#elias pettersson x oc

[laurenairay]

Déjà-Brew – E. Pettersson

Here a little fic I wrote for @ryngrvs​ birthday celebrations!! I chose the bingo strip of: ‘unrequited love’, ‘handwritten notes’, ‘mutual pining’, ‘you make me better’, ‘golden retriever x black cat’.

I had a lot of fun writing this and creating all the little things that went into it, and I’m definitely indulging in the fantasies of my teenage barista self. And yes, I definitely fudged the Canucks schedule for November. I hope you enjoy this C! Happy birthday 💛

Summary: Elias Pettersson walked into a coffee shop one morning and met Joanna.

Word count: 8.2k

Warnings: light angst, fluff, pining

*

Elias was restless. He had a call scheduled with his agent first thing this Monday morning, 9am, but it was only 6am and he couldn’t sleep. It was ridiculous really, that on a rare day off training, his body woke up anyway, but here he was wide awake with no hope of slipping back into sleep. There was no point just lying there, staring up at the ceiling either. So with a sigh and a brief close of his eyes, he pushed himself upright, reluctantly kicking the warmth of the duvet away. A brief run outside would be productive at least, right? And he could definitely zone out enough to not have to wake up fully. It was better than lazing around and he could absolutely use it to humble-brag to his teammates later – perfect.

By the time he stepped outside into the brisk September air, Elias did regret trying to be proactive a little bit, but it was too late now. He’d committed to it, and it would make the trainers happy if nothing else. So he set off, music providing the perfect backdrop to drown out the sparse early morning commuter traffic, leaving him to lightly jog down the streets of his neighbourhood in an eerily empty bliss. He knew he didn’t spend enough time exploring his surrounding area, noting the cafes and bars and restaurants in passing that he didn’t recognise, all of them still dim in the grey morning light. Maybe he should do this more often – coming out and seeing the world while it was relatively empty, cementing his place in the city that he hoped to call his own for a long time to come.

He ran and he ran and he ran, losing himself in his thoughts until his watch beeped loudly, telling him he’d run a full 3 miles; 45 minutes had flown by, without evening realising it. Elias winced as he slowed down to a stop, realising he was a long way from his apartment now, and turned around with a quiet groan to start the journey back. The sun was starting to rise now, just around 7am, so he knew the world would start coming alive soon, something he was hoping to avoid. It wasn’t that he didn’t love the fans, especially the little kids who were always so happy to see him, but at this time in the morning it was the last thing he wanted to do, to make polite small talk when he was only thinking about coffee and breakfast.

Actually, coffee wasn’t a bad idea.

By the time he’d made it back to his neighbourhood, to the cafes and bars and restaurants he’d passed earlier, he noticed one little light on. A coffee shop – exactly what he needed. Déjà-Brew. Huh, a pun he didn’t automatically hate. That was something new. And it only 7.30am, so it was too early for anyone other than office commuters to be around, which was even better.

Elias found himself slowing down to a stop outside the shop, turning his music off and tugging out his headphones, noticing there were barely any customers. Perfect. He’d been hoping for, and expecting, the warmth that hit him like a wall as he opened the door, the familiar scent of freshly-ground coffee beans, the cosy armchairs and rickety tables, and the splashes of colour in the artwork across the walls.

What he wasn’t expecting was the beaming smile that greeted him the moment he walked through the door.

“Good morning Sunshine!”

That…that was a lot of pep.

“Um, hello?” he offered, a lot more hesitant that he expected.

The girl behind the counter just laughed, smile staying present, and tilted her head, copper hair shining in the bright lights of the store.

“What can I get for you, on this beautiful day?”

Still cheerful, still upbeat, still smiling. And as he walked up to the counter, he noticed exactly how beautiful that smile was, matching the person wearing it. That was a weird thought. But it was true, all the same.

“A large cappuccino?” he asked, saying the first thing that came to mind.

“Sure thing! What name, and is that to have in or take out?”

“Elias. Take out. I’ve got to get back to a meeting,” he admitted, a little sheepishly.

What had prompted him to say that? He didn’t even know this girl…and yet here he was, blurting out things that she didn’t need to know.

But she just giggled, nodding. “Rather you than me – thank you for stopping by our little store anyway!”

Elias found himself smiling softly as she scribbled down the order on the side of the cup, her good mood infectious, something which he was sure was one of the main reasons she was at the register this early in the morning. The girl passed the cup over to her colleague to start making the order, before ringing up his total.

“That’ll be $4,” she said, that pretty smile still in place.

He handed over a $10 bill. “Keep the change.”

It was the least he could do, right? To say thanks for putting him in such a good mood? Especially since it wasn’t always such an easy feat.

“Awesome, thank you! Your coffee will be ready soon, and you can pick it up just down the end there.”

He just nodded, earning another beaming smile back, leaving him a little stunned in the best way as he shuffled down the counter to wait. He watched as she immediately put the change in the large tip jar on the counter, humming happily to herself even as she whipped out a cloth and wiped over the surface on her side that didn’t need wiping. Endlessly optimistic, a positive energy he’d only seen from Brock on his good days, and he wondered how much of it was real. Even just thinking that, he knew he was at least a little wrong for doubting her positivity, because as far as she knew no-one was watching her, and there she was carrying it out – so it wasn’t for show. Who was this girl? What was her deal? What was it about her that made her occupy his thoughts like this?

“Large cappuccino for Elias?”

He tore his gaze away from the girl behind the counter, hoping there wasn’t a tell-tale blush on his pale cheeks, and stepped up to retrieve his coffee. But what he saw written on the side stopped him in his tracks. Other than his name and his coffee order, there was an extra message…just for him?

image description: handwritten note, have a wonderful day! with a drawn cartoon sun.

“Just so you know, Jojo really is that cheerful 100% of the time. It’s genuine.”

A deep voice startled him out of his thoughts, making Elias glance back up at the counter to see the male barista who’d made his drink looking at him in amusement.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Elias murmured.

The barista just laughed, nodding his acknowledgement, before leaving Elias to glance down at the cup one last time. Jojo. A beautiful name to match a beautiful smile and beautiful face. Okay now he was just being ridiculous. What was it about this girl that had him so intrigued? Whatever it was, he couldn’t get caught up in it right now – he really did have to get going. But maybe he could come back? That wouldn’t be too weird, right? It wouldn’t do anyone any harm if he came back to see her again, right?

As Elias walked out of the shop, he caught eyes with the pretty girl – Jojo – behind the counter again, finding himself smiling slightly as she waved goodbye, and it was all he could do to raise his coffee cup in salute as he walked out the door. Maybe a little bit of positivity like that would be good for him, every now and again.

And damn, the coffee was good too.

~

Joanna watched the coffee shop door close with a small smile on her face, replaying that adorable dorky little salute over in her head. That wasn’t the interaction she’d been expecting this dreary Monday morning, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to complain.

“Of all the people you could’ve served this morning, it had to be Elias Pettersson,” Carl mused.

She glanced up at her colleague, raising an eyebrow at the grin on his face.

“What’s so bad about that?” Joanna frowned, “You were the one who actually made his coffee?”

“He’s famous? And cute as hell? And you just acted as if he was anyone else?” he laughed.

Oh, she knew who he was. She wasn’t blind – and this was Vancouver. But why wouldn’t she treat him like anyone else?

“He wasn’t here for a team thing. He wasn’t even wearing any merch. He was literally being just a normal person coming in for coffee,” she shrugged, “I wasn’t going to make him feel awkward about that.”

“Only you, Jojo. Only you,” Carl teased.

Joanna rolled her eyes, smiling fondly, and just shook her head. While she watched hockey like any other Canadian, she wasn’t a superfan – Carl on the other hand absolutely was – and even then, she wasn’t going to treat poor Elias like an alien just for the crime of existing in the coffee shop she worked in. Aside from the fact she was only working part-time around her college classes, Joanna actually quite liked working at the shop; she’d been there since she was 16 so she had the routine down well, she adored her ridiculous co-workers, and she loved the opportunity to brighten someone’s day just by smiling and greeting them. Maybe it wasn’t much to some people, but it was more than enough for her.

And if Elias Pettersson became one of those people whose day she brightened? Well, then she wasn’t going to stop any time soon.

*

“Howdy partner!”

Elias found himself back at the coffee shop two weeks later, now in the first week of October, unable to come in before this Monday morning with training and the roadtrip schedule. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the barista, her copper hair and beautiful smile, even to the point where Nils and Brock teased him about his abnormal spacing out, but he’d refused to admit what – or who – occupied his thoughts. No, this was something he wanted to keep for himself, while he was still processing his thoughts about it all. About her. Was he stupid or creepy or weird for not being able to get someone he’d only met once out of his mind? He hoped not. Even so, when he realised he had the Monday morning free, he’d made up his mind to go back to the coffee shop ahead of training later in the morning, not needing the excuse of running. If nothing else, the coffee was damn good. That was how he justified it to himself anyway, rather than letting himself feel like a weirdo for hoping for the chance to see her again.

But there she was, bright smile and cheerful greeting.

“Howdy?” he mused.

“Eh, I’m trying something new this week,” she shrugged, unphased.

There was just something about her optimism that lifted his mood.

“You can’t win them all,” he said simply.

She gasped dramatically, hand clasped over her heart, earning laughter from her colleagues and a small smile from him. Adorable.

“You are a tough guy to win over – I’ll remember that,” she grinned, “Large cappuccino, right? Elias?”

Heat flared on his cheeks at her teasing – he loved that about her, that she made him feel so comfortable – and she remembered his order? After only one time?

“Yeah, that sounds great, thanks,” he nodded.

She hummed to herself as she scribbled the order onto the cup, passing it along to the girl standing next to her before she looked back at him.

“That’ll be $4,” she said, smiling.

He passed over $10, same as the previous time. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks! That’s so kind of you,” she said cheerfully.

Elias didn’t think it was anything particularly kind that he’d done, but he wasn’t going to complain if it got her to smile at him like that. He moved along the counter to wait for his drink, same as last time, and in no time at all the girl behind the coffee machine called out his name. Just as he’d hoped, there was a message written in the pretty cursive handwriting from before.

Image description: handwritten note, in case no-one said it today – you’re great!

Elias let out a soft laugh, a small smile spreading across his lips at the little message. Yet again, the barista’s positivity was infectious. What did the male barista last time say her name was? Jojo? No, it felt weird ‘knowing’ her name when she had never told him it herself. The normal thing to do was to ask her himself, right?

Thankfully there was no other customers at the counter, and she was still standing there by herself, so Elias walked back down to see her, a knot in his stomach that he was trying to ignore.

“Thanks for the message,” he mused.

“Ah, just a little something to make your Monday morning a little brighter,” she shrugged, although a pleased flush dusted her cheeks.

So cute. So ridiculously cute.

“I bet everyone appreciates it,” he added.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment before smiling wryly.

“I don’t write them for everyone,” she admitted, blushing a little harder.

She didn’t? So he was an exception here? Well, that was good to know. Very good.

“In that case, I should probably ask the name of the girl who makes me smile on a Monday morning,” Elias said smoothly.

She laughed, but in a way that he knew wasn’t at him.

“Joanna. Most people call me Jojo,” she said sweetly, smiling up at him.

Joanna. Even more beautiful. While the confidence was still with him, he smiled properly at her, earning a wide smile back.

“Nice to meet you, Joanna.”

“Nice to meet you too, Elias.”

The sound of the coffee shop door opening broke him out of the little bubble they were in, and he cleared his throat, taking a step back to find a sense of normality again. What was it about this girl?

“Thanks for the coffee. See you soon?” he asked hopefully.

Idiot. Of course he’d see her if he came in here while she was working. Idiot.

“Yeah, see you,” she nodded, still smiling.

Well at least she wasn’t laughing at him going from smooth to foolish. That was something at least.

~

She felt like she was on cloud nine. Joanna could only smile to herself as she wiped over the counter after Elias left the shop – he’d actually come in again! And he’d talked to her, even asked her name! It was stupid feeling so giddy after such a short conversation, but damn it he was cute, okay?

“So that was interesting.”

Joanna turned her head to look at her colleague, smile still on her face even as the customers she’d just served moved to a table to sit down. Carl, her usual Monday morning co-worker had swapped his shift with Jessie, the barista who usually worked Tuesday through Friday, so Joanna still knew her well – even if it through her usual routine off, it was still nice to see a friendly face this early in the day.

“What was?” Joanna asked.

“I haven’t seen the two of you interact before, but Carl was right – he’s definitely interested,” Jessie mused.

Of course Carl was gossiping. “He’s not interested. Why would someone like him ever look at me twice? I’m nobody.”

Oops. That came out a little more self-deprecating than she’d intended it too. Not that she was wrong, but still.

Jessie pursed her lips, shaking her head. “Baby, no-one holds a conversation that smoothly if they don’t think you’re cute. And you are not nobody – you are Jojo, queen of the cash register and future empress of sociology. He’s lucky to get those cute little messages from you on his cup, let alone the time of day.”

Joanna blushed, shaking her head.

“You know who he is,” she said, voice soft, “Next to him, I’m literally nothing.”

“And yet he smiled because you treated him like a normal guy. Own that. If nothing else, it’s a bit of flirting to liven up your Monday,” Jessie shrugged.

She was right. Jessie was so right. Joanna had never been someone who viewed the world so negatively, and she wasn’t going to start that now.

“Yeah, that’s true. I can own that,” Joanna said firmly.

“Damn right you can,” Jessie laughed. “Now, where did Carl put the oat milk?”

*

Halloween was both the joy of her year and the bane of her life. Joanna loved the fact that she got to dress up and have some fun with her friends watching spooky movies – in fact, she and a few of her college friends had a standing tradition for after her shift – but it also meant that she had to dress up at work.

So there she was, waving in Carl as he arrived to start his shift at 7am, both of them dressed in full pirate regalia. That was the theme this year; all the people who worked on Halloween decided on co-ordinating outfits, as a fun way to pass the time. Last year they’d decided on superheroes (and Joanna had made a killer Black Widow, if she said so herself), with the previous years including greeks and romans, cheesy 90s romcoms, and even Ghostbusters. It was the only thing that made the working on the day of Halloween worthwhile – even if it took her a little while to get used to all the stares that people sent her.

But she powered on, trying to ignore the fact that she was dressed a little ridiculously. It was Halloween, after all, and she knew for a fact that a good proportion of their customers would probably be wearing costumes at all, so at least that was something to look forward to.

Speaking of things to look forward to…Elias. He’d been in one other Monday this month since he’d asked her name – why Mondays, she still had no idea – but seeing him for a third time this month? Amazing.

“Ahoy matey!”

Oh wow, that one was bad, even for her. But Elias just laughed, immediately smiling at her, and all of a sudden it didn’t matter that she was wearing a tri-corner hat and a billowing white shirt. Funny how that worked.

“Ahoy to you too. You guys are really into Halloween huh?” he said, glancing around at all the decorations they’d put up this morning.

“Oh you have no idea. This is pretty tame for us – and at least the theme could be worse?” she mused.

Elias laughed again, nodding his agreement, leaning on the counter with his elbows as he smiled at her. “Yeah we’ve had some pretty bad group costumes. One year was the Shrek characters. Another year was Minions.”

Damn, yeah okay, she had definitely gotten off lightly with pirates then. Although knowing Elias, he probably pulled off whatever costume he’d worn. Cute as hell – Carl had been right saying that the first time he’d come in.

“Alright, you win,” she giggled.

“It got us a few laughs and a lot of smiles, so it was worth it,” he shrugged, although his cheeks flushed with a light pleased pink.

How sweet.

“Are you having your usual?” she asked, smiling up at him.

“Yeah, go for it,” he nodded, smiling back at her.

Joanna swung her copper braid over her shoulder – still not used to having it out of its usual high ponytail – humming to herself as she scribbled down today’s message. Hopefully this would put a smile on his face too. While Carl made the large cappuccino, Elias stayed up by the cash register, the two of them making small talk about past Halloween experiences, Joanna fully taking advantage of the lack of early customers to take these little extra moments with him. It was things like this that got her through the day, a smile like his on such a pretty face, and the fact that he was willingly talking with her rather than moving along? Well that made all the difference.

“Here you go.”

Carl’s amused voice broke them out of their conversation, Elias taking the cup from her colleague with a dry laugh.

Image description: handwritten note, smiling at strangers never goes out of style.

Elias looked over at her with a little grin, making her let out a breathy laugh even as she allowed herself to indulge into melting into a puddle at the warmth of his gaze.

“You are incredibly sweet, you know that right?”

“Oh, it’s nothing really,” Joanna said, feeling her cheeks heat up in a blush regardless.

“I don’t think you realise how much of an impact you have on people,” Elias shrugged, leaning casually against the counter as he smiled at her.

What a smile it was.

“And yet she’s single as hell, such a shame.”

Joanna flinched at the sound of Carl’s passing remark, cheeks flaring now as she glared at his retreating back, wishing the ground would just swallow her up. It was bad enough that she was dressed as a pirate, but he had to tell Elias of all people that she was single? Why?!

“Their loss.”

“What?” she said, looking back at Elias.

But he just shrugged, still smiling that sweet small smile at her. “All those guys who don’t realise how amazing you are. It’s their loss,” he said simply.

Oh wow.

“Working here as well as taking full-time classes takes up all my time, if I’m being honest,” she said, trying to regain at least a little of her dignity.

“Makes sense,” he mused, “what are you studying?”

She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out why he was interested in that kind of mundane information, but his intense gaze didn’t change at all. He really was asking her about herself…to get to know her better? Well, she wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.

“I’m studying sociology at UBC. There are so many different aspects to it, like gender equality to law to race and discrimination, and I just love it,” she admitted, smiling shyly now.

It wasn’t often that people asked her the finer details about her life, especially not people like Elias, so the fact that he was still smiling at her after her explanation? Well, that felt good. It felt really good.

“Sounds like you get to do a little bit of everything that actually matters in the world – I can see why you love it,” he said warmly.

And there go the butterflies in her stomach, swirling a merry dance.

“Exactly that! Gives me a chance to narrow down what I want to do with my life, and now that I’m in my final year, I’m excited to see how it goes,” she grinned.

In truth, she was leaning towards going into counselling, having loved the aspects of those modules in particular, and she did have an internship already in place for this summer as she was graduating…so she could only hope that her grades continued to take her on the path she wanted to journey on. It was a little scary, if she was being honest, knowing that all too soon she was going to be released out into the world with no safety barriers around her – but that’s also what made it so exciting. She was going to get to explore a brand-new adventure that she genuinely enjoyed, so what could be better than that?

And if that fantasy included Elias by her side while she took that next step? Well, that was between her and her daydreams, wasn’t it?

“I’d better get going, as much as I’d rather stay here talking to you. You’re much more interesting than most the people I know,” Elias said dryly.

His faux-reluctance made her laugh – like she could compare to his teammates, really – earning a little pleased smile, and she waved him goodbye as he exited the shop. Maybe one day she’d find the courage to flirt with a little more intention with Elias, take that chance on a guy like him – could it be worth it?

~

Joanna’s words, her simple sweet words on his cup, paired with that brilliant grin she sent him as she was talking about her degree, played on his mind the whole drive to the arena, and he found himself unable to stop the smile on his lips even as the team pulled a stupid Halloween mascot jump scare prank for their social media channels. At least he didn’t shriek, just flinched, but even then he could tell the people running it were surprised at his smile as he walked away.

Nothing was going to change his good mood today. Not even a dumb prank. He’d held a full proper conversation with Joanna, finally, and he was finding out more and more about her each time he saw her. He loved it, loved that he was getting to know her so organically, and the fact that she was still taking the time to write those little messages for him? It was everything to him. And now he even knew that she was single too. Even if it was all one-sided infatuation on his end, and she was just being friendly, having these little moments with her made him feel like nothing ever had before. So yeah, he was smiling – he couldn’t help himself, and he didn’t care.

“Okay is this another prank?”

Elias broke out of his thoughts to see Nils and Brock standing in front of him, making him crane his neck up to look at them where he was sitting in his stall in the locker room. Even Thatcher and Quinn were watching him curiously from their own stalls, sending a stab of panic through him that he quickly tried to repress. They knew nothing. And they would continue to know nothing.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Elias said dryly.

“I mean, that’s more like the Petey we know and love…but smiling to yourself like that? What’s gotten you so happy this morning?” Brock teased.

“Hearing you shriek like a little kid at the jump scare?” Elias said, raising an eyebrow.

Brock’s cheeks flushed as the few guys in the locker room laughed, but he was undeterred, like Coolie with a bone. Damn it.

“I bet it’s the same reason he’s been spacey for weeks,” Nils smirked.

“You’ve been spacey? Are you okay?” Quinn asked worriedly.

Oh no. Not the Quinn Hughes puppy dog eyes. Those things were lethal.

“I’m perfectly fine, thank you. I just…”

He trailed off, knowing that if he admitted that he’d met Joanna that he would never hear the end of the teasing.

“Oh man, Petey met someone,” Nils grinned.

Damn it.

And when he didn’t immediately correct his countryman, the 4 men around him all grinned, making Elias groan. Perfect, just what he needed.

“Who is she?” Brock asked, eyes wide with excitement

“Or he. No judgement,” Thatcher added.

That man was a blessing. Not an accurate blessing, in this case, but a blessing all the same.

So Elias sighed. “She. I’ve been going to a new coffee shop and she works there.”

Cue the immature coos and fluttering eyelashes. His teammates truly were the worst.

“So Petey has met a cute barista and is getting his flirt on. Cute!” Nils teased.

“No, no flirting,” he said quickly.

At least, only that little bit of smooth-talking today? That didn’t count, right?

“No flirting? Come on, a pretty boy like you isn’t going to flirt with a cute barista?” Brock laughed.

His laughed stuttered as Elias kicked him in the shin, but that just earned snickers from his other teammates.

“She doesn’t flirt, she’s just being nice,” Elias muttered.

Their laughter abruptly cut off, only making him groan again.

“Oh buddy that can’t be true,” Thatcher frowned.

“You wouldn’t be smiling like that if there wasn’t something there,” Quinn agreed.

If only he could wrap Quinn Hughes in a blanket and protect him from the world.

“He’s right – we all know your smiles, and that was a rare one,” Brock said, as serious as he ever got.

Was that an insult? He wasn’t sure at this point.

“It’s nothing. There’s nothing to talk about,” Elias said shortly.

Thatcher pursed his lips, Quinn smiling sadly at him – only making Elias cringe internally – but Brock and Nils just frowned.

“If you want to talk about it, you know where we are,” Nils said firmly.

Yeah, right.

“But don’t give up just yet, bud. If your time with her is making you smile like this, then I would bet that it’s making her smile too,” Brock added.

He walked over to his own stall after clapping Elias on the shoulder, Nils going to his own too, leaving Elias to his thoughts. Could Brock be right? Joanna was such a bubbly smiley person as it was…but was there a chance he made her smile all by himself? Was there hope after all?

*

The weeks kept passing, and every Monday he was able to, Elias went into Déjà-Brew. He didn’t know why he made it a habit of going only on Mondays, especially when he had other days free when he could go to, but even though he spoke to Joanna a little more each time he visited the coffee shop, he still hadn’t plucked up the courage to ask her what other days she worked. All he knew was that Monday mornings were definitely her opening shift, and that Monday mornings in the shop were the quietest days, so if he could guarantee getting at least a little of her attention on his on that day then he was going to stick with it.

It made sense in his head at least anyway.

Elias managed two visits in the first few weeks of November, more than any other month so far (at least that he’d had the courage to do), and he found his thoughts growing more and more consumed with the little snippets of information he’d managed to gain about her. Joanna was 21 years old, studying sociology at the University of British Columbia, had two younger brothers she adored, had lived in Vancouver her whole life, and her favourite colour was forest green. And those were just the immediate details. There were dozens of little facts about her he was collecting like a dragon with its hoard, and he savoured them all. He knew that he wasn’t sharing as much as she was, but he still found himself talking about his family and how much he missed home in Ange, and she seemed to grow in confidence in asking him about himself too. It was everything, everything he didn’t know he needed, and Elias found himself coveting those few minutes with her when he was able to get them.

And there was the fact that maybe Brock and Nils were right after all – while Joanna was always already smiling when he arrived to the coffee shop, her smile seemed to kick up a few notches the moment she saw him, which was something that made his own traitorous heart beat that little bit faster. He knew he needed to find the courage to do more than just talk to her in passing, needed to take that next step, but there was that niggling voice at the back of his head that told him not to ruin this easy friendship they already had. Was it worth risking everything if she was just being friendly? Was it worth spending so much time caught up in his head when hockey should be his 100% focus? Was he just being ridiculous and delusional in the first place?

How was he supposed to tell? And what was he supposed to do about it?

No, he needed to stop being so stupid about this. They were just talking – there was nothing bad about that. Those little moments on Monday mornings were something he treasured, and considering that Joanna seemed just as happy to see him as he was to see her, he wasn’t going to ruin that for him. For either of them. He just needed to keep his head cool, not get over the top or overwhelmed with it, that was all. He could do that at least, right?

*

The Monday after Thanksgiving weekend was always a little quiet, in Joanna’s experience, and this year it was no different. She’d only served a couple of customers since opening an hour ago, and already she knew that today was going to be a long day. She could feel it, in her bones, and she found herself hoping for something to liven up the day. At least Carl would be joining her any moment, no doubt full of hilarious family drama stories, so she could handle the last 15 minutes on her own before he arrived. Hopefully.

Within minutes, the door opened, and she desperately tried to ignore the way her heart started beating that little bit faster. Elias.

“Sup, homeslice?”

When Elias just mumbled as hello in response, Joanna winced. Maybe not her finest greeting.

“That one wasn’t a winner, huh?”

It was only then that Elias seemed to process her words.

“Oh no, it’s really not you. I had a rough day yesterday,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Ah yeah, overtime loss. Must’ve felt pretty rough,” she grimaced.

A few of the staff from the coffee shop went over to Jessie’s last night to watch the game, Joanna included, and they’d all watched the frustrating game on the edge of their seats. It had been a tough game to watch, if she was being honest, so she could only imagine how he felt.

“You watch hockey?”

The confusion in his voice confused her.

“It’s Vancouver? Hockey is a must?” she mused.

“You know who I am?” Elias said softly.

Ah, okay, now she got it. Did he really think she didn’t know?

“Was I not supposed to?” Joanna teased.

His pale cheeks flushed, making her smile softly.

“No I, uh, I didn’t mean to be arrogant. You just…never said anything,” he winced.

Bless his heart.

“Well I figured you were coming in here as just Elias, not Elias Pettersson number 40 for the Vancouver Canucks. So I didn’t think you’d want to be fawned over, when you were just being you. Was I wrong?” Joanna asked.

She didn’t think she’d been reading him wrong all this time. But had she? He’d seemed so normal…

“No, you’re not wrong at all. No-one’s ever-”

His words were cut off by the door opening and two women walking in, new customers that ended their privacy, Carl appearing behind them as well. It had been quiet all morning and now people had to come in?! No-one’s ever…what? Treated him like a normal human being? No, this wasn’t the time for it, whatever he was about to say. Time to get back to reality.

“Are you having your normal cappuccino?” Joanna asked, smiling softly.

“Yeah, thanks,” Elias nodded.

Joanna chewed her bottom lip as she scribbled on the order, hesitating before writing today’s message. Hopefully she wasn’t coming across as too forward. Hopefully she wasn’t being too much. She stayed silent as she quickly made his cappuccino, Carl still signing in for the day, as Elias moved along the counter, but she kept glancing over at him, watching his exhausted figure as closely as she could. When she finally put the lid on the coffee cup and passed it over, she didn’t move away from her spot, waiting for Elias to pick up his coffee order with bated breath.

Image description: handwritten note, stop to take a minute and breathe, with a drawn heart.

His cheeks flushed a light pink again, and he immediately looked over to her, smiling softly in a way that made her heart skip a beat.

“Thank you, Joanna,” he murmured.

“Any time, Elias,” she murmured in response.

She ignored Carl standing next to her as she watched Elias walk out of the shop a little hopelessly, butterflies making havoc in her stomach.

“Oh Jojo, you’ve got it bad,” Carl teased.

“You have no idea,” she sighed, moving back to the register.

~

Elias slumped down onto Brock’s sofa as soon as he arrived at his house, ignoring Nils staring at him from across the room as Milo immediately curled up next to him, head resting on his thigh as Coolie curled up by his feet. If the dogs could tell something was wrong with him, then there was no doubt that Nils and Brock would too. Not ideal. But then again, why had he come over to Brock’s if he didn’t want a little comfort?

“Well don’t you look a picture of positivity?” Brock mused, passing him a cold beer.

Elias took it without a word but didn’t take a sip, just picking at the label instead.

“Oh it’s even worse than I thought,” Nils murmured.

Elias wasn’t sure if he was meant to hear that or not, but either way he didn’t respond.

“Okay buddy, out with it. What’s happened? It can’t be the overtime loss yesterday, right? Like, I know it was rough, but it wasn’t that rough?” Brock prompted, sitting down next to him.

Neither dog moved, making Elias smile minutely, but he just shook his head. “No, it wasn’t the game.”

Nils hummed sitting down in the armchair on his other side, leaning forward on his elbows to look at Elias critically for a few moments.

“It’s the coffee shop girl, isn’t it?” he eventually said.

There was no teasing in his tone, no jokes to be made that would’ve riled Elias up, but he still sighed, finally taking a sip of the beer that Brock had given him.

“Oh Petey, she didn’t turn you down, did she?” Brock winced.

Hah, that would require Elias to actually ask her out.

“I didn’t ask her out. It’s just…she’s so sweet. And kind. And smiley and positive and happy, and I don’t think she’s interested in me at all,” Elias mumbled.

There it was, all out in the open, vulnerable for his two closest teammates to see. It made him a little nervous to expose himself like that, if he was being honest, but it was done now. He couldn’t take it back. All he could do was avoid their eyes and focus on giving Milo the attention he deserved.

“Why do you think she’s not interested?”

“Her colleague said that she’s super positive and friendly 100% of the time. That was one of the first things I learned about her, so I don’t know if it’s just me reading into things wrong,” Elias explained sadly.

At this point, Elias didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. His head was swirling with all the interactions they’d had, and he hated that he couldn’t trust his gut instinct, couldn’t believe all the wonderful conversations they’d had. What was wrong with him?

“What aren’t you telling us?” Brock said softly.

“What?” he said, frowning.

“What’s caught your eye about this girl that you haven’t mentioned before?” Brock said, “There’s something, I can tell.”

Elias chewed his bottom lip absent-mindedly, before deciding to just tell them everything. What could it really hurt, at this point.

“Joanna writes messages on my coffee cups. Like, sweet little phrases, just to make me smile. And she told me herself that she doesn’t write them for just anyone. And we’ve been talking, more and more each time I’ve gone in there – she’s so smart, and sweet, and kind, and she’s just so interesting. But I don’t know if I’m just creating this fantasy in my head because she’s kind of perfect to me.”

He lifted his eyes to see Brock mouthing the word ‘perfect’ to himself, eyes wide like he was a little stunned. He didn’t bother looking over to Nils, dreading his reaction to his outburst. It wasn’t like he talked about his feelings like this on a normal basis, and to be honest, he was kind of regretting talking about it at all.

“Maybe she’s just hard to read? Like, you’re really difficult to read and your face is full of the exact emotions you’re feeling all the time,” Nils suggested.

Was that an insult? He wasn’t sure at this point. It wasn’t like he could hide his resting bitch face, but he didn’t think he’d been doing that around Joanna.

“I don’t think she’s hard to read,” he sighed, “But maybe I just suck at reading how people truly feel. Vancouver is different to Ange. People act differently here.”

Wasn’t that the truth.

“Petey, have you even actively flirted?” Brock asked, raising an eyebrow.

“What?”

“You are a bit of a grumpy cat,” Nils agreed, “Maybe you think you’ve been flirting but she doesn’t know you’ve been flirting.”

He cursed the day that Nils discovered North American memes.

“Bud, you’ve got to make a move,” Brock said firmly, bringing Elias’s attention back to him.

“Oh my god it’s her place of work. I’m not going to be a creep,” Elias shot back.

But Brock just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Not like, grab her and kiss her because, ew, consent. I meant like, making a statement. Doing something bold.”

Elias pursed his lips in a frown, mulling over Brock’s words as he took a sip of beer to buy himself some time to think. Doing something bold? Like what? He wasn’t exactly a bold move person – he was chill, cool, casual, no pressure. Something like that was the opposite of his usual persona…but maybe Joanna was worth pushing the boat out? Especially after such a sweet message this morning?

“What could I even do?”

The grins that spread over Nils’ and Brock’s faces sent an unsettled pang through his body, but he ignored his flight response just this one time.

“Okay, so I have some ideas…”

*

Halfway through December – well, the 11th – and it was officially two weeks too long since Joanna had taken a chance on being vulnerable with Elias, since he found out that she’d known who he was the whole time. The more time that passed, the more she regretted every moment of that encounter, especially the little heart she’d put on the cup. It was beyond unprofessional, even as friendly as the two of them had gotten, and she hated the thought of him avoiding coming into the shop just because she’d been dumb for a few minutes.

Was she thinking too much into it? It wasn’t like he’d done anything other than lightly flirting with her – he could’ve just been passing the time of day, not slipping into dangerous feelings territory like she was. And even just thinking like that made her cringe, made her feel like an idiot, but she couldn’t help it. All she ever wanted to do was make people smile, and the thought of Elias potentially feeling too awkward around her now? No, she couldn’t face that.

All she could hope was that he would eventually come back into Déjà-Brew, to give her a chance to get them, and herself, back to a bit of normality. Was that too much to ask?

Thankfully, while she was still working out the front of the shop by herself just before 7am, Elias walked through the front door, hesitant smile on his face. Okay, play it cool. She could play it cool, just be friendly, be her usual positive cheerful self. It wasn’t that hard.

“What’s up buttercup?”

Aggressively normal. Ouch. By the slight crease in his brow, even Elias could tell that her positivity was a bit forced this Monday morning, and Joanna internally grimaced for even feeling like she had to overcompensate for how vulnerable she got last time he came in. But what else could she do?

“Are you having your usual cappuccino?” she asked, smiling a little less intensely.

She wasn’t sure why she had to ask that. He always said yes, always said the same thing. But it just felt like part of the routine they had, and she didn’t want to change of that if she didn’t have to. She just wanted things to be normal.

“Yes. But, um, I have this now,” Elias murmured.

He seemed to hesitate slightly, before he pulled a reusable to-go cup out of his coat pocket. What was all of that about not changing routines? About being normal?

Joanna felt her heart break a little bit as she looked down at the to-go cup he’d placed on the counter in front of her, realising he didn’t want her handwritten note this time. That’s what this was about, right? Message received. She didn’t think that she’d crossed the line last time – he hadn’t seemed offended or awkward with it – but clearly she’d crossed a line. Message received. Silently, she picked up the travel mug, biting her bottom lip in humiliation…until she noticed there was already a note on a sticky label on the cup.

Image description: handwritten note, I like you a latte.

Her lips parted in surprise, not daring to glance up at the guy in question. He specifically wrote this…for her to see? He wrote a coffee pun, just for her?

“It was a close call between you mocha me smile and where have you bean all my life?”

His voice broke her out of her stunned thoughts, and she finally looked up at him to see him smiling shyly at her.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh wow. That…that was unexpected. Wow. Butterflies dared to dance in her stomach, excitement soared through her blood, but she tried valiantly to push them down.

“You really put the effort in there, huh?” she said, smiling softly back at him.

“You’re worth the possible soul-destroying rejection,” Elias mused, shrugging.

Rejection?

“What?” she asked, confused.

Elias sighed softly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, before he took a shaky breath. “I know that I’m hard to read, and maybe I’ve been watching too many CW shows with Brock, but I figured that if I don’t take a shot here then I’m an idiot.”

“Elias…” she breathed, trailing off.

He just smiled wryly at her, cheeks a little flushed but seemingly undeterred.

“You make my Monday mornings better. You make me better. And I really hope I’m not reading things wrong and being a pressurising creep in your place of work…but would you like to go out with me some time?”

Her lips parted in surprise, but that didn’t stop a wide smile spreading across her face.

“Oh my god. Wow. I, uh, absolutely,” she said, nodding, laughing a little incredulously, “I would definitely like to go out with you.”

Did she just say that? Did she really just say that?

The look of relief that spread across Elias’s face made her smile even more, and as he sent her a beaming smile back, her heartbeat started to race. No wonder he smiled like that so rarely – it was a danger to society, clearly.

“Really?” he asked, sounding like he didn’t quite believe his luck.

What a ridiculous notion.

“Really,” she nodded, her smile a little shyer now. “I never thought someone like you would ever been interested in regular old me.”

“Well regular old me, I’m Just Elias in here, remember?” he mused.

She laughed at his teasing smile, nodding at the use of her own words.

“Alright Just Elias, it’s a date,” Joanna said happily.

As he passed her his phone for her to input her phone number – and wasn’t that a concept she never imagined happening – she ignored Carl smugly collecting money from their colleagues, too consumed with the giddiness of Elias actually asking her out. He asked her out. She was going on a date with Elias Pettersson. No, Just Elias, just Elias the guy that made Mondays her favourite day of the week.

“There, now you have my number too,” Elias said, smiling sweetly at her.

Joanna smiled sweetly back at him as her phone buzzed in her pocket, just nodding.

“I look forward to seeing what you plan for our date,” Joanna said, taking a chance on flirting a little harder than usual.

The intensity in Elias’s gaze made butterflies tease at her stomach.

“I look forward to taking you on your last first date,” he said smoothly.

That concept, paired with his slight smirk, made her head spin and the butterflies riot. Now she really couldn’t wait for their date. “That’s a pretty bold statement, Elias,” she said softly, smile tugging at her lips.

“Being bold got me your number, didn’t it?” he mused, although his cheeks flushed slightly.

She couldn’t argue with that. Both of them stepping out of their comfort zones had gotten them where they were right now, and quite honestly, she was thankful for it. Never had she so openly flirted with anyone, and she could imagine he rarely took the chance that he had taken with her. So if being bold was the way to go? Well, she couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

#my writing #elias pettersson fic #happy birthday c! #elias pettersson imagine #elias pettersson x oc #elias pettersson fanfic #nhl writing #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey writing #hockey fic #hockey imagine #c’sbirthdaybingo

[butterflyintochains]

Bubble Playoff Boredom

In which Elias is in Edmonton for the 2020 Bubble playoffs, and his girlfriend is bored out of her mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elias left yesterday for the return to play in Edmonton. He's been so bored over lockdown without being able to skate or play hockey, so she's glad he can get back to what he does best. Joanna, however, always had something to do. Studying, student union zoom meetings, the odd online chess tournament. They both have just moved into their first home together, a lovely condo roughly in between Rogers Arena and UBC, so have been constantly working on getting the place ship shape for their needs. Now, she's the one left at loose ends. Potentially two months without him, and unable to just hop in the car to visit her friends and family are going to fucking suck. Ever an early bird, Joanna is up at eight, and gets ready for her day. She eats her breakfast, and looks around the condo for anything that needs to be done. She hones in on the bookcase, and decides to rearrange it. Putting her university and non-fiction books on the bottom shelves, all arranged by author, and their novels closer to the top. She keeps the middle shelf for trinkets and pictures, as well as Elias' various hockey mementos. ''Much better.''

That takes her until just before lunch, she didn't know quite how many books she had until now. Next, she makes herself some lunch, and watches something on Netflix. Elias said he'd call her every night, so she has a bunch of time to kill. ''Right, what next?'' She says to herself. Eyeing up her knitting baskets, Joanna sorts through her projects, and places the finished ones in a separate basket. Her needles and crochet hooks are in a box in her desk drawer upstairs. Her unfinished projects are put in another basket, and she sorts her wools out, arranging them neatly into colours and types. She spends the rest of the day getting some of her projects finished, Elias' gloves for winter don't take long, neither do hers. A hat for her friend Jonathan is a quick finish as well, and goes in a special gift bag for him with Chelsea's scarf. Those take her until dinner. She eats, watches some tv, and goes to get ready for bed.

Finally, she gets her facetime with her boyfriend. She almost wants to cry at seeing him again. ''Hi, sweetheart, how are you?'' She asks, relaxing into her pillows. ''Bored senseless, alskling, you?'' Joanna sips her water. ''About the same, what did you do today? Surely there's something you guys can do, right?''

Elias says. ''Well; Brock, Thatch, Quinn, and I got a Mario Kart event going between ourselves. Finished that book you told me to read.'' She gave him her Dark Tower books by Stephen King for the bubble. ''Really? Did you like it?''

Elias nods, earnest as always. ''Yeah, I did. I'll crack open the next one tomorrow after training.'' He asks her, blue eyes sleepy. ''Now, what did you get up to today?''

Joanna says. ''Well, I sorted our bookcase out finally, and got my knitting stuff in order. My desk is a disaster, so that's tomorrow sorted.'' She pauses and sighs. ''I miss having you here, Lias, this place just doesn't feel like home without you.''

Elias sighs as well, running his free hand through his silver blond hair. ''I know, Anna, I know. Believe me, I'm no happier about this than you are. Just, try and sleep for me, okay?''

Joanna nods, swallowing past a tightening in her throat. ''Yeah, you too. I love you.''

Elias says. ''I love you too.'' They hang up, Joanna lies down, and almost forces herself to get some sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of days pass, and the Canucks have begun their qualifying campaign against Minnesota with a 3-0 loss. Joanna notices the day after that they need some groceries. So, she makes herself a list on her phone. Essential stores are open now, so she'll be fine. Her first time out of the condo since Elias left for Alberta. She grabs her purse, and jumps in her car. She drives down to the store, and heads inside, it is unfairly hot today. The store is all but empty, only staff and a few other shoppers milling about. She swings by the produce section for more fruits and veggies, then grabs some chicken breast and smoked salmon. Next, the dairy aisle for more milk and yoghurt. In the hygiene section, she bumps into her best friend. ''Tessa, oh my God, you are a sight for sore eyes.''

Theresa laughs behind her tiger print mask. ''Bored at home alone, Anna?'' They chat while six feet apart, the two little girls who lived in each other's pockets for two decades. ''God, yeah, with Elias out of town, I'm just counting the days until he's home. Cup or no Cup.''

Theresa says, eyes crinkling with a hidden smile. ''Nate and I had a little wager on, twenty bucks to me if you got bored before qualifying, twenty bucks to him if it happened after. Looks like I won.'' Joanna adds some pads and moisturizer to her cart, along with some of her favourite lip balm. ''Looks like you did.''

Theresa says. ''Anyway, I should get going, I love you, bestie.'' Joanna says, being a touchy person during a pandemic isn't fun. ''Love you too, Tessa.''

Joanna swings by the bakery section for some bread and some of their favourite cookies. Then, she grabs some ice cream. She picks up some cleaning products, and goes to a self checkout.

Once home, she chucks her mask in the laundry, and washes her hands before putting everything away. Then, she finds a knitting pattern for a cute teddy bear, and begins working on it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The team go into August 6th having tied the series, and shutout the Wild 3-0, with Elias getting his first ever playoff goal! Joanna watches from home, having to dry her eyes all night. Her boyfriend's first playoff goal, and it was beautiful, and she couldn't see it in person. She quickly readies herself for bed, putting laundry on her to-do list for tomorrow, and jumps on facetime with Elias, who looks radiant. To add to the unfairness, his beard is coming in! Fuck you, Covid. Joanna groans. ''Hey, beautiful, did you see it?'' Elias asks, sounding justly proud of himself.

Joanna laughs, and says. ''Oh, I saw it, darling. I continue to be so proud of you, you know? Here's to many more.'' Elias chuckles, the same way he does when she tells him a joke. ''Your lips to God's ear, alskling.'' He takes a minute to scan her face, he knows her too well by now, when the calm sea hides a tsunami. ''Anna, are you okay? You look like you've been crying.''

Joanna purses her lips. ''Yeah, I'm just happy for you, love, that's all.'' He cocks an eyebrow. ''Anna, please, just tell me. It's okay, Quinn's asleep, it's just us.''

Joanna confesses, because he always knows how to unravel her. ''I'm just... pissed off. You scored, and it was amazing. But, here I am, stuck watching you from home. I pictured you finding me in the stands and blowing me a kiss after your first playoff goal.'' She pauses to collect herself. ''I know it's for safety, and people are dying, but, that's what I pictured.''

Elias sighs, and looks emotional himself. ''I know you did, so did I. Tell you what? That's my celly for my next goal, I'll find a camera, and kiss your rose pendant you gave me.''

Joanna beams at him, what stars aligned to give him to her? ''Sounds good to me.'' They say their goodnights, and hang up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That gameday would come against the defending champions - St Louis. Game one of the best of seven. Joanna finishes a deep clean of the house brought about my nerves, but she doesn't miss the start of the game. Bo and Perron score in the first to hold things level at one goal apiece. Early in the second period, however, Elias hammers it to the back of the net, beating out Binnington with grace. He finds a camera close to the net, fishes the rose pendant out from his jersey, and presses a kiss to it for her. Elias mouths to the camera. ''I love you.''

Joanna, barely fighting tears, says. ''I love you too.'' Her phone rings, her dad. ''Hi, daddy, what's up?'' She sniffles.

Her dad asks. ''Was that for you, princess? That celly? Your mom thinks it was.'' Her parents got her the rose necklace for her fifteenth birthday, and she's only ever removed it to give it to Elias before he left for Alberta.

Joanna gleefully says. ''Yeah, dad, it was. I know we're still so young, dad, but he's it for me.'' She watches as Schwartz levels it up again. Her dad chuckles down the line. ''I think so too, princess.'' They talk for a bit, and hang up.

Troy, Bo, and JT lead the team to the win. As Joanna is readying for bed, she gets a text from Elias.

Beloved: Grab your laptop, I have an idea.

She smirks to herself, and replies.

Joanna Rose: Okay. 💓

They facetime each other to sleep that night. Talking about the game, his goal celebration, and the series to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The series trundles along nicely, it's tied by the 18th. Joanna decides to go for an early morning run that day, and showers once she's home. Things are a bit more bearable now that they have the routines down, but coming home to an empty condo is still depressing. Her younger siblings are locked down with her parents at the manor, her older siblings have their partners. Her friends are all living with their partners by now too. She finishes eating breakfast, and works on her teddy bear again. All it needs now is the finishing touches. She sews on some buttons for eyes and a nose, and knits a little bowtie from soft pink wool. Her niece's knitted duck plushie was a hit, Rose never sleeps without it according to Edward and Cassandra. But, this one will be staying here. She may be 21, but she is terribly touch starved.

After lunch, she plays some chess online against some other players, her elo is up to 1200 now, it was a bit higher when she was competing as a teenager. She was even competing against the boys, and winning most of her matches. None of her boys have ever beaten her, and only Elias came close, mostly because he kissed her mid-move to confuse her. And, there it is again, that ache in her heart. That ache that feels so good but so bad all at once. She breathes it in, and lets it go on the exhale, he'll be home soon enough, Cup or no Cup.

After dinner, she fills up the bird feeders she's hung on their balcony. Loading them with seeds, nuts, and dried berries for the little songbirds that come around here. She also fills the hummingbird feeder with fructose water. Joanna heads inside to fetch her book, and reads the evening away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Canucks take a 5-2 series lead over the Blues with a beautiful 4-3 win on the 19th. And, win the series two days later in a beatdown 6-2 game, knocking the defending champions out. Now, they face Vegas. The day before that series begins, Joanna comes onto her period. Always later in the month, so she runs to the store to stock up. Something she could usually ask Elias to do, but he's not here. Her back is killing her by the time she gets home. So, after washing up and binning her mask, she crashes on the couch with some cookies, tea, and Downton Abbey - always a comfort show for her. Life must have been similar for her family back then, an old money family needing to adapt to an evolving world. She's always wondered what her great-grandparents and their parents must have been experiencing. But, she'd say they've adapted pretty well.

She has her laptop facetime in bed with Elias that night. He looks so excited to have won the St Louis series, and a bit tired from training today as well. ''How are you guys holding up?'' She asks him.

Elias yawns. ''I think we're okay, Rouss has been getting extra physio, so has Motter. but, We're doing good, so far. How are you? It'll be that time of the month, won't it?''

Joanna smiles, placing a hand on her lower abdomen to calm a cramp down. ''Yeah, it started literally today.''

Elias tells her. ''The boys miss you too, Quinn and Brock especially.'' Joanna sniffles, hoping it's just her hormones acting up. ''I miss them too, it's so weird not having the gang together.''

Elias hums. ''I know, and we won't be able to have them over until at least next year too, with the way things are looking.'' Joanna gives her boyfriend a tired smile. ''At least we'll be back together.'' Elias nods, and yawns again. ''At least there's that, yeah. I love you, I'll see you soon.''

Joanna says, resting her head. ''I love you too, see you soon.'' They fall asleep on facetime again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UBC sends Joanna some materials for junior year of her degree the day after the Canucks get shutout 5-0 by Vegas. The files get saved to her laptop, and the books go on the lower shelves of their bookcase. Still no real news on how semester is going to work yet, the dean and the board are working closely with the provincial government to evaluate things, and should be issuing an email to the student body in a couple of days. She's just fine to study from home, it's union meetings she's worried about. Online meetings sometimes give people excuses not to attend. The orcas right the ship the following day, winning 5-2 with yet another goal from Elias. The next day, Joanna is up early for some yoga before breakfast, and heads out to the store quickly. She spends the afternoon reading over her course materials, classes will be online until after christmas it appears.

Joanna watches some tennis highlights while she makes herself some spaghetti for dinner. Tennis is also back behind closed doors, and the sound of it is amazing, the ball is so much louder with the empty stadium. She's played to very few people on various ocassions, mostly in high school, and the sound is so familiar. She eats while watching tennis, and goes to bed at ten like she always does. She and Elias fall asleep together over zoom again, not knowing when they'll be back in the same bed together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vegas win two in a row to take the series lead over the coming days, Marc-Andre Fleury standing on his head in game four. Joanna spends the day of the 31st of August baking, muffins and cookies are in the oven, and she tidies up after setting a timer. There should be enough there for at least a week. She also goes over some notes for a Student Union meeting for the 9th of September, their first of the new year.

While she's cleaning up the living room, the timer dings, and she takes her muffins and cookies out of the oven to cool off. Everything is baked all the way through. She gets a call from her friend Genevieve. ''Hi, Genna, how are you?''

Genevieve says. ''Hi, Anna. I'm good, Natalia is bored out of her mind, we both are. She misses her soccer, and I miss my lacrosse. How are you, it's been what? Three weeks since Elias left?'' Joanna smiles sadly, her heart aching at hearing about her friends having each other through this. Genna and Nat are a sports couple UBC relies on for results. ''Yeah, it's been rough. This condo just doesn't feel like home without him, can I confess something to you?''

Genevieve says. ''Always, go ahead.''

Joanna fiddles with he hem of her dress. ''I don't care about that Cup, I just want my boyfriend home however he gets here.'' Genevieve says, an athlete herself. ''I know, I've felt that for you, girlie, his place is with you, Cup or no Cup.''

Her boys fight like orcas should the following day. Beating Vegas 2-1 with goals from both Brock and Elias. Then, do it all over again to level the series a dominant 4-0 shutout from Thatcher with the offense firing on all cylinders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's the following day, while she's cracking on with the first load of coursework for junior year, that the news reaches her that the boys will need to isolate for ten days upon return home whenever that is. She rolls her eyes, and accepts the news, it's for the best. At least Elias will be back in BC. They'll also need to return two negative Covid tests. She'll need to return one for Elias to return home. She takes her deep breath again, and gets back on with her work. She'd love to see her boyfriend lift that cup, she knows better than anyone does how much that weighs on this city. How 1994 and 2011 plague this team. But, the selfish part of her just wants him home now. Road trips are bearable, but this has been uniquely painful.

Joanna stops for a lunch hour, which she takes on the balcony, and goes to get back on with her work until four pm. She makes herself a small fish curry, something her friend on the union, Rajeev, turned her on to ages ago. It's since become one of her favourite dinners, she's tweaked his recipe to add salmon instead of haddock.

That night, in bed, she jumps on zoom as usual, and gets cozy. Elias looks just exhausted from it all, she's pretty tired herself right now. ''Hi, sweetheart, how are you holding up?'' She asks him.

Elias slowly blinks a few times, like a cat would, if only to keep himself awake. ''Hanging in there, how are you doing, beautiful?'' Joanna yawns, twirling the end of her braid around her finger. ''Getting back to university work, but looking forward to having you home.''

Elias also yawns, running a hand through his hair. ''I'm looking forward to being home, Quinn's a great room-mate, wouldn't trade him for anyone. But, that is our bed you're sleeping alone in, know what I mean?'' Joanna nods, putting her head down, she knows exactly what he means. ''Yeah, I do.'' The conversation trails off from there, until both fall into sleep together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game seven is a washout, the Canucks are eliminated 3-0 in a shutout from Robin Lehner. Ending their run in the second round, a good showing all things considered, and no one in the bubble got sick, which is nothing short of a miracle. So, the Canucks must clear out the following day, and fly home to BC. Then, the ten day isolation begins. Joanna receives a text from Elias on day five of BC isolation while she's working.

Beloved: Took my test today, all clear!

She smiles, clicking her pen a few times, and replies.

Joanna Rose: Great! Do you know when I should take my test?

He must be texting management, because his answer takes a few moments to come through.

Beloved: Day nine, same as us.

She nods, and makes a note on a pink post-it.

Joanna Rose: Cool, I guess I'll see you soon! 🌹

He replies quickly.

Beloved: See you soon! 💙

Five more days! Five! And, she can have her boyfriend back from hockey for a while. Still no news on next season, by rights it should start in october, next month, but she can't see that happening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day nine comes, and she takes her Covid test after dinner. The sting in her nose and throat is the most uncomfortable thing she's probably ever felt. This must be what taking a pregnancy test feels like, she thinks as she washes her hands. The test is done, and thankfully negative. She bins it, and texts Elias.

Joanna Rose: Took my test, negative!

Elias texts her back.

Beloved: Also negative!

She's so excited to hear that news, one more day then.

Joanna Rose: When are you being released?

Elias takes a moment to answer her this time, probably just checking with Benning.

Beloved: Tomorrow evening, just after dinner.

That's gonna be an agonizingly long day. She replies.

Joanna Rose: Cool, I'll be up. See you tomorrow!

He replies, seeming excited too.

Beloved: See you tomorrow!

Finally, she's getting him back, these past few weeks have sucked being here in their home without him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She's up early to tidy the condo the next day, there isn't much to do, but she wants the place to look neat for Elias returning home. Once that's done, which takes her through a lunch break, she gets on with some homework while listening to some music. That takes her until dinner, the hours feeling like years all of a sudden. She eats a quick bowl of pasta with some fruit juice, then, she waits. Half-watching something on Netflix until she hears the familiar sound of a car outside, and footsteps on the stairs. The door clicks open and closed, Joanna springs up, and bolts through to the foyer to greet him. Elias laughs behind his team mask, and says. ''Hang on, I just need to wash up.''

He washes his hands, and chucks his mask in the laundry. Then, at long last, he can sweep her into his arms for real. He holds her close, and breathes her in, he's home, at long last, he's home. Joanna also inhales his scent, savouring the feel of him in her arms again. Her friends can never understand how this feels, her family can't either. This feeling is all theirs. ''I've missed you so fucking much, alskling.'' Elias says.

Joanna sniffles, overcome by it all. ''I've missed you too, darling.'' Finally, they kiss, brought back together after far too long apart. This is the best feeling on earth, it must be.

Joanna gets the kettle on, and makes them tea with her cookies. And, finally back together in their home, they talk late into the night like they always do.

#vancouver canucks #hockey rpf #elias pettersson x oc

[toasttt11]

five times quinn knew

One.

March 28, 2020

Carter answered the FaceTime from Quinn smiling at her phone waiting for the call to connect from Michigan to Sweden.

“Hi Quinny.” Carter smiled at her big brother, sitting on the couch in her common room in Sweden.

“Hey Cart.” Quinn smiled softly at his sister, feeling weird to be home with his family and without her, “How has your day been?” Quinn yawned slightly having just woke up and wanting to call his sister before anyone else wakes up and interrupts him, and Sweden is six hours ahead of Michigan.

“Good, I just got back from our practices so i have the rest of the day off.” Carter smiled telling Quinn about her morning having got back from her hockey practice a little bit ago.

Quinn heard a door open and saw Carter’s head snap up away from the camera and saw her smile, a smile he has never seen before.

“Is that?” Carter happily grinned seeing Connor holding something in his hands.

Connor laughed and handed her a smoothie, “Thought you would want one.” Connor soflty smiled at his teammate who has became one of his best friends the last few weeks, he saw she was on call with her brother and quietly excused himself knowing she missed her brothers.

“Was that Connor?” Quinn questioned rasing an eyebrow at the screen, thinking about how Carter just acted.

Carter snapped out of something and looked down at the screen, “Yeah.” Carter nodded happily sipping on her smoothie.

Quinn smiled softly seeing his baby sister have her first crush and he has a feeling she hasn’t even realized it yet.

Two.

April 13, 2021

Connor frowned as he watched Carter play the game even though she had been very sick the last two days, throwing up often but Connor also knew how much Carter wanted to play in the game as it’s important game if they want to play if the playoffs this season.

The Regina Pats did end up winning the game securing their spot in the playoffs. Carter also had to throw up multiple times during the game and Connor was seriously worried as Carter has barely ate anything that last two days and had been throwing up so much.

Connor helped Carter into her apartment and walked her to her bed, Carter slowly laid down and Connor covered her up and tucked her in, “I’ll be right back okay.” Connor brushed a hair off her face before grabbing the bucket and setting it next to her.

“Okay.” Carter quietly croaked out feeling miserable.

Connor opened Carter’s phone pulling up Quinny🩵 and hitting the call button.

Connor heard the call accept and Quinn’s voice come through, “Hey Cart, i saw you guys won, good job!” Quinn smiled as he was laying down on his couch.

Connor cleared his throat nervously, “Hey uh it’s Connor.”

“Connor? Where’s Carter?” Quinn sat up hearing Connor.

“Carters in bed but she’s sick, really sick. She’s been throwing up the lays two days and can’t keep anything down, She shouldn’t have played tonight and i couldn’t stop her. And she’s not getting any better and i have no idea how to help her and she doesn’t want anyone knowing and-“ Connor rushed out all those words breathing heavily, he felt his hand shake anxiously.

“Woah buddy, take a deep breath okay.” Quinn soflty spoke to Connor, even though he is nervous for Carter, Quinn was getting up and starting to quickly pack a bag, “Try to get more liquids in her and i’ll be there in a few hours okay.”

“Okay.” Connor took a deep breath slowly nodding, feeling a bit better because of Quinn.

“And Connor thank you.” Quinn couldn’t help but softly smile seeing how worried Connor was for Carter and how Connor is taking care of his baby sister.

Three.

September 10, 2022

Quinn walked in the kitchen in the morning hearing Carter in the kitchen already and saw her blushing and smiling as she held a big bouquet of flowers and Quinn could tell they were her favorite type of flowers.

“Who are those from?” Quinn teasingly smirked knowing exactly who they were from.

“Connor.” Carter sheepishly told her brother with a smile.

“They are very pretty.” Quinn nodded at his sister with a smile.

“Aren’t they!” Carter happily smiled giggling as she looked at her flowers.

Quinn could feel his heart softened seeing Carter so happy about something, it’s not often she gets so happy about something and it reminded him of the days when she was a kid and would be that happy when anyone in the family would play hockey with her and it made him happy that there are still things that can make Carter that happy.

Quinn knew that nothing in the world makes Carter more happy than Connor does and that’s all Quinn could ask for.

Four.

October 22, 2022

Carter happily smiled as she quickly got out of her gear earning a few looks because they had just lost and she never looks this excited, Carter showered quickly and put on her outfit back on and rushed out of the locker room seeing Connor waiting outside the locker room, She smiled happily walking over to him getting pulled into a tightly hug.

“Hi.” Carter happily spoke to her best friend, resting her head againt his chest and relaxing being in the arms of her bestfriend.

“Hi.” Connor grinned, Connor being home for a few days and Carter invited him to her game and to stay over with her for the night.

“Baby Hughes have a boyfriend?” Brock asked Quinn as they walked out of the locker room, seeing Carter with a guy.

“Not yet,” Quinn fondly shook his head, “He is her best friend they use to play together.”

Brock nodded in understanding and say his goodbyes to Quinn and ruffled Carter’s hair as he walked by her to his girlfriend.

“Brock!” Carter groaned and Connor chuckled slightly.

Quinn walked over to the two and Connor smiled seeing Quinn, Quinn pulled Connor into a hug and smiled at him.

The three headed to the car and Quinn drove them back to his apartment.

Quinn knew the two missed each other so he had no problem seeing them head to Carter room to spend time alone. Quinn just headed to his room and started reading his book in bed.

Carter let Connor get changed into comfortable clothes in her bathroom as she changed into his sweats and Luke’s hoodie.

Carter hopped into her bed quickly turning on her heated blanket waiting for Connor to come out of the bathroom.

Connor came out of the bathroom and quickly got into the bed next to Carter and Carter cuddled up to him. Connor and Carter started taking about everything they had missed over the last few months.

Quinn closed his book ready to go sleep and paused hearing the giggles coming from Carter’s room and fondly smiled glad to hear her laugh a lot again. Quinn having noticed Carter had been sad lately and knew she was missing her best friend. Quinn smiled glad Connor is her best friend and is waiting until they finally get together.

Five.

April 15, 2023

Connor had finished his last season at the Regina Pats and had come home for the few weeks before everything for the Drafy starts, he saw Carter’s last home game and had spent a lot of time with Carter.

Carter staying in Vancouver for a little while before Jack and Luke are done with the playoffs and they head to Michigan and getting to spend time with Connor.

Connor was peacefully laying his head in Carter’s lap as she brushed her fingers through his hair as she read out loud.

Connor always loving listening to Carter read and had asked Carter once before to read to him and now it’s something they do often and they both enjoy.

Quinn walked into the apartment hearing Carter read out loud and paused knowing Carter absolutely hates reading out loud and use to hate having to in school, he remembered she would practice with him the night before she had to read in class. Quinn quietly walked into the living seeing Carter reading to Connor and couldn’t help but smile seeing how much Connor doesn’t even realize how much an effect he has on Carter.

#carterhughesau #carter hughes x connor bedard #ch86 #connor bedard blurb #connor bedard imagine #connor bedard x oc #connor bedard #vancouver canucks #jack hughes #luke hughes #quinn hughes #nico hischier x oc #thatcher demko #nico hischier #jack hughes x oc #luke hughes x oc #quinn hughes x oc #cole mcward #elias pettersson #brock boeser #dawson mercer #tyler toffoli #jh86 #cb98 #chicago blackhawks #nick foligno

[equallyshaw]

I do’s. feat. q hughes insta edit.

—

Quinn is supposed to be like 30 here, fyi :) some random chaos lol

* they’ve known each other since they were both 15

–

@missyhughes: little missy would be shocked to known that after 13 years of not speaking to one another, we’d be reunited and married🥹🤍

Tag: quinnhughes_

236.2k likes, 2.3k comments.

@elblue6: an absolute dream!! So grateful to have had you in our lives for over a decade, so glad the stars aligned for you two 🫶🏻

↳ @missyhughes: I love you so so much mama hughes !

@lhughes_6: welcome to the fam sis!

↳ @missyhughes: 😌😌

@missysdad: so happy for you child

↳ @missyhughes: thanks dad :)

@quinnhughes_: the second pic 😇

↳ @missyhughes: 😉😉

@quinnhughes_: so thankful to call you my wife 😌

↳ @missyhughes: I love you quinny!!!

@eliaspettersson: congrats missy!! So happy to have you two as neighbors :)

↳ @elliaspetterson: love you ! Grateful for your and Kelsey’s friendship

@kelseypettersson: favs finally got married 🥹

↳ @missyhughes: hehehe

@missyssister: drop. Dead. Gorgeous. Queen!

↳ @missyhughes: 😭😭🫶🏻

@missysbestfriend: maid of honor duties have officially ended I’m so sad

@missysbestfriend: but will never forget this weekend 🤍

↳ @missyhughes: I LOVE U FOREVER MAID OF HONOR

@brockboser: favs

↳ @missyhughes: 😎😎

@kenziarkin: iconic bride !

↳ @missyhughes: Thankyou for everything kenz!!

@mandyhughes: (Luke’s new wife) so glad to have been on our journeys together 🤗

↳ @misshughes: I know 😭 gonna go cry brb

@bradytkachuk: lovebirds

↳ @missyhughes: 🤗🤗

@sashacoleman: (jacks new fiancé/ baby mama) ahhh!! love you love you

↳ @misshughes: love you too!! So grateful to have you in our lives :)

||

•

@quinnhughes_: 15 year old, freshman quinn would be quite literally, freaking out that we secured this rare pearl of a human🤍

Tag: missyhughes, elblue6, jackhughes and lhughes_6

334k likes, 7.8k comments.

||

@fanone: get that coin sis

@fantwo: biggest gold digger in the league

↳ @fanthree: lol. They’ve known each other for like 15 years…i don’t think that’s the case but go off I guess

@jackhughes: finally…took quinnie a decade and a half to realize you were the one. #finnallyhitched !

@missyhughes: 😇😇

@missyhughes: can’t believe this is real life 🥹

@brockboesr: anybody that says anything stupid will be blocked

↳ @elliaspetterson: RT ^^

@fanfour: anybody that’s says that she’s only a quinn for one reason are idiots

@dylanlarkin: congrats guys! Sick weekend

↳ @quinnhughes_: thanks brotha!

@trevorzegras: 😎😎 partners in crime 4 lyfe

↳ @missyhughes: 🫡🫡

↳ @quinnhughes_: 🥰

@colecaufield: besties

@elblue6: congrats you two! Such a great weekend…i wanna do it again ☺️

↳ @missyhughes: LETS!!

↳ @quinnhughes_: * checks calender*

@vancouvercanucks: congratulations you two! Welcome to the fam, @missyhughes

↳ @missyhughes: Thankyou, love you guys!

@njdevils: congratulations are in order for all the hughes this summer ☺️

↳ @missyhughes: yes!! Thankyou so much!

↳ @lhughes_6: you know it ;)

↳ @jackhughes: hehe

↳ @mandyhughes: love you sissy in law !

↳ @missyhughes: I love you two!! Semi blondes unite!

@bradytckachuk: 🥱🥱

↳ @quinnhughes_: suck it.

@matthewtckachuk: mom and dad

↳ @missyhughes: 👨‍👩‍👦 child

||

Random tags:

@quinnhughess @hugheshugs @hugheswhore @jayda12 @hockeyboysarehot @slafgoalskybaby @fallinallincurls

#Quinn hughes #Quinn hughes x oc #nhl #hockey #nhl blurb #nhl imagine #hockey blurb #hockey imagine #luke hughes #umich hockey #jack hughes #New Jersey devils #vancouver canucks #brock boeser #elias pettersson #matthew tkachuk #brady tkachuk #Trevor zegras

[wyattjohnston]

welcome to a winter (& loosely holiday) themed series of fics. i have been working on these fics since august, and there have been more changes to this series than i would have liked.

these 9 fics in 1 month are my gift to you all for reading my fics and hanging around 💚

fics with an (x) link at the end have OCs with pre-existing stories. all other OCs are brand new.

all fics will be posted at 9am UTC -5 (NYC time) on the day shown and represent the final (sometimes only) date of the fic.

3 December

it’s golden - anthony beauvillier & maggie fisch (x)

4 December

never saw you coming - ryan graves & isla darkott

7 December

been a long time coming - elias pettersson & joanie bachman

13 December

your eyes look like coming home - jamie oleksiak & devon abbott

17 December

i'm all about you - brock boeser & annie horvat (x)

24 December

friday night beneath the stars - kevin hayes & sofia lakeland (x)

25 December

everything that we should be - jack hughes & daisy holston (x)

28 December

remember how it was back then - jeff skinner & melanie chester

2 January

yours for the weekend - nico hischier & stef brunner (x)

i hope this is worth the week long wait after posting this, I know it’s a long time 💚

many special thank yous to @matthewtkachuk @danglesnipecelly @farbutnevergone @lulucanwrite and @hock-ee for letting me talk about these fics and for helping me out when i needed it 💚

#'tis the (damn) season #masterlist #the missing 10th fic was a Raff fic #i thought I could write it but I was lying to myself #potentially the last fics I’m going to post #that might change because I’m still going to be around to watch you guys read the fics so I might have a change of heart #but just as a forewarning I guess

[nhlandotherimagines]

Family isn’t Always Blood- Part 1 Elias Pettersson x Fem!OC

Masterlist | Part 2 | Part 3 |

Summary: Kinsey Waters, has never known family. Not a good one anyway. So when her boyfriend, Elias Pettersson, his family, and friends all start making comments about the pair starting a family of their own, she panics. Can she even be a good mother? What if she can’t? Will Elias leave her?

Author’s Notes: So here we go with Part 1! This will be a 3 part series, and it’s very self indulgent, so I hope some of you can also enjoy it! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank You!

Word Count: approx. 4.4 k

Warnings: talks of divorce, absent parents, mentions of children/pregnancy, briefly implied sexual acts (nothing too spicy I promise), some strong language at times, self doubt and negative self-talk, some fluff too of course! Baby fever maybe? If there is anything else I should be adding here please let me know!!

———

Sometimes life isn’t fair. Maybe most of the time even. I often wonder what I did to deserve the life I’ve been given. Why I was born into a family devoid of love, why my parents would bring a child into the world to live their life yearning for their mother’s affection, and why a broken family is all I would ever see. These questions continue to plague my mind to this day, but at least now I can say I know a loving family is something that can, and does, exist. 

A real family exists in the form of the Pettersson’s. At first, I was jealous of my boyfriend’s upbringing, and if I’m honest, I still am to a certain extent. Elias cares so deeply for everyone. His teammates, his friends, his brother, his parents, and honestly just everyone he meets. Including me. Although it has been hard to accept that someone with no obligation to, actually cares about me, Elias does his best to show me every day.

I watch from the opposite side of the room as Elias FaceTimes his family, and a sad smile forms on my lips. His voice is gentle, yet excited, as he speaks animatedly to his family in Swedish. His mom, Irene, obviously gushing over her son, has tears stinging my eyes. I haven’t spoken to my mother in years, not that I want to talk to her, but watching how Elias’ eyes light up as soon as he sees her, has me wishing I had someone like that. Anyone really.

“She’s coming to visit next month.” Elias smiles, placing a gentle kiss to my hairline, pulling me from my thoughts. “She is excited to meet you in person.”

“I’m excited to meet her too! Did you tell her to bring the photo albums?” I tease with a wink, earning a chuckle from Elias.

“Don’t you worry, even if she forgets them, odds are she will try and smuggle you back to Sweden with her! She’s going to love you.” he smiles against my lips as he places a sweet kiss to them. I let the stress of meeting his mother melt away as he kisses me. Maybe it won’t be so bad.

------

“Elias cares for you a lot.” Irene speaks softly from her seat next to me. The other family and friends buzzing around during warmups, absolutely oblivious to the nerves that have been coursing through me from the moment I stepped into the rink. 

“I care for him too. He is a great man, you did a fantastic job raising him.” I smile at her, hoping she hears the sincerity in my compliment.

“He is wonderful.” She pauses, looking down to the ice watching as her son interacts with the fans. I follow her gaze, and watch as Elias interacts with a little girl. A wide grin on his face as he throws a puck over the glass to her. My heart flutters and I can’t fight the smile forming on my face. “He will make a fantastic father.” 

Her words cause a wave of nausea to rip through me, and I’m glad she is so focused on her son. Elias and I haven’t spoken about children or the future much at all yet. I’m sure he would make a great father, there is no doubt in my mind. Me on the other hand? I’m sure I would be a poor excuse for a mother. 

It’s not even that I don’t want kids. I love them, and I’d love to have a tiny little forever friend, but I can’t. You see, to become a good writer all I had to do was read the work of as many talented writers as possible, and from them I learned how to be a good writer. Therefore it would make sense that, to be a good mother, one would have to learn from a good mother. Something that I have not had the pleasure of knowing.

I don’t respond to Irene’s comment, but she doesn’t seem to notice. She also doesn’t notice how uneasy I am for the entire game, and for that I am thankful. 

Her son however, knows me much better. “What’s wrong?” He asks the moment we are alone in his bedroom that evening after the game. Of course he can tell, I’ve been off all night. I shake my head as I change into a pair of shorts and one of his hoodies. “Kins, come on. What did she say to you?” His voice is pleading now.

“Elias, it’s nothing I promise. Your mother is fantastic, I love her.” I smile over my shoulder at him as I make my way into the bathroom to wash off my makeup. Elias is hot on my heels, and he leans against the counter beside me. 

“So why are you acting so…” he pauses, frustration evident in his voice as he searches for the right word to use. “Weird?”

I let out a long sigh, and dry off my face before stepping into him. Wrapping my arms around his neck I give him a sad smile and take a deep breath. “She made a comment about how you were going to make a great father.” His hands that had fallen to my hips, give a quick reassuring squeeze.

“Okay, and did that bother you?” He asks, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“I mean I guess a little. I don’t know! She’s right, you would make a great father. It just felt like a lot of pressure I guess.” I want to say so much more. Tell him I don’t think I will be the one who makes him a father, but I’m too scared. I’m scared that me not wanting to give him children will be the end of this. 

“We are only young. She just loves babies!” He chuckles pulling me tighter to him. “We won’t be having them tomorrow or anything!” His comments do little to ease my mind, but he’s trying. I place a gentle kiss to his lips, and as I pull away a mischievous smile stares back at me.

“What?” I giggle, knowing he’s got something up his sleeve.

“We could always practice the act of baby making.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, and I swat at his chest.

“Elias! Your mother is down the hall, get your head out of the gutter!” We are both laughing now, and Elias’ smile melts my heart. He always knows exactly how to make me feel better, I have no idea where I’d be without him.

“Guess we'll just have to be quiet!” Before I can even respond, Elias is lifting me into the air. My legs instinctively wrap around his waist, a squeal escaping my lips. Elias’ lips meet mine in an attempt to silence me, and before I know it he’s laying me back on his bed. “I love you Kinsey.” He is looking right at me, and the emotion behind his eyes is enough to have tears springing to my own.

“I love you too Elias.”

------

“Isn’t she beautiful?” The look on Elias’ face has my heart fluttering. Wrapped up in his arms is the newest addition to the Horvat family, Ava, a beautiful little girl. 

“She’s stunning, just like her Momma.” I smile over at Holly, trying to contain the fear wracking my body. Holly is such a great mom, and watching Elias holding the little girl so gently, has me wishing I was half the woman Holly was.

“You two next?” Bo chirps from his spot on the couch. Although meant in good nature, his words have my blood running cold. I don’t know if I can respond without vomiting, but thankfully Elias speaks so I don’t have to.

“I don’t think so.” He laughs, eyes never leaving the girl whose tiny fingers are now wrapped around his index finger. The sigh that leaves me after his response catches Holly’s attention, but she chooses to not question it.

“Excuse me.” I whisper, feeling a fresh wave of nausea, as I get up in search of the washroom. Talking about having kids, watching Elias being so perfect with Bo’s baby, the whole situation has my stomach churning. The thought of us not working out, because I don’t want to have babies with him is the last thing that crosses my mind before the contents of my stomach are finding their way back up my throat.

After I manage to pick myself up off the tiled bathroom floor, I rinse my mouth, wash my face, and take a good look in the mirror. The bags under my are the darkest they’ve been for months, and I look like shit to say the least. 

Running my fingers through my hair quickly I step out of the bathroom, only to be met by a very concerned Holly. “Are you okay?” She asked, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. 

“I’m alright Holly, just haven’t been sleeping well for the last couple weeks.” The excuse falls quickly from my lips, and honestly there is a lot of truth to it. It’s been almost two full weeks of restlessness, and it’s getting old quickly. The nights spent in Elias’ apartment, consist of him asking what was wrong, and honestly I didn’t have an answer. I still don’t.

Holly nods in understanding, and I have no doubt she understands. The woman had just been pregnant for 9 months, and she also has a toddler running around. “I hope Bo’s comment didn’t upset you, he’s just teasing.” She adds, searching my face likely for a sign that she is right about what upset me.

“It’s fine really, it just seems to be coming up a lot lately. It’s not something Elias and I have talked about very seriously yet though.” Sure, maybe that was too much information to unload on a woman I hardly knew, but I already felt a bit of the weight lifting from my shoulders.

“Maybe it’s something you should talk about, especially if it makes you so upset to think about.” The smile she sends me is sympathetic, and I can tell she knows there is more to the story. 

Thankfully though, she doesn’t press any further and turns back towards the living room. I follow closely behind her watching my feet as we walk. Holly stops short of the living room however, and I walk into her back. “Wha-“ I start to question her, but as I lift my head she stares back at me with a finger pressed to her lips. The confusion must be evident on my face, because before I can even question the action she is nodding her head towards the two men in the living room.

“She’s a good one Petey.” Bo smiles at Elias who now has the baby cradled against his chest.

“She’s perfect Bo, my Mom loves her.” As I quickly realize that I’ve become the topic of conversation, my cheeks heat in embarrassment.

I feel the urge to run away, interrupt them, or maybe just cover my ears. Anything really, because I wasn’t meant to hear this conversation. With Bo’s next question though, I’m unable to do any of those things. Instead I stand frozen. “And what about you? Do you love her?”

Yes, Elias and I have said those three words to each other many times. However, never in front of his teammates, and a part of me wonders if he just told me what he thought I wanted to hear. “Honestly Bo,” the unsure breath that leaves Elias has my heart racing, “I didn’t know I could love someone this much.”

I hadn’t felt the tear slip down my cheek until it hit the hand that was now covering my mouth. I quickly wipe it away, and attempt to compose myself before anyone sees. Maybe it’s hormones, or maybe it’s just how intensely I feel for Elias, but I’m not normally this emotional.

As Elias lifts his gaze from the small girl on his chest, his eyes find mine. A smile breaks across my face, and the whole world seems to stop. For a moment I see it clearly, this isn’t Bo and Holly’s home anymore, it’s ours. The baby on Elias’ chest isn't a Horvat, it’s a Pettersson. It’s our baby. For a small moment I let myself live in that fantasy, allowing the desire of living that perfect life with Elias to grow. 

It’s Holly’s voice that pulls me out of it, “Well I’m sure this little one is getting hungry, and I bet you could use a break as well Petey.” Holly carefully scoops the baby out of Elias’ arms, and he stands from his seat walking towards me. His hand finds my waist as I watch Holly, Bo and the baby interact. The moment feels so personal I feel bad for watching, but I can’t look away. It’s moments like that, two parents totally in love and caring so deeply for their child, that I have always craved. Parents that put their children before all else, and want nothing more than for them to succeed? For me, that’s only ever been a dream. Something only found in movies and books. The reason I will never cut it as a mother.

———-

“Thank you so much for doing this you guys!” 

Somehow I had let Elias talk me into babysitting Ava while Bo and Holly went on a date night. Thankfully, their eldest, Gunnar, would be staying with one of his friends tonight, because one baby to look after was enough. Not to mention I’ve been sick to my stomach all day, likely just with the thought of being responsible for a baby. “It’s not a problem! You two deserve a night off, go have fun!” 

Holly smiles, handing me a bag of things as she tells me everything I’ll need to know about when Ava will need to sleep and eat. I mentally take note of all the information and usher the couple out the door. Once they’ve left, I make my way to the kitchen to prepare a bottle for Ava. 

When it’s ready, I walk into the living room to find Elias shuffling around the room with Ava in his arms. He’s pointing at pictures on the mantle, and speaking gently to her in Swedish. “I hate to interrupt, but I think it’s time for a bottle.” I smirk, shaking the bottle in the air as Elias turns toward me.

With a small smirk, Elias settles himself into the armchair, positioning Ava so he can give her the bottle. I hand it over to him and sit on the arm of the chair beside him, threading my fingers through his blonde hair. He hums in approval as Ava begins drinking the bottle. We stay like that, Ava happily drinking in his arms, Elias holding the bottle smiling fondly down at her, and me playing with Elias’ hair and watching them both. 

He’s so happy like this. So happy in fact that I can’t help but wonder if hockey is really what Elias was made for. Sure, he’s wonderful at it, one of the best there is obviously. I’m almost certain now though, Elias was made to be a father. The way he holds this baby like he’d give the world to protect her, and she’s not even his own blood, has tears forming in my eyes. 

“Kins?” Elias speaks softly, still not having removed his eyes from Ava who is struggling to stay awake. I hum in response, and he finally lifts his head. “Why don’t you want kids?”

This certainly isn’t how I expected to have this conversation. I have never told him I didn’t want kids. “How do you know I don’t want them?” I ask, my voice definitely giving away how nervous I am.

“Every time someone brings up the idea of us having children you get all in your head.” He sends me a sad smile, and although he isn’t trying to sound disappointed, it’s not hard to tell he is.

“I’m just not ready for kids.” The look Elias sends me definitely says he doesn’t believe me, and he wants me to elaborate, but I don’t. Instead I notice Ava has fallen asleep, and use that as an excuse to change the subject. “I’ll go put her to bed, why don’t you go have your shower now?”

As I carefully lift Ava from his arms, Elias watches me closely. It’s evident he wants to say something, but decides against it. 

As Elias heads off to the bathroom, I carry Ava down the hall and place her gently in the bassinet. She hardly stirs, and I take a moment to admire just how beautiful she is. She seems bigger now in the small bassinet, than she did in Elias’ arms. The thought has me crying as I lean against the wall. Elias, the man I’m sure is the love of my life, was made to be a father. I on the other hand, am the furthest thing from being capable of becoming a good mom. Once again, I’m painfully aware of just how unfair this is to Elias. He will have to leave me eventually, and now that he is obviously aware of the fact I don’t want children it’ll likely be sooner rather than later.

“Kinsey, baby, what’s wrong?” His presence startles me, and I quickly wipe the tears from my face.

“Nothing, I’m fine.” I whimper, my voice completely contradicting my statement. His arms are wrapped around me in an instant, and I push my face into his chest crying harder now. My body shakes against his, as he whispers, what I assume to be comforting words in Swedish.

“Y-you’re going to make such a great dad someday.” I’m sure I look a mess now as I lift my head from his chest to look at him. He smiles down at me, though it’s not hard to tell he is fighting off tears of his own.

“And you’ll be an amazing mother.” He’s trying to comfort me, but his statement has the exact opposite effect. 

I shake my head, a whole new batch of tears falling down my cheeks. “That’s the thing though- I won’t. I’m not made to be a parent, not like you are.” His soft expression has a wave of nausea rolling over me as I push away from him. “I’m sorry.”

Elias calls after me in a whisper yell, as to not wake the baby, but I’m too busy trying not to get sick to even acknowledge him. As soon as I make it to the bathroom, I collapse to my knees. Once again emptying the contents of my stomach, cursing myself for my weak stomach as more tears fall down my face. 

I’ve always been like this, as soon as my anxiety or fears get the better of me I get physically sick. Something my mother would scold me for constantly, saying it was for attention. Maybe there was some truth to that, but as I feel Elias brush my hair back out of my face, I want nothing more than to be all alone. I hate having anyone see me like this, so vulnerable and broken. I’m always worried it will scare them away, but Elias hands me a washcloth and pulls me against his chest as he leans against the tub.

“Do you want to talk about this?” His voice is so calm and his accent is heavy. I want nothing more than to confide in Elias, he is my person, but how can I tell him without breaking his heart?

“I don’t know how to be a mom, certainly not a good one.” I respond once I’m able to even out my breathing again.

“Answer one question for me okay?” He looks down at me, and I can feel the weight of his question before it’s even left those pretty lips of his. “Do you really not want to have children, or do you not want to have kids because you feel like you aren’t good enough? Because if you genuinely do not want to have kids you can tell me, and we can still work, but if you are scared you aren’t good enough we need to work on that.” 

“You have good parents that love each other, that love you. I’ve never had the same thing, how am I ever supposed to love a child properly?” My voice shakes, and as I watch the tears pool in Elias’ eyes, I feel awful. That’s a lot to unload on him. Yes, I’ve told him my parents divorced when I was younger, and that I wasn’t close with them now, but that one statement is more than I’ve ever shared.

“Kinsey, you show me every day how much you love me. You show your friends you care about them every chance you get. Hell, you even look after my teammates, and I know for a fact that you would go to the ends of the earth for anyone you care about. You know how to love others better than anyone I know.” Elias sighs, a tear slipping down his cheek, “I’m not saying you have to be a mom, that’s not my choice. All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t doubt yourself, and that no matter what you decide I love you.”

“You’re too good to me, you know that?” I smile at him, holding his cheek in the palm of my hand. “I’d kiss you, but I should probably brush my teeth first.” 

Elias frowns at my words, eyes filling once again with concern. “You should probably go see a doctor, you haven’t been feeling well lately.” 

“It’s just my anxiety Elias, I’m going to be okay.” I assure him, slowly getting to my feet. His hands go to my hips to steady me as I stand.

“If you’re that anxious it’s making you physically ill that’s not fine. I’m taking you to the doctor tomorrow okay?” He asks the question, but it’s evident that the only answer he is accepting is yes, so I just nod and help him to his feet.

As I brush my teeth, Elias’ arms wrap around me and he rests his chin on top of my head. He watches me closely in the mirror, a small smile playing on his lips. When I’m done, I turn in his arms and press up on my toes to kiss him gently. He holds me against him, and the kiss lasts longer than I had intended, but we quickly pull away when Ava starts crying.

“Go lay down, I’ve got her.” Elias says quickly, placing a kiss on my forehead and scurrying down the hall. 

Once again, I hear Elias cooing softly to the girl in Swedish. Maybe with Elias’ help I could be a mom. All I know right now is that, if I were to become a parent with anyone it would be him.

———

“Alright Miss Waters just a few questions for you real quick.” The doctor says, after finally entering the room Elias and I have been sitting in for what felt like an eternity. I shift uncomfortably on the bed, and the paper covering it crinkles loudly. “First, are you sexually active?”

My cheeks heat up slightly, and I look over at Elias who has a smirk on his face. “Yes.” I manage to answer, embarrassment rolling off of me.

“Okay, and is there any chance you could be pregnant?” This question has me laughing, and both the doctor and Elias look at me quizzically.

“I’m sorry-“ I manage to say, realizing no one else found the humour in the question. “No I’m not pregnant.”

“You sound pretty sure of that, how are you so certain? Are you on birth control?” The doctor's stare has my heartbeat increasing.

“N-no but I mean we always use condoms.” I manage to sputter out, and Elias reaches over and squeezes my hand.

“Right. Well I’m going to ask you to take a pregnancy test if you don’t mind, just to be 100% sure that’s not what’s causing the nausea. Although condoms are a fantastic contraceptive, they are only approximately 97% effective and that’s assuming they’re stored correctly and not expired.” 

“Oh okay. Sure yeah.” I look over at Elias, but his gaze is now on the floor. The doctor places the little cup on the table in front of me, and directs me towards the washroom.

When I’ve finished up, I make my way back into the room, and hand the cup to the doctor. He explains the process quickly and shuffles off to complete the tests leaving Elias and I alone. “You okay?” Elias asks after a moment of silence.

“I’m not pregnant. Right?” I ask, my eyes pleading with him for the answer. He sends a sad smile back and kisses my cheek gently. 

“We are going to find out babe, so don’t stress yourself out yet, but just so you know it doesn’t matter what that test says okay? If you aren’t pregnant and you want to be, great we will go home and get on that. If you are pregnant and you don’t want to be, then that’s okay too we can discuss our options. You are going to be okay. We are going to be okay.” He always knows what to say to make me feel better. I pull him into a hug, and he kisses my head. “I love you Kinsey.”

“I love you too Elias.”

After about 10 minutes, the doctor knocks on the door again. “The results of your tests are on this paper here.” He sets the paper on the table next to me. “I’ll give you two a chance to look at the results, and then I’ll be right back to do some blood work alright?” He doesn’t wait for a response, and quickly leaves the room again.

“You should read it first.” Elias says, picking up the paper handing it to me. I struggle taking the paper from him because my hands are shaking so much, but finally I unfold the paper.

A sigh of relief leaves my body as I fall against Elias’ chest, tears flowing down my cheeks. I can feel Elias deflate a little, but he quickly steadies himself wrapping me in his arms. He holds me close to him, and I feel safe in his arms. He’s home. He’s my family, we are a family.

“Can we get an apartment together?” My question has Elias pulling away, confusion evident on his face. We haven’t talked about moving in together yet, and maybe there was a reason for that. All I know is that after today, our relationship will never be the same.

Please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in the upcoming parts, or any of my future writings! Thank you for all of your support ❤️

@anastasiyaigorevnadobrodevskaya you automatically get a tag 😉

#FiAB #Elias pettersson #elias pettersson fanfiction #Elias pettersson fanfic #hockey fanfiction #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #hockey fanfic #hockey fan fiction #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #nhl fanfic #nhl fan fiction #nhl fanfiction #nhl writing #hockey writing #nhl #hockey

[brockadoodles]

Masterlist / Upcoming / Fic Recs

O N E S H O T S

Brock Boeser - I’ll be the love of your life inside your head (40k, Female OC)

Brock Boeser - Take my Heart, I’ll give you my Soul (24k) 

Brock Boeser - I want your midnights (3k)

Brock Boeser - endless moments that led me to you (4k)

Brock Boeser - evermore (2k)

Brock Boeser - let me tell you that I love you (3k) 

Brock Boeser - keep you mine (1k)

Elias Pettersson - Treacherous (2.6k)

Elias Pettersson - stjärnor (1.4k)

Nathan MacKinnon - Surprises (5k)

Matthew Tkachuk - Tolerate it (2.4k)

Matthew Tkachuk - kiss me at midnight (3k) 

Quinn Hughes - 21 (1.6k)

Quinn Hughes - Clumsy (986)

William Nylander - Heartbreak and a New Tattoo (2.6k)

S I X  W E E K S  O F  C H R I S T M A S

Mikko Rantanen - sydämellinen (warm)

Quinn Hughes - Gumbo, Football Sundays, and Christmas 

Brock Boeser - all i want for christmas is you

William Nylander - The CN Tower and Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Tyler Seguin - ho ho hopefully

Brock Boeser - morning flights to toronto

Auston Matthews - snow doesn’t fall in Scottsdale

F O L K L O R E  S E R I E S 

Tyson Jost - the 1

Brock Boeser - mirrorball

Nathan MacKinnon - this is me trying

Auston Matthews - illicit affairs 

F I C  R E C S 

Reblogged fic recs live HERE

Masterpost of fic recs

#writing things #masterlist

[nugnthopkns]

masterlist

last updated september twenty-ninth, 2021

search #cwrites for anything that doesn’t appear here

want to know what i’m reading? browse the tag

players i no longer write for are marked with a strikethrough

by event

find somewhere to grow (summer fic exchange 2k21)

lyric prompt blurbs (500 followers celebration)

by series

heard it in a past life

dance me to the end of love (fem!oc x ryan graves)

sour

by player

brock boeser

eyes full of stars

colton parayko

gonna keep this love if you let me

elias pettersson

it all pours out after dark

joel farabee

felt the lightning under my skin

kevin hayes

don’t say you miss me

i wish i could disappear

matthew tkachuk

if everything could ever feel this real forever

nolan patrick 

take the sadness out of saturday night

i’ll wait and i’ll listen

pierre-luc dubois

i know you get deja vu

ryan graves

dance me to the end of love (series masterpost)

be in my eyes, be in my heart

know it's for the better

ryan nugent-hopkins

put my name at the top of your list

travis konecny

i’ll tell you i was wrong if you dance with me

whatcha say we just get away?

tyson barrie

hold me like that

tyson jost

tell you i miss you but i don’t know how

#masterlist #this is just for reference so pls ignore

[hockeyboysiguess]

Post the last seven sentences you wrote in your WIP and then tag seven people, tagged by @broadstbroskis, gracias love :) (definitely more like 10 sentences but anyway here)

here’s a petey x OC friends to lovers fic that is currently in progress with a working title of heaven is golden. 

“Someone’s popular,” El mused from her couch, thousands of miles away from him that he desperately didn’t want to exist. “I’ve got to go help Gia listen over for errors anyway. Talk to you before you go to bed, yeah?” 

Elias nodded, “Always.” 

Can’t sleep without it. Those words died on Elias’s tongue as they collected in his mouth. It was a door El hadn’t opened, lingering, longing statements like that, ones that showed his heart was sitting exposed in his chest for her eyes only. Statements like that were undeniably romantic because there was something inherently romantic about being a part of someone’s routine, but admitting they were essential to your day to day existence, was a step so much further. It was dangerously close to, once analyzed, him admitting he didn’t know what he would do if she stopped being in his life like she was, a constant and welcome chaos. For someone who liked things just so, Elias Pettersson loved the beautiful humor in inconsistency she brought to his days. She was the warmest, best chaos Elias Pettersson had ever known.

tagging: @brockadoodles (i know sarah tagged you, i’m double doing it, apple), @slapshot-to-the-heart and anyone else who wants to! 

[butterflyintochains]

Schism

Another week in Whistler might just be the thing that finally does Joanna Blackwood in, her boyfriend is in Michigan with Quinn and his family. She loves her family, she really does, but good God they've been insufferable. Her parents have been their usual lovely selves, her niblings are just the best, but her three older siblings are annoying her. To make matters worse, Elias' new contract is still up in the air, and she has to hear about it from her siblings who don't know what the fuck they're talking about. Currently, Joanna is in her room in Blackwood Lodge, her brothers are out biking, her sisters are swimming at the lake. Bored senseless, she grabs her climbing stuff from her days out with the gang, and heads down to the climbing centre. She spends some time on some boulders, before tackling a lead wall, then heads home for some dinner. ''If you ask me, Benning is an idiot, letting these two dictate the discussion like this.'' Edward says.

Nicholas, ever the eldest Blackwood's lieutenant, nods. ''I know, he should just say; 'here's the offer, don't like it, tough shit'. It's what I'd do.''

Joanna feels the fire Elias stoked in her rising, but tries to freeze it back down, she's not called 'Ice Queen' for nothing. She scrolls through her instagram to keep herself busy. ''How do we know it's not just Elias and Quinn being greedy? Wanting more than they're due? It's not like either had a good season last year, is it?'' Her brother-in-law Matthew poses. Which is... simply untrue. Quinn led the team in assists. Elias was injured. And, the team got sick with covid. ''Besides, it's just business, right?'' Lucinda adds. Joanna fiddles with her ring, a topaz and emerald on yellow gold, Elias' most recent birthday gift to her. His ring, their stones, his love. ''You guys know I'm right here, don't you? The girlfriend of one Canuck and best friend of another?'' Edward laughs. ''Anna, you've been with him for two years.''

Joanna furrows her brows. ''And? We live together, I've met his family, we already know we're forever. So, what do you think gives you the right to speak about him like that? I'm going through this stress too, you know?''

Matthew asks, in disbelief. ''Really? How?'' Joanna simply states, because they made each other a promise. ''If he leaves, so do I.'' Nicholas scoffs. ''Oh, come on, sis. This city is your home.'' Lucinda says. ''There will be other guys, Anna.''

With this, Joanna rises, and books an early morning flight to Michigan. ''He's my home, my family, the love of my life. If the three of you can't understand that, I'm out. Mike, Kate, I'll text you tomorrow.'' She goes to pack up for the flight. In silence, she packs her car, and drives back into the city. Staying the night at home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joanna books in for her flight to Detroit the next morning, goes through security. After a quick breakfast, Joanna gets on her flight, bound for her boyfriend. Perhaps she should've taken this holiday with him all along. She can't understand how her married older siblings can be so... dismissive of them.

She lands in Detroit late that afternoon, and orders an Uber to take her to Ann Arbor. The driver is called Peter, and he's really nice. ''What brings a BC girl to Michigan?'' He asks in the car.

Joanna says. ''My boyfriend is with friends here, I had a fallout with my family, so, here I am.'' After some time of driving, Peter asks her. ''Do you know where he is, Joanna?'' Joanna mentally kicks herself for the oversight. ''No, hang on.'' She texts Quinn.

Joanna Rose: Hey, Q, I'm in Ann Arbor, where are you guys rn? Huggy Bear: Really? We're at my parents' place. 45 Franklin Street, on the lake. Should I tell my mom to get a room ready? Joanna Rose: I already sleep with Elias, Q, we'll be okay.

She tells Peter the address, and he drops her off. She pays and tips him, thanking God for her trust fund. The house is lovely, a nice big lakehouse. All the hallmarks of a hockey family in the frontyard. She's dead tired, and knocks the door. Quinn lets her into the house, it's very cozy in here. ''This place is amazing, Q.'' She hugs him. He leads her through to the back patio, here she's finally reunited with her Elias. ''Hjartat, what... how...'' She leaps into his arms, he holds her tight. ''I've missed you so much.''

Elias kisses her neck. ''I've missed you too, alskling.'' Before the trio are joined, she tells them everything her siblings were saying over dinner last night. ''It just... hurt me so much... they were just insulting you as if I wasn't even there.''

Quinn is shocked. ''And 'there will be other guys'? Has Lucinda met you two? Hell, even Brock and I know you'll be married one day.'' Elias stares a hole in the oak planks beneath them. ''But, Anna, they're your family.''

Joanna takes his hands. ''So are you, and Quinn, and Brock, and Thatcher. You are my family, I choose you.'' Elias kisses her hands, and says. ''I choose you too.''

In time, Quinn's younger brothers - Jack and Luke join them. ''You must be Joanna, Petey loves gushing about you.'' Jack says. Joanna laughs, and relaxes into his arms. ''I can imagine.''

To her surprise, both Tkachuk brothers and their sister join them too. The group hang out, until Ellen Hughes sends them to bed. Joanna climbs into bed with Elias.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the coming days, the group hang out as young people should. Quinn's family are super nice and welcoming. During breakfast on her fourth morning, she says to Jim and Ellen. ''Sorry for dropping in on you, Mr and Mrs Hughes, I've just missed Elias so much.'' Jim assures her. ''Don't apologize, dear, our door is always open to Quinn's friends. Quinn told us why you're here, I can't believe how insensitive your family have been.''

Ellen adds, backing her husband up. ''You and Elias live together, that sounds pretty permanent to me.'' Luke puts his plate in the dishwasher. ''I think they're jealous, Joanna, they all have normal spouses, you have a Canuck.''

Brady tips his juice glass to the youngest Hughes brother. ''Hear hear, Lukey.''

Joanna laughs, she finds that she rather likes Luke's honesty, reminds her of her younger sister. ''You'd get on so well with my little sister, Kate. She's seventeen, and does not hold back.''

Later that day, Elias and Quinn's new contracts arrive in the mail, and are signed before the group go down to the lake. Joanna has Taryn snap a picture of herself and Elias. Which goes onto her instagram.

@Joanna_Rose: Take this sinking ship, and point it home. We've still got time - Glen and Marketa. With my favourite person on Earth, I love you, Elias!

liked by: @_eliaspettersson, @_quinnhughes, @bboeser, and 250 others.

Replies:

@_eliaspettersson: Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice, you've made it now. My love, my light. I love you, Joanna.

@TessaKnight: Glad to see my bestie is happy with you, Elias! @NucksForever: Love looks good on you guys! @Canucks: Can't wait to have you guys home soon!

@bboeser: My two best friends, can't wait to see you two again.

@Elianna4Ever: Our beloveds! And the Once lyrics are everything, Glen and Marketa are iconic for that song.

@Joanna_Rose: Yeah, we watched Once ages ago, and Falling Slowly is just... the most impactful song I've heard in my life. Glad you stan us, because we certainly do.

@BelieveInBlue: Wait, Joanna is in Michigan with the boys?? Holy shit!

@Joanna_Rose: Yeah, had some family drama, and Elias is my safe space, so... here I am! The Hughes fam are awesome, the Tkachuks are chaotic, but that's fine.

The holiday is healing for her, after the fallout with her family, which will probably not be resolved this side of all star break, she savours this precious time off with the love of her life.

#hockey rpf #vancouver canucks #elias pettersson x oc

[butterflyintochains]

Handfast In Agne

Summer 2023, and Joanna Blackwood is buzzing with excitement, Elias has something planned for their month in Sweden, she has no idea what it is though. She's been asking him non-stop since they left home. Last time she asked, all Elias did was laugh, kiss her, and say; 'Something European'. As if that narrows it down any. The annual midsommar festival has come and gone, her first midsommar with Elias. So, what the hell is this man plotting? Crowning themselves king and queen and invading Denmark?

Well, Joanna gets her answer one evening once she's back from walking Foppa. A note on their bed, and a single red rose - her favourite flower.

Put your white summer dress on with your wedges, come find me at the lake - Lias.

Beaming, she changes into her white summer dress, the dress reaches her mid thigh and has tulip sleeves. And straps her nude wedges on. She fixes her hair and makeup, and goes to meet up with Elias. The scene she finds melts her heart, He's dressed in slim dress pants, and a black dress shirt with no tie, surrounded by lanterns. His blue eyes sparkling in the fading light. ''Wow, this is beautiful. But... what is this all for, Elias?'' She joins him by the water.

Elias says, pulling a tiny box out of his pocket. ''Well, with my job, the future is so uncertain. But, I am certain of one thing. I want you in any future I may have. So, Joanna, will you handfast with me tonight?'' She's heard of handfasting, a kind of way to be married in spirit without being married legally from ancient times in northern Europe. She beams up at her boyfriend, into his beautiful eyes, and says. ''Yes.'' Elias opens the box, revealing two white gold bands - hers having tiny pave diamonds around it. Elias takes her right hand in his, and says. ''I have loved you since the moment we met, Joanna, and I will love you forever. I, Elias Fredrik Pettersson, am yours forever, come what may. Mind, body, and soul; I pledge myself to you.'' He ever so gently slides her ring onto her right ring finger. The tiny diamonds glistening in the fading daylight.

Joanna, never breaking eye contact once, says to the love of her life. ''I never expected someone like you to notice me, Elias, but I'm glad you did, and always will be. I, Joanna Rose Blackwood, am yours forever, come what may. Mind, body, and soul; I pledge myself to you.'' She slips his ring onto his right ring finger. The plain band gleams against the nascent moonlight. The ones for their left hands will come, they know that now. Elias pulls his soulmate close to him, locking his arms around her slim waist. Joanna places her hands on his chest. Newly bound forever, they kiss deeply, Elias, showing off his new muscle tone, lifts her up bridal fashion, and carries her back into the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once home in Vancouver in august, they drive down to Rogers Arena to see the boys. Wearing their handfast rings proudly, and not really caring who sees them. They walk in, smiling brightly, holding hands, and are met by a very serious atmosphere when they arrive in the common area. ''Well, this is not our usual vibe, what's going on?'' Joanna asks, grabbing some orange juice. Quinn, dressed more formally than the others, says. ''They've made their decision, about replacing Bo.''

Elias, who was fiddling with his ring, puts it together first, and gives Quinn a huge hug. ''Well done, brother, Bo would be so proud of you.'' Joanna kisses Quinn on the cheek. ''Congrats, Q.'' Quinn beams, and dusts himself off. ''Thanks guys, means a lot.'' Brock points out the new rings. ''So, you gonna tell us what those are for?'' Joanna waves her hand dismissively. ''Not our day, Boes, is it, darling?'' Elias nods, and says. ''Exactly, love. Something European, eh?'' Joanna nods.

Rutherford ruins the family reunion, calling Quinn, Thatcher, Elias, and JT for press. Elias asks Joanna. ''Do you want my ring?'' Joanna shakes her head. ''No, no one will notice it anyway. Or know why you're wearing it. I love you.'' Elias kisses her on the cheek, and says to her. ''I love you too.''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turns out, Canuck fandom have incredible attention to detail. After the hype around Quinn being captain dies down a bit, Twitter starts looking to his second in command.

@NucksFan16: Okay, Petey's ring, can we just talk about that for a sec?

@HuggysGirlie: OMG, did Petey and Anna get married over summer of something?

@PeteyBeloved: Noooo! Elias is off the market? Brb, gonna yeet myself into the sun.

@Canucks4Ever: @PeteyBeloved, girl, he's been off the market for four years now. In this fandom, we stan Joanna, kay?

@Demko4Vezina: OMG, Daddy Demko, Quintaincy and Petey wedding? Hot Canuck summer, guys?

And there are hundreds of tweets. But, the couple don't dignify them with a response of any kind. Elias has the team to focus on, and Joanna has her journalism to worry about. As well as her book to write. If any of the boys, or their families, ask. They'll tell them. And not a second before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, the boys do ask. Well, they appoint poor Tito as their spokesman to ask about the rings. They're having a chill day together at Joanna and Elias' place, after their brutal 8-1 win against the Oilers to open the season. ''Hey, Petey, Anna - the boys have been wondering, what are the rings for? Are you two married now?'' Elias smirks, ever his Taurus' Scorpio. ''Oh, these? Oh, yeah, we handfasted in Agne over summer.''

Bella gushes. ''Oh, did you? That's so romantic! Isn't it, Brock?'' Brock look confused. ''You what now?''

Joanna briefly explains. ''We pledged our love to each other at the lake, we're sort of half married if you will. Hence why the rings are on our right hands.''

Quinn asks, seeming lost amidst all this. ''So, are you husband and wife now? Are you Joanna Pettersson now?''

Elias shakes his head. ''No, we're engaged, I suppose though? I just wanted to do this now, given how unpredictable our lives are in this sport.'' Joanna nods in agreement. ''So, Joanna is still Joanna Blackwood.'' Joanna assures the guys. ''When we have our real wedding, you'll all be there, promise.''

Tito says, understanding his friends for wanting to do things this way. ''Well, congrats on the handfast, guys.'' Joanna takes her fiance's hand, he laces their fingers together, they share their usual look. Blue into Green. Half Married sounds good for now.

#vancouver canucks #hockey rpf #elias pettersson x oc

[butterflyintochains]

Adventures In Toronto

Wednesday - Arrival

The Canucks' private plane has touched down in Toronto for the All Star Game. Each Canuck have brought their partners, and Millsy and Thatcher have even brought their kids. Tocchet leads them to their cars after going through security. Joanna has never been to Toronto before. This is her sixth NHL city. Born and raised in Vancouver, where she still lives. She's been to San Jose, St Louis, and Miami with Elias for previous All Star Games. And Vegas with him when he won the Calder. She doesn't count her brief stop in Detroit when she flew out to see Elias and Quinn that summer, all she saw was the airport. ''God, this city is massive, isn't it?'' Olivia says.

Joanna nods, taking some pictures out the window. ''Yeah, hope this weekend is happier than the last game.'' She'll never forget saying goodbye to Bo, Holly, and the kids in Miami last year. She hates that Bo had to find out they handfasted while visiting. Elias holds her hand in his, and promises her. ''We arrive together, we leave together this time, alskling, promise.''

At the hotel, they meet up with Jack and the rest, and head in for some dinner. Then, on Tocchet's orders, it's bed time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday - Draft

Draft Day has come, the boys are all up early, but the ladies are given some extra sleep. Joanna is up at nine, the bed too cold without Elias next to her. She showers, and brushes her teeth, and gets her hair done into a nice half updo. She's doing her makeup, when a knock comes at the door. ''Come in.'' Bella and Olivia come in, dressed for the day already. ''Hey, girls, what's up?'' Joanna slides some tights on, and belts her favourite turtleneck dress up. Bella sits on the bed. ''We just wanted some advice about today, we've never done this before. You have.''

Joanna chuckles, and fiddles with her handfast ring. ''Oh, okay, well, what do you wanna ask me?''

Olivia takes a seat. ''How do we y'know... conduct ourselves? Like, there's so many important people here, how do we not look stupid in front of them?''

Joanna packs her purse, and zips her boots up. ''Just like you'd approach the boys, or coach. If Etiquette Classes taught me anything it was: be comfortable in yourself, and you're seventy percent there.'' Bella nods, turning pink slightly. ''It sounds so dumb to ask, but we're so new to all this, and you've been to four of these now, and...''

Joanna takes her friend's hands, assuring her. ''It's not dumb, Bells, it isn't. I lost count of how many times I turned to Holly and Amanda for advice back then. Wanna know a secret about San Jose?''

Olivia looks interested. ''Go on.'' Joanna laughs, smoothing down her skirt. ''I was terrified, stuck to Elias like glue all weekend, I was nineteen and absolutely petrified. Didn't help that my childhood crush was there. I was down bad for Kris Letang as a kid.''

The ladies all sit together for the draft. Joanna wrinkles her nose at the red jerseys their team are wearing, red has never been her favourite colour on Elias. The garish yellow stars don't help. Scarlett Miller wants up on her lap. ''Hi, sweetie, come on. What team do you want daddy going to, Scarly?''

Scarlett thinks for a minute. ''Uhm, Huggy's team.'' Olivia laughs, agreeing with the little girl. ''Me too.''

Sure enough Scarlett is a prophet, the pod sticks together, except for the new guy. Elias Lindholm going to a different team. The girls also stick around for the PWHL showcase.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday - Skills Competition

The Canucks, Devils duo, and Tkachuks are sitting down to breakfast together before the skills comp. The girls all dressed nice, the boys suited up. Joanna goes to grab some more tea from the buffet, half milk and two sugars as she likes, a distinct feeling of anticipation at their table. She gets back, the boys talking animatedly among themselves. ''Did I miss something while grabbing my drink?'' She asks Emma.

Emma nods, beaming, but not giving anything away. ''Yeah, you kinda did.''

Elias turns to her, blue eyes sparkling, and takes her hand in his. He goes into his pocket, producing a blue velvet box, it's happening, it's actually happening! ''Joanna, last summer, we made some promises to each other. I asked you in Sweden to handfast with me. Now, I ask you in Canada: Joanna, my love, will you marry me?'' He opens the box, producing a gorgeous ring, rose gold adorned with a diamond flanked by two rubies. Joanna, heart racing, says. ''Yes!'' He slides the ring onto her finger, and pulls her in for a kiss. ''Congrats, guys, it's the best feeling ever.'' Thatcher says.

Elias nods, his fiancee now on his lap. ''Thanks, Demmer, been waiting to do it for ages, figured this was a great time.'' He looks to his other half. ''Anna, are you okay?''

Joanna nods, green eyes glossy. ''Yeah, I just love you so much.'' Elias kisses her again. ''I love you too.''

Joanna makes the texts after Elias is called to the bus. Their people must know before the press find out later on today, she'd hate it if Theresa, her best friend, found out on TV in particular.

At the arena, the girls watch as McDavid wins fastest skater, Olivia says. ''Quinn came third, so that's good at least.'' She's always been Quinn's number one supporter, even before they got together. ''Yeah, can't wait for hardest shot.'' Lexie says, bouncing little Dawson on her lap. ''Neither can I, Elias basically owns that.'' Joanna says.

Elias manages 2 points in the one-timers event, Kate Peterson comes to the ladies during the passing challenge. ''Good afternoon to our Canuck ladies, enjoying the skills comp so far?''

Bella laughs, Brock isn't in it, so she's just there to support the others. ''Yeah, kinda didn't know what to expect, but this is so cool.'' Joanna nods in agreement. ''Been here before, but this one feels so different. We're not saying goodbye to anyone, and we're all together this year.'' Kate notices the ring, shimmering in the arena lights. ''I take it a Hockey wedding is on the horizon?''

Joanna nods, beaming again. ''Yeah, Elias proposed this morning.'' Elias also goes on to win the passing challenge.

Cale Makar wins hardest shot, McDavid wins stick handling and accuracy shooting. Georgiev wins the one-on-one challenge. ''Well, who would've guessed? Connor helps design the comp, and wins the thing!'' Olivia remarks, sounding a touch bitter.

They catch up with the boys backstage, Joanna slings her arms around her fiance's waist, and kisses him. ''Another skills comp done, darling, we've not missed one yet.''

Elias lets his hands clasp at the small of her back, and kisses her gently. ''Who are you supporting at Four Nations next year?'' Joanna says, matter of factly as always. ''The team my husband plays for.'' Elias, aquamarine eyes focused deeply into her emerald ones, like they have been since 2018, says. ''Good to know.''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday - Game Day

Joanna and the girls take their seats for the Team Hughes vs Team Matthews game. Despite his awful showing in the skills comp yesterday, Kucherov buries one to open scoring for Team Hughes. DeBrincat answers with a goal of his own just over a minute later. ''Come on, Jon, wake up, honey.'' Natalie urges her husband. Joanna turns her engagement ring on her finger, already used to the weight on her left hand. Anaheim star Frank Vatrano fires one past Oettinger for 2-1. ''I wish Brock could get one, he wasn't in the skills comp yesterday.'' Bella says.

DeBrincat adds another to the boards to tie it 2-2 going into the second half. Mitch Marner pads the lead as the second half begins, Elias gets the puck on his stick, and ties it, pointing to Joanna with his stick. Joanna, for her part, winks at him. ''That never gets old, huh?'' Olivia asks.

Joanna laughs, and says. ''Not even a little bit, Liv, no.''

Filip Forsberg puts Team Matthews ahead, but Brady Tkachuk responds just as his dad would've. ''That's my man, Brady!'' Emma cheers him on. Vatrano adds another goal for Team Hughes. Only for Forsberg to tie it with two minutes to go. ''Shootout time, buckle up, girls.'' Lexie says, sounding confident in her husband, so she should.

The shootout goes to the wire, with Alex DeBrincat scoring the game winner for Team Matthews.

Team Hughes and Team MacKinnon head back to the hotel for a late lunch after the games. Elias Lindholm finally getting to sit with his new team mates. ''Anything I should know before we head back to Vancouver?'' Lindholm asks.

Quinn, stepping into captain mode for a brief moment, says. ''Just that we're excited to have you on board, that's all.'' Thatcher adds to the primer. ''And, Garly, Blue, and JoDak are insane. But, in a good way.''

Elias adds. ''And, you're invited to a Canucks wedding this summer too.''

Lindholm smiles, weddings are always good news, no matter who it is. ''Thank you very much, congrats on that by the way.'' Joanna finishes her meal, and says. ''Thanks, we handfasted in Agne over summer too.''

Of all people, Sidney Crosby pipes up. ''Oh, did you? That's so cool! My grandparents did that too. Good luck on the wedding and marriage.''

Elias speaks for them, his fiancee too starstruck to speak. ''Thank you, Sid.''

That night, Joanna is just done getting ready for bed. Her face and hands moisturized, hair put in a braid, and case packed for their flight home tomorrow afternoon. She exits the bathroom, Elias is already fast asleep, big events like this have always tired him out, and the rush of the proposal is probably catching up to him. Joanna joins him in bed, and kisses his temple. ''Jag älskar dag, käresta.'' She whispers, and curls up with him, out in minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday - Home

It's all over and done with until 2027 now, bags are packed, and cars are loaded up for flights back to the other 31 cities. Joanna gets back from a shop with a box of chocolates and a card thanking the staff for housing them for the weekend. Farewells are said, and the Canucks family get into their cars, having not said any goodbyes, instead, they're heading back to Vancouver with someone. ''Nice weekend, love?'' Elias asks Joanna while she reads on the flight home.

Joanna nods, and marks her page. ''Yeah, feels odd that I've been with you for all four of these, but this is it until 2027. Four Nations next year, and then the Olympics.''

Elias chuckles, kissing her head. ''Yeah, it does in a way, doesn't it? We'll be married and starting our family by then. Excited for that?'' Joanna can't help the smile that comes to her face. ''Elias, I've been excited for that since we got together. That's never changed.'' Elias says, linking their pinkies together. ''Good, because so am I.''

Elias gets back to his movie, Joanna gets back to her book, and they return to their city with their family. A hectic weekend behind them, a busy work schedule ahead, and a wedding in summer. But, they're ready, they're together, and that's all that will ever matter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: OMG, this is finally done!! Had this in the pipeline since asg, but college and stuff got in the way. But, she's finally done! Happy with how this turned out.

#hockey rpf #vancouver canucks #elias pettersson x oc

[butterflyintochains]

A Lion For An Orca (3)

The third part of my social media au, enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Nucks4Ever: tweeted 1st march 2019

We've not had anything from Joanna or Elias in ages, last we saw anything was the all star game, I hope they're doing okay. 😔

Replies

@BelieveInBlue: @Nucks4Ever, they're probably just busy, Elias has his games, and Joanna has her journalism degree. And, they're probably trying to avoid the storm on here and insta about if they're together or not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted 4th march 2019.

Two updates for y'all today! BC Lions rookie Brandon Carpenter will miss 2019 training camp and the first four games of the season with an ankle injury. And, Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson continues to rock the league, securing a nomination for the Calder!

Replies

@Elianna4Ever: Karma's a bitch, ain't it?

@Lions_and_Nucks: Shame for Brandon, but well done for Elias.

@BelieveInBlue: This goes under the heading of 'fuck around and find out' I believe.

@CanucksWags: Wow, almost like Joanna is some kind of good luck charm, isn't it? Turning all she touches to gold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Joanna_Rose: Life's going great, and I hope yours is too! 💕

Liked by: @_eliaspettersson, @TessaKnight, @tdemko30, and 75 others.

Replies:

@BelieveInBlue: Wait, you play tennis?

@Joanna_Rose: Yeah, my parents made us all get into a sport as kids. Edward and Nicholas chose soccer, Lucinda got into lacrosse, Michael decided on baseball, and Katherine and I play tennis. I play in tournaments for BCU, Kate's still in high school. @NucksFan4Life: Wow, you're one of six siblings? @Joanna_Rose: Yeah, number four of six. Teddy, Nick, and Lucy are older. Mike and Kate are younger. It's cool, you're never lonely as a kid.

@_eliaspettersson: Mine's going really well, partly because of you. The friend I never knew I needed. 💖

@CanucksWags: Good to see you're doing well, Joanna!

@Joanna_Rose: Aww, thank you so much, didn't know I was being covered by a wags updates account, I don't even know if I count as one yet. But, thanks!!

@TessaKnight: Is this a soft launch or...

@Joanna_Rose: Shhh, no one needs to know anything yet. liked by @_eliaspettersson

@BelieveInBlue: Hey, Joanna, have you heard about your ex's injury yet?

@Joanna_Rose: Yeah, and I don't really give a shit, tbh. @_eliaspettersson: Good for you, Anna.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@CanucksWags: tweeted 17th march 2019.

Oooh, what's this I see? Looks like Elias has two small rose stickers on the heels of his skates, an allusion to 'the friend he never knew he needed' perhaps?

Replies:

@BelieveInBlue: Oh, please, let it be!! He's had the stickers since Valentine's day, they're already so cute together.

@Nucks4Ever: I am soo invested in this, feels like something from a movie, but better!

@Canucks: 🌹 and 🐬

@Elianna4Ever: OMG, the official team account ships them too! That's it, they're endgame, I'm calling it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just Kiss Already GC

TheFlow: So... uhm, while Petey's offline and Anna's studying, do we wanna talk about the stickers or... Scorevat: I think we must, Brock, because holy shit. Petey's had those skates since Vaxjo, and now he alters them? Snatcher: He's in love with her, and she's absolutely in love with him. I mean, you don't invite a platonic friend to the all star game. BennyTheHutt: What do we do? Strecher: I think we just let this play out, we don't need to do anything, Ben. MarkyMark: This is so cool! AGaud: If he wins the Calder, and gets with Joanna, he's gonna be insufferable next season. Scorevat: He deserves to be. And, she's gonna finally be with an actually good guy, I still can't believe what Brandon did to her after she and her family helped him get into the Lions' training camp. Strecher: This is like those god-awful period dramas Anna likes watching with Emma and Holly. TheFlow: Hey, you cried at Sybil's death too, don't give me that shit, Troy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Bran_The_Lion: Some spring gifts for my girl, Charlotte, I love you to bits, babe.

Liked by: @Lottie_Love, @bclions_official, and 100 others.

Replies:

@Lottie_Love: I love you too, Bran!! Thanks for the flowers and jewellery!!

@BelieveInBlue: Can't wait to see Elias' equinox gifts for Joanna.

@Lions_and_Nucks: He loves her to bits now, but for how much longer?

@Lottie_Love: Ugh, leave him alone already! Joanna was probably a shit girlfriend anyway.

@ChelseaCali: Uhh, no, she wasn't. Those gifts came out of his paycheck, right? His paycheck as a Lion is because of Joanna and her family making sure he got into training camp. She adored him for three years. @TessaKnight: Girl, stfu, she loved him more than he loved her. Watch out, if he'll cheat with you, he'll cheat on you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@_eliaspettersson: Some mid term gifts for one of the best people in the world. Happy spring, Joanna!

Liked by: @bboeser, @Joanna_Rose, @tdemko30, and 40,000 others.

Replies:

@Joanna_Rose: Thank you so much, Elias!! Your gifts are in the post, it's coming from overseas, I'm not telling you what it is, though.

@BelieveInBlue: Now that's jewellery! Wow!

@TessaKnight: Spring is finally here! Winter in BC lasts way too long.

@Elianna4Ever: Soft launch?

@bboeser: Love spring, hate the season being nearly over, though.

@Lions_and_Nucks: When are they going to admit they're dating?

@CanucksWags: Much better than the orchids the other one got.

@Joanna_Rose: Roses are just objectively the best flowers, aren't they? @_eliaspettersson: Yeah, they are, make a great middle name too.😉

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Joanna_Rose: Finally, they're here!! I know you've been missing home, Elias, with how long the season is, and how long there still is until summer. So, I got you these from Sweden. Thank you to Svea for the cushion, and the lapel pin is from a Nordic menswear company.

Liked by: @_eliaspettersson, @bboeser, @TessaKnight, @ChelseaCali, and 100 others.

Replies:

@_eliaspettersson: Thank you so much, Anna, love them so much. That pin is going on my jacket for every game now.

@BelieveInBlue: We stan a couple who get each other gifts like this.

@bboeser: You two are cute...

@CanucksWags: Couple goals.

@Joanna_Rose: Bringing some Sweden to Vancouver for someone very important to me.

@Elianna4Ever: Not-so-soft launch?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted 24th march 2019.

He's wearing it!! Elias Pettersson rocks up to Rogers Arena with his new Tre Kronor pin proudly on his suit jacket tonight for the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Let's see if it's going to prove lucky for the hopeful future Calder winner. 1/5

@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted 24th march 2019.

Hmm, things are not looking too hot for the Canucks. Who are currently in a 1-0 hole to the Jackets, but plenty of time to turn it around. 2/5

@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted 24th march 2019.

Oh, oh no... second period is well underway, and the hosts are 3-0 down inside of eight minutes. Still, loads of time left if they can push it into overtime. In other news, the team will be retiring the Sedin twins' numbers next february! Can't wait for that. 3/5

@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted 24th march 2019.

Oh, goodness, Bjorkstrand fires a wrister past Demko to pad the lead 4-0. Things are not looking good. 4/5

@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted 24th march 2019.

And, that's all, the Jackets win the game 5-0 with some major defensive errors from the home team. Anaheim on the 26th, let's see if the Canucks can sort themselves out for that game. 5/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@CanucksWags: tweeted 8th april 2019.

Oh my God, guys, you've gotta go check out both Elias and Joanna's instagrams, like, now. I think the speculation phase is well and truly over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Joanna_Rose: Hey, guys... so, uhm... surprise I guess?

Liked by: @_eliaspettersson, @TessaKnight, @bboeser, @Canucks, and 100 others.

Replies:

@TessaKnight: I am so happy you two are finally together, you deserve each other so much, and I cannot wait to finally be able to double date again.

@Joanna_Rose: Aww, thanks, Tessa. 💖 @NateTheBoss: Congrats to you two, about time you did something about the tension between you two. @ChelseaCali: Nate, you waited weeks to tell us about you and Tessa, you can't talk.

@Elianna4Ever: It's finally happened, this is not a drill!! This is like christmas!

@BelieveInBlue: Oh, wow... so, we were right all along, then?

@CanucksOrBust: The Canucks it-couple for real.

@UBCStudentUnion: Our vp and her Canuck. 🥰

@Joanna_Rose: 💙

@BCSportsUpdates: Where's Elias' post?

@Joanna_Rose: He's editing it, just a sec.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@_eliaspettersson: So... guess what?

Liked by: @Joanna_Rose, @bboeser, @tdemko30, @troystecher, @Canucks, and 50,000 others.

Replies:

@Canucks: About time you announced this, Petey.

@_eliaspettersson: Well, we wanted to pick a good time.

@bboeser: Fucking finally. Congrats you two.

@troystecher: No one more deserving of this than you two, enjoy this time, you've both earned it.

@tdemko30: Finally!

@BelieveInBlue: The prince of the team has his princess at last!! 👸🤴

@CanucksorBust: I'd ask for the whole story, but it'd feel wrong. Best love story of the year, though.

@_eliaspettersson: Thanks, the story is staying with us for now. Not even the team know everything.

@Elianna4Ever: Petey's about to be insufferable if he goes into next season with the Calder and the province's most beautiful daughter.

@_eliaspettersson: Oh, you know it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part three of four done, sorry this took so long, college has been busy. Next part is the finale, and the NHL awards are on the horizon.

#hockey rpf #elias pettersson x oc #canucks social media au

[butterflyintochains]

Her Sanctum

TW: angst, self-esteem issues, mentions of cheating, social media trolls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the perks about growing up living in a manor house passed down the family is growing up knowing where to hide. Joanna has three hiding spots on the Blackwood Estate: a small room off the library, a nook in what was the servants' hall in the 1930s, and, her favourite, The Cove. A small clearing in the grove of trees just beyond the gardens. It's easy enough to find, she closes the back door behind herself, and makes her way down the slab path, where a retaining wall a century and three quarters old sits. She expertly climbs and vaults it, and follows the well worn dirt path to her spot. It's a grey November day in 2019, and she is just so... tired. The Cove welcomes her into its safety, still decked out from her childhood, when she, her girl friends, sisters, and female cousins would play fairies and princes against her male friends, brothers, and male cousins. The bench swing, the throne of The Cove, still in perfect condition from when Grandpa James put it up. Still crowned Fairy Queen from the last time they played, she sits down on it. The flower crown is long withered, but she doesn't dare crunch it up.

Realistically, she knows she shouldn't let the comments of some faceless strangers online get to her, but, they do. It took her almost a year to rebuild herself after Brandon cheated on her, and she's still delicate now. And, maybe they're right? Maybe Elias does deserve someone better? Maybe he should find a model or influencer to date instead? Maybe she's too tall, or not blonde enough, or too intense for a hockey player? The football player certainly thought as much, didn't he? She'd heal, right? She's done it once, she can do it again. Joanna listens to the nature around her, the birds, the breeze in the trees, the small animals roaming around, the swing creaking as she rocks. She's loved being out here alone since she can remember, especially at night. A small squirrel hops around, looking at her as if they're kindred spirits. ''I'm sorry, friend, I don't have anything this time.'' It chirps, and moves along.

A cracking noise from her left alerts her. Maybe her mom? Kate? Tessa? It's neither, it's Elias. ''Sweetheart, how did you find me?'' She asks him. Elias smiles, and says. ''I asked your mom, alskling. Room on that swing for two?'' Joanna nods, and moves aside to let him sit with her.

They sit together in a comfortable silence, but with the thing bothering Joanna hanging in the cold air like something malignant. Elias finally asks her, after what must be five minutes. ''What's been going on, alskling? And, don't say 'nothing' because I know you. It's okay, I'm your boyfriend, you can tell me.''

Joanna rubs her gloved hands together, and says. ''Have you seen social media lately? There's a lot of people who really want you to be with someone else.'' She pulls up the screenshots on her phone, the same screenshots she's been crying over for two weeks now, and hands it to him. ''I'm too intense, not good looking enough. You'd be better with someone more traditional, I'm a social climber, a distraction. I've tried to block them all, but there's just too much.''

Elias scrolls through the litany of messages from strangers, his heart shattering at every single one of them. His blood boils, he wants to hunt every single one of these idiots down. This is his girlfriend they're insulting, he wouldn't have won the Calder without her. ''Joanna, this is...''

Joanna sniffles. ''Maybe they're right, maybe you'd be better off with someone else, someone who will fall in line with the other hockey ladies?''

Elias gently cups her perfect face, drying her beautiful emerald eyes with his thumbs, he says to her. ''I don't want that, Anna. I don't want someone who falls in line, I want this, I want us, I want you. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me. You are: beautiful, ambitious, intelligent, loyal, and special. I love you, all of you.'' Joanna, still in tears, says. ''I love you too, so much it hurts, I just... after him, I can't help but feel like I don't deserve this. I love what we have, I never knew I could love someone like this again.''

Elias promises her. ''I'm not him, alskling, I'd never do to you what he did. That was on him, not you. He didn't deserve you. You gave him three years, he repayed you with abuse.''

Joanna places her hands on his chest, calming down a bit more. ''Promise me?'' Elias nods, kissing her forehead. ''With every goal I score.'' He brings her in for a kiss, his kiss is her assurance, he's not going anywhere, neither is she.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They take some time together in The Cove, relaxing on the swing. Elias deletes the evil screenshots, and asks his girlfriend. ''What is this place? Your mom said you spend a lot of time here.'' Joanna smiles, and says. ''We call it 'The Cove'. Myself, my siblings, cousins, and friends would play games here as kids, the girls would be fairies, the boys were our princes. This swing was the throne, only the Fairy Queen and her Prince could sit here.''

Elias asks her, winding some of her caramel hair around his fingers. ''Where you ever Fairy Queen?''

Joanna nods, smiling back on the memories she made here. ''Yeah, I was the fairy of plants, and this,'' She carefully picks up the withered wreath. ''was the crown, it's long dead, but was made of my mom's flowers.'' She looks up at him, and asks. ''Any similar memories from your childhood, sweetheart?''

Elias thinks for a bit, and says. ''My dad used to take me, Emil, and our friends down to the lake in Agne every summer. We'd play 'Jaws' he'd let us all swim, and come to tag us. If we got caught, we'd become sharks, and have to help him hunt the others. Last left, won the game.'' Joanna laughs, she instantly liked Torbjorn and Irene when they met back in January. The mental image of Torbjorn trying to wrangle his sons and their friends is quite funny to her. ''Did you ever win?''

Elias nods, and kisses her head. ''Yeah, it helps being a small kid.'' Joanna hums, and adds. ''Also helps being a stubborn kid.''

It starts getting darker, So, grudgingly, Joanna stands up. ''We should get inside, once it gets dark there's no light out here.'' Elias nods, and rises. They walk down the path hand in hand, and climb the wall. Once at the backdoor, they head inside. Victoria Blackwood engulfs her second daughter in a massive hug. ''My darling girl, you had me worried, are you okay?''

Joanna nods, squeezing her boyfriend's hand. ''I am now.'' Her mom says. ''Good, because dinner is ready.''

They head up to Joanna's room to ditch their shoes, coats, and gloves. Then, they join Joanna's parents and younger sister at the table. ''Anna, alskling, do you want me to put a tweet out for you?'' Joanna ponders it, she hates asking for help like this, but this is her boyfriend. ''If you don't mind, sweetheart.''

Elias says, finishing eating. ''Got it.''

He tweets as they snuggle after dinner. He lets her see it before it's published. It's not angry, but assertive.

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@_eliaspettersson: tweeted 14th november 2019.

Just dropping in to say one simple thing. Any harassment of my girlfriend, any rude comments about her, anything negative said about her. Affects an innocent 20 year old woman, she's human, she's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Without her, there's no me. You are no true Canucks fan if you disrespect the girlfriend of their first center. End of story.

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He asks her. ''How does that sound?'' Joanna reads it over, they've always had such similar tone in text, something weird to her at first. ''Sounds great.'' He hits send, and shuts his phone off to be able to properly wrap his arms around her. ''I hope I can have what you two do one day.'' Katherine says.

Joanna assures her little sister, the real romantic of the family. ''You will, I'm sure of it, sis. Bit of advice, though, don't go searching, it'll find you. Elias and I found each other. Searching is how you end up like I did before Elias.''

Elias comments, playing with his girlfriend's hair. ''And no one deserves that.''

Joanna hopes her sister heeds this advice, because every girl needs a guy like Elias, or one similar, because she's got the real deal all to herself. Still so surreal to her, but, she'd never give this up for anything.

#hockey rpf #vancouver canucks #elias pettersson x oc

[butterflyintochains]

A Lion For An Orca (2)

Part 2 of the social media au, enjoy!

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@Joanna_Rose: Fun day out with the friend I never knew I needed, thanks to Elias for going at my pace.

Liked by: @_eliaspettersson, @bboeser, @TessaKnight, and 60 others.

Replies:

@_eliaspettersson: Best day of the winter by far, Vancouver is awesome. BTW, you are a fantastic skater, Anna.

@Joanna_Rose: Awww, thanks, Lias, I'd hope my parents being friends with the Lindens would kick in that way💙

@BelieveInBlue: Ooooh, new Canucks power couple??

@Nucks4Ever: I ship this sooo much, you have no idea!

@TessaKnight: Glad to see you're happy again, Anna.

@tdemko30: So, that's where you were when you two said you couldn't make the pre-christmas lunch.

@_eliaspettersson: Shhh, sorry, Demmer, but the company was too good to pass up. @Joanna_Rose: We'll come to new year, promise.

@bboeser: You guys are cute...

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@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted 16th december 2018.

Well, looks like the Canucks rookie and the Dynasty daughter are getting very close of late. Has Miss Blackwood traded her lion for an orca?

Replies:

@CanucksWags: Oh, we hope so, their friendship has been so cute to witness.

@LionsOrBust: Isn't this a bit soon, though? Like, she broke up with Brandon only a few months ago?

@BelieveInBlue: Dude, @LionsOrBust, give it up. That was July, it's December. And, he left her before the breakup. Your rookie isn't a saint.

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@_eliaspettersson: My first new year in Vancouver, a huge milestone, and I can't wait for many more to come. I've come to a team I've supported since I was five, met the best guys ever, and found someone very special to me. Here's to an amazing 2019!

liked by: @Joanna_Rose, @bboeser, @troystecher, @tdemko30, and 400 others.

Replies:

@Joanna_Rose: Happy new year, Lias! You've helped me this year more than you could ever know. Can't wait to see what 2019 has in store for us 💖🎆

@bboeser: Can't wait to score more goals together, dude!

@TessaKnight: Happy new year, Elias!!

@tdemko30: Goodbye 2018, hello 2019!!

@Canucks: Glad to see you're enjoying the city, Petey!

@BelieveInBlue: Is that 'someone special' Joanna, by any chance?

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Just Kiss Already GC

TheFlow: So.... do we do the plan yet or no? Marky: I don't think we'll need to at this rate. They're dating, they just don't know it yet. BennyTheHutt: OMG, I think he just asked her to go to ASG with him!! Strecher: Really? What did she say?! Snatcher: I think she said yes, Anna has fridays off now, so it works out... Scorevat: He probably meant as a friend, chill out. Marky: All due respect, future captain, I don't think they've been 'just friends' since he took her skating before christmas. LouDomingue: Completely agree, Marky.

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@Canucks: We have a hattrick in OT, Elias Pettersson notches our win over the Senators with an OT hattrick winner! The rookie fairytale season just keeps getting better!

Liked by: @_eliaspettersson, @NHL, @NHLPA, and 1,000,000 others.

Replies:

@_eliaspettersson: Such an honour to play for this team!

@bboeser: I helped!

@Joanna_Rose: My orca > your lion, facts are facts.

@Nucks4Ever: Joanna! OMG, help! that was sooo unhinged of you, girl! @Joanna_Rose: Aww, thanks, I do try. @BelieveInBlue: So, Elianna confirmed or... @Joanna_Rose: Elianna, I like it, sounds nice. How about you, Lias? @_eliaspettersson: Has a ring to it, gotta admit.

@CanucksWags: Not Elias and Joanna flirting on main. 😍

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@Joanna_Rose: Hello, San Jose!!! BTW, is this city always so warm, or am I just from Vancouver?

liked by: @_eliaspettersson, @bboeser, @TessaKnight, and 70 others.

Replies:

@_eliaspettersson: I know, right? Agne is literally frozen right now, and we're at the beach, weather is strange.

@ChelseaCali: Pretty sure, you two are just from cold places, babes, say hi to my aunt and uncle for me, they'll be at the game!

@Joanna_Rose: Will do, Chels.

@HollyDonaldson: The beach pic, though 🥰

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@Canucks: Representing us in style, our rookie superstar, Elias Pettersson in a sleek pinstripe tux in all black. And, his plus one and close friend, Joanna Blackwood, in a beautiful ice blue gown. #GoCanucksGo.

liked by: @_eliaspettersson, @Joanna_Rose, and 500,000 others.

@_eliaspettersson: Looking good, Joanna!

@Joanna_Rose: Thanks, Lias. Or, should I say, James Bond? @_eliaspettersson: Sign us up! Bond and his beautiful high society partner! I'd watch that movie. @Canucks: So would we, ngl.

@BranTheLion: So, my ex-girlfriend is wearing her prom dress to an All Star Game.

@_eliaspettersson: Might as well attach happier memories to that dress, no? She looks beautiful, fuck off. I know what you did to her, don't make me cross the street. I wear knives on my feet for a living, do the math. liked by @Joanna_Rose.

@Joanna_Rose: Oh! And, thanks to UBC for trusting me with the four days off! I did my course work on the plane, and in the hotel room. Gotta pass my finals, y'know?

@CanucksWags: Hang this dress in a museum, wow!! 👑

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@BelieveInBlue: tweeted 25th january 2019.

OMG, the way the camera keeps panning to Joanna when Elias finishes his challenges!! She looks so proud of him! And, I swear he keeps looking to her as well, because his eyes are all shiny. He's fifth in Fastest Skater, but she looks so proud of him. 1/4

@BelieveInBlue: tweeted 25th january 2019.

Last in Puck Control, but Elias looks like the cat who got the cream. Her name banner says 'Elias Pettersson's plus-one', she's even wearing his jersey!! OTP!! 2/4

@BelieveInBlue: tweeted 26th january 2019.

The Pacific team lost bad to the Central team, but you'd never know it with how Elias hugs Joanna afterwards. Something has definitely changed since christmas. 3/4

@BelieveInBlue: tweeted 26th january 2019.

Someone sedate me, he said in his interview; 'It's always nice to bring someone special to your first all star game, Joanna has been such an important part of my season, so I hope this has been a good weekend for her. It's what someone like her deserves.' Well, that concludes my live tweeting, bye! 4/4

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Gang's All Here GC

Petey: We're home!! Angel: That was so much fun, I'm still buzzing from the skills comp. Scorevat: Welcome back, guys!! TheFlow: I still can't believe you reused your prom dress. Angel: Waste not want not, Brocky. MamaTessa: You two looked fabulous. Petey: So, Anna... next year? Angel: If I get thursday off, deal. Strecher: Are you asking Anna out via gc? Petey: Nope.

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Blocked number: Anna... Blocked number: Anna, please talk to me. Blocked number: Are you only with that Pettersson guy just to spite me or something? Joanna: No, Brandon. I'm not even officially dating him, but I'm with him because I like him. He's treated me better in six months than you did in two and a half years. Please, do not text me again, lose my number, get on with your life. For my sake, for Elias', and for yours.

#hockey rpf #vancouver canucks #elias pettersson x oc #canucks social media au

[butterflyintochains]

A Lion For An Orca (1)

Just a little social media au for my Elias/Joanna stuff, cannon to the main timeline. I'm kinda a novice at these, so go easy on me!

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@Joanna_Rose: Feeling like this right now.

liked by: @TessaKnight, @bboeser, and 50 others.

Replies:

@TessaKnight: Hey, bestie, pick up your phone, please. Been trying to call you for two hours now.

@bboeser: Anna, what does this mean? Are you okay?

@ChelseaCali: Hey, babe, Jon and I are worried about you, please answer your phone.

@NathanTheBoss: Anna, we're worried about you, talk to us.

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Gang's All Here GC

Strecher: Anna, come on, talk to us. TheFlow: Tessa, you know her best, what's going on? MamaTessa: No idea, she's not answering calls or texts, I've tried. Snatcher: Joanna, come on, we know you're hearing us. Angel: Hey... BennyTheHutt: OMG, she finally responded!! HollyDon: Not the time, Ben. Okay, Anna, what's happened? We're your friends, it's okay. Angel: Promise not to tell anyone else? Scorevat: Of course we do. Angel: Okay, well, uhh... Brandon wasn't at his tryout thing for the Lions. TheFlow: Yeah? Where was he, then? Angel: Making out with some other girl, at our tree on UBC campus, the willow we chill out at. So, we're done, and I'm just... so tired. MamaTessa: Okay, darling, get yourself ready for bed, I'm on my way over. Angel: Okay, I'm gonna go dark, love you guys. Stretcher: Love you too, Anna. Get some rest.

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@BranTheLion: Cannot wait to join my childhood team as a pro next weekend! Tryouts are gonna be lit 💥

liked by: @bclions_official, @ChristianPat, and 60 others.

Replies:

@ChristianPat: So proud of my best friend, you're going places, bro! Can't wait to see your name on the Grey!

@bclions_official: Welcome aboard, Brandon! Nice name change too!

@troystecher: Go fuck yourself.

@bboeser: Amen to that bro. @BranTheLion: Why? What did I do? @tdemko30: You fucking know what you did, asshole. @BranTheLion: Aaand, blocked.

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@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted on 30th July 2018.

Looks like a mini beef is breaking out from the teams across the street from each other. BC Lions top prospect Brandon Carpenter was seen blocking young Canucks Troy Stecher, Brock Boeser, and Thatcher Demko on instagram. Relations between the teams have been historically friendly, so what's caused the change remains unknown. As yet, the Whitecaps are uninvolved.

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Gang's All Here GC

Angel: Boys... have either of you looked at twitter recently? Snatcher: Angel, don't get mad at us, okay? He's the one who fucked you off for someone else. Angel: I'm not mad at you, Thatch, but... I dunno, what if he comes for me? Scorevat: He won't, he knows fine fucking well we're right across the street from him. The Flow: Anyways, it's almost that time again, so, should we add the rookie to the gc? Stretcher: Yeah, Bo, would you do the honours? Scorevat: Once he's in town, I'll add Elias, yeah.

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@Joanna_Rose: One last group hike of the Grind with my favourite people before semester and training camp. Always nice to have a mental reset in nature before life gets chaotic again. Summer has been hectic, and depressing, but I think I'll be okay.

liked by: @TessaKnight, @bboeser, @troystecher, and 45 others.

Replies:

@bboeser: Always the best part of summer!

@tdemko30: Here's to this next season!! #GoCanucksGo

@ChelseaCali: Can't wait to get back north to you guys, good to see you're doing better, Anna.

@Joanna_Rose: Can't wait to see you and Jon again, Chels. I'm on my way, it'll take a while, but I'm getting there.

@troystecher: We gonna talk about how Ben and Marky took off and left us all behind?

@Joanna_Rose: Nope, not on my post we're not. Happy vibes only here. @troystecher: Okay, fine.

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@BranTheLion: How's your life going? Mine's great, thanks.

liked by: @ChristianPat, @Lottie_Love, and 25 others.

Replies:

@TessaKnight: Wow, the fucking audacity of this man. hope your blondie is worth it, asshole.

@Lions_and_Nucks: Wait, has Joanna died her hair blonde, isn't she a brunette?

@TessaKnight: Yes, she is, there's not been a blonde in her immediate family for something like three generations. Which, for someone from the literal Blackwood family, is easy to track. @LionsWags: OMG, really? @BelieveInBlue: Ugh, the lion, the witch, and the audacity of this bitch.

@Lottie_Love: Maybe lay off him, Theresa? Just an idea?

@TessaKnight: Maybe shut your bitch mouth up? Just an idea? Do you have any idea what your new man has done to my best friend?

@BranTheLion: Joanna, call off your best friend.

@Joanna_Rose: Nah, I'm enjoying the show too much. If you wanna talk instead of vaguing on insta, you know where I am. There's not too many nineteen year olds who live in manors, I'm not hard to find.

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@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted 12th september 2018.

We may have somewhat of an answer re. the beef between the Lions prospect, and the young Canucks. It seems as if Mr Carpenter dumped his girlfriend, Joanna Blackwood, for someone else over summer. A friend of the Canucks, Joanna is also of the province's most elite family. Not a girl you want to break the heart of certainly. 1/2

@BCSportsUpdates: tweeted 12th september 2018.

However, judging by her last instagram post, Joanna seems to be healing. Judging by his, he's made some risky enemies across the street. In other news, Elias Pettersson is now the new 1C for the Canucks! 2/2

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@Joanna_Rose: Hey, friends, haven't touched my insta in forever. But, here I am. Everything you've read on social media about myself and Brandon is true. However, I'm doing a bachelor's in journalism, and want my privacy respected. But, all I'll say for now, is I loved Brandon when I was 16, it didn't take long for me to dream of our future together. But, he ruined it for us. I bear no hatred to him, but I must continue my life without him, as he will do without me. Forever is a big word, as I have learned the hard way.

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#hockey rpf #elias pettersson x oc #canucks social media au