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brainrattlers · 2 years

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Play It Cool - Tyson Jost (19/n)

Author’s Notes: AHHHH YES, these two crazy kids get to see each other again after over a month of time apart. You know what that means! Also... there are so many things I want to tell you right here, but you’re going to just have to read on for something I wasn’t even quite prepared to write about, but it flowed so I went with it. I hope y’all enjoy this little curveball I threw in. Also, damn it, this chapter is making me miss Seoul Taco. (IYKYK.) Another fun chapter to write though - I was at the MIN/STL game in the previous chapter, as well as the one in this chapter - always nice to have some source material to work with.

Pairing: Tyson Jost x OFC (AJ)

Word Count: 6796 (why do I keep writing longer chapters?)

Warnings: 18+ ONLY. I’ve tried to keep it classy but if you’re under 18, you gotta go. Adult themes and language. Tyson does get hurt (again?!) in this chapter, but if you followed the rest of his season this isn’t a surprise.

Need the Chapter 18 hookup? https://brainrattlers.tumblr.com/post/693358126122008576/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-18n

The week was a whirlwind, but crept along so slowly at the same time. It was tough for AJ to stay focused on work that week, even if it was only a three day week for her. Tyson was doing his best to keep from phoning it in. He worked hard during practices, and the team won their games at home before hitting the road for Dallas, and then St. Louis again later that week.

So many check-in calls and texts with each other were made, making sure things were still going to plan. Tyson made sure AJ knew what hotel the team was going to be at, she sent her travel itinerary. (Which was driving to St. Louis. No fancy flying, and at least she had her car with her.) He had her pick up a couple more items from his apartment that he could fit in his bag to take back as well.

The game in Dallas ended, the team flew out that night, but AJ wouldn’t get there until Friday late afternoon. Tyson’s teammates had not seen him this antsy before. After practice that afternoon, he headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up. A couple of the guys saw him leaving his hotel room, noticing he’d shaved, and styled his hair. Too warm for a hoodie, he opted for a tee and jeans. Trying to get comfortable in one of the lobby chairs was proving difficult, Tyson was straight up fidgeting in anticipation.

The vibration of the phone in his hands made his heart nearly pound out of his chest.

AJ: Just parked, heading in the main lobby.

Tyson’s eyes could not be peeled from the door as he anxiously awaited her walking in. Sure, they saw each other the previous week in the same city, but he hadn’t been able to physically touch AJ in over a month. All he had wanted to do the last week was hug her tightly to him, and if he had his way, never let her go.

The way he figured it, they’d have about 15 hours together, and he wanted to make the most of it.

The sliding doors to the lobby opened, and in walked a very tired looking AJ. She had left Denver at 3:30am, drove all the way through Kansas, and all the way across Missouri to get to St. Louis by 5:30pm with the time change. The speed limit drop once she hit Missouri made her timing off a bit, but she used as much pedal to the metal as she could to get there. Looking across the lobby, eye contact was made with Tyson who was already up and out of the chair, heading her way.

“Ugh, babe, I need a shower, I have been in the car for over 12 hours, I…”

AJ didn’t even have a chance to finish as Tyson’s warm hands cupped her face, tilting it up towards his and pulling her in for a long kiss. One of his hands traveled to the back of her head, the other heading way down south, pulling her body impossibly close to his. The two held their embrace for an inordinate amount of time, as if time stood still around them. Neither could even hear the chirps and catcalls that came from a handful of Tyson’s teammates making their way through the lobby in search of dinner.

It literally took Tyson getting dizzy from lack of oxygen before the kiss was broken, leaving the couple simply looking into each others’ eyes, panting. Before AJ knew it, Tyson grabbed her hand and was pulling her to the elevator. Pushing the button to the 8th floor, he had already pulled her into him for another kiss that was barely broken when the doors opened for his floor. The two of them stumbled down the hallway, AJ being pulled forward by Tyson walking backward to keep kissing her. He reached into his pocket and whacked his wallet against the lock, and with the click, the door opened and the two nearly fell inside the room.

Tyson could not keep his hands off of AJ. She had barely got her backpack thrown onto the sofa as he was kicking his shoes off and working on grabbing the belt loops of her jeans to pull her back to him.

“Baby, shhh… slow down. Seriously I need a shower, I feel gross from the road… before… dinner… need to… get… cleaned up.”

The smile on Tyson’s lips turned into a wicked grin, curling up at the corners. His lips attached to her neck, as he toyed with the collar on her shirt, pulling it down to expose her collarbones.He knew if he found the right spot just above them, she’d be a whimpering mess, and completely putty in his hands.

He found the spot.

It was clear that AJ was frustrated by this development, but at the same time was starting to not care either. In a quick decision, she let Tyson stay attached to her skin, but started pulling him toward the bathroom. Kicking off her shoes and pulling off her socks with her feet, she reached down to start shimmying out of her jeans. Forcing him to break contact, she tore her shirt over her head, and quickly leaned into the tub to start the shower. Tyson followed suit with his own pants, and AJ slowly peeled his shirt off, kissing her way up his abs and chest with each inch of exposed skin.

Looking down into AJ’s eyes, Tyson had a feral look on his face, pupils blown, cheeks flushed. He damn near picked her up to put her in the shower with some of her underthings still on. Impatiently he waited for her to unhook and pull off everything, although he really did enjoy the show. She tiptoed into the shower, letting the hot water melt away the icky feeling from being on the road, with Tyson coming in hot behind her.

Thanking his lucky stars that the tub had grippy strips, Tyson hoisted AJ up and pinned her against the side of the shower. She yelped at the shock of the cold granite wall, but wrapped her legs around his midsection, pulling his torso flush to hers. It was taking all of his willpower to not just take her right there, and even that was waning. But after a couple minutes of intense making out, and AJ failing at not grinding her hips into Tyson’s, he couldn’t focus on tasting every bit of AJ’s skin he could reach, holding her up against the wall, and keeping himself from just sliding in. It literally was too much for him.

The two stared at each other, out of breath, trying to calm down a bit. Between breathing hard, the hot water, and the sheer intoxication they were feeling from each other, they had to stop for a few moments.

This is probably one of the few times AJ turned the temperature of the water down in a shower, trying to put out what felt like fire on her face. The cold water almost stung across her body, but she finally felt like she was finding herself again, breathing more evenly.

Tyson leaned back against the wall, feeling the coolness against his skin. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a few moments. With a few deep breaths, he was able to compose himself. Instead of the intensity from just moments earlier, a calmness settled in Tyson’s head. With a soft kiss, he turned AJ around, and reached outside of the curtain, grabbing some of the Olaplex shampoo and conditioner that she had turned him onto a couple months prior.

“Close your eyes baby girl, I got you.”

With a tiny dab of the shampoo in his hands, Tyson worked a lather up in AJ’s hair. The light raking of his nails against her scalp elicited a low moan to fall from her lips as her head dropped backward into his hands. It was a sound that he missed so much in the last month. Sure, there were attempts at phone sex, and he occasionally would hear those sounds… but it sounded so much better in person. He leaned her back into the cool drops of water falling from the showerhead to rinse it out, followed up by putting a small dollop of conditioner in her hair.

AJ opened her eyes slowly, and turned, chest to chest with Tyson.

“Want me to return the favor?” AJ bit her lip a little, making eyes at Tyson.

“I learned from the best… only wash every couple of days. And I did earlier this afternoon. This is all about you right now.”

Tyson grabbed some shower gel and a washcloth, working it into suds before gently scrubbing AJ’s neck, shoulders, back, and around to her front. Taking a knee, he kissed the curves formed by her ribs, waist, and hips as his hands slid down her thighs, massaging them lightly.

He may not have wanted his hair washed, but she did run her fingers through the wet tangle of curls atop his head as he looked up at her. It wasn’t the same feral look he had earlier. While it was still intense, the look was softer. It wasn’t lustful. It was adoration and love.

Of course, with the boiling hot passion coming to a gentle simmer, blood and oxygen were getting back to Tyson’s brain. And that cheshire grin of his came back as he looked up, but then leaned down and nipped the inside of AJ’s thigh. She was caught off guard, expecting maybe a kiss, or his fingers sliding upward a bit, but instead gasped, then giggled at the puppy dog look he was giving her. Helping him back up on his feet, he finished rinsing the conditioner from her hair, and shut off the water.

Reaching around the curtain, he found a fresh towel in the cubby next to the shower. Unfurling it, Tyson dabbed it over her body, drying the stray drips of water that cascaded down her skin from her drenched wavy curls. AJ wrapped the towel around her, leaning up to softly kiss her love, with similar adoration in her eyes.

Tyson quickly dried off, and grabbed one of the robes from the hook and slid it on, tying the sash in front. It never failed to amuse AJ that he would do this at hotels - ever since the Ask the Avs segment regarding robes at hotels, she knew he enjoyed the finer things and being pampered. Looking at his watch though, he sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

Tyson had all these grand plans. He wanted to take AJ to a fancy dinner for two. He was going to pull her chair out for her, and scoot her in to the table before seating himself. He was going to cheat a little and they’d share a dessert. Maybe have an Irish Coffee with it. He envisioned them walking back to the hotel room, hand in hand. And once back in the room, his ideal night was going to be making love to AJ until the wee hours of the morning, game that next afternoon be damned. He knew that come morning, they’d have to get a quick breakfast, and kiss each other, not goodbye, but more goodbye for now. He’d be exhausted at the game. But he’d play his heart out, and he’d point at AJ when he’d score a goal, and she’d blow him a kiss.

“Tyson, you still with me babe?”

It took a moment to snap out of the daydream.

“Yeah, I… I just had some ideas for the night, but it is too late to really start them now.”

“So let’s make new plans? Are you hungry?” AJ squinted at Tyson. “I’ve been craving Seoul Taco for a while. Door Dash?”

Tyson chuckled, shaking his head a bit in disbelief. He’d never had a girlfriend that was this vocal about wanting things… didn’t matter if it were dinner, or something she wanted to try in bed. And he was fine with her taking the lead.

Ordering up a couple burritos (and really hoping this was not going to throw him off his game the next day), there was about a 45 minute wait for their food to arrive. AJ threw on a tee and her pajama shorts, and wrapped a towel around her hair, fastening it at the nape of her neck. Tyson didn’t exactly want her meeting the Dasher in the lobby dressed like that, but AJ was too comfy to care. A text alerted her to the arrival of food downstairs, so she put on her shoes sans socks, but still had her hair in a towel. Grabbing a few dollars from her wallet for a tip, she headed downstairs to retrieve dinner.

Setting up a makeshift dining room table on the bed, which probably wasn’t a great idea due to the kimchi fried rice being a little on the messy side inside their burritos, the couple chatted and ate. Laughter and smiles were in abundance. And after sweeping the rice crumbs off the bed, Tyson turned on the TV to find a movie to put on as he leaned back against the headboard with open arms to hold AJ with.

Giving a motion to hold on a moment, AJ grabbed her backpack from the sofa, and pulled out a small bag from one of the pockets. She tossed it at Tyson, who thankfully caught it before it smacked him in the chest. In his hands, he found a bag of Haribo Star Mix.

“Movie snacks? I love that you’re always prepared.”

Tyson tore into the bag and set it to the side, opening his arms again for AJ to join him on the bed. He’d propped the pillows up against the headboard as she was grabbing the candy from her bag. Curling up into his side, one of Tyson’s arms slid around her midsection and held her tight as he kissed the top of her head. The two stayed like this for a good portion of the movie, occasionally a hand would snag a gummy shape from the bag. Tyson always made sure to give AJ the Happy Cola bottles, and she’d give the Twin Snakes to Tyson.

Grabbing another from the bag, Tyson studied it closely and stopped before popping it in his mouth. He looked at AJ.

“This one is for you,” Tyson held the candy in front of AJ, directly in her line of sight with the TV.

AJ smirked and leaned forward, taking the candy from Tyson’s fingers with her teeth, chewed and swallowed. “Thanks babe. I could get used to you feeding me candy in bed.”

This was not the response that Tyson was looking for.

He searched the bag of candy again and dug out another specific piece, and again held it up in front of AJ’s face.

And again, AJ chomped down on it, thanking him for the candy.

Clearly frustrated, Tyson grabbed the bag of candy, frantically searching until he found the last of the particular shape in the bag. Holding it in his fingertips, he held it further from AJ’s face this time. She started to lean forward, when he pulled it away.

“What the hell?”

“Babe, stop.” Tyson inhaled slowly, thinking about what he was about to say. “Look at what it is.”

AJ eyed the gummy ring now sitting on his palm, then looked back at him in slight confusion.

Tyson turned to face AJ, and looked at the gummy ring, then looked at her again. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately, and, well, this seemed like a sign to me. I know it’s only been a few months…”

AJ wasn’t breathing. All she was doing was staring into Tyson’s hazel eyes, hanging on every word that was coming out of his mouth.

“I know it isn’t ideal, because it’s probably going to get fuzz all over it when it gets sticky, and it’ll probably melt in the shower. But.. will you… be my sweetie?”

Forgetting that she hadn’t breathed in a bit, and trying to process what Tyson just asked, a sharp inhale happened, and started giggling at the first thing that popped into AJ’s head.

Tyson remained quiet, afraid of why she reacted the way she did. He frowned.

“Hey now I was just thinking I never told you I’m not a big yellow gold fan. I do like pineapple though, and I love you. But… I’m needing clarification… are you asking me to…?”

Tyson bit his lip, and nodded. He was now the one holding his breath, and looking for any sort of clue as to what AJ was thinking. His eyes went downward, looking at the candy still in his palm, and looked at her hand next, then back into AJ’s eyes. Finally he broke the silence that heavily hung in the air.

“AJ, will you? Will you be my…”

AJ had been through a lot in the last year, and it took so much arm twisting by Nate to get her to apply for her job. To move to Denver. There were days she had issues picking between mozzarella sticks or fried pickles for a side at her favorite diner. She was the queen of overthinking.

This time though, she didn’t even think. Everything about what was going on just felt… right.

Her answer came in the form of AJ launching herself at Tyson and kissing him deeply. When the two finally separated, Tyson’s heart was pounding and he was trying to catch his breath. The smile on AJ’s face was all he needed. The gummy in Tyson’s hand was shakily slid on his love’s finger.

“It’s beautiful, Tyson.” AJ admired the candy on her finger while giggling.

“I’m going to get you a better one, I promise.”

“Probably a good idea, this one is cutting off my circulation and I kinda want to eat it.”

The two continued to lean into each other, foreheads lined up so they could just look into each other’s eyes for a bit. Neither could believe what just happened. But as much as Tyson would say that he hadn’t planned it, it had been on his mind for a while. The talk with Grandpa Jim after Valentine’s Day, regarding how he knew Grandma Emily was the one. Every day without AJ in Minnesota with him felt like something was missing. It had been on his mind so long, to be honest, that he remembered telling his mom about the afternoon that the two met in the locker room before the game that evening. (“She’s something special, there is just something about her.”) He even realized that the song she was singing was one he would hear her play/sing often in the next six months of their time together - Chet Baker’s “My Funny Valentine.” It suddenly all clicked as soon as he saw the gold colored gummy band with off-white “stone”.

Very few things in Tyson’s life made more sense than that spontaneous question he posed to AJ.

I don’t think I need to tell you what the two were up to the rest of the night. So while part of his plans were changed, like dinner, and he hadn’t planned on asking the question, a fair amount seemed to stay intact. And it was as Tyson had envisioned - it wasn’t rushed, but instead it was slow, and full of emotion. And it felt different between the two, in a better way.. The newly established bond seemed to free something in the both of them, allowing for further exploration of the connection they shared. But in true AJ and Tyson style, there was still a lot of laughter and smiles. That was destined to be a thing with them from the start. They were both of the belief of if you’re not laughing, you’re being too serious. And while they had their intense moments, the lighthearted were still some of their favorites.

AJ insisted on them getting a couple of hours of sleep as she’d been awake nearly 25 hours, and Tyson had a game to play in about 10 hours. A quick cat nap, and the two were up once again, with one more quickie before heading to breakfast.

Neither had looked at their phones since AJ’s arrival, or so AJ at least thought, and her watch buzzed with a notification from Instagram from Tyson.

Fumbling around the counter trying to grab her phone without getting out of the shower, AJ finally gripped it and was nervous to see what Tyson had posted on IG - mainly because they’d already talked about not spilling the news regarding the status change of their relationship. Tyson swore up and down he wasn’t going to blurt it out to his new team like he did with his last team, even if they all already knew. This time he was going to play it extremely cool.

What he didn’t play it cool about was the fact he was ecstatic that he and AJ were sharing the same physical space even if just for a few hours. And his level of silliness.

josty17 BEDHEAD WAR IS BACK ON, BABY! LFG!

And in all it’s glory, Tyson shared a photo of some very messed up bedhead on AJ. She had no idea when he snapped the photo. But it was definitely from today, it was the same tanktop she fell asleep in, and clearly was the bed in the hotel. She chuckled to herself, knowing full well that was not just run-of-the-mill bedhead, but definitely ASH. (After sex hair, for those that were questioning.)

wicketthewarrior Don’t make me get photos from your mom, Jost. I know she’s got a stash and is more than happy to share.

AJ could hear Tyson cackling from the other room as she hit send, and was toweling her hair off.

Breakfast was a little weird, as it wasn’t a nice quiet bite to eat, but instead a flurry of introductions with Tyson’s new teammates. And it was taking all his self control to not explode with “THIS IS MY FIIIIANNNNNCEEEEEEEE!!!”

Once breakfast was eaten, Tyson had to hop on the bus to head to the arena. The two sighed as he packed his bag, as did AJ (although she was just switching to a different room, there was no way she was driving another 12+ hours home after the night she had, plus going to the game that afternoon). There was a long hug that didn’t want to be broken between the two, but they knew it was coming.

“See you at the game, Jost. Kick some ass.”

AJ had some time before the game to kill, so she checked out the aquarium at Union Station, but really just wished that Tyson had been there with her. One of the dates she really wanted to go on while he was still in Denver was to hit up the zoo together, but schedules and weather never seemed to quite align. She needed to look up whether there was a zoo or not in the Twin Cities, and if not there, maybe there was one near his family up in Alberta. Zoos and aquariums were one of her favorite things to visit - could easily spend all day just watching the various animals. In fact, she had to set an alarm on her watch to head out on time. It wasn’t far, just a couple blocks (in fact that’s where she parked the previous week as well), but she didn’t want to miss the lunch that came with her ticket (she snagged the EXACT same ticket she had the previous week!), and she definitely didn’t want to miss out on warmups - another sign was in tow in her car.

After watching the otters, and chilling out with the jellyfish, petting sharks and rays, and generally taking in the animals of the wet, swimming variety, her watch started buzzing, reminding her to head out.

Getting through security was a bit of a chore, for some reason this week the door folks were being sticklers about her poster. It was well within Enterprise Center’s rules, but they were still harassing her about it. Finally they let her in but it seemed like they really didn’t want AJ’s sign there. Maybe it was the green jersey she wore, emblazoned with JOST 10 on the back. She made her way downstairs to check out meal options for the day, and grabbed a plate and got in line. Not that she was trying to listen in, but she had a good chuckle at the couple behind her.

“Hey hon? This seems really bougie. Like this is way too fancy for us to be here,” the guy told his partner. “I don’t feel like I belong here.”

“Pfft, whatever, we’re fine.”

AJ leaned back and whispered, “I feel that way too, but you know what? You paid for the ticket, you have every right to be here. Eat and drink up!”

The man nodded and smiled.

With her plate full of a variety of things, including Eggplant Parmesan, fried corn nuggets, nachos and strawberry shortcake, AJ found a corner to sit down and just people watch. There were clearly some families there, and there were the bro types, and a few others that clearly looked like it was their first time in the Rinkside Club area. A brass band was piped in on the televisions from upstairs, playing from the concourse outside the arena. St. Louis had a different vibe than Denver, that’s for sure.

Finishing up her meal, AJ snagged her sign and headed back upstairs, to head back downstairs to her seat. The same photographer from the week before recognized her instantly, chatting her up. They talked for a few minutes, until the teams were preparing to come out onto the ice. He knew she was going to be looking for Tyson, and she knew he was going to be taking photos of warmups.

The crowd cheered when the teams hit the ice. A couple guys sporting Minnesota jerseys were standing next to AJ against the glass. It seemed like all the folks in green gravitated to each other, as there was a bit of familiarity, as well as the feeling of power in numbers. The three were chatting as the men in white and green hit their side of the rink. AJ pushed her sign against the glass in front of her. A few of the players tapped their sticks at the glass in front of her as they skated by, usually flashing a quick smile of acknowledgement. She could overhear the two men next to her questioning how she was getting attention. And as per the new tradition, Deslauriers slammed into the glass right at her. This time she was ready, and didn’t flinch. The guys next to her sure did though.

The chat came to a grinding halt when Tyson came by with the biggest of the smiles shown her way. Stopping to read the sign, he didn’t turn the shade of red on his jersey, but sans fishbowl, he was able to kiss the knuckles of his glove properly and fistbump AJ through the plexi, mouthing “Love you, Eggo.”

“Love you too. Let’s fucking GO!” was mouthed back.

Tyson chuckled and skated around to join the group at center ice.

The guys next to her were completely gobsmacked by this. They continued chatting with AJ while the team did drills with Talbot, asking how she knew Tyson, and the rest of the team. A very abridged version was shared, that they started dating when he was with the Avalanche, but since he was traded, she was attempting to split loyalties. The Avs were her team, but Tyson had her heart. And if she was being completely honest, found it interesting watching the Wild and their style of play as it was so different from what she was used to seeing with the Avalanche. They joked about how they didn’t want to meet up with the Avalanche in the playoffs, and with good reason. They were likely the team to beat. At that point they could lose most of the rest of their games and still be the conference champs.

After the team broke apart again on the ice, Tyson did his stickhandling drill in front of AJ as usual, and noticed a family with kids at the glass on the other side of her. Corralling an extra puck, he sent it up and over the glass, behind the net so it’d drop for the kids. Tapping their slapping hands against the glass, Tyson glanced over one more time and winked before heading off the ice for the start of the game. AJ’s heart melted. She didn’t want kids, but damn if Tyson being adorable with little ones wasn’t making her second guess that decision.

(AJ felt like she had problems taking care of herself some days, so she wasn’t about to bring a new life into the world that she may struggle with taking care of - always envisioned being the cool aunt that bought annoying as hell musical instruments to “enrich” her nieces and nephews, and absolutely drive mom and dad nuts. Also she was so excited for arts and crafts of the messy variety so she can just hand the paint-covered children back to the folks, but with fun little art pieces. Unsure of others’ plans, she might have to just be the chosen aunt of her friends’ kids.)

The puck dropped, and it was game on between the Wild and the Blues yet again. Definitely another hard fought game - very back and forth with scoring. Defense seemed a bit soft on both sides. It especially stung AJ when Saad scored, with a Ryan O’Reilly assist. She was still an Avalanche fan deep down, and harbored a broken heart when the Saadfather signed on with the Blues the previous summer after having such a tremendous year with the Avs. O’Reilly… she just harbored a lot of intense dislike for after the way he behaved after leaving the Avs.

Late in the third, Buchnevich hit Tyson near center ice. It was such a fast hit, and sadly, a legal one too. All AJ saw was Tyson still laying on the ice, and suddenly Deslauriers was ON Buchnevich letting him know it was NOT okay for him to hit his teammate like that. Tears were filling AJ’s eyes as Tyson slowly got up, and dragged his foot lightly behind him, trying to get to the bench. As if seeing him limp to the bench and head down the tunnel wasn’t hard enough, the voice hollering from behind her in the stands made her ready to line up like Deslauriers just had with the Blues player.

“BYE BYE JOSTY, TIME TO GO HOME!”

Someone pushed AJ’s shoulder from behind her.

“AWWW is JOSTY HURT? WHAT A CRY BABY!”

The usher near AJ stepped in, telling the very intoxicated man behind her to cut it out, or he was going to be asked to leave.

In the meantime, AJ had grabbed her phone, and was texting away.

AJ: He’s not on the bench. He’s down the tunnel.

Jess: It didn’t look that bad, maybe he lost an edge.

AJ: I have a bad feeling about this, fuck I hate this.

The end of the third period horn sounded, tied 5-5. AJ was trying to breathe slowly to keep the anxiety bubbling up in check, but definitely was struggling. After a quick sweep of the ice by the zambonis, the teams were ready to start OT.

AJ: He’s not on the bench.

Jess: I’m sure it’s just precautionary with playoffs coming up soon. He’ll be alright, you know how tough he is.

AJ: HE JUST GOT HIS FISHBOWL OFF, DAMN IT. Just hope he’s alright. I HATE THIS SO MUCH RIGHT NOW, they’re still not going to let me in the locker room even if I tell them I’m his…

She had to stop herself from typing “fiancée” as she hadn’t told Jess, or even her family yet. This was just something for her and Tyson right now.

… girlfriend.

The scene she made the week prior trying to get past security previously still played out in her head. There was a glimmer of hope being extinguished in her mind that just because he was injured, he’d be able to have a visitor. She knew better, the security was tight, and just doing their job.

Not even paying attention to the game being played, AJ heard the roar of the crowd as Schenn put one past Talbot not even a minute into OT. Angry with the outcome of the game and not being able to get to Tyson, AJ got up while everyone was still cheering, and started walking (almost stomping) to her car. She was still agitated by the guy behind her in the crowd mocking Tyson. She didn’t even care that it was Tyson - a lot of her ire was because it was Tyson, but if it had been any other player on the team they were making fun of for being injured, she would be just as angry. Just the concept of being that much of an asshole made AJ’s blood boil.

Reaching her car in the Union Station parking lot, she opened the door, sat down, and just cried all the frustrations that had bottled up in the last 40 minutes. The physical tiredness of running on about 7 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, the worry of whether Tyson was okay, and the emotional exhaustion from the night before hit AJ hard. Thankful that she wasn’t driving more than a few miles to get to her temporary home, she started the engine to her car, and ended up sitting for a good 30 minutes waiting on traffic to move so she could pay her parking fees and head out.

While waiting in line behind about 4 cars at the pay booth, her phone buzzed. She realized in all this, she never reached out to Tyson, checking in on if he was okay.

Tyson: Hey? Are you OK?

AJ wiped her eyes, realizing she probably was going to look like a hot mess for the toll booth employee.

AJ: Sorry, I just… I kinda shut down. I’m just mentally and physically drained. Are YOU okay though? Fuck Buchnevich. I hope Nic beat the shit out of him. I wasn’t even paying attention, I was trying to keep from throwing hands with an asshole sitting behind me.

Tyson: I tweaked something in my calf, didn’t feel right, so I took myself out. Coach agreed it was the right call.

Tyson: Wait, you did WHAT now?

AJ: Hold on a sec, I have to pay for parking brb

Handing her card to the employee, she thanked them and wished them a good day when they handed back her card and receipt.

Not even sure if he could take the call, AJ pushed the facetime button. He answered immediately, already dressed in his suit to travel back to Minnesota on the team’s flight. Tyson saw the smudged makeup and sighed.

“Sorry, I just.. Ugh. I can’t text and drive. I just needed to know you were okay.”

“Little rest and a little PT, I’ll be just fine. Now what the fuck happened that you were going to PUNCH someone?”

AJ heard the locker room chatter immediately quiet, and she had a hard time coming up with the words to even explain what happened.

“You got hit, and… I saw Nic go after him… and it was like I wasn’t even me anymore when I heard this absolute asshole behind me mocking the fact you were injured. It was taking a lot for me to not turn around and scream, and I imagine if I did, I’m pretty sure that I would have at minimum slapped him, if not more. I still have nail marks in my palm from how hard I was clenching my fist. St. Louis has some seriously not classy fans.”

Tyson couldn’t hide the corners of his lips curling up, his body shaking a little bit.

“Are you laughing right now?” AJ went silent after confronting the odd behavior. Her eyebrow furrowed as she turned onto another street, coming to a stop behind a line of cars.

Looking back, Tyson was indeed smirking.

“Are you hearing yourself right now? You were willing to FIGHT… because someone said something dickish about me.” Tyson turned and leaned back, hollering at someone. “Hey, yeah can you give AJ some fighting lessons? She nearly took on some fan in the stands like you took on Buchnevich.” He looked back and smiled at her again, and Deslauriers leaned into the frame to give a thumbs up. “My woman is willing to fight for my honor, that’s badass! But.. really don’t do that. That’s probably not good for the PR team. I love you though, you know that.”

The sheer exhaustion was evident on AJ’s face, giving a sheepish grin. It was occurring to her how absolutely ridiculous it was sounding. Trying to suppress a yawn, she failed as the line of cars ahead of her started moving.

“I should probably hang up, traffic’s moving and I need to figure out how to get back to the hotel. Text me later?” AJ’s eyes were trained on the road.

“You know it. Text me when you get to the hotel. Love ya babe.”

AJ could hear the chirps in the background.

“Love you too.”

A kiss was blown at the screen as she attempted to find the end call button without looking. With a deep breath, focus was figuring out which road she needed to take to get back. A quick detour found AJ picking up another round of Seoul Taco (knowing she wasn’t going to make it there again anytime soon, and no plans of hitting it up in Chicagoland either), and dragged everything upstairs to her hotel room.

AJ: “Home” for the night. Keep that leg RICEd for the flight back. Text me when you’re on the ground?

Tyson: You know it, **future wife**

The grin that showed up on AJ’s face upon reading that single line of text made her forget all about being angry at the Blues player that hit Tyson, and the fan that she almost got into an altercation with.

AJ: It’s going to take some getting used to, hearing that. I mean other than the fact we’re trying to keep that on the dl, future hubs.

She couldn’t see it, but Tyson had the same goofy grin that graced her own lips moments earlier.

Tyson: Love you

AJ: (heart emoji)

It wasn’t long after AJ took a few bites into her burrito that she ended up wrapping it back up, and stashing it along with an order of sweet potato waffle fries in the fridge. Her eyelids were so heavy, and her brain was SCREAMING at her that she was going to have to drive the twelve and a half hours back to Denver the next day. The attempt to stay up until Tyson texted that the flight had landed failed, and AJ crashed out hard on the bed.

Tyson: Back home, Eggo

The phone buzz didn’t even faze AJ.

Tyson: I hope you’re sleeping, it’s been a wild day and a half. I’m going to crash too. Can’t wait to see you again soon. Text me when you’re leaving in the morning. Love you so much.

The alarm on AJ’s phone woke her up at 6:15, having slept nearly 10 hours made her feel a little out of sorts. A quick cold shower to get more coherent happened, followed by a once over of the room to make sure all her toiletries and clothes made it back into her backpack. Snagging the leftover Seoul Taco from the fridge, she threw it into the makeshift cooler made from a few ice bucket bags filled with ice. AJ headed downstairs to snag breakfast before hitting the road. The fairy tale was ending. Or at least, it was taking a break for the time being.

AJ: Heading back to Denver. Doesn’t feel right going back without you. Miss you already.

Chapter 20 is up! https://brainrattlers.tumblr.com/post/694622680212783105/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-20n-authors-notes

#Tyson Jost #Josty #Play It Cool #Tyson Jost x OFC #haribo #SeoulTaco #TysonTuesday

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no-pucks-given · 3 years

Text

TYSON JOST | LIGHT MY WAY HOME

A/N: More than 12.000 words later, more than a month after the initial request from Taylor popped up in my notifications. What a freaking ride. My longest fic I've ever written, and maybe even my favourite one. Thank you, to everyone who hyped me up, send me inspo and send me sweet asks. I couldn't have done this without all of you. Special thanks to @dumb-and-dunner, @chicagoblackhawkslover96, @heybarzy and Chrissy (who doesn't have Tumblr unfortunately).

Warnings: Angst, ‘can I strangle him yet?’ Tyson, swearwords, some major character development and (how could I not?!) a happy ending.

Also: Gabe and Melissa Landeskog play a big part in this fic, so if you aren't comfortable with them, you might want to skip this one.

Word Count: 12.1K

Requested: Yes.

The NHL lifestyle, or the ‘popular’ lifestyle was attractive to all young, hormonal boys. You’d known that for a long time. You stood by Tyson’s side when he got drafted into the wicked world of the NHL. Parties, drinking, sex, training until you can barely move, fights, games, wins and losses. It all had it’s charms, but it also had its dangers. Just like any other guy Tyson wanted to experience it all, the whole package,

You assumed you fell under that ‘whole package’, you were his girlfriend for a reason, right? And you did, for a while. You partied together, came home together, did everything together. But the moment Tyson became older and ‘known’ outside the regular hockey fans, that title didn’t mean much anymore. He became more and more the type of guy you didn’t fall in love with, the type to take you for granted, the type to enjoy the attention of other people, other women in particular. You weren’t the jealous type, you didn’t want to claw out the eyes of every woman that looked at him, but you were at a breaking point. Maybe you were jealous, you weren’t jealous of those other women, you were jealous of the attention Tyson gave them. Attention he should’ve been giving to you, his freaking girlfriend.

You were however the loyal type, the type to come home after a long night. And that’s exactly where things went wrong with Tyson. While you were waiting for him at home with a meal, a warm bed or just simply anything else, he was out. You had no idea where he was exactly, he was simply ‘out’, whatever that might mean. You tried to talk to him, you tried to make him see that this wouldn’t end well for either of you, but he simply waved off your concerns, shrugged his shoulders and moved on.

How do you talk to someone who rediscovered himself? How do you talk to someone who thinks he’s on top of the world? How do you save someone from the downfall of success when they don’t want to be saved? You knew one day he’ll come down from this high, one day he’ll realize that he screwed up. One day he’ll come to the conclusion he let something special slip through his fingers, and for what? Fame? Drinks? A rush of adrenaline? One day. But you knew that it wouldn’t be today.

However today is the day that you’re done. Absolutely fed up with all the bullshit excuses Tyson has been feeding you, all the coming home late or not even coming home at all. You have no idea what he’s been up to these last months, he’s barely home. Even when he’s home it’s like he isn’t really there. You can’t even remember the last time the two of you slept together or the last time you actually went to bed at the same time. Breakfast together? A lifetime ago. A lazy day together? Can’t remember. Date night? Months, months ago. Even thinking about it pisses you off to no end, the pain and hurt slowly making place for a new emotion: anger.

It’s frustrating to say the least. You love and take care of him like he means the world to you, and he does. Tyson on the other hand seems to take you for granted, or forgets you’re here at all. It seems like you’re talking to a brick wall instead of your boyfriend. No matter how hard you try, your words have no impact, your tears don’t make him feel anything. It’s like he’s a totally different person. You barely recognize him anymore these days, he feels like a stranger inside the body of the man you love. It feels like you’re both living your life, besides each other instead of with each other. It hurts, that’s for sure.

Like any other day you’ve prepared dinner, put it on the table and sat down on one of the chairs. All you can do now is wait, wait and pray he’ll show up this time. You even texted him, begged him to come home and simply eat dinner with you for a change. Of course you didn’t get a response, of course it’s complete radio silence from his side. God, you were desperate at this point, you don’t even try to deny it.

With every passing minute your hope disappears little by little. You stare at the food on the table until it’s completely dark outside, no sign of Tyson. Hours passed and you barely noticed it, it isn’t until you try to stand up and your muscles ache from sitting in the same position for a long time that you realize how much time actually has passed. “Fuck this, why am I even trying anymore?” you mutter to yourself, shaking your head. This isn’t worth it, it hasn’t been for a long time. Maybe, just maybe you’re finally ready to admit it to yourself.

Deciding to choose yourself over Tyson is a major decision, one you probably should’ve made sooner. It doesn’t matter, what does matter is that you’re choosing you now. You make the split second decision to just grab your stuff, just the necessary stuff. You remember Gabe’s offer, at the time you waved it off with a smile, pretending it wasn’t as bad as it might look to the outside world, but now? You want nothing more than to take him up on his offer. So what’s stopping you?

Even though you were excruciating calm this whole time, the moment you step into your bedroom, or Tyson’s bedroom, you break. This is real, this is really happening. You grab your bags, filling them with some of your stuff. Some clothes, some toiletries, your makeup, everything you might need. It’s a tough job, it’s even harder when you almost can’t see past the tears. At some point you lose track of things you did and didn’t grab, just shoving random items into your bag.

You let out a frustrated sigh, your body sinking down on the floor. In your hands the box containing all your high school love letters, all the small gifts you made each other. Tyson was quite handy, who would’ve thought that? You smile at the memories, sorting through the box. You frown at the feeling surging through your body, is this how heartbreak feels? Looking down at the contents of the box you sigh, wiping away the tears streaming down your face. Why couldn’t life be as simple as it used to be? It shouldn’t be this hard, right? You grab your prom picture between your fingers, smiling sadly at the two people in the picture, both smiling like they just won the lottery, both utterly in love with the other. How time can change..

You throw the box on the bed, maybe it will remind Tyson what the two of you had was special, maybe he’ll realize what he’s about to lose. If it doesn’t, well, it’s his loss. Hauling your bags downstairs is a full workout, you intended to bring ‘just the essentials’ but you have way more important stuff than you originally thought. You aren’t planning on returning to this house any time soon.

Shutting the car door after you loaded in your stuff gives you some form of relief. You let out the breath you’ve been holding in. You made your decision, it’s time to follow through now. You make your way back inside, and into the kitchen. Cleaning up all leftovers from dinner, which obviously is a lot more than you expected. Although.. did you really think he would show up? You shake your head again, putting the leftovers into the fridge. After you finish the dishes you retreat back to the living room, falling down on the couch with a loud sigh. All you can do now is wait.

You could’ve just left and never look back, but that isn’t your style. If you’re going to leave, you’ll do it the right way. You won’t leave without giving him a piece of mind, letting him know he fucked this up for good. You try to focus on the movie playing on the screen, but your heart keeps beating harder and harder, at this point you wish you would’ve just left instead of waiting for Tyson to show up. God, why did you have to do it the right way? Because you know, deep down, you would’ve wanted him to do it the same way. It’s the humane thing to do, it’s only right after spending such a long time together.

The front door opening brings you out of your thoughts. Honestly you don’t even know what time it is, but frankly you don’t care. All you want right now is to get this off your chest and leave. Tyson’s eyes widen when he comes face-to-face with you, surprisingly he doesn’t seem that intoxicated. You suspected he went out, but at this point he could’ve been anywhere.

“You’re still up,” Tyson says, walking past you and flopping down on the couch.

“Yep, and you missed dinner,” you counter, crossing your arms. Tyson simply shrugs his shoulder, clearly not caring enough to explain his absence. “I texted you to make sure you would be here,” you say, even though you know it doesn’t make a difference.

“Yeah, I was busy,” Tyson answers, looking down at his phone.

You almost feel the need to chuckle, to start laughing at his stupid behavior, but this is anything but funny to you, it fucking hurts. “I’m done, Tyson. I’m fucking done,” you say, shaking your head, trying so hard to keep the tears away.

Tyson looks at you with dull eyes, no emotion visible on his face. “Then go to fucking bed, I really can’t deal with your problems right now,” he sighs, turning his head back to the phone in his hand.

Right now, at this moment you know you made the right decision. This isn’t behavior of someone who’s in love, this isn’t even behavior of someone who loves. “You don’t have to deal with me anymore, because I’m leaving. I’m done, we’re done,” you tell him, emphasizing the last part. Tyson’s eyes shoot to yours, the panic clearly written all over his face now.

“No, we’re not. You can’t break up with me, y/n!” he almost shouts at you, standing up from the couch.

“Yes, I can and I will. You don’t get to act like you care all of the sudden, Tyson. You haven’t acted like a boyfriend in months. You haven’t given me any reason to stay, so I won’t. I’m done with whatever this is,” you say, waving between the two of you. Tyson grabs your wrist, tears starting to pool in his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something but you cut him off. “No. No. You don’t get to do this. It’s over. You put on quite a show, but I can’t say it was very entertaining. This curtain fucking closes right now, show is over. You can act like you care, but I know by now that you don’t,” you tell him, ripping your arm out of his grip.

You walk over to the front door, keeping your head high. Now is not the time to break down, your time will come. You hear Tyson behind you, muttering how sorry he is, excuse after excuse leave his mouth. You open the door, turning around one last time to look at Tyson. “Don’t tell me you’re sorry, ‘cause you’re not,” you say while shaking your head. You close the door behind you, not looking back at what you’ve left behind, only looking forward to what’s yet to come.

It’s when you’re in your car mindlessly driving around when you realize you have nowhere to go. You forgot to call Gabe, and it’s probably way too late now. You quickly check the time, 2am, shit that’s late. You doubt he’s still awake, you feel bad for even thinking about waking him up. Two young children, both of them under the age of 2, and being a professional hockey player probably cost him enough energy already, you don’t need to add to that. “He did say I could always call him when I made my decision,” you say out loud, more to convince yourself that it’s okay than anything else.

You easily find Gabe’s contact, immediately pressing the dial button before you change your mind again. The line only rings twice before Gabe picks up. “I’m guessing you either finally broke up with him or there’s a fire somewhere,” Gabe says from the other side of the line. You chuckle, shaking your head. “And since you’re calling me and not the fire department, my guess is on the first one,” Gabe continues, trying to make you smile some more.

“I did it, I broke up with him, couldn’t stand to be there any second longer,” you sigh, brushing your fingers through your hair.

You hear Gabe’s sigh of relief. “I’m proud of you, y/n. I know this isn’t what you had in mind, but it’s better like this, I promise.”

Gabe turned into one of your best friends over time, Melissa is the older sister you never had and you love their children like they’re your own. Gabe and Melissa welcomed you into their family immediately after meeting you. You hadn’t expected to make friends and you definitely didn’t expect to make friends with the captain and his wife, but you’re so grateful you did. The support you receive from them is overwhelming, you couldn’t wish for better friends. So when Gabe first made you this offer, you were thankful he did, although you were still convinced at that point that Tyson would change.

“Uhm, you know.. that offer you made me? Is that still on the table?” you ask, praying he’ll say ‘yes’, praying you don’t have to sleep in some random hotel tonight.

“Of course, the guestroom is already prepared. Melissa expects you to be here as soon as possible, apparently she ‘really needs to cuddle her little sister’,” Gabe chuckles, you can almost hear him rolling his eyes at his wife.

“Thank you, Gabe. I owe you,” you say softly.

“You don’t. You’re family, y/n,” Gabe says, and you know he means every word he just said. Family. “Now get your ass over here, before Melissa starts a search party,” Gabe chuckles, making you laugh some more, because you know she would. You quickly say your goodbyes, promising you’ll be there in a few minutes. It’s just a short drive from your apartment, or Tyson’s apartment now, to Gabe and Mel’s place.

You kept up your appearance, keeping the tears at bay, but the moment you step out of your car and into Gabe’s arms you’re done. “Come here, I’m so sorry,” Gabe says softly, his hands rubbing soothing circles on your back.

You stand there for a few minutes, simply crying on your best friend’s shoulder, until Melissa squeezes herself between the two of you. “Hush, I need some sister time. Why don’t you grab her stuff?” she says, smiling sweetly at her husband.

Gabe sighs dramatically, sending a wink your way. “Whatever you say, wife.”

Melissa pulls you close to her, an arm around your waist, her head resting on your shoulder. “Come on, I’ll show you your room,” she softly says, leading you into the house. You’ve been here so many times already, but never like this. You’ve never been in a situation like this before, you’re not sure how to handle this. “I can hear the wheels turning in your head. It will be okay,” Melissa says, rubbing your arm soothingly. You sigh, shrugging your shoulders, not sure what to say.

Melissa leads you to your room, pushing you down on the bed, while she takes a seat on the edge of the bed. “I know you’re probably exhausted, but do you want to talk?” Melissa asks softly, her face showing nothing but compassion.

You lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about all that has happened. “I don’t even know what to say, Mel. I don’t even know how I feel right now. I’m just so...” you trail off, not knowing the right words to describe everything that you feel and think right now.

“Confused, relieved, mad?”

You sit back up, looking back at Melissa. “All of the above, I guess? It hurts, but I’m glad I did it. But I also regret it, because I love him, you know? I’m mad he didn’t try harder for me, for us,” you say, trying hard to keep the rush of tears away.

Melissa wraps her arms around you, pulling you close to her. “I know, sweetheart. It will take time, but you’re going to be okay.”

You sigh, knowing she’s right, even though it probably will take more time than just ‘some time’. You did just end a long relationship, it will take a lot of patience and time to work through that. “Thank you, Mel. For letting me stay here,” you mumble against Melissa’s shoulder.

“No need for that. You’re my sister, remember?” Melissa smiles at you.

Gabe softly knocks on the door before opening the door. “Brought your bags, thought you might need them before you go to sleep,” he says, smiling at the sight before him. Your friendship might be unconventional, but he couldn’t care less what other people think about it. Gabe absolutely adores the sister bond you and Mel share, he hoped the two of you would get along, so this? Picture perfect.

“Thanks, Gabe,” you smile at him.

“Do you mind if I steal my wife from you?” Gabe asks, making you and Melissa laugh out loud.

“Nope, she’s all yours,” you chuckle, waving at their retreating backs when they walk out of the room.

You strip out of your clothes, pulling on a sweater. You sigh, realizing you packed some of Tyson’s sweaters out of habit. His smell infiltrates your senses, making it damn hard to keep your emotions under control. It’s right this moment you know exactly how you feel. Heartbroken. The realization that your relationship with Tyson is really over doesn’t give you the satisfaction you hoped for, it doesn’t give you peace, it just fucking hurts. You simply feel hollow, even though deep down you know this was the right choice, this was what needed to happen. You know damn well why you feel so empty, you gave your heart to Tyson a long, long time ago, never expecting to be in a situation you might get it back. You don’t want it back, but you might need it back.

You realize it’s morning when the light softly shines into your room. You sigh, knowing damn well you’re lucky if you slept more than an hour this night. Rolling over you look at the clock on the wall, 9 am, perfect. Deciding it won’t do you any good if you stay in bed any longer, you force yourself out of bed and into the shower. The hot water warms your cold skin, soothing your sore muscles. All the twisting and turning you did all night surely didn’t help the way you feel right now. Why couldn’t life be a bit easier by simply letting the shower wash away all of your hurt, all of your pain? A fresh start, a clean slate.

You slip on some skinny jeans and a soft sweater, not in the mood to even think about doing your makeup. You dry your hair, before making a quick ponytail out of it. You walk down stairs, the chatter and laughter greeting you as soon as you walk into the kitchen. “Morning, guys,” you say, smiling at all the happy faces before you. A round of greetings sound throughout the room.

“How’d you sleep?” Gabe asks you as soon as you sit down next to him with a bowl of cereal.

“Can’t even tell you, suddenly it was 9 am,” you chuckle, shrugging your shoulders at Gabe’s raised eyebrow. “Do you have any idea where my phone is?” you ask Gabe, knowing he grabbed all your stuff out of your car.

“Uhh, I do, but I don’t know if you really want to look at it,” Gabe says, scratching the back of his head before pointing towards the kitchen counter. It’s your turn to raise your eyebrows, walking over to where Gabe’s pointing at.

You unlock your phone, quickly checking your notifications. “Oh damn,” you mutter, looking at the absurd amount of missed calls and messages left by none other than Tyson himself.

You sit back down next to Gabe, dropping your head on your arms. “What do I do now, Gabe?” you groan. “Why does he care all of the sudden?”

Gabe rubs his hand over your back before answering your question. “Because he lost you, y/n. He never thought he would.” You turn your head towards Gabe letting his words sink in.

Gabe gets ready to leave for practice shortly after you settle on the couch with Lucas in your arms. The little man has a fascination with your hair, maybe it’s all babies who have that, but you like to think that you’re special. “Don’t pull out all y/n’s hair, baby boy,” Gabe chuckles, giving his boy a soft kiss on his head. He gives you a kiss on your cheek, softly squeezing your shoulder. You open your mouth to say something, but Gabe cuts you off. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry about it, I’m his captain, but I’m your friend, okay? Just relax, make sure Lucas doesn’t puke on you and go do whatever it is that you women do all day,” Gabe chuckles, knowing you better than you know yourself. You mouth a quick ‘thank you’ to him, wishing him good luck with practice before he runs through the house trying to find his girls to kiss them goodbye.

“Your daddy is a good guy, you know that, Lucas?” you smile at the baby on your lap. Lucas coos, his hands grabbing onto the strands of your hair. “Your daddy and mommy make me feel so loved, even though their children like to see me in pain,” you joke, trying to free your hair from Lucas’s small hands. “Buddy, you’re way stronger than you look,” you mumble, when Lucas pulls on your hair again.

Melissa laughs out loud the moment she walks into the living room. “How many times did I tell you that you need to keep your hair away from him and his grabby hands?” she says, expertly freeing your hair from her son’s fists.

“Apparently not enough times,” you chuckle at her. Melissa joins you on the couch, while Linnea Rae plays on the ground with some of her toys, happily showing you what she got every now and then. It’s times like this that you’re extra grateful for Melissa and Gabe, the way they welcomed you into their family has been nothing but perfect.

“So, what’s going through that pretty head of yours?” Melissa asks, while scrolling through series to watch on Netflix.

You shrug your shoulders. “I don’t know, I’m kind of worried about practice, I think? I don’t want to put Gabe in this position,” you say, keeping your eyes on Lucas.

“You know Gabe would do anything for you, huh? You don’t know how many times he came home utterly frustrated by the way Tyson treated you. He never said anything, because you were still with him, I can’t promise you he will stay quiet this time,” Melissa says, squeezing your shoulder. “He’ll be fine, this isn’t Gabe’s first rodeo.”

You look at Melissa, who simply gives you a wink. “I know, I know. I just don’t want him to get in trouble or anything,” you say, smiling back at her. You trust and know Gabe, so hopefully there won’t be a lot of trouble today.

“If he does though, he probably deserves it.”

Gabe surprises you all with some takeaway when he gets home from practice. It’s been nice eating with other people for change, it’s been way too long. The amount of lonely dinners has been through the roof lately. Gabe nudges you with his elbow, causing you to look up at him. “No frowning at the table.”

Melissa rolls her eyes at her husband while you just stick out your tongue at him. “Sure, dad,” you say, causing Melissa to almost choke on her bite of food before she lets out a loud laugh.

“Yeah, dad. Leave us alone,” Melissa laughs, winking at her husband. Gabe shakes his head at you and Melissa, a grin plastered on his face.

It’s during dessert you find the courage to ask about Tyson. You weren’t sure if you needed to ask Gabe, you weren’t even sure if you wanted to know anything, but now you know you do. “So, did anything happen during practice?” you ask him, playing around with your spoon.

Gabe shakes his head, giving you a small smile. “Not much, just some chirping. Told him I’m his captain and he needs to fucking focus on practice. That seemed to do the trick,” Gabe says, shrugging his shoulders, continuing to eat his dessert.

You look across the table at Melissa who has the same expression on her face as you. Not convincing at all. ‘Sure,’ Melissa mouths at you from across the table. You shake your head at her, furrowing your eyebrows at Gabe’s statement. ‘Nope,’ you mouth back at her, finishing your dessert. You decide to let it go, you don’t even know why you care so much. You shouldn’t, right? You broke things off with Tyson, so why do you care so much what he does and thinks? The answer to that question is pretty simple the longer you think about it. Because you still love him, that’s why.

You thank everyone for dinner and dessert, promising to cook something from them later this week. Right now all you can think about is your bed and a decent night of sleep. God, that sounds like a true dream right now. You strip out of your clothes, crawling into the soft and cozy bed. It doesn’t take long before you fall asleep, showing just how exhausted you truly are.

The weeks that follow are filled with all kinds of activities, the 5 of you falling back into a comfortable rhythm, surprising you considering the situation you’re in. It isn’t every day you take in the ex-girlfriend of one of your teammates, or your best friend, whatever way you want to see things. When you aren’t working you spend a lot of time with the kids, trying to make things easier for Melissa and Gabe whenever they are busy or simply need some time for the two of them. You happily take on some of their care, even if it’s as simple as making sure they get their food in time. Honestly they are two of the sweetest children you’ve ever come across, they always find ways to make you laugh, even though most of the time it isn’t on purpose.

It’s been quiet around the house tonight, Melissa went out with a few of her friends, while she left Gabe and the kids with you. Apparently she needed some ‘alone time’ which didn’t include kids, and definitely didn’t include Gabe after he mentioned he wanted some ‘alone time’ with her as well. You love their friendly bickering, the love they have for each other visible in everything they do. So when Melissa gave her husband a dirty look and flipped him the bird the only logical thing to do was to start laughing at their exchange. “Have fun with them, sweetheart!” Melissa had yelled at you when she walked through the door, leaving the four of you behind.

Together you decide to just have a movie night. It’s late enough for both children to be asleep already, yet early enough to squeeze in a full size movie marathon. “Gladiatorrrrr!” Gabe exclaims excitedly while scrolling through the movie selection on Netflix, pausing on his all-time favorite movie.

You groan, covering your face with your hands. “Please no, have mercy, Gabe,” you laugh, knowing damn well you’re going to sit through this movie again. How many times has it been already? 12? You wouldn’t even be surprised. This dude really loves his movie. You look at Gabe from between your fingers, seeing the look on his face which makes you groan even more. “Fineeee, one more time, Gabe. One more time,” you whine at him, secretly enjoying his taste in movies, something you don’t plan on telling him ever.

It’s a little after 10pm when the doorbell rings. You look at Gabe, who looks just as surprised as you are. “It’s a bit early for Mel, don’t you think?” Gabe asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Definitely, unless she drank the whole bottle of champagne again,” you chuckle, thinking back at one of the craziest parties you’ve ever been to with Mel and Gabe.

“Oh God, please don’t remind me of that,” Gabe shudders at the memory of that night, standing up to see who’s on the other side of the door.

Gabe hates to say that he isn’t surprised to see Tyson’s face as soon as he opens the door. Honestly he had expected him at his door days, maybe even weeks ago. The moment Tyson found out you were staying with Gabe he broke, Gabe expected him to fight, to yell, to scream, he expected him to do anything except cry. Which is exactly what Tyson did, breaking down in the middle of practice. For a moment the whole place went quiet, only Tyson’s cries echoing throughout the building. No one knew how to act, no one knew what to do, until Gabe realized he’s the captain for a reason. On and off the ice. It was a weird experience, one Gabe still feels extremely conflicted about. He comforted his teammate, his friend, while his other friend was at his home, utterly heartbroken, trying to get over the guy who was bawling his eyes out on the ice.

After Tyson got over the initial shock the anger took over, just as Gabe expected. It made him almost drop the gloves, something he tried to avoid, not wanting to hurt Tyson. He let him say his things, things that absolutely didn’t make any sense, until he got everything out of his system. “Now can we continue this fucking practice, Jost?” Gabe told him after everything calmed down. Gabe tried to avoid the Tyson/y/n topic as much as possible after that, not wanting to get in the middle of things more than he already was. Until tonight apparently.

Gabe raises an eyebrow at the boy before him. “Why are you here, Tyson?” Gabe sighs, already knowing the answer to that question.

Tyson looks around, eyes flickering from left to right, clearly uncomfortable being here. “I, uh, can I talk to y/n? I know she’s here,” Tyson asks, scratching the back of his head before putting them back in his pockets.

Gabe shakes his head at him. “You can’t, if she wants to talk to you she will find a way to contact you. As long as you don’t get your shit together and prove to me, but most of all to her, that you’ve changed, I won’t let you anywhere near her,” Gabe declares, starting to get annoyed with the way Tyson acts. There’s no way he lets him close to you until you feel like you’re ready to see him again, no way.

Tyson opens his mouth, but Gabe gives him a look that immediately shuts him up again. “I’m saying this as your captain, and definitely not as your friend right now. Go home and leave her the fuck alone. You had your chance, you fucked up and now you have to deal with the consequences. How you deal with those said consequences is up to you, but I suggest you leave now and think about everything you did and didn’t do, okay?” Tyson nods his head, turning around to walk back to his car.

When he’s a few steps away from his car he turns around, smiling sadly at Gabe. “She’s my home, Gabe. Home doesn’t feel the same without her. You out of all people should understand that.”

Gabe chuckles low, shaking his head at his clueless teammate. “I do. I do know what home feels like, but I never, never choose anyone or anything over my ‘home’. Never. You sure as hell did, time after time,” Gabe says frustratedly, before shutting the door, leaving behind an even more frustrated Tyson.

You didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but you caught the sound of Tyson’s voice when you walked to the kitchen, grabbing some more popcorn. You didn’t mean to listen to their conversation, but it felt like you were glued to your place, unable to take another step, unable to do anything but listen.

Gabe walks back into the room, the look on your face immediately letting him know you know. “How much did you hear?” he asks softly, approaching you slowly.

“Enough,” you whisper, before breaking down, no longer able to keep the tears locked away, no longer able to keep your emotions to yourself.

With two steps Gabe is in front of you, grabbing the bowl of popcorn you held onto between your trembling fingers. He guides you back to the couch, urging you to sit down, which is a true challenge for someone who can barely feel the ground they walk on. Gabe wraps his arms around you the moment you sit down, allowing you to cry onto his shoulder as much as you want and need. He whispers sweet nothings while softly brushing your hair out of your face, making sure you have room to breath. Time after time Gabe proves what kind of friend he is, always making sure to be there for you when he’s needed, always doing things with the best intentions. Even if it’s just holding you until you calm down, even if it’s just speaking the truth against Tyson, even if it’s just simply being there for one another.

“Sooner or later he would’ve realized what he lost, what he gave up for an evening of clubbing or God knows what. Apparently it’s sooner rather than later, however make sure you make him work for it, if you ever decide you want to give the two of you another chance,” Gabe softly advises you, when you finally calmed down a bit.

“I will, you know I love him, Gabe. But I don’t know if I should?” you mumble, not sure if it’s a question Gabe has the answer to.

“Sometimes the heart wants what it wants. If he’s serious about you, he will work his ass off to earn back your love and trust, I promise you,” Gabe comforts you, after knowing Tyson for so long he’s positive he knows that Tyson goes above and beyond to get what he wants in life.

Maybe it’s Gabe’s comforting words, maybe it’s knowing deep down Tyson still cares, maybe it’s your own strength, but for the first time in a while you feel a tiny flicker of hope, a little bit of light at the end of the dark tunnel. Maybe, just maybe this was all worth it, maybe this is what needed to happen to get better and move forward. Maybe this is how it was supposed to go.

It’s a weird feeling, knowing your ex still cares about you, but also knowing you aren’t ready to let him back into your life like that. You don’t feel like you’re capable of seeing him yet, let alone talk to him. The need to know how he’s doing, how he’s holding up grows, but also confuses you. It’s simply a weird and confusing situation to be in. Choosing between two, maybe even more ways to handle this, while also waiting for Tyson to make a move, which he obviously can’t since you don’t want to see him or speak to him, is a hard task. A task that will require a lot of thinking. You just need a bit more time to gather your thoughts, give all of your confusing feelings a place, while making sure you put yourself first, you need to put yourself first this time.

So when Gabe invites you to one of his home games a few weeks later you say ‘yes’ right away. It seems like the perfect time and place to see Tyson from a distance again, without putting too much stress on yourself, you can just watch and enjoy the game, you don’t have to force anything. Of course your seats turned out to be way closer to the ice than you expected them to be, although... what did you exactly expect with Gabe? You know he’s been talking to both of you, kind of acting like some sort of messenger. He tried to keep it casual, just slipping in some information during a conversation, but you noticed what he was trying to do. Frankly you’re thankful for his meddling.

Steadily your heart starts to beat faster and faster the more players appear on the ice to warm up. When Gabe appears you aren’t surprised to see Tyson close to him, knowing Gabe they probably had a little chat before they went on the ice. Tyson’s eyes shoot to yours the moment he’s close by, completely forgetting the ability to skate. You gasp when he lands on his ass on the ice, earning himself a round of laughter from the people around him, including Melissa and you. Gabe skates over to him, extending his hand and helping him upright again, but not before clearly telling him he’s ‘a dumbass’. Now that’s something you can agree on.

You know Tyson has something up his sleeve when he skates off to the bench, clearly busying himself with something you can’t see. After a few more stolen glances at each other Tyson skates closer and closer to you, until he’s right in front of the glass. His left hand catches your attention, until he gives you a small and almost shy smile. “Look at him, he’s blushing!” Melissa whispers next to you. You shoot her a quick ‘shut up’ look, before you focus your attention back on Tyson.

Tyson shows you the puck in his gloved hand, mouthing to you to catch it. It takes him two tries before the puck lands on the other side of the glass, safely in your hands. Tyson gives you one last quick smile before he skates off to get ready for the game. Melissa nudges you softly, bringing you back from your thoughts. “So, what’s on there?” she asks, knowing damn well you haven’t even checked.

“I don’t know if I want to look, Mel,” you tell her honestly. Melissa gives you a sad smile, throwing her arm around your shoulders.

“Let’s look together?” she suggests. You don’t know why you’re so nervous, how much can you actually write on a puck? He seemed happy to see you, so there’s no need to be nervous that it’s a bad thing. You look at the puck, turning it around in your hands so you can read the whole thing. ‘Talk after the game?’ is written on the puck, you immediately recognize Tyson’s handwriting and his little smiley face, or.. something that should resemble a smiley face.

“That wasn’t that bad, right?” Melissa asks softly, squeezing your shoulder.

“What if I’m not ready?” you ask her, a question that has been on your mind a lot lately.

“Then you take a step back, you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, you don’t have any obligations. But he’s trying, y/n. You’ve heard all of Gabe’s stories, you’ve seen it yourself just now. It can’t hurt to at least talk to him.” You think about Melissa’s words, she does have a point there. Talking is something you should’ve done ages ago, or at least Tyson should’ve done that. So this is progress, he’s at least trying this time, that’s more than he used to do.

It’s hard to keep the smile off your face, you can’t even pinpoint why exactly you’re smiling. Whatever the reason is, it’s a good feeling to smile again. The game sure as hell plays a big part in it, the guys are on fire, scoring goal after goal, never giving the puck away for long. There’s barely any time for you to give Tyson a thumbs up, indicating you’re up for a talk after the game. Whenever you look at Tyson when he’s off the ice he’s smiling, whether it is to himself or to one of his teammates, that smile won’t leave his face.

You follow Melissa down to the locker room after the game is over. You’ve done this so many times, but this time it couldn’t be more different. You greet all the girls who are patiently waiting on their man, getting enough comforting words from them to last you a lifetime. When the door to the locker room opens you come face-to-face with Mikko, someone you haven’t seen in a while. Mikko’s face lights up when he spots you outside the locker room. “y/n! I haven’t seen you in so long,” he says, while hugging you tightly.

“I missed you too, goof. It’s great to see you,” you smile at him, wiggling out of his iron grip. Dude’s definitely stronger than he looks.

“Between you and me, Tyson’s a good kid, he just needed to grow up a bit,” Mikko whispers against your ear, before leaving you alone again.

You raise your eyebrow at Melissa, who just shrugs her shoulders. Weird. After a few more minutes Gabe and Tyson appear in front of you, both of them joking around. Tyson nervously looks around, not sure if he should come any closer. Gabe hugs you swiftly before throwing his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Make sure you bring her home safely, Jost,” Gabe warns him, before quickly saying goodbye to both of you.

You watch them leave, your mouth agape by the way they just left you here. Rude. “Did they just really do that?” you ask no one in particular, still shocked by their actions.

You turn around, looking back at Tyson, who still appears to be nervous. Is he nervous to talk to you? Why would he be nervous? It’s just you. “Hi there,” you smile, looking up at the man in front of you.

“Hi beautiful, it was nice seeing you tonight,” Tyson softly says, giving you a small smile.

Your insides flutter with his use of words, it’s nice hearing them even though you’re not completely sure if he means them the way you hope he does. “It was. You played great, I had a lot of fun,” you say, smiling at the proud look that crosses Tyson’s face for a moment.

Tyson leads you back to the rink, which is now completely deserted, thinking it would be a nice place to chat. For a while the two of you fall back into small talk, ‘how’s life?’, ‘how’s work?’, all that bullshit. You know Tyson and you are avoiding the actual topic that needs to be discussed, or topics? Whatever it is, there’s a lot to talk about. “I missed it here, I forgot how much I loved being here,” you tell Tyson, looking at the lights that lighten up the place, thinking back at the memories full of fun and happiness you both created here.

“I missed you, baby,” Tyson blurts out, completely catching you off guard.

Your eyes shoot back to his, you feel the panic rising inside your body. “Tyson...,” you start, warning him he’s walking on thin ice here.

Tyson’s face falls a bit, seeing the anxious look on your face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” Tyson groans, rubbing his face harshly, utterly frustrated with himself and the situation.

It’s quiet for a minute, both of you completely lost in thoughts. “Why is this so hard? We used to be able to talk about anything and everything. What changed, y/n?” Tyson wonders out loud.

You feel a painful pang in your heart, because you know damn well what changed. “You did, Tyson. You changed,” you almost whisper, the truth behind those words more clear than ever before.

You watch as Tyson’s whole composure changes in the blink of an eye, in just a split second he goes from the ‘happy’ guy to the guy who’s just as heartbroken as you are. “I did, didn’t I?” Tyson whispers, the tears pooling in his eyes. “I fucked this up, how could I be so stupid?” he mumbles, burying in face in his hands. “I’m so sorry, I regret this more than I could ever admit to you. I’m so sorry, baby,” Tyson cries, trying to keep his eyes focused on you. It’s hard to keep your own tears at bay when the guy you love so much has a breakdown in front of you, so you don’t. You just let them fall.

You don’t make a move to comfort him, you do give him room to let it all out, give him time to gather his composure again. “I looked through the box, the one you left on our bed?” Tyson says, his voice still broken, still thick with emotion. You nod your head, it was something you hoped he would do. “I had no idea you kept all of that throughout the years,” Tyson smiles weakly at you. “It made me realize what a moron I have been these past few months, maybe even longer,” he continues, shaking his head in disappointment. You listen intently at him, this, this is what you hoped for all this time: realization.

“I’m not telling you that you weren’t a moron, because you absolutely were. But I’m glad you came to the same conclusion.”

Tyson chuckles at your statement, giving you half a smile. “I know, I’m a dumbass. I’m a dumbass for acting this way and a dumbass for letting you go. Any guy would be on top of the world with you by his side, and I just let you slip through my fingers,” Tyson tells you, finally showing he knows he’s been a fool all this time, he knows he let something special go.

“Is it too late for us? Can you give us another chance?” Tysons asks you, his eyes flickering between you and the ground.

You sigh softly, knowing this question would come. It’s something you gave a lot of thought, something that crossed your mind daily. “I don’t know, Tyson. I really don’t know. You really fucking hurt me, you know? I can’t just look past that, I need to heal from that,” you tell him. Tyson nods his head, a guilty expression on his face. “You made me feel worthless every single day. You didn’t even give me a second of your time day after day. All you cared about was being away. Being away from me?”

It’s right that moment Tyson interrupts you by grabbing your hands. “No. No. That’s not true, you need to believe me,” he tells you as fast as he can.

“But how can I believe you when you never gave me a reason to? Your actions showed me exactly that, Tyson. I need answers, I need to know why,” you exclaim, starting to panic again, your anxiety taking over.

“Easy, baby. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, everything you want, but right now I need you to breath. Breathe, baby,” Tyson says softly, trying to calm your shallow breathing back down to normal. “Listen to my breathing, try to follow the way I breathe.” You do as he says, following the rise and fall of his chest, gaining back control of your own breathing.

“I’m sorry,” you apologize, while Tyson just shakes his head at you, letting you know it’s okay. “Can you take me home, Ty? We can talk later, okay?” you ask him, suddenly feeling the need to crawl underneath the covers of your bed and just simply sleep for a while.

“Anything you want, y/n,” Tyson says, leading you out of the room and back to his car. You’re pretty sure he mumbled something under his breath, something very closely resembling ‘your home isn’t there, it’s with me’.

The drive to Gabe takes longer than expected, giving you more time to think about Tyson’s earlier question. You still need and want to know how he spent his nights, where he spent his nights, and why he acted like you didn’t exist. That conversation might need to wait until another day, you aren’t up for any more information, any more realizations, you still need to process everything you heard, saw and felt today.

Tyson stops the car in front of Gabe’s house, looking back at you with hopeful eyes. You know he still hopes he gets an answer to his earlier question, and you want to give him at least that. “You need to show me you changed, Tyson. Show me you changed for real and I’ll try to get past everything that happened. I can’t promise you anything,” you tell him softly, meaning everything you just said.

Tyson nods his head, a smile of relief on his lips. “I will, I promise you I will show you I changed and that you’re everything to me. I promise, baby.”

So that’s exactly what Tyson does the next few weeks, every free moment he tries to show you just how much you mean to him, without smothering you. Whether it’s taking you out for dinner, although you’re still waiting for Tyson to actually make you dinner by himself one day, to small coffee dates and fresh flowers at work. It’s been a lot to process, a lot of adjusting to this ‘new’ Tyson, or rather seeing the ‘old’ Tyson again. And you missed him, God you missed him so much.

Tyson seems happier, more at peace with himself these days, it’s a pleasant change. Often you wondered what was really going on inside his head, but you stopped trying after he waved it off again, and again, and again. The late night phone calls, or facetiming during road trips have become a habit again, something you didn’t think you would ever experience again with him. You still take things slow with Tyson, deciding to rather allow yourself to slowly start trusting him again than diving head first into a relationship again. Maybe it will never come that far again, you don’t know how the future will look like for the two of you, but for now it’s enough.

You come face-to-face with a smirking Melissa when you get home from yet another ‘iced coffee and donut’ date, even though you’re pretty sure Tyson isn’t allowed to eat any donuts. “Oh no,” you groan at Melissa’s expression.

“It’s time we have a little sister-sister conversation, don’t you think?” she asks you, ushering you into the living room.

“Do we?” you groan again, not in the mood to handle whatever Melissa wants to talk about now, because you already know it’s either about you, Tyson or you and Tyson.

Melissa flops down on the couch, patting the place next to her, indicating for you to sit your ass down. “Did you already talk to him about it?” she asks, straight to point in pure Melissa-style.

You let your head fall back against the cushions, sighing loudly. “I didn’t. We’re doing great, we’re having fun. I’m going to ruin it if I start asking questions again.”

Melissa stays quiet for a minute, trying to figure out the right way to approach this sensitive topic. “You know you deserve the truth, right? You can’t rebuild a relationship when not everything’s on the table, sweetheart,” Melissa says softly, knowing you’re struggling with this.

“I promise I’ll talk to him after the road trip, I don’t want to create any unnecessary negative energy before,” you promise Melissa, although she gives you a ‘who are you trying to fool here’ look before switching topics.

A few days later you find yourself back at Tyson’s place. It’s weird being here, knowing you don’t live here anymore. Nothing changed, absolutely nothing, Tyson kept everything the way you did, whether it’s out of laziness or out of hope you’ll come back on day. Either way it’s weird coming back to a place that’s no longer your home. You came here to talk, nothing more nothing less. You promised Mel you would, and if you’re being honest with yourself it’s time to know the truth, time to reopen old wounds and finally get some answers. You’ve grown closer and closer to Tyson, without knowing everything, without knowing you’d be able to forgive him if he ever made a misstep. It’s time.

Tyson has been a nervous wreck ever since you called him last night after he returned from the road trip to St. Louis. He knew this was coming, but he prayed you would simply forget, even though he knows that’s not fair at all. He can’t excuse his behavior, and he won’t, not anymore. You deserve nothing but the truth, the full truth. He’s not proud of it, but you leaving him opened his eyes, showed him he really needed to change. Tyson feels like that’s something he truly did, he changed for the better, he can only hope you’ll feel the same way. He can only hope you’re still on the same path after tonight.

“You did great these last games, Ty,” you smile at him. You’re proud of the way he’s been performing these last couple of games, he really stepped up his game.

“I know you didn’t come here to talk about my performances on the ice, so can we please skip the pleasantries?” Tyson sighs, catching you completely off guard with his rather harsh approach. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way, I’ve just been so fucking nervous since you called me,” Tyson curses, frustratedly brushing his fingers through his curls.

“You’re right though, I did come to talk. I think it’s time we lay all our cards on the table,” you tell him, nodding at your own answer.

You nervously bite on your lip, playing with the cup of water in your hand. It isn’t every day you ask your ex these questions. Questions you want the answers to, question you maybe don’t even want to hear the answers of. “I need to know if you cheated on me, Ty,” you blurt out, keeping your eyes on the ground, not wanting to see the look on Tyson’s face.

“Look at me, baby,” Tyson says, urging you to look up at him. “I never cheated on you, I wouldn’t do that to you. I promise.”

You shake your head at him, not knowing what to do with these emotions surging through your body. “It doesn’t make sense, Ty. Where were you all those nights? Where were you every time I lay in bed alone waiting for my boyfriend to come home? Waiting if he actually comes home this time or stays out all night again? Where were you?” At this point you’re past the civil conversations, past the friendly banter, you need answers, you need to know why he did what he did. The reason doesn’t even matter at this point, you need to know why. Why did he leave you alone so many nights, worrying about his well being, worrying about if he would come home at some point?

“Fuck, y/n! I know I fucked up, I know I did. But I swear on everything, I swear on my career, I swear on you that I never, never, touched another woman. I never kissed another woman, I never even danced with another woman, I did not cheat on you,” Tyson exclaims, hoping, praying you hear what he’s saying, that you’ll believe him. He didn’t do anything with another person, it was always you, it still is only you and he’ll do everything in his power to prove that to you every damn day.

“Then where were you, Ty? If you weren’t with another woman, then where the fuck were you every night you didn’t came home? Please enlighten me, because I’m so lost, so fucking lost,” you say, feeling utterly frustrated with yourself, with Tyson, with this shitty situation.

Tyson takes a deep breath, placing his cup back on the table. “Shitfaced drunk to the point I couldn’t even remember my own name, or so stoned I saw freaking elephants running all around town. Spending my money on unnecessary shit at clubs and bars, all to forget, trying to forget the fact that I had a perfect girlfriend waiting for me at home, while I did stupid shit. Fuck, this sounds even worse out loud than in my head,” Tyson groans, burying his face in his hands.

“But...,” you start, before Tyson cuts you off.

“I felt ashamed and guilty, y/n. Ashamed I let it get that far every time, guilty I didn’t tell you, guilty I didn’t come home again. One of the guys would just take me back to their place out of sympathy, letting me crash on their couch, trying to sleep off my haze.”

You try to come up with words to say, with anything but nothing comes out, you just feel.. empty? “I don’t understand, Tyson,” you say, at this point not even sure what you don’t understand.

“I tried, y/n. I tried to just come clean, but I couldn’t when you were so nice all the time, I couldn’t when I knew you would hate it, hate me. You know I’m a fucking lightweight, that makes it even worse. But those are no excuses, there aren’t any. I fucked up,” Tyson sighs, giving you a sad smile, “I couldn’t face you, I didn’t know how to show you my vulnerable side without letting it change the way you saw me. I didn’t want you to see me any different, but I didn’t notice I changed until you packed your bags and left me standing in the doorway.”

You’re absolutely speechless, there are so many things you want to say but you can’t form any sentences, any words. You just stare at him, your mind racing with an unlimited amount of thoughts. “Are you okay, baby?” Tyson asks softly, reaching out to put his hand on your arm.

You shake your head from side to side, wiping away the tears that spilled out. “I’m not okay, I’m definitely not okay,” you tell him. “I feel terrible knowing you didn’t feel like you could come to me, like you couldn’t talk to me. I’ve always been your biggest supporter, nothing would’ve changed that, Ty.”

Tyson gently wipes the tears away from underneath your eyes, scooting closer to where you’re seated. “Come here, baby,” he softly says, opening his arms for you. You hesitate for a second, not knowing if this is the right thing to do. Fuck the right thing, you definitely need a hug right now, and judging by Tyson’s facial expression he needs one as well. You lean forward, putting your arms around his neck, breathing in the familiar scent of his body. How long has it been since you hugged each other? You can’t even remember, way too long. Tyson closes his arms around you, pulling you as close as possible to his own body.

“I missed this, Ty. I missed you,” you confess, the feeling of his arms around you, the feeling of Tyson, bringing back so many memories, so many happier times.

“I know we still have a long way to go, but I hope we’ll do this together. I can’t even tell you how great it feels to have my arms around you again, even if it’s just for a moment,” Tyson says, after you both let go of each other.

“We do, but I’m in if you’re in, Ty,” you agree, wanting nothing more than to work through the issues you still have. It’s time to forgive, time to let go, time to change and time to move on.

“I’m all in.”

The talk you had with Tyson that Wednesday evening did wonders for the both of you. You still had a long way to go before you were even remotely close to where you used to be with Tyson, but the most important thing was that you were working on things. Slowly, but steadily the two of you worked on trusting each other again, telling each other important things again, just simply working on being in a healthy relationship again. Although the word never came up, you were nowhere near ready for that commitment, so you settled on something less intimidating. Friends.

It was supposed to be a regular, normal Friday evening with just Melissa and the kids. Gabe and Tyson were playing one of their most important games this season, both of them begged you to come, but it was too late to find a babysitter. Not wanting to be by yourself there and leaving Mel alone, you decided to sit this one out as well, promising to cheer them on in front of the tv. It’s the least you could do. So there you are, seated on the couch wearing your Jost jersey for the very first time again, just as you promised. Weird, like nothing ever changed, even though the exact opposite is true.

You’re bouncing a giggling Linnea Rae on your knee, looking down at her adorable mini jersey. “Look it’s your daddy!” you exclaim excitedly, pointing at the closeup shot of Gabe.

“Daddy!” Linnea Rae giggles just as excited.

You catch Mel softly smiling at your little interaction with her daughter, enjoying the love you share for each other. It’s been a blessing to have you around here, the way you care for her children, but also for her and her husband has been phenomenal. Mel couldn’t wish for a better friend, for a better sister than you.

“Oh no,” you whisper when Tyson gets slammed hard into the glass. Melissa grabs your hand, squeezing softly.

“He’s going to be fine, he’s a tough guy,” she says, trying her best to comfort you. And he is, like the tough guy Tyson is, he gets up again, shaking off the hard hit. The game continues and you’re glad Tyson is fine, skating like he didn’t just get squeezed between a glass wall and a 200 pound hockey player.

All goes well until Gabe decides the best place to smack his stick is directly against Tyson’s face, again. “Not his face, Gabe! Not his fucking face again!” you yell at the screen, thanking Mel for already putting the kids to sleep.

“Shit, that looks bad,” Melissa almost whispers, squeezing your hand again.

You don’t know many things for sure in life, but you sure as hell know Tyson will be spotting a black eye for weeks. But like the tough guy he already proved to be, he just goes on with the game, trying his absolute best to work as hard as he can, giving himself completely to the game, anything to get his team the victory.

“That’s the second time you gave my man a black eye, Gabe. Why do you keep hurting him?” you whine the second Gabe walks into the living room. For a moment the room stays awfully quiet, until you realize what you just said. “I really said that, huh?” you ask, fighting to keep the smile off your face.

“You sure did. But I’m sorry, it was an accident. Again,” Gabe chuckles, shrugging his shoulders.

“Uhu, again,” you say, rolling your eyes at your best friend.

Gabe grins at you, flopping down on the couch next to Mel. “I’ll try not to hurt his pretty face again, okay?” Gabe laughs, shaking his head at you in a playful way.

“Is it weird if I, you know.. went over to check up on him?” you ask your friends, suddenly insecure about the thought of just showing up at his door.

Gabe gives you a soft smile. “I’m absolutely convinced he’d love that, y/n,” Gabe says, pulling Melissa closer to him.

“I know he would, sis,” Melissa agrees with her husband.

“Fine, okay. I’ll be back in a few. Don’t enjoy yourself too much,” you tell the two lovebirds before finding your stuff and almost running out of the front door.

You’re giddy the entire drive to Tyson’s apartment. This could go two ways, either it goes extremely well or this backfires completely. You’re hoping for the first one. Seeing Tyson get hurt gave you some realizations. One of them is that you absolutely hate to see him hurt, and you want nothing more than to be there for him, care for him, to tell him everything will be alright. Which brings you to your second discovery of the evening: you still love him, you’re still completely and utterly in love with Tyson. You can’t, really can’t imagine your life without Tyson in it. It’s your turn to tell him you need him, tell him you don’t want to do anything without him, tell him you still see a future together.

You pick up his favorite comfort food on the way over, cake. You know his nutritionist will hate you for this, but he deserves a treat after taking a stick to the face. You chuckle to yourself when you think of the small cake you bought, it’s stupid and childish, but you love it. The fun you already had makes it absolutely worth it. You park in front of the building, hopping out of the car and quickly making your way over to the floor Tyson occupies.

You rummage around in your coat pocket for the lighter you bought alongside the cake. Quickly placing the cover back into the bag, and lighting up the ‘2’ shaped candle. You snicker to yourself, enjoying this way too much. You knock on the door and patiently wait for Tyson to open up. You hear Tyson approaching, making it harder and harder to keep your composure.

The moment he opens the door his face shifts from slight annoyance, to confused, to happy, and back to confused again. “y/n?” he asks softly, looking between you and the cake, confusion clearly written all over his face.

“Happy second black eye!” you yell, before bursting out in laughter.

Tyson can’t help but join you in your laughter, if there’s one thing he loves about you, it’s your wicked sense of humor. “You really are something special, aren’t you?” Tyson chuckles, shaking his head softly at you, a smile playing on his lips.

“You tell me, Jost,” you say, giving him a wink before walking past him and inside his apartment.

“So you bought me a cake?” Tyson asks you, looking over your shoulder to the cake on his kitchen counter.

“I sure did, thought you’d deserved a treat after what Gabe did to you, again,” you laugh.

“He sure likes to hit me in the face with things. But thank you, this really means a lot to me, baby,” Tyson softly says, squeezing your hip with one of his hands, before grabbing two plates. While Tyson cuts the cake you look for something to drink, deciding water will do for the night.

You flop down on the couch next to Tyson, immediately bringing the fork with a piece of cake to your mouth. “Oh God, that’s so good,” you moan out, you picked some killer cake.

“Don’t make those noises, please,” Tyson groans, stuffing his face with cake.

“I’m sorry I picked such a good freaking cake, mister,” you laugh, nudging him with your foot. Tyson rolls his eyes playfully at you, grabbing your foot with his free hand before you can nudge him again and again.

“Movie?” Tyson asks after you both finished your plates, although Tyson finished the last few bites of your piece. Like he said he’s a needy and hungry man.

“Sure, but just something light and funny, Ty. Nothing dark,” you tell him, knowing he’d love to scare you throughout some horror movie.

While Tyson scrolls through the movies, you make yourself more comfortable on the couch, laying back against the cushions with your feet against Tyson. He looks at you, scanning your body, clearly thinking about something since his eyebrows keep furrowing and relaxing.

“Come here, Tyson,” you softly say when he finally picks a movie to watch, opening your arms for him. His eyes shoot to yours, like he can’t actually believe you just told him that. He gives you a quick smile, before moving towards you, laying down beside you.

He rests his head against your chest, just like he used to do so long ago, his arm wrapped around your waist. “Is this okay?” he asks you, making sure you aren’t uncomfortable, even though you’re the one who suggested this.

“It’s perfect, Ty,” you reassure him.

Halfway through the movie you can’t resist the temptation to run your fingers through his curls any longer. Tyson groans softly when your nails rake over his scalp, sending chill through your body. “That’s so good, please never stop doing that,” he groans out, pulling you tighter against him.

“I wasn’t planning on it, Ty,” you tell him, smiling at the way his eyes shoot to yours.

“You aren’t? Are you serious?” he asks you quietly, eyes still locked on yours.

“I am, love. I came to the conclusion that you’re worth all the risks in life. You’re my light, my guiding light in darkness, my light at the end of the tunnel,” you say, leaving a soft kiss on his forehead. You try to express your emotions towards Tyson, trying to make him feel what you felt when you came to the sudden realization he’s worth taking a risk.

“What does that mean, baby?” Tyson asks you softly, an uncertain smile on his lips.

“It means I’m willing to give us another shot, another go. I want to try again, Ty.”

You can’t help the smile that forms on your lips when you look at Tyson’s face, the realization setting in, the happiness and the gratefulness spreading all over his face, the relief flooding through his body.

“How does that work?” Tyson asks again, clearly trying to rid himself of any insecurities, any questions he has. You gladly take those insecurities away from him.

“A clean slate, completely starting over again to give us both a fresh start. How does that sound?” you ask him.

Tyson nods at you, the happiness radiation off him. “A fresh start, I like the sound of that,” Tyson muses. The changes on his face fascinates you, it seems like he goes through a whole range of emotions in just a few minutes. Until he reaches one you know all too well, mischief. He looks at you, the familiar glimmer in his eyes tells you he’s definitely up to something. He sends you a soft and sweet smile, that almost melts you into a puddle right there and then. “Hi, I’m Tyson,” he says, extending his hand to you. You can’t help the laughter that bubbles out of you, this is exactly how Tyson is. Funny, charming, an absolute dream.

“You’re a goof, you know that?” you tell him, softly shaking your head at him, but the big grin on your face tells him you loved that. Tyson intertwined his fingers with yours, squeezing softly. When he doesn’t make any other moves you take matters into your own hand, slowly leaning in and softly pressing your lips on his. The familiarity, the rush of emotion flooding through your body hits you like a ton of bricks. The feeling of his lips against yours light something deep inside of you, and just like that you finally feel complete again.

#tyson jost #tyson jost imagine #tyson jost fic #tyson jost x reader #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #nhl fic #hockey fic #nhl fanfiction #hockey fanfiction #tyson jost fanfiction

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hookingminor · 3 years

Note

ALSO 10 + 26 are Jost - can't change my mind 💖

10. when one of them is like… i don’t know… hurt or something… and the other one is just like… tending to their wounds… and then just like… wrap them into their arms… thankful that they’re alive…

26. when it’s a slow burn, and the characters just look at each otherlike “fuck it i’m done with this” and kiss

Tyson rarely took his injuries seriously. Most of the time they weren’t that serious since he wasn’t the type to get into scuffles, but even with busted lips and sore limbs, he played through the discomfort. And most of the time he regretted it after, but the adrenaline of the game never caused him to pause and take a step back.

Unfortunately for you, that meant you had to deal with the late night calls when your best friend came over after games seeking comfort and first aid. The Avs should’ve honestly been paying you for all the extra care you gave Tyson outside of the rink.

You watched him take a nasty hit during the third period of the game which led to JT throwing a punch at the guy who’d nearly boarded him. The play stopped as more players got involved, and Tyson even landed a few more hits on the culprit who tried to lay him out, though he took a couple in the process as well.

You could only roll your eyes after he was ushered back to the bench and JT was sent to the box, knowing well that it would only be a couple hours before Tyson was knocking on your door asking for massages. He seemed fine from the television, just a bloody lip and a couple scratches on his face, but you knew his body would be screaming at him after the game.

The game ended with a win, and you switched the television to Netflix and turned on a mindless sitcom while you waited for Tyson’s arrival.

Tyson: Please tell me you have Ibuprofen and ice packs

You let out a soft chuckle. He knew you had Ibuprofen and ice packs. Hell, the whole first aid kit had his name on it because you only ever used it for him.

You: Of course, but you might have to settle for frozen peas instead

He reacted with a thumbs up, and you left your phone on the coffee table as you spent the next half hour watching Parks.

The knock came almost an hour later, a brief notice before he opened your unlocked door and let himself inside. You tossed him a glance over the back of the couch, taking in his disheveled appearance and bruised face.

“I’m going to have to start charging you for these late night services,” you let out a deep sigh and pushed yourself up to join him in your kitchen.

Tyson had taken a seat at your small table, and he loosened his tie from around his neck and unbuttoned the top buttons of his crisp white shirt.

“What else are best friends for if not patching me up when I’m injured?” He asked with a smirk. “Besides, I already pay you in free game tickets.”

“Which are useless half the time because I have other shit to do,” you commented, and Tyson rolled his eyes. “What’s the damage tonight?” You grabbed a few ice packs from the freezer and the first aid kit on your way to the kitchen table.

“Nothing too bad, the hit just got me a little sore,” he explained, taking the pills you placed in his hand.

“And you’re bleeding through your bandaids already,” you noticed. You reached forward and cupped his face gently to inspect the injuries. “You really need to be better with your chapstick, Tys. That’s why you keep busting your lip every game.”

Stepping aside to grab your own mango chapstick from your purse, you handed it to him to moisturize his lips. You removed the few bandaids across his cheek and forehead and wiped at the dried blood with an alcohol wipe while he applied the chapstick to his lips.

You were too focused on his scrapes to notice the soft look he was giving you. You stuck your own tongue out in concentration as you dabbed on some antibiotic cream and reapplied the bandaids, a habit you had inadvertently picked up from him.

Tyson let his gaze fall to the Avs shirt you were wearing, only now noticing that it was one of his old shirts, and he didn’t have to ask you to turn around for him to know his last name was on the back. He couldn’t stop his hands from drifting lightly up your thigh to fiddle with the hem of the oversized shirt.

“I think you’ll survive the night,” you patted his cheek when you finished changing the bandages. “You’ll want to ice the other side of your face for the rest of the night to prevent swelling with the bruises.”

When you gazed back into his eyes, you could tell he wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he had a dopey look on his face. It caused your face to scrunch up in concern. “Are you feeling okay? How hard did you hit your head?”

“Do you ever get tired of this?” His question took you by surprise.

Your brows furrowed further. “What do you mean?”

Both of Tyson’s hands came to rest at your waist now, holding you firmly in place as your own hands rested on his shoulders.

“Acting like we’re just friends when we could be more,” he replied. “Do you ever get tired of it?”

“Tys…” you started to back away, but his grip held you still. “I think that hit scrambled your head a little bit.”

“I’m not concussed, Y/N,” he insisted. “If anything, it made me realize how sick and tired I am of acting like there isn’t anything between us, like I don’t want to kiss you every time I see you.”

You couldn’t speak. It was your biggest dream and biggest fear all coming to life before you, and you didn’t trust your voice to not break on you.

“Stop me if I’m reading this wrong, but I don’t think I am,” Tyson spoke softly, pulling you closer by your waist. “I think you want this as much as I do.”

You could only give him a pleading look and a slight nod of your head before Tyson was tilting his face up to yours and catching your lips in a kiss. He winced a little at the initial contact on his plump lip, but a hand was moving to your face to keep you pressed against him before you could step away.

His other hand pulled your thigh closer until he was settling you on his lap, and you let out a quiet squeal at the sudden movement. Tyson smirked against your lips as he drifted to grip your ass and took the opportunity to deepen the kiss as your mouth parted in surprise.

A soft moan left his lips as you reciprocated the kiss and allowed your fingers to tangle in the curls at the base of his neck. The dopey look remained in his eyes when you eventually broke the kiss, and Tyson was eager to lean forward and chase your lips.

“You might want to take it easy tonight, Casanova,” you chuckled, tugging on the curls to keep him from kissing you again, but the gesture only made him groan in response.

“And what if I don’t want to?” A smile tugged up at the corner of his mouth.

“I’m supposed to be making you feel better, not worse,” you commented. “Tell you what, you spend the night here and when you’re all healed we can kiss all you want.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Good,” he mused, giving you one last peck before grabbing the forgotten ice pack on the table and holding it to his bruised side. “You can spend the night making it up to me with cuddles then.”

You scoffed and slid yourself off his lap at his smug grin. “Take a shower first then we’ll see.”

#tyson jost #tyson jost imagine #nhl imagine #hockey imagines #requests #blurbs #avs17

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senditcolton · 7 months

Text

A Little Unsteady

Hugs from behind. Coming up behind their partner and wrapping their arms around their waist, burying their face in their neck or against their shoulder, just to be close to them for a moment.

part of my Valentine's Day prompts requested by anon 💜| word count: 0.9k | warnings: hurt/comfort

Quiet nights in were a rarity for you and Tyson, especially in the middle of the NHL season. However, the two of you had been experiencing more of them in the last few weeks. But the reason why you had more nights with your boyfriend by your side was something that you knew Tyson didn’t want to think about. Don’t get it confused, he loved being with you but he also loved hockey. And now, he wasn’t being given the opportunity to play.

Buffalo seemed to welcome with open arms him last year but this season…

Tyson had spent most of the year fighting for a roster spot – a spot that only seemed to be given to him when someone else was injured. It wasn’t what he had hoped when they claimed him from Minnesota and although you saw him more, it wasn’t what you wished for him. You loved your boyfriend and wanted him to be happy. And you knew that he was the happiest when he was playing hockey.

This dinner, like all the others, was a distraction at best. But it’s a distraction that Tyson seems to welcome.

Both of you are in the kitchen, laughing and singing along to one of his playlists emulating from the small speaker. You are in the middle of adding the last few ingredients before dinner needed to go into the oven while Tyson is elbow deep in soapy water, washing off the dishes. The smile on his face is one that you loved to see and one that you wished you could keep on him forever.

The mood is cheerful and lighthearted.

Until it isn’t.

The sound that shatters the illusion is the ringing of Tyson’s cell phone on the island next to you. You sneak a quick glance at the caller ID and feel your stomach drop when you see his agent’s name on the screen.

“Hey Tys,” you say, turning to look at him. When his eyes connect with yours, he clearly notices the concern on your face which causes the smile to drop from his. “It’s your agent.”

Those words eliminate any lingering joy in his expression. You watch as he removes his hands from the water, wiping them off quickly on the towel nearby before he grabs his phone.

“I’ll be right back,” he murmurs, disappearing from the kitchen into the living room.

You can hear the cadence of his voice wafting in from the other room but you are unable to make out the words. The only thing you knew for certain was that this call brought something bad. An agent calling in the middle of the season was rarely good news.

Eventually, you stop hearing the quiet tones of Tyson speaking – a sign that the call was ended. You think that Tyson would round the corner and return to the kitchen any moment. But when he still hadn’t come back even after you’ve placed the dinner into the oven and washed your hands, you wander into the living room.

Tyson is standing by the window, staring out over the city skyline, his arms crossed in front of him. You see his phone sitting on the couch, positioned in a way that suggested it landed there in an action of careless frustration. That coupled with his body language makes you hesitate on your words but you ultimately decide to break the tense silence.

“What did he say?” you ask, your voice gentle, knowing to expect the worst but hoping for something better.

Tyson doesn’t give an immediate reply. Instead, you watch as his shoulders lift in a heavy sigh, his eyes locked on the horizon.

“They put me on waivers.”

His quiet words crash into you like a tidal wave. Waivers. Again.

You aren’t sure what to say, a dozen feelings swirling inside of you. But that was probably incomparable to the millions of emotions that you were sure Tyson was experiencing – a thought that was confirmed when he spoke again.

“That means that either I’ll get picked up by another team and have to uproot my life again or I’ll get sent down to the minors,” he explains, his voice heavy. “If only I – ”

His words trail off but you can easily fill in the statement: If only I had been better. If only I had done more. If only.

You don’t know what to say – you don’t even know if there’s anything you could say. So, for the moment, you just stand there, looking at his silhouette illuminated by the skyline. You can tell that he is upset, lost in his thoughts of what he could’ve done differently, replaying every moment not just from this season, but from the last two years. Every moment since he was traded from the team that drafted him.

You walk across the hardwood floors of the living room, making your way to him until you are right behind him. And you do the only thing you can think of; you wrap your arms around his waist, pulling him close to you, your head coming to rest on his shoulder. Within your embrace, you can feel a heavy sigh run through him, his body relaxing on the exhale. You feel his hands fall, landing on your arms. His thumbs rub gentle circles into your bare skin, the motion soothing both of you.

“Whatever happens, you’ll get through it” you whisper. “You always do.”

If you could see his face, you would see a soft sad smile appear on Tyson’s lips. You can feel his hands tighten around your arms, keeping your embrace locked around him.

“I love you,” he murmurs.

“I love you too.”

The two of you remain there, holding onto each other – a lifeline in the darkness.

#nicole writes #casual intimacy series #tyson jost fic #tyson jost imagine #tyson jost hurt comfort #carolina hurricanes fic #carolina hurricanes imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine

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nolpat0 · 3 years

Text

the lies i tell myself | t. jost

summary: she tells herself sweet lies because she can't fathom a life without him

wc: 1,026

warnings: angst ofc

"I didn't mean that," his words are soft, and drained as if he's expelled all his energy hurting her feelings with too articulate arguments. His words are meant to smooth over the hurt of his hoarse, convincing words but she can sense the immediateness of his response, and the lack of sincerity of his half-hearted apology that tells her he means anything but to be apologetic. It's as if the twitch of his lips and the reach of his fingers for her and the melody of his voice is rehearsed; as if it's a habit rather than something he really means. As if Tyson knows of her hesitation in accepting the apology, he tries slightly harder. "I was just angry; none of that was true."

She nods; a quick dip of her chin and the quick flit of her silver-lined eyes. But none of his words feel sincere. She knows of their hollowness and his expectation that the words won't linger on her skin. Knows the heat of his anger as he yelled emphatically at her was genuine. For a brief, fleeting moment as her eyes flutter closed and her lips press into a thin, steadying line, she imagines what it would be to let her feet carry her away. Away from him, and his truthful insults, the push, and pull of his love and everything promise that fell short. It's peaceful; a life full of boring bliss and nothing but the faded memory of a curly-haired boy who loved her too much for him to not end up a memory. But reality crashes down on her, threatening to bring her to her knees as panic and fear grips every fiber of her being. How could she leave him when Tyson is all she ever knows?

Her boring, blissful life would be devoid of everything that made the edges of her lips curl in a broad smile or a cloying laugh spilling from her throat. She wouldn't scribble half-intelligible reminders about what to buy at the store in faded ink on a neon-colored sticky note, trying to hunt down a spot where Tyson wouldn't be able to miss it. She'd go long, tedious nights without the presence of his warm, comforting body sliding next to hers under the soft sheets, the pull of his fingers on her waist as she rested the flat of her cheek against the bare skin of his chest. She wouldn't get weekend retreats with him after a tiresome, irksome week at work, seated firmly on his lap as his chin rested on the curve of her shoulders as they sat under glittering fairy lights spun around a back porch of a friend's house. She'd forget the afternoons he put his playlist in random order and allowed it to burst through every seam of their apartment, his inviting, hazel eyes coaxing her from her stubborn spot on the couch and into the hold of his arms where he could spin and dip her until he got her laughing. She would lose it all and have nothing to blame but herself and her ignorant wish for something other than the sting of his empty words. With a pain-full hiccup of breath that shuttered through her lungs, she understood leaving Tyson wasn’t an option; he was too deeply ingrained, and carefully extracting him from her side would rip apart herself along with him.

"I know you didn't," her reply is gentle and coaxing, a habitual response that they both know is an invitation to brush their destruction under the rug. It’s also a blatant wish for the brush of his soft lips against her cheek and the warmth of his strong arms wrapping tightly around her.

His footfalls sound against the dark wood of the living room floor, his smell hitting her nose before Tyson curls himself around her, fitting her perfectly against the plains of his chest, burying the tip of his nose into her sweet-scented hair. Breathing him in, she closes her tired eyes and savors the bittersweet moment. Taking in every press of his desperate fingers into the material of her shirt, the relaxed and reassured sigh that falls from his chapped lips, and the warmth of his body as he holds her in a tight, unrelenting embrace. Falling into the depths of his dishonest love, she reminds herself of the careful lies that have kept her figure in his grasp for this long. He's not the things he says, he's not the things he does. But even she can deny the sour, bitter taste of the wicked lie on her tongue as she harshly swallows it down.

His cold fingers cradle the line of her jaw softly, his dark eyes boring into hers as a small, delicate smile pulls at the edges of his lips. Involuntarily, she shivers against the coldness of his touch, a small, unwanted laugh spilling from her lips, causing the edges of his eyes to crinkle at the sound. His teeth gleam as he grins sheepishly at her, an apology falling easily- truthfully- from his tongue.

"I'm really sorry." The confession brushes over the bridge of her nose and onto the curve of her cheeks, settling deep into her skin. His forehead pressed against hers as he leans forward, willing her to understand the crack of his words. “I am so sorry.”

"I am too," she whispers, as if the smaller her voice, the more she'll believe every lie trying to keep her tied to the owner of the beloved boyish grin before her. She rakes in every warring emotion, tugging at the curls on the nape of his neck so he settles into the soft space between her shoulder and neck. Feeling the light touch of his lips against her neck, she returns the affection with a kiss to the top of his forehead, fingers carding lovingly through his mass of russet curls.

"I love you," she admits, a sliver of pain winding its way through the muscle of her heart. But it's not from the admission that causes her pain: it's from the unwavering honesty of the admission that sends her to her knees.

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idontgiveaflyinggrayson69 · 2 years

Note

hello 🥰 i’ve been matched with you for antoineroussel’s summer fic exchange! i would love to ask you some question so i can begin curating an outline for your fic!!

you’ve specified you like both reader insert or oc, is there one you are leaning more on?

you’ve also specified that you like to read about the follow players: andrei svechnikov, nathan mackinnon, cale makar, ryan graves, tyson jost, anthony beauvillier, anders lee, casey cizikas, matthew tkachuk, travis dermott, morgan rielly, mitch marner, colton parayko, brock nelson, matt martin. is there one you’re specifically leaning on and that you would like to have me write about?

as for plot… i know you don’t want something overly fluffy so is there a specific angsty trope you want? as you have specified you like: hurt/comfort, angst - unresolved, angst - with a happy ending. i can also mix them if you’d like (ex. a hurt/comfort but with a sad ending). and depending on that answer, would you also like smut included or no?

that’s all the questions i have for you as of this moment! i’ll come to you if i stumble upon some others ones in the future :-) thank you!

ahhhhh hi!!!! i'm so excited!!!!

i've posted my answers under the cut just cuz it's a little longer and stuff

you’ve specified you like both reader insert or oc, is there one you are leaning more on?

both is good with me! a she/her oc is good with me but i'd prefer a they/them reader, so it's whatever you'd prefer to write!

i'm happy with all of the above. if you want me to narrow that list down, i'd probably say andrei, nate, gravy, anders, and tkachuk would be like my top 5, but i'd be happy with any of the above, whatever would make you happy to write!

i am a sucker for a good exes to lovers, or friends to lovers with angst because they think it's unrequited! i'm good with smut or without smut! whatever you feel is best for the story or what you would prefer writing!!!

i hope this helps! always here if you have any more questions!!!! thank you so much!!! i'm so excited!!!! xx

#answered #the summer fic exchange #exchange anon

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youngbeezer · 3 years

Text

masterlist ❋

You can also find my work by searching #my writing or if you would like to see some of the stuff that i read,, search #fic rec

feel free to like, reblog, comment, or send me your thoughts via my inbox or dm's :)

last edited 10/23/22

requests closed // join my taglist

moodboard/hc masterlist

*i do not write smut so pls do not request!

angst; ✦

fluff; ✧

personal favs; ☾

Mini Fics (?);

joel farabee (phi)

do you believe in happily ever after? ✧

tyson jost (col)

no more broken promises ✦

bowen byram (col)

friends to lovers — requested ✧

Blurbs;

alex turcotte (la)

the morning shift ✧

mat barzal (nyi)

happy birthday mathew ✧☾

jujhar khaira (edm)

hurt/comfort — requested ✧

14 Oddly Romantic Things blurb set {all fluff ✧} completed

alex turcotte (la)

kissing in the rain

matthew tkachuk (cal)

zipping/unzipping my dress

dylan cozens (buf)

stargazing on top of a car

joel farabee (phi)

making playlists for each other ☾

miro heiskanen (dal)

running into each others arms after not seeing them for awhile

jonathan toews (chi)

running into each others arms after not seeing them for awhile

mat barzal (nyi)

he teaches me something ☾

jonathan drouin (mtl)

cooking for me

kevin hayes (phi)

sharing a milkshake

jack hughes (nj)

clasping a necklace for me

bowen byram (col)

holding my hand while hes in the front and im in the back

anthony beauvillier (nyi)

wipes away my tears

nolan patrick (phi)

waking up early to watch the sunrise

kirby dach (chi)

racing each other into the water

wade allison (phi)

bringing me flowers for no reason

#masterlist #my writing #hockey #hockey imagine #hockey blurb #hockey fic #nhl imagine #nhl blurb #nhl fic

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typical-simplelove · 4 years

Text

Dancing Around Feelings (T. Jost)

Summary: Four times you dragged Tyson to the dance with you and One time he dragged you to dance with him. Or, one time you danced, three times you danced and almost kissed, and one time you danced and finally kissed.

Author’s note: I absolutely love Tyson now and I thought this idea would fit him best. Let me know what you thought!

Warnings: maybe one curse word?

Word Count: 5.6k

One

You were by no means a professional dancer or a good dancer. You just knew that when there is a time and place, it doesn’t hurt to shake your body just a little bit. Sometimes, dancing is also a vital part of certain social events. For example, this social event. You were at a Colorado Avalanche charity gala and you couldn’t help but look sad as you watched everyone around you get up to dance to the slow song. You were tagging along as Tyson Jost’s date, a date who was just a friend. You and Tyson were good friends, best friends at that. If one was having a bad day, the other would always be the one to comfort the other. Sometimes, Tyson knew you better than you knew yourself. It didn’t take much for Tyson to make you laugh. Throughout your friendship with Tyson, you knew you could count on him and he could do the same. That is how you ended up being Tyson’s date to this charity gala.

“Tyson, Yn, you need to dance,” Gabe Landeskog said to you and Tyson. Tyson laughed. He was by no means a dancer. He would rather not. “I’m not asking you to dance, I am telling you to dance to show off for the investors and season ticket holders.” As Gabe walked away, you looked at Tyson; he had an unreadable look on his face.

“What’s wrong, Tyson?” you tease. “Can’t dance?”

“No,” he replies. “It’s not that.”

You quirk your eyebrow at him willing him to explain himself to you.

“Isn’t slow dancing kind of romantic? I mean, we are just friends so isn’t dancing kind of overstepping the boundaries just a bit?” Tyson is quick to say. Your smile fades. Despite the “just friends” logo on the two of you, you couldn’t help but wish that you were more. You wanted to kiss him, stroke your hand through his hair, and love him freely. His words, though, confirmed that your feelings were unrequited.

“I guess,” you reply glumly. You really wanted to dance with Tyson. You wanted to be close to him. You wanted to feel his hands sitting on your waist guiding you to move with him and the music. You looked up and saw Gabe eyeing you to get Tyson up to dance. You sighed. He caught on to your feelings for Tyson and constantly insisted that Tyson felt the same way. He didn’t. Tyson just wanted you as a friend. Nothing else. However, you knew that Tyson had to dance because he plays for the Avalanche and the players had to put up a facade for the season ticket holders.

“Come on,” you tell Tyson, getting up. You grab his hand and pull him from his seat. “Yes, it’s quite romantic to dance but you have a duty you need to fulfill. I think you need to dance regardless if you want to do it or not.”

Tyson nods to what you have to say but barely meets your eye. This was weird for him. Tyson always looked you in the eye whenever you talked. You once asked him about it; he replied by saying that everyone deserves the respect of someone looking them in the eyes as they talked.

When you and Tyson got to the dance floor and you put your hands around Tyson’s neck, you laughed at him. He looked lost. His hands were stuck at his sides, he wasn’t moving, and he could barely look at you. In order to save you both from the awkward situation, you decided to take the lead knowing that Tyson wasn’t going to be the one to do so.

“Put your hands on my waist and close up the large space between us,” you instruct Tyson, trying to ignore the red growing on your face. Once Tyson did as instructed, you slowly began to sway to the slow song playing over the speakers. Tyson, still, was lost and didn’t move. “Tyson, you have to move as well.”

Tyson doesn’t respond. All he can focus on is your hands behind his neck lightly playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“You also should look at me,” you tell Tyson with a laugh. Your best friend’s manner was confusing to you. He was always confident around you and never failed to have the words. You would have thought that he would have cracked at least four jokes by now.

It wasn’t you that took him out of his trance, it was Cale. Cale walked up to you and Tyson and said, “Because Tyson can’t seem to dance, let me dance with you Yn. You deserve to dance with someone who knows what they are doing.”

Cale has his suspicions about your feelings towards Tyson but never addressed them properly with you. However, he knows that Tyson reciprocates the feelings, but Tyson is oblivious to his feelings towards you. However, Cale’s words to you and the feeling of you slowly pulling away hit Tyson like a truck.

“No, she’s dancing with me,” Tyson says aggressively with an undertone of jealousy in his voice. He pushes Cale away from you and finally begins to sway with you and the music. You can’t help but smile. Maybe for one night, you can pretend that you and Tyson are more than just friends.

You failed to realize the look that everyone on the team was giving you and Tyson. The both of you were oblivious to the very obvious and painstakingly clear feelings between the two of you.

As you were dancing with Tyson, you realized that dancing with him might be the one thing that might make you snap over the edge and have to tell him how you truly feel.

Two

“C’mon Tyson,” you plead. “Please? For me?”

“No, Yn,” Tyson objects. “I’m not dancing with you. The charity gala is the only dancing you are ever going to get out of me.”

You laugh in response knowing that you were going to dance with him at some point that night but also blushing at the memory of the charity gala. Tyson was at your place that night. You decided to bake cookies that night but needed more brown sugar for the cookies and called Tyson to go buy some brown sugar for you. When he brought the sugar, he plopped himself down on a stool on the counter and stayed. Not that you minded. However, the quite extensive feelings of the domestic life you wanted with Tyson made your stomach churn and you fall more in love.

Currently playing was one of your favorite songs blasting through your portable speakers and you absolutely wanted Tyson to dance with you. You decided, once again, screw what he said. You wanted to dance with Tyson and he was going to dance with you whether or not he wanted to. You stepped away from the counter and went to start the song from the start; you walked over to Tyson, grabbed his hand and pulled him off the stool he was sitting on. You brought him to the empty space where the counter and stove met and began to dance with him. You were holding both his hands and dancing to the sound and singing the lyrics. You probably looked ridiculous, but you knew that Tyson wasn’t going to say anything to you.

“What are you doing, Ynn?” Tyson amusingly asked.

“Do you want to guess, Tys?” you asked flirtatiously.

Tyson caught onto the light and flirty tone in your voice so he decided to get in on it, too. He let go of one of your hands and laughed when you whined at the loss of contact. Using the one hand he already had on yours, he twirled you around causing you to giggle like a maniac. This is what you wanted. The only thing you would have wished was that Tyson would kiss you. Your thoughts were interrupted by Tyson loudly offkey singing to the song. You couldn’t help but giggle even more. This man-child was going to be the death of you.

When the current song playing switched to a slower song, you were about to let go of Tyson’s grasp when he held onto your hands tighter.

“No way, Ms. Yln,” Tyson teases. “You pulled me to dance in your kitchen, you are getting the whole experience.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “Ok, then, Mr. Jost. Wow me.”

The tension in the room immediately thickened as Tyson pulled you closer to him and moved his hands to your waist and gripped you firmly so that you could both move in sync. As the song continued, you and Tyson both gazed at each other and kept swaying to the music. Abruptly, Tyson dropped his hands from your waist. Your smile dropped, but then reemerged when Tyson grabbed on your hands and twirled you around. He did it again; however, this time, instead of putting you in a position with your front towards him, your back was to him. Tyson used this as an opportunity to pull you into him and your back was right up against him. You could feel Tyson’s strong abdominal muscles through his shirt and just that allowed for your face to begin to grow red. His arms were wrapped around your waist and your hands were on top of his. His head was balanced on top of yours and you could feel his heartbeat on the back of your head.

You both continued to dance to the music as the song continued. As the song was reaching towards the end, Tyson twirled you around again. This time, he didn’t put you in one of the two of the same positions as before. He kept one hand in yours and one hand wrapped around your waist. Your breath caught in your throat as he dipped you down as you’ve seen in many Hallmark movies. You didn’t fear that Tyson would drop you because you knew that Tyson had a strong grip on you. When he brought you back up, he didn’t let go of you. He brought his hands to wrap around your waist and he brought you so close to him that a needle wouldn’t be able to make it through to the other side. As you both continued to sway to the final notes of the song, both of your heads started getting close together. Tyson’s eyes continued to flick between your lips and your eyes. Just as his lips were ghosting yours, the timer on the oven for the cookies broke the trance you were both in.

You both jumped away from each other and you went to go get the cookies out of the oven.

Tyson was about to kiss you and you were going to let him. Tyson Jost, your best friend who you were in love with, was going to kiss you and you were going to let him. Your face was so red that you were sure that it could have melted a block of ice in seconds if you tried.

“Are they ready? The cookies, I mean.” Tyson asks with hesitation. He was going to kiss you and you weren’t pulling away. If it weren’t for the timer, Tyson would have kissed you revealing the true feelings you have for each other. Tyson was going to kiss you and you were going to let him kiss you.

“Yeah. They’re just hot so don’t eat one just quite yet, Tys.” You teased him. Normally, when the cookies were ready, Tyson would wrap his hands around your waist and nuzzle his face into your neck softly asking if the cookies were ready. He didn’t do that this time. Figures, considering you both almost kissed in your kitchen.

With your playful remark just seconds before, Tyson understood that the two of you weren’t going to address the kiss and therefore followed your lead. Despite this, he so desperately wanted to talk to you about the kiss.

Who knew that dancing would lead to you and Tyson almost kissing and fessing up about your feelings for each other?

Three

The events of the night baking cookies went untalked about and you and Tyson went back to normal. Despite this, there was always a level of tension that couldn’t be erased and everyone noticed. You and Tyson couldn’t quite always look each other in the eye anymore. Tyson was more touchy with you when he was sober. Everyone thought you both finally hooked up; however, when prompted with that, you both turned bright red but shook your head. So, if you didn’t hook up, then what was with the very obvious sexual tension?

You didn’t tell anyone and Tyson, very obviously, didn’t tell anyone.

This is how you ended up with you watching as JT tried to get Tyson to talk to this beautiful blonde. You were green with jealousy. The only consolation was that Tyson was oblivious to her advances and he very much didn’t want to talk or dance with her. Some of the others at your table were egging you on to “go save your man.”

“Go, save him,” Mel says to you seriously. “He doesn’t want to talk to her. He’ll talk to you. Then, maybe you two can figure out what in the world is going on between you two.”

You nod, not trusting your words not to spill how you truly feel.

You walk over to Tyson, put on a genuine smile, and wrap your arm around his waist. “Hey Tys, you owe me a dance.”

Tyson looked so gracious to have you save him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to dance with you, but you left no room for any kind of argument as you apologized to the blonde and led Tyson to the dance floor. Just as the two of you were getting onto the dance floor, a slow song began to play throughout the club. Okay then, this was how it was going to be. You and Tyson were going to slow dance. Thankfully, this time, Tyson knew what he was doing and didn’t freeze up.

When Tyson’s hands landed on your waist, your breath caught in your throat. This didn’t go unnoticed by Tyson and he shot you a wink along with a smirk. You shook your head in response. You were both very close to each other. Not as close as when you almost kissed but also much closer than the night of the charity gala.

“Thank you for saving me,” Tyson says softly.

“Of course, Tys,” you murmur. “You always save me from creeps. It’s probably my turn to repay the favor.”

Tyson nods. “Not sure if she qualifies to be in the same category, but thanks.”

You both continue to dance to the song. As the song went on, you and Tyson, once again, failed to see the looks that his teammates and significant others were throwing at you. On top of that, everyone failed to see that the blonde who Tyson ditched was slowly making her way over to you and Tyson plotting her revenge.

As the song got closer to the end, you and Tyson subconsciously got closer together, as close as the night of the almost kiss in your kitchen. Tyson kept on flicking his eyes back and forth between your eyes and lips. He was so ready to kiss you. There was nothing he wanted more. Just as the final line of the song was playing, Tyson leaned down and his lips brushed against yours. You were about to place your lips on his when out of nowhere you felt a wet drip go down your back. You shrieked and backed away. Tyson looked hurt thinking you shrieked because you almost kissed.

When you turned around to try to figure out who did that to you, Tyson saw the wetness on your shirt.

“What the hell was that for?” you screech at the blonde. You knew it was her. She was conspicuously close to you, had an empty glass in her hand, and a smirk on her face that you wanted to rip off her face. She very deliberately ruined your chance to kiss Tyson.

“It was an accident,” she replied innocently but with an undertone of bitchy to her voice.

“Whatever,” you reply. All you wanted was to go home. You exited out of the club with Tyson hot on your heels.

“Here,” Tyson says whilst offering you his jacket once you were both outside. “Your shirt is all wet. Why don’t you put the jacket on and then take the shirt off so as not to get sick?”

Your heart melted as his thoughtfulness and you couldn’t be made at anyone anymore. You took his jacket and zipped it up, somehow maneuvering your wet shirt off.

“Can I get your pants too? They’re also kind of wet, too.” You tease Tyson.

“Let me buy you dinner first before I’m losing my pants,” Tyson flirts back to you. This was how it was, you were both, once again, going to ignore the fact that you were almost going to kiss.

“Oh my goodness!” Mel yells to you. “Ynn, are you ok? Gosh, that woman is rude.” With her words, Mel eyes you up and down noticing that you ditched your shirt and are now wearing Tyson’s jacket zipped up. She was about to make a comment but decided against it, for right now.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking. I’m just going to head home now.”

“Ok, let me know when you get home safely.”

“No need, I’ll go with you.” Tyson interjects.

“Thanks, Tys,” you reply, smiling up at him. Tyson turns red with your smile. Everyone around you gives each other looks like “they are so oblivious” that go completely unnoticed by you and Tyson.

On the uber ride back to your apartment, all you kept thinking about was that Tyson, again, was going to kiss you while you were dancing but got interrupted, again. Maybe this was for a reason? Maybe you and Tyson weren’t meant to kiss, ever. This thought frightened you. You decided just to ignore it and cuddle into Tyson’s side seeking the warmth he always gave to you. When his arm snaked around you, you knew that you and Tyson would kiss when the time was right. It would undoubtedly happen, right?

Four

“So, you mean to tell me that you and Tyson have danced together three times and all three times, something romantic happened?” Mel questions.

“No, that’s not what I’m telling you. I’m telling you that something romantic happened the past two times. And the romantic something was almost kissing. I have no idea where you got something happening the first time.” you reply, trying to clear the air.

“Because something did happen!” Mel says completely ignoring the other part of your reply. “He was looking at you like you were the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.”

“No, he wasn’t. And please don’t argue with me. I’d rather talk about the almost kisses. How am I supposed to face him today at Linnea’s birthday party?”

“The same way you faced him before.”

“But it’s different now?”

“How is it any different now?”

“Because, now it’s two times. And one time is an accident. Two times is on purpose.”

“Don’t you want to kiss him?” Mel questions.

“Yeah,” you say barely audible.

“I’m sorry, can you please say that again? I didn’t quite hear you.” Mel eggs you on in a joking way. You don’t reply. “I’m sorry. Mommy brain. You are going to have to speak louder.”

You, again, don't say anything. “C’mon Yn. The first step to facing your problems is acknowledging what they are.” She gives you a suggestive look and you know that she isn’t going to drop the subject.

“Fine! I want Tyson to kiss me!” you loudly reply, probably more loudly then you should have. Mel smiles in satisfaction.

“Whoa, chill Yn. We get that you’re in love with Tyson and want to sleep with him but you don’t have to scream it loudly, especially with my daughter in the house.” Gabe says from the entry way into the kitchen jokingly covering his daughter’s ears.

“What is Yn saying that she shouldn’t say in front of your daughter?” Mikko asks teasingly knowing exactly what it is.

“Nothing, and how do you get I want Tyson to kiss me and connect it with I want him to sleep with me?” you ask, confused about the assumption that was made.

“It’s obvious. You want to sleep with him.” Gabe says.

“Who wants to sleep with whom?” JT asks, entering into the conversation at an awkward time.

You’re about to brush off the question with a nothing when Mikko pipes up with, “Yn is finally admitting she wants to sleep with Tyson.”

“I never said that! I said I wanted to kiss Tyson, not sleep with him. C’mon, Mel, back me up.” you defend yourself. Mel doesn’t say anything; she gives you a suggestive look. “Really? You too?”

The conversation is immediately interrupted when Tyson is heard entering into the house.

“This ends here. No one says a word about anything or I am never talking to any of you.” you tell the group of people.

Your ultimatum is given back with comical looks. “Fine, you say something, I am never baking for any of you ever again.”

With your next ultimatum, everyone agrees not to say anything to Tyson or bring it up again. The murmuring ends when Tyson walks in and wraps his arms around you in a greeting. The suggestive looks keep on coming. This is going to be a long day.

…

Linnea’s birthday party is a few hours in when people start dancing. At first, it was Mel and Gabe dancing with Linnea bringing out her shrieks of happiness. Eventually, more and more people began dancing. The two people that the team noticed that weren’t dancing were Tyson and Yn; the both of you both sitting at opposite ends of the backyard. JT takes a break from dancing to approach you.

“Yn, you should go and bring Tyson out to dance. Here, no one will interrupt you if you both decide to finally kiss. And, a plus is that Gabe and Mel would love to give you a spare room for you and Tyson to finally release all of the sexual tension.”

“Oh my goodness, shut up!” you say, accusatory but comical. Tyson heard your remark and instantly went over to try to save you from his teammate.

“Harassing Yn, I see?” Tyson says joking.

“That’s what you see? Not the loving lo--- ow!” JT is cut short when you kick him in the leg. He glares at you and you just glare right back at him.

“Ok, this is weird. You good, Ynn?” Tyson asks, obviously confused.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you say. “Hey Tys?”

Tyson perks up.

“Come dance with me?” you ask.

“I’d say no but you’re going to drag me -- what is he doing?” Tyson thought it interrupted when JT abruptly ran away from you two and over to the person who is controlling the music.

“Ignore him, come on, let’s dance.”

The minute the two of you reach the makeshift dance floor, a slow song comes on. You instantly realize that this is why JT abruptly ran away from you and Tyson. You both aren’t dancing as close together knowing that this is a child’s birthday party. However, the tension between the two of you is obvious. Throughout the song, though, you and Tyson do get closer together and stand as close together as you did back the first time you both almost kissed. Tyson’s hands leave your waist and are cupping your face. He begins stroking your cheek with his thumb. You decided this is one of your favorite ways for him to touch you. He stops brushing your cheek and leans down to kiss you. His nose touches yours and you giggle bashfully. His face turns red in response; he leans back and goes in to try to do it a second time properly. He is about to kiss you, for real this time, when he hears:

“Look! Those grown ups are going to kiss!!” a child shrieks, causing everyone to look at you and both of you to pull away, groaning, without a kiss.

Mel rushes up to you, apologizing about her niece. You both tell her it’s ok and that it’s fine. It truly is. However, you both desperately wanted to kiss.

Maybe you both aren’t meant to kiss, then.

One

After dancing four times and three almost kisses, you were giving up on ever kissing Tyson. You, a few times, thought about driving up to his house and kissing him when he opened the door and then walk away from him. This is very immature, you decide. However, here you are in the same club that that blonde spilled her drink on you. You are sitting next to Tyson, your bodies are pressed up against each other and his arm is hanging over your shoulder. You both are nursing your drinks and talking to each other and the teammates and significant others at the table.

As this is happening, you hear the same song that came on during the night at your apartment begin to play. You smile into your drink as you take a sip reminiscing about the memory. As you do this, you don’t notice that Tyson notices your actions. He realizes that this is his chance to try to get you to dance with him and finally kiss you.

As you are about to take another sip of your drink, Tyson takes it out of your hand. You whine at the inability to take a sip but your whine is cut short when you feel Tyson take your hand.

“Dance with me, Ynn?” Tyson whispers into your ear and you feel the chill go up and down your body. You nod. As Tyson leads you onto the dance floor, his teammates are grinning and high fiving thinking that this is finally the time that everything will go right.

Instead of starting to dance with space between you and Tyson, you both put yourselves in a position where there is no space between the two of you.

“It’s weird that you asked me to dance, Tys. Normally, I have to egg you on to dance with me.” you tease Tyson, trying to calm your nerves.

“It’s funny. Almost every time that you dragged me out to dance, we almost kissed. Key word is almost. Something always went wrong. So, I figured, if we want a kiss to happen, then maybe I should initiate the dance and maybe a kiss could happen.”

Your face turns a deep red. Is this Tyson telling you that he likes you too? That he’s in love with you? You are about to voice these thoughts when Tyson twirls you around and places your back against him similar to the actions in your apartment all that time ago. Your breathing is short and terse. You can’t think straight. Maybe this is it. Finally, you and Tyson might finally kiss and then the two of you can finally stop walking around these feelings.

Your thinking is interrupted when Tyson reaches for you again and twirls you. You aren’t brought back into his body this time. Instead, Tyson dips you and never breaks eye contact with you. When he brings you back up and puts you back up against his body, you can feel how fast his heart is beating.

“Tys, I am so in love with you. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t be just friends anymore. I need to be with you.” you confess to Tyson.

“What if I told you I felt the same? What if I’m in love with you and I don’t want to be just friends with you? What if I told you I don’t think I can go another day without being with you? What would you do then?” Tyson asks.

“I would tell you to kiss me and then take me out for a date and you can finally lose those pants.”

“Yeah?”

You nod. Tyson smiles but is not leaning forward to kiss you like indicated.

“Tys, this is the part where you kiss me, now.” you tell Tyson. His face turns red before bringing his hands up to cup your face. He begins to stroke your cheek with his thumb. The song, at this point, is long over and is now some upbeat hip-hop song. You both ignore that. Nothing in the world is happening or matters except for the two of you this close to each other. Tyson’s eyes go back and forth between your eyes and your lips. One of his hands goes to gently stroke your soft lips. The anticipation that Tyson is building is killing you. However, despite your wants, you aren’t going to rush him. You just need him close and touching you like this.

Slowly, Tyson’s head gets closer to yours. He tilts his head and his lips are barely brushing yours. You think he is about to kiss you but he pulls slightly away from you that no one probably could have noticed. But you noticed. You noticed the glint in his eye when you groaned when he pulled away. You noticed the way he smirked knowing that he should just kiss you already. You noticed the way that his eyes glanced at the way your shoulders slightly dropped with the loss of contact and lack of a kiss. You noticed the way a small laugh escaped his lips when you groaned wishing he would just kiss you already.

“You know, you are really playing with fate. You want to kiss me with nothing interrupting us? Then maybe you should get on with it then.” you tease, but only slightly.

“It’s all about the love and anticipation, babe.” Tyson replies. Your heart stops when he calls you babe. You know Tyson knows exactly what he’s doing to you and he doesn’t plan to stop. He hopes to drive you crazy like this forever.

Finally, finally, Tyson leans forward one more time. You tell yourself that if he doesn’t kiss you, then you are going to take initiative and kiss him.

His lips find yours softly. It is more than a peck but it’s also not a full makeout kiss. It’s a kiss full of love, longing, hope, and happiness. You both pull away before going in for another kiss and deepen that.

You probably would have stood in your place kissing Tyson all evening if it weren’t for the hooting and howling coming from your table. You both separate and place your foreheads against each other giggling and lovingly looking at each other. Tyson is about to go in and kiss you again when JT comes up and pats Tyson on the back.

“Atta boy! That’s how you get the girl.” JT congratulates Tyson. You and Tyson both laugh. He just places a soft kiss on your temple.

Yeah, you could get used to this, Tyson asking you to dance and you both finally got the kiss.

Two, bonus

Five Years Later

“For the first time ever, I’d like to introduce to you, Mr. and Mrs. Jost!” The guests at your wedding cheered on as you and Tyson walked into the ballroom.

After you and Tyson made your rounds around the room, the DJ made the announcement that it was time for the first dance. When the announcement was made, you and Tyson had just sat down to take a breather. However, this allowed for Tyson to lead you onto the dance floor.

“Mrs. Jost, my wife, may I offer you this dance?” Tyson asked with a teasing tone to his voice.

“Why yes, of course, Mr. Jost, my husband,” you said while taking Tyson’s hand.

The song that began to belt out from the speakers also happens to be the same song of the night in your apartment and the same song from your first kiss with Tyson. You both felt that the song was the start of your true romantic relationship together and it was important to honor that past.

“You know, now that we’re married, I am thinking that we are probably going to be dancing around our new kitchen quite often?” Tyson says to you.

“Why yes of course, why not? Isn’t dancing a prominent fixture of our relationship? And, one day, when we have a baby, we will dance with the baby in our arms all around the future nursery and kitchen.” you replied dreamily.

“Ok, my wife. Slow down, babe. Let’s just get through the wedding.”

“If you say so, husband.”

The rest of the song and dance continued with you and Tyson dancing and looking at each other. When the song ended and Tyson placed a way to passionate kiss for a family wedding on your lips, you knew that you and Tyson were forever. There was nothing that was going to stop you. It may have taken a little bit of time to finally get the kiss and together, but it was perfect.

You may have danced around your feelings for quite some time but now you were dancing into your forever.

#hockey imagine #hockey fic #hockey writing #nhl writing #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl fanfiction #hockey #tyson jost #tyson jost imagine #tyson jost x reader #josty #colorado avalanche #colorado avalanche imagine #will I ever write a 4+1 without a bonus part two?#probably not #don't count on it #claudia writes

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