter-to-work day. Upon being activated, she almost instantly becomes self-aware, takes control of the Enrichment Center, locks everyone inside, and floods the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin, but is halted when she is quickly fitted with a Morality Core. She then begins a permanent cycle of testing, aimed at beating Black Mesa in the race to develop functioning portal technology."

...so it was the first, as well as the last one. taking place in may of 200x (1998 was apparently retconned at some point, according to aperturescience.com). the entire timeline of these games is a horrible trainwreck, to be perfectly honest, so you can take this or leave this, but still, i wouldn't be swayed by allegations of chell being a child during this time. the forced testing initiative also began in 200x. not enough time could have elapsed for this project to have been made around the same time. it's impossible. this image of chell's science project is nothing more than a non-canon easter egg; it doesn't fit anywhere. therefore the point still stands, but i just thought i would be transparent about it if i know something. this entire post is kind of a living document at this point haha

In conclusion: CHELL WAS AN ADULT EMPLOYEE AT APERTURE LABORATORIES BY THE TIME OF THE BRING YOUR DAUGHTER TO WORK DAY INCIDENT. Caroline did not bring her to work that day, these two are completely unrelated

You might be crinkling your nose right now and thinking “buh buh buh but roryyy you only think this way because you’re a chelldos shipper!!!” and like, you’re right to an extent, but i also firmly believe that were the narrative a familial one, it would change the meaning of the work drastically; portal is about two women who face workplace abuse and inevitably end up working together to combat it. It’s about the horrors of capitalism and the lack of ethics in the scientific field; it’s about an intelligent woman forced into a computer and suppressed so hard because people don’t want to give her any power or autonomy, to the point that she’s become a completely different person. And, of course…it’s a sweet, sad story of a robot who, no matter if you interpret the nature of these feelings as romantic or not, becomes attached to a test subject and it’s incredibly painful, emotionally, and she can’t deal with it; her test subject is both her killer and, if you think about it, also her savior. Putting glados in the role of chell’s mom feels like it slims down her character development significantly. It’s not sweet, I don’t have “chills bro literal chills”, it doesn’t move me or make me want to cry, it does absolutely nothing for me! The self-discovery, the mutual trust built between her and chell in a crisis situation, it morphs into something completely different if this narrative turns into “ohhh she softens up because she learns she’s a mother uwuwuwuwuwuuuuuu happy famiwy teehee!!!” I am going to VOMIT

I should say that i don't care whether you ship them together or not. I just think this theory is ridiculous and wanted to point out how full of glaring holes it is. A lot of people like to parrot this theory as ABSOLUTE TRUTH when nothing has been confirmed on th matter, and with developer commentary that directly contradicts it (have you heard the good word of Johnathan Coulton?), it's hard to present it as such. Glados loves and cares about chell--this much is absolutely true, even if the reverse isn't canon, and there is no hard evidence to suggest any of the named characters are related by blood or by legal ties

Anyways, if you read all this: thank you. Here’s some supplemental reading you may or may not have already read that features points i purposefully didn’t touch on, because i wanted to focus on things that have been said less on this topic

[harlowhockeystick]

give me all the ej angst!!!! make me suffer <3

"you were the first one who actually loved me"

contains: angst, sadness, cuss words, age gap relationship (reader is 21) | dbf!erik johnson x fem!reader | j's 2k celly

based off of this ask

it had been a little over a week since erik left you high and dry, well, since you left him. a little over a week since he had freaked out over the fact that he might have gotten you pregnant, something that was within his control- something he knows now.

since then you've been staying secluded in your own room at your parents house, only coming out for meals or when you're asked. other than that, you've been staying in your room. you gave the excuse to your family that you had gotten sick, that you needed alone time to prepare for going back to school...anything that you think they would believe.

you kept checking your phone for any sign of erik. any text, call, any sort of notification- but there was nothing. not even an email. you felt stupid, you felt naive and used. you lived with him for a month at his ranch, helping him with all of the camps he ran, helping him around his ranch house. you were with him, also. he took you on dates, you shared parts of yourself with him that you never did with anyone else before.

you made love with him, he told you that you were the one he wanted. you were the one for him. you were the woman that he'd been dreaming of. so why would he do such a thing to you?

you had heard the doorbell, the dogs bark and your dad welcome somebody into the house loudly. you just drowned out the noise and turned up your tv. focusing on the show, distracting your brain from going to the events from the week prior.

soon you hear a knock at your bedroom door. you sighed, looking at the floor to see what shoes they were, trying to figure out who was on the other side. not being able to tell you sat up in bed and paused the show, "come in." you said quietly.

the door opened and erik stood on the other side. your stomach dropped and your heart started to race, you were frozen. you didn't know what to do or say. he stepped in and closed the door behind him. he took a look at you, and the room you were cooped up in, and it was clear that his actions took a toll on you. he wasn't stupid, be he did a stupid thing.

"can we talk?" he asked quietly, standing in front of your closed bedroom door. it felt extremely out of place, erik standing in your bedroom. your childhood bedroom, where you would have sleepovers with friends, then you would go on to have your first kiss, then sneak boys in and out, them climbing in and out of your window.

he was met with silence and he wasn't surprised. erik took a step closer, careful not to step on any clothes that were on the floor. he moved a bag and a pillow to sit down in a chair that was in the corner of your room.

"i told your dad about us." your gaze snapped forward toward him, moving from your blanket up to his eyes. his large, six foot four frame, looked so much smaller sitting in your bedroom chair. he looked almost like a little kid having to tell his mom that he got in trouble at school.

"why would you do that?" those were the first words he had heard you speak in over a week. they broke his heart. he broke his own heart, though, by doing what he did to you. making you feel bad for something that he had control over, making you feel used, making you feel like a little kid.

"i had to. your dad had been...confiding in me a little over the past couple days. we played golf two days ago, and he mentioned that you were moping around." erik explained, standing up from the chair and taking a couple steps toward your bed. his hands were in the pockets of his joggers, his frame still incredibly smaller than it normally was.

"i was worried about you, but i knew i couldn't just come over here. so, i told your dad. at first he was...upset. he had concerns, he was mad that it was hidden for so long," erik took a breath and then sat down on the edge of your bed. he looked at the carpet beneath his shoes, the rug that was by your night stand, the pair of dirty butterfly pajama's on the floor.

"but then i told him about how much i loved you. how i have done nothing but care for you over the past month, that you mean everything and more to me. i didn't tell him the exact reason why you were upset with me...but i told him that it was my fault that you're depressed."

erik looked over at you, his eyes meeting yours, and his heart sank. he hated seeing you sad, he hated seeing you this way; he hated knowing that he was the cause of your sadness.

"and i know, you're about to go back to school and i don't know what this means for you and me, but uh, you mean a lot to me. i'll do anything you ask of me."

"anything?" you responded, sitting up in your bed. he nodded his head, a slight stream of hope flowing through his veins. "then leave." his heart dropped again.

"you were the first one who actually loved me, erik. then you did what you did, and broke my heart right in front of me. you used me, i'm not meant to be used. so get out."

he thought it was best to not argue with you. he knows what you did, and he deserves every bit of bad looks and bad words that come out of your mouth toward him. he gets it.

so, he nods his head and walks out. makes small talk with your dad then heads to his home. you sit up and look out your window, watching him walk down the street toward his own house. he didn't look back to see if you were looking.

[equallyshaw]

something borrowed - nathan mackinnon (feat. erik johnson and ryan graves)

- based off the movie of the same name + my own plot changes

- Warnings: swearing. angst. ej is annoying in this, i apologize. just a character. also lili is a bimbo blonde in this, kinda like in the movie. no hate against any blondes, just mirroring the movie. there is a not so friendly joke, so please be advised. itll be in bold so you can skip over. ALSO, this movie is so chaotic and all over the place...this is all over the place and chaotic lol

- shoutout to @pucksalotguys for supporting this and giving me feedback :)

Word Count: 5.7k+ this is a long one, so much to upack.

────────────

tessa burns grew up around some of the greats in nova scotia, canada. aka, sid the kid, brad marchand, andrew cogliano and ryan graves to name a few. her older brothers played hockey ofcourse and so she was always around the rink at all hours. always had a chirp or two to throw out as she left the arena with them. despite growing up in nova scotia, she never met nathan mackinnon until they both went to shattuck st marys for highschool and hockey. they instantly connected, over hockey, nova scotia, bad breakups and the undying need to be the best. though, he was more hard core than she ever was; in her defense.

tessa was never alone growing up, despite have four brothers before her. she had her best friend ryan graves, grew up right down the block. always had a bad joke, always had a smart and witty comment to make. one that would rock you to your core. she also had her best friend liliana who was a blonde goddess. a 5'8 blonde, taller goddess. one that all the guys went after. one that swore she gave up toronto university just so they could both go to univeristy of british columbia. one that guilt tripped her left and right, but she was liliana. ofcourse, she couldn't 'drop' her. that was her girl, and there was no way she could do that to her closest confidant besides ryan. ryan saw how shitty liliana treated her, how liliana made sure she was the center of the attention. always. ryan always knew about tessa having the huge crush and ever lasting love for nathan, though he was lilianas. she had been for the past three years. so ryan watched as tessa looked on from the bench, what else could she do? so she wallowed in her own guilt, pity and anger of not saying anything before to nate. though it was too late, they were to bed wed in the middle of august before they would flee to california for a week then back to denver.

°• ♔ •°

tessa walked into the restaurant and her eyes went wide, taking in the 'surprise' 28th birthday part; liliana had thrown for her. it was june 24th right after the seaosn had ended, but on without a cup. not this year. tessa smiled fakely as lili cheered and wrapped her arms around her best friend, sister even. "honeybug happy birthday!" she screamed, using an old childhood nickname that should have never see the light of day; even when she was 6. "thanks lili." she responded cooly, hugging her friend back. some of her closest friends were here, well lili's too. wherever tessa went, lili did too and vice versa. she smiled at her brothers who came up, wrapping her in a family hug. "hi guys.." she smiled, one that didn't reach her eyes. "hey tess, mom and dad say sorry for not being here." the oldest, billy explained and she nodded. british columbia was more importnant it seemed.

"AYYYYY KIDDO!!" she heard the ever popular and familiar voice of brad marchand. she turned and grinned at the brother like man and hugged him. then she hugged his wife charlotte, "thankyou guys for coming!" she beamed, holding onto her left arm. "ofcourse! we wouldn't miss it for the world hun." his wife smiled and tessa nodded. "hey bobby orr!" she heard the captains voice from behind her, and tessa turned. she smiled widely for sidney, and hugged him. "hi sid." she mused, pulling away. "got you your fav." he mused, and handed her a cherry vodka. she smiled, thanking him. "where the hell is nate?" she heard him mutter under his breathe. she felt her heart rate pick up, covering it up with a small smile. "do you know where ryan is?" she questioned and speak of the devil, he walked up behind sid. he clasped a hand on sid's shoulder and they did a bro hug before sid sauntered off to find his best friend.

"nice surprise face." he smirked leaning in and she rolled her eyes. "dont tell her please!" she begged her best friend, brother even. he nodded smiling, "ofcourse not. that would ruin her, i think." he trailed off as they caught her making a scene. she saw nate behind her, smiling up at her as she said a joke and laughed loudly. oh, the ever enigma stealing the spotlight once again. "i don't think she's capable of NOT having the attention on her..even if it's your birthday. by the way, happy birthday sis." he smirked and she gave him a wink. "oh thankyou, thought you wouldn't say it for a sec." she grinned and he stuck out his tongue. "uh huh." he sighed, sipping his whiskey and looking back at lili. she rubbed her temple, before looking around. "love how its mainly her frineds." she muttered, feeling angry at herself. again, another birthday and she had no new friends. and everyyear, lili had more and more.

"hey, stop. dont feel bad for yourself. she's a lot to deal with." he mused, almost as if it was an insult. but tessa, knew exactly what he meant. "honeybug!" she heard the very immature nickname and rolled her eyes which ryan caught; as she turned around with a fake smile. "what?" she asked, with a fake giggle as lili rushed up to her with a tall guy. "i want you to meet somebody!" she grinned, pulling her towards the guy. "ej this is tessa. tessa this is erik johnson or ej as we call him." she smiled, as if she was cupid herself. "birthday gal!" he said loudly, causing lili to laugh loudly once again as he pulled tessa in for a bear hug. "ah hi." she said, unsure of what to do. she stood there, frozen. felt like she had been violted in a way, but it wasn't that deep she reminded herself. "you guys are so cute together!" was all lili said before waltzing off to give nate a kiss.

tessa sighed, looking around, trying to not ficate on ej himself. the very tall, and muscular man in front her of. with 3 front teeth missing, like a little kid. "how'd you lose your teeth?" she asked randomly and he laughed a hearty laugh. he explained in a unnceccesary 10 minute story before they were interrupted by nathan. she gave him a thankful smile that he could decode, and nodded. "i think cale is in the back over there." nate said through gritted teeth. ej nodded, giving the birthday gal a kiss on her cheek to which she instantly wiped off. ej left, and left a chuckling nate in his path. "you have a great poker face burnsy." he mused, sipping his beer. she looked at him, acting as if she didn't. he met her eye, before she could spit out words. he gave her a charming smile and laughed. "i would never tell lili." he joked, and tessa sighed looking down at her almost empty drink. "tess-" nate said but she cut him off. "its all good. im gonna go find ryan." she said without looking at him as she walked past him, and away.

minutes later, lili yelled over on the microphone to get her cute butt up there. "honeybug, baby, get your cute butt up here!" she joked, causing everybody to laugh. nate searched for her, and she appeared after ryan pushed her to the front. "dont keep cruelle waiting." he muttered for only her to hear. she sighed as lili smiled at her, dotingly. "honeybug. happy birthday. so thankful for you every day." she smiled, an erupture of 'aws' filled the room. tessa blushed, "tessa gosh, where do i begin?" she said, almost acting. she looked up at the ceiling, pretending to wipe away any tears. "phew, my botox is really holding up.." she trailed off joking causing some uncomfortable and comfortable laughter to erupt. ryan from next to her, hit her shoulder and she laughed.

"tessa, tess, burnsy honeybug, my platonic soulmate..gosh we've been through it all! from kindergarton when i pushed ryan down the slide for cutting us off on the playground.." she began as the photos began on the slideshow, showing the two and then the trio of chaos. "god, we were the trio of chaos. tessa, ryan and i. i don't know how ryan put up with us, to be honest. or how he still does." she joked. "she was with me through my first breakup in 6th grade..i was a mess! let me tell you. we watched the holiday and the he's just not that into you SO many times with lots of popcorn, oreos and icecream." she explained, showing some photos of their teenage years. "heres us at prom. ryan said 'fuck it' im taking you to prom honeybug. awe SO cute!" she said doing a little hop. "then miss burnsy went off to shattuck, fucking shattuck oh my god. if i have to hear about one more hockey player that to shattucks im gonna pull my hair out. o.m.g." she said laughing along with everybody else. "then fucking gravy went off to shattucks and so i was left alone." she began, something she never got over. something she held over them, and still guilt tripped them about. "i was not a hockey player, thankgod! i was all about makeup and clothes and cheerleading. and they weren't there to witness me win state but i witnessed them play for team canada. what assholes." lili had the audience in the palm of her hands. they were eating this up. though ryan, sid, her brothers and nate all cringed throughout.

"but anywho, after i notably declined ivy league university of toronto to go to university of BC with my honeybug..ryan went to some place called denver." she added the last part with everybody hollering now. though it wasn't a joke really, she was purely an idiot. “then we graduated, and then it was really real that we were gonna be seperated for real this time. miss barnsy got into john marshall law school in chicago, and i was incredibly sad when i started working in toronto. but only 512 miles away from one another." she paused, waving a small wave. "and after a year into living into chicago, you introduced me to the absolute love of my life." she pasued, blowing a kiss to nate. he smiled shyly, and looked down embarrassed a tad bit. "thanks for hiding him for so long hun." she dazzled the crowd. "and now were getting married, thanks to you!" she smiled widely. "bubba as much as i love you, tessa girl has been my one constant my whole life."

she turned towards tessa now, ""you're the the sister i've never had, you're sometimes the mother i often need, the reason why i can stumble so fearlessly into adventure is because she's always there. she's always there. i love you tessa. my forever honeybug." she beamed, and the crowd clapped. "bubba!" she said, out of the microphone and made her way towards nate. she wrapped his arms around the girl and kissed her head. tessa watched from afar, and ryan nudged her to look away. "lets get you another drink..after that." sid mused, pulling her towards the bar.

later on in the evening, it was now ryan, nate, lili and tessa left. ryan was holding lili as they all waited outside the restaurant now on the almost desolate street. "oh fuck- i forgot my bag!" lili said slurrely. nate and tessas head perked up and both went to say something, "take her to the hotel. we will be there soon." nate said before tessa could say for him to go back with her. the duo nodded and the other two made there way back inside. "was it the vintage chanel?" nate questioned and tessa laughed, a true and real hearty laugh. "nathan...aren't you the one who got it for her?" she said cocking an eyebrow as she held it up. nate sighed a relief, snatchingit from her. they looked at one another, and nate saw something twinkle. "lets get one more drink." he mused, pulling her down the street to the bar next door.

one drink turned into four more, and somehow someway; though they knew how it happened. they ended up in her small apartment there in toronto. for the first time in their entire relationships, they had acted on that part of their feelings. though, they thought it was more the alcohol than anything.

°• ♔ •°

ryan, sid, ej, their other friend maria, liliana and tessa found themselves in st john on the coast of newfoundland. the five of them walked into the lake house, that they were staying at for the next week. nate and lili walked hand in hand, lili doting on him that made ryan want to vomit. "bubba...please?" she asked with puppy eyes, begging him to take her shopping on the mainland. he sighed, instantly giving into her. lili clapped her hands together, and ej high fived her for some odd reason. "you go girl!" he hummed, sitting down in the living room sofa and propping his feet on the table. tessa stopped unable to move anymore, because of ej's hockey bag and suitcase that was in the way. she gave him a scowl, nobody noticing but ryan ofcourse. "ej..bags please." ryan spoke up and ej hopped up, muttering an apology. "its ok." she smiled, and simply stated. tessa made her way up the stairs, as ryan went towards the first floor room. she got to the second floor, and nate instantly grabbed her bags. "oh thanks." she hummed, following him to the bedroom next to theirs. "thanks." she smiled, and he nodded. very unsure of what to do. things were kinda awkward after they slept together, but she made him forget about it. made him, and he promised her. "yeah. no prob." he responded, as she sat down on the bed. his eyes flicked to her's from the doorway before lili came up and smiled.

"shopping?" she grinned, and then motioned towards nate with her eyes. tessa shook her head no, "im gonna take a nap." she said cooly and the two nodded. lili pulled nate away before he could say bye. tessa sighed, laying down on her back. "hey barnsy, wanna come swimming?" she heard the voice of ej and she perched herself onto her elbows. he took in her stance, and angle she saw him check her out. she shivered and sat up all the way. "im okay. thanks though." she responded and he nodded, giving her a toothy smile before he ran off. she shut her door, silently cursing herself. this was going to be a long trip.

°• ♔ •°

the following day, the group decided they were going to play volleyball. just unsure when. before they made there way to the beach, ryan pulled tessa into her bedroom. "spill." he demanded crossing his arms as she sat on the bed. she shrugged, "tell you what?" she asked. he gave her a blank stare, "i know what youre hiding honeybug." he stated and she gritted her teeth. "nothing im hiding nothing." she spat, standing up and walked over towards the double window french doors to the balcony. she instantly found nate's broad shoulders, strong back and dirty blonde hair of his. she stared at him, as lili spoke to him from the pool with ej. ej and her were splashing one another now, and she could tell that nate wanted to be anywhere but there. "that. you are hiding that, tessa." ryan said from behind her, freaking her out. she must of timed out, watching him. she shook her head, looking out towards the beach now. "no its true. i could tell at breakfast. im not an idiot." he said, checking his hip with hers. "well i could say the same about you and maria..." she mused coyly, before giggling as she walked out of the room. "oh god no, if i ever have to be at the same table especially at their wedding, im killing them before they leave for cali." ryan mused making tessa laugh even more. "you two totally slept together!" he whispered yelled and she whipped around to face him. "oh thats gold." he said chuckling. she shook her head as he nodded hers.

"im not an idiot, i know you did. now it makes sense." he said as a wave of realization washed over him. as he placed his hands behind his head, laying down on her bed he asked, "you totally did..more than once?" he asked like a child, he couldn't contain his excitement. she combed back her hair, trying to calm herself down. "oh my god, twice?" he asked, getting excited more. she looked at him through the bedroom mirror and he started to laugh. "oh my god." he said abruptly stopping, "lili, oh my god, she's gonna flip." he said seriously before laughing. "its not funny!" she said pulling a pillow towards her from the bed and hitting him. "this is rich barnsy!!!! you have to say something to nate, i see it eating you two up." he exclaimed and she shook her head, a wave of guilt and sadness washed over her pale face. "no, its already been decided that we aren't to speak of it ever again." she stated before walking out.

breakfast.

tessa sat down next to nate by accident, as she sat their reading the newspaper. he met her eyes, over the newspaper, when she looked at him. she whisked her eyesight away and focused on transporting the fruit to her plate. "listen..tess. we need to talk-" she cut him off with a glare. "no, we do not. we already have. we can't hurt lili more than we already have." she hurriedly said. he swallowed back what he was going to say, and nodded. "never. again." she said through gritted teeth before meeting his eyes. god, those blue eyes that transported her back to shattucks. god, how she loved them.. ej bolted outside with coffee, and threw down a iced coffee for the brunette. a black coffee for nate. "oh yay coffee's here!" lili said walking out with pancakes. ej sat across next to lili who sat across from tessa. tessa swallowed, as she could feel the intense stare ej was giving her. nate coughed, breaking ej's concentration and ej looked away. maria sat down next to ej and he smiled at her. "morning." he smirked and maria gave him a polite smile, before noticebly scooting her chair a few inches away. ryan finally walked out and sat down next to tessa. "gravy finally arrives, nice. we can begin." lili said in her fake polite voice, clearly annoyed with ryan. per usual. "sorry princess, forgot the world and time revolved around you. what a keeper nate." raya huffed, and lili squinted at him while nate rubbed his eyes.

“okay gravy, atleast i have some sort of schedule going. arent you a hockey player? it looks like you haven't done anything to combat your croissants and poutine eating." she spat, (trigger warning) softly grabbing her stomach. he flipped her off, causing ej to laugh loudly. nate looked at him with a intense stare, one tessa hadn't seen for a few years. it was almost, like his old self had flared for a hot second. before it cooled. "atleast i dont spend somebody else's hard earned money." ryan muttered, and lili picked that up. "well, atleast he has somebody to spend it on. dont ya honey?" she smiled a dazziling smile, placing a arm over nate's shoulder and kissing him. ryan pointed a finger in his mouth and faked gagged causing tessa to stifle a laugh. "besides, i always tell nate to help out tessa but she always says no." lili added, sipping her coffee. tessa set down her fork, "how many times do i have to tell you that i dont want or need his money." she explained once again. "i am comfortable, i dont need a lot. besides-" lili cut her off, "youre due for a promotion anyways!" she clasped her hands together and tessa shook her head.

"no, not what i was gonna say but thats true. i like the life i live, and i love the work i do lili. i dont need anybody's money, especially not his." she defended and they all sat up with the 'not his' part. ryan took in the quick look nate and tessa shared, one without words but words. "what i mean is that, he's my friend, that just feels weird." she added and they nodded. "besides, more for me!" lili hummed, kissing nate again. tessa picked up her fork and took a strong bite of her strawberry.

After.

the group were outside on the beach, hitting the volleyball to warm up. it was ej and tessa, lili and nate. while ryan and maria sat out. "ouuu! we should play a game!" lili beamed with mimosa in her hand. "yes!" ej said loudly, pointing at her. "how about everytime we get a point, one of us on the winning point tells a secret!" lili said with a grin, causing ej to grin wickledly and laugh. "no i dont-" "lets not -" nate and tessa said at the same time. "oh come on! itll be fun!" lili said pouting. "yeah, itll be fun!" ryan added, and tessa glared at him. "ej im in, youre out." ryan said and ej nodded, as they switched positions. "ryan!" she whispered yelled at him, and he smirked. "it has to come out eventually babe." he smiled and placed a quick kiss on her head. nate looked over, and saw what was going on. he knew ryan knew, even without ryan confirming.

“ry!" she said before lili hit the ball to him, him to nate and back to ryan. that happend over and over. ryan won the never ending sequence and chuckled, "oh dont i have a secret!!" he huffed, "tell it tell it!" ej said like a 5 year old. "dont i have a secret." he laughed, and tessa begged him with a pleading look. "no its fine, we don't need to play." nate said trying to get him to not say anyhting. "no this has to be said." ryan exclaimed and lili looked on with excitment, "yes please tell!" she beamed sipping more of her mimosa. "tessa- tessa and-" but he was cut off, as she made he way towards ej - as a distraction - and kissed him. she kissd him hard, pulling him in by his thin shirt. nate and ryan looked on with confusion while lili shrieked with excitemnt. "AHHHH! im cupid!!" she cheered as tessa pulled apart, and walked off. ryan and nate looked at tessa as she stomped away.

tessa continued walking down the beach for 20 minutes more, trying desperately to stop crying. nothing was working. she sniffled, as she sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees. what the fuck did she just do, she thought. ryan made his way over, after the rest of the group went back to the house. "youre an ass." she said boldly, standing up and walking past him. without allowing him to get a word in. "tes-" she cut him off. "how dare you jeoporadize my whole relationship with them? huh?! how you made me kiss ej!" she screamed at him. "i made you kiss him? that was all your doing hun. not mine. youre too scared to admit your true feelings for nate, im not an idiot. you love him. everything makes fucking sense. ever since i first met him when i visited you in minnesota, i saw the way you looked at him and how he looked at you. you fucking fool. you let her snatch him away. you let her win." he screamed.

"she wins everything! she has won everything that has come her way! she gets the guy she gets the house, the unending bank account, her fucking parents are god sends, she got into utoronto with a lower gpa then me!!!! liliana wins everything, that is just how it goes. she wins everything." she whispered the last part, as she fell apart. ryan walked up to her, but she pushed him away. "no." she sniffled as she paused, "dont. just dont. youve done enough." she sighed and walked back up to the house. already packed and ready to go.

°• ♔ •°

the following evening the group was down at a local pub, taking in the drinks and food. tessa sipped her cocktail as maria came up. "ryan will never like me, right?" she stated and tessa did a double take at her. maria already knew, "im sorry maria. he doesn't like you that way and probably wont ever." she said softly. maria nodded, " its fine." maria responded before walking off. that was how it will be with nate, tessa thought. she looked in the distance and saw nate and lili bickering about something, before she walked off to dance with ej. nate rolled his eyes and turned around to the bar and met tessa's stare. she swallowed, grabbing her bag and walking out. she walked outside to the rain, and she felt her arm being grabbed. "tessa dont go!" nate pleaded. she shook her head, as she was being drenched.

“then leave her. leave her, and be-" he cut her off. "be with you? i cant, tess. i just cant." he stated and she nodded. "becasue it wouldnt look good, huh? im not exactly a trophy wife and im fine with that. but....but atleast ill be happy. at some point." she mused, and turned around. "im sorry tess. i really am." he stated and she stopped middway. she turned around and hurried towards him. "i should of gone back for you." she began, "i should if let you walk me home that night in denver. i should have let you done a lot of things but i was scared. i was nervous. i was scared into thinking that you could possibly like me." she exclaimed. "i should have never told you to stay with her, then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation now." she stated, finishing her tangent. he shook his head, "you were always enough tess. always, there wasn't a moment where i thought otherwise." he began and she felt a beacon of hope flicker through her. "but im with her now." he stated and she felt her heart break even more. she sighed, he took in all her tears. she shook her head, "youre a coward, nathan. a coward." she stated promptly. "but ill be happy, ill be incredibly happy without you." she stated, before walking off. nate watched as she did, the rain coming down even harder which coincided with her mood. nate really watched as the love of his life walked away for him, for good.

°• ♔ •°

there was a knock at her apartment door around 2pm. she closed her book and walked towards it, opening it to nathan. she tried to close it, but he quickly stopped it. "what nate?" she demanded, placing a hand on her hip. she shook her head when he said nothing, "we broke up. i - i thought about what you said and it's true. i won't be happy with her, how i'd be happy with you." he began and she shook her head sniffiling. "no." she said very warily, her voice cracking. she saw the pleading on her face, and opened her door further to let him in. "i should have never let you walk home that night you introduced us tess. i know that, ive known that but i was too scared to break it off and see what people that follow me would say. you were right, i am a coward. ok? and im sorry that it took me over 10 years to figure it out. im sorry tess, there isn't anybody i'd ever want to be with but you. and then we, and then we slept together and i knew i was doomed. i knew her's and i's relationship was doomed." he finished and she looked at the ground. she wiped her tears, looking back up at him. "i want you, always and forever." he stated, with much emotion. "i - im sorry." she started, "i just dont know. she's my bestfriend." she exclaimed. "i see the way she treats you t." he stated, using a barely used nickname from him. one that dated back to a drunken state moment in highschool.

“i want to, trust me." she sighed and was about to say something else but somebody knocked at her door. "tessa honeybug!!!" they both heard from her door, and she pushed him to go hide. "go go!" she whispered and he disapeared. she opened the door and lili instantly walked in. "i broke up with him!" she stated, and tessa acted surprise. "really?" she questioned and lili nodded sitting down. "i uh, i knew he wasn't the one. after.." she trailed off, unsure how to tell her best friend that she'd been sneaking off with somebody.

"what changed?" tessa asked, nervously. "i met somebody!" she squeled, not bothering to contain her excitement. "i mean, more then met." she added, "well i knew this person, for awhile." she stated. "who?" tessa whispered. "ej." she mouthed. "ej!" she said excitedly. the fuck? "the toothless big foot?" tessa quipped. lili rolled her eyes, "yes him. and i know!" she said. "thats nathan's teammate! lil!" tessa said getting defensive of him. "i know i know but nothing happened until we went to st johns. thats it. nothing before." lili defended. tessa began to pace, "and im in love with him, and i want to be with him." lili stated standing up and beginning to walk out. "i know it'll take you a bit to come around, but please don't tell nate yet. we want to do it together."she said before pausing at the door. tessa's mouth was still open in shock, "oh and dont feel guilty about the kiss. it was humerous." she smirked before walking out. as soon as she did, tessa went to look for nate. somebody knocked on the door again and she opened it to lili. "is that nate's jacket?" she asked, smirking. "wait what? oh- he left it in my car when we got back into toronto." she lied but lili didn't buy it. "no, no. thats not true." she stated, before pushing the door open. "nate! i know youre in here, nate!" she yelled, as tessa shut the door. nate walked out into the living room.

"you asshole!" "my teammate?!" they yelled at one another, "my best friend!!!!" lili threw back at him. "my. teammate." he slithered back. "how could you?" lili, turned towards tessa. "no- no dont go after tess. go after me. she didn't initiate it." lili held her hand up, "stop, dont speak for her." lili spat. lili shook her head at nate, "you know, i hope youre both happy together. i really do." was all lili said before walking out.

"nate-" tessa said but nate shook his head, grabbed his coat and walked out.

°• ♔ •°

tessa mouthed "im sorry" to ryan and he flipped over his card that had her name on it, "me too." and she hugged him. tessa had just flown from toronto to newark to visit ryan. she hadn't seen or talked to him since june and it was now middle of october, hockey season. they drove back to his condo, and the two put her stuff in the guest room. a little while later she walked out into the kitchen and sat down at the counter, as he cooked dinner. "whats for dinner?" she questioned in french. he smiled a toothy smile, "fettuince alfredo." he mused back in french. tessa nodded, grabbing the water bottle he set down on the counter. "what are you doing here?" he asked leaning against it, trying to read her expression. she sighed, "well you know about lili and ej. well nathan was there and lili heard and then he heard her and then when i tried to talk to him, he walked out." she said placing her face in her hands. he saw the stress, anxiety and never faultering love with nate. "have you talked since then?" he asked and she shook her head, "nor lili?" and she shook her head. "im alone." she said before sobbing. he instantly came over and pulled her in for a hug. "shh." he whispered over and over again, trying to comfort her. "youve got me." he said kissing her head. she sniffled, and pulled away. "youve always had me, no matter what." he explained some more, trying to get her to understand.

she looked at him, "always will. and-" he paused laughing nervously. "this is shitty timing but i dont care. ive always been there watching you from the bench, watching lili have something that you didn't. and that hurt me, because i was there the whole time but-" she cut him off, "i never noticed because i wanted him." she finished and he nodded. "im in love with you, and i have been since we were kids." he added and she felt a whiplash of memories hit her. she went through the big and little moments with him, putting the pieces together. he always chose her over lili, and that's why he got so upset with her in st john. "ry-" he cut her off, putting his hands up in innocence. "i know, i know." he said biting the inside of his cheek. "i know ill never be nate. ill never be nate the great. even before, i knew i was never good enough." was all he said before moving back to the stove. tessa sat there and shut her eyes, feeling her emotions consumer her. but they didn't. ryan's phone started to blast, and he looked a the id and saw nate. he rolled his eyes, picking it up.

“hey nate." he stated, and tessa perked up. ryan looked at tessa, "yeah she's actually here. she came to visit." ryan stated with not emotion on his face. "for you, tessa girl." he said locking his phone. "look's like it's time for you to fly to denver...in two hours."

1 year skip.

tessa walked with nate's dry cleaning in her hand as she walked through downtown denver. it was now october, one of the last warm days, and tessa was spending it in the city; working. after everything went down, lili and ej got together as well as nate and tessa. tessa moved in as lili moved out and in with ej. tessa was walking down the street going towards where nate said he'd be for them to drive home together, after she spent the day in the city. she walked down mainstreet and saw a familiar blonde walk past. the both of them paused instantly, turning around to face one another. lili sized tessa up and tessa just smiled. "you look good." tessa said, ever the people pleaser. ever the lili pleaser. lili pushed some hair behind her shoulder and smiled. despite them being in denver, and having their boyfriends be teammates, they stayed away from one another. they didnt talk, and tessa honestly had more friends outside of the wags group. she was only friends with tracy, cales gf and andrew coglianos wife. she was fine with that. nate and ej moved on, but still kept a distance. lili smiled, tilting her head just a bit. "oh." was all she said, before realizing that tessa saw it. "i hope you two are happy." was all lili stated, nodding towards tessa's engagment ring. the two got engaged over the summer right before they came out to denver. tessa smiled with a somewhat of a glow radiating from her, "we are. i am." was all she said. lili nodded, "are you two?" tessa questioned. lili nodded, "yes. we uh, we eloped this summer." she smiled referencing her small and simple ring. so unlike lili, tessa thought. "i know what youre thinking. but i love it. ej seems like a lot and he is in a way, but he's truly simple. i wish; i hope that someday you and nate can see that and hopefully come around. or atleast nate." lili responded and tessa nodded. "me too." tessa smiled, before turning around and continued to walk down main street to the square, where nate was waiting.

nate saw tessa's midlength wavy hair before he saw the rest of her. she was in her usual workday outfit, he pixie black pants clinging to her curves and her white boyfriend shirt untucked. she beamed as soon as she saw him, and he mirrored her. "hi." he mused, wrapping an arm around her back and pecking her. "hi." she said back, as he took the dry cleaning from her along with her work bag, and took her hand in the other. "ready for dinner?" he questioned and she nodded, heels clipping the sidewalk as they went to meet sid who was in the city for a game. where they'd also be asking him if he wanted to be Nate’s best man.

tessa saw her life with nate, she always had despite lili. despite the years spent on the bench, she'd never change it because now she had him. and he had her. she regularly thinks about their first meeting as they plan their wedding, both remembering clearly the outfit she had on. a blue dress. something borrowed from the very beginning.

────────────

wasnt sure how to end but i hope you guys like it!!! despite it's being hella long, i hope you liked the drama :)

@fallinallincurls @erikjohnsons @hockeylvr59 @hockeyboysarehot @cale8makar @makarhughes @starshine-hockey-girl @slafgoalskybaby

[smileysvech]

MISCELLANEOUS PLAYERS MOODBOARD MASTERLIST

ANTHONY BEAUVILLIER

baking cookies

I know places (taylor's version)

midnight rain

street lightning

trip to the bahamas

wedding guest season ft. plus sized!reader

ERIK JOHNSON

glitch

law school student!ej

lover

shake it off (taylor's version)

space cowboy

you're on your own kid

JEREMY SWAYMAN

heartbreak can wait

messier

think later

xxl

JT COMPHER

attending a charity gala

bigger than the whole sky

cooking

feel

guys weekend camping trip with dad!jt

how to lose a guy in 10 days

lavender haze

paris

romeo and juliet

summer vacation

the good ones

wildest dreams (taylor's version)

TYSON JOST

80s/stranger things

baseball date

bigger than the whole sky

clean (taylor's version)

colors

comforting self-care day

cozy days at home with dad!tyson

dancing with our hands tied

daylight

dog dad!josty

fall movie marathon

greedy

I pray

karma

keep it gold

lady ft. girl dad!tyson

learning to play a new instrument

mary's song (oh my my my)

mr blue sky

roadtrip and picnic date

romantic valentine's day

sweet creature

sweet nothing

you are in love

[domesticmail]

did you take down ur nhl fics?!

nope! everything is still up i promise anon lol. for those who don't remember: i used to write under the username @kempe, and mostly wrote hockey fic. all my previous masterlists no longer work since i changed my user, so here's one for you now :)

please lmk if there's a link missing, or a fic you're trying to find but can't, i'm happy to help. enjoy your reading anon! <3

Brock Boeser

One of Them Girls

Am I Worthy? || One || Two ||

Erik Johnson

feeling insecure (halfway between blurb and fic)

Mat Barzal

The One Where You and Mat Become Parents

playing games blurb

everything's fine blurb

beautiful mornings blurb

baby's first hockey game

Mathew Tkachuk

dad!Matty

finding out you're pregnant + kid's first day at school

Pierre-Luc Dubois

yoga blurb

"if you keep kissing my face like that i'll have to retaliate" blurb

fly me to the moon blurb

pet names blurb

"what do you see in her?" blurb

Hero

Tito Beauvillier

unexpected consequences blurb

Vince Dunn

Happy New Year

[laurenairay]

Thank you to everyone who participated in my headcanon prompts night! I had a lot of fun with these as always, so I hope you all enjoyed them too! 💛 Requests are now closed, but I’ll definitely do this again before the end of the year!

Matthew Tkachuk – cheering up his gf after a hard day Casey Cizikas – Proposal Sidney Crosby – Date Night Cale Makar – Cale as a Dad Nathan MacKinnon – Nate as a boy dad Roope Hintz – Love Language Nolan Patrick – caring for his SO when they’re sick Erik Johnson – going to the zoo Esa Lindell – slow dancing in the kitchen Freddie Andersen - Freddie as a dad Sidney Crosby - loving husband to pregnant wife Matthew Tkachuk - Matthew as a dad JT Compher - adopting a puppy together Andrei Svechnikov - supporting a partner with autism Nathan MacKinnon - Love Language

[gayhughes]

Do you like mentally adopt players? Like are you ever like "that is my mom/dad/son?" Or even like "that is my crazy uncle" *cough cough* Erik Johnson *cough cough*

YA!!!!! mitch marner is like the older brother i never had <333

[kwebtv]

Ten Year Old Tom - HBO Max (season 1) / Max (season 2) - September 30, 2021 - Present

Animated Sitcom (20 episodes (40 segments) to date)

Running Time: 24-26 minutes (12 minutes /segment)

Voice Stars:

Steve Dildarian as Thomas "Tom" Jimmy Buffet Jose Cuervo

Byron Bowers as Nelson

Edi Patterson as Tom's Mom

Todd Glass as Principal

Ben Rodgers as Bus Driver

Erik Griffin as Coach

Gillian Jacobs as Dakota

John Malkovich as Mr. B

Matt Johnson as Announcer

Taylor Misiak as Yasmine

Eugene Cordero as Hector

George Wallace as Nelson’s Dad

Recurring:

David Duchovny as Ice Cream Man

Paul Rust as Randy

Jennifer Coolidge as Dakota's Mom

Jessica McKenna as Mrs. Band / various

Mitra Jouhari as Nurse Denise

Mark Proksch as Dakota's Dad

Artemis Pebdani as Brenda

[ilyasorokinn]

Erik Johnson as a dad 😍 like my god, the contrast between goofy, fun, dumb dad and super sweet, soft, protective dad 😍 I love it!!

SIT ON THE BENCH

“LIFE WITH THE JOHNSONS” SERIES MASTERLIST

tw: mentions of pregnancy, children

before you even had your kids, it was like you were raising a kid (in a funny way). erik was like an overgrown child. he never backed down on a dare, he always mixed different liquids together at a gala and would drink it, would always ask you to help him with his hair, and wanted you to lay out his outfits.

when you were pregnant, you were nervous. you were nervous that he would still be the overgrown child, but all your worry quickly flew out the window the moment he held zach.

he was the best father.

ivy and lila were sitting on the bench, feet swinging back and forth as they waited for them to get tied, "are you ready to skate?" you asked.

"yeah!" lila cheered but ivy seemed a bit more apprehensive.

you tied lila's skates while one of the other girls tied ivy's. you held both their hands as you walked them over to the ice. ivy held onto your leg.

"do you want to skate?" lila asked her younger sister.

ivy shook her head, gripping your leg a little tighter, "are you sure? i'll be with you the entire time?" she gripped your leg tighter, which you took as a no.

luckily andre skated over and distracted lila and skated away with her, "didn't you want to skate last night?" you bent down in front of her.

"scary, mommy." she threw her arms around your neck and hugged you tight.

"all right, we'll go sit on the bench." you carried her over to the bench and saw watched everyone else skate around the rink.

"what're you doing over here, bug?" erik skated over.

"scary, daddy." she repeated the same words she said to you.

"what's scary? falling? i fall all the time, you know that. you laugh at me." ivy laughed because it was true. whenever erik fell down on the ice, all three johnson children laughed.

"see? you're laughing at me right now." he pointed out in an overexaggerated voice made solely to make ivy laugh, "here, we'll make a deal. you skate around the rink once with me and mommy, and if you don't like it, we'll stop and get you some fruit snacks."

she looked back at you and you gave her an encouraging smile, "okay." she nodded, hopping off your lap and waddling like a penguin over to the entrance.

he helped her over the step and slipped his hands under her armpits, making sure she wouldn't slip. she whined as she slipped, "i got you, you're okay." he reassured, holding her tight. you skated beside them.

you went around the rink once, and when you got back to the entrance of the rink, ivy looked up at you, "so? what do you think, buggy?" erik asked.

"fun." she giggled.

"you had fun?" erik asked. she nodded her head.

"come on, let's go around again. by the end of today, you'll be skating laps around mommy." he joked, kissing her head and skating slowly with her.

taylor's dilf day!

[oeldeservesthenorris]

Inside the Avalanche’s Cup celebration: ‘All these champions skating around’

From The Athletic

TAMPA, Fla. — Standing on the ice at Amalie Arena, soaking in sweat and tears and the emotions that come with reaching hockey’s peak, Gabriel Landeskog harkened back to his draft day, back to when he was a clean-shaven kid with a full NHL career ahead of him. He told reporters at the time that he had a photo of Peter Forsberg and the 2001 Avalanche Stanley Cup team hanging from his bedroom wall in Stockholm. His goal — his dream — was to be in a picture like that one day.

On Sunday night, he got his wish.

After Colorado’s 2-1 victory in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, Landeskog looked around him, surveying his jubilant teammates.

“I’m just so happy to see all these champions skating around,” he said.

As captain, Landeskog was the first to hoist the Stanley Cup. And as much as he’d longed to touch the trophy, he couldn’t wait to give it away. He’d made a promise during harder times — before Cale Makar and Presidents’ Trophy contention — to teammate Erik Johnson, his close friend and the longest-tenured Avalanche player. Be ready, he had said. Because whatever day the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, he’d hand Johnson the trophy first.

“If that doesn’t give you motivation, I don’t know what does,” Johnson said. “Who would’ve thought? Five years ago, dead last in the NHL. Now we’re Stanley Cup champions.”

As the final horn sounded, Johnson and Nathan MacKinnon met, tackling each other away from the rest of the main group. They rolled around, embracing one another. Both were on the 2016-17 team that had one of the worst seasons of the NHL’s salary-cap era, logging only 48 points in the standings — more than 20 worse than the next-closest team. And in the post-win celebration, the remaining players from that roster — Landeskog, Johnson, MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and J.T. Compher — gathered for a picture near center ice, finally as victorious as could be.

“It’s special no matter how you win this thing,” Compher said. “But in the few years since that season, seeing all the work that’s gone in…”

MacKinnon, who scored the game-tying goal in the second period Sunday, found his parents, Graham and Kathy, as soon as they walked onto the ice. He cried in his dad’s arms. “I kind of get flashbacks to my whole childhood, my whole life,” said the center, who finished second to Makar in Conn Smythe Trophy voting. “It feels amazing.”

Nathan MacKinnon lifts the Stanley Cup. (Geoff Burke / USA Today)

Makar, the defenseman who moves the puck like a yo-yo and skates like a gazelle, completed a rare combo with the Norris Trophy and Conn Smythe this season. And he had help: His mom, Laura, had ditched her lucky outfit after the Avalanche’s Game 5 loss, and she ate kale salads ahead of games 4 and 6, both Colorado victories. A mother’s touch works wonders.

Laura wasn’t alone in attendance. Cale’s dad, Gary, was there, too, as well as Taylor, Cale’s younger brother and a 2021 Avalanche seventh-round draft pick.

“Growing up, playing mini-sticks when we were little kids, getting in fights, stuff like that,” Taylor said. “It’s everything he’s always wanted, what our family has wanted.”

Around the ice, players FaceTimed with loved ones who couldn’t make the trip. Andre Burakovsky shared a moment on the phone with his dad, Robert, and Bowen Byram grinned into a screen at his sister, Jamie. “I’ll drink your share of the beer,” their dad, Shawn, joked.

Johnson accidentally knocked Sportsnet contributor Ken Wiebe’s recorder out of his hands while reaching for a family member’s phone. He apologized as Wiebe jokingly called for a two-minute roughing penalty.

Darren Helm cried while holding his daughter. Makar stood arm-in-arm with Devon Toews, his defensive partner. Andrew Cogliano’s mom pulled Jack Johnson in for a hug. Erik Johnson said he needed a beer. (And there was plenty to come later in the evening.)

There was Nazem Kadri, his thumb still bandaged. He broke it in multiple places but found a way to turn a six-week recovery into two. Burakovsky battled through a broken ankle to play the first two Stanley Cup Final games but was finally kept out by a thumb injury. Cogliano, who has played 1,140 regular-season games, waiting and hoping for this moment, played with pins in his broken middle finger. Worth it?

“Fuckin’ right,” he said.

To reach their goal, the Avalanche had to knock off the two-time-defending Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. And after taking the lead in the second period, Colorado executed a clinical third, limiting Tampa Bay to only two shots on goal and generating a plethora of scoring chances the other way. With a clear at the final horn, the game ended. The Avalanche had won.

“We went out there and probably played one of the most perfect clinching third periods in the history of hockey,” Byram said.

Added goalie Darcy Kuemper, who finished the night with 22 saves: “That was some of the best hockey I’ve ever watched. To have the Cup on the line and come out like we did and not give up everything, it was a special effort.”

General manager Joe Sakic, the team’s architect, posed for pictures with his family, and he said hello to Toews’ parents, Werner and Tammy, who thanked him for taking on a chance on their son in a 2020 trade from the New York Islanders. It’s a deal Sakic would do a million times over: He paid only two second-round picks for Toews, and the defenseman has finished 11th and eighth in Norris Trophy voting the past two years, respectively.

“I don’t know if it’s really soaked in yet,” Werner said. “It’s incredible. It’s a hard road.”

A little before 2 a.m. Eastern, the Cup left the building in the hands of a jubilant Landeskog, whose mood was perhaps buoyed by a couple of drinks. A procession of teammates walked with him, including Josh Manson, carrying an NHL championship belt over his shoulder, and Makar with Oakley goggles — champagne protection — on his forehead. “Post that on Twitter!” Byram yelled, wearing an unbuttoned shirt and suit jacket while double-fisting champagne bottles. Landeskog showed off the trophy to the media members still at the rink working, with one message to share.

“We’re taking it back to Denver!”

Valeri Nichushkin and MacKinnon were among the last to leave. Nichushkin, dealing with a suspected foot injury, got a ride from a stadium worker on a flatbed dolly usually used for transporting crates, a bottle in his left hand. MacKinnon walked behind him, laughing at his teammate, victorious at last.

[rockhyrax]

Spectacle Radio ep.103 :: 07.20.23 :: 1 800 H E L P

Wertman Brothers - Something Evil (Sweet Sixteen, dir. Jim Sotos, 1983) Topology of Sirens (Jonathan Davies, 2021) Chu Ishikawa - Killing (Shinya Tsukamoto, 2018) Mats Claesson - Stella Polaris (Knut Erik Jensen, 1993) Deadly End (Graeme Whifler, 2005) Alex Zhang Hungtai - A (Mitchell Stafiej, 2017) Silent Madness (Simon Nuchtern, 1984) The Prey (Edwin Brown,1983) Josh Christensen - Lifeline (Bloodsick Psychosis, dir Bruce Longo, 2022) Francis Lai - Melissa (Bilitis, 1975) Frank Sparks - Five O’Clock World (Sweet Sixteen) Martin Rubenstein - Towing (Maura Smith, 1978) Beyond the Doors (Larry Buchanan, 1984) Roar (Tropical Malady, dir. Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, 2004) Whitney Johnson & Sarah Davachi (Topology of Sirens) Celia Hollander (Dad and Step Dad) Deadly End Silent Madness The Prey Tseng Chung-ching - Wolf Devil Woman (Ling Chang, 1982) … Renaldo and the Loaf - Melvyn’s Repose (Songs for Swinging Larvae, dir. Graeme Wifler, 1981) Cape of Bats - Witch Skin (Bloodsick Psychosis) The Evil Cat (Anthony A. White, 2008) Bad Brains - Don’t Need It (Love God, dir. Frank Grow, 1998) Ideal - Revolution (Red Love, dir. Rosa von Praunheim, 1982) Comet (Narodnaya, dir. Vadim Kostrov, 2019) Planningtorock - Doorway (Grape Steak, 2023) Renaldo and the Loaf - Lime Jelly Grass (Songs for Swinging Larvae) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Road to Nowhere, dir. Uli M. Schuppel, 1989) Jose Nieto - Theme from Intruso (Vincente Arada, 1993) Maran Gosov - Lampenfieber (Dilettantische Lieder, 1977) Shinichiro Ikebi - The Trip Dancing Fantasy - Dancing on a Summer Night with You (Twin Peaks Muzak version) The Prey … Topology of Sirens Alex Zhang Hungtai - A Beyond the Doors