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imagines-r-s · 3 years

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sticking it

chapter 9

a/n: idk why this chapter took so long, but here it is. for reference - in gymnastics, US Championships are the last meet before Olympic Trials, they’re a two day competition. any feedback is welcome. i’m kinda upset that this series (or at least this part) is almost done, but there is more to come with this series i promise. also had to repost bc it wasn’t showing up in the tags

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @dreamsndior @itsurgirlgracie @heartshapedkissxs @lwstuff @handwrittenheroes

warnings: uh, i don’t think there’s anything, but if i miss something just let me know (the jamie mentioned is jamie oleksiak, not j b*nn)

sticking it masterlist

wc: 5.8

(not my gif)

“Are you sure that you have everything?” Joel asked for the twentieth time in the past hour, “we can run back to yours if you need anything else”

“I feel like you’re just trying to get me to stay with you longer,” you said, skeptically.

“Is it working?”

“No, Bee, I have to leave at some point,” you said, putting another bag of yours in his car,”I won’t be gone long.”

“Yeah, but you’ll be closer to the Stars and that has me worried,” he said, causing you to chuckle.

“You worried about Seggy? Or Roope? Or Big Rig? Or Mi-”

“Okay, I get it.”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, I love you and only you, shawty. Besides, I can only tolerate Texas weather for so long,” you said, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

“I love you, too, shawty,” he paused,”Wait,- that was rude.”

After packing the last of your bags into the car, you made your way to the airport to meet Marcus and Michelle. Once you arrived at the airport, Joel parked the car before the two of you headed into the airport. The four of you caught up for a while before Marcus suggested giving you and Joel time to say goodbye.

“Is this how it feels when me and the guys leave for the road?” Joel asked, softly.

“Yeah,” you said, smiling sadly.

“Well, good thing I’m the one on the road all the time, I mean, I don’t like leaving you, but when I’m leaving it’s a different feeling, you know.”

“Well glad it makes you happy, buddy.”

“Did you just buddy me?” Joel asked, incredulously.

“Did I?” you asked, laughing as Joel gasped in shock.

“Wow, I see how it is. I’ll remember that.”

“Go ahead, babe. Remember it however you want,” you paused when you saw the sad look on his face, reaching to hold his face in your hands, “hey, I’m only a text away, I might not be right here, but I will answer as soon as I can and we’ll facetime as much as you want these next few days.”

Joel nodded before looking up and seeing Marcus and Michelle headed your way, “we hate to cut this short, but we have to get going pretty soon.”

“I know I asked, but do you really have to go?”

“Yeah, Bee, I really have to go.”

“You better kick ass out there or else you’re just leaving for nothing,” he said, jokingly, “but honestly, I wish you the best of luck - I know you don’t need it, but I’ll say it anyway. Make sure to tell Nicole I said good luck and please make sure to wipe that smug look off Kathryn's face. Okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” you said, wrapping your arms around him as he pressed kiss to the top of your head. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too, but if you don’t go, the only thing you’ll be missing is your flight.”

“Wow, Bee, you are so funny.”

“Well, one of us has to be the funny one in the relationship. Your mom jokes only get you so far far in life, babe,” he said, causing you to elbow him in the stomach.

“I’m leaving now. I love you and I will text you when I land,” you leaned up for a quick goodbye kiss before grabbing your carry-on bag and heading to your gate. You avoided looking back, knowing that if you did, both of you wouldn’t let the other leave.

“I think you chose a good one,” Marcus said once the three of you had sat down.

“What?” you asked, shocked.

“Joel. He seems like a good guy. He clearly cares about you and I can see that you care a lot about him, too. He clearly makes you happy,” Marcus added.

Heat rushed up your face, to which you simply looked out the window, “yeah, he’s a good guy.”

“A cute one, too,” Michelle interrupted.

“Yes, that too. But Michelle, you better lay off,” the three of you laughed as the flight attendants started to announce the safety procedures for your flight. The three of you did your own thing the rest of the flight: Marcus planning out how podium training would go, Michelle analyzing your routines, and you sleeping.

“Alright, so as soon as we land, we get luggage and go to our hotel. There is a small media event tomorrow morning before podium training, then podium training, then probably some more media. You will have the rest of the night to do whatever, I know you’ll probably go see your Dallas friends and that’s fine, just make it back in time. Then, Friday is the first day of competition, Saturday is the second day, then we have some free time Sunday,” Marcus read off to you, even with you half asleep.

“Sounds lovely,” you grumbled.

…..

“So, y/n, with your injury being a top priority, how different have practices been since you are still somewhat in recovery?” one of the journalists asked. You had stayed prepared for a multitude of questions having to do with your injury, so this question had an easy response.

“I would say, it’s definitely a totally new experience. I’ve had to tailor my focus to other aspects of this sport since the start of my recovery, whether that be drills, more conditioning, or changing up my routines. My team and I definitely have figured out what things work and what doesn’t and we continue to learn as I continue training,” you answered, swiftly.

“Now obviously, you were the highest scorer in most of your competitions, even before your injury, how has competition changed for you? And what has inspired you to train harder?” another journalist asked.

“I have to say, competition is slightly more nerve-wracking than before. I mean getting injured at a major competition definitely changes perspective for all aspects of it. I feel that I have to be more cautious when performing, whereas before I would just go with the motions. Something that’s inspired me has been that my competitors have continued training, I have a fair amount of competition - all of which are excellent athletes - which has helped motivate me a lot, but I also have an amazing support system back home who have made sure to give me that extra motivation when I need it,” you smiled.

“Now, having to deal with that support system at home, who and how have they influenced your decisions of your journey through recovery?” which was the first question that made you smile.

“Well first, a huge shoutout to my family, especially my cousin, Kevin. Without his support, I wouldn’t have ever tried to get back in the gym, he’s been there this whole time and I couldn’t be more grateful. Um, my coaches were so supportive of my comeback; my physical trainor, Adrian, who told me all the doctors were wrong and gave me the reality checks I needed; the whole Philadelphia Flyers roster and their families cheered me on the whole time, especially my boyfriend, Joel Farabee. My friends, my teammates, all of them pushed me where I needed to be,” you said, gratefully.

“Thank you for your time, y/n. We wish you the best of luck this weekend,” the main announcer said to you before you went off to podium training.

Marcus and Michelle had both told you only to warm up simplified versions of your routine, so that you could bring shock factor when you were actually performing. You had upgraded almost all of your tumbling back to where it was before injury, but no one needed to know that besides you and those in your gym. Podium training had gone very well, better than you had anticipated, so you were looking forward to how championships would go.

As you packed up your gym bag and grabbed your phone, you saw all the messages you had from the Flyers group chat you had somehow found your way to.

Bee: did you guys see that too?

Tiki Bar: if we are talking about the same thing, i think we did.

Patti Lapone: did she actually say nice things about us?

Kev: i really think the texas heat is getting to her already

G: she’s probably just feeling under the weather about competition, otherwise we might want to check if she is okay

Scotty: i think i misheard or i got hit in the head and didn’t realize it

Frosty: hell has frozen over

Bee: haha. frost. frozen. get it

Tiki Bar: beezer.

G: i’ll make you do laps if you make another frost joke

Laughing at the texts in the group chat in reaction to your interview, you simply typed up a simple response: this is what i get when i’m nice, now you know why i’m not like this all the time.

Luckily for you, you didn’t have to do any media after podium training, so you were able to leave whenever you wanted to. After checking with Marcus and Michelle, you made sure it was alright that you went off to go see Tyler and the rest of the guys. Assuming that they would be at practice, after changing out of your leo, you took the drive to the Stars practice facility.

Having come to Fort Worth so much for gymnastics and Dallas for a few hockey games, you had run into some of the Stars roster on multiple occasions. By the third time you had ran into them, and this time ran into was a very literal statement, you had exchanged social medias and most of the roster kept an eye out for any updates in your gymnastics career. During your recovery, the whole team constantly asked for updates about how you were and how gymnastics was going.

Once you parked, you quietly made your way inside - not wanting to interrupt the practice. There were a few officials walking around, but most either paid you no mind or recognized you from times before you had been here. Walking towards the rink, your eyes settled on the boys doing laps for the last part of practice. It wasn’t until most of the guys were only talking and about to get off the ice that they noticed you.

Tyler was the first to notice you, smiling and waving towards you, which caused most of the team to follow where he was looking and notice you. As the team headed to the locker room to change, you simply waited on one of the benches for them.

“I feel like you only came all this way to see my dogs,” Tyler said, making his way towards you.

“No, I would never do such a thing, I obviously came here to say hi to you,” you stood up to give him a hug.

“Mhm, whatever you say. Didn’t you have podium training today? How’d it go?”

“Well, it went pretty well actually. I did a few of my dismounts, but kept most of my landings safe just to be careful. But other than that everything went well.”

“As long as you kick ass tomorrow, I’m fine,” he said, honestly, “do you have anything else to do for the rest of the day or did you just come to say hi?”

“Well, I have no plans for the rest of the day, but I don’t want to intrude on any team plans.”

“You know you would never be intruding on anything with us, even if you are dating a Flyer,” Jamie O said from behind you.

“God, Jamie, what the fuck? Where’d you come from?”

“Your mom’s house,” he said, earning a fist bump from Tyler.

“I can’t even be upset, that was a good one,” you smiled as Jamie hugged you,”and don’t bring Joel into this.”

“My condolences.”

“Condolences? No one died?” you questioned.

“You are dating someone that plays for the Flyers,” Tyler said.

“Damn, that’s harsh,” you replied.

“Anyways, moving on. Me and a few other guys were coming over to mine for lunch and to hangout, if you want to come you are welcome to,” Tyler said to which you simply nodded.

“Is that who I think it is?” another familiar voice rang out, causing you to whip your head around to see Roope and Jake heading your way.

“Well, if you thought it was me, then you would be correct, my friend,” you retaliated.

“I’m surprised they let you in here, considering you are dating a Flyer,” Otter said, jokingly.

“Quit bringing the fact that I’m dating Bee into the conversation.”

“At least Nicole is in the safe zone,” Roope said, causing your eyes to widen, “y/n. What was that?”

“What was what?” you questioned as Roope simply narrowed his eyes.

“You did the thing.”

“What are you talking about, bestie?”

“Oh, you have a habit of your face changing when you know something that will ruin the whole perspective or something or if you know a secret that will change the entire story. Very entertaining and concerning that you didn’t know,” Tyler added.

“Um, well, didn’t expect to be psychoanalyzed by a bunch of hockey players today, but here we are.”

“Ok, I think we should head to mine and then, we can continue psychoanalyzing you,” Tyler suggested to which you all agreed. Roope, who had gotten a ride from Tyler in the morning, immediately hopped into your car as soon as you unlocked it.

“What’s up with Nicole?” he asked as soon as you started driving.

“What happened to hello? How are you?” you joked.

“Listen, I’m asking now because I don’t want to talk about this with the guys there. But what did you mean?” he said, causing you to take a deep breath. It wasn’t like Roope and Nicole were ever together, but it was always an unspoken fling of sorts, that they never made official.

“Look,-”

“Please, just tell me what’s happening,” he pleaded.

“Nicole and Nolan are sort of together,” you rushed out, causing a moment of silence to break out. You didn’t know what to expect as a reaction, considering they weren’t official and hadn’t really talked since the last time you and her were in Texas.

“Is she happy?”

“Yeah, she’s happy.”

“Okay, that’s all I care about,” he said simply, which made your heart almost break for one of your closest friends.

…..

Being able to spend time with some of your close friends that you hadn’t seen in a while was just what you needed to destress about championships. Maybe an intense game of uno with five of the most competitive people was exactly what some might call a destressor, but here you were.

Tyler threw down his cards as he stood up dramatically, “no, because there is no way that a.) she already has an uno and that b.) all of you used your draw two cards against me.”

“Don’t be upset, Ty, that’s just how the game of uno is sometimes,” you replied, hiding a laugh.

“Oh, shut up. I think you guys cheated,” Tyler accused.

“I think you just don’t know how to play uno,” Jamie mumbled.

“Oh, yeah, real funny. I think you all teamed up against me and Jake dealt that way on purpose.”

“And we all think, you just can’t accept a loss in uno,” Roope added.

“Fine, let’s settle this like men,” Tyler grabbed all the cards, attempting to shuffle them before accepting he couldn’t shuffle and handing them over to you to shuffle, “I’m watching you.”

“Oh, wow, so scared,” quickly shuffling them, doing a little bit more than usual to get Tyler off your case, you handed them back to him, “there you go.”

Another final round of uno, which ended up with you and Roope head to head as far as who would win, while Tyler had ended up with at least 15 cards to which Jamie was the first to speak up, “I think we should end here before someone gets hurt.”

“No, no, we’re fine. It’s fine. y/n, take your turn,” he said, eyes narrowing as he watched from beside you. Even if it was your last card, you dropped the draw 4, which made Tyler draw more cards.

“Damn, that sucks,” you said, hiding a laugh.

“What was that, y/n?” Tyler said.

“I said, damn, that sucks,” you repeated, watching Tyler closely as he stood up quickly once again, before practically chasing you. “Tyler, it’s just uno. Stop chasing me.”

“Oh, wow, ‘damn, that sucks’” Tyler mocked.

As the other three watched, Jamie just grabbed the bowl of popcorn as they watched their friends running around chasing each other. “I see why we don’t play uno much,” Jake said.

“Yep. Exactly. But no one listened when I advised against it,” Jamie said, taking a drink of his beer.

“Tyler, watch yourself,” you said, as he stood on the opposite side of the couch. He started running one way, as you ran the other to avoid him, but he quickly sidestepped and caught up to you. Practically throwing you over his shoulder, he made his way out to the pool, “Tyler, let’s not do anything crazy here.”

“Oh, you mean like hold a draw four card until the end of the game,” Tyler said, as he tossed you into the deep end of his pool.

“Children. Literal children,” Roope said, shaking his head, going to grab you a towel.

Rising up from the water and quickly moving the hair out of your face, you swam over to where Tyler was, “hey, can you help me out?”

“Nah, I’m not falling for that one,” he stated.

“Seriously, I won’t do anything right now, I promise,” you said, as you saw him reach his arm out to which you quickly grabbed and stood out of the pool. Walking towards Roope, who had grabbed you a towel, you turned back around to see Tyler still walking near the pool. Using this to your advantage, you ran and pushed Tyler into the pool. “Sorry, bestie,” you said, running to get the towel from Roope and running back in the house.

After getting changed into one of Tyler’s extra shirts he had lying around, you were just hanging out with the guys when a familiar contact flashed on the screen to FaceTime, Jake who was right next to you immediately noticed, “ooh, better go talk to your man, y/n.”

“Shut the literal fuck up,” you called back, standing up to go the kitchen for privacy. Answering, you noticed that Joel was at Nolan and Kevin’s apartment, “were you that lonely without me, babe?”

“No, well maybe, but I’m helping them set up for the watch party tomorrow,” Joel said, taking a seat at their kitchen island, “how’d podium training go?”

“It went really well actually, I didn’t work the 3.5 just so that way I have something over their heads, you know. But other than that, it was all good. How are things at home?”

“Well, I mean no one is dead, which is always good. Um, debated getting a dog, my mom called, I told her about you. Uh, already told you about the watch party. I don’t think anything else interesting happened,” he said, shrugging as if he hadn’t just mentioned bringing you up to his mom.

“Wait, you told your mom about me?”

“Well, she does follow me on Instagram, so after seeing the post she texted me asking and then she asked while we were on the phone. She wished you good luck, by the way. She’s also visiting here with my dad in a few weeks and I’d really love it if you would meet them,” he said, shyly.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, of course,” you rushed out, hoping you didn’t sound as nervous as you were.

“That sounded very unsure.”

“No, it’s fine. I just have never been at the spot in a relationship where I meet the parents, I’m just nervous. I don’t want to mess it up.”

“Babe, my mom already loves you, she was getting on my case about not telling her, but she already thinks very highly of you and I definitely hyped you up a little bit. You have nothing to worry about,” he reassured you, which made you smile.

“Hey, y/n/n,” Kevin yelled.

“Hey, Kev.”

“You were very nice in your interview today, it had all of us worried,” Kevin said, which caused you to roll your eyes in response.

“Hey, I can be nice sometimes.”

“On very rare occasions, yes,” Joel added.

“Whatever.” As you talked a little while longer with the guys, eventually Roope and Tyler had come in to say hi to everyone as well, which had you dying laughing as both of them gave the ‘you hurt her, we fly to Philly and hurt you’ talk that almost everyone had given him.

Telling Joel you would call him back whenever you made it back to your hotel, you stayed with the guys for another couple of hours before heading back to your hotel. Nicole had spent most of the day after podium training resting and had met you in the hotel lobby when you got back.

“So,- “ she didn’t even have to finish her sentence before you knew what she was saying.

“Roope is doing good, he said he hopes things are going well,” you said, watching as a small smile crept up her face.

“Well, good to know. Did you know KD is also staying at this hotel?”

“Well, considering this is the host hotel and most competitors are here, I am not all that shocked.”

“Yeah, but you probably didn’t know she’s legit a few rooms away from us, did ya?”

“No, guess not,” you said, “how’d you find that one out?”

“Well, let me set the scene for you. I go to get ice and then I hear her talking with, uh, whatever her name is, Callie or Carly, it starts with a C. Anyways, they were talking about you and me and how our skills have been less than recently and all this stuff about you not catching up to where you were - which I found so fucking funny because who has won gold at the past few meets? Not her. Anyways, all is fair in the sport of gymnastics, but I’m just excited to see her reaction to you doing the 3.5.”

“Damn, no pressure there, Nic.”

“Okay, but the thing is, you have the skill,” Nicole said, as you got into the elevator. “You have it down. It’s all up here, in your cranium,” she said, pointing to your head.

“Alright, let’s just go to bed now,” you said, slowly removing her hand and opening the door to your hotel room.

…..

“Hello everyone and welcome to Day One of the 2021 US Gymnastics Championships. We are very excited to see how today’s competition goes as this competition will decide who makes it onto the National Team and who will qualify for Olympic Trials,” Joel heard the announcer say as he made his way to sit with everyone in the living room.

“Did you talk to her this morning?” Claude asked from beside him.

“Yeah, usual pre-comp anxieties. Nolan talked to her and Nicole to give the usual pep talk and then we talked for a while on their way to the arena,” Joel answered, looking back to the TV to see you prepping for bars, “she said podium training went well, but Kathryn was talking shit, so all I know is she better kick her ass.”

“You know she will, it happens everytime. She gets in her head and still does amazing, just a casual Tuesday,” Scott added.

“It’s not Tuesday?” Travis questioned.

“Yes, I know,” Scott said, confusing everyone.

“Alright, moving on,” Joel reiterated.

“And starting on bars, we have y/n y/l/n. Now if you remember, less than a year ago, y/n was injured at another competition doing a beam dismount that she might be competing in today’s competition. She is definitely one to watch as she has a reputation of scoring high in these meets, before and after her return. Her teammate, Nicole Carter, will be following up.”

Joel watched as you stepped away from the chalk box to start your routine, he watched intently as you jumped from the springboard to reach the high bar. He watched intently as you went through your routine. Release skills. Giants. Pirouettes. More release skills. More giants. Dismount. Stuck landing.

“A great start to Day 1 for y/n, who seems pretty proud of how that routine went,” the announcer said, “rotation two will be beam, where we might see that 3.5 twist, which is currently in the process of being named by Kathryn Davis, who was the first to compete it at a major competition. Now the question everyone is wondering is will we see this skill from y/n today?”

“She’s doing it. Fucking dumbass,” Joel grumbled at the announcer.

“Damn, Beezer, tell them how you really feel,” Travis replied, as everyone else laughed at Joel’s behavior before watching Nicole compete. Nicole’s routine ended with a stuck landing, the camera following her as she made her way off the platform and hugged you before the two of you did your secret handshake.

Knowing the next event was beam, Joel waited as other competitors did their routines as you were warming up. He knew this moment would make or break how the rest of the meet went and with this only being your second event, it needed to go well.

Everyone watched anxiously as you saluted the judges, shaking your hands out before you reached to mount the beam. You took a deep breath before actually starting your routine. Starting the beginning choreography, you kept your movements sharp and clean. All the skills in your routine were sharp - doing this so if the dismount didn’t go well, it hopefully wouldn’t affect your score too much.

Joel had memorized your routines, knowing you were approaching your dismount, he saw your movements become slightly hesitant. Watching as you did a quick pivot on the beam to prep for the dismount, he watched you take a deep breath.

“C’mon, babe. You got it,” he said, and by whatever power was listening he watched your lips twitch up to a smile as you started your dismount. Going for the round-off and starting the twists, you did the three and a half twists, opening up to find your landing, and stuck your dismount. Joel’s smile grew even more when he saw how happy you were with your routine.

The rest of Day 1 of Championships went well for both you and Nicole; the two of you ending in the first and place spot in all around, with Kathryn following close behind. After the competition, both of you had your media conferences before you made your way back to the hotel. As both of you checked your phone, you saw the multiple notifications from various social medias.

“Dude, did you see what Ryanne posted?” Nicole asked, a look on her face that you couldn’t easily recognize.

“No, hold on,” you opened Instagram to see she had tagged you in multiple posts on her instagram story: starting off with a picture of all the guys wearing a jersey with your and Nicole’s name on it, a picture of all the guys watching warms ups intently, a video of Joel and Travis debating the name of a skill from Nicole’s routine (Travis was right), a video of Joel watching you do your beam routine and cheering you on right as you go for your dismount, and then a video of everyone cheering as you and Nicole as they announced the end of day 1.

…..

After falling asleep with Joel on FaceTime, you woke up to your 6am alarm to get ready for Day 2 of championship, Joel - who had told you he would wake up with you - was still sound asleep. Getting you and Nicole an apple from the lobby, you talked to a few of your competitors and a few fans before heading back to yours and Nicole’s room.

“Wake up, bitch, it’s Day 2 of Championships,” you said, jumping to lay next to Nicole on her bed.

“Leave me to die here, I don’t want to go. USAG can suck a homeless man’s dick,” she mumbled into the pillow.

“That’s truly something, wait til the media teams hear about that one,” you joked, only to get a glare sent your way.

“You know what? You can suck on one, too,” she responded, pulling the blanket over her head.

“Well at least, there's less competition,” to which she quickly peaked out of the blanket.

“Oh, you wish. We’re neck and neck this time, so we’ll see who gets bragging rights.”

“Well if you don’t get out of bed, then we’ll never know,” you said, to which she only sent a glare your way.

“Do we really have to get up and compete today? Do you think we could petition to reschedule?”

“I mean, I’m sure if we talked to people, we’d get a lot of signatures, but I don’t think it would go over well,” you said, grabbing your garment bag that held your leo for today, “I’m going to go get ready because I know if we end up talking to Joel and Nolan first, we won’t be ready in time.”

After you got ready, both you and Nicole got your pep talk from Nolan and Bee. On the way to the arena, both of you got a bunch of good luck messages - not just from your friends and family, but also from teammates and even some from most of the Stars roster. You had a feeling in your gut that today would be a good day.

…..

“Alright folks, Day 2 of Championships have been off to a great start and are about to come to a close. With Nicole Carter in first with a 57.605 All-Around score and Kathryn Davis in second with a 57.1, Cassie Riley in third with a 56.2, it comes down to the final rotations. y/n y/l/n is one of the last to go on floor today, who will need a score of at least a 13.5 to get first,” the announcer said.

“And compared to her average score, this will be easily attainable. If she scores at least a 14.5, she’ll be first overall for both days of competition. She already has a for sure spot at Trials, even when you don’t consider scores. As long as she is able to hit all elements of this routine, she’ll be fine,” another announcer said.

“Ok, you’re good, you just have to hit this routine and there’s no doubt you’ll make it to where you want to be. Deep breaths, Twinkle Toes,” Marcus said.

Walking up the platform to get up to the floor, you took your spot at the edge of the floor, ready to salute the judge, and get the last meet of championships out of the way. After anxiously waiting, the judge finally saluted. Entering the floor with a determined walk, you took your spot waiting for the familiar sound of your floor music to ring out.

That familiar feeling of doing the sport you loved, once again, rushed through your veins. Block everything out and complete the routine, that’s all you had to do. Going to your starting pose, the music started. Going through the familiar motions of your routine, you stuck your first tumbling pass. Then came the leaps and jump sequence and all that was in between, with the additional three tumbling passes.

You didn’t give yourself a chance to overthink about your routine, you knew that it wouldn’t benefit you in any way, but as you stepped off the floor you knew that you did what you could. As soon as you made it back to where Marcus and Nicole were sitting, you waited to see what your score was.

Joel and everyone watching at home watched as you sat down to see what your score was. He had this dopey grin gracing his features from the amount of pride he felt in that moment. He didn’t care what your score was, he knew you had put whatever you could out on the mat. He listened to Travis for a moment until the announcer started up again for scores and awards, “and y/n y/l/n pulled through with the score that she needed, a 14.9 on floor. She placed first in All-Around, Carter following right behind, and Davis in third. If all goes this well at trials, I’d say we have a lot of good representation for the Olympic Games.”

…..

After the meet and countless amount of interviews both you and Nicole were extremely worn out and had both passed out on the flight back. As you and Nicole stepped out of the terminal, you were met with the familiar faces of your friends and family. You smiled as you saw Bee for the first time in a few days and despite how tired you were, you couldn’t stop yourself from running to him.

He immediately caught you and did the cliche spin (the one you swore you would never do) before pulling you into a regular hug, “I’m so proud of you, babe. You have no idea.”

“Thank you. I surprisingly missed you,” you joked, laughing harder when Joel pulled you away slightly to catch a glimpse of your face.

“Wow, aren’t I glad I was blessed with such a nice girlfriend? It’s crazy.”

“Absolutely insane.”

“Preposterous.”

“Can the two of you shut the fuck up?” Kevin asked, coming over to give you a hug, “you did good out there, y/n/n. You also kept all your bones intact, I’m proud.”

“Shut the fuck up, Kev.”

“Okay, aside from you getting onto Kev and Bee, I missed you, too,” Karly said from beside Travis.

“I kinda did, too. You did amazing though, y/n/n. I’m proud,” Travis said.

“Thank you, thank you. All in a hard day's work,” you said, shrugging.

“Dude, you might want to go back to Beezer, he looks like a lost puppy watching you talk to us,” Travis pointed out, nodding in Joel’s direction who smiled when you caught his eye.

“Yeah, not a shocking development,” you said, before walking back in Joel’s direction, “hey, Bee.”

“Hey, honey,” he said, wrapping his arms around you again, “you ready to go home?”

“Yeah, of course,” you leaned up to kiss his cheek.

“Ew, guys. Get a room,” Kevin called out, fake gagging.

#joel farabee #joel farabee x reader #joel farabee imagines #joel farabee x gymnast!reader #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #hockey imagines

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imagines-r-s · 3 years

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sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 8

a/n: idk why this chapter took so long, but here it is. it’s very domestic and wholesome, so enjoy it. honestly i’m sad we’re so close to the series ending, but there will be more y/n and joel from the sticking it au i promise. and as always, lmk what you all think

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @dreamsndior @itsurgirlgracie @heartshapedkissxs @lwstuff

warnings: more high school musical references, a sprinkle of angst, friends fighting, idk if it counts as an innuendo or suggestive content, but some of that (not a warning, but Adrian content and ‘no thoughts, head empty’ Joel)

sticking it masterlist

wc: 6.1k

“All I’m saying is that it doesn’t make sense that she’s the only one standing, singing to Troy about scoring a basket. Like what if someone showed up to the game late and didn’t get the memo to twist the signs around and stay seated, you know? And it’s not just Gabriella standing up,” you said, grabbing multiple outfits to choose from for the movie night that you had been invited to.

“Well, I don’t think that it was really an ‘ok, everybody. One person is going to be staying up, but everybody else stay seated and lift your sign’ sorta thing. I feel like it was just a heat of the moment thing,” Joel replied as he walked out of the bathroom.

“Yeah, but it still doesn’t make sense. And I’m curious to know if that mid-game duet actually motivated Troy or if he was just annoyed or something.”

“If you sang to me mid-game, I would honestly probably throw a stick at you. Out of love, obviously.”

“That’s sweet of you, not really, but I’ll take it,” you said, turning towards Joel, “I don’t know what to wear to movie night.”

“It’s not really like you have to try to impress anyone, it’s just movie night,” Joel said, as he scrolled on his phone, “but you look hot in anything, so I’m chilling.”

“You’re definitely just saying that,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“Yeah, you’re right. You in the mornings is kinda concerning, not your best look,” he said, pointedly.

“That was not an opportunity for you to say something like that, I will throw a chair at you.”

“That’s concerning, but well deserved. I’m sure it would be out of the kindness of your heart, so I respect it.”

“You better respect it, Farabee.”

“Oooh, the last name. I’m shaking in my boots,” he said to which you immediately shot a glare his way, “actually, you’re very hot when you’re mad, not gonna lie.”

“Better watch yourself, Beezer, you’re on thin ice,” you said, jokingly.

“Good thing I know how to skate, babe,” he retorted, making his way towards you.

“You’re annoying,” you huffed as Joel wrapped his arms around you in a bear hug, “Bee, you better stop.” He lightly pecked the top of your head before stepping back, “wait, what was that?”

“What? The hug or me kissing the top of your head?”

“Both?”

“It’s called a display of affection. I know you aren’t familiar since you show your love by threatening to throw chairs at the people you care about, but that’s what that was.”

“Oh, it was nice,” you said, which caused Joel to chuckle.

“God, I love you,” he paused for a moment, clearly contemplating something, “this is kinda random, but have you ever thought about posting about our relationship? Or is that a no in the gymnastics world?”

“I mean, yeah, I have thought about it. I just haven’t because I didn’t know how you felt, but if you want to post it you can.”

“Why don’t you post it first?”

“Why don’t you? You brought it up?” you questioned.

“You confuse me so much sometimes and I’m usually confused, so it makes it kinda worse,” he said honestly.

“How about whenever we get back here tonight, we post at the same time?” you offered.

“Sounds okay with me. Come on, we have to go if we want to make it on time,” he said, softly.

…..

“Hey, it’s Short Stack and Beezer,” Travis said, as he opened his front door.

“I still don’t know why you of all people call me Short Stack, Tiki Bar,” you said to which he simply shrugged before opening the door more to let the two of you in.

“Ooh, Short Stack, Karly has something for you. I think she went upstairs,” you sent a confused look to Travis, “it’s nothing bad, just go.” You rolled your eyes as you made your way up the steps.

“Karly?” you called as you walked closer to her and Travis’ room.

“I’m in here,” she called. As you walked into her room, you quickly noticed her shuffling through the things in her closet, pulling out a box that had clearly been wrapped in a hurry.

“What’s that?”

“Just open it, I hope you like it,” she rushed.

“Um, alright,” you tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box to reveal what looked like a regular denim jacket, “a denim jacket?” you said, earning an eye roll from her.

“Take it out of the box, Sunshine.” You picked up the corners of the jacket to see that there were multiple patches with the flyers logo and bees on the sleeves, turning it around to see a number 86 and Farabee on the back.

“Karly, wha-”

“Look, I know you and him haven’t announced it officially yet or anything like that, but I figured that you would like it. I even got the bees on there for obvious reasons. I wouldn’t be upset if you didn’t wear it out, but you needed one,” she said, gently.

“I- Wow, I love it, Karly. Thank you,” you said, giving her a quick hug.

“You should wear it downstairs or at least show him at some point.”

“Oh no, I was just going to keep it in a bag in my closet for a while until he inevitably finds it,” you said, sarcastically.

“No need for the sass, Sunshine. You should try it on though, I want to see what it looks like,” she suggested, her smile only growing as she saw that it looked amazing on you, “oh yes, the bee patches really add to it. Definitely a great choice on my part.”

“Always the humble one. Come on, we have to start the movies eventually.”

“Wait, you’re wearing it downstairs?” she asked, to which you simply nodded as you walked ahead of her down the stairs.

Travis was the first to notice your arrival downstairs as he talked to Joel, smiling as he saw that you were wearing the jacket that his girlfriend had stressed over for days, “hey, y/n, I’m really liking this new look.”

“Hey man,” Joel started as he had his back turned towards you, quickly turning around after hearing that you arrived downstairs, “watch yours-” He immediately recognized that similar jacket that many of his teammates significant other wore to games, a perfect sign showing off their boyfriend or husband. “Wait, hold up.”

“Yes,” you answered, already knowing what he was going to ask.

“Swag,” he answered simply as he walked closer to you to examine the jacket. “Are those bees? Why are there bees?”

“Hmm, no idea. They’re just randomly there,” you retorted.

“Beezer, did you get knocked in the head at practice or something? I’m very concerned, dude,” Nicole asked from beside Nolan.

“Why are there bees? I don’t understand,” he asked, frantically.

“He’s hopeless,” Nolan whispered to Nicole.

“Bee, did you forget your own name?” you asked.

“Bee,” he paused, “ohhhh, that’s me. Those are for me, wait, turn around,” you rolled your eyes as you turned around to see the back of the jacket, “oh, that’s my name.”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” Kevin said, concerned from the whole exchange.

“He’s just having one of his moments. Be nice, Kev,” you said, holding back a laugh as you turned back towards your boyfriend who looked like there was something wrong, “Bee, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I just- you got my name on a jacket. You usually aren’t this nice, but this is something nice, so I’m just worried something is wrong with you,” he said, genuinely.

You visibly gaped as the guys around you howled in laughter as Karly spoke up, “technically, I got her the jacket, she’s just wearing it.”

“Ohhh, okay, that makes more sense.”

“Damn, y/n/n, how badly do you treat the poor kid?” Scott asked from the couch.

“Better watch yourself, Scotty,” you said, shooting him a glare.

“Let’s just get the movie started before Short Stack attacks someone,” Travis added.

Drawing names to see who would pick the movie, Nicole picked out the movie, Stick It, which had always been one of her favorites. It was expected for people to be getting up during the movie, but when you noticed Nicole missing from seeing her favorite movie, you became worried that something had happened, “psst, did you see where Nicole went?” you whispered over to Joel.

“No, did you see where Nolan went?” he asked you, which caused you to grow suspicious as you noticed both of them were gone. “Maybe they’re just making out in the kitchen or something?”

“Why would they be making out? They’re just friends.”

“Dude, they’re still friends in the same way you and me are still friends.”

“No, because if something were going on she would tell me and I think it would be obvious.”

“Look, I know I’m oblivious, but you choose to ignore a lot of obvious details just because.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Fine, if we get up and find them together or doing something romantic? I don’t know, but either way, you have to post that we’re together first, but I choose the caption.”

“Is that a bet?”

“Yes,” to which the two of you shook on it.

“Hey guys, how many of you think there’s something going on with Nolan and Nicole?” Joel asked the group.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve noticed for months, they just haven’t done anything about it out of fear of what y/n will think,” Karly said like it was some simple statement.

“What do you mean that they fear what I would think?” you asked, causing everyone to look at you.

“Short Stack, you are literally this little spitfire that could attack at any moment, they just don’t want to upset you,” Travis added just as the pair walked back into the living room, “ah, here’s the two lovebirds now.”

A flash of panic crossed Nicole’s face as Nolan blushed, “no, I just needed help getting drinks and Nolan was right there.”

“Okay, then where are the drinks and why does Nolan have a hickey?” Scott pointed out.

“I forget them in the kitchen and Nolan burnt himself with a curling iron,” she offered.

“Karly, did you leave your curling iron in the kitchen again? Silly goose,” Travis said.

Joel quickly noticed how quiet you were from beside him, “hey, babe. What’s wrong?”

“I’m okay, I’m going to go and get a drink really quick,” you said, softly smiling before heading into the kitchen. Everyone’s eyes followed you as you retreated back to the kitchen, Nicole sighed, the guilt of not telling you finally hitting her.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Nolan offered.

“No, this is definitely between the two of us,” she answered before following you, “y/n/n, look-”

“Nicole, it’s fine,” you said, filling a cup with ice.

“It’s obviously not, I know you better than that,” she said, gently, waiting for a response from you, “look, this honestly hasn’t gone to anything serious yet because I knew I needed to tell you. I know I shouldn’t have kept it from you and that you would have been fine with it, we just didn’t want anyone to know. No one really knew, Karly just picked up on it because she’s Karly and everyone else figured it out. And I know you knew something was going on, you just didn’t want to accept it.”

“I don’t have an issue with it, I would have rather you just tell me straight up what’s happening, but I had to find out because Joel made a joke and you couldn’t give Nolan a hickey where it wasn’t visible,” you said honestly, filling your cup with water.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to offer, there wasn’t really another reason other than we didn’t know how you would react,” she said, leaning back on the kitchen counter as you stared at the cup in your hand, “y/n/n, please say something. I’ll break it off if-”

“I would never make you break things off with him and you know that. How long has this been going on?”

“Uh, we’ve liked each other for a while, but didn’t do anything about it until you had to go back on crutches, so maybe a few weeks.”

“Gotcha, gotcha.”

“Are you mad at us? It was my idea, Nolan said we should just tell you, but-”

“Nic, please. I’m not mad, I knew something was up, I was just more focused on other things. Does he make you happy?” you asked, looking back up at her, smiling at the small blush that had rushed up to her face.

“Yeah, he really does.”

“Then, I’m chilling. Come on, you already missed half of your favorite movie making out with Nols,” she laughed as the two of you made your way back.

“You good, y/n/n?” Kevin asked as you sat by Joel again, who wrapped his arms around your shoulder.

“Maybe you should ask Nicole, just to make sure y/n/n didn’t attack her,” Scott added.

“Eh, I’ve known her for years, I have a few strategies,” Nicole said, simply.

“Oh, shut up, Nicky,” you said, jokingly rolling your eyes.

“I know damn well that you did not just say Nicky,” she said, shocked.

“Oh, did I?”

“You want to take this outside, babe.”

“Hmm, maybe tomorrow.”

“I’m concerned, but this is entertaining,” Travis said, to which everyone else agreed.

“I’ll record it and post it on world-star,” Joel added.

“Thanks, babe. Oh and Patty Lapone, if you hurt her, I will bust your kneecaps,” you said, faking sweetness.

“Understandably, so,” Nolan said, honestly.

“Glad we’re on the same page. And Nicky, don’t hurt him either.”

“Noted,” Nicole said.

“Hey babe, you know you have to post us first now, right?” Joel said, smirk growing on his face, “and I get to choose the caption.”

“You’re letting him choose the caption?” Karly asked, “good luck, Sunshine.”

…..

“So, do you know what picture you’re going to post? I have mine picked out,” Joel asked you as you finished your night routine.

“I’m still upset that you won that bet, but probably the picture of us that’s my wallpaper,” you said, patting your face dry.

“What picture?” Joel asked, confused as to what you meant.

“Oh, Karly took a bunch of pictures the day we were at the lake and the one that’s my wallpaper is the one where you’re about to throw me in the water and I’m laughing at you. Or I might post one of the pictures Nicole took of us where I’m wearing your jersey,” you explained.

“Ok, one, why haven’t I seen these and two, why didn’t you send me them?”

“Oh, I don’t know, you never asked.”

“I never knew.”

“Same thing?” you offered before walking out of the bathroom to sit on your bed as Joel grabbed his bag to start packing for the next day.

“Ok, well get the post ready and I’ll caption it,” Joel said, holding his hand out.

“Please keep it reasonable, I am an example to tiny humans.”

“Kids?”

“Same thing,” you said, handing your phone over to him, already open to instagram.

Joel had been thinking about what he would caption this post for the rest of the day after you had talked about going public. Quickly typing up the caption and tagging himself, he posted it, “okay, all done.”

“It didn’t take you that long?”

“Yeah, I know. I kinda figured it out earlier,” he said, shrugging and handing you back your phone. As you saw the notifications for the post, you opened it to see the picture of you two captioned ‘the bee to my honey’.

“That is so incredibly cheesy and adorable,” you said, smiling at your phone, “Karly already commented upset that you didn’t give her photo credit though, but she said the caption wasn’t terrible.”

“Yeah, I’m so good with words, babe. We’ve established this.”

“You’re truly something. Wait, are you captioning yours ‘the honey to my bee’ because that way it’s just in reverse?”

“Yeah, we’re just that cool,” Joel said, handing you his packing list, “will you go over this with me to make sure I have everything?”

“Superstitious King, ok, um, your garment bag with your suit?” you continued down the list as you heard him respond to everything you said, “Glasses? Glasses? Why do you have glasses on this list?”

“Because I need them to see?” he said, confused by your question.

“Since when have you worn glasses?”

“A while actually, I just don’t wear them all that often,” he shrugged.

“Wait, what do they look like on you?” you asked, watching as he contemplated showing you before reaching in his bag and grabbing his glasses case.

“If you make any jokes, I will never wear them around you again,” he said before putting them on. “Ok, one joke, and that’s all.” He was shocked by how quiet you were, “y/n/n, please just make the joke already while I’m prepared for it.”

“Oh no, I actually don’t have a joke this time. You look really good in glasses.”

“Oh, a compliment?”

“Ha ha, yeah, I can be nice sometimes. But no, you genuinely look hot in those, you look hot in general, but like, now especially,” you continued rambling.

“Awe, you’re being nice and I made you nervous,” he cooed.

“You don’t make me nervous, Farabee,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“Oh, I don’t? Okay,” he took steps closer to you standing in front of you and placing his arms on either side of you, smirking as he heard your breath hitch, “you sure I don’t make you nervous?”

“Y-you don’t,” you replied, watching his actions closely as he leaned his face closer to yours, placing his hand on your thigh before leaning beside your ear.

“Okay, then,” he whispered before standing back up to finish packing, a smirk lacing his features.

“That was rude,” you pouted, to which he simply shrugged. “Yeah, that’s not going to work, babe. Karma is a real thing,” you said, watching as he furrowed his brows.

“What do you mean?”

“Karma,” you said, before just grabbing a longer shirt of his for pajamas and heading to the bathroom to change. Coming back minutes later to see Joel in bed, leaning against the headboard, already looking your way.

“y/n,” he said, cautiously, “please say there’s something underneath my shirt.”

“I don’t know, Bee, is there?” you asked, pulling the comforter back on your bed as you laid down for bed.

“I don’t like this game, it’s not that fun,” he said, moving down to lay his head on your chest, your hand instinctively going to his hair.

“Karma is karma, pretty boy,” you said, chuckling when you felt him start to trace patterns on your thigh, obviously looking for a way to tell if you had shorts on. “You have to be up in a few hours and Kevin and Nol will barge in here tomorrow morning if you aren’t on time.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you going to answer my question?”

“You didn’t ask a question.”

“You’re really annoying sometimes. Are you going to answer my statement?”

“You still love me though and I won’t answer your statement,” you said, softly, knowing that he was ready to fall asleep. “Goodnight, Bee.”

“Goodnight, babe.”

The alarm for the start of Joel’s day went off way too soon, but he knew he needed to get up. Quickly turning off his alarm to avoid waking you up, he got up to get his shower and get dressed for his day.

After getting a text from Nolan that they would be at your door in about 5 minutes, he decided to tell you goodbye, “y/n/n, baby, it’s time for me to go.”

“You don’t have to go, tell them you can’t go,” you said, half asleep, barely even realizing what you were saying.

“As much as I wish I could, it doesn’t work like that, babe.”

“Well have you tried to see if it would work?” he chuckled at your question.

“I love you and I’ll see you in a few days, alright,” he kissed the top of your head before grabbing his bags and heading out to the living room to wait on Kevin and Nolan. Taking a seat on the couch as he waited, he heard the bedroom door open with footsteps following, “you should go back to sleep.”

“I have to go to PT in a few hours, so might as well be up,” you said, “plus, I kinda want to say bye to Kev and Nols.”

“You have PT at noon, it’s almost 5am. Once we leave, please try to get some sleep.”

“Awe, Bee, you worried about me?”

“Unfortunately I’m always worried about you and you’re such a chaotic person that it’s reasonable and the concern only ever grows.”

“That’s true, I am kinda chaotic,” you said, causing him to chuckle.

“Just a tad.”

The sound of the key turning and door opening drew yours and Joel’s attention away from each other for a moment, “sup, bitches,” Kevin’s voice rang out.

“What the fuck, Kev?” you asked, grabbing a blanket from your couch, wrapping it around you.

“Rise and shine, y/n/n. Hope you slept well, now we have to leave, so say bye to your boy,” Kevin added, turning back to leave again.

“Ok, I have to get going, shawty bae. Go get some sleep, text me how PT goes, and tell Adrian I said hi. Bye, babe,” he kissed the top of your head once more before grabbing his bag and heading on his way.

…..

“So, no lover boy today?” Adrian asked as you stepped into his office.

“No, not today,” you said, sitting down on the bench, “him and the boys have an away game tonight, so they left this morning and will be back in a few days.”

“So, I assume things are going well?” he asked, rolling his chair over to you.

“Yeah, things are going very well. We posted about us being together officially on instagram last night.”

“Oh, wow. Instagram, that’s crazy,” he said, sarcastically.

“Hey, shush. It’s a bigger step than you think.”

“Oh, yes. The power couple that you two athletes are, hmm. Forgot about that.”

“Stop, it’s not that crazy. It just kinda is a big step in my opinion.”

“Well, I am happy for you and I’m also proud of you for actually listening to me and staying off your knee.”

“Hey, that rhymed,” you softly interrupted.

“Ha ha, so funny. Anyways, with how it looks now, I say you’re good to start training again,” he said, taking the time to examine your knee. He could tell that you had actually listened to what he had told you, just like he hoped you had. He was excited to see you back to where you needed to be.

“Like training training? Or just training?”

“Training training. Just be careful and don’t overwork yourself. I am aware that there isn’t much time before you have the U.S Championships, but don’t rush it. Take your time. Quality over quantity. Okay, Superstar?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” you said, excitedly, jumping off the bench to hug Adrian, “thank you.”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything, this is all you. But if anyone can do this, you can. Just take care of yourself, alright? I don’t want all my work to go to waste,” he said, jokingly.

“Wow, I see how it is. I see how it is.”

“You know I’m joking, Superstar. Don’t even.”

“Do I, Adrian? Do I know that?”

“Just leave already,” he joked, “you have a lot of work to catch up on. Good luck, y/n/n.”

Knowing that the boys were either at lunch, wrapping up morning skate, or getting settled, you shot Kevin a quick text to call you whenever he had the chance; your phone rang only a few minutes later. “Hey, is everything okay?” Kevin’s concerned voice rang through.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Adrian cleared me to train again.”

“Aye, let’s go. Alright, so you have like, what? Two weeks before you leave for the U.S. Championships?”

“Yeah, Marcus and Michelle already figured out all my travel arrangements months ago, so no worries there. I’m just worried about the fact that I have about 12 practices, but Marcus will probably worry and have me practice less, so about 10 practices? And what if-” you rambled.

“No, we’re not doing the ‘what if’ conversations right now. Or anytime soon for that matter. You’ll get it. And if you have to simplify it for now, then that’s how it’ll be, but you stressing out right now is not going to change the number of practices you have or how they go. Only you can be the one to determine how practices go.”

“Since when did you get all wise, Kev?”

“I read this really inspirational fortune cookie earlier, it caused me to have a whole epiphany on life. Same old, same old.”

“Alright, wasn’t expecting that one, but I’m here for it. What are you guys up to?”

“What are we up to? Or what is Beezer up to?” Kevin asked, knowingly.

“I was honestly just asking in general, but since you brought him up-” the two of you took a little bit of time to catch up. Him filling you in on how morning skate went and how the lineups for the game were looking. He also told you how the team was looking good this morning and that if they played how they needed to, they could easily win.

You were still on the phone with Kevin by the time you pulled into the gym parking lot, “hey, I have to talk to Marcus about training, but I’ll probably talk to you after the game. Tell Bee I’ll talk to him later too. Bye, Kev.”

“Stay safe, be careful, make wise choices. I’ll talk to you later, y/n/n.”

Walking into the gym this time was different, almost similar to your first time back after everything, but right now you had the ability to train and to work how you needed to. You just needed to get back into your element.

Knowing that the only practice going on was for the younger kids, you made your way up to Marcus’ office. Knocking gently on the door, you opened it to see him and Michelle sitting near his desk. “So, what’s the verdict?” Marcus asked, expectantly.

“Well, there’s two weeks until Championships and I need to get this dismount,” you said, watching as the two of their smiles only grew. As the three of you went over everything that Adrian said, the three of you planned out the next two weeks.

“Alright, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning practices, you can spend the whole practice on beam, drills, and conditioning, but afternoon practices you need to do other events. Then, Tuesday and Thursdays will be working on other events, and Saturdays is just a markthrough day for routines,” Michelle explained easily, which showed that they had already thought of this beforehand.

“And we’re going to ease into it again, but this time from doubles. We both know you can easily get back to where you need to and we also believe that with how determined you seem right now, you’ll be fine. If you do okay with doubles, we’ll move onto triples as soon as we can. If anyone can do it, you can,” Marcus said, honestly.

…..

Checking his phone after the game was over, the smile on Joel’s face quickly grew at all the encouraging texts he had gotten from you. Quickly replying, he looked up to see most of the guys sharing knowing looks, “what?”

“Nothing, we can just easily tell who texted you from the way you looked at your phone,” Nolan pointed out.

“You don’t really hide it, so it’s kinda obvious,” Carter added.

“Well yeah, I don’t have a reason to hide it. My girl makes me happy,” Joel said, turning to see Kevin giving him a pointed look, “okay, maybe one reason to hide it.”

“Didn’t she have a PT appointment today? Any updates?” Scott asked, walking towards the younger guys.

“Oh, yeah. She got cleared and starts training again tomorrow,” Joel answered, causing all the team to smile.

Rushing to finish getting ready, so that he could FaceTime you, he grabbed his bag and made his way to an empty hallway to talk to you. The phone rang only a few times before you picked up, “hey, baby. You did really good at your game.”

“Thank you, thank you. I was thinking of you when I scored,” he said, watching behind you to see you walking around the apartment.

“That was really cheesy.”

“Yeah, I realized that after I said it, but it’s the thought that counts,” he retaliated, causing you to chuckle, “did you get everything figured out with your coaches to start practicing again?”

“Babe, you just won a game and you’re worried about my PT and training schedule?”

“Well, I don’t have an explanation, but I get hockey 24/7 for the next few days, so I kinda want to hear about your life and gymnastics,” he said, honestly, which only made you smile.

“Yeah, we got my training schedule figured out. I start practice again in the morning, but luckily I was able to work it out to where I have a day of just beam work to mostly do the dismount and drills and then the rest of the week is for other events. But I will have to travel for this meet, which I haven’t had to do in a while.”

“Oh, it’s in Texas? Right?” he asked, causing you to hum in agreement, “and how long before you leave?”

“Well, I leave the Wednesday night before, podium training on Thursday, and then, competition Friday and Sunday. And then I’ll be back Monday.”

“Ah, so I get to know how you feel when I’m on the road.”

“Yep, and you’ll know much it sucks,” you said, rolling your eyes.

You were happy that Joel was happy and playing the sport that he loved, but him being on the road often threw off the routine that the two of you had with each other. Waking up next to each other; either making or getting breakfast; him driving you to practice before going to his; jamming out to music as the two of you prepared for your day; the list goes on.

“Awe, you just miss me so much. It’s understandable really.”

“Don’t get cocky, Farabee,” you said.

“It’s okay to admit that you-”

“Bee, I will hang up on you,” you threatened.

“Babe, you would miss me too much,” he said, making you roll your eyes once again.

“Bye, Beezer,” you said, hitting the end call button.

He simply smiled at the action, knowing well enough that if he called back you would decline and that you were too stubborn to call him back. Quickly sending you a goodnight text, he made his way back to the locker room, not missing all the chirps the boys had to say in response.

…..

You spent the Monday and Wednesday of that week working on drills to be able to do the dismount. With the boys still gone until Friday, you spent your practices wisely and used any extra time that you could at the gym. Your routines were getting back to where they needed to be and you couldn’t have been happier. The drills that you were doing to work your dismount were also working out very well.

“I want you to try a few triple dismounts. Just a triple and by tomorrow I want you to go for the 3.5 twist. The drills you’re doing aren’t really doing anything at this point, you’ve basically mastered them. So, I do believe if you really work towards it, you could get the quad twist by Olympic Trials, you will compete a 3.5 for U.S. Championships, but with the way practices are going I firmly believe the quad is only a few tries away from you,” Marcus told you as you did your beam warm up.

“Marcus, I-”

“You’re doing the dismount,” Michelle added as she passed by.

“Just go for a triple, that’s all I want to see today. Once you do one, you’ll get back in the groove of things and you’ll be able to do more than one today. You got this, y/n/n, I know you can, you just have to get past the mental block.”

You knew he was right. As you thought about the skill, you knew it was basically a step away from you. If you went for it, with the way the drills are looking, you would have it. And from there, it’s just the 3.5 and then more work towards the quad. You knew you had the skills, you just had to remind your body of that fact.

Taking a deep breath, you started your beam routine. Hitting all the skills that you had, you made your way back and forth on the beam until you got the the start of your dismount. “C’mon, y/n, you got it. Just breathe,” you heard Marcus as you took another breath before starting the dismount. Going for the roundoff, you started for the twisting part of the dismount, watching and twisting three times, you opened up, shocked when you landed the dismount.

“Twinkle Toes,” Marcus beamed, “you did it.”

“Huh?” you said, realizing what you did, “wait. I did it.”

“You did the triple. I knew you could. I need you to do a few more, just to create the habit. Land at least five and then switch to bars.”

“Alright, yeah,” you answered, quickly realizing that you were one step closer to your goal. Doing the next five took a little bit of time, but you were getting used to the landing and the skill itself. After finishing, you moved onto bars.

“Did I see a triple dismount?” Nicole asked as you walked over to the chalk box.

“Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t,” you said, shrugging.

“Does that mean you’re trying the 3.5 again soon?”

“Most likely tomorrow. You will be seeing it soon, I promise.”

…..

When Joel noticed that he got home early enough to come surprise you at practice, he jumped at the chance. Quickly dragging Nolan and Kevin with him - considering they were his ride - he asked them to head to the gym. Once they entered, they got settled in the overhead seating area, he quickly found you standing with Marcus near the beam.

“C’mon, Twinkle Toes, in order to get the dismount back, you have to get on the beam,” he heard Marcus say.

“Look, trust the process. I’m mentally preparing for it before I go for it.”

“Are you actually going to get on the beam at some point today? Or will you still be mentally preparing by the end of practice?”

“Shush, it won’t take me that long, I promise,” Marcus sighed.

“Just get on the beam, that’s all I need.”

“Alright,” you got onto the beam, walking towards the end as you prepared for the dismount.

“Ok, just keep the same habits, just twist faster and open up a little bit later, you got it,” Marcus reassured you. Taking a deep breath, you prepped for the dismount. “C’mon, Twinkle Toes.”

Joel and the boys watched closely as you went through your habit of mentally visualizing first, watching you go for the round off and start twisting. “Wait, she’s going for the 3.5,” Kevin said. The three of them all held a breath as they watched you go for the dismount, letting out the breath when you landed it.

You landed it. “Wait, I did it. Marcus, I did it.”

“I told you so, your boys are watching by the way,” Marcus said, causing you to look up to see the boys smiling to which you simply waved, “I need you to do some more of those either today or tomorrow, but you can go see your boy.”

Rushing over to the stairs to go see Joel, he met you at the bottom of the staircase, “hey, honey.”

“Hey, Bee.”

“You did the dismount,” he said, smiling.

“I did the dismount,” you reiterated, matching his smile as he picked you up and spun you around.

“I’m so proud of you, you have no idea,” he said as his lips met yours.

#joel farabee #joel farabee x reader #joel farabee imagines #joel farabee x gymnast!reader #joel fatabee imagines #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #beezer #hockey imagine

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imagines-r-s · 3 years

Text

sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 3

a/n: um, so, here’s this. enjoy it. there’s not much to say, just that this is super cute tbh and that farabee definitely knows his Megan :))

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @bbbbruins (if you want to be added, just let me know)

warnings: fluff, this chapter has a lot to do with mental toughness of an athlete, swearing, nothing else i can think of

sticking it masterlist

wc: 3.0k

BZ: hey, i’m outside whenever you’re ready

You grabbed your gym bag and made your way downstairs, finding Joel standing outside his car holding a smoothie and granola bar, “I figured coffee might not be the best thing for you right before practice, so I’m hoping you like smoothies.”

“You might be surprised how many times I made that mistake when I was younger,” you added walking closer to him, watching as he opened the door for you, “oh wow, a true gentleman.”

“I have to get on your good side. Especially if I want to see you in my jersey again,” he said before shutting your door, “do you have good music taste?”

“I like to think I do?”

“Ok, well you seem somewhat confident with that answer, so you can have aux if you want,” he handed over his phone that was already opened to Spotify. Unsure of what he would like, you decide to put on your pre-practice hype playlist that featured Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, and Meg Thee Stallion.

Deciding to just hit shuffle, ‘Captain Hook’ by Megan Thee Stallion was the first to play. You expect Bee to just sit there and let you play your music without objection, but you were shocked when you heard him say, “real hot girl shit.”

“Do you know the whole song or just that?” but as he continued to sing the rest of the song, with the obvious censorship, you were shocked to say the least, “wasn’t expecting that one.”

“I love Meg, not even going to lie to you,” Joel said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Don’t we all, don’t we all.”

Eventually the two of you made it to your gym, Joel bidding you a quick farewell and waited for you to get in the building before driving away. As soon as you entered the gym, you put your gym bag in your locker and joined Nicole and your other teammates on the floor. “Ok, ladies. For warm up today, we’ll be doing 15 minutes of running outside, two ab circuits, and two rope climbs. Nicole and y/n, we need to speak with you right after.”

“Not the ‘Nicole and y/n, we need to speak with you’,” Nicole said, getting her running shoes on.

“I’m more concerned about the cardio, babe,” you said, grabbing your running shoes from your gym bag.

The two of you were the first ones to finish the run, doing your ab circuits and rope climbs as quickly as possible, and went straight to Michelle and Marcus. “Alright, so, your performances at the American Cup were amazing and we’re super proud of you both. But with there being about two months until the US Classics, we want to make sure both of you are practicing safe routines, and safe landings especially,” Marcus said.

“Right now, we just want you two to get a few full out routines a week and marking the rest. Obviously, we will dedicate time to our dismounts and tumbling, etc., it’s just not safe to be going all out and overworking yourselves,” Michelle added,”Nicole, you’re free to go, you’ll be starting on bars with Coach Collins.”

Once Nicole had left, both Marcus and Michelle looked towards you, Marcus being the first one to break the silence, “we assume you heard about Kathryn working the dismount?”

Simply nodding in response, Michelle quickly spoke up,”look, we’re going to be honest with you right now. There is a possibility she isn’t going to compete it and just posted it to scare you, but we do know that you have been cleared to work on twisting dismounts, we just want you to start off doing a single full and the highest you’ll go this week is double twists. We’ll continue working towards the triple and eventually the 3.5, but we’re going slow and most won’t be an actual landing.”

“We have a plan in place we think will work, but you have to follow the plan. It’ll only work if you agree to pace yourself correctly,” Marcus added.

“So, we’ll start week 1 of 8, easing back into twisting. So, twisting drills, lots of twisting into the pit, but we stick with just doing fulls. Week 2 of 8, is going to be starting to work on twisting off the beam, we will just stick with 1-1.5 twists, maybe try a double, but nothing more. Week 3, is going to be getting doubles consistently, and maybe try a 2.5. Week 4, is consistent 2.5 twists and try more drills to get the triple twisting back. Week 5, we do the triples for real and getting them consistent. Week 6 will be working on getting back to doing 3.5 twisting. Week 7 and 8, will have less focus on beam and just work on getting everything else consistently in time for the Classic,” Michelle told you, showing the board that had all of this marked on there.

“Keep in mind, we are just working on getting the dismount back, but that doesn’t mean you only do beam, we have to do other events, too. And you have to follow this plan, do you understand?”

“Yeah, I understand,” you replied.

“Alright, today you start on floor and end on beam.”

…..

The first week was easy enough, you were just doing drills that you had been doing since you were younger, but you knew these next two months would not be as easy as you wanted them to be. Eventually, you had to start working towards the actual dismount. With week two, it was a lot harder than you expected. Although you were doing a skill you had had for years, the idea of doing anything similar to what hurt you still scared you.

Once you were able to get your single twists back consistently, it was onto adding more twists. By week three, you were working on double twists, which was something you used to do as warm-up and now here you were standing at the edge of the beam, unable to move towards the landing mat on the other side. You knew that if you didn’t get it at some point this week, it would push back the plan, which was something you couldn’t afford.

Somehow you got past doubles and 2.5, working triples by week 5. Week 5 consisted of doing the dismount into the pit, which was something you were able to do, but you were stuck in the same spot as you moved onto week 6.

At the start of week 6, Kevin took note of how you were getting home later than he was even after his practice. He took note that you seemed a lot less excited about going to practice, hardly talking to anyone, other than a few spare texts here and there. “Kev, you still planning on coming to the lake with us this weekend?” Carter asked, as the team headed back to the locker room.

“Yeah, I think so. I have to make sure y/n/n is okay though. She’s been overworking herself again and we all know what happened last time she did that,” Kevin replied. He was familiar with how you were able to invest so much time into your sport, and although he was happy that you were able to after so long, he knew that it could be your downfall.

“If she wants to take time off, there are enough rooms at the condo, she’s welcome to come. Plus, I’ll ask Teeks to bring Karly, so she has someone there,” Carter offered.

Kevin appreciated the offer, but he still felt bad. This was a ‘guys’ weekend that had been planned months ahead of time, but he also knew it was an amazing option for you to come and be away from the gym. “Check with the other guys first. I would feel awful ruining the plans we have.”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll ask them as soon as I can and let you know,” Carter answered just as Nolan, Travis, Morgan, and Joel walked into the locker room. He quickly called them over, “Ok, so Kev noticed that y/n/n has been overworking herself and is worried about leaving her here, would it be cool if she came with us? I already offered, but he wanted to make sure it was cool with you guys.”

A series of yes’ echoed through the group. “I can see if Karly wants to come, too, just so y/n/n doesn’t have to deal with all of us by herself,” Travis added, “I can tell Beezer is a little bit too happy about this one.” The group turned towards Joel, who was now sporting a huge smile on his face.

“Listen, I just like spending quality time with my team and their family. Team bonding, you know,” Joel replied.

“Mhm, that’s definitely it,” Nolan said rolling his eyes, “don’t forget the PowerPoint.”

As Kevin left the rink, he checked the time and realized now was the time that you were usually at lunch, he decided to head to the gym to talk to Michelle and Marcus. “Ah, Kevin, it’s so good to see you. Congrats on a good season so far,” Marcus stood up from his desk to shake Kevin’s hand.

“I need to ask something. I know y/n has been overworking and it’s concerning me. Now, I get if this might not be a mutual concern, but if it is, I wanted to ask if she could have the weekend off?” Kevin said.

“Oh my god, please get her out of here. I know if we let her, she would sleep here, but right now, she needs to play it safe or else she’ll get hurt,” Michelle said as she walked through the office door towards the pair.

“Would the lake be playing it safe or no?”

“As long as she doesn’t follow after you and your friends, she’s making somewhat smart choices,” Marcus said.

“That’s valid, I respect it. I’m coming to pick her up from here tomorrow morning during her private lesson with you guys,” Kevin said, to which both of your coaches nodded.

After making some more small talk with your coaches, Kevin made his way back down to the parking lot, running into just the right person, “Nicole, I need a favor.”

“Oh, hey, Kev. How are you? I’m great, thank you for asking. What’s up?”

“Can you possibly sneak into y/n’s apartment tomorrow while she’s at her private lesson and pack her a bag for a four day trip to the lake?”

“Oh, thank God, you’re getting her out of here. And yeah, of course. She’ll get here at 7, so what time do you plan on leaving your place?”

“Well, she’s supposed to be here til 10, so I’ll leave at like 8:30, so just drop the bag off at mine?”

“Yeah, that works. I’ll see you then.”

…..

Shortly after you left for practice, Nicole made her way to your apartment. You had given her a spare, so she had a way in. She quickly grabbed all your hair stuff, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and then 5 outfits, 4 swimsuits, socks, shoes, and anything else she thought you might need.

She made sure to water your plants before leaving towards Kevin’s apartment. Knocking on the door, Nolan was the one to answer, “Hey, Nic.”

“Hey, Nol. I come bearing gifts - well if you consider all my friends stuff I took from her apartment to give her a break from her stubborn self - then Merry Christmas.”

“Nicole, thank you so much. I owe you one,” Kevin said as he rounded the corner.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m here to help her out,” Nicole stated simply,”her chargers are in the side pockets and everything else is in the main part of the bag. Ok, I have to go now, have fun this weekend.”

Nolan and Kevin got the rest of their necessities together before jumping into Kevin’s car and heading to your gym. Michelle was the one to let the pair into the gym, having locked the doors for the private lesson.

They took their time, watching as you were working on some drills with Marcus, but when Marcus’ eyes found Kevin’s he stopped what he was doing. “Hey, look. You’ve been working yourself a little bit too hard recently, so we’re letting you take this weekend off,” Marcus said, guiding you towards Nolan and Kevin.

“I don’t need time off, I’m fine. I- what are they doing here?”

“You’re going with them to the lake for the weekend,” Marcus continued guiding you closer to them, knowing you would try to make a run for it.

“Hey, y/n, we have a bag packed for you already, so c’mon,” Nolan said, calmly.

“I’m not going,” you protested.

“You’re going,” Kevin said, walking closer to you before picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder. Nolan picked up your gym bag from the ground and followed behind Kevin.

“Guys, what the hell? This is like kidnapping or something?”

“We love you,” you heard Michelle say as Kevin made his way out of the gym with you on his shoulder. As soon as you got to the car, Nolan opened the backseat doors and Kevin pushed you in there. You assumed that as soon as they left you would be able to just open the door and run, but you were quickly denied that option when you saw that the child locks were still on.

“The child locks? Seriously?”

“We knew you’d run. C’mon, your coaches said you needed to stop working so hard, so it’s not just us saying it. Now we have about a four hour drive, so I say either sleep or just go on your phone, but please just take this time off peacefully,” Kevin said.

“How am I supposed to do this peacefully when you kidnapped me?”

“Ok, well, that sucks. But Karly is coming too, so you can rant to her when you get there.”

“Bee will be there, too,” Nolan interjected.

“Thanks for the warning.”

“Don’t act all tough, sweetie. Not all of us are blind,” Nolan said, looking towards Kev.

“I’m not blind, I just choose to ignore it,” Kevin replied.

…..

“So, you and y/n, huh?” Karly asked Joel while Travis and Carter were over by the grill, Morgan still inside unpacking.

“I mean I don’t know,” Joel responded honestly.

“Do you want there to be?” Karly quickly took note of the slight blush and small smile that gathered on his face.

“I wouldn’t object, if that says anything,”Karly laughed at the fact that both of you had similar responses to the same question, “what? Did I say something bad?”

“No, hun, no. You both are just a lot alike, that’s all. I think you’d be good for her though, she deserves something good in her life.”

“Yeah, I agree with you on that one,” Joel said, hearing his phone go off, “oh, guys, they’re here, but they need help with their bags.”

As the boys made their way outside to go help with bags, Karly waited inside for you to come in, only to see Kevin carrying your sleeping form with Joel following close behind with your bag.

“Awe, babe. Did you see Bee carrying y/n/n’s bag? That’s so cute,” Karly said when Travis returned.

“Awe, babe, how come you never carry my bag?” Travis said, only earning an elbow to the rib from Karly.

“y/n has been out most of the way home, so we honestly don’t know when she’ll be up,” Nolan said, walking towards the pair.

…..

Shortly after dinner was served, the group made their way close to the deck, Joel quickly finding a spot on the hammock after pushing Morgan off. Travis and Karly sitting near the edge of the water, Morgan sitting right next to the hammock near his best friend, and Nolan, Carter, and Kevin standing and talking.

You had woken up in the familiar room of the condo, quickly changing into comfier clothes and attempting to find the others in the house. When you saw that the house was silent, you quickly came to the assumption that everyone was near the docks, so you got a bottle of water and made your way over there.

“Ah, sleeping beauty has finally arrived,” Travis said, seeing you make your way towards the group.

“Fuck off, dude,” you yawned, “I was tired.”

“Awe, poor baby,” Joel said from the hammock, earning an eye roll from you.

“Bee, you’re in my usual spot right now, I would watch it if I were you.”

“You’re free to join me,” he said, a smirk evident in his voice.

“Oh, wow, the girls are fighting,” Morgan’s voice could be heard from beside the hammock.

You eventually made your way over to the hammock after those on the deck started their conversation up again, “Bee, can I sit by you?”

“Awe, babe, I am going to need to speak up,” Joel said, cockily.

“I’m not doing that again,” you said, walking towards the hammock and quickly pushing the hammock to the side, which caused him to fall out, “awe, babe, it looks like you fell.”

You quickly got back up on the hammock, expecting him to push you over the way you did him, but were shocked when he simply laid right on top of you, his head on your chest and arms wrapping around you, “plot twist,” he said, softly.

“Your face is in my boobs right now,” you stated, causing him to lift his head to look at you, you kept one of your feet towards the ground to keep the hammock moving.

“Your heart started beating faster when I laid down, so either you’re about to have a heart attack or I make you nervous. But honestly, if you want me to move though, I will.”

“No, no. You’re fine,” you spoke softly as he rested his head against your chest once more, your hand finding its way towards his head to play with his hair.

“Hey, we are still over here by the way,” Kevin yelled towards you two.

“Kev, stop. They’re adorable, let them be,” Karly quickly scolded him.

“I’m just going to move, so that way I’m not third wheeling again,” Morgan grumbled.

#sticking it #joel farabee #joel farabee x reader #joel farabee imagines #philadelphia flyers #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #joel farabee x gymnast!reader

98 notes · View notes

imagines-r-s · 3 years

Text

sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 4

a/n: um, don’t hate me for this one, if it’s any constellation, i started crying as i wrote part of this, so. Also, for the purpose of this fic, pretend TK and Karly haven’t announced their pregnancy yet

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @bbbbruins @dreamsndior

warnings: mentions of bee’s mixtape, lots of fluff, a brief makeout session (mwah), angst

sticking it masterlist

wc: 5.8k

(gif not mine)

As the night eventually came to a close, everyone had eventually made their way back inside to head to bed - well everyone except you and Joel. Staring up at the stars, you hadn’t noticed that Joel was once again facing you, “whatcha thinking about?”

Without looking down at him, you quickly replied, “did you know that shooting stars are actually just meteoroids that burn up when they go through Earth’s atmosphere?”

“That was kinda random, but no I didn’t know that off the top of my head, so thank you for that,” Joel replied.

“Your hair is really soft,” you blurted out since you had stopped playing with his hair.

“Thank you, I have a custom shampoo and conditioner I get that really helps me out.”

“I don’t really think I’m shocked by that fact, to be honest. I respect it,” you said. Eventually, Joel laid his head back down on your chest as you continued to run your hand through his hair. The two of you spent the next hour or so outside on the hammock, when he broke the comfortable silence once more.

“When I drop my mixtape, do you want me to shout you out?”

“Bee, I think both of us need to go to sleep, but yeah, obviously.”

Once he eventually got off of you, the two of you walked back into the condo; you led the way with Joel close behind you. As the two of you got closer to your door, which was conveniently right across from his, you two said your goodnights and went to bed.

As you tried to sleep, your mind was moving 100mph. All your thoughts were racing and you weren’t sure if you would be able to sleep at all tonight. Your eyes remained open as your brain tried to decode whatever was going on between you and Joel. It wasn’t like you were opposed for something to happen, it just scared you, and when things scared you, you ran.

There was only one thing in your life that you had never ran away from: gymnastics. The only time that you had ran away from the sport was because you didn’t really have a choice, but being here felt like you were running away from your sport. Although it was only a small thing, the constant fear of hurting yourself again was becoming debilitating and there was no way to stop that other than working.

You had run from home when the fear of not making it got too hard. You ran from any friendships outside of the sport that you deemed a distraction. You ran from anyone who said you wouldn’t make it because the inevitable question of ‘what if they’re right’ always came looming in. And right now as things got deeper with Joel, you were debating running.

“Now on beam, y/n y/l/n, she has spent more of this past year and a half leading up to this moment in recovery for an ACL injury. Now, there are rumors that she will be doing the dismount that was the cause of her injury once again.

She has many solid passes and a high difficulty score, so if she does well, she will be a top contender for the Olympic team. Alright, she’s started her routine off well and her dismount is approaching,” the announcer said.

As you went for the dismount, you made the same mistake you had made once before. “And unfortunately, it looks like y/n has once again injured her leg doing this dismount and she will not be able to compete in the Olympics.”

“y/n. y/n. Wake up, babe. C’mon, it’s just a bad dream, you’re okay,” the familiar voice that was talking to you felt like it was miles away. As you started to wake up, you became more aware of your surroundings, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Why?” you grumbled, taking in Joel’s disheveled state.

“I got up to go to the bathroom and I heard you yelling, I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Joel asked, quietly. He noticed the way that tears had fallen down your face and how quickly you were able to calm yourself down, “how often do you have nightmares?”

“Not often,” you said, watching as he raised a brow, “um, a lot. It just depends on what’s going on.”

“Does Kev know that they’re this bad?” he watched as you shook your head, watching as you started to get up out of bed, “whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you going, sweet pea?”

“Up, I’m probably not going to be able to fall back asleep, so might as well start my day,” you said, yawning.

“No, that’s what we’re not going to do. You look tired.”

“Thanks, Bee, you’re so kind.”

“Yeah, I try. C’mon, lay down and try to get some sleep.”

“Bee-,” you tried to protest, but you were quickly interrupted by the man in front of you, “no, you lay down and try to go to sleep. If you need anything or want to talk, I’m next door, now goodnight.”

He made his way back towards the door and got ready to close it, “Bee?”

“What’s up?”

“Uh, do you mind staying with me until I fall asleep?” you asked, watching as a small smile graced his lips. He closed the door behind him and made his way back towards you, moving the blanket, so that he could join you. You ended up laying on his chest with a leg tangled in his, your arms wrapped around him, as he played with your hair in an attempt to lull you to sleep.

“I had a dream that I got hurt again,” you whispered, softly enough to where if he wasn’t right next to you he would have missed what you said.

“Are you that scared that you’ll get hurt again?” he waited for a response, but you simply nodded, “look, I think you’re doing everything you can to help your recovery. PT, playing it safe at practice, whatever. But if you let the fear control your life, you won’t move forward.”

“When did you become so wise, Beezer?”

“I’ve always been this wise, you just haven’t noticed,” Joel said, continuing to play with your hair until you eventually fall asleep. He knew that he said he would only stay with you until you fell asleep, but the comfort he felt with your arms wrapped around him and you being this close was enough to convince him to stay. He didn’t know where things between the two of you were going, but he was just happy to be with you right now.

Glancing over at the clock, he saw that it was almost 5 and he knew that they guys would eventually come to get him in a couple hours, but right now he just wanted to stay right here. He attempted to just stay awake and he would sneak out around 6:30, but he didn’t realize how inevitable sleep was going to be at this moment.

Travis and Karly had gotten up around the same time, Travis was going out with the boys and Karly was planning on taking you out for breakfast while the boys were out on the water. When Travis made his way out to the living room, he wasn’t shocked to see that Joel and Morgan were the only two that hadn’t made it out of their rooms yet.

So as Travis made his way towards Joel’s room, knocking a few times, but when he heard no response he walked in, only to find his bed empty and his phone still on the charger. Travis went to the next place he thought of and checked the bathroom to see if he was in there, but with no response, he was ready to look outside for his youngest teammate.

“Hey, baby. Come see this,” Karly’s voice rang out in the hallway.

“No, I can’t find, Beezer,” Travis grumbled.

“Yeah, no, I found him,” Travis turned around to see his girlfriend standing in the doorway to your room.

“No, you’re joking,” but Travis quickly realized she wasn’t once he saw you and Joel holding each other as you slept, “oh, damn. They didn’t, you know?”

The pair eventually walked closer to you two, looking around the room for any clothes or any evidence that something had happened, but when they saw the two of you still in pajamas they let out a deep sigh. “Yo, Beezer, c’mon. We have to get the boat ready,” Travis said quietly, laughing as Joel’s eyes opened slowly and the smile that grew on his face seeing you still in his arms.

“Before you go all protective, nothing happened, she just had a nightmare,” Joel grumbled, attempting to unlatch your arms from around him.

Karly’s eyebrows raised in shock,”she told you about the nightmares? Oh my god. Okay, well the coast is clear for you to sneak back into your room, so I recommend doing so before Kev kills you.”

Joel eventually got up from your bed, not without you attempting to pull him back closer to you, before him and Travis left your room. “Hey, babes. Do you want to go get breakfast?”

“Yeah, sure,” you mumbled, laying back down on the pillow.

“No, none of that. We have to get up,” Karly said, attempting to get you up once again, “c’mon, Sunshine, I believe in you.”

“Don’t call me, Sunshine,” you shot her a quick glare at the nickname she had given you and only used when she wanted to annoy you.

“Awe, is Sunshine upset that her boy had to leave?”

“Shut up, I love you, but shut up,” you grumbled before finally getting out of bed. You quickly got ready for the day, meeting Karly in the living room as she talked to Travis.

“Awe, look Sleeping Beauty has woken up once again,” Joel cooed, watching as you sat down on the couch and laid down, a simple attempt to get more sleep.

“Shut the literal fuck up, Farabee,” you said, moreso into the pillow than out loud.

“Make me,” Joel said, without much thinking on his part, which caused you to sit up quickly, shooting a glare at him once again.

“Farabee, I’d watch it if I were you,” Nolan said, attempting to hide his laugh, “both y/n/n and Kev look like they’re about to kill you.”

“Yolo,” Joel shrugged.

“RIP, Young Beezer. A good teammate and a good friend, who will be sincerely missed,” Carter said, wiping away fake tears.

“I kinda want a better funeral speech than that, but that’s deeply appreciated, Hartsy,” Joel mumbled.

“y/n, we have to go if we want to get back in time to go swimming,” Karly said, grabbing Travis’ keys from him and pulling you off the couch, “Bye boys.”

…..

After breakfast with Karly, the two of you went back to the condo, assuming that the guys were done with whatever they were doing on the water, the two of you put on your swimsuits and went out back.

“So, are we going to discuss the topic at hand?” Karly asked, watching as the boys brought the boat back towards the deck and docked it.

“There’s plenty of topics to go around, Karls, you need to be more specific,” you said, watching as Joel jumped off the boat, only to almost fall in moments later.

“You’re literally looking at him right now, Sunshine.”

“I swear if anyone else heard you call me Sunshine and they even mention it, I will hurt you.”

“You wouldn’t hurt a pregnant woman,” Karly said, the words taking a moment to register for both of you.

“Preg- Karly? Are you serious? You might want to talk to Teeks about protection,” you said, quickly.

“Sunshine, we were trying for one, I promise,” Karly said, smiling growing on her face at your words.

“Awe, oh my god, seriously?”

“Yeah, yeah, we were going to tell you all later, but I was going to tell you separately so that way you didn’t get all pissy about it.”

“I wouldn’t have,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“You would have,” Karly watched as Travis walked closer to the two of you.

“Travis, you have to remember to wrap it before you tap it,” you said, quietly.

“Wha-? Oh, I thought we were going to say something later?” Travis said to Karly.

“It slipped out in a joke and I didn’t want her to get mad at us later,” Karly shrugged.

“Oh my god. Ok, if you have a boy, he can play hockey and if you have a girl, she can do gymnastics. Or ice skating, both are cool, I guess,” you rambled causing the couple in front of you to laugh.

“Sunshine already has it all figured out,” Karly added, laughing as you sent her another glare.

“Are we asking her now or later about the thing?” Travis said to Karly, as the pair exchanged a few words which only confused you even more.

“Ask me what?”

“We aren’t doing anything crazy for it, but we want to know if you want to be the baby’s godmother?” Karly asked, slowly.

“Wait, are you serious?” you waited for a laugh or any sign that they were joking, “oh my god, yeah, yeah. Of course. I’d love to.”

“Nolan already established he’s ‘Uncle Pat’, so if you want ‘Aunt Sunshine’ it’s available.”

You simply rolled your eyes in response, looking up towards the guys getting everything into the boat for the day, when your and Joel’s eyes met. “Oh, that’s the topic we wanted to discuss,” Karly said, “one, why was he in your bed this morning and two, did you actually tell him about the nightmares?”

“Uh, he got up and heard me in my room, woke me up, I told him I was having a nightmare, yada, yada, yade. I didn’t want to sleep alone, we talked about the nightmare, he was supposed to leave, but didn’t. So that is why he was in my bed this morning.”

“You haven’t even told Kev about the nightmares and you expect us to believe you aren’t falling for the kid,” Travis replied.

“Yes, I do.”

“y/n/n, seriously, he’s a good guy. I know you know that, but you are allowed to have something good in your life,” Travis said, softly.

You knew that the pair was right, the two of them wouldn’t lie to you, but right now there were a lot of things to consider. You were fine with how things were, but you knew the moment that anything got serious, you wouldn’t be able to. You couldn’t afford any more distractions right now, not when you were this close.

There was something in you that agreed with your friends, you knew he was a good guy and you knew he would allow you to focus on yourself and your dreams. You knew that he would be your biggest supporter if you gave him the opportunity, but right now you weren’t sure if you should give him the opportunity.

“Are you guys coming or what?” Kevin yelled towards the three of you, who swiftly made your way down onto the boat.

As soon as everyone settled onto the boat, Carter started the boat down the lake. Although you had basically been everywhere in the world, you never had the time to be able to take in your surroundings, having to always look at everything through tunnel vision.

Eventually Carter stopped the boat, so that way whoever wanted to would be able to swim. Morgan and Joel were the first to jump into the water, the rest of the guys following suit, which left you and Karly on the boat. With the lack of sleep that you had the night before, you knew that if you honestly tried you would be able to fall asleep.

Laying down and listening to the music playing, you didn’t realize that someone had gotten out of the water until you felt a droplet of water fall on you. “Are you really about to go to sleep right now?”

“Well, I’m trying to, but someone is talking to me,” you stated, finally opening your eyes to the man towering over you, avoiding glancing down at his bare chest.

“C’mon, babe, you’ll have plenty of time to catch up on sleep once we get back. I’ll even join you again, if you want me to,” you could see the smirk growing on his face.

“I don’t want to go into the water, Bee,” you said, closing your eyes once again.

“Alright, fine,” he replied and you assumed he went back in the water, but when you felt him pick you up bridal style, you knew what was coming.

“Farabee, put me down. I swear to god,” you shrieked.

“C’mon, Princess, it’ll be fun.”

“No, me going to sleep seems a lot more fun,” you watched as Joel stood on the edge of the boat, seeing the amused faces of your friends as you tried to get out of his grip, “Farabee, put me down.”

His smirk only grew, “alright, babe. If you say so.” Before you could even react, Joel had tossed you out towards the water.

“Farabee, I swear, you’re dead,” you said, swimming towards the ladder.

“Awe, babe. It’s fine, Morgan already has my funeral speech ready,”Joel said, watching as you started climbing up the ladder. He smirked as you purposely bumped into him, back to where you sat before.

He watched as your hands wrapped at the bottom hem of your tank top, pulling it over your head to reveal a red swimsuit top. You laughed as you watched his smirk drop. You then pulled the waistband of your shorts to show the black, high-waisted bottoms you had on.

“The tension,” Karly whispered over to Travis as the pair watched the exchange, “damn, y/n/n, you look hot, babe.”

“Thanks, Karls,” you smirked once you finally looked toward Joel again, “hey, Bee, you might want to close your mouth or else you’ll catch flies.”

“You’re doing this on purpose,” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, well, karma's a bitch, babe,” you said, which caused him to roll his eyes.

“I’ll remember that. I will remember that.”

The day at the lake went on, the group spending some time in the water, but most of it was spent just relaxing on the boat. “Who all wants something to drink?” Kevin asked, reaching into the cooler. The guys all raised their hand for beers, while you and Karly asked for a capri sun.

“I’m used to y/n/n not getting anything to drink, but Karly? Did Teeks finally knock you up or something?” Kevin unknowingly asked, only earning a silence from the couple he was questioning, “oh?”

“Yeah, we’re going to have a baby,” Travis said, smiling.

“Travis, oh my god, you’re pregnant. Awe, you can already see a bump,” Morgan said, only earning him a knock upside the head.

“No, dipshit,” Travis rolled his eyes as everyone around you laughed.

“Oh my god, Teeks, when is the baby due? And it’s okay, you don’t have to show us the bump or anything right now, we understand,” Carter added, which only added fuel to the ongoing laughs.

“See, kids, this is why we use protection, alright,” Kevin sighed.

As the group continued talking, you made your way over to the cooler to get you another Capri Sun, you made your way back to where you sat before, only to be pulled into Joel’s lap. “Bee, whatcha doing?”

“I just wanted to sit next to you,” he said, softly. You adjusted yourself on his lap to where you were angled to the side, your legs draped over his, still involved in the conversation in front of you. Once you had gotten comfortable, you felt Joel’s arm wrapped around you as one of his hands came in contact with your thigh.

As heat rushed up to your face, you looked up to see Karly sending you a knowing look, while Kevin was glaring daggers into Joel’s head. As the conversation went on, you started to feel tired again and decided to lay your head on his shoulder, he found one of the blankets that had been brought and placed it over the two of you.

You didn’t know when sleep overcame you once again, but you did feel the boat stop and the feeling of being carried, you were just too tired to open your eyes. Eventually, you felt the feeling of being set on your bed. “C’mon, babe, I know you don’t want to, but you need to at least change into something more comfortable,” Joel said, grabbing you a sleep shirt and shorts from your bag.

“Thanks, Bee.”

“Goodnight, y/n/n, sleep well,” and with that he was out of your room. As you got ready for bed, there was something telling you to knock on his door and lay down with him, you shouldn’t have. This internal debate you had going on with whatever you and Joel had was, wasn’t healthy for you - part of you wanted to give in and just enjoy the way that he made you feel, while the other was telling you to run from whatever it was.

As you tried to go back asleep, you just couldn’t. At this point, you weren’t sure what was going on with your sleep schedule, but there was only one thing that had helped you actually go to sleep and he was next door.

As quietly as possible, you took the short trek across from your door to his. “y/n/n, you okay?” you heard, softly from across the room.

“Um, yeah. I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Babe, you just going to stand there? Or are you going to close the door and come to bed?” you didn’t even have to see his face to know that he was smirking, as you finally closed the door and made your way over to him, laying the same way that you had the night before, as both of you finally fell asleep.

With there not being any plan for the third day at the lake, you all had decided to simply have a movie night and whatever you did during the day was your choice. You woke up still in Joel’s arms with him asleep beside you, only throughout the night he ended up laying on your chest with his arms around you. Reaching for your phone, you saw a few texts from Karly with pictures of you and Joel at the lake that you might have saved to your camera roll a little bit too quickly.

Once you felt Joel stir from beside you, you knew that it wouldn’t be long until he was up. You assumed that he would get up and make you get out of bed, so that neither of you would get caught, but when he somehow pulled you closer to him, you were shocked. “Good morning,” his morning voice rang out.

“Good morning,” you said, softly, starting to play with his hair.

“I could get used to you doing that all the time.”

“What? Playing with your hair?” you said, which earned a hum in response from him, “your hair is just really soft.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I didn’t know someone could be that cocky about how soft his hair is.”

“When your hair is as soft as mine, then you can talk to me,” he mumbled.

As much as you loved this feeling, everything was starting to get too real for you. You were starting to crave the affection that he was giving you and you missed him when he wasn’t close to you. And you were starting to fall for him and that scared you more than you wanted to admit.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Joel asked, pulling you away from your thoughts.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” you said simply, which only caused Joel’s brows to furrow.

“Look, you don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to, but it’s fairly obvious something is going on. Did you have another nightmare or something?”

You stayed silent, pondering if maybe you should tell him that ‘whatever this is can’t progress to anything serious because I can’t have any distractions and I’m already starting to fall for you, so I should stop while I’m ahead’. You couldn’t. You already would hurt him when you did tell him, but now wasn’t the time for this. “I’m just worried about gym, that’s all.”

“Hey, look, I might not know much about the sport of gymnastics, but I do know for a fact that there is no way that you aren’t going to be able to achieve your dream. The Olympic People or whoever the fuck is in charge, would be really stupid not to take you on the Olympic team,” he said, looking you in your eyes before softly pushing off of you, “I have to go take a shower, but I’ll find you later.”

He was not making this any easier.

At this point you didn’t know what to do, so you went to the one person you knew would be able to help you out here. Quietly knocking on the door, Travis was the one to open the door, “what do you want shortstack?”

“I need to talk to Karly about something,” you said, earning an eye roll from Travis as he moved so you could get through his door.

“Hey, hun. Everything okay?” Karly asked, sitting up in her bed. You quickly joined her on Travis’ side, which earned yet another eye roll from him as he sat down on what was left of his side.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“In terms of what?”

“Bee.”

“I figured. But what’s going on?” Karly asked, calmly.

“I swear if he did something to you, I will ruin his career,” Travis grumbled from beside you as he scrolled on his phone.

“Thanks Teeks, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I, um, I don’t know how to tell him that what’s going on can’t move past what it is now,” you said, your eyes trained on your hands.

The couple beside you shared a knowing look at each other,“ok, why can’t it move on?” Travis asked simply.

“Because I can’t be distracted by anything right now,” you said, softly.

“Is that it?” Karly asked.

“I don’t- I don’t know at this point,” you sighed, staring at the girl who had become like an older sister to you,”I’m falling for him.”

“Oh, she finally admits it,” Travis mumbled.

“Shut up, Teeks. Look, y/n/n, I’ve known you quite a while and I’ve seen your habits over the years. So, I’m going to ask a quick question,” Karly waited for a nod from you before continuing, “why does falling for Bee scare you?”

“Um, it doesn’t, but somehow it does? I don’t know. It’s not scary, it’s just,” you sighed,”look, Bee is this amazing person and I want him to be happy, but I know that if this does continue right now and I don’t make it to the Olympics, I’m going to be a wreck. I can’t do it with distractions.”

“You know, considering how much you overwork yourself, it might be a good thing to have healthy distractions,” Travis added, “plus, not to invalidate what you’re saying, but everything you have going on in your life is a distraction. You have Kathryn, life in general, media always wanting something from you. I feel like there’s more to it.”

You knew Travis was right, but him pressing the topic didn’t make it easier, “I’m scared that’ll go wrong. Or that I run him off. Or media does something. Or-”

“So, the distractions in your life are what have you worried, is what I’m hearing?” Karly added.

“Well, I guess. Not necessarily, but sure.”

“So, you need a healthy distraction?” Travis asked.

“Yeah?”

“There you go. There’s your answer. Now, Sunshine, stop letting your fear of everything going wrong get in the way,” Karly said. You knew the two of them had a point, but you still weren’t sure what to do about it.

When you had finished talking to them, you decided you should take some time to think about everything, alone. You made your way back to your room after getting a snack to eat, but just as you were about to go into your room, the bathroom door opened, revealing Joel just with a towel around his waist.

“Hey, princess,” he smirked as he saw your reaction, “you might want to close your mouth, you might catch flies.”

…..

“Ok, to avoid any disagreements, we are drawing names for who gets to choose the movie. We are only watching two, but only the first one is mandatory,” Kevin explained.

“Why is he in charge?” Nolan said, which everyone nodded in agreement to.

“Because I’m the adult here and you guys can’t make a rational decision to save your life.”

“He’s not wrong, but it’s still kinda wack,” you whispered to Joel, who was sitting next to you.

“Alright, Karly, you get to pick the movie,” Kevin said.

“Ok, sweet. Um, Tangled,” Karly said, choosing her go to movie, which caused almost all the guys to groan. The fact that most of the guys groaned made you laugh when you noticed how into the movie they got, all of them crying when Flynn died - which you and Karly were quick to get videos of.

“Oh my god, why couldn’t he have given Rapunzel a better haircut though?” Carter asked.

“I’ve always thought that, but I mean in the animated series her hair grows back,” you said, shrugging.

“It grows back?” Morgan questioned, quickly, “I’m going to bed, so that I can binge watch the series, goodnight.”

“Alright, well. Who’s all staying for a second movie?” Kevin asked, laughing when you and Joel were the only ones to raise your hands, “alright, easy enough.”

Everyone else said their goodnights and went to bed, leaving you and Joel on your own. “Want to watch High School Musical 2 with me?” you asked, quietly.

“Yeah, of course.”

As the movie went on, Joel’s hand had somehow made its way back to your thigh like the day prior, except now he was inching it up more, “Bee, you better watch yourself.”

“I am, I am. If you tell me to stop, I will,” Joel whispered as he leaned in to press a kiss to your neck, “all you have to do is say the word and I’ll leave you alone.” His lips made their way up towards your jaw, pressing a light kiss behind your ear, causing your breath to hitch, “how’s the movie, y/n/n?”

“It’s- yeah, it’s great. 10/10 would recommend,” you sighed.

“Oh, really? Alright,” he said, before turning back to the tv, causing you to gasp at his actions.

“Yeah, no, that’s not what’s going to happen,” you said, quickly, before bringing your leg over his to straddle him. When you looked at him, you could only see the smirk on his face, “you’re annoying.”

“Yeah, but-,” you interrupted him when your lips met his. You were only digging a deeper hole than you were already in, this was getting too close. The flirting wasn’t ideal, but it was fine. Maybe sleeping in the same bed wasn’t the wisest decision, but you had a nightmare and couldn’t sleep. But kissing him was going too far. Your lips eventually moved away from his and towards his neck, lightly sucking to leave some visible marks, “babe, you’re going to get us in trouble.”

“Yolo,” you said, repeating the words he had said earlier.

“I don’t know if now is the right time to ask this, but what are we?” you stopped your actions, visibly tensing at the sound of the question you were dreading, “y/n?”

“Yeah, um,” you sighed, “you’re my cousin’s teammate that I’m friends with and I’m your teammate’s cousin.” Wrong answer. Wrong answer.

“That’s- that’s all we are to you? Seriously?”

“Well, you never clarified otherwise. So, we’re just friends.”

“Friends?” he asked, which you simply nodded,”y/n, that makes no sense. We literally just kissed. We flirt. We- we legit fell asleep next to each other these past few nights and you want to say we’re just friends?”

You wanted to fight this. Fight for whatever was going on, but something in you was telling you to just leave it be, so you did. Keeping your eyes trained on the ground and your voice as monotone as you could, “Look, Farabee. Tonight shouldn’t have happened, the flirting is just for fun, and you were just there when I had a nightmare.”

Joel looked as if he wanted to say something more. His mouth opening and closing, as his face seemed to go through all the stages of grief in one second, “look me in the eye and tell me that, or else I’m just going to assume this has to do with everything in your life.”

You visibly gulped, raising your eyes towards his,”we’re just friends, Joel.”

Joel. His name against your tongue, leaving a sour taste.

“Fine, that’s what you want. Alright, y/n,” he said, not meeting your eyes, before retreating back to his room.

You quickly turned off the movie and slowly made your way back to your room. You knew that tonight if you couldn’t sleep, you wouldn’t have him to go to.

As the morning finally came, you knew you needed to check if he was okay, it was the least you could do. So, you hesitantly went over to his room, knocking to make sure it was okay. But when you didn’t get an answer, you just decided to walk in, but you were met with an empty room.

Practically running back towards the kitchen, you saw Nolan and Kevin talking in the kitchen. “Where’s Bee?”

Kevin and Nolan exchanged looks you couldn’t exactly read, “uh, Beezer and Frost left this morning.”

“What?”

“Yeah, Joel was in a hurry and said he needed to leave, so Frost took him home,” Nolan added cautiously. Neither Kevin or Nolan knew what had happened, but it had to have happened sometime last night and you were the only person he was with last night.

The pair watched as your breathing quickened, frantically looking around for something to latch onto, “I fucked up. Oh my god.”

“y/n/n, you need to breathe, okay? Can you do that for me?” Kevin motioned for you to inhale and exhale with him, but the commotion of what had happened drew the attention of Karly and Travis.

“What the fuck happened?” Travis asked, quietly.

“I-I messed things up. Me and him were fine and then, I messed it up.”

“How’d you mess it up?” Karly asked, softly.

“I got scared and ran.”

#sticking it #joel farabee #joel farabee x reader #joel farabee imagines #philadelphia flyers #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #hockey imagines #hockey fanfiction #joel farabee x gymnast!reader

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imagines-r-s · 3 years

Text

sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 6

a/n: now you’ll all see why i said be excited for ch. 6 lmao. (also, with ch. 5 not showing up in the tags for a minute, some might not have seen it, so i’ll link it here) but anyways, this chapter was difficult to write bc i’m not used to writing anything but angst lmao. and huge shoutout to my baby gracie for helping me out with this chapter. please enjoy and i’d love to hear feedback

also, like i told an anon, this is in memory of bee’s hair :(( (he still looks good with the new hair, don’t get me wrong)

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @dreamsndior

warnings: (2) your mom jokes, jealous!joel?, once again simp nation for the both of them, swearing (it’s a problem ngl), idiocy

sticking it masterlist

wc: 4.1k

(gif not mine)

When you told Marcus and Michelle that you had to be out for a month, they advised you to only come to the gym three times a week for two hours for the first two weeks and you’d figure out a plan for the two weeks after, that way you could take a much needed break out of the gym. The thing stressing you out the most was gym and they obviously realized it, so they were hopeful it would give you a chance to breathe.

You planned to go to the gym Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from 6-8am and then you would spend the rest of your day at home doing whatever you needed to do that day. The first Monday you spent those two hours doing ab workouts and helping the other girls around the gym, then you went home and stayed in your room for the rest of the day. You put your phone on do not disturb, so no one heard from you, which caused Kevin to come to your apartment to make sure you were okay.

Tuesday played out the exact same way, early practice, then going home and staying in bed, and Kevin coming to make sure you were alright. Kevin even invited you to come out with him and some of the boys, which you politely declined saying they should have their time together. Wednesday, you simply stayed in bed, choosing to actually keep your phone on today, you were just tired and felt drained from everything going on right now that you couldn’t really muster up the energy to talk to anyone.

Wednesday night, as you were rewatching Marvel movies, your phone started ringing with a call from Ryanne. Quickly answering it, “hey Ry.”

“Hey babes, how’re you doing?”

“I’ve been better, I’ve also been worse, so.”

“Me and Claude were wondering if you’d want to come over and hang out with us and Gav for some of the day, we’ll provide food and such, but we miss you, babe. So, we figured we’d ask while you have a chance.”

In reality, Ryanne had heard from Claude that you wouldn’t be able to do extensive training for at least a month. She might not have known much about gymnastics, but she knew you well enough to know that you were always constantly training - she was well aware that if that ever got taken from Claude that he would be devastated if he was out for that long and with two weeks to prepare for a big game.

She had checked in to see how you were with Kevin one day after practice and when he mentioned everything that was going on, she was worried about you. She knew that she likely wouldn’t be able to help much, but she did know that there was one part of the equation she could help. Knowing that she already had a plan to have a send off party before the boys went on a roadie and also knowing that everyone on the team would be there, she somehow conveniently planned to invite you over a few hours before it started.

“Oh, yeah, I’d love to, honestly. What time do you want me over?”

“Anytime after three is fine. I’ll see you then, hun. Oh, and wear something cute.”

“Why exactly?”

“Just do it,” Ryanne said, not having time to think of an excuse, “bye.”

As you were about to say something else, the ring that told you she had hung up rang out.

…..

Joel wasn’t doing as good as he wanted to be recently and with an upcoming roadie, he knew he needed to spend more time on the ice before the game. Having asked a few of the guys to work with him during an unscheduled morning skate, he was able to work on what he needed to.

“Wait, so she’s out how long?” Joel overheard Travis ask Kevin as he made his way into the locker room.

“Like four weeks, but two weeks with the brace and basically no training, then two weeks with athletic tape on her knee and no hard landings. But she’ll only have two weeks before Championships, so she's not feeling too great about it. Plus, she has to use her brace and crutches again and she didn’t enjoy that the first time,” Kevin replied.

“Is she going to be okay?” Joel hadn’t meant to ask his question aloud, but as soon as Kevin heard his voice a smile grew on his face.

“Yeah, Lover Boy, she’ll be fine. She hasn’t really been up to do anything recently, but other than that I think she’ll be okay. She has to use her crutches again, which is honestly very entertaining,” Kevin stated before turning to leave the locker room, turning right as he got to the doorway, “random question, are you planning on going to G’s for the send off party tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just wondering,” and with that Kevin was gone, leaving a confused Joel behind.

Kevin knew that you had a lot on your plate right now and that you wouldn’t want to go to anyone about your problems. He also knew that the both you and Joel, were simply too stubborn to fix the problem going on between you on your own, hence why he had mentioned something to Ryanne. He knew that Ryanne would jump at the chance to be able to help you feel better and as soon as she mentioned the party set-up idea, he was in. The plan was then mentioned to most of the team, knowing that the help of many was needed in order to help the two idiots.

…..

After sending Kevin a quick text that you were leaving, you left your apartment and made your way to Ryanne and Claude’s house. Gently knocking on the door, you smiled when Ryanne opened the door, “awe, babe, I’m so happy you’re here, I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too. Not to be rude, but where is the tiny human?” you asked, looking past Ryanne to see Gavin walking towards you, “hi, bub. Oh my god, you’re getting so big.”

“Well if you came around more often, you’d get to see him more,” Ryanne mumbled, watching you play with the boy in front of you.

“I heard that,” you said, in a sing-song voice.

“You were supposed to,” she replied, mocking your tone, “anyways, Claude is on his way back from the store, so he’ll be here soon, but I haven’t talked to you in forever, how’s everything? How’s gym?”

“Oh, well. I’ve been better, this last meet definitely wasn’t all that great and not being able to train doesn’t really help my case either, but I’m making the most of it,” you said, shrugging.

“And you’re actually having to listen to Adrian this time around?” she said, pointedly, causing you to chuckle.

“Yeah, I have to actually listen to Adrian this time,” you smiled, “I hate that I have to actually wear my knee brace, though. And I have to use crutches. Can you believe that?”

“Considering it’s you, I’m more shocked that you’re actually using them.”

“Ry, shh, let’s not call me out too much today,” you replied.

It wasn’t too long before you heard the front door open, Claude walking in a few seconds later, “awe, it’s my favorite babysitter. Come on, babe, let’s leave while we can.”

“Haha, I almost forgot how funny you are, G,” you said, sarcastically.

“I’m sure, I’m sure. You know what would be nice though?”

“What?”

“Helping me put the groceries up,” he said, smiling sweetly causing you to groan.

“Are chores and babysitting all I’m good for to you?”

“Well,” he looked up to the ceiling, as if he were thinking for another answer,”hm, nothing comes to mind, y/n/n.”

“Oh, that was mean,” Ryanne said, playfully elbowing Claude.

“Thank-”

“She’ll never babysit again if we’re mean to her,” Ryanne smirked.

“Oh, wow, I see how it is, don’t worry,” you said, the three of you laughing.

As the three of you were setting out groceries - you mostly sitting on the kitchen island, taking things out of the bag - the three of you caught up. Claude talking about his hopes for these next few games, Ryanne talking about how Gavin was doing - not missing the few times Gav ran through the kitchen -, and you talking about whatever you could.

“Ok, so we haven’t brought this up yet, but I was just wondering if you had any idea what’s going on with Beezer? I know you guys had gotten closer recently and he’s just not himself, so I’m asking if you know anything,” Claude asked, closing the fridge before turning back to you. Both him and Ryanne had a pretty good idea of what happened, but if they were missing something, they wanted to know.

“Oh, um, well, about that one,” you sighed, gathering your thoughts, “me and him kinda haven’t talked since I told him I only wanted to be friends.”

“Ok, but from the looks of it, it looked like both of you wanted to be more than friends?”

“Yeah, but, there’s a lot more to it, you know.”

“No, actually, I’m a tad bit lost, y/n/n.”

“Look, I can’t have any distractions right now and I was worried about it affecting gymnastics, so I told him I only want to be friends.”

“That’s dumb,” Claude replied, quickly.

“Thank you, many people have mentioned that.”

“He has no place to talk in a situation like this,” Ryanne finally spoke up, causing you to look between the pair confused, “when his life was just hockey, hockey, and hockey, nothing could fill those spots. So, when our relationship was first starting he did the same thing to me that you’re doing to Bee.”

“This was supposed to be a philosophical moment and you messed it up,” Claude replied.

“I didn’t mess it up, you’re just mad because you basically called yourself dumb. But pushing him away isn’t a smart option and it just hurts both of you in the process,” Ryanne said before walking back to where Gavin was.

“Look, I know you said you didn’t want distractions, but this seems to be having a worse effect on you than you hoped. From the looks of it, when you started pushing him away, it affected your performance. Just pointing that out for you.”

“Yeah, I know. You didn’t have to point it out, you know.”

“Yeah, but you would have continued to ignore the obvious fact that you were just scared of a relationship in general,” he shrugged.

“I don’t even know how to talk to him about it or at least how to start the conversation.”

“Well, lucky for you,” he looked down to check his watch, “the guys are all coming over in like 10 minutes, so you’ll see him then.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, it’s a send off party for the roadie this weekend, why do you think we got so many groceries?” and with that he left you in the kitchen by yourself.

…..

Joel sat in the backseat of Kevin’s car, Nolan in the passenger seat, as they made their way to G’s house. By the time they got there, most of the guys had already gotten there, seeing a few familiar cars in the driveway, but one stood out in particular. He knew that it was yours from some of the times he had seen you driving, “what’s y/n/n doing here?”

Nolan and Kevin both chuckled at that, “she came over here earlier to watch Gavin, I think,” Kevin said.

“Oh, cool,” Joel replied, attempting to sound nonchalant as possible

“Don’t try to act like you’re not freaking out. You aren’t slick, dude,” Nolan added, shaking his head, “you two better talk, too. Because everyone is tired of the two of you being idiots and not talking shit out.”

“We’re not idiots.”

“You are,” the other two said in unison. Joel didn’t try to argue as he followed the pair inside their captain’s house.

As soon as he entered the house, he took note that almost all the team was here, most of the team was outside, but he immediately found you sitting on one of the barstools with Gavin sitting on your lap as you talked with Ryanne. “Go talk to her,” Nolan whispered, causing him to jump.

“God, Pat. What the fuck?” Joel said turning around.

“I said what I said. You’ll have to talk at some point, might as well just do it. Plus, she’s on crutches, so like, if she wants to run away it will take her a while.”

“Um, that’s- I mean, that’s valid, but-”

“At some point today, you should talk to her. I obviously can’t make you and it’s up to you, but I think it would help fix things,” Nolan said, shrugging.

“Yeah, I know, I know. I plan on it.”

You and Ryanne had stayed inside with Gav since the boys were grilling outside, so when Nolan, Kevin, and Joel walked in, you were one of the first people to notice. Kevin made his way over to you almost as soon as he came in, “so, you enjoying the party?”

“Considering I didn’t know it was happening, sure I’m having a great time, Kev.”

“Well, I guess it’s a surprise party then,” you quickly shot him a glare, “surprise.”

As you heard the back door open, you looked up to see Joel already looking at you, shooting you a quick smile as he followed his teammate to go outside. “I swear, if all you guys do tonight is spare glances at each other and don’t talk, I’m going to lose it,” Ryanne said from beside you.

“I think everyone will, to be honest,” Kevin added, “well, I’m going outside. If you need any help, just let me know.”

The boys had a few different plans in place to get the two of you to talk; conveniently sending Joel in to help while you were inside, telling Joel to go help out inside, asking Joel to get Gavin, and as a last resort, make Joel jealous.

When everyone had been done eating, Claude asked some of the younger guys to help him clean up and bring out the cooler with drinks that was still inside. Joel had somehow conveniently avoided going inside while helping and when he did, he went straight to the kitchen and right back out. He wasn’t wanting to avoid you all night, but he didn’t know what to do. Shortly after, Claude had asked Joel to go in and get Gavin, somehow right as you had left Gavin with Ryanne, which also ruined that plan.

Ryanne knew that it would be suspicious if they kept trying those same plans. So instead, she basically forced you to go outside with her. She helped you get outside, Kevin shooting up from his chair to help you get down the stairs of the deck, “you don’t have to help me out, Kev.”

“Knowing you, you would trip and break something. You’re already hurt enough,” he said, causing you to roll your eyes. As Kevin looked up, he didn’t miss the way Joel lit up as he saw you, “hey, your boy is looking over here.”

Looking up, your eyes once again met his, to which you sent him a light smile, “yeah, he’s been watching me since I stepped out here.”

“y/n/n, you would only know that if you were looking at him, too.”

“Yeah, I never said that I wasn’t though.”

“You know, it’s obvious the two of you aren’t mad at each other or anything like that. So, why the fuck haven’t you talked yet?”

“Oh, um. Words are hard,” you said, walking away towards Travis and Nolan on your crutches.

“You’re literally on crutches, you aren’t moving that fast.”

“You know who else isn’t moving that fast?”

“y/n. I swear, if this is another your-”

“Your mom,” you yelled back to him.

“What is up with you and making your mom jokes?” Nolan asked as you got closer to them.

“They’re funny?”

“y/n/n just has the sense of humor of a middle school boy, that’s why her and Beezer got along so well,” Travis added, helping you move your crutches so you could sit down at the table they were at, “how are the crutches?”

“How’s your mom?” you laughed, causing the two of them to groan, “nah, they’re not fun. In any way shape or form.”

As you were talking to Nolan and Teeks, Kevin and Ryanne realized that none of the plans they had tried were working. Both of them knew that the only plan that would probably work was to make Joel jealous, so Kevin texted Carter, Morgan, Nolan, and Teeks to let them know that was the plan that they were going with.

“y/n looks really good today,” Carter said, causing Joel to spit out his drink.

“Better watch yourself, Hartsy,” Joel replied, shooting a glare towards his friend.

“I was just being honest, she really does. There’s nothing going on between you guys anymore, right?” Carter watched as Joel visibly tensed at the mention of what was happening between the two of you, knowing that the plan was working he continued, “I mean, if nothings going on between you two, then she’s single, right?”

“Well, I mean-” Joel stuttered out, “we haven’t talked in a while, but that doesn’t mean-”

“I’ll be right back, okay?” Carter said, making his way over to the table you were at, causing Nolan and TK to chuckle as they saw Joel’s face drop, “hey, y/n/n.”

“Hey, Hartsy, it’s been a minute. How is everything?” you smiled. You kept talking to the group around you for a while, not noticing the way Joel was becoming visibly angry. He didn’t want to seem jealous, but he assumed that Carter had been flirting with you this whole time, so he made the executive decision to talk to you now.

Since your back was facing him, you didn’t see him coming, but the three boys around you did, only trying to hide their smiles since the plan was actually working. “Hey y/n, can we talk?” he asked.

You turned around to finally face the boy you had been avoiding, “yeah, hold on a sec.” As you continued some of your conversation, Joel was getting more and more irritated, mostly because Carter was sending looks his way that he couldn’t exactly read. Joel, being the impatient person he was, pulled the chair you were sitting at away from the table, pulling you up to stand before lifting you up over his shoulder, “Bee, what the fuck?”

He simply ignored you as he carried you up the stairs and back inside his captain’s house. You tried pushing yourself off as he made his way up the stairs, but it was deemed useless when he just tightened his grip, “Farabee, I swear to god. I will hurt you.”

Eventually, he opened the door to the guest bathroom and gently set you down on the counter before locking the door, “what the fuck was that for? If you want to talk, you could have just waited a second. But no, you had to be all dramatic about it,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“Are you done?” Joel asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the door.

“I mean, yeah. Are you?”

“Yeah, but I’m tired of us ignoring each other and I miss you, so we need to figure stuff out.”

“Awe, you miss me? That’s cute,” you smiled.

“y/n/n, I swear, now is not the time for that one.”

“Ok, sorry. I’ll be serious now,” you said, crossing your arms to mock him.

“I just want to know what happened at the lake?”

“Oh, we’re going straight to the point, alright,” you sighed, “look, what I said at the lake wasn’t true. I got this idea in my head that if you were in my life, you were a distraction from what I wanted.”

“How’d that work out for you?” he said, smirking.

“Oh, no, see that’s what we’re not going to do. No need for the attitude. Anyways, I had this idea that if anything happened between us, that I would mess it up and it would mess everything in my life up. So, pushing you away was the safest option.”

Joel took a moment to gather his thoughts before pushing himself off the door and made his way closer to you, ending up standing between your legs with his hands on either side of you, “look, I’m saying this and I mean it. I understand where you’re coming from with the fear of distractions thing, but I want you to know that I would never intentionally keep you from your goals and dreams. I’m just extra support, you know.”

“Yeah, I realized that after you ran from the lake house. We could have had this figured out by now, if you had stayed,” you said, sarcastically. Rolling your eyes for added dramatic effect.

“Oh, shut up. You have no place to talk, babe,” he said, smiling when he heard you giggle, “what was that for?”

“I kinda missed you calling me babe, I guess. Kinda crazy, dude.”

“Awe, so you did miss me?”

“I never said I didn’t,” you said, quietly reaching up to wrap your arms around his neck. You saw the way that his eyes went from your eyes to your lips, “I also missed this,” and with that you pulled him closer until your lips met in a long awaited kiss.

As the two of you broke away, your foreheads were still together, “hey, Bee?”

“Yeah?”

“You know who else I missed? Your mom,” you laughed.

“Way to ruin the moment, babe,” he smiled, “That was funny though, so I respect it.”

“Dude, I’m so funny sometimes.”

“Looks aren’t everything, babe,” he said, laughing at the gasp you responded with.

“Oh, that was rude. I’ll get you back one day though,” you watched as he went to leave the bathroom, “hey, Bee. I’m not supposed to walk without crutches, hate to break it to you.”

Rolling his eyes, he made his way back to you, turning around right in front of you, “here.” You leaned a little bit forward, wrapping your arms around his neck once again as he readjusted his grip on the back of your legs, so he could give you a piggyback ride on the way back outside.

“You know, they didn’t tell me there was a party,” you spoke as he made his way back towards the door.

“Oh, they said it was teammates only and then I saw your car,” he replied, pausing a moment as the two of you realized what had happened at the same time, “so, this was-”

“Yep.”

“And Hartsy saying he was going to ask you out was part of it?”

“Hartsy said he was going to do that,” you started cackling. “Wait, were you jealous of him?” you asked laughing even harder.

“It’s not funny.”

“Oh, yeah. I know, it’s hilarious.”

“I will drop you right now,” he said, as he opened the door for outside, “and you’ll stuck right here, Ms. ‘I can’t walk down stairs right now’.”

“That’s a low blow,” you said, as the two of you made your way back to the table you were at.

“Oops, sorry, babe,” he set you down close to your chair, but sat down before you could.

“Oh, so now you steal my chair, too?”

“Oh, shut up, you’re fine,” he said, pulling you to sit in his lap, “there you go.”

“So, I see the two of you made up?” Nolan asked, pointing at the two of you.

“We also made out, in case you were wondering,” Joel replied, earning an elbow to the stomach, “ow, that hurt.”

“Sucks to suck, babe,” you replied, causing the smile on his face to grow even more.

When Kevin and Ryanne watched the two of you walk back outside, they were happy to see that the plan worked. Ryanne simply laughed and shook her head as she heard the exchange between the two of you, “they are so in love and I don’t even think they realize it.”

“Ryanne, that is a big word, that I’m not prepared for. So, please, let’s not do that today,” Kevin replied, earning a laugh from Ryanne, “they’re happy though, that’s all that matters to me.”

#sticking it #joel farabee #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #philadelphia flyers #joel farabee x reader #joel farabee imagines #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #beezer #joel farabee x gymnast!reader

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imagines-r-s · 3 years

Text

sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 7

a/n: besties, it’s here. this is so wholesome, i swear to god. i don’t really have much else to say, but i do plan on continuing writing fics for the ‘sticking it’ universe?? (idk if that’s the right way to word that) so if you have requests for fics that still follow y/n and joel after the olympics or even throughout the series, i will gladly accept those requests. feedback is welcome, please enjoy

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @dreamsndior

warnings: high school musical, an annoying amount of fluff, maybe another your mom joke, bestie adrian

sticking it masterlist

wc: 3.0k

(gif not mine)

As soon as the boys got back from the roadie, everyone was ready to go home and sleep in their own bed. Winning two of the three games during the trip, most of the guys had been running on adrenaline, but were ready to crash.

When Joel entered his apartment, still in his suit, ready to go to bed, he was shocked to see that some of his lights and his tv were on. He knew that he had double checked to make sure that they were off, but when he saw a pair of crutches leaning near where his couch was he quickly figured out why.

He took note of the way you had fallen asleep on his couch, still in one of his jerseys, and with your phone still in your hand. “Hey, babe, wake up,” he spoke softly which caused you to simply groan in response and turn around, “y/n/n, c’mon.”

Turning back around to face him, you smiled, which quickly dropped seconds later as you realized you had intended to stay awake to see him, “oh my god, I was supposed to stay awake to surprise you.”

“Aw, don’t stress it. Seeing you here was a really good surprise either way.”

“Bee, can you do me a favor?” you asked, starting to get up. He simply hummed in response, “do you think you could step outside, act like you haven’t come in here yet, and act shocked once you get back?”

“You’re so dramatic, I swear.”

“Ah, ah, ah, I just want to know if you’ll walk back outside,” you said, smiling as he rolled his eyes before turning around and walking out of the door, “make sure you close the door for even more dramatic effect.”

Joel simply rolled his eyes once more before walking back into his apartment, “oh my gosh, babe, what a surprise to see you here. Never expected that one, that’s insane.”

“Thank you,” you yawned, “I kinda missed you, not gonna lie.”

“Kinda?”

“Yes, I will not admit to anything more.”

“Ok, I missed you,too. C’mon, let’s go to bed though,” he grabbed your crutches from beside the couch and brought them to you.

“I’m fine just going home,” you said, but once you yawned again, you knew he would immediately reject that idea.

“You are way too tired to drive right now.”

“I have physical therapy tomorrow and if I stay here-”

“I’ll take you there tomorrow or at least just make sure you’re up in time, don’t stress it. Now, c’mon, you need some sleep,” he said, ushering you towards his room. As he started walking, he paused halfway through the hall, “wait, how’d you get in here?”

“I took a locksmith class once,” you said, shrugging, which only left him more confused.

“Um, alright,” he said as the two of you made your way towards his room. As you entered, you noticed the various pictures and hockey related things in his room. pictures of the team, along with pictures of his friends and family, pucks from his first nhl goal and his first hat trick sitting on one of the shelves.

As you glanced around his room, you took note of how his room wasn’t a mess, but it wasn’t completely clean either. taking a seat on his bed, you set your crutches off to the side near his bed. “As much as I love seeing you in my jersey, I don't think it’s the best thing to sleep in,” Joel said, throwing you one of his shirts.

“Awe, pretty boy. That’s very sweet. as much as I love seeing you in your suit, it might not be the best thing to sleep in. Might I suggest just sweatpants?” you asked, smiling sweetly.

“Just sweatpants?” he asked, looking for confirmation that he heard what you said correctly. Taking the nod he got in response as confirmation, he grabbed a pair of black sweatpants from his dresser, “I’ll be back in a sec, you need anything?”

“No, I’m okay, but thank you, Bee,” as soon as he left, you got ready for bed. As soon as you laid down, you tried to stay awake to talk to Joel about his games, but sleep soon overtook you.

When Joel got back, he smiled at seeing you asleep in his bed. After setting down the water bottle he got you, even though you said you didn’t need anything, he got into bed. Turning on his music, he turned towards you and wrapped his arms around you with his chest to your back.

He quickly moved his arms when he felt you turn, only to smile when you wrapped your arms around him with your face nestled in the crook of his neck, “goodnight, Bee.”

“Goodnight, babe,” seeing as you had already fallen back asleep, he quietly whispered, “I love you.”

When Joel woke up to an empty bed, he tried to avoid the assumption that you had heard what he said and had left him again. He knew it was bad to think, but that was the first place his mind went.

Getting out of bed to go to the bathroom, he heard music coming from the kitchen. As he walked closer to the kitchen, he heard the familiar soundtrack of High School Musical 3 playing, you singing along as you cracked an egg into the frying pan.

As you listened to the last part of ‘A Night to Remember’, you didn’t even notice Joel standing in the doorway watching you. You were in your own little world. As you used the spatula as a microphone, you did a turn and you shrieked as you noticed him leaning on the doorway, “god, Bee, what the fuck are you doing just standing there?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt your karaoke session,” he stated, pushing off the wall to walk closer to you.

“You weren’t supposed to see that.”

“Don’t be upset, it was adorable.”

“I’m not trying to be adorable,” you scowled, turning back to the eggs that were still cooking. Feeling Joel stand right behind you, holding onto your hips as he dipped his head to kiss your neck, “better watch yourself, Farabee.”

“Babe, I’m just messing with you. Whatcha making?”

“Well, right now I’m making eggs and I was about to start the pancakes,” you said, listening as the song changed to ‘Just Wanna Be With You’, smiling as you heard Joel mumbling the words into the crook of your neck.

“Babe, c’mon, it’s a duet. So you have to ‘do it’, you know?” he said, taking a step back from you, grabbing onto your waist once more to spin you around to face him, as he started obnoxiously singing the words.

“Maybe you should stick to hockey, Bee. Singing is not your forte,” you said, laughing.

“You’re ruining the moment, sweet pea,” he said, spinning you around. You joined him in the singing and dancing, laughing whenever either of you messed up the words. As the last words rang out, his lips met yours, you smiled into the kiss as you heard ‘The Boys Are Back’ start to play.

“You guys should listen to this in the locker room, I think it’s perfect for game days,” you smiled, double checking the eggs once more.

“Oh, yeah? I’ll make sure to mention it to them.”

The two of you ate your breakfast in comfortable silence before getting ready for your PT appointment, you borrowing another one of Joel’s shirts to wear with the leggings you had worn the day before.

“I want to warn you,” you started as Joel parked the car, “Adrian is kinda a handful. He’s super nice, but he’s, uh. He’s Adrian.”

“Got it, alright,” he said, genuinely unsure of what was about to go down.

Lacing your hand in his, you led the way to Adrian’s office, walking right in as you saw that his door was open, “ooh, it’s my Olympic Superstar,” he said, quickly glancing behind you, “ooh, and the hockey superstar? Okay.”

“Hi, Adrian,” you sat down on the bench, Joel sitting in the chair beside you, “ this is Joel Farabee. Bee, this is Adrian Michael.”

“I see why you were super nervous to text him, he’s pretty,” Adrian said, removing your knee brace, “she literally threw the phone right after texting you one day, it was so funny.”

“Adrian, your face is right by my leg, if I kick my leg hard enough, I could easily do some damage.”

“Awe, babe. Don’t be mean. Adrian, what else happened?” Joel said, smirking.

“Oh, I like him, I approve,” Adrian said, glancing up to see you hiding your face with your hands, “I told her she was a dumbass for not talking to you about how she felt, but I’m assuming she did that since you’re here right now.”

“Yeah, I agree, she is kinda a dumbass at times,” Joel said, trying not to laugh.

“You’re a dumbass, too, so don’t even,” you said, shooting a glare his way.

“Alright, kids. I can tell you’re the perfect match for each other, but good news is your knee is getting better. I can tell you actually listened to what I told you to do this time around,” he said, grabbing some athletic tape,” I know the two weeks aren’t exactly done, but you only have two days left, so I’m going to wrap up your knee for now. But you can start training, minimal pressure on your legs , no hard landings, no vault or tumbling, you know the deal. But keep up what you’re doing, you’ll be all set to start training as soon as a week.”

“Wait, really?” you smiled as he nodded in response.

“But you have to be smart about your training. Stick to mainly conditioning and drills for right now, only do pit landings if you need to work on any dismounts, actually use the athletic tape, and if you feel any pain, you let me know ASAP.”

“Ok, cool,” you smiled, ready to go to the gym now.

“Knowing you, you’ll be at the gym later tonight, but don’t do anything dumb,” Adrian said, rolling his eyes, “and keep her line, pretty boy.”

“I’ll try my best,” Joel said, smiling.

“Alright, you should be all set then. Good luck, superstar.”

“Thanks, Adrian,” you said as you walked out the door.

…..

Joel knew that you wanted to go to the gym to at least do something since you were finally able to, so he took you to your apartment to get your gym bag right after lunch. As soon as you got there, you asked Michelle and Marcus if you would be able to have some time in the back gym - which was essentially the same as the main gym, it just held some of the older, but still safe, equipment.

Setting your bag down, you decided to start on floor with basic skills, just to get in the groove of doing actual skills again. Stretching first, you made your way to the floor to get started. As you got back into doing some easy skills - with no harsh landings, obviously - you made your way to beam and bars, knowing that vault would be too hard on you right now.

You were able to work on some of the skills that you had done for years now, there were only a few things that you couldn’t work on that weren’t dismounts or tumbling. You were just happy to be back to where you felt most at home.

As you did your cool down workout, you had gotten your phone out, scrolling through twitter to see the usual mentions that you would see on the daily. But recently, there were a lot more negative things said, more comparison to your teammates and competitors, and people doubting that you deserved this.

Joel quickly saw the way your face fell as you looked at your phone, he could only assume that you had seen something that had completely ruined how happy you were. He reached over to grab the phone from your hands, “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Bee. Don’t worry about it,” you said, trying to grab the phone from his hand.

“y/n/n, I know something is up, what happened?”

“Just people saying shit, it’s nothing.”

“See, on any regular occasion, it would be nothing. You block whoever, yeah, yeah, yeah. But we’re talking about the Olympics here, babe. Everyone here supports and believes in you, so what you do is, you go out there and you prove to those people that you deserve your spot. The only opinion that matters is yours at the end of the day,” he smiled, “so, are you going to let them get to you? Or are you going to prove them wrong?”

“I mean proving them wrong is probably the better option, you know,” you said, jokingly.

“Let’s try that answer again. Which one are you going to do?”

“Prove them wrong.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, leaving you stunned for a moment as he helped you get your gym bag together. When he noticed you still standing there, he quickly turned around, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. You just said ‘my girl’, I just - I wasn’t expecting it.”

“Did I just make the y/n y/l/n flustered? Awe, and she’s blushing. Oh my god, are you guys seeing this?” he yelled out to the empty gym, “Hm, and there for a minute I didn’t think you felt anything.”

“Shut the fuck up, Farabee,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“And we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming,” he said, mocking an announcer’s voice.

“You’re an idiot, Bee.”

“I’m your idiot, though,” he said simply, leaving no room for debate.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” you smiled, the two of you walking back towards his car with your hands intertwined.

…..

As the days passed on, since you still had limited practice time, you were able to attend games and team celebrations as the Flyers got closer to the playoffs. Karly even convinced you to sit with her and the other WAGs at a few games.

“Hm, it’s almost like I told you that you would end up sitting up here with us one day,” Karly said, rolling her eyes.

“Yes, Karly, you did indeed say that,” you grumbled.

“Awe, Sunshine, it’s okay to admit that you’re wrong sometimes.”

“I strongly disagree,” the two of you made your way back to your seats, smiling when you saw Joel messing around with Phil during warm up.

“You are so in love with him, it’s crazy,” Ryanne said as she sat down beside you.

“What? No- not today. I tolerate him more than I tolerate most people, but I don’t love him,” you rushed out, still in shock from what you had just heard.

“Just because you don’t say it out loud doesn’t mean it’s not true, you know,” Karly added.

“Yeah, but- that’s kinda scary,” you sighed, looking out onto the ice as you saw Joel laughing at something Nolan had said.

“Love is scary sometimes, but with the right person, it’s super easy to do. It happens, but you better not run away from it this time. You both deserve it and you’re both happy, so don’t run,” Ryanne said, holding Gavin on her lap.

You didn’t say anything in response, simply watching as the game started. This game was the last game that they had before the playoff games, so you could visibly see the tension rolling through the team as the game started.

By the second period, the game was tied - Joel, Nolan, and Claude having scored . Third period was their make it or break it moment, so everyone in the stands was watching intently as the period started. As the period progressed, both goalies were doing a great job of keeping goals from being scored, meaning that by the end of the third period the score was still tied.

With no points being made during overtime, a shootout was set to happen. Karly quickly gripped your hand as the two of you watched as Nolan skated onto the ice. “Nolan, c’mon, you got this,” you mumbled mostly to yourself. Watching intently as Nolan started skating towards the goal, watching as he made his way towards the goal, pulling his stick back and hitting the puck. Right into the goal.

The whole arena erupted in cheers as the boys celebrated, you and the other WAGs smiling as you watched the team that had grown so much this season make more progress towards their main goal. As spectators left the arena, you made your way down to the tunnel to wait on Joel.

You waited anxiously for Joel to exit, your eyes glued to the door every time you heard it open, “you watching the door isn’t going to make him leave any faster. Trust me, I’ve tried,” Ryanne said, smiling.

“Yeah, I’m still going to try it though,” you laughed.

“Figured.”

You spent some time holding Gavin, trying to get him to sleep, so that Ryanne wouldn’t have to worry about it, “you know, you’re really good with kids.”

“Ah, ah, ah. You already brought up me being in love with Bee earlier, I’m not having this conversation,” you said, looking up to see Ryanne watching behind you.

“You’re in love with me?” a familiar voice said from behind you, causing you to almost give yourself whiplash as you turned around.

“Uh, hi, Bee,” the tension in your body immediately dissipated when you saw the smile that was now on his face, “yeah, Bee. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said, softly before his lips met yours gently. “I don’t think this day could get any better.”

“It would be a lot better if you didn’t kiss her in front of me, Beezer,” Kevin’s voice boomed from the other side of the hallway.

“What was that, Hayesy? It almost sounded like you said something, I don’t know for sure though,” Joel said, wrapping his hand around your waist.

“I’m proud of you, babe. You did it,” you whispered, leaning into his side.

“Dude, imagine. ‘Stanley Cup Champion dating Olympic Gymnastics Champion,’ I like the sounds of that.”

“Hate to break it to you, but it would definitely be ‘Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medalist dating Stanley Cup Champion. You know the Olympics are kind of a big deal.”

#sticking it #joel farabee #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #philadelphia flyers #joel farabee x reader #joel farabee imagines #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #beezer #joel farabee x gymnast!reader

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imagines-r-s · 3 years

Text

sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 5

a/n: um, y’all might not like me once again, but it’s good for character development. (also i had to repost bc the tags weren’t working, so if you’re seeing it again, don’t stress)

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @bbbbruins @dreamsndior

warnings: angst. angst. plot twist a tad bit more angst. kathryn. sad joel. simp joel. simp nation for both of them. (nicole being the bestest friend ever. adrian being adrian *chef’s kiss*)

sticking it masterlist

wc: 4.5k (these keep getting longer and longer)

(gif not mine)

“Ok, ladies. There’s exactly one week until the U.S Classic. For the Junior Division, the few of you that are here right now will be getting exposure to bigger competitions that you will have in the future. This week the three of you are going to be hitting a few routines on each event and then marking the rest of them. We’re not throwing any new skills into the mix, we’re just taking this week to perfect what we have.

For the two of you in the Senior Division, perfection before progress is our motto for this week. We’re not throwing anything huge or difficult, we just perfect routines and move on. For all of you, sometime this week, we will have a mock competition where you’ll go and perform each event as if it were at a meet. Afterwards, if there’s anything a coach tells you to work on or if there’s anything you fall on, you’ll go back and work on that skill or event,” Michelle told everyone as you did your morning line up, “alright, you all know which event to start on first, so let’s just go and have a good week.”

Shortly after that, everyone went to their first event. For many, they went to the event that needed the most work, but you decided to avoid the event that you needed the most work on, instead heading to work on bars first.

“Is there a particular reason that you’re not working your beam dismount?” Nicole asked, as the two of you got chalk.

“No. I’m just working what I need to,” you said.

“y/n, c’mon, that dismount is what needs the most work right now. I understand if you don’t want to work anything major, but you haven’t even done a triple off the actual beam yet. I just don’t want you to beat yourself up for not working it.”

“It’s fine, Nicole. I’ll figure it out,” you left Nicole at the chalk box and started working on your bar routine. Nicole watched as you started your routine, you were making subtle mistakes that she wouldn’t have picked up if she wasn’t watching you so intently.

She winced as you fell on a release skill, a skill that you could easily do in your sleep. Watching as you took a deep breath before getting back on the bar, doing the rest of your skills, and not missing the way your face slightly twisted in pain from the impact of the landing of your dismount.

As you made your way back to the chalk box, she also saw the slight falter in your steps. “Dude, is your knee okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I just landed weird, I’ll walk it off eventually.”

“y/n, look. I’m just putting this out there, but don’t be afraid to take a break.”

“I don’t exactly have time for breaks right now, but thanks,” you huffed before leaving to work a few skills in your bar routine. Nicole knew you well enough to know that you weren’t doing okay, you hadn’t been since you came back from the lake. You hadn’t exactly told her what had happened, but she knew it had to have happened while you were gone. You were never one to talk about your feelings and she was never one to push you to talk.

The rest of practice couldn’t have gone worse. There was wobbling on basic skills, missed landings, and lots of falling. Lots and lots of falling. Worst of all, anytime you would get on the beam to do the dismount, you would psych yourself out, until you eventually would give up and go back to a different event.

You knew it wasn’t just gymnastics that was stressing you out right now, there was the stress of Kathryn competing the skill that you had worked your ass off to get and when you were about to get the credit for doing said skill, you got hurt; there was the fact that the U.S. Classic was indeed a week away and the first of five practices right before had gone terribly; and then there was the stress of the fact that you pushed away the one person that only wanted what was best for you.

As you drove home, you had a simple plan of going straight to bed as soon as you got home. You didn’t want to have to deal with all your thoughts racing right now and although you were avoiding something with sleep, you thought it might be the best option for right now. Once you got inside your apartment, you kicked off your shoes, grabbed one of your smoothies from the fridge, and made a beeline towards your room.

The next practice went almost the exact same; falling on basic skills, not going for the dismount, and your mind being a thousand miles away. You were hopeful that whatever was going on wasn’t super obvious, but by the time practice was over Marcus had pulled you into his office to talk to you.

“What’s up?” you asked, walking into his office and closing the door behind you.

“What’s up with me? No, we’re here to talk about you. Like what the fuck is going on with you right now?”

“I’m just stressed about this weekend that’s all,” you shrugged.

“Look, I’ve known you long enough and I’ve seen you when you’re nervous about a comp and it never looks like this. So, I’m asking again, what’s going on with you right now?”

“There’s nothing going on, I’m telling you,” you practically yelled.

“y/n,” he sighed, “we let you have a break because you were doing fine other than your dismount, which you were making progress on, but now, you’re just going backwards instead of forwards. I don’t know what happened or what’s going on - and I’m assuming you don’t want to talk about it - but whatever it is needs to get figured out. If you can’t do at least five triple dismounts in the next two days, you’re just doing your double back dismount and you aren’t working the 3.5.”

“Wha-? Marcus, what the fuck? No, that’s not fair.”

“It’s perfectly reasonable actually, if you aren’t doing them at practice, you aren’t competing it. I have always made that clear. Right now, your head is not in what you’re doing, and it’s fairly obvious the only thing motivating you is that Kathryn might be competing it and with how your attitude is right now, that combo will only end in bad news.”

You knew he was right, he had known you long enough to know the way you got in your head about anything, so right now with the combo of everything going on, it made sense. “Marcus, I’ll drop the attitude, whatever. But I can’t deal with what will happen if she competes that dismount this weekend.”

“Ok, you say that, but I want proof. The words coming out of your mouth mean nothing, unless I see you actually doing what you say you will. I love you and I want you to be able to say that skill that hurt you is now named after you, you deserve that, but right now, you’re wearing yourself out trying to prove yourself and it’s only hurting you. You need to figure out whatever is going on up here,” he said, pointing to his head, “before you can work out the physicality of it. Now you have tomorrow to do those five dismounts and if you don’t do them, we’ll work them after this competition.”

Not trusting your voice right now, you simply nodded your head before turning and leaving his office towards your car. Taking deep breaths, you finally sat down in your car, closing your eyes for a moment as your eyes had started watering. Right now the pile of things going on in your life was just growing and you knew if tomorrow’s practice didn’t go good, you would be a wreck.

Pulling out your phone, your first instinct was to go to your messages and text Joel, but something in you was telling you that it was way too soon and that you would only get no response in return. So, instead, you pulled up Spotify and turned on one of your sad playlists just to really set the mood.

…..

You weren’t aware of it, but it wasn’t just you that was a mess. Joel had started packing his stuff as soon as he got back to his room, he knew there was no way he would be able to see you the next day without yelling or crying or letting out whatever emotion he was feeling. He didn’t really even know what he was feeling. Heartbreak? Anger? Sadness?

He couldn’t even wrap his head around what had happened. He had firmly believed when he asked what was going on between the two of you, that you would say something more - anything more - than just friends. Maybe he had been naive, interpreted the situation wrong, but everything was pointing in the right direction.

If you had said anything other than what you had, he would have understood. You want to focus on gym? Ok, he’ll be there on the sidelines supporting you. You can’t do a relationship with everything else going on in your life? Ok, we’ll take time and figure stuff out. But with the certainty that you said the two of you were nothing more than friends, knocked every expectation he had out the window.

He wasn’t saying that he was the perfect guy, he knew he was far from it, but he wanted to figure things out with you being there beside him. Maybe not for the long run, but for the time being he was perfectly fine with what was going on.

As soon as he got home from the lake, he kept to himself for a few days, only coming out because he had a practice. He tried to keep up with everything, but somehow his motions were too slow and he wasn’t catching onto what was happening around him quick enough. Everyone around him was noticing that something was off, but nobody - not even those that were at the lake - knew what was up.

The practices they had that week all kinda played out the same, Joel, who was usually on top of everything and one of the most consistent players, wasn’t playing the way he usually did. Everyone on the team was worried based off of how practices were going, but anytime they tried to talk to him, he simply brushed it off or left before an actual conversation could start.

There were nights that he laid in bed and ended up with your contact pulled up on his phone, or he saw something funny that he knew would make you laugh, but right now, he didn’t know how he should react to what had happened. He didn’t know the rules that he had set in place by walking away that night.

With games on both Wednesday and Thursday that week, he knew he needed to step up. He had to put his feelings aside and be there for his team. That plan worked out well during the Wednesday night game, he didn’t score, but he was able to be there for his team. With the emotions that came from a win, he was able to ignore everything else he felt for at least a while.

Thursday's game did not play out the same way. Joel was making simple mistakes that cost him from making goals and he wasn’t happy about it. He caught a few too many penalties that night and was almost benched because of it. The Flyers lost against the Capitals by one point, which brought down everyone’s mood.

“Yeah, y/n/n isn’t doing all that great right now. She’s not doing any of her dismounts that she needs to and I guess Marcus said she had to do so many or else she wasn’t competing them, but I haven’t heard if she got them done. So, we’ll see how that goes tomorrow,” Joel overheard Kevin tell Nolan.

“She competes tomorrow night, right?” Nolan asked, as he grabbed his bag.

“Yeah, you still want to come? I think she could really use that pep talk.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course, dude. Teeks has plans with Karly, so it’ll just be us, I think.”

Joel wanted to say something, but he didn’t think you’d want him there. To put it simply, he did miss you, but he just wanted an explanation of what had happened. That night as he had your text messages open, he could have sworn he saw the bubbles that meant you were typing show up.

…..

A knock at your door broke you out of your thoughts, knowing that it was Kevin who was knocking you quickly opened the door and made your way back to your room, “well, hello to you, too, y/n/n. You really know how to make visitors welcome.”

Kevin quietly followed behind you to your room, quickly taking notice of how you had decided to empty out your gym bag on your bed and lay all your leos out on your bed, “so, how was practice this morning?” Kevin asked, softly.

“It was practice,” you said, grabbing your hairspray from your bathroom.

“Scale of 1-10?”

“3.25.”

“That’s specific?”

“Well, some good things happened and some didn’t so, there we go,” you grabbed your garment bag out of your closet.

“Did you do the dismounts?” Kevin asked, watching as you visibly tensed.

“No and Marcus is making me do my stupid back up dismount because I can’t do the twisting dismount. And now Kathryn is going to do the dismount, and get it named after her, and she’ll have that over me. Plus, everything with Joel is kinda up in the air right now and I don’t know what to do about that one.”

“What happened with you and Beezer? Are you just going to waltz around the issue or are you going to tell me what happened? It stays between us, but if it’s something I need to beat up Beezer for, just ask nicely.”

You rolled your eyes, but you knew you would have to talk it out sooner or later, “uh, after you guys left, me and Bee had a discussion about what we were, and I said we were just friends.”

“Oh, damn. Shit, I mean, wow, truly remarkable.”

“Shut the fuck up, Kev. I get it.”

“Ok, so I’m going to assume that Beezer wasn’t too happy about it?” Kevin asked, earning a nod from you, “so, you just didn’t talk it out like civilized individuals or am I missing something here?”

“Well, more than just the flirting happened, nothing super crazy, but yeah, so he was very - understandably - upset by me saying we were just friends.”

“And again, you guys didn’t just talk it out like civilized individuals?”

“No, he was gone before I could talk to him.”

“Don’t you kids have phones or something? You guys aren’t going to figure shit out if you don’t talk to each other?” Kevin asked, like it was the most obvious option.

“Yeah, I know, but like,” you sighed, “yikes. You know. What the fuck do I say ‘hey Bee, I was actually just joking when I said that. Haha, you’ve been pranked’ not exactly a smooth recovery, you know.”

“You’re helpless. I think you should focus on the competition that you have tomorrow and worry about the bigger problems later. C’mon, I’ll help you pack,” and once he knew that you were all ready for your competition, he made his way back to his apartment.

…

Stepping out of the arena’s locker room stall, you made your way over to the sink to do your hair and makeup. You stayed by the sink, considering that Nicole was still changing, when the one person you didn’t want to talk to stood right beside you, “hey y/n. How’s that dismount coming?”

“How’s your mom coming?” you replied, plastering a fake smile on your face.

“Awe, wow, that’s real mature of you. I know you’re just upset that your beloved plan of getting your dismount named after you isn’t going the way you wanted and to think if you didn’t get hurt, you’d have it named after you already. Hm, how devastating.”

“Ooh, Kathryn, impressive vocabulary. I’m glad to see you finally opened that thesaurus I got you.”

“Look, y/n, I know that you’re just projecting negative emotions because you’re upset that I compete on beam before you do. It’s okay, we all feel bad sometimes,” Kathryn added.

“Oh, and she’s learned about projecting negative emotions. I’m very impressed.”

“y/n, you’re just mad because everyone knows that you’re burning out and that you shouldn’t have tried to make a comeback after your injury. Get over it or get out of this sport,” she said before walking away.

Staring up at the ceiling to keep whatever emotions you could at bay, you didn’t notice Nicole come up right beside you, “you know what she said wasn’t true, right? You’re proving to everyone just how amazing you are by coming back, please don’t let that bitch get to you.”

“No, but she’s right about the dismount. Right now, I’m not where I need to be and people are noticing. I shouldn’t be here,” you said, finally looking her in the eye.

“y/n. Stop. Seriously, this pity party is not going to work today. You’re going to go out there and kick ass, like you always do. I don’t care if she’s doing the dismount, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now, shut the fuck up and go out there and prove her and anyone else that doubts you wrong,” she said, “we’re not leaving here until I see a genuine smile on your face.”

Laughing at your best friend, you made your way out to the tunnel for your pre-competition rituals. Eventually, Nolan and Kevin made their way towards you, which did lift your spirits a lot. Nolan gave you your usual pep talk and talked you through all your routines until they called out the announcement for warm up to start.

Starting on vault, you did two of the best vaults you could, you weren’t going to let Kathryn get to you today. When you were warming up on bars, you noticed Kathryn warming up on beam. Taking a deep breath, you tried to ignore the way your heart fell when you saw her land the dismount that you were supposed to be doing.

Attempting once again to ignore her, you started competing your bar routine, making all the release skills that were causing you issues during practice, connecting all your skills, and sticking your dismount; a near perfect routine in your book. The smile that had grown on your face, slowly falling as you saw Kathryn start her routine.

Her routine was near flawless, with only slight wobbles in there. You had watched her routine enough times to know when her dismount was coming up, biting at your lip, you tried not to show too much emotion on your face - knowing that the media would just eat it up. But then she landed it.

She landed it. The 3.5 dismount that you had worked your ass off to get, was now named after her. And you had yet to even do the dismount again since your injury.

Your breath hitched as you watched her salute before walking away back to her coaches. “C’mon, y/n. We still have two events to do. Don’t get in your head now,” Michelle said, ushering you towards the beam.

It’s a lot easier said than done to not get in your head about your competitors when in this sport. A sport where the smallest deductions could cost you so much, but right now you just had two routines left.

Working up the courage to get on the beam and do your routine, you fell twice and somehow stepped out on the double back dismount. You didn’t miss the way that Marcus’ face fell slightly, but he knew you would be fine on floor.

He knew you well enough to know that with floor being your strongest event, there were only a few ways that you would get deductions, he knew that you could come back from what had happened on beam. Sticking all your tumbling passes and doing perfect leaps and jumps, you were able to make up for the score on beam and qualify for Championships next month.

You avoided looking at Kathryn, knowing she would just send a smirk your way, you accepted the awards that you got and made your way back to the locker room. Getting 1st on floor, vault, bars, and all around, and 3rd on beam, you practically threw the medals that you got on the counter and your hands gripped onto the edge of the sink as you tried to settle your breathing down.

Nicole stood watch at the door to make sure that no one came in until you had calmed down and she also made sure that you didn’t have to deal with media before you got to Kevin. Kevin and Nolan simply took you back to their apartment so that you wouldn’t be alone. Luckily, they understood that you didn’t want to talk right now, so they let you go to the guest room that already had enough clothes in there for you and let you go to sleep.

“You think she’ll be okay?” Nolan asked, grabbing a water bottle from their fridge.

“She just has a lot going on, I think she’ll be okay sooner than later. I did find out what happened at the lake - I can’t share - but I am aware of what happened and they’re just being idiots, that’s all.”

“Makes sense.”

When you woke up the next day, you quickly took note of the pain that you felt in your knee, brushing it off as general soreness, you made your way towards the kitchen.

“Hey y/n/n, Kev is on his way back from getting breakfast, so if you want to stay and join us, you are welcome to,” Nolan’s voice rang from the kitchen.

“Yeah, I will. Thank you,” you replied, softly, taking a seat on one of the barstools.

“You doing ok?” he sighed, “That’s a dumb question. How are you feeling?”

“I’m doing as okay as I can be, you know. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Shortly after, the door opened once more, “I come bearing gifts,” Kevin said.

“I always knew you were good for something,” you replied, earning a fist bump from Nolan. As you stood up from the barstool, the pain in your knee caused you to wince.

“y/n, you good?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I think my knee is just sore or something from yesterday, it’ll be fine.”

“If it gets worse, you better tell me.”

“Yeah, of course, Kev.”

The ‘general soreness’ you felt lasted a few days before Kevin got to the end of his rope, “c’mon, we’re going to see Adrian.”

“Why?”

“Your knee hasn’t gotten any better. That’s not just your knee being sore, something is wrong and it’s obvious. So, let’s go.” Kevin knew that if he didn’t do something that the pain in your knee would only get worse, he knew you would keep pushing it until you absolutely couldn’t. He didn’t want you to have to stop what you loved because you were too stubborn to do anything, so he called Adrian, who immediately told him to bring you in.

“Ah, there’s my superstar,” Adrian said, watching you walk into his office.

“I don’t want to be here, but it’s nice to see you, Adrian,” he simply rolled his eyes in response.

“Yeah, Ms. Stubborn, we know you didn’t want to be here, but it’s the smart thing to do. I know you’re not used to making decisions like that, but here you are,” Adrian said, simply pointing to the bench, knowing that you had been here enough times to know what to do.

You watched as Adrian’s face changed as he examined your knee, “have you been working the landing on events constantly? Yes or no?”

“I mean, recently, kinda. I did a lot of reps for bars and vault, that’s kinda the only landings I was doing, why?”

“I hate to say it, but it looks like the running and landings are putting too much pressure on the knee right now. Have you worn tape or your brace recently?”

“No, but I thought it was fine.”

“Yeah, of course you thought it was fine. How much have landings been hurting your knee recently, 1-10?”

“5?”

“y/n, I know when you’re lying, today is not the day.”

“7 to 9, it just depends.”

Adrian took a deep breath, “alright, well, I need you to wear your brace almost 24/7 for the next 14 days-”

“Adrian, no, I can’t do that.”

“You can and you will, babes. I’m not taking suggestions right now. 2 weeks with the brace and crutches, nothing other than ab and upper body workouts, and no hard landings. Then, another 2 weeks, with athletic tape and still no hard landings. If you do bars, no dismount, definitely no tumbling, you can do leaps and jumps, but keep it to a minimum.”

“Adrian, what? No, you don’t understand, I-”

“You want to go to the Olympics, yes?” you nodded, “well, with the amount of pressure and amount you’re overworking it, your knee won’t be ready unless you take a break now. And you have to actually listen to me this time. I want you to succeed, but you have to listen in order to be able to.”

“I’m telling Kevin, too, so that way you actually have to do it. But once those 4 weeks are up, we’ll check and make sure it’s looking good and you should be fine.”

“Adrian, that only gives me like two weeks before Championships and I have to do good during that or I won’t qualify for trials.”

“Love, sometimes you just have to trust things to work out, okay? It’ll all work out, I promise you. Now, how’s lover boy?”

“You can’t just change topics like that, dude. I’m still mad about the other thing,” you shot a glare at the man in front of you.

“You’re fine. Chill out, sweetheart. Now, how is lover boy?”

“They aren’t talking,” Kevin’s voice echoed as he came into the office.

“Why?” Adrian asked, turning to you.

“Stuff happened and I bailed,” Adrian rolled his eyes at you once again.

“Dumbass. You’re a dumbass. He’s good for you or he seems good for you, at least from what I’ve heard.”

“Yeah, he is. He’s great,” you smiled.

“So then, what the fuck are you doing here? Go talk to him, text him, call him, something. You have a phone, use it.”

“It’s not-”

“It’s only not that easy because you’re making it 100 times more difficult. Communicate. Go get your man and stop being stupid. Now, listen to what I said about both things, enjoy your time with the crutches again, and go talk to your boy.”

#sticking it #joel farabee #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #philadelphia flyers #joel farabee x reader #hockey imagines #beezer #joel farabee x gymnast!reader

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