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storiesforthemoonchild · 5 months

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One Kiss | Jana Fernández x Reader

a little childhood bestie to lover fic for Jana based on this request. switched it up a bit, but hope you like it anon :)

“Where’s your little girlfriend (y/n)?” Patri teases, ruffling your hair as she takes her seat next to you in the changing room.

You huff pulling your head from her grip, “she’s not my girlfriend Patri stop saying it. She needed to see the physio this morning.”

“Yeah, but you want her to be your girlfriend,” she continues her teasing, earning a smack to the back of her head from Mapi.

“Leave the kids alone Patri,” the defender says, sending you a wink. You send Mapi a grateful smile.

It wasn’t something new, most of the girls thought you and your best friend Jana were dating. It didn’t usually bother you as much as it had been recently. You don’t know when it happened or maybe it was always there, but recently you found yourself having new feelings for your best friend, feelings that best friends don’t have for one another.

You and Jana were inseparable ever since the age of six. Meeting for the first time in primary school and both bonding over your love for football. Every big moment in either of your lives the other was there. When you got your first call up to the youth teams the first call you made was to Jana. You were there on the day she signed her contract with Barcelona, smile wider than even hers as it had been both your goals. Of course when your offer came a few weeks later Jana was the first to know, readying the celebrations as you would both be continuing your careers side by side. Stepping on the pitch at the same time as your best friend for your Barcelona debut was the greatest moment of your life.

Until recently there wasn’t a single secret you kept from each other. However, that changed over the offseason, you both had been on holiday with some of the other girls and Jana was different. Not different in the sense that she changed, but different in your eyes. You found your eyes lingering a little too long on her, her innocent touches to your arm causing your skin to tingle, the normal cheek kisses you’ve shared plenty of times suddenly causing a flurry of butterflies to erupt within you. You had all these new feelings and the one person who you’d confide in was the one person you couldn’t turn to.

You were good at hiding it though, at least you thought you had been. That was until Mapi caught you staring off in the direction of Jana one day in training and just by the smirk she sent, you knew she could tell. She didn’t bring it up, but suddenly her teasing stopped and she was quick to shut down the other girls as well. You were grateful she hadn’t brought it up, but also you really needed to say it aloud to someone.

“Mapi,” you shout to the defender on your way to the pitch. She’s quick to turn in your direction and wait for you to catch up. “Hey, do you think after training that maybe we could get lunch…just us together,” you ask nervously.

Mapi sends you a teasing smirk, “I’m flattered (y/n), but I’m happy with Ingrid.”

You shove her, “Nevermind, forget it,” you attempt to sprint off, but she's quick to grab you.

“I’m joking kid. Of course we can. Anywhere you want on me,” she knew why you wanted to talk. You just give her a nod before running off.

As soon as you step on the pitch Lucy mimics Patri’s earlier teasing, “no girlfriend today (y/n)?”

You kick the ball harshly at her legs before mumbling, “she’s at the physio and she’s not my girlfriend.”

“Trouble in paradise?” She teases wrapping an arm around you.

You don’t even get a chance to respond before you feel her being pushed away and two arms placed around your waist. You didn’t even need to turn around. You know her touch, “no touching my girl Bronze,” Jana says placing an innocent as always kiss on your cheek.

Your cheeks flush in a deep shade of red as she pulls away, “how did it go? Everything alright?”

“Of course, nothing can stop me, amor,” she tells you, pulling you along to start warming up.

That was normal. Jana has always been affectionate with you. A hand on your thigh as she drives, a kiss on the cheek whenever she feels, holding your hand to walk anywhere, cuddling over movies in your living room, all of it was normal. The only thing out of the ordinary was the way they’d started to make you feel.

You’d never been more grateful for a quick training session, as you were eager to talk to Mapi. You were sitting in front of your locker waiting for the older defender when Jana arrived, “vamos amor.”

You’re startled, “Oh, lo siento Jana. I will go with Maria today for lunch.”

“Oh, why? Are you okay?” She asks, taking in every inch of your frame.

You feel shy under her gaze, “Sí, it is just lunch to chat and catch up on things.”

Jana looks at you like she doesn’t quite buy your story but she shrugs nonetheless, “Okay, well come over later for cuddles?”

The hopeful look in her eyes makes it impossible for you to say no. Even when you know that cuddling with Jana will only lead to more feelings. You nod, accepting the kiss she places to your cheek before walking away. When you look up you are met with the curious gaze of Mapi as she holds Ingrid’s hand. She gives you a tilt of the head and you get up following wordlessly behind them to the car.

“Hola (y/n),” Ingrid beams looking back at you when you finally reach the car. “Care if I crash your lunch?”

“No, no of course not,” you’re quick to reassure. The two were pretty much a package deal anyway, so you had expected it. The two of you didn’t speak a whole lot, but you liked Ingrid.

The drive to the restaurant was silent. You took the time to prepare your thoughts, but it was useless. The moment you sat down at the table and the two older girls looked in your directions the words fell out, “I think I love Jana,” you blurt before you have time to chicken out.

Ingrid smiles brightly at you, while Mapi stares at you blankly. “That’s so sweet (y/n). I think the two of you would be very cute together,” Ingrid tells you, reaching a hand across the table to hold yours.

You blush and look in the direction of Mapi waiting on a response, “That was anticlimactic. I thought it would be a bit more of a struggle to get you to admit it,” Mapi shrugs, taking a sip of her water.

“I’ve wanted to say it for months and I knew that you knew. I just need advice, because she’s my best friend. What if she hates me after I tell her.”

Ingrid squeezes your hand in comfort, “I don’t think Jana could ever hate you. You two are practically married now,” the Norwegian teases with a wink.

“She could hate you,” Mapi shrugs, causing your nervous eyes to snap back in her direction.

“Maria, why would you say that?” Ingrid chastises.

“No, no she’s right. I’ll make things awkward between us if I say something. I’ll keep it to myself. The feelings will fade eventually.”

“NO!” Mapi nearly shouts, “that’s not what I’m saying. I mean, yes it’s a possibility she could hate you, but if you truly love her, letting her know and putting yourself out there is worth the risk. Sí?”

“You have to work on your delivery, amor,” Ingrid tells her, rolling her eyes.

You nod taking in everything. The rest of your meal was spent with casual conversation. Both of them are trying to help you come up with the perfect plan to tell Jana about your feelings. You just knew you’d know when the moment was right.

They drop you off outside your apartment and instead of making your way to your own place, it’s like your feet have a mind of your own and you’re standing outside of Jana’s door. The two of you made a point to live in the same building so you were never too far from each other. You don’t know how long you sit there before you finally get the courage to knock.

“Hey! Why’d you knock? You could’ve just come in silly,” Jana tells you, pulling you in the apartment. She immediately leads you to the couch, arms wrapping around your waist tightly as she snuggles into your back. “How was lunch?”

“Yeah, good thanks,” you say distractedly trying to remain calm at the feeling of her hand sneaking under your shirt and rubbing circles.

Jana could always tell when something was wrong with you. Her hand stills and the remote she was flipping through Netflix with drops on the couch, “amor, look at me.” You turn in her arms, your faces now only inches apart. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you lie, eyes closing instinctively as she tucks a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Don’t lie to me,” she drops her forehead against yours. Something she always did to calm you ever since you were kids. You can’t fight the pull, you swear you see Jana begin to lean in with you as you move to connect your lips.

It was quick, a small peck before you came to your senses. You are quick to scramble off the couch, “I’m sorry. Fuck, I’m so sorry Jana. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“(Y/n),” she says trying to reach for you, but you pull out of her grasp. “Rabbit,” she whispers, moving closer to you once again. The childhood nickname caused way too many emotions, you freeze. Letting her wrap her arms around you, your head falls to her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry Jana,” you mumble.

You feel her shake her head, pulling you away. She meets your scared gaze with a smile, “I’m not.”

“What?” You ask.

Jana shakes her head before leaning in and connecting your lips. It’s everything you’ve been dreaming of the last few months. You’d never be able to explain the feeling that kissing Jana gave you. She pulls away, a bright smile on her face, “do you know how long I’ve wanted to do that?”

You shake your head, “I love you like more than my best friend,” you confess.

“I love you too silly,” she tells you, leaning in to kiss your lips yet again.

"Do you think you'd like to go on a date with me?"

Jana picks you up spinning you around, "I would love to," she beams kissing your cheeks.

#jana fernandez #jana fernandez x reader #woso x reader #woso imagine #woso fanfics #barca femeni #barca femeni x reader

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moneymartin · 6 days

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・❥・- one more?

summary: kate comes home tired and needy :( part two to this fic. build up drabble to part three

warnings: none! fluff cause its kate :3 this is kinda shorter than the last one soz. again, every divider is a skip. most are constant cuz im lazy. didn’t know how to end oops!!!

rpf dont read it if ur uncomfy thx

a/n: all yjs reqs r still itw soooo they’ll be out soon poopies 🙄 also my single part drabble for kate is lowk marinating in my drafts and i don’t have the motivation to finish it…

its been 5 months since you and kate finally ended up together. pretty long, right? but you two never really got the hang of this thing, especially after remembering how long those feelings between you two had been brewing up for. it was still hard for you to show up to her games and practice due to soccer season, and the second it ended, you showed up to nearly every single one of them.

“i really can’t come this time, baby, i told you!” you grumble while kate drags you across the dorm. they had their practice game at carver today but you couldn’t make it, which made kate upset. “dilanni is gonna kill me if i don’t show up.” your soccer team needed to show up together for this fundraiser, and it was during the offseason. fucking lame. you hated letting her down all the time but some things like this just needed to be done.

kate’s fingers grip at your sweater sleeve, her eyes soft, and lips slightly pouting. “can you please just say you feel sick!? you’ll finish quicker than i will and it’s not like they won’t let you in.” she begs and tugs a little at it. her height makes you a little overwhelmed but she’s slightly bent at the knees and trying to make herself seem smaller than she really is. “kate, its just practice. its not like its the final fours yet.” you sigh and make her stand up straight. your eyes dart to hers and you bring your hands up to cup her face. the way she leans into your touch makes your face flush up like never before.

“yeah, but you always show out! i know we’re still trying to keep this on the down low still but i love pointing at you in the crowd before i make a shot during our practices.” she complains, trying to pull her head away from your hands but you keep her in place like a vice. your thumb brushes up against her face and she sighs under her breath. all those shots that she makes have all been for you ever since. and you didn’t even know that. everything she did on the court was meant for you. “i’ll make a deal with you, okay?” your words make her feel a little bit better and she nods ecstatically.

“when you get back we can do whateverrrr you want to make you feel better about me not showing up. does that sound good?” you propose, the idea crossing your mind after you realize that she just wants to spend that time with you while her teammates try to piece together this big puzzle. none of them know other than caitlin, and they’re completely unaware of you and kate’s relationship. “yes! okay, deal! deal deal deal…!” she blurts out and smiles stupidly, leaning her head towards you again as a sign that she wants a kiss.

you give it and let go of her face, wrapping your arms around her waist quickly and pressing another big kiss to her cheek. “don’t work yourself too hard out there.” you breathe out and pat her back before letting go of it. “this fundraiser should only be an hour, trust me.” kate just shrugs and smiles again, less big but you still know that she’s pretty happy at your little proposition for when she gets back. the moment you walk out of that door, her face drops and she rubs awkwardly at the back of her neck. she’s alone now, and doesn’t know what to do. you’ve been with her for every game and every practice so she’s lost most of her motivation to go. “aw, dang it..”

after your little fundraiser, you come home exhausted and dreary when you realize kate is gone too. you two are exactly the same person, lost without one another. it’s cute but sometimes it’s hard. this whole relationship thing is such a different concept and it makes your head hurt. the lock clicks on the door and you dig through your closet, finding a pair of pjs and some small shirt kate likes seeing you wear for ‘some reason’. which is what she says every time you ask.

a quick change and your casual clothes scatter across the floor before you basically face plant into the pillows. a warm feeling fills up your body while you fall asleep, a feeling that seems different still without kate. you two always sleep and take naps together so this is another thing you have to get yourself used to.

the stupid fundraiser ran longer than it should have. at least another 30-45 minutes extra and you weren’t very prepared for it. kids were all over the place too and you were somewhat on babysitting duty? according to your teammates. you stood with all the kids for at least an hour and the questions they asked you were probably the stupidest things ever.

the sound of the door opening is what wakes you up, fingers instinctively rubbing your eyes and sitting up. you’re met with the sight of kate rummaging sluggishly through her backpack and taking out clothes. she mumbles out a small ‘hi’ and yawns, walking into the bathroom. the sound of the shower hits your ears and you just lay back down, trying to keep yourself awake to fulfill that proposal you made earlier.

a few moments after the shower turns off, the bathroom door opens and your mattress shifts in weight, a few drops of water coaxing you to open up your eyes. kate is sitting on the edge of the bed and she tucks herself in, burying her face into your neck. “how was practice?” you mutter, moving her wet strands of hair to sprawl out on the bed. she grumbles into your neck instead of instantly responding. “tiring, huh?” you ask.

“extremely.” she whispers breathily and looks up at you. kate’s eyes are slightly droopy and her lips are pursed. your arm wraps itself around her back and you tilt her head up with your hand, making her look up at you as you start rubbing her temples gently. kate’s eyes are opening and closing continuously while your fingers continue to massage her head and she huffs heavily a few times.

you push kate’s head into your neck again and slide your hands onto her shoulders, patting them gently to make her fall asleep easier. she doesn’t though. instead, she hoists her head up and quickly locks her lips with yours, grabbing your waist and holding herself up with her arms. her fingers are gripping at the bedsheets tight and she’s kissing you a little bit too hard. not that you mind, of course. “mmmf.. hey?” you pant and pull away from the kiss, making eye contact with kate and realizing where she’s placed her hands.

“i’m just kissing you.” kate mumbles and doesn’t even bother waiting for you to finish catching your breath. she kisses you again, propping herself up on her elbows and grabbing your arms to wrap around her waist. “y- yeah! but like… let me get a breather at least.” you laugh quietly. you’re still trying to catch your breath and the more you try to get away, the more persistent she becomes. “c’mon. you’re just sleepy, baby. get your butt to bed and you’ll be alllll good in the morning.” you smile and push her shoulders down.

kate ends up falling onto your body and her nose brushes up against your cheek, her lips running up and down your neck as she starts kissing all over it. “one more..” she rasps out and slides her hands underneath your shirt. she starts to claw your back a few times, whining into your neck when you try to push her away. “kate, please.” you grunt and pull back, nearly falling off of the edge of the bed.

her face is the same one as earlier. her big, pretty blue eyes going soft and her lips pouting. she looks like a sad puppy and you hate it. you hate how you can’t say no to it. “just one more! this is the last one and i’ll sleep, i swear.” kate spits out and tilts her head to the side. she yawns, her eyes getting watery and now you know that it’s basically over for you. “i can’t.” you mutter. “yes, you can. it’s just one more kiss, babe. please?!”

“all you have to do is give me one, and i’ll sleep!”

“you say this all the time! you’re gonna say that you’ll ‘sleep after’ but the second my lips land on yours, you’re gonna act like an animal.”

“that’s not true.”

“oh, yeah? watch.”

you cup her cheeks and she grabs your waist gently, your lips going in for one quick one. when she feels how warm you are and how much you’re trying to really prove a point, she just helps your claim anyways. kate’s lips are against yours again, kissing hungrily.

i mean, she’s practically eating away at your face.

#um this is so bad.#bye #kate martin x reader #wcbb x reader #wbb x reader #that pic of her is so cute

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leaentries · 20 days

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headcanons | john marino

SUMMARY: boyfriend!john

WARNINGS: not proofread

more boyfriend!player headcanons

✮. my fav nighttime boyfie! he just screams domestic nights on the couch. like you guys don’t really even have to be doing a whole lot, but doing it with him is a privilege. being able to cuddle and watch a movie or cook dinner together.

✮. loves giving you nicknames! whether they stem from something stupid you did or just because it reminds him of you. will range from the most random of things. from stuff like doll, honey, love, to weird ass names based off of things you like. (for example, if you love to read he might call you “bookie”)

✮. also loves when you give him nicknames. i’ve said this before and i will say it again, he melts anytime you call him johnny. he could be busy doing something and hear the “hey, johnny?” from your room and he’s bolting back there with big doe eyes ready to fall at your feet. gets mad whenever you call him john. and don’t even get me started on what he does when you call him marino. (spoiler: he pouts)

✮. park dates! especially during the fall. john has mentioned how his favorite season is the fall (big boston guy) so he love love loves to take fun walks with you through boston and the surrounding areas while the leaves are falling down around the both of you. bonus points if you “forget” your jacket and you have to wear his.

✮. he loves sweet treats. always bringing you something sweet every time he comes over. you guys have a specific bakery that you always go to, it’s to the point where the owners know you by name and order. but will always have that familiar paper bag in his hand whenever he’s knocking at your door.

✮. board game nights! will not hesitate to beat you in a game of chess. eventually he will let you win because he hates seeing you pouty. although, i feel like he sucks at any type of racing game lowkey. you normally end up having to let him win if you’re playing mario cart.

✮. wants you to teach him how to do your hair! john loves to watch you get ready in the mornings and how you fix your hair, so naturally he wants to know too! will most likely not be very good, but it’s the thought that counts!

✮. loves to find good books and read them with you. you guys are your own mini book club tbh. you decide on a book every month and read a chapter or two together everyday/night before bed. will read with you over the phone if he’s on a roadie.

✮. beach trips to the max during offseason. he’s mentioned that he loves the warm weather and tropical destinations, so you know he’s got his calendar BOOKED with fun tropical vacations for the two of you. always makes sure to bring an extra bag or two with stuff he knows you’re gonna end up forgetting in the rush to leave.

✮. lazy mornings with john > everything else. + if they are during the fore mentioned beach trips. the balcony doors are open, letting in the soft sea breeze while john is placing soft kisses along your body to wake you up. the sheets are all over the place due to the risqué activities you partook in the previous night.

✮. begging for him endlessly

#john marino #john marino x reader #john marino headcanons #john marino imagine #john marino blurb #njd #new jersey devils #lea writes stuff ♡

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mamaestapa · 11 months

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Sweet as Sugar|| Joe Burrow x reader

•pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

•summary: You and Joe are at a friends wedding during the offseason. You have been teasing him the whole day, but you finally send him over the edge when you eat a cupcake in quite an unusual way in front of him...

•warnings: SMUT, kinda public smut? unprotected p in v sex, fingering, lots of teasing, mentions of licking frosting off of body parts, weddings, I think that's all ;)

“Y/n!” Joe called from the bottom of the stairs, “you ready babe?”

“Coming!” You yelled from the upstairs hallway, holding onto your black heels as you made your way down the steps. Joe’s eyes lit up as he watched you from the bottom of the stairs. You looked absolutely gorgeous. To Joe, you always looked gorgeous. But the satin, spaghetti strap maroon dress that adorned your body and accented your curves nicely, made you look divine.

“Wow, look at you…” Joe trailed off as he snaked his hands up your waist. “You like it?” you ask with a sly grin. Joe wet his lips, “I love it. You look beautiful, Y/n.”

You wrapped your arms around Joe’s neck, letting your hands rest on his shoulders blades as the two of you leaned in to share a passionate kiss. Sharing kisses like these with Joe never gets old. Joe pulled away from you and you started to massage his shoulder, gently digging your fingers into the muscles of his back. Joe closed his eyes and hummed blissfully as you worked at his sore muscles. With off-season workouts starting earlier this week, Joe had been using muscles he hadn’t used since January. You knew this little massage helped ease the ache in his muscles, but you also knew it made a different type of ache grow more and more. May was always a busy month for you and Joe. Off season workouts begin and before you know it OTA’s start and training camp will be right around the corner. With Joe being busy during the day, he’s usually exhausted by the time he gets home to shower and get a nice warm meal in his belly—courtesy of you. It’s been a while since the two of you have shared an intimate moment. You moved your hands away from his back muscles, bringing your delicate touch to his biceps which have grown significantly in the last couple of months. You gently squeezed the tight, bulging muscle before bringing your hands up to his chest. You let your hand rest on his sternum as you looked into his blue eyes.

“What time do we have to be at the wedding?” You asked lowly, feeling a warmth pool in your belly at the thought of having a moment with Joe before you had to leave. Joe glanced at the clock, “Well, if you want to see your college roommate get married, we should probably leave right now.”

You let out a small sigh of defeat as you took your hands away from your boyfriends chest. You definitely weren’t getting your moment alone with Joe right now.

“You ready?” He asked, to which you responded with a soft smile and nod of your head. Joe pecked your cheek before he walked away from you. “I have to grab my jacket, then we can head out.” He went off to the laundry room to retrieve his checkered suit jacket that matched nicely with his white t-shirt and maroon dress pants. When Joe appeared once again in the entry way of your home, he wrapped an arm around your waist and led you out of the front door to his sports car that was parked outside.

Today your college roommate Lauren is getting married. Lauren is a ditzy blonde kindergarten teacher. Although she’s a bit scatterbrained sometimes, she’s such a sweetheart and she does great with the kids. You always joke around withJoe that someday the Burrow children will have her as their teacher. Joe of course just laughs at your joke. He isn’t a big fan of Lauren’s, but she is your friend and Joe loves you, so he puts up with it.

The drive to the venue was calm and quiet. Joe had a hand placed on your bare thigh where the slit of dress starts. His fingers occasionally brushing against your soft skin as his fingers on the steering wheel tap along to the beat of some Kid Cudi song playing lowly in the background. You wanted the aux, but Joe knew you’d only play Taylor Swift and he claimed he wasn’t exactly “in the mood for that”. The venue was about twenty minutes outside of Cincinnati, so it wasn't too far of drive. You and Joe arrived ten minutes before the wedding was supposed to begin. The two of you finding your seats next to an older woman who introduced herself as Laurens great aunt. She’s a sweet lady, just like Lauren. During the ceremony, you found yourself tearing up multiple times, especially during the vow exchange. You quickly wiped away a tear that fell down your cheek as you watched the happy couple exchange their loving vows with one another. Joe reached over and grabbed your hand, squeezing it gently. Weddings always made you cry. You can only imagine how much of a mess you’ll be when you get married someday.

The ceremony ended and it was time for the reception. You and Joe were seated at a table with someone the two of you just so happened to be very close with.

“Hey Sam,” Joe said, patting Sam’s back as Sam stood up and gave Joe a signature bro hug. You playfully rolled your eyes at the greeting. Sam’s girlfriend Jess doing the same. You walked over to her and said your hellos as Joe and Sam were talking about who knows what. Sam was good friends with Lauren’s fiancé, well husband, Ethan in high school. Joe pulled out the chair beside Jess, motioning for you to sit down. You smiled and thanked him softly, smoothing out your satin dress as Joe sat beside you next to Sam.

“I’m starving,” Sam said, looking between the three of you, “you guys want to go get some food?”

You got ready to stand up, but Joe gently pushed your back down. He shook his head, “I’ll get something for you, sweets. What do you want?” You smiled, “Thanks, but I can get myself a plate.” Joe gave you a pointed look, making you sigh in defeat. “Fine,” you said, “I’m not picky, just get me whatever you’re having.” Joe shrugged, “Easy enough. We’ll be right back.”

The two football players and Jess went off to get in line for food, leaving you at the table all by yourself. You took this opportunity to go and talk to Lauren. You saw her at a table with her cousins, laughing along with something her cousin Sydney said. Lauren’s eyes lit up as she saw you approach the table.

“Y/n!” she squealed, walking over to you and throwing her arms around you. You giggled and put your arms around her, squeezing her gently. “I was just looking for you!” She said with a grin as she pulled away from you. Even though you really only talked to Lauren during your freshman and sophomore year of college, the two of you are still great friends.

You smiled, “Congratulations! You look beautiful, Laur.” She did a little twirl in her white reception dress, “It’s cute isn’t it?” You nodded. The blonde grinned once again, “It’s so good to see you, where’s Joe?”

You pointed over to the other room where all of the food was. “He’s over there getting us food.” Lauren hummed, “Well enjoy some for me, I’m sure I won’t get much time to eat tonight.”

The reception had just started and Lauren and Ethan were already busy going around each table and thanking guests for coming and celebrating their big day. As more guests arrive, they’re only get busier.

You smiled, “I’m sure you’ll be able to find some time. I’ll talk to you and Ethan more later,” you pulled her into another hug, “congrats again.” You walked away from Lauren as she went away to go find Ethan. Joe, Sam and Jess got back to the table the same time that you did. Joe say your plate down at your spot. He had gotten both of you a fillet and roasted potatoes. You thanked Joe and sat down in the chair, enjoying your meal with your boyfriend and friends. As you all ate, the maid of honor and best man gave their speeches. The speeches were all very thoughtful and sweet, capturing both Lauren and Ethan extremely well. Waiters came around to all of the tables, clearing plates and handing out flutes full of bubbly champagne. Joe thanked the waiter and grabbed two glasses, one for him and one for you.

“I thought you didn’t like champagne?” You asked, taking a sip of the bubbly. Joe shrugged, “It’s alright. Thought I would at least drink one with you.” You hummed in amusement as you sat the flute back down on the table. You watched as Joe finished off his champagne. A bit of the bubbly liquid dripping down his chin. Your breath hitched as you watched Joe lick the liquid from his lips, his eyes never leaving yours. He put the glass down on the table and slowly took his gaze away from yours. He knew what he was doing to you.

Some time had passed and the two of you were engaged in conversation with Sam and Jess. As you were talking about your vacation plans before OTA’s, you felt Joe place his hand on your thigh, slowly bringing up to the hem of your dress slit. His fingers toyed with the satin material before they found their way under your dress. You glanced over at Joe, seeing him nod along to what Jess was saying, not even seeming fazed by his actions. You brought your gaze back to Jess, giving her a small smile. You had to play it cool…they cant get suspicious. You gasped lightly as you felt Joe’s fingers sneak past the side of your lace panties and begin playing with your sensitive clit. Your hand gripped the table as he entered two fingers into the entrance of your soaked core, his thumb still teasing your clit as he rhythmically pumped his fingers in out of you.

“So Y/n, you and Joe going anywhere?”

Joe added another finger and picked up the pace, rubbing your clit faster. Your legs began to twitch at his teasing motions. You brought you hand up to your mouth, muffling the whimper that escaped your mouth.

“You OK?” Joe asked, giving you a concerned look. You looked at him with wide eyes. How he could act normal as if he wasn’t giving you an orgasm under the table was appalling to you. You pulled your hand away from your mouth, giving him a tight lipped smile, “I’m fine,” you breathed out, closing your eyes as you felt your walls tighten around Joe’s fingers. You were so close.

“We’re uh, actually going to-uh,” You cleared your throat, trying to hold back your moans of pleasure as you spoke. Joe stopped rubbing your clit and you pulled his hand out of your dress, your juices covering his fingers as he pulled them out of you. “South Carolina for a week.” You finished with a tight smile. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Joe nod. Your core was aching,wanting more than just his skilled hands to bring you to your climax. Joe looked at you with a smirk as you grimaced slightly from the arousal between your thighs. Sam and Jess got up from the table and went off to find the open bar, getting a couple drinks each. Once the couple was far enough away from the table, Joe brought his glistening fingers up to his mouth, sucking his fingers clean. He did it in such a smooth manner that no one would even be suspicious.

“I can’t believe you just did that.” You said lowly, looking at Joe with wide eyes.

“What?” he pulled his index finger out of his mouth with a pop, “fingered you under the table or didn’t let you finish?” He asked smugly. You shook your head and looked away from him. You couldn’t believe him right now. Weeks of not having any intimate interaction and Joe chooses your college roommates wedding to get frisky with you!? You knew you needed to tease him somehow the way he teased you. You looked around the room of the reception venue, trying to think of the perfect way to tease your boyfriend. It suddenly hit you when your eyes landed on the dessert table. A sly smile made its way onto your face as you gazed at the cupcakes sitting on the table.

You got up from your chair and flattened out your maroon dress, glancing at Joe, “I’ll be right back.” Was all you said as you walked off to the dessert table. You grabbed a plate and picked up a vanilla cupcake. A large helping of white buttercream frosting was perfectly piped onto the cupcake and finished off with just a hint of gold sprinkles. Perfect…You thought as you looked at the cupcake. Satisfied with your choice, you walked back over to the table and greeted Joe with a sultry smile. You sat back down in your seat and carefully unwrapped the cupcake. You placed the wrapper down on the plate and picked the cupcake up. Joe watched with lust filled eyes as you brought your finger up to the white frosting, swiping the side of the frosting so a generous amount was on the tip of your finger. You eyed him as you brought your frosting covered finger up to your mouth. You put your finger in your mouth, licking the sugary substance off the tip. You made a show of going back for more.

“Mmm,” you moaned out, “so good.” You brought the cupcake up to your mouth, licking a stripe all the way around the white frosting. You smirked in amusement as you noticed Joe’s jaw clench at your teasing actions. As you licked the frosting you made sure to keep your eyes locked with Joe the entire time. The unbroken eye contact only adding to the built up arousal you both were feeling. You finished teasing Joe with the frosting and that’s when he had had enough with the teasing.

"Meet me in the bathroom..." He whispered in your ear, his hot breath on your neck making you shiver involuntarily. Joe pulled his head away from yours and straightened his checkered suit jacket. You watched as he walked off to the bathroom. His strides were so casual, acting as if he wasn't about to rock your world in a matter of minutes. You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth as you saw the door to the one stall bathroom open and close. You glanced around your surroundings, making sure nobody would catch you head off to the bathroom moments after Joe did. Many of the guests were either on the dance floor or at the open bar waiting for their booze, so they wouldn't even take a second glance if they saw you walk past them and head to the bathroom after your lover. You stood from the table and readjusted the maroon material of your dress before you headed towards the bathroom. You reached for the door handle, swinging the bathroom door open. Before you had any time to react, Joe crashed his lips onto yours, feverishly kissing you. You fell into the kiss, his strong arms supporting your body as he reached out to the lock the bathroom door. You pulled away from Joe, already out of breath from the couple harsh kisses.

"We have to be quick," you breathed out, already sliding your panties off as you spoke, "don't want anyone to be suspicious of us." Joe hummed, "Yes ma'am." His lips were on yours again as he took off his suit jacket, throwing it aside to the floor. Your lips connected as Joe pushed you against the sink counter. "Jump," he said huskily. You followed his instructions, sitting against the bathroom counter. Joe began to kiss down your neck, sucking the delicate skin and being sure to leave reddish purple blotches on different areas. As his head moved down to your chest you let your hands fall to his curly hair. Joe had started growing his hair out, and boy did you love it. Especially when he wears a headband. Those dark blonde curls in a headband had you (and others) going absolutely feral. Joe pulled the spaghetti straps of your dress down slightly, just enough to give him access to your bare breasts. He began to kiss the swollen skin of your right breast, tongue swirling over your sensitive nipple before he put his mouth around it and started to suck at the sensitive bud. You bit your lip and moaned in pleasure as your hands tugged at his curls. One thing about Joe was that he always knew how to pleasure you. Whether it took two minutes or twelve, Joe never failed at pleasuring you in ways you didn't even know was possible. After he was satisfied with pleasuring your sensitive nipples, he brought his face back up to yours, breath hot as he said, "I could really use some of that cupcake frosting right now." You cocked your head to the side, "And what would you do with that?" Joe brought his back down to your bare chest.

"I would put some frosting here...and here..." he motioned to both of your breasts. "And then, I would do this," you gasped as his tongue swirled around your nipples once again. Joe chuckled amusingly as he noticed you growing more and more aroused by his actions. "And then, once I'm done there, I would put some right here." He rubbed a veiny hand down your tummy. He looked up at you with lust filled eyes, "And I'd lick it up until theres nothing left." You bit your lip at his description. Too bad you're in a public bathroom and not at home. You could really use that frosting right about now...

"Would you like that, Y/n?" Joe asked, his voice sultry. You nodded, "It sounds so good Joe." He hummed in agreement, "It'll have to wait for later tonight...this will have to do for now."

At this point, you didn't care where you and Joe got intimate. It has been weeks since you've had sex, plus you needed him badly.

"Joe," you whimpered out, "I need you." Joe's veiny hands ran down your torso, stopping when they reached your hips. He gave them a gentle squeeze before he pulled his hands off of them. Joe quickly unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down his legs in one swift motion. His large cock bulging out of his underwear as his erection grew from being out of the restraint of his tight pants. He pulled his undergarments down as you pulled your satin dress to one side, giving him full access to your dripping core through the slit of your dress. Joe lined himself up with your entrance and thrusted himself into you. You threw your head back in pleasure as the tip of his cock repeatedly pushed up against your cervix. You straightened your neck as Joe leaned forward to kiss you, hungrily as he urgently thrusted into you. It was obvious that you were both deprived of one another's touch and intimacy. Joe pumped himself deeper into you as his forehead rested against the crook of your neck.

"You feel so good Y/n," he panted, letting a groan slip out, "so good." You moaned out in blissful pleasure as the speed of his thrusts picked up, "M-more, please." You practically whimpered out, "I'm so close Joe." Another thing about Joe was that he always had you begging for more. You felt your walls tighten around his cock as a familiar warmth pooled in your lower belly. "I'm- uh," you moaned incoherently, "gonna cum." Joe brought a hand down to your core, rubbing his finger against your sensitive clit in order to make you cum harder and faster. You felt like you couldn't form words as Joe pleasured you. Your face contorted into one of pleasure as you felt yourself growing closer and closer to your orgasm. "That's it pretty girl," he said, gritting his teeth as he two was growing close to his release, "cum for me." One last thrust of his hips had your eyes rolling to the back of your head and your legs shaking as your juices coated Joe's cock when you came down from your high. You both were moaning messes as Joe thrusted a couple more times, he went to pull out when his orgasm grew close, but you stopped him. "Don't" you breathed out, stopping him, "cum inside of me, please. I wanna feel you..." That's all Joe needed to hear before he too came, his hot cum filling you up and dripping from your cunt as he pulled out of you. Both of your chests heaved as you recovered from your intense orgasms.

"That was amazing," you breathed out, letting your hands rest against Joe's shoulders, who still stood between your legs. "We should do that again sometime." He chuckled softly, backing away from you and grabbing a handful of paper towels so the two of you could clean yourselves off. He slyly grinned as he said, "We should, but with the frosting next time." You chuckled at his suggestion as you pushed yourself off of the counter, legs wobbly as you stood. You wiped your soaked core and thighs clean of a mixture of yours and Joe's cum, Joe doing the same with his manhood. You readjusted your dress straps and stood in front of the mirror, fixing your hair and straightening out your dress so that nobody would know you were busy getting your guts rearranged in the bathroom. Joe stood next to you, fixing his dark blonde curls before he zipped his maroon pants. You turned to him and wrapped your arms around his body, the two of you leaning in to share a passionate kiss. Joe pulled away and rested his forehead against yours. You smiled softly up at him, staring into those blue eyes you were obsessed with.

"We should go back out there." He said lowly. You nodded in agreement, "You go first." he said, pushing you gently towards the bathroom door. You unlocked the door, swinging it open and walking out of the bathroom. Thankfully, nobody seemed to be waiting on the occupied bathroom. You walked back over to yours and Joe's table. As you got closer you saw Sam and Jess sitting in their chairs, laughing about something with one another. Jess' eyes lit up as she saw you come back to the table and sit down. "There you are," she smiled, "we were wondering where you went."

You had to come up with a lie. Or not, they didn't have to hear the whole truth. "I was in the bathroom." Sam nodded, "I assumed. Where's Joe?" Your breath hitched, "Oh he's-." You felt a hand press against your back. "Right here." Joe said with a small smile as he sat back down in his chair. He let out a breath, "I was on my way to the bar, got caught up talking with some fans." Jess nodded, "Same thing happened to Sam."

Sam stood from his chair and excused himself. You looked over at Joe, smiling softly at him as he placed a hand on your thigh. Something about him looked different...

Your eyes widened as you saw Sam walk back to the table with Joe's checkered suit jacket in his hands. Oh no. You mentally cursed yourself as Sam stood in front of you and Joe, his lips in a straight line as he held the jacket up.

"Any idea why this was on the bathroom floor?" Joe shrugged, his cheeks turning pink, "Oops." Was all he said as he took the jacket from Sam.

You and Joe may have gotten caught, but it was totally worth it.

hey loves!

a double update? wow, its your lucky night babes ;)

i literally NEVER write smut, so i aplogize if it's not good. but i won't lie, this had me giggling and kicking my feet in a few spots🤭 some parts I'm shocked i could write, BUT i’m actually very proud of myself for writing it so yay lol

if you absolutely hated this please be nice. like i said, i dont ever write smut. this idea came to me when i was eating a cupcake at my grad party. i knew i just had to write it HAHA

anyways, i hope everyone is doing well! thank you so much for reading my work and always having something sweet to say about it. it means so much to me🤍

tags: @wickedfun9 @theoneandonlyfanz @burrowstyles5 @sublimemusic-rebel @stainednailpolishremover

#joe burrow #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow x y/n #joe burrow x you #joe burrow smut #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow fic

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angelwithdemonictendencies · 1 year

Text

how different is a heated scowl from a delirious kiss, really; or maybe i’m just focusing too religiously on your mouth.

ax72 x reader: he’s the worst until he isn’t.

(warnings: lots of plot in addition to blasphemous filth (really...i got carried away), unprotected penetrative sex (m on f), hair pulling (hello, old friend), choking (hello, older friend), biting (i can’t write him without it), praise, all my usual stuff (you guys know what i’m about), just be warned. don’t read if you’re not 100% sure.) gif is not mine.)

(a/n: okay, so thanks to the xhekaj girls and guys and such for coming out of their wifi routers to encourage me to write for him again. when i tell you i started to write this and i could not stop...i got so carried away with the tension and backstory like you just wouldn’t believe - you’ll see what i mean. so apologies to those who come for the sex and that’s it (pun not intended). what can i say, ax72 brings out the writer in me, the romantic even. yes, you have a little brother now, congratulations! to the jh86 lovers: he is next and i am already getting carried away writing that one, so that’s coming soon (but please continue to be gentle and patient with me. if i’m taking a long time, it’s only because i care, and i want it to be good for you). yeah, people don’t talk like this in real life, yeah darling doesn’t make sense, yeah, but, have you considered that maybe i write what the world should be, not what it is? anyways, thanks for the love, the generosity, please continue to interact and message and such (it’s how i know what you guys like!) let’s hope the leafs can hang on. go canucks even in the offseason. i’m sending love and all the wonderful things. see you soon.

you’d been driving your younger brother to and from hockey practice for the last three years, since he first started playing, when his helmet was far too big for his head, so much so that you thought if he leaned forward he would topple over entirely.

and in all those years, he had never come out of the rink like this, posture slouched, face empty, dragging his feet. his bag of equipment looked like it weighed a million pounds, full of bricks. his rosy, round face, usually so joyful on the way out of those doors, so eager to tell you about practice, looked positively exhausted, done, physically and emotionally.

you rolled down the window as he walked up. “what’s wrong, bug?” you asked, tried to make your voice strong-willed so as not to upset him further.

he shrugged, lugged his stuff into the trunk. “tough practice,” he said, sounding like an adult, which you hated. the effort with which he spoke settled in your stomach, plumed into volcanic anger. “new coach.”

you furrowed your brows as he shut the trunk and climbed into the front seat. “new coach? i liked your old coach.”

“he’s still there,” he said, “but we have a new assistant. he’s a little-” he took a breath, again making him look older than he was. “tough.”

you searched his eyes for some kind of meaning, found only the resigned bitterness you so despised whenever you saw it in yourself. without another thought, you drove to the nearest open spot and put the car in park.

“why are we parked?”

you made to get out of the car. “you look tired, bug. just going to go get you a gatorade, okay?” something lighter flashed across his eyes, making you smile. little by little, you would do what you could to undo whatever this coach had done, unload this burden he had so carelessly thrown onto the shoulders of your brother. “don’t open the door for anyone, yeah? i’ll be right back.”

you locked the car behind you and made your way into the rink for the first time this season, found it practically identical to how you remembered it. you scanned the ice for the older man you knew, then locked eyes with him and waved him over with a smile, one you didn’t have to force. this coach had always been kind to you as well as your brother.

“hey, kiddo!” he said fondly as he approached.

“hi, coach,” you replied, the chill in the air tinting your cheeks.

“your boy should be out already, yeah? practice ended about fifteen minutes ago,” he said, looking at his watch.

you nodded. “he’s in the car. i just need to talk to this new assistant he was telling me about.”

understanding flashed across the older man’s eyes. “right, xhekaj, he’s helping us out during the rest of his off season. part of this program his club set up.” he turned in the opposite direction. “xhekaj! want you to meet someone,” he called out.

the man across the ice turned from where he had been collecting pucks, set them on the bench, and skated over. as he got closer, you observed how he was impressively graceful for what may have been the most physically imposing man you had ever seen.

he was tall, almost menacingly so on skates, and so broad that you had to remind yourself not to cower back. his dark hair, which looked so soft, curled at the ends is a just barely feminine way. you told yourself that you did not notice the way his sweatpants strained over his legs, or how massive his hands were, or how sharp his jawline was.

you were here for your brother. you would not be intimidated. nor, you amended, would you be distracted.

he glided to an effortless stop in front of you, a motion that looked as simple as breathing.

“this is our new assistant coach, arber xhekaj,” the head coach said, gesturing to the wall of a man next to him. “xhekaj, this is sixteen’s sister. i’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of her this season, if you behave,” he said with a lighthearted smile that lit up his weathered face.

you forced your gaze to meet arber’s for the first time, found his eyes running over your frame, making your exhale come out short and choppy. you crossed your arms as his eyes finally locked on yours, something like shameless mirth shimmering over his face. his lazy smirk shook you off balance and set a slow-burning fuse aflame in your stomach. you cut your gaze back to the older coach.

“i’ll leave you to it. good to see you, kid.” the familiar man said as he skated off with a nod.

when you turned back to face arber, his eyes were already on you. maybe they hadn’t left. “what can i do for you, darling?” he asked, that slow smirk playing on his full mouth. you suffocated the sparks his address ignited, instead funneled them into your anger, letting it simmer and grow.

“you could start by telling me why my little brother looks like he’s been kicked in the stomach,” you offered.

any playfulness was gone from his eyes in a moment. “there’s always one, eh?” he asked no one in particular.

“what?” you snapped.

he crossed his arms across his expanse of a chest. “there’s always one. parent, or sister, or whatever, who can’t handle their kid actually being pushed in practice.” he said, sounding bored. he looked you up and down, again. you didn’t find it any less unnerving. “least i know who it is.”

“i can handle him being pushed!” you bit out.

“yeah?” he asked, tilting his head. “this is you, handling it?” he gave a look of false understanding. “the picture of calm and poise, truly.”

you pursed your lips. “hockey is supposed to be fun first. and he did not have fun today.” you did not back down, nor let your posture falter. “so next practice, i expect to see him smiling when he walks out.”

you could have punched that smirk off his face. “yeah? or what, darling?”

“or you’ll be seeing a lot more of me than you’d like,” you said.

“promise?” he asked, his voice overripe with teasing.

you turned to leave, beginning the walk back.

“so you came in here just to whine at me?” that deep voice called from behind you. you could feel his eyes burning into you. “don’t waste your time. i’ve got lots of pretty girls asking around for me, darling.”

“oh, don’t flatter yourself. you just happened to be here,” you called back. “i only came in to get a gatorade.”

you smiled at his lack of response before grabbing two yellow gatorades from the snack bar and getting back into the car.

“that was long,” your brother said, barely looking up from the game on his phone.

“sorry, bug,” you said, placing the bottles in the cupholders before pulling away onto the road. “line like you wouldn’t believe.”

luckily, he seemed to be in much better spirits.

still, later that night, as you tried to fall asleep, you couldn’t help but look up the name “arber xhekaj.” it was so you could familiarize yourself with your opponent. that’s how you rationalized it.

and of course his stats were impressive, if not especially physical. but even if he was a professional hockey player, he had messed with the wrong family. you refused to let him forget that.

so, the next day, when your brother came out of the rink again looking defeated, you could have growled.

“bug,” you said, parking the car, “i need to talk to your coach, okay? do you want to wait here?”

“i’ll wait here,” he said.

you located arber immediately, your gaze fixed to him almost magnetically. but he found you quickly, too, without any signal, that smirk materializing as he skated over to you.

“let me guess,” he said, sliding to a stop and leaning on the side of his stick, almost comically long. “baby brother didn’t think practice was as fun as disney land?” he gave a theatrically dramatic pout, drawing attention to his lips. your attention, that is. “listen, darling, i’m not making eight-year-olds fight to the death. they’ve got a coach for the fun stuff. i’m here so they actually get better.”

that actually made sense. you licked your lips. “i’m all for getting better,” you said, trying a more gentle approach.

“that’s great to hear,” he said monotonously, anticipating a “but.”

“but there doesn’t need to be a good-coach bad-coach dynamic. you can push them and still be nice. be positive and fun.”

he gave a low laugh before turning away, obviously done with this conversation. “maybe some people can, darling, but not me. that’s not me.”

you felt his laugh like a seismic wave, throwing you off balance. again. “and who’s this ‘you’ you mean?” you asked, growing heated at his dismissal of your simple request. “the blank scoresheet except for penalty minutes? the pretty boy who can’t play?”

his laugh this time came from deep in his chest. you hated how it made your stomach turn.

“aw, darling,” he cooed, voice deep and lazy. “you really think i’m pretty?”

you huffed before turning to walk out of the rink, unsuccessful. it irked you how he could make you so uneasy, but you couldn’t do the same to him.

“try not to get too hot and bothered when you watch my highlights tonight!” he called out after you.

you clenched your teeth at the obvious joy your anger evoked in him, and vowed that you would not engage with him again for the rest of the season. it didn’t get you anywhere, and if you were as kind as you could be to your brother, maybe you could help prepare him to stand up for himself instead of trying to fight his battles for him.

so, for the two weeks, you didn’t go into the rink. you stuck to your routine of dropping off and picking up, no funny business, no extracurriculars with certain assistant coaches.

“make your own fun today, okay, bug?” you told him before he got out of the car.

and slowly, he stopped dragging his feet on the way to your car. his smile came quicker, easier, lighting up the round, rosy cheeks that you so loved. and so the image of those quicksand brown eyes faded to the back of your mind.

until one afternoon, when the very figure you were trying to forget was carrying your brother’s hockey bag, walking right behind him. you rolled down the window after your brother had gotten into the front seat and arber had easily swung the bag into the trunk.

he then walked around and leaned on the side of the car, his forearms resting on the open window.

“say thanks, bug,” you nudged your brother.

“thanks, coach,” he said, a but of a smile in his voice.

arber waved a hand as if to dismiss it. “no problem,” he said, his hand resting on the window again. your eyes widened momentarily at the sheer size of his hand, of him. when you tore your eyes up to meet his, he was smirking.

“distracted, darling?” he asked, false innocence drenching his gaze.

you rolled your eyes, but you felt yourself blush. “i’m glad to see everyone in good spirits,” you said, hoping he would catch onto the meaning. “really.”

“well,” he drawled. “i think i might have to start being especially tough.”

“what?” you said, all business in tone. “why?”

“because i can’t have you staying out here in the car, darling,” he said, tilting his head. “and you only visit me when you’re mad.”

you shook your head, felt your blush deepen. “i do not visit you, arber,” you said.

his face lit up at the sound of his name on your lips. “right, you just ask around about me and read my stats to help you sleep.” he said through a cocky grin. “you’ll be at family skate, yeah?”

you bit your lip, noticed how his eyes followed the movement, stopped immediately.

“you’re always at family skate,” your brother observed, not looking up from his phone. you slapped him good-naturedly on the shoulder.

“then i’ll see you there,” arber said, handing two yellow gatorades to your brother. he slapped the side of the car twice before pulling back, his smile that of a school boy who charmed his way into extra dessert at lunch.

you put the car in drive so he wouldn’t see your face, completely vulnerable, completely touched. “i’m still mad at you,” you called out the window as a last resort.

“good,” he called back, running a hand through his hair. “like you mad.”

you groaned and slapped your hand on the steering wheel as you pulled out of the parking lot, trying to stop yourself from becoming endeared. trying.

family skate came faster than you wanted. but, soon enough, the day was here, and there you were, in the family locker room, already cold, and failing miserably at tying your rental skates.

“bug, how you you do this?” you asked to your right, but he had already gone out to the ice. you huffed, reached for the laces again.

“need some help, darling?”

you looked up to find him leaning against the doorframe, face lit up with amusement. you didn’t have the time or patience to turn him away.

“yes, please,” you said, and watched his eyes grow dark, if only for a second. he cleared his throat and made his way over, touching one knee to the ground in front of you.

suddenly the air felt hot, the chill completely melted away as he looked up at you. a welcome change of pace from you always looking up at him.

“can i touch you?” he asked, looking at you through his lashes, dark and full.

you coughed.

his laugh was a grumble. “just to tie your skates, darling, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

you felt yourself flush across your nose. “i know,” you tried, “and it’s fine.”

he smirked at your response as he gently tugged one of your legs towards him by your calf, his grip firm and warm, so much so that you felt a loss when he took his hand off of you, used both hands to pull the laces of your skates taut and tie them up.

the silence only made things worse, heightened the heat that was growing in your stomach, the heat you were sure he could feel radiating from you.

he finished one skate by tying a bow. “how’s that feel?”

was he doing that on purpose? “perfect,” you said, as confidently as you could.

he hummed in affirmation as he began to tie the second one, tugging your other calf towards him and shifting forward on his knee.

you trained your gaze on the ceiling as he finished up.

“something interesting up there?” he asked as he tied a bow, looking up at you. “are they projecting my sports center feature on the ceiling?”

you rolled your eyes, actually happy that he was lightening the atmosphere, which had grown uncomfortably heavy and expecting.

he smiled at your reaction, then knocked the toes of your skates together twice. at your inquisitive look, he pushed himself off of his knee. “superstition,” he explained, then extended a hand to you. “let’s go, your bug will be wondering where you are.”

you hoped he thought your flush was from the cold as his hand enveloped yours and pulled you to your feet.

you shook off the effect he had on you as you stepped onto the ice, not necessarily a talented skater but good enough to move slowly and not hold onto the boards. your brother found you quickly and began to skate circles around you, literally.

“alright, alright,” you said, a smile on your face. “let’s keep in mind that you actually play hockey, and i very much do not.”

for the next half hour, you skated around with your brother, engaging in polite conversation with the parents and kids on the ice with you. you did, however, remain crucially aware of arber’s presence, could still feel his hands on your calves, his grip on your fingers.

eventually, you decided to lean against the boards to catch your breath. before long you felt him next to you. “had enough?” he asked.

you pushed yourself off the boards. “nope,” you said, willing stability into your legs.

he grinned, easily gliding alongside you as you moved forward. “are you sure you’re related to your brother?” he said. “he’s such a natural skater.”

“and?” you pressed, pretending to be offended.

he laughed before spinning to face you, skating backwards in front of you, his hands in his pockets.

“show off,” you scoffed.

“you can’t take your eyes off me, darling. it’s okay, you can be honest with me.”

“don’t be cocky,” you said.

“like you don’t love it.” at your reaction, his smirk only deepened. “keep rolling those pretty eyes, darling, not foolin’ me.”

you shook your head, tried to will the blush away. “you’re a defensemen. it’s literally your job to skate backwards.”

“i forget you research me in your free time,” he said with a small scrunch of his nose. you shook your head, to which he did the same. “that’s a lie,” he added, “i think of it often, actually.” fire blossomed between you. “of you.”

the truth in his eyes made you stumble, falling forward, right into him. one of his arms steadied your hip, the other reaching all the way around your back to hold you up, both of your hands flat against his chest. you tilted your neck back to look at him, found exactly what you were afraid of. what you were feeling, reflected back at you.

you were sure that when he let you go, there would be a scorched imprint of his hand on your hip.

“you can let go of me, now,” you said, your voice little more than a whisper.

a meaningful pause settled between you before he replied. “you’re right,” he said, his thumb making circles on your hip. “i could.”

you swallowed, feeling your eyes grow drowsy, almost intoxicated with the feeling of him so close, all around you. your gaze dropped to his mouth, slowly made its way back up to his eyes, so dark and deep. his embrace around you tightened. was he leaning forward?

a cough from beside you snapped you out of your trance. you practically leapt out of his arms.

there your brother stood, holding his helmet. “ready to go?” he asked, looking between the two of you.

“yup,” you croaked, clearing your throat. “let’s go, bug.”

you sped through the process of returning your skates and getting back in the car, desperate to avoid arber. on the drive home, you worked to come up with a plan on how to avoid him, as you knew he was a terrible idea. a terrible, horrible idea that would only leave you hurt and unable to enter the rink ever again.

so, you decided you would give it a couple weeks, give whatever you were feeling time to fizzle out, give yourself time to forget about him, your body some time to adjust, forget this temptation. you would park your car in a different place than usual, tell your brother to carry his own bag, that it was good for his independence.

and, for a while, it worked, at least well enough. but, one day, when your brother got back into the car, he said, “coach arber asked about you today.”

you tried to ignore the reaction even his name stirred up within you. “yeah? what did he say?”

“asked why you haven’t been in,” he said, looking out the window.

you maintained your composure. “and what did you say?”

“just that you usually wait out in the car now. in a different spot.”

“fuck,” you mumbled before you could stop yourself.

so, the next day, you weren’t necessarily surprised to see arber trailing behind your brother on his way out.

you looked at your hands, gripping the steering wheel. had it always been so hard not to stare at his lips? when had the spark in your stomach ignited into something devastating?

you were still staring straight ahead when his laugh cut through the air. “what’re you doing out here, darling?” he asked, leaning on the side of the window. “watching a compilation of my fighting majors?”

you shook your head, choked out a laugh, let yourself look at him in the eyes, finally. it felt like water after a drought. did you sigh in relief?

he smirked at your reaction, and you knew you were gone. “i know you’re avoiding me,” he said.

“i’m not,” you protested.

he cut you off with a look. “you are. and i know why.”

“yeah?” you asked, moments of his arms around you and his lips, so close, flashing across your mind.

he nodded, leaning forward, straining his forearms. “which is why you’re going to come to my home opener this weekend.”

you scoffed. “i’m not going to that.”

he grinned, a real one full of teeth and joy. you melted. “you are,” he said. “i have a ticket for you, and a jersey. your bug has them both.”

incredulous, you shook your head, suddenly jittery. “arber.” this smile could have convinced you to do terrible, terrible things. “i’m not doing this.”

but he just slapped the side of the car twice and began to pull back. “i can’t force you to,” he said. “but i want you there, darling. i want you there, for me.”

you groaned as you put the car in drive.

“please?” he said, his tone telling you that he knew he was victorious.

“i’m not,” you called out.

he only laughed as you drove away.

and just as he expected, you found yourself at the game, early enough to see warm ups, right by the glass. every couple of minutes you would groan internally at yourself. what did you think you were doing here? in a jersey with his number on your back?

you couldn’t just say yes to everything he asked because he had a pretty smile, and because he was just so big, and because making him laugh felt like a prize you were so determined to win. or because of the heat that so frequently now seared across his eyes when he looked at you, or because his forearms were impossible to ignore when he rested them on the window of your car.

you were lost in thought when the team finally skated out onto the ice for warmups, but lucidity found you immediately, as he was better in real life than he was in your memories, in your imagination.

you watched with admiration as he skated and shot a couple pucks, swallowed when he stretched near center ice, your eyes never straying far from his number, not expecting him to acknowledge you at all.

but as the clock counted down, after one lap around their half, he stopped, faced away, before moving backwards and hitting his back into the glass, directly in front of you. and he wasn’t even looking at you, but you knew he was there, and you knew he knew you were, too.

you didn’t know what to do, until you knew exactly what to do.

after a moment, you reached forward and gently slapped the glass twice, like he had done to your car so many times before. you smiled to yourself as he immediately took off, moving full speed towards the bench and down the tunnel.

a ritual that you both understood, wordlessly and perfectly.

the seat that arber had reserved for you was not with the other guests of players. instead, you found yourself sitting directly next to the penalty box. you breathed out a laugh as you sat down.

the game was fun to watch. arber was breathtaking. his size, his speed, his brutal physicality, it was all on full display, and you couldn’t take your eyes off of him.

especially late into the third period, when one of the wingers on the other team landed a nasty hit on one of arber’s teammates. you had a feeling you knew what was coming, but you had never seen a fight in person, never mind seen this side of arber before.

as soon as his gloves came off, your breath caught. the other guy didn’t stand a chance. you squeezed your legs together as he threw a hook that upended both of their helmets, winced as the other skater landed a hard blow to his jaw, bit your lip as arber grabbed the winger’s jersey and threw him to the ice.

you exhaled a deep breath as the refs skated both players off into their boxes, your eyes trained on arber’s face as he ran a hand, cracked and bleeding, through his damp hair, then stepped into the box and sat down.

you let your gaze drip over him like a melting popsicle. it was some kind of cruel punishment to be so close to him, only separated by a pane of glass. partially because he was in a sort of pain, that was obvious. his chest was heaving, his lip was split, swollen, his jaw was already beginning to bruise.

but the heat inside of you, now too powerful to ignore, that was a different urge entirely. an urge to sit across his lap, only further tempting when he spread his knees wide, as he was doing now. an urge to hold his face in your hands, to kiss away his pain, to give him something else to focus on, to make him focus on you.

how badly you wanted him to be able to focus on nothing but you.

an urge to know what his lips felt like on yours, what his hands felt like around your neck, what he felt like inside of you, that was becoming the more pressing urge. you crossed your legs tighter.

you should probably look back at the ice, at the game. you wouldn’t want to give yourself away.

before you could turn away though, you noticed that his mouth was forming words, but he wasn’t talking to anyone.

and that smirk had only ever been just for you.

“you’re staring, darling,” he mouthed.

you flushed, turned away abruptly, didn’t need to see his cocky grin grow wider still.

the game ended, and you still felt like you were on fire. if you didn’t do something about it, would this torture last forever? would you go forever wondering? forever, wanting?

possible outcomes flashed across your mind. but the longer you thought about it, the more your willpower dissolved into something else, something weaker, more forgiving, until you couldn’t quite remember why you had disliked him so much when you had first met him. until any negative consequences seemed deliciously inconsequential.

so, when he came out down the tunnel, ready to go home, you were there, and his smile was a dream. the smile of a person who knew they had won, finally and entirely.

“darling,” he greeted as he walked up. “glad you came.”

you nodded. “me too,” you said, stood in front of him, practically chest to chest, looking up at him, electricity humming between you.

“yeah?” he reached out, tilted your chin up further to search your gaze. a pause filled with meaning settled. “you have something you want to say?”

you bit your lip, relished in the way his next breath came out shallow, nodded.

“tell me, darling.” you couldn’t refuse him if you wanted to.

your exhale came out shaky. “just want you so bad, arber,” you all but mumbled. “can’t take it.”

his eyes flashed, dangerous. one arm came around your back and tugged you closer. “fuck, why didn’t you tell me sooner?” he rasped. “pretty girls like you never have to wait.”

you whimpered at the sensation of him pressed into your front, felt him hard against you.

“gonna give me a kiss?” he asked, rough and low, before you pushed yourself up on your toes to meet his lips, tender and bruised. he moaned into your mouth at the only-just painful pressure, you wrapped your arms around his neck, grasped at the hair at the nape of his neck, the soft, damp, curls you had been dreaming about since you first saw him.

you whined as one of his hands squeezed a handful of your hip, felt that burning need only intensify. he angled his hips so you could feel what you were doing to him, which only made you whimper.

“please, please,” you breathed, “i need to feel you, arber. need you, now.”

he smiled into your mouth, and your lips would never be the same. “oh, pretty baby, so needy, hm?”

you nodded, twisted his curls around your fingers, long past feeling embarrassed.

his bandaged hand enveloped yours. “come on, then,” he said, pulling you towards the exit, through the doors. “fuck, don’t think i can wait, either.”

you finally reached his car, parked far from the venue, far from any other car. every second without kissing him was a second lacking. he opened the car door, reached an arm underneath you, and picked you up, holding you against his front as he lowered you both into the backseat.

you immediately buried your face into his neck, letting your lips leave your mark on him like he had more permanently, less physically done to you. he groaned, tilted his hips up into you, gripped your hips and led you in a rhythm across his lap, the friction making you devastatingly impatient.

“‘m ready for you,” you mumbled into his neck, taking one of his hands from your hip and guiding it down so that he could feel you.

he moved your clothes aside, ran his thick fingers through your folds, making you gasp. “so wet, darling,” he rasped, “what made you so needy, hm?”

he wrapped his other hand gently around your throat, squeezed only slightly, pulled you back to look at him, the gaze between you liquid metal.

you whimpered, which made him increase the pressure around your neck, just a bit. “i know you want to be good for me,” he rasped. “so, tell me.”

“you did,” you breathed out. “seeing you.”

“yeah? pretty baby likes it when i fight, hm?” he let go of your neck, tugged his own clothes aside to free his cock, groaned when you spit into your hands and immediately began to stroke him.

“not just the fight,” you said, “just you, arber. fuck, you make me like this.” he let out a sound like a growl, grew impossibly hard and thick at your words, at your hands.

“you make me crazy, darling,” he bit out as he reached an arm under you again to lift you up. “have been since i first saw you. ready?”

you answered him by sinking down onto him entirely, the stretch euphoric, both of your noises even more so. you tilted your head back, mouth falling slack.

“hm, feel so perfect,” he rasped, pushed two fingers into your open mouth, groaned when you bit down on them gently. “good girl, so perfect for me.”

you scrunched your eyes shut and focused on his fingers in your mouth as he began to thrust up into you, making that stretch feel even deeper, like he was becoming a part of you. “so big,” you whined, the words distorted by his hand. “don’t know if i can, arber.”

he didn’t stop, if anything thrust harder. “you can, pretty baby,” he cooed. “you’re gonna make me feel so good, yeah?”

and you couldn’t help but nod, overwhelmed with the desire to do just that, to be the person to do that. you began to fuck back into him, brought your hips back to meet him thrust for thrust.

you whined as you clenched around him, wrapped a hand around his wrist and guided his hand from your mouth down to your clit. he immediately began to tease you, adding to the sensation.

“hm, arber, you fuck me so good,” you said roughly, snaking a hand into his hair and raking your nails down his neck. “fuck, so good.”

he gave a thrust that was slow, deliberate, making you feel him in your teeth. “yeah, darling? better than how you imagined?”

you nodded before you knew what you were confessing to, couldn’t find it in yourself to care when his smirk told you that you had been found out. you just lowered your mouth to his shoulder and bit into it to muffle your moans. he hissed.

“‘s okay,” he said, his thrusts speeding up, his motions on your clit drawing you closer. “you’re better than i imagined, too.”

you clenched around him at his words, felt yourself flush, grow so dangerously close.

he moaned into your hair. “fuck, darling, look so fucking pretty like this.” he took his other hand from your hip to your stomach, placing pressure there so you felt him even deeper. you winced, just there, your rhythm on top of him faltering. “be a good girl and cum for me, yeah?”

you collapsed into his chest as you reached an angelic high, gushing around him and pushing him to his own orgasm, his moan a desperate rasp as he stilled inside of you. his breathing was hard and hot as you caught your own breath, fisting his shirt in one of your hands as the other rested around his neck.

he brought one arm around your back, held you to him as the other grasped the back of your neck and snaked into your hair. the windows of the car had fogged up like a rainy day, and both of your faces were rosy with exertion and satisfaction.

you hummed as he rubbed circled into your lower neck with his thumb.

“like my number on you,” he murmured, breaking the comfortable silence that could have been a decade.

“me too,” you agreed, a small smile playing across your mouth. “like you on me.”

“yeah?” he asked, a lazy grin on his swollen lips. “me too.”

and you let out a sigh, so content. and he kissed the top of your head. and both of you would have been happy to stay here forever, watching the fog drip from the windows like thinning honey.

fin.

#nhl #nhl smut #nhl fanfiction #hockey #hockey smut #hockey fanfiction #fanfiction #smut #arber xhekaj #arber xhekaj smut #arber xhekaj x reader #montreal canadiens #nhl fluff #hockey fluff #jack hughes smut #trevor zegras smut #arber xhekaj imagine

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thisismeracing · 7 months

Note

(One more!) Mick & Daughter & Fluff (I'm writing a SUPER angsty piece right now so I need something happy to cheer me up!!)

Daughter | MS47

⸺ Mick's favorite Disney movie turns out to be his daughter's favorite too. ✓ mentions of food.

⁕ one word, a thousand stories blurb night (closed) ⁕ my masterlist and my taglist

It was a Sunday morning and it was Mick's offseason, which meant both of you could sleep in a bit more, that is, if your daughter would let. It seemed she didn't this Sunday, but Mick was quick to get her before she could wake you up too. He took those early hours of the day to prepare breakfast for your little family of four, letting Angie out and getting the pancakes and juice with the help of his little one while The Lion's King soundtrack played in the background.

"Hakunaaaa Matataaaaa," Liana sang loudly using a spoon as a mic and giggled with an "oopsie" when her dad reminded her of her mom sleeping.

"It means no wooorries," it was Mick's turn to sing along, and Liana ran to him pointing the spoon to him so he could use it as his own microphone too.

"Daddy, can we watch The Lion King after breakfast? And can we have Mommy's strawberry smoothie with the pancakes? Oh oH aND DADDYYY!!! CAN WE GO TO TO THE POOL LATER?" Liana was just like her dad, very active, and talkative when she was around those she felt comfortable.

"You seem to be all charged and full of energy today, huh? We can do it all, but let's bring breakfast in bed for mommy first, like we agreed, okay?"

"She'll be so happyyyyyy, she loves breakfast in bed!" Lia clasped her hands together with a toothless grin and Mick nodded, bending down to kiss her forehead.

Meanwhile, you were watching from the doorway, heart full of love and happiness with your little family, and you would have gone back to bed in order to not disturb their breakfast-in-bed surprise, but Angie had other plans when she burst through the door waggling her tails in your direction making your daughter and husband spot you at the doorway.

"Mommyyyyyy," and just like that you were the target of cuddles and kisses attack.

― ⋆🪩 VOICEMAIL: I hope you like it babesss <3 *mwah*

#one word a thousand stories blurb night #ms47 #mick schumacher #requests #millie writes #mick schumacher fluff #f1 x reader #mick schumacher x reader #f1 fandom #f1 fanfic #millies inbox #forteafy #op: blurbs #dad!mick #f1 imagine #f1 fic

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equallyshaw · 4 months

Text

ᴅᴀʏ ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇɴ: ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ʜᴏʟɪᴅᴀʏꜱ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜɢʜᴇꜱ- ʙᴀʀᴢᴀʟ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ - ᴍᴀᴛ ʙᴀʀᴢᴀʟ x ᴏᴄ ʜᴜɢʜᴇꜱ

part of holidays with equallyshaw

warnings: none! just angsty and sad :( - but happy ending !

word count: 3.7k+

also oc hughes is 28 going on 29. so two in a half years older than mat.

social media edit.

ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ 5 ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ ɴᴏᴡ, the hughes brothers, barzal children, both sets of parents, and the barzals have gotten together in sunny california to spend their few days off together. miranda 'randy' barzal is a content creator and an og vlogger from back in the day on youtube. for the past 5 years she's vlogged their time as a family and it has been an absolute success, even doing a summer series as well, during the offseason.

what could this holiday get-together bring?

❅

"hey guys welcome back to vlogmas, i hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season so far! i know we've had a very busy one and we've loved every minute of it! today we are traveling from long island to orange county, so you'll see some of our chaotic travel! mat will be meeting us in orange county tomorrow morning after a red eye from carolinas. without further ado, lets get this show on the road!" she squealed into the camera, before turning it off. her fake smile quickly dropped, and she felt her nausea grow stronger.

she pushed it aside once she heard her eldest child, marie coming into the room with her baby brother, theo. "hi guys. you guys excited to see grandma, grandpa and nana papa?" she grinned, pulling them onto her lap. they nodded, "yeah grandma and grandpa gives us chocolate." theo gushed, and she giggled thinking about how her kids at her parents wrapped around their finger. "well mama and papa are picking us up soon with tie tie so we can go to california." miranda explained right as the doorbell went off, and then she heard the voices of mat's family echo throughout the townhouse.

miranda pulled out her vlog camera and marie quickly took it and began to make faces and that made miranda giggle, and then liana came into the frame and made them as well. theo came over from across the airport lounge, from his babbling with nana and papa. theo made grabby hands to miranda and she pulled him up. "where are we going marie?" miranda questioned as marie flipped the camera towards her mom. "californiaaaaaa!" she yelled into the camera, and miranda did her best to shoosh her. "inside voices baby." she said pulling some hair out of her daughters face, but she pushed her mom's hand away. liana giggled, and took the vlog camera, moving it out in front of her so all four of them were in frame. "barzal hughes holiday commences!" liana grinned into the camera, while marie made jazz hands and theo bobbed up and down on mirands lap.

"hey guys, our flight is boarding." mat's mom said walking over to help with the kids. "time to go guys!" miranda softly smiled.

she would be lying to herself if she wasn't dreading this holiday get-together.

❅

the minute she walked into the beach house that they rented this year, she felt herself sigh. her parents had gotten there a bit earlier and were quickly engulfing the two kids into big hugs. "im gonna take these upstairs, ill be down soon." miranda said to mat's parents, and they went to go greet her parents. she felt herself on the verge of throwing up, and she quickly dropped the bags and went straight to her and mat's ensemble washroom. she let out as much as she could, and groaned.

she knew what she had to do.

she pulled out her toiletry bags and then pulled out her vlog camera, setting it down on the counter. even if she didn't put this out, she thought she'd get a little bit of footage. she sat down on the toilet, staring daggers a the pregnancy test. she sighed, putting the cap back on and putting on a timer. she turned on the camera, "well looks like things are shaping out to be a bit different this year. i just ended up taking a pregnancy test. typically with my past pregnancies, i deal with sickness throughout the day and not in the morning, and I've been feeling like shit the past few days so i thought, why not?! ill check back with you guys as soon as the timer goes off!" she said before turning off the camera. she headed back into the bedroom, and pulled her kids suitcase into their room, across the hall. miranda felt her phone buzz, and she pulled it out to see a message from mat. she responded back, letting him know that they had made it to the beach house.

after taking out her suitcase dividers, her phone went off. she grabbed the camera and turned it on, filming herself from the chest up. she looked down at it, and gave a weak smile. she didn't even bother looking at it yet, just letting herself cry a bit. it was the first time all month she'd let herself be vulnerable on camera. her and mat had been having a rough patch. it was like one thing after another this season, and now that the holidays had rolled around - she wasn't thrilled about putting on a fake smile 24/7. this wasn't the first rough patch in their 8 year relationship, it was just the worst one thus far.

she wiped some tears, sniffling as she smiled. "its been a hard holiday season and its just, been a lot recently. mentally especially, and this whole what if does not help." she said, chuckling at the end. she breathed in and out deeply, before picking up the test that was upside down. she felt her heartbeat begin to pick up, as she saw the positive result. "and we're pregnant!" she said softly, turning the test around. she sniffled staring at it, and smiled back at the camera. a weak one. "well! that's quite the surprise." she paused chuckling, "we'll pick this back up in a bit." she finished, and turned off the camera. she texted her mom quickly, asking her to come see her.

a few minutes later there was a knock on the door. ellen walked in and shut the door behind her, and then quickly walked over to her daughter. who as soon as ellen's arms wrapped around her, she was falling onto her knees. she sobbed into her mom's arms. "whats going on sweetie?" she questioned, rubbing her daughters back. she sniffled, pointing back towards the washroom. ellen stood up, and saw the test on the counter. she didn't react like one usually would, instead she could read the situation with her daughter. she knew how her and mat had been doing recently, and could tell this pregnancy was just adding an extra toll on her.

"oh sweetie." ellen said wrapping her arms around her again, "he's gonna think this is a 'fix it' baby, an attempt to keep him. he's gonna think i did it on purpose-" and ellen cut her off, "no he wont. i promise. i promise." she said trying to reassure her daughter. if there was one thing about mat, was that he always thought the best of everybody and every situation- this wasn't gonna change that.

❅

the next morning around 6 am, she felt the bed dip next to her. she didn't feel mat get closer to her, she didn't feel his arms around her, she knew there was a nice amount of space between the two. and that made her silently cry. she threw off the covers, threw on her cotton robe, and headed down the stairs with her phone. mat looked up at the door once it opened and heard footsteps going downstairs. he sighed following her.

she turned on the camera, filming the expresso machine intently. she heard somebody walk in, and she jumped seeing mat. he knew that he wouldn't be getting any sleep now, so he pulled out a mug as well to make coffee. she stayed silent as she flipped the camera towards her, "its about 6 am now, i just woke up for the day and right now its all about getting some coffee and food in me, before i go check in with the kiddos. and then I'll see where the morning takes us. probably will involve some pancakes, courtesy of grandma and grandpa hughes." she grinned before turning the camera back off.

she took her cup of decaf and headed outside to the deck, and mat knew that she was brewing. he knew that her silent treatment was for a reason and that he was in for one. his expresso finished, and he followed her outside. he sat down across from her, as she looked out at the ocean. "how was the flight?" he questioned, and she shrugged. "same old same old. thankfully your sister and parents were with us. that helped." she said sipping some expresso. mat nodded, "is everything ok?" he questioned a few minutes later. she sniffled, "has anything been ok recently?" she spat. he sighed, "i really don't have the patience this morning, we'll talk about this later." she said through strained tears. she stood up and walked back inside and upstairs.

mat stayed downstairs, and shut his eyes in frustration. the glass door slid open and he heard the patter of small feet coming running towards him. "daddy!" marie screamed and he quickly pulled the two of them in his arms. "did you miss daddy?" mat questioned, and they both nodded. "are you guys happy to be here for christmas?" mat asked and the two screamed. "morning voices lovies, please." he said and the two nodded pulling a finger to there mouth to shush each other. he smiled, and they then got more comfier. their heads rested on his chest as his mom came out. "hey mama." he said and she smiled. "hi hun." she said sitting where miranda had just sat. "is everything ok with miranda?" she questioned and mat shrugged. "hey kids, why don't you go see papa in the kitchen...i heard he's making pancakes with grandpa!" his mom said excitedly, and that was enough for the two to run off.

"no seriously, whats going on with miranda?" she asked and mat's eyebrows crinkled, "i don't know what you're getting at." he said, annoyance lacing his words. "last night she spent two hours with ellen up in your guys' room. ellen then said that it was a bug but you and i know damn well what her pregnancy symptoms are." his mom explained, and mat was dumbfounded. when the hell would she have been able to get pregnant? then he remembered, they had a fight back during american thanksgiving, and a little bit of wine had one thing leading to another. "i also know there's a lot going on between you to but please don't make her any more upset than she already is. you know you can be a real piece of work, right?" his mom asked and he rolled his eyes. "got it mom." he said picking up his cup of cold expresso, and heading inside.

back upstairs, she had filmed herself doing her skin care and getting changed for the day, but found herself just sitting at the vanity not doing her makeup like she had planned to. she knew she had to get a move on so they could have breakfast as a family and then head to the beach. she didn't have to look behind her to see who had walked into he room. mat sat down on the bed, his back facing her and she bit her lip. she turned off the camera, and began to put some light makeup on. anything to cover up her anxiety and trembling hands.

"are you pregnant?" he blurted, and she stayed silent. he turned back towards her, "are you pregnant?" he questioned again and she still said nothing. mat sighed, standing up, and headed over to the washroom. he began to look through her things, and in the drawers before he found what he was looking for. he stared down at the positive pregnancy result, and miranda felt like she could vomit. she sighed, spraying some setting spray before standing up. "miranda..." he said softly, and that made her stop in her tracks. she turned back towards him, and she saw the tears pooling in his eyes. she swallowed, waiting for him to say something but he didn't. she nodded, before heading downstairs with her phone and camera.

she took that as his reaction.

she walked down stairs and heard her brothers in the kitchen. her kids laughed loudly, at whatever their uncles had said. "hey sis." luke said stepping over from a few feet and hugged her. "hi." she said softly, before quinn made his way over. "hey q." she said as he pulled her in for a hug, then jack walked over as well. "randy." jack said giving her a longer hug, and then stepped back to his niece and nephew. "wheres mat?" quinn asked drinking his starbucks coffee. "he's upstairs." she responded. she checked with them before turning on the camera, and videoed them a bit with luke offering her the most content to work with. quinn just stared at it with an amused look while jack pushed it away playfully before taking over, while him and luke caught the audience up on what they had done recently. then jack got on the kid's level and talked to the camera with them. miranda made herself busy helping her dad with the pancakes at the stove, hoping that time would pass quickly.

jim stared down at his eldest child, the one who had always been the strongest and most determined, who seemed so lifeless and oh so weak. she gave him a weak smile before she heard mat's voice echo through the kitchen, as he went to go greet the brothers. she swallowed hard, turning around holding a plate of pancakes with a fake smile.

❅

after a whole day of recording at the beach, the hughes and barzals headed back up to the beachouse while ellen and jim had just gone to a restaurant for a traditional Jewish dinner. tomorrow, would be the typical american christmas dinner. but a hughes tradition, was to have a traditional meal on christmas eve. once the kids were sent to bed after eating, she'd be able to shower and then edit the vlog from that day.

they all piled into the dining room, the kiddos going wild over food as they were famished. also, grandpa hughes and papa barzal had promised a little bit of dessert beforehand. and now they were being rewarded, for waiting. back in the kitchen miranda began to get the sippy cups ready with juice for the kids, and while she was putting the juice back mat walked into the kitchen. the two hadn't had a quiet moment between them since that morning, when he didn't say anything about the test.

he was bold and wrapped his arms around her from behind, making her freeze. she was about to shove him off when he spoke. "please...let me have these few seconds. then we can talk once we put the kids down." he whispered close to her ear. she leaned back into him letting him cloud her senses, before grabbing the sippy cups and walking out of his arms. mat sighed as she walked out of the room, and he cursed himself for being so bold.

dinner was going to be interesting.

❅

it was around 2 am when she finished up her vlog, and she ripped off her blue light glasses and set her laptop down on the coffee table. she stretched when she stood up, and then headed upstairs to bed. she didn't think mat would be up, but he was. he was reading a book she had picked up a few months back. "was wondering when you were gonna come to bed." he said as she slid into bed. she shrugged, rubbing her face.

"i didnt purposely get pregnant, if you were wondering." she stated and his eyebrows crinkled, "what? i was not thinking that and i would never think that, ever randy and you know that." he said as he put his book down. she shook her head, "i don't know what to think anymore mat. with the way you've been treating me recently has been hard. its made me question everything." she whispered, and he quickly pulled her into his arms.

"we've lost our way thats all, but its not the end for us randy i promise. don't give up on us. we'll get through this." he said. she sniffled, "i want this to work mat i really do, but i don't know." she said full on crying now. mat rocked her a bit before joining in himself. he couldn't lie and say that these past few months had not been a toll. he did his best and worst thinking on roadtrips, and being alone in a hotel room did not help. "i don't want to give up on us miranda, i don't. i know that I've done a lot over these past few months, i know this but im not ready to give up on us or our family." he said and she looked up at him. her blue eyes wide and full of worry.

"let me take some time off, let me take the next month off. let us work on us-" she cut him off, "i cant ask you to do that." she said shaking her head. he shook his head, "you arent asking, im volunteering. our relationship and family mean more than hockey. you guys are more important than hockey, always." he said placing a hand behind her head. she nodded softly, and he leaned in to kiss her. she softened, pulling him in closer by the neck.

❅

around 7 am the next morning, the door of their bedroom opened and then two sets of small feet tapped against the floor before they jumped onto the bed. mat woke up first, tickling marie making her laugh which then woke up miranda. ellen walked in after peaking her head in with the camera recording, catching a sweet moment between the family of four. theo jumped up and down between them, trying to get them to move quicker- just so they could open presents. "wake up wake up wake up!" marie screamed, joining her brother in jumping. mat and miranda just laughed, watching as they did so. "morning baby." mat whispered, as miranda leaned in to peck him. ellen smiled softly before miranda took the camera from her and videoed the two kiddos jump off the bed and follow their grandma out the door. "we'll be down in ten." mat said and ellen nodded before shutting the door.

she made her way to the washroom, setting up her tripod and proceeded to brush her teeth, hair and wash her face. as she was brushing her teeth, mat came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. she leaned back into him, and he pressed a sly kiss to her neck. she grinned before cleaning up her chin from toothpaste. "do we tell them?" he questioned, and she nodded. "we'll announce after all the presents are done?" she questioned and he nodded kissing her passionately. "you're not gonna be able to keep your hands to yourself mr, are ya?" she grinned, as his hands slowly made their way to her butt. he clicked his tongue, and shrugged. "oh god, you're already horny aren't you?" she rolled her eyes playfully before kissing him once more. "lets go, too bad first trimester dictates everything." she hummed walking towards the door, leaving a groaning matt in her wake.

❅

the tripod had picked up the present unwrapping, and miranda had been ansty the whole time. she just wanted to tell them. "okay mat and i have something to announce." miranda after getting their attention. the hughes brothers all looked at one another, while ellen and him looked at each other. all the while the barzals looked at one another. they were unsure of what was going to be announced.

a divorce or separation...they couldn't decipher.

mat took miranda's hand in his and smiled widely, "we are expecting." miranda announced and the family were stunned for a brief few seconds before rushing over to congratulate them. quinn pulled her in for a big hug, then it was luke and then she would hug jack later as he was spinning the two young kids around in circles. "you two ok?" mat's mom whispered as she brought her in for a hug. "yes! we'll be more than ok." she responded and his mom nodded.

after talking for a few minutes, breakfast was to be devoured. miranda took the camera, and mat came and wrapped an arm around her from the side. "well looks like that will be all for this vlog! apparently, there's footage from my brothers on here and ill be sure to edit whatever is salvageable but were gonna have a full day on our hands, and spend some quality time with one another but ill be back after new years with some exciting news! see you then, and until then its miranda barzal, lets get the show on the road! but as always, happy holidays from the barzal-hughes family!" she smiled widely, and then mat kissed her on the cheek, before she stopped recording.

"ive texted my agent about the next month, its final." he said and she sighed, as he pulled her in for a hug. "this needs to be done, i cant push it off anymore." he said and she nodded pulling back just a bit so they were now looking at each other.

"merry christmas honey, thankyou for our little family and thankyou for your work on being the best husband and father for me and the kids. we are forever grateful." she smiled widely, before leaning in for a kiss.

"yo barzal, what do you mean you arent playing us next month?!" they both heard jack scream from the kitchen causing the two to pull away and chuckle. marie and theo both ran towards their parents, as christmas music started blasting throughout the beach house. mat picked up marie while miranda picked up theo.

a precious moment shared between the small family, only to be ruined by jack and luke coming in to ask mat a million questions about mat apparently chickening out on a rival rematch.

hope you all enjoyed!

tags: @cuttergauthier @jayda12 @dancerbailey3 @jackhues @toasttt11

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clementine-thedestroyer · 2 months

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Aroura Borealis - König x reader - Part 1

Series master post- Read on Ao3

This is a multichapter fic so just to clarify, not all of these tags apply to this chapter (in fact, almost none of them do) but I do want to give people a heads up of what they're getting into, especially because this is a lot darker than my usual writing.

Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5

Warnings/Tags: Fem!reader, eldritch!König, kidnapping, manipulation, gaslighting, violence, minor character death, end of the world, apocalypse/post-apocalypse, potential dub/non con. Dead dove, do not eat. It may not seem like it now but you've been warned. Based on/inspired by the Lemon Demon song by the same name. Alt summery: your boyfriend turns out to be an immortal being beyond your possible comprehension, but all he really cares about is making sure you're safe through the end of the world. /j but not really.

“Let’s take a month-long impromptu vacation we can’t afford to the Canadian Northern Territories.” Your boyfriend said.

“It’ll be fun,” He said.

You shouldn’t have agreed to this. You should’ve raised more questions at König’s sudden insistence to take a holiday.

But no, you’d let him bring you out here. You’d let him pack way too much for this trip. You’d let him convince you that he had the money for it. You’d let him take you somewhere so remote that you had to fly in to the closest “town” (town being a strong word for the small collection of buildings he’d shown you on google maps) on a bush plane, just to get some guy König knew from the military who knew the area to drive you up to the place you’d be staying. You let him do all of it. You’d pushed past your unease and just tried to enjoy yourself for once. And for a brief moment, everything had been fine. König had been right, you were just being weird about it.

The area was beautiful. The town was the only civilization for miles, and it was situated on the northern bank of a large, frozen river and surrounded from all other directions by boreal forest and rising mountains.

The buildings were a charming hodgepodge of styles, sizes, and colors. The rural, unplanned community was so different from the cookie cutter suburbs and high density urban areas you were used to.

The ground was covered in dense layers of snow- packed down into makeshift trails where people would walk from building to building or towards the tree line. The wind whipped across the flat, icy plane of the river, gathering speed and picking up tiny bits of snow and ice so when it hit your skin, it felt like a thousand tiny pinpricks all at once.

The people you met were lovely too. There was a small general goods type store towards the center of the town that König had directed you to go wait and warm up in while he talked to the guy he’d known from up here, and the elderly couple who ran it were sweet as could be. You’d bought a few basics for dinner and a cheesy little souvenir keychain from them. Not necessarily because you needed it, but because the couple who ran the store were as sweet as could be.

You chatted with the woman as she rang up your items, telling her about how König had decided to bring the two of you up here and listening when she tells you how during the summer, the cabins on the mountain side are rented out regularly for vacations, but that she’d never seen the owner rent one out during the offseason.

“Strange young man, that one.” She mutters, shaking her head and looking out the window at the man talking with König before turning back to the small register and punching in the code for a can of chili. “He’s lived up here for god knows how long and I hardly see him. Never heard him say more than a few words or take off that mask and sunglasses either.”

You frown, watching the König and the man talk outside for a moment.

It wasn’t snowing at the moment- although the locals had assured you that you’d probably be sick of the snow by the time you left- and König and the other man stood stiffly facing each other. König had his hands stuffed deep in his pockets and wore a tense expression towards the other that didn’t quite fit the narrative of “old military friend” he’d given you. The other guy seemed much less on edge- as he was leaning against the side of the bed of what you assumed to be his truck with his arms crossed loosely over his chest. He was shorter than König and wore a fabric face mask, hat, and reflective sunglasses like the ones you’d see at outdoor stores like REI or Bass Pro Shop.

König was wearing a face covering of sorts too- as was typical for him. You knew that, on the field, he almost always wore a sniper hood (he liked to keep his work separate from you- he tried not to let you see him in full gear or anything of the sort, but as far as you were concerned, the “sniper hood” looked like an old T-shirt with eye holes). But in public, it was usually just a disposable face mask. The cold had given him an excuse to switch it up a bit though, and he’d taken to wearing a hat and scarf- with one of the scarve’s loops done loose enough that it could be lifted up and over his nose and ears to cover the bottom of his face.

The two painted a stark contrast, with König wearing carefully chosen sets of layers under his windbreaker and snow pants and looking like someone properly dressed for the weather, with the other man wearing a dark leather bomber style jacket over what looked like no more than a sweater underneath.

It reminded you a bit of when you’d see how people from warmer places would dress for the cold as opposed to people from those areas- and you’d never admit it to König, but you did find it a bit funny.

König’s friends have always been a bit odd. The face covering isn't the most out of place thing you’ve seen among them. König, himself in fact, could probably be considered a bit odd. You’ve always just chalked it up to his military career.

Once the woman had rang up your things, you bid her farewell with a smile and promised to stop by again before you headed back home.

König had made quite a fuss about your purchases when you came back out, asking why you took so long and insisting that the cabin would already have everything you needed in it, and that there was no need for “backup canned chili”, as he called it.

He had seemed nearly glued to your side that day, always keeping you close by with a protective hand somewhere on you or directing you exactly where to wait for him as he sorted out issues. Hence, you being told to wait inside the store.

After finishing with his lecture on the backup chili, König sighed and took your hand, telling you to come meet the friend he’d told you about.

He starts to lead you toward the man and his truck, and as you get closer, you can see a heavy duty set of snow chains in the vehicle’s tires. When you get close to the man, König stops, pulling you tight against his side by your waist, introducing the man to you as Horangi.

For a moment, the man was silent. Simply looking you up and down before turning his head back to König.

“This is her?” He asked, not giving you so much as a second look.

You can’t see it, but you hear the rustling of his clothes as König nods his head in response. The exchange filled you with a mix of embarrassment at being spoken about like you weren’t present and awkwardness at the palpable tension between König and Horiangi.

Another second of silence passes and Horiangi gives you another look before stuffing his hand in his pocket and pulling out his keys.

“Alright. Get in.” He says, apathy audible in his tone. He pushes himself upright from where he’d been leaning against the side of his truck and turns around, walking around toward the driver's side without another word or glance.

The whole exchange had struck you as odd, but König simply patted your back, directing you towards the passenger door.

“Sorry, Schatz. He doesn’t get out much.” He says, giving you an apologetic smile before opening the passenger door of the truck and folding down the passenger seat.

You hold back a groan at the sight of a jump seat, knowing that you’ll be stuck in the undoubtedly cramped back seat for however long the drive is. You weren’t quite sure where you were expecting to sit, as the truck only even had two doors- and König certainly wouldn’t be the one climbing into the back, but the sight of the tiny, low to the ground bench seat was enough to make your legs ache just thinking about it.

You step one foot up onto the floor of the truck, using it as a step so you can squeeze through the small space left by the folded down front seat to get into the back.

You try your best to do so gracefully and not fall face first into the back, but König resting his hand on your lower back to steady you (and not at all just so he could slide his hand down towards your ass) startles you and makes you lose your footing, leaving you to slide into the back and land on your knees with a soft “oof” sound.

You shot König a small glare, not missing the smirk he fails to keep hidden- even with the scarf covering half his face.

Once you’re situated in the backseat with your seat belt buckled and your backpack handed to you, König sits the front seat back up, and you find yourself crammed into a space that’s really only meant to hold children. Leg room as a concept is nonexistent. The seat is only half a foot or so off the truck floor and there’s barely enough room for you to sit with your feet flat.

The drive had been long and quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Horangi seemed comfortable to focus on driving, navigating the snow covered roads expertly even as they wound and doubled back on themselves, and you were happy to just enjoy the scenery, watching through the window as spruce, firs, and pine trees- all with their beaches sitting heavy from the weight of snow- pass by.

Your legs ached to be stretched after sitting in such an uncomfortable position and you’d found yourself beginning to doze off during the drive. Not quite falling asleep, but leaning your head against the window frame and letting your eyes glaze over. The flight had taken a toll on you - flights, actually. Plural. Because first there was one just to get to Yellowknife, then there was another on a bush plane to actually get to the area. And the jet lag was, frankly, a bitch.

You were jerked out of your daze when the truck stopped and König reached back, using the shoulder of the driver's seat to brace himself, and you felt his hand envelop your shoulder as he gently shook you awake.

“Schatz, we’re here.”

You let out a groan, sitting up and waiting for König to fold forward his seat so you could get out.

Horangi had opened his door and gotten out the moment the car stopped, jerking the parking brake up and putting the car in park before yanking out his keys and tossing them in the cup holder, not bothering to take them with him. You stared at the keys for a moment, brow furrowing.

It was easily explainable enough. You were in the middle of nowhere, there was likely no one but you three for miles. But even then, Horangi leaving his keys in his truck made you do a double take.

Most people would’ve slipped them in their pocket out of habit at least- but maybe your and König’s presence was simply disruptive. It was clear that Horangi either wasn’t in the mood for other people, or König calling them two “friends” had been a stretch… or maybe it was you. You wouldn’t blame him for not wanting to be a third wheel.

Regardless, you got the sense that Horangi wanted to get the two of you settled as fast as possible, even if for no reason other than to get you out of his hair.

When König folded the front passenger seat down, you first helped to hand forward the stuff that’d been put in the backseat with you for the drive before climbing out- nearly falling on your face in the process, courtesy the burning in your legs from the cramped space.

Outside of the truck, you caught your balance and looked around. Horangi was nowhere in sight and König was already moving away from the car, walking towards a narrow path that cut through the conifers. You took it as a sign to follow, reaching down to pick up two bags from where they sat in the snow.

The area where the road ended was densely wooded with spruces and firs, and the fluffy snow that blanketed the ground was undisturbed aside from your little trios’ footprints and the truck’s tire tracks.

It was cold, but König had apparently known what he was doing as far as getting winter gear for you, because the temperature was manageable, despite the wind burning your face whenever you made the mistake of looking into it.

You’d hardly had the chance to take two steps before the bags you were carrying were plucked out of your hands, making you jump and yelp as you turn to see Horangi beside you.

You hadn’t heard him approaching- a feat considering how loudly the snow would crunch as anyone walked across it. You stood frozen for a moment, watching as he took the bags from you with no more than a grunt.

“You startled me-“ you said, trying to keep a stutter from your voice. “I didn’t hear you coming.”

“People usually don’t.” Horangi says, not giving you another look or a chance to respond before he starts down the trail.

You’re left standing there, staring at the space Horangi had disappeared to. The odd response left you drawing a blank.

You were really starting to think he didn’t like you… either that, or maybe you still weren’t used to the weirdness that came with König’s friends.

#did you read those tags?#good #maybe read them again #fem!reader #könig x reader #könig #könig call of duty #könig x you #konig x reader #könig cod

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intheupside · 2 months

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A couple of years ago, as his longtime teammates and close friends Evgeni Malkinand Kris Letang were playing out the final season of their respective contracts, Crosby publicly stated the Penguins “know where I stand” on bringing back each player. Crosby never made a demand to ownership and previous management about the Malkin/Letang situation, but he did support both players as offseason negotiations went sideways.

Crosby speaking publicly about contract negotiations for teammates was novel when he did so multiple times two years ago. He revisited his reasoning on Monday.

“The fact that we played this long together and we’ve all made this commitment to be here,” Crosby said, “I didn’t think it was something where you had to sit down and analyze too much.”

Crosby made clear two years ago he was “not the GM.”

That’s still the case, but it’s an open question as to how Dubas would react if Crosby — either on his own or through backchannels — tried to influence any roster moves. Doesn’t sound like Dubas should worry about Crosby entering the fray, though.

“Kyle’s the general manager, he’s got his job,” Crosby said. “As a player, I’ve got to go out there and play and perform.

“He’s a good communicator. He’s someone who, if you need to have a discussion or if you feel like you need to talk to him about something, I think he’s made it clear his door’s always open.

Crosby can sign an extension on July 1. The Penguins view his extension as the top priority for the organization on and off the ice.

Will the Penguins’ decision regarding Guentzel, either before or after the trade deadline, influence Crosby’s decision to recommit to Pittsburgh?

“No,” Crosby said. “Obviously, it’s a big decision for both sides. That’s something that’s out of my control. But I don’t think that affects how I view things.

“I’m not even thinking about extensions.”

One thing that hasn’t changed: Crosby only wants to play for the Penguins his entire career.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve said that forever. But right now I’m trying to focus on getting into the playoffs.”

from the athletic

#pittsburgh penguins #sidney crosby #evgeni malkin #kris letang #jake guentzel

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youcouldmakealife · 4 months

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LBTE: Jared (173-174)

In which we prepare for the end by going back to the beginning.

If you'd like to follow along, the series page is here.

Final LBTE the day after tomorrow -- the epilogue itself is tomorrow.

173. Lodestar

He’s already talking about taking next year’s rookies under his wing — taking them out for lunch, inviting them over to play video games, making sure they feel welcome.

Jared terrifying the rookies might put a crimp in Bryce’s rookie mentoring plans.

And — fuck, is Jared going to have to host shit? Jared doesn’t want to host shit. Letting people into his space sounds horrible. Hopefully they’ll get a pass, since there’s no way the team could all fit in their apartment, let alone significant others and kids. They had a few preliminary discussions about getting a house after they re-sign this summer, but no way is that happening if it increases the likelihood of Jared having to endure guests.

Refusing to buy a house solely so no one makes him host anything is the most Jared thing possible.

You’re co-hosting a wine night with me he receives from Stephen, who continues to have the uncanny ability to say the thing that Jared would like to hear least. Jared guesses Gabe told him the news.

Wine nights happen when the Canucks are on the road. Jared replies, rather than ‘I would rather die’, just in case Stephen takes him literally.

Very smart not to tell Stephen your worst fears: he’ll make them happen. Also: you’re co-hosting a wine night with him. It’s inevitable. The rookies may fear Jared, but the WAGs will love him.

The Scouts are flaming out against the Kings, earlier than their typical Stanley Cup Final choking.

This is the Red Wings’ year. So Kings vs Red Wings in the WCF (yes, this 'verse shunted Detroit right back to the west when they finally thought they were safe), then Red Wings vs Lightning in the Finals. Sorry Seb.

Bryce is, but he’s been busy with other things — getting a crash course on what’s involved in wearing the A from Gabe, babysitting the Kurmazov spawn while Dmitry and Oksana pack up their own place for the offseason, bringing some of their extra food over to Elaine’s, and somehow coming home with more shit than he left with, though thankfully all the childhood shit Elaine’s unloading on him is nonperishable.

Seriously, Bryce is 100% living the dream. Mentoring, babysitting, hanging out with his mom.

In one of the boxes is a battered stuffed bear with a bow tie that Bryce greets like an old friend, and now sits with the minor Winnie the Pooh collection in the sulking room. He doesn’t fit thematically, but Jared figures he gets extra points for making Bryce’s eyes light up. His name’s Mr. Bear. Bryce was apparently not a creative child.

Because Bryce was Bear, the Mr. was included to avoid confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Jared asks.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Bryce says.

“Is it your shoulder again?” Jared asks.

“It’s not my shoulder,” Bryce says.

“Is it somewhere else?” Jared asks.

Jared is not a very good listener when he’s panicking.

He’s suddenly terrified Bryce is going to propose or something. Demand they get married again, but in public this time. Fuck, Jared doesn’t want to marry Bryce again. He embarrassed himself in front of enough people last time, and is frankly extremely grateful no video evidence exists. He can’t deny that he cried if there’s a video of him doing exactly that. Not that he’d cry, but—

You’d fucking cry, don’t start.

Also if Bryce knew he could make everybody hold a party for his relationship with Jared? On one knee in a second flat. So Jared will just…never mention the existence of vow renewals in his presence. And quit bugging Gabe and Stephen about when they’re getting married so Stephen doesn’t snap and mention it himself.

Bryce hasn’t shown any signs of stopping to breathe, but Jared doesn’t interrupt him, knows Bryce won’t be able to gather the threads back together if he does, and, more than that, that he’s nervous about this for some reason. Nervous about telling Jared this.

Bryce rambles when he’s nervous and when something’s really important to him. This is both.

Mostly he’s trying to figure out how Bryce did all this without Jared knowing. Like, Jared knew Bryce was keeping busy, but how did he miss a whole ass project? Bryce did financials? He talked to Marc Lapointe?

He had a lot of spare time. Especially during road trips. It wasn’t particularly difficult to keep it on the DL, considering.

“We started in like, January,” Bryce says. “I wanted to have like, a real idea before I told you, make sure I was still like, serious about it. And everyone says to do the research so, like, mom and I did the research. Gabe and Stephen helped too. Stephen was only like, kind of mean about it. Though he kept saying shit about my hair.”

“Babe, saying you have Disney prince hair isn’t an insult, I told you that,” Jared says.

“He says it like an insult,” Bryce says.

Because he’s offended that your hair just DOES that. Stephen is very vain about his own hair, he hates having a competitor.

(It does not just DO that, there is great time and financial investment involved in Bryce’s terrific hair)

“He says everything like an insult,” Jared says. “That’s just the way Stephen communicates.”

“He’s nice to Gabe,” Bryce says.

“Have you ever met anyone who isn’t nice to Gabe?” Jared says. “Even I’m nice to Gabe.”

Er. Nice(r).

But seriously, who’s mean to Gabe? Stephen will kill them.

“I wanted it to be like, fully planned out before I told you,” Bryce says. “You’re always so like — you always think shit through, you know? So I wanted to make sure I thought everything through first. And that took like, way more time than I expected it to. And help. This stuff isn’t like, my thing, you know? But it matters to me, so.”

Bryce trying to make sure he got ahead of every road block and set back so it would be perfect by the time Jared found out about it kills me a little.

“It isn’t?” Bryce says. “I mean, I know it isn’t, I just — you don’t think it’s dumb?”

“Of course I don’t think it’s dumb,” Jared says, and it kind of breaks his heart, how relieved Bryce looks.

Mine too.

“I just don’t want anyone thinking they can have hockey or love but not like, both,” Bryce says. “Like, I’d be a fucking mess without you, and I was kind of a mess without hockey too, and I just—“

Bryce going from someone who can’t even say the word gay out loud to willingly becoming the face of an organization meant for LGBTQ youth athletes — this boy.

“I can’t believe you made a secret club just so you could hang out with your mom,” Jared says.

That’s just a BONUS, Jared.

“I’m not—“ Bryce says. “It’s not a secret club!”

Note there is no denial about the hanging out with his mom part.

“You can join the club,” Bryce says, then, quickly, “But you don’t have to or anything. I know you’re not a joiner.”

“Obviously I want to join your secret club,” Jared says.

“Really?” Bryce asks.

“Duh,” Jared says, kicking Bryce’s foot, and Bryce kicks him back, grinning.

Jared’s evolution has been subtler, but of course he makes an exception for Bryce.

Bryce goes to grab his laptop with this jaunty little trot Jared doesn’t think he’s ever seen him do before, and he smiles down at his hands so he isn’t grinning at Bryce when he returns, just in case Bryce thinks he’s laughing at him.

Another evolution: Jared’s awareness of how easily Bryce’s feelings are hurt, and his efforts to make sure he isn’t the one doing it.

“We can take a break,” Bryce says quickly. Jared decides it wouldn’t be constructive to point out they haven’t actually done anything, form-wise. Certainly wouldn’t get either of them what they want, unless what they want is to be frustrated by bureaucracy.

Excellent work NOT cockblocking yourself with forms, Jared.

For the second time Jared gets to see the jaunty run. It’s a little dorky, but Jared won’t tell Bryce that. If he does, he’ll never see it again, and he’s already fond of it.

Jared getting to see parts of Bryce nobody else does, and being SO SO fond of them.

Jared decides to speed up just a little. If Bryce is going to put on a show, he doesn’t really want to miss it.

Like, yes, this is about sex, but also very much a dynamic that plays out across their relationship, which is great, because Jared doesn’t mind that Bryce is the better player/higher profile/bigger name. In fact, all the extra stuff Bryce deals with because of that is shit Jared is very glad not to deal with. But he loves getting to sit back and watch Bryce do his thing.

174. Starstruck (Redux)

There are so many callbacks in this part it might be easier to point out what isn’t one. One of the great things about doing this liveblogging (I reread the first 102 before I restarted this endeavour) — everything is very fresh when it’s time to wrap things up.

It’s also a really nice way for me to come to terms with finishing things — I get to go back and honour every part of the process, which helps, because this part always hurts. This series has been in my life so long it’d be a first grader by now, so it's been particularly hard to say goodbye to it.

It always feels a little strange now, travelling commercial. Well, strange is putting it nicely. Terrible. It feels terrible. Jared has had five hours of sleep and his Starbucks is burnt and his husband is wearing a toque indoors ‘so people won’t recognise me, J’. He looks ridiculous, and if his coffee’s burnt he can’t taste it, probably because there isn’t much coffee involved in that concoction.

Who says Jared isn’t a morning person (everyone who’s met him, and many would say he’s not an afternoon, evening, or night person either)

“You’re that guy from the Canucks, right?” she asks, inexplicably looking at Jared rather than Bryce.

Guess you should have worn a hat like your genius husband, Jared.

“My friends all think you’re really cute,” she says, then runs back to her group without asking for an autograph or anything, greeted with yells and cheers like she just scored them the OT winner.

She is a god among them.

“Don’t look so douchey in my hat now, do I?” Bryce asks.

“You still do,” Jared says. But he looks like a douche with a good idea.

Shoutout to the time Jared wrote a heartfelt card on his first anniversary that used the word ‘douche’ twice.

“I packed an extra,” Bryce says. “Just in case you changed your mind.”

Jared continues to underestimate how often they’ll be recognized, particularly in Vancouver. Bryce prefers to be prepared so he doesn’t have to take pictures and sign shit when he’s just trying to get a coffee.

Once the plane door shuts, Jared rips the hat off his head. “Is it fixable?”

“I don’t know how you can say I’m vain about my hair,” Bryce murmurs. Jared would tell him it’s because he is, but Bryce is fixing his hair for him at the moment, so it doesn’t seem like the most opportune time to argue.

Jared’s less vain about his hair and more vain about his so called dignity, and messy hair is not dignified. But then, neither is Jared, a lot of the time.

Training with you. I come back to Canada in June.

Absolutely not. Jared texts back.

Chaz and Raf already said OK. So did Arvan. So I’m coming.

Too bad Jared texts back. You’re not invited.

“What’re you so happy about?” Bryce mutters.

Julius officially in the crew and Jared is visibly delighted about it.

“Jared!” Bryce says, grabbing his arm.

There’s a few instances of physical communication between the two of them in this part. Big because it’s always in public/in front of others, and that’s something they’re only recently grown comfortable with.

“Did you know Julius was coming?”

“What, Julius is coming to train?” his dad asks. “That’s news to me.”

“I didn’t mention training,” Jared says.

“Shit,” his dad says, and Jared snorts.

Jared got his terrific lying skills from the best.

“Great,” Jared says. “Wonderful. I’m so happy to be home.”

“We’re as happy to have you as you are to be here,” his dad says.

His chirping skills are mostly from his mom, but sometimes Don comes through.

“Is that where Erin’s taking Bryce?” Jared asks.

“As far as I’m aware,” his dad says.

“Well,” Jared says. “Then I guess that’s where I’m going.”

These two. Two planets orbiting one another.

“I tell you I’m proud of you yet?” his dad asks.

“Not in as many words,” Jared says.

“Well, I am,” his dad says. “Proud of Bryce too.”

Look at Don growing too!!

“Me too,” Jared says. “Next season he’s going to — actually, I’ll let him tell you about it over brunch.”

“The charity thing?” his dad says, then, “Shit.”

“Oh for—“ Jared says. “Come on.”

Elaine got ahead of herself, she’s sorry!

Ashley has a ring on her finger. Grace doesn’t, but judging by Raf going red and hissing ‘shut up’ when Jared asks him about it, that’s changing very shortly.

Raf’s trying to find the perfect moment. Chaz did it in their living room and almost wiped out on one of Maia’s toys when he went to kneel.

“You're pregnant," Bryce says.

"No," Ashley says. "Okay, yes, but—"

Everyone had a couple beers (or spritzers) but her over the afternoon. Bryce noticed, Jared, of course, did not.

“To keep the numbers even we thought that maybe Bryce could be on my side?” Ashley asks. “And you two could partner up. But we don’t want to do that if you’re not—“

“Can I wear a suit that matches the bridesmaid dresses?” Bryce asks.

Ash and Chaz worried he’d feel emasculated, being on the bride’s side. And once upon a time he would have, but now he’s just hyped about a pastel suit.

“So it was Chaz you were hiding it from,” Jared says.

Ashley’s mouth flattens. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“It is an excellent instrument,” Chaz says. “You’re just haters.”

If he plays twinkle twinkle little star on that thing one more time…

(And it is always twinkle twinkle little star. Because that is all he knows.)

Jared leans over to Chaz as Bryce and Ashley put their heads together. “Did you steal a toy from your own child?”

“We’re teaching her to share,” Chaz mutters.

Can MAIA play twinkle twinkle little star? No! It’s wasted on her.

Raf proposes, but only after weeks of making everyone around him miserable. To the surprise of absolutely no one but Raf, she says yes. Jared would be more smug about calling it if he hadn’t been the only one blindsided by Raf asking him to be his best man.

Just wait until Jared remembers there’s a speech involved.

Jared’s volunteered to help, mostly to make sure that Julius doesn’t mistake Jared telling him he’s not welcome, and explicitly uninviting him, for actually not wanting him here.

Taking Jared at his word would obviously be a mistake.

“Oh my fucking god,” Jared mutters. Bryce had finally gotten rid of the convertible when he left Calgary, and Jared had figured that was that, because Vancouver’s the opposite of a good place for one. Maybe that was naive. “You’re too old for that car! Also too young!”

Bryce gets out of the front seat, sliding his sunglasses off and tucking them into his polo. He looks like bad porn. Right in front of Jared’s parents, too. Jared glowers at him as he walks up the driveway.

Jared’s anti-convertible gripe turning into ‘how dare you look hot enough that I now want to ride in your dumb car’. In front of his parents, to boot!

“Nice looking car, Bryce,” his dad says.

Bryce grins. “Want to come for a spin?”

“Watch my pots!” his dad says, then literally jogs down the driveway to get in the passenger seat.

Don has dibs though!

Jared exchanges a look with his mom.

“Well,” she says. “It’s nice to see he’s finally gotten over his Bryce related car trauma.”

Growth!

It’s another half hour before Bryce and his mom come back. It doesn’t involve anyone shouting ‘what a rush’ as they come inside, so it’s more subtle than his dad’s return

I love Don.

Jared scoots over, and Bryce lies down beside him. They don’t fit. They never have, really, but now Jared has to put his back against the wall, tangle their legs together so Bryce doesn’t topple right off the bed.

Back in Jared’s high school bed. Every time they do it gets more and more cramped.

“I thought we could get some pizza,” Bryce says. “Sit around at a park or something. It’s a nice day for it.”

“You got a blanket in the trunk too?” Jared says.

“Maybe,” Bryce says. “Not a Flames one, but.”

This boy. This ridiculously romantic boy.

“Absolutely,” Bryce says. As soon as they get outside he jogs ahead. Jared’s about to ask him what he’s in such a hurry for before Bryce opens the passenger door for him, and then he just has to stop everything, take a moment and watch him, golden in the late spring light.

Jared’s still so gone for him.

“You coming?” Bryce asks.

“Yeah,” Jared says. “Yeah, of course I am.”

So gone.

#liveblogging the end

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drewsbuzzcut · 6 months

Text

The Other Blankenburg

nick moldenhauer x dallas blankenburg

a so it goes blurb

warnings: none that I can think of

“What’re your intentions with my sister?” Kent speaks up.

“KJ you’re not her brother. Nick, what are your intentions with my sister?” Blanks asks the same question.

“Hey! First of all, KJ is like another brother to me, and second of all, stop harassing my boyfriend,” Dallas chastised the two boys sitting across from her and Nick.

She brings her hand up to soothingly scratch at the back of his neck. She feels accomplished when she feels his body melt into hers. He seems calm and collected, but by the way he chews on his bottom lip and how his hand slightly shakes from where it’s resting on her thigh, she can tell he’s nervous. Her brother and honorary brother are definitely putting on the pressure. Their requests to meet her boyfriend were being ignored until her brother cornered her when she had nothing to use as an excuse. It’s not that she doesn’t want her boyfriend to meet two of the most important men in her life, but she was worried that they’d be overbearing and scare Nick away.

“Yeah, Blanks, I’m like her brother. Dallas, just be glad Owen isn’t here,” Kent teases, earning an eye roll from the girl.

“I plan to treat Dallas with the utmost respect and care. She’s my biggest supporter and I’m hers as well. She’s definitely helped shape me into who I am today,” Nick claims, although to the average person it’d sound crazy being that they’ve only been together for almost 2 months.

“Why’d you choose a hockey player?” Blanks asks. It’s his only way to pick at Nick because he hasn’t said one bad thing the whole night. Blanks actually thinks Nick compliments Dallas very well and vice versa.

“Nick!” Dallas shouts, cringing at the way she forgot they’re in a public place.

The three boys laugh at her expression.

“So, how do your grades look? It’s very important to maintain your academics and social life,” Blanks asks another question that makes Dallas want to reach across the table and pull his hair.

“Better than average. I do struggle in some classes with time management, but June has been very helpful and I’m grateful for that,” Nick says, Dallas’ eyes widened at her first name slipping from his lips. Nick didn’t know, but Blanks nor Kent knew that she allowed him to call her that.

When she glances at them, they’re wearing shit eating grins. They definitely figured out that she’s down bad for a hockey player, knowing that Dallas always claimed she’d never get with a hockey player.

“June?” Kent attempts to confirm that he heard correctly. She can tell he’s trying hard not to laugh.

Dallas flips him off, hiding her face in Nick’s shoulder.

“Moldy, did you know that Dallas, here, always said she’d never get in a relationship with a hockey player?” Blanks laughs at his sister's glare.

Moldy, huh? That’s new. Dallas finds herself hiding her growing smile. She likes the way they’re being welcoming to him.

“You guys are assholes, you know that?”

“We’re just teasing you two, but being that you’re her boyfriend and a hockey player, must mean you’re a really great guy,” KJ admits.

“I agree and I approve,” Blanks adds.

“Wow! It’s almost like I was asking for your guy’s approval,” Dallas retorts sarcastically. On the inside, she’s glad they like Nick.

———————————————————————

“I think Vegas would be fun,” KJ says, referring to their impromptu guys trip during the offseason.

“I can’t. I’m not 21 yet,” Nick says, sounding disappointed. He’s standing next to Kent and Dallas’ brother and Dallas is on his opposite side, his arm thrown over her shoulders.

“Shit, I forgot about that. Maybe we can go to Cancun or somewhere in Europe,” KJ suggests.

“No! He’s not going to Europe without me. Get your own boyfriend to take on a trip,” Dallas warns, although her words don’t hold much threat to them.

They all laugh at her words, making her pout.

“What’s wrong Dallas? Upset that we made our newest best friend?” At her brother’s words, Nick lights up seemingly surprised at how much they like him. He was expecting more tough brotherly love on her behalf. He’s glad he’s considered a best friend.

“Whatever, at least I know I’m Nick’s favorite,” Dallas sticks her tongue out at her brother.

“I don’t know about that, babe,” Nick teases.

“Fine. No kisses for you,” she states, walking ahead of the three of them.

Nick pauses, runs up behind his girlfriend and picks her up. His face goes between where her neck and shoulder meet, ignoring her squeals as he pecks her skin.

“I’m sorry, you’re my favorite,” Nick says, putting Dallas down and walking in front of her as she walks backwards. His hands are cupping her cheeks in a way that makes her lips pucker up.

She rolls her eyes, arms wrapping around his neck as she leans up to kiss his lips.

“Ugh get a room,” she hears from one of her annoying brothers.

“Aww what’s wrong? Jealous that I’m his favorite?” Dallas muses, continuing to kiss her boyfriend despite the other grown men’s griping.

Kent and Blanks tease them to no end, but they’re really happy for Dallas because she finally has someone to treat her the way she deserves. They’re also happy to make a friend in Nick.

a/n: This part is cutesy! Enjoy!

#nick moldenhauer #nick moldenhauer x oc #nick moldenhauer x reader #nick x dallas #umich imagine #umich hockey #so it goes au

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ateriblewriter · 1 year

Text

Party of Four {1} (a.m)

warnings: none. yet.

Please. Enjoy whatever the start of this is.

Part 2

It was a quiet summer evening. The offseason was nearing its end, meaning you would have to leave for the north soon. You were curled into his side with your head on his chest, a soft smile playing on your lips. The movie playing on the television screen was long forgotten. You were lost in your own thoughts of the future.

“What are you thinking about?” Auston mused, his eyes straying from the movie. He looked at you with a gentle look in his beautiful brown eyes while he absentmindedly started running his nimble fingers through your luscious locks. He could tell by your lack of movement that an all consuming thought or idea had taken over your brain space.

“I’m not thinking about anything Aus.” You shook your head away from his fingers. You hated it when people played with your hair. You had discussed it at length with him how the sensation of someone simply playing with your hair unlocked unhappy core memories from a childhood you’d rather forget. He knew that you didn’t like when he did that, it was all a ploy to get you out of your thoughts. It worked.

“I know that look on your face. What’s going on in that big brain of yours?” He raised his eyebrows in an all knowing manner. It’s like he could read your mind. He wasn’t going to stop asking you until you caved. “A penny for your thoughts?”

You sat up facing him, a thought of rejection ran its course while your teeth found themselves buried into your bottom lip as you contemplated how to bring up the subject that had been on your mind quite often lately. The subject had been discussed once before you two snuck off to sin city for a weekend without telling a soul. But that was one conversation months ago that had been agreed upon to be brought up another day, most likely forgotten by now. You decided today was going to be the day you were going to be brave and ask for something you wanted.

“Have you thought about what comes next?”

“Is this about baby Wesley’s sock?” Auston sighed thinking about how you had found a baby sock that had been left from when your best friend was in town with her infant child. He didn’t think anything of it until the other night when he caught you staring at it in your hands. Up until that point he thought you had returned it, but there you were holding the knitted object almost like it was your last lifeline.

“No.” You refused to make eye contact with him. You had been caught and now you needed to face any possible consequences that came with it. “Maybe.”

It wasn’t hard for Auston to put two and two together and understand what you were thinking. You had baby fever and wanted a small bundle of your own. If he was being honest with himself, he always envisioned you pregnant with his child. Two or three little rugrats running around at a game in little blue jerseys with daddy stitched on the back.

“Right now. I just want you and me to be you and me for a while longer.” He contemplated saying his next words, almost regretting them when you wouldn’t look at him. “Besides we still have time, Y/N. We still have time.”

“Hm.” You hummed to yourself, still not wanting to look at his face. There was the answer to your question. He wanted to wait. Maybe he was right. Maybe the two of you should wait a year or two until your married life together becomes more routine.

“You’re not?” He furrowed his brows, momentarily shooting himself in the foot.

“No no no there is no bun in this oven.” You laughed, shaking your head. How funny would it be if you were pregnant right at that moment. Alas you weren’t and Auston avoided that awkward moment where he would have needed to take back his words. “I just wanted to talk about it though. We tabled the idea before we eloped. I wanted to bring it up again.”

You paused before beginning again. “I knew from the moment I met you Auston Matthews, that I wanted to have like five beautiful black haired brown eyed hockey playing babies with you.” Auston’s infectious laugh brought a grin back to your face.

“Stop laughing at me! I’m being serious here. Listen to me.” You lightly punched him in the shoulder to get his attention again. “I know you have your worries, I do too. God knows I have so many. Those what ifs got me thinking. I know we’re young. Is there ever the perfect time to have a kid and what if by the time we think we might be ready, it takes us a long time to get pregnant and something goes wrong and we find out too late we can’t have those babies we wanted. I want to start trying.”

“I need to think. Give me a chance to think about everything. Alright Y/N?” He didn’t want to say the wrong thing. He wanted those five babies with you too, well maybe not five that's a lot, but he wanted it more than he thought he did a minute ago. You had brought up a couple of very valid thoughts about timing. But what if something happened and that tore guys apart. What if he was gone so much that the kid hated him. What if he wasn’t a good dad and the kid still ended up hating him. He was scared and he needed to talk to someone who wasn’t his wife. He just hoped you would understand.

“That’s all I ask. Take your time.” You curled back into his side, twirling one of the strings to hoodie. It was all you asked for, him to consider.

A week later Auston and yourself headed back to your home in Toronto. Summer was dwindling down. The hustle and bustle of normal life needed to resume. You had clients that had to be seen and plenty of photos to edit. Whereas Auston had a new season to get ready for.

“Hey. Can I talk to you for a second pretty bird?” Auston wrapped his arms around you, pulling you gently to his body. He leaned his forehead against the back of your head. This wasn’t easy for him. What if something did happen that the two of them could never recover from. He pushed the nasty thought away. “I know you gotta get to the studio and I’m already late to the rink. But I have something I need to tell you.”

“I have like five minutes before I need to leave, what’s up hon?” You continue to get your camera bag ready with all the lenses and equipment you would need for that day, working his body against yours.

“I thought about what you said last week, about trying for a baby.” Auston bit his lip. He still had his concerns about it. He had talked over his worries with Mitch, coming to terms with a lot of his fears. “I want to try. I want to have a baby.” You twist around to face him, throwing your arms around his neck, sealing the deal with a long excited kiss. If only you didn’t need to go anywhere today, you start right now. “Only can we not have five kids?”

“Four?” You pouted, not wavering.

“Two?” He counter offered, as you scrunched your face at him.

“Three?” You and him say at the same time, locking the agreement with a one last kiss before having to go your separate ways for the day. Ready for the next adventure.

Please let me know what y’all think! Any thoughts, comments, or complaints!

#auston matthews #auston matthews x reader #auston matthews imagine #nhl imagine #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagine #nhl series #hockey fic #hockey imagine

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slafkovskys · 4 months

Note

can we talk more about quinn and angel? Do they go on a vaca together? Does angel do a separate week with each of her guys during the offseason before getting them all back together at the lake house?

yes! so quinn took her to hawaii for ten days towards the end of their first summer together very spur of the moment. he seriously packed her suitcase and told her to get in the car because they were going somewhere and that somewhere was the airport.

then jack and luke felt like they had to compete, so luke took her to the family cabin in new hampshire (which is one of her favorite places to be), then jack takes her to new york city because she had never been. watching her eyes light up as she took in the sights and got to do all of the touristy things that he got to do pretty much whenever he wanted was his favorite part.

then after that, each boy will steal her away for at least a week for a one-on-one trip (with the groupchat getting all the updates and spoilers about what souvenirs she’s bringing back for them). she has a list of places she wants to visit and the boys slowly check off on it with her, making sure to take a picture of them and put it beside the location on her little vision board for the memory.

then they’ll usually do a big, group trip (i.e. italy) for the four of them towards the end of the summer, which was more for her than them. she just wants all of her boys in one place, with total privacy, for the last time before they all go their separate ways for the year.

#hughes bros x angel

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cellythefloshie · 6 months

Text

;; A Seasons End Chapter One of Cool for the Summer

Table of Contents Playlist «« 🤍 »» Chapter Two

Summary: The Carolina Hurricane's season comes to an unexpected end as the New York Rangers move on to the Eastern Conference Finals and when star forward Andrei Svechnikov cannot return home for the offseason he is left to determine where exactly he will be spending his summer. TW: Mentions of the international conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Word Count: 1k+

Game 7. It was the final game played in the series that would send the Carolina Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time since Andrei Svechnikov was drafted in 2018. It was a game that the team should have laid it out on the line - his only contribution? A 2-minute penalty for tripping against Barclay Goodrow. And while the Hurricanes killed the penalty, the Rangers went on to win the series in a winner-takes-all game. The score was 2-6, a complete and utter blowout of a game in the series after 6 games with nothing more than a 3-goal differential.

It left a sour taste in the back of his mouth as he walked back into the locker room with his head hanging low on his shoulders. Andrei didn’t look up, not once, as he stripped off his gear for the last time that season. He didn’t hear the last, tired speech given by Rob as he commended the team for their season. Nor did he hear the murmurs between his teammates as they shared brief sentiments on their way out the door. One by one, they left him until he was the only one to remain.

Andrei sat in the silence, his head in his calloused palms as a heavy breath trembled through him. For the first time in months, he could feel the ach of his tired body, and it brewed with his disappointment that his season was over. There was nothing to look forward to now except 3 things: Exit interviews, training to be better come the next season and going home.

It had taken the Hurricanes organization 6 days to close out their exit interviews. One by one, they face management and the media, all singing the same tune. This was not how they wanted their season to end. They wanted to be the ones to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final. They wanted to go on to play the champions of the West for the Stanley Cup, but they came up short. Every one of them expressed their own shortcomings and held themselves accountable, including Andrei. It was his fourth playoff appearance, but it had been the first time injuries hadn’t kept him from playing every game. Yet, he failed to bring his regular-season success into the postseason with him. So he did the only thing he could do, promise that he would come back next season and be better and with that, he was free to leave.

With his bag packed, Andrei was ready to leave the city of Raleigh behind him. He couldn’t wait to return home, to see his family and to train with his brother, but the vibration of his phone in his pocket against his hip was insistent. It had been buzzing there all morning, through each of his interviews, and it had grown more frequent the more he ignored it. It must be important.

Pausing out in the parking lot, Andrei eased two fingers into his pocket and pressed them firmly to his phone screen. With the pressure, he guided the phone from his pocket and into his grasp. It continued to vibrate with urgency even as he held it, and when he saw just who the messages were from, he was left sighing. It was his mother.

There was no one Andrei loved more than his mother, but he didn’t like what she had to say. Ever since the end of game 7, she had been messaging him to tell him one thing: Do not go home, Andrei. It was the last thing he had wanted to hear, even if it was the reality of it all. With Russia’s military advancement in Ukraine, they had fallen under heavy scrutiny. Travel into the country was heavily restricted - even if he could book a flight to a nearby country with the intention of making the drive home there - there was no telling if he could return to America come the beginning of the next season. And so, he would heed his mother’s cautious warning. He would not go home to Russia, but where would he go?

The clamour of the door opening and closing shut behind him broke Andrei’s attention from his phone screen, and from his bag that he had dropped down to his feet. Behind him, rookie Seth Jarvis had ended his season by walking out the doors. However, one could argue it had ended the moment he had taken a bad hit from Trouba after playing nothing more than two minutes in what would be their final game of the season. The kid had been concussed so badly that he was still feeling the after-effects of the hit seven days later - and yet he was still wearing a smile as his dark eyes had come to find Andrei in the parking lot.

“You got a ride coming?” Andrei spoke slowly, his hand raising up to block the sun from his eyes as he called out for his teammate. There was no way he was driving when his head was in such a state.

“Taxi,” Seth answered simply, carefully struggling his shoulders as he tossed a single bag over it.

“No, no, my car. Get in,” Andrei pointed back with his thumb back towards his sports car that was parked in the lot. It wasn’t the most practical of things when you were trying to lug your equipment around, but Andrei loved the exhilaration and sex appeal of a fast car.

“You sure?” Seth perked up in place, but it didn’t take much more than a wave before the rookie was falling into stride.

The hollow shut of the door had Andrei melting into his seat, his head leaning back against the leather seat as he let out a sigh. “Home?” “Airport,” Seth corrected, his tone jovial.

Andrei’s heart panged with jealousy. The kid was getting to fly off, while he was still unsure of where his summer would take him. “Big vacation?”

Andrei did his best to keep the casual conversation as he began the drive and listened to Seth as he talked about going home to Winnipeg to spend the summer with his parents. But his envy was clearly written all across his features as his face fell into a frown he couldn’t contain, and Seth noticed.

“You don’t get to go home, do you?” Seth spoke slowly, his tone a little more concerned than a guy would have liked to let on. But the whole world knew of the conflict and the strain it was putting on the players from those regions.

“No,” Andrei spoke bluntly, his gaze cast out the driver’s side window. It was the last thing he wanted to talk about.

“I’m sorry man-” Seth sighed out, but then he was jolting in his seat. An idea had struck him like a bolt of lightning. “Your brother, he plays in Winnipeg!” He was almost laughing, as if he had just come up with the most brilliant solution to Andrei’s problems. “Catch the flight with me, hell, you can stay with me, if you want, and spend the summer in Winnipeg with your family.”

Andrei eased his foot onto the brake as he came to a red light, his head turning to look at Jarvis as he was beaming from the passenger’s side. He was right. Evgeny played for Winnipeg - and while he was at the end of his contract, he and his girlfriend were more than likely stuck in a very similar situation as himself.

As the light went green, Andrei’s foot remained on the brakes, causing a symphony of honking behind him, but he was in no rush. Not when his plans were so quickly changing. “In Winnipeg, I can train?” Andrei spoke slowly.

“Train, travel, whatever you want. It’s a great city, really.”

But Andrei had already heard everything he needed to hear, his foot easing off the brake and turning toward his apartment. They would make one quick stop before the airport. He needed to pick up his bags. In the small Canadian city, he would have no distractions beyond those he would allow: Seth and his family. Then, she could focus on doing the one thing that had been on his mind since the final seconds of game 7 against the New York Rangers. He could train and become the player the team needed him to be, even if that meant having to spend the summer in Winnipeg.

Taglist: @starshine-hockey-girl , @wingedwheelprxncess , @mp0625 , @misunderstoodwerewolf , @callsign-denmark , @puckmaidens , @xciciix , @cixrosie

#andrei svechnikov #andrei svechnikov x original character #hockey rpf #hockey romance #hockey imagines #nhl rpf #nhl fanfic #nhl fanfiction #andrei svechnikov fanfiction #;; cool for the sumer #;; { I don't know when the next chapter will be out but I need to clear up my drafts }#;; { and get this chapter posted so I can count it towards my 2023 word count LOL }

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