#frozen four

[marino436]

my heart hurts 💔

I love both of these teams sm

[misschino]

Umich ig live | UMICH IS GOING TO THE FROZEN FOUR EVERYONE CHEERED | 31.3.2024

Sorry for the sound

[1-800-iluvhockey]

it's never over - l.hughes

----

2:22 seconds remained on the clock, the third period is headed to the end. heart is racing, nerves and stakes are too high. every michigan fan is on the edge of their seat; they know that their team can do this, y/n knows that luke can do it. holding onto her hand tightly, ellen watches with y/n as luke skates down the ice trying everything he can to block shots.

"cmon, I know you got it in you. michigan magic." y/n whispers, ellen's hand grips tighter when she sees the shot go in, the shot that luke barely missed. now it's 4-2, and only about 1:45 left. a commercial break pauses the game but doesn't break the tension on the ice.

"ellen---" y/n says in almost a whisper as they see luke skate back to the bench, trashcan in hand, head covered. "it's okay, he is doing it because he is nervous, probably didn't drink enough water -- that boy." ellen reassures y/n as she watches her boyfriend struggle through this third period.

"yeah, it is just hard watching it. nothing that I can do but sit here and ---" y/n's voice wavers and ellen brings her closer.

"it's okay honey, you're here and this is what matters. family matters, every hockey player wants their family in the stands to make them proud. luke needs you, he needs us here for him. you sitting here is doing more than enough for him. look." ellen calmed y/n as she got her attention back to the ice.

her boyfriend skates to the faceoff, looking up in the crowd for a split moment to try and find her. she waves, and he nods -- a short and sweet moment, just enough to know that she is there for him and that he knows she is right there when she needs him.

the music signals that the break is ending and the puck is to be in play, and all the emotions are back again.

----

luke knows how this goes, as he has been here before in this exact game spot, the year before. he knows the heartbreak, the struggle, the grief he is going to endure in the next few minutes when he hears that buzzer.

but two things were different this year; it was the end but it was truly the beginning --- because it is never over. y/n's sweet voice plays in his head as he gets ready to face off, he thinks of her singing this song in his car, praising (screaming obnoxiously to the classic rock) of her favorite jeff buckley song --- lover, you should've come over. he imagines her voice saying "it's never over" in his head, as he has done the whole game to keep him going.

in reality, after that buzzer hits -- his time at umich is over; but his hockey career is truly beginning. so yes, the grief and sadness he is probably going to endure after this whistle blows will be one of the hardest things of his life --- but it is different; he has his y/n to lean on. 

----

the whistle blows and the remaining seconds of the period play out; ports is out of the goal, and michigan does everything they can to stop quinnipiac from scoring an empty netter. a player steals the puck back which causes luke to go after him, eddy gets in net ready to play makeshift goalie. y/n's breath hitches as she knows that the quinnipiac player will score as luke hooks him and eddy has an opening.

boom.

5-2 quinnipiac, nail in the metaphorical hockey coffin. a sigh comes from jim as he sees luke talking with the ref, defeated. luke got a penalty for hooking, meaning quinnipiac was on a powerplay for the rest of the game. he looked defeated while entering the penalty box, which caused jim, ellen & y/n to look at each other, knowing how their boy was going to really feel.

"I made a bet with jack that he wouldn't break his stick this year -- let's hope I win." y/n kindheartedly joked as jim laughed. "that penalty might have set him off so I wouldn't be surprised if jack won the bet, y/n."

"I have faith that he won't beat himself up too badly this year, he has a pretty amazing girl to lean on and now a new career start. y/n?" ellen questions at the end, causing y/n to get confused. "yes?"

"you're ready for jersey right?" ellen asked as y/n looks at her like she has grown 3 heads.

"ellen, I am not going with him --- no way." she says questionably. her and luke talked about it but it was never a plan.

"y/n, you two have known each other for years, I know that you guys finally started dating last year -- but I know luke wants you in jersey." ellen tells her as jim agrees.

----

the buzzer goes off which causes the conversation to be dropped as everyone rises out of their seats. half of the arena is full of cheerful quinnipiac and minnesota fans -- while the others are in denial about their seasons ending.

making their way to the locker room, y/n gets a glimpse of dylan, mackie and luke on the ice. defeat, just a look of sadness and shock on their faces. dylan looks and sees y/n in the tunnel, and just shakes his head. y/n reciprocates it but in a more "you did your best" type of head nod.

y/n and some of the families watched from the tunnel as the boys shook hands with each other. the boys led themselves back to the locker room, feeling the pain of the national title slip from their fingers once again. one of the last players off of michigan's side of the ice was indeed, a deflated luke hughes.

----

walking with his head down, helmet in hand --- luke couldn't even see who was waiting for him as he headed to the locker room. he just went to her, he could smell her perfume from a mile away. she opened her arms to her as he buried his neck into her shoulder. he didn't care who saw, he never did. he just cried, letting out the defeat into y/n's shoulder.

"it's never over baby, you still got a whole career left. I am so proud of you." y/n whispered into his neck as he nodded. his arms held her tighter as the shock factor went away. he was done with college hockey.

college hockey brought him some of his best friends/teammates and gave him the courage to finally ask y/n out on a date. without college hockey, he wouldn't be who he was today, and that's why his emotions are even higher than he would have thought.

after a few minutes, he pulled away and got a good look at his girl. his beautiful girlfriend was wearing his favorite maize jersey, looking like a total angel in this moment. she looked like she cried a few minutes ago, giving her the extra glowy effect. he was too lucky to have the best family, girlfriend, and career he could have.

grabbing her hands, he put them on his shoulders. "y/n, will you come with me? to new jersey?" he asked her softly as he watched as her eyes pooled with tears. she turns to look behind her, to find his parents looking at her, ellen nods and then she turns to him.

"always, wherever you go --- I want to come with you. I love you." she says, kissing him softly.

"good, I was hoping you didn't say no." luke says as they walk over to his parents, hand in hand.

he wasn't okay, but he knew that the grief was temporary.

michigan would always be there for him. it is home, well, a home. home was really where y/n was. all he wanted was to be with her and play hockey, but those michigan memories will be with him; those were the forever type of memories. as the university of michigan, yost arena, hockey house, and all of those friends, teammates, and memories were going to last forever. he also couldn't forget about those michigan summers, those summers on the lake with his friends and family are going to be something he can't wait for in the off-season.

forever type of memories.

they would never go away; even if it was over.

[viennajoell]

Falling asleep on top of Luke Hughes!!

Luke and I had just gotten back from celebrating his first NHL game with some of the other players.

Jack went off into his room so did Luke to change while I stayed on the couch and put on a movie.

Luke comes out of his room wearing nothing but sweatpants.

“Jesus” I say checking him out. “Like what you see?” He smirks. “Mhm” I hum still staring. He plops down on the couch and pulls me into his lap. I’m now on top of him with my arms wrapped around his neck and he’s rubbing my back.

“I’m tired” I say against his neck. “Go to sleep I’m not going anywhere” he says before kissing my forehead. I hum contentedly and close my eyes.

[lafrexniere]

Luca Fantilli - Free Time

The goal horn thundered throughout Amalie Arena after this entire season of memories being made Michigan had lost to Quinnipiac and it was over. You saw the heartbreak of your hockey family, as the boys filed through the handshake line before heading back to their respective ends. You tried to keep your emotions pushed down to put on a smile for your boyfriend Luca, you knew how upset he would be after going this far his freshman year, especially with it being an overtime loss to end his season.

You waited with the other families to get to the locker room after the game ended, and people began to file out of the arena. You stood with the Fantillis and waited until you saw Adam walk out of the locker room. He showed a half smile with red eyes, then looked back down at the ground dropping his things and slowly walking to his parents. You watched the family hug, feeling a little awkward and bad for Adam, if he was like this you couldn’t imagine how Luca would be. The family hug broke apart, and Adam turned to face you. You opened your arms, for him to fall into,

“Thanks, Y/N,” he sniffled.

“Of course Adam, I’m sorry about the game,” you said as you let go. He wiped his eyes as you waited for Luca to come out of the locker room. You watched a few more players walk out then there he was, your sweet boy a mess. He like Adam walked over to the Fantillis hugging them with Adam joining in, then the two brothers hugged, making you start to get emotional. Luca looked up from Adam’s shoulder seeing you standing behind him. He let go of Adam and wiped his eyes as if he was embarrassed to be seen crying in front of you. He slowly approached you, clearing his throat.

“Come here, Lu,” you held out your arms. He fell into your arms sniffling, as the tears all started again. No embarrassment, no judgment, just being there for him through this tough time. You played with his hair as his head rested on your shoulder, and you rubbed his back with your other hand. Your hug broke apart after a moment, you kept your arm on his back, as he kept his arm around you. You walked down the hallway all the way to the exit of the arena where the Quinnipiac fans were waiting to taunt the team. You screamed back at those taunting and yelling at you as you got Luca to the bus. The boys threw their things underneath and got on,

“I’ll see you later babe,” Luca said. The door closed behind him, you waved goodbye as the bus pulled away. 

You got to the hotel and saw a few of the boys sitting in the lobby, Adam was one of them. He smiled and waved when he saw you,

“Room 307 Y/N,” he said, “we couldn’t get him to come down, so hopefully you can cheer him up.” You nodded and headed towards the elevator. On your trip up to the third floor, you thought about how to approach Luca. The doors slid open giving you less time to think. You walked down the hall to the room waiting outside the door for a minute, you were about to knock when the door opened.

“Oh hey Y/N,” he said.

“Going somewhere?” you asked.

“Not anymore, I was gonna look for Adam he wasn’t answering me but, now you’re here.” He smirked and grabbed your hand pulling you into the room, and shutting the door behind you. He let go of you and flopped on his bed. He let out a dramatic sigh, staring at the ceiling.

“Lu?” He turned his head to look at you. He gave you an annoyed look, then went back to staring at the ceiling.

“What babe?”

“I know you’re upset.” With that statement, he snapped up. He sat up and turned to face you,

“I’m just disappointed, you know for the older guys, it’s hard.” He patted the bed next to him, you sat down. 

“I know that’s not it, what’s on your mind?” Luca went silent. You put your hand on his hand that was resting on his thigh. He looked at you and locked his fingers with yours.

“I don’t know, it just went so fast Y/N, I wanted that winning feeling to last a little longer,” he gave a half smile and shrugged.

“Are you reading my mind? I was literally thinking that earlier,” you laughed.

“I guess we are feeling the same thing,”

“Yeah,” he rubbed his thumb on your hand. You kicked off your shoes and lied down back on the bed, sighing. He lied next to you, gazing into your eyes. You pulled his head onto your chest, playing with his hair. He closed his eyes and smiled,

“You know Lu, it’s not so bad,” he rolled over on his stomach to be lying on top of you. You continued playing with his hair as he looked at you.

“I guess, don’t know what’ll do with all my free time, hmm maybe video games with the boys all the time, as well as school work obviously,” he smirked.

“Woah bud, you forgetting anything”

“No I don’t think so,” he teased.

“Don’t play dumb Fantilli,” you rolled your eyes. He grinned, raising his eyebrows, then scooted closer to your face. He placed his hand on your cheek, locking his lips with yours. You wrapped your arms around his neck, trying to pull him closer which was impossible. You both gasped for air, as you ran out of breath, locking your lips once more, your hands moved from his neck to his back. You held him tightly as you broke apart once more. He opened his eyes smiling,

“Maybe I’ll make some time for that too,” he said, moving off your chest to the space on the bed next to you.

“Oh, you think?”

“Shut up,” he laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Okay okay, did I cheer you up though?” you asked grinning.

“I don’t know, I’m still a little upset,” he gave you puppy dog eyes.

“What am I gonna do with you babe?” you sighed. 

“This.” He pulled your face to him once again pressing his lips to yours, putting his other arm around you, and pulled you into his chest. You ruffled his hair, as the kiss deepened. 

“More time with my girl,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” you smiled.

________________________________________________

The past few posts have been my pictures and I'm almost out of pics to use which is making me sad

[slaykovsky]

at least he’s good at hockey (?)

[h0e4fictionalme-n]

That was his last game for UMich (I’m totally not sobbing over it) But the boys fought until the end and I’m so happy for them regardless 🫶🏽

[dadakinnskywalker]

In Sickness and In Health

POV: Mark Estapa taking care of a sick Y/N 

Between your chem lab and your physics exam, to say today had completely drained you would be an understatement. You had been up all night the night before studying and hadn’t even realized how strongly your head hurt until you finally laid down. You grabbed your phone to check the time, 3:37 pm. You had about 4 hours until your boyfriend's game. Enough time to take a nap and then get ready. You sent Mark a good luck text, changed your clothes, set your alarm for 6, and shut your eyes. You wake up not to your alarm, but to your boyfriend shaking you awake with a frantic look on his face. 

“Y/n, wake up” Mark says still shaking your shoulders trying to get you up 

“Mmhdjfdhjh” you mumble, still half asleep.

“Y/n.” He says more stubbornly

You finally roll over to face him standing over you only to realize two things. One, everything hurt. Two, it was 9:57 p.m. and you had slept through your boyfriend's game. 

“Oh shit Mark, I swear I set an alarm for 6.” You sit up as quickly as you can. “I must of slept right through it” you say, your voice raspier than usual. 

“Are you sick?” Mark asks hearing the tone of your voice. “I was worried when I didn’t see you during or after the game, I came right over.” 

“I-I don’t know, I didn’t feel great after class so I took a nap, but now I just feel like I got hit by a bus.” you say bringing your hands to your face. “I’m so sorry I missed your game, I know how much it means to you.” You feel the guilt flooding over you. 

“It’s not your fault y/n, your health means more to me, plus we won 5-2, so it wasn’t a close game.” he says with a smirk while taking his jacket off before coming to sit down next to you.

“I still feel bad.” You admit, but your throat is so sore it hurts to talk. 

“Don’t. I’m just glad you're okay.” He insists

You let out a cough and lay back down as Mark grabs you a Tylenol and water from your fridge. You can only focus on the pounding in your head as you wait for him to join you in bed. When he finally does, you snuggle up to him with your head on his chest as he turns on Netflix and starts playing the show you guys have been watching together. He gently runs one of his fingers through your hair and his other hand is wrapped around your waist holding you close. You try your best to stay awake but you fall asleep quickly to the sound of his heartbeat. 

You wake up to the feeling of nausea in your stomach. You quickly roll out of bed, careful not to wake Mark up, and run to the bathroom to throw up whatever contents were in your stomach. You sigh and put your head down against your arms on the toilet. Your body feels weak and your head feels like it's physically weighing you down. You can’t remember ever feeling this sick. Despite your efforts of being quiet, Mark appears at the doorway. 

“Shit baby, come here.” He says as he lowers himself on the floor behind you. He puts a wet rag on the back of your neck and you lean back against him as he begins to support your body weight.

“I’m sorry” you say weakly 

“Shhh you have nothing to be sorry for.” he lightly kisses the back of your head and brushes some loose strands of hair behind your ear. 

You fall asleep leaning back against him and he gently carries you back to bed. You don’t remember how you got there when you wake up in bed. Mark is quick to notice your sudden alertness and greets you with a kiss and chicken noodle soup.

“Good morning babe. Uh, I kinda made you breakfast.” he says awkwardly as he hands you the bowl of soup.

“Thank you Mark, for everything.” You can’t help but smile as you thank him.

“Of course y/n, I mean, you know what they say, in sickness and in health.” He says smugly with a grin on his face. 

You laugh as you begin to blow on your soup to cool it down before spending the rest of the morning cuddled up in bed watching his game from the night before. 

[ziggyplayedguitar96]

I did not need to see Will Smith, Gabe Perreault, and Ryan Leonard crying after Denver won

[cixrosie]

Ryan full on sobbing made my cry

[patosduck]

[hughes4386]

i love him, your honor

[hughesandkisses43]

Me 🤝 team 101, but well….this is it huh.

[wintfleur]

me because I love both teams sm and I know one of them is going to lose . . .

[viennajoell]

Comforting mark after the frozen four loss ! !

I watched the boys skate off the ice with defeat all over their faces.

Me and the other girlfriends head down to the tunnel to wait for the boys to come out.

Some of the boys started to come out so we all perked up anxiously waiting.

Dylan basically flung himself into my arms.

“It’s okay” I say rubbing his back. He lets out a couple sobs before his sister takes my place for me cause Mark comes out.

I open my arms for him. He buries his face in my shoulder silently crying. I rub his back up and down soothingly before he pulls away and looks at me. “I’m so proud of you” I say cupping his face. “We lost” he says through the tears. “I don’t care you guys tried that’s all the matters” I say wiping his tears with my thumbs. He starts to cry even more so I bring him into my arms again.

He eventually calms down and pulls away so he grab his stuff for we can leave.

The ride to the hotel Mark wouldn’t let me out of his arms. He didn’t say anything he just wanted to be close.

We make it to his room and he immediately goes to the bed. I set all of our stuff down before joining him. He flips us over so he was now laying on top of me. I play with his hair until we both fall asleep.

[starsandhughes]

adam fantilli no hesitation (like 0.02 hesitation) saying he’s the evermore era and 90% of the other guys said fearless/“early 2000s” is my favorite thing to happen today