#columbus blue jackets fic

[blueskrugs]

sleeping with someone | Nick Blankenburg

I used parts of this fic to cope with the fact that I graduate in a few days. pay no mind to the existential crisis. I think I also listened to too much of stick season while writing this

this one got away from me a teeny, tiny bit. i promise all 14,000 words are worth it. 

length: 14.2k words

Nick Blankenburg breaks up with Mikayla Williams three weeks after he gets back to Michigan after Worlds. She doesn’t see it coming until Nick’s standing in front of her and saying, “I don’t think this is going to work out.”

Mikayla blinks at him. Nick looks determined, the same stubborn look that she’s grown to love on his face. 

“Sorry, what?”

“I don’t think long-distance is going to work anymore, Mikkie.”

They’d barely had a chance to do long-distance at all. It had only been a few weeks between Michigan crashing out of the Frozen Four, then Nick signing a contract with Columbus and finishing out the season there, before being whisked off to Worlds. She thought it had been going fine—they texted often and Nick called when their schedules lined up enough to allow for it. Nick clearly didn’t think the same thing. He’s still looking at Mikayla with that stubborn set to his mouth, waiting for her to respond. She’s not sure what she’s supposed to say next. 

“You’re really breaking up with me? Just like that?” They’d been together almost three years. They’d started to talk about their plans for the future. 

Nick shrugs. “I’m going to be getting a new contract this summer, probably, and I really want to be able to experience the NHL fully, y’know?”

So that’s how it is. Mikayla lets out a humorless laugh. “You’re saying that you want to sleep around without the guilt of a girlfriend back home.” Nick blushes, but refuses to back down. “Have a good life, Blankenburg.”

She pushes past him, unlocks her apartment door at last. She’s glad Nick at least waited to dump her until after they’d finished brunch, after he had walked her back home. Nick’s still standing by her door with his hands in his pockets when the door slams behind Mikayla.

Mikayla wishes she could say she moves on easily after that. She’s too angry to feel broken-hearted over it, at first. She collects all of Nick’s clothes that she’s pilfered over the years: sweatshirts and T-shirts and one extremely comfortable pair of sweatpants she’s actually pretty sad to give up. She shoves it all in a box and leaves it by her front door for another week. 

She makes a detour to Washington on her way back home to Saginaw for the summer, drops the box off on the Blankenburgs’ porch after she knows Nick’s just had knee surgery and can’t come out and talk to her. 

After that, she tries not to think about it. 

This is the first summer Mikayla has been single since she started college, and she’ll be damned if she lets moping about Nick ruin it. There will be time for that later. 

So Mikayla drives up to the Bay and tans on the beach with her friends, she spends time on Haithco Lake, and she goes out to the same bars as everyone else in her age in Saginaw. She deflects questions that her friends from high school ask about Nick—“We’re taking a break,” she says, drunk in the back of the bar, getting sunburned in a kayak on Haithco. “I’m fine,” she tells her mom, getting home late, stumbling over the sandals she’s just kicked off by the front door.

It’s her best friend who sees through her first, only a few weeks into the summer. 

“What?” Mikayla asks flatly, popping another grape into her mouth as she watches Jake watch her, a serious look on his face that she can’t read. 

“You’re really okay with Nick dumping you like that?” he asks. “Everyone thought you two would get married in a few more years.”

Mikayla forces herself to shrug. She’d been one of those people who thought she and Nick were going to get married, too. “We just grew out of each other I guess. Nick wanted to move on.”

Move on in life, move on from her. 

Mikayla surveys Jake back. They’d been inseparable themselves since middle school. A lot of people had thought they’d be the ones to fall in love and get married, until Mikayla stayed in Michigan for college and Jake had fucked off to Mississippi State to play baseball. All they had these days was the summer. 

“Things change, shit happens,” she adds. 

Jake doesn’t look impressed by her flippancy. “What really happened?” he asks.

Mikayla’s first single summer is also the first summer she’s turned up without Nick in tow in years. People noticed faster than she would have liked. She’d been trying her hardest to run away from the truth, but she’s always known it would catch up to her eventually. 

She forces another shrug. Jake’s still looking at her, too-serious for the sunny summer day, so she doesn’t think she’s coming off as casual as she wants to be. 

“Told me he wanted to ‘experience the NHL fully,’ whatever the fuck that means,” she says after she lets the silence drag on too long. She bites down on another grape, the satisfying crunch of it soothing her flaring temper. She barrels on, “He decided he wanted to be able to fuck other girls, that I wasn’t enough anymore, I don’t know. I guess it’s better than just cheating on me.”

Jake stares at her. “That’s shitty,” he says. He shoves his sunglasses to the top of his head. “You know what you have to do, right?” he asks eagerly.

“Spend the summer getting drunk and then focus on graduating?” Mikayla asks. She doesn’t like the mischievous glint in Jake’s eyes.

Jake scoffs. “You’re so boring. No, if Nick’s going to fuck around, what’s stopping you? Hot girl summer it up, baby! There’s nothing holding you back!”

Mikayla bursts out laughing. “Please never say hot girl summer around me again.” She throws a grape at Jake, considering his words; he flails, trying desperately to catch it in his mouth and narrowly avoiding toppling out of his chair. “Who exactly am I supposed to fuck around with?” she asks. Jake straightens up and shoots her a maniacal grin. She holds up a hand. “Not that I’m considering it, just—“ 

Saginaw isn’t a small town, but it functions enough like one. Everyone they went to high school with still runs in the same circles, the same friend groups coming together at parties when everyone flocks home for the summer. They’re not close enough to the Bay to garner a real tourist presence. If Mikayla were to sleep with anyone in Saginaw, everyone and their mother would know within a week. Sleeping around is way, way out of the picture. 

Jake falls silent. Mikayla thinks he’s going to drop it, until he says, “I’m single.”

“No, what? I’m not sleeping with my best friend,” Mikayla protests. Jake knows her well enough to tell that the protest is half-hearted, judging by the raised eyebrows he points at her. 

Jake doesn’t push. He’s smirking, though, waiting Mikayla out. 

Jake had been Mikayla’s first kiss, tucked away in a hidden corner at one of Jake’s baseball tournaments their sophomore year of high school. They’d never really entertained the idea of going any further than that, no matter what everyone else thought they would do. 

Jake’s still the only guy Mikayla’s ever kissed, other than Nick. Maybe he’s onto something with the hot girl summer idea. 

“I don’t want another relationship,” Mikayla warns. 

Jake holds his hands up in surrender. “Strictly friends with bennies,” Jake promises. “No catching feelings allowed.” He reaches to tug at Mikayla. She doesn’t move much, sweaty skin sticking to her lounger. “God, come over here already.”

Mikayla doesn’t even protest Jake’s weird vocabulary as she unsticks herself and clambers onto his lap. They’re on the back deck of her parents’ house, in the middle of the day. Anyone can see Mikayla in a bikini and Jake in just shorts. She should probably care, but she can’t muster up the energy for it as she settles her hands on Jake’s shoulders. 

It’s different than it ever was with Nick. Where Nick’s short and broad, Jake’s tall and lanky. She can still feel the muscles in his shoulders bunch as he shifts beneath her, hands carefully resting on the outside of her thighs. 

“Kay, you think too much,” Jake comments, watching her face. 

Kay.  Nick never called her that. Only her family and Jake have ever called her Kay. “Shut up,” Mikayla says, refusing to dwell on that.

“Make me,” Jake taunts. This close, Mikayla can see his eyes underneath his sunglasses, lit up with amusement.

Mikayla leans forward and kisses him. Jake makes a surprised noise into her mouth. It’s not like it was when they were 16, awkward and fumbling and so unsure of themselves. They’re both older now, more experienced—even if Mikayla doesn’t want to think about just how many girls Jake has slept with now that they’re not attached at the hip anymore. 

She lets herself get lost in it, until Jake slides his hands up her thighs to her hips and pushes her away. He’s red all the way up to the tips of his ears, and Mikayla doesn’t think it’s sunburn.

“Not that I didn’t like that,” he pants, grip tight on Mikayla to keep her from squirming. “But we are still outside.”

Mikayla thinks they should change that, so she climbs out of Jake’s lap and gets to her feet. She offers a hand to Jake, who blinks up at her for a moment, before lacing their fingers together and letting himself be pulled to his feet. 

Mikayla spends most of the summer tumbling into bed with Jake. They’re probably not as subtle about it as they could be, but Mikayla thinks she’s overdue for a summer fling. She ignores the knowing smiles and raised eyebrows their other friends send their way when they’re pressed close in the dark of the bar, when they leave a party together.

It takes her weeks to stop comparing Jake to Nick, the way he touches her, the way his lips feel against her skin. Until she no longer has to choke back Nick’s name. She wakes up one morning to Jake still in her bed, his arm draped around her waist. Mikayla has to blink a few times when she rolls over and realizes that it’s Jake next to her, not Nick.

Mikayla dreams of Nick, dreams of that first summer together, when she got to bring him home for the first time. The first time she realized she was falling in love. 

Nick fidgets the entire hour and a half drive from his house to Saginaw. He reaches to change the song that’s just started, but Mikayla slaps his hand away. 

“No complaining about my playlist,” she says.

“I’m not complaining,” Nick complains. “I just didn’t want to listen to that song.” 

‘That song’ in question is a Taylor Swift song. Mikayla turns the volume up. Nick sighs, but Mikayla can see him smiling at her from the corner of her eye.

Nick had insisted that he could make the drive up to Saginaw by himself. Mikayla didn’t need to be driving three hours round-trip just to pick him up, he’d argued, but Mikayla had barely left her house since Michigan had sent all of the students home in March. Driving three hours round-trip was as close to an adventure as she was going to get this summer. Besides, it gives them a little bit of time to themselves after not seeing each other for months before being under constant supervision by Mikayla’s parents.

Nick’s back to fidgeting the passenger seat. 

“Would you quit that?” Mikayla says. Nick stops picking at his fingernails. “Everyone is going to love you.” Nick’s cute and charming and polite, a good Michigan boy through and through. Mikayla’s pretty sure there’s a good chance her family ends up liking Nick more than they like her, actually. 

When Mikayla pulls into the driveway, her dog is the first one out the front door, closely followed by her mom. She wraps Mikayla in a hug as soon as she’s out of her car.

“Geez, I was barely gone for three hours,” Mikayla says, but hugs her mom back just as tightly. 

Her mom moves on to Nick after releasing Mikayla. He meets Mikayla’s eyes over her mom’s shoulder, looking a little startled. Mikayla just laughs.

“Oh, Kay, Grandma and Grandpa are coming over for dinner tomorrow,” her mom says. “They want to be able to meet Nick, too.” 

Mikayla’s grandma had decided she loved Nick the moment she found out they shared a birthday. Mikayla’s not too worried about what they’re going to think of him once they finally meet him.

Nick’s casting a confused look around as he follows Mikayla into the house. 

“I hope the pullout is comfortable enough for you, Nick,” her mom is saying. The spare sheets and blanket are all folded on the arm of the couch. “But it was either the pullout or a blow-up mattress in the office upstairs.”

Mikayla has slept on that blow-up mattress before. It tends to deflate in the middle of the night. “You’re better off on the pullout,” Mikayla whispers to him. 

“Kay, will you bring in some extra drinks from the garage fridge? Dinner will be ready soon.” 

Mikayla does as she’s told, grabbing a few sodas and beers. She cracks open a can of hard seltzer she’d grabbed for herself and offers one to Nick. He raises an eyebrow at Mikayla’s drink choice—she’s not quite 20 yet, but she’s been drinking since high school—and takes a soda for himself. He’s making a face Mikayla can’t read as he listens to her mom go on and on about how much they’ve been looking forward to having Nick visit.

“Kay’s done nothing but talk about you since the fall,” she’s saying. Mikayla blushes as Nick shoots her an amused look.

“Why does everyone call you Kay?” Nick asks the next night, after her grandparents have left. It’s getting late, and Nick’s voice is pitched low, out on the deck as fireflies flicker around them.

“Hm? Oh, everyone in my family has always called me that.” 

“But everyone at school calls you Mikayla or Mikkie,” Nick says. Except for Nolan Moyle, who decided that “Nick and Mik” was hilarious when they first started dating.

Mikayla shrugs. “I don’t know, I guess Kay is just supposed to be a family thing.” It’s hard to see in the dark, but Mikayla can tell Nick’s eyebrows are creased. “I’m named after my Grandma. Her name is Katherine, but everyone has always called her Kay. My mom is her only daughter and wanted me to keep the name without actually naming me Katherine. She kinda took the nickname Kay and worked backwards until she settled on Mikayla.”

Mikayla still remembers when she started school and never responded to her full name because she had only ever been called Kay. It had worried her teachers for months. 

“So if I started calling you Kay…” Nick says thoughtfully. 

“Nope, family only,” Mikayla says firmly. Plus her best friend, but they’ve been friends so long he’s practically a part of the family anyway. It’s too early to be thinking things like that with Nick. 

“Guess I’ll just have to become a part of the family,” Nick jokes.

Jake kisses Mikayla awake before Nick can kiss her in her dream. She stretches and rolls over in Jake’s bed, warm in the late afternoon sunlight slanting through his blinds. 

“Your mom texted,” Jake says. “She wants you home for dinner.” 

Mikayla will need a shower before she can go home, wash off the sunscreen, the feeling of Jake’s hands on her skin. She rolls back over and burrows into one of Jake’s pillows. “Five more minutes.”

It’s not moving on, but it helps. The summer passes in a haze of sunshine and sex. Mikayla blinks and it’s August, and they’re heading their separate ways again: Jake off to Mississippi, Mikayla packing her car for Ann Arbor.

Jake kisses her goodbye the night before he leaves. Mikayla has to stop herself from clinging to him as he pulls away, beg him not to go. It feels like they’re 18 and leaving each other for the first time, unsure how to live without being by each other’s sides. No catching feelings, Jake had told her. 

“Don’t forget to have some fun this semester, okay?” Jake says now. 

Mikayla has a feeling he’s talking about more than her tendency to care more about hiding from the world in her apartment than hanging out with friends. Though, now that she thinks about it, most of her friends were on the hockey team, a by-product of dating Nick for so long. She’s not sure she’ll be spending much time around them these days. 

“I’ll try,” Mikayla says.

It’s easy enough to settle back into life in Ann Arbor. Mikayla goes to her classes and meets up with her non-hockey friends. They mercifully don’t ask any questions about the breakup. She doesn’t hear from any of the boys from the hockey team, and she tries to convince herself it doesn’t hurt. They were always Nick’s friends first. She was just the captain’s girlfriend. 

The team announces Nolan Moyle as the new captain a few weeks after summer ends. Mikayla stares at the picture on Instagram—Jacob, Luke and Keaton with their shiny new letters and, in the middle of it all, Nolan. She’s known Nolan since she was a freshman, and he was just Nick’s obnoxious best friend. She usually spends the summer idly Snapchatting Moyle photos of her mixed drinks and sunburns, but she hasn’t spoken to him in months. 

She can’t believe she actually misses his loud mouth.

She hesitates before pulling up their text thread, but sends off a quick “congrats on the C!” message before she can think better of it. 

Nolan texts back almost immediately, a string of all the blue and yellow emojis, followed by a more genuine thanks. 

Mikayla expects that to be the end of it—there’s no reason for the conversation to continue, and no reason to believe Nolan is missing her friendship as much as she’s missing his. 

Except Moyle FaceTimes Mikayla later that afternoon, while she’s doing homework. She answers it to a terrible angle of Nolan’s face, mostly nose and that awful mustache he insists on. It looks like he’s walking out of Yost after practice. 

“Have you eaten dinner yet?” Nolan asks without preamble.

“Uh, no?” Mikayla checks the time in the corner of her screen. She should probably start cooking soon, though.

“I’m bringing pizza over,” Nolan announces. 

Mikayla hears someone yelling to Nolan off-camera, and he turns to talk to whoever it is. While he’s distracted, the phone jostles until Mikayla is looking directly at the ceiling. The phone shifts again, except this time it’s someone stealing Moyle’s phone and appearing in frame. It’s Truss, and Mikayla finds herself smiling. 

“Hi, Mikkie,” Jacob says. He opens his mouth to say something else, but Nolan wraps him in a headlock before he can get anything out. 

The chaos of it relaxes Mikayla. She’d gotten used to the noise and antics of the hockey team after dating Nick for three years. Her life has been too quiet without them.

“Hey, you’re still coming to games this season, right?” Nolan asks, still grappling with Truss for his phone.

Mikayla had actually planned on avoiding Yost at all costs this year.  

“Probably not?” It would feel weird, Mikayla thinks, to be cheering on all of her other friends at Yost without Nick being there, too. To know so many people out on the ice but not be able to talk to them without feeling like something—someone—is missing. 

Jacob and Nolan stop fighting long enough to gape at Mikayla. Their matching expressions of disbelief are enough to make her laugh. 

“Why not?” Truss asks, at the same time Nolan says, “What, do you not like us anymore?”

Mikayla giggles again, a little more comfortable this time, and shrugs. “I don’t know, I guess I just wasn’t sure I’d want to after Nick dumped me.” 

“That’s stupid, you have to come,” Nolan says. Mikayla knows him well enough to know that he will do everything he can to make sure Mikayla is at every game. “What do you want on your pizza?” Nolan asks, switching topics so fast it nearly gives Mikayla whiplash. 

She was almost hoping Nolan had forgotten he’d talked about pizza. 

“Pepperoni,” she says.

Nolan makes a face. “You always want pepperoni,” he complains. “Whatever, I’ll be over in like, half an hour.” 

He hangs up abruptly. Mikayla blinks at her phone for a moment, bewildered, before going back to her homework. 

Someone’s banging on Mikayla’s door. She doesn’t have to check the peephole to know that it’s Nolan. She throws the door open to Moyle’s grinning face.

“Sup, Mikkie,” he says, shouldering his way past Mikayla and into her apartment. He throws the pizza box down and pulls out the second chair at Mikayla’s little kitchen table. 

“Making yourself right at home, huh?” Mikayla asks. She hands Nolan a plate and settles into the chair across from him. Nolan has a habit of taking up too much space in every room he is in, loud and brash and comfortable. Mikayla had hated that about him when she had first met him, but she has been missing it more than she’d care to admit. 

Nolan grins at her. “Like I never left, baby.”

Mikayla snags another slice of pizza and watches Nolan across the table. It’s not too different from casual dinners shared with Nick last year, after she’d moved into her first apartment. Not too different from another September night after Nick had been named captain last season.

It’s not a surprise, exactly, when Nick calls Mikayla to tell her that the team has offered him the C for his senior season. He’d known for a while, had walked away from a deal with Colorado in part because of the chance to be captain. Mikayla still screams into the phone with excitement, covering Nick’s chuckle on the other end. 

Nick appears at Mikayla’s door later that evening with takeout for dinner. He has a few seconds to grin at Mikayla before she’s launching herself at him.

“Whoa, hang on,” Nick says, struggling to catch Mikayla and not drop their food. 

Mikayla keeps her arms looped around Nick’s neck as they shuffle awkwardly into her apartment. Nick carefully sets the bag of food down on Mikayla’s kitchen table. She does her best to jump up into Nick’s arms, and he helps, sliding his hands to the backs of her thighs, hitching her up higher.

“Hi there,” Nick says, grinning so widely his eyes crinkle. 

Mikayla kisses him fiercely, cupping his face in her hands. She pulls away just enough to say, “I’m so proud of you, Nick.”

And she really is. Nick’s come so far in his years at Michigan, from walk-on to captain, and Mikayla’s been lucky enough to be by his side for a lot of it. 

Nick kisses her again. They end up having to re-heat their dinner. 

Nolan nudges Mikayla with his foot, jolting her out of her thoughts.

“Whatcha thinking about over there?” he asks.

“Nothing,” Mikayla says quickly. It seems pitiful to say that she’s thinking about Nick. Nolan looks skeptical. “Just wondering who exactly thought it was a good idea to make you captain, actually.”

“Hey!” Nolan protests.

Moyle re-inserts himself into Mikayla’s life after that. He drags her out to the senior house to meet all the new freshmen—she spends a week and a half mixing up the Fantilli brothers— and he drags her out to Skeeps for more than one Thirsty Thursday in the early weeks of the semester before the hockey season starts properly.

He laughs so hard when Mikayla tells him about her semi-failed Hot Girl Summer that she’s pretty sure he’s going to snort beer out his nose. Mikayla frowns into her own drink, a Blue Hawaiian that Nolan had mocked, even though he kept stealing sips in between bites of fries. Mikayla kicks him as hard as she can underneath the table.

When Nolan has finished laughing, he says, “You planning a Hot Girl Fall?” He sweeps an arm out for dramatic effect. “Lot more options here in Ann Arbor.”

Mikayla shrugs. “I might.” Nolan already knows that Nick is the only guy she’s ever dated. “See what it’s all about, y’know?” See what was so appealing about the idea of casual hook-ups to Nick that he broke up with her to chase them.

Nolan’s smirk grows. “Wanna start tonight?” He casts a look over the crowded bar floor. “I’m sure I can find someone acceptable for you.”

“Acceptable by whose standards?” Mikayla asks, but she is ignored. She kicks Nolan under the table again to get his attention. He swears under his breath and kicks her back, but at least he’s looking at her. “Nolan, I don’t know how to flirt or any of that shit.”

Nolan grins at Mikayla. She recognizes that grin—it usually means Nolan’s up to no good.

“Trust me, baby, you’re pretty and smart. You won’t have any problems.”

Nolan scans Skeeps for another minute or two before he points to a guy around their age, standing at the bar and bobbing his head to the music the DJ is playing. Mikayla feels like she’s seen him around campus before.

“Bet you can get him to buy you a shot,” Nolan says.

Mikayla rolls her eyes, but drains the last of her drink and stands up. She makes her way over to the bar and slides in next to the guy Nolan had pointed out for her. He turns and smiles at Mikayla.

“Want to do a shot with me?” Mikayla blurts before she can think better of it.

The guy shrugs. “Why not?” He flags a bartender down and orders for them. It’s too loud to hear what he orders, but it goes down easy. “Wanna dance?” he asks next.

Mikayla never does catch his name, but they spend a while on the crowded dance floor. She doesn’t go home with him, either, but he buys her another drink before she has to hunt down Moyle again. 

“Did you have fun?” Nolan asks with a smirk when she collapses back into her seat across the table from him. 

“Shut up.”

That night starts a spiral for Mikayla—a semester full of hook-ups and one night stands. She feels like she’s hunting whatever it is about mindless, loveless sex that was so enticing to Nick. She wonders if she missed out on something when she was with Nick for most of her college years. Is it better? Is it more fun? She doesn’t know the answer, but it doesn’t stop her from sleeping with a new guy every week. 

There’s the frat boy who was enthusiastic but left beard burn in rather unsavory places.

Another frat guy who locks the door to a bathroom and pulls up her skirt at a party Mikayla isn’t even sure she belongs at, or how she even got through the door. 

The lacrosse player who reminds Mikayla a little too much of Nick, when he’s handing her water before the sweat on her body has even cooled.

The guy from one of her classes who she manages to do more with than just fuck—three whole dates—before he says he isn’t looking for anything serious. 

The boy from the bar who buys her a drink and makes out with her in the hallway, but doesn’t take her home. There’s a hickey on her collarbone she spends a week hiding, after that one. 

One who approaches her in the library on a rainy day and drives her home. He’s the first one Mikayla invites up to her apartment, and she’s not sure she ever really gets his name. (“He’s pretty brave for getting past the RBF,” Truss comments later, after Mikayla ditched him in the library. She throws her computer mouse at him.)

The boys—their names, their faces—start to blur together between late nights studying and early morning classes. Mikayla feels nothing, feels like she could scream. She puts her head down and does her homework. Focuses on getting good grades, focuses on the next time she’s getting laid. 

Nolan Moyle is by her side through it all, buying her drinks, playing wingman. He makes sure Mikayla starts coming to hockey games at Yost again, and he drags her out with the team after wins, until Mikayla slots back into friendships with the rest of the team, too. It’s kind of nice to have Nolan watching her back when they’re out at Skeeps, once Mikayla gets over the weirdness of her ex-boyfriend’s best friend helping her go out and hook-up. 

There’s a party at the senior house after finals end in December. It’s lowkey, as far as team parties go, just the guys and their girlfriends. Mikayla slips in late after spending far too long agonizing over what to wear, before realizing she was being ridiculous and throwing on jeans and a Michigan sweatshirt. There’s yelling coming from the living room, so Mikayla sneaks into the kitchen to grab a beer. 

“Stooping to our level?” Luke asks, suddenly appearing over her shoulder. Mikayla swears, nearly dropping her freshly opened can. He takes a sip of his own beer, smirking. Mikayla wonders how she always ends up with the bitchiest freshman as her favorites.

“I spend too much time around Nolan,” Mikayla says, taking a drink with a grimace. Beer never has been her favorite, though she’s unfortunately gotten a bit more used to it. She swats at the brim of Luke’s Yankees hat. “You’re not even twenty yet, who gave you a beer in the first place?”

Luke steps back, out of Mikayla’s reach. “Can’t play beer pong without beer,” he says, resettling his hat. That explains the yelling then. “Nolan wants you as his second, by the way,” Luke calls over his shoulder as he makes his way back out of the kitchen. 

Mikayla heaves a sigh, takes another fortifying drink of her still-sorta-disgusting beer, and follows Luke. Nolan whoops when Mikayla steps into the living room and makes his way over to throw his arm around Mikayla's shoulders. 

She lets herself be pulled into Nolan’s side as he yells, “Me and Mik are in next game!” 

Playing as Nolan’s second is familiar after months and months of it. They’ve actually turned into quite the force to be reckoned with. The evening passes quickly with Nolan by her side, plying her with more drinks as they beat more and more of his teammates at beer pong. A cheer goes up when they beat Holtzy and his girlfriend. Nolan wraps Mikayla in a hug so strong it lifts her off her feet. 

Mikayla turns to celebrate with Nick, too—except Nick’s not there. Of course Nick isn’t there; he moved on to bigger and better things. 

It’s getting late when Mikayla slips upstairs to find the bathroom and get some air. It’s hot downstairs, despite the December chill outside. There’s a window at the end of the hallway, and Mikayla throws it open, gasping in the cold air. Someone has knocked the screen out at some point, allowing Mikayla to lean halfway out the window. The street is quiet, but she can still hear the party downstairs. A tear slips down her cheek, and she lets it. 

That’s where Nolan finds her a few minutes later. “Hey, there you are,” he says lowly. “Been looking for you, Mik.” 

Mikayla tries to dry her face with her sweatshirt sleeve. She hopes it doesn’t fuck up her makeup. She turns to face Nolan. “Just needed a little time to cool off.”

Nolan’s looking at her with concern. He doesn’t even look tipsy, despite the fact that he’s had a drink in his hand all night. Mikayla, on the other hand, has probably had too much to drink, so much she’s dizzy with it.

“Everything okay?” Nolan asks.

“Yeah, I just—“ Mikayla cuts herself off. She can’t finish that thought, can’t admit that she misses Nick.

Later, Mikayla will blame the alcohol for what happens next. Blame the sleep deprivation and stress of finals week. Blame the heartbreak, finally catching up to her. 

Nolan stops her with a gentle hand on her shoulder when she tries to lean in. “Mikkie, what are you doing, babe?” he asks softly. They’re still in the upstairs hallway of the senior house. Any one of Nolan’s teammates could come upstairs and see them, see Mikayla pressed up against the captain in the dark. 

She tries to pull away, but Nolan slides his hand from her shoulder down to her wrist. His fingers wrap easily around her wrist, grip gentle but firm enough Mikayla can’t escape. “I— I don’t know, I shouldn’t— I’m sorry.” She tries to pull away again, but Nolan tightens his hold.

“Hey, c’mon,” he says. There’s a note of teasing in his voice, one that’s familiar. Mikayla has known Nolan Moyle for four years. Teasing she can handle. She dares to look up at him and his stupid mustache. He’s grinning at her. “You know we shouldn’t.” Mikayla nods. “That’s not fair to Nick, I couldn’t do that to him.”

That makes Mikayla bristle. She finally manages to yank her hand free and crosses her arms at Nolan. “I don’t give a fuck about Nick,” she insists. Honestly, she really hadn’t even been thinking about Nick—if only for a moment.

“I think we both know that’s not true,” Nolan says gently. Mikayla’s eyes burn suddenly; God, she must be more drunk than she thought. Nolan wraps her in a hug. “I think it’s time to get you to bed, huh, Mik?”

Mikayla sleeps in Nolan’s bed that night, wakes up hungover in one of his T-shirts. Moyle’s not in bed next to her like he was when they fell asleep, too close in Nolan’s too small bed. Mikayla rolls over and winces at the sunlight streaming through the open curtains. She really shouldn’t have had so much to drink at the party; she’s supposed to be driving back home for break later today. 

Mikayla’s debating whether she can get up and sneak out before Nolan returns from wherever he’s disappeared to when the bedroom door creaks open. Nolan pokes his head in, as if this isn’t literally his bedroom. 

He grins when he sees that Mikayla’s awake and kicks the door open the rest of the way. He’s holding a coffee in each hand, one for himself and one for Mikayla. He throws himself onto the bed near Mikayla’s legs. 

“So,” Nolan starts. Mikayla pulls her legs to her chest and glares at Nolan. “We’re talking about last night.” 

In all the years Mikayla has known Nolan Moyle, he’s been chronically allergic to being serious, but he’s looking at her now without a trace of a smile on his face. “We don’t have to,” Mikayla says, but she takes the iced coffee Nolan is still holding out to her.

“I don’t know how you drink that stuff in the winter,” he comments blithely before continuing. “It’s not that I don’t want to sleep with you, Miks, but you’re Nick’s girl.”

“Not Nick’s girl anymore,” Mikayla snaps. “He made that pretty clear.” Her eyes are burning with unshed tears again, and she gulps her coffee to cover it. 

Nolan’s undeterred. “He asks about you, you know.”

“Fuck off, no way he does.” For all that Nolan’s probably one of Mikayla’s best friends in Ann Arbor these days, he was Nick’s best friend first. The reminder stings a little. She’s not sure how she feels about the fact that they’ve apparently been talking about her, or that Nolan is just now telling her this. 

Nolan digs out his phone. “Has too.” He scrolls for a moment before starting to read out texts from Nick. They’re all about her: how she’s doing, if she’s still coming to games at Yost, and, horrifyingly, if she’s seeing anyone. Mikayla kicks at Nolan until he stops reading. He locks his phone and makes a face at Mikayla. “You’re lucky I haven’t told him that you’ve been sleeping your way through three different frats.”

Mikayla makes a face back. “That’s none of your fucking business,” she tells him. Nor is it exactly true, though she has maybe fucked more than one guy from more than one fraternity this semester. 

“Our Nick’s pining, babe,” Nolan insists.

“Someone needs to remind Nick that he broke up with me so he could fuck other girls without strings attached.”

Nolan scoffs. “We both know Nick’s not that kind of guy,” he says. 

Mikayla sighs. Nolan is right about that part. It’s part of the reason Mikayla had been so caught off guard by Nick ending things. Nick was the type of guy to settle down, not fuck around. 

“Have you been possessed by Truss or something?” Mikayla asks instead of unpacking everything Nolan’s revealed. “Since when can you hold a serious conversation for this long?” It’s almost unsettling.

“I’m worried about you,” Nolan says, once again undeterred by Mikayla trying to deflect. “Both of you actually.”

“I’m fine, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mikayla says. She picks at a loose thread on Nolan’s sheets to avoid meeting his eyes. 

“This isn’t like you, either, Mik,” Nolan says. 

Mikayla finally decides she’s done with this conversation. She throws off the blankets and clambers out of Nolan’s bed. She momentarily forgets that she’s wearing nothing but one of Nolan’s shirts until she sees him looking at her bare legs. He looks back up at her face, leering. Heartfelt conversation officially over. 

Mikayla doesn’t have anything to throw at his head. “Get out,” she says, trying not to laugh.

“This is my room,” Nolan points out. He’s holding back laughter, too. “Hey, are you going to the Wings game in January, like right after break ends?”

Mikayla blinks at him, thrown off by the sudden topic change. “Uh, no?” It’s been a while since she drove into Detroit to catch a game. It used to be a monthly date with Nick. 

“We should go,” Nolan says. There’s something falsely confident about his tone of voice.

Mikayla squints at him, suspicious. “Why, who are they playing?”

Nolan’s bravado falters for a moment, and that’s enough answer for Mikayla. 

“No, no way.”

“I think you two need to talk,” Nolan counters. 

“I don’t think there’s anything left to talk about.” She finds the jeans she was wearing last night and pulls them on. 

“KJ will want to see you,” Nolan says. There’s a smirk on his face now.

“That’s not fair.” Everyone knew that KJ had been one of her favorite freshmen. 

“Just…think about it, okay?” Nolan asks.

Mikayla heaves a sigh. “Fine, whatever.” 

Nolan grins and smacks a kiss to Mikayla’s temple. “Text me when you get home to Saginaw.” 

Mikayla’s only a little later leaving her apartment than she’d originally told her mom she’d leave, after rushing home from the senior house and frantically finishing packing for winter break. 

She thinks while she drives. It’s finally starting to hit her, just how much she’s been missing Nick. She’d been telling herself she was fine, hiding the heartbreak with hook-ups. If Nick can do it, so can I, she’d thought vindictively more than once. She had never slept with anybody before Nick; now she’s not sure she could count all the guys she’s slept with since summer. 

She thinks of all the times she went home with Nick over the holidays before they drove up to Saginaw to spend time with her family. Both of their moms had been absolutely thrilled when they’d started dating, so excited that they’d each found another Michigander to fall in love with. She thinks of the first time she’d come home with Nick, Christmas of her sophomore year, so nervous she’d felt like she was going to throw up in the passenger seat of Nick’s car.

“You’re going to be fine,” Nick says, reaching across the console to take Mikayla’s hand. She sends him an exasperated look. “Mikkie, seriously, everyone will love you.” Nick brings Mikayla’s hand to his mouth to press a kiss to the back of her hand. “C’mon, everyone’s waiting.”

“That’s the problem,” Mikayla grumbles, but she lets Nick let go of her hand and shoves open her car door. 

Nick insists on carrying both of their bags, which means Mikayla is left to push open the front door. She’s met with a wall of noise and warmth. It’s immediately comforting in a way she didn’t expect, reminds her of home and her own family. 

Nick drops Mikayla’s duffel bag on the floor next to her just as Nick’s mom rounds the corner. She rushes to Nick for a hug before turning on Mikayla and wrapping her in one too. 

“Everyone’s so excited to meet you, Mikayla,” Nick’s mom says. She turns to Nick. “Take those bags upstairs. Mikayla can have Katrina’s old room, shoo,” she says with a smile, flapping her hands at both of them. 

Mikayla trails after Nick as he dumps his own bag in his bedroom before stepping down the hall and dropping Mikayla’s bag at the foot of the bed in what must be Katrina’s room. He turns to Mikayla with a grin. 

“I told you it was going to be fine,” he says.

Mikayla doesn’t point out that they’ve only encountered Nick’s mom so far, which hardly even counts because she’s talked to Karin on phone calls with Nick countless times, just lets herself be reeled in for a quick kiss. They’re probably pushing their luck just being alone up here. Nick takes Mikayla’s hand in his and leads the way back downstairs.

It’s annoying when Nick’s right about things, which is unfortunately often. The days at the Blankenburgs’ house do turn out to be fine. More than fine, actually. Everyone’s nice, if a bit overwhelming. Mikayla holds so many babies—young cousins and nieces and nephews—that she loses track of which baby belongs to whom. She wins several overly aggressive games of Spoons on Christmas Eve, much to Nick’s chagrin. Nick even sneaks into her room and squeezes next to her under the covers in the early blue dawn on Christmas morning, kissing her awake before pulling her close to doze back off. 

They’re definitely pushing their luck with that one, but Mikayla can’t bring herself to care, cozy and safe from the frosty world beyond the curtains. 

Mikayla blinks away the memory and pulls into her parents’ driveway. Her dog is waiting for her on the front lawn, holding her favorite toy and wiggling all over. Mikayla throws her door open and throws herself on the ground next to her dog, heedless of the frozen grass. They lay there, staring at the sky, until Mikayla’s fingers go numb and her mom is calling for her to come inside, while Mikayla thinks and thinks. 

Jake’s home for the holidays, too, and he appears to drag Mikayla out of bed a few days after she’d gotten home. 

“How’d you even get in here,” Mikayla complains into her pillow as Jake flops onto the bed next to her, half on top of her. The dog, who’d been sleeping on the floor next to Mikayla, decides she has to be included too and launches herself onto the bed.

“Your mom loves me,” Jake says. “C’mon, I’m bored, we should do something.”

There’s not much to do in Saginaw on any day, especially in the winter, but Mikayla elbows Jake until he rolls off her and she can get out of bed. They end up in Jake’s car, just driving around town with the music up loud. Jake only raises his eyebrows a little bit at the amount of Noah Kahan mixed in with Christmas songs on Mikayla’s playlist. 

It’s always easy to fall back into old habits with Jake, and they complain about professors and classes for a while, trading stories, even though they’ve been having weekly hours-long phone calls since they were freshmen. Jake had kept quiet about Mikayla’s dating life—or hook-up life—throughout the semester, but he doesn’t hesitate to be nosy now.

“Seeing anyone?” he asks at a stoplight, looking sidelong at Mikayla. 

Mikayla makes a face. “You know I’m not,” she says. She’d stopped sleeping around so much as the end of the semester approached, tired of the effort required for mostly mediocre lays. Tired as she started missing Nick more and more. 

“Really?” Jake asks. He almost actually sounds surprised. “No romance in one night stands?” 

They’re moving again, and Mikayla is briefly safe from Jake’s gaze. He knows how to read her face better than anyone, and Mikayla’s afraid of what might be showing now as she says, “Didn’t really have the heart for it.”

Jake’s quiet for a moment. Mikayla watches in slow motion as he comes to a stop at another red light before turning towards her again. He leans in before Mikayla can stop him, but she pulls away. There’s no hurt on Jake’s face, just confusion. No catching feelings, Mikayla thinks again. 

“There’s something else, though, isn’t there?” Jake asks. 

“Moyle says Nick’s still in love with me,” Mikayla says quietly. 

Jake laughs. “And why shouldn’t he be? I always thought he was an idiot for breaking up with you in the first place.” Mikayla takes a shaky breath, but Jake continues. “Any guy would be stupid to let you go, Kay.”

“Including you?” Mikayla whispers. Jake laughs. “Especially me. I should have locked that shit down in high school.” Mikayla can’t help but laugh, too. “I probably would have let you back then.” 

They’d talked about it a few times, on their backs in the backyard grass, staring up at the summer stars. Mikayla had never been serious about it, not really, but now she has to wonder if Jake had been serious. The talk about going to college together, moving to Detroit together. They’d been attached at the hip— “You can’t spell Jake without Kay,” Mikayla’s grandmother had joked more than once. 

“And now?” Jake asks. They’re still idling in front of Mikayla’s house. At some point, Jake shifted to holding Mikayla’s hand over the gearshift, gripping it tightly in his own. 

“What happened to ‘no catching feelings’?” Mikayla teases, and Jake cracks a grin. Mikayla heaves a sigh. “I think you know the answer here, Jakey.”

“I don’t want Nick to break your heart a second time,” Jake says fiercely.

“The Blue Jackets are coming to Detroit in January,” Mikayla says. “Nolan thinks I should at least talk to Nick.” 

“Since when do you listen to Moyle’s ideas?” Jake snorts.

“Since he got the C and grew up a little, God, I don’t know.” Jake does have a point. Agreeing with Nolan Moyle is dangerous, even if he has turned out to be a pretty good leader. Mikayla shakes their joined hands a little. “Hey, if Nick does break my heart again, you’re the first person I’ll run to.”

“Promise?” Jake asks. He’s grinning, easy with it. “That’s what best friends are for, right? Swearing to kill your ex and then helping you get drunk to forget about him?” 

Mikayla can’t help but laugh. “Something like that.” And before she can think better of it, she asks, “Can I do something stupid?”

Jake has barely said, “Of course,” when Mikayla leans across the console to kiss him one last time, her hands on either side of his face. Jake kisses back hard, leaving Mikayla breathless when she pulls away. “Hell of a goodbye, Kay,” Jake says. 

“I’ll see you later, Jakey,” Mikayla says, kicking open the passenger door and climbing out of Jake’s car. 

Mikayla cries on Christmas Eve. She’d had too much wine to drink with dinner, and she collapses into her bed as snowflakes drift past the window. It’s the first time she’s really let herself cry since Nick dumped that June day. She’d alternated between resolutely not thinking about him and going through life powered by a need for—revenge? vindication? She’s not sure she can put a word to it. 

It didn’t matter, anyway; Nick wasn’t around for Mikayla to hurt with her actions the same way Nick had hurt her. 

Mikayla wakes up with a headache and Nick’s contact open on her phone. 

Mikayla calls Nolan as soon as she’s back in Ann Arbor.

“You lied to me,” she says without preamble.

“What?” Nolan says. There’s commotion on his end of the line, which means he’s probably at Yost.

“Columbus is here this weekend, and you’re playing Ohio State.” There’s a text from KJ on Mikayla’s phone, asking if she’ll be at Yost on Friday night. It had come in while she was driving back to her apartment.  She hasn’t answered it. “You said you’d go to the Wings game with me when they were in town.”

“I did say that, didn’t I? In my defense, I didn’t realize they were coming in on a weekend.”

“KJ texted me,” she says. 

“Hm? Oh, yeah, someone said something about KJ and Nick coming out for their rings on Friday.”

Mikayla suddenly has a headache. Nick was never supposed to come back to Ann Arbor. Mikayla had been so proud of him when he first signed with Columbus, but he had deliberately left her and Ann Arbor in the rear view. Ann Arbor was hers now.

Nolan’s still talking. “—talk, you should still come to the game on Friday.” 

Mikayla can’t think of much worse than having to see Nick at Yost. “I’m not going to fucking talk to Nick about our breakup at a hockey game.” She’d rather not have a breakdown in front of the entire hockey team, thanks.

“Okay, so I bring him over to your apartment after the game.”

“Absolutely not,” Mikayla says. 

“Mik.”

“Nolan.” 

“You said you’d talk to him,” Nolan says. 

“I said I would think about talking to him,” Mikayla counters. She hears Nolan sigh loudly through the phone. “What the fuck am I even supposed to say? ‘Sorry to hear that wheeling girls isn’t satisfying like you’d hoped’? Or, ‘I’ve slept with so many guys this semester I’ve lost track, but I haven’t found one that makes me feel the way being with you did’?” Mikayla snaps her mouth shut. She’s said too much.

“Oh, Mik,” Nolan says. He’s not teasing, which would be preferable to the pity in his voice.

“Moyle, shut the fuck up,” Mikayla snaps.

“Mik, you need to talk to Nick,” Nolan says, ignoring her. “I don’t need to do anything,” Mikayla says. 

Nolan sighs again. “Fine, I can’t make you do anything, I guess.” With that, he hangs up.

Surprised, Mikayla stares at her phone. She’s not sure she has ever actually made Nolan mad like that before. 

Mikayla spends the week leading up to Friday thinking. Nolan hasn’t spoken to her since he hung up the phone, and Mikayla doesn’t dare seek him out. KJ texts Mikayla three more times, with increasing levels of urgency and annoyance as they all go unanswered. Mikayla’s not sure what there is to say. She can’t promise anything.

She’s half-sure she’s going to skip the game right up until she walks through the doors of Yost on Friday afternoon. It’s loud and as crowded as ever, but there’s an extra kind of excited energy in the air. Mikayla isn’t sure if it’s just the Ohio State rivalry, but she wonders if some of the buzz she feels is because everyone else is just as excited about Nick and KJ returning as she’s supposed to be.

Mikayla doesn’t see either of them as she settles into her seat in the student section. She slides her phone out of her pocket, finds all of her unread messages from KJ. don’t leave without saying hi to me after the game, she sends. She puts her phone back away without waiting to see if KJ reads it. 

The game itself isn’t pretty. Michigan gets outplayed, even though it’s tied after the first, but it’s 6-2 Ohio by the time they’re introducing KJ and Nick as the Score-O participants at second intermission. 

Nick looks good, unfortunately. He seems happy to be back on the ice at Yost, even briefly. Even KJ manages a smile as the crowd cheers for them. Mikayla thought she’d heard something about Nick breaking his ankle earlier in the season, but it doesn’t seem to bother him at all as he scores and runs across the ice to throw his stick into the crowd. Mikayla rolls her eyes. 

She’s standing in the concourse after the game when someone throws themselves at Mikayla from behind. She stumbles, but he wraps his arms around her shoulders before they both fall. KJ. Of course. She leans back into his chest, lets him rest his chin on top of her head. 

“Moyle said you weren’t coming,” KJ says. He doesn’t move his chin from Mikayla’s head as he talks, and Mikayla elbows him until he lets her go. 

“Yeah, well, you should never listen to Moyle,” Mikayla says. She tries to sound breezy, but she probably doesn’t succeed.

Kent gives her a flat look. Mikayla finally spots Nick, approaching from behind KJ. If Mikayla still had any intentions of ignoring him, it’s too late now. Nick sends her a tight smile as he steps up beside KJ. Kent looks back and forth between the two of them for a moment then sighs loudly.

“Figure your shit out, I’m tired of dealing with Nick,” he says to both of them. Mikayla crosses her arms and tries to glare at KJ. “I’m going outside, you two have ten minutes to talk.” He points at Mikayla. “We’re getting ice cream before we have to go back to Detroit.” 

Kent stalks off before Nick or Mikayla can get a word in, which leaves Mikayla alone in a hallway with her ex. She swears at KJ under her breath. She’s not sure, but she thinks she hears Nick let out a quiet laugh. 

“Hi,” Mikayla says. She wishes desperately for anyone to come save her, but no one comes. 

Nick drags the toe of his sneaker across the floor. “Hey, Mikkie,” he says softly. “I’ve been wanting to talk—”

“Good job at Score-O tonight,” Mikayla blurts, cutting him off. She winces. 

“Mikkie, c’mon,” Nick says, exasperated. “We need to talk.” “Do we, though?” Mikayla says. “I didn’t think there was any ambiguity left when you dumped me, so you could go off and fuck other girls.” 

Nick winces. It doesn’t make Mikayla feel any better. “It was—“ 

Mikayla cuts him off again. “Don’t you dare say ‘it was complicated,’” Mikayla warns. “I don’t think there’s anything complicated about you deciding I wasn’t enough after you made it to the show. There’s nothing left to talk about, Nick.”

Mikayla had spent months pretending that she hadn’t been hurt by Nick, but she was exhausted by it. The idea that the boy you fell in love with, who you thought you were going to marry, no longer wants you and will go out to find someone else, whether or not you’re still together, isn’t an easy one to accept. She’d covered up that hurt with alcohol and sex and schoolwork. It’s a lot more raw and real with Nick standing in front of her with the same resolute stare he’d had when he was breaking up with her.

“I miss you, Mikkie,” Nick says. His hands are shoved in the pockets of his jeans, his hair curling out from underneath his beanie. 

Mikayla almost believes him. She runs her hands through her hair. “Stop calling me that,” she says. “And don’t lie to me.”

“What, Mikkie? I’ve always called you that.”

“That was when we were dating.”

“And why do you think I’m lying?”

They’re talking over each other, voices rising in the small space. Yost is empty around them. 

“Why would you break up with me if you were just going to come crawling back a few months later?” Mikayla asks. She thinks of Nolan telling her that Nick spent the fall asking about her. “Why have you been asking Nolan about me?”

Nick sighs. “I just told you. I miss you. I knew you wouldn’t want to hear from me, so instead I got to listen to Nolan tell me stories of you moving on.”

Mikayla will have to kill Nolan for that later. “I wasn’t moving on, not really,” Mikayla admits. She pushes her hair away from her face again. “I was just doing everything I could to not think about you.”

“I was trying to protect you,” Nick says. “I was going to be so far away, and traveling all the time, and you were supposed to go on to grad school next fall. I didn’t want to hold you back, and I didn’t want to make a mistake and hurt you.” Nick laughs, but it isn’t a happy sound. “I think I just made both of us miserable.”

“I spent so much time thinking that I had to prove something, that if you could handle being stupid and sleeping around, so could I,” Mikayla says. 

At some point Nick has cautiously stepped closer to Mikayla. She leans back against the wall behind her, sagging with the sudden exhaustion of this conversation. She doesn’t know how long they’ve been standing here, how long KJ has been waiting outside without a coat for them to “figure their shit out.”

“Ask KJ, I was pretty bad at the whole casual hook-up thing,” Nick says.

Mikayla presses the heels of her hands to her eyes. She’d rather die than ask Kent for details of all of Nick’s hook-ups. 

“I tried to kiss Moyle before Christmas,” Mikayla blurts out.

Nick is quiet. Mikayla hesitantly moves her hands from her eyes to look at him. 

He’s looking at her, bewildered. Apparently that’s one thing about Mikayla’s Hot Girl Fall that Nolan didn’t tell Nick. 

Mikayla continues. “He stopped me, I was drunk and confused, and he’s my best friend, but he was your best friend first, then he told me that he couldn’t because I’m your girl, even though I’m definitely fucking not, and—“ Mikayla gasps for air. “I can’t keep doing this.” 

Nick steps even closer. He slowly, hesitantly, reaches for Mikayla. She lets herself be pulled in for a hug as she starts to cry. Nick rubs one of his hands in slow circles on Mikayla’s back underneath her sweatshirt, the way he used to when Mikayla was upset. 

“Hey, slow down, it’s okay,” he says. “Mikkie, it’s okay.” Nick holds Mikayla until her crying subsides and her breathing evens back out. He takes a step back, but doesn’t let go of Mikayla’s arms. “What happens now?” he asks. He hesitates, but says, “I think I’m still in love with you.”

Mikayla blinks at him. She was kissing her best friend just a few weeks ago. She was trying to sleep with Moyle just a week before that. Nick’s confession doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, but it doesn’t simplify anything.

“Nick, I don’t know,” she says. “I might still love you, too, but—” Nick’s face brightens— “I think I need some time.” Nick’s face falls again. 

“Why?” Nick argues. “We’ve had time, we both want this, I don’t get—” “What if I don’t want this?” Mikayla cuts in. “I don’t know what I want.” She doesn’t think she’s ever been so confused in her life.

Nick frowns at Mikayla. “But you just said—” 

“I know what I just said, just—” Mikayla switches arguments. “When was the last time you slept with another girl?”

Nick looks taken aback. “I don’t know, around New Year’s?”

Not even two weeks ago. 

“How am I supposed to believe you when you say you miss me while you’re still running around fucking other girls? That you’re serious? Maybe you just think you miss me because you just haven’t found the right girl?”

Nick doesn’t argue this time, face turning red. 

“What am I supposed to do if we get back together and you turn around and cheat on me? When you realize you were right in the first place, that the distance is too hard and that I might not actually be the one you want?” 

“When was the last time you slept with another guy?” Nick finally says. Mikayla feels like it should sting, but it’s a fair question. “What am I supposed to do here?”

“I haven’t slept with anyone since before finals,” Mikayla says. There was the failed move on Moyle, then one last kiss with Jake back in Saginaw. Those hardly count. Nick blinks at Mikayla. “I don’t know what to do, Nick, honestly. We could both stop sleeping with other people, for one thing.” 

“Done,” Nick says quickly.

Mikayla narrows her eyes at Nick, suspicious. “That’s it?” she asks. “All that drama to break up with me to sleep around, and you agree to stop, just like that?”

Nick looks sheepish for the first time. “I’m telling you, I was terrible at doing casual. I kept asking them all to stay the night and shit.” There’s a pause before Nick bursts out, “What are you so afraid of?”

“You, Nick!” Mikayla almost wants to laugh, but she also feels like she might cry again. “I think…” she says slowly, “that we both need to know that this is what we want. I don’t think I want to let this go so easy, but I don’t want to get hurt again, either.”

Nick looks sad when Mikayla meets his eyes again. “Okay, yeah, yeah,” he says. 

“I just want to be able to focus on my last semester, y’know?” Mikayla says.

Nick forces a smile. “Yeah, of course,” he says. “I’ll, uh, see you around, I guess?”

“Yeah, Nick, I’d like that.” It doesn’t feel like a lie when Mikayla says it.

Mikayla doesn’t know where Nick goes, but he doesn’t follow her outside, where she needs to find KJ. He’s leaning against the front doors of Yost, looking pissy and cold, even though it was his idea to go stand outside and wait for Mikayla without a coat. 

He slings an arm around her shoulders and falls into step beside her when he spots her. 

“You know, you could have made your point without standing out in the cold,” Mikayla points out. KJ is a cold line pressed against her left side. “You’re making me cold, now,” she complains. 

“I still want ice cream,” KJ says, instead of admitting he was wrong about something. Mikayla rolls her eyes. 

They end up at Blank Slate, another place she and Nick used to frequent on dates when the weather was warmer. She tries not to think about it as she follows KJ into the shop. 

KJ wastes no time ordering their brown butter cookie dough ice cream, but Mikayla spends so long debating that she’s half-worried KJ is going to order plain vanilla for her out of spite. Finally, Mikayla brings her scoop of vanilla caramel blondie over to where Kent claimed a table in the empty shop. He makes a face at her, but she’s immune to KJ’s bitchiness at this point.

“Nick’s been a mess,” KJ says without preamble.

Mikayla sighs. “Not you, too, KJ,” she says. “Please, I’ve heard enough from Nolan and Nick already.”

KJ points his plastic spoon at Mikayla. It’s probably supposed to be threatening. “No, I don’t think you have, actually. You didn’t have to watch him break his ankle, be miserable about it, then force himself to go out and pick up and be more miserable about it. Do you know how pathetic he was with that fucking scooter?”

Mikayla snorts into her ice cream. “It can’t have been that bad,” Mikayla protests. Though, if Nick was half as miserable as she had been and was pretending not to be, he was probably pretty miserable. 

KJ takes another bite of ice cream, says through it: “Oh, it was.” He swallows and leans across the table. “And then I text Moyle to tell him we need to fix it, only he tells me you’re out doing the same dumb shit as Nick.” 

He’s close enough that Mikayla can flick him between his judgmental eyebrows. He leans back again and takes a petulant bite of ice cream. 

“You and Moyle need to mind your own damn business,” Mikayla tells him. “We were both fine.”

Kent doesn’t even dignify that with a response, just raises one eyebrow. Mikayla wishes he were close enough to smack that disbelieving look off his face.

“We were fine!” Mikayla insists. It doesn’t sound any better the second time. 

“So did you fix your shit?” KJ asks.

Mikayla huffs. “What does that even mean?” She ignores Kent’s eye roll. “There’s nothing to fix.”

“Wait,” KJ says slowly. “Moyle and I Parent Trapped you two for nothing? You didn’t even get back together?”

“No, we didn’t, and—have you ever even seen The Parent Trap?” 

“That’s not the point,” KJ says, “I don’t get it. If you’re both miserable, why not get back together?” 

“Because what if it makes us more miserable? What if it’s not actually what we want? What if we just break up again?”

“Whoa,” Kent says. “Slow down.”

Mikayla’s almost out of ice cream. She looks sadly down at her empty cup. Kent holds his half-eaten ice cream out without a word, and she takes some with her spoon.

“And what if you end up happy?” Kent asks. 

And that’s the thing, isn’t it? Mikayla doesn’t know the last time she was really happy. Before Nick broke up with her, probably.

They finish their ice cream in silence. Kent hugs Mikayla tightly outside Blank Slate. There’s a car idling for him nearby, Nick and whatever members of the Blue Jackets media corps had to make the trip out to Ann Arbor waiting for KJ. 

“Fix your shit,” KJ says again, stepping away at last.

Mikayla rolls her eyes. “Which one of us is the freshman here?”

KJ doesn’t bother pointing out that he’s not a freshman anymore, or even a student at all, just climbs into the backseat of the car at the curb. Mikayla watches as they pull away, stays standing there long after the taillights have disappeared. 

Nick, to his credit—and a little bit to Mikayla’s dismay—doesn’t reach out. Mikayla finds herself half-dreading, half-hoping for a text that never comes. As the days after seeing Nick again stretch into weeks, Mikayla stops expecting to hear from him, tries to squash down the disappointment she feels. 

She throws herself into focusing for her final semester of college. She keeps her promise to Nick—no more sleeping around. She has no idea if he’s actually doing the same. There’s no time for it anyway, with a full class schedule and an internship and all the hockey games Moyle is still insisting she come to. 

Mikayla feels like she blinks, and suddenly it’s April. The hockey team is heading off to the Frozen Four, and Mikayla’s in her final weeks of college. It’s all a little surreal, and more than a little dizzying. 

“You’ll stay in touch, though, right?” she asks Nolan. 

Nolan laughs at her on a fuzzy FaceTime call from his hotel room in Tampa. “Mikkie, baby, you should know by now that you can’t get rid of me that easy.”

That is true. “I couldn’t even get rid of you after I stopped dating your best friend.” She has to laugh, too. “Do you know what you’re gonna do after the year is over?” Mikayla asks.

She vaguely sees Nolan shrug. “Nah, I’ll figure it out.” The conversation feels loaded now, despite Nolan’s light tone. “What about you? Ready for bigger and better things?”

Mikayla had big plans, once. She had picked out the graduate school program she wanted as a freshman, had spent the last four years working towards it. She had other plans, too; ones that included a white dress and a church wedding and Nick waiting at the end of the aisle. 

Grad school is still waiting for her. Mikayla has no idea if Nick is, too.

“I guess so,” Mikayla says at last. She doesn’t feel ready to be taking on the real world outside of school. Maybe it’s just delaying the inevitable, but she’s still glad to be able to push adulthood back a little further. 

“Hey, Mikkie,” Nolan says, still serious. Mikayla looks away from her computer to look properly at him. “Everything’s going to work out, you know.”

Nolan always has had a knack for reading Mikayla’s anxieties. “Promise?” she asks. It comes out watery.

“Promise.”

Michigan loses in the semis again. Mikayla watches as her friends pack up and leave, onto their own futures: Luke goes to Jersey, Portillo heads out to California, Mackie ends up in Charlotte. The end of hockey season is always a whirlwind. She remembers last year, when scouts coming to games turned into Nick signing with Columbus, missing graduation and living his dream in the NHL.

Mikayla’s own cap and gown hang off the back of her closet door. The end is coming for them all, whether or not Mikayla is ready for it. 

The end, when it comes, passes quietly. Mikayla passes her finals, walks in graduation. She packs up her apartment, all of the little bits of her life over the last four years, into boxes and shoves them all into the back of her car. Mikayla leaves Ann Arbor in the rearview mirror as she drives north to Saginaw for the summer.

Mikayla’s only been back in Saginaw a few weeks when she hears from Nick at last. The dog barks at the door once, before she switches to whole body wiggles—Mikayla knows who she’s going to see before she even heads to open the front door. 

Nick is standing awkwardly on the front porch, hands in his pockets, when Mikayla swings the door open. The dog squeezes past Mikayla to say hi to Nick, sitting squarely on one of his feet. 

“Traitor,” Mikayla says. To Nick, she says, “Hey.” 

Nick looks up from rubbing behind the dog’s ears to grin sheepishly at Mikayla. “Hey, uh—“ 

“What would you have done if I hadn’t been home?” Mikayla asks, teasing. 

Nick flushes. “I, uh, didn’t think that far ahead,” he admits. “But you’re here, so it doesn’t matter,” he points out.

Mikayla laughs. “You got in your car, drove an hour and a half, but didn’t think about what would happen when you got here?” 

Nick makes a face. “I did have a plan, I just—“ he breaks off without finishing. “Can we talk?”

It would be mean to tell him no after he drove all the way to Mikayla’s parents’ house to see her. Besides, she’s been waiting anxiously for this moment since she last saw Nick in January.

“Of course,” she says. She looks down at her dog, still sitting happily on Nick’s foot.

“Walk with me?” Nick asks. They both watch as the dog’s ears go up excitedly. 

Mikayla rolls her eyes but reaches back inside to grab her leash off the hook by the door. “Now why would you say the w-word?” she complains. She tosses the leash at Nick, lets him hook it onto her dog’s collar with practiced ease—despite the continued wiggles. Mikayla pulls the front door shut behind her and steps out onto the porch beside Nick.

She almost wishes Nick had asked if he could come inside. This conversation might be easier without the eyes of the neighborhood on them, in the safety of Mikayla’s home. But she’s also grateful to not be confined to the living room. The early summer breeze lifts Mikayla’s hair off the back of her neck, cools the anxious sweat there.

They start off down the sidewalk together—Nick’s still holding the leash. Mikayla wonders if he’s thought about getting a dog since moving to Columbus. That was another thing they’d talked about for the future together—getting a puppy as soon as they’d both graduated.                                                           

Nick stops suddenly as they approach his car, parked on the street in front of the house. He quickly hands Mikayla the leash, fishing in his pockets for something.

“Hang on, I have to—“ He opens the passenger door and grabs a battered notebook off the floor of the footwell. “Okay, we can—“ He starts walking down the street without finishing his sentence.

Mikayla half-jogs to keep up with him. “Nick? I don’t think you’ve said a full sentence since you got here,” she says.

Nick runs a hand over his still-regretfully buzzed hair. Mikayla needs to remember to make fun of him for it later. “Sorry, just—I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous for something,” he says.

Mikayla scoffs, nudges Nick in the ribs with her elbow. He leans into it instead of letting her bully him off the curb. “Whatever, you literally play in the NHL.”

“No hockey game is as important as you,” Nick says seriously. 

Mikayla has to force her feet to keep moving so she doesn’t stop and gape at Nick in the middle of the sidewalk.

He’s running his finger nervously along the bent metal spiral holding together the notebook in his hands. Mikayla stares at it, the way his thumb turns white as he presses hard into the sharp end of the spiral. The notebook feels familiar, blue cardboard cover worn and covered in Nick’s handwriting. She wants to tear it out of his hands, but she waits. 

Nick continues talking. “Do you remember when we met?”

Mikayla has to blink at him for a moment, trying to get past the dissonance of his last two statements. “Well, yeah,” she says. “Of course.”

They’d been in the same elective course together. It was Mikayla’s freshman year, Nick’s sophomore year. Mikayla had never noticed Nick in class before, but she slid into the seat next to him at a study group session organized by one of their classmates, a few weeks into the semester. 

They’d talked for over an hour, about the class, about Michigan. When they were finally forced to pack up and leave the library study room, Nick had stood up and Mikayla had blurted: “Oh.”

“Oh?” Nick had echoed. Mikayla was standing, too, face to face with Nick for the first time. Close enough to clearly see the narrow scar in his eyebrow, watch it move as he raises his eyebrows at her, clearly amused.

“You’re not as tall as I thought you were,” Mikayla had admitted. It doesn’t make much sense when she says it out loud like that.

Nick had bumped into her playfully as they made their way outside. “And how tall did you think I was?” he had teased.

Mikayla huffed at him. “I don’t know, forget I said anything.” But Nick fell into step beside her as she headed back to her dorm, and she dared to ask a stupid question. “How tall are you, anyway?”

“5’8” and some change,” Nick had told her. He burst into laughter when Mikayla had pursed her lips, trying hard not to say anything else out of pocket. “What?” he asked.

“Not very much change, though,” she had said, which just made Nick laugh harder. 

He had asked her out after class two weeks after that day. 

“Your NHL stats lie about your height,” Mikayla points out. Not that she looked, or anything. 

It makes Nick laugh, the same way teasing him about his height always did. Mikayla had always been the only person he would tolerate the jokes from. 

“I’m almost 5’9”!” Nick protests. 

“Almost is not the same thing, Nicholas!” 

“You know, I think I started to fall in love with you from that very first time we met,” Nick says.

Mikayla’s left dumbfounded once again. “Be serious.” 

Nick chuckles wryly. “Why do you always think I’m lying to you lately?”

“I just don’t know what to believe anymore,” Mikayla sighs. “You keep talking about missing me and how long you’ve loved me, but that doesn’t make any sense with the way you broke up with me. You can’t love someone like that and then dump them just so you don’t end up cheating on them.”

Nick’s quiet for a moment. Their hands brush as they walk side by side on the narrow sidewalk. Nick’s still holding that battered blue notebook; Mikayla has no idea why. “Okay, that was a shitty way to end things, and it was shitty of me in general, but I’ve regretted it every moment since then, I need you to believe me on that.”

“And if I do? What then?” Mikayla asks.

Nick starts fidgeting with that notebook again. He runs a finger along the edge of the pages now, fanning them a little. Mikayla watches him, lets him collect his thoughts.

“Long distance goes both ways, you know?” Nick says.

“I—what?”

Nick continues as if Mikayla hadn’t said anything. “I think I thought I was protecting you, I guess? Like, it wouldn’t be fair to you to be stuck with a boyfriend 300 miles away. I didn’t want you to miss out on things because you were still with a guy you only saw a couple of times a year.”

“That’s stupid,” Mikayla announces. It catches Nick off-guard, and he laughs a little. “When did I ever complain about being long-distance?” she asks. She doesn’t wait for an answer. “And I definitely missed out on so much in the years we were together, like the awkwardness of going to class three times a week with a guy you hooked up with a couple of times, or seeing someone you fucked at a party around campus and realizing you don’t even know their name.

“Nick, I never cared about the distance. I was so proud of you, and I loved you so much. I didn’t realize that wasn’t enough.”

“It should have been. I already told you, it was shitty, and it was stupid, Mikkie. I’m trying to fix it now, though.”

“What is that?” Mikayla asks, curiosity finally getting the better of her. She points to the notebook.

Nick looks down at the notebook in his hands like he’s seeing it for the first time. “Oh, uh. It’s a notebook,” he says dumbly. Mikayla wants to smack him. “When we were together, I used to write about you.”

That’s why the notebook seemed so familiar. Mikayla had seen it before: amongst the clutter of Nick’s desk, mixed in with his other books in his backpack, on the floor of her own bedroom when Nick stayed over. She’d never once stopped to wonder what was inside of it.

Nick’s still talking. “It’s not, like, poetry, or anything, but sometimes when I was thinking about you, or when you’d done something that had made me laugh or really realize that I loved you, I’d write it down.”

“And you kept it?” Mikayla asks. 

“I had to dig it out of some box in my old bedroom after I saw you in Ann Arbor in January, but yeah. I, um…” Nick trails off. “I started writing in it again, after that. Just whenever I missed you or something, I’d write it down. I didn’t think I was going to show it to you, though, until I got here.”

They’ve been walking for a while now. They should probably head back, but the sun is warm on Mikayla’s face, and she’s starting to feel something like hope in her chest for the first time in months.

“You haven’t shown me anything,” Mikayla points out, gentle. It’s meant to be teasing, and she thinks Nick gets it. He sighs, long and dramatic. Mikayla thinks he’s only half-serious, but she still says, “Nick, you don’t have to, I believe you.”

And she does. When she thinks about it, she’s seen Nick writing in that notebook over the years. He always closed it when she approached, but Nick had always liked to give Mikayla his full attention. She’d never spared a second thought to the notebook’s contents. 

Nick takes the leash from Mikayla at the same time he passes her the notebook. Their fingers brush as Mikayla takes it carefully from him. In her hands, the notebook looks even worse for wear, dangerously close to falling apart, years and years of use showing in its bent edges.

Mikayla begins to leaf through it slowly. There’s a chunk of pages clumsily torn out of the beginning of the notebook—probably old class notes. The first page left only has a couple of lines, scrawled in Nick’s messy handwriting: met a great girl today gonna ask her out. Then, a few pages later, in the margins of another page of class notes: think I could spend forever with Mikayla.  

Mikayla continues flipping pages. The older pages are more faded, stained with coffee or water rings. Occasionally a page will be dated, but the pages about her are mostly random, a few sentences here, a paragraph there. She can tell when she gets to the newer entries, and not just by the crisp pages. Nick started writing the date at the top of each page, and Mikayla skims through January, into February, March, April. The pages stop abruptly in the end of April, right around the end of hockey season and Mikayla graduating.

That reminds Mikayla: “Sucks that you missed the end of the season with your ankle,” she says. 

If Nick thinks it’s a non-sequitur, he doesn’t show it, just responds, “Eh, it’s whatever. Not like I was playing groundbreaking hockey to begin with.”

Mikayla stops short. “Hang on, no.” Nick stops a few steps ahead of her. He looks over his shoulder, confused. “You didn’t get promoted to top d-pair for playing shitty hockey, Nick.”

Nick grins. “You were paying attention?”

Shit. “Uh,” Mikayla says. It’s way too late to lie. “Maybe a little.” She doesn’t know why she never unfollowed the Blue Jackets on social media, but she’d only stopped scrolling past all of their posts after seeing Nick in January. “Maybe I was just keeping up with KJ.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him,” Nick says. He’s still grinning when he reaches out a hand to Mikayla. “C’mon.”

Mikayla carefully places her hand in Nick’s. He doesn’t let go, even once she’s caught up and they’ve fallen into step together again. 

“It also means I can see your fucking terrible hair decisions as soon as you make them,” Mikayla says. She’d dropped her phone on her face the first time the Blue Jackets posted the buzz cut.

“What’s wrong with my hair?” Nick complains. He lets go of Mikayla’s hand to run a hand over the shorn strands again. Mikayla snatches at his hand when he lets it rest back at his side. 

Mikayla huffs. “Everything!” Nick shoots her an amused look. It only makes Mikayla bolder, like nothing has ever changed between them. “Your hair looked so good, and then you fucking buzzed it! And not even well!” Nick’s laughing openly at Mikayla now. She’s not finished. “It’s prickly, and uneven, and you look like a damn hedgehog.” Nick has to stop walking so he can double over in laughter. “Nick,” Mikayla whines. 

“I guess you’d prefer the mullet, then?” he asks when he finally stops laughing.

“Yes.” Mikayla actually kind of enjoyed the playoff mullet each year. “I always liked the mullets.” 

They’ve somehow managed to make it back to Mikayla’s street. She stops at the foot of the driveway, not ready for this conversation to be over. She’s still clutching Nick’s notebook, and she pulls it close to her chest.

“I know you did,” Nick says, suddenly serious. He’s still holding onto Mikayla’s hand, and he uses it to tug her close. He presses a quick kiss to her temple. “I’ve really missed you, Mikkie,” Nick whispers into her hair. 

Mikayla closes her eyes, counts to three. She knows what’s coming. She might finally know the right answer to what Nick’s going to ask. 

“I miss you, Nick,” she says.

It’s been building, the certainty that she still loves Nick enough to give it all a second chance, but this moment, a walk in the sunshine, teasing each other, is what really cemented how much she missed Nick in her life. 

Nick looks hopeful when Mikayla opens her eyes again.

“Yeah?” he says softly. He steps closer, slides a hand around Mikayla’s hip. She lets him, likes the way his hand fits there, warm against her skin. “Do you wanna do this? For real?”

Mikayla nods, no hesitation. She watches as the grin spreads across Nick’s face.

“I’ve missed that smile,” Mikayla says, and then Nick’s kissing her so hard he nearly knocks her off balance. Mikayla drops the notebook and Nick drops the leash—the dog has laid down in protest of her walk ending, anyway—so she can wrap her arms around Nick’s neck and pull him closer.

Nick pulls away for breath first, but he doesn’t go far, pressing his forehead to Mikayla’s. 

“Do you want to come inside?” Mikayla asks.

There’s time to talk about what this means, to talk about the future. That can wait. What’s important right now is Nick, here in Mikayla’s arms.

“I’d love to,” Nick says.

#cait writes things #nick blankenburg fic #nick blankenburg imagine #columbus blue jackets fic #columbus blue jackets imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl fanfiction #hockey fic #hockey imagine #hockey fanfiction

[ilyasorokinn]

(day two) christmas pup , nick blankenburg

note, this fic is part of my christmas series called taylor's very merry christmas series. check out this masterlist for the rest of the series. pair, nick blankenburg x reader summary, nick knows the only thing y/n wants is a dog, so he decides to surprise her with a dog for christmas. warnings, none word count, 1093 words

(gif not mine)

Nick watched you play with one of the guy's dogs. There was a dog shoot, and you insisted on coming so you could play with all the dogs.

Growing up, you didn't have any dogs. Your mother was allergic so having a dog in the house was a big no-no. So, the closest thing you had to a pet was a goldfish named

"Why don't you guys have a dog yet?" Kent asked, waiting to take his turn with his own dog.

"Felt like such a big step." Nick shrugged, "But, I think we're ready for that."

"Well, yeah. I mean, she did move states for you." Kent reminded his friend.

“I think it’s time for the next step.” He nodded, watching as all the puppies climbed into your lap.

"Whoa, you're not talking about marriage, are you?" Kent asked him abruptly.

"No." Nick rolled his eyes, "I'm talking about a dog."

"Do you know what dog she wants?"

"Yeah, it's the only thing we ever talk about." He chuckled to himself, "She wants a pitbull."

"That sounds like Y/N." Kent smiled.

"Yeah, so if you have a dog person, let me know." Nick nudged Kent.

"I gotcha." Kent whipped out his phone.

-

As Christmas approached, Nick was getting more and more excited. He could barely contain himself as he finally picked up the puppy, your puppy.

He asked Kent to watch the dog until Christmas, who gladly accepted the task. Kent kept the dog in his care for a couple of days before Nick was bringing her home.

He left early Christmas morning to pick up the dog and put her in the extra bedroom where she could play around and sort of get a feel for her new home.

A few hours after, you were waking up, completely oblivious to what Nick had done before you were even awake. You heard him making noise in the kitchen, which was what woke you up, to begin with.

You made your way down the hall, again completely oblivious to the dog in the guest bedroom who must've been asleep due to the fact that she wasn't making any noise.

You popped your head into the doorway, spotting him swaying to the soft music as he cooked the eggs. He hadn't realized you were watching him until he turned around to grab something from the fridge.

"Holy crap!" He exclaimed, clutching his chest as he jumped. You only smiled more, making your way further into the kitchen and wrapping your arms around his waist, "How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to know that you are a big Adele fan."

"What can I say? She's just so good." He shrugged.

"I'm not judging." You smiled, "Merry Christmas." You sighed happily.

"Merry Christmas." He smiled, leaning down and pressing a kiss to your lips. When he pulled away, he quickly went back to tend to his eggs while you grabbed plates and cups.

You ate your breakfast and talked about plans for after your gift session. You finished your breakfast and quickly cleaned up and grabbed some last-minute presents, then slipped them under the tree.

You waited in front of the tree, taking some pictures as you waited for Nick to finish whatever he was doing. He came out with a big box and placed it at the back of the tree.

"That one you open last." He told you.

You narrowed your eyes at him, trying to decipher what he was doing, but went along with it, "This one." You handed him the first box.

After you opened all the boxes, you reached for the last box he had placed behind the tree, "Wait, not yet." He quickly stopped you and whipped out his phone and propped it up against the coffee table.

You raised a brow at him, "You recording me now?"

"Yeah." He nodded, "Okay, open it." He gave you the "okay" once the computer was recording.

You carefully opened the box and almost burst into tears when you saw what was in the box, "Nicholas." You gasped. He kept his eyes on you as he watched for every single reaction.

"Is that a good "Nicholas"?" He asked.

"It's the best "Nicholas"." You set the box aside and tackled him into a hug, leaping into his arms and knocking him to the ground.

He laughed as he landed on the ground, his arms around you as you hugged him, straddling his lap, "Is it...?"

"She's all your's." He nodded, a big bright smile on his face.

You pulled away from him, pulling back so you could pick up the dog and meet her. She sniffed your hand a couple times before finally coming to the conclusion that you weren't a threat.

She settled in your lap and it was love at first sight, for both you and the dog. You looked over at Nick, "You suck!"

"What?!" He looked surprised as he raised his hands in surrender.

"You just had to one-up me." You playfully glared.

"I didn't mean to. It just happened." He defended, "So, what're you gonna name her?"

"i don't know. This is all happening too fast. I haven't had proper time to think about it." Your eyes darted around, panicked.

"You've been dreaming of this moment since you were like 10, and you haven't thought about a name?"

"Now is not the time to be judgmental." You side-eyed him as you wracked your brain for a name. It took a couple minutes, and in that time, you cooed over your new dog.

When the name finally hit you, it was like a lightbulb had gone off in your brain. It wasn't anything spectacular or anything mindblowing, but the name had been something you wanted to name a future pet, whenever you got it, and your new dog's name fit perfectly.

"Luna." You stated.

"Luna?" Nick asked and you nodded, "All right, Luna it is." He reached over and scratched behind Luna's ears, "Welcome to the family, Luna. You're gonna love it. But I gotta say, my one rule is no sleeping in our bed."

"Don't listen to him. He's being mean." You glared at Nick, "When he's gone, we'll cuddle and you can sleep on his side."

Nick's jaw went slack, "Oh, come on." He scoffed, "You've known her for less than 30 minutes, and already I feel that I am going to be the third wheel in this relationship."

"And you'd be right." You nodded, "You walked yourself into this one, Blankenburg."

"I know." He nodded.

-

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[drewsbuzzcut]

Times You Were “Just Friends”

(…But It Progressively Gets Worse)

Kent Johnson x f!reader (3.8k words!!!)

Warnings: some curse words, alcohol consumption, mentions sex and alludes to sex, kissing, giving hickeys and i think that’s it

Friends spend days on days together when they just meet, right?

You and Kent met during his last year at umich. He was in one of your electives, and the seat next to him was the only one available. There was a sort of connection immediately. You both kept stealing glances at one another, quickly looking away when the other would turn to look. His eyes were glued to you as you were concentrating on taking notes. You’d blush under the intensity of his stare, and he’d smile at the color in your cheeks. It’s the prettiest shade of maroon he’s ever seen. From that first day, you two have been inseparable. Kent easily got your number after stating it was always in good interest to exchange numbers with someone in your class to study or talk about work, but he really just wanted any excuse to talk to you. It led to multiple conversations in coffee shops, late night dinners at the dining hall, and a strong bond between the two of you. Only as friends, of course.

“I’m heading out, probably won’t be back till late so don’t wait up,” you tell your roommate and best friend.

“Seeing Kent?” She asks, a knowing smirk taking over her face. She knows there has to be something going on between the two of you.

“Maybe,” you mutter, not making eye contact.

“You guys have been hanging out a lot. When’s he going to ask you out?”

“We’re just friends,” you groan.

“Y’all are not just friends! Not when you hang out during every moment of free time y’all have. I’ve also seen the way you both look at each other. Something is going on,” she exclaims.

You shake your head, bidding goodbye and blowing her a quick kiss, wanting to escape her thoughts as soon as possible. You were just friends.

“Finally, you’re here!” Kent cheers, pulling you into his arms and into the house. His long arms wrap around your shoulders and yours wrap around his waist. He holds you tightly, and you smile up at him.

“Sorry,I took the long way to get here. Did you pick the movie?”

“Yes! I also ordered your favorite pizza.”

“You’re amazing. Carry me to your room? My legs hurt,” you say.

He doesn’t say anything else, just tosses you over his shoulder and takes you to his room, ready for your movie night.

Friends use pet names, right?

It took a lot of convincing and bribing on Kent’s behalf to get you right where you are right now. Seated in a movie theater, watching a scary movie. You hate scary movies, but Kent really wanted you to join him.

You’re almost 45 minutes into the movie, and you’re jumping at every little jump scare displayed on the large screen. At the moment, you’re crowded into KJ’s space, covering your ears, and practically shaking with nerves.

“Are you scared?” He asks nonchalantly.

You cast a glare in his direction, though you’re not sure he can actually see it in the dark room. You sit up straight, feigning frustration. You cross your arms over your chest and stare straight, ignoring his slightly worried glances.

“Don’t be scared, baby,” He whispers against the shell of your ear, and you have to fight off the chill threatening to come over your body. It’s the first time he’s ever used a pet name with you, and you hate to admit that you like it.

“I wouldn’t be scared if you just held me,” you mutter.

He lifts up the armrest between the both of you, guiding your body to lean against his. Soon enough, you’re wrapped in his arms, warmth, and smell. You could honestly fall asleep.

“I’m your baby?” You ask, looking up at him with doe eyes.

“You’re my baby,” he reaffirms, kissing your forehead and redirecting his attention back into the screen.

You smile shyly and relish in his affection, not so scared anymore.

Friends let themselves into each other’s apartments, right?

“Are you in class? There’s a surprise here waiting for you. I don’t know what it is or who it’s from,” your best friend says through the phone, looking at a sleeping Kent on your bed. She has a little smile, knowing that when you see him you’ll melt.

“I just got out. About 5 minutes away. How did it get into the apartment?” You ask confused.

“I brought it in,” she continued her lie, not trying to give anything away.

“Be there soon,” you say, hanging up and rushing over to your apartment.

When you get in, you rush to your room only to find Kent spread out on your bed, dead asleep. You smuggle the laugh bubbling out of you, melting at the sight of a large hockey player cuddled up in your bed, surrounded by pink sheets, soft blankets, and a few plushies.

“I thought you said you didn’t know what it was?” You turn to ask your best friend.

“Surprise!” She says in a whisper shout.

You turn back around, setting your belongings on the floor before crawling on your bed. You move slowly to not wake the man, swiftly resting part of your body on top of his. You feel his hand subconsciously rest on the small of your back. You card your fingers through his hair, pecking his cheek a few times. It results in a small, sleepy smile. Kent wakes up, stretching and readjusting himself so that his head rests on your chest.

“Hi, baby,” he mutters, lips moving across your collarbones.

“Hi. I didn’t know you were coming over,” you whisper.

“Came over to cuddle, but forgot you had a class. Practice was rough today,” he explains, cuddling deeper into you.

“I’m here now,” you say, completely unaware of your best friend snapping pictures of you two, being “just friends.”

Friends get handsy, right?

You and Kent are hanging out at a party someone was throwing off campus, but you’ve both have been doing your own thing the whole night. He’s been with his teammates and friends while you’ve been talking to this group of girls. As the night starts to dwindle down, you realize that you haven’t seen him for a while, so you go searching for him.

You find him at the kitchen island, a beer in his hand and a bright smile on his face. You adore his smile.

“Hey, I missed you,” you wrap your arms around his shoulders from behind, giggling at the look of shock on his face from not expecting anyone to pop out of nowhere.

“Jeez, you scared me,” he says with a small laugh.

“Sorry,” you apologize.

He brings you around so that you’re in front of him, hands landing on your waist.

“You’re beautiful,” he compliments.

You smile at him, still getting used to the frequent compliments from your friend. You just trace the outline of your favorite features of his. Starting at his nose and tracing his lips all the way down to the sharp edges of his jaw.

You both stare at each other in silence, despite everyone who is still around you both, talking and singing to whatever song is playing.

“Y/n!” You snap out of your haze, turning around to see one of the hockey girlfriends. You quickly embrace her in a hug and make small talk. As you continue talking, you feel KJ’s hand wrap around your stomach, pulling your body closer to his, so that you’re standing between his legs. Without thinking about it, your hand rests over his, intertwining together while you move to sit in his lap.

You don’t notice the knowing glances from everyone, because friends can sit on each other’s laps, right?

Friends sleep in the same bed together, right?

“Is it okay if I take off my shirt?” Kent asks, cheeks burning red.

“Well I’m not sleeping in your bed if you’re going to be wearing a shirt,” you tease, throwing one of his pillows at him.

He charges at you, gathering you in his arms and throwing you on the bed. He smiles wide at the sweet sound of your laughter. Wanting to continue to hear the sound, he starts tickling your stomach.

“KJ!!! Stop! Stop!,” you yell while also laughing.

“Are you guys having sex?” You hear from behind KJ’s bedroom door.

You whip the door open, eyes wide and ready to hurl something at Ethan as he stands there with a smirk.

“Does it look like we’re having sex?” You ask unamused.

“No but it kinda sounds like it.”

Before you can go at Ethan, Kent appears behind you, hand wrapping around your stomach to pull you into his body.

“We’re going to sleep, goodnight,” KJ says, pulling you towards the bed after closing his room door.

“Can I wear your shirt?” You dangle his discarded shirt in between two fingers.

“You better wear my shirt, or you’re sleeping on the floor,” he says playfully.

You fake laugh and mock his words, walking to the restroom to get changed.

“Woah, gimme a 360. You’re a smoke show,” he shouts.

“Shushhh…they’re going to think we’re fucking,” you jump on the bed, crawling your way up to where he’s laying. You rest your chin on his chest, letting your leg rest over both of his.

“I’m not opposed,” he jokes and you quickly cover his mouth with your hand.

“Goodnight you goof,” you giggle, turn off the light and cuddle right into his warm body.

“Goodnight, beautiful girl,” he says, kissing your forehead and rubbing your back.

Friends kiss, right?

“Thank you for rescuing me, although I don’t think I’ll survive the embarrassment that I’ll no doubt be feeling for the rest of my life,” you exaggerate.

You had a date tonight, but he stood you up . You ended up calling Kent and he was quick to pick you up.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. If anything that guy should be embarrassed, he’s totally missing out,” he states, grasping your hand in his and caressing your knuckles with his thumb.

“I just want to experience a perfect date, you know. I want to be walked to my front door and be kissed like he’s been waiting to kiss me the entire night,” you pout, not realizing that you’ve already arrived at your apartment.

“Do you trust me?” He asks.

“Of course I trust you, KJ,” you answer back.

He pulls you into a hug, his head resting in the crook of your neck. You rub his back, cuddling a little closer because it’s freezing out. He notices your shivering and he cups your cheek, swiping your cold bitten skin. Your eyes are connected, staring so deeply into each other’s. You see the moment his eyes stare at your lips. You feel time freeze. You can hear your blood pumping in your ears and everything just disappears. His lips are on yours. The slight chapped skin of his lips pairs so well with your smooth ones. Kent has to resist the urge to moan when he tastes your cherry chapstick. Your heart is practically beating out of your chest and you know that when you separate, your lips will ache to be back on his. Friends can share platonic kisses, you’re sure of it. Your lips are puffy and scarlet when you both pull away. You look alluring, as you always do.

Kent stares at you with wide eyes, not really believing that he was brave enough to follow through with his plan. You grab ahold of his jacket, pulling his lips back to yours. You throw your arms around his neck and he lets his fingers tangle in your hair. Your kiss gets interrupted by your giggles. You pull away and rest your forehead over his heart.

“Do you feel like having a sleepover?” You ask with a shy smile.

“You mean I get to sleep in your comfortable as fuck bed? Hell yeah!” He lifts you in his arms and grabs your key to unlock the door, beyond ready for a sleepover.

Friends wear each other’s initials, right?

“Open my gift first,” Kent says, handing you a small, perfectly wrapped box.

You both decided to exchange only one gift the day before you both went home for the holidays. You were actually really nervous about getting him a gift, not wanting to pick something so sentimental, but also not wanting to pick something out that held no meaning. You were friends, it shouldn’t have been too hard.

“Any hints?” You ask, teasingly while shaking the box to see if you could hear what it could be.

“No, just open it and see.”

You unwrap the box, removing the lid to see the most precious necklace sparkling. It was a simple “K” pendant attached to a simple, silver chain. You trace the letter, repeatedly blinking, trying to process this moment. You feel your eyes tear up, but you don’t allow any tears to fall. Your heart is beating so fast, there’s no way a present should have this effect on you.

“Do you like it? It’s totally fine if you don’t. We can always exchange it for something else,” Kent rambles.

Before he can say anything else, you pull him into you. Your arms thrown around his shoulders and your face resting in his neck. His hands land on their rightful spot, the small of your back, holding you close, so afraid of you not liking his gift. You lean up closer to his face, attaching your lips to his. You move your hands to rest on the back of his neck to play with the hair there to soothe him. You feel his body melt into yours.

“Baby, I absolutely love it. It’s so beautiful,” you whisper against his lips, feeling that familiar, overwhelming wave of happiness when he smiles into your kiss.

“Really?” He asks bashfully, looking down.

“Yes, I love it so much,” you respond, hands on his cheeks so that he’s looking into your eyes.

“Can you put it on for me?” He nods, turning you around and clipping the necklace on for you.

“Looks beautiful,” he says, tracing the letter and your collarbones. You shiver at his touch.

“I’m never taking it off,” you admit, leaning in for another short kiss.

Friends fall in love, right?

The day had been fun-filled with endless activities.

During spring break, Kent thought it’d be a good idea for you to meet his family, as he was going back home for a family member’s wedding, and of course you weren’t going to deny him. It was so much fun and you found that you really enjoy being around his family. They brought you in so easily and made you feel like you belong right off the bat.

Today is the wedding, the reason why you met his family in the first place. You and KJ attend all the familial outings for the day. Early morning breakfast, a midafternoon game of golf, and now roaming around the wedding venue before the ceremony starts. You’re dressed in a simple, pink slip dress, and Kent is dressed in a nice, navy blue suit with a matching pink pocket square.

“You’re perfect,” he whispers to you, tucking a strand of your curled hair behind your ear.

You’re standing in the venue’s beautiful garden. It’s one of the most beautiful places you’ve ever seen.

“You flatter me too much,” you say, hand resting over his heart. You hope your blush does a good job at covering the natural blush caused by his words. You don’t think you’ll ever get used to his compliments.

“It’s true, though,” he states, pulling you into his arms. Your chin rests on his shoulders as your high heels give you somewhat of a boost. His hands rest on the small of your back, stroking the thin material of your dress.

“You’re the most beautiful person here,” he adds.

You gasp in fake shock.

“But your cousin is the bride,” you say, finally looking into his eyes.

He rolls his eyes playfully, tickling your sides so that you press yourself into his chest.

“Like I said, the most beautiful person here. In the world, actually,” he finishes, kissing your temple.

“Better keep the pda to a limit, or your family’s going to think we’re more than friends,” you tease, tugging on his hair.

“Let them think what they want,” he muses, pressing a soft kiss to your lips.

“C’mon, we need to head inside, the ceremony is about to start,” you say, hand falling into his hand to guide him inside.

The ceremony is beautiful, everything decorated in nice colors and patterns. It’s something out of a magazine.

You and Kent sit in your seats, eating, chatting, and watching as the newlyweds dance together. The time passes by so quickly, you almost forget that you haven’t danced with the one person you’ve been wanting to dance with the whole night. However, your attention gets drawn to the man when you feel him intertwine your fingers together.

“Want to dance?”

“Yes,” you agree without a second thought.

You both allow the music to guide your bodies in every direction on the dance floor, tuning out every stare and whisper being directed at you. You know there are people wondering about the state of your relationship with Kent, but you’re both just really good friends.

“I’m going to miss you,” you hear him whisper.

You know what he’s talking about, and you wish you could ignore it. Soon he’ll be leaving to Ohio to join the bluejackets. You’re proud of him, but you also don’t want to be without him.

“I’m going to miss you more. Who’s going to be my napping buddy? Who’s going to make sure I eat when I’m stressed? Who’s going to spend endless hours with me when we have nothing better to do? Excuse me,” you mutter, trying to pull away from his embrace. You didn’t need to cry in front of him.

“Where are you going?”

“Restroom.”

“Please stay. You can cry in front of me. I don’t care,” he holds onto you tighter, leaning his head down to press kisses into your neck.

“Want to head to the hotel?” He asks, referring to the hotel room he booked for the two of you.

Once you nod your head, he’s pulling you outside to wait for your uber. The whole ride is silent and thick with tension. He knows your disposition when you’re sad. You start to shut down and crowd into yourself as a way of protection. He wants nothing more than to comfort you, but he doesn’t want you to pull away completely.

You hightail it to the hotel room, bursting through the door and kicking off your shoes. You fight with the zipper of your dress, on the brink of a breakdown when you can’t reach the zipper. You turn to see Kent watching you in concern.

“Can you please unzip me?” You ask, voice so fragile.

He takes the zipper between his fingers, slowly lowering it while also letting his cold hands graze your bare back. He moves your hair to rest over your shoulder, bending down to place kisses on the back of your neck. Your breathing becomes labored and you feel your hands twitching, wanting to reach out for him. You feel his teeth nip at your skin which then gets soothed by his tongue. Your eyes roll to the back of your head when he starts to suck on the one sweet spot. He moves to kiss on the tops of your shoulders, also sucking to make your blood rush to the surface of your skin. Tossing your head back, you let out a sigh, one of your hands reaching back to grab onto him. When he’s done and there’s a red bruise appearing on your flesh, you turn in his hold. You pull off his jacket and quickly unbutton his button up. You pull on his belt, so that his body leans into yours and you both fall onto the bed, your lips locking.

He moves his body to rest in between your legs, his hands pressed into the bed above your head to hold himself over you. You trace the contour of his abs, lingering around the few bruises and scars that litter his skin from playing hockey. You grab the back of his neck, pulling him flush against you, and kissing him again. You let your hands wander the expanse of his back, enjoying the way his muscles flex under his skin.

The next morning, you’re waking up to Kent gliding his fingers along your back, your skin breaking out in goosebumps. His arm is snuggled underneath your head and is probably asleep and sore, but it’s comfortable for you.

“Are you awake?” He breaks the silence, fingers stilling and tension replacing the overall serene atmosphere.

Instead of responding, you turn in his arms to face him. The arm you were sleeping on now rests on the small of your back. He moves the hair away from your face, letting his eyes take you in. The sparkling “K” necklace rests perfectly in the dip of your collarbones. Collarbones that are littered with love bites. He closes his eyes, picturing the way your body arched into his when he made you his own, and the way your breathy moans are the most heavenly sounds. You see his lips turn up into a smile, you smile in return.

“You’re my best friend,” he says, staring deeply into your eyes.

You can feel your smile dim. “Best friend,” you forgot that that’s all that you are. His best friend. After so long of telling everyone, including yourself, that you were just friends, this time hurts the most.

His thumb swipes over your cheek and then swipes over your bottom lip.

“You’re my best friend and I love you so much,” he declares, resting his forehead on yours.

Your heart starts beating faster and suddenly you want to cry. It’s your turn to let your hands rub along his shoulders and back. Your eyes are still closed, convinced that this is all some insane dream. Because you don’t tell your friends that you love them, not the way Kent said it so tenderly and so sincerely. He’s just as in love with you as you are in love with him.

Your sniffles alarm him, making his head shoot up to look at you.

“It’s totally fine if you don’t feel the same. I probably shouldn’t have sprung this on you so suddenly,” he rambles, starting to choke up.

You shake your head, but he continues rambling, so you do the only thing you can do and quiet him with a kiss. You repeatedly peck his lips and all over his jaw and neck.

“I love you. God, I’m so in love with you,” you proclaim.

“But… How are we going to make this work? You’re leaving soon,” you mutter.

“Distance doesn’t matter, not when it comes to us. You’re my baby. I love you and I’m not letting you go. We’re going to be fine. It’ll all work out,” he swears and you believe him.

a/n: I had a lot of fun making this one, so I hope you all enjoy!!!

#kent johnson #kent johnson x reader #kent johnson imagine #nhl imagine #nhl fic #columbus blue jackets

[mooseyhischier]

Hi! I'm in love with your blog! ❤️🫂

Can I make a request with Adam?! Something between him and the reader are longtime friends and now with his move to Columbus they realize that they are in love 🥰

Thank you in advance 😘

unspoken feelings, Adam Fantilli

Summary: in which, adam and y/n have been best friends since forever. They’ve both have avoided their feelings for each until y/n visits columbus for Adam’s first nhl game.

warnings: none

a/n: i’m so sorry i’m doing this request a bit late, but i needed a bit inspiration for this fic. all thought it’s short i hope you enjoyed reading this. this was also supposed to come out on adams birthday so i apologize. !! “hi! I’m in love with your blog! ❤️🫂” thank youu that’s so sweet !! 💐💌

Ever since you can remember, Adam has always been by your side, your partner for everything and your best friend. From playground adventures to late-night talks in both your bedrooms. Everyone around both of you knew that you two were meant to be together.

However, neither of you confessed your feelings even when adam left to chicago and michigan. It made both of you guys lose hope.

“are you nervous?” luca asked you. You were currently in columbus suprising adam on his first nhl game and for his birthday. Something you two always talked about.

“extremely, I don’t know how he’ll react” you replied back. “don’t be dumb y/n you and i both know he’s going to be ecstatic when he see’s you”

as the time flew by you couldn’t help yourself, but just feel nervous and a bit sad. you were extremely happy for adam for making it to the nhl just as he dreamed, but you couldn’t help about feeling sad about the distance between you two. you both kept in touch, but it wasn’t the same as having him around all the time.

“let’s go to the locker room yea? he’s waiting on me we can surprise him there” luca turned to you asking. “yea sure”

seeing adam stepping into the room made you nervous. not because you didn’t know how’d he react, but that fact that you hadn’t seen your best friend in months due to the draft and all his celebrations. To say you were nervous was an understatement

your heart was pounding in your chest as you watched him approach. The crew erupted in cheers, but all you could focus on was the way his eyes lit up when he spotted you.

Adam's face broke into a wide grin as he made his way towards you. He pulled you into a tight hug, lifting you off the ground for a moment. "Y/N! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, his voice filled with genuine surprise and joy.

You couldn't help but smile back at him, feeling a wave of relief wash over you. "I couldn't miss your first NHL game, Adam. And it's your birthday too, so I wanted to surprise you," you replied, your voice filled with warmth.

Adam's eyes sparkled with gratitude as he looked at you. "You have no idea how much this means to me, Y/N. I've missed you so much," he confessed, his voice filled with a mix of emotions.

"I've missed you too" you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper. "But I'm so proud of you. You've worked so hard to get here, and I couldn't be happier for you."

Adam's smile softened, and he reached out to gently brush a strand of hair behind your ear. "Thank you, Y/N. Your support has meant everything to me. And being able to share this moment with you is more than I could have ever asked for."

As the game began, you found yourselves caught up in the excitement of the crowd and the intensity on the ice. The familiar banter and inside jokes between you and Adam flowed effortlessly, as if no time had passed at all.

During intermission, Adam took you to the players' lounge, where you were introduced to his teammates and coaches. They all welcomed you with open arms, instantly making you feel like part of the team.

As the night went on, you couldn't help but steal glances at Adam, admiring the way he moved on the ice with such grace and skill. It was in those moments that you realized just how much you truly cared for him.

All though they lost, you guys still celebrated adams first game and birthday, as the night went by and everyone was still having a good time Adam pulled you aside, away from the chaos for a minute. "hey can you come out with me for a second," he said, his voice filled with a mix of nervousness and determination.

“yea you okay”Your heart skipped a beat as you looked into his eyes, waiting for him to continue.

"i don’t know I've just been avoiding these feeling for far too long, but I just can't deny my feelings for you anymore. Y/N, I like you and i understand if you don’t feel the same way. " he confessed, his voice filled with vulnerability.

Tears welled up in your eyes as you reached out to cup his face. "Adam, I've had feelings for you for as long as I can remember, i lost hope when you left for chicago and then left for michigan, but deep down i knew my feelings for you were still there” you admitted, your voice filled with emotion.

In that moment, everything else faded away, and it was just the two of you, finally acknowledging the love that had always been there. The distance and time apart no longer mattered because you knew that, from that day forward, you would always be by each other's side.

As you walked hand in hand out of the arena, the chilly October air no longer felt cold. It was filled with warmth and the promise of a future filled with love and endless adventures together.

#gab’s anons request ✧.* #adam fantilli #adam fantilli x reader #adam fantilli x oc #adam fantilli fic #adam fantilli blurb #adam fantilli fanfic #umich fanfiction #umich blurbs #umich fic #umich imagine #umich smut #cbj #umich x reader #columbus blue jackets #nhl fanfic #nhl x y/n #nhl x oc #nhl x reader #nhl blurb #nhl imagine #nhl fic #nhl fanfiction

[cixrosie]

Dream Boy

Summary : In which the sweet dream boy you saw freshman year turns into Your dream boy sophomore year

You and Gavin first met a Umich your Freshman year in the first week in one of your many classes you had together . But you first saw Gavin at freshman orientation and immediately had a crush on him . You and Gavin basically had almost every class together . You can't lie he was hot and sweet but you didn't want to get in a relationship as this was your start to college and you knew most college guys that were freshman were just looking to hookup .

Over the first couple months after meeting Gavin you had gotten close, you guys had had study dates even though both of your friends you brought along to make it less date like told you they were just third wheeling and it was indeed a study date . You brought one of your friends from your theater class and Gavin brought one of his teammates from the hockey team .

After that you and Gavin got even closer now from the study dates you were now going to each others events you invited Gavin to your showcases and he invited you to his hockey games and sat with the other girlfriends . This went on for the rest of the year .

Then the day you had been dreading since you met Gavin had come the last day of classes , which meant not seeing Gavin as often due to summer break and you hated that .

At least for now you didn't have to think about that because there was one big event left : The Umich Hockey End of Year Party which the hockey team . Gavin had invited you saying that is was one last big hangout with all the guys and your friends to hand out before you left as his friends and your friends had kind of meshed into one big group. So as your leaving your last class you are texting Gavin and he let you know the dress code is just umich colors .

Later that night about an hour after the party started you are almost done getting ready. You decided to wear a dark maize tube top and blue shorts with a university of Michigan jacket but left it unbuttoned in the front . Just as you were putting on your shoes you got a text from Gavin :

Gav 🥰 : where are you I don't see you ? 😢

You : im done getting ready im heading over now lol

Gav : ok see you , when you get here park next to my car

About 10 minutes later you arrive to the frat house and park nexts to Gavins car . The house pretty crowded but thats to be expected with an end of year party . You enter the house and the sound of music and laughter fills your ears . You look towards the kitchen and see Gavin and his hockey teammates and some of the girlfriends laughing and drinking so you head over.

" hey Y/N's here " Ethan yells drunkenly , that makes Gavin turn towards you at the speed of light . You both make eye contact and it holds and you can feel the shift in your relationship. You had started to notice it about a week ago the subtle touches around your waist , the excuses made just so he can hold your hand and now this something is shifting and you aren't complaining

After coming back to reality and hear Ethan still screaming about the house reaching capacity but I couldn't really make it out since he 1. was drunk off his ass and 2. You couldn't stop staring at your boy . You can't believe your referencing him as your boy but you are and you love it

You and Gavin are still making eye contact but you are saying so many words his eyes are saying " come here " your eyes are saying " come get me " but both are saying " you feel it too" at this point Gavin has had enough and as you continue staring at his eyes as your standing against the counter he comes over to you trapping you in between his arms , " come to my room with me yeah" he asks . You nod your head as you look up at him.

He grabs your hand as he leads you up the stairs and his teammates see and they start whooping and whistling and you definitely hear Luca yell " Finally " you laugh as Gavin continues to lead you up the stairs to his room. You finally get to Gavins room and he ushers you in with his hand dangerously close to your ass which makes you smile and make your heart flutter a she closes his door .

Gavin walks to his bed as he takes off his shoes and sit on the edge . You stay back towards his door and lean on it as you both make eye contact . " c'mere pretty girl" he says. You walk over and you see him spread his legs open to accommodate your body , as you fit perfectly between his legs he holds the back of your thighs and pulls you as close as possible , he pulls you with so much strength you have to hold onto his shoulders , after you catch your balance you wrap your arms around his neck and stare into his eyes.

He inches his lips closer and closer as you say "Gav" in a breathy tone " I know baby I feel it to" " what are we now" you question " You're mine and I'm yours if you'll have me " he says. Thats all it takes for the damn to break and for you to crash your lips onto his , he groans as you quite literally take his breath away . He moves his hand from the back of your thighs to you waist as he pulls you so you're now straddling him and from there his hands move to your ass pinching and pulling which you take as a sign he's enjoying himself among other things .

After a while you pull away to catch your breath. "wow' you both say at the same time you laugh and blush as you hide your face in his neck. He then lays flat on his back as he takes you down with him so you're now laying on his chest . He laughs as you still blush with your face in his neck. " don't blush now baby you literally shoved your tongue down my throat a couple minutes ago" this makes you groan as he laughs even harder , that beautiful laugh you love so much .

After you both settle down and change out of the party clothes and into pajamas and for you thats just Gavins clothes you both cuddle up on his bed as he choses some random show to watch. The room fills with silence until Gavin says " its always been you since the day we met our first week of class " You look at him from his chest and smile as you say " its always been you too Gav ever since I saw you in freshman orientation " " But we didn't even meet yet we met a week later during the first week " he cocks his eyebrow " exactly my dream boy ive had a crush on you since I saw you during freshman orientation " . Gavin smiles as he leans down to connect your lips for the sweetest kiss you've ever had .

Note: HIIII I haven't written anything in a while but im back with this sweet piece for Gavin . As always requests are open send them my way if you have them

Im tagging my favorite people on this app who ive read phenomenal fics and AUs from and are overall great people and my mutuals . feedback's appreciated but done feel like you have to ok bye <3

@sc0tters @lennysfridge @yankstrash @heavenlyhischier @sweetestdesire @thatintrovertedwriter @starry-hughes @drewsbuzzcut @bedsyandco @slafkovskys @theywantedplayer @bitchinbarzal @babydollmarauders @nicohischierz @nicohersheys @sunkissed-zegras @uluvjay @letsgetrowdy43 @mirrorballmcgroarty @ilyasorokinn @hischierdevils @jackhues @swissboyhisch @perfectlysaltycat32

#gavin brindley #gavin brindley x reader #gavin brindley x yn #gavin brindley x y/n #gavin brindley oneshot #gavin brindley x you #gavin brindley x fem!reader #gavin brindley x female reader #gavin brindley fic #gavin brindley imagine #gavin brindley fluff #gavin brindley fan fiction #gavin brindley drabble #umich hockey x reader #umich hockey imagine #columbus blue jackets #hockey writing #hockey imagines #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #nhl fic #nhl fluff

[itsnotgray]

We're living different lives

Heaven only knows

If we'll make it back with all our fingers and our toes

Five years, twenty years, come back

It will always be the same

For the first time since the end of August, all of the Fantilli siblings would be under one roof. Albeit, only for three days, but it was three days that they were determined to make count.

Luca was the first to fly home, following the conclusion of the first semester. About a week later, came the twins. First was Gianna, who left straight from the rink in Nashville (as Luca could tell by the wet hair she was sporting), nearly forgetting to even tell her teammates she was leaving, eager for whatever scraps of time she could get with her family.

The minute his baby sister stepped off that plane, it was as if someone had lifted the weight of the world off his shoulders. He threw his arms around her, smothering his face in her hair as he inhaled the scent of the shampoo she’d been using since she was 14. Gianna returned the sentiment, clinging onto her older brother as if he was the only thing keeping her afloat. “Lu,” she cried into his shoulder, the relief of being reunited with one of her brothers, one of the people whose presence had been so distinctly woven into her life force, that the past few months of separation has been akin to torture, making it’s way to the surface. “Gi,” he said soothingly, tilting her head back so he could wipe her tears, the same way he used to when she was learning to skate all those years ago. A watery smile made its way onto his face as he uttered the words he’d been rehearsing for the past week, “Welcome back sorella.”

At the familiar term of endearment only her family was privy to, she launched herself at Luca, her arms encircling his neck as she began crying again. At last, her tears dried up, and she unpried herself from her Luca, mostly at the insistence of her stomach. “Now, can I go grab a snack before Mo gets here? I’d wait, but I haven’t eaten since before the game yesterday,” Gianna questioned while quickly taking out her phone to make sure her face wasn’t too terribly swollen from the tears she’d just shed. “Sure Gi, go ahead,” he responded while glancing down at his phone to check for any updates from Adam. A few beats of silence passed, before Luca glanced up, confused as to why she hadn’t walked away. He locked eyes with Gianna, who stood there awkwardly, rocking back and forth on her heels. “Do you want anything?” She questioned, voice as earnest as it always had been. He shook his head softly, and she quickly pivoted on her feet and made her way to the nearest coffee shop. Luca stared after her, a small smile on his face- it was like the old days. As long as he ignored the looming feeling of dread, dread at the fact that their time was limited, that she and Adam (who wasn’t even here yet) both left in two (technically three) days, he could pretend it was just like the old days.

Around an hour later, the third piece of their puzzle was getting off of his flight. Luca shook Gianna awake, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder shortly after returning with her snack, and barely got out the words, “Mo’s flight just landed,” before she shot up out of her seat, as if pure caffeine had just been injected into her veins. Without haste, Gianna threw herself to her feet, before quickly turning around and yanking Luca to his. “C’mon Lu, be ready- wait, which direction will he be coming from?” She spoke, the words rolling off of her tongue, too fast for her brain to comprehend, excitement taking over her body at the prospect of finally being in the same place as both of her brothers. “Should come from the left, if I scoped out the place correctly,” he said while wrapping an arm around her shoulders, as if to hold the girl back from sprinting to Adam the second she saw him.

About twenty minutes pass, before finally, Gianna catches a glimpse of the “stupid and entirely unnecessary” beanie she forced Adam to wear, so they’d be able to spot the boy from a distance. “Lu I think see him,” Gianna expressed excitedly, the girl beginning to bounce up and down on her heels, Once Adam got within a few feet of the pair, both siblings took off towards Adam, wrapping him in what their parents (who had elected to stay home, both to give the siblings time to reunite, but also to get some sleep- which they knew would be hard to do having all of their babies under one roof again) would call a “Fantilli take-down,” mostly because, had Adam not planted his feet on the ground in preparation, he easily would've fallen straight to the airport ground, which he was not about to do. The moment he felt the arms of his siblings encase him, he dropped his bags to the floor and wove his arms around someone, though he wasn't sure who, because their three bodies were so intricately woven together in this moment, it was impossible to tell where Luca ended and Gianna began. He tried to force a few words out of his mouth, but the emotional shell shock at finally reuniting with his best friends had seemingly made his brain short circuit. Yet, there was no doubt that the silent sobs that wracked his shoulders, and the tears on his cheeks said all of the words he couldn’t.

For this one brief moment, it was like the world stopped. For the first time in about four months, the pieces of the tattered, kindred spirits that resided in the each of three siblings, were at peace. At that moment, they were one soul, split into three hearts.

#one soul three hearts #osth #adam fantilli #luca fantilli #adam fantilli imagine #luca fantilli imagine #columbus blue jackets #umich hockey #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #nhl fics #hockey fics #adam fantilli x reader #luca fantilli x reader #<< i’m well aware it’s not reader insert but yk #tags #hockey imagine #hockey imagines

[fiapartridge]

different | kent johnson

"maybe this time it'll be different..."

kent johnson x hughes!sister

summary: when kent arrives to the lake house two years after breaking up with y/n hughes, he has so much more planned than wakeboarding with the boys-- he's going to get her back.

warning(s): cursing

a/n: i remembered someone requesting a kj fic so here we are!! it's my first one! so! try not to hate it too much! LOL

Kent hadn’t anticipated coming to the lake house like this: sopping wet from the rain that only seemed to pour when Kent arrived since all the days leading up to this were sunny skies with a chance of nothing– absolutely zero rain, except for the day he showed up. Great.

And to make matters even worse, he hadn’t even been invited to the lake house, turning up unannounced. Luke and the rest of the Hughes’ cut contact with Kent after his and Y/N’s breakup. I mean, he didn’t expect them to take his side or feel some sort of sympathy for him, but he also didn’t know he was gonna lose everyone because of it. 

Luke Hughes had invited Kent to the lake house every summer since meeting him, claiming him as the “cool older brother he never had.” (Jack and Quinn had of course taken offense from that, but he was right. Kent was cool.) But when Kent broke up with Y/N after the 2021 draft, making up the excuse of not wanting to “drag her along” while he was busy in the NHL, Luke couldn’t help but be there for his sister. At first, he hadn’t taken sides. Luke wasn’t a part of the relationship, so obviously their friendship would be fine— but once he heard how hurt and worthless she felt, he couldn’t be friends with him. He would never be friends with a person that could make his sister feel that bad about herself. 

For months, she wondered what she could’ve possibly done to make him walk out like that, especially on a day that was supposed to be so special. Maybe… maybe she was just a thing to pass the time with until his life really began. She wasn’t meant to be in his life, not the life he planned at least, she was just something that happened— and apparently he wasn’t one for spontaneity.

Until now. As he stands at the door of the Hughes family’s summer home, the memories of spending warm July nights huddled around the small table that sat on the front porch, littered with beer bottles and red solo cups, flooding back to him. Y/N sitting comfortably on his lap, her brothers making gagging noises every time they kissed, his UMich teammates picking her up and running through the house to the backyard, throwing Y/N into the pool and pushing Kent in with her. 

They don’t even text him anymore. And he thought that losing them would’ve been the worst part, but they weren’t the people that he told everything to; what he was feeling; how anxious he felt about the future; how excited he was after scoring his first goal at Yost. his frustration over his terrible gameplay the month before the draft, fearing that none of the teams would draft him if they saw how he was playing then. That was all Y/N— and he blew it.

He wasn’t even thinking, he didn’t know what to say, his actions spoke before him as he knocked on the door, hearing the loud chatter on the other side come to a halt. And before he knew it, he was face-to-face with his old teammate, Luke.

Stepping onto the porch and closing the door behind him, Luke’s face couldn’t be mistaken for anything but anger. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Luke spat.

Kent wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, but he also wasn’t expecting a full on war the minute he knocked on the door. He really should’ve thought out his words on the way here.

“I know that everyone in that house hates me,” Luke scoffed, muttering something under his breath as Kent cautiously continued. “But I need to talk to Y/N. I fucked up, I know, and it’s too late, but please. I just need to see her.”

“Even if I told her you were here, I don’t think she’d even want to talk to you.”

Ouch.

“I know you’ll never forgive me for what I did to your sister, and I have no excuse for that, but just— give me one last chance with her. I just want to talk.”

Luke stood there, processing it all. He hated Kent for what he had done. None of the other boys were there to hold Y/N when she would fall asleep with tears in her eyes, they weren’t there when she would stumble into his bed late at night because she didn’t trust herself to be alone in her room, they weren’t there to hear her beat up herself for what had happened, thinking that this whole thing was her fault, that she could’ve prevented this from happening if she was just… better.

But he also remembered how happy Kent made her feel when they were together. 

So he gave him a chance. One singular chance.

“Y/N,” Kent froze upon seeing her. She looked so different, yet so the same. She wore her hair down now instead of in messy buns or high ponies, she was taller, and her baby face was gone, her cheeks growing a bit slimmer. She still had that rosy pink complexion that she always carried around with her and she still wore the silver charm bracelet she had when they were together. She was still so beautiful, if not more than when he last saw her.

Her arms were crossed over her chest, closing herself off to him. She looked hesitant, apprehensive. She had spent the first year after their breakup hoping that he would come back and tell her that it was all a big mistake, that he didn’t mean to break up with her, that he was just overwhelmed, that he wanted her back. The second year, she accepted it; that he wasn’t coming back. So why was she feeling like nothing had changed, that all her progress meant nothing, that she would crumble and go back to the way it was that first year, hoping he’d make his way back to her, in her arms, on her lips, in her heart.

For him, she was a mess. That she never grew out of— as much as she wished she would.

“Why are you here, Kent?”

Hearing his full name come out of her mouth was like a dagger to his chest. But he did that. He ruined everything. Did he really have the right to feel bad for himself?

He licked his lips, trying to find his words. Any words, really. “I still care about you, Y/N/N. I never stopped.”

“So why did you throw it all away?” she asked, poking her finger at his chest. “And don’t give me the bullshit excuse of ‘dragging me along’ because you were three fucking hours away! That wouldn’t have changed anything!”

“I was stupid, okay!” he shouted back, his voice cracking. “I was overwhelmed, and I was lost, and I knew I wouldn’t be enough for you, that I couldn’t be there, and be the person that you deserved.”

She scoffed, shaking her head. This is not how she thought seeing him again would go. “Did you think you couldn’t have told me? That I wouldn’t understand? We could’ve worked through it! We could’ve been together through it all! We could’ve seen if it really was gonna work or not! But you didn’t even want to give us a chance.”

Backing away, her hand fell from his chest, slipping to the door knob behind her. It’s like he was losing her all over again. He couldn’t let that happen, not again.

Holding onto her wrist, he felt her stop in her tracks. Maybe she was just waiting for the right words, and while he didn’t know what the right words were, he decided to jump off the deep end nonetheless. 

“My biggest regret was walking away from you, Y/N. And I know this means nothing, that I put you through so much that you didn’t deserve, and you can hate me all you want, tell me to leave and I’ll go, but please— please just hear me out.”

Her forehead rested against the door. “Five minutes,” she mumbled before spinning around. “You have five minutes to talk.”

Kent didn’t waste a single second. “I’m still in love with you. I’ve been trying to convince myself that I’m not, but you mean the world to me, Y/N, and I shouldn’t have let that go, let us go, let you go. And if you give me another chance,” she pulled her wrist away from him, his chest speeding up. Please don’t go. “I won’t make the same mistake again. And I know that you’re scared, that we might end up doing this whole shit storm all over again, and I can’t promise that we won’t, but if you just give me a chance, just one chance, maybe this time it’ll be different.”

Kent’s words hung in the air as Y/N stood there, listening to his earnest plea. The rush of memories and emotions hit her like a tidal wave. The wounds of their breakup were still there, scars etched into her skin, a reminder of him every time she went to Yost and he wasn’t there, or when she would stalk his Instagram, swearing to her friends that she would block him this time, yet she always failed. 

She had spent so much time convincing herself that she was better off without him, that she could thrive on her own, but as he stood there, telling her the one thing she wished she heard from him years ago, that he still loved her, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Her brows narrowed, her bottom lip stuck between her teeth. “Why should I believe you?”

“You can’t. But, Y/N, I have spent the past two years regretting everything, and wishing you were beside me. After my first game, I looked into the stands and when you weren’t there, I… I knew I fucked up, that you were the best thing that’s ever happened to me, that I’ve never been as happy as I was with you. And you can choose to not believe me when I say that I won’t walk out on us again, but please just think about it. Please.”

Y/N’s head was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. She was torn between the fear of getting hurt again and the desire to give him another chance. Kent’s sincerity was real and honest, but could she really trust him not to run away when things got tough?

“No more running away. No more not talking about things. If we want this to work, I need to trust you again.”

“I’m not leaving. It’s you, you’re all I need,” he said, laying his forehead against hers. “I’ll do my best to show you I’ve changed, just make me yours again.”

In that moment, with their hearts racing and their emotions raw, Y/N’s gaze locked onto Kent’s nervous eyes. There was a certain vulnerability in his expression that echoed her own, and her mind battled between caution and the undeniable pull she still felt towards him. She’d felt that pull the second she saw him on the porch. It wasn’t something that could just go away, and in that moment, she was grateful for that.

As Kent’s fingers gently brushed against her cheek, Y/N felt a shiver run down her spine. His touch was gentle, hesitant, as if he feared shattering the fragile bridge they were building between them.

Y/N’s breath caught as Kent’s lips descended upon hers, a soft press that held a world of unspoken promises. It was a tentative kiss, a meeting of lips that carried the weight of the aching past, the hope that they could fix what was broken, and the need for his lips since the moment they broke up.

The kiss deepened, a slow progression that was both hesitant and passionate. Kent’s arms encircled Y/N, pulling her closer as her fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt, her heart racing as she surrendered to the kiss, allowing herself to be enveloped by the flood of emotions that came with it.

Their lips moved against each other with a tender intensity, as if they were trying to convey all the unspoken words and emotions that had accumulated during their time apart. In that moment, the world around them seemed to fade, the rain stopped, the muffled voices on the other side of the door were gone— it was just them. 

  When they finally pulled away, their breaths were mingled, their foreheads resting against each other. Y/N’s eyes met Kent’s once again, and she could see the genuine regret and love he still had for her. She knew he hadn’t seen anyone for the past two years, Blanks liked to remind her of that everytime he tried to get them back together.

“I’m not leaving,” Kent whispered, his voice laced with sincerity. “I meant what I said, Y/N. You’re all I need, and I’m here to prove it. This time, it’ll be different.”

#kent johnson #columbus blue jackets #umich imagine #kent johnson x hughes!sister #kent johnson imagine #kent johnson imagines #hockey imagine #nhl imagine #hockey fic #different joshua bassett #joshua bassett

[edmundspevensea]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐁

in which kent needs some backup in babysitting, and y/n becomes his knight in shining armor.

warnings; babysitting, kids, date nights, two of the gaudreau kids do not actually exist (exist simply for the plot), ohio state / michigan rivalry, kent is a big softie

Kent Johnson really thought he could do it.

When Johnny had called and asked him to babysit that day, he really thought he could manage, so he said yes. Nick had babysat the three kids, all under the age of five, once before, and he said they were absolute angels. If Nick approved of it, how bad could it be?

Bad.

An hour in, Noa was cuddled into his chest, sobbing because Luca had hit her after they argued over a toy. Before Kent had the chance to scold him, he had run over and attempted to climb on top of the refrigerator. Oliver had grabbed a ton of clothes from his dresser and left a trail of them throughout the house.

It was total and utter chaos. He couldn't call Johnny or Meredith. They were on a date, and Kent could hear the desperation in Johnny’s voice when he called. So he did the next best thing he could think of.

After Noa had calmed down, Kent had managed to pull himself out of her grip. Next, he grabbed Oliver and placed him down next to his sister. Finally, he made his way over to the fridge and grabbed Luca from behind, placing him on one of the stools at the kitchen counter.

Before they left, Meredith had explained that if Kent needed backup, your number was on the counter. He pulled out his phone and began dialing the 10 digits. He had heard that you had met a few of the guys last season, back when he was still with the Michigan Wolverines. As he patiently waited for you to pick up, his green eyes scanned the kids carefully. Oliver and Noa were now at it, and Luca was repeatedly banging his head on the counter.

Finally, he was met with, "Hello?"

You were the kids usual babysitter, except for in the summer when Johnny was mainly off and you were home on summer break. Due to the fact that you had just moved back to campus to start the new school year at Ohio State, Meredith had called you to see if you were available to watch the kids. Unfortunately, you had to work, but the Gaudreaus' completely understood and went to look for someone else.

You had just gotten off of work and were walking back to your dorm when your phone began ringing. You groaned, not even bothering to check the number, and picked up, "Hello?"

You were met with an anxious voice, which sounded oddly familiar to you, "Uh, hi. I, uh... Luca, stop, you're going to hurt yourself! Sorry, I'm babysitting for Johnny and Meredith and I sorta, uh... need some help."

You chuckled to yourself. The boy sounded somewhat panicked and you knew the kids well enough to know that they were trying to break him, to see if he was worthy of being a future babysitter for them.

"I'll be there soon, give me 15 minutes. In the meantime, ask them what they want for dinner. When I get there, we'll order it," you replied, smiling to yourself.

You could faintly hear a sigh of relief before the boy spoke again, his voice growing fainter by the second as you assumed that he had dropped the phone, "Oliver, underwear does not function as a hat."

Hanging up, you allowed yourself to laugh once again before heading to your dorm to get changed into more comfortable clothes. After quickly leaving a note for your roommate, you hopped in your car and began driving the route to the Gaudreaus' home.

Luckily for you, the Gaudreaus’ house wasn’t too far from campus, so the drive wasn’t terrible. As you were driving, however, you couldn’t help but think that the boy's voice sounded oddly familiar. You simply couldn’t place your finger on who it would be, though. You had met some of Johnny’s teammates at the beginning of the season, but the voice on the other end of the phone didn’t sound like Jack Roslovic, Sean Kuraly, Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski, or Elvis Merzļikins, so you were unaware of who it could be. As some soft music played through the old speakers of your beaten up car, however, you didn’t let it bother you too much.

Within 15 minutes, you arrived at the familiar home of Johnny and Meredith. Hopping out of your car, you could see the living room light on inside of the house, and you took in the sight of a fairly new Honda CRV in the driveway, covered in a Blue Jackets bumper sticker and a University of Michigan bumper sticker. You cringed at the sight of the latter, and laughed a little bit to yourself as you looked down at the Ohio State Buckeyes hoodie you were wearing before making your way to the front door. You laid down a few solid knocks on the black painted door as you waited patiently to be let inside.

Within seconds, the door swung open to reveal a a tall blond boy, his hair disheveled and his sage green eyes wide with both panic and relief. The poor boy had three kids hanging on to some part of his body, the two boys wrapped around each one of his legs, with Noa managing to wrap her arms around his neck as she hung down his back, and you recognized him as Kent Johnson, “Thank God you’re here,” he whispered out softly, gaining a chuckle and a small smile from you, before he composed himself just enough to introduce himself to you, “I’m Kent. Thank you for doing this.”

“Y/N,” you laughed, reaching out to shake Kent’s hand before drawing back after realizing he was using them both to support little Noa from falling, “can I come inside?”

“Oh my god, of course,” he apologized, doing his best to move out of the doorframe with Luca and Oliver attached to his legs. You watched in amusement as Oliver was gently dragged across the floor just enough so that you could step inside of the house. As you did, you almost immediately noticed the pile of toys and clothes scattered across the living room carpet. The kids had gotten Kent good. Luckily for you (and Kent), you had handled this situation many times, and immediately sprung into action as you shut the door behind you.

“Who left the pile of toys out, and who was messing with the clothes?” you asked Kent, who looked at you with his beautiful green eyes. He explained that Luca had made the mess of toys and Oliver was playing with the clothes. As the boys had heard their names, they both had finally noticed your presence, shouting your name with their excited voices and untangling themselves from both of Kent’s legs before running up to you.

“Hi boys,” you greeted them kindly, watching as Noa grinned at you but continued to stay comfortably in her place on Kent’s back, “Do you guys want to play a fun game for me?”

This peaked the not only the boys’ attention, but Kent’s attention as well. Luca and Oliver both nodded at you as Kent watched you with curiosity. You smiled at the blond as you wrapped one arm around both the young boys in front of you, focusing your attention back on them, “Okay then, this is what’s going to happen. You boys have to pay close attention to the directions in order to play, alright?” you paused as you waited for a response from the boys. When both of them nodded their heads, you continued, “Kent’s going to grab two buckets from the other room, and when he gets back, we’re gonna see who can put all of the toys and clothes away the fastest. The winner gets to pick the movie after dinner, okay?”

Luca and Oliver both nodded excitedly as you watched Kent disappear from the room, reappearing 30 seconds later with two bins. You told Luca to go by the toy pile and Oliver to go by the pile of clothes as you placed the two containers in front of each of them. Sitting down on the couch with Kent and Noa next to you, you and Kent each pulled out your phone to time the boys. Kent was in charge of timing Luca and you were in charge of timing Oliver. You had assigned the responsibility of telling the boys when to go to Noa, who wanted to be involved somehow. As soon as she had yelled, “3…2…1… go!” you and Kent had started the timers and the boys were off.

As the boys moved as hurriedly as a three year old and two year old could, you turned your head to Kent, “What did they say they wanted for dinner?” you asked, moving to wrap an arm around Noa as the young girl cuddled into your side.

“The boys were very enthusiastic about pizza,” Kent replied, and you nodded. This was a common occurrence. You also knew that Noa wasn’t as enthusiastic about pizza and would prefer some other meal. Turning to her side, you told her that you and Kent were going to order pizza for dinner and asked her what she wanted instead.

“Could I get ‘ghetti?” she asked, and you nodded, knowing that she meant spaghetti. She thanked you quietly as you heard Kent yell out, “done!” and you looked up to see that Luca had finished putting his toys away. He cheered happily as Oliver finished putting the clothes away shortly afterwards, and you and Kent both clapped happily to reward the both of them.

“Good job, boys!” you spoke, getting up from the couch to give each of them a high five. Kent followed shortly behind and you grabbed both the bins, instructing Kent to put Just Dance on the TV as you carried the toys and clothes into the boys’ bedroom. You could faintly hear Kent asking the kids which song they wanted, all of them unanimously deciding on Rasputin, before you made your way back into the kitchen.

You sat down on a barstool at the Gaudreaus’ kitchen counter, opening your laptop that Meredith had graciously gifted to you for your 19th birthday in order to order some dinner. Kent sat down next to you, remote still in hand, and you smiled at him, “I’m about to order dinner. Do you want to look at the menu to see if anything sounds good?” you asked, sliding the laptop over to him as he nodded.

“Thank you,” he smiled gratefully and began to look at the menu. You couldn’t help but admire him as he scrolled through, his radiant green eyes focused hard on the menu in front of him. You tried not to stare, but a wisp of his blond hair fell over his eyes, and as he moved his hand to brush it behind his ear, you couldn’t help but notice that he needed a haircut. He was already attractive, but maybe that could make him more attractive.

You quickly looked away as Kent spoke up about some cheese ravioli and parmesan garlic breadsticks, pretending to focus on the three kids dancing in the living room. Luckily for you, he didn’t seem to notice as he slid the laptop over to you and smiled at you, allowing you to order a large half-cheese, half-pepperoni pizza, Kent’s cheese ravioli and garlic parmesan bites, your buffalo wings, and of course, Noa’s spaghetti. When you were done ordering, you softly spoke about the food being here in 25 minutes, but we’re cut off by Noa, “Y/N?” she asked sweetly, and you closed your laptop to look up at her.

“Yes, sweet girl?” you answered, your eyes meeting her own.

“When I done eating my food, can I paint you nails?” she asked, her voice soft, and you laughed a little bit.

“Yes. While your brothers pick out the movie, you can paint my nails.” you replied, but she wasn’t done.

“Yay! Y/N?”

“Yes, Noa?” you asked curiously, waiting for her next question.

“Can I paint Kenny’s, too?” you smiled at the adorable toddler in front of you, looking over at Kent. His eyes went wide for a little bit before you whispered that you had nail polish remover in the bathroom, and he physically relaxed before telling her that she could paint his nails too. Noa was satisfied with that answer as she returned to playing Just Dance with her brothers.

You couldn’t help but laugh as Kent turned to you, relief still evident in his eyes about you storing some nail polish in the bathroom. He thanked you kindly and as you acknowledged his words of gratitude, you asked him a simple question, “She likes you, you know?”

Kent smiled at your words, “I’m glad to hear that. I was a bit worried earlier when she originally avoided me like the plague.”

You let out a soft chuckle at Kent’s words, “She does that when she thinks a boy’s cute. Take it as a compliment.”

“I will,” he laughed, his nose scrunching slightly as he did so. Turning to meet your gaze, Kent turned the conversation over from himself to you, wanting to get to know you a little better, “How’d you get into babysitting for Johnny?” he asked curiously, running a hand through his dirty blond hair.

“My parents are good friends with Meredith’s, so we’ve known each other since I was born. She used to babysit me, actually,” you responded, finding it a bit funny and pretty interesting to see how everything had come full circle.

“That’s cool,” Kent complimented, continuing shortly after, “so are you from Columbus?”

“No,” you replied, watching carefully as Luca and Oliver attempted a particularly difficult move to the beat of the song they were currently dancing to. As you realized they were okay, you turned back to Kent, “I grew up in Cincinnati, but I’m a full time student at Ohio State, so when Johnny came here from Calgary, Meredith reached out to me.”

Kent nodded in acknowledgment, and opened his mouth to speak again, but you cut him off, “Enough about me. Where are you from?”

“I’m from a town in British Columbia called Port Moody,” he answered, “It’s about half-an-hour outside of Vancouver.”

“How’d you end up in Columbus?” you asked again, folding your arms across the counter.

“The Blue Jackets drafted me 5th overall while I was playing at Michigan—”

“And you lost me there,” you teased, shutting down his conversation as soon as he mentioned what college he had attended. You knew he had some ties to that team up north when you caught sight of his bumper sticker, so you knew it would eventually come up in conversation, but you decided to tease him about it anyway. You got up from your seat and began making your way towards the refrigerator to prepare three cups of milk for the kids, but you had to hide a laugh when Kent looked at you with very blatant confusion spread against his face.

“What?” he asked, internally panicking and wondering if he did something wrong. Truth is, Kent had thought that you were extremely beautiful and a very sweet girl, and he wanted to get to know you. Getting to know you wouldn’t be easy if he had done something to offend you, however.

“I don’t affiliate myself with Wolverines,” you commented, and Kent suddenly knew that it wasn’t that serious.

He smirked at you, “Well, you better get used to it, because you’re gonna be stuck with one for the next few hours.”

As you carried the three sippy cups of milk to the table, you knew that you had the last laugh, “You know, I could always leave. Last time I checked, Johnny and Meredith asked you to babysit, not me.”

A small smirk made its way across your face as you watched Kent’s eyes widen with panic, remembering the rough times he had experienced with the three kids before calling you over, “Fine. You win.”

“That’s what I thought,” you smiled teasingly, handing him a couple forks and knives as the doorbell rang. He rolled his eyes playfully and set the silverware down on the table before making his way to the front door to grab the food, leaving you with the job of wrangling the three toddlers. Noa obeyed your commands pretty easily, making her way over to the table, but you had to pick up both of the boys and place them into their high chairs as Kent passed out all of the food. You made sure that Noa got her spaghetti as you instructed Kent to cut up two pieces of pepperoni pizza for Luca and one piece of cheese for Oliver.

“Y/N,” Kent called you as he placed the plates of pizza in front of the boys, “Do you need anything to drink while I’m up?”

You smiled gratefully at the boy’s kind offer, “A glass of water would be great, Kent. Thank you so much.”

He nodded and shortly after, a glass of water was placed down in front of your wings. Kent then sat down and began to dig into his cheese ravioli. For the most part, dinner went pretty smoothly. There were a couple moments where you and Kent had to intervene in order to stop Luca and Oliver from throwing their food at each other, and Noa was constantly asking Kent what color he wanted his nails to be, but it went well overall. Soon enough, everyone was done eating and Luca, being the winner of the little competition held earlier, was eager to go and pick out a movie.

“Alright bud, give Kent and me one moment, okay? We’ll clear the dishes and then you can go and pick out the movie you want to watch.” you smiled at Luca, and he seem satisfied with that answer. You grabbed the boys’ plates and handed them over to Kent, who had already made his way to the sink in order to wash them. As he did that, you grabbed the plastic containers of empty spaghetti, ravioli, breadsticks, and wings to throw out and wipe the table down.

“Y/N?” Noa asked you, and you turned to look at her.

“Yeah?”

“When can I paint your nails?”

You smiled at her, “You can paint them when Kent takes the boys over to pick out a movie. After you’re done with me, you can paint his while I make some popcorn. Does that sound good?” she nodded, “Alright then.”

Kent seemed to hear the conversation as he moved back over to the table, scooping up both the boys in his arms to bring them over to the TV. You laughed as both Luca and Oliver squealed excitedly, rolling your eyes playfully at the little grin plastered across Kent’s face. Your smile grew as little Noa tugged gently on your arm, wordlessly asking you to sit down so she could paint your nails. You immediately obeyed, your eyes radiant as you watched her open her container housing the nail polish. When she asked you what color you wanted, you told her navy blue in honor of her dads (and Kenny’s, as she called him) team.

Soon enough, your nails were (messily) done. Despite that, you grinned as you gave her words of praise, telling her what a good job she had done. After thanking you, she ran over to Kent and her brothers, gently yet excitedly tugging on Kent’s arm. He smiled at her, telling her that he’d be over at the table in just a couple minutes, and she made her way back. A few minutes later, as Kent walked over, he let you know that Luca had decided to watch “Brother Bear” before making his way to Noa, who grinned happily at his appearance. You nodded and placed the popcorn in the microwave, politely asking the boys to go change into their pajamas so you could all settle on the couch and watch the movie as soon as possible. They didn’t give you any trouble as they ran off to their shared bedroom.

10 minutes later, Noa excitedly ran over to you, her hand around Kent’s arm as she dragged him over to the living room, “Look, Y/N, you and Kenny match!”

You looked at her confused as Kent put out his free hand so you could get a good look at his nails. As you did, you realized that he had asked Noa for the same color nail polish you had, and the both of you now had navy blue nails. You smiled first at Kent and then at Noa, “We do match, don’t we? That’s awesome, Noa! Now, you wanna do me a favor?”

She nodded. You smiled at her again, “You wanna go change into your pajamas so we can start the movie?” she nodded her head again, racing off to her room.

As all three kids were in their bedrooms, you and Kent were left alone. The two of you made some conversation as you took the popcorn out of the microwave, placing it into four different containers, but it was nothing too serious. Kent placed the DVD into the DVD player and gathered some blankets for the five of you, and soon enough, the kids were out of their rooms, ready to watch the movie. You brought over the four containers of popcorn, handing one to Kent for you and him to share, and one to each kid as you all settled onto the couch. Noa was settled into Kent’s side as Luca settled into yours, and Oliver settled between the two of you. As soon as everyone was ready, Kent hit play on the movie.

Within 20 minutes, Luca and Oliver were both fast asleep, and within 45, Noa had joined them. Slowly and carefully, Kent had taken Noa to her room and placed her in her bed as you first took Oliver, and then Luca. You made sure the boys were still fast asleep before gently shutting the door to their room and meeting Kent back out in the living room. The remote was in his hand and as you placed yourself next to him on the couch, he asked you, “So what do you wanna watch?”

Turning to meet his gaze, you crossed your arms, “What’s wrong with Brother Bear?” you interrogated him, and his eyes widened a little bit.

“Nothing’s wrong with Brother Bear—” he panicked, but you cut him off before he had the chance to work himself up too much.

“I’m kidding, Johnson. Put it on whatever you want.”

He nodded, but was now too scared to change it from Brother Bear. You laughed slightly as you noticed, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. Instead, you turned to him as his gaze focused back on the movie, “Can I ask you a question?”

He looked over at you quickly, propping his head up on his elbow, “Depends how personal.”

You mirrored his actions as you peered into his shining green eyes, nodding slightly as you did so, “Johnny told me you gave up number 13 for him when he came to Columbus. How come?”

Kent shrugged nonchalantly, “He was my idol growing up, the one player I looked up to. I modeled my own game after his and knew that as soon as I found out he was coming to play for the Jackets, that I was giving him that number.”

You smiled softly at him as he answered you, “Well, he hasn’t stopped talking about you since last August. I hope you know that he looks up to you just as much as you look up to him. You’re a good guy, Kent.”

He smiled gratefully at you, thanking you wordlessly, but soon followed up with a question of his own, “That reminds me. Before I was rudely interrupted earlier, I had a question for you.”

“Shoot, Johnson.”

“Do you ever come to any of our games?”

“Sometimes,” you replied, “whenever Meredith brings the kids, I’m usually there. Unless the game is on a Thursday, because my classes run late that day.”

He acknowledged your reply, following up with another question shortly after, “How come I’ve never seen you before? One would think that I’d remember a girl as beautiful as you.”

You blushed at his compliment, laughing shortly after, “By the time we get down to the locker room after the game, the kids are exhausted and only want Johnny, so him and Meredith are able to tackle everything pretty easily. So, Meredith lets me go after the game ends.”

Before Kent had the chance to ask his next question, he was interrupted by the door to the garage opening. Johnny walked in, Meredith on his trail as they smiled at Kent. When they noticed you, their eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but they greeted you kindly anyway.

“Kent, thank you so much for doing this for us tonight,” Meredith thanked him, and the boy next to you simply nodded as a way to say “no problem.”

Johnny acknowledged you next, “And Y/N, thank you for helping him out. Is he worthy of being asked again?” Johnny jokes, and you laughed.

“No problem. Work was slow tonight so I was able to get off early. And yes, I’d say he’s worthy. I think sweet Noa even has a little crush on him,” you joked, and Meredith laughed as out of the corner of your eye, you could see Kent blush.

“Well, thanks again, guys. You’re free to go now if you want to head home,” Johnny told both you and Kent, and you both hopped off the couch to say your goodbyes to the couple in front of you.

When you were done, Kent came over to you, “Can I walk you to your car?” he asked sweetly, and you nodded.

“It’s parked right next to yours, but yeah, I’d like that,” you replied as Kent held the front door open for you, closing it after he exited behind you. He nodded nervously as the two of you made the short walk to the driveway, but you didn’t notice how anxious he was. As you reached your car, you thanked him, “Thanks for this. I had a fun time with you tonight.”

He nodded, running a hand anxiously through his dirty blond hair, “Uhhh, Y/N, if it’s possible, could I get your number?”

You smiled softly at how nervous Kent was, but nodded anyway, “You already have it, from when you called me earlier. But it’s there if you want to text or call me.”

“Oh, right,” he chuckled, opening your car door so that you could hop in. You smiled graciously at him as you made your way to the driver’s seat. As you were about to shut the door, Kent spoke up again, “Y/N?”

“Yes, Kent?”

“I, uhhh… well, earlier I was going to ask you if I could swap out the Ohio State sweatshirt you’re wearing for a Michigan sweatshirt, but I already know that that’s not going to happen…”

“Damn right, Johnson.” you interjected.

“So, uhhh…” he continued, making nervous eye contact with you once again, “instead, I was wondering if next time you come to a game, and maybe the next time after that, if you would switch out your Gaudreau jersey for a Johnson jersey?”

You smiled softly at him, falling for his adorable charm. Luckily for Kent, that proposal wasn’t out of proportionality. You already knew that you were going to say yes, but decided to tease him a little bit instead, “I’ll consider it, Johnson.”

He smiled widely at you, seeming satisfied with your answer, “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight, Kent,” you replied, watching as he made his way into his gray Honda CRV. Little did you know, he already had Johnny’s contact pulled up, ready to leave him a little message before pulling out of the driveway and heading home.

thanks for asking me to babysit tonight.

#kent johnson #nhl #umich hockey #nhl hockey #nhl x reader #columbus blue jackets #cbj #kent johnson imagines #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #nhl blurb #nhl x you #nhl fic #blue jackets #blue jackets hockey #kent johnson x reader #kent johnson x you #johnny gaudreau #nhl eastern conference #kent is a cutie and i love him with my whole heart

[silly4sillinger]

"Let me up" Pairing: Cole Sillinger x Fem!reader Summary: Cole gets home from a long roadie and just wants his girlfriend.

From the second Cole walked through the door he has been attached to your hip. Taking the dog out? He's with you. Changing the laundry? He's with you. Sitting in your office doing homework? He's with you.

"Please take a break." Cole begged for what felt like the millionth time.

"I only have one more paragraph to write, as soon as I finish it I'm yours." You tell him.

You turn back towards your laptop as Cole groans and unlocks his phone to continue scrolling through his social media apps.

After what feels like forever, you finish typing your essay and as soon as Cole hears your laptop shut his head shoots up.

"Done?" He asks and you nod.

"All yours."

"Can we watch our show? Or did you watch it without me?"

"I didn't watch it. I told you that I would wait for you."

You and Cole make your way into your shared room and as soon as you got the show set up Cole laid down on top of you.

"Just make yourself comfortable."

"I will. Thank you." He laughs and you jokingly roll your eyes at him as you hit play on the tv remote.

The episode ends and you decide to go get a drink before you get too far into the binge.

"Let me up." You say, running your fingers through his hair.

"Nooo. I just got comfy. Give me ten more minutes."

"I need a drink."

Cole reaches over and grabs his water bottle off of his night stand.

"I'm not drinking that."

"Why not?"

"That's been sitting there since you got home. It's probably warm. Just let me up. I'll come right back I promise."

He groans and moves off of you, giving you a dirty look as you get out of bed and walk out of the room.

#cole sillinger #columbus blue jackets #cole sillinger x reader #cole sillinger x you #cole sillinger fic #nhl fic #silly🤍

[sunkissed-zegras]

ok so we all heard what V thinks about adam’s kinks but what ab you, his official girlfriend? 😌😌

oh my gosh i am so glad you asked nonnie!!!! heheh

i agree w literally everything that v said in that post and she literally ate with each one but i will expand on some of them

nsfw under the cut! read at your own discretion:)

i can literally imagine adam being such a FUCKING TEASE like 😭😭 he’s the type to like tease u all day and then when y’all are alone and you’re all hot & bothered, he’s like “what do u mean u need me baby?” like he wasn’t just borderline fingering u at dinner 🤨

he’s literally a munch, man will have you breakfast lunch and DINNER, he will never complain

he will eat u out anywhere 😭😭 on the counter, in the bathroom BRO DOES NOR CARE HE IS EATING IT ANYWHERE HE CAN GET IT

i feel like especially after a game or just a hard practice, he def likes when u ride him 🤗 like nice and slowwwww he wants to feel ALL OF YOU

but that’s usually how he is, i feel like very slow and sensual he just wants to be close to you and LOVE you, you know??

but other times, UR THIGHS WILL BE BURNING ALL DAMN WEEK 😭😭 but that’s very rare and only if he needs to like blow off some steam

but slow/sensual is his pace but sometimes he does go a little fast when he’s a little needy or like he just needs you ASAPPP

adam will have you literally anywhere also, bro doesn’t care who sees/hears, when the man is horny he’s horny and impatient what can i say?

he likes restraints but i feel like he wouldn’t go out of his way to GET handcuffs, he’ll just use his hands 😁

also very much a size kink cus he’s 6”2 he pretty much towers over almost everyone so like… he would def use that to his advantage 😁😁😁😁😁😇😇😇

GOD SIZE KINK ADAM IM ACTUALLY DUCKING DYING brb writing a whole fic ab this 🙃

the wheels are turning…

OKAY HEAR ME OUT if he’s on top he likes js holding you by the neck (he won’t like squeeze or anything) it’s literally just because it’s comfortable

but it’s so hot like 🤗🤗🤗

he can last VERY VERY LONG and he won’t cum until the absolute very end which means he most likely unintentionally overstimulates you but like sometimes he will do it on purpose he just likes hearing u whine under him ☺️

he likes praising most of the time but he’ll throw in a “good slut” every once in a while 😭

okay hear me our (again) he whimpers SOMETIMES OKAY like especially if he hasn’t seen you in a while bro will be whimpering in your ear but like

not the WHINEY whimpers just like a little “ah” you know?? 😭😭

hes a boob guy i’m sorry v HE LIKES BOOBS SO MUCH he likes looking at them, touching them JUST ANYTHING W BOOBS, he’s down 😭

okay that’s all for now 🌝 pls come in my inbox to expand on any of these things hehe (i’m such a slut for him)

#ev’s nonnies ✮ #adam fantilli blurb #adam fantilli smut #adam fantilli au #adam fantilli imagines #adam fantilli x you #adam fantilli #adam fantilli x reader #adam fantilli imagine #nhl imagine #nhl fic #nhl #hockey #nhl oneshot #nhl fanfiction #hockey fic #umich wolverines #umich imagine #columbus blue jackets

[fear-of-flyers]

it's all too much for me to take [the love that's shining all around here] (kent johnson)

kent johnson x gn!reader

word count: 2050

warnings: underage drinking, reader is anxious, symptoms of a panic attack (if there's anything else let me know!)

It was all too much. You were at a frat party with the team and it was all too much. The party came at the end of midterms, a way to celebrate things going back to semi-normal and everyone being done with testing but you couldn’t do it. Your original plan for the night was to stay in and watch a movie by yourself, decompress after the week, and set your brain back on the right track. But, after being begged over and over by Owen, Kent, and Briss you found yourself at a party. Granted, it wasn’t their fault. They couldn’t read your mind and you didn’t realize how truly overwhelmed you felt. But, now an hour into the party you felt yourself start to lose it. 

The music was too loud, there were people everywhere, and to top it off you didn’t know where any of your friends were. As you backed yourself into a corner you felt the familiar nerves of a panic attack creeping up. Thankfully, you weren’t too out of it yet and got it together enough to start pushing your way through the crowds. Finally, you made it to the kitchen where the boys were taking shots with some of their other friends. At first, you hung back, not wanting to interrupt their good time. You felt bad that you let your bad feelings take over and possibly ruin someone’s night. But eventually, your shaking became too much to handle and you realized that you had to at least tell someone you were leaving. Brendan looked the drunkest so you walked over to him first, hoping that his intoxication would stop him from seeing your panic. 

“Hey,” you said over the music. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna head out now. I’m kinda tired.” At that you turned to leave, but Brendan grabbed your arm to stop you. “Nooo, don’t leave Y/n.” He whined, “It’s too early to leave.” You smiled gently and shook your head. “Not too early for me bud.” You said, starting to turn again before Briss yelled behind him. “Yo! Kent, Owen get over here! You have to help me convince Y/n to stay a little longer!” Turning again to face Brendan you saw both of the boys he called walking over. Internally you broke a little more, you didn’t need to be there any longer and you knew that if you weren’t careful, Kent would be able to see how you were feeling. 

Now, this wasn’t a bad thing, but you knew that if Kent figured out how you were feeling he would also want to help fix those feelings. And the last thing you needed was for Kent to think you were weak. The two of you had been dancing around feelings for a couple of months and, with a little effort, you had kept your image pristine around him. Your thinking was if he didn’t know how fucked you were sometimes he might actually like you. But, Kent knew you better than you thought and he liked you still. You didn’t know this though, which is why you found yourself standing next to Briss, a shot in hand, trying desperately to hold a smile onto your face. “Hey!” You said, trying to sound enthusiastic as Kent and Owen slowed to a stop next to you. “I guess we’re doing shots.” You continued, ignoring Kent’s slight stare as Briss handed him and Owen their shot glasses. 

“Yeah, shots,” Kent said, looking at you, hearing something off in your voice. “3, 2, 1 go!” Brendan said, throwing his shot back rather aggressively, and cheering as the three of you took yours. With that, you placed your cup on the table. “Okay Briss,” you said, “I took a shot so now I’m actually gonna go.” You once again started to turn to leave when Briss grabbed your arm. “C’mon Y/n, one more please?” He whined. You shook your head, desperate to leave. Thankfully, Kent took notice of what was happening. “Briss, I’m actually gonna head out too,” Kent said, gently grabbing the hand that Brendan was holding. “I’ll walk you home.” At that, you, once again, shook your head. “No, Kent, I’m fine. I can make it home by myself.” You argued, pulling away from Kent and walking to the door. Quickly Kent started after you, and after speeding up once he realized how fast you were walking he caught up. 

“Y/n please,” Kent said. “I can clearly see how anxious you are right now. Please let me walk you home.” You stopped, considering your options. Kent walking you home would make you feel safer and therefore also calm your anxiety. But, you didn’t want to interact with anyone, especially not someone who could read you so well. Finally you turned to look at him and, faced with the concern you saw on his face, gave in. “Sure Kent,” you said, “you can walk me home.” Finally, Kent smiled and moved to start walking alongside you. “Can I hold your hand?” He asked, “Or would that make it worse? I know it could go either way.” Instead of answering you grabbed his hand in yours, lacing your fingers together. Immediately Kent started running his thumb back and forth along your knuckles, a soothing motion. 

Now, if you weren’t freaking out for separate reasons you were definitely freaked out over this. Not only was Kent not running far, far, away, he was holding your hand trying to comfort you. The rest of the walk sped by and before you knew it Kent was turning to you and asking “Where is your key?” You reached into your pocket and pulled out your dorm key, trying to open the door yourself before handing the key to Kent. “Holy shit Y/n, you’re shaking a lot.” He said, eyes wide, “Are you okay?” You laughed a little, “I mean not really,” you responded truthfully. “You saw how anxious I was Kent. Kinda why you walked me back. The shaking is just from the anxiety.” You explained. Your answer settled him a little but he still wasn’t fully comforted. Finally, he unlocked the door and held it open for you to walk inside. Kent walked in behind you, letting the door shut gently. He watched as you sat on the small couch in your ‘living area’ and tried to regulate your breathing before snapping out of his daze and getting you a glass of water.

You were out of it, to say the least, so as Kent sat next to you, you jumped a little. “Shit. Sorry,” he said, handing you the glass. “I got you some water because I didn’t know what else to do.” You smiled gently at him, taking a sip of the water. “Thank you,” you said. As you finished the glass the two of you sat in awkward silence before Kent cleared his throat. “Well, if there isn’t anything else I can do,” he started, “I guess I’ll just head out.” You nodded slightly but inside were scrambling for a reason to get him to stay. Secretly Kent was doing the same, enjoying the alone time that the two of you didn’t frequently get. “Actually-” you said. At the same time Kent started “What if I just stayed until you’re completely fine? That way I’m here if you need something.” You looked up from the floor and met Kent’s eyes, a smile on both of your faces. “Yeah,” you said, “that would be nice.” The following silence was notably more comfortable as you finally got your breathing in check. 

Once you were breathing right you grabbed your laptop off of the coffee table. “Wanna watch something?” You asked, opening the computer up and logging into Disney +. “Sure,” Kent said, moving closer to you to look at the screen. “How about The Princess Bride?” He asked, seeing it on your watchlist. You nodded, clicking on the movie. The two of you got a little into it before agreeing to move to your bed to be more comfortable. Eventually, you found yourself cuddled together, your back to Kent’s chest, Kent’s hand tracing random shapes onto your thigh. When that started to tickle you used it as the perfect opportunity to slip your hand into his, stilling his movements. Kent then took that as a sign to pull you in closer to him, resting his head on your shoulder. The two of you stayed like that for the rest of that movie and into the next (Step Brothers, Kent’s choice). As the end of that movie drew near you found yourself half asleep on Kent’s chest. Kent had fallen asleep about 15 minutes prior and his hand still rested in the small of your back. You let yourself drift off, happy and comfortable. 

The next morning you half expected to wake up alone, with no sign of Kent anywhere. The computer would still be closed on the coffee table, no glasses in the sink, the night before entirely a dream. But, you woke up exactly where you fell asleep the night before to Kent gently rubbing your back again. You shifted slightly, just enough to look up at Kent who was smiling sleepily down at you. “G'morning Y/n.” He said, voice full of sleep. “Good morning Kent.” You said back, moving yourself to sit up slightly. Kent moves with you until the two of you are facing each other, Kent up against your headboard and you criss cross between his legs. You stared at each other a bit longer in happy silence before Kent suggested getting breakfast. You agreed, pulling on a change of clothes and offering Kent a hoodie so he wasn’t fully in old clothes. 

With that, the two of you made your way to the dining hall. As you walked the reality of your situation came to the front of both of your minds. The night before was all the reassurance you needed to confirm that the feelings you had were mutual but you didn’t know how to address it. The rest of your walk passed in semi-awkward silence but as you made it into the dining hall you bit the bullet and decided to address it straight up. “Kent,” you started, “Can we talk about last night and what it means for us while we eat?” At your question Kent breathed out a sigh of relief, he was worried that the night before was a fluke, that he just happened to be the person there. “Of course,” he said. “That would be great.” The two of you then split up to get your breakfasts, meeting back at a table in the back corner of the room. But, despite being brave enough to bring it up, you were apparently not brave enough to start the actual conversation. Luckily enough Kent was. 

“I like you Y/n.” He said, “Like a lot. And I have for a while. And I get if last night was just a coincidence but-” At the mention of a coincidence, you had to interrupt him. “No!” You said. “Last night wasn’t just a coincidence. I like you too, like a lot. And thank you for being there last night, I wouldn’t have wanted it to be anyone else.” Your admission had Kent stoked, and you were incredibly happy that your feelings were returned. The rest of breakfast passed with fairly normal conversation. Kent talked about how practices had been going, and you shared the latest drama from your stats class. Finally, the two of you finished your meals, and as you were gathering your plates Kent cleared his throat. He seemed kind of nervous which made you nervous. “So,” he started, “with everything we talked about I was wondering if I could take you on a date this Friday.” You were quick to nod. “Of course Kent. I would love to.” For whatever reason your answer made Kent blush, out of nerves or excitement you didn’t know. “Does after the game work?” He asked, adding “I could give you a jersey to wear if you wanted.” You nodded again, grabbing his hand as the two of you moved to leave the dining hall. “That would be perfect.”

#kent johnson imagine #kent johnson x reader #kent johnson #umich hockey imagine #umich hockey #columbus blue jackets #nhl imagine #hockey fic #umich hockey fic #fear of writing #my writing #hockey imagine

[blueskrugs]

Kiss Him Goodbye at the Door | Nick Blankenburg

this fic is for me and demi @wyattjohnston​ specifically but y’all can read it, too

I’m obsessed with blanks these days, and I’m not mad about it. have fun. 

length: 4.2k words

It starts like this:

It’s posted everywhere: Twitter, Instagram, on the doors of Yost. A few fliers even appear on the bulletin boards in the dorms. Your roommate tears one down and leaves it on your pillow, because screenshotting the Instagram story and texting it to you wasn’t enough to tease you about your little crush on the new captain. 

It’s a raffle of some kind, you’re pretty sure. You crumpled up the flier left on your bed without really looking at it, and you’d texted Samantha back the middle finger emoji instead of reading the screenshot. Something, something, self-preservation. 

You know the hockey players tangentially, in the way that they all move in packs of backwards snapbacks and seem to make hockey their entire personality. You see them around campus, you see them on TikTok, and you go to games when you can. You try to avoid them as much as you can for your own sanity, honestly.

It’s getting harder to avoid them when Blankenburg’s smiling face seems to be following you around campus.

You hear Jacob Truscott talking about the date raffle in one of your classes a week or two after it’s announced, early in the fall semester. You’re the same major as Jacob, and you seem to share at least one class a semester with him. You’re pretty sure he doesn’t know you exist.

“Blanks is so mad about it,” he’s saying to whoever is nearby and will listen. “Apparently no one asked him about it beforehand, but he can’t back out now.”

You know Blanks even less than you know Truscott, which is to say not at all. You don’t turn around to ask Truscott any questions about it. 

You come home from classes that afternoon to a stack of raffle tickets on your desk. 

“Sam, I’m going to kill you,” you yell, even though your roommate is sitting at her own desk five feet away from you. You leaf through the little pieces of paper; there’s six of them, which had to have cost like $30. You’re not paying Samantha back if she asks. 

“They’re all in your name,” she says, not looking up from her notes. You throw a pen at her head. 

You never should have told her you thought Blankenburg was cute.

Three days later, the team Instagram posts the winner of the raffle. You tell yourself you’re not going to check. You last less than an hour before you open up the app to check. There, in big letters on a cute graphic is your name, followed by the winning raffle number that is apparently on one of your tickets. You carefully sift through them to find the right one and take a picture of it to send back as confirmation.

You get a “Congrats!” DM back minutes later. There’s a follow-up message about how someone will reach out to you in a few days with more information. You double tap the message and toss your phone to the foot of the bed, suddenly uncomfortable with the whole thing.

It had been kind of funny while it was all theoretical, but now it’s startlingly real. All you can think about is Truscott laughing while he talks about how much Blankenburg didn’t even want to give away the stupid date. You wonder if it’s too late for you to back out, ask them to draw someone else’s raffle ticket. Make it all someone else’s problem.

When you dig your phone out of your blankets later, you have another notification from Instagram: nblanks98 has requested to follow you. 

You don’t even follow Nick yourself. You accept the follow request and quickly hit the follow back button, too. You put your phone back down before you start waiting for a DM that will probably never come.

You’re in class the next Monday when someone taps on your chair from behind you.

“Hey,” a voice says, tapping on your chair again with a pen. Truscott. You turn around and raise an eyebrow at him. “You’re the girl who won the date with Blanks, aren’t you?”

Truscott isn’t quiet, and you know there’s a few other people around you listening in. You can feel yourself blushing. 

“Yeah, I guess,” you say.

Truscott grins at you. It doesn’t feel very kind. “I knew I recognized you! Blanks is pretty excited about it, he was showing everyone your Instagram.”

You remember again what Truscott said about Blankenburg and the raffle. The team had played at Yost over the weekend, but you’d avoided the games. You imagine Nick showing everyone your Instagram afterwards, the things they might have said about you. You blush harder. 

Truscott barrels on, seemingly not noticing. “I’m Jacob, by the way.” 

You don’t bother introducing yourself, since apparently Jacob knows exactly who you are already. “My roommate bought me the ticket,” you blurt. “She thought it would be funny.”

To his credit, Jacob’s grin doesn’t falter. “Well, I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Nick’s a really good guy.”

You’re saved from having to say anything else by your professor starting class. You turn back around. 

You escape the room as quickly as you can when class ends, desperate to not be cornered by Jacob again. You know he’s going to tell Nick what you said. Maybe he’ll end up canceling on you, after all, save you both the embarrassment. 

You don’t get quite so lucky. You get another DM later that afternoon from the team account, asking if you’re free that Thursday evening. You can’t come up with a good excuse, which is how you end up agreeing to a date at 6:30 in three days. Fuck, you don’t even know what you’re supposed to wear. 

Thursday comes too quickly. Your plans with Nick are casual, and you’re nervously standing outside of Cottage Inn in jeans and a sweater when Nick appears, looking just as nervous as you. He looks as if he’s not sure if he should shake your hand or hug you; he settles for pulling the door open and gesturing for you to go first. 

It’s not until you’re seated across from him that you realize that neither of you have actually spoken. 

“Hi,” you say, “by the way.” Your laugh sounds awkward to your own ears, and you cringe at yourself. 

On the other side of the table, Nick’s shoulders are stiff, even if he forces a smile in your direction. You can’t help but notice how cute he is still, even though you wish you couldn’t. You’ve both ordered sodas, but you’re aware of the fact that Nick’s a couple of years older than you. You feel young, small. You pull the sleeves of your sweater over your hands. 

Nick peers at the menu in front of him. “You do like pizza, right?” he asks, suddenly worried. 

You laugh again, and it sounds more natural this time. Nick’s shoulders relax the tiniest bit. “Yes, I like pizza,” you say, “I wouldn’t have agreed to come here if I didn’t.”

Somehow, the words are a mistake. Nick’s glances up at you, tense again. 

“Wouldn’t want you agreeing to anything you don’t want to do.”

“Is this about what I said to Truscott?” you ask. You should never have said that. Nick hesitates, then nods. “After I heard him saying that you never wanted to go on this stupid date in the first place?” It’s not an exact quote, but it’s close enough.

Nick’s eyebrows furrow. “Did he say that?” It’s your turn to nod. “He shouldn’t have said that.”

“Was it a lie, though?” you challenge.

Nick looks sheepish. He scrubs a hand over his eyes. “Maybe, no, I don’t know.”

“My friend only bought me so many raffle tickets because she knew I had a crush on you,” you admit. “And then Jacob said you’d been passing around my Instagram, and I was just worried about what you’d been saying about me.” 

“Oh,” Nick says. “Wait, you have a crush on me?”

You take a drink of your soda to avoid answering. Nick is looking expectantly at you when you set your cup back down. There’s a small smile on his face, the first real one you’ve seen out of him. “Forget I said that.”

Your waitress suddenly reappears, asking if you’re ready to order. Why couldn’t she have come back five minutes ago to save you from embarrassing yourself?

“Oh, uh—“ Nick looks up at you, then down at his menu, then back at you. “Can we have some more time?” he directs at the waitress. He beams at her as she walks away, then turns that smile on you. To you, he says, “Can you pretend you like me long enough to eat?” He nudges his foot against yours underneath the table, leaves his ankle pressed against your own. It’s a joke, and it eases some of your nerves.

You stick your tongue out at him. It takes longer than it should to agree on a pizza—“No mushrooms, God”— but you end up ordering a pizza and cheese bread. Conversation is easier after the menus are cleared away, and you can stop bickering. 

Nick seems disarmed, and he asks questions about your classes, seems genuinely interested in the answers. It’s easy for you to talk about the things you’re studying, and you almost forget the awkward start to the evening. Almost. Nick never gave you a real answer when you asked if he’d been lying when he’d been complaining to his teammates about this date.

You let it slide—for now. You’re desperate for this date to be at least mostly-bearable, and you don’t think you could stand going back to the uncomfortable tension from before. You ask Nick about his classes—International Studies sounds terribly boring to you, personally—and the hockey team this year, and you watch as Nick absolutely lights up as he talks about them. You’re not sure how anyone could enjoy language classes as much as Nick seemed to have enjoyed taking Swahili, but there’s also a reason why you’re in the School of Kinesiology. 

The pizza is eaten before you know it, and you’re busy laughing at a story Nick’s telling about some of the freshmen at practice from the week before. The restaurant has cleared out and filled up again around you, the early crowd you’d arrived with come and gone. You feel a little weird letting Nick pay the bill, but he doesn’t give you a chance to argue.

Nick checks the time on his phone. It’s not too late, still; you’d made tentative plans to do something else after dinner, but never got much further than that. You’re still not sure how much time Nick actually wants to spend with you. 

“So,” he starts. Here it comes. “How do you feel about bowling?” 

“Huh?” you blurt. You finally process what Nick said. “Oh, God, no. I’m terrible at bowling.” You dropped a bowling ball on your foot at your cousin’s birthday party once when you were, like, five, and you’ve been anti-bowling ever since. 

Nick’s laughing at you across the table. You kick him, and he just laughs harder. “Okay, no to bowling.” Nick slides out of his side of the booth and holds a hand out for you. 

You stare at it for a second before carefully placing your hand in his and letting him pull you to your feet. Nick drops your hand as soon as you’re standing next to him. You try not to miss it. 

“Okay, how do you feel about arcades?”  Nick asks next, leading you out of the restaurant. 

“There’s an arcade in Ann Arbor?” you ask. Nick shoots you an amused look over his shoulder. “I mean, sure.”

After another brief argument over the best way to get to your next destination, you and Nick end up cutting across campus to get to the arcade. Pinball Pete’s, Nick had called it. Nick walks close enough to you that he bumps into you sometimes. You bump him back.

It’s chilly now that the sun has gone down, the beginnings of fall in the air. You shiver in spite of yourself. You feel Nick looking sidelong at you for a moment, before he’s hooking his arm through your crossed arms and reeling you in close. You shiver again, but you’re not sure it’s because you’re cold, anymore. Nick’s warm pressed along your side, and the rest of the walk to the arcade passes in a blur. 

Nick leads you inside Pinball Pete’s with ease. It’s dim inside, lit with lots of neon and dad rock playing faintly overhead. Nick bobs his head to the music as he walks in front of you. It’s not very crowded—it is a random Thursday night, after all—but you and Nick are far from the only ones inside. Nick stops abruptly, and you, distracted by watching people flit between games around you, nearly walk into his back. 

Nick turns, startles a little at seeing you standing so close. He blinks, but barrels on.

“Where do you wanna start?” he asks. 

You’re a little overwhelmed, actually. You eye the air hockey tables behind Nick. “How good are you at air hockey?” you ask.

Nick grins at you. “Only one way to find out, eh?” he asks. 

You both step over to a free table. You watch as Nick fiddles with the buttons, trying to figure out how to turn it on. The serious look on his face is kind of funny, brows furrowed and lit up with green and pink neon. The table whirs to life, and Nick looks up at you, catches you staring. 

“What?” he asks. 

You shake yourself. “Nothing.” Nick flips the plastic puck onto the table. “You’ve been here a lot?” you ask. You whack the puck back towards Nick.

Nick doesn’t answer at first, concentrating on rallying, but he shrugs. “I come here with the guys sometimes instead of studying.” You score, and Nick gives you a dirty look. He points his mallet at you accusingly. “Quit trying to distract me.”

“I wasn’t!” you protest, but Nick’s throwing the puck back onto the table and you have to focus again. 

You both lapse into a comfortable quiet, only broken up by chirps, after that, focused on the game as the goals stack up. You end up beating Nick—three times. He beats you at skeeball twice, though, so it kind of balances out. Not enough to keep you from teasing, “Aren’t you supposed to be good at hockey?” You have to dodge Nick trying to put you in a headlock for that one, both of you cracking up.

When Nick finally feels vindicated enough by his skeeball wins, you bounce around the retro games lined up along the walls. Most of them are single-player, and you and Nick take turns watching each other play. 

Nick’s cute when he’s focused. He catches you staring more than once; he might be blushing in the dim light. But you catch him staring just the same in between your attempts at Pac-Man, so you’re even again. You’ve all but forgotten the stiffness in Nick’s shoulders at the start of the date. You even forget the reason why you’re on the date in the first place, until Nick opens his mouth.

“Hey,” he says, as you step away from a pinball machine. “I kinda promised the social team I’d get a picture of us tonight. Proof we both followed through, you know?”

There it is. The reminder that you both thought the other didn’t want to be on this date in the first place. 

“Yeah, of course,” you say. 

You help Nick set up his phone timer up in a spot with decent lighting. You stand close, carefully leaving a few inches between yourself and Nick. Nick puts his arm around you, his hand hovering above the small of your back. You smile as the flash goes off. You’re not sure if it looks as fake as it suddenly feels. 

You wander a few steps away as Nick swipes through his phone, presumably sending the photo off to be posted on the team Instagram. The awkwardness is back, palpable in the few feet of space between you. You don’t want the date to end, no longer interested in getting in and out as quickly as possible, but you’re not sure you can take much more of this fakeness.

Nick steps behind you again. His chin is close to your shoulder, and you do your best not to flinch.

“So, what’s next?”

You could ask Nick to take you back to your dorm. You’ve both played your parts for the night. “Have you ever played pool?” you ask instead. 

It turns out that you’re both pretty shitty at pool. It’s enough to ease the tension between you again, laughing at each other’s mistakes and playfully nudging each other out of the way with your bodies and your pool cues. 

When Nick finally walks you back to your dorm, he drapes an arm over your shoulders, and you let him. It’s getting late. You attempt to hide a yawn against Nick’s shoulder as you walk. Your attempt is unsuccessful, judging by Nick’s quiet huff of laughter above you. 

Nick walks you all the way to you door. He grabs you gently by the elbow before you can unlock your door. You twist in his grip to look at him. He’s standing close, his easy-going smile gone. 

It’s late enough your hallway is deserted, but anyone could walk past. See you standing too close to the captain of the hockey team. You don’t step back, don’t wrench your arm free. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Nick asks softly. 

“Only if I can ask you one first,” you counter. Your roommate Sam is no doubt eavesdropping on the other side of the door. She’s probably been obsessively tracking your location all night. It doesn’t matter. You need an answer from Nick on this.

Nick hesitates, but he says, “Sure.” His grip on your arm tightens. 

“Did you mean it? When you told your teammates that you didn’t want to go on a date with me?”

Nick winces. “I only said that before I knew it was you,” he protests. 

“That doesn’t make it better,” you argue.

“I was just worried that it would be awkward and weird.” You can tell Nick’s trying very hard not to roll his eyes at you.

“It was awkward and weird,” you point out. Nick winces again. You try to cross your arms, but Nick refuses to let go of your arm. “I spent most of the night worrying that you didn’t want anything to do with me.”

Nick opens his mouth, then shuts it again. He’s quiet for a long moment. “I worried the whole night about you not liking me,” he admits.

You heave a sigh, tilting your head to the ceiling and letting it thump against your door. You squeeze your eyes shut so you don’t have to look at Nick’s face when you say your next words. “I literally told you I have a crush on you, dude.”

You feel a hand on your face, Nick’s thumb gently tilting your chin back down to look at him. “But you told Truss—“ 

You sigh again. “He’d just told me you’d passed around my Instagram to the team, I was thinking about all the ways you all could be calling me ugly.”

Nick’s gaze softens. “I would never let that happen,” he tells you seriously. After spending the evening with him, you think you believe him. “For what it’s worth, I thought you were pretty cute, too.” You stare at Nick in disbelief. “Can I ask my question now?”

“I think you just did,” you tease.

Nick does roll his eyes at you this time. He presses closer, boxing you in against your door. “I have another question then.” You open your mouth, probably to make another smartass comment, but Nick talks over you. “Can I kiss you?”

You shut your mouth again, taken aback. You hadn’t been expecting that. “Oh, uh—“ Nick let go of your elbow at some point. You’re still standing in the middle of your hallway. You wind your arms around Nick’s neck and say, “Go for it.”

Nick grins and leans in. You’re just starting to settle into the kiss, the feeling of Nick’s lips moving against yours, your fingers playing with the curls brushing the nape of his neck, when your roommate jerks the door open. You’re only saved by falling by Nick’s fast reflexes, his arms tight around your waist. 

You turn to glare at Sam. She grins innocently at you.

“Quit making out in the hallway,” she says. “Have some dignity.”

As if you didn’t see her making out with some guy she didn’t know in the middle of a party the first week of classes.

Nick tugs you upright before letting go and stepping a respectable distance away. You huff and take his hand. He’s blushing hard, visible even in the washed-out glow of fluorescent lighting.

“Nick, this is the bitch who bought all my raffle tickets, my roommate Sam,” you tell him. “Sam, you obviously already know who Nick is.”  Sam’s grin sharpens. “Don’t,” you warn, but you are ignored.

“Oh, I know who Nick is alright, you’ve only talked about how cute he is for the last two years we’ve lived together.”

Next to you, Nick lets out a startled laugh. “Good night, Samantha,” you say pointedly. Sam winks at you and disappears further into your suite. You pull the door shut again for good measure.

“Can I see you again?” Nick asks. He pulls you in again, kissing you quickly one more time. 

You pretend to think about it. “You sure are asking a lot of questions tonight, Blanks,” you tease. Nick pinches you on your side, where your sweater has ridden up underneath his hands. “I guess we can make something work,” you say. Nick tries to pinch you again, but you squirm away, giggling. You pull your phone out and pass it to Nick. “You’re going to have to text me, though, no more lurking on my Instagram.”

Nick laughs, but does as he’s told. He kisses you against the door one last time before he leaves for good measure.

You’re waiting for class to start the next morning when your phone lights up with a bunch of notifications: umichhockey has tagged you in a post, nblanks98 mentioned you on their story, and a text from Sam with a picture—judging by the image preview, you’re pretty sure you know what it is.

You click on the notification for Nick’s story. He’s reposted the hockey team’s post, the photo you took at the arcade the night before. He’s added his own caption—same time next week??—followed by a string of emojis that probably only makes sense to Nick. 

You click through to the post so you can like it, then swipe backwards, back to Nick’s story. You click the little heart to like it, too, before swiping up to reply to it. I think I told you no more Instagram lurking. Nick’s already texted you a bunch of times—you’d managed to stay up too late talking to him, tucked underneath your blankets—but it’s nice to be able to tease him. Nick’s still active, and you watch the three dots appear and disappear for a second before you get another emoji, this time the one winking and sticking its tongue out.

Sam’s sent you a screenshot of the Instagram post, followed by a string of smirking emojis. You ignore her, but peer closer at the photo for the first time. It turned out pretty good, actually. Your smile doesn’t even look fake.

Someone pokes you in the back. You know without turning around that it’s Truscott. You turn around anyway. Jacob had grinned at you when you walked into the classroom, and he’s grinning at you now. His phone is tilted away from you, but you’re pretty sure he has the team Instagram post open. 

“Date went well, huh?” he teases. 

You stick your tongue out at him. “No thanks to you and your big mouth.”

Jacob looks like he’s about to argue, then reconsiders. “Well, it worked out, didn’t it?” In the front of the room, your professor is getting ready to start class. “I’ll see you around, yeah?” Jacob asks. 

You sit in front of Jacob in this class three times a week, and you’re pretty sure you share at least one other class this semester. “Yeah,” you say anyway. You know what he means.

You’ll be seeing Nick again, for sure, and you have a feeling that means you’ll be seeing the rest of the hockey team a lot, too. Your phone vibrates with a new text from Nick. You grin and tuck your phone away, finally turning around and focusing on class. You guess it did work all work out after all.

#cait writes things #nick blankenburg fic #nick blankenburg imagine #columbus blue jackets fic #columbus blue jackets imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl fanfiction #hockey fic #hockey imagine #hockey fanfiction #nick blankenburg fanfiction

[ilyasorokinn]

can i request number 11 from the general fluff prompt with kuraly? tysm!

WINSTON AND SEAN = BESTIES

i love sean sm. ty, that's it. that's the tweet.

11. "am i your favorite?" "i like your dog a bit more than you, i won't lie." (from this prompt list)

it was safe to say that sean loved your dog. more than you was still up in the air, but he did love your little boxer, winston. and winston loved him too.

which was how you found yourselves in the arena, in the media room with winston. the jackets had invited most of the players who had dogs, and winston had been invited.

you were standing behind the cameraman, watching as she tried to get winston to look at the camera, "look over here, winston." she waved her hand and snapped, but winston was still looking away.

"over there, dude." sean pointed to the camera, trying to get him to listen too.

nothing either of them was doing was working so you thought quickly. you grabbed a toy from your bag and held it above the camera.

instantly, winston's attention was on the toy, "over here, winnie." you squeaked it and his eyes were on the toy, waiting for you to do something.

but it gave the photographer the perfect opportunity to snap the pictures of sean and winston, "good boy." you cooed, squeaking it and keeping his attention on the toy until she gave you the all-clear.

after the photo shoot, you and sean were on your way home but made a stop to get some food, "so, am i your favorite?"

"eh, i gotta say, i like your dog a bit more than you, i won't lie."

"i should get another dog, and they'll love me." you crossed your arms playfully.

"who are you kidding? they'll probably love me too." he joked.

you rolled your eyes, "i'm kidding. you're my favorite." he laughed, kissing your hand.

"uh-huh." you rolled your eyes.

taylor's 2.5k celly!

#sean kuraly imagine #sean kuraly imagines #sean kuraly blurbs #sean kuraly x reader #sean kuraly fic #sean kuraly #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #nhl blurbs #nhl #hockey imagine #hockey imagines #hockey fic #hockey blurbs #hockey #nhl fic #columbus blue jackets imagine #columbus blue jackets imagines #columbus blue jackets blurbs #columbus blue jackets fic #columbus blue jackets #taylor's blurbs #taylor's prompt lists #taylor writes #taylor writes: hockey #taylor's 2.5k celly!

[huggybug]

“You’re definitely your mother/father’s child” with blanks??

happy dilf day!

Nick was using this off-season to ‘educate’ your son. He was finally at the age where he could understand and enjoy all of Nick’s favourite shows and movies so that’s what they’ve been doing the past few weeks. Everyday was the same: breakfast, playing outside, then lunch as they watched a show.

Your son loved it. He finally got to be ‘like the big boys’ and watch the things they always seemed to talk about. Earlier this week they watched Happy Gilmore and if that wasn’t an experience…

He loved the movie which obviously made Nick happy but the obsession with finger guns had become unruly. Nick had taught your son the finger guns when he was a baby; around the age where most people taught fist bumps or high fives.

Anyways, ever since they watched the movie, your son had been running around the house shooting finger guns.

“Mommy!” He yelled, running into the kitchen where you were cleaning up.

“What’s up bud?”

“We were callin’ Uncle Jimmy and I showed him my shootah!” He said excitedly, doing the finger guns which made you laugh.

“Oh babe, you’re definitely your father’s child” You say as you ruffle his hair and he grins.

“Shootah! Shootah!” He yells as he runs out of the kitchen and back into the living room to Nick.

#happy dilf day! #nick blankenburg x reader #nick blankenburg imagine #nick blankenburg blurb #dad au #columbus blue jackets #hockey writing #hockey fic #nhl players #nhl fanfiction

[cuttergauthier]

Cuddle Buddy

Female reader x Nick Blankenburg

Warning: bad date, fluff Nick

word count: 0.6k

In honor of Nick being back in the lineup tonight🥺🤍

let me know what you guys think🤍

y/n and Nick have been best friend all their lives. They grew up together and they both ended up going to Michigan. Y/n always had feelings for Nick, she didn’t think he would ever feel the same way, so she never said anything, she was trying to move on.

Tonight, didn’t go as planned, I had a date with a guy who I had in my econ class. He asked me out a few days ago and even though I didn’t really want anything from him, he was a sweet guy, but apparently going on a date with him was not a good idea.

He talked about himself the whole time, every time I was about to say something he’d cut me off, honestly if this would have been the first time, I’ve been on a bad date it wouldn’t be a big deal, but this is like the fifth date I’ve been on where the guys are just jerks.

It’s now 10 at night and the only thing I wanted right now was to be with Nick but I knew he was planning to hang out with the boys tonight. I thought I would still call him and see if he was busy.

“Hey y/n, how was the date?” he asked.

“Not good, he talked about himself the whole time. I never got to say anything, every time I tried, he would cut me off.”

“y/n I'm sorry, is there anything I can do?”

“no it's fine you’re supposed to be hanging out with the boys”

“y/n, they won't care if I leave, and I just want to make sure that everything's fine”

“I just really need cuddles”

“right now?”

“Yeah”

“Keep your door unlocked, I'm coming over”

I was lying on the couch watching TV while waiting for him to come over.

About 30 minutes later there was a knock at the door. I got up on my way to open the door.

nick was standing there smiling.

“Thank you for coming, you really didn't have to”

“you said you needed cuddles, who was I to say no to that” he said smiling.

he made his way into the apartment and we went on the couch. nick sat down first and then brought me down in his arms.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” he asked

“I just really hate putting myself out there because every date I've been on the guy just ends up being a jerk.” I said sadly

“Then don't” I looked up at him like he was crazy.

“What?” he asked chuckling

“I don't want to be single for the rest of my life Nick”

“you don't have to be, if you just let me take you out on date” he said confidently

“wait what?” was he really saying what I thought he was saying.

“are you serious right now?”

“I've never been more serious, I've loved you for so long I just didn't think you'd feel the same way”

“nick you have no idea how long I've waited for you to say that”

“really?”

“yes Nick” I said chuckling

“does that mean you go on the date with me then?”

“I'd love to go on the date with you” I said smiling

“perfect, are you busy tomorrow night?"

“not at all”

“then I'll pick you up at 6.”

“I can't wait”

“me neither” he said before kissing my forehead

#NHL Hockey #nhl fanfiction #nhl fic #nhl fluff #hockey #Hockey Fanfiction #hockey fic #nhl imagine #nhl blurb #nick blankenburg #nick blankenburg imagine #nick blankenburg blurb #nick blankenburg fic #fluff #columbus blue jackets #umich hockey #umich imagine #umich blurbs #umich boys <3

[powermakar]

I don’t know if you are still taking requests but can you write something cute with Nick Blankenburg?

So Care for a Dance? - Nick Blankenburg

I love this so much and I think it is adorable

words: 409

I'm looking to start a taglist so please message me if interested!

Waiting for Nick to get out of practice felt like an eternity, especially if you really wanted to see him or had plans. Sitting on a bench near the entrance of Yost, you look up to the sky and see dark grey clouds starting to roll in. You silently prayed that it wouldn’t rain since it was such a nice day and you planned to have a picnic with Nick at a local park. 

You cursed mother nature as it started to lightly rain but you decided to stay seated on the bench. But it turned out mother nature did not like you today and it started to pour. Quickly picking up your purse you started running to your car. So much for that picnic, huh? At least you can go back to Nick’s apartment and cuddle with him underneath a cozy blanket and watch some rom-com. 

Hearing a knock on your window you look over to see Nick smiling and holding an umbrella in his hand. “What are you doing? Get in the car!” You yell hoping he can hear you through the window. He motions to open the door and you playfully roll your eyes. When you open the door Nick offers his hand to you but you just look at him confused.

“Come on y/n! Just trust me,” he laughs 

“Fine,” you grumble. Nick just laughs at your response and pulls you out of the car. He closes the umbrella and sets his stuff in your car. “What are you doing? I don't wanna get wet!” 

“We are going to do something I’ve always wanted to do” he pauses “dance in the pouring rain with someone I love,” You open and close your mouth, twice, trying to come up with a response. “So care for a dance?” 

You smile and grab his hand as he leads you to the middle of the empty parking lot. You wrap your arms around his neck and lean your head on his chest. You can feel his arms hug your waist. Swaying back-and-forth you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else with anyone else. This was it. One of those moments where you wish you could put it in a bottle and carry it around with you wherever you go. 

“I love you Nick,” you say pulling him into a kiss. 

After he breaks the kiss he leans his forehead on your and says, “I love you too y/n”

#nick blankenburg #hockey #umich hockey #umich wolverines #fiction #ice hockey #national hockey league #nhl hockey #umich imagine #umich hockey blurb #umich blurbs #umich #columbus blue jackets #nhl blurb #nhl #nhl imagine #nhl players #nhl fic #nhl fanfiction #hockey fic #request #requests are open