#tyson barrie fanfiction

[miracleonice87]

Happy 2 years!! 🎉🎉🎉

Could you please do number 6 with Tyson Barrie? 💛

“I’ve never seen you this happy before.” with Tyson Barrie (feat. Nathan MacKinnon)

warnings: alcohol, swearing

_____

To the surprise of exactly no one, Nathan MacKinnon’s Stanley Cup party in Nova Scotia was a time.

Despite the fact that they, unfortunately, hadn’t won it together as they’d always spoken and dreamed about, your boyfriend Tyson was high on Nate’s invitation list when the time came for his celebration. He wanted to include Tyson in the festivities, not just as a former teammate who had spent time with so many of the Avs, but as one of his closest friends.

These days, you and Tyson were a package deal, and Nate made sure that you knew that you were not only invited but expected to attend. You were grateful for not just the invitation but for the incredibly warm welcome that followed, begun by Nate and followed up by his girlfriend, sister, parents, and more. Since you and Tyson had only been together for about six months and lived so far away, you were still meeting many of his friends for the first time, including Nate and his crew. The anticipation of it all left you feeling a little nervous on the long flight from Victoria, where Tyson spent most of his summer, to Halifax, but the integration was quick – you soon had a Bud Light in your hand, a MacKinnon shirt on your back, and your usual confident grin on your face. A grin that made Tyson grin ten times as hard when he looked at it… and he was always looking at it.

After the parade through Halifax and the visits throughout the community, it was time to get down. Nate brought the Cup back to his place on the lake in Cole Harbour, and those closest to him gathered there, too. Dinner, drinks and the DJ kept the evening lively, and soon, night fell over the picturesque scene, wrapping a slight chill around your shoulders despite the bonfire now burning brightly in front of you.

You found yourself leaning in closer and closer to Tyson on the outdoor sofa, and he ate up every moment of your nearness and affection, acknowledging nearly your every move with a small smile and a kiss to your forehead, your shoulder, your nose. But when you tucked your feet beneath his thigh and shivered a bit, he was quick to notice.

“What’s’a matter, you cold?” he said with his signature giggle.

You nodded with a bashful smile, feeling like a wimp. “I’m fine, though,” you lied.

Tyson shook his head. “No, no, no, don’t worry about it,” he assured, getting up. “I’ve got a sweater in the car – lemme go grab it. You need anything else? Drink? Snack?”

You shook your head. “Thanks, baby,” you said gratefully. He winked in response.

Though you didn’t realize it, Nate noticed. With a smirk he tried hard to hide, he turned to the group as he, too, rose to his feet.

“Time for another beer for me,” he announced. “Another round?” he asked, pointing to those around the large circle, a few of whom took him up on his offer. He nodded and ducked away across the yard after Tyson, catching up with him in long strides.

“I should make a joke about how you’re whipped,” Nate began, squeezing Tyson’s shoulder playfully, “but I find it pretty cute, actually.”

A chuckle bubbled from Tyson’s lips, and even in just the moonlight, Nate could see him flush.

“You’d be right if you did,” he said with a shrug that told Nate that he didn’t give a fuck, in the best possible way.

Nate laughed. “I’m pumped for you, man,” he said, clapping Tyson’s back. “Really, I am. I think she’s awesome. And honestly, I’ve never seen you this happy before.”

Tyson nodded slightly, glancing over his shoulder back at you, catching a glimpse of you sipping on your beer, eyes wide as Sid entranced you with yet another story.

“I don’t think I ever have been,” Tyson agreed, looking back to his friend. “She’s the most incredible person I’ve ever met.”

Nate studied his friend’s lovestruck expression knowingly. Somehow, even in the very midst of it, he knew this was a moment that the two of them would remember for a lifetime.

“You deserve it,” he said firmly, then shoved at Tyson’s arm. “Now go get her a sweatshirt before she contracts hypothermia.” Tyson cackled.

[laurenairay]

Make Me a Fool - T. Barrie

Summary: Sofia is tired of going on dates with the wrong guys - when a meet-cute with Tyson turns into only friendship, will she ever have anything more than that?

Word Count: 7.2k

Warnings: meet-cute, fluff, pining, friends to lovers, some bad language

A/N: this is my first OC in a published fic! (I have another in a WIP). Thank you to @danglesnipecelly​​ and @itsbadgerbadgermushroom​ for their encouragement in trying this 😘 and also tagging @texanstarslove​ and @broadstbroskis​ for just genuinely being sweethearts 💚

~~~

The Dating World hadn’t exactly been an easy ride for Sofia. No matter where she met guys – whether it was through dating apps, blind date recommendations from mutual friends, or even that cute guy she met at the coffee shop – every single one had turned out to be no good. They were all wrong for so many reasons, whether that was a playboy with multiple girls on the go, a guy who was only actually after sex, someone that was so self-centered that she barely got a word in edgeways, or there was simply no spark.

And it wasn’t like she didn’t want these dates to work – Sofia loved love. Her parents had met in high school and had been together happily in love ever since. Sure, she knew that was rare, but to her they were absolute couple goals. All she wanted was to love someone and be loved in return, just like her parents loved each other. Was that really so much to ask for?

Sofia certainly didn’t think so.

Another Friday night alone rolled around, and the only thing Sofia wanted was to get a pint of ice-cream and watch some sappy movies. Maybe while giving herself a pedicure and wearing a facemask. Who didn’t love a pamper night? So with her wavy brown hair piled on top of her head, blue eyes scrubbed free of make-up, and wearing her glasses instead of her usual contact lenses, Sofia headed out for her ice-cream. There were a fair few people in the grocery store when she arrived including one guy by the ice-cream freezer. Huh, a very cute guy. Luckily she was still wearing a bra. No, not the time. She was here for ice-cream, and ice-cream only.

As she walked up to him though, Sofia noticed that he seemed to be desperately looking for something – a specific flavour? – but with no luck. Yep, there was the desperate whimper of frustration. Time to step in; this was her territory.

“You okay there bud?” Sofia asked, frowning.

The guy flinched slightly but turned to face her with a frustrated expression. Oh wow he was beautiful – square jaw, gorgeous brown eyes, big broad shoulders, thick arms…and those curls! Wait, no, focus.

“No, I’m not. I just moved here for work and everything is shit and I just wanted my favourite flavour ice-cream but they don’t have it and I just…ugh!”

The guy trailed off, running a shaky hand through his messy curls. Oh wow, she hadn’t been expecting that. Nevertheless…

“Sorry, you didn’t need to know all that. It’s just been a really bad week,” he grimaced, trying to force a smile.

Poor guy. Well, she could definitely relate to comfort eating after a bad week, that was for sure. So Sofia smiled kindly back, shaking her head. “Please don’t apologise! We all have shitty weeks,”

The guy laughed, but it still sounded a little broken. Time to step up her game.

“Maybe I can suggest an alternative? I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a regular at this particular freezer,” she said, wearing a hopeful smile.

This seemed to crack a genuine smile. “Sure, be my guest,” he nodded, “I’m Tyson, by the way,”

Well it was a start. “I’m Sofia. Nice to meet you!”

Tyson smiled shyly at her, seeming a little hesitant.

Sofia dramatically rolled her head from side to side, stretched her arms over her head and bounced a few times on the spot as if warming up, earning an outright giggle from Tyson, making her grin at him. Much better.

“Okay, cherry vanilla sweetheart is okay, banana toffee treat is a weirdly interesting combination, I’m a huge fan of the fudgy chocolate brownie, and the caramel swirl is to die for. But my absolute favourite is the peanut butter chocolate heaven. If you like Reese’s chocolate, then you’ll love this one,” she listed, pointing to the different shelves.

What? Sofia took her ice-cream seriously – there was nothing wrong with that.

Tyson looked a little stunned, but that quickly turned into a brilliant smile, making Sofia’s breath catch in her throat. “The peanut butter chocolate one sounds pretty good actually. Exactly what I need,”

“Happy to help,” Sofia shrugged, trying to play it cool as she passed him a carton of it, as well as grabbing one for herself.

“Hey, um….”

Sofia looked up at Tyson as he trailed off, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. What?

“This is a kinda weird to ask, and I swear I’m not a creep, but I’m new in town and I really don’t know the best places in town to get ice-cream from so-”

“Would you like my number?” Sofia asked, trying not to giggle at his rambling, “for ice-cream related emergencies?”

Tyson’s smile seemed to dim slightly, but he nodded so Sofia figured that was what he wanted to ask her. That was what he wanted, right?

“Yeah, exactly,” he murmured, “I could really use a friend,”

Sofia hoped her smile hadn’t dimmed as well when she passed her phone to him. Friend. Why did that feel weird?

When he passed her phone back with his saved number in it, Sofia sent him a quick message of ‘Hey, it’s Sofia :)’, earning a smile from him as his phone lit up.

“I’ll see you again soon, ice-cream friend?” he asked, voice full of hope.

She couldn’t help but to giggle, nodding her agreement. “Yeah I’d like that Tyson,” she said, smiling at him.

If he wanted friendship, then she could and would give it to him.

*

The friendship that blossomed between Tyson and Sofia was genuine and sweet. He’d texted her the next morning, just a picture of the empty carton and a thumbs up – and she laughed as she sent back the exact same thing. And from there they were texting pretty much every day, Sofia getting to know exactly how sweet and kind and caring Tyson was. They started hanging out in person too, coffee runs and lunches and late-night dinners, to the point where they had a standing movie night (with ice-cream!) every Friday when Tyson didn’t have a game – and hadn’t that been a surprise, finding out that he played in the NHL. He had admitted that ice-cream wasn’t even remotely in his diet plan at all, but Sofia obviously wasn’t going to tell anyone – and besides, Tyson deserved a cheat treat every now and again, especially with how hard he was working and playing.

Over less than two months, Tyson quickly became one of her best friends. He was just so easy to talk to, and he knew exactly how to make her smile when she was having a bad day – not to mention how amazing his hugs were. And she knew that she was a huge support for him in his new city. She always answered the phone while he was on roadtrips so he could hear a friendly voice, never judging for anything. Sofia knew that she gave him a break from the intensity of his hockey life. She just…liked him, okay? He was such a good person, and really quite her ideal guy – but he only wanted and needed a friend, so that’s what she was determined to be for him. He deserved that much at least.

A few more months passed into their friendship, and it was a week into the New Year where their Fridays lined up perfectly, so Sofia was on her way over to Tyson’s with a couple of bottles of decent white wine. He was supplying the ice-cream this time, but damn it she needed the wine too. Yesterday night she went on her third date with a cute guy she’d been really hopeful about, but, well…

“He said what?” Tyson gasped, his jaw dropping.

“That he wanted to fool around before we went any further, and if I didn’t want to then he couldn’t see a future for us,” Sofia groaned.

“Please tell me you kicked his ass to the curb,” Tyson scowled.

“You’re damn right I did,” Sofia grumbled, taking a big gulp of her wine.

Tyson took a big gulp of wine in solidarity, staring at her with his big brown eyes wide with disbelief. But then Sofia couldn’t help but sigh.

“Why do my dates always end up going so badly? Is there something wrong with me?” Sofia asked, pouting.

Was there? Had she been the problem all along? But Tyson immediately shook his head.

“No, absolutely not,” he said firmly

As much as the conviction in his words made her heart skip a beat, she sighed again.

“Tyson…”

“Nope, I won’t have you talk about yourself like that,” Tyson interrupted, frowning at her, “These guys you try to date are the problem, not you. Ethan…Easton…Evan…whatever his name was, you are worth so much more than that. You’re kind, funny, smart, caring and beautiful, and any guy would be lucky to have you in their life,”

Any guy, huh? Sofia felt tears spring to her blue eyes, so she quickly wiped them away, but not before Tyson saw.

“Hey, c’mere,” he murmured, beckoning her towards him.

Sofia shuffled down the sofa willingly, curling into Tyson’s side and slumping her head against his chest. She immediately relaxed as his arm wound around her waist.

“It’s okay to be a romantic, yeah? It’s not a bad thing that you want to genuinely fall in love. I know I do,” Tyson said softly.

Of course he wanted to fall in love as well. Of course.

“Thanks Tys. I don’t know what I would do without you in my life,” Sofia sighed, squeezing his hand where it rested on her hip.

Tyson just hummed his agreement, pressing a kiss to her wavy hair, making Sofia smile sadly. Of all the guys she couldn’t have, why did Tyson have to be one of them? She couldn’t see Tyson’s sad smile in return though.

“Ice-cream and 10 Things I Hate About You?” Tyson asked.

“Yes please, I need Heath Ledger in my life,” Sofia nodded, sniffing as she sat upright.

Tyson laughed, wiping her cheeks dry of the tears she didn’t know had fallen. “There, still beautiful,”

Why did he have to make things so difficult?

*

Love was a funny thing. It could be fleeting, passing like a ship in the night, or even all-consuming, like a wildfire with no hope until it burned out on its own. The more time that Sofia spent with Tyson, the harder she fell for him, and the harder it was for her to pretend that she was okay just being friends. No matter how many first dates she went on, how many guys she hoped to move on from him with, nothing worked. The very first moment they’d met when she’d gone out of her way to make him laugh as she recommended him ice-cream, she knew she was done for. But how could she tell him how she felt? He’d literally asked for her phone number to be his new friend in a new city, nothing more. And there was no way she was ruining the incredible friendship that they’d built between them, not a chance. There was no way she could feel anything but empty if he was no longer in her life, and she couldn’t risk losing him. She wouldn’t.

But she didn’t know what to do.

What Sofia didn’t know was that Tyson felt exactly the same. The moment he’d met her, he was gone. She was beautiful – that much was obvious as soon as he saw her – sparkling blue eyes, that amazing wavy brown hair he always wanted to run his fingers through, and the warmest most genuine smile he’d ever seen. But it was her heart that dazzled him on that first night – instead of walking away from his crazy mid-breakdown frantic self, she’d offered to help him and made him laugh. She’d gone above and beyond to make him feel better, and he’d never met anyone like her before. Like an idiot though, he’d completely messed up asking her out on a date, and instead she’d given him her number to be his friend in this new city. Only his friend.

Hell, he knew she wasn’t interested in him romantically – she went on enough dates to show him that he didn’t stand a chance. How could he? He knew he was nowhere near good enough for her as a life partner. Even though he’d told Nate (wonderful oblivious emotionally-useless Nate) how hopeless he felt in their weekly phonecalls, Nate kept telling him to take a chance on Sofia, that Sofia would feel the same as him, Tyson knew Nate was wrong. But there was no way he could give up having her in his life, no matter how much it hurt him to be second to those stupid guys she dated. So he did his best to be the absolute best friend she could possibly need, no matter how hard it was.

Tyson only wished she could see him as more.

*

“Oh god, why did I drink so much?” Sofia groaned.

Tyson giggled as she slumped against his front door as he closed it, just about able to kick her heels off her feet. “I told you not to do shots with the Swedes, but you didn’t listen,”

Sofia whined, not wanting to admit that he was right. Even though he was right. Tyson smiled fondly at her, shaking his head as he kicked off his own shoes.

“I just wanted your teammates to like me,” she grumbled.

“They already do, sweetheart. They love you as much as I do,”

Tyson froze at the words that spilled from his lips, his heart skipping a beat at the smile that spread across her lips.

“Sweetheart?” Sofia grinned.

Tyson let out a shaky breath. The deep blush that spread across his face made Sofia laugh, a little giddiness rushing through her body along with the alcohol.

“Let’s get you some water,” Tyson grumbled.

Sofia just laughed again, skipping along behind him to the kitchen. It had been a last minute invite to drinks with his team this Friday night (she’d initially hoped to save the Friday night for a second date with a guy from Hinge that she had been hopeful about, but their first date on Tuesday had been so dry and dull), but Sofia had still had a brilliant time. She knew that Tyson knew that she had been disappointed with her date this week, so it had been really sweet of him to invite her out to cheer her up. And he’d even called her sweetheart! A girl could dream, right? Tyson kept his back to her as he reached for a glass in the cupboard and pulled out a jug of filtered water from the fridge, but Sofia just hopped up on the island counter to watch him, happily swinging her legs.

She’d had a great evening with one of her favourite people and now she was still hanging out with him – what more could she want?

“Here, why don’t you drink this while I get you something comfy to wear?” Tyson murmured, breaking her out of her thoughts as he pressed the cold glass of water into her hand.

“Thanks Tys,” she said, smiling, “you’re the best,”

He smiled shyly at her, still blushing slightly, before he left the room to get her some clothes. Sofia sipped on the water as she waited to Tyson to return, still swinging her legs with a smile on her face. She knew she probably shouldn’t have had so many shots tonight, but it had just been such a fun atmosphere. Sofia definitely wasn’t the only one drinking that much (at least, she wasn’t the guy that had to be carried out to an uber) – and she knew that Tyson was watching out for her, so she knew she was able to relax and just have fun. He made her feel safe, that she could just be herself without worrying, and tonight at the bar she’d had an amazing time.

The hangover tomorrow would be worth it.

“Okay, some comfy shorts and a tshirt for you,” Tyson announced, walking back in the room, dressed in sweatpants and an old tshirt now instead of his nice shirt and jeans.

“Ooh gimme,” Sofia grinned, hopping off the counter.

Tyson smiled fondly at her, taking the glass from her hand in exchange for the clothing. Then she frowned at him, earning a frown back. “What’s wrong?”

“The zipper on this dress always sticks and all the vodka will not help – will you unzip me?” Sofia asked, eyes wide and pleading.

Something inside her was telling her that this was a stupid idea, such a stupid thing to ask, but the remaining alcohol coursing through her veins drowned that out. But when Tyson just stood there in silence, his mouth slightly open and his eyes glazed, she felt a niggle of doubt start to creep in. What was she doing, asking him to unzip her? Stupid.

“Forget it, I’ll just stay in this dress,” Sofia mumbled.

“No!”

Sofia flinched at his shout, making him wince.

“I’ll unzip you, it’s fine,” Tyson insisted, “turn around?”

Sofia nodded, biting her lip as soon as her back was facing him, swallowing heavily as she heard him take a shaky breath. She jumped slightly as his fingers brushed the top of her spine, unable to stop her heart beating faster as he slowly unzipped her dress. What had she been thinking, asking him to unzip her? Now she’d never forget the feeling of him standing so close, the touch of his fingers on the small of her back, no matter that she was still a little tipsy.

“There, all done,” Tyson said, voice a little shaky, “I’ll go put a movie on, yeah?”

Sofia just nodded, watching in silence as he walked away. Damn it. She took a deep breath, letting her dress drop to the floor with her eyes briefly closed, before shaking herself out of it and quickly unhooking her bra, dropping that to the floor too. Once she’d pulled on his clothes over her panties (even his laundry detergent smelled amazing), she dumped her discarded clothes onto the kitchen counter and headed into the living room to join him. He’d turned off all but one floor lamp, leaving the room with a low glow, nice and cosy. Tyson looked up at her with a smile, settling her nerves. Whatever, it had just been a weird moment, that was all.

“Pretty Woman?” he suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” she nodded.

He lifted his arm, making her grin and sit down, snuggling into his side, kicking her legs up next to his on the ottoman.

“Comfy?” he murmured, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Yeah, press play,” she nodded, settling into his hold.

~

It can’t have been more than 30 minutes before Sofia felt a little heavier in his arms, so Tyson looked down – sure enough, Sofia was fast asleep in his arms. He swallowed heavily as he watched her peaceful face, mind flashing back to the kitchen moment earlier. Unzipping her dress had felt so intimate, especially when his fingers touched the small of her back, and now she was lying in his arms? How was his heart supposed to cope with this? This was everything he wanted…and it wasn’t real. It wasn’t going to last. But…surely it wasn’t a bad thing if he just let her continue sleeping? She looked so sweet, so cosy, and he didn’t want to disturb her. So instead, he just switched the movie off, tossing the remote onto the coffee table before snagging the blanket off the back of the sofa and gently throwing it over the two of them. Their legs were already kicked up on the ottoman after all; he could sleep like this. Luckily she’d already been wearing her glasses tonight rather than her contacts, so at least he didn’t have to worry about waking her up to take them out – he just gently pulled them off her face and tossed them to the other end of the sofa. No point in waking her up. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, relaxing back into the cushions, and closed his eyes.

He could pretend for one night, right?

~

Sofia blinked her eyes open slowly, groaning as she (blurrily) saw that it was 5am from the clock on the wall. They hadn’t even turned off the floor lamp…but the tv was off and there was a blanket over her. Over them. And Tyson had even taken off her glasses for her. Oh wow. She’d fallen asleep on Tyson, and he hadn’t moved her? She lifted her head from Tyson’s chest, looking at his sleeping face with a soft smile. He was so handsome, wasn’t he? Her heart ached a little at the gentle expression on his face, soft and kind even in sleep. Wow. And it was so nice being held in his arms, the two of them having shifted a little to curl around each other in their sleep, her arm over his waist with both of his around her. She could stay like this for a little longer, right? He was so warm, and it just felt so right…

She could pretend for one night, right?

*

The next few weeks following the sofa-sleepover weren’t quite as smooth and easy as Sofia had hoped. It’s not that it was particularly awkward, oh no, and there definitely wasn’t a bad vibe between her and Tyson…it was just different. Something felt different between them – she didn’t know if it was because she knew what it felt like to sleep wrapped up in his arms, or the fact that he had demonstrated (even more so than usual) just how kind and caring he truly was, but it was something. And she knew Tyson was the same, because every now and again he would get a strange expression on his face before he shook it off and carried on as usual with a smile.

She couldn’t put her finger on it, and it was frustrating as hell. It was almost like being in limbo, that weird stage that wasn’t quite friendship anymore, but definitely wasn’t anything more. And Sofia was getting so tired of it. She knew she was going to have to tell him sooner rather than later – things were too off for her not to. Because at this rate, she was just going to make herself devastatingly miserable, and she had more respect for herself than that. She wasn’t a fool, and she wasn’t going to start acting like one now.

It was going to have to be all or nothing. But damn if that wasn’t the scariest thing Sofia had ever felt. And she had put it off every time she’d seen him since that night, unable to speak the words that would change everything. It was just so hard, faced with the potential of losing him for good. She hadn’t even been on any dates at all over the past few weeks, unable to even think of anyone that wasn’t him, which was so outside of her usual self that even her colleagues had noticed.

Speaking of…

Tonight she was out at a bar with some of her friends from work. It wasn’t a big weekend booze-up, just a casual couple of drinks after work mid-week – Sofia was only planning on having a couple of glasses of wine as she was heading out to dinner with Tyson afterwards. All she knew was that he had a phone call scheduled for something to do with his work, so they’d decided to meet at the bar first before heading out for food. Sofia was all glammed up though, contact lenses in and blue eyes surrounded by a subtle smoky-eye, with a cute new little black lace dress hugging her curves. She’d gotten ready in the bathrooms at work with a couple of the other ladies she worked with (they were staying out for drinks after she left) so at least she wasn’t the only one. She felt beautiful, the confidence shining through in her smile, and she knew she’d turned heads as she walked into the bar with her colleagues.

Maybe tonight was the night. Hah. Maybe not.

“And another glass of Sauvignon Blanc for you, Sofia!”

Sofia smiled as her friend passed her the new wine glass, nodding her head in thanks. She needed to stay out of her thoughts, wary of being lost in them, especially as she was seeing Tyson tonight. Clear, focused and confident. That’s what she needed to be. Not pining and mopey. No, that wasn’t good at all.

“Oh, hey, isn’t that your boy?”

Your boy. Hah. If only.

She spun around to where her colleague was indicating, unable to stop the smile that spread over her lips as she saw Tyson. Waving to get his attention, Tyson did a dorky wave back before he walked over.

“Hey, sorry I’m a little late. You look amazing,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

She blushed slightly as she hugged him back, squeezing his waist even with her wine in her hand, before letting go.

“Thank you, you’re too sweet! And it’s really not a problem. I did just get a new glass of wine though,” she said, lifting it in indication.

Tyson laughed, shrugging. “I’ll get myself a beer too then, and we can head out after?”

“Sounds good to me!” she grinned.

Tyson grinned back, walking over to the bar in question. Sofia turned back to her colleagues, several of whom were grinning widely at her, but she just rolled her eyes, shaking her head and earning a few pouts.

“Don’t you dare say anything,” she warned.

A couple of them held up their hands in surrender, making her laugh, but another frowned over at something over Sofia’s shoulder.

“Maybe you should say something,” her friend said, jutting her chin in the direction of the bar.

Sofia turned around again, to see what the hell her friend was talking about, before she froze, her breath catching in her throat. Tyson was at the bar…talking with a pretty blonde woman. That, that didn’t mean anything, right? It wasn’t like they were…oh, there it was, the woman brushed her hand up against Tyson’s arm, giggling at something Tyson said while he smiled down at her. Of course a beautiful woman was flirting with him, and why wouldn’t he flirt back? It wasn’t like he had anything or anyone tying him down. It wasn’t like she had any claim to him herself. It wasn’t like Sofia had ever told him how she felt.

And now she was paying for it. Was she really too late? After all this time? Feeling her smile slip, Sofia turned her back on Tyson, forcing her smile back on her face for her colleagues, who were all just staring at her in pity.

“Please don’t,” she begged, taking a deep breath, “clearly I lost my chance,”

“He’s already walking back over, that was just flirting!” one of the girls insisted.

But Sofia just shook her head, taking a big gulp of wine. She was going to need it. That woman was beautiful, blonde and buxom just like every hockey WAG stereotype. And she was definitely not – so maybe this wake-up call was what she needed. No matter how much it hurt.

“Hey, sorry I took so long, service was slow,” Tyson said, apologising as he slipped back in next to her.

Lie. But it was okay, it wasn’t like she wasn’t aware.

“No worries. Cheers!” Sofia said, raising her glass.

Tyson frowned slightly at the fakeness of her smile, but lifted his pint glass to clink with hers anyway. Sofia just took another big gulp of wine.

After that, as hard as she tried, she couldn’t break herself out of that edge of sadness. The evening was tinged with it now, like an ice grip over her heart. Seeing him flirting with that woman was the kick up the ass that she needed – there was a reason that she and Tyson were just friends.

But even though she tried to keep up a happy façade, she knew that Tyson saw through it, even when they’d left and were eating in the restaurant he wanted to try. He would pause every now and again, a little confused expression on his face, which only broke Sofia’s heart a little more. He knew her so well, but he still didn’t know this. And now she didn’t even know if it was worth saying anything – she looked nothing like the woman he’d been flirting with, so what was the point?

Soon enough, their dinner was over (not that Sofia could say what she’d eaten or what they’d talked about, only that neither of them drank anything alcoholic), and Tyson was driving them home.

Oh, he was driving them to his apartment. Not what she’d expected, but she would roll with it. Nothing they hadn’t done several dozen times before. She could hold herself together a little longer.

“So, the food there was really nice. I’ll have to recommend it to some of the guys,” Tyson said, smiling as he unlocked the door.

“Definitely!” she nodded, shutting the door behind them, “although I’m pretty sure none of them will be going for dessert like we did,”

Tyson made a shushing noise, pressing her finger dramatically to his lips, making her laugh as they walked into the kitchen, sitting down on the stools at his kitchen island. Her laugh trailed off slightly as her heart clenched again, realising how comfortable and how right this felt between them. Why couldn’t this be easy? Why couldn’t things just be easy for her for once?

“Hey, what’s going on?”

She looked over to Tyson as his soft question brought her out of her thoughts.

“What do you mean?” she asked, forcing a smile onto her lips.

“There,” he frowned, “That. That fake smile, you’ve been doing it all night,”

Ouch.

“Have not,” she muttered.

“Yes, you have! You were fine when I first met you but as soon as I came back with a drink, something had changed. What’s wrong?”

Why did he have to be so perceptive? He was a hockey player for fuck’s sake. Why did he have to notice this now?

“It’s nothing Tys. I’m fine,” she said firmly.

Tyson rolled his eyes, making her purse her lips together. “I can tell when you’re lying, Sof. You’re clearly not fine. What happened? Was it something I said?”

“No, it wasn’t something you said,” she said sharply.

“Then what’s wrong? Because it’s clearly something!” he asked, his voice raising louder in frustration.

Ugh, for fuck’s sake.

“Why can’t you just drop it?” she snapped.

“Why won’t you just tell me?” he shot back.

Sofia groaned, throwing her head back. “Maybe it’s personal and maybe I don’t want to tell you,”

“What did I do to make you not trust me? We tell each other everything and now there’s something you can’t say? Won’t say? What the hell Sof-”

“I like you!”

Oh god.

Oh no.

As Sofia tried to breathe, there was one thing she noticed more than anything. Tyson was frozen, his mouth open in shock – and he hadn’t said a word. Sofia laughed at his silence, a little wet with imminent tears, a lot broken, and shook her head. What was a little more heartbreak, right? It’s not like she could take it back now.

“No, you know what? I’m pretty sure I love you. But that doesn’t matter, right? Because you haven’t said a damn thing a-and I knew this was going to be the reaction you gave me, which is exactly why I haven’t said anything before. So now you know – I have feelings for you, and…and you clearly don’t have feelings for me. I think I’m just going to go,”

She still hesitated though, as she pulled her phone out to order an uber. 2 minutes away. But Tyson opened and closed his mouth, eyes frantic but voice silent. And that was all she needed to know. Uber booked. Goodbye Tyson. Sofia left his apartment with a heavy heart, slamming the door closed behind her, tears prickling at her eyes as she ran to the elevator, but she pressed her lips together in an attempt to control herself. She’d told him how she felt, and he hadn’t returned her feelings. She’d put herself out there, all for nothing. And that’s all there is to it.

She could wait until she was home to cry.

If nothing else, she was lucky enough that by the time she reached the bottom of his apartment building, her uber had arrived, so she hurried in quietly, resting her head against the window. The driver seemed to realise that she wasn’t in the mood to chat and just put on some soft music, making her heart clench even more as her mind replayed the last 10 minutes.

She’d finally told Tyson how she felt.

Tyson hadn’t said anything.

Nothing at all.

And he definitely hadn’t tried to stop her leaving.

What more of an answer did she need?

*

Sofia woke up with a heavy heart, feeling like every part of her body was aching. She felt empty, completely drained, just as she feared she would if...no, when she lost Tyson. There was no going back now. There was nothing else she could do. Her friendship with Tyson was over, and fuck that hurt so much. He was such a big part of her life…what was she supposed to do without him?

She barely managed to shuffle from her bed to her kitchen before she started crying, hands shaky as she made her morning coffee. This was her own fault, she knew that. But that didn’t make it hurt any less. So she just let the tears fall, the pain of her heart breaking flooding through her body. It couldn’t have been more than 20 minutes until she finished her coffee, but it felt like hours, her head throbbing and her eyes stinging, her cheeks tacky with tears. She couldn’t carry on like this. She couldn’t waste her day, her life, like this. What was the point in that?

Sofia hated feeling pathetic, feeling weak, especially over a guy (even if that guy was Tyson), so she took a deep breath, wiping her cheeks dry with her fingers. “No more. Suck it up,” she muttered to herself.

Her breath shook as she left her coffee mug in the sink for later, her hands still shaking a little too, but she stood a little taller, trying to convince herself that everything was going to be okay. Because it had to be okay. It had to. There wasn’t any other option.

But as she went to walk towards the bathroom to take a shower, the door buzzer rang. What the hell?

“Who is it?”

“It’s me,”

Holy shit. Oh god. Tyson?!

“What are you doing here?” she asked shakily, her voice cracking.

“Please will you just buzz me up?”

Oh god. Should she? She couldn’t just leave him outside, right? This couldn’t be happening. What the hell was he doing here, after last night?

“Please Sof? We need to talk,”

Well, fuck.

She bit her lip, before pressing the buzzer, allowing the building’s front door to open. She knew she had less than minute before he would climb all the stairs and knock on her front door, so she quickly ran to her bedroom, scrubbing her face with a make-up wipe and running a brush through her hair. That was better than nothing. She whipped off her ratty old pyjamas and quickly pulled on some clean panties, some sweatpants and a baggy sweater, at least making herself look casual rather than like a slob.

Then she heard three knocks on the door. Damn it.

Sofia quickly shoved her glasses on her face, taking one last glance at herself in the mirror before walking as calmly as she could to open the front door. Sure enough, Tyson was standing there, looking the most nervous she’d ever seen him. Well, at least she wasn’t the only one feeling affected.

“Can I come in?” he asked softly.

She just nodded, letting him walk past her before shutting the door behind him. Sofia bit her bottom lip, wringing her hands together, before she took a deep breath. This was her home. She was in control here.

“So, you didn’t answer my question,” she said simply, “what are you doing here?”

Tyson let out a whoosh of breath, running a hand through his messy curls. He looked…well, he looked exhausted, if nothing else. Like he’d barely slept. Much like her. Wow. What was he…

“I came here to apologise, Sofia,” he finally admitted.

“Apologise? For what?” she asked, forcing a smile.

“Stop. Please stop,” Tyson said, his eyes full of sadness as he stared her down, “you know you don’t have to pretend with me,”

Well, fuck.

“What do you want me to say, Tys? I’m trying to patch together a broken heart here,” she said, her smile now wobbly. Damn it. She wasn’t going to cry again. She wasn’t!

“But I don’t want you to patch up a broken heart!” he blurted.

Sofia’s breath caught in her throat, her mouth going dry. What was he saying?

Tyson swallowed heavily, looking down at the ground before looking back at her, his eyes shiny but steady.

“You make me a fool, Sofia,” Tyson murmured, “every time I think I’ve got my head on straight, you spin me around. I always feel like such an idiot around you, always messing up. Just like last night, when I just froze up like a fucking statue instead of telling you how I feel. The thought of you not being in my life, even just overnight, is too much to bear. I can’t be without you,”

What?

He…what?

Tyson saw her hesitation, but didn’t dare stop talking now that he’d started. And Sofia couldn’t find any words to say at all. So Tyson licked his bottom lip nervously, before taking a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

“I should never have let you walk out of my front door last night. I should never have let you go without telling you that I love you too,”

Sofia whimpered, hand flying up to cover her mouth as tears filled her eyes. He loves her too? He…loves her? Tyson bit his bottom lip, stepping forward to rest his hands on her shoulders, desperate for the contact.

“Please tell me you still love me? Even though I acted like a fool? Even though I hurt you?” he said softly.

She immediately nodded, tears finally trickling down her cheeks. “Of course I still love you. These feelings aren’t just going to disappear overnight,”

Tyson smiled, his eyes a little watery too, but he leant down to press a gentle kiss to her forehead, making Sofia whimper again before slumping into his arms. He slid his hands from her shoulders to wrap his arms fully around her, her hands rising up his back to clutch at his t-shirt.

“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry,” Tyson whispered.

“It’s okay,” Sofia said, her voice muffled into his chest.

“No, it isn’t. You weren’t okay last night and I pushed you and pushed you, and then acted like a complete asshole,” Tyson muttered.

“You weren’t an asshole! I…I was so sad last night, before we left the bar for dinner. It killed me to see you flirting with her, that beautiful blonde woman while you ordered your drink,”

There. There it was.

But Tyson just huffed a laugh.

“That was nothing. She meant nothing. And now you know how I feel every time you went out on a date with one of those stupid guys,” Tyson mused, “you go out on so many dates!”

Sofia blushed slightly, thunking her head down on Tyson’s collarbone, making him laugh.

“I haven’t been out on any dates at all since we fell asleep on the sofa,” she grumbled.

“Yeah,” Tyson said, his voice much more serious now, “I noticed that. And it gave me hope,”

“Hope?” she asked softly, looking up at him.

“Hope that maybe it wasn’t just me that had feelings,” he explained, smiling.

Sofia smiled shyly back at him, before biting her bottom lip. Tyson noticed her hesitation, and unwrapped his arms from her, leaving one hand linked with hers. Sofia blushed slightly at the contact, as silly and simple as it was, making Tyson smile again.

“C’mon,” he urged, tugging her towards him lightly.

She followed Tyson through her own apartment until they reached the sofa in the living room, the two of them sitting down next to each other. Her heart beat a little faster as he turned to face her properly, but she tucked up her legs to face him too, her knees brushing his thighs. This felt different. This felt so different.

“Hey,” he murmured.

“Hey,” she laughed.

Sofia looked down at where there hands were still joined, Tyson just running his thumb over her knuckles in response. Why were they being so weird about this? No, she needed to know what he wanted. It couldn’t be any worse than last night, that was certain. She could do this.

“So what do you want here, Tys?” she asked softly.

Tyson smiled. She was so much braver than him, twice now. “I want to call you mine, Sofia. And I want you to call me yours,”

Sofia’s breath caught in her throat, but her lips spread into a brilliant smile. Yes. That was…that was everything she wanted. And he was just offering it to her on a silver platter? Really? Well, she wasn’t turning this done, no way in hell.

“I think I could get used to calling you my boyfriend,” she said, not hiding an ounce of her happiness.

Boyfriend. Wow.

Tyson’s smile spread into a grin, the giddiness spreading through his face, making her laugh. “I can’t wait to tell Nate that you’re finally my girlfriend,”

Sofia snorted. Of course Nate would come first before his family. “Is there going to be an I-told-you-so in there?” she mused. She wouldn’t put it past Nate to do so.

“Oh yeah he’s never going to let me live this down,” Tyson nodded, “especially with how I treated you last night,”

Hey, no.

“Water under the bridge, Tys. We’re sorted now, right?” she said firmly.

“Yeah, of course we are,” Tyson grinned, giving her hand a squeeze.

He was finally hers. And she was finally his. Fuck that felt so good.

“There is one thing though,” Tyson said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“Oh yeah?” she said, frowning.

What?

“Can I kiss you?” he asked shyly.

Her frown melted into a smile, earning a smile back. Instead of answering, Sofia leant her head up, Tyson meeting her in the middle to press their lips together in a gentle kiss. Oh wow. Oh wow oh wow oh wow. She pulled away with her lips tingling, Tyson looking just as dazed as her.

“Kiss me again?” Sofia asked breathlessly.

Tyson grinned.

[kniesyswrld]

Cars I Can See These NHLers Driving

[myhockeyworld87]

Take My Breath Away - Tyson Barrie

Word Count: 1,371

Requested: Yes

POV: Tyson’s

Warnings: None, this is just fluff

You’d met (Y/N) through mutual friends, those being Gabe and Mel. They were the same two people who encouraged you to ask her out. “Look, I’m just saying, you said you didn’t have a date for charity event coming up. You should just ask her to go with you.” Gabe suggested.

“Do you really think she would go with me?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t she?”

“Come on, it’s not like I’m really her type. I mean if I were Barbsy maybe.” Mark seemed more the type she went for than yourself if you were being honest.

“And you’re basing this off of what?” Gabe continued to question.

“Well, it was like two weeks ago when we were all out at the bar. Did you see her talking to that guy? He could’ve been Barberio’s double, I swear.” Gabe erupted in laughter. “Dude, it’s not that funny.” The guy was tall, dark and ruggedly handsome if you liked that sort.

Once he finally calmed down he answered you. “It is when you know that, that guy is her gay friend named Alex.”

“Wait what?”

“Yeah Mel, had to tell me. I had no clue either. He’s a really good guy, really funny; you’d like him.” Gabe added. “Just ask her to the gala and if you have a good time then you can ask her out on a date. What could it hurt?”

You followed Gabe's advice and asked her to accompany you; to your great surprise, she said yes. You found yourself at her door, picking her up that night. She looked stunning, standing there in a long blue gown, in fact, it took your breath away. It hugged her in all the right places, a low-cut back with a deep v-neck that revealed just the right amount of skin. “You look beautiful.” You softly breathed out.

“Thank you, you look pretty handsome yourself.” You headed off to the gala, a steady stream of conversation between the two of you the whole ride. It was easy and natural to be with her and you hoped the night would be this way as well.

As it turned out, it was. She was charming to all the patrons, carrying on light conversations with them. She even offered to take pictures of you and fans. The more time you spent with her, the longer you wanted it to be just the two of you. You were sharing a table with Mel and Gabe when the two women excused themselves to ‘powder’ their noses. “She’s perfect.” You told Gabe once they left. “Now what do I do?”

“Ask her out silly.” At the end of the night, you planned on just doing that.

You took her out on the dance floor, the two of you twirling around and swaying to the beat. She felt like heaven in your arms. “You’re a really good dancer,” she told you as you led her through the steps.

“It’s easy with you in my arms.” She blushed slightly and hid her face. “So you wouldn’t want to do this again, would you?”

“The dance or the gala?” She asked a wide grin on her face.

“Well…um…I meant actually going out on a date. You know maybe just the two of you sometime, instead of all these people.” It was your turn to be nervous.

“So just the two of us huh?”

“Well…yeah.”

“I think I’d like that…a lot.” You weren’t sure who's smile was wider, yours or (Y/N)’s. It was a week later that she was making you dinner at her place. You’d just got home from a road trip, where you had literally talked to her every day. You had planned on taking her out to a really nice restaurant, but she had caught on to you complaining the one night about not having a home-cooked meal. So when she suggested that she’d cook for you, you’d take her up on the offer.

“I was a little leery about what to cook since I don’t know your diet and all.” You always opted for healthy choices and the team chefs usually did a great job with that. “But then you mentioned you had a craving for pasta, so I thought I’d do a chicken parm with zucchini noodles.”

“Sounds and smells amazing, but you could’ve done regular pasta and not gone to all the trouble with the zucchini. I’m not that strict.”

“Oh, well now that I know that, I’ll make homemade noodles next time.”

“You make pasta?” (Y/N) was like a dream come true, beautiful and she cooked. It was almost as if she was made for you.

“Yeah, I really enjoy cooking and baking.” She baked too?

“I love to bake. My mom taught me to make the best lava cake.”

“Maybe we could make it together sometime.” Well, it was nice to know that she saw the two of you going out again, especially since the longer you knew her; the more you liked her.”

“I like that idea.” Dinner was amazing; (Y/N) was really a great cook.

The two of you hung out on the sofa drinking wine, talking, and laughing most of the night. Honestly, you couldn’t have asked for a more perfect date. It got late and you knew you should leave, but there was still one thing you were dying do. Your one arm had been casually draped across the back of the couch, near her neck, and set your wine glass down and then plucked hers out of her hands. You shifted your body closer to hers, then sifted your hands through her hair, drawing her near. She came willingly. You gave her a second to pull away but when she didn’t; you dropped your lips down to hers. The kiss was sweet and gentle, not really seeking anything, just learning each other. Slowly, she melted into your arms, opening slightly to allow you to deepen the kiss. She tasted of the wine you’d just had and you could get drunk on her taste alone. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of your neck, sending chills all over your body. Your hands skated down her back, then roamed up her sides. You weren’t sure how long the two of you kissed, but it could’ve gone on all night as far as you were concerned.

As you lay in bed that night, you remembered every detail of that kiss. You’d honestly never forget it, as long as you lived. Now two and half years later it was just one of many that you’d shared with (Y/N). She was your soulmate; you knew that as sure as you knew that you needed oxygen to breathe. It was one of the reasons you’d asked her to move to Toronto with you, when you were traded and why you had a ring hidden your closet, waiting for the perfect time to give it to her.

Right now, might not be that moment, but you did have it planned out for when you were in the Bahamas. Tonight was the night of the charity gala for the Maple Leafs, and it reminded you so much of that first night, that wasn’t exactly a date but wasn’t not one either. “Babe, are you ready yet?” You yelled from downstairs.

“Just finished putting on lipstick.” She shouted back, then descended the staircase. The gown she had on was reminiscent of the one she wore back in Colorado. You were momentarily speechless and she raised her eyebrow at you.

“You take my breath away, you know,” You laughed lightly. “Just like the song.” You then proceeded to sing the lyrics to the popular ballad. (Y/N) rolled her eyes.

“God, Tys you are so cheesy.”

“I know but you love me.” You pecked her lips, wanting to kiss her senseless but knew that would only lead to other things.

“Yes, I do. Now, come on Celine Dion, we better get going before we’re late.”

“Seriously, babe, you’re going to bring that up again.” She continually teased you about singing that song once. “It’s an iconic song.”

“Not when you sing it, hun.” She kissed you real quick then headed to the car. God, you loved this woman.  

[zackcollins]

check yes or no || tyson barrie

masterlist

Author’s Note: Here I am, back on my bullshit of writing fics that aren’t the Pierre-Luc Dubois one. I blame the radio for this. The song came on and I was like: “Excellent. I can write a fic for this.” I chose T-Bear because I was vibing the most for him. Though, the fic is only about half of the song because I couldn’t find a way to incorporate the other half into it. Rip me for that. GIF credit to @matbaerzal​ (I literally went “Hmm. I like this GIF.” And it was yours. So like. Now you must read this fic. It’s fate.)

Warnings: I think there’s one brief mention of anxiety. But I don’t think it’s anything terribly graphic. I’ll just warn about it to be safe. Other than that, I think it’s okay. Let me know if I need to add anything else though!

Word Count: 859 (short boi)

Based On/Inspiration: Check Yes or No by George Strait

Additional: I mention that the reader wears a pink dress, a bow, and has a ponytail. So, that would probably be more feminine. Other than that, there’s no mention of anything hinting at the gender of the reader. You can do with those pieces of information what you will but the song is about a girl. Hope that makes sense and hope you enjoy this!

In your freshman year of college, you had kissed Tyson on the campus shuttle on the second day of the school year. You were wearing a pink dress, a matching bow, and your hair was in a ponytail. You had told Tyson not to tell anyone that you had kissed him, too afraid of the consequences. Tyson, too shocked to do much else, agreed not to tell.

The next day, Tyson chased you around the playground next to the college like he normally did when you had free periods. You had run around the monkey bars, climbing all over them as you went. Tyson had fallen off once and scraped his knee but he had quickly brushed it off and chased you around the merry-go-round. When the two of you had gotten winded from chasing each other, Tyson had pushed you around the merry-go-round until you were seeing stars. The two of you were all laughs as you went back into the college for your next class.

Towards the end of that class, you had tapped Tyson on the shoulder to grab his attention. When Tyson looked up, you quickly slipped him a piece of paper. Unfortunately, the professor had seen your interaction and demanded to know what was written on the paper. You heard Tyson swallow nervously as he clicked his tongue.

“Do you love me,” Tyson read, pausing when a snicker rose in the lecture hall. When the snicker died down, Tyson continued reading. “Do you want to be my friend? If you want to, I think this is how love goes. Check yes or no.”

You felt your face and the tips of your ears burn red-hot as you looked down at your notebook. When you chanced a glance at Tyson, you noticed that his face was plastered red and he looked like he was ready to cry. You looked back down at your notebook and felt shame overcome you.

You spent the rest of your day awkwardly avoiding Tyson. The two of you were normally incredibly talkative and rambunctious with each other. Avoiding him was painful but it felt better than to face the problem in front of your friends.

As soon as your classes were over for the day, you quickly walked to the campus shuttle and hoped Tyson would still want to sit with you. You were incredibly relieved when he sat down beside you after making his way aboard the shuttle.

The two of you sat in awkward silence. Tyson grabbed your hands and soothed his thumbs across your wrists after a few moments. You relaxed a little at that, feeling some of your anxiety wash away. Tyson smiled softly.

“About the note...” Tyson started.

“Forget about it,” you interjected. “It was stupid.”

You felt shame well in your gut as you tried to duck your head out of view of Tyson’s eyes. Tyson took one of his hands and tilted your head back to look at him. You squeezed your eyes shut, afraid of what the expression on his face would be.

“Hey,” Tyson said, softly. “Look at me.”

You carefully opened your eyes. You released the nervous breath you had pent up when you saw the fond expression on Tyson’s face. Tyson smiled, running his thumb across your cheek. You sighed as you leaned into the touch. Tyson hummed as he squeezed your wrist with his other hand.

“I don’t have the paper anymore,” Tyson said, a smirk on his face. “But I’d check ‘yes’ if I did.”

A smile broke out across your face as you looked at Tyson. Tyson smiled back and pulled you in for a hug. You nuzzled your head into the crook of his neck as you hugged. Tyson ran his arms across your back and you hummed softly at the butterfly sensation that blossomed in your stomach.

When you pulled back, Tyson shifted his position on the seat so that he was shoulder to shoulder with you. You smiled and leaned your head onto his shoulder as you normally did for the ride home. Unlike the other times, Tyson slung his arm across your shoulders and placed a kiss to the top of your head. You hummed and nuzzled in closer to him.

“Does this make you my boyfriend,” you asked as you glanced up at Tyson the best you could.

Tyson hummed thoughtfully and placed another kiss to the top of your head. He squeezed you closer to him and you shifted slightly to get more comfortable.

After a brief moment of silence, Tyson kissed your forehead and mumbled “Forever and always.”

You felt the butterfly sensation blossom in your stomach again as you tilted your head to kiss Tyson’s cheek. Tyson hummed as he rested his head atop yours. A sense of peace washed over you as you sat there cuddled with Tyson. This felt perfect in every way. It was better than any scenario you had imagined in which you told Tyson you liked him.

It was better than all of those scenarios because this was real. Tyson was actually your boyfriend now. He had verbally checked ‘yes.’

Forever and always.

[tessisawriter]

My North Star (Tyson Barrie)

Request: 2. “You’re still the same guy I fell in love with” with Tyson Barrie

A/N: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s “It’s Nice To Have A Friend” (link here). I didn’t realize how much I needed to write something like this until I finished it; it was cathartic and I hope you all find it comforting, too.

Warnings: Four swear words, anxiety, mentions of sexism in the workplace

Word Count: 1.2k

You were sitting on the bed watching Netflix and trying to unwind from a rough day when you heard the door open.

“Y/N?” your boyfriend, Tyson called.

You jumped off the bed and flat-out ran through the hallway separating the bedroom from the living room. Tyson was putting his bag down when you tackled him in a massive hug, throwing your arms around his neck and nearly knocking him over.

“Whoa, there, that’s quite the welcome!” Tyson said, laughter ringing in his voice. “You seriously don’t know your own strength.”

“Fuck, I missed you so much, Ty,” you murmured into his neck, holding him tighter.

You felt the tension creep into his body before he pulled away to look at your face, although he still kept his hands on your waist. “Babe, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

You were about to respond that you were fine, but tears streamed down your cheeks instead.

“Babe, seriously, what’s going on?” As Tyson’s brown eyes scanned your face, his eyebrows knit together, which always happened when moderate worry turned into serious concern. “Did something happen at work today?”

“No. Well, not one incident in particular,” you said through sniffles. “It was just one thing after another. My boss totally shot down my branding idea in front of everyone at the meeting today—it was so fucking humiliating—then I had to deal with a shit ton of paperwork for one of the apartment closings, and it was just…” You finally took a deep breath after talking a million miles an hour. “It was such an overwhelming day.”

Tyson’s eyes had darkened at the mention of your boss, but now his tone matched them. “I’ve said it before and I will say it again: Smith is an ass.”

“Yeah, but what can I do about it? He’s so entrenched in the real estate group.” You hated sounding so defeated, but that was how you felt.

“All right, why don’t I make you a cup of tea and we can talk about it?” Tyson suggested.

“Okay.”

Tyson kept one arm around you as he led you into the kitchen, and he only let go when you were ensconced on one of the bar stools. He handed you the tissue box and you tried to smile at him gratefully, but it looked more like a grimace.

“Do you have a headache?” he asked after you blew your nose.

“Yeah, it’s from all the crying.”

“Let me go get your nose drops, I’ll be right back.”

He walked out of the kitchen and returned within 30 seconds with your drops in his hand. “Here you go, sweetheart.” He handed you the drops and kissed your forehead.

“Thanks, babe.” You managed a real smile this time; it wasn’t big, but it was something.

You watched as Tyson pulled out your favorite mug and put some water in it before placing the mug in the microwave. While the water heated up, he pulled a peppermint tea bag out of the cabinet. This was one of the things you loved most about your boyfriend of nearly three years: he went about things in such a calm manner that you couldn’t help but relax, no matter how shitty you felt. He made you feel grounded.

The microwave started beeping and Tyson took the mug out, making sure to grab the handle and not the mug itself. Early on in your relationship, he burned himself on a hot mug when he went to take it out of the microwave and screamed so loud you thought something had caught fire. Tyson had been extra careful not to have a repeat ever since.

Tyson handed you your mug. “Here’s your tea.”

“Thank you, Ty.” You took a sip and let out a satisfied sigh; you instantly started to feel better.

“Did that hit the spot?” He smiled for the first time since he realized you were upset.

“Yeah,” you replied, inhaling deeply as you took a few more sips of tea. The knots in your stomach began to untangle and settle down.

“So what exactly happened at the meeting with Smith?”

You dreaded talking about it, but you knew letting it out was the only way you’d truly feel better. “So you know how we have our group meetings twice a week?” Tyson nodded. “Well, management said we have to do a better job of branding our real estate group, so Smith opened the floor to suggestions. I had a really good one about overhauling our social media accounts, and everyone else at the table seemed to agree, but Smith called it ‘asinine’ and asked for any ‘serious’ suggestions. You know, he wouldn’t dare behave like that if I were a man. He fawns all over Jason even though he’s the most incompetent agent in the entire group.”

Tyson’s eyes darkened again before he visibly schooled them to take on a softer tone. “Y/N, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think you need to look for another job.”

“But where? I’ll never be able to get a reference from Smith. Not that I really want one from him, anyway, but it’ll make me look bad if I don’t have one.” You sigh in frustration. “This job was supposed to be a way to climb the ladder. Now I feel like I’m at square one.”

“Can’t you have your ex-boss from Denver and the managers here write letters for you? Didn’t you say the managers praised your work ethic and success at the monthly meeting last week?”

“You know, that’s actually a really good idea.” It was true: you hadn’t thought about contacting your old boss from Denver. It wasn’t like you worked for her years ago; you only left six months ago after Tyson was traded to the Maple Leafs. A letter from her and the managers at your current group would be enough to compensate for the lack of a reference from Smith.

You felt the weight that had been on your shoulders for the past six months lift as you said, “I’ll hand in my resignation tomorrow morning. Thank you, Ty, for giving me the courage to leave. My anxiety would’ve kept me stuck there, but you’re like my north star, guiding me through my worst times. You’ve always been that, you know, but people tend to change. I’m just thankful you’re still the same guy I fell in love with.”

His face lit up like a Christmas tree when you said he was your ‘north star.’ “You’re welcome, Y/N. I’m just glad I could help—you already look so much less burdened.”

“All thanks to you.” You leaned in and kissed Tyson, threading your fingers through his curls. You wanted to stay in that bubble of happiness forever, but you yawned.

Tyson chuckled. “Tired, are we?”

You giggled. “Yeah, I’m ready for sleep.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

Not even ten minutes later, you were out like a light in Tyson’s arms.

[tysonbaerrie]

my colorado (just like toronto) - frederik andersen/tyson barrie

“Jamie.” Tyson warns, and Jamie finally sighs and puts on his Captain Face and Tyson wants to smash his head on the table.

“I’m just worried. This feels a lot like-“

“If you say anything that sounds remotely like Gabriel Landeskog I am leaving.”

“Tys, are you really hooking up with Freddie Andersen?”

“Yes.” Tyson replies after a long pause. “But this is different.”

“How?”

“Because Gabe was straight, and Freddie obviously isn’t?” Tyson points out. “And…it’s casual, just a way to burn some energy after a game. I’m not in love with him, Jesus.”

read on ao3

[daydreamingabouthockey]

Rough Day- Tyson Barrie

Plot: Tyson Barrie is having a rough time after being traded to Toronto. Y/n sees him on the TTC and tries to comfort him.

Note: I don’t know the guy or how he feels about the trade.But I guess anyone would be sad about being traded right? I loved him in Colorado so when he got traded from my favourite American team to my favourite Canadian team I was sad but happy. This was totally inspired by the fact I met him on the TTC a few months ago (he wasn’t crying don’t worry) but he was just staring off into space. he was lovely anyway. So thankful I got the subway that night instead of an Uber. Hockey gods were looking down on me!

Word count: 1,747

You stared down the platform, there was only one other person around, he was a a youngish guy. He was just standing there staring into space. You made eye contact but he noticed pretty quickly and turned away. that was awkward, you thought, but then again this was Toronto. You stare back up at the board, another five minutes to go. “Fuck should I should have gotten an Uber,” you mutter under your breathe shuffling your feet to keep warm. At least all of those leaf fans had gone now so the train would be empty. Not that you followed hockey, the fans were just a pain on match days. Finally you hear the hum and clink of the tram. “Finally” you huff.

You watched the tram doors open. It was empty now as a dozen people scurried off. It was nearly ten in the evening.The doors were about to shut when the young guy from earlier dashed through the door. He looked like he was in his mid twenties, with curly dark brown hair.His expensive looking suit and black coat he looked like a business man in the city.He let out a sniff and a laugh before sitting down opposite you. That’s when you realize he’s not laughing, he’s crying or more accurately sobbing. You stand there for a moment wondering what to do. You look around you two are the only people on the TTC. You stand there conflicted, he might be a weirdo crying but then again he sounded super upset. In this situation you’d want someone to check on you. Your mind was racing, if you heard something had happened to his guy tomorrow you would feel terrible you never said anything.

You get up and take the seat next to him. He doesn’t notice at first “Are you ok?” You ask, tapping him on his shoulder. “I mean obviously you're not but,” you say realising asking if he was ok was pretty dumb.

“No, not really I’m sorry I’ve just had a really bad day,” he says looking up at you with his dark brown eyes. His face is red and puffy from crying. “You wanna talk about it? I won’t judge,” you say giving him a simatheic smile

“I can’t,” he says looking down fiddling with his jacket sleeve.

“It’s okay, I’m sorry you're having a bad day…” you pause when you realize you don’t even know the man’s name. “Tyson,” he said sniffing again

“Tyson,” you said with a nod “I’m y/n”

“We all have bad days and that’s ok and there is no shame in crying, I don’t know what you're going through but, bad days and months they pass, I promise, I know it’s cliche, last month my boyfriend of five years out of the blue dumped me, it was hard we’d been engaged over a year, then my job made me redundant, I cried a lot but everyday the pain got less and less day and eventually I got back on my feet” you say, rooting through your bag for a pack of tissues. You finally find them and pass one over. “Really?,” he asked

“Yeah,” you says suddenly wondering why you’d told this stranger your life story. “That’s tough I’m sorry” ,he said dabbing his face.“its’s okay I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make it about me, I’ll leave you alone now, I just wanted to make sure you were ok,” you say awkwardly getting up “ no please don’t leave me, I might be getting fired,” Tyson blurts out. “And I really really don’t want to be, that’s why I was upset”

“Oh,” you said, plopping back down on the seat. “Well no- one wants to get fired,” you say slowly.“I’ve only just moved to Toronto in the last few months and that was really hard, leaving my friends in Denver, but I had no choice,”

“I can understand that, I hated leaving my friends and family in LA, what makes you think you're being fired? I mean you don’t know?” You ask gently “I messed up, big style and now my manager wants to get rid of me, I know they do, I’ve heard the whispers and the worst part is I could end up anywhere in another city or town I hate, I just want to go back to Denver, I miss it so much,”

“They can’t fire you for one mistake and come on now Toronto isn’t that bad,” you laugh “No I guess not,” he sighed “it's just like Toronto is the central city for what I do so everyone is looking at me, in Denver it was just easier,”

“Ah okay, are you from Denver then?”

“No Victoria BC, my work means can I move around a lot,I’ve lived in Denver for eight years though” he said you could see his face instantly change and light up when he mentioned Denver“Well now I get why you wouldn’t want to leave Denver, I’ve heard it’s beautiful around there,”

“Oh it is,” he says sadly and you realise you’ve said the wrong thing. “Not that Toronto isn’t great too,it’s just different,” he says.

“I wouldn’t normally do this but, do you want to go out for a drink?” You ask offering your hand to get up just as the subway came to a stop ‘Sure why not,’ he said with a shrug grabbing your hand.

In the end the you ended up at your place. The two of you sat with a glass of red wine. He stretched out on your sofa, his head in your lap. You ran your fingers through the curly locks of hair. He told you all about his friends back in Denver Nate who was a big dumb boy who insisted people called him Nate dog with two g’s. EJ, Josty who she realises is not his real name but a nickname is a loveable pest and then there is the clear leader of the pack, Gabe who in Tyson’s words looked like a Swede god.But had a very big head literally Which Nate and Tyson made fun of all the time. You in turn told him about your weird friends and family and how you ended up coming from sunny La to cold snowy Toronto. It was strange you felt like you had been friends for years. You felt such a sense of ease and peace with this guy, like conversation was never forced yet you knew you had no romantic feelings for this guy and you knew he felt the same. Tyson ended up crashing on your sofa and in the morning you cooked breakfast together before you both had to leave for work. But before you did he said something rather odd. “Can you not tell anyone about this my weird breakdown? Can it be between us?” He said adjusting his tie “Yeah sure,”

The pair of you swapped numbers, you kept in contact texting now and then. Tyson had said his work was a little better his co-workers were supportive of him. Which made you happy although you knew he still wasn’t a hundred percent happy. He had booked a trip to Colorado to see his friends in the summer. You had tried to meet up a couple times but his work kept him busy and you had lots of things going on too. You knew he worked unsocial hours but what he exactly did was still a mystery to you. It wasn’t until two months later, you got that answer, when you saw Tyson’s face again. Except this time it was on tv. You were sat in a bar with your gal pals nursing a glass of red wine. “Toronto Maple leaf Tyson Barrie, has been traded back to the Colorado Avalanche in return for Nazem Kardri, the Victoria born player Barrie spent the year playing for the leafs in a statement he said “I’ve enjoyed playing for the leafs this last year, but I’m excited also to go back to Denver and play again for the avs with my old buddies,” the screen showed Tyson being interview his face beaming with happiness, the same guy but so different from the one you met that night on the train. “Can you turn this up please?” You ask the bartender. He nods. “Y/n I didn’t realize you were this into sports,” your best friend Jan says looking at you surprised “I’m not not really but I’m just interested in this story,” you say signalling to Tyson Barrie who they were showing shots of on the ice, “oh Barrie,” Jan said rolling her eyes. “what?” You ask curious, you’d never really followed hockey before.“He was terrible for the leafs I’m glad we are giving him back,”she says pointing to Tyson. “Poor dude give the guy a break,” you say sympathetically, not taking your eyes off the screen. “Why are you defending him, you don’t even watch hockey,” Jan asks You shrug “I dunno I guess it can’t be easy, being a professional athlete, having all eyes on you,”

“Because you know a lot about that, poor little millionaire,” Jan said taking another sip of her wine and rolling her eyes. You know that you don’t really know what it is like but you got a glimpse into that life when you met Tyson on the train that night. You had no idea he was a millionaire. Wow. Even still millionaires aren’t exempt from mental health problems. Especially when all eyes are on you. Now you understood why he disliked Toronto for his job so much. Toronto media were known in any sense for being ruthless. You excuse yourself to the washroom and once safely in the stall you get out your phone and send a text.

To: Tyson

I’m happy for you. I told you it would all work out eventually. X

To: Y/n

Thanks y/n,

To: Tyson

I’m just a phone call away if you need to talk x

You slip your phone back into your bag. “Who are you texting?” Your best friend asked raising an eyebrow. You give a smile, you weren’t going to tell them about your night with Tyson, you'd promised that night would just be between the two of you. “Just a friend,” you say. Your phone pinged again.

To: y/n

I’ll let you know and next time I’m in town maybe we can grab a drink?

To: Tyson

I’d like that Tys, good luck in Colorado xx

[hockeygods14]

Tyson Barrie - Lost

Masterlist

Word count: 1,605

When Tyson told me he was getting traded to Toronto. I didn’t know what to think. He loved being here in Colorado. We met here, he proposed to me here. We were building a life here. I haven’t even been able to tell Tyson that I’m pregnant with his baby yet. 

Now we are at the airport to go to Toronto to look at a place to stay. I look down at mine and Tyson’ hands that were sitting on my lap.

“Babe are you alright?” I look up and see Tyson looking at me.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just have been a little quiet today the all.” He leaned over and kissed the side of my head and went back reading whatever he was reading on his phone. 

I have thought about didn’t ways to tell Tyson about the baby. I thought about telling him once we find a place in Toronto but that’s if we find a place. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++

I was surprised that the first house Tyson and I looked at was the one that we fell in love with. We didn’t have to look anymore. 

We went out the next day to look for things for our new house. Tyson wanted to go into this sports store that had some Maple Leafs shirts. He wanted to get a couple for family. I was looking around. And saw a little t-shirt that said ‘new teammate coming’ I can put 2020 on it and give it to Tyson. I looked around to see where my husband was and I saw he was on the other side of the store so I grabbed the shirt and to pay for it. 

The next day I went to get 2020 on the shirt and I was going to surprise Tyson tonight. 

I walked into our house and I see candles all around the house. I was in a little more, I see Tyson standing there with a bottle of wine and dinner on the floor because we still don’t have a table we don’t have anything.

“What is all this?”

“I thought we could celebrate our new place.” He poured some wine and a plastic cup and walked over to me. I looked a the cup and smiled. I took the cup but I didn’t take a sip.

“I thought we could celebrate too.” I took out the bag that had the t-shirt inside. “Here,” I handed the bag to him.

“What is this?”

“Just open it.” I sent my drink down on the kitchen counter. I look over at Tyson who was already holding up the t-shirt.

“Wait are you?” He looked back at the shirt and back to me. “Are we having a baby?” I nod my head. I tear went down my face when I saw the smile on his face. 

He ran up to me and picked me up and spun me around. Our laughter filled our empty house. He down on his knees in front of me and placed his hands on my stomach.

“Hi baby,” I laughed. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++

I have been holding off on moving all my things to Toronto. My Brother and his wife just had their third baby an I wanted to be there for them. My sister’s boyfriend just broke up with her and she needed me there. I was holding off moving because my family needed me but my husband needed me in Toronto.

Tyson was in Toronto now because training has started. We talk all this time but there was part of me that didn’t want to leave Colorado. I didn’t want to move somewhere where I didn’t know anyone. I know I would meet all the wives and girlfriends of Tyson’s new teammates. 

I knew I waited long enough to go but I finally landed in Toronto. Tyson’s at practice so he won’t be home a for a little while. 

Once I got to the house I walked and noticed all the stuff that we bought was already set up. Tyson put everything in its place the house looked really nice it looked like a home. I walked up to the stairs and there was only one door open I looked in there first and I see that it was a crib and some baby stuff. I have been really emotional things past couple weeks so when I saw that Tyson did this I started to cry and not because I’m upset that he did it without me but that he actually went out and bought a crib and didn’t things for our baby.  I sat on the floor and went through everything that he got just to see.

“I only got a couple things. I couldn’t help myself.” I looked behind me and see Tyson standing there. I got up and walked over to him and hugged him I haven’t seen him in a couple weeks and I just wanted him to hold me right now. 

“You are going to be a great dad you know that?” I smile u at him and kiss his lips.

“Well, you’re going to be a great mom. So I guess I kid is going to have two great parents.” I lean my head on his chest and we just stand there minute just holding each other. “Come on let's make something to eat.” I follow him down the stairs. 

Some how I tripped and fell all the down. I held my stomach and started to cry. I started to fell pain. I could see Tyson try to talk to me but I didn't hear him I was too worried about my baby. 

+++++++++++++++++++++

Tyson and I were at the hospital waiting for the doctor to come back in to tell us how our baby is doing. It felt like he was never going to come back in. My hand never left my stomach. I prayed that my baby was okay. I looked over at Tyson and see that he is sitting in the chair next to me with his head in his hands. 

The door open and in walked the doctor. Tyson got up and stood by me and held my hand that wasn’t on my stomach. 

“I’m sorry to inform you Mr. and Mrs. Barrie-“ That is the only thing I heard the doctor say when I started to cry I lead over to Tyson and he just held me. I lost our baby. 

Once we were finished with everything at the hospital Tyson and I went home and just at on our couch and he wrapped his arms around me.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Tyson.” I cried more tears. “I lost our baby.”

“Don’t be sorry Y/N it just wasn’t our time. It will be okay. We have each other.” He kissed the top of my head 

++++++++++++++++

*One year later*

Its been a years since Tyson and I lost our baby. People say when you go through something like that it could sometimes end a marriage or bring you guys closer together and it defiantly brought Tyson and me closer together. I don’t think we have been closer.

This past hockey season was rough in the start with Tyson being on a new team and with losing the baby it was just a hard time but his new teammates have been really supportive and been there for us in our darkest times. A group of people that we didn’t really know was there for us when we didn’t them. 

“Hey babe,” Tyson walked in with two white balloons. We thought it would be nice to let them go up in the sky for our little one. 

“I can’t believe it's been a year already,” I closed my laptop and walked over to him.

“I know I feel like it was just last week,” I could see the sadness in this eyes. I held up my hand to his face and he leads into my touch. 

“I love you, Tyson Barrie. I don’t know what I would ahem done if you weren’t there with me through the whole thing.” I tell in softly. He put him he’d on my shoulder and I could tell that he was crying. I wrapped my arms around him and just held him like he did for me all the times I cried. 

“I don’t know what I would have done either without you there for me. During the season was the hardest being away from you. I thought some of the guys would get annoyed with me with the number of times I called you but they all knew that’s what I needed. I just needed you.” He whispered 

We went outside in our backyard to let the balloons fly. We stood there for a little bit just the two of us in each other's arms. We both let the balloons go at the same time and just watched them fly. 

We heard the side gate open and look to see it some of Tyson's teammates walk in.

“What are you guys doing here?” Tyson asked while we walked up to them.

“We know today was probably going to be hard for you both so we thought we could bring some food to have a little cookout and just hang out.” Morgan Rielly spoke up first. “Unless you two want to be alone together then we all understand that!” I saw Tyson look over at me for an answer and I smiled. These guys have been there for us I wouldn’t want to spend it any other way.

“What are you cooking?”

[scaredofthebasement-blog]

If you would like to meet the players on the Toronto Maple Leafs in person, it will happen if you can be in Toronto on January 5, 2020 and raise $300 for Easter Seals.

https://eastersealsskate.org/

[miracleonice87]

CONGRATS LOVE💛 also 11 with barzy or tyson barrie pwease 🥺 -softboybarzal

here you go @softboybarzal 🤗 and thank you sm!

whoops this one is also 1,500ish words. and sorry not sorry y'all but Tys is still on the Avs in this one. I always write him on the Avs or the Leafs and I won’t apologize. 😇

tw: pregnancy scare, fainting, mention of stomach issues/needles/blood, emergency surgery (nothing graphic)

Midnight 'til morning / Call if you need somebody / I will be there for you (Hold On, Justin Bieber) - Tyson Barrie

“Tys, I need you.”

Tyson heard your weak voice on the other end of the line and his heart lurched into his throat, his anxiety kicking into high gear.

He’d left you about two hours ago for boys’ night at Nate’s, but not willingly. You’d been feeling off for the last week or so, which you attributed to your high-stress job as a financial planner, and tonight, you were quite queasy, fatigued and a bit feverish. Even so, you’d insisted on Tyson’s going to hang out with the guys while you stayed home to rest, promising him that you’d be fine by yourself for a few hours and that you’d call him if you felt any worse. He felt uneasy even as he had kissed your forehead, walked to his car, and pulled out of the garage, but reluctantly, he headed to Nate's anyway.

And now he was kicking himself for giving in to your wishes instead of trusting his instincts.

“Okay, baby, I’m coming,” Tyson assured, already hustling to the door, Nate, EJ, and Gabe’s faces drawn in concern as they watched his frantic motions. “What’s goin’ on, baby? You gotta talk to me. Stay on the line, okay?” Tyson encouraged, trying his best to sound upbeat as he bobbled his phone between his ear and his shoulder, eventually settling for placing it on the table in the entryway and putting it on speaker as he pulled on his shoes.

“My stomach really hurts and I… I passed out in the bathroom,” you told him, your voice raspy. “I thought I was gonna throw up so I was sitting in front of the toilet, and then I just kinda… sunk back against the wall, and everything went dark.”

“Holy fuck,” Gabe said softly, Nate rubbing at his mouth in concern as EJ’s eyes grew wide as saucers.

Tyson could barely breathe, the weight of his worry compressing his chest as he pushed into his second shoe.

“I-I dunno how long I’ve been out, Tys,” you added, fear evident in your tone as he heard you start to cry, his heartbroken friends looking on. “I’m scared.”

“I know you are, baby. I need you to just hold on, okay?” he pleaded. “Don’t move — I’ll be right there,” he stressed as he flew out the front door.

Tyson sped the short distance between Nate’s house and yours, the trip taking half the time it normally would, or less. Within seconds of pulling into the garage, Tyson was bounding up the stairs to the master bedroom, desperately calling out your name.

“I’m here,” you forced out, the frailness of your tone frightening even you.

Tyson barreled into the bathroom and practically screeched to a halt on the tile in front of you, immediately gathering you into his arms, careful not to jar you.

“Oh, baby,” he groaned, softly shushing you as you started to cry again. “You’re okay — I’m here now.”

You clutched onto his shirt as he pressed soft kisses to your forehead.

“I-I dunno what h-happened, Tys,” you sobbed into his chest. “I dunno what’s w-wrong.”

“I know, baby,” he soothed, cradling the back of your head. “We need to figure that out. So I’m gonna try and get you up and take you to the ER, okay? Do you think you can stand up for me?”

You nodded, and Tyson crouched in front of you, his hands tight around your hips.

“Okay, ready? One, two, three.”

With Tyson’s help, and a slight wobble, you found your footing again, and after a slow walk to his car, he helped you settle into the front seat.

After a nerve-wracking trip, with Tyson unable to keep himself from glancing at you every few seconds, he eventually pulled up to the ER entrance, jogging to your door and helping you out of the vehicle and into the hospital. Once you were checked in, Tyson went to quickly park the car. When he returned, the nurse at the registration desk pointed to one of the bays in the ER, where he saw a doctor and another nurse helping you gingerly settle into a bed. He scurried across the room to you, offering a small smile and taking your hand in his as he sat down in the chair next to you.

As the nurse drew blood and took your vitals, the doctor went through the typical checklist. Other symptoms, other medical conditions, family history, diet, exercise, lifestyle changes. You told her of the strain you’d been under lately at work, explaining that you assumed the occasional stomach pain was related to the pace and demands of your job.

The doctor nodded. “Any changes in your medical history?” she asked.

“I don’t think so,” you answered, trying to breathe through the dull aches in your stomach. “Oh, I did switch my birth control a few months ago, but I don’t know if that matters.”

The doctor glanced up at you before clicking her pen and scribbling some notes into your chart as Tyson eyed you carefully.

“I see,” the doctor said. “So, when was your last cycle?”

You opened your mouth, expecting an answer to easily roll from your tongue, but none did. Instead, you focused on the blanket covering your legs, trying to will your brain to recall the last time you’d gotten your period.

“Uh… honestly, I… I can’t remember,” you answered. You turned to Tyson to find him looking at you wide-eyed, though you seemed still oblivious to the weight of the statement you had just made. “Oh, I know. It was when you were on your East Coast trip. The New York and Boston games. So that was…”

“In January,” Tyson said matter-of-factly. “Like six weeks ago.”

Tyson watched as your face grew even more ashen, your fingers going limp around his hand as you whispered a curse beneath your breath. He drew a deep breath and looked helplessly to the doctor, who smiled in understanding.

“Not to worry,” she said kindly. “We’ll be sure to include a pregnancy test along with the other blood markers we’ll be checking, okay?”

You nodded weakly as she further reclined the bed where you lay, in preparation for your abdominal exam. You winced each time she pressed down, holding tight to Tyson’s hand, but when her fingers palpated the lower right side of your abdomen, you let out a cry that broke Tyson’s heart, and nearly flew off the mattress. The doctor clucked her tongue with a sympathetic hum.

“Well, we’ll still run the pregnancy test to be sure we know everything we’re dealing with, but it looks to me like you’ve got a bad case of appendicitis, my dear,” she said.

Tyson stood to comfort you as best he could, cupping your cheek in his hand as he dropped soft kisses in your hair. The doctor instructed you to sit tight and that she would be back soon with the results of your blood test.

You dropped your head back to the pillow, your eyes stinging with tears and your body trembling. Tyson took note and leaned in closer, smoothing your hair back from your forehead.

“Fuck, that hurt,” you hissed before your face contorted as you reflected on the revelation of your missed period. “God, I’m so fucking stupid, Tys,” you whispered as you began to sob, again. “I’m so sorry. I hadn’t even thought about being late.”

Tyson shook his head.

“Hey, no,” he said adamantly. “None of that. You’ve had a lot going on. It’s not on you that you didn’t notice,” he insisted. “Besides,” he said as he pressed his forehead to yours, “it takes two to tango.”

You couldn’t help the slight smile that pulled at your lips, ever grateful for Tyson’s sweetness and goofiness which always pulled you back from your bleakest moments.

“I love you,” you whispered, your hand resting on the back of his head to keep him near.

He chuckled warmly and kissed your lips.

“I love you, too, my girl.”

A few minutes later, the doctor returned to your bedside.

“Well, the pregnancy test came back negative, so I’d attribute your delayed period to your stress level as of late,” she began, tucking your chart in the crook of her elbow. “But you do have appendicitis, so the pain from that is probably what caused you to faint. You definitely need that appendix taken out, so we’re gonna go ahead and prep you for surgery, okay? The nurses will be over in just a minute.”

You nodded as Tyson thanked her, then he turned to you, gripping your hand in both of his and pressing a kiss to your knuckles.

“Well, good news, bad news, I guess,” you said quietly, and Tyson could sense your apprehension at the prospect of emergency surgery.

“Something like that,” he said, smoothing his thumb across your cheekbone, your faces just inches apart. “I’m sorry you have to have surgery, baby. But you know what?”

You shook your head, prompting him to continue.

“If you had been pregnant, you know I would’ve been happy, right?” he told you, the endless love and sincerity in his eyes overwhelming. “It would’ve been a big surprise, to say the least, but a great surprise.”

You swallowed hard, yet another round of tears pooling in your eyes.

“Really?” you asked, grasping Tyson’s forearm.

He breathed a chuckle and kissed your wrist, nodding.

“Mhmm,” he replied. “Really.”

The tender moment was interrupted by the nurses who arrived to prep you for surgery, and soon, they instructed you to say goodbye to Tyson before they wheeled you away to the operating room.

Tyson kissed you firmly and whispered, “Good luck, baby.”

“You’ll be here when I wake up, right?” you said worriedly.

Tyson nodded and squeezed your hand.

“I’ll be here, always.”

[laurenairay]

More Than Words - T. Barrie

Summary: Tyson had fallen in love, but he just couldn’t find the words to tell her.

Word count: 1k

Warnings: fluff, it’s just super cute okay?

A/N: I reached 500 followers today and I’m just so so happy. So I thought I’d write a little fic with my one-true-love TBear to celebrate. You’re all so lovely and wonderful, and I appreciate every single one of you!

*

Tyson wasn’t the best with words. He knew that. Sure, he could talk until the cows came home about completely trivial things, but anything meaningful? Absolutely not. He just got so…tongue-tied. Asking him to speak fully from the heart was like asking him to stand in front of multiple Shea Weber slapshots – he really didn’t want to unless he absolutely had to. Even then it was with great reluctance.

And then he met Elizabeth.

He bumped into her, quite literally and completely by chance, queuing to buy pastries at a bakery. It had been one of those days where he didn’t care what the trainers thought, a bad enough day that he needed to cheat on his diet, and when he’d turned around after paying, he’d nearly knocked her on her ass.

Naturally he’d started apologising straight away, rambling on about what an idiot and a clutz he was as he helped her up from the ground, but the sweet smile she sent him as she shook her head made his heart feel like it was about to burst. It was all he could do to ask for her name and then ask for her number.

Elizabeth, or Lizzie as she preferred, had changed his world around without even meaning to. He found himself wanting to let her know just how much she meant to him, even without knowing how to do it. She didn’t even mind that he wasn’t the best at expressing himself – she took every single verbal stumble with a smile, accepting kisses instead of verbal confessions, even though Tyson knew she deserved more.

So much more.

So Tyson came up with a plan. Okay, Tyson had drunkenly called Nate one night, and was overheard by both EJ and Gabe, and the four of them had come up with a plan. He was going to write love notes to her, writing down everything that he always messed up saying out loud. Little sweet love notes, at random times, whenever he had a thought about her. He just hoped that she wouldn’t run for the hills at his ineptitude. She wouldn’t, right?

After waking up to texts of encouragement and a mild headache (rum was never a good choice), as well as an email confirmation of an order of multiple post-it notes and colourful pens, Tyson could only hope.

~

Waking up to your smile is the favourite part of my morning.

Lizzie found this first one on her travel coffee mug the next day, making her giggle as she heard Tyson’s bedroom door closing.

~

You light up my day every time you say my name.

This one was just tucked inside her handbag, making her smile as soon as she got to work.

~

Having you in my life makes each day a little brighter.

Lizzie woke up with this attached to her forehead, after Tyson had left for an early practice, and she fell back asleep with a smile on her lips.

~

I’m lucky to be able to call you my girlfriend.

This one she found on her steering wheel, after Tyson cleared off the snow for her one morning, making her heart skip a beat.

~

You are one in a million – I value you so much.

Lizzie found this one in her dressing gown pocket after a particularly bad day at work – the smile it gave her made her feel 100 times better straight away.

~

I wish you realised just how beautiful you really are.

Everyone had bad self-esteem days, and this one she found taped the fridge after a sad moment, making her stomach fill with butterflies.

~

You inspire me to be a better person.

Lizzie’s eyes had teared up when she found this one taped to the bathroom mirror – Tyson truly didn’t know how much of an amazing person he was, did he?

~

Tyson was sitting on the sofa watching a movie when Elizabeth got home from work. Immediately he smiled at her, earning a brilliant smile back, and he beckoned her over to sit with him. The sound of her laughter as he looped his arms around her waist made his stomach fill with butterflies, and he buried his face in her neck to stop himself saying something stupid.

“Nice to see you too, Tys,” Lizzie giggled.

He just pressed a kiss to her neck in response. They sat in silence for a little while, just holding each other, until Lizzie cleared her throat.

“I’ve just got to ask something,” Lizzie said softly.

Tyson froze a little, before lifting his head and nodding. “Okay?”

“Why have you started leaving me love notes?” she asked hesitantly.

Hesitant…because she didn’t like them?

Lizzie saw the fear on his face and immediately shook her head. “I appreciate them so much, don’t get me wrong – I just wanted to know why?”

Tyson swallowed heavily, trying to smile at her, before he gave up.

“I just…I wanted to let you know all the things I couldn’t say, I guess,” he mumbled.

Lizzie just smiled, cupping his face with her hand. “You don’t need to say anything, you know that right? You don’t have to do things just because that’s what society and movies tell you that you should,”

Tyson laughed softly, turning his head to press a gentle kiss to her palm. How did she know how to make him feel better with just words?

Just words. Hah.

If she could do it, so could he. Right?

“Hey, Lizzie?” Tyson said suddenly.

“Yeah, Tys?” she asked, looking up at him.

And at that moment, there was only one thing he could say. So he took a deep breath, channelling every single terrifying feeling in his body.

“I love you,” he murmured.

The smile that spread across her lips made all the nervousness worth it. Absolutely 100% worth it.

“I love you too,” she said happily, “so much,”

Turns out, confessing his feelings wasn’t so hard after all, with the right person.

[raindrop-dewdrop]

Would anyone be interested in proof reading my works?

[jiggyloveshockey]

Who has the horniest bromance in the NHL?

After reading too much fanfiction and reblogging way too many hockey gifs on this hellsite, I got slightly drunk and asked myself the following question: Who has the horniest bromance in the league? Here’s the scientifically totally legit poll where you can vote. But let’s look at our top 10 candidates first, shall we?

WE SHALL! But first, more wine! 

Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider

Sluttiness potential: People keep saying it’s just golf balls in his pocket, but personally, I choose to believe that Chris Kreider has the shlong to end all shlongs. Mazel tov!

Awww factor: They’re flying across the globe to visit during the summer, so- yeah. It’s love.

Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson

Awww factor: Hand holding on the bench levels of “awww”. Pettersson also donated 10 Grand to the Parkinson society of BC and Minnesota to honor Brock Boeser’s dad. It’s all very get-your-tissues-out sweet.

Sluttiness potential: Dude, they’re young, they still have to share their hotel rooms on the road, there is some sneaky boning going on. Probably. Maybe that’s just in my head? I don’t know. More wine!

JT Compher and Tyson Jost

Sluttiness potential: I think this picture neatly sums it up. 

(Look at the little weeny bum in the corner!)

Awww factor: Who can forget the time they had a moment™ because JT literally turned Tyson’s world to color?

Tyson Barrie and Nathan MacKinnon

Awww factor: Granted, they are no longer on the same team, but who cares. MORE WINE! Anyways,...

#dontjudgethemtheyaresensitive

Sluttiness potential: One time Nate fell into the ocean in Cannes, because he was too wasted to jump on his yacht and his first instinct was to walk - sopping wet - into Tyson’s room. If there isn’t some secret humping happening here, I’ll eat my boots. Or maybe the pack of mini salamis I just found in the fridge. Wine makes me hungry. Now, where were we..

Brandon Tanev and Adam Lowry

Awww factor: Aaaah, the couple that gave hockey tumblr The Kiss™. 

Sluttiness potential: 

No further questions, Your Honor!

Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews

Awww factor: The big, dumb one follows the fun smol one around all day long. Adorable.

Sluttiness potential: Auston “Knees breathing heavy” Matthews is currently shacked up with his goalie and Mitchy is back in Toronto chugging wine and playing Fortnite, but absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

I’m approximately this level of tipsy right now by the way. 

[does awkward peace sign while eating another mini salami stick]

Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom

Sluttiness potential: Ovi is legit coo-coo bonkers and Backstrom is the kind of silent that makes me think he’s secretly crazy, so I’m very convinced they’re both insane in the sack. But maybe that’s just me, sitting at home and getting unreasonably horny in self isolation. Have I mentioned I’m slightly drunk?

Awww factor: I might not be a Caps fan, but I teared up at this.

It’s Love with a capital L and I will fight you if you disagree!

Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin

Awww factor: Ty-Ty may be a narcissistic thot and Captain Cow Eyes may be a dum-dum and they don’t seem as smitten as they once were, but we all know they still love each other. We know. We most definitely know.

Sluttiness potential: Sluttiness potential is Tyler Seguin’s middle name. (Actually it’s Paul and I’m embarrassed I know that.)

Travis Konecny and Nolan Patrick

Awww factor: The snarkier the bitch, the sweeter the moments of actual softness.

“What do you think of?” 

[dreamy smile that you only have when you talk about your crush]

“Ugh, he’s the worst!”

Sluttiness potential: It’s hard to tell, because Patty hates everyone apart from TK.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin

Awww factor: The unsinkable ship, the pairing that keeps on giving. Read King and Lionheart and then tell me you don’t believe in love!

Actually maybe I should re-read King and Lionheart again? I should.

Sluttiness potential: Sid’s buttcheecks invented sluttiness potential. 

Alright children, now go ye forth and vote while I pour myself a final glass of wine. Merry self isolation to us all and to all a good night!

[tessisawriter]

Sounds Like a Plan (Tyson Barrie)

Request (anonymous): Could you do 8 for Tyson Barrie?? Pleeaassee!

A/N: This takes place on FA day in July 2019.

Warnings: One swear word, angst

Word Count: 731

You were sitting on the couch, leaning your head on Tyson’s shoulder while the two of you watched Friends, when his phone rang.

Your heart dropped immediately.

“I’ll be right back, babe,” Tyson said, kissing you on the top of the head before grabbing his phone.

“Hello?” he said into the phone as he walked into the other room.

You reached for the remote, paused the episode, and strained to hear the conversation occurring in the other room, but you were out of earshot. That didn’t stop you from trying, though, and hoping against hope that it wasn’t what you thought was going on.

When Tyson came out of the bedroom, though, you knew it was everything you feared.

“Babe…” Tyson said, his eyes red.

You vaulted off the couch and into his arms.

“I…I got traded. To Toronto,” he said as he sobbed into your neck.

You didn’t think it was possible, but your heart broke even further. Toronto? That was not only in the Eastern Conference, but also in another country.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” was all you said. You didn’t need to make him even more upset by voicing your displeasure about the trade.

“I just…I don’t understand. Why would they trade me?” he asked, holding you like he was floating in the Pacific Ocean and you were a life preserver.

You thought about it for a moment before answering. “Ty, look at me.”

He pulled away from you and wiped his face on the sleeve of his sweatshirt.

“They’re idiots for trading you. You’re one of the Avs’ best players, and if they don’t see the value in that, then good riddance.”

“You really feel that way?” Tyson looked surprised.

“I don’t know how else to look at it,” you admitted. “You have one more year left on your contract, and they knew you wanted to stay, but they traded you anyway. I want to rip Sakic apart, limb from limb.”

The last thing you were expecting was for Tyson to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” you asked him.

“Your face,” he replied, still laughing. “You look like you could actually keep your promise about Sakic.”

“The only thing preventing me from doing so is the jail time. He isn’t worth it,” you said.

“Definitely not,” Tyson agreed, “You have important things to do with your life.”

Shit. He was giving you the look. You knew you couldn’t avoid this conversation forever, but you wanted to.

“You have to stay in Denver, Y/N,” Tyson said.

“No, I don’t,” you protested. “I can take a year off until you get to free agency, and then I can transfer to the law school closest to your new team.”

“Y/N,” Tyson groaned. “Your parents will kill me if you don’t finish law school this year.”

“But what are we going to do?”

“It’s not ideal, but we’ll have to be long distance for a year.”

“Ugh!” You couldn’t help it; you had to let out your frustration. You stomped over to the couch and slumped down on it.

As soon as you sat down, Tyson joined you on the couch.

“Can I hold your hand?”

You looked at him like he was crazy. “Of course you can. Why would you even ask such a silly question?”

“Well, you look really frustrated, and I didn’t want to do anything that would make you feel worse,” Tyson said as he laced your fingers together.

“You’re the best, Ty,” you said, tightening your grip on his hand.

“Right back at you,” he responded while mimicking your action. “Listen, I know it’s going to be really hard, but we’ve been through a lot together. I think we can handle a year of long-distance.”

You made a face. “I know. It’s just going to suck.”

“I’m not denying that. But we have the rest of the summer together, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure we see each other more than once a month during the season. And then, once you graduate from law school and the season is over, we’ll choose our new home together, whether it’s Toronto or somewhere else. Does that sound like a plan?”

Tyson sounded so rational, and he had given you every reason to trust him. The next year was going to be really hard, but you knew you’d make it through. “Yeah, it sounds like a plan.”

[townhulls]

2020 fic year in review!

tagged by the lovely @enchi-elm! thank you darling!

total number of completed stories: 9! that is somehow much more than i expected it to be, haha.

total number of words: 85,525! also much more than i expected, wow!

fandoms written in: band of brothers, hockey rpf, the pacific, turn, and undrafted! i love my ensemble casts.

top 5 by word count:

1. tyson barrie gets his groove back, and other unlikely stories - hockey rpf, 29,533 words

2. pales in comparison to love - turn, 17,153 words

3. Choice Theory - hockey rpf, 13,215 words

4. the things that fate had willed - the pacific, 9,827 words

5. a little less human - the pacific, 4,963 words (rip… my one and only abandoned fic…)

top 5 by kudos:

1. tyson barrie gets his groove back, and other unlikely stories - hockey rpf

2. got no brakes - hockey rpf

3. the things that fate had willed - the pacific

4. Choice Theory - hockey rpf*

5. simply going forward - band of brothers

*technically my 4th most-kudosed fic is actually a fic i published anonymously, but i’m not going to put it here because it’s anonymous for a reason lmao.

top fic overall: in terms of stats, definitely tyson barrie gets his groove back. i’ll own up to a bunch of crosstagging to explain the hits/kudos lol, but it’s also the longest one-shot i’ve ever written and i’ve gotten a ton of lovely feedback on it!

looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? oh hell yeah i wrote more than i expected. honestly, march was filled with such writing malaise that i wasn’t expecting to get any writing done over quarantine, period. but starting in about late may, stuff just started to go right for me. i even participated in my first ever fic exchange! and even though classes have been killing me for the last few months, now that i’m on break i’ve managed to rekindle that writing fervor, which i am unspeakably glad for.

what’s your own favorite story of the year? this is so difficult! the obvious choice is tyson barrie gets his groove back, as mentioned above. but also, pales in comparison to love was the product of a year and a half of love-induced labor. to get that done was such a relief. but ALSO, the things that fate had willed is one of my favorite fics i’ve ever written, and i miss writing sidgene like, daily. in the end though, i think this one has to go to got no brakes. i just truly enjoyed writing it, and it’s not every day that your girlfriend embroiders an entire pillow in honor of your hockey rpf fic.

did you take any writing risks this year? oh, where to start? as enchi-elm mentioned, erotica is hard, and this is the first year i’ve really sort of dived into it! also, the amount of research i’ve put into my writing this year, from the price of a record player in the late 40s, to the various functions of ship parts in the golden age of piracy, to just getting time periods and rosters straight for rpf… is definitely unprecedented for me.

do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? yes!! i’m currently slaving away at my avs small town au, which was supposed to be short and is now 28k and counting. hopefully it will be done by next year, haha… after that i’ve been thinking about a dystopia au a la ionthesparrow’s hockey at the end of the world, and i still have an unfinished sidgene fic that’s been sitting in my drafts since january.

story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: cough it out for sure! granted, i wrote it for fun and mostly as a joke, but the undrafted tag is so tiny that, uh, it has 14 hits and no kudos. (i was going to say either Choice Theory or the things that fate had willed, but that’s just because those are rarepairs lmao.)

most fun story to write? got no brakes!

most unintentionally telling story? haha um. all of them? idk all of my writing is weirdly personal. if you’ve ever read my fic you have Perceived me and i’m sorry.

biggest disappointment? oh, definitely abandoning a little less human. i had a playlist for it and everything, and a 3-page long plot synopsis for what i wanted to happen. unfortunately, while i love sledgefu dynamics and writing about pirates, sidgene snagged hold of me and… didn’t really let go.

biggest surprise: hockey rpf! if you told me in september 2019 that a) i’d be invested in a sport, b) that sport was HOCKEY, and c) i’d be writing real person fanfiction about hockey players like, in a serious capacity, i’d have laughed at you. but here we are, and what a ride it’s been.

again, thank you so much for the tag! i’m bad at tagging people so if you see this & feel compelled by forces unknown, consider this your tag!