#Mathew Barzal fic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

islesnucks · 2 months

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𝓿𝓸𝓲𝓬𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓵 - Mathew Barzal x Reader

Summary: what started as an accidentall voicemial to your ex boyfriend ended up becoming routine and maybe even more TW: none that i can think of

Word count: 3.9k A/N: completely made up game schedule btw

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“Hey, it’s Mat.” His voice echoed through the phone, so familiar yet strangely distant now. You’d heard him speak in interviews, but this was different. He was addressing you, or at least the voicemail version of you. “I can’t answer right now, so you know what to do.”

You didn’t know what to do. Calling your ex-boyfriend, the one you had broken up with months ago, wasn’t something you had exactly planned. Yet, when the acceptance email for the program you had worked tirelessly for arrived, the one he had witnessed you pour your heart into, he was the person you wanted to share it with. So that’s what you were doing, trying no to overthink it before nerves got the best of you.

“Mat, hi. This is so random—H-how are you?” Thank God he didn’t answer, you were a stuttering mess leaving a voicemail imagine if it had been him on the other end instead. “I got in! Into the program I mean. I don’t know why, but I wanted to tell you. You helped me so much before—” you cut yourself again. It didn’t feel right to mention the break up like that, but what could you say? Before I broke up with you? Before I stumbled out of your apartment leaving you behind without an explanation?

“Fuck it. I can’t do this.” You pulled your phone away from your ear and touched the red dot.

That’s it. He didn’t need to know, he probably wouldn’t even care. Who would want their ex to call to tell them they were doing great? That maybe after all the breakup was worth it because they had gotten into the program they had neglected their relationship for? Too long, right?

A second later, realization struck like lightning – you had ended the call before deleting the voicemail. It had been sent.

“Oh no, no, no!” you exclaimed, eyes widening in horror. There was no turning back. Mat would undoubtedly hear you stumbling over your words. Why couldn’t you have just left well enough alone? The last thing he needed was you barging back into his life with a pathetic voicemail about something he likely moved on from. ‘He probably already despises me after how everything unfolded, and now this’ you thought.

You were wrong, because no longer than 5 minutes after everything had gone down your phone was buzzing in your hand, Mat’s contact bright in the center as he now waited for you to pick up for a change.

“Mat.” you picked up.

“Hey. You called me?” He sounded confused, for very obvious reasons. Nevertheless it was nice to hear his voice now directed at you.

“Yeah, right. I left you a voicemail.” You rolled your eyes. At least you sounded less nervous than earlier on the voicemail, but it was not less embarrassing.

Mat’s voice came through, cool and collected. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t check. I just saw the missed call and, you know.”

“Sure, sure.” you replied, trying to sound half as calm as he seemed to be with the whole situation.

“Do you want me to hear it or …” his offer hovered in the air.

“No! I mean, I can tell you.” You cringed at the thought of him hearing your rambling voicemail. “So, I called because I just got the mail. I got into the program!”

“Shut up! That’s great! Congratulations!” Mat’s excitement burst through the line. Your heart melted a little. After everything that had happened he sounded genuinely happy for you.

“Thank you, Maty.”

Mat’s tone softened. “You deserve it, after all the hard work you put into it. I knew you’d get it.”

You chuckled, the tension easing. “I know, I know. You told me like a million times. I was just insecure.”

For a second you let yourself imagine this was under other circumstances. You were still together and he was calling you right after practice or from another city in one of his roadies. He’d come back home eventually and hug you so tight you wouldn’t be able to breath, probably lift you up and spin you around a little. You wouldn’t be able to stop laughing and-

“I know …” Mat’s response brought you back to reality. The reality in which he wouldn’t knock on your door with his arms wide open.

His tone carried an easy understanding. He definitely knew about your insecurities. They played a huge role on why your relationship was the way it was right now: nonexistent.

“So that’s what the voicemail said?” He broke the silence.

“Yeah, basically. But you know, all giddy and stuff. Really embarrassing.”

Mat’s laughter grew louder, and you could practically see him shaking his head. “Oh, really? Well, now I have to hear it.”

“No, no, no.” you protested, your embarrassment deepening. “Seriously, don’t Barzal. I know where you live.”

But Mat insisted, his curiosity piqued. “Come on! Embrace the cringe. It can’t be that bad.”

He ended the call before you could object anymore, only to call you back a minute later. Mat’s laughter erupted again as soon as you picked up, and you couldn’t help but join in, the shared humor dissipating the lingering awkwardness. If you closed your eyes you could almost picture him with that scrunched up nose as he laughed.

“The ‘fuck it, i can’t do this’ was the best part by far.”

The familiar buzz of the MSG postgame show filled the cozy confines of your living room as Mat’s name flashed brightly on your phone, catching you off guard. Shannon and Hickey were in full praise mode, replaying Mat’s epic goal on loop, and there he was, the main attraction, waiting on the other end of the line for you to pick up.

You fumbled for your phone, a grin tugging at the corners of your lips as you swiped to answer. “Hey, I didn’t expect your call.” you remarked, the commentator’s voices still ringing in your ears.

“Bad timing?” Mat’s voice crackled through the phone, a hint of breathlessness underscoring his words – probably still riding the adrenaline high from the ice.

“No, no. It’s just that a second ago you were on my screen falling all over the ice.” you teased, imagining his less-than-graceful moments on the rink.

“I don’t fall that much!” he argued, sounding mildly offended.

“You do, but you also score, so it’s forgiven. Congrats on your almost hatty, by the way.” You chuckled, knowing how much he loathed falling a goal short. Always so hard on himself.

Mat scoffed, clearly annoyed at missing the mark. “So, you watched tonight?”

“Obviously, I watch every game I can catch.” you replied, the excitement of the game still coursing through your veins. The thrill of watching Mat succeed, even from a distance, even after all that happened, was undeniable.

“You should come, you know. I’m sure the girls would love to see you.” Mat suggested, his voice tinged with a hint of longing.

“I don’t know, Mat. It’s not my place anymore.” you hesitated, letting the uncertainty hang in the air. You had to change the subject before your mind started spiraling. “Anyway, why did you call?”

“Oh, right. I listened to your voicemail again!”

“So you called to tell me you haven’t actually deleted it like you promised?”

“I heard it right before the game and got 2 goals and 2 assists. I think it’ll become my new pregame ritual, honestly.” Mat admitted, his voice softer now, laced with a hint of nostalgia. Why had he chosen to hear it? That’s something he would save for himself for now. The shared memories of your past flitted between you, unspoken but palpable.

“Really? Want me to send embarrassing voicemails before every game?”

“I’d love it. Yes, please.” Mat replied with a laugh, the warmth of his laughter washing over you like a comforting embrace. The playful banter held a certain intimacy, a bridge between past flames and the uncharted territory of what lay ahead.

The banter flowed seamlessly, a blend of shared history and the current moment. The familiarity was comforting, but the unspoken complexities of your past lingered in the air, a delicate tension.

NYI vs. TBL - November 5th

“Hey, Barzy. I don’t know if you were joking or not but here’s your pregame embarrassing voicemail as solicited. You weren’t serious, right? Well fuck it, enjoy it or ignore me whatever.”

NYI vs. CGY - November 7th

“Just walked past that coffee shop where we had our third or fourth date I think. Remember how you choked over your latte when I lied and said I loved the Rangers?”

NYI vs. SEA - November 9th

“Hey, you won’t believe who I just saw. That guy that lives in the building across the street, the one that has your face tattooed on his left arm. He asked about you, told me to wish you good luck. So good luck from him … and from me. Good luck tonight.”

NYI vs. VAN - November 11th

“Hi! Your sister told me your family is going tonight, so send them a kiss from me, ok? … I-I keep in touch with her, I don’t know if you knew that or like maybe I should’ve told you? Are you ok with that? I’m sorry I just assumed you would be. Anyway, good luck! Say hi from me! Or don’t if you don’t want to-”

NYI vs. NYR - November 16th

“Dude. Rangers tonight. Don’t mess it up. May have bet on you guys with a guy from work, I don’t wanna have to pay for his lunch tomorrow. Please. Good luck, 13.”

NYI vs. PIT - November 18th

“Shit, shit, shit. Hope you can hear this before the game. I’m still getting used to the program’s schedule and all of that, I’m kind of a mess right now. Anyway, good luck!”

NYI vs. DET - November 20th

“Maty, hi! I know this is kind of dumb because I saw you like 10 minutes ago and I’m in the building but still thought I should leave the voicemail just in case. (Come on!) Ok I have to go, Sydney has a tone of gossip to catch me up on. Good luck!”

NYI vs. DAL - November 23th

“Hello Mr Barzal, I won’t be able to watch tonight, but still good luck! Even if you don’t win, I hope you score a goal, make an assist. That 8 game point streak you have going on is insane. I think I’ll start charging you for this if they are working so well.Good luck Barzy!”

NYI vs. STL - November 26th

“Hey! First of all, good luck! Second, I left my scarf at the Lee’s last night. It’s red, I was wearing it when you picked me up. Grace said Anders would give it to you tonight. Maybe we can meet for coffee tomorrow so you can give it back? Anyway, good luck!”

NYI vs. CHI - November 28th

“13, hello! I don’t have anything funny to tell you today so just good luck! Love you- shit, sorry. Habit I guess. Bye.”

NYI vs. NYR - November 30th

“You have zero new voicemails. To record a new personal greeting press one-”

You tried everything to get your mind off it, but it wasn’t working. The cup of tea was now cold in your hand and you couldn’t even pretend to care what was going on in the movie you had playing on your tv. The game had ended an hour ago but it was on replay in your mind.

It was silly to think it was your fault. You couldn’t influence the score of the match, the 5-1 loss against the Rangers wasn’t on you. However the outcome would’ve been different if their starplayer hadn’t been taking stupid penalties, losing the puck, causing turnovers. That could be on you partially.

The bell ringing caught you by surprise, almost dropping the cold tea. You got up to answer, even though you had a feeling you knew who was waiting by your building’s door.

“Hello?”

“It’s me.” The familiar voice needed no introduction.

“Mat? What are you doing here?”

“Buzz me in.” he requests, and you could practically hear the determination in his tone. With a resigned sigh, you pressed the buzzer, knowing full well he wouldn’t leave until he got what he came for.

A few moments later, a knock sounded at the door, and you found yourself face to face with him. Determination was bright in his eyes, your heart started racing.

“What’s going on?” He rolled his eyes, clearly not impressed by your attempt at pretending not to know why he’s there.

“You didn’t leave a voicemail.” Mat strided in without waiting for an invitation, and the unspoken tension was palpable.

“Right, that. I guess I forgot. Sorry.” you lied, trying to sound convincing but knowing there’s no use, he’d know. You closed the door behind him almost instinctively, as if shutting out the forthcoming emotional storm that’s about to break in your apartment.

“You’ve been sending me a voicemail before every single game for the past month.” he remarked, his gaze keenly picking up on your avoidance. Frustration started to take over. He already had been in this position before, begging you for explanations and all you did was look away. “Please, don’t shut me out. Not again.”

“I got confused, okay? Why are we doing this? I’m your ex-girlfriend, I broke up with you, Mat. And now I’m going to your games and sending you voicemails every game? What even is this?”

At some point you started walking all over the living room, the distress was clear. Mat was better at hiding it, he stood still by the door like he had been since he walked in, but you could see his hands fidgeting. Neither of you had a clear head to take on what was about to come, chaos was inevitable.

“I don’t know, but I thought you liked this. I thought it was like an inside joke, our own thing.”

“It was that. But you’re not supposed to have that with your ex.” you said, trying to emphasize the last word for him, as if a reminder of your status would help the situation in any way.

“We’re friends?” He furrowed his brows, and, had it not been for the situation you were in, you would’ve laughed at the way even he sounded so unsure of what he was saying.

“Mat, come on. It’s confusing, I know I was getting confused. It started with the voicemails, which was already something, but then we’re talking every day, I’m going to your games again and team’s gatherings, we’re hanging out again. I said ‘I love you’ on my last one!” You finally looked at him, baring it all. There was only one solution in your mind and it had to be taken no matter the pain it would undoubtedly cost you. “I think it’s better if we stop.”

There was a moment of silence, he looked at you as if trying to read through the wall you were hiding behind. Trying to decipher if it was you speaking or your insecurities had taken over again. Most importantly, trying to figure out if this time he had what it took to get to you before he lost you.

“I don’t want it to stop.” he said, determination clear in his voice. In a second he closed the gap between you. The proximity caught you off guard, you couldn’t remember the last time you were this close. “Tell me you don’t feel anything.” It sounded almost like a beg, but he didn’t care.

“We broke up.” you insisted, trying to sound all resolute.

“You broke up with me.” he corrected you, his gaze holding steady, slicing through your defenses.

“We weren’t working, Mat! We could barely see each other, and when we did, we were too tired or stressed. We fought a lot. We broke up.” It sounded almost childish the way you stubbornly persisted on it, like you needed to reassure yourself more than him how things had played out last time.

“Couples fight sometimes; it’s normal. I was stressed about the playoffs, and you were stressed about getting into the program. It was a bad moment, yes, but that’s over.”

“Other problems are gonna come up.”

“We can face them together, we fight and make up. That’s it, that’s how couples work.”

You paused for a second, it made no sense to keep on repeating yourself. It seemed like he had a solution for every obstacle you presented. He had come here for answers, it was time to give them to him even if you were answering older already forgotten questions.

“I was scared, Mat. I was scared and insecure, and it felt like I was ruining it all.” Tears start rolling down your face and there’s nothing he wants more than to hug you, keep you close to his chest, push the pain away; but he knows he shouldn’t. You’re finally letting down your guard, telling him what he’s been dying to hear for months; he has to give you space to be vulnerable. “I thought it was better to break things up before they got really nasty.” your voice wobbled.

“I get it, I really do. But you could’ve told me and I should’ve been more present, not left you alone to deal with our problems. We could’ve tried to make it work. ” He looked deep into your eyes, his own reflecting a mix of understanding and unwavering love. “I know I loved you more than enough to work through it.”

“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry about how I ended things, and I’m sorry about the voicemail and all the mess I’ve caused.” You tried to walk away from him, the proximity being too much, but he caught your arm making you face him once again.

Tears started streaming down his face as you tried to grapple with the weight of your own decisions. He looked you in the eyes, the determination from earlier is still there, even behind the tears those glossy eyes told you he wasn’t gonna leave in silence like last time. This time he had to leave it all out, even if he ended up hurt in the process.

“When you first called me I was too nervous to answer so I let it go to voicemail. I think even then I knew it wasn’t over for me, I knew hearing your voice would bring it all back.” You winced, acutely aware of the emotional turmoil you’ve caused. What you didn’t know was he wasn’t worried about pain coming back; what worried him was all the love he had for you and had pushed away after the break up coming back and once again not having where to put it.

“But then I wanted to hear you, the real you, not the voicemail, so I called you. I cannot tell you how happy it made me to hear you, like my heart was beating again after months of numbness. And you were telling me this great news, when you got that acceptance letter you wanted to tell me.” he continued, and you released a heavy breath, a half-smile forming on your face. He was right, the first person you wanted to share your triumph with was him, you hadn’t thought much about it back then but no it was so clear.

“I replayed your voicemail before the game that first time because I wanted to hear your voice. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I heard you over the phone earlier that day, and all I wanted was to hear you again talking to me.” he confessed, a mixture of vulnerability and longing in his words. “At first I thought maybe I was making it up, you know? Maybe it was just my unresolved feelings, maybe there was nothing going on. But you called me first and then you kept on sending the voicemails. Things were going back to the way they were before. It felt like I was me again, like we were us again.”

Mat smiled thinking how everyone could notice; his friends, his teammates, his family, everyone could see the old Mat was back. He told them off, too afraid to consider you were all he was missing because he knew he didn’t have you back, not yet.

His hand gently cupped your face, sending a shiver down your spine. Closing your eyes, you leaned into his touch. You missed it, there was no denying it anymore. You missed it all too much—his touch, his voice, his energy, his very presence. Him.

“You said ‘I love you’ on the last voicemail. I replayed it like 20 times at least, just to hear those three words. From you, to me.” The weight of those three words hung in the air between the two of you after so long, it was electrifying. Your heart raced; he was about to say it, and you yearned to hear it.

“I love you.” he declared, and there was no ambiguity this time. It wasn’t a recall of your words; this time, it was his confession to you.

“Maty…” was all you managed to say; his nickname laden with tenderness and echoes of old fears that still lingered.

“I want this. I want you even if I can only see you two times a week and even if half that time you are studying or working or stressing over both. I want to be there with you. I want to fight and make up. I want all of it, the messy and ugly included.”

“I love you.” you finally whispered.

It was over. He loved you, you loved him, and there was nothing left to say.

In that breath-holding moment, he leaned down, his lips finally touching yours. It’s not just a kiss; it’s a wild ride through forgiveness, longing, and the silent agreement to dive back into the messy and the beautiful, hand in hand. He was smiling into the kiss, so were you. The taste of salt from their tears lingered, mingling with the sweetness of the moment. The kiss spoke of second chances and the magic of beginnings, a promise to rewrite the story that had once unraveled.

You pulled away, breathless and teary-eyed, yet a radiant joy painted across your faces. You laughed, a melody of relief and newfound hope. One of his hands was on your back as the other traveled from your face to the back of your head, pulling you against his chest. Your arms hugged his torso tight.

“I love you.” he mumbled against your head before placing a kiss on top.

NYI vs. MTL - December 1st

“Hey! Good luck tonight babe-”

“I don’t think it counts if I’m literally next to you when you record it.”

“Shush. Who’s the voicemail expert here? Me. Anyway, as I was saying before you interrupted me: good luck tonight, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

soooooo it’s here! hope you like it! like and reblogs are always appreciated!

it felt so good to write again and to share it too, hope i have more time this year to write more stuff

taglist:

@glassdanse @2manytabsopen @barbienoturbby @sweetlittlegingy @mcsteamylove98 @ttylfedora @chieflawyerpastatoad @iwantahockeyhimbo @fallinallincurls @jordiee95 @heatherawoowoo @barzysreputation @farabeezers @4ambagelbites @matwith1t @audryaho @maximoff-xmen @astrydis @joelsfarabees @bitchforbarzy @deloughrey @brias1201 @besthockeyfics @ya-pucking-nerd @hoiyheadharpies @mckenna4 @rosesvioletshardy @hockeyunits @siriusly-parker @ilyasorokinn @lam-ila @boqvistsbabe @theycallmecassie @ephemeral371 @hal3ynicol3 @angelblooddevil @besthockeyfics @beauvertime @picked-off-by-barzal @1316 @cherrygirl1229 @lunabean @random-readers-world @poufsouffle21 @barzysbaby @matbarzal13 @alwaysclassyeagle @wanbach23 @evaggreendaily

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typical-simplelove · 4 months

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Welcome to New York - M. Barzal

Here's just a little thing I wanted to share!

It’s been years since you’d seen him last. You still remember that final party the weekend before he left for his first official training camp with the New York Islanders, the true real last time you saw him. You remember giving him a small hug, holding him tight as you wished him luck, a promise to keep in touch soft on your lips. He was one of your closest friends and maybe more, but that never happened, and you wished for nothing but the best for him.

Now, all these years later, sitting in your small condo, right along the Long Island Rail Road, easy for your commute into Manhattan each day, you hold your phone, the weight heavy both in your hand and on your heart. You lost touch with Mat during his rookie season, but who blames you or him? He was busy being the rookie sensation he was, and you were continuing your education. Even during the summers when you were home, little to no contact occurred. You saw each other from a distance, but nothing ever came of it.

Now, with a job transferring you to the Tri-State area, you can’t help but think about Mat. His mother thought so, too, because she sent you a text, full of Mat’s contact information, hoping you’d get in contact with him and rekindle that friendship.

How would you even go about reaching out to him? There was no way it should have been this difficult, though, right? It was just Mat. He was literally just some guy, so what was the point in freaking out about it? In the worst-case scenario, you could just brush it off, claiming his mother made you reach out to him.

Without thinking, you sent off a small text. You started with a small “hey,” continuing with your name, and a refresher on how you knew him (just in case), before following up with a,

I recently moved to Long Island for work, so your mother gave me your number. I would love to grab dinner when you’re free and catch up. Let me know!

It took you four attempts to figure out if you used too many formal sentences, a weird amount of exclamation, or had the appropriate tone. By mentioning his mother, it was obvious this was a no-stakes situation.

After an extensive amount of contemplation, you sent the text. Whatever. He could ghost you, for all you cared, but it didn’t matter. The text was sent. If his mother asked, you could say you tried, and it wasn’t like there were any extreme expectations on your part. It is what it is.

That is until your phone (perpetually on silent) lit up, signaling a text. He responded.

Welcome to New York! I’m happy my mom gave you my number because I’d love to catch up. Let me know when you’re free and we’ll figure something out.

You smiled at his words and tried to ignore the warmth bubbling in your stomach.

It sounded like a new soundtrack was waiting for you.

#claudia writes #mathew barzal #mat barzal #mathew barzal x reader #mat barzal x reader #mathew barzal fic #mat barzal fic #nhl fic #hockey #op: 2024

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prettytoxicrevolver · 7 months

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Fall | Mat Barzal

wc. 730

A beautiful fall day with Mat Barzal

This was your favorite type of day.

The kind of day where it’s the end of summer, and the weather is starting to cool but you still have a choice of shorts to wear if you wanted to. The air is crisp, with a hint of fall and all things good. It reminds you of the first day of school when you were a kid, rushing into the new classroom and heading straight towards your friends, with absolutely no care in the world.

As you grew up you found the beauty of days like this and relished it. You always ended up at a nearby dog park, your tiny pup running around and playing with other dogs. You sat at a bench nearby, reading whatever novel caught your attention this week.

It was peaceful, not many people were at the park today helping you focus more on the book before you. You had read pretty much half the novel, extremely invested in the story before you. Suddenly you hear a dog bark loudly, and you look up just as he comes tumbling towards you. He didn’t have any malice in his eyes, only pure happiness as he bounded towards you excited to meet another person.

When the dog reaches your feet you hold out a hand, smiling fondly at the husky. He lets you draw your hand over his head, scratching lightly behind his ears. You’re grinning at the friendly pup so much you don’t even notice the out of breath boy before you.

“I’m so sorry,” he says, causing you to look up.

For a second you’re struck by his features, his brown hair flops across his forehead, a genuine smile braced on his lips. Your heart skips a beat before dropping down between your feet and rolling to a stop.

“You’re all good,” you finally choke out.

“Belle really likes people,” he continues with a gesture towards the husky still happily panting at your feet.

“She’s adorable,” you say, smiling up at him.

“Uhm, Mat,” he says, sticking out his hand awkwardly.

You take it in your hand, offering your name in response and he smiles. He looks around, spotting your dachshund slowly but surely making his way over to you.

“Awe is he yours?” Mat asks cooing at your tiny pet.

“He is. His name is oliver or ollie,” you respond.

He leans down, running a hand over your panting dog before scooping him up into his arms. Your dog leans his head on Mat’s chest, similar to the way he does to you and your face immediately softens.

“He’s precious,” Mat says, smiling at you.

“He likes you. He doesn’t like many people.”

Mat grins widely at that, eventually putting Ollie down and the dog sits next to him still seemingly smiling at the boy before you.

“Can I sit?” Mat asks and you nod, moving your bag to the ground next to you.

By now both your dogs have bound off again, running and chasing each other causing a giggle to erupt from you at the size difference of the dogs.

“What are you reading?” Mat asks, tipping your book up to see the cover.

“Misery,” you respond sheepishly.

“You’re a writer,” he states like you just said it yourself.

You tilt your head at the essential stranger, wondering how he knew that quickly. He smiles sheepishly, shrugging as if he can feel your confusion.

“My friend is a writer. Always has their head in a book. Not sure why though,” he explains, and you grin.

“Gotta get the good ideas from the best.”

Mat nods like this makes perfect sense to him and you smile, slowly shutting your book to turn to him.

“And what do you do for a living?”

You’re surprisingly shocked when the sun starts to set and your dog has been next to your side laying down for the past half hour. You had been smiling and laughing for nearly two hours getting to know Mat.

“Uh so I’m late to practice,” he says and you nod. “But can I get your number?”

He slides you his phone and you’re quick to type your number in. When you hand it back to him he’s grinning widely as he slides his phone into his pocket before calling his dog back over.

“I’ll see you soon,” he says, winking before walking away.

#mat barzal fic #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal drabble #mat barzal imagine #mathew barzal x y/n #mathew barzal fluff #mathew barzal fic #mathew barzal x reader #mathew barzal imagine #prettytoxicrevolver fic #new york islanders fic #new york islanders x reader #new york islanders fanfic #new york islanders imagine

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miracleonice87 · 10 months

Note

17 w barzy pls! i feel like he only ever gets smut or fluff written w him

from m's midnights prompt list

warnings (cw / tw): miscarriage, pregnancy loss, mourning... this one's a doozy, folks 😔 please don't read if these subjects are triggering or sensitive for you

word count: ~2,100

17. Bigger Than The Whole Sky

---

It started as the most typical Isles weekday gameday. Mat woke up an hour before morning skate, kissed your forehead, and rolled out of bed as you snoozed away for just a few more minutes, the early-pregnancy exhaustion hitting you hard the last several weeks. He made himself a coffee, you an Earl Grey, and carried both back to the bedroom where he found you just beginning to stir. You both sipped at your drinks as you went through your morning grooming and threw on athleticwear. Soon, after a playful kiss in the hallway, you were both headed out the door, Mat to the rink and you to the Lees’ to workout with Grace in their home gym.

At least, with the intention to workout with Grace.

Instead, your world as you knew it and your greatest dream came crashing down during the short drive to the Lee house.

What started as light cramping quickly gave way to sharp, stabbing pains that had you doubled over in Grace’s doorway by the time you reached their stately home. She knowingly shuffled you inside, alarm bells blaring in her head even as she used her calmest tone and did everything she could to soothe you. Her babysitter quickly led the girls away from the scene, distracting them with an invitation to play princess dress-up in the toyroom down the hall, away from your intensifying sobs.

As Grace guided you toward her car in the garage, your hands gripping hers with knuckles white as you leaned into her for strength, she noticed a figment of every expectant parent’s worst fear… the seat of your grey leggings stained with an unsettlingly substantial amount of blood.

“Is this it?” you cried. “Is this what it feels like?”

The pit deepened in her gut, her maternal instincts screaming yes.

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” she answered softly. “We’re gonna go find out, okay? Together.”

“A-and Mat…”

“I know. Of course.”

You reached the passenger door, and with one hand Grace opened the adjacent rear door, grabbed one of the girls’ pink travel pillows, and tossed it onto your seat in the hope that it would somehow make you more comfortable on the drive to the hospital. She got you settled into the passenger seat and seconds later, was already rolling down her driveway at a speed faster than she ever hit on a normal day, making an impossible phone call via her hands-free navigation.

At the other end of that call was her sweet husband, who thank god had gotten caught up talking to one of the assistant coaches about gameplans and hadn’t yet stepped onto the ice for morning skate as Mat had minutes ago.

Anders looked at his phone with a furrowed brow and a knot in his stomach… Grace never called him when she knew he was at the rink.

“G? What’s going on?”

That’s when she told him it was you, not herself, who was the reason for the call.

“Shit… is she…”

“I don’t know. She’s in a lot of pain, Anders.” Which he already knew from your muffled sobs on the speakerphone. He’d never heard you cry before. “She’s bleeding. Get Mat off the ice now and tell him to meet us at the hospital.”

“Fuck. Okay. Be careful – I’m-I’m hanging up.”

“Okay. I’ll call you.”

“Yeah.”

Anders tapped the red button and sat in silence at his stall for the briefest of seconds, running a hand through his hair and blowing out a breath through pursed lips, absolutely dreading what he had to do next.

He made his way down the tunnel, stopping at the bench instead of immediately hopping out onto the ice. Lane noticed and caught his eye. Anders closed the short gap between himself and his head coach, ducked his head, and explained the situation as quietly and briefly as he could. Lane’s expression went cold, and he offered a slow, single nod, then cleared his throat.

“I’ll do it if you want me to, but I think you should maybe be the one to…”

Anders cut him off, shaking his head.

“No… no, he should hear it from me.”

Lane set his jaw, clapped the captain’s shoulder, and fixed his gaze back across the ice with a pained exhale.

Anders shuffled to the end of the bench at its opening and waited a few moments for Mat to skate past him on a loop. When he did, he called, “Barz.” Hoarse, somber, short. The younger player immediately skidded to a stop, sending snow flying from beneath his blades.

“What’s up?” he asked, panting.

Anders swallowed, tucking his chin to his chest for a moment.

“Leezy? What’s up?” Mat repeated, brow furrowing.

Anders met Mat’s eyes again and sighed.

“You gotta go to the hospital, bud,” he said softly, unable to keep his voice from shaking. “Grace just called, and-”

Mat didn’t even let Anders finish his thought before he jumped the threshold and ran down the tunnel, shedding his gear as he went, trying to hold it all in his hands and beneath his arms. Anders followed close behind.

“Barzy, bud, are you good to drive?”

Mat nodded furiously without so much as a glance Anders’ way.

“I’ll drive you if you want.”

Mat shook his head.

“You call me if you need anything, you hear me?”

He was nodding again, and simultaneously busting through the doors of the locker room, where he threw all his gear into his bag, pried off his skates, and tugged on his crewneck and sweats in the blink of an eye before heading for the exit with just his keys and his phone… but he stopped in front of his friend before he could make it that far.

Anders could see the red already rimming his eyes, and he felt his own throat constricting as he heard Mat’s breath coming in short, stuttering gasps.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this, man,” Mat managed between breaths.

All Anders could do was grab Mat in a crushing hug, the sounds of him clapping Mat’s back echoing in the empty locker room.

“It never is. I’m sorry.”

No words appear before me in the aftermath

Salt streams out my eyes and into my ears

Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness

'Cause it's all over now, all out to sea…

The ultrasound screen had been turned off for at least half an hour by now, you and Mat left alone by the doctor for nearly as long, but you still lay flat on your back, wet cheek pressed to the ugly pleather exam table, willing the black screen to turn back on and tell you something different than it already had. Willing this nightmare to end, willing yourself to wake up, willing it not to be true, to be some giant, cruel misunderstanding.

No words came to your lips, though thousands of them hummed incessantly between your ears, intrusive thoughts even louder than they’d been all morning in the now-silent room. You heard Mat sniffling behind you, felt his lips kissing the back of your hand every few seconds. Before he’d arrived, you had thought you could not possibly ever feel the sting of devastation more acutely than when the doctor had uttered the words “I’m so sorry; you’re miscarrying.” But good god, the second Mat ran through those sliding glass doors in an utter panic, hair wild no doubt from pulling it throughout the entire drive to the hospital, eyes and nose and cheeks pink from crying, lips parted and shoulders rising and falling as he attempted to catch his breath… you realized how wrong you’d been.

You could handle the pain this would inflict upon you. But seeing Mat suffering just as much… that made you want to crawl in a hole and never see the light of day again. And since that moment, after he’d gathered you in his arms, you’d tried your damndest to avoid making eye contact with him altogether.

He was sad because of you. Mourning because of you. Depressed and angry and sick and childless because of you.

And that was simply too much to bear.

So it was nearly an hour since he’d gotten there and you had yet to look him in the face again. And while looking him in the face was killing you, you not looking him in the face was killing him.

Nobody won in this situation. It was a lose-lose-lose.

“Honey, look at me. Please look at me?” Mat begged from your side.

Unsurprisingly, he was met with silence, and no motion.

“It’s not your fault. Alright? It’s not your fault, babe,” he said firmly, squeezing your hand. “I need you to hear that.”

More silence. It wasn’t even that you wouldn’t speak, it was that you simply couldn’t.

Mat sighed, using his free hand to swipe at the never-ending tears streaming down his cheeks. Then, he trailed his palm along the length of your arm.

“You can be as quiet as you want for as long as you want, baby, because this is an awful fucking thing that’s just happened to us, to you,” he spoke, voice wavering. “But I’m gonna keep talking because I’ve gotta make sure you know that this isn’t because of anything you did, or didn’t do. Like the doctor said, these things happen for reasons we’ll never know. And I’m not upset with you. I’m not mad at you. I could never be mad at you. I love you.”

You closed your eyes, swearing your eyelids were suddenly outfitted with weights. It was all sinking in… the reality of it, the heaviness, the emptiness. You just wanted to sleep.

You finally opened your mouth, feeling how dry and cotton it had become. You didn’t have the strength to debate him on why this had happened, how it had to be your fault somehow, but you mustered enough to give him what you knew he needed.

“I love you,” you whispered, unnerved by how weak and small your own voice sounded in the sterile room.

Behind you, you heard Mat rise up from the uncomfortable vinyl chair. He bent over you, pushing some hair back from your damp face, and pressed a gentle kiss to your temple, relieved and grateful to have gotten any response, any sign of human function, from you at all. Then, he patted your shoulder and said the very thing you’d been dreading.

“Come on… let’s go home.”

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

You were bigger than the whole sky

You were more than just a short time…

Mat didn’t know how he’d found himself in the nursery or how long he'd been there, but after laying with you in your bed and softly stroking your hair as you finally fell into a much-needed slumber, that’s where his aimless wandering had eventually led. He didn’t bother to turn on the light; the afternoon sun streaming through the still untreated windows cast a golden glow on everything in the room.

It had once felt so cozy, a representation of all that the two of you had to look forward to in the weeks and months to come. He loved sitting in the room all alone when he arrived home from a road trip, late at night when you were already sound asleep, dreaming about who your baby would look like, what they would sound like, who they would someday grow to be.

With you losing your pregnancy so soon into it, the material items in the room were still few. As he ran his fingertips along the covers of the gifted copies of “Goodnight, Moon,” “On The Night You Were Born,” and “Love You Forever,” and over the stuffed Sparky the Dragon next to them on the shelf, his eyes filled with fresh tears, realizing that he would never get to snuggle his first baby earthside, read to them with Sparky tucked in their lap. He leaned wearily against the railing of the crib he had just put together mere days ago, and as he looked toward the tiny “13” jersey laying on the still plastic-wrapped mattress, a sob escaped his throat and he let himself fall completely apart for the very first time, without needing to remind himself to hold it together in your presence. He turned and sunk down to the floor, leaning against the solid oak frame of the crib, and buried his head in his hands, crying as he never had in all his life.

Eventually, there would be conversations about the next steps to take for your health, whether or not to try again, and when, and whether to leave the nursery as it was or pack it up until, hopefully, you were pregnant once more. But for now, there was just sheer sadness as you and Mat grieved the little one that just wasn’t to be.

And I've got a lot to pine about

I've got a lot to live without

I'm never gonna meet

What could've been, would've been

What should've been you…

#m's midnights prompt list #my writing #mathew barzal #mat barzal #tw miscarriage #cw miscarriage #mathew barzal fic #mathew barzal fanfic #mathew barzal fanfiction #mat barzal fic #mat barzal fanfic #mat barzal fanfiction

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lam-ila · 10 months

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Disney Magic || Mat Barzal

Summary: A trip to Disney World with Mat and a few of your shared friends results in some mutual confessions.

Word Count: 2,761 (i got carried away with this one)

Warnings: none (please let me know if you find any that i should add)

Maleeha’s Masterlist

a/n: here’s my entry for the summer fic exchange 2k23 hosted by the lovely @wyattjohnston! this was written for @tinyhockey! i hope you like it cam! this was so much fun to write!

also, the poutine part of this fic is very much based on when i had to share a bowl of poutine with my cousin when she was 7. it’s a childish thing to do and i thought it would fit our favourite man-child perfectly

this is gender neutral. hope you enjoy this! feedback is appreciated

LIKES ARE GREAT, REBLOGS ARE BETTER ♡

Every summer, you and a few of your friends went to Florida to go to Disney World. It was one of your favourite places to go to and you liked to bring along as many of your friends as you could, so that they could experience the happiness that is Disney World. Your most recent trip to Disney lined up perfectly with the beginning of Mat’s off-season and luckily, you had been able to convince him to partake in your Disney trip with four of your mutual friends.

Your trip was five days long and planned so that you and your friends would tackle one park a day, with a day off in the middle to hang out at the hotel you were staying at and browse around Disney Springs. On the first day of the trip, you had to spend the entire day in Epcot, your favourite park. Your favourite ride in the park was Soarin’, so that was the first ride you went on. Everyone in your group, besides Mat, had been to Disney World before, so they all knew how great Soarin’ was, but Mat was a little hesitant to go on the ride, thinking it was lame.

“I don’t wanna go on it!” Mat whined, giving you a fake pout. “The line’s so long and the ride is gonna be so slow.” You glared at him in fake annoyance, determined to get him on the ride.

“Mathew,” you scolded him as if you were a parent scolding their five-year-old child. “you are going on that ride. You’re gonna like it.” He opened his mouth to complain more, but you cut him off before he could even begin. “Trust me, you’re going to like it. I thought Soarin’ was lame before I went on it, but I ended up loving it.”

Mat stayed in his spot, acting like a stubborn child. When your other friends realized what was going on, they joined you in convincing Mat to go on the ride, but Mat being the stubborn man-child that he is, you and your friends resulted in physically dragging him into the line.

Once you got to the ride, you and your friends placed your belongings under your seats, cringed at the people who took their shoes off, and sat down together in a row of seats. As your row began to go up into the air, Mat looked down to look how far up your seats would go.

“Don’t look down, it ruins the magic.” You said, leaning over to whisper in his ear. As you turned your gaze back towards the screen in front of you, Mat reached over the armrest between your seats, grabbing your hand in his and squeezing it to acknowledge what you had said.

Throughout the ride, you found yourself glancing over at Mat, enjoying watching him be fascinated by Soarin’. When the ride was over, you let go of Mat’s hand to retrieve your belongings from underneath your seat, missing the feeling of his hand in yours.

"Did you like it?" You asked Mat once you exited the ride.

"It was fine." He quickly answered.

"Don't lie to me." A slight smirk appeared on your face as you watched Mat come to terms with that yes, you were right and yes, he did enjoy the ride.

"Alright, fine. Yes, I liked it."

"I told you so!" You teased as he dramatically rolled his eyes.

—————

After you went on Soarin’ you and your friends decided to do your second favourite thing at Epcot: hopping around from country to country to eat as much as you could. You first took a short walk over to Canada, where you got poutine from Le Cellier Steakhouse. You and your friends weren’t overly hungry, so you all decided to buy three orders of poutine so that two people could share one bowl and you ended up having to share with Mat.

While you were eating, you noticed that you didn’t have many cheese curds in your poutine. At first, you thought your bowl didn’t have as many as you thought it should, but then you realized that Mat had been hoarding them on his side of the bowl.

“Mat, why are you eating all of the cheese curds?” you spewed out without taking any breaths in between your words.

“I like more cheese curds with my poutine!” He defended himself.

“And I like a normal amount of cheese curds in my poutine! Give some back to me!” Mat dramatically pouted for a bit before begrudgingly giving you half of his pile of cheese curds.

You knew the last place you wanted to eat at was La Crêperie de Paris in France. You and your friends always ate dessert crêpes there before heading back to your hotel for the night. After eating the crêpes, you spotted Aurora, your favourite princess. Someone was next to her, but you thought it was a cast member until you were closer to her and realized it was Prince Phillip. He was rarely in Epcot with her and you were beyond excited that you would finally get a picture with both of them in Epcot.

You and your group had a conversation with both Aurora and Phillip before taking a selfie of all of you and then each getting individual pictures taken with them.

You were the last person to get your picture with them and right before you left, Mat spurted out “Wait! I wanna get a picture with you and them!” Aurora, standing next to you, smiled and gestured for him to stand between you and Phillip.

“Is he your prince?” Aurora asked politely. You were too stunned at her statement to speak, while Mat was laughing.

“No.” He answered for you. “Not yet, at least.” He said quieter as he grabbed your hand for the second time that day before one of your friends took a few pictures.

—————

The second day of your Disney trip was spent in Magic Kingdom. You started the day by going to meet Rapunzel and Tiana, your favourite princesses after Aurora. As you and Mat talked to Rapunzel, she spoke about how she liked to paint with Eugene and commented that you and Mat should do the same one day since 'it's just so much fun!' After Aurora's comment from the day before, you couldn't help but think that Rapunzel also thought you two were dating. But alas, you took your picture with her and Mat wanted one with you, just like he had in Epcot.

When you got to Tiana, you told her about the time you tried to make beignets and how they didn't turn out well, so you fed them to Mat because you didn't want to waste food.

She responded with "Don't worry, whenever I mess up my cooking, I give it to Naveen." Okay, maybe you brought that one upon yourself.

After meeting a few more characters, you went on the rides which were your favourite part of Magic Kingdom. You had to force Mat onto Small World since he claimed that he didn't want to go on it to avoid getting the song stuck in his head, but you got him on the ride after he stated that he always found himself having a difficult time saying no to you. You might have also creeped him out a little when you all went on Haunted Mansion as you said every line and sang every word throughout the ride.

Before leaving to go to the hotel, you had to get a bowl of popcorn, which Mat kept eating out of despite saying he didn’t want any popcorn. And of course, it wasn’t a trip to Magic Kingdom without watching a parade. You and your friends sat lined up on the sidewalk as you waved to all the characters that passed by.

—————

In the middle of your Disney trip, your group took a break from the parks and went to Disney Springs. You started your day by sleeping in; you all were exhausted from your two days at the parks and finally got some well-deserved rest. Mat wanted to go in the hotel’s pool after breakfast, but you scolded him and told him that he needed to digest before going in, so you and your group piled into one hotel room and played a few chaotic rounds of uno.

After twenty minutes, Mat and two of your friends left to change into their bathing suits and go into to pool. You and your remaining two friends decided to stay inside and continue playing Uno. About forty minutes later, Mat and your friends who went swimming re-entered the hotel room you were in, playfully threatening to get water on the three of you as they were sopping wet. Your two friends gave up after a minute or so, but Mat was very determined, chasing you around the room before engulfing you in a bear hug, resulting in some of the water that was on him getting onto you.

After you and half of your group got dry and changed, you all played a few more card games that you had brought before eating dinner at the hotel. You are enough food to make sure you were full, but not too much so that you would be able to eat something from Gideon’s Bakehouse in Disney Springs.

You and your friends made your way over to Disney Springs, not really planning on buying anything, but just going to browse around and enjoy the atmosphere. You kept an eye out for any plushes or dolls you wanted since you enjoyed collecting them. When you got to World of Disney, you spotted an Aurora doll that you didn’t have. As you walked around the store, you kept glancing over at it, but you constantly broke your glance whenever you saw the price tag, which was well over what you were willing to spend.

After leaving World of Disney, a few of your friends left to go to the washroom, including Mat, or so you thought. What actually happened was that Mat went back into the store and bought the Aurora doll for you. When he came back, he was holding the box behind his back to hide it from your sight.

“Mathew, what did you buy?” you asked.

“Oh, nothing.” He played it off. “Just something for you.” You rolled your eyes at his statement.

“How many times have I told you that you don’t need to buy me anything?”

“Yeah, I know. But you couldn’t keep your eyes off of this so I had to get it.”

“No, you did not.” You said in disbelief.

“I did and don’t tell me to return it or that it was too expensive because I really want you to have it because you deserve it and you’re a great person and I lo- like how much you get excited about these type of things.” Mat rambled.

Before you could say anything in response to his rambling, one of your friends noticed what happened.

“Awww that’s so cute Mat!” They exclaimed.

“Who knew Mathew was a softie.” Another added.

—————

The fourth day of your trip to Disney was spent entirely in Animal Kingdom. You got to the park early so that you could eat breakfast at Tusker House. The POG juice (passion fruit, orange, and guava juice) served during breakfast was a must-have and you needed to get Mat to like it as much as you did.

The very first thing you did after breakfast was speed-walk your way to Flight of Passage. You loved this ride; it was so immersive and made you feel like you were actually flying on a banshee. Before going on, you explained to Mat how the ride worked and to not look down or to the sides, just as you had when you went on Soarin'. However, just like when you went on Soarin’, you broke your own rule and looked to your right where Mat was sitting and enjoyed watching him gleam with joy as the artificial wind blew through his hair.

The only mistake you made while at Animal Kingdom was bringing Mat to Finding Nemo the Musical. You loved going to watch the show, it was a cute musical and was inside an air-conditioned building, what’s better than that? You realized your mistake when Crush’s song “Go With the Flow” occurred. You looked over to Mat, only to see him dancing to the song and smirking mischievously. Knowing him, he was going to sing that song for the rest of the day and that’s exactly what he did. Every ten minutes or so, Mat would dramatically, and badly, sing the one line of the song he knew: “go with the flooooowwwww”.

You ended your day at Animal Kingdom with… more singing from Mat. You and your friends always see the Festival of the Lion King which resulted in everyone singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. Mat being Mat, sang that the entire way back to the hotel, annoying you and the rest of your group.

—————

The last day of your trip arrived faster than you expected. You got up early, and you planned on getting to the hotel late. You started off the day by waiting in the long, endless line for Rise of the Resistance. You and your friends who you usually go to Disney with were completely fine with the wait. Yes, it was hot and humid, but you all knew how to keep each other entertained in line. Mat, on the other hand, complained about everything: the heat, the humidity, the fact that he wanted to sleep in, the fact that he couldn’t sit down anywhere, but your least favourite complaint from him was that ‘the ride’s not gonna be worth the wait.’ Lo and behold, once Mat got off the ride, he told you that he absolutely loved it and wanted to ride it again. As much as you wanted to, you knew you couldn’t go on the ride again unless you didn’t want to go on all the rides you wanted to go on.

After Ruse of the Resistance, you went on Toy Story Mania. You were paired with Mat since he begged to go with you. Throughout the ride, you kept glancing over to Mat and watched as he blasted targets with his tongue stuck out of your mouth in concentration. You, of course, beat him by a lot resulting in a lot of whining from Mat and a lot of bragging from your end.

You went on more rides, and saved a break for lunch at Woody’s Lunch Box, until the evening, when you went to go watch Fantasmic. It was a must-do for you every time you went to Hollywood Studios and you weren’t planning on skipping that on your most recent trip. Throughout the show, instead of glancing over to Mat, like you did for other rides and attractions, you kept your eyes glued to the show. You cried once Mickey appeared at the top of the mountain, resulting in Mat making sure you were okay and a few teasing comments from the rest of your friends.

“They cry every time Mickey appears on that mountain.” One of your friends told Mat after Fantasmic ended.

“I love how excited you get about every Disney-related,” Mat admitted to you. “I love-” he cut himself off before quietly adding “you.”

“We should give them some space.” Another one of your friends said, before teasingly laughing and guiding everyone else away from you two. “We’ll meet you at the hotel.”

“You love me?” You asked. Mat nodded, humming to reassure you that what he said was true. “I feel the same about you, but I don’t know…”

“You don’t know?” Mat asked, prompting you to continue your thought.

“I don’t know if I want to be in a relationship with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’d be my first relationship and all first relationships never end well.”

“That’s not true.”

“Name one first relationship that lasted.” Mat stayed quiet. “Exactly, you can’t think of anyone.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Mat softly said. “If that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.” You admitted.

“I promise you, I’m not going to hurt you,” Mat stated, looking you in your eyes as a way of telling you that he was serious. “Alright?”

“Alright.” You thought for a few seconds before adding “Can you be my boyfriend?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

——————————

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#the summer fic exchange 2k23 #mat barzal #mathew barzal #mat barzal x reader #mathew barzal x reader #mat barzal imagine #mathew barzal imagine #mat barzal fic #mathew barzal fic #hockey fanfiction #maleeha writes

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hockey-fics · 10 months

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Missing Piece ~ Mathew Barzal

Summary: You’re supposed to move on from your first love, but six years later you’re still struggling with it. And maybe you aren’t the only one.

Warnings: Drinking

Word Count: ~4,700

Love isn’t easy or simple. Love is complicated and sometimes messy. Love can bring out the best in you but it can also bring out the worst. It forces you to deal with issues you didn’t want to deal with, issues you maybe didn’t even know you had. Jealousy, insecurity, distrust.

Your first love was even more intricate. It’s the first time you feel that true commitment to a person when you know you would do anything and everything for them. The first time you give yourself over to someone completely, give them the power to break your heart into a million pieces. The first time you found your person. The person you don’t want to be without, the person you feel safe and comfortable with. The person who brings out the best parts of you and the person who will be by your side at your worst.

But not every love story has a happy ending.

Your first love started in middle school. Mathew asked you to go with him to the seventh-grade dance. Of course, you said yes. You were 12 and you were ecstatic that your crush had asked you to the dance.

At 13 you had your first kiss. It was on the playground at the park down the road from your house. You had gone there with Mathew after school one Tuesday in October. It was awkward and strange but you loved every second of it.

At 14 Mathew asked you officially to be his girlfriend. You said yes without a second of hesitation. He took you to a movie that Friday. Or rather, your parents drove you to the movie theatre, where you met up with Mat and he bought you a ticket and popcorn. You held hands throughout the movie and didn’t pay attention for even a second. You spent the length of the movie worried about if you were holding his hand too hard or not hard enough or if your hand was too clammy or stiff.

At 16 Mathew moved away and you didn’t know how to handle it. But you loved Mat as much as you could have at that time so you navigated a long-distance relationship as best you could at that age. He was only a few hours away and between weekend trips and summers together you managed the relationship rather well.

At 21 things changed. Mat moved thousands of kilometres away and your ability to navigate long-distance deteriorated quickly. There was a three-hour time difference. Weekend trips to see each other nearly ceased entirely. You would go days with nothing more than a few texts here and there. By the time you were done with your day and had time to call Mathew, he would be heading to bed. When he had time to talk in the morning you were still asleep.

So you broke up. It was mutual, at least that’s what you told everyone. It was you who had brought up the idea. Mat argued against it, promised to try harder, find more time to talk and see each other. But you knew it wasn’t realistic. You hadn’t drifted apart due to a lack of effort. It wasn’t extra effort that would bring you together.

You were devastated. Beyond devastated. You were a mess for long enough that you had grown embarrassed over the number of tears you had shed, the number of nights you had spent curled up in bed, and the social plans you had cancelled to stay in and wallow in your sadness.

Eventually, you pulled yourself together enough to patch your life back up. You finished your last few years of university. You started going on dates again, even though none of them ever compared to being with Mat. You did your best to put that part of your life behind you.

But you were supposed to move on entirely from your first love. You knew that. You knew with time you were supposed to stop thinking about it, about him. You were supposed to go weeks, or months, without thinking back to the days of your first love.

You weren’t supposed to long to have that person, that feeling, back in your life. You weren’t supposed to flash back to vivid memories of the past, of memories from when you were still wrapped up in that love.

You thought the hole he had left in your life when the two of you broke up would eventually be filled. With friends and hobbies, school and a career. But no matter how busy you kept yourself, no matter how hard you tried to fill that hole, it always seemed to be there.

December 22, 2022

You’re sitting in the driveway, Budget rental car idling in the cold winter night. December 22nd. You were back at your childhood home for Christmas. You should be happy. But every time you came home there was a feeling of nostalgia that didn’t fill you with warmth or happiness, it felt sad and bitter.

“Are we going to go in?”

Whipping your head to the right with a sharp inhale your eyes focus on Ben. Ben. You two had only been together for four months. It felt far too early for him to be joining your family for Christmas but when he asked to come you didn’t really know how to say no. So here you were, with your practically brand new boyfriend, sitting in the driveway of your childhood family home thinking about all the times you had been in that exact place with Mat.

“Oh, um, yeah,” you mutter, turning the car off before climbing out into the cold night. Dragging your suitcases up to the front door you head in, your parents at the front door only a few seconds later.

“Hi hunny,” your mom greets, throwing her arms around you.

“Hey, mom.” Pulling back you look over at Ben. “This is Ben,” you tell her, your apprehension clear in your voice.

“Hi Ben, it’s lovely to meet you.” She pulls him in for a hug, their bodies rigid and tense. “How was the flight?”

“Pretty good,” you tell her with a shrug. “Nothing crazy happened so I guess I can’t complain.”

“Well, dinner is almost ready, the bed is made upstairs,” your mom says, eyes flicking back and forth from you to Ben and back to you.

You wanted the night to go well, you really did. You wanted Ben to fit in like a missing piece in your family. But it didn’t and he didn’t fit. It was awkward and uncomfortable. After dinner you cleaned the kitchen with your mom while Ben sat in the living room with your dad and the house was so quiet you could hear their conversation, or rather, their lack of conversation altogether.

You lay awake in bed that night till Ben falls asleep, till the house is dark and quiet. Slipping out of your room and down the stairs you head out to the car in the driveway. You weren’t even sure where you were going, or what you were planning on doing. But you needed to get out of your head and you hoped that getting out of the house might make that happen.

Eventually, you find yourself in front of the 24-hour convenience store you used to frequent for late-night snacks and drinks. The year they began selling wine and beer only increased the frequency of trips, youthful giggling as you played a game of ‘who looks the oldest’ in someone's beat-up Honda Civic in the parking lot of the convenience store.

Sighing you climb out of the car, heading into the store. The lights are fluorescent and bright, too bright. The store is empty aside from the man sitting behind the counter, barely even looking up from his phone when you entered the building. Strolling down the aisles you let your eyes scan the shelves of chips and candy, overpriced loaves of Wonder bread and tiny jars of peanut butter.

The bell above the door jingles but it barely registers for you, your mind racing with thoughts, with memories.

“Your parents still don’t keep junk food in the house?”

Twirling around your eyes land on the last person you expected to find in that convenience store at 12:30am. If you had you sure as hell wouldn’t have been there in sweatpants and a hoodie so old you were fairly sure he had seen you in when you were still a teenager. “Mat,” you whisper. “You’re back in town early.”

“Yeah, we got lucky this year, had a game yesterday and I flew back this afternoon,” Mat explains. “When’d you get here?”

“This afternoon.” You’re fidgeting with the strings on your hoodie, staring over at him. “How’ve you been?”

“Not bad. How are you? Happy to be home?”

“Uh,” you mutter, inhaling deeply. “Yeah, I guess as happy to be home as I can be if I’m using this place as an excuse to get out of the house.”

“That bad, hey?” Mat chuckles.

“I mean, it could be better. But more importantly, what is hockey superstar Mathew Barzal doing at the 24-hour Stop and Shop in the middle of the night?”

“Couldn’t sleep.”

Your eyes fall to the bag of chips he was holding, looking back up at him with a teasing smile. “And you thought a bag of Lays salt and vinegar chips would fix that?”

“Probably not.” Matt shrugs, laughing under his breath. Reaching over he picks up a bottle of wine sitting on the shelf across from where you were standing. “This might though.”

“Oh no, it’s sad enough to be back in this place, don’t make it worse by drinking alone.”

Mat chuckles, reaching over for a second bottle, and thrusting it into your empty hands. “So don’t let me drink alone.”

You knew you should say no. There were a million and one reasons why you should say no. You had broken up over 6 years ago. It took you years to move on and you weren’t sure even now you really were. You had a boyfriend now. You had a boyfriend now who was asleep in your family’s home.

“Alright,” you state, nodding in agreement, despite your mind screaming at you to say no, to put the wine away.

So the two of you take the bottles of wine and Mat’s bag of salt and vinegar chips to the counter and you let him pay for all of it despite your objection. Outside you climb into your car, agreeing to meet Mat at his house. It seemed safer to go there, your own house seemed off the table with Ben asleep in your parent’s guest room.

When you pull into the driveway Mat is waiting outside for you, the bottles of wine tucked under one arm. Following him inside the two of you sneak down to the finished basement that had been a common hangout during your childhood and teenage years.

Once you’re settled on the couch in the basement with a glass of wine in your hand you turn your focus back to Mat. “How have things been? It’s been a while since we talked.”

“It has,” Matt agrees, taking a sip of the white wine in his glass. “I’ve been pretty good, I guess. Kinda just the same.”

“I don’t think you get to make your life seem so boring,” you tease. “I’m glad you’ve been doing well though. Still enjoying New York?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s starting to feel like it’s home more than here now, you know?”

Nodding slowly you take a sip of your wine, staring down into it for a few seconds. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Are you still living out here? You graduated, right?”

“Yeah, I finished my degree a couple years ago,” you tell him with a soft smile. You were still following each other on social media and you were sure that had to be how he knew that. “I moved out to Toronto after graduating.”

“Toronto?” Mat shifts slightly in his seat, taking another gulp of the sickly sweet, cheap wine. “That’s a big move.”

“I didn’t want to stay out here forever, wanted to see a new place for a while.”

“How are you liking it out there?”

Sighing quietly you give him a little shrug. “It’s been okay, it was hard for a while to not know anyone out there. But I’m slowly settling in, meeting new people.”

“You don’t sound like you like it that much.”

Laughing softly you take another drink, finishing off your first glass of wine. “I do,” you insist, reaching over and pouring yourself another glass of wine. You knew the only reason you were hesitating about it was because you were sitting here with Mat now and it made Toronto feel distant and cold.

As your conversation grows less intense with each glass of wine you find yourself loosening up, laughing and joking with Mat like the two of you hadn’t spent the last six years apart. You weren’t even paying attention to the time, had stopped worrying about Ben waking up and finding your side of the bed empty. Nothing else seemed to matter while you were sitting there with Mat.

“Any new women in your life?” you ask, the wine blurring your inhibitions, no longer worrying if that question would come across as strange and jealous.

Mat chuckles, shaking his head. “No, hasn’t really been for awhile. What about you?”

“No, I’m still mostly just interested in men.”

“Very funny,” Mat laughs, waiting for you to go on regardless of your attempt to deflect the question away from you.

“Um,” you hum, taking another large drink from your glass. “Yeah, I, um, I’m seeing someone.”

Mat falls silent, nodding slowly as he looks across the room, not making eye contact for a few minutes. “Oh, um, congratulations.”

Laughing sarcastically you set your glass down, nervously running your clammy hands over your thighs. You didn’t want that fact to change Mat’s perspective of you. You didn’t want him to push you away because of that. “We haven’t been together long,” you inform him. “I don’t know if we’re going to be.”

“Why’s that?”

“I just feel like we should still be in a honeymoon phase of our relationship but it’s already really hard. And he doesn’t fit in with my family, which isn’t a dealbreaker but it’s not ideal, you know?”

“He’s met your family?” Mat mumbles.

Your heart was hammering in your chest now, not wanting to admit what you were about to say. But you couldn’t lie to him. “He’s here with me for Christmas.”

“I thought…didn’t you say you haven’t been together long?” Mat asks, his voice quiet and deflated.

You can’t help but laugh at that, it was a very fair question to ask and you were a little embarrassed to admit that it was and he was still here regardless. “We haven’t, it’s been like four months. He asked to come out here with me for Christmas and I didn’t know how to say no.”

Mat’s deflated expression is broken by a breath of laughter. “You couldn’t say no? You didn’t want him to come?”

“No,” you exclaim, shaking your head. “I really didn’t.”

“Do you even like this guy?”

Glancing around the room you let out a loud breath. “I don’t know, Mat,” you admit. “I’ve been trying. I did in the beginning but now I think I’m just trying to force it to work.”

“Doesn’t sound great for four months in,” Mat points out. “Did you also not know how to say no to me all those times I came over for Christmas with your family?” Mat jokes.

“You know I wanted you there,” you tell him with a soft smile. “I always wanted you around.”

“So why didn’t you want him to come?” Mat asks, seemingly looking for a specific answer though you weren’t sure what it was.

“Because I don’t love him,” you say simply. “And I love you.”

The room falls silent as the two of you realize what you had just said, your face flushing hot and your heart hammering hard. “I loved you,” you correct, a blatant lie but you couldn’t admit that somewhere deep inside you were still in love with Mat.

“I should probably head home,” you say suddenly, getting to your feet and pulling your phone out to get an Uber or taxi or any other way you could figure out to get out of there.

“Woah, hey, are you okay?” Mat asks, getting up and stepping over to you, his hand on your lower back. His touch was gentle and hesitant like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to do it.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” you whisper, your hands shaking slightly as you open your Uber app.

“Look at me.” Mat places his hands on your arms, turning you to face him. “I know what you meant, you don’t have to run away.”

“What did I mean, Mat?” you whisper, looking up into his eyes.

“That we loved each other when I was coming to your house for Christmas.”

You hesitate, knowing you should just leave it at that. But you couldn’t, shaking your head slightly. “I think I might still be in love with you.”

Mat stares down at you for a few seconds, uncertainty clear on his face. Before you have the chance to say or do anything he’s pulling you closer, leaning down and pressing his lips to yours.

“Mat,” you whisper, pulling back the second his lips touch yours. “I can’t do this right now.”

“I’m sorry,” he mutters, stepping back quickly, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. “Fuck, I’m sorry, you’re in a relationship, I shouldn’t have…I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” you assure him. “I should probably go home though.”

Mat nods, walking you up to the door once your Uber was on the way. He stands in the entryway, shoulder against the wall as he watches you pull your shoes on.

“Wait,” he says as you stand up, moving towards the door. Turning back to face him you wait for him to go on. “I still love you too.”

You’re frozen in place, speechless for too long. “I’ll talk to you later,” you finally say, slipping out of the front door and hurrying down to the Uber idling at the bottom of the driveway. The ride is quiet and you’re glad your driver was refraining from a conversation, giving you time to think over the events of the night.

When you get back home you sneak in as quietly as you can to avoid waking anyone up. But by the time you get into your room, you realize you didn’t need to be so worried, finding Ben wide awake.

“Where were you?”

Sighing you tug your hoodie off, tossing it onto the chair in the corner of the room. “I just went to see a friend.”

“You snuck out in the middle of the night to go visit a friend?” Ben presses, clearly and rightfully suspicious.

“I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to wake you up,” you explain, only partly lying.

“Who were you with?”

“Why are you interrogating me right now?” you snap, arms folding over your chest.

“Because you fucking snuck out to go see someone in the middle of the night and you’re obviously drunk, I think I deserve to know where you were and who you were with.”

“I was with Mat,” you snap. “I ran into him in the store and went back to his place to catch up. It’s not a big deal now can you just go back to sleep.”

“Your ex Mat?” Ben mutters.

“Yes,” you whisper, glancing down at the ground.

“Did you sleep with him?”

“Oh my god,” you groan, shaking your head. “No, I didn’t do anything with him. We hung out and had some wine.”

“That’s bullshit,” Ben declares. “Tell me the truth.”

“I just did,” you mutter, though it wasn’t exactly the truth.

“I don’t believe you.”

You take a deep breath, glancing up at the ceiling before looking back over at him. “You want to know the fucking truth? I’m still in love with him. Yeah, he tried to kiss me but I stopped it. I don’t know what you want from me, Ben, but whatever it is I really don’t think that I can give it to you.”

“I should never have come here,” Ben states, his voice cold and harsh.

Laughing sarcastically you lean against the dresser behind you, putting even more distance between you and him. “No, you shouldn’t have. I didn’t even fucking want you to, I don’t know why you would even ask. We’ve been together for like four months.”

You knew you were being harsh, you knew you were in the wrong. But the culmination of everything from the last 12 hours was spewing out of you with visceral anger. You didn’t want him there, your family barely wanted him there, he had already made your first dinner with your family weird and uncomfortable and you couldn’t help but put all of that on him.

Ben nods, walking across the room to begin reorganizing his suitcase. “Well, I’ll be out of here tomorrow so I don’t ruin your Christmas or get in the way of you and your ex.”

Sighing you walk to the edge of the bed, sitting down and watching him for a few minutes.

“You had to know this wasn’t going to work out, Ben,” you finally say, voice quiet and soft now.

“Actually I didn’t,” Ben snaps, turning around to look at you. “I actually have feelings for you and it doesn’t feel great to know you were in love with your ex this entire time.”

“I’m sorry,” you whisper, looking down at the ground. “I know it doesn’t make it better but I really didn’t plan or expect to see him, now or ever.”

“It really doesn’t, but thanks,” Ben mutters, walking back to the bed to sit back down. Pulling his phone out the two of you fall into an uncomfortable silence while he finds the next available flight back to Toronto.

Eventually, you decide to get some sleep, the sky already bright outside. The next time you wake up Ben was already gone and you weren’t sure if you were relieved by that or if you felt you should have said a more concrete goodbye.

Downstairs you find your parents in the living room, curling up on the end of the couch, waiting for someone else to say something first.

“I’m sorry,” your mom finally says and you look over at her with furrowed eyebrows.

“Sorry?” you ask.

“You and Ben, I’m sorry you two broke up.”

“Oh,” you mumble, shrugging. “It’s, um, not a big deal.”

“You went and saw Mathew?” your mom asks.

“He told you that?” you ask in disbelief. “I didn’t go see him, I couldn’t sleep so I went for a drive and stopped at the convenience store for a snack and I ran into him. He wanted to catch up so I went over to his place, it’s not like I planned to see him.”

Your mom nods, clearly unsure about your words. But your mom also loved Mat and you knew that even if you had specifically gone to see him she probably wouldn’t have been that upset about it. “Well as long as you’re okay then I’ll be honest and I think it’s for the best. You didn’t seem happy with him.”

Sighing you turn your attention to the Christmas Hallmark movie that was playing on the TV. “Yeah,” you whisper, knowing she was right.

You spend the rest of the day with your parents, watching Christmas movies and eating so many snacks you didn’t even need to think about cooking a single meal that day.

Most of Christmas Eve had slipped by quickly but you couldn’t keep your mind off of Mat. Couldn’t stop thinking about the night you spent together. He had told you that he loved you and you had left without saying anything else. You left that night with him thinking you were staying in a relationship with Ben.

After dinner you pick up your keys and purse, telling your parents you would be home soon. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe everything you had done since being home had been a mistake. But you don’t stop, you don’t turn around, you keep driving till you’re sitting in the driveway of Mat’s childhood home.

The driveway is slippery with freshly fallen snow, the air sharp against your skin. When you get to the front door you consider turning around and heading home, pretending you had never driven across town for this. But you knock on the door before you can talk yourself out of it.

When the door is pulled open you’re hit with a gust of warm air, tinged with the scent of Christmas baking. Your eyes focus on Mat, standing in front of you in a hoodie and sweats, hair a mess, surprise written on his face. “Hey,” he breathes out, one hand still on the door.

Stepping closer you lean up, hands on either side of his face as you press your lips against his. It’s filled with emotion and all the words you didn’t know how to say. His arms are around your body, tugging you into the house and fumbling the door closed behind you without so much as pulling back for a second. Your hands move down, one tangled in his hair, the other grasping at his hoodie like you were scared that he would be gone again if you were to let go.

When you finally pull back you leave one hand grasping his hoodie, the other falling to rest on his chest. “Hi,” you whisper.

“Hi,” Matt replies, his hands on your waist. “What-.”

“I broke up with him,” you interrupt, wanting to get any thoughts that you might be cheating on your partner out of Mat’s head. “Or I guess we broke up, he found out about the other night and wasn’t happy.”

Mat nods slowly, waiting for you to go on. But you didn’t know what else to say. You didn’t even know why you were there.

“Do you want to come in for a bit?” Mat suggests, pushing your jacket down your arms, and hanging it on one of the hooks by the door.

“Okay,” you agree, letting him take your hand and pull you up into his room. The same room you had snuck into many times before, but back then it was because you were teenagers and spending time alone behind a closed door was strictly off-limits. “Straight to the bedroom, hey?”

Mat chuckles shutting the door behind the two of you before making his way to sit on the edge of the bed. “Just figured you wouldn’t want to have whatever conversation we’re about to have in the living room with my family.”

“You’re right about that,” you comment, walking over and lifting one knee onto the edge of the bed, sitting next to him, your body turned to face him. “So,” you whisper, hoping he would take the reins on the conversation.

“I want to try again,” Mat blurts, not turning his head to look at you as he says it.

“Try what again?”

“Being together. We live closer now and I still love you six years later, I think…I think I want us to try and make it work again.”

You’re stunned by his words, staring at him speechlessly. It’s not that you hadn’t thought about it. Not only had you thought about it before this trip home but you had thought about it every moment since you saw Mat in the convenience store.

“Is that a no?” Mat mutters.

“No, uh,” you begin nervously, shaking your head. “No, it’s not. I mean, yes…yes, I want that.”

Mat pulls you closer, kissing you again, gently, passionately. “I love you,” Mat whispers against your lips.

And you whispered it right back to him, contentment deep in your soul. Finally, the piece in the puzzle that had been missing for so long seemed to be back in place.

#mathew barzal #Mathew Barzal fic #mathew barzal fanfic #mathew barzal imagine #mathew barzal one shot #nhl fanfiction #nhl one shot #nhl fic #nhl fanfic #nhl imagines #mathew barzal fanfiction #Hockey Fanfiction #hockey fanfic #hockey fic #hockey imagines

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barzysunflower · 3 months

Note

So y/n goes to this game like always everyone knows she’s barzal wife or girlfriend when the fight happens something snaps and she’s like yelling acting like there gonna hear her saying “HEY THATS MY MAN DONT TOUCH HIM LIKE THAT” people are recording her or she lands on the jumbo screen and the guys saying there’s go barzal gf or wife love to see this. They both end up going viral on Twitter mat was over the fight but y/n still was mad and going on and on saying wtf I would of squashed him if I was right there because no one grabs my man like that 😤 mat finds it entertaining because he’s never seen her this worked up and he’s kinda turned on by it knowing she would fight for him LOL even tho he wouldn’t allow it but he ends up kissing her by how in love he is with her maybe gets alittle smutty

now that fight last night was quite something and god Mathew I want you to do it again! but not too often, I need you to keep looking pretty.

wc: 820

cw: alludes to sex, but not really smut (sorry I’m working on other smut rn haha and didn’t have much time to write today)

gif made by @pyotrkochetkov

You turned around from the conversation you were having with a friend to see Mat finally come out of the locker room area. When he was close enough, you could see there was a big red bruise coating his nose and part of his cheek from the fight he was in earlier. “Aw, baby, are you ok?”

“Perfectly fine.” His smile was sweet and crooked as he wrapped his arms around you. Your lips brushed gently against his bruised skin then finally landed on his lips.

Once you were sure he was fine, you pulled apart and playfully punched him in the chest. “What the hell were you thinking? Fighting? Maty! You know my rule, no teeth, no wedding.”

He laughed. “I know your absolutely ridiculously absurd rule. Don’t worry, I’ll have all of my teeth for the big day.” He kissed the top of your head, still getting excited at the mention of your wedding even after months of being engaged and it being pretty much all planned already. “And he attacked me. I wasn’t about the back down. I’m not scared of a little fight.”

A rush of heat flowed through you, seeing him get worked up again. And you had to admit, as much as you hated the fighting aspect of hockey, it was kind of hot seeing Mat defend himself and get into a little brawl.

“And it looks like you’re not as mad as you’re pretending to be.” He totally picked up on your vibes.

“Alright, so maybe it was a little hot to watch,” you admitted. “But don’t make it a regular thing.”

“Sure about that?” His eyebrows raised and a little mischievous grin appeared as he pulled you closer to him by your hips.

“At least not until after the wedding. I need you looking pretty for the pictures.”

“Alright, no more fights until the wedding.”

———

“Ok, so maybe I will keep up the fights if you’re going to be this turned on afterwards,” Mat mumbled out of breath when you rolled off him, back onto the mattress.

“You made a promise,” you responded, yelping when his lips were back on your skin in seconds. His teeth graded your neck, down your naked chest.

“It’s very hard to resist.” He came back up to kiss you passionately. You had lost count of the amount of times you had sex within the last few hours of coming home from the game, sleeping, and waking up to more sex.

“Alright, get off me I’m starving.” He fell back into the pillows with a laugh, but instead of getting up to go to the kitchen, you grabbed your phone for your daily morning phone time. Mat did the same.

To your surprise, there were a ton of notifications. Texts, instagram, twitter, etc. And also from people you didn’t even know. A quick investigation told you that you were in fact the reason for all the fuss.

“You seen this?” Mat had the same expression on his face, as he was looking through the exact same type of notifications. People sending a video of you from the game last night, yelling during Mat’s fight. The person who filmed it was too far away to pick up audio, but based on reading your lips, people could tell you were yelling something the lines of ‘HEY THATS MY MAN DONT TOUCH HIM LIKE THAT’.

You looked to Mat for his reaction, but he was just laying there, naked, watching the video over and over again, his jaw slowly dropping. You watched him nervously, internally cringing that a video of you like that was currently trending. Mat finally faced you.

“My girl.” He laughed and was back on top of you in seconds. “My feisty girl. And here I thought you were upset I was fighting, but you would have easily stepped in.”

“I was just trying to protect your pretty face.” He smiled wide and started attacking you with kisses, sucking and biting your skin.

“I had no idea you could get so worked up.”

“I’ve been hanging around you for too long.” He chuckled and kissed you deeply. You could never get enough of him.

“Protecting me. I’m supposed to be the one protecting you.”

“You clearly need it.” You loved teasing him, especially since his kisses got more intense the longer it went on.

“I’m pretty sure I won that fight last night, so I can protect myself.” He got on his knees and his lips wandered down your body. One of his hands grabbed your breast, massaging it, while his lips started assaulting the other. He licked around your nipple, sucking and biting it playfully. “But my job is to take care of you.”

He moved further down the mattress, getting ahold of your thighs and roughly pulling them apart. “Now be a good girl and let me do my job.”

#mat barzal #mathew barzal #mat barzal fic #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal blurb #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl blurb #hockey fics #hockey imagine #nhl smut #smut #hockey smut

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residenthughes · 2 months

Text

slow sundays - mat barzal

pairing: mat barzal x gender neutral reader

word count: 1k

tags/warnings: fluff, domestic fluff, no mention of y/n

summary: any day spent with barzal is always good, especially sundays.

notes: a little something i wrote when i should have been sleeping, oops! may write a longer version, may not but i'll definitely write up something else longer for barzy, as well as some other fics that i've started and am very excited to share, hehe! as always, hope this finds u well and that you enjoy this small ball of fluff. much love! <3

oh! forgot to mention, this post is inspired by this post by @novelbear! they spoil tumblr rotten with such adorable prompts! :)

Sundays are your favourite days of the week. The normal anxieties that creep in from a long lived weekend cease to exist in your timeline, a day defined by slow sweetness and sacred serenity. This year you’ve really lucked out with said day, most of Mat’s games scheduled another time and on the off chance he has practice, it’s before you can even pry yourself from the comfort of your cloud-like mattress. This is one of those Sundays, where you’re tucked away in citrus scented sheets, fast asleep as Mat presses a tender kiss on the bridge of your nose before he goes off to do what he does best, leaving you to emerge from your cocoon whenever you please.

You decide shortly after Mat departs to desert the covers, arranging them neatly with a sleepy pout set onto your puffy lips before starting your share of morning chores. Amidst the array of bits and bobs you cater to around your cosy home, you cook up a breakfast built for two - piping hot and ready to eat by the time Mat’s car pulls up the driveway.

You drape your arms lazily around his nape, beaming a lovesick grin as you peck your long-time lover. “Good practice?”

“Great practice,” he breathes against you, minty fresh with the faint waft of his accompanying cologne. His strong arms pull you impossibly closer, your body snug in his embrace. “But I’ve got better things waiting for me right here.”

His large hands cup a handful of your butt, giving it a cheeky squeeze that involuntarily makes you jump against him, your cheeks crimsoning. “And to think, that’s the thanks I get for making us breakfast.”

Mat releases his grip as you back away, disbelief washing all over his sculpted features as he gives you a cocked eyebrow and a petty laugh. “Says the one who-”

Your hand comes up, an index finger raised. “Don’t finish that sentence.”

Wordlessly, Mat holds his hands up in surrender, brazen-faced as you send him an eye-roll with crossed arms. Despite the circumstances, your hands find the top of his zipper, opening up his coat before you hang it up near the door in perfect routine. The selfless action still warrants one of your favourite kisses from your boyfriend, kisses from side-to-side - a kiss on the cheek, nose and cheek again. A simple action but one that robs you of all oxygen, a lightness in your limbs and a tingle down your spine. You soon turn around with Mat trailing not far behind as you venture back to your spacious kitchen, settling at the quaint table for two - a single vase rose separating your plates packed with all your breakfast favourites.

Before you have the chance to take your seat at your baby blue painted table, Mat comes up from behind you, cradling you in his sugary embrace as he plants a delicate kiss against your temple, your heart overflowing with the magic of your slow Sundays together. “How’d I get so lucky?”

You hum blissfully, a hand delicate against his stubble-ridden cheek as you simply exist together, limbs tangled as you savour the moment like sand slipping through your fingertips. A quick kiss against Mat’s prickly cheek puts a pause on the moment, your grin giddy as your hand takes Mat’s as you direct him to sit, which he does - no questions asked, fuschia dusted upon the apples of his cheeks.

You fall into perfect routine, your brunch a show that consists of all your favourites: Mat’s cutlery glimmering in the soft rays pouring into the windowed kitchen as he cuts his food, ceremoniously offering you the first bite of his food with the same smitten closed mouth smile that he had the first day he met you. Happily, you accept his generous offer and take a bite, beaming with full rosy cheeks as he swipes the crumbs with such an earnest shimmer in his eyes that it makes your heart squeeze with joy.

Your brunch continues in similar fashion, two enamoured partners basking in the company of another as you bond over a hearty plate of food, time lost in endless dialogues and timeless ‘I love you’s. When there’s nothing but crumbs speckled across your ceramic plates, Mat shoos you away before you can get a protest in, you resorting to sulking on the edge of couch as the sounds of plates clinking together competes with the noise coming from the TV.

When everything’s said and done, the washing up dried and packed away, Mat shuffles into the lounge, falling into the couch with a grunt as he positions himself as close to you as possible. You can never bring yourself to mind, head falling to his broad shoulder once he’s propped his feet against the hickory coffee table with his arm circling your shoulders. Another kiss atop your head tells you he’s settled and you melt into his side, no objections sounding from your long-time boyfriend as reruns of 'The Bachelor' blare from the TV. If anything, Mat immerses just as much as you. Well, as much as the slightly fatigue man can as his fingers absently fiddle with locks of your hair, the gesture a lullaby that aids your sudden drowsiness that links hands with the warmth emitting from Mat’s body that always fits against yours like a puzzle piece.

Before you’re able to drift away into a shallow slumber, a slumber you both shall share prior to your simple plans for the day, Mat’s sleep-laced voice calls out to you.

“Waking up next to you is the best part of my day.”

And you chuckle softly because of the simple fact you know this to be true - evidenced in the way affirmations of love fall so easily from his lips, in the way he never allows you to walk near any busy roads and buys you flowers just because. And, best of all, when your precious Sunday comes and goes, your Monday view consists of your beautiful boyfriend as you reverse out of your driveway, a sleepy smile mellowed into his features as he sees you off, hollering one and the same line wishing you a great day at work, which is nothing but granted if you’ve got him by your side.

#mb13 #mat barzal #mathew barzal #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal fic #mat barzal fluff #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal x you #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #new york islanders #ny isles #ny islanders #residenthughes

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wintfleur · 13 days

Text

🍂 ͡ ꒱ JULIETTE LECLERC AU!

﹕─┈ pairings ( Mat barzal x Leclerc f1 driver oc! x Quinn Hughes )

°. — summary ( the journey of Juliette Leclerc and her two lovers )

°. — you can find everything for the AU under #🍂 ͡ ꒱ Juliette Leclerc

°. — you can find asks under #💌julietteleclerc!

°. — you can fine everything for the couple under #⋆ ˚｡⋆୨🤎୧˚ Juliette’s lovers

°. — you can find anything smutty under #⋆ ˚｡⋆୨🎞️୧˚ smutty lovers

°. — ( this is an interactive AU! So feel free to send any requests of things you would like to see in this series, or if you just want to share some thoughts! I would absolutely love that! Please comment if you would like to be added to the tag list! )

˚ ⋆｡˚ ⋆ ౨ৎ Juliette’s profile ⤼ her relationship w/ her brothers ⤼ her relationship w/ mat & quinn ⤼ her relationship w/ her besties ⤼

𐙚 fics

𐙚 smau’s

𐙚 blurbs

𐙚 everything smutty

𐙚 moodboards

౨ৎ Juliette mb

𐙚 extra’s

౨ৎ Juliette’s famous ex’s

౨ৎ more background on the couple

౨ৎ Juliette at the playoffs

౨ৎ long distance thoughts

౨ৎ cuddle thoughts

°. — taglist ( @cixrosie @toasttt11 @lovings4turn )

©️WINTFLEUR

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islesnucks · 3 months

Text

Voicemail - Mathew Barzal x Reader - TEASER

Hey! This is so random after like a year of not posting any fics but here's a small preview of one of the Barzy fics I've been working on. I'll probably post it next week.

Summary: what started as an accidentall voicemial to your ex boyfriend ended up becoming routine and maybe even more

Add yoruself to the taglist if you wanna be notified when i post the fic! PS: ill also use my old taglist so if you were in it but changed your url and wanna be notified please add yourself again and also let me know which is your old url so i can delete it, thanks!

“Fuck it. I can't do this.” You pulled your phone away from your ear and touched the red dot.

A second later, realization struck like lightning – you had ended the call before deleting the voicemail. It had been sent.

"Oh no, no, no!" you exclaimed, eyes widening in horror. There was no turning back. Mat would undoubtedly hear you stumbling over your words. Why couldn't you have just left well enough alone? The last thing he needed was you barging back into his life with a pathetic voicemail about something he likely moved on from. ‘He probably already despises me after how everything unfolded, and now this’ you thought.

"Mat." you picked up.

"Hey. You called me?"

POSTED HERE!!

#mat barzal #mat barzal imagine #mathew barzal #mat barzal imagines #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal one shot #mathew barzal imagine #mathew barzal imagines #mathew barzal x reader #mathew barzal one shot #mat barzal fic #mathew barzal fic #mat barzal fluff #nhl imagine #isles imagine #hockey imagine #hockey fic #nhl fic

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typical-simplelove · 2 years

Note

Can you write number 25 and 86 from your prompt list whit Mat Barzal please ?

25. "Kiss me" and 86. "I love waking up next to you" with Mathew Barzal

Claudia's Debut Season of Heartfirst Writing

Quiet Sunday mornings were always a happy welcome when they came. When they happened during the season, you were always grateful when they happened. During the off-season, though, you had quiet Sunday mornings every week. No alarms, no distractions, just you and Mat.

It was nine in the morning when Mat's stroking your shoulder woke you up. You buried your head in his chest, not yet ready to wake up. You pull the blanket further around you and close your eyes harder. It was a Sunday morning, so why was Mat waking you up?

"Stop," you grumble, pushing Mat away from you.

"Come on; let's go get some breakfast," Mat prods, not stopping his stroking.

"Dude, no," you continue. "You can get breakfast, but let me sleep. I'm not ready to wake up yet."

"Even if we don't go to that coffee shop a few blocks down that you love?"

"I'm going to punch you in the face if you keep talking to me and making me less sleepy," you rumble.

"I love waking up next to you," Mat teases, pulling you closer to his chest.

"Good, now don't make me wake up."

"Oh, please? I'm really hungry," Mat prods, a smirk on his face.

Groaning, you push yourself off of Mat and sit up, resting against the headboard. "I'm awake now with no sign of falling asleep; you happy now?"

"Yes," you grumble.

"Kiss me?" Mat asks, a pout on his face.

Angrily, you peck Mat's lips. "Are you done pestering me now?"

"Mhm, all done," Mat tells you, a proud smile on his face.

"Great, I'm going to go shower, and you can get breakfast for us." You stop off towards the bathroom.

"Wait, we're not going together?"

"Of course not; you woke me up from my precious sleep."

Mat shakes his head with a small chuckle. He'd never get tired of this banter with you.

#claudia's debut season of heartfirst writing #claudia writes #mathew barzal #mathew barzal fic #mathew barzal imagine #mathew barzal x reader #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal fic #hockey #hockey fic #hockey imagine #nhl fic #hockey writing #nhl imagine #nhl writing #nhl blurbs #op: 2022

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prettytoxicrevolver · 11 months

Text

Pancake | Mat Barzal

Your first date with Mat Barzal

warnings? none

wc: 739

“Pancakes or Waffles?”

“Depends,” you respond.

“Depends? What do you mean it depends?” He asks, laughing that signature high laugh of his.

“It depends!” you insist, matching his wide grin.

“Okay tell me,” he says, still smiling but trying to settle into a serious expression.

“If they’re homemade I pick pancakes,” you say and he nods in response. “My mom made the best pancakes when I was a kid.”

“If they’re store bought, it has to be blueberry eggo waffles.”

“What about regular or chocolate chip?” he asks and you shake your head.

“Nope. Has to be blueberry.”

“Alright alright,” he says absentmindedly, pulling your hands into his over the table and playing with your fingers.

“If it’s restaurant food, pancakes all day.”

“So you like pancakes better over all?” he asks and you shake your head.

“Nope, it still depends.”

Mat grins widely, unable to contain his sheer joy in your presence. He thought you were absolutely ridiculous, and yet he wanted to hear every single word that left your mouth. Wanted to write it all down and read it over and over, keep it to himself so that no one finds the true 7th wonder of the world.

“So, we’re at a restaurant. I should get pancakes,” he states, still grinning.

“But what kind? Blueberry, strawberry, buttermilk, chocolate, sprinkles?”

“Depends,” you say and Mat rolls his eyes but doesn’t mean a second of it. He wants to know your answer.

“Blueberry and strawberry are too healthy but that’s your choice, buttermilk is too plain, and sprinkles are too sweet.”

“Chocolate?”

“Chocolate is the perfect middle,” you say matter of factly.

It was ridiculous. He loved every second of it. He wondered if he would ever stop grinning.

“And what do you get? Or is that a loaded question?”

“Only if you have an hour,” you joke.

Mat felt like he was walking on air the entire night. He always felt like that around you, your energy and joy never ceasing to flow into him. To have the honor of taking you on a date? Mat was over the moon.

“Desert?” the waitress asks and you and Mat cast glances over at each other.

“Just give us a moment,” Mat says, knowing you were a fiend for sweets.

“Is desert just as complicated?” he asks when the waitress walks away.

“Absolutely.”

“Well?” he asks, egging you on.

“Milkshake and french fries.”

“No way,” he says and you grin like you’re the expert of all gourmet food.

“Just trust me,” you say.

How could he not? He had trusted you the minute you opened your mouth to say hi to him. He has an overwhelming feeling of security around you.

The waitress comes back with one milkshake, two straws, and a plate of fries. She grins at the two of you like she knows something you don’t before backing away with the reminder that if you needed anything to let her know.

“Okay take a fry,” you instruct Mat. “Now dip it into the shake and enjoy.”

Mat looks at you skeptically but does it anyway. You watch as his face contorts from one of confusion to pure happiness and you smile alongside him.

“Okay you’re ordering for me from now on,” he says around a mouthful of fries.

“I told you to trust me.”

Mat pays for dinner and leads you out of the diner into the busy new york city streets. His hand slips into yours and it feels like a bolt of electricity has shocked him from end to end. He has the strong urge to never let go again.

The walk back to your apartment is calming besides the rapid beating of your heart. Surprisingly the two of you are quiet, but it’s not uncomfortable, it’s everything you needed and more. By the time you get to your apartment, you realize you didn’t want to end the night.

“So,” Mat starts “I really hope we can do this again.”

“I’m insisting on it,” you respond and Mat grins looking at the ground to hide his blush.

You start to turn and walk into your apartment but Mat grabs your wrist. You turn back towards him and he hesitates, his eyes flickering between your eyes and your lips. He dips down to meet you, his lips like honey on yours, sweet and perfect.

“I’ll see you later,” he whispers before letting you go, leaving you speechless.

#mat barzal x y/n #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal fic #mat barzal imagine #mathew barzal x y/n #mathew barzal fic #mathew barzal x reader #mathew barzal imagine #new york islanders x reader #new york islanders fanfic #new york islanders fic #new york islanders imagine #prettytoxicrevolver

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miracleonice87 · 2 years

Text

“You know his lap is also available as a seat, right?” with Mathew Barzal (feat. Matthew and Sydney Esiason Martin) - requested by my dearest @kerwritesthings

from the two year tumblrversary prompt list

a/n: I am fully aware that I've written a blurb with a v similar premise, but I'm a sucker for Syd and Marty meddling in their friends' love lives, so I give zero effs. hope y'all enjoy!

warnings: swearing, alcohol

_____

Sydney had lured you to the house tonight under the guise of picking her up for a dinner date, potentially one of your last before she gave birth to their second baby. When you pulled up the drive and spotted a blue and orange balloon arch outlining the front door, you were puzzled, but assumed Matt might be having some sort of pre-season team activity for the guys while you and Sydney were gone for the night.

You pushed open the door to the familiar sounds of Jax barking a few times before he realized who was here, and Winnie squealing as she ran toward you.

“Hi, Winnie girl!” you squealed back in greeting, bending down to scoop up the little blonde beauty, push her hair back from her forehead, and give her a kiss, while she did her best to wrap her little arms around your neck as she excitedly babbled your name.

“Oh, good, you’re here!” Sydney said from the kitchen, crossing the room in bare feet and a casual jeans outfit to give you a quick hug before nodding toward the spread of food on the countertops. “Will you give me a hand with the charcuterie board?”

“We’re not going out?” you asked, confused and feeling overdressed in your pale blue ruched bodycon dress meant for a night on the town. Meanwhile, Winnie wriggled down the front of you and ran back to her previous project, scribbling in a Bluey coloring book on the coffee table.

“Nope, sorry, can’t tonight, forgot to tell ya!” Sydney chirped rapidly, throwing her stunning smile back at you over her shoulder as she walked toward the fridge. “Team event tonight. Was hoping you could help me hostess?”

You furrowed your brow as you followed her. “If it’s a team event then why am I invited?” you asked, unenthused.

Sydney shrugged as she retrieved more cheese from the fridge, but you didn’t miss the ornery look on her face. “I dunno, maybe because a certain center specifically asked me if you’d be here?” She finally made eye contact with you, bit her bottom lip, and extended her hands in a “surprise!” motion.

You let your forehead fall against the pantry door. “Sydneyyy!” you whined.

You could legit throw a fit right now. Syd was famous for this shit.

There was nothing going on between you and Mat (or so you spent your days trying to convince yourself). It was all nervous glances across the table while out celebrating a big win with the group, and laughing a bit too loudly at the other’s jokes, and light touches on your back as he moved around you in a busy bar, and replying to one another’s Instagram stories with reactions and simple emojis… and mostly it was neither of you ever, ever finding the nerve to make a damn move.

Yes, to be certain, your and Mat’s history was a short one – shorter than you (or Syd, or Matt, or even Mat himself, though unbeknownst to you) would prefer. So, maybe, because you always looked forward to seeing Mat, no matter how awkward the two of you could be around each other, you didn’t completely hate this idea after all, but you couldn’t let Syd know that.

“Did you tell him I was going to be here tonight, or did he ask?” you inquired, folding your arms over your chest. “Big difference.”

Sydney shook her head furiously. “No, he seriously asked,” she insisted. “Trust me, I’d lie to you about a lot of things – for your own good, of course – but never that.”

You sighed, washed your hands, then turned back to an expectant Sydney. “Hand me the fucking olives,” you grumbled as she excitedly passed you the jar, a smile too smug for your liking on her lips.

_____

Hours later as the sun set, casting an orange glow over the backyard, you surveyed the scene, which now seemed much less like an official team event and much more like a gathering of Matt and Sydney’s friends, all of whom happened to play hockey, and their significant others. You fell into neither of those categories (though it certainly wasn’t for Sydney’s lack of trying), but filled the role of “assistant hostess” well – directing new players to the bathroom, tidying the kitchen even as people filtered in and out, and refreshing drinks and bowls of snacks. It was on one of those trips to the kitchen and back to replenish the tortilla chip bowl and grab another drink when a five-beers-deep Matthew Martin decided to pipe up as he watched you scan the crowded patio for an empty chair.

“You know Mat’s lap is also available as a seat, right?”

You sucked your teeth and turned to glower at your best-friend-in-law. He was officially worse than his wife.

After shooting him a glare that would kill a weaker man, you slowly turned back to spot an equally embarrassed Mathew Barzal, a flush creeping up his (thick, muscular… not that you noticed) neck under his (well-fitting, more attractive than it should be… not that you noticed) black t-shirt.

However, Mat recovered much more quickly than you, and you assumed it had to be the liquid courage when he raised his brows, patted his knee, and gave you a half-shrug – an open invitation in front of all of his teammates and friends.

Impressed by the bold move, his captain let out a wolf-whistle, though many of the guys were too lost in their own conversations or distracted by the loud music and yard games to notice, but you could certainly see Matt’s beaming smile out of the corner of your eye.

And you didn’t know whether it was your own liquid courage, Mat’s invitation, or your own chutzpah, but you suddenly found your feet moving across the patio toward him, casting him your biggest and flirtiest smile, and patting his chiseled knee as you took your rightful place atop his massive quads. Your heart raced and your skin was warm, but you tried to play it cool, clearing your throat and asking, “So, what’d I miss, gentlemen?”

Anders, Matt, and Pelly, who was also nearby, tried their best to lift their jaws off the floor and regain their focus, shocked by your audacious actions. If they were honest, they could barely remember what they were talking about, and as you lifted your beer bottle to your lips with a smirk, you took pleasure in their bewilderment.

Then, you heard a deep voice immediately behind you. “The Kadri signing,” Mat prompted. “You were talking about Naz going to Calgary.”

Matt coughed slightly, nodding. “Uh, yeah, right, right… Yeah, I can’t believe it took him so long to…”

And after that, all that was said was lost on you, because all you could concentrate on was the gentle touch caressing your bare back for where your dress left plenty of skin on display. You angled yourself just slightly toward Mat to face him, and you wrinkled your nose flirtatiously.

“I’m glad you came over here,” he said, barely above a whisper. “Who would’ve known Marty’s meddling would actually do some good?”

You chuckled, resting a hand on his toned chest. “Yeah… he’s gonna take credit for this, but it’s about damn time one of us made a move, hmm?” you said, cocking your head. He nodded slowly, curling some hair behind your ear as he leaned up to kiss you. You were immediately so far gone, so lost in him, that you could just barely hear the catcalls from around the yard.

#m's 2 year tumblrversary #blurbs #requests #my writing #mathew barzal #mat barzal #matt martin #sydney esiason martin #mat barzal blurb #mat barzal fanfiction #mat barzal fanfic #mat barzal fic #mathew barzal fanfiction #mathew barzal fanfic #mathew barzal fic #new york islanders fanfiction #new york islanders fanfic

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starry-hughes · 5 months

Text

gingerbread house (mat barzal)

day 3 of star’s ficmas event!

mat barzal x teacher!gf

“What is this all for?” Mat questioned, shoving a piece of gingerbread into his mouth. “Mathew!” you scolded your boyfriend. “What?” he asked as crumbs fell from his mouth. “I’m building a gingerbread house for my classroom, stop eating my roof!”

He grinned, grabbing the frosting bag and squeezing some onto his finger. “Are the kids decorating their own gingerbread houses?” he questioned. “I didn’t have it in my budget to buy some for the whole class, and I wanted to get some other things for my students who don’t want to decorate gingerbread houses or don’t celebrate Christmas.”

Mat frowned, “You know I would happily get all the stuff for you guys.” Mat truly cared for your students, he knew all their names and had done a lot for the kids in your class. You shrugged, continuing to place gumdrops onto your gingerbread house. “You really don’t have to Mat, they have plenty to do for the holiday party.”

Mat pulled up a chair next to you and attempted to help you with decorating the gingerbread house. Soon after, you ended up sitting in his lap, Mat’s hands on your waist as you giggled whenever he would give you a squeeze, just to distract you a little.

It was a pretty gingerbread house at the end, despite Mat eating a gumdrop off the pathway portion. “I gotta go shower and grade some spelling tests,” you kissed Mat softly. He nodded, “‘m gonna run down to the gym, pick up some dinner for us too.”

Mat didn’t go to the gym though, he raided the shelves of the nearby store, buying any gingerbread houses he could find, extra sprinkles, frosting, food dye, anything to make sure he could include all your students. Mat didn’t bat at eye at the price of his slightly over-the-board shopping trip.

By the time he got home, he hid the shopping bags in his extra hockey bag, somewhere you’d never look. You were grading tests at the dinner table. “How was the gym?” you smiled as he placed down some take out food on the table. “It was productive.”

The next morning, you were dressed festively, it was your class holiday party and you were extra excited. “Mat honey, I’m going to school early, have a good practice,” you kissed his cheek as you got up to leave. “Love you,” he mumbled into his pillow. “Love you too.”

You carefully got your gingerbread house to school and began setting up the winter wonderland in your classroom. Mat timed it just right, he knew every morning you would leave fifteen minutes before the first bell to stop by the library to greet the librarian and then pick up your students from morning care.

He walked into the office, flashing a smile at the secretary. “Oh, Mat, (Y/N) didn’t let us know you were coming, let me call her,” the school secretary said. “Oh no! It’s a surprise, just some extra goodies for her class party.”

He got into your classroom swiftly and began unloading all the things he bought on your reading center table. He worked quickly and couldn’t stop smiling as he felt like Santa in the moment. Mat heard you outside your classroom, instructing the students to hang their coats up and gentle reminders about behavior for the holiday party and festivities.

“Mat!” you jumped, a little surprised. “Hi Mr. Mat,” your students greeted as they entered and went to their desks. Your eyes landed on the table and all the new items there, the gingerbread house kits, enough for everyone. “Mat,” you cooed, you felt yourself falling in love all over again with Mat.

“Just thought you needed some extra things.”

The students had a blast, Mat stayed the whole day, decorating gingerbread houses with your students and talking about your own gingerbread house the two of you decorated last night. You let one of your students turn on the light for another menorah candle. At the end of the short halfday for your students, you sent them all home with goodie bags and well wishes for the winter break.

Mat helped you clean up, and by clean up, he was eating the leftover sweets and snacks. “Mathew,” you said gently as he tied up another trash bag. “Yeah?”

“Thank you, you really made the holidays special for them.”

#star’s ficmas #mat barzal #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal x reader #mathew barzal #mathew barzal imagine #ny islanders imagine #hockey imagine #hockey fic #bf!mat x teacher!gf

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doc-pickles · 7 months

Text

baby daddy | mat barzal

summary: in which you get dental work done and have some very interesting things to say to mat.

warnings: none just lots of fluff!!

a/n: I got some dental work done this week and it inspired this short and sweet little fic.

enjoy!

xoxo nina

“Baby! I’m so glad to see you!”

Mat chuckles as he walks towards you, waving at the dental assistant next to you.

“She’s totally fine to eat and drink as normal, but will probably be out of it for a few hours,” the woman grins before looking to you. “Go home and rest up okay?”

You grin and nod at her, “My baby daddy is gonna take me home.”

“We don’t have kids,” Mat is quick to interject with a snicker as he looks to you. “Unless you’ve been hiding something from me.”

You pause, thinking with furrowed brows, “Future baby daddy then.”

Mat laughs as he wraps an arm around your shoulder, steering you out of the dental office, “Okay baby, whatever you say.”

You stop walking and Mat turns to look at you, “What is it pretty girl?”

“Do you… Not want to have babies with me,” you can’t help the tears that well up in your eyes, mostly a reaction from the drugs they’d given you during your dental procedure. “I thought we were going to get married and have babies!”

Mat quickly pulled you into his arms, pressing a kiss to your head, “I want everything with you my love. But you’re also very high right now and I don’t think this is the time to have conversations about marriage and babies.”

“O-okay,” you sniffle as Mat opens his car door and helps you in. “But you still love me right?”

“I’ll always love you baby,” Mat smiles and kisses your cheek. “Now let’s get you to bed.”

As the morning sunlight pours into your bedroom you groan you quickly bury your face in Mat’s chest. He mumbles sleepily and hooks his arm around your waist.

“How ya feeling baby?” Mat asks, his voice muffled by your hair.

“Like I got punched in the face,” you groan and snuggle further into Mat. “Was I a pain in the ass yesterday?”

Mat chuckles but doesn’t say anything, prompting you to lift your head and look up at him, “Mathew…”

“You said some very interesting things,” Mat smirks and you let out a groan. “All good stuff. Like when you called me your baby daddy.”

“I what?!” you screech and Mat laughs. “Oh my god that’s so embarrassing. Jesus…”

Mat pulls you close and kisses you softly, “It was really endearing, especially when you were crying and asking me if I wanted to marry you and have babies with you.”

You pull yourself away from Mat to scream into your pillow. His hand finds your back as he laughs, pulling you up to look at him.

“All good baby, I actually loved it,” Mat smirks as he presses a kiss to your forehead. “And I can’t wait to be your husband and baby daddy.”

#mathew barzal #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal fic #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nina writes #mat barzal

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hugshughes · 3 months

Text

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 - 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐍 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐒

𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 - 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧 𝐇𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱!𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐳𝐚𝐥 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 - 𝐘/𝐧 𝐘/𝐥/𝐧'𝐬 𝐕𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐨.

𝐰𝐜 - 600 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐘/𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭! 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲!

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 - 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐌 𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐘!!!!!, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞!𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐳𝐚𝐥, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐩, 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞(?)

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 - 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐢 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐰𝐧/𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜! 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬!

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 - 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 - 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭. 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰!

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thevogue.com/artists/yn-yln/#bio

Artists / Y/n Y/l/n

Pop Female Vocalist Indie Folk Post-teen Pop Singer-songwriter

Published December 2nd, 2023. 11:29AM PST

Y/n Y/m/n Y/l/n (born January 11, 2001, in Annapolis, Maryland) is an American singer-songwriter. Y/l/n is a 3-time Grammy winner with a total of 11 nominations (as of October, 2023). As of October, 2023, Y/l/n has sold 26 million albums and 88 million singles worldwide.

Y/n Y/l/n is a internationally praised pop-indie phenomena. She quickly rose to fame at only 17 when she released her debut album Pause (February 19, 2018). Pause sold over a million copies in less than 48 hours, soaring to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. 8 of Y/n's songs took place on the top ten and it took 41 weeks for Y/n's songs to exit the top 10. Pause racked up 3 Platinum singles, including Blouse, Innocent, and Bags.

Y/n Y/l/n's fame somehow skyrocketed higher when she released her second album Chaser (January 19th, 2020). The album features mostly love songs, rumored to be about her then boyfriend, NHL player Mathew Barzal. The album featured best sellers such as Cruel Simmer, Habits, and Happiness is a Butterfly.

As we stay on the topic of her ex boyfriend, she has been stuck in one scandal regarding her love life. In September of 2021, 20 months after releasing Chaser, there were paparazzi videos released of the IT couple in a shouting match on the street outside of popular restaurant, BOA Steakhouse, in Los Angeles, California. Video depicted Y/l/n crying as she fought with the hockey player, who was caught insulting Y/n very explicitly. The video ends with Barzal storming back into BOA Steakhouse, and Y/l/n sitting on the curb, awaiting her ride after the NHL star shouted, "Get a f***ing Uber back if you're going to be a b***h and embarrass me like this!" Bystanders watch as Y/l/n entered long time friend Tate McRae's car.

Less than a week later Y/n confirmed the end of the three year long relationship, with no further comments. While there have been no albums released since Chaser, in January 2020. Y/l/n has released two singles, Memories, and The Cut That Always Bleeds, both released in the summer of 2022.

As of now, December 2023, there has yet to be any major news of new music, but there's always the tiny bits and rumors that get down to the public. While Y/n has promised an album in 2024, she has yet to set a release, causing fans to believe it will come in the later months of the new year.

All in all, Y/n Y/l/n is a talented, young superstar. She captivates audiences like few can, and with the way her career is going now, could be one of the biggest star the world's ever seen. Most recently, Y/n was spotted in a cozy Baltimore suburb alongside Taylor Swift, who Y/n has repeatedly mentioned as her biggest influence when it comes to music, as well as her biggest fan. Swift seemed to take Y/n under her wing in 2019, even having Y/n open a stretch of her shows at The Eras Tour, in 2023, as well as the US shows in late 2024!

There are obviously large things in store for this young influential woman, and I can't help but applaud all of her hard work and dedication to her work.

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